3rd Week in PI…

I love this week. We toured Hundred Islands and Baguio and it was indeed awesome. Hubby and I had a great time with his brother’s family.

Day 1 - October 26 on our way to Hundred Islands

We arrived just in time for lunch at Sweet Honey Inn. After having our quick lunch we headed to Manaog to attend the Sunday mass. It requires 5 hours back and forth traveling time and so after hearing the mass we made a quick stop at the souvenir shop. Wheeewww, it was a busy day, we all feel exhausted and dead tired due to soaring heat, so by the time we reached our room and laid our back to the soft bed it immediately brought us to lalaaaaa land…

Day 2 – October 27 Island Hoping
Woke up at 6 in the morning, had our heavy breakfast while waiting for the boat that will tour us in different islands. Finally the clock ticks at 7am, it’s time to hop in the boat, it’s a 45 minutes boat ride from the Motel going to the islands.

On our first hop, we visited Governor’s Island, it was indeed wonderful and has a breath taking view. Pinoy Big Brother House is also located at Governor’s Island. Of course it’s a must to have our photos taken inside and outside the PBB House, hmmm feeling housemate. Picture taking consumes most of our time but it’s all worth it.

Next hop to Marcos Island followed by Quezon and Cuenco Island. Had a goofy good time kayaking then off we visited 2 more islands before going back to PBB house for our late lunch. After the long day trip we headed back to the Motel for our body massage appointment and had a goodnight sleep. The following day will be our trip going to Baguio.

Day 3 – October 28 Welcome to Baguio
1pm we check-in at La Brea Inn along Session Road. It is one of the busiest and crowded areas in the city. Our first stop after having our sumptuous lunch at Andoks (where I find their foods yummy) is Baguio Cathedral, after saying our little prayers we went to SM Baguio to see the view and I must say that it was cool. Before the sun bids goodbye we had our short break to relax and enjoy the coldness of the air at Burnham Park. We enjoyed eating ballot at the park while having some chit-chats with our company.

Day 4 – October 29 Touring Baguio

At 7am we had our breakfast at McDonald's while we take advantage of their free wifi. We head our butts off to La Trinidad Strawberry Fields and had strawberry taho, it was indeed delicious! Got a chance to check on the souvenir shops, was able to grab strawberry wine for hubby and a cute shawl for me. Then we went to the Flower Farm at buhong, oh gracious the flowers are so fresh and pretty. Next visit is the Mansion and at the Park located across the Mansion (sorry, i forgot the name of the park). Visit in Baguio will never be complete if you don't visit Mines View Park and so we did, we strolled and bought some pasalubongs. Gheeezzz, how embarrassing it was when I suddenly missed 1 step from the stairs and fell on my butts, got some bruises on my elbow, gotta be extra careful next time.

Pink Sisters church is our next destination, prayed and then off we went to Good Shepherd. We went back to the Motel to take 2 hours rest before going out for dinner. That evening we received a call from hubby’s elder sister that nanay is sick so hubby’s older brother called nanay and asked her to be brought to the nearest hospital. Instead of enjoying our night with a live band, we decided to simply have dinner because hubby and kuya are very much worried about the condition of nanay. We had our sumptuous meal at KUBO.

Whewww, it was a tiring but a fun day though.

Day 5 – October 30 Market Day

Early in the morning we went to the wet market to buy fresh vegetables and pasalubongs. After our rounds in the market, we headed back to the Motel to fix our things then we went straight to the bus station for our 11:40am trip back to Manila. On our way back to Manila, hubby received an SMS, we were informed that nanay had a mild stroke. Hubby was very much worried and bothered the entire trip and all he wants is to immediately visit his mom. And that we did immediately the following day.

2nd Week in PI...

A day after arriving from Batangas, we went early to DFA for hubby’s Passport Renewal. As expected, the place is pretty crowded and the line is long. We then decided to leave DFA and check POEA if they accept Passport Renewals and yes they do accept renewals. It took us roughly 2 hours to finish everything while it could only be done in an hour and a half. Why? Because hubby got confused with the lines and end up following the wrong queue so he have to fall in line again --- ghesssh. Anyways, it’s worth the wait, at least soon he’ll be holding his new passport.

The bum week, we simply spend the week visiting the malls to shop for some goodies. It is also the time we visited hubby’s siblings. His siblings are doing great except for some small glitches that they have to patch up. Well with the help of hubby he was able to sort it out just in time, though it requires a lot of consultation from his other siblings and weighing of pros and cons. Nevertheless, we’re so glad to see them having a stable and happy life in PI.

I visited a friend, honestly I visited only one. Calling the attention of Marriz, hope you’re reading this. I decided to visit her and see how she was while she’s pregnant. Actually I told her that I don’t want to see her for I will just be envy with her baby bumps. But since I wasn’t there to be part of her entourage on her lavish wedding last June 2008, i then decided to pay her a visit while she’s preggo. Hey girl, wishing you a safe pregnancy, next year I’ll see you with a baby in tow. Good luck I know you’ll be a good mom, cheers to you and terrence. To all my friends whom I failed to visit, I admit there’s a lot, Am really sorry, I’ll make it a point to see you next year and that’s a promise :-).

Went back to POEA to apply for SSS OFW contribution and at the same time to change our civil status, hubby paid a lump sum for Year 2008 for a whooping 20,000 pesosessssss! Gosh, never did I expect that it will be that much but no regrets at least we’ll be getting something when the time comes that we have to retire. On my end, I decided to start next year and will make sure that we’ll pay quarterly to avoid paying huge amounts.

More updates soon…

1st Week in PI...

As mentioned on my previous post, we spent a quick 2 days at my parents house, early Sunday morning we drove to Batangas to be with my in-laws. It is also the christening and 1st Birthday party of hubby’s 2nd grandchild, could you imagine, we’re not yet blessed with a love child but we already have a grandchild. Anyways, we bought her a cake from goldilocks. The food was over flowing and we pigged out to the max, oh well, we can’t help ourselves ‘coz we damn missed those foods.

We spent 4 days with my in-laws, chatting about things we can chat about. We also visited SM Bacoor Cavite to shop for some stuffs, we purchased 2 Christmas Lanterns, 1 for my in-laws and the other one is for my parents. Ohhhh my, seeing those Lanterns makes me feel sad, for I know we will not be spending Christmas with them, though I hope that they will light the lantern before we move back to Dubai.

Hmmm, I think we did gain weight during our stay with them because all we have to do is sleep and eat. No regret though, busy schedules requires much energy.

Thank God they look healthy and happy.

Dubai --- Singapore --- Manila

We’re finally home!

We board the flight via Singapore Airlines! Their Economy Class seats are quite spacious and comfortable. The food they serve is also great. It was gloomy upon landing in NAIA Terminal 1 at around 1:30-ish pm. No hassles occurred inside the airport, it was a total breeze.

As we meet my mom and dad, I can really feel the excitement that indeed we’re home. As dad drives through the busy streets and mom chatting non stop, I still find time to check on what's new, but at the end I realized that nothing much has changed. The streets are still jammed with jeepneys, trucks and cars, the roads are bumpy and rutted, that convinced me that I am truly in MANILA.

Home Sweet Home at 3pm, we ate some good Filipino snack which we badly missed. Hubby got his much needed rest for the day after our yummy snack while I am hooked unpacking out stuffs.

We will be staying here in my folks home for 2 days and on Sunday we’ll be driving to my in-law’s place to spend sometime with them, maybe for 4 days.

Wait for more updates.....