Saturday, August 9, 2008

Vacation, Shopping, Frank, Alien abduction?


I forgot to tell you that I was on leave last Friday and last Monday, June 20 and 23. It's because Ate Mars or Tmars is coming over to Manila again. I did not have plans really as to what to do but she emailed me that she wanted to go to Tagaytay, visit the Manila Ocean Park and do some shopping at Greenhills center.

Well on that Friday, her flight was delayed for an hour or two so instead of fetching her to the airport early in the morning I went there at around 12noon already. The plane arrived at around 1pm. I was waiting at the mouth of Manila Domestic while noticing the crowd so busy toiling their own businesses. At last I saw a glimpse of her and hurriedly took her luggage and went ahead to the taxi stand.

We got our turn and rode the taxi. He, the driver or as Jackson would have uttered it, "the it", was a little testing the waters just checking you know if we were strangers. After a few meters of riding he said that the old route was closed and so we will be taking a different one and there is traffic so might as well do so and he said that he will charge us a whooping 300 pesos for it. Blood rushed to my head and was annoyed by his stupid suggestion. I told him that we will take for a meter charge. He explained but I was not listening or rather Tmars and I talked in Ceblish (Cebuano and English). We pretended he was not there. When we arrived in front of the gate, ofcourse we paid the exact amount which was displayed on his meter. We then briskly unload our stuff and got out from the cab. Hehehehehe. I think he was afraid of the guard who came out off the gate to let us in.

We were really hungry so after we set the things including the goodies fresh from Cebu, we went to KFC to take our lunch which was way too late already. Anyhooo the hot and spicy chicken meal plus the refreshing strawberry fizz normalized everything.

We decided to go to MOA and watch a movie. We chose Kung Fu Panda in MOA's IMAX cinema. It was kind of okay and the sound was great and comfortable. The movie was very entertaining and full of lessons and I quote, “Yesterday was history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That's why its called the present.” The movie was all about believing in oneself. And I so loved it! After the movie we went to a hobby shop and Tmars bought some stuff. We then went home.

It was a little exciting. We did not know what to do the next day. Ofcourse in our list it was going to Tagaytay but we don't know how to get there by bus. So we searched any information that might help us in where else the internet. Well I found a blog about how to get there and so the instruction goes like there are bus stations in LRT Baclaran. But the problem there is that I haven't been to Baclaran. I searched the web check for maps and all.

So the next morning it was drizzling and we took a jeepney ride to LRT Gil Puyat. Paid at the counter two cards for Baclaran worth 24pesos. Off we go. We even took pictures inside the LRT station. After a few minutes, Baclaran signboard were shouting right infront of us. Still no clue where the stations were situated. The place was rumored to be like Colon so we did not bother to ask any stranger and we paced our walks a little faster that normal. We went north and noticed that there was not any station. We asked a woman as to where we can get a bus and she pointed west and told us near McDonalds' so we followed her direction. We came to the highway of which I dont have any clues where but then I noticed that the signages of the bus there were not bound to Tagaytay. Okay I am a little freakish already. So we turned left and saw some buses and same thing still not bound for Tagaytay. It's already 12 noon. We can't take it anymore so we got to a nearby trisikad driver (a bicycle with a side car - it has three wheels and you need to pedal (sikad) for it to move which is why its called trisikad. ) and we asked him to take us to the bus station bound for Tagaytay. So he did took us to a bus station and there was only one passenger. I was wondering if we were to wait or what. After some 10 minutes of waiting the bus departured. We pass MOA then edsa then Pasay then a road which I am strange about. Anyway, little by little more passengers hop in as the bus was stopping from time to time. The bus wasn't enclosed and air conditioned. I can even still remember how the city smelled and thanks for the drizzle there was no dust on the road which sometimes is a desert storm in manila.

While on the bus I took some naps. We reached Tagaytay at around 2PM already. We were not planning to actually go overnight. We stopped in a nearby jeepney and tricycle terminal. We rented one of the parked tricycle and we headed to Picnic Groove(PG). The rain was still falling and thanks goodness we brought with us an umbrella. When we reached PG, there were sort of tour guides offering us some rooms to stay for an overnight but we told them that we won't be staying overnight. We just hurried to the tourist post which was just at the entrance and paid a 50 pesos for a fee to get into the facility. Since we did not have our lunch yet, we then went to the Pineapple restaurant and there ordered three courses and ate with gusto. We took some pictures. But prior to that there was this band who walks in beside your dining table and sing songs from OPM to some old school tunes to some latest ones. We were very hungry but did not eat just to make sure that we were not trying to insult them but the truth was we were really hungry - beast like hunger if I may describe. Well after two songs, thank goodness amen they went to the other table and for courtesy we thank them. Tmars and I shared the food which we ordered. After the meal we directly went out and look for this good view of the Taal Volcano. The rain actually stopped then. After some five minutes of walking we reached a sport were there was a trail. It was a 500 - 700 meter trail going to the view deck. It was actually at a mountain side where cottages are located for picnic goers. Before we followed the trail, we had a bit of photo-capturing session :P. Well, after a few minutes it rained hard and the wind blew towards us so we hurriedly went to the waiting shed. We stayed there for a cruel 15 minutes. After the rain became less and less violent we decided to follow the trail. Unfortunately Taal volcano was already covered with a misty fog but that did not stop us from enjoying the place and as usual we captured all the nice sceneries there. We passed by their mini bridge and took some pictures again. We then proceeded and followed the trail up until we reached a picturesque view and so we did take some shots and captured those moments. The weather was so bad that after a few minutes the rain fell terribly again. We just took the short way and went ahead to a nearby open cottage instead of following the trail to the endpoint of it. We took some pictures again in the cottage and the rain did not stop us. We were actually imagining that Taal volcano was just there at the background. After some few minutes of waiting, we felt that the rain won't stop, so we decided to just went up ahead and look for a souvenir shop and we did find one. I purchased some key chains which I will give to my housemates and a coin purse for myself. Tmars bought some shirts for her family in Cebu. After which we then went home. The bus ride took us two hours back to the city and we just hired a taxi going back to our condo. We were a little bit soaked and were also very hungry. We cooked noodle soup and ate. On the news the rain was actually a storm already and it's signal number one in Manila.

We slept at around 12midnight. I was actually awaken at around 2Am because the screens which were left open were banging because of the wind. I was kind of scared and had a palpitation as there was a strange sound. So I got up and closed everything. The weird sound was still there. I couldn't sleep anymore and my imagination went so wild. I stood up and reached for my self what was happening outside. We were located on the third floor and we have a mini porch so I went there and check the sky if there was a spaceship. There was none, yet still, it felt weird. I went back to my bed. I was going to wake Tmars up but she was already awakened because of that strange noise. I was actually just covering my body with my blanket except for my head as I was staring at the glass door what was going on outside. I can see the clouds outside and felt that it was like war of the world movies scene. I was really scared at that time. I thought of an alien abduction. I just prayed that things will be okay. I was able to sleep at around 4am. I woke up and it's already 12noon. I was so hungry. We cooked for our breakfast in lunch a.k.a. brunch. We ate and I went to sleep again as I was still so tired. It was a Sunday and the rain still poured. At around 5pm I took a bath after Tmars used the room for we will watch a movie in Glorieta. We arrived at Glorieta around 7pm. We shop some cheap shirts and after that had our dinner at Man Hann. Delicioso! The bill was a lump in my throat but it was worth it. We then went to the movie house and watched, "The Happening". It's another weird moview from Shyamalan. After the movie we went back home. We planned the next day to go to Greenhills shopping mall.

We woke up at around 8AM, Monday June 23, 2008. Tmars will be leaving for Cebu and her flight will be at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. So after we prepared ourselves, we went first to Kingswood McDonalds for our breakfast. After that, we went to LBC center to send Tmars' airbed to Cebu first for her stuff were getting bulkier and heavy. Then we took a PUJ to MRT Magallanes. We headed for the Ortigas station. It was a 15-minute ride. We then rent a cab going to Greenhills. There, Tmars splurged her cash for her "pasalubong" or gifts for her parents and her siblings. It took us around 2 hours to have bought everything. After that we went to Krispy Kremes and Tmars purchased 5-box of six of KK. We then went to KFC for lunch. After that, we went home.

We watched TV while waiting the 3pm mark for Tmars will be going back to Cebu then. Ding - dong! It was 3PM already and I accompanied Tmars to get a cab going to the airport.

Our next destination will probably be Hong Kong or somewhere out of the country.

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