Join the Mt. Makiling Trail Run

Was able to traverse Mt. Makiling January last year with Maldz Fallar and the MSOC kids. We started walking from the registration area in Sto. Tomas at exactly 6 AM.

(Read the accounts of my Mt. Makiling traverse by clicking here.)

It was stormy, making the trail wet and muddy. We reached UP Los Baños at almost 7 PM.

The mountain, though, was forested and a mountain in every sense of the word.

To know what I'm saying, you might wanna join MaQuiling Quest.

It's on Feb 26th.

E-mail: maquilingquest@yahoo.com or fax/call (+6349) 5362637 for more inquiries.

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Marinduque!

I was so proud when Pinoy Big Brother featured Marinduque recently. Biggel, one of the show's contestants was from that province where I was born.

I grew up in Manila and I have no emotional attachment, whatsoever, with Marinduque, but I feel like I belong there, nonetheless.

I've been convincing my climb buddy to go there with me for the longest time, to go up Marinduque's highest Mt. Malindig, but he has always been busy with school all we can do are day hikes.

And then I read about this invitation this morning:

June 9 is still months from now. I know I can convince K to go with me. Wag lang magka-bagyo.

For more info on this climb, you may e-mail noblebluefalcons_baler@yahoo.com.

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Even fireworks come in groups

After the Lucy Hale meet and greet at SMX last Saturday, I headed to the Seaside Blvd. of MoA cuz I was supposed to meet my friend Jonget to watch the first Pyromusical this year with.

It was actually the first time I would be shooting fireworks with a DSLR and I haven't tinkered with the camera much so I expected fail shots early on.

I didn't buy tickets since the SMX event ended at 6-ish and I knew the sea wall area was already full. Aside from that, I was still waiting for my friend and it would be so hard to meet inside the ticketed areas. (It happened to me and my sister two years ago.)

I watched the show beside the shawarma stand near the Ferris wheel amidst the crowd that would like to watch the Pyromusical for free as well.

Anyway, the show ended without Jonget showing up. The last I ate was lunch, but I didn't want to eat alone so I went home with a grumbling stomach. I really find it hard to eat alone in public places on a crowded day. Sitting alone at a table amidst groups of people in a crowded resto makes me feel more alone. LoL! Not that I have a problem with being alone. I just find it awkward.

Jonget texted sometime later telling me he's already on his way to MoA. I texted him back that I was already on my way home.

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Lucy Hale Loves Bench

Lucy Hale, star of the television series Pretty Little Liars, was at the SMX yesterday courtesy of Bench.

She's the newest endorser of the top local brand. She's cute, bubbly, almost talkative. Fans knew she could sing and was asked if she'd be releasing at least a single soon. She said there are plans, but refused to sing a line or two when the audience shouted "Sample!"

She's so accommodating, even kind, and has no superstar attitude (at least from what we saw on the stage).

She signed the shirts of the Facebook winners, had photo ops with the Twitter winners, signed autographs, and answered questions from the press and bloggers.

Tim Yap hosted the event which started at 5 PM (instead of the announced 4 PM). And because I haven't been to an event like this that started on time, I arrived at 4:30 PM. :D

But before Lucy Hale went to the stage, the audience was treated to a mini-fashion show. Pretty female and male models paraded in front of the audience.

Lance Howard, who was on television lately for being the boyfriend of PBB evictee Wendy Tabusalla, also walked the ramp.

On my way out after the event, I saw the most-good-looking-male-model-at-the-event sitting idly in one corner. Asked him for a photo and he was so kind.

Ben Chan himself was also there. He sat with Lucy Torres-Gomez and her daughter Juliana who was with another kid.

It was a fun Saturday, especially that the first of the four pyromusical Saturdays at MOA's Seaside Blvd. happened right after the Bench event.

I was supposed to meet with my friend Jong for the pyromusical but something happened he wasn't able to get there. I ended up watching alone in the middle of the crowd. :(

PLDT MyDSL's Anna Banana TVC

Chanced upon the new PLDT MyDSL television commercial for the first time today. It made me teary-eyed.

Imagine your mother secretly watching your YouTube video over and over again to make the hits counter show a good number of views. All that trouble because she knows it will make you happy to find out that "people" watch your video.

Mothers will really do anything just to make their kids happy. I'm a strong believer of that.

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The Valiente Bloggers Event

I was at Pepeton's Grill yesterday for the Valiente Bloggers Event.

It seemed like ages when I last went to that part of Quezon City. It made me nostalgic of the time when I was still writing novels, traveling two long hours via ordinary bus with a printed out 120-page manuscript inside my bag, holding it like a newborn child.

I went with Jun. The invite said 2 PM. We arrived at 2:30 PM. The event started around 3:30 PM.

We left exactly 5 PM and Jun was a little nervous because he still had a presentation to make at 5:30 PM. From Mother Ignacia, he had to travel all the way to McKinley where his office was.

I actually don't know what happened because we still haven't talked since after the event. LoL!

They gave out these cute Valentine cups as a token for attending the event. V daw kasi could mean either Valiente or Valentine's.

The above photo was taken by Jun. He's supposed to be my videographer but I kinda knew he would get the DSLR from me once he saw it. So I ended up taking videos.

BTW, Valiente is a remake of the 90s afternoon soap and will be shown on TV5 starting Monday, Feb. 13th. It stars JC De Vera, Oyo Sotto, Nadine Samonte and Niña Jose among others.

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The Eye

Went to Mall of Asia last night and realized I still haven't seen the Eye, which is currently the tallest Ferris wheel in the country.

The carts (is that what you call those?) are said to be air conditioned. But then I'm afraid of carnival rides. I have trust issues when it comes to putting my life on the line. LoL!

More pics here.

Fukushima pets need to be rescued

Pet owners in Fukushima had to leave their homes during last year's nuclear crisis. Sadly, they could bring with them as much, leaving the pets behind.

Animal welfare groups were allowed to enter the area around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last December to rescue the pets who had to suffer high radiation, severe lack of food and extreme winter weather.

So far, the United Kennel Club of Japan has rescued 290 cats and 34 dogs from the region. But there are still many of them left out in the cold. Animal footprints were reported to be seen in the snow. These animals are fighting to survive.

Unlike the well-fed pets, starving animals cannot keep themselves warm because they little to no body fat left. They cold would eventually kill them.

Many of the pet owners go back to their radiation tainted home every now and then with hopes that their pets have returned. One man even leaves food for his cat saying, "I just want my cat to be alive."

It has been 10 months since the earthquake that struck Japan has resulted into a tsunami and nuclear meltdown. But we can never blame the government. They had to save the people first, we understand.

This makes me want to hug my dogs. We're very, very lucky we're not in that situation.

My heart goes out to all the dogs and cats left starving in the cold, and to the pet owners whose hearts, I'm sure, are still breaking until now.

May all those pets who have not survived rest in peace, and those that are still alive be immediately rescued.

PS
I'm literally crying while writing this.

Old Friends

You two have been my best of friends and it will always stay that way.

But I know you're both tired and I will give you time to rest. I hope, though, that you'd still want to go with me on my adventures whenever I need you.

You two will both be missed.

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Wendy

This is Wendy, one of my two local dogs. She's 2 months younger than Princess.

And yes, those are green eyes. So lazy I didn't fix it anymore.

She's named after Wendy Valdez cuz Nanay and I were big fans of PBB. Her sister was named Beauty, after Beauty Gonzales. And their mother, who passed away soon after giving birth, was named Keanna. And yes, you guessed it right. Named after Keanna Reeves.

Haha!

Bakya

This was one of my pasalubong to Nanay when I went to Baguio last year.

It was really a dangler, and Nanay attached it to her bag. The bakya got detached from the chain months ago. Buti na lang the bakya was saved.

I'm hoping to go back to the summer capital later this month in time for the float parade of Panagbenga Festival.

I'll buy Nanay another keychain kapag natuloy. LoL!

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Cosplay Puppy

A cute puppy cosplayer.


I just hope he's comfortable.

Sandugo's New Fly Lacing System

Sandugo has a new line of trail running shoes with Fly Lacing System that provides a dramatic improvement over shoelaces for almost any kind of performance footwear. It was tested with thousands of hours in field use.

Prices:

TRUN 26 – P3,325
TRUN 21 – P2,375
TRUN 32 – P3,395
WATER 13 – P2,495
WATER 08 – P2,125

I want the Water 13A but I just bought a camera and I already made a promise not to buy anything for mountaineering/hobby for the next six months. I hope these don't go out of style by then.

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