Silventures: Mt. Maculot, Batangas

This is the way to start the month! Mt. Maculot is located in Cuenca, Batangas. I can go technical on this as I'm no expert! I just joint my boyfriend's team on this trip. So, on March 4. 4 a.m. we left Imus for Cuenca. It took us about 5 hours to get there. We kinda got lost. XD

You will need to register before the hike. You will also be assigned to a tourist guide. There was a Php 20 registration fee. I think the guides are only allow a certain number of tourist, for our group of 14, we got two guides with us.

Photos or it did not happen:

us before the trek 

The guides giving out the rules

Starto!

First view of the lake

So this is the reason for this trail

Initially, the start will be the easy part for me. However, it was the start that was hard, at one point I had to stop and catch my breath. I also felt like vomiting. Hahaha luckily, the feel passed quickly with help from candies and cold water. Not sure how long was our climb, though I forgot to monitor it. The guides did say that if there was no pauses, we would have reached the campsite in an hour and a half.

Alex (7 y.o) with Sherome

Alexa (will confirm the name later) was the star of this trip. She was only 7 years old and her energy never drop! I love being young.

Almost at the campsite

Taal Lake

The Rockies

The Rockies disappearing 

It was awesome! Too bad I was not able to climb the Rockies or the summit, it was raining once we got to the campsite and the wind was strong. I'm happy with this. This was my first time, I did not slow the group down, I only fell once and I did not collapse! This makes me want to do more! It does not have to be another mountain, it can still be Mt. Maculot after all I have not tried the Rockies and I have yet to reach the summit.

Till next time! I how there will be another one!

Silventures: Puerto Galera 2015

Yes, this is super late! I honestly though I have made a blog about this last year.

This trip was organized by the birthday girls Aya and Bell. They when to Singapore this year, did not have enough for that one. Maybe in the next adventure, I can join again. :)


Last year, today POS was in White Beach, Puerto Galera!

Warning: This is not a guide but just a recollection of how we got there.


We rode a bus from Cubao to Batangas Port. Travel time was about 2 hours or so, the fare was 175 Php. Make sure that you have an idea of what ferry to ride to Mindoro. Our hotel gave our names to a ferry service they preferred, which was Minolo Shipping Lines. Once you are at the Port of Batangas and you have the name of your ferry, as much as possible, don't talk to anyone even if they say that they are a porter from the same ferry company. Having your things carried for you will entail an extra cost. The fare from the port to White Beach is 175 one way and 250 for round trip tickets.

After alighting from the ferry, There was free shutter to your hotel. We stayed at Rem's Virgin Island Hotel. I like that place it was a few minutes walk to the beach front, which was perfect coz it was noisy at the beach front at night. Also, the room for 6 people is big enough for more than 6 people. One of the rooms we rented as a kitchen sink and cabinets.

Things to do while you are in Puerto Galera:

1. Enjoy the beach

It is the main reason why you are in Puerto after all! There is more that one beach you can visit. Go island hopping for more awesome views!

2. Watch people dance with fire

On our first night, we decided to take a walk along the shoreline. There were so many establishments there and each as their own way to get the attentions of the tourist. We even show one bar with pole dancers.

3. Look for crabs at night

Once you passed the shops you will be able to enjoy some quite time. It was dark, though, so make sure that you bring a flashlight if you want to look for some shells, stones, and random crabs!

4. Feed fishes

Aside from hopping between 3 island, you get to feed schools of fishes.

5. Enjoy good Pizza

Awesome food is awesome! I want more! These pizzas were bought from Arcobaleno Pizzeria. If you are going to the port for island hopping, you won't miss it. Also, it is recommended by the locals.

6. Enjoy the company of crazy people

Hey! As much as I want to travel solo! It is still more fun with friends!

Happy Anniversary to this awesome trip!

The Great Gilmore Adventure

Aug 13 2010, I was given a HP Mini that I have loved so much. I even gave it a name, Friday the 13^th. Fri for short, Fri was given to me to help me with my studies, my online work and my need to surf and bother people online. Sadly Fri is has been admitted at SST Bacoor for total black out and just recently Fri started acting up again. So I had to borrow my boyfriend’s laptop since he does not use it to much. Thanks to him I was able to survive the holiday work load I have for my online work.

Here is Friday the 13th

Fri has been with me for three years, so it sad for me to just give her up. So I sent her for repair, but now I really have to buy a new tower for work and gaming. Now begins the hunt for the parts.

Me and my boyfriend asked around for the price of the specs I need at the mall, it ranges between 16-18 thousand pesos for a dual core processor with a 1tb hard drive and the proper video and graphics card I need for editing. The price is just for the tower/CPU alone, no monitor, mouse, keyboard or speakers included. I felt it was pretty expensive, so did my partner. He then asked the owner of a local computer shop, if he knows where we can have the tower built at a cheaper price. The shop owner told him he can help and the tower will three thousand less than the mall price.

By this time, I’m just waiting for my salary so I can place the down payment.

But one morning, after my salary got credited, I got a message from my partner asking if I can go out, to check the prices at Gilmore, Quezon City. Bored and I was free that day so the plan was set!

It was my first time to go there, so I was pretty excited, but once there I was just amazed at how many shops were there selling computer parts. I was just following where my partner was going after all I did not know much about the specs and the market price of the parts.

 LRT 2- Gilmore Station

My partner 

After I think two hours of canvassing, a Kuya approach us and told us to try their shop which will match the price of our canvass with the other shops (which by now is between 12 thousand and 18 thousand). Located away from the other shops it was called HQ Computers.

 HQ Computers 

Specs given by the People of HQ Computers

AMD A85600K

GIGABYTE F2A55M-DS2

2 PIECES KINGSTON HYPEX 4GB DDR3

HD6570 2GB DDR3 XFX

WD 1TB SATA

 PSU and 500W

All for 18,000

After deliberating, since all the other shop offered the same price for a dual core only. HQ Computer wins. XD

They did match up the price of the other shop with a better deal. It took a while for the tower to be built as the parts we bought were not in stock. Which we thought was good as the parts are always fresh for the warehouse. The prices were low as the part comes directly from the warehouse/factory, that was what Kuya  said.

While they were building the tower

I recommend this shop if you want to save with your new computer! You’ll have to be patient when you get there though the people there are pretty relaxed, but they do have good communication skills, you will not get an irate clerk.

This was a great day for me, 2014 is starting great! Are you having the same start?