busy week

"can you drive us around when we get there?", ....or to be brutally frank, can i be their official driver while they're here...but then, she's my sister and i love her to the heavens.

those were the words my sister Jing and her husband Martin gave me when we talked over the phone before they left the US for Manila...they will be here for only a week for a missions trip their church in the States is conducting...they will be travelling with my 8 year-old niece Brittany and a friend Brooke...left at their house in California are their two daughters Bea and Bridgette and my parents...and so, started my driving career

first day, i picked them up at the Manila Airport at 5:20 in the morning, had breakfast at Aristocrat Restaurant along Roxas Boulevard and off to Celebrity Place in QC where they would be staying....with the jetlag not yet kicking in, we met with some people and drove to Tiendesitas for some souvenir shopping

second day was work for them as I took them to Binangonan to inspect the site where a church will be built...spent the whole afternoon in the site then went for some shopping again...my sister loves bibingka so we got some Ferino's bibingka and munched on them as soon as we got back to Celebrity

for the whole week that they were here, they covered several malls, eaten in dozens of restaurants, shopped everywhere, had a vehicle stalled and towed (not mine, thank God), met with scores of people, swam in a beach, negotiated a speed boat going to an island, waded through floods, took a horse and a buggy ride in Chinatown...and got spent physically

and so, after a week-long of fun, and adventure, we said goodbye to each other...but with the internet and the IM's, we can always get in touch with one another


on a different note...i finally was able to play badminton again last Saturday with some friends...it has been quite a while since I last played, so i didn't force myself too much...although last Sunday i felt some bodypains

i used to play regularly...like twice a week...sometimes three time a week...but because of my busy schedules lately, it has become scarce..i am planning to do it again on a regular basis.

relationships need work to work...

if you're like me, you never thought that maintaining relationships could be hard work...as a kid it never occured to me to "work" on any of relationships...not that i didn't care, but i just didn't know any better...they just happened...and if for any reason they don't work out, i jump ship...no fuss, no bother.

but somewhere along the line i entered the fray of mature realtionships, and things got dicey...i learned that some people were more difficult...if not impossible, to get along with...i learned, for example, that trusted friends could betray me...authority figures i admired could snub me...a colleague's constant criticism could hurt me...and even family members with important information could leave me out of the loop...but i also learned that, unless i wanted to be a hermit, i couldn't abandon every realtionship that hit a snag.

the temptation to run from difficult relationships is still there...when impossible people get me down, i sometimes wish i were Robinson Crusoe...living alone on a desert island away from difficult people would be paradise...but remembering an author's writings snap me back to reality, "though i don't like the crew, i won't sink the ship"...now, that was deep for me...i learned that when relationships go through the storm, it is the time when you do your best to save the ship.

you see, we are all in this craft and we must sink or swim together.

mistakes

a real man will make mistakes...the man who never makes mistakes never does anything...i would rather make a hundred mistakes and accomplish something than to make no mistakes and accomplish nothing.

it is always good to do it right the first time...but the greatest mistake you can make is to be constantly fearful that you will make one.

it is magic

if there's truth to the saying "you are what you eat", then i am what i drink....call me sweet Italian...not because i am, but my drink sounds like it... and this is what happened when a sweet Italian traveled up north...it went Irish.

a few days ago, i went for a solo road trip and a little adventure up North...on long journeys like these, i usually bring along my favorite companion - a venti caramel macchiato...it's what they call quad, 4 shots of espresso in it...really STRONG.

as soon as i got to my first pit stop, i went to the nearest Starbucks to get my refill of coffee fix... for some reason (must have been the fresh air and the 'greenery', or some spell), i suddenly had the urge to put a twist to my drink...well, actually i had a treat coupon that allows me to do anything on my coffee for free.

"can you put some magic on my Caramel Macchiato? do anything. please?"... as soon as the last word came out of my mouth, the barista and I both smiled....she said she got me covered and not to worry (with a knowing look)....she must've thought i was crazy and started making my drink...."i'll let you try something special," she said.

after a few moments,she called out, "quad-venti-irish-cream-caramel-macchiato for sir Rodel"... what? irish cream?!...i didn't bother asking...but it's either she was a leprechaun in disguise or i must've stumbled upon a fairy on my way because my drink had magic in it.

i was totally smitten...

so now, maybe you can call me part-Italian and part-Irish.

and probably part-crazy over my drink...but i am crazy over coffee

the "lost" weeks

at last...after a long hiatus i am back...

the long trips i've had the past weeks took me away from the electronic and digital world of blogging...well, it's not like i hated the trips i made... in fact i loved every bit of it, except maybe the physical exhaustion that goes with every expedition we make...but sans the feeling of nausea, i enjoyed the things i saw, the people i met, and the experiences i had.

one of the trips i made was to Ilocos Norte....i never knew that the ilocandia region is such a beautiful place....it is clean and people are so nice...had a chance to visit Fort Ilocandia, the Paoay residence of the Marcoses, the Marcos Musoleo in Batac, and of course the Heritage Village in Vigan...and driving was such a breeze...traffic was not a problem at all...it's nice to forget Manila sometimes

never got to taste the famous Laoag empanada though...but had the ilocano longanisa, the vagnet (or is it bagnet?), their diningding and the sukang ilocos....i tell you, ilocandia cuisine and culture is such a good option...you can never have enough of their hospitality and delicacies

the Heritage Village in Vigan

the oldest Church in Paoay

what used to be the Marcos' residence in Paoay

i'll write about my trip to Nueva Vizcaya...next time

i learned this today..

we teach less by what we say... we teach more by what we do...we teach the most by who we are