Trips Trips Trips

Caliraya

It was a socializing event masked as a church retreat. I’m not actively seeking for a partner (duh) that’s why I was hesitant on continuing on..but there was no backing out so I went. The travel time took a painstaking 4 hours since it was at the far end of Laguna and there was heavy traffic: Brgy. Lewin, Lumban, Laguna. This is past Pagsanjan.

The place was really nice, an islet with complete amenities for a great outing: horseback riding, canoeing, windsurfing, kayak, tennis, badminton, team building activities, swimming, fishing, etc. The Caliraya Recreation Center mostly caters to big groups for retreats, recreation and teambuilding activities. We stayed at their ‘hotel’ and there was airconditioning and towels that was changed every morning, cool! Room service never fails to make me light up, hehehe. The food was also provided by the hotel, 3 buffet type meals which helped me lose weight!

Here’s why:
· Buffet – meaning you can get the right amount that suits you
· The usual meal is composed of 1 meat, 2 veggies, rice, 1 dessert, soup and free coffee or tea
· I didn’t eat rice and I had lots of veggies!
· The dessert and tea+milk made me happy every time which meant that I needed not eat a lot

Aside from the food, our hotel was on top of the mountain so to reach the activity area, we had to walk down a flight of stairs constructed on the slope of the mountain, instant exercise with fresh air! :) Very cool!

Stuff I did:
1) Canoeing – it was a great experience! Evelyn and I had a lot of bloopers on the way back to the shore which just made me laugh a lot. We didn’t know how to turn, we got stuck in the lilies by the mangrove, we hit a docked fishing boat, we got stranded in a piece of land in the middle of the lake and all that time, we were rowing against the wind! My arms were sore from the instant workout but it felt good! The feeling of being in the middle of water and the wind blowing against your face along with trees was heaven for me :)

2) Badminton – I hadn’t played for a long time and I sucked! But at least I got started playing again and rediscovered the benefits and pleasure of the game. :)

3) Fishing – The Catfish in the pond were taunting me.. they were doing backflips near my rod and even ate my ‘paing’ without getting hooked! Tsk tsk tsk, my friend Lin King got a fish in just 5minutes time so we had a photo op with it instead, hehehe :) Silly fish!

The downside that I see in the place is that there’s a rental fee to all the activites except the swimming pool and the place was quite far. So unless you have lots of money and time to spare, it’s planning and saving up time in order to experience the beauty of this recreation center.

Monthsary

It was my turn to think of ideas on how to celebrate our 4th monthsary so here’s what we did

Nov 4, 2005 (Friday)
Lunch @ KFC
1 hr Badminton @ Ultimate Impact
Go kart @ The Kart Trak near CCP
Biking @ CCP
Dinner @ Teriyaki Boy

Nov 5, 2005 (Saturday)
Lunch @ Luk Yuen
KTV @ World Music Room
Coffee @ Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Four Brothers movie @ Promenade
Dinner @ Pizza Hut
Massage @ Clark Hatch
We spent a whopping Php2000++ per person so these series of activites at one go will not be repeated again. Hahahaha!

My Comments:
· My interest for badminton was reignited
· I still don’t know how to ride a bike but I can handle a sidecar or ‘padyak’. I like the feeling of wind in my face
· I’m the stereotypical woman driver..”Ang bagal naman nito, babae kasi eh!” I realized that go karting isn’t really for me coz I get scared at every fast turn that I make hehehe.
· World Music Room isn’t anything special. The room for 4 was too small and there wasn’t anything fantastic about it. I’d prefer IO or Red Box anytime of the day.
· The Ice Blended Chai Latte promo offering of Coffee Bean is slowly fading away…noooooo!!! · Four Brothers is a very violent and gory movie, just like Domino…at least Aldrich likes it a lot.
· Pizza Hut’s new offerings are quite decent. Not the best tasting but good enough for people on a budget.
· Once more with feeling: Nothing beats the massage @ Clark Hatch!

Chai @ Coffee Bean

The write-ups are true! Chai Tea is good for your health and I’m craving for it for that extra boost and feeling of lightness :) By mistake, I’ve tried the hot Chai Latte, the iced Chai Latte, and when I thought the promo was over, I still made it and tried the Ice Blended Chai Latte!!! :) I wasn’t really a tea fan until Chai came along. Aside from energy boost, it also makes my daily movements more regular, hehehe. It’s a fiber-deficit person’s ultimate delight! Highly recommended by moi!