sctex sights

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is a 94-kilometer four-lane expressway north of Manila, in the Philippines. Its southern terminus is at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, it passes through the interchange with the North Luzon Expressway near the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City, and its northern terminus is at the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City, Tarlac.

Construction on the expressway began in April 2005, and opened to the public three years after. To date, it is the Philippines' longest toll expressway. (from wikipedia.org)

driving along sctex is such a breeze. no tricycles, speeding buses or lumbering trucks impede the progress of other vehicles, and definitely no bayans (something like city centers) to pass where traffic is denser. travel time to subic from manila is cut by about 30 minutes, depending on the speed of the car. as for the other exit ramps to the towns where sctex passes through, most are still under construction from the time we passed there.

for someone born and bred in the city like yours truly, sights such as in the pics below is a refreshing change of scenery. green fields and hills abound left and right; it seems like there's no end to them.

here are some shots that i took from the van.

rice fields. it's almost harvest time!

these particular hills can also be seen along olongapo-gapan road.

take a closer look

so many hills there are, that those who worked to construct this highway had to cut across some hills. reminds me of the freeways in california, only these are much greener.

more lush greenery

seemingly endless stretch of asphalt lined with green.

recycle, reuse and reduce

the sign says it all. =)

note: this photo was taken in a school in antipolo. there are other signs like this around the campus, signifying that the students are being taught to save the environment at an early age. i hope that not only the students of that particular school will be active in saving the environment, but all of us, even in our own little ways. throwing a seemingly insignificant candy wrapper in the trash is a good start. =)

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by the way, folks, a friend gave me a link to a really cool food website called food porn daily. notwithstanding its kinky name, it's looooove at first click, if not drool, i tell you!

want to see photos of luscious gooey double chocolate cheesecake swirl brownies and other drool-licious food? want to learn some new recipes?

then click here, people! =)

girls just wanna have fun...

in salcedo village. hwehwehwe. ;-)

My friends F and T and I finally had our night out at Salcedo Village in Makati last 31 January after months of planning. As F is the one who is the most familiar with the area, she became our official tour guide. Battle plan, in this order: Hang out at Salcedo Park, dinner, and then have chocolate cake at Alexa’s Deli. But because Salcedo Park was still full of kids (we wanted the swings to ourselves. Hah.), we decided to have dinner first. Hungry as we were, we set our sights on the first restaurant we saw: (Aum) New Bombay Food Inc.

If I ever want good Indian food that’s within a reasonable budget, New Bombay’s it. New Bombay is located along H.V dela Costa St. in Salcedo Village. The place is quite small, with Indian carpets/rugs hung on the wall making up the ambience. Ambience notwithstanding, the food sure lived up to our expectations. (If you’re already hungry, the ambience doesn’t matter much anymore heheh.) Customers can choose to have their dishes mild or really spicy depending on their tastes. As for us, we had our Cheesy Chicken Masala and Shrimp Curry mild, while the potato and cauliflower dish was spicy. For our carbo, we had chapatti, which looks like a tortilla. For all our orders we paid P600. Not bad at all, and add to that the fact that we were full (but not too full for chocolate cake!).

before: chapatti, shrimp curry, potato and cauliflower dish (not pictured: cheesy chicken masala)

after!!! (the one in the foreground are the remains of the cheesy chicken masala. we were too hungry to remember to take a before pic of it lol)

T and I have heard so many praises from F about Alexa’s chocolate cake that this was the one we looked forward to the most. Unfortunately there wasn’t any chocolate cake left at Alexa’s that night, so we consoled ourselves that there would BE a next time. So instead, we bought vanilla cones from Mini Stop at P15 each.

we'll be back, alexa. :D

We went back to the park to see if the kids have already gone, but what do you know, there were more kids than ever. I mean, wasn’t it supposed to be their bedtime already? (it was around 8pm-ish.). We went on the swings for a bit, and then decided at the spur of the moment to go to Top Grill KTV along Jupiter St. At P75 per hour/head, it's already a steal. We sang to our hearts’ content for about two hours tops, and I think just a little bit more to the point where the attendant came for us about four times to tell us to get the heck out of the booth. Lol!

All in all we spent a little more than P400 for each of us for the resto and videoke combined. Just a regular spending for a regular Friday night out, I think.

Salcedo Park. 11-ish PM. Finally. Just a smattering of kids here and there. Yesz! We practically had the whole playground to ourselves. We even found a couple of kiddie playmates who showed T and me how to slide down the fireman’s pole. And just try swinging as high as you can, so high you could almost touch the sky. Ahh, yes. To feel young again. Fun, fun, fun! I’ll now indulge you to a vid of some pics we’ve taken at the park. :-)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

subic sights from the sights of ms. lamon

i am more in love with the beach than the mountains (or hills, whatever's applicable). in subic, one can experience both worlds, may it be doing the jungle survival tour or scuba diving or what-have-you. when i was in subic, tho, i did neither. but i enjoyed the sights there a lot, more specifically the roads (again!) plus some. i dunno but there's something about mountain-y/hilly roads such as these that i find appealing. must be the fields of green surrounding the gray asphalt. no, seriously, i love nature. =)

all of the photos are taken from the car at different points in time.

taken along tipo road after entering sbma. this view somehow reminds me of that toyota commercial way back in 1996. the song there was i love you always forever by donna lewis.

the hills are aliiiiive with the sound of music...

guess who owns this villa? ;-) you can find this plush avian housing by the sbma entrance along tipo road.

argonaut highway. we were on our way to ocean adventure here, which is a good 20-minute drive from the main hub of sbma.

green...


and more green. as you can see, it is denser in this part of the highway. seems like there's no end in sight but we did get to ocean adventure.



another sight that you'll see while driving along the highways inside sbma are the wild monkeys such as these. too bad for me most of them started moving away before i even got to turn on the camera. well, better late than none at all. =)

people are advised not to feed the wild monkeys as the monkeys might become dependent on humans. but of course, some people still don't heed that and give the monkeys scraps of food.

one lost monkey

fisherman's grill, san fernando

this is where we stopped over at san fernando for brunch.

fisherman's grill is located on lazatin road just after the flyover from san fernando exit in pampanga.

aside from the obvious fact that it's a seafood restaurant, fisherman's grill also offers a variety of dishes made from beef, pork, chicken and duck. (kaldereta, adobo, pinaupong manok, etc.) yummy, yummy, yummy food!

food selection. in true filipino style, we call it turo-turo, which means you point at the food you want and they serve it to you. then again, the resto also has menus if you're too lazy to come up to the counter. ;-) anyway they have other selections which are only found in the menu, just like this one ;-)


camaru!!! (native crickets) this is a delicacy found only in pampanga. too, too bad, i wasn't able to order camaru as i already got my order (crispy crablets) when i learned that the resto serves it.

crispy shrimp!!!

longganisa!!!

crispy crablets!!!

me and my family were probably the first customers there. even with dim lighting, the ambience of the resto is very homey. it looks old as well, which of course is a good thing.

the emerald hall. no, the wizard of oz ain't inside. just us family and the food attendants. hehehe:-) by the way, there are two other halls on either side of emerald hall.

chandelier. the only lighting here comes from the big window on the side.

there are two staircases in the restaurant; one from the outside as pictured here, and another inside. i just love staircases. and btw, those yellow, green and red tiles are similar to the ones in my lola's house, only much older.

goin' up...

and down. :D

the road to subic

one fitting way to end the year is to go out of town. as you probably know by now, i didn't have the opportunity to go out of manila that much in 2008. so i was definitely thrilled when the fam went to subic to celebrate the new year.

we set out for subic in the morning of 31st december. one can now reach subic in two ways: via olongapo-gapan road, which is the old route; or the sctex (subic-clark-tarlac expressway) which opened a year ago. both have their own exits straight from nlex (north luzon expressway): san fernando (olongapo-gapan) and sctex exit (sctex). we took the olongapo-gapan road as we had brunch somewhere in san fernando.

after experiencing a bit of traffic in one of the towns in pampanga, it was decided that we would divert to the sctex when we get to dinalupihan, bataan. when we got to dinalupihan, lo and behold! there was no exit yet from olongapo-gapan road going to sctex. so we simply just passed under the new expressway and went on to our destination on the same route.

yours truly went gaga over the sights. amazed by the vast expanse of green after about a year of staying in the concrete jungle that is my beloved manila. here are some photos taken on olongapo-gapan road. (sctex pics to come soon)

the eruption of mt. pinatubo in 1991 left the provinces of zambales and especially pampanga practically a barren wasteland. almost 20 years after, both provinces have thankfully gotten back on track.

i see fields of green...

gray asphalt too...

...and i think to myself, what a wonderful world. ;-)

cheers!

something fun to start off the new year. ;-)

new year greetings

2008 is drawing to a close, 2009 is coming in.
haven't done much travelling this year, (as you might have noticed from the rarity of my posts :D)
but i must say that i was able to reach for something
that i've always wanted to do. ;-)

diyos ko, anong nangyayari sa iyo? gumising ka! gumising ka lando!!!!! *sobs*

when i was younger i used to have this teeny-tiny fear of the upcoming new year and the song auld lang syne. maybe it was the loud blasts of the firecrackers or this feeling of foreboding that something bad will happen. well, bad things have happened all throughout history but with God's grace we have survived somehow :-) and yes, God is so good, i have grown to love the song auld lang syne. ;-)

here's to a blessed 2009 for y'all! just hit play!

Auld Lang Syne - Pham Xuan Thang

happy christmas!

hi all, it's that time of year when good friends are near, and everywhere there's an air of christmas joy (hoo-hoo-hoo) ;p

yeaaaaanywayz, lemme share with you a different kind of holiday music from the trans-siberian orchestra. nope, the band's not from siberia as the name implies, but from america. they specialize in holiday music (traditional christmas songs as well as their own compositions) that are done with a twist. a rock twist, that is. the band as a total of five albums to date. and yes, any of their albums has been on my wish list for 3 years running. lol. :D

the vid shows a christmas lights display synched to wizards in winter, one of the songs in the lost christmas eve, TSO's latest album. i hope the person who owns this vid doesn't mind me posting it in this blog :D

as ever, just hit play! enjoy!

happy christmas, everybody! =)

ode to my travel buddy

this month my dusty, rusty, trusty pair of chuck taylors will turn three years old. i bought them as a christmas gift to myself after getting the bonus. :D

so anyway, i decided to make a video tribute to the most wonderful pair of travel buddies (and office buddies, for that matter) ever. heheh. might be retiring them soon, tho. three years of wearing them 99.9% of the time i go out wore them out. lol.

just hit play!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

to all the chocolate lovers

i saw this sign at bubba gump in trinoma and nearly laughed out loud. anyway, i wholeheartedly agree with this statement. don't you? ;-)

soundtripping: white shoes and the couples company

i've been meaning to write about this band for the longest time, but words aren't enough for me when it comes to describing their music. you know the feeling when you eat something really good and as you savor it, you forget everything around you, even your own name? all you think about is how good the food is. well, that's how i feel about white shoes and the couples company's music. i get lost within their music's spell and out i come with a big smile plastered on my face. ;p

white shoes and the couples company is an indie band from indonesia (no pun intended) and has been making waves around indonesia since 2002. this year, they were signed by mintyfresh records, an indie label based in chicago. since then, they have gone on tour in the US (san francisco, los angeles and new york). man, it'll be a dream come true if they could also come to manila.

anyhow, what got me hooked to the band's music is their 70's sounds with orchestral arrangements done in some of the songs. in fact, some of wsatcc's songs remind me of manila sound. when you watch their videos, you might think that they really come from the 70's coz of their style. but then, that's also part of their charm. and oh, lyrics are not a problem at all coz there's always the online translation dictionary. *wink* *wink*

btw, the song from my sidebar that i posted a couple of weeks ago is one of their songs, called senandung maaf. also, i also posted another song of theirs, roman ketiga (my current LSS ;p) about two months before. both songs are my faves. (might post something about roman ketiga next time)

you can check out the band's official website, just click on the link at my music webbies links on the sidebar. they also have a myspace page here.

i'll let the music speak for itself now. as ever, just hit play! enjoy! =)

senandung maaf

windu & defrina


tentang cita


roman ketiga

soan papdi

yesterday at a meeting, a friend brought us some soan papdi, a yummy melt-in-your-mouth indian delicacy. it was love at first bite, or rather, first melt; it was like eating cotton candy-slash-ice cream. if there's ever such a thing called dry ice cream, this would be it. according to the label, soan papdi is made from pure ghee and blended with natural cardamom and topped with pistachio and almonds.

the soan papdi comes in a plastic box packaging as it's very delicate.

photo source

the pink sisterhood meme

got tagged by gypsy for this one. it’s a meme highlighting the threat of breast cancer and how important it is to practice early detection procedures like self breast examination.

* One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.

* Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.

* Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.

* Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.

* Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.

* Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.

* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

Facts taken from Women’s Health

And now here is the tag and the rules:

1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Add your link to the list of participants below

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

1. Fara 2. Massy 3. N.O.Y. 4. Maruica 5. A Great Pleasure 6. Lady Java 7. Kim 8. Pink Thoughts 9. Turn-U-Off 10. Roxiticus 11. Stay At Home Mom 12. Fida Abott 13. 14. Janice Ng 15. Juliana 16. The Painted Veil 17. Heart of Rachel 18. Mga Muni Muni 19. Gypsy 20. carlotta 21. YOU

and so i tag thee:

1. pusa

2. acey

3. pearlyshells

4. kyels

5. manilenya

look-alike

donita rose? audrey hepburn? nope. she's none other than shirley gorospe, a fil-am beauty queen-turned-actress during the late '50s up until the early '70s. her on-screen loveteam with zaldy zshornack eventually blossomed into marriage which lasted 44 years until zshornack's untimely demise. click here to read the article about ms. gorospe (by ricky lo).

note: pic was taken in mowelfund's paradise of the stars. if there's anyone who knows how to erase the line under the eye, please let me know.

update: many thanks to mimi for fixing the pic! :-D

dizziness

somewhere in the garden at mowelfund. more to come soon ;-)

klong kruisin'

a khlong or klong is the general name for a canal in the central plain of Thailand. These canals are spawned by the Chao Phraya, the Tha Chin, the Mae Klong Rivers and their tributaries. The Thai word khlong is not limited to artificial canals; also many smaller rivers are referred to as khlong followed by the name of the stream. (wikipedia)

as i've mentioned in my previous post, one of the side trips of our river cruise included traversing along the klongs. the klongs look exactly like the esteros right here in manila, only different. wayyyyy different. take a look. =)

along with the boatman and our tour guide, my friends and i have this boat ALL TO OURSELVES. =)

onward to the klongs!

gateway to a street. as you can see, even the gate has the ornate angkor design.

anywhere we would probably go, people will wave at us as long as we bring a camera. =)

my friends and i feeding the fishes that spawn ONLY at this particular part. the monks at the temple right on this spot (but not pictured) take care of the fishes, and they allow tourists to feed bread to the fish.

casa grande (above and below)

a watery street. most of the houses we passed have boats from the back entrance.

the lurking lizard

looks like any old estero here in manila, 'no? but no. the air is as fresh as could be, even in this part of the city.

waterworld!

more houses below.

i do believe we can also do something like this right in our own pasig river. =)

photo credits: C and C