Jellies at Manila Ocean Park

I’m not the best person to talk about animals or insects. Aside from my lack of interest in watching Animal Planet or other animal-related shows, I’m not very comfortable touching animals or being very near them at the very least.

A trip to Manila Ocean Park somehow changed my views on these creatures and how I should be more caring about animals. With the whole family, we bought tickets to the sea lion show, Oceanarium, Jellies, and fish spa – all for 600 pesos! If only Ocean Park wasn’t too crowded on that day, it would have been a really good day.

 

 

Well actually, it was a really good day thanks to my new babies – Jellies! Yes, jellyfishes a.k.a. the dancing fairies! This was our last stop before heading home, and there weren’t even a lot of people coming in. But lo and behold, about six different tanks of jellyfish swimming, gliding, prancing, danciiing! I swear, it was such a beautiful sight. What made it even more amazing were the changing lights that seemed to be in sync with the movement of the jellyfish and the background music.

We were there for about 15 minutes, just watching the jellyfish move in the water and just as we were about to exit, bam!

 

  

About 10 more tanks (I think there were 10, or maybe those were just reflections) of jellyfish swimming as the lights change in color. It was so beautifuuuul! I’d love to go back to Manila Ocean Park again just to see the jellyfish and to be in awe.

 

Good Friday at Olo-Olo, Lobo Batangas

Although my back has been itching and aching already, I know if I don’t write this one down now, I’ll never be able to write it ever. So, lemme tell you how our family spent our Good Friday this year.

The initial plan was to go to Lobo, Batangas (a municipality that we’ve never been to) and reserve a room in one of the resorts where we can spend the night in. You see, our family was never the sleepover type of family. I don’t know, we were never used to the idea of spending the night somewhere other than our beds and to sleep somewhere together. We’d like to keep our sleeping an individual privacy. So obviously, it was a surprise that my parents planned an overnight thing. But obviously, as I have briefly discussed the familial sleepover issue, the overnight trip was canceled. Not really canceled, but downgraded to a day trip, still to Lobo, Batangas.

 I'm not very good with directions, but I know you have to pass by this bridge to get to Lobo.

From our house (which is located near SM Batangas), the town proper of Lobo is about an hour away. But beware though since the road to this municipality, although developed is slightly dangerous because of all the turning that the driver has to go through. Really really crazy turning. The plus thing though, and this is something you don’t usually see on the road to Laiya, Batangas, is the amazing mountain view that the way to Lobo has to offer. Forgive the quality of my pictures as they can’t really capture the greatness of the view. It’s really beautiful in the morning, makes driving a delight.

When we got to Barangay Olo-Olo, we were “escorted” by one of my mom’s friend’s house help who happens to live in this barangay for most of her life. The tricky part in choosing a resort in Lobo is knowing where the better beaches are. Based on what I’ve researched, Barangay Malabrigo seemed like the most popular barangay in Lobo. However, some tourists might not know that Malabrigo is also home to the most rocky resorts. I like beaches regardless whether they have sand or stones, but most beach-goers obviously prefer the sand, white sand if I may add. And among all the barangays in Lobo, Barangay Olo-Olo has the nicest beaches, in terms of sand/stone/shore preference.

  

 

  

  

 

One major flaw that I found in this barangay though is how undeveloped the resorts were. The water was not very clean – panty liners, candy wrappers, baby doll parts, just to name a few of the trash that we’ve seen floating freely in the sea. Also, most of the resorts didn’t offer food preparations hence forcing their guests to bring their own food and cook the food there. This is hassling if you’re not the type of guest who likes to bring lots of stuff just for cooking.

And I don't really know the name of the resort we went to, so I don't think I won't be of much help on that part. But the important thing is, Olo-Olo is ze way to go! Really cool water plus finer sand (with a few leaves, twigs, and porcupine fishes) await you in this part of Lobo.

 And shell picking!

 

 And wade along the sea!

And sunbathe! 

Nonetheless, I guess what made this trip to Lobo worthwhile was the visit to the old lighthouse found in Barangay Malabrigo. If I remember correctly, this lighthouse was built in the 1800’s and is still being used (although not open to the public). The lighthouse (or as my parents like to call it parola) looked so beautiful juxtaposed with all the dried up trees and falling leaves found in the area. It felt like I was going to a really ancient place where there seemed to be a lot of history attached to it. What’s more amazing was seeing two more lighthouses on our way home. However, unlike the one in Malabrigo, these two other lighthouses were newer, and therefore didn’t look as spectacular. Haha, I’m just saying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old and beautiful lighthouse 

 

Newer and less beautiful lighthouse

 Happy long weekend everyone! :)

BTW, I'm sorry if this one had too many crappy photos. I was feeling photographer today, hence the photos. Less artsy photos next time. And last, I hate my tan! Worst tan line so far. Eck. God save my skin! :(

S'mores for Smurf

Today my little assistant and I played around our kitchen and experimented on a very easy recipe that I’ve seen from one of my friends – s’mores! Doesn’t seem much, does it? Well, as I’ve mentioned a number of times in this blog, I’m not really the cooking type. I’m more of the taste tester type, which is proven by my eager desire to taste a lot of food, especially desserts, that I see or smell. But not today.

I bought our ingredients from the supermarket: big and fluffy white marshmallows, Graham crackers, leftover Nutella from the house and local peanut butter. Okay, this is really really easy. My ten(?) year old sister could have done it on her own, that kind of easy.

So first, line up your graham crackers which have already been broken into three pieces per cracker.

Next, slice your marshmallow in half. I didn’t do this the first time because I was very greedy about my marshmallows. Lesson learned. One marshmallow is too big for one Graham sandwich, so it’s necessary to slice one in half.

As mentioned, sandwich the halved marshmallow in between two Graham crackers. You can choose to add peanut butter or chocolate or whatever spread you have in mind.

Final step, put your pre-made sandwiches inside the microwave. Heat it for about 10-15 seconds, or until you see the marshmallows puffing out. This is pretty obvious since the marshmallows get really big, and when they do, you’ll know it’s time to put them out of the microwave.

And just to have that extra s’more feeling, press the two crackers together so some of the melted marshmallow oozes out.

These s’mores are best eaten while hot, otherwise, they’re just two Graham crackers sandwiching a marshmallow with some peanut butter in between. Happy eating!

To the Moon!

An unexpected brownout in our village tonight forced me to go outside and to wait until the power’s back. With my big trusty flashlight in hand, I went outside the house and saw the moon shining brightly in the dark. I don’t want to exaggerate but you’d really think there’s a huge spotlight outside our street. And if you look up the sky, it’s actually the moonlight that’s giving so much light to this supposedly dark night.

It looks really small and dim, but believe me, it sure was bright.

So I stayed outside for a while and enjoyed the moonlight. It’s quite amazing how despite this darkness brought by the brownout, I can actually feel how the night felt so warm and alive, like the colors of the night (heehee) looked so warm.