We had a seminar in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya at Saint Mary’s University twice already; the last one this past December.  We stayed at the Highlander Hotel, a modest, but the best hotel, in Bayombong.  The walls are dark pink with Venetian style portraits of Filipino life.  It’s a really weird interior design, but it’s the best one Bayombong has to offer.

Vin had his shirt ironed the next morning so that he can look very presentable for this seminar, but a crew member burnt the collar.  All she said was sorry and that they will not be charging us for it.  Weird.  That shirt cost more than Php 1,500.  At the end of the day, they gave a 5% discount on our stay there.  So they ruined a 1500-peso shirt, and we saved about Php 100 on the hotel.  Do your mathematics!

The rooms may be the best, but their service definitely sucks!  At least we slept well the night before.

Last November 16, 2008 (wow that’s two month’s ago!), we went to Tagaytay (just the Specialists) so that we can simply relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Our first stop was at Jing’s house for breakfast.  We coerced Jing and her family to make some yummy breakfast for us. We had rice (of course), scrambled eggs, hot dogs, spam, and fish.  If any of you want some free conversational English lessons, you can invite us to have a meal with you as well.  Hehe.

Before we headed to our destinations, we took some time to pose in front of Jing’s relative’s house.  It was a perfect day because the clouds above kept the weather cool, but soon disappeared as the day progressed.  Where am I?  I’m taking the pictures!

Our first destination was at a coffee shop called Bag of Beans and had our lunch there.  We met a talking parrot there.  If you like a forest blending into the city ambiance, this is the place to go.  It’s small and modest place, but the food is good.

Then we headed to People’s Palace in the Sky, an abandoned building set atop the highest point in Tagaytay.  It’s a beautiful location with lots of potential, but since the Marcos regime has been toppled, no one has taken good care of it.  What a shame!  The location is so perfect.

We were surrounded by fog.

We ended up at the beautiful Sonia’s Garden; Carmen knows Sonia, and we had an opportunity to meet the owner and visionary of the garden and two of her eager dogs.  Whenever I heard Tagaytay before, someone always made a reference to Sonia’s Garden.  She was a very pleasant woman.

We strolled, took pictures, shared stories, and ate some delicious cookies freshly baked in one of their establishments.  Yummy!  Our trip was a mellow one, and it was a great day to relax with the AIEP Specialists.

Last night, Carmen, Vin, our student Erica and her friend Daniel, both from Korea, went to Greenhills to eat and watch a movie.  I thought I would hang out with them since I was fully recuperated from a busy and exhausting week.  We ate at Burgoo’s and watched Eagle Eye at 10:35.

First, I couldn’t believe how expensive watching a movie is now.  We paid Php 180 each.  Only the rich can afford watching movies now.  How sad.  That’s probably the reason why most people would rather buy pirated DVD’s.

What is an “eagle eye”?  The bird’s eye view is a view from the top, wherein the bird can see many things.  The eagle’s eye is much sharper than a typical bird, and therefore, it’s eye view is magnified and is much better.  The eagle eye in the movie is a sophisticated government computer program that has begun to take control of any thing that is electronically wired.  It is programmed to protect the United States.  Ironically, to protect the US, it must also destroy.

Moral dilemmas abound in this film. It was worth the Php 180.  It was great to hang out with Carmen, Vin, Erica, and Daniel as well.  It’s nice to hang out with a different crew once in a while.  Have you seen this movie?  What do you think?