made december a summer holiday

what's so good living in a tropical country, where seas are abound is that, one can always turn any day into a summer day. any occasion we have, from birthdays to family reunions, we go to the beach! we fortunately have a lot of sunshine all year round. well, except those rainy and typhoon days, which we also get quite a lot since we bravely face the pacific ocean.

just yesterday, we went to a beach resort to celebrate christmas. yet again today, we headed to the beach! this time, it's durhan's beach resort in tabuelan.

Durhan's Beach Resort, Tabuelan

Durhan's Beach

the sea, the sun, and christmas

i'm home during this short holiday vacation, i now have. yeah, one of the trade-offs of transferring to another company. i no longer have that almost 2-week christmas vacation. back in my previous company, they exchange saturdays in order to have a longer vacation. i never heard of any other company that does that.

anyway, i'm just as happy that i'm home for christmas. for the nth time around, it's christmas at the beach!

Lingay Beach Resort, San Remegio

Lingay at Low Tide

Lingay at High Tide

shakeys that christmas rush!

i had been raiding the mall thrice in 2 days now. talk about beating that christmas rush. ;) well, i'm not really keen on that. i know i should learn making a list way beforehand but i just ended up making a lot of lists and lost each one every time.

after buying the final things i need for breinn's gift, i suggested that we would have dinner and take a break from the chaos even for a while. yeah, he's with me all the time and empathizes me so well with my christmas panic. carrying stuff and all that...

Shakey's

Salad, Chicken n' Pizza

hello again moroccan!

i did not want to go home right after red kimono. everyone was out back home. my sister went out with her friends for their christmas get-together and partied the night away. while me, trying to create a fun life of my own. darn it. it's a friday!

while my sister was having the time of her life, i ogled breinn to tea. isn't that amazing? tea over a night life? =))

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

My Chai Latte

incidentally in red kimono

while the rest of the world had their christmas parties, breinn and i just went on search for good food to satisfy our insatiable appetites. he suggested mooon in it park but i insisted in ayala instead. i just hate/don't like it park on fridays. whichever is less harsh. everybody seems to converge here!

due to the highly festive season, mooon in ayala was in full house. we then retraced our steps and finally heeded the waiter's invite for red kimono.

Red Kimono

Red Kimono Chopsticks

christmas dinner @ stk ta bay!

finally after an email flood, the christmas dinner with my friends pushed through.

this was done like a martial law declaration. edam and i decided on the date and the place. the only choice everyone had to make was whether to go or not.

STK Ta Bay @ Capitol Site

Our Little Feast

the comfort of greenwich

a monday! no work for me since i was on a vacation leave! ;) i needed to rest because of how busy i was in manila. hehe

i flew back to cebu, late sunday evening already. :(

Greenwich Pizza

Greenwich Special Pizza

manila is for?

manila is for shopping! haha though, people may say the night life. but i'm not really into that. i'm more of a sunshine person. ^__^

My List for Manila

(1) Zara

manila day 2: pepper lunch

my japan days were long over and forever gone. oh how i loved that time in my life! being carefree and everything. anyway, i would try to remember japan by devouring japanese food as much as i can and delight on every franchise of a japanese shop.

and here comes pepper lunch!

Pepper Lunch in Shangrila Plaza Mall

Eva's Chicken Pepper Rice

manila day 2: eva got us starbucks

my last day here in the capital. enchanted kingdom was definitely out of the story. i texted my former officemate that i could no longer go with them to enchanted kingdom. santa rosa is way far already and i couldn't afford to miss my plane later that evening.

because my friends and i slept really late, we slept almost half of the day and we were only able to see the sunshine past noon.

good thing, eva got us starbucks. ;)

manila day 1: feona's birthday

after i bid goodbye to my ex-officemates, i met up with feona in sm megamall. things didn't go as planned since i arrived in megamall at 8pm already. so, a little late for shopping. hehe

though, i told feona to meet me in forever 21. and there, i bought my very first item. ;)

manila day 1: going back to manila

it was already past 4 in the afternoon when we headed back to manila. i just had no idea how far we were when i told my friend over the phone that i would be in manila around 6. she just laughed at me, knowing that it was just so impossible. haha!

Manila

The Setting Sun

manilay day 1: paradizoo in tagaytay

on my 3rd post for tagaytay and still not on manila. hehe

from tagaytay, manila seemed to be far away with a lot of places worthy for visits. we were supposed to be conscious of our time for manila ocean park was planned after tagaytay but we were taking it nice and slow. we blamed it on the cameras!

Paradizoo, Tagaytay

The Milky White Lion in Paradizoo

manila day 1: hot bulalo in cold tagaytay

after the forever camwhoring of everyone and experiencing the chill in tagaytay, we went on search for our lunch. though, we might not have the perfect driver, at least he knows the way around.

we opted not to go to expensive and overrated? restaurants in tagaytay and told the driver that we want an affordable place to eat. he then brought us to these carinderias lined up in tagaytay's market.

these food stalls seemed to be famous to locals and tourists alike. you can choose from a hefty number of stalls (i don't know which one is the best.) and better ask for some discounts. the staff in each of the food stall are too eager to welcome you. they holler you to each of their designated parking spot and greet you as their prospective customer. more of like larsian in cebu.

Bulalo in Tagaytay

The Famous Bulalo

manila day 1: tagaytay on wedges

i know. the title is just a bit confusing. tagaytay is not in manila but in cavite. but i just leave it as is since i consider this entire get-away as generally going to manila. ^^

manila had come about while i was still with my previous company and during the seat sale promos of cebu pacific and air philippines. so, the outsider me got tagged along with my ex-officemates.

after playing hide and seek with the driver of our hired van in the huge naia terminal 3, we headed straight to tagaytay. luckily, we were able to avoid the infamous traffic and reached tagaytay around 10am. we had just the most incredible driver! the driver was half asleep while we were going up! he even intermittently drove in the wrong lane. gosh! o_o

People's Park, Tagaytay

People's Park

DESSERTS!! in bigby's

one working day, breinn and i went to sm in search for his superhero costume for his company christmas party. we first tried in toy kingdom but sadly, they don't sell such costumes. i was not really sure though if they really don't or breinn just told me that they don't because i think he's not really up to the superhero idea. guys just lack effort in dressing up. tsk tsk...

actually, i left him in toy kingdom for a while to go somewhere since i'm currently cooking on his christmas present. when i got back, he then told me that toy kingdom does not have superhero costumes. so, we left toy kingdom and never again tried any other store for his costume. it was an epic fail.

after he eagerly bought his keyboard protector in cdr king, we decided to go for desserts since we were not really hungry at that time. we could still last till tomorrow without rice.

Bigby's

fudgy sensation

yogo in coffee cat

it's not that i'm a fan of yogurt. yogurt is just like my (healthy?) alternative to ice cream. ;)

Coffee Cat

my original yogurt with blueberries!

going home for tatay's birthday

i have been here in the city for more than half of my life now. the chances of me going home were only during vacations and long weekends. unlike those school days when i still had the luxury of 2-month long vacations and semestral breaks, i don't have that much free time now to allow me to go back home that often. it's been almost 5 years since i voluntarily joined the influx of people who contribute super taxes to our government. oh well...

but this day, i just had to go home for one of my father's special days. officially starting this day, he can now enjoy the 20% discounts from medicines to food and everything else. as much as he tries to deny it, he is now a senior citizen in our country. ^-^

Loong, Tabogon, Cebu

the food

yogo freebie by crocs

after having lunch in tandoori, we went on search for our father's birthday present in parkmall, but we just couldn't find anything appropriate. so, my brother suggested sm.

in sm, after getting confused and a few arguments on what to buy, we then went to crocs. without knowing, crocs by that time was giving away free yogurt by yo-go. we only had to present our receipt worth at least 2500php to yo-go, and voila! a free yogurt! :D

Yo-go

my yo-go

persian kebab tandoori

as what i had been writing in my previous posts, i'm having a series of treats for everyone dear to me. this was for my brother this time. and am i really that generous? oh well, just one of those times. ;)

this happened on a saturday, his day off from work. i asked him to go to lapu-lapu with me for some tasks i needed to do. and from there, parkmall just seemed convenient. just one taxi ride! :D

when we got to parkmall, we actually spent a few minutes deciding on where to eat. japanese? filipino? fastfood? for a moment there, my brother suggested shabu way. oh no! i was thinking i had been eating japanese food a lot lately. so, i quickly persuaded him that we ate in tandoori for he hasn't tried persian food yet. yipee!

Persian Kebab Tandoori

Tandoori's Kebab

la marea's trifles and tea

this was an all girls night out while the boys were free to do whatever they like to do on a friday. just plain sweet. i bet all boys lOve this. anyway, this was freedom's idea for the 4 of us to go out. by the way, these are my college friends i'm talking about. dinner, chit chats, funny stories, lOve stories, confessions, heartaches, and anything that we had failed to talk about when we bumped into each other every now and then. yes, we all have busy lives. so, this was a catching up night!

we stayed away from i.t. park because "it's a place to be... !" on a friday. and for us who spend most of our lives here, we eagerly welcomed a change of place. we had dinner in handuraw in lahug. and oh! i forgot to take pictures there. T_T

so where did la marea come in? well, i suggested it. :D for i was planning to buy desserts for the girls. this was like a series of treating everyone with my very first salary. as if i'm really receiving huge payouts! argh! this only happens just once anyway. haha

La Marea

Fame, Kate, and Freedom

the banana leaf and the red mango

this wasn't really about a red mango placed on a banana leaf. i'm talking about the places i chose to pig out on a thursday. i just love eating nowadays. and the pounds that i'm gaining don't seem to sink in. maybe, one day when all my clothes will no longer fit... :-?

anyway, this was not even on a weekend. this all started when i was going out from our office pantry. suddenly the idea just popped out of my ever wonderful mind that i would treat my sister, erlene and breinn for dinner. it felt like something had hit me on my head. oh well, just why not today? i  had a couple of reasons to convince myself that it was just timely. first, i received my very first salary from my second job after a grueling wait for a month! second, i can't just say no to eating. ^^

and so here it goes... thanks to my sister for bringing my beloved canon ixy.

Banana Leaf

Banana Leaf Spoon and Fork

ramen overload in kagura

just got back from a very very long hiatus. a lot of things had happened in between. i had been to a lot of places. vigan! camotes! and anywhere else here in cebu. :D got real busy at work and i couldn't even find a bit of time to write about these places. -_- maybe someday, i'll be in the mood to recall everything and write something. hehe

and oh! did i say a "lot"? well, for one, i quit my very first job and moved to another company just a block away. :D for now, i'm not really busy with work and i just hope it wouldn't be as busy as before. ^^

well, fridays! most people just love fridays. i really can't decide if i'm into it or i just hover in between. it was running a little late and breinn and i were up for a real dinner treat. or was it just me? haha anyway, ayala is an epic fail because i found it a bore. sorry breinn. :P

just before i shut down my thinkpad, i came across kagura. weee! so kagura it was. ;) these are very crappy pics taken by my 2-megapixel camera phone with a battery that would die any minute. haha!

Kagura Chopsticks

hilongos, leyte

it really doesn't happen all the time that i get to go to places in short intervals. my family just got back from bohol but i was still enticed by my mother since she told me that the boat fare is just around Php180. oh well, hilongos it is.

we left cebu at 10pm, friday night. after getting through the people-packed, ventilation-deprived, and forever renovation of pier 3, we went on board to mv beautiful star, roble shipping. the boat was not definitely beautiful for the aircon was busted in their tourist accommodation. after some time, the crew told us that they had already fixed the airconditioning but we had no idea what was their gauge for a fixed aircon since we still had to sleep in discomfort, in sweat, and gasping for air, while we tried to get some sleep. anyway, i still had to thank the ship's crew for we safely docked in hilongos port at around 2am.

TIP! when having a trip overnight by boat, better if you take an economy, at least you would not worry if the aircon fails in the tourist accommodation.

Hilongos

Immaculate Conception Parish

panglao, bohol

we stayed here in panglao after our bohol day tour. panglao is a small island near to tagbilaran. so near that 2 bridges connect between them. panglao is famous for its beaches and there are a lot of resorts in the island, ranging from cheap ones to plush ones.

we stayed not in a beachfront resort but in a beach house a bit distant from the shore. aside from i could not find a decent and affordable accommodation in a beachfront resort at that time, the beach house i chose was a lot economical.

and oh, we stayed near alona, the famous stretch in panglao.

Tierra Azul Beach House

Tierra Azul Beach House

dolphin watching, balicasag, virgin island

our second day in bohol. thru the help of our friendly google, i decided to go to balicasag. it was always the "i" who decided since this was my plan. everything was in my hands. after all, this was my idea from the start. all i asked from my family was the financial and a bit of moral support.

dolphin watching, balicasag, virgin island. this is usually the itinerary. a lot of locals who offer this tour, hang around alona beach in panglao. some have their laminated pictures with them in order to convince the tourists to take the tour but i didn't choose to hire a boat through this. instead, i rummaged a lot of blogs and then, i came across a boatman named viao. (not sure with the spelling) he was recommended by a number of people in the blogs that i've read and i then made a reservation for this day. i didn't make a deposit ahead and he just simply told me that may 31 was for me.

then came may 31. thank heavens, we had a good night's rest after our day tour in bohol. we even skipped dinner for that good night's rest.

 Early Boats in Panglao

bohol day tour

this was already a long overdue promise to my sister, erlene. like 2 years ago? she wanted to go somewhere other than cebu. this was some sort of her really late birthday gift and for getting through college still sane. so bohol had to be this year and then finally after several change in plans, i gave her the bohol get-away that i promised, tagging along the rest of my family.

we had our day tour around bohol on our first day. we took the 6am ocean jet from cebu to tagbilaran and happily dozed off in the 2-hour trip since the free wi-fi on board was good as nothing. 

for the day tour, i already made a car reservation early on.  it was arranged that we would just meet up with the driver in tagbilaran port. after a quick survey for my name  in the  welcome boards held out by many welcoming tour guides and  resort staff, i  then found my full name and to save myself from the publicity (as if anyone would really care. lol), i quickly approached the man which turned out to be our driver and a tourist guide in one.  then, the five of us fit ourselves perfectly in an innova.

(1) Chocolate Hills

we headed first to carmen where the uber famous chocolate hills are. we went first to the farthest and then headed back to tagbilaran, stopping at other places along the way.

The Forever Steps

hopping around mactan

this was with friends. friends from college but with extensions. this was sort of my idea. i seldom insist on something like this when it comes to friends. aside from it's difficult to plan, it's just hard convincing my friends. they all have the issues. and we don't basically meet often. in other words, we are busy on our own lives.

yes, one way to know that you are all getting old in your group is that if you don't have that much get-together as the earlier days, then you are heading to... well, "maturity". some are already busy with work, with their loveys, with their plans for their "future families", quite a term by fame.

and so i came up with the idea of a summer get-together. it was for the summer birthday celebrants, the supposed-to-be welcome party for manny from japan, celebration of love by filden, and just plainly to connect again.

i suggested island hopping for i had just hopped islands together with my old group in my company. it was fun and i thought of sharing this to my friends. but of course, i asked them if they wanted something else, and since no one seemed to care, it was then island hopping.

7 in costabella, mactan

5-3-2010. just went through with one of our endless fights. i never did think what we would do this day. one of those times when i simply didn't care. anyway, like we always do, we were able to patch things up before this day came.

so this wasn't even planned. it was some random idea i thought of. good thing, this day was another holiday because labor day (5-1) fell on a saturday and in short notice, malacanang declared monday as holiday. wonderful.

we went home late the day before. well, technically it was already on 5-3 because it was way past dawn when i got home. we went for videoke with my friends since my friend who is based in manila was in town.

groggily, i suggested we went to costabella just for a day use and perhaps he was into the idea or he was just left with no choice, he agreed.

well, it turned out real fun somehow.

Costabella's Beach