Busy, Busy ...

For good boys like me (ahem!), regular days are filled with nothing but home-office-home travels. Boring. I have become so used to this uneventful routine that my recent out-of-town trips seemed like a local Amazing Race episode. Taxing indeed, but the change of pace and environment was, to say the least, gratifying.

That's why I had a short blog-leave. It's just now that I have settled again and found time to face the computer. Hay buhay. So many things to do, so very little time.

Nothing extraordinary came out of these travels though. But I'd be glad to recount them here, for posterity's sake. This, in a nutshell, was how the travels went:

First stop: Manaoag. February 24, 2007

We've been planning this pilgrimage for some time now. And knowing how important our concerns were, there was really no entertaining reasons to back out. So even if there were only three of us, we proceeded as committed. Mahirap na. Baka samain.:-)

We just took the early morning bus going to Dagupan. We were planning to just take the jeep to Manaoag. But luckily for us, good friends took care of our transportation to Manaoag and back.

The church was not full when we were there. Well, it was twelve o' clock midday. And it was a Saturday.

After the Mass, we went to the petition area. And as the candles burned, we prayed like never before. As fervently as we could.

Like litigants in a court proceeding, we pleaded our cases. We silently cited the merits of giving us the blessings. We even probably muttered promises. But we were cognizant of the fact that everything depends on the great Judge, and the most we could do is beg for mercy. For the best results. And at no other time ... but now.

From Dagupan, we went to Malasiqui, Pangasinan where one of my companions had her roots. We braced for a bumpy jeepney ride, but again, luck smiled on us. Our hosts volunteered to bring us there. Ang yabang tuloy namin. Inihatid kami ng luxury car.:-)

But something funny happened on the way to Manila he he. We realized there were no airconditioned buses passing Malasiqui at the time we were waiting. Determined to go home that night, we took a regular bus.

Result? Na facial kami ng sandamakmak na alikabok -- at me kasama pang blower ng hanging galing sa labas!

Next stop: Cebu. February 28 to March 1, 2007

We went to Cebu to conduct a lecture. Everything went fine, except for my failure to see the City again in its full glory. We were there just overnight. And as I tried searching my phone for possible contact persons, I realized most of my friends are no longer there. Wala akong mahihila!

Ending. We spent our spare time in - of all places, the mall! Corny.

Last stop: Tagaytay City; March 2 to 3, 2007

This was supposed to be an office planning conference but we knew better. It was actually more aimed at fostering camaraderie and bonding among the employees. So we did just that.

Locked in our rooms, we watched a video of some magic show somewhere via the laptop we brought and at the same time watched Final Destination on TV. Of course, while the madness was on, Fundador was being served. Viva los Indios! :-)