So TJC and I woke up really early the next day as we were heading off to Boracay. Mayoc, one of Tatay's most trusted men whom I have known since I was a kid as well, and a couple of other guys were going to accompany us on the 4 hour or so car ride from Iloilo to Katiklan, Aklan (where all the boats to and from Boracay Island are). We grabbed breakfast before leaving, and said goodbye to Uncs and everyone else there. I had forgot to mention Yayay Elda was there as well - Yayay Elda took care of Nonoy when he was a kid, and since Nonoy and I were inseparable whenever I was in Iloilo, she ended up having to make sure I was okay too by default. It was really great to see her as well.
So off we went to Katiklan, and I must admit I was asleep for all but 30 minutes of the car ride I think. I was OUT, folks.
We got to the Waiting Station where the boat the hotel we were staying at was docked. Thanks to Jason and Jon Gonzales, we got hooked up at Sea Wind, one of the nicer hotels on the island. We said our goodbyes to Mayoc and we boarded the boat that would bring us to Boracay. It was only a 10 minute boat ride at most, followed by another 10 minute van ride to the hotel so it was not that bad at all.
Even though it was overcast, the sight of the white sand and the pristine, crystal clear blue water was enough to lift my spirits. The last time I was here was back in 1988, with Tatay, Nanay, and the rest of the family, and the island has completely changed. It's a lot more toursity now than it was back then, which has its plus and minuses, but I wasn't complaining, considering 2 weeks ago I was in cold, wintry New York City weather.
After we checked in and settled in and what not, TJC and I decided to not hit the beach just yet as it was about 2-3 pm already, and instead just walk on the beach and explore a little bit. And so began our daily tradition of hitting Jonah's Milkshake while we were there. Jonah's is this restaurant whose specialty is (guess what) milkshakes. They have all sorts of flavors - some tropical (mango, banana, pineapple) and some non-tropical (chocolate, mocha), and you can mix and match the flavors to your heart's content to come up with your own flair. Nonoy had recommended we go to this place and he was not wrong about it. Here's a pic of me and a mango-banana shake:
Stuffed after a sandwhich and a shake, we kept on walking, and found a supermarket where we bought some water and some munchies. As we were walking back towards our hotel, we noticed this very pretty young lady walking not too far from us. We then noticed everyone along the way either gawking at her, or asking for a picture with her. Someone then called her "Anne"; figuring that she was a local celebrity, that's when I texted my Ate Michelle and gave a description of the actress along with the first name. Ate then texted back saying it was probably Anne Curtis, a half Aussie-half Filipina actress. She was mighty fine looking, I must say. TJC was in lurve with her I think. We ended up running into her pretty much everywhere we went the rest of our stay there.
Went back to our room, rested up a bit, then grabbed dinner around 9 at Aria, an Italian restaurant on the beach. We then went to Hey Jude, a bar two doors down from Aria, and drank a few, where we ran into Anne Curtis yet again. We then went back to our hotel, walking on the well lit beach around 1 a.m., looking forward to our first full day on the island.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Coming To Manila, Day 9: Onwards to Boracay
Monday, February 4, 2008
Coming To Manila, Day 8: Amazing Race Iloilo
Just like when we left Manila, it was raining cats and dogs the day we left Bacolod to go to Iloilo. Tito Tony and Tito Bamboo drove us in the pouring rain to the docks about 5 minutes from our house, so we can catch a ferry to Iloilo, which would take about an hour.
I was in shorts and a crew neck shirt, and I was soaking wet when we boarded the ferry. Unfortunately for me, the ferry was VERY air-conditioned, and with no sweatshirt or anything, I was freezing most of the ride over (which no doubt contributed to my not-feeling-so-well for the next several days).
We arrived in Iloilo and my Uncle Ed (or as we all call him - Uncs or just plain Uncle) was waiting for us. Uncs is my mom's older brother, and is the middle child amongst my mom's siblings. He is quite the artist - just click on the url linked to his name on this paragraph to see for yourself.
Anyway, the moment we arrived, it was basically Amazing Race Iloilo. We were only in Iloilo for a day because we were headed to Boracay early the following morning, so it was basically Uncle's mission to make sure we get to see as much of Iloilo as we can. Waiting with Uncle was another one of Tatay's cars and driver; we dumped our luggage in the back and off we went.
First thing we did was eat some batchoy, one of the culinary specialties of Iloilo. After having done that, off we went to Mina, where my mom's ancestral home where she grew up was still located.
Before that though, I of course had to pay my respects at my Lolo Agoy's and Lola Des' graves (my mom's parents). Sadly, I never got to meet my Lolo Agoy, and for all intents and purposes, never did my mom, as she was all of 4 years old when he was murdered.
My Lola Des (short for Lourdes) though, I had the unbridled pleasure of knowing most of my early life. Like I have mentioned in previous posts, every summer we would always spend about 2 weeks in Iloilo to visit my Lola Des, as well as Tatay's family, and then head off to Bacolod for 2 weeks to visit my Lola Tiba and my dad's family.
Lola Des is one of the people I admire the most. She was all of 33 when she was widowed, and she basically had to raise 3 kids by herself, all while taking care of the rice lands my Lolo had left behind, as well as being a teacher at the local school as well. I will be 32 years old in 2 months and it amazes me to think of the sheer responsibility she took on when she was not that much older than I am right now.
The Defensors have a long history of strong-willed women, and my Lola Des I daresay was the Queen of them all, and I certainly hope that the iron-will and determination that was in her can be found in me as well when needed.
Lola Des' blood runs strong though, as with the exception of Uncle Ed, all her children inherited not only her sweet tooth but her infamous temper as well. Her grandchildren, all five of us, inherited that sweet tooth and that temper as well. That Lola Des sure knows how to leave a legacy. But if you ever want to know what my Lola Des looked like, take a look at my mom and my sister - they're basically splitting images of her, espeically Manang Gina.
We then stopped by the old house to say hello to the people living and taking care of the place, and admittedly, I do not have many memories of the place, as we barely spent time there growing up.
We drove back to Iloilo City, this time via the other direction, and we passed by the new Airport at Santa Barbara, which was Tatay's brainchild and pet project while he was Governor of the province. We then stopped for lunch at Tatoy's, one of the iconic restaurants of Iloilo. Located by the beach, the place has grown from a tiny shack to one of the biggest and most popular culinary destinations in the city. As usual, we ate tons of food, including some yummy oysters.
After lunch, we finally made our way to the Defensor compound, and was able to relax for a bit. The compound was the scene of many, many, many, many good memories for me. Every time I think of the place, I get reminded of endless summer days running around with Nonoy, and eating ice cream and batchoy with Lola Des, and the entire family sitting at the dining room table, eating meals and talking non-stop. In my mind's eye, I can still see being 8 years old, and looking around at the table and seeing Tatay and Nanay. My mom and my dad would be next to them, and Lola Des and Uncle would be close by also. Manong Toto and Manang Tata would be across from me, and Manang Gina would always be next to Manang Tata, as those two were joined at the hip. Speaking of joined at the hip, Nonoy and I would of course be sitting next to each other. Since he never ate as much as I did, the last 20 minutes of the meal would always be him rushing me to finish eating already so we can resume whatever game we were playing before we got called in to lunch. Every meal in Iloilo would always be finished off with some mangoes, sometimes from one of the mango trees in the compound itself. I've said it a million times - Filipino Mangoes are the best in the world. But man, I really have great memories of the place.
TJC and I stayed at Manong Toto's and Nonoy's room; the house was mostly empty as just about everyone was in Manila. I had hoped to see Manong Toto, as he was in Iloilo while we were in Manila. But by the time we got to Iloilo, it was his turn to be in Manila. But I could not help but smile, staying at that room again. During our visits there, I either slept in my Lola's room, or with Nonoy and Manong Toto in that very room I was in at that moment, and for the first time since my arrival, I felt like I was a child again again. Don't get me wrong, it's not a knock against Manila or Bacolod. But in Manila I stayed at a hotel, and Bacolod, the entire house was 100% different from the one from my childhood, and as a result, this was the first time I felt like I was in familiar surroundings again from that period in my life, just as I remember it.
I had to laugh as well because when I last visited in 1994, Nonoy was working on a mural on the walls of the room. And 13 years later, the mural was still unfinished and quite frankly looked exactly the way it did back then. I think Gaudi's Sagrada Familia has had more progress done than Nonoy's mural, ha.
Uncle has a house within the compound, so TJC and I made our way over there, and I showed TJC a lot of Uncle's art work. Uncle has a sculpture garden within the grounds of the compound, and honestly, with the rain and everything, I could not take any pictures of it that would do it justice so just click on the link. Here are some pics though of some of the artwork that can be found in Uncle's house, as well as one of the sculptures from the garden:
After a couple more hours of rest, TJC, Uncle and I went across to the other side of the compound to have dinner at the Mango Tree, Jason Gonzales' restaurant.
Jason is Nonoy's first cousin, and the twin brother of Jonas, whom I had talked about in earlier posts. While there, we ran into the family of Tita Eleanor, Nanay's sister-in-law. With Tita Eleanor were her daughters Iseal, Joanne and Kay; Joanne was actually getting married the following week. It was great to see them, as they were playmates of mine as well growing up.
The meal at The Mango Tree, by the way, was delicious. If you are ever in Iloilo, I strongly recommend you go there for dinner. And I say that not because Jason is basically family to me, I say it because it's the truth.
Unfortunately, it was getting late and we had an early morning ahead of us. We made the short walk across the compound back to the house and conked out. In a few hours, we were off to Boracay!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Coming To Manila, Day 7: Silay, Mambukal And The Dinner Party
So the following day after breakfast, Manong Tinong and Tito Bam went with TJC and I to Silay, to check out some of the old houses which the city is famous for. Silay has a lot of history to it, and one of the first places we checked out over there was the Balay Negrense. Here is a picture of it:
We then went to El Ideal, a famous bakery in the area, for some treats. I got some of their famous goat milk's barquillos (wafer-like finger cookies), which I enjoyed eating. I ended up bringing some back to the States for my folks and my friends the Woos, and basically guarded the things with my life as it was always in danger of crumbling. Proud to say, they made it back Stateside about 60-70% intact, which is GREAT.
We grabbed lunch, and here is a pic of Tito Bam, TJC and Manong Tinong
Afterwards we dropped off Tito Bam back at the house to finish working on the Village. Manong Tinong then drove us to Mambukal, a mountain resort about an hour from Bacolod City. The scenery was gorgeous, and it was quite a trip to see hundreds of bats just hanging upside down on the trees, waiting for nightfall. Here are some pics:
After Mambukal, we stopped by my Lola Manoling and Lola Tiba's graves to pay my respects:
We then grabbed a quick bite to eat, where we were joined by Manong Tinong's son. They then dropped us off back at the house, where preparations for the dinner party to celebrate the opening of the Christmas Village was in full swing. TJC and I were able to sneak in a quick hour nap. We woke up just as the guests started filtering in. The garden was all prettied up, a bar was set up, the food table was set up, and I saw a lot of new faces, but also a lot of old faces from the past which was great. Manong Jutay (the 2nd of Manong Tinong's 2 brothers), his wife Manang Procy and some of their kids stopped by, as did old family friends such as Mrs. Marsona, Tito Bambi Borromeo, Manong Josar. Also, some family members were there too: Tita Pet and Tita Luz. Here are some pics - the 2nd picture is of Mrs. Marsona and Tita Pet with my Tita Ma, and the man in the 3rd picture with Tito Tony is Manong Josar:
The food was great, the dessert was great, the alcohol was great. Everyone then gathered up in the 2nd floor for the soft opening of the Village, complete with a blessing from a priest.
We all then went back downstairs for more food and drinks, but as the evening wore on, the humidity, combined with the heat from not only the lights but also the collective body heat from all the people in attendance, started getting to me and I had to excuse myself. Went back to the room, turned on the A.C. and I rested up and ended up falling asleep as I felt drained. I woke up after the last guests had gone, and I took a quick look to see where everyone was. I think this picture alone shows how exhausted we all were:
So back to bed I went, knowing that my stay in Bacolod was almost done. Tomorrow, we were off to Iloilo!
Segue 2: Tito Bamboo's Christmas Village
So here is a good article from the Philippine Inquirer (one of the top dailies over there), about Tito Bamboo's Christmas Village, with a little bit of history about it.
And here is a short clip on You Tube of the Village:
Cool, yes?
Coming To Manila, Day 6: First Full Day In Bacolod
So for the first time since we arrived, breakfast did not mean the Jeepney Cafe. I woke up, saw TJC was still asleep, and decided to walk around the house and check it out in daytime.
Everyone else was up already, including Tito Bamboo, who was busy working on his Christmas Village. I joined Tita Thelma at the breakfast table, and while we were eating and chatting, Manong Tinong arrived. Manong Tinong is a cousin of my dad's, and his parents, My Tito Pai and Tita Son, are two of the dearest people my grandparents and their kids have ever known. When we were younger, every summer when we went to Bacolod, we would spend about a week in Payao, the rural town where Tito Pai and Tita Son lived. It was such fun times and fun memories, and I will never forget their kindness and generosity.
It was fun catching up with Manong Tinong; he lived with us in Manila for a few years, and it was great to see him again. TJC finally woke up and joined us at the breakfast table, but soon after Manong Tinong had to leave to take care of some business and pick up his wife, Manang Edna. As he left, Tonton - Tito Tony's son and Tanya's big brother - arrived. Tonton is about a year and a half older than Ronron, so there is always that connection in my head between the two. Was not able to talk to Tonton that long however, as Tita Ma and I (accompanied by TJC) had to hurry up and go to the Metrobank nearby to take care of some matters for my folks.
Before that though, Manong Bulilit (Manong Tinong's brother) stopped by, and it was a bittersweet moment to see him. I missed him, of course, but he is going through a life threatening illness at the moment and I wish the circumstances of our reunion were better. I do hope he makes it through this.
The 5 minute walk in the heat was brutal, and I was glad to feel the powerful humming of the air conditioner when we walked in to the bank. After that was done, we went back to the house, and then the three of us, along with Tito Bamboo and Tito Tony, drove to the SM Mall which was right behind our house practically, to look for some accessories for Tita Ma's new stereo system which they were installing at the house. That took a couple of hours, and we then went home. Was not feeling that well, so I slept and rested for the next 3 or 4 hours. I think all the hubbub from the past few weeks finally caught up to me, and my body was again telling me to get some rest.
When I woke up around 7, 8 PM, I was finally allowed to go upstairs to check out the Christmas Village. I walked up to the 2nd floor and got treated to the full Xmas Village effect; music, lights, the whole works. Here are some pictures
FYI: The next post will have more history and detail about the Christmas Village.
TJC and I really enjoyed the sneak peek at the Village, but I'll be honest with you, in my mind's eye, that second floor will always be my Lola Tiba's domain. As pretty as the Christmas Village is, when I walked up there, the first thing that came rushing to my head was the image of my Lola, walking around the 2nd floor, with a beer in one hand and some tobacco to smoke in the other, ready to play mahjong. That or her in the 2nd floor kitchen, cooking our next meal; Lola, like I have mentioned before, had no compare as a chef.
After we checked out the Village, Tito Bam showed us the other renovations done to the 2nd floor. There was an exit leading to the terrace, and from the terrace, there was a room being built (for me supposedly, :-D), and there was a balcony from there overlooking the little garden we have. Here is the view of the garden from said balcony:
After the tour was done, we went to the garden, and grabbed some beers with Tito Tony, Tito Bam, Tita Ma, Tita Bec and Manong Tinong. As the beers kept on piling up, Tito Tony, who is hilarious when sober and extra hilarious when drunk, started talking about marriage, relationships, etc. And I swear to you, he suddenly had this moment when he either was channeling my Lola Tiba, or she was speaking through him, but he suddenly turned deadly serious and (I'm paraphrasing here) said: "Ted, let me share with you a piece of advice your Lola Tiba gave me back when she was still alive. Marriage is a lifelong period of adjustment. It's just the beginning of you adjusting and changing for your partner, and vice versa. Never forget that." What was left unsaid just had as much impact as what was, and considering what I had gone through the year before, it felt like my Lola finally got a chance to give me the advice she couldn't give in person.
Tito Tony eventually got cabin fever and wanted to show us around Bacolod at night. Since he was in no shape to drive, Manong Tinong took his car keys and drove him, TJC and myself. First place we went to was Goldenfield, the night time social area of Bacolod. While driving around there, we saw the 2 nieces of my mom's best friend, and one of them was with her boyfriend. Tito Tony had a blast teasing them, saying their aunt will surely find out now (they are deathly afraid of their aunt, hahaha). Since we could not find parking over there, we drove around some more and went to this new grill which opened up just that week, close to the Bob's we ate at the night before. Had some chicharon bulaklak (deep fried pork intestines) and some soda. The place was sold out of basically everything. The first time I ordered, they came back about 5 minutes later and said they were all sold out of that. So I ordered something else and 5 minutes later they came back again and said they were all sold out of it also. I wasn't ordering anything funky either, was ordering your run of the mill Gulaman at Sago and what not.
After we finished up there, we finally headed home as it was about 1, 2 a.m. already and it was time to go to bed. Tomorrow night was going to be the soft opening of Tito Bam's Christmas Village after all, so we had to get ready for that!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Coming To Manila, Day 5: Going To Bacolod
So when we woke up Thursday morning to get breakfast, I looked out our window and saw that it was raining cats and dogs. I mean, it was pouring HARD, which I thought did not bode well for traveling without a hitch today.
Where were we travelling to? We were flying from Manila to Bacolod at around 4 PM that afternoon; Bacolod is where my Dad's side of the family is from, and my Tito Bamboo still lives at our ancestral home over there. My Tita Thelma (who is like a second mother to me and my sister) was also in Bacolod, as she splits her time between New York and the Philippines, now that she is retired. Their (and my dad's) youngest brother, my Tito Tony, also still lives in Bacolod, albeit not in the family ancestral home anymore.
So after breakfast (again at the Jeepney), TJC and I went back to the room to pack our respective luggages, however grudgingly we felt about it. After that, we just chilled at our hotel room til it was time for Rodel to pick us up to go to the airport. He picked us up around 1 PM, and off we went. The traffic was INSANE because of the rain. Normally, it would take about 20-30 minutes to go from the hotel to the airport; it took us well over an hour.
We get to the airport, go through all the security rigamarol and check-in. We find out at that point that the flight was delayed about an hour or so. It was very surprising for me to see how much the Domestic Airport in Manila had changed since I last saw it back in 1994. It looked so much more modern now compared to back then (I remember when I was a kid, it was straight out of one of those island airports you see in the movies). I give Tito Bamboo a call that our flight is running late, and proceed to try to find something to eat, settling for 2 hot dogs and a soda.
We get on the plane, and we get to Bacolod in about 45 minutes (getting to the friggin airport took longer!). There was some turbulence along the way and this poor little baby in front of us got airsick and threw up all over the aisle and would not stop crying. I felt bad for her, all that shaking must have been horrible.
We get to the Bacolod airport, and this one still looks the same as I remember it (see previous "island airport" comment 2 paragraphs before). While waiting for our luggage, I get a text message from Tito Bamboo: "We're on our way!". It cracked me up; unlike the Defensors (my Mom's side of the family), efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to time is not a sterling trait of my Dad's side, the Tonogbanuas (and everyone knows it). I thought to myself: "Yup, I'm with the Tonogbanua side of the family now!". When I relayed the story to my folks after I got back, they got a huge laugh out of it. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson: "It's funny cuz it's true."
It wasn't a big deal, because our house was only 10 minutes away from the airport, and even before our baggage arrived, Tito Tony, Tito Bam, and Tanya (Tito Tony's daughter) were there. We drove back to the house, and some of the places still looked familiar to me. What DID NOT look familiar to me at all was the house! I had no idea we had parked in front of it already, it was that different. Last I saw it, it was one of those old Spanish style wood houses, similar looking to this. Our house did not have the garden in front (it was inside), and the wood looked much much older than the one in the picture, but imagine something similar if you can in terms of structure and look.
But now, it was all white, and in concrete! It was due for a renovation, as it was really beginning to look old, even though the interiors were beautiful still. I was downright amazed at how different it was. And when I finally got inside, even the interiors were completely changed as well (All for the better, of course)! I wanted to go up to the 2nd floor to check it out, as that's where I spent most of my summers when we visited Bacolod. My Lola Tiba's (Lola is grandma in Filipino) room was in the 2nd floor before she passed away, and I used to sleep with her in her room when we came to visit, so it held a lot of fond memories. The 2nd floor was also where the dining room was, where we would eat all the fabulous dishes my Lola would whip up for us, as she was without compare with her cooking. I was banned from going up there though as my Tito Bamboo's Christmas Village (which I will talk about in the next post) was not done being fixed up yet, and it was due for its soft opening in 2 days.
So we all ended up just sitting outside in the garden, drinking beer, along with Tita Bec (my dad's cousin).
Here are Tito Tony and Tita Bec:
And here are Tito Bamboo and Tita Ma:
After about an hour or so of doing that, we all went to dinner at this Japanese Hibachi restaurant whose name escapes me now. After dinner, we go to one of the Bob's (Bob's is one of Bacolod's iconic eating places) for dessert and coffee. After that, Tito Bamboo insisted that he take the guys to Royal Spa for a massage. I admit, I was a bit wary of a massage place that was open 24 hours, but it was all good. We got there almost around midnight, and there's this huge room inside with rows of massage tables and you just pick one and lie down and get the knots kneaded away. It was pretty good, very relaxing (so relaxing, at one point the entire room could hear Tito Bamboo snoring away). Then, they started stretching the bejeezus out of you, and I felt like I a contortionist at one point.
I felt great though, and we drove home and after taking a shower, I slept like a baby, looking forward to seeing good old Bacolod during the day.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Coming To Manila, Day 4: The Last Full Day In Manila
So Day 4 in the Philippines was the first time in the entire trip that TJC and I had nothing to do in the morning except be up by 10 A.M. to make it in time for breakfast, which was fine with us.
After our usual breakfast buffet at the Jeepney Cafe, we chilled at the room till it was time to meet Nonoy for lunch. Around noonish, Nonoy called and said to meet us downstairs at the driveway so we trudged down there and we headed off to lunch with his co-workers and fellow laywers, Cheryl, Janice and Gladys.
Lunch was very enjoyable, both because of the delicious food and the great company. At one point, Nonoy had all three ladies convinced that TJC, who works in a field with connections to Barney, actually WAS the person inside the Barney costume. Hilarious.
The food, like I said, was delicious, and we had Halo-Halo for dessert. TJC and I go to a Filipino restaurant in Queens every few weeks, and we always get Halo-Halo for dessert, so it was great to finally have one in Manila! Interestingly enough, this was our first and only time having Halo-Halo in the Philippines.
After lunch, our hard-working lawyer friends had to head back to the office, and since we were not that far away, TJC and I cut through the Greenhills mall in order to get to the Ayala Museum, which was closed the last time we tried to go there. Having been to the Louvre, the Met, the Frick, the Prado, L'Orangerie and tons of other musuems but never having seen works of Filipino masters exhibited in those places, I was quite excited to check it out. I was not disappointed at all, as I got to see several works by Amorsolo, Luna and Domingo.
After the museum, we walked around some more in Greenhills and Glorietta, and I finally found a Manny Pacquiao dri-fit shirt, which I purchased along with a new Arsenal jersey, complete with the new Fly Emirates sponsor logo (my old one, while still in great condition, had the old Dreamcast sponsor logo on it - that's how old it is).
We get back to the hotel, and since we've eaten like pigs since our trip began with little to no exercise, we both decided we had to do some of that. TJC headed to the hotel's fitness center while I went to the pool for a swim.
Nonoy and Vanessa picked us up again around 6 PM, and we headed off to Kainan at Market! Market! for dinner with the daughters of Tita Suzette Bautista, a good friend of my mom's since their nursing school days. I had met said daughters - Nizette, Nylah, Ninette and Nadia - when their family came to visit New York in April 2007 and it was great to see them again, sans Nizette who could not make it. With them was Melo, Nylah's fiance.
I had mentioned in my previous post that events related to that night ended up shocking me a few weeks later; without getting into too much detail, that event was the sudden and unexpected passing of Melo, which happened the day TJC and I flew back to New York, and which I found out about after I got to New York City. It really was shocking, and my prayers are with him and his family and loved ones.
After dinner, Nonoy and Vanessa drove TJC back to the hotel since he was not feeling well at all. Ninette and I ended up getting drinks at Embassy Cuisine (Embassy is THE hot spot in Manila currently).
After about an hour or two, Ninette drove me back to the hotel and when I got to the room, TJC was asleep already. On the coffee table though was a bucket full of beer and some peanuts, courtesy of the hotel (or maybe Grace?) since it was our last night there. I gladly opened a bottle of San Miguel Light, ate some peanuts and updated the journal of the trip I was keeping.
After finishing up with that, it was time to go to bed, as tomorrow, we were about to start our journey to Bacolod, home province of the Tonogbanua clan.
