Our little trooper is 2!

Isn't that face just adorable?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DJANGO!

I'm baaaaaaack!

I’ve been out of the loop for almost two weeks because we just moved (for the nth time), but just to the other street in our village. Our internet connection isn’t up yet. Also, my internet connection at the office was down for the last few days, and by that, I mean my—and only my—internet connection was down; everyone else was happily surfing. Almost two weeks of no Facebook, no Multiply, no personal e-mails, no forums, no RSS feeds of my favorite blogs, and no blogging wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I sure am glad to be back online!

And now, I come back to you after my (forced) hiatus with yet another Baguio post, what else? I had to take an impromptu trip to Baguio two Saturdays ago, and last-minute trip that it was, I had no pre-bought bus tickets nor hotel reservations (pretty unusual for Queen of Well-Planned Trips me). I was able to get a last-minute companion, though. Ah, the benefits of being in a relationship.

The several times I’ve been to Baguio this year, I was limited to Fort del Pilar (PMA), SM Baguio, and the Victory Liner bus terminal. This time, I wanted to go beyond, even for just a meal or two, and I wanted to stay somewhere other than Teacher’s Camp (where we stay as a family even back when I was in high school) or at Nakar Hall in PMA (where we’ve stayed during the last few trips).

My resource for this particular trip was the travel forum at GirlTalk, which I got to browse a few hours before I boarded I left for the bus station. Based on the Baguio thread, I was choosing between Bloomfield Hotel and La Brea Inn for our accommodation, both strategically located, and both #1 on TripAdvisor, (the former for Hotels, the latter for B&Bs). I chose La Brea because of the P700 difference—if I wasn’t being a priss and chose to stay at PMA instead, we would have paid just P250 per head. Also, I wasn’t interested in the breakfast included at Bloomfield because I read about two restaurants over at GirlTalk that I wanted to try. Anyway, we weren’t able to be all touristy the two days we were there because it rained nonstop. Therefore, no pictures, no camwhoring. Please bear with these:


La Brea Inn
I would suggest La Brea Inn for anyone looking for cheap, clean, and fuss-free accommodation in Baguio City. The standard room we got was basic but spacious and had cable TV, towels, and a clean bathroom—good value for P1,100 per night. Its location can’t be beat, it’s right smack on Session Road. I was grateful that they let us check our weary asses in early at 9 a.m.—4 hours earlier than the standard check-in time.

Two restaurants stood out in the forum: Oh My Gulay and 50's Diner. We tried both for dinner and breakfast the next day respectively.

Oh My Gulay at the fifth floor of La Azotea along Session Road is said to be more an art gallery than a vegetarian restaurant, but we were there during dinner time and were not able to enjoy the sights and views, so the food took centerstage:


vegetarian goodness
At this point, we were too pooped and too cold to take note of the prices, but I remember the dishes we ordered being reasonably priced (around P90-120) and were cleverly named (I had the Anak ng Puttanesca). Aside from my pasta, we had eggplant parmigiana (one of Abet’s ultimate favorite dishes), lumpia salad, and clubhouse sandwiches. Everything was fresh, healthy and delicious, and their dayap iced tea was a winner. I'll make sure to go back here next month, and I'll make sure to be there during the day.

Breakfast was at 50’s Diner which served milkshakes, pancakes, burgers, pizza, and pasta (no,tthe food wasn't served by roller-skating waitresses). Food was good and cheap, no wonder it was highly recommended.

cheeseburger with massive fries; chicken cordon bleu

milkshakes for breakfast--gooooood!

And there, my dears, is the crappiest travel/food blog post written. I guess I just wanted to say 'I'm back!', and that I did something while I was away. :D I'll definitely be going back to La Brea, Oh My Gulay and 50's Diner before the year ends, allow me to write better posts then?

PMA Cadets Dance to Wonder Girl's Nobody

Back from Baguio again!

Having a brother in the PMA, Baguio has become 'diyan lang.' We've been to Baguio every month since June, taking the 1 am or 2am bus early Saturday morning, spending a night there, and taking the bus home on Sunday evening. I have gotten used to the 6-7 hour rides and the uncomfortable sleeping position, stiff neck, sore bum, and disrupted Circadian rhythm that comes with it. I've even gotten used to the extreme cold, but I think that's partly thanks to the subzero temperature at my office.

Baguio was extra chilly and foggy last weekend, this was the sight that greeted us at the drop-off area at PMA last Saturday at 1 o'clock in the afternoon:

We were there last weekend because May was invited to a Battalion Superintendent's Hop:

Joe played the cello during the hop, May was able to see him there:

Lucky her! All my parents and I have is a precious six-second video I was able to take of Joe when they passed us by during their road run (screenshots c/o Papa):

We aren't complaining, though--we were still pretty lucky. We weren't counting on seeing him, we were there for May's hop, after all, and we certainly weren't expecting to see the road run. We were just waiting to catch a jeepney in front of our guest hall when the cadets passed by. Joe actually smiled at us, and he looks healthy and happy! That's good enought for now.

--=-=--

And just because I love seeing photos of flowers on my blog:

flowers inside PMA

May's bouquet from Cadet Q

If I had things my way...

I'll have two daughters.

one-year old Ryanne (Chris's kid) and three-year old Yzhay (Jarwin's kid)
No, we are not "Palakihan ng Pisngi" contestants.

Adorable, adorable girls. They make me forget how much I suffer being seated between their dads at the office.

I also like the thought of two boys. When I think of my future children, I see two boys, like Abet and his brother. Abet wants one of each. At least we agree on the two kids part.

And the "not now" part. Ü

8 Years in the Making--A Proposal Story

FINALLY, MOMON AND ROS ARE ENGAGED!!! Kudos to my brother Momon for pulling off a most creative proposal!

From Momon's Facebook:

Finally proposed to Ros yesterday. We went back to UP since we had plenty, if not, the majority of memories there as a couple. I prepared a game for her, as a tribute and also to get back at her for giving me a quiz before we became official 8 years ago. Anyway, I tied ribbons in places where we had unique or special memories (like in AS parking lot, where we saw a dead body) and gave her clues where to find it. I gave her a puzzle piece for every ribbon found. Ros loves and has a collection of jigsaw puzzles so I made one out of our favorite picture.

waiting for Ros to start
Momon tied pink ribbons all over campus

and Ros had to find each one

each ribbon was equivalent to a clue to another ribbon and a puzzle piece

CLUE: Dead body| ANSWER: AS Parking Lot
I remember Ros texting me that morning they saw a corpse

lunch at Trellis after the hunt,
where they celebrated their first and second anniversaries

Ros solving the puzzle with the help of their dearest friends

A puzzle of their favorite photo, taken at Puerto Galera

♥Yihee!♥

this made me cry...

the newly-engaged couple

I picked out the ring! :D

Welcome to the family, Ros! Congratulations to you both!

Binondo Church, Chinatown, Manila, 1902

What a wonderful gem of a photograph I found over at Flickr!

Flickr user Biketripper generously shares his grandfather's photos from his trips around the world from 1897-1903.

Below is a photo of the Pasig River from the same set: Each photo was scanned from the original glass plate negative, the quality of the snaps are amazing. Even more precious are the grandfather's diary entries during his stay in the Philippines on December 02-12, 1902. It's always nice to read about Old Manila, even more so from a visiting traveler's perspective. The entries are on the Binondo Church photo's comments page here, they're really worth reading.

Cyma Greek Taverna

6/F, The Ledge
Edsa Shangri-La Mall

In our past dates, Abet and I have experienced the cuisine of Italy, Spain, Mexico , Thailand, and Persia. We have tried the yummy fare of Singapore when we were there last December, where we also tried authentic Indian food in Little India. For some reason though, we got stuck in a gustatory rut this 2009. Dinner dates were usually at Sbarro, Mexicali or good old Jollibee. We were getting boring! It was high time to let our palates take us somewhere exotic: Greece! Cyma is probably the most popular Greek restaurant in the metro (even my dad loves the food there), so off to Cyma we went.

For starters, we got the Saganaki or Flaming Cheese (P200), Cyma's flagship dish:

This dish is served quite dramatically: just before setting the dish on the table, the waiter pours alcohol onto the cheese and sets it on fire, while the crew cries a jolly "Opa!" in unison. Our cheese was just freshly flambéed in the picture above, I wasn't quick enough to take a photograph while the plate was on fire. We got the Cyma Style Saganaki which was made up of mozarella and parmesan. The other option was the authentic Greek kefalograviera cheese made from lamb's milk, which the waiter claimed was more flammable. I'm not too happy about the thought of lamb being milked, so I passed. The mozzarella+parmesan was yummy enough, especially with the grilled bread:

Abet had the Moussaka (P250), which is supposedly Greece's national dish:

Those Greeks sure know how to eat! The moussaka was comprised of a layer of ground pork and beef topped with Japanese eggplant (how it's different from our local eggplant, I don't know) topped with a nice thick layer of bechamel, all drowning in extra-virgin olive oil. It was very rich, which complemented the vinegar dressing of my dish perfectly:

I'm a salad person, and I can say, hands-down, that this Roka Salata (P330) was the best salad I ever had. The combination of romaine lettuce, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and candied walnuts plus their special Greek vinaigrette was a winner in my book. Oh, that vinaigrette! I'm already craving for this salad as I type.

We ordered chicken gyros as well (P160 + 100 for roasted potatoes):

Both the gyros and the potatoes were bursting with flavor, the gyros from the tzatziki (yoghurt) sauce, and the potatoes from the oil and spices they were roasted in. Abet and I were fighting over this, I kid you not. Actually, Abet and I were practically not speaking to each other during our meal. We usually can't stop talking to each other about anything and everything during our weekend dates--that's the only time we see each other, after all--but when we're enjoying a really good meal, aba, galit-galit muna!

Regrettably, we were too full for glyka or dessert, a rarity for me. Even their iced tea was so good that we had refills upon refills, leaving us with no space in our tummies. Next time, I'll just have that super yummy roka salata so I can have me some baklava.

Thanks for dinner, love!

--=-=--

This was dessert, Yoh-Gurt Froz from Hobbes and Landes. Abet is seriously addicted to frozen yoghurt now. We would have preferred Red Mango or White Hat, but there's neither in Shangri-La. I personally don't mind that he's eating too much of the stuff--at least it's 98% fat-free.

--=-=--

My dad sprung for these kick-ass sandals earlier today! I have no idea where I'll wear them, but I just lovelovelove these babies (and my dad for coughing up the dough). They're fierce yet comfy. I think I'll wear them to sleep!

Travel Wishlist

It's just two more months until our Asian backpacking trip! *puhon* I just wish that the next few weeks will fly by as quickly as possible, I want it to be October already. All flights and hotels have already been booked and we're now working on our itinerary.

If I had all the money in the world, I'd get all these travel stuff I'm lemming for:1. Longchamp Le Pliage Medium Short Handle in a dark color - this is the perfect bag for travel, I'm seriously lusting after this. Unfortunately, the price tag is prohibitive for someone travelling on a budget like me.

2. Faux croc passport holder - it would be waaaay cooler to whip my passport out in this than in the clear plastic case with the travel agency's name I got it from emblazoned on it. Anyone know where I can get one?

3. Luggage scale - Our hotel in Singapore had a coin-operated weighing scale which was really a very big help. We checked in at just 0.4 kilos below our baggage allowance because we knew exactly how much our stuff weighed. We had discarded early on the unnecessary stuff that literally weigh us down (Abet made me throw away my toiletries, huhu). I'm scared of excess baggage fees, so we'll probably get this.
4. Neck travel pillow - 12-hour border-crossing bus ride. 'Nuff said.

5. Toiletry kit - Hard to believe I still don't have one. My toiletries are stored in plastic bags when I go on trips. Tsk.

6. Crumpler 5-Million Dollar Home - I want a camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag. This is a good investment for the DSLR and we'll get one sooner or later. We're still trying to decide if we can afford this investment right now.

7. Gorilla Pod - Camwhore little me wants this, and this...

8. Extendable hand-held tripod - ...so that Abet and I will no longer be at the mercy of waiters/strangers (!) to get a photo of us together.

Haaaaaay. So many things I want, so little money... I really need that promotion now, I need to level up. In any case, I know that our trip won't be any less fun if I don't even get at least one of the stuff I want above.

I'll get to travel to exotic locales with the man of my dreams, I really couldn't ask for more! :-) *Uuuuy, sobrang cheesy!*

Baguio again in a bit

Mama, Papa and I will be off to Baguio in a few hours to bring Joe his cello. I cannot explain just how happy I am to know that Joe will get to make music while in the Academy. I'm sure that having his beloved instrument with him will bring him a bit of comfort. I'm glad that the PMA officials are encouraging their cadets to keep on developing their talents.

My brother has major talent in his pinky fingers alone.

I'm gonna miss Jackie the cello here (I haven't been using her that much lately, anyway), but she and Joe will have a good time!

Low E.Q.

Why did Rustan's Essenses have to be right smack in my path? I'm too weak to resist!

I went to SM Makati to buy some fruits, and I really think that there's some kind of magnetic pull coming from the Machiavelli Chocolates counter. Really, I swear!


I did get what I came for (aside from a bag of salad greens and a tray of watermelon):

A medley of fruits for P125/kilo. My tub of green apple, honeydew, watermelon, mango, pineapple, papaya and grapes was just at P63.75. My mother doesn't like me buying these sliced fruits at the supermarket, she says that these are not clean and are latak. I don't care, I've always believed that I have a tough tummy anyway. I'm a fruit-holic as much as I am chocoholic (and that is saying a lot), and where else can I get this variety of fruits conveniently and inexpensively? I'm just waiting for the SM Hypermart in Las Piñas to open so I wouldn't have to troop to SM Makati for my fruit fix--thus avoiding the temptations that gourmet chocolate brings.