James Peak, Antipolo, Rizal (December 2025)

 

Our 5^th Wedding Anniversary Trip

James Peak, Antipolo, Rizal

 

Marrying your best friend is like having a merry life – with full of ups and downs yet you stood by each other.

I’m just so glad and grateful that my husband is as adventurous as me. Whenever there’s a place I want to go or to experience, he’s more than willing to go with me.

At some point, I get scared, but I still do it because he’s there for me and we do it together – still scared but secured.

The date was December 20, 2025 – our 5^th wedding anniversary.

At 10 in the morning, we’re already on our way to Antipolo, Rizal.

Thank you to Waze for helping us reach our destination. Before proceeding to our actual destination, we stopped by a grocery store to buy some food and things that we’ll be needing.

James Peak is located at Maagay 1 Lower Barangay Inarawan, Antipolo City. It is a newly opened camping site, still raw and with limited camping space, kubo and cottage rental. We decided to rent the kubo for a more comfortable sleeping ground. We paid in advance to secure our booking.

We parked our motorcycle in front of the house of the camping site owner near the basketball court and we began our hike.

It was a 15-to-30-minute hike going up to the camping site.

It also rained a bit when we first got there.

Upon reaching camping site, we headed to our kubo.

The room has a decent foam for sleeping with bedding and pillows and electricity. It also has a table and chair outside of the room where we cooked our food and ate.

We then had our late lunch before taking a quick nap. Hubbs cooked pancit canton with pechay baguio. We also brought chicken pork adobo.

At 5 pm, we went out our kubo to see the sunset.

As usual, sunsets make my heart sink. It always leaves me in awe of God’s wonderful creations. 

We’re on top of a mountain witnessing an orange to red horizon that slowly turning into dark mode.

For our dinner, Hubbs cooked cabbage. We also still have adobo left from our lunch.

Then the highlight of our day, a bon fire!

We roasted some marshmallows under the moonlight with city lights as our front view.

It was a cozy, simple and yet magical night for us.

 

At 10 pm, we’re back to our kubo to sleep.

 

The following day, we got up early to see the sunrise.

It literally and figuratively brightens up our day. The view was majestic. I just can’t get enough of taking photos and videos.

A happy anniversary indeed.

We checked out at 10 am and we’re back in Manila at 11 am since it’s a Sunday – no traffic to conquer.

It was a quick escape, yet it was memorable and we really had a lot of fun experiencing again a raw camping in a way.

 

Thank you, Lord God, for the provision, for the safety, for the wonderful places we get to experience and for the gift of marriage.

On to our next adventure!

 

Tagaytay Picnic Grove Revisited (November 2025)

 November 29, 2025| Saturday

 

15 years ago, it was my last visit here to Tagaytay Picnic Grove and I may say that a lot has changed and some remain.

My family decided to go there last November of 2025 to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

We rented a van and some of our cousins have their own vehicles going there.

It was only more than an hour drive from our home going to Tagaytay considering there’s no traffic and via SLEX.

Before 8 in the morning, we were already there.

And we had a lot of time roaming around.

We bonded, we played with our nieces and nephew; we ate, we celebrated.

It was really a great time and Picnic Grove is a perfect place for families to bond over funny stories and yummy food plus amazing view of Taal lake as the front view.

 

Here’s some of the photos I took.

 

It felt nice to be back here and what made it more special was I was with my family, who mattered to me the most.

A Random Road Trip to Lobo, Batangas (November 2025)

 

November 2-3, 2025 | Sunday-Monday

One fine Sunday, my hubbs and I decided to go for a random road trip.

At 10 in the morning, we’re already on our way to a beach in Lobo, Batangas.

And it was a more than 5hr drive.

 

Our destination was at Lily Beach Resort. 

We bought food along the way. 

At 4 pm, we already settled in our rented kubo with room. 

After a few minutes of resting, we then went to the beach for a quick swim and to also enjoy the sunset. 

Of course, photo ops were on our itinerary. 

I will always love sunset views. 

It reminds me of a beautiful ending, and a new beginning is waiting for me. 

We enjoyed witnessing the sky in changing its colors.

Good night, Sun. See you again tomorrow morning!

Soaking up under a sunset sky is one of the best because it won’t hurt our skin while our eyes are in full view of a picturesque. 

After washing up when it’s already dark, we started to prep our dinner. 

Hubbs cooked barbecue while having a beer session with me.

And then we had dinner. 

After a happy, full meal, we went back to the beach to talk about anything under the bright and full moonlight. 

Sunset is the best view for me, followed by the moon with its brightest lit.

The night sky as if it had a lamp of its own. 

With waves filling our ears, sea’s wind touching our skin, eyes full of stars and moon, it was a perfect night.

Complementing the warmth of having someone beside me.

Each time we went for a trip, and deep talks included, our love tanks are always filled. 

This reminds me to love life on its fullest. 

 

We went to bed at 11 in the evening. 

Good night world.

It was a tiring day but definitely one of the best core memories for us. 

 

The next day we woke up at 7 in the morning to have breakfast. 

Hubbs cooked corned beef and reheated our leftover from last night. 

After meal with warm coffee, we still had time to nap.

Hubbs wasn’t feeling so well that time, so I let him rest for a while because it’s gonna be a long drive again going back home. 

 

Then we had a time again for a quick dip. 

 

Before 12 noon or our time for check out, we had an early lunch. 

Then at past 12 noon, we’re on our way to home. 

It was a quick and random trip, but it will always have a special place in my memory bank. 

 

Thankful for that day and looking forward to more moments like this with the love of my life. I will never get tired of having this kind of quick travel once in a while. 

Thank you, Lord God, for all the provisions and for a blessed, safe adventure! 

On to the next one!

Intramuros Revisited with Bestie (October 2025)

  October 18, 2025 | Saturday 

It’s okay to not be okay. 

And I think for me, this was one of those days.

I told it to my best friend and so we planned to meet in the afternoon. 

At 5 in the afternoon, our meeting place was at Liwasang Bonifacio near LRT Central Station. 

Then we just took a walk going to The Bay Leaf Hotel. 

We planned to have a sunset dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Manila.

It’s a rooftop resto with the perfect view of Manila Bay at the left side and Intramuros on the right side. 

We ordered and while waiting for our food, we took some photos and videos just in time for the sunset. 

 

The food as usual was great!

We ordered pork sinigang, pasta chicken and iced coffee.

After our dinner, we went down of the hotel and took a walk along Intramuros. 

We then went to San Agustin church which was only a 15-minute walk from the Bay Leaf.

It’s my first time to be here during nighttime. 

It felt nice to be back in Intramuros after a quiet some time. 

 

Our next stop was Plazuela De Sta. Isabela and took a quick rest.

 

Manila Cathedral was our next destination.

Followed by Figarro Coffee wherein we ordered coffee and cake. 

 

We took a walk again going to Pasig Esplanade. It’s a Saturday night and there’s a lot of people enjoying countless food stalls. 

I was quite amazed with the Binondo-Intramuros bridge. The night lights reflecting in the dark Pasig River gave away its photogenic side. 

 

At 9 in the evening, we’re already on the way home. 

 Grateful for this well spent afternoon to evening with my bestie!

It was nice to see and experience you again, Intramuros!