Iloilo and Guimaras...AGAIN!

Despite of having a lot of friends from Iloilo, I still don't consider it a place I enjoy going to. But Last June 2010, after arriving from Japan, I learned that our barkada (Bora gang) was booked for an Iloilo trip for our friend's birthday so I had no choice but to go with them. It's their first time there while it's my Nth time already.

I was touched 'coz my girl friends from Iloilo (from a different barkada) organized a get-together for me. So we went to MO2 at Smallville for a Karaoke night. Then after that, I went to Flow for a party with a different set of friends.

with SMB friends

with Iloilo party friends

 

 more friends partying at Flow

The next day, we're off to Guimaras. Actually, my bestfriend and I didn't wanna go 'coz we didn't have a good experience there the first time we went there. But since, it's a part of the itinerary that the birthday celebrant prepared, we all went there. We rented our own boat and it's really expensive. We could have just taken the normal passenger boat and rented a multicab upon arriving in the island, but it didn't turn out that way. We spent most of the time on the boat, only to find out that we're visiting exactly the same place we went to during my first time there. We just had lunch at Reiman's Resort and that's it. Well everyone didn't like the trip but at least we all loved the mango shake haha!:))

 the time I had fairer skin haha

friends on the boat

 the girls on the boat :)

Guimaras Island

After the Guimaras trip, we proceeded to the hotel to prepare for Angelia's 20th birthday party at Bourbon. It was a crazy birthday party. Or should I say, too crazy to handle?

That was quite a night! The next day, we had lots of oysters for lunch then off to the airport for our flight back to Manila. A fun trip made possible by cool friends.:)

Lovin' Mt. Fuji :)

Who would've thought that I will see Mt. Fuji even before I see Mt. Mayon. Actually I have always been wanting to see Mt. Mayon for its perfect shape, though I never had the chance to. I also used to fantasize seeing Mt. Fuji for its ice that doesn't melt, and I can't believe that fantasy came true too soon!:)

We drove to Mt. Fuji one morning. It took us around an hour and a half to get there. I think we got there between 9-10am, and it's kinda covered with clouds. We had a stop over at a spot where one can see a nice view of it.

 

it's like heaven:)

 at the "photo ops" spot

Chanel shades are the best!:)

Mt. Fuji is actually surrounded by 3 lakes. We went to one of them and found a nice view of the volcano. We found there a lot of photographers, both pros and amateurs. We met one hobbyist photographer who takes photos of Mt. Fuji every single day. He showed us some of the photos he took; and he's even kind enough to give us two of those photos. Each photo was taken at a different day.

 there's an ongoing photoshoot down there

 breathtaking!

 so Spring!:)

My Aunt's family plus Grandma

 given by an old man addicted to Mt. Fuji

  his photographs looked a lot like postcards

We also explored other tourist spots nearby. At that time, there were actually quite a number of tourists going around.

 my cousin Cherry

 

 cute!:))

people mining for precious gems (interesting...)

 

where we bought lunch

We bought some packed lunch at a nearby supermarket then we proceeded to my Uncle's family rest house somewhere at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The place was like a village of huge rest houses. It's the location of a lot of rest houses of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people in Japan. Well as I mentioned in my "Tokyo" blog, my Uncle's dad was a baseball star and his mom was a model. Cool!:)) The rest house was nice, though it felt scary inside 'coz no one was staying there. It's looked like a rest house in Baguio, plus the fact that it felt really cold there.

 we finally arrived!

 my cousin Ken at the attic

view from the top

 

 lunch time!:)

 

We had lunch, fixed the place a bit, and left. We went to somewhere like a village clubhouse and an ice skiing place during winter. Then back to the road to shop at Don Quixote in Yamanashi where I bought my favorite D&G gold watch.:)

Another day which proved me that "Life is amazing!".=) 

More Like "Singles' Awareness Day":)

Alright. Let's have a current blog insert first. So Valentine's Day was over...finally! haha! But let me share some stuff I did with my single friends on that day.

We met up at Eastwood City Mall on the night of February 14. People come in any of these groupings: 

• group of "singles" (either all girls, all boys, or mixed) 
• families
• co-workers (who I assume were also singles or have long distance partners)
• COUPLES (of all ages and of all genders lol)

Obviously, we belonged to the first bullet. So we had dinner at Momo. Beside our table was also a group of single girls. haha! We're happy, but some of our conversations actually sounded a bit bitter.:))

 while waiting for our seats at Momo

 time to order food:)

 complimentary bread

 Darlene and I

 vanity while waiting for our food LOL

 Four Cheese w/ Mushrooms Pizza

 Salmon, my fave!:)

 Lychee-Melon Shake

 Chocolate Shake

 Dianne and Step (yeah she refuses to add "h" LOL)

 with people taking photos w/ the LOVE thing at the background

 define LOVE...less???:))

 this kinda looked cool. haha

I was ready to go home at 10pm. But just when I though the night's over, my bestfriend insisted that we grab a few drinks before going home. Step and Darlene already left 'coz they got some other things to do. So Dianne and I proceeded to Distillery to have some white wine. Unfortunately, the wine that i wanted wasn't available. So we ordered Tequila Rose instead. Just the right drink for singles on a Vday night. haha!

The place was filled with groups of single people. I bumped into a high school batchmate there. Plus we also spotted Ms. Jean Garcia in the house. The place was perfect for singles. They played good music and the crowd was really fun. My friend Josh also came and joined us. His fiance was actually in Australia.

 this was posted on all the tables haha

 Like!:)

 and so we answered the question LOL

 bestfriends

But our Vday celebration didn't end there. On Feb.16, we satisfied our craving for chocolate in a place we've been wanting to try. We went to Chocolate Fire in Salcedo Village for some sinful dose of chocs.

 after this shot, the waiter told me that nobody's allowed to take photos haha

 Soup of the Day (tasted like Asparagus)

 Ham & Cheese sandwich

 Firedogs! (super hot & spicy)

 Fondue!!!

happy!:)

*sorry some photos kinda looked dark 'coz I avoided using flash and the auto-adjustment feature of my camera didn't work well and I didn't know why.*

Just a proof that Valentine's is not only for couples.:) Singles rock! LOL