2nd year and 2nd month

i was able to dig some of our earliest pictures!

probably my first visit to your house ca. 2005

a pic at the moa area - off to watch the pyro olympics with my family ca. 2005

dinner with your parents ca. 2005

this is us now! chubby cheeks and tummies with baby fat. hahaha.

at 2 years, we could say that our marriage is still in a stage of infancy. the last 2 years were tough. tough because we could not get what we want, and that is to be physically together. while the regular couples enjoy this early honeymoon stage, we were busy struggling to make ends meet.

the bad news is: marriage isn't all about years of convenience, sweetness, and golden spoons.

the good news is: marriage does not promise years of hardship and challenges ONLY.

i believe it's a mix of both, and this is what will make us stronger - both as a couple and as individuals.

cheers to compromises - and to no compromises.
cheers to robbed opportunities of enjoyment.
cheers to more years made of this.
cheers to tears that are overpowered by laughter.

one day we'll be together again... and it will be more awesome!

your gifts being showcased by keyl. thank you :)

old and new

it's raining. i have nowhere to go and nothing to do. a perfect time to reminisce. :)

it was the year 2007 when i first ventured into singapore. the bank had been trusting enough to hire me even if i didn't have background in financing. to add to my luck, my teammates in sg were all filipinos, who later on turned out to be my most reliable friends.

jan and marco and caths - spectrum forever hahaha

christmas party 2007 @ suntec city

shining bright like diamonds at the small room

lunches at the pantry

staring at something like this, and actually making sense out of it

looking at the fountain of wealth from a distance

breakfasts are made of these

being "serenaded" by the dragon on chinese ny. being "swallowed" would make you lucky! 

having unfathomable facial expressions when you are under stress

and simulating your face using inanimate objects

having your own bring-your-spouse-to-work day

feeling close with olympic athletes after work. naks.

getting stuffed animals from the sweetest work colleagues

cooking/swimming event with the team

it was also here that i had the opportunity to see europe on 2008. i feel so blessed to have set foot on this side of the planet. even more blessed to have met wonderful work colleagues and new friends. face-to-face is definitely better than phone calls and chats.

ballenberg with loli and the girls

my 28th surprise birhtday pajama party :)))

lucerne and our pinoy na pinoy pose

visiting swiss homes and riding a truck to travel at the mountains

visiting a fil-swiss home and listening to tales of love and life

visiting lugano with jake, and establishing "for just a moment" as our theme song

einsiedeln monastery with gunnar and the girls... and enamels and hosts.

train timings so precise it could make you cry. wow.

bern with jan

mt. pilatus with ate fritzie and family

seeing the original icon of our lady of perpetual help in italy

the colosseum in rome

buying a ring rosary 

accidentally seeing the pope in rome!

the spanish steps

the pantheon

and the famous swiss guards

making a wish at the trevi fountain

"clubbing" at zurich. naks! akala mo naman!

watching lola madonna

viewing the most bizarre museum

having ham and cheese croissants

being overly friendly with a gramp, who's probably a pedo. i don't know who's the victim: him or me. hehehe

whew! an instant collage! but it will never be enough to tell my wonderful tales in this company. i only have good words to say. the bad ones are being swallowed wholly by the good. in the end, i hope that i could come back. you know, the song "grow old with you" is also my theme song for this company. this, for me, is the best company! woohoo!

on my last day, i received a greeting card from my teammates in zurich. it was very touching because my team is an all-boys team (if you could think of me as a boy), and boys don't do cards like this. hihihi. a for effort! i love my team! i wanted to hug them all if only they were here in sg... but even if they were, i think they would think i'm a freak for being so dramatic that way. hahaha! 

"sorry you're leaving," said their card to me. "so am i," said i. wow! best actress! palakpakan!

and so that chapter of my life ended (for now) last dec, 2012.

i joined a new family together with my SIL, april. i am hoping for the best in this new home. just in time for the holidays, april and i gave the new team christmas cupcakes. cheers to new friendships, relationships, work learnings, and life learnings!!!

odd combo

kuya asked me to go christmas gifts shopping with him last december. april, keyla, and tita went to a christmas party and we had nothing to do, so off we went to orchard for the kids' gifs. kuya the fashionista has a certain fondness for h&m. he said the quality is good, the style is good, and the price is perfect. we were happy with the presents that we bought :)

after shopping, he was itching for a gulp of cold beer. sakto, we found a kopitiam near an mrt station. kopitiam talaga? parang mga uncle lang!

he had beer (just like and uncle).

i had hot milk tea (just like an auntie).

the combination might be odd, but we were both happy. it's been a while since we last bonded like this :)

btw, we also had siomai that tasted like old food from the deepest crevices of the ref. just had to share.

sulit jeans

i don't own a lot of jeans. for the past 5 years, we didn't have dress-down-fridays in the last company i slaved for (forever a slave). i didn't find the need to hoard for jeans. but now, we can wear jeans any day of the week. i'm slowly feeling that i need jeans. i've worn slacks for 5 years! every. single. day.

i bought this pair that's on sale in new look. murang mura at @ $14. chu-choosy pa ba ako kung ganun kamura? hahaha i never thought i'd wear skinny jeans. as if i have the body to sport it :)) but as i said, chu-choosy pa ba ako? sige, go raw sabi ng fashion consultant kong si kuya. at the counter, the pinay saleslady said, "may discount po kapag citibank." hahaha. e kung ibigay nyo na lang kaya sa akin nang libre? sige go tayo sa citibank. after discount, @ $12 na lang ang binayaran ko. isn't that sweet? :p value kung value!

christmas dinner with the dominic girls sg chapter

what late posts i have! :)

before everybody got busy with christmas parties, i met with my high school girls josh, jess, mel, and shella aka the dominic girls. we had a good dinner in the faraway land of vivocity. fine. pagbigyan si jess na may pasok pa that night. hehe. the mechanics were simple. we'll have a simple dinner, we'll bring gifts, and we'll have an impromptu bunutan and exchange gift.

pics after the dinner

pics after the dinner

impromptu bunutan. bakit ganyan kalandi ang pagkakatikwas ng kamay ko? :p

pics with mommy/baby. i think we made a small show while we were doing the exchange gifts. we had looks of amusement (or disgust?) from the nearby tables.

cover your mouth! but wait, shella did not follow instructions :p

fun night! mel got a mug with chocolates inside. i got a headband. shella got garrett popcorn. josh and jess got body shop stuff. to heck with overly planned christmas parties and exchange gifts. the fun part here is... we belonged to different barkadas during high school, but we jive anyway. sulit ang once in a blue moon na meet-up! 

home pics - that blusang puti

hahaha pati ba ito?!? naaliw lang ako. i found my old sando in mami's cabinet. apparently, she still uses it as pantulog. this was my sando during high school. i'm pretty sure we bought it at sm hehehe. missing our st. paul uniform! :) sando na lang ang natira ;))