super long vacation - the trip

I have been planning this vacation for a long time. Although there were major changes in my original plan, I was still pretty certain that my trip to Manila will push through. And it did. After a few obstacles, I was able to secure a ticket to and from Manila. My planned vacation in North Luzon may not materialize at all but there is no way I'm missing the second MSV EB. The itinerary may have changed but the schedule remains the same, fifteen days away from the office. Yippee!!

My original departure date was supposed to be in the afternoon of the 20th of October. However, Superferry 1 got delayed and the departure date was moved to the noon of the 21st. It was so frustrating when I got to the port and found out that I won't be able to leave until the next day. I was very excited to get to Manila and was dying to get away from Dumaguete for a while. Don't get me wrong, I love the place, but every now and then I have to get away in order to get some breathing space. Well, that's another story. 

Anyway, back to my trip.  I left home early and spent the morning sitting in McDonalds over a ham pandesal and brewed coffee while I worked on my part time job. It was a very stressful morning though. My employer was pressing me to send the articles for like, every ten minutes and I can't because McDonalds' wifi connection chose that particular day to go down. It was a good thing I still had a little balance left on my smartbro plug-it. 

After that, i went straight to the pier, deposited my tactical knife, Miguelito to the security and went on board. After a quick lunch of egg sandwich and red tea which cost more than their usual price, I opted to go to sleep. I haven't had a decent sleep for the past days and I was looking forward to some time to rest. I managed to get a little bit of shut eye only to be awaken by a crying baby and boisterous laughing from flirting couples. <rolls eyes>, a situation I had to endure the entire trip. 

I spent almost the entire trip on my bunk playing games on my phone which eventually almost ran out of power. It was such a bummer to find that the ship's cellphone charging station charges five pesos for ten minutes of charging and more bummer, the freaking machine only accepts five peso coins and the freaking ship store will only change twenty pesos at a time. 

Anyway, I already started feeling a bit queasy the next morning. So much for dreaming of being in a cruise ship. It could be because of the smell of diesel when I went up to the promenade deck to watch the sunrise while I sipped coffee or because I was staring into the Toot's screen while the ship is moving. I just slept it off after I finished my assignments. 

The ship's crew informed us that we will be arriving in Manila two hours earlier than scheduled. Ate Jette already told me in advance that taking a taxi from the South Harbor where we docked is not a good idea as the roads are being repaired and traffic is a killer. Relying on the directions she gave I took a jeepney to Quiapo and another jeepney bound for Frisco. I so freaking hate the traffic. And the weather is not good, too. It was hot and sunny when we docked but by the time I got to Frisco the rain was already pouring. Talk about climate change. 

After a couple of hours resting, Ate Jette and I went to her alma mater UP Diliman. I wondered if I could ever get to study there. Anyway, we went to SM North after, had dinner at Teriyaki Boy, bought some bread at Bread Talk, window shopped for a while at Precious Pages and then home. 

Well, it's still day one in Manila. Hopefully I won't be bombarded that much with the usual work-related stuff during my stay here, vacation nga eh.