My Top Four Tele-Fantastics

Looking forward to bonding with your couch over the weekend? Hook up with any of these knock-offs. I'm sure you'd find something that'll keep you glued to your seat. Better have the bags of chips ready!

1. How I Met Your Mother

In a Nutshell: HIMYM is a comedy series about Ted, a hopeless romantic, and the story of how he met his children's mother. As he unfolds that story though, he manages to narrate the hilarious adventures that he and his four best friends (Marshall, Lily, Robin and Barney) experiences as he searches for THE ONE. 

What Got Me Hooked: Barney, one of Ted's best friends, is legend... wait for it! -dary! He's hilarious! He is my favorite character in the series. He has this thing called the Bro Code which has all the laws that a true Bro should follow. There was this one time when he made Ted swear to an oath and he called it the Broath, in which Ted should wear a robe, which was called the Brobe. They also had a Slapsgiving occasion wherein Marshall can slap Barney (because the latter lost in a Slap bet) during Thanksgiving. I just love the catch-phrases and the puns! I applaud the writers. They're geniuses! Another thing I love is that all the stories are very relatable. Each episode is packed with issues that one encounters in real life: from as silly as how noticing one's flaw magnifies it, to as complicated as falling in love with your best friend.

2. Switched at Birth

In a Nutshell: SAB is a drama series revolving around the switch that happened between Bay and Daphne when they were born and how their families cope up when they found out about it. 

What Got Me Hooked: What's very interesting about this series is that Daphne, one of the main characters, is actually deaf. Yes, she is deaf in the story and in real life. This series is just an eye-opener for me. One, Daphne can talk. I was under the impression that deaf people are also mute. How can you talk when you can't even hear the sound that you're making? Two, the deaf characters (Yes, there are a ton more deaf characters aside from Daphne) can understand hearing people even if they don't sign because they learn how to read lips. Three, Emmett, also deaf, plays drums. How cool is that? There's just a lot of information that you can get about deaf people because of this series. Very awesome. I am actually learning how to sign in the process. It's just great how this series is able to give opportunity to "handicapped" people and position it in a way that is not condescending or pitiful at all. They are presented in a very positive manner. 

Another great thing is the splash of art in the series. Each of the titles of the series is a painting's title. Bay is a street artist. The series boosts up street art's reputation, that they are not just graffiti on the wall but are actually a valid art form  On the other hand, Toby, the brother, is a musician so there are also a lot of music references. 

SAB for me is a real series for the whole family. Parents'll be hooked with the parenting tips, children'll relate to the issues that teens are encountering. 

3. United States of Tara

In a Nutshell: UST is a comedy-drama about Tara, a housewife who has dissociative identity disorder, and her struggles in raising up two teens and managing the different identities that she has.

What Got Me Hooked: The story line in itself is an attention-grabber. How do you deal with multiple personality? Much less be a mom. Tara is Alice, a 50's prim and proper housewife; T, a rebel teen; and Buck, a male, drunkard army veteran. As the story progresses, different personalities are revealed as well. How does it feel to have a mother or a wife with multiple personalities? It's a chaos! Not to mention that the other characters are as crazy too! 

4. The Voice

In a Nutshell:  What sets this singing competition apart from others is that what they're looking for is THE VOICE. They don't care about how you look, or how old you are, for as long as you have the talent, you get a shot.

What Got Me Hooked: If Adam Levine is not enough reason for you to watch this show, I don't know how else I could convince you. Other topnotch judges include Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, and Ceelo Green. Great singers are everywhere. It's already a given scenario when you have a competition like this. The show is great because at the preliminaries, the power is actually given to the singers. The chosen ones get to choose who they want to mentor them while the latter fight over them. And it can get very nasty. These superstars can go as desperate as bragging about their achievements and smacking their co-mentors in the face. It's hilarious! Then the singers get to battle each other. The concept is really different. It's a well thought-of competition, not just a rip off of other singing shows. 

SILANGANG NAYON turned me on

Just this weekend, le boyfie and I went out of town. And where else do we go but to our fave weekend getaway town, QUEZON! Our first trip together was in Kinabuhayan Cafe, Dolores, Quezon. 

At Kinabuhayan Cafe 3 years ago.

The place was great! And the food? Better! They served only organic food and boy I can still taste it in my dreams.

Organic meals 

So, when boyfie said that he'd give me an out-of-town travel as a graduation gift, I already knew where to go. I scoured the net to look for the next Quezon destination, and I tripped over a lot of good reviews of Silangang Nayon.

After a long and tiring five-hour bus, jeepney, and tricycle trip, we finally reached the place. All the haggardness quickly faded away as we were greeted with feathered animals running around the greenery, statued fauna, polite staffs, and blue-green sea.

Silangang Nayon in Pagbilao, Quezon

SILANGANG NAYON

The Room

We shelled out P2,500 per night for the accommodation with breakfast, which was actually good for 4 persons. (They don't have couple packages. The smallest one is for 4 pax.)

Room for 2-4 pax

Given that the price was supposedly for a group of 4, it was actually very light in the pocket. The room was clean and spacious. The bathroom had a bathtub (major plus!) and a hot/cold shower. They also provided 4 towels, 4 toothbrushes, a tissue roll, and a toothpaste. There was a cabinet for the things, lots of sockets for the cellphone,laptop,whathaveyous. The television only had local channels (not really an issue since you're there to sightsee). There were also couches. The veranda and gate outside added to the house-like appeal of the 'room.' It really looked like a small house. It was very much comfortable and had a homey feel. 

The Food

Silangang Nayon is actually known as a restaurant by the sea. Yet, guests from all over the world (char! Metro Manila and South Luzon, maybe?) don't travel all the way to this place just to experience dining by the sea. People frequent this place because of the fresh and well-cooked seafood, simmered with affordability. As a matter of fact, Charo Santos of MMK was dining there during our first night (O diba, leveling!). 

Then for our free breakfast, they served fried rice and hot choco/coffee plus choices of: bacon and egg, boneless bangus, spam and egg, and corned beef and egg. Nothing out of the usual really.

No judgments pls. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of the free meal for 4. :)

The Place

Silangang Nayon is actually a restaurant and a park. The place abound with floras and faunas everywhere. Chickens and turkeys ran around the place. We also spotted some horses resting on the grassy park. 

Kids will definitely love the place because of the playground and mini zoo.

If ever you get bored with the relaxed ambiance of the place, you can ought to rent a boat and go to a beach  nearby. Boat rental costs P1,500 and can carry a maximum of 10 persons.

We went to Puting Buhangin and Kwebang Lampas because it was the nearest but you can actually ask the boatman to drop you off to two more other beaches for I think an additional P1,000. Nevertheless, Puting Buhangin's pristine water and white sand was already more than enough for us. We were in awe with how clear the water was. I wonder if they would/could develop it to be a snorkling area. When we went there, no fishes were visible and only the rocky sea bottom can be seen. Yes, the beach is actually rocky (?) so it is best to wear slippers or aqua shoes. There were also some jellyfishes caught during our stay there but the locals said that it was actually the first time that the water was infested with jellyfishes.

** I would not describe the floating restaurant and airplane food delivery anymore since Google already provides a lot of information about that.**

Service


If there's one thing that would make me want to recommend the place to anybody, it wouldn't be the place or the food. I would advise anyone to experience Silangang Nayon for the wonderful service of the staffs there. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating. They were very patient to answer each of our inquiries. They also attended to our every need.

When we were there, I sadly got my period and slightly suffered from dysmenorrhea. :( The crew gave me two mefenamic acid and a napkin for free.:) During our dinner that night, we chose to stay on one of the cottages but it was very malamok so we asked for an electric fan to drive away the mosquitoes. Not only did they set up the fan but they also brought a mosquito killer lamp for us. The waiters were also very knowledgeable about the food. We were very confused with what to order on our first night because there were a lot of items in their menu. The waiter patiently responded to our queries regarding the size of serving, cooking style, etc. He even suggested some food for us and told us that we could actually ask them to refrigerate our leftover and have it heated up again for the next meal.

They don't charge service fee but we couldn't help giving them a tip because of the wonderful service that they shared. They gave me an impression that the management is not concerned about earning money but earning guests' hearts.

Budget


P5,000 - 2 days accommodation with free breakfast
P530 - Friday dinner
P935 - Saturday dinner
P165 - Saturday pansit lunch
P500 - approx for beers and ice cream
P1,500 - boat rental
P460 - bus ride from Buendia to Lucena (2 pax)
P20 - jeep to Brgy Bantigue (2 pax)
P180 - tricycle to and from Silangang Nayon (2 pax)
P260 - van to Sta Rosa (2 pax)

TOTAL P9550 for 2 persons

We spent almost P10,000 for the whole trip for 3 days and 2 nights. It would actually be cheaper if you travel by group since the accommodation, boat rental, and tricycle ride is fixed and not on a per-person basis. The food's serving is also huge and can be shared by up to three or four persons.

How to get to Silangang Nayon


From Buendia

         Ride any bus (JAC/JAM/any other bus line) going to Lucena Grand Terminal. From there, find the jeep terminal going to Pagbilao. Ask the driver to drop you off to Brgy Bantigue or "to the tricycle terminal going to Silangang Nayon." Ride a tricycle and they will already drop you off to Silangang Nayon.


From Sta Rosa

         Ride a van going to Lucena Grand Terminal and proceed with the same direction stated above. :)

From wherever you are

         Just find a way to get to Lucena Grand Terminal and you're good to go. :)

We have a new baby!:)

Just out of nowhere, my brother and I decided to buy a digital camera. :) After numerous google searches, cgena.com visits, and appliance store inquiries, we finally settled with the CANON POWERSHOT A1200.

cameralabs.com
Canon Powershot A1200

The package contains awesome items such as a pair of alkaline battery, a pair of rechargeable battery with charger, a 4Gb SD Card, and a camera case.

What really won me over was the shooting modes of the camera.

Fish-eye effect

Miniature effect

Toy Camera effect

Monochrome effect: Sepia, Black and White, and Blue (left to right)

Poster effect

Super Vivid effect

Sorry for the crappy pictures but I'm sure you will have a lot of fun using these effects. 

Oh, have I told you that this amazing little camera just costs P3,995???!!! Such a great deal, right? My brother and I have nothing but praises for this cam especially when we found out that it already has an auto-rotate feature and check this out: 

without Blur Reduction

with Blur Reduction

It takes great pictures even when the subject is moving at lightning speed! No more blurred photos for moving subjects. Yey! 

I am just so proud of this great deal that we got. Now, I can proudly say that I am in one with the shutterbug generation.

Happy clicking! :)