Bonchon and Wendy's (July 14, 2011)

Post-Reunion, Emman's Birthday and Charle's Farewell Dinner all in one night.

click on our picture below to view all photos:

L-R: Farah Bantiles, Me, Charles Kue, Emman Galupo, Michael Sevilla

UPDATED: More Then and Now Photos

Syempre eto na naman ako sa mga then and now photos ko, hehe... 'la lang... ang saya lang...

this time, with my #istambayan friendly friends.

circa 2003, at Sarah's

L-R: Nikki, Jo, Zel, me

L-R: me, Joyce, Mai

circa 2008, Gilligan's Trinoma, QC

Clockwise L-R: Joyce, Me, Jo, Zel, Mai (wala si nikki pinagpalit kami sa lovelife)


and just recently: 

2011, Backdoor Blues Cafe, QC

Clockwise: Jo, me, zel and joyce

yun laang ala pa rin si nikki, and this time wala si Mai...

Night Out With My UP Friends (July 11, 2011)

North Park, Trinoma
Backdoor Blues Cafe, QC

with Zel Zalamea, Joyce Keziah Ramos, Ahmed Paglinawan, Aileen Rachelle Rabago, Jo-Ann Fajardo, Feli Cuevas, and Liyam Estrada

CLICK HERE to view more photos!

Eto Na!!!!!!

BALARA ACADEMY BATCH '95 GRAND REUNION!!!
July 9, 2011
Dapo Bar and Restaurant

click any of the pictures below to view more photos! (note: it doesn't matter which photo you click, they all take you to the same album).

Food Tasting Get-Together

had a great time bonding with the BA '95 Batch Reunion Organizers (Farah, Catherine Hernandez, Louie Castillo, and Allan Alcayde, and Charles Kue) for some food-tasting treat in Dapo Bar and Resto (that's where the reunion will be held). i wasn't supposed to be there, kase nagpapa-cute at nagpapa-importante ako, hehehe... buti na lang pala sumama ako.

L-R: Charles Kue, Farah Bantiles, Louie Castillo, Allan Alcayde, Me, and Catherine Hernandez

And as always with such bonding sessions, bitin lagi ang oras. so after Dapo Bar and Resto, Louie and Catherine left, but Farah, Allan, Charles and I decided (well actually, THEY decided) to hang out pa sa Starbucks. kase bitin pa raw sa kuwentuhan.

yung paalam ko sa nanay ko na hanggang alas-otso lang ako... ayun... naging alas-onse pasado.

buti na lang di ako napalo.

marami pang litrato, LAHAT NANDITO.

Isaw and Manggo Shake with Sissy Farah

what did i say? huh? didn't i say me and Sissy Farah would see each other again soon?

and so we did! for some food-tripping in UP Campus.

more photos OVER HERE!

Sissy and Jollibee

today i met up with two of the best things in the Philippines. Jollibee and my bestest chum, Farah

Bantiles-Ongkingco... i've been to jollibee last time i came home in 2008, but this is my first time to see Farah again after high school. we met at robinson's galleria and first, she gave me the sim card that i would use from today onwards (while i'm in manila, at least).

and then, second important agenda: sit, eat chickenjoy, and catch up on each other. translation: chikenjoy and chika, chika, chika. too bad i only get to spend a couple of hours with her coz i had to hurry back home because mal and chichi are waiting for me at the Avida Towers. but of course we're still gonna see each other again soon! can't wait!


VIEW ALL PHOTOS HERE

Aileen Rabago in Paris

a good chatmate and namesake (yeah, i know she wasn't named after me, but this is my blog, so i'm not too strict on my terminologies) of mine, Aileen Rabago, came to Europe last month. she sent me a message in FB a week before to tell me that she'll be visiting Paris for a day and asked if i could tour her around. although we haven't met in person before she came here, we've already chatted several times in the past, and i've always known her as the girlfriend of Ahmed, also a very good friend. and any friend/relative/gf/bf of any good friend of mine is always a more than welcome company for me!

and even though she visited while i was having one of the toughest, toughest times i've had in my entire existence, accompanying her for one night and a day was very refreshing and it gave me a moment to forget my troubles during those times. it also gave me the "first time" opportunities to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral (i haven't been inside the cathedral before Aileen came) and watch The Crazy Horse show.

so i met up with her and her companions (she joined two men in coming to Paris) on the evening of 11th june, at a cafe in Paris 6th.

eventhough i've been in Paris for seven years now, i've never ever really taken the time to tour the city and visit its famous places (except the Eiffel Tower, that is), so i have absolutely no idea where to take them. i was actually hoping they'd have something in mind that they want me to take them to. good thing they did! hehe...

so friday night, i took them to the Eiffel Tower, which they wanted to climb at first but they changed their mind when they saw the long queue for the entrance... because really, it would take more time to stand in line than it would to climb the tower. and then we went to the Arc de Triomphe, and then to Avenue des Champs Elysées. Aileen was quite happy to take it all in. she would have been happy to take the boat ride along the Seine River for a little bit more of sight-seeing, but her two male companions were so bent on seeing The Crazy Horse. although she was quite reluctant to agree, i guess she didn't want to appear killjoy, and also, she didn't want to take off from them out of pakikisama. so off to the Crazy Horse we went. we were late for the first half... and i wasn't really sure it was worth the money to pay for a half-show (eventhough i didn't pay for my entrance). but what did i say about her two male companions? BENT. and so that's how we ended the night. to the second half of The Crazy Hose show.

early the next morning, Saturday... Ai and I met up early in the morning to visit the Louvre (minus her two male companions with whom she agreed to meet at the train station later in the day). she really, really wanted to visit the Louvre so we went there first. she was taking the 4pm-train ride back to Brussels, so i knew that the museum would eat up most of our day. and she was fine with that.

after we took her picture with The Mona Lisa, she was quite happy to get out of the museum, hehe... we still had time for a little chat and to grab some lunch before i accompanied her to the train station. too bad she only had less than 24 hours to visit Paris. we both wish she'll have another chance to go back and stay a few days longer and visit more places. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS from the album Aileen Rabago in Paris.

Sigrid Uy in Paris

a high school chum from BA came to Paris for a day tour today. her name is Sigrid Uy. almost like Aileen Rabago (an online friend who visited last year), i never really had any social interaction with Sigrid before she came to Paris... or... should i say, before facebook. she contacted me through a common high school friend, Maricel Ramos (who lives in Rome, Italy).

but unlike Aileen (whom i never met before i came here, but had talked to several times on the net), i've always known Sigrid from high school days (i'm almost positive she didn't know me then), albeit not personally. she was quite popular in school then. i know she was popular, coz i knew her. i mean, in high school, if it's somebody i know, then he/she must have been popular... coz i never really gave a damn about other people except my current classmates... unless that person was really popular that i couldn't help but to have heard about him/her. and sigrid always had a way of standing out from the crowd. although i must admit, i never really liked her in high school. she gave off the impression of being snooty. well, atleast to me.

but anyhow... so... maricel told me she'll be coming over, and that if i want, i could contact her. she wasn't on my contacts list yet, and i really did intend to send her a message. pero naunahan nya ko. (",)

so we met at the train station, and eventhough we haven't seen each other for so long, i think i'll recognize her in the crowd (some of our batchmates have commented that she's changed so much in appearance, but i don't agree, though. i mean, well, ofcourse, she looks older compared to when we were younger (who doesn't, anyway?)... and perhaps her face is fleshier now (i think she used to be skinny in high school), and she looks so much better as well. but i'd still recognize her.

i never knew her personally in high school, we never got to hang out, we never talked, we never even so much as greeted each other on the corridors. first because we were never classmates and second because, well, i think we just both didn't care about one another's existence. and, like i said, on my part, i think she was snooty. not a snob. snooty.

but i wouldn't know if she really was, since i never really knew her before. but if she was, well, she isn't snooty now. nu-uh. not even one tiny bit. if anything, i find her to be nothing but a really sweet and modest person. and honestly, i really, really had a wonderful time with her. i wish she could have stayed longer.

sometimes i could go hating on FB, but whenever i think about the opportunities it has given me to find old friends, and meet new people and make new friends, like i think what happened with me and Sig, i just can't help but be thankful.

me and Sigrid in front of the Trocadero Fountains (yeah, she's so tall, kainis)

i have the entire PHOTO ALBUM HERE