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The final and last installment of the travel files to Ilocos Norte! Phew. After which there’s Subic, Occidental Mindoro, Bacolod and umm… I think I’ll just skip straight to some of the highlight events like the National Costume competition and Swimsuit competition. Hurhur.

The day after we did our tree-planting activity and was welcomed by the Govenor, we set out early in the morning to Kapurpurawan White Rock Formation for a trek. Kapurpuraoan rock means “white rock” and it clearly demonstrated the power of wind, water and rain on rock and coral. The massive rock juts out into the sea and from afar looks as if someone has wiped off the top frosting and exposed the cake that lies beneath. Up close it was a dazzling white rock that sparkled in the sun. But, dont take my words for it. See for yourself.

We’re almost there. We had to trek for a bit. But finally we see the white rock in the distance.

Can there be a more amazing view?

WE’RE FINALLY THERE!

After trekking through rocky roads, by-passing some ponds or whatchamacallit, we finally make it to the white rock. And it REALLY is white even in the distance.

We climb on top the actual white rock and of course, the trigger-happiness starts all over again.

Close up view of the rock formation.

Moving out closer to the edge, we ran the risk of falling into the ocean if we werent careful! Also, the breeze was so strong, our hats were almost stolen by the wind. Everything was flying! See everyone desperately clinging onto their hats. Lol.

Cam-whoring pictures with the awesome background.

Ok. This obviously isnt me. It’s Miss Switzerland who eventually took the title of Miss Congeniality.

Group picture!
Pose girls pose! Wave! Wave!

By noon, we were on the way to Bangui Wind Farm. Because the Bangui area is so windy, plans to construct various tourist attractions were shelved. But, instead of letting the natural energy go to waste, why not make use to Mother Nature’s gift and build wind mills to harness her energy? This is the FIRST power plant in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. There are 20 units of wind turbines rated at 1.68MW each and they are a magnificent sight to behold.

Each structure is beautiful on its own.

But combined with the rest of the awe-inspiring structures and set against the blue backdrop, it is a picturesque scene.

Again, who would pass up the opportunity to take pictures?

Pardon the mad hair. Mother Nature decided to be my hair stylist for the day.

But that wasnt the last of our stops for the day. We then had to travel to Pagudpud, Blue Lagoon, Maira-ra Beach touted to have white sands and waters so blue. We had lunch at Hannah’s Beach Resort and then did a beach cleaning on the Blue Lagoon Beach.

We had a warm welcome reception when we arrived at Hannah’s. Beautiful bouquets and welcome ribbons for us.

Important message for everyone from Hannah’s.

Lunch was in a function room. They had set out tables for us very much like a press conference and we sat facing the audience. Imagine people watching you as you ate. Haha. Very common regardless of where we went in the Philippines.

Lunch is served.

Lunch was followed by a tour of the premises. Hannah’s overlooks the beautiful Blue Lagoon Beach.

And we got to see their cosy rooms too.

But our crucial mission there was to do beach cleaning. Armed with gloves and trash bags, we made our way down to the Blue Lagoon Beach to pick up whatever rubbish that was there.

And we take some time in between to make our fans happy by taking pictures with them. Haha.

Ilocos Norte was amazing and truly unforgettable. We visited so many astounding and breath-taking places that it makes me sad to read that the Copenhagen Summit was sort of a failure.

According to Newsweek, studies made at the environmental summit show that commitments by the various countries will fall short of of its goal to cut carbon emissions sharply enough to hold off a 2-degree-Celsius rise in global temperatures. The United Nations Environment Program found that the world had locked in less than half of the greenhouse gas reductions needed to provide a 50-50 chance of preventing the temperature increase by 2050.

2050 may seem like a long time away, but it is only 40 years into the future considering we’re already in 2010. 40 years later and many of us will be in our golden years. Years that we might want to enjoy with our families or possibly spend retirement in some exotic country where the beaches are blue and the sky in bluer. But, irresponsibility on our part not only causes the temperature rise in our environment, it in fact, costs us OUR home and OUR future. OUR chance at enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer.

The fact of the matter is this: despite already saying we’re TRYING, we’re barely making enough reductions to reach a 50-50 chance of preventing the temperature rise. Maybe we’re just not trying hard enough, or in Mother Nature’s books, we’re not even trying at all.

But the picture is not bleak. There is still time to stall the global temperature rise and we need to do it NOW. The experts will tell you if the world delays action by even a few years, emission cuts will have to be considerably LARGER so global temperatures stay within the 2-degree range to prevent melting ice. Why make things difficult if you can take small steps now?

Warning: Image heavy post!

OKAY. Finally gonna continue from the first post about Philippines. Mad load of photos I photoshopped today!

So after lunch at Fort Ilocandia Resort, we went to the brand new convention center to do tree-planting!

Armed with our sunhats, we walk to our nearby destination where our trees wait for us. Haha.

Remember, if it’s nearby, dont pollute the environment by travelling in a vehicle, WALK!

Following our guides.

Waiting to go to our trees. We hide under some umbrella shade. It is MAD glaring and hot judging by our shades, umbrella AND hat. Haha.

Miss Northen Ireland goes first.

My turn to plant!

Plant tree until glasses all crooked.

A much better picture.

YAY! We did it! Save the Earth!

Taking a breather after HOT work by the cool and relaxing pool in the new convention center.

It wasnt too long after that, we zipped off in our bus to visit some beautiful sites in Ilocos Norte. Paoay Church was our first destination. The church is built of coral blocks and stucco-plastered bricks. It’s architecture is a unique combination of Gothic, Baroque and Oriental. What’s really fascinating about the church is the bricks of the church were said to have been made by mixing sand and lime with sugarcane juice! These were boiled with mango leaves, leather and rice straw. Talk about being environmentally friendly. Haha.

Interior of the church

The main religion in Philippines is Roman Catholic.

When we came out, guess what greeted us?

A HUGE SWARM OF PEOPLE!

No, more like MASSIVE SWARM. They were already gathering when we were preparing to enter the church.

But when we came out, it was just….. PHWOAR!

We had to fight thru the massive swarm of people screaming, pushing and trying to shake our hands to eventually get to the cafe where we were supposed to have a rest. Of course, in the local province, you could never do without tasting local fare. We thus had a snack at Herenia Cafe and got to sample their famous Pinakbet Pizza and Empanada (like a big curry puff).

Here’s the pizza with your usual pinakbet veggies. It was SOOO GOOOD! Om nom nom.

And we had this fried corn thing that is apparently dried first before it’s fried. Crispy, crunchy and salty, it would make a perfect snack for any time of day.

I stuff myself silly while Kayleigh looks on in disgust. Haha!

Even when we’re eating, THEY NEVER STOP HOUNDING US! Look at the camera pointing inside.

By this time, it was already evening. We had to go back on the bus and return to our hotel to shower, get dressed and go for a welcome dinner hosted by the Govenor. It was a welcome dinner with cultural presentation.

So although we were told the dress code was cocktail dress, everyone really dressed up to the nines.

When the event started, it began with a cultural presentation alongside some yummylicious Chinese cuisine.

The final item was the traditional bamboo dance.

And we got to try our hand at doing it! It may look really simple but it’s actually quite hard. I, however, managed to get the choreographed sets right! Yay!!!

The end of the dinner marked the end of a very busy and packed first day. However, day 2 in Ilocos Norte was even more exciting and we visited even more beautiful places.

This is my 400th published post! Wo0o0o0ot!

I’ve done free fall harness jumping from the tops of trees, zipped through the canopies and now, for the first time ever I did a New Moon.

I cliff dived in Boracay off Ariel’s Point.

Unfortunately I didnt have visions of Edward Cullen, nor did I have anyone’s voice talking to me in my head. All I felt after I took the leap of faith, was the nothingness beneath my feet, the rush of falling, a sudden collison with the waters and eventually, its embrace and gentle weight around me.

When I was in the waters, all I could think of was swimming for my dear life.

GASP. Water. Blue. Dont sink, I pleaded.

Frantically treading water, it seemed like I was doing so much and not getting anywhere. Horror of all horrors, what if I was swimming the wrong way?!

Still in water. Still blue! EEP!

Maybe instead of pushing myself to the surface, I was heading deeper and deeper into uncharted waters. Literally. It was as though forever had passed and I was STILL struggling to get to the top. Keep treading, I told myself. Dont stop. Kick kick kick!

Finally, after what seemed like ages, I did break through the surface of the water.

Phew. Major relief. Cue huge megawatt smile.

No, it didnt hurt when I plunged into the waters. It WAS incredibly thrilling though jumping and not knowing when and how the waters would catch you. I didnt know whether I should have held my breath when I was falling but hey, I survived!

Whoooosh!

I may not have done it again on the spot, but definitely am game to take the plunge if asked to do it one more time. This time, I think I’ll do it with my eyes closed.

After my jump, the girls then decided to follow suit. Proud to say I was the first amongst the girls there to dive off the cliff. Lol. Always good to be a trend setter. Haha.

Video!

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5JvakOMRU]

Warning: Image heavy post!

Finally the first installment of the many travel posts that will come.

12 girls from Group 3 had to leave one morning bright and early to take a plane to Laoag. I was fortunate enough to be one of those 12.

Checking in. The headache begins. The dude looks appalled at the number of luggages we have. But we only carried 15kg each!

But once all that needs to be done is cleared out of the way, we have time to pose and make our adoring fans happy. Haha.

This is the crowd that has gathered.

In the midst of all that, we take time to cam-whore on our own.

Once we enter the waiting lounge, we still get mobbed by people who want pictures!

So we has to sit and pose nicely.

Sometimes, we turn the tables and ask the photographers to be the photographed. These guys willingly smile and pose. Haha.

After about an hour on the plane, we touch down to blue blue skies!

Welcome reception at the airport. Lovely kiddos present us with sunhats and welcome ribbons.

We were immediately ushered out to jeeps lined up outside the airport. At first we werent sure what they were there for, but we soon found out.

Cruising down the roads along scenic sights.

Check out our entourage.

And little did we expect that the WHOLE town would stop for us. The streets were packed with bystanders. Some just stoof and watch while others were waving, cheering as we zoomed by blowing kisses and doing “queenly” waves.

After meeting our public, we head off to our accomodation for the night – Fort Ilocandia Resort.

Dancing girls welcome us at the entrance.

The interior of Fort Ilocandia.

We can has a welcome drink too!

After checking in to our comfy rooms, we headed off for lunch at the in-house restaurant. We had a HUGE spread prepared for us.

Not only did we get to eat out fill, we got fresh fruit juices too. Elza Miss Kosovo proudly shows off one of the most popular drinks that we girls always order: a mango shake/mango juice! We love it so much because the Philippines mangoes are absolutely the best! They’re sweet, juicy and so very, very fragrant.

After lunch we had a full day of travelling and activities visiting various places, but am gonna save the pictures for a Part 2.

I was gonna write a post like this after returning from my escapade with 78 other beauties in the Philippines, but havent had time to because work just came charging at me the moment I touched down. The kids had their school concert just this Wednesday and both my clinic meetings fell on the day after. That meant having to prepare 2 reports one after the other in between managing rehearsals after rehearsals and preparation of costumes and props. This weekend’s gonna just a good time for me to chill and have some breathing space.

But anyway, like I said, I was gonna write about this after witnessing how a beauty pageant in the international circuit is. Despite beauty pageants dating back into the 70s and 80s, no body really talks about the things that go on behind the scenes. What is it that makes a beauty pageant tick? What makes a winner? Call me curious. But when I went to compete internationally, it wasnt just about winning or making my mark, I genuinely wanted to see WHO would win and HOW people won.

Looking back into the history books of past pageants, it wasnt always the prettiest girls who won. And for this recent Miss Earth 2009, neither was it the girls who dressed the best, had the most luggages, stood out the most or had the prettiest, most perfect faces. We had girls who carried 11 luggages while others carried 2. Both, however, still made it to Top 16.

Why? What? Where? Who? How?

They say you should never judge a book by its cover. We are, however, IN a beauty pageant and beauty is probably only skin deep. Sure you can talk about inner beauty. But what’s the first thing that strikes you when you meet a person?

How he/she looks.

All those photos that are plastered on the Internet, in forums, in print of the various contestants. What do you look at when your eye catches a glimpse of a visual?

How white the teeth are. Whether they’re crooked or not. How big the eyes and nose are. How smooth the skin is.

All that boils down to?

How a person looks.

And guys, dont deny it. You look at how big the boobs are, regardless of whether you’re a butt or legs person.

You might not know it. But your brain actually has an in-built calculator that tells you if a person is attractive or not. Beauty happens to be a mathematical formula. Sometimes, however, the beauty goes beyond skin surface. We’re not just about someone’s personality. We’re talking just a tiny little bit below the epidermis to the dermis where collagen and elastic tissue are. Knowing the formula of beauty gives you the power to change it.

If I were to speak the truth, I would tell you that we ALL had things done to enhance our beauty during the entire pageant.

It was only a matter of how permanent these changes were.

Hair extensions, nail extensions, fake eyelashes and in particular, silicon bras were staples in our beauty arsenal. Especially when it came to the big shows. During bikini rounds, we’d all STILL lament at our lack of cleavage even with the help of the silicon bra. Even makeup was used to dramatically change one’s look; both body and face contours. We’d highlight our nose bridges, bronze our bodies, contour our abs and spray-on stockings so legs looked smooth and flawless. And what about that voluminious hair? You didnt honestly think it would be without hairspray and extensions did you?

You’d be surprised at how different some girls looked without makeup. Seriously, they were unrecognisable. Thus, clearly demonstrating the power of makeup. Probably a good reason why they had prejudging without makeup. Fake tans, spray-on stockings, coloured contacts, teeth whitening kits littered the bathrooms of our residences and makeup counters backstage. And this was on top of already some permanent changes for some girls.

You could TELL just by looking which girls had had plastic surgery. But there were those who openly came clean about it. Honestly, I wasnt surprised that girls in an international pageant circuit have had plastic surgery. Breast implants, Botox and nose jobs, you name it, they’ve had it. Some girls had the entire works done.

You know what’s the best part?

They were all sponsored by their organisers.

How to fight lidat?! THAT’S why they all look so gorgeous.

I’m in no way saying I’m pro changing one’s appearance. Neither am I against it. We do it all the time, anyway, with our dressing, with our hair and with makeup. Even exercising helps to keep your body looking a certain way. So, thinking about it, if you come from a country where the changing of one’s external appearance is looked upon as a no-no, then how is possible for one to compete with countries where plastic surgery cases are a dime a dozen, particularly in a beauty pageant. If you say you’re sending the most beautiful representative from your country, would you then forbid the delegate to do their very best in representing his/her own country even if it meant resorting to “alternative methods”?

Compare this to if one were to compete in a sport where the athletes have had training since they were born, a competitor who’s only had training since 15 would have missed out on crucial time that could be spent honing skills. See the similarities?

I’m not about to stretch my hand out and ask for any part of me to be augmented (although I’ll admit I would very much like proper double eyelids) because there WERE girls in the Top 16 who were completely genuine and real. They worked out, took good care of their skin and hair. Basically they took care of themselves from top to toe. These are true and genuine beauties. I think I was lucky to be one of them. HAHAHAHA.

But on a more serious note, we could tell right from the very start.

The Top 15 girls for swimsuit comprised of a good mix of both plastic girls and real girls. Here’s a little inside info: a lot of us were rooting for the real girls to win.

It takes a LOT of hard work maintaining one’s appearance I must say. After all that scrubbing, buffing, running, exercising and eating right, I WOULD know. But not everyone has the time and energy to lead such a lifestyle. They thus opt for the fastest, least time consuming method.

I’m not insinuating that this year’s Miss Earth 2009 winner had anything changed. But, despite already having gone under the knife, if we can honour and crown these girls in various other international beauty pageants because they epitomise the beauty of women around the world, what does that say about us and our standards of beauty?