The Fatty Quest for Minions

About a week ago, I got an exclamation point-y (6!) message on Twitter from my brother, asking me to help get Despicable Me 2 minion toys for him from McDonald's.  After some research, I learned these toys were only being released in select countries: apparently, Singapore isn't on the list. Points for the Philippines!

They ARE cute.

As family and close friends know, I don't really like eating fast food except maybe to appease (haha, monster?) an occasional craving or sudden hankering.  Not surprisingly, I've never ordered a Happy Meal in my life, but at the rate I was going this past week, I can now recite all Happy Meal options and their SRPs (with fries and without) in one breath - in fact, I just did this with friends over dinner last night.

Tom was the first toy I got for Ahia and there wasn't really anything difficult or extraordinary about my first purchase.  I was all, okay, I can do this. This isn't so bad.

Chose him first because I like the word "googly"

On the second day of my quest, choices drastically dwindled to only 4 toys in the Happy Meal magic box - and all were purple!  I went home with the Noisemaker and a little bit of bewilderment.  I swear that box was so full yesterday. Surely, today's paltry offering was a fluke.

Hadn't paid attention to the evil minions before this

At this point, I was getting sick of eating Happy Meals for lunch and was really looking forward to getting all those darn toys so I could go back to being the food nerd that I am.  NOT eating the Happy Meals wasn't an option for me since I didn't want to be wasteful (a.k.a. kuripot).  I decided to go to a different McDonald's branch because the one I used to go to only had the evil minions left.  Bad decision!  This one was completely sold out!  WHAT??  I must have seemed like a crazed woman, whizzing out of that line and McDonald's branch like a tornado and brisk-walking to the one inside the mall.  My heart was beating fast and my adrenaline was pumping, signs that something big was about to go down.  The place was packed with the lunch crowd - all around me, I could see adults lining up with their officemates.  Lo and behold! Service crew members were busy passing around a box FULL OF TOYS.  I don't know why I felt so paranoid, but I KNEW everyone was there for the minions so I acted fast...and bought 2. Yep, I ate it all.

Oh the things I do for you

Luckily, my sister and my mom had Happy Meals for breakfast the next day, which for me, meant a bit of relief (no, I do not want to get Supersized).  Because I don't like not working on a task, I had 2 more Happy Meals for these cuties:

It started feeling normal, buying 2 Happy Meals for just me -_-

I did beg my sister to be the one to get the final minion, since the McDo-filled week for me was a bit too much.  On one hand, I started feeling bloated and sluggish and it didn't help that J and I skipped 2 days of exercise because of work.  On the other, the competitive and achiever side of me was all GO GO GO FINISH ITTTTTT.

Blood, sweat and tears! Fat, fat and fat!

I tease my brother that this is how he knows I love him - great sacrifice immortalized in plastic fun thingies that are waiting for him when he gets here.

Ahia, please don't thank me by treating me to a buffet! 

Dear God, no.

Extra Nuggets, Please:

- Can't believe June's over - the months are going by so quickly! Next thing you know, it's Christmas!

- Went to a live instructor-led Zumba class yesterday after such a looooong time and had fun!   I was a bit skeptical at first (setting my expectations low because my Zumba instructor in SG was the best) but Winston was funny, energetic, encouraging, and nagTatagalog pa!

- Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo fishy in the sea! Been watching Japanese cartoons by Hayao Miyazaki (of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away fame) lately.

- Totally enjoyed Monsters University! Just what we needed after World War Z (stress! J is back planning a la Doomsday Prepper).

Japonesque Lip Palette: The Evening I Killed My Lipsticks

For a few days now, my Japonesque 35-well PRO Lipstick Palette has been sitting on my desk, waiting for me to let it fulfill its destiny.  I bought it from Digital Traincase so I can transfer some lipstick tubes that have met an untimely death - one application too strong, a sad case of melting by way of heatstroke - and therefore extend their use. 

J is out playing video games with his High School friends and so while waiting for my laundry cycle to finish, I decided to buckle down and get the job done.

Broken lippies' new home
Re: background tub of lipsticks - yes, I have a problem (better this than drugs)!

Tools: alcohol spray, scalpel like thing from my nail kit,
copious amounts of tissue (not in picture)

Some women painstakingly melt their lipsticks in a spoon over a candle to get a smoother finish and a cleaner palette.  To be honest, I'm feeling lazy now (and I have to hang clothes up to dry, ha!) and don't want to be bothered by worrying if I'll overheat the lipstick chunk, or alter the lipstick consistency/color (which defeats the whole purpose, right?).  My method of choice: some good old chopping action.

A part of me was all "Ack! Chopping up lipstick! Waaah!"
Another part: "YES MU-HAHAHAHA!"

I haven't finished the other side with 14 wells but am happy for successfully transferring 21 (!!!) tubes into the palette, and with very minimal mess! Huzzah!

One last chop job! It looks disturbingly like a finger.

This will be great for travel and will beat lugging around 21 individual lipstick bullets (said the girl with 6 tubes of lipstick in her bag at any given time)!  

Happy weekend!

Extra Nuggets, Please:

- Had a Feetish Foot Spa earlier this evening and sat beside a woman who was watching her sleeping baby (and the yaya) on her iPad.  Technology for the modern family!

- I finished downloading The Secret Life of Arrietty and am excited to watch it with J...maybe tomorrow.

- Heard about one of our couple friends getting engaged - yay!

- I am definitely getting sapphires tomorrow.

Our Sagada Cave Connection Adventure: So Proud I Did It; I Will Probably Never* Do It Again

*With a husband like mine though, I should never say never!

Our main agenda for our Sagada trip was the Cave Connection: going in Lumiang Cave and coming out of Sumaguing Cave.  For weeks leading up to the trip, I busied myself researching everything I could to allay my fears - could I handle it? Have there been accidents? What do I wear?  The closest to a "cave experience" I had was with my friends (hello, P4!) when we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels in Ho Chi Minh (not very close, I know).  We didn't even finish the entire tunnel and all agreed we've had enough of the claustrophobia.  I knew there was a sissy in me; I just didn't want her to come out in Sagada!  All the blogs and websites I read said the same thing: cave connection is not advisable for people who are afraid of the dark or of tight spaces, not for the weak willed or faint of heart.  They all advised to listen to the tour guides at all times and absolutely trust them - this was a matter of life or death.  I must have asked J 10 times if he HONESTLY thought I could do it (this was going to be his second time).

Beautiful day to go underground (ngiiii), as J said!

On the Saturday we were scheduled to go, J and I took an early morning stroll before breakfast to explore the area near our inn (as it was raining when we arrived, we didn't get to go out at all).  We thought it would be a good idea to swing by the church too, to pray for good weather and an injury-free day.

Old bell in front of the church

Sagada Church

A moment of thanks and prayer

Yes! Evidence of me being outdoorsy!

Our morning walk

Sagada Graveyard
...probably not the best way to start our cave connecting eh!?

We headed back to the inn at 7am in time for breakfast with the family, and then our SAGGAS tour guides Kurt and Pakway (Kurt said it's really Pak-wai, Pak-wei if he's feeling extra fancy) came to pick us up at 7:30.  No turning back*!

*Interestingly, Kurt said a number of tourists end up backing out of the Cave Connection once they reach the entrance. Giving me ideas, eh? Hehe, I'm kidding.

We walked from the inn to the caves - warm up!
Here, we passed the SAGGAS headquarters

Viewed hanging coffins from afar
and learned about Sagada's unique burial customs

More walking - I was thankful for the paved walkway!

This is it! Entering the Burial Cave

One of our tour guides, Kurt

THAT WASN'T THE ENTRANCE???

The tour guides were so light on their feet. On rocks.

While carrying gas lamps! (That's Pakway)

See you later, sunlight!

This tiny crevice is the entrance.

This is just the first part & there's
some serious rope action required?? Intense.

One of the many times I was thinking
"what did I get myself into??"

We had to wade through cold pools in some parts
(I didn't mind these so much -
in fact, I'd go so far as saying I enjoyed these!)

We had to step on the guides to get from point A to point B
(these guys are amazing!)

Beautiful flow rocks - you step on them and you don't slip or slide off!
Magic (and free feet exfoliation)!

Truly amazing

Waterfalls!

More stepping-on-tour-guide parts

Beautiful King's Curtain

An exceptionally difficult part. Pakway shows a tourist how to cross.

Instructions from the guides were very specific - put your foot here, this way not that, flat on the ground, don't lean back too much or you'll fall, place your hand here, move your face to the side - it was very precise!  Despite having read countless reminders to "listen to your guides, trust them", on more than 2 occasions, I found myself asking "Ha?? Sure ka, kuya? Bangin yan eh."  To be honest, I was sort of glad it was very dark so I couldn't see how close to potential death I was in some parts (Ma, if you're reading this, of course I'm kidding.)  Also, whenever Kurt would tell me to put my foot somewhere, I really, for the life of me, couldn't SEE where that somewhere was!  I would stretch my short legs as far as they would go (see, that was me, LISTENING to the guide!) and get hit with foot cramps for my efforts (foot cramps? Who gets foot cramps?!?).  I think I had two mini panic attacks.  Not proud.

I have to mention though how helpful these guides were - they would literally ask us to step on them (foot, knee, shoulder - a veritable ladder!) and in an exceptionally slippery part (where I was having mini panic attack #1), Pakway used himself as a human stopper, asking me to step where his feet were so I wouldn't fall.  Very mission impossible!  I remember Kurt telling me, before we entered the cave, that I should just have fun and think of it as a big playground.  I thought to myself, these caves really served as a playground for the local children, who grew up to be guides!  

Our camera died on us towards the latter part of the tour (the culprit: water entered our supposedly waterproof bag when we had to swim across neck-deep water! I said water 3 times in a sentence.) and my hands were dirty with bat poop, but we came out of that second cave with nary a scratch!  Just a couple of knee bruises for me (like a banana, I swear) and a pair of tattered shorts (Master of the Butt Technique).

I was, and still am, so proud of myself for taking this on!  Of course I had a lot of help from the guides, and from J, who encouraged me throughout the expedition (haha, expedition agad?).

I would totally recommend the Cave Connection to Sagada visitors.  The experience is one-of-a-kind and the caves are awesome, in the truest sense of the word.  You can find more information on tours and other activities by visiting the SAGGAS website here.

Banaue Rice Terraces: Our Tourism Could Totally Rock & A Lot of Hours in the Car

Last May 24-27, J and I took a road trip with his family to Pangasinan-Banaue-Sagada-Baguio, as a last hurrah for our dear nephew Peter, who was heading back to the US the following week.  We were trying to think of something worthwhile for Peter to do/see, but that wouldn't require us having to take a lot of time off from work (i.e. air travel involved) - maybe for his next visit, we can finally go to Donsol! *wink wink*

Our 14? 16? hour drive...I lost count. The road was paved, to be fair!

Fresh from our Bali trip, where we visited the Tegalalang Rice Terraces, I was quite excited to finally see our very own Banaue Rice Terraces, the previous 8th Wonder of the World (sad about that word "previous" in there!) and see how it compares.  I was so blown away by the majestic beauty of our rice terraces, I tell you.  Standing there, looking over the terraces carved into the mountains, I thought how amazing it is that these were built largely by hand!

Absolutely breathtaking!

Peter taking photos

Locals still plant rice and vegetables to this day

So green and lush!

My father-in-law was upset though that the local government doesn't seem to be taking steps to preserve the beauty of this tourist attraction, what with shanties and other eyesores popping up everywhere and blocking the awe-inspiring view.  Clearly, the Philippines has a lot of natural wonders that can obviously compete with other world-class destinations.  What seems to be lacking is a disciplined way we sustain these, as though we fail to recognize the benefits that responsible tourism can bring to our communities.

Pretty green scenery, before I myself get upset

After we had our fill of taking photos of the beautiful terraces, we hopped back into the car and braced ourselves for more hours on the road.  But not before we had lunch at a roadside eatery called Banaue Heritage Cafe and Restaurant...where we had probably the most expensive Argentina corned beef known to man!

Red rice, chicken curry, sisig, and corned beef = Php 1,500++!!!

Anyway, with relatively full tummies and maybe a bit of head-shaking, we went on our still merry way.  On to Sagada!

FOG AHEAD. BETTER STAY AWAKE.

More beautiful terrace views

Eep, landslide!

Look at that rock! Iskeripiepicache!

Finally, at about 3:47 pm (almost 16 hours of driving! I finally counted now), with a little trouble finding our hotel inn, we reached Sagada!

Masferre

The restaurant is what you see first when you enter

To the rooms (our "villa" is the door to the left of the No Smoking sign)
- essentially an attic with 3 separate rooms

All sorts of fruit wine in the souvenir shop

Jams, coffee, tea, and munchies

Up next, our Cave Connection Adventure!