[Project Aware] the shark's life ain't easy

Hey there! We have been in love with what Mother Nature has been offering since time immemorial.  We fell in love with her more when we started diving in 2007.  The biodiversity under the sea is just breathtaking. Both of us enjoy seeing fishes, corals and the likes.  But nothing is comparable to the feeling whenever we see a gliding Stingray, a gigantisaur turtle, a sleeping cuttlefish, and a wandering shark.  However, this may not be the case for the future generations to come. According to Project Aware:Nearly one out of five shark species is classified by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as Threatened with extinction. That doesn’t even include hundreds of species (almost half of all sharks)...

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Posted in: Project Aware

The Day The Mountain Changed Us

04 August 2011.  2 days before our trip.  After seven months of planning and four months of saving, we're finally packing all our stuff preparing to climb Mount Kinabalu.  We have to exercise our packing skills so we can fit all our stuff into a 40L backpack and a 30L backpack :D Mount Kinabalu or Gunung Kinabalu in Malay, is a prominent mountain (13,435 feet asl) located in the island of Borneo. Mount Kinabalu was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. 06 August 2011.  We had dinner and a few drinks with couple of our friends.  After the usual Friday night out, we decided to spend the next few hours at Changi since we were hoping to tour around our favorite airport.  However, the check-in counters are...

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Posted in: Anniversary,Kota Kinabalu,Mountain,Sabah

Back Issue: Pahiyas Festival - A Way of Giving Thanks

When : 15 May 2009 Where: Lucban, Quezon, Philippines The Girls with Kiping My cousins invited us to witness the annual Pahiyas Festival held in their province. According to Mr. Wiki, Pahiyas Festival is celebrated every 15th day of May and is in honor of St. Isidore (San Isidro), the patron saint of farmers. During this time of the year, street of houses are adorned with agricultural products and the famous kipings. Kiping is a decor painstakingly prepared rice shaped into a leaf which can be eaten later on either by frying or grilling :D In the duration of the festival, families would display their harvests outside creatively to let their priest bless them. Families would also compete for the title of the best decorated house, and...

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Posted in: Festivals,Philippines,Quezon

Back Issue: Hard Rockin' Bali

Date:  June 04-06 2010Destination:  Bali, Indonesia We joined the post summer get-away of our Kaladkarin friends.  We originally wanted to avail the free and easy package (3D2N Hard Rock Bali) from Take Me To Travel.  The package inclusions are as follows:R Two-way airfare (SIN-DPS-SIN) via Qatar Airways R Return airport transfersR 2 nights stay @ Hard Rock Hotel R Welcome bucket (beer/softdrink) R Head and Shoulder massage (30mins) R 15% off F&B, spa treatment and all merchandises Unfortunately, there were no available seats for the Qatar flight.  We decided to book our own flight and avail their Land Package instead (everything above, minus the plane transfers :P) When we arrived,...

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Posted in: Asia,Bali,Indonesia,Kaladkarins

The Big Two!

August 08, 2008They became an official 'couple' when the Beijing Olympics was opened (hence, the name of the site :P).  As itchy as their soles could ever be, they decided that every year, they will have a "quality time" trip together (domestic or international) to celebrate their hatching days and their anniversary.  Their first plan for an anniversary trip was a backpacking trip to Bicol.   August 08, 2009 ...and the backpacking trip did not materialize... It didn't work out because he had to go to Singapore for a work trip.   But when the universe conspires, there will be a way.  A week before their anniversary, she booked her ticket to Singapore for two reasons, and one of them is to celebrate their first...

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Posted in: Anniversary,Asia,Dive,Thailand,Travel