Life of fashion, culture and adventure

@ Viewing deck January 23, 2011 came. Labsy's 33rd birthday. Last year, Labsy spent  his 32nd birthday alone while in Dubai. We were online on skype or YM, and I saw him celebrating his birthday with noodles. :( So I thought, next year should be a little more special than being alone and away from the family with a bowl of noodle soup. This year, we met the 00:01 of January 23, 2011 in a dessert hangout in Katipunan, Manila, the Banapple, eating banoffee cake and drinking capuccino. Rested for the whole dawn and woke up early morning to go straight to the airport to head for an underground river and Palawan sea swim birthday extravaganza! Arriving in Puerto Princesa Our flight from Manila via  Cebu Pacific Air  arrived in Puerto Princesa at 9:00 AM. We wanted to visit the underground river in Sabang same day, since Doy and Lay will be leaving Palawan on the 25th (January), so they only have two (2) days to spare. Normally the tour to the underground river ...

choco caramel cake @ seattle's best Whew! Enough with 2010 escapades... It was one SUPER FULL year of adventures and unending getaways... Lots of places covered, lots of calories gained as well. The one thing that was constant in all the places we've been to, is the volume of the food we ate... Normally, a lot! Well, I did not say that I'd stop getting in the bandwagon  of travels and fun rides when the year ends... The fun hasn't ended yet! 2011 has a lot of in-store for everyone... For me and Labsy? Hmmm... Let see... first stop? Off to the Philippines' Last Frontier, Palawan... I never really thought that this trip was possible for me and Labsy, but it was. It happened! We planned the trip for Labsy's 33rd birthday (Jan 23) and our 4th wedding anniversary (Jan 25). It was also good timing that Dodoy, my bro, is also home on those dates, so we booked them (him and wife, Lay) tickets to join us on this amazing trip. All four of us were soooo overly exci...

I dreamed last night, twice... Two different scenes, two different set of friends, two totally different lifestyles... I woke up and I've got lots of questions in mind... Were those dreams trying to tell me something? Am I in the beginning of two roads and wondering which road to choose? Now I'm starting to think. How was I on each scenario? Which lifestyle was I happier or contented? As I recall each scene, I seem to be happy on the first dream, or is it because the rest of the people around me were happier? But I have quite a different, yet somehow disturbing excitement on the second. I was more contented and fulfilled, yet the most important person whom I assumed to be happy for me, wasn't. The first dream was a wedding of a friend in a secluded area, where everything was colorful and festive. I stood in a corner watching everyone having the most memorable time of their lives. The good part is, I was smiling. I felt relieved that the people around me were happy and ...

One of the happy times as I become a married person is the designing and decorating of the house. I love imagining some details and making it into a reality, with a consideration of a limited budget. We (Labsy and I) both enjoyed planning the interior of our little house, deciding the colors of the wall, the division, the type of window, the cabinets, the closet, etc... When we did the interior of the first half of the place, we enjoyed every detail. The most we enjoyed was the finding of space, since it was too little to have it all. But we made it, all in minis. Mini sala, mini kitchen, mini room, mini cr. It wasn't so bad and we both loved it, especially the experience. We had so much fun, buying the materials for the house, from the cement, to the plywood, paint, varnish, glass and of course the furnitures. Recently, we continued the 2nd half of the place. Somehow, we were able to enlarge some areas. The room is a bit bigger now, we transferred the living room and the kitc...

War, protests and chaos in Egypt ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045 ), then Libya ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12793919 ), now Bahrain is picking up the pace as well ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/bahrain/8390773/Bahrain-authorities-destroy-Pearl-Roundabout.html ). Middle East and North Africa seemed to be unrested ( http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/18/middle.east.africa.unrest/index.html ). Earthquakes in Chile, China, New Zealand, then Japan ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquakes_in_2011 ). But Japan did not just get the swings, sways and trembles of an earthquake, they got the tsunami and now radiation endangerment. This made me recall the movie 2012. Will these stimulates the end of the world that they say will be on 2012? That is next year for cryin' out loud! Well, we don't just stand and wait for it. After Japan's earthquake, Philippines started asking, how ready are we ( http://opinion.inquire...

http://newsone.com/world/newsonestaff2/second-earthquake-japan-tsunami/ Last Friday, March 11, was very depressing... Japan hit by a super quake with a recorded magnitude of 8.9  ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKh-QaeT6rc ), which in turn resulted Japan to issue a Tsunami alert. And indeed, in about 30 minutes after the quake, big waves engulfed some portions of Japan, specially Sendai. The water traveled so fast and so vast that the cars, buildings, houses and boats seemed like toys being drifted away by a flowing water from the faucet. I was worried watching the news at ANC ( http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/ancliveevents ) while in the office. Made me more worried when they issued alert level 2 for some areas in the Philippines which included Davao City ( http://davaocitynews.blogspot.com/2011/03/map-of-philippine-provinces-affected-by.html ). After the major quake, countless of aftershocks were also experienced by the residents of Japan, and to add worry to the...

Near Kidstown entrance in Sagbayan Peak, Bohol Bohol is a place next to home for me... Well, that said, I guess we need not count the times that I've been there. Mamo and Papo is so fond of their home place, why of course! But late November of last year (2010), Mom, despite our convincing schemes and pre-bought tickets, she did not join us on our Bohol trip. This time, me and Labsy, my neice ("Neneng"), my mother-in-law ("Ma Susing") and uncle-in-law ("Uncle Rudy or Manoy to most"), got our gears up and went to Bohol for a somewhat homecoming and some pleasure escapades. Checking In for MNL-TAG flight So, Nov 26, we all went to the airport for check-in. Me and Labsy were a little worried for Mama since she's half-paralyzed and so she is differently abled. She can walk though, but very slow and she could easily get tired walking. But when we reach to the check-in counter, and requested a wheelchair, there were no worries from then on, we ...