Off to Bukidnon to be a "Bayani..."

Tomorrow, I'm taking the first PAL flight to Cagayan de Oro. From CDO, it'll be a three-hour drive to Bukidnon to check in at the local hotel, and then another 45-minute drive to Maramag, Bukidnon, the site assigned to the Bayani Challenge team of our company.

I'm excited, excited, excited.

Not only because it's my first time to go to Bukidnon and CDO, not only because it's another out of town trip, but above all because it's a volunteer activity. I wish I were able to join the company team who volunteered to stay for a week in Bukidnon to build one house. But alas, there are other things that can't be put on hold.

I can't wait though to talk to the volunteers to listen to their stories. I'm quite sure they have a lot of interesting insights and learnings from the four days that they've stayed in the community.

Augh! I miss volunteer work. I volunteered to be part of the summer storytelling program of the company to public school students, but so far, I haven't been able to attend one session. That's because I've been covering similar events these past few weekends. But I do hope that I get to attend at least one session this May.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this CDO/Bukidnon trip. Not sure if I can blog from there, but you can be sure that there'll be stories and photos when I get back to Manila.

Blissful weekend at Buri...

Excited for Buri


Hidden paradise in Galera


Villas and the infinity pool


The sun, a book, a lounge chair... ah, this is good stuff


Angelo feeding the fishies

So last Friday, colleagues and I left Manila at an early 6AM for some rest and recreation. As mentioned in a previous entry, our destination was Buri Resort at Puerto Galera.

After about two hours or so of land trip, we boarded the banca that would take us to Buri. Though feeling tired from the land trip and the slightly bumpy boat ride, everyone got excited as Buri came into view.

"That's where we're going!"

I've been to Puerto Galera before, though it was at the more popular, hence more crowded area of the island.

Buri is a somewhat hidden treasure.

Fully air-conditioned villas that gave a panoramic view of the Batangas bay, the comfy bed and its immaculate sheets and pillows, the plasma TV, the plunge pool, the bathroom with its pristine tiles and closets with rustic designs.

And then, there's the infinity pool, the cabanas perfect for lounging, the Animasi bar for a unique dining experience, the Nurture spa for relaxing massage treatments, a boardwalk ideal for enjoying the sea breeze, and so much more.

Buri is not your typical beach resort.

While I think that the resort is more perfect for honeymooners or family bonding time, it is still a good option for groups of friends who may want to hang out together who are really looking for some quiet time away from the city.

When not hanging around at the infinity pool, one can just chillax at the bar or read a book at one of the pool lounge chairs while enjoying the sun, or if one is feeling sporty, there are kayaks for guests' free use or maybe a jet ski ride.


It was one good weekend. Will post more pics later.

Galera here I come...

So this is where I'll be at the beach this starting tomorrow until Sunday.

Will be going to Buri Resort in Galera. This is the first time I've heard about the resort and from the photos above and on its website, it looks like a damn fine place.

But I think I'd still want to go to White Beach and hit the bars and get a little bit wasted. Hahaha!

In any case, woohooo!!!

Puerto Galera here I come.

Hosting gig went well...

The event hosting gig yesterday morning went well, I think. The crowd were college students in their junior year, so that was quite easy to handle. The event was an summer apprenticeship recruitment orientation. Our company is getting about 125 students this summer, and whoever's going to get in is going to be really lucky because I'm sure they'll be learning a lot from their exposure to the business.

The key words for the morning program were "Leadership" and "Innovation." I learned a lot from the guest speakers, which included our company's main man, someone who really embodies leadership and innovation - MVP. In an attempt to be "makapal," I introduced myself to him onstage while I was make the intro for him. "The next speaker needs no introduction, so instead, I'll just introduce myself to him. 'Sir, Angelo Morales, Public Affairs.'" Haha! That got the crowd laughing and him too. I thought that was fun.

Anyway, after the program, I just had lunch with Pat and the organizers and then I already went home. My body was already screaming, "I want to sleep. I want to sleep." Haha!

Some Kind of Night Life...

Friday turned out to be quite exciting.

In the afternoon, I was at one of our offices for a walk through of an event I co-hosted this morning. My boss volunteered me to be a host for the event, and I'm pretty sure it was a random choice. Maybe I was just in the boss' line of sight when the need for a co-host came up. Haha! Anyway, I co-hosted with colleague Pat and two people from a sister company. That was fun, but it's going to be another post.

What was more exciting was Friday evening. Tey asked me to go to a party she and another colleague were attending. The party was for the launch of this new service, which the company will offer in partnership with a Japanese company. Anyway, since I've been thinking that I should put myself out in the playing field more, I decided to go. The event was held at Embassy in the Fort, and although a.) it was more of a company party because the crowd were people from work and the only guests were our Japanese counterparts, and b.) it wasn't really my "scene," I still had a good time.

I got a VIP pass for supposedly attending on behalf of our department head, and that turned out to be a big advantage. I was able to get Tey and myself a couple of rounds of vodka cranberry, so that was cool. After a couple of drinks, I felt much better. (Can someone say alcoholic? Hehehe!) Tey introduced me to two of our Japanese counterparts - Masaki-san and Makoto-san and we pretty much chatted. I'm glad I was able to have a Nihongo basics session back with the old company because I was able to use some phrases. I think our Jap friend were (pleasantly) surprised when after I was introduced to them, I go like, "Morales desu. Anjero to yonde kudasai. Dozo yoroshiku." followed by a bow. No I wasn't drunk. Not that drunk anyway. I was just being fun.

Somewhere in our conversation, Tey and I found ourselves volunteering to take Masaki and Makoto out for the night, if they still wanted to party. They were going to leave for Tokyo the following morning, and the only things they've seen are my company's building and Embassy. The launch party ended around 10 or so. After Masaki and Makoto got permission from their boss to go out, we left Embassy and headed to nearby Piedra. I thought the atmosphere was not too "party" enough, so we moved to Greenbelt instead.

First stop was Absinth. Colleague Maybelle invited us to go because it was the bar's anniversary. If Piedra was not too "partying," Absinth was the exact opposite. The place was crowded. We couldn't get seats. We couldn't get beers. So we headed to Greenbelt 2 and ended up at Mezze. It was okay I guess. We had about two more rounds of San Mig Light paired with calamares and spanakopita, while talking about work, Japan, Manila, how they should come back for a longer stay.

By 1AM, Masaki and Makoto decided to call it a night. They had to leave the hotel at 645AM for their morning flight. So from Greenbelt, Tey and I dropped them off at nearby Shangri-la. It was a good evening. I made some new friends. I had a night life resurrected for a night. I was socializing. I had fun.

I got home at 2AM. And that's when I remembered, I had to be up in 4 hours for my hosting event. Haha! It's all good though.

Good luck, Erica...

Last night, colleagues/friends from work went to the nearby bar to honor a colleague who'll be starting a new job in two weeks. Erica is one of the youngsters in the group, but she is definitely no baby. Though we've only worked together for a short while, I know that she's a gem to the group. The fact that she's also a fantastic friend makes it more difficult to see her leave. She's a superwoman because she can cover out of town events on her own, write kickass press releases and news articles, be a fantastic colleague, and on top of all the work stuff, still be the great mom to her daughter. Even if she's only moving to a nearby building, she'll probably be preoccupied adjusting to the new job. But I'm sure we'd all still get to hang out every now and then. And if we don't, it would probably be because she (or maybe us) would be busy taking care of the public relations concerns of her new company. And we all know she'll do such great work. So, good luck, Erica! *applause applause applause* for the fantastic two years.

Say it with me....Bah-len-see-AH-gah

There was one lunch at work when the conversation somehow was steered towards the correct pronunciation of designer names. Hehe! The lunch get-togethers of our department is worthy of being aired on national television. The things we discuss. Haha! Anything and everything from politics to health to diet to sex to relationships to beliefs. Anything and everything. Hehe! Anyway, found this on some site and since there's nothing else to post, this will do for now.

Agnes b: Anne-yes-Be

Azzedine Alaia: Azz-eh-DEEN Ah-ly-ah

Balenciaga: Bah-len-see-AH-gah

Bottega Veneta: Bott-EH-ger Ve-ne-Tah

Bvlgari: Bull-gah-ree

Cartier: Car-tee-yay

Chanel: Sha-nel

Chanel 2.55: Chanel two fifty five (Not Chanel two point five five, don't say it in a mathematic way)

Christian Dior: KREE-styaan DEE-or

Christian Louboutin: KREE-styaan Lu-bu-THAN

Comme Des Garcons: KOM Day Gahr-SOHN

Dolce & Gabbana: DOL-chay and Gab-BAH-nah

Dormeuil: Dor-meh-ee

Ermenegildo Zegna: Err-men-eh-jill-doh-Zen-yer

Gianfranco Ferre: Jee-an-fran-ko Ferr-ay

Gianni Versace: Janni Vir-Saa-Che

Giorgio Armani: Jor-ji-o Ar-ma-nee

Givenchy: Jee-von-she

Gucci: Goochie

Hedi Slimane: Eddy sli-mahn

Hermes: Air-mehz

Hussein Chalayan: Who-sane shall-i-an

Issac Mizrahi: Eye-zak Miz-ra-hee

Issey Miyake: E-say Me-ya-kay

Jean Lanvin: John Lon-van (with an almost non-existent n in "ven")

Jil Sander: Jil Sunder

John Galliano: John Gall-lee-a-no

Karl Lagerfeld: Ka-ral La-ger-fell-d

Kris Van Assche: Kris Van Ash

L'Occitane: Lox-ee-ton

Loewe: Low-ehh-vay

Louis Vuitton: Loo-wee Vee-tan

Manolo Blahnik: Muh-no-low Blo-nick

Marchesa: Mar-kay-sa

Martin Margiela: Maar-tan Marjella

Miu Miu: Mew Mew

Monique Lhuillier: Monique l'oo-li-ay

Moschino: Mos-quee-no

Nicolas Ghesquiere: Ni-co-la guess-key-air

Olivier Theyskens: olivi-ay tay-skins

Proenza-Schouler: Pro-en-za Skool-er

Pucci: Poochie

Raf Simons: Rough Seemon

Roberto Cavalli: RO-ber-to Ka-VA-lee

Rochas: Rosha

Salvatore Ferragamo: Sal-va-tor Ferr-A-ga-mo

Tsubi: Soo-bee

Yigal Azrouel: Yee-gal As-roo-elle

Yves Saint Laurent: Ee-SAY-lor-hon (To skip the troublem, just say YSL)

See, it's not that difficult.

Wednesday with friends...

Wednesday was a special day because of two friends. It was the birthday of colleague Nick. She is like a way, way young Grace Coddington who loves two Fs - Fashion and Feline. Hehe! And then my friend Jean who's leaving for Singapore this Saturday had her despedida in the evening. Since the venue for the despedida was near my former place of work, I ran into two good friends from Magsaysay-Rose and Mina. It was a good Wednesday.

More good things about the Baguio trip...

Here are some more of my favorite photos from the Baguio trip over the weekend. I really love the man on the street shot (by Thea) and the thinking man shot (by Reena). Hehehe! Aside from the Panagbenga festival itself, what also made the trip enjoyable were the visit to Good Shepherd for their famous native delicacies, walking along Session Rd., having Andok's for lunch and for dinner (haha!), late lunch at the cozy PNKY B&B, finding Baguio Country Club's raisin loaf at a Caltex Star Mart, having my photo with the Chowking guy (haha!), and of course, on the top of the list, is hanging out with really good friends. The seven-hour trip (that's just one-way) was really worth it.

Panagbenga was one happy trip...

The Baguio trip started out pretty rocky and with so much challenges, but everything turned out well and I'm just happy that it was all worth it.

After standing in line for more than hour, I was able to purchase two tickets for the 5AM trip. I was hoping I'd get a 2AM trip, but because of the festival and the long weekend, more people probably decided to go up to Baguio. When I got the tickets, I had a side trip to Gateway where I met with Carlo for coffee and get-together. Got home by 2AM, prepared my stuff, slept for 40 minutes, and then I was off to the bus terminal for my trip.

When I got there, a guy was announcing over a PA system what bus trip was boarding. What I heard really woke me up. It was almost 5AM, but the guy was calling passengers who had 12.55AM tickets. Oh man, this was going to be a long wait I thought. Choosing to remain Zen, I took a seat and waited. Perhaps so many pissed passengers have left that I was able to get on the bus by 7AM. That was still good compared to the other passengers who had to wait for four or five hours.

Because I didn't have much sleep, I pretty much slept throughout the entire trip and that was really good. When we reached Baguio, Arlyn fetched Reena and I at the terminal. We then met with Thea. We were all just so happy to see each other.

The following days was spent different things. Reena joined Arlyn most of the time. Since Arlyn was in Baguio for a media relations trip, they got to go around doing non-Panagbenga events. Reena was able to buy tons of vegetables and some jackets at the ukay-ukay. I, on the other hand, was really planning to join the Panagbenga Festival, and it was great that Thea was covering it so I got to see the festival. I even got VIP seats for the float parade. Hehehe!

It was a good trip. I was able to do the things I wanted to do - get out of the city, attend the festival, enjoy the cool weather of Baguio, hang out with cool friends from work.

"Going out..."

The words "go out" has recently caused some problems because of its vagueness.

When person A asks person B, "Will you go out and watch Wicked with me?" does it automatically mean that person A is asking person B on a date. I assumed it was quite understandable but then it turns out that for some people, the term "go out" means just that, "to go out" and nothing more.

Is that only here in this country, or is it something experience by other Southeast Asians? Hehe! Or could I be too exposed to Western television where the term "go out" is immediately understood as an invitation to date, because person A is interested in person B (or if the stars are conspiring, there's mutual interest).

Anyway, there are two people I know right now who got into some sort of trouble because of the words "go out." One was asked to "go out." The other one asked another person to "go out." But as it turns out, the other persons in both scenarios are seeing someone. Augh!!!

And it's all because the phrase "go out" wasn't taken by the receiver as it was intended by the sender. Both the sender and the receiver weren't playing the same language game, Wittgenstein would have said. Augh!!!

Maybe the national dailies should run a frontpage story on Monday that the phrase "go out" means an invitation to date, and that people who are already seing someone should say no when they are asked out. Hehehe!

I know, I know, this entry is not too Valentine-esque. But seriously, someone should do something to prevent others from falling into the whole "go out" misunderstanding.

Off to the UP Fair on Valentine's Day...

As planned, Reena, Rhyz and I, together with Reena's friends Abbie and Ronald, went to the UP Fair in Diliman last night. None of us had dates but since we were in the Valentine's mood, we chose to go on Valentine's. (Alright, I was in the Valentine's mood. I don't know about my companions. Haha!) Plus, I checked the lineup of performers the entire week and last night seemed to be the most interesting.

Anyway, I was also excited because it was my first time to attend the UP Fair. Yeah, surprising, huh?! And I'm really glad I went. It felt good to be back in the University I love so much. Hehe! For dinner, there were many kiosks inside the Fair grounds and we chose to have a BBQ and rice combo (which seems to be a favorite among many UP students, when I think about it now. Haha!).

After dinner, we walked around to check out the kiosks. There were many interesting things to be bought. One stall was selling African accessories and home decor sold by a nice African woman. The girls bought ethnic-inspired earrings. I, on the other hand, bought a UP mug and a UP tote bag from another stall.

Afterwards, we hung out by the stage and watched the performing bands. A little after midnight, there was a fireworks display which was absolutely enjoyable to watch. The fireworks was immediately followed by a performance from capoeira dancers, which I failed to see, because there were so many people. The beat of the drums and the other instruments, however, was more than enough to make you shout, "Go Brazil!!! ...errr... UP!"

We left Diliman by 1:30AM. Got home by 2AM. It was a good Valentine's night out.