Back to Batangas

Going back to Batangas tomorrow for a few days tomorrow, 1st to watch the finals of the Volleyball tournament which is being represented by the Bossjack team. Good luck to them(although they are on a promise that if they win they each get a brand new pair of trainers so Im thinking that they wont be needing much luck). After that I will be staying on until the 3rd June cause its Fiesta time in San Isidro! :D Woo Hoo another fiesta, lets see how this one goes..

After that its back to Makati for a couple of days then back to Batangas again for the fiesta in Bilucao on 7th and 8th June, man I never tire of these!! Hehe. As usual there is no internet in Batangas where I stay so will have to update when I get back, take care all, till next time :)

Boracay :D

I didn't get a chance to do any write ups while I was away so I decided to just do a review of the whole trip. We left on Tuesday afternoon from NAIA(Manila) and boarded a small plane to Caticlan. That is the nearest airport and you then have to travel by boat to reach Boracay. Boracay Island itself is only 7Km by 1Km but is surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen as well as breathtaking clarity in the sea. You can actually see right to the bottom and the colour ranges from a bright turquoise to a radiant emerald green. Then there is the beach… white and fine and when the sun is shining it feels like you are walking on a cloud.

Now unfortunately for me I woke up on Tuesday feeling a little under the weather, no matter cause there was no way I was going to let that dampen my spirits. We eventually arrived at the resort around 6ish after our guide gave us a tour of one side of the island. She seemed to forget though that we were all still carrying our luggage and 40 mins walking in the heat didn't really help my condition. I was taking a turn for the worse but we went for dinner and tried to relax. Just after 8 PM I went for a walk to try to find a shop to but some water and I actually cant remember the rest of the evening. I woke up the next morning and saw that I had visited the shop but I had passed out fully clothed with the fan and the air con off and wrapped up in a sheet. To say I was sweating would be an understatement. I think that is was the best thing I could do though cause the last thing I remember from the night before is being in a cold sweat even though it was nearly 30 C outside. I was also starting to shiver and feel faint so thats probably why I locked myself in my room to try to sweat the illness out. There was some genuine concern for a while that I could have contracted a serious illness but I seem to be recovering now.

Even though I was ill for the trip we still had a lot of fun, we went on an island hopping trip on Thursday and got to see some wonderful sights. I took plenty of pics but cant upload them till I can get somewhere with a faster internet connection cause there's nearly 300 of them lol.

Apologies again for the delay with this post cause I haven't been that well and have been ordered bed rest for the last 2 days..

On the Thursday we went on an island hopping trip in which we visited 3 different islands. Crystal Cove island in particular was spectacular with a cave that goes out into the sea. It was while we were here that we experienced the brightest sunshine of the whole trip. On the way back it started to rain and it stayed that way for the next few hours.

The remainder of the trip was a mixture of laughter, coughing, heat, sweat, massages, more laughter, fresh fruit juices, bad Italian food, disappointment, a great Filipino band, very bad karaoke, rain, sand, foot rubs, tears from laughter, sand castles, and some of the best freehand artists Ive had the pleasure of watching.. All in all great place, the people I met were awesome but I wish I was 100% and that we had come during Holy Week ;P

 

 

PICS: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/pjdetorres/BoracayMay200902#

Boracay tomorrow!

W00t! Off to Boracay tomorrow with Kuya Gil and Doc. The flight is at 3:30 PM so should be there by 6. Ive heard so many good things about this place and will be sure to take loads of pics. Ive been exercising like crazy the last 2 weeks to try to get into some sort of shape but there is just too much fat on my body for it to make any real difference. My arms seem to be a bit more defined but not much else.

I also visited the dentist this morning to get that annoying stain from my front tooth removed and Im very happy with the result :)

Well, I better get some sleep cause big day tomorrow. I will try to find somewhere with Wifi so that I can update and try to upload some pics and let you all know what Ive been up to. Boracay: prepare yourself for hurricane PJ!!! \o/

 

PS: Just had a blackout here while I was writing this( they call it brownout though). My 1st one since I got here and most people actually met in the street and had a good old gossip. This is how I remember Philly as a child :D

Bang Bang!

Now this is a real first for me. This was something that I've always wanted to do, and not in a spree killer type of way, but in a I want to know what all the fuss is about kind of way. I can say now that shooting at a firing range is a lot like getting a tattoo, its something naughty that your parents would be annoyed to find out that you wanted to do it but because of that you really want to do it. Once I had finished my first clip it was a weird sensation of power, stress relief and also a crazy amount of adrenalin coursing through me veins.

I have included a couple of pics and can say that I loved it so much. I also got to keep the targets that I used and will try to take pics of them later so you can see how I did. I was very pleased with my first time and I was told that I was actually better firing one handed rather than 2 handed which the instructor said was very unusual. I fired 3 full clips of 13 bullets using Kuya’s Glock 40 calibre pistol. Its a really beautiful gun and a lot smoother than I expected it to be. I assumed that there would be a big kick but I hardly felt it at all and the biggest problem I had was with my adrenalin causing my firing arm to shake slightly. I still hit the target with all my bullets and managed to get a couple of bulls eyes  which I was very proud of considering its my first time. There is also the option to hire a gun to use so I might have a look at what options they have… Im thinking Armalite or M16 ;D

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Ate is back!

Went to pick up Ate Precy From NAIA (Ninoy Aquino Int’l Airport) this afternoon and we we’re expecting her to have about 5 trolleys of shopping after visiting Singapore and Malaysia for a shopping and relaxation trip with some of her staff from Fontana. When she arrived though she had only bought a few items and we were very shocked and surprised lol.

Afterwards we went to the seafront next to the Mall of Asia to have dinner at one of the special seafood restaurants there. With my aversion to all things seafood related my options were pretty limited. I was used to this though because I don't think most Filipino restaurants have even heard of the term Vegetarian because most of the time there isn't a single vegetarian option available on the menu. Even the vegetable side dishes are normally served with bagoong(small fry shrimp) or some type of seafood. I settled for some garlic rice and a special order of Gulay(vegetables) with no hidden extras. There were 8 other people in our party and the way to order here is by the kilo so I think that they had about 7 kilos of various seafood all freshly caught that morning.

Afterwards we decided to go straight to Fontana because Ate Precy had work the following day. We didn't arrive until 1:30 AM and stayed up talking until 3:30 AM. My muscles are now paying me back for forcing them to do so much exercise and but I have to keep telling myself that its a good pain and that I have an important objective to reach.

Custom made cue – finally!

Went to meet a friend of a friend in Muntinlupa today who has the reputation of being the best cue maker in the Philippines. He as assembled a team like no other and the cues he showed me only had me in total amazement at the quality. A huge thanks has to go to Sammy for the hook up, Maraming salamat po pare :)

Ricky was very welcoming and invited me into his home to show me the cues he is currently working on. He doesn’t have a shop per se but he has a huge catalogue which he lent me to get some ideas for my custom cue. HE also offered me a very nice discount for being a friend of Sammy :D

Im feeling like a kid thats been locked in his favourite toy shop and left to play with all his favourite toys. My plan was to just get 1 cue custom made and maybe a break cue too but with Ricky can probably get 2 or 3 playing cues, a break/jump cue and a case too and for a very good price too! All custom and hand made by some of the best cue makers in the country. Ricky even invited me to stay once I had ordered my cue so I could watch my cue being made. I might have to take that offer up cause I think that its to good to pass up. Once the cue is made I have been invited to play with Ricky and his friends in a weekly tournament so that should be interesting he he. I’ve also been invited to play with some Philly pros which is another offer I just have to accept. Rack em up!!

1st day at the office

Not sure if it classifies as a day when its 3 hours and the office is still being renovated and is therefore a pretty big mess. It was mostly brainstorming with the 2 designers that were there about any ideas that they had for the business. I think that a lot of progress was made especially because I hadn’t really spoken to them before but by the time I left they seemed to be more comfortable around me which was a big plus.

Also got quotes on Web hosting packages as well as trying to buy a domain name. Finally went to a shop to ask about branded promotional merchandise to give away on opening day and also for any customers and for friends and family. Cant beat good old fashioned advertising like that!

Aray!

Picked up my first injuries yesterday since I arrived and they both happened within hours of each other. First I was getting a foot scrub because after wearing flip flops around Makati for 2 weeks your heels are very cracked and painful. I didnt realise that this also involved a foot massage so didnt think to warn the babae that both my ankles were pretty weak but then again I didnt really expect her to suddenly twist my left ankle through over 100 degrees! This is getting to be a serious problem for me because whenever I get a massage I think the babae looks at me and thinks because of my size that she has to really work harder and it always seems to end up with me being worse off afterwards…

The neck injury that has flared up again is just from too much training on the punch bag. It feels just like a small strain so hopefully it will clear up in a couple of days.

 

Also I visited Mall of Asia in the early evening to finally see what all the fuss was about. WOW! I think I only covered about 10% of the mall and we had been there over 2 hours! Its like its own city. Its very nice though and I plan to go back there one morning and just spend the whole day there trying to cover everywhere.

Aftermath

Just been trying to relax today after an emotional weekend but got off to a bad start when I told myself that because I didn’t train over the weekend I should start off the week with a good hard session. Within 30 mins I was lying on my bed in agony after going a bit over the top with the punch bag. Thats what happens when you forget to stretch enough because you still think that you are 21 lol. Its taken me pretty much all day to get the muscle into a manageable state but its still pretty painful so will be looking for another massage in the near future ;) We bought some target pads and some boxing gloves as well so we will be able to start sparing as well which should help a lot. My main problem is stamina though, so conditioning is going to be key for me in the next couple of months. Ate is leaving for Malaysia tomorrow for a few days so I am trying to think of what to do with myself in the meantime. Im sure that with my imagination I will find something to keep me occupied :D

My 4th 25th Birthday(with pics)

I sat here for about 10 minutes thinking of how to describe this weekend and I decided to just write whatever came to mind. I could have written a nice long intricate tale of the weekend but I thought I would just keep with the theme of the weekend, family. I know that doesn’t make much sense but I had forgotten just how important family life is here in Philly. I know that some of you will say that family is important everywhere but the whole lifestyle here revolves around the family. Im finding it very difficult to explain but lets just say that Im starting to remember that fact and its a very good feeling. The only real downer for me last night was that my immediate family(Mum, Nina, and Rujay) were not here for the party because it ended up being a pretty big Torres reunion. Most of my Mums Brothers and Sisters came and at such short notice too for which I am very grateful. I suspect it had as much to do with having an excuse to see each other again after so long rather than for my birthday lol. Also present were 2 of the cousins that I was closest to when I was growing up here, Kuya Ninoy and Kuya Jimmy. Both have obviously changed after so many years but within 5 minutes we were back to laughing and joking like kids again. It was so very good seeing all of the old(sorry, older ;P) faces again and a few new ones too and even though it rained for most of the evening nothing could have stopped the laughter, gossip and general merriment that happened last night. At one point I felt like a celeb cause I actually had to do a round of photos with various members of the family with their respective families and that took about half an hour after saying hello and all the hugging and kissing and the ‘you’ve got so big!’ I was more than happy to pose and talk though cause I had missed them as much as they missed me. There was also a videoke machine there which I can assure you was used non-stop from 10 AM till the whenever the party finished. All sorts of songs were sung from old love songs to Filipino classics and after a while it just became part of the background noise. I resisted the urge to perform though for fear of everyone leaving :)

A big thank you has to go out to Ate Precy and Kuya Guilbert for hosting the party for me and also special thanks to Tita Edith, Tito Tony and all the others who prepared all the food and made the night possible. Because of last night. I have also asked everyone else who had a camera to email them to me so if and when I get more pics I will add them. The food last night was amazing, I was more than happy with my specially made veggie spaghetti but there was also freshly caught grilled Tilapia, fresh lumpia, chop suey, and various other Filipino dishes which was more for my carnivorous relatives than for me :D All in all a great time seemed to be had by all so there was nothing more that I could have asked for. At the time of writing I have been invited to 3 more fiestas in the next month as well as having orders to visit everyones homes around the Philippines. So at least I cant say that I will just be sitting here bored with a busy social calendar like that!

PS Thanks for all the messages and the kind words that you have all sent me today, its much appreciated :D

 

I tried uploading the pics the normal way but no joy so I have uploaded them to my picasa account and you should just be able to view them by clicking the link, enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/pjdetorres/SonyCyberShotDSCW130?authkey=Gv1sRgCLTHnp6cncDIkAE#

Bday Party FTW!! Nokia N95 Camera FTL!!!

I've just been to see the opening day of the new Volleyball season and Bossjack has sponsored a team so when we turned up they all started chanting ‘BossJack! BossJack!’ So much for a quiet entrance lol. I also think that a few of the locals might have recognised me from when I grew up here because you could see the gossip spreading. I tried to look cool but I’m pretty sure that I failed :)  The preparations for my party are also in full swing and by the look of things pretty much the whole village has been invited. Should be fun though, I cant wait. The one real downer for me is that my beloved N95 camera which I have been using to take all of the pictures that are on the blog has stopped working :(  I don't think that I will have time to get it fixed before the party tonight but Ate Precy has a camera on another phone so I will try to use that and hopefully the pictures will still be ok. IF anyone wants to donate a nice DSLR camera for me then I would accept it gratefully :D This is my first Birthday here since 1992 so I would like to have some good memories for the future.

A lot of relatives have confirmed that they are coming so it will also be a reunion of sorts because it has been too many years since I saw them last. There is already a Videoke machine set up and is being rigorously tested as we speak :)  There will be no lechon due to the Swine flu scare but there will still be plenty of food to go around, of that I am sure.

Right, hopefully the next time I post  I will have some good pics and memories to talk about. Have a good weekend everyone!

Batangas for my Bday! :)

Nearly time to go now so thought I would post a quick message because I dont think that there is internet where I will be staying. I will be taking loads of pics though so dont worry. It was raining really heavily here in Makati last night and my biggest fear is that there is torrential rain on Saturday night. Im hoping that the weather will be ok but even if it is raining then I dont think anyone will care! There should be some good food there and my Tita asked me if I wanted a pig, Im not sure though…

Right, the next time that I update I will be 25 for the 4th year! Have a good weekend all and be sure to come check the pics out on Monday :D

 

 

(Right, now where do I find a T-shirt that says ‘Fat, Single & Ready to Mingle?)

Can I oil you sir?

Now thats an offer that I don't get every day. maybe a couple of times a week but not every day. Now let me explain.. We finally went for a massage for my broken body and we all decided to have the combination treatment which consisted of a mixture of Shiatsu and Swedish massages and lasted for an hour. After changing into the pyjama style outfits that you have to wear(btw, I think that they only come in Filipino sizes so I looked like a gay white Incredible hulk) the lady came in to start my session. I opted for the oil and lay back and thought of anything but England ;P  After about 7 minutes I realised my mistake because it was then I remembered what a shiatsu massage was but it was too late. Knuckles were being driven in with the force of a nail gun in muscles I didn't even know existed and by the end of the session I felt like I had lost a UFC match. To be fair I moan about it now but come morning I will feel a lot better and it was something that my body needed even if its hating me at the moment. The next time I think I am getting the full body reflexology or maybe the Thai massage so I can compare. The Swedish part of the session was very nice and I was twisted back into some normality. I will definitely be going back there because I am training a lot more and my body is still in a bit of shock about having to do so much work so it deserves some pampering. Next up is Muay Thai :D

R & R..

Today has been all about R & R. Recovery and Research. Ive been recovering from the Manny celebrations as well as the Fiesta that was being celebrated here in Makati yesterday. The research is for the new business that Im involved in which is Hand crafted Filipino Furniture. Its a very exciting concept and one in which Ive thrown myself in at the deep end mainly because I know nothing about furniture ;P  I am helping in other ways at the moment though, mainly some ideas about the online side of the business and also advertising and marketing, bet you didnt think I could do that eh?

Ive managed to come up with a couple of ideas that have gone down very well so hopefully this rich vein of creative genius can snowball into a lot more productivity. Im off now to get a massage because I went a bit OTT on the excercising trying to make up for eating so much at the fiesta yesterday. I just hope she understands when I say “ no happy ending!” ;D

Fiesta (Part 1) & Pacquiao FTW!!!!

Here in the Philippines the fiesta is broken into 3 days and today is the final day of the fiesta in the barangay(area) of Tejeros in Makati City where I am staying. Last night there was a talent show and from what I saw there was a lot of local talent on show. I missed the singing but caught a bit of the dancing and it was hard to tell that they were just amateurs, thats how good the quality was. Today started pretty early at just before 6 AM to prepare for the Manny Pacquiao fight against Ricky Hatton. We had seats to watch the fight at the local mall in one of the cinema screens and by 10 AM the place was packed. It was only after the fight that I discovered that every cinema screen in the city was fully booked as well as every place which had a big screen TV. They are fanatical here about Manny and the whole country was at a standstill during the fight. No traffic, nobody on the streets and no crime. I had never heard cheering like I had when Hatton got knocked down the first time in the 1st round. After that the cheering just intensified and after Hatton got knocked down the cheering was just non-stop. It was an awesome experience and I cant wait for his next fight now.

After the fight we went back to the house and just relaxed and watched all the action going on outside. Its over 30 C today and the humidity is off the charts so I wasn't about to go venturing outside anytime soon. There is way too much food here and too few people to eat it but I guess thats the fiesta way. Its getting close to duck now and the humidity seems to be getting to a bearable state so I might have a look around later but there is an ever growing contingent of happy, drunken Pinoys celebrating both Manny's destruction of the “Hitman” and also their Fiesta so something tells me that its gonna be a messy night. Wish me luck….

 

PS: a couple of pics of the band that was performing in the street here today.

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Anyone Interested? ;P

I've just spent the morning discussing some possible business opportunities for me here and Im looking into the T-shirt business. The cost of good quality T-shirts are reasonable here and I want to create an  exclusive brand to market in the UK and possibly over in the US if I could find somebody who shares the same view as myself. The T-shirts will have special designs made by local artists to begin with and will have a graffiti and urban vibe to them but I am open to ideas as well so if any of my colonial cousins are reading and think that you have something to offer then email me :)  I will be looking to start the business in an online capacity to begin with while I figure out the best way to advertise and market the brand and will only be making a handful of each design which will be numbered as well so they can be classed as a collectible. I am of course looking for ideas and designs so anyone creative out there can also send me samples of their designs too and maybe see someone wearing our creation in the future! This is an exciting opportunity to get involved in a niche business from the ground floor so anyone with a serious interest then please contact me and we can talk. Advert over :D

San Isidro…

Finally met up with Tito Tony and Tita Edith this morning, as well as Ate Remy and Carlo. There were also a few others to say hello to and it felt so good to just wander around the house again. So many memories came flooding back and I just stood there for around 30 mins just reminiscing about the last time I stayed there in 2000. As soon as I arrived Tita Edith was making me breakfast which I had missed so much its hard to actually put in words. They now have a small store and a room full of PC’s attached where you can play PC games over a local network which seems to be quite popular with teenagers in the barangay. I had to resist the temptation of the offer to play some Counter Strike Source…

In the afternoon we headed towards Lipa to have a look at a furniture maker whom we will be working with in the future so a lot of pictures were taken. These pieces were truly beautiful and captured the spirit and essence of the Philippines in my opinion. They are made from very solid Madre Cacao wood which is indiginous to the area and is very solid, reliable and has a beautiful shade to it.

Once I got back to Bilucao I spotted a hammock and immediately made it my own and read a book and forgot about the rest of the world, having only the sounds of the forest to remind me where I was. I think that the plan for tonight is more Tongit, some San Miguel and a lot of talking and laughing… Wish you were here? ;D

The Prodigal Son Returns

I finally arrived back in Batangas last night. We decided that it was a bit late to visit the family over in San Isidro so we stayed at the BossJack Resort which is still currently under development. I was greeted there by Tito Simeon, Ate Precy’s Father, who used to take me to school when I lived here as a child. It was very good to see him and as he knew I was coming he had freshly roasted and brewed some of the local coffee, which is up there in my top 3 favourite coffees ever. We had some food and I was then taught how to play Tongit, a very popular Filipino card game. For some reason there was also red and white wine instead of San Miguel but that didn't seem to matter, I had forgotten that Bilucao, which is where I stayed last night, is where time stands still. Or at least thats how it felt. After 3 bottles between 4 of us we looked at the watch for the first time since we got there and saw that it was 11 PM. 1 dropped out which left 3 of us to talk about my plans here and what I should do over the next couple of months. We looked down at the watch again and it had gone 1 AM so we decided to call it a night only to find out that there were no sheets around so we had to drive up to another house in the middle of the night where the door was unlocked and did well only managing to wake up 3 people :)  We finally went to bed around 2 AM but to me it still felt like 10 PM. Thats the magic of this place though, you may think that the night sounds will keep you awake at night but I guarantee you that once your head hits that pillow it will be like the trees are singing you a lullaby and the next thing you know its morning and there's some fresh coffee waiting for you… Heaven :D