Luzon in a Nutshell

The tongue has grown a bit weary of drawling Tagalog that I guess the time has come to go home... at least for a while. But before I finally say goodbye to Luzon, allow me to freeze it in a moment and write this:

Places

Best City: Baguio
Best Mall: SM City Baguio, Upper Session Road
Worst Mall: SM North Edsa, Manila (when I was there, wala'y aircon!)
Best Viewing Site: Mines View Park, Baguio City
Best Shopping Sites: Mines View Park and Palengke in Baguio City
Best School Visited: U.P. Diliman, Quezon City
Best Accomodation: Tita Leonor's House in Mayapyap Sur, Cabanatuan City (truth to tell, she'll give any five star hotel a run for their money)
Cheapest Hotel: Bambino's Transient House in Tarlac City
Most Expensive Hotel: Munsayac Inn, Baguio City
Strangest-Yet-Educational Place: BED and the surrounding gay town in Malate, Manila
Biggest Barangay: U.P. Village, Quezon City (it took us 15-30 mins to find fritz's house)

Rides

Best Drive: During twilight, speeding down North Expressway in Ian's Revo (coming from Cabanatuan going to Manila) , simply dazzled by the sunset
Most Remarkable Land Transpo: Taxis in Baguio ( P20 ra flagdown and P1 ang patak ;))
Worst (read: Shameless) Drivers: Manila taxi drivers, though Tarlac's tricycle drivers come a close second
Best Bus: Victory Liner
Best Airport: Still Mactan-Cebu airport, Manila's Centennial is spacious but almost empty
Longest Drive: 12-hour ride in Ian's Revo round and round Tarlac and then onto to Cabanatuan, then Manila
Most Expensive Fare: PAL

Food

Best Meal: Max's, Cabanatuan City
Best Coffee: Figaro, SM City Baguio
Best Coffee Shop to Hangout: Mocha Blends, SM City Baguio
Most Visited Food Place: Jollibee (where I get my first meal in almost every new place :))
New Food: N.E.'s Espasol in Cabanatuan, Luzon's specialty I'm told
Best Food: Fishballs, somewhere off the road in Cabanatuan (the best! yumyum)
Cheapest Carenderia: Sugar's, Burgos Ext. in Cabanatuan City ( and the food is yummy too)
Most Drank Alcoholic Beverage: San Mig Strong Ice
Most Expensive Meal: Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila

People

Adventure Buddy: Igat Almera
Most Memorable New Friends: Ian and Vher
Most Interesting People: Fritz and Louie

Fun

Best Entertainment: A Midsummer Night's Dream in Makati City
Best Buys: Silver hoop earrings & knitted blouses in Mines View, Baguio
Most Unforgettable Gimik Night: Videoke with Al, Ian and Vher with the accompaniment of Strong Ice and San Mig Light and lotsa lotsa chips at our Richville Hotel room in Tarlac City
Longest Gimik Night: Malate, going home at 5 AM

Moments

Most Scary: Going down from Baguio City to Tarlac in the wake of the storm
Most Amazing Sight: The flooding in Tarlac
Best Adventure: Driving around Tarlac just to get to Luisita Starbucks (15-20 mins away normally from hotel) despite the knee-deep, even waist-high, floods
Most Poignant/Romantic: Boat ride in Burnham Park while drizzling
Best Air: Baguio-- fog, fog, I love the fog! Biting cold galore
Worst Weather: Humid, humid Manila
Best Blooper: Slipping down the steps at Wright Park, Baguio
Funniest: Watching smoke come out from the mouth due to the cold air while talking in SM City Baguio
Best Deed: Helping Al set up Lexis' room for a romantic anniversary moment
Most Peaceful Tambay Moment: Dencio's, Camp John Hay
Most Dizzying: 2-hour search for a place to stay in Baguio

Weirdest New Info: There's palaka-fishing in Tarlac. They normally eat them like chicken, it's almost a specialty. Eeew!

Note: All these are limited to my own 2-week field of experience.