microblogged adventure

Some real-time updates via plurk.

Latest plurks on top, earliest on the bottom.

2009-06-29

backpackGirlis in a bit of a shock after more than a week detox-ing from manila smog, rush, watches & caffeine... [20:38, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis all packed & ready to fly home. I miss you guys! [08:13, 5 responses]

backpackGirlhas 1 hour of last minute exploring at bacolod while dawn sleeps (& hopefully gets ready soon) [06:52, 4 responses]

2009-06-28

backpackGirlsays dawn says the batchoy in bar21 is **GOOD**. It's a huge & sulit serving! [18:53, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis having an intimate dinner with her perpetual date and backpack buddy. Sana lang don sha instead of dawn [18:52, 0 responses]

backpackGirlwas able to explore a bit while dawn slept, even got henna'ed (badly, but still readable. It's in greek so noone can tell anyway) [11:32, 0 responses]

backpackGirlloves how our lodgings are right next to the market area! **ahluvet**[11:31, 1 response]

2009-06-27

backpackGirl swam with pawikan at apo island! Sooooooo cool! & i finally had buko juice out of the shell! Mura pa! another AWESOME day [16:58, 0 responses]

backpackGirlwill have ultimate snorkeling adventure today at apo island, where even a marine biologist friend went "WOW." [06:12, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis satisfied with the after dinner 1.5hr massage we had last night... Still considering 1-hr thai massage tonight [06:10, 0 responses]

backpackGirl great day going around siquijor yday, jumped off another waterfall & visited another lush beach! [06:08, 0 responses]

2009-06-26

backpackGirl barely made the 9am boat to siquijor. Didn't think to wear swim bottoms with my sundress though so hoping to find an ukay to get board short [09:04, 0 responses]

backpackGirl having breakfast at a mexican resto in dumaguete. Dawn is having continental breakfast & i got jalape?o soup. No halape?o, but the avocado is surprisingly good[08:31, 0 responses]

photo taken by: Greg Morales (We bumped into my cousin the on the boardwalk!)

2009-06-25

backpackGirl we saw dolphins today! And lots of fishies when we snorkeled on balicasag island! Woohooo!!! [phplurk.com] [11:53, 7 responses]

2009-06-24

backpackGirlis back at alumbung, will update travelog over hot tsokolate [21:33, 0 responses]

backpackGirlthinks no matter how well you research and prepare, unless you're with a native, the tourist traps WILL get you... [18:38, 6 response]

backpackGirl saw chocolate hills today & had photo op with a world-weary tarsier. [18:37, 0 responses]

backpackGirlfeels sad that the waves were too strong for dolphin watching today. better luck tomorrow... at least we got to snorkel & have lobster brunch! [18:36, 0 responses]

2009-06-23

backpackGirlhopes tomorrow's weather will be better so we can watch dolphins & go snorkeling! [20:53, 1 response]

backpackGirlshares quotable from dawn: 'you got your phonecall, i got my sashimi. That's how it's going to be.' [20:51, 3 responses]

backpackGirlis back at alumbong. 2 cocktails didn't do too much damage. Chased them down with 2 h2o, which may have helped. [20:48, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis on alona beach sharing seaweed salad, sashimi, & cocktails on a windy night [19:28, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis at alona beach, explored a bit. Pretty place, despite the gray weather. Lotsa dive shops. [16:46, 2 responses]

backpackGirl we're at our first NICE resort of the trip, it's gray & drizzly. Perfect setting for lounging around & reflection. We wanna beach tho! [11:15, 1 response]

backpackGirl that boat ride was hella cold (oxymoronic i know). signal no.1 typhoon in tagbilaran. My nose is runny & i'm hungry... *sigh* [phplurk.com] [11:15, 0 responses]

backpackGirlwill see tarsiers & waterfalls today! But first, we need to get to bohol safely. [04:49, 3 responses]

backpackGirlfeels a cold coming on. ohnoes... Must keep strength levels up!
[04:06, 0 responses]

backpackGirlsays 4am how i love thee. Gonna go get ready, have to leave at 5 to make our 6am ferry ride to bohol.
[04:02, 0 responses]

2009-06-22

backpackGirlwas treated to dinner at casa verde by buddy. Great eats! We're now at backpacker's hostel, sugbutel. free wifi!!!
[22:25, 1 response]

backpackGirl whoa it's pouring down on cebu city, complete with thunder & lightning! Woohoo! We're still on the bus, hope we make our dinner date with bu
[19:06, 0 responses]

backpackGirlhas jelly sting islands on 3 prominent areas. it's like a complete archipelago!
[15:06, 2 responses]

backpackGirlhas a tan!!!
[14:59, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis off the boat from bantayan island, now in a net cafe waiting for her bus from Hagnayan Port to Cebu City
[14:59, 0 responses]

backpackGirlwill go have breakfast with dawn now. Grilled fresh seafood FTW!
[07:41, 0 responses]

backpackGirlwill go to cebu city later, will dinner with buddy (ccc). check out our website for our itinerary
[07:27, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis disappointed that some of my phplurks didn't go through. oh well... we're on bantayan island, cebu. i found a tiny net cafe to check stuff.
[07:26, 0 responses]

backpackGirl saw the sunrise to start off another beautiful day. it's bright & a little drizzly. Perfect! wish you were here! [phplurk.com]
[07:08, 0 responses]

backpackGirlis awake again at an ungodly hour. *sigh* i still don't know why my smart 3g services aren't working. Might visit them when we do cebu ci
[04:31, 0 responses]

2009-06-21

backpackGirl wow this beach has the finest sand i've ever seen! like clay when wet! My dependency on coffee has been unmasked by this unscheduled detox
[18:14, 3 responses]

backpackGirl after a rugged bus ride where i stood for half the time (told u i was low-maintenance) we're now on the barge bound for bantayan island.
[16:50, 3 responses]

2009-06-20

backpackGirl just landed in cebu, Flight was good. as expected, taxi from airport to pier is PRICEY. Still weather is fabulous so woot! [phplurk.com]
[20:48, 1 response]

backpackGirlwill go to the airport now. Friends, HELP KEEP MY KARMA ALIVE! Thanks and i love you guys!
[04:01, 7 responses]

mid-adventure

Maybe only in the Philippines? I found a TINY internet cafe beside the market in Bantayan Island, Cebu. Just wanted to say that Dawn and I are having a great time, the first weekend was great and the weather is holding out pretty well, despite it being monsoon season.

We're having a blast taking very adventurous modes of transpo to explore the local sights. The beaches are LUSH! As soon as we think we've found the best one, we find one that's even better.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep our friends updated via twitter and plurk but some of the text updates aren't going through. Oh well... I'll keep trying.

Pls continue to pray (of if you don't like that, cross your fingers and send us happy thoughts) for good weather and good health and safe passage to all our destinations.

Again, HERE'S OUR LATEST ITINERARY

surprise!

Take the element of surprise as an exercise on flexibility.  

That's what I learned this weekend.

And what a crazy weekend it was!  Had to go to Butuan, Cebu, Palawan last Saturday-Sunday for work.  First I thought, great, I'd even get a chance to do some sort of an ocular in Cebu a week before our trip and probably book some of our ferry rides.  But then our flight to Butuan got delayed for 5 hours.  So we had to miss our flight (which was the only flight out) to Cebu and ended up taking the Superferry, which lasted for 10 hours overnight.

But yeah, these things do happen.  Not everything will go according to schedule, given flight/ferry delays and the weather and if we change our minds.  I'm glad to have had experienced this before our adventure.  

Since in Cebu we only had time for breakfast and a shower before checking in for our flight to Palawan, I didn't have time to buy our ferry tickets.  I think God allowed for this to happen to let me learn that things can fail to go as planned.  And what we thought we'd save by purchasing tickets early to get a discount may actually cost us more in the end when we'd have to move or cancel or refund the tickets. 

So I'm recording this mental note: surprise = flexibility.