Okay. Since I might as well blog about it, and I haven't really talked much about it with my friends, I'm here to share my long overdue trip to the Philippines in December. I didn't get to take a lot of photos since I gave away my DSLR camera to my cousin as a Christmas present. Photos were taken with my iPhone.

So I came back from some few days before Christmas. I went home alone, since my sister, her husband, and my parents had a longer vacation than mine and decided to spend Christmas back there. Couldn't complain much--means I get to spend more time with Chris... if you know what I mean :D

My ride was Japan Airlines. And being the Japanophile that I am, I was beyond thrilled to be riding there. Yeah, there's nothing exciting about riding coach, but I've had my butt flown in Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Air China, Delta... and nothing really excited me as much because I practically praise Japanese food, and they serve Japanese food in JAL. No duh. And no, it's not sushi or teriyaki or tempura, or the conventional "Japanese food", but more of like the home cooked meals, the ones that the Japanese actually eat on a daily basis. I know it sounds kinda silly that I'm ecstatic to ride a bloody airplane, but... yeah, I actually was excited. The food was actually good for airline food, pretty tasty sunomono, sukiyaki, soba... but it was airline food all the same. Can't complain. But I was Japanese, and for me, it was worth being excited for.

Of course I couldn't pass up the trinkets and stuff from the airport during my connecting flight, so I bought a couple pens to add to my, er, ever expanding collection of (cute) pens, in which I got a Hello Kitty pen (of course).

And they were showing some pretty interesting shows and movies on air.

I fell asleep while we watched this on the big screen, so I got to watch it at some 20000 feet above the ground.

The Philippines was exactly how I remembered it from two years ago when I stayed there for a good two months. The food was what I most ecstatic about (of course). They don't have red hotdogs and my favorite Philips meatloaf, Jollibee, and fish balls back in Canada. I shall let the photos speak for themselves.

This... is the holy grail of all Filipino breakfasts.

Fish balls and kikiam: a street food staple, but we chose to cook it a home (a safer, Hepatitis-free alternative).

A meal we ate a restaurant. This is your typical Filipino fare. You have your barbecue, beef soup, salted eggs with tomatoes... the works.

This is a meal we ate at a family picnic by a hot spring. You got your grilled milkfish there and the oh so mandatory red hotdog...

My favorite pizza from Volante. The green stuff is pesto, not mold.

Raisin bread from Baguio Country (conyo) Club.

And here are some other random (some still of food) photos.

Srsly? Why you follow me all the way to Asia?

Muji, one of the Japanese stores in Mall of Asia. I love this store. I got myself a knit cardigan, some pens (surprise), and a pair of bedroom slippers.

A purchase from Uniqlo (another Japanese store). Stores staple their tags on the shopping bags after purchase, because stores don't trust their customers. True story.

I kinda lost my appetite for fries after seeing this on my fry box.

Mani and gel pedi. Total cost: $30.

This was the backyard of a resort up a hill in the countryside near my cousin's place.

On the highway to Baguio. Via Instagram.

Got me some McD's chicken. Yes, McD's here has fried chicken!

My nephew (brother in law's nephew, to be exact) playing on my Maplestory Luminous character.

And on the way back, I was on JAL again.

Got me some Hokkaido chocolate. Uh huh~

Matsu Jun on airline tv!

I didn't really get to take photos on the wedding itself, and I'm sure the wedding photographer has better photos than what I would've taken from my measly phone. Either way it's not my wedding and I can't really post without my sister's permission, so I'm sorry about the absence photos of me as the fool maid of (dis)honor. No, I didn't really get to swim in the beach or a pool, or frolic around Boracay. I was too busy finishing up the souvenirs for the wedding, catching up with my friends, traveling around, meeting family, all of which jam-packed within seventeen days (including the wedding day) so I kid you not when I say it was a complete blur.

And when I came back home this is what greeted me:

Urgh.

So there it is. What happened during my holiday. I blog about it six months later. What a turd. I spent my Christmas with Chris and his family and it was my first time not spending it with my own family, which was okay, and again, I didn't take any pictures. It was just a simple dinner and I wasn't the one for presents anyway. Chris got me a nice leather jacket from Danier ^_^ and I got him a Superdry jacket. I was short on funds from my trip. I guess I'll just get him a better present this year. Like a Playstation 4 (I know, I'm such a great girlfriend :P)

There's still a gaping hole about my absence, I will soon blog about that. But I hope you enjoyed my little update. Til next time~

<3