Impromptu

I had a very wonderful Sunday! It was so different. So spontaneous and unpredictable. =)

It's been a long time since John and I have done some thing totally unplanned. It was quite fun and worthwhile. We have always been the adventurious type--unafraid and free-spirited. Our busy schedule and mundane life has taken away this "element of surprise" from our relationship and has made it routinary and--well--very stressful. Stress in a relationship is NEVER good. It not only strains your persona and blurs your vision of your union.

So, good thing serendipitous circumstances (either the handiwork of the Universe or Destiny or our dear Guardians) came about yesterday as we found ourselves hopping aboard a jeepney to Intramuros instead of our pre-planned route to Tagaytay for the pre-registered seminar at Brahma Kumaris on Beyond Fear, Beyond Pain.

Crazily, my mobile phone snoozed itself beyond my 3:00 a.m. alarm leaving me to wake up on my own at 5:30 a.m.! We were supposed to leave at 3:00 a.m. so we can be in Tagaytay by 6:00 a.m. for a sunrise shoot, giving us enough time to take photos, get rested, and attend the seminar, which is scheduled at 9:00 a.m.

It was almost 7:00 a.m. when we left the house and still had to drop by the nearby ATM to get some funds for the trip. Luckily, the ATM machine's dispenser was not functioning! Haha! The next ATM was a 5-minute jeepney ride away: in 7-Eleven Kamias. When we got there, there was no ATM! The store attendant told us that it has been removed and relocated to the nearby newly-opened BPI Express Center. Thus, we found ourselves walking back to where the BPI Express Center is as we passed by it while aboard the jeepney bound for 7-Eleven.

When we finally got our funds, it was already 7:30 a.m. We couldn't possibly make it to Tagaytay! The journey to the terminal in Pasay will take us an hour, at the most, and the travel time to Tagaytay was 2 hours at the least.

We decided to have breakfast instead.

Thank God for Jollibee and their Super Breakfast Meals! =) It was very helpful in indentifying where else could we go now that our planned trip became unreal. We were venturing into going to Baguio's Burnham Park, Antipolo's Butterfly Farm, Montalban's Avilon Zoo, and Manila's Intramuros that very minute. The possibilities were endless. Adrenalin was in the air! It was very exciting. It was also a very undecisive moment. Hehe.

From Jollibee, our feet took us back to 7-Eleven for a bottle of water as I was having the hiccups and a Queso Real moment for John who was having an ice cream binge. Then we walked back to Jollibee still with no decision yet.

Undecided, we just rode the jeepney bound for Quiapo-Pier 15. It was a split-second decision for Intramuros! Manila, after all, was a good place to have a mini-photo shoot and a brief business-planning session (or so we justified, hehe).

We were both unfamiliar of Intramuros and was lucky to have recalled the intramuros map I browsed online months before when I was looking for a place we can go to for the Summer. We descended infront of the Manila Cathedral, where we should have been one week before for our dear friend-client's wedding that we missed out. (Really sorry, Ms. Wen!)

John was taking photos of the belfry when a kutsero approached us and offered a tour of Intramuros for P100.00 per head. It was pretty cheap. It was a good offer to get to know the place. After a barrage of questions (albeit the horse making buntung-hininga due to his irritation probably), we were moving from one landmark to the other: Bahay Tsinoy, Tamayo's Catering, San Agustin Church, Wow Philippines Tent, Murallo, and back to Manila Cathedral! (There were so many landmarks, I couldn't recall all of them.)

Mang Danny, the kutsero, was well-versed with the history of the place after being an authorized guide of the Department of Tourism and after almost 5 years of doing this job, which started with the launch of Wow Philippines by then-Tourism Department Head Dick Gordon.

In as little as an hour, I have learned a lot about our history, Intramuros, the "business" of Mang Danny (being a kutsero), and the aftermath of Wow Philippines. It was very enriching! [I also couldn't help but wish that the local government (now under Mayor Alfredo Lim) and the DOT would continue the Wow Philippines campaign in Intramuros, since it is now abandoned, to revive not only the influx of visitors to the area but the livelihood of the people in it as well. ]

Mang Danny was also a good sport as he posed for us while we took photos of him in front of the Manila Cathedral after our long chit-chat and before we bade farewell due to our grumbling bellies! Hehe.

Bacolod Chicken Inasal, which we saw during the tour, was our immediate target! I love chicken inasal and its garlic-chip-loaded rice! Perfect for a starving tourist!

The only problem was, the branch was closed! Haha! We didn't notice that during the tour. It's neighboring fastfood chain, Greenwhich, was also closed. Chowking's menu paled our palate. Closed food outlets and the scorching sun wasn't very helpful in taming our growling stomach but we didn't have a choice except to keep on walking to find nourishment!

Salamat sa Max's! We found salvation from starvation! Hehe! Of course, what else to eat, but its mouth watering sarap-to-the-bones fried chicken! That's Chicken Platter for the two of us, with me trying out their Chocolate Strawberry dessert! It's berrylicious! (very delicious, hehe)

Satiated, we wanted to continue our adventure and walked back to Fort Santiago. John realized that he didn't want to get inside the Fort when we were only two steps away from its gate! Harhar! Talk about undecisiveness and spontaniety! =) (The good thing with this detour was the extra tan I got to boot!)

Our walking escapade didn't end there as we (thanks to me, this time) got off the jeepney at the wrong place for SM Manila. I thought the jeep would make a right turn at Liwasang Bonifacio but didn't and we had to descend just before it goes up the bridge before Quiapo. Thus, we walked from the abandoned Metropolitan Theater (another disappointment added to my wish-list for Manila's local government to do) then behind the Manila Terminal towards SM Manila. (Sorry, John!)

Worn-out, we decided to go home!

Well, not really. We decided it would be wise to bring the goodies we bought from SM Manila: paper clay activity kits; before we head for SM Megamall, as our friend--Alex--texted us to watch an Aikido Demo he's in at the Megatrade Hall!

Good thing we said yes to the demo, which we almost missed as John thought it was for 5pm but it was actually at 4pm, for we wouldn't have had a free Aikido and Self-Defense 101! (Well, it was almost free because we had to pay an entrance fee of P60.00 to enter the Megatrade Hall's Sporting Defense Exhibit--this is still ongoing, by the way!)

Plus, we got to meet Alex's wife and handsome bunso aside from getting a preview of all the retailers of artillery and sporting gear. Goodness, there are many of them! I didn't know many venture into this kind of business here in the country. I also didn't know that, man, the artillery's soooooo expensive! (It's a pretty lucrative business, but am still decided it's not one I plan venturing into, ever!)

It was a very long and exciting day!

It actually lasted till the wee hours of 1:00 a.m. as John and I couldn't resist the paper clay kit! It was addictive and challenging--plus the fact, neck straining and finger stiffling--but all the more fun and new for the two of us.

My, my! My blog's as long as our Sunday escapade! Oh, well, can't keep down with the excitement. =)

Looking forward to more Sundays (and any other days) such as this one!