vange's nest

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sagada Scene

The last time I didn't join my family on All Saint’s day was when I got pregnant. I had a major reason since they said it’s bawal daw. And this year, I didn’t join my family again. Why? Destination: Sagada.

I posted a Sagada tour on my travel page for October 17-20 but Ira emailed me and wanted to have a schedule for October 31-November 3. OMG! This is business, how can I say No? I arranged the tour.

October 31

After persuading a 1 day leave at work, well I was still on training as a PAS at that time so I wasn't allowed to take any absences, finally he said YES. But it will be considered an absent. That’s fine, as long as I can take a day leave from the office.

I woke up early as usual, 3pm, packed my things and got ready to go. I brought 2 green bags full of clothes and travel from Sucat all the way to Cubao. It was traffic since the most were going to the bus stations for the holiday break. I was kinda scared cuz I haven’t paid yet, baka maubusan kami ng ticket, although I have made my reservations already.

As early as 6pm, I was surprised arriving soo early seeing only 2 people on the Cable Bus Station aside from the drivers and a so-called cashier. I went straight to Jollibee to have dinner and kill time as well.

7:30pm – went to the station to make payment.

The bus station. It's kinda small, you'll miss it. The only description that you'll make to see it -- It's in front of Trinity University of Asia.

the bus that we took going to Sagada. Kinda dark tho :)

8:00pm – met Ira’s group. All of them were related except for the 2 guys which are Ira’s officemates

8:30pm – rode the bus, expecting that we will leave the station on time, however, we left the station at 9:03pm. My seatmate was a native and I asked too much questions re Sagada. Well, he was too informative but soon, transferred to the other bus for some reason.

traffic @ NLEX. What can you expect during holidays?

Waking up as early as 5:30am at the bus is better when you get a good view. We were at Banaue at that time and I was kinda hesitant which from the terraces that I saw is the infamous Banaue Rice Terraces.

banaue rice terraces, not a good view to see houses all over

mejo malabo, I was on seated on the other side of the bus :D

and before we knew it, we passed through sooper daming bangin and zigzag roads

few more steps, laglag ka. :(

one rocky road

9:30am – arrived in Bontoc. Bontoc is like a city next to Sagada. Streets were modernized and there were hotels all over the place.

bontoc town proper.

and their first pic on this tour :)

10:00am – as we waited for the other Cable Bus because two of the boxes were mistakenly transferred to the other bus. We rode a jeep, which didn’t look like a jeep bound to Sagada.

bangin ulit going to Sagada

11:00am – arrived in Sagada. The jeep took us straight to George Guest House. It was Saturday and a market day in Sagada and we were soo crazy seeing some people wearing their bahags. (unfortunately since we had limited time, I wasnt able to take pics of them :()

we stayed at the penthouse which is kinda roomy and fit everyone. THe two straight boys stayed at the 3rd floor.

picture taken before going down Bangga-an terraces

As I have talked to my contact persons in Sagada, I finally met my guide, Kuya Andrew. We had our lunch buffet which was prepared by Bana’s coffee and filled our starving stomachs with great food.

We rested for a while cuz at 1:30pm, we will start our adventure.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Heaven and Eggs

Last week, we had our dinner at Heaven and Eggs in Trinoma. The restaurant stored its classic looks, a purple with a yolk in the middle unlike the one in Glorrieta which changes its color to a formal black and H&E logo.

While we were checking on the menu outside the restaurant, a crew was just there to introduce some of their specialty with “Dito na lang kayo mam, may free iced tea po kami!” statement. So we went in.

The store has its New York streets and building style with cab-looking lines of seats to accommodate any hungry pangs.

the nyc wall

taxiiii

menu pls..

hard to choose from these mouth watering food

My two sisters orders the grilled pepper pork chop, which they said delicious. Compared to the H&E branch in Glorietta, they don’t offer it there.

My mom ordered their t-bone steak with which she exchanged it with my sister’s food. “Matigas!” my mom exclaimed. We proved it too. Theirs is not the usual steak that melts in your mouth .

I ordered salt and pepper pork steak which I shared with Amber. I liked it and had a repeat at their Glorietta branch when I craved after 2 days. Unfortunately, I shared my food with Amber and since it’s spicy, my daughter doesn’t like it.

and oh, we have this pancakes in exchange of their mashed potato. My pinoexchange friends commented that it looks like a crab. LOL

Overall, I gave 6 out of 10 rating with heaven and eggs. The ambience is good. It’s a bit pricey but it’s worth the price since you’ll definitely exit the restaurant with a full stomach. Crew is friendly, however, they almost forget their advertisement regarding free iced tea :)

Holloween costume party

It will be my first time to dress up for holloween in the office. In the past, I didn’t even care whether I dress up or not, I just showed up at work and that’s it. I just didn’t get it, IM NOT INTO COSTUME.

There were holloween parties held in the office but then again, I don’t give a damn. But since I joined the company anew, I need to follow what they asked me to.

Almost all holloween events have their themes, most of the time, the scariest, the winner. But this time, just like what other themes bars in the metro, anime costume is in.

We all came up to a Bleach anime’ costume, which I don’t have a darn idea how it looks like. It’s easy to turn Japanese but following a theme is hard.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to join the costume party since I had to take my leave on the 31st for Sagada. Unfortunately, the party was moved on the 30th and damn, I’m in the office. Right now I am wearing a blue jogging pants and a big black jacket with blue belt. I had my hair braided in two and since I don’t need to fix my eyes, I look like a Japanese bento :P.

Whew… With all the Japanese papers, lanterns and walls all over, first time is always fun! :D

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Moment of misery

Here’s a story worth to share (ask me if this is real…).

Sometimes I felt that the world seems bitter on me. I was once married and had a very beautiful daughter as a result of a 5-year relationship. I was in love with the man and had been faithful to him since day 1. He is too friendly that he committed himself to occasions, mostly ended him up going home drunk and wasted. As a result, a brand new husband was introduced to me.

Yes, I was a battered wife. I experienced being kicked to wake me up when he arrived home, all the punches were battled over my body. I didn't know how to fight. He is smaller than me and still, I considered myself afraid of being killed. I was upset but still, I continued to love him despite everything.

Then, I spoke with someone over a chat and served as a shock absorber. She’s a she, A lesbian with whom I shared my stories and miseries, and later on, started to fall for her. My husband new all about her and started a more different relationship after. More batteries until the date of our anniversary when I excitedly went home just to see the house so dirty and a rotten food at the rice cooker. I felt so sad that I cried and called my new lesbian friend and told her about what had happened. My husband and I separated since he almost killed me at our house.

I then started a relationship with that lesbian friend. Although it was a long distance relationship, we continued the relationship through chat, webcam and cellphone calls everyday. She seemed to have a full control over me, got all my email passwords and everything that I do on my computer needed to be viewed by a computer sharing system. I couldn’t even hang out with my friends and go gimmicks because she wouldn’t allow me. I needed to be alone..with her.

I started to become rebellious because I don’t want to be controlled by anyone so I went on gimmicks without telling her, and chat with my friends and anyone and felt I was already falling out of love. Until I broke up with her since she didn’t want to let go of me (feeling obsessed).

I have met this new lesbian chat mate, which was similar and at the same time, different with my personality. She is a lawyer. We acted alike, but we have 2 different worlds. I love to party and any perky stuffs and all she wants is coffee and hang out at coffee shops and stay boring all the time. We both have a girlfriend the first time we have met. Again, we fell in love with each other, but since I had a problem with my previous relationship, I chose her and left the other one.

My lawyer girlfriend didn’t leave her girlfriend though and lived with her while we were having a relationship. That was just fine because we started with that setup already. The relationship ended for only 5 months since no lawyers can be trusted and they are really born in hell. Totally liars and will definitely turned the world against you.

I then met this new lesbian friend who is based in Cebu and dealt with her to start a relationship. I wasn’t serious then with her because of what had happened to the past two same sex relationships that I had. She is the kindest, the very patient one that I have met all my life. Until we’ve met when I went there last year, I felt in love with her, and started to become serious to her.

Abusing her kindness, I always give her a cold shoulder and had a fight with her most of the time, threatening a break up. She persuaded, begged and asked me to stay with her. And I complied. I set to compromise but she never did. And lately, I realized I wanna be with her since we had the relationship for a year already and I don’t wanna have a long distance relationship forever. I asked her to come to Manila but like the answers she gave me previously, she’s afraid.

I was upset since she never tried, I don’t know really if she still wants to live with me or just want to have a so-called relationship just to say she has a girlfriend or what. This time, I seriously demanded a break up. Now, she gave me a cold shoulder. I was crying inside while I am not pretty sure if she is celebrating with her friends and happy or what not. I really don’t know what to say.

I am now single, detached to anyone and made myself busy. I don’t want to have any relationship as of the moment since I don’t want to experience the same miseries that I had in the past.

New Travel Company

Well, I know that the blog is not always updated, since there are lotsa travelling things that I need to finish first, but alright, I’ll start blogging again…

2008 is a year of local travel for me, travelling from places to places seemed never ending. And I started the idea of having a travel agency which is actually running now. I never thought it will work that way. It is not easy, but then again, a lot of hard work, presence of mind and quality (again) must be implemented on every aspects of it.

I started a new blog, with which I am still to configure and learn the how-to’s which caters all the travelling needs. I started with the Sagada Tour. I had a partner then, but never participated on everything. Well, that’s life. He didn’t even realize how it will change both of our lives in the future ;)

Moving on, I continued what I started, and with hard work and a lot of researches, I signed up 10 people to start my Sagada Tour

..yeah, this includes sacrifices. I won’t be in Manila for All Saint’s Day cuz I’ll be up north. Whew, I can’t wait.

For travelling needs go HERE .

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

A Challenge to Coffee Addicts

Last week, when I called home, I was informed by my mom that a package came in for me.. I was thinking, who will send me a package?

I went home last Saturday only thinking about sleeping when I saw a package waiting for me.. hmmm, I wonder what it was.

It's a planner. Hmmm, and enclosed with it is a letter regarding challenging Starbucks planner.
Alright. I got the scene. I've been a fan of Starbucks since then and collected 3 of their yearly planners. It will get you addicted anyhow since you have to buy coffee in exchange of a little stickers that you need to complete in a booklet to get the planner for free.

Imagine drinking a Starbucks coffee which costs P95 the cheapest..yeah cafe latte. But then again, since on the booklet, it requires everyone to buy their signature coffee, so whether you like it or not, you'll sip a P150 worth of frappe or iced drinks. It will just simply sum up to more than P3,000 for your planner.

What's the difference of having a Starbucks planner than a planner that you can get in National Bookstore?
1. It's Starbucks! Come on, you don't want to be left behind of the "in" thing.
2. It is leather. O yeah, leather.
3. It is much expensive than any other planner around.

After getting the latest 2008 edition of the Starbucks planner, my friend just asked me to buy a the same planner at P1,500. That's half the price of the planner you get at Starbucks minus the coffee. Well, I just don't want to make all my nerves to break because of the coffee that I'm drinking so I bought 5 planners and sold it to anyone at a cheaper price. Starbucks stole a lot of money from me where I could get the same for just half the price of it.

What's new!!!
November is approaching and again, Starbucks Coffee will be jampacked again, making all the booklets stamped by a lil stickers to get the 2009 edition of their planner.. Whew, learning my lesson, I'll just wait for my friend to give me a nudge regarding a new Starbucks planner for half the price.

What else is new -- my new planner.
October is about to end but I already got a new planner, no no, not from Starbucks, but from another coffee shop which I havent visited yet. This time, I got a planner for free. and in front of it, it says it will simply change my life. Alright.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

no stress at all

Day 1

Just right after we fixed our things on the bedroom, we went out excitedly to stroll and find where we can take our good lunch.

It was a hot afternoon but we still continue to stroll.

dennis at the nearest resort

at the d'mall

happy happy, we're in Bora!

beachin dennis

boracay regency

..and just right after the regency, we've seen this store that sells good souvenir items

bracelets..

Since I have been reading forums about Boracay, I always seen a familiar indian restaurant name in Bora, it's called True Food. So we have searched for it and found it before the 'D mall.