All's Well That Ends Well

All's well now... Aldrich and I are both on normal shift. He's experiencing the 'adjustment week' syndrome I had during my first 2 billable weeks... the super-charged but tired feeling and temporarily shifting into a morning person.. but that too will pass! I know so, hahahah!

I was just looking at my current company's outing photos and it looks so much fun! But just coming from a different company, we couldn't help but compare company organized outings.

Old Company
- GP2W Organized
- A sponsor project is chosen to help in logistics, food, games, etc.
- basically, it's very organized!

New Company
- HR Organized
- everyone is to just enjoy and have fun!
- there are games and activities but not everyone was compelled to join

The not-so-good things we encountered were waiting to check in to our rooms.. like a 2 hour wait? and waiting to check out of our rooms..like an hour wait on the bus..and it was 1pm but we still hadn't had lunch and when we did a stopover, there was a sudden change of venue coz some person from another bus called to say that paseo de sta rosa had more options.. oh yeah but they were in a hurry and told us just to take out our food. Huwat? how can you say that to hungry and grumpy people? Our heads were shaking, tsk tsk.

What we enjoyed though was the free time and not having to account for where you are. We were even able to get out of the resort and ride a tricycle to the town market to buy some pasalubong fruits, kakanin and pies. That was nice :)

November Rain

I realized that i haven't blogged for a long time.. and now it's december! Time flies so fast...


What is this, a Status Report?
November was quite hectic for me at work since it was the start of our first big operations release. I also had to transition my beloved Product Testing to Tier 2 since top management wanted it that way.

It's a big challenge to transition something over the phone, i think there's still a long way to go and more focused resources are needed in order to build the testing knowledge-base in Chicago. After all, it also took Manila a considerable amount of time before our work for testing became efficient.

Good luck to me. I still have one last transition to do and a lot more transitionary reviews to complete.


A Chinese Birthday Celebration
Oh and it was also my Dad's birthday last November 23. He's 70 years old based on Chinese lunar calendar and belief (68 in roman calendar) so we had a big celebration for him last Nov 18. My task was to help design the invitations, create the presentation and also have a birthday banner done.

According to tradition, the birthday celebrant should have birthday noodles on the exact date of his birth for longevity. So my brother took care of this by bringing the adults in the family to the Jumbo Palace restaurant in Roxas. It's actually the ship brought by Stanley Ho from HK that was supposed to be used as a casino. But since it was riddled with too much intrigue and politics, they just turned it into a restaurant instead. The food was really yummy - even sitaw and tofu were extremely tasty! Or maybe, it's just a case of dieter's taste buds haha. It's but right that we enjoyed the food coz it cost a lot!


Of Turkeys and Butterflies in the Cold
On a personal note, i was finally able to visit the nice spots of tagaytay last november, namely

• Leslie's
  
• Picnic Grove
• Sonya's Garden
• Bag of Beans
• Paradizoo

Tagaytay is great and the weather really cold! From my last trip, the most unforgettable event was the attack of the turkey in Paradizoo! I've already been there during my 4th year in HighSchool, so i think the animals, especially the turkey have grown old and grumpy. It was very territorial and attacked the girl who came after us. Good thing the caretaker appeared and shooed the free-roaming turkey away.

Bag of Beans was a pleasant surprise with is cute garden setting and birds around the area. I liked the taste of their Shepherd's pie better than the steak and mushroom. Aldrich preferred the latter, but his favorite was the apple pie! He even ordered another one! The Hot Chocolate drink (Tablea) was yummy too but guilt-laden for me (South Beach Dieter) to completely enjoy.

I tasted the best pesto in Sonya's Garden! This was the highlight of our mini-food trip and i can say that it was well worth it @ P560. I guess im a sucker for variety and there were just so many spreads and dips and sauces laid in front of us to spread on that freshly baked sesame bread. The pasta was great too especially when mixed with chicken in mango cream sauce..mmmm..i can almost taste it in my mouth. Aptly, after the very filling entree and main course, they gave us some kind of tea to aid in digestion. Then they served dessert, which in our case was a sliver of dark chocolate cake (hooray for me) and some turon and camote. Although we were surrounded by different kinds of plants and flowers, what what made me feel really one with nature was the comfort room! It had only a screen on the other half side for you to truly feel comfortable. I think it was more "refreshing" than the pitcher of dalandan juice with a leaf inside the glass.

Too bad we didn't stay long enough to enjoy the 'harem mattresses' strategically placed all over the garden since this was the day when typhoon Mina was supposedly gonna hit the the southern region. Supposedly being the operative word.

It was really a trip to remember, and oh, i just can't get over the uber-soft comforter that Tagaytay Country Hotel had in their rooms. There's me cocooned and waiting to metamorphosize into a beautiful butterfly!

Regrets...

Drich and I just came from Casa San Pablo and it wasn't as great as I expected...


> coz it rained...
> coz it was my first time to go to a place where you'd have to request or ask for what they can do for you...



I was restless majority of the time... our massage didn't push through, but I didn't make a fuss about it..

Not much to do.. just eat, swim, stay in the room. We should have known better and prepared activites or asked the people there what we could do...

The rooms were cute yes, the food was good, yes (altho i couldn't enjoy it fully since i was on a diet) but what else?

Where's the banig under the tree for stargazing at night?

Where was the well-lit house in the pictures?

It was really a dark, dark night on July 7. There were no stars...

It’s Still Clark Hatch for the Best Massage!

Aldrich and I had our Valentine celebration today by having lunch at Italianni’s @ Greenbelt and having a massage at The Spa.

The ambiance of The Spa was great, thanks to its well-planned and themed interior design. I had a few problems with service / amenities though, which eventually I learned was because of my own doing (or un-doing). As usual, I was given slippers, a robe and a towel when I got to the Female Powder Room, but the slippers were too small! I didn’t have that problem at Clark Hatch, not even once. I told Aldrich my complaint and he told me that one of The Spa’s code of ethics or something like that is written on the wall saying that the customer should take prerogative in letting the staff know what they want so they can serve the customers better. Well, I didn’t see that anywhere in the walls, and besides, I didn’t plan to go there to read.

So anyway, I noticed that there weren’t any complementary drinks, so I just headed to the shower which again was visually pleasing. This made me happy of course. Hmm, they didn’t have shampoo though, only soap was placed in the dispenser.

Moving on, after the shower, I went to the steam bath for a few minutes. I liked it that they had a clothes rack beside the door to relieve the customer of any excess baggage before going in the steam room. When I was done with that, one of the staff led me to another room to wait for my massage. I was also given tea to drink, but it was ginger! –so I just gave it back hehe. After waiting for a while, we had our massage in the couples room and when the massage was done, we were asked to leave the room at once.

No sleeping time? Oh well.

Clark Hatch lets you sleep in for a few minutes after the massage proper then gives you the stretches when you’re ready. There are also complimentary drinks before and after the massage. And their slippers fit me! Hahaha! The Spa’s massage itself was not bad and almost comparable to Clark Hatch’s but overall, I’d still go with Clark Hatch. They only charge 580 max for Swedish massage with all the amenities, while for a name and the couples’ room with no significant purpose; we had to shell out 1200 each! Sheesh.

Stressed in Bora?

Stressed in Bora?

Ever imagined anyone getting stressed out and tired in Boracay? Well.... that's me!

I couldn't believe it either.

Post to come soon...currently still recovering...

Villa Escudero: Highly Recommended

Villa Escudero: Highly Recommended

Of all the trips that I’ve taken and all the resorts that I’ve gone to, Villa Escudero is the only one that I’ll definitely go back to! Situated at the boundary of the provinces of Quezon and Laguna, this 180,000 hectare plantation and resort is one place that’ll make you not want to go back to the hustle and bustle of Manila.

After an hour and half bus ride (which was comparatively more comfortable than the cramped city buses) we got off the highway just after the Welcome to San Pablo City arc. A traffic enforcer helped us crossed the street and there was already a tricycle waiting to give us a ride to the resort’s reception area.

The cool breeze, huge coconut trees and smell of cow dung (which I found quite fascinating) signaled the start of a rural life.

The reception area was of a native feel with the chairs, tables and even trash cans made from designed wood. While waiting for the receptionist to process our credit card, someone gave us welcome drinks of refreshing gulaman. All the employees there wore a uniform of a colored baro’t saya style garb that definitely enhanced the native feel of the place.

Since it was still 2 hours until our check-in time, we were advised to go sight-seeing on the grounds. We decided to give the museum a visit since it was the nearest from the entrance. Before getting there, we admired the park which displayed several age old canons, a real fighter plane and a catapult. It was a relief that they had a baggage counter at the entrance of the museum which allowed us to unload our backpacks while taking the tour.

Taking pictures or videos wasn’t allowed inside the museum so we just took a snapshot of every bit and detail with our eyes. A curtain of shells served as the entrance to the museum and the first floor was filled with religious artifacts—statues of saints, Jesus and his disciples of different situations and forms. I do not really like looking at religious statues and just regarded them with little significance as display objects. What interested me on the first floor were the preserved insects and animals all lined up in glass cabinets.

There were different species of butterflies that were not merely displayed outright but paintings and dioramas served as a background to help the viewer imagine the natural habitats of these beautiful creatures. There were bugs and insects from different countries that gave me the creeps coz they somewhat reminded me of cockroaches. There was also a tough and massive crab on display that was reported to been able to break open coconuts!

As for the animals, there were calf heads, horns of goats, a jungle display with stuffed leopards, elephant hooves, monkeys, baboy damos, snakes, snake skeletons, deer, bats, eagles, different bird species and a whole lot more animals that I do not know of! It was really a great spectacle that got me all excited :) Replicas of indigenous tribes and their clothing, accessories and weapons were also on display.

As we went up the stairs, we were greeted with lots of money on glass cases that came from all over the world. Old Philippine coins and bills and even 32 pieces of 1000 peso sample bills! Imagine that, if only there weren’t ‘sample’ stamped across those bills, it would’ve been 32,000 pesos together in one picture frame, cool! It was an interesting experience because we started reminiscing and pointing out the coins that we still had in our piggy banks. The hexagonal 2 peso coin, the square 1 centavo and the flower shaped 5 centavo coins brought back some memories. Aside from money there were also priceless vases, jars, bowls, utensils, gold artifacts and gems on display. Clothing from the different eras in Philippine history—from Rizal to Estrada, were all there to give visitors a feel of the history, culture and traditions of the country. There’s a lot more to mention and everything that one could see in the museum was part of Don Aresenio Escudero’s personal collection that his descendants took care of and displayed in the museum for all the world to see. How well traveled and culturally-rich the Escudero’s are! No money could ever equal the knowledge and experience gained from these journeys.

After taking in the beautiful artifacts from the museum, we decided to go our cottage already since it was almost 5pm anyway. We rode in a carabao cart pulled by a carabao named Gigolo, while being serenaded with Tagalog love songs on a guitar. The place was breathtaking! We passed by several manicured gardens with lots of colorful statues of native folks specifically placed there for picture taking purposes with tourists.


After registering at the resort reception, we were led to our room called Rosas. It matched perfectly with the feel of the place since it was made entirely of wood. The windows were the rectangular sliding ones patterned with capiz shells. The very hospitable attendant showed us inside and there was a four-poster bed with white curtains made of some sheer fabric reminiscent of those Old English romantic beds! And the bed was as comfortable as it looked. I felt sleepy the instant that I lay down! It was just the right amount of softness and even though our room had no air conditioning, the fans and the location of the place provided a cool breeze that kept us comfortable.

The bathroom was not native at all which was just right to our tastes. There were three separate sections which enclosed the shower room, the comfort room and the sink with mirror of course. They also gave us towels and there were already packets of soap and a drinking glass, just like when you’re staying in a hotel.

The room even had a loft in case more people were staying in the place. It was, by far, the largest room that I’ve stayed in among the resorts that I’ve been to. There was even a buzzer for room service if ever you might need anything. We didn’t really use that buzzer thing coz all the attendants there were very hospitable that you wouldn’t want to trouble them any more.

After resting a while and enjoying the coziness of our room, we went to the pavilion for our dinner buffet. We were seated at a table overlooking the river and served soups. Again, the waiters and waitresses were very hospitable and would give you all the instructions you needed to go around the place. There was also some form of native entertainment every meal, be it performers doing the tinikling or singing Tagalog songs. The meals always left us stuffed that we couldn’t even go back for seconds!

For dinner, I think we had macaroni salad, lasagna, pork shepherd’s pie, soy chicken, savory vegetables and for desert, leche flan and buko pandan salad. :)

We were supposed to go swimming in the evening but were too full and lazy; instead we just hung around the outside of our room, sat on the wooden sofa and chatted the night away. We also bought softdrinks and water which were very expensive but this was expected since everything else was free. (30 for softdrinks in can and 40 for wilkins mineral water).

We woke up at around 8:45 in the morning and prepared for the day’s activities. Breakfast was served from 8:00-10:00 so we went to the pavilion again to fill our tummies with the delicious food, and we were definitely not disappointed. I think I ate the most during breakfast and filled my cups with hot chocolate, calamansi passion juice, and my plate with suman that you’d put sauce and toppings on, arroz caldo that you’d put egg and onion stalks on, potato omelet, tinapa, ensilada, corned beef with potatoes and fresh fruits! That was just what I ate coz there were others I didn’t get, like plain and garlic rice, danggit, hot coffee and some other stuff that I can’t remember anymore.

After that filling breakfast, we went back to the room to change into our rafting attire. We surveyed the entire river portion with our rafts and had fun maneuvering and looking at the riverside cottages. There were trees hanging from the other side of the river so we went under it for shade and some more chitchat. It was a really cool experience! Next stop were the swimming pools, there were 3 in all: 1 for kiddies, 2 for adults and both only 5 feet deep, 1 jacuzzi and another wading area. We really appreciated that there weren’t many people crowding the pool, I guess because there was a lot more else to see than just hang around in the pool unlike our visit to a resort in Antipolo before.

Anyway, I was quite surprised that one of the two pools made me float more than the other. One pool had the standard pool look—with blue water and tiled flooring. While the other had no tiles and just plain concrete flooring and had this river theme. This was the one that made me float more and also where the Jacuzzi, in the form of a shallow well, was situated.

Thinking that it was already 1pm, we got off the pool and headed to our room to have a shower. There were actually lockers, dressing rooms and shower rooms beside the pool for daytrippers but since we were staying overnight, we just opted to take a shower in our room. Turned out that it was only 11:40 but we didn’t go back to the pool anymore coz we were excited to have lunch at the waterfalls!

The staff pointed us to the right direction and it was an amusing sight to see. There was a man-made waterfall—water came from the river that we rafted in--and there long tables with benches set up on the ground. While eating the once more sumptuous food, you’d feel the cool water running up to your ankles and enjoy the sight of people having their pictures taken beside the waterfalls. We ate with wooden plates placed with banana leaves and drank soup out of niyog halves. Kaldereta, vegetables, lechon kawali, inihaw na manok, inihaw na isda, kalabasa soup, fresh fruits and some kind of coco-milk-sago desert were served among others.

We left the place really full and headed for the coconut harvesting demonstration. We were already late but still went, hoping to catch something. The harvesting was over but the men were still cutting up the coconuts for the tourists to have. Even though we just arrived, the men split a coconut, put two straws and gave it to us to drink. We tried to finish it best that we could and gave it back to them, we couldn’t eat the flesh anymore coz we were really full to the brim.

We had our picture taking session with the statues, flora, and the pink carabao named Pogi while walking around. There were also fat fishes under the little bridge leading to the cottages that I’d love to look for and have a photo-op with. We rented a sidecar (coz I don’t know how to ride a bike) to go around the area some more and we visited the church and rode around the houses of the staff. They actually lived in the place since the lot is really like an entire town.

The “biking” part was really tiring since the terrain would slope up at some points so we collapsed on the bed after that activity. We had a nap until it was time to checkout. The resort attendants were gracious and instead of having a carabao bring us to the main entrance, she called for their specially designed jeep (with the seats lined up horizontally for sight-seeing purposes) to bring us to the main road so we wouldn’t have to pay for a tricycle ride anymore.

I actually felt bitin coz I didn’t want to leave anymore! I wanted to stay one more day as the place was very relaxing and it would really cast away your cares for your entire stay :) A must must must must place to visit and revist! Villa Escudero is by far, truly the best resort that I’ve been to :)

Trips Trips Trips

Caliraya

It was a socializing event masked as a church retreat. I’m not actively seeking for a partner (duh) that’s why I was hesitant on continuing on..but there was no backing out so I went. The travel time took a painstaking 4 hours since it was at the far end of Laguna and there was heavy traffic: Brgy. Lewin, Lumban, Laguna. This is past Pagsanjan.

The place was really nice, an islet with complete amenities for a great outing: horseback riding, canoeing, windsurfing, kayak, tennis, badminton, team building activities, swimming, fishing, etc. The Caliraya Recreation Center mostly caters to big groups for retreats, recreation and teambuilding activities. We stayed at their ‘hotel’ and there was airconditioning and towels that was changed every morning, cool! Room service never fails to make me light up, hehehe. The food was also provided by the hotel, 3 buffet type meals which helped me lose weight!

Here’s why:
· Buffet – meaning you can get the right amount that suits you
· The usual meal is composed of 1 meat, 2 veggies, rice, 1 dessert, soup and free coffee or tea
· I didn’t eat rice and I had lots of veggies!
· The dessert and tea+milk made me happy every time which meant that I needed not eat a lot

Aside from the food, our hotel was on top of the mountain so to reach the activity area, we had to walk down a flight of stairs constructed on the slope of the mountain, instant exercise with fresh air! :) Very cool!

Stuff I did:
1) Canoeing – it was a great experience! Evelyn and I had a lot of bloopers on the way back to the shore which just made me laugh a lot. We didn’t know how to turn, we got stuck in the lilies by the mangrove, we hit a docked fishing boat, we got stranded in a piece of land in the middle of the lake and all that time, we were rowing against the wind! My arms were sore from the instant workout but it felt good! The feeling of being in the middle of water and the wind blowing against your face along with trees was heaven for me :)

2) Badminton – I hadn’t played for a long time and I sucked! But at least I got started playing again and rediscovered the benefits and pleasure of the game. :)

3) Fishing – The Catfish in the pond were taunting me.. they were doing backflips near my rod and even ate my ‘paing’ without getting hooked! Tsk tsk tsk, my friend Lin King got a fish in just 5minutes time so we had a photo op with it instead, hehehe :) Silly fish!

The downside that I see in the place is that there’s a rental fee to all the activites except the swimming pool and the place was quite far. So unless you have lots of money and time to spare, it’s planning and saving up time in order to experience the beauty of this recreation center.

Monthsary

It was my turn to think of ideas on how to celebrate our 4th monthsary so here’s what we did

Nov 4, 2005 (Friday)
Lunch @ KFC
1 hr Badminton @ Ultimate Impact
Go kart @ The Kart Trak near CCP
Biking @ CCP
Dinner @ Teriyaki Boy

Nov 5, 2005 (Saturday)
Lunch @ Luk Yuen
KTV @ World Music Room
Coffee @ Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Four Brothers movie @ Promenade
Dinner @ Pizza Hut
Massage @ Clark Hatch
We spent a whopping Php2000++ per person so these series of activites at one go will not be repeated again. Hahahaha!

My Comments:
· My interest for badminton was reignited
· I still don’t know how to ride a bike but I can handle a sidecar or ‘padyak’. I like the feeling of wind in my face
· I’m the stereotypical woman driver..”Ang bagal naman nito, babae kasi eh!” I realized that go karting isn’t really for me coz I get scared at every fast turn that I make hehehe.
· World Music Room isn’t anything special. The room for 4 was too small and there wasn’t anything fantastic about it. I’d prefer IO or Red Box anytime of the day.
· The Ice Blended Chai Latte promo offering of Coffee Bean is slowly fading away…noooooo!!! · Four Brothers is a very violent and gory movie, just like Domino…at least Aldrich likes it a lot.
· Pizza Hut’s new offerings are quite decent. Not the best tasting but good enough for people on a budget.
· Once more with feeling: Nothing beats the massage @ Clark Hatch!

Chai @ Coffee Bean

The write-ups are true! Chai Tea is good for your health and I’m craving for it for that extra boost and feeling of lightness :) By mistake, I’ve tried the hot Chai Latte, the iced Chai Latte, and when I thought the promo was over, I still made it and tried the Ice Blended Chai Latte!!! :) I wasn’t really a tea fan until Chai came along. Aside from energy boost, it also makes my daily movements more regular, hehehe. It’s a fiber-deficit person’s ultimate delight! Highly recommended by moi!

Baguio Trip

Baguio Trip!

Oct 22 @ 2am : departed from Nikki’s house to go to Baguio

We passed by North Luzon Expressway which seemed like a never-ending road with white stripes, I even got bored watching the road for just a few minutes. Hands down to Nikki’s Mom and Dad who drove us there hehehe :)

7:05 am : arrived in Baguio!

It was chilly! Nikki’s brother was wearing shorts and his teeth started to chatter hehehe. We had breakfast at Pancake house (I love Pancake house!) and I had Bacon and Pancake Medley with Orange Juice and Hot Chocolate! The Bacon and Pancake Medley had 2 pancakes with cream and syrup, a sunny-side up fried egg ang 4 strips of bacon. I left a strip of bacon and about 2 bites of pancake on purpose as my ‘diet’ for that morning, hahaha! Afterwards, Nikki and I were dropped off at Session Road to shop for clothes and thus…

My First Ukay-Ukay Adventure

I thought that the clothes would all be piled up high as a mountain in a box and then we’d go ‘ukay-ukay’-ing for the ones we like. Apparently, ukay-ukay looks just like a tiangge stall in Greenhills, only that the clothes are all second-hand with no stock for different sizes and colors. All the clothes are lined up in mulitple racks on hangers and you just need the patience to sift through each one :) There’s an entire building with about 3 floors of bargain clothes all up for grabs.

I think I didn’t do bad for my first try. I bought 2 jackets, and 1 sleeveless blouse all for P190 total! :) Cool! And they don’t even look like they’re only 50 or 70 pesos worth, that’s really a bargain!

Our Wooden Home

Afer lunch at Don Henrico’s in Session Road, Nikki and I finally got to the place that we were staying in: RidgeWood! The place looked so country-ish and not of the Philippines. It felt like a very big, ultra-furnished log cabin of a very rich family! hahaha! Here are pictures to prove it!



We got the room with a loft since there were 6 of us there. The lower floor had 2 separate twin beds with cable tv and the upper floor had one twin bed and one single bed. They also provided toothbrushes, soaps and towels just like any other hotel. The best thing I liked about the place is their lobby which had a very cozy and homey feel. I especially liked that there were little arrangements of fresh flowers on each table :) There were also 2 fireplaces but they weren’t lit during our stay, too bad. Oh, there’s also a desktop computer equipped with Windows XP OS with internet connection at a P50/hour rate in the lobby just in case one feels like browsing the world wide web. This was very apt for Nikki since she had to do some ‘homework’ when we were there.

me @ the fireplace

the sala with a smaller (hidden) fireplace


farther view of the place

Shopping and Boating

One of our main activities in Baguio was shopping. We shopped for 2nd hand clothes at the Session Road ukay ukay, we shopped for cheap jeans in the Tiangge, we shopped for woven clothes and food pasalubong at Mines View Park, we shopped for Good Shepherd foodstuff again at Mountain Maid Training Center and finally, we also shopped for more food stuff at the local wet market. Ah, the wet market was where Nikki bought a P50 Strawberry Wine that tasted of juice with just a hint of alcohol. Guess what, I got tipsy after 3 or 4 glasses hahahah!

Aside from shopping, Nikki, Mel and I also walked from Session Road to Burnham Park to ride the boat in the lake. At first, we were supposed to row the boat but we just went around in cirlces in one place hahah, so we got a manong to row for us for an additional 15 pesos ( I liked the boat ride very much coz the breeze was cool and I was surrounded with water, never mind that it was green and kinda swampy looking, hehehe. Water has a relaxing effect on me and I even broke out into song while enjoying the 30 minute ride. What did I sing?




Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.


The Mall

Since it was my first time to really go around Baguio even after 10 years of visit (I’m stuck in Teachers Camp every Holy Week since 1995), I requested Nikki and Mel that we go to SM Baguio. My brother who went told me that the place looked more like Greenbelt than an SM, so I got curious. My verdict? I say it’s a cross and falls somewhere in between. There’s no need for airconditioning in the mall since the cool mountain breeze is able to provide that for the whole 4 floors. The floors are all open and that’s where the good restos are all situated. You can eat with the glorious view of pine trees in front of you, very cool :)

Oct 23 @ 1:30pm : departed from Baguio to go back to Manila

Our last stop in Baguio before heading to Manila was the Pink Sisters Convent since Mel wanted to buy cookies made from hosts sold in the Gift Shop. Unfortunately, the shop was still closed so Mel and Nikki just dropped some prayer requests for the sisters. The trip home took about 6 hours including a stopover in KFC for dinner.

It was really a wonderful experience and I’m hoping to go to Baguio again with my officemates the next time around :) In terms of spending, I had 100 pesos left out of 2K in my wallet. I would say not bad since technically, I still had an additional 175 from the strawberry jam and pili nut requests of my friends. So that’s 275 left from all that shopping! Cool! :)

Girls Outing!

I'm quite happy today :) At about 3pm in the office, i was already restless to meet up with my college buddies Dior and Malou @ Italianni's Greenbelt :) Although i prefer confiding and opening myself up to guys, i also miss talking to my girlfriends about girly stuff and experiences that somehow girls usually experience more than guys hehe--heartbreak, annoying guys, learning experiences, shopping, weight, hair, make-up and the like :)

Girl power kami kanina, the manager of Italianni's even gave us a dessert of our choice on the house. Suki na kasi ung dalawa dun kaya kilala na :) I think it's a good tactic of the manager of taking care of his customers and make them come back. Cool!

Right now, i am gradually understanding myself and balancing my moods so i wouldn't be depressed all the time. I'm a person with a lot of excited energy and i need to channel that somewhere or it will turn to negative, thus sad and depressed energy. So a while ago, i got myself excited over that stuff that i would do over the weekend--what movie to watch, which driving school to enroll in, where to workout and when to start reading Love in the Time of Cholera :) A good book always makes me excited! :)

I'm also going to a couple of highschool friends' joint birthday party tomorrow which is also my very first appearance to my highschool friends after graduation. Oddly, i'm not really worried, which is kinda boggling me right now coz im not so conscious and insecure about myself like before. Have i grown older? Have i matured? I don't worry so much on what people will think of me anymore, i just be who i am and if they don't like me then so be it, that's me :) Cool! La lang, i kinda feel empowerd :) hehehe

And these are my thoughts for the day....

GIRLIE BONDING SESSIONS!

Life has changed a lot for me for the past few weeks...i've been doing so much stuff that i've never done or experienced before and it seems that there are still seamless possiblites out there in the world for me to try and experience! (parang ibong nakawala sa hawla eh! hehehe)

October 16: First day of Mel's sembreak from UP Law.
I went to Mel's house and everyone was so surprised that i could come and chill out with them, hehehe. After exchanging updates on each other's life, Mel, Nikki and I made a stop at Book Sale to kill some time before Ann and Rom arrived at Cibo for dinner. I ended up buying two s dessert recipe books for 50 pesos each and this month's edition of T3 Gadgets magazine for 120. I really love Maike Ever's bathing suit in the cover! Someday, i will get to wear one like that! ha! hehehe =p

"Bluetooth Fairy, I wish for your two-piece halter bikini!"

Anyway, so the three of us went ahead to Cibo and ordered food, i ordered pasta but vaguely remember what was with it! It wasn't delicious or outstanding enought to be remembered, hehehe. I also shared creamy squash soup with Mel and 2 desserts that i ended up bringing home the leftovers of. What i liked most in what we ate was the appetizer, spinacci -- a creamy spinach dip with refillable bread for P20. My friends from modeling were the ones who introduced this dish to me before and somehow i've associated Cibo with it. Our bill was exceptionally high, and mine was the highest! I shelled out P500 for dinner! Gosh! Oh well, at least we had fun, and here's our pictures to prove it =)

Clockwise from left: Nikki, Rom, Me, Mel and Ann

From Left to Right: Rom, Me and Nikki

October 23: Tres Marias' Quiapo Adventure!
Too bad we didn't bring any technology to capture our silly moments for fear of being robbed, hehehe. All three of us didn't bring cellphones or even our wallets! I just brought a lola looking coin purse that made my bills look like they came from the wet market! DVD-hunting has never been this fun for me and probably Nikki too since it's also her first time to go to Quiapo. Mel, on the other hand, is already a veteran and we kept teasing her about her kumares and kumpares who were the DVD vendors. But hey, even for newbies, Nikki and I, made, uhmm, 'instant friends' with some vendors, hehehe. Nikki encountered this weird vendor who kept making comments and maybe jokes about something that we really couldn't understand, so we just smiled and nodded while wating for Nikki's The Simpsons to be tested for quality. My encounter was kinda different but fruitful coz i got a free DVD, it's just worth P35 but hey, i still got it for free!. Oh, i chose Ella Enchancted for that freebie, not really something i'm dying to get, but one of the best from the choices available.

Our DVD hunting started at about 1130am and continued on until about 3pm in the afternoon, that's because finally, Mel's money ran out! =) We had lunch of course--at Chowking and merienda afterwards at a Chowking branch again near Me'ls house already. Hmmm,shouldn't we be getting discounts for being such loyal customers? =p Anyway, we rode an FX from Quiapo and got dropped at Edsa Central or somewhere near that and took a tricylce back to Mel's place. I was really suprised that the FX ride only cost us P20 each since an FX or 'shuttle' from Dela Costa to Landmark is already P10! Tsk, tsk, tsk, Makati naman talaga oh!

Oct 28: Nikki's blowout for her birthday!
We had dinner at Big Buddha in Greenbelt 3 but i got there an hour late! MFP Issue Tracking got me late because i couldn't access the server to the Remedy database from my PC! (workplace lingo, just ranting!) How very odd!

Clokcwise from left: Ann, Me, Niki, Rom and Mel

From left to right: Cliff, Imo, Me and Ann

Anyway, after dinner we scouted for coffee places but ended up at the bald man's shop, Max Brenner's!!!! It was like a chocolate dream come true for me! We ordered Suckao, Mud Max and Crunhy Chocolate Cheesecake. We had to request for six shot glasses so we could all taste the Suckao better--sucking the milk chocolate heated under a burner from the same metal straw seemed so "pot session-ish."

The verdict. Suckao was nothing extraordinary, i think it's the process of making your own chocolate drink that adds excitement to it. Mud Max is like a chocolate cake that came with a very thick and heavy chocolate syrup in a mini florence flask and Haagen Daaz strawberry ice cream, walnuts and assorted fruits as well. I really liked it because it wasn't too sweet and the chocolate was more on the rick and dark side. My friends liked Crunchy Chocolate Cheesecake better though. It had Oreo cookie crumbs as the cheesecake buttom, came white chocolate syrup, walnuts and assorted fruits too placed in small glass bowls so you could decide how much to put on the cheesecake. The experience was well worth it, a bit on the pricey side but i wouldn't mind going back again to try the other sinful chocolate stuff that the bar has to offer.

October 30: Mel's sister's 8th birthday
Nikki and I had perfect attendance again, as usual. We ate, exchanged morbid death stories, talked about supernatural stuff, and wrote down our plans of places to go to ...here's some of them!
rummage in an Ukay-Ukay
visit museums
visit Intramuros
indluge ourselves in a spa
go book hunting
take a trp to Tagaytay
fly to HK/Korea/Thailand
gimmik at Baywalk
volunteer in a charity
eat and shop in Chinatown
go swimming at Mel's house or at the beach
experience food in UP
girls' drinking night at home
do a movie marathon
bargain shopping at Tutuban
Isn't it so fun to be a single girl? Hehehehe.