Wysteria Blend
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Sagada... Umali Kayo!
Wow! Sagada was great! Never have I seen such perfect harmony between earth and sky. God is the true artist. His works are wonderful.Except where we got intestinal flu from too much mountain rice, I loved every bit of the trip. The view from the 12-hour drive was great, but not nearly as great as the ones we actually saw IN Sagada.
Rock Inn, our humble abode for two and a half days, proved to be the best in accommodations in the whole of Sagada. Next to the Ganduyan Inn or Sagada Guest House for that matter, five stars na siya. And it was even better coz our backyard was this nice garden with a huts and a stone formation where we had a bonfire. There was also this cafe where we made our chocolate fondue and got Regina semi-tipsy from Mountain Rice Wine. Cute!
Echo Valley was our first stop on Saturday morning. We trekked up and down the rocks and roots to see the view of the Hanging Coffins. Actually, the coffins were nothing great, but the view was splendid. We did a liberty scream wherein all of the mountains echoed back the scream. What a relief!
We had lunch at the Yoghurt House after the scream. They have really good fried chicken and banana yoghurt.
Then went to this area further down the town where we picnicked by the cliff overlooking the Sagada Rice Terraces. It is truly an 8th World Wonder. Never have I seen such beautiful terraces. They look like steps from afar but the height of one level is actually equivalent to a person and a half.
The next day was another adventure trip. We off-roaded to, supposed to be, the peak of this mountain but we could only go so much coz the Trooper's tires could only go so far. So we just sang away by the cliff while Kuya Mandy and Kuya Nicky found a way to get the Trooper back in track. Easy for the Vitara. And since were creating such a ruckus, this guy suddenly came out of nowhere with a gun. Thankfully, he was the protector of the place and was just trying to help us out.
And then we went to mass in what was supposed to be the Mt. Carmel Church of Sagada. Since most of the people there are Anglicans who played baseball, the handful of Catholics present heard mass at the church construction site. A pretty good experience to end the day.
And after having gone through all those rough roads, the drive back home was heaven.
Music: Deep - Binoculars
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Pampanga 4x4 Off-Roading Challenge (Pictures)
The Delta Recon - Vitara Club of the Philippines
That white Suzuki Samurai in the background is Kuya Nicky's. Believe it or not, magaling yan umakyat ng lahar hills.
The yellow-orange one in the middle is a real live Tonka. It's such a cute car!
It's one of those off-roaders from up north. They're heavy for the hills, but they wreak havoc when there's mud.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Pampanga 4x4 Off-RoadingI don't know anything when it comes to cars. As far as I'm concerned, if I can drive it, it's good enough for me. But this weekend showed me what a 4x4 off-roading race is, and it rocks!
It was held at Pampanga, under the dreadful heat of the sun, in the middle of all that lahar. And it wasn't a race race. It's a matter of finishing the course within the given time frame (if you can finish it at all), going through all those blasted lahar hills, water, mud, you name it, and making sure your car is in tip-top shape enough to drive back home to Manila. In our team, Kuya Nicky was the head driver and Billy was his navigator who spent most of his time digging his aqua socks into the mud to check if the route won't get the Suzuki Samurai stuck. Billy, by the way, is the guy who's cousins with THE MiG Ayesa and he promised to give me a cd of all the MiG songs. Whoopiedoo!
Back to the race, well, the stupid organizers didn't bother testing out the track so it was hardly doable. Only team 24 out of 24 teams finished. That, by the way, was Gov. Mark Lapid's team, who also donated the prize. How luto is that! And he probably won because all the other teams had already paved the way for him.
So anyway, it was an enjoyable experience. I'm majorly sun-burned. I learned to appreciate C2 and cheers to Coleman for a brilliant invention that he should be made a saint. And I met majority of the Vitara Club of the Philippines who all have cool cars! I'm not talking expensive BMW, I'm talking about cute Jimnys, cool Tonkas, and amusing Samurais with snorkels on them. I have a new found respect for KN's Samurai. Can't believe that car pulled the Tonka.
Oh yeah! At the beginning of the weekend, Kuya Nicky's car ran out of gas on EDSA. So we had to tow him to the nearest gas station. Towards the end of the weekend, Billy's car lost its clutch (had to ride with him all the way since I couldn't fit anymore with KN). When it comes to cars, I believe I've seen everything. And it didn't help that our time in the car established a musical generation gap.
Kudos to Kuya Nicky for a brilliant toy car and excellent driving skills! If I were a guy, I'd follow in his footsteps. Hehe! And galeng ni Wifey (a.k.a Ate)! She's still cool even in the face of a track like that and major butterflies in the stomach.
Music: The ones from Billy's Ipod
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
With a few good friends...Yay! I'm finally happy today. It's been a mighty boring 2 days at the office, what with the new quiet programmer whom I have absolutely nothing to talk about and Lea and Dyle being busy in the next room. But today, we had a lunch at the office, c/o San Jacinto, so those who report to work on site were at the office. Yipee! I have people I enjoy talking with to talk to. How rendundant!
So anyway, it's payday, so Teng, Gerald, Bam, Ericka and I paid a visited to your friendly neighborhood, Starbucks, and yum the mocha! Now back at the office and we're catching up on kwento, drinking coffee, and sharing pictures. What a relief it is to break the week with something light and bubbly. I'll miss them again tomorrow.
But for now, I'm just happy!
Music: With A Few Good Friends - Carly Simon
All my life, I was told by my parents, my teachers, and my books that you should never judge a person by his parents because the sin of the parent is not the sin of the child. So, I don't judge my cousins by their parents because I love ALL my cousins. The problems of the previous generation are the previous generation's, not ours.
Last night, we had some talk on "stuff" that shouldn't be my problem at my age, nor Bam's at her age. I might have land in Forbes to my name, but shit, I'd rather be going there every Saturday and/or Sunday of the week, and all special occasions, sleeping over, or just visiting the Titas, than make money out it. So I promise ALL my siblings (in-laws included) that I will NEVER send any of them away from our home and they are welcome to stay there forever if they want. And if any of my nieces and nephews want to live with me, that's fine by me. After all, families are made to be together, not broken.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Bored and SleepyAs my title appropriately says, I am bored and sleepy. There's a new programmer in my office and he's temporarily stationed in the room that's supposed to be mine, Ton's and Teng's. But since Ton is hardly here, and Teng will probably give birth within the week, I have to choice but to let him stay here til they send him on-site. And I have nothing whatsoever to talk about with this guy. Just like all the programmers I've come know, Gerald excluded, he's so damn quiet and, most likely, a computer geek in every sense. I can't even play diner dash!
So anyway, I'm just pondering about what I've seen so far of Lost Season 2. Good thing I have old Friends episodes to fill in the gap between what I've seen and what I'm waiting for. These are my thoughts:
1. Russo's good pala talaga. But she still looks scary. If I see her in person, I would probably scream.
2. If I could vote one person off the island, it would, without a doubt, be Michael. He's nothing but a liability and a loser!!! Hindi nag-iisip!
3. Si Claire... hay! In Ate's words - Tatanga-tanga!
4. I'd hate to get in the same body of water as Hurley and Sayid. It sounds mean but it's just gross.
5. You can't truly trust anyone except for Jack and Sun. I actually don't trust Locke and Ana Lucia just yet. They all have their kanya-kanyang baho.
6. What the heck was that black smoke that materialized in front of Mr. Eko?
Ayan! I'm kinda awake na.
Music: Nocturne's Wind - from Lunar Silver Star