eluding the zzzz's

for some reason, i've had very bad jetlag last two years i was in the united states and back. i got in to phoenix after a grueling 18+ hours of traveling from manila to hongkong to los angeles and finally to arizona. if you think about it, it will be one of the things you'd really hate if you joined the amazing race. of course the consolation there is you get to rest, though a bit uncomfortably but sleep is sleep, no matter how you take it. ice slept through most of the flight from hongkong to LA but i managed to squeeze in "glory road" in between snoozing and snacking. i also did a repeat of disney's "hercules" where i was freakin' teary-eyed when meg sacrificed her life to save herc. it was a good thing the lights were turned off already and ice & the guy beside me were sleeping or it would have been embarassing to be seen crying over an animated film. ha!

not eatin' rice has gotten to be easier over the last few weeks. i do take some form of carbo though in the case of mashed potatoes but lately i've been quite partial to eating salads - i'm no longer shying away from dressings such as caesars, honey mustard and even balsamic vinegrette. i don't think i'm ready for thousand island though - there's something weird about it though i've never tasted it yet - hahaha such an illogical reasoning. i'm gettin' worried about my meals in the states - i am determined not to get fat and its a good thing that the inn where i'm staying has a free access to a local gym not far from it. i brought my gym stuff here - i'll surprise b when i get back that i didn't waste the last 2 months working out for nothing. well, i did have 2-piece chicken & some mashed potatoes from KFC for dinner and had some dr pepper. so i did swear off drinking carbonated beverages but when in the US, i crave for some dr pepper. just love it, i guess. aquafina then tomorrow, and i'll do some grocery and laundry in between doing my presentation for the face to face on wednesday.

so its 1248am here already and sleep eludes me. i forgot to grab my over-the-counter sleeping pills back home (got those last year). i will probably end up buying some tomorrow if i don't get some sleep tonight. i feel kind of weary, don't want to unpack my stuff yet. maybe tomorrow.

new found hangout buddy

two weeks ago, b & i in the middle of working out were talking about how much i was craving for some really good food and we ended up setting up sort of a dinner last saturday. now since i was going to be out for the next four weeks, i decided to treat b to dinner. saturday was pretty much hectic in the morning what with me having to find a tempo dentist to cut/grind the protrudingly sharp wire off my braces. good thing i went to the sorta "referral" dental clinic where i got my dental x-rays and they fixed my dental wire free of charge. i went to have my nails done right after and then went to festival to catch a 1pm showing of x3. i'd have to say x3 rocked!!! the effects were great, and the showcasing of mutant powers was unbelievable. while i didn't fancy the idea that they did not remain true to the original storyline of x-men, the movie was visually engaging. however, to make this the last x-men movie would be a crime. there is just too many potential for the characters and the storyline.

i went to the gym to workout sometime around 4pm. b told me the previous night that he switched his day-off already for our gimik. we were out of the gym around 530pm, had dinner at don henrico's where b showed me his amazing eating powers - i wish i could eat as much as he did and not gain any weight. b is gym fit, around 5'7 probably and is a physical therapy graduate from dlsu-dasma. b told me he hasn't seen x3 yet so i offered to watch it again. watching it again was fine since b footed the movie bill and i actually enjoyed seeing it a second time.

we went to "manong's" for a couple of drinks after the movie where b told me so many laughable & intriguing stories from his internship days. b's stories were interesting and he could really draw you into a conversation. i offered to drive him home since he didn't have a vehicle that night. we decided to stop by starbuck's at shell, got some hot cafe mocha's before going home. b's a great guy and it was fun hanging out with him. i'm sure we'll be hanging out more often when i get back.

why it feels strange between us

dear mcbaby,

i guess not feeling well today sort of amplifies that gloomy, depressing feeling i've had all day. i knew when i woke up that i was coming down with something - i guess i'd have to blame it on my overdoing the gym thing last night and not having enough sleep. its times like these when i am overly sensitive and that i wonder how can things be so suddenly strange between us. we usually say our curt hello's when we cross paths but it sort of ends there. there's not even a pretentious "kamusta?" or some sarcastic or joking remark or anything that can start a conversation between us. sometimes i wonder how we ever ended up like this, somewhat hanging between being friends and being mere acquiantances. i don't know anything about you now and whatever's happening with you, i get them second hand nowadays. i missed those times when you will tell me what's happening and then ask as if my opinion really mattered. it really felt good to be part of your story - but things are different now between us. i guess its my fault mostly and sometimes i regret having had to make those bad choices before. i don't think things will ever be the same between us but at least i'm thankful that in some way, you're still here and right now, that is enough for me.

yuan*

Yellow Cab Pig Out

Bel, Ces, Car & I went to Yellow Cab in Tagaytay to use our supposedly summer outing budget on lunch instead of a real swimming party. For some reason, bel ordered 2 pasta dishes, 1 18-inch pizza, 2 chicken wings and 3 pints of ice cream for the four us. I pigged out on 3 small slices of pizza, 1 chicken wing, sampled the pasta and indulged on the vanilla ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is the bestest - rich and creamy, the taste of vanilla is just divine. Its one of my most favorite ice cream flavors ever. so there, i'd have to make up for this indulgence at the gym tomorrow. pasaway kasi! =)

on drinking & gambling

after attending deg's and michelle's wedding last friday, ali invited us over to her house for an impromptu poker & drinking session. i was debating whether i was going so i decided to stall for time and go home, take a bath and change into more comfy clothes. i was feeling kinda tired from working in the office until 4pm and then attending the wedding and was already looking forward to a restful evening. so was trixy, but i was already texting her and convincing her to go even though i wasn't even sure i was going.

bene called up around 930 talking me into going and because i have a hard time saying "no" (especially if i can't think of any valid or more plausible excuse), i said i'll leave in a bit. i've never really taken a keen interest in poker - i mean the game is interesting and challenging, but i've never really liked gambling, whether it involved loose change or a few hundred bucks. i grew up in mandaluyong where gambling was everywhere - mahjong, poker, cockfights, jai alai and even horse racing. i couldn't understand how people who already had little money left in their pockets will try to gamble their money at these games at the expense of probably putting a decent meal on their tables for the next few days. losing a few hundred pesos probably isn't a big deal to me now, but i just don't like to spend money that way. occasionally of course, i'd indulge and play with my friends but i probably never get the hang of it, my heart's just ain't in the game. i'm not being righteous or anything, i just know what it can do, having seen it with my own eyes growing up. that's in my "sison" blood, and if i am not careful i will end up like them.

so now im down with going there for the alcohol, i don't think i'm much of a drinker. i've never really gotten the hang of drinking more than 3 or 4 bottles of san mig lite. two bottles and i'll start getting all red - probably not tipsy but i'll start being chatty. i am very conscious how much i drink because i know how badly it can affect my judgment and what harm i can cause if i drink and drive. i know because i saw what it can do to my dad and my black-sheep brother. cars crashed, going to the hospital and people getting injured. i can't be part of that. sure, sometimes i drive even after drinking, but i know i can get home safely in one piece. it sure is fun to get really drunk from time to time (when you don't have to drive) but i need to be careful because the "santos" in me can pull me down into alcoholism. and add to that, i get very bad hangovers in the morning. so the mix in my blood poses a dangerous combination, alcoholism & gambling, and when not in check, i'd probably end up with a serious uncontrollable dilemma.

i do love hanging out with my officemates, they are very very fun to be with - except when they're showing attitude (like trixy in her "tigilan mo ko" mode) - biatch! hahaha but they're like that understandably because of their own personal troubles (or the troubles they create themselves) hahaha i think i have a rich mix of friends and it makes our circle colorful enough that i'll never get bored.

i love 'em people!

movie, songs & coffee saturday

me & my mba classmates are really becoming constant hangout buddies and the saturday gimik was something we were discussing over e-mail the whole week. we watched "the da vinci code" from the best-selling novel by dan brown and i must say it is indeed one of the most controversial and thought-provoking plots i have read. controversial because it involves religion and thought-provoking because for some, it will get them to question their faith. i don't really have that dilemma, my faith is unshaken even after reading the book and watching the film. i have to say that despite the movie being true to the book (as far as i can recall), there were definitely some snooze-worthy moments. personally, i was wishing i was watching x3 : the last stand instead. i have a thing for superheroes and super powered individuals, its the kid in me.

we decided to have dinner at dencio's near park square 1 and then proceeded to music 21. as usual, we were treated to jm's smooth vocal renditions of all my life, lately, what might have been, overjoyed and the promise. annie, tm and mitch also serenaded us with some tunes and they were equally pleasant. there were plenty of food and booze around .... pizza, cheese sticks, chicken wings, crackers and nachos. they actually went very well with the beer and pretty soon, i was feeling giddy (not drunk). hearing jm sing "what might have been" and "the promise" made me think about my mcbaby. we shot a lot of pictures and videos from the camera and from our mobile phones.

last stop for the night was starbucks along jupiter (near superbowl) where we had some coffee and some sweets. capping the night at a cafe house has sort of become a ritual with whichever set of friends you're with. i enjoyed my non-fat, no whipped cream cafe mocha but cheated by having a few slices of walnut brownie and chocolate cake - i think i've been cheating a lot lately. but hey, my friends say i've lost some weight already and i think they're right! i think i look thinner already in my pictures but probably 2 more months will close the deal.

we talked about where we will celebrate after our graduation - we're targeting may07 so that gives me two terms to finish. come to think of it, i won't be able to finish by may07 cause i need 3 terms to finish, last term being the OCE --- but i'm not really worried about the OCE - been to too many presentations to get worried about that. i'd love to attend the graduation rites with my school friends, it should feel good graduating with them and they understand all the hard work required to finally go up the stage and receive your diploma. dang, if i am not skipping next term, i can definitely make it to the may07 graduation.

hmmm that's still next year. too early to think about it. right now, i'm just looking forward to our next gimik.

sm mall of asia

at the insistence of my mom, we went to the sm mall of asia on opening day - actually we went there late afternoon (around 5-ish). i have to say going there on opening day, it didn't quite look like the above because i think half of the people in metro manila decided to check it out. i don't know if the carparks were not opened yet or there were just sooooo many people out there that day that cars literally parked through all of the streets near the mall.

we found a parking spot about 2 blocks away and walked to the mall with jacob in tow. whooah, it wasn't the parking lot that was packed but the whole mall literally. all of the restaurants in sight had lines to the door and if you were starving, you would have started hallucinating waiting for your turn at the ordering counter. we stayed probably about 30mins or so just walking and wandering around.

the mall is actually quite nice, it was big and spacious but i didn't really see anything new with what little i saw of the mall. same old shops, same old restaurants. well, there's the olympic sized ice skating rink and the first iMAX theater in the country. i'd probably enjoy visiting this mall next time when there's less than a hundred thousand people in it.

being in tagaytay

the invitation for a tagaytay overnight has been tossed around even when we were in galera and we were finally all set to go may 13-14. it started raining, a bit heavily at that, the whole day friday and the rain was replaced by strong winds saturday morning. that was a clear sign there was a typhoon and it wasn't particulary a strong one but was enough to litter the street with leaves, plastics and stuff and bring down some of the smaller trees. we should probably have canceled the trip but most of us were too excited to get together again.

we should have met at jollibee along sucat road at 7am but eric was late, not because of the typhoon, but because he had to go back and fetch playing cards he needed supposedly for his program. i should have slapped him for coming in 45mins later but the weather was windy, it was cold and i wasn't a good thing to spoil a promising morning. we met up with dada (whose sister-in-law actually owns the house) and her family at mcdonald's at the newly opened caltex gas station along the hi-way. we had a fairly decent american breakfast (except for eric who is a total rice queen, no pun intended!) and we had a good drive to tagaytay - eric riding with me talking about his recent escapades, annie riding with jm, and dada & her family on their car.

the house in tagaytay was actually perfect, it was big and spacious with a to-die for gas range. dada later told us that the owner actually belongs to the clan that owns the max's restaurant chain. yeba! a couple more people came around noon, maria and jim. this was a surprise to us, especially me since i know jim and before this out-of-town, i wasn't that fond of maria. it turns out that jim & maria are together and much later on, as i got to know more of maria, she turns out to be okay, actually really nice is more appropriate. suffice it to say, the people who went to tagaytay were actually bonding pretty well. jim & i had a lot of catching up to do and we talked about a lot of stuff, from them making fun of dino during their cebu trip down to the gym buff pig.

notty joined us later in the afternoon when we went to a clubhouse to play badminton. we played for more than an hour and decided to go home after rather than risk having pneumonia swimming in the ice-cold water with the typhoon still raging. we passed by 7-11 and got a bottle of red wine for later in the night.

dinner was a feast. we were completely stuffed with little room for dessert so we all just took turns freshining up and changing to our sleepwear. the real fun started around 10pm when we decided that it was time for some beer. damn, the beer was ice-cold, it was perfect at a night like this. we opened a couple of doritos and it would have been perfect if we had sisig, or something else for the beer .... ok, next time. jim introduced us to a game called "destiny" which basically lets one person choose any category and each person takes turns saying a word that belongs in that category. whoever fails must drink a half-glass of red wine. i guess after a few drinks (of red wine and beer later), people tend to lose hold of their wisdom and says stuff that are downright funny. that's what's great about the game, people are bound to say something stupidly funny and everybody just cracks down laughing. i think annie was the clear winner in the game, probably because we wanted her to get drunk but she was such a good sport.

sleep came around 1am. it was actually pretty early but beer ran out already and we were kinda beat from all the going around during the day. i woke up without any hangover, which was a clear indication i didn't get drunk last night. we all had a hearty breakfast of mostly leftover food from yesterday plus eat-all-you-can watermelon. after taking a few pictures, we left the house before noon. it was still a bit cloudy that sunday but the wind has subsided so the weather was quite cool. all in all, the tagaytay gimik was super fun, the people who went were awesome. it was one hell of a gimik that those who were not able to go will surely envy.

my mba friends sure are fun to be with.

goodbye alice in wonderland - jewel

It's four in the afternoon
I'm on a flight leaving LA
Trying to figure out my life
My youth scattered along the highway

Hotel rooms and headlights
I've made a living with the song
Guitar as my companion
Wanting desperately to belong

Fame is filled with spoiled children
And we grow fat on fantasy
I guess that's why I'm leaving
I crave reality

So goodbye Alice in Wonderland
Goodbye yellow brick road
There is a difference between dreaming and pretending
I did not find paradise
It was only a reflection of my lonely mind wanting
What's been missing in my life

I'm embarrassed to see the rest is rock n roll cliche
I hit the bottom when I reached the top
But I never knew it was you who was breaking my heart
I thought you had to love me
But you did not

Yes the heart can hallucinate
When it's completely starved for love
It can even turn monsters into angels from above

You forged my love just like a weapon
And you turned it against me like a knife
You broke my last heart string
You opened up my eyes

So goodbye Alice in Wonderland
Goodbye yellow brick road
There is a difference between dreaming and pretending
That was not love in your eyes
It was only a reflection of my lonely mind searching
For what's been missing in my life

Growing up is not an absence of dreaming
It's being able to understand the difference between
The ones you can hold and the ones that you've been sold

And dreaming is a good thing 'cause it brings new things to life
But pretending is an ending that perpetuates a lie
Forgetting what you are seeing for what you've been told

Truth is stranger than fiction
And this is my chance to get it right
And life is much better
Without all of those pretty lies

Oh so goodbye Alice in Wonderland
And you can keep your yellow brick road
There is a difference between dreaming and pretending
These are not tears in my eyes
They are only a reflection of my lonely mind finding
They are only a reflection of my lonely mind finding
I found what's missing in my life

*** i love this song. yun lang.

renewals, adjustments & a long time waiting

i started the day at 6am today, waking up sometime around 3am to work on my presentation for the same meeting. maybe its my fault for procastinating so much in finishing that material but my brain has been bereft of great ideas for the longest time already. my meetings run on until 9am when i finally called it quits and asked that i be excused from the next meeting which was to last until noon. there's only so much phone meetings i can stand in a day.

i left sometime after 1045am focused on accomplishing two things today (meetings aside of course) : one, is to renew my driver's license just in case my trip gets extended (its the boyscout in me); and two, go to la salle, drop all of my subjects, apply for residency and avoid paying 10% of the tuition fee.

i got to the LTO office around 11am and there were not a lot of people, got the form instantly, filled it up and down i went to the drug testing center. damn, i wasn't still in peeing mode after chugging 500ml of water 20mins before i left the house. i went out and downed a liter of C2 green tea and sat there for the next 30 mins willing myself to get this over with - still no pee on site hahaha. i did manage the damn task and it took no less than 5 mins for the drug testing results to be handed back. i diligently marched back to the license window and fcuk, closed for noon break! i walked a few blocks and had some salad at kfc and went back 30min before 1pm.
the rest of the waiting was tolerable, i did get my new license something like 5 mins after paying. except for the waiting, getting a license has actually progressed very well.

i drove like crazy to get to la salle in record time only to find that there were no available parking space at the UM where i like to park. ok, try jollibee -- nada. street across velasco building --- bingo! ok, swipe my freakin id --- "out of school. out of school. out of school." like what the fcuk is that. last day of payment isn't until june 20, so why am i considered "out of school" already? after explaining to the guard, she finally let me in and i proceeded to the gsb office. dang! there were so many people in that office all either dropping subjects, adding subjects or filing for residency. after a while, one told me i should drop all my subjects online. where's the computer? nada! like how the fcuk should i do that? okie, okie ... i called elmer - he's in a bpi bank. scroll, scroll along my contacts ... aha, van!!!! van saved me! van saved me! yahoo! van was kind enough to drop all my subjects for me. so i went back, asked again, filled up another form to file for residency, then queued for the next 30-45mins for a <2min>

i went down to pay for my tuition and there was only 1 window dedicated to the GSB students while the central cashier and makeshift cashiers at the conservatory were practically empty and were for non-GSB students only. i waited for another 45-60mins until it was my turn to pay my P1,300 residency fee - P400 of which mind you were for miscellaneous fees that i don't have a clue what they're for. my legs were practically dead from all of the standing after that it was with great effort that i managed to drive home. good thing traffic was smooth even though it was already 530pm.

so there - a day of waiting, queueing, perspiring, standing and paying. i was so exhausted after that all i could do was take a deep breath, sigh and tell myself "here's what you get for prioritizing work over school." hahaha

the notebook

i first heard of "the notebook" from a close friend who bought and read the book and i think it has been sitting between dan brown's unread "angels & demons" and michael crichton's "timeline" gathering dust for a loooonggg time now. when i heard that they made it into a movie, i was happy that i can skip the long read and just watch the more than an hour-long love story unfold on my tv set.

it took me yet a while before i found the interest to watch "the notebook" and maybe it was because i was bored last friday or i was feeling sentimental. the notebook is above all else a love story between two people of very different social classes (boy is poor, girl is privileged). what is great about it is the kind of love allie and noah shared is something that is real, that lasts beyond time and age and beyond distance. its the kind of love you read in books that while it makes you sigh at the beauty of it, it makes you wonder if a love so perfect and strong can ever actually happen in real life.

maybe it does happen for the few lucky ones but not to everyone.

mcdreamy

dear fish,

so yes, i have to tell you that you are my mcdreamy and that no matter what others say or how wrong it sounds, you are the person i will truly love and adore for the rest of my life. despite the pain, the sadness and longing these feelings brought me, i never regretted having you in my life. you have brought color and happiness in my life that i have only heard of before in fairytales. the world truly was brighter with you in it.

some people told me that what i long for with you is wrong and maybe it is, or maybe it isn't. love never did make a lot of sense to me. i know though that i'm not expecting anything from you, that loving you, even from a distance and even in silence, is enough for me. i know this road i'm in will only lead to more sadness and heartache, and i will have to pick up the pieces of my broken heart. i probably will never be able to love anybody as much as i love you right now and that will be my undoing.

the trip will probably help me clear my head, help me think straight for once and be free of you hounding my every waking hour. that should give me perspective - probably some insane idea on how i can finally move on. i've wished to God long & hard every night for Him to take care of you, hopefully let you know how special you are to me. yes, you are truly special and i envy the person who will be able to make your heart beat like you did mine.

love is indeed tragic.

yuan*

this is not jay

this is dj and i'm still editing jay's blog template. white is too... errrr.... colorless so i changed it to black/gray. still need to edit a couple of items - music + links + tagboard + site meter

then i will edit van's blog template (music + site meter)

then jona's blog (music + sitemeter)

then we lived happily ever after

DJ JEEP

adjustments

i went to the dentist this morning to get my braces adjusted and now, i can already feel how sensitive my teeth are because of the adjustments made. its going to be two more days of agony after today ... aarrrghhhh ... no pain, no gain right.
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my manager has confirmed that my trip is going to push through between w22-25. ok, so its 4 weeks in the US which is actually not bad considering the recent cost-cutting direction. i have to make sure i deliver and 'wow' them during that 4 weeks. wowoweee! i've decided that instead of flying out saturday, i'll bump my flight to sunday so i will travel with ice. its such a long, boring flight and its always nice to have someone to talk to, much more, have somebody take your pictures hehehe
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i'm excited about the trip, really. some part of me though knows i'll be missing a lot during that 4-weeks - birthdays, gimiks, movies and some hanging outs. i hope my baby misses me too.
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lots of stuff to do before the trip ... i have to take care of school stuff, technically drop all the subjects i enrolled online so i won't be charged with the 10% of tuition ... i also have to renew my driver's license in case (for some reason) my trip gets extended. you know, better be ready (its the boyscout in me).

under construction

friend dj is updating my blog template. posts are still readable but there may be some errors here and there (like tagboard not working properly, etc).

thanks dj for lending your talent here.

charcoal & volleyball wins

i'm starting to regret not re-applying sunblock more times than i should have during the last long weekend because i realized how dark my arms are now and how having two-shades of color on your face doesn't really inspire confidence. the vain in me has driven me into a purchase frenzy of whitening soaps and two types of whitening lotion all in the hope that it will help shed out this dark husk that has enveloped my face, arms & legs sooner than it should be.

but right now, i'd have to bear with the folly of my actions. lesson learned : don't use sunblock sparingly. spread & re-apply it like crazy.
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yesterday was the first game of the semi-finals in this year's volleyball tournament. surprisingly (and probably with more luck), we played well against the strongest rated team to actually win the match. not to get ahead of ourselves but we now have a really good chance of making it to the championships. let's keep our fingers crossed.

beach bums & tan lines

after months of planning & schedule checking, the planned out-of-town trip with mba friends came to fruition as we boarded the bus along buendia ave early friday morning. we were en route to batangas pier to ride the ferry boat to puerto galera (uhmmm also called poor man's boracay - pmb) and it was exciting because it was the first time we were going out of town together. annie, jap, eric & i were giddy talking about what we planned to wear, how much we spent on clothes for the trip, gossiping, taking pictures and just plain happy we were all in havaiinas. there were only four of us leaving for galera friday as two others couldn't take VL's that day so they planned to follow the next day.

the ferry ride was uneventful and we docked in galera a little before noon, settled down and had some hearty lunch. it was still a no rice meal for me but i'm getting the hang of it already so it was no big deal. we decided to squeeze in some snooze time and went back to the beach a little after 3pm and decided to hang around and check out some eye candy. now galera's beach isn't really comparable to bora -- there's really no white sand and you have to wonder why "white beach" ever was called "white" to begin with. i thought there were quite a number of people littering the beach that friday so we contented to hang out by the shore while a couple of my friends took a dip.

i first saw "blue" walking along the shores of the beach in his board shorts. he was actually quite lean, well-toned, flat abs, great hair and a disarming smile. he was quite goodlooking and it was obvious he was comfortable with being goodlooking cause he clowned around with his friends. needless to say, he was our eye candy for the day.

after dinner, we decided to hang-out in one of the beach-front bars, ordered some more food while sipping on the the 1st bottle of red wine my friends brought to the trip. wow, i must have had about 4 glasses of wine since i was feeling goofy an hour & a half later. we didn't really stay quite late friday night and we were in all in la la land around midnight. there's still tomorrow to do some partying.

we woke up sometime around 8am the following day feeling refreshed and ready to bum it out on the beach. we had a great breakfast of cheese pancakes and omellette, donned our beach best and splashed sunblock all over. i spent the better part of the morning bumming it out by the shore, contented with people walking past while watching my arms grow darker by the hour. yikes ... after a while, i realized "what the heck?" i was at the beach and i decided that people will envy my tan lines for sure -- unless they become too black that its not considered tan anymore. we goofed around a bit more, taking more pictures and noticing that there were more & more ferry boats docking every 30mins. fcuk, there were just too many people now and its not even noon yet. the flurry of people coming all tugging along their bags obviously was foolish enough not to reserve a place to stay. i whispered "good luck" softly, trying to hide the mischievous grin behind it.

jm & arnold (they call him "naughty" or "naught-naught") arrived around 5pm. they got stuck at the pier due to the sheer volume of people trying to get to galera. there's now more credence to galera being called PMB, its just too accessible and too cheap an out-of-town that most can afford it. good thing we weren't really after rest & relaxation this time around or we have been totally bummed out. we stayed by the beach until the sunset, some friends cooling it off by the beach. we did catch "blue" a number of times while we sat on the sand, ipod on one hand, camera on the other. he's still our eye candy on day 2.

dinner was at a familiar place, we decided to pig it out at manolo's where we had lunch and breakfast. right after dinner, we decided to find a place where we could hang out and get a few drinks but seeing how much people docked the day, that was going to be a challenge. we decided to hang out at the far side of the beach by the shore and sipped on our 2nd bottle of red wine. i was feeling good an hour later and we finally found a vacant table at one of the stalls behind us. we had a few cans of beer, some barbecue and finally a pitcher of mindoro sling. quite honestly, i was tipsy around 1am and decided to call it a night. the alcohol was getting to me and i didn't want to risk having a paralyzing headache the following morning or worse, throw up all over the sand. that is just so unposh.

despite the almost 2 glasses of water i downed before going to bed, my head hurt bad the following morning. 2 advils really work a miracle and i was relieved an hour later. we had breakfast at the usual place and checked out around noon still deciding where we should hang out since the boat ride we finally got tickets for was to leave at 5pm. we decided to just stick it out with some of jap's friends who we thought had rooms reserved but instead were camping out. it wasn't really a big deal cause we just needed a place to stow away our stuff before we the boat trip. lunch unfortunately came at 3pm, too many people having lunch or just cooling off with shakes in hand. we took more pictures later on while we were wating for the boat.

the boat came around 6pm, it was actually more than an hour delayed and we got seats at the far back end of the boat. it stopped in another part of the island where it tried to load more passengers which irked a lot of the passengers and prompted us to start scrambling for the life vests just in case. things settled down as some of the would-be passengers were persuaded to disembark -- it was quite dark already at this time and i was quite scared of the boat ride back. mentally, i was surveying the boat and the passengers and figuring out my escape plan. fcuk, there was none, i was squeezed in between people and the nearest exit is a small opening. if the boat capsizes, i was certain i will drown. i prayed real hard during the more than an hour boat trip and managed a sigh of relief when we finally reached the pier.

the bus trip was ok. we got to manila sometime around 11pm and since the bus didn't stop at alabang, i had to settle for magallanes. i could have taken a cab but i was feeling courageous after the boat ride that i decided to forego the cab and take on the public transportation. for the first time in so many years, i rode a public bus (provincial trips not included), a public jeep and a tricycle going home. i paid in bills because i didn't really know how much the fare was but it was quite fun to relive those years when i used to ride the public transportation.

all in all, the galera trip was quite fun. i managed to hang out with friends from school outside of the usual classroom, impromptu dinners and movies. too bad JM didn't treat us to a song. that guy can really sing, hope he tries out for pinoy idol.

despite blue, it was still my baby who i missed most. so i'm glad to be back.

labor day bike ride

after skipping so many bike rides before, i decided to join this time around. i needed to get some r.o.i. for the bike since this is still going to be the third time i rode the damn thing. i woke up around 5am (after sleeping at around 1am and not having dinner last night - this is going to be a follow-up post) to prep myself because jowell said call time was around 615am at jollibee gma. then somewhere on the way, jowell texted to ask if we can meet at 640am instead (cause he just woke up) and then again at 7am. i was there by 630am and waited patiently until jowell arrived around 710am. the agony of waiting - something i was never really good at. but this time the waiting was a relief to get some more rest.

jowell & i biked for 30mins to get to the meeting place. we only had 1-stop for some fluids but otherwise, i think we were fast getting to the first stop because we had to wait for another 30 until ice arrived with joseph & his posse. we biked for a few more minutes and i was doing quite ok until i lost my gatorade during one of the quick downhill rides so we stopped and brought some water. i was parched beyond belief so i reluctantly downed a pepsi.

i realized later that we were going to bike all the way to sta rosa laguna. while it kind of freaked me out, the ride going was uneventful -- they were mostly downhill so it was actually quite enjoyable freewheeling & not breaking. i realized that at the speed i was going, i would have probably had a nasty accident if my bike skidded or hit a rock. oh well, i'm feeling adventurous these days so might as well live a little.

the views were quite breathtaking. we were riding on elevated plains so we were overlooking a lot of scenery. we managed to take some nice pictures.

we had lunch at jollibee in sta rosa and i realized my last meal was at around 3pm the previous day. so far, i've been running on extra joss, gatorade, a bottle of pepsi and lots of water. i don't think there were even any carbo left in my body to burn since i've been off rice for almost a month already. discipline ... discipline ... discipline.

hell started in the afternoon on our way back. they were mostly uphill so i really had a hard time biking on the way back. i think there were too many stops because of me but i didn't really care. i was ready to leave my bike there if only i could call a cab or have somebody pick me up. i walked through most of the uphill trail and jowell & ice walked some too. on the way back, my thigh muscles locked up and the cramps was unbearably excruciating that i couldn't move my muscles for a few minutes, let alone walk. This happened 3x on the way back and i was near tears during each of the cramp attacks.

we managed to finish biking at around 330pm at jollibee gma (thank God jowell & i didn't have to bike back anymore from our original meeting place). i got home past 4pm, took a shower and made sure to soap myself twice, got in bed but couldn't really sleep. my body hurt every which way and i was so tired i couldn't even muster the strength to eat. i just had soup (soupy snacks) and some microwaved vienna sausage just to have something in my stomach before i go to sleep.

sleep came around 9pm at which time i was quite beat. the bike ride was an experience - it was difficult, dirty, tiring and i was sweaty the whole time. i don't know why i had to go through that torture but i think that more than made up for my missing the gym the last few days i was in galera.