In a Land of Grace

Kristel and I taking photos of each other coincidentally. NOT. 

The old and new SC planning. CHOS. We were watching a movie. HAHA So much for planning.

WWII Jeepneys! COOL! 

Where we slept. Well, where we watched all night actually. Till I fell asleep. HAHA.

They have a private lake! Comes with crocodiles. Kidding LOL

Can I just say? Graceland in Tayabas, Quezon is pretty awesome. Seriously. Lakes, rope bridges and deer bitches. DEER! And white picket fences. LOVE.

Nicole of nicolethedressupdoll.blogspot.com 

So tiring. 

The old and new presidents of the SC.

And a bonfire. HAHA

Last April 27, the school peeps and I headed to Graceland to have some sort of planning for the next school year. Well, honestly, the planned while I took it as a form of small vacation. Of course I helped too! (though not really haha) And it was awesome. It was my first time to be around a bonfire and roasting marshmallows! I felt like a boyscout. HAHA. The last time I was here, I was running around drenched in sweat because of our leadership camp. But now, it's a vacation. Life's good. Definitely.

On our way home, we decided to stop by a church that's seriously wicked. Will blog about it soon! 

2nd Day

Good Morning Sunshine! :D A totally scripted photo of me waking up since I usually wake up with my hair undone and my sister's hair all over my face. HAHA :))

Who knew that the light actually hurts when you open the drapes early in the morning! GEEZ. I got blinded. :|

Very vintage, don't you think? Chos. :))

We met lots of dead people that day. And I came too close with one dead person. You'll find out in  a few. :)

Awesome tree amongst the dead people's houses.

Some cool mural I saw at the local elementary school. Seriously, it's awesome! Cubism meets Patriotism? Chos. :)) But really, it's cool.

And now we know that we all look like baby whales/hippos at 40 days. :)

The school had a farm. IN THEIR BACKYARD! It's like having Farmville in your school only more realistic. HAHA :))

And finally, I have learned how to use the waveboard courtesy of my professional cousins. Oh yeah.

The facade of their parish church. Really nice. 

And the people who go there. SO MANY. But very friendly. :) 

Fake Moriones. HAHA :)) They weren't wearing the scary Moriones masks. :D 

The statues in no particular order.

Lots of people attended the procession. 

Now that's a real Moriones! My fright is concealed by my over-sized not-so-pearly whites. :))

So this is my day 2 of staying in the rurality that is Lopez, Quezon. :D I'm currently subsisting on room service, good food and free WiFi. So far, I'm enjoying my stay. :> Maybe except for the fact that I saw a live skull (well, a real one, not a live one lol) up close. One with the hair still on and some flesh still intact (which is pretty horrifying). :| It scared me to hell since I was able to capture it accidentally and when I saw it, let's just say the whole province heard my scream already. :)) HAHA 

Anyhoo, going back. After screaming the hell out of the cemetery, we went to the local elementary school where my mom used to study when she was a kid. Good times, good times. :) Saw this seriously far out murals which was really artistic. And I learned how to wave board there! When lunch was done, we had a quick wash up at the hotel and headed on to the church (which was really cool btw) and got stares from the locals. But I did hear something like..

Local Kid 1: (stares at me and my bro) Huy, di ba mga taga-Japan yang mga yan? (brother waves his oversized fan at them)(local kids stare in awe)

Local Kid 2: Oo! Pakinggan mo, nag-Eenglish eh! Taga-Japan nga!

That was just weird. And funny at the same time. :)) 

Proceeded to the procession after and took a shot of a true Moriones. All in all, it was an awesome day. 2 more days and I'm outta here. Until then, wish me luck!

P.S. I saved this as a draft and forgot to post it. I have a memory of a goldfish. HAHA Kidding. :))

3rd Day

Today, we rode what the locals called the "skits". It's some sort of motorized rail cab (chos) made of wood and a motor and some benches where the passengers could sit. Definitely a proof of the Filipino's ingenuity since these railroads where meant for trains originally. 

And when 2 "skits" come face to face, the skits with the lighter load gets emptied then carried off the tracks to let the other one pass. Market produce and several other products reach far flung destinations through these.  

The relatives and I, soaking up the sun and the fresh, provincial air. HAHA. :))

Down the rabbit hole. Felt like Alice when we went through these overgrown hedges.

And when we arrived, we saw these floating bamboo cottages! How awesome is that? :D Live and swim at the same time! 

The coastline. 

The obligatory jumpshot. Chos. :))

My sister shielding her face from the sun. And the camera. :))

Cave of Wonders. Chos. 

My cousin Andy and his sour face that I taught him. :))

Me in the water.Which is a surprise, really, since I swore I won't get in the water. I'm actually afraid of the open sea. :)

Me and the cousins frolicking in the sand and making sand castles. Fine Arts against HS and Elementary. HAHA

The sea.

We went to the coastline via the skits today to experience some provincial fun. It's day 3 of my stay here and I totally don't regret going to the province. It's such a breathe of fresh air from Manila (both literally and figuratively). We rode the "skits", some sort of railroad rickshaw and was greeted by some of the locals. 

The first beach we went to was seriously small. AS IN SMALL. And crowded. So the parents decided to send us off with the cousins in another island, just 15 minutes away via boat ride. And boy, let me tell you, that was the best 15 minutes of my life! The sea, the waves, the air and the music (I was listening to Kingdom of Pretty. PERFECT!) just made the moment such the summer perfection.

After hours of frolicking in the sand and getting a sunburn instead of a tan, we rode the boat back home (still with background music of course haha) and went to the hotel to grab some ice cream and call it a day. 

Now this is the life.