Surf, Sand, Fire and Party

Photo: (Taken at Botona Beach Resort, it's the whole stretch of Dahican Beach in Mati. Kanakbai Beach Resort is on the other side).

Hi guys!

This year, I had one of the best birthday (every year.. it's always BEST for me!). I was out of town, with my childhood friends whom I considered as real brothers and sisters. We went out for Maranatha's debut.

From L-R: Darlene, Ate Jill, Me, Cris, Paolo H., and Walter at Kanakbai Beach Resort, Dahican (Mati)

We took off early in the morning, and my sister and I got around to helping the "decorators" of the venue who happened to be my childhood friends. Everyone (including us) was a bit groogy, because we all slept late or didn't sleep at all the night before since we all have to do last minute stuffs. (I was the one in charge for our surprise video presentation).

It was all crazy, really... we finished late with the decoration because we thought there were locals who would help us with the decoration, but no help came and if there was ever one... they came in late na rin. And we went to the party with no make up at all because there was only one bathroom and the party was about to start. The venue and the accommodation of the guests is like a 5-8 minutes ride.

Photo: (us with the debutante... like a fairy doll).

Anyway, despite all that.... it was arguably FUN! The debutante was the star of the night... unlike the usual (princessy debut which I had), it was fairly-like and of course hawaiian. She was the only one who was allowed to wear white. One thing I enjoyed was the "fire dance" and the hawaiian dance by the debutante and her mother at the last part. :)

that was February 13.... and it was also my birthday...

I told everyone to forget my birthday and give the day to Maranatha. And everyone was pretty accommodating. But, when the party ended and the debutante was entertaining the rest of her guests at Botona where we were all housed, everyone sang a "happy birthday" to me. *how sweet of them*

That night, was one of the best nights because I saw the diamond glittered star-filled sky. It was like a blanket of stars and I was barefoot with the sound of the waves and the wind howling at the background and the air was it's usual refreshing self. *swoons* Could this get any better? Too bad, I don't have pictures of the star-filled blanket of a sky.... it will forever be in my mind though. -_- *i have simple delights! just gimme nature.. and id be beaming with joy*

That night, we were good girls and boys... all we had was cake and coke. Bread breaking, eh? The modern way. Haha. :)

We just talked underneath the sky and with the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep. We slept around 3 in the morning like sardines because of the limited rooms.

There was like 13 of us in the room. It was crazy. :)

Photo: Don't mind the eyebags, please... -_-

Some of us woke up around 5-6am to scout for the surfer dudes to give us surfing lessons. And came the best "Valentine's everrrrrr". We talked to the guys from "Amihan sa Dahican". They were a nice lot. Too bad, I wasn't able to try the surfing.. I had the tide. Get my drift, please. The beach was bare save, for us. Perfect for beginners to surf. :)

I fell in love watching them surf. It made me want to go back to Dahican.

By the way, they have an upcoming Skim Competition this April. You can search them on Facebook and add them: Amihan Sa Dahican, for more information regarding their competition. You can also donate something for the said competition. :)

It was a good memory... and yes... I can't wait to go back to Dahican... I discovered a lovely place 3 hours away from Davao... =)

Surfing photos on my other post na lang.... :)

I know this is late... but how was your Valentine's? Or Chinese New Year? :)

The Game of Interdependence - Introduction

This post was transferred to the official blog of our office - DXN Davao - for the article - The Game of Interdependence - Introduction.

Have a great Day!

The Game of Interdependence - Introduction
The Game of Interdependence - Station 1
The Game of Interdependence - Station 2
The Game of Interdependence - Station 4
The Game of Interdependence - Station 5
The Game of Interdependence - Finale

Last Days of Summer

Mom promised us to watch Pirates of the Carribean 3: At World's End and so we did last Saturday (May 26). Review @ Espresso Break.

May 27 - A summer won't be complete if one does not head to the beach even just once. And so, we asked our parents to at least treat us for a beach outing. We went to a very known resort in Samal Island which is Paradise Island. It was crowded and I figured it was because of the cars parked in Davao plus it is a Sunday. Their boat ride improved. They already have an announcement in English probably designed for tourists. ( Starvation Heights(the book), Buko Juice and Kiamoy!)

One thing I like there was their food and of course the cottages they have for you to sleep on and read a good book. Davao sure seems like a small place, I met high school classmates and a couple of familiar faces. We weren't able to get a cottage to stay overnight because it was fully-booked which was O.K. and it kinda forced me to go take a dip (because I don't usually swim like I do when I was a kid. I only go to beaches to read and eat. Muwahaha. adik talaga). It was nice that I decided to swim (never mind the tan!) because I got to feed big fishes! Wooohoo. They have this place where you can feed and swim at the same time..

Oh and by the way, I would like to greet Chaya dear a Happy Birthday. She is in Kenya now and we rarely get our hi's and hello's nowadays. Happy Birthday!!! Missss youuu!



from L-R: Ate Kai, Me, Abigail, Yehyeh and Darlene

The next day(Monday, May 28), Yehyeh invited us over at her place for her slumber party. She invited us ever since the start of summer, either it gets canceled or something comes up making one unable to come. We watched 3 movies, The Illusionist, and to my horror Saw II and Arahan. It took us a long time to start our movie-watching because we were so busy slicing up the cake and laughing over a couple of things.


Yesterday(May 29), we left Yehyeh's place and headed home by 3pm.

I was asked to attend a seminar called "Survival Rate for Stage 4 and Terminal Cancer Patients Using U.S. FDA Approved Alternative Therapies" hosted by PCAM (Philippine College for the Advancement in Medicine and IIPA (International Iridology Practitioners Association) which I am part of.

Our lecturer Professor Xu Kecheng M.D. came from China and leads a hospital named Fudo Cancer Hospital at Guangzhou. Mostly, people who go there from different parts of the world are people who were rejected by other doctors. Amazingly, Professor Xu's Fuda hospital obtains a 70% long-time survival rate for Stage 4 and terminal cancer patients. In fact, one of his patients is a prominent Filipino with a liver cancer and he is not telling his name which is O.K.

The hospital gives you a choice whether you would want to undergo surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy or not. Most doctors would suggest you to undergo chemo for there are no other choice they say and basically I don't think chemo is healthy and I would not recommend other people to do it. The survival rate of Chemo is low and people who went under it usually survives for 4 months *(depends on the stage and the will to live)*.

I like Fudo's concept which is: "Appreciate Life and Never Give Up". They never give up on their patients and they always try hard to give them treatment. Their method is a mix of High Technology and Traditional Chinese Medicine which is pretty good. They believe in integration.

So, what are their treatments? Their main treatment is Cryosurgery. Yes, it is surgery still but it is a NON-invasive treatment. They simply freeze the tumor and take it out. They have other treatments as well like Photodynamic Therapy and Immuno Therapy.

Fuda is well staffed with 40 MD's and 60 nurses. Of the doctors, 37 are trained in Western medicine and 3 in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Fuda has 80 PRIVATE rooms with 2 beds each, one for the patient and the other for a companion (the bed for the companion, they say is much more comfortable than the patient). It has 100 wards with 150 beds. Fuda is in Guangzhou, very near Manila which only takes 2 hours to reach there.

Basically, Fuda only treats patients with tumor. They don't treat leukemia, since it is entirely different and they can't use cryosurgery for it. For leukemia patients, I suggest you go to a CERTIFIED alternative doctor with a western medicine background and make sure you research them o.k.?

I like the comment of Professor Xu and his translator Miss Lao (yes, he needs a translator which kinda makes the lecture a bit boring...) of Davao. "I think Davao is a nice place and when we were walking I feel safe, the police do their jobs." Was it a sign he is coming back to Davao ? Hehe.

NOTE: Attend Professor Xu's seminar for more information, if one is available over there.

For Cebu City: June 2, 5:30 to 9:30pm. Registration: 100Php. Free for PCAM members. at Cebu Country Club, Gov. M. Cuenco Ave., Banilad, Cebu City.

For health BUFFS out there, I can inform you of upcoming seminars if you want just give me a message and your contact number. (Specially people from Davao, I get updated once in awhile here.) :)

Enjoy the last days of Summerrr!!

Summer Spring

Imagine yourself you are in a cold place.... and the sun beats down hard upon you... and imagine it's futile attempt to make you feel it's 'heat'....

Let's go down and enter an unspoiled paradise.... it's not that grand and nothing modern about the place... but hey, it's cold.. the perfect way to go loll around the place... forgetting that "heat" exists....





Let's go down the steps from the car park leading down to the entrance....






Entering the resort would mean having to pay it's entrance fee......


There's a mini sari sari store beside the entrance, where the caretaker of the resort stays.......






Look up!

You can find big trees looming overhead...... old ones... untouched...

What a delight to see different flowers you rarely see in the city......

They come in blue....

Red.......

Whiteeeee........

and Pink...


growing wildly.......

And of course butterflies you can chase whole day long..... while they take their own dose of nectars from the flowers....















Let me take you to the trail that leads you down

the cold spring................





And lo and behold....



after what seems like an endless trail.....


It leads you down.....


down...




the hidden spring....

small as it may seem...

It is deep..... (for a liliputian like moi) and freezing....













Now... It's up to you...


to Jump or Dive in.

Salumay Busay Adventure

Last thursday(April 5, 2007) we headed to Salumay to spend a night there. Salumay is an hour and 30 minute drive away from Davao. Located at the border of Davao and Bukidnon. Salumay is a few minutes away from Epol Waterfalls and it is before Seagull Beach Resort. The Globe satellite is just near and so if you are a Globe subscriber you won't be fretting about the signal (I heard Globe has a signal in Mount Apo as well).

Salumay is planned to be developed and be claimed as Mindanao's Summer Capital. It is cold there... somewhat like Baguio.



We stayed at Salumay Busay resort. They have limited rooms and so you have to call, in advance and book yourselves a room which costs 750 a night. They have a huge ground for tennis/badminton and at night , you can also pitch a tent. I don't know how much the overnight stay while pitching the tent on the ground would cost.

I went with the rest of the family, when I say the-rest-of-the-family, it would mean 8-10 families).

Left picture: From L-R: Ate Kai, Empire, Me and Darlene.



They called it Salumay Busay Resort for nothing....

It has a cold spring!

Busay is Spring in english. Salumay if you translate it into english would be "Diving In"... and how fitting! The place has lots of cold spring waiting to be discovered and to be dived in.




Gosh.. when you step in the water.. it is freezing and would make your teeth chatter in seconds.



The pool is small but it's deep. Maybe 8 feet ? 9 ? I'm not sure. All I know is that it is deep.




Me and the rest of the girls: from L-R: Darlene, A.V., Jboy, Ate Kai, Abigail, and me in the salbabida.. (too chicken to be without it..)

The other side of the pool. :)

The greatest challenge I faced during our stay at the Busay was jumping.

I'm not afraid of heights, I am mortified with the depth of the water. Me, knowing how deep it would be created a turmoil.

I'm usually a daredevil when I was young.. but as I aged away(woot parang matanda na talaga) from challenges and all those fear-factor-adventure.... it's welling up on me... and now faced with this challenge.. argghh! But, I know I have to do it... just that... you know...


The first one who jumped from the four(Ate kai, Abigail, Darlene and Me) of us was Ate Kai (left pic).

Saying... in her jump...... that "It-is-ok" and "Everything's alright.

She swims.. so it wasn't hard for her. I don't swim. I have a couple of those I-almost-drowned experience and one drowning incident when I was 6 or 7.

The second one was Abigail. No problem for her because she swims as well. :P



I was the third person to jump.


I decided to jump if the salbabida would be just beyond my reach (although, it's just near for crying out loud but just in case..).

It took me a long time to jump... but I did.. with sheer horror and the feeling of having and wanting it to be over.

It was really a nothing-jump compared to my jump when I was 16 at Darong River which really literally made me experience the for-a-moment-everything-was-still and my heart-stopped...and it was a long jump.

This jump... is a short one. You'd reach the water before you can say Gone-with-the-wind. And, I wasn't lying when I said sheer horror because I was dreading it. And.. if you look closely, the pic I posted is also embarassing. It showed me in my oh-im-sooo-terrified state.





The last one to jump was my sister Darlene. Hehe. Funny pose noh ? :P The jump made her touch the bottom and sit. Like her, she was also terrified out of her mind.

But, we are planning to experience more of those fear-factor stuffs this summer. We should. Hehe. :)







A video that shows the dive of three kids:

Papo, Paolo (my bro), and Keisha....




Our day at Salumay was not all let's-jump-and-dive-in. We also baby sat for two kids... who would exhilarate you...

Ahhh.. the joys and frustrations of Aiah and Empire.... Joy when they smile.... frustrated when they cry hehe.. but thats part of being a kid.....

But we had fun chasing them around while they chase chickens and butterflies.

Another good thing when you are at Salumay are the butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. You would see black and bloody-red colored butterflies - a not so common color... the red and white with almost transparent black wing of another butterfly, a black and yellow butterfly... and other lovely variations. Also with the dragonflies... they are big and they have vibrant colors. Sooo pleasing to the eye.

Flowers are abundant in this part. You would squeal in delight when you chanced upon them only if you love flowers.

If you want to just stay for a day there are cottages which costs for Php 75 only. You can organize a retreat over here.... and rent a 2-story building for only 3,000.00 :)

All in all... it was fun and a great experience. The sissiness (if there is such a word, and yes my dictionary says no) of my jump, chasing kids and butterflies, cooking at dawn for everyone... and the twisting and turning because it's just too cold to sleep... was all worth it. :)

Thanks sa mga Easter gifts: Appreciate it lots: from Len, Lhyz and Yagi