Bohol Experience (1 Day Itinerary)

Long time no post guys! I've been really busy sorting things out in my life right now. haha. But as promised on my Back in Cebu post, this is our 1 Day Itinerary and some travel tips in Bohol. It wasn't really a planned and prepared trip, so if you have been in Bohol and you have some tips to add, feel free to post on the comments section. :)

So we woke up at 5:00 am and left the hotel at around 6:15 am. We rode a taxi to Pier 4 Cebu City, which was about a 10-minute ride if you are from the town area (we paid about Php 98 for the fare).

When you reach the entrance of the pier, tell the taxi to drop you off on the ticketing office. In our case, the driver brought us straight inside the pier. As a result, we have to walk our way out to the entrance for us to buy our tickets. (noob mode. haha)

Make sure you get off in this area. But if you already have a ticket, you can go straight inside the Pier.

There are so many ferries to chose from. But since Weesam Express cancelled their morning trip, we chose 2GO (formerly known as SuperCat).

Fare for Cebu-Tagbilaran and Tagbilaran-Cebu is Php 875 for one person. For the Business Class, the fare is about Php 1,500.

This was the boat we rode to Tagbilaran. The trip was about an hour and 45 minutes, so if you got to the pier early, it's your time to sleep here. hehe.

We arrived about 8:55 am at Tagbilaran and there were a lot of Tour Agencies inviting us to avail their services. Their prices were pretty much the same, Php 2,500 for Car rental and 3,500 for Van rental. But since I am good with haggling, I got a Php 2,000 deal for a Van rental. Yipee!

The itinerary was Chocolate Hills, Loboc River and Floating Restaurant, Tarsier Sanctuary, Butterfly Garden, Baclayon Church and Blood Compact Site.

Saudi Prometric Exam for Nurses (Saudi Council Exam)

According to POEA, the Saudi Council mandates all foreign nurses to pass the Prometric Exam before working in the Kingdom. So for the last 2-3 years to this present date, Filipino nurses who would want to work in Saudi take the Prometric Exam standardized by the SAUDI COMMISSION FOR HEALTH SPECIALTIES (SCHS).

Prometric is a trusted test development and delivery provider to more than 400 organizations worldwide. They have testing centers in Manila and Cebu. I was originally planning to take it in Manila, but since we have a scheduled vacation in Cebu, I decided to take it there rather than spending again for another set of tickets.

It took me some time to figure out where to go to schedule the exam. So to make it easier for you guys follow the simple steps below. :)

How to Schedule a Prometric Exam: 

1. Go directly to this link: https://securereg3.prometric.com/ 

2. Select your Program: Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (non-elig) (Note: this option is only for those outside of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.) Then, click NEXT >.

3. It will then refresh into a new window. Click  Schedule an Appointment.

Back in Cebu!

I was gone for a quite a while because of some important matters and we celebrated my Mom's birthday in cebu. We actually went to Bohol also, but just for a day. I think I may be posting some travel tips and sample itinerary for that trip.

Since it was already our third time in Cebu, we just went to the places where we haven't visited yet like the Taoist Temple and the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. 

How to go to the Taoist Temple: To reach the temple, you can ride a taxi from your hotel and just tell the driver to bring you to the Taoist Temple. From town proper to the temple, it's just around Php130-150 (or more, depending on where you stay). The temple is located inside a subdivision, so when your taxi slows down and there's a checkpoint, that means you're entering Beverly Hills, and you're already near the temple.

This is where taxis unload their passengers and where private vehicles park. 

Note: If you don't have a private vehicle, tell the taxi driver to wait for you (they usually charge Php100-200), or you can do what we did - walk 'til you see a taxi (haha). But don't worry, there are usually habal-habal (public motorcycles) that are about a 5-minute-walk away from the temple (they usually charge Php10 per person). But since it was still early in the morning, we just walked and luckily we saw a taxi near the entrance of Beverly Hills Subdivision.

Lazada Philippines Review

I've been meaning to buy at Lazada for the longest time, but I'm always afraid to try their site because of some horror reviews.

But since I am moving out of our house next month, I thought of giving this site a try. They offer free shipping nationwide and I saw some good deals which were hard to resist. So last August 14, 2012 I hit the checkout button.

While checking out, I saw that they have the Cash on Delivery option which was great, but I also observed that they don't have the Paypal option. (I wanted to use Paypal so that I can be sure that my Credit Card details are safe). But anyways, I still went for it using my CC. 

Upon Checkout you will see this message: 

"Dear ______,
Thank you for your order. Your order confirmation number is: 
123456789
If you'd like to track the status of your order, log on to your LAZADA account. etc"

The next day, I checked my orders page and saw this:

And I thought, uhh where's the status? The "View order" link leads you to the list of items, but still no status.

The Beach!

Yesterday morning, my mother woke me up because she wanted me to drive her to the beach. Not because she wanted to swim, but because she wanted to get stones and pebbles to place outside our house. :-| haha

Well, anyways. The Bible says "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. - Ephisians 6:1". So at 6 am, we hit the road. But before I left the house, I brought my camera so that I can take some photos of the beach (seascapes makes me excited!).

Two of my cousins joined us, and we brought our dog Chimee (a 5 year old female pomspitz) along with us. Sayang nga lang 'coz I forgot to take some photos of my dog. haha

Anywho, here are the post processed beach photos I took using my Panasonic LUMIX FZ47:

This is my favorite shot. I just love the water splash! hehe 

I also love this horizon shot.

Free Layout - Minty Pastels

Because I had fun making my previous layouts, I decided to create more layouts that you guys can use for free. Weee! 

I made a simple 2 column template with some swirls, stripes, flowers and little ribbons on it. I was originally planning to create a unisex layout, but I can't resist adding the ribbons and swirls. haha.

I think I'll make the neutral layout next time. hehe.

Here's the snapshot of the layout:

If you want to download this: Click Here
Demo: Minty Pastels Layout

Thailand Experience and Travel Tips

Right after I left my job as a School Nurse, I decided to have an out of the country vacation to unwind and de-stress myself. Travelling in Thailand is not that costly if you know where to go. (Yes! It's a must visit place for people who loves shopping. hehe).

For those who have plans on visiting Thailand, check out the hotel we stayed - MyHotel Pratunam, they have rooms for two that ranges from 950 to 1,200 bahts per night (Php1,300-1,600). Their rooms are so much better than those pricey hotels here in the Philippines.

The only downside of it was the small elevator and their pervert customers. There were a lot of manyakis na Indian there, so never enter the elevator alone with guys in it. Sa Pinas, hahabulin ka nang bumbay dahil sa utang mo, sa Thailand hahabulin ka dahil gustong bilhin katawan mo. haha. I think it's because Thailand is known as a sex tourism destination.

We arrived at Thailand early morning and we were fetched by Bay (our sweet tour guide). She gave us a walking map of the surrounding area. The hotel was just near the shopping malls and wholesale market so after dropping our things at our room, we went straight to the malls.

Tuktuk. We don't ride them because they tend to overprice when it comes to tourists. But MyHotel has a FREE tuktuk service! (only within a certain distance, you can call them to fetch you. hehe)

The next day, Bay went to our hotel and fetched us for our city tour. She brought us around the temples (I forgot the name of the temples. Sorry!) and gave us some brief history of it.

People praying inside the temple.

Flood and Leptospirosis

Out of Topic Intro: If you’ve noticed I changed my layout. Yipee! I saw a blog with a cute layout and got inspired (I’m usually masipag if inspired. hehe). And oh, I decided to drop the behind the curtain drama, I figured it’s more interesting if you see the person behind the blog. J Ok, let’s get to the topic.

source: reuters

With the current flooding situation in Metro Manila, aside from housing damage and scarcity of food, residents are also facing the risk of acquiring communicable diseases. Thanks to our country’s dense population and compromised drainage system, the risk is higher here in the Philippines.

Last 2009, during typhoon 'Ondoy', a Leptospirosis outbreak occurred in the Philippines. With the same flooding situation now, the risk of an outbreak is highly possible.

Leptospira spp., is the causative bacteria of Leptospirosis. It is found in wide range of animals and are transmitted to humans through their urine (rats excrete higher concentration of bacteria). Transmission occurs through the ingestion of contaminated water, contact of open wounds or mucus membrane to urine/tissues of infected animals. And because most houses in the Philippines have rats (whether we like it or not), the disease is endemic in the Philippines and usually rises during typhoon seasons. 

Undecided

So I did make a layout for my site (no procrastination. yay!). But, I'm still not satisfied with the design. :( I think I'll probably make a new one (or not haha).

It has been a fun week, so I decided to keep on blogging. I really hope I can sustain this motivation, coz I'm a person with a short-term attention span (not the real disorder. hehe). Anyways, I kept thinking on what topics to post about, but my brain cells kept popping weird random ideas so I ended up with nothing. :|

But rest assured that I will be posting substantial topics in the coming days. : D I'm thinking of travel posts, how-to's in online working, some photoshop tutorials, and of course nursing stuff (looking forward to your suggestions also :D).

And oh, I'm also debating with myself if I should keep the anonymity of this blog. Should I or should I not? Being anonymous has its perks, but its tiring to make a separate email, social media account, and what if I want to join a bloggers meetup? (that would totally compromise my hidden identity drama, right? haha).

I feel really stupid for writing this post. lol.

If you happen to pass by, don't forget to drop me a comment! I would really appreciate that. :X


'Til next time! 

Your NOD,
PinayRN

What happens after passing the board exam?

Looking back on my fresh grad days,  passing the board exam was the utmost priority and the most crucial thing for me.

i feel you. haha

You boil yourself in college for 4 years and get roasted for 3 months in review centers because you wanted to have that RN at the end of your name. It's like the judgement day for all BSN graduates. 

But what happens next when all the excitement fades after seeing your name on the list of the board passers and the reality of being one of the unemployed nurses dawns into you?

Starting my Journey

I guess this marks the start of my journey in this mysterious blogging world...

Well, it's not really my first time blogging since I made a pathetic blog when I was in high school. You know, stuffs like confessing your unrequited love for your seatmate, ranting about your best friend turned mortal enemy, recounting your kilig moments when your crush smiled at you and make pa-cute, making a big deal out of a teacher's wrong pronunciation or spelling, complaining on why your parents are so strict with everything and sharing the world on how you always feel 'rejection'. Sounds familiar? I thought so too. lol

I think everyone passes that stage. Where you feel insecure and you don't know how you fit in the society. Nowadays, teens call it "emo", but if you're a nurse you would know that it's the fifth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psycho-social development - Identity vs Role Confusion. (I hated memorizing this back then. haha)

Anyways, I really don't know what pushed me to this. But I think it's the desire of doing something new and exciting. I've been a freelancer in oDesk for sometime now (I do freelance writing, research, admin and etc.) and I got to a point where it's getting tedious. I'd have to say the compensation is good (well, it depends on your client) and sometimes it could be rewarding (like when you receive a 5 star feedback or a bonus) but, working at house with the laptop as your constant companion for 2 years may be a little boring.

My nursing career you ask? Well, I tried School Nursing (don't enter this field. haha), I think I lasted for 6 months and decided to stop. Why? Millions of reasons, like all other nurses in their respective fields who has a lot of reasons to quit nursing too. Just imagine 8,000 students in a public high school handled only by 4 nurses (minus 2 senior nurses who were always not around because of the reason that they were hired first and they have children). Yes, it sucks the living daylight out of me. Big time!

This reminds me of my senior nurses. lol

But of course, I still won't abandon my Nursing Career. I am currently taking my Masters degree and contemplating on going back to hospital duty early next year. Hopefully, the prodigal nurse will still be welcomed. lol. 

I guess this wraps it up. Thank you so much for reading this. I will be posting more since I realized this is fun to do. :)

Your NOD,

pinayRNconfessions