Chino's been proposing a "campus food trip," wherein the plan is that we eat at all the famous food places of the different universities. It never happened.

The closest we got was this jogging trip (yes, we did jog...for a little while), turned food trip (we ate more than the calories we burned) at UP Diliman.

Being the UP "native," I acted as the official photographer while the two Lasallians ate everything within a 5-meter radius of the UP Shopping Center.


First stop was Rodic's, home of the best tapsilog in the world.

We just turned 5! =) It’s been a while since we had a decent anniversary celebration though. We haven’t really planned anything the past few years just because I almost always had a business trip during our previous anniversaries.

Year 1: Enchanted Kingdom (the last decent celebration)

Year 2: Just played Farmville on our anniversary (giving each other crops and farm animals. lol)

Year 3: I was on business trip in the US.

Year 4: I was on business trip in China.

This year, no business trips were planned and no Facebook games to distract us. Haha! Our anniversary this year fell on a weekend, too – enough reason to plan for something.

While traveling to Sagada is no quick and easy journey, the good news is, at the end of 12 hours of long and winding roads,  the town welcomes you with some delightful culinary offerings. In short, everywhere we ate, the food was good. Healthy, too. Most meals come with generous servings of fresh vegetables. ("Yuck." --Eliel)

Before arrival, we were already warned that food preparation in most of the establishments usually take quite a while. We found this to be true, and we especially felt it when we enter a restaurant already hungry and wanting instant food.

To make up for the prep time, they present their meals beautifully. The instant reaction of everyone (on our table at least) was to whip out their cameras and take photos. We endured another hungry minute or two for food pictorials, as evident in the photos below.

***

On arrival, we headed straight to the Salt and Pepper Diner. We ordered our food and then walked to the Residential Lodge to check in and freshen up. True to warning, our food still wasn't ready when we got back and we had to wait a little bit longer (about an hour in total -- see tired photo of Jessa, Ria and myself below). We were such a big group having lunch and the restaurant was packed, so we totally understood.

We're turning 59 months in 3 days, hence this somewhat sweet/cheesy video of us trying to be all Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Not sure if you can see the resemblance, but you will if you look closely. No rolling of eyeballs, please. We're currently in the middle of a very long weekend (4 days!) and we obviously have a lot of time in our hands. :)

Anyway, speaking of our sweet 59th, here are some recent photos of our literal sweet escapes.
Yesterday, we dropped by J.CO Donuts and Coffee and lined up to see what the fuss was about. In the end, regretted not buying a whole dozen because the doughnuts are really good. Oh well, guess we'll have to wait until the hype dies down before we return.
Discovered the nearby branch of Mochiko at Malugay Street. Now, we can drop by anytime we get a mochi ice cream craving. Yey:)



So that's about it for now. Enjoy the rest of your long weekend! :)


xoxo,

WE ARE BACK! It's been 8 long months since our last music cover (yes, we know, it's a long drought). We have been meaning to come up with our next video the last few weeks but just never had the opportunity to do so... until now.

This is our own rendition of Gavin DeGraw's Not Over You. Hope you enjoy watching the video as much as we enjoyed making it (especially the bloopers. hihi).

Cheers,

What to do on a rainy Saturday night?

After being stuck home the whole day because of some badass rain, we decided to go out for dinner and dessert. Let's call it our pre-monthsary celebration (we turn 58 months on Monday.yeeeey!)

We initially had plans of trying out this hole-in-the wall resto that we've heard about, but when we got there, it looked too intimidating because six manongs were sitting "tambay style" near the entrance. We chickened out and decided to go somewhere familiar instead. :))

We just went past 15,000 views today. Yehey! Thank you to all our avid readers and random searchers. YOU made this happen! =)

Much love,
 & 

In our country, corruption is everywhere. We always hear about it in the news, whine about it, but never do anything about it. We always expect officials/personnel from higher office to come up with plans to eliminate corruption but we never thought about how we can help in our own little way.

Corruption is not isolated in government offices, we experience and see it in our daily lives -- e.g. not issuing official receipts to avoid the appropriate taxes, cab drivers not giving any change to passengers, paying fixers to illegally expedite processes, etc. But for this particular post, I want to zero in on bribery after committing traffic violations. If each one of us, especially the drivers, steer away from bribing police officers / traffic enforcers to get out of these situations, that "business" will eventually die. As they say, walang magnanakaw kung walang magpapanakaw.

During my first year of driving, I was apprehended a couple of times (Yza has been a witness in all of these violations. hihi). I admit, I bribed my way out more than half the time. However, after a few occurrences, it felt so easy to disobey traffic rules because of how easy I can get away with it (by bribing). So after a year and a half of driving, I promised to myself that: (1) I should obey traffic rules as diligently as I can, and (2) if ever I get apprehended for a traffic violation I did commit, regardless if it's intentional or not, I will NOT resort to bribing and will follow due process.

You know what? It worked, I was able to condition my own mind. It has been a year and a half and I never committed any traffic violation.

Until last week...

They say jokes are half-meant. I say that is true. Case in point, June 3, Sunday.

It started after surfing in Bagasbas last May 12-13 (blog post here). Chino and I were joking about doing this more often. Week after week, we always jokingly invited the group to go surfing “next weekend”. This went on for 3 weeks but excuses were always there – other commitments, etc. Until finally, we explored the option of going to La Union for a day trip. I had a seminar to attend to last June 2, which I already paid for, so I can’t bail on that. So Sunday, June 3, was the only day available.

There was no clear plan throughout the week prior. Maybe everyone thought this was a joke, which it was, at first. All we knew was that we will go there in the morning, surf and go home in the evening.

Surprisingly, plans began to materialize Saturday night. It was only up to Chino, Yza and me to come up with plans since everyone else passed. They were either out of the country during that weekend or “pagod”.

Although plans were in place, it never felt real yet until the next day when I woke up at 4:30AM on a Sunday. By that time, I began to feel like this was really happening. I wouldn’t wake up at 4:30AM on a Sunday if I didn’t want this to push through (my alarm clock didn’t even go off, I woke up out of pure excitement. haha!).

Left the house around 6:00AM, fueled up, picked up Chino in Quezon City, then we headed for NLEX.

Now, it’s real!

The group usually goes out twice or thrice a month to either watch movies or just gather and eat out (to celebrate something or if we're bored at home). Last May 26, Billy decided for the group to try bowling again and gear away from the usual Saturday night-outs we have. It's been a while (6 months ago) when the group last played bowling so Yza and I joined.

We reserved a lane in E-Lanes Bowling Center (http://www.elanesbowling.com/) along Ortigas Ave., near Greenhills for 9PM. Billy specifically picked this place because of the sulit packages they offer.

The first (and probably the only) tropa beach trip for summer 2012 was already decided a couple months ago.

The destination: Calaguas Islands in Camarines Norte.

Calaguas boasts of its powdery white sands and the feeling of being one with nature.
With the absence of the typical resorts/accommodations, people visiting Calaguas need to prepare for the ultimate camping experience: live in tents, bring and cook your food, limited power and water supply and no cellphone signal.

E and I see each other everyday, but weekends are extra special because we can spend entire days together. We don't do much, we just love being together.

May 6, Sunday:

We had lunch at Mister Kabab where we stuffed ourselves with chicken kabab, sizzling keema, salad with yogurt and beryani rice.

We had an incredibly fun whole-day tour around the Art Capital of the Philippines early last February, which just happened to be National Arts Month!

My officemate, Billi, who lives in Rizal, thought it would be a good idea if we all went on this little artsy trip. She set the whole thing up ('coz she's awesome like that). :) Kuya Lito, our tour guide, brought us to the best places, and we are so grateful.

Aside from E and I, the group included our highschool classmate - Gia, Billi, her friends - Estee and Monch, our SSI friend - Nikki, and a couple of UP tourism students who were there to "observe" us for their thesis. Such a diverse group. :)

We have stayed in Manila for almost 8 years now and we have always been hospitable when friends / highschool batchmates from Cebu visit Manila. Last February 26, Rej Cabanilla (together with the Cabanilla clan – yes, including baby Yana) was in Manila for 2 events: her NCLEX exam (which she passed.. congrats Rej!) and to support her brother and the CCNSHS delegates (our high school alma mater) in a Rube Goldberg contest.

The 17th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta this year was held during my birthday weekend (February 9-12, 2012) at Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga. Last year, we weren’t able to catch the hot air balloons since the morning flight was too early (or we were too lazy.hehe) and it was too windy during the afternoon/night flight (read about it here). This year, we promised ourselves to go back early morning just for the hot air balloons and go home right after to catch up with sleep. So that was the plan, to go there on Sunday, which perfectly fell on my birthday.

On Eliel's birthday, I thought it would be fun to post something different. So I browsed through his photos and came up with this little survey about his hair. You see, I've been with this guy for 4 years now and he can't seem to stop messing around with his hair. He's actually more adventurous than I am in terms of hairstyling. He's been encouraging me to cut my hair short, but I can't. Not yet, anyway.

If you haven't seen my Facebook post, here it is. Ta daaaa.

Our new home in cyberspace, that is. :) We are happy to announce that you can now find us here:

Much love,
 &

With our birthdays just a month apart, Yza and I decided to do a joint celebration this year on the weekend midway both dates. Amongst the normal celebrations (e.g. lunch/dinner treats) for different groups of people, the one for the high school batchmates here in Manila was something different. It was the perfect opportunity to finally push through with the Enchanted Kingdom plans since this has been pending for quite some time (not that long ago, just 8 years).

Last January 29, the 8-year plan was finally realized. With two cars and eight people, we headed to the place where the magic lives on.

After going around the Pagudpud area on Day 3 (details here), we weren't really able to go to the beach and relax. We were hoping we can do this on our last day before we drive back to Vigan.

Imaginary conversation between Y and E:
E: Pagud na ako. Ikaw?
Y: Pagud pud.
LOL. Funny only if you know both Tagalog and Cebuano. If you don't get it, don't bother, it's not worth the corny-ness.haha

DAY 3. Sunday, January 22

Pagudpud.  Our third day in Ilocos was spent in the bright and sunny outdoors. I overdosed on sunblock (if there is such thing.haha) By the way, special thanks to my sponsor/dermatologist, Auntie Marissa, who keeps me loaded with sunblock pills for my outdoorsy days. So I took the pills, plus my Beach Hut SPF75 sunblock spray (my new favorite). It's so annoying how a little sun exposure immediately darkens my skin but it takes forever for my skin to go back to normal. Boo.

Last January, Yza and I went on a 4-day road trip to Ilocos. Day 1 was spent mostly on the road and ended in Vigan where we spent the night. Read more about it here.

DAY 2. Saturday, January 21

As Yza mentioned in the last post, we were planning to meet up with Chester and friends somewhere in Ilocos on this trip. We decided to do it in Laoag so this was the first agenda in the itinerary for the day.

But before leaving, we had to claim our free breakfast from Vigan Hotel first, Vigan Longganisa!



At a rate of Php895/night/2pax in Vigan Hotel, it was already a good deal given the free breakfast (delivered straight to your room!), wifi, aircon and extra ghosts thoughts (diba Yza? haha).

I already got my well-deserved rest (I was ~36 hours awake prior to the Vigan Hotel stop, involving an 11-hour drive… well, not counting the accumulated seconds/minutes I fell asleep while driving. hehe) so I'm ready to hit the road once again.

Vigan to Laoag was approximately a 1.5-hour drive.

One of my dreams has always been to visit Ilocos. I’ve seen too many pretty pictures of the place and it’s just crazy to not want to go see it myself.

I am  a Fire Tiger (9 February 1986 – 28 January 1987), while E is a Fire Rabbit (29 January 1987 – 16 February 1988). Our birthdays are sort of confusing because they fall close to Chinese New Year, and do not exactly follow the general zodiac of the year (ex. I was born in 1987 [year of the rabbit] but Chinese New Year in 1987 was on January 29, so technically, I'm still under the previous zodiac; Eliel was born in 1988 [year of the dragon] but Chinese New Year in 1988 was on February 16, so he's actually a rabbit, not a dragon). 

E's fortune:



xoxo,

Disclaimer: This is a very delayed post. We wanted to do this earlier, but December was not a good month for singing because the cough and colds just moved from E to me and before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve and we had to do it, ready or not. (Like it would actually make a difference!lol) But better late than never. And it's the thought that counts, anyway. Besides, we promised Ago of K.I.D.S. Foundation that we'd blog about this.hihi ;)

The photos in the video below are from our P6 (Pasko ng Pagbabahagi 6) outreach with the Dumagats, an indigenous tribe from the Antipolo area. This is organized by the FEU Tamaraw Volunteers and participated in by various student groups, as well as the K.I.D.S. (Kabataang Inyong Dapat Suportahan) Foundation. The experience was truly amazing because of all the people who were there to help. Hundreds of Dumagats arrived for the medical and dental mission, gift-giving and games. And while we'd like to think that we, the volunteers, touched the lives of the indigenous tribe, we know that the Dumagats touched our hearts more.

I won't be saying a lot here because (hopefully) the video says it all. There's just this amazing feeling that comes with sharing your blessings and making the less fortunate feel the spirit of Christmas. With everything we've received the whole year round, it's great to make others feel that it's Christmas time again. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!
Cheers,

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