from a road trip to a wedding

This year, the Philippines has the longest weekend. My friend A and I decided to take a trip to the south. This is the story of adventure, exploration, and a share of misfortunes that ended in attendance to a wedding :)

Day 1. April 5, Thursday.

I left CDO, bound for MSU. The vehicle bound for Cotabato City left past 2 in the afternoon. We arrived in our destination at around 6 pm. We were met up by A's aunt at the terminal to bring us to Manong's to meet up with A's sister :) There we had dinner and went home to dokie A's dorm :D

Day 2. April 6, Friday.

We went to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's Masjid known locally as the Grand Mosque. For a moment, it felt that I was transported to another country. If I was amazed at the grandeur of this, then I could only imagine how it is in our neighboring asian countries.

After which we went to eat at Calda's Pizza in Al-nor Complex. This is where my friend, Z, has her boutique. Too bad it was close when I got there, nevertheless, I let my friend A took my photo. Tadahhh! B visited Queen B Hive :D


Day 3: April 7, Saturday.
A and I are bound for Glan, Sarangani to bask in the white sands in the beach of Gumasa. We stopped for lunch at General Santos City. When in Glan, we went to White Haven Beach resort, unfortunately they couldn't accomodate us. Even the neighboring Rosal Beach was booked. Good thing our sidecar driver didn't just leave us behind, he took us to other beaches. There was Isla Jardin del Mar (little did I know that my friends from previous employment were there as well) and to Yoshikawa Crystal Island Resort. I didn't anticipate that these resorts would be fully booked as I expected them to be full by Easter Sunday only. Lesson learned, Book ahead :)

We managed to spend a little while in this local beach resort, the beach was sandy so its nice to swim in it. We decided to go back to General Santos to spend the night :)
Back in Genaral Santos, we spend a while in KCC Mall. Our cozy haven in General Santos. A and I just goofing around, capturing it through the camera's timer setting ;) Day 4. April 8, Sunday.
We were bound for Marawi with a stop over at Cotabato City to get some of our things. From GenSan we round the Yellow Bus Line to Marbel where we catched up with the Husky Bus for Cotabato. A and I were not able to seat together as the bus was full. There was an opportunity for us to seat together but other passengers beat us to it. I sat with an OND sister and chatted with her. Telling her my mom has an OND sister as a best friend. She was from South Cotabato. I told her my mom was from Kabacan, North Cotabato and is very close with the OND sisters as she joined them but found a different calling. She asked the family name of my mother, I replied and said her name. I was amazed that this 73-year-old sister who happened to spend 25 years in Papua New Guinea before she came home in the Philippines in 2007 happens to know my mom!!! She said, "I know her! She is slim and is morena, right?" I was very touched at that moment and wondered what my mom was like before she had me that she left an imprint to the lives of those she met. IF only I had the guts to take a picture of us during that ride. I only asked for her name. She is sister Zenaida.

In Cotabato, We had lunch in Alibaba. I guess they are known as my friend, Z and A's friend also recommended that we check out the restaurant :)
We went to the terminal for Marawi, unfortunately no other passenger was there so we could not go home.

Day 5. April 9. Monday.
A and I are bound for MSU. We catched up with our Meson Family at the venue for Licka's wedding :)





This is just the beginning of summer. Looking forward to more fun...

April = Summer

oh my. oh my. Its april! It's officially summer. April = Summer.

This summer, I want to be best buds with Mr. Sun. I want to soak up in his company. I want to dip in the cool blue waters of Samal or Glan in Sarangani, with long stretch of fine white sand in my hands, but with budget constraint, the closest place I could be is in Camiguin, that ain't to bad since I haven't been there too.

I want to explore new place and if I couldn't, I want to go to places that I haven't been to in a long time. I've been imprisoned in this city for far too long and for a few days I want to flee.

If only I could see the local stars in Boracay. Or walk in the concrete streets of Vigan, to have the feel of the Spanish era. If only I could see the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid in Cotabato. If only someone would accompany me Siquijor, I hear the beaches are great!

Oh summer! I just want to enjoy your visit. I guess that's not too much to ask.