Soundtrack Sunday: Titanium

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you feel defeated and totally shot down. Shake it out, stand proud and sing out loud:

I'm bulletproof, nothing to losefire away, fire awayricochet, you take your aimfire away, fire awayyou shoot me down, but I won't fallI am titaniumyou shoot me down, but I won't fallI am titanium

Movie Watch: The Holiday

I soooooo need something like this soon!

Soundtrack Sunday: Blurred Lines

Here's a new video for 'Blurred Lines' by Robin Thicke. Hay naku, Robin, isa ka pa! *sigh* You had me at 'Lost Without You'!

Public Commute: Newport City

Ever since working back here in Manila, I've always been on the look out for cheaper but convenient means of commuting around the metro. I really hate spending on taxicabs and I'm always antsy when taking one to a place I'm not familiar with. So, when I needed to go to Resorts World from my office in Eastwood, I was so happy to have discovered the Citylink bus!

The Citylink bus route is from Eastwood City to Market! Market! and ends at Newport City via C5. From Eastwood to Newport, it only cost me Php39.00! Woohoo! It's very convenient especially for office people. You just have to find the Citylink queue outside Eastwood Mall, line up (there are even benches provided) and then wait for the bus to arrive. The bus is also very clean and has good air-conditioning, which makes it a waaay better option than taking a cab.

Citylink has the following schedule of departures and arrivals (taken from Wikipedia):

From Newport City to Eastwood City, trips are from Monday to Saturday, 6AM - 8AM, and from Monday-Friday, 4PM - 7PM. Every Saturday, only one unit will have a departure time at 4PM.

From Eastwood City to Newport City, trips are from Monday to Saturday, 6AM - 9AM, and from Monday-Friday, 5PM - 7:30PM. Every Saturday, only one unit will have a departure time at 5PM.

Try it and let me know how your experience went. =)

On Kindness

I'm sharing here what happened to this week, which was short of a miracle. I have already posted this on my Facebook account:

Last Tuesday night, I lost my wallet (yes friends, AGAIN) but I didn't realize this until the next morning. That wallet had all my government IDs, credit cards, ATM and cash. We couldn't find it anywhere in the house and it wasn't in my friend's car. I even called the last place we've been to and was told nothing was turned over to them. I wasn't even sure if I misplaced it or it wasstolen from me. I was really devastated because it couldn't have happened at a worse time.

When a day has passed without finding it, I was resigned to the fact that it was gone. I knew I had no one to blame but myself. It was hard but I kept thinking that it was just money and whoever had it might have needed it more than I did. My prayer that night was 'Lord, I don't know what's gonna happen but bahala ka na as always. You know what I need and I know You will help me. But if it's not too much, I am still asking for a miracle.'

So this morning, while checking my email, I got a message from a stranger thru LinkedIn: 'Please contact me in facebook. Look for xxx. I found your wallet.' Wow! I had goosebumps reading it! We got in touch, and this stranger turned out to be a neighbor! Since I didn't have contact numbers in my wallet, they had to Google my name and it led them to my LinkedIn profile. Needless to say, I got everything back.

I'm not the type who usually talks about things like this, but the last 2 days taught me a lot about kindness as I have experienced the kindness of strangers, of friends and of God. I've been told that I am very lucky. But I am not lucky, I am blessed. =)

What I wasn't able to share was the names of my good samaritans. To the couple, Reyg and Jomal Linao, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me. I will forever be grateful for your kindness. May God bless you and your family a thousandfold! =)

Movie Watch: It Takes a Man and a Woman

It might be a surprise to some of my friends, but I am a HUGE Sarah Geronimo-John Lloyd Cruz love team fan! I've loved them since their first team up for a Maalaala Mo Kaya episode! Ok, I sound super baduy now but I don't care, haha! =)

Since I love their team-up, of course I have seen their two movies in the cinema: 'A Very Special Love' and 'It Takes a Man and a Woman'. Hindi dibidi 'yan ha!

So when they came up with the 3rd (and probably last) installment, I couldn't contain myself! It took them 4 years before coming out with 'It Takes a Man and a Woman' but it was definitely worth the wait. I really think it's their best one yet =)

Practical Tip: How to Get an NBI Clearance

Since I'm now moving to a new job, I had to fix my list of requirements and one of them's an NBI clearance. The last time I had to get one was 8 years ago, and I remember it not being a very pleasant experience. Despite being at the NBI office really early to line up, the entire process took me almost a half day. So naturally, I dreaded the thought of going through the same thing again.

Good thing somebody told me about NBI's e-clearance process! No more lining up and no more useless waiting time, hurray! Just follow these five easy steps:

1. Know Your Purpose. Check out the NBI website to determine the amount you need to pay as clearance fee. Fees differ depending on the purpose of application. Mine was for local employment so clearance fee is Php140.

2. Pay via Globe GCash. Go to any Globe office and fill out their GCash form, payee name is NBI and the contact number is 09175638053. Then proceed to the cashier and pay the clearance fee plus the additional transaction fee of Php20. Make sure to keep the receipt as you will be using the transaction reference number indicated when you login to the NBI website.

3. Go to NBI online. If you are a new user, you need to provide your email address, a password and the transaction reference number. An email confirmation will be sent to you and from there you'll be made to complete more information on the website. Warning: Make sure to check the information you type in because you will not be able to edit anything once you hit on the Confirmed button. Don't forget to print the confirmation message as you will be bringing this to the clearance center. 

4. Send an SMS. Afterwards, send a booking request via SMS (there's also a link on how to do this in the confirmation page). Here's the guide:

Your booking day could be on the same day you completed your online registration. No restriction here.

5. Show up. Proceed to the NBI center where you registered and go straight to the Step 3 counter where they take your picture and biometrics. Because you registered online, you're given priority based on your appointment time so it's ok to make singit. Afterwards go to the Step 4 counter for releasing, here they will give you the date on when you can claim your clearance.

That's it! I only had to stay in the NBI office for around 10 minutes! Unbelievable, huh? This definitely cuts the waiting time to like 1/10! I even think that for the entire 5 steps, you could be done in under 1 hour, as long as the Globe office, a business center (where you could print your confirmation message) and the NBI clearance center are all in the same mall.

The online process is such a big help but I do hope that they still improve the manual application process, though. Because from what I saw earlier, it was total chaos! There were no signs on what the steps are so people don't know where to go and what to do. And there were not enough officers (if any) to answer queries, we just had to make do with the mall security guards, who by the way can't really provide the answers. Besides, shouldn't their main job be to take care of security?

Anyway, I hope this bit of information helped you out, folks! =)

Bagasbas Beach

For the Holy Week, my parents, brother and I went home to my father's hometown in Talisay, Camarines Norte. Aside from catching up with family and relatives and following our usual religious tradition of going to Mass and participating in the Holy Week processions, going to the beach was at the top of our must-do list.

Bagasbas Beach is the main beach destination in the Camarines Norte province. The long stretch of fine grey sand faces the Pacific Ocean, so you can expect decent size waves here. Thus, it has gained a bit of popularity with local and international surfers. There are a few shops here now where you can get surfing lessons and also rent equipment for skim boarding and kite boarding.

Everyone else also thought of hitting the beach early in the morning!

Hmmm...

One of the best things about Bagasbas Beach is that it is very clean and waste-free despite its being a public beach. I even think it looks much cleaner and well-maintained than it did in the 80s/90s. Here, you see a number of people walking along the beach regularly picking up trash and cleaning. They have also provided a clean (of course) shower area now! Galing!

Very clean beach

We always bring packed lunch when going to Bagasbas and then just rent a cottage, since we usually come here in a very big group. Also, there are grills beside some cottages so you can cook your own food. But if preparing and cooking your food is not your thing, there are a lot of affordable food choices along their promenade. Some stores/eateries have been here since I was little but the strip has grown to have other restaurants as well.

Beach cottages for rent

Great day for kite flying

I will always have fond memories of Bagasbas Beach because it's part of my happy childhood. I'm glad that the people of Daet are very much active in keeping their beloved beach clean and safe for everyone!