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| On our way home from NAIA |
Aside from my family, the thing I missed most about home was the food! I tried to religiously go to the gym and diet before heading home - so I could eat everything I wanted to eat without feeling guilty. Oh so about food, I came home to a feast - my sister had a chef prepare Japanese food for us. So good!! Honestly, all I wanted to eat when I got home was LECHON AND RICE. What is baboy. LOL! Later that day was my dad's birthday party - so with no sleep, I got ready and mingled with family and friends whom I haven't seen in 8 months. And in true Montalla style, the party was fabulous. Despite the heavy rains, the party went well.
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| August 4th - Papa's 55th birthday party. Pictures with my family, college and high school friends |
Two days after coming home, my sisters and some of our friends flew to Hong Kong for a 4-day vacation. And since I splurged on myself a week before coming home, I had a very limited budget... Instead, I indulged on food, food, and more food! Trish (my best friend since high school) met up with us in HK, so I got to spend time with her too. Yay, we haven't seen each other since April when she went to NYC during Holy week..
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| Hong Kong |
While we were having fun in Hong Kong though, the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) caused havoc in the Philippines. The damage was enormous - damages amounted to $14+ million (604 million pesos). It was hard to be having fun while most of my countrymen were in dire need of help. As soon as we got back home, my family organized relief efforts to help people who were greatly affected by the floods. Our friends trooped to our house the day after we got back to pack goods, and we handed a truckload of relief goods the day after.
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| Relief operations during the day, karaoke with friends at night |
After that, I had dinners and lunches with friends and family, but one of the highlights of my stay at home was a trip to my favorite island - Boracay! I planned this trip with Inna back in November, when Cebu Pacific had piso fares. Our ticket to Caticlan cost 1 PhP, with tax, it was roughly PhP500 (USD12). It was a really good deal! I have been looking forward to a trip to the beach for months, so I got too excited when I saw the sun (since it has been raining nonstop when I was there). Proof? See that picture on the upper left part of this Boracay collage? I got BURNT!! Sad to say, it's already November 19th right now (what a late post) and my skin color is still uneven. I really had fun. Hahaha!
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| Boracay Island. August 2012. |
Best almost 4 weeks of this year. What an eventful vacation. In exactly one month, I will be home. Aaaah. I can't wait. Hopefully I won't get too lazy in updating this blog.
