magnificent cebu

after that heart-stopping, adrenalin-pumping run from the lounge to the airplane, rose and i settled in for a 60-minute flight to cebu. now i've been to cebu before and initially, we were supposed to head straight to the pier for the ferry trip to bohol.. unfortunately, with the fiasco involving joy, we ended up arriving in cebu almost 6 hours before she did. calculating the travel time to bohol and assuming that we arrive late in the afternoon, we decided to set up camp in cebu for the first day. next question, where do we stay?

after browsing thru the various hotel leaflets/fliers at the tourism desk, we spoke to daniel, the airport rep for the crown regency chain of hotels in cebu. daniel was very accommodating and kind. it also helped that rose stayed in a crown regency hotel when she was in cebu before although she couldn't really remember which one. after a few calls, we waited for the hotel van and off we were to crown regency.

we checked-in then went back down for the next important matter for the day: breakfast. so we headed on down to the cafe and ordered a la carte: danggit breakfast for me and the tapa breakfast for rose. both delicious if i may say so! then, we went to the convenience store to buy some "nourishment" until joy got there.

(l-r: my danggit meal, rose's tapa meal and "nourishment" pb chips ahoy, cherry and caffeine-free coke)

and now we got to the exciting part, well for me that is...sleep... hehehehe we wouldn't be exoecting joy for five more hours so, we rested. but rose had something that kept her awake, a new toy! she charged the batteries, tinkered with it a bit then gave in to sleep :))

next: re-visiting cebu

bohol here we come!

i've never been to bohol. it's such a shame because my dad is from antequera, bohol. we (our family) should've been to bohol sooner so we could've enjoyed the sights and everything that it has to offer.

anyway, my travel partner rose and friend joy planned about going to bohol months back. i wasn't really planning on going but when i accompanied rose to the cebu pacific ticketing office to change something in their reservations, rose asked me to keep the three tickets. three? yup three because rose took the liberty of getting me a ticket as well. :)) talk about being shanghaied! :)

after getting over the pleasant surprise, we all made plans for the trip. travel light, travel light (something which i'm still working at)...as usual, with early trips, i sleep over at rose's and we go to the bus station or airport together which prevents one of us not waking up on time. for this trip, we'd meet joy at the domestic airport. our flight was at 5:00 a.m. and we were at the airport at around 4 a.m. we checked-in our bags, got our boarding passes and waited and waited and waited for joy who came at around 4:30 a.m. we were wondering why it was taking her so long to get her boarding pass and it turns out that she didn't realize that the 1 quart rule about liquid/gel in handcarry baggage doesn't apply here in the philippines. here, it's zero tolerance for liquid/gel in your handcarry.

we didn't know that was keeping her from checking-in. from where rose and i were waiting, all we knew was the cebu pacific ground stewardess was making the last call for passengers bound for cebu (we took the cebu flight then ferry to bohol); it was our flight! it turns out that the counter personnel wouldn't allow joy to board the plane anymore (she just made arrangements to take a pal flight to cebu). so after telling us about the situation and deciding to take another flight, we agreed to just meet in cebu, of course.

so, rose and i had to rush through the terminal fee booth and last inspection area (where you take off your shoes, belt and stuff) then we had to run, and i mean run across the waiting lounge to the gate to the plane! although we weren't really the last passengers to board, you could feel everyone's eyes on you thinking, "the flight is delayed because of you!" oh well...

we settled in our seats for the hour-long ride...

"ninang...."

it doesn't get sweeter than this....

check this out and tell me what you think...

another blog?

whew!

hello everyone! how have y'all been? wow, it has been ages since you last heard from me....i know, i go through this phase and now i've come to ask for forgiveness...

well, work has made me very busy....and i've been all over...i've been to baguio 4 times already this year and i've been to davao as well. last week was a test of my physical endurance...tuesday night we travelled to baguio, left thursday then, it was off to davao on friday and back to manila on saturday....oh dear, you should've seen how wasted i was :) certainly not a refreshing sight....i would want to post pictures alas, business/work came first and that left me with no time to take pictures...if i go back to davao, then maybe i'll have the opportunity to take photos and then share them with you...

but next week, i finally get to go on a vacation! (i say finally because i had no vacation during holy week) i'm going to ... BOHOL!!!

me, my lips and i

those who know me very, very well know that i can't live without lip balm. my friends know that i even use lip balm before going to sleep. so, imagine how happy i was to know of a lip balm blog!

bring on the lip salve! :)

Way Back Into Love

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on
I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind
All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh
I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere
I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not just somebody just to get me throught the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions
All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end
There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration, Not just another negotiation
All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

why?

until when can one stay a fool?

until when can one "beg" for something they know in the back of their mind is wrong?

until when does one stay, even if they're being kicked in the face?

why do i keep asking you even when i know the answer?

set me free...

happy birthday to me...

it was my 37th birthday yesterday, ergo, it was new year for me....i see my birthday as my "new year" so this year, i celebrated new year twice in february and on 2 consecutive days, the 18th and the 19th. to all my chinese friends and relatives, KUNG HEI FAT CHOI :) it is the year of the fire pig!

well, my birthday was very quiet. my mother called me and as always, it is so nice to hear my mom's voice and of course, dad's as well...i miss you both...the birthday messages started coming in and i was so deeply touched by family and friends who remembered my special day. thank you to all of you ... *mwah*


then, i spent most of the day in one of my favorite places on earth -- the mall :) what a productive way to spend one's birthday! but, it was my chance to get some personal errands done like replacing my watch's battery, pay my bills and of course my most preferred form of exercise, people-watching while sipping coffee. if me and my friends were together at starbucks, it would be one hell of a riot....woe to those who happen to cross our line of sight! :)

i heard mass then got together with my friends for dinner. (mom, i was good, i didn't have any alcoholic beverage...i'll save that for the weekend :) )

i have so much to be thankful for, i know. i hope i can remain strong and until i do, i hope that love finds me this year...


the gang has been busy and i haven't posted pics in a long time...here are some from our christmas dinners (there was more than one...)

(l-r the early birds: carol, giselle, me, tess and marlet / the whole gang having dinner @ bananaleaf / after-dinner coffee @ starbucks)

our next get-together & gift-giving @ starbucks promenade: rose, ben, tess, joy, marlet, john, me and carol ... arnold took the pic...

happy oink, oink!

happy new year! how did you welcome the new year? my year-ender was slightly hectic but manageable. i'll post pictures soon.

next, it's the chinese new year and 2007 is the Year of the Pig...what will it bring us? i found this article in my preliminary surfing about the swine's year...