Touching Thursday

If all good deeds (I'm guessing its good hehe) are reciprocated with a compliment, I'll vow to do it often. Wanna know what I'm talking about? Check this out -

If you're wondering what she's talking about. I blogged about that HERE. Alright! If you're too tamad to check out the link, I made their wedding cord. It's made of bead crystals, just like mine. Since the cord I made Lorie was just packed in a cheap pouch (sorry no time!), I made the packaging of this one extra special. Ok fine, I basically just bought a ready made box from Papemelroti. I just made the gift tag so I guess it's still personalized. It's because I am somewhat hoping that Jaja Samaniego will capture my craft. I was once obsessed by her captures and it will be a dream come true if she'll use my work as her object. My fingers are crossed! Weee

And surprise! They liked it! Plus the tita and the mama! Hooray! It's not everyday that someone appreciates my craft so imagine my glee. Maybe I can continue my vow to craft the cords of all my friends to wed? What do you think?


Head bloated with glee,
Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Music

CORO DE SAN SEBASTIAN

DAMAGE: FREE (Gift from Friends!)

Did you know that D was once a choir member? Trivia! Yes he sings well. That's the reason why we had a hard time finding singers! Because he had that 'singer din ako' standard. Anyhoo, he was once a member of Coro de San Sebastian of Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City (he's also a sacristan when he was younger!). He just stopped joining them when he worked in Laguna. Hmm actually there's more to that, but I won't talk about it anymore, just ask him, ok? So going back, when the thought of getting a choir arrived, I instantly told him to just get his former choirmates to sing for us but he first declined the idea because he wanted them to be just guests. But after some mathematics and the realization that we were really out of budget, he finally gathered the courage to ask the favor. He was very shy! Maybe because he haven't seen them in a while then all of sudden he'll just appear to ask for a favor. Sad, but we have no choice. 

Anyway, at first, we asked them to sing all the church songs. But I guess D's communication with them was not that established yet so he wasn't able to ask them to practice earlier. We were left with no choice but to ask our reception singers if they can sing my entrance song and the picture taking song.

Although that's what happened. I was still happy with how the music turned out. From outside the closed door, I heard my instrumental 'A Whole New World' played perfectly. I always thought it will be Akustik Jam who will play that, but it was Ate Mariz from Coro. Nice! Plus these trio did wonders -

During the mass, I can't help but look at them everytime they're singing. My angels have definitely fallen. 

AKUSTIK J.A.M

CONTACT: 0939-426-0891/0922-843-3297 c/o Anslee Alberto

DAMAGE: FREE (Gift from Friends!) Their normal MM 2012 rate is P10,000

Music was one of the aspects of the wedding that I let D handle. That's because I'm tone deaf! haha! So he took charge of choosing music in everything music-related. With a little help from me (but of course!). I gave him a shortlist of the musicians I saw in w@w, but most of them did not pass his standards. He wanted something classical, something Manila Philharmonic-like. But I opposed! (so sino nga ulit ang masusunod?) Dunno. Maybe I'm just not a fan of that kind of music. I want lyrics! If that's the case, his sure bet will of course be Sitti Navarro. But as I told you HERE, we cannot afford her. It was only when he heard Lara's friends that he gave his YES. Read more about it HERE.

As for me, I did not have even a pinch of doubt with Akustik Jam. I knew them as Lara's friends before being the band so my full confidence was with them not just professionally but as my friends also. Although I haven't met all of them (except Anslee) before the 'audition', I felt like we've been friends forever already. FC lang ang peg!

But still may hiya pa rin. If you're reading from top, you'll see that we asked them to sing in the church also. I was so shy because our first arrangement was that they will only sing in the reception but we have them sing in the church also. And they're not Catholics! Dyahe! I just made arrangements to give them something for lunch because I asked them to come earlier. I hope it reached them.

Anyway, here were the singers posing at the very picturesque Enderun.

See the girl in the middle? She's Melissa. She's every guys center of attention in my wedding (after me of course!). 

And here are the instrument players in action - 

Believe me, they were the greatest! I wasn't able to 100% listen to them that day (I was busy shempre) but every time I remembered to listen they never fail me. When I saw Jawo sang with his eyes tantalizing to my audience, I understood where the questions (uy ano name nun?) came from. They were all charming (sige na nga pati si Anslee!). But of course aside from the good looks (plus factor lang to), their music was great also.

But of all of them, it was Archie (the lead  guitarist) who captured D and my musically inclined friends' approval. He was versatile daw and he carried the band well. So sya pala ang leader! :P My MOH, Joann, wasn't able to prepare her supposed-to-be song and dance number beforehand so he asked the band to play for her. She and Brenda sang How Deep Is Your Love. Not well prepared but the music carried it naman. My emcee, Ellen, also sang to kill time. You know what they played? Superbass! Wow!

Here's them on site -

And here's all of them after the party. Yes, they were the very last supplier to leave. So touching!

Life-saver. I can't thank them enough.

Loving Music,

Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Boys' Suit

BONNIE'S TAILORING
23 Textile Section Kamuning Market, QC.

CONTACT: 0947-176-2755 c/o Inggo

DAMAGE: P19,000 (1 5-pc suit, 1 coat & pants, 8 vest & pants, 4 boys' shorts)

   

A perfect score for their pulidong work! If only you were able to see the suits in person, you would probably say the same. Maybe it was their years in the tailoring business that made their products so presentable. And I'm proud to say that I was able to work with them. Well actually it was D but I was with him in every measurement sesh. You may want to read the story first of how we got them instead of the other popular option from w@w (yes! it was a w@w find!), please read HERE.

Here's Bonnie while taking D's measurement. Obvious naman sa cap na sya si Mang Bonnie diba? Hehe!

But most of the times, it was Kuya Inggo who entertained us. He was equally good din naman. By the way, we just showed them our peg -

From some site in the net

And they were able to come up with this -

Good eh? Now here's D's suit up close -

Impressed? We were!

However, we encountered a slight problem with the boys' shorts. We weren't able to bring the boys to them so what we did was we brought sample shorts for them to copy. They executed Kieron and Troy's shorts fine but I found Adam's shorts a little awkward. Well, Leo gave us garterized shorts only (our bad because we said it's ok). The finished shorts looked exactly the same as what we gave them. Yes, it's garterized also and not in any way formal. Good thing Adam was still able to pull it off. So no harm done!

Adam (left) and Kieron (right)

Ponching's shorts was garterized also. But we purposedly requested for that since he's just a baby. The only problem was - we requested to add an inch both on the waist and length. It turned out to be just the same as our sample but they were able to repair it naman. So no harm done again!

Our next issue was that they made us come back many times in their shop for the repairs. But I found this tolerable because our case was slightly special because D's dad and kuya have special measurements because they arrived just days before the wedding. Imagine we picked their suits on the 26th, barely 2 days before the wedding. Argh! I always reminded my self then to be linient because it's the holidays and I'm asking them to work. And so with that, they deserve all my praises. :)

Suited up,

Yosh 

Don't hurry growing up please!

It's friday. I should be happy because it's finally weekend but I got so emotional seeing our babies' pictures. They are growing up fast. Too fast!

I believe this was their first picture together some four years ago -

This was Christmas 2009 -

And this is how they look like now. The picture was from my wedding in December last year.

It all started yesterday when my tita Winnie was telling me a story that my godchild Iya has a suitor already and how my tito was so mad about it that he wanted his panganay to transfer school. I can imagine your reaction might be that my tito was so OA. But you have to know this, Iya is just 9 years old and only at 4th grade! It's too early right?


This is her now -

Isn't she the cutest? No wonder she's growing up to be a boy magnet. But the memory of her being our first baby is still fresh. Here, I'll share it with you -

Anyway, as I was telling my tita, my view on this matter is mainly circling on TRUST. I know Iya to be an intelligent girl (like me! ehem). Given that, we do not need to make drastic moves about the matter. Just talk to Iya about it. If possible, make an usapan like 'I want you to reach 18 first before having a boyfriend'. Something like that. Then trust her to fulfill the promise. Have a chastity ring if you must (aka purity ring. to practice abstinence until marriage). For me, its better if the child is open to the parents about the matters of the heart. It will be better if the advise will come from you instead of from some random people. And I would definitely prefer her to be courted inside the house instead of in the street or on facebook! As parents, you should be your child's bestfriends. The kid should enjoy sharing things with you, even crushes! I got this from my officemate - She's making sure that her children are enjoying every minute of their stay at home so they won't get bored and eventually might enjoy others' company outside their house more. But you also have to understand that their growing up is inevitable. People bound to grow old no matter what. One day, no matter how hard you prevent it, they will leave you and marry their prince charming. What you can do is enjoy every minute of their being your baby. On the side note, that's also the reason why I do not like to raise a kid with my husband abroad. I mean you are earning money so your children will have a good life. You are doing it for their future because you love them so much that you are willing to sacrifice being away from them. I got that point. But you are missing the most important part of being a parent - seeing your fruits grow! I remembered D's father telling me that of all his children, he is more afraid of D. When asked why, he said - Hindi ko kasi sya nakitang lumaki. Aww

But that's just me. I mean that's coming from someone who doesn't have a child yet. My views may change once I have a girl of my own. But having experienced the strictness of my family on that matter, I vowed to not let my child experience the same damn thing. I grew up avoiding to talk about my emotions or should I say I was not allowed to talk about crushes and boyfriends. They were so scared I'll be like my mom who got pregnant before she turned 18. I ended up having a boyfriend anyway because in my mind I'm asking 'Why Not? It's not like I'll have sex or anything. I just want to experience being loved by a person that I'm not related to by blood'. Since I'm not allowed to talk about it, my questions were unanswered and I kept the whole boyfriend thing secret. I let my mom meet my boyfriend when I was in college already, on my 18th birthday and in almost 2 years in the relationship. Isn't that awkward? I could have done something wrong for that long because I was not guided properly. Lucky them that I'm not the pasaway kind of kid. Now I realize, that probably was what happened to those who got pregnant early. So please parents! Start to communicate to your kiddos! That's what I'm doing to my sister. I just hope my power over her is that much.


Getting ready for the boyfriend talk,
Yosh

South Luzon Loop: THE WAY HOME

Since the story is now about our way home, I will not segregate it into different posts na. Haha! Im so bitter about going home. If you want to read about our earlier adventures, just browse through my archive.

Anyway, ideally and according to D's initial plan, our South Luzon Loop was really a loop. I can't discuss it in detail because I let D handle the route stuff so I don't know a thing. haha! But when Leo joined us, he wanted us to take the shorter route. Of course, I second the motion. hehe. So technically what we did was not a loop. We just retraced the same route as how we came in. So what you will be reading next are just bunch of stories about our revisit to Naga and the things we saw on the road.

Let's start!

After 5 hours, we reached Naga again. It was a little faster this time because the boys wanted to rest. But I want to go to SM Naga! After we settled again in Sampaguita Tourist Inn (we got the same room by the way), D agreed for us to go to SM Naga while Leo toured the city alone. The mall was just walking distance from the inn so we just wore shorts and slippers but of course we still used Choco Banana and wore our helmets. Spell tamad! 

This was us in our attempt to have a photo anywhere we go -

South Luzon Loop: SUBIC BEACH

Here's the beach post! haha. But first let's clear things. The Subic Beach we visited was not the Subic Beach of Zambales, it's Subic Beach of Sorsogon.

So how'd we get here? We came all the way from Pasig, then stayed overnight at Naga, then Cagsawa Ruins, then Matnog Sorsogon. We met Grace (a representative of Kuya Alex aka Kuya Lopito) in the market where we were taking lunch. It was actually Kuya Lopito whom I negotiated with, but according to ate Grace he has a lot of guests so he let us to her able hands. Anyhoo, after lunch I told Grace that I need to buy some food for our overnight stay. She was so bait that she helped me carry all my palengke loots!

By 2:30pm, we were already on the boat going to Subic Liit. I read that it is better to stay there instead of Subic Dako because aside from the caretakers, there are no inhabitants in the island. As compared to Subic Dako where a lot of people reside in the island plus the fact that it is slowly getting commercialized.

South Luzon Loop: MATNOG,SORSOGON

By 11 in the morning, we were already gearing up to leave Cagsawa Ruins. Read my previous story HERE.

Rain again was our problem. We stopped by this random store when I saw this signage. Apparently, it's a sign for a nearby school. I'm not sure what Ticol means in Bicol but it surely has different meaning in Manila. I wonder what are they teaching the kids here. hehe

Nothing special happened after this stop. It were all just a bunch of mountain views so I have no pictures. We didn't stop for lunch at 12nn, instead we continued to travel until we reached the port of Matnog at 1pm. This was what we came here for. D's dream is to have his picture taken here -

I have to support his dream too!

After that, we had a hard time looking for somewhere to eat because almost all of the stores were closed already as it was nearing 3pm (which in Catholic society is the death of Jesus Christ). We were very thankful when we found this eatery in the market. The food was surprisingly good. Look at this -

that much rice!

Since we knew that we will not use the bikes anymore for that day, we took a shot of D's GPS stats -

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 204 kms


I'll put our next destination in separate post. It's too special to be squeezed in a single post since its our final destination!



Wait for the beach post please,
Yosh

South Luzon Loop: MAYON VOLCANO

It's Day 2 of our South Luzon Loop! If you haven't read our Day 1 escapades, please read it HERE first.

We woke up at 6am. It's not too early because the riders estimated that we can reach Matnog in 5 hours. So since we already have fixed accomodation we did not pressure ourselves to wake up early. By 7am, we were already feasting in Bigg's Diner. The food was superb. Read my full review HERE.

By past 8 in the morning, we were already on the road. We just stopped in Pili so I can take a picture of Leo in front of his ex-wife's house.

The heat was slowly getting into me, so when I saw this view, I said 'Ok na sa akin to!'

By half past 9, my boredom was erased by this magnificent view - 

Bigger at Bigg's Diner

You'll definitely get your money's worth at Bigg's Diner. Since it was the only restaurant I enjoyed in our recent Bicol trip, I decided to blog about it separately.

This is one restaurant the blogs told me not to miss. So since we were in Naga, we made sure to try this before heading to Legazpi City. So in the morning of our second day of the tour, we visited one of the numerous branches of Bigg's Diner. This particular one is just across San Francisco Church -

The ambiance was so cool. It's so 50's. It reminded me of 50's Diner in Baguio and the restaurant I constructed in Restaurant City. hehe. There's a big picture of Audrey Hepburn in one of the walls, I just forgot to take a shot of it. Anyway, I was able to capture these -

But most especially, I came here for the food! D ordered Salisbury Steak. It was good but for me there's nothing special about it. The instant coffee though was good. Actually they will just give you hot water and 3 packets, each for coffee, sugar and cream. And all with personalized Bigg's packaging! Nice! For it's taste, I would say it's better than what an instant coffee usually tastes like. D said it more resembles the taste of brewed coffee. That for 37 pesos!

My food, on the other hand, was Bicol Special. It basically is just a breaded porkchop. The only reason why I ordered this was because of the Laing side dish. That was in my Food-To-Eat checklist. Given that I'm not a fan of porkchops, this one impressed me to bones. Even the laing did not disappoint! And if you'll notice on the picture below, my drinks was long gone before my order arrived. The hot chocolate was so good! Only a little pricey at 55 pesos per cup.

Our friend, Leo, ordered his favorite Cordon Bleu. I wasn't able to taste this one though but it sure looks yummy!

I forgot the exact amount of each of our food. But it will definitely not go beyond 200 pesos. Not bad!

I wonder why the owners of this food chain do not want to expand this to Manila. I was told that they have several offers to make it big like Mang Inasal but they have refused the opportunity. They only want the resto to be specific to Bicol Region. True enough, on our way to Legazpi, we saw a bunch of this goodness on the road. Anyhoo, since I cannot see this in Manila, we should have a picture together in the famous restaurant!

Make sure not to miss it when you're in Bicol :)

Got bigger at Bigg's,

Yosh

South Luzon Loop: NAGA CITY

D has been bugging me about this ride since forever. His argument was that he only has 2 long 'legal' vacation in a year - holy week and Christmas break. So we have to make sure that Choco Banana will see the long road. Ok! Ok! I really want to go to the beach anyway.

Unlike last year that we completed the North Luzon Loop with just the two of us. We opted to have someone join us this year. First, we wanted companion because our North Loop was kinda scary due to the occasional rains that for some reasons fell on those secluded areas. Second, we really wanna save on hotel and boat ride costs. We asked several friends to join us. You see, although we wanted companions, we still did not want it to be jam-packed 50-motorcycle ride. We just wanted a smooth ride, with no one to take care of but ourselves. Only Leo aided to our call. Not bad, we have one of the best riders in Club CB110.

So now for the planning part. Of course, I insisted beach. I will not go if there's no water to wet me after the ride. It's SUMMER shempre! Going back, of course we considered Calaguas but instantly scraped the idea because the boat ride was too pricey for just the three of us. And we were guessing that it will be full of excursionist knowing that the island is slowly gaining a good reputation. Then there's Caramoan, but like Calaguas, the cost of the boat stopped us. I suggested Paguriran Beach because there's no need for us to ride a boat. But the boys wanted Subic Beach in Matnog. I read blogs about this beach and I got really curious about its Pink Sand. So let's see.

Anyhoo, let's get back to the ride report. So, at 5am on March 28 (which was also our 3rd wedding monthsary by the way), we made our way to Jollibee J.Vargas. We were late because 5 am was the call time and we still have to eat our breakfast. Haha! Sorry Leo. Anyway, we left Pasig at around half past five in the morning.

By, six quarter we were already at Petron Famy to stretch our legs for a little bit.