Abendaño Filipino

and so it is... it's almost over...

2009-09-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally blogged!!! It's been so hectic since my mom came and we've been running errands throughout the days! Alright, I'll just update by pictures. Here's what happened since my last blog.

I reunited with a good friend, Pia, and we went to Aveneto in Glorietta. It was a really good restaurant! Our total was $8.00 and that was 2 orders of pasta, which we didn't finish, and refillable iced tea. Then we went to go to tour the places I used frequented to play and then some. Including N.S. Amoranto Park.

Good ole bakery!

This is Pia's mom, Ate Lala. She used to have this store that had a running tab of things I would get and my mom would pay her at the end of the week!

That night, we went out to Italianni's at Trinoma. A place I do not recommend, but anyways we ate there with Pia, Greg and Michael.

We were also joined with Tita Josie, Tito Art, Zyle and Ate Grace.

The following day, Ate Grace, Pia, Zyle and I went to Manila Ocean Park! There were many things to see!

On our way home we saw a bum who was sleeping comfortably while it was raining really hard! There's a monsoon at Luzon and Visayas.

Wanting to get a haircut, Greg and I both got a fancy haircut at the mall, which includes wash, scalp massage, cut and style! For the both of us, our total was $5.00. This was at the mall at Bench Fix.

Then off we went to our reunion at Music 21. We were joined with Hayden, Jojo, Michael, Pia, Greg and Greg's special Guest, Aiza!

On Sunday, my mom, Kuya Jason and Ate Clarissa arrived! We ate at the Sky Garden in Trinoma.

Then for dinner, we went to the family reunion, my mom's side. I was able to see all my uncles, aunts, cousins, godchildren, etc! This is my mom's younger sister.

One of my cousins that I grew up with closely.

My mom's 2 older brothers.

And their wives, my aunts.

Here comes the giveaways!

That same night, we went to visit Ate Isay's family. We laughed and talked a little bit, and dropped off the goodies that Ate Isay prepared for them. Too bad I didn't get to see Chelsea, she was already asleep! Ate Isay's mom is next to my mom, and her dad is next to Kuya Jason.

The following day, I got to hang out with these two party people! We went to...

Greenhills! Shopped a little bit, bought $10.00 Vans shoes, and 2 $4.00 t-shirts. It was pretty cool! Here's me pretending to be a store vendor, while the store employee was looking for my size.

That night, we invited people to hang out, but they were busy. Greg and I went to Quattro's near GMA 7 and had some Macho drinks.

And then we met up with Pia and ate at Mister Kebab.

Today, we went to catch up with some of my mom's old friends and co-workers from BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands), the placed that she worked for 27 years. I saw this jeep, read that if you can understand it.

While they were reminiscing and laughing, Zyle and I pretended that I was an employee and I was selling him home insurance.

You can tell he is not very interested.

We left to go eat at Dads in Glorietta! It was really good!

They even made a sign! I didn't get to take as much pictures, but the place is really nice. It's about $10.00 per person, and you get unlimited sushi, sashimi, Italian food, and all kinds of French and Filipino food! It was really really good! Now we're all at the hotel and ready to sleep!

I finally have internet again!

2009-09-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

So the past few previous days have been a little crazy! I've been on the road at places I've seen before and places I've never seen! It's pretty fun! I'll just tell you the story over these next 87 pictures! The internet at the hotel can be a little crazy sometimes because the cable wire for internet is limited. It's Thursday night here at 12:00AM.

So here's a picture of Zyle, Zhane and Zedric? Or Cedric? Haha. We call him adik because it's faster to say than Cedric. He calls me Kuya Edel, because Ate Grace's older bro looks a little like me.

We sometimes like to play in the street and walk around the neighborhood. I first stayed here at Novaliches with Ate Grace and her sister. Mosquito bite count = 0.

I left Novaliches on Sunday to meet up with me childhood bestfriend Greg, who will accompany me to Puerto Galera. Here's a pic of me riding the back of a tricycle.

Our first stop was the area I grew up in! Here's Dapitan Street! Where the 7-11 used to be, where I was caught shoplifting when I was 10 years old... They even took my picture.

We walked around Dapitan Arcade to look for wedding goodies for my brother's wedding. We saw these nice looking bags that were 20 pesos each, I think?

Here's Dapitan Park, where I often used to go when I used to sneak out of the house to go play in the streets!

This is the church that is really close to my house that I used to walk to and sing in the children's choir. It's kinda funny that none of my family knew that I used to go here to sing. I think my mom did though.

A lot has changed in this area and they moved things around, but that corner is my old house where I grew up! There used to be a dental office right there in the corner and our little sari sari store on the left side.

This is Iriga St. The street where I came to play when I got home from school. A lot changed here too. Most everyone moved except a few. They also raised the road and covered up the canals.

Here is Tita Virgie, the mom of Joann, Jan Jan, Jo Jo, and Jenny Rose.

Here's Nonong and Jojo. I just came to the neighborhood and started knocking on the doors and was like SURPRISE! Haha.

I also walked to Iba St., a couple of streets down and surprised Tita Pauline. She had a double take and started to freak out! She even pinched my cheeks, and then started screaming. I also met Mark Leano, who happened to be my classmate in pre-school. HAHA.

Overnight, I didn't get to take pictures, but I stayed at Greggy's house on Del Monte. We walked around the streets late at night and ate some chicken intestines, and we were on the hunt for kwek kwek but couldn't find some. I slept over and a cockroach landed on my face in the middle of the night! What an experience! Here's a picture of me taking the MRT or LRT? to go to Buendia to take the Bus to Batangas Pier.

Who said that Philippine transportation sucks?

Was hungry when we got to the bus station so we ate some KFC!

On the way there we saw some farmers and chickens.

We arrived at the Port of Batangas and then we took a boat to go to Puerto Galera.

We arrived at the White Beach Resort in Puerto Galera and then walked around and took some pictures with big rocks!

Oops, this picture is upside down.

Here's a little crab that we saw.

The sunset at Puerto Galera is so awesome!

Here is the view from our room on the 3rd floor.

We slept early that night and the next morning we woke up bright and early for our snorkeling trip.

This small boat is our guide. We hold on to the boat while he drives it around to guide us to places where there are any fishes.

Greg is a little afraid of the water.

Just some caves that we saw.

As soon as we landed we were attacked by millions of fishes! They kept biting our toes! We fed them pandesal.

I decided to be a little daring and took off my life vest and just dove down. It doesn't look deep but it's pretty dark around me so, I was pretty deep. Greg was afraid and kept his life vest, so I was diving deep by myself.

Who's a rockstar? Hehe. I was happy that Greg also liked to take pictures, practically as much as I like to take pictures, maybe even more, so we just kept taking random pictures of random things.

We stopped by this really nice, very nice, super nice beach club, called Boquete Beach Club for lunch.

We ordered two burgers and they gave me one with an American flag and Greg with a Korean flag. Maybe they think he is Korean.

Did a little bit of relaxing before we continued to do some more snorkeling!

Being too tired from being attacked by fishies, we decided to party a little.

I was able to get the Red Horse Happy Horse! We also met some people at the beach there. Many Korean people and some locals. I was able to talk and witness to 5 people that day and we exchanged numbers, emails and friendsters.

I got sick on the drive back from the rocky road to the boat. I almost threw up! Motion sickness sucks.

We got back to Manila and had dinner with Ate Grace her friend Stephanie, and Greg. We ate at Cabalen, which was pretty good.

That same night, we went to Punchline next to my hotel. I also sang on stage a duet with Charmaine. I will be singing again on Friday night at another place, when I go with Tita Josie, Ate Grace and Mystery Guest.

Today, I went to Divisoria and Quiapo! I was able to buy some fabric for wedding tablecloths and napkins for my brother's wedding and I dropped it off to the tailor to get sewn! I also was able to buy glasses and contacts! ALL FOR $40.00. That is a good deal for eye check up, a pair of glasses and a set of contacts for a year! I will be coming back there next week to order more glasses!

Here's the famous Pares place that taste good. I need to try it, because I didn't have time.

14 years and I was reunited with Royal Soda!

After the long day of walking in mud, while bargaining at the cheapest place I've ever gone shopping, I went out to eat at Mister Kebab with some good friends and family! Had some good times and was finally able to go online at the hotel. Tomorrow is another long day! I will keep you guys posted! This trip has been enlightening and I praise God for allowing me to go home and meet up with some great people! Who would've thought that, my friends when I left still remember me! It's so awesome!

TAHOOOOOO!!!

2009-08-29T21:06:00.001-07:00

Woke up this morning to a fresh warm taho! Yumm!! Then we ate some breakfast! Tocino, Longdog? Longanisa hotdog! Haha! A lot of food here is hybrid. About to take a shower and get ready as I meet up with my old best friend, who is also Chinese/Filipino, kinda like Jireh, at Dapitan Street Market! Lol.

Here's a photo of Zyle enjoying some yummy goodness!

And his cousin, Hazel! haha.

Hazel was eating some tocino earlier and Zyle said, "Si Zhane(her nickname), kumakain ng baboy, eh baboy din siya," which translates to, "Zhane is a pig, who eats pigs."

Day 1 SM North/Trinoma

2009-08-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Haha. I shouldn't update so much because it will seem like I never even left. Hehehe. Okay well as you know, I landed at 3:30AM. I pretty much stayed up and went to the mall for the day. I went through SM North and Trinoma. It was tiring. I jumped from store to store, looking at random things that people wanted me to buy, like things for the wedding and stuff like that. I even found Benzer's Islander TSINELAS!

So, I was very tired, and the first thing I did at the mall was go to the spa. It's called Relaksasi! Haha. I had the Combination Massage, which was shiatsu and deep tissue. I thought it was just Swedish with Deep Tissue. Anyways, my massage therapist was funny. She said, "Sir, would you like me to stand up on your back?" Of course, I said no. I don't recommend that for anyone. My day at the Spa included a Sauna and Cold Bath. Basically you're in this state of the art shower stall with hot steam coming out the bottom and cold water coming out of the shower.

Here's a little photo I snuck after my massage. That's a bath tub next to your massage bed. WEIRD?!

After my massage, I was walking around the mall and found Tita Josie! Haha. Well she was suppose to meet up with us there, but I wasn't expecting to just bump into her. Ate Grace, Zyle and his yaya were playing at the arcade.

Here's a picture of us waiting to eat at Gerry's Grill.

They were laughing at me because I ordered Binagoongang Rice. Haha. They don't even order that. Zyle likes to play with my camera.

Who can go to the Philippines without having some sago and gulaman?! Bottomless. Haha. I had like 4 refills. No p90x workout diet for me! I'm on vacation =p

Haha. This picture is actually kinda funny because who takes a picture in front of the SM North Edsa sign?

Zyle was tired of walking around all day and he really wanted to go to the arcade again before we take off to go home. So we made a deal. He tries on this wig, and he gets to go to the arcade.

What he meant by arcade was actually the jungle gym that all these 100s of snot-nose kids play in at the mall. Hello H1N1! haha joke only.

After that, our ride was still at a meeting, so we decided to take the commuting way home! It started with waiting in this area for an "FX" which is basically a 4runner type car that seats 11 people. It's the same size as a four runner, except they add man-made seats in the back of the car so that more people can sit inside. It was pretty fun!

We rode it to the opening area of the subdivision. We passed by things like meat markets, etc.

Here's a very unclear picture of a jeep. We were stuck at this area for a good 20 minutes. We eventually got impatient after 20 minutes and just got down and walked to the tricycle.

After we got to the tricycle station, we rode it home and it was pretty cool because I got to ride in the back of the tricycle. I took a video, but I do not know how to upload pictures yet from my phone.

LAX TO MNL

2009-08-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

Checked in about 5 hours early before the flight so that I'm guaranteed seating! YES! I got a window seat. Unfortunately, the entire flight was night, so I was not able to see anything. My stop over in Guam was also cancelled as the plane was only 60% full, and didn't need to fill up because there are less passengers. After checking in my balikbayan boxes, my family and I left to eat at Denny's on Century Blvd. We took our time and just talked about random nothings. Good times!

After dinner, they dropped me off and since I'm already check in, it was a breeze to get through the rest of the airport security stuff. They didn't even care to inspect the 5 lbs of cheese in mybackpack! This flight should not be a problem as every seat is built in with a personal TV and movies and shows on demand.

While waiting to board the plane, a Philippine Airlines employee did not want to let me go through, because she said that my passport didn't look like me, and that it looked like an artista daw or maybe my older brother. I told her it was me and showed her my california ID. Then, she let me go through. That was kinda funny.

During the flight, I made a friend who helped me and let me know what the procedures were as this was my first time to fly to the Philippines after 14 years of not visiting! His name was Mang Lito from San Diego. We talked about church stuff and how his kids go to a catholic church, and he was Christian and it was hard. Also, his mom passed away that's why he was heading home. He sat on the chair to the right of me. The chair between us was empty.

During the meal service, I ate seafood with rice, and some bell pepper salad. Then for breakfast we ate tapa with rice. The tv selection's were not that bad! I watched How I Met Your Mother, Just for Gags, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Star Trek, 12 Pounds, and a Filipino movie I forgot the title.

Upon arrival to the airport, I got to see Zyle and Ate Grace for the first time! It was pretty cool! Her neighbor, who was a cop picked us up and then we drove through places. Some looked familiar. It's about 7:30AM here, and I landed about 3:30AM. I will probably stay up for the rest of the day! It's a day planned filled with adventure and malls!

I attached some pics of my trip so far. Hope to update again tonight or tomorrow!

Here is my passport and ticket. I can't believe that the airport employee doesn't think it's me.

The on board screen tells you how far you are from arriving.
The seafood with rice meal! I must say, the service in PAL is not that good, but the food is good.

Mang Lito, the friend I made. HAHA.

My Breakfast! Tapa with rice and itlog!

Excited because we've arrived! If you've never flown PAL, after you arrive, they announce something Tagalog and everyone smiles and claps for 10 seconds! Haha.

Here's Zyle, who was shy at first when he met me. He threw up a couple of times on the way home from the Airport, he's getting out of a cold I think. He's so excited to open the boxes!

That's all for now!

off i go

2009-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Jireh left for China this morning! Goodbye Jireh! Now, it's my turn! We may not be in the same country, but we're in the same continent and somewhat the same timezone.

See you guys in 24 hours!

all my bags are packed i'm ready to go.

2009-08-26T23:58:00.000-07:00

Haha. Ignore the banner, I was in a rush to make one. I'm pretty much all packed up and ready to go to the Philippines. 8 GB of ram, 2 digital cameras, 2 cell phones, and a big smile! I'll be seeing my friends and family that I haven't seen for over 14 years! I can't believe I'm 24! Well this trip is pretty important as it will be very enlightening and purposeful.

Sebastian doesn't want me to go so he keeps interrupting and jumping in the box! I'd bring him there, but I wouldn't want him to be someone's merienda.

The first two days I'll be staying at Zyle's house and then the next couple of days in a resort on an island, and after that, my hotel in Manila.

19-hour flight! What to do...what to do. Pray for me! I'll be updating this every 2-3 days as I have full internet access the whole time I'm there. I'll be doing some wedding shopping and also some Faye&FayeCo shopping.

Jireh's about to leave in about 8 hours! Hope he has a safe 14-hour flight! See you in 5-6 months! Someday we'll meet again.