The El Nido Experience

For someone who has lived all her life in a city would most probably have an island tour experience jot down on her bucket list. Yes, I do. :) I have been to several places, provinces or islands in the Philippines before like Leyte, our family's hometown. But to get to tour around Palawan has been a lifelong dream.

Palawan, being the largest province in the Philippines and part of the MIMAROPA region, is known to be a tourist destination having because of its famous municipalities such Coron, El Nido and Puerto Princesa which are also composed of some of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines.

This year, 2019, I was fortunate to cross out Palawan in my bucket list as it was my first destination during my vacation last June (of course, excluding Manila). 

For that trip, we opted to be joiners in an El Nido - Puerto Princesa 4 day - tour package. Our first stop was El Nido. 

First day in El Nido was like our free time in exploring the municipality and experience the night life there. As expected, there were a lot of tourists roaming around the area. Then on the next day, was the island hopping. We first went to the Papaya Beach island which was perfect for dipping and the sand was fine. Second island was the 7 commandos beach. On this island, we had our lunch which were prepared by the boatmen/tour guide where one would really have that island feels.

After lunch, we went to Big Lagoon for some kayaking, cave visit and snorkeling. I was so impressed by the clear water of this place and made a little interaction with some of the fish there. :) We were supposed to drop by the Simizu island, unfortunately, the current was too strong so we settled in the Small Lagoon. Snorkeling was so much fun in this place as we were able to see how magnificent sea creatures are, and that includes the colorful fishes and eye-catching corals. Too bad I was feeling scared to jump into the water because of the current and knowing that I wasn't really good in swimming, I forgot to bring the camera and capture those amazing things under the water. :( 

The last island we visited was the Secret Lagoon. Its name speaks for itself as we have to enter a tiny hole in order for us to see this lagoon and be astonished of what to see inside. :)

After a day of island hopping, we went back to the inn where we were staying to pack up and travel back to Puerto Princesa for some city adventure the next day. 

Below is a short video of our El Nido exeperience. :)

Philippines in One Month

Sometime in April 2017, I received a phone call which gave me an opportunity to work abroad, and become an Overseas Filipino Worker. Come July 22, 2017, I flew from Philippines to Bahrain to be the university nurse of AMA International University. Fast forward to June 2019, which was a month before my second year in Bahrain, I finally had a vacation in my home country. :)

In my one month vacation, I was able to tour around some of the most beautiful places in our country; El Nido and Puerto Princesa in Palawan, some tourists spots of Cebu, a natural cave in Samar, our family's province - Leyte and of course, Metro Manila.

I have summarized that one month vacation in the Philippines in a three-minute video below. Please watch and see how fun Philippines is.

It was such a fulfilling experience to travel and see other parts of the Philippines. I feel so proud that we have an amazing country. Too bad one month and my budget was not enough for me to conquer the whole Pinas. Soon. :)

Put On A Happy Face - JOKER, A Review

Joker is a heavy, mentally and emotionally challenging movie to watch.

This film focuses on the backstory of Joker, Batman's famous nemesis, presented and told in a dark narration.

In here, we will see Arthur Fleck, as a mentally ill person dreaming on becoming a successful comedian. But Arthur was going through though times in life; having a sick mother dependent on him, investigation of a crime, struggle at work the eventually losing it, and the cruelty of the society.

Despite being an installment to DC comics or movies, Joker is another story depicting the Marxist philosophy where there is a division in the society-- the upper class or capitalists (bourgeoisie) and the working class or wage-earners (proletariat). And this conflict in the contributed on how the film highlighted the mental health issue.

When Arthur's character was being established during the first part of the film, he was seen as a man who has positive thoughts though he has special needs, probably because he had someone to talk to and a support system. But when this support system failed him, adding to the conflicts he was encountering from his family history and the society, his character started to develop, including his mental health status. And this leads to Arthur becoming "the" Joker now.

A lot of different factors may test one's mental fitness. In this movie, we are taught on how social class, lies and abuse triggered Arthur's personality that caused him several mental conditions that defined his behavior.

Joker came out in time as just we have celebrated the World Mental Health Awareness Day last October 10. A happy face does not guarantee that one is mentally healthy. Sometimes, they are just putting a happy make up on their faces to mask the pain and the struggle one's personality is going through. In the movie, we learned how important it is to have someone to share our thoughts to and that the stigma on mentally ill person must be eradicated because they need us, they need help.

While comics and/or the Batman superhero was giving us heroic entertainment, here, we witness how tragic Joker's past was and his story was told to us also in a dark manner. Maybe, we are to expect also that the future Batman movies will be as dark as this? We will soon find out. :)