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Daghang salamat, Cebu!

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When I went to Cebu two years ago, I know I said I’d return again the following year. That obviously didn’t happen for several reasons, and I kind of succumbed to the thought that I’d rather go somewhere else rather than visit the same place again. So many places to see, so little time, yes?

But when Cebu Pacific had a seat sale, and my colleague invited us to go to Cebu, I jumped at the chance, dragging Grace and Jana with me. The flight was booked by April, so we had the time to pay off the tickets and save up for the activities for our (somewhat) epic weekend.

My real intention of going to Cebu wasn’t really to go around and sight see since I’ve done a bit of it the last time I was there. The initial intention was to meet up with my best friend who was there for his GX programme, but it turns out he goes back to Manila a week earlier than our flight. We wanted to go to Bantayan Island or those other beaches in Cebu, but schedule won’t permit, so we settled instead on a sort of beach-y and food trip weekend. Not as epic as Coron, probably, but relaxing enough to make it epic in my standards.

What’s with the word “epic”, anyway?

Let’s break it down by days. WARNING: Photo-heavy post!

DAY 1:

Airport, chatting, reading while waiting for the plane. Grace spotted Coco Martin on the same flight at the front, and the plane was full, so no chance for photo-ops. He was really cute in person, though, and I think the FA’s agree. ;)

We got to Cebu after lunch, and headed straight to BE Resorts in Mactan Island to meet with our other friends who flew there Friday. BE Resorts used to be Microtel Cebu. I’ve never been to Microtel, but what I know from the old name was it was also cheaper than it was now. But the hotel is still pretty, and we had a pretty great view of the pool and the beach, even if the beach isn’t that pretty. See how many times I used the word “pretty” there?

Continue reading Daghang salamat, Cebu! →

Dear Diary

More long weekends, please?

I’ve had a lot of long weekends the past year, but I think this recent long weekend has been the most productive of all. Strange, because this long weekend isn’t really planned, but I’ve learned from experience that the unplanned stuff are always the best. Right? :)

Of course it’s not that I didn’t make plans. I did, but the fun thing is I didn’t stress (much) about any of them, and I actually followed through with most of them. Plus, I realized this weekend became a “me” weekend, and I think it has been ages since I last that.

So what exactly did I do?

FRIDAY

I blogged about this before, but I think it’s worth mentioning again that I used to clean my room three times a year when I was in college, once every term break. It’s amazing how much junk a room can accumulate in three to four months’ time, but it’s understandable then because I was a student and I had a lot of stuff in my room. When I started working, I only used my room as a sleeping place, so it got messy but there was no reason to clean it. I don’t have a “fresh start” for every term, anyway.

Anyway, ever since Ondoy, my room has been a royal mess because it acts sort of like my brother’s closet too since he lost all his room’s furniture in the flood. I had my own mess there of course, and my mom has been bugging me to clean it before she left for Saipan and now she’s back, it’s still messy. I’ve put this one off for the longest time but I knew I had to do it especially since the rains were coming, and I don’t want to lose any more books to a flood.

So I finally found the time last Friday — no more putting it off, mostly because I realized I can’t keep on buying books if I don’t have shelf space! So…I cleaned half of my room! :) Yay! I have a more detailed post (with pictures) on my book blog.

Oh, and I now have a count at the total number of books I have yet to read: 52. Heh.

SATURDAY

Saturday was another me day, with a twist. I wasn’t planning to head to my second home, Ortigas, but I received a box of pastel last week and half of it is for my friend, Cors. So I trekked over to Galleria to meet her and to set an appointment with the salon to get myself a well-deserved (and a bit expensive) hair cut. I wasn’t planning to try something new with my hair, but I’m easily convinced to do something lately, so I gave in. The end result? Shorter hair, and bangs. The last time I had bangs, I was what, seven? I can’t remember anymore.

You want a picture? Excuse the low quality here — I suck at self portraits. :P

I kind of wish I could have my hair professionally treated everyday. Hah. Let’s see tomorrow if my hair will continue to behave. :P

SUNDAY

Now, I really wasn’t planning to do anything today, except hear mass and do some writing in the evening. But of course, plans can change and I’m learning to be more spontaneous this time. My best friend, Toni, is finally back from his GX trip (more details at his blog, for sure), and we met up for a yummy (but surely fattening haha) dinner at Flaming Wings. He has pictures so I can’t share yet, but it was a definitely a great way to end the long weekend.

And tomorrow is Monday again. Sigh. Okay, I really don’t mind, although I’m kind of worried at how much work we’ll be facing tomorrow and the next week. But we shall endure. It will be okay. Plus, I have another trip to look forward to this weekend — Cebu trip with friends! :) Yay! I know I said I’d return the following year after I went there recently, but two years isn’t that bad, right? Remind me to write an itinerary — any suggestions? :)

Oh well. Back to our different offices and technology jobs tomorrow! Have a great week, everyone! :)

Dear Diary

What Happened When I Was Fifteen?

Again, thanks to Rico for the idea. :)

Fifteen years into this Earth caught me in my last year of high school. Junior year ended okay, but I was ready to leave school for a summer filled with lots of YFC activities. Unlike my other friends who went for summer review classes for college entrance exams at AHEAD, I went off to different YFC activities all summer. I went to Cebu for the 8th YFC International Leader’s Conference, to Bataan for the KFC International Kids Village, led different youth camps, and had everyday bonding sessions with my YFC friends at this house. This was undoubtedly the busiest summer I’ve ever had, and most summer days weren’t spent at home. I would wake up at 10, go out at 2 and go back at around 10 to 11 at home. I did this every single day until the summer ended.

Then came senior year in high school, which is the best year I’ve ever had in high school. I was all set to make the most out of it since it’s my last year in high school. I could say that my section, St. Paul, is the best section among all, but of course that’s subjective. :p Our senior class was bonded mostly because we lost two of our classmates early in the year. They were caught with liquor during our field trip, and they were expelled. :( We promised our adviser that the remaining 33 in our class would all graduate together, and after that we were all doing our best to help each other up. :) And come graduation day, all 33 of us marched onstage proudly, remembering two of our classmates who didn’t make it with us.

Continue reading What Happened When I Was Fifteen? →