Death upon death upon death. That was what 2022 brought us. First, my brother passed, then my mom. Anderson’s nanay followed right after, then his wife’s inay as well just a couple of weeks apart. Before that, Kap’s college friend, Nonoy, died. Then our high school kababata, Alain, suddenly succumbed to cardiac arrest. So many deaths, so much grief in a span of just 1 year. Like, wasn’t 2 years of covid enough?

If there’s one thing we realized, LIFE IS SHORT! So Kap & I decided we didn’t want to stand by anymore waiting around for death to take us. It was time to take action, welga kami against Kamatayan.

Because Ate is in her 2nd year of Residency now, and the 2 younger kids are in med school with our Babyson deep in Clerkship, I decided to be a “tribute” & sacrifice the next 6 years in their service, walang alisan para matutukan ko ang needs nila.

But with what’s been happening, I changed my tune & decided, hey, I don’t want to be a martyr anymore. I want to spend as much time with Kap my Kap as possible, and travel – just as two. Ever since we had them, the kids took centerstage in our lives. Our days & nights revolved so much around them that we forgot we were a couple. We don’t regret a single minute because they give us so much joy & happiness, but this time around, maybe we put in a little for ourselves too. 😛

So Kap & I decided that for as long as our finances permit, we would take short trips here and there & just enjoy each other while we can. For as long as we are able to.

Thanks to cebupac‘s affordable rates, we were able to book for Nagoya this Feb-March. Triple celebration for Valentine’s, my birthday, and our church wedding anniv! Oo, may tipid pa din on the side si Kap at pinaghalo-halo na talaga 3-in-1, but at least nabawasan na ng konti hehe. I told him “Honey, what’s gonna happen is going to happen whether we like it or not. Destiny is destiny, we can neither stop it nor turn back time. 54 na tayo, kelan pa?? Tipid tayo ng tipid hindi naman kailangan.“ Ayun, natauhan ng slight!

So I’m really looking forward to our Nagoya honeymoon. Kap is extra sweet& attentive pag kaming 2 lang & takes such great care of me kasi wala sya ibang dapat alagaan. ;)) But first, allow me to share our Fukuoka trip which I wasn’t able to blog about..

Fukuoka, Japan 2020

We just came from the hustling & bustling city of Tokyo, that’s why we chose Fukuoka for our impromptu “honeymoon trip”, para hindi sobrang busy at ma-tao. And since it was the start of the pandemic, sobrang mura yung airfare nya. Parang 5k each lang yata kami round trip via Cebupac.

Ate was also able to score a nice hotel in Agoda for just 2k/night at The Lively Fukuoka Hakata. WITH BREAKFAST (additional 750/person) & free unli beer in the late afternoon! Kaya naman kahit umaarangkada si covid, GO GO GO pa din kami! Mga walang takot, grabe! Looking back, we are shocked with our hubris. Anything that could have gone wrong would have, was it not for the good Lord’s grace & intervention. We are so thankful that we didn’t get sick, and out of the country too!

https://youtu.be/0DKxFO7uHtk

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For our first dinner in Japan, Ate recommended we try Fukuoka’s popular dish, MOTSUNABE HOTPOT which features beef or pork OFFALS at the posh Yamanaka Akasaka. Kung kasama namin yung mga bata, for sure we wouldn’t have gone here kasi ayaw nila ng mga laman-loob!

Naturally, we got lost! 😛 But the Japanese people are very nice & helpful. Whenever we’d ask for directions, they would really take time out & LEAD the way, no matter the distance! I love Japan & its people so much! <3

The next few days proved to be even more challenging because Ate gave us an itinerary to strictly follow!

• Nanzoin Temple which features the biggest bronze statue (in the world) of a reclining buddha.
• Asahi Beer Factory for beer tasting. Kap doesn’t drink alcohol so guess whose shoulder the task fell upon, hehe.
• Yanagawa Kanko Kaihatsu (Shogetsu Punting Station) which is a romantic boat ride tour of the Suigo water district. Famous for its eel restaurants – we dined at the 160-year-old Wakamatsuya restaurant. normally I don’t eat eel kasi nalalansahan ako, but this was a once in a lifetime “moment”, lol, so I just had to suck it up!
• Fukuoka Tower & Castle Ruins. With RUINS being the operative word. Hanap kami ng hanap ng castle, eh RUINS lang naman pala yan kaya puro graba lang ang inabot namin after climbing all those stairs & walking the long distance. Hahahahaha!

I was willing to walk it out because I knew there was a golden pot at the end of the rainbow. FOOD! Glorious food!!

Overall, our Fukuoka experience was wonderful. Not as fast-paced as if we explored the more popular Japan destinations, so I wasn’t overly tired & we still got to explore all that the city had to offer at our own tempo. Which is why I’m super excited na for our upcoming trip to Nagoya next month! Gustong-gusto ko na nga mag-empake kaso lagi nila akong pinipigilan.

Ate is busy at work, so our babylove (who is also busy in school but is being a sacrificial tribute for this particular trip hehe) is the one planning our itinerary.

We’ll see where Nagoya takes us. Grateful beyond measure – God is good, all the time. Diba David? 🙂 Love you my brother bear. This Nagoya trip is for you. Mwah, tsup tsup!