Longweekend

I have to blog this... I have to! Before i forget...

So, i had a pretty long weekend last week... I filed for leave last nov. 7 and 

 It got approved! :) Nov 7, that was a Friday... My Lola Estay's birthday too... Maam Phame organized an open house party as part of her work. I didn't feel like going. I just wanted to rest and sleep my sniffles away... But.....

Friday

.... I just can't sleep on a friday night. No way! I had my little rest and left for megamall at around 6pm to meet sir Harvey. I didn't see him for quite a long time. Took us awhile to arrive at the party because of the loooooong line at the taxi bay. It was worth the wait. We did a lot of catching up. When we got to the taxi, it was soo awkward to say where we were going. "San nga tayo pupunta? Kuya, sa Victoria Court po, sa Pasig..." *face on palm with shame*... The stigma!

We arrived... Ate the dinner buffet. I went back twice for the main dishes. Yeah, i was famished! I got to eat just one cream puff, though.. I loved the cream puff. So tasty. :) i didn't really understand the party... It was ok but it lacked something... I just can't put my finger on it ... but... It must be the band.... And the neon theme.... And the  photo area.... And the buffet with the flower arrangement... Or maybe the crowd? Ok.. So what? It was free anyway. :) i got to eat a lot.... Oh, the pasta was great! 

Sir jovan and the Gang arrived. How i missed those people. It was a rehab nurses' reunion party. :) we didn't get to catch up much bec of the loud music and photo sessions. The party was done at 3am. All of us were supposed to go to eastwood but the others have work later in the morning. I went to eastwood, mam phame tagging along. Went to starbucks and chitchat some more. I wanted to tell her my feedback re the party but she didnt ask.. So i kept my mouth shut. My sniffles was still there.... I didnt get to sleeep.. Mam phame went home 5:30am. I tried to sleep for my next adventure in a few hours.

Geez. Why didn't i wear heels.

Saturday

... The much awaited day.. My sniffles, still was there but my tastebuds were not impaired by it, thank goodness! VIKINGS DAAAY! Hoooorah! I arrived with seeing Kaye with 3 stacks of dirty, empty plates. She has been devouring since 10:30am. I arrived 11:30am. I came admiring the place. It was food heaven! Name it, they have it! I didn't get to eat everything but i was satisfied. :)

Bundat. 

After vikings, aiza went shopping.. I accompanied her as promised. She was satisfied with her purchaesd stuff. Good thing! Hooray, i just bought 1 thing.. It was a need , not a want. Aiza went home, happy..

I stayed longer at SM, sleepier than ever, waiting for my sister's instructions where to meet her and my relatives... I stayed at St. marc Cafe. Finally i got to have greentea latte  and a chococro. Yum. But i kind of forgotten how it tasted like. I was half asleep eating it. Sister said we'll meet at SM Aura.

Another eating spree. Met my relaives were at Mesa, Filipino contemporary cuisine. I ate fish and rice and..... i dont remember anymore. And then, starbucks....

And then, we stayed at my cousin's, played with chip the dog..

Sunday

...woken up by chip the dog.. I wondered who was trying to open our door. When i checked to see, it was him... The very excited puppy dog. I let him go up and down the bed. All of us woke up late. Richelle, kuya Eldie's better half, cooked a nice meal: chicken wings with bell peppers and sauce. Again, i had my construction worker appetite mode. :) we went off to Batangas.

Going back to San Miguel brought back childhood memories... The surroundings really looked different though.. Going to the farm used to be a long arduous experience, esp for the car. Used to have a very rocky driveway, like th moon. It used to be so rural with bahay kubos. Now, you'd see large houses like those you see in BF or Ayala Alabang... 

I saw again my Granny's old house, destroyed by the typhoon. The ruins made me think of the walking dead... Sad it's gone. I remember, when we stayed there for vacation, i always ransacked the old photo albums, and saw how my dad looked like when he was young.. And also my titas and titos and lolo and lola. I remember reading someone's old journal. It was reading someone's life. That's awesome. In a mysterious way. :) i remember lolo amd lola's dusty bed with the yellow and red quilt. I remember it was cold every morning... You'd hear a gecko go toookoooo, toookooo... And when you want to pee, you have to get out of the house and go to the scary loo.. I just realized it's scary now... It was creepy. It was creepy to think that when you go out to pee, a geckoo jump on you and will get stuck to your skin and wont ever let go. I remember playing with the fat frog stuck in the canal. I was looking at it all day... Tried to poke it with a stick to let it out... Superstition: if you try to play with a frog, your armpits will get rashes and it'll be very painful. Geez. I dunno, but it happened! I remember, the really angry mother hen, protecting her eggs.. I tried getting the eggs, poking it with a stick. I remeber that chicken's face. Like, grrrr face. Haha. Nothing happened to my armpits... I remember, my lola preparing a boiled avocado leaves, she said it was good for my asthma.. I get attacked by asthma all the time, sadly... I remember watching tagalog movies on local tv, specifically "dyesabel", on a wednesday night at 8pm with all the other kids from the neighborhood. My lola was the only one with a television back then. I remember going to the vegetable farm, looking at the picturesque view: the morning sun hitting the beautiful green landscape with the locals harvesting vegetables. It was like painting. I tried harvesting too... But i was out of breath because of asthma. Damn asthma. I remeber the coffee fruit... I was helping daddy harvest the red ones... I remember playing with our neighbor at their elevated bahay kubo. i have always thought it was the coolest thing. i felt like i was in a doll house. :)...  Aahhh, childood memories.... 

I called the place, Hacienda Juanita (my lola's name). It's not really called that.. It's just a nice name for the farm.it sounds expensive. Hehe...

Mang andong, the care taker, did us a favor, prepared coconut juice and meat, fresh from the husk... Ahhh. Super nice! :) then, we went to ate del's house (i think she's a relative, im not sure.). Food trip again. Turon, Lomi, caldereta... Hmmmm :) i met my long lost relative. I dont know why they remember me... Ate del's grown up kids, who may be mu cousins said, "...oo naaalala ki shempre sila.. Si ate rochie at ate anna..".. Errr, im like, yeah? So i just stayed quiet and pretended i remembered them too.. Maybe i do remember them...  But i dont know.. I was quiet.. I was sleepy.. I tried to stay awake... Eyelids, heavy... And then we left with our fat stomachs... The night was young. Mamang, our oldest tita, had bpnever been to Nuvali and it was time go show her around. Starbucks again. This time, i drank the cold stuff. Kuya eldie brought chip the dog with him... I volunteered to walk him around... Arggh.. I dunno how to tame a dog like cesear milan. He kept sniffing around and running in all directions and then stopping like he just got tired of doing what he did... Crazy dog.. But cute. I'm still a cat person. (Remembering Patches). Mom called over skype. Funny line mom said, "yung parang candy?", referring to the camera button on skype. :) haha..

First time to walk a dog.

Ate and i went home... Excited to post all the pics...  

Anyway, it was a heck of a weekend! Thank you! :) 

Monday... I was grasping for air... Sniffles and asthma and my almost cough. The AC was blasting on my head, thank you very much. My pale lips were dry and cracking, snuffly voice and pimply face.. An sleepy, sicky eyes... But i still got to work. :) amen to that :)

Pained

Hey, pig. I know how you feel.

Lesson learned: do not assume and do not expect anything from anyone...

Weekend in Eastwood- late post 10/11/2014

Saturday

It was Hazelnut's special day because it was the day she was about to marry the love of her life. Too bad, i missed the chance to witness it. :( car issues.

Anyway, i slept early and woke up at 2:00pm bec janina and i planned to go bonding and pamper ourselves (pigout and go to a massage therapist). Unfortunately, she said it was raining so hard from where she was coming from. We decided to call it off. 3pm, i was hungry and bored, i had to go out. My roomie and i had our late lunch at Goodah, ate spicy sisig and unlimited rice. Wish the viand was also unlimited, oh well. Then, went to the tiangge. Thank goodness, i didn't buy anything 'cause im really on a tight budget until pay day! 

The stage was being set up for a show. I realized it was QC day. There were light dancers, poi dancers, illusionists and a line of bands playing for the event. The light dancers and illusionists were familiar. They showed up on "Show Time". Also the korean teenager, who was playing with his curved stick, whom i saw in the event, moon rise festival, was there too. There were a lot of kids doing the hoolahoop, imitating the girl who looked like an expert with it. It was fun watching them do their own ramdom stunts. i got to use my camera also. I missed twiking my cam :) i used manual mode, 50 mm. Yey! :) will upload stuff on fb when i go home to laguna.

Then we went to kfc to have dinner. Went back to the event area and watched The Dawn. They're quite really old. In one of their songs, they incorporated POT's song, 'Sige na'. I missed Karl Roy. Then there were fire works! Maam Phame sent me a text, saying she wanted to go to eastwood and have a drink. I was not up for drinking at that time, but what the heck. She came over at around 12mn, just after the fireworks. We headed to Jack's Loft. And so, we talked about stuff.. About people, places, current events, lovelife, career, meeting new people, advising each other off, venting.. Ugh, so many... I wasn't even tipsy yet. I just drank a small glass of white russian. I wanted bailey's but there wasn't any. Maam Phame, left me for around 45 minutes and met someone... A friend of hers while i stayed inside the loft, relaxing and facebooking.... Facebooking.... I want to quit facebooking too much...

White russian and strawberry daquiri...

She did some shopping. She bought 2 tops and 1 shorts. They were nice stuff. Oh, geez.... If only i could shop... But it's fine.. I didn't find anything that said, buy me buy me! 

I thought we were done. But she refused to go home. It was 3am already.. I told her to stay in eastwood until around 5am just to be safe. We ate at mcdo and killed time. Another set of endless conversation. And then we went to Kwagos to drink another set of alcohol. We ordered a bucket of tanduay ice. The sun came up and we were still chatting and finishing our drinks. 5% alcohol so it was just like juice... It didn't give me a tipsy. Thank goodness, no hangover too.

She left at 6:45am. I hurriedly went back to the condo to prep for my next hangout with Janina (since we agreed to move our RnR on Sunday). I showered and slept for 1 1/2 hours. I was at mcdo again @ 0927am.

Bonding with maam phame, check.

Sunday

RnR with Janina. It was my first time to hang out with her for 12 hours! We went to church at Padre Pio. Very solemn place... But we stayed outside. Failed to start the mass. Then, we went across the street at a spa. Massage only costs 200 pesos but no therapist was available yet. And so we canvassed for other different spas that offered affordable service. We ended up at Bikram Yoga. 320 pesos. Aaah it was nice... Favorite part was the head massage.. Always my fave.

I wanted to stay and sleep but i guess we weren't allowed to. The ground was wet when we went out, It rained. We walked, window shopped, ate pasta at bigoli, drank red velvet drink at cbtl, thought to buy the long black skirt i've been eyeing for a few days- still didnt buy it, went to the office to finish some required stuff and then, chatted the whole time going to and from the places we went to. 

While walking, saw this headless man, drinking...

Janina went home with her sleepy head. Me? I ate pizza with my sleepy head before going home.

Bonding with Janina, check.

Nail it!

Lurve my candy nails. Can't stop staring at it until now. It looks like chicklet, bathroom tiles or car paint.  It's pretty. Good job, Ate Bubbles. :) btw, just to mention, i think this was my sister and i's first nail polish bonding. So girly! 

Pampering thyself on a cushy couch with Ate Bubbles, doing my nails. 

We ate at Kai Japanese Cuisine. I've been hearing Mr. Ramsey babble about sea bass on his shows. Hrmmm, sea bass... Familiar.. So that's what i ordered. It was really soft and juicy. Like it melts in your mouth. I also got to taste several sushi ... Errr... Flavors! You call them flavors i guess.. Or types.. But they were really good. I like the one with cream cheese. Thanks to my sister's treat. My turn nest time.

That's what i was talking about. Cream cheese sushi!

It took us awhile at the nail salon. I panicked and thought i'd be late for work. I was still wearing my street clothes (shirt, skirt- pretty short for office, and slip-ons). I would have had not made it if i went back to the condo and changed... I just had to make do with what i have with a little twick. Since i panicked... I did panic buying of a pair of shoes that i think got away from being too casual. The shoe made magic and made my street clothes look acceptable for office. I just had to pull down my skirt a little bit to reach the acceptable length and wore my jacket. Magic!

Zombie mode. But i managed. :)

Annabelle

What a silly movie... But scared the crap out of me... But it was really silly.. Geez... 

Image above: from princess sarah memes on facebook

Back massage was awesome! It was just a back massage for 30 mins. The blind woman who massaged me was way better than Nuat Thai. (Still the best i experienced was from the touch of thai in pagsanjan). After the massage, the blind people outside were singing, "kahit konting pagtingin". And one pf them made a comment, "e pano yan, bulag ka?".. Ahahahhaha. Kuleet.

I was about to eat at St Marc's cafe when they sent me a text that they've arrived already. And so arvie, ria and i met at megamall.

Fancy fancy... I have to try one of these! - St. Marc's Cafe

Then we watched the horror film. Arvie was squeezing my arm so hard. We were both screaming ever so loudly, it's funny. Ria, i think, fell asleep on some portions of the movie. No reaction on the scary parts. 

i wanted to hangout more after the movie but it was getting late. So i just bought these Unhappy paos (see the frowning?)

Thank you, Lord, i made it home safe. :)

Bday weekend

My birthday just ended. Thank you, Lord, the nice weather on my special day. 

Saturday:

Post flying. (From left to right: one of the trainors, me, sister). That guy at the back's Will, the owner/ founder of the trapeze school. I saw him on Sports Unlimited, a show on tv, that's why we got there. It was fun. I didn't get it at first, to swing forward backward forward, and then letting go. It was all timing so you'd get that smooth spin and landing on the net. It was a bit scary on the first swing. The plank was narrow, 30 feet above the ground and it's just your hands holding on to dear life on the bar.. I'm exaggerating. We had ropes and harnesses on, too, and there was a net beneath us of course. It was fun. I love the feeling of the wind on my face everytime i swing. :)

We had our dinner, after flying, at Ihop. Yum. 

Sunday:

Bday party with the fambam! 

Super Mario

They said, super mario, the storm, had even heavier down pour than Ondoy. But i think people are more prepared now than before.

Friday morning, after shift, it was raining hard. People were stranded everywhere. Tet, my friend and officemate, stayed in our condo.

So we went shopping for her clothes and toiletries, ate breakfast in Mcdo and painted my nails cherry red before sleeping. I can't stop looking at my shiny little nails. They're really pretty :)

Ugh... Queueing at work. Not all got to work, so we just had to deal with it.

Saturday morning, it was drizzling a bit. Gem and i went shopping at St. francis Square. oh, the temptation! I had only 100 pesos on my pocket and i saw this really nice dress, i cannot not buy it. 

We just couldn't go home that early. We dined and window shopped and gossipped (not really, just told her about my recent sentiments).

Ok so, that's gem and i, respectively. Pardon me with my ipad plattered on my face. It's just too big.

Look at those biceps. Didn't know i had it formed like that. Haha. Love the dress.

(I dunno if i fit to be a daisy. Haha)

Anyway, that's pretty much it. 

Monday

I'm on leave today. Was thinking of where to go and what to do. But it's rainy outside, so decided just to stay home and rest. 

It has been a productive weekend. I am on my domestic self mode. I cleaned my parent's room, biboy's room and our room. I washed the dishes and folded clean clothes. I bought ingredients for my planned menu today (unfortunetely, im short with butter and potatoes for the mashed potato recipe a friend taught me. I'll do this next time.) and some pandesal and eggs. I cooked my breakfast (longganisa from Laoag and red rice). Later, i'll make myself a chocolate oatmeal porridge. Wish i could make a real champorado but sticky rice is unavailable.

Looks like a scene from "Mystery Manor". I know, it's messy. But i've already decluttered the house.msorry. Don't have the after-pic.

Delicious! :)

 i tried to alter my red, star studded dress this morning to make it longer. It's half way done but i tried it to check if it was a success. It's still short at the back! :( i'll just have the professionals take care of it. Too much of my effort, pfffft.)

Still too short. Can't ride an escalator with this. I'm photobombed by the plastic boxes behind me.

I took out my violin and tried to play again. I forgot the pieces i've learned before. Also tuned it. Can't find my tuner. Where is it anyay? Also tried if i can do the vibrato. *shakes head

Told myself, i'd watch a movie. Still, here i am, blogging away.

See? I'm preoccupied.

I Am A.....

.... Living contradiction.

Shop Therapy

Right now, i'm kind of calming down and fixing my broken ego. I won't say why because i feel pathetic enough. So i won't delve into it. And so, i did shopping today! :) i'm not really a hardcore shopper. I used to just look around and try stuff but not really getting anything unless i super like it. I usually spend my moolah with eating lots and lots of food (this wont clutter my room! Haha). But nowadays, now that i live in the city and very near the mall, i have learned to buy clothes, not excessively though. It's true that shopping kind of strays you away with unpleasant feelings. Especially when you find something that really looks good on you.

I bought a dress (i'd look exotic wearing it, bwahaha) and 2 shirts: a pink casual shirt with psychedelic prints on it and a simple black blouse with tiny white spots. Not to mention the plain green dress i found yesterday that really fit me. I fell in love with it instantly! I just need to find a nice cardigan as its partner. 

Today was sort of a "waldas day" too. Our team, after work, had breakfast in a pretty sofisticated restaurant, the only place that opens at 6am. It cost me a fortune, but i was satisfied. 

Cine Europa is now on going. I didn't get to see a movie today cos i prioritized the shopping and it was kind of late for me to go. You have to be in line 2 hours before the movie. Admission was free so, you can just imagine how long the line was. It used to be like that with previous film fests. 

Thank goodness i was able to come home safely. The weather is unkind to travelers tonight. Rainy.

Oh well. 

Ps. I put my hair in a bun and i like what it did to it.. Big haaair! :) messy but big. Haha. 

TIME WARPING

Thursday: attended the monnrise festival. Felt like going back in time when i used to play music back in 200+. It's been years not attending to those types of events. There was art, folk music, poetry, dances, world beat, drum circle, capoeira, poi dancing... What more can i ask for? Really an awesome night. I got to see old friends and bandmates, artists and capoeiristas all in one event. Domeng and burn were there with Talahib. Missed those guys. Dxxxx's talent was so crushable! Lol.

 I am socially awkward. Pffft. Garsh.

Saturday: Capoeira training with EBC lead by Michael. My muscles were trying to cope with the physical activity. Me and my 2 left feet! Geez. So, ok.. I got through it, thank goodness. I want to go back to training. Im thinking of attending the intensive tumbling training at CG in Pasig before enrolling capoeira.. So i'd get better flexibility and balance. :) my muscles are once again sore and tired, over flowing with lactic acid (i'm exaggerating).

Sunday: Maam Phame and I went skating at SM Megamall still with my sore hamstring muscles... Another Time warping experience! Last skating i had was way back 2008! Been awhile. I didn't have my skates with me. Had to use those they provide. Quite expensive. We paid 390 each. But that's unlimited use of the ice. I missed the wind in my face when i skate. Got to do it again today. :) 

Independence day, America 2014

We are also on a holiday last Friday, July 4th, 2014. It did not feel like a long weekend though. i mostly stayed indoors and didn't get much of the sunlight.
Friday:
Rose, Harvey and I went to the Phil Man orientation for nurses who would like to work in New Zealand. When the company choose you, they will support your financial needs: i.e tuition fees, board and lodging. I'm just quite skeptical about the loaning scheme. The speaker said, that will be discussed at the middle of the process. Anyway. it's good that we went there. I'm not sure if I'll push through with it. i don't want to work in a hospital. The seminar ended at around 5pm.

Rose went home while Harvey and I went to SM megamall to meet mam Phame. It was her birthday that day! We went around the mall and saw the FIBA players. They're soooo tall!!!! and they're not Filipino. It'll be weird looking at foreign people competing for the Philippines.

We had our mirienda at Wendy's. As usual, i bought a frosty and baked potatoes with cheese and chiliconcarne. Talked stuff about recent work and old people. And then, maam Phame arrived and told us about her new work. interesting. It's great to see that she's enjoying. Her current job title is "Party Coordinator". :)

We were supposed to go skating that night but it was pretty expensive. We'll do that next week. :D. We separated ways after. I went home to Eastwood. I spoke to mom thru facetime at the lobby. My wifi is not working at our Unit, which is fine. I don't have to be online all the time. i need some space from Facebook sometimes. haha.

Saturday:
Slept almost the whole day. I woke up kind of early. around 6am. Slept again at 1pm and woke up at 6pm. I almost forgot Ate Rochie was going to pick me up at 8. Good thing, I woke up!

Ate and I went to Greenbelt to meet up with her friends to watch the FIFA: Belgium vs Argentina. Looking at the Argentinians, they were less pretty but really good on the field. So, Belgium lost. We lost... But that's fine. Mga gwapo parin naman sila. hehehe. It was a good fight, kahit kulelat. I'm glad, during the game, i was able to chat with him about it. I kind of miss him. geez.

Image of belgium vs argentina flag from: http://st2.india.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/argentina-vs-belgium1.jpg

Sunday:
Booooring day! I thought we were having dinner with my aunt and lola. but it didn't push through. I slept almost all day. and so, i was awake, and still am, all night! chatted a tinitiny bit. told me he was studying and watching the UFC and that's it. i spent my night cooking, cleaning the clutter around the house and..... Not thinking too much because....

Image from: http://www.sadmuffin.net/cherrybam/graphics/comments-i-miss-you/i-miss-you035.gif

Monday:
Still awake! Leaving at 1:30PM I guess.

Hello work... Later. Wish it'll stop raining so my feet won't be too wet.

Boracay!!!

Back to reality... Back in manila to work later. Boracay is an okay place.. Puka beach is the best... Anyway... Let me tell you what happened.

Day 1

1. Went to Boracay with Accenture colleagues: Mami Chie, Ria and bf, Arvie and Gem. :)

2. Stayed in Azzuro de Boracay, a so so hotel.

3. Ate at 'I Love BBQ'. Rich kids' cheat day!

4. Watched the fire dancers do their thing.

4. Met with my good old friend, Mon. :)

6. Saw atom araullo at the abs cbn event. Too bad, we missed the free booze...

7. Partied at Juice bar. Thought we were going to a jamba juice type of place.. But no.. It's a bar with a rowdy place with dancing tipsy people. Redhorse beer put me on the dizzy side

8. Night swimming at the beach.. 1st time to do that. 

Day 2

1. Island hopping 'daw'.... Did snorkeling at the crocodile island. Looootsa fishhh!

2. Puka beach is paradise! I love it there! Clear blue water. White sand. Very few people. No party party..beautiful

3. Had a nice great meal at puka beach. Love eating with a nice view!

4. Picture taking done! Yey!

5. Party party again at Juice bar. we should have gone to another bar for a change.
6. Weng weng- damn you redhorse.
Day 3.
1. Went early swimming at the beach front. it was  a beautiful morning until my camera died. :(
2. Looked for a new place to stay. We found the travel lounge. Mami Chie and I were the only ones who checked in since Arvie and Gem will be living that night. Sad.
3. Banana boat with the Israelites. My eye felt soooo stingy it felt like i was going blind... Not good.
4. Went around to buy pasalubong. no calamnsi muffin available.
5. Had a little chat with my online crush.  :) (fine, I'm claiming it now... he is officially my online crush). *giggles
6. Slept the whole afternoon because of my inflamed eyes.. - sunblock melted in my eyes. beware of sunblock!
Day 4.
1. Going home
2. packed our bags to go home.
3. Went around early in the morning to buy few more pasalubongs.
4. had an all you can eat meal at La Carmella hotel.
5. Traveled back to Manila.

Lesson learned:
1. Wearing a bikini is liberating.
2. Do not put sunblock on your eyelids. it will go to your eyes eventually.
3. Do not drink too much or you'll get a really bad hangover the next day that you won't be able to do anything..
4. Waterproof cameras should still be placed on a waterproof encasement. Just to make sure it won't leak.

Heritage

I can't sleep. So, i'm writing a late post about a trip my family had last week. 

Mom and dad decided not to go to boracay since the airfare was soo expensive as well as the accomodations. So, we instead went to Bataan. I was not expecting anything in Bataan. A friend once told me that it's nice to go there.. But i really didn understand what was nice about Bataan. I didnt research about the place nor i asked further questions as to what to see in the place.. Maybe i lost interest when they said that the beach has dark sand.. Im not a fan of dark merky waters... 

Anyway.. We traveled, not knowing what to expect.. I was sort of imagining a simple place where we could eat native delicacies of bataan and will go home after. My mom protested with the idea of going back home after a long travel... My sister mentioned a hertitage hotel which i imagined like peninsula hotel.. But i doubted that with a place so rural amd so far away from the city..

We finally Arrived to the so called hertitage hotel. Mom's expression was priceless when she saw where we are: it looked like we were entering a factory/ school/ village, nothing like a hotel. Mom wanted to go back. Hahaha... There were men in costumes like the ones you see at fort bonifacio, though. I thought that was strange in a place like that... They opened the gates and the guard asked "may reservation po?".. In my mind, "saan naman kaya kami magrereserve?". Te place looked nothing like a hotel.. They let us in... And....

...i felt like i went bac in time. It wad like going to the walled city, indeed. It was such a beautiful place. I wanted to twirl and do cartwheels in the cobble- stoned floor. There were traditional song and dance performances at the main area. Wow. I kind of remembered the Peace camp we had in Iloilo way back in 2003, wherein after a every eventful day, we had a big dinner outdoors surrounded with folk music. It was pleasant, :) I forgot what that place in Bataan is called. I just remember "Heritage Village". I'm not even sure. It's like an artificial Vigan. From what i heard, the owners buy really old houses (materials) and rebuild them there. 

The more affordable rooms were all booked so we had to stay in our very own heritage house. All to ourselves! Kinda felt at home. We settled down our stuff and headed for dinner at a really nice hertage looking fine dining resto. We were serenaded by a singing couple who call theirselves "lolo and lola". They're not even old looking. Odd. Mom refused to be serenaded cos she thought i'll cost something. Hehehe. But still they sang us a couple of songs including Joey Ayala's "Walang Hanggang Paalam". <3. Dinner was great. 

We went back to our heritage house, tried to watch a movie, but we all got sleepy. We all went to bed. Aircon was coooold. Awesome to be with parents again. I feel like a small child. I always do when im around them... I am their eternal baby. 

The next day, we woke up, breakfast waiting for us at the fine dining resto we ate at last night. In the morning, it looked more friendly and less intimidating. And then we all checked out the gray beach. Mommy was all geared to swim but she back out. She didn't fancy the mirky waters, too.

We swam at the swimming pool. Last swimming spree we had was way back when we were kids (elementary days), until Bataan. And then, ate rochie and i did kayaking. That was fun. But it wasn't like the white water rapids we had in CDO. 

We ate our late lunch at an italian resto still in the heritage village. We ordered a lot! Loved the mango juice, as usual. We were serenaded again, this time by a 3 pc band. Labamba!

Then we had a tour around the village. There was a lot more to see. But some art galleries were closed. The guy doing the tour looked like Gibo. Missed the kid. 

Anyway, we went home happy together. Best part of the trip was the activities we did as a family which we seldom did when we were little. :)

2/24/2014

Reunited

Finally, my parents are here. They picked me up last Saturday evening and ate out in a Thai resto in sM Aura. I missed my parents. It's nice to have bonded with them in person after a while.. Thai food was delicious. :)

I was not able to sleep saturday night 'cause i was asleep the whole day. Staying awake on a Sunday was a challenge. I met tita Trining and tito Romy. Ate Grace, kuya Nat and Elise came along that night, too, at Lola's house. It was a nice reunion. Elise is so cute :) 

Too bad i won't be able to be with the fam on a weekday 'cause i have to work in Manila every night. Oh well.. 

See you guys on Saturday. :)

Cry*

I want to be happy again. Help me.

Quotes to remember

"Let it go, let it goooo!" - Frozen

"Give yourself a chance, and you'll be ok."- Taxi driver in NYC

Facebook video

Ok...so..i'm not sure if this link is going to work on blogger... This is a facebook video. I like the background music. :)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151938278518526

Long Weekend

It was a pretty good long week end. :)

I booked a flight to Boracay and planned to stay there for 3 days to relax and enjoy the clear blue waters of the beach. But it did't push through. It was best to delay my vacation cos the weather there's not too nice- low pressure area. So... What did i do?

1. Right after work, colleagues and i went to Taguig to eat breakfast at iHop. It was supposed to be a team building but it was just a simple get-together. 

Photo from Jason Navarrete

2. Maam Phame, a friend and a workmate from my previous job, was around manila area. I invited her to Eastwood. She came around 5:30pm and kept on muttering how far the place was.... I know, right? That's the reason why i dont go home as often as i want to. Anyway, we just had pizza for dinner at Sbarro, icecream at Dairyqueen for dessert and looked around the tsiangge. I was about to buy myself a pair of sandals but... Yah know, i wasn't 100% happy with it. And I'm kind of saving up from now on. :) I went home to Laguna.

With maam phame, being silly. We were supposed to have free dinner at Richmond hotel from sales people who were trying to sell condos but decided not to take it. We can't stay that late in Manila.

3. Sunday: i stayed home and did domestic duties. Did the laundry, swept the floor, fed the cats... Stuff like that... I thought of going out to do something. I wanted to go swimming in the hotspring but i don't want to go by myself... And i felt too lazy to even go outside cos it was pretty chilly. Bed weather.   So i stayed home all day reading a nice YA book. 

4. Monday: Went to my tita's house. I miss visiting there. It was great to be home. :) i missed my nieces and nephews, my titas and the home-cooked meals.. Ahhh. Nice :) it felt like christmas 'cause we all went out for dinner and had coffee afterwards. Well, i ordered Cafe Antonio's special hot chocolate (see photo below). Nam nam!

5. Tuesday: back to reality. Have to go back to Manila to work later. 

It was a nice weekend :) 

Thanks! :)