EKxhilaratingly Fun at Enchanted Kingdom

Working in a BPO/Call Center Industry can sometimes bring its toll and you just want to quit your job, find another call center company and end on the same position where you were before. Different company but same old shit they say. This is the reason why call center companies provide different perks to motivate their employees to work harder and stay with them not only for a couple of years but if possible until their retirement. One of the perks you'll get when working for a BPO company is becoming a part of one of the team buildings.

We had this major event-an all expense paid account team building in Enchanted Kingdom. Enchanted Kingdom is the biggest themed and amusement park in the country. From easy breezy to extreme rides, EK will definitely let the magic stay with you in the years to come or maybe for ever.

How to reach EK: two tour buses were hired for the day going to EK but if one is to commute, you can reach it by public bus or there is an EK shuttle from Makati going to Laguna. The park's entrance fee is Php550 which allows you to enjoy and enter almost all attractions and rides. Foodstops, chains, establishments abound the park that you'll never complain of getting famished. Just make sure to bring enough cash for the prices are a bit higher compared to regular store prices.

You can check their official website for further details: www.enchantedkingdom.ph

I've been an employee in the company I've been working for the past 2 years and I can say Im fortunate enough to have been in the account Im with. Salary? Not much. However, incentives are good and although work seems routinely and plain boring, it's easy, no stress and less work. But it's either I stay here or go chase my dreams.

P.S. Checking one of the items in my bucket-list.

Baguio

I had been idle for months and my feet was extremely itchy wanting to hop on the next bus ride to nowhere. So when I saw this commercial on TV about the Panagbenga festival in Baguio, I

enthusiastically chattered about it to my roommates. After hours of trying to convince them, we headed to the Summer Capital of the Philippines the next night with no thorough knowledge about the city except for the obvious fact that it's cold and that they grow strawberries there.

After a very quick preparation, we headed to Pasay Terminal and took the 10:30pm trip for Php455 per person. That approx 7hours trip had only two stops for eat-and-pee-break and most of it had been utilized to wander off dreamland. Kennon Road had made it impossible for me to elude motion sickness but gladly I was able to hold it off.

It was Dawn. It was Baguio. It was freezing. 

When we arrived at 5:30am it was extremely cold due to the location of the city and the oncoming drizzle and light rain. The long trip had given us backaches and we were so darn tired to argue and haggle. So when this somebody came to us and offered a supposedly nice place to stay, we took the offer, regretted it but eventually looked on the brighter side and decided to just enjoy the stay at King's Court Pension House since we're just going to use the room for sleeping anyway. Well, for  Php1500/room (good for 4 persons) I guess it wasn't pretty bad. Aside from the burned out light bulb  (was changed at 2pm after a tiring yet fun city tour), the room offers a nice view at night of the glowing city lights. The restroom was clean and provided hot and cold shower. 

What to Do in Baguio

Do like any visitor would normally do when new in the city. Visit tourist spots!

Burnham Park

Burnham Park has a man-made lake where one can rent a boat for Php150/30minutes. You can have the option to let someone paddle for you or you can do the paddling yourself. 

Play dress-up with this Igorot costumes for Php10/shot while you're at the Park.

If you have plenty of time, you can rent a bike for Php40/hour and burn those excess calories. 

Mines View Park

View from the top of Mines View Park

Aside from admiring the beautiful view at Mines View Park, your eyes can also feast on the souvenirs and pasalubongs being sold which are super cheap. When at the Park, don't forget to have your picture taken riding on a horse or together with one of the St. Bernards.

Si Vice Ganda daw to. Take a pic for Php10/shot.

This scene was simply breathtaking when I took the picture. Sorry for the bad resolution, I only had my camera phone to use for all the shots. :-)

Wright Park

If you want to try horseback riding for Php200/30 minutes then the best place to go would be Wright Park. There are also plenty of vendors there who sell souvenirs na super swak sa budget!

Across Wright Park is The Mansion, the official summer home of the President. All you can do here is take a picture and going beyond the fence is off limits. 

We were able to tour most of the tourist spots in Baguio for half a day which meant that we had plenty of time to just sit back, relax and take everything all in-that we were truly there in Baguio. The next day, we headed to La Trinidad to pick fresh strawberries straight from the farms of Ibaloi farmers. 

 La Trinidad, Benguet

Yes, Php300/1kilo is expensive compared to the already picked strawberries sold at the markets but the experience of picking the strawberries right from their farms is incomparable especially for those like me who don't have strawberry farms. 

Where to Eat

There are a lot of places in Baguio where you can eat and yes it's true that most of the food there are way cheaper compared to Manila.

Eat at Sizzling Plate, Session Road. Cozy ambience, great food and excellent customer service. Prizes for full meals start around Php100+

Still at Session Road, Solibao offers delicious Filipino dishes in huge servings at a reasonable price. Great for group eat-outs. For this, we paid Php400+ and I'm telling you, we're so full we can barely walk after.

The Pizza Volante branch just across Wright park let's you enjoy the cool outdoors while eating their yummy and very affordable pizzas.

We enjoyed our 2days/1night Baguio trip because everything fell into place even without us planning. If you would ask me if I want to go back there? Definitely! I even want to stay there for quite some time.  I hope you will enjoy your trip to Baguio as well :-)

Spend Your Afternoon at Tagaytay

If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila without sitting on a carseat for too long, then going to Tagaytay would be one of your best options. Tagaytay is 1-2 hours drive from the Metro and when on the right spot, it offers a great view of the Taal Volcano.

I and three of my officemates went there for half a day not only to unwind but also to have a taste of their famous bulalo.  The cool breeze alone was worth the almost 2 hour drive. When I tasted the food and saw the magnificence of Taal Volcano from afar, it was even more worth it. Unfortunately, we weren't able to discover the beauty of the famed underwater volcano because of lack of time and extremely expensive boat ride. For me, 500/pax for a ride to Taal, isn't a worthy offer at that time. At the right season and with the right haggling skills, I can probably get that ride (hopefully soon) at a cheaper price.

At Bulalo Point. Php300+ each for this sumptuous lunch+ fresh buko juice

Spending the afternoon sipping coffee with the beautiful Taal Volcano as our backdrop.

If you're in town, Picnic Grove is a great place to experience outdoor fun,  view the Taal Volcano and eat bulalo. Entrance fee is Php50.  Souvenir shops and food stalls also abound the area.

At Picnic Grove. From here, you can see the beauty of Taal Volcano.

My Jumpshot

They spent Php200 each for a henna tattoo (after less than an hour, umulan ng bonggang bongga.boom! *evil laugh)

From Pasay, you can ride a bus going to Tagaytay for Php100-200 one ride. Once you're there, there are jeepneys and tricyles that can take you from one place to another. 

A thousand pesos would be enough to take you to and back from Tagaytay. It could be lesser than that if you spend your money wisely. 

*Thanks to Chris, Irish and Zeth for being a great company

The Ultimate Experience at Manila Ocean Park

Hearing about mountains, oceans, animals, and forests wakes the nature-lover inside of me. I find solitude everytime I see pristine white sand beaches or see the moss-covered earth of the forest, hear the splash of the waves or running water, chirping of birds or whatever sound animals make. Being with nature makes me see how beautiful our world is and lets me appreciate the simplicity of life. Manila is such a busy, complicated and polluted place to be and visiting Manila Ocean Park is a breathe of fresh air.

Manila Ocean Park is for the whole  family and people who love to be with the sea and animals. Some of the attractions may be pretty expensive for some but the worth of each attraction depends on every person's interests, likes and level of satisfaction.

When I first heard about Manila Ocean Park, I was really at awe and envied my friends when I saw their pictures taken with the famous oceanarium as the backdrop. Visiting this ocean-themed park is on top of my list when I started living here in the Metro. So when there was a cheap promo for Manila Ocean park tickets at work, I never hesitated to get one for myself. For an Ultimate adventure (Oceanarium, Trails to Antartica, Fish Spa, Jellies, The Marine Life Show, Musical Fountain Show), I only paid Php600 which was a total steal!  The ticket for Oceanarium alone is Php400 if you pay it at one  of the park's booths and just imagine how much I saved by getting that cheap ticket at the office.

The Attractions

Oceanarium. Want to know the different fish species  and life under the sea? The Oceanarium is the best place to be.

Different sea creatures.

 Personal experience rating: 2 out of 5. 2 because I was expecting a better experience and better interior. The tunnel-like aquarium would be an excellent backdrop if your purpose of going there is to take pictures but when it comes to activities, hmnn, not that much. I was expecting that it's going to be a long tunneled aquarium but it's not. Aside from reading a little info and seeing the schools and varieties of fish swim, the other thing that you can do is camwhore.

Trails to Antartica. Offers the slide-o-fun which will let you experience a bit of thrill while sitting on a tire as it slides down the sloped and iced pathway. 

At snow village with Mr. Snowman.

 Other than the slide-o-fun, you will also see cute little penguins inside an aquarium. In addition, Trails to Antartica offers the Snow Village where you get to experience Antartica inside a room with subzero temperature. 

Marine Life Show. Meeting the entertaining sea lions is one of my most memorable experience when I visited Manila Ocean Park. They're adorable and highly-trained sea creatures that you cant help but become amazed at how fascinating they were. 

A kiss from a sea prince.

Jellies. Is where you can see different species of Jelly fishes. The mirrored walls, soothing sound and changing aquarium lights create a stunningly beautiful ambience perfect for those who want to get away from the mob of the park.

Fish Spa. After walking to and from inside Manila Ocean Park, it's nice to have your feet pampered for a while. Fish spa is the best place to be where you dip your feet on water full of nibbling schools of fish. Tickling at first but eventually you'll get used to it and will definitely love the sensation it brings. After a 10minute foot spa, your feet will feel relaxed and less tired. 

Musical Fountain Show. It showcases a jaw-dropping presentation of lights and fountains plus a theatrical presentation of artists wearing sea creatures costume. Thanks to the storm, we weren't able to get decent pictures yet at the same time, the lashing wind and rain made the musical fountain show our ultimate experience finale when we visited the Manila Ocean Park.

A random picture from Google

Had to wear this raincoats during the duration of the show.

My visit at the Manila Ocean Park is definitely an unforgettable experience. 

Grazing the streets of the Metro

Travel has never been an unfamiliar word in my family. At a young age, my parents introduced us to traveling even if it means motion sickness and plenty of travel mishaps.  We would frequently go to my mom or dad's hometown and our relatives' place. But most of those trips were in Mindanao and the farthest family trip we got so far was maybe Bohol via Cebu. Basically, it was not of cityscapes and crowded streets but it's more of the rural landscape and the panoramic view of the sea. The town where I was raised is urbanized enough to give us more than the basics but it made me wonder what life is beyond those huge mountains and the vast ocean. I have and will always love my hometown but there's a part of me that had always dreamt of leaving my comfort zone and see what the big city has to offer.  After countless long talks with family, friends and even myself, I set off with resources just enough  for me to survive a week or two. But I was and  am still fully-equipped with determination and success in mind that  even the threat of a huge storm and flood wasn’t able to stop me from leaving.

Early Morning at BoniHigh Street, Taguig

 Night Life at Metrowalk, Ortigas

The gates of the famed yellow house, Quezon City

Malls abound the Metro and one of them is Greenbelt5 where you can find posh restaurants and boutiques.

University of Makati is just a stone-throw-away from my workplace

enjoying summer at Cavite

Experience the thrill of StarCity, Pasay

Experience Underwater Life while in the big City at Manila Ocean Park, Manila

The first time my feet  landed on the wet cement of NAIA's ramp, I said to myself that this is it! It was a sunless and cold day of June 25th. It was the month when rains and storms start to lash this part of the country. But despite the bad weather, there I was feeling excited, happy and sprightly. My feet felt so springy because I just couldn't wait to graze the streets of the metro. With that dream, I am crossing out some of the items on my bucketlist. Now I know how it feels to live in a highly urbanized city. Everything's fast paced but things turned out great for me that I didn’t realize it has been a year already since I had first caught the polluted yet full-of-promise smell of Manila. 

Quality Time at Pansol, Laguna

Frequent team buildings is common when you're working in a BPO company. Activities such as this remind us that life doesn't only revolve in a heavily air-conditioned and carpeted call center.It also breaks the ice from our dull and routine-oriented work. When my former team planned to spend their team building at Pansol, Laguna, I never hesitated to join. That was my first time to go outing with my first teammates in the BPO company I'm currently working for and it was my first out-of-town trip outside Manila. That trip however didn't focus on the beauty of the destination but it focused on building friendships and having quality time with great people.It was fun and we all had a great time.

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General Santos City: Overview of my Home Sweet Hometown

General Santos City or known as the Tuna Capital of the Philippines is my hometown. It is called Tuna Capital because of the Tuna Industry in the City. Shortly known as Gensan, it is also the home of the famous boxer Manny Pacquiao. Nowadays it is also called as Home of the Champ because of this.

People from the Luzon and Visayas islands are quite scared and hesitant to go to Gensan because of the bombing cases years ago and thinking that Gensan is an unsafe place. Well, I am still alive and kicking right now. We are all a magnet of accidents and trouble. Anywhere can be unsafe unless there is constant vigilance.

There are a lot of ways to reach GenSan. Via plane, bus, ship/boat, you choose. Common transportations in the city are tricycles, public jeepneys, trisikad (a mini version of tricycles which are only allowed to travel within subdivisions and barangays), and habal-habal (motorcycles). There are a few taxis but with unfixed fares.

Photos below are taken downtown, General Santos City's Park (July 23, 2010). I chose to take some shots of the park because it is found at the heart of the city and the most well-known landmark in GenSan.

The renovated and improved Plaza Heneral Santos was unveiled to the public September 4, 2009.

 Pathway. At the end is the City Hall.

Statue of General Paulino Santos Sr.

Unlike before, the park is now adorned with ornamental plants, well-arranged trees and pretty landscapes.

Pioneer Avenue facing the General Santos City's Park. From here, you can see tricycles,and habal-habal.

Gensan is a lovely booming smalltown with neighboring cities such as Koronadal and Davao. Since Gensan is my hometown, I will show more posts about this city in the future (the benefit of having your own blog-biased, LOL!).