Couchsurfing: Movie night event at Greenbelt 3

Last October 9, 2011, Me and new friends from Couchsurfing went for a movie night at Greenbelt 3 and watched Tambien la lluvia (10th Spanish Film Festival  October 5-16).  It was a great experience to meet Corey who initiated the CS meet up.

Time to Hola! Hola!

It was my first class at Instituto Cervantes here in Manila. And I’m so excited to learn something new.

Before I reached my destination, I endured the windy and stormy weather going to class. Also, the MRT is busted as of that moment.  So, I went by bus from Boni to LRT Pedro Gil and then I took LRT to UN station.   I arrived 30 minutes before class, so I decided to walk around the building and went to the cafeteria for coffee and spaghetti (total cost is 200 pesos ouch!).   And I’ve shared the same table with other students as other table is already occupied.   It was nice to hear from other students coming from a different background, I’ve heard their stories and reasons about learning Spanish language.  The young lady beside me has passed her bar licensure exam lately.  And she told me that she is learning Spanish language because she likes it by heart and for some other practical reasons as well.  Here, I became more inspired and wanting to learn more.

What compelled me to learn Spanish?

• I was influence by someone, who can speak fluently in Spanish.
• Statistically, Spanish language is 4th most spoken language in the world and I want to be part of that figure.
• I love backpacking overseas.  For me, it's astonishing to be able to communicate in Spanish with other Spanish-speaking traveler.
• I could use it for some other sensible cause in the future.

Since the Spaniards colonized Philippines for about 300 years.   Spanish language was first introduced to the Philippines in 1565 along with the Roman Catholic religion.  Going back to history, Spanish was imposed as an official language of the Philippines until 1973.  So, that is why Filipino language has mixed of Spanish.  And it will be much easier for me to learn Spanish.

Throughout the class, my Filipino instructor is giving her lecture in Spanish.  I believed it is an effective learning method.   You will be learning not by wasting your time translating every word but through helpful association. 

During the three hours lecture, I have learned about basic Spanish conversation, Spanish alphabet, Pronouns and we had some practical exercises.

Summing up, it was a splendid first-day-class experience, minus the stormy weather and horrible commute.  Attending Spanish class at Instituto Cervantes motivates me to learn more, travel more, and immerse myself in different culture. 

Something to look forward next week is the 10^th Spanish film festival on October 5-12 at Greenbelt 3, Makati city.   Definitely, I will be watching!

CORON: The Unexpected Adventure

Gone with a lot of planning me and my friend Vik had finally decided for a quick vacation trip to Coron last September.  Once again, I freed myself away from bustling jungle city of Manila.


Coron is part of Calamianes group of island in northern Palawan.  It's admired by most tourists, who are beach and nature lover.  It's been called a last remaining unspoiled treasures. Now is the best time to explore the islands.

Day 1 (Push back):  The Misty Heavens----The Manila-Busuanga-Manila joy ride


The pilot: “ We can’t land due to zero-visibility”.  That moment our excitement died out and we landed back to Manila after two hours of flying nowhere. What a bummer! Luckily, we were able to re-booked our flight the following day.

Day 2:  The City tour

The transfer from airport to Coron city proper is one hour and it cost 150 pesos.   We arrived at Patrick & Tezz guesthouse at around eight in the morning and we had ample time to rest before we set off to our city tour.   

Patrick & Tezz guesthouse is a simple lodging house.  A typical Coron house modestly constructed over sea water.   We got our fan room for only 550 pesos per night.  We simply like the room, as we felt the genuine Coron ambiance.

The sun is waving on us.  It’s indeed our lucky day to wander around the city of Coron.  We leisurely walk around the market area, looking for souvenir stores for pasalubong.  Next, we hired a tricycle to tour us around.  It was a very bumpy ride experience to Maniquit hot spring.

We took a dip at the hot spring.  Imagine a huge hot tub!  The water is scorching at first, but after few minutes you’re cooked already (just kidding).  I recommend you go there during sunset or late afternoon, as you’ll need to loosen up and revitalize after a whole day activities.

Day 3 & 4 Malcapuya and Coron Loop

The rest of the day was spent on island hopping, swimming and snorkeling.  We found new friends and we had super awesome vacation.  Definitely I will go back in Coron!