pre-nups (no, not the agreement)

looks like our first major wedding planning obstacle will be resolved very soon. we spent hours (and almost a tankful of gas!) last weekend driving around pampanga and cavite looking for potential venues, and we found one that's beautiful and practical (because the wedding package they offer takes care of most of the big supply requirements already). just have to pay the reservation fee tomorrow and we're set. the details can be ironed out later.

so on to the next item on the list: the pre-nup pictorial venue.

as with most other tasks in our wedding checklist, moks and i have endured callused feet and sweat-drenched backs looking for that spot where we can do our pre-nup shoot. our requirements are quite complicated: we want something different, not the typical meadow shot ala echo and kristine in pangako sa 'yo. but we also want something that shows the beauty of nature. it can't be somewhere too serene because serene is just not us, but it can't also be too loud because i won't be able to stand it. the place has to have access to good restrooms for our outfit changes (!), and it can't be too hot there too or moks will melt. and finally, the place has to be within metro manila because we can't afford the additional charge for an out-of-town shoot anymore!

we walked the walls of intramuros two weekends ago, thinking maybe there's some remote, undiscovered place in intramuros that will have the qualities we're looking for. well, judging from the pictures we took of ourselves, there's none.

there's me with my knees buckling and very near hyperventilating in fear that i will slide down the slope of the walls and fall face flat on the golf course down below.

then there's moks who couldn't seem to stop imagining himself as a soldier-cum-streetfighter. very, very bad idea to make him hold my umbrella - he had the perfect prop for his gun, sword, bayonet, etc.

in fairness, love was scribbled all over the intramuros walls. just, um, not so much the type we were looking for. =p

we were able to walk more than half of the entire intramuros walls when we got to a portion that was locked from public access. we had no choice but to abandon our quest.

we went to the piers afterwards - we were hoping to see some abandoned, rusty ships that is open to the public, but there didn't seem to be any. there were rusty ships, admittedly. but they did not look abandoned, and we dared not insist on coming in.

after a tiring afternoon, we rested while watching the manila bay sunset. cliche, i know, but it was the first place we could get to that offered a place to sit and relax with ready access to food and drinks. moks took this picture using my nokia 6600 phone. now, imagining the same shot by a professional photographer with high-tech cameras, i just realized manila bay may just be the place for us.