Crabs + Cake

A spontaneously planned, but well organized birthday dinner (thanks to Pushpa!) took me and my closest remaining friends in KL to the fabulous butter crabs of Mei Keng Fatt in Ampang. I've gone there several times in the past, and its really worth going back to as the closest place from the centre of town to fulfill your seafood cravings. It also gave me a chance to bring along my new toy:

Crystal clear close up of the butter crab.

They call this seafood "Geoduck" but to us it looked like Gigantic D***.

I'd be afraid to eat this monster crab.

I had brought 2 bottles of wine for an after-dinner drinks session, and to my surprise, there was cake waiting for me! Awwwww.

I'm definitely going to miss my KL family *sniff*. Friends for life.

A Taste of Home

Ah the simple joys of being an OFW...having a taste of home-cooked leche flan from a fellow Pinoy's dinner table, with other Pinoy friends and their extensions. This dessert was precluded by Sinigang na Hipon, Adobo, Tocilog and Longganisa, plus garlic rice. Heavenly!

The other day a college friend from home also arrived with 10 packs of Lucky Me pancit canton and shared a few sticks of Pinoy Marlboro lights. Malaysian cigarettes are just not made the same way.

I won't be home for some time yet, so I'm glad to have this slice to remember Manila. Now if only there was a Jollibee around the area.

The Other Boracay

Boracay in July, which is the island's off-peak season, is a different experience altogether. In my 2nd trip there this year (which I made with even more effort since I had to fly in from KL), I was pleasantly surprised not to spend my time lolling around on the beach for 3 days, with the requisite kayak ride so that I get at least some exercise and don't feel guilty about staying up all night drinking in Club Paraw, Pier 1, Hey Jude or Juice.

There are fewer people on the beach and it doesn't seem like Greenbelt magically transported to Aklan. The prices are much much lower. We got a beachfront "penthouse" room with a veranda courtesy of Casa Fiesta in Station 1 for only P430/night/person. I finally got to: island-hop (with snorkeling and a visit to Crystal Cove and Puka Beach) for about P400, banana-boat for P150, parasail for P900, and take a beautiful sunset glide over the water in Boracay's famous paraw.

Gigi was totally right also when she said that Boracay is different depending on who you're with. I'd like to thank my off peak Bora squad consisting of her, Marj, Mai, and James for a shared sense of adventure, love for good food, ability to help me stick to a budget, and total cam-whoreness. I'd love to book another P1.00 Cebu Pacific trip with these guys soon.

IT girls?

While shooting this...

Krissie and I found time to strike a pose with props from the other layouts...

Here's where I realized that professional photography has really got to be helped by professional styling. Who would ever have believed I was actually prom queen in high school?

I miss shoots! But I don't miss advertising. :)

Birthday Non-Celebration

I guess my friends know me so well that they know a major
occasion with beer and food (tons of barbecue my favorite!) would only
get even better with a round of VIDEOKE!

Kudos to Jake for the brilliant idea, Joie for helping out, and everyone
who contributed (even if I know it was half Jake's taray factor that made you pitch in the pot)... I had planned a simple, informal, birthday
"non-celebration" in the hopes that my 29th birthday would slip by so
quietly no one would notice I was a year older. But what I got was contributions of more barbecue, palabok, liquor and cigarettes that I
was extremely giddy with well-being and gratitude.

And for entertainment, nothing can beat my singers, whether they be
from Level Up (Moonie, Mon, Jake, Vanessa--future pop sensation,
Teresa, Lexi, Oneil, Pat, Jose, Pau, Ben), other friends (Gigi, Pao, Tey),
and family (my sister Deepa's rare moments of singing solo pop).
Of course the night wasn't complete without me torturing everyone with
renditions of my usual videoke fare (Sweet Child of Mine, Bitch,
Crazy For You) and an attempt to sing "Love Moves in Mysterious Ways" (eek!). Happily enough since it was my birthday, guests had to
applaud enthusiastically.




Aside from a good sprinkling of people from my LU family (IT, BRG,
Marketing, Creative, Prod Dev, Finance were all represented),
there was also special effort from friends outside the office
to be there (Ainee, Marj, Gigi, Trish, Pao, Momentum ppl).
All in all, the "non-celebration" was a good look of aspects in my
life that I love --- friends from all over, food, beer, great conversations
(if slightly drunk), videoke, hanging out at 6.5.

It was so fulfilling I almost felt like I was 30, which is usually
what one would deem to be the next big milestone in one's life----
but thank goodness I'm not yet there. According to this energy reader I met
some time ago (yes that's me, fortuneteller junkie), my spirit guides think
I'm on track. It might have been BS, but I feel it to be true somehow.
However, I may have gotten my head screwed on better in the past year of my
growth, but there's so much to learn yet. And that's the exciting part.

Blog template credits: To Diwa thank you very much for this fabulous blog template which depicts one of my favorite shots of the white island/sandbar which rises up in low tide across the shores of Camiguin Island.

Laguna Loop

It was almost a few days in Sagada, then a weekend in Balai, finally it settled into the long overdue Laguna Loop with the girls. It does sound too near to be exciting, but its a road trip highly recommended for those who want to know what's just outside Manila. I discovered and re-discovered so many things.

...such as that road that starts at the Ortigas Extension actually loops around Laguna de Bay and ends up on the South Expressway upon returning to Manila. How amazing! We took off from Ortigas at around 9am on Saturday (alright 10 am because I was late as usual) and shopped for supplies at the 7-11 at the junction to Tanay.

Its so true that anywhere in the world, some of the most beautiful art can be found in churches. I think we visited a total of 5 churches through our trip, and caught 4 weddings in the process. Throughout the route we stopped at the town churches of Taytay, Morong, Lumbang, Paete, and Pagsanhan. The exteriors of the churches speak of the history of the towns that saw Christianity in the 1600s, even as most churches were just rebuilt after being damaged by fire or war.

Flame trees were a common spectacle along the roads and in the church grounds. Wish they would bloom year round.

Ainee, Gigi & Marj in a photo meant for a travel magazine.

The Dambana ng Kagalakan columns stand outside the Angono Church, and though I don't know what it means exactly, it must be something happy right?

Morong Church.

Historical facts about the Lumban Church.

Paete Church...looks so much like the wood carvings they're known for!
The interiors of the churches are so influenced by European and Spanish architecture, I felt like Robert Langdon trying to break the secrets of the Da Vinci Code. Yes, there were pyramid and sun structures in the art as well as the distinctly Catholic images.


This is one of my favorite pictures...Ainee has a very serene face it seems like she's always content. Very apt for her church surroundings!

Of course the church visits were never complete without a prayer. Believe me, the girls knew exactly what to ask for.

We were very lucky to find Bulawan floating restaurant, which was our first lunch of the road trip. The restaurant is right by the main highway in Pililla, and is a cute enterprise sitting on a big fishpond, while the view away from the road looks out to Laguna de Bay. Highly recommended fare: Inihaw na Pla-pla.
We also drove around Caliraya Lake in an attempt to find housing for the night, but the place was just too rich for our blood. So we ended up at Pagsanhan Falls Lodge...bringing back many childhood recollections of me shooting the rapids with my family who is orignally from that area.

The thing that made this road trip great was actually the company I kept. So well into the night (armed with red wine and a bottle of GSM Blue), we toasted our fabulous lives (things look so much better with a round of liquor), and gave ourselves up to the Sandman in our small but comfy room (with a haunted bathroom!).

The next morning we gathered up our dwindling "kitty fund" to take a trip down the Pagsanhan river. It was so memory-laden for me as I remember going down the same river looking up at the trees jutting out of the mountainside...stopping at the rest area for delicious chicken barbecue...and finally getting to the main waterfall after a 30-minute boat ride that demonstrated the ingenuity and stamina of Pagsanhan boatmen. One thing i did NOT remember from my childhood was how it felt to cross under the waterfall to get to the cave behind it. I almost thought I wouldn't make it but I did! All it took was a deep breath and some internal pep talk...and it can be applied to so many things in life you thought you couldn't do...until you tried.

Oh and the other thing I didn't remember from childhood...I hadn't realized that were quite a bit of good looking boatmen. Shame we didn't have a camera during the river jaunt!

On the drive home we stopped by my dad's grave in Sta. Cruz which I hadn't visited in ages. Its funny how I got a reminder from him through Marj, who's blessed with a third eye. I have to go back there soon to correct his name on the grave. But more than that simple reminder the bigger picture...that he watches out for us too.

One of our last stops along the way home was the University of the Philippines Los Banos to buy fresh milk. Unfortunately, the dairy farm was closed but we did stop for a cute picture. Now do you know what the girls prayed for?

We got distracted with buying milk, cheese, crabs, lamps (!) along the way home so we grabbed dinner at Grace's Bulalo, right before the exit to the South Expressway. Highly recommended fare: Bulalo (err, its obvious).



Credits for the trip: Gigi for her planning and fabulous style; Marj for the transport, the infectious laugh and optimism; Ainee for her poise and "game-to-do-anythingness".