An Open Letter to An Almost....

Dear You,

I remember when I first saw you, you are being bullied by a nurse and an evil mom in the corridor of our office because they said, you're just pretending you got caught in an accident to avoid going to work.

I had nothing to do to stop them because I am too busy with someone else..

Days, months, a year, passed by; I had this biggest revelation of a heartbreak at the office. That's when it all started.

We are seatmates for almost three years now. We talked about any thing under the sun, we talked about family, love and heartbreaks, we talked about our dreams and aspirations in life, and even places we like to visit someday. At work they thought we were an item because I always come to the rescue when they are saying bad things about you. I will always be the first one to smile when you throw all your corny jokes. I always share what I have with you, from food to mugs, and anything that they thought should not be shared to "just a friend", but we were like that, always like that. And seems just damn fine with us. 

I wrote this letter for you, to tell you how thankful I am that I found someone I can lean during the days I simply wanted to give up. Thank you for always reminding me to smile every morning. Thank you for making me feel better about myself. And thank you for simply loving me.
I'm sorry if you think that I took you for granted or if I let you go. But always remember you'll always have someone in me that you can lean on. Always a friend in me.

There will never be an US in the world of romantic love, but there will always be an US in Friendship :) Thanks for being there for me, limitless. :) haha

Love Your Forever Angel, 

Me :)

And So He Loves Me Not... A Tale of A Friend-zoned..

As the saying goes, "It's Better To Have Loved and Lost Than Never To Have Loved At All". Well, so true and right, at least you got to experience this once in your life. The magical feeling of being in love as they say. Where you've taken the risk and opened up your heart to love someone.  But sadly, you just got rejected. This is what we call, "Unrequited Love". Well, based on Google, Unrequited Love can also be called One-sided love or Unreciprocated Love. This means that only one person is loving and the other person rejects the love. Or we can say dismissed? Or probably they declined the affection you feel. Or sometimes in this generation we used to call it "Friend-zoned" haha!

 

At first it was hard to understand, why of all people you suddenly got this kind of rejection. It was quite hard to move on even though you guys really did not reached that "in a relationship" status. Or probably it was hard to move on because of the fantasies you already made up in your mind that eventually you can romantically end up together (I hate daydreaming!!) but then btoh of you ended up nowhere. (as in nganga! haha)

"And so he loves me not"

Well, let me tell you a short story, (uhm, A Tale of a Friend-zoned".. haha!) Let me introduce you to Joni, our main character in the story. Joni was a very sweet, kind, and loving person. She works in a law firm as a junior legal counsel. One day, there's this new guy hired in their office (lets's call him Mr. G), Mr. G is a smart, tall, and slightly "mayabang" guy, someone with beautiful eyes that has its own language (well, figuratively speaking! haha). When Joni first laid eyes on Mr. G, she knew there was something unusual with what she sees. At first, she was just content having eye to eye connection when she passes by Mr. G's work station, until one day they were paired together for a certain case. With this situation, Joni took the opportunity to get to know Mr. G far from what she just sees in the office. There were days when they spent time together until late a night to study the case. And there were also times when they set aside work issues and just to talk about life and love alone.

Little by little they were opening up personal issues about themselves and Joni thought it could be a good start with Mr. G as they get along the way. Days passed by even after they won the case, they continued exchanging messages and they somehow meet each other outside the office to watch movies together or with some friends. Until one day, they decided to join an immersion in one of the charities that their law firm is helping out. So they were brought to a secluded place in Zambales and get to experience living with the Aetas. In this place, they were involved to charity works like medical missions, teaching kids the basics, and livelihood projects for the Aetas. In this seven-day immersion with the Aetas, Joni discovered how simple, good and loving Mr. G's heart is. Though he's slightly "mayabang" at work, he has this soft heart when it comes to people who needs his help. Joni cannot contain herself but to fall each day with the goodness he is seeing in Mr. G. Until one day, after they came back to their real world, Joni have decided to admit the feelings she kept inside her (for months) for Mr. G. from just looking at him afar to falling in love with him. But tears suddenly fell from her eyes when she got his reply and just told herself, "and so he loves me not." The end. 

Well, in life not everything can be a happy ending. Sometimes fairy tales does not always depicts reality. There are times we have to accept the fact that not every thing we planned for ourselves will be ours by the end of the day. As for Joni, she just have to move forward with her life and accept the fact that Mr. G is not "the One" for her as she imagined. The unrequited love she have for him will  always be there or will eventually fade away. And as for Joni and Mr. G, I hope one day they can still be good friends like  they were before or they can still manage to have the perfect ending they are looking for.#

Some things are really better left unsaid. 

One Memorable Trip of Chasing Mayon

the famous Mayon Volcano hiding from me..'

Last July 12 to 16 , my "Galang Paa" brought me to Albay to see my long time dream destination, the famous "MAYON VOLCANO". I planned to go to this place for the nth time but I'm not able to fulfill it(hanggang plano lang talaga haha!). But good thing one good friend of mine (let's call him Mr. C) agreed to guide me and to take me to Albay with no plans nor itineraries.

So it happened exactly on my birth date, aboard a little bumpy Cebu Pacific flight we arrived

ang laing at tinutungang manok..

at the Legazpi airport that sunny afternoon. Since it's so freakin' hot, we decided to have our first stop in Albay at the Pacific Mall Legazpi where I had my first true bicolano meal, "Ang Laing at Tinutungang Manok" from the 1st Colonial Grill. I liked the laing, its spiciness and the rich coconut milk that you can taste. I didn't like the tinutungang manok since I'm not a fan of saging na saba in a viand. Then came to us for our dessert

is the equally famous Sili, Pili, and Tinutong na

my certified Uragon pose with Mr. C and
the sili, pili, bigas ice cream

Bigas flavors of ice cream. I chose the level 1 for my sili ice cream and Mr. C had level 2, the experience is surprising. The sili ice cream tastes good you will feel the kick after a few spoons of it(ang hot sa lalamunan. haha!). I also liked the tinutong na bigas flavor it's something new for my taste buds, then the pili tasted like a regular vanilla ice cream. After this sumptuous meal, we headed to the transport terminal for Tabaco City. So aboard a public transport van we reached Tabaco in an hour ride. At Tabaco, kuya driver dropped us at the Church of St. John the Baptist, where I prayed and thanked God for another year He gave me, all the blessings, and of course for the safe trip to Albay. Then after this we headed to Malinao, Albay where I was adopted by Mr. C's family for 5 days.

On day 2 of my Chasing Mayon trip, we rented a tricycle for the entire day from Malinao Albay. Our first stop was the Cagsawa Ruins.

my feeling matangkad
shot by Mr. C

 The famous bell tower is the only thing left after the explosion of the Mayon in year 1814. Just like a regular park, it has souvenir stores around and here you can also have your "feeling matangkad" pictures with the bell tower. 

Next stop after the ruins is the Daraga Church, where you can see a beautiful backdrop of Mayon. Sadly, the clouds is all over Magayon when we reached Daraga so I'm not lucky like Athena and Kenji.(haha! feeling dating a gangster ang peg)

Before lunch time, we stepped foot at the Embarcadero Mall in Legazpi City. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to go to Albay, but when I got there I was dismayed of the place since it looks so dry and lifeless.(pictures does not depicts reality all the time) Or probably we just got there at a wrong time and day that's why.(haha! parang love ba? wrong timing!)We had our lunch at Embarcadero after the long travel from Cagsawa and Daraga. After lunch, we traveled almost 30 kilometers to get to Misibis Bay, but since this is an exclusive area for elites we went up to Cagraray eco-energy park.

after all the uphill and downhill of the road,
this view is all worth it.

Cagraray is a park that was funded by the government. It has a small chapel, swimming pool, an overlooking amphitheater, zip line, and a hanging bridge. It's recommended for families and group of friends who wanted to spend some quality time in a picnic and enjoy a scenic and serene place like Cagraray. 


On day 3, Mr. C brought me to one of the hidden falls in Malinao, the "Vera Falls". We rode a habal-habal (single motorcycle) for around 30 minutes with an uphill and downhill of the road(so don't imagine how we looked like while aboard), then we walked down the stairs around 100 steps before we reached Vera Falls. This falls made me realized how lucky and blessed we are with God's creation. I can't stop staring at the water falling down from the mountain, I feel so amazed of what's in front of me. The water is cold, clear, and so relaxing.

stolen shot taken by Mr. C while I'm staring at the Vera Falls

ako at
ang mushroom

After lunch, we headed back to Mr. C's home and rest for a while. Then around 3:00 in the afternoon, we trekked to what I will call "Hacienda C". We walked for almost 30 minutes before we got to Hacienda C, where I saw a lot of root crops, coconut trees, and banana trees in different kinds. So this is what Mr. C is telling me, it's all organic. He said Tatay C (Mr. C's dad) only use natural fertilizer for their crops, though it takes a lot of waiting time before you get the fruits of your hardwork, this is safe and all natural. In the hacienda, we looked for fresh mushrooms and different leaves(I don't know the name basta halo-halo, niyog niyog) that Mr. C cooked for dinner. By the way, I also had my freshest coconut juice at the hacienda when Mr. C climb at one of the

ang halo halong
gulay ni Mr. C

coconut trees(iba talaga pag fresh. yummy!). It's almost dark when we descend from Hacienda C, back home Mr. C show off his cooking skills by preparing the "halo-halong dahon" we harvested from the hacienda. Well, as a chef myself, I admit that the "halo-halong gulay" he cooked is delicious. I did not expect it to taste that way since it's only pure "halo-halong dahon", mushrooms, and coconut milk. I had my first fresh button mushroom and it really tasted so good unlike the mushroom you can buy in a store.(iba talaga ang fresh!!)

@Salvacion
Church

On day 4, it's Mr. C's birth date. :)
We rented the same tricycle again to tour us around the other side of Albay. Since it's Mr. C's birthday we decided to go to Joroan Albay, where we came to pray at Nuestra Senora de Salvacion Church. I lit 5 candles, for my family's good health, safety, for kuya's embarkation(wish granted. thank you papa God), and the two other candles for my secret wish and prayers. Then after this we dropped by at a school to meet one of Mr. C's bestfriend, Sir Dao. After a short talk, we headed to San Lorenzo Church we offered our prayers and thanksgiving for another year given to us and this overwhelming experience of our trip. After visiting the Churches, we dropped by the famous DJC Halo-Halo of Albay.

DJC Halohalo

It was a powerful halo-halo, unlike the regular halohalo that you can buy in Manila. I specifically like the overflowing leche flan and ube on top of my halo-halo. Then we went back to Tabaco to buy something to cook for Mr. C's birthday bash at home. Tatay C cooked 5 kilos of pancit bato(derived from the name of the town where it is being manufactured)and bihon while Mr. C cooked the fried chicken. The entire day spent well with family and friends.

Day 5 came in an instant, I did not expect that I'll fall in love with the place in my short stay. I simply want to extend my days there but I won't be permitted, I need to go back to reality, to my real world. So with a heavy heart, I packed all my bags and waved goodbye to the place where I called home for the last 5 days. I said see you again to the people who treated me as family and who made me realize how simple life is. I can say that this is really One Memorable Trip of Chasing Mayon.#

with the C family