At home, I am always up as early as 4AM, and this day was no exception. I opted to watch television instead because it would be not good for me to sleep again. Because we have no cable television at home, I just watched the Animal Planet, which is what I always watch whenever I am at a place that has cable television.
The hotel didn't have a nice view, but I managed to get a shot of the sunrise from afar. Good thing the hotel windows can be opened. Today was the start of many things to do for K and I, and I think we both made it clear the night before that whatever happens, we would be strong for each other, and we would try to overcome differences that we would encounter along the way.
Breakfast was courtesy of the hotel, and I had "bangsilog" - bangus, sinangag, itlog or fried milkfish, fried rice and sunny side up eggs. I know this day would be long for us and I need to stock up on carbo and proteins (whatever) to help me get through the day. While eating, we realized it's raining, and it kinda ruined the mood, but we decided to push through with what's planned for this day. After eating, we checked out of the hotel (because check out time was at 12NN and we might not be able to check out on time). We just left our luggages at the hotel for a while and we promised to be back by dinner time to collect the luggages.
First stop for this day was the La Loma Church in Caloocan City. I live in the same city, but this city is so big that it's divided into two, and I so happen to live in the other part. I certainly don't know how to get to the cemetery, but thanks to that very helpful cemetery staff, I was able to know how to get there. Taking the jeepney from the hotel, we took the LRT where we got off at the 5th Avenue station. While waiting for the train in Pedro Gil station, K asked the security guard if it's possible to take pictures and the guard said no. I told K that the LRT people are very paranoid when it comes to cameras and all that because there was a tragedy that happened a few years ago. I still managed to capture an image, though, using my cell phone. Well, the guard didn't really know I was taking a picture, and I am not a bad person. I just wanted a picture.
Anyway, it's still raining when we got to the cemetery, good thing I had my umbrella and K had a hooded coat and a hat. At least I wouldn't be worried with both of us getting sick, because one of the things I surely hope that won't happen would be the two of us getting sick. We will be together for 10 days, and if we get sick, not only would it ruin our holiday, I might also have a hard time getting in touch with the family who lives halfway around the world.So why are we at a cemetery? Both of us don't know anyone buried there, but K told me a story and this cemetery has some kind of connection with the character in the story, and K requested if we could go here. It would be my first time there, so why not? The cemetery is big and has lots of sections, and of course our cameras just took pictures after pictures. The rain stopped after about an hour that we were there, so we decided to carry on with the day. Something quite bad happened when we were getting back to the LRT station; we took the tricycle from the cemetery, and as K got out I thought K fainted! Turns out, the opening of the tricycle was too low for a tall person, and K's back slammed into the opening. I got so worried because I thought it was the back of the head (nape) that was hit! I know K was in pain, but I am happy that it was nothing serious.
Next stop for the day was the Luneta Park, but the rain fell again! Our feet were soaking wet, and we can't even roam around the park to take pictures, but in the park, we saw this old, abandoned food kiosk and we decided to lounge for a while. The rain was changing our plans, and if the rain would not stop, we might cancel the iteneraries for this day and just do it on the last day. Around 12NN, we walked to Chowking to eat lunch, and I could call the poor service a blessing in disguise, because we actually waited an awful long time for our food to be served, and just a few moments after we finished eating, I noticed that the rains have stopped.
And we were smiling ear to ear because it would mean we could carry on with the day as planned. We wanted to check the Orchidarium, but sadly it was closed indefinitely because they were renovating it. We just went on to check the Japanese and the Chinese gardens, where we lounged at to kill time. I have been in Luneta Park several times, but I was always walking on the right lane going to Rizal's Monument, and this time K and I explored as much of the park as possible. Seeing the sights from the left lane was a good decision because certainly, it was the first time I've seen the other sculptures and surprise, I finally was able to the see the "Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil" monkeys! Thank you, K!
By 5:30PM we went back to Robinson's Place Manila to eat dinner. We ate at Chef D'Angelo where I had the Chef Sampler (pizza, pasta, chicken) and K had the garlic mushroom burger. From there, we walked back to the hotel to gather our luggages. We took the taxi from the hotel to the Viron Transit in Cubao, Quezon where we will be taking the bus going to Vigan. The taxi ride was so nice because I was able to show K the hospital where I was born (DeLos Santos Hospital). We waited until 9:00PM before the bus took off, and we basically slept during the ride.Day two was much better than yesterday. Feet tired, but happy.
*** Jenn ***
