Saturday, February 24

I Digress

Oh, yeah, the real reason I was in Palawan was for the 8th Philippine Hobie Challenge. To tell you the truth, I knew zilch about the sport, though I had seen catamarans in the past. This was a race that began in Zambales and ended at Club Paradise in Palawan. I didn't catch the hobies docking because they all came in at night (most of them towed in due to lack of wind). Though I did catch the inshore race on my way back from Calauit Island (which is another story I will post here). Ain't the water amazing!?!

posted by George Rocha-Chu @ 12:36 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 20

I Left My Heart in Palawan

It was love at first sight. Even before touching down on Busuanga's little airport, I knew Palawan was going to be my favorite place to be. The sight of the mountain range that eerily resembles Bohol's famous Chocolate Hills, little islands with white sand, bright blue and green waters all from the window of the 19-seater plane took my breath away. As dramatic as it may sound, Palawan deserves all the praise for being hailed the planet's "last frontier". Thus, began my weekend love affair with Palawan.

We landed at around 4pm in a tiny airport, and even overshot the landing strip and ended on the dirt road. By the strip was a small plane that seemed to have veered off from the tarmac and was left there for good. We were greeted by Club Paradise's Jesse who took our bags and loaded them on a jeep that would take us to the dock. We drove through a valley with no sign of inhabitants, except a number of cows grazing freely. The dock was on the Panggawaran River with a seemingly endless row of mangroves sitting on quiet water. It was close to sundown when we reached our final destination.

Where else in the Philippines will you come across monitor lizards or deer on the way to your hotel room? Or wake up to the sound of birds that sound nothing like those in the city? Or take an hour trip on a boat to an untouched island where giraffes and zebras run freely? Or snorkel a couple of meters away from shore to meet a couple of sting ray? My stay at Palawan made me realize that despite my travels to different parts of this country, I've been so ignorant.I have so much more to see.
It was difficult to leave. I can't wait 'til I get back.

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posted by George Rocha-Chu @ 11:38 PM 0 comments

Sunday, February 11

Hit (fm) Me, Baby

Interviews make me nervous. I couldn't sleep last Thursday night anxiously waiting for the next day to arrive. I accepted an invitation to guest on 99.5 Hit FM's morning show, Sheesha with Shivaker, hosted by the station's resident Guru. I woke up at 5:30 even before the sun was up (this is usually the time I reach my REM stage during sleep) because my calltime was 7am at the station (still within my REM stage). I arrived with a few minutes to spare and met the Guru and Issa who reads the news during the show. I had a blast during the interview. Guru asked the weirdest, unexpected and totally unimportant questions from why my given name rhymed with my surname, to my favorite animal, to why I don't eat bananas! I was amazed at how he could carry a whole 3-hour show with this character. It is genius! And a good reason to get up at 7am.

(In the photo: DJ Tracy, me, and the Guru)
*Thanks to Sam Oh (who co-hosts the morning program, Sam vs. Sam, on Hit FM, Mondays to Thursdays) for the invite!
**I'll try to post an audio file here, but I'm still trying to figure out how to do it :P

posted by George Rocha-Chu @ 4:54 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 6

One More Thing

Grab a copy of Chalk's April issue (yes, I know April's a long way from now). We just had a shoot last Friday and the concept was quite interesting. Here's a behind-the-scenes snapshot from the shoot. That's me with Jinno Rufino, my co-host, and Tricia Chiongbian of NewsCentral. Gela Laurel did my makeup and I was hesitant to wash it off because it looked great! My hair reached new heights, I swear I got teary-eyed while the stylist pulled it on top of my head. I can't wait to see the finished layout.

posted by George Rocha-Chu @ 9:07 PM 0 comments

A Couple of Late Resolutions

1. Update this blog!
2. Use a bigger font

2007 for me is all about major commitments and one of them is this blog. Don't worry, I noticed that I haven't updated since 2005, not that nothing interesting has happened since then, but that I've been lazy. C'mon, you know what that's like. Anyway, a new year means a new me, right? So here goes nothing. Next week, I'll begin my regular updates starting with my trip to Palawan over the coming weekend for the Philippine Hobie Challenge. 'Til then, maybe you could read my 2 year old posts.

posted by George Rocha-Chu @ 8:46 PM 0 comments