Davao Weekend!

My much-delayed post.

Last weekend, I spent Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday in Davao City. The last time I was in Davao... 2004. Auntie Aida's birthday. This year, I went back for yet another special occasion. The Lucas-Nasser wedding. The weekend promised to be a fun one, considering I was going with some of the D'Gang members (Jan, Tom, Boom, and Marian), and I was meeting up with my cousins who knew the art of entertaining guests. Hehe.




So my long weekend started with a very long Friday. Why is it, that when you're just about to go on a trip, the bullet points on your To Do list seem longer than usual? That Friday, I was frantically composing my last email for the Mary ONAS SIT environment shakeout. Angelo, God bless him, asked me to leave because I was in danger of missing my flight. On the ticket, 7:45pm departure. On my wristwatch, I left the office at 6pm. I barely made it! I was running to the check in counter (which had a "Closed" sign glaring at me for being late).

The flight was ok and we arrived ten minutes before the estimated arrival time. After Jan, Tom, Boom, and Marian checked in, we went straight to Guitara 8610 to meet up with the Geocanigas! We had a yummy late dinner where I ate Tuna egg. Mushy yet tasty.




Later that evening, Micole, Ton, and Trisha and I crashed at Auntie Murr and Auntie Aida's house in Matina. Always homey! We didn't sleep right away of course. Micole and Trisha took turns in sharing their heart stories. Kilig ako. Haha.



Saturday, Ton and I slept in a little late. We woke up just in time for a late breakfast. We prepared for our lunch out with the family. Where else but in the best buffet place in Davao?! Marco Polo Hotel! Ton and I got our Gallenero Kiddie dose! See how tall they are?! And they're just 11!



Belle, Sophia, Alex, and Joshua kept us entertained on the way to Marco Polo. The choice of dishes was pretty good! Sashimi was fresh! The girls seemed to enjoy the strawberry dessert (so much so that Sophia had four servings!) With us were Auntie Murr, Auntie Aida, Kuya Roy, Ate Jinjin, Ate Joyjoy, and Auntie Baby.







Later that afternoon, I got dressed for the Lucas-Nasser wedding. Picked up the Manila kiddies at Microtel. Unfortunately, because I chose to blowdry my hair inside the mall, we missed Lea's wedding march. We underestimated the start of the wedding (and Lea's turtle-esque walk). But we got there just in time for the offertory (where all of us had important offering roles).





Lea was just beautiful. She looked like a Princess! Princess Lea! She was glowing and Jesse just had a sparkle in his eye while gazing at his beautiful bride. The entourage was a good looking bunch too! My eyes were pretty satisfied!



At the recession, Tom the photographer waited for the couple, armed with his SLR camera. He took a lot of great pictures and he shared them with his very proud model fiance Jan.




After the ceremony, we went straight to Waterfront, Insular Hotel, just 5 minutes from the church. Cocktails! While most of the guest milled and mingled in the cocktail area, we explored the beachfront property and look some pictures! I took a kick ass picture of Tom and Jan on his SLR cam. Here are some pics from mine.

Me with Boom. Ain't he a tall one?



Cocktail mingling! Ex-ccenture friends and Accenture peeps chatted over finger food and drinks.



Inside the main ballroom, an hour later, it was pink and more pink! I liked how they styled the venue. Simple, yet classy! A cherry blossom backdrop which gave off a very girlie feel.



Lito Sy's Davao team covered the Lucas-Nasser wedding. Here's a nice shot at the church which they showed at the reception.



Trigger happy guests! We took lots of pictures! My favorite moments... Marian "enjoying" all the bossanova songs, Jan and her magical HK dress tape, eating the tasty lechon, and the mothers' speeches (both leaving us teary-eyed).






After the wedding, I went out with the Geocaniga crew! We had drinks at Guitara 8610! The. Best. Beer. Ever. Ice cold! Frosted! We later went to Urban Club, Davao City's Embassy. Techno and house music all around. I most definitely felt my age. There were times when I was forcing my eyes open, and half-wishing we were all chatting at the nearby BluGre cafe. Hehe. But bonding time with cousins is always precious, wherever we are!






Miraculously, despite being home at 2am and watching a part of "Muriel's Wedding" till close to 330am, I was able to get up at 630am, for our Pearl Farm trip! Huge thanks to Lea and Jesse for treating us to this really fab fab day at the beach!




No pictures follow because the battery of Mike's cam ran out. Stupid me forgot to bring my own digicam that weekend. Anyway, after Pearl Farm, I met up with the Galleneros and had merienda at Swiss Deli. We had dinner at the same place with Jan, Tom, Boom, and Marian before flying back to Manila.

What a weekend! :-) Bitin sa dose of Davao. Need to come back for more!

Congratulations to the happy couple, Lea and Jesse!