I got home around 10PM last night from Dumaguete, but I am leaving again, this time to Baguio and La Union. I was supposed to leave on March 1, but I just found out last night that the grand parade of the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio will be tomorrow, so I will be taking the bus to Baguio at midnight tonight so I will be in Baguio around 5:30 tomorrow morning. After this post I will be logging out to fix my things.

I will be staying in La Union until March 5, in time for my dad’s death anniversary. I will be then taking the 11PM bus trip back to Manila so I could be home around 6AM of March 6th. After that, I will then be able to update the blogs normally. =)

*** Jenn ***

Just doing a little updating before checking out later.

Last night, I met up with my ex boyfriend and we ate dinner at Jo's Chicken Inato then went to Hayahay for some drinks, he just had two bottles of San Mig Light, while I only had one bottle, as I am not really into beer. We rode his motorcycle, and it was a fun experience seeing the night life of Dumaguete City, although we didn't really roam for long as he has a wife and a kid to come home to. He was just making up when he didn't meet K and I last November. Anyway, it was just pure nice fun - no malice at all. I don't think there is nothing wrong with seeing past relationships as long as it's just a friendly meet. He did drive me back at the hotel, like my brother wanted to.

Flight back to Manila is at 4:30 this afternoon. After this, we will be packing our things as it is time to check out at 12nn. Will just give a much comprehensive details of my "vacation" starting tomorrow.

*** Jenn ***

{This blog entry is posted in all my blogs}

Tito Tony - a Couples for Christ member and a co-worker of one of the Singles for Christ member from Qatar (a good friend of our SFC friend Marilou) checked us (Marilou, brother, and I) at a hotel in Obdulia's Business Center, just next to the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral. Staying in Tanjay City - 31 kms. away from Dumaguete City - for two days was a great and relaxing experience, and we are looking forward to see a whole lot of Dumaguete City from this afternoon until tomorrow afternoon.

Brother and I walked from the hotel to go look for a laundry shop, but the shops we checked told us that we could get the clothes as early as tomorrow night... good thing, the owner of one of the shops arrived and was happy to get our clothes and wash it asap. Thank God for angels! Foods? I ate a whole, whole lot, especially while we were in Tanjay. It was feast every meal!

Anyway, this'll just be a quick post... just wanted to say that I am doing very fine and that I will be home before tomorrow ends. Will resume the blog posts starting Friday.

*** Jenn ***

ps - I am blogging from Silliman University, by the way.

{This post is visible in all my blogs}

I may not have time later tonight or tomorrow morning, so I will be posting this now. Tomorrow, brother and I (together with Marilou - an SFC friend from La Union) will be traveling to Cebu City to attend the International Conference of Singles for Christ. So far, things are in order… I just need to know which places we will check upon arrival and on Thursday.

Monday morning, brother and I will take the boat to Dumaguete City and will stay there until afternoon of the 26th.

My blog posts will have to take a pause (as I don’t own a laptop), but some blogs have scheduled posts and I will try to update as often as I can by getting into an Internet Cafe, so please do check back once in a while if there will be new posts.

Please pray for our safety. Thanks!

*** Jenn ***

Because brother and I will be traveling to Cebu City tomorrow, it's just natural that I should wash my clothes so the hamper would be empty by the time I get back home. I couldn't find my hair clamp and the length of my hair really annoyed me a lot that I decided I should get a hair cut. The last time I had my hair cut was December of 2007, and the tip of my layered-cut hair had reached my waist, the longest it had been.


I asked the hairdresser to cut it within my chest area, but my hair ended up to this - shoulder length. Being a fat woman, it's very hard to sport this kind of hair do because it would make my face much bigger, but like what I have said, no one can glue back the hair one by one, so I guess I should just be happy with it. It will grow back eventually anyway. =)

At least I won't be annoyed with the hair anymore.. and less shampoo and conditioner used from now on!

*** Jenn ***

When I joined Singles for Christ, I was happy to know that I could take part in the annual International Conference even if I am just new to the community. This year, it will be held in Cebu City, and because it might just be the only chance I have to visit "the queen city of the south," I expressed my willingness and excitement to attend the conference. Of course part of going there is to be spiritually stronger and to become spiritually hydrated.

Anyway, I thought I wouldn't have any problems with it as brother and I were able to get the flight that we wanted, but the "problem" came when my sister started her internship at a passenger ship that required her to bring a camera to document the internship. It became a problem because she took the camera and we were left with nothing to use, as my brother's camera got dysfunctional by the end of 2008.

I know that the main purpose of going to Cebu City is to attend the conference, but then part of it was also visiting different places, and because I am a blogger and I have a travel blog, I also need to have a camera to take pictures of the place.

I have tried asking some friends if they could lend me their camera, and one friend lent me her camera, but last Wednesday, I returned it to her as she would be using it for a family party. I am not sure if we could still be able to meet before the flight, so I started thinking what other options do I have.

I prayed and prayed, until a voice came in and said to lend some moolah to the mother. Before I talked to mom, I did check out the cameras available, and there's this model that I wanted to have - the same camera that my Uncle Pete owns, but as I called the Canon office, I found out that they have discontinued manufacturing the model. I thought I hit a ditch on the road as the next good model was way too expensive. The Canon staff did tell me to call two authorized distributors of their cameras (to ask if they still have stocks of the camera I wanted), and one of the stores recommended the expensive model and told me that they're having a price drop. From 16,950 pesos (360USD), it's now 13,500 pesos (287USD). That's when I talked to mom, and my mom was very kind enough to lend me. She knows how interested I am to photography, and she knows how bad I felt when somebody trash talked me in one of the forums I joined (I felt bad but still optimistically challenged to further walk the path), so she was happy to lend me. I told her I'll pay within the year, and even though she's my mom, a loan is a loan. I intend to pay it until the last cent.

Anyway, the image above was the very first shot from my new camera - Canon Powershot A1000 IS. I took a shot of my cell phone the minute brother and I got home last night. I love the camera because it's colored purple (my favorite color), and that it has image stablizers, something that the old camera (the one sister has) doesn't have. I am still reading the manual and getting used to the buttons, but starting this day, I will be using the camera to take pictures.

Now I can say that I am ready for the Cebu trip. Big thanks to mom for lending me some moolah, and big thanks to my brother who accompanied me to get the camera. Love you both!

*** Jenn ***

ps - Why I chose to get another point and shoot camera instead of a DSLR? I know my friends would ask this and there are few reasons for that. 1) A DSLR is much more expensive, 2) If I get a DSLR, for sure I'd crave for its accessories, 3) Part of me is afraid to jump, 4) Getting a DSLR would mean I have to take photography workshops and classes to learn more about photography, and 5) I want to be a good photographer using a point and shoot camera. If I can't get myself good with a P&S, I don't think I can be a good photographer using a DSLR.

But of course, I still would want to own a DSLR. Maybe in the near future... I gotta give back what I owe to my mom first, then I'd dream of that. =)

Showing this picture took a lot of guts, but it's my leg, I should be proud of it. =)

This picture was taken last July when mom and I went to her hometown in Bolinao, Pangasinan. Her brother and his family were there to spend some time with the rest of the relatives because they were migrating to US. Since we were invited and both of us needed a vacation, we went with them.

All of us had to wear slippers because even though the beach had extensive beds of sea weeds, there were a lot of rocks, too. I took this picture just to showcase how clear the waters are. Actually, the shore part of the beach was very shallow.. it would take a few meters before the breakwater. Resort staffs recommend that visitors would only stay in the shallow parts because past the breakwater, the current gets stronger.



Just thought I'd show you how wonderful the place is. It's a paradise! Happy weekends.

*** Jenn ***

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

The last time I finished a scrapbook layout was in June or July of last year. The sudden neglect of scrapbooking came about when we had broadband Internet connection and I saw myself just doing blogs and all things related to it.

I was supposed to do a layout last month, but my sister took with her the camera so I wasn't able to take necessary images for that layout. This month, I was giddy to do a layout again when KAYA! had a challenge featuring my favorite scrapbook technique: stitching. I was too quick to do a layout, and when I was about to upload it, I found out that the layout has to be about love. Clearly, this isn't a layout for that, so I found myself back to square one.

This picture has been in my box waiting to be scrapped. That was me checking out the sunset in San Juan, La Union after brother and I visited daddy's grave. I wanted to check out the surf site in the town, and since my brother knows where it was located, he just accompanied me.

The hiatus I have had in scrapbooking made me forget the labels of the papers, so I will not run into details for now. I am just happy to be able to finish a layout after how many months of not touching my materials. Hopefully, I could create more layouts in the days to come.

*** Jenn ***