Honda Bay

Barge Fees for Hyundai Grand Starex

Time and again, we go on roadtrips from Luzon to Mindanao and when friends know of these trips they almost always ask us how much we spent for barge fees.  So, i am posting in here the fees we paid last December 2012 when we used the Hyundai Grand Starex.  

We opted to go through Bicol - Samar-  Surigao Nautical Highway since it is much cheaper compared with the Batangas route.  It only involves 2 ferry boat rides from Matnog, Sorsogon To Allen, Samar and from San Ricardo, Southern Leyte to Surigao City.

Montenegro Lines fares is Php 2,100 for the Grand Starex. Roro Port terminal fee at Lipata Port, Surigao is Php 129.00 while terminal fee for passengers is Php 16.00 per person. Regular fare per person is Php 140.00 while children are at half-fare at Php 70.00

Things to do while at Lipata port: Driver does the ff;

1.  Secures a Gate Booking Slip at PCBSI Gate Office.

2.  Pays Waybill at Shipping Lines Counter

3.  With SG signal, proceeds to Lane Meter area or to the weighing bridge for weighing for type 3 and type 4 roro vehicles.

4.  Proceeds to the parking area.

5.  Proceeds to the PPA RRTF Counter.

6.  Proceeds to PICO Counter (for plant/animal products)

7.  Proceeds to the Marshalling area( one hour before etd)

8.  Coordinates with Marshalls / vessels representatives.

9.  Proceeds to the vessel ramp.

Processing time should only take 10 minutes so beware of fixers.

Puppy Love

I like dogs...from a distance.  I am not the type to cuddle and pamper them. I do buy the basic accessories for them like the leash and the dog collar as well as their basic grooming kit.  What i am particular about is their vaccination records.  

Here in Manila, we have 3 dogs. Metal, the Pitbull ; Tom and Nom. In iligan, originally there were 6 but Wookee died and so there remains Lamont, Hyi xin, Xin xuan, Xao tung. The latest addition to them is Min ho pictured here with my youngest, Maggie.

She just loves to cuddle him.

Bonifacio Global City

When you are at BGC, it feels likeit is another country.

Skyscrapers, clean streets, trees.

Beautiful sculptures, disciplined drivers.

Clearly, urban planning is the way to go and Ayala Corp. has contributed much in creating communities like BGC,

Molded , Melted Pearls

I found the idea of melted or molded pearls sacrilegious. Yes, big word but i really find pearls already perfect and turning them into other unnatural forms and coloring them with dyes is just making them ugly. Until, i found these beauties when i was searching for items to put into Abby Claire's birthday lootbags:

    

I would like to think that the original pearl that they melted are somehow chipped or damaged. Even when pearl is melted and molded and dyed, it hasn't lost it's sheen and luster. Initially, i thought that these items are just melted plastics but the owner of the pearl shop where i got these beauties swear that these are really pearls. So i'm gonna take their word for it and just enjoy the fact that the Philippines is home to pearl accessories as beautiful as the above for as low as 80 pesos.