Age... when did it became just a number?

Today is Mayfel's 25th birthday. I needed to go to Subic for a business trip last friday to install 2 servers to my company's hotel clients (Lighthouse Marina and Subic Grand Seas Resort) so we decided to grab the opportunity and celebrate by going on a trip with the kids. The plan was to go to Subic, spend the night there to finish what I had to do, then to Manaoag Shrine in Pangasinan the next day to attend the mass and a surprise lunch at Isdaan Restaurant in Gerona Tarlac.

While on the car as we were leaving Manila, I recalled Allan asking me the other day about Mayfel's age. I also recalled Allan and Becky laughing as I replied, "Wait.. di ko alam e. Compute ko pa".. "25!". That thought in mind, I told Mayfel, "Oi, 25 ka na pala a..". She replied, "Ah talaga? Parang hinde.. feeling ko 18 pa rin ako e. Kasi Parang tumigil na mundo ko nung nagkakilala tayo e..". I was touched and speechless.. then I said to myself, "she's right!". I myself can't remember my own age without having to compute for it. When asked, the first number that will come to my mind is 25.. my age when Mayfel and I met. Then I thought, "is it really like that? Does age become just a number when you have already found the right one?"

A lot have already happened during the years that Mayfel and I have been together. Like any other couple, we've been through ups and downs and even lefts and rights. Like them, both of us have changed.. a lot. We've grown busier and had our own daily priorities. We've also learned and discovered a lot more of our differences and sometimes have fights because of it. But unlike other couples, we did not let those issues get into us and become a growing wall that will eventually ruin our relationship. Instead, we use them as steps that will help us improve our relationship for the better. Physically, we age.. but our hearts remain very young and our love very strong and ready for future ups, downs, lefts and rights that life will bring.

Mommy Mayfel, another year has been added to your age and in 7 days, in mine too. We still have a long way to go and a lot to go through. Hope you remain strong with our relationship as we have been in the past years. In 6 days, we will be celebrating our 8th year anniversary.. hope we'll have hundreds more. :) And in those years, hope nothing will change.. we will still stay crazily in-love and still crave for.. (*wink wink*). Let's stay forever this way... you 18 and I'm 25. I LOVE YOU, Mayfel... Happy 25th Birthday.

Baguio City for the nth time

Feeling short of our 2 night stay in Bolinao, Pangasinan, we headed straight to Baguio City. GPS directed us to a route passing Lingayen then to La Union then up to Marcos Highway to Baguio. If it hadn't been for my GPS, I would have drove back to Tarlac then take the normal route via Pangasinan. The Lingayen route saved us 2-3 hours of driving time.

Baguio is a very special place for me and Mayfel. This is where we... uhmmm... by the way, did you know that Baguio came from the word bigjiw which is an Igorot term for a moss? Anyways.. let's carry on. We visit Baguio at least once a year even if we are already running out of places to go.

Whenever we are in the city, we stay at the Golden Pine Hotel. They are by far the most inexpensive hotel in Baguio with the best amenities that I know of. Rooms with AC, carpeted floor, bath tub, free WiFi, etc.

The next day, I decided to take Mayfel and the kids to the strawberry farm since it's one of the places in the City where they haven't been to and I also want to test how extensive my GPS's map is. I want them to experience picking strawberries but we were disappointed to learn that it is not the season, December is. So we just settled with a few photo-ops, bought a few strawberries and left. Guess we'll just be back in December then. hehehe

We headed back to the city and went to Camp John Hay for a few more photo-ops. But when we're there.. I can't seem to figure my way to the places I used to visit so we just stopped to withdraw cash, take a leak, take a few photos (including main image above) then went to Mines View Park instead for some pasalubong.

Mines View Park hasn't changed much for me to take photos. The only thing worth a photo for me now is the gigantic dog that welcomes you to the park. For P50, you are allowed to take 3 photos with the dog. I remember the last family picture we had with the dog a few years back, it was only me, Mayfel and Xyza then. Now, we have Ethan so we thought it would be a great opportunity for a new family photo.

We still have a few more hours till the sun sets, we just decided to drop by SM Baguio to buy a few things, relax and watch the sun set which also marks the last of our 5 day vacation.

Bolinao, Pangasinan - Revisited

2010 has been a very busy year for me and Mayfel and we were dying to have a short vacation to unwind and relax. We had a few places in mind but I decided to take Mayfel and the kids somewhere they haven't been to.

It's been almost two years since I've last been to Bolinao (see this post) for a business trip. Here is where I was able to use my first non-SLR digital camera and where I received the news from my wife that I will be a father for the second time so this place is quite memorable for me.

It was raining like hell and we are already delayed for a couple of hours from our ETA because my new GPS navigator directed us on a route with 20Km of rough road just because it is 8Km shorter that the normal route. When we finally arrived at the resort, it was almost 6pm. Because the rain is not showing any sign that it will stop anytime soon, Mayfel and I were already planning of leaving in the morning, though it will totally break Xyza's heart if we do, if the weather does not get better in the morning. Good thing, sun was up the next morning and we were had a chance to take the kids for a dip.

We took the kids for a short stroll at the beach for a few photo-ops. The water is quiet and shallow, you can literally walk about a kilometer off the beach and not get any part of your body wet except your feet. We didn't go too far off the beach though, it was too tiring to walk on wet sand and Mayfel was also too afraid to do so. She thinks a tsunami will hit any moment and we will have no chance to run! hehehe...

Breakfast not being the priority that morning, when lunch time came we were all starving. We drove 10 kilometers to the town proper to buy a few stuffs for Ethan then off to the restaurant that I read in a blog, Tummy Teasers in Brgy Arnedo. Their servings are big but very affordable. Mayfel loved their Kare-kare and says that it is the best kare-kare she'd ever tasted.

We were glad that we finally had a chance to have our vacation.. but.. we thought, "2 nights was too short".. so we decided to go straight to Baguio and stay for 2 nights more. :)

Birthday Bash!

The last week of September is our week. September 19 is Mayfel's birthday (my wife), the 26th is our anniversary and the 27th is my birthday. It's a triple celebration and this year is our 5th year together and we can't decide how to celebrate it. Last week, while I was going through my files, I saw our photos from our trip to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, Philippines two years ago. I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate our 5th year and birthdays so I told Mayfel about it and she loved the idea. On Thursday evening, September 25, we plan t

o go back to Pagudpud and (hopefully) enjoy our trip this time. If only we had known that our first trip there would only end with problems and issues between our trip-buddies, we wouldn't even had gone. Most of the good memories of that trip was ruined because of them. This time, it's only me, my wife and my daughter, Xyza, together with my trusted and well known friend and his family who's going.

After the trip was scheduled and finalized, I browsed through my files to look for the map to Pagudpud that I created before. The map was created using Google Earth together with some GPS data i found on the internet. I imported the file and found out that the route to

Pagudpud has now hi-res images available. So I re-traced the roads again and after 10 hours, I came up with version 2 of my map which is, for me, 95% more accurate (see for yourself!). I decided to make my map available for those who want to visit Pagudpud.


Click the link below or right-click and choose "save target as" to download:

Pagudpud Route v.2.0 (pagudpud_route_2.0.kmz) {74.7KB}


Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte is at the northern tip of the Philippines. Getting there by car or bus would take at least 10+ hours of travel time. Taking a plane to Laoag then a bus ride to Pagudpud is way shorter but you'll be missing the chance to appreciate the scenery on the way there. For us, going there by car is the best option. This will allow us to go on side-trips on some of the tourist spots on the nearby towns (Paoay Church, Bangui Windmills, Fort Ilocandia, Vigan, etc). Also, we'll be free to stop anytime, anywhere if we want to take a photo or two. Wouldn't get that much freedom if you're on a bus or on a plane. =)

Photos from: http://abaniko.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html