SkimChix - island life

To commemorate the 112th Independence Day of the Philippines, Filipino Mountaineers joined forces in having a simultaneous flag raising ceremony at different mountain peaks last June 13, 2010 at exactly 8 o'clock in the morning. For Cebu Mountaineers, it was spear-headed by Ewit mountaineers and joined by almost 12 groups of mountaineering groups, and more than a hundred participants. All climbs leading to Babag Ridges (Chalet) using different routes to minimize the impact on the trail.

Its was our way of honoring and feeling the brave soldiers who fought for our freedom. It was at these mountains that they have hidden and meet for plans of there attacks. It may not be the best memory that I can recall on my history class but something close to that.

Everyone gathered at Guadalupe church and separated ways when everyone was ready. For Bagtak Mountaineers we were trekking the ______ trail. And it gave us some challenging obstacle like a kiss the wall trail in between the flower plots, with long assault to the peak, some slippery grass and walking in the not so well lighted path. We get a glimpse of the city from our trail and it was breath taking. It was a very tiring climb to the peak. The camp site was already dark when we arrived. But all these contributed to a wonderful experience of trekking to the peak.

The socials during the night was even a blast! The drinks, the laughter, new found friends and a lot of sharing. So I would say it was a two thumbs up for the organizers of the event for gathering such number of people to join the freedom climb. Hopefully this will be an annual event for local mountain lovers. So till next year mountaineers!

Its time for everyone to get active and healthy, its the objective of Looney tunes active! to actually attract young and old to have an active lifestyle. Just this June 5, 2010, Looney Tunes Active held its first fun run at SM City Cebu.

It encourages our younger generation to actually start running and getting involve in sports to keep them healthy. I would very much agree on this idea to get kids involve since I myself started getting active early. And until now, I make it a point to get some exercise once in a while to keep a toned body and in top shape.

The race started at 6 o'clock in the morning and it was my first run after a month of not running. I was planning to get some rest from running but I find it more tiring to be just in the house and not doing anything. So I joined after being ask about the race. Though I know how unprepared I was for the race.

I finished my 5k race in 40 minutes. It actually took me a little longer to finish the race than my normal speed. Not bad, but I could have done better. Anyway, another race is coming and that's the Energizer Night Run. So I'm sure that I'll be able to prepare for this race and hoping to get a faster speed for this one.

I've read about a lot of post in Facebook about Bubble Bee Tea House and that got me interested with the place. Good thing I don't have to wait that long to visit the place since during our dine out with high school friends we decided to spend the time after dinner at bubble bee tea house.

The place is located at North Reclamation Area, across Cebu Doctor's University. Its after Park Mall if you're coming from Mandaue - Mactan Area. One of the things that you notice about the place is their interiors. They have a very relaxing and cozy feel of their interiors and that would even include their rest rooms. Such a nice place to hang out and just enjoy the evening talking at the same time enjoying there refreshing beverages.

Aside from these iced beverage, they also serve solid foods. One of those that I've tasted was my favorite, Nachos with beef and cheese, which was also delicious. Maybe I'll be back to taste some of the other foods offered.

One of the interesting pictures that I got from Boljoon was the waves. The waves were strong when we were there and it would reach the rocks of the resort with a strong force.

I played with my camera settings to have different effects of the way and I would love to share that here.

My first picture was taken when the sun was high and too much available light, so set my camera to a smaller aperture (F10, if i remember that right) and fast shutter speed
(1/60). The second set of pictures was taken during twilight when the sun was out. The aperture was bigger at (F7) and very slow shutter speed that reached to 5" creating an enchanting water.

But then who cares about this setting especially if one is using a point and shoot camera. Actually you can still get these same effect on a P&S Cam by using the manual mode and adjust the shutter speed the rest will be set by the camera automatically.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures like I enjoyed shooting and learning how to get this shot..

Another yummy treat for this summer is ice shavings with tasty flavorings from Cherry's . It's another western product brought to Cebu. Its a Hawaiian base company that also gets its flavoring from Hawaii. And only has one branch in Cebu located at Parkmall.

Its another version of an ice cone. From a block of ice, its shaved, compacted and is placed with flavoring of your choice. I was able to try mango and yes it does taste like mango shake minus the milk. Really yummy, one cup or bucket (or whatever it is called) is not enough. One cup cost 55 pesos. I wanted to have more but we were already on our way home when I finish my first cup.

It satisfies our need for something cold in a hot summer day at the same time our cravings for something sweet. A yummy treat indeed for these hot summer days.

I was busy snorkeling in the shallow waters of Boljoon Fish Sanctuary because the underwater has been very lively with a variety of colorful fishes and corals. And I made sure to take pictures from time to time, and document interesting creatures, corals or sites.

Later, a big fish got my attention and I tried to follow it to the deeper water. Bigger school of fish began to appear and was visible from my where I was. Though I can't get enough of it, viewing them from a far so I tried diving near the sea bottom to get a picture of big angel fish, and a lot of other fishes that I can't identify. From time to time, I have to resurface to get some air.

Unfortunately during my next gasp for air, I was met by a bunch of jellyfish right in-front of my eyes. Having traumatize by my last weeks itch still due to jelly, I instinctively tried to swim away from the jellyfish. But still, I got a chance to take a picture of one of the jelly fish.

From that time forward, I tried to avoid swimming in the sea water and enjoyed the pool instead. The climate right now is so hot that it triggers these jellyfish to resurface in our waters. So it is best to avoid them unless we want to experience the sting that they leave to our skin. I still got some red itchy spots due to that event but not as many as the previous.

Being new to blogging, any knowledge and techniques are helpful for my growth as a blogger and expanding my network. I was fortunate to read a schoolmate's blog about Cebu Blog Camp held last May 22 at CAP Bldg. and I was very enthusiastic about the event.

It give me a better idea of what blogging is and about how the industry worked. I begin to have a clear goal on a specific niche that I'd like to have, though a niche is really not that important as long as you are passionate with the things you write.

I was able to meet award winning bloggers from all over the Philippines that served as my inspiration. A lot of bloggers in Cebu and the surrounding island attended the event and gave me time to mingle with them.

Boljoon church is of ancient architecture made of white limestone and has withstand storms and typhoons. It has work of art painted on the ceiling but I chose not to enter the place since I wasn't dress appropriately. So I stayed outside and just took pictures of those that are interesting.

Boljoon Town may have been far from the city but they are also tuned to the new technologies. And as proof, they have free Wifi connection in their town plaza. Not a bad idea for a small town like this one.

I also love the location of their plaza, its beside the sea. Lots of greenery and some place to sit down and relax when the sun is out. Its a nice place to settle down when one decides to retire because most house are in between the road and the sea. Or am I just speaking for myself? :D