BAGUIO ESCAPADE

So I've got a really crazy itinerary last Saturday. I met up with my cousins, Ram and Marc at SM Megamall at 4pm. At 8pm I moved out of my apartment in Pasig and by 9pm got all my things transported to my mother's house in Quezon City. I found myself in a car bound to Baguio by 10pm. Wow, talk about crazy.

Ordering Dinner: Mcdo somewhere out there @ 1am (Feb 26)

It was a roadtrip like no other; it's very much unplanned. We were just contemplating going to Baguio and before we knew it, we're already heading that way. I was with my cousins- Kuya Reypi was in the driver's seat, Me on the passenger seat, along with Mat, then Marc, Ram, Amor and Vaun, and their toddler son Andrei at the back seat. We were all crammed inside a small car, insensitive to it's cries of pain and suffering. 

My bestfriends during the trip

Like what I said on my previous post, I am brokenhearted, alright. These people wouldn't be able to bring me along if I wasn't. I was really touched by their attempts to make me feel better so I just couldn't decline the invitation; the guys were trying to cheer me up. Like any brokenhearted chick, I brought my bestfriends along- my small blankie and can(s) of beer. Haha!

Touchdown Baguio @ 5:30 AM

The trip was amazing. It was really nice traveling at night- no traffic, cool night air, and less stress. The long and winding road was such a pain in the butt, but it was tolerable. It's also great that the long travel time gave us lots of time to snooze. Of course, I won't be saying the same if I was the one driving.

Finally, we reached Baguio at dawn. People were milling around floats and taking countless pictures. Within minutes, we're among them. We took photos of ourselves with different floats in the background. (You'd probably wonder how my skimpy shorts kept me warm from the Baguio cold- well, nevermind, it wasn't cold there at all. Haha!)

Ooooh... Showtime!

Eventually, the sun began to shine and the float parade begun. (I used some of the photos here.The other photos are available in the gallery if you would care to check them out.)

Uh Oh! An attack!

Naruto in the flesh! Haha!

Taking pictures of road signs (incase we get lost)

Yumyum!

There were like, millions of people there! (exaggerated tone)

There's Shalani, along with other TV5 artists

There's Dingdong with Marian

And there's Ryan Bang and his bangs (with the Showtime Family)

We watched the parade under the scorching sun for more than two hours, amidst people who seemed oblivious to the heat. The floats were all so beautiful and tastefully done. I was so amazed at the large number of flowers used in each of them. I was so inspired by the effort and hours spent in crafting them into the beauties before us.

There were celebrities, too.. and the crowd eagerly cheered for them. People stared at TV5 artists and took pictures. They screamed when they saw Dingdong, obviously ignoring the fact that he's got Marian beside him. They laughed their hearts out when they saw the showtime family .(Who wouldn't laugh if you see Ryan Bang in person?) Gosh, that guy is sooooo cute with his bangs... haha!

Alright, people! Fall in line, please!

After the float parade, people made their way to.. guess where? SM BAGUIO, of course! There were so many people trying to get in at the same time that the security guards at the entrance had a really hard time. Once inside, we scoured the foodcourt for any empty table.. boo, that's wishful thinking! It's very crowded. You would really have to wait for people to finish eating so that you can occupy the seat once they leave. Fortunately, after some minutes of gawking at people and some killer-looks directed at other people gawking at the table we're waiting on, we were able to get one. Hay, finally!

A crowded foodcourt

Once the hunger had been satiated, we then braved the heavy traffic to get to the Mines View Park. We tried following another route so that we could reach it faster, relying mainly on Ram's GPS-enabled phone for directions. We have a schedule to follow and we should be back in Manila by evening. So there we were, driving through unfamiliar side alleys with abandon. Bahala na si Batman!

Lady Luck had been good to us once again, and we reached Mines View Park just fine.

You've probably been to Baguio and you're pretty familiar with the sights and sounds of Mines View Park. I guess I'm running out of English words to use right about now and I don't want to exhaust them, so I'd let the pictures do the talking. Haha.. that's my terrible attempt at being funny, okay?! Anyway, I think the pictures can tell the story better at this point...

Cool, eh?

Shirts kayo diyan!

Mementos (I so wanted that dreamcatcher!)

Familiar?

A very good tip

Loved looking at plants and herbs

Okay, I was hungry! (from all the walking and roaming around)

Tired..

There, how effective was my pic-blogging?

Anyway, after almost three hours of aimlessly roaming around Mines View Park, we begun our dreaded trip back to Manila. The traffic was so heavy that vehicles could only move an inch every minute or so. Good thing the radio's working or we'd probably die out of boredom while sitting in traffic.

Traffic! If you just can see the cars all lined up.

Bye Lion...

Okay, let's wait for 45 years.

We reached Manila a little after midnight. Everyone was so exhausted. It was a tiring trip alright. 




This escapade didn't fix my broken heart. It didn't help me get over the pain I'm feeling. But at least I had fun- and I was able to smile, even for a day.

NIGHT OUT WITH THE BOYS

I was about to sleep. When I heard my phone ringing, I hesitantly picked it up. Hello, I said. And a voice on the other line excitedly replied, "Bihis na, Ate Apple. Andyan na kami in 30 minutes." Then I heard a click. I quickly looked at the name on my phone's screen and I realized that I had been talking to my cousin, Ram. It was sometime past 11 in the evening. 

True enough, they arrived in less than half an hour later. Good thing I was able to take a quick shower and a change of clothes. I grabbed my phone and went out. Whew, somebody brought a car. Mahaba-habang inuman to..

No drunk driving please..

We ended up in Eastwood. It was midnight yet there were still a lot of people there, especially in bars. We wanted to have a drink at Dencio's but they were jam-packed and we didn't really want to be shouting at each other over the din, so we opted for Gweilo's instead. Gweilo's is pretty much laid-back. There seemed to be less people in that area so that's really a better choice. We chose a table outside the bar instead of staying inside, since it's more relaxing to drink and chat under the night sky than to do that while there's music blaring and a movie playing.

SanSan light.. lol

Oh, by the way, Gweilo's serves great-tasting pulutan! They are very inexpensive, too. You can opt for the pulutan bundles. Really pocket friendly! Two thumbs up!

Yummy pulutan!

Over beer and pulutan, we talked about the past. We laughed about the silly things we did. We reminisced the drama of being kids. We talked as if everything happened just yesterday, and that made the moment really beautiful. So many things had happened since elementary days-- and now we're having a good laugh at each of them. Marc used to be timid and very shy, now he's earning bucks as a seaman. Ram used to be a heartthrob in school, now he's graduating college and has turned into a certified woman magnet. Vaun, my brother, the only one who had always been staying in Manila, now has a son with his wife Amor. Mat used to be a mischevious kid who kept to himself, now he's behaved and has a girlfriend who knows the password to his Facebook account. And as for me, I already have a daughter.. and life turned out to be never anything I have imagined when I was a kid.

I opted for RH

Marc's taking care of the chit

The moment was really special to me, not only because of the fact that I was with them, but because a decade ago, I have always dreamt of this moment. A moment when we'd be able to come together as adults, but would still be close friends like when we were kids. It's such a shame that Yam, Christian, Christopher, and Jen weren't with us. Hopefully someday we'll be able to do this again--with all nine of us laughing at our younger selves-- without any parental guidance. 

Three cheers for those years!

Taken care of

This month isn't the best month of my life; I am going through a very tough time, but my cousins are around and it somehow helps me forget, even for a while.

Driving me home