beaches

i've been reading some back issues of men's health philippines. their march 2009 issue, summer ish, included a list of the top 10 must visit destinations in the country. in no particular order, here are the top 10:

- Caramoan -- Camarines Sur.

- Siargao -- Cloud 9, surfing capital.

- Cagbalete Island -- Mauban, Quezon.

- Panglao -- Bohol.

- Baler -- Aurora.

- Samal Island -- Davao.

- Sumilon Island -- Cebu.

- Calaguas -- Camarines Norte.

- Gumasa -- Sarangani.

- Palawan -- Puerto Princesa's Honda Bay; El Nido; Taytay and Coron.

they also included five honorable mentions, which are:
- Guimaras
- Dumaguete
- Siquijor
- Bantayan Island
- Boracay

i've been to dumaguete, siquijor, bantayan, boracay, panglao in bohol, and el nido, honda bay and coron in palawan. but based on the above list, a lot are still waiting to be discovered! with climate change, next year's trip should be well spent during the first 4 months of the year. rains now start to pour in may. there's a long weekend this november, so there's a good chance that we can sneak in to cagbalete in quezon, since this is the nearest, only 3 hours travel from manila. i hope that all typhoon ramil will be the last of his kin this year. biyahe tayo!

balls

kakaibang challenge sa mga olympic champions! hehehehe!

villar

dumaan ang dalawang bagyo nitong nakaraang tatlong linggo. bumuhos ang nakapagpapabahang ulan at humagupit ang hangin na nagpatumba sa maraming mga istrukturang gawa ng tao. halos buong luzon ang sinalanta nina ondoy at pepeng. sa benguet at ibang karatig-lalawigan, nabaon sa rumagasang putik at lupa ang mga kabahayan, habang ang mga bayan sa pangasinan ay nalubog sa tubig-baha gawa ng pagpapaagos ng tubig sa tatlong dam sa hilagang luzon. wasak ang mga taniman, nagmistulang karagatan ang mga palayan, habang sa kalakhang maynila, gabundok na basura at putik ang iniwan ng kalamidad. walang sinanto ang hagupit.

sa gitna ng unos, umusbong muli ang bayanihan. simpleng mga mamamayan ay nagsipag-ambag sa abot ng kanilang makakaya, naglaan ng oras upang makatulong sa pagrerepak ng mga pantawid gutom. maging ang mga biktima ng nagdaang mga kalamidad gaya ng mga mamamayan ng ginsaugon, leyte, nagbigay-tulong sa milyong nasalanta. magandang halimbawa, lalo na sa mga kabataang di pa nakaranas ng anumang katastropiya.

ngunit sadyang may mga taong pansariling adhikain ang nangingibabaw, maging sa panahon ng kalamidad. oo nga't nakapag-abot ng tulong sa pamamagitan ng ilang supot ng nudels at dalawang maliit na bote ng tubig, subalit kalakip pa rin ng mga pantawid-gutom na ito ang makasariling hilig na itaguyod ang kandidatura sa nalalapit na halalan sa pamamagitan ng pagdidikit ng mga istiker ng kanilang mga sandamukal na mukha't pangalan. gaya na lang ng ginawa ni manny villar. sa dami ng pera ng pinakamayamang senador ng bansa, nakuha pa nilang lagyan ng istiker ang bawat isang pakete ng nudels at bote ng tubig, gayong ang tulong ay higit na kailangan sa lalong madaling panahon sapagkat n'ung kasagsagan ni ondoy, maraming tao ang di pa nahatiran ng anumang tulong sa loob ng tatlong araw.

sabi nga ni jim paredes sa kanyang mga tweet, kung nais mo talagang tumulong... wala nang cheche-burecheng promosyon o anumang mababang uri ng advertisment. ihatid ang anumang tulong nang walang bahid ng pansariling naisin. anu't anuman, pasasalamatan ka ng tao sa anumang tulong na maaari mong ibigay. isang magandang halimbawa ay ang pagbibigay-kawanggawa ng pamunuan ng rebisco sa mga nasalanta sa aming barangay sa novaliches. di na nila pinadaan sa mga ganid na pulitikong-lokal, kundi idineretso na sa mga nangangailangan, nang walang anumang tokata o anunsyo sa radyo, pahayagan at telebisyon.

'wag na sanang dumawdaw sa ngalan ng bayanihan kundi rin lang taos-puso ang pagtulong.

handwashing

with so many bacteria and virus causing various illnesses, the most basic tool on disease prevention is handwashing. and today's is the Global Handwashing Day.

Philippines
A multi media Handwashing campaign was launched on Global
Handwashing Day to raise awareness among the population.
Key activities included: a press conference on September 12 to announce the
local coalition with a symbolic handprints activity and handwashing with
kids, held at Museo Pambata (Museum for Children). Furthermore, handwashing was promoted through a road show with different stakeholders: schools, businesses and media, prior to the official launch of Global Handwashing Day on October 15 at Makati Park in the heart of the central business district. Over 100 school children were invited to participate in the event and kick off the advocacy of making handwashing with soap an important habit. Starting October 1, there was advocacy for handwashing through press and media articles, TV interviews, banners and posters on Metro Rail Transit (MRT). Simultaneous activities were held outside Manila in other regions.

hugas na ng mga kamay! (",)

sled

for the second year in a row, one of my pics were shortlisted in our annual idg calendar contest! while both entries came up short as one of the final 12 (2010 winners has just been announced), i'm so glad that these pics were picked as one of the worthy ones to be considered. i'm using a lowly kodak cx7530, a model so elementary, i got it during a sale and was already in the market since 2004. this kodak cam is the same one, which i accidentally dropped when mark was giving it to me with the strap still around his right hand. this happened in shanghai in january this year and prevented me from taking any "spectacular" pics of shanghai's pudong area and beijing's historical sites. after 2 weeks, kodak repaired it to the tune of 1,600 since it was way past its 1-year warranty period.

last year, my "strike" made it to the shortlist...

this year, my "sled" was picked! yeheeey!

looking at the other entries, most of them probably used more powerful and sophisticated cameras. but my lowly cam allowed me to have a nice one. this was taken in the rolling hills of northern batan island, part of the capital basco, just outside the town proper.

big deal? yes! hehehehe! i don't have any budget for a nice dlsr. so i would still be stuck with my good old kodak for now. the right eye for a good angle and inspiration is already there (naks!), so i might need a good equipment in the future, so that colors and other features would be a lot better. till next year! (",)

ondoy-ed

last sunday, i wrote about ondoy wreaking havoc on metro manila, parts of central luzon and calabarzon. ondoy's great flood, the worst in 40 years, did not spare our home in novaliches. i wanted to go home immediately but could not due to dizziness. good thing, i was allowed to go home earlier last tuesday. the fx took the 'shortcut', which is actually the long route to novaliches proper, snaking through what they call SB way from talipapa to doña rosario.

during this ride, i saw trail of ondoy's destruction. home furnishings of mid-level income families were all put under the sun, outside their houses. nearing novaliches proper, even deeper level of destruction was seen. shantytowns that i've been used to seeing whenever we pass SB way, were completely nil. those areas looked like bangladesh-like flooded areas, debris were all over and people were trying desperately to salvage whatever they can. dried up mud covered half of the streets, trees uprooted and factory walls collapsed. garbage-hills were all over. grabe.

i was prepared to see the same gloomy picture when i get to our barangay. to my relief, everything seemed to be back to its normalcy, except for some neighbors who were doing their laundry outside. tita jo was busy taking papa's maong pants to and from a neighbor's house. apparently, she requested the use of our neighbor's drier since their electricity is free! our house was already cleaned, no more muddy waters, but the living room has yet to resemble its old form. sofas were still wet and they couldn't use some of the appliances anymore, like the washing machine and gas stove, and even the rice dispenser was nowhere to be found!

with all these, i'm still thankful that my family is safe. apart from minor damage to property, we didn't have to go through others' experience of being trapped on roofs with no food and soaked in rain. they were safe in our second floor and no untoward incident happened to anyone of us. we just have to be prepared, especially with pepeng (international name: typhoon parma), nearing super typhoon status, as it is expected to make a landfall this saturday.

pictures below were taken by my sis liezl on sunday morning.