Weekend Fun in Cauayan + La Carlota

Before I blog about Cambodia, ito muna! Sharing with you my super fun Negros getaway last month with my family. I cancelled my Batanes prenup for this. Hihi. Well, my Mom forced me to sa totoo lang. All worth it though! Got to visit my Lola, eat amazing food, bond with my aunts and uncles from the Aguirre side and also spend time with my cousin John, Tita Beck and Tito Jim who went here for a vacation from the US. Haven't seen them for years!:)  Best part? We got to do all the bonding at my Tita Chole's beautiful rest house in Cauayan! Stories through photos!



My Mom went ahead of us because she flew with my Tita (her sister) who came from the States. I followed a few days after with my sister and bro-in-law. We had to stay in La Carlota first before going to Cauayan. 

 My very trusty Herschel duffel bag! 

 I love eating in the airport. Our favorite resto in Terminal 3 is Dimsum and Dumplings. Hehe. Akin yung beef with extra sharksfin on the side. Don't judge.

 7am flight. So earlyyyyy.

Team no sleep!

 After 45 minutes--Hello, Bacolod!

 nice welcome

The new Bacolod airport is now located in Silay. Silay to Bacolod is about 15-20 minutes. :) Took a cab from the airport to Bacolod for P400 fixed price. Cheaper than taking a van na P150 per person. We asked Kuya driver to drop us off at the SDL terminal where we took an aircon bus going to La Carlota City. My first time to ride an SDL aircon bus!!! Before kasi they only offer non-aircon trips. Thank you, Lord. Bus fare is around P200 I think. 

 Happy kids

After an hour, we finally arrived in La Carlota!!!

new gate, old memories:)

Missed our family compound!:)

My Tita Marilou's dipping pool which they DIY'd! 

My Lola's super cute and cozy house:)

her small garden:)

After settling in, we headed out again and visited Tita Inda (sister of my grandfather) for some more kwentos and snacks. :)

  Tita Inda, Tita Beck and Tita Pacy

After an hour, we headed back home. We haven't slept for almost 24 hours, so we napped muna for a few hours.  

 Selfie pa before meme

 After 3 hours of sleep. Yey!

In La Carlota, people sleep early. As in by 8-9pm they're getting ready for bed na. You know that dreadful feeling when it's Sunday and Monday na bukas? That's how I feel pag natutulog lahat ng maaga. Haha! It's a good thing my bro-in-law Miles was there too, mejo nocturnal din and gutumin like me. Hehe. We decided to go out and buy food...

 ghost town! Haha!

 A few steps away from our place...

 7-11!!! yahooo!!! This is fairly new, I think. It was not there the last I went home. 

 Unang kagat, tinapay lahat! Jokeee. Parang asa Cubao lang ako ah. Haha! Bought my favorite ham with egg with cheese sandwich

 My blogging companion that night. Tuko pa more. Haha

The next day, we got up early coz it's finally Cauayan time!!! So happy my Lola went with us this time. :) It's a 1.5-2 hours drive from La Carlota. Parang Manila to Tagaytay, I guess. Last time we went there was 5 years ago pa! 

Read about it here: http://www.aisaipac.com/2010/06/how-i-spent-my-weekend-in-style.html

 Road to Cauayan

 Gate to paradise. Hehe.

2nd gate

Steep drive going up the house. Kinda scary!

 Finally here!

Family or 1/2 of the bakasyunistas

Let me tour you around the house! :)

Lakas maka Santorini the feel of the whole place and house! Upon arrival, a house staff gave us na our room assignments.

 Love this painting!

 Our room!!! Waaah, so gandaaa

 guest towels

My bed! Love the viewwww. :)

 View from our room's balcony:)

 Day off ni inday. Wahaha! Joke lang te labyooo

 emo hits beside the pool

 infinity pool with jacuzzi 

 Loveee this tableeee

Sickest lounge / tambayan eveeer

  Wanted to take home these babies. Igive up ko na po bed ko for these. Haha.

 Beach essentials! Backpack and sandals from PRIMADONNA :)

Photos of our family! Always fun catching up and hearing everyone's stories. My aunts and uncles spent hours in the kitchen just making chika and eating. Hihi.

 My cousin John (who's a successful lawyer in New York, so proud of him!) making lambing my Lola:) Love them:)

 From Atlanta & New York to Negros with love:)

 my very photo conscious mother 

 my forever camera ready sister

 db??? haha

 buffet lunch!!! 

 Mini lechon, satay, grilled marlin, forgot the other dish hehe

cakes and desserts galoreee

 Us with my cousin Mac. :)

one more. haha!

Supervisor?

 The Aguirres:)

 Played Lost Cities with our Tito Jim after lunch.  Didn't get it at first but in the end, competitive na! 

tandem pa kami ni ate, with strategies and everything haha

Come 3pm, we decided to change into our swimming attires and play outside!!! 

 Low tide naaa

 Beer against all odds. Haha. Almost all the Aguirres are Christians and does not really approve of vices like drinking. Oops. Sharap eh. Hihi.

 This is the lifeeeee. Can I live here?

Halo-halo cart. Perfect snack after swimming. Grabe natoooo!

 Bonding with the sis

Such a beautiful sunset:)

 Dinner time!!!

 Love how the dishes were all labeled. Hehe. 

 Greek salad! The sauce was made by my Tita Agnes who's also the owner of Quan/Pueblo Delicacies store:)

After dinner, we spent the rest of the night sitting by the lounge area, listening to music, sharing stories and watching stars. Couldn't get any more perfect than that. Fell asleep sa bean bag pa. Haha! 

DAY 2

 Good morning!!!

People in the province are early sleepers and early risers. So not me. Woke up at around 8am and late na pala un! Came down for breakfast and the food are almost wiped out. Hehe. We also needed to rise early because we were scheduled to go to the sandbar. 

 Breakfast! Yum!

walang shortage sa supplies

 Hi, John. Hehe

 Our ride down to the beach. Na pwede naman lakarin. Spoiled lang. Hehe. 

 There's our boat!

 Why were we looking up? What's so funny? Hehe

 

Oh! There's Tito Jim pala sending us off to our little adventure! Hehe.

And we're off!

 Lakas namin maka tour guide noh? Hehe

 Wearing ROXY!

 After almost 15 minutes,, we're finally here at the sandbar!!! It's made of dead corals. Tama ba yung term ko? Basta corals. 

 Snacks and cold water:)

 Mejo cheesy. Hehe.

 So beautifullll

  It was a challenge to walk barefoot , so we swam wearing our slippers.

 Busy kaka instagram bilang ang lakas ng signal dito. Haha.

WOOOOW

After almost 2 hours of swimming in the serene blue Cauayan waters, when the skies darkened and rain slowly fell, we finally headed back to the house. LUNCH TIME!!!

 Best lunch ever!

 Family picture muna!

 Photo with the beautiful Tita Chole

 mountain view naman taken from the other bed in our room

I was so sleepy (not a morning person nga kasi) that I fell asleep for 3 hours. Went down at around 4pm na. Was not planning to swim but the jacuzzi was on and it looked so cozy so I jumped in! Swim, eat, tambay, sleep, repeat. Like a donya. Minsan lang naman sa buhay ng hampaslupa. Haha.

 Then.. dinner time na naman!:)

 Lounge lounge again before sleeping!:)

 Phone phone muna before sleeping

DAY 3

 Good Morning!

 Breakfast. Lakas maka hostel hehe

The mother bear woke us up early so I felt groggy pa when I ate breakfast. Retreated to our room again after eating and tried to nap. Baboy lang hehe. Also didn't want to swim that time because the sun was too harsh. Was about to fall asleep na when my bro-in-law barged in the room to use the toilet. He then persuaded me to join them (him, my sis and my cousin John) down at the beach. I then thought, "F@*k it" I'm dark na din anyway. So, off we went! 

 We walked na this time

 We had the beach all to ourselves!!! 

 I only brought 1 swimsuit (from EIKA) so sorry if repeat performance haha. This is also the only "wholesome" swimsuit I've got. My Mom asked me talaga not to bring or wear pang FHM bikinis. Lol. 

 the water's so clear!

While we were swimming and chillin', we came up with these crazy ideas as to how we could go up and down the house easily. I suggested a rope elevator on that side of the cliff! Rekta agad sa beach hehe. Or rappelling? Haha

 My kaartehan caught on cam by my cousin John

 swim pa more, negneg pa more

Expectation

 Reality

Stayed in the water and under the sun longer than I intended. Kiber na if mukha nakong shadow. Haha! Napasarap na. After 2 hours of skin torture but pure ocean bliss, we decided to go up for lunch na. Wasn't able to take a photo of our food (huhu) but for sure it was nothing short of amazing na naman! Thank you Tita Agnes and Tita Chole! :)

 Pabebe hair

 With the mother and sister (alin ang naiba?)

Leaving was bittersweet! In Miles' words, "Best vacation ever!" because aside from the place that's just beautiful beyond words, we also didn't spend a single cent and for 3 days lived like royalty. In our standards ha. Hehe. Thank you again for adopting us Tita Chole! :)

Headed back to La Carlota that afternoon and spent our remaining 1 1/2 days in La Carlota bonding with my lola and cousin John. John developed a liking for sisig and Red Horse beer (my fave!) so we went out on a not-so-secret (but had to do it discreetly because... the conservative Titas hehe) quest to find them. Achieve!!! With the help of our childhood friend Kenneth, of course, who we ran into in 7-11. He also owns a tricycle so may service pa kami. Yey! 

So much memories:)

 John's first time to ride a tricycle. 

 Kenneth took us to this fairly new resto (ala Gerry's Grill) in front of the plaza / city hall which belongs pala to our childhood friend Christine! Cool! We ate sisig and drank a bottle each before heading back to the compound. 

Our Lady of Peace Parish 

We had dinner at the "dako balay" or big house with our Tita Marilou. Ate leftovers from our outing. Hehe. She also offered her dipping pool as post-dinner recreation. Hihi. John availed her offer, also my sis and mom. Miles and I stayed at my Lola's house and bonded with my friend Kenneth and my cousins Michael and Mac-Mac over pulutan and beer. :) It's funny how we had to use a Coleman to disguise our beer coz my Lola and Titas might see us and judge us. Felt like highschool all over again, I love it!

 John enjoying the water. 

 Finished early d ako sanay! 

We were scheduled to fly back to Manila the next day but our flight was in the evening pa naman. We woke up early so we could still go to church. It's been a while since I last attended worship service there. Was surprised to see that it was not the same building I remembered! It was renovated na and more modern. God is great talaga:) The building might look new but the people are still warm as ever. I saw lots of familiar faces and also friendly new ones. Whenever we're there, people would come up to me and my sister to ask us how we've been. Smiles would break out as they recall how they saw us grow up (we spent most of our summers there when we were younger) and how they miss Papa Turing, my grandfather. My grandfather who they fondly call Toto Turing was the founder of that church. It has come a long way-- from Word for the World (it's first name) to Word International Ministries. :) 

 This is before we were called and acknowledged by the whole church. Hehe. 

After the worship service, we said our goodbyes and then we headed to the car port where we waited for the van that will take us to Bacolod. Thank you Tita Mary Ann and Tito Lydon for the ride! 

 Goodbye, La Carlota! See you soon!

 First stopover: CALEA!

 Was not in the mood to eat cake, so I ordered one of my favorite desserts-- Black Sambo! It's a 2-layered gelatin made of creamy milk and chocolate. Not that sweet! So gooood.

  Tita Maryann, Tita Gigi, Mom and Tita Cong

 Tita Maricor (my mom's youngest sister) and Tito Ben :)

Titas of Bacolod unite! Hehe. I love how animated they can be when together. I love listening to their stories. Hihi.

After Calea, we then headed to Bacolod Chicken House for early dinner/late lunch! On our way, we stopped at this supermarket muna (forgot the name huhu) to buy some Silvanas. It's the best pasalubong from there daw. ;)

 PG hits! Haha! Naka 2 rice po ako.

With our cousins John, Kate and Bettina! The girls have grown into beautiful young ladies na! I feel so old. Huhu. Ito sila dati o: http://www.aisaipac.com/2013/06/celebrating-life-at-89.html

After eating, we all parted ways na. We went with Tita Mary Ann who took us to her house before dropping us off sa airport. It's such a fun trip! Hope we could do this again soon. Will be going back to La Carlota this December. Hope I could take Nico with me na this time. That's all for now. Thanks for reading this super lengthy post! Haha. Love you all! Kisses. xo