A Vacation to Remember!

After another year of hard work and sacrifice from a foreign country, now it's time to relish the moment of freedom and a blissful vacation! A vacation gives you an opportunity to prioritize and remember why you enjoy life. It takes you away from the stressors that keep you up at night, basically for us OFW's - it's the homesickness and allows you to decompress before returning to your hectic and chaotic life.

It is also the time to refresh and reconnect bonds that we used to and still cherish especially with our immediate family. So instead of going out of the country, I decided to spend my vacation around the Philippines. First stop, of course Davao! Davao is an exciting destination that has a merry mix of nature and culture, wildlife and nightlife, spectacular islands and breathtaking highlands, sumptuous local cuisine and so much more.This is where I grew up, and this is a lovely city. Unlike any other places in the country, you can find and be anywhere you like in just minutes away without compromising your safety and money. 

 Infinity pool

 Traditional Filipino breakfast: TOCILOG (Sweet Pork and Fried Rice with Egg)

 Beach with Mt. Apo view (Largest active volcano & the highest point in Phil.)

Waterfalls

White Water Rafting

Bonding with friends:

Even hired bodyguards,lol XD

Next Stop?? To the first Spanish Settlement in the Philippines, CEBU! the "Queen City of the South" and the Seat of Christianity in the Philippines, Cebu is the country's oldest city. Exploring Cebu City, one encounters a rich historic past. Cebuanos are extremely proud of their cultural and historical heritage, a legacy which has endured thru the centuries from the time the great explorer Ferdinand Magellan first planted the cross on Cebu's shore. It would be my 4th time to visit the place but its actually my first time to tour around and enjoy the sights of the city. I really love Cebu and even bought customized I love Cebu shirt. From the malls, clubs, historical sights and most of all the ever friendly people. One thing that also amazed me was the taxi fare, I toured around the city and the bill never went over 100 Pesos! I even went on shopping spree, tried the infamous SkyWalk and EdgeCoaster of Crown Regency Hotel, visited the Basilica of my Patron Saint Sto. Nino, go Carting and of course did some catching up with friends.

 Party at the Loft

 Taoist Temple

 

my hotel

 

 Basilica del Sto. Nino

 Skywalk

Magellan's Cross

  

Last stop Manila, it is often described as the only main city in Asia that resembles a Latin American city, actually I don't know why! bwahahhaa :P Anyway, since it's the capital of the Philippines, expect for the busy streets, great malls, high rise buildings and a lot of places to go to. Went to Bonifacio High in Taguig and laughed our hearts out in Laffline (a famous comedy bar). But I was not able to dwell too much and went to the country side instead. Together with Rey and Jerson, a good friend of mine lives in Bataan - which is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga. One famous landmark there is  The Dambana ng Kagitingan, features a gigantic cross on top of a mountain (Mt. Samat) which seemed to be the silent sentinel of this peninsula. The shrine sits in an area of about 73,665 hectares and was completed and inaugurated in 1970 by then the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. It was nice to discover "The Port" (probably mimics The Fort in Manila) in Balanga, Bataan where they celebrate music and entertainment at the same time. I will definitely visit again the place.

with ethel booba at laffline

jammin with Lassy

 Dinner with friends

 A view from the Cross' top view deck

 jump shots

 Dambana ng Kagitingan

Razz Bar at the Port

she just said "sail with me" lol XD

I really enjoyed my vacation. I must say that a vacation is important for everybody. It allows the body, mind and soul to relax. It is like a deserved break from the monotonous routine work. Away from emergency calls, nosy patients and the pesky smell of medicines. It makes my mind free from all the responsibilities. Above all, it gives lifetime memorable experiences. While I’m writing this blog I miss napping by the pool with a pina colada in hand, when work seems a million miles away and to think its temporary- it’s makes me sad.

The Love of Party

This is actually a late post for the event, it's just I can't sleep right now and just literally browsing my previous albums on facebook, [I know you're also doing the same thing when you're bored infront of your lappy] and suddenly got the idea to blog about it. This is about "The love of Party", basically the unexplainable attraction, eagerness or the gravitational pull from your house to the party scene! lol XD In my case, it's probably Nature not the Nurture. As I grow up, I am being influenced by different kinds of people that might vary with genres but still boils down to one passion which is music. But the thing is we dance through music and both of these elements entertains me. College parties, night outs with friends, bar-hopping and the like, I've done it before so now that I'm in Qatar I thought it would be the end of my social night life but Thank God I was wrong...

We only have clubs located in hotels not like in other countries that it's a separate establishment anyhow, it's better than nothing, as long as the music is great and the crowd is dancing- it's cool with me! Here in Qatar we got some descent clubs like Qube at Ramada, Crystal at W or Paloma at Intercontinental. You can always expect for girls to be rampant on these places since they always got FREE ENTRANCE!

One of the good thing Qatar has to offer to Party Lovers is that, they are able to bring international Artist/Disc Jockeys to perform here! You will always have that ecstatic feeling and sense of curiosity to see that Artist personally. There are certain people here who's trying to build or ignite the HipHop Culture in Qatar, considering that this is an Arab country few are into foreign taste and most of them conforms to which upholds their culture.

To all of you out there who's reading this, always remember to "Work Hard and Party Harder!"

with Yuli at the RED CARPET 2: DOHA'S HIPHOP & RnB Ball

 with Joe Ju

with Glenn Morrison himself

 not so proud with the 1 pack! lol XD

 Armin Van Buuren

More party scenes:

 DJ Tiesto Concert

 Tiesto in the flesh

party faces at tiesto

party faces at armin van white party

Volunteerism

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."

- Muhammad Ali

Others define it as contributing your own efforts, time, possibly talents for charitable, educational or social purposes for the community by your own will without expecting anything in return. I do volunteer works not only to help and be of service to others but it has become a breather and a time for me to reflect on things that we humans are designed to help each other. Getting out from my comfort zone and reaching out to people whom I really don't know creates a different satisfaction to me.

I feel lucky to find people who are really into this kinds of stuff, and able to coordinate with organizations that are really serious in making this world a better place. I read an article that enumerates the benefits of Volunteerism.

The benefits of Volunteerism are numerous such as self satisfaction, relaxation, socialization, career oppurtunities or community improvement.

On the first day of the year 2010, I became a part of the H1N1 Campaign of QRC (Qatar Red Crescent). Since there were reports on cases of H1N1 infiltration here in Qatar, we decided and aimed for a common goal to prevent the widespread of this epidemic. We visited three camps of different places (Dukhan, Alkhor and Wakra) to equip the settlers with knowledge on prevention, early detection and proper actions to be done with H1N1. I was able to attend two out of three sessions, I was pretty confident back then on conveying information because I know how to speak Indian and Nepali language whom majority of the population are part of. Here are some snapshots of the campaign. 

I also went to the Blood Donation Campaign of Qatar Living Volunteers Group which is conducted at the Hamad Blood Bank last April. Since it was April Fools Day, I actually posted this pic as mobile upload and placed the caption:  At Hamad Cancer Clinic for further blood examinations due to the abnormalities found in my previous test! which actually happened because of it's a pre-requisite for donors with tattoos and piercings. Yes, i do have them both, two piercings and two tattoo. The result was great and they gave me a green light for extraction. Some of my friends were fooled and completely worried.hahahha It's the thrill of April Fools Day anyway. :P

Last July 31, 2010 another campaign was made and this is the Heat Wave Campaign. You see the climate here in Qatar is very extreme. If it's not too cold during winter, it's the opposite on summer which is very hot. To the point that people die because of heat stroke. We gave refreshments to workers who are busy doing their work outdoors while enduring the heat of the scorching sun. With the increasing number of heat-related incidents here in Qatar, this is our simple way of letting people know that we can prevent this catastrophe and they can help too even just by lending a bottle of water.

Let me end this blog by saying that when you get an opportunity to help, to donate your time and experience and to make positive contribution in the lives of less fortunate people or the community. Grab it and you'll be surprised to the kind of fulfillment you'll have because Volunteerism can be a continuation of youthful and middle age activity or part of one's healthy lifestyle.