has this ever happened to you?

A few days ago, I had a slight cold. Since I had a runny nose, I needed tissue -- lots of them. So I got a box from our stock, ripped the top flap open... and found the tissues arranged this way. What the f---???

My initial instinct was to just grab a bunch from the middle, but that would be messy. So I cut out the entire top of the box and grabbed the first piece on the left side. Talk about a freaky factory defect -- the box I mean, not me. Hehehe.

foodtripping sa Baguio

This is my third installment of the Baguio series! I know you guys want to know where we ate kaya heto na sila....

Day 1

Kahit wala kaming tulog masyado ( I actually didn't get to sleep a wink sa sobrang lamig), we went to Session Road to have our first breakfast in Baguio. We found the Solibao branch there to be open so nagmadali kaming kumain ng marami before going to UP-Baguio for our 9 a.m. appointment.


After spending the whole day inside the UP-Baguio campus, we were raring to eat something really good for dinner. The problem was, it was a Friday night. At 8:30 p.m., all the restaurants at Session Road were full!!! Kaya yun, we ended up walking to Burnham Park. Good thing the Solibao branch (yes, Solibao na naman) at the park was still open. Sobrang lamig nga lang kasi we decided to eat outside the restaurant.

Day 2

Sa kakahanap ng makakainan ng breakfast before going back to UP-Baguio, we ended up at Narda's. It is actually a huge store selling Filipiniana products, pero meron silang coffeeshop. Masarap naman ang food -- especially their tea. Yun nga lang, Chiqui's simple order of toast and marmalade was a complete disaster. Kaya nag-shopping na lang kami.




Since it was officially the start of our Baguio lakwatsa, we headed over to Camp John Hay. While wistfully gazing at The Manor, we had lunch at Carlo's Pizza. The place served yummy Italian food. It's a lot like Yellow Cab though. Jhen and I goofed around and pretended to be Japanese tourists who liked posing for pictures with their fingers flashing the V-sign.

Before heading back to Manila that night, we had dinner at the famous Cafe by the Ruins near the city hall. I've always loved this place. Cozy and romantic ambience. Great no-meat menu. First-timers to the place always get puzzled when looking for the "ruins". Para kasing wala naman. It was my third visit already, so tinuro ko kay Chiqui, kay Dr. Portus and her family to look at the stone wall panel posing as the facade of the cafe, since it was obviously the only remaining relic of an obviously old building that once stood at the same site as the cafe.

house of spirits?

We stayed at the ancestral home of the Legarda clan in Baguio City during our fieldwork. Sobrang ganda ng house even though it was built pa when the American colonizers developed the city into their top summer destination. Super laki ng rooms. Fantastic fireplace. Sprawling grounds. Siyempre, mega kodakan kaming lahat. Since the house was full of old portraits of Legarda ancestors, us girls couldn't help but scare each other the entire time we were there! Our professor, her family and our two older male classmates just shook their heads at our antics. Hehehe. Good thing we didn't see a single ghost. Although a picture frame fell while we were looking at it just minutes after we arrived at the house at about 3 a.m. (isn't that what they call the witching hour?.)

U.P. up and away!

Alam kong super overdue na itong entry na ito. For some reason, ngayon lang ako na-inspire na ikuwento ang unforgettable Baguio fieldwork last September. Dahil siguro sobrang dami ng pictures -- I didn't know where to begin! Anyway, here are our pictures taken at UP-Baguio. It was my first time there! Good thing my classmate Jhen was an alumni so she "expertly" toured us around. Bilib na sana ako... until we asked her if there was a shorter, less tiring route to one of the campus buildings. Meron daw! To make a long story short, her shortcut brought us to the same mahaba at matarik staircase we were trying to avoid! Umikot lang pala kami! Wala namang napikon. Ang sarap kasi ng hangin at ang ganda ng campus kasi! Ang mura pa ng food! I just had to hold on to Jhen kasi sobrang tarik nga ng mga stairs. I kept on praying na hindi kami madudulas kasi pareho kaming accident-prone!

my dad's day

Was my dad's birthday yesterday. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse Grill at Bonifacio High Street, then walked over to the Figaro branch for coffee. Sarap tumambay dun kagabi kasi umulan so medyo malamig ang hangin. Then there was a show of some kind -- yung Christmas lights sa courtyard flickered in sync with the Christmas songs blaring from the mall's speakers. Had a good time. Too bad I didn't get to sleep a wink last night coz I forgot to order decaf coffee at Figaro. Hehehe. Oh well.

high end life

I have been hearing so much about Serendra and Bonifacio High Street but I never had the chance to visit the place since it opened late last year. Last October 31, I finally dragged my sister and my mom to check the place out. Sobrang high end pala talaga ang place so we just walked around till we saw... the 4-storey branch of Fully Booked! I loooooved it!!! Ang sarap tumambay dun! Yeah, am such a geek.

Siyempre, pasimple kaming nagpictorial dun -- mukha nga lang kaming mga nagday-off. Hehehe.

San ang lakad niyo?

Finally enrolled for MA Residency last week. To celebrate the event, my MA classmate Chiqui and I decided to walk from Plaridel Hall to Palma Hall (yep, dear readers, I walked!). While enjoying the cool breeze that afternoon (thank God hindi umulan), Chiqui whipped out her her cameraphone so we could do an impromptu shoot of our first-ever walk in Diliman! Kahit maraming dumadaan na sasakyan at maraming tumitingin na joggers, mega kodakan ang ginawa naming dalawa until... Chiqui said we forgot to do something at Plaridel Hall. I stopped in my tracks while gazing at the steps of Palma Hall -- about 50 meters away! Eh alangan namang maglakad kami pabalik sa napakalayong Plaridel. So may I sakay kami sa UP Ikot jeepney while laughing our heads off (thank God we still have our sense of humor intact!) When we got to Plaridel and paid what we forgot to pay, we got a text message from Jhen, another classmate, that we didn't need to pay that particular fee kasi residency na lang ang inenroll namin!!! Aaaargh! What a day! Hanggang sa huli napepeste kami sa MA!

Nah, I'm not bored

While friends were watching the Beyonce concert at The Fort last night, I was watching ketchup drop.

Exciting!

prutas sa undas

Spent the looong weekend in Laguna. Although most of the fruits were harvested a few months ago, my mom's barkada, Tita Jessie, still managed to gather dozens of dalandans and about ten pieces of rambutan, straight from the trees. My mom, Auntie Lea, Wig, nephew Lance, Tita Jessie, her apo Phoebe and I searched all the trees looking for something to pluck. Never mind that large black ants kept on crawling all over our feet!

Kung may tiyaga, may dalandan.... at rambutan.

People in their 30s, enjoying music from the 90s

Last October 27, Gladys, Chet, my cousin Coco, his wife Elaine and I trooped over to Tiendesitas for a free Side A concert. Walking down memory lane ang drama naming lima, since we all enjoyed Side A in the 1990s. Good food, good ambience, good music.