Oh well.  Where do I start? There were just a lot of realizations on this just recently.  And now coming out from a break up, I felt wiser.  Here are the things that I learned:

1. Actions speak louder than words.  Same goes to no actions and silence.  It all says a lot as compared to words that had been said.  It all ties up together revealing to you what is truly happening.  

2. Follow your gut.  The heart is foolish.  But the gut knows.  Somehow it is connected to your destiny and to your true being.  And when the heart doesn't listen to the gut, that's when we make all the stupid decisions.  You know that tinnie winnie voice in you that tells you that there is and there could be a hope for this.  And so you hope and expect, and you find yourself frustrated and disappointed. 

3. Don't risk a lot on something or someone you're not even sure of.  Need I say more? 

4. Don't get into a relationship casually.  It's easy to get in it, but it could be hard to get out of it especially when there are already feelings involved.

5. When it comes to breaking up, walk out with pride and dignity.  Martyrdom scores high in love, but really seems pathetic. Drop all baggages and go. 

6. Best revenge is to live happier and be a better person.

7. Guys don't usually tell their feelings upfront.  So try to fish for it.

8. Listen with your ears and heart.

Oh well, this learnings on love will just go longer.  And I'm happy I did learn. I loved and lived. And will keep on loving and living.

Pretty amazing Johnny Depp could be very deep and sensible when it comes to love.  But I felt the magnitude of truth in his words.  Now I'm enlightened.  Thank you.

Right.  I think people's emotions change, but love remains.  People get angry, frustrated, upset, but underneath it all, love exist. It's the love that binds it. Feelings might not be there anymore, but deep inside there is still a spark of love that keeps the bond alive.  It never fails to connect people.  Never had.  Never will. 

A friend told me over dinner, that people change.  Knowing that she's just gotten out of a divorce, I understood who she was pertaining to.  Probably she meant it generally.  Either way I got her point.  It's not that it was my first time to hear that line, but something really struck me when she said it.  She said it with heart and substance, coming from experience, she knows what she was talking about.  This really got me into thinking.  People do change.  I don't know if this is true for everyone, but there's a tendency that we all will. 

I just pray to God that if I will change, I will change for the better.  And same for my partner, whoever he is. Hmmm yeah...

I'm sorry Oprah.  I love you but that's just what I discovered.  As a fan, I am shocked. I may not be her number one fan but I respect her and I salute her for living a purposeful life and being a blessing to others.  I had a lot of things that I learned from her.  Like I said, as a fan, I went out on youtube to check on previous episodes of Oprah, that I missed.  And I was glad that youtube gave me what I wanted and more.  It's in the knowledge of everybody, well at least most of her fans know that she no longer has a talk show and she's now busy launching her OWN, that is Oprah Winfrey Network.  While working at it, she could be seen by everybody on her youtube channel.  The catch here is, the vids in the channels are vids of her off stage.  So that's Oprah minus the make up and formal clothes.

The other side of Oprah

                                                           Oprah as we know her

You could see her working out or just cooking in her own kitchen.  It's just interesting to see her in her day-to-day routine.  And I feel bad that she only has few views on her channels.  I think only thousands and not millions considering that she is the Oprah Winfrey and that she has millions and millions of fans out there.  I guess probably huge chunk of her fans aren't youtube-goers, or they don't know that there exist an Oprah channel at youtube.  I don't blame the viewers since there's not much really going on in her vids.  But still I think she deserves more. Just saying.

I didn't notice how intriguing this date was until people were fussing about it in FB.  And I figured, hmmm, right.  So what happens now?  That's just something we don't know.  Psychics, meteorologists, palmists were infusing a degree of mystery to this date.  There's some sort of cosmic realignment and revolution that's happening.  Don't you think it's pretty cool to think that something is happening without us knowing?  Well, a bit creepy.  But nonetheless, makes me feel a bit clueless as to what that is.  Makes me wonder if I should be doing something right now to celebrate this day or just anything that is fitting when the dates are synchronized.   People say that there are a lot of 11's that's popping out of history.  Take for example, the twin towers that look like 11, was hit by airplane flight 11 on Sept, 11.  Weird huh? Was this pure coincidence? We don't know.  Just keeps me wondering, is all.  It's tiring to think about it.  I just might as well, go on and live my life. 

Situated an hour away from the city, Isla Reta is a nice go-to place for beach lovers.  Not only does it have the most wonderful beach it is also quite private.  The sand is reminiscent of Boracay.  Well it is like the famous beach minus the crowd and nice facilities.  What makes people really go here is the beach and the talisay trees that serve as shed for beach goers.

To reach Talicud Island you have to ride a boat from Sta. Ana Wharf.  If you don't know where that is, it's just smacked right beside Magsaysay Park.  All davaoenos know where that is, so you could just ask anyone.  The boat doesn't really have regular timings for trips.  It docks out only when the boat is full.  Boarding time starts from 6am and the last trip is 4pm.  Boat fee here is P85 per person, I'm not sure how much is the charge for kids.  The boat trip will take just about 45mins- 1hour.  It wouldn't be really boring because the scenery itself is entertaining.  Last time we went to the island, we saw some dolphins swimming and jumping off the sea.  So that was really a bonus treat for us.  

By the time we reach the island we hurried off to find our spot.  You could either pay as soon as you arrived or before you leave.  Paying fees are done in the canteen.  There is a girl named Joanne who is in charge of collecting fees.  She's also the one managing the canteen.

So the beach, I don't know where to start.  There's really a lot of nice things to say about the beach.  The sand is really fine and white, reminds me of polvoron.  The ocean is clean.  Although there are some wood and roots floating here and there, it's usually cleaned up by staff there.  The debris are usually found near the docking area, but further away from it, it's clean and clear.  So we got our farthest away from the docking area where sand is finer, water is cleaner.  Too bad there are lots of guests who also choose that spot but it's not really that bad to share.  Besides the place isn't really congested with people so at most times you would hardly see any people taking a dip in the water, which is for me, a bit weird considering how wonderful the beach is.  That's a good example how vanity destroys the fun.

Isla Reta Beach Resort

Ships in Sta. Ana Wharf

Scenery from the boat

View from our Nook

View from our Nook: Samal Island

                                                                           Cottages

Anyways, lucky for me we headed on to a more secluded place in the island.  The moment I saw that nook, I knew that it was my spot.  So the moment we landed we hurried off to conquer it.  Going there was really fun, the adrenalin of just running to go to that place was exhilirating, added there are giggles and teases.  I was with my gay friend so that made it all the more fun.  To reach our place we have to go down some really huge boulders that are not only sharp but a bit slippery.  So we really had to be extra careful.  The moment we stepped on our nook, we were so glad we were alived.  It was well worth it.  The place was ours alone, it even felt like we were contestants in Survivors.  Needless to say, we had good fun.  We lied on the sand under the shed of ipil-ipil trees.  So that's like swimming without getting ourselves sunburnt.   Lunch time came, we ate the food that we brought.  Even though the canteen has some chips and drinks, and we can order there, we figured we would save more if we just bring our own.  

Boats there are available if you wish to go snorkelling in snorkelling spots.  You just need to ask the guard there.  It would range from 1200-1500, that is good for 1hour boat ride.  Ours only cost P500 since I negotiated with the guard.  Everything could be negotiated and we managed to do it.  However we only had it for 30mins. which was totally fine for us since we didn't bring any snorkelling gears, and even if we did, we wouldn't have the guts to do that in deep waters.

If you figured you wanted to stay over for the night. You could for P850 for concrete cottages and P750 for wooden ones.  They also have tents that you could rent for P400 for a night.  There is one guard who is roaming around the beach with the flashlight so you would feel safe.  Oh yeah, the gate closes at around 9pm, so if you wish to buy food or what not from outside of the many stores, you could do that before the closing time.  We were able to go outside past 9pm since I had to have my charger charged.   I did bring the charger with me but I forgot the round socket that had to go with the charger or else I couldn't get to charge it.  So smarty me, I had to ask some people in the beach for that.  But I figured that there is more chances for me to borrow that from people from outside the resort.  And I was right.  The second store we visited had the exact thing that I was looking for.  I asked the manang to have my charger plugged in using their electricity.  I would just have to pay per hour.  And they agreed for P30/hr.  I went back to get it after 2 hours.  By then the gate was closed but I had the guard to accompany me outside.  We just knocked on their closed store and they gave me back my charger. The sweetest part is that they only charged me P30 for 2 hours.

If you wish to have reservations, you could contact Joanne at 09282141487.