LIFE IN THE SUMMER CAPITOL

Yesterday has been one of the more exciting days of this Philippine Tour Adventure! (I always tend to keep having new names for this trip!) But anyway, today we headed to the city of Baguio! The drive there wasn't bad at all! In fact, it was just about 45 minutes up and up and up the mountain! The first thing I noticed was how beatiful nature can be in this country. The mountains were high with so many green! I felt as if the ride could have been a tad dangerous since the roads were wet. It also didn't help when other drivers tried to OVERTAKE you or when my dad tried to OVERTAKE them.


On the way there, I saw this big JOLLIBEE sign. It was no HOLLYWOOD sign, but it was the closest thing to it. I asked my dad to stop the car so I could take a quick picture of it only because it was so random with no Jolibee in sight! Then a couple of minutes later we saw it...our "WELCOME TO BAGUIO CITY."




We finally got to the top, and there it was..BAGUIO CITY. The first thing that we did visit the PHILIPPINE MILITARY ACADEMY (PMA). The first thing that we noticed were the cadets, with thier uniforms so fit and stiff. We took a lot of pictures in that academy, including one with a cadet who was having a lunch visit from his family. Lolz the first thing I noticed what they were eating was white puto, which all of a sudden gave me a craving. Me and the bro also took pictures in the tree house tower and a statue of one of their weapons. We ended up in the visitors center and bought some PMA shirts and I even got myself a blue PMA hoody! I can't wait to rock them in the States! On the way to the exiting gates, we saw this one statue of those Plume top hats. It was so random that we took a picture right in front of it. Here's saluting the Philippines Military!



After leaving PMA, we headed to Camp John Hay. It was pretty scenic regarding the golf course that they had. It sort of reminding me of where I live back in the states since I live on the hills of a world-known golf course. I basically breezed by and took random photos of thier clubhouse and local buildings and shops.

We continued the Baguio City tour by driving to THE MANSION. We just took some picture from the gate which wasn't much fun, but we knew it was a landmark somehow. Then we drove through WRIGHT PARK which was so beautiful. The long pond and trail made it seem like this place came out straight from a romantic movie. I had lovey dovey feeling for Jaybe all of a sudden. Down the hill from Wright Park was a little place where you could ride horses. We didn't stop by for that but I did take a picture of this random pink horse! It totally amazed me. Reminded me of Circus Circus in Las Vegas, NV! When we came to the busy part of the city, the first thing I noticed was this man doing something that you'd rarely se in LA. He totally defined the word labor. This is why filipinos are naturally studs.

So finally after a few twists and turns I saw it..THE SM at BAGUIO CITY. The mall looked so majestic since it was sitting ontop of the hill. The mall was very grand with 4 levels. The top level was the most beautiful since it had the view of what Baguio City had to offer. We ate lunch at GERRY'S GRILL which was more or less one of the best restaurants that was in the SM.

This was also where I had my first experience eating some kuhol (aka SNAILS).



First I had to sip up the snail juice.



But totally hesitant when it came to actually eating the real thing.



It was actually tasty! I ended up eating 5. Yum! Squish Squish!




After lunch, me and the bro were on our own. We went through each floor going through the shops that we thought were worth it. We even took a picture from the highest floor to get the best view of Baguio. It was a picturesque view, so beautiful in culture!! First we headed to HUMAN where I was debating whether I should by a shirt or jeans. I ended up leaving the store empty-handed since I kept telling myself that I'd find something more worthwhile. My first purchase of the day was at BENCH. The undies had blue crown prints and it totally made me feel royalty! Jk! But yeah..then we continued to OXYGEN where I was going to jeans (again). But I just kept telling myself.."You'll find something more worth it at Hong Kong."

After the whole mall experience, we headed to the streets of Baguio. It was seriously hard for me to keep up with my bro. Everyone walked as if they were driving. I had to literally takeover everyone just to get ahead.

Then we ended up at the CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL. It was nice. We took some pictures in front of it. Afterwards, we headed inside to pray. I haven't attended mass in 2 weeks. So I had a lot to pray about. lolz.

The end of our Baguio trip concluded at BURNHAM PARK. I kept thinking to myself how it would be romantic if I could stroll down this park with Jaybe. We just walked a lap around the park while my parents sat down enjoying the boat riders. It was sort of wierd, because we caught these two girls trying to take a picture of us. I have no idea why, but I hope it goes into a positive use. I also saw a dude walking with a purse on his shoulder. I have a bag of my own and it was rare to see men with man bags. But since this was a knock off of DOONEY, might as well enjoy this for my entertainment, but then again, I'm glad he ROCKED IT! (Apologies to the dude with the purse)



The ride back home was just as beautiful as going up the mountain. We stopped by to take a view from the high heights. On the way, we even took a snap of the LIONS HEAD from the car. I have no idea of the signficance of this monument, but it was uplifting. There was even a little girl who pulled up to our window offering us some gold for purchase. I just told her that I have some gold at home. Sad, but true! As predicted, it started to rain and chances of getting in an accident continued.

The remainder of the evening was spent with so many visitors coming over for dinner. My dad has been living here for almost over a year and has met so many people along the way. Some of the visitors were my dads neighbors. One of them was a girl named, Joy, and we ended the night singing karaoke together. She was such a great singer. When we sang The Gift as a duet, we so rocked the house! I don't know if I'm going to see her again, but I so regret the chance of taking a picture with her because she was the prettiest person I saw so far in this trip.

The night ended with me killing a lizard. I just closed the window before i went to bed and then I saw the body of a lizard with the head stuck in between. I felt so bad. Even though I tripped out everytime I saw the lizards on the wall, I stil felt like an animal murderer!!

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Today was more of a chill day. I woke up not knowing what we'd be doing today. I finally got a chance to call Jaybe today and we talked for more than 2 minutes!! I feel so happy everytime I hear his voice because I know that he's doing good. We ended up having lunch with more visitors. It was more unique though, because these 8 visitors were 17-20 year old nursing students. One of them is more related to us because shes my uncle's grandaughter. We all ended up singing karaoke and it was fun because they were all shy. I really doin't know why everytime we meet new people our age or younger, why they have to be so shy. I mean, I'm one of the most harmless persons you can ever meet in the world! I keep asking my mom why that is and she tells me that here in the Philippines, girls are raised to be shy. It just gets to me that most of these people don't get the chance to socialize with others besides who they're already familiar with. If I were to do something about it, I would try to talk to as many locals as possible. But until then..I'm just living the LA life in the Philippines!

PHILIPPINE TOUR: THE BEST OF THE FIRST

Being here honestly does have its brighter side! I mean, I'M IN VACATION! There were so many things that I've done here that I haven't done at all back at the states. Each day was a new day, a a new experience that I can now add to my list of life experiences. On the second day here in the Philippines, we explored the city of Iloilo. Our first main spot was a place where lunch was served! We went to this private resort called Punta Villa where there was a large open dining room and swimming pools for the little kiddlets!





I even got to meet some of my first cousins for the first time! Theses cousins come from my moms side. Its her brother's (Tito Boy) children, Eric, Patricia, and LA! Umm Patricia was super throughout the whole time we were in Iloilo and Bacolod for she was like an older sister (ate). LA's the rebel! hahah naw shes cool. She just has the hopes and dreams of living the actual LA life back at home. We didn't get to hang out that much because she had to go back to school in Bacolod. Eric is the funny dude! He has 2 beautiful children of his own and he honestly made this trip a lot more interesting from a dudes point of view. Since he's about the same age as my older brother, he totally rocked the older brother role. Here's thier introduction picture along with my bro.

The Cabasac Cousins

Eric wasn't in this picture for sum reason but these were the girls (ba-ba-eh)more close up. lolz.

The next day, we headed to my Tito's house that he owns in the Savannah Villa sub-division. I seriously didnt even know what a sub-division was until we got there. Seriously! Everyone in the party kept saying that word to the point where it became a pet peeve. Anyway, the community was no LA community, but it was pretty nice for what it was. Here's us, the fam, and the Father that helped to bless this dear home..

The Family in the Savannah Villas

I even got to ride on the ever-so-popular JEEPNEY! It was quite an experience. At first I was afraid to be in there, because I don't know how they would manage sanitizing thier seats. But once again, this is a vacation and I'm going all out. I love how it sort of felt like a safari expedition!

Posing with the Jeepney

I like it better in the back!

After our "safari expedition" we headed to have lunch. Getting to our destination was an adventure because our driver (which we paid to have him drive us the entire day) took some shortcut. It was bumpy, wet, and muddy. This was the part where we drove through some community and the people who lives there have it rough. Anyway we ate lunch at another resort in Iloilo. I totally forgot the name of it thought. Crap! Anyway..once again it was nice. We were served buffet style and there was even a pool with a water slide. Sweet deal.

All the cousins and second cousins after lunch

Dont look at me, look at the waterslide!

Aights, thats as far as I'll go in my vacation! I think that was 3 days worth of exciting places and pictures. I'll add more when I get the time, but as for now, i should knock out the lights. It's not raining that much outside anymore! Yaya!

So update with where I am: 3rd day in Rosario, La Union. Tomorrow were heading to Baguio. We'll see whats up.

LIVE IT!

The Filipino-American Truth

Having the experience to explore the Philippines for the very first time in my life has been like a Great Awakening. It has finally been brought to my attention that there are so many differences between this country and those of the western culture. Everyday, when were driving through the city and the barrios, I observe the building structures of where these locals live. Some people have huge well-designed houses, while others rely on plastic and metal frames for their domestic protection and shelter. This has definitely impacted my perception of thier way of living. I feel so helpless when seeing the children bath along a waterpump, or a 2 year old girl walking around the streets barefooted. This experience helped me to realize that life and it's many features and amenities should not be taken for granted. One of the main concerns are our homes, food, and clothes. I have taken these things for granted my entire life, and being here for the first week already live through how difficult it is just to have clean underwear! Furthermore, as I continue to explore Bagiou City tomorrow, I will hopefully come across something I can add on to my Philippine Tour.

Above Photo: Iloilo, PH - Two schoolboys from Collegio De S. Corazon De Jesus overlooking the ocean during thier lunch break.

Greetings from THE PHILIPPINES!

Greetings Ya'll! It's been a little more than a week since I got here, and boy, am I having fun!! I've experienced different things here, and I can now say that the Philippines isn't that bad of a place! Although we can discuss some sanitary issues later, I rather go with what was a plus!

First off..Right now I'm in my father's province in Rosario, La Union. I just got here lastnight, and the right was super scary cuz of all the Rain and heavy thunderstorms. (nothing like that from LA). I spent the past week in Iloilo (my mom's hometown) and at Bacolod. Both islands were nice in its own unique way, but it did take a while for me to adapt to everything.

I'm still overwhelmed by how cheap everything is here.. I just finished getting my second Swedish full body massage this week. The first one was at Bacolod and the second was here in my dad's place where they came for our service! Totally rocked! The shopping was even more genious! I bought so many cute stuff already that I know I cant wait to ROCK in LA! I soooo wish Jaybe was here with me cuz I know how we both get when it comes to shopping!

There are times when I do feel like I was at home..especially in the arms of Jaybe. But Im just glad that he's having fun with his freedom! lolz. We talk once a day for a max of 2 minutes, cuz the SMART card is just never enough! and plus, I'm sharing the minutes with my lil bro too.

But yeah..I'll update more as time flows. Tomorrow were gonna be heading to sum resort for some leisure and free dippin in the pools! I'll be heading to Manila next wedenday, so if any of you will be there...look out for me at the SMs and the Mall of Asia!!

Oh yeah..I'm heading to Hong Kong and Malaysia too! So keep it close!

ONe more thing...CONGRATS to my JAYBE for being nominated for the GSPOT BLOG AWARD for the month of JULY! Check him out at JAYBIO.BLOGSPOT.COM

Live it. Love it. Rock it!

philippines

Hi guys... this is jaybe! Tactology is currently on vacation in the wonderful islands of the Philippines. As of right now, he's somewhere in the region of Visayas. On behalf of my boyfriend, we apologize for him not being able to blog before he left. But I am sure that he will be blogging soon about his experiences in the Philippines, it's his first time being there, so I am sure it would all be great stories.

I am missing him terribly.

Stay tuned for more updated throughout the week.

I also blogged about the day before he left in my own page - jaybio - check it out.

Thanks again, and write to you soon.

-jaybio