Ariel Pineda-Journey

How cool is this.

Ariel Pineda the new Journey lead singer, who before Journey was "living in a gutter and eating off concrete", is rockin' and getting featured on People.com.

Of course it is a well-known fact that Pineda shot to fame after Neil Schon discovered him on Youtube.



Go Pinoy!

Camiguin

To get to Camiguin is very easy. If you’re from outside Misamis Oriental and coming in via the airport, airline carriers are offering flights daily from Manila to Cagayan de Oro (this is the usual entry point in going to Camiguin). Travel from Manila to Cagayan de Oro is one hour and a half. And if you’re from Manila it is better to board any first flight so you have ample time for the land travel to Baligoan Ferry Dock, which is normally about two hours max.

There are public utility jeepneys plying the route, fare is about 60 pesos. A much faster mode of transportation if you don’t have a private vehicle is the bus. Starting point is the Agora Bus Terminal and look for Air-conditioned buses going to Davao or Butuan fare is about 100 plus pesos (fares fluctuate depending on the whim of bus companies, they increase fare rate without announcement). If you find it hard to find these buses because it is your first time in the area, just ask around which bus is going by Balingoan and they will direct you to them, besides the bus terminal is not that huge so you’ll be okay.

Once you arrive in Balingoan (the Bus conductor will announce the arrival don’t worry), the Ferry Dock is just less than a minute away from the Bus Terminal, so if you don’t have heavy luggage you can just walk, or if you’re bringing your whole house with you, there are tricycles waiting just tell them you need to be at the Pier, fare is 5 pesos (although this might have increased by a peso or two by now), do not make the mistake of paying more (like someone I know who paid 50 pesos.

Once you’re at the dock, purchase your ferry tickets, about 125 pesos (this might have increased too). And wait for your Ferry (travel time is forty five minutes). Best time to travel to Camiguin by Ferry is early in the morning up to about nine AM. Later than this, the sea becomes so choppy and the waves can go up to ten feet high, depending on the weather. Makes sure to watch over your belongings all the time.

In Camiguin, you’ll dock at the Benoni Pier. There are jeepneys waiting, you can just hire one if you want privacy, or the ones plying the normal route , fare is about 35 pesos going to Mambajao. This is the normal drop off point for people visiting Camiguin. But there are resorts lining alongside the road going to Mambajao, you can just disembark along the way.

Once in Mambajo, you can find a lot of cheap accommodations, but some of them do not offer food so you need to eat outside.

In order to really see the beauty of Camiguin it is advisable to rent a single motorcycle and drive around the island, rent ranges between 200-300 pesos sans the driver. If you want to be driven around Camiguin’s tourist spots, rate is between 500-600 (one day). Just ask the front desk on how to contact establishments that offer motorcycles for rent because normally they have a ready contact. Just haggle the price.

If you hire a guide, they will bring you to the normal tourist spots plus you’ll get updated with the local happenings.

If you prefer to go around Camiguin by yourselves, better arm yourself with an island map, although since the whole of Camiguin is now accessible because of the newly concreted road, you won’t find any difficulty traversing the whole island in less than a day.

Going to the White Island

There’s a jump off point near Mambajao going to Catarman. Few establishments offer a boat ride going to the sandbar. And they charge a fixed rate (that time we were there it was around 450 pesos per boat, maximum of 10 persons). They will just drop you off then come back for you on your agreed time. Better to bring your own food because the locals manning makeshift stores there are charging pretty stiff rates for well, everything.

Finding an eatery is an experience in Mambajao, this way you can walk around like the locals and find good establishments, examples are coron-coron or the vjandep restaurant near the beach. For the tasty baked goods like the famous pastel, there’s the Original Vjandep bakeshop in the center of Mambajao market.

Before traveling to Camiguin, be sure to do some research online. You can find precious chronicles by people who have been there.

Lakers' Hole

Okay so I’m having a major breakdown because the Los Angeles Lakers can’t seem to do anything right in this 2008 finals. How can they blow away a 24-point lead in a must win situation?

To win a championship when you’re deep inside a 3-1 hole is “unprecedented”. And the Celtics are readying the champagne and confetti in today’s game 5.

Heartbreaking.

From Paris to Pluto

Writing a blog post can be time-consuming. Long stretches of days not creating often leads to frustration and anxiety. Failure to find inspiration from a three-dimensional experience ushers in tedious internet sessions in my Asus Eee PC (and that is not good).

Tales gathered can be superfluous on one hand and amazing on the other.

1.Pluto's demotion from Planet to dwarf planet. Try unlearning years of stock knowledge. But, as one noted scientist correctly said, “The universe is what it is, not what we want it to be, and science must always be open to correcting its mistakes.”

2.Britney Spears shaving her head in full glare of the cameras. It is hard dealing with your problems in the confines of your own home, I can't imagine dealing with them with millions of people watching.

3.Barack Obama. America is on the verge of having the first African-American President. Times have changed, views have changed.

4.Deplorable. As a country, the Philippines is still in the process of finding a President and a congress worthy of our votes.

5.Red Sox. After wallowing in the “longest championship droughts” in American professional baseball, they finally broke the “curse of the Bambino” and won the 2004 World Series.

6.Manny Pacquiao. One fairy tale we don't want to end. He embodies our collective wish for fame and fortune (less the black eye and possible brain damage of course).

7. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer. Need I say more?

8.Perez Hilton. He gets 5 millions reads a day.

9.Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan. I know these are American celebrities, but they do rule internet traffic.

10.The overflowing support for Myammar, China, calls to end human rights violations the world over Darfur, Tibet, Somalia, Iraq... world peace, the standard answer for beauty pageant contestants in this part of the world when asked what contribution to society they would like to be remembered for. We laughed at the futility of it all, and yet, we continue hoping.