holiday rush

panick packing. that's how it has always been each time i travel. i took off early from work since there's not much i can really do about my tasks anyways. all i could think about is my upcoming two-week vacation, and all its jazz.

i dropped by the mall to buy some chocolates and troubled myself on how to fit them into my already full baggage. i slept until 5 am that morning just to put all the things that i should bring home together. i guess this is the difference with travelling during the holiday season. there's the christmas gifts you have to bring other than the usual "pasalubong".

after i tried terribly to squeeze in the items on my last-minute shopping without bursting my luggage, i immediately rushed to the airport. news have spread that cebu pacific has been overbooking the passengers for their flights for probably very lame reasons. i can't really get why they need to do this. i arrived at the airport three hours early for my flight and that is something i rarely, rarely do.

so everything else went well right after i checked in. there was enough time to get a nap and do some duty-free window shopping. then i was on board the plane, and almost slept through the whole flight.

it feels good to be on your way home. and doing that during the holidays makes it twice better.

not so long december

it has been quite a long december. it's just the 20th, five days before christmas eve and so much has happened already. i have finally learned to let go of toxic people, played with fate, and now, i am collecting stardusts.

i thought i was about to loose the mood of the festive season, when now i am basking with such joy that it's difficult to contain. my heart has been flying up, up and away that i am having a hard time to keep it put. i should really learn to stop falling in love with love, or end up with a dreamy christmas. but then, there's nothing wrong with that, right?

my friends have been telling me to enjoy the moments, loose all the negativity, and keep that smile on the face and start to realize about the dozen of things to be really thankful for. indeed, there's lot's to be thankful for.

so.. it's just five days before christmas eve and i am flying back to cebu tonight to spend my christmas with my family. yey! but before that, i have to be the bridesmaid for my roommate's wedding in bacolod, and i've been really so excited because it's gonna be my first time in that town. oh, and i got a few more trips planned right after christmas, i can't wait! it's gonna be a busy vacation for me then.

and.. i'm so looking forward for the new year. :)

getting christmas-y

christmas is indeed getting nearer and nearer. i just can't help but be extra excited this time for the coming yuletide season as i'll be able to finally spend it with the entire family. yey! finally, i could see streets filled with lanterns, i could hear christmas songs played everywhere i go and people from everywhere in town would be singing christmas carols at home! not to mention, there'd be noche buena.. and a tree filled with gifts, gifts.. and gifts. obviously, christmas season is definitely my favorite time of the year.:D


though i haven't played some christmas carols yet here at the apartment for the added "christmas-y" feel, i have already busied myself by bringing out the christmas decors from last year, set up our teeny-weeny christmas tree (about 15 inches) at the center table in the living area. i have also bought new decors for the tv stand, and i think i need to buy a few more to add more of the yuletide feel in it. i want it to be "pasko na pasko" here just like how we do it back home. it makes me smile to see that there's already a hint of the yuletide season in our almost bare flat as early as now :)

surely, i can't wait for christmas to come.

"pasko, pasko, pasko na naman muli" *playing at the back of my head* ....

"pasko na .. sinta ko..." .. ahihihi.. that's all i want for christmas! hahaha :D

six things about me, as told by my weekend

i know this is a late post, but there's just too much to catch up at work, not to mention some tres kulit people you have to entertain in between. but it's still tuesday. it's not even mid-week yet, so i guess i can still talk about my weekend. but even if a week has already passed, i would defenitely not miss a chance to write about this weekend. it was too surreal :D

since it was hari raya holiday in singapore, my girlfriends and i decided to do get a break and go on vacation. less travel time, more beach bum time and end it with a very relaxing massage was our target. good thing janeth found the perfect place to do all that. the next thing we knew, we were heading to Angsana Resort in Bintan, Indonesia.

i think it would be nice to talk about my weekend by pointing out the things i've learned about me from it. i got this idea from charmingbutsingle's blog. i even just copied her blog's title. but instead of eight, i could only come up with six.

1) i am a beach bum. i can't help it but i just love the beach so much. staring at the calm sea and clear blue sky never fails to leave me breathless. my weekend was filled with lying by the beach, and some swimming. oh, and beach volleyball could be fun, wish i could really learn to play it :)

2) i can learn photography. well, i only have a point and shoot cam, the nikon s7 coolpix. i was playing around the manual settings, adjusting the best combination of the exposure, the flash and the ISO, etc for the scene and i found myself really enjoying the different results that i got. it's fun. so, i realized that i can learn photography to take better pics. not that our pictures aren't great already wehehehe. if we had a more professional cam, like a dslr, we probably gave more justice to the beauty of the resort :D however, i don't have budget for a dslr,not now anyways, so that hobby will have to wait.

3) i'm easy to please. nothing beats life's simple pleasures, like star-gazing. the thing with staying in a big city, star-gazing becomes a luxury. the city lights just steals the thunder from all those beautiful stars spread across the night sky. good thing we were able to do that in the resort. We visited the nearby, more exlusive (more luxurious) resort, the Banyan Tree, which is of the same owner from the resort that we stayed. the Banyan Tree all had villas, and very, very romantic, by the cliff restaurants that is overlooking the south china sea.

one of the open air restos in Banyan Tree had double and single beds lined up, facing the sea. The beds were beautifully setup with flowers scattered on them, some throw pillows and candles by the bedside table. we were lying on one of the beds, cozying up. we simply stayed there and feasted on the star-glazed night sky, weaving our own romantic dreams :) *sigh* dun palang, busog na ako. but our appetite changed its mind when we had a taste of our meal.

4) i luv food trippin'. when you're in a fine resort, fine dining will always be there. wala kami choice :p we had dinner at Banyan Tree's TreeTops cafe. we ordered codfish in some port wine sauce, seafood chowder, watermelon salad, and a bottle of wine. sosy ang mga lola, pa wine-wine pa. we were surrounded by couples who were on their own romantic dates, but i think our bubbly mood (and boisterous laughter), ruined the ambiance for those couples. hehe. our apologies, but we just didn't want to ruin our mood too.

after the sumptuous dinner, we then requested for a buggy to send us back to our resort, with a buggy-licious driver to drive us. :D

5) i know how to pamper me. well, we do have the tendency to be a bit vain. so, after all the talk about the gnawing emptiness creeping at the back of my soul, i decided that i deserve a little pampering. the weekend is all about that anyways. for me, the best way to pamper myself is head off to the spa and get a good massage. and i was lucky, or rather, my friends and i were lucky, that we had the best massage ever. they prepared a very refreshing welcome drink, cucumber juice (you read that right, my first time to try it and it was surprisingly good). The staff was very gracious and very accomodating. the massage itself was very precisely done for your specific need and they used a very soothing aromatic massage oil, which they exclusively sell. their therapists were definitely well-trained to give the best spa service to their guests. i finished off my spa by a refreshing bath and putting on their very soothing jasmine scented lotion. heavenly. there was nothing i could definitely complain about the whole service. the massage removed all my stress and definitely left me on the high :)

6) i'm weak. i find it so difficult to kick old habits. i have to admit that one of the stressful thing that i wanted to get rid off, and one of the things that was leaving me empty the past days, or months even, was some mcsteamy-related stress. my weekend was supposed to be all about relieving myself from that. however, the moment we headed back to singapore, fate was playing some tricks on me. or probably this is just a way to test me how serious am i about the moving on thing...hmm..we'll see.

anyways, if i do get all stressed out once again, then there's a reason i should head back to Angsana Resort and get me another spa! Who knows, i'll reach maldives this time! haha. what a great excuse! :p

to post pics on my multiply site :)

weekend getaway (part 3)

the day after the wedding, we went to pearl farm (which initially expected as literally a "pearl" farm). just imagine my surprise to find out na wala palang pearls sa pearl farm. hehehhehehe. well, i didn't bring any swimsuit, and i was too tired and exhausted after four straight sleepless, and eventful nights, that i gave in to what my body needed - sleep. i just slept through out the afternoon, after a heavy buffet lunch, which to my disappointment had the worst buffet dessert ever. however, some of the dishes were good, so the whole buffet wasn't really that bad. :)

the day tour cost us about PHP1,300 (which was already discounted). i don't know if that was cheap already, or expensive. the resort is well-maintained, and has a great and very accomodating staff. the room that we had was very spacious, cozy and very clean. however, the beach wasn't really good. i say bohol still has better sandy beaches (bias kay taga-bohol man :p)... but the big minus point was the garbage from the neighboring villages floating on the sea. even if they were just wood or leaves floating, it was still an eyesore for tourists. so, chocs lang kaayo that i didn't take a swim.

after the pearl farm getaway, we had dinner at another grill restaurant in davao - Penong's. since we were already exhausted after the beach escapade and still have another early flight back to cebu, we decided to call it a night after dinner and some small talk.

i arrived in cebu monday morning at 7 am, and went directly to tantan's place where i left some of my stuffs. instead of sleeping the whole morning, i headed off to do some last minute shopping and met up with former ncr colleagues for lunch at the famous AA's bbq. :) i had too much bbq and other grilled food, but i couldn't complain. :)

that night, i have to travel back to singapore again. vacation's over. most of my thoughts that night was recalling where i was from my tasks. to my dismay, i couldn't remember any. i was just too exhausted, and i had too much fun that my system couldn't take the reality that work's starting soon. hehe. nagkasakit na nuon.

after sleeping most of the day on my medical leave, i was able to pick up the pieces where i left off and drilled the keyboard to beat my deadlines.

hahay.. buhay software engineer.

'til the next adventure.. :)

-- the end --

weekend getaway (part 2)

the second day since i arrived from singapore, was my trip to davao. surprisingly, i was on the same flight with old friends (otep, jaja and ma'am ana). i just found out about it when we were already in davao at the baggage claim area. hehe. but it was a fun mini reunion. it seemed like ages since i've met these people. :)

it's my first time in davao that's why i was a bit excited for this trip, aside from the fact that it's going to be ri's wedding. since there wasn't much to do that afternoon, ri booked me for a pampering session at the spa salon that she recommended. i had a full body scrub, body massage, foot scrub, foot massage, manicure and pedicure. ayan, total pampering with matching pa-soak2x pa on a rose petal filled bath tub. i didn't quite now what to expect on the body scrub cuz it was my first time.. hihihi... well, that's all i can say. pa-body scrub nalang kayo to get what i mean :P since jaja joined me at the pampering session, we stayed at the spa for about seven hours. it consumed all of our afternoon.

we then had late dinner at one of davao's famous grilled/bbq restaurant, Banok's. mmm.. i didnt realize how much i've missed chicken bbq, kinilaw and sisig. i ate too much, that when i had a fitting for my maid-of-honor dress, i could barely breath. (the bride got a bit frantic that i'd faint on her wedding cuz of my too tight dress... hehehe). good thing, the bloatedness gave way the morning after. carry ko na ang pagiging maid-of-honor ko :)

the rest is ri's wedding, which as i've said, has been beautifully accounted by ms. g.. so just read on there :) hehehhehe

that night, otep kindly toured us around davao to check out the city's night life. we had a late night shopping at their souvenir shops, had dinner at one of their famous hang-outs, and coffee at Blugre. Mau tried the durian coffee.. but that would be too "durian-y" for me :D ..

we promised to enjoy things that one can only find in davao, para naman sulit... and we did. well, feeling tourista talaga :)

(to be continued pa rin.. )

weekend getaway (part 1)

it's like i've just taken a blog-leave. when you're trying to go back to something that's been out of your system for a while, it takes some time to get back to where you left off.

after the super duper eventful long weekend which was highlighted by ri's wedding, i got sick. well, if you would have to stay up late for five consecutive days, travelled by air and boat most of the time, gimik with friends, then who wouldn't?

that's what i've been doing the past days. i left for cebu from singapore last thursday at 12 am, and went straight to bohol at the 6 am ferry ride (first trip yan, without sleep). my parents and favorite pamangkins met me at the pier and went straight home to catch up with my other sisters. well, with so much news to share, and an album of my hongkong adventure, i was sure the day won't be enough for all the chitchats.

i treated my family for lunch at Bohol Beach Club. it's always nice to spend an afternoon by the beach despite the lack of sleep. the breathtaking clear blue sky, white beach line and cool sea breeze simply take away all your worries. much more, you have to spend it with loved ones, over a sumptuous and inexpensive meal :)

that same day, i had to get back to cebu since i have an early flight to davao the following day. i arrived in cebu at around 8 pm already and went directly to the NCR office to meet up with tantan. it was a bit nostalgic to be able to get in that familiar candy-colored corridor of the office after that tragic night about two years ago. but meeting with old friends, and familiar faces (security guards still remembering me, and other former colleagues) erases all the bad memories away. there are just too many good memories in that office that nothing could spoil it.

after settling my stuff at tantan's place, which is just about a block away, we headed to roma mia for dinner. i almost forgot, that restaurant just serves the worst pasta there is in cebu. too bad, we only realized that when our orders came. in fairness, their fried chicken was good, but the pasta was just... eeeww. hehehe. after the bland dinner, and more than a mouthful of chika2x, jeanice joined us and we headed to this new hangout place called Paseo. i've been hearing so much about this place from tantan, may poste naman sya diri. the place was good, it was big, not so crowded (but then it was a week night), and fairly cheap (both on drinks and food). it's been a while since i went out to places like that. i've been pretty low-key for the past months in singapore. it was still fun-fun. but my body was a bit worn out already, so we hit home at around 1 am.

(to be continued...)

to be vacation high

wouldn't it be nice if i go bum for a month, go home to my very laid back province and leave this stress-inducing city and career-driven life? i think i could sustain a month without work. cuz.. yeah, like i'm really gonna miss that. *roll eyes*

for sure my parents wouldn't mind if i tell them i'd be going home jobless. my mom's not too busy schedule had her redecorate one of our rooms at home preparing it in case i take a long vacation. see, she's anticipating this. what if i'm going to do just that?

i've created a vivid picture of what my days would be like during that long break. i'd be practicing driving again and get stressed by all the other whacky drivers in the streets. but i'll loose all that as i bum at the beach during hot afternoons, enjoying the cool sea breeze and a refreshingly cold buko juice or mango shake. on the other afternoons, i'd probably learn a sport, like tennis. i've always wanted to learn to play that game. then, i'd hang out with my childhood friends, and talk about their married lives. i bet that would be a much more interesting topic compared to my boring life out here. and just to spice up my stay, i'd probably get a month-long affair. harharhar. i'm kidding, of course.

but seriously, i would, by no doubt, trade a month's salary for that kind of life. so, what am i waiting for?