The Couple, The Husband, and The Mother

The Couple

It has been more than a year (and 20+ pounds re-gained) since the train incident...


Still wow.


The Husband

Last Saturday, January 27, Dionne and I met with OJ, Bon, N93 (with Allan), Dhang and Irish. In that order. Hehe.

OJ was the early bird. According to Bon, he was already at Gateway at around 11AM, while everybody else came after 12PM. Meeting was set between 11 and 12... Nuninu.

When we got to the food court, OJ was munching on delectable french fries from NYFD. Then he left us to meet Bon downstairs. He was kind enough to offer us the half-full regular-sized bucket of fries. We were quite hungry by then that we couldn't resist eating them... Nakakahiya naman kay OJ kaya we decided to buy large fries! Good thing too, since we still had to wait for the others.

Allan and his wonderful N93 arrived next. Seeing the N93 made me want to hide my N90 in shame...

We then decided to check out the movie schedules. Babel was it.

A few minutes later, Irish and Dhang joined us. Unfortunately, Dhang won't be joining us for the movie because of more important people (drama, hehe). So it's just 6 tickets for us at the center of row K, which I will later realize is a little too far. Row G would've been "optimal". At least according to Richie's theory that the best seats are those that are as far to the screen as the screen is tall. Whatever. Hehe.

Lunch was at Bellini's. YEAH!

Dionne and Bon

OJ, Irish and Dhang

*Pics courtesy of N93 and Allan

Allan, at first, because he thought we were going to Marikina (Shoe Expo), then Gateway. He preferred the latter. OK... After a little explaining by the girls, he was in.

Before 3PM, we were on our way back to Gateway for the movie. I got 2 vanilla lattes for us from our favorite coffee shop, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

On to the movie!

The movie was interesting. I got a bit disoriented at first, regarding the sequence of the events. But eventually got it. I must admit that I was more attentive with the parts with the Japanese girl... Haha!

After the movie, we went to Dionne's new favorite clothes shop, F&H. She got a new office jacket at 50% off.

We also went to Bayo and Kamiseta and then Rustan's, to look at wish bracelets, crocs sandals, and the new Wade. *drools*

Before going home, we dropped by Fully Booked to check out the expensive books... We went home with Orson Scott Card's Shadow Puppets, a book on Spanish verbs for Dionne, and Dean Koontz's The Husband.


The Mother

January 29 was Nanay's 52nd birthday. We had lunch at Aristocrat's at SM San Lazaro to celebrate this wonderful occasion. Mommie came with us. Jonjon, unfortunately, was not able to make it from Laguna. He better make up for it next time. Hehe. Meanwhile, Jayson came just before we left. He came from work and looked exhausted. He ate the supposed takeout chicken barbeque right there and then. I'll be awaiting his libre from his sweldo. Nuninu.

Dionne, Mommie, Jeff, Nanay and Mae

Nananaba. Nuninu.

To Nanay, may you have good health and many more years to come! Happy birthday! We love you!

Eggs n Diamonds

You had me at scrolling

iPhone. iWantOne.


No touch

Jason of 37signals says:

How can you dial the iPhone without looking at it? How can you reach in your pocket and press “1” for voicemail? How can you orient yourself with the interface without seeing it? With a traditional phone or device with buttons you can feel your way around it. You can find the bumps, the humps, the cut lines, the shapes, the sizes. You can find your way around in the dark. Not with the iPhone.

With this phone, it is no longer possible to text without looking at the keypad, as there is no more keypad. Instead, the user is given with a full QWERTY keyboard. A fair exchange for the flexibility it offers? Maybe. Whatever the case, I'm still excited about this phone.

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SAL Mini-reunion

We were just supposed to meet Brian for dinner. He went to France last December and was kind enough to bring home a pair of Eiffel tower key chains for us. Dionne won't be able to join us as she now has Spanish class every Thursday. I suggested that we invite our SAL friends to join us since it has been a long time since the group met.

Last Thursday, January 11, the mini-reunion pushed through, thanks to Brian's persistence. Unfortunately, he was unable to join us for dinner as he had to attend to some office matters. He joined us at Starbucks later that night though.

Besides Brian and me, the others who were there, according to time of arrival: Chris J, Brymac, Bob (with Shine), Tseri, Lino, Benj (with Beej), Kat, and Richie.

Pics courtesy of Brymac:

The Reason

The Group (Bry took the pic)

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Blood Diamond

Friday, January 12, was reserved for our date.

Before lunch, I got a text from Dionne, a message from Mimi, that one of the photos from our prenup was printed as part of a feature on prenups on Wedding Essentials:


Nice.

Dinner was at Heaven n Eggs. The food was OK, but a bit expensive. The hot chocolate was good though.

We watched Blood Diamond at Glorietta 4 with tickets we bought via Sureseats. Only 4 months left on Dionne's M-Pass load... We initially wanted to watch Night at the Museum, but would have to wait another week for that one.

Blood Diamond... Another very good movie for Leonardo DiCaprio!

It's fun to go out with Dionne again. We must do this more often. Yihee!

Delinquent Bloggers

We are.

Since January kicked in, we've both been busy. Well, Joven's mostly busy with work stuff while I am busy with mundane stuff.

So, here's a short recap of the things that happened in the past few days...


Saturday, January 6

Since I've been busy the past week, I decided to pick up my free spa gift certificate from Manila Bulletin Saturday morning. The contact person, Sarah, was nice enough to wait for us since it was already nearing lunch time. We almost got lost, thanks to the taxi driver who brought us to the Manila Times. Haha! Fortunately, Intramuros is small enough for us to find our way.

After, Joven and I plus my mom went to SM San Lazaro to watch Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo. The movie won over Shake Rattle and Roll 8. The movie was surprisingly funny although by the title alone, you'd expect it as mushy. All in all, I enjoyed the film because of Gina Pareño. Hehe.


Sunday, January 7

With nothing better to do, Joven and I went to Tutuban Mall and 168 in Divisoria to shop. I was able to buy 2 blouses and a pair of pants in less than 30 minutes. Since we have time to kill, we went to 168 to see if there are anything we can get our hands on. After going around for almost an hour, we decided to buy DVDs. I bought an 8 animated movies in one CD and 8 action movies in one CD. I got lucky with the first one. The second one was a different story. Audio was terrible! Oh well, that's what we got because we only paid P75 for it. =P

Ang saya mag-Divisoria two weeks after the holidays. Konti lang tao! Hihi!


Monday, January 8

I was running like crazy in the office. I had four meetings with different groups. Kapagod! I missed one meeting because the previous meeting extended for over an hour. Haay. I had to have my boss attend on my behalf. He was nice enough to make notes. Hihi!


Tuesday, January 9

First day of my Spanish class. The teacher was early and the classroom was still half full when my friends and I got in. I kindda enjoyed it... sort of washed the anxieties away. It's actually easier to understand because of my background in French. I just hope it wouldn't be so difficult towards the end and the teacher would remain as nice as he is.


Wednesday, January 10

Big shout out to my sister: Happy Birthday Tita Dap! Hope you had a good one. See you on Saturday!

After work, Joven and I met at the MRT station to have dinner at Kalye Juan @ Tomas Morato. We're to meet SML sans Ryan (Cors, Benj, Beej & Richie) because he has a Baguio thingy. Richie will be leaving for the US next week and it won't be until summer of 2008 we'll get to see him again.

The night ended at Baang coffee (which we were not initially sure if it's Baang or BangBang. Haha!). According to Richie, the coffee's not "Wow!" but it's not bad also. I ordered a Chai Latte which for me was a bit sweet.

Conversation was from "What's new with you?" to "What's new with blah-blah?"

We had to end early because of work the following day.

Ingat Richie! See you soon!

Pics here.


Current

I'm busy reading Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. I got it in Booksale at a very reasonable price. I usually look for books that has the Oprah's Book Club seal because I usually end up liking the book - The Pilot's Wife, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True - to name a few. This one, I can't put it down. I'm not finished though but I'm really enjoying every minute of it. Another great find for me. I have yet to devour Icy Sparks, House of Sand and Fog and The Poisonwood Bible. =)

Bonne Année!

Happy New Year Everyone!

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Last two holiday events to blog about...

Last Dec 29-30 we checked-in at The Pearl Manila Hotel for an overnighter with my college barkada. It was unfortunate that preggy Mem and hubby were not able to join us. Masama daw ang pakiramdam ni buntis.

So far, this has been the "most attended" of the past get-togethers. Since Andrew has been seriously studying Medicine (Hehe!), he didn't have much time to go out and socialize. =P Now that he is a full-fledged doctor, he only has the USMLE in mind. Plus, Lalaine's been in town so this is really something we're looking forward to.

The day started with a serious Risk match between Benj, Beej, Andrew and moi. Andrew won on the merit that he is very serious in destroying my empire. He hates me because luck was on my side. =P I hope that somebody will study the manual and teach us how to play the Star Wars mode. Hehe!

Cri-c arrived and was giving us hell because she was not included in the game. At least she acquired a new best friend in Benj. Hehe!

Anne arrived a few minutes after with boyfriend, Joseph. *Kilig!*

Soon after, Cri-c and Anne were updating each other with what's happening in their lives.

We got tired with Risk and switched to Guesstures. We were odd-numbered so we decided that Andrew should act out all the words. And boy, can he act! Wow! Most of us were in awe watching him, we forget to guess the word. Andrew acted the words until Lalaine got to the hotel. He was acting for more than two hours, dinner lang pahinga. Hihi!

Manuel joined us close to midnight. Being the booze carrier, he was worth the wait. But, it seems that age are getting to us because soon after, people were switching to Pepsi and water.

To ward off sleepiness, we decided to switch to the classic Pinoy Henyo. (BTW, did you know that there is an online Pinoy Henyo??? Haha! Weird!) We finally gave up fighting sleep after 2AM.

Later morning, we still didn't have enough of Guesstures and played some more. After we got tired, we moved to videoke singing. Cri-c belted her college winning piece. Walang kupas!

We decided to part ways at 12 noon - check out time na kasi. Hehe!

*Sigh* I miss college, where life was less complicated and when we say overnighter - nobody really sleeps. =P

Pics here.

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New Year Party

We have an annual tradition to invite relatives and friends to join us for a simple get-together at home. My mom turns into a kitchen whiz and prepares delicious food for everyone.

Thanks for those who came: Con (with Arjahn & Luiz), Mavis (with pretty Angel), Beej & Benj, Lalaine (with Ninang, Ate, Kuya & Kulit), Allan, Bon, OJ, Ate Malou, Nanay (with kids), Kuya Mel (with Tisha and kids), Annie & Tony... at marami pang iba. Hope to see you again next year, same venue, same time. =)

Pics here.

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How come the clock spins fast every time one is on vacation?

I'm already anticipating the next long one. Kelan kaya yung susunod? Nuninu.

'Tis the Season to be busy... 2

We had a crazy, busy December. Just like last year. But, who's complaining? =D

December 13

FSI Christmas Party

Allan and I ended up hosting the event. Our day started as early as 9AM and ended at 4PM. Parang children's party. Hehe! I was dead tired but had a really great time.

Our intention for hosting the event was to get away from performing that day. Although I also ended up as the choreographer of our dance presentation, it was less stressful for me. After teaching them the steps, that was it for me. =D

We won second place! For the past years, we always had the worst presentation. At least second na ngayon! =D

Dinner at Tokyo Cafe

Together with my office barkada, we had dinner at Tokyo Cafe in MOA. Since Irish, Allan and I had lunch there a few days ago, we thought of bringing the other peeps there. Joven joined us after work. After loads of laughter and kwentuhan, we decided to call it a night. Joven and I went around shopping but were unsuccessful with what we want.


December 16

Last minute errands and more shopping

We started the day with a few errands - meeting his Tita and accompanying my mom for some of her holiday shopping.

As a surprise, we brought her to the appliance center to buy our gift for her. My sister and I (of course with Joven) decided to get her a brand new television. Since our TV broke down a month ago, my mom has been watching her favorite teleseryes in a 14" TV. We got her a 29" TV this time. At least di na nya huhulaan yung tao. Hehe!

Joven and I decided to get our own 29" TV as well. Now we can watch DVDs at the comfort of our bedroom. Nice! That was our big gift for each other. =D


December 17

More Shopping

Joven asked me a life-changing question a few weeks back: "Magic Sing or PS2?" Aaaaaargh! I said I needed to think about it. I ended up asking people around me.

Magic Sing it is! Haha!

We bought ours after dropping off at Nanay's. Shempre, tinest agad! I think it took them four hours to make me stop. Hahaha!


December 19

Lunch at Krua Thai

Our boss treated for us for a sumptuous lunch. The whole group went to Blue Wave and ended up at Krua Thai. Parang last meal, super busog! Minsan lang 'to, kaya dapat i-blog. Haha!

Get-Together with Lalaine from UK

My high school best friends, Con (with hubby, Arjahn), Lalaine and I (with Joven) met at SM San Lazaro. Lalaine went home for the holidays and to try to make arrangements for her wedding on 2008. Dinner was at Congo Grille and, since we cannot get a decent seat at Starbucks, coffee was at Coffee Dream. Laughter and chika non-stop. *Sigh* Miss the simple life of high school.


December 20

Vidoeke at Music Match with Office Barkada

Much awaited! We prepared for it (with matching exchange gifts) for almost a month. Videokes are never the same without these people. They sure know how to have fun. We really had a great time! =D

Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera at hand so we ended up begging for pics instead. =P

Here are the ones from Yax and Dhang.


December 21

Videoke with SML

What?? Videoke again? Haha! You'd think that partying till 1AM will stop us? Nah. I even came to the office before 9AM. Joven was in his office earlier. =D

The night was for SML this time. Richie came home after a year of studies in the US (he'll be back there in January though). We haven't had any videoke session when Richie was away. So what would be best but to welcome him with one. Ryan, Cors, The Bs were also present. It was great to hear Cors singing this time. =)


December 22

Dinner with Frenchies & Japs

There was a Frenchies dinner at Crazy Roll a few weeks back but Joven and I weren't able to join them. That was the time Joven got sick. It was great of them to fix their schedules and have dinner with us again.

Dinner this time was at Burgoo in MOA. Coffee was at Starbucks. Jera brought along her friend from Japan. It was nice how they teach her bad words. Haha!


December 24

Noche Buena

My sisters from Pasig trooped to our place for our annual Noche Buena. Mommie was busy in the kitchen all day. I took the liberty of baking a chocolate cake (which didn't stay long in the fridge. naks!) and fixing the chocolate for the fondue.

My 5-year-old nephew, Jef was soo excited in opening his gifts. He was shrieking and laughing while he was tearing off the gift wrappers. He got his ultimate dream this Christmas: WWE action figures.

I got three bags from my two sisters and mom this Christmas. I wonder why. =P I also got a shirt from Jef. A Coelho and a Micheal V DVD from Joven. Hihi! Aliw! Joven and I got Chritsmas money from my dad which will turn into a love seat one of these days. Thanks thanks everyone!


December 25

Christmas Day!

We woke up mid-morning and were immediately swamped by inaanaks and neighborhood children. After our ninang duties, we went to mass at Lourdes church.

We were expected at Tita Nene's place by lunch time. We asked Jef if he'd come with us, surprisingly he said yes. I guess it was after enticing him with duguan (what he calls dinuguan) - his favorite viand.

When we got there, the elders were already eating lunch while the young girls were upstairs and the young boys were playing PS2. Jef immediately took his place with the boys but I urged him to eat duguan first. I guess the call of PS2 was louder because after three spoonfuls of food, he told me he was already full. He immediately made his way to the group of boys as if he'd known them since he was born.

Of course we were asked the question again, "Wala pa ba?" Ahm, I told them we're trying to get there. Insert *sigh* here.


December 26

MMFF

With nothing better to do, Joven and I, together with my mom, decided to watch a movie. We were weighing our options (nothing much really), and ended up with Ligalig. It was supposed to be rated A by the cinema board, for Joven and I it was quite predictable. There were certain scenes that were unnecessary, some scenes produced a "duh!" from me, some effects were not really that good. Oh well.


December 27

The day was spent with Lalaine, Merc, Cheche, and Tantan. I won't spill the beans. I'm keeping my mouth shut since I signed a contract. =P

We ate lunch at Tokyo Cafe. Yeah, yeah. I recommended the place. I can't help it. If we were on the north side, I would've recommended Crazy Rolls. =P

ArtBag

Joven told me he has a surprise for me when he gets home. Apparently, Leslie (Fol's wife) dropped off our finished album to his office. Of course, with our own ArtBag. Woohoo! Thanks Fol and Leslie!


Whew! That was a busy December indeed. We still have an overnight thingy tomorrow. Kwentos on that on our next blog entry.

BTW, I'm a winner again! I just got it from the mail. Apparently, I'm one of the five lucky poll voters who won gift certificates from Sanctuario Spa. Many thanks to Manila Bulletin's About Weddings and of course to Benz because it was her who e-mailed us about the poll. I've yet to get it though. =P

Chocolat, Calauan, and Caramel Mocha

Finally had time to blog. I just need to be sick to update our blog. Honestly, I feel terrible. My whole body aches, I have colds and cough. Worse, I need to go back to work immediately. Haay.

Enough about me. Lemme tell you about our weekend.

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Saturday was set to meet Trisha. She came to Manila for a visit from Iloilo. Together with Pearli and Vin, we had merienda at Chocolat at MOA. We almost finished the whole cake of chocolate if not for the sugar rush. Yummy cake!

The conversation was peppered with laughter while Trish recounts her quest for THE ONE. The boys were very interested in what happened and what will happen next. Getting up to use the restroom is very difficult. Nobody wants to miss anything!

We ended the afternoon with a promise to go back to Bora and Iloilo to visit Trish on May next year. Can't wait!

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Sunday was set to check out our place at Calauan. Milenyo definitely made its mark on it. 3 big trees fell down... the building was left in shambles... almost all the fences flew to the river. The caretaker told us it was really scary. Oh well, nothing we can do except deal with the renovation.

We had lunch at the building (or what was left of it). Jef was almost bitten by the caretaker's dog (almost because the dog's teeth just nicked his hand). We still decided to have him injected of anti-rabies in Manila just to be sure. He didn't cry because of the dog bite, he started crying because everyone was telling him that he'll turn into a dog soon. Hehe!

That didn't dampen his spirits though. He went to the river to bathe. Nakakatuwa talaga ang bata.

After an hour or so, we decided to go home but not with a quick stop at the pasalubong center in Los Baños. =)

More pics here.

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It's adjustment stage again for us. This time I think Joven is making a lot of.

His new job doesn't entail him to be early at work. We're used to waking up at 5AM for him to get to the office before 7AM. Now, no need to rush. We can leave for work together instead of him leaving very early. But, this also means he comes home late than usual.

He's used to coming to work in jeans, t-shirt and rubber shoes. Now, he dons a barong/polo, slacks and leather shoes. This also means we have to shop for a new pair of leather shoes, undershirts, etc.

He's also used that he brings lunch to work. Now, he eats at the nearby fastfood or canteen there. He's planning to return to his old ways though, probably next week. Meaning, I have to cook again. =P

He used to carry a laptop with him everywhere. He didn't have one for the last 3 days (hell for him), fortunately as of writing, he is tinkering with his new one.

His biggest regret, I think, is that there's no caramel mocha coffee there. =P

Weekend G's

Friday was in celebration of Bon's birthday.

Bon is one of my favorite people on earth. We became really good friends when I came back from France two years ago. She's one person I can unabashedly share my frustrations, opinions and goofiness. =D

Her birthday was of course a special occasion for us. The pre-planned dinner at MOA became a videoke-all-nighter at RedBox. The birthday girl, Irish, Francis, Dulce, Ara, Malou, and our new recruit, OJ partied the night away.

We went home with sore throats and happy hearts. Happy birthday VC Bon!

More pics here.

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Saturday was set for a movie-dinner date with Benj, Beej and Cors. (Get well soon Ryan!)

Joven and I wanted to go to Greenhills earlier to shop, but because of unforeseen circumstances (i.e., I was late), we got there just in time for dinner. On our way to the Promenade, we were sooo amazed on how much Greenhills has changed. Ganda na! It was a mix of Gateway, Market! Market! and Greenbelt. We hope to come back and explore some more. =D

Dinner was at Cibo. Yummy! Food pics here.

I should have brought the camera to the bathroom. Wala lang aliw kasi! Hehe!

Ever since I saw on TV that they're making The Departed, I asked Joven if we could watch it as soon as it's shown here.

Being a fan of mob movies, I enjoyed it immensely, the blood and gore included. I don't have much words to describe the film. It will really leave you speechless. I just loved it. I hope they'd get to show more of these stuff as they do back in the old days. Hehe!

I looked up the movie in IMDB (I only do that only after I've seen it to avoid spoilers), and learned that it was based on a HK film, Infernal Affairs.


Which got me interested too.

Andy Lau and Tony Leung! My HK action star crushes! It's really like Caprio and Damon! Hehe!

I hope we'd be able to get a copy of the movie. Help!

Samboan Adventure

For a change, I will not show you pics of the devastation of "Milenyo." =)

Last March, we took advantage of the Cebu Pacific promo and booked us flights to Cebu. We opted to go this September for my mom's hometown fiesta in Samboan.

For me, this trip was more than just time away from work. To be honest, I'm not a kamag-anak person. Most of my extended relatives, I haven't even met (met but probably forgot). I only knew them through my mom's stories. This was the perfect opportunity for me to get to know my roots.

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Day 1: September 27 (Wednesday)


Joven and I left for the airport earlier than my mom and sister. Since the flight schedule got screwed up, we ended up going to Cebu a few hours earlier than the two of them. We killed time by reading our pocketbooks, throwing dagger looks at the "malikot" man sitting on the far side of the bench, eating lunch, donuts and coffee, i.e., spending a fortune on airport food and Joven trying to install (to no avail) NBA 2006 in his laptop. While we were waiting, heavy rains were starting to pour. Fortunately, the rain gave way before we boarded the plane.

The plane ride was smooth sauf the turbulence that made one of the ladies on board shriek and Joven more tensed (he hates plane rides).

We waited a few hours in Mactan Airport for my mom and sister to arrive. Soon we were picked up by our very accommodating uncle, Tito Aguinaldo or Tito Agi as we call him.

Earlier, he made arrangements for us to stay at an inn in Llorente St. The inn (Apple Tree) is relatively new, clean and comfy. The staff were very courteous too. Tito Agi left us for a few hours to settle down. He promised to come back because he wants to take us out to dinner.

The front desk called us since Tito Agi was at the lobby already. Instead of him, we were met by his beautiful wife, Tita Joanne and daughter, Kid (Kid has an exceptional voice by the way, like her sister whom we haven't met yet).

Dinner was at Golden Cowrie in Salinas St. One word: Delicious!

We were so surprised by the prices, we just had to take a pic of the menu.


Food pics here.

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Day 2: September 28 (Thursday)

The day started early. We wanted to cover much of the city (and buy pasalubong as well) before we go to the outskirts. We had breakfast at Jollibee where we learned that they serve "Super Breakfasts" there. Joven was quite apprehensive to approach the counter because he might not understand the cashier. =P

After breakfast we went to Magellan's Cross and the Basilica del Sto. Niño de Cebu. Like any other tourists, we snapped away.

Since SM Cebu is quite far from where we are and Tabo-an is nearer, we decided to head there for the pasalubong. The sight and smell overwhelmed us. After getting over that, we began to order what we want (with haggling for the prices on the side). With two boxes of pasalubong in tow, we decided to call it quits.

We got back to the inn and was immediately helped by the bellboy. I think he got a good hint of where we came from and volunteered to put the boxes in their office and not in our room to prevent the smell from spreading. Hehe! After sometime the smell seemed to linger, we later realized that it was us who smell! Yikes!

After freshening up, we decided to eat lunch at Orange Brutus (they still have it there!) and eventually check out from the inn. We wanted to ride the bus to Samboan right after lunch because according to my mom, the bus ride will take about 3-4 hours. We got to the South Terminal (bus station) via taxi. Joven and I were so shocked when the porters opened the car door and began grabbing our stuff. Scary! I asked Joven to follow them while I pay for the cab. They were soo aggressive. Later, they asked us to pay P10 for each baggage! Grrr!

We rode the bus to Samboan, me pumped with Bonamine (I'm not so fond of land travel), for 3 and a half hours. The sights were beautiful! I wasn't able to get shots of the scenery because the bus was moving too fast and I was getting groggy.

We arrived in Samboan a little after 5pm. Tita Nora, Tito Boy and his kids (Hershey, Joshmer and Jairuz) welcomed us with sumptuous merienda.

The rest of the day was spent in settling down, freshening up and getting to know our new housemates (or I think it was the other way around).

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Day 3: September 29 (Friday)

The first day of the town fiesta! We had a full breakfast (bread, peanut butter, tinolang isda, rice, puto - which was totally different from the puto we all know, hot chocolate/coffee). Grabe! I'm still in awe on how Tita Nora cooks all day. Her kitchen, with two househelp, opens at 5AM and closes at past 8PM. They cook all day and serve us great food almost every two hours! Wow!


Anyway, Tito Agi arrived early from the city. He volunteered to tour us around the town after lunch. Lunch, by the way, includes the delicious Lechon Cebu courtesy of Tito Boy. Yummy!


After lunch, we strolled around the beautiful town of Samboan. We saw their big municipal hall, old stone church, beautiful beach (which was being quarried, tsk tsk!), busy market and one of their secrets... Aguinid Waterfalls!

The hike to the waterfalls was fun. Funny though, the two kids - who are from there, met small catastrophes... one kept on falling on her butt, the other one lost his slipper after the current took it from his foot. The bakasyonistas were formidable. Hehe!

We went home and ate (again) dinner. The kids kept on bugging us to accompany them in the perya (carnival) nearby. I have never been in a perya before and I was just as excited. The kids pleaded for them to ride the ferris wheel. A bit reluctant for their safety, we agreed only because they told us they rode the ferris wheel the night before. The P10 ride was the longest ferris wheel ride I've ever seen. It seemed that they were there for more than ten minutes! After the ride, the kids busied themselves playing some of the games. I joined the color game and won two pesos. Joven, on the other hand, lost seven pesos. Haha! The kids capped the night with fruit shakes and street food. =D

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Day 4: September 30 (Saturday)

Our flight was not until 10pm so we decided to maximize the day. Another delicious breakfast started our day. We went to the old church to hear mass. Cardinal Vidal officiated the mass in Visayan. The churchgoers were very much different from those in Manila. They dressed well (decently, that is) and brought their family with them (including the men - I don't see a lot of men in Manila churches except for those in the altar).

After the mass, we had a quick lunch and waited for the bus that would take us back to the city. The bus ride was uneventful except for the surprisingly low fare. During the bus ride, I was constantly texting my former officemate who we will be meeting at the terminal. She promised to take us around the city while we're killing time before the flight.

She initially took us to her place (so that we leave our stuff for the stroll) and told us of our itinerary. She said that there was a nice park under the new bridge she wants us to see. I was beginning to feel tired that I asked her to take us to SM Cebu. =P

SM Cebu's quite big. Since they were on a 3-day sale, we got VCDs for a good price plus his and hers souvenir shirts. Hehe! =) Dinner was at CnT (the best Lechon Cebu in my opinion). Yummy!

Thanks to Tito Agi and family for helping us find our way. Tita Nora, Tito Boy, Hershey, Joshmer and Jairuz for fattening us and making our trip really worth it. Evelyn and Dessa for the warm send off.

We had a wonderful vacation. We had all the elements present: beautiful sights, warm people, great food. We hope to be back soon. =)

(More pics here.)