When it was declared that August 29 and 30 are holidays, James, Jeanne, Michelle, and I immediately took the opportunity to go have an extra long weekend vacation! This is us just landed at Cagayan De Oro. Yesh, we’re one of those concerned when the flight attendants say don’t take pictures at the flight line :P
2011 April 30 to May 1 Putipot, Zambales
Since 2007, I’ve been going to Putipot, a small scenic island off Zambales. I missed last year due to Jeanne being relatively small. So when Val said Gilbert is coming home from Japan and that Mines is organizing a road trip/outing, I suggested Putipot as one of the choices and eventually it was chosen. Since Jeanne is around and not everyone have the camping gear, we decided to stay at a resort. Glenn was able to make reservations at Puerto Del Mar.
Early Saturday morning, we linked up at NLEX where we learned Mines wouldn’t be joining us. It was just Glenn, Gilbert, Val, Jeanne, Michelle, and I. The drivers, Glenn and I, had a quick huddle to work out the route (Jay: Let’s just follow the road) and convoy order (Glenn : I’ll follow you) and then we’re off along NLEX, SCTEX all the way to Subic, then through the various towns of Zambales. We made a quick stop at San Antonio for a visit to the pamilihang bayan or town market where we bought a fish to cook on the island. More on this later.
Mio Cucina
On our first night at Los Banos last Holy Week, Michelle and I were looking for a place to eat when we discovered Mio Cucina. We were initially planning to go to LB Square but when we got there, it didn’t look like an appetizing place. So we headed back along Lopez Ave. and just before we reached Halcon St. we saw this small sign that read Mio Cafe though I couldn’t really see a restaurant. I asked the security guard and he directed me to an extremely narrow driveway. I vaguely saw a doorway to my right as I concentrated on not scraping the sides of the car. This is literally a hole-in-the-wall resto.
The place is as small as the sign and the parking area. It looked like it can accommodate only 20 people tops. It was already a bit crowded with a party of about a dozen people who were there ahead of us. But it was well-lit, well-furnished, and very homey. Kinda like a smaller, more upscale, better-lit, and less cluttered Dona Juanita.
Holy Week
My mom and dad flew in for the Holy Week and Jack’s graduation. As with family gatherings, I knew it was going to be both fun and hectic.
Thurs Apr 21 – My dad wanted to go to SM Mall of Asia but it turned out to be closed. So we just went to the bayside and mingled with the crowd waiting for a cenaculo. We had dinner at Dad and Mom’s Family Restaurant. It was overflowing with seafood. So much for abstinence. But it sure tasted great!
Continue reading “Holy Week”
Melvin and Raye’s Wedding
Jeanne, Michelle, and I went to Tagaytay to attend Melvin and Raye’s wedding. We were planning to have lunch so we went relatively early and had lunch at the Mano’s Greek Tavern in front of what we thought was the Lourdes church. The menu is a bit sparse but the chicken a la corfu is pretty good.
After lunch, we crossed over to the church which turned out to be the Lourdes convent not the church! We hustled over to the actual church and joined Liesl, Dhenz, and JD. We were just in time to see Raye march up the nave. That’s about as much of the wedding I saw. The rest of the time, I was running around after Jeanne.
After the wedding, we went to the reception. Things got delayed a bit when it drizzled (always expect rain in the afternoon in Tagaytay). But it soon stopped and the party went on. Highlight of the evening was when Melvin danced to Silhouette and Too Sexy. We left soon after that as there was still a long drive ahead.
Congratulations Melvin and Raye!