Hogan's 1st Trip to the Philippines...

Honestly, I just couldn't really bear the idea that Hogan wouldn't be able to meet my cousins Jep and Alvin. Not that I only have two but, at least, he could have some memories to bring by being with these 2 crazy cats. Hahaha! My cousin Jep was bound for U.S. this February 19 so, we had to see them. I booked the ticket with Cebu Pacific with the help from Ate Aima, one of my angels. It happened during our 2 days off from work. 2 hour trip, 2 hours of waiting in the new Terminal 3 airport, then before we know it, we were standing in front of Andok's Lechon Manok ordering some booze and pulutan... We spent our first night in Jep's rest house in Pansol, Laguna. And we drank the night away talking just about anything. The fun part was, the boys getting along with each other and reminiscing the crazy fun times we've spent together in this place. Love it, love it!!!!! Too bad, Hogan didn't get a taste of the KTV fever and the pool. But we lacked time and there was a lot of shopping to do. After witnessing the sunrise, Hogan decided to sleep 7am-ish and we woke up 2pm. Had a hearty Bulalo lunch and then headed for Manila.

On our way to our target hotel, Contemporary Hotel (located along Araneta Ave.), Alvin didn't realized that he's car violated the "Coding Law"... I don't know if I have called it the proper way but this is the law where cars whose plate numbers end in 0-1, can't go out on Mondays, 2-3 on Tuesdays... and so on from 7-10am and 3-7pm. There's a window time thought where all of the cars can go out from 10am to 3pm... Moving on, I was so thankful and embarrassed at the same time when we paid the police to let us go. Firstly, Hogan had to see it personally, that's why I'm thankful that I didn't have to have a hard time explaining to him how corruption goes in the Philippines. Forgive for being not so much of a patriot to my own country but that's what's so true about Philippines. Corruption is just incurable already. Then, I felt embarrassed since, that's not something to be proud of. My goodness!!!! Just a freaking hundred and we got away. That's how needy and greedy they could be.

Complimentary Hotel is just walking distance from SM Centerpoint. This SM branch is so limited but Hogan and I managed to have fun shopping. He was so surprised to see me so scared of the by-standers that we've encountered as we crossed the overpass and he was laughing at how I react with my own country. We did some shopping for the planned night out.

We were supposed to go to Embassy but Jep changed the itinerary. Since he said, there's this sister club of Embassy in Eastwood, Libis that they haven't checked out, he decided for us to have a 1st feel altogether. It's called "The Manor" and Hogan jokingly reacted, "What? The Man-Whore?" Boys will be boys! It was the club's house warming, so it was a good idea to experience all that fun. The guest list wasn't that hot. Nevertheless, we came. So, it wasn't all that bad. (This is my pain-body talking so, just kidding....give way to self-esteem people. LOL!) We had fun and that night, "Whatever You Like" became the official song for our little getaway. Yahoo!!!!

We ended up the night by eating breakfast at Tapa King. Our all time favorite.

And like all good things, it has to somehow come to an end. More shopping in SM after waking up at 10am. Made Hogan taste the local steak. The cool lads brought us to the airport. Thank God we didn't explode, Hogan and I. Almost, since the airport staff was such a pain in the ass. They command you to hand in the boarding pass in the meanest way I know. Hogan was right to say that the airport should be a place where people would flash you a welcoming smile or would wish you have a nice trip. It's my first time to get a "not-so-excited" feeling. Because, they're just so mean. Maybe Terminal 3 hasn't been that developed yet. It looked gloomy to most of the people whose about the leave. Or maybe, it's just the people.... Oh well... back to reality.... Work, work, work!