Update to my XMAS things to do in the Phils. List

Update on my xmas to do list
Well, a few blogs back, I made a list of things I wanted to do when I got back to the Philippines: It was a blog that I got a lot of responses from. Here's the list again with updates on whether or not I was able to do them or not. Pretty interesting figures:
FOOD TRIP:
1) Go to BEHROUZ to eat OX BRAIN - my final destination! 2am on Jan 2 with Norman G. 3 hours before I had to board the plane back to LA. Thanks Normie! You're da best!
'2) Go to Bacolod Chicken to eat ISOL - went with my Tito Juny on a saturday pm then went to visit my lola's resting place..whatever its called.
3) Go to UP Diliman to eat ISAW i was able to eat isaw but not in diliman. I had it in boracay and it wasnt as good. I also ate inihaw na tenga ng baboy..
4) Got to LE CHING to eat DIMSUM - had this for lunch with the kids. I just realized that the dimsum place we frequent here in downtown LA tastes better so that the last of that!
5) Go to FISH LANDING to eat SEA FOOD- had a lot of FRESH seafood. Palawan, Talipapa in Bora and my dad also took me to eat king crabs. Yum yum!!
6) Go to DENCIOS to eat SISIG - not only dencio's but d' famous TRELLIS in Market, Market, the Fort
7) Go to RUFO's to eat TAPSILOG - was able to eat tapsilog but not in Rufo's or Tapa king or goodah! Bummer!! i need to do that when I go back
8) Go to CABLE CAR to eat CABLE CAR RICE - I made it to cable car at 3 am in the morning but didnt order cable car rice. I had a mudslide instead :)
9) Go to SAISAKI to eat JAPANESE FOOD (Pinoy Style) - of course the whole Bautista clan had to continue our saisaki tradition! First tuesday that i was in town!
10) GO to LAPIDS to eat CHICHARON - did this with Art and Skye at market market...with the famous orange suka!!
other kainans I ate in:
Fish balls and Squid Balls on the street!
Puto bungbong and Bibingka! (forgot this on my list!)
Pancake House,
Jollibee,
Kimpura tepanyaki
Summer Palace in Edsa Shangrila to eat peking duck with my lolo and dad.
Div 168 food court to eat mami.
Asakasa Japanese in Tagaytay
Bottoms diner - owned by Raton n cookie's family
Il ponticello - with batchmates

ROAD TRIP:
1) Go to GREEN VALLY, BAGUIO ( HORSEBACK RIDING!!! I MISS our vacation house) - I didnt have time to go up baguio hence was not able to see arwin nevada and family..next time
2) Go to TAGAYTAY ( I want to see what everyone's raving about) - Went to Highlands on xmas day to have lunch with sevilla's and check out their new condo. I am not really impressed with Highlands. I guess it was over sold to me and also, I've stayed in much better places here in the states, like Hawaii but the massage helped a bit! hehehe
3) Go to PALAWAN (my nature hideaway) - my first stop!! always amazing!
4) Go to BORACAY ( I MISS the powdery sand!!! ) my last stop!! Bitin ako sa boracay!
5) Go to the BEACH! ANY BEACH!!!! - I went nga to Palawan and Bora--beach to the max
6) Go to THE FORT - I went to the fort but during the daytime only, not at night.
7) Go to MAKATI - Went to the new greenbelt to have dinner with HS buddies and passed by Rockwell but didnt go down because it was too crowded on new years. So ended up eating at North Park nalang! hehehe
8) Go to MALATE - didnt go there
9) Go to MALL of ASIA - didnt go there!
10) Go to SHOE MART!!!- megamall shopping one whole day was not enough to go throught the whole mall!!!
Other noteworthy things we did:
WORKOUT/SWIMMING: feelingggg! yes, i go to work out two days only though! hahaha went with my lolo and dad and his gf, jacki to sweat it out on the Edsa Shangrlia health club (sosyal!) while the kids swam and ate at the poolside. Thats my dad's idea of spending "quality time". He put me to work on the treadmill!
PAMPERING: Whole day at a day spa for the full package plus hair and nails done and massages for five days straight in Tagaytay, then Blue Water day spa then two days in boracay and on the way back sa kalibo airport..hehehe sarapppp
DIVISORIA 168: SHOPPING TILL YOU DROP!! definitely my favorite place to shop!

BORACAY: horseback riding
banana boat
para sailing
ATV off roading
fly fish ride
jetskiing
eating crepe with ice cream
Jony's shakes - the best!
PALAWAN: Underwater Cave
Honda Bay Island hopping w/ snorkelling
Crocodile Farm
Ate at Baker's Hill
PEOPLE TRIP:
1) My family - Saw them all! Im so happy...
2) My HS school friends - i saw the important people
3) My college friends - hmmm...not really
4) My friends in the music scene - yes, a few
5) My chat buddies - a few as well
6) My College (UP) - had no time
7) My family's business (Phil. College of Criminology) - had a great time orienting my kids with the family roots and also shot a few rounds at our firing range
8) My lola's resting place (haven't mourned her yet) - went with my tito..was crying sa car palang. Bought a huge pot of flower and then konti lang pala puwede lagay sa vase
9) My two sponsored children in Tarlac - wasn't able to go because didnt go that way
10) My old stomping grounds too many to mention!! - well most stomping grounds were not even there anymore!

DI KO TRIP:
What Im not looking forward to:
1)The PAWIS - got a lot of pawis which I ended up liking because nakakapayat hehe
2) The HEAT- felt the heat and the stickiness
3) TheTRAFFIC - i got stressed out driving around like playing grand tourismo
4) The POLLUTION - so baddd i went home with a soar throat
5) The LUBAKS - ibang klase!
6) The Airport porters - yep, i successfully shooed them away
7) The slow sales ladies - this was totally annoying! I wanted to help them pack my stuff! 3 people to check out your items? Cmon!
8) The Vendors offering you stuff in traffic (Takatak boys) - yep, and the beggars too I did buy sampaguita for my car just like the old days!
9) The Cheezy TV personalities - thank God I had no time to watch tv! although usong uso ang mga artistas endorsing products such like BELO and REAL ESTATE...
10) The corny TV shows - pleaseeee, thanks to Pal's delayed flight from Kalibo, I was forced to watch wowowee for a whole hour in the terminal area! talk about tasteless show!!
So I did pretty well for three weeks. So Im three days and counting on jetlag mode but tomorrow I have to pack again for a 3 day Music Ministry Retreat up the mountains of Sta Clarita! Not to mention Im leaving for France on Jan 18. Now how many of you can honestly say, you can keep up with me?? Even I can't keep up with ME! hahaha what can I say life IS very short. I wish I had 3 more lifetimes to enjoy with other people too! Like dividing my self so that I can be in 3 places at once!
My next trip sometime mid July is to see other friends I was not able to see this time due to schedules. Plus the possiblity in investing in some property. Then I want to take the kids to a few more destinations like:
1) Baguio
2) Subic
3) Pagsanghan Falls
4) Corregidor
5) Cebu
6) Batangas
thats it (which is actually A LOT) for now...do I have vacation hangover or what? well..Im still jetlagging so Im gonna blog away!I'm sure this weekend I'll be forced into my regular sked and my regular routine. Back to singing worship to the Lord. Vacation's over!

First few days back in the US...

Third day of erratic sleeping patterns....There are some things you just have no control over, jetlag is one of them. Yesterday, Jan 4, I woke up at 4am. I said, okay, i'll just pretend I'm one of those people that have to get up really early to go to work. And so I fought to keep awake only to be defeated around 1:30pm when a headache started to give me over to the otherside. I started becoming cranky and felt disoriented and so I had to go to sleep. Woke up at around 7:30p, bought the kids some chow and went home and tried to sleep again around 10pm. Still, I woke up at 4am and tossed and turned for about an hour. I finally gave up hence this blog. Btw, the kids are pretty much on the same schedule as I.
On the emotional side of things, its pretty up and down too. Its normal for me to feel a deep sense of sadness coming back from any vacation. Its a little different this time. Who am I kidding? Its A LOT different! LOL! I feel somewhat lonely and confused a little bit. I DO take comfort in the fact that I know its temporary and it will pass. But the fact of the matter is, at this very moment in time. It here. hehehe
I guess its because I left the Philippines 7 years ago with a bad taste in my mouth. I was escaping a life that at age 24 went all too fast for usual people my age. It was all about bitterness, anger, destruction, confusion, etc. I hated my family, I hated my life, everything was just darkness. I was soooo confident before I left (if you would notice in my pre-trip blogs) that this trip would reinforce my decision to move to the US. I knew, I would come back patting my back.
Well, the complete opposite happened. I had the best time of my life! Bar none! the first week into my vacation, I was already starting to questiton why I left in the first place? Shocking but true. This trip was about relationships. Mending, reconnecting, discovering. My past relationships. I was so amazed to feel all the love from everyone, in one way or the other. Even from my HS friends and after college friends. But most shocking of all was from my family. Its absolutely the first time I felt the love of my family. I had this sense growing up that I didnt belong in any family or that noone really wanted me around. Well, that obviously, is a complete and total lie that i conjured in my head! Either that or people have really grown up and matured. You'll soon find out more detail about this when i start documenting my Balikbayan Chronicles pretty soon. I'm sure I'll be blogging a few more times this next couple of days to keep me from going insane from jetlag.
But, what really has helped me right now (literally), is chatting with my Ate Mel. She always is able to put my confusion into perspective like noone else can.I feel bad that we were not able to see each other because of scheduling conflicts. For almost ten years now although we are separated by the Pacific Ocean and the challenges of our own lives, we always find the time to pick up where we left off and she just manages to give me perfect timing advice 100% of the time. She calms my mind down when i start getting overly excited , overanalytical and overintellectual. hahaha Thanks, ate mel! You are SO RIGHT in saying that vacations have a way of making life SURREAL. I feel much better now. I love you! Promise, when Im back mid-July you'll be the first person on my list!
I've been chatting with her while finishing this blog. And so, a million messages later, Im a step closer to recovering from post vacation blues. I wish this would go away already so I can get back on my saddle without looking back at what I Ieft behind...