A lot happened this 2016, it was a year of first times. First April Feels Day, first Heist Club Launch, my first Manila International Book Fair, and first October Feels Day were the highlights in my writing endeavor.
...and I still have a long way to go. Aja!
April
The April Feels Day was the first #romaceclass event I attended and also where I met Elizabeth and Kim. Yay!
June
The Heist Club Launch was the first book launch I was able to attend to. It felt surreal. There were question and answer portion about our books. I was so thankful that I delivered answers during my turn. Heist Club people were amazing, hand-in-hand we could achieve goals set by the group. We also started writing Book 2 of our Heist Club Series and it was set to be launch on the first or second quarter of 2017.
September
MIBF! Finally, I was present during the 37th MIBF. It was a dream come true. Being surrounded by lots of books was like a taste of my addiction to paperback copies.
October
Feels Fest of #romanceclass was a day of kilig and book launch. Once Summer Days was blessed to be one of the books and the 5 minutes given to me at the event to speak about my book in front of readers and writers was nerve-wracking and blissful experience.
I met lots of awesome people because of #romanceclass. Yey! 💕😊
I have 3 self-published books in 2016. Yay! 💕
Yearning for the One - April
Chasing an Elusive Dream - August
Once Summer Days - October
None of these would happen if it wasn't for God's provision. More friends to meet! More stories to write and books to publish!
Fighting!
Arlene
December 28-30, 2016
Kuya Elmar guided us throughout all the activities (thankies Kuya!), though my power bank, connector, and headset experienced tragedy at the beginning, still fighting! (Hoping they would still work 🙏🏼)
We visited a cave at one of the islands in PG.
Island/Beach Hopping
Fish Feeding and Snorkeling
Chillin' at the beach and some photo opportunities before the day ended
Time to buy some souvenirs...
Typhoon Nina hit the Philippines on Christmas day until the 26th of December. There was a storm signal #1 on the 25th in Mindoro and it escalated to signal #3 the next day. We were supposed to visit Masasa beach in Batangas and planned to board on the 27th going to Puerto Galera, but that did not happen.
We felt hesitant to push through with the plan for Puerto Galera before the year ended because of the effect of Bagyong Nina. A lot of pictures flashed on Facebook taken during and after the surge of the typhoon. I suggested that the plan should be moved instead of canceling it. We were supposed to be four, but I guess plans sometimes never really happen. Probably, next time there would four of us or more, for this trip, I was with Arra and it's also our second beach getaway. It was 3 days and 2 nights trip.
1st Day
From Laguna, a van took us to Batangas port. We bought tickets from Puerto Galerians Shipping Lines. Tamaraw express was the name of the boat of PGSL. It was bigger and not too crowded compare to the one from Cagbalete Island. The boat ride felt light this time. The dizziness I experienced last time in Cagbalete Island was gone. I enjoyed the ride this time. The sea seemed endless again and the water looked green, not the blue color I yearned to see.
We arrived at Muelle Port at 11 something, the boat ride took more or less 1 and 1/2 hours. Kuya Boying from Sandra Taylor Lodge fetched us at the Muelle Port. A ride on a tryk took us to the lodge we rented ahead of time at Batangas Port care of Miss Angelic, she was kind enough to give us a discount. We paid 1,000 pesos each for a 3D2N stay at Sandra Taylor's lodge with free transport from Port to White Beach.
We had a look at the White Beach first before deciding what kind of activities should we do during our stay. There were lots of restaurants and carinderia enough to feed a bunch of tourists, souvenir shops for pasalubong and also they had water sports like jetski, banana boat, parasailing and more.
In the afternoon, Ate Baby one of the masseuses roaming around at the beach braided our hair for 125 each. We loved the finished product. And at night, we tried henna tattoo at the Intensity Henna Tattoo. Kuya (I forgot to ask his name) did not give us a discount though we're persistent. Haha.
Close encounter with nature. My favorite part...2nd Day
Kuya Boying, the caretaker of the lodge we checked in, prepared water activities and Island hopping activities. Having a close encounter with sea creatures during fish feeding and snorkeling was the best. The beauty underwater was undeniably just one of the magnificent pictures of nature, though some corals were damaged due to the typhoon surge.
We visited a cave at one of the islands in PG.
Island/Beach Hopping
Fish Feeding and Snorkeling
Chillin' at the beach and some photo opportunities before the day ended
... and also the last, it was time to take our final walk at White Beach. Surely, we experienced one of the best times in our life from the days and nights spent at Puerto Galera.3rd Day
Time to buy some souvenirs...
Waiting at the terminal...
10:14 am to 11:30 am - Batangas Port to Puerto Galera via Galerians shipping lines
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Braiding and Henna
4:00 pm to 6:00pm - Chillin' at the beach like reading, eating snacks
1:20 pm to 2:50 pm - White Beach to Batangas Port
2:50 pm to 3:10 pm - Batangas Port to Stoplight
3:10 pm to 3:30 pm - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
7:25 pm - Finally home...
1st day
130 - Van from City of Sta.Rosa, Laguna to Batangas Port
500 - A round trip ticket from Port to White Beach
30 - Terminal fee
1000 - Sandra Talyor Lodge
125 - Braids by Ate Baby
150 - Henna tattoo by Intensity Henna Tattoo
2nd day
119 - Morning breakfast
600 - Water activities c/o Kuya Boying and Kuya Elmar
50 - lunch
100 - Snacks from passing by vendors at the beach (e.g. fish crackers, chicharon, kropeck, pastillas, banana chips)
15 - a cup of rice for dinner because we have San Marino corned tuna
3rd day
260 - Souvenir and pasalubong (1 sleeveless shirt and 8 pcs. of coin purse + 1)
50 - 9 pieces of macapunong bigas
7 - Batangas port to Stoplight
10 - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
80 - BGT to SM Calamba
23 - SM Calamba to City of Santa Rosa
Lastly, I thank God for His wonderful creations and for guiding us throughout the trip, praying for more places to visit the soonest. Ciao!
Some reminders...
- Confirm your departure date a day before at the White Beach's terminal shipping lines.
- Morning is the best time to board a boat (current are stronger in the afternoon).
- During water-activities avoid bringing electronic gadgets or accessories.
Itinerary
Hello Puerto Galera! (1st day)
7:45 am to 9:45 am - From City of Santa Rosa, Laguna to Batangas Pier10:14 am to 11:30 am - Batangas Port to Puerto Galera via Galerians shipping lines
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Braiding and Henna
DIY Travel (2nd day)
8:00 am to 11:30 am - Water activities4:00 pm to 6:00pm - Chillin' at the beach like reading, eating snacks
'Til next time Puerto Galera! (3rd day)
8:00 am to 9:30 am - Buying souvenirs and pasalubong1:20 pm to 2:50 pm - White Beach to Batangas Port
2:50 pm to 3:10 pm - Batangas Port to Stoplight
3:10 pm to 3:30 pm - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
Afternoon lunch :)
4:10 pm to 6:00 pm - Batangas Grand Terminal SM Calamba7:25 pm - Finally home...
Fare and Activities (in Peso)Expenses
1st day
130 - Van from City of Sta.Rosa, Laguna to Batangas Port
500 - A round trip ticket from Port to White Beach
30 - Terminal fee
1000 - Sandra Talyor Lodge
125 - Braids by Ate Baby
150 - Henna tattoo by Intensity Henna Tattoo
2nd day
119 - Morning breakfast
600 - Water activities c/o Kuya Boying and Kuya Elmar
50 - lunch
100 - Snacks from passing by vendors at the beach (e.g. fish crackers, chicharon, kropeck, pastillas, banana chips)
15 - a cup of rice for dinner because we have San Marino corned tuna
3rd day
260 - Souvenir and pasalubong (1 sleeveless shirt and 8 pcs. of coin purse + 1)
50 - 9 pieces of macapunong bigas
7 - Batangas port to Stoplight
10 - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
80 - BGT to SM Calamba
23 - SM Calamba to City of Santa Rosa
I spent almost 3,300 pesos for the 3 days and 2 nights trip.
Shout out to all the people who were kind enough to tolerate our 'tawad' and inquiries! 😂
Bangon Puerto Galera!
Lastly, I thank God for His wonderful creations and for guiding us throughout the trip, praying for more places to visit the soonest. Ciao!
Lots of things happened during the recent #romanceclass event #FeelsFest last October 22, at Glorietta 5 Atrium in partnership with Ayala Malls.
Reunited with them... ❤️
#FeelsFest is my second Feels Day. Swooned again by the live readings, still in awe with the performances of Rachel Coates, Gab Pangilinan, Herv Alvarez and Gio Gahol.
Scenes read during live readings were from the following books:
The Hometown Hazard by Dawn Lanuza
Sweeter by the Second by C.P. Santi
Tempting Victoria by Mina V. Esguerra
What You Wanted by Mina V. Esguerra
Save the Cake by Stella Torres
Keep the Faith by Ana Tejano
When Sparks Fly by Ines Bautista-Yao
'Holy kamote! He has abs now.' is a personal fave read by Gab Pangilinan with Gio Gahol from the book, Sweeter by the second of Ms. C. P. Santi, one of the stories in Maybe This Time short story anthology. This part of the live readings was hilarious and kakilig.
New Releases!!!
Me, given a chance to say something my book, fighting!
(Photo taken by Kim Derla, thanks!)
20 books were released and launched during #FeelsFest. How about that! Haha. One of my books, Once Summer Days, was fortunate to be one of those new books. Yay! 💕
Meet and greet, yey! Signing books made me blushed.
(Photo taken by Kim Derla, thanks!)
20 books were released and launched during #FeelsFest. How about that! Haha. One of my books, Once Summer Days, was fortunate to be one of those new books. Yay! 💕
Meet and greet, yey! Signing books made me blushed.
A cup of coffee before the day ended. Cheers! ☕️ Hehe.
Drunken with all the feels, I look forward to the next event. February is the set date for another Feels Day. Who's coming?
Ghosts, skeletons, and cobwebs might be
decorating the windows of shops these days, but why give in to fear when you
can celebrate love in October? And why drown your sorrows and stress in beer at
Oktoberfest when you can go on a rollercoaster of emotions at #FeelsFest? At
least that’s what the folks from the #romanceclass community of authors and
readers figure!
Mark your calendars: The #romanceclass
#FeelsFest will be on October 22, 2016,
at Glorietta 5 in Makati. Authors will be on hand to meet readers and sign
books. They’ll be selling indie romance books—many of which you won’t find in
your typical bookstore. There will also be games, giveaways, the launching of over
15 new titles published by indie authors just this month, a book donation drive
for Ayala Malls’ Little Free Library, and the much-anticipated live readings!
In fact, #romanceclass live readings are
show-stealers, thanks to the feels delivered by actors invited to read excerpts
from romance novels. Previous live readings have been punctuated with shrieks
and sighs. #FeelsFest will mark the fifth official live reading event, the last
one held just last month at the Manila International Book Fair. #FeelsFest will
feature new live readings from #romanceclass books. (Visit http://romancepodcast.com/ to get the
audio versions.)
The #FeelsFest live readings will feature
performances by Gio Gahol, Rachel Coates, Hervin Alvarez, and Gabriela
Pangilinan. Expect to hear scenes from books by Mina V. Esguerra, Ines
Bautista-Yao, and more.
“The #romanceclass community is all about
encouraging each other to read, write, and publish books we love,” says author Mina
V. Esguerra, whose books include Tempting
Victoria, What You Wanted, and Iris
After the Incident, all of which and more will be available for sale at the
event. “#FeelsFest is our chance to give back to the community of readers and
friends who’ve supported us. We get to have a little fun, and maybe meet some
new people who love a good love story as much as we do.”
So if you like to hug your hugot close and are addicted to happy
endings, drop by Glorietta 5 on October 22. Selling will begin when the mall
opens, and the official program is scheduled for 2PM to 6PM.
For more information about #romanceclass,
visit http://romanceclassbooks.com,
where you’ll see a catalog of the authors’ books along with other information
about the community. #FeelsFest is brought to you by Ayala Malls.
CONTACT: Mina V. Esguerra
minavesguerra@gmail.com
Twitter, Facebook: minavesguerra
minavesguerra@gmail.com
Twitter, Facebook: minavesguerra
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
