Bad Days, Better Days

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby

There a couple of small screens at the ground floor and 6th floor elevator lobbies of our building that they're trying to sell ad space for. For lack of actual ads, they have resorted to placing slide shows with inspirational quotes and in fairness, I've seen a couple of pretty good ones. But nothing more striking or applicable to myself than Cosby's words of wisdoms above. See, I'm a people pleaser. I hate it when people hate me. So sometimes I go above and beyond the call of duty to make people comfortable and happy.

For a tough stretch last week, the call of duty asked me to be the harbinger of doom to people. I kept on telling myself I couldn't control what happened. But it's really hard when something you gotta do makes other people unhappy.

So by the end of the week I tried to take Cosby's words to heart and stopped thinking about pleasing everyone...except myself! Went surfing (in tamer waves then last November) and this time standing up on the board wasn't just a fluke because I did it several times. Woohoo!

Uh-oh, now I'm addicted to the waves. Here are photos of me getting stoked! :)

North Luzon Loop (Part 3)

Bolinao, Pangasinan



Patar Beach is simply the best swimming beach I've been to in years. Uncrowded, clear blue waters with fine white sand, and its just a total of 5 hours away from Manila if you drive in directly. It's advisable to come by car, as the row of resorts is about 20 minutes drive away from the really good beach area--- yep its tough to trike or jeep in to Patar Beach. We stayed at Bing's Resort (for reservations call +63928-2477501, +63921-2807142 and look for Aida), which apart from being a comfy place to sleep, has really a warm and welcoming staff who always asks if you're ok, will offer to manage the videoke machine for you, and can cook a mean liempo and Pinakbet and bring it atop a 2-level hut perched for a view of the sea. One side of Bing's is also fronted by a good beach, but if you're too lazy to move from there to Patar Beach, one good incentive to get driving is being able to pass by the Bolinao Lighthouse, which has a balcony with an extremely romantic view of the Bolinao coastline.


I always find that roadtrips with Marj and Gigi always send us visiting nearby churches in every town we pass, and this one was no exception. Although I'm not very religious, I don't mind at all because I've always believed you can see the best artwork in churches. This holds true and is even more evident in more rural towns where you'll suddenly be surprised by a structure of Spanish or Gothic architecture. Above photos from L-R, clockwise: St Joseph the Patriarch, Aguilar, Pangasinan; San Isidro Labrador, Pangasinan (the outside looks like a birthday cake for Marj but the interior has gorgeous back wall mural), St. Raymund of Penafort, Mangataren, Pangasinan and St. James Parish, Bolinao (complete with bats in the belfry).



The last, unavoidable and most sinful component of a road trip is food, food, food! From the adobo and barbeque cooked by Mai, one of the best cooks I know (who claims to be able to cook any dish she tastes!), the chips, and cookies forced (!) on me by Gigi, the requisite Starbucks stop at Luisita, Tarlac, and Marj's recommendations, tainga and bulalo at Countryside Restaurant which was our last stop at Katipunan Extension, Quezon City.

Credits for the trip have to go to the great company I was with but most of all, to the birthday girl--- may she have a great year which kicks off with learning from her past and moves into a bright and brilliant future!

North Luzon Loop (Part 2)

Alaminos, Pangasinan

This time our excuse was Marj's birthday bash, which we took on the the road to Pangasinan. Our weekend started on a Friday at the ungodly hour of 5:00 am, at the Cinnabon outlet in the Petron station on NLEX. 3 hours later, were in the famous Manaoag Shrine. You can't miss it , there are 3 "welcome arches" along the highway that lead you to the site.

The church of Our Lady of Manaoag seems to have been renovated already as the exterior gleams with a fresh coat of paint. But the interior is at least more authentic and antique, and the back walls reminded me very of much of Spanish Intramuros. I expected hordes of people to be there as befitting the "miraculous statue" stories, but the crowd was quite manageable, and prayerful. After lighting a candle in the back and checking out the wood carved replicas of the Blessed Virgin mounted onto trees, we went up to a room positioned at the back of the church altar where you can kneel, touch the cloak of Our Lady, and ask your petition. There's also a museum where they showcase past perfumes crowns, cloaks, jewelry and rosaries that the Lady has worn, many donated by devotees. Typical of a pinoy Patron, the Lady was quite well equipped with fragrances by Ferregamo, Estee Lauder, Dior and Chanel and when we asked the museum receptionist what kind of miracles the Lady had performed, she said something like, "She brought a boy back to life." and "She saved people from a fire," which were singularly amazing feats but quite vague in execution. I guess its really personal faith that counts.


Another 4 hours later, the van finally drove up to our main destination at the Hundred Islands National Park in Lucap, Alaminos, Pangasinan. They say there are 123 islands scattered around this area, with 3 islands that are developed for overnight accomodations. You can choose either the "roughing it" accomodations or celebrity quarters. We opted for the latter, and booked a night at the villa on Governor's Island, where the locals claim that Regine Velasquez stayed a week before to shoot a Wow, Philippines ad (hence my Regine pose!).

The house overlooks the sea via a balcony reminiscent of a Greek villa (I can only imagine one from pictures), and you can actually climb down pretty steep rock formations to jump into the water. They only ration water though, so even "celebrities" have to bathe with a pail of water, and lights go off at 10pm unless you pay for an extension. We spent the day bonding, cooking (ok I only washed dishes), and hobnobbing with the local caretaker, the house cat and kitten, and the resident ghost (waaah). The lack of electricity led me to flip my cellphone backlight on every hour during the dark, electricity-less night so I could sleep!

During low tide, you can actually walk from Governor's Island to the neighboring one, which Mai and James did at 6:00 am while the rest of us were still asleep. Though I think the neighboring estate was called Virgin Island, and maybe that's why I wasn't meant for a visit. Governor's Island offers footpaths around and up a hill where you have a better view of the islands scattered around (check out me asking Manong, este, James for directions). There are also visually stunning balete trees with their roots extending down the paths, and interesting caves complete with bats! Here's a tip: Havaianas are not for trekking.



For P200 more on top of the P1,200 you pay for the boat that ferried us to Governor's Island, you can take the boat island hopping. We did hop around and check out the interesting island formations, spent some time at a raft anchored in the midst of several islands, tried to snorkel ('til we found too many itchy critters in the water), and eventually stopped at a charming little beach called Papaya Island for the requisite sun bathing in the grey-white sand, picture taking among the stunning rock formations, and swimming in relatively clear waters.

Then we took to the road again. Next stop--- Bolinao.

Note: To get to the Hundred Islands National Park, take the North Expressway and exit at Mabalacat, Pampanga. You pass through Tarlac and then turn towards the Pangasinan towns of Mangataren, Buhgallon, Sual then Alaminos. Pick up an EZ-Map of Pangasinan at any National Booksore for best results, and you can also arrange for accomodations at the Tourist Office when you arrive. You may also call the Alaminos Tourist Office at +75-5512505/2249.

North Luzon Loop (Part 1)

Baguio

The herd (or at least some of us) trooped to the Shell station on the North Luzon Expressway at 7:00 am on a Saturday to kick off our Baguio overnight trip to attend Ton & Anthony's wedding. A Starbucks breakfast, 5 hours and 10++ CDs later, we landed in the mucho delicious Cafe by the Ruins near the Baguio City Hall to feast on White Cheese Salad, Pinikpikan, Chicken in Cream Sauce and Panna Cotta. Sadly they had run out of the special Strawberry Shake, but at least we have an excuse to go back again.

After a short nap at Marvi's family house which would serve as our homebase for the weekend, we rushed off to the church to see most of the church rites, and then drove over to the reception at the Manor Suites in Camp John Hay. It was quite a trip to see everyone so dressed up! But what really made the night beautiful wasn't all the fancy dresses, it was seeing a celebration of a strong bond between 2 people. It makes one marvel about human relationships, and how people traveling different paths can suddenly travel together along the way.

Of course we didn't just stick with sentimental moments, but got cracking on taking photos for the rest of the night. Sadly enough, we only had 1 photo with the newlyweds! The rest of the time, Marvi, Gigi and I posed with Jason, Erica, and other friends.

We spent our next "day off" visiting Burnham Park ("Ma'am, off lang po kami.."), buying strawberries at P60/kilo and lunching at Sugbaan which is a grill place inside the park. Then we hied off to the Baguio Palengke for the requisite silver and gulay shopping. I walked out with silver hoop earrings (P180), a silver thumb ring (P200) and about P300 worth of cauliflower, romaine lettuce, cabbage, and mushrooms. The adorable buhat boys helped us carry our stuff to the parking...and gamely posed for a pic.


Before finally vrooming down the mountain (poor Max was traumatized by this trip), we took photos with the fabulous Baguio view as our backdrop. Finally I handed the wheel over to our resident maniac driver Gigi so we could speed our way to dinner at Isdaan in alongside the Tarlac highway ("Halfway to the North"). The food was standard grilled fare, but the floating tables and the phallic looking statues more than made up for it with entertainment value.

Clocked in home at 1:00 am on Monday morning. What a weekend.

Tagged!

This is a long overdue response to a tag by my sister, and my inspiration for the items below is an original list from my journal written many years ago when I someone told me that the key to finding The One was writing down the specific things you want in Mr Right. So dutifully followed instructions and it hasn't exactly been effective.:P But comparing my old list to the new one makes me realize how much my understanding of what I want in my life and for myself has improved greatly. And if this is what all this time helped me to achieve, then its definitely worth the wait.

Eight different points of my perfect lover:

1. Free-spirited and fun. No prophets of doom please or whiners please.
2. Responsible and able to take care of himself. Being able to take care of me is just a plus, not a necessity.
3. Smart. Genius IQ is not a requirement, but street smart and able to keep up a conversation is extremely acceptable.
4. Respectful. Of himself, of me, and of others around us.
5. An equal. I don't mean in status, but in being able to give as much as he can get from me.
6. With an ability to share, both his life with mine and mine with his. I can't live in a compartment.
7. Decisive. If he's decided to stick with me, he should!
8. Able to recognize me right away. Of course this is a shot at the moon...but one can only hope!

Ok that last part of the list was getting tough. So I'm sure this stands for more improvement. But anyway I'm also going to follow the rest of the tag:

Sex of the target (?!): Straight Male

Eight people I'm tagging: All non-bloggers, but they deserve to think about it too--- Tricia, Marj, Gigi, Ainee...and I can't think of any more. Fine...you, you, you and YOU.