Holy Week 2006

We went up the mountains on Wednesday to avoid the traffic. I planned to sleep on the way since were suppoused to leave at 2AM. However things did not go as planned due to other obligations. We left at 8am.

According to the news the weather up there was not that cold anymore compared to the previous years. I beg to disagree. I was hella cold. Then again, I am ginawin. I was able to manage the foggy atmosphere nonetheless which gave a very relaxing ambiance.

There was nothing new there so all we did was eat, sleep, laze around, mahjong and do our lenten obligations. Luckily there weren't much people as before so we did not have much trouble moving around. Well, except during lunch and dinner hours in nearby restaurants.

All in all I had a good time even if the family wasn't complete. The lack of "resources" forced us to semi-bond with each other and relax.

Good Times 0.1

I went to the beach with some of my friends from high school. Oh my gosh, I realized that it was my first time to go out of town with the group. Despite many uncertainties the beach getaway pushed through. Originally the trip was for the whole my3mp. But not everyone was able to make it due to their own personal reasons. I met up with my friend at Shaw then we headed to Magallanes – our meeting spot. When we arrived there one of our friends was already there. Then the my other friend called up her mystery date/ driver and the roadtrip began… We stopped over at Starbuko Tagaytay to stretch and get some coffee. Then continued our roadtrip ‘til we arrived here:

It was like a last minute thing. Initially we were supposed to stay at the rest house of my friend’s lola. However, something came up and we ended up here. The rooms looked okay in the brochure and site but lo and behold… the flooring was different… there weren’t any plants… the veranda flooded due to the aircon which took 10 years to cool…the bed cover was different….blah blah… Nevertheless, the room was alright. We had cable t.v. with travel and living channel!

Good thing we were able to check-in early. We settled down and lazed in the room ‘til we decided to eat. So we headed towards the dining area but we ended up having lunch at the carinderia directly in front of the resort. Sulit!

Afterwards we went swimming in the beach/pond. Uhuh. It was a pond… it was so shallow and calm. I guess that’s how the beaches are in Matabungkay. Good thing that there were rafts. We had a place to hang out. It had a picnic table, a huge reclined bench and a small house. The best thing was that it was for free. Well, that is if the raft was anchored. It costs 800 bucks for 4 hours if we will be dragged further.

The beach was alright even if it was only ‘til knee level and that there were gooey seaweeds and plants underneath. I was able to see creatures underneath... the jellyfish... the mermaid... the merman... the starfish... the mating starfish...

I was super tired that we were able to see the the almost sunset nalang. It was weird actually since all I did was sit on the raft then swam a lil when it got super hot. Chillax! Luckily my friend had this splash proof mp3 player to drown out the endless vidoke.

We had dinner at Dalampasigan!! Yum. Their calamares, tahong, tanigue, hipon, fish, inihaw and something else were delicious! The place had this nativish set up. There were these drooping vines/roots from above. When you enter the resto there was this waterfall/fountain. But it cannot be seen in the pictures. After eating, we headed back to the room and chilled. We drank a bit then went our separate ways.

The next day, we caught some early sunlight and did some adventures. Afterwards, we ate breakfast in the same place we had our lunch then packed our stuff. We weren't able to try their clorine (?) smelling pool anymore due to lack of time.

We had lunch here to satisfy the Bulalo craving of one of my friends. Luckily we were able to get a table even if it seemd that the whole lot of people decided to dine in the same restuarant. Imagine 70 people in one group! Huwow! Then we got coffe again in Starbuko to keep us awake on our way home.

It was my first time to go out of town with my merged group of friends. Memories are cheap… so let the good times roll.

Mean!

Helper: Come... Sit...
Niece *looks terrified*
Manang: Uy, ang taba taba mo na.
Niece *looks like she wants to cry*
Helper: Sit down. Lean back so that we can finish this.
Niece: I don’t like her smell.
Manang: Huwow! Ang kyut kyut mo na. Kamusta ka na?
Niece: *stares*
Manang: Hindi ba siya nakakaintindi ng tagalong? English lang ba? How are you?
Niece says softly: I don’t like her face.

My niece hasn’t attended any of the Sunday reunions for almost a month. She finally showed up today and noticeably she gained weight. Apparently she has been taking steroids for health reasons. Among her illnesses is asthma. Thus she has to vaporize (?) for maintenance and not get sick.

I just hope that Manang did not here hear.

Tsk. Whatta brat! :p

MMNTS 0.1

He knows my name.
He still remembers the time when we were introduced.
He conversed with me.
He smiled at me.

Babaw!

Unplanned

Today was owkay even if the things I planned to do did not push through. Initially my agenda was:

• basketball
• meet up with friend and watch a movie and have merienda/lunch
• IT get together
• fix my room

And my day turned out to be:

The last minute I accompanied my dad to watch this concert at Araneta since my mom had something to accomplish. I did not know what I was getting into. All I knew was that I was on my way to the coliseum to watch the show of some old guy named Rex Smith. I just thought that I had nothing to lose since it was for free. It was also those once in a lifetime experience that would be sayang if I would not grab the opportunity.

Mocca was the openning act. I do not think I have heard of her before. She was alright I guess. Then again, in my opinion she wasn't the right performer for the type of crowd. She sang those recent disco-ish dance songs. Like songs from Pussy Cat Dolls, Usher and the like. All in all I think she was alright. She took the risk to interact with the crowd even if it was obvious that people were restlessly waiting for the main act. Somehow people responded in some parts.

So... yeah... that was Rex Smith. He does not look that OLD naman. In fairness some of his songs were familiar to me who is an illiterate in terms of music. His songs had those romantic/love theme. He's the guy who sang Simply Jessie and You Take My Breath Away. I remember before I used to play Simply Jessie all over again...

"And I don’t know how I knew it

But I knew it somehow

You’re the answer to the question

No one’s answered till now"

No wonder the title of his show was "Forever Rex Smith".

I actually enjoyed the show. At least I get to appreciate "old" music more. More importantly, I got to spend time with my dad.

--0--

After the show, we grabbed a bite to eat. At first my dad did not like to eat out since he said that he was full. Guess what he got? 1 piece burger steak meal and pancit palabok! Riiiiight. That is a meal for someone who was FULL! How ironic. Good thing I nagged him.

--0--

Then I got dropped off at my friend's house. She was home alone since her whole family plus the helper was on a vacation or something. A situation like her's called for an inuman. And that was what occurred.

Drinking tip: same color goes together.