Lines In My Head

There are moments you just proceed with the relatively unknown and hope you end up with a damn fine time. Through the magic of that social media application that sounds like the band behind Lips of an Angel , I'd say I had one of those instances on a certain Friday night. It was a casual invite for a Korean-themed dinner, one I wouldn't say no to given my love affair with ramyun. Given the horrific traffic at that time (payday Friday, ugh), we had to walk a good kilometer or so on our way to what I will later know as "The Batcave", passing by an assortment of bright lights and scantily clad women (or men?). Upon arriving at the place, I immediately noticed how authentic it seemed: a wooden sliding door; slippers and shoes being taken off (which gave me a view of her red panda socks); a chest freezer full of Korean goodies; and an authentic Korean guy as the authentic manager/owner. We proceeded to the dining area which featured tables over a recessed floor creati...

* This is the third part of the Overdue series and focuses on the World Cup and unplanned visit to Manila. All events happened last July 2014* I'd say we are casual football fans. I've been following Real Madrid F.C. since their Galactico days (Zidane, Beckham, Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raul, the true Ronaldo) while she has been avidly cheering for her goalie boyfriends (San Iker, Courtois, Lloris). It wasn't a big surprise then that when the World Cup rolled around last July, midnight viewing and group standings updates were the common theme on our Twitter and Viber conversations. And we certainly had a healthy supply of topics: the one-man Cristiano Ronaldo show, Suarez's degustation expedition, the James Rodriguez revelation, La Furia Roja's epic collapse, the devastating Neymar injury, Messi, the show pony, falling short (no pun intended), and the Germans hoisting the World Cup trophy. Since I'm more familiar with La Liga, I was inclined to root for th...

This is the second installment for the overdue posts and it focuses on the one-year marker with C. I didn't even realize that we've been together for more than 365 days already but I guess when you're happy, content, and indulging in really good food on a monthly basis, there's a tendency to ignore the calendar. Anyway, aside from the usual serving of tasty cuisine, we had quite a number of fun activities planned for the occasion. The lovely details, in the form of snapshots, are on the next page.

It's been almost three months since I last updated our adventures which must be considered an eternity in the world of blogging. The downtime was long enough that I was even able to redesign the look and feel of this site -- quite a feat for someone who has zero artistic sense and just randomly clicks buttons, selects colors, and drags bars until the prettiest layout appears. Anyway, that has left me with almost a gig's worth of raw images, a sizable allotment of neurological power for recall, and loads of mental notes, catchy phrases and witty remarks in mind. And while I do have tons of material to work with, how to present it in a not-so-dragging manner is another matter. On her blog , C made the incredibly smart move to use snapshots as a way of documenting our trips. Clever. For this post however, I decided to go on the more creative route and use... more snapshots. Heh. I originally intended to do one very long post but figured I was too lazy to do so. Instead, I br...

Recently had a quick weekend visit to what has become my favorite island in the country and while this trip didn't involve any long rides, famed tourist spots or picturesque beach fronts, it certainly had its own distinct flavor in the form of an unintentional tutorial about life Down South. Thus, #cebuimmersion was born. An early morning flight (I'm seriously getting used to this first flight thingy) took me to Mactan Island where I was minutes away from being with She Who Makes Me Smile once again. The Ilocos Trip happened just a mere two weeks prior to this one, yet it certainly felt eons have already passed since then. Every single day of waiting was an excruciating one. Ugh. But upon the sight of The Girl Who Makes My Heart Beat, all the weariness of waiting wore off and I was taken back to the first time she picked me up at the airport: full of anticipation and excitement, yet this time, less the anxiety and uncertainty and with awkward besos replaced by sweet morni...

*This is the last part on a series of posts detailing our trip to Ilocos. Now, read!* With the Vigan expedition done, we proceeded to the bus terminal to start the last leg of this northern adventure. Upon arrival to the terminal though, we learned that the trip back to Laoag was already fully booked and we will be accommodated as chance passengers only. Ugh. Luckily for us, a helpful security guard (people in the provinces are always waaaay too kind) gave us a nice, little tip: we can try our luck on the highway where all kinds of buses pass through on their way to the capital. And indeed, just after a few minutes of waiting, we caught a Farinas bus headed to Currimao, our final destination. Bless you, Kuya Guard! Probably due to the walking and strolling around the Vigan plaza, the ride to Currimao was a very sound one. A sound sleep for both of us, that is! If not for the good-hearted bus conductor waking us up at the junction, we, sleepyheads, would have probably ended up ba...

This is not in the Philippines. Right? After a well-deserved and much-needed sleep the night before, the warm sunlight seeping through the high curtains welcomed the lovebirds to the touristy phase of this Northern adventure: a stroll around the infamous Calle Crisologo and the hunt for the crunchy Vigan empanada. After a homey breakfast, consisting of Vigan longganisa, fish bacon (remember these two dishes) and leftover Felicitas rice, preluded by the two Cs bumping into a hotel staff meeting along the staircase, the best-couple-ever, hands clasped together, happily hopped out of the hotel and into the heritage-themed streets. Relying mainly on their undeniably accurate navigation skillz and unmatched sense of direction, the geeky lovers marched along the Vigan-text-engraved sidewalk, turned around a corner, strode for a couple of steps, and voila, found Calle Crisologo, replete with Spanish-era designed houses and horse-drawn carriages! No wonder Hotel Felicidad had such g...

After getting our beach fix care of the rough waves and clean waters of Pagudpud, it was on to the next stop of this 5-day vacation: the heritage city of Vigan. With our bags repacked (and I'm telling you, repacking takes some serious skillz) and ourselves refreshed, we were off to another three-wheeler adventure that landed us to what looks like an unused police outpost-slash-bus stop. Here, C noticed yet again the carefree provincial life in the form of a waiting passenger just leaving his belongings in the outpost while he chatted away with some of the tricycle drivers stationed there. A shout of "Ma'am" alerted us to an incoming bus bound for Laoag, readying us for the next phase of our Northern stroll.  Waiting for a bus on a Sunday. But before heading to Laoag City, we decided to have a quick stop into another fabulous site, the Bangui Windmills, which C, and in her adorable geeky fashion, termed as the "Isengards of the Wild North". Very clever...