Wedding in Baguio

I have to admit that this was the most exciting wedding I had ever attended. Having not been able to get on SQ 910 in the morning, I ran around T1 and T2 trying to catch a flight to Manila as they were waiting for me at the airport. Nothing else was flying out in the morning, but I was lucky to finally get on SQ912 at 13:25pm, arriving at Ninoy at 16:55pm. Some lucky pax was upgraded to J class just so I can get on the flight.

Well, when I finally arrived, I sped through immigration and out of the airport, towards the exit of "M to Y" as instructed before. Honestly speaking, I wasnt sure if they would still be waiting for me as I was sending them emails to update them of my flight status and whether I would even get to Manila. I was even prepared to get to the city, buy my bus ticket and head to Baguio on a 6 hours bus ride. However, that proved unnecessary when I finally received Shareen's call, but not when I had already left the airport and made my way to the nearest internet cafe, when I did not see them amidst the throng of people at the waiting point. I finally met them at KFC.

Ok, now that the first leg of the trip was done, I was up for a 6 hours ride from Manila to Baguio, winding through mountains and arriving at the "City of Pines" at 1:30am. This summer retreat place of the American army is vastly different from Manila. While the latter is busy, BKK like in nature, polluted and lined with huge advertising bill boards, Baguio is blessed with a much cooler wheather, fresher air up on higher grounds and quieter. But I could only appreciate it all the very next day, for the whole day of travelling made me K.O instantly.

Friday, 28th March, 7:30am. I woke up to fresh air and familiar faces. I was greeted warmly by Mr and Mrs Nato and it was so good to see them again after 3 years. The warm smiles and big hug all made me feel welcomed and to top it all, we had a great day of visiting Baguio.

I think I enjoyed my time in SM Baguio the most. It sits nicely on top of a hill and has a great view overlooking the city. Wheather was great, cool and the sun was warm. You can sit outside the numerous cafes and enjoy the sun over a cup of coffee and company of friends. Nice place.

All this was done after settling my return ticket. Though I managed to get to Philippines, I was less sure that I would get on a flight back home on Sunday as 919 was already -20. Managed to find a flight back, coincidentally on 919, and of all places in a small little travel agent in SM Baguio. I still couldn't believe that it could offer me a seat on a flight that was already heavily overbooked. I must admit that I had my doubts, very dubious arrangment by the travel agent just to issue an e-ticket. But at least, it was better than my sub-load ticket.

Having settled all of that, we began preparing for the wedding with a rehearsal at St Joseph's Church. The couple was rather stressed out and kept thanking me for being there for they were not sure if the choir would turn up.

That proved unncessary as the three man choir did a great job the next day. The duo sang beautifully and I was pleasantly surprised that they pulled it off with only 2 people. It was quite a dramatic mass cos the bride almost fainted. Shareen kept fanning Edlyn just so she could breathe more easily. Good thing that Edlyn made it through , but it was apparent that she was very tired by the end of the mass. What moved me most were the vows that were exchanged. I got to say that there were some emotional points throughout the wedding day. Lots of emotionsa and love floating around the air, and I just had to take it all in. It's not everyday that you get to feel that way, and it felt very special as I have not experienced this in a long time. Felt love.

So anyway, I left Manila on Sunday after a nice journey on the bus, watching a funny movie and admiring rural philippines from Baguio. I was rushing to the airport, just so I can check in early and confirm a boarding pass for I desperately needed to get back, not least HDS tore me apart the next day if I was not back in ALH. Bade farewell to Rochelle and Harold, passed immigration and headed straight to boarding gate 6. Felt relieved just to be there, waiting for the return leg of the journey.

Loved the trip, thinking of heading up to Boracay soon.

Travel Updates

1996 - Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway
1998 - Australia
1999 - Australia
2000- S. Korea
2003- Australia
2004- Japan, Italy, Thailand
2005- France, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Greece, Austria,
Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco
2006-China, New Zealand, Australia
2007-Turkey, Egypt
2008-Philippines, Italy, Switzerland, France

Quick update of events since September.

October - A380 welcome event, got to go onboard the aircraft and sleep on the suites.

November - SIN Sales Attachment

December - Standchart Marathon, STAC Retreat, Christmas carolling at Grand Roxy, 2008 count down

Been a great year, so many things to be thankful for (in no particular order) :

Grad Trip
Graduation
Job
STAC
Family
Close friends
God
Challenges

Thanks for all the laughter. In retrospect, it has been challenging, but it is exciting and rewarding to have been part of it all.

More challenges ahead, looking forward to 2008.

e-Champs meeting is finally over. Have been kept busy running around the place; taking minutes, preparing for presentations, meeting guest speakers, catering for meals, arranging transport for our overseas stations, you name it, i've covered it, and it ddn't help that the big bosses were around, watching you the whole time. I guess I did what I could without getting too affected by their presence, just making sure that the event ran as smoothly as possible. I definitely could have done with more food, felt so tired after the first day, only to realise that I still had to run the one-man show despite running a temperature. I totally K.Oed on Friday night, having missed the Novena. Just couldn't find the energy to pump it up, not when I was having a splitting headache and had to take the hour long bus from ALH, after clearing up the event and heading back to office first to dump all the stuff. The coming week will be filled with more follow up actions, need to prepare to fight another battle.

I wanted so much to just say home on Saturday morning to rest, but had to play for this wedding mass at Sacred Heart. Haven't played in so long, felt good to be able to play again, especially when people come up to you and tell you that they appreciate your music. I managed to pull off Pachabel's Canon in D without any score, I totally forgot that it was supposed to be used for the processional wedding march. Phew! Otherwise, I will have to ask Melvin to sing it out which i'm sure he can since he is so drama rama. Funny that Selena Tan from Dim Sum dollies should come up to me and ask me where the toilet was located. So funny to see her in person. Everything well went for the mass, and I believe I deserve a bonus, I shall charge more in future. Saturday night was nice, finally had a time to chill after a long week. Bliss is a nice chill out place to unwind, dont have a picture now, but will post next time when possible. Weather was good, company was fun, food and drink was yummy, what else can uncle sam ask for. Pity that Geri couldn't join us, I wanted to check out her flat tummy, cos Anne said that she lost her "tum tum". Drank "Sacred Hill" wine with Leonard and Anne, not bad. Twisty beef was out, so we had to settle for deep fried chicken skin, thanks to Leo. Funny that Anne should say eating that would go straight to the thighs, she is one funny character lah. Was telling her that she should consider running for MP in her constituency, and we will get all those of voting age from STAC to go vote for her, considering that she always has something to say, otherwise she will suffer from internal injury if her opinions are not expressed.

Feast day. Mass was good, felt quite high during the principal mass at 11am.

It's been a good weekend. Kambate for the coming week.