Tag Archives: vacation

Daghang salamat, Cebu!

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!

Coron, Palawan

I’ve dreamt of going to that province for the longest time. I remember, ever since seeing the place somewhere on TV or reading about how beautiful it is there (I can’t remember which, exactly), I told myself: someday, I will go there. And I did. Before 2009 ended, I was able to see a part of Palawan, Philippines.

View before landing
View before landing

It’s ironic how we got to book the trip on the day we got flooded. I remember coming out of my room that morning, totally jubilant, because I had just booked my flight to Coron, and then all that joy got wiped out when I saw the water rising up our street.

But let’s not talk about that.

It was a trip I looked forward to after the entire flood thing. It was a trip that I looked forward to after I suffered through major burnout last November. It was a trip that I wanted to experience to make  my 2009 a little bit better than it was turning out to be.

And what do you know, it was.

Now, I won’t be able to write down every single detail that happened, so let me put them down in bullets and photos. :)

  • Coron is a province. I haven’t been to Puerto Prinsesa yet, which is a city, but Coron is far from being a city. I don’t think I saw any cars, save for the vans we rode, and everything is walking distance. And don’t expect to see anything like Minka Aire there, because there’s none. I almost thought we would be landing in the middle of nowhere as the plane descended when we got there. This was my view:
    The view WHILE landing
    The view WHILE landing

    It was a bit unfortunate that while we were there, the island was having electricity problems. Then again, we were always out of the house, so it didn’t matter anyway. :)
    Continue reading Coron, Palawan

Balai Laiya

So last weekend, we went to the beach.

Beach!

And yes, that photo up there is the same view we had for two days. :)

Anyway, we’ve been planning to have a beach trip (or just any trip of some sort) for the club since last year after all the work we had done, and I’m really glad we got to do it last weekend. Of course, not everyone made it, but it was okay. The weekend was just what I need to relax and have fun, you know?

So Saturday, after my long night of dinner and drinks and talks with my teammates at the previous night, we rode the rented van and headed for an almost four-hour trip to Laiya, Batangas. We were at Coco Grove last year for our company outing, and Balai Laiya is a few resorts away. After breakfast, a long ride and no sleep in the van because of all the jokes and the bumpiness of the rides, we finally got to the resort.

And let me just say: WOW.

Continue reading Balai Laiya

Oh, Saturday

So it was a lazy Saturday for me, which kind of made up for the fact that I was out almost all day yesterday. I still feel like I wasted this day a lot, but then again, who knows when I’ll be able to have a relaxing (not to mention very chilly) Saturday holiday again?

Anyway. What have I been doing since yesterday?

  • Worked on wordplay entries. I knew writing a piece for 365 days is crazy and difficult, but the first day felt like pulling teeth. The next two days were easier, but I have a feeling it’s only because I was doing it at an earlier time. I wonder how it’d be once I get back to work. I’m thinking I should set some rules on this, like how many excuses I am allowed to have, and how many misses…I don’t want to feel like I’m cheating myself though. So it won’t be 365 pieces anymore. Hm. Let’s see how long I can hold out. :p Oh, and if anything, I have no idea what to write about tomorrow.
  • Watched Baler with Happy yesterday. :) It’s a loooong movie, but it’s pretty good. I’m no movie expert, but I enjoyed it. I still prefer romantic comedies and animation, though. I got to watch Bolt that night when I got home, so that’s 2 movies out of the 25 I told myself I’d watch this year. I want to watch Dayo.
  • Again, yesterday was a day out with my parents and Happy. My parents and I heard mass at Megamall (love their Atrium!), then ate at Eat and Go (I might write a review sometime, if I feel like it haha) and then shopped. I love shopping with my parents, I get so many free stuff. Then Happy and I watched a movie, ate at Yogurbud, talked about Chuck ♥ and dinner at Amici. Great day. :)
  • Today, I stayed home and watched The 4400 all day. I’m on Season 3 already, and it’s starting to get really interesting. I just have to stop spoiling myself with Wikipedia entries. :P

Tomorrow’s the last day of vacation, and somehow I still don’t feel like going to work on Monday. I know everyone’s saying the same thing on Plurk, so I really echo your sympathies. Heh. I found it really weird that last year I was looking forward to going to work, and now I just want to stay at home and be on vacation, even if I’d end up watching TV and reading most of the time. Maybe it’s because I feel the incoming stress? Bleh. Think positively.

Tomorrow there’s a high school reunion (which I heard that there might be some fishy stuff that might happen, hmm) and I’m planning to go, provided my other friends go too. Hm, now I think I might have something for wordplay tomorrow. :P

Hm. And I want to go to Tagaytay before this chilly weather disappears.

Anyway, it’s getting late and I should start sleeping already if I want to change my body clock. Haha. One more episode of The 4400 before I sleep. :D Enjoy the last day of vacation everyone!

Upgraded to WordPress 2.7

As promised right after WordCamp Philippines 2008, I’ve finally upgraded my blogs to the latest WordPress versions.

Altogether now: HALLELUJAH!

I said I’d do it before the end of the year and with a new custom layout, but right now there’s just no time to make a new layout, so I thought I’d upgrade WordPress now, and work on a new layout during vacation (which officially starts tomorrow! WOHOO!). And here we are!

It’s not that hard to upgrade, as promised by the WordPress people. It’s a pain to back up so much files though, and check which plugins are not usable anymore. Honestly, I’m not even sure if I’m still using all of the plugins, but I’ll check that when I create a new layout. For now, this free WordPress theme would do. I still have to cleanup all the past posts and check for broken links, but I think WordPress 2.7 would help me go through all these past stuff. Yes?

Anyway, it feels great to blog again. I’ve been having some problems with the old version of WordPress that I have, and I hope this new version would help reduce those problems. (Oh and if you’re wondering what version I upgraded from, it’s WordPress 2.1. So whoever is still in that version, YES, IT’S POSSIBLE AND EASY TO UPGRADE TO THE NEWEST VERSION :D).

Today is the last work day for 2008, one day early because of the traffic on the streets. Our boss told us we could not go to work tomorrow, and just leave the dirty work for the seniors. I’m glad for that because I really don’t want to be at work during Christmas Eve. I already have our Christmas cake here (thanks Sugarhouse!), and I’m going to ride three tricycles with this. Haha good luck!

So yes, the last work day and when I get back to work next year, it’s going to be such a busy year ahead. I can feel it! It’s up to the point that when I think of it, I get scared…but I also know it’s going to be a good year ahead. :) I just have to make sure I make peace with this year before I jump into the next. Which means, a lot of de-cluttering and introspection in the next few days!

So here’s to a fruitful 2008, work-wise. I’ll post a longer one about this next time. For now, I’ve got to start fixing my things. It’s going to be a while before I get to see this workstation again. :D