Lotta is a famous singer here in Sweden, she also host some events like Bingo and Lotto. She’s  beautiful and simple, can I say like me…hehehe, just kidding…
The people started to feel alive when Lotta comes out and the show started, including the excitement that we are live on television, both Sweden and Norway. For all who doesn’t know, Liseberg is a big gaming park in Goteborg, Sweden.
There are 3 special guests, they are Anna, Jill, and Rico. They are great singers.

We all have fun, dancing and singing with them, it’s really great to be part of live concert. The camera was just passing through our seats, my friend always tries to wave to be seen and focused by the lens, but no luck, hehehe, the camera doesn’t like us. Allthough we were not seen on tv, we are still greatful.

They played Bingo and so many prizes at stake, again no luck for our friends. The show went on for 2 hours, we are all very happy when it ends.

I hope I can watch a concert again.If you want to see my videos of the concert, just visit my facebook,http://www.facebook.com/#!/marj.cabana

Hello everybody. How’s life going? Well for me here in Oslo, Norway, just fine but still cold and freezing…hehehe. Soon snow will fall, I don’t want to imagine myself walking in the snow, you know why? Brrrrr…i will freeze to death! It’s just a month and 10 days since I came here and of course my body will not adapt that so easyly.

Now the place is very cold and I can see ice on the grass but it’s not snow yet. The temperature is going down, around 5pm its -0 degree. Brrrr…I don’t want to go out anymore, after I came from school i just want to stay inside and turn on the heater’s temperature so high. Funny thing is I still want to walk and walk in town after school and look for cheaper shop i could find even if it’s freezing outside.

Well you can see what I’m wearing. Three clothes plus one thick coat, gloves, hat, and thick scarf.

Tonight we will watch the movie ‘This Is It’ by Michael Jackson, we don’t want to watch it yesterday because it’s the first day of releasing the movie and we are sure the cinema is full, also tomorrow and until Sunday, but I hope tonight we will not be rushing with people.

Well I will just tell you what is it really about, I’m also curious and excited about the movie, who is not, right?

See you again.

]]> http://myblueheart.org/filipina/a-freezing-day-in-norway.html/feed 0 http://myblueheart.org/filipina/exploring-islands.html http://myblueheart.org/filipina/exploring-islands.html#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:04:15 +0000 Blue Rose http://myblueheart.org/?p=1160 More »]]> Do you like camping into the wilderness, forest, field, park, or in the beach?

The Philippines is home to fabulous beaches. Try beach camping on any of these tropical gems.

Hundred Islands, Pangasinan – just pick up a permit from the town’s local tourism post and spend the night at one of the camp-friendly islands. The beauty of these wonderful isles has long been underestimated.

Saud Beach, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte – head to the Northern part of the Philippines and enjoy the quiet coves of Ilocos. Saud is popular for its white sand and chill out vibe. It’s perfect for beach camping and bonding with the barkada (friends).

Apo Reef, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro – if you and your pals are into adventurous beach jaunts, then Apo Reef would be perfect. You can pitch your tents on Apo Island, and go diving in Apo Reef during the day. This marine sanctuary is one of Philippines’ best.

Anawangin Cove, Pandaquit, Zambales – accessible only by boat or a six-hour trek, this hidden paradise has pristine white-sand beach lined with tall pine trees. It’s a picture-perfect site that welcomes many happy beach campers.

Calaguas Island, Camarines Norte – there are no resorts or electricity in Calaguas, just unspoiled white-sand shores. The sand on the main isle, Mahabang Buhangin (Long Sand), is super fine – some say even finer than Boracay’s polvoron variety.

Come and visit our beautiful islands in the Philippines, I am very sure you will not regret it.

If you want to get tanned and invigorate your body, chill out at any of the white sand beaches in the country. All the excitement await for you in Boracay, Panglao, Coco Beach in Puerto Galera, Mactan Island, Camiguin, Dakak, Honda Bay, El Nido, Pearl Farm, and Siargao.

Don’t fail to add on the list some sports adventure to try on. Cagayan de Oro offers you an electrifying white water rafting adventure. Indulge yourself as well into some mountain trekking, snorkeling, island hopping, kayaking, tubing, caving, scuba diving and a lot more.

Exploring the Philippines wouldn’t be complete without taking a glimpse of some historical sites. Visit Intramuros or Old Manila which was built by the Spaniards in 16th century. This place will take you back to the Philippines in the late centuries. Other historical places to delve include Luneta Park, Corregidor, Vigan and Fort Santiago.

Satisfy your appetite with some tropical food such as balut, kinilaw (raw meat, e.g. fish, squid,), the list is endless. You can find a lot of delicious food in the Philippines that you’ll always crave for. There are also available dishes for vegetarians and health conscious ones.

Now, you don’t have to spend much time fuddling into the best thing to do and best place to go for summer. Pack your bag and head off to the Philippines. It’s the place where you can find everything you’ve fancied to experience.

Before I share my escapades, I will introduce the land of Bangkok first, the landmarks that we have visited.

Bangkok, Thailand; Bangkok or Krung Thep which means the City of Angels was constructed in 1782 or 227 years ago.
Presently, Bangkok has approximately 10 million populations and it is considered one of the biggest
Cities in the world. Bangkok is host to some of the regions most historically significant and visually astounding architectural landmarks.

The three stately Chedi of Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, a royal temple built in 1491 that honors three 15^th-century kings.

Wat Phra Kaeo is one of the world’s great sights. It serves as the royal chapel and no monks live there.
Wat Phra Kaeo was built in 1782 or 226 years ago. The Emerald Buddha sits atop an 11-meter tall gilded
altar, protected by a nine-tiered umbrella. 

The Emerald Buddha is in reality carved from a large piece of green jade. According to a reliable chronicle, in 1434 A.D. the Emerald Buddha was founded in a Chedi in Chiangrai in Northern Thailand. Later on it was brought to Lampang province by King Samfangkaen and remained there for 32 years, until 1468 when Chiangmai had a powerful king, King Tiloka had the Emerald Buddha brought to Chiangmai.

The Grand Palace and Wat Pra Kaeo is the city landmark on a huge compound.   The whole area is surrounded by the big white wall. The Grand Palace has an area of about 1.5 square kilometers and includes the Royal Chapel, the Royal collection of Weapons, the Coin Pavilion, and small Museum containing artifacts from the Grand Palace.

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha or Wat Pho (Wat Phra Chetuphon in Thai) is an important landmark in Bangkok in the Rattanakosin Area. Visitors can enjoy the beautiful Buddhist fine arts and the existing Thai intellect which has descended from ancient times, taken as an Immortal carrier of knowledge.

Wat Arun-Temple of the Dawn is mostly known as a landmark of Bangkok. It is classified as a principal class royal Temple. It is an old Temple, built in the days of Thailand’s ancient capital of Ayutthaya and originally known as “Wat Makok”.

I always walk down street to look at the things people sell, I saw a lot, shirts, shoes, socks, clips, souvenirs’, necklaces, and the most thing that surprises me is that I saw a gun, they are selling it on the street side, I wonder if it is a true gun or not.

On our third day, we went to the dentist, he wanted to put crown on his tooth, and I also had a check up coz my tooth is aching. The dentist first x-ray and cleaned my teeth, he said I must come back the next day to extract my wisdom tooth, coz its affecting my other molar tooth and has cavities that’s why its aching. Then the next day we came back, but I never expected that, it would be so painful, why? Imagine all the drillings and pulling I encounter, it makes me sick. They made it about for 2 hours, and 4 injection of painkiller. Huhuhu…if I ever knew I will not do it…I only eat soup, different kinds of soup up to 3 days and my face is still swelling, so I can’t go out to have a tour…I’m tucked in bed and hotel room…waaaahhhhh….pity me. On the fourth day after that, I’m already tired and bored of our room, so I decided to go out and go to the mall even though my face is still swelling.

Then Sunday morning, June 7, I went to the airport to go back to Philippines.

One thing that I learned, never go to the dentist to have a minor surgery in your vacation, it will just ruined your tour..waaaaahhhhhhhh….

‘Suvarnabhumi’ Meaning ‘a Golden Land’. ‘Suvarnabhumi’ is the new airport’s name graciously blessed by His Majesty the King on September 29, 2000.
‘Suvarnabhumi’ denotes a fertile land where inhabitants live peacefully as well as a business hub from which the economy thrives.

The new airport has an initial capacity of 45 million annual passengers, 76 flights an hour and over 3 million tons of cargo. It has 2 runways with a distance width of 2,200 meters, each 3,700 meters and 4,000 meters long, able to accommodate A380. Also included are 51 aircraft stands with aerobridge gates of which 4 are designed to handle the super jumbo Airbus A380 and 69 remote parking bays and 2 car parking buildings connected to the passenger terminal to serve over 5,000 cars. A gross 563,000-square-meter area is set for an assortment of 24/7 Duty Free shops. The completed project will feature 4 runways totally, resulting in an ultimate capacity of 100 million annual passengers, 112 flights an hour and 6.4 million tons of cargo.

At last our plane came, hurray!! But, hrrrrr…still we have to wait another 50 minutes coz they are checking the plane. I know its necessary coz it’s for the passengers good. Time to board the plane, I’m excited of course, silly but it’s my first time to go out of the country even just for a vacation. I found my seat beside the window, I like sitting beside the window coz I can see the things down the plane.

Then we flown into the sky, nervous, excited, I don’t I know what to feel…ahhhhh..I want to shout when our plane is having turbulence and when it’s going up and down, I can feel that my whole soul is lifting and coming out of my senses, oh my God!! The weather that time is not so good that’s why it’s rough.

Then it was ok, ah I feel relief thank God. I saw this man sitting in front, first row. I saw him before at the ticketing booth, he talked to me and I’m happy coz at least my flight was not boring at all. He is an Israeli, having a vacation trip, he already did have a round tour in the Philippines so he’s next stop is Bangkok before he went home. It was a nice conversation, by the way he is married so no space for me..hehehe..just kidding.

Anyways, I heard the attendant said we are going to land in a few minutes. WOW! BANGKOK HERE I COME!!! We landed just in time, then got off the plane, walk and walk and walk, oh by golly this airport is so long..I’m already tired. At last, the immigration again, checking the passports and everything, then she said go back and fill up this form using ball pen not pencil, such stupid of me, I should have fill it up using ball pen when I was on the plane. Then fell in line again. Oh thank God, I’m through. Got my luggage and went to the exit. Then I just look up for my fiancée, he went there a day earlier coz in Norway it has already a straight flight to Bangkok. I was in the last exit so I have to walk and walk again, until I saw him..oh my thank you.

He did not recognize me at all, but its ok coz at least I saw him, my eyes is clear enough..hehehe…Then we went to our hotel named Royal President Bangkok. By the way he invited me to have a holiday there; he too is having a holiday, for 8 days.

That is my first story, I will tell you next time what places we visited in our holiday.

For you that have never attended a Cruise I want to provide some background information. A Weekend or Mini Cruise is basically one, two or three night on board a luxury ship going from one port to another and returning. The marked for Mini cruises have increased at high rate for the last years and now you have offerings in Europe and the US that cost only from USD100 and up. Some packages includes 3 meals a day and for some packages you have to pay for your food.

My experience is that this Cruises now are really good value for money. You get 5 star hotel standard at less than 40% of comparable hotel rates. The ship included a big hotel with maybe 2500 rooms, in my case the ship had 12 restaurants and a few hamburger bars. So you can eat cheap or 6 course gourmet meals depending on your mood and your wallet.

My trip lasted for 2 night. The ship had 2 fantastic shows every evening and a number of other entertainments. There was a 160 meeter long shopping street inside with a number of tax free stores, a swimming pool and a cinema. I specially enjoyed the Massage and the bubble bath in the Spa and Fitness Center. I also tried the Sauna and spend a few hours in the Gym.

On my boat they did not call it Swimming pool, it is called Aqualand. It is a range of pools and fun for kids and grown ups. Really cool. For the younger population the boat also had Adventure Planet, Teen Plaza and Kids corner. For some adults the Casinos are very popular.

Since 1990 the cruise industry has grown at an average annual passenger rate of 7.4%. By year end 2009 the cruise market will reach 16 million annual passengers worldwide. Looking forward to 2011 that number is projected to reach 17.9 million.

Have you ever been to a Cruise or want to attend a Cruise. Please tell me about it by leaving a comment below.

But speaking of summer escapade, at least we got to go for a swim last Sunday, and the weather on that beach is still fine. We left home at 3pm and we arrive at the place at 5pm, it’s a bit far but that’s fine.  The beach doesn’t look like Boracay or Bohol with white sand and blue green clear water, but we don’t care, our happiness and the children’s happiness is the most important for us. Check out this picture of my cousins, aunts, nieces and friends having fun on the beach.

Now you see it’s always good to have a bonding with family and friends once and for all, we left the beach at 10pm and arrived at home by 12 midnight, but at least we’ve done it without any problem and bad weather, were still lucky.

 Don’t you have any summer escapades, if you have, send it to me and I will post it, so that everybody can check it out. Good luck..