Happy Trip Tatay..

I was informed by my sister that our Grand Daddy died last Tuesday, April 17, I was at work then. I was not really surprised when I heard the sad news ’cause I know Tatay was long sick but we never anticipated that it’ll be this soon. I was just lucky enough that I was off from work the next day so we were able to visit him at my parent’s house at Tondo.

I took this photo the first time we visited him.

Huling lamay was scheduled last night and I was off from work again luckily. I was just informed so late that  it was already 1 in the morning when I arrived. We had bid Tatay our last goodbyes earlier this morning at LaLoma Cemetery in Quezon City with the whole family. We were all in white in respect for Tatay.

Dance with my Father : Luther Vandross

This was being played while our relatives were giving testimonials, it triggered my tears to pour 😦

I’m usually scared in people in coffins but for my Tatay, I did not feel those goosebumps I usually feel about other people or just the thought of people in coffins. Oh well, there’s always an exemptions. Tatay is an exemption..

Goodbye Tatay.. We know that you’re happier wherever you are right now. You will not feel any pain now since you’ll be with our almighty God. For sure you’ll always look after us. We will always love you and you’ll be miss by many. See you when I see you again Tatay.. HAPPY TRIP! 😦

Pottermore: They’re opening for everyone Ü

After ages of waiting for this day to happen.. It finally arrived. Pottermore was opened to public already! Hooray! I learned it from a Twitter friend who shares the same interest, May Cho. I got so excited that being at work didn’t bother me enough not to register the same day I knew about it. Looked left then right, hoping no one would see me typing an unrelated site at work. Haha! Jaraaaaaannnnnnn..

Before, the sign up link was nowhere to be found, but hey look at that. I followed the instructions to create a profile and little did I knew that the usernames will be provided from the site. I had long thought of the username I wanted to use however I was given the oddest usernames that I would thought of. You will be given 5 usernames to choose from. I chose MistFrog1721 for it was the only one that sounds good to me. The others are just like crazy, I forgot what were those though. There.. registered.

I received this mail confirmation from the email address I registered. My excitement was crashed by this because I need to wait for another email to have full access on the site. Waited.. Waited.. Waited.. but the wait seems ages again so I decided to just check the next day hoping that it would not take long like the website was opened for public use.

I’ve checked early morning the next day and found this email from my box. Finally!  Full access.

This is how it would look like after you logged in on the site. You will be literally in the story itself since the site was based to the actual books. As shown on the homepage, you will be able to relive the adventure for it will let you explore all chapters from each book. Each chapter would have an interesting fact from the author, J. K. Rowling that was never been heard or published before. First hand information at it’s best. See the yellow scribble at the homepage? That’s J. K. Rowling’s signature. Cool ayt? 🙂

I was given my initial funds to shop at Diagon Alley for the things that I needed to get started, I was given a list by the way. See, I’m 500 Galleons richer. Hehe! I really enjoyed shopping for books and magical stuff. First years are permitted to bring along  a pet that you could also buy at Diagon Alley. I was torn between an owl and a cat because Harry have an owl named Hedwig for a pet. I ended up buying a Siamese Cat because I didn’t like the colors of the available owls at Eeylops Owl Emporium. By the way, you will have 3 options for a pet, either an owl, a cat or a toad. Lame part was, there was no option to name your pet.

Next stop was fetching your wand at Ollivanders, this is the most exciting part of shopping for me. Hehe!

Here’s my wand. Ash with Unicorn Core, Nine and Three Quarter Inches 🙂

I’m all set so off to the train station we went. The trip on the Hogwarts Express was fun too, collecting chocolate frog cards and magical books 🙂

This was the most exciting part of the first chapter. Being sorted by the Sorting Hat to a certain house. There were questions that were given to gauge an applicant’s personality as to which house you’ll belong. I was so excited about answering the questions and was nervous about the house I’ll be in.

So there.. I was placed in HufflePuff. Mixed emotions for me, I was really thinking that I would be better off to Gryffindor because of Harry of course. I was reading about my house’s details and I’m pretty sure that I’ll learned to love it on the long run. I’m learning to cast spells and to brew potions already which is the fun part 🙂

This is my current profile 🙂

I would not give specific details on how the website goes anymore for it will be just a spoiler to those who are planning to register. I want them to experience it for themselves of course. The only thing that’s so disappointing about the site is that the only available book to explore is the first book: The Philosopher’s Stone. I bet that it will take ages again for the second book to be available.. but I’m still hoping it wont.

My Top 3 Places For Summer Ü

I’m not pretty sure if I’ll get the chance to get a vacation this summer since work consume most of my time and for such lame reasons.. I can’t get a leave. There.. end of argument so I decided to blog about the places I want to spend my suppose to be summer escapades. Hoping that my fairy Godmother would read this and make my wishes come true. Ü

Aside from the overrated Boracay, I want to explore the Philippines’ wonders of nature so first on my list is Palawan. My friend had her vacation in Dos Palmas Resort last summer, saw the photos she uploaded from her Facebook account and I was like so envy and dying to be there right at that moment. As I read, they have recreational facilities like basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, badminton, billiards, scuba diving, snorkelling, kayaking, windsurfing, island hopping and fishing. So it’s like all in one right? I so love those nipa huts that’s situated along shore.

2nd stop would be Camiguin, the island born of fire. I love the fact that it’s like so far away from the urban that it feels like you are kissing nature. I’ve read that they have untouched coastlines and is dotted by hot and cold springs. You can also go trekking volcanoes, explore trails and caves and be mesmerize with majestic waterfalls. This is good for nature trippers like me. Ü

This is one of their cold springs

Hot springs of course..

Panglao Bohol for my number 3. As they quote.. “From sun-kissed hills to underwater wonders to exotic wildlife, Bohol is a tropical sanctuary of natural beauty.” Indeed it is. This is known for diving and tourist resorts. I really want to learn how to dive. I have a friend who once worked in Cayman Island. She learned how to dive there and now I think she’s a licensed diver already. The thought of getting closer to marine life excites me so much. So much for my dream-in-transforming-into-a-mermaid syndrome. Haha!

Those are my 3 top choices to beat the summer heat. I am such a loser to not even had a chance yet to soak this time of the year while everybody had gone already to the beautiful beaches and resorts not only in the Philippines but from other countries as well. Notice that the places I chose for this blog post are places from the Philippines well in fact that I can choose places from outside of my country. Reason is.. I want to explore more of our own wonderful places. As the famous saying goes.. “Wag maging dayuhan sa sarili mong bansa.” I don’t know if I got that correctly but it’s the thought that counts. LOL! So there.. I just wish that Fairy Godmothers do exist so that I can make this happen.