Travels Oh My Gosh, Calaguas! 1:18 PM Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. -Ibn Battuta The first words that came out of my mouth when I was finally able to absorb the beauty of Calaguas right in front of me were: "Oh. My. Gosh." Calaguas is in the province of Camarines Norte in the Bicol Region. Also known as Mahabang Buhangin (Long Beach), Calaguas is still one of must-see unspoiled beaches in the country. Calaguas Island is now a famous tourist attraction and summer destination in The Philippines. And for good reason! With its unique white powdery sand that's almost like Boracay's, and distinguished crystal clear water, Calaguas is a paradise. For those who want to spend their quiet summer without missing the feel of summer at the beach, Calaguas is the perfect place to go to. (Click individual image to view in full size) Calaguas Trip Our Trip: Our group availed a tour package. 3,000 Php/pax for a 2days/1night stay. 3,000 Php/pax includes: Fare going to and from Vinzon (Daet) Boat ride from and to the island Food - lunch upon arrival, dinner and breakfast before departure Tent How To Get To Calaguas: The travel agency we got provided us with vans and our pick up point is at SMX MOA's parking lot. But if you want to travel DIY style, here's how to get there (via Vinzons): 9-5 hours bus ride from Manila to Camarines Norte. Bus terminals for PUBs (Philtranco, Superlines and DLTB) bound to Daet, Camarines Norte are in Pasay and Cubao. Check out their trip hours and fare prices here. It's best to take the night trip so you'll arrive early morning in Daet. From Daet bus terminal, take a jeepney to Vinzons and get off at pandawan or fish port. You can always ask the driver or the locals for directions as they're friendly and helpful. Travel time is approx 20 minutes. From Vinzons fish port, hire a boat going to Calaguas. The price differs depending on the capacity of the boat. Lowest rate is about Php 3,000 but you can also haggle. Travel time is 2 hours. What To Do In Calaguas: Although swimming (and picture taking if you're Pinoy) is the main activity in the island, you can also try: Island hopping Kayaking ATV Trekking Snorkeling Scuba Diving Where To Stay In Calaguas: You can pitch tents around the area. There were cottages and we saw some houses being built which we presumed will be used for commercial purposes but we camped with the rest of the group. We chose one facing the beach under a tree. We slept outside the tent though as nothing beats sleeping under the canopy of the stars with the sound of the waves in the background. It was an awesome experience! When In Calaguas: The restrooms are clean but they charge 20 pesos per use and 10 pesos for the shower. The shower is just outside, no doors nor covers. They provide a separate room for you to change after shower. Expect tindahan (store) prices to be much higher than normal. 1.5L Coke were sold at 90 Php!!! I think it's only about 40 Php in the supermarket. So it's best to bring your own food and drinks. No network connection. What To Bring In Calaguas: Aside from your usual toiletries, travel essentials and clothes, don't forget to bring: Sunblock Tent Drinking Water Food First Aid Kit Bug/Mosquito Repellents Camera (of course!) Although travel time is long and tiring, the place is really worth it. Even when it rained for a few minutes on our last day, Calaguas never lost its beauty. It was definitely an OMG moment for us. I have no doubt when you get there, you'd have to say "Oh my gosh, Calaguas!" as well. Allow me to over share our weekend in Calaguas here (click on photos to view original size): Although the food they served were really really good, we were not satisfied with the rest of the service. So I won't be recommending the travel agency we booked. Hey, did you find this post helpful or entertaining? Please go ahead and share. Share buttons on the left and at the bottom of the article. Big thanks!
Life Lessons 6 Ds For A Simpler And Happier Life 2:18 PM Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucius Life is better lived when lived simply. A life simplified is happiness multiplied. Remember these 6 Ds to live a simpler and happier life. 6 Ds For a Simpler and Happier Life Distinguish your needs from your wants. Reality check: You need a bag, you want a Luis Vuitton. You need food, you want ice cream. You need to quench your thirst and water will do but you want soda. You don't need to go with the trend or buy items you don't really need. Humans will always crave or desire for something. But you will only stress yourself if you try to keep up with the latest technology or fashion trend. For business to keep going, they're are obliged to keep making new inventions. They're paid to persuade you. Before you buy anything, ask yourself if it will really make your life easier or add value to it. People buy for emotional reasons.You may just be doing it to show off. That's what advertising do---convince you that your life will be better if you buy their products. But really, you should know better. Know your worth. GiphyDonate, throw, or sell.Say goodbye to all those items accumulating dusts and occupying space in your house but are not really used. Throw the junk. Donate what you think can still be used by someone else. Sell what is still marketable or of good value and quality. Remember that one man's trash is another man's treasure. GiphyDevelop a system.Nothing makes things more complicated than an unorganized mind. Create a check list. Follow your schedule but be flexible if changing it is needed. Create a system. Be lenient with deadlines and details though, or else you'll beat yourself up trying to finish everything and follow them by the book. Stick to your goal. Start a journal and write down everything you need to accomplish for the day. Rank them according to urgency and importance. Follow Mark Twain's advice: "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." Name your files and folders appropriately. Place the things you always need where you can find them easily so you don't have to waste your time searching and taking out things from their places. Here are some housekeeping tips from my own experience of living alone. Label your items or put them in a storage box and label accordingly. Giphy Disconnect.As helpful as the internet is, find time to disconnect. You can accomplish more things when you disconnect from the world wide web. You can rest better if you turn off your TV or your computer (studies show you sleep better if you go offline 1 hour before bedtime). Some stress comes from what we see on the internet or TV. Life's better and you'll be happier if you look at the stars at night instead. GiphyDetox. 1. Detox your body.Detox your body from junk food and sedentary lifestyle. It's not easy to shift to a balanced diet if you're used to eating fast food or if you prepare your meal through the microwave. But you actually save yourself from more trouble and complications in the long run if you simplify your lifestyle and eat healthy instead. 2. Detox your mind. Stay away from people who suck the energy and happiness out of you. Don't get stuck in a job that does not make you grow, does not pay you well, and stresses you out. Free your mind from negative thoughts; worries, fears and self-criticisms. Change the way you look at things and you'll be amazed by how it can change your life. 3. Detox from negative feelings. Science revealed that our negative emotions affect our general wellness: 💊 Hopelessness causes lung problems. 💊 Rigidity causes migraine. 💊 Anger causes insomnia. 💊 Aggressiveness causes gastric ulcers. 💊 Anxiety causes digestive problems and skin problems. GiphyDefine your own success.People often run the race without knowing what they're after. They just go with the crowd and so they often get lost, they get sidetracked, or they simply quit.Running after the prize without knowing what is it will leave you demotivated. Living a life without direction is like driving around in circles, you get nowhere and you waste gas. It doesn't make sense. We follow the lead of others and reject what we really need. We create our purpose with other people's purpose. We forget to align them with our passion. If you know what will fulfill your needs and find a way to chase your own dreams, you have found success.Giphy Every area of your life needs to be simplified if you want to be happier. There is no point in carrying heavy baggage and making life complicated. Leave Your Baggage And Move On. Live simply and you'll thank yourself later.
Rants Questions Of A Hopelessly Delusional Person 8:00 AM I love mankind ... it's people I can't stand! - Charles M. Schulz Questions Of A Hopelessly Delusional Person If caring too much about the world is a disorder and hoping it will get better soon is a delusion, then I must be hopelessly delusional. Can you help me and answer these questions running through my head constantly? Is it too much to ask for a gossip-free world? Where people don't talk about other people like their experts about their lives and just celebrate one another instead? So, where can we talk about ideas for improving our lives and making the world a better place to live in? Can we not stop trolling around and keep our filthy mouths shut if we've got nothing nice to say? Can we not be kinder since we've all been through the bad times and know how hard it is to deal with? Can we stop projecting our frustrations and insecurities toward others by criticizing them, facing monsters, and conquering our own mountains instead? Can we not be more brilliant and choose our battle? Walk away from people and fights that are not worth our time and effort? Can we not meddle in or, better yet, start unnecessary and irrelevant dramas? Should we not wisely use the limited and precious 24 hours given to us in a day? Is it not better, holier, wiser, and more self-fulfilling to focus and grow on our own faith instead of criticizing and looking for other people's shortcomings and loopholes in what they believe in? Will it make us look more right or righteous if we point out their faults? Don't we point to our insecurities and flaws when we do that? Will it make us feel superior if we rub their wrongs on their faces? How does highlighting and revealing another person's weaknesses and mistakes improve you? Will it put us on a pedestal if we keep stepping on other people's toes? Condescending does not make you a better person. It only makes you look pathetic. If we accept their flaws and correct them lovingly instead of judging and looking down on someone, wouldn't we be doing the world a big favor? How does making another person's life miserable make yours better? How sick are we? These questions have been bugging me since I started going out in the "real" world. Am I too idealistic or simply delusional to think we can still change? That there is hope for mankind? That we can still make the world a better place for everyone? My heart goes out to the world. I'm desperate to know.
Single Life This One's For You: Letter For The Single 5:32 AM I know that you're tired of waiting. And you may have to wait a little while more, but she's on her way. And she's getting here as fast as she can. -How I Met Your Mother If you've been hurting, wondering, and wandering...this one's for you: Letter For The Single Sometimes, your days are longer, your nights colder, and your battles a bit tougher than you let on. And that's alright. Some days, it's hard to get up, a struggle to get out the door, and a challenge to look and act normal when you're crumbling inside. No one sees your tears. No one feels your pain. No one else knows your story except for a selected few you trust. There are times when you feel like nothing good will ever happen as you lay in bed and dread to face another harsh day when you have to receive yet again words of discouragement and mockery from those who know nothing of your battle when you have to again strive to find and hold on to battered hope. Another day drags on as you wait for your prayers to be answered. The world can be cruel to someone different---someone like you. I know there are days when you want to give up the fight. When you consider changing plans, when you want so much to abandon the path less traveled and walk with the rest of the crowd despite knowing what is right. At least, you think, "I'll be one of them, I won't be alone, I won't be talked about or laughed at." "Maybe," you tell yourself, "it's less lonely if I walk with them." You don't know that the world is actually more lost than you are. Yet here you are, still standing, stronger than you thought. Yes, you may have stumbled. Yes, your knees may buckle from time to time. Yes, you may be wounded and bruised. But here you are. I couldn't be prouder. Hang on tighter. Hold your head higher. You are not alone. You have been chosen to do a difficult task because you have shown exemplary strength and courage. Because you're set apart. Because you're one of the best. This road to the unknown could be rather fun and exciting if you just shut your ears from the cruel world and focus on the Voice of Truth, telling you how beautiful and loved you truly are. I know it's hard to believe this right now, but trust that there's something special, beautiful, and magnificent waiting for you if you just keep on keeping on. Something you have yet to read or see anywhere else. Something beyond your comprehension, exceeding your wildest imagination. Don't walk with your head bowed low in defeat. Look up and see the beauty around you. I tell you, that's nothing compared to what is waiting for you. In time, you'll see. If you still doubt yourself, this one's for you. I hope you believe it.
Life Lessons How To Feel Good When You're Having A Bad Day 6:35 AM How to feel good when you're having a bad day? Is that even possible? Well, you can't always have it all. Things won't always go your way. That's part of life. But that doesn't mean you're not going to be okay. Here are ten ways you can turn that frown around.1. Take a step back or walk away for a while.Seeing things correctly is easier when you step back and look at things from a third person's perspective. Try to detach yourself from the situation when you're having a bad day. It will help you think clearly and see the bigger picture. 2. Do something you enjoy or love. Go out. Take a walk. Read a good book. Watch a feel-good film. Eat your favorite food. Browse through cute dog photos. When you're having a bad day, do something that can take your mind off what's bothering you, even for just a few hours. 3. Talk to your support team. You must have people in your life whom you can always count on when things go wrong. People who always lift your spirit up. When you're having a bad day, you need a solid team behind you to make you feel good. Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow - Swedish Proverb 4. Dance! You may not love dancing, but when you dance with abandon, happy hormones start pumping up, and you feel better afterward. That's because dancing has fantastic health benefits. Some people do yoga or work out. But I think dancing is so much more enjoyable. When you're having a bad day, turn up the volume of your jam and dance like no one is watching. Or follow Taylor Swift's advice: shake it off. 5. Write down your feelings. This one does magic. Writing down how you feel lightens the burden you carry as you unload it through the power of pen and paper. Or in our digital world, when you type it away. Try it to see for yourself. 6. Remember the good times.When was the last time you laughed so hard your tummy hurt?Remember when...? Remind yourself of the good times. If you're a Harry Potter fan like me, you know how the wizards drive away Dementors. They think of one moment when they felt truly, genuinely happy. And from that memory, they conjure a Patronus. That's where they get the strength to fight off that evil creature that tries to suck out their happiness and fill them with dread and misery. Which represents depression. Not familiar with the Patronus charm? How about Peter Pan? Remember how they fly? A little pixie dust plus happy thoughts. 7. Accept it. No matter how optimistic you try to be, things will sometimes go wrong. You may never receive that apology. Forgive them anyway. The sooner you accept the fact that life is not always fair, the easier it will be to go through the tough times. Life isn't perfect, so stop sweating the small stuff. 8. Pray/Worship/Meditate. It's hard to give thanks, pray, or worship when things aren't how we want them to. It's hard to focus and find your center. But "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Your heart changes when you pray. You humble yourself. You free yourself from those impossible to handle and allow the Miracle Worker to work in your life. You focus on what is really essential in life. And when you do, you realize that whatever makes your day terrible is but a tiny speck in the universe. 9. Hug your pet. That is, of course, if your pet is huggable or not, uhm, wild. Studies show dogs are therapeutic. Why not try getting yourself a furry friend? Their loyalty is beyond compare, too. 10. Remember that it's not permanent. Seasons change. Today may be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day like Alexander's, but it's only temporary. Experiencing loss, rejection, betrayal, or failure is all part of the package. It sucks, I know, but we wouldn't know our strength and our potential when everything is always okay. We'll never know what a good day is if bad days don't happen. We will not appreciate abundance if we have not experienced emptiness. When you're having a bad day, remember it's just what it is: a lousy day. It's not a bad life. At least it's not unless you make it. You still have a choice: wallow in misery or turn it around. You can always choose to feel good even when you're having a bad day. Trust me. I've had a bad day today, but I still wrote this. 😉 How do you handle a bad day? Do share in the comments! Linked here. Gifs from Giphy
Lux Thinking Aloud Have Loved Deeply, Been Hurt, Loved Again 1:47 AM Love like you've never been hurt. -Satchel Paige Have Loved Deeply, Been Hurt, Loved Again If you have loved deeply, been hurt, and loved again, how beautiful you must be! For it takes a pair of beautiful eyes to still see the beauty in the ugly, a beautiful heart to love with such depth, and the ability to get hurt and love again. You are one brave soul.Because it takes a huge amount of courage to find the will to love again despite knowing the consequences and dangers of loving that much. If you have loved deeply, been hurt, and loved again, yours is a heart of admirable strength. Whatever caused your pain may have slowed you down at one point, but it definitely did not stop you from continuing. It only propelled you to your place of glory. You are strong enough to mend your brokenness and start over. Not everyone can do that. If you have loved deeply, been hurt, and loved again...may you never tire of trying one more time and always one more time. May you never lose hope in waiting for the real thing. If you have loved deeply, been hurt, and loved again...May the hurting not turn your heart hard and cold. Instead, may you be more empathetic to those going through the same path you have had.May you be the star that will guide them in the darkness. If you have loved deeply, been hurt and loved again... May your experience open your eyes and mind more to life's lessons and possibilities. If you have loved deeply, been hurt and loved again... May you never forget to love and honor yourself wherever life takes you. The world needs more of your beautiful, brave, strong heart, tenacious spirit, and unshakable faith. And may you always remember that you are also loved and worth getting hurt for. Google images
Faith When Your Life Is On A Detour 7:03 PM When Your Life is on a Detour Have you ever encountered a detour in your life? The road towards success is not a straight line. Detours are blessings in disguise.God's rejection is God's redirection.They bring us to our bigger destiny. When detours happen, God is telling us that our desires are too small compared to His big plans for us. When it feels like nothing seems to be making sense...When we pray and our prayers seem to fall on deaf ears and our plans don’t go our way...We are experiencing what we call the Principle of Obliquity (according to John Kay, this is where our complex goals are best achieved indirectly).When our lives seem not to go our way and the road we chose is leading us nowhere, we feel lost and hopeless. We are tempted to question God and to give up altogether.But as the cliche goes, everything happens for a reason. Joseph could have given up when his brothers sold him when he became a slave and was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. But he kept his faith until God fulfilled his destiny.Sometimes people don't recognize a blessing or an opportunity because it comes with responsibility, and people either hate or are scared of responsibilities. We miss the blessing not because it's not there, but because it doesn't appear to us the way we expect or want it to.We hear stories of people who went through so many obstacles before they reach their goals.Even Steve Jobs said getting fired by Apple was the best thing that ever happened to him.He wouldn't have done what he had accomplished, he wouldn't have been a better person and Apple would never have been as big as it is today if not for that one fateful day when he took a detour that changed him...and eventually changed the world.Is your life in a detour right now?Relax. You're being redirected towards your destination. Your story is not over yet.From Talk: Bounce! at The FeastThis post contains affiliate links so I'd get a commission if you purchase through my links at no additional cost to you. This helps me maintain my site. Thanks in advance!
Lux Thinking Aloud What Would You Say? (Famous Last Words) 12:53 AM To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. -J.K. Rowling What do you think would you say? What would your famous last words be? We might not know as it might come in the least expected way or time (knock on wood, I hope it won't). I was reading Looking for Alaska and the lead character has a fascination for historical people's famous last words. He's memorized most of them from the most profound to the most ridiculous. It got me thinking. What would I say if my time comes given that it's not sudden? What will my famous last words be? I want to be faithful and say things like: (a) Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. (Jesus' last words, Luke 23:46) (b) Thank you God for the gift of life. I'm offering it back to you. (c) Lord, take me home. I'm ready. (d) Jesus, I am Yours in life. I am Yours in death. I want to be romantic and promise: (a) I will wait for you in life after death. (b) I'll love you beyond forever. (c) Our love will never perish. (d) I'm yours up to my last breath. Even after then. Or maybe just ask forgiveness from the people I've hurt and assure those who have hurt me that I've forgiven them. Or tell my loved ones that I really love them with a love as imperfect but as real as mine. Would I be really able to say these? Would I be even able to say a proper goodbye. I might just say, "Look out!" or curse for all I know. I remember my friend who passed away last year. Our last conversation was me asking her about her Facebook post and her telling me "I'll tell you when we see each other next time you come home." Well, that never happened as she succumbed to cancer before I could even book a ticket home. In case I got you thinking (like that book got me writing this), here are some famous last words from historical/famous people I gathered. Famous Last Words Nothing, but death. -Jane Austen when asked by her sister, Cassandra, if there was anything she wanted. Is everybody happy? I want everybody to be happy. I know I'm happy. -Ethel Barrymore Friends applaud, the comedy is finished. -Ludwig van Beethoven I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis. -Humphrey Bogart Beautiful. -Elizabeth Barrett Browning in reply to her husband who had asked how she felt. I am still alive! -Roman Emperor Gaius Caligula, stabbed to death by his own guards. I am not the least afraid to die. -Charles Darwin I must go in, the fog is rising. -Emily Dickinson Come my little one, and give me your hand. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, spoken to his daughter, Ottilie. Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark. -O. Henry Put out the light. -Theodore Roosevelt Oh, do not cry - be good children and we will all meet in heaven. -Andrew Jackson, US President Is it the Fourth? -Thomas Jefferson, US President Why do you weep. Did you think I was immortal? -Louis XIV Get my swan costume ready. -ballerina Anna Pavlova Lord, help my poor soul. -Edgar Allan Poe I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you. -James K. Polk, US President talking to his wife. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist. . . . -General John Sedgwick, killed in battle during US Civil War. I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have. -Leonardo da Vinci (this got me saying, "Oh, come on!) Either that wallpaper goes, or I do. -Oscar Wilde Let me go to the house of the Father. -Pope John Paul II Curtain! Fast music! Light! Ready for the last finale! Great! The show looks good, the show looks good! -showman Florenz Ziegfeld I die hard but am not afraid to go. -George Washington Given the chance to bid a proper farewell, what would you say? Share your famous last words to me. Source: CorsinetPhotos: Google images Hey, did you find this post helpful or entertaining? Please go ahead and share. Share buttons on the left and at the bottom of the article. Big thanks! Subscribe to About Life And Love by Email
Faith Sunday Will Come! 12:11 AM Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. -Psalm 30:5 Black Saturday has always been the longest and most silent day in the Holy Week (at least in this part of the planet). After an emotional contemplation of the Lord's suffering and death on Good Friday, and while waiting for Easter Sunday to come there is a solemn pause which is Black Saturday. I wonder how and what the disciples and the Holy Mother felt and thought during this long agonizing gap. They weren't aware of the coming Sunday. They were still grief-stricken from what they witnessed. How would you handle it? Imagine when the truth you believed in for so long was taken away from you. When the one you've always looked up to, revered, served and worship was humiliated, punished without sin, and tortured right before your eyes. When what you've always thought as indestructible, invincible, and miraculous was destroyed helplessly. And you couldn't do anything about it out of fear or whatever reason that held you from fighting for it. They must have been lost. Beyond comfort. Nothing or no one to assure them that there is still hope. There is still tomorrow. Everything shattered just like that. Then again we don't have to imagine it, do we? How many times have we experienced loss of a loved one? Or seen a friend or family member suffer emotional or physical pain in front of us? How many times have we lost hope? Felt rejected? Betrayed? Humiliated? Hurt? Abandoned? When everything we believed in and held on for so long was taken away from us. Just. Like. That. We all went through a Good Friday one way or another. Then there's this long, agonizing, dragging, empty, deafeningly silent, dark pause that seemed endless. It's torture. There was uncertainty, doubt, confusion, anger even. We're still trying to figure out what just happened and what will happen next seems out of logic. Incomprehensible. Unimaginable. It feels as though the world stood still and time stopped, and we don't have the strength to keep going anymore. We lost everything including hope and the reason to go on. "Will tomorrow ever come again?" we keep on asking ourselves. And we get nothing but a deafening silence as answer. But, Sunday will come. No matter how painful our Fridays were and how uncertain our Saturday is now, Sunday will surely come! No matter how hopeless and helpless we may feel after the storm we went through, Sunday will come. No matter how uncertain, weak and shattered we came out of Friday, Sunday will still come. And then we will be restored. Good as new. Maybe even better somehow. Ready or not, Sunday will come. Our Black Saturday is a gift. A break from the grief. A pause. A time to breathe. A time to heal. A preparation from the big surprise that is Easter Sunday. It is the calm before the storm of blessings. Black Saturday then is when we stay still and wait patiently for the promise of God to come to pass (For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11). Black Saturday may be the darkest part of the night before the dawn breaks, but Easter Sunday will always follow. Sunday will come. It always has, and it always will. See also: I Am To Die For Hey, did you find this post helpful or entertaining? Please go ahead and share. Share buttons on the left and at the bottom of the article. Big thanks! Subscribe to About Life And Love by Email
Stories A Story In 25 Words: Unconditional Love 8:19 PM For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son... -John 3:16 It's the Holy Week again. I think it's apt for me to share the 25-word story I wrote that showed God's unconditional love to His people. A Story In 25 Words: Unconditional Love Bruised, beaten, betrayed, and broken. Wounded, wronged. Woebegone. Crestfallen. Desperate, deserted, hanged, and left to die. Yet, He loved them until the end of time. Main photo: The Passion of the Christ
