Channeling My Inner Dragon Part 2: February

As I patiently waited for breakfast, I was also able to do this: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So, big things happened in February. One of which is that I started working on my first goal of this year which is saving. Hence, I applied for a retirement plan. [Sounds very adult, noh?] I want to make sure that when I am old, I can definitely fend for myself. I would appreciate help from my future kids but I'd not want to be a burden. Yes, it does seem like a bill now but I have seen people who are not prepared and trust me it is NOT pretty. Of course, I will also still be working on my life savings.

Another of which is that I bought furniture and let me tell you it was definitely fun. [That sounded old.] I got a bookshelf, chair and closet. I rearranged my side of the room and I find it more organized. I am definitely enjoying my current space more than I used to.

View from my bed (top bunk)

My bed and the bookshelf created a bedside table

My space

Let's move on to the not too adult things. We also finally gathered as a team and I was finally able to introduce Arckham to my new Work Family. We had dinner at Hyphy's which by the way is by Chef Bruce Lim which Arckham and I are not too fond of. Props though since we liked the food. We also were able to bond with Jenn and her husband over drinks. Let me just say that I admire this woman a lot more now.

The next day, Arckham and I joined one of our friend's at the 2012 Pyromusical Competition. Mainly for me to practice photography. I enjoyed it a lot since Fritz was there to teach me how. We got gold tickets to make sure that we would be seaside. Not too many great shots but it was pretty good for my first fireworks shoot.

We were able to see Spain and Britain battle it out. I voted for España mainly due to their Ode to Joy part. [Wow, didn't know blogger had their own video hosting but then again, Google has YouTube.] Here's a short video on that one:

Just before the month ended, I took a few days away from the Metro to celebrate my brother's birthday back in Baguio and also to use my remaining leave credits left over from last year. :P Little did I know that Panagbenga (the Baguio Flower Festival) would coincide with my weekend getaway which turned it to the exact opposite. I was headed to where all the people were headed and I really don't like that. Anyway, I had to circumvent to get to Baguio so I decided to take the Partas Busline instead of Victory [which everyone took] and stopped over at La Union before heading up to Baguio. I think it was meant to be since I was able to catch the deluxe bus. Super comfy seats for the win!

In Transit Snack and Comfy chair made the side trip worth it.

Though that first day back in Baguio was not very good for customer service. I know it's peak season since there are a lot  of people coming in got the Festival but quality of work should not diminish. Strike 1: Kris and I met up with the Bookclub in Gecko. There I ordered the apple pie that took 6 follow ups to get to me and roughly 1.5 hours. When we told them that I'd rather cancel cause we decided to have dinner already was the only time they rush ed to serve it. Strike 2: We were in a diner in Session Road though I can't remember the name of the place. [It's at the left side going down at the entrance of La Azotea] Service was slow but that wasn't the problem. Kris' chicken was undercooked and bloody and we wanted the dish changed as is standard. Oh but the chef said that since he started eating the dish already they would no longer replace it. Fine. So we asked them to change the chicken. They offered to take the chicken and refry it. That was the last straw, I mean c'mon Kris is one hell of a whiz in the kitchen and Jake is a HRM graduate. The one thing I learned in UP is my consumer rights [got 1 for that class too]. So we asked to see the manager. They still only changed the chicken. Strike 3: So after that Kris and I decided to drop my stuff off at my dad's place and go have coffee in Kaffee Klatsch. I really liked this place until I found out how illogical they have become and the music has changed as well. Once Kris and I got there, they told us we weren't allowed to sit in the smoking area cause there were only 2 of us. [Yup read that again] So we insisted and asked nicely and the waitress acts like fixing us a spot was her doing a  big favor for us. This really pissed me off since I used to go to this place on my own and had no problems with sitting anywhere. Let me just say that this is one huge AFI for Baguio restaurants. I recommend places to my friends here in Manila and I fear they now think I'm an idiot and don't know good service.

Good friend's that stuck through bad service.

Food from that diner place. It wasn't too bad it was just the service.

An improvement in Klatsch but doesn't excuse bad service.

The second day was decidedly better. I had lunch with Lor in a place called Zio's along Leonard Wood Road. Awesome food, clean place, affordable rates and pretty good service. I think I should stick to NOT eating in Session Road. Then I headed off to this Comic Convention some good friends invited me to check out. It was definitely not what I expected. Gerry Alanguilan was suppose to be there but he cancelled since the organizers moved the dates last minute. So another AFI would be event organization. It was not so much of a convention and more like an org gathering. Lor and I felt pretty left out. Since I took more pictures of Lor than anything else then that should tell you something. Though what I really liked is seeing two of my most favorite people in the world, which made attending all worth it. Oh and seeing Lara all in love and meeting her new boyfriend. :P

Zio's

Awesome siblings I love

Of course, after that I had dinner with my family which was nice. It was nice to see my little cousins and my Grandmother. It's in these times that I wish my family was okay and I can just go see my siblings whenever I want too. Anyway, I wanted to have some drinks and so I reached out to people and my childhood friends decide that it's a good idea to meet up. We met at Pizza Hut and headed to Citilights for drinks. Let me just warn you guys to bring cash when you head there. They're credit card service isn't star worthy the drinks were though. It's a good thing we had cash on us. [It's not my card with the problem, I used it the next day in SM and it was fine.] Oh well, it was nice hanging out with Ave and Jena's new boyfriend. [Apparently, it's meeting the boyfriend day for me.]

From diapers to now. 2 decades of friendship right here.

My last day was definitely the best. I was able to spend so much time with my siblings and celebrated my brother's birthday. I had lunch 3 times that day too. Lunch 1 was in Jay-j's Inasal in Legarda for my tall brother's birthday! He's 18 already. Then Lunch 2 was in Happy Tummy where my tummy was definitely made happy. I introduced Meg and Jonas so that they can work their IT powers on some project. Jonas so knows the best places to eat. Lunch 3 was watching Jake eat at Brother's Burger in John Hay. Meg and I hung out at Manor and had dessert. Lastly, just before I was to board the bus. I was able to see my siblings one last time. So all in all a good day.

All gangster like :P

Happy at Happy Tummy

The fish was heaven!

With my brothers. I love you guys.

So yeah, February brought out the dragon in me. Text heavy and picture heavy, I did mention that this would be the case until the next post right? I hope you enjoyed the long read though.