Happy, happy birthday to my Favorite Kuya

I technically just have one brother, my Kuya Jojo, and he's my favorite (no choice there haha). But I must say that I have the best brother in the whole wide world because he's always been there for me, through thick and thin, through no fats with so much fat, through alive and barely alive. I know I annoyed him a lot when I was a kid and I still do (it's my privilege because he's 13 years older than me!), but I know despite that he loves me.

My Kuya with his family the day we both renewed our wedding vows!

So, happy, happy birthday Kuya! Love you!

The Legaspi to Naga Adventure

I was originally planning to fly directly to Naga from Manila, but there were no more seats available when I was booking so I ended up booking a flight to Legaspi. It was a blessing in disguise though because the Manila to Naga flight was cancelled due to bad weather.

I'm always excited to go back home. Naga is where my parents grew up and my Mom is Bicolano. Naga is where they met, fell in love and married during a typhoon at the Ateneo de Naga University chapel (the tiny chapel is gone now sniff). My Dad was the superstar basketball varsity player when he was in high school (and also played for the college team!) and he said he spotted my Mom at a baylehan (party), fell in love and the rest is history.

I was only about 8 months old when they first brought me to Bicol. We'd usually stay at Pasacao during the summer where it was cooler because our nipa hut was located beside the sea. They used to call me kutong tubig because it was always hard for them to get me out of the water. My skin never really darkened, but i remember painful instances of getting sunburnt because of my hard headedness.

So I had to drag Sweetie to come with me to Bicol. I was so excited to show the Mayon off to him since he's never seen it. The pilot announced "fair weather" in Legaspi so I was ecstatic. As we were about to land though it started raining and not even the shadow of the Mayon could be seen. We thought that maybe after eating lunch she'd show up, but noooo Mayon hid behind the fog remaining unseen. Local folklore says that Mount Mayon is quite shy and would only show herself to select people. I was quite disappointed because Mount Mayon always showed herself to me. I guess I'll have to bring Sweetie again to Legaspi in the future. Maybe during a family vacation.

After having lunch at the famous Smalltalk Cafe we decided to take a commuter van to Naga since it was more affordable (just PhP140 one way). We flagged a padyak and the poor driver had to peddle really hard through the soft rain to the terminal. It was a good 15-minute ride. Sorry Kuya! He brought us though directly to the van so I gave him a hefty tip. The huge smile on his face abated my guilt :)

The van ride to Naga though was entirely another matter. The first hour wasn't so bad and we managed to get some sleep. The next hour and a half was a struggle. We had to put our bags on our lap because there was no space and it was hard to balance because we felt like we were going through zigzag roads. Apparently there were roadworks being done in Pili so the driver diverted through the towns leading to Naga. I could barely stand up when we got to Naga (sign of old age!).

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Penafrancia

Ina's old home, the Penafrancia Basilica de Minore

We decided to stay in and rest when we arrived and just had a fun day the next day in Naga City. Visited the 2 Penafrancia basilicas, hung out with my relatives at Moderna Bakery (Casa Moderna) and spent the whole afternoon with educators at Ateneo de Naga University. We capped off our Naga trip with a romantic post-Valentine's dinner at Red Platter. Hopefully next time I can bring Sweetie to my other favorite places in Bicol - Villa Merced Farm in Pasacao and Naga's Centro!

My favorite Casa Moderna offering - the Pambonete!

Afternoon well spent with educators, GEG Naga.

My Modern Day Prince

I was grinning widely when I was waiting for the lift this afternoon. One of my colleagues commented, "Oh you look really happy." I said I was really happy because I had just received a surprise from Sweetie. He mentioned a few days ago that I was going to be surprised at the least time I expected it. I thought though that since I was in Singapore and he was in Manila that he would just surprise me when I'm back home this weekend.

I was wrong.

As usual.

I have been quite busy hopping from one meeting to another (that is my life at work!) in the past week that I had totally forgotten that it's Valentine's. I even had mindlessly scheduled my check-up on Valentine's day (well they say it's "hearts" day so it's just the perfect day to have my 100% pumpin' heart).

I was in a meeting which stretched to about 2 hours and I had been chatting with Sweetie when I left my desk to meet my guest. I briefly saw this photo on G+ -

And I thought, "Awww Sweetie made a card for me!" I told myself it was something I'd look forward to seeing when I got home.

Me being dense.

As usual.

When my guest left I went back to my desk and saw the end of the bouquet -- which I thought was the bottom of a wine bottle! <my eyes fail me even with eyeglasses> I actually felt quite annoyed coz it was on my keyboard! But lo and behold! When I picked it up I was surprised to see that it was a bouquet! A bouquet of white roses! And there's only one person in this world who gives me white roses... with a copy of the home-made card. [Read the link if you're wondering why he gave me white roses, yup it was a FAQ throughout the day].

So I sat there. Stunned. Surprised. Ecstatic. But I managed to discreetly have my moment because I didn't want to disturb my seatmates (who were all not on their desk when I looked around). And then I blushed and tried to contain the warm, fuzzy feeling that was spreading all over me.

It is actually the third year Sweetie and I are not together for Valentine's. 2012 I was in Singapore stuck in a bus for 2 hours with two teenagers making moony-moony eyes with each other (ugh). 2013 I was in ICU and he already had to go home. And now, well here again in Singapore. But every single year we always surprise each other (my surprise this year though didn't work out, boo) and what's important is to make each other feel loved and important (and feel like a princess!).

So who ever said that romance was dead?

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Keep Calm and Listen to The Piano Guys!

One of my most favorite channels YouTube is "The Piano Guys". I listen to the channel all day because it relaxes me. I was really happy when Sweetie bought the album. I immediately put it on my iPod so I could listen to it whenever I travel.

Here are some of my favorite videos -

I'm a frustrated pianist (stopped studying when my teacher started me on Jazz music, my fingers just couldn't keep up!), so I really, really appreciate and applaud musicians. The Piano Guys have also managed to "modernize" (for lack of a better word) classical music. Their take on some pop songs is also refreshing to the ears (check out their cover on One Direction's most popular song).

Love, love, love!!!

Goodbye London, Hello Singapore!

I was trying to take a panoramic shot of the Buckingham Palace when this bird distracted me!

I only had time to blog snippets of my day in the week I was in London and well it's hard to get my brain to work with jetlag and the cold, cold weather. I'm happy to say though that I fared well despite freezing everytime I went out. I was prepared for that, what I wasn't was my body's reaction. Compared to my trip to Zurich it was a bit harder to breathe while walking. I read up on it and apparently it's a normal reaction for those who have gone through surgery. Good thing I prepared for a few weeks by walking around our compound almost every night. I would have probably had a harder time if I didn't prepare for the trip.

Now I'm back in Asia where the sun shines even when it rains (well most of the time). It was a rough flight since I couldn't sleep. Ended up watching "Metro Manila" which was a really heavy film so I watched a couple of episodes of "Sex in the City" to de-stress (I watched all the available Big Bang Theory episodes on the way to London).

I'm so looking forward to this new chapter in my life! And so many new decisions to make to support this change. Woohoo!

Goodbye London!

At the airport now waiting to board my flight back to Singapore. This officially marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. A new adventure is awaiting!

To my family, friends, communities, colleagues in Asia, see you soon!

*Hopefully won't be badly jet lagged!

Thank You World!

I visited the Queen this morning (Buckingham Palace) and there was a sea of people surrounding the palace. Different kinds of people of all shapes, sizes and nationalities! I couldn't help but think about the #PHthankyou campaign. I wanted to shout "Thank you everyone" and hug people for helping my country when Typhoon Haiyan happened. Of course I didn't because I would've probably been picked up by the police, haha.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you world!