Christmas at Baguio

Disclaimer: This post will be photo heavy.

This Baguio trip was planned months before Christmas and we were all excited because it will be the first time that we will not spend Christmas at home. Few days before the trip, we were buying jackets and scarves. It was so hard for me to pack because I realized that almost all of my clothes are suited for the beach (that's why I have to buy). I am a beach person, not a cold weather person!

Dec. 23. We left Manila a few minutes past 6am and the trip was fast. We arrived there at around 12 and we immediately settled at our little home for the Christmas at Camp John Hay Cabins, just a few minutes from Manor. 

Setting up the tents for the kids

 ANG KYOOOOT!!

There were 16 of us so someone really has to have roles for the trip. We even had a planning a few weeks before the trip haha! As for me, I am either one of the coordinators or the money keeper every family trip and this trip, I volunteered to hold the money. During the planning, we all agreed that we will be buying from the market and just cook at the cabins because it's such a hassle for us to eat out (with all the kids!). My afternoon was spent at the market with Kuya Mark, Sining, Ate Lyn and Ate Reshel. It was so exciting to see fresh veggies around. 

The whole market experience was supposed to be great but we encountered super bad traffic in the city :/ I got traumatized (CHOS!) and swear to never go out of John Hay haha!

On our first night, we had bonfires and drinks to enjoy the cold summer night in Baguio. The cabins was such a nice place to stay and I think we got one of the bigger cabins :) Yay for us! 

Dec 24. I love waking up to the very cold breeze in Baguio. It's so hard to wake up actually but with all the kids playing as early as 6AM, there is nothing left to do but get up and play with them. Di ka rin naman makatulog sa ingay nila! :/ Anyway, after eating breakfast at home, we had tsokolate, turon and bibingka in Chocolate de Batirol.

{Life Lately: Getting back up}

Going through a lot these past few months and I just don't know where to go. Fortunately, I am finding my way back up so sharing a few tidbits of my life lately (all positive because I don't want to rant about my problems anymore). Also, it's the first of September, almost there and I will say good bye (again) to another year of ups and downs.

The best friend during my alone time

I can never go wrong with chill / happy vibes / kilig books like Eleanor & Park to make me happy. I have finished reading books like this (Paper Town, Everyday, Why we broke up etc) in 2 weeks time. I swear, you guys (if ever someone is reading this), read this kind of books when you are feeling down :) It helped me realize things about my life (friends, family etc). It may be patweetums / pacute but it can give you life lessons that can help you forever!

The rainy days and its perks

Unexpectedly Awesome Trip

I worry too much about the future and I hate it when all my plans fail. I have been very anxious about this Cebu trip for 2014 since last year. Some plans got cancelled and all the excitement faded. I was having second thoughts on pushing through this 10-day trip to Cebu with my brother and sister-in-law but since this year, I am going for spontaneous, I hop on that plane and flew to Cebu.

It was one of the best decisions I had this year (HAHA!). I did not expect it to be that amazing :) It was all about new found friends, food, alcohol and adventures! Cebu truly has amazing and cheap food. Of course, I wouldn't leave Cebu without eating lechon and I swear, I had too much lechon (Approximately 8 lechon meals). Besides lechon, my new favorite food would be the ribs from Surfin' Ribs (better than Casa Verde's and cheaper!). I had more meals but I wasn't able to take pictures.

This trip, I guess, also made me more alcoholic. We partied, drank until the sun rises, move from one inuman place to the other etc. Everyday, I would cap the night off with a bottle or two. When I got home from Cebu, I extended my alcoholic days with a catch up gimik night with a friend :) 

My sister-in-law is Cebuana and we stayed in her relative's house. Her cousin took care of driving us around and bringing us to the best restaurants in Cebu. I also met Milo, Ate Trina's nephew and we became friends. He would always call me "Friends" and he is the most hyper kid I know as of today. He speaks Bisaya and I can't understand anything he's saying but he would still play with me, such a sweetheart :)

Since we don't really have an itinerary and our main purpose for this trip was Sinulog, we looked for other things to do in Cebu. So Kuya Justine and I went kart racing! It was a first for me and it was awesooome :) 

SINULOG 2014: THE BEST PARTY I HAVE BEEN TO.

Ate Trina's cousin told us stories about Sinulog and we got super excited. I was planning on just wearing my tank top, shorts and slippers but he warned us not to wear slippers so I bought cheap shoes. We went to Ayala Center's Metro Gaisano Dept. store to look for shoes and I was frustrated because I can't look for cheap shoes that has my size. I was about to give up when I had a light bulb moment and look for shoes at the kid's shoes and voila...

Super reliable boy's sneakers :)

Sinulog can be summed up into a few words:  UNLIMITED BEER/ALCOHOL, PRT PRRRTT PRRT!, BEER SHOWERS, DRUNK PEOPLE, CRAZY AND AMAZING STREET PARTY! I started drinking at around 11 in the morning and ended at 10 pm! Cebuanos really know how to partyyy! It was more awesome because of fun and wild friends around. This is my first Sinulog experience but this will not be the last!

The day after Sinulog, we visited Sto. Nino Basilica. You can still see the damaged left by the earthquake last year.

 We had more side trips that I could not elaborate anymore. We ended this trip with Ate Trina's cousin's wedding. It was lovely and extravagant (but would have been better, in my opinion).

It was truly an amazing trip that I wouldn't forget :) I will forever love Cebu and Cebuanos. It was a trip that I got to know the other side of Cebuanos and this is the better version. Awesome awesome people with a one of a kind custom. 

Thank you Cebu for making this trip unexpectedly awesome!

Cebu-Bohol trip 2013

[Delayed post] 

I've been really busy with a lot of work and random issues so I haven't updated this for a long long time. Anyway, I'll be talking about my Cebu-Bohol trip last August with the fam bam :) It was a celebration for Jam's 3rd birthday. 

This was my 3rd time going to Bohol and I still enjoyed it :) I guess it really depends on the people you are with. We visited the tarsier sanctuary first and met Mr. Tarsier man himself :)

Then we had lunch at Loboc River, our favorite part of the trip. Although the food wasn't really great, the view was perfect. I will always love this part of Bohol, very peaceful and scenic. I will always recommend Loboc River cruise to anyone going here :)

Of course, we wouldn't leave Bohol without visiting the famous Chocolate Hills. The kids were all tired though and they were sleeping all the way up. Good thing they woke up to see the chocolate hills. 

We stayed at Linaw Beach Resort and we all loved it. The kids hit the pool after checking in, always their favorite hobby. I highly recommend this resort to those who would want to have good room, great food and awesome view :) 

We visited churches the next day :) Our favorite would be Dauis church, we even stayed there for some hot chocolates (and it was yummy!)

My model niece, Sining

Then we dropped by the Bohol bee farm next :)

They have this restaurant with an amazing view. I would love to try to check in here next time I go to Bohol :)

 My favorite part of the trip would be mornings at the beach :) I've been wanting to just be at the beach and read books while enjoying the sun. Waves calm me down and my mornings were all spent like this :)

After 3 days at Bohol, we left and went to Cebu. Just had dinner the first night with Ate Trina's family then drinks with GK Cebu people. 

City tour happened the next day where we visited Magellan's cross, Sto. Nino Church and St. Pedro Calungsod Church. I've been to the first two but the Pedro Calungsod church was a first and I loved it. The architecture was very minimal and this was the reason I liked it :)

But the best part of our Cebu visit was eating lechon. This was something we all have been waiting for. Since the first day we arrived at the airport, we have been craving for lechon so for the last days of our vacation, we just attacked the poor little piggy's meat.

Plus the kids enjoyed it too :) Definitely the best part of our trip!!

July 2013: A month of new beginnings

July has been nothing but good to me. It reminded me of friends I haven't seen in a while (Starbucks officemates, UST blockmates), activities I haven't done in a while (dancing) and it continued to bring me closer to people I love (family, high school friends) :) I also discovered new places and activities for my life. I am very grateful for everything despite all the losses and failures. I may be knocked out a lot of times but I will continue to fight (I think people should be more like this. It's hard, I know, but you'll get the hang of it. Just believe in yourself)

What's up in July?

1. Joined Ter in her group classes in 360. I got to (sort of) dance again after 23128395293 years. 
2. Two of my brothers finally moved out of the house. Even if I don't approve of this abrupt move, I am happy for both of them. More houses to visit and hangout ;)
3. Hangouts with old office mates I haven't seen in a while at Whistlestop. It's good to be back and see my old office. I also enjoyed seeing familiar faces :)
4. Night out with UST blockmates  I haven't seen for a year at Prive. I was happy to get to talk to them as if we just saw each other yesterday. It's time to catch up with them and make future plans :) I also haven't partied after 39418724820 years so it was a very fun night.
5. New beginning for me because Gladys finally moved out of my room. We now have our own room. I am enjoying my new CLEAN room but I feel sad sometimes to be alone so I sleepover at her room (or she sleeps over at my room)
6. A trip back to our hometown at San Pablo, Laguna. This was a weekend of just hanging out with brothers and cousins. We also discovered new restaurants at San Pablo. The short tour was full of new discoveries at an old place we all sort of grew up in.
7. New activity: SHOOTING. Since I have time and I dug up my 30before30 list, I am starting to finish it. Firing a gun was part of my list and I finally did it last July. OMG, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM. All my hate and irritation in my life was released there. It was therapeutic haha! 
8. We surprised Rhea during her birthday at Vikings. Another hangout with old friends that I will forever love :) 
9. Gawad Kalinga will forever be in my heart and blood so I attended the Bayanijam last month to support my brother and watch different musicians from Gawad Kalinga communities. GK will always inspire me. Rivermaya played that night together with the kids from GK communities. Thank you so much Rivermaya for giving them that opportunity to jam with you. There will be another Bayanijam this August so message me if you wanna go. I swear, your 150 is worth it :)

So that's it for July. There are more hangouts in between but these are just some of the highlights. Thank you July for giving me a new beginning in life. Hoping I could be a better person and leave all the negative vibes in the past :)

A trip to our hometown, San Pablo, Laguna

(Delayed post)

Two weeks ago, we went to San Pablo, Laguna for my godson's birthday/dedication. It was a very intimate family affair. It was actually a kid's affair since it was Kaden's birthday. There were games and magic show that the kids enjoyed. Before the event, my little nieces and nephew had a few photo ops

Diwa posing with the backdrop

Zach, Kaden, Sining and Diwa

Sining and Diwa with their costume. Zach, naked :| HAHA

 Then the program started at around 4. After the dedication, Sining went berserk and was looking for her mommy and daddy. So I was the one who distracted her and played with her. We missed all the games and shows because we stayed inside the room because she doesn't want to interact with other kids haha!

The celebrant with their parents

 It was a fun event. After the party, my cousins and brothers just drank beer and I joined their conversation. It was a very "grrrr" kind of conversation. Yes, I decide that this should all stop. Now is the time that I should get mad and be ruthless (NOT). I don't want to expound on this because it's a family thing so yes. Leaving it this way.

The next day, we toured around San Pablo. I have stayed a few summer here when I was a child. I even had my first swimming lessons in this city. We decided to bring the kids to Sampaloc Lake and eat mami (my favorite) for breakfast.

Tatay Mark and Diwa

We drove around the circumference of Sampaloc Lake and we discovered a new place to dine. We found a place named Cafe Lago. The outside was very different from it's interior. It was a very cozy place for breakfast. We just tried their Suman Latik because we ate breakfast already. Although Ate Trina ate tapsilog and she said, it was normal. Nothing extraordinary but we still loved it because of the interior. The price was also reasonable so I recommend this for a date with family or even your special someone.

 They even have a rattan made hammock which we all enjoyed (except Diwa haha).

Ate Trina, Blu, Kuya Justine and me

We stayed there for a good 2 hours then we moved to Kusina Salud, a restaurant owned by the Tesoro's. The restaurant is located beside a small garden where there are different kind of birds and plants.

The kids enjoyed looking at birds (Shocks, that sounds so wrong.). Anyway, since we were full from the mami breakfast and dessert from Cafe Lago, we just had ensaladang pako, their best seller turon and pandan juice. 

I wouldn't say that the food was cheap because it wasn't. Just a little tip for those who will eat here in the future, the prices in their menu is tax exclusive so yes, that's not really the final price. We really got surprised to see our bill haha! Good thing we enjoyed each other's company. Next time we'll go back here, we'll order wisely.

Hi baby girl, I love you :)

We went back to my Tita's resort with a full stomach and empty pockets haha! But we enjoyed our little tour around our hometown, San Pablo City.

Next up, 7 lakes tour :) Someday. We have been visiting this city and we never visited all the 7 lakes. Boo.