Plan your leaves with this 2012 holiday guide

Planning your limited leaves and taking advantage of these holidays will help give you the much needed fuss-free vacation you'll need to survive the year. Here are a few tips on when to file your leaves for 2012.

• January 23 - A long weekend coming up very soon! Want to have a longer weekend? Take a leave on January 20 (friday) or January 24 (tuesday)
• April 5-9 - Holy week vacation starts and ends with Araw ng Kagitingan. A very long vacation to have but plan early to avoid the peek season rate rush
• May 1 - Take up a vacation leave on April 30 to enjoy a long weekend's rest before Labor day
• June 12 - Take up a vacation leave on June 11 to enjoy a long weekend's rest
• August 21 & 27
• Take a leave on August 20 (monday) or August 24 (friday) to take advantage of a longer vacation on these dates
• November 1,2 & 30
• Take a leave on November 5 (monday) to extend your November holiday. These gives you time to visit the cemetery during the weekdays and find some R&R with a longer weekend.
• You can also opt to extend the Bonifacio Day holiday by taking a leave on December 3 (monday).

These makes up most of the local holidays. There are a few privileged cities that declare non-working days too (i.e. Taguig city day, Quezon City day etc). Make sure to watch out for these and plan your trips ahead

Christmas in Pampanga - Giant Lantern Festival

After some thought on what to post this Christmas, our blogger decides to use one of the most popular Christmas symbols in the Philippines to be his subject -- the "Parol".

Last December 17, he and his family (mom, brother and nephew) went to Robinsons Starmills, Pampanga to witness the Giant Lantern Festival.

This is a yearly competition of the biggest and brightest lanterns made by the best lantern-makers in the region. The materials used for each entry in the giant lantern festival may sum up to approximately P500, 000 or more (not counting the hard work and craftsmanship put into it).

iHome-GMM home building, turning 'grey' to 'white'



15 OCT 2011 – Rain has just passed and the sun was out in all its mighty glory. On this day, our stoked traveler is given another chance to give back to the society. 

Through the combined efforts of iHOME-GMM, formerly greater metro manila habitat for humanity,  and Inspire@HP, volunteers gathered in Tandang Manang, Valenzuela. This is to continue what started as a strenuous home building activity to now a less tasking application of the finishing touches through white paint.



The stoked painter with Inspire@HP volunteers

To our stoked traveler this isn’t exactly one of those adventures where one expects to see nature and scenic sights in its grandeur. It is actually the opposite. Nonetheless, it is one of those tasks that alone he will never get a chance to accomplish.

The groups coming from each of the Hewlett Packard offices arrived on site at 10AM. As soon as the stoked traveler and his van-mates stepped out, they were greeted by the blazing heat of the sun. It was painfully harsh and it was a good thing that the residents of the community set up a central tent as the command post/dining area for the volunteers.

It was running late and the group was a little behind the schedule. Inspire@hp organizers wasted no time and went thru the opening program/refreshments. As soon as everything was set, it was time to paint the houses.

Our stoked traveler (in this case stoked painter) was looking forward to getting started with the painting. Unfortunately, there was a little set back with the paint brushes and who’s to paint what house. After a few talks and moving around, he and his group finally settle to join other volunteers in painting a row of houses.

Time to paint!

A homeowner was pleasant enough to exchange stories (even jokes) with our stoked painter and his group. He learns that the houses built are paid for by the tenants at a 10 year program. About a thousand pesos goes to the land and another thousand pesos or so goes to payment for the house every month. Roughly P2,500/month for 10 years and they get to finally own a house for themselves. Not bad for a rent-to-own scheme considering the place was approximately 30sqm.

At 4PM the group called it a day and they were sent home with warm appreciation from the community. A whole day of painting transformed what started out to be a gloomy ‘grey’ place into a bright place of ‘white’.  



Homeowners applauding inspire@hp volunteers and iHome-GMM
KatCo (lady in front-center) is one of the organizers from inspire@HP



To the volunteers it may just be another day, a new experience. But to the people whose houses they built and painted, it’ll be years worth of use. Someday those white houses may be painted a livelier color (who knows) but atleast every time the people of that community looks up at one of those houses, they will remember the volunteers from inspire@hp who helped build for them the houses they are now living on. Truly an inspire-worthy activity J

To learn more about iHome-GMM visit their website:

http://ihomegmm.org/about-us/



Surf & Music Festival 2011 - Rockin' and Surfin' Baler

So that's where it is!

Baler, the capital of Aurora, is a coastal town in eastern Luzon some 6-8 hour bus ride from Manila. It is known to be the birthplace of Philippine surfing after the crew members of the 1979 film Apocalypse Now left their surfboards to the locals.

Fortunately for our stoked traveler, he managed to secure a slot in what is to go down in Philippine surfing history as the FIRST SURF & MUSIC Festival!

October 28, 2011 – about 2 hours before Day 1 of the Surf & Music festival organized thru the efforts of Aloha Board sports and Travel Factor (and the other sponsors), the stoked traveler takes a cab going to Ynarres Sports Complex. There were lots of people already when he arrived. After signing up the registration form and reading the waiver, he locates BUS 8 (assigned bus) to unload his bags. He knew it was going to be a long ride so he decided to take a leak first before departure. Unfortunately, the guards at Ynarres Sports Complex weren’t accommodating enough to let the people use the restrooms. He had to go to a nearby Shell station just to use the C.R. When he was set, he went back to the bus to settle down at the very uncomfortable back-most seat. Thank God for the pleasant seat mates he had for just being good seat mates and making the trip a little more comfortable.

October 29 – Day 1 of Surf & Music Festival 2011. After an approx 8 hour ride with 2 stopovers along the way, our stoked traveler along with the travel factor team arrives at Carlito’s Inn in Baler, Aurora (8am). Everyone was eager to take a quick rest before the start of the activities but much to the dismay of everyone, the Inn wasn’t ready to accommodate the group. So the travel factor coordinator Raffy asked everyone to either take their breakfast at the inn or go to the beach – naturally our traveler preferred the beach.

He and the rest of the other solo travelers settled to take breakfast in Bay’s Inn. He was really hungry and decided to order a big surf breakfast (strips of bacon, 2 eggs, bread, rice, juice & coffee) for P150. It was pricey even for our stoked traveler but he went ahead anyway to say that he got a taste of this ‘Big Surf Breakfast’.



Hot sun. Nice View. Cool Waves.



Traveling solo has its perks: you’re free to go where you want, meet new friends and sometimes even run across old faces. In this case, our traveler met Jao, one of his former engineers when he still worked as a manager in an AV company. It was pleasant for him to know that people he knows are never really very far from him. A few minutes after, he sees other fellow employees in the new company he works for.

It was only at 12pm when the rooms were “partially” available. Even the ‘Gym Room’ assigned to our stoked traveler and his roomies wasn’t ready (though he doubts that anyone would have a prior reservation for a gym room). After fixing the shower, door lock, mopping the floor etc, the group (Neil, Patrick, Albert, Joel and the stoked traveler) was finally able to settle them and steal a quick 2 hour rest.



Staying in a mini gym was a totally different gym-experience

At 3pm the group decides to head back to the beach to get a taste of the ocean ambiance. The sun was still scorching hot but the waters were just too inviting to ignore. Our traveler and his group for this event decided to Surf up and brave the waters.

His instructor, Daniel from Maddox, showed him how to stand on the board and the proper leg position. He also learned that his stance was ‘Goofy’. After a couple of drops on the water, our stoked traveler began to manage to balance himself on the long board and started to have fun! The one-hour session went by too fast and he had to call it a heat.

Gym Roomies: Stoked Traveler, Neil, Patrick, Joel, Albert

After the surf, he was looking for a henna tattoo store but there was none within the area. There were only permanent tattoos of which our stoked traveler wasn’t ready for yet.

Dinner time came and the group decided to head to the town to taste some local food. All decent places were crammed up with tourists joining the event and waiting time was from 45 minutes to 1 hour! It was too much of a waste of time to wait because the music fest was soon to begin. The group decided to go to Rolling store (carinderias along the street) to have their dinner. Meals were considerably cheap at P45 (viand + rice) but the serving size was only fair. After dinner, the group went back to the inn to freshen up and get ready for the parteeh!

Franco in da house!

There were only a few bands lined up for Day 1 of the Surf & Music Fest known to our stoked traveler. Tropical Depression and Franco (Day 1’s highlight) rocked the night along with BI and Coffee Break Island. Coffee Break Island sounded great and it showed as people started to gather when they played their sounds. Manila beer provided booze for P50 per can (a little pricey considering they were a major sponsor of the event). It was sad that no other drinks were available near the concert grounds (although others snuck in some happy horses and SMBs in Manila beer containers lol). A few minutes past midnight, our stoked traveler and his remaining companion Patrick decided to call it a day and headed back to Carlito’s Inn.

October 29 – Day 2 of Surf & Music Festival 2011. The stoked traveler and his roommates (aka gym buddies as they were assigned to a gym room), woke up to rain! The 8am surfvivor challenge was moved to 12pm. The traveler, Joel and Patrick decided to have breakfast at Carlito’s Inn for convenience of location. Unfortunately, the inn staff wasn’t prepared for food orders and most of the items on their menu weren’t available. They just settled to get tocilog and some cup noodles. Over breakfast our traveler learns interesting things about his new travel companions. Joel was a cook in Lemuria (high class French resto along Katipunan) and Patrick works for a gaming company - gameloft. Our stoked traveler was interested in both jobs too! (He will be adding culinary school to his things to do 2012)

After breakfast the group takes a tricycle ride to the beach (P15/head) where they parted ways temporarily. The traveler and Patrick watched the surfvivor challenge together and were later on joined by Neil and Albert (who early in the day decided to go side-tripping in other tourist areas of Baler). Joel was with his buddies from UP and travel factor but also watched the surfvivor challenge. The surfvivor challenge was a mix of beginners and learned surfers. Our stoked traveler looks forward to joining this activity in a year (hopefully he gains enough skill to show off on the surf board).

The group had their lunch in Bay-Ler Hotel. Our traveler was full of envy to see that this place was so much better in every way compared to Carlito’s Inn. Even for the P1000 peso difference in accommodations, it would’ve been all worth it. The food, staff, ambience, amenities, everything was good enough for tourists to have a stress-free stay in Baler. He highly recommends this place for future trips in Baler.

Later in the afternoon, the group goes for another surf lesson. Day 2 surf was better because our stoked traveler was a little more experienced and fell off the board lesser times than the previous day. But again, the one-hour session seemed too short as the night sky started to cover the day light. The group called it in and went back to their gym-room to prepare for Music Festival Day 2 where a lot more prominent bands and personalities were to perform.

After having dinner in a barbecue/grill house somewhere in town, the group now heads towards Aliya Beach for the concert. However, learning from Day 1’s experience (expensive drinks and less flavorful choices), they decided to get a little tipsy back in Bay-Ler Hotel with a few bottles of SMB

Diego Mapa of Pedicab with Albert and our stoked traveler

Echo, Pedicab and Wolfgang were the bands our stoked traveler recognized during the performance. Day 2 of the music fest was so much better than Day 1 and Wolfgang was a perfect way to end the festivities. Of course, having cool hosts like Jessica and Josh of Magic 89.9 adds great flavor to this festival. Thanks to Albert, the stoked traveler managed to get some photo ops with a few performing celebs.

Josh and Jessica of Magic 89.9

Manuel Legarda Lead Guitarist of Wolfgang

Echo of Echo?

October 30 – Last day of the event. Our stoked traveler was undecided whether to go for a tour of Baler or to have surf Day 3. In the end, for camaraderie’s sake he decided to go with Patrick and Joel for another day at the beach and just make another trip to Baler to see the sights (and maybe surf again). It wasn’t a very tough decision though after all Baler will always be around but the new faces he met may not be there.  

When the group arrived at Sabang beach, they got disappointed to learn that all surfboards were already rented out and a waiting list of reservations was already filled up. So the group decided to just have their photos taken at the Pentax booth in Aliya beach just to find out that the booth was also already taken down. Finally, they just settled to have a swim in the beach and enjoy the waves of Baler without surf boards. Our stoked traveler wanting to make the most out of the experience persisted to find a board and an instructor for his surf Day 3. So he did find one but was tricked into believing that the board to be used was a long board. The board given wasn’t big enough for a beginner and didn’t have sufficient wax on it. Our traveler could barely stand on it because other than it was slippery; the board was too light that the waves were just shaking it too much. Day 3 was an epic fail, had he chosen to just take the tour of Baler, he may have had a better experience. Therefore, no short boards for our stoked traveler until he has mastered the long board!

All in all it was a very energizing and enlightening experience. It is our stoked traveler’s first time to travel solo and while no one really understood why, our stoked traveler now knows that he should not be confined by what others think as strange or irrational. Traveling for him is now about going to places he wants to go and meeting new faces whether they are to be his new friends or mere acquaintances. New experiences are always to be treasured. Whether the experience be taking on a new sport, riding at the back of a tricycle across town shirtless or simply finding personal space, they are all significant in forming who you will be. No one will ever understand the beauty of traveling until he/she fully knows what it is he/she is traveling for.

He knows that this will be more than just a one-time thing for him. He is now looking forward to another adventure to take on for his upcoming birthday!

Tour Package (c/o Travel Factor): P3,200

No. of Days: 3 days/ 3 nights (Including Bus Sleepover)

Pocket Money Spent: P2,000 (mostly for surf lessons and meals)

Overall Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Accommodation: 2 out of 5 stars

Food: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Activities: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Value for money:  4 out of 5 Stars



International Coastal Cleanup 2011: Cleaning up the coast of Anilao

This is the first visit of our stoked traveler to Anilao. It’s also his first time to join Inspire@HP (a group of concerned Hewlett Packard employees). Being his first time on both, naturally he is very much excited to see what's in store for him.

After all the planning and behind the scenes coordination, the day of the cleanup has arrived…

September 17, 2011 – an early call time was necessary to reach Planet Dive, Anilao, Batangas in time to meet the schedule of activities.



Our blogger with the rest of the organizers



Unfortunately for our blogger, he was running late and amidst all the rush — he left his company issued cellphone on the MGE cab he rode on the way to the pick up point. Only a few minutes after stepping down from the cab, he asked his team mate to call the number only to find out that the phone was already turned off. (So there, even company taxi drivers are not so honest afterall!)

It took about 2 hours or so to get to the dive resort. It wasn’t a pleasurable trip because the blogger was the assigned van marshall and had to entertain the driver who was extremely talkative. The driver was also a little bit of a know it all and didn’t follow the directions to the resort so it may have taken longer than expected to get to the destination.


After arriving at Planet Dive and settling down, the first thing that hit our blogger was that the interior of the Villas looked great. It was breezy and had good natural lighting. Even better was that it was facing the sea!
The activity started with a quick talk about ICC 2011 and AM snacks followed thereafter. The snack wasn’t the greatest but an ok tummy filler nonetheless.


At 10:30 am the cleanup teams were deployed to their target area. Green 02 Team (the blogger’s team) was to take a boat ride over to Kambingan Island for their cleanup assignment.

Clear emerald waters at the cove...

Kambingan Island was just a small cove but it seemed like it was were most of the trash was heading.

It is called "kambingan" for obvious reasons...

The team had their bags full of trash at the end of the 1 hour activity under the scorching heat of the sun. Trash was anything from diapers, bottles, toys, slippers, shoes to some of the most unusual stuff like a fuse box and syringes (how could those things end up there right?)
 

bags of trash way more than what we expected..glad we got to pick up this much

  So everyone knows, normally our blogger doesn’t like spending too much time under the mid-day sun. But for this activity, he took an exception, it wouldn’t be nice to sit around in a cool and comfy shade when everyone were taking their time picking up trash washed away on the coast of this beautiful island.

Taking a quick rest under the shade...

All in all it was a fulfilling activity. It was a saturday well-spent for nature and learning not to just throw even the littlest of things in the water.

(Although our blogger wasn’t able to take a dive or even a swim in the clear water, he was satisfied just to know that there are places like these not too far from urban Manila. He will surely be back for some diving lessons next time!)

 

Our divers ready to take the plunge (to clean