Fast forward to the present
After a few months of silence I'm at it again. Now that summer is official over it's back to the rat race. Just a quick glimpse of how my summer went, a couple of out-of-town trips namely - Nasugbu, Batangas, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija and lastly Cebu. You can say that I was able to have a taste of everything during this summer. First trip on the agenda was the beach outing to Nasugbu with the J.H. Inc. - my core group at work to just relax by the beach have a few rounds and forget about work for just the weekend. Then there was "Cabs" as our friends fondly call Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija - this was sort of a despedida for Rey - a very good friend of ours and god father to Joaqui. He was set to depart to Hawaii by April so a common friend of ours hosted us at their humble home for Rey's despedida. By the last week of May we were enroute to the "Queen city of the south" Cebu to attend and witness Mervin and Dale's wedding. We had a great time in Cebu during our brief stay mainly because, it was Rhoda's first visit to Cebu, in the process I became her improptu tour guide. I think I flunked as a tour guide because I only took Rhoda to the Ayala center the whole time. The only time we were able to change venue was during our last full day in Cebu, I took Rhoda and Joseph - a friend of ours from Bustos, Bulacan to the downtown area. We visited Sto. Nino's Basilica, Magellan's Cross and Fort San Pedro, we also had a last minute shopping at Gaisano Country Mall in Banilad to buy "pasalubongs" for home.
On a personal note, it brought back memories from several years back. I told Rhoda that I frequented Cebu before because one of my Aunt was then assigned to Cebu everytime I would visit I got the red carpet treatment from them. I can still recall the places we went to the beach resort in Mactan, the classy restos and the bars that was hip then. A lot has changed from my last visit what was then a sleepy town has transformed to one of the most progressive city of the south.
The trip would not be complete without the wedding, the venue - Sacred Heart Church was one of the more traditional churches in Cebu. The reception on the other hand was at Casino Espanyol a five minute drive from the church, the only glitch was during the "waiting time" of the guests the the club's lobby. The guests had to wait 20-30 minutes before we were given permission to enter the ballroom, during this time a number of guests went home. The night was truly amazing from the program to the food and the new acquitances we've gained because of the wedding. Then right after the reception the newly-weds then invited us to a few rounds at Formo a bar located at Banilad Town Center, this was the venue for the North vs. South face off drinking contest. In my opinion it ended in a draw, because we were still in the thick of it when my comrades from the north decided to go home, this will definitely have a sequel.
That's my summer for this year, there were indeed countless memorable moments that I'll remember. Looking forward to the next summer!
