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.

I’m still surprised why I support these huge monster businesses.  This morning, since I arrived early to school at 7 am, I decided to have breakfast at McDonald’s.  I had a nice Hamdesal (Ham for American and desal from pandesal for Filipino).  Right after that, I had a warm short mocha, which reminds me of the day when I was studying in Seattle several years ago.

I would rather support mom and pop stores, but they are nowhere to be found here.  There is a Jolly Jeep behind Manila Bank, where I work, but the staff got sick there a few months ago on a hot Saturday.  Vin was sent to the hospital with several thousands of pesos for his medical bill.  Mia suffered regurgitation in front of a freshly cleaned toilet bowl, not to mention a heart-stopping kiss the floor dance at the school.  Me, I only had rashes on my arms and neck.  No more Jolly Jeep since that day.

McDonalds and Starbucks, both major American businesses, are already taking over the world.  I call it the McDonaldsization of the world, and now, the Starbucksification.  I have heard of the former term used before, but I haven’t heard of the latter yet.  Philippines, for sure is suffering a Starbucksification.

Perhaps it’s the convenience.  Both establishments are just around the corner.  Perhaps it’s the comfortable sofas and air conditioned rooms.  I must resist.  And in my resistance, I shall not put their logos here.  But then again, I have already mentioned their names here.