HOT racers

It was time for our annual "cousin" race which we hold during the holiday season. Having moved to a bigger & better location the track at the Speedzone at the Fort is a longer course & a lot tougher compared to the one along Marcos highway. Becky was the only newbie driver in the group, but still managed to enjoy herself despite driving really slow. Esther came out on top while yours truly was 2nd place. Not bad huh!

Preparing to knee board

Balay Indang - Home away from home

Picturesque view at Balay Indang Bed & Breakfast

After discovering the wonder that is balay Indang Bed & Breakfast the week before, we (cousins) decided to do an overnighter on the 30th courtesy of Uncle Wilson & Aunt Beth, we would like to say that they invited us, but in truth we sorta invited ourselves, luckily there weren't any guests booked for that night. We decided to go wakeboarding first in Calatagan then head back to Indang by dinner time. Upon reaching Balay, you will instantly feel at home. The place looks so serene, so relaxing. If you really wnat to getaway from the hustle & bustle of city life even for just a weekend, this is really the palce to go. The food that they served us was really fresh, the salad greens we were informed came from their own gardens, yes it was simple fare but everything was really good. Email me for anyone interested in experiencing the place. The prices are very reasonable.

Stamps anyone?

It was almost like a scene from a Harry Potter book where Harry recieves mail from his best friend Ron who as most people know is unfamiliar with the "muggle" form of using stamps to send mail, so to Harry's surprise he gets this envelope that is completely covered with stamps since his friend didn't know how much stamps he would need. So just imagine the shock I got when I recieved this huge package from Mr. & Mrs. Mancino!!! The 1st shock was who would be sending me such a huge package. 2nd was the fact that it was even delivered by the postman, I mean that has never ever ever happened in Philippine postal history, you would usually get a claim card saying you had to pickup your package at the post office especially with such a big package. 3rd was that the postman even left an official receipt charging me only 30 pesos (for what, I have no idea, I'm assuming transportation or effort) AND that he would leave the receipt and come back for the payment the next day (that normally would never happen). 4th was the number of stamps on the package, there was 140 of them, they almost covered the entire package already. And finally of course was the content of the package which contained a framed copy of a painting done by their eldest son Frank which they wanted to give to me as a thank you for the wedding video I sent them. It was really so sweet of them.

Congratulations Edgar & Daphne!

Diving buddy Edgar finally took the marital plunge when he exchanged vows with longtime sweetheart Daphne last Saturday Dec. 11. Since it was a work day for me I couldn't attend the ceremony & opted instead for the reception at the New World Hotel. Everything was very organized & and I just loved all the flowers that they used! Each table had a different centerpiece which was a nice idea, unfortunately the tables were not very big so most of the centerpieces had to be set aside on the floor so that the different dishes could have a place on the table, or maybe the flower arrangements were a tad too big for the said tables, a fact which the florist should have taken into account. The night would have been perfect if not for the presence of the hired emcee, Michael Lim. I just cannot stand this guy, as soon as I saw his face I was dreading having to sit through a couple of hours hearing him talk & sing! UGH!

Hawaiian escapade 2004

hawaii group
Here's an excellent photo taken by Arnel G. while we were doing some sightseeing in and around of Oahu during our short Hawaiian escapade.

4 Williams & a wedding!

It's official!

Bride's family picture

Bride & Groom's Family

For all you who have been clamoring for me to update my blog ASAP, well here I am back again. The past couple of weeks have been kind of busy & stressful what with my sister's wedding, my dead toe & my christmas basket project all happening at the same time, who has time to blog! Hopefully now that things are back to normal I can get back to my usual routine. I have posted a couple of images from the wedding to appease some of you out there who are just dying to see them. Please give me a few more days for the others, there are hundreds of pictures for me to edit before they are ready to be viewed. I just finished doing the 15 minute video which will hopefully arrive in time for it to be seen by by friends & family of the Mancino's back in New Jersey, I call it the "Hawaiian wedding-New Jersey Cut", I'm planning to do a "Philippine Cut" and of course the official "Director's Cut".