Davao 2013 – Day 2 (Rya's Barbie Party)

Never seen a girl been so Barbie fanatic but my niece, Rya. Everything from clothes to her water tumbler it's all about Barbie and pink! By the way, I love pink too! lol. So definitely the theme of her Jollibee party was nothing else but Barbie! There's no Jollibee (or it used to) in Dubai so you could just imagine how excited my niece and nephew that day.

April 15 at seven in the evening we headed to Matina Square where the famous fast food chain is located. The space allotted was really big and I thought it's quite too big for a typical children's party. Wrong!!

In the beginning..

By 7:30PM guests started to arrive and eventually filled the room. It was packed that some guests would have to occupy the tables outside the party room. All in all the guests were like more than 80. lol.

Never thought there would be so much kids as my niece does not go to school in the Philippines nor have that so much mates in here too, aside from her cousins. It was lovely to see kids running around in their pink tutu though. lol.

Parlor games

And the classic parlor games started - Trip to Jerusalem, Bring me.. , Simon says.. It was fun! My niece was not in the mood to join the games probably because she didn't get much sleep in daytime where as the baby brother, Regu was all smiles with the guests!

Things turned around when the main character arrived, Jollibee! My nephew cannot believe he's seeing a real one, because back in Dubai he can only see a picture or a statue. My niece, Rya, started to show some interest in the party too! lol. It was priceless!

And everybody wants a picture with Jollibee.

In our table I met an adorable girl named Lyka, her parents are good friends of my brother in Dubai, she was a bit shy at first but when the games started she was so thrilled! Too bad she's scared of mascots. When Jollibee came to the room she hurriedly went under the table and started to cry.

Mother and Son

The party finished at around nine-ish in the evening. Mom and I saw a coffee shop from a far. We decided to check the coffeehouse. They got a lot of extra ordinary flavours going on in there but what caught my attention was the Durian Arctic Blast. lol.

Mom loves Durian while I'm a bit neutral with it. Mom loves coffee while I do not drink coffee (I palpitate and get shaky) doctors prohibited me on having some but for the sake of experiencing Durian in your coffee and as a frap, I gave in. lol.

Mom loved it and I don't! I'm sorry but I just really don't. I'll stick with the basic. I would rather eat Durian fresh than be blended with coffee. lol.

with my brother's precious toy.

My brother is an engineer/accountant but has a knack with photography, I must say he takes a good picture. He asked me to take care of his precious toy as he had to stay at the square to party with friends. He  invited me to join them but was too tired so I forbear. lol.

The day was so fun! I cannot believe I turned down some fast food party invites when I was a kid. lol. To tell you honestly, I was once afraid of mascots. That's why I can so sympathise with Lyka when she rushed down under the tables and hugged the legs of her nanny crying. Good thing I was able to struggle through while growing up and I'm pretty sure Lyka will do too.

Back to my brother's home I cannot wait to get into bed, problem was - I started to palpitate and get shaky because of the coffee. lol. Mom told me to do not go to sleep yet and drink a lot of water, after a couple of hours i was good to go so I went to bed and hugged my mom tight! lol.

Davao 2013 - Day 1

My first day here in Davao has just ended. And this day was all about food! lol. The first reason why Mom and I are here is because my brother and his family came to visit from Dubai. My they have been very kind to invite us to see them in Davao. Note: This is a chance for Mom to see her only grand kids.

Me and Mom's day started with an early flight out of Manila, 7:30am. We arrived in the crowned jewel of Mindanao at nine o'clock and my brother was sooooo early at the airport to pick us up. He was like 2 hours earlier! Lol.

Mom posing for the cam on board

Outside the airport there was a media interviewing a man which made me and mom wonder who he is. Not until my brother recognized him and started taking pictures of him. The guy is one of Philippine boxing's fastest rising star, Boom-Boom Bautista, which was on the same plane that we were.

Then we headed to Cataluna Pequeño where my brother and her wife bought a house. I was excited to get inside the house to see the kids, and when I went to their room I saw the eldest,Rya crying for I do-not-know reason. lol. She was so not in the mood when we saw her. lol. Then I saw the youngest, Regu who I think is the cutest baby ever with the rosy cheeks and naughty smile. I saw Mom is so happy to finally see her grand kids,

By lunch time we went to this place where they are known to serve catfish - Sumague's Ihaw-ihaw. We ordered tons of catfish because my brother missed it so much. They had it grilled, deep fried and cooked in coconut milk but I prefer my catfish fried. To be honest I am not a fan of catfish but I tried it and it was delicious! In my opinion, its meat is so soft and taste like chicken. Lol.

After we had lunch we went back home and rested for... I do know! lol. Mother woke me up at around six in the evening because she said we're going somewhere.

Me, mom, my brother and his brother-in-law were in his car and went to a quite famous mall in Ma-a, The NCCC. We were told to meet my sister-in-law and the others there. So after we meet up, we went to a church somewhere in the area, the St. Paul church to give thanks and light a candle.

At Saint Paul's Church

Then, it started to drizzle.. just drizzle. We went to one of the famous eating place in Davao, the Penongs, famous for BBQ and seafood grills. We had chicken and pork bbq. I cannot stop laughing seeing my brother who cannot seem to get enough of his pork bbq. He was telling how much he missed eating pork! lol.

Dinner time!

After that lovely meal, we headed home this time it's just me, my brother and his brother-in-law in the car, mom went to the other car to be with her grand kids. lol.

As we headed home, rain started to pour in. Then my brother fully opened the car window and telling the rain will not bother him because he missed it too! Then on the radio a Philippine slow rock classic was playing, all of a sudden he and the brother-in-law started  singing their guts out with my brother acting as as if he was strumming an invisible guitar and with the rain kinda pouring inside the car, it was an epic scene! lol.

Mom and Son

So now I am here in the guest room, sitting on the floor facing the bed with the laptop and beside it is mom snoring.. lol. From Mom's snoring I can say she enjoyed the day like I did.

I cannot wait to see what will happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after it and the day after that day. lol. In short, spending time with your family is always the best thing it could happen to you.

Puerto Galera Birthday Getaway 2013

The language of friendship is not words but meanings. ~ Henry David Thoreau ~

Galera Easter Weekend

Easter weekend!  I got an invitation from my friend over the phone for an all expense paid vacation somewhere in down south. I thought they were just trippin' because it's gonna be April Fool's the following day so I did not take it seriously. Until I realized that it was actually for real. lol. They said it's like their birthday gift for me since it will be my birthday two days after that.

So the following morning, I found myself packing up things for the getaway. It was so spontaneous that I forgot to bring IDs (Note: I never go out of town w/o my identifications)

Located on the south part of the Philippines, Puerto Galera known to be one of the top diving destinations in the Philippines. It is the northwesternmost municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro.

We left Manila at 8AM - took a bus ride to Batangas port which is 2hrs away from the country capital. We hitched on a boat which took us almost 2hrs and I was just appalled to see the number of passengers waiting to get on board and be back on the city. Remember this was a holy week getaway so it was pretty much expected that people will be flocking on the beach for the weekend.

From the boat docking station in White Beach, Puerto Galera, we went to White Beach Hotel, where we rested for a while and had our lunch. It was almost lunch time when we checked-in.

We fell asleep after we had our delightful meal. I woke up at around five in the afternoon. I changed to my swimming clothes and headed down to the beach with Jose so I could take a glimpse of Puerto Galera sunset.

They said all sunsets are just the same. But if you're someone from the city and never really get to see the sun kiss the horizon that much any ordinary sunset would be a spectacular one.

It was my first time on that place. I have heard a lot of things about it from something teasing to fabulous but most of the time teasing, lol. Knowing that the place is most of the time populated I never really included it on my "Places-To-Go-list". However, this experience have changed it.

I enjoyed myself on the beach. The sand may not be a fine white one but the water is pretty clear. There are a lot of restaurants at the beachfront where you can have a drink or snacks while watching the some handsome dudes or lovely chicks. lol.

Dinner time was my fave, who wouldn't? lol. We had grilled pork, shrimp in tamarind soup base and my fave aubergine salad - it was perfect!

We strolled along the stretch of this party filled beach. We saw tons of fire dancers endlessly twirling around and manipulating the fire and it was awesome to see them forming the fire in different shapes, my fave was the butterfly-like shape.

There are also some gay performers who were really extra-ordinarily commendable doing stand up comedy. What's even more nifty about it was that you can watch it for free while you're on the shore as they perform outdoor in front of the restaurant! You do not need to pay for entrance fee just a wholehearted applause is enough but it doesn't hurt to give 'em a tip though. After all you've saved much from not paying anything to see them.

We ended our night having a bottle of beer and even though I am under medication, I felt like hanging out on a beach without a beer is like having a one night stand without protection.. It's a NECESSITY! lol.

Anyway, we went back to our room and tried our best to get a peaceful sleep as there was an event at the beach that night sponsored by a famous brewery in the country. Imagine the base of the music vibrating into our room. Luckily I got wasted with a bottle of beer that the noise didn't bother me already.

I woke up early the next morning and changed into my swimming clothes again to go for another dip. For 2hrs we enjoyed the water and went back to the hotel and fix ourselves and things as our check out time was 11am.

After check-out we had to stay in a restaurant wait for our boarding time which was 3pm. By 5pm we were already on a bus to Manila. We arrived in Manila at 7pm but didn't get home 'till 8pm 'coz of heavy traffic.

I would like to thank Joseph and JD for a very spontaneous and amazing treat. I hate surprises because I hate the feeling of being caught off guard. However, I appreciate that my friends are thoughtful enough to make me happy on days before my birthday. That's why I love 'em! Boy, I'm lucky!! 

BlackBerry French Toast

Found some slices of bread in a fridge. 

I soaked it in a mixture of beaten eggs and milk. 

I then fried it in a pan greased with a little butter until they are browned and cooked through.

Day-old bread is often used as dried bread will soak up more egg mixture without falling apart.

I'm a big fan of cinnamon so I sprinkled some of it and sugar. 

It was perfect!

Partner it with scrambled egg and bacon perhaps?

Eat well!