Travel Vlog to Boracay Island!

Travel Vlog to Manila, Philippines!

Visiting Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds is one of London’s major tourist’s attractions. And, I am honoured to have had a chance to visit it.

Here’s a tip when planning/going to Madame Tussauds:

1. Make sure you try to book your ticket online
   1. It’s cheaper
   2. You don’t have to line up
   3. It’s quicker
   4. It’s simpler
2. If you decided you want to line up (like me ^_^) then you should know that:
   1. It’s a long way, it took us approximately two hours to line up
   2. You’ll get to compare your hands and feet with different people like Madame Tussaud, btw, it’s the real hand/feet size… keeps you occupied…. also, I was just a pinky smaller than Madame Tussaud
   3. Bring a book while waiting
   4. You could buy snack from the vending machines while you are in the line or you could just prepare your own 🙂
   5. Luckily, I had a friend who tagged along and it was twice as fun
   6. There will be employees who will entertain you by acting, sometimes
3. Also, pay attention to your ticket detail, because, depending on you, you might have a choice to get to the special expeditions…. when I was roaming around, I noticed my ticket had written ‘Star Wars’ on it which meant that I had the permission to go to this special section. There will be an extra price for the special expeditions…
4. The price to buy a ticket online is £109.
5. Make sure you go to this attraction when you have the whole day free

Once you are done lining up, your adventure may begin!

The place was colossal! Each room has it’s own unique way of surprising you. Some rooms would be filled up with your favorite bands and actresses and the other rooms would give you the pleasure of seeing the whole royal family of London! But an important detail you need to know is that when you leave a room, you cannot return back to the previous rooms. That’s one of the rules there. So this mean take your time in each room and make sure you really take those camera shots! The sculptures are so

But you should remember that if you go to the next rooms you cannot go back, and so take time in the rooms. I got to take a picture with One Direction, which is a band, they are one of my favourite band so I was pretty happy. The funny thing was that if you lined up, like me, you would be able to see the length of their hand or foot or height! That is not the funny part… the funny part was there was a the height of Madame Tussaud and I was just a finger smaller! Ohhhhh….. when you guys visit Madame Tussaud you will be begging to go back again and again. In most of the rooms, I entered there would be a small snack, and souvenir shop so if you get hungry you could get some food. When I bought my ticket it had the word ‘Star Wars’ in it, which means you will be able to see even more than others. The scary one was terrifying! I wore my sunglasses so that I will not be able to see the scary people as much. After all the excitement we left and waited in the cafe for aunt Kristine to pick us up. Here is a list of SOME of the people I saw:

– Hulk

– Tiffany

– Wonder Woman

– Lady Gaga

– Miley Cyrus

– Yoda

So…. let’s talk about Madame Tussaud herself :)…… Anne-Marie, who is her mother, worked for Dr Philippe Curtis as a housekeeper. Marie would call Philippe her uncle. Philippe was a physician and wax sculptor and taught Tussaud how to make wax sculptors. She made her own wax sculptor in 1777 and kept going on. In the french revolution, she made wax sculptors of the prominent victims. She was born with the name Marie Grosholtz until she married Francois Tussaud in 1795, then her name changed into Madame Tussaud. She is a very interesting, awesome and creative woman who lived for 88 years. Please visit this amazing sculptor palace.

THANK YOU,

EVERYBODY! 🙂 ❤ 😀

AirBnB

AirBnB is very helpful. Why would I even write about AirBnB? Well, because it’s something that I want you to know about. AirBnB has great potential and it’s really helpful especially when you want to save money and see places.

What is Airbnb?

Before I begin, I just want to say that B&B has existed way before AirBnB arrived. If you don’t know what B&B means: Bed&Breakfast. So AirBnB means Airbed&Breakfast you’ll understand this better once we go into the history and the beginning of how AirBnB happened.

How Airbnb came to be…

It started when Brian Chesky was on his way to this conference in another San Fransico about designing because he figured that he would make a design company. Unfortunately, as Brian and Joe looked at the recommended hotels, everything was sold out. This was when Brian and Joe got the idea to solve a problem that they were having. They decided to make and bed and breakfast for this conference. They remembered that they learned about how creativity can help in solving problems. They both created a simple website in about 30 minutes as they spoke of their plans. They brought our some airbeds for some extra places to sleep and that’s actually how they got AirBednBreakfast.

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In order for their site to be noticed they contacted the top design bloggers and in the morning, they found themselves at the top. It was really amazing because there were different people from different places from around the world who were contacting them to stay at their living room.

This is how AirBnB was born! Their idea which they thought of in about just 2 days started being noticed and they said that “If you have an idea just put it out there”.

 

Competitive Advantage of AirBnB Compared to Hotels

One of the reasons as to why AirBnB has a competitive advantage towards hotels is because they are found in more places and they’re cheaper. If you look at the chart below, you would see how you can find more AirBnB properties nearly everywhere.

 

About the wealth being shared…

If you look at my drawing below you will notice that the money bring spent only goes to the hotel owners while the wealth in AirBnB goes back and around.

Another Advantage…

Did you know that because of AirBnB:

1. You get to save more
2. Stay longer

Aaaand, when you get to save more you could do some…..

You should visit their site someday! You’ll be surprised with their prices and the locations.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

Bacolod & Talisay Adventure!

Car trip!!

As we rode the car, our driver told us about the places we were passing. As we headed toward our destination, we passed by big big big big lands of sugar canes. It went from baby sugar canes to teen sugar canes to adult sugar canes. When we neared the mountain area, we arrived at MAMBUKAL.

We were greeted by the sweet chirps of different birds and the warm sunlight as we jumped out of our car. After writing down our names and paying the fee of 20 pesos each, we made a decision within 2 minutes whether or not we should walk around or ride the car. We looked at the map of the whole place it seemed fairly large. But the majority of walking won and we started our adventure on foot. Plus, I wanted to get my steps to 10,000 everyday :D.

I took a photo of the map and stayed at the front for navigation. Good thing for the big trees we weren’t being cooked by the sun. We kept walking until we reached the Boating Lagoon. On our left, we saw the butterfly sanctuary and a CAUTION! sign that said “BOILING MUD AREA…… DO. NOT. GO. BEYOND. THIS. POINT.” To be honest,  there were no periods after every word, I just wanted to make it more dramatic. But just saying we didn’t see any boiling mud anywhere.

Anyways, we continued path through this bridge. Before I continue, I just want to mention a little fellah that we met along the way which I call Billy and he’s a brown dog which kept us company and followed us a long way.

We then climbed up this (not so) steep mountain while eating apples to keep us going. I took a glimpse at our map and saw that we were passing by the Family Cottages. After just taking a few more steps, we saw the Hot Sulfur Spring. We decided to check it out for awhile. The water was too low for us to swim but if you looked closely, you would notice the water was boiling in some of the areas. We left this place and noticed some more signs of Hot Boiling Mud followed by nothing we found.

When we finally reached the falls our main destination, we bought some corn first. As we walked up the stairs to sign our names, we were stopped because my sisters were too young and weren’t allowed to go to the falls. One of the men told us that we could take a route to see the seven falls at the top. We said, “sure we could try that”. We called our car which compared to how long we walked came pretty quick. One of the guides rode at the back as he told us our directions on where to go. We exited Mambuka and took this route. It was terrible, they said that it would be fast. The road seemed endless. And, it became more and more steep and rocky. He only told us that it would take about 30 minutes to go up. This was very inconvenient for us because we thought it was going to be quick, we had young children with us, we had other places to go to soon and the road was dangerous and we had no space to turn around. We had no choice but to venture forward. Another thing that came our way was when we thought we arrived at the seven falls thing, he told us that we still had 15 minutes of walking left! We canceled the whole thing and turned around. It was too dangerous especially since we had small kids with us. So, if you have kids and you aren’t prepared for a rocky path I don’t suggest going this way at all. Just don’t go this way because it’s very inconvenient and time-consuming. We dropped our guide of when we reached the bottom and paid him 100 pesos.

Cockpit Arena

This is one of the sites that we passed by. Our driver explained that it was really famous in Bacolod and that how it worked was that two people would bring their roosters and let them fight. This Cockfight is actually a blood sport between two cocks which was first witnessed and documented by Antonio Pigaffeta (Mangellan’s chroniclers) in the Philippines in 1951. Also, there were some cockfights that happened in London too!

Lunch Time

Finally, we got to eat! We decided to eat at Jollibee at the Burgos Street. When we told the lady at the counter that we wanted chicken, we received very surprising news. She told us it was going to take 40 minutes (40!!) for our order! We canceled because 40 minutes is just too much! Our driver then suggested this place called Maskkara. We entered the airconditioned room and ordered some Chicken inasal and barbecue. It tasted delicious!

Campuestohan

As we rode up and paid an entrance fee to Campuestohan, it looked so fun! There were different pools, different kinds of zip lining, ice cream, restaurants, a big shoe, Anchors away or Vikings as you may call it and many other activities. Remember this, when you are going to zip line, you will need an adult older than 18 to sign a wwaiverto allow you to do it. Anyways, we did Vikings which is a boat that sways on both sides and you get that weird tummy feeling. It’s really fun. It’s also 30 pesos each. Also, if you are planning to do the zip line you might have to wait for awhile because they have very little equipment so when a person zip lines to one side, they have to bring it back. Anyways, we did a load of activities before being pooped and decided to head back to the car.

The Ruins

A castle like building appeared in our view as the fog (there’s wasn’t any fog but just pretend, okay?) started to clear. It wasn’t built and the walls made of concrete to be darkened by old age perphaps? We’ll get to the story soon.

The Real Story:

A Japanese man built this big mansion because he was making a headquarters in the Philippines. This mansion had the most finest furnitures, chinawares, and decorative items. But, the guerilla fighters of the Philippines didn’t liked the idea of the headquarters and burnt it down. All the wood components of the house was burnt and it became ruined. The End.

My Story:

There was this rich man who decided to make a very grand mansion for the people of the world with his wife. They even made a grand garden for anyone who wanted fresh fruit and vegetables. But, one day ninjas was envious of this rich man because…. because… umm… because they were envious! And, one day they decided to burn it down and steal all the treasures inside. When the ninjas looked for the rich man and his wife and child, they couldn’t find them until now. The end.

My Mom’s Story:

There was this rich man from England who was making a beautiful mansion with his wife. They were staying at a small hut when they suddenly died and the construction never finished. The End.

Thanks for reading this!

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

Summer Camp: West End Stage

West End Stage was the most exciting program experience ever! At the start when I heard about it, I refused to go. You should know I have a big stage and people fright problem. I was so paranoid about going the days got mixed up. So it was Saturday and my program was going to start on Sunday. I was that paranoid that I though it was Sunday already. I had to wake up earlier than usual… about six o’clock because the program starts a ten. Another reason I wake up earlier is cause it takes long for me to prepare, and I want when I arrive my eyes do not look so sleepy. So every day I wake up to take a cold shower to boost up my energy and then waited for the babies to wake up as well as (aunt) Kristine. The classes start at 10.00 am and end 5.00 pm. It said in the letter that you could buy a hoody or a water bottle, but I thought it was a waste of money.

Monday – My first day

Ohhhh, I was getting more and shyer very minute I stepped closer to the building. We exited the house and headed for the tube because if we go by bus we will have to walk about 45 minutes to the building because buses do not go directly to the place. When we arrived we looked around for the building. (aunt) Kristine said she has been to this place a few times but does not really know the place properly. So we went around the place until I spotted a kid wearing some dancing clothes so we followed them expecting them to be going the same place as us. The building was a cold place and we got some brochures. Day one always gives me goosebumps. Okay so, when I was done signing myself in they told me to go to the end of the hall, and when I got there I was greeted by another person who told me to go to the bottom of the staircase where I met another person who leads to a staging area. I was in group 1 and the color yellow. I sat down and watched the host. After 30 minutes past the host said ‘Please give a round of applause to the teachers!!!!’, and at that moment the lights went down and the teachers came in. Everybody shouted ‘WHOOOO’ and stood up, and this made me feel so excited. There was music as they came and there were about 15 teachers? I don’t really know. When everything went calm again the host started to say which group goes with which teachers. So here is an explanation….

There are 4 groups and in each group there are colours,

GROUP 1 GROUP 2 GROUP 3 GROUP 4

RED ORANGE GOLD GREY
YELLOW GREEN KHAKI NAVY
CYAN BLUE PURPLE AQUA
INDIGO SILVER BLACK MAROON
btw I am a group one colour yellow. So the host would be like for example ‘Okay, everybody listens up! Yellow in Group 1 go to the acting teacher, and then Red in Group go to the singing teacher’, and the only time all the colour get together is when the show actually comes. Also, there are so many teachers because each group get different teachers but learn the same thing. So anyways lets resume……. I hope I explained properly enough for you to understand….. hehe hehe 🙂 When he finally called our names he told us to go the singing workshop first. She called out names, but one of our classmates were missing. We all sang a small song which goes like:

My dog he can do the cat can better than my cat can, but my goldfish find its very difficult.

My dog he can do the cat can better than my cat can, but my goldfish finds it very hard.

Then we repeat but it different ways like she tells us to replace the dog with ‘Woof’, the cat with ‘Meow’ and goldfish with ‘mwah mwah’.

It was so fun I was not so sure why did not want to go anymore. After a few more vocal warm – up we sang good morning Baltimore from the movie Hairspray. She said whoever wants to do a solo you sing out, and then the next day the teacher would pick who. Most of my classmates did not try. I didn’t really hear what she said so I raised my hand, and when I realised what I raised my hand for I wanted to say never mind but I would embarrass myself. I sang out loud anyways and they said I had a good voice :). After singing workshop, we went to the Wicked workshop. On the way to the next workshop, I met Halley who has become a really good friend of mine. We talked a lot and made a joke.. she was so funny and we also made other friends. So….. Have you every watched the play or the movie Wicked? So the wicked workshop is just a glimpse of what they did on the play. After all the dancing in the Wicked workshop, it was time for lunch. Oh, you would not believe how to get the food! Everybody was squishing in like an angry mob. They had a list of sandwiches, chips, juice and fruits. I barely got food I just wanted to leave the crowded so-called canteen. We sat down in a big room with all the other groups and ate lunch. After eating a satisfying yet quick lunch, we went back to the stage (where I first entered) because they said they had a surprise for us. Some kids were not yet down yet so they brought their lunch with them. The surprise was a guy named…. Sorry, I forgot it, but he performed in the play Le Miserables. We had limited questions. At the last question, one of them asked him if he could sing for us. He sang for us and it was magnificent. That was the best surprise. After the song, we went dancing class where we learned how to do a dance in the movie Hairspray. We all had to put our heads together to think which 60’s a dance we should do at the start, because of its freestyle. It was fun and tiring than the last workshop we went to was the acting workshop. He told us to…. someone went inside the room one of the people who worked here with a student and said she just arrived (she was the missing classmate) …. to fill all the space in the room and it was a fun activity. He told us to walk with purpose. He taught us a scene from the movie Hairspray and gave us scripts to memorise. After all the fun today, I went home exhausted and happy. 🙂

Tuesday – Ummm (A bit of a blur)

Tuesday was a bit of a blur I can’t really remember. We still did singing, dancing, and acting. Ok so let’s try to remember. I arrived lined up and was called to my group. I made more friends which were really fun. Everyone was really nice. In singing class, we did the same song….. Good Morning Baltimore. Okay, I am really sorry, but I just can’t specifically remember everything. In acting class, the teacher made us act out one of the scenes which were so fun! Okay, this is ending now heh hee.

Wednesday – The inspiration

Ok, you should be excited because I remember what I did this day….. hehe hehe. (aunt) Kristine dropped me off and I started my awesome day. All the groups went to the theatre place again, and there was an announcement. The host said that we are going to watch a musical called Memphis. I was surprised to hear this and texted (aunt) Kristine immediately. We had to rush the other class because we need to get to the musical soon! We first did dancing class, and then I think singing or acting hehe hehe. OH MY!! I can’t forget the play it left me totally flabbergasted. I think they brought us here to be more encouraged to do our part of the play…… better. We all ate our lunch and waited in a big room. Each person got pulled away and was brought to the coach which leads us to the show! My group and I were last. When they said ‘We will bring to the coach’ I was seriously imagining being in a seat being pulled by horses…. hehe :). On the bus or coach, I sat beside my friends and we played some games. The ride was a bit long, but I didn’t realise. We played truth or dare and some other games. We finally arrived at the theatre got our tickets and went inside. We kept swapping tickets cause we wanted to sit in another place. The lights finally died and the show started. We watched it quietly and it was the best play ever! You wouldn’t imagine!

I have a story of it here… you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to… but you would love it…. it is amazing and inspirational!!

Here is the story…. from the wiki

Message from me!: Here is the starting:

There’s a party at Delrey’s, an underground black Rock and Roll bar in 1950s Memphis (“Underground”). Huey Calhoun, a white man, arrives on the scene. The regulars begin to leave, but Huey convinces them to stay, claiming he is there for the music (“The Music of My Soul”). Later, Huey is about to be fired from his job as a stock boy at a local department store, but he makes a deal with the owner, if he can sell 5 records by playing them over the speakers, he can have a sales job. Huey plays a rock & roll hit (“Scratch My Itch”). He sells 29 records in five minutes, but the store owner fires him anyway, incensed at the type of music being played.

Huey returns to Delray’s club, and begins flirting with Felicia, Delray’s talented sister, and promises to get her on the radio (“Ain’t Nothin’ But a Kiss”). Huey then proceeds to apply for DJ jobs at various local white radio stations (“Hello My Name is Huey”). One of the owners, Mr Simmons, invites him in, saying he’ll show him what a ‘real’ DJ looks like. Huey hijacks the mic and plays another African-American rock song (“Everybody Wants to be Black on Saturday Night”).

Mr Simmons is about to have Huey thrown out, but then dozens of teenagers start calling in demanding more of Huey and his music (“That’s Not Possible”). Mr Simmons agrees to give him a two-week trial, and if he’s successful he’ll get hired full-time. After a few days Huey is told to read an advertisement for beer, but he is illiterate. Huey asks Bobby, a friend of Delray’s with a janitor position, to tell him what it says. He forgets the exact words almost immediately and begins to improvise, ending with the phrase “Hockadoo!”.

Mr Simmons again almost fires Huey, until the manager of the store advertised calls in saying that he wants Huey to do all of his advertisements, seeing as his stock sold out in minutes. Huey’s station gains immediate popularity, as does his new catch phrase, even though no one understands what it means…including Huey.

While on the radio, Huey encourages white people to go down to black churches (“Make Me Stronger”), and they begin to. Meanwhile, Delray has saved enough money to put Felicia’s voice on the record, and she travels to Huey’s house to tell him this. He is overjoyed and promises to play it the next day. Huey’s prejudiced mother, however, breaks the record, which leaves Felicia heartbroken, but Huey tells her to come down to the radio station anyway (“Colored Women”).

The next day, Huey brings in a band and backup singers to play for Felicia live. Despite her reservations, Felicia sings and becomes an instant sensation (“Someday”). Felicia and Huey’s relationship begins to grow, and Delray is becoming more and more infuriated with Huey. He warns him of the danger of what he is doing, threatening to harm Huey if anything happens to Felicia (“She’s My Sister”). Huey’s radio popularity grows more and more as white teens and black teens begin to accept each other (“Radio”). Huey and Felicia have been carrying on a secret relationship since the day she sang live on the radio.

Two years later Huey proposes to Felicia on the way to a party at Delray’s. She says no because of laws and prejudice but admits that without those obstacles she would accept. As the two share a kiss, a gang of white men pass by, spotting this. They hold Huey down as they beat Felicia with a bat. Huey manages to carry her into the club, crying out for help. Delray tries to go after Huey, for he promised to harm Huey should Felicia get hurt because of him, but Gator, a friend who has not spoken since he saw his father lynched as a child, calms him and sends out a prayer for change as Delray takes Felicia outside and gets her into the ambulance they called (“Say a Prayer”).

Message from author: After this, there is an intermission……. I was in tears, and I got a snack 😀 Resuming story!……

Time has passed, and Huey is about to open his new TV show, a rock and roll variety show featuring all black dancers (“Crazy Little Huey”). Felicia is supposed to be his first guest, but she backs out at the last minute, fearing that people will think her and Huey to be in a relationship. Huey informs Bobby that he will fill in, and after getting over some jitters, Bobby brings the house down (“Big Love”). Felicia’s popularity is also beginning to grow around Memphis, as does her relationship with Huey.

Felicia tells Huey that if they went to New York they wouldn’t have to sneak around all the time, but Huey insists that they are happy the way they are and don’t need to leave (“Love Will Stand When All Else Falls”). She has been discovered by a talent agency in New York, as has Huey’s TV show. The agency wants them both to come up to New York, although Huey has to compete with Dick Clark for the national show. They ponder the decision (“Stand Up”) and are even supported by Huey’s mother, who has changed her racist ways after seeing a black church choir (“Change Don’t Come Easy”).

Huey is told he has won the TV position if he agrees not to use black dancers. Huey refuses and proceeds to strip out of his suit on the air (“Tear Down the House”). Felicia tells Huey that she plans to go anyway, as it is her dream. In a desperate attempt to keep her, he kisses her on the air and says he loves her (“Love Will Stand/Ain’t Nothin’ But a Kiss” (Reprise)). The feed is cut, and Huey is fired on the grounds that no one would watch his show if they knew about him and Felicia, and that he wasn’t the only white person to play black music anymore. Felicia is taken away by Delray in an attempt to save her career.

Now unemployed, Huey leaves the station and ponders his relationship with Memphis, realising he couldn’t leave for any reason (“Memphis Lives in Me”). Four years later, Huey is a DJ on an obviously low budget and low rated station (he jokes that they have “exactly one listener”). Felicia walks in, about to start a national tour. She tells Huey that she is engaged to a man named Bill, but that she wants him to join her on stage one last time. He refuses, afraid that no one will remember him. She begins her performance, and halfway through the song Huey walks on stage and finishes the song with her to thunderous applause. He then proclaims “The name is Huey Calhoun. Goodnight and HOCKADOO!” (“Steal Your Rock and Roll”).

If you read this good for you, because you just got inspired….. well did you???!! After the show, all the people who were not from West End Stage left. We stayed and got a chance to ask a few questions from the main characters…. Huey and Felicia… also two of the dancers. One of my fellow West End classmates asked if they got awkward when they had to kiss, but they said they talked to each other before and they kissed a lot of other people in other shows…. I guess they are used to it?? Afterwards, we all got back to the bus and I waited for Kristine to pick me up back at the school.

Thursday – Skipping Stones

Hello…. this day was just the same as the first few days. I also seriously don’t remember, because all we did was acting dancing and singing. In singing class, we sang ‘A Million Voice’ and ‘Seasons of Love’. I auditioned for both songs hoping to get a sentence solo. So skipping to the next….., please! 🙂

Friday – Almost the day!!

Today they said that this will be the last day that we will practice. I concentrated harder. In singing class, the teacher announced that I got a sentence solo in ‘Seasons of Love’….. which was a high song. I was so excited!!! When we lined up again for lunch there was this mean girl that literally and on purpose hit me….. HARD. The girl hit me with her shoulder…. ‘HEY, IT’S NOT MY FAULT IT’S SO CROWDED!!’ I wanted to tell her….. she was in the older groups. We all went to eat outside and had a nice chat. Lunch quickly passed by and we went to the theatre place where a famous woman sang. No one was allowed to take a video, because…. well…. I didn’t know why. When I went home I had to listen to all the music we had to sing and my line in the play, because we have to memorise it. We learned extra things in singing like how we are going to enter singing ‘Good Morning Baltimore’, and how we are supposed to act in the song. It was so fun having so many friends. All my friends we getting ready for the big day too…. which was Saturday

Saturday – A day off… well except for the accommodation group

Have I told you that you people were allowed to sleep in the acting class thing?? Well, if I didn’t here it goes. You are allowed to sleep in the West End stage. Three of my really good friends was sleeping there. It includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is Liberty Court and Sundial Court…. she slept in Sundial Court. The courts were not literally inside the building where we act, sing and dance you have to exit the building and walk a few minutes away. So, anyways it was a free day for me. I had to shop for some black trainers because I only had coloured trainers with me. I almost bought some new pair of trousers, because they said you have to wear black trousers and I only had black leggings. I bought my shoes in Primark where most of the things are cheap because when I checked the other brands the price flew up to £150. I found a good looking trainers for £3 pounds and bought it. I returned home and continued my day off….. hehe 😛 🙂 😀 ❤

Sunday – The final day!!! 🙂 ….. So EXCITED!!!! 🙂 😀

Ooooh, today is the day!!! I am so thrilled!! 🙂 I woke up extra early because we are supposed to arrive at nine and this time, not at the far place, and instead at the Majesty’s Theatre! I was dropped off by (uncle) Anthony early in the morning at the front. Wow, that was a lot of students!! I looked for my group and stayed with them. The kids who were not accommodation came first…. which included me. When we were inside…. still in a line…. one of the West End people started to talk on a banana. I and my friend were laughing hard. He kept saying ‘I know, I know I won’t be late for dinner’ and stuff…… hehe hehe :D. We arrived early so we had time to practice. We all rehearsed a lot of times. When the other groups started to rehearse it was our time to eat some lunch. I thought that now that we were at the theatre we would not have lunch. After eating lunch, we watched the other kids which were really fun. 3.15 was the time when my group would start to act. 3.15 pm finally came and the curtains went up. I was so nervous talking in my part or singing the sentence solo, but I was enjoying so much! Time went by so fast, and the audience was happy :). I think it was a full house because when I looked I did not see any open spaces. We finished and our teachers said we did a good job :). All the older people and some in my group started to cry. As in their mascara was falling down their cheek, and their eyes and nose were red. Even the mums started to cry seeing their children cry. When we exited my friend gave me a big hug and said bye. I smiled and waved goodbye. I was not so sad….. I mean, at least, I got my friends Facebook name so I could add them. They kept on asking me if I had Instagram, but I told them I didn’t have. One of the older kids in the yellow… like me… brought come cake. I was about to leave when she said ‘Hey, Elizabeth get some cake’ she said smiling. I actually was surprised, because I didn’t know she knew my name. Anyways that was a very successful day and the cake was EXCELLENT!! 🙂 😀 ❤ 😛

P.S. You will love it!!

Thank you 🙂 I hope you enjoyed reading 🙂 😀 ❤

Day 1: Trip Going to Danjugan (part 1)

Day 01:

I wake up at 5:00 am because the time to meet the Danjugan members and other kids going to the camp was around 6:30 am. I reached for my phone to check if I had any messages. Five. Five messages sent around the time of 3:00 – 4:30 am. I wondered who it could be as I unlocked my phone. They were all from my dad. And it read, “Don’t go anymore” “Too dangerous” “Don’t go” and so on. To be honest, my eyes watered a little there because just yesterday I arrived to Bacolod after a 10 – 11 hour trip. I was exhausted and now I have to go all the way back home. That would be another 10 – 11 hours. I called my dad in hopes of changing his mind…… It didn’t work. Apparently, the Danjugan camp sent out an email to all the parents which included some warnings because of the terrorist attack in Cebu which occurred a week before. A week ago. The farthest I got to have permission to go was to allow me and my tita to just meet everyone at the meeting point and get to say hi to everyone. I decided to leave my bag back at the hotel while we headed out.

We were dropped in front of an animal conservation park where we saw a big white bus and some adults around it. As I walked to the bus, I saw that it was nearly full already. Heh, I thought I was the first to get here. We were approached by one of the staff (I guess you could say) members. We made an explanation of why couldn’t come and also kinda “deviced” a plan to change my dad’s mind. Our first step was to call him. I talked to my dad for awhile explaining that I was at the meeting point and that I really wanted to go (still didn’t work). Apparently, my dad thought that a lot of the kids cancelled out like me because of the attack (a week ago). But, no. It was just me who was planning to cancel and reschedule. After my second failed attempt to convince my dad (I was so close), I passed my phone down to Kuya Kenneth (staff member). 6:15. Time was quickly passing and the bus was going to leave soon. Kuya Ken explained all the safety measures (like there were police guards in the mainland and on the island) to my dad and that pretty much did the tipping point(ish). By the way, a few days before the Danjugan Camp, the parents are requested to go to this parent conference where they explain everything (even the safety measures). Unfortunately, my parents missed the meeting which prevented them from knowing this sort of information (about safety and other, XD). Finally, we finished our quest and I could go!!

I boarded the bus only to run out again as I remembered I left my bag at the hotel!! I talked to my tita and kuya Ken. Kuya Ken brought one of the vans to the hotel where I ran and grabbed my bag. We headed back to the bus. We were about 10 minutes late. Everyone was waiting just for me. I took my seat at the back of the seat drivers seat. It was a single chair. I was happy, since I didn’t actually know anyone and I was sort of shy at the moment. My tita rode in a van right behind us. It was announced that we had 3 hours to go. Yay. _-_

Aside from the fact that nearly every kids here came with either a friend or sibling (unlike me all alone), It was so quite. Probably 1/4 of the kids in the bus were asleep while most were just quite and others you could hear the whispers. I tried listening to music on my phone but, for some reason, my phone wasn’t working. I was left with no music but earphones in my ears. I talked to kuya Kenneth and Tito Jay for awhile but the rest of the trip I just stared outside my window which showed me different views of trees and seas. There was some stopovers for anyone who wanted to go to the bathroom or buy some snacks. Also, sometime in our trip, I heard someone playing the ukulele with the song Riptide. Some joined in, it also helped to pass the time quickly.

We then arrived at a port. The ground was bumpy. And, we started to unload all the bags. I thought everyone was just going to bring a small back pack (as I did). I was wrong. I was the only one with one small bag. Everyone else brought a luggage. I was wondering what they were bringing and what I should have brought. Well, it was too late to go back now. Right?

Anyways, what we did next was go to a small bridge which seemed to be getting narrower and narrower the further we went. When we finally reached the end, we saw two boats waiting. I rode onto the first boat with around 11 other kids. Unfortunately, the boat didn’t have any cover on top like the second boat. Someone offered a jacket to me as the sun was scorching, everyone seemed really nice. It was a good thing that in the middle of our boat journey, the clouds decided to spare us a bit and provided us some shade from the sun. Anyways talking about our surroundings, the water was so clear. Some of the places (on the water on the boat) that we passed you could see that there were corals boasting with life.

After one last gust of wind came, the island came into view and then before we knew it, we started disembarking the boat with our bags. We were immediately greeted by some of the staff. They were all smiling as we greeted back.

The island. It’s beautiful.

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H

Dying Paradises of the Philippines

The Philippine waters are usually full of beautiful fish and colorful, live corals. Taking a look back it can change your views on a lot of things. You could have discovered a variety of different colors, shapes, and sizes. There were such a great amount of schools (of fish) you could see as you swam around and had your sunset walks. Everything might have looked great on the outside with shimmering light blue water which seemed so perfect you couldn’t believe your eyes. But, the real story is within. You can’t always see what’s happening on the outside so we have to really dive in and find out. And, while there are many other beautiful utopias (^_~), we will be concentrating on the Philippines waters.

Philippines waters: Some are protected… Some aren’t

Because of the Philippines bountiful amount of marine life, 100 scientists have claimed it (the Philippines) to be the world’s “center of marine biodiversity”. That is a pretty great achievement. So that means 100 different people (that are scientist!!) have all agreed on the fact that the Philippines is full on boasting with underwater sea creature…… cool! And, if you go scuba diving, in some areas, you would feel like you were just transported into a new world. We need to learn to take care of this.

Intro to the Coral Triangle: Underwater heaven 

Did you know that the Philippines is part of the Coral Triangle? This (the coral triangle) is a marine area stretching far across six countries which are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor – Leste and Solomon Islands. Others say that it’s nearly the size half of America.Anyways, the Coral triangle is mostly famous for its astonishing amount of corals ranging from 500 to 600 different species of reef – building corals.But, that is not all! This (slightly broken) triangle supports, nurtures, and maintains more than 2000 species of reef fish!! It was on 2007 that the WWF started its Coral Triangle Program. The WWF has taken up the challenge to protect the Coral Triangle and develop sustainable solutions to help the inhabitants of the region. With the help of the USAID, the Conservation Internation, The Nature Conservancy, and the WWF are all working together on policy, fisheries management, marine protected areas and climate change adaption.

Donsol bay: Sneak peak of the biggest fish in the world

Also, the biggest fish swims within the 2000 species of reef fish.This fish is called the whale shark! If you haven’t heard of one or seen one you could watch (the awesome film) Finding Dory. And, yes, this type of fish is called a whale shark. If you want to see and swim with these big fishes, you could go on an adventure to Donsol bay which is also connected with the Coral Triangle. This is one of the many Paradises of the Philippines where you could go to enjoy the bar, hotel, restaurant and more! And, don’t worry….. Whale Sharks, the biggest fish in the world, eats the tiniest living organism in the ocean…. you are safe (most likely) just follow the rules and regulations of not touching them, riding them and chasing them (there is still more). Also, these creatures are very gentle and curious (so they will most likely try to approach you) but you should avoid making any physical contact with the oils on your skin may harm the Whale Shark. And, the good thing about this bay is that it is a marine protected area and that is why you could only snorkel with the Sharks (fish, remember they are fish). Although there is another place called Oslob (in Cebu) where you could find these fish but I advise not to go because it is a huge tourist attraction which has destroyed most of the forms of environmental awareness.

Also, if you are planning to visit, the beach is alluring.

Tubbataha Reef

The Tubbataha Reef is one of the 240 protected areas in the Philippines. It is located at the center of the Sulu Sea. This reef was once a very peaceful, filled with color and life area but it is currently suffering from overfishing, exploitation, and destruction. When other fishing grounds started declining of its fishes, sailors went to Tubbuataha in hopes of more fish in their motorized boats. Some of the problems that evolved over time (very quickly), was that the sailors started using (very, very bad) techniques for fishing like utilizing cyanide (extremely toxic salts that contain anion CN⁻) and dynamite fishing (the practice of using explosives to kill schools of fish). Also, because the boats they (the sailors who started filling up the Tubbataha Reef) used were motorized which polluted the reef with a lot of oil.

Dynamite fishing === Bad…. just bad

This was too much. Explosions?!? This is illegal.

The decision was made with the help of some scuba divers and environmentalists who campaigned to turn the Tubbataha Reef into a national marine park. On August 11, 1988, with the aid of the President, Corazon Aquino, the Proclamation no. 306 was signed, which helped the establishment of 2 (not 1 but 2) Tubbatha reefs into a national marine park of 82,000 acres. Because of this (big) step, Philippines had just done a first time for declaring a marine area into a national park. This national marine park was then being properly taken care of by rangers sent by the Presidential Task Force.

Throughout their (the rangers) early years of protecting the park, they had a few problems. One of their struggles were that in 1996, sliding and shifting sand caused the unstableness of the rangers wooden structure tents. They overcame their problems (yay!) and the marine park rangers are now settled in a styrofoam-reinforced concrete structure. Their location is found on the Southeast Islet on the Tubbataha’s North Atoll. And, they have got their cool equipment with them such as patrol boats, utility boats, radars, radio communications, geo-positioning system (GPS) units, and basic research equipment. 24 hours/7 days a week is the times that the natural park is being guarded by (armed) rangers.

There are plans made by the World Wildlife Fund (or WWF) to make a modernized ranger station that was announced during the 25th anniversary of the Tubbataha’s Reef’s national park declaration in 2013. And, as the WWF says, legendary heroes need great hideouts – Batman had his Batcave, Darth Vader had two Death Stars and Voltes V had Camp Big Falcon.WWF, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park boasts of unparalleled biodiversity levels. Over 360 hard coral and 600 fish species inhabit the park, which continuously seeds the Sulu Sea with life!!! And, this reef is also a UNESCO World Heritage.This means that this park was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a special cultural or physical significance.

Future “bat cave” envisioned by the WWF

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to say thank you to the rangers that are helping guard the Tubataha Reef against exploitation. Thank you for caring about our environment here in the Philippines. Because of the rangers that make it their job to watch on a daily basis, the Tubataha Reef is properly being taken care of. Also, thank you to the strong campaign composed of scuba divers and environmentalist (people who really cared and spent time in the ocean) who made it possible for this reef to be protected and noticed, more!

Trivia: Did you know that on the back of the 1000 pesos bill you could spot the Tubbataha? Now you know!

 

Going there: “Are we there (the national water park) yet?” 

If you are planning to visit this heaven, you will have to take a plane ride to Puerto Princesa. Then from there, it will take about 10 hours to get to the park from Puerto Princesa. That’s a pretty long time but I am absolutely sure that it will be worth the time that was taken. Maybe you could bring some board games or books on your 10-hour trip. Also, the best times to go there would be around mid-March until mid-June…. the waters are calmer at those times. You could also check this, http://www.gopalawan.travel/travel-info/tubbataha-reefs-natural-park, website for more info to book.

Coron: Almost got destroyed by Nickelodeon

“Excitement is something that could blind people from seeing the true about how it could destroy life.” ~ L.O.A.S.H

This was a direct quote from me ^_~. When I wrote “Excitements” I was referring to the one that Nickelodeon was planning to set up. Just recently, Nickelodeon made the plan and announced that they were going to make an underwater theme park in Coron. For me, this sounded so fun I mean I love theme parks but what it also sounded like was that this park was going to be the very thing that would destroy Coron.

In case you haven’t heard of Coron I will be giving you guys a “short” introduction about it. In Palawan, Coron is a first class municipality (a city or town that has corporate status and local government). It’s beach and waters are usually quite and calm. The view is spectacular and the water seems to be crystal clear. After 742 steps of hard – earned sweat, you could watch the sunset in a beautiful angle.

Anyways, proceeding about the theme park. There was a report on January 13-14 where Nickelodeon retracted from building the park because…

 

That was all just a glimpse of what is happening here in the Philippines. There so many people and netizens who are trying to bring a change and help. The Philippines has helped countless people in providing them food and livelihood. But, recently due to the overheating and climate change, more and more fish are dying and more and more people are having a difficult time. Before, if you were to be catching fish you would just take a few hours and barely exert any hard work and your boat would be overflowing with fish. But now, the workload would be longer, harder and less fish would be brought home. This affects all of us. For example, in the market, since it’s become more difficult to catch seafood, the prices will be raised.  We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

La Vie Comme une Lyonnais

Pardon my french.

Mon séjour d’un mois à Lyon a été superb! Le temps passe si vite. Je me sens comme il était juste hier quand j’ai d’abord acheté sur le marché. Ce marché va me manquer. J’ai tellement appris beaucoup. J’ai amélioré ma française et de parler avec les habitants va me manquer. Je l’ai déjà fait connaissance avec la dame à la boulangerie. Le temps quand je suis sortie de la maison et j’ai acheté du pain au chocolat va me manquer.

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 Fresque des Lyonnais, une grand peintures murales avec beaucoup de personnes (famous).  Je ne peux pas croire cette j’habitais sur le même pays que le l’auteur,Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, qui a écrit Le Petit Prince. Il y’a une statue de Antoine de Saint – Exupéry avec le petit prince dans Bellecour. Un de mes (favorite) citations est “On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. “L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” de Le Petit Prince.

I will miss everything in Lyon. It’s such a peaceful and beautiful place to stay. Somedays I would walk to the market alone and it seemed like time stopped.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H