Zoobic Safari

It has been another busy yet happy weekend for me. Yesterday, my teammates in Lawson together with 3 expats went to Zoobic Safari in Subic and had close encounter with wild animals including Tigers!

Met the gang at 7am in Jollibee Munoz. Franz, Ella, Patti, Alane and Joelyn were in a van while Jule, Girlie, J-Ann and me was in Jule's car. We left Manila at 7:30 and reached Zoobic Safari at exactly 10:00 am. I really enjoy first-time trips specially when no one knows how to get to the place and all we have is a map hehehehe... I enjoy watching signs, people walking along the roads, deciding which path to take on crossroads.. I enjoy the excitement these things bring.

Me, J-Ann, Girlie and Jule

We started the tour with an introduction from a Zoobic Safari staff about the place, the sections that we were going to visit and some rules and regulations. Afterwards, a short animal show was presented with audience participation. Franz and Alane were part of it.


Then, we walked around the Serpentarium/Zoobic Park and met different kinds of wild and not-so wild animals.

*sorry, I forgot the names of the other 3 species... :D

Albino Python

Panda Bear

The highlight of this adventure was the very close encounter with Tigers! How close was it? Just check out these pics:


Last stop was at the Savanahh where crocodiles reside and there was a short Aeta show where they performed Dragonfly and Monkey dance.



We had our very late lunch at Aristocrat in Main Gate, Subic. But before that, a misfortune struck us. We were caught by this traffic enforcer turning left in an intersection where 'No Left Turn' is being imposed. We gathered all our powers to persuade this man to just let this thing pass. We didn't see the sign, we were just new in the place, we had foreigner visitors blahh.. blahh.. blahh... But our charms did not work. They issued a ticket to Jule and just told us that we should pay the penalty at the toll gate. I really felt guilty after that incident 'coz I was in the passenger seat and I believed I was half-responsible in keeping an eye on those road signs. I was the one who suggested to Jule to turn left since no traffic lights were present. Stupid me!

Franz checked the 'No Left Turn' sign across and it was indeed there. But what really confused us was why was it located at the right side of the road where it should have been at the left. I am not really an expert in road signs but my common sense tells me that whoever thinks of turning left in any road will always look at the left side, of course (Please correct me if I'm wrong, can someone please enlighten me on this?).

Anyways, I just told myself that this should not ruin my amazing day. After lunch, we went to Nike depot and bought myself a messenger bag at 30% off hehehehe ('yan ang epekto ng mainit ang ulo.. napapagastos! hahahaha...).... J-Ann purchased a gym suit at 50% off, while Girlie bought a pair of gloves 'coz she's planning to go back to the gym.

We are now ready to go home. Kept ourselves awake and busy talking about different stuffs. Showbiz, politics, religion and personal blah.. blah.. blah.. :)

I really had so much fun. Thanks, everyone! :)


*Thanks to Ela and Franz for more pics.. :)

La Union

It started with a casual invitation from Frankie while we were jogging with some of our teammates one fine afternoon.

Frankie: Mag-su-surf kami sa La Union next month, baka gusto mong sumama?

Candy: Ah talaga? Kelan ‘to saka sinu-sino kayo?

Frankie: Baka 2^nd or 3^rd week ng February, sina Bary, Omar, Jule at mag-i-invite pa.

Candy: Ah ok, sige balitaan mo ako pag final na. I like the idea.

One of my goals this 2008 is to explore more places, try more things that I haven’t done or even tried before. So when I got the invite, I considered it right away. Though I had hesitations ‘coz I’m afraid of huge waves (which is the primary character in surfing), I still wanted to join because I haven’t been in La Union.

Few weeks after, I just found myself preparing my stuffs. I couldn’t hide my excitement for some reasons: 1) I’ve never been to La Union; 2) It’s my first out-of-town trip with Lawson officemates (some of them are my teammates and some are from other teams); 3) never been to surfing.

Friday, Feb. 8: We stayed overnight in the office for the 1 am departure time scheduled tomorrow. Had dinner with Lia, Giles and Arcy at Mcdonald’s and spent the rest of the night blogging, friendster-ing and chatting with friends. Before midnight, we had another set of meal, left-over food from one of the teams here in the office. Hehehehe…. Frankie noticed those at the pantry and I immediately texted JJ to ask for permission to get some. Thanks, Jay!

Satudary, Feb, 9: We left the office at around 1:30am riding an Innova which was borrowed from Ms. Noemi, Jay's teammate, thru Frankie. Thanks, Ms. Noemi! :) Frankie was in charge of the wheels the whole journey and George was kind enough to keep him company while the rest of us had our share of sleeps during the travel hehehehe....

Reached San Juan, La Union few minutes before 7 and we were all just excited to see the waves. By the way, my good friends Peng and Rose Marcelo were also there with their family and 2 Lawson Expats, Marie and Hans.

While waiting for the first room which we can occupy at this time, we had photo shoot and my gosh!!!! the waves were huge and the wind was freaking cold... brrrrr... Good thing, Frankie reminded me to bring a jacket before we left Manila. I didn't have plans of bringing it because my bag was already full (but he was kind enough to put it in his bag), what I had was a pair or jogging pants instead which I did not find useful after all.

View from Room #17

Had breakfast at the adjacent resort and after about an hour, we prepared ourselves for the next big thing :) Aside from the peeps I've mentioned, Ailyn and her friends from Citibank were also there. Actually, it was them who invited us to join surfing, thanks Ailyn!

On the way to the Surf Area, I got the chance to take some pictures of the road. And I'm so proud of myself 'coz I was able to use the manual settings of my digicam and had these shots while the van was moving.. hehehehe... So satisfied with the outputs :) (Pareng Sherwin, if you're reading this, need your inputs regarding my shots.. hehehehe.. alam mo namang idol kita sa photography e.. :) what can you say? ano pang need kong i-improve?)

I did not have the guts to try surfing. I just enjoyed myself taking photos of my friends while they were having fun on the boards. But they were not so successful at this point in time, maybe because they lack sleep. So, we just took more pics instead.

We had lunch at the Seafood Restaurant and took a well-deserved sleep afterwards. Frankie's friend Niño, was introduced to us just before we had our dinner at Midway Grill which the latter recommended. We went back to the resort and the rest is history :D.

Sunday, Feb. 10: Just before breakfast, I had a short and yet funny chat with Peng and Rose. They introduced me to Hans and Marie, Lawson's expats.

After a not-so successful surf yesterday, the guys this time made it. And here is the proof:

More pics before leaving the place:

And before leaving the SurfCamp:

Thanks Adrian, Frankie, George, Giles, Joy, Jule, Julie and Lange! I really enjoyed the weekend with you.. ;)

*Pics courtesy of Giles, Joy, Julie and Yours Truly

Off To La Union in 9 Hours

This is going to be my first ever trip to La Union. Looking forward to learn how to surf (eventhough I don't know how to swim), bond with my new friends, get to meet new peeps and explore the place! We'll be leaving so early tomorrow, around 1am I think. So, we might spend overnight here in the office or do I smell a pre-surf activities tonight? Paging Frankie, Jule and Giles! Tee hee! :)