MANILA TRIP - OCTOBER 2007

Last October 15 2007 we flew to manila to arrange our wedding for september 2008.. and god.. it was the most exhausting 2 weeks of my life! we flew via china airlines and spent a night in Taipei for transit.. a bit disappointing because we thought that the transit hotel was near the city.. sa bundok pala! hehe! so we were put off to stay another night in taiwan on our way back to sydney...

DAY 1 - arival sa manila (october 16)

we we're fetched by my lolo and lola and our family friend who drove us around to Fernbrook. First day palang banat na agad sa pag meet ng suppliers!!! hehe!! ganyan tlga dahil 2 weeks lang and we have to maximize our time :) we dropped off our stuff at Makati Palace where we stayed for 4 nights (which is along a dodgy strip :( didnt know that though.. ) met my friends at Rockwell, had lunch at jollibee..yum! and then headed off to Fernbrook Gardens Alabang. It was a very very long ride because we got lost a few times but actually the location is not that bad at all :) it's just past alabang town centre and located on the main road.. It is actually situated on one of the subdivisions called "Portofino South".

When we got there medyo na-shock kme because it's not yet finished and they're having their first wedding on nov 30.. we met Sir Mike and he told us all about the construction.. they are constructing the site 24hours a day! they have so many builders there and everyone's working the whole time. He's very accommodating imagine late na kme dumating pero he toured us around the venue kahit hindi pa tapos and gave us a really good picture of how the place will look like once it's finished.

We love the venue! kahit hindi pa tapos! hehe! loved the layout.. the space.. and everything! this is it! VENUE - BOOKED! we drove back to qc to meet Lovely Alvarez our account executive for this venue and we paid the downpayment already. Buti nalang din andun yung ScentaFlora.. FLOWERS - BOOKED! we just got the basic package since mukhang ok nmn ung mga basic arrangements nila and we dont want to spend too much na.

After fernwood, i visited my relatives in quezon city and jon headed off to makati with his dad. We then met again around 10pm and watched "WINK" at Bar One, Holiday Inn Ortigas..

They're amazing! They had an acoustic set-up during the gig and wow galing talaga! they are really nice people as well :) and yes WEDDING BAND - BOOKED! grabeh exhausting tlga.. first day in manila, 3 suppliers booked! :) not too bad for time management huh?! :)

DAY 2 - Jon's birthday :) ( OCTOBER 17)

as in hindi nya alam na we're preparing a surprise party for him! hehe! anyway, medyo nagulo ang plan namin for a bit kase nmn akala ko pupunta sila ng las pinas on that day to say farewell to his lola who is going to the states.. un pala wala pa ung lola nya and she's still in cabanatuan!! oh my gosh! im not prepared for a plan B! but then quick thinking tlga.. PLAN B - book the florist in the morning hehe :) kung wala ang mga bulaklak sa paligid ay mukha tlga kmeng nag-iinuman!!! hehe! meet MANG BOY MAHUSAY AND MANG JON

Believe it or not.. they are our FLORISTS! from the land of DANGWA! :) highly recommended ng fellow W@W sisters :) they're really nice people :) at nakakatawa pa tlga tong si mang boy
sabi nya nung magkasunog daw sa bahay nila eh ang una nyang iniligtas eh yung mga orders nya sa ever reliable "yellow pad" :) "binalikan ko nlng ung wife ko" hehe!!! kakatawa!! they gave us a really good deal!
ENTOURAGE FLOWERS - BOOKED!

After the trip to dangwa, we visited jon's dad's office at the Supreme Court :)

His dad handles the Office of the Clerk of Court Third Division :)

about lunchtime, anabern and i headed off to serendra to meet JM :) had lunch at one of the thai restos there! food is fab! :)

tpos nun we went back to Makati Palace, grabbed our stuff and headed to Linden Suites where I booked a 2bedroom suite for his surprise party :)
ang tagal dumating ng mga friends so we took a lot of funny photos while waiting :)

I think Jon was very very tired that day.. pano ba naman nasa mall na sila from 12nn until 8pm!!! haha!! thanks to his dad who planned the surprise party with me! :) kaya daw pala sya nagtataka baket txt ng txt ang dad nya! hihi! i was actually giving his dad instrauctions and updating him if kelan sila pupunta sa linden! grabeh effort!!! hehe :) but he was really so surprised and shocked! imagine seeing ur friends again after 8 long years :) thanks to his friend (and friend ko narin) - Nenah.. if hndi dahil sa kanya, this would not be possible also :)

Andun din ang mga barkada ko and we have a lot to celebrate tlga this day because isang dekada na kami! :) i gave them a tribute cd which i think they enjoyed watching :) it was roa's bday week too :) happy to see all of them :)

DAY 3 - plakda! (october 18)

walang nangyari sa buhay ko!! hehe!
was drinking with jon's mates until 7am i think!!! grabeh! di na ako nakabangon! the worst hangover of my life ... well jon slept around 2am and left us to party.. :( dapat we'll arrange church today but then, cant hardly move!

poor peexee have to stay with us nlng at the hotel.. slept till around 3pm then went to New Yorker for my first gown fitting.. kakahiya sa mga bridesmaids hehe i thought susukatan na sila un pala ako palang.. oh well,, we had dinner at gilligan's afterwards..

DAY 4 - time to catch up with the bookings (october 19)

at dahil nawala ang isang araw dahil sa hangover... super habol to the max sa other bookings tlga! first stop - cake tasting Hearts and Bells. Initial plan is to choose pillow cake as the design for our cake.. pero jon saw this castle cake! hehe! mas appropriate daw for the venue and for our concept sa mini me cake topper :) nasarapan sya and his dad sa butter cake so we chose this as the flavor :)

This cake is 3ft pero dummy cake na ung sa ibabaw.. sana makatikim lahat ng guests! :) they will do the cake's color based on our motif .. midnight blue and lilac :) WEDDING CAKE - BOOKED!

After the cake tasting, we booked Manila Philharmonic Orchestra's quartet :) they will play on both ceremony and reception. QUARTET - BOOKED!

We had a little break at trinoma mall :) had lunch at jollibee.. same time of the glorietta 2 explosion!!! grabeh panic ang mga frnds.. kala andun kme.. imagine we were just at gilligan's the night before it happened at strolling strolling pa kme ni kengkoley nung gabi eh kung nasabugan ang mga "fes" namen!!! edi mapanget kme sa wedding! thank god tlga.. nsa trinoma kme .. whew!

then we went to our photographer - Paul Vincent, to view his albums and upgraded our package.
after qc area, we went back to manila.. we had cocktail tasting with "the wedding avenue"
grabeh nalasing ata kme kse pagod at hndi pa nag dinner!!! hehe :) they gave us a really good deal so we booked already! :) 4hours unlimited drinks for 100 persons! dami na un! sarap ng mga cocktails and mocktails nila pati shooters! :)

BAR CATERING - BOOKED!

after this we met anabern and my ninang in Quiapo to order our wedding rings! (this is my nanay's wedding gift to us :) )

..then we went to Excelsior Spa in QC at nagparelax relax :)

the best spent peso in my life! hehe :) galing ng massage parang gsto mo dun ka na habang buhay!

i think we did well on this day! dme accomplishments! :) great time management again :)

DAY 5 - surviving pa naman... (october 20)

we checked out at makati palace and went to jon's dad's place in del pan sta. ana.. then we went to fernwood gardens for a food tasting with Josaiah's Catering.. food was superb! and gave us a really good deal! may mga freebies for on-the-spot bookings so we immediately availed their offer :) ok na kay jon so ok narin sakin :) ang kulit kse ng AE nmin si mherly! hehe :) and good deal tlga sobra! so - CATERER - BOOKED!

DAY 6 - quiet day.. (october 21)

we just went and visit my relatives in qc for lunch then went back to Jon's dad's place.. Jon's not feeling well.. so we had a rest day which is really good because we have a photoshoot the following morning :)

DAY 7 - PRENUPS @ MANDARIN (october 22)

eto na!! we cheked - in at mandarin oriental hotel in makati for our photoshoot kse nahihiya kmeng mag pose pose sa harap ng mga pipol hehe :) the room was great! staff was great! service - excellent!!! call time with paul is 1.30.. mdyo na late ng konti and we started shooting at around 2.30pm na ata.. my make-up artist looks fab!!! grabeh pag-open ko ng door i thought...hmm.. wrong room ata pinuntahan nito.. "ayen????" then sabi nya sya nga un hehe! shocked to the max eh ang pretty nya sobra! at na-confuse ako... "tsk tsk.. i thought... bading??" dala dala nya ang kanyang mga gadgets sa isang maleta! well-prepared ha! laban kung laban! :)

cguro mga half an hour n kme magkasama confused parin ako then ayen asked about same sex marriage in aussie.. ahh .. "ano ka ba tlga?? boy ka ba??" i asked.. hehe.. then it was confirmed and as in oh my gosh!!! the prettiest boy evah!!!! kakashock tlga ang ganda eh! lumalabas pa daw sya sa commercials and magazines o divah!!!!

then dumating na sila paul vincent and kuya sherwin the lightman :) (the human tripod!!!) nakakatawa tong dalawang to! :) comedy! hehe :) and then andun narin si jen and shierdan pamintuan my videographers :) so on with the shoot.. gosh jon looks fantastic! walang kaeffort effort ang pagpose! hehe! sobrang natural lang :)

for more prenup photos with paul vincent click on this link:

http://jhaxe13.multiply.com/

DAY 8 - 11 - trip to Boracay! (october 22-25)

finally! a time to spend time and relax together... :) we went to boracay and spent 3days and 2nights.. although the beach did not exceed our expectations.. (not even met it :( ) we had fun spending time together and exploring this place :) we did jetski on our first day and then went straight to bed... ZZZZzzzzzz sa sobrang pagod! :) tpos medyo maulan pa.. on the 2nd day we did island hopping, rented a bangka for 4 hours and went on the various tourist spots of the island. then we had a nice massage at mandala spa.. the place was so serene! bawal ang maingay hehe :) really a 5 star venue. had dinner at Inasal and then headed back to our hotel. medyo bitin sa massage so we asked the "Cocomanggas Girls" to do us a 1hour shiatsu! the best 450 pesos massage ever!!!

on our flight back to manila i actually planned to meet with the Church's secretary to ask for our requirements for the wedding.. unfortunately, she was fully booked that day.. sad tlga! have to do Plan B :(

anyway, that night we had dinner with anabern and visited her family as well :)

DAY 12 - (october 26)

kaya pa ng powers... hehe.. we went to BF Homes Paranaque at the Presentation of the Child Jesus Parish to speak with Ms. Gigi about the requirements for our wedding ceremony.. and oh my gosh, it was a lot of paper works talaga! she said that this would ensure security for both parties if ever there was previous marriages on either side.. have to work on this..really hard .. then Jon have to go to Cabanatuan to visit his relatives.. sayang nga hindi na ako nakasama

because of my gown fitting with new yorker .. i visited qc after paranaque then went to see peexee afterwars at Lourdes Church in La Loma, and then went straight to Makati!!! walang taxi na magsakay sakin from qc to makati huhu! i think that was already 4pm.. starting na ang rush hour... and nag MRT ako!!! hoooray!!! i arrived at New Yorker on time! :) had my fitting with the actual material for my wedding dress and i absolutely loved it!

I met with ana and jm afterwards.. wala ng time to freshen up sa hotel so we just shopped for fresh clothes! haha! gosh.. the queue for taxi eh kasing haba ng EDSA!!!! ang plan - pumunta sa Intercontinental Hotel for a sip and then ask the bellboy for a taxi! worked well :) we had a taxi in no time.. but gosh, we were shocked at our bill @ Jeepney Resto - P900 pesoses para sa tatlong malamig na inumin!!!! as in watermelon, apple, and mango juice! whew! anyway, at least nakarating kme @ Club Mwah on time! hehe!

We had a fun night out at Club Mwah!!! highly recommended! the best 500peso entertainment in manila! fab musical productions tlga! galing ng mga set and props at mga costumes! ang sesexy ng mga gays! :) we'll go back again next year!!!

DAY 13 - (october 27)

I visited my relatives in qc for lunch this day. Ghie also arrived in manila so we had dinner at their resto in greenhills - Mexicali.

DAY 14 - (october 28)

Visited qc for the last time.. also got the wedding rings!!! so beautiful! it's in white gold with 3pts of diamond :)

I had my 2nd fitting at New Yorker today :) I'm impressed with their production time! Tina wants me to see my wedding gown with some of the beadings and the sash. Konting alterations pa :) and i definitely needed to lose weight! haha! I made the right choice tlga with new yorker :) quality wedding gown that is right on the budget! :)

Jon and I had a little bit of time for shopping this day :) Super bitin! hihi!

We met JM and her family that night... we went to their church at Every Nation - VCF and then we had dinner at The Fort :) Libot libot at the fab serendra :)

DAY 15 - (october 29) concept prenup photoshoot

we had another photoshoot with JM, her bro Kuya Jason, Nina (the make-up artist), and Albert Goquinco. we have great photos from this shoot! sobrang pagod nga lang but worth it :) thanks to JM for organising this shoot :)

DAY 16 - (october 30) Tapos na...

Last day in manila.. we spent the morning with jon's dad and had last last minute shopping at robinson's place :) as usual... excess baggage! nakipaglaban pa ako sa counter hehe :) Kapagod!!! we stopped over at taiwain.. and oh my gosh!!! ang ganda ng airport!!!! sayang we decided pa nmn not to stay there overnight anymore :( akala kse nmin bundok eh hehe :) oh well.. next time :)

Back to Sydney! 10 months to go before the wedding.. im so excited!