not your usual shopping vacation

this post is LONG overdue.

it has been but a few days since i ended my first vacation to the lion city and i'm already dreading to forget the many insights i had from the trip. though i never really expected anything much from singapore besides experiencing their famed discipline and their chili crab and cereal prawns, this trip afforded me an enlightening glimpse of what really made this island nation what it is today, and hopefully, what we can also do to help our own situation.

something that struck me while kuya and i walked along the popular shopping streets and weaved in and out of people of various ethnicities was how this nation, in such a short time, just around 30 years or so, was able to transform itself from a struggling territory, freshly recovering from the aftermaths of war and left to fend for its own, into the first world country that it is today, a rich nation notorious for its drive to excel and whose success at developing itself is now envied and emulated by other nations. indeed, what singapore had to endure right after the japanese devastated the country and the Malayan Federation turning it's back on them must have been truly incredible. devoid of natural resources to support itself, the country only had its people and probably the sheer will to survive, to depend on. led by an unwavering leader and adapting a policy that required clear vision and driven by a bullish stubbornness against mediocrity and failure, singapore was able to attain for itself something that, to this day, no other country have yet done, that is, to rise from a once impoverished land to what is now an economic superpower.

this trip was definitely not one of my usual touristy trips. though i still did what was expected of someone who goes to singapore, that is to shop (though i really didn't buy as much as i ate! hehehe), part of the agenda my kuya and i arranged for ourselves was to spend an entire day understanding this city-nation and learn what really was it that made it tick. how we decided to to do this... we went to the museums.

here you see the diverging of interest between my kuya and i. while he got himself excited by being able to share with me all the valuable lessons he learned from the words and works of lee kuan yew and singapore's other visionaries, i on the other hand walked around the corridors and galleries in awe of the preservation work done on the museum structures, as well as the modern expansions added to it. perusing the superb architecture of the museums rekindled dreams i have had of renovating our own national museum and making it worthy too of international envy.

anyway, freshly inspired will idealistic zeal, kuya being saturated with ideas from the masters while i was emotionally charged from the art as well as learning of the multicultural history of the country, he and i had a nice discussion while on the commute back to our hotel as to what we could do (theoretically, for now) to maybe help uplift the sad situation of our country. using singapore as a template, we, well, kuya mostly, talked on ways as to how our country can finally break away from being third world. now, i won't really bore you with all the things we discussed, but of all the things we did discuss, one thing had me going the most, that is, education. education and having our civil servants to be one of the highest paid members of society. government officials, teachers, soldiers, that way, you attract the best to RUN, EDUCATE AND PROTECT the country.

diba? it makes so much sense. it's actually frustrating when you think about it since we as a nation have more than enough to actually help ourselves and then some, and yet, we still remain one of the worst countries in the asia. it's rather insulting, really.

grabe... i'm getting emotional again just thinking about it. anyway, i'll plug this post here for now. i have been writing and editing this post for the past 4 days and can't seem to find enough words to express what i feel. also, i keep getting distracted with work so medyo putol-putol and train of thought ko. hehehehe....

speaking of work.... back to work!

blog-ger holiday

will be taking a much needed hiatus during the weekend. kuya dearest was kind enough to drag me along for some culturati indulgence, which in his vocabulary would simply translate to as shopping, eating, and more shopping!!! :)

so far, after a rather long flight and some minor delays, day one of the grand vacay went quite well. the hotel where we are staying at alone would have been enough of a highlight for me since, get this, EVERYTHING IN THE MINIBAR IS FREE!!!! ALL MY MEALS ARE FREE!!!! and this is a boutique hotel, mind you. how they make money is beyond me but i definitely am gonna make full use of all these freebees before the management comes to their senses!!! hehehehe

till i'm back in manila or i get me some major action, TTFN!

where i have been since saturday!

won't do a full blown expose yet about my latest trip to the not-too-far south. considering my tendencies to bombard ppl with information, pertinent or otherwise, a trip of four days would probably bear a posts so long, even i would eventually give up writing it! so i will practice something i rarely exercise when blogging, restraint, and do what another ultimate blogger should consider every now and then.... edit.... my thoughts that is.

for now however, allow me to leave you with teaser pics of my escapade. sadly, like my trip to glorious cebu, these pics are not of my own but grabbed from the web. i am still camera-less unfortunately. fortunately however, my recent troupe was composed of trigger-happy cammy whores, i being a willing subject of their shots as well as a future recipient of their CD-burning, FACEBOOK-posting generosity.

HOLY!!!! week

i am usually a guy of very little opinion (yeah right... shut up! who asked you!?). more often then not, i would be mum about many things and just take my time to internalize moments, situations or occurrences, storing them up in the many compartments in my contorted psyche, allowing them to ferment, and maybe, go back to them for future reference. this is what i often call as my internal Rolodex, my flipping list of random memories, experiences, facts and figures, too raw to make sense of by now but due to my being an obsessive pack-rat, feel that they are too good to throw away.

all that considering, it wouldn't be a surprise why i hoard and soak all that i behold like a sponge, almost to the point that it overwhelms me. since i am still feeling a bit dazed, allow me to share the latest set of information that i am now processing, sorting, stacking, compiling and filing in a mental folder marked: my weekend trip to mactan with the fam.

kuya, not too long ago texted me asking if i had plans during the holy week, to which i said no. i am probably one of those ppl who believed that the best place to be during the holidays is to stay put in manila since, this is the only time in the year the city becomes almost deserted. imagine congested manila.... TRAFFIC FREE and quiet :) however, his next question had me change my mind almost at an instant. true, my defenses were weak and my integrity, well, debatable. but really now, can you blame me, especially since the alternative was to go to fly out and frolic at glorious cebu!

from kuya's many trips and stories there, i have had visions of this place already. cebu, with its historical landmarks, its beautiful people, its tourists and of course... its FOOD! one place i had craved for and was enough reason for me to say "f**k manila!" was gelatissimo... gelato for the GODS!!!! anyways... lets talk about food later... like, in the next paragraph since cebu was practically one gluttonous escapade after the next and there will be more than enough room to talk about that later anyways. so... after i gave my irrevocable thumbs up to the holiday getaway, kuya got this ball a-rolling. a couple of calls and a few internet clicks later and we were set... booked.... 4 people.... 3 days, two nights..... at the shangri-la mactan resort and spa.

since i don't have flicker (and am too lazy to learn how to install it here, despite the possible fact that it might be really easy), let me just post pics that i grabbed from the hotel website and just tell my story in these pics in the order they happened.

flew PAL. was supposed to fly coach but due to kuya's frequent flier credits and undeniable charm, we were all upgraded to business class, which meant more leg room for our short, asian legs and food for our abyssal stomachs :) also... the flight attendants in business class were also a sight to behold... one in particular caught my radar, busted with his highlights, stance and the jade bangle that would peek out of his sleeve everytime he reached for something. in fairness, he was very cute. u just have to love eye candy so early on a vacay... while sipping juice on an upgraded seat! LOL!

landed in mactan international airport ahead of schedule and got shuttled to our ULTIMATE destination.... more than 15,000 square meters of luxurious pampering, enough to leave you spoiled and rotten to the core like the gotti kids!

after checking in, we were ushered into our rooms, the pool and the azure ocean in full view. down pillows, fresh glorious cotton sheets and a bathtub (i am easily pleased) and i could have died and went straight to heaven already.... BUT WAIT, not just yet!!! since i still had to have lunch....

... here at acqua. poolside. italian cuisine. contemporary design. very chic-ly done by the almario sisters (i immediately recognized their signature patterns). my dad was supposed to make the chandeliers for this resto but he backed out... sayang. good food, won't bother about the price, beautiful view.

strolled around the grounds to burn off lunch, and found myself "lost" and walking towards here.. the chi spa. inquired for their basic hilot and almost fainted with the cost (maybe this was how they relax you). mcvie mentioned for that price, it should come with a relationship with the masseur already! well, maybe not, unless that person is... :)


gym to burn off more calories and try the health club amenities. not too long later and still tasting the sea bass antipasti from lunch, we were already getting ready for dinner... here. outside the hotel, at ANOTHER hotel. this was day 1.

day 2 started with GYM again and a sauna.... my version of pampering... sweaty and guilt-free!

after burning all that unwanted calories, why not throw all that work out of the window by following it with a sinful breakfast buffet here. the tides.

my innie contemplating to be an outie, kuya and i decided to make full use of the sun to get a bit of color. i ended up getting myself burnt while wading through the pool. noticed also that ALL of the shang's outdoor furniture was by DEDON. OMG... DEDON!!!

after roasting... lunch was next in the agenda. chinese at tea of spring. the food was excellent... and so was our server... harold :) unfortunately, we was not part of the menu. LOL! (narnian... ikaw ang may salot nito!)

afternoon was free now (as if we had plans except eat) so we all went our separate ways. kuya got a massage that only execs like him deserve, while i got the one's only misers like me can afford. it was nice and quite an experience since i normally don't like having strangers touch me, more so since you have to be fully in the buff for it. got a sports massage. felt i could handle more punishment though.... didn't feel i was kneaded, mashed and tenderized enough.

greased, slippery and surprisingly hungry... dinner was next. cebu lechon buffet and fire dancers at the buko bar by the pool.

walked about some more to burn off all that pork and found myself falling in love with how the hotel looks at night, the landscape alit with torches with flames dancing in the sea breeze. went to our rooms to retire and lament on my enlarged belly. went to watch nat geo until i dozed off to hearing about the "devil's bible" and had a nightmare about it, waking me and kept me awake till well, i dozed off again... did i mention glorious cotton sheets? :)

woke up the next to exorcise the prior day's fat and steam myself to a prune. never though such a small steam room can suddenly feel claustrophobic when this giant of a white suddenly entered. thought this place can only handle ONE white boy... went to take a cold shower only to find him loitering there a few moments later.... ew... (red alert!!!) anyway!!!!

took the morning off after having breakfast to go to ayala center, cebu... to finally satisfy what my tongue and palate had long waited for.... GELATO FROM GELATISSIMO. P150 for a mountain of sin and i was in ice cream nirvana!!!! i may have been fattened, burnt, perved and then some but for that cup of luxury... it was all worth it!!!!

we "flew" back to the hotel to be rushed to the airport since we were running late. arrived finding that our flight was delayed. upon boarding, kuya got called to the flight check-in counter saying there was something wrong with his ticket.... we were being flown back home again on business class :)

now.... THAT was what i call a vacation!!!!! :)