Hello and Goodbye, India

I know I'm lucky.  I got the most amazing fiance that a girl could have, my remaining family member is well(dad passed away of cancer last December, few days before Christmas) aside from me who is suffering from TB, I will be cleared in the next two weeks though plus I can still do the thing I'm most passionate about, travelling.  I have a lot of things to be thankful for.

Luke and I embarked on our final holiday or honeymoon as I call it in India.  I was a bit nervous about this trip because I'll be meeting his relatives on his mum's side of the family.  They are well-off although I don't think Luke will want me to write about them being rich.  Growing up surrounded by relatives who are devoted to telenovelas, I had a horrible perception on how they will react towards me but thankfully I was wrong.  :)

Our first 3 days were spent in Delhi.  We stayed overnight at her cousin's apartment that looked more like a building to me.  Not wanting to sound inosente o mangyanin,  they had a touch screen lift on their house, their walls are covered in painting resembling an exhibit and all the rooms in the house have an ensuite bathroom and a small walk-in closet.  Luke also commented that our flat in Reading is as big as their living and dining area.  That's not an apartment to me.  :P  All the riches aside, they were humble, down to earth people.  Totally changed the idea of rich people on my mind.  I'm glad I met them and I was more talkative this time.  :P  In Delhi, we went to Qutub Minar, Red Fort and India Gate.  We shopped at Cottage Industries, I wanna take the whole place home and Janpath.  I love walking but I realise Luke doesn't enjoy walking aimlessly.  :P

Thank God he wore his jeans!  It feels spring in New Delhi.

From Delhi, we went to Agra where Taj Mahal is.  The trip, of course, won't be complete without my usual craziness.  We arrived in Agra in the morning but we didn't leave until 3PM for Taj Mahal.  It was all because I wanted to start planning the wedding with Luke.  This was wayyyy before we decided to have a civil wedding this year then church next year.  Both weddings will happen in the UK to avoid family drama.  :P

You can't tell that we fought here.  We had the camera mode on.  Kidding aside, we finally patched things up.  I can't get annoyed with him for a long period of time.  

Everyone was commenting how photoshopped we looked.  Well, this was the best one from the bunch.  We had to try from different angles, different time and different people.  Thank you white lady for taking a good photo of us.  This will definitely go to the family album.

We left Agra the next day for Bhopal. It was the longest train ride of my life.  I was comfortable but the toilet is horrible.  It was stainless steel.  I hate my skin touching accidentally on the steel.  It was cold and I felt dirty.  No exaggeration.  On top of that, I had to go several times. Curse you Indian curry!  Hehehe.

Bhopal is Auntie Truli's residence.  Auntie Truli is Carol's, Luke's mum's older sister.  In short, Luke's aunt.  Luke loved me so much.  Luke wanted to go to an animal reserve but I wanted to go to Goa so he completely changed his plans.  Thank you babu!  

In Bhopal, I saw a white tiger for the first time and cave paintings hundreds of years old.

Auntie was supposed to go with us in Bhimbetka but left Luke and I alone when she found out that we were in a long distance relationship.  The drive from the entrance from the actual cave paintings was very reminiscent of Karratha according to Luke.  

I purchased my first sari in Bhopal too, thanks to Auntie's haggling skills.  Auntie also showed me how to wear a sari.  It was 7 meters long and you have to wrap it around yourself.  Auntie Truli wears hers everyday without any difficulty.   Luke bought his traditional relaxing clothes aka kurta.  Wait til I get to the UK for photos. :)

We flew to Goa from Bhopal.  I was disappointed at first of Goa because the sand isn't what I'm used to.  I like my white sand.  Hehehe.  I realised that it's not about the whiteness of the sand but who you shared the experience with. GAY!  We went around Goa by motorbike.  At the end of the day, I had my usual we don't have photos together enough drama, we got lost looking for the suggested tour from the book only to stumble the street the minute we decided to give up, had a fantastic KFC meal that made me crave the whole trip and burnt Luke's ass.  He was a trooper, he drove again the next day cause I wanted him to show me around.  I'm a bit self-centered sometimes.

I thought Luke loved tanning himself.  He told me that he liked going in the beach but staying in the shade.  We had to share one big umbrella between us in Goa so we switched when I felt the need to.  Hahaha!  

The Arabian Sea's waves are strong.  We played in the waves until I hit my face and right arm in the sand.  It worried Luke so we left and stayed in our sunbeds.  Hehehe.

This photo was taken whilst ordering dinner at Noodle Republic.  

Me:  Do you want Tom Yum?

Luke:  Hmm, no.

Me:  Fuckkkkk!

Luke:  Actually, I'm gonna have Tom Yum.

Me:  Are you sure?

Luke made fun of this scene the whole trip.  He had an exaggerated version of this story.

From Goa, we flew to Jaipur.  Our trip to Jaipur was amazing!  Mr.Khan, Aunt Truli's supplier/ friend arranged a driver for us to take us everywhere in the city.  He was such a head shaker.  You know, the stereo typical Indian who shakes their heads constantly.  Well, he surpassed my Indian head shaking expectations.  LOL!  He had difficulty speaking English which was a bit of struggle for me and Luke.  

In Jaipur we went to Hawa Mahal , the building that I wanted to visit initially because I was intrigued with the honey combe design, Jantar Mantar, Amber Fort and Chowki Dhani.  Chowki Dhani offers you a taste of India.  You will be treated to Rajasthani food, you can have your photo taken in costume, ride an elephant or camel which Luke and I mostly did.  It was such a joy experiencing all this with my bestfriend and lover.  I have to avoid this gay route on my blog.  Hahaha!

Thank you for the fantastic holiday babu!  We'll definitely be together this year.  I love you!  xxx

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Party Til We Dropped

I do go on holidays quite a lot but I have never been on a proper holiday with Lorraine and Ruzelle.  When I say proper, I mean, no boyfriends, out of town, no wet blanket.  I am usually the wet blanket as I rarely drink plus of course there's my tb case.  Hehe.

Ruzelle arrived on Thursday, I arrived on Friday and Lorraine arrived on Saturday.  

Friday.  Ruzelle and her siblings took me out for drinks.  We went to Epic then to Summer Place.  Nothing blog worthy happened.

Saturday.  We went to Club Summer Place as usual.  We had a bucket of beer then head off to Juice Bar after midnight.  Our trip coincided with Juice Bar's 7th Anniversary.  Drinks were sold for 7 pesos per plastic cup.  We tried Blue Margarita.  It had horrible effect on both Lorraine and Ruzelle and I couldn't stop dancing.  Hahaha!  Lorraine went blank for a bit.  Before we left the bar, this happened:

CASE 1

2 guys approached us.  I was still in my normal coherent condition.  

SPO4 Tan:  Sorry, anak yan ng mayor.  Then SPO4 Tan introduced himself.  We shook hands.  LOL!

The mayor's son asked for Lorraine's number.

Lorraine declined at first but said, sige.  Then added, di ko alam pano gumamit nito, iphone ako!  Dictated someone's number.

Anak ng Mayor:  Di mo yata number to e.  

Lorraine repeated the number again.  I told SPO4 Tan to take his companion.  

CASE 2

Ruzelle went missing.  She said she was only gonna go to the toilet.  When she didn't return after 5 minutes, I went paranoid.  But thankfully, it was only a case of pagkakasalisi.

Sunday.  It was Kuya Ji and Jamie's wedding.  After the reception, most of the bagets went to Club Summer Place for the after party but the trip wasn't as prolific as the previous nights.  To top it off, there are lots of retirees.  Hahaha!  We went to Juice Bar but the scene was too relaxed.  We decided to check Paraw but it's too hip-hop for us so we decided to head to our accommodation.  I went to bed at 2:30AM but everyone else stayed til 7:30AM.  

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One Destination: Jamie + Jill

I don't really know who Jamie is or what she is like.  I only met her twice prior to the wedding.  The first time was in Christmas 2009 and the second time was on her bridal shower, 2 weeks before the wedding.  Jillian or Kuya Ji as we call him, is my cousin.  He is Ruzelle's older brother.  She wanted to be an actress but ended up working in Marketing, he is a fine arts UP graduate and is a freelance director.  Together they make a good story.  Ang cheesy lang.  :)

He proposed in Greenbelt cinema.  He rented the whole place.  Both of their families and friends were there.  She was ecstatic.  It was her dream to see herself in the big screen.  They were hands-on throughout their wedding.  They would fly to Boracay to look for wedding venues and food tasting.  They didn't use a wedding coordinator until the wedding day.  I don't think I can do that to my own wedding.  I am too unorganised..

The wedding is puno ng pasabog!  Both parties siblings participated in the flash mob for their couple's entrance.  I jokingly told Botchok na ituturo ko sha sa end ng performance but that joke's on me.  Di sha nakatingin!  Hahahaha!  To close the program, Kuya and Jamie hired a group of fire dancers.  What we didn't realise is that, they are gonna dance too.  Production number talaga tong wedding.  I super enjoyed it!

Couple's entrance.

  Jamie arrived in a paraw. 

Wedding game.  Yes, we do wedding games here.  I don't know if they have something like this in the UK though.  

Kuya and Jamie with the fire dancers.

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Bits and Pieces

So I haven't blogged in ages so let me write an update about me:

a.  Last December 20, after 54 days(according to my mum's calculation) of battling cancer, my dad passed away.  He was only 54 years old.  The last few days for him was very difficult.  He was vomiting blood and was bony.  Let's pray for his soul.


b.  During my dad's wake, we met his son from another mama.  He is now 17 years old.  Makes him the youngest of his 4 kids.

c.  I am still undermeds.  If everything goes well, I will be okay by mid-April.  If things go our way, I will be in the UK by end of April.  :)  Please pray for my health.

d.  Luke visited me for 12 days.  As per usual, we went on a holiday.  We chose Cebu this time, an unplanned trip.  We stayed in Cebu City for 4 days and 4 days on Malapascua.  It was a much needed trip.  I wanted to get away from everything.  

In Cebu, Luke and I didn't do much apart from half day of walking tour.  We didn't go to the Regency Tower as Luke doesn't like heights.  I don't wanna do everything on my own either.  Ang retarded lang.  At night time, we eat.  We ate and ate that now I'm 57kgs heavy.  My meds aren't helping either.  It's supposed to make me fat.  KILL ME.  

Zubuchon Lechon!  The skin was very crispy and its meat flavourful.  Just looking at the photo makes Luke and I hungry.

Curious what this is?  I was too.  I saw this whilst were doing our impromptu walking tour.  I bought two from the guy selling siomai.  It was only 2.50PHP each.  I thought, what a cheap delicacy.  It wasn't. It was rice wrapped in coconut leaf.

I look like a pregnant matrona here.  Hahaha!

Luke calls this style, sumo head I think.

At first, I told Luke that I hate Malapascua because there aren't much to do and the place was dead by night time.  The real reason was, I was being a bitch because I lost my contacts and I wanted to replaced it straightaway so I can see better.  In reality, I loved it.  There were no filo tourist and noone bothered with any tour.  Luke read somewhere that it's the other way around.  It's the tourist who have to ask the boatmen to take them on a snorkelling trip.  Noone walks around with DSLR in their necks.  There are lots of Italians I feel like I'm in Italy.  When Luke dives, I spent most of my time in his laptop watching Curb your enthusiasm.  It was a perfect holiday for a lazy girl like me.  

On our last day in Cebu, I took Luke to Tabo-an Market.  He hated being dragged in a public market full of dried fishes.  The stench is horrendous and I smelt the whole day!  Before going to bed I asked him if I needed to shower.  He said, you don't need to but your hair smells a bit.  I wonder how he mastered saying things lightly.  

Here are few funny moments from our trip:

a.  In the airplane, Luke was complaining how filos take their seat belts the moment the airplane landed with the seat belt sign on.  Guess what happens?  Luke take his too.

b.  In our hotel room, I was very gassy.  Luke said he need to fart and I said, I need too.  I counted 1, 2, 3 and let out the most loud fart in my life.

c.  In the taxi, I asked the driver what Pit Senyor is.  He said, Pit is alaga ba.  Alaga is pet in English.  In the Visayas Region, they interchange E with I and O with U.  I had to hold my laughter.


Thank you baby for taking me on holiday!  xxx

A much needed break

I'm not dead.  I blame my absence to lack of material.  Since I left work, I've been alternating between hospital, house work and recently, holiday.  My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 Adenocarcinoma about a month ago.  He was hospitalised since 27th of October and hasn't left the hospital since.  He had one operation but it didn't change his condition.  The cancer is so advanced that it spread on his whole stomach, esophagus, large intestine and small intestine.  Basically his whole digestive system.  He doesn't know about his condition, he opted not to.

Having a family member with cancer is so draining especially for me and my brother.  My dad is confined in Sta. Mesa, we live in Novaliches and my brother works in Pasong Tamo.  He works on weekdays and looks after dad on weekends.  I went to visit him whenever I can.  I have tuberculosis and avoid contact with him.  I get tired easily too.  Dad is so lucky he got his siblings, nieces and nephews to take care of him.  Auntie Susie in particular rarely miss a visit day.

I was contemplating on going to Boracay for 6 days as dad was in critical condition prior to this trip.  He almost died and we all said our goodbyes.  We also went to the extreme of buying his burial clothes just to be ready but he was able to cheat death and beat his Pneumonia.

With confused mind, I went ahead and go to Boracay with Luke.  It was my much needed break.  I took the risk being ostrecised for my sanity.  We went to White Beach, Puka Beach and Ariel's Point this time.  We also dropped by Club Balai Isabel for 2 days.  Luke learnt how to say malamig na tubig, chicharon, balot like a vendor.  It's very obvious that we've been commuting a lot. :P  I thought him to say bayad and bayag.  I kept on saying aray too which pissed Luke off.  He learnt so much tagalog on this trip, I'm so proud of him!  I  wish he can fluently speak learn tagalog so I don't have to speak English forever 24/7.  :P


Going back from Boracay is a challenge.  Cebu Pacific cancelled our flight and gave us the 17th of Nov option, we were supposed to leave on the 15th, Roxas the next day or chance passenger on the same day.  We choose Roxas and chance passenger.  Luckily, despite the drama, we arrived at 9PM the 15th.  :) A funny thing happened before we boarded the flight, Luke was weight and an error message appeared.  Now I know that the scales limit is 100kgs.  I love you babe!  xxx

Puka Beach

White Beach

Ariel's Point

Video of Vendor Luke at Club Balai Isabel.  :)

Salamat for the Holiday Lovie Dove.  XXX

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Marikina Day Trip

I phoned work today and was told that I don't have to go to work.  My boss moved my day off from Weds to Monday.  Nice huh?  It feels like I went on a long holiday.  I was planning to visit the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite but unfortunately, the Shrine is closed for viewing on Mondays.  My second option was Pan de Amerika in Katipunan but Ruzelle hate it so much I had to put off the plans for now.  Marikina Shoe Museum came to mind, I did a little research and off I went.

 Marikina Shoe Museum

Marikina Shoe Museum(Museo ng Sapatos) housed 300 of the shoes generously donated by the former first lady Imelda Marcos.  She had shoes from Ungaro, Christian Dior, Chanel, Charles Jourdan, Rustan's Lady and I'm assuming her made to order shoes.  One thing in common though, they're very classic in design and colourful.  I actually saw Imelda years ago shopping in Glorietta for shoes.  I was on the same boutique as her, a filo brand.  I remember her trying on one sandals and buying the same style in 5 different colours.  Very Imeldific.  :)

Here's how I got to Marikina Shoe Museum:

I got off at Santolan LRT Station, took a jeep to Ligaya and another jeep to Marikina.  Take a trike to Marikina Shoe Museum.  It's across the Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish.  Most trike driver's don't know the place so just say OLA. :)

The bike lane only makes me wanna live in the city.  They have pedestrian crossing everywhere too.

Just across Marikina Shoe Museum is the Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish.

The Marikenos are very magalang and helpful.  I enjoyed my short tour of the city.


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Moon Garden Tagaytay

I don't know where I got this idea of accommodation hoping.  I didn't realise how stressful and tiring it was until Luke and I actually did it.  I wanted to take Luke to Tagaytay since his last visit.  Tagaytay is the nearest holiday destination from Manila.  You can do a day trip but I had enough of Manila and I wanted to go on a short hols so I dragged him with me.  :P

From T House, Luke and I stopped over at Picnic Grove.  He was disappointed.  The only thing he liked about the place was the view.  I will say this over and over, I hope they hire people to look after the place.  It's falling apart.  They have half demolished accommodations.  Why the hell people would leave things undone?  Isang taon na yun.  It was there when I visited last year.  The weather made it look worse too.

 With Taal Lake on the background.

 Before heading to Moon Garden, I took Luke to Olivarez Plaza.  I was expecting more food shops but instead I found small boutiques.  I am not interested in shopping any longer.  I still haven't sold all my clothes on ebay.

I've been interested to visit Moon Garden since my cousin Ruzelle went with her boyfriend.  I'm all about shabby and rustic.  Luke had a bad feeling about rustic.  He thinks that the place will not be up to his standards but he was wrong.  It was better than T House in my opinion.  The room was very very spacious, the toilet is massive too and we had a very nice view of the garden.  For 2990 plus free breakfast, I think it's good value for money.  

Our view whilst having a meal in our room.  Very very lovely.

Went home knackered that day.  I am back at work again.  :(

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T House Tagaytay

When my aunt died, I decided that I am prioritising family over work.  I can't afford to miss any more of my family get together and activities.  I can't work for a company who wouldn't let me go on Christmas Hols just because their establishment is open and needs people.  Hindi makatarungan.  This work is not for me.

I was stressing prior to Luke's arrival.  Although I said the statement above, skipping work is not something that I do.  I can't remember missing school just because I like it.  I can't ask work for 2 days off cause going on hols is not allowed during this period.  I told you, di makatarungan. This is why I don't bother asking.  I'd rather not call work for 2 days and accept whatever disciplinary sanction they are gonna give me than explain the situation to them.  They won't understand.  My absence will affect the groups productivity.

It was a struggle to go to Tagaytay.  First, the driver can't find the bus station and he kept on insisting that we go to a different bus station.  When we finally did, he dropped us to the wrong station.  Second, we were on storm signal number 1 that day.  I hate my feet getting wet and I was turning into a bitch again.  :P

T House Tagaytay is very easy to find.  We took the first tricycle that we saw and asked them to drop us off to T House.  The check in went smoothly.  I was a little disappointed with the room size.  I felt a little claustrophobic.  They only have the basics - toilet, shower, bed, cable TV, A/C, telephone.  No wardrobe, just a rack in the toilet where you can hang clothes.  No safe to put your valuables.  The room smelt of mint though.  It was very nice.  Basic toiletries were provided too(shampoo, soap and toothbrush).  The best thing about the place was the food.  I recommend the turon.  :)

Despite the little disappointments that I wrote, Luke and I enjoyed our stay in T House.  

Luke made the bed really small.  He is 6 feet tall.

Banana Spring Roll.  It was so good we wanted to order it for breakfast.

Ina ng Laging Saklolo Church.

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Roundtrip - Manila - Nueva Ecija - Tarlac - Nueva Ecija then Manila

I almost gave up on this trip.  I didn't realise that I had horrible diarrhea that day.  Let's just say that I stood up and stopped the bus to do number 2 on the side of the highway.  If that's not bad enough, I had to do it again after 5 minutes of finishing then again after another 5 minutes.  I will never pretend to have food poisoning just to skip work again.  

My family expected Luke and I to arrive lunch time.  JR informed me that they are actually planning to cook for us.  Thank God they didn't as we arrived a little after 3PM and went straight to Isdaan in Tarlac.  I've seen the photos, I've seen the reviews and I wanted to go myself and check out the place.  I wasn't disappointed.  It reminded me of my trip in the floating market in Thailand.  I was very much relaxed and had an enjoyable meal.  I hope they had a nice time too.

We arrived at Nueva Ecija at 9PM.  It was late.  We expected the oldies to be in bed but they weren't.  I told Luke jokingly that he had to do the filo rights of passage - chopping woods, fetching water, the works.  I just love seeing his reactions to anything stupid that I say.  Oh life's little pleasure(at the expense of Luke).  :P  I expected Nomeng to be talkative but she weren't.  She said she was speechless.  Granny on the other hand asked all the basic questions.  When I say basic I mean, "what's your name?", "how old are you?", "where are you from?" - I am not even kidding.  It was funny.  Luke's visit had her worked up.  Humukay talaga ng Ingles si Lola.  I was making fun of her but she told me that at least she is trying.  She asked Luke if he can speak tagalog.  He said, a little.  He said Oo, Hindi, Bakla.  We all laughed when he said it.  Can't remember teaching him that.  LOL!!!  We were knackered when we got in Manila.  I went to work the next day.

Group Photo.  We had to ask Ate to take this.

This is how much Luke loves me.  :P

Meet the Lolas.

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