Paradiso Beach Resort is located at Hinigaran, Negros Occidental. This was the venue of the Singles for Christ Regional Conference – Western Visayas that we attended. Here are some photos I took of the resort – when it wasn’t raining. And this is also my first attempt at editing photos so please bear with the ‘greenness.’ 
This post is once again long overdue. Last weekend September 5th-7th, Tim, my brother Rino John and I once again went to Kabankalan and Bacolod. We attended Alex’s birthday. Alex is Tim’s nephew. We had so much fun! Alex now likes me. The first time that I went there he kinda didn’t. Lol. I got to meet Tim’s brother and brother in law for the first time too and they were really nice. 
And I finally got to go to Calea and taste some of their infamous cakes, pastries and coffees! I brought home a three layed chocolate caramel cake which the Calea girl said is imported. Imported from where I didn’t ask. Lol. Calea didn’t dissapoint me at all. I am definitely going back there when I get another chance. I would like to thank my very patient tour guide – Tim for finding an open branch because the first Calea branch we went to is closed on Mondays so we went to their Robinson’s Mall brach which was thankfully open. And then when it was time for us to go home we decided to try out Supercat. They reopened their operations I think a couple of weeks ago. They have a much cleaner vessel and we were really comfortable. The fastcraft didn’t even feel the waves. I think it’s because the way the fastcraft is built. I took some photos and you can find them below.
Enough talk. Let the pictures say it all!
First of all let me get one thing straight – I am not in any way affiliated with DLSU. I did not study in any of their schools – period.
I am just blogging about their hymn – the reggae version of their hymn.
If you’re a frequent visitor of my blog you’ll know that I am an avid listener of reggae music and I am one of Bob Marley’s millions of fans. Reggae music makes my head bob up and down. Reggae music helps me chill and relax. So when Tim shared with me a reggae song from his phone I was immediately curious as to who sang it and what the title of the song is. The beat is great and only after I listened to the lyrics well and after Tim told me did I knew that it was the reggae version of the Lasallian Alma Mater Hymn. Tim by the way is a graduate of the University of St. La Salle – Bacolod. Tim doesn’t usually talk of his alma mater but he shared with me the hymn. I think because he also finds it cool. I don’t know about the other stuffs he doesn’t talk about though. 
So after I transferred the song to my phone via bluetooth I made it my ring tone. It really is cool and to those who haven’t heard it yet I have the video below. I tried to look for the name of the group who sang this but Google is not cooperating with me. So if you any of you know who the cool guys on the video are please share it with me by leaving a comment so I can properly thank and attribute the song to them.
And this post is for Tim. Wala lang beh, trip ko lang..hehehe..wala bal-an obrahon. 
By the way, I was also looking for my high school alma mater’s hymn but I couldn’t find anything about it online. Do any of you have an audio copy of Colegio de San Jose’s college hymn? I have the lyrics (Spanish and English) but I also would like to have an audio copy.
Back to the topic, here’s the Lasallian Alma Mater Hymn – Reggae Version.
“Lasallian Alma Mater Hymn”
Hail, Hail
Alma Mater,
Hail to De La Salle!
We’ll hold your banner high and bright,
A shield of green and white,
We’ll fight to keep your glory bright,
And never shall we fail,
Hail to thee our Alma Mater!
Hail! Hail! Hail!
I know I haven’t blogged for 2 weeks now. It has been a couple of hectic weeks. What with my brothers getting sick and some urgent stuffs to finish at work. I’m going to postpone writing about our Boracay vacation for now to give way to my Kabankalan escapade.
Last Saturday, 23rd of May, I finally got the chance to go to Kabankalan. Tim’s hometown. I went there along with my little brother Rino John and Tim of course. I got to meet Tim’s parents for the 3rd time and his sisters the first time (except for Dainah because we met a couple of times in the past when she went here to Iloilo). We stayed there until the 26th so that’s about 4 days and 3 nights. I loved Kabankalan! Not only did Tim’s family and relatives welcome us in their homes but they also gave us a tour of the city. I didn’t know that they have a palace-like city hall. You have to see it to believe it. It looks more expensive than our Capitol actually., honest. And Kabankalan is a very clean city. They have clean streets. Yes I know Iloilo is also clean but Kabankalan’s cleaner. Maybe its because Kabankalan is still more a rural city than urbanized. Their cathedral is also a lovely structure. It won’t rival Jaro Cathedral but still it’s a beautiful place to worship the Lord. We heard Mass there last Sunday.
But seriously, I enjoyed my stay there. I got to meet Tim’s wonderful family and that’s all that matters. I think I got chubbier too, gained a few pounds. Because all we did there was eat and eat and I’m blaming Tita Warlit because of that. Haha! She went out of her way to make us feel comfortable at their home along with Tito Ledo and we really appreciate it. When we arrived on the 23rd it was Ken – Tim’s cousin’s birthday. And then on the 25th was Hans – Tim’s nephew’s birthday. So what with no exercise and just lounging around – who won’t gain weight? LOL. Speaking of food, I miss Tita Jane’s spaghetti.
I wonder when I’ll be allowed to go back there again.
Here are a few of the photos we took during our stay there. Enjoy!
So today I’m going to write about our first day in Boracay. This post has been long overdue but I had a ton of tasks to do and I also did some studying (for what, you don’t have to know right now..haha). Boracay is the most popular summer getaway here in the Philippines and it’s also popular with tourists from other countries because of its unique white sand beach. Boracay is actually known as the ” Paradise Island of the Philippines.” And if you’ve ever been there you already know why. To those who haven’t yet well you have to go there to know why. LOL. For now feel free to read my Boracay experience.
I have been to Boracay once when I was still a kid but I don’t remember much about it only that I went there together with my relatives from Antique. This time, Tim invited us to go with him because their company has a branch located there and he’s going to do some IT fixing so he asked me if I wanna come with him. Of course I want to! But the two of us can’t go alone so we invited my brother – Sev and his girlfriend Dianne to come along with us as well. They also deserve a much needed vacation, especially Dianne who has just resigned from the Box and working hard for her new boss. She needs to have a vacation, like me. Right Yan? Hehe.
On the morning of the 29th of April at 4AM the four of us met up. Then we had an almost 6-hour bus ride to Caticlan, Aklan – the gateway to Boracay and lastly the ferry ride to the island. We arrived at around half past 1PM. I told Tim that I wanted a hotel or resort at the beachfront so we checked in at Queen’s Beach Resort. The room we got was not cheap but it was so worth it. The staff of the hotel was all also very polite. And we had complimentary breakfasts on the duration of our stay. I highly recommend them to all my friends and acquaintances who are planning to go to Boracay too. Here is the link to Queen’s Beach Resort’s website so you could check them out. I promise you won’t regret staying there. Maybe you’ll get the chance to meet Kim too! Who’s Kim? Long story. Hehe.
So after checking in at Queen’s Beach Resort, we decided to go out, see the sights and eat lunch! We agreed to eat at somewhere not too expensive at first (so we could splurge for dinner that night) therefore we went to the Talipapa where we ate at a turo-turo restaurant that serves Filipino dishes. We were actually told that we can choose any of the uncooked fishes and other “sea creatures” displayed outside then they will cook them for us, whatever “luto” we want but we decided not to because then we have to wait and we were too hungry already and too excited to explore Boracay. The food was satisfactory but sadly I forgot the name of the place but it has the words “Turo Turo” in it.
After lunch, we walked around first then Dianne and I decided to check out our emails and do our jobs so we’ll have more time to go out that night. Tim also went to their branch to get some work done. While Sev of course went with us. We found an internet cafe located in a new building behind the talipapa near our resort – but not after a lot of walking. Hahaha! By the way, to those who don’t know what the Talipapa is, it’s kind of like the marketplace in Boracay where different types of stores are located. There are small restaurants there, coffee shops, internet cafes, and kiosks where one can buy souvenirs, “pasalubongs” and other tons of stuffs! Prices of goods are cheaper here compared to the stores at the beachfront and you can haggle with the sellers too if you know how!
Then after working at the internet cafe, we decided to go back to the resort and change clothes for the beach! The three of us – Dianne, Sev and I had a dip at the beautiful and clean beach of Boracay. It’s amazing that many people come there but the beach is still clean. Their environmentalists must be working really hard. Hehehe. They should because before we boarded the ferryboat to Boracay Island we had to pay an expensive environmental fee.
After the dip at the beach, we went back to our big room to get some rest before going out again to find a place to eat dinner. Tim was back from their branch office too. We set up Tim’s laptop, which we brought along with our portable SmartBro Prepaid Kit so Dianne and I could also get some work done. Then we watched some show on the cable TV – and I fell asleep. Hehe. Later that night they woke me up. We looked for a place to eat. We found this place beside the beach again that offered a sumptuous buffet dinner for Php200/person. We had fun while choosing the food we want to eat because we didn’t know if we’ll speak Tagalog or Hiligaynon to the servers, waiters, etc. Only to find out afterward that the chefs and the staffs were just from La Salle – Bacolod where Tim also graduated. So they speak Hiligaynon. Yeeeey! Hahaha! So they got to give us some tips on what food to eat. Mainly not too much rice. LOL. And the chefs and the others were on their OJT (on the job training). To make the story short, we had a delicious dinner. We were full because we ate what our stomachs can hold so again went for a walk on the beach to check out the nightlife and take some photos! After all that we went back to our room at the resort to get some rest. We watched shows on TV again, did some tasks and went to sleep so we’ll be ready for another great day!
And here are some photos to go with this post.
***Boracay – Day 2 is up next guys so stay tuned! These posts will give you an idea of what to do and where to go in Boracay!
