Experience is the best teacher. (Cebu Day 2)

We were supposed to go to the beach on a weekend so that Keith's friends would come since they're all working during the weekdays but we have it moved today because we are also supposed to meet a friend here - which apparently didn't happen anyway. Good thing his highschool friends were able to join us. He advised to have many people come with us because aside from the fact that we would be able to save for the boat ride, it would be more fun to have a lot of company right?

We woke up and got ready early so that we would catch the 8am trip to the island. We waited for his friends as we have our coffee and read our horoscopes and readings for the Year of The Water Dragon available in the daily newspaper. I usually read those every year to at least have an idea of what's in store for me. But I really don't rely on it completely. Its just a nice to know information. :) Anyways, as they arrived one by one and as Keith introduced them to us, we slowly got nervous because we were thinking that we might not get along or they might think of us differently so we initailly don't know how to act. However, it worked otherwise and even more better. :)

So because we weren't able to prepare for the food we're gonna bring today, we first dropped by at the grocery and bought some food. Then we rode at the back of Keith's friend's pick-up which was my first time. I used to see people sitting at the back of trucks and pick-ups on the highways and it seemed really fun so I was a bit thrilled when I saw that we'll gonna ride in there too. It was indeed afun and new experience for me since I was used to riding SUVs and vans whenever me and my friends in Manila would go roadtripping or something so I really enjoyed riding in an open vehicle like that where I could feel the breeze of the air and have a wider view of the scenes as we pass them by. :) It would take us at least 30-45 minutes to get the first island so we had time to rest, appreciate the view, get ready and become acquainted with each other.










Someone's wants to join from the back, hoho :D





As we approach the island, I immediately fell in love with the view. It was like we're arriving in a paradise. The island is picturesque. In that moment, I was completely swept away. The skies are so bright and filled with white fluffy clouds that gave a heavenly ambience, the vibrant hue of the blue sea compliments the white, refined sands. Along with the fine weather, and 11 individuals who are ready to bask in the heat (at least for me :D), this is pure ecstacy. :) Even with just these photos you would exactly get what I'm saying right?

Of course we three didn't waste the opportunity and had our pictures taken with the beach right away. We didn't even noticed it was already lunch time until Keith told us so. :D They got us to try a kind of shell they call "Saang" or "Spider Shell" in English; and it was so delicious! I think I ate 4 of it. x) We ate it with "puso" or the rice wrapped in banana leaves as we talk with each other and figure out a uniform language/dialect to use to understand each other easily. Hehez. In the end, they just taught us some Cebuano words and used Tagalog since they all know how to speak using it anyway.










The signature "bikini-beach view" shot by my extra sexy girls :">




(L-R) Justine, Val, Kath, Trine, Claire, Me, Ed Mark, Keith, Sarah, B, Jessie

After lunch, it was time to swim. As we (Sarah, B and I) watched them play with each other, we realized we missed our other high school friends left in Manila. Seeing them having fun with each other's company, made us a bit jealous and nostalgic about the days when we are still like them. You see, from the time we entered college, things somehow changed. Some of us became so busy that we seldom see him/her often, some already went abroad, some just never kept in touch. Although we still get together from time to time, we never really had the time to have everyone present in a single occasion. I wish we could have those times again. :"> Meanwhile, being with these new people made us feel less sad and even gave us a slight impression that we are part of their group. Really we never felt more welcomed and comfortable with them. :) They're such kind persons, and after this day I'm truly thankful to meet them. And also to Keith because of his genius idea of inviting his friends.

The epic back ride! :)

I wasn't able to track the time when we got back but we just changed, had dinner and prepared to spend our Friday night with them too. They say Cebu has a good night life and I can't disagree more. We went to IT Park which was very very similar to Makati. There are so many people, and establishments which they say is open until 2am or so. It rained very hard on our way there so we almost bathed in the rain since we sat on the pick-up again. Instead of being annoyed, I actually had fun. Hahaha :) Its not like everyday that I can ride in a pick-up and have those experiences anyways. :)

pulling our ugliest faces, haha! x)

PS: some photos are taken by Jessie ;)

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Walking back on History (Cebu Day 1)

Last week, me and 2 of my best girlfriends, Sarah and B finally visited Cebu. Thanks to Cebu Pacific's 12php fare promo 3 months ago. Haha! It was our first out of town together, like, an across-the-sea-out-of-town kind of thing and our celebration for passing the NLEs last July. ;) We have been waiting for it for forever so we're really thrilled that its finally happened. We got to save for the hotel accomodations, thanks to a friend from CUK, Keith, who is a local there. He was kind enough to welcome us in there home and also be our guide for the whole trip. ;) Since Sarah and I have the luxury of time (because were jobless bummers haha!), we were able to surf the internet for some places to go and food to try. Aside from the usual places, we wanted to try something different, and something that only a few people have tried.

Anyways, we had to ask Keith about them since he knows better than us. Unfortunately, we wasn't able go on all the places we want because of the time and distance but luckily, we were able to experience something different, something more than what we would have thought we would. ;)

So during our first day, we went around the city in the morning - Lapu-Lapu and Magellan's Shrine, Magellan's Cross, Fort San Pedro, Basilica de Sto. Nino, Taoist Temple, and the one where you can see the city from the top?. We had a side trip at the BPI Museum and saw the coin and bill collection since the early times which quite interesting.

It was a lovely day to take photos, the sun is high and the skies are so blue. :)

Matching uniforms as our highschool's! So cute! :">

We also dropped by Taboan market where we bought the famous danggit and Otap. I didn't buy those because my mom already bought that when they went there last September, so what I bought is the masareal which is according to Wikipedia (HAHA) is a delicacy that is made and only found in Mandaue. I got to taste it a few days ago and I loved it! Too bad I only bought a few :( We also tried their ATM or Automated Tubig Machine which is really a cool idea. Its like a vendo but you'll put a peso instead and you already have clean water to drink. Just be sure you have a plastic to have it filled. ;) They have those scattered all over the place so you don't have to worry if you get thirsty.

Then at night, we went to Crown Regency Hotel at night for the Sky Walk Adventure. But of course, all that walking made us very tired so before we headed there, we had a very sumptuous dinner at Handuraw Pizza. ITS REALLY THE BEST THIN CRUST PIZZA I'VE YET TASTED. We we're all spell-bounded that we weren't able to have a decent picture together because we were busy eating. It was gone in a flash, seriously. We even went back there before we left. Hihi :) On our first time, we ordered their Handuraw Special, and their Cebuano special. The latter is a bit spicy for them to eat another slice so I who is a fan of spicy enjoyed the rest of it. HAHA :D

Going back to the Sky Walk Adventure, even when we were still in Manila, I was already freaking out about that thing. As you know, I have a huge fear for heights ever since I was a child. Although I have tried to conquer it little by little (I have tried rapelling way back in high school), I haven't totally overcomed it yet. Surprisingly, they were able to convince me to try it since its one of the main attractions in Cebu. (I realized its better to try it with my bestfriend than with anyone else). However, I only agreed to try the Sky Walk because I'm not ready for the Edge Coaster yet. Just seeing the view from the 38th floor makes me wanna pee already, how much more if I have to sit with it tilting 45degrees??! Nooo waaay. But the 3 chose to try both. I just watched them as they scream their lungs out while going around the edge. Hihi. The ride is for 2 people so I kind of felt sorry for Keith because he went in the ride alone. :( I thought the staff would ride with him but he didn't so yeah I wished I just went along. If I did, I think I would probably be traumatized by now though. HAHA. The Sky Walk itself is also scary I feel like I'm gonna slip and fell off anytime but I was so proud of myself after doing it. Although it took me a minute or two to digest the whole experience. Hehe. Its really a great experience. And who knows, if I come back I might have earned enough courage to try the Edge Coaster already. :))

Our only decent shot after the whole Extreme Adventure Experience! Haha =))

Trivia: It was also Keith's first time to visit most of the places we've been to today despite the fact that he grew up there. HAHAHA He reasons that its because he was not type of person who goes out a lot. So technically, he was also a tourist just like us. :)

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Finally, my hands on you.

My mom and I went to Greenbelt yesterday so I immediately went to Powerbooks if they have a copy of Erin Morgenstern's copy of Night Circus. I have been searching for it in their branches in Alabang and even in National Bookstores but they were all out of stock. I was so happy to see it in their shelves there! :") But, I was even more happier when my mom agreed to buy me one although its a bit pricey for one book. :) I literally felt like a kid being given with a truckloads of candies and chocolates! Hoho :D Aand I was even able to add Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One! DOUBLE YAAYYY! :) I want to have a copy of it with its usual book cover before they replace it with the movie cover when the movie starts showing in summer. I wanna read the book before I watch the movie too (you know how the plot kind of changes in the movie, right? hehez). So now, I don't have to worry about my bum days because I already have these two awesome novels to read. :))

Look at that tempting cover. :)

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Your wish is my command

After finishing 2 movies which is exhausting to the eyes I must say, I've decided to try making Japchae already. I realized my brothers will be getting home soon and usually they have merienda so I thought of making it for them. However, when I went to the pantry, I don't have some of the fresh ingredients like spinach, and mushrooms. It wouldn't be delicious and complete without them so I just decided to make it some other time. But I'm in the mood for making Korean food! Then I remembered my brother asking me to make Kimbap for him if I have time so I checked if I have enough ingredients, and started making them.

I usually put tuna but I swapped it with ham instead because we still have lots of ham from the holidays. :| Its better than putting it to waste right? =)) I also didn't put egg because one of my sibs doesn't like it in. In general, I followed the recipe from Maanchi's website here

With all the ingredients that I have, I was able to make 3 rolls. :) Does it look edible to you? :))

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Of buffets and rainy days

As what my dad promised, we went back to Bag of Beans to try their brunch buffet. Our family is a big fan of buffets. We prefer it over the usual ordering stuff because we have different food preferences and we often disagree with each other's wants so to avoid that, we go to buffets. We love trying buffets in restaurants and in hotels too. My personal favorites are Sofitel's Spiral and Marriott's Marriott Cafe. But we only go out whenever my dad is here, we seldom do when he's not around. :)

Anyways, this day is not really a good time to go out because of the heavy, non-stop rain. I can't barely see the view in Tagaytay because its covered with fog! It really looked scary. :| Plus the wind is strong and cold. So, we were expecting there wouldn't be a lot of customers because of the weather but I guess were not the only ones who wants to eat there at that time. The place is actually full and it took us 10-15 minutes to get seated. Normally, you could call in to place a reservation earlier but my mom said the line was busy so she wasn't able to reserve for us.

After getting all settled, its time to eat! They have ample food choices for both lunch and breakfast. I immediately looked for pancakes but they were not available. That made me a bit sad because I was really hoping to eat at a pancake buffet. :( Well at least they have bread (they have about 4 kinds), and I must say its good. They're soft and dense and its best paired with their blueberry or strawberry jam. The salad is just the ordinary salad, lettuce with carrots, corn kernels, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and olive slices which I think many people don't like (the olive slices container is still full compared to others, Hehez) except me so I got a spoonful of it. Haha! If you must know, I don't eat mayo and anything with mayo so I opted to put the yogurt-like dressing in my salad.

For my next plate, I asked the chef to make me a Pesto Pasta. I have been craving for pasta since I arrived and I was happy that they have pasta station there. My sister got the same as mine while my brother got Putanesca.

In terms of food, I think its just okay, nothing special. Except the coffee and their pies which tastes very good. If you're a caffeine junkie, you would love it because the coffee is strong with the right amount of taste and the aroma smells good. Other than that, I guess its just the idea of "breakfast & lunch buffet" in a place like Tagaytay + the hopes of eating pancakes that got me thrilled. Also, I think its really important to have a reservation to avoid waiting too long.

If you would like to visit Bag of Beans, their contact details and address are posted below. I suggest you try their coffee and pies especially their Apple Pie. ;)

After that, we had few stopovers before going to Paseo. My brother has been asking my parents to go there to check the Nike outlet for the nth time already so we just dropped by since its on the way anyways. I haven't really been there so I don't know whats it is to see but I was lucky enough to spot a Korean grocery in on of the areas there. I've been wanting to go to a Korean grocery to buy ingredients since one of my goals while I'm on vacation is to learn making a Korean dish. I have already tried making Kimbap when I was still in college (thanks to my roommate Nenjy's influence) but I think now is different because I can already compare it to the taste of the real Korean dishes which I eat in Korea. Does that make any sense? :D

On my list, I'm thinking of making Japchae and Jjajjangmyun. Those were my favorites and easy to make so I can't wait to start cooking! ;) Wait for my future posts, to find out how they went. :)

Bag of Beans, Restaurant and Bakery
115 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez
Crossing West, Tagaytay City

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Blog Under Construction! *update*

Heya bloggers! I'm currently updating my blog as part of my new years resolution so please bear the layout, posts and everything you find in here. To give you a hint, these are the things I would like to add/change here:

[x] a new header

[x] new layout theme

[] improved "About Me" page

[x] new "About me photo" :)

[] "My bucketlists" page

.. and the list goes on! I'm just having internet connectivity difficulties these past few days, I don't know why so its not easy to finish them all at once. Plus, the house is so busy because of the holidays. Lots of visitors, and going outs here and there. ;) But, I'm hoping to finish this after the holiday rush so just wait, kay? ;)

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