Holidays, Holy Days, Crazy Days: Part 2

I mentioned in my previous post that we all got sore eyes last Christmas, right? It screwed up our holiday plans in more ways than one. We were planning a Cebu-Bohol-Siquijor trip, but with the delay in our departure, we had to scrap the Bohol part. The thing is, Typhoon Seniang hit Cebu and sea trips were cancelled. Oh, but I'm getting ahead of my kwento na. 

We left Dumaguete around 10 pm of the 27th via M/V Zamboanga. The trip started a bit bumpy, but it was soon smooth sailing and I immediately fell asleep. The vessel was slow, and it was almost 6 am when we reached Cebu.

Sharkteeth on her bunk with her eldest and youngest

After we checked in, we left for, guess what, Ayala Mall. Hahaha! Mall rats, that's what we are. Syempre, pumunta ako sa Daiso. How I love that store. Hindi ka lalabas na malungkot, well, unless ang goal mo is to NOT buy anything. Look at what I got! Kate Spade-ish trash bin and notebook, Ellefar Princess powder foundation for mother, belt tape, and tiny sauce bottles. So happy with the sauce bottles -- I can bring patis na anywhere. *Prepare for the stink* :) There's also a cute pink trash bin for Sharkteeth (not in the picture). Grabe, so, so happy talaga with everything I got sa Daiso. I'm sure mother will be happy with the powder as well. Kung ano-ano na nabili kong powder for her, laging may reklamo. Kesyo maitim sa kanya, nangangati sya, di maganda sa skin nya, etc. Sa Guerlain lang yata walang reklamo, wala naman akong mabiling Guerlain. I too like this powder kasi may very tiny glitters. Hindi flat sa mukha. And the packaging is so cute, parang Anna Sui. I had to restrain myself kasi ang daming cute Sanrio and floral Cath Kidston-ish items.

We went to Rustan's and I swooned. So many beautiful porcelain and kitchen wares. Lenox, Royal Albert, KitchenAid mixers of many macaron-like colors, all lovely, all [very] expensive. Must be nice to be rich and be able to buy such beautiful things without having to pause and think how to pay it.

I espied a cute floral saucer and TheHusband urged me to get it. But before long, I was looking at the matching shallow soup bowl as well. "Bilis! Bayaran mo na 'yan! Baka kung ano pa makita mo," he said [in panic?]. Hahahahahaha! Sige na nga, binayaran ko na. Sharkteeth was a bit worried when I told her to use the bowl. Baka daw mabasag nya. Kasi, a few years back, she broke my music box and a cute oversized coffee cup and I freaked out in both instances. But recently, with my fondness for cute breakables, I've decided to be detached about it. Sure, nakakalungkot pag may nababasag, but I don't want to be too affected by it -- they are just things, napapalitan. Hehehe, kinu-kundisyon ko sarili ko kasi napansin ko na may hairline crack na ang aking favorite teacup. Oh well, it's just a cup. 

Another thing, I always enjoy shopping, window or otherwise, sa Rustan's. Generally speaking, their staff are polite, knowledgeable of their products, and discreet. It doesn't matter kung magkano ang binili mo, whether 100 pesos or 10,000 pesos, they serve with a smile and are very helpful. And like I said, they're discreet. Hindi yung buntot ng buntot sa customer. Compare that with Etude House salespersons. Hay naku. They trail you around, either blabbering about the product you're touching or making you feel like a shoplifter about to make a kill. Is it just me who feels that way sa Etude? I love Etude's products, don't get me wrong, but their salespersons are simply ill-trained in the manner of sales.

Syempre, mawawala ba sa itinerary ang SM? LOL! Kelan ba naman kasi magkakaroon ng SM dito sa Dumaguete? Sale! Sale! Sale! Pero I just bought some basics, well, okay, I also bought a so-trendy-two-years-ago Lucite clutch! Ang cute eh. Saka mura na.

Sa SM kong minamahal

Whenever we go to Manila or Cebu, we try to eat at our favorite restaurants. Pero this time, we also tried an ihaw-ihaw, The Original AA BBQ, near the hotel. I don't know kung dahil ba nagsawa ako sa Pancake House at iba pang usual food staples namin or dahil ba rainy weather and sinigang+grilled food+steaming rice seem an appealing match, but we really enjoyed the food. Ang mura pa (less than 500 PHP). Yung sinigang na mamsa (talakitok in Tagalog; jack in English) ang pinaka-winner for me. Tamang-tama ang asim. Pati grilled seafood and chicken BBQ, tender and succulent. Naka-dalawang meals din kami dun. Kung pwede lang doon kami kumain ng iba pang meals namin...kaso baka mag-rebelde na si S. Babalik ako dun even just for the sinigang. It's in front of the University of Southern Philippines, along Salinas Drive. Kaya lang napakaraming tao pag gabi, but it's not as crowded pag lunch time.

As I said earlier, inabutan kami ng bagyo. Sea voyage was stopped, and we had to rebook our trip. When trips resumed, wala naman kaming makuhang trip back, leaving us no time to proceed to Siquijor anymore. :( Traveling by bus was an option, albeit an unappealing one, kasi it takes very long (>3 hours), and S has the bladder of a mouse. Plus, a bridge in the southern part of Cebu fell, so kailangang mag-transfer pa. We considered it and thought that we can just go to Oslob for whale shark watching instead, but our swimming gear was at home. Hays, kelan ko ba makikita ang mga whale sharks na 'yun? We waited and got a trip back on the evening of the 1st. Daresay na medyo malas ang trip namin, ano? Sore eyes, rebooked trip to Cebu, bagyo, rebooked trip home...medyo inalat ang December ko, diba naiwan ako ng eroplano?

Akala nyo ba eh nakapunta kami sa tourist spots? Hindi! Mall pa rin. Hahahahaha! Well, we went to Sto. Nino Church, if you can call it a tourist spot. Then again, ilang beses na rin naman kaming nakapunta sa Cebu City, so we've already covered most of the interesting spots. They're renovating Magellan's Cross and there was scaffold inside. I didn't take pictures of the cross anymore.

 

One great thing about the delay was that we celebrated New Year in the hotel, away from the smoke and firecrackers. We watched the fireworks show from the window of the hotel and enjoyed it thoroughly. Oddly, I kinda miss the smell of firecrackers on the morning of the New Year. Growing up in Bulacan, my parents manufactured and sold firecrackers, and New Years were always noisy and smoke-filled.

Pagdating namin ng Ayala on the first day, S immediately bought some books. So naubos na nya yung mga aguinaldo sa kanya. Kasi I told her to halve her money, half for spending and half for saving. By the third day, nabasa na nya lahat ng books. Umutang pa kay TheHusband so she can buy another. So may tagahugas kami ng pinggan for one month. Yay! Well, Happy New Year to me. LOL!

Our trip back was uneventful, via M/V Georich this time, and I was happy to be home. I picked up the dog from the pet "hotel" and we were both ecstatic to see each other. When we got home, he immediately bound toward the nearby field. He must have had a bad case of cabin fever in the pet hotel. 

2014 has been spotty, with aviation tragedies and natural calamities, but it's over and done. I'd rather focus on the bountiful blessings I received last year. I hope our 2015 will be filled with more blessings and graces along with more friends, love, happiness, wealth, and as always, the best of health.