La Union

Went to La Union for the 3 day weekend. We were supposed to go to Pagudpud, but we were only sure about the weather on Friday, we chose La Union instead. We went to Bauang, which is the town right before San Fernando. Of course we referred to our ever reliable Lonely Planet, which, I'm sad to say, failed us this time. For accomodations, we checked out Bali Hai and Coconut Grove Beach Resorts, two of the listed resorts. Since the resorts were beside each other, we checked out another one, Cabana. Since we were divided (the boys were okay with Cabana but I wasn't), we checked out the next place, which was Villa Estrella! And it was 'perfect'! The room was okay, the bathroom was big (old yes, but clean), and we got a corporate discount! We ended up paying P1,500+ per night and for 3 people, that's P500 per night. Not bad at all. It was not listed in our beloved Lonely Planet book, but I've accepted the fact that it won't be able to list down ALL options.

The weekend was about exploring a new place, and watching Tour de France. Jovan ordered the 1999 - 2005 set (Yes Vic! 28 hours of Tour de France glory!). In between gimmicks, we would watch the videos - we ended up watching until 1999-2002. We explored the places mentioned in Lonely Planet - the most notable of which was Freedom Park. To see the whole city, we had to climb more than 100 steps (I can still feel the pain in my legs until now, hehe). It was beautiful! We had lunch at Mandarin, and merienda in Cafe Esperanza, both suggested also by Lonely Planet. I'm telling you, P1,400, that book is a steal!

Here are some photos:

Baguio Part 2

Second time to go up to Baguio for the year. This time I was with my VAS family and Jovan. That's me, Jovan, Mike O, Clar, Mike T, Cathy, Cookie, Angie, Shawi, Rina, Jil and family, Binky and kids, and JT. It wasn't a major tourist-in-Baguio trip. We just lounged around, learned poker, watched scary movies (I refused to though hehe), and ate. Great way to relax after a week of non-stop work.

I'm trying to get back into photography, so I took a lot of photos. I really want to take up photography again. I hope it's something I can sustain. 2 or 3 more trips like this, and I might just buy that Canon EOS 400. :)


View from the window...


Majestic Cathedral


Behind Little John's


Flower Power


Flower Power 2


View from SM


Some random photos...

Baby Joaquin!

One of my closest friends gave birth to bouncing baby boy! 'Bouncing' isn't an exaggeration - the baby's weight is 8 pounds! Another inaanak for me! I'm really excited! Welcome to the world Joaquin!

I am sure that friends who will read this will have one thing in mind - how about us?

All our friends and relatives have been asking us when we'll start a family. It's just not in our plans yet. Society really dictates so many things on us, and apparently not having children by choice within the first few years of marriage is something that's 'different'. Well, it's a choice, and I hope that the people around us will respect that.

Not So Amazing Race

There were two filipino teams in the first ever Amazing Race Asia. Both teams have been eliminated. First two eliminations. I'm so sad! I'm not a fan of Aubrey Miles but of course I was cheering for the filipinos. Sigh.

I have to figure out who my favorites are now.

Life is Good.


This is Mike O's mantra. And mind you, it's not just a line, he tries to live it too. We hear it so much from him that some of us in the office say it a lot already.

And then I stumbled upon the Life is Good website. Thanks to Shirley, who gave us a Life is Good cap for pasalubong when she visited last time. I visited the website right away.

They have really cute items. My recent acquisitions - a t-shirt and a backpack. I can't wait to use them!!!

I WANT...

A Canon EOS 400D



I'm just trying to figure out if it's something I'll use often. I took some pictures during our trips to Batangas, One Hundred Islands and Bolinao, and I think I still have it. Hope the price goes down to less than P35k.

Teriyaki Boy = Bad Service

I forgot where I got the news, but I heard that the Lorenzo Group (Pancake House, Dencio's...) has acquired Teriyaki Boy. It made a lot of sense - don't you just feel that there are so many Teriyaki Boy branches sprouting left and right? That's what happened to Dencio's after it was acquired by the same group. Anyway, this fast expansion seems like something they can't handle because of the poor service. I had dinner at Teriyaki Boy Galleria a while ago with Lawrence (welcome back to the Philippine Lawrence!), Lester, Margaret, and another friend of Lester. I had my mind set on Gyoza, and was very disappointed when the waiter told me that it wasn't available anymore. I ordered Pork Ribs Teriyaki instead, and was also told that it was still frozen. Lester and company also ordered 2 viands that were not available. Did they run out of food right away? It was only 8:30PM, and it was a Saturday night - shouldn't they make sure that there was enough food? The same thing happened to us at Teriyaki Boy Eastwood - it was around 9PM and there was no more Salmon. Granted, they want to make sure they have fresh food daily. They should still plan better - they should order more on fridays, especially during payday fridays.

Since I was really hungry, I ordered Miso Soup - something I could take while waiting for the food. The food arrived, with no Miso Soup in sight. We actually forgot about it, until we heard the lady beside our table complaining and bitching about how late their food arrived. She refused the viand that was being served, because they already finished eating. I think it was a tofu side dish. We remembered our Miso Soup, which we cancelled - no use for soup anymore. We continued eating, then later on, the lady started bitching and complaining again. Apparently, they were about to pay, and the bill still included the viand that they refused to accept. She mentioned that this was the second time this happened to her.

Is it too much to ask that if there are a lot of viands not available, the waiters should already 'warn' the customers before they order? I hope this is just temporary - I hope they can do something about it soon. Their food is really good but a great restaurant isn't just about the food, it's also about the service.

Kuala Lumpur, here we come!!!

Lester, one of my favorite friends, texted me about the Air Asia sale last October 31. It was perfect, because the options were Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, and our Davao 5 group was really interested in Kuala Lumpur. So we booked flights for February 16-21. Guess how much?! P3,290 per person! What a steal! We just have to look for accomodations and tours and we're all set! We will be joined by Mike T, so we'll be called the KL 6 - haha!

TRAVEL

I promised myself that 2006 would be a year of travel for me. I couldn't imagine at that time how it would turn out, but so far, this has been a great travel year. I was able to go to Davao twice, and one of those trips was for the Kadayawan. I was also able to go to Bohol for the first time. And we've had a lot of road trips left and right. I was able to go back to Baguio after 3 years, I was able to go back to Banahaw after 8 years, and I was able to visit new places such as One Hundred Islands, Bolinao, and Caliraya.

So far, so good. I wanted to go to Europe this year, as well as Singapore and Hong Kong (for HK Disneyland), but those can wait. I am expecting 2007 to be another great year full of trips. Actually, I'm hoping that the next 20 (30? 40?) years will be full of travel and trips that will give me new experiences. I can't wait!

I miss blogging. I miss just writing about my thoughts, deep or shallow, funny or serious. I miss raving about new experiences, and ranting about all the shitty stuff around me. I miss this!

Anyway, how can I summarize the past few months? Basically, everything centered on work and travel, with a few extra things along the way, such as the Tour de France, some interesting movies, and new discoveries.

Looking forward to sharing more thoughts and stories...