Countdown To Manila

12 days from now, we will be flying in to Manila for our much-anticipated vacation. We haven’t been home for the last 22 months so you can just imagine our excitement over this trip. Would you believe we have already started packing our stuff? Talk about being eager-beavers!

Ryan & I are fortunate that we have been approved by our respective employers a 5-week long holiday each. But why do I feel like it’s still not enough? Only 4 days will be spent on a short trip to Hong Kong & Macau but the rest of those days are gonna be spent in town. I guess I’m just feeling overwhelmed because we need to attend lots of events like weddings, baptisms, and Christmas parties, not to mention family gatherings from both sides of our families.  I can already picture the week of Christmas being the busiest of all. I just hope Ryan & U will find time to celebrate our anniversaries properly. Planning for a weekend get-away on these dates is impossible at this stage because it’s fully booked everywhere. There goes our plan to spend 2 nights in Tagaytay! *sniff*

The OC me has already created an itinerary for all the things that we need to do back home. Most of our days would involve food, and as early as now, I've already compiled a list of restaurants that we will dine at. Thanks to my fellow blogger’s blog posts, I got updated of the new restos that sprouted since we were in Manila last. Can’t wait to try them all!

Besides seeing our respective families, I’m also very eager to see my friends, especially those who gave birth this year. One of my girl friends gave birth a couple of months ago to a baby boy while 2 are expected to pop anytime soon. Then two of my guy friends’ wives gave birth, as well, so I’m due to see 5 new addition to our barkada’s family.

12 days is just an arm’s length away. I can already picture ourselves walking in the streets of Manila, seeing Christmas decors everywhere, hearing Christmas carols at every establishment we’ll step foot into, listening to Chico and Delamar on the radio in the mornings, eating lechon, sorbetes, halo-halo, bibingka and puto-bumbong anytime we want and basically just feeling the unique vibe of the Metro that cannot be felt in other parts of the world. Yes, home is where the heart truly is…and that’s where we’re headin’ to.