It’s not about being perfect

“In distant time, everyone will realize that it is not about being perfect; it's about being truly happy.” This phrase could be associated in my personality, in my idea and in my expression. I learned it in a very tough way. In my 20 years of existence here in the world of reality, I’m always get affected by negative comments of other people. Criticisms are always in my way, the way I look, dressed up, the way I talk, on how I deal with other people, and a lot more. But then I just realized, why should I get affected to those negative judgements? I just listen to what they've got to say and interpret it as a constructive criticism. By then, I think that other people shouldn't be telling you who you are; instead you should be telling them who you are because it is you who knows yourself best. You know yourself more than anyone else. I strongly believe that it is about knowing your real self, accept and improve it that makes you truly happy. You may not be perfect in your outer self, but you can be near perfect with your inner self, a good heart is the one that truly counts. Even if you’re not perfect, or even close to it, you have to remember that there are many things that cannot be perfect without you. I don't know how to become perfect because the answer lies in other people's eyes but I know how I can be happy because the answer lies deep within me.

Never take too much care and love on someone

You should learn not to take too much care and love on someone, because you won’t be able to stand the pain when they start avoiding you. It’s like you’ve invested too much and end up gaining nothing. When your relationship ends, you’ll be having a hard time coping up with your lose. You’ll feel like a loser, dumb and pathetic. Save something for yourself. So when that person leaves you, there is still something left for you to stand up and save yourself from pain. Don t show so much of love to anyone because it creates a non curable pain. Don't depend too much on anyone in this world, because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness. You'll never know how long people will stay with you, or how fast they will leave you. Always remember, people meet to part. Never hold on to someone that much. Life's just too unpredictable.

Little Happy Things

I love little happy things during simple times. It’s just an implication that life is full of things that makes you happy. I have here a list of “Little Happy Things” which I enjoy and appreciate too much. This is randomly listed. Thank you, Lord for this!

·         Enjoying summer/semestral vacation

·         Eating your favorite chocolate

·         Family celebrations

·         A good-hair day

·         That feeling when you see people happy just because they see you're happy

·         A lovely smell

·         Received a last piece of candy from someone

·         Always telling the truth

·         Extraordinary kindness from people you love

·         Bought new cute ballpens

·         Looking forward to classes to see your friends.

·         A shoulder to lean on

·         Cute babies

·         Reading books to learn

·         Movie Marathon with your favorite foods and friends

·         Getting excited for a trip

·         Comfortable shoes

·         A sweet message

·         A loooooong holiday

·         Hearing your favorite song on the radio and reminds you of someone.

·         When people say thanks for the little things you do.

·         When you got that feeling that someone trusts you

·         Warm hugs from your mom and dad.

·         New songs on iTunes/iPod.

·         Been thinking about a lyric of a song, then suddenly your friend come & sing it.

·         The fresh feeling after brushing your teeth.

·         When you finally found the title of a song that you've been searching for. 

·         When people give compliment about your new profile picture. 

·         When someone said that you're so beautiful today, even when you're not trying to.

·         Arrived at home after a long tiring day, bumped onto bed & fell asleep.

·         When your parents are proud of you.

·         When you expect less, but you get more.

·         Proved that you can while everyone's doubt at you.

·         That feeling after done an exam and you’ve done it well

·         The first bite of a delicious food.

·         Drinking a cup of coffee in the morning.

·         When someone you thought have forget you but still remembers you

·         When you realized that you still have a pocket of money to buy things you want

·         The late-night talks about everything at sleepovers.

·         When you know that the people who you love is having the same feeling for you.

·         Your jokes that make people laugh.

·         Not being able to finish a sentence cause you're laughing so hard about the ending.

·         Uncontrollable laughter with your crazy friends.

·         When you know that you have an extra time to continue your sleep in the morning.

·         Being with good looking people with nice attitude.

·         The moment you pass by a mirror & realize that you're looking good.

·         Do a spontaneous plan & it goes very well.

·         Hanging out with friends in a bar and dance till you drop.

·         Knowing that you are a lovely person. . 

·         Remembering funny things in your mind & laugh it by yourself. 

·         Bought nice clothes with cheap price. 

·         Staring at the pretty sunset.

·         Playing songs that can boost your mood.

·         A brand new thing that you've been wanting for

·         Realizing that today you are a stronger person.

·         When somebody say he/she is missing you.

·         Had a long chat with your crush

·         Being yourself and people love the way you are

·         Eating a yummy dessert after a stressful day

·         Learning how to use tumblr and blogspot (hahaha)

·         Saw a rainbow after the rain. 

·         The fresh feeling after you took a bath.

·         People call you with your favorite nickname.

·         The first bite of food when you're really hungry.

·         Seeing others happy & the reason is because of you

·         A little & random conversation with the one we love.

·         A warm blanket in the middle of night.

·         A nice candid picture of you.

·         Meet up with the long-time-no-see people.

·         The moment that you found the thing that you've been looking for a long time. 

·         Having your favourite meal at Mcdonalds! (sorry but i just love Mcdo) haha

·         Seeing your favourite tv personality in person.

·         Waking up in the morning, in a good mood (it’s a blessing)

·         Giving something for someone who is in need

·         Singing out loud in the videoke (or in the bathroom haha)

·         Discovering new places

·         Going into a beach (Looking forward to this)

·         Sleeping the whole day just because you missed to rest. haha

You should realize that there are lots of little things that can make you happy. Pay more attention to it and be grateful of having those. We still have happy things in life so why need worrying about the sad things? Think big, but let the little things make you happy. Remember that being happy is not about owning a big house or a fast car. Though we are dreaming of having big things someday, we should learn to appreciate little things in our lives. Be thankful of what you have at what you can do now.LITTLE HAPPY THINGS.

TRAVEL: Anawangin Cove's expect the unexepected

Beach, it’s where I really wanted to go during the time that I was stressed and depressed with lots of things. Also, I’ve always wanted to escape from the pollution in Manila. I’ve wanted to go in a beach that is not populated, somewhere like a virgin beach. So, it was a big surprise for me when a good friend of mine named Yvonne, invited me to be her co-tour guide. By the way, she is a tour guide of Lakwatsero Tour Club. It was Thursday night when she messaged me on facebook asking if I am free on weekends. Wondering why, I immediately called her and she said “Come on, you’ll be my buddy in my Anawangin Adventure, for free.” Like, seriously? For free? HAHA! You won’t believe how much happy I am when I heard the word “free”. Well, I am really surprised. So the set up is, I will be her buddy becoz her co tour-guides will be up heading to other destinations with their guests. And Yvonne will be accommodating 10 guests so it would be awkward if she’ll be going alone without a company. 

Yeah I admit Anawangin is not that famous compared to other beach destinations like bora, Palawan, bohol but when I saw some pictures of this place, there’s something that makes me wanna go and visit it. Presumed to be ‘mystical and ‘enchanted,’ this intriguing beach enticed me to see it for myself. 

Saturday. This is it! OMG. I really can’t wait to witness the hidden beauty of the Island. Although I was shocked when my bestfriend said “te walang kuryente dun ha, wag kang maarte”, but for me it was an advantage, no electricity, no technology, no laptop, no cellphone and everything, only calm and relaxing place. It feels like I’m free in the world. Haha!

"Anawangin Cove is a crescent shaped cove with a mixture of volcanic ash and white sand which is located in the Province of Zambales. The easiest way is to have a 30 minute boat ride from Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales. But if you want an adventure, you can go there by a 6-hour trek thru the Pundaquit range."

The travel lasted for 5 hours. We arrived at Barangay Pundaquit during the afternoon. Since we’re all starving, we just bought cooked food and decided to eat as soon as we reached the beach. Our bangkero was already a contact of the tour club so we didn't have a hard time riding on it. Everyone there was so friendly and accommodating. That’s the one point that made me like the place so much. I was so happy like a kid when we’re riding on the Bangka. The waves were really huge, the sea water was clean and the view was really spectacular. The Bangka ride was approximately 30 minutes. 

"One of those mountains I've seen during our bangka ride to Anawangin cove"

When we arrived at Anawangin Cove, I eventually jumped off the Bangka, took off my slippers and started to walk on the white sand though it’s not really as white as what i’ve seen in pictures online. But everything in there is really amazing! From a distance, I saw a pine tree-infested cove with a stretch of white sand, just like in the photos posted I’ve online. It’s like a hidden paradise. The pine trees, the huge waves, the sand, the lake, the friendly people, everything in there are great! The atmosphere was very serene, seemed like I found solitude and tranquillity in this place.

"Anawangin is famous for the unusual existence of tall pine trees. They say that seeds were brought there by the eruption Mt Pinatubo."

"The campers stay near the big pine trees. This trees made the Cove more unique"

"The cove is free from any developments and the island is still reserved without any luxurious resorts in it."

 "Behind the beach, you can also find a natural spring"

 "And wow, a beautiful lake" Amazing!

After we ate our lunch and took some rest, we decided to hit the beach and went around to take more pictures. Here are some of our pine tree shots :-p

"Oh hi! This is me. Welcome to the Land of Pine trees" :-p

"Hi there. Meet my long-lost-bestfriend, Yvonne. Well actually, she didn't leave. Some situations part our ways. But still, we remain good friends" I missed this girl big time. Thank you for this!"

While we were having our pictorial, darkness came and then it rained. We felt sad because I knew our plans of having a bonfire near the beach with some drinks and sleeping by the sea shore will not happen anymore. But then, we still have to enjoy so we went to the beach and played the big waves, wooaah! Super fun :D

With the cold sand on my back, the sound of waves crashing against the shore and the gentle breeze of the sea, just peaceful and relaxing. We just spent the afternoon playing in the beach. 

At first, we enjoyed the rain but then it bothered us because it gets even harder and the wavers were getting bigger as compared during the afternoon. So we decided to get back to our "kubo" a place where we stayed and then we took our dinner. Glad the owner of our station provided us an hour electricity so there was light when we were eating. But spending the night was one of the toughest times in the island, with a heavy rain and hearing the big sound of the waves like it will come up and hit us! I swear that I hate it so much! I never expected that situation, sleeping with no beddings, with mosquitoes biting you, I had a hard time sleeping because of that situation. oh gush I was hoping the time will run fast as it could. haha!

When we woke up, the weather was still not that good. We took our breakfast then after  that we took some pictures before leaving the Island. 

"Like us on Facebook" :D

"Hey, It's cloudy day. Really not a good weather" :(

Its Sunday so it's time for us to leave. But we can't leave thru bangka because of the big waves, so we have no choice but to trek to Brgy. Pundaquit. Oh ghaaad! This was the most unexpected, most tiring, as in the most challenging part on my anawangin experience. Imagine, you'll be trekking for 8 hours under the rain, wearing shorts, wearing slippers and no enough food to eat. Crossing to almost 10 rivers, I couldn't remember the exact number of rivers which we crossed. But the most unforgettable one was the last dangerous river. The current was very strong, seemed like any time you'll be flowed up with it. One of our tour guides told us that a UP mountaineer died because of this river. You have no idea how much afraid I am to cross that river, using a rope. No joke. I almost cried because of this. 

Here are some of our trekking pics. Credits to our guests who took this photos. Sad, our cam got lowbat so we havent took more photos of the trek!

"On our way to go trekking"

"crossing the river. Oh by the way, we had a kid with us. This kid was really amazing. He enjoyed the trek"

"I really salute our guests because they were very sport, we didn't hear bad comments from them. They enjoyed the trek even if it's unexpected :D Oh yes, we're on our half way in this pic."

"Half way to go! This was the difficult part because the mountains were very slippery, we had a hard time going down. Good thing we have our tungkods with us! It was such a big help" :D

We reached Barangay Pundaquit at 5pm. The trek lasted for 8 hours. Gush! It was such a big achievement. hahaha! We were like "basang sisiw" that time. The saddest part was, our things got wet because we've crossed to number of rivers. So we get back to Manila with our "medyo medyo basang mga damit". And because of this unexpected experience, I learned my lesson: in going to an Island, you must be 100% prepared, as in PREPARED.