Holiday in Bangkok

This is my first ICPM with the Destiny family with the theme "UNSTOPPABLE" I remember that my best experience there was seeing Sokha (a Cambodian) who prayed for her countrymen and also our Cambodian families leading the Praise and Worship. It was so awesome! It's like a glimpse of heaven as stated in the Psalm "every nation, tribe, people, and tongue worship HIM".

Sokha praying, DMI Pastors, DMI Pipz wearing chosen National costumes

the view from our hotel room at different times of the day

One thing that I enjoyed during the first day is some sort of "amazing race", we go around Bangkok per group and do the tasks assigned to us then whoever comes back first wins the game. It was so much fun as it involved using the train, tuk-tuk and walking around, trying out street food, and connecting with the locals. Photos below from our team: Pastor Val, May, Gian, and Me =)

Before coming here, I was wondering if I could eat the food since I am not fond of spicy food, and as I tried Thai food in LB, my taste buds don't seem to like the spice but, all that changed, as I get to try authentic Thai food, thanks to Boyet Valenzuela (Tonettes' friend who's teaching in Bangkok), he brought us to the best street food restaurants in BKK. Check out some food that we tried.

I think I like this coconut dessert, I'm just not sure how was it then

I don't know what this is

this is the street food crepe

 

another famous street food, the frog, cricket, and the likes

I think people close to me already know that I love dolphins, and as much as I love dolphins I also love ELEPHANT, I remember when Dambo roam around outside Araneta Coliseum then, I wanted to have him as a pet. I have an inkling about huge friendly animals. And so, this experience of feeding an elephant is soooooooooo awesome, next time I wanted to go to Chiang Mai to experience bathing and feeding and taking care of them. Meanwhile see my excitement as I feed this gentle, hungry giant of pipino (cucumber).

I am not sure whether my churchmates already went home but I, Wilbert and Joseph decided to stay for a couple of days to see other places in Bangkok. And a good thing, Tonette and friends were so generous to spend their weekend touring us around. 

Our first stop is in Ayutthaya, an ancient city known fully as Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, naichicka sa'kin na this is Thai capital for 417 years. The city was founded in 1350 by King U-Thong, when this was the capital, 33 Kings of different dynasties ruled the kingdom until it was sacked by the Burmese in 1767. It boasts numerous magnificent ruins. Akalain mo there's really beauty in being "wasak" and this is included in UNESCO's list of world heritage since December 13, 1991. (from Ayutthaya.net )

for my TODA collection

The last park that we went to is very much like our Nayong Pilipino, sadly it's no longer existing, we could have developed that to be a tourist attraction such as this Ancient City or Ancient Siam in Bangkok. It is a park of reduced scale and full-size replicas of important buildings in Thailand. A tour of Thailand's greatest architecture via golf cart, bike, or tram. The park's goal is to bring the Thai people to their roots, that of the ancient Siam Kingdom, besides having copies of Thailand's landmarks, it is also Thailand-shaped. So let's go and have a look.

Awwwwww I now missed traveling, I hope to be back in Thailand. 

Sawasdee kha! (Hello) 

Cex kan khraw hna (See you next time)

Thank you all for your photos.

Yehey, Buhul!

Went back to Bohol in 2017, this time with friends and it was already a planned trip. Since we are a big group of travelers with kids we plan out this trip, myself being the ultimate planner. We are here to attend a friend's wedding, Omar and Tonette's wedding. Since we are part of the proposal, we should also be part of the wedding, right? And since we are in Bohol, we don't just attend the wedding, we also want to see places and have fun. First things first, the wedding then after the "YEHEY, Buhul!" tour. That's Unsoy's scream for this trip, I think he enjoyed the trip. I hope you will too as you take a look at our photos.

Touch down Tagbilaran! Imagine this big group in 1 plane, ansaya!! Missing the Villanuevas in this shot, they came at a later flight. 

At dahil big group kami, nag-AirBnB kami for our home for this trip, ito ang kusina area, kung san nag-merienda muna at sa may likod at pool area naman yung isang photo, kung saan chumichika kami sa caretaker ng bahay, from Tagbilaran we travel 30 minutes to reach our home in Panglao. And since we are in Panglao, before we end the day, we went to the beach for a walk and for dinner, that's Day 1.

Day 2 namin ang big day for Omar and Tonette but since late afternoon pa yun, siningit muna ulit ang gala at lunch out na din, we visited Bohol Bee Farm.

And then, the main pakay in Bohol =) 

Day 3 na, gala na ito to the max. Since I planned the trip, I listed there the usual to go from my 2015 trip here; Tarsier Sanctuary, Chocolate Hills, Man-made Forest, and ang bago, Hanging Bridge. So, tara, silipin natin:

Bago gumala, photo op muna sa harap ng aming bahay sa Panglao

After the tourist spots in Tagbilaran and Panglao, we proceeded to the Boracay of Bohol, the Anda de Boracay. Most of the group went back to Panglao after our beach bumming and celebration of Sonia's birthday, only 6 adventurous souls remain, to explore more of what's in store for us here in Anda. 

ang natira: Gids, Ako, Anna, Jhoanne, May and Pogs

Day 4, uwian na ang the rest of the crew, for us 6, it's adventure day begins. After our breakfast and buying stuff to bring, we rented a Motorela to bring us to Candijay for the Can-umantad falls.

for my TODA collection

the Can-umantad Falls is the tallest waterfall in Bohol located at Barangay Cadapdapan

Canawa Cold Spring at Barangay Canawa whose name came from the local term "cawa"; since we came from Hot Spring Capital it's good to dip in cold spring 

We skip going to the Cadapdapan Rice Terraces since we've seen huge rice terraces from elsewhere already. After lunch in Candijay market, we headed back to Anda for the cave pools. Cave pools are scattered around Bohol, particularly in the Southeastern part of the province where Anda is located. Our first stop is Cabagnow Cave Pool. Cabagnow is the deepest and the biggest among the other cave pools here (Cateres, Kaligoon, Tiburako, East Coast - not able to visit). Beautiful crystal clear water and a 5-meter drop for those who want to jump in (we did). 

The next stop is the Combento Cave pool. Located in Barangay Virgen, Anda, the Combento Cave pool is a refreshing dip into brackish water inside a tidal cave.

There are still a lot of caves not just here in Anda but we do not have a lot of time, so, for now, just these 2 cave pools are enough.

Day 5, uwian time! Pogs and I were the last to leave Bohol, we still manage to watch  a movie entitled "Kita Kita". 

Salamat sa kanilang lahat for sharing their photos =)

I love chocolates

I'm not a chocolate person but these chocolates, I LOVE!!!

Imagine, this is my first trip to Bohol, I have been to almost every part of the country and this is my first time here. Too bad, this is 2015, 2 years after the devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Bohol on October 15, 2013. And even if it's already 2 years later, there are still so many signs of the devastation and the province hasn't fully recovered from the blow. But still, there's a lot to look into this beautiful island, so, have a look at what I saw during my overnight official visit there. 

Welcome to Tagbilaran Airport, so ito pala ay City of Friendship.

At ayan, ang aking mga work friends na mga taga-PhilRice, dito kami nag-dinner sa cowboy themed restaurant, at ang aliw kasi via phone ka mag-o-order, kagaya ng ginagawa ni Kitin =)

We are here to meet with the provincial Agriculturist and courtesy call sa mga Bohol officials na mai-involve sa'ming S&T workshops. Then after nyan, we can go around na. At yang go around na yan ang may dahil sa mga larawan na sumusunod:

Favorite ko 'to, ang man-made forest, it's a reminder that humans can do great things and can also help create beautiful and lasting things, after all, we are created in the image of our Creator, the One who made all these. 

Not to miss, of course, visitors' yummy delight for the eyes. The chocolate hills, awesome!!! So this yummy hills changes flavor according to season, during summer it's brown to dark brown making it chocolate-flavored hills while during the rainy season, it's green therefore it's matcha-flavored hills. Lucky for us, we came here when both flavors are present. 

Another treasure of Bohol, one of the smallest primates in the world is the Philippine tarsier. Look at those big, sleepy eyes, you also want to sleep looking at them. According to WIKI the Philippine tarsier (Carlito syrichta), aka mawumag in Visayan language and mago in Waray is endemic to the Philippines. It is found in Bohol, Samar and Leyte. The new genus is named after the conservationist Carlito Pizarras. 

Since we do not have much time to go around, we just had a photo op to anything tarsier in the conservation area.

In the Philippines, aside from natural tourist spots, structures such as the church is also a tourist attraction, in Bohol, Baclayon church is famous. This is one of the country's oldest churches and its structure is made of coral stone and egg whites mixed as plaster. It was heavily damaged by the 2013 earthquake, that's why when we went there, it was still not in its glorious form. But since its always visited here, that's why construction is on the way. 

The Legazpi-Sikatuna Blood Compact or SANDUGO was a blood compact, performed on the island between the Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of Bohol on March 16, 1565, to seal their friendship as part of the tribal tradition. That's WIKI's Marites moment. This is our last stop in our ikot Bohol.

Aside from being a first-timer in Bohol, this trip is also memorable because I was able to visit the plane's cockpit. It was such a very happy moment, the captain allowed me to have a photo inside the cockpit when the plane was safely landed in the NAIA terminal. Just to give you a back story on why I consider this a #nakakahappy moment; in High School, we had a field trip to Tagaytay's rehabilitation center for drug users, there 1 patient shared his story. He is a pilot and the way he explained his work is so fascinating that I was able to visualize it, from his story I have been wanting to take a peep on that little room in a plane, but it's not allowed. But, during this flight, we learned that the co-pilot or the first officer is Paul's cousin, so from Bohol to Manila I was already imagining seating there in the cockpit, I was the only one who asked for it, and with lots of luck the Captain agreed. Thank you very much and so, I have this photo, a souvenir, and a wonderful memory of that #nakakahappy moment =)

This is co-pilot Mary Ann Burac speaking "We have just landed at NAIA Terminal 3, thank you for flying with us and we hope to see you again on our next flight, MABUHAY!"