Manila-Puerto-Nido 01 : Manila, Manila...


choco caramel cake @ seattle's best
Whew! Enough with 2010 escapades... It was one SUPER FULL year of adventures and unending getaways... Lots of places covered, lots of calories gained as well. The one thing that was constant in all the places we've been to, is the volume of the food we ate... Normally, a lot!

Well, I did not say that I'd stop getting in the bandwagon  of travels and fun rides when the year ends... The fun hasn't ended yet! 2011 has a lot of in-store for everyone... For me and Labsy? Hmmm... Let see... first stop? Off to the Philippines' Last Frontier, Palawan...

I never really thought that this trip was possible for me and Labsy, but it was. It happened! We planned the trip for Labsy's 33rd birthday (Jan 23) and our 4th wedding anniversary (Jan 25). It was also good timing that Dodoy, my bro, is also home on those dates, so we booked them (him and wife, Lay) tickets to join us on this amazing trip. All four of us were soooo overly excited before the trip. We didn't have much time to spend for this vacay, so we just considered staying in Puerto Princesa, although we really wanted to go to El Nido. But as they say, never lose hope, don't give up, let hope give up on you before you do... :D

coffee break & surfing
So on the morning of Jan 22, 2011, we geared up to the adventure of a lifetime, first stop, Manila. We stayed in Makati since we wanted to visit the known business side of Manila this time. We have had our share of themed parks in Manila for the few times we've visited, so this time, maybe a few strolls in the main city and meet old friends will be best.

with Jake & Lee
We stayed in Zyrst Pension House's (http://www.facebook.com/people/Zyrst-Pension-House/100000770863159 or http://www.adcorner.ph/ads/10561/ZYRST+PENSION+HOUSE) Php 1,750 family room for a night. The location was perfect, it was just walking distance to some establishments and so we walked our way to Mang Inasal for our lunch, then took a jeep to Ayala Mall's Glorietta, then off to Greenbelt 3 for a stroll. We strolled until we were thirsty for some coffee, so we took a break and had coffee and cake at Seattle's Best (http://www.seattlesbest.com.ph/). Afternoon strolling was fun and relaxing, we were also able to buy some stuffs while in Glorietta, including a nice swimwear for our Palawan escapade and a glance of one of Philippine Showbiz' star, Maritoni Fernandez (http://celebdomain.com/Maritoni Fernandez-pictures.html) at a lingerie store in Greenbelt.

with Onin and Rica
We went back to our pension house to take a light dinner and freshen up a bit. We were up for a night with Dodoy's friends. A dinner with Doy and Lay's college classmate Jake, with his GF Lee at Serendra, The Fort, in Taguig. The place was cool and a dog lover environment. We could see dogs with their owners or nannies, roaming along with the strolling public. :) Nice aye? I missed my dogs looking at them having fun walking and site seeing...

banappleicious!
Jake and Lee gave us a BIG dinner treat. Many thanks to them, we had a very full tummy after consuming everything on the table. And most importantly, it was nice seeing Jake again, much nicer seeing him happy and having a grand time. He's my brother's friend and he's  like my little brother too, although calling him little bro would be an understatement. :D

Just before finishing dinner, Doy's former officemate Onin and partner Rica also came to see us. After saying our goodbyes to Jake and Lee, we strolled the whole Serendra with them and we came across another celebrity, Dominic Ochoa. He was with a kid, I'm not sure if the kid was his son, but we were not so keen knowing, we were concerned if we'd like to have our photo taken with him or not. Well, he passed by us without an "ik", we were more shy than usual. lol.

banoffee cake @ banapple
Well, enough with the celebs for now, after a huge dinner, we went to a new known dessert hang-out, in Katipunan-Banapple. We stayed for another session of coffee, delish banoffee cake, and a long chitchat with everyone. We enjoyed our talk too much, we lost track of time and stayed long enough to reach closing time. So, after chatting with them and some catching up for Doy and Onin, Rica and Onin took us home to our Pension House. We rested for the night and prepared ourselves for the adventure ahead. Looking forward to the sea, sand, sun and underground!

Friendship doesn't know distance and time, things between friends are always, just a day before... No matter how long they've not seen and talked with each other, when they do, 10 years ago was just yesterday...

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