Let's Talk about Being Beautiful

When I was a kid my Mom's boss called me the ugly duckling. I was short, had a pug nose, bunot-like hair and my skin was very white! My classmates would always kid me that my Dad was Redford White and that really made me upset.

Being an adolescent wasn't only awkward, I was reed thin until my late twenties. I had to wear braces for more than ten years and I have just given up on having straight teeth since my gums wouldn't cooperate. Up until now my hair has a mind of its own and even my hairdresser grumbles whenever he has to fix it up for a wedding. 

My former staff from the YP would always recount this story, "Nung ininterview ako ni Maam Aileen, naka-tshirt at maong lang siya, naka-banana clip, salamin, walang make-up at may pencil pang nakasabit sa kanyang tainga!" And then they (my staff who are now very good friends of mine) would always roar in laughter after hearing the story. They then took it upon themselves to do "Project Aileen" where they would force me to fix up every single day. 

During that time I managed to fix myself up every single day since there were people breathing down my neck, but I've slipped back to my usual routine and the only take-away I have from that "project" is a splash of cheek-tint whenever I go out. 

I realized though after attending Dove's launch of Sara Black's photo-book, "When I Look in the Mirror" that you just basically have to accept what God has bestowed on you. The awkwardness and all the flaws you think you have would just fade in the background and you should just be you.

Real beauty isn't about being a cover girl. It's about being you and letting your inner spirit shine through. 

*This is BTW, my belated post for Women's Awareness Month (that's the reason why my header had a "Proud to be Woman" slogan on it). I'm also one of the featured bloggers on Dove's Real Thoughts page on their website hehe.

Mouth-Watering Isn't It?

`Nuff said. Find out where you can have this mouth-watering blueberry cheesecake at Lakwatersa Ako.

Lachi's Sansrival, the best in the whole wide world!

Aside from my super duper favorite pork marinara, let me declare that Lachi's makes the best sansrival in the whole wide world! 

Why? 

1. Perfectly sweet. Not too sweet and not matabang, just the way I like it (and I know because my very sensitive tonsils doesn't protest!).

2. Perfectly crunchy. I don't like chewable sansrival because that's not how it should be. When you go for a small slice, the fork goes through and doesn't get stuck.

3. Mouth-watering and not butter-y. I've tasted sansrival that feels oily because of the butter. This one is absolutely perfect.

Mouth watering isn't it? 

What are you waiting for? Go to Lachi's! NOW NA!

And no this is not yet my real post about Lachi's for Davao FAT... this just covers the afternoon when we snuck in Lachi's before we were really scheduled to go. 

Lachi's Sanz Rival Atbp.
Ruby St., Marfori Village
Davao City
Tel No: 082-224-5552

Mapping with Google

I was very excited about the launch of Google's geo products for the Philippines and last October it opened Google Maps for editing via Google Mapmaker. Google Mapmaker is where you can tag landmarks, trace roads in the hybrid view (if the roads aren't on the map yet), and essentially put all information about your neighborhood on the map.

It's pretty amazing how much info has been added via Google Mapmaker. Check out this timelapse video of my favorite city, Davao:

More videos available at the Google Philippines Youtube Channel.

And now since Google Maps Philippines have been updated, I can embed here some important places in the Philippines for me:

Cagayan de Oro, where Sweetie had the engagement ring hand-crafted through Honey.

View Larger Map

Maa, Davao, where the proposal happened:

View Larger Map

And I'm monitoring my neighborhood too for any updates. 

View Larger Map

Here's some photos from the Google Mapmaker event:

Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom

I'm swamped with blog backlog since I'm still in a serious daze after the wonderful weekend. My backlog includes a post about the Google Mapmaker, Havaiannas, the Davao FAT restos, going to Samal Island, the Dove event and the Ipanema Walkathon this weekend (register na!).

Well, I leave you guys with this first. I saw this a few weeks ago and now I have the ringtone courtesy of Drew.

The Perfect Proposal

I wasn't sure whether I'd have the courage to share this very special moment via a video, but I realized that my friends made a huge effort to document the moment (especially Markku, Hana, Gwing and Drew the accomplice).

This thing doesn't happen everyday and I have to hand it to Sweetie for proposing to me in the best way possible. Hope this video inspires you:

This is where everything started, "When God Writes Your Love Story (part 1 and part 2)".

The Mid-Air Proposal (via zipline)

March 14, 2009

Sweetie proposed to me while I was mid-air on the zipline today.

I was pretty nervous about today since we were scheduled for a zipline adventure at Xcelerrator here in Davao. I wasn't so gung-ho about it since I was scared that trekking up the mountain might trigger an asthma attack (nginig!). I did not want to disappoint my friends (and myself) so even though I was a bit anxious about the trek I still agreed to do it. Good thing it was a bright and sunny day, unlike yesterday when it rained the whole day. It was not an easy trek and I had to take a lot of breaks with Sweetie. I was last on the list anyway so I wasn't worried about not making it to the platform immediately. 

After a couple of stops Sweetie and I finally managed to get to the platform area and everyone clapped. I then sat down beside Ria and chatted with Jeff, Fritz, Hana, Markku, Chattee, and Brendel. I was a bit sad though that Sweetie was going to go down ahead of me, but I did not want to make a fuss so I just kept quiet about it. 

Marrku and Hana went ahead since they were #20 and #21. Long way to go I thought since my

 priority 

number was 40. We were all surprised though that Sweetie was called after Hana. He held my hands before he went up the ladder to tell me that I was finally going to find out what all the clues were all about (he's been giving clues since November and one every week since Valentine's). What he said did not sink in since: (1) I was nervous for him going on the zipline;

 (2) I had given up deciphering the clues since they were really hard to crack and (3) I was anxious about going on the zipline, so my comperehension was pretty below average.

After Sweetie took the zipline I just continued chatting with my friends. I had nothing to do since I left all my gadgets at the hotel and my phones with Gwing who was at the entrance of the park waiting for us. Little did I know that there was an ongoing Plurk 

riot already because Arpee and Jane announced that we had gotten engaged. Blogie issued an embargo and the plurks were deleted because they were worried that I might've been surfing while waiting for my turn.

I was really surprised when the crew called me. I'm wasn't prepared yet! I wanted to tell the crew that it wasn't my turn yet since about 10 people were supposed to go ahead of me. But they insisted and called me by name. So up I went the platform and waited for my turn. My knees were shaking since I was nervous that I might drop my camera while I was on the zipline since I was going to take a video. I even had to stop the crew before pushing me out because I was really nervous. They just gave me a few seconds before they pushed me out of the ledge.

The zipline was a dizzying, enjoyable experience. I kept whirling around

 and I'm sure the video I took would attest to that. When I got to the end of the line everyone was looking at me as though they were expecting something. I just smiled and waved. I was about to panic already since I could not find Sweetie in the crowd. I was already ready to cry because I could not find him.

Blogie called my attention and I finall

y noticed that he was holding this huge tarpaulin. I immediately noticed that it had “Sweetie,” on it. I had to squint a bit to read what was written below it. It asked, “Will you marry me?” 

I was floored (I was mid-air though LOL). I finally found him after twisting around a bit. He was on the “rolling stairs” holding another tarp explaining all the clues he gave me. And then he said, “Sweetie! Will you marry me?” I was really so surprised and tulala and I remember someone from the audience asking, “So what's the answer?” I then just shouted, “Yes Sweetie I will marry you!”

Then I was reeled in by the crew and Sweetie reached out for me. He then brought out the ring and kneeled down and asked again, “Will you marry me?”

Everything else was a blur and I'm not sure how I managed to go down the steep steel staircase since my legs were wobbly. When we got down we were greeted by our friends and new-found friends and the owner of Xcelerrator also gave his congratulations and gave us two free t-shirts! (Apparently the whole staff knew what was going to happen!). 

I was really, really surprised today since: (1) it never crossed my mind that Sweetie would propose now (2) I knew that Sweetie was planning something and I thought it was a surprise trip, I never thought that he would conspire with Andrew with this grand plan; (3) I always wished for the perfect proposal, but I never really thought about the details and (4) eversince I got asthma my daily concern has been focused on not triggering it (LOL).

Thank you Sweetie for making me the happiest girl in the universe today and for making this a really perfect day. I appreciate all the hard work you put in to make it work. Naisahan mo ako ha!

Thank you also for the co-conspirators:

Honey – for the ring! Aba, nung isang taon niyo pa pala pinagplanuhan ito ha!
Andrew – for all the legwork and tiny details you guys worked out. Uber fail ang rants ko sa iyo about the clues! Arggghhh! Naisahan talaga ako!
Blogie – for proceeding with the zipline today even though you thought of moving it to the 15th. At may heart pa pala sa schedule ng DFAT ha! And for the Plurk embargo! Good thing I did not bring any gadgets when we went up to the platform.
Markku and Hana – for the full photo and video coverage! Wow! Wala ako masabi! Super duper thanks! We will cherish the photos and videos forever.

AJ - for accommodating Sweetie's request to put one of the clues in your blog.
Our blogger friends from Manila, Davao and GenSan, and Plurk friends from all over (sensya na sa riot ha, wala ako kamalay-malay), you guys made it more unexpected because I never thought Sweetie would do a public proposal. Thank you for all the support! (And please do send me a copy of photos/videos you took of the day, pretty please?).

Matt McNeil and his staff at OutlandAdventure.org (Xcelerator) - I should've picked up the excitement of the staff! They seemed all kilig! Thank you! Your camp will forever be in my heart.
And most especially to Papa God – the past 15 years have been pretty rough, but with faith anything is really possible. Thank you for writing my perfect love story.

You may want to visit our new website, www.AileenJay.com for full details on how Sweetie planned this perfect day.

More about the proposal:

Our website where Sweetie recounts how he planned everything

Yogajane's back-end kwento

My Plurk announcement

You can also watch the raw video of the proposat at Markku's Vimeo channel

The raw footage by Markku

Leonard's photos

Janette's post

Jay's Plurk announcement

Rico's post

Pogz' post

Ria's video

Andrew's Zipline of Love and Lols Post