Jakie and the Beadstalk

I am not a grammar Nazi (though I am slowly turning into one).  One of my reasons for re-checking my grammar is not to feel all high and mighty and superior to the rest of the earthlings, but to be clear about what I want to say or write about. I want people to understand if what I say had already happened, is about to happen or is currently happening.   I make a lot of grammatical mistakes, especially when in a hurry, but I try my very best to make sure that my subject and verb are good friends.  (I love my English teachers: Ms. Badeth Cabico, Sis. Josie Onag, Mrs. Convite- wherever you are, thank you!) So anyways, while browsing for gift ideas at Lazada , I saw this nice toy: See the description? Warning: Cannot Eat Of course I wouldn't buy a toy that would eat my child, so this warning is really very helpful (my teeth are clenched while typing this)! It's a great gift for kids playing and learning (my face is now twisted in horror). See how important grammar...

 Hello there! I forgot to tell you, our fun diving lesson  costs P2,000 per head - inclusive of diving gear, boat ride, introductory lesson and cd (with videos and pictures).  The entire dive (including the ride and lessons) take about 2 hours.  It really costs P3,000.00 each but because it's the lean season, we were able to haggle for a much cheaper price. I would have preferred diving with Mark Louie Ocheda (he has a Facebook account - he's good), but since we got a cheaper price, we went with this diving instructor and we regretted it because he didn't allow us to swim- he maneuvered us to where he wanted us to go. Now, I'm looking for a school to get a license (I hope, I can afford it). Any suggestions?

Boracay as usual is a paradise for me. And I got to try again what used to be in my bucket list for two decades until I tried it a few years ago - DIVING!!!! Here are some pics: The reefs are dying! The great photo bomber-me! He's not nemo! While feeding ze feeshes weeth ze hubby Thank you Lord for the opportunity to view your creations under the sea. 

It's beginning to look like Christmas and if the traffic jam is the indicator, then Christmas is really near because traffic is worsening! I got an early Christmas gift today from a friend, Aby. Look! Tadaaaa!!! Colleen Colored Pencils!!! Colleen Colored Pencils!!!!!!! 60 pieces!!!! Oh I was just eyeing them yesterday. First Layer The second layer including the neons!  I just love how the neons look! And a good friend, Atty. Bombet (and Caru), gave me this: My first hindi "pirated" colouring book!  Thank you!!! I feel so loved! Now the question is - when will I find time to color?

I hate mosquitoes- I hate the buzzing sound they make, I hate their flying presence everywhere and I most specially hate the virus they bring to mankind.  I've come to master the art of catching them with my hand while their hovering, and when I open my palm, most of the time, they are still there writhing, their wings squished. In the event I still see them alive, I try to separate the wing one by one until they bid their last goodbye. Yes, torturing mosquitoes makes my day! My hate for them increased last June when my son was diagnosed with dengue fever. Good thing, his platelet count were 220, 210, 200, 210, respectively, during his four days in the hospital. I was going crazy that time because even if his fever was only hovering between 38.5-39.4 (believe me, he has had fevers where his temperature soared to 39.9 and he didn't act sick at all), in the three days that he had the fever, he was (and looked) weak, and didn't want to eat, and complained of something outch...

With the advent of cellphones (and the limited characters for short message sending), people have resorted to "text-speaks". My eyes tear up when I see text messages such as this one: "Je je je!  Nkk2wa k. Di q lam y u ngtxt s qin." Ano daw????? What's worse is when I see erroneously-spelled Filipino words that we have been taught how to spell since we were in elementary. This is how they are usually mutilated: NAMIN (us) ---- NAMEN HINDI (no) ---- HINDE KULIT (annoying, naughty) --- KULET SIYA (he, she - basta 3rd person) --- CIA KAHIT (even if nga ba ito?) --- KAHET PO (po/opo- to convey respect) --- POE (not the politician nor the late actor) or POH, and sometimes POEH (poehhhh???!) AYYY (an expression, o linking verb ba ito?) --- Aiiiii!!! (Ha?!)

In a Christmas Party I attended, there's this cake that I wasn't able to taste because my tummy was about to burst.  Sadly, when I already had some space in my tummy to taste it, it was already cleared. Hahahah! Now I'm craving for one!  Here's another one: Give me liberty or give me cake!

In my previous blog post , I said that we weren't able to try the activities at Dahilayan Resort Park because we were pressed for time.  We wanted to try the zipline first but we only had two hours of free time in the morning of our flight (Guess what, our flight was cancelled and we had to stay another day at CDO!If we only knew, we should have stayed in Bukidnon for one more night). But there's another resort, right beside Dahilayan which is the Dahilayan Adventure Park . I don't know if they are owned by the same company/person. It was my first time to try the ziplining - they have three, and for P600, you can ride all three (not all at the same time of course!). They've got the 320m, 150m, and 840m dual zipline. Dahilayan claims that their 840m dual zipline is the longest zipline in Asia! The first two ziplines are  done sitting, while the longest is done superman-style (though I felt like a bat in a suit, a bat with folded wings, err... basta, bat.). It...

This is a late post, but I promised that I will share with you one of the best places (favoritest? heheh) places I have ever visited in the Philippines (though my list is long), ladies and gentlement, BUKIDNON! Dahilayan, here we come!!! Work allowed me to travel to this place sometime in October last year.I wasn't expecting anything about Bukidnon. We were only told that it's cold, so be prepared. I wasn't told how beautiful it is. Bukidnon is about one and a half to two hours of travel by land from Cagayan de Oro.  The route, albeit full of roadblocks because of road constructions, is full of verdant pine trees, banana and pineapple plantations and tons of greeneries. It's really heaven! May fog!!! Before leaving for Manila, we booked at Dahilayan Forest Part . It is located at Barangay Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.  To get to Dahilayan, from the BuDa Highway (Bukidnon-Davao), one should turn right at the Alae Junction, then pass through Camp Phil...