dumaguete to bacolod by bus

Bacolod City, is the capital of the Province of Negros Occidental. It is known as the City of Smiles because of its warm, friendly, and hospitable residents. It was also nicknamed as the "Football City of the Philippines" because of its accomplishments and passion for the sport. It is famous for the Masskara festival held every third week of October that is frequented by local and international visitors.

The shortest route from Dumaguete City to Bacolod City is via Mabinay-Kabankalan route which takes approximately six hours; the aircon bus passenger fare is P284. Aircon buses are limited and have specific schedules of departure. When we miss the aircon bus from Dumaguete City, we take the regular bus and get off at Kabankalan City Terminal then board another bus (usually aircon and non-stop) to Bacolod City. Because the bus from Kabankalan is usually a non-stop trip, our total travel time to Bacolod is usually under the usual six hours.


Other routes are via San Carlos City-Don Salvador Benedicto (about seven hours) and San Carlos City-Escalante City (about eight hours). Routes are serviced by Ceres Liner with regular hourly trips daily.

before 2010 ends

This has been a great year even with the trials and challenges. I have learned a number of things and I believe I have grown more mature compared last year. I am excited to face the next year - 2011. I know it won't be that easy but I believe that it would be greater than this year.

God, thank you for being our Father, Lord, and Savior. We, my wife and I, thank you so much for the great year! We look forward to a greater year next year!

To all our friends and acquaintances, a great and glorious new year to you all! May Christ be with you always and may you experience blessings and prosperity in the next year! Enjoy!

sampaguita gardens aklan

Just after Christmas, we decided to travel and spend a night in Sampaguita Gardens Resort and Spa in New Washington, Aklan. The resort is the creation of the Samuel John Butcher, an American artist and creator of the Precious Moments that promote messages of love, care, and of sharing. More than a resort, they feature an all year round celebration of Christmas.

We booked our rooms a few days before Christmas thinking there might be a number of people visiting the resort after Christmas. Getting to Sampaguita Gardens from Iloilo City took us about four hours. We took a the Ceres Tours aircon bus from the Tagbak Terminal in Jaro, Iloilo City. The fare from Iloilo City to Kalibo Aklan was P216 per person. 

Upon arrival in Kalibo bus terminal, we asked around how to get to Sampaguita Gardens. It was not my first time to go to the resort and I recalled there were multicabs going to New Washington. I learned that the multicabs unload passengers only at the town proper and not straight to Sampaguita Gardens. So we decided to take a motorcab. Some motorcab drivers offered to bring us there for P150; which was not reasonable since the resort was just a few kilometers away and there were only four of us. So, we walked a little and got another motorcab and negotiated with the driver. He agreed to a fare of P100. Sampaguita Gardens was located in New Washington, a municipality next to Kalibo. It took us around 20 minutes to reach Sampaguita Gardens. To show our appreciation, we paid the driver P120.

After a few hours of rest in our rooms, we went around the resort to see the sights and take some pictures. To name a few, we visited The Mansion, Jojo's Christmas Cottage, Precious Moments Chapel, Sammy's Circus Ride, Aquarium, Oriental Flavors Restaurant, and the Pool.

Upon check out, the resort offered free transport to the bus terminal and off we went bringing with us precious memories from our short visit to such a wonderful resort.

For more information contact

Sampaguita Gardens Resort and Spa

506 Rizal Street, Poblacion, New Washington, Aklan

Tel # (63) (36) 264-3422

Tel # (63) (36) 264-3474

overjoyed

The Journey of the Magi by James Tissot, 1894

The story of the Magi in the Bible is one which is familiar to most of us. But because we are so familiar with the story we miss out the great lesson we can learn from them. I recently learned that according to Jewish tradition or legend, they were considered to have come from the east possibly Persia. Considering Persia to be their origin and their destination was Israel, it is estimated to be more than a thousand miles and yet they took that journey with a single purpose: to worship Jesus. They knew that Jesus was the fulfillment of a promise given hundreds of years before their time. A promise of salvation to man and redemption. Despite the distance and the hardships along the way, they braved the journey just to come to Jesus and worship Him. Moreover, they did not come with with weary hearts or faces but the Bible says in Matthew 2:10, that when they found the star leading them to Jesus they were overjoyed or in other translations, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Today, where travel is just a few minutes or hours away, do we feel the discomfort and complain or give up our time to worship God? When we are in such situations, let us remember the Magi who never gave up on their journey to come and worship Jesus and more importantly, when they arrived, they were exceedingly joyful.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

new generation of bank notes

image courtesy of philstar.com

I was really excited when I read the Facebook status of message of PNoy yesterday regarding the launch of the new generation of Philippine bank notes. I searched around the Internet for some fresh pictures of the new bank notes and what I found really impressed me. I do hope to really see and get one within the week. 

The new bank notes are impressive. All six denominations (P20, P50, P100, P200, P500, and P1,000) have the same old colors but new designs. The P500 bill now features the late President Corazon Aquino with her husband the late Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. Some marvelous landmarks in the Philippines were also featured such as the Banawe Rice Terraces (P20), Taal Lake (P50), Mayon Volcano (P100), Chocolate Hills (P200), the eight-kilometer Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (P500), and the Tubbataha Reefs National Park (P1,000). Aside from these some important species were also featured such as the South Sea Pearl Pinctada maxima, blue-naped parrot (Tanygnathus lucionensis) Philippine tarsier, butanding (whale shark), maliputo fish, and the palm civet of the Cordilleras.

image from pinoyexchange.com/forums

Indeed the three years work of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has paid off. According to the BSP, the security features of the new bank notes include security threads, fibers, watermaks, invisible fluorescent inks, optically variable ink, microprint, more pattern, and iridescent band. They day that these new bills would make it difficult and more expensive for counterfeiters to produce fake money. I do hope that indeed you will be ahead of the counterfeiters this time. Good work BSP!

divisoria

image courtesy of frs_1111 of flickr.com

My wife and I went through Divisoria the other day to shop and we really had a great time. It still is the best place to shop for cheap but quality shirts, blouses, jeans, bags, accessories, etc. Depending on your haggling skills, you can really purchase a lot for a few bucks. Just be wary of your pockets and belongings and enjoy shopping!

let us recycle

I have heard a number of advocacies on recycling and it is especially tied to reducing waste and creating a better environment. This morning, someone came knocking and was buying plastic bottles and tin cans. We have been saving cans and plastic bottles from the garbage for these past months and thinking of selling it to recycling centers. But, since we did not, so we decided to sell it to the person this morning. We were able to make P25.

There is still a few bucks that can be earned from the trash that we throw. In our country there is not much recycling yet since there are only a few recycling centers but I learned that in Sao Paolo, Brazil they recycle 96% of the aluminum cans they use. I wonder how much of our waste do we recycle? Let's recycle. Less waste. Less pollution.

handling loose bowel

I spent a few days in the hospital a few days ago and one of the things that I learned was when you are suffering from loose bowel movement, the best thing to do is to just let it out and not take loperamide or anything that stops it. In most cases, you had ingested something toxic or not stomach-friendly hence your body is trying to excrete it. After every trip to the comfort room, take hydrite or oral rehydration salts so as not to dehydrate your body. But if the problem persists, visit a doctor immediately.