Boracay Island - Destination Wedding

"Hey dude,...thanks for coming. I really didn't think you guys [me & Brian] were gonna make it."

- My cousin Miguel aka Migs. One of the thirty-something times he delivered this line, which couldn't be said with any more drunk sincerity.



I got the 'save the date' back in January when I was in still in Colombia. Mom & Dad were making plans to go already. I had this conversation with Brian:

me: hey dude, are you gonna go to the wedding?
Brian: I can't think of any good reason NOT to.

BOOM. And that's all it took.
Good reasons to go: reuniting with the Fam (aka The Vea Clan), welcoming new Fam, both my parents B-days, Mother's Day itself, and oh yeah...not to mention chillin' on one of the nicest beaches that I have ever set foot on. Soft white sands + clear blue waters = paradise status.


So believe me Migs, it wasn't a 'mind bottling' decision at all.

















Nice to see you again Mom & Dad...
CANNON BALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Boy,.. you crazy if you thought that I was gonna miss out on on THIS:


Where it all started:
The Body Weight Counter


Apparently, we were flying in the midst of a major storm making it's way through the heart of the Philippines. Every pound counts when you're flying on one of these small planes with propellers that stick out. We did our Pacquioa, Pacqauio, Pacqioau, Pacquiao showdown poses on the scale to help the flight crew calculate the total weight of the plane. But not long after all the passengers boarded, the flight crew was asking for 10 volunteers to disembark from the aircraft and to take the next flight out. So either the weather conditions were getting worse and couldn't handle the heaviness or the original weight calculation was thrown off by the Jollibee Champ burger & Chicken Joy that was sitting nicely in my stomach which I ate after the weigh in.
Eventually, the volunteers went and after a bit of passenger shuffling by the in-flight crew, meaning if there is a hefty man sitting by the window in seat 7A then it would make sense to relocate the chunky lady to the now vacant window seat 7D, we were all set to go.



It rained during take-off, was bumpy at times in the air, but after a quick 1 hour flight, we touched down safely in the small town of Caticlan on the island of Panay. The Philippines is an
archipelago of 7,100+ islands. We needed to take a small boat aka banca to reach our final destination island of BORACAY!!!



YES!!! We made it to the soft white sands just in time for a birthday dinner. But up above, the gloomy skies were making a nasty move.


Happy Birthday Mom! Buffet #1 - Grilled eats and pasta galore!


Maybe the girls wanted their beauty rest, but the boys weren't going anywhere. It's been over 2 years since the last time we all kicked it so we had much catchin' up and reminiscing to do and what better way than over buckets of beer, especially right after a buffet. BRILLIANT! But this was no ordinary night. You know like when your driving on the highway and the guy in the passenger seat rolls down his window and doesn't realize that there's a guy sitting right behind him? That's what it felt like the entire night; we were that guy sitting in the backseat. Powerful winds did not take a break. Most of us have been here before, and we've never experienced anything like it. This storm was kicking up sand and knocking hats off of people's heads. Seriously, Non-Stop winds. The wind transfered its energy into the water and we witnessed some major high tide action. Not only was he a bit worried about the weather conditions for the wedding in 2 days, but Migs was also concerned about the guests who were still flying in the next day.



The waves are sending ripples all the way up the steps leading into the restuarants on shore.


But no need to fear for Miguel & Marina have offered EGGS to the church...









Cheetah-Dog???




...And what do EGGS have to do with anything you may be wondering? It's been a tradition here in the P.I. to offer a dozen eggs to the Sisters of the Santa Clara (patron saint of good weather) convent to help you pray for perfect weather on big days just like this wedding. It wasn't perfect by Wedding's Eve, but with the weather clearing up, everyone was able to make it to the island safe and sound for this joyous occasion.

Friday evening LUAU w/ Obama. - Once again, never ending food & drink.


The Vea Klan



The Wedding Day

Good job Sistas...the prayersilog (prayer + eggs) worked!!! Dozens and dozens and dozens of eggs were offered and you couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

And the weather wasn't the only thing that was perfect.
1 of 4 breakfast buffets - Garlic Rice, 2 Eggs, Bacon, Corned Beef, Bangus (milkfish) =Perfectsilog.
Over the long weekend, I think I offered my stomach about a dozen eggs as well. I love health.


I've never seen so many fans at a wedding, and I'm not just talking about the human kinds. The church was loaded with electric fans.



SUPER Congrats Migs & Marina!!!


The Sunset Reception on the beach = SIC.




Appetizers & H'orderves





The Paparazzi was in full effect capturing that sun meets the ocean colorful backdrop.





The Love Agency and their #1 client - Me. Co-founders, Kyla & Toby (my niece & nephew), making connections one client at a time.


We Cousins.




We located our seat numbers, and ushers wrapped our wrists with lighted-neon bracelets as we entered the main reception area looking for our table. Our table was at full capacity as I was seated will a bunch of my cousins. But we managed to make room for one more extra surprise guest: Johnnie Walker. That's right. One of the waiters delivered about a dozen glasses and a bucket of ice to our table and placed a brand new bottle of Black Label right at the center of the table. And just as sure as drinking coffee gives me instant dooks, I knew that drinking Johnnie would give me instant drunks. Sip by sip and slowly but surely, we were all heading to a level of complete Dumbness. All in the name of good fun and in honor of the Happy Couple of course.



Yet another buffet - Low-Carb diet.


As the back of my knees continued to sweat (a mixture of HEAT and the Meat Sweats), we were entertained by Fire Dancers, special song performances, and classic speeches including one by my Tito Doy (father of the groom) who, to my surprise, delivered shoutouts to Couchsurfing.com, Google, and other 'group friends'.







Playing with Fire - lighting sparklers for the Newleyweds.


Migs' last words were classic. They went something like: "No one's driving home tonight. We're all drinking. Let's party. We can all crawl back to our rooms."

And with that said, the party quickly went BONKERS. We got DUMB. We got CRAZY. We were THERE. This was a CELEBRATION for the ages.




Check out this Tri-Lingual Jam that just brought the House down. I only have Black Label to thank for an epic performance like this:






It couldn't have been said better than these words from my cousin Ninna:

"...now I KNOW that although a destination wedding may be more complicated to plan and to attend, it gives us all something way more valuable than the practicality and convenience of an in-town wedding: It gives us TOGETHERNESS. Days of time spent together, bonding and getting to know each other. Priceless, irreplaceable days that we live for."

Hmmmmmm, maybe a destination wedding in Argentina or maybe Colombia or perhaps Brazil is in the near future....Baaaaaaaaah!

Coming to the Philippines

The shortest distance between two points is a line.

If you were to dig hole from Brazil through the center of the Earth all the way to the other side, you would end up in the Philippines.

I arrived here about a month ago, and it was quite the journey - definitely didn't take that shortest route. This is my story....



Coming to the Philippines

It started in Rio where I woke up on the top bunk in my dorm room with a handful of dirty shirts hanging off the railings and toiletries randomly scattered across the foot of my bed. It occurred to me that I was not packed and yet I had a flight to catch that night at 11pm. But that's not the best part. My flight was departing from Sao Paolo which was still a casual 7 hour bus ride away. YES! Plus no time to shower cause I didn't want to risk it. It was gonna take a half hour to get to the Bus Terminal, and I still had to purchase a bus ticket for Pete's sake. Filth rides it is! I packed my things, and gave my farewells to Jeff B., Wave Hostel, and Rio.

When I arrived at the Bus Terminal in Sao Paolo, I took a cab to the international airport - another solid 25 minutes. Total travel time thus far = 8 hours and I'm still in Brazil . I scurried over to the AeroMexico stand to check in. Departing at 11pm, I knew that they probably wouldn't serve a meal for a 9 hour red-eye flight to Mexico City. I had just enough time to grab a ham & cheese croissant and a bottled water (sem gas) to flush it down.

On board, all the flight attendants and several passengers were wearing face masks. While everyone was living in SwineFear, I was having a ball of laughter watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S.


Chandler is hella sarcastic.


And I was right about AeroMexico not serving a meal for this overnight flight. They actually served 2 all-out meals. Plus, beer & wine is always complimentary. AeroMexico rocks! Surprisingly, I was awake for both servings.

1. Dinner


2. Breakfast


After 9 hours of eats, sleeps, and a 10 minute attempt to watch "Bride Wars" (FAIL), I arrived in Mexico City at 7a.m. where I had a 9 hour layover. Oh what to do for 9 hours in the city of Swine? I located the money changer to pick up some Mexican pesos and hit up the airport cybercafe. I checked my email and saw that I had received a couchsurfing reply. Two days earlier, I had sent a last minute message to the CS group in Mexico City along the lines of "what would you do if you had 9 hours in Mexico City?"

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: The couchsurfing project is the coolest!
In her reply, Maria gave me very detailed information on how to find the metro station so that I could take a 35 min. train to meet her near her place in the southern part of the city. She also left me instructions on where to pick up a phone card so I could contact her. I gave her a call at 8 in the morning to confirm that I had arrived. She definitely had the sleepy wake-up voice.

On the way to the Metro Station...


At the metro station, they were handing out blue masks to wear. I picked up a map of the metro and quickly studied it to figure out which way? what way? how? I hopped on the non-AC train with my small backpack and I was off to the races...





I gave Maria another call to let her know that I had arrived at her station. She told me that she is wearing a face mask and is in a light gold Renault Clio. I had never heard of a 'Renault Clio' but I assumed it was some kind of clothing apparel. I just told her I was wearing a blue jersey with yellow numbers. I later found out she was talking about her car. OOF! Apparently there were two separate sides to EXIT the station and of course I went out one side while she was waiting on the other. It took us a short while, but we finally found each other and cruised around her neighberhood in her light gold ride.

National Autonomous University of Mexico - biggest university in the country. Classes were canceled because of Mr. Swine.


Me & my favorite place to be - the library. Hezziopurs.


Olympic Stadium - Summer games 1968


Maria knew I was a fan of Mexican food so it was her idea that we gather up some grub at the local supermarket and cook at her place. Here she is picking out some peppers. Also on the list: beans, avacados, blue-corn tortillas, CHEESE, onions, tomatoes.


The Panaderia


We picked up some traditional Mexican treats as well.


QUESO Oaxaca!!!!


Fresh Guacamole


Buen Provecho! - Quesadillas in Blue-Corn tortillas, beans, mexican rice, and FRESH guacamole. This definitely beats sitting in the airport for 9 hours.



2 stops away -> Cabo San Lucas > San Diego, CA.


American Pit-Stop

I touched down on U.S. soil in sunny S.D. My Ate Jen-Jen fetched me and we went straight for the gusto - CAF - Carne Asada Fries. I threw in a Carne Asada burrito for fun. I missed a lot of food when I was abroad and this was only the beginning of Eat Fest 2009. I had 1 week in SoCal (S.D. and L.A) before my next move.





I couchsurfed at the Fuentecilla (TRF, Jen, Amor) computer lab/household in Bonita, CA and I got my own room and they even provided me with a normal terry cloth towel. They feel so much better than the microfiber one I've been traveling with. In Gardena I was couchsurfin' with cousin J & Salve, Salve, Salve.


It was tons of fun hanging out with family again doing what we do best: overeat, Poker & Beer, Keep eating, go to church + Sunday Lazies, visit the ocean, watch Paquiao fights, NBA playoffs, bbq, naps, watch movies "Notorious", and listen to Amor's Ipod when nobody knows any of the tracks.

Big UP's to Ninang Ang for making the BIG trip downsouth.


On Demand - Chicken Adobo


Green Eggs & Ham - Hotel del Coranado
That's my silly Goddaughter Trinity aka TRF. Last time I saw her back in August, she was only saying like 2-3 word phrases. One of the first things she asked me was "Ninong Mark, why your hair looks different?" She also asked me a lot of "How do you say _____ in Spanish?" like trees, cars, hands, and of course Tinkerbell. TRF is crazy like that and I love it.



pass outs.


Imperial Beach


I think I gained about 8 pounds in this one week.





The weeklong pitstop flew by and after a night of 3 pitchers of beer between me and J and a Laker loss in the playoffs, I was in LAX catching another red-eye flight to Asia. All the flight attendants on EVA airlinnes looked like Evelyn Leung.  Happy 1 month bday to Lil' Landon!

14.5 hours later I arrived in Taipei, Taiwan (2 hour layover)
I didn't get a chance to exit the airport but it was definitely modern times inside.







I liked these casual safes where you can charge your phone for free.


Just chill.


The Home Stretch

The 2 hour flight to Manila was cake. I arrived safely and swineless. Of course my luggage was one of the last to come out. As I made my way out of the terminal, across the ways in a sea of Pinoys, I saw a white posterboard with my name on it all black caps: MARK. I can't believe I actually saw the plain sign being waved around that my Dad was holding up.


And speaking of Dad, I wanna say WELCOME HOME to my Kuya CanaDad and Family. We'll see each other soon but for now I see you all on Lola's mantle of grandkids...