chocolate karnival - krispy kreme

just imagine unlimited chocolate glazed doughnuts in a day. sounds very much like a dream.
last weekend, i was privileged to be invited to take part in the launching of Krispy Kreme's newest addition to the original hot glazed doughnuts, the Chocolate Glazed doughnut.
we were like in a carnival as they featured a magic show in a crowd of doughnut lovers. guests had the chance to speed stacks, box stacking and other games all in line with chocolate. while i had the chance to have a chat with fellow travel bloggers Eric and Melo.what surprised me was they were not just launching the original choco glazed doughnut but also included other varieties that one can't resist trying.
from those varieties, i tried Chocolate Glazed Raspberry filled, Chocolate Glazed Vanilla Cake and may favorite the original Chocolate Glazed doughnut. after enjoying those doughnuts during the event, they even gave out boxes and boxes of these doughnuts for us to bring home just for playing the games.i have always been a fan of Krispy Kreme's doughnuts ever since the first branch opened here in the Philippines. adding a new set of chocolate varieties made me like it even more.

earth hour 2009 - manila

it was another great moment to participate in this year's Earth Hour movement. we were at SM Mall of Asia, the world's fourth largest mall last night to witness one of the most significant hour this year.just recently, Earth Hour ranked the Philippines as the highest in terms of the number of cities registered to participate in this advocacy. see the official news from Earth Hour here.i was with friends Nadz and Calay as early as 5:30pm and so i had the chance to see the event area hours before the culminating global event. the main stage was set infront of the mall's globe structure.we had our dinner and arrived at the area just in time for the Earth Hour. the program was broadcast live through Studio 23 simultaneously with other cities like Cebu and Davao.the countdown was led by the mayors of the cities of Manila, Paranaque and Pasay. people were festively shouting when the lights turned off. moving neon lights dominated the area.a neon version of "pandango sa ilaw" opened the event's hour as performed by the Philippines' most prestiged cultural dance company. followed by Gary Valenciano's performance and ending with Lea Salonga singing two beautiful songs.i went around the mall during that hour and majority of the lights were turned off except for a few restaurants who reduced their light source.when the last minutes were coming, people were again cheering as the countdown ended with confettis popping out at the center stage. photos below shows the last few seconds until the turning on of the lights.it was a great moment to know that more and more people and countries support the Earth Hour movement. thanks to all those who participated and supported one of this year's most important hour.let it not be a temporary action, but instead serve as an awareness to conserve energy everyday.

bonsai island - cagbalete quezon

meters away from the shoreline, you'll see an unusual sight of plants. at low tide, it seems that it's just part of beach front but during high tide, it forms a small island. the bonsai island.walking under the heat of the sun was quite challenging during the afternoon peak but the view from afar convinced us to walk to this islet. it will take about five to ten minutes to reach the small islet passing over the flat shoreline filled with sea weeds, shells and pebbles of different kinds. i can identify some of the sea creatures but some were unique in nature.
the islet forms a small elevation consisting of sands, pebbles and pointed roots. the pointed vertical root extensions are growing mangrove plants. upon researching, i learned that these are called pneumatophores. the rocks beside the islet helps the roots to hold steadily.i don't know specifically the type of mangrove this is. but mangroves are considered as salt-tolerant trees because they grow in coastal areas. it grows widely with branches outstretching its solid trunk. just imagine how these plants endure the strong waves of the Pacific. its sturdy and complex trunk holds the plant firmly in its base. these mangroves serves a lot of purpose in the ecosystem. it was worth the long walk. a time with nature under the summer heat. up next is an amazing bed rock still in this part of Cagbalete just close to this islet.

sand ripples - cagbalete island quezon

when Allan talked to me about Cagbalete, what kept in my mind was when he mentioned that this island has one of the longest sand ripples in the Philippines. this motivated me to venture to this tropical island Southeast of Manila.we were already tempted to walk on the outstretched plain of pebbles and sand. but we don't have enough energy to extend our walk to the beach because of the long walk. so we continued our way and reached the resort. we took lunch and took a short yet relaxing time infront of the beach under a tree.with enough rest and a tasty fish meal from the resort, served by a very accommodating owner, we headed to the beach shore. it was still low tide so we got the chance to see what Cagbalete is really known for. its long sand ripples that in many perspective seems endless.during low tide, the flat beach shoreline is longer than that of Boracay. we didn't imagine that there's a beach shoreline this long and this wide. Lawstude and all the others who has been to this island can attest to that.it was simply amazing to have seen such an island wonder. and according to the resort owner, low tide occurs two times in a day one during daytime and one during night time. i have this issue of Metroactive magazine where it featured kite landboarding in the island of Cagbalete. perfect as they say because of the long flat surface of fine white sand in this side of the island.

watch out for Lawstude's feature on this island. definitely more more beautiful photos.[what you shouldn't miss there]>>> the sand ripples during low tide in the Eastern part of the island.
[why i should go back] >>> to explore the other parts of the island. i believe no one will be disappointed in seeing this island.trip rate:
trek: 3.0
road quality: 1.0
beach accessibility: 2.5
beach sand: 4.0
beach front: 4.5
beach aura: 4.5
beach stretch: 4.5

finding east - cagbalete island

after thirty minutes, we followed a path and ended in a place surrounded by bushes and coconut trees. we declared ourselves officially lost in the island of Cagbalete. upon arriving at Sabang port, we journeyed our way for a thirty-minute walk to reach the East coast. we passed by walkways walled by wooden houses of this small island village of Sabang. people here looks used to seeing visitors as they would give us a smile, as a way to welcome the visitors. a typical Filipino trait. we then reached the end of the village and we were now following a path to the bushes of seemingly plain and flat island. we asked the people how to go to the resort, where we are to stay, and their answer was always "just follow the signage". signage were placed on coconut trees but it was still confusing as on some areas, most of the signage are already largely damaged. but we felt that it was still safe to follow the cleared path.we reached a part where the path was swampy, which gave us an idea that it's definitely the wrong way. so we took the other route and continued our way. after walking several minutes, we noticed that we were already in a dead end path. from there, we realized that we're lost.since we knew that we are going to the East side of the island, we continued our way passing over bushes without the path. in short, we decided to just use the natural way of finding East. still after quite some time, we still don't see the beach. all we see were more coconut trees but we persisted as we know we're going East. this time we saw this small house and the villagers informed us that we were just steps away from the beach. just behind the trees revealed to us a stunning long flat coast of white sand beach. we finally reached the Eastern side of the island but we still need to find the resort where we will be staying. from there we thought we've already seen the best of this island. wait till the next post comes.