weekend summary...

saturday with emms and rm

edsa people power's 20th anniversary, but it didn't stop the three of us: me, emmsky and rm from going to ortigas. u see, edsa anniversary, plus relentless coup plots/attempts, not to mention that the country is under the state of emergency (a prelude to martial law?) -- anywhere within the boundaries of the edsa shrine (or just practically anywhere within the streets of the metro) is a picture of a perfect chaos. we have actually backed out a few days ago, but only decided to go on friday night.

fortunately, none of my assumed chaotic display was found, except for a few uniformed men scattered. nakakapagtaka talaga. traffic from my place to edsa was smooth sailing, i felt it was like sunday morning. nakakapagtaka, nakakatakot.

anyway, we went to this agency that provides training for teacher wannebes who want to set foot in the US. the package presented to us was very inviting. however, when the discussion shifted to the fees, my mind shifted too.

after the orientation, the three of us to a cab to megamall. and there goes, three kikays plus a camara.. u know the drill!

sunday treat

call time was at 11am, at starbucks greenbelt3, in front of landmark. riccicutie and dodantot was at greenbelt3 a few minutes after 11am, both baffled and worn out from looking for the starbucks in front of landmark. we texted ria, she replied that she's already in glorieta, but still finding her way to the said starbucks. hay sus. we told her to stay wherever she is, and we'll just come over. we met up at the 'playground' near the customer service booth. and the surprise guest, well,, hhmm, surprised us! it was andrew, all the way from US! soon enough, owsi and doodles followed. then danny and grace. all of them got confused with our whereabouts, this time, the 'playground' is the culprit. as per ria: "hanapin nyo yung playground, nasa landmark yun". despite the mixed-up directions, all 8 of us managed to land at the 'playground'.

(*starbucks in greenbelt is located near the church, but NOT in front of landmark. *there is no playground anywhere in landmark, what ria meant here was the playground in the center of the glorieta)

we had lunch at northpark. anna called afterwards using her 10$ callcard given by the very generous surprise guest. since the surprise guest had been gone for a long time, we needed to tour him around. several suggestions came in until the group agreed to go to music21 in pasay. unfortunately, the bar was still closed when we came, so off we go to robinson's place. we settled at gbox, located at the 3rd floor. belted out to our hearts' content, made eye contact with some gay exhibitionists on the next room, aimed for a perfect score (which ria did effortlessly!)

after our tokens have ran out, we hiked to the baywalk for the sunset. dinner time came, everyone agreed to eat at max's. dinner was ria's treat. we ordered for meal letter c (the same order on our past reunion last december '05) notice a cycle here?

jeff called out for coffee after dinner. we had coffee at the nearby figaro, just across the street. over coffee, just like on every reunions, we reminisced our college days, and how our classmates changed over the years.

the group parted at around 10am.

delete delete

ignore the post below. clean monday will be on march 6, not today.

goodness, i am really sick!

Today is Clean Monday

and the start of Lent Orthodox, as my holiday alarm tells it.

***will tell more about my weekend later. i don't feel well now; clogged nose, restless tummy, persistent coughs. i might call in sick tomorrow. *sigh

backtrack post. read on..

thursday gimmick

ladies and gentlemen, my officemates! we'r waiting for lunch in this photo. see how young my colleagues are? nanay would alway say "mag mukha kayong hi skul" or comment that "ano ba yan, ang haba naman ng sala nyo" after years or working for this company, it still amazes her that we could go to work in plain t-shirt and slippers.






after work, i went to the shang to meet gagay and greysi. i arrived first, but since my kidneys are shouting for the toilet, i have to obey. went for the nearest toilet, only to find out that i have to pay ten pesos first before i could get in. so pay i did - only to find out that there's really nothing special as compared with the 'free' toilets! the only diffence is that it has a full length mirror. then i looked for the goodies, you know: lotion, talcum powder, fancy tissue papers. and my ears started to release fumes. @#$@#@!!!! okay okay, i reminded myself na hindi ang cr ang ipinunta ko dito...

the girls were already there when i arrived at our usual meeting place, the carousel. we went straight to starbucks. it was my first time to have coffee at the starbucks in shangrila, kaya sobrang excited ako (do i sound like a promdi lost in manila here?) but it's true, i was really excited. since this is a long playing tsismisan, we need to be seated in the couch. super dooper thank you to gagay for treating me - i got a free mocha frap decaf for the night! (chismisan topics will not be mentioned here, for our safety)






how crazy can we get? must be the coffee??


lastly, a threesome photo sa libreng cr!

weekend at puerto galera

call time was at 7am at jollibee in LKG bldg, buendia. naturally, i came late. got to our meeting place at half past eight. had our breakfast first, i ordered for chicken tosino since i haven't tried it yet. afterwards, i told dodan to go to the bus station, which is just across the street, to see if there's a batangas pier route that about to leave already. in just a few minutes, he came rushing -- and off we go! the bus was already full, so there's no other choice but to sit at the backmost part, the 6 seater, which is to me - the most uncomfortable part of the bus! it was a pleasant trip despite, since all the roads we've past are all cleared, wala pang trapik!


reached batangas port in approximately 2 hours. getting down from the bus, we were approached (attacked?) by an army of pasalubong vendors and boat reps. it didn't took long for us to decide, we went for the brian shipping lines which will leave at 12:15pm. shown in here is my two and a half day baggage and my newly bought tsinelas from the palengke.


the batangas port.


our boat ride was very very pleasant! didn't even feel any dizziness at all. dodan noticed that our boat was mostly filled with korean nationals, the only pinoys are the bangkeros, 2 ladies and of course, the both of us.


almost there! the boat ride took and hour and a half.


this time, an army of resort reps approached us as we get down the boat. again, decision making for our room was in a snap. we got our room for 1K/nyt. the room is air-conditioned, has 2 beds, and cable tv. first thing i checked was the bathroom, it's gotta be clean. next is the tv, if it's working properly.






oh yes! life's a beach!


lots of tattoo artists are scattered in this beautiful island. u can have a tattoo design for a minimum of 100 pesos.








island goodies!






pebbles pebbles, lots of colorful pebbles!






after basking under the heat of the sun, life goes on at the beach. night life in puerto could be compared with malate - live bands left and right, flowing beer, girls in skimpy clothes... we had dinner at this particular bar where gay dancers perform. not only do they dance, but they also get your oders at the same time. maybe they also act as bouncers.. hmmm. tough job! but i bet they're enjoying it.




food was great! you can have a full meal worth 100 pesos (drinks included!)


on our second day at the beach, while having lunch, a girl approached us. "ate pa-braid na kayo, 300, kayong dalawa na" we thought long and hard. 300 pesos is still 300 pesos -- my two weeks worth of lunch meals, two cinema tickets at greenbelt, more than 10 chocolate bars, two bottles of lotion.... but then, we gave in. why deprive ourselves of the experience anyway? the girl who made our braids is mary queen. a native in the island, she works as a.. well, a braider (is there such a word?). usually, she charges 200 pesos per head, but since she got to victimize the two of us, she discounted 100 pesos. i thought, this girl could even earn more than i do. she does not only braid hairs, but she also works as a tour guide to the falls (forgot the name). she charges 100 pesos per head. imagine that! i'm thinking of having a carreer in this island! forever bakasyonista ako nito pag nagkataon, while earning at the same time.




aside from having your hair braided, there still a lot of activities you could indulge yourself in. the banana boat for instance. boat rides are also available if you wish to go snorkling. or, as the picture above suggests, pick one of your companions and throw him/her to the sea!




time to leave already. our boat left at 9:20 in the morning, sunday.


truly, it was a very delightful experience, the white sand, clear water, blue sky. i'm definitely going back again!