it's a wrap! south african adventure

1) Safari

We went to a safari game drive at Pilansberg National Game Reserve. Stayed at Bagkatla with Judy, Carla and I in the Executive Safari tent while the others stayed at the chalets -- houses! This is what our vehicle looked like. =)

Inside our Executive Safari Tent... The door at the end is the entrance to the bathroom. It has a bathtub..a big one!

2) Giraffe, lion cubs and penguins

Went to Johannesburg zoo with Paula and Luis while I went to Lion park with Sue, Jason, Emma and Ray. Fun feeding the long-tongued giraffes! Icky and slimy but I was there for the experience. Hehe..

Baby lions (cubs) which are 3 months old. after 7 months more, they are as huge as their mommies and daddies. 

I love the penguins in Boulder's beach in Cape Town!!!

3)  Cars

In Jo'burg, there are taxis that are Mercedes. Haha, I tried one. Same same. Anyway, cars in joburg comprise of ferrari, bmw, mini cooper, mercedes, audi and other expensive cars! Rare do you find Asian cars like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And feeling rich, we went car store hopping.. they advertise the cars Investment cars. In Cape town, not much bmws and mercedes. 

Can I take this home? Well maybe the mini cooper instead. Cash.

4) Europeans

-- Lots of European and anything caucasian.. touring the African continent.. Backpacking is the thing to do!!!

5) Drinks and Food

In the office (client site), a beer bar is opened at 4:30 to 6pm free flowing drinks. Served with nuts and popcorn.

They have pizzas that have bananas or avocados on top. 

Biltong is their beef jerky kinda thing. Haven't tried it (yeah, my braces might get off).

6) Right Hand Drive

I did drive on the left side of the road on the right hand side of the vehicle. I drove a Volkswagen polo in Jo'burg and Toyota yaris in Cape town. Company paid! Europcar i love! =) Not the best picture of me but anyway..

7) Friends

Everyone thinks I'm Chinese. Chinese folks who toured me in Cape Town treated me to 2 dinners. 1 Yummy seafood dinner with special platter of sushi and maki because Vivian's bf is a chef and the Jap chef was their friend. How lucky! And 1 Traditional Chinese dinner with them. Food was really the traditional Chinese food. Sorry, I am now confirming that I REALLY like the NON-traditional Chinese food.

Friends over at the Montecasino in Jo'burg.

8) Culture

Fascinating is that they call traffic lights Robots (because they dictate traffic) and use To Let instead of For Rent.

Lots of these signs in Joburg in Sandton City (think Global City The Fort in Taguig).

9) Casino and Stellenbosch (Wine Festival)

Went to Montecasino around 3x. Love the concept about the fake sky. In Cape town, we went to Grand West. But I like Monty better. They say the Ceasar's Palace in Jo'burg is way better.

At the wine festival in Stellenbosch (one of the wine places to go! Think 1 Napa Valley..)

10) View and Sunsets

I love Cape Town, the view, the table mountain (super!!!), the beaches, the garden route (well it is the Eastern Cape of South Africa). I do not have any good pictures of the garden route.. but it was really amazing.. imagine the route from LA to San Fran with all those wineries..

The sunsets are very very warm. Very very orange.. Even the sunrise is wonderful...

The table mountain in the background.. AMAZING.

One of the villages in Cape Town. Most difficult places to have a home. Only walking the stairs -- hiking actually-- will enable you to reach the houses. Water and electricity is scarce. Good luck!

Very windy at the top of the rocky hill in Cape of Good Hope.

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The next FIFA World cup 2010 will be held in South Africa. Soccer/Football is very popular and you will find lots of stadiums, though I did not have the time to watch one. Too bad. Is there a next time? 

Cape town has a warmer weather than Joburg nevertheless, it is cold. But at least you can take off your jacket at noon. In Joburg, you really can't!

They are changing the names of the roads to accomodate Black people names.

Nelson Mandela is a celebrity than the other A-list stars of Hollywood. Traffic stops they say when he is around. With other celebrities, people just whisper and gossip. Hohoho. 

Roads are clean and wide just like America. You can survive with a map only and no need for GPS. Easy driving since road signs are also clear (except those going to Pilansberg hehehe).

I would love to go back. =) Krueger park, Mozambique, Swasiland, Durban, Etc. So many things to do!!!

safari weekend

-- the fact that i have my first adventure on my first weekend is sooo good..
-- have that elephant moment with 3 argentinians
-- lovely dinners with sue's family, joey, carla, luis, paula, peggy and husband, mario...
-- saw giraffes and other animals...which are not malnourished....
-- game drime in the morning... SO COLD! 2 degrees. and it is as if you are holding ice even when your hands are inside your pocket.
-- blow-minding by mario and carla
-- thomas is the favorite ranger of everybody ahehe.
-- 137kph with 80kph limit by mario
-- sun city has 4 hotels, 1 entertainment center and casino.. it has a big pool and hmmm...imagine splash island..
-- didn't go to the palace hotel... have to pay to enter. it must be really amazing..
-- slept in a safari tent...executive safari tent at that! hahaha..yep with the big tub and all... but not heater..ehem.
-- fave person si judy. nakow. ilang beses pinag-usapan dahil dun sa directions papunta sa bagkatla.. sorry kelangan ko sabihin sa tagalog.

- i love the warm sunset... such magnificence...

-- the big five are... rhino, leopard, lion, elephant, giraffe? ugh..i forgot.

culture
-- mate (tea) with a special cup and metal "straw" to drink -- argentinians
-- "shame", "just now", "sort it out", "organized" by joburg people
-- que linda, amazing, fantastic by spanish speaking persons...
-- chalets instead of houses...
-- cheeses and wine and salad for dinner
-- mercedes, audi, bmw are the norm here...i am not complaining.. :D
-- it is okay to be outside the house at night... as long as you are in the mall or in your car.. but not walking around the streets... and besides..it is very cold!


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-- hoping that somebody have not gone to cape town.
-- hoping that someboday have not yet gone to mozambique.
-- hoping to do some souvenir shopping in the organic market.
-- hoping that i will not get my nose bleeding because of the english...
-- hoping that they appreciate me for who i am even if i do not talk that much..

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any filipinos out there in joburg?????

looking at the bright side

first few days in johannesburg..

-- 100Rand taxi for what.. 2km??? thought the 2 way trip cost 50Rand (50 * 6 = 300 pesosesoses).. but noooo... 100Rand..50Rand 1 one way only.
-- Mercedes benz are the taxis! imagine taxis are with airbags too. chochal!
-- lotsa accenture folks in the office. mainly for non-HR work.
-- most people are white. seems they even outnumber black people. sorry if racial..
-- most people are white..plus most speak english very fluently.. plus they have that brit accent!
-- and i feel very small here.. me.. small? hahaha.. yep! they must have drunk a lot of cherifer!
-- working hours are working hours. count 8 hours and you can go home.. even at 430pm!
-- it can be very cold. reaches -2 at night with peak of 13 degrees celcius during the day. but no snow hehe.
-- roads are wide like in america. difference is JNB have right-hand driven cars.

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badtrip moment: lost my access pass today when i just used it once yesterday when i went home.
heaven moment: got invited by joey to go with the group on a safari tour. and no, it's not the person who invited but the adventure itself made me happy.. =P

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looking forward to
-- more adventures
-- have more friends
-- shopping (for pasalubong?)
-- try JNB beer or any sabmiller beer
-- more pictures! fyi.. i post pix in my multiply site.. =)

a fine day even without transformers 2

after getting my Acard (yes i found that 8k worth of reimbursable optical allowance receipt and some other receipts!), i met up again with jake who was at the cinema. we thought we were in luck when they said that Acard holders will have a special queue for reserving tickets...

but we were not lucky enough.. we waited for 30 minutes to reach the booth only to decide that we cannot watch it today. there were 2 available seats at the 9pm show but were 20 rows apart. one was right in front of the screen and one at the very back of the cinema. hohoho. if there were seats that were together, it was still at 11pm and megatron will be right at your face (yes, front row seats!) so.. nevermind.

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anyway... on the bright side, it was sale on zara! hahaha. bought that lovely orange scarf and black jacket!!! just in time for south africa (hopefully visa is approved.. i'll get my passport by june 30 2:15pm haha to be exact!). wishing i can reimburse it as winter allowance! even if there is no snow there. --- but yeah, it's cold there..winter season with no snow :( haha, but if i can reimburse, it's okay!!!

the jacket was a sure buy when i accidentally saw last black one. i was trying on the light military green one which i did not totally like because of the color. i prayed for the black one to reappear again since i last held it a few months ago when it was not yet on sale. the attendant told me that there was no other color left except the military greens and the grimace colored ones even in the other branches. i was dismayed.... but i circled the other clotheslines and whoala! it was there!!! i immediately grabbed it and had a little jump. ahihihihi.... i showed it off to jake hurriedly. i was very happy with this treasure. hihihihihihi. what a fine day without transformers. ;)

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different topic..

everybody has noticed my worn and torn out wallet. it's been 2 years. okay.. i'll find one soon. i want the same specs. long. zippered pocket for coins on the outside. buttoned opening. zippered and stretchable pocket on the inside. and lotsa space for cards and receipts. hihi. color and texture should be neutral and simple. esprit where are you? just the right bulk, just the right size. i will find you soon my next precious!

im back

what's up?

-- waiting for south african visa. so.. will i go or..will i go? july 1 is next week!!! hellooooo
-- will be claiming my first club membership in fitness first tomorrow (yabang!)
-- sleeping in the car for an hour or 2 before i hit the gym in the fort. hmmmm..actually sometimes i just shower ithout stepping on the treadmill!
-- wishing that the stocks will go up again! long term planning, here i come!
-- reading celay's blog: http://bellazza.wordpress.com -- all about make up! nice one cel!
-- go signal with seo of verli and ramil. start young! for the 1st million!
-- recent realization: beer tastes like apple juice! THIS is BAD! hahaha.. belly destroyer!
-- still thinking about that currency trading.. but i don't earn dollars! too bad.

that's all for now!

try this...

http://www.paulsadowski.com/NameData.asp

aliw!!!

anawangin and pinatubo and other events

went to anawangin, zambales with spicy dev folks. this was last april 19-20..

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went to crater of mt. pinatubo last april 26..

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check out the pictures in the following links:

anawangin: (kulang pa toh!)

http://spicyadrian.multiply.com/photos/album/3/Anawangin_Zambales_Landscapes

http://icarsper.multiply.com/photos/album/89/Spicy_Dev_Summer_Outing_at_Anawangin_-_April_19-20_2007

http://abbya.multiply.com/photos/album/108/anawangin_day_1

http://abbya.multiply.com/photos/album/109/anawangin_day_2

pinatubo:

http://icarsper.multiply.com/photos/album/92/Conquering_Mt._Pinatubo

http://jazzperez.multiply.com/photos/album/49/Brokebackan_sa_Bulkan_Rated_PG

http://jazzperez.multiply.com/photos/album/51/Mt._Pinatubo_Part_II_of_III

http://jazzperez.multiply.com/photos/album/52/Mt._Pinatubo_Part_I_of_III

http://jazzperez.multiply.com/photos/album/47/Mt._Pinatubo_Part_III

http://valslair.multiply.com/photos/album/54/Mt._Pinatubo_Expedition

http://valslair.multiply.com/journal/item/7/Wheres_the_scalator_at_An_adventure_getaway_conquering_Mt._Pinatubo

http://erwinacoba.multiply.com/photos/album/2/pinatubo

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other links for other events/adventures:

cdcs despidida for fang @ cafe juanita

http://cfang.multiply.com/photos/album/35/CDCS_Despedida

kawen's birthday surprise

http://jazzperez.multiply.com/photos/album/39/Suprise_Para_kay_Kawen

icar's birthday surprise

http://jazzperez.multiply.com/photos/album/32/Surprise_para_kay_Icar

surfing in san juan, la union

http://dmend.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Surfing_in_San_Juan_Resort_La_Union

wok dis way wid malditas

http://dmend.multiply.com/photos/album/2/Binondo_Food_Trip

inbev teambuilding @ palm beach, laiya, batangas

http://goldz6185.multiply.com/photos/album/50/InBev_Team_Building_Palm_Beach_Resort

inbev teambuilding @ corinthians libis

http://goldz6185.multiply.com/photos/album/47/Accenture_InBev_Team_Corinthians_Libis

inbev team lunch out @ mister choi

http://jcsison0227.multiply.com/photos/album/16/Project_InBev_Lunchout

may 27, 2005. some excerpts from a love letter..

actually, eon, i don't have any control of you..pro of course the least you can do with me is be honest everytime. another thing, la lng, i wanna be honest with you about everything. i want you to be my bestfriend and girlfriend but it will all depend on how we treat each other. i want to talk about everything, anything under the sun, but i hope whatever we wil talk about it is for the sake of learning and just being open. sana you'll understand that any thought i share is for that sake. i love you, you know that sana, and if i talk about anything its because: one, because i wanna be honest with you, second, i wanna be open with you, third (and most importantly) because i trust you..meaning whatever i say, i trust you that you won't feel anything against me coz i intend nothing but stay loving to you...haha, baka im not totally right but one thing is for sure.. i always will be for you. although i hope i wouldn't hurt you. it would be hard diba, kasi i am not always at the right vibration with you diba? pero i hope you'll be comforted na hindi ako against you when we're talking about any thought. may diference tyo but i love you and hope it's all that matters...