In the Visayas Region, I have only been to the following provinces - Aklan (for Boracay), Iloilo, Guimaras, Bohol and Cebu. Although there were plans to visit Negros Island and explore Bacolod and Dumaguete, I never had the chance to do so.

So when I learned that there was going to be a Negros Trade Fair in Rockwell, I made sure to be there atleast on the last day of the Fair to get myself acquainted with this charming island. It's the easiest and closest way to be in Negros by not actually flying there.

This was my first time to visit my alma mater, the Royal University of Santo Tomas on a school day seven years after graduation. The first visit was during a Christmas Concert Gala back in 2009. Although there were several attempts to visit Paskuhan celebrations, I declined due to heavy traffic that usually abound the area during holiday season. Unless I go there in a helicopter, I would be really happy to go there in a snap. (!)

The purpose of my trip this time was to visit Beato Angelico Gallery where there is an exhibit featuring National Artists from my neighboring town - Angono, Rizal. But before visiting the Gallery, I went around the campus and oh boy was I really excited to see massive improvements in the campus. I felt nostalgic of my 4 year college life from 2001 to 2005. Campus life. Dorm life. And everything in between.

Our family playground shared to the community.

What used to be a vacation home of mom’s side of family became a full-scale mountain resort meticulously created with love and passion for over 16 years. 



The first rest house equipped with two beds, dining, kitchen, bath and veranda became a venue for intimate family gatherings overlooking the majestic Laguna De Bay and cosmopolitan Manila. The view is just incredible. On a clear day, one could even see the famous Manila Bay.



I spent most of my younger years here running around, hiking, swimming until I get so dark, playing in the rain, roasting lechon, eating barbeque, bananaque and kamoteque. It was an endless excursion of family get togethers, parties, reunions and the like. We swam like there’s no tomorrow. We cooked, dined, created our own mini-gardens, built sand castles, harvested kasoy and manga, ate suman, bibingka and so on. Things to do were endless. There were no facebook then, no laptops, no digicams, no ipods, no DVDs, no cable, no cellphones not even pagers and a car for us young ones. We were simply being kids communing with what nature has to offer and enjoying every moment of it.