one fine morning

it was a beautiful day. i was in our home in sto. niño. mike was in their home in cavite. i decided to go outside and take a nap at our american (or was he swiss?) neighbor's bamboo cottage in front of the sea. the wind was blowing perfectly. i could hear the hypnotizing waves nearby.i woke up and saw that the american (or swiss) neighbor arrived, but i just pretended to be asleep. surely he wouldn't mind that i was sleeping in his cottage. he didn't shoo me away. he just went inside his house. i went back to my siesta.when i opened my eyes again,...

happy hours

we're establishing a tradition. we're being happy on fridays (if time permits) during friday happy hour. cast: kuya, april, cat. wow ang dami! :)))we found a sweet spot at far east square. it's not crowded probably because the place is being renovated. plus there are a number of bars/restos offering happy hour promotion. akala mo naman manginginom ako :) e isang bote pa lang e nahihilo na ako! that's fine. i still want to participate hehehe.another...

human shredder

my mami has this habit of tearing docs that have no use. on general cleaning days, you'll find her slumped on the floor, tediously tearing up paper waste or confidential docs. human paper shredder ang dating :) she said she does it for 2 reasons: a. so nobody could reuse or steal any information from you. it might be a good idea to scatter the waste in separate garbage bins.b. it's therapeutic. yes.i never dared to ask if she wants a paper shredder...

human shredder

my mami has this habit of tearing docs that have no use. on general cleaning days, you'll find her slumped on the floor, tediously tearing up paper waste or confidential docs. human paper shredder ang dating :) she said she does it for 2 reasons: a. so nobody could reuse or steal any information from you. it might be a good idea to scatter the waste in separate garbage bins.b. it's therapeutic. yes.i never dared to ask if she wants a paper shredder...

moving out (sure na)

after a number of house viewings, we've finally found the perfect unit! this is it! we're moving in on the 20th of april! :) and we're so excited... and we just can't hide it!it was love at first sight. everything happened so fast last saturday afternoon (are we still talking about a house here? hehehe). we were greeted by the owners, an indian couple, and their local agent. when we entered the house, we knew this is the unit for us. it was renovated, not the type that you would see on the pages of a magazine, but it was great too and we really...

orq

one raffles quay (or suntec)maybe someday we'll meet againi still miss youasuuuuus!...

sabong mabango

when i was a little girl, i remember so well that my lola used "sabong mabango" as her body bath soap. she wouldn't call it any other name but "sabong mabango". it's not a mystery soap though. it's just lux bar soap :) the green one.life then wasn't so complicated. there were just three types of soaps:sabong panlaba - this is the detergent bar soap (aka tide) and we would use it to wash the dishes and wash the clothes. o diba! wala pang joy joy...

<scream>reboooooooooond!!!!!!</scream>

"look on my face, not on my chest!" "my eyes are up here, mister!"so say well endowed-girls. and no, i don't get to say these lines hehehe. ok, maybe i do say them most of the time, but only in my head, and my lines go like this:"look on my face, not on my hair!" "my eyes are down here, mister!"my hair was so straight and shiny when i was a kid. then the genes started to interfere when i was on 3rd grade and decided they wanted to make my hair wavy....

the compassionate auntie

there's this small rental/sales book shop at kk hospital. if you want to rent a book, you have to pay and return it within 2 months. otherwise, you could just throw the receipt and keep the book.last tuesday, i decided to return the book i borrowed last month (grisham's "the summons"). the auntie at the cashier was a local elderly lady. she wasn't the one looking after the store when i first came to the shop last month.she greeted me with a sweet...

good to go

today was my follow-up checkup at kk hospital. this is the day when the results of the ultrasound and blood tests will be discussed. my appointment was 9:45am. i was there at around 9:30. i was scared. what will the result be? do i need operation? do i need to take meds? talk about paranoia!i waited for less than an hour and then the moment of truth came. my number was called and in i went to the doctor's room. ALL NORMAL! and we could try to have a baby soon! these are the sweetest words!however, there is a small cyst within my right ovary. doc...

moving time (or not)

our contract is ending this april. as much as we want to renew and just stay here, we are forced to look for a new home because of the painstakingly low water pressure in the bathrooms. as our agent put it, the pressure is urine-like. hahaha gross comparison but true.we've had a couple of house viewings for the past weeks. the units are rather old AND unreasonably expensive. there's one unit that we loved so much, but we became suspicious about the agent. something was fishy so we had to cancel the initial check that we issued. he turned out to...

the summons

there's a song i heard in church. i love it! i thought: how am i as a person? what have i done? what have i NOT done? where am i going?maybe i'm going past the border of "normality". why do songs like this make me cry? hihihimy fave line: "should your life attract or scare?"----------------------------Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?Will you leave yourself behind...

one hit combo

my father's tempermy lola's pridemy mother's sharp tonguei have a little bit of each "wonderful" traitrunning in my bloodnot a good combinationreconciliations are just so sweetall is well...

turi beach - take 2

we went back to turi beach last feb 22-23 for another quick beach getaway with the camacho (wawi) and the caliolio (mami) hehehe. we had the same strategy - we went for early check-in and brought snacks, but we skipped bringing lunch. medyo hassle kasi marami na kami :)) our rooms were adjoining. aliw!!!before lunch, we headed to the pool area and everybody enjoyed. keyla enjoyed the most. ikaw na ang iitsa sa pool ng tatay mo nang paulit-ulit :)...

night lights (and sounds and bubbles and fire and water and trees and love)

parang di na kailangan basahin ang post. benta na ang title :pfun times with mami and wawi!!! we visited the gadens by the bay one fine evening. there's really not much you can do here but marvel at the super trees and walk around. but the spot sure looks good in pics. :) and then we went to see the lights show in front of marina bay sands. the combination of lights, sounds, water, fire, bubbles is amazing :) reminded me of kiki in sentosa (ages...

moving a mountain

2 years into our marriage. while most couples our age are happilybuilding their families, we are still trying to formulate where we'll settle and build our nest. for the meantime, we thought it might be best to also try to have a baby (read: shumoshonda na ang mga itlog ko) :) how we'll do that across the distance we'll never know, but we could always figure things out. hahaha! for starters, i thought it would be wise to have a check-up with an...

wawi's day

mami and wawi visited us for a week last feb 16 to 23. when was the last time we've been complete like this? i think that would be 2010 during our wedding.feb 18 was wawi's birthday. we had dinner at din tai fung (the default dinner place hehehe). everybody was happy. :)wawi is now 27. life had been a little tough on him. i remember praying that if only other people could bear the hardship of other people, then i volunteer to take all the pain. parang...

happy vday

valentine's day. kuya, april, tita, keyla, and i had a group date at the peach garden in pasir ris. thanks for adopting me :) i spent the day with people i love :) masarap ang meal. (overpriced) lechong kawali. hehehe! and i got flowers from the huzbund. maraming salamat! ayun ang teddy bear inangkin na ng ibang bata dyan :p...

the layover

last january, philip, mike's best man, migrated to new zealand to study. on the way there, there was a one-day layover in singapore. mike asked me if philip could stay here for the night. of course, dear. :) the press release was that philip will go here alone, and that i will take him to the merlion area for a quick tour before his flight to new zealand. while mike was so sweet to brew up a wonderful surprise, i somehow sensed that he will show...

fiesta

3rd week of january marks the feast of sto. nino. i have very good memories of the fiesta. during fiesta, the entire barangay is closed for vehicles. there is only one traffic and that is human traffic bwahahaha! from morning 'til night, sige lang sa kalalakad ang mga tao na di ko rin alam kung san galing and san papunta! :)))kahit walang pera ang mga tao, all homes will open their doors for visitors. there was a time we invited mami's work colleagues....

the fantastic five

it all started last year. noel, an ex-officemate, was visiting singapore and he invited us (jan, ajit, vijay, and me) for dinner. it was an odd mix, really. 2 pinays, 2 indians, 1 brit. we have nothing in common but work. then the dinner happened. actually, the wine happened. hehehe. what started with "how's the weather?" talks ended with compulsary sharing about your lovelife. sharing with almost strangers? nothing could be more liberating. hahahaha.after...

three months today

three months ago, i joined this new company in tanjong pagar. i had anxieties moving out because i loved my old office, i loved my old work, i loved my co-workers. i guess that's what happens when you start mixing emotions in the workplace. you tend to build your comfort zone in a "paradise" that you invented. and you tend to use the word "love" a little too much than normal. :pso now i am a 3 month old baby in this new company. i am happy to be...

turi beach :)

we went to turi beach, indonesia for our post anniversary celebration. it's just a 30 min ferry ride from the tanah merah ferry terminal so why not? :)this was our game plan: take 8am trip on a friday and do an early check in instead of the usual 2pm check in. they would be lenient since guests start flocking in on saturday mornings. and the plan worked :)we arrived at the ferry terminal at around 6am, which was very oa sa aga. we learned that counters...