PNKY Travel Cafe, Baguio City

After spending a week in the City of Pines, I'm back and experiencing scorching Manila heat! Oh, the heat. It's giving me a migraine! 

So anyway, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday were spent in Subic with Paul and his family. On Easter Sunday, Paul and I went up Baguio. While he "worked", I spent the rest of the week going around the city, eating fresh Baguio vegetables and drinking freshly brewed Benguet coffee (for about 30-40 bucks a cup!). I love Baguio :) Although it's so much different from how it was before (I'm definitely not a fan of how congested it has become), I still find the place quite charming.  There were a hundred different things around Baguio that I wanted to take pictures of, but unfortunately, the camera was busted. Too bad. Maybe a trip back during the Panagbennga Festival would be nice ;)

On Tuesday, Paul and I had lunch at the Manor with one of our favorite persons in the world ;)

[photo courtesy of Father B.]

On Wednesday, I went to this quaint little travel cafe along Leonard Wood Road. A friend told me I should visit the place because they serve good food and good coffee. True enough, they do. Fascinated by the place, I took out my camera phone and took a few pictures to share :)

soon as they saw me start reading my book, they turned on the lights. how thoughtful ;)

at that time, I was their only customer

the counter covered with lomo pictures of course caught my attention :)

a passer-by checks out owner's magazine collection, and look at those colorful bottles by the window!

PNKY Travel Cafe Menu

it's just as interesting inside ;)

see the rest of their menu online:  http://pnkyhome.com/

i got a latte for my afternoon caffeine fix...

...and a carrot cake (which was warm and soft and sweet and yummy :))

ceramic sugar container says "pnky"

my afternoon "merienda"

I meant to go back the following day for lunch/dinner, but Paul had other plans. So, maybe next time. PNKY is not just a cafe, it's actually a bed & breakfast, maybe staying there for a night or two would be a good idea. I hear they have nice, cozy rooms :)

For more info, check out their site: http://www.pnkyhome.com/

I found out I passed the bar exam on my dad's birthday :)

What a blessing! :)

Tuesday - I sent my dad a message saying that the Supreme Court had already released an official statement that results of the bar exam would be out on Friday, the 26th of March. I asked him to pray for me, and in reply he said, "Am always praying for you, Kat."

Thursday - I asked Paul what I was supposed to do on Friday while waiting for the results. He said he was gonna take the day off and spend the whole day with me. We dint really plan anything. We just agreed that we were gonna spend the day together.

Friday morning - Initially, we thought of going out of town, but then by lunch time, I changed my mind. I thought, "really, what's the point? Results will be out no matter where I am or what I'm doing." So, we ended up spending the whole day at the mall. We had late lunch at Mr. Jones, watched How To Train Your Dragon (which I really enjoyed :)), and then heard mass at 545 pm at the Greenbelt Chapel.

Friday evening - Lunch was really heavy so after mass, we dint feel like having dinner yet (I guess the anxiety was also already beginning to get to us). We walked around the mall and realized that a concert was about to start. It was Cobra Starship's concert at Greenbelt 3. Both of us weren't familiar with the group's songs (save for Good Girls Gone Bad) but we stayed in the area and watched anyway.

Eat, Pray, Love The Movie (trailer)

I loved the book, and I can't wait to watch the movie :)

Here's a photo of the author, Elizabeth Gilbert. Do you see the seeming likeness between her and Julia Roberts? I do ;)

Dreaming of Summer: CORON and CARAMOAN

I am dreaming of fine white sand, crystal clear waters, and sunshine (nope, not the kind we get here in smoggy Manila).  

All these talks of summer plans, vacays, and getaways are making me dream of summer beach trips. Literally.

One of the many lovely things about living in a tropical country, and an archipelago at that, is that there are just so many places to see, visit, and explore. Seriously, my list just keeps getting longer, and I'm not complaining :) I tick off one destination and then I add three more. That's how it's been for the last couple of years, and I love it :)

I can't wait to explore a new beach destination or two this summer, and I won't mind going back to those I've already been to. I am a woman of the sea, and I don't think I will ever tire of "beaching" ;)

As I researched for this year's summer trips, I thought of looking at albums of recent beach trips. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from two great beach destinations I visited late last year. The upside of non-summer beach trips is that you get to have beaches/islands all to yourself. The downside, well you don't get as much sun. Lucky for us last November, we got just the right amount of sunshine to enjoy these awesome destinations.

Ah, I can't wait to hit the beach!

Coron, Palawan

because I ♥ clouds

en route to Coron

we climbed Mt. Tapyas just in time to catch the sunset

Coron port at 6 a.m.

Jimmy Kimmel and the HMC

It's late and I can't sleep. Hoping this will bring sweet dreams :)

The Handsome Men's Club. Hilarious :)

Oscars 2010

I woke up early to catch the live telecast ;)

It wasn't as spectacular as last year's show, but Steve Martin was funny, and okay, Alec Baldwin, too.  

Now, these are just a few of my thoughts while I was watching the show.

Calauit Safari

I picked up Saturday's paper because a picture on the front page caught my eye--- that image of President Arroyo feeding the giraffes in Calauit Island.  I was just there last November with Paul and two of our friends, and I never knew that the Tagbanuas (one of the oldest known IP's or indigenous peoples group in the country living in Central and Northern Palawan) actually had a claim over the island and its surrounding waters.

Lomo of the Day :)

I just found out that one of my lomo photos has been chosen as lomo photo of the day, and it's right HERE! What a pleasant surprise! Hooray!!! :)

The photo was from my first roll of colored 120mm for my Diana F+. It was shot using the pinhole effect, at the UP Academic Oval during a late afternoon run. Now I'm suddenly missing shooting with the Diana. I should plan a Sunday trip to Quiapo and hoard cheap  120mm's (they're about half the price of the ones they sell over at the team manila stores) so I can again bring along the Diana anywhere I go ;)