a day of ruins

You may want to read Socs’ entry about our little road trip first.... and maybe stop there. She's got great pictures and a nice way of putting things in writing, what you will find below is a pathetic attempt to re-live the experience. You have been warned...

So we headed off from the hotel a bit later than planned and I managed to get on to the highway without causing a massive pileup nor leaving a trail of angry Cypriot drivers in my wake.

I was a bit apprehensive about getting lost in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country, but that was what this trip was all about. Good thing I had a pretty good navigator and we got to our first destination without any incidents.

First stop on our list was Kurion and it was huge! I think it was a village of some sort a very long time ago. There were ruins of houses, a theater, a gladiator’s house, public baths, a church or temple of some sort and a whole lot of ruin-like collection of stones. We got caught up in taking pictures of some little detail here and there, and the vast beauty of the place. I was really attracted to the bits and pieces of ruins lying wherever, the trees and the little yellow flowers growing in patches over the green expanse. Very nice. Socs found a nice view of the opposite cliff, and we spent a fair amount of time sitting on a stone in awe of the sight and feeling the cool breeze.

fallen


down to earth


unseen beauties


group pics


perfect place to sit down


Our initial plan (if you could call it that) was to eat at Paphos (our final and actual destination), but being too engrossed in the ruins of Kurion and me getting hungry every few hours, we decided to grab something to eat at a small restaurant nearby.

al fresco


Then we were off to the Sanctuary of Apollo. Now this place wasn’t as huge as Kurion but it was equally enthralling. The main attraction for me was the restored portion of the Temple of Apollo. It was massive, and to think it was just a corner of the original.

ooohhh


Temple of Apollo


Socs and me


We continued on to Aphrodite’s Rock, but before we got there I decided to pull over after a bend. It was a gut feel that it could be a nice place to stop and take pictures, besides I was tired of Socs seeing all the scenery while I was concentrating on driving hehehe. And I was right on the money. That particular stretch of road had some pretty scenic spots, and we stopped a couple of times to get a few more snapshots. (Unfortunately my camera's battery conked out before we left the Temple of Apollo, will get Socs' camera for some of the pics I took)

Paphos was a few more minutes away so we pushed on and we arrived at around quarter to five in the afternoon. In this part of the world, 5pm is a bit late. The sun was about to set (which was unfortunately uneventful) and most of the tourist attractions would’ve closed down. So we simply grabbed a bite (well I did, Socs just had coffee) and headed back. Although we weren't exactly able to do what we set out to do, we had a great day nonetheles.

I'd rather walk

This weekend, Socs and I plan to visit the city of Paphos on the western side of Cyprus. Oh, did I mention that I am in Cyprus? Well, there you go....

Given that it is around 150kms away from Nicosia where we are located, we decided to rent a car. After a few days of research and comparing prices, I was able to get us a Renault Clio. We initially wanted a Smart car to stick to the European motif, but alas it was not available (maybe next week though hehehe).

An online reservation, a few emails, and a phone call later the car was delivered to us in the hotel. Unfortunately, I forgot nearly all of my documents on hand at the office... particularly my driver's license. I had to go back, get the stuff and signed for the keys to the car.

Take note that we are in Europe (Cyprus is part of the EU), and that people here drive on the wrong side of the road... I mean the left side, hehehe. I initially didn't want to take it out of it's parking space, but it was just by the roadside and I wanted it parked in the hotel basement. So I got in, geared myself up and joined the traffic. I managed to piss someone off right at that moment. Damn! And considering that it was a narrow side street! I just didn't see him.

It feels weird driving on the right side of the car, then trying to keep on the left side of the road! I had to consciously tell myself to LOOK RIGHT and STAY ON THE LEFT! It was nerve wracking, I circled the block to get a feel of it first before going to the basement parking.

But it was blocked by a visitor, so I went on for a little road trip just to get a feel for how driving Euro style is. The damn streets were friggin' narrow! And a whole lot of them where one-way streets. I got lost at some point, tried looking for a city map in the compartment and found none. I had a decent idea of my bearing so I stuck with my instincts and found a familiar road.

It took me around 30 mins of wandering around before I got back to the hotel and found my sacred parking slot. It's gonna be exciting tomorrow when I try to leave the city, get into the highway and get around in an unfamiliar city.... then come back. Jeez....

fit as a warrior

I have finished the 15-day training just as 2006 started, and I must say that I am feeling great. The first week was pure hell though. My arms hurt so much, I couldn't lift them past my shoulders. They were so pumped, it was painful just to stretch them. Imagine the pain I went through getting dressed, or putting on my backpack. I felt and looked bigger, but I was having doubts if it were real muscle mass or just water retention or the muscles were just full of blood. I didn't dare step on the weighting scale and dissappoint myself if i didn't gain anything.

After the first week everything subsided, I felt less of the pump during the day. I thought that was it... the mass I "gained" was not muscle. I didn't feel any bigger or heavier. On the weighting scale, I slid the weights to the right. Up to 100lbs. Then 120lbs. 125lbs. Then 130lbs, that can't be right I was 125lbs before. 135lbs, no shit? Finally, 137lbs.

137lbs! I gained a whopping 12lbs in 2 weeks. That shot my motivation through the roof! I couldn't wait to go to the gym after work hehehe.

I continued my routine (until my trip to Cyprus) and although I haven't gained more weight in the past week, I do feel stronger and bigger. And some people did notice it, which makes me feel great. I know that all that I've been doing had been for something, that there are results and it is being validated.

I though of posting a picture of my new found physique but that would be too narcissistic, even for me. I am currently in a bet with some officemates and I am targetting 150lbs by April.

Then maybe by then I will post a pic. Hehehe

2005 in review

The previous year did not start out good. Well, it just plain sucked. A very good friend of mine died. I find it difficult to define that time, that moment when you were told that he was gone. I just couldn't believe it, and it made me wonder what kind of year it would be with this kind of event.

Luckily (if you can say that), work took my mind off it most of the time. It was a very busy time for me at work. My responsibilites started to shift towards being a designer rather that a developer, and I had an opportunity to work as a pseudo-team lead on a small demo project.

Then came another opportunity, travel. As soon as I found out about it, I volunteered for the Pakistan project. And so I got to work on-site and got valuable work experience. As luck would have it, I was resourced to the Singapore project at the end of my 2 month stint in Pakistan. It was looking pretty good in terms of my career.

Then my grandfather died. 2 deaths in a year, could you imagine? At this point, mortality was becoming a constant companion. So when I found out that my coach in college had had a mild stroke, I had to give him my support and drop by the hospital. Thank God he is now recovering from it and that it wasn't too serious.

After all that happenings, I had to have a nice vacation. And gratefully, my friend invited me to Bohol for a whole week. (Watch out for the remaining blog entries of this event).

Pre christmas season, I was asked by my boss if I was willing to travel for yet another project. It was the Abu Dhabi project and they needed someone to fly ASAP. They say that Abu Dhabi is a nice place to visit, and I do think that it would be a nice experience to visit the sand dunes and go on a desert safari, but I respectfully declined given reasons of my own. Although I did mention that I was willing to go to the Cyprus project (I found out that they needed another designer over there).

I also started going to the gym more regularly and more seriously during this time. I still have to update you guys on that later on.

Christmas and New Year's day came and went with a lot of nothing. Just didn't feel the spirit this year. Overall, 2005 was not too bad considering. The highs where high and the lows the lowest I have been, I imagine. But such is life I guess.... and 2005 showed me that. I think I have a much better perception of life now, and going into 2006 I am looking forward to whatever comes.

running out of time

I have tons of stuff to do and no time to do it. Work is kind of piling up on me and I fear I am not giving it the attention it needs and that I might miss something important and screw it up. No, I am not a workaholic... that deserves another blog entry if you want an explanation.

Speaking of blog entries, I am way way way behind on things I want to share. Part 3 of the Bohol experience is on hold, I haven't had an update on my just finished 15-day training and a planned year-end report.

Oh well, off to work for me...

Bohol Vacation: Part III

After exploring the farm a bit we were off back to Tagbilaran, but instead of retracing our route we did a bit of a round about. We stopped by another peak where we could see more Chocolate Hills.

the route


more pics at peak


hehehe


Along the way we stopped by the Maribojoc Watchtower where they used to stand watch against Moro raiders.

where the goddamn raiders at?


ahoy there!


After getting back to Tagbilaran and having a sumptuous lunch, we headed off to Panglao Island to hang out at the beach and look for decent dive rates. Man, all their prices where tourist rates and in US dollars! We weren’t able to find a resort that we liked so we spent most of the afternoon hopping from one beach to another. Around sunset, we found a place that served some shakes… a perfect conclusion for the day.

beach!


sunset


candlelit

POW

I signed up for 15 days of one-on-one training with a personal trainer in my gym yesterday and he promised me to have significant gains in the next 2 weeks of hell on earth. I dunno what in the world I was thinking when I decided to go for it, but I may be having second thoughts about it right now. I’ve now had 2 days of torture.

My legs hurt like a mofo! We started off with squats for my glutes and hamstrings, and this really brought out a sweat. I was glad it was over and hoped to move on to the next exercise, but alas my trainer set me up for another variation of the squats. I damned near died! I started feeling light-headed after the second set, heard ringing in my ears, my vision started getting cloudy, and I knew my presence of mind was starting to slip away. I was ready to pass out anytime. I am such a wuss. In my defense though, I haven’t had lunch or any decent meal prior to heading to the gym as I was stuck inside the US embassy for 3 hours.

We were supposed to do 4 exercises per muscle group, with the legs and shoulders for this session, but I was too tired that we ended up with 2 exercises for the legs and 1 for biceps (he decided to put it in at the last minute given my condition).

And that was just for the first day! Good thing yesterday’s workout was a bit more rewarding. But my legs still hurt like a mofo! And we will be doing a 6 day workout week! God help me….

No second thoughts on my commitment though. With my personal trainer’s drive I know we are going to get results… I just hope I make it out alive.

troop morale

A friend of mine usually asks me if I am happy whenever we get a chance to talk. The answer would normally be a “I think so” or a “Sort of”. Personally, this kind of question demands a really honest answer, hence the indefinite response. We would play around with the idea behind it for a while, and I would just always say that I haven’t an idea what true happiness for me is. Although there is that lingering feeling that my life is not complete, I am satisfied with my life. I’m ok. As some of my friend put it, I’m a pretty steady guy when it comes to life. I just take it a day at a time.

If ever that question would be asked again, this time I would probably have a more definite answer. No.

There are a few things that’s been really bothering me these past few weeks, and upon further reflection started bubbling up a few months back. It’s quite difficult to explain, and to keep things short it’s quite bogging me down. I feel tired 24 hours a day, exhausted by everything. And it feels like I’m fighting a whole lot of shit off every second, trying to escape this dark cloud looming overhead.

Maybe I should just stop worrying about it and just go back to the laid back, steady old me. Not a care in the world, where everything’s cool…

Bohol Vacation: Part Deux

Ok, so I left off with our visit with the world famous tarsier now on with the show!

Our next destination was the Chocolate Hills of Bohol. But before that, we passed by the so called Man-made forest. It was part of a reforestation initiative way way before I was born. Thousands of Mahogany trees (this I later found out) line the road towards the Chocolate Hills. They where wirey, but stretch pretty high up, it kinda reminded me of a cathedral with the open space underneath the canopy.

Man-made forest


Finally the Chocolate Hills. No trip to Bohol would’ve been complete without seeing them. It was quite surreal actually. We were surrounded by hundreds of them, as far as you could see. Although they weren’t chocolate in color at this time of the year, it definitely screamed “Only in Bohol”.

chocolate hills!


I got your chocolate hill right here


We continued on until we finally arrived at the Lagunay Farm where we picked some pineapples for munchies. Man, those pineapples are hard to harvest! Just getting in to position to pick them off was quite difficult as the leaves of the plants were prickly. Then we had to break off the fruit from the stem, which was easier said than done. But all that hard work made it taste all the more better.

pineapple picking


Then came the barbecue. As I would think to be the norm, us guys did the cooking while the girls chatted and assisted us as much as they could. This is not a degradation or discrimination of women by any means, it’s just that men prefer the dirty work of barbecuing than women. Anyhoo, dinner was wonderful with tons of food, good company and fresh country air…

preparing our battle plan


fire in the hole


Here are some more pics of the Lagunay farm, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves otherwise this is gonna be another long-ass post.

welcome!


lovers in paradise


the chaperone/bodyguard


practicing some artistic shots


itsy bitsy spider

warrific day

I went to war yesterday after the longest time. At first I thought I would be sitting it out on the sidelines as the battery couldn't crank my newly upgraded gun. Luckily I was able to borrow an extra battery from one of the Apo guys so I was good to go.

The first game came and went with a lot of nothing. I saw an enemy just before the game expired. The second and third games however, got me killed pretty quickly. I have a pretty nasty hit on my head from the 2nd game.

Finally on the last game, I had my first confirmed kill. I was guarding the left flank near the wall, when one of my teammates got hit. I knew there where troops right in front of me. I carefully moved about to get a visual and have a good ambush spot. I heard a couple of them exchange a few words, before one of them darted out towards one of our positions. I hosed him down, missed, and he hit the ground. I adjusted my fire and fired a burst. I heards "HIT! HIT! HIT!" as he raised his arms and weapons. Tango down! Boy did that feel good. I was barely 10 meters away.

I knew his buddies where close as they fired to suppress me as they inched closer. I knew there where probably 2 of them out there so I made a tactical withdrawal, hoping to meet up with a friendly and set-up a better ambush. But alas, time ran out and the game was over.

It was good to be back in action, especially coming out of it with a kill. Hehehe

visa woes

I just came back from the US embassy. I was not given the L1 visa for 2 reasons, 1) my passport picture is kind of falling off and 2) they require a letter explaining why I had to go to Pakistan. Freakin-a! That Pakistan trip is really being a pain! I had a minor issue with the immigration desk in Singapore, and now this!

Well, at least it wasn't an outright refusal of entry to the US. And I needed to renew my passport within 8 months anyway, so it's like hitting two birds with one stone. It's just a bit of a hassle, I just hope there are no more dramas when I go back to the embassy.