two become one

the first photo-ops of our baby..



he's already two months old at this ultrasound image taken March 5..
imagine he's only 23 millimeters but his heart is already beating at 154 rate..
can't wait to see him playing around our place..happiness he'll bring..

grande island's untold stories

it's the first time that our department held our planning session since the start of the ngcp era..when i was informed that it would be on subic..at first, excitement was not really that grand but when i got to see the itinerary..fussed me out..island, as in, a real island, a separated land from the main land..an island..

i expected many things..ferry ride..banana boat..island tour..beach..nice cottages..snorkeling..swimming pool..jamaican vibe..food trips..duty free shopping..

my expectation versus the real thing..

ferry ride..a simple boat..reminds me of the supercat ride from batangas to mindoro..minus the television and courteous crew..oh well, it' s just less than 30 minutes so what's the fuss..

the beach..banana boat..good thing the deal is real..we had one free ride..two falls during the ride..i really had fun..feeling the beach enviro again..water splashing..cool breeze..sun shining..sand on my feet..salty water..and a swimming pool if you can't deal with the waves..

no snorkeling for me..no time..no buddy..and not free..sigh..maybe next time..hihihi..

nice cottages..i'm not that delicate for my temporary shelter..the place is nice..i shared room with my colleague..two big bed for the two visitor..nice shower though i can't manage to heat it up to the temp i like..and the faucet..a puzzle-piece at first..you need to poke or press it up to release water..wehehe..free internet..wireless fidelity..but i have not abused the wi-fi for i came here for the beach not for the internet..

i'm expecting a jamaican vibe with some reggae music..but nothing..just a girl amateur band for the oldies..hmmp..and the videoke with a fake remote control..because you have to get really close to the unit to punch your songs..grrr..and the songlist..not alphabetically arranged..imagine that..and one more thing..the song title listed starts with its second word..example..for the song skyline pigeon..it would be listed pigeon skyline..crazy..crappy..doodly..a work of piracy indeed..but still the videoke is on and we have to use it..a videoke in an island really does not come cheap..believe me you will be surprised..

food trips..is the real chef on-leave??..i'm quite disappointed with the food served..yes it's buffet..but why do we have to wait for some dishes to be served..it seems they are not ready or many of the crew ar also on-leave(on vacation with the chef, i guess..)..the taste is not that satisfactory unlike other resorts i have been to..and the quantity are limited..good while supply last?? grande island should consider improving their food and their catering services..they do not encourage bringing of foods (maybe to showcase their delicacies) but they should be worthy of that contract clause..forgive me..and the beer is worth almost a hundred pesos a bottle..better not to get drunk there..the bill will surely make you tipsy already..

the island tour..i woke 5:30am to take the tour and by 6am i already headed to the meeting place..and they told us that the tour guide has just awaken..okay..i can wait up to 6:30am..the good thing is we don't have to take the tour on foot and we can ride on their electric cabs..just like what you see on golf courses..going on with the tour..i think this is the most significant part of the island experience..
seeing and hearing the history of the island makes you come back to the time of world war 2..the japanese and the american regime..they managed to keep the ruins of the war..you can see this old facilities americans used to operate..and the highlight would be the two remaining canyons..imagine this canyons blasting the japanese "tora-tora"..and between the two is a mark of a big blast..and they told that this island is built before the famous corregidor in bataan..too bad we were not able to reach the other island, called parrot island..no time..

two days over..back to manila..but wait..subic trip would be incomplete without the duty-free shopping..got to get my wife's cravings..imported items are cheaper here..good thing the other bus passengers is okay with it..

the grande island experience is that grand but i'll still give them 3 stars..for the exciting island trip..