this is my week one and i am so blessed

the year has been really tough but i thank god i made it through. we've been pretty well and we do a lot of travelling, much more to that is we got a lot of food to share in our table. weve been so lucky in all of our undertakings. 

the new year has brought us a lot of hope, a new venture, new adventure, new friends to meet, and that we sustain the life we have through the rest of our lives, to strive more to make it more better and that we continue to love everyone in our family and that of our extended family.i am forever grateful for all the blessings we received our entire life. 

my brother and i started off our 2016 with shopping. doing all the chores mom has assigned for us and buy all the things we needed at home. we do have some more goodies but some will not make it through the next day. 

we all went to church to give thanks to god and for the guidance to make it through the year. it is always our priority every sunday. mom treat us with good food in the city and she bought us new shoes.

 

we went back to the office january 04 and i dont have my uniform and ID for i forgot to bring them to the laundry and it was already midnight when i remembered it. but even so we have a beautiful first day in the office. we are all excited to meet everyone after the long break.

i love using pencil in the office and seldom do i used pen. i get a lot of pencil supply from the office i love. we started to work on the things due to us by the national government and partners NGOs.

 
corazon gave us this food and it feels awesome. the taste is good. we consume half of it and return back to corazon the other half. she just love giving us food.

ate lala gave us this shirt she got while rearranging her office. it was an SK shirt way back 2011 but it is still new and smells good and fit us all. 

my i7 has gone crazy but i was able to fix it. it took me sometime to be able to access my files. with all the terminal papers we have for the week we were able to finish five proposals and project designs due from our partners NGOs. the week has been really tough in our office but we make sure to make it ahead of time. 

i get to design my very own pandora i wish to have on my birthday this year and yah i am starting to save for this stuff right now. i will make sure i will have it on my day. 

and then someone asked me what i am thankful for the last year. honestly i didnt know for i am always thankful for all the things i have but i still think about it and and oh yah it took me forever to think. i told him that i'm grateful for my hands that they work and function as they should. my hands are crucial to my work and the things i love doing and it is in this hands that i sustain my way of living. often i take them for granted that they do exactly what i want them to do, when i want them to do it, without pain or difficulty. so i take care of my hands and that of my nails and how i love and appreciate my hands and all they allow me to do.

i did have some bones and lungs for making it through to quiapo this year and much more to that i feel that my spirit rejoices the moment i saw the real image of the black nazarene. and was so lucky enough to make it through the church i have long dreamed of visiting. and it took me 30 years to be able to step my very first step in this holy church of god. 

i enjoy quiapo with much hope and love and the chance to experience such a great time with my treasured friend. i didnt know that i will make it through but i did. i prayed so much to god for mom to be cured from her illness so that we may be able to travel more with her. 

with all the bones and muscles tired i made it through the day and still enjoy all the LRT rides i have. 

i so love that i started this year going to church to praise and thanks god and it was so nice ending the week visiting church. i think its gonna be a blessed year for me and my family and friends. 

to where you are

in the broad daylight under the heat of september sun lao and i sing twice happy birthday to you. we are like nomads there but good thing is we are the only ones in there. we got no choice but to laugh in between our sweat and tears as we arrange all the roses we brought for you. we find it really hard to light the green candle because all of a sudden the wind blows like crazy that lao and i asked you if are you there. we do miss you a lot. going to your new home we still look at your window as we pass your house reminiscing the days we saw you looking and smiling on us as we wave our hello. we visit you ahead of time because lao and i will have to go to work tomorrow. nobody knows about this visit but maybe later today i will let your children knows about it. mom told us to greet you happy birthday too and said rest well madekoy. its so quiet in your place the bermuda grass in your top grows beautifully. its all clean. the rose petals smells like heaven and maybe in the place you are in smells like that too. i do love the smell of the candle we lighted for you. so how are you there? its been awhile i know it took me long three months of not saying hello. ive been through a lot of things and i really have to take care of your friend my own mom.  deep in the stillness i wonder how will you react if lao and i give you the bouquet and sing you happy birthday. i know you will laugh at it because you never like yellow and im sorry for that because we just pick it up from the shop. we went to church today and we do offer you mass. the bishop celebrate the mass and he is now well versed in bicol you will sure be amaze if you hear so.

i know i had been too much and i wonder what are you going to do with me if you are still alive managing our office your own way. i wonder too what are you going to say to me each time i went to the office late as late and later than before but tito ed is so kind to me. things in the office are being done accordingly and ate phing is our new boss now. she never gets too tired of understanding all the pieces of earthly conflicts we had our ways and she is so kind to us just like you and tito ramon. have you seen tito ramon there? he followed you immediately but we know that he is watching over us just as you did.

lao and i miss you so much tita norms. i do miss all the text messages you sent me and i havent deleted them yet not even your phone number. i do miss those time you call me in the middle of the night asking if i completely turned off my computer or the AC or the calls i received early in the morning asking me if i am already in the office or still in the bathroom. ate lala, karen, roxy and ate phing miss you too. they will visit you tomorrow i guess. tita bebet is always there for us until now. we still call her everytime we find it difficult to make it through the day. 

tita norms you will always remain in our hearts. lao and i love you. happy birthday!

Up the north and i am busy!

my work doesnt requires much energy and efforts but it requires presence of mind, positive perspective and the ability to travel and perform the tasks that are expected of me while on board our battleship.

i am on a roadtrip and study tour now up to the far north and our first stop is muntinlupa and the city of makati for local governance visit. this study tour road trip will give ways to new partnership and a chance to visit different government units to observe and for possible replications of their best practices.

we are 21 packs from our municipality  comprises of different department heads and mike is supposed to be with us but he got sick yesterday with chicken pox. 
the city of muntinlupa is our sister city and was always been there to support our government during calamities and special projects. 

we benefited more from our premier sister city which is makati. people here are all polite and we feel warm welcome from their chief executives. makati city government help our municipality from executive trainings and schools and much more from the linkages is that we got to benefits a lot from our partnership with them. all i have to do now is to listen and take photos but i still got chance to join them in some photo opts. 

most of the time i am armed with this. tito ed is very kind enough to do all the talking and he is really the best captain of our battleship.

i get along well with the SPES babies as i travel down from the fiftyeight floor to the lobby.

corazon arranged everything in this trip and she does an awesome job.

from the premier city of manila we had our 10 hours travel to the heartland and the gateaway to ilocandia and the cordilleras. the city of arts and culture. and the renowned producer of the WORLD's BIGGEST CALAMAY. my father's hometown, candon city.

we had our nice stay and breakfast at the staylite hotel here. ninang ada is also on board too. im glad that she takes care of me and had given me the love away from home.

i wasnt able to visit my grandma since i am at work and

 i really dont have much time for our schedule is fix.

the staylite hotel is cozy and i really feel at home too.

and  they too i guess. we got a lot of discounts here.

kuya gani took this shot for me and kuya edwin. kuya gani drives tito ed fortuner of which me, corazon and ate phing are boarded. 

i have told you once that in my bloodline runs a true blood of ilocos rulers so here i am with the city mayor of candon city ilocos sur. hes an MD and he is my uncle erickson! 

and me with apo alfonso the city vice mayor of candon city ilocos sur. apo cant walk that long he got a cane with him during my visit. 

me with the city apo vice mayor and one of his employee he told me were cousins but i dont seem to remember him that day. but it doesnt matter our eyes and body built could tell.

we roam around  the new city hall and its really big and beautiful. all eyes all smiles.

i call him apo shot since he is using the same camera as me. we had this shot when we visit the city's ecological park. the weather is so hot that day but i still enjoy our ride. going to vigan i had to tell kuya gani to stop the car at the gas station because i dont feel ok. i hd vomit a lot because of the food i take in at the city hall. the sticky rice cakes is not good for me while travelling. my head hurts like crazy but thanks heaven to rapidol and gatorade before we hit vigan i am all back to me.

we arrived at the hidden garden and have our lunch there. the weather is forty degrees but the gatorade really refreshes me. ate phing is a first timer her so she enjoys more her time.

tito ed lead these lady's to the bonsai trees. as i have told you in my last post this place hids all the bonsai trees in the world and they all love to take a pose here.

i have always enjoy this trip from the very beginning so no matter what other matters pop in im still enjoying it the most. 

the hidden garden is still the same since last month the only difference now is the weather because it is more hot in here.

picking up these plant reminds me of the plants  i have back home who used to survive by their own means and all. i am no green thumb so its a no-no for me.

i want to bring these home but i bet it wont survive in our trip.

ninang ada took this shot for me. 

me and ninang ada. she really is a great ninang.

 twice i have discover what's inside this hidden garden of vigan and i so love coming back here. i so love the buko shake and malaga fish.

i didnt see this on my last visit so its nice to take a pose here with the buddha at daylight. 

the calesa ride always amaze me and i still fall asleep riding it.

we explore more in the mestizo district and had a chance to visit the museum.

we do this right after our lunch at the hidden garden and god it was so hot.

we get to explore for a minimal amount the house of floro crisologo.

all inside his old antique house.

and i am right all of the previous locales here live a prestigious life.

i wonder how it feels to ride in these calesa. 

and much more awesomeness to this carruaje! how many horse carried a carruaje?

their house is as grandiose as in berlin. all shiny and made of first class wood but i dont like the kind of restroom they are using before its not that good. 

i asked a tourist to shot this for me. i am way far from my friends.

ate phing and i enjoy most of our time here. we took a lot of pictures here. i am still amazed of the windows and walls and the best craftsmanship. 

i had this perfect time today to take a pose here. i love that since summer is getting over standing here and take pose doenst take that long. 

ate phing and i really enjoy our trip.

we headed to the car with kuya gani and move to the church to pray for a safe trip to pagudpud. we had a very long travel to laoag and pagudpud.

traveling for 1200 km away from home we have reached laoag at midnight. its nice to wake up in the seashore. this is my very first step in the sand of saud beach. it is one of the well-known beach resort in the northwest of luzon, located at in Pagudpud , Ilocos Norte. its 

ate phing and i welcome the daylight at the beach.

the water at saud beach has different taste from all the beaches ive been.

the big waves is so perfect for surfing. overlooking the bangui windmills i said goodmorning to mom and lao here.

since this is our very first time at saud beach ate phing and i get to swim and play and enjoy our coolest moments there. walking is good exercise and the wind is so relaxing.

we are far away from home and our office we also send our hellos to everyone back home.

the beach is so clean that it is safe to walk just bare feet without any worries of getting cuts and wounds. it is one of the best way to spend summer in the north. 

early riser get the best spot of the resort and i love taking pictures of them.

so nice that i get to experience the warm company they give me. being with them feels like a family outing too.

because its getting late now we go back to the resort of which were staying and have our breakfast.

nice to get this picture with the group at the very tip point of pagudpud.

i just love this jump.

i so love my stay and would love to go back with all the people i love here someday.

we went through with our governance visit and finally we got the chance to see the whole of pagudpud. the municipal mayor is very kind.

the municipal hall is isnt that big but i love it.

did you know that the first power generating windmill farm in southeast asia is found in ilocos? the windmills of the bangui provide 40 percent of the area’s electricity. 

i got to come so close to the giant electric fan! 

and how i wish that ivan, lao, ate joie, dudoi and father choi and come with me on my next trip and i wish to take ten thousand pictures here with them.

its so hot in here but its pretty awesome to take pictures when you lower yourself like this.

and how i wish one day we can have our camp site here too.

i take this post from kuya gani, kuya edwin, tito baler and buboi for mike who wish to come and have his selfie at the windmills.

the happy memories we all build in bangui windmills will be treasured forever and with the hope that one day a thousand windmills will stand in our very own shorelines back home.

and any travel wouldnt be complete without sipping this. i thank god for my ninang ada. she bought me this in paoay!

 we went to church as we visit the marcoses. 

as their battle cry says batac truly is a home of great leaders and im happy to be back here.

and i get to write a lot of things while waiting for our next trip. i love that i brought along with me my organizer turn diary. i get to remember all the things that had happen in my entire day.

we had our best days all together in front of mcdonalds in batac.

we visit apo marcos too and he is still sleeping after all those years. back in the days when aboeji brought me here i asked him why the apo is sleeping in a very cold room and i still asked the same now.

tito rodel take a pose with me and ninang.

 being with ninang in this trip is awesome.

 as we visit the old house of the marcoses ninang and i had agreed to wear one oneday.  the house is still the same and i do love all the portraits and masterpiece inside.

we headed to baguio in our fifth day and its freezing when we get there.

we stayed at the higlands villa and its such a great place to stay.

we just had our nice breakfast here and we headed all the way to the municipality of benguet for another good governance visit.

the warm welcome and accommodating environment of the municipality of benguet feels like heaven. i like thier strawberry jam and pandesal. 

ate phing and aunty marion are pretty much awesome to be with.

i get along well with tito ma too in this trip.

so nice that even though were all tired and sleepy the environment and the warm welcome of our visit is enough to move forward and enjoy all the moments we have.

we visit the strawberry farm in benguet of which we enjoy eating them.

i so love all the pictures i get during this trip.

tito aba is so funny and we enjoy taking pictures together.

hes got to be best buddy in all of us in this trip. tito aba teach me a lot in photography.

the only sunflowers left during the zombie attack!

tita daisy and ninang are so gorgeous in the entire trip!

tita eden picked more strawberries and lettuce too.

this is my whole week memorable trip in the far far north make it yours too.

travel more and enjoy life. 

i thank god and our government for letting me in into this trip. i enjoyed it and dude i beg you to see it for yourself ;)