We arrived in Manila on time. This was 10:30 pm Dec 22nd. It was a very good feeling to see Manila again. Ate Linda, my oldest sister, along with my Kuya Apolo, picked up Ate Bertie. Kuya Apolo who was also on a 3-week vacation from Florida, left 4 days ahead of us. They went straight to Mindoro.
Ruel, Larry's brother, picked us up. We were in San Pablo City in 2 hours. We freshened up then head to Olongapo where Nilo (Larry's nephew) and Janine will get married at 2:30 pm. We got to Olongapo around 9:00 am. After meeting Nilo's fiancee and in-laws, we found a place to relax and got pampered. Had our beauty rest while having facial massage.
Mercado-Salas wedding - Dec 23, 2007:
The ceremony was held in a small church in the former Subic Bay- Lisa's birthplace. This was the same church where Lisa, our youngest, was baptized 24 years ago. Didn't have time to see the entire place but glad to see a glimpse of Subic - Larry was stationed here ('81-'84). We proceeded to the wedding reception, Legenda Plaza Hotel, next door. The wedding was a blast. It was a garden wedding with live band. Everything fell into place. Mother nature cooperated. I thought the parents of the bride and groom were fabulous. The Royal Dance was accompanied by fireworks. Too bad, my camera broke. 'Learned my lesson not to buy cheapos from now on'. A slide presentation of the pictures taken earlier that day was amazing. 'Texted' Grace (my S-I-L)in Virginia to let her know what's going on. She was also a principal sponsor (and the groom's aunt) but didn't make it cause she scheduled her leave for her mother who will turn 93 this July. Around 9:00 pm, we head back to San Pablo. By the time we got back, it was Dec 24th. Larry and his elementary classmates had an impromptu reunion that night. It was held in Angelina's place. It was nice of her to host the reunion. Angelina was also vacationing from France and is scheduled to leave by the end of December.
Christmas 2007:
Christmas in San Pablo was fun and expensive! Kids just popped in from everywhere. I was told that it was a tradition. We must have spend almost half of our vacation money and we still have 4 weeks to go. I must admit, I was shocked and worried but at the same time felt good to make these kids happy. Relatives and some non-relatives joined us for lunch. When carolers subside by noon, the immediate family's private celebration happened (behind close doors). Among those present were: Ruel & Joy with kids Gayle and Kyla; Kuya Dadi (Frederico) and 2 daughters (Noreen and Frida) came from Tarlac. By the way, Kuya Dadi and Ate Nora were the parents of the groom (Nilo). Kuya Nestor's kids - Ian, Rommel & Maan and the 3 kids (Alec,Brice,and ?)joined us from Calamba. Kuya Jun's kids also came:Bong and son (visiting from California), Luchie and son(Matt), and Kristina and son(Cidric) came together from Cainta. Inay gave away the presents. Inay is doing good considering her age of 92. We all had fun! Everybody left around 5:00 p.m. Larry and I left for Mindoro the next morning. At this time, we are pretty much sleep-deprived.
Dec 26: There was a long line to the domestic airport. The flight to San Jose was only 30 minutes. We flew with Pitz, Ogie and Meigo. It took another 2 hours to get to Sablayan. At last I'm home. It was hot! Relatives came to see us. The first thing I asked was 'fresh fish for lunch please'!
San Sebastian School (SSS) now (CDSS) Colegio de San Sebastian homecoming - Dec28-30:
Catholic Mass at 7:00 am was folowed by the parade around town. Graduates of 1960s wore yellow shirts. The 70s wore red shirts. The rest wore green, pink and blue. Bonfire was scheduled that night but unfortunately, it rained. We had to take shelter in the gym. I'm amazed to see the quick assembly of tables and chairs. There were presentations by each decade, most of which are singing. We did some dancing (in our jeans). When fireworks time came, mother mature cooperated. We had a fun night. The 2nd day also started with a mass then sports fest. I joined the first 3 games. It was too hot. I was able to take shots of the rest of the games since I'm no longer in it. That night was the Homecoming Ball. We saw a video presentation of the Wonderful Sablayan. That was great. The founder and former educators were also recognized. Awards were given to those class with the most attendees. A slide presentation of an electronic copy of our yearbook (Class of '70) was also shared to everyone.I was proud to have created that(scanned pictures and added some taken twenty some years later). Had to skip the 3rd day's affair because we were scheduled to go to my cousin's farm. The hosts were the Villarosa family. Kuya Efren and Ate Mor never miss. Whenever we visit (which is every year), they never fail to cook lechon for us. THANK YOU GUYS! We appreciate it but this time I had to watch my diet. I settled for ubod-yumm.
New Year's Eve was a blast! - After dinner was the traditional XMAS raffle that Ate Linda started about 3 years ago. Since we (Larry&I) didn't spend Christmas in Sablayan, they (Ate Linda, Ate Bertie, & Kuya Apolo) waited. We couldn't be happier. IT WAS PRICELESS!
January 3: we decided to go back to San Pablo. From Sablayan to Mamburao was a 3-hour travel. We had breakfast in Ate Ester's in Mamburao. Abra de Ilog pier is another 45-minute drive. We took the ferry boat to Batangas city pier. The sail took 2.5 hours. From Batangas city to San Pablo was another 3 hours. The next day, Ester invited us to Palmeras resort for dinner. There was a live band. It was inspiring. She also took as to Seaside Restaurant in Manila. We bought live shrimps, fresh fish and have them cooked for us. That lunch was the best. I strongly recommend this place to those seafood lovers.
After lunch, we went to the Mall of Asia where we had halo-halo before we went back to San Pablo.
Jan 10: Went back to Sablayan by a ferry boat again. We gave a ride to Doctor Kuya (his Sablayan nickname). We stopped by Mamburao to meet with Father Tonton. He is managing a project for the Mangyans (educational center). Larry is supporting this project. When we came back to the car, it stunk. You know why? Atoy, the driver placed a rooster and 2 hen (given by my B-I-L Ruel) inside our vehicle while we we were touring the Mangyan building. Atoy had to clean their travel box and put them on top. Whew! It still stunk a little but we managed. We also visited a niece who just gave birth to a baby girl. Congratulations Agatha and Melvin! Sorry Agat - but Lian Marvic looks like her dad. We also saw the baby's great grandpa, Kang Tony, who is my first cousin. We arrived Sablayan by noon. We had a flat tire as soon as we got to the house. Thank God we were already home. It was a rough road from Mamburao to Sablayan.
Jan 17th: Agatha's sister, Asela, gave birth also to a baby boy. Sorry Asel, I didn't getto see you and yoru baby. Glad Ate Bertie took baby pictures.
Sablayan Town Fiesta - Jan 18, 19, 20, 2008:
Before the fiesta, on January 12th, there was a Cock Derby. Hindi ko pinalampas yon coz I haven't been to one. That is it for me.
Jan 18 @9:00 am: Kite Festival in Sto Nino Sports Complex. Different barrios had each kite. Kites came with different designs: butterfly, dragonfly, eagle, bat, crab, squid, tree to name a few. I heard people around me wondering how they would fly because there of lack of wind. After an hour of introduction, here comes the strong wind. Wow! like it was planned. I took videos but unfortunately, before they gave the go signal, my video camera ran out of disk space (didn't bring an extra). Fortunately, I had a digital camera and was able to capture some. A few minutes before the alloted time expired, it rained. How lucky can you be? It was fun! fun! fun!
That night was the Welcome Ball. Those in-charge of different offices presented the Rigodon dance. The ladies wore beautiful gowns and the men wore barong. They all look beautiful.
Jan 19:
Had to wake up early to catch the Drum and Lyre Groups. I was a little late-the parade started at 6:00 am. Larry and I had to get a tricycle to go see the beginning. Boy, it was hot! After the parade was the exhibition (a contest) in the plaza. This time, at the 4th presentation, my video camera ran out of battery. Oh well. We had an hour to recharge the battery before we went again to Buntirao where we were invited again for another lechon. This time, it was Emily's (the daughter)invitation... and guess what... this time, I could not resist but violated my cholesterol diet. Bad!Bad! Anyway, it's no fun without karaoke (videoke they say).
Jan 20th was our last day in Sablayan. We attended the 8:00 o'clock mass then head to the cemetery to visit my folks' grave. Went back to church after breakfast because I was chosen to be the godmother for Kay's confirmation (daughter of Nimfa & Bonnie-both my HS classmates). They invited me for lunch after the confirmation.
We only had a few hours to pack our bags. My relatives came over that evening to bid goodbye. Some joined us for dinner. Some stayed until we left that morning. I had an hour of sleep and off we go. We brought some crabs and squids with us.
January 21:Back to San Pablo. Jan 22 was another get-together of Larry's class. This time it was held in my in-law's place and this time their teacher attended. Angelina was already gone to France. The next day, we went to Durungao, Batangas where we met with Kuya Orlan who just came from Virginia. I'm glad we went. Nice house Ate Lita!
The day before we left (Jan 24), we paid a visit to the mall in Alabang (Festival Mall) to meet some relatives.
Jan 25th: We had a smooth and safe trip back.
Post a Comment