Home Sweet Home

It has been a little over a month since my last post. The reason for my silence is that I and my husband wanted to fully enjoy our extended rest and recreation in our hometown. We made a deal to make most out of it through steering clear of internet, cable TV, and yes, even cellphones. In other words, we just took pleasure in the total simplicity of life, warmth of home, sumptuous meals, sound of crickets, and lush green all around.

Allow me to fill you in with some of the events that made me feel that I have the best life ever.

On the 24th of January, after we settled the bill of lading of Mark’s bike (he said we could literally leave all our packed possessions behind except his beloved bike) at Manila South Harbor, we went strolling at Luneta Park as our weekend date.

water buffalo at quirino grandstand

the famous rizal monument

my man, my lover, my date

Then we visited Kalikasan Park at Fort San Felipe the following day. (Mark and I love to discover a lot of things together and one of our favorites is history.)

the gatekeepers

the weapon and the beauty

april and datski

In the evening of January 26, we went through thorough body and baggage checks by machine, human, and sniffing dogs at Manila South Harbor as we boarded Superferry 5 departing to Bohol. Week before that, I booked a PAL flight for myself (Mark has to take the ship because of his bike) since I was afraid to take the sea trip due to the disaster of MV Princess of the Stars.

In the end though, I decided to travel with Mark because I was inspired by Titanic (the movie) particularly when Jack said to Rose, “Why did you do it, Rose?” and Rose answered, “You jump, I jump, right?”

Anyway, it seemed we had a second honeymoon on board. The food served for our accommodation was so appetizing and our suite was so conducive for sea romance. We just spent most of our time making love if not watching the Australian Open. (I was happy because Nadal won yet my heart went out to Federer when he cried during his runner-up speech as well. Better luck next time, Rog.)

musings aboard superferry

in the middle of the deep blue sea

caught in the act (playing chess titans)

When we arrived at the port of Tagbilaran City (after a short stop in Cebu where Mark dropped off his bike and some of our luggages), I felt dizzy and exuberant at the same time.

My mother, mother-in-law, and Mark’s cousin fetched us.

Mark drove to Candijay right away as he had to attend the funeral of his aunt while I accompanied my mom to one of her appointments in the city.

Afterward, I treated my mom, brother, and the apple of my eyes, NJ, at Jollibee. While choosing our meals at the counter, I unexpectedly bumped into my friends, Chuck and Karen and their daughter Chy. (Karen and Chuck, if you happen to read this, sorry I wasn’t able to talk with you longer but it’s just a small world, right? I hope to catch up with you again one of these days.)

family treat

nj, mom, and bro

my jolly bee

Eventually, I was able to attend the funeral of Mark’s aunt because it was moved in the afternoon. It was bittersweet; bitter because I attended a sad memorial service and sweet because I took in the loveliness of our place during the interment.

six feet down under

the rice field and the scarecrow

enjoying at the backyard

Aside from just bumming around the house (some days at my parents’, other days at my mother-in-law’s), I also reread some of my favorite books until the wee hours. I got into the worlds of Stephanie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, Sheldon’s The Stars Shine Down and Sands of Time, Robin Cook’s Outbreak, and Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook (I read it for the third time because I simply never get enough of it).

Indeed, coming home is always being on cloud nine. Mark and I even plan to retire in Bohol after we are fulfilled in traveling and working in other places.

visiting my high school

relaxing at the beach

babysitting my nj

driving around with our doggie isay

spending quality time at bohol tropics on valentine's day

Vacation is unfortunately over for now. I am obliged to set in motion the next episodes of my life - city life, that is.

Keep posted!

What's Up for the Long Weekend?

The commemoration of our great national hero, Gat Andres Bonifacio, falls on a Sunday so our good President moved the legal holiday to Monday. In other words, we are going to have a long weekend!

I expect some activities lining up so I decided to have my “me time” today. By “me time”, I mean the day of each week when I don't have to do household chores or any wifely stuffs but only the things I love like spending the whole day reading a book or going to the mall to window-shop (Mark has his own "me time" as well by having a massage or drinking with mistahs at the barracks or occupying himself with his laptop). This morning, I went to SM Bacoor to buy contact lenses and to lust over the tops from Banana Republic that were on sale at P149.99. I ended up buying the green one.

Tomorrow, we are going to attend the birthday celebration of our good friend Dexter in Laguna. I’m excited to see the town again. The last time I visited there was in 1999 yet. I hope I can go to see my kins after the party. I miss them all.

Sunday, I think, will be spent on watching the latest episodes of Prison Break. We bought its pirated DVD (sorry Chairman Edu) the other day and finished the eight episodes right away yet Mark and I badly want to know the next steps of the team after the General wanted to move Scylla (Can’t keep up with me? Well, you miss half of your life by not following Prison Break). Thus, we are downloading the ones we’ve missed using LimeWire. However, it takes us longer than we want it to be and our patience is running out. Hopefully, we can download them completely before Sunday.

I haven’t talked to Mark about the plan for Monday yet, but I would like to hit the pool again.

So, have a fun-filled weekend everyone!

I Left My Heart in Candijay

After the romantic garden wedding of Kenneth and Nina at Chateau de Busay last Saturday, Mark and I went home to Candijay for two days.

I was so excited to feel the breeze of my beloved hometown once again!

Firstly, we had dinner in Cogtong with my family. We feasted on Nanay Daisy’s cooking – deep-fried crabs, vinegared fish, grilled bangus, adobong baboy (seasoned pork), native chicken in coconut milk with lemon grass, and for the dessert, the mouthwatering fruit salad!

My mother is irrefutably the best cook in the world! Just to think of the feast she prepared for us makes me want to go home right now.

The following day, we spent some quality time with my widowed mother-in-law in Sagumay. (By the way, Mark and I are from the same town. We were classmates in high school as well.) Mama Doring, though not much of a good cook, managed to treat us with the yummiest adobong native chicken (more delicious than nanay’s) and fried shrimps; with the mixture of red vinegar, chili, kalamansi and salted fish as sauce. It is something that I look forward to every time I am there.

Then we went driving along the countryside (as we always love to do). I forever love the lush mountains; the green fields of rice, corn, camote, and many other crops; the serene riverside; and, simply the whole laid-back environment.

We also went to Ubay to buy dried danggit, my favorite pure tableya (unsweetened chocolate from cacao), and calamay (concoction of sticky rice, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and some peanuts) as pasalubong for our friends and neighbors in Cavite City.

I miss home. I miss my family especially my nephew, NJ. Sigh!

One thing for sure, wherever I may go, my heart will always be left in my beloved Candijay.

>drivin' around

>dried fish
>hanged to ripe

>the dam
>so heavenly

>visiting the dead
>shooting with an air gun

>the window
>askal andrew

>the landmark
>the roadside

Half-Awake in Subic

The alarm went off incessantly at 3 o’clock in the morning that prodded me and my sister to get up and get ready as we would join my husband to his official tour of duty in Subic Bay, Olongapo City yesterday.

While waiting for the van, we watched live the match of Rafael Nadal and Gael Monfils on Star Sports. As expected, Rafa won and he advanced to the quarterfinals in BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, France.

The van arrived an hour later. Typically, I get excited when I go to see a place for the first time but I was so heavy-eyed and subdued. If only it wouldn’t break my sister’s heart, I wouldn’t go.

I just slept until we stopped over for breakfast in Pampanga. Then, I said to myself that since I was halfway through the trip, I might as well enjoy it. I tried to buoy up myself but still I drifted in and out of sleep the rest of the way.

When we were near Subic, Mark woke me up because he wanted me to see the picturesque view of the lush mountains. Indeed, it was like a Claude Monet’s painting that came alive. It was so nice and just to look at them is a destination in itself. I was briefly pepped up to discover the rest of the city.

When we arrived, we visited first the premises of Mabuhay Corp., the first Filipino company that launched a satellite in space. They were talking very technical things that I couldn’t understand, so I told Mark that I would just stay at the lobby so that I could drowse off again.

After that, everything became blurry as I wasn’t able to come out from the dreamland completely. All I could clearly remember is that I was so relieved to get back to the comfort of our bed at home.

This morning, I only have the pictures to remind me that I was undeniably half-awake in Subic. For the time being, I can only wish that I can go back there and enjoy its beauty once more.

>me and sistah jill

>the double-decker bus

>through lethargy

>shoppin' flowers

>with a zombie

>and, a dead man walking

Happy All Saints' Day everyone!

Fun Begins at 31

Mark had “ramos breakfast” with his troops after their road run last Friday morning. Then, he bought spaghetti sa bilao, buns, and soft drinks for his colleagues in the afternoon. Also, he treated his seniors with bottles of San Mig Light and steamed tahong as pulutan in the evening. That was just the onset of his 31st birthday celebration.

The next day, he woke me up with a kiss (as he always does) around 8am, and told me that he would bring me and my sister Jill (who’s staying with us) to NBC swimming pool, as promised. Yippie! And so, I cooked my “espesyal” pancit bihon. It’s good-humoredly called “espesyal” because my husband says that it’s neither salty nor sweet yet there’s something lacking in between. Whatever hubby! For me, it’s the yummiest pancit in the world. We also had boiled banana with latik, biko, and tinolang isda (bol-anon style). We were all set to go when suddenly, the heavy rain came! We were held up and ended up eating half of our baon. After an hour, it stopped and so we were revived.

I’m not a good swimmer, sad to say, but I know some strokes by heart. I wouldn't want to go deeper than 5 feet as I’m flustered when I couldn’t feel the ground under my feet. That’s why I admire people who can swim, I mean CAN really swim, like my husband. He’s my obliging coach but sometimes he pushes me beyond my limits.

Well, last Saturday, he was more patient to teach me nifty techniques. He gently urged me to come out from my comfort zone. Initially, I swam along the pool railings and reached the 6 feet area. Then, I freely made through the water and went wading into the 8 feet spot. Whew, that was quite an achievement for me!

Mark lectured me some physics afterwards. He told me that I have full control over the water if I really want to. All I need is to breathe in as much air as I can so that my body would expand and my density (mass/volume) will be lesser than the water’s density (1 kg/cubic meter); consequently, I would float to the surface. He mockingly added, “That’s law of buoyancy, baby!” Yeah right, navy man. Anyway, I proved to him that I was not amateurish anymore but I know I still have to exert more effort in overcoming my fear of depth. So, when can we go swimming again, honey?

Last Sunday, we invited a family friend over for lunch. This time, I cooked humba deliciously (i swear, my sister can’t get enough of it) while Mark prepared his mouthwatering kinilaw na dilis, sinugbang bangus and tulingan, and adobong baboy. We had a sumptuous meal! After Kuya Roger left, I helped Mark with his paperwork and finished until midnight.

All in all, it was a fun weekend!