Buhay Bahay-Bahayan

I’ve always had itchy feet.

And it’s not alipunga.

When I was young, I spent every summer vacation with my cousins in Manila, Alabang, Batangas, and Cebu. When I grew up, I wanted to see more.

Among the few places I’ve been to, Tagaytay gets the number 1 slot. I discovered Tagaytay because of my wife, who acted as my tour guide when we were dating. She’s been there a number of times. And somewhere along the frequent drive to Tagaytay, we fell in love (asus!). Tagaytay played such a significant part in our relationship that when it was time to tie the knot, Tagaytay was the only option. And because we’ve pretty much explored the area, we picked the best place in Tagaytay to get married, Tagaytay Highlands.

My second favorite place would have to be Hong Kong. First, because our flight to Hong Kong was my first ever plane ride. So imagine my excitement. I was giddy. There were butterflies in my stomach. I don’t know whether I should pee or poop, or both! Syempre, it was also my first time to travel internationally. My dad traveled a lot before he retired. And he would always tell me stories about airplanes, airports, and the different cities and hotels he’s been to. This time, it’s my turn to experience those things. I was trying to remember everything so that I could tell him about my travel.

Since my wife and I were still dating that time, that travel in a foreign land with no one to turn to but ourselves, with the good and the bad, the adventures and the misadventures, all the more tightened our bond.

My third favorite place would have to be Boracay. We stayed at this little gem called Boracay Tropics. The staff was friendly and courteous. The service was superb. The breakfast buffet, although not as impressive, was quite awesome on its own. And because most of the foreign guests would rather sunbathe in the nearby beach, we almost always had the pool all to ourselves when it gets too hot in the beach. Plus, it was our honeymoon.

(Photo Source)

I’d like to end this with a shortlist of our future travel destinations. First would be to go on a European trip. If you want to now why, visit Kumareng Grace’s site and search for detailed posts about her own European trip experience, and you’d want to have that too. Second would be Israel. Our church arranges group travels to Israel once or twice a year, and we’ve decided to join them in maybe two years. On my third would be Palawan. Considering the cheap flights and budget-friendly accommodations available, I think we’d visit this paradise in no time at all.

This is my entry for Kumareng Grace’s post-birthday (for her birthday last September), pre-Christmas, and pre-2-year anniversary in blogging (in January) contest. Visit her site for contest details and to see the awesome prices.

When Pete asked his girlfriend Kaylen to step into a photo booth, she had no idea what was about to happen…

Kaylen’s story:

When Pete suggested going to the City Museum one Friday night with a bunch of our friends, I couldn’t resist! I did think it was weird when we ran straight up to the third floor instead of starting on the first floor, but I didn’t really think anything of it. When we got to the Museum of Mirth, Mystery, and Mayhem, Pete said, “Let’s get our photo-booth pictures taken now, instead of later, when we’ll be all hot and sweaty.” That seemed to make sense, so while our friends played pinball, we squeezed into the booth and slid the dollar bills inside the machine. The first picture turned out normal, and then after the first flash went off, Pete started to wiggle in his seat. I was trying to move so that he could…get something out of his pocket? I thought he was getting a phone call. All of a sudden, as the third flash went off, there was a small blue box in his hand, and he said, “Hey, Kay? Will you marry me?” As I grinned goofily, I said yes, and then Pete kissed me. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with our friends (who had known all about the proposal) at the museum and eating gelato. It was a perfect night.

Pete’s story:

Kaylen loves photo booths. She told me a long time ago that it would be cute to be proposed to in one of these wonderful machines. I managed to keep a mental note. After getting her great-grandmother’s ring fixed up, I started to formulate the plan. There are really only two places in St. Louis that I know of with photo booths. One is a local burger joint (not a place to propose). The other is the crazy imaginative playground, the City Musem (perfect). I secretly told a few friends my plans, and they came with us to make the trip seem inconspicuous. We ended up immediately shooting up to the third floor to the photo booth. This was a suspicious move, since we usually start from the first floor, but Kay didn’t seem to catch on. We sat in the booth and I felt oddly calm. I was ready. We smiled for the first picture, then I said “I have a question, Kay. Will you marry me?” I then pulled out the ring and showed it to her. Smiling from ear to ear she made cute noises. She was then oddly quiet, just gawking at the ring and giggling off and on. I think she was in some sort of shock. I had knocked her speechless! “Do you say yes?” “Of course!” We then played at the museum and went down slides for the next hour or so. Afterward, we got some of the best gelato in town (mmmmm), visited her mom, made phone calls, and drank Champagne. It was the best night of my life.

As featured here and here

Scott of Views Infinitum had this assignment to go out and capture a story within one photograph. I don’t exactly know how to do that so I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this entry. Let me just warn you that I am not a professional, but I do love photography and would want to learn. So all comments are welcome. Be kind. These shots were taken with a Canon Ixus point-and-shot camera.

We were going out of town to attend a friend’s wedding. I saw this old lady by the street, a few meters away from the office parking lot.

This last one is the reason we drove out. The bride.