Day 6 and 7 of PH Vacation. Jomar's Hometown

By Celine -
This post is first of my PH vacation series:


It's Thursday - our 6th day in the Philippines and our goal for today is meet friends in the morning and off to Jomar's hometown of Naic, Cavite to spend more time with his family.

Breakfast with College Best Friend

If you've been reading my blog (I don't think anyone does), I'm consistent with the people I meet. The last time I went back to Manila, I met exactly the same set of friends. I don't have a lot of friends (like my sister, Therese or my dad) but the ones I have, I treasure dearly.

I had breakfast with my college best friend, Joanne. We went to the Pancake House at Robinson's Place - Otis. It's amazing to catch up with her and talk about career, engagement, wedding, and marriage.

With my college best friend, Joanne

Joanne and I spent 4 hours (from 9 am to 1 pm) just catching up. I'm so glad Pancake House is not busy and they didn't kick us out. Meanwhile, Jomar had breakfast and lunch with Alvin Chan (one of the Community Friends who kept in touch with us all these years).

Heading to Naic, Cavite

After brunch, Alvin dropped us off at Mall of Asia terminal. I saw a Kwek-Kwek stall and just had to eat some before boarding a public van. 


Jomar and I paid for a whole row (for 4 people) of the van which we took up to Tanza, Cavite where we transferred to an air-conditioned bus. 

Inside of the van

Taking public transportation wasn't that bad because it's not rush hour but it reminded me of why leaving the Philippines was the right decision.

Friends

We arrived in Naic at around 3:30 PM. We rested for a bit and played with Jhaira (our niece). Jomar scheduled to meet all his godchildren (inaanak). We were able to meet 4 of them - Ela, Rafaela, Kattlynne, and Kiel. 


It's always nice to meet Jomar's friends from college and all their adorable kids.

This is Kattlynne. She's 3 and we had fun building a "tower" out of bottles on the table. She looks so fascinated and proud of what we did.

Dinner with Jomar's mentor

After an hour or so, we had dinner with Jomar's mentor, Ma'am Pil. She's an inspiration and served as Jomar's mentor during his college years. She's well-loved by all her student for her honesty and genuine care for them.

Ma'am Pil and Rafaela

Family

After dinner, we spent the night in Jossel and Rose's home. We were exchanging stories with Nanay and Tatay until 11:00 pm. The following day, I woke at 6:00 am to Tatay buying pandesal and Nanay informing us that Jossel and Rose just left for work (it's a Friday).

View from the balcony.

Jhaira just woke up and we were enjoying the sunrise on their balcony. I spent the morning playing with Jhaira. She fell asleep in my lap and while she sleeps, Tatay and I were discussing married life in Canada for me and Jomar. On the other hand, Jomar spent the time talking to Shelly while Nanay was cooking lunch.

Our favourite and only niece!

After a couple of hours, I took a quick shower and was preparing to leave. The hours we spent in Cavite is always great. I leave with so much love - saying goodbye to Jhaira is tough. Though, I am glad that we're coming back in less than 5 months for the wedding.

Back in Manila

We arrived back in Manila at around 3:00 pm and was able to rest (I even took a nap) before dinner with our O&B friends.

Dinner with O&B Friends

Jomar and I met at O&B (the first company I worked for out of university). We met our friends and former colleagues to have late dinner at Eat Fresh Hong Kong Famous Street Food.

With Jewel, Carlo, and Panda

We arrived back at our hotel at 1 in the morning. Time to sleep for another long day (Saturday).

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