A laborer's form of rest

How'd you spend Labor Day?

Didn't really expect mine to be as fulfilling and ~complete as it became, but it's a welcome surprise, of course. :)

Still with my super friends, the plan was to explore UP and do our usual tambay. Was both spontaneous and planned, we just wanted to get together again mid week. The Art Circle Cafe in front of Chocolate Kiss (ground floor) is really a beautiful place! I like the weird art of junk/scrap, the random pieces, and variety of paintings. I think we stayed there for a good 20 minutes, just looking at paintings and other pieces, and ogling at the awesomeness of that chess set made of bolts! We're engineers so you could just imagine us all "this is is too cool" and "soldering/welding the pieces to this shape is form of genius" etc. Graduating from a fairly math/science course has somehow made art more of a choice than its should-be everyday appreciation, so going back to art was really an objective for this day. We wanted to also visit the Vargas Museum and the Bonsai Garden but both were closed that day (hello holiday!). Next time, hopefully. Enjoyed UP nonetheless, always. :)

After dinner and some more tambay, I went home and found these on my bed:

Two postcards and a letter from World Vision. In my head, "So this is how it feels like to receive mail. AWEEESOME."!!

Inside World Vision's envelope was this:

A handwritten letter from my sponsored child. KILIGGGG. Huhuhu. I have been a really lazy sponsor because up until now, I haven't found the time to write to Shane (my cute sponsored kid!). Receiving this letter was a surprise and was just a great great way to end my labor day rest.

Friends, art, surprises, blessings, appreciation. The little things in life that when you think about, aren't really  little after all. They make up our every day, feelings, experience, memories, our sense of fulfillment. 2013's May 1st was a definite Labor Day escape for me. The fruits of my labor was well worth the work.

Hope yours was great too!

Caramoan off the bucket list

That's an imaginary bucket list. The good thing about it being imaginary is that there's really no pressure to do specific items, nor feel bummed about its stagnation when we get to the busy and or (materially) ~poor[er] phase of life. Hmm. I guess I should just call it my "First Time List". Or "Adventures List". Or "Life" (uuuuy cheesy).

So how do I begin. I went to Caramoan OMG!!!

That sound happy enough? EXCITED AS HECK. Twas really a paradise. My highschool friend Yna texted me Tuesday last week, asking me if I wanted to go to Caramoan Friday of that same week. That's a legit definition of a short notice for me but Caramoan is a place that I've been craving (woosh) for since summer started, to the point of scouting group buying sites and pestering different group of friends to go there. Unfortunately it's too far for comfort to make concrete plans with big groups. So when Yna invited me, just about four hours later I have already filed my vacation leave. YEYHAHA!

We were a group of 8, and coming to the trip, only Yna and her boyfriend Matt were the people I know. A good and bad feeling. There's the excitement of knowing new people, and some slight apprehensions of not being able to click with them. Yna though assured me that everyone's cool and she wasn't wrong. A great backdrop to meet new friends!

Caramoan, my dear Caramoan, you are a paradise. A lot of photossss, now up!

Next time I'll be sure to buy Lucas that waterproof plastic pouch so I'll be able to bring him in to the water. No submerging though!

We went on a 9 hour bus trip from Alabang to Naga, an hour and a half's worth of shuttle commuting after, then a 2hour boat ride, followed by a 20minute tricycle trip to finally get to our "HOMETEL". Lunch and a few minutes later, we were on our island hopping adventure.

It was worth every bit of travel time.

The third time i'll say it, it's a paradise. The sea water that's sometimes blue, sometimes bluegreen, but always clear and beautiful. The islands, the rocks, the sand, the fresh buko juice, the sky, the floating cottage, the underwater and above water view. Everything.

I think it's about time I learn how to swim. On my next Caramoan trip, maybe? :D


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And because I'm lazy to put this on a separate post, here. We also went to Camsur Watersports Complex on our last day, while waiting for our 9pm bus ride back to Manila! Fun experience!!

This particularly adventure-filled weekend's going to be difficult to top.

2013, thank you. And mooooore please! :)

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Shout out to Yna and Matt for the invite, and to my newfound friends! Tita Eden, Tisa, Sir Rey, Tina and Joseph!