2014 Goals

Since it's going to be another year, this is (another) attempt on New Year's resolution. Hehe. I've learned from the hubby that in order to attain goals, you set small achievable ones for a reasonable time, so here goes my hopefully achieved-by-the-set-date goals:

End of January:
1. Get braces. (again. I lost my retainers so I've been without them for months now, my upper teeth started to get gaps again.)
2. Complete my APE. (I was suppose to finish this December but you know the drill, everybody gets busy with Christmas so there.)
3. Finish the book "Allegiant". (Feb.2)

End of February:
1. Lose 7 4 kilograms. (Starting weight: 73 70 Kilos. *insert sheepish smile here*) (Mar.22)
2. Plank for 2 minutes.
3. Jog continously for 30 minutes.

End of March:
1. Pass 1 Microsoft Certification.
2. Throw/give away unused things to unclutter the house. (Mar.15)
3. Renovate the house. (yey!)
4. Minimize allergy scars.

End of June:
1. Buy bookshelves.
2. Buy oven. :)

I'll update this list once their done. Crossing my fingers that they'll all be crossed out by the end of June next year. Hope you had a blessed Christmas. Happy New Year! :)

Photo from this link.

Christmas Day! :)

Papa would always say that every year it gets less Christmas-y. Houses are with less or no decorations at all, children don't do Christmas carols that often anymore and people are with less money to spend on gifts. It seems to be true but nevertheless, December is my favorite month and Christmas, my favorite occasion. 

I remember when my brother and I were kids, we'd hog mama in the kitchen, mischievously stealing a taste of the food being prepared for noche buena. My family celebrates noche buena - we'd wait for 12 am of December 25, say grace and share a meal of pasta, bread, hotdogs, ham, bacon and fruit salad. Those were the main stays. Christmas morning would be spent hearing mass and going to relatives afterwards to have lunch. I was rich that day. I'd collect at least P2000 from Ninongs/Ninangs and TitosTitas. :) 

I started becoming poor during the Christmas season when I hit highschool. I was old already and refused to take aginaldo. I'd tell my tito/a to just give it to my younger cousins. I then became even more poor when i started working and having god kids of my own. Aside from the aginaldo I prepare for the god kids, I'd also shop for gifts for my family and relatives. During December, the pay is given early and so it's a long wait before my pockets are refilled with the next pay. 

Since I got married, this has been our routine - Christmas Eve with my family and the next day with my relatives then we go home to Pampanga around the 28th and spend the rest of the vacation there. This year, our noche buena was still the same with the addition of hot choco and baked doughnuts H and I bought at Pan de Manila. The bonuses that I had were spent buying gifts - watch and Kobo for H, watch for papa, 2 blouses for mama (I already spent much on her birthday last November hehe) and 2 shirts for the brother. H and I also shopped for gifts to be given to some god kids, but the rest we gave aginaldo. This year, we got to save a little by giving nieces and nephews candies in a pouch instead of money. 

We were able to fit in the budget some office give aways too!

I was feeling guilty because we only got to attend one Simbang gabi and didn't even hear mass today. Hay. With all the things that made us busy, hearing mass and praying should be the most important. After all, Jesus is the reason why we celebrate Christmas. I should be reminded of that. 

Thank you, Father for sending Jesus to us. Merry Christmas! :) 

31st!

A year more and I'd belong to the ones they call "wala na sa kalendaryo". Haha. You know you're getting old when what you see in your Facebook feed are posts of weddings, births and baptisms. 

I want to thank H for coming with me to our City Garden Office Christmas Party and waiting for at least 4 hours for it to finish. I also want to thank him for the frui-quet he stressed about because it was supposed to be delivered in the office yesterday so I can share it with my officemates but then he miscalculated the order process which said deliveries are made a day or 2 after. At least, we had it today, my birthday. 

Thank you to the office raffle for my new phone. Now I can instagram anywhere hehe. (I didn't want to change my old Nokia E72 purple phone because I like it that much. Now, I don't have a choice :p, the old phone will be my pamana to my brother) 

Above all, thank you Lord for another wonderful year. Thank you for all the blessings and also for the challenges.

Ber Months are here!

Wishing all of us a happy and blessed Christmas as early as today! :) 

No more tears! :)

Today we received our most awaited letter (at least for every one in our company). I recall last year, I wrote about greeting the fiscal year and rating with a smile. Well, I'm smiling. :) (Thank you Lord!) Not that I'm completely satisfied of what was in the letter especially the numbers in it, but at least I've proven myself I'm worthy of something. 

Yey! :) 

Cotton!

Happy two years, Hubby! :) 

Visiting Zambales Amidst the Rains (062013) - Day 3

The next morning, we woke up pretty early again, around 8. Since this is our last day, we decided to just stay in the resort. We had Filipino breakfast and planned to swim in the pool but it was full (no pun intended hehe) of other guests, mostly kids and a few parents so we ended up just checking the beach. 

Seeing the beach, now we know why the pool was occupied. Since there were rains the past days, the shore was dirty, especially the part in front of our resort. To my horror, adding to the dirt was a canal with its water flowing to the beach! I was wondering why the sand near our resort was excavated, only to realize that the water in it was actually from a canal nearby. Wow. 

Only a few people, some guests of other resorts probably without pools, swim in the beach. Good thing, we were not that much into swimming that day, so we just walked and enjoyed the heat of the morning sun. :)

We left for the terminal around lunch, slept most of the bus time and woke up with rain pouring in Manila. Though we didn't get to go to Tree Top Adventure and Ocean Adventure, we were happy about the trip, mainly because it was our first alone-vacay :) 

Visiting Zambales Amidst the Rains (062013) - Day 2

The next morning, we woke up at around 8 and had breakfast courtesy of our resort. The breakfast was Filipino and filling. We left the resort at around 11 and had lunch at KFC SM Olongapo and bought some snacks for Zoobic Safari. We went to Harbor Point in search of a cab that will take us to the zoo. There are no public transportation going to the tourist spots (Tree Top, Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure) so we didn't have a choice. We found an FX in the taxi bay and the driver agreed to take us to Zoobic for the price of P1200. Yes, cabs there are pricey. Good thing the driver that we got was kind enough he even acted as a tour guide, saying something about the places we we're passing going to the zoo. 

The first animal that greeted us when we arrived there was an adult Pot Bellied pig roaming around freely. Entering the park, we we're welcomed by the roars of a baby tiger obviously not wanting to take photos with the tourists hehe. 

Tourists are grouped and we were around 15 in ours. The first part of the tour consisted of the aviary, the reptiles and other mammals.

A train took us to the next section of the trip. There was a some sort of museum which housed a number of stuffed and preserved animals. It had a strong smell of chemicals so some members of our group just stayed in the train. 

What I was excited about was meeting the tigers. It was just a little disappointing because when we were there we only met 2. I thought there would be more of them freely roaming around. *sigh* The jeep ride in tiger territory was only a few minutes. We met more of the tigers in their breeding cages. 

The last part was the dance of the Aeta's and a visit to the crocs. :) The zoo trip took us around almost 3 hours. Good thing it only started raining when we we're already back in the cab. At 7 pm we were already back in the resort. We decided to just eat dinner at the resort and ordered their seafood kare-kare, rice, onion rings and juice. Though it was a little expensive, it was worth it as the kare-kare was really delicious. We ended the day with a massage for one, which I happily took :) 

Next day: Checking out the beach

Visiting Zambales Amidst the Rains (062013) - Day 1

June is the birth month of Hubby and the next month, our anniversary so being the wanna-be-traveler that I am, I planned for a simple get away. Ever since we got married (almost 2 years now) we have not yet traveled alone, always with companions. Last Malaysia - Singapore trip was with college friends and the Bohol - Cebu one was with my folks. Since Hubby is not a fan of getting too many of his VLs, I planned the short vacation to fall on a Friday - Sunday schedule. 

I have a coupon from Belle de Jour that gave me a 30% off on a resort in Zambales and since I also want to visit the Tiger Safari and Ocean Adventure, I emailed Subic Grand Seas Resort inquiring about their rates and my usage of the coupon. They also offer packages that will allow you to visit Tree Top Adventure, Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure without the trouble of reserving the tickets yourself as they will take care of that for you but unfortunately, the packages can only be used if I don't use my Belle de Jour coupon. I calculated the rates and because the 30% savings on the coupon is much greater than what we can save using their packages, I opted to reserve the tickets for Zoobic Safari on my own. 

A typhoon has just passed and even though we boarded the Victory bus to Zambales at around 12 in the afternoon sunny, we arrived at a pouring Subic at around 5 pm. We took a jeepney to the resort which was an P8.00 fare away from the bus station. 

The resort was within the populated part of the area and it was near convenient stores, restaurants and beer houses hehe. I was actually expecting it to be in the "quiet" section as was the resort we had in Bohol but I was wrong. Subic Grand Seas reception area and interiors made up for the trouble it caused me to book for a room. I had to email them a few times and even call 3 times a week before our trip because they're not prompt in answering inquiries. Maybe they're just not into emails because the staff was actually polite and friendly. 

Since it was raining when we arrived, we went directly to our room and Hubby just had the chance to take pictures outside when the rained stopped. 

When we had the chance to go outside, we scouted for a diner to eat, and since Hubby googled a diner recommended by others, we went to The Coffeeshop which was a 10 minute walk from where we were staying. It looked like a school cafeteria inside but it was almost full when we entered. They are famous for their humongous serving of Tacos, so we ordered one, (if I remember right) a burrito, and because I was famished, an order of sisig and 2 plain rice. We were not able to take pictures because we forgot to bring the camera with us. The picture below is from travelbook's website. 

The taco was really huge and good but sad for me I didn't have more of it because I started with the sisig and half the burrito. The taco cost us only P90, the burrito P90ish as well so if you're going there, order the two. The sisig tasted like minced porkchop, and was overpriced at P180. It left me disappointed as I was expecting it to be at least as good as the sisig in Supreme's (a local restaurant near the in-laws' house in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga) considering its price versus Supreme's P80 per order. 

After dinner and because it started drizzling again, we went back to our room and had a massage for two at around 9pm. Room accommodations in Subic Grand Seas come with a free massage for one but since I used my coupon, we had a couple massage. :) 

Next day: Zoobic Safari

For The Birthday Boy

Today, I filed a leave at the office so that I can be a cook for the day :) It's Hubby's birthday and I wasn't able to buy him a gift (last year's was a wallet) so I decided to clean the house and cook something for two. I wasn't really a morning person (and I suffer from Insomia) but today was an exception. Woke up just in time to make a quick breakfast for him. When he went off for work, I started fixing things in the house and went to Market! Market! a little past 2 in the afternoon to do some groceries. I was definitely going to make pasta, probably a soup and buy cake and a wine. That was the plan. I went straight to the grocery and checked around for things that we might need other than the ones for the dinner later. You know how one can get lost in the grocery right? <guilty face> So when I checked my watch, I was surprised to see that I've been walking for almost an hour already with only a box of milk, a few canned goods and bread in my basket. Realizing I don't know yet what soup to do, and being in the vegetable section, I opted to make just a salad instead. I got some lettuce and looked for croutons. Unfortunately, they only have one brand of croutons which was a little expensive (P120/pack) but I got it anyways. I grabbed a few mangoes and went to the wine section and bought one. Wanting to make it a little special, I went to this Japanese store and bought 2 of what I though were wine glasses. (Only to find out later that they were just water glasses, as pointed out by the Hubby. Haha! Malay ko ba?) Red Ribbon was at the far end from the supermarket but I still went there wanting to buy their Tiramisu cake which was good when I had it during my lead's birthday. However, that day, they ran out of stock so I ended up with Black Forest which was actually too sweet for my taste. 

I got home a little before 6 and started cooking the pasta right away. Of course, I took photos of the wine and the food before the birthday boy arrived. 

After all the preparations, I was dead tired but it was all worth it. For my birthday boy. :) Happy birthday, dear. :) 

Thinking about mortality

No, i'm not usually morbid, but the bombing in Serendra II made me think about "going home" again. We have no TV, so I probably wouldn't have learned about it had papa not texted me if I knew about the explosion. I work in Mckinley so he must have thought we've been informed about it since we were just 10 minutes away from where it happened 

According to the news, at around 8pm, unit 501 of Serendra II exploded causing a concrete wall to be thrown off and crushed an Abenson delivery van passing by, leaving the driver and its 2 passengers dead. It collided with another vehicle but the driver was unharmed. Others were injured - passersby and a tenant in the same building. 

This unfortunate event got me thinking, maybe for the driver and his passengers, it was just an ordinary day at work. Little did they know it was going to be their last day here. I was wondering, if this was supposed to happen and nothing can be changed about it, had they lived their last day differently? 

It sounds morbid yes, but I remember Father Orbos would usually say to treasure everyone you're with today because you'll never know, maybe next year, next month or tomorrow, you won't be with them anymore. He would tell the mass goers to think about the people they were with last year who are now gone. 

Most of the days, I wake up feeling bored thinking it's going to be another tiring day at work, not focusing on the fact that I was given another chance to see my loved ones and to be with them. I often get drowned with how busy I am, I often forget why I work and for who I work, and because I know that I can get away with not praying and just whispering "Lord, thank you for today. Sorry no quiet time, I'm so tired", thinking that I still have tomorrow to make up for it, I would often sleep prayerless.

What if one of my busy normal days, I die? Have I been doing the things that are really worth doing? Have I loved enough? Have I  served the Lord enough? Or did I just drown in the many things I thought were important? I hope not. I hope that everyday I be reminded that these are all temporary, and will fade away. 

So today, I promise to put my permanent blessings first over temporary ones - relationships over achievements, because it is true that when you pass you cannot take anything with you except your faith and the love you had. 

<Image from this link>

""Show me, LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is." - Psalm  39:4 NIV 

Beauty Within

My allergies have been acting up (again) lately probably because I've been lacking sleep. My sleeping routine was changed since my work now starts at 1 in the afternoon as I need to be in calls with the counterpart everyday from 9 to 11 pm. Having bad skin, I started to feel down again until hubby made me see this video. From now on, I promise not to be hard on myself :)

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 4

This was the most exciting part of the tour for me - Universal Studio day. Last time I was here, it was raining when we were at Sentosa so our group decided not to go in anymore. Plus, we didn't book ahead and the park was already full.

We woke up around 7 and were at the Duck ride station 30 minutes before departure. We had breakfast at the stall near the station. I had siopao and milk tea. Milk tea in Singapore is delicious, it's a must try. The tour was basically a combination of the bus tour and river cruise. What was amusing about it was the fact that you're riding an amphibian vehicle and it was fun when we were crossing from land to water. :) 

The bus that will take us to Universal Studios was parked at the same station where our Duck Tour started. The bus ride took 30 minutes to Sentosa. There are a lot of places to visit at Sentosa but we focused only with the candy stores right outside USS. I was actually feeling bad for the parents because they were stuck with Lola (she was already tired from all the walking). I wanted to accompany them so they can go sight seeing but I wanted to experience the rides. Hay. Mama, Papa and Lola were with us in the Transformer (best ride for me) and Madagascar boat ride. Return of the Mummy is also a must try ride. I'm not a fan of roller coasters, but this one is good. :) I prefer it over Battlestar Galactica. 

We had lunch inside USS. I was already expecting it to be expensive but was disappointed with the taste. I ordered pasta with coke and coffee pie (it was a small one, like the one in Tokyo! Tokyo!). I'm not a fan of Italian tasting pasta so I did not enjoy mine. I even ordered lasagna for Papa and he too didn't enjoy it. 

We were supposed to be back at the rental house by 10 because the flight was at 12 midnight. We were out of Sentosa by 7 and even had the time to watch the light show at Marina Bay. Because taxi was expensive, (they have an additional charge at night time) we took the bus home, prepared our bags and arrived at the airport on time. I was too happy with the Singapore leg of the tour, I didn't want to leave. Maybe next time, H and I will go back here for the museums, gardens and another round of USS. :)

Oh and I forgot to mention, the deal that I took from Duck Tours included museum and garden visits but we were not able to do so due to lack of time. *sigh*

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 3

We took the 8:30 am bus ride to Singapore. Last time lasted for 4 hours so I thought that we will be in Singapore a little past lunch time. I didn't factor in the traffic difference, stop overs and how far the house was from the tourist spots. We arrived at the Malaysia-Singapore boundary around 2pm and having no Singapore dollars, we had to get off at the malls to withdraw. Little did I know that our house was nearer to the previous bus stop, so it took us an hour cab ride from the mall to the house. 

We rented the whole 2nd floor of the house. It was expensive at SGD760 for 2 nights but we took it. The rooms were big and clean and the owner was nice. Plus it was near the airport - just a 10 minute cab ride. Bad side though was that we had to take the train going to the tourists spots. Sorry for the unmade beds. I took the photos right before we leave for the tour the next day.

We had a decent meal at the local eatery right beside Simei Train Station. It was already past 4pm and I was anxious the Duck Tour's office would be close even before we get our tickets. We already have e-tickets, but we needed them to give the ones we would use. We arrived at Duck Tours around 5:30 and though they close at 6 I was told we would be able to start our tour the next day which is not ok because we leave for home the next day at midnight. Good thing I asked for them to check again and there was a bus leaving at 6:10. After the bus tour, which I didn't take so as to plan what to do next, we went to ride the Singapore Flyer then took a cab and literally ran off to find the river boat ride which I was told closes at 9. We were sweaty from all the running only to find out that they close at 10. Whew! Though I took the river cruise last time, this was a little different for me because we took it at night. The city was gorgeous with lights! :) 

After the river cruise, we took the train to Chinatown and did some pasalubong shopping at 11pm! Haha. My feet were dead tired but everyone was still up for it. Tita and Mama were able to buy souvenirs and my cousins, shirts. After shopping, we had a very late dinner at a nearby Mcdonald's and went home via bus as there were no trains anymore. 

Next Stop: Wacky Duck and Universal Studios

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 2

The next day was tour day. We still woke up early and had breakfast at Mcdonald's KL Central. Tita Kite wanted to eat at the local shops but our companions are apprehensive they might get stomach ache from lots of curry and chili. We waited a little for the tour bus to arrive. This is the other thing I didn't do with the college friends, take the bus tour. We used to walk a lot then but since we have 3 senior citizens with us, we opted to take the bus around the city. 

We did some pasalubong shopping again at Central Market and had a tasty lunch at Chinatown. We had 5 dishes, Yang Chow and plain rice for RM200. It's around P250 each but it was worth it. 

We capped off the day with dinner at SOGO mall again (haha) because mama had to buy some more chocolates realizing she was a little short of pasalubong to the co-teachers. This concluded the Malaysia leg of our tour. I originally planned that we take the bus going to Singapore this night but because lodging in Malaysia is much cheaper, we stayed for the night in the MY apartment.

Next Day: Bus ride to Singapore, Singapore Flyer, River Cruise, Chinatown

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 1

Tita Kite saw the pictures we had when we took our MY-SG vacation and since then, she asked me to book one for her family. Since mama and papa also wanted to go out of the country but didn't want to go without me (takot ang parents mag-isa hehe), I booked a flight to MY-SG for 10. Yes, 10 - me and my parents, tita kite, lola, 3 cousins and 2 boyfriends. The more, the merrier right? :p

Being OC, all expenses for our 4-day trip (april 13 - 16) were listed in an excel sheet for an easy accounting because everything was charged to our credit card. Everything was set a month before our actual travel date except for where we'd be staying in MY because the original flat I rented had some tenant trouble a week before our reserved date and they had to shut down operations for a bit. Good thing a college friend is working in MY and knew where best to stay for a cheaper price. He was also the one who helped me with all the travel arrangements we needed while in MY. 

The flight to MY is 8pm-ish. We were at the airport around 6 but to our horror the flight was 2 hours delayed. We had a van waiting in MY and since we were late for 2 hours, we were charged extra (which was actually ok, I really thought he'd leave and I was worried how we can get to the apartment by commuting). The MY airport was already closing because we were the last flight for the day. The airport is an hour away from KL so we arrived at the apartment around 3 in the morning.Though the apartment was near a train station, we had a hard time locating it. The owner's sister greeted us at the elevator and showed us the apartment. The apartment itself is clean but the building looked neglected. The parking was bad, the elevator full of vandalism and you have to be careful when you walk as the compound streets are littered with used diapers. 

I had very little sleep because I told my cousins to wake up by 5. Our bus going to Genting Highlands leaves by 8 am, and we have 1 bathroom for 10 people in the apartment so it is needed that we were up early. We had noodles for breakfast and took a 15 minute cab to KL Central to meet my friend for our tickets. 

We were at Genting at 9 am. We did the same thing we did when I was with H and college friends - rode the cable car and tool lots of photos inside Resorts World. The only difference is this time, since we are going to Universal Studios in Singapore, we took the buffet instead of the ride all you can in the theme park. I'm not an adventurous eater so I didn't enjoy the food that much except for a few. 

After Genting, we bought some dried candies at the mall where we waited for the bus that will take us back to KL. While waiting, a van driver offered a ride to this chocolate store 5 minutes away for RM20. We were told that they sell prime chocolate for a cheaper price so we went to buy pasalubong. Too bad we didn't get to take photos but boy it was a small store filled with chocolates. There were free tastes too! I bought 3 pouches of assorted chocolates which cost P1000. It was pricey for me yes but they were really good! :) 

From KL we rode the train going to Batu Caves. I stayed with the parents, Lola and Tita Kite at the foot of the caves sipping Buko Juice while waiting for the cousins to descend from their climb. We took the train back to KL and had dinner at SOGO mall. We also bought some chocolates there which were a lot cheaper than the earlier ones. I bought Old Town coffee and milk tea for H and a bag of chocolates for the officemates. 

It was a tiring day and since I didn't have enough sleep, I was already snoozing at 10 in the evening.

Next Day: KL Bus Tour, Central Market, Petronas Tower and China Town

Eating in an Igloo - Eskimo Bob!

No, we didn't eat in an Igloo, just toying with the title :p We tried Eskimo Bob way back when we were still dating. It was one of our usual window-shopping-muna-kasi-di-pa-sweldo dates in Megamall, we got tired and he wanted to try something new. Eskimo Bob is at the 4th level, Mega Atrium. It's a small diner and one who is not particularly looking for a place to eat can easily miss it. 

Since we were feeling really hungry, we ordered 2 meals, their soup of the day and a pizza His was a porkchop meal and mine was Spaghetti with meatballs. I love spaghetti but only the sweet tasting ones, like how mama used to make for us when my brother and I were kids, so when my order arrived I was actually praying it wouldn't taste Italian. 

But no, the prayer was not answered *sigh*. The sauce was sour. <sad face here> Good thing there was a ketchup in our table. I mixed a tablespoon or two with my pasta and voila, Filipino style spaghetti! Wee! :) But there was another problem. When I started with the meatballs, to our horror, they were raw! They were all pink in the middle and tasted frozen. Hubby just told me to eat the ones which looked cooked so I ended up eating a sort of meatless pasta. 

Hubby's porkchop came with their Mango Iced Tea. Since I only have the regular Iced tea, I took a sip of his and wow, it was yummy! Yummy enough that I had to order one for myself :) His meal, wasn't that satisfying though. The porkchop was thin and hard to chew. Good thing the mashed potato was good. I'm not really into mashed potatoes, I prefer the fried ones but this one was good even without the gravy. 

The soup of the day was pumpkin soup. I've always loved soup and this one was A-ok. It was creamy and tasted like the real thing, unlike some soups which you'd instantly recognize it came from an instant mix. And then the four cheese pizza! I'm into anything that has tomato sauce and/or cheese with it, but since I've already finished my meatless pasta, I was only able to eat a slice of this gorgeous thing. I could be biased though because of my cheese-tooth. (just like sweet-tooth, yup, I'm trying to be funny lol)

Did I say that we were so full? So full that we had to say no to the calling of the delectable looking desserts (Ice cream!). I couldn't even take one last sip at my Mango Iced Tea. Nevertheless, the desserts alone are reason enough to swing by one of these days. :) 

Eskimo Bob by Icebergs
4th Level, Mega Atrium
Megamall, Edsa Mandaluyong

Flashback: Coron turned Tagaytay and Laguna (102009)

About 3 years ago was my supposedly first airplane ride.I have ridden one when I was four except that it didn't actually fly. It was during a field trip with my mom's kids (she is a teacher) and we were allowed to have photos inside the craft. 

I was with my then boyfriend (now hubby) and our college friends. It was the time when a storm just passed Manila and we were actually thankful that the sun was shining the day we were about to go to Coron. We were a total of 17 and were excitedly waiting at the terminal when we were told twice that our flight will be delayed. 30 minutes or so has passed when they broke my heart saying our flight has been cancelled because a small aircraft like the one we were about to board couldn't pass through rainy clouds in our destination. Still we hoped to continue the trip but having waited in the airport for almost a day, we gave up. The plane tickets were refunded but the hotel we reserved chuck off  P1000 each and returned the rest of the payment after 2 weeks. Some already went home but others, including us, stayed and decided to sleep over at Bai's house which was near the airport. We had late dinner at KKK (Kainan sa Kalye Kanluran) 

Top: Sisig
Bottom: Caldereta

Top: Adobo ni Jake
Bottom: Gising Gising

Top: Bistek Flakes
Bottom: Sinigang na Lechon

Food at KKK were (if not all) Filipino. They were great and I especially liked they're Bistek Flakes and Sinigang na Lechon. 

Trying not to waste the vacation leaves filed, we decided to go somewhere hopefully just by land. Since we were ready to go to the beach, we agreed to go to Batangas. We called a van rental service and waited but it seems that luck was still avoiding us because after waiting for an hour, the service called us telling us that there were no drivers available. *sigh* Not giving up, we headed out of the house prepared for an overnight stay somewhere even if it meant that we needed to commute dragging along our heavy bags. Good thing a Batangas bound van said yes to our pleading of renting the van for the whole day. We planned on passing and seeing Tagaytay then stay at any resort in Batangas. 

First stop was Palace in the sky where leg strength was vital for climbing. 

Next was Caleruega, where you can get lost in their beautiful garden decorated with several koi ponds. At the highest point of the place stood a small church which is often chosen for weddings. 

After, we went to  Sonia's Garden not to eat or stay but to just take pictures haha! 

We then decided to find a place in Batangas to swim and stay.  It was already drizzling when we left the diner and pouring when we were on the road. Since rain and beach was not a good combination, we headed  back to Tagaytay and had our late lunch (this was about 4pm) at Leslie's Bulalohan. I was not able to get shots of the food tho. 

It was back to drizzling again when we finished lunch and Kuya Louie, the van driver, was already talking about going home. We pursuaded him to let us find a place to stay first and so for almost an hour, we stopped at every inn and resort to ask if they can accomodate a crowd like us and more importantly if we can afford their rates. We found a pool resort in Laguna (I don't remember the name) around 7pm and stayed the night there. 

The trip was not as planned but I still had fun because it was the first time I went out with our college friends. My parents were very old fashioned and didn't allow me doing sleep overs so this was actually my first :) (and I was already 26!)