Left: Dirty clothes; Right: Clean, unused clothes. Excluding the undergarments and bikinis, here's how I divided my clean vs dirty clothes as I was packing up during my last day in Boracay.

I'm the worst packer I know.

Back in college, whenever I was going home to Palawan, I'd take two suitcases with me for a two-week trip. Who does that. In addition to that, for the past few years I've been packing at the last minute.

I packed for the Cebu getaway an hour before I went to the airport. Two weeks after, I spontaneously decided to go with my teammates to Zambales. Having only decided hours before the meetup time, I went home and like a "normal" person, I slept for an hour before haphazardly putting together my overnight bag in less than 30 minutes. Then, I told myself never again would I put myself in that kind of stressful situation. Come Boracay departure date, I had to go to Market! Market! to buy some last minute stuff (read: this is code for 'get waxed' AND buy some last minute stuff) and pack my weeklong-luggage in 20 minutes. (Yes, I timed it. Also, I was told of the heavy traffic going to NAIA Terminal 4 so I only gave myself that small amount of time.)

I got to the airport on time, and it turned out to be way too early due to the chain of delayed flights. (Thanks Obama!) My luggage weighed at 6.5kg to my relief because my friend and I were sharing a 15kg checkin baggage allowance.

Here's a rundown of what I brought inside my travel bag.

• *8 pairs of bikini
• a number of undies less than the pairs of bikinis
• 2 pairs of "pambahay"
• 2 dresses
• 3 coverups
• 6 cropped tops/tank tops
• 4 shorts
• 1 flat shoes
• 1 pair of slippers
• 1 makeup bag
• 1 paperback book

*Because some guy friends questioned the number of bikinis I brought with me, here's my reasoning behind it: I thought I'd be wearing 2 pairs at some days. I'd wear the first for when we'd actually go swimming and the second during the sunset party and onward. This is what I did during my previous Boracay trip, albeit not on a Labor (Day) Week. As it turned out, we'd be night owls during the whole week. No morning/afternoon swimming happened, except for when we would run to the water during sunrise to cap off the 12 hours of partying. BUT YEAH, I GET IT. I OVER-PACKED. :)) 

I also brought my laptop and camera but I hand-carried them.

Here are some of the packing mistakes I made on this trip:

1. First is the obvious, I should've packed the night before, at the latest. Last minute packing didn't do me any good. I even left a bikini top that I was gonna mix and match with a pink bikini bottom I bought in Boracay.
2. I bought a bikini bottom in Boracay. As if the 8 pairs I brought along weren't enough.
3. As seen from the photo above, the amount of unused clothing I had is significantly higher than the used pile. During my thoughtless packing, I have forgotten that I was going to a week-long beach party. I didn't take into account that I would be partying for 13 straight hours, let alone have extra strength to bring a soaked coverup the whole night. (Coverups go off after the first 30 minutes of stepping into White House or any party there really. Why? Because there's champagne, beer, water being showered to everyone.)
4. I barely used my laptop during the entire trip. I shouldn't have brought it with me. It made my already heavy bag a lot heavier when fatigue and tiredness are factored in. I told myself this after our Singapore vacation but did I listen to myself? 
5. I didn't bother simplifying my makeup bag. I didn't really use my mascara, liquid foundation, eyelash curler and translucent powder jar during the entire trip. I don't use them in my everyday makeup too. Why the hell did I not just leave them at home.
6. Did I really think I could have my quiet time and be able to read a book? Who was I kidding, really?
7. I only got to wear my flats at the NAIA Terminal 4. Apart from that, it was slippers until the 7th day. What was I thinking?

That's seven mistakes. I have an upcoming trip this June and I had the nerve not to get a baggage allowance, God help me. (Or if you have tips and tricks, do let me know!)

I'm currently in love with airports and airplanes and here's why-- they signify the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, be it visiting a new place for the first time, returning to your hometown, going on a soul-searching trip to peaceful locations, accepting the challenge of a business trip even, or facing the odds by moving to a new country. Sure, you can argue that it could also mean the ending of something good but hey, whatever you wanna call it is up to you.

Other than the obvious reasons that both are directly related to traveling, I love airports and airplanes because they are two of the most romantic and sentimental places in the world. Medyo OA, I know! All the more because in the next few seconds you'll eventually see where this is leading.

If you know me, you'd know that I love watching TV shows. I don't have a television at my place but watching torrent-ed TV shows is what eats up my spare time. I don't have a good segue so I'll just do this straight up. To link up the two, here's a list of my favorite scenes from TV shows that took place inside an airport or an airplane.  

Top 3 - TV Series Moments

1. The Office - Pam saying goodbye to Michael Scott
I couldn't find a clip that's embed-able so here's one with Spanish subtitles. Here's a link to a better quality.


2. The Mindy Project - Danny and Mindy's mid-finale KISS
Caps for emphasis because it beat out every other finales at that time.


3. The Mentalist - Patrick Jane finally confesses his love to Lisbon
Finally, Jane. Finally.


I shed a lot of tears for all three scenes as I was watching them the first time to the nth time. I know, these are all fictional characters but like what I said, it's a place for sentiment and romance, and sentiment and romance I did truly feel.

For a scene that's closer to home and reality, here's the JC Intal proposal done in NAIA.


As for my own experiences with the airport and airplanes, here's my list in no particular ranking.

1. NAIA Terminal 3 - Ran around three levels of the airport trying to plead for my friends to be checked in because of a blunder they made. (They arrived more than 2 hours early but no one checked in!) Then ran around some more because it was way past my boarding time.
2. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) - My mother and I were running towards the boarding gate because the boarding time got pushed up and we weren't paying attention to the public announcement. When we saw our flight on the LCD screen, the gate was already closing. Our mother-daughter bonding always involves beating the clock. Sali kaya kami sa The Amazing Race? #char
3. Mactan-Cebu International Airport - This one's pretty recent. I made the mistake of booking a return flight that's one week from that date. I won't even bother explaining this one because, ugh, stupid. I ended up booking another flight that flies out at a later time and I got to tour Mactan some more.
4. Puerto Princesa City Airport - My last conversation with my parents when they were sending me off to Manila for college.
5. Waking up to turbulent plane rides and then having the relief of having another person to hold.
6. Two guys have cried at the airport because I was leaving. It was pretty sweet.

This year would be the year where I'd get to set foot in the most number of airports in my lifetime, yet. Here's to hoping that I could make new experiences I could add to this list.

I already set up potential travel plans for this year and some months are still open/negotiable for two trips at most. Seeing my Lakbayan map, I haven't even set foot in any part of Mindanao. (Yes, Palawan is still not a part of Mindanao nor Visayas.) And it's a shame because my mother was born and raised in Davao.



My Lakbayan grade is C+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!
Created by Eugene Villar.
Ideally because of work, these trips should only last 3D2N or 4D3N at the latest. So, if anyone has travel plans within the year to Davao, General Santos, Surigao or any other Mindanao province, do let me know of your schedules.

BORACAY 2014 from Jennever Pelaez on Vimeo.
First, I want to say this is neither a "Laboracay" hate nor a fanatic post. It's merely an attempt to recount how I spent one full week of my vacation days in Boracay during "Labor Day" Week.

"I saw in the photos that Boracay is now trashed/destroyed/runied. Is that true?"

This is one common question I get from friends who didn't go to Boracay last week. By this time, you probably have seen the circulating Facebook post (not the photo above) about how partygoers have trashed the island. I wouldn't even say that those photos did not happen nor whitewash it because the reality is, those photos were real. The parties were so chaotic and cramped that it was literally sweat to sweat contact with everyone. Move a little, and those who are still sober would complain about not getting enough space. While those who are inebriated wouldn't, it doesn't change the fact that once you're in that mosh, all the trash gets thrown anywhere but the trash can, not that I actually saw one.

Photo by Jonas Roque

Change can be daunting to most people. It's a trait that can be limiting and even I'm guilty of this. But with out MRT's current inefficiency, could it be any worse if new systems are put in place. And yes, this is a rhetoric.

The photo above is one of the ideas that I and some commuter colleagues were discussing 5 years ago. It was during the time when I was still residing in Quezon City and commuting all the way to Taguig City for work. It was not a pleasant daily ride, even wasted 4 hours of my life every day, but when I think about it, the pains of commuting via the MRT3 then cannot compare to its current state now, relatively.

I now don't commute regularly via the MRT3. I chose to reclaim the 4 hours of commute I've been losing everyday and opted for a higher cost housing arrangement near my workplace. But I would say that this new policy is still a sign of progress. It's a sign that the issues of overcrowding has been acknowledged. It's a sign that maybe, just maybe, we're moving towards a more efficient train system.

I'm FOR it. How about you?

Also: See my 3-yr old insensitive to the minimum wage workers post on how MRT should really raise the fare. See, it was younger me being self-entitled (I did have a point, sure) but this was posted out of rage because I was consistently being clawed by girls in the ladies section whenever I was going "home" to Caloocan.