day1: camiguin countryside tour

camiguin-bukidnon-cdo: itinerary, expenses and some link loving ♥

Creative blog title, yes? Haha! As promised here's my pasalubong na kwento. Because that's all I can give you guys as pasalubong, my never ending stories. :D

As much as I would like to spare you from the not-so-good part of this trip, I won't. Can you guess what unfortunate event happened? Can you, huh? Clue: Something to do with our flight. Hahaha! You guessed that right, we missed our flight! Pakshet!  We're five in this trip but only Dwin and I booked together, meaning only Dwin and I missed our flights. Booo! Our departure was 7:10am, I came in the airport at 6:40, Dwin came at 7:00. The plane boarded at 6:25. To make the long story short, we had to rebook our flights and that cost us more than two thousand pesos EACH. So much for waiting for seat sales, huh? 

Anyway, we learned our lesson the hard way. I just wish you learn from us na lang. Okay? Be in the airport at least an hour before your flight, that's the safest I guess. Thank you though to Cebu Pac for the lesson. Isang apir naman jan. :P

So moving on, we took the flight departing at 8:10am. We were in Cagayan de Oro at around  9:30. Sheena, Jelai and EA were already waiting for us. Kuya Gammy took us to Balingoan Port via a Toyata Grandia. We had lunch on our way, big thanks to Jollibee. It was a 2-hour comfortable ride to the port.  We were there at around 1:00pm.

finally landed in the city of golden friendship
my most expensive flight to date :P

Balingoan Port

 

From Balingoan Port, we took the ferry bound to Benoni Port. It was an hour away from Balingoan and the ride was worth P173. I swear the ferry was super slow, baka dahil hindi siya super ferry. Nyee. Haha! We were in Benoni Port at around 3:00pm.

Benoni Port

From Benoni Port, we were picked up by Kuya Teddy. Yes, the famous teddybird2005 of PEX. They suggested not to check-in first because it's late already. So, we started immediately with the Countryside Tour. After all, our first stop was Sto.Nino Cold Spring.

our ride for the country side tour

Our first stop was nothing but perfect since by then we were already feeling greasy. Instant ligo! And as its name implies, it was really freezing cold. I'm lost for words now just trying to emphasize how cold it was. Hahaha! I had a hard time dipping in the water because aside from being cold, it was deep too. Five feet I guess, 4'9 lang po ako. Add to that the fact that I can't tread in the water. Looooser! 

just before our freakin' cold swim

felt rather close to nature

Our next stop was Gui-Ob Old Church Ruins. According to Kuya Teddy, the church was damaged due to the eruption of Mt. Vulcan. All the while, Jelai was blaming Mt. Hibok-Hibok for everything Mt. Vulcan did. Barking up at the wrong tree, miss. :P Back to the church ruins, we saw an old chapel, a century old tree, ruins of the convent and ruins of the bell tower. How many times did I say old and ruins? Haha! 

old.old.ruins.ruins. :P

Third stop was the Sunken Cemetery. It was kind of creepy actually. If I remember it right, the sinking of this cemetery was Mt. Vulcan's fault once again. Namimihasa. :) And probably due to the fact that there's not so much you can do here, the guides have loads of picture tricks. Too bad we're a bunch of KJ people because only Dwin gamely posed for them. I'm not sharing his pics though, spotlight should still be mine. Bwahaha! :))

just imagine, party party ang tombstones sa ilalim. iscaaaryy

Last stop was the Walkway to Old Volcano and Stations of the Cross. Quick photo-ops only as we were starving at this point. Patay gutom in other words. 

Finally, we had dinner at Terrasse International Ristorante. Please do not get fooled with the name as its nothing fancy. They served our food a little long but nonetheless they're worth the wait. We had seafood pizza, bulalo, cordon bleu, sweet and sour fish and lechon kawali. Indeed, international.

haggardo versoza na ko at this point

After dinner, they asked us if we still want to visit Ardent Hot Spring but we declined. We were all too tired and obviously haggard. You know it's a mortal sin to get caught by the camera looking not-so-fresh. Right, girls?  ;) 

Aside from the hot spring, other spots we weren't able to visit are the Katibawasan Falls and Soda Pool. So in case you guys are planning a trip to Camiguin, you better be there EARLY. Take it from us, especially me. Haha!

That's it for the first part of this series. Hope I did not bore you as there's more to come. And please please click the pictures to embiggen {oopsie, too much internet slang}. My blog template won't allow me to post pictures larger than how I posted them. Ick. Is it time for template change? :S

**credits to Sheena, Dwin and Jelai for the pics

***total expenses and itinerary to follow

day2: camiguin white island tour and chill at bbc

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.. and finally, the christmas season with the family

I've been meaning to complete my Christmas post series but never found the will to begin, not until now. To be honest, I've been procrastinating too much lately and I hate it. Kung pwede lang siguro akong sapukin ng planner ko every time I miss to do something, nakooo, bugbog sarado na ko. Hahaha! Exag, i know. :P

Now on to my late Christmas kwento.. Before the Christmas Eve, we visited our extended family from mother's side and brought them Noche Buena. We had endless photo-ops with our dear granny. I came to realize that she's getting really old and that we have to spend more time with her amidst our own busy lives. Cousins, you know what to do. Take care of our dear lola. 

we ♥ love you, granny

Back in our house, we had the usual Noche Buena - ham, spaghetti, pancit, lumpia, crispy pata, kalderata, inihaw and lots of desserts. To give proper credit, those with presentation were Ate Tin's share while those without any touch of art were mama's share. Hahaha! Peace, mother. :* Nevertheless, taob din naman lahat!

gondo presentation

don't judge the spaghetti by its cheese

Our Christmas Eve was spent mostly for eating because we didn't have 'exchange gift' this year. We're also not used to wrapping presents for everyone. We just buy stuff for one another as the Christmas season approaches. This is optional though. I repeat, optional. Haha! :P

temptatioooons

And as they say, there's always an exemption to the rule and it's none other thaaann.. Drum roll please.. our pwinsesa {that's how papi calls her}! She got two barbie dolls and a piglet stuff toy whose head is even larger than hers.

mama bear, papa bear and baby bear {with her gifts}

For the Christmas parting photo.. our almost-family-picture. We better buy tripod next year, ok? :D

we have yags and papi in our hearts naman. queso!

---

Now on to our NYE. Believe me when I say we really did not prepare for New Year. Hahaha! It has been our tradition to wear polka dots as we welcome the new year and since most of us do not have one, we made DIY polka dot shirts. Coins plus an old spray paint and voila!

Another tradition is to spend a good amount of fortune with fireworks. What you see in the photo below is less than half of what we used to have. But nowadays, we have to be more practical. Agree?

di kame prepared, not at all

 

Moving on with our Media Noche - we had ham, macaroni, meatballs, dinuguan, pusit, crispy pata, beef broccoli, aroz valenciana, countless desserts and lots of fruits. Not that I remember all these, I just checked out the pictures. Cheateeeer! :))

pagkaeeeennn

As the clock struck 12, Yags started his fireworks display. As usual, we got our neighbors watching it too. Nood na po kayooo.. Limang piso lang ang entrance. Hahaha! 

after the fireworks display

After the fireworks display, we feasted on our Media Noche for a good two hours I guess. If that's gluttony, I'm asking for your forgiveness dear Lord in front of this blog. ;) On the other hand, our pwinsesa only lasted for a few snap shots. She was so sleepy the whole time she wasn't even able to eat.

sleepy baby

And before I end this post, it is with pride and honor that I present to you our best dressed for the night. Hahaha! Charing lang. Our three musketeers oh-so-trendy in their 2012 polka dot shirts. O ha, New Year is more fun in the Philippines. 

two zero one two

it’s alright oh it's alright  ♫ ♬

Lastly, my New Year parting photo. The obligatory family pictures which showcase how trying hard we are of doing wacky shots. Boo!
 

here's to an awesome 2o12! :D

..and that concludes my holiday blah blahs. I hope you had an awesome Christmas Season too. Up next, my pasalubong na kwento from CDO-Camiguin-Bukidnon. :D

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.. then the christmas season with friends

Moving on with the next part of my Christmas post series, I'm going to share now my Christmas with friends. Surprise, surprise! Inspite of being anti-social for months now, I have managed to keep some special friendship. And with some, I mean four. Oh yes, I still have four remaining friends. Haha! Kidding. I really wish I was kidding. :D

Anyway, remember Silina? The one who left us last April for some work obligations? She's back last month for a vacay. But as I share this story she has gone to the US of A again. Oh well, at least I was able to meet her twice for dinner. One with our batchmates, Sheena and Dwin, and another with her teammates {yes, I was dakilang sabit}.

with the manggugulat of city walk

Apple & Dwin

Celine & Sheena

For our batch dinner, we ate at Friday's. Baby back ribs, seafood platter and yummy pasta {let's just call it "yummy" because I cannot remember what it was, k?} The night was full of stories and laughter. It's always been like that with them. Puro nega ang kwento pero masaya. Laugh your problems away, guys. Hahaha!

food porn + Silina's gift

The next day after our "Friday's" night was a holiday {okay fine, Dec 30}. Tin and I went to Tagaytay because we have decided to make it a tradition of going out of town every year end. Last year, we were in Subic.  We went to Treetop Adventure and got high on nature {tagline much?}

so full.. so lazeh..

postcard worthy, eh?

Sadly, our Tagaytay trip wasn't much of a success. Aside from the fact that it was almost impromptu, I wasn't feeling well too. We only ate at Josephine and dropped by Picnic Grove. Good thing we enjoyed our lunch at Josephine as it was the only highlight of our trip. We weren't able to do much in Picnic Grove because (1) it's getting dark already, hence no good pictures, (2) its drizzling and (3) I'm sick! We could have tried the zipline and cable car if only I was feeling better. Yeah right, if only.

thank you for our sumptuous lunch

baked tahong, camaron rebosado, kaldereta

On a positive note, we still have the last days of all the years to come. Next year's trip will be a lot better. Pinky swear, shoms? ♥

Watch out for the last post of this series, Christmas with family. I'm definitely in love with blogging again.

*first three photos are Sheena's edit

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christmas season the ku-yu-ey way

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. Right guys? hahaha! :)) So let me start blogging about the Christmas season even if it's a week after the hype already. For this post, Christmas season the Ku-yu-ey way. ❤ Ku-yu-ey meaning QA, meaning Quality Assurance. Software Tester Apple at your service. Hahaha! :P

Let's get started. Of course we had the traditional kris kringle. And as seen in the picture below, some of the stuff I got are fruit cocktail, wiggly worm from blue magic and tons of Oishi chips {well hello there, MSG}.

something something

We also had Parol Making Contest within our project. Six teams battled for a two thousand peso worth of team building budget. Yes I know, ang poor namin. Haha! But more than anything else, I guess everyone's after the bragging rights lang. You know naman how yabang we can get sometimes. BEST TEAM, eh. :)

Sad to say, we only got the third place. But just so you know, many expected us to win. We expected the same. But hey, life happens. It's fine. On second thought, well not really. Haha! Kidding. :P

third placer.. not bad

Moving on, we also had a birthday to celebrate. The big guy on the left treated us to an heeexpensive lunch at Friday's. But no, the huge Christmas tree wasn't from Friday's. It's just outside our office lobby. I asked kuyang guard if we can take pictures in the lobby and he said yes as long as it's just two shots. We took three {or was it four?} and he didn't care at all. Funny ka kuya!

Merry Christmas, from QA team
..or is this greeting too late already? :P

happy birthdaaaayy!!

Mid of the month, we had our project Christmas party at Italianni's, Greenbelt. A notch more sosyal as we're used to celebrating special occasions on conference rooms. Haha! As one of the organizers, I'd say I'm satisfied with the outcome of the event. Good food, fun games, smooth flow of the program. Not bad for my last assignment with the organizing team. Haha! I wish. :D

ku-yu-ey ganda gwapo

we're used to calling ourselves that because there's no denying it..

makapal talaga kame. :P

Lastly, we had our team Christmas party at Kimono Ken. It was supposed to be in Yakimix but we weren't able to wait for our turn in the VIP room. In other words, patay gutom na kame that's why we transferred. And oh, this served as Bet's despedida as well. You read that right, my closest friend from showbiz {ahem ahem} already left the company too. First it was Pholet then it was Beth. I am sooo alone now. :'( I wonder if it's time for me to.... ahh.. uhmm.. SLEEP. Hahaha! :))

bye teh, I miss you big time already :*

That's all for tonight! Coming up next, Christmas with friends. Oh how I missed blogging. Goodnight, loves! Good vibes for 2o12. ^__^

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