Irish Roses

After receiving my PDF file from Sarah London, I immediately went crocheting. There's this cute flowers she calls Irish Roses. I made one for my cousin, made it into a headband. Guess what, she loved it. Then her sisters saw it. Now they want it too. So I've been busy crocheting like there's no tomorrow. Hahahaha!

I haven't posted my photos from our recent Davao trip. Such a slacker.

And also the scrapbook from my Davao trip LAST year with my friends.

What the heck is wrong with me?! Tamaditis!!!!!

Ok fine, getting the USB cable...meanwhile..while waiting for the photos to upload..I'll crocheting more Irish Roses.


Cheers!,

Lele

Going Back to Davao

I knew I was going back to Davao one day...

My 12 year old cousin qualified for the National Writing Press Conference. Or something like that.

How will I improve as a blogger if my previous trip from Davao isn't finished yet?? Such a loser!!!

I have tons of drafts waiting to be written..but I'm so slow & lazy these past few weeks so please forgive me. Eeeks! Life & work got in the way...

Anyways, so I'm going with my Aunt Lucy, on this trip. Moral support much? LOL

Angel, my cousin, in her own words, still couldn't believe that she's going to Davao. To join a writing contest. This is actually my fault. I started giving her books at a young age. Just like what my Lola/Granny did to me. Except I didn't become a writer. Just an avid reader. Of Romance & Thriller books...hahahahardeeharhar..

We're going to Tagum City, about 2 hours from Davao City, I wonder what will it look like there. Very Rural? or typical province like any other cities in the Philippines?

There's no beach anywhere, so I'm packing my books & crochet materials. OMG! Such an old hag!!! hardeeharhar!!! There's no denying it..Going that way anyways.... :(( wow it rhymed! hahaha

Maybe if I could convince my Mom to buy an acre or an hectare of land there. Maybe build a rest house or something. Just to get away from the city. Not driving there but flying and going away from busy Metro Manila. Oh wells..just wishful thinking..

I'm currently packing my stuff, loading up my iPhone & iPod for the 2 hour flight. Hope I don't forget something.

Ok. I'm off to walk the dogs. Gonna miss the little monsters. 6 days!!


See you when I see you!


xoxo,

Lele

Davao Trip w/ BFF's Day 1 - Airport

Sorry for the interruptions. Back to our tour-ture trip.

Soooo, we decided to meet up at the airport. Since i've been flying once a year, and we get tons of visitors who we bring to the airport every single time, i know the drill of being there early. Better late than never they say. Add to the fact that we live up north and the airport is somewhere south east/west of manila. I was up at the crack of dawn, driver was early, said goodbye to mom, brought my breakfast and off we go at 4:45am. I didn't texted my friends, i figured they might be busy preparing to go out of the house too. Yeah right, they were still sleeping!

It's my first time to fly Cebu Pacific so i was triple nervous & edgy. I arrived at Terminal 3 at around 5:50am, i decided to call them when nobody replied to my texts. They said they're leaving now. WHAT?? relax, they say, no traffic & it's early. I didn't want to go in because the terminal is so darn cold, but i eventually went in because i had to pee!

I decided to wait in line & just let people pass me until the girls arrive. I was feeling antsy already because the sun is out & in full force, and they're nowhere to be found!! tic toc! tic toc! aggh i'm going crazy!!

6:30 am i see their faces! goodness gracious! and we have to fall in line in the slowest counter! agh!! i was feeling nervous & hyper because the clock is ticking, and of course they were all relaxed, chatting it up yappity yap yup.

7:00 we got our tickets, and i rushed in to the gates! besides i have to pee again! i had a cup of noodles for breakfast, i asked the girls if they had any, they said no, so why don't you buy something to eat, but make it fast, i said in the back of my mind, i deeply regret not saying that aloud.

7:15 Grace was in line for a Hot Coco, Zenna & I was waiting for cinnabon sticks, Rose sat down in a table after getting her coffee. I was like?? what are we doing?? our flight's leaving and we're still here?? Somebody said..no no no no..our boarding time is 7:45, we have time to spare, i was like, what?? 7:45 the plane LEAVES with or without us.

Just then a Ground Crew carrying a sign & shouting for Davao Passengers, Rose turned to the guy, and said somewhat stupidly, that's us. "Mam. the gate closes in 5 minutes." whhhhhaaattt?!?!? we ran for dear life, i never ran like that! i run like there's a 400 pound bear chasing us to death. In all my life as a traveler i have never ever done a thing like that. I am never late. I don't want the plane to leave without me so i was always early at the airport. But this is a first. Thanks to my beautiful friends.

We got to the gate, huffing & puffing our lungs out, the crew looked at us with a smirk. I thought the running was done, but nooooo, the tube connecting to the plane was like an endless tunnel!! so we ran. again.

The door to the plane came into view, i sighted 2 ladies ahead of us, they were running too. We stepped inside and everyone was seated already, the plane was ready to go and the four of us were the last!!! I think they were waiting for us for the loooongest time already.

As we sat down and buckled our seat belts, i vaguely heard the stewardess announce something about cabin doors closing. Yup, we were the last.

OMG. please. make. me. invisible. now.

Getting Ready for Davao

Last July, My BFF's and I went to Davao.
Our first trip as a group.
Chaos & Riot!

Around end of May 2009, my friend Grace, who works at Singapore, just casually said that she wants to go to Vigan/Ilocos when she comes home for a vacay. I have been to Ilocos around the 90's, i want to go back because i want to see some "tourist" improvements. Time has caught up and changes have been made eversince. My other friend Zenna, is not quite open to going back there so soon, i think just a couple years ago. We exchange emails & IM's and decided we'll go to Davao. Everybody agreed. Next step is asking who would come, of course Grace's twin sister Rose is coming, our problem is asking Jenny, our friend who has a family already. But she dropped them like a hot potato when she found out! She's coming too! LOL

It all fell into place just like that! *snaps fingers*

Next step is finding cheap tickets, this went to our resident wow philippines model/traveler/tourist guide/travel agent, Zenna. Found cheap ones and in Promo from Cebu Pacific Airlines. She emailed us and delegated tasks to be done for the trip. I thought i was free! But nooo, she gave us things to be done, like a commander on a pirate ship. hehehe. The Twins took Azienda Meo, Jen got Pearl Farm & I got Hof Gorei.

I asked my Mom permission to go. It's not what you think. I just want her to know that I'm going somewhere. With my friends. They basically think i can't get anywhere, what am i? a 5 year old??

Countdown till the trip itself began, i was so excited, emails & IM exchanged every night, i could feel the excitement between my friends too.

For me, packing is a nightmare, i always overpack, i tend to bring so much stuff that i thought i need and ended up not using them anyways, so for this i edited almost every night before going to sleep. Since I'm a plus size girl, my clothes are big & bulky too, so i chose lightweight stuff and set my mind on not bringing extra clothes. My toiletries kit is another post, but i think i didn't edit it that much and it was the heaviest kit on my bag.

After choosing my clothes & whatnots, i have come to the hardest part, what kind of bag will i bring? do i bring a wheelie? a backpack? or a huge duffel bag?

Zenna, has perfected the world of packing light, suggested using a backpack, since we're all ladies and no boylets to carry our luggage around. But nooo, i had to use the wheelie because my stuff can't fit in the darn backpack. what am i? a mutant turtle?? When we met at the airport that morning, I had my wheelie, the twins had a small wheelie & a duffel, Zenna has this uber teeny tiny backpack at her back, i was like?? what do you got in there?? i don't believe it!

So on my next post, i'll tell the story of Day 1 in Davao.


XOXO,

Lele

Davao Trip Essentials

So....my friends and i are going to Davao next month, and it got me thinking, what kind/type of luggage will i bring?? do i bring a mini trolley(what do you call it)? the one used for check in luggages? My friend says NO. we will travel by land & SEA so she said to make sure that i don't have a hard time. since we're all girls. No boyfriends on this trip so no one to carry those heavy bags. =)

Overnight CarryAll: maybe this would be a good idea. but since i have to sling on ONE shoulder or maybe use one hand to carry it..naaahh... Okay, i will bring one that folds up small, so i can fill it with pasalubong going back...Suha & Durian, anyone?? ahaha...

BackPack: i don't want to look like those backpackers. hahaha..but i think this would be the ideal one. both of my hands would be free. i have no stuff to drop & toss on the floor and totally forget about it. so we have a winner. only problem is... i don't have a decent backpack. my back pack is a quilted chanel i got from Tresorie years ago. could barely fit a shirt in there, what more of a snorkeling gear?? so today...i hunt for the "back pack"...

Longchamp: I have washed my battered & dirty Longchamp, time to retire the designer goodies, rainy season na, better be careful of those vachettas. Also perfect for travel because of it's light weight & perfect size. Hope I win Mrs.T's contest and win that Herve Chapelier sac! wooot!!

Ricoh GX200: being on flickr makes me appreciate photos, colors, nature and just about everything God has given us, more. I thought about getting a DSLR but that would be too much for me, me with the shortest attention span in the whole wide world. So thanks to my flickr friends, i have found the perfect camera, for now. It works & functions like a DSLR, but has a body of a compact point & shoot camera. woohoo! can't wait to test drive in Davao!

Snorkeling Gear: ok i am afraid of SCUBA diving. even snorkeling!!! but i have to learn to love this or else i will miss out BIG TIME!!! will look for a decent set at the mall today...

OK..so far that's my checklist...will add more soon...any suggestions??

Davao

We're Going to Davao!

After years of planning, drawing, hee haw, and all that hullabaloo. we make it happen. Woohoo!!! Sadly not all of us cannot come.

Zenna, the twins Grace & Rose, and Me are good to go. Don't know about Jen ( she have a family now ) and Valerie can't go because she recently just got back to Dubai.

We have been "drawing" for an all girls trip to somewhere around the Philippines. We didn't plan an out of the country trip, which i wanted, because Zenna doesn't have a passport yet. (now she does! woohoo!) Everytime we meet during one of our birthdays, we plan this. We visualize, we schedule what to do. all the details are magnified. we all wanted this to happen. NOT.

Last week, Grace IM'd me, saying wanting to go to Ilocos. Grace works in Singapore and going home for a vacation this coming end of june-july. i said to her, ok let's go. hehe. then she said Zenna doesn't want to because she's already been there. Sadly i have been to also. I just said yes because that was ages ago. I also wanted to go back to Pagudpod. In Short, Ilocos was scratched and Davao was conceptualized.

IM, emails, SMS flew back and forth between Ortigas, Singapore, Valenzuela & Cavite. In a span of 2 days, we have a booking for Davao. At Cebu Pacific. OMG! i'm scared! this is my first time to fly that airline. We have always flew PAL. I hope everything's gonna be alright...i hate flying! why did i ever agree to this on the first place?! oh yeah. girl bonding moments...

Wait...can i still buy PAL tickets?? and just meet you there girls??