Post Birthday Celeb and Quezon Trip (with Mt. Banahaw on the sides)

Last Saturday out of our spontaneous minds, LP and I talked on having a weekend getaway. Since IL is asleep during the day because of her work shift, she doesn't know that LP and I are already searching for our weekend getaway. We just talked via Facebook and phone and deposited the initial payment for our trip.

Come the actual day, IL just read the messages a day before our trip and we went first to attend the 1st birthday party of LP's nephew. Our fourth year adviser wants to go with us but since she's with her family, just bid us goodbye while we hopped on LP's car with Kuya Henry driving.

Our weekend trip is going to Kinabuhayan Café in Dolores, Quezon. It wasn't that far because it was only one and a half hour travel from Alabang. We arrived at the place around 8:00 in the evening. We got little lost while looking for the place and ask for directions. The owner of the café is Jay Hererra who also cooks and entertain his guest. Upon arriving in the area his pet daschund Muning greeted us. Muning and I instantly bonded. He was cute chubby dog and very fond of guests. After we put our things on our native cottage, we roam around his place and check out the stuff around the dining table and do some pictorials. Jay served us red wine and a very delicious dinner consist of creamy risotto rice, lasagna with vegetable stuffing and salad with edible flowers. The serving is sooo big that two people can share on one plate. Jay said that he wants to make sure that all guests who dine in their place are satisfied with the food. The food was great and very delicious. After our dinner, Jay and Chrome served us desserts and coffee. The dessert is sweetened camote with coconut flakes in it with flower that tastes like watermelon. While eating, Jay entertained us with his stories and let us watched some of his local productions on his laptop. I already downed 5 kapeng barako because it was really delicious. I'm no coffee connoisseur but I really liked the coffee and the flowing conversation up to the wee hours of the morning. I would say I really enjoyed the night with my HS friends and our host. While talking, Jay's stereo are playing and I really liked the songs, from classical piano music up to the sentimental one it really brings the right ambiance in the place. And up until now, The classic song "Somewhere Down the Road" by Barry Manila and "Lost in your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson is still my Last Song Syndrome (LSS).






After our conversation, LP and IL played billiards and Jay was playing his guitar. Me on the other hand was busy shooting pictures and petting Muning. It was already 3am when we finished playing and talking. Before going to bed, we visited Jay's pet pig named Onion who was comfortably sleeping on Jay's couch. We stayed a little while on our hut and talked a few more. While my friends are busy arranging their stuff and changing clothes, I was sitting on the chair doing my own personal emotera moments. IL noticed this and told me to just be happy and enjoy our night together in Quezon.

The next morning, we woke up late and when we went to the dining area, Jay is already busy preparing our breakfast. As usual, the breakfast is delicious, it was the traditional chicken rice soup topped with plenty of kasubha, oregano and basil and combined with tokwa't baboy. I don't like tokwa't baboy that much but being curious on how it taste, it was very delicious and not the usual tokwa't baboy served in restaurants. We were also served with juicy dalandan juice. After our late breakfast, we toured around Dolores Quezon going to Mt. Banahaw. It was our first time to reach Mt. Banahaw and got intrigued by the mystical mountain. Kuya Jerry and Ka Jun was our tour guide. We went to the Sta. Lucia spring since the elders at the place told us to plunge in the water to "cleanse our soul" before going to different areas of the mountain. The water is so cold but very refreshing (I just dunno if my soul is already cleanse since I'm bitchy nowadays :P). We also tried cleansing on the falls and pray for guidance and success. After our Sta. Lucia trip, we went to Kinabuhayan falls on the other side of the mountain and trek our way to the falls. Before our river trekking, we went to the wishing spring at the Kinabuhayan. There is a rock in the center of the spring that you need to aim your coin. After 2 tries, my coin was successfully aimed at the rock.



After a few minutes we started doing the river trekking. The trek is not easy because of the huge rocks and muddy terrains but I did manage well on since I didn't get any scratches (only bruises… hahaha). In fairness, we did the river trekking wearing our ever trusted Havs flipflops and still manage not to slip or got scratches. Ka Jun was good at pointing nice places to reflect or pray and after a few minutes of walking we reached the Kinabuhayan falls which is 12 feet deep. He also gave us a red amulet that came from a native tree in Quezon for safekeeping. The red amulet is for good luck on career, business or lovelife (which I need?! Haha).

After our river trekking, we headed back to Kinabuhayan café for our late lunch and spiritual massage from Ka Jun. As usual, Jay prepared us a sumptuous lunch of fried rice, chicken fingers with spicy red tomato sauce and lasagna with mozzarella cheese and herbs inside. We were so famished at our river trekking that we almost finished the whole plate. After our lunch, our dessert was gumamela jam with vanilla ice cream. It was delicious that you won't even notice that you were eating a gumamela. Who would have thought that gumamela can be eaten and used as dessert? Haha. The food was superb and super sulit.






For the last activity on our weekend getaway, we did ask Ka Jun to do the spiritual massage (or in Tagalog, "hilot), to relax ourselves and prepare our things before leaving. Ka Jun told me while massaging me that I need to take care of my lungs since I am prone to cough and colds (which is also true since I was diagnosed before with Upper Respiratory Tract Infection). Then IL joked that its not my lungs that needs attention but my heart. Because of this joke, Ka Jun asked me what problems I am currently having and did advise some few words. I won't say what our discussion was but it was pretty shocking. Hahaha

After Ka Jun massaged us all, we all say our thanks to Jay for being a great host and headed on going home. After a few minutes of bus ride, we went to LP's restaurant in Calamba and waited for LP's driver to take us to our houses. FD, LP's friend was already waiting for us when we arrived. After a few minutes of talking about our weekend adventures, we already went home. Super tired during the weekends but it was sooo worth it! :)

27 Years of Lessons Learned

Lessons you just learned along the way… for twenty-seven years

Last two weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday in our province and done the Eat and Pray mission. Just to reflect and realize what are the things I learned for 27 years of my life, here are my 27 list of my lessons learned in life and love…

Take note this is my own list. Something I came up while reflecting and travelling in the province. Something I learned based on my experiences and words of wisdom from different people.

1. There is no permanent thing here on earth. Change is always occurring and constant

2. When you love someone be prepared to get hurt.

3. Make sure that you always have a backups when plans fail

4. It is always better to have alone days without your significant other. It is another way of finding yourself without losing everything to your relationship or losing your inner self

5. Love is not the answer for getting married. Sometimes it is just the part why we want to get marry but at the end of the day it is for other reasons aside from love

6. Do good deeds and it will be back in two folds. Do bad deeds and it will come back in three folds

7. When in a relationship it is still important to have your own individuality and not depending on your partner, because if the relationship fail, you will all end up broken into pieces

8. Life's success is not about on the destination but the journey you had before reaching your destination

9. Do not trust everybody. There are always snakes sneaking up past to you

10. Be the best whatever you are.

11. Do not listen on what other people are thinking of you.

12. You are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul. At the end of the day, whatever choices or decisions you made, it is always up to you. You cannot blame other people for your misfortunes or mistakes

13. True friends are always there no matter what circumstances happen. They know when to cheer you up or cry with you when situations arises.

14. Life is short so remember to embrace it with happiness and contentment

15. Faith will keep us stronger

16. Be humble no matter what status you have achieved in your life

17. Sadness is part of your life and it's not bad to feel sad sometimes but don't fall into the trap of always being sad or depress

18. Do not be affected on criticisms especially if its coming from person who doesn't know you. Why waste your time on their silly thoughts, after all they are not God to judge you.

19. Be happy if you can. Do not waste your life and time on people who doesn't want or deserve you.

20. You can have a few days of bliss, then comes the hell… and then try to get the best of situation. Like my Dad always says, failure is a blessing in disguise

21. Everything happens for a reason

22. Cry if you need to release the pent-up anger

23. Be angry and sad for a while then move on

24. Write all your thoughts, it helps to pour out emotions. Writings is best when emotions are included in the deep words and thoughts

25. Spend time on occasional readings and studying. Not only it is a hobby but helps you improve yourself.

26. Do not waste your time on people who doesn't want you. If you already reached out and tried your best to mend things and they do not reciprocate then its time to move on and live happily without them

27. Whatever current state you are in, be grateful for all the blessings the Lord is showering you. You might be having problems with your relationship but be thankful for a great career and family and friends around you. After all, they are the reason for you to move on and live life to the fullest

High School Super Friends!

Been writing too long in my secret blog and yet I haven't mentioned my two closest friends in high school. They say high school friends are the ones who are the most unforgettable. Maybe because they were the ones who shared your heartbreaks, crushes, triumphs and dreams way back then (when you think life in high school is easy and carefree). For me they are the ones that even we haven't seen each other for quite some time, the bonding and the friendship remains. Whenever somebody is down or inspired, they are the ones who cheer you up and make your day.

Recently, I was down with mild depression. Blame it on quarter-life crisis but this is the turning point that I can't seem to find any direction in my life. Last year I got my goal of being able to meet my target salary for my job but turns out that the bargain is that my lovelife became a mess. Then everything went spiraling down on me. If it weren't for my friends I wouldn't be able to cope up (this also goes to my closest college friends, colleagues at work and former friends at the faculty). They were tirelessly listening to my rants, my sadness, the gory details of my sordid state and my never ending punch lines that even while I am crying I am still laughing with them. Sounds crazy but that's how me and my high school friends work when solving someone's problem. It even went to a point that one of my friend had to skipped her filed OT just to make sure I was OK and my other friend cancelled her manicure and pedicure session at the salon just to meet us up. Might be shallow for some but their gestures are really sweet. I remembered my Dad once talked to me about my high school friends. He told me to treasure my friendship with them because they are truest friends I ever had. We've been through a lot of ordeals in the past and for all the triumphs and heartbreaks we are still together.

Just to give you an brief background how the three of us became close friends over the years let's start with LP :)

LP - we've been classmates since elementary and our start as classmates is another story. We had a fight when we were grade 1 and our mothers came in the middle to resolve the issue. I must admit even when I was a little kid I'm a bit of a bully. :P LP and I were classmates for years but we had different set of groups and friends during those times. We became totally close during our fourth year high school. Both of us were very disappointed when we were separated from our group of friends because of re-shuffling of sections during our last year in high school. The two of us were included in the new section and since we are familiar with each other and classmates since elementary we easily bonded together. It all started out as hanging together during class breaks and checking out each other assignments. Then we became close when she encountered problems with her bestfriend and she needed someone to confide to. There are so many things that I won't forget with LP starting on our high school days and up to the present:

○ Writing letters to each other - just to cheer each other or just ranting :D

○ Days when we just want to hang out at their house. Their house is the most accessible place to our school and whenever we need to chill out or just talk about nonsense stuff we just go in their place. It is also our favorite location during class project, school play practice and cut class when we don't feel like attending our subject :)

○ Our super nerve-wracking cheating incident during our prelim exam. Our adviser distributed our test papers into different subjects just to discourage us from cheating. But we, the ever pasaways, still got ways to swap test papers. LP studied Algebra, so I exchanged my paper with her and she gave me her test paper in Religion since I was the one well-versed with the old testament books in Bible. We were almost got caught since we also need to exchange our pens because we are using different color of ink :P Hayyy!

○ Singing with our group during class breaks

○ Our cutting-classes galore. Especially during CAT days. We hate that subject! Diskarte to the highest level talaga!

○ Our favorite mango tree hangout after lunch at the back of our school library

○ LP always had this weird intuition about me when I'm having problems. Even during our HS days she knows if I'm hiding something from her. Whether it would be problems on school, job, lovelife or parents, she knows something is up.

○ We always have the same crushes but we never got into a fight. Haha. Parang tuwang-tuwa lang kami na kiligin while watching our crushes :P

○ LP was the one who helped me during our fourth year field trip to Subic. I was having my motion-sickness problem that time and she was the one patiently assisting me. Grabe, super appreciate ko yun nung high school. It spoiled our field trip experience since I was not feeling well and we were buddies so she had no choice but to help me.

○ Our 2nd term line up in top ten. Who would have thought being friends pati sa line-up ng top ten sa class magkasunod pa rin kami??? Haha

○ Our screaming fits when seeing each other. Haha. Especially pag sobrang tagal na namin nagkita ayan na!

○ Our Sound of Music play. I was the scriptwriter / producer and LP is the director :)

○ Never fails to give birthday surprises

○ LP always fetch us when she just feels like going somewhere (especially now that she has her own cars to fetch us)

○ Our always free lunch and dinner at Leslies resto. :)

○ She gave me the copy of her diary during high school days that are still in my safekeeping :)

IL - about IL she's the eldest among our group. That is why we fondly call her "Mommy". Even our relatives and friends used to call her "Mommy". Haha! She's my classmate since 2nd year high school but we were never that close. It's because she had different set of friends just like me and LP. Same story with LP, we became close during fourth year high school. At first glance, IL looked serious and the silent type. But once she get so comfortable with you, the stories, the jokes and the punch lines will begin to pour in. IL likes to write letters to us and even it's been 10 years since our high school graduation, she always manage to send us letters once in a while. LP and IL's letters are my stress reliever. It always make me laugh when I'm on my down times. She likes to dance and sing. Their house is also our favorite hang out because of the huge fields near them. My favorite memories of IL are:

○ When she agreed to star as "Maria" in our Sound of Music Play

○ Her being very supportive of us. I remembered one of her letters saying "Ipaglalaban ko pagiging top 1 mo sa class because you really deserve it!". Super touched ako nun kay IL.

○ She used to be my officemate at our first job in Alabang. Even if its not yet breaktime we always manage to sneak out going to Mcdonald's in Alabang Town Center just to talk and air out our frustrations at work.

○ She likes to collect song hits and teddy bears

○ Me, IL and LP eating halo-halo and banana-que in LP's house in Binan

○ Our Makati and Alabang escapades while applying for a job after college graduation. She always comments I walked too fast and likes to do the short cuts by passing to different basements of buildings across Ayala Avenue.

○ IL always manages to make me laugh even while I'm crying. It's because of her crazy comments and antics.

○ Very strong person despite the fact that their mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease

○ Me and IL going home together since we are on the same route during high school

○ Going to our house just to talk about college life and how we cope up together growing up

○ She's always concern on the state of my lovelife and never fails to gives advise just like LP. Laging may group hug!

○ Cried with me when she found out that my SO does not have any plans for us

○ Skipped going to the office just to hang out with us. Kami na talaga ang good influence sa friend namin!

○ Endured almost 48 hours lack of sleep going to Iloilo with us. Haha. Adik kung adik lang

○ Once filed SL just to join us on our spontaneous road trip




To LP and IL, you are one of my treasured friends. I super appreciate our talks, bondings, food trips and road trips (isama pa dyan ang out of town trips!). It's been ten years and we never ran out of things and people to discuss. I am always thankful that I have you in my life. Thank you for listening and advising. You girls never failed to make me laugh and cry at the same time. Your friendship is a constant reminder that despite the fact I have troubles I know I can survive. I am always looking forward for more trips in the future and growing up with you (ayoko ng growing old eh). We never get tired of listening to each other stories even those stories were told a hundred times. We never fail to laugh at our mistakes and it really feels good to have you in my life. You are the sweetest blessings in my life.