Friday, January 29, 2010

Highs and Lows - Philippine Trip

As we speak, we are recovering from a case of jet lag from our recent trip. It's funny how Rafael, didn't seem to mind the trip at all. He's been sleeping and waking up normally since we arrived. For Angel and I, we were up until 5 this morning.

On the plane ride back, I thought about writing about the good and the bad things related to our going Philippine vacation - and this from my own perspective of course.

Good (not necessarily in this order)
  • Seeing family and friends after almost 9 years
  • Wedding Anniversary Celebration
  • LZM Restaurant in Tagaytay
  • Ridiculously cheap body massage rates
  • Ridiculously cheap foot massage rates
  • SCTEX (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) - a new freeway that cuts trips to Subic or Baguio by more than an hour or two
  • Pancake House - corned beef hash still tastes the same although serving size seems smaller
  • Via Mare - hasn't changed a bit
  • JT's Manukan - Tasty bacolod chicken inasal owned by Filipino Actor Joel Torre
  • Hot Springs in Pansol Laguna
  • Serendra
  • Greenbelt - Very nice architecture and landscape although I wouldn't shop there...
  • Taguig GK Village
  • Lechon - need I say more?
  • Max's Restaurant
  • Ateneo Basketball League - played a game and didn't help much but definitely had a blast.
  • TAWSILOG - Tawilis, sinangag at itlog
  • Pansol laguna

Bad

  • 17-Hour Flight from LAX to MNL
  • Heat - Temps felt like they were in the high 80's
  • Driving in Manila with a stick shift is a bad, bad idea
  • Drivers' habits just haven't changed. There's no such thing as a lane.
  • Pickpockets in Megamall
  • Jeeps still stopping at the corner of EDSA and Santolan to pick up passengers causing a monstrous a traffic jam in EDSA.
  • Motorcycles swarming the roads of Manila

Clearly, the good outweighed the bad. It will still remain one of my favorite vacation destination.

To all the families and friends who took care of us, a million thanks.

What's a post without photos so here are a few photos of Rafael and his cousins:


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