I've been inspired by a recent article in Gizmodo, How to Travel Around the World for $418, that I started thinking along the lines of accumulating miles for a living. I actually didn't know you can rake in miles even if you're not flying, so with that in mind I think I can save up miles by wisely using a credit card or two. But that means I'd have to start earning if I want to start getting the rewards, so grad school will probably make or break my plans.

Browsing through several banks' websites, I picked the three with the most promising rewards.

Citibank. Specifically the PremierMiles card, because the miles do not expire. As in. I can save up miles as long as I like, and I can choose which flyer partner I want anytime. That is, points are not reserved to a single airline's rewards system. 

Allied Bank. This is a really good Mabuhay Miles piggy bank. My mom says Lucio Tan owns this bank so that's probably why it has the lowest actual cost to mile translation, P33:1 mile only! 

Union Bank. They have this special card called Omni Pass, and it can save points for PAL, Cebu Pacific and Sea Air. The inclusion of budget carriers is really a plus.

Rainier bitch

UPDATE!
Note: Also check out The Frugal Travel Guy for some tips and stories on how to maximize credit. Of course these pieces reflect credit in the US, but most likely concepts will still hold for us.

Cebu 2010 Part 1

Jamie and I have been planning to go on a trip after graduation for a loooong time. Recently, plans got more serious especially with the addition of Nins, Jomax and Rainier into the trip. After so much research and drama, we finally got to go on a very much anticipated vacation!

We availed of PAL's seat sale a couple of months ago to go to the Queen City of the South. And thanks to a couple of helpful travel blogs, we planned how we were going to go about Cebu; explore the historic Cebu City and then bum around Bantayan Island in its pristine beaches. For this entry, I'll be introducing the fabulous people I got lost in Cebu with, because chronicling the trip is too lengthy and I'm too tired to do it right now. Hehe

Mga dakilang echosera, in no particular order:

Echoserang Dalagita

Echoserang Pa-Becky

Echoserang Toy Boat

Echoserang Mayor

Echoserang Maldita

Now I Know

When we missed our flight in Singapore, we met Andrea. She missed hers too. The only difference was that, what we thought to be our flight schedule was completely different from what was really in the itinerary while she knew her schedule and she was trying to beat the time. As Bea and I were waiting for our flight, I asked aloud which of our situations were more unfortunate. There were several reasons why one case was worse than the other, so we just agreed that all of us were victims of the disease called stupidity.

It's not as easy as determining which feeling is better, getting an uno or getiing a tres. I'd say tres in a heartbeat, because if you're gunning for tres it means that you're hanging by a thread and you're in a very sticky spot and to get a tres would be like a divine miracle that will surely buoy your confidence. Not that I think getting an uno is not as happy, because it is. It's just that you already know you're getting a very good grade no matter what. I'm not really grade conscious so I think this, but hey my logic seems about right.

So here is how I determined which of the fates is worse, Andrea's or ours. And damn, the parallels I am realizing are so annoyingly true.

I spent most of the day in the lab. Having woken up late for our Optics seminar, I skipped it and went directly to IPL. I rearragned and realigned my set up almost the whole afternoon, I do hope it's correct this time. Then before we went home, Sison told us through GTalk that Ate Ianne was going to their house to cook and eat. And so we came. Yes, Mangs was also there. Hehehe! It was great, we made pasta, had pita, prosciutto, salami, cheese and a bit of wine. Italian dinner to the max. After cleaning up, we popped in Hot Tub Time Machine.

Earlier, I agreed to meet Tia at Jollibee Philcoa at 9:45pm, she was picking up Bea at Katipunan and it was a perfect opportunity to get a ride home. I was very conscious of the time, and I wanted to get going at 9:20 but the movie wasn't finished yet and there was reassurance that it's going to be done in time. But then again, Murphy's Law is stronger in cases when you most want to keep things in a certain way more than anything. It was quarter to ten when I checked my phone and I had several missed calls and a couple of texts already. I made haste, sent a wave of distress and killed the fun  we were having; I feel so bad we didn't even get to say thanks and all sorts of courtesy to Sison's parents. What made me even more guilty was the sarcasm in place of direct disapproval in my texts with Tia.  And when she mentioned that it was traffic in CP Garcia, there went a cue to go take a taxi. Needless to say, I went home on my own.

Punctuality is a trait I do not posses entirely, specifically in coming to class. But I do take pride that I try my best and almost always succeed in being on time for meetings, set dates, or just plain agreed upon schedules. Time indeed is precious, and I hate to waste anyone's time. At the same time, I abhor waiting so long for people who know when the set meeting time is, unless you're Rainier or you're Nins who I know will be at least 30 minutes late. That is in fact, why I do want to be on time, because I hate people who come late without warning.

 And so that was my day, quite productive, quite scrumptious, quite hilarious, and quite frustrating. At least I had one unanswered question resolved.

Singapura!

Last weekend, my cousin Bea, my mom, my lola, my aunt Janet and I went to Singapore. We stayed at Tita Meldy's for four days. It was my first trip out of the country. Singapore has been one of the places I have wanted to see for so long, so I was really ecstatic for this trip ever since we booked our tickets!

National Geographic Singapore! Tito Osman treating us to a Singaporean dinner.

Tita Janet, Mama, Mi, Tricia, Bea @ Telok Blangah bus stop

Awesome cars are everywhere!

My mom and I.

Chinatown

Bea.

My mom fancying this Audi.

At the Singapore National Museum

Twas raining :(

Songs of the Sea!

I truly believe Bea takes the best vanity pictures.

Rain, rain go away.

Flowers at Changi Terminal 3

Fountain of Wealth at Suntec City Mall

The Singapore Flyer was closed because of a mechanical glitch.

No sitting please?

From Paragon basement. Super high exchange rate!

Pinoy siguro mayari ng franchise na ito.

 

Ride back to the airport.

There were so many lows as much as highs in this trip. But it was absolutely unforgettable. :)

UPPA Team Building!

Sooooo much fun. I'm dead tired and my thighs are aching, but it was super worth it. I think I speak for everyone that this was the ultimate team building we ever had. Yaaaaaaaay!

My camera battery ran out of charge, so I had only a couple of hours of the event covered. And then there's my strike of laziness in uploading pictures, so I'll post some nalang. (Parang ang hirap magupload e!)

UPPA at Phillip's Sanctuary

Team 1, Abat Coalition

Hee hee

Trust walk (ata)

Aubz, first time?

Umm?

Sinong vain?

Tino's favorite shot

Shiz, I need to get the rest of the pics from Shua. 

PS Blog ko to. Marami lang talagang zipline pics si Tino at pinapost nya.

Revisiting Nueva Vizcaya

I was running late. I agreed to meet Gil before four in the morning to catch the first bus to Nueva Vizcaya, but at that time I was still at home rinsing my face, I think. I hurried and went to the Baliwag terminal first because he said we had a lot of competition for seats at Victory Liner and maybe we had better chance sat Baliwag. But their first trip was at 7 am, hindi pwede, so I went to the Victory Liner terminal afterwards. Luckily we got into the next bus to Cagayan Valley at 5:30, in very good seats if I may add.

Vivian is a dear, dear friend from high school who just finished her Biology degree from UP Diliman. Being among the kindest souls on earth and a magna cum laude, she got accepted to the UP College of Medicine for this coming school year. We've known each for more than half a decade, and I have seen her bloom to the more beautiful and more edgy (who knew?) person she is today. Her party is the reason we got together this weekend.

By two in the afternoon we were at the 24/7 Inn and Resort. We had a lot of time before the celebration dinner, so we went around first. Frankly, the last time I was in Nueva Vizcaya was about three and a half years ago during Vielle's debut. Aside from Vivian's Karlo, I think I needed to take a look around as well. Familiar places were not so familiar anymore, a lot of things have changed: there were indigenous houses on display at the Capitol; our old boarding houses were improved; some eating haunts were still there, some have closed down; our old Pisay was empty because they moved to Masoc; Solano now has a McDo, and lots of other details that weren't there before.

Night time came, and it was time to party. Good thing I brought an extra blouse because there was an unwritten dress code, plus I think all the doctors from Nueva Vizcaya were there. There was a short program, but most of the time was spent on eating and chatting. Food and drinks were plenty and good, I don't think anybody left unsatisfied. The buko lychee pandan salad was the highlight, it was super yummy! After the main affair, we stayed up til morning playing cards: poker when we were still wired and silly games to sillier games as time elapsed.

I have never attended a reunion, official or otherwise, in Nueva Vizcaya. But it really feels good to spend time with old friends and revisit remarkable corners in the past. Seeing our old building reminded me of stipends, late slips, homeroom meetings and class pride. The streets of Bayombong reminded me how much I appreciate this little town, how everything was a few minutes' walk away and how safe it was there. It was a bit frustrating that some of the residents and nearer towns weren't able to attend the merriment, particularly Nins, Jomax and Ruby. Nins, I think everyone missed you. Jomax, I reckon I understand why. Ruby, I'll see you soon bitch. 

It was a long ride, no doubt. It was out of my way, completely. It was an awesome trip, absolutely. :)

--------

On an entirely different but equally significant matter, tomorrow is election day. Let us all exercise our right to vote, and vote conscientiously without any external influences. Let us all work together towards honest, peaceful and orderly elections. As the Potterhead in me would put it, "Constant vigilance!"

And finally, I bumped into Dr. Blanca at the resort we were staying at. I'm not sure but I'm guessing he's there on business. He looks healthier.

Camera or Phone?

My Panasonic FS8 is not a year old and I am content with its performance, I know. But perusing over at Gizmodo (reading up on the new iPhone leak), I saw a new Leica. I don't know, the Leica brand has a certain appeal to me. Following a couple of links later, I saw its Panasonic equivalent. Now, I want to buy one.

I'm not really a camera aficionado nor a photographer wannabe, but I do like my gadgets to be really good. Not really best of the best awesome 'cause that'd be too expensive, but awesome enough so that I know it's way above the average of its kind. I now have two equally attractive cameras in consideration, one I saw in Gizmodo and one I found while googling the aforementioned camera. 

First up is the Panasonic ZS7, which has 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. I like it because I realized that I like having my camera shoot good images from afar. I'm not very keen on going lengths to get good pictures. I'd love to have the power to shoot pictures at long distances. Also, what makes this camera extra neat is that it has built in GPS, geo-tagging baby! Coupled with other new features such as Intelligent Resolution Technology and all that shiz, I am very much considering breaking my piggy bank.

The other camera I'd like to get my hands on is the Panasonic TS1. It's waterproof and shockproof, I don't have to worry getting it all shaken when I use it. It is a 12.1-megapixel camera, not that it's all that matters, and it has Lumix's new Venus Engine HD which from what I understand is a processor. It's a bit older than the ZS7 but it has specs that really stand out. 

So what do I do? What I usually do, delight myself researching about these gadgets. I'll think about the buying part later. And besides, I'm also considering buying a phone. Between the two, it's hard to think clearly right now. Let's just indulge shall we? 

--
For in depth reviews, check out Digital Photography Review and Imaging Resource.

Baguio Weekend

My family went to Baguio for the weekend. I have always liked going to Baguio. I used to spend summers there while Tia was still stationed in Baguio, good times. This weekend, we stayed at Tita Nadine's transient space for a night. The house was spooky, but we had a great time scaring Miguel. 

Saturday afternoon, my siblings and I wasted time at Burnham Park. They went biking while I read. I feel quite happy that over the weekend, I finally got to finish a novel! Scrap one off my tally of unread books. Mwahaha. For those wondering, I read Jane Eyre. I found it a very good read, maybe because I can identify with her principles, kinda.  I got the title when I saw Definitely, Maybe.

Bea met with her HS friends from Berkeley and Achievers, my mom went shopping at the flea market and ukay-ukay, my grandparents and my dad went to Good Shepherd for goodies. We had different plans, so we just agreed to meet at SM Baguio. After dinner at home, we went to Session Road for some nighttime ukay-ukay. I have frequented Baguio, but this is the first time I went to the nighttime ukay-ukay. The goods were laid out on the streets, where numerous street food were also present. My only purchase was a small bag, 'cause it was hard to see which ones were good with the little light that was available. And besides, I'm kuripot. Haha

Before we went home, we stopped by Camp John Hay. Unfortunately, the humungous chocolate crinkles at Everything Nice was not available in the branch at CJH. Boo. Good thing we already have alfajor and ube jam from Good Shepherd, that's quite enough Baguio goodies for me. 

Leaving Baguio, I realized how it has degraded. When I reached SM, all the negative little things I saw while driving around just overflowed.  I used to picture Baguio as a very cool, green and rural-ish retreat. I loved that it had parks, had so many family activities, and that it had a very cozy charm. The Baguio I saw this weekend was dirty, very commercialized and populated. I hate to say this but I think it has lost its spell on me.

I hope after this coming elections, those who will be fortunate enough to win will at least try to get Baguio cleaned up and jazzed up again. I hate having no favorite Philippine city.