Jazz Night at Ten02

@itsmekikay: Jazz night was perfect! The Big Band was awesome. Also saw some Filipino personalities in the club. :-)





Write-up & maybe a video clip to follow

Splash! Hot Springs Adventure in Laguna

Laguna, Philippines is well-known for its hot spring resorts in Los Baños and Calamba. I'm quite surprised that I only visited the place this weekend. Hmmm. It is definitely the place-to-be for workaholic Manileños like moi. There is no better place to go if you're from the Metro and just want to get away for a nice and relaxing weekend: air-conditioned hotel rooms, hot spring resorts, coconut juice, local delicacies, and well, a breath of fresh air. The best part? It's only an hour or two away from Metro Manila.


We stayed overnight at the Splash Mountain, in one of their standard rooms (1 double bed, 1 single bed), which, by the way, is so affordable. The initial plan was to get wasted, ergo the getaway and the Tequila; but well, it's just that--an "initial plan". The thermal pools of flowing hot springs from Mount Makiling were just so inviting. Meron silang tumataginting na 19 thermal pools! Saan ka pa?!?


Once checked-in, you have the privilege to use ALL of its provided facilities, including of course the pools of warm spring water, giant waterslides, oudoor jacuzzi, barbeque grills, and coin operated karaoke TV 24/7.


The snack bar's open 24/7 also. When you're there, you don't have to worry about anything else. Just leave all your worries in the Metro. And, there's a coffee shop :) They serve good food; I had a Filipiniana for breakfast. Delectable!



P.S. Calmed and relaxed me forgot to take photos of the pools. Hehe.
P.P.S. In case you wanna know, we (the three of us) only spent around P1,500.00 for the entire stay including travel fare (only P200 round-trip).



Getting There (cut-and-paste from their website):

If you are coming from Quezon City, aircon buses are available at Cubao, along EDSA corner Aurora Boulevard. HM Tranport leaves at 3:30 am daily from Cubao to Sta. Cruz via Los Banos. Bus leaves every 15 minutes until 10 pm. From Los Banos, you can wait for buses bound for Cubao at the highway in front of Splash Mountain. The last trip for buses coming from Sta. Cruz is at 8:00 pm.

For those coming from Manila, aircon buses bound for Sta. Cruz are available at JAM and Tritran bus terminals at LRT station, Buendia. First trip is also at 3:30 am and buses also leave every 15 minutes.

Leonids with Saturn, M42, and M41

It's been awhile since I went out with my org-mates to observe the night sky. On a whim, I decided to go to the public observation of the 2010 Leonids Meteor Shower at the PAGASA Astronomical Observatory Sundeck. It was already 10pm and I was only browsing through the Facebook profile pages of family and friends anyway. So I thought to myself, "why not do something more productive like socialize, right? I mean socialize with real people who move in the real-world."

I've been to a lot of meteor shower observations already so I wasn't as psyched about the observation per se. I was more excited to see who else was going. :) My plan was to stay for only an hour though, two hours tops.

I was there until 4AM!

The night turned out to be more fun than what I had expected. Although I didn't see a lot of old faces and didn't really get to acquaint myself with the new ones, I had the pleasure of meeting Copernicus--Erika V.'s 8" Sky-watcher Flex-tube Dobsonian.


Although I didn't get to see a shooting star (what the heck, right?!?), I got to marvel at Saturn and deep sky objects M42 and M41.

SATURN


M41


M42


As usual, seeing these objects gave me chills. And there I thought none of them could surprise me anymore since I've already "gotten used" to seeing these heavenly objects. Yeah, right...

It was a great night. Not only did we get to observe beautiful objects we also got to talk about a lot of stuff--our dreams and our passions. :) Ad astra per aspera indeed! It was totally worth the puyat.

Here's a shot of the sky just before dawn. This lovely shot was taken by Erika V.


How I wish I brought my camera with me.

Lesson learned: Celestial objects, stargazing, astronomical observations will never seize to amaze me.

How dare I think otherwise?

Tupas in 澳門 and 香港 ♥

The Macau/HK trip was my first time abroad with my brother Fourth and cousins. Going places is definitely way more fun with family and relatives--especially with cousins whom you grew up with. It's so unfortunate though that my brother and I only got to spend three full days with them... we had to leave right away for work and school. Although it was a very short vacay... it was definitely an action/adventure-packed weekend.


The night we first arrived in Macau, we just dropped off our stuff in my cousin's place and went strolling around the busy and colorful city right away. We were all giddy and excited (read us noisy and rowdy) like typical tourists. What made it more fun was the company of my cousins.


We then dined in around the Fisherman's Wharf area for the Bisperas of Jem's birthday. Spicy sea food plus some meaty meal was heaven. We were home past midnight. Since it was gonna be a really short vacay for me and Fourth, we all had to wake up early -- to make the most out of our stay there.

Spent the entire morning touring around San Malo.



As I'd expected, the streets were pretty crowded; it was so surreal. I felt like I was in some Chinese movie or something. What made it more grand was when we finally got to the end of the narrow streets of San Malo -- Saint Paul's Ruins awaited us. It was such a sight to behold!



Surprisingly enough, even with the moseying in the morning, we still had the energy to climb up the summit of the Macau Peninsula.


My crazy cousin Jem (our tour guide) didn't warn us about what we were getting ourselves into. Let me rephrase that. She didn't warn us about what SHE was getting us into. It was a real climb, which reminded me of my Pulag climb! (And there we thought that it was just going to be another easy mosey.) It was really just fortunate for Jem that the A-Ma Temple at the summit was majestic--she eventually got spared from all the foreseeable whining. Anyway, according to Wikipedia, it "is one of the oldest and most famous Taoist temples in Macau."


The temple was really beautiful with some Chinese traditional music in the background making it more uncanny. When I was there standing at the center of the temple, it wasn't difficult to imagine Jacky Chan or Jet Li flying over my head with daggers and some red Chinese silk drapery like those seen in Chinese action movies.


After marveling at the majestic and culture-filled temple, it was such a relief to know that there were shuttles that we could take that'd take us down the foot of the hill. hehehe


As if we weren't tired enough... when we arrived home we were told to rest for only a few hours, we still had to celebrate Jem's birthday! As if my feet weren't hurting enough already, we dressed up, wore killer heels, and went bar hopping and partying around town. The city was grand at night. The city lights were fabulous and so were we!




Next Stop: Disneyland! Two countries in three days! Awesome, right?!?




Best Disneyland experience ever. I have been to Disneyland USA in LA but this time it's more fun, awesome and memorable... simply because I was with my brother and my cousins. We were on fire! It seemed as if we were transported years back when we'd all get together in one of our living rooms and do some Disney movie marathon! We realized that although we all seem to have "grown" up, we're still those same kids who used to hangout in our Lolo and Lola's bedroom watching cartoons and having fun bullying each other.

Sigh.

It was all so nostalgic. While strolling around Disneyland, we'd reminisce about those days of ol'.

The night ended perfectly with the impressive and splendid fireworks display. My Tita and I were both teary-eyed. It was so surreal being there with everyone... well, almost but not quite.



I wish I could tell you more... but I've gotta start writing my dissertation. (lol)


Anyway, we are all definitely going back... and there's definitely gonna be more of us! Yay! xox

HK/Macau trip write-up to follow very, very soon.

What happened in October?

Although my offline journal has a lot of blog entries for the month of October, I just noticed that I didn't have any October posts in this blog. I have been so busy. My candidacy exam was set in October; and there was the SPP congress, which was held in Antipolo where there wasn't really much to see. Let me rephrase that. It wasn't that there wasn't anything to see, it was that we didn't have time to explore the place because of the really tight schedule we had.


I passed my candidacy exam and I thank those who came to listen to my "boring" presentation. I also gave a plenary talk at the SPP Congress--I have never been so anxious in my life. It was quite an experience. It was very timely because it COULD actually be my last SPP Congress (I mean, who knows what I'll be doing after getting that degree)... and at least, I got to experience how it is to give a plenary talk.


I have also been quite busy with my new hobby that is stock trading. This new hobby has opened a lot of doors for me. Last October 14, we were invited to attend the First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp official launching of their online trading platform. I never really pictured myself hanging out with these corporate people; but, what can I say? Life is indeed full of surprises.


My October was productive, career-wise. I've got no complaints.

Potipot Island

It was a long overdue vacation. The first time we planned the trip, an unfortunate event went down and we had to cancel all reservations. Then about two weeks ago, we finally decided to push through with the weekend getaway. We almost missed it for the second time because of another unlucky accident! If only I were superstitious enough, I wouldn't have gone to Potipot knowing that it was going to be just my friend Tugs and moi, coz we were supposedly a trio. Worse luck, Ren (the wuss without a Twitter account) came down with a fever the night before we were set to leave for the vanishing act! At almost midnight, we were still scouring for another chum. Of course, we couldn't find anyone more kaladkarin than us, could we? So, it was decided. We were gonna conquer Potipot, Tugs and I!



It was breathtaking! The pictures here don't give justice to what awaited us. It was what people would describe as "paradise here on Earth". Oh, Gaia!

One of the best things about this trip was the timing. Amidst my busy schedule (paper submission deadlines for conferences, candidacy exam, and other teaching duties which were all due the same week as the bolt for freedom), we decided to be "reckless". It was liberating. What a perfect escape from 32 emails (excluding Facebook notifications) and 23 SMSs! Oh work, you hold your horses! :-)


No T.V. No internet connection. No electricity. How awesome! It was really nice to commune with nature like that. Totally rejuvenating!


Jealous much? Here are the details on getting there! I'm definitely going back soon! Ciao!

View of the island from our resort.

Totally stole the following from Tugs' post:

Details of our itinerary:

• Left Victory Caloocan at around 8am, paid 418 each to Uacon, Candelaria.
• Reached Puerto Del Mar at around 2pm. The resort cost 1800 for 3 people.
• Left for Potipot at 5:30am. Boat ride costs 500 (upto 6 people) roundtrip.
• Paid 100 each for environmental fee. You can also bring your tents or spend the night in cottages in Potipot but I do not know how much the cottages cost or how to reserve them.
• Took a bus to Sampaloc, Manila at around 12noon

Not everyone is Mr. Play-It-Safe

Recently, I ventured into stock trading. Like most people, I was initially VERY hesitant to invest in stocks; because although it promises high returns, it's also coupled with a lot of risks.

Now that I'm pretty much involved in trading, I believe that the qualms are only true if you look at trading as some form of legalized gambling. I can't remember where I got this analogy but you can think of it this way: Individuals who haven't been on a plane are afraid of flying because they have this notion that there's a very high probability that the plane they're on would crash. So, they'd rather travel by land or by sea. But once you've experienced flying, the fear diminishes significantly. The worry peters out proportionally with the number of times you've taken a flight. Not everyone is Mr. Play-It-Safe, you know, as Alanis put it.

-- to be continued --

Spine-tingling, Goose bumps Moments in Cats (Manila)

The Overture & The Prologue
Well, of course I loved all the performances. Everything that involved The Company was kickass. But the overture and the prologue were specifically memorable to me because they magically transported me into the world of Cats. I've seen Cats a lot of times on video but it wasn't until I saw the show on stage that I realized how much energy and vibrancy from the entire cast I'd been missing! The first few minutes of the dance musical was a total shock-and-awe moment.

Memory in Filipino
When Sillabub, the cutest and sweetest kitten in the bunch, sang the first verse of Memory with her ethereal voice... in Filipino, it sent shivers down my spine. It was very beautiful.

Dance Numbers
By golly, ballet + jazz sprinkled with tap dancing!?!? Need I say more?

Mr. Mistoffelees
24 fouettés en tournant!! My jaw dropped.

Whenever Rum Tum Tugger started singing "And we all say 'Oh! Well I never was there ever a cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffeles'", it brought warmth in my heart. Beautiful. The incidental music was perfect and very moving as well.

Lea Salonga's Memory
Ah! Fangirl or no fangirl, I believe that she gave one of the best solo performances in the show. Her voice, which was so strong, so full of passion, and hauntingly beautiful reverberated across the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. It was exquisite. Her last rendering of Memory brought tears to my eyes. Wow. It was THAT haunting.

The Group Performances
The musical score, the chorus, the dance numbers were staggering.


xox

A Blog Entry

I have been meaning to write a "long" post about my stay in Santa Fe... but it has just remained as a good intention... In the meantime, here's an excerpt from an entry I wrote on our blog page. This is just about the CSSS oomph.

I can't believe that we only have a day of lecture left in our schedule and three days left before we go toodle-ooing. Time just went by so swiftly! It seems like it's only yesterday when I was solitary and having my first dinner at the coffee shop when Lucas came up to me and introduced himself and invited me over to their table (he was with Felix and Florian). :-) I never thought that I'd be very much enjoying my stay here. Yes, I expected to learn a lot from the summer school; but no, I didn't really imagine myself to have this much fun (since the invitation letter said "intensive training"). I have to admit that at the start I was so intimidated by the summer school (the topics, the lecturers and my co-participants); it's my first time to leave my country so everything was just so overwhelming. But much to my surprise, everyone was just so nice, friendly, understanding and very accommodating!

Needless to say, I have learned a great deal from a wide range of stuff. It is such a privilege to be here studying complex systems science, coding numerical models, chatting, eating, hiking, dancing, shopping, doing laundry, whining, and well, getting drunk, with the smartest people I've ever met

Why I didn't go to the Rodeo de Santa Fe

Two options: Rodeo versus the Sandia Peak Tramway

It was a tough choice to make because I had already given a pseudo-"yes" to the other group. And... they even singled me out -- "Itsmekikay has to see the rodeo. It's very American!" They were right! But! My two summer school best friends (1) were planning a different after-hours adventure and (2) they hate the rodeo.

I was in a dilemma!

In retrospect, I'm so glad I decided to go with my two cool and dorky best friends and other equally cool and dorky friends to the Sandia Peak Tramway instead; although, I would really have loved to have experienced the rodeo, too, with some classmates. Plus, I had also been told that there were gonna be some macho cowboys... tsk.. tsk... But, can't be in two places at the same time, can I? So, I followed my heart and off to the Sandia Peak Tramway I went.


A side note: Had I known much earlier that the Sandia Peak Tramway is the world's longest aerial tramway, there wouldn't have been a dilemma at all. :) I can be so stupid and naive at times. I just go without knowing where I'm going.


The tramway ride was only about 15-20minutes long. Just getting on the ride makes everything worth the effort already. As we were hoisted to the peak, I couldn't help but marvel at the majestic view of the mountains and the landscape. It was breathtaking.





Photos by Bogdan... much more beautiful than my shots :)


When we finally got to the peak and off the tram, we were in the back of beyond. I loved it. We waited at the Kiwanis Cabin for the sun to set. I find the cabin very poetic in its isolation. And then the sunset. It was by far the most beautiful, romantic, and spectacular sunset I've ever seen. I wanted to inhale and draw everything in and freeze the moment... if only.





I'm so glad I had that indelible experience. I'm so glad I made friends in New Mexico.



(The Sandia Peak Tramway Group Photo by Bogdan)




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