My March Trip

Just arrived yesterday from a 4-day trip to Manila. For some reason I just didn't feel like going on this particular trip but I'm glad I did. Somehow the trip was very enlightening. I stayed with my former Kassel roommate, Marbz, whom I haven't seen for almost 4 years now. She now lives with her sister Sam at a condo along Dela Rosa. 

Marbs :)

                                                                                                                

During my stay, I was reminded of how much I miss condo life. I crave for the independence I once had. It was a luxury, and I only realize it now.  I miss bearing the responsibility of keeping the place clean and rushing to pay utility bills after receiving the disconnection notice. I miss being on my own, and having roommates, to talk to about my day or not talk to at all when I don't feel like it. I miss the feeling of being able to let tomorrow take care of itself. It's not easy for me to have that kind of mentality nowadays. Sitting in her sofa staring into nothingness for hours, I realized that so much has changed in my life in the past 4 years. 

One of the reasons why I went up was to see our other former roommate Marj who's here on vacation/2nd honeymoon from Vegas with her husband Jeff. It was our first time to meet him and he was funny and nice, and both of them are very much in love with each other. I just love 'em happy marriages. I am very happy that Marj was lucky enough to find someone who can make her laugh everyday for the rest of her life. Makes me believe that maybe IT exists. :)

 Mr & Mrs Cabrera

Day 1: Marj, Marbz, Kei and I went to dinner at Pasto's and from there we had a few drinks at Pier 1 to catch up for lost time and then headed to the practically empty gb3 to have a few more drinks at Ice. We didn't have much pictures that night because there were no SOs around  to take them for us. 

Day 2: we met up again for dinner at Fely J's in Gb5 because Marj wanted filipino food. This time Ayeen & Lucia joined us, as well Marj's Jeff and Kei's Charles. It was my first time to meet them both that night and I found that they are very nice guys :) they had to put up with our girl talk the whole night. Oh, and they took our pictures! 

  

Yummy Crispy Patang Bawang

After Lucia & Ayeen left, we headed to Max Brenner for some chocolate lovin' and bonded some more. Jeff & Charles seemed to hit it off good too, and both were a good sport when we teased them about being on a blind date that night.

Chemistry on their first meeting ;)

I haven't laughed like I did that night for a long time. I missed our Kassel days. Whether we were on our own little Sims world or watching movie marathons or being Lucy in the sky with diamonds ;) We reminisced and laughed about old boyfriends, bad tastes, unpaid electricity bills, among others. We made fun of ourselves, as well as anything and everything else. It was fun. If only for those 2 nights with them, I think my trip was already worth it.  

Day 3: After finishing all my derma trips here and there,  I had my haircut at Tony & Jackey, Buendia branch. My hairstylist Jinny, asked if I wanted it set straight or curled. Since I've always had it straight, I thought I'd try to have it curled for a change. Who knew you could do this to your hair with a straightening iron? I didn't.  

Vanity is my favorite sin ;)

That day I also discovered the coolness of Guitar Hero. I went home and found Marbs so engrossed in playing so I thought I'd give it a try. Plus, I watched Serena van der Woodsen rockin' it in Gossip Girl. I was so excited coz it looked so easy, but I was so wrong. 

 It wasn't as easy as it looked on Gossip Girl. 

I noticed Marbz would play seated in the chair, I told her I couldn't understand how she had fun playing that way. Isn't guitar hero supposed to make you feel like a rockstar? She gave me this weird look. 

Starting to feel like a rock star now. 

"Hit me with your best shot" by Pat Benatar

Finally, I think I got the hang of it. Kinda anyway.

Because I got so into the guitar hero that night, I was a bit late with my dinner with Aaron & Angela, who just arrived from their 3 month long vacation and I missed them so much! They even remembered to bring pasalubong for both Kaden and me, how thoughtful! Whenever I see them, I can't help thinking how lucky they are to have each other. Because of the circumstances, I might be seeing less and less of them and it really makes me very sad because they have become very dear to me. They are two people who I can say have really good hearts thats why I'm really rooting for them to end up together. Don't let me down guys. :)

Day 4: My last day really made me feel like I've had a very productive trip. I met with my wedding planner Jp Montilla, then I was off to see Jong Mesina at Write Impressions for my invites. In my 4 day stay, I was able to finalize my gown design, motif (only because I was put on the spot, by Jong) and invitation design. I was also able to fit the lining of my gown (a day after they took my measurement) and had two lovely girls on my entourage take their measurements and finalize their gown design. Lunch with Cielo was all about emoting fast because she had to get back to work. I miss our Residencia days. I always do. Starbucks emote night with Ema, wednesday ladies' night, gimik weekends, staying up till mornings talking about whatever, our endless food trips as well as laugh trips, fighting about whose turn it was to buy water, shopping shopping shopping. Life was so much simpler then. 

Cielo

I was surprised to find out that this was the first time Cielo has ever met my friend/blockmate/thesispartner Dyan. They only know of each other from my kwentos but apparently that afternoon was the first time they were ever introduced. I found that surprising because both of them had been very good friends of mine throughout college after afterwards. I would think they've met at one time or another, but I guess not. I was glad they hit it off quickly though. 

Dyan and Frederick

Out of my four bridesmaids, only Cielo and Dyan could make it to this fitting. They finally met with my gown designer, Frederick Peralta, who is one of the nicest people you can ever meet. He is very down to earth and he knows how to make a person feel at ease. I feel lucky that he will be designing my gown because he is very kind and he listens to what I want. Being the fickle minded person that I am, I couldn't really decide on what I want for my gown. I know that if it were any other designer, they would surely get pissed on how I keep changing my mind about what I want. So in the end, I left it all up to him to dress me on my wedding day, since I believe it's what he really does best. There are other designers who aren't even in half the celebrity status Frederick is in, and can show attitude. Even Cielo and Dyan noted  how down to earth he was, it could just be PR but he really made an effort to engage in a conversation with them when he clearly didn't need to. 

From his place, Dyan and I headed to Robinson's Galleria to check out this guy Gene Testa who does tattoos and body piercing. He came highly recommended and I heard he's really one of the best in what he does. I have been wanting to get a tattoo  and a belly piercing so bad and I have thought it through for some time now. That day in particular, I just felt like doing something new, something different, something that was out of character for me. The piercing sounds like something I might do, but the tattoo? Oh my parents are gonna kill me when they find out. So I plan to tell them about it after my wedding. Smart huh? ;) I had my mind and my heart set on getting inked as well as pierced that very afternoon, but it turned out that the guy Gene was out of town. I was kinda disappointed. Tsk tsk. So I just took it as a sign that I should research more on the design I want to get. I mean, this is practically a lifetime commitment right? I'm thinking maybe getting a tattoo is like getting married, only it's gonna hurt. :)

Megan Fox is hot.

I plan to have it done on top of appendectomy scar, which is slightly visible when I wear bikinis. Exactly where Megan Fox got hers, but not with the same design. I heard it hurts the most in that part of the body, but that's the only body part I really want to have tattooed as of the moment. I'm trying to convince Dyan to get one as well, so that I won't be alone in this, plus I told her it's gonna be more memorable when you get your first tattoo with a good friend. She said she's still gonna think about it some more. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. ;)

On our way home, we happened to pass by PRP. Since this was a budget trip, I told Dyan I have no intention whatsoever of going shopping or buying anything at all for myself. So we ended up piling up on clothes we had no intention of buying, along with a camera inside the dressing room. Thankfully, their dressing rooms are big enough for play :) I think we spent an hour playing dress up and taking pictures of each other. 

Too bad I ran out of memory space that afternoon. The salespeople must have hated our guts. I told Dyan I felt so guilty when we headed out of the store as empty handed as when we came in. But it was fun. LOTS of fun. Dyan is really one of a kind. She makes me laugh and forget about my issues even just for a little while, and when she listens, she really LISTENS, in a only-dyan-can-do-it kind of way. I guess I can say that I'm really blessed in that department. 

Headed to Glorietta after that to have dinner with my cousins Ymae and Tj, and my brother Rj. Did some catching up on life and shared some family luvin'. :) After dinner at Gilligan's and desert at Iceberg, we waited about an hour for a cab. We walked from there to g1 to g4, then g3 then towards gb3 then on to Ayala Ave., all the way to Valero. We finally got a cab at Starbucks, Valero. Funny thing is, I didn't even feel a bit tired from all the walking. In fact, that's one thing I miss about living in Manila. 

Cousins.

If I didn't have to go back to the condo, pack for my 5am flight, and get ready for my night out with Cielo, I wouldn't have minded walking home to dela Rosa at all :) 

We ended up in Embassy reminiscing good ol' OG times. We had fun that night, considering I only had until 3am to leave and check-in for my flight back to Zamboanga. I realized that very night too, that we really aren't the same people anymore that we were back then. Partyin' is no doubt fun, I miss it, I miss that life and I know I always will, but that's not who I am anymore and that's no longer who I want to be. Every now and then, I will yearn for that kind of life, yes, but I know I will not trade where I am right now to go back to being the party girl that I once was. I know it's enough to say that I once lived the life I wanted, though it didn't last. I will miss the hell-with-tomorrow, no-regrets-with-today me, but right now I cannot afford to be that and if I could I don't think I'd want to. Fact is, life happened, and shifted the world as I knew it to 180 degree turn. Eventhough there are a few moments where I yearn for my privacy and I wish to disappear for a minute or two, where I am right now is the only place I'd really like to be. I'm having a freakin' lemonade bar from the lemons I've been handed and I'm loving every sip of it.