Apol the Great

We recently had no choice but to move out of our apartment. Termites have long established its colonies within the wood structures of that unit and it is only now that the owner finally decided to have it renovated.

We were offered a nearby unit that is smaller in size which we accepted after renegotiating a lesser monthly rental fee.

One of the first discomforts we initially encountered in our new apartment is installing a light bulb over the stairs. The location is in the middle and hard to reach. Floor lamps might be more suitable and might enhance that part of the house.

Our new apartment seemed designed for less use of appliances. Each room has only one electrical socket, allowing only two appliance to be plugged good enough for each of our electric fans and laptops . We had a hard time deciding to ditch our table lamps or risk tripping with extension chords.

Home lighting is just among the many discomforts we had to endure by our transfer. But we are ready to look beyond that and the ensuing period of adjustment.

We really loved our current location. It is a common point to our workplaces. It is within the vicinity of vital establishments such as the wet market, public transport terminals, hospitals, utility offices and the likes.

After all in real estate and in business, its location, location & location.

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Nogas Island, Anini-y, Antique

Nogas Island is an uninhabited marine sanctuary located at Anini-y, Antique Philippines. Since it is a protected area, visiting Nogas Island is regulated. To go there, you must register first at Sira-an Hot Spring, where you need to pay a P10 environmental fee.

Boat ride to Nogas Island, Anini-y Antique Philippines

Nogas Island is just about 15-20 minutes boat ride from Sira-an Hot Spring. A medium size motorized boat can be rented for P500 and it can accommodate up to 10 persons. As you will see, we were provided a life vest as a safety precaution.

Snorkeling at Nogas Island, Anini-y Antique

To enjoy the trip to Nogas Island, it is best you bring your snorkel set. If you don't have one, you can rent a set from Sira-an Hot Spring. There's only 4 sets available though.

There's a light house in the island and to go there, you will pass through this Frangipini (Kalachuchi)-lined pathway. It's beautiful! This place should be named Kalachuchi Island. :-)

Nogas Island Light House, Anini-y, Antique

I'm not sure if it's allowed, but since it's open and there's no guard around, we decided to climb the light house stairs and see what's up there.

Be careful though in climbing the stiff stairs to avoid hitting your head on the ceiling like what happened to this gorgeous lady with me in the picture.

The view from Nogas Island ligh house is great! We actually stayed there I think for almost 30 minutes just taking pictures.

While Nogas Island is not as exciting like Coron and Panglao, it is an alternative in case you're looking for a place to visit this summer.

Visit Nogas Island! Pilipinas, Tara na!

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Sira-an Hot spring is located at Anini-y, Antique. It serves as the entry point if you want to visit the Nogas Island.

Sira-an Hotspring and Health Resort needs to improve the place if they want to attract more tourists, particularly in the cleaning department.

I was in Antique last week and was able to visit Sira-an Hotsrping. There's a a swimming pool there but opted not to swim. It's dirty and I need not elaborate.

Cottage rate starts at P150 and there's an entrance fee of P20. We have grilled tuna and grilled pork for lunch.

Nogas Island view from Sira-an Hotspring

After lunch, we rent a boat to bring us to Nogas Island. The boat rent costs P500 and it's already good for 10 persons. You can also rent snorkel set for P200. They only have 4 sets though.

After few hours at Nogas Island, we went back to Sira-an Hot Spring to have shower, but not after dipping in at a small sulfur pool, which is a bit cleaner than the main pool.

Sira-an Hot Spring, I think, is government-owned resort. For more information about Sira-an Resort, you may contact 0918-2691099.

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Brgy. Caromangay in Hamtic, Antique celeberated the feast of their patron saint, St. Vincent Ferrer, last week (April 14-15). An officemate who lives there invited us to their place and we were there last week, my first time to visit Antique, Philippines.

Pink and Jean dancing like there's no tomorrow

I was pretty amazed how Brgy. Caromangay celebrated their fiesta. People there really loves to dance. There's a 2-night baile at the plaza. Guys need to pay entrance fee amounting P20 and P10 for girls. There was also a dance derby contest participated by diffirent dance group from Antique.


Hamtic Antique is just an hour drive from Iloilo airport. It's the town connecting Antique to Iloilo.  We arrived in Hamtic, Antique Thursday night, just in time for the baile. We stayed in Antique for 3 nights and 2 days.

View from Nogas Island Lighthouse

On our first day, we went to Sira-an Hot Spring early morning. The resort is not that good but seems to be famous for the locals. It's actually the entry point if you want to visit Nogas Island, which we also visited in the afternoon of the same day. With a little work, I think Nogas Island may attract more tourists and help improve tourism in Antique.

San Jose is the Capital of Antique, Philippines. On our second day, I asked some of my officemates to go to San Jose using a public transportation for some adventure. Our host was a bit worried as we may get lost but I assured them we can manage. And we did! :-)

It only took about 30 minutes bus ride from Hamtic to San Jose. Our first stop was at Gaisano Grand Mall. I was hoping to find a souveneigr shirt there, but without luck. And since there's no network signal in Brgy Caromangan, we spend some 30 minutes at an internet shop inside the mall to check emails and of course, facebook. We also searched for places to visit in Antique. But because we have limited time, we only target those located in San Jose. Most of the tourist destinations in Antique are outside San Jose.

From Gaisano Mall, we went to San Jose Cathedral via tricycle service. I asked the driver to just wait for us and tour us within San Jose. He's friendly and didn't even negotiate for the price. We gave him P350 for the service.


After short prayer at the Cathedral, we went to Binirayan Sports Complex, the site for the Binirayan Festival. Since there's no event there, we didn't stay there long.


I asked our driver to bring us to a place where we can buy souveneigr shirts and pasalubong. He brought us to Antique Masonic Center and there's indeed a souveneigr shop there! :-) I bought an Antique shirt for P200. We also had the chance to see the meeting place of Masons in Antique.

Our last stop before we went back to Hamtic was at Kammea Resort, still in San Jose, Antique. We paid P10 entrance fee to see the place, have some refreshments and took pictures. If you've been to Boracay, Panglao and Coron, you will of course not appreciate the beaches in San Jose.

The Gang with Alejandro Family

We enjoyed our short stay in Antique, specially the fiesta celebration in Brgy. Caromangay - nice people, baile and the food! Thanks to Alejandro Family for being such a wonderful host!

I hope to visit Antique again for the Binirayan Festival. 

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I've been to Roxas City only once. That was on December 2010 when I went with friends on a post Christmas adventure to Capiz. I really don't have any idea of places to visit in Roxas City before this trip. It was because Roxas City is known as the Seafoods Capital of the Philippines that motivated to join the trip.



What we didn't know is that prices of seafoods in Roxas City during the month of December is pretty much like that of in Metro Manila. It is not cheap! But they say during summer, price of seafods in Capiza is really friendly.

Jay and Pink at Roxas City Airport

But because I'm with the company of good friends, the trip was full of fun just the same.
From Roxas City Airport, we went to Tina's place for lunch lunch. We were served with a sumptous Gintaang Manok, Adobo and fresh buko juice! Nothing beats home cooked food!


On the way to Tina's place, we passed through sugar cane plantations and saw Capiz Sugar Central. Passing through this narrow and muddy road in between sugarcane fields made me realized a lot of things. Farmers do all the hardwork and yet they end up with less. I see injustice left and right. No wonder there's a strong presense of NPA in Capiz.

When I told some friends that I'm going to Capiz, the common comment was what's there to visit in Capiz? Aren't you afraid of wak-wak, aswang and the likes? Such is the reputation of the place but there is really nothing to be afraid of. Well, at least based on my experience.


From Tina's place, we went on a short Capiz tour before checking in at San Antonio Resort. There are many interesting places to visit in Capiz but since we're there for a couple of days, we weren't able to visit much. A trip to Olutayan Island should have been a great adventure but we did not push through due to strong waves. December is not a good month to visit Roxas City really.

Panay Church

We visited Panay Church and Balisong Cave. We also went to Agtalin Church in Pilar Capiz. The beach in Roxas City is just ok. Not the type of what you will see in Boracay, Coron, Palawan or Panglao Island. And it's a good thing San Antonio Resort has a nice pool and a lake good enough for kayak and boat riding.

Agtalin Shrine

At the Roxas City Airport, you'll find a tourism desk there where you can ask information. From the brochure I got from them, here's some of the places to visit while in Capiz, which we failed to do:

Cascofamco (Ivisan) - factory of making oil, soap and other accessories. Not sure though why it is a tourist destination. :-)

Butterfly Garden - you can observe the life cycle of butterfly. It's not for us. But if you're going there kids, it may be a good destination.

Artist House - located in Pilar Capiz. I don't know what's there. Sorry. :-)

Pontevedra, Capiz - go there for hillside hiking and horseback riding.

Visit Roxas City, Pilipinas, Tara Na!

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It's not new but I'm sure not everybody knows about secured Facebook browsing. So I'm making this post to spread the word on how to have a secured Facebook session.

Noticed the https encicrcled on the above image? By default, your Facebook session is set to unsecured browsing session (http) - without the "s". https stands for "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a technology protocol developed with secure, safe Internet transactions in mind. With secured Facebook session browsing, it minimizes the possibility of getting your Facebook account hacked.

To set your Facebook account for secured browsing, simply log on to your account, and edit your account security settings. However, if you're using third party applications like Friendly for iPad, this may not work.

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