Back to Reality

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."

- John Lennon

My last few days of sembreak 2011. Pumped up for YL6's second semester. :)

 

Who was the saddest to see me go back to Manila?! 

Dainey ofcourse (who is NOT at all photo-ready).

  

Mummy's trying to recreate our childhood christmas village.

 

What's left of my room -- imagine my surprise when I opened the door and I saw this?!

I hadn't realized, I've lived in Manila for 6 years now.

 

Bonding with Daddy by the pier in Ozamis City.

 

We sat down at a little side store and ate balot and drank coke -- what is father-daughter love?! :)

I was so surprised when I went into a restaurant's CR, only to find my cousin's (Christine Cueto) SOLD painting hanging on the wall -- here's to a very talented artist! :)

A new all-chocolates restaurant in Cebu --- yummmm.

That's death-by-chocolate = dark chocolate + bacardi 151. :)

 

POGS Convention. We just had to take a picture with the BIG BABY BOY. :)

Sister love will get me through everything.

Christmas is in the air -- well, in megamall.

I love it. :)

41 more days til Christmas! :)

I can't wait!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

For now, gotta go study for Comprehensive Subject Exams!

XOXO,

Joanie

Hoyohoy Zipline

  

So this is the Zipline post I talked about in the previous post.

Hoyohoy Zipline

 

Our host, Congressman Leo Ocampos.

Before the rain poured and we got stranded in the drop-off ledge.
You can see the nimbus clouds in the background.

 

 

The zipline was 2.35KM (it's literally across 2 mountains)
so you can imagine how far the walk was going to be to go back,
they usually picked you up in a pick-up truck.
But just to keep with the experience -- and to bring us back to the main lodge,
we rode horseback through the woods and up the mountain.

 

We had the option of renting a 4x4 to get back up.
I've always wanted to ride a dirt bike but someone overturned it and broke it so it wasnt available.
(these are just for picture purposes hihihi)

 

Look at our precious shoes! :(

XOXO,
Joanie

Dalagang Bukid

After our annual mausoleum and cemetery visit for All Soul's and All Saint's Day,

we headed off to Hoyohoy 
-- a mountain top in Tangub, Misamis Occidental, Mindanao.

 

I didn't really know what to expect -- to be honest, I thought we were off to the beach again,

until the view started to take my breath away (figuratively and literally).

    

When I was younger, I was a contestant to the Mutya ng Wika competition in school.

(a filipino beauty and brains contest held during the Linggo ng Wika celebration)

During the question-and-answer portion, I was asked

"Kung pipili ka kung saan ka mag bakasyon, saan mo mas gusto, 

sa Disneyland (Florida) o sa Baguio (Philippines)?"

I answered "Baguio po."

At that time, I honestly didnt know how to speak in tagalog, and I wanted so very much to explain that it was because I wanted to see the beauty of my own land first before appreciating foreign land,

but because I couldn't speak an ounce of tagalog, I froze.

The host prodded on "Bakit?"

"Gusto ko lang po!" I answered.

Needless to say, I didnt win, I placed 2nd that year 

(but I was grade 1 going against grade 2-grade 6 students, so I was still proud).

 

 

 

The point of that little blast-from-the-past anecdote was that, 

I love the Philippines and its beautiful surprises.

I probably still wouldn't trade travelling to a whole different country with backpacking around the Phils.

but its nice to be reminded that our country has so much to offer if given the chance.

This little baby's name is ZIPPY -- why?! she's named after the ZIPLINE here in Hoyohoy,

it boasts to be the longest in Asia at 2.35KM (if i remember manong's words correctly),

I'll post pics of that another time. That's a whole different adventure in itself!

 

Visit soon! :)

If you like nature and beauty, you won't regret it.

XOXO,

Joanie