first trip of the year

{what's a trip to Siem Reap without the standard pic of Angkor Wat reflected on the pool?}

Ever since my friends pulled off that trip to Kuala Lumpur without killing each other, it has been our plan to hie off to Cambodia and see Angkor Wat. Or maybe it was their plan and I just adopted it as one of my own, haha. But, whatever, we wanted to go to Cambodia and it was timely that eventually Cebu Pacific offered a direct flight.

And, as with our KL trip, this was a truly spur of the moment, a let's-check-the-website-if-there's-a-sale, and boom, sometime back in August, we found ourselves with affordable tickets to Siem Reap for the last weekend of January.

For some reason, out of the country trips with my Tuloy friends always involve me, Cathy, Ralf, and KEf. This time around, KEf brought his friend, Doc (at least that's what I call him, he's a real doctor, promise!) who fit perfectly with out group. 

You do know when I say "fit perfectly" it means he basically agreed with everything I said, never complained about the food I ordered, and laughed at all my jokes. ☺

According to the websites, January is one of the best times to visit, it being their "small winter". One website even said to bring thick clothes. I'm glad I didn't listen to that advice. It was WARM!!!

On our first full day, Friday (we arrived Thursday evening), I couldn't help but feel giddy-excited. As most of my friends can attest, I'm a city girl - I like traveling to cities, shopping, checking out malls, and walking amidst people hurrying for work. Maybe that's why I loved Kuala Lumpur so much! So I couldn't really explain why my excitement was just way off the charts. 

When I saw my first temple, it just struck me: this was not just traveling to a different country, this was traveling to a different time. People made these with their hands, without heavy machinery, and people made these monuments to reach out to the gods.

And while none of these were made to reach out to the God I worship, there was just something about man's desire to worship a greater deity that struck a chord with me.

And don't let this kid's sweet face fool you. My friends and I were waiting for KEf to finish taking pictures (that ends only when his camera dies on him) when this kid stood in front of me, started counting out postcards in that Cambodian sing-song accented English, repeatedly telling me, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ten postcards for one dollar." At first I was able to resist him. After five or so rounds, I caved in. With the dollar at Php40, I think I can afford ten postcards without a problem. My only condition was that he pose for me.

(I think it was that ear peeking out of his hoodie that did me in. A minute after I snapped this pic, another kid, this time in a pumpkin costume - where he got it i can only guess - did the exact same ruse of counting postcards in English. Gaaaah!!! I feel for the tourist trap!!!)

Now, I'm sure a hundred (thousands!) other bloggers would have better posts about Siem Reap ... for one, I was too amazed at everything that I didn't even take note of the temples that we visited. All I knew was that they took my breath away and that I would want a second go at this lovely country, this time armed with my guide book, more energy to manage the treks, and more time to just pore over every little bit of interesting thing this country has to offer.

my lenten vacation

this year, instead of just doing our usual bisita iglesia, my tuloy friends and i decided to go on a full-fledged out of town trip and went to bicol. as is always the case when i travel with these guys, it was an amazing trip. bullet points:

* the less people, the more manageable the trip. four has always been our magic number.

* pick travel mates who aren't fussy, who share the same interest that you have, and who either take the lead or take a back seat. leave back in manila all those with opinions but never do anything but complain. they're an unnecessary waste of space, hahaha.

* snoring isn't a problem when all of you are crazy tired. everyone will just be dead to the world. and if someone complains about snoring, then leave that person back in manila next time, hahaha!

* if you have a tendency to overpack (like me!) bring a trolley. at least you don't have to carry it all on your back. and you don't have to wait for someone to carry it for you.

* on a 12-hour++ bus ride, sit beside a like-minded person. if you're madaldal, don't sit beside the person who'll be asleep way before the bus leaves alabang viaduct.

* and, oh, bring a pillow + blanket + wear sneakers with socks if you're the type who gets cold. no use giving yourself unnecessary woe when the bus gets deathly cold.

* all it takes is one companion with a dslr camera. your point-and-shoot will see less use than your phone with a data plan.

* research, research, research! and then when you're there, relax. your watch is only to make sure you don't miss your ride. everything else is one vacation time.

♪♫♫ leaving on a jet plane ♪♪♪♫♪

ahhh... ormoc. it brings back memories of my first domestic trip. it was 2007, i had only recently passed the bar, i was majorly in love with this guy but sort of ended up dating his high school classmate, and i was on a high. to be thirty and on top of the world.

when i think of ormoc i think of the time when i brought a luggage so big someone thought i was sharing it with two other girls. i think of the time when i was surprised to see that there's such a thing as an andok's restaurant. and i think of the time when i majorly slipped and fell on my ass before hitting my head on wet concrete. was in embarrassing, yes, but at the same time, i had hoped it would be the perfect chance for the guy i was majorly in love with to come to the rescue. unfortunately, he didn't. hahaha.

in any case, what's up with all the ormoc memories? well, i'm bound for ormoc this coming november and *hopefully* i won't be spending a single centavo. you see, i'm bound to do a lecture for the ormoc chamber of commerce and since it's all about labor law, one of my greatest passions, then it's truly bound to be a blast.

remind me of how fun it was a little over a month ago, please?

cebu was more than a month ago, and as i was uploading pictures to my FB account for my friends, i was reminded of some lovely (yes, i'm entirely subjective) pictures i took while i was there.

while we were waiting for the boat, we decided to make our way to bantayan town and we chanced upon the end of the parade the school had to mark the end of nutrition month. apparently, all the pre-schoolers had a muse-and-escort thing going on and i fell in love with this chubby kid in pink who is THE poster child for a happy and healthy kid. the cuter part? when she saw me taking her pic, she even flashed me a smile! winner!

on our second day, we made our way to virgin island and this was the view from our side of the beach. our boatman said that years ago, a bunch of researchers rented the island to explore the possibility of oil (or some natural resource) and they built this hut where they stayed (or something like that). no sense to the pic really except the fact that i just love the variety of blues and greens.

it was virtually isolated ... exactly my kind of beach!

still, all vacations must come to an end, and this one did early sunday morning. i love how my new camera has this setting for you to easily take pictures from airplane windows. and, when i think about that and the new memories i've made with the new cam, i'm *almost* glad that i had a legitimate excuse to replace the old one.

i'm on a not-so-great mood right now -- i watched a rom-com and i'm feeling all why-am-i-alone-when-i'm-supposed-to-be-fabulous ... *sigh* but, it's all great. after all, all this a month ago, plus boracay less than a month ago ... and, guess what, possibly ormoc two months from now, so it's good, it's all good!

sound of silence

my voice has virtually been non-existent since monday evening and while the lack of speaking voice should not have prevented me from writing (since they are absolutely unrelated), it sort of feels like being unable to speak in the real world has likewise hampered my ability to write here.

either that or i'm just a lazy cow.

in any case, allow me to regale you with pics taken of my attempt at parasailing. as i said before, it was an experience i absolutely loved, and no regrets having spent my hard-earned money for fifteen minutes of flight.

[ready]

[get set]

[go]

p.s. i so wish i took my camera up there with me as the view was absolutely spectacular! while tita celia took a video of me while i was up in the air and during my descent, the boat was pretty noisy and all she was saying was, "pababa na si roxanne" over and over again, which got boring after a minutes, haha! on the other hand, up in the air was absolutely quiet and being the talkative person i was, it wasn't long before i was chatting it up with God thanking Him not only for the blessings that manifested themselves in the weeks leading up to the trip but for the natural bounty below me.

p.p.s okay, fine, i also prayed to God that the rope won't break!

♫♪♪ take me down to the paradise city ♫♪♫♪

while mina is raging outside my bedroom window, i've still got that fabulous white beach on my mind. i mean, who wouldn't right? and i'm not even a beach person.

that boracay trip came to me via cash cash pinoy. yes, i'll admit it: i have a healthy relationship with vouchers and when they put up for sale vouchers for P15,000++ for a 3-days and 2-nights trip to boracay for two with airfare, airport transfers, hotel, breakfast, and a dinner a zuzuni, well, i wasn't about to let go of the chance.

not only was it pretty affordable, i have never been to boracay ever. yep, how's that, right?

thing was, i have zero idea about boracay geography so i didn't mind that the voucher was for this hotel located on diniwid beach. my officemate told me that diniwid = nami and i knew that nami = upscale so i assumed that hotel on diniwid automatically meant upscale.

it wasn't bad, but let's just say remote is the more apt term.

in any case, we stayed at this hotel with hardly a lobby to speak of.

but not only did it have two double beds (which was fun especially if you still sleep in a twin bed at the ripe old age of 34), each bed also had three pillows each. *sigh* have i told you that i book hotels on agoda based on how fluffy the pillows are on the pic? well, if not, then consider yourself informed. one look and this almost felt like heaven.

well, almost. i must admit that it was unfortunate that the side tables didn't have lamps so if i wanted to read a book till i fell asleep, it would mean keeping my aunt awake as well. and the view, ugh, the view was of someone's backyard. hence you understand why no pics were taken, haha!

after i surveyed the room (with strict instructions to my aunt not to mess the beds up till i had gotten my shot!), i checked the bathroom out which is usually where i get disappointed. but, with a rainshower head, bidet, and uber strong water pressure, well, let's just say that they got uber-high points in their survey on the bathroom aspect!

i just don't understand who the heck thought of putting the towel on the bathroom floor as "design" ... was it to signal that the floor was clean? and take note that nope, it wasn't the towel that was meant to be a bathmat (it was there, but it wasn't on the shot). that's "art" for you!

oh, if i haven't mentioned it yet, we stayed at microtel boracay. and let's just say it was ♥.

thank you, microtel. it was amazing staying with you. the staff was lovely, the hotel was lovely, the ice machine was lovely. and while the not-red tocino for breakfast threw me in for a loop, i enjoyed your hospitality.

boracay views

while i am neither a travel blogger nor a photographer, i do enjoy visiting new places and taking pictures to document the experience. here are some of the things that caught my eye while on vacation

{diniwid beach}

we stayed at microtel boracay which was located beside nami. it didn't have the most pristine of beaches, nor did it have the fun that white sand had to offer, but it did have lovely quiet evenings for pretend contemplative thinkers such as myself.

{microtel boracay poolside}

i am not that much of a beach person so i totally enjoyed the serenity to pool offered me on our first night there. while probably all the registered guests were out somewhere, my aunt and i had a glass of margarita each and discussed life and what nots by the poolside.

{white beach from the plane}

admittedly, even the non-beach person in me was enthralled by the sand that never gets hot, the variety of people in various states of undress (and overdress, haha!), and the wares and services being offered.

{painted startfish magnets}

since it's part of our culture to bring home pasalubong all the time, i was happy i chanced upon these starfish magnets. they're pricier than your usual boracay ref magnets but since they're (seem to be) not as common as the usual pasalubongs, i got fifteen of these - one for me and the rest for select friends.

{one, two, three, four, five, six ... yep, six in one motorcycle!}

we were waiting for our ride at jonah's shake (yep, i couldn't NOT go there} when this family passed us by loaded on one motorcycle. truly, only filipinos can defy that law of physics which states that no two things can occupy the same place at the same time. imagine, a family of six on a motorcycle that typically rides two at most.

{fire dancer with amazing abs}

no trip to boracay will be complete without watching the now-typical fire dancers. we chanced upon a group of three across boracay regency who managed to elicit and couple of wows and thunderous applause from the crowd.

{local kids at diniwid beach}

while white beach has been converted into the hub of commercialism, diniwid remains to be your neighborhood beach. on our second morning, a couple of local kids invaded the beach and revealed that the water truly is an "attractive nuisance" even if it's something that you see every single day of your life.

p.s. pics taken using my lumix fh2 camera. i'd like to think that the pictures from the boracay trip are slightly better than those taken when i was in cebu. maybe it's cause i've finally figured out a thing or two about the camera settings.

well, hello, boracay!

since i've already written about my parasailing adventure and flying via seair, i guess it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that my hot pink crocs finally made it to that uber popular destination that i (previously) never made it to: BORACAY.

unfortunately, since i'm neither a travel nor a food blogger, and by no stretch of the imagination could i call myself a fashion blogger, much less a photographer, the posts i'll be making are more random than anything. however, i do know that i am great at making critiques (este reviews) and i never get offered anything for free so you're assured of totally unbiased comments about the services i received throughout my vacation.

ready? let's go!

♫♫♪ she's so high ♪♫♪ *

this vacation came with zero expectations and zero plans. after all, i'm not that much of a beach person (i'd rather be trapped in a strange new city with buildings and streets to explore). so while boracay is allegedly the top 4 beach in the world (something i read from the newspaper ten minutes ago), for me, it was just a place i had to cross off my list.

so when someone offered us to go island hopping, i said no thanks. and when someone offered us that helmet dive thing, i said no thanks again. i must be such a killjoy -- i think i was more excited over the fact that our room had two double beds with three pillows each. yes, i was here to sleep, relax, and sleep some more. the pristine white beach with the sand that never gets hot ... just cherries on top of my ice cream.

but as we paused at the far end of station one, yet another man approached us offering the plethora of beach activities one could enjoy in boracay. since tita celia (1) had been here before and (2) was deathly afraid of water activities, we said no again. the major difference though was this guy said the magic words: i'll give you a deep discount for parasailing.

i've always wanted to go parasailing. and i'm not one to turn down a discount.

half an hour later, i was up in the air ready to defy death for at least fifteen minutes. it was one of the best moments in my life.

*yet another blog title inspired by a song ☺

the cheap flight that ended up being not so cheap after all!

i've always been amazed with those people who could get great travel deals. me - i luck out on mall sales once in a while, and i'd like to think i got an okay deal with my tv and washing machine, but never when it comes to travel.

until that fateful day in february where, despite the spotty internet connection at work (oops, i use work internet for personal stuff, my bad), i was able to book and buy three tickets for a trip to cebu. yes, it involved a lot of texting (i started out with an original group of eight), schedule wrangling, and phone calls (to get credit card information) but it wasn't long before i was emailed my itinerary and we were bound for cebu ... in five months' time!

{P2,474.40/3 = P824.80 per person ... round trip!!!}

while i'm generally not OC about things, i am pretty much so when it comes to making schedules. so it wasn't long before i was trolling the net for information about cebu city, and the two places we planned on visiting: bantayan island and camotes island. and, while there was a whole lot of information about bantayan, getting accurate, specific, and detailed information (i told you i was OC -- i found some information but it wasn't as detailed as I'd like my information to be) about camotes pretty much challenged my mad googling skills.*

five months = lots of time on the internet, budget planning, text messaging, emailing, and chatting with travel mates. i planned and planned and forced my travel mates to plan (and to see it my way, i am a bully, i know!). by the time we were about to leave, i had one word file (for our itinerary), one excel file (for our detailed budget), and a text message reminding people of their (1) share of the budget, (2) to wake up early, and (3) that with no check-in baggage, our maximum baggage allowance was 7 kilos.

yes, imagine me trying to limit my baggage to 7 kilos. still, i rose to the challenge. the OC person in me weighed and re-weighed my check-in luggage. and, even if they tried to "intercept" my hand carried luggage before we passed through the x-ray machines, i was still let through. so i -- and my friends -- arrived in cebu with zero checked-in luggage. fast, quick, painless.

only thing we didn't count on was the fact that between the three of us, we'd have so much pasalubong and that since danggit will be part of the stash we'd be bringing home, we need to check-in a bag on our way home.

several times we planned on amending our booking. as a matter of fact, on our last night, we tried, but the spotty internet using the hotel's bad wi-fi connection through our blackberries kept preventing us from buying checked-in luggage. we gave in, thinking that at the very most, we'd pay double (or P200, since 15 kilos = P100 if you purchase it at the same time you buy your ticket).

apparently, you pay quadruple, of P400 per 15 kilos. not only that, our giant box with everything from shamrock to sand (which the airport police thought was drugs!) was around 20 kilos meaning we paid ...

yep, P800 for our giant box. almost as much as one round trip ticket.

so, i planned for everything ... except our collective shopping ability.

*eventually i found sufficient information here.

**if the long-winded narration wasn't enough to drive home the point, here it is: never, ever, ever underestimate the need for check-in luggage. at the very least, spend that extra hundred bucks at the time of your booking, if only for your own peace of mind!

it doesn't get any better than zubochon!

ah, cebu.

to this date, i still think of you fondly. i think of your sweet mangoes. i think of your wonderful beaches. i think of the cheap danggit to be had.

but most of all, i think of zubochon.

{according to ate marivi's driver, "ay ma'am dun sa may lumilipad na baboy"}

*sigh* zubochon. once, i said if i were dying of some deadly disease like cancer, i'll just eat bacon rather than have chemotherapy. now, it's going to be bacon + zubochon lechon. i promise you, happiness doesn't even begin to cover the feeling of partaking of their lechon.

but first, let's backtrack.

theo, cathy, and i volunteer in tuloy sa don bosco. we're from the thursday group (so kuya germs, i know!) ate marivi used to be a full-time volunteer. on theo's first summer, we were assigned to work on the summer program with the namuncura boys, ate marivi's dorm. all the other volunteers were deathly afraid of her; we weren't.

{technically, this should be the last pic ...

halata bang busog na kami?}

it was a sad day when ate marivi left and went back to cebu to take care of her parents. so imagine how excited we were to visit and catch up with her. when she picked us up from ayala center, she asked us, "cebu lechon or seafood?" smart theo replied, "lechon, since we can get seafood anywhere."

bless ate marivi's brother who recommended that we go to zubochon which, anthony bourdain christened as the "the best pig .... ever!"

{while i'm fat, best pig ever is the lechon, not me}

thing is, if there's one thing my friends know about me (or at least gay does), it's that i'm not a huge fan of lechon. not only that, i'm not a huge fan of the skin of the lechon. if at all, i love the meat part slathered with a whole lot of sauce. and, the few times i've tasted cebu lechon, it was okay. no choirs of heavenly angels, no smile slowly spreading over my face, no life changing moment. it's just lechon, and for me, without the sarsa, it wasn't my cup of tea. but, since i believe in a democracy (sometimes ... i tend to be a dictator with my friends, ha! ha!), i was okay with trying out zubochon.

deep inside, though, zubochon meant only one thing for me: i'll be able to try the kamias shake that tin recommended i taste. of course, i was a bit skeptical, but since i loved playing with kamias when i was a kid, i was okay with this choice. worst case scenario, i hate it.

{the kamias shake that changed my life. seriously}

first sip and i wished i could knock at my old house in pilar village and ask for our old kamias tree in the backyard. it was the best thing ever! perfect blend of sweet and sour, it was cool and refreshing, it was nothing at all like i expected when i first received the text message asking me to try it out. (and it was so good that my friends and i, on our last night, passed by zubochon just to have another glass of this kamias shake)

bit by bit our food started arriving ....

{everything in zubochon is good, including these seaweeds that i don't normally eat}

{sinigang na hipon}

i know, i know there should be a picture of the lechon we ate but, what can i say? as soon as it landed on the table, all thoughts of taking pictures for this blog (and for posterity) flew out the window. i wanted to claim my stake on the crispy skin (something i rarely eat in a traditional lechon) and if i could trick my friends into giving me more, i would've most likely done it. it was THAT good.

we also had fish but while it would've been great elsewhere (as well as the sinigang na hipon ... as i said, everything in zubochon was amazing), it was simply eclipsed by the fabulousness that came in grilled pig form. perfect is insufficient to describe the wonder that they turned the pig's skin to. and the meat, the meat ... i wouldn't mind sacrificing high cholesterol scores if i could eat that every single day (with bacon, of course, let's not forget my first love!).

the only sad thing was that zubochon was one of my first meals in cebu so everything else that came in after that just paled in comparison. there were times where i'd stare off in space and i'd have zubochon fantasies ... the crispy lechon skin, the refreshing kamias shake ... one meal, and i was a goner.

and you know what, i still have fantasies of that flying pig ... even more than a week later.

before lechon came a massage

forget the fact that in my last trip to cebu, the only place i got to go to aside from the hotel was ayala center. after we had done the tourist-y things and stuffed our faces full, it wasn't long before we found ourselves in a mall.

specifically, ayala center cebu. don't worry, i have an excuse: the last time i was there it was raining crazy so i didn't get the chance to fully explore the terraces:
let's just say that while i love alabang town center, and while it used to have this much open space, all the construction going on over there now is making it feel a wee bit cramped.

in any case, we went around, and around, and around. we were supposed to watch captain america but we weren't sure what time we would be meeting our friend for dinner, so we decided not to watch it anymore. and we ended up going around and around and around some more. when we had memorized the location of all the stores in the mall, we decided to go visit a church on my map.

but since we were so tired from walking, i easily got distracted by this:

more particulary, this sign:

a massage for P200 bucks? and free diamond peel? and i don't need a voucher for it? sign me up!!! we went in and inquired ... turns out the massage is P200 under the promo (afternoon delight!) but if we wanted the diamond peel, we should shell out P230. uhm, hello! yes, please!!!

see, a happy camper:

{sorry for the finger-on-the-lens shot, but this was cuter than the rest

of the shots i took of myself so you're pretty much stuck with this}

the place was your typically it's-so-dark-so-no-one-can-see-your-flabs-and-ratty-underwear spa. the decor was also to be expected: asian art with lots of buddhas and carved wooden thingees to make you feel as if you were in bali or something (not that i've ever been to bali). but, none of those things were really important to me. what was important was that (1) they had a shower (so i could wash away the entire day's grime) and (2) they had comfortable rooms for the massage.

i especially loved the masseuse cause after starting out "strong", she tapered off to the perfect pressure which i loved. i hate it how you'd tell a masseuse to ease off only to return to the same bruise-inducing levels she started off with. the strokes were perfect to rest my weary, tired, and aging body. by the time she said, "tapos na po" i was ready to melt onto the massage bed.

let's just say that i wasn't the only happy camper -- my friend, a massage virgin -- predicted that this was something that she was going to get addicted to as all her aches and pain from even prior to our vacation had been pounded out of her body.

now, the P30 diamond peel could've done with more finesse, but considering that even the cheapest jollibee meal is more expensive than the treatment, i had absolutely nothing to complain about. at the end of the treatment, my face felt smooth, my cheeks were slightly ruddy, and the cool stone attachment (they didn't use the typical laser wand at the end of it) which rounded off the treatment was absolutely divine.

so, i don't care if the time which should've been spent looking for the taoist temple was spent instead inside this spa. i reached "zen" (or is it the wrong religion? oopsie!) at zentuary!

p.s. i'm so sorry for the cheesy ending. i couldn't think of anything smart or cute or anywhere literary.

cebu take 2

i came back from cebu late saturday evening.

early wednesday morning, i was on my way back there. so from having never gone to cebu before, i was back there twice within a week.

ironically, this was the trip that was brewing for months. the other trip, that was a quickie decision. of course, i was happy i was still able to get a round trip ticket for P2,000 and get to stay in shangri-la mactan for free, but i am still mourning over the loss of my pink ixus.

i traveled to cebu with two of my fellow volunteers: cathy and theo.

{cathy i went to KL with. this is my first trip with theo}

we were supposed to go to bantayan as soon as we landed, but the weather was unpredictable. no one in her right mind would want to get stuck in hagnaya (a three-hour trip from cebu city) for nothing. so we did the touristy stuff...

like light a candle at the basilica del sto. nino (run by augustinian friars ... my favorite kind!)


and go to the magellan's cross

of course, no trip to cebu would be right if one didn't partake of the goodies (aka food!)

so i tried the kamias at zubochon as recommended by my good friend tin

and i followed my long lost twin's advice by eating at larsian

and at golden cowrie

and the bacon siomai at harbor city (which i mistakenly tweeted as golden harbor which caused him to panic lest i find myself eating at a place without bacon siomai)

it was a relatively long trip (for me) so i was pretty happy when it was time to go home.

more details to follow! am having problems uploading pics using my broadband wireless stick :(

have old school pink crocs, will travel

as i sat on the beach taking what i felt were artistic pictures of my hot pink crocs (so i'll never be a photographer, haha!) i realized that while i had taken dozens of pictures of my pink crocs in the past (all of which were lost in the great laptop crash of 2011), i had never written anything about them. as a matter of fact, while i had waxed poetic about my merrel shoes, i haven't even thought of mentioning anything about what must be my most favorite traveling companion of all time.

well, probably not of all time. just ever since i bought them.

i first met crocs through leuts. he visited the house for something and my brother and i saw him in crocs. eventually my brother got an orange pair (i convinced him to get them since i thought he could get away with something so bright and outrageous) and after seeing this uber-cute girl in ormoc wearing the baby pink ballet flats, i got myself a pair too.

until i realized that baby pink ballet flats -- while ultra comfy and pretty -- would most likely fly out of my foot should i ride the flying fiesta. so, the night before a slightly impromptu trip to enchanted kingdom with alex, i got myself the hot pink mary janes.

okay, i'll admit it: another reason why i got them was cause i saw this cute girl in smile magazine wearing them and i thought they were cute as well. yes, i am totally a sucker for advertisement!

so despite of all the negative comments about crocs -- how no one over the age of five should wear them, how they aren't anywhere near fashionable, how they're supposed to be for certain things only -- i don't think i've loved a pair as much as i've loved these. i've used crocs in lieu of swim shoes, flip flops, and other forms of appropriate footwear simply because they work. plus, because i've a tendency to overpack, it doesn't hurt that crocs are uber light and can be easily stashed onto the tiniest of spaces without being deformed. plus, because they were designed for boat wear (i think i read that somewhere), they're not the least bit hurt by salt water.

okay, now i'm starting to sound like an advertisement as well. boo!

but while i'll never be a (1) travel blogger, (2) food blogger, or (3) society blogger -- after all the hot pink crocs are definitely a fashion faux pas -- i know i can be the best *bleep* blogger who writes about anything and everything (including her deep dark secrets, haha!). and i'm hoping that'll be good enough for all of you ☺