back in one piece!

went for a short getaway in philippines!

day 1 took budget airline - tiger airways which turned out to be e worse decision of e trip! we werent aware that it didnt land at e ninoy international airport but at some ulu clark airport which was lk 1 and a half hr away fr our hotel :( boohoo! (e other airport was only lk 15min away?) n e worse part, e cab fare cost abt S$100 one-way. but lady luck was on our side. tis really kind family let us bunk in their car coz they were also goin in the direction of makati which is lk their financial/shopping hub (where our hotel was) so we saved lk 100bucks! yayness! but by e time we checked in e hotel we were so exhausted. so we decided to have an early nite (not too early actually)

day 2 we explored e city on foot. wasnt intentional actually. wanted to grab some breakfast but couldnt decide on anyting so we walked n walked hahas. walked arnd greenbelt n gloriatta mall abit, not too gd to shop coz they're lk typical malls in spore (read: not cheap) after finally settling our brunch (by e time we ate it was near noon) we cabbed to tis shopping mall called greenhills. it's pretty much similar to chatuchuk in bangkok except tat it's sheltered in a mall and it's not so cluttered and hot. aft tat we carried on shopping at SM megamall (SM malls r lk tis chain of malls in philippines) another bad decision. we waited more than an hr to get a cab out of that place! i duno y e cabs just didnt wan to come, i mean given e traffic was bad n all. but there were so many pple waiting for cabs!! we literally screamed in joy when it was finally our turn to get in e cab.

we had a gd traditional filipino dinner. though i mainly only ate plain rice coz by e time we reach our dinner place my stomach was alr stagin a coup. but could tell tat yl enjoyed e food. hahas.
day 3 we took an early flight to boracay! paradise!! haha. but wasnt tat easily accessible. first we had to tk a domestic flight to caticlan. den a tricycle to e ferry terminal. den a ferry ride to boracay.
so after crossing air/land/sea, we finally arrive at boracay! our hotel tat we stayed in was nigi nigi (wondered wat it meant but didnt have a chance to ask e pple) i have no complains abt tis place man. except tat it could have been more sunny in e day n more starry at nite. loved e chill/relaxing vibe there! everyone always smiling/friendly and nice.
time flies when u're having rum. hahas. v true.

despite it being a tourisy place, tings there were really cheap. so cheap u dun have to tink when u spend. u noe wat i mean? u just order/buy anyting u wan. e sand there was white n fine n e water was so clear!
we had a great buffet dinner w live music and went to another bar to chill later in e nite. e red stuff in e bottom right corner is actually a mosquito net which e resort set up for us. how nice!
day 4 planned to go out on a saiilng boat but e wind was toooo strong. oh well. but we just couldnt leave e place w/o goin out at sea. so we settled for a motor boat which brought us snorkellin and to tis island for lunch. tot e bottom right pic is really funny! hahas. these pple who brought us out were really nice and u totally feel lk they are not out to cheat ur money just coz we're tourist. u noe wat i mean? life on e island is really laid back and chill! just e way i like it! loved boracay!
nite falls n we're back in manila. went to fort bonifacio for italian dinner. food and service was really gd (they served dessert w chilled fork)

day 5 went for last min shoppin at tis area which e hotel front desk gal recommended. was pretty scary in a sense tat there were throngs of pple. n there is no single tourist in sight. but stuff here was cheap n gd! prob half e price of greenhills (which was alr cheap!)

getting out of e place turned out to b a nitemare! we were supposed to rush back to the hotel to grab our baggage den to tat ulu pandan airport but we couldnt get a cab. n some uncle who could speak chi scared us saying it'll tk 2hrs to get back to our hotel (we only allocated 1hr taking into account bad traffic). we were really at our wits end! imagine being stuck in the middle of a road intersection! traffic there is really chaotic! in e end we manage to get on a tricycle (tis one e guy really cycles not lk e one we took at boracay where it was actually a motorbike) so tis nice guy cycled us out of e traffic jam n got us a cab! n e cabbie took us back to our hotel in abt 40min (his personal best i tink) hahas.

so our flight was at 850pm. n by e time we got on e cab to e airport, it was alr lk 620pm. so we boarded e cab n e driver said given e traffic it'll tk 3hrs to reach e airport! MY HEART ALMOST JUMPED OUT OK! after much pleading he said he'll try to make it in 2hrs. my foot lor! he took wrong turns/drove so slowly when there were no cars ahead saying he cant go beyond e sp limit as we see buses zoom past. big buses ok!!! those travel faster than him!!!!!!! nearly knocked him unconscious so tat i could tk over e wheels ok! worse still, when we were near e airport alr (lk finally!) he took a wrong turn again!!! n had to ask arnd for directions. mins were ticking by! i was alr making mental prep tat we'll miss our flight. i mean we need time to check in n all rt. n finally we reached and made it! thanks to v v nice n helpful airport staff! we were lk super unglam dashin into e airport lar. den passing e security checks we were supposed to produce our passports which were locked in our case. we just threw everyting on e floor to open our cases (we had lotsa shopping bags w us which we had no time to pack into our baggage) n e security guard being so nice let us pass n even inform e check in counter (which was alr closed) tat we're here to check in.

both of us were super thankful tat we made it. can u imagine otherwise? in tat ulu pandan airport w no more flights flyin out till e next nite. e last leg of e holiday really spiced up e whole trip man! so much tat on e plane our adrenaline levels were still so high!

anw really glad tat we came back in one piece. tinkin back, manila is indeed not v safe. esp for 2 small lil gals. hahas. e nice fam actually asked what were we tinking coming to manila like tat. hahas.

but all in all i tink tis was a really quite an experience. thanx to my wonderful companion cum treasurer who took care of our common fund. 

on to my belated bday present from ah koh!

i loveeeeeeeeeeee it! he drew tis 'painting' heee. it says e following:

10 reasons why i love you

1. you warm my heart

2. you wake me up - calling him every morn to wake him up for work

3. you take me places - i drive him arnd. but as i always tell him, im puttin in my investment and i expect it to reap me returns. in e form of being driven arnd for e rest of my life!

4. you play games w me - we invented our own 2 person mj to play when we're bored at home. serves as a gd drinkin game too. n also our mrt games.

5. you spend time with my friends - i have no choice. they always come to his hse coz of his ps3 n gambling den. 

6. you share my fav food - bubble tea/beer and our fav tuna bread fr under his hse

7. you TRY to cook - tat stupid koh capped e word try. n in e pic he drew my 'famous' all in one dish. hahas. i love dishes w meat n veg all in one. dun have to wash so many plates/bowls and easy to cook :)

8. you're always arnd - in e pic it shows me slpin on e bed w e tv on. n there are e words mc/leave/fri/sat/sun

9. you take my breath away - in e pic he drew a window being slammed and e aircon being off. hahas. coz when i wake up in e morn to wash up i'll off e aircon n he'll feel suffocated in e room. hahas. hence takin his breath away

10. you're the only one for me - koh tried to write in chi 'di yi ming' and his 'ming' he wrote 'ming tian' that 'ming' lk GOODNESS!

thank you love! really love e pressie!!!!

the other present (and e first one tis yr) i got is fr e goldies!

they printed our pics n put into this LOVE photoframe. i really feel v loved!! thanks goldies!! *muacks*