dateline makati

okay, so there's some semblance of normalcy in my life after the 14 and a half hour flight from los angeles to manila last saturday. we arrived at the naia around 5:00 am and i had no idea it was raining so hard until i finally stepped out of the airport.

the lines at the immigration and customs were long. the wait for the luggage was long. ho-hum.

i felt very happy upon seeing my mom, my brother and my niece. i'm home again. after exchanging a lot of pleasantries, we decided to leave the airport and start our trek to home. we had to stop for breakfast. my first meal in pinas? a jollibee breakfast meal. longganiza, no less. plus peach-mango pie. my meal came with a free copy of the philippine star. not bad.

jollibee at the north luzon expressway. this was my first jollibee breakfast meal. ang sarap talaga ng garlic rice. instead of coffee, i had dalandan juice.

after a leisurely drive, we reached cabanatuan around 9. i had to exchange some of my green bucks so i can start spending. hehehe. for my family. went shopping! and window-shopping. bought a pair of my disposable contacts. had a 7-course lunch at one of my mom's fave resto, and i ordered food i terribly missed: tinumis, sizzling daing na bangus, ampalaya con carne, sinampalukang manok, sisig, pata tim, bicol express. i also had mango shake. sarraaap.

four of my favorite dishes (clockwise): sinampalukang manok, sisig, ampalaya con carne and tinumis [a variation of dinuguan. in my province, they cook dinuguan with young tamarind leaves]

i'll post [more] pics as soon as i download them.

anyway, normal blogging will resume shortly...