Category Archives: Animals and Pets

Romeo

By | Animals and Pets, Tributes | No Comments

 6 years ago #chefjavs wanted a dog and so he chose Romeo from the litter of puppies because he was the friendliest. Romeo was the “runt” of the litter But Javs insisted on getting him so we took him into our family. Romeo was our companion at all times and loved  us all unconditionally. Last week he was surprisingly taken from our family and we are very sad. We will miss him  #H2HTribute #h2hanimals #BostonTerrierRome (1) Romeo (2) Romeo (3) Romeo (4) Romeo (5) Romeo (6) Romeo (7) Romeo (8) Romeo (9)

He loved being tickled and  Papa James would do it 🙂Romeo (10) Romeo (11) Romeo (12) Romeo (13) Romeo (14) Romeo (15) Romeo (16) Romeo (17) Romeo (18)  At around 1140am before leaving for the airport (Jan 25)- our other dog Chef came up rushing to the family room. We don’t keep him in the house because he’s magulo. But somehow he escaped and was able to go up. But it was at that same time james got a missed call from the vet about Romeo. It was Romeo saying goodbye  ( Romeo was in the clinic when he died so we didn’t see him ) Last October a friend gave #chefjavs a puppy and maybe that’s God’s doing in preparation for what was going to happen since only He knows.

Romeo and chef Javs Chef Javs labrador

God has always given new life to our family every time He takes someone He gives new life. When Mommy Carmeling was called, 3 months later the twins – Luis and Ariana- were born. A month before Dada Monching passed away, Antonio was born. God always watches over us.   #H2HTribute #H2HAnimalsRomeo (19)

Blue Soldier Crabs

By | Animals and Pets | One Comment

The next day, we went walking by the beach and it was low tideBlue Soldier Crabs (1)

When I saw these marks on the sand, I knew that the blue soldier crabs have been here!!!  So I planned to wake up early morning the next day to check them out!

Previous entry:  A National Geographic Moment January 6, 2008Blue Soldier Crabs (2)

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I woke up at 530am to get out by 6am.  There were workers by the beach raking the weeds and dirt on shore since it was low tide.  They have till 9 am to finish cleaning up 🙂  Blue Soldier Crabs (4)

Beautiful views.  So peaceful early in the morning!Blue Soldier Crabs (5)I waited for quite some time and could not see them!!  But after while a boatman helped me and he spotted them and called me.  You cannot see them from afar – you need to go close to where they are.  You need to have no movement or else they will hide.  What I did was walk towards them – they hide – don’t move and stay put where you are and they will come out again

Here they are

Munchkin Napoleon Cat

By | Animals and Pets | No Comments

Aa few weeks ago, I met this super cute cat named Napoleon!  Chary’s new pet which does not grow anymore.  He’s a Munchkin Napoleon breed
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 Here’s a picture of Napoleon with Chary so you can see how small he is 🙂  Adorable!!Munchkin Napoleon Cat (2)

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He has to have a cage because this little guy runs all around the house 🙂  Munchkin Napoleon Cat (5)

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Owls

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The owl seemed to be a popular animal last year 🙂

At Pottery Barn Christmas 🙂
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Christmas tree in our office 🙂 by Rustan’s Flower Shop Owls (4)

More owls from Rustan’s Flower Shop spotted at Lady Scott Jones ShowroomOwls (3)

Owls at the Hermes Christmas WindowsOwls (6)

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Owl in the napkin at Dad’s house 🙂Owls (1)

Owls at The Flying Tiger TokyoFullSizeRender 2 copy

More owls from Rustan’s Flower Shop
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Owl printat Zara

owls at Zara

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Marvie’s Warehouse

By | Animals and Pets | 2 Comments

So happy to see Marvie and her husband Hubert.  Hubert is the cousin of our very good family friend Tito Edwin and Tita Dorothy who we love so much 😉

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 I visited their home 😉

Stockings of all the cousinsMarvie's Warehouse (1)

Marvie’s collectionsMarvie's Warehouse (10)

 Plus collection of umbrellas! 🙂  She says they are always prepared because umbrellas always get lost somehowMarvie's Warehouse (8)

 Golf clubs 🙂Marvie's Warehouse (9)

 Marvie introduced me to her Abssynian Guinea Pigs!!  This is one of her hobbies.  She also sells Guinea pigs 🙂 Marvie's Warehouse (5)

Abssynian Guinea pigs aboutThe hair of these guinea pigs are really nice because she really takes care of them. Meet Lolo the stud 🙂  He rapes all the lady guinea pigs to breed themMarvie's Warehouse (3)

Meet Beyonce the brown Guinea pig!  So pretty and she was pregnant at the time I visited them and a few days after she gave birth to two babies 🙂  Marvie's Warehouse (4)

One of the secrets to having beautiful guinea pigs is feeding them the right food which is grass 🙂  They are the lawn mowers in the house.  So here you can see the patch where they ate 🙂  They should not be fed feeds but grass and the peels of fresh fruits and vegetables.  So they are good pets because they recycle the peels 🙂 at the same time it benefits their health and beauty 🙂Marvie's Warehouse (7)

She has bunnies too 🙂 Marvie's Warehouse (6)If you want to have a Guinea pig too, Pls contact for payment & pick up arrangements 09209030199 viber what’s app or email marvieswarehouse@yahoo.com

visit Marvie’s Warehouse in Instagram

Marvies warehouse instagram

or in Facebook

marvies warehouse facebook page

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Ostrich and Crocodile Farm

By | Animals and Pets, Travel | 2 Comments

We love animals so we made sure we went to the Ostrich farm in Opol!  For now, it is really a farm more than a tourist destination.  I am hoping they can develop it more and make it a more fun and entertaining experience so more people will come and visit.  Meantime, There is a minimal fee to enterOstrich and Crocodile Farm (2)

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Foot bath before you enterOstrich and Crocodile Farm (4)

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When you look at the ostrich they go near you and look at you 🙂  Ostrich and Crocodile Farm (11)

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You can buy them and the price varies depending on the age 🙂
Ostrich and Crocodile Farm (15)Lolo and Dad already ordered baby ones to add to their collection of pets 🙂Ostrich and Crocodile Farm (13)

It is also a crocodile farm but there are only a few – maybe 4Ostrich and Crocodile Farm (16)

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You can stand on an ostrich egg and it won’t break!Ostrich and Crocodile Farm (9)

IncubatorOstrich and Crocodile Farm (10)

There are other animals in the farm like goatsOstrich and Crocodile Farm (7)

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PeacocksOstrich and Crocodile Farm (8)

They sell Big Bird Ostrich meat here though you can buy this in Manila at Rustan’s Supermarket 🙂big bird ostrich meat opol

You can buy ostrich leather wallets for P 1,100.00. These are being sold for 3 to 5 times the price in retail storesostrich leather opol misamis limketkai

If you missed the article last Sunday in the Philippine Star, here it is 🙂72f3059d8f4108765456eaa879f0af58Or Click below for the online versionOstrich Farm Philippine Star[email_link]

How’s this for a positive Mutt

By | Animals and Pets, Today's Quote | No Comments

This dog was born in the year 2002. He was born with 2 legs – He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of ‘putting him to sleep’.

But them, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.

She became determined to teach and train this little dog walk by himself. She named him ‘Faith’.

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In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfboard to let him feel the movement. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him for standing up and jumping around.

Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk..

Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle.

Faith learned to balance on his hind legs and to jump to  move forward.

After further training in the snow, he could now walk like a human being..

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Faith loves to walk around now.

No matter where he goes, attracts people to him.

He is fast becoming famous on the international scene and has appeared on various newspaper and TV shows.

There is now bool entitled ‘With a Little Faith’ being published about him.

He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

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His present owner Jude Stringfellow has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul.

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In life there are always undesirable things, so in order to feel better you just need to look at life from another direction.

I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and that everyone will appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day.

Faith is the continual demonstration of the strength and wonder of life.

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Tips on How to Take Photos With the Whalesharks

By | Animals and Pets, Photography, Travel | No Comments

I will try to share as much as I can for those who have not done the whaleshark experience yet.  There are so many things I would have done had I known what to expect.  So for those of you who have not yet been to Oslob, here are some of Heart2Heart’s tips 🙂  

I was panicking and almost bought an underwater camera just so I could take photos of our whaleshark experience,  but apparently and I am so glad, you can rent right there and then!!  For P 500.00 per camera 🙂  I talked to the girl and I told her – galeng ng business na ito! 🙂  

We got one camera per family to make sure we capture as many photos as we can.  Though having thought about it again and since we did not know we were going to share one bought with another family, maybe one camera per boat would have been enough.  But again to be sure, it is better to have one camera per family 🙂

Make sure you get a camera that can take videos and photos.  Get the Go Pro camera which looks like this.  Make sure you have them teach you how to use it before you leave.  You can practice already even if it is not underwater 

 Be prepared with what type of photos you will want.  Plan it like how you plan a wedding photoshoot in the church 🙂  ( This is really serious!! haha!!  )  Then discuss this with your boatman.  Your boatman is very expert in taking photos. They know what angles to take already so the whaleshark will be in the photo.  So, discuss this with him and do it before you even board your boat.  You only have 30 minutes to do the interaction so you do not have much time in the water to discuss these things 🙂  Don’t forget you can also take videos.  You can get the camera from the boatman and take your own photos as well.  Someone has to orchestrate between the one taking the photo and the one who will be taken – just to be sure it is orderly and that everything is cover  

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You don’t want to regret later on that you don’t have a family photo with the whaleshark like us! 🙂  Had to cover myself because it was a funny pose.  This was our only family photo haha!

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Those goggles they provide look funny 🙂 My face looks distorted 🙂

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Maybe when it is picture taking time, you can try to remove it like what Bulgin did- I don’t know how it will be on the eyes with salt water.  Or maybe use goggles that are smaller

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Do not make bubbles or your photos will look like this!  They will keep reminding you anyway also 🙂

Since this is salt water, it is quite difficult to dunk yourself in the water – you have to keep pushing up so you can submerge yourself in the water or you have to pouch on the bangka wings to push you down!  

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So you have a tendency to look like a CRAB in the photo 🙂  

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Just be conscious about this and make sure you are posing just like if you were in land – pose 🙂 Bulgin really did a great job posing!!

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Good idea to take selfies with the Whale shark, but make sure the whale shark is behind you haha!!

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Like this 🙂  

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The whale shark does not have to be very near you – you can take many shots with it and it will look close.  The boatmen know how to do it.  Then you can also do trick shots like what Cheska did 🙂  

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These are the really daring shots my friends did – Bulgin really went near and made an effort to take these shots!

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This is Newton 🙂  

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Great capture of Ron so near the whaleshark!!!

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And this too!!

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Swimming with the Whalesharks in Oslob

By | Animals and Pets, Travel | No Comments

 The second group came mainly for the weekend to do the whaleshark experience.  

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We all woke up very early to have our breakfast and then leave for Oslob which is only 20 minutes away from Sumilon.  It’s the best way to enjoy the whaleshark experience

A beautiful day 🙂

There are several boats and boatmen by the shore waiting to take passengers

Before you go, they will give you a very short briefing

There is a special desk for residents of Oslob and they get a resident rate

Again Bluewater was with us all the way – with Erik and Raul, all the towels that we need, they watched our things while we were with the whalesharks, the boat to take us there and the vans

Snorkels and masks 

The handsome boys! 🙂  The life vests are only to use from the shore while you are on the boat.  Remove it right away when you are going to go into the water because you will not be able to go underwater 🙂  

The kids all excited!! It’s much more fun when you are in a big group

They put two families per boat which we thought was too much- I do not really know what the rule is, but I suggest you get one boat per family or group

Just our group alone we were 26 and there were a few more people around us.  I would also arrange that they give your group a separate time slot and not be joined with others so you can enjoy more and have the whalesharks to yourselves

 

FACEBOAT! 🙂  Only in the Philippines

They must have some strategy on how they put the boats and where to position the whalesharks

 I should have taken a shot but underwater – down below – there are divers swimming around watching everyone on top – making sure that no one is breaking the rules and also just watching out for everyone swimming by the whalesharks.  It gives me more peace of mind and so I jumped in too 🙂

Tama si Philip, he made us kwento that the position of the whaleshark is slanted horizontal.  Philip next time we want to be with you in your boat 🙂  

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Reese and Rianna were not scared at all, they both jumped in with Papa Ronnie and Mama Laura

Even Erik of Bluewater was with us in the water 🙂

 Look closely at this photo – that is our friend, Bulgin, who stayed in the water when everyone went up – you will see the whaleshark swimming towards him!!  He looks like he is closing his eyes but he was wiping his face when I shot the photo 🙂

 Another shot of Bulgin very near the Whaleshark!  His family is just watching him from the boat! 🙂

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I asked the guys to let the whaleshark go near our boat – I was brave because we were up already 🙂  These are just babies but they are already very big!

 That’s krill in the plastic bag- the food for the whaleshark.

  Another staff from Bluewater assisting our group – Eric

 You can take a shower after 🙂  

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