Monday, December 18, 2006 a trip to where home used to be (loooooong post)
i got to jfk airport super early not only because i wanted to score good seats (and, was trully hoping for an upgrade) but because i was overly excited about my trip to manila. there were no upgrades to be had (booo!) but i was able to score good seats. after i got my boarding tickets, i sat at the JAL gate for THREE.LONG.HOURS.
i started to wonder how bored i'd be when we're finally airborne for fourteen hours to tokyo and another four hours to manila.
but, i managed.
anyhoo, i arrived at the ninoy aquino international airport (NAIA), the worst on the planet (while everywhere else in the world you're allowed to carry with you a small amount of non-flammable liquid/gel substances, you are allowed NONE at NAIA. even though this was the case, i managed to get through five - FIVE! - different security checkpoints with a 3oz bottle of lotion that i accidentally left in my purse.), at almost 11 pm. Customs and Immigration were a breeze but claiming my one, itsy-bitsy luggage took forever. i have never seen sooooo many balikbayan boxes in my entire life! one after another, after another. and they seem to all belong to one family! anyway, an hour and fifteen minutes of my life passed and FINALLY, my bag appeared. i thanked every saint still awake at that time.
my poor cousins had to wait for me - one played the lookout, trying to make me out in the fracas, while the other kept on circling around in all that chaos. i couldn't thank them enough for coming to get me!
the following day was jun's wedding. jun and i have been good friends since high school. he now lives in dublin where he promises to put me and kat up whenever we decide to visit. anyway, his wedding is the main reason why i was in manila. the last time i saw jun was october 2005 during his visit to SF. he told me then that he's met 'the one' and that they are heading back to the PI to get married there, in front of his family and friends. i'm a friend, so i said i'd go. and so, i did (feeling guilty yet, aloba?).
the wedding was at the san agustin church in the historic district of intramuros.
one thing to note about getting married in famous sites in the philippines: they rush you in and out of the church. while most weddings i've been to here in the states are solemn and intimate, the ones i've been to in the PI are just the opposite. the solemnity of the sacrament is lost with people talking and laughing through the ceremony, and the intimacy is ruined by the next wedding already waiting at the nave of the church. granted i've been to many more weddings here in the states but the few that i've been to in the PI are very much alike with each other.
anyway, the important thing is, jun and malot were wed and they looked so happy - that's what mattered in the end.
the happy couple
some of the barkada at the san diego gardens at intramuros where the reception was held
from the reception, where we had some good food, we went to gerry's grill, where we had some more good food. with a spread of nilagang bulalo, sisig, chicharon, sizzling squid, chicharon bulaklak, you wouldn't think we just came from a wedding! when it was apparent that i couldn't keep my eyelids open any longer, we called it a night and my friend opep and his girlfriend, carol, drove me home. and that was day 1 of my trip to manila.
day two wasn't as exciting. i specifically did not plan anything for friday to recupe from the long flight and the debauchery from the night before. i woke up at 7 AM and spent the morning flipping through the channels on the tv. when i travel, i'm always curious about what is going on at the locality where i'm at. after a couple of hours, i fell asleep a bit (thank God!) and before you know it, the phone was ringing which meant it was time for lunch with my aunt.
after lunch, i spent the rest of the day shopping for my niece (due to pop out in february). i bought TONS of baby stuff for her that i ended up buying luggage just so i can take them all back with me. since spending money tires me out - gives me that i'm-so-drained feeling - i decided to stay in on a friday night.
saturday was a different story. i woke up early and very hungry. since the apartment i was renting (i refused to stay with family because i wanted to be able to do whatever i wanted during my vacation) had no refrigerator or stove, i kept no food. so, i abandoned the apartment and headed across the street to holiday inn where they had a spread of filipino, japanese, and chinese food. i went for the longsilog, of course, and also had some ensaymada and some fruit.
one fruit in particular caught my eye. 'it's called dragon fruit', one of the servers volunteered the information as i stood in front of the fruit bowl looking all perplexed at the white-fleshed-speckled-with-black-seeds fruit. i was curious so i took some back to the table and braved it. it was pretty good, actually. sweet enough and a little tart. the consistency reminded me of kiwi. i enjoyed it and went back for seconds.
after breakfast, i headed back to the apartment and snoozed a little. at noon, my aunt called me and told me to be downstairs in fifteen minutes. together, we went to 'pot and noodles' in megamall for our little family reunion. i know i have a lot of cousins but i didn't think i had that many! and some of them even have kids already and they were much younger than me! it was a little odd getting questioned by some of them as to when i'm planning to have a kid. it always makes me laugh when people ask me that, specially if it's coming from someone who (1)have kids unintentionally or (2)have kids but can't really afford to have them or (3)are irresponsible yet have kids. anyway, the reunion itself was pretty cool. i was able to sit down and bond with some of my cousins and laugh at our aunt and uncle's craziness. eventually though, we had to say goodbye so i can get ready for the next to-do on my list for that day.
some of my very big, crazy, beautiful, (maternal)family
i moved to the states right after i graduated from high school. i was able to complete a whole semester of college but that was about it. as a result, i do not have any affiliation with any colleges in the PI. However, i am proud to admit that i am a paconian. i am an alumnus of paco catholic school, went there from kindergarten to high school. it's a good coincidence that my visit coincided with this year's PCS alumni homecoming. so, of course, i made it a point to go. opep picked me up and on our drive from ortigas to paco, we passed by my old town. i was very tempted to make him stop so we can walk around a bit but, as it was, we were already running late. so, we headed to paco and saw some people i have not seen for 13 years.
batchmates i have not seen in years. most of them have not changed...
some of the 'barkada', cooling off at the old stomping ground
goofs!
on sunday, i met with a couple of blogger friends at 'the podium' where we dined at a filipino restaurant that had really, REALLY good bibingka. present were tito rolly, toni who brought me some pastillas and polvoron, ate marie who gave me a really cute chinese doll keychain, and suze who gave me a nice picture frame. it was the first time i was meeting all of them in person but hanging out with them was like hanging out with friends i have not seen in a long time. i'm so flattered that they came out on a rainy day just to meet with me!
some of my friends and i planned to spend some time on the beach while jun and i were in town. at first we planned on taking a trip to bohol on monday and stay there for a day or two. but that was reduced to a trip to batangas, which was further reduced to an overnight trip to laguna. we headed out on monday morning and stayed at a resort owned by ate marie (thank you sooo much again!) and had tons of fun! we had a lot of time eating, drinking, swimming, talking, reminiscing about the old times. it was unfortunate that not all of them could come to laguna but i had an absolute blast with those that did make it.
the crazy boys
there are many things that can test the bond that friends have: time is one of them. i trully value the friendship i have with my 'barkada' from high school. they saw me go through a lot and most of them stood by me through those times. and, even though we haven't seen each other in years, while some of them faded like a distant memory, most of them remained true friends.
a lot of 'you guys' missed out! we all wished you were there...
the following day, after getting over hangovers (you know who you are!), we packed up and headed out to tagaytay for some really REALLY good nilagang bulalo. we also bought some local goodies like espasol, cheese yema, buko pie, etc...
jun's request was to stop by the 'pink sisters' convent'. it was eerily calm there i felt weird about taking pictures. however, i took my camera out when the guys obliged my request to stop somewhere to take pictures of the taal volcano. it sat there, in the middle of the lake, calm as ever.
with my boys who made sure that our time with them were spent in nothing but laughter
i had planned on hanging out with my friends again before i left for japan enroute to the US. but, i ended up going home thursday morning instead of my planned departure of friday. call it homesickness or what have you, but i started feeling sick after i got back to the apartment tuesday night and all i wanted was to be in my own bed. so, i changed my flight wednesday morning, had one last dinner with a couple aunts/uncle and cousins, skipped japan (which i was very much excited about exploring!), said my goodbyes to my fam and friends, and headed back to where i now consider home.
thanks for sharing, know what? I got misty eyed reading your post, talagang nostalgic ang dating coz it's really fun seeing old friends, relatives and the place where you grew up. Despite some hassles in the airport i guess you enjoyed your brief vacation. Be back soon, i hope.
Awesome G, that sounded like a really great trip (up until the homesickness part.) It's awesome when you get together with friends you haven't seen in awhile and you're all still as close and comfortable, like you never left.
The food looked and sounded yummy! Can we get dragon fruit here? Also, did you get my text!
