a tale from the capital
Continuing from where we left off, we arrived in Manila at a quarter to 7 in the evening on Friday. All the while we thought that the day's protest rally in Makati had already died down; but the hustle and bustle of the capital was still evident when the bus traversed the stretch of EDSA. If not for the car that Mhon's sister lent us, we would probably have looked like "probinsiyanos" acting as tourists, and would be more inconvenienced throughout the trip. Our great gratitude to Manang Sherry.
A sumptuous dinner at Cuzina, one of the many restaurants in the sutukil strip along Roxas boulevard, kicked off the second leg of our Valentine's week trip. Good thing half of the bill was Stephen's treat, sort of his celebration for passing the nautical board exam, much to our delight, as we enjoyed the variety of seafood. Food always tastes more delicious if it's free. It was way past 10pm when we left our bags at the University Hotel; we took a few minutes to freshen up as we didn't want to miss what was already a party scene when we passed the sunken garden of the University of the Philippines - Diliman campus. Still heavy from the dinner, we scoured the backstage and the fair area, not leaving without posing for photographs with a couple of artists. This was our third night on the trip and our streak of beer drinking was far from over, our alcohol level got even higher at Quattro bar in Timog. Their beer mug was the biggest we've seen so far, I can hear my liver complaining with every gulp. Tired from the travel, we went back to the hotel at around 4 in the morning.
The third day ended with the boys separated from the ladies. Freaking hotel rules.
Rise and shine we did on Saturday as we enjoyed another free meal for brunch at Heaven and Eggs in Eastwood city Libis, care of Manang Sherry this time. She sure is generous. I can't figure out why of all the stars in the celebrity walk of fame, I posed for a picture on Chiquito's. Wifey opted to show her being a Sharonian. There's no denying that Eastwood has a well-planned cityscape. After that, we made our way to Global City - the Fort, and I can't be more amazed with the architecture, the streetscape and the whole built environment. If only the country was designed in such a way, fountains and greens, all clean and neat. Anyhow, if not for the map we bought in a gas station we would have difficulty finding our way from the Fort to Trinoma mall. There we met up with Allison's cousin Mari, and his wife Grace. I was about to spoil the day for acting like a kid, not getting the FrancisM shirt I sought, but the aroma of a cup of coffee from Figaro's, paired with a good smoke, plus the landscape architecture on the topmost floor of Trinoma somehow pacified me. After which I was already in the mood to give my wife a shopping spree, while also buying something for the little boy we left behind. When we figured that our pockets were almost drained, we opted to have an inexpensive dinner at Mang Jimmy's, a known carenderia among the students of the schools along Katipunan Avenue, so says my wife.
Toni poses at the star of Chiquito at the walk of fame in Eastwood
Mari and Grace with Alli and Toni @ Figaro's cafe in Trinoma mall
Alli, proud to be a Sharonian at the walk of fame in Eastwood
Satisfied with the sizzling dishes we had at Mang Jimmy's, we were ready to rock the last night of UP fair, but not without drowning some bottles of red horse. Now it goes without saying that we pretty much had a good drinking spree going at Four Brothers along Maginhawa street in Teacher's Village that we lost track of the time, especially with Allison meeting up her cousin Bunny, resulting in us not being able to catch a few of the rock artists that played in the Fair. But hell, we still enjoyed the rest of the night, big thanks to Doris for the backstage passes. I said to myself, What the eF! the last time I was able to rock and roll with a lot of bands of this magnitude was god knows when, probably since time immemorial. Sugarfree, Cambio, Chicosci, Hilera, Mojofly and Urbandub were among the bands who played. Wifey couldn't be more ecstatic to be back in UP-diliman and be part of the centennial celebration of her alma mater. As The Dawn was playing their undying hit Salamat, we were on our way to the backstage after secretly drinking the beer in cans we sneaked in at the sunken garden's fairgrounds. We continued to rock on together with yan2x, genee and the few remaining artists among others. The time was a little over 2 in the morning when Cebu-based Indie band Hastang went to play onstage. Groupies that we are, we proudly jammed with the band as they sung Oblivion and Random. Then it just dawned on me - hey, I just experienced UP fair for the first time.
the three pairs at the backstage together with Doris
with the band Hastang, while waiting for the band's turn to play
Our last night of the Valentines week trip ended with a bang! Definitely.
By ten in the morning on Sunday, we were out of the Hotel, out of the UP campus and on the way to Ortigas to leave the borrowed car at Paragon Suites. The delay of our flight back home made us savor the Valentines week trip one last time. That was three days of paid leave, two weekends, six unique individuals, three dynamic pairs, a cold Baguio vacation, an enjoyable Manila trip, two nights of rocking at the UP fair, a million memories made and of course hundreds of photographs to cherish.
final dose:
again you can view more pictures at our multiply site
other related stories here and here, more pictures here and here.
A sumptuous dinner at Cuzina, one of the many restaurants in the sutukil strip along Roxas boulevard, kicked off the second leg of our Valentine's week trip. Good thing half of the bill was Stephen's treat, sort of his celebration for passing the nautical board exam, much to our delight, as we enjoyed the variety of seafood. Food always tastes more delicious if it's free. It was way past 10pm when we left our bags at the University Hotel; we took a few minutes to freshen up as we didn't want to miss what was already a party scene when we passed the sunken garden of the University of the Philippines - Diliman campus. Still heavy from the dinner, we scoured the backstage and the fair area, not leaving without posing for photographs with a couple of artists. This was our third night on the trip and our streak of beer drinking was far from over, our alcohol level got even higher at Quattro bar in Timog. Their beer mug was the biggest we've seen so far, I can hear my liver complaining with every gulp. Tired from the travel, we went back to the hotel at around 4 in the morning.
The third day ended with the boys separated from the ladies. Freaking hotel rules.
Rise and shine we did on Saturday as we enjoyed another free meal for brunch at Heaven and Eggs in Eastwood city Libis, care of Manang Sherry this time. She sure is generous. I can't figure out why of all the stars in the celebrity walk of fame, I posed for a picture on Chiquito's. Wifey opted to show her being a Sharonian. There's no denying that Eastwood has a well-planned cityscape. After that, we made our way to Global City - the Fort, and I can't be more amazed with the architecture, the streetscape and the whole built environment. If only the country was designed in such a way, fountains and greens, all clean and neat. Anyhow, if not for the map we bought in a gas station we would have difficulty finding our way from the Fort to Trinoma mall. There we met up with Allison's cousin Mari, and his wife Grace. I was about to spoil the day for acting like a kid, not getting the FrancisM shirt I sought, but the aroma of a cup of coffee from Figaro's, paired with a good smoke, plus the landscape architecture on the topmost floor of Trinoma somehow pacified me. After which I was already in the mood to give my wife a shopping spree, while also buying something for the little boy we left behind. When we figured that our pockets were almost drained, we opted to have an inexpensive dinner at Mang Jimmy's, a known carenderia among the students of the schools along Katipunan Avenue, so says my wife.
Toni poses at the star of Chiquito at the walk of fame in Eastwood
Mari and Grace with Alli and Toni @ Figaro's cafe in Trinoma mall
Alli, proud to be a Sharonian at the walk of fame in Eastwood
the three pairs at the backstage together with Doris
with the band Hastang, while waiting for the band's turn to play
Our last night of the Valentines week trip ended with a bang! Definitely.
By ten in the morning on Sunday, we were out of the Hotel, out of the UP campus and on the way to Ortigas to leave the borrowed car at Paragon Suites. The delay of our flight back home made us savor the Valentines week trip one last time. That was three days of paid leave, two weekends, six unique individuals, three dynamic pairs, a cold Baguio vacation, an enjoyable Manila trip, two nights of rocking at the UP fair, a million memories made and of course hundreds of photographs to cherish.
final dose:
again you can view more pictures at our multiply site
other related stories here and here, more pictures here and here.
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the daddy
drawing inspiration from his little boys and wife. he writes
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2 comments:
cool. good you enjoyed up fair.
we enjoyed up fair indeed. but it would been nice if you could have identified yourself.
hehe =)
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