catching up series: used to have friends :P

I warned yah, right? So here we go! I honestly contemplated whether or not I would include "friends" posts in this catching up series because I no longer get to see most of my friends now. Oopsie, what is anti-social? Hehe! But here it is anyway! I just decided to gather everything in a single post so I can easily get this over and done with. I actually realized just now that 2016 was the last year that I was actively seeing friends. Anoba, I'm so tita now! And I mean it literally 'cause all these time that I was on hiatus, I was just very busy with my nieces. More on that soon, of course! (You were kind of expecting that, right?) 

JANUARY

It all started with a mini-reunion the past month and then all of a sudden, I was constant buddies with some college friends. We started the year with dinner and desserts at Maginhawa. From the same month, I also met-up with my closest friends from Accenture. (These people) It was a korean bbq kinda night at Bulgogi Brothers, Greenbelt. I think this was the last time that we were ever complete. Yah know, friendship dramas and falling-out. HUHU.

Wicked Kitchen, Maginhawa

Bulgogi Brothers, Greenbelt

FEBRUARY

We took the close-close-an to the next level when we went to Star City, just the four of us. We were never a group back in college so it was funny that we were doing korny things together when we got older. Up to now, we have this group chat in Messenger that we call "Road to 40" to mock our age. Ironically, we mainly use the group chat to exchange memes. Haha! We refuse to adult sometimes.

Star City 

It was also the month that I decided to go back to the corporate world so I got busy attending interviews and taxing exams. This was from when I visited friends from PLDT/Smart. Remember Tin? My friend from way back when? I think this was the last time that I saw her. Dont judge me! I actually told myself to reunite with friends this year. And guess what? I met up with my high school best friend last month. Yep, after not seeing each other for like three years. :P

MARCH

Another mini-reunion, and in Eastwood no less! Stayed in Eastwood for quite a long time so it had so many memories both good and bad. Say it with me.. Awww! Hehe! I met with another group of Accenture friends because Mark was leaving for US. Remember Foursome? Now both Job and Mark are in the US, and Monique is in NZ. While me, on the other hand, never really liked the idea of working abroad. Pilipinas kong mahal. Haha!

TGI Friday's, Eastwood

Still from March, I went bowling with my college friends. I told you, we were suddenly so close after that December mini-reunion. I can no longer remember what ensued that night but most likely I got the highest score in bowling. Hahaha! Kidding, of course. But if I remember it right, we had dinner right after courtesy of Juni and Den. Thanks, guys! 

Bowling Center, Megamall

APRIL

Maginhawa night, yet again. With college friends, yet again. Random realization: I miss restaurant hopping in Maginhawa. Also, I miss going out with friends. Hehe! You have to believe me when I say that I really haven't been going out with friends for a few years now. Grabe! I've been so focused with my nieces that they've become my only social life. Haha! #superauntie, much!

Maginhawa yet again

MAY

May was the month when I finally went back to the corporate world. Shoutout to Bayview for taking me in. Haha! It was also the month that I started boxing regularly with Noni. I've always loved the sport even if I'm not really good at it. Hehe! And I just thought I'd linked up my old boxing posts, here and here. Nakakamiss!

And since I was a Makati girl then, I got to meet my fellow corporate slaves regularly. Photo below with Sheena and Dwin was taken from Charlie's somewhere in Makati. During that time, the other member of ASDS aka Silina was in Switzerland for work. 

Charlie's somewhere in Makati

JUNE

Another boxing sesh with Noni! And if you're gonna watch the video below, please don't judge. Haha! I love the sport but the sport doesn't love me back. Hahaha! I remember posting this video on Facebook and getting teased by friends because of how I punch. Haha! Tse! Suntukin ko kayo jan, eh!

Also, since I was back to the corporate world, lunch & dinner outs left and right has started again. I can't remember from whom I stole the photo below but it was from a team dinner at Yakimix, Greenbelt. And although it may not seem like it, team buildings like this are so awkward for me. I am a self-confessed introvert so it takes so much for me to socialize especially with people I'm not really close with. 

Yakimix, Greenbelt

JULY

Up next, July! Birthday month! It was a busy month that started with a coffee date with Sheena. I remember us video calling Silina because as I've said she's in Switzerland. It was also the time when Snapchat was a thing. Sheena introduced me to it and I was very unamused. I was reacting like "Ito na yun?" Bakit sila tuwang tuwa? Haha! I was such a grinch!

Starbucks, somewhere in Makati

My teammates at work also surprised me with a birthday celebration. Someone called me to go to the pantry and they were all there waiting with a cake. Sweet, eh? Office perks that I no longer get because I'm working from home now. Although to be honest, I wouldn't trade what I have now for anything else. Because, duh, Caloocan to Makati = Traffic. So never again. :P

Sheena and I met up with Joel, too! Silina's boyfie! He treated us to dinner at Yabu and we ambushed him with love life questions. Haha! That's what he got for meeting up with nosy people. JK, one half!

Yabu at (I don't remember where, Haha!)

And the highlight of the month was when we went to Sandbox, college + Accenture friends combined. At that point, I was sorely missing traveling because the last time I traveled was 2013 pa to Ilocos with my Foursome friends. Wait, let's make it rain with links cause #shamelessplugging..  1, 2, 3, and 4! I am going to write about this Sandbox trip in detail so hold your horses. Hehe! But really, it was like a breathe of fresh air after taking a hiatus (no work = no travel for three years!)

Sandbox, Pampanga

SEPTEMBER

More random dinner outs with Sheena! I remember us having dinner at Paper Moon cafe + froyo at Llaollao. On top of the good food are the realest conversations. 

Llaollao, Glorietta

And then more lunch outs with teammates because if I remember it right, it was Teo's birthday. I am actually blaming the free food left and right why I became out of shape from 2016 to 2017! But the latter year was worse! Haha! I am actually dreading the time when I would work on my 2017 posts. Parang I can't share how chubby wubby I got! And speaking of chubby, photo below was taken from Chubby's somewhere in Makati. See what I did there? :P

Chubby's, Makati

OCTOBER

October was another exciting month because it was the "summer" outing for the newbies. They brought us to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, all expenses paid! We even stayed at Princesa Island Garden Resort, a 5-star accommodation. It was extra fun because from a group of three (Carlo, Mike and I), we got along with another group and we made the most out of our stay. Of course I'll be writing about this in detail too. Because why not, photos galore! 

Bohemian Party

And then finally for October, the Halloween Party at the office. I dressed up as Minnie Mouse by decorating my red skirt with white dots and buying a Minnie Mouse headband. Haha! That's the best that I can do!

NOVEMBER
Up next, November! We pretty much spent the next few months with the people we met from Puerto Princesa. We would have lunch together at the pantry and sometimes go out too! Photo below was when we had lunch at Yellow Cab. Sobrang dami pang lunch outs that we didn't have a photo of. But one thing I realized is that people really just come and go. I'm not even friends with these people anymore. To think we had such a grand time when we were in Palawan. 

Yellow Cab, Makati

And then after what seemed to be ages, I finally met with my high school best friend again. Akalain mo yun! She was about to work as a nurse in Jeddah so we had to see each other. My brother, sister-in-law and of course Mithril, tagged along. The next time I saw her was three years after na. But the thing about our friendship is that we just pick up where we left off. Don't you just love friendships like that?

Pizza Hut, SM Fairview

DECEMBER

And then finally, December! Contrary to what is expected for this month, I didn't have much going on. I decided to skip the Christmas Party at work and no reunions whatsoever! I only got to meet Jhov for dinner at Maginhawa.

And that's it! Wheww! Napagod ako! After this, it's gonna be all about the fam especially my nieces. I am so giddy about this whole resurrecting-my-blog-thing. I don't care even if blogging isn't an IN thing anymore (and probably no one would get to read my posts), I am doing this for myself. FOR MY SANITY. Let's do this! More posts comin' right up!

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catching up series: foursome in 2015

.. andddd I'm back! Haha! Just thought I'd dump photos from the previous year because I'm being OC. My last post was my niece's birthday celebration from March {hehehe! yep, MARCH of last year. :P} so we'd pick up from there. Kaya ko 'to! Will play catch up for the whole month of February then this blog will be back to normal. Well, I hope so. Haha! Let's begin with foursome's get-togethers.

The first set of photos were taken during Job's despedida towards the end of March. It's funny how he has left, visited back, and left again and yet the photos landed on my blog just now. E bakit ba? Better late than never, right? Hehe! So anyway, we had dinner at Dampa {in Libis, if I remember it right} then coffee at Cafe Benne. I honestly can't remember how the night went on. That's the thing, I forget easily so it's a must for me to blog - especially travels. Everytime someone asks me about something, I'd say, "it's in the blog". Hehehe!

Then this one's from my next Eastwood visit sometime in April. I met up with Silina first then visited these two also. No more Job by this time 'cause he has gone to the states. It was a random quick dinner and chitchat at Sisig Society.

And then October, Job visited. We had dinner at Yabu, Megamall. I kept on making fun of how far I traveled just to be with them that night. Jsyk, I live in North Caloocan, near SJDM Bulacan, and it's always a huge effort everytime I'd meet friends in the metro. Promding promdi lang. Haha!

cream dory, ftw!

Then last, Monique's niece's christening and birthday celebration. Tiny and Job covered the event {they're photographers, yep!} so I tagged along. It was a few days before Job left for the states again. Haven't seen Tiny and Monique since then. We were supposed to meet during the Christmas season but yeah, life happened. 

Up next, photo dump with ASDS -- that's Apple, Sheena, Dwin and Silina. Yep, we have a name now. High school feels. :P

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catching up series: oh eastwood, dear eastwood

This happened early December. After what seemed to be ages, I finally decided to show up to friends. Actually, the universe had to give me a couple of reasons for me to get out of my cave - (1) Tiny's birthday, (2) Monique's promotion, and (3) the fact that I haven't seen them for half a year already. Last saw them June so yeah, kinailangan kong lumabas ng lungga. Hahaha! 

Why Eastwood, then? 'Cause it has become our default hangout and 'cause why not? It's where they work and where we all used to live. So Eastwood it is! Even if it's inaccessible AF. 

Anyway, it's a normal working day for them so I had to meet them for dinner. We ate at Gerry's courtesy of the celebrators, of course. But more than the food, I enjoyed the kwento & chismis more. Haha! I guess that's what happens when you're gone for a long time. At isa pa, sino ba naman ang ayaw ng chismis dba? Hahaha! Kidding! Napaghahalataang chismosa. :P

hindi ako maliit, okay?
wala kayong ebidensya! walaaaa! ✌️

After dinner, we stayed for a good while outside Citywalk. Under the tent? You know, the seats outside? There! How do I even properly address them? Hahaha! So anyway, the whole time we were there, we were teasing Job for "not existing" because he's been quiet. Monique even posted on Facebook that Job wasn't able to make it to our meet up. Hehe! Medyo bully talaga yung Monique eh. Lalo na yung Tiny. Nakooo! Hahaha!

the things one would do for friendship
err.. for a photo! :P

Unlike last year, I've been visiting Eastwood more often now. Another friend {Hi Celine!} is back in Las Islas Filipinas for good and she got assigned in Eastwood too, come on! Another reason to want to live in the place again. Oh Eastwood, dear Eastwood.

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a secret and a story

Okayyy.. so it's June already! We're halfway through it actually so I'm getting bummed that I still haven't updated. Well anywayy, at least now I'm here and I'm about to share yet another story and a little secret. What do you wanna hear first? :)

Ughh, of course the secret! Are you ready? Hehehe! It's no biggie really but it happens to be an essential part of this story so let me begin by revealing one of my irrational fears: I am friggin' scared of dogs. Hahaha! I'm not quite sure when or how a certain case can qualify as a phobia but just so we all know.. fear of dogs is Cynophobia. Thanks, Wikipedia! It's just crazy 'cause I've never been bitten by one, nor scratched whatsoever, but I've always been scared of them.  At yung OA na level ng takot, believe it or not.

Now here's the tragic story. Monique sold a puppy to Mark. You see, they both love dogs. Monique has four full-grown dogs and originally seven, yess seven, puppies. On the other hand, Mark has three now including his newly adopted puppy, Sherlock. He also has cats, if I may add, and I can't imagine how's that possible when we only have two caged dogs and one cat and I am so annoyed already. Hehehe! The culprits decided to carry out the adoption on a Saturday and since Monique's house is near ours, I tagged along. And boy, at one point I lamented my decision.

We met at a nearby mall afternoon of that day. I squeezed in a quick Wendy's fix while waiting for them 'cause I was darn hungry. When they finally got to Wendy's, guess what our icebreaker was??!! Yung defined eyebrows ko lang naman. Fine, I'll tame them a bit! Hahaha! Anyway, we then headed to the supermarket to buy snacks and fifteen freakin' kilos of dog food. I already said Monique loves dogs, right?

On our way to their house, Monique assured me that they'll lock up the dogs somewhere. Of course she knows I loathe dogs! We lived together in Eastwood once upon a time and she clearly remembers my dog-triggered shrieks. So lock up the dogs they did! Pero syempre may twist! Just as I thought we made it inside their gate peacefully, the dogs came a-running! The next thing I know, I was seating outside crying. CRYINGGGG! Hahaha! I can't even remember how I managed to get out of their house in the first place. It was soooo embarrassing but that's just the way it is! Eh sa takot ako sa aso eh. Hehehe! Pero nakakahiya talaga. *dies in shame*

More chaos followed as we stayed on the porch but there's no beating the first encounter. Although I really have to give credit to myself for staying alert from that point on and for clinging to whoever I can cling to to remain safe -- it was Monique's sister, Mary, most of the time. For lunch, Monique shooed the dogs outside and closed all points of entry, windows included! I felt safe for the first time so I managed to catch up a little on their busy lives. The puppies kept us entertained too! And for the record, I can handle these furry creatures in the innocent stage of their lives. No barking, no biting!

After lunch, I found a great escape by accompanying Monique's sister somewhere in the neighborhood to have her bike tires inflated. I kind of bugged her throughout our stay. Hehe! Thanks, Maryy!! :) Then when we came back, they're already outside the house chitchatting. It was such a relief knowing that I won't have to brave the dogs' presence again. Di naman masyadong obvious na takot na takot ako dba? :P Hahaha! Kidding aside, I really didn't wanna cause further inconvenience to Monique's mom.

FOURSOME + SHERLOCK

We sat outside until it was time to go home. We perfectly depicted the word TAMBAY. Hehehe! They went biking for a while but mostly it was kwentuhan -- and eating fries! I actually wanted to go back to the mall with them, spend the rest of the night at Timezone perhaps but Mark had to go home early. Also there's Sherlock. So I went alone instead because you know me, I'm adamant like that! Hehe! Thanks again Monakikz for accommodating us! Yes, the day was traumatic but I'd say it was worth it. Matouch kayo, please?

*photos from lolo Job :)

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day3: ilocos sur - calle crisologo tour

day3: ilocos norte - bangui and burgos tour 

This is gonna be quick, I promise!  Nape-pressure lang naman akong tapusin itong Ilocos series ko bilang Pasko na. Well technically, Christmas is still two days from now, pero kasi parang bukas na rin yun eh. Dba? Did you get my twisted logic? Hahaha! Anyway, here's the last leg of my Ilocos Series.

From San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, we headed straight to Vigan to tour Calle Crisologo. We got there at around 3pm. We were in Vigan during our first day but I guess they purposely placed the said street last in the itinerary because it's where you can buy a lot of souvenirs and pasalubong. Who would want to tow around tons of kornik on the first day, right? Pero dahil nonconformist kami, we bought on the first day somewhere in Batac and we were poor by the time we were in Calle Crisologo. We only had dirty ice cream aside from the shirts Monique and I bought in Island Souvenirs. We took photos na lang as we strolled the street.

Calle Crisologo (and our official photographer)

 

foursome ❤

Googled Facts: (1) It's located in the city of Vigan, province of Ilocos Sur. (2) It is also known as Mena Crisologo Street. (3) It is covered by the Vigan Heritage Village along with Plaridel Street. (4) It is lined with Spanish Era ancestral houses and cobble-stoned streets, which led to Vigan's inscription in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. (5) Tourists can buy souvenirs and even ride a calesa (horse-drawn buggy) in Calle Crisologo.

Although we finished early, we had to wait for the others to arrive. We left Vigan at around 5pm, stopped by the popular Marsha's Delicacies and from there.. borlogs na ko. I was asleep the whole time we were in transit and I when I woke up, I was shocked to find out that we were in Trinoma {our drop-off point} already and that the other groups were alighting from the van already. I was even more surprised to find out that my friends were asleep too. Buti na lang hindi umabot sa point na gigisingin pa kami ni manong driver. Hehe. Or worse, madali kami sa garahe. Aguuuyy! We parted ways in Trinoma to finally head home and get our much deserved rest.

Up next: Our itinerary and expenses; also the complete details of the package we availed from Parana Tours. For the meantime, enjoy the holidays you guys! :*

*photos from Tiny

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