My Travel Pledge in 2013

     And finally Senyora Lakwatsera visited  Boracay, after choosing several foreign lands versus the paradise of her own country. It's never too late, but then I should have had visited it first before I blog and brag about Songs of the Sea, Teddy Bear Museum, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Sentosa, Nseoul Tower, Long Shan Temple, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Fort Canning Park etc. 

     When I was teaching English to my Japanese students, I was asked several times if I already visited Boracay and Puerto Prinsesa and they're kinda amazed every time I say "not yet". And I guess, many Filipinos are like me, they opted to see the tourist spots from foreign land first. 

      So as my nationalistic ego strikes me,  i am making a pledge to see what my country's tourist spots this year before I plan of visiting foreign land again. I made a list  of places I have visited  and should visit first here in my very own country: 

BATANGAS. Check! At least I explored the beautiful beaches of Batangas and its rich heritage towns already. In fact I have seen Taal volcano in different angles already.

TAGAYTAY. Check :) Been there many times, the city taking advantage of the beauty of Batangas' Taal. LOL. It has been an age old funny petty fight, that Tagaytay is gaining too much popularity because you'll see from up there the very scenic Taal volcano and Taal lake. Oh well, mother Earth has made it that way :) 

LAGUNA. Check! Laguna has so many tourist spots to offer. Its mountainous region worth to climb, the Pagsanjan falls which justifies the charges of the bangkeros per boat ride, the many Catholic churches, several undisturbed lakes and a lot more. 

LUCENA.  Check. Been there a lot of times for work but thanks to my friends there, we were able to combine work and leisure at the same time. Though there are parts of Quezon that I should still check :) Hmm. 

MINDORO. Not the whole Mindoro but at least I've been to Calapan and Puerto Galera. 

BICOL . Yeah right, been there many times for work but its charm made me visit the place on my own expense and stayed there for 3 days. The famous Camsur, the Mayon Volcano that looks exactly the same how it was drawn in the history book including the carabao on the side made it worth our 8 hours travel by land. 

CLARK. I love how the Americans build this city less the abandoned building that seems like a ghost town now. 

BAGUIO . Cool and charming. There were times that I wanted to live there. Who wouldn't love the weather after all?

PAMPANGA . Been there, but I cant recall of any tourist spots there. 

 

     Oh wait, I think  I need a map now. Been to many places, just cant recall all of them now. Huh, I'm seeing signs of aging, this isn't good huh. The more that I need to travel a lot this year before I reach the age that I wouldn't be able to explore places the way I do it in the last 5 years.

      So in the next few months I should be able to visit Cebu, Davao, Ilocos Region, Iloilo, Bukidnon, Bohol and Zambales. I have booked Palawan from June 16-19 already so 8 more to go.

 

Learning and Loving It

               I always want to try and learn new things, whether it sports, tricks and the pettiest thing possible. I make sure I learn about something I'm fascinated by. I have passion for reinventing myself and the things I can do. It's been 2 months now since I learned to create T-shirt design through Photoshop. 

                   Before, I wanna learn this to be able to edit photos but because of our couple shirt business, I pushed myself to be better in creative layout. Yes, I'm good in concept but this time around, I'm designing it myself. This year, I posted my 18 original designs of couple shirts and I'm happy about the feedback. I hope it all translate to sales. Business as usual. Nonetheless, learning new things made me feel more competent and I feel fulfilled. It can somehow justified my innate creativity.

I made this design for a family :)

Yes, there are couple shirts but how about statement shirts for the singles? There are many ways to express love, but singles shouldn't be singled out right?

I took advantage of January 2, when my creativity is in full bloom :) Wow, because not all the time, creativity will serve you right.  Similar to writing, you need inspiration and a clear mind to create good designs. 

Indeed coffee and love are best when they are HOT!

Simply black & white

How about your daily dose of love? 

One of our clients asked me to design shirt for her and son. I gave her 3 options and she liked this one.

This time around, I'm designing a packaging style for our couple shirts. we have growing number of customers and I wanna give them full satisfaction every time they receive our couple shirts.

La Virginia, Almost Paradise Except Customer Service

            It really feels good to own your time... I can easily go somewhere else at my preferred time, at my own terms. Though I am missing my office, my cubicle and my former colleagues, I truly appreciate the moments that I can be with someone who needed me. Yeah, they say " oh so you have a life now" after 6 years of devoting my entire being to my precious job...

                   When I got a call from Daisy, my niece who's into heart-trouble, I gave her my  time to accompany her to  unwind and forget her burdens  for a while. It has been years when I last attended a concern like this. Since I joined SM, I never really had time to deal such kind of concerns. Yeah probably I was really out of reach, probably I was busy with my magical world, that I forget most of the people that matters to me... 

                On a clear day, I picked her up and we went to the first resort we thought of... La Virginia in Lipa. 

             The place has a majestic view of their red castle from the stiff road going to the main resort. Can't help but stopped on a dangerous curve to have some photos. Yeah around 20 photos just on this view... Whew, just didn't expect that  La Virginia looks this good ha. Nice first impression.

           The second entrance where we were pointed offers a guaranteed amazing view of what's inside. From the other side, we had the glimpse of Taal Lake. Oh, I've seen Taal from different sides and angles already. As we approached the entrance gate, we were stopped by the guard and required us to pay first before we can go inside. I asked him to open the gate first and we'll pay as soon as we parked the car inside but he refused because it's their policy. Wow, seems like he's not yet familiar with customer service, I'm pissed off but i followed him.  So i parked outside the gate, left my car at the side of the road and do what they call "policy", the most unfriendly policy I've heard of so far. What dismayed me most is when we reached the reception area and I complained about the guard. I was surprised that 3 people at the front desk irritated that it was a policy that I need to follow. Hearing the irate voice and seeing sour-faced front desk personnel, giggling me just to explain their dammed fool policy almost made me walked out and leave this place, had I not though of accompanying a sad friend, I can easily drive away and go to the next resort who knows how to value customers. Grrr, one thing is sure, I'll check the place but will never come back to La Virginia. Had it been my usual day, I will never give a second thought of giving them lectures about  Customer Service 101. I never heard anyone apologized for the inconvenience I felt from their policy, no one even gave a warm smile to welcome us. They could have had me switched my mood had I heard "sorry ma'am if our policy caused you inconvenience, we'll try to improve it the next time, or we'll suggest to management to review this so we can offer a better service next time".... NOTHING. If i will grade La Virginia's customer service it will be negative 5 out of 10. 

                 Finally after getting the receipt and showing it to the guard, he opened the gate and no more. We figured out where to park, where's the bathroom, where's the restaurant, blah blah; It was self-service. Every time I remember this experience, I feel so sorry for La Virginia. The place is almost paradise with great location, magnificent view of Taal volcano and Taal lake, the climate, the structure of building, the pool was clean during our visit, bathroom was clean, photo spots are unique, great adventures within the resort including zip line and rock climbing, it's just the customer service that dragged them down.  Tsk. Tsk.

                      Infinity pool overlooking Taal lake and volcano. 

The rooms were named after common flowers. They have Orchid, Sunflower, Gumamela, Rose etc.

This is the view from the pool side..

There was a Bali-inspired side of the rooms going down to another pool. 

And there you are King Kong!

The second pool closer to Taal Lake. Amazing view; nature plus man made pool in one picturesque site.

Safety reminder : Check your brakes before you decide to drive down.

Halo Halo is served. And I saw Daisy flashed a smile.

And the mermaid enjoy swimming as always :)

Good bye La Virginia. This was my first and last visit.