Road trip to Mt. Poconos for some snow fun

Characters (in order of van position, from front to back, left to right):
Hensy a.k.a Daddy-O, a.k.a. Birthday Boy, a.k.a Kabituka ng Highway (i.e. forever driver), a.k.a. 'Woozy lang ako' boy, a.k.a. Official Photographer #1
Barre a.k.a. Mameee, a.k.a. van DJ/Mixer, a.k.a. Official Guide, a.k.a. Phone Operator, Official Photographer #2
Guerlain a.k.a. BabyGurl, a.k.a. Suh-weet BabyGurl, a.k.a. SweetbabyGurlain, a.k.a. SBG-Lee, a.k.a. SnowTube stopper #1
Allan a.k.a. Cha's Mom, a.k.a. 'Nagiging Babae na', a.k.a. Pigtail-girl, a.k.a. Coffee addict #1, a.k.a. Stogey Addict(in denial) #1
Poch a.k.a. Official Photographer #3, a.k.a. Sex on the Brain, a.k.a. Don't touch my pager girl, a.k.a. newly thin, a.k.a. 'The Incident' girl, a.k.a. Stogey Addict #2
Diane a.k.a. Don't-show-me-desserts girl, a.k.a. Sleepy-stylish-girlie-girl
Jaz a.k.a. The woman who does not need sleep, a.k.a. the injured snowboarder
Denise a.k.a. Stogey Addict #3, a.k.a. i-can-hear-your-pagers-in-my-sleep new Media friend, a.k.a. Lamigin, a.k.a. Looking for Mr. Maginoo-Pero-Mejo-Bastos
Mads a.k.a. Dakilang RoadTrip sleeper, a.k.a. No-rice-for-me girl, a.k.a. official bartender, a.k.a. pinakagirl sa lahat
Cha a.k.a. Tomador ng Bayan, a.k.a. Coffee addict #2, a.k.a. Allan's anak, a.k.a. laptop-boombox-r&b girl, a.k.a. SnowTube stopper #2
Xian a.k.a. 'Ilong Pa Lang, pogi na' boy, a.k.a. Corny Roommate #1
Steven a.k.a. Corny Roommate #2, a.k.a. Coffee addict #3, a.k.a. Mr. Berde, a.k.a. Laging Business Class Boy

Okay, late dumating lahat. Late nagising lahat ng taga-Meridian (as usual hehehe). And after loading up the van and passing by rich friend BOFA, we were on our way.

Breakfast at some stopover place in Maryland. Event standing out --- Poch nagbreakfast magisa sa Bib Bob's because of her craving for bacon and eggs. Bathroom breaks and stogey breaks over 30 minutes later, we were on the go again.

Una, gising pa lahat sa van e. Kulitan, asaran, hiritan. And then, silence. Sleep except for Babygurl and Jaz, I assume.

We got to the place at like 130, gutomn a lahat, we checked out cabin #24, isa lang CR, pero walang lock. Arranged to change venue to #22. So change. Room assignments, pano? 3 rooms, 3 guys. Some crazy person suggested one guy per room....Hmm, pano na ako, thinks Allan? hahaha. I'm kidding, folks.

So, 6 girls in the 2-bed room 9oo. considered girl ako dito, teban :-P), jaz, barre, and diane in the 1-bed room, and the 3 guys in the other room. Of course no one believed na 3 talaga sila dun noh. Malamang merong matutulog sa sofa. So off we went to Camelback to get us some food and start our snow adventures.
2 words for lunch. Cafeteria blech. Kadiring food. Photo opp na lang. Chaka 80's songs. Pwede na yan. Memories of Sawatdee's winner budget food.
Then we go and buy whatever we need to buy in the shop, and then everyone gets tickets. unfortunately, Allan and Poch inevitably convince everyone na snowboarding is better. Bwahahaha. The plot thickens. Joke, joke, joke. Closed daw snowtubing for the day e, ano magagawa natin? Jaz, Diane, and Mads (the girls) say nood na lang sila. Jaz is injured --- the excuse. Nadaan din sa pilit. Bwahahaha. Woooooohooooooooo. So everyone's dressed and psyched.
And after a while, people start attempts at snowboarding (pero, it felt and looked more like 'sliding and dropping in the snow' nyahahaha). FYI that it is the 2nd time of Daddy-O, Lolo Teban, and my daughter Cha. Pero sige. Hensy is looking like a pro, next to all of us. Steven is catching up fast. Some folks venture over to the Level 2 slopes. You find out that the girls are girls by the shrieks and shouts 'AAAAAAAA' in different decibels and various pitches. Interspersed with 'Shiiiiiiit' and 'Shucks' and 'Awwwww (pinoy version of ouch)' and pained laughter. This goes on for around 2 to three hours. Painful, yes. And then.... the instructors come in.

And the real pain begins. They want us to skate up the hill. And glide without looking at the board, and look straight (even while the board is going sideways, which is not funny kasi di naman kami sanay maging banlag). And then there's mention of toe turns. And heel turns. And our minds are just going 'Kahit anong turn basta hindi na malalaglag' and 'the fence is getting closer, closer, closer.........AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' .

And then 6 people -- Lolo Teban, Daddy-O, Anak, Babygurl, Xianers, and Mammee decide to try the beginner slopes. Me and Poch and Denise are just waaaaay too tired. And the girls are, well....they're girls. Pretty women need their rest, too, you know :P

And the folks take loooong. Very long. And they have the keys. And so we grovel while waiting. Our bodies feeling like lead 100 feet below the sea. Hard to move. Or laugh. Or think. We're hungry.

They finally arrive and everyone gets dressed and we go to find a restaurant. But all places are closed. So everyone is dropped off at home to get out of their wet, stinky clothes while Daddy-O, Babygurl, Mammee, and Anak buy food.

Me eats leftover pizza from Friday and the tuna lasagna. Sarap. Then me sleeps for a bit. Exhaustion overtakes and sleep is welcome. Food gets there. Things become hazy because I am awake and enjoying the food, but my mind wants to sleep. Babygurl, Jaz, and Daddy-O take a bath with colder-than-usual water kasi naubos na daw yung hot water. Someone amazingly whiffs out an ice cream cake for hensy and we sing haberdei to tz berdeiboi. Me waits a bit, and then take my bath. Buti na lang, by that time, may hot water na... Woooohooo. The gods are good to me tonight. Bartender Mads starts her sassy night, and people start drinking. My vision blurs from pure exhaustion and I go to bed. Naunahan naman ako ni Denis, FYI. Z girl who needs at least 8 hours of sleep, I am informed.

In the morning, I am told that Mammee, Anak, Jaz, and bday boy Daddy-O stayed up. Daddy-O got drunk, but does not admit it. They slept at around 4 am daw. O well.

Will try to tell you 'bout day 2 later. I have a meeting to attend. Day 1 was waaaaaaaaaay fun!

Bitin noh?!!! Hahahaha ;D