Coffee and Cream, goes to … Tugawe Island Cove Resort (honeymoon 101)

Coffee and cream? Yes, that’s how my mom used to call us, “Kape at gatas” whenever she looks at my husband of 28 years. Being married for that long years doesn’t give us a credit as a perfect couple. Like other couples we have the ups and down of marriage and as my friend puts it, we should believe in the sanctity of marriage, no matter what situation you are in. To rekindle the romance, we decided to go to an island for our “honeymoon 101”, so; here we go…the perfect place for honeymooners and the enemies alike.

shores of Tugawe cove

Tugawe island cove resort is in Caramoan, Camarines Sur. We travelled by plane (1hr and 10 min) from Manila to Virac, Catanduanes, and then by land (1 hour) to Codon port

Codon port

where we were fetched by Blanca, our super butler in a small boat of Tugawe resort,

Tugawe boat with Blanca- our super butler

around 45 min from Codon to Tugawe. We were greeted by staffs politely and were ushered to our Cabana with welcome drink of ice tea in a pitcher.

Cabana-front balcony view

The place was amazingly clean, refreshing and so serene, aha! I told my husband, I can shout, curse…Let it all out and no one would even care and he said the same but with more love and affection that he can do whatever he wants (wink! you know what I mean).

first day upon checked -in

We are both beyond our golden years and we’re glad we came when our knees are still in good condition otherwise we would just be happy in our cabana balcony looking at the blue sky and the clear ocean.

infinity pool

Going uphill to the infinity pool and up more to eat in the restaurant was a bit troublesome but worth every step. The foods are fairly great considering the remoteness of the area.

lighthouse

We went up more to see the lighthouse which is still under construction, the place is unbelievably awesome.

Let no one who loves be unhappy, even love unreturned has its rainbow -James M. Burrie

Though there was no spectacular sunset, there was rainbow, I just wished I had a better camera to begin with but I think my canon point and shoot did fairly well.

my first red wine

At night, the lights at the pool and the sea breeze was so romantic to say “I do” once more, but they said don’t commit the same mistake, so we didn’t (hehehehe), nevertheless, my husband with the help of the staff gathered some fresh flowers and open a bottle of red wine to celebrate a never-ending story of love, hate and affection. Whoooh oh la Ia…I bet at one point reading my blog, I can see a smile on your face. Perfect evening for an imperfect couple equals a happy ending. Achhinnng!

People are not perfect… very often the relationships that are strongest are those where people have worked through big crises, but they’ve had to work through them. So the challenge to us is to work through that.
Patricia Hewitt

The following morning, after breakfast we went island hopping, as usual Blanca (with Pay mario and pito) were there to guide and help us to have a whole day of fun and made sure everything was in… like kayak, snorkels, table and umbrella and of course

picnic a lacarte (bicol style)

the foods were wrapped in banana leaves, different drinks in cooler with ice ohhh Blanca you made our day!thank you so much.

katanghawan island

First stop: Katanghawan island, 30 minutes boat ride from Tugawe, a part of the island serves as a venue  to shoot TV episodes of “survivor US”, white sands, clear blue sky and sea, snorkeling, fresh coconut drink. 

Clear blue
tinago island

2nd stop: Tinago island, 40 min from Katanghawan. As the name implies “tinago”meaning “hidden” marvelous island surrounded by rocks and green mountains.

Kayaking

A perfect place to camp for a couple who love nature. We did Kayaking, swimming and ate our “baon”packed lunch. The next time we come around, oh yes, we would love to come back again with full camping gear and a charcoal for grilling a freshly catch fish of the day!

fine sand, clear water so perfect!
tayak lake

3rd stop: Tayak lake 30 min from Tinago island. We hiked for about 15 minutes from the shore lines and walla! from blue water to green water, amazing Tayak lake!

Pitugo bay

4th stop: Pitogo bay, as i ran out of camera battery, i also ran out of words to describe the hidden paradise of Caramoan islands.

stones lines the shores

In here, instead of white fine sand, piles of smooth-edged white and red-black stones line the shores as if, it was purposely laid out. Remarkable beauty of nature!

this photo was taken with iphone4

Oh before i forget, let me introduce Kevin the great horn-bill of Tugawe, coincidentally same name of my youngest son.

Kevin- the great Horn bill

On the way back to Manila, the weather was not that great so we have to re-route,it took us about an hour by boat to reach the nearest town from Tugawe,

3 in one, not an easy ride to up and down the hill and zigzag road

another 40 min motorbike ride to Guihalo port,

2 hrs in ferry-boat

2 hrs ferry-boat trip to Naga and another 9 hrs bus ride to Manila. Would i take this trip again?Oh yes! an adventure of a lifetime, Thank you coffee and cream, let’s drink to that, Cheers!

Herzon(Supervisor) and Blanca (butler) Thank you so much!

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Acceptance and Faith: Carmelita Duya -Nalzaro

rib4.gif - 3.5 KFilipino Women are facing the higher risk of Breast Cancer in Southeast Asia.Some 6,360 breast cancer patients die each year in the country, making it the leading death among Filipino women (data from the Philippine Cancer Society as posted by Bulatlat)

What would you do if you are one of the women diagnosed with breast cancer? Would you want a treatment? or would you rather spend the money to travel around the  world and enjoy life from day to day basis?

Carmelita D.Nalzaro- 11 years breast cancer survivor stage 3

My third lovely lady is CARMELITA DUYA NALZARO,born March 10, 1958 in Baguio City, a graduate of ECE (Electronic and Communication Eng. 1985). Married to Engr. George Nalzaro blessed with 3 children (Jady,Christine and Gentry).

As i was putting make-up on her, I was in awe, I cant believe she is a cancer survivor! Her skin is so soft and clear, her persona is so gentle and yet I also felt her inner strength.Her happiness and peace in life is visible in her face.

Are you working?

Yes, for almost 11 years now. I am working as a Math teacher in IPSJ  ( International Philippines School of Jeddah)

How does it feel working out of your Engineering field?

I find it fulfilling, I love teaching more than being in my field.I took and passed the LET (Licensure Examination for Teachers) at the age of 47 years old.

What challenges do you face everyday in teaching?

" Teaching is my passion"

My challenge is for the student to love Math and not to hate the subject. I challenge myself to let the student understand the concept, to bring interest to the subject and get them focus.Teaching is my passion, I like the new challenge it brings everyday. For me, teaching is no longer my work, it becomes my playground of knowledge…a play I know that my students can participate,learn and at the same time enjoy.

Well said my lovely lady! Let’s talk about other challenges in your life, When and how your breast cancer was detected?

the discovery was accidental, George was doing massage of my arm, he was joking around… went a little bit further and suddenly he was surprised that there’s a hard mass ,we went directly to consult a physician and asked if she can do mammography. She was adamant that nothing was wrong and mammography was not needed. Months had passed and I noticed that it becoming more larger, we went to another doctor, mammography was done and I was diagnosed with carcinoma stage 3.

how did you and George took the news? What was your first reaction?

Why? why me?… we were advised to have another medical opinion, we went to another Doctor and Needle Biopsy was done. The first  diagnosis was confirmed: Invasive Carcinoma of the breast Stage III.

The Doctor was so plain and direct to the point,” You have cancer,we will remove it and you will survive” ! wow! this help me a lot because i did not see any worries in his face, that he was sure I will survive… God bless…I did survive!

How did you break the news to your family…to your children in particular?

Acceptance and Faith…George and I accepted the news knowing God will always be there for us, the children took it the same way and we all embraced the situation with open heart and mind.

Surgery,Chemotherapy (6 cycles) Radiotherapy (25 exposures) and a lot of prayers. I was bald … I was not bothered so i did not covered my head.

At that time, bald was in fashion, one lady taught that at my age      “nakikiuso pa rin ako” (at trend) she was apologetic when she knew I was under chemotherapy.

Other than your family, where do you get the inspiration?

Maritoni Fernandez said ” It’s like walking though fire…how do you get to the other side without burning your feet? You just have to take it one step at a time, and eventually, you’ll get through the flames.” She is an inspiration!

What is your  message to ladies who might be on same condition as you are?

for those women diagnosed with cancer specifically breast cancer wherein I’m a survivor for 11 years now, go back to your normal life after treatment but be sure to have a not less than 8- hours sleep daily, shy away from foods with high in fats and preservatives. Learn to relax to overcome stress. Always have a positive outlook in life and have a personal relationship with God.

Well, were not done yet..what about beauty secrets? what are the things that you cant do without?

spray net( hair spray) and toner! I do routine exercise such as Taebo, 30 minutes treadmill, lots of water

there you go Ladies, there’s life after cancer, there’s beauty beyond physical, there’s hope for everyone…have faith…Gods’ willing… We will all survive!

To answer the question: yes i would seek treatment, travel around the world and enjoy life!

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