an aloy, astrid & diego in den haag

My tour-guiding of astrid in holland has officially begun! My deed for her. We've so far gone around den haag, also known as the Hague. Along with Diego (Maranan), we walked along the Scheveningen Beach... a surprisingly nice beach with a big shore area and a long coastline. The water is, of course, friggin cold. Little trivia: at the end of the WWII, they distinguished the Dutch from the Germans by asking them to say "Scheveningen". (those who can say gert's name might pass this test, hehe).

It was a lovely sunny day (which meant it was somewhere near 20 deg, and there was some sun). So we spent a decent amount of sun time tambay-ing at the beach. Where Astrid found much joy in terrorizing the sea gulls and Diego displayed some of his contemporary dance moves.

We did much walking around the city centre as well, through parks and famous old buildings... "ooh, lookee this is where the prime minister works" (Buitenhof--- see picture below... well, it's the church in the compound actually), "that's where the queen's office is, haler, queen!"... and most importantly, "aha!! a bookstore!!".

Den Haag is the political center of the Netherlands (while Amsterdam is the official capital) . Parliament, Embassies... museums, they're all here. The Philippines embassy is here as well, with a lobby TV that is tuned in to the Filipino Channel. It gives an over-all feeling that this old city still breathes quite conservatively. Next stop: Amsterdam hopefully : )

davao fishing, family & friends

I owe my brother Francis a cooked dinner. But horrible person, ehrm, cook that I am, I never found the time.

So the next best thing was to just make sure that he and cherry had a great time in Davao while they were with me and my friends (okay, am not sure if that's really the "next best thing", but I'm basically compensating for a deed undone, by justifying that it was somehow done too...).

It was great! my normally introverted "i'd-rather-stay-at-home" kuya flew all the way to davao, went up the mountain to eden park, made chika with everyone and went fishing (yes! mga kapitbahay!! nangisda si kiko!!). Of course, the fact that cherry wanted to go was probably a big factor, too.

The whole davao trip was wonderful. UPSCA friends from Manila and Cebu came together in Davao for a weekend trip: Martina, Ganter, Ong, Jody, Jim, Bas, Cram, Imee, Maya, Alvin. Personally, for me, it was the last great getaway of great friends before we parted ways again and moved on to different lives & countries. It may be a while before we can be together again.

Haaay... buhay... ganyan talaga. But I have faith that these things remain to be constants in my world. Great friends and great family. So... sometime in the future, I'll be able to cook that dinner for Kyx.

welcome to holland

Astrid arrived last Saturday, much to the delight of my heart which falls victim to sporadic homesick attacks. It is always great to see a familiar face from home.

And so begins my ongoing role to be Astrid's tour guide while she's here, too. Holland is undergoing an Indian summer, which supossedly means that we'll be having hot days until October. Of course "hot" is relative. At 25 degrees, the Dutch head out to the beach, while we tropical-born people wonder why it's so cold to stand in the shade even with the sun shining.

Nevertheless, this is still a very pretty country with its wide open spaces (yeeeaaah... a place to make your own mistakes... -dixie chicks), and biker-friendly landscape (read: flat). Flowers are all abound... in supermarkets, by the road, in the street islands and of course, in gardens. The Dutch are also very friendly, probably the friendliest English-speaking population in Europe (apologies to my British friends... nyehehehe).

Anyhoo, I'm currently working on my biking skills to get around. Sometime soon I should get myself a digital camera because it's a crying shame that i can't capture some pretty moments. Abangan.

Bakasyon sa Bohol

Interestingly enough, I received 3 requests to come up with a list of places to go to in Bohol. Apparently, Bohol is really kicking off and becoming a touristic hotspot. Yey for local tourism!

Okay, now it really depends on what kind of person you are... are you a beach person or a mountain person? Which would you rather make as your homebase (especially since lodging is the first thing you have to get before you start Bohol-ing). Or if you don't mind transferring around, it would be nice to spend a night at one place and then move on to the next (backpacker style).

For beach people, Alona Beach at Panglao Island is the best place to go. The lodges may seem pricey but if you walk further down away from Alona Kew et al, to the right side of the beach (if you're facing the sea)... you'll find more affordable places starting at P750 for a room for two people. In Panglao, you can hire a boat to go diving, snorkelling or dolphin watching (gising lang ng 5am).

Mountain lovers would love Nuts Huts (www.nutshuts.com), which is nestled somewhere in the bussom of the Loboc River and hillside. This is also the area where floating restaurants, diving boys, tarsiers, old churches and a curiously unfinished bridge could be found. Claim to fame din na dito shinoot ang pangahoy sa suba in the Loboc River.

Of course, you have to visit the Chocolate Hills at Carmen. You can even overnight at the Choco Hills Complex (P350-450/room/night)to view the Choco Hills during sunset and sunrise. It's pretty surreal actually to be waking up with the forest.

On your way to Choco Hills, be sure that you check out the Man Made Forest, The hanging bridge or even the Logarita Springs. You can rent vehicles to go around, from motorbikes to vans... basta magtanong-tanong lang sa locals, they're very willing to help.

Hayuun... hope it's helpful for people. Enjoy Bohol!

the santos list

Record breaking hibernation between blogs... sorry about that. On the fuel of people's pledges, deeds and generosity, I am now safe and snug and settling in here at the netherlands. Some people requested for me to come out with the list of pledgees and deed requests... to compare notes i guess and amuse themselves. Some gave pledges without any good deed requests, and others are still contemplating on what they want to request (still on standby, i guess).

I therefore give you, the Santos deed list.

DEEDS DONE
Celia -advocate to Dokyu that their film be shown (buti na lang nakita ko si monra sa PNB)
Hermrei - cross-stitch (yeah.. this took some time, hehe)
Angel - prayers & wedding songs
Tita Tess - promo idea for coffee & bake shop
Martina - happy deed
Te - pray for her
Ato - plug western union
Veds - Bohol itinerary plan for their bakasyon
Jed - burn copy of elliot CD (i love elliot yamin)
Dasyang - magpakita lang
Analy - pray james passes bar
Marj - retroactive wedding coordinator
Karen C. - wedding details for her brother's weddin
Laarni - pray for sister sa bar
Leng - budgeted honeymoon plans
Myls - coffee with choir
Roderick - host book-bigayan of RockEd
Vir - play cupid, deliver shoarma & flowers (the first ever deed)
Caring - send a morning & evening smile
Mavs - words of wisdom for trying times
Aims - help heather with ISS questions
Ana - something good for "someone" (secret na lang)
Astrid - tour guide sa Netherlands

DEEDS to be DONE/ GIVEN (waiting for the request)
Nicolle -alaga astrid in Holland
Faye/ Alfa - help a cat/dog find a home (i suspect this will be harder than it sounds)
Merci Ferrer - send 3 old childrens books na dutch story
Dondon - attend CLP (i need an alternative to this)
Carol - kind gesture to homeless
Peng - contacts for mom
Elaine Sevilla - my choice
A. Florence - dance with a guy you don't know
Jay
Shine
Elaine
Miko
Caryan

Good luck na lang (no deed request)
KNN
Lala
Jane
Ditsi
Maya
Imee
Tata
Balot & Chard
Lene
Earnest
J-anne
Moy
Missy
A.Nor
A. Geline
Suzette
El
Tin

in neverland

TADA! in the netherlands now!! Classes start tomorrow (September 4). Will update then : )

Again, thank you to everyone!!!

BUNSO

Ditsi Carolino and Nana Buxani, makers of the phenomenal social documentaries "Bunso", "Riles" & "Minsan lang sila Bata" have also pledged. No deed request... but am so tickled that they are part of my dream supporters (woohooo...).

Ergo, am blatantly plugging their works as mandatory food for the soul. "The glare of ignorance is blinding, the blind dare not lead the naked".... films like these give us back our sight.