Of Love And Betrayal

For more than a year, I have been staying away from toxic people in my life and I became a happier person since then. 7 months ago, someone knocked on my door at 3am and said he needed my help. Because he's a family, I welcomed him in my house with open arms. I gave him food to eat, water to drink, clothed him and gave him his wants like cigarettes and booze when he asks for it in an attempt to save him from his misery. As a single mother, the financial burden is a big added deal but I wanted him to trust me like a parent, and confide to me like a sister.

I know it's lame but I can't help it, I have to post a crying pic to go with the sad topic.
I was caught crying on a wedding because of  the groom's speech.
Not connected with the topic at at all, just for thumbnail and all the drama. Duh

As a 25 year old grown up man, I never asked him to look for a job.  I figured that he'd be wise enough to know that he needed to get a job in order to finance his needs and wants. As a child, I have always hated it when people have to tell me what to do. There's a thin line between teaching and "pangunahan" ka. I hate the latter. So I thought he would hate it if I do that, so I didn't. A month went by, two, three and came his 7th month living under my roof, he still didn't look for a job. There were times when I asked him to do my job for me which he obligingly did, though I always end up finishing it for him. And I paid him. I paid him well.

You see, I have this reputation of being emotionally abused by people that I love. It may be a friend, a relative or a boyfriend. My bestfriend once told me that I am not good in socializing with people that I don't like. I don't kiss asses. If I don't like you, then I wouldn't go through lengths of moving a single nerve to even give you a smile or a nod. But when I like a person or love a person, I go to the extremes of showing you my love and care. As a child, I thought that's a good trait. But growing up, I am not sure anymore. This trait has led me to making bad decisions, and this, is one of the worst.

It wasn't until I became aware that I lost a huge amount of money two weeks ago, and it wasn't until I found out that he pawned my cellphone (just this morning) that I realized that I am making a huge mistake. Helping him was a bad idea and my idea of "help" and "therapy" was not good for him. 

I became really angry three hours ago, who wouldn't? I felt betrayed, abused and tricked. I said things that were so hurtful that it hurts to even hear those words coming from me. When he opened his mouth, I thought he would say sorry, (because that's what you do when you hurt people right?) But instead, he said "Mulakaw na lang ko uy, pabug-at raman ko dri!" (I'll move out of this house then! I'm a burden for you anyway!")

And all hell broke lose. 

I watched him wash his clothes. I watched him cry. I heard him when he said 'Goodbye and Thank you". And I watched him go out of the door. Crying. 

I love my brother. I love him. God knows that. And I wish I never said the words that I said to him. Albeit everything that he did, my heart is bleeding right now. 

I feel guilty and I know I will never sleep tonight without thinking if he's already sleeping in a comfortable bed or if he already ate dinner. 

But he has to help himself. So I need to carry this burden so that I can truly help him. I need to teach him resilience, something that our parents never did because of their undying love for us. 

If he's ready to change, I will still welcome him with open arms. 

I miss you Noy. :'(

My 2 Thousand Peso Surigao Summer Getaway (w/ Unlimited Seafood!)

I have always wanted to go to Surigao when I first heard about how Enchanting this much talked about Enchanted River is, so when my friend mentioned about it on our Dahican Summerfrolic 2014 getaway, I immediately asked ze boyfie if we can go and of course as what good boyfriends always do, he said YES! 

The trip was going to be 2 weeks after our Dahican getaway so I was hesitant about our (Siege and I) wallet situations, but when my friend said it's only 2k pesos per head, I was like "Really?!" and the friend was like "Lagi! (Yessss!!!) and I was like "with breakfast, lunch, entrance fees, van and gasoline and all that??!!" and the Surigao trip had us when she answered "Yup".

To be honest, I had some hesitations. Aside from my health situation which would make my body bloat like a balloon when stressed and tired (was so sick that week), I was also having some apprehensions because of how cheap the tour is going to be. I know, I'm THE Streetsmart Fashionista and I'm supposed to blog about cheap finds and travels but this tour is unbelievably cheap. But as what I always do, when in doubt, I trust my first instinct and so, I went.  

The meet-up time was 12mm and because I have crazy friends, we met up in a bar in Lanang.

It was already 1am when we left Davao City. The RTours Mindanao Travel Escapades who hosted our Surigao tour used a D4D which is my favorite van. Aside from a quick coffee break stop that we made somewhere in Compostella, we had a very comfortable travel. Next thing I know, we were stopping for breakfast at 5:30am. 

Because I was not feeling well and my legs were already starting to swell, I wasn't able take any pictures from that really nice karinderya (food kiosk) that we had breakfast in. I was more focused on how painful my legs were than remembering that I needed to blog about the trip. What I can say is that the place was nice and clean and they served really yummy Filipino food that it reminded me of my lola's (grandma) weekend specials. They served different types of food like dried fish, bulalo, pinakbet, shrimps, giniling and menudo. They also served us instant coffee. We literally have to tell them to stop serving us food before we explode. I was not kidding about exploding though because my bloating quickly escalated from feet to my upper body... Ugh! 

Next stop was Tinuy-an Falls. Alright I may get a lot of boos from here and there about this observation but I'm sorry, I have to say this, I was really disappointed with the place. Having seen a lot of great pictures of Tinuy-an Falls from blogs that I read that showed it's bluish-green colored water that made me wanting to go to the place since God knows when, I was really disappointed. The water color was not even close to the pictures that I saw. And the water was dirty. 

unedited picture of Tinuy-an Falls

I don't know, it may have rained the night before or whatever the reason is.. All I can remember was there were times when I didn't want my feet to touch the water especially when I saw bubbles which to my knowledge are a group of bacteria in the muddy part of the falls. BUT, this didn't stop me though from getting on that floating bamboo and go to the middle of the falls even on my three-fourth shirt and enjoy the water falling on my back! 

Travel buddies and the water bubbles that I was talking about! 

On our way to the water falls on the floating bamboo

Us enjoying the water falling on our bodies. It was like a hard massage!

We also went to the 2nd level of Tinuy-an Falls. It was challenging and exciting at the same time. Challenging because I was suffering from a swollen body, exciting because the view on the 2nd level is magnificent! 

2nd Level of Tinuy-an falls

What amazed me in my Tinuy-an Falls experience was that rainbow. Can you see that rainbow in the picture where we were soaking wet? That is literally within my reach. It was like a childhood dream fulfilled. Didn't find any pot of gold at the end of the rainbow though because the water is like 30 feet deep. It might be there but then again, it might not be there. I guess I will never know.

My travel buddies with the Tinuy-an Falls

Next stop was Enchanted River. And man, it is REALLY enchanting! I don't even know how to explain it. You have to visit the place in order for you to see what I mean! The water is so blue and clean plus you get to have the chance to swim with hundreds of fishes! Here's some great pictures. 

Super bloated and swelling me with Nicey and the enchanting Enchanted River. This is an unedited pic. Can you see how blue the water is? Magnificent!

Boyfie and I underwater. I love this pic of us!

The hundreds of fishes under the Enchanted River. And oh, can you see the cave? 

Siege holding The Streetsmart Fashionista hehehe!

My friend Albert swimming with the fishes.

My friend Kim as she swam to the deeps of the river

We stayed for a good 2 hours swimming in the Enchanted River. We never wanted to get off but we got really hungry from swimming so we had to go.

Next stop was le lunch. And it's probably the best lunch I've ever had in my entire life! We had lunch in a neat little resto made of bamboos, it's not lavish looking but it's clean. And man, did we enjoy our unlimited shrimps, crabs and fish!

of course we used our hands! ;)

man vs. food
I think we all know who won. 

The food was great! We could barely finish all the crabs that were served. I particularly loved the sweet and sour fish fillet that I wasn't able to enjoy the shrimps and crabs as much as the group did.


Next and last stop was the Britania Islands. My bestfriend Ken have been telling me for 3 years now that I needed to go to Britania Islands and that's one of the many reasons why I wanted to go to the place. I did not regret following my bestfriend's advice!

The 4 islets of Britania Islands

The boat we were in

It takes at least 5-10 minute boat ride to get to the first island that we got on which is the farthest among 4 of the islands. I saw a lot of foreigners swimming in the area and it looked like they liked the waters.

Ze super bloated me and ze boyfie. This is an unfiltered pic taken from my phone
 and yes, the view is that awesome!

Of course we had to have a jumpshot!
My body got so sore that Siege has to help me jump. LOL. 

here with the lovers on the 2nd island that we went to

My favorite island among the four.

All in all, the Surigao day tour was a blast and the money burned was so worth it! I remembered when we dined at Boiling Crabs Davao. Siege and I was so annoyed to shed off 2k on seafood that was not worth it (in our own opinion). There was nothing unique about the style of cooking and we only ate like half kilo of crabs and 1/4 kilo of shrimps. At the end of the trip we were like, "Wow, all those places and unlimited seafoods for only 2k, NO REGRETS."

What really amazed me was the experienced tour guide that we had, Arthur Yap of The RTours Mindanao Travel Escapades. If you are not the type to document every move that you make in your travels then no problem at all, he has a DSLR camera that he uses to capture everything for you. He even has an underwater cam that was really nice because we got to have pictures taken underwater. The van also has leather seats that was so convenient for us. We didn't have to change to dry clothes because it was okay to just get in the van all wet transferring to places. We also got back home on time. We arrived in Davao City around 12mm too!

Contact Rtours if you want to book your tour now. You must have a minimum of 12 people to avail this package.

7 tips for the tour:

1. Bring only one swimming wear. There's no need to change. Best to use a rash guard swim wear
2. Bring at least 1 liter of distilled water.
3. Bring antihistamines if you are allergic to seafoods or even if you are not, just bring. You might save a life.
4. Bring alcohol, vicks and efficascent oil. These essence helped me so much!
5. Bring a big cellophane for your wet clothes
6. If you are suffering from any kind of illness, DO NOT forget your meds. I'm glad I didn't.
7. Bring at least 500 pesos for extra money.

Enjoy! Don't forget to Stay classy!  Have fun! Be a Streetsmart Fashionista! 

My First Time To Love At First Sight

It was that Good Friday of 2013 (last year) when I first saw him. It was unexpected actually. We weren't supposed to meet. Me and my friends had plans but I have heard so much about him and I have this urgent need to see him that day so I asked my brother if he could drive me to his place. My brother was hesitant to go because he was tired but because he loves his elder sister dearly and I think he pitied me and my pathetic love life that time, so he agreed. (He bribed me into buying him a pack of cigarette though, totally worth it!).

The 45 minute ride from our vacation house in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental was probably one of the longest rides in my life. I just couldn't wait. I was so excited to see him because I heard he was so handsome that you can't help but dip into his hotness..

And they were right.. ladies and gentlemen, my first time to love at first sight and his name is Dahican Beach.

He's sooooo handsome right?? 

I have always been a beach bum. Bohol beaches, Cebu beaches, Boracay Beaches, Samal beaches but nothing beats Dahican Beach for me!

Me with my beloved Dahican

See the color of that ocean? That is the actual color of Dahican beach! It's sooooo BLUE! It is soooo enticing that I believe I stared at my beloved Dahican for a good 30 minutes before saying goodbye. I would have loved to dip in but as what I've said, my friends and I have other plans so we had to leave immediately.

It was August 25, 2013 when I came back to see my beloved. I was so sick that time that I had to stop working by July. I got very depressed, bored and impatient. I need to be healed emotionally and I knew the only thing that could make me happy was to go to the beach, and it has to be Dahican beach! So I dragged along my favorite travel buddies with me!

My friends and I took a quick stop to take a pic of this famous spot in Davao Oriental. You will see this place as you enter the first town in Davao Oriental which is named Banaybanay. And this town is where I spent the first 12 years of my life. ;)

My beautiful friends having fun while taking a pic in our vacation house. 

The famous Sleeping Dinosaur Island which you can see along the way to Mati City 

Aside from being the most beautiful beach I've ever been into, Dahican is my favorite beach because you get to enjoy nature's best without having to spend much. Which is the motto of The Streetsmart Fashionista!

From Davao City to Mati City (which is where Dahican beach is), you just have to spend Php 1500-2,000 on gasoline (diesel) if you have a car. Dahican Beach strip doesn't require any entrance fee. You can practically go there even if you only have gasoline money and some home cooked food which is what we did. If you don't want to dip in and just want to enjoy the sight, you can build a tent or set your hammock on trees in the area.

Our tent, a plastic container with rice that we cooked at home, some booze and a soy sauce hahaha!

Friends and I enjoying our lunch, snacks and some tequila in the middle of the shore. 

Happiness! :) 

There are actually resorts in Dahican Strip if you are more into cottages and rest houses for an overnight stay. There's Kanakbai, Botona and Dahican Surf Resort. I've never been into one of these resorts though I passed by them and they looked like good resorts. Just check out the links for their rates and amenities.

Dahican is becoming one of the country's Top Beach Destinations that event organizers have held parties here and of course, I didn't miss it for the world!

Last October 25, 2013, Mustard Seed Events of Davao City organized the Sembreak 2013 Beach Party.

Sorry for the duckface, I tend to do that when drunk. Lol. Here with my best pals Deng and Ken.

with Mae and Pearl, beautiful ladies ;)

The beach party was actually held in Sibala Beach Resort which is roughly 5 minutes away from the Dahican Beach Strip. I wouldn't say that the event was organized well. I would be lying if I say it wasn't fun either. The party was fun, mostly because Deuce Manila and my favorite Dj Rod Rodriguez from Magic 89.1 Davao were there and that I was finally able to party under a pouring rain. What I didn't like about the experience was the location. The beach in Sibala Resort is almost impossible to enjoy because of the rocky beach bed so you have to get on a trike or a motorcycle for 20 pesos so that you can finally enjoy Dahican's beach without fatal wounds on your feet or legs. There were also times that the party music got cut off because of a short circuit or something. Which was awkward... But I still enjoyed it! Because it was the first out of town party trip that my anti-social boyfie went to. And that made it extra special. :)

The geek and the social butterfly. Perfect combination. ;)

The second beach party that was held in Dahican was the most talked about Summerfrolic 2014 which was held last April 4-5. The party started on April 4 but because all of my travel buddies including me have jobs til the 4th, we opted to attend on the last day of the party instead. The location was great because it's on the actual Dahican Strip which was really nice!

What I particularly loved about the event was the many activities that it held. We got there at 2PM and it was not that hard to set out our tent and hammocks.

Beach Volleyball

Friends enjoying the beach and watching the beach volleyball 

While I slept on my favorite boyfie-made-hammock tired from my graveyard shift and a swollen feet. LOL

There were a lot of available food kiosks too! We immediately divulged on food of course, being the food lover that we are before heading to join our favorite activity on that event which is the color dash!

Party music started around 6PM but we were still too tired to party, besides there were still a few people in the party area so we decided to drink our favorite tequila on the shore.

As what I've mentioned, I was sooo tired from my graveyard shift that I actually just fell asleep the whole night and never joined the party.

Evidence. HAHAHAHA!

My friends were able to enjoy it though and they said that it was really fun! I even had fun just listening to them! I heard stories about boys and their fascinations with my friends and some relationship turned sour but was immediately fixed the next morning. Hahahaha! The only thing that I didn't like about the Summerfolic 2014 event was the lack of communication from staff to staff. One staff told us that we have to buy color dust because it's not free so we bought Php 200 worth of color dust. Turned out we have one free color dust each! We completely wasted our 200 bucks and have to force ourselves to finish it all and throw it to people who don't know what a color dash party means (One person got annoyed when I threw a color dust at him and gave me the "I-kill-you" look, so I threw more color dust at him. My pleasure!). Other than that, the whole experience was better than the Sembreak '13 event.

The FrolicFox Stage with the Dj's and Dancers. Nice stage! 

I think I will never ever get tired of loving Dahican Beach. I just hope that the local government will preserve it's natural beauty. It's definitely one of the places in the Philippines that I am most proud of. Dahican made me love him at first sight.