Quick Chicky Date

It's very Sunny to see my good, old-Jurassic friends earlier this evening even just for a quick dinner together. They really are my sisters from another mothah. Sobrang I feel blessed that they are my friends because not everyone have managed to keep their friendship with their  friends intact through elementary-highschool-college-employment. And I'm just glad we are one of those blessed ones whose friendship have been tried and tested as in literal na kahit may tampuhan, one call lang of a friend who's in need, we'll go to the rescue in a jiffy. Or even with the shallowest problem, like during the time when I still do not know how to open a gas tank, my dear friend Cha came to the rescue on her bike just to help me open it. Or when I cannot bury myself my pet dog who died, Galvs my dear guy friend with his girlfriend came to the rescue to dig a hole and bury my dog. And during my down moments when someone I knew before, have recently attacked me with accusations on Fb (of all the venues), all it took was one text message and Em, Joy, Tina, Galvs, Mau, and Teng came to the rescue to comfort and entertain me. We love and care for each other with every bit of sincerity and authenticity. See why I love my troupe?  I literally got carried away on that one. <3 :'>

So anyway, back to our regular program--our dinner was one helluva heavy one. We ate at Chicboy. We chose the place 'cause they say their food is good and Joy was craving for it for like 2 weeks already. And I'm the only person in our group who haven't tried their chicken yet. Loser, I know. 

Our group likes to budget--A LOT. We like getting our money's worth. Some may see us as shopping addicts especially Tina and I, but what they do not know is our practical side, which enables us to have some extra dime to buy some extra goodies ;) Even during our out of town trips or house parties, there would always be an extra fund left that could still be spent for something else. So as we were looking at the menu, we compared prices of each meal vs. to the price of the group meal. Finally the tribe has spoken and we all agreed to buy 1 whole chicken, one side order of grilled eggplant w/ bagoong and a plate of steamed kang-kong with garlic bits...oooh, yummm... but for the benefit of our dear meat-lover friend Tina who doesn't really have a good relationship with gulay, Joy and I ordered a stick of pork bbq for her. Sweet, I know. :P For the drinks, Em and Joy opted for bottomless iced tea, while Tina and I just had water 'cause Tina is under water therapy while I'm just a plain advocate of water. I don't like sodas and I rarely drink juice. Water simply makes my body happy (aside from coffee of course). So anyway, that was all of our orders. We were 4 ladies who ordered a meal good for 5-6 people. Our budget was 400 and we still got a change that we bought for our dessert. And believe it or not, we still had some extra penny to buy some goodies just to spend all of what was left of our change. Joy bought a hair clip, Em got herself an ear-cleaner, I forgot what Tina bought, and I brought home a pair of gloves to be used on our mt.Pulag climb this Friday. Geez, I really like how we budget!:)

AND OH! Happy and have a safe trip to Hong Kong tomorrow Em! I'm sure you'll gunna love the place as much as I did. Given the chance, I'd always be willing to go back there. It was love at first sight. :)

Weekend Backpacking-Road Trip

I really love being a Southern girl and I love-love living in Laguna, 'cause hell-O I was born and raised here. And now, I even work here! My love for Laguna also comes with my love for nature. I'm not a beach bum person kasi. If you'd make me choose between Boracay and Ilocos, I'd choose Ilocos. I get bored with beach 'cause I feel like, okay we'll go to the beach, sit on the shore, oh tapos? Unlike when you go nature tripping, there's just so many good things to look at, discover, and try. And no, this has nothing to do with the fact that I cannot swim-- Ha! So anyway, since ALL of my friends from high-school and college prefers beach over climbing/nature thing, I sometimes feel frustrated especially when I really, really wanna go to some forest and camp out but none of my girlies could accompany me, so just imagine how giddy I am to be with co-teachers/friends that are equally in love with nature!


And finally, after months of planning and waiting, our road trip finally took place last weekend--Hooray! The whole thing was out of our dearest teacher Mags's idea last July as we were looking at the list of holidays for the rest of the year and soon after she mentioned the idea of discovering Laguna, wala ng usapan pa, go na agad! :D


NOTE: Brace yourself for a series of OBLIGATORY jump shots! :P

Our first stop: Calamba Laguna because believe it or not, I haven't been to our Nat'l Joe's abode in Calamba.

Then we headed to Pila, Laguna

Where we crashed a wedding haha!

and where we found this place

That serves this very yummy Pancit Ulam

And took unlimited photos. Pila, reminded me so much of Paoay, Ilocos Norte. <3

From Pila, we went to Sta. Cruz then to Liliw! SHOE SHOPPING! I bought 4 pairs: 2 for me, 1 for mama, and 1 for my sister. It's my Christmas gift for them. I know they don't read my blogs so it's safe to mention it here *winkwink*

And thank goodness we found this coffee haven! It's a Mary Grace Cafe look alike inside!

After shopping, we headed to Nagcarlan, and true to being backpackers we just chanced upon a great place to swim and retire for the day at Villa Grogoria. The room is very nice, clean, and just enough to fit in 5 pretty ladies. The entire place is actually good. They have many pools, as in more than 5 pools, one of which is an Olympic size, some are kiddie pools w/ slides. Your group's privacy is also guaranteed because like I said, they have many pools for you to choose from so the guests will not pretty much just swim on one specific pool.  :) And because I loved the place a lot, I'm thinking of bringing my folks there for their wedding anniversary this March. That is, of course, upon my Great Financer's approval: God. :)

Then we headed for the underground cemetery:

Then we headed for Bunga falls

Then, we headed to Pagsanjan!

Then we headed for Cavinti, Japanese Garden. The place was a disappointment because it was not maintained. The Bonsai plants are gone. Dried leaves all over the place. Sayang, I hope they could revive the place because it's quite wide... but with a 10-Peso entrance fee, what would we expect nga naman. Nevertheless, we still had fun. :-)

Then we headed back to Los Baños for UP-LB Grove to buy UP shirts, visit their famous thrift shop, Papu's siomai, and Mer-Nel's chocolate cake. :-)

That road trip was full of favors and surprises from God, so I wanna glorify God for being with us through out the entire road trip. And to our dearest teacher Maggie for being our superwoman driver! Galing sobra lalo na on the zig-zag part of the road. I wish I could drive like her someday.

And to dearest D-Max for navigating the way for us. Team Almoro for the win!! :D

I also wanna clap-clap for my gadgets! Thank you for working so goood! ha ha! Grabe, I love you Canon! Canon for the win! =*

And of course, this trip is not complete without my photo lying on the road! haha! (photo taken by T.Mags)

Visit Samantha Snaps for my travel photography shots during the trip. :-)

Next Stop: Mt. Pulag! Woohoo! :D