beaches to casinos to stinky tofus to mall tripping

The title just about sums up the 4 years of family vacations we had. Though, technically, the first family vacay (beaches) was our honeymoon and the second one (casinos) was our babymoon. I was 4 months pregnant with our first baby then :) The third one (stinky tofus) was truly our first "family of 3" vacay and our most recent one (mall tripping), just this October, was kinda like "family of 3 + 1 in the bun" vacay. Yep, folks, we're pregnant again! o_O But I will reserve the second pregnancy story for another post, heehee!

BEACHES

Back in 2008, the place we honeymooned was still kinda a secret vacay spot. I never blogged about it (did not even share photos in FB!) coz I wanted it to remain a secret place ;-) However, other people who went there blogged about it as the place is truly awesome! Now, Coron / Busuanga / Calauit Islands in Palawan is not so secret anymore. Coron town in Busuanga Island has lots of new hotels and I hope, a better road from the airport to the town proper. Anyway, here's one of my favorite honeymoon photos (unedited from my phone camera) that captured the splendor of one of Palawan's last frontiers:

CASINOS

On our first wedding anniversary, we went to Macau and Hong Kong. It was my first time in Macau and second time in HK, but the first time I went there, Disneyland was still not yet operating. For Labsie, it was his first time in both places. Now, as much as I hate to admit this, I'm a fan of casino games, whether offline or online. So you can just imagine my excitement in visiting Macau's ultra-awesome casinos! :) My fave casino past-time, of course, are the slot machines. There's just something addicting in trying to win from a machine >.< Now, if it weren't for my cheapskate tendencies, I would be in so much debt right now due to my casino-loving nature. Hehe!

But.. I'm so much smarter than that because I use casino bonuses! In The Venetian Macao (pictured below), I got free $20 worth of casino voucher from a roving hotel employee. For online casinos, I trawl the web for blogs and sites that offer no deposit bonus codes and casino bonus coupons. That way I can try different online casinos without spending money. After all, what if I don't like the online casino? My deposit would be wasted then! At least with codes and coupons, I get to try the online casino for free- and if I like it, I will probably use my own money to play some more without any hard feelings ;-) Back to The Venetian, isn't the casino hotel gorgeous?? And that's only one of the many stunning casino hotels in Macau! By the way, that's my youngest brother with 4-months-pregnant me in the photo below :)

That's it for now! Stay tuned for part 2, involving stinky tofus and mall tripping! ^__^

Iya's 1st Korean BBQ!

I guess the title says it all ;-) Today is our first night in Astoria Plaza (Pasig) after 3 days in my bro's condo. Its our first time to be in this part of Metro Manila (we usually stay in Makati CBD) and thus we're unfamiliar on where to eat, what to do, etc, etc in this area. Luckily for us, there was a Korean BBQ eatery in front the Astoria, a MiniStop (that serves Pinoy hot meals) on the side, and a Red Ribbon nearby. We won't go hungry for sure ;-)

For tonight, as you might have surmised, we had dinner in the Korean BBQ eatery. Labsie and I last ate in this type of resto way back in 2007. We had so much fun grilling stuff + making our own lettuce rolls then. And tonight was no different :-) Our Iya, who is normally very active, sat through the entire meal! A miracle we say! My guess is she found the food very colorful (brown grilled pork, green lettuce, orange sweet potato, red sauces, yellow steamed egg) and can't wait to put it in her mouth, hehe! :-) All in all, we had an awesome and very satisfying family dinner. Til the next Korean BBQ cookout!Ü

Vacay 2011 is on! :)

Its 330pm on my phone- that means in 30 minutes we're off to Manila! Yesiree, it's that time of the year again- our annual vacation! Woohoo! ^__^ If you're a follower of this blog, you already know why we go on vacay during October. If you're new here, these are the reasons: October is when we celebrate our wedding anniversary, our couple anniversary, and Labsie's birthday. Three special occasions deserves 10 days of vacay! :-)

When your CebuPac flight is delayed..

..do an International food contest! :p I'll tell you the contest mechanics later as I'll share first how I came to 'invent' this contest.Ü When we came to Manila last Monday, our Cebu Pacific flight was delayed 30minutes. It was annoying but bearable. Today, for our 12nn flight back to Davao, we arrived early in NAIA3 to check-in. To our horror, there was NO specific lines for different destinations. The result? Super long and slow moving lines! Add a super kulit toddler (yes, our very own Iya) to the mix and you have the recipe for a toddler tantrum / meltdown :-( The only thing that kept Labsie and me sane was the thought that we'll be in Davao soon (2pm!)..

But, as you must have known from the blog post title, us arriving in Davao by 2pm was not to be :-( When we *finally* received our boarding passes, we were told our 12nn Davao flight was pushed back to 4pm! That's four FREAKIN hours of entertaining Iya! Hayy.. But the Lord is good- its 230pm (May21) now and Iya is finally asleep after traipsing through gates 130-134 and back, over and over and over again. Labsie is now able to relax and I'm now able to mobile blog :-)

As for the International food contest, it goes like this- buy food from different cuisines and let your toddler eat from the selection. The food s/he eats or chooses wins! ;-) The picture above was our batch1- Vietnamese spring roll, French basil quiche, Japanese assorted maki and American Slurpee (not pictured). WINNER: Slurpee! LOL! Since Iya didn't eat any solid food, we were forced to have batch2- Italian tuna pesto penne (pasta), Aussie meat pie, Filipino Jollibee Chickenjoy (CebuPac's 'compensation' for the delay). WINNER: pasta and Chickenjoy!! Iya really enjoyed the olives from the pasta and of course, the famous crispylicious chicken of Jollibee. Happy Iya = happy Mommy and Daddy! :-)

off to Makati! =)

130pm, 05/16/11

Currently waiting for our 230pm flight to NAIA3 here in Gate Lounge 8. As usual, Iya is busy walking everywhere with her Daddy on her heels, hehe! :-) Our Makati trip is unplanned but since an opportunity presented so that Iya and Euna can play with each other this summer, we grabbed it. These 2 kids adore each other and it really warms our hearts when they're together :-)

Needless to say, our CebuPac tickets were (relatively) expensive as we got used to paying PISO fares the past several years :-P Two hours more and we'll be with my bro's family na- can't hardly wait to take pics of Iya and Euna playing together! Summer = Family Fun!Ü

11 years of US! :)

Taipei Zoo :: Oct 2010

And 2 years of marriage, and six months of parenthood! Hip, hip, hooray! :) To celebrate, we had a family vacation in Makati and Taipei for a total of 1week. It was just me, Labsie and Iya at 6months+. Traveling with a baby is hard but we made it work. Much of the success has to do with Iya's temperament ~ the girl just loves to sightsee! As long as she's full and not sleepy, she's alright with whatever me and Labsie are doing. Atta girl! :) Here's to more years to us Labsie and to more family vacations with Iya!

SOOC Sunday

SOOC means "Straight Out of the Camera" =) Here's the description of this photo meme: ""Do you ever take a photo that you love and it comes out so well, (straight from the camera), that you're not tempted to do anything with it? It's wonderful and you want to share it." Well, now you can share it HERE. No fancy rules or themes, just post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that hasn’t been tweaked or altered in any way (cropping is OK). Mine's below, just click to enlarge ^_^

"Pretty Eyes"

[ Calauit Island Safari, Palawan, Philippines ]

my new Lakbayan grade!

YESSS!! My new grade increased a notch! =) So what's Lakbayan? Click HERE. And before we go to my new Lakbayan grade, here's a rather longish backround --

July 2007 is what I consider my freedom month -- finally my formal education was over AND I WAS FREE!!! =) Six years of primary education, four years of science high school, four years of college in UP, four years of medical school and one year of post-graduate medical internship has taken a toll on my creative self. Mind you, 19 years of straight schooling (breaks during summer and Christmas vacations only) with good grades to boot is quite a creativity killer. I felt like an artist imprisoned and struggling to get out of the system and unleash my art on the world! Errmm, I'm not really an artist in the real sense okay?? Hehe!

Anyhoo, I realized in July 2007 that I just wanna loaf around for some time and not worry about what my parents will think about my life. You know how parents are, always worrying about their kids -- multiply that to infinity and you get my parents' worrying level ;-) I was set to take the August 2007 Medical Board Exam but my inner self kept on telling me to rest and nourish my soul. My inner self knew that once I'm a licensed doctor, my parents will not let up and will just pressure me to go into Residency (and then go into practice as a Specialist and so on) immediately. There would be no respite for me then =(

And so I put my foot down and "promised" that I will take the Medical Board Exam on February 2008. Of course, we all know that didn't happen coz Labsie and I announced our engagement that month and my parents were caught up in the excitement that their only daughter is getting married to think about my Boards. Hehe! ;-) Anyhoo, since I was off the hook and free to do what I want, I went traveling (with my family, of course). From October-November 2007, I was all over Luzon (Makati, Manila, Subic) and Boracay. I also spent time in the pretty Samal Island beaches with Labsie =) Then on December 2007, my family went to General Santos City (Gensan) and Lake Sebu. 

My Lakbayan grade is B!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan! Created by Eugene Villar.

Yup, that's my new Lakbayan grade above =) I was B- in mid-2007 and now I'm a B! Whee! All the traveling I did for about 6 months really made a difference. YEAH!! Aside from my late 2007 trips, I traveled anew early 2008. The plan was to have a road/sea trip from Visayas to Mindanao. Awesome huh?? My grandmas were very thrilled about it =) So on March 2008, we flew to Iloilo City (from Davao) then rode a barge to Bacolod City which belongs to the province of Negros Occidental that we explored. From there we drove whole day to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental. The next day we rode a barge to Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte where we visited Jose Rizal's home and the awesome Dakak Park and Beach Resort.

Then we criss-crossed Mindanao to reach Kidapawan City, my grandmas' hometown. We passed by several cities like Dipolog, Ozamis, Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, and other places I'm not familiar with. Hehe! In April 2008 I went back to Makati/Manila to scour for cheap wedding supplies in Divisoria. Our family also went to cool Tagaytay and visited Manila Ocean Park + Malabon Zoo =) After that I was busy reviewing for my Boards and planning our wedding. My last trip for 2008 was our honeymoon to Makati, Manila, Laguna and Coron in Northern Palawan which was more than awesome!! I still have to blog about Coron so stay tuned for that! ^_^ How about you? What's your Lakbayan grade? How much of our beloved Philippines have you seen?

me and jinx are selling pre-loved books! ^_^

And it’s all very affordable! Promise! =) Some books are in mint condition (bought from the US by Jinx) while most are in good condition. I also have books without front covers if you’re into book mutilation, hehe! So why are we selling our beloved books? We are certified bookworms so it really hurts to sell some of our prized possessions. Anyway, it’s all for a good cause guys.. Umm, but it’s not for some charity ok?? Hehe! Here’s the rather longish background --

Late in the year 2007, Jinky (that’s her below) shared her dream to our high school barkada of nine – she wanted our kada to TRAVEL ASIA (backpacker style) while we’re all still single! =) Many of the kada were like, “I don’t have any savings, much less have money for travel..” or “Where are we going that we can afford?” Of the nine of us, only me and Jinky were really into it. Fortunately, the others warmed up to the idea as months went by. Warmed but not yet won over, huhum! =p

So why did Jinky wanted this? From what I understand, she wanted our Pisay barkada to be complete in a gathering (there’s always 2 or 3 missing when we meet up) and that we *finally* travel together. We’ve known each other for around 15 years but the nine of us never really travelled for fun together. Now is our chance – and since we all have strong personalities in the kada (save for 1 or 2, hehe), this dream trip would surely be a blast! I’m 100% sure our time together will make good reality TV, hahaha! ;-)

Anyhoo, Jinky wanted to travel by summer of 2009. By January 2008, I broke the news I’m going to be married by October that year. I will still go on with our trip though – but I won’t be single anymore. Hehe! Then late 2008, Jinky announced her own engagement! LOL! Now it’s looking more and more like a trip for married-girls-who-didn’t-travel-with-friends-when-they-were-single =p So again, the question, why are we selling our books? One sentence: TO RAISE MONEY FOR OUR TRIP! Hehe!

As I’ve said, there are nine of us in the barkada (HOVER over our pics above & see our names) but not all of us are blessed with a high-paying job like Jinky (hehe!!) or earning Singaporean dollars (Charo) and NZ dollars (Sophia). Three of us are in call centers (Mhe, Ceej, Pidja), one is in the beauty retail business (Penavi), one is a teacher (Chin; and we all know how small a teacher’s pay is) and I’m currently a stay-at-home wife earning online. Two thirds of us don’t really have a budget for travel – and this is where the money for our booksale will go to – so that we’ll all be together in the dream trip! ^_^

Jinky’s eBay store (books, beauty products) <-- click the links guys!

My eBay store (books, cds, dvds)

Cheap bestseller books (P80 and below)

Cheap romance books (P25-45)

Cheap non-romance and nonfiction books

my DavaoSale Items (summary)

honeymoon chronicles: sea creatures and robots

WARNING: LONG POST AND PHOTO OVERLOAD AHEAD!

And the honeymoon posts are back! =) So far, we're in Day 3 (yeah, I'm so effin' slow!). As earlier posted, Labsie and I started our day early in Salcedo's Saturday Market and by 8am, we were back in our condo for a second breakfast.  After resting and showering, we headed to our second destination of the day: Manila Ocean Park! This was around 10am and we were both super excited for our "ocean appreciation tour" ^_^ Labsie and I love anything water-related. He especially loves the ocean for its fishes and other sea creatures. Their family has a saltwater aquarium with Nemo (clown fish), anemones, and other colorful fishes. Labsie missed it so much that he asked Mama quite bluntly if he can build a saltwater aquarium in our home! LOL! Anyway the photos can enlarged (just click) and they have labels, just hover / mouse over them. Enjoy! ^_^

It was my second time in Manila Ocean Park (entrance fee is P400) but I was still taking pictures left and right with my SE k800i phone. I sooo love the pretty and weird fishes!! =) We took our time appreciating the rich marine life but we managed to finish within 2 hours. We were on tight schedule as we still have to go malling in the world's third largest mall, exploring the latest in science and movies, and experiencing Manila's famous sunset after. Anyhoo, on with the pictures! Not much photos of the fishes (and me!) coz we're still celebrating Labsie's 27th birthday -- so all you'll see is his face! Hehe! :-p BTW, can you guess where's the fish in the photo at the middle of the collage below??

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Around 12noon, we arrived in SM's Mall of Asia (MOA), the world's third largest mall. Instead of eating in the food court or in one of the numerous restaurants there (RACK's has a branch there!! We totally dig RACK's ribs!!), we found a cozy spot in one of the open air spaces / indoor park strewn in MOA. There, we ate our maki and other food from Salcedo's Saturday Market. It was refreshing to breath fresh air (sometimes tangy coz of the nearby Manila Bay) "inside" a mall! ^_^ After lunch, we explored MOA a bit but mostly we spent our time in bookstores browsing for books. Around 1pm, we went ahead to our 3rd destination of the day: SM Science Discovery Center! Woohoo! Can you tell we're nerds?? Oceanarium, bookstores, and now a science center! Sa honeymoon pa talaga, hehe!

SM Science Discovery Center (P350 entrance fee + freebie ice skating tickets and popcorn discounts) has over 400 exhibits in 10 galleries. Plus they have the Philippines' ONLY state-of-the-art Digistar Planetarium! Info about it is pictured above. This got me really excited coz the last time I was in a "planetarium" was in Pisay, more than 10 years ago! I can still remember watching the heavens lying down, while a voiceover droned on about the universe and its magnificence. I can't wait to experience it again! ^_^ Luckily, a show was scheduled at 120pm -- we only have to wait 20min! Woohoo! The planetarium shows start at 10am til 10pm, with 3 shows every 2 hours. Anyway, that's us below inside the dome-screened 158-seat Digistar Planetarium. The seats were reclined and the blue "screen" was 180 degrees, like half a globe above us.

As usual, we were with noisy kids. There was an excursion and the SM Science Discovery Center was crawling with grade school children! Gahh! Also, around this time, I was very feverish, dizzy and weak. I told Labsie that if I won't improve after taking my meds, we have to cancel our sunset dinner by Manila Bay and watching Superman in the IMAX Theater (also in MOA). I badly need to rest. Aside from this not-so-good news was another disappointment: the planetarium show wasn't about the planets and the stars! =( It was a short movie about the deep blue sea, its fishes and their bravery. Yup, it was cartoons in 3d! Tsk! Still, it was enjoyable especially since you were kinda "inside" the movie, the screen was a dome after all! All around me was the beautiful ocean and its creatures =) After the show, we enjoyed the Center's 10 galleries. Loved it all!!

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GROSSOLOGY: Learn about the icky stuff! From burps to slime to odors -- you're sure to learn about grossness the super fun way!

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ROBOTICS: Two galleries -- Robot Inc. and Lego Mindstorms Robotics Center (closed when we were there). The former gallery features the famous mechanical and electronic wonders, shows you the historical evolution of robots, and the importance of machines.

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TRANSPORTATION NATION: Build your own car (see photo below), the first automobile (owned by Pilipinas Shell), Philippines' own solar-powered car (Sinag), Segway and prototypes of future cars and transportation solutions. Labsie had lots of fun here! GUYS!

SPACESHIP EARTH: Pictured in the small photos below. "Know what's happening and what needs to be done to save the world!"

Other galleries not pictured: Lifeclock (factoids about Internet, send emails to the future), ImagePort (learn everything about the camera!), SMART Media City (free internet and PC games, experience the latest software and digital trends, play CG games), Virtual Reef (too dark to take photos; a fish will "talk" to you, so fun!), and City Science (earthquake simulation, TALL scaled models of the world's tallest buildings).

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By the time we finished exploring SM Science Discovery Center, I was very weak. I also felt very cold and couldn't imagine sitting over 2 hours inside an air-conditioned IMAX theater =( So we decided to go home.. But before that, we bought dinner first. I cannot cook in my condition and Labsie has absolutely no idea how to cook! Hehe! And since we were quite feeling low (I really wanna have a sunset dinner!!), we lifted our spirits by splurging on food -- in SBARRO!!! We got yummy veggie salad, creamy spiral pasta, HUGE stuffed pizza, and bread"sticks" -- carbo-loading to the max! Thus, despite me being sick and us missing IMAX movie-watching and Manila Bay's sunset, Day 3 ended on a happy note! ^_^ Nothing like good food to drown all your sorrows eh? Hehe!

 

ALL PHOTOS taken with my Sony Ericsson k800i ^_^       (except for the Astroboy photo pala!)

honeymoon chronicles: makati / laguna

WARNING: VERY LONG, RAMBLING POST AHEAD! ^_^

Our wedding was last October 8 and our first night as husband and wife was spent in the HUGE bridal suite of Grand Regal Hotel. The next day, we were off to Manila -- Day 1 of our honeymoon! ^_^ It was our first plane ride together, our first time to Manila together, our first time to be out of Mindanao.. Despite being steady for nearly 9 years (we were exactly 8 years, 11 months and 3 weeks on our wedding day), Labsie and I never really traveled out of Davao or had fun trips like most couples these days do. Mostly it was due to work (I had 24 hours duty until a year ago), lack of money (we were earnestly saving for our wedding!), and the fact that our parents won't allow us to travel (yet) -- yup, despite us being mid-20 somethings already. HAY BUHAY! Anyhoo, we were superrr excited with our honeymoon trip and so, even though we were still in Davao Airport and the plane, we were taking pictures left and right. LOL! We had dinner at a Suka't Sili branch inside the boarding area and spent our pre-boarding time surfing the internet for FREE!

Labsie started his vacation leave October 6 (2 days before our wedding) and came back to work October 20. We had about 11 days of honeymoon and we divided it to Makati / Greater Manila Area sightseeing and to Northern Palawan dream vacation. For trips this long, it is expected that you'll spend much. But, since we had a condo in Makati's Central Business District, we saved a lot on accommodation and transportation (everything was reachable by foot or cheap PUJ rides). However, from NAIA 2, we immediately 'threw away' P440 for a fixed rate airport taxi (the safest, my parents say) to take us to Makati. Usually, the airport to Makati CBD taxi fare is just below P200 but we wanted to be *really* safe and thus parted grudgingly with the P440 *sniff* By 9pm, we arrived at the condo and rested immediately -- we were still tired from the wedding bruhaha and we had a big day the next day. Day 1, hence, ended unceremoniously. Hehe!

Day 2: I woke up kinda early to cook breakfast (Vigan longganisa and white sardines omelette) and to watch CNN (Labsie hates news channels so I watch them when he's asleep or busy). We were to meet our suki eBay seller of Dragonlance books at 10am near Pacific Star Building to pickup our latest book purchase. Labsie and I are DL addicts and so far we have collected nearly 75 Dragonlance books =) It was raining that day so we were kinda stressed while waiting for the seller. After getting the book, we went to Glorietta for our shuttle service to Enchanted Kingdom. The last time I went there was around 10 years ago (!!!) with my family and for Labsie, it was his first time. Since it was raining, there were talks that EK might close (they do when there's 30 minutes of continuous heavy rain) while we were there. But heck, we wanted to take our chance! Our honeymoon was planned down to the last hour so we just can't cancel trips and come back when we'll have time (no time!!) o_O

Before leaving for Enchanted Kingdom (do buy their advance passes, we saved P400 for ride-all-you-can passes + two-way shuttle rides), we had lunch at North Park first. It was just beside the shuttle service so there's no fear we'll be left behind, hehe! We had Lechon Macau over Fried Rice (see photo below) and King Dao Spareribs. The Lechon Macau was so crispy and flavorful! Much like Lechon Kawali but with Chinese herbs and spices. The servings were HUGE and sooo yummy! And the price was reasonable too! =) And the best thing? North Park delivers in Metro Manila! NEAT huh?? Anyway, the EK shuttle left past 12nn (should be 1130am but we waited for other guests) and we were happy that we shared the ride with Davaoenos and hearing Bisaya banter all around ^_^ Since it was raining, we thought there'd be much less people in EK --> we'll have the rides to ourselves!! But, we were wrong.

Upon arriving, we were mashed by hordes of hormone-raging high school teens having their field trip! I counted at least 5 different high schools there! o_O And there were grade school kids too! We were the only 'adults' there and the kids were calling us Ate and Kuya, wahehe! It was really fun hearing school talks, riding the adrenaline-rush rides with pa-macho effect male teens (I was so damn scared of the Jungle LogJam and Anchor's Away [video at the end of the post] while Labsie trembled in riding the very high Wheel of Fate where you can see the entire EK grounds [see photo below].. And no, we didn't ride the Space Shuttle, we're cowards! Hehe!), eating nachos, Domino's Pizza (yummy!!) and other junkfood while walking around, playing the arcade games (we had 164 tickets!! which we exchanged for a pink cellphone holder and red steel keychain), watching special Rialto and 4D shows, buying Enchanted Kingdom souvenirs, etc, etc. And the best part, since it was raining, there was no hot afternoon sun and nobody minded our wet clothes from riding the LogJam and Rio Grande Rapids ^_^

By 630pm, we left Enchanted Kingdom and waited for the shuttle service. There was a bit of drama as the other guests arrived 1 hour late (again!) and the driver was very much angry with them. Thank God there wasn't much traffic going back to Makati (I guess the rush hour is over by 8pm) and we were able to meetup with Labsie's friends, Goju and Kuya Anton, wet clothes and all in Glorietta's McDonalds. Too bad I forgot to take pictures with them! Maybe next time.. =) After our dinner (we had hot choco [wet clothes + aircon shuttle and mall = hypothermia!] and forgettable fastfood), Goju and Kuya Anton taught us a new way to reach our condo by foot. We used Makati's very clean underpasses and walkways that impressed us very much -- there were no beggars, loiterers and trash! WOW!! Too bad we forgot to take pictures of it too -- we were very tired and still cold this time.. And here ends our Day 2. And I shall end this post now too coz it's too long already, hehe! Actually, this post is not really for blog readers, it's for reliving our memories later on.. But, thanks for stopping by anyway! ^_^

ANCHORS AWAY ride in Enchanted Kingdom

P.S. All the photos here are taken with my Sony Ericsson k800i phone =)

i'm back in davao! =)

After my family's Tagaytay trip (April 23-25), we toured Manila's newest attractions next. Last Saturday (April 26), we went to Manila Ocean Park (entrance fee is P450 for adults, credit cards accepted) which was really super super great! After seeing ocean parks in HK and Subic, I can definitely say the one in Manila is the biggest! =) I just hope the owners can sustain it. I will post videos and more photos when I have the time. I'm busy planning a wedding (and preparing for a medical board review) you know, hehe!

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Then on Sunday, we went to Malabon Zoo -- they got BIGGER fishes than in Manila Ocean Park! Of course, I got my picture taken with their famous monkey, Marimar -- teehee! ^_^ Then from Monday to Wednesday (April 28-30), my mom and I traversed the seedier (and definitely cheaper) side of Metro Manila. We scoured for wedding supplies in Divisoria (must go-to is Ylaya / Ilaya and Tabora streets) and Quiapo (lots of bead stuff in Villalobos street). My tip? Ask for an item's wholesale (6pcs) price coz often, the price is just 1/2 to 1/3 of the given price! o_O Anyway I'm now back in Davao -- and in 2 weeks' time, my medical board review will officially start! Gahh!

Bye Tagaytay!

After 3 days and 2 nights in Tagaytay, we're finally going back to Makati. My family stayed in Canyon Woods Residential Resort, nestled in the mountains surrounding the Taal Lake.Ü We toured the nearby tourist haunts like the Caleruega Church (great site for wedding!), restos with great view of the lake, pasalubong centers, etc. The air is crisp, clean and cold. But BUDA atmosphere is certainly much purer and colder! Yeah, I love my own and that's Davao! :-)

DAKAK baby!

Need I say more? Hehe! Yesterday my lolas and I finally set foot on the world-famous Dakak Park and Beach Resort. My parents have been there several times and pointed out the changes in the said place.Ü As for me, it was love at first sight. Upon entering Dakak, you're greeted with lush greenery and the beautiful vista of a mountain meeting the sea. But unlike other seaside resorts (in Boracay, Samal), Dakak is situated in a cove. Thus, all is calm - there are no big waves that lap its white sand beach. Ahh, serenity while swimming..Ü I could go on and on about how wonderful Dakak is but space is running out! I just hope I have the opportunity to visit it again, and this time, stay for awhile.. BLISS!

good morning Dapitan!

Yesterday we boarded a barge in Dumaguete at 4pm and docked in Dapitan at 8pm. We proceeded to Sunset Boulevard (a street with the sea on one side and hotels + restos on the other) for a late dinner.Ü This morning I woke up seeing people crowding by the beach and I investigated what was the snafus all about. It turned out that the fishermen returned with the day's catch -- full of JELLYFISH! I never saw so many jellies in my entire life and in different colors at that! The fishermen weren't happy coz jellies can't be sold and rarely eaten. As for me, I had a great tym squishing the cute sea creatures while taking pics! :-) After my beach 'adventure', we went to Rizal's House in Dapitan. Another culture-laden trip!Ü

back in Dumaguete!

After nearly 2 years, I'm back in the city that housed the world famous Silliman University :-) We arrived in Dumaguete yesterday evening after a brief trip in the Twin Lakes of San Jose, a nearby town. We only saw Lake Balinsasayaw, the larger one, coz Lake Danao is only accessible by boat (30min trip) and there were no rides anymore as it was sunset already.Ü The photo above is Rizal Boulevard, the famous seaside stretch in Dumaguete, akin to Manila's Baywalk without the stores and hordes of people. Perfect! :-)

Chocolate Hills in..

..Negros Occidental! Yes, believe it or not, the Negrenses have chocolate hills (more like green hills, hehe) too! Though not as many as in Bohol, the hills still provide a pleasant diversion for those traveling by land towards Negros Oriental.Ü We left Bacolod earlier today (after having breakfast at Bacolod Golf and Country Club) to go to Dumaguete City, a four hour trip along the mountain ranges of Negros Occidental. The roads were winding and full of curves, the view magnificent, the climate cold. Yup, very much like the road up Baguio City :-) We're in San Carlos City right now, the half-way point, to have our lunch.Ü

Negros Museum Tour

Yesterday we had our tour in the Negros Museum, and boy, I learned a whole lot about Negros history vis a vis the Philippine history! Did you know that Negros was a republic for 1 year in 1898? And that the Negrenses were the first to stage a bloodless revolution? That Manila's prominent families are from Bacolod and the nearby provinces? Alunan, Lacson, Ledesma, Lopez, Magalona, Montinola, etc, etc. Even the family of Jose Mari Chan (the singer) and Susan Roces hailed from Bacolod!Ü Also in the museum were relics and machines from Sugarlandia's heyday, paintings, and working appliances (GE fan, phonograph) from early 1900s. My lolas (pictured above) enjoyed the tour and had lots of questions for the guide. It was truly a memorable experience for us all!Ü

Angry Christ Church

Another day in Negros Occidental and another day for sightseeing! :-) This time we went to the heart of Sugarlandia - Victorias Milling Company. Aside from acres and acres of cane, there are factories, circa 1900s staff houses, a clubhouse, and the Angry Christ Church. The altar of the said church is pictured above. Jesus doesn't look angry to me but my mom said her hair on the back of her neck stood up :-S What intrigued me, however, was the symbol of a triangle with an eye inside. It's not on the photo above but on the painting in the ceiling. I think it was the Illuminati symbol.. Very intriguing!Ü

FRUIT BATS!!

Or so I presume, hehe! See those stuff hanging from the tree branches? Those are the bats sleeping outside down! After our lunch, we proceeded to Mambukal Resort (still in Negros Occidental) where there are hot and cold springs, boating lagoon, butterfly garden, wall climbing facilities, slide for life, hanging bridge and waterfalls. Its a really cool place especially if you love water and nature :-) But what fascinated me were the big bats (3 ft wing span!) sleeping and flying on the treetops. I kinda expected guano to hit my face, but thankfully none came. Hehe! Check my YouTube for bat videos next week :-)