FORTUNE ISLAND: PARADISE IN THE PHILIPPINES

I have been covering aerial photography of anything including beautiful islands in the Philippines for clients at my helicopter company, Airgurus Ltd. Co. Most often, I don't get the credits for my shots and I couldn't release them because understandably, if I go along the helicopter trips with clients, my work belongs to them.    However, last end of June was particularly different. The captain of Airgurus, Capt. Harry Lero called us for Project FI. I didn't know it would be Fortune Island near Batangas, Philippines... an extremely beautiful island with pristine white sand and an acropolis with Grecian pillars and statues on the edge of the island overlooking the blue sea.

The island is long-owned by Jose Antonio Leviste, a former governor of the Province of Batangas who build a resort in 1995 that was shut down in 2006. Fortune Island is an island in the Philippines with about 27-hectares (66.7 acres) and lies about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) off the coast of Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines.

The island is within the boundaries of the Batangas province. It was near this island (approximately 900 meters / 2,953 ft. northwest of the island) that the galleon San Diego was sunk on December 14, 1600 by the Dutch warship Mauritius under the command of Admiral Oliver Van Noort. The shipwreck was discovered in 1992 by French underwater archeologist Franck Goddio. Fortune island has also been the site of modern day shipwrecks.

Nowadays, the island has no available basic amenities... no potable water for drinking, no electricity. Permission to visit the island for some hours is strictly required nowadays as the management wants to avoid littering by public. There are boats that offer trips but they can't stay long as the sea going to Fortune Island can be rough. 

Airgurus offers helicopter charter to Fortune Island. You can go have a picnic, a romp on the beach, have a photo shoot, see the magnificent sites of the island, etc... either the captain waits for you or he comes back for you. Going to and from Fortune Island is just a full one hour trip via helicopter from Manila. Airgurus can arrange for your longer stay and exploration in the island.

For an island tour to Fortune Island via helicopters, it would cost about Php65,000-80,000 range depending on helicopter types with Airgurus... the best company for helicopter island tours in the Philippines

For serious inquiries only, contact +632 6248274 | +632 2749758 | +639 925 889 2987 | +63 917 885 7911or email them at info@airgurus.ph. For fast quotation, please visit the website www.airgurus.ph.

EMPIRE BOXING GOT ME STRONG, LEAN AND TONED!

I have never boxed in my entire life till I was dragged by my cousin Vincent last month to Empire Boxing... the newest and fast-rising boxing empire in the Philippines. He was to do a photo shoot for the gym and I was just supposed to watch or help him taking shots with my own camera but I ended up learning all about boxing. I was surprised to learn the joys and benefits of the sport  for myself and here is my story...

My younger years of playing tennis, running and swimming, blessed me to have an athletic built and a steady 115 lbs. body weight but with my career... my internet work requiring me to be stuck at the confines of my computers 24/7, I gained a lot of excess weight and had troubles getting them off lately especially that as we humans grow older, metabolisms slow down. I have a swimming pool and a gym for me to access at home whenever I had time but I don't get motivated to do so regularly and my cousin thought I needed to get myself in a new  social sport.

Boxing is very much of social sport... contrary to my initial thought of having to beat a punching bag all by myself. My first day at Empire Boxing came as a big surprise. Practically 16 people I see in the clubs and bars before were there including the owner. Yes, Rob Wax Del Rosario used to be a chubby one... er... plump...er... healthy one during my hay days of alcohol as he chugs down his beers, scotch and vodkas with his friends. I didn't recognize him... the lean and toned Rob till we were introduced. This lead me to think that all these times, I have come across and mingled with people in the past who can actually box! Amazing!

I'm reminding you to take a look at that huge tummy i want to get rid of at the time this photo was taken last month!

So anyways, Rob found the interest in personally training a former alcoholic... me! We started with a 10 minutes warm-up followed by a half an hour of learning how to box. I was taught how to punch properly, learning the 3 main moves... hooks (side punches), jabs (straight forward punches) and up-cuts (punches that goes upwards). 

Warming down came after but throughout my first initial training, I learned that this is seriously hard work. I felt myself doing high intensity, full body work out that keeps me move all the time... throwing a punch, ducking, weaving, squats making sure that I'm getting abdominal work all the time. This lead me to believe  that it is actually a cardio work-out for the whole body. Once I picked up the moves, I felt like Hillary Swank in her movie! Comparing it to swimming and running, boxing is easy for me. 

I lingered longer at the gym after my warm down... watching the men and women rigidly training with instructors at Empire Boxing. Coach Rob (that's what I started to call him after my first training) told me that boxing is all about technique, not strength. He also told me all about the benefits of boxing such as increased agility and coordination, muscle tone, weight loss, etc. 

Always the inquiring mind, I told him I am more concerned of weight loss... along with getting strong, lean and toned. Coach Rob told me that Empire Boxing offers various fitness programmes for men and women including strength and conditioning, weight loss consultations and work outs, and athletic enhancement by Coach Byron Jimenez during Mondays to Fridays 8am - 11am, 4 slots a day and Saturdays 11am - 5pm. Coach Rob said this program is good for toning bottom and quadricep muscles perfect for women like me who wants to lose weight around their bottom and thighs as part of an overall reduction programme and so I did. After doing 2 classes a week since June, I definitely noticed a dramatic difference in my weight and tone after following a healthy eating plan and including cardio classes in my schedule each week. Check this out...

Oi!  I got my strong, lean and toned body back in just a month! I got my groove back... Thanks to my Coach Rob Del Rosario of Empire Boxing!

Located at Unit 5K OPL Building, C. Palanca corner Dela Rosa Sts., Legaspi Village, below are some of what Empire Boxing offers:

But if it is rapid tone and weight loss you are after, no "B.S."... boxing is definitely something you should check out at Empire Boxing. If you got a personal fitness plan for yourself, Empire Boxing got game and they got great plans suited for what you need!  Go with friends and see what you think too! 

MAKECHAT: THE BEST ONLINE CHAT SITE

My friends and I have been hooked lately on Makechat  reminding me of my college days when I used to go on ICQ with them.

I love this site... no annoying sign ups and forms at all anytime we want to use this chat site! A user name is only the required thing. How cool is that for starters?! 

Online chat by definition, refers to any kind of communication over the internet that offers a real-time direct transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver. Delays on visual access to sent messages never hampers the flow of communications in any of the directions.

Another thing that is so cool about Makechat is that we get to create our own rooms and chat away with friends there... conference-style. I recently huddled my old batch mates to makechat  to talk about our reunion and boy, it was so much fun. I highly recommend this chat site. It's so different when chatting with groups on other social media platforms where I get annoyed waiting and other things come up while waiting for other parties' replies. Makechat is revolutionary! There are karma points too for chatterbugs! Visit the site and have fun chatting with people at the General Chat for starters!