Gabe and Maiah

I really don’t know why, but this will always be the most memorable photo shoot for me. Even though the pictures were taken a long time ago. Maybe, because I really had fun shooting this, or maybe because it was really sunny and everything was so blue and breezy. Or maybe, because of the people I was with. Or probably because I was in Moalboal.

Big Balloons at Pampanga

In 2011, I was not able to go to Pampanga’s 16^th Hot Air Balloon Festival because I was so busy wasting my time at work. So I promised myself that I should be there for the 2012 event. It was not that easy though, because there were a lot of changes where I work and I almost cancelled the trip. But I told myself, “WTF, to heck with that fickle minded company”. And, I really went to Pampanga on Feb. 8, 2012. 

Our first night was weird, because we stayed at a small pension house called 9fiveO at Field Avenue and we just found out that it’s inside a convenience store. I thought it was cool since you get to buy anything you need downstairs and the place doesn’t cost that much. The room was only P1, 400 per night. My first night at Pampanga was not that special, we just ate dinner at a mall, went back to our room and oh by the way, there were a lot of hookers at every corner of the street near the place where we stayed.  LOL!

On our 2^nd day, we woke up very early so that we can find a good spot for the 17^th Hot Air Balloon event. It was a cold early morning and I loved it. We paid an entrance fee of only P250 each and a few hours later; they let the big balloons fly. That was the first time I saw hot air balloons and it was really amazing. I was such a Happy Litse that day. At 10 AM, we left the event for our other trip and it was in Subic. So from the place where we stayed, we went back to Main Gate near Jollibee (it’s a terminal near Field Avenue), rode a Clark- Dau jeep for P8.00 each, we stopped at Caltex Terminal then went near Mabalacat Terminal to look for a bus or van that will go to Olongapo. We took an FX ride for only P130 per person and goodbye Pampanga we did! This trip was not costly, I guess I already enjoyed Pampanga for only P1, 300.  I am so coming back and here are the balloon overload!

Davao City

It was August of 2010, me and my friends got bored so we went for a little trip in Davao City. But before that epic trip, me and Tata did a lot of research online on the things that we can do in the Durian City of the Philippines. We found out that you can do a lot of things in this city like wakeboarding, climb Mt. Apo, you can also do ziplines, white water rafting, kayaking, nightout, island hopping and a whole lot more. Unfortunately, I was not able to do all those things since we only had 2 days to spend, so we promised to use it wisely.

The first on our list to go was in Samal Island, from the airport we rode a cab to a mall in Davao where we ate our breakfast. I forgot the name but I’m pretty sure it was a combination of Gaisano Metro and Ayala Malls here in Cebu. After breakfast, we went to Samal Island, where our transportation most of the time was a Habal-habal or Motorcycle drivers who can drift.  Yes, he did and it was so cool, but he asked permission first though. In Samal Island, we went to Hagimit falls and Maxima Aqua Fun and it was so awesome! Especially at Maxima, because of the big slide that they had. The adrenaline rush just by climbing the slide, being sucked and being thrown away in mid-air. I thought I would drown but the life jackets really work. We spent our whole first day there, having fun at the beach.  When we were already tired, we went back to Davao City and went to a little hotel there to stay for the night. But before we arrived at the hotel, we got lost for 30 minutes :D

On our second day, we went White water rafting with the Riverone cast. The worst decision I ever made on this trip was I did not bring a sunblock lotion because I thought it’s not going to be so hot since it rained last night and my first experience with water rafting in Cagayan was it rained too. But, however, unfortunately, it was so hot and hello super sunburn after this trip! After the epic rafting trip, we went to the Crocodile Farm, where we saw animals that can also be found in Cebu haha but what the heck, I just did it to feel the Davao City moment and we got lost again after that when trying to go back to the Hotel. It’s good to be lost once in awhile especially if you are with your friends, you can talk a lot of things when you’re lost like, “WTF you got us lost”, or “WTF wrong way get it? Wrong way!”.

So on our 3^rd day, we bid goodbye to our cozy room, bought some pasalubongs for hungry people I work with in Cebu and went back home. Boo! This trip didn’t cost a lot, it was just around P4, 000 I guess and it was all worth it!

Samal Island

Hagimit Falls

While we were all out there in the sea after the big slide, Tata stayed on that position for 30 mins hahaha

Maxima Aqua Fun

After this trip, Tata, wasn't able to go to work for days because she can't wear pants haha just shorts