Visit to the Land of the Gentle People - Dumaguete City

The trip to Dumaguete City was not really in our plans when we bought it last June. The only reasons why we purchased it was due to the Zero Fare promo (which actually cost  P2,429 for a return trip for the three of us) of Cebu Pacific and the birthday of my daughter falls on the said dates of our travel, as well as the 30th of November being a holiday. This means that we only have two days to go on leave. Our trip is from November 27 to 30.

With our trip finally booked, we started searching the internet on places to see and visit and at the same time wouldn't cost us a lot as our travel funds for the year had already been depleted as a result of some trips we made: Baguio City in February, Boracay in April, and Cagayan de Oro/Camiguin in August.

Craving for Barbecue at SM Bicutan

Because our household help went for a day off today, we decided to dine out. No more cooking and cleaning the dishes afterwards. Since we are flying to Dumaguete tomorrow, we went to the SM Bicutan Mall to do some last minute shopping for things to bring.

We have seen Reyes Barbecue at the lower ground of the mall for quite some time now, but never actually ate there. It either KFC or Shakey's Pizza which are just beside the barbecue restaurant. This time we gave it a try.

I ordered a two-piece pork barbecue with an extra java rice, while my wife ordered a half liempo.  Our daughter ordered the burger meal. All were served with java rice. Except for my daughter, we also had peanut sauce (unlimited daw) and a small serving of atchara (pickled vegetables).

Shakin' at Shakey's - How I Spent My Birthday

Today, I turn 49 and I don't really feel my age. Parang 48 pa rin ako, he he he. Anyway, my wife asked me what my plans are for this special day. I told her that I was not feeling well and would just like to attend mass at our neighborhood mall, SM Bicutan, have lunch and do our regular grocery shopping.

Since it was still early after the mass ended, we went to our friendly photo shop, Picture City, and had a family photo taken for posterity. The package for five shots with 20 wallet size photos and one 8 x 10 blow up picture cost us a whopping P150. Add another P20 to get a copy on a CD.

A Family Get-Together

Our family tries to find excuses to have a get-together. November is a special month for us. Four out of the five siblings celebrate birthdays on this month. My brother celebrates his on the 4th, a sister on the 9th, me on the 13th, and our youngest sister who is in the US on the 26th. Today, we decided to jointly celebrate my sister who celebrated her birthday last Nov. 9 and mine. My brother had earlier celebrated his the previous weekend.

After Angel's violin lessons, we went to buy pork barbecue (P17 per stick) and pichi-pichi with cheese (P200 for 40 pcs.) at Amber along Filmore St. in Makati City. The place has improved a lot since the first time we visited the place. It's brighter and looks cleaner.

the makati branch is near Cash and Carry

the counter for dine-in and take-outs

Renewing your driver's license

It had been almost three years since I last renewed my non-professional driver's license (DL) and I had already forgotten what to do. All I know is that doing it in one of LTO's Driver's License Renewal Center (DLRC) is convenient and fast.

My suggestion is to call the DLRC you are going to, to confirm what time they close and suggest that you arrive there about one hour before closing time. When I called up the one at SM Manila I was told that they usually close at 7PM, but for the month of November they close at 5 PM because they have to practice for the cheerleading contest for their family day.

It beats going to a regular LTO Office, which was where I went when I returned from a 1 1/2 year stay in Australia in 2006. I was penalized then due to an expired license. The LTO office in FTI was hot, had long lines and so slow.

A Day at the SM Mall of Asia

During the All Saint's Day holiday, my daughter, her cousin who lives in Quezon City and their 2nd degree niece from Pangil, Laguna talked about going to the SM Mall of Asia to go skating there the following weekend, just before the semestral break ends. We agreed for them to have one last get-together before school starts.

The SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City at the end of EDSA is considered one of the biggest mall in the world, and has the largest skating rink in Southeast Asia.

We arrived at the mall a little after 10 and we immediately bought an all-day ticket (P390) to the skating rink. She went ahead while waiting for her two companions. However, their arrival was delayed as one of our daughter's cousin's father had to run some errand.