Max’s Birthday Dinner with My Family

After my Momolicious birthday lunch and shopping at Eastwood, Peter and I headed to San Mateo Rizal where we were spending the night with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew so we can go to Subic early the next day. My dad requested that we go out for dinner and I of course obliged. I guess we had a lot of fun bonding together and just enjoying each other’s company that I wasn’t able to take lots of photos anymore. But anyway, those moments will always be in my memory, priceless and happy…

  With my mom and dad… if only I can be with them more frequently… 

My nephew, Dominic Marc, is growing up so fast!

With my brother Mac, his wife, Smeerf, and my nephew, DM

To see more photos, please click the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41479&id=1619903650&l=053fff50cf

Cebu Weekend Part II: Kotex You-niversity with Carelle Mangaliag

I took this trip last January 29-31, 2010. For those who missed reading Part I, please click the link below:

Weekend at Cebu Part I: Departure, Boeing 747 & Waterfront Hotel

 ~~~oOo~~~

Looking back on this trip makes me feel so much more blessed. Just when I expected to do some grueling assistant work, I was actually given a day off on my first day. Like I shared on the first part of this travelogue, I just spent my afternoon eating, bonding with my new acquaintances from DECS and Kotex and basically just lazing around the hotel. And so on my first night there, I decided to come see my sister who currently lives in Cebu. They were kind enough to pick me up from the lobby of Waterfront Hotel and from there headed to a laid back food place that sells very affordable seafood. It was pig out time once again! And can I just say that Cebu really has the finest tasting dishes I know. Whether they be hotel-made or straight out of a grillery, they just never cease to satiate my starving soul… err, tummy. ^_^

After our fantastic meal, Abba and Chris decided to hang out in one of the bars and have some drinks. I obliged. After all, I did want to enjoy my night there in case I won’t have time the next day to spend with them.

We checked out Mango Avenue and Cabanas. For some reason, we noticed that Cebuanos (particlularly in that area) were staying outside the bars and restaurants rather than inside. These establishments, including one convenience store, even had monobloc chairs and tables set up to accommodate their guests.  And when we checked out one of the bars and went inside, there were no people but us and the waitresses. How weird was that?! Everyone was hanging outside instead!

Oh well, at least there were more room for us to drink and be merry. Hrhrhr! Eventually, we, too, went outside since that was where all the action was. My sister urged me to drink Red Horse with Extra Joss so I can stay with them much longer and not fall asleep. Take note, I haven’t really slept since Thursday that week and it was already Saturday dawn. To further jolt me from slumber, I went to the convenience store I was telling you about and asked if they have this cigarette called Black Bat. Peter discovered it the other weekend when we went bar hopping with Carelle and RR at The Fort. Well, not only did I find the Vanilla Mint flavor I was looking for, but they also have Rose and Special Flavors! Oh wow! Not that I’m addicted to smoking, but there were few occasions when I’d smoked a stick or two just for effect. I know it’s bad. But then again, we need to take some calculated risks in life sometimes. Hahaha! Bonding with my sister Abba and her gf Chris is always a fun and enlightening experience. This is one of the reasons why I never tire of visiting Cebu. I not only get to travel, I get to be with my sister too. Awww. 

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Pre-New Year Musings

I won’t be writing any year ender post in here due to lack of time. I am scheduled to leave for Singapore on Jan. 1 (that’s tomorrow!!!) and from there, head to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (popularly known as Saigon) then to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia then back to Manila on Jan. 8, 2010. Yes, I am welcoming the coming new year in three different countries with one of my bestfriends, Jem. Peter will be left behind because of work, another reason that I should really take this trip coz I’ve been wanting to do an Asian trip either alone or with Jem who’s possibly the most carefree person I know. She is not into social networks and any of the O.C. stuff that  I do.  She thinks it’s a waste of time and she’d rather be up and about doing something more concrete and actionable which I admire coz I sometimes feel that way too. She works hard, parties harder and travels the hardest. From Phoenix, Arizona, she got transfered to Utah and she’s loving it. That’s her life and I sometimes envy her. She’s always on the go! In fact, as soon as she finished booking our flights to these three Asian countries, she was already inviting me to go with her to Laos and Burma some time soon. Oh my!!! What a free spirited girl!

Anyway, suffice it to say that 2009, in spite of everything, has been a year of both fun and introspection for me.  I say FUN coz I did things that made me happy (applied for a new job, quit that job, went back to doing online work, set up the Vita Pluys biz, did acting stints, cooked on TV, created new blogs, partied a lot, attended blog events, etc.) and I say INTROSPECTION coz there were many moments when I  just wanted to be left alone so I can reflect about my life, my decisions, my purpose. If you want to go into further details, feel free to just browse my sidebar and go back to the previous months filled with travels, adventures, endings & beginnings, love, wishes, thoughts and other great things. Do check out my other blogs too.

Moreover, for this post, I want to welcome 2010 with open arms. I am letting go of my fears , anxiety, guilt and fully embracing the great purpose that the universe has in store for me. I will continue doing the things I love to do and  hopefully become a better person along the way. In fact, Jem is a gift from God. Doing an Asian backpacking trip is one of those scary things I wanted to do for so long but never really got around to doing. I love to travel, yes. I am the Sexy Nomad after all. But I’ve also been so caught up in my own comfort zone that if I have a choice, I always choose to be comfortable. This time around, I need to pack light (I used to pack weeks in advance so I can plan my getup and accessories… no time to do that now), I need to learn how to sleep in airports if the need arises, we will be booking in the most affordable hostels, I have to learn how to make new friends right on the spot, I need to let go of my O.C. tendencies since this is a very impulsive decision and we didn’t have enough time to plan our exact itinerary. I know it will be fun, but I must admit, it’s still kinda scary.

I gave it much thought and told Peter about my hesitations. But like the best hubby that he is, he told me to just go. He knows that this trip will do me good;  it will open my world to new insights; and it will signify how the rest of the year will be for me — more carefree, less worries, detached from material things, more  attuned to my divinity, more abundant, filled with  love,  pouring with great blessings and bliss. ^_^  Now, I really have no excuse. On a more serious note, Jem told me that without suffering, there is no gratitude. And feeling grateful for everything that I have is what I need to keep doing. Jem, after all is not just an expert backpacker but she’s a very spiritual person too. I know we’d be having one of the best times of our lives and this trip will be a turning point for me.

Anyhoo, I also just want to share on this post  the latest happenings in my life before I go. I’d be brief since I still have to  take care of other things before I pack for my trip which is scheduled less than 30 hours as of this writing.
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Christmas Diary 2009

FATE

A “Para-Gram” by Paramahansa Yogonanda

There is no such thing as fate; you make your own destiny. God has given you independence to shut out His power or let it in. You have more strength to overcome difficulties than you have troubles to overcome. You can remedy your mistakes because God has given you reason and will. First you must make up your mind; then hold your will steadily to your purpose until it is completed. Discipline yourself to develop your sleeping spiritual powers. Claim your divinity. Unite your consciousness with God, and receive blessings direct from His hand.

Christmas has always been some sort of a battle for me. For some reason,  every time December comes each year, there’s this button in my head that gets switched on making my hormones go haywire. Perhaps, I haven’t been practicing enough willpower and I just let it take control over me. Or maybe, it’s just the usual pressure that the Yuletide Season brings. Studies have proven over the years that Christmas is not just the happiest season of the year but it is the most stressful too. Many people even commit suicide at this time of the year than any other. How ironic, isn’t it? 

Anyway, everything we feel is energy and it attracts everything that is like it. Positive energy attracts more positive things; negative energy attracts more negative things. It is no wonder that during this time, my parents had a huge fight, my hubby and sis almost got into a car accident, I’ve been feeling more and more depressed, and so on and so forth. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! Like what the Paragram said, “There is no such thing as fate; you make your own destiny.” Just because past Christmases have always been a struggle for me, it doesn’t mean that this year has got to be one too. God has given me the power and more than enough strength to overcome these difficulties. Like what Peter keeps telling me, past is past and where we are now is full of blessings and wonderful surprises that I have to continue acknowledging and being grateful for. And he’s right. Of course, he is. I taught him that before. And I must remember to keep on practicing these things that I’ve learned from The Secret. I must admit, taking the first step to changing paradigms and feelings from sad to happy is always difficult at first. But once I’ve conditioned my mind and body, then everything else will follow and I’ll be aligned once again. Like love, happiness is a commitment. It’s a decision that is coupled with action and desired results will then follow. 

I can never thank my sister enough. Abba has always been my angel… I’ve told her time and again that I may have been born four years ahead of her but between the two of us, she has always been the stronger and wiser and I admire her so much. I look up to her that I claim she is the “big brother/sister  I actually never had. She  is caring and sensitive but can be firm and strong-willed when needed. Anyway, she taught me this song that is soooo apt for the both of us. Like PINK LIFE (which she also taught me before), this song has become my 2nd all-time most favorite and is now the theme song of both our lives. We are celebrating Christmas and welcoming the New Year with blank pages and more excitement, happiness and gratitude for all the great things that are about to unfold.

 
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My Sister and I Dreamt We Were Avatars

LITTLE BLESSINGS

My sister arrived from Cebu yesterday (Sunday) morning. Right after we picked her up at NAIA Terminal 3, we immediately headed to Mall of Asia (MOA) to check out the screening schedule of Avatar. We heard so many good reviews about it and according to some, it’s best seen on 3D. It was just a little past 9 a.m. when we got there. We passed by IMAX and saw that the first screening was slated at 10:45 am. We had plenty of time to spare so we headed to McDonald’s first for some longganisa breakfast. By the time we were done, it was already 10:25 am and what awaited us was a very long line of people buying tickets for the 10:45 am screening. Oh my lord! I didn’t want to feel stressed about it so I kept my calm. I wanted to practice The Secret / The Law of Attraction more vigorously this time considering that I was such in a sad mood the last couple of weeks during and after my period. So, I just let it be. I thought if we don’t fit in the first screening, then we’ll do the second screening at 2:00 p.m. By 10:40 a.m., it was our turn with the cashier. Obviously, there weren’t many seats left. So we had no choice but to get the ones at row C which were very near the screen. Oh well. That’s that. At least we made it to the 10:45 a.m. screening. We ran towards the cinema entrance and handed our tickets when the ticket lady noticed that the tickets given to us were for the 2:00 p.m. slot. I was slowly losing my patience but I still kept my cool. Without much further thought, I ran back to the cashier and practically shouted (but with a nice tone)  “Kuya, pang 2:00 pm binigay mo. Sabi ko 10:45 a.m.!” (You gave me tickets for the 2 pm slot when  I wanted the one at 10:45 am.) Good thing he immediately apologized and replaced our tickets. We were so lucky coz there were exactly 3 seats left at row N, which meant, we got better seats than what were first given. Hurray! Thank you universe! I think I’m getting back on track to being aligned again. Teehee. Little blessings, they really do count.

 
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Did You Have A Happy Halloween? I Did!

I originally scheduled a Halloween Party at home on Oct. 24, 2009, a week before the real Hallow’s Eve, which is when I usually have it every year. But because I got chosen to go to Singapore that weekend for the Nuffnang  Asia Pacific Blog Awards (blog post to be made this week) , I decided to just move it on Halloween weekend  itself  even though I know many people won’t be able to make it. What’s important for me is that I get to celebrate it like I used to every year. It is after all, my most favorite holiday. So whether or not friends will come party with me, I will still party with Peter and my family. Teehee.

  
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What’s New in Cebu? Day 3 (Oct. 8, 2009)

 If you want to check out my Day 1 & 2 in Cebu, click the links below:

What’s New in Cebu Day 1

 What’s New in Cebu Day 2

~~~oOo~~~

Unfortunately, the weather was not very friendly the next day, Chris still had to review for another exam so we just decided to sleep the entire morning. Since I was waiting for word from some of my business prospects, I managed to do another round of online work. Early that evening, we visited Tito Ped and Tita Anne and spent time with them. Tita Anne prepared this scrumptious herbed pasta soup and toasted garlic and basil bread.

Afterwards, we finally decided to give the Sky Adventure a real try. We once again headed to Crown Regency, with our hearts pounding and minds racing. It was then or never so I might as well do it! Lo and behold, as we were buying our tickets, one of my good friends was there — John Aguilar! Of course, he never failed to scare me further. OMG! I hoped to survive that night! The view was so spectacular up there. It was windy and cold which didn’t help calm my nerves. But it was all so worth it!

The Edge Coaster ride was mind blowing! I really thought I was going to die! I wasn’t breathing at all for four whole minutes the whole time I was strapped in that metal chair tilted 55 degrees facing the ground 38 stories below! It was the longest four minutes of my entire life! Whew!!!

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What’s New in Cebu? Day 2 (Oct. 7, 2009)

If you want to check out my Day 1 in Cebu, click the link below:

What’s New in Cebu Day 1

~~~oOo~~~

Naturally, I woke up in the afternoon the next day. Since Chris had to be in school for her exams, Aba and I just went to Ayala Mall and checked out Terraces. The last time I was in Cebu  in July 2008, this part of Ayala Mall was still nonexistent. It took less than a year for the new wing to be built. And it was huge! It’s like Trinoma and Greenbelt rolled  into one. The architectural structure was so beautiful it was like I never left Manila at all. I felt so at home. Hehehe.

We checked out Mooon Cafe. It’s a restaurant that originated in Cebu. In fact, I don’t think we have a Mooon cafe branch in Manila. They offer Mexican inspired dishes so we ordered quesadillas, coke zero for Aba and Revitalizing Smoothie for me (made of mango, pomelo and some other fruits). The taste of the quesadillas was okay and the ambience was cool. On our way home later that evening, we  passed by the original branch which was a house turned into a restaurant somewhere in the city.  It looked so awesome, like one of those cool restos in Bali, Indonesia.

After a while, Tito Ped and Tita Anne dropped by. We transferred to Cafe Laguna where we ordered Lumpiang Sariwa, Chicken Relleno, and Turon na Saging at Langka. Yummy.

I was supposed to go home with Tito Ped and Tita Anne that night. But since my stay in Cebu was limited, I just promised to stay with them next month when I come back and stay here much longer (yeah, my sister, Chris and I are planning to do some road trip all the way to Malapascua and Bantayan Island. I’ve been to Bantayan Island in 2006 with Peter and Popsy and it was one of those beautiful places I’ve seen. I hope Peter can come with us next month). As for Malapascua, It’s always one of those places I’d like to visit. They cater to divers coz of its rich marine resources so perhaps we’ll do a bit of fun dive too. Woot!

Anyway, going back, after we dropped off Tito Ped and Tita Anne at their beautiful house in Banawa, we once again headed to the city at the Arcade. We bought Chocolate Truffle cake and Sans Rival cake at La Marea then transferred to Da Vinci’s Pizza for some Chicken Shawarma Pizza and free wifi. Woohoo! When we weren’t  satisfied, we still headed to another happening place in Cebu called The Outpost. Again, it looks like another big house turned into a bar with lots of nooks and crannies to hang out at. 

We headed back to my sis’ place at around 1 am, did a few hours of online work and planned to visit White Sands in Maribago the next morning….

To be continued…

What’s New in Cebu? Day 1 (Oct. 6, 2009)

At the airport, I was missing Peter a lot that I was just reading my book when I finally decided to eat at Chaikofi… our fave dining place at NAIA 3. Little did I know that back in Ortigas, Peter was also having breakfast at Chaikofi in Robinson’s! Awww.. He even sent me an MMS photo of him. *Melt*

I arrived in Cebu on a Tuesday afternoon, around 1:30 pm. The flight was uneventful except for minor turbulences as we were ascending. I really can’t explain why these things make me so scared… Maybe because I was again traveling alone, Peter was not with me and all those images of scary airline flicks I watched before came rushing back to mind. I should really try to relax and just enjoy the flight. Heck, I’ve been traveling since I was six years old and these things should get petty boring as I grow old. But anyway, let’s just say that too many discovery channel airline disaster movies coupled with lots of caffeine in my system made me this paranoid. Teehee.

Top photo: Relaxing for a little while in my sister’s house together with her girlfriend Chris (in white uniform); Bottom photo: photo op with my sis, Aba, at the lounging area of Crown Regency.

Moving on, this Cebu trip of mine would serve as a precedent for many other business trips that I would make in the near future. I figured, since I love to travel and I am currently getting busy with my Vita Plus business, I might as well mix the two, right? It also helps that my two full time VA jobs only require me to be online and considering that the entire country is practically hooked to the net, my life today has become the kind of life that I’d always wanted it to be — productive, carefree, fun and with a sense of purpose.

Hanging out at the 19th floor of the Crown Regency Tower… Yeah, I was already trying to psych myself at this time to do the skywalk and edge coaster ride before I leave for Cagayan de Oro  in a few days.

So anyway, that same afternoon, after my arrival, Aba and Chris brought me to Crown Regency Hotel and Tower to check out their Sky Adventure packages. Since I had a business meeting scheduled that afternoon, I figured that we can just watch the 4D movie combo afterwards and just do a bit of site seeing while waiting for my business prospect.

This moment was one of the best movie experieces I ever had! Whew!!! Thank God I survived this. I was screamilng the whole time. This 4D thing made me feel like everything was real!

Fast forward to the 4D experience itself, we had a blast! The reason why it’s called 4D (and not just 3D like what they offer at IMAX in MOA) is because aside from the usual 3-dimensional experience, there was also real water splashes, wind and earthquake as seen on the three short films – Deep Sea, Dino Rage, and The Lost Island.

Dinner at Mr. A’s Bar. It felt like I was in Antipolo. The overlooking scenery was so beautiful.

My evening and dawn were spent having dinner at Mr. A’s Bar and doing some online work. I took a leave with one of my virtual assistant jobs so I can I manage to do some SEO work on another one. Talk about time management and overall mixing of business and pleasure.  C’est la vie! ^_^

To be continued…