WHALE SHARK WATCHING @ Oslob, Cebu

Me and my friends were planning to go on a travel with not much on baggage, not with our kids and with our hubbies, as we were used to, in short, a hassle free trip. We decided to have this to relax and to release the stress we had during school days, since there are only few days left for our vacation. Next week and the coming weeks would be another busy weeks for us teachers.

We finally decided and pursue with our plan though it’s already late in the evening last Monday. The next day, Tuesday, we met at Minglanilla plaza at 6am supposedly but then, we made it at 7am.Some of our friends did not appear for some reasons but the six of us were excited to go just anywhere...just anywhere, because what we have in our minds was the road trip that was planned long ago. We'll enjoy the rides in a Ceres Bus wherever it takes us. As we were waiting for the bus, we kept on asking each other, "where are we going?' but we were all uncertain, we can't decide where to go until the air-conditioned bus came, the door opened and the conductor asked our destination, there's a pause for a while and after that silence, we burst our laughter because we could not answer him. We told him to bring us in a nice place in the south of Cebu where we can unwind, chat and share our food. He suggested some resorts and places but we’ve been there already. Until he said,“Tan-awan, Oslob, ma’am?  There’s a cottage, facing the clear sea water with white sand”. Without a second thought what is in-store there for us, we agreed to be there.

                                  me and @Nona Villordon...

with @Maki Servado &@ Farah Marie Baylon Cabigas

                                  

 and with @ Mary Jane Dinampo and my frienship my bff,@ Carmelo Pacheco...

                       We kept ourselves busy talking and eating without noticing it took us 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach the place. Right there and then, we know that we were already in the much talked place now, in Oslob, Cebu, where the Butanding, as we adopt the Tagalog or Filipino name for whale shark but it is known as “Tuki” to the locality.

 At first, there was hesitation but as the staff and the boatman persist and explained how much and what we’re paying for, P70 for the entrance and usage of their amenities,P300 for whale shark viewing. We sit and had a pose, maybe to show that we agreed to it, there’s no choice to it, for me, we’re here so, let’s enjoy, savor the risk and the adventure and at the same time, the fun of being together.

                                           just arrived the place...

We paid P370 each and preceded to our cottage which the sea water is under it, we saw group of different kinds of small fish, even that alone, we felt how relaxing it is plus considering the sea breeze hmmm...what a relief!

                                                                                          
                                                                   the six of us...

As the day getting hotter, we wore our life vests for we were ready to view the most talked sea creature nowadays. Viewing of butanding is only allowed until 12:30 in the afternoon for 30 to 45 minutes after the briefing from the municipality on the do's and don'ts with the whale shark.

we're getting ready for the Butanding....Yahoo!.. 

  All along I thought we will travel for 10 minutes or more to get nearer with the butanding since it’s only a paddled banca, but to our surprised, we were already in front of the first butanding we saw that day. I was speechless for seconds, I had mixed emotions, can’t believed we were there up close with the butanding. Then later, we saw another one and another one…we saw seven of them…I was amazed with these creatures, they are so huge yet friendly.

the first butanding we saw...

                                                                     we saw another one...

and another one...

  kept on coming... and we saw seven of them...

 Me and my one of my co-teachers can’t help the inviting clear water and to be nearer with the butanding, we jumped in the water and joined some of the spectators and the boatmen.

we're having fun...

                                      in the water while the biggest butanding was still away...

We had so much fun that day…we’re not expecting to be that way, but it was a fun-filled and adventurous day!

Be there....

and I'm sure you too, will have so much fun!!!

Marco Polo Slideshow Slideshow

Marco Polo Slideshow Slideshow: TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ Marco Polo Slideshow Slideshow ★ to Cebu City. Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor

Sugat - Kabanhawan in Minglanilla, Cebu

 Minglanilla is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines.

It is part of a metropolitan area known as Metro Cebu.It is located approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Cebu City. It is bounded on the southwest by Naga, Cebu; on the northwest byToledo City; on the northeast by Talisay City; and on the southeast by the Bohol Strait. It has a land area of approximately 65.6 km².

Minglanilla is also known as "The Sugat Capital of the South". The "Kabanhawan" [Cebuano for Resurrection] is held every Easter Sunday in honor of the Risen Christ. The "Sugat-Kabanhawan" is the highlight of a week long religious event that commemorates the passion of Christ. It is celebrated during the holy week.

There are nightly activities done while waiting for the big event,disco,dance and singing contests,and different variety shows organized by the municipal officials. For more than 20 years of staying here in Minglanilla, holy week specifically the Black Saturday is a busy day, people are busy preparing for the most awaited day of the week, The Sugat-Kabanhawan.You can hardly walk in the street in getting inside the Minglanilla Central School oval where the "sugatan" and the stage are placed for the nightly activities. It is where the gymnasium or Minglanilla sports complex is also located where the Minglanillahanons, balikbayans together with their guests from other places would witness "sugat". Disco dancing from 8 p.m. onwards until 2:30 a.m. for the dawn mass.

 The meeting of the Risen Lord and Mama Mary reenactment plus the hanging of angels,

a lot of angels and the fighting scene between the falling angels and Gabriel Archangel

are the reasons why Minglanilla is known for this event not only in the neighboring towns but the whole island of Cebu as well.

 

The celebration does not end there, in the morning, there are parlor games and variety shows that we look forward to, like the racing of carabaos and the games of gays done in the mud.

 The “Sugat” in which the town is known for many years has become Sugat-Kabanhawan Festival last March 2005 with Gov.Gwen Garcia and some of the provincial and local government officials. Street dancing that depicts the joys felt by the believers when Christ resurrected and the ritual showdown follows inside the Minglanilla Central Oval added the attraction plus the fireworks are the most awaited part in celebrating the Easter Sunday. 

Hope you could come and witness this event here in Minglanilla...

But at this moment just enjoy watching some of the photos taken during the street dancing and ritual showdown by the high school students in different schools in Minglanilla, only one contingent from the elementary level joined this year,pupils from Minglanilla Central School. Have fun and enjoy!...

Tubod National High School

Minglanilla Central School

Minglanilla National Science High School ( Champion )

Tungkil National High School

Ritual Showdown of MCS

The Finale and The Announcement...

Hope you enjoy....

First Day Scenario in School

                                   


Ever since,when I was still young the first day of school can be crazy and fun. Specially the Grades One and Two pupils together with their parents are running around looking for their classrooms. When after some back and forth,finally they found their classrooms and their teachers waiting for the children to get in, then suddenly you can hear different music, music that at first you enjoyed hearing on it as a teacher,you smiled with it,but as it will become intense...there's already the screaming,shouting and the never ending convincing and pulling from the parent...the smile on your face turned to frown as you become irritated.

                                                        



While other grade levels were busy talking about their vacation,chatting with old friends and classmates and meeting new classmates too.The laughing and the loud voices of their stories, the jumping and playing around the school ground, they were so excited with their new bought things for school.The happiness and excitement you can't take them away from these pupils. This is the first day scenario in school. Can anyone combat this first-day chaos in school?            

But still, first day in school is fun!           



Welcome back to school everyone!       

Home Sweet Home

The 12 day training has ended
Now I'm lying on my  bed                                          
Hear the laughters of my daughters
From the jokes of their father.


Finally I am now home
A home where I really belong
But for the last 12 days...
It's in UP and YMCA where I stayed.


   Met new friends around Cebu province           Ging,Gang,Gay are some of their names
 Nil and Bim are my fave roommates
 They could also be my playmates.


             




             Learning in UP is so much fun
             Thanks to RAFI for the fund.
             Sir Baggy is one of our mentors
            That motivates us to Research more


          




















Sir Anton, Ma'am Jan from RAFI
and the activities from Sir Totit
Dr.Panares, Dr. Saludades
Sir Ontoy, Ma'am Rhona & Ma'am Alvie
These are the people I will never forget.
                              
                                                                                                      Now that the training has ended
                                                                                                      I'm home with my full heart & head
                                                                                                         The learnings and the memories 
                                                                                                          for sure will not be wasted.
                                                       
                                                                                                                   Home sweet home                                                                                          I am finally home.
                                                        
                                                       
                                                     
                                                       








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hh-EgTOxZM&feature=related

A Wonderful Try...

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go"  T.S. Elliot

This is what I keep in my mind. I have to hold on to this quote whenever I feel giving up every time I hear  Scientific Paper as our output from the speakers and from my co-participants.What is this Scientific Paper all about? Why it scares most of us? What is in it that we feel this way?

A Scientific Paper explains the scientist's motivation for doing an experiment, it is written in a style that is exceedingly clean and concise.Its purpose is to inform an audience about an important issue and to document the particular approach they use to investigate.

          Parts of a Scientific Paper:

• Title - contains the variables being studied, it describes the content of the paper.
• Abstracts - summarizes the major aspects of the entire paper
• Introduction - state the purpose of the work in the form of hypothesis, question or problem, it briefly explain your rationale.
• Methods - explain clearly how you carried out your study.
• Results - the summaries of the statistical analysis
• Discussion - interpret your results in light of what was already known about the subject on the investigation, it explain our new understanding of the problem after taking the results
• Conclusion and Summary - contains why hypothesis are accepted or rejected
• Acknowledgement - list of the persons who helped you out in the study 
• Literature Cited - provide an alphabetical listing of all the published work you cited in the text of the paper.      

          So, what do you think? Do I have the reason to be afraid and hesitant on this paper? Not only that, I found out through Dr. Jean Saludades, a professor in UPOU, that there are two ways of knowing through research: a quantitative approach and a qualitative approach.

• A quantitative research provides causal explanation for an action or a phenomenon.
• A qualitative research provides contextual explanation for an action or a phenomenon.

         There are lot of things to consider in making a Scientific Paper...but, do I have to give up or should I make a try? Give up and sighed...or  feel fulfilled for a wonderful try...Take the risk, and be at your best!

Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing!  Choice is yours...

In the Name of LOVE...

     My love for my teaching profession is the reason why I could still manage to laugh and smile even facing the tough and getting tougher training here at UP.
     Today, we tackled on the integration of ICT ( Information and Communication Technology ) in teaching science, though this is not new to me because I've been doing this in my class for quite some time,I have my computer,TV set,DVD player with CDs in science and a sound system, what I need is a projector so I can have a power point presentation on my lessons ( is there anyone that could donate/sponsor on this? Hmmm...let me  think, how about RAFI?...) but the introduction of ASSURE Model of Learning made me amazed! In my mind, "here comes another burden!" but only to realized after the discussion of Ma'am Alvie from UPOU that there's no difference in the lesson plan that we used to, ASSURE differs only in analizing the learners first before stating the objectives and so on until giving of evaluation.
      In the afternoon, what made me sighed and crossed my forehead was the introduction of Research by Ma'am Rhona, as I listened, my mind flew...far far away...could I make a research? How?.. Even making a sample topic or a title for a research it took me several minutes, how much more in making my own research following all those processes given? Well, let's see tomorrow what will happen as we continue with our discussion about research with Sir Dexter Ontoy and Dr. Panares of CNU ( Cebu Normal University ), our next discussants.