One year later

4 years later, and I’m still here. I was supposed to write about it being exactly 1 year since I graduated from university, and then I realized that April is also this blog’s “anniversary month.” I decided to move to WordPress last April 15, 2008 and I’ve never regretted it since. It’s been 4 years – I can’t believe that it’s been that long! Time really does fly by so fast.

Going back to the original reason for this post… I can’t believe that it’s been a year since I graduated. It seems like just yesterday, I was about to start university, and then I was just writing (and later on defending) my thesis with my partner, and then we were graduating, and now, a year has passed. Let me take this moment to look back and see how the past year has been.

Right after graduation, I started a job at this company (where I earned a good amount of money – money that was used to fund some of my other stuff like the documents for the scholarships and a camera, yay!) and stayed there for around 3 months. I made a lot of friends and memories there so it’s something I don’t regret doing. At the same time, I was waiting on scholarships from Spain and Taiwan. That was quite a stressful period of my life because I had to run a lot of errands, and I had to sacrifice a lot of “sleep time” but it was all worth it. I also accepted this translation job (that I did together with my thesis partner Jad). That was another experience too. We were also able to buy a house – something to finally call our own. We moved there a month before I left.

I got accepted to both scholarships (Spain and Taiwan), which meant more errands and more stress (but all worth it, yeah). I left the company and went to Spain on a one-month summer scholarship. It was so much fun! I was able to see Toledo, Córdoba, Granada, Barcelona, Segovia, Madrid, and a whole lot more places in Madrid. I had a lot of experiences and I met quite a handful of people (but I wasn’t able to bond with a whole lot of people because I kept on going to other places). It probably would have been better had I stayed there longer but I had to head to Taiwan for my other scholarship. I’m already happy with what I got and with the opportunity though. It’s something that I never thought I would get, and it’s something that I’ll forever cherish. I promise to go back someday! :)

After my scholarship to Spain, I went back to Manila for around 8 hours (after more than 16 hours of flying). I packed (well, it was more of I threw all that I could bring on the bed and mom packed it for me), slept, and then I was back on a plane headed for Taiwan. I’ve been for a little over 7 months now. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been to a lot of places in and out of Taiwan. Just 2 weeks ago, I was in China with my parents, visiting our relatives. I also went to Hong Kong with some high school friends – my first trip abroad of such sort. Siiiigh, it has truly been an awesome year. Of course there are times when I miss home and I miss my friends but I’m really thankful for everything that I have. I’m thankful for everything that happened over the past year, and for the things that are still going to happen over my next 2 years here.

Thank You, thank You, thank You!

This is all that I can think of writing for now. Looking back, it’s all still so overwhelming! :)

Philippines, Day 9

January 25, 2012

This day was my last day in the Philippines! Aww, time flew by so fast. I had a lot of fun though. It was a good thing I had planned my days out in advance, and that I was able to accomplish all my plans and more. Yay! It was a nice vacation.

I stayed at home the entire day because I was too lazy to go out, and because I needed to pack. Late afternoon, we had frozen strawberry with cream dessert. Then, my family drove me to the airport. I got my 2012 Starbucks planner from Achi Barb. Wee! Finally, it was ’til next time Philippines and hello again Taiwan! We left the Philippines with around 27deg. C weather and when we arrived back here, it was 11deg!!! SO COLD!

Oh yeah, I won a bag from Cebu Pacific’s in-flight game. The cabin crew would mention an object and the first person who raises that thing would win a prize. I won when they said, show us your passport. I was holding my passport at that moment so I quickly raised it up.

This marks the end of my Philippine series! LOL. Finally!

Hello Lucky!

Family picture! I covered my grad pic, boo!

With my 2012 planner!

Brr!

I won this.

Philippines, Day 8

January 24, 2012

We went with our relatives to Tagaytay. First, we went to Picnic Grove for a – what else – picnic. We had a lot of food. Yummy! After that, our cousins all tried the zip line. Since we had tried zip lines many times before, Tiff and I decided to sit this one out. We went to Enchanted Kingdom after lunch, but we didn’t know that it would be closed. Pfft!

We had dinner at Emerald Garden instead. Then, a bunch of us (Patricia, Polina, Richelle, Roxane, Tiff, Mom, Gokim) went to Golden Day Spa (?) to get a body massage. Wee!

Tagaytay!

Relatives :)

Zipline at Picnic Grove

We were in the sidelines

Reminds me a bit of the tree of life

Pine tree? It’s so cute!

Decided to take a picture at EK instead

Philippines, Day 5

January 21, 2012

Day 2 in Baler!

Sandy and PE were finally able to join us. We had breakfast at Bay’s Inn again, but this time we tried different dishes than the ones we tried the day before. Mitch and I split the french toast and pancakes between us. We were very happy with the french toasts, because they were delicious!

After breakfast, we went to Charlie Does (the surf shop) and waited. There were a lot of people so we had to wait an hour before our turn. Sandy went ahead, and since Metch can surf on her own, she also went ahead. We just sat on the sidelines taking pictures of them. When it was our turn to surf, Sandy also took pictures of us. I was able to stand up again, and I was able to ride the waves like 5-6 times! Yayyyy! Stoked!

We bought pizza and pasta and brought it with us to Dicasalarin, this private resort that only guests of Bahia de Baler are allowed to go to. There were picnic tables around the area so we decided to have a mini-picnic there. Then, we went to the beach side and relaxed – took pictures, talked, and just walked around. We were among the first few people there, so we had the island all to ourselves for a while. It was amazing!

Since we were tired after all that, we went back to our rooms and took naps. We had dinner at Aliya, which had terrible service. Tsk, tsk! After that, we went back to Bayler to hang out. We ordered the fairly new San Miguel Apple alcoholic malt beverage and the chocnut turon. Chilled. Then, we went back to our rooms. Sandy came over and we talked about random stuff for a couple of hours. Then, we went to bed. Tiff and I woke up a couple of hours later to go to the Baler bus station. We boarded the 4:30AM bus back to Manila. Bye bye Baler! I had such a great time!

Breakfast, sans Tiff

Sandy

Metch, Sandy, Mitch, Me, Tiff :)

Me

PE

Tiff

Mitch

Overlooking Dicasalarin

Picnic, sans Metch

Baler 2012!

Dicasalarin, Baler :)

Sisters at Dicasalarin

Philippines, Day 4

January 20, 2012

Mom and Dad drove Tiff and I to the Genesis bus station. It was a good thing we left the house early because Mitch told us that the bus would leave at 1:30AM but turns out, it was leaving at 12:30AM!!! We were all stressing and panicking in the car. LOL. We got there at around 12AM, thank goodness. I think we were the last ones to arrive because the bus left at 12:13AM! The trip to Baler takes 5 hours and the Joy Bus costs only 650PHP one way. When we got to Bahia de Baler, we immediately went to our room and slept. Our day started 4 hours later.

We had breakfast at Bay’s Inn. Then, we went around town in hopes of buying Tegaderm (this plastic plaster thing that Tiff needed to cover her wound with so that she would be able to surf), but we weren’t able to find any, so Tiff wasn’t able to surf. Mitch and I hired an instructor to teach us how to surf. The waves were wild! I kept falling down but eventually, I was able to stand up! Wee. I really thought that I wouldn’t be able to stand, and that I would just keep on falling. After that, I had a couple more semi-stands and then the hour was up.

We ate at this rolling store (carinderia) for lunch. Since the museum was nearby, we decided to go there. I found out more about the Ilongots. Here is an excerpt from one of the panels:

The Ilongot traditionally inhabit where the Sierra Madre mountain range and Caraballo mountains meet. They are generally classified into three groups: the Italon, found in the headwaters of the Cagayan river; the Engongot at the northwest of the coast of Baler, and the Abaka in southwestern Nueva Vizcaya. The total national population of the Ilongot is 50, 017 (NSO 1990).

Information about the Siege of Baler can also be found there, so we read up more about it. After a while, Let called Metch up to tell her that someone was looking for us. Apparently, Dr. Nieva’s brother went to Bahia de Baler to look for us because he wanted to take us around. Yay!

We went to Ermita Hill, the fish port, their farm (where we rode on a cart being pulled by a carabao and ate fresh-from-the-tree coconuts), and balete tree. We were very lucky that Uncle Ben was there to tour us around. They were leaving early the next day so they could only spend an afternoon with us. We’re very thankful though!

For dinner, we ate sisig and liempo at.. I forgot the name of the place but it’s right across Bahia 2. The liempo didn’t taste like liempo – it was very bland and I don’t know how to describe it but we didn’t like it. The sisig on the other hand was very delicious! Yummy! Then, we went to Bayler for dessert. We were finally able to try the chocnut turon. Even if I’m not a big fan of chocnut, the dessert did not disappoint. We also ordered the chocolate fondue and that was a very big disappointment! Do not order that, should you ever eat  there. The chocolate tasted like cheap and old chocolate, and the bread sticks were also old – like their air (how do you call that?) had already been sucked out from them.

We played a round of Monopoly Deal (in Japanese, wtf!) and then Metch immediately went to sleep. She was too tired. We were also tired and sleepy but Mitch, Tiff, and I stayed up a bit more to talk. We eventually also fell asleep. LOL. Day 1 in Baler – done!

Joy Bus seats!

Bay’s Inn, Baler

Action shot (Photo credit: Metch)

In front of the Museo de Baler

The Ilongot

More info about the Ilongots

More info about the Ilongots

Reading about the Siege of Baler

At Museo de Baler (L-R: Tiff, me, Metch, Mitch)

Close to the Pacific Ocean!

Thank you for the tour!

Ermita Hill

The tunnel

With the early settlers/survivors of Baler

On a cart that’s being pulled by a carabao

With David, the cute kid!

Inside the balete tree

Climbed up the balete tree (I thought the branches weren’t gonna be able to support me)

Philippines, Day 3

January 19, 2012

Tiff and I went to the hospital with Mom (she works there) because we were going to have lunch together, and it’s easier if we go to the hospital together. While waiting for Mom, Tiff and I went to visit Dr. Valenzuela. I had my eyes checked and I found out that in the span of around 4 years, my eye prescription has gotten better. My astigmatism is no longer there, and I think my right eye’s at 125 (from 100) and my left is at 100 (from 125). Yeah, they basically just switched places. Funny. We chatted with Dr. Valenzuela about random things, and we also reminisced about the times when Tiff and I were still little kids running around the hospital. Lol! We also visited Ninang Vangie and Ninong Conrad to say hi. We also chatted a bit with Dr. Nieva and he gave us the contact numbers of his relatives in Baler. Wee!

Our friends from Palawan were also there and we were able to talk with them for a while. Auntie Linda said that they’ve hired workers to construct a new extension to their house, so we have a new place to stay at while we’re there. Yay. I told them that I might come back around the last week of May and that if I would, I’d go to Coron to see them!

We had lunch at Balkan, this Yugoslavian restaurant in Makati. We’ve never had Yugoslavian food before, so when I saw it in one of the Groupon sites, I wanted to try it out. I’ll probably be writing about it over at Manila Foodistas sometime soon. Whoops, I have a lot of stuff to write there, but I only get to write once a month or so, because we take turns posting entries among the 5 of us. Haha! I can say that the food was delicious though, although their food consisted mainly in meat products. There wasn’t much to choose from.

After lunch, I went home to pack for Baler. Then, I went to SM Megamall to meet up with Pam and Rache. We met at Happy Lemon and we just talked. Teej came because we were going to have our Span bloc dinner after my meeting with Pam and Rache. We weren’t complete because Martha was too lazy to join us. Pfft! We were supposed to have dinner at Yabu, this new Katsudon place in Megamall, but there were a lot of people so we decided to eat at Mesa instead. It’s another place I’ll be writing about at Manila Foodistas soon. LOL. The food is pretty cheap (or maybe because there were 7 of us?) and it was filling. Our bill amounted to less than P150 per person. Ooh.

I went to the office to visit my former colleagues. Donna was late so Teej, Martha, and I decided to go to Starbucks. Teej treated me to an iced caramel macchiato. Martha also gave me 100php as cab fare, because they were telling me to stay longer at the office (hence making me miss the cheaper ride home). I was able to talk A LITTLE BIT with them, but then I had to leave because I still had to go to the bus station to go to Baler. Oh well, at the very least I was able to see them!

Getting my eyes checked

Balkan, Yugoslavian home cooking!

Lunch at Balkan

Thea, Pam, Rache

Span bloc minus Martha

With Martita

With Donna Mae