not solitary after all

yesterday, a friend and i decided to go to sonya's garden at tagaytay. without knowing really, how to get there, we arranged to meet up at the train station and start our day's adventure from there. equipped with only the general directions to the supposedly famed sonya's garden, we took the bus from the taft station (crow bus). for anyone reading this, let me say that i do not suggest that you take this bus as it passes through aguinaldo highway. from our hands-on experience, it took us another an hour and a half to reach our destination. so if you don't want to be late for lunch, try the buses going to nasugbu that passes through the sta. rosa exit. this way is faster. anyway, the driver and conductor of the bus were not helpful either because when asked how long is it still until we reach our destination, they said about two hours when in fact, we were already less than an hour away from the buck estate! well, enough of that... i should just be grateful that we arrived at sonya's garden safe and sound. it was another thing to add to experience...

food, food and more food! the food was worth the price!

below is the list of our expenses:

bus ride: taft to buck estate - php 90
tricycle ride: buck estate entrance to sonya's garden - php 18
sonya's garden lunch (including taxes) - php 610
picture taking and stuff - free
tricycle ride back to buck estate entrance - php 16 (8/person)
jeepney ride to rotonda (olivarez) - php 15
jeepney ride to people's park - php 15
entrance to people's park - php 15
jeepney ride back to people's park "entrance" - php 5
jeepney ride back to rotonda - php 12
bus ride back to mrt taft - php 76

(L-R: sunflowers at sonya's; wedding cottage; Christ overlooking Tagaytay)

all in all, it was worth the adventure. i even got to see a rio de janeiro type of Christ statue overlooking taal volcano and tagaytay.

Never Say

Never say "I love you"
If you really don't care

Never talk about feelings
If they aren't really there

Never hold my hand
If you're gonna break my heart

Never say you're going to...
If you don't plan to start

Never look into my eyes
If all you do is lie...

Never say "hi"
If you really mean goodbye

If you really mean forever
Then say you will

Never say forever
Coz forever can make me cry...

-anonymous

breaking the barrier

i received a call from the one of the most special persons in my life last thursday. it was unbelievable and it was amazing. it was also hilarious. our first few minutes of conversation wasn't a conversation at all but full of laughter. yeah, for the first two or three minutes, we were just laughing like lunatics. we broke the barrier and it was amazing. it was a happy moment.

at that moment, i discovered it was not akward at all. it was like talking to a long lost friend, and time and distance did not matter. i could imagine the smile on our faces and the relief that nothing changed. we were happy.

i love your voice. i love your laugh.

i love it that you are smart.

i love it that you want to call me back.

i love it that you want to handle everything.

i just love our moment together.

i just love you, that's all.

te amo mucho.

back from a trip

i just got back from a trip to palawan. yes, palawan! though this was not a leisure trip, i'm glad to have been able to visit this place for a week - yes, a week!

(L-R: Sabang Beach, St. Paul's Underground River entrance, Tabon Village Resort, eastern seaside)

as my chinese companion said while we were on the road from quezon to puerto princesa, it is very beautiful (except for the unexpected brown-out), with the mountain range, plains and the beach so near each other. where can you find all these three together within your limited 180 degree vision? i'm trying to think of another place where we can find the same, but until now, i can't think of a single place. it's either the beach and the plain, the mountain and the beach or the mountain and the plains. oh well, i'm glad i had the chance to appreciate it even if i didn't get to island hop at honda bay. at least i got to visit sabang and the st. paul's underground river.

(L-R: western seaside in quezon; st. paul's limestone, tagabinet, puerto princesa)

Liking what I do

anyway, i'm sure there will still be a next time and when that time comes, i'll be with good friends to share the fun...

i even got to see a replica of one of the famous burial jars of the tabon tribe in the national museum there! it was really great to see it in person. it's a great experience to see something up close the things you only saw in books before. in this case, it was the burial jar with two men on a boat on the jar top that signifies the journey to the afterlife, which was shown in my sibika book when i was in grade school! it was just great because i was able to share it with our chinese companion. when i was talking to them about that, i felt proud of my heritage. nice, nice, nice!