Andanita Escape

I have avidly scoured blogs for a cozy place to stay in Tagaytay. I have been gambling on blog reviews lately. Sometimes trying out blog-recommended places turn disappointing, but sometimes I strike the goldmine.

Several blogs point out to a small yet scenic place called Andanita Lakeview Hotel. It’s an Indian-Mediterranean “bed and breakfast” type with six themed rooms ranging from Spanish to Morrocan. The priciest room is the Maharashtra presidential suite at Php 10,000net, the most affordable is Glorious Athena at Php 3,630net. Room rates include massage for two (either foot or back) and breakfast. You need to add Php 500 to upgrade to a full body massage.

Room with Hieroglyphs

I chose a mid-range room called “Cairo’s Kingdom.” From the website photos I thought the walls painted with hieroglyphs and Egyptian characters looked cheesy and pretentious. But in reality, the wall was not so disturbing. The 22sqm room was small, with the queen-sized bed occupying most of the room. The mattress was feather soft and covered with a thick comforter. The small window offered us a view of sparse pine trees and drifting clouds – you’d have to pay an arm and a leg to get the Taal lake into your window, so being in a mid range room we get a mid range view. But if you want a spectacular view, better step out of the room and go to the restaurant or the viewing deck where you can stare at the taal lake horizon all you want.


Steaming from the Ears

The restaurant is above the rooms. Lots of stuffed and squat couches, circular sofas strewn with throw pillows, low wooden tables, fuchsia and orange linens hanging from ceiling to floor – the whole places tells you to sit and laze about. But the unobstructed view of the drifting clouds and the Taal horizon is what makes dining at Andanita a great experience.

My instant favorite is the Roti Channai.. a circular pita-like bread that is served freshly baked and wrapped in cloth. We chose a spicy curry dip that contrasted well with the subtly sweet roti.

The extra long grained rice is called Biryani and we paired it with Rogan Josh – lamb stewed in a creamy and spicy sauce. It was okay, not sublime as some reviews said, but it was definitely something new and minty spicy. The zing of the spice feels cooler on the tongue because it seems to come from small ground herbs mixed in the sauce of Rogan Josh.

The drinks we had: lemon grass and mango shake was too sweet for our taste.

Breakfast
I love the Indian Chai Tea.. I can see the sprinkles of cinnamon on top, but the mildly herbal and milky taste is what I love. The French toast was not my best order, but the Longanisa Meal was more satisfying.

Tiny Fingers

I upgraded our free back massage to a full body Pilipino Hilot, and I must say it was worth it. Their real specialty is the feet massage. I know fingers were used for kneading, but it felt as if tips of several chopsticks were pressing against the littlest muscles in the sides of my heel and the balls of my feet. It was amaaaaazing how the masseuse sought out my little sore muscles and hit them right on with firm pressure but quick strokes so as not to make me cry. They applied the same technique with the rest of my body. I was just taken aback to the detail and time they spent on the feet.

I got the information on their facilities and booking here.

Overexposure to Pure Awesomeness

Kung Fu Panda Movie Review


"He was so deadly that his enemies would go blind from overexposure to PURE AWESOMENESS.
There is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness.
It mattered not how many foes he faced; they were no match for his bodacity."
From Kung Fu Panda



Only a few animated movies could make me watch twice. Kung Fu Panda gets in my list and shoves away Shrek.

Plus Points:

• Stunning background visuals that range from watercolor strokes to capture ancient china and crimson paint and wood with cut outs for the dream sequence.
• Zen realizations (what is the secret ingredient)
• Well delivered punch and lines
  

I was laughing so hard I felt tears in my eyes. It was also great that the movie crowd was laughing at the same time.. a good sign that my sense of humor isn't out of whack after all..

I will definitely buy a DVD of this. I am surprised that there are some unsatisfied reviews of the film. And unsurprisingly, a lot of very satisfied reviews as well .

David Cook Wins

Sometimes it is a choice between doing what you like, and doing what you think people will like.

I have never posted about American Idol in my whole bloggin history, cuz I didn't care much for it. But after watching filipina Ramiele Malubay getting in, i found my self watching almost the whole of season 7, right until it was a battle between David Archuleta and David Cook.

Archuleta is candy sweet and brimming with positive messages. His vocals are velvet. It also helped that he looked like someone Menudo would've recruited back then, side by side with Ricky Martin shaking their bon bons.

So, back to Cook. I am glad he won. He wasn't the obvious choice as painted by the judges during the showdown. Cook's voice was gruff deep and he had a penchant of doing obscure covers of mainstream songs. Which, I think, was a risk. Since almost always listeners are more critical if the cover version veered away too much from the original.

Cook became the exception, especially when he veered away from Mariah's style (thank God) when he did "Always be My Baby" and made it into mellow rock. It suited him just fine, cuz he's not Mariah. He's David Cook.

As I slide back into my corporate humdrum work mode, I am reminded again if I still have originality, and if it really matters to me now.

I'm sure when I get home, I'll be trying out the chords David Cook struck, and see what I can do with "Always be My Baby."


Want more? see this

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Cramming A Fat Book Into a Slim Film

ANGST, REBELLION, ACTION!

I wonder why some movie reviews have the need to re-tell the plot of the movie when they can go straight to whether they liked the film or not?



Anyway, cutting to the chase, I liked the fifth Harry movie. Maybe because after the film Prisoner of Azkaban, I realized that I wasn't enjoying the films much because I kept comparing it to the book.



Now that I have tried to watch Harry films and expected drastic cuts from the book narrative, I find watching the films delightful.



Why I liked this fifth one? I think it remained faithful to the essential messages of the book: Harry needs to accept support (because he has the tendency to do the hero thing all by himself), and that love is his strength, not a weakness.



The wand combat was a flurry of lights and whirling of bodies It is exciting to watch because it was well-paced. It was good to see that the enemy is very daunting (creepy masks of Death Eaters) but i wonder why I wasn't scared to see Voldemort... he didn't have a chill factor for some reason compared to the dementors or Lucious Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.

The Dumbledore VS Voldemort duel paled in comparison with a few gangly teenagers (Harry and friends) valiantly shooting spells at the band of Death Eaters. The thing is, movie Voldemort isn't menacing enough and movie Dumbledore isn't beleivably the most powerful wizard Voldemort feared.

And I admire actors who are soo good at making you hate their characters

Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) didn't have the slack, toad face, nor the simpering poisoning gait described in the book, but she did an excellent job in making you hate her with just a calculated frozen smile. I loved her performance.

And in all, I applaud the makers of the film for weeding out the essence of the book and weaving it tightly into a two hour dark drama action film. Oh, Fred and George's fireworks had more sparks than the Harry-Cho kiss. So don't expect much.

more Marinduque photos

Moriones masks displayed at the Boac Hotel, sold for Php 3,500 each.

My first glimpes of Marinduque

Momentary shade at the Torrijos beach

Inside the cave

Like travelling the esophagus of a giant

Darkness coiling around my eyesight

So I beam

Sweaty me on the way to the Python Cave

after 10 minutes of waiting for the jeep to move

GRRRRRRR!!!! After one hour of waiting for the jeep to move.

The jeep ride had plenty of sharp curves, skittering across the mountainsides. Good thing I have the vastness of blue to calm me. Greens and blues baybeee! It feels good to be out of Manila.

There's a restaurant across Boac Hotel called Nereda's. I ordered their specialty which is this crispy chicken stuffed with ham and cheese. A bit pricey at Php100, and a bit bland too. But i appreciate the golden color and the experience of biting into something crispy.

A trip to Marinduque won't be complete without special bibingka.. which kinda tastes like sweet puto. I bought this at the Palengke of Boac for only Php 40.

Carinderia food.. this sinigang soup is only Php 10, my lunch at Torrijos Beach

The counterpart of burger machine.. Big Mak... I ordered this Sausage delight (with egg) as my breakfast for only Php 30

Marinduque

Goin there

Jac Liner Terminal
LRT Buendia

Being the praning person I am, I was two hours early for the bus ride. Cuz it’s first come first serve basis, so I want to make sure I have a seat. The bus arrived 8:30pm, and we left round 9:20pm. That’s worth Php 550 (manila to Boac, Marinduque). A scrawny teenage boy sat beside me. I was thankful I purchased a malong which became my blanket, dressing room, and in case of emergency, my dress.

We stopped over a carinderia in the Laguna area. I bought piping hot chicken mami with egg.

Di ako sad, inip lang

Dalahican Port
Lucena, Quezon Province

We arrived at the port round 12 midnight. I thought we will be sitting inside the bus while it is being carried by the ferry. But I noticed everyone was going down the bus, so I followed the other passengers. It turns out during the ferry ride you can sleep on the ferry seats… which were monobloc benches. I scoured for other seats and found a door leading to the aircon section (which you will have to pay additional Php 31). So I slept (or tried to sleep) in the aircon section.

(I think I may have permanently flattened my butt with all the sitting that I did!)

Again, we waited for all the vehicles on board to be registered, for all the passengers to trickle in. Then I felt the ferry move round 2:00AM.

Passengers sleepin on the ferry benches

Bus coming out of the ferry



Banalacan Port
Mogpog, Marinduque

I got up and hung by the rails of the ferry and got my first glimpse of Marinduque.. a black giant sleeping in the dark sea. It was almost 5am and the sky is still inky ebony. I took photos of the huge statue of Mama Mary that loomed in the port. I went back to my bus seat and it was around 6:30am when I got to Boac, the capital of Marinduque.

Arriving

Boac Hotel
Boac, Marinduque

The bus passed Boac Hotel without me noticing. Good thing the place I went down to was just a few blocks away from the hotel. The hotel is more like a two star inn than a hotel. For Php700 (for 24 hours) I have a simple, small room with aircon and CR. It was good enough for me because I won’t be staying in the room long. I mean, I did get to Marinduque to explore and not to laze about in the room.

I slept a bit and by 7:00AM I had tapsilog breakfast in the hotel, with a Nescafe 3 in 1 sachet cup of coffee, a total of Php 75. I asked the hotel staff how to commute to the white beach at Torrijos (another municipality). So I had to ride two jeeps and they told me the jeep comes in every 30 minutes, and that I better hurry back because the last jeep going to Boac leaves by 4pm. And ofcrourse I don’t want to rush my beach time.

8am I am already on a jeep bound for Sta. Cruz (another municipality). The driver, let’s call him Feeling-Chick-Boy, waited for the jeep to be filled with passengers, from the seats, to the aisle, and almost to the roof. He kept prancing about the jeep, with pomade dripping on his Elvis-style hair, kept talking to his cellphone.. taking his sweet old time before driving. By 9am he finally drove, with lots of stop overs and letting more passengers on the roof, on the drivers seat (there were like four of them at the driver’s bench). 11am we arrive at Sta. Cruz and I frantically looked for a jeep bound for Torrijos. Thank God the driver didn’t waste a minute and drove right away.


White Beach
Brgy. Poctoy
Torrijos, Marinduque

Saktong 12noon, the sun is white hot, blazing.. my spf 70 sunblock was fast melting… I arrive at the entrance of the resort.

The thing is, I was at the entrance and I still had to walk a long pathway before I reach the beach. Kinapalan ko na mukha ko. Between dying of heat stroke or being shameless, guess what I chose?

I waved to a passing jeep (the words “Family Use” didn’t go unnoticed). And, as politely as I can, I asked if I could hitch a ride going to the beach. They let me, ofcourse. I seated beside a tub full of cooked prawns and smiled to the kind family (and it seemed all their relatives).

When I got down the beach, most of the nipa cottages are occupied already, and I needed shade. The heat was tremendous. Again, I approached a family occupying a nipa cottage (rent was Php 150 per hour) and asked, “Pwede po makisilong?”

So I did, and I kept thinking where should I change into my bathing suit. The restroom was already occupied. I took photos first, had lunch at the nearby carinderia. Then I decided to go to a secluded area, where there I can put my stuff under the shade of a coconut tree. My malong came in handy cuz that’s where I changed costume (I was wearing my bathing suit underneath). I left my belt bag (containing the digi-cam and my wallet) under the coconut shade and swam. I glance every once in a while if my bag was still there. Eventually I relaxed.

The clear water was soothing to my parched skin. Even as the sun sizzled overhead, it feels nice to swim in water as clear as that. The water wasn’t salty I was able to open my eyes underwater and it didn’t hurt, nor make my hair too stringy.

Unfortunately I forgot to re-apply sun block on my body (I just kept re-applying to my face).. so when I got home my back was red, itchy, and slightly toasted.

Oh well.

The jeep ride back, which is mostly zig-zag, I noticed that the drivers, when going down a steep incline, would put the vehicle into neutral, turn the engine off, and free-wheel downward the spiraling road…

I wanted to screech to the driver.. Dangerous yan ginagawa niyo!!! Cuz since the engine is not in gear, there is no control with how fast we are spiraling down…

Sharp left, sharp right… I was sitting at the driver’s side, I clung on to anything I could find… but somehow, eventually.. I had fun zig-zagging the island this way.

Back at Boac

When I got back to the room I showered and slept. Then I walked across the hotel and went online for a while (only P20 per hour!). Then I ate at a nearby restaurant and asked for their specialty. I also made arrangements with the hotel staff to find me a tricycle I could hire the next day to go to Bathala Cave, it was a bit far and I am learning that if I am pressed for time, I better hire my own vehicle.




Bathala Cave
Sta. Cruz, Marinduque

The tricycle I hired cost me Php 1,000. There were dirt rocky paths so parts of me hurt from the jiggling and being tossed up and down. Should’ve worn sports bra. My Big Mak breakfast threatened to escape. But all is well, I arrived safely.

The cave guide cost P200. But since I want to come out of the caves alive, I hired him.

And Manong Alex, who is the descendant of the owner of the land (which includes the caves) knows his stuff. And the way he talked about Bathala caves, how he spent years cleaning it up from vines and thick foliages, fending away graffiti-makers, I knew he was a genuine nature-lover.

He knew the history. Mount Bathala has 20 caves, and only 7 are declared explorable, a lot of the caves have tunnels leading into each other. Alex has seen six of the seven, while most tourists explore two or three caves.

Already we were trekking up Mount Bathala while Alex was giving a trivia here and there, I couldn’t absorb the information properly cuz I was busy from panting. I used rocks as footholds, stretched my legs, my arms to grab on the rocks to push me up and the Guide was like easily taking his time like a monkey effortlessly swinging from rock to rock…

When we arrived at the mouth of Simabahan cave I was amazed about it’s width and height. Alex said that a cult named Kultong Gunaw, who believed that the world would end in 2000, hid in the cave. The rock formations inside they gave religious significance, they had an altar, the Nazareno, three angels..

The floor was full of bat droppings (which is excellent fertilizer) and good thing I was wearing my cap to protect my head from bat souvenirs.

The way to Python Cave was longer. More sharp rocks to clamber up on (yes, my tongue was hanging out from exhaustion, think Odie from Garfield). My sweat trickled down my face like profuse tears. And I made it clear to Alex I don’t want too see any Pythons… and guess what I found?

Alex said I was lucky cuz last Holy Week hundreds of tourists wanted to see the pythons, but they were disappointed. And Alex mentioned that there is also superstition involved, that whoever the python shows itself to, gets lucky. Yes I already know I’m lucky without a sneek preview of the snake. Anyway, so I wave to the snake.. thanks for showing your scaly self! I am honored!

Hahaaa. The python was nice, it grew on me. Nope, I don’t speak parseltongue but we got along well as long as it maintains it’s 20 feet distance from me.

Next, the guide asked if I want the more challenging caves… there’s the Cemetery Cave further up, though I still want to explore, my legs were already a bit fatigued. Kinda what I felt after trying wall climbing.

So we rested a bit, then descended the mountain.

Again, zig-zag downward on the way home. Even the tricycle turned off it’s engine, making it like a side-care bicycle trundling downward.



Back to Boac Hotel

I showered and slept, I turned the alarm on cuz the bus (Jac Liner) leaving for Manila leaves at exactly 7PM, they don’t wait for passengers to fill the bus.

I checked out the hotel around 5PM. I paid my half day accommodation at Php 350. I walked around the area, bought bibingka at the palengke, and prayed at the Boac Cathedral. I feel grateful that I had the freedom to do this. To roam at will, at whim. The feeling of not being tied to work, family, and other things. I feel good.


The ride back

Since I know my butt has somehow flattened a bit from the prolonged sitting on the bus, when I rode the ferry back I didn’t sit or sleep. I spent my time by the rails, staring at the foams and ripples the ferry made as we slid through the sea… the foams looked like fireworks of white, spreading across the ebony waters… I could make out patterns, and watch huge ripples wane into small curls of current…

I also went to the hull of the ship, the front, and sat there… the wind whipped my hair back.. but it is calming to see the distant lights ahead.. the lights of ports awaiting our return. I watched as the pin pricks of light steadily became the size of baseballs, until we are just a few miles away from the port of Dalahican, Lucena.

I arrived at Jac Liner, Cubao around 3:00AM. My parents were there, parked and sleepy. I hug them.

It’s good to be home.



http://www.nscb.gov.ph/ru4/factsheet/2005/FS-Marinduque-apr2005.pdf

Chocnut

(I wrote this in my other blog two years ago, a great reminder for me)


There’s this shrunken old woman who’s always stationed in front of our office building. Her hair is yellowish-white – the same color as her ancient teeth, and she wears this weary expression that makes my heart droop in pity. She’s old, yes, but she is always out there in the EDSA fog selling candies and smokes. Shouldn’t she be home, retired, and watching the latest chino-novela? Where are her children and her children’s children? Is she working to feed them? Is she vending to feed herself?

I remember reading something that says if you are poor, everything is about survival. Whether you are approaching people, or walking on the street, your main purpose in life is just to get by.

Just getting by. Getting from this day to the next day and the day after that.

I know I’m not here just to get by. I finished college. I have a job. I accumulated dreams, experiences, friends, and money because I want to suck out the marrow of life. But strip me of all these things that I have now, will I just live just so I can survive another day? Will living life to the fullest be my main purpose?

My thick, ebony hair will one day fade into gray, then to white. My shiny elastic face will be carved with wrinkles and hey, let’s face it, my boobs will sag someday. I’ll be probably as attractive as a tree trunk but when that day comes, I hope I won’t have to wear the same weary expression. I hope I have something to live for other than survival.

I bought several ‘chocnuts’ from the old lady and offer her a smile which she doesn’t return. She never looks at people’s eyes you see. I doubt if she can still see properly.