Philippines

hibernation over!

Oopsie! I unintentionally hibernated… again. 😉 I wrote my travel bag post around February 2016 and meant to tweak and post it before the beginning of March but it didn’t happen. Sigh… I know, I’m terrible. -_-

So… what kept me busy? Hmmm… Let’s see…

Hiking

Johnston Canyon Winter hiking + Height phobia = FUN? :8

Philippine Election 2016

I campaigned for Duterte via Facebook. Yup! I’m one of his social media and prayer warriors… To be clear, I didn’t get paid for it. Yeah … yeah… I’m a die hard Duterte supporter (a.k.a. Dutertard)! Deal with it! :p

Why Duterte? Click here to read a very interesting article written by Leandro Legarda Leviste.

(I’m elated that in a short span of time, Duterte has already accomplished a much needed overhaul in the government… It’s a long way to go but I know he can deliver! Duterte surely deals with things like a BOSS!)

credit to the owner

credit to the owner

Travelling

Went gallivanting around North and South Carolina together with the gigglers (a.k.a. Little Miss Wanderfuls). Why gigglers? Well…find out for yourselves…;)

Want to know more of our adventures? Check out this site -> www.littlemisswanderfuls.com

Game of Thrones

I watched all 10 episodes of Season 6… I must say, it’s one of the best shows ever! Who are my top three favorite? Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen. Oh! I also like Lyanna Mormont. She’s a badass! Need I say more? :p

Jon Snow (credit to the owner)	Arya Stark (credit to the owner)
Daenerys Targaryen (credit to the owner)	Lyanna Mormont (credit to the owner)

Gardening

I’m not a green thumb but my husband is! (Yes, I do have a husband. lol) I’ve been just messing around with the garden. Last year, I was in charge of planting and I might have been too generous with the carrot seeds . -_-

our garden

helping tend my mother in law’s garden while she’s away

thecuriousme.com

Planning to do a revamp and keep up with the times. My blog looks so 90’s. Ha! I’ve been researching for blog platforms…. It will take some time but I can make it happen. 😉

Baste

Sebastian Benedict is his full name. I’ve been checking his Facebook page almost every day! He’s so adorable! I also like SamSam, his little brother…. 🙂 It makes me smile whenever I see new posts about them. Keep spreading good vibes!

credit to the owner

Baste & SamSam (credit to the owner)

One day…. I’ll be able to post consistently…. One day. 😉 For now, I’ll continue sorting my photos and work on one blog post at a time. Gotta get this going! Aja!

… and I do hear you… I will do a blog post regarding the tidbits of my wedding 1.0 and wedding 2.0. 😀 You’ll be like.. “What? Two weddings?!?” Yes… two weddings. Details soon kiddos. 😉

Appreciate your patience guys! Until next time! 😀

what happened?

Happy 2016! 🙂

It’s been almost a year and a half since my “hiatus” post. It appears that the hibernation took longer than I had planned. -_- Obviously, thecuriousme.com needs a lot of love and some updating…. 😦

Anyway… here’s the synopsis on what happened:

Golden Gate Bridge	Fisherman’s Wharf
Boston Cruise	chillaxin’ in Boston
my folks trip to Canada	my folks… gallivanting
Popsters, guess who? 🙂	catching up on the AlDub fever!
my cross stitch project	Facebook’s needy eh? 😀
wedding 1.0	wedding 2.0

Details on my next posts… Watch out and chillax! 🙂 mmmmmwa!

basketball

Is basketball only for tall people?
Think again…. 😉

Tacloban-After Typhoon Haiyan (a.k.a. Yolanda) courtesy of: http://l3.yimg.com

Intramuros, Manila (photo courtesy of: Wikimedia.org)

Filipinos love for basketball can be likened to Canadians innate love for hockey. Every street corner in the Philippines is an impromptu basketball court… and people play the game whether they are wearing flip flops (a.k.a. tsinelas), sneakers, leather shoes, or even barefoot!

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) (courtesy of: http://www.slamonlineph.com)	Canada Hockey (photo courtesy of: Google 🙂 )
street basketball (photo courtesy of: http://www.bubblews.com/)	street hockey (photo courtesy of: http://www.womenshockeylife.com)

You betcha! I remember when I was 15 – 19 years old, I used to be a basketball announcer whenever there was a tournament in our community; that was one of my tasks as part of the youth council.

One basketball player was always assigned to sit beside me to help me interpret the referee’s call and the names of the violations committed during the game. In other words, he needs to make sure that I don’t screw up! 🙂 All I had to do was announce what’s going on in the court, joke a little bit to liven up the game, and speak with conviction regarding the violations.

The tournament was something similar to the photos below:

photo courtesy of: http://mati.gov.ph/

courtesy of: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/

It’s fun and at the same time scary… especially if the intensity of the match was too high! Whew! Even though the games were a frenzy, they never broke into riots.. there were no cars being set on fire like during the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot. :p We know how to keep it under control. 😉

Riot – Vancouver (photo courtesy of: http://www.ctvnews.ca)

Riot Aftermath – Vancouver (photo courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/)

By any means, the Filipino fascination (or should I say obsession?) with basketball prompted American author Rafe Bartholomew to go to the Philippines, conduct a study, and write a book about it. (Click here to read the snapshot of his book, Pacific Rims).

Rafe Bartholomew (photo courtesy of: http://rafebartholomew.com/sites/)

Pacific Rims (photo courtesy of: http://rafebartholomew.com/)

Who wants to play ball? Let’s go, let’s go! 😀

ilocano = stingy (?)

Filipinos are playful and creative by nature, especially when it comes to coming up with children or shop names. Combination of several names with “h” thrown in between the letters or a parody of a controversial personality or issue, and even brand names is one of the favorite techniques.

courtesy of: th05.deviantart.net

This playful naming game applies to the specific Philippine ethnic groups too… each stereotyped with a name based on the common characteristics of the people who belong to that society.

Here’s few examples to illustrate:

Ilocanos are known for being stingy (a.k.a. kuripot).

courtesy of: http://www.threethriftyguys.com

courtesy of: http://us.cdn3.123rf.com

Kapampangans are known for being extravagant (a.k.a. magastos)
From what I’ve heard, Ilonggo, Pangasinense, and Cebuanos are known for being fond of shopping branded clothes and jewelry.

courtesy of: popularphotographybiz.com/

There must be a grain of truth to it but I can confirm that not all are like that. My Kapampangan, Ilonggo, Pangasinense, and Cebuano friends are pretty good with their finances and do not shop all the time. Some of them are even thrifty! For my Ilocano friends, some like to splurge on branded clothing, handbags, and jewelry.

Let’s face it, not all people are the same. Whatever ethnic group or country you belong and whatever “name” you are known for… your own principle and belief still rules out! :p

courtesy of: 4.bp.blogspot.com

For me, I’m a practical spender. The question that I ask myself when I need to purchase something is, “Is it a luxury or a necessity?”. If it’s a luxury, then no go. However, if it’s a necessity, no matter how expensive that is… it’s definitely a go.

By the way, I’m an Ilocano and proud to be one! 😀 Ta ta for now! 🙂

P.S.
Click here to learn more about the Ethnic Groups of the Philippines.

Virginia Getaway

As promised, here’s the continuation of my Virginia getaway…
(Lost? Click here to read the related blog entry – Oh Virginia!)

Ever heard of a landfill site (a.k.a. waste/ garbage dump) being reused and converted into a park? That’s Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia! Can you believe that? Hmmm…. I wonder if that can be adapted in the Philippines… Transforming Smokey Mountain into a park or some sort of tourist attraction… Knock knock PNoy… Watcha think? 😉

Moving on, let’s have a quick tour on some of the tourist spots in Virginia :

Mount Trashmore Park
*** Whoever thought of converting this landfill site into a park was a genius!

Virginia Beach Christmas Lights
*** I had a grand time looking at the Christmas lights. It made me feel right at home… if you didn’t know, Filipinos have a thing for Christmas lights.

it would be great if I have a car like this. 😀
it looked like a sinking ship…

Nauticus
*** It’s an excellent place to de-stress and chillax… So peaceful…




awkwardly copying the mermaid’s pose….

I was extremely delighted to visit these wonderful places. Hmmm…. Where to next? 😉

P.S.
To my relatives (Ate Pat & family, Auntie Sion, Kuya Freddie, Vilmor, Raymond, and Reichelle) in Virginia, thank you so much for the warm hospitality!

skating

One Friday afternoon in 2013, with zero knowledge and background on skating, I excitedly joined the VendAsta troupe on the public ice skating rink downtown in Toon City.

nice background Allan… ok.. and also the pose. 🙂	scared mouse!
Scott showing off!	glide… glide… glide…

I grabbed a chair in order for me to get movin’ which also helped me balance and not stumble while skating. The most challenging part for me was climbing a REALLY tiny hill to get up to the rink… I got stuck on that spot.

Alan also doesn’t know how to skate!

my ice walker… :p

Nathan P had to help me tighten my skates so I could skate “better” and gave me a push to get me over the hill.

with Nathan P

After my first lap, I decided I’d had enough skating for that day and opted to hang out and chat with my colleagues.

standing without ice walker 😀

with Cody and Andreas

In any case. watching Michael Christian Martinez* and Kim Yuna** effortlessly glide, spin, jump and do other complicated techniques on the ice skating rink makes me wonder… how in the world did they do that?

P. S.
* Michael Christian Martinez is the only figure skating athlete from South East Asia in the Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 and the Philippines first Winter Olympics representative ever. Coming from a country without winter, he’s absolutely amazing! More support from the Philippine government please… Michael deserves it!

** Kim Yuna is the figure skating representative of South Korea. She took home the figure skating gold and silver medal in the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 and the Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 respectively. I had goosebumps while watching her perform. Such passion and grace!

beach(?)

With the excitement building up at the campsite, the group also can’t wait to head out to the beach to hang out during the day and watch the fireworks at night.

chillaxin

fireworks

At first, I was baffled because I can’t find the usual white sand and big waves that I was accustomed to. I guess, I have somewhat a different definition of the word “beach”. Don’t shoot me please? I grew up in a tropical country wherein it’s summer all year round and beaches with white sand and big waves are all over the place. Oh. Did I just define “paradise”?

baffled

“paradise”

As a typical Asian, I have this love and hate relationship with the sun. Yeah, I always find myself hiding from the harmful sun rays since time immemorial. At the beach, Nathan R’s shirt served as my improvised umbrella. TP thought I looked funny. I must say, so long as I have a “shade”, it doesn’t matter if I looked weird.

Nathan R

find me!

Anyway, TP lent me her fancy “semi-tent” (i think, it’s called a montage) when we went to the beach the second time around. It certainly made a world difference from the “umbrella-shirt”. Totally cool! Ha!

“the montage”

disassembling “the montage” with Baby JC

Below are the beach “kodak” moments:

	Moose Jaw sandcastle
basking under the sun	“sun scowl”

German Engineering with Canadian Little Workers	sunny sunshine!

Until next outing! 🙂

woot! twitter.com/MissWanderfuls… 8 months ago
@mydee_carter @amc_avin waaaaaah!kaloka ka mydz! inggiters akesh!😣 pasko at bagong taon ka pinas? @amc_avin kelan ka ulit balik dun Lex? 10 months ago
@AmSimplyBeingMe @amc_avin @mydee_carter si Tita A super gala din. hehe napag iiwanan tayo Mydz. lol 12 months ago
@mydee_carter @amc_avin honga. hahaha buti ikaw nakauwi ka na. ako wiz pa. kelan ulit balak mu? si lex, super gala sa pinas. kainggit! :D 12 months ago
@amc_avin para may kwento sa likod ng mga larawan at kaganapan sa pagliliwaliw ... hahahha 12 months ago
@amc_avin hahaha kalerki ka Lex! ikaw nga tong kung saan saan nakakarating. isama mu naman kami ni @mydee_carter please... 😂 12 months ago
oh Boston! what did you do to me? 😂 seafoos with vinegar, anyone? 😄 littlemisswanderfuls.com/home/2016/8/14… 12 months ago
@amc_avin hahaha lukring ka Lex...kaw nga jan ang expert eh.... nag hibernate ako. lol asan bakasyon mo ngayon? :) 1 year ago

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