It was indeed a trip down memory lane and a total vacation for me. Almost all of the days I was there, me and my companions were reminiscing about everything and nothing. Just lazing around at home with a really good weather (rainy at that) and just one night out. It was fun.

I was scheduled to fly to Manila last July 7th at 2:50 in the afternoon. My stomach was totally upset that day (and the day before) that I was really concerned what would happened if my stomach acted up during the flight. (Yew!) But good thing, it was in its best behavior during the whole flight.

Cebu Pacific was, once again, late. We were able to leave the airport at around 4pm already. Miriam Quiambao was on the same plane as I was. She was all alone and she looked really plain.

Anyway, I arrived in Manila at around 5pm. I was supposed to meet my cousin and my uncle in Ali Mall but because it was already late, I decided not to meet them anymore. I instead went straight to KNL. Only Allan was there. We watched a couple videos (with the DVD player in a bad mood) and went to eat something at Jollibee. I know. I should be eating something that cannot be found here in Legazpi. But I wanted to complete the Transformers toys! Hehe. Cess did come home quite late already and I was already asleep.

The following morning, we all just were in the house. We talked about a lot of things - mostly all those stuff that we did, what we experienced and what we encountered during our stay in KNL and in UP Diliman. It was a Sunday. Cess did not go to work. We ate at this Italian place along Maginhawa. Too bad I was not able to bring my camera. Yummy food!

Allan wanted me to open his gift for me already. But I was thinking that I should open it on my birthday. He said that he wanted to see my reaction when I opened it. Back home, I decided to open it already. With Allan and Cess looking on, and Cess with my camera snapping away, I opened the gift. Lo and behold! Two Johnny Depp movies! Yay! That's Secret Window and Once Upon A Time In Mexico for you! Thanksie!

Late in the afternoon, we went to check out Trinoma, that new mall in front of SM North EDSA. My companions wanted to check out everything that the mall had to offer. No such luck. After taking a ciggie break after eating dinner, we tried to go back in to discover that the mall was already closed. And it was only 9pm!

Anyhow, we decided to go out. My birthday was just a few days away. Cess really wanted to go out for videoke. So we decided on this place along Kalayaan Avenue - Pork Barrel. Fun. We had the KTV room all to ourselves and we were singing just for the heck of singing. Too bad my camera ran out of juice by that time. Allan was the highest scorer with 81 and 82 rates although he also did get his fair share of 80s. Cess and I, on the other hand, just got 80s and zeros. Hehe.

When we went home, Cess and I decided to watch CSI: New York but the DVD player was acting up again so much so that we were left 'bitin'. Aarrggghhhh!

In the morning, Allan did not go to work. Haha. BI kami! We just stayed at home and just talked about tons of things - the three of us. I was also suffering from dysmennorhea (however you spell that). I texted Love, Reileen, Joel, and Sarah saying that I can't go out and meet them. In the afternoon, we went to UP. We did also reminisce about all that had changed and what we did while we were still in school. We dropped by our tambayan (yes, we are all orgmates) and found it quite so depressing. We walked to the UP SC (which stands for Shopping Center) while Allan went to visit his other org. I bought some shirts - for me, for Ate Pinky, for Jorge, and for Cess (her birthday is coming up soon!).

We waited for Allan and we decided to eat at this place in KNL. I don't remember what its name really is. I just remember calling it as the Xaymaca Annex. We then walked home while reminiscing about all the places in KNL and what had changed and what had not. It was fun really.

We did try to watch Secret Window when we got home but the player seems not to be in the mood. Allan went home at around 9pm and then Cess and I just watched TV until the early hours of the morning. It was also when I discovered Sudoku. Fun game really!

My birthday dawned the following morning. I was just at home. I did nothing much but just watch TV and play more Sudoku. I went out in the afternoon only to buy a bus ticket to Legazpi and to meet Reileen. We had another batch of "Remember the times when..." We ate at The Chocolate Kiss and I went home soon after that. I was still not feeling that well.

When Cess came home, she gave me a pack of chocolates which, she said, came from Terence and was his gift. Teehee! Thanks! We slept at around 2:30 am after playing Monopoly. I lost.

We woke up at around 8:30am. Hurriedly dressed and went to Robinsons Metro East to watch Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. I suggest that if you would like to watch that movie, you better back up on the first four movies. You'll need 'em I suppose. I thought the movie was pretty much okay - well, for me because I love the books and the movie sort of forms the images for me. But as per Harry Potter being a movie, I think I'd rather stick to the book. Anyhow, we did get a free Harry Potter 5 folder when we bought the tickets. (I just did realize - Harry's grown so much! Look at the abs and look at that body!)

Anyhow, I went took the bus ride in the afternoon that day and arrived here in Legazpi at around 5:00am. Talk about a really fast ride!

Next, I'll probably tell you about what gifts I received for my birthday and all of my various birthday celebrations! (This year's birthday has got to be at least a week's worth of celebrations! Geez!)

After almost a week of being on blog (and work) leave, I'm back. I've certainly got stories to tell and I'm full of 'em! Yey!

But right now, back to responsibilities first. Editing mode for me. I'll share my joys later on. Tata!

So I wanted a challenge. And you gave 'em to me. So let me start answering your questions. We'll see how things go. Heehee!

When: When was your first? Date? Kiss? S?

g0ma: sa 600 posts mo.. what is the most memorable and baket?

jehzlau: how old are you? at kelan ang bday mo? at anong paborito mong food? at ano ang paborito mong place? yung pinaka paborito? at ano ang gusto mo pang mapuntahan na place na di mo pa napupuntahan? and why?

Not Leonel: Si Jer o Theiz?

Josh: What is the essence of being a woman?

Tep: Whatever happened to your crush on Atom? And why?

Izza: kung pwede kang pumatay ng tao, sinong papatayin mo at bakit?!

Izza: anong gusto mong sabihin sa mga nakasama mo sa CIC? isa isa ha?

Kidjie: knowing na addicted ka kay atom, eto na lang itatanong ko.. who is woman crush?

Jehzlau: San mo po nakuha ang name na ATOMIC GIRL?

They may be working for a company named Smart but they are not that smart. Really.

I have had tons of bad experiences with these Smart customer care people. I have been arguing with them most of the time and only around 2 or 3 people are exceptions. I am not finding the whole Smart experience funny, that I tell you.

I used to be a loyal Smart subscriber. A few years ago, I realized that even when I was not using my mobile phone, my load has been deducted. I mean, nobody was using my phone at home and it was always beside me. How can such happen?

I called 'em up and they told me that I had subscribed to some service of theirs which I honestly do not remember. I told them that and they said that to deactivate the service, I would have to type in some message and send it back to their company. Wow. That's another P2.50 just to stop the services. But the thing is, I am not receiving any kind of product from them - messages, ringtones, photos, etc. Nada. So how can I deactivate it?

For the tons of times that I had called them, one was only able to answer my questions and had been able to listen to what I had to say. She even said that she would then send in a request to their technical team so that the services would stop. Well, at least she did something. But the thing was, I did not get any refund. Boohoo.
Then there's this thing with my SmartBro connection. For a week at the very least, I had no Internet connection. So I told them such. To contact them, I had to wait like 5 to 10 minutes just to talk to somebody. My emails went unanswered. And because I was pretty busy, I had not much time talking to them much less wait for them to answer the phone. Those times that I was able to talk to somebody, we did some troubleshooting. But nothing still happened and they told me to have my LAN card reinstalled.

Being the PC inept that I was, I had my friend reinstall my LAN card and nothing was surely with it, he told me. So I called them up again (after almost an hour of waiting for somebody to pick up the phone and trying to call again), and they said that they would be sending in a report and I had to wait like another 48 hours. Geez!

I sent in a letter asking for a refund for it was money that was spent on nothing. But come my June bill, I see that no amount has been deducted at the very least. I told them to give me a refund for the reasons I have already stated and now they send back a reply saying that I got a P93.67 something refund. I mean, for a week's worth of no connection, you give me that mere amount as a refund? Please.

Not only that. They could not get my address right. I've sent in my information to them and still, they put in the wrong address so much so that I get to receive my bill super late. I mean, the due date is the 30th of the month, and I get it like after three days.

I wonder if Smart's doing something about this because if such continues, there will be a lot of people complaining about their services and how they handle their consumers. I realized that they are still offering the unlimited texting offer but you have to be very patient and wake up early to register. Or else, you won't be able to. I mean, how's that for an offer. Globe is offering unlimited texting as well but registering is no big deal. Send in the message and in less than 5 minutes, you're in. No need to wait for schedules or when to register and all that.

I also did get other complaints like this one from Tonyo Cruz and this one from The Smart WiFi Chronicles.

I am going to Manila this Saturday.

My ticket is already safely hidden and I'll be flying to the Big City this Saturday afternoon. What will I be doing in Manila, you ask? Well...

• meeting up with old friends and orgmates
• meeting new friends (hoy Coy and Shari! meet up naman diyan.)
• unwinding a bit
  
• renew some important documents (like my UP alumni ID and I also have to get a new transcript of records for my old one went underwater for quite a few hours during the supertyphoon Reming)
• scrounging for some DVDs of my fave shows
• celebrate my birthday there

Ano pa ba? I can hardly think of what else to do. But after the four days that I'll be there, I'll probably want to extend my vacation. But I need to go back to work and earn my bread. *Sob*

Right now, I'm excited. Just drop me a note here in my blog or sa tagboard ko. Or maybe sa YM. Kita tayo. See ya!