More of the Balikbayan

After four days in Kota Kinabalu (we spent our last day just relaxing and then it's bye-bye time so no pics hehe) and going back to Manila, Grace stayed here with us in the condo for one more night. Poor hubby had to sleep in the couch again. Grace's first night in PI she stayed with us too before we left for KK. The next day Grace went home to Makati but we saw each other again for dinner by Friday, this time with Joel and Gary. Too bad My wasn't able to come, she's too tired from work. Well, we understand her, she's pregnant you see. Had dinner at Abe and then coffee and doughnuts at Krispy Kreme. Joel was as usual so kulit and Gary was again late for dinner. Haven't seen them in a while so the night was full of stories.

The next week, the night before Grace left for NY, we saw each other again. Grace wanted to watch Miss You Like Crazy before dinner so Joema had to skip this meet-up as he was already had his quota of this movie. I met up with Grace after work and we were able to watch at Greenbelt 2. It was the only theater were the movie was still showing. After the movie, we met up with Joel and Gary again for dinner.



And then she's back in NY. Just like that. I always tell her she should go back here hehehe. Of course, I'm being selfish!

Heard over the Team Radio in Sepang

Team Engineer to Lewis: Warning...over weaving...


Lewis was amazing in China. He started 19th (he wasn't able to go through Q2 together with the 2 Ferrari boys) but after the first few laps, he was fighting with Petrov for the 10th place. Though he was given a warning after overtaking Petrov because he was overweaving. Petrov, rookie that he is followed Lewis in every turn that he made haha. I was seriously scared that Lewis might still get a podium finish. Good thing Sutil held his place and he and Lewis finished 5th and 6th respectively.


Team Engineer to Massa: Good boy...Beautiful!


This was after Massa overtook Button and got 7th place. As I mentioned early on, Massa was also at the back of the grid at 21st. He was at the back of Lewis and just like Lewis he overtook a lot of cars after the 1st and second corner. Felipe was right behind Lewis before he overtook Petrov. And then after the first round of pit stops he was behind Button who he managed to overtook with the encouragement of his engineer. It was really beautiful hahahaha!



Vettel to Team: That is sweeeetttt!!!


Yes, yes it was indeed sweet! After getting the pole positions and then not getting any podium finishes for the first two races, and then qualified 3rd in the Sepang GP, Vettel's win was absolutely sweet!!! He managed to overtake his teammate Webber and Rosberg, who were 1st and 2nd on the grid, after the first corner and he took the lead all the way to the chequered flag! Whoppee! Star Sports actually did a comparison of his first three races last year and this year, where last year he also had bad results for the first two races and then finished 1st in the third round (Chinese GP) and it turned out he did win the third race again this 2010. Yey yey yey!!! Now he's tied up with Alonso on the driver's championship with 37 points. Hoping for more podium finishes in the upcoming races!




Bahrain GP - P1 qualifying, 4th place race day
Australian GP - P1 qualifying, DNF race day
Malaysian GP - P3 qualifying, 1st place race day

Photo credit : F1 Fanatic

Visita Iglesia 2010

This yearly tradition has been a fairly new one in our family. I think we've been doing this only for a couple of years maybe for the last 5 years or so.

For this year, we started with San Roque Parish in Mandaluyong. It's our first time to visit this church and as they say you can pray for a wish when it's your first time to visit a church. Unfortunately, I forgot to pray for my wish so I prayed for it on the next church we went to instead.





Then we went to Nuestra Senora de Gracia in Makati where I prayed for my wish hehe.



While going there my mother suggested that after our Visita Iglesia we should visit her officemate's husband who's confined in the National Kidney Institute in QC. So from Makati we headed off to Quezon City so our next stop was the EDSA Shrine.



From there we went to Christ the King Parish in Acropolis. This is also the first time I went to this church, so I prayed for another wish.



This is where we had a snack break because it was around 11:30am by the time we were there. We ate fishballs and bought some buko juice to quench our thirst. It was so hot that morning!



After refreshing we headed off to our next church. I told them we can go to the chapel inside Eastwood City, which I thought was the Padre Pio Chapel. Well, I thought wrong because apparently Padre Pio Chapel was outside Eastwood. Fortunately, there is a chapel inside Eastwood named Holy Family Chapel. I saw Juris of MYMP inside the chapel but my brother didn't see her so no one can attest I saw her so I'm not even sure if it was really her that I saw. Anyways, this is again a first for me so I prayed for another wish.



The next church we went to was at Industrial Valley in Marikina, the Nativity of our Lady Parish. I prayed for another wish here. Wow, that's a total of four new churches for me. But ti think by this time I lumped my wishes together hehehe. Here's my brother wearing the color of Lent.



Since this last parishwas very near Sta. Clara, we went there afterwards. As usual there were a lot of people in Sta. Clara. This is at the back of the chapel where the nuns of the monastery stay during the mass. They cannot associate with people outside of the monastery.


After 7 churches, we still went to the UP Chapel.


We wanted to buy something for my mom's officemate when we visit the hospital so after saying a little prayer at the chapel we went to the stalls outside and bought fruits for my mother's officemate.

We were all exhausted (due to the heat) after these so we went home first and then picked up my husband from work. We went to San Jose on Thursday and went back to Manila on Good Friday. My Tita who lives in Pampanga even invited us to watch the people who are being crucified. Did you know that some of these people intentionally wound their backs with sharp objects, maybe saw blades, so that they start bleeding before the procession to "Calvary"? Have you seen something like this in person? I've only seen this on TV and in the movies.

Fashion Confession

I have a confession to make, I usually borrow dresses from friends for me to wear when I attend weddings. I don't have a lot of formal dresses, well I don't have a lot dresses period, so I usually just borrow when I need to. I don't want to spend so much on clothes I'll only use once. So anyway, this coming May and June I will be attending 3 weddings and since I know I've gained a few pounds here and there, this early I've already asked a friend if I can borrow dresses from her. That way I can fit them and see how many pounds I need to lose by May. I was so depressed after trying on her clothes because only 1 fit me and I look fat in it. The other dresses were too tight! I can barely zip the dress up, I've asked the help of my husband to help me zip up but our efforts are fruitless. And then another dress I was able to fit into but when it was time to remove it I can barely get out of it. I was almost in tears after my husband helped me get out of the dress. Imagine that, when I really used to borrow dresses from her and they fit me perfectly. This is one of the dresses I borrowed from a friend and I wore to Penny and Pao's wedding.




Now I'm trying to watch what I eat and lessen my food intake. I don't think I can go back to the gym and work out. I don't have the time and the determination to go back. Although I would have love to go and try boxing again, if only to punch somebody else to let out my frustrations each and every day at work haha! I envy those Hollywood stars and other mega-rich people who can afford Beverly hills cosmetic surgery or Los Angeles tummy tuck, some even opt for beverly hills breast augmentation. There are a lot of plastic surgeons in Hollywood but Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery is one of the best, if not the best. They have fully trained medical doctors and they always put the needs of the clients first. So if you're from that part of the world and want to look better and feel better, you might want to schedule a consultation with them. If I had the money and that's my last resort, I probably would hehe.



*I'm sorry to have posted such a vain blogpost on Holy Week hehehe.

Two in a Row

Yes, two! Count them - one, two! Two races when Vettel got the pole position during the qualifying race but ended up with no podium finish during the race. Argh! I wasn't able to watch the live telecast of the Australian GP which was 2pm Manila time earlier today. We were out of the house because the electricity was down in our neighborhood. But when we got home we were just in time for the last 8 laps. Star Sports was showing Kubica, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber catching up on each other and placed 2nd to 6th respectively so I thought maybe Vettel has left them all behind him at first place. Turned out he was already out of the race because of another car problem. Yikes! And that Jenson Button was the one leading the pack - double yikes! Ahahaha I don't really like that guy, I'm not impressed with all his wins. I just had to read about the race online (after researching about US Navy SEALs Store) and read about what happened to Vettel. I found out it was some brake failure that made Vettel lose the race. Tsk! The good news is I won't be so nervous watching the replay later tonight because I already know what wil happen hahaha! I hope they figure out what's really wrong with the car and make up for it next week at the Malaysian Grand Prix. I want to see him back at the podium ASAP and want to see him really having a shot at the driver's championship!


Bahrain GP - P1 qualifying, 4th place race day
Australian GP - P1 qualifying, DNF race day

Grace's Birthday at Kota

Our second whole day (technically, third day) in Kota Kinabalu was Grace's birthday - 9th March. I was the first one to wake up so I was able to greet her immediately when she opened her eyes. We again hit the buffet at Cafe Tatu for breakfast and had pansit for for long life.

After breakfast we tried hitting the beach but there's a huge sign that there might be jellyfish plus the water's a bit too deep for us so we went back to the pool.

We met this little boy who is so talkative and so adorable. He'd tell his father, "Papi please help me, I can't do that because I'm so small." We later found out he was only 3 and a half years old but he swam cautiously by himself.

We had our lunch in our room, Grace and I split an order of duck curry because we didn't want to eat too much. The original plan was to eat dinner buffet at Cafe Tatu so we didn't want to be too full for that hehehe - preparing our stomach for the really big meal ahead of us. Then it was "lazying around" time again. We took a nap and then headed out to take photos in the resort.

This is at the courtyard on our wing.

This is where we whiled away the afternoon waiting for sunset.

The view from where we were seated...the Chi Spa on the right...

and the sunset on our left.

When we got back to our room a birthday cake was waiting for Grace. And soon after we arrived I heard a knock on our door - a hotel staff brining in more gifts for Grace, bath therapy from the Chi Spa with instructions on how to use them. The Spa also offered a 20% discount but unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to make the appointment and actually go there for the massage.

For dinner we changed our minds, so instead of pigging out at the buffet we tried fine dining at Peppino. I don't think I'll get used to this kind of eating..everything's so formal. I'm pretty sure they didn't get those lights in some sale lighting.

We again went to Happy Hour but this time at the Borneo Lounge which is just outside Peppino. It was totally a coincidence that our clothes were matching that night.

We ordered mai thais but after three rounds we were both tipsy ahaha. I wasn't even able to finish my third glass, Grace had to finish it for me.


Happy birthday, Gracia! I wish you all the best beacuse you deserve it! I hope next time we can have our dream cruise with our respective partners *wink, wink*

New Header Again

Yep, changed the photo of my header again. The previous one, I think, was just to blah! This was taken by our wedding photographer during our prenup. Nice eh?

Vodka + RockBand = FUN

I had so much fun last weekend. We went on an impromptu drinking session with some friends. And to think the husband initially didn't want to go to because he just wanted to stay in and relax the entire night. I met up with him after his work and we went grocery shopping. Our original plan was to meet up and then watch Alice in Wonderland and then do some grocery shopping. So I did meet up with him after his work and then we watched Alice in Wonderland. I was almost panicking because we agreed on the 4:10pm screening but he wasn't out of the office yet by 3:45pm. But as luck would have it, we were in the theater just in the nick of time. Just before the movie ended, our friend J called up my husband which I thought was because she wanted to ask if we were going to our friend T's place. Anyways, after the movie we proceeded to shop for groceries and then our friend T texted that he's just by himself in their house and that we can come by any time we want. We thought the text message was so desperate (hehe sorry T!) that my husband decided we should go there after doing the groceries. He called up our friend J (turned out she was asking something about downloading iTunes on her iPhone) and confirmed with them that we were going to T's place after doing the groceries. By 8pm, we were done with groceries, got home, rested for a while and where out of the house again to go to our friend's house.

It was only the five of us that night (too bad we didn't do this when we were complete) but we had so much fun, especially us two girls, drinking and playing Rock Band (no serious talk about work or finances like advantages and disadvantages of credit cards). As my friend said, it's fun to let loose once in a while.

We rock!!!

Serious lead and bass guitarists


No, they're not drunk...

...we were hehehe

Me and my honey

Spending the Nights (and Day) in KK

On our first night at Kota Kinabalu, after checking-in, we immediately had to take a bath because it was so humid and we just had to freshen up. We just ordered room service.


After eating, we decided to go down to the beach and Grace ordered us a bottle of Chardonnay.


The plan was to to drink by the beach but the mosquitos were killing us so we took the bottle up to our room and continued drinking there while watching Australia. I love Hugh but Australia is such a bore. Just when I thought it was ending, the movie just continues on and on....Let's just say that Grace fell asleep while watching it, here she is still with her eyeglasses on but already asleep haha! She will definitely kill me if she knew I posted this one.


After a few more minutes I decided to sleep as well. Okay, we can blame that one on the wine and not on Hugh. The next day, we had buffet breakfast at Shang's Café Tatu.


We then went for a swim. Do you see that lone person in the pool? That's Grace who missed the waters in NY. It's her first swim after almost two years.


But I was feeling a bit woozy, still because of the wine the night before, so I just decided to sit back and relax by the pool. It was only then that I realized how fun it was to just sit by the pool haha. I always thought of why other people just lounge by the pool and don't take a swim, but that time I found it so fun and at the same time peaceful just sitting there, listening to my Ipod and watching people. Grace went up to our room to wash up but I decided to stay. And then I saw this..



The hotel provides different activities for their guests, and on our first day they had water exercise in the morning. Grace and I signed up for the cooking demonstration in the afternoon but we weren't able to come back for that since we went to the city center (but I'm getting ahead of my story). Anyway, after I washed up, Grace and I decided to go to the city center because I told her we can eat in Sedco Complex where they serve fresh seafood, the one where we ate in the last time I went there. The cab from Shangrila to the city center is fixed at RM15. Unfortunately, the place was closed during lunch hours. So we rode another cab to the Waterfront (good thing I still remember some of the places in KK) and had our lunch there.


Shout out to Anna, I wore the gift that you gave me. :)

As in my first trip there, we met a lot of Filipinos. One of them is the server in the restaurant at the Waterfront Esplanade. Funny 'cause when he found out we were Filipinos he gave us that kind of "Why am I trying so hard to speak in English when you are Pinoys" face haha. Most of the other patrons that were eating were Caucasians and they all ordered beers in the middle of a hot day. I can't imagine drinking beer and then feeling hot because of the alcohol in that humid weather. After eating, we crossed the street to Warisan Mall and did a little bit of shopping. I scored a pair of Vincci shoes for just RM42 so that's just less than 600 pesos! Test rode it yesterday at work and got a lot of compliments.

We got back to the hotel a little after 4pm, so late for the 3pm cooking demo we signed for. So we tried to take a nap before heading out for happy hour at the hotel's Sunset Bar. We watched the sunset during happy hour and ordered a bucket of Stella Artois (4 cans) and some chicken wings.




It was already dark when we left Sunset Bar. We had a long conversation about work and career choices. I must have blabbed on and on to Grace about my frustrations while she also blabbed on and on about her frustrations. This vacation was really about us reconnecting again and be able to rant and rant about everything haha.

Start of the Race

The Formula 1 season officially started over the weekend at Bahrain. We weren't able to watch the live telecast of the qualifying session at 7pm Saturday night because we went to our friend's birthday dinner. But we were just in time for the 3am replay on Star Sports when we got home. Was tired from the long night but totally ecstatic when Vettel got P1. First pole for the first qualifying round, not bad at all!

I was so excited for day's race and so was the husband because Massa was 2nd on the grid for race day. Vettel got a good start and maintained his lead but unfortunately during lap 33 due e to some mechanical problems he was overlapped by Alonso, Massa and Hamilton. I wanted to just stop watching the race and surf the net to do some MP3 Search but I was so worried Rosberg who's in 5th place might overtake Vettel again. Although Vettel defended his 4th place, he failed to get a podium finish. He could have won that race. It was so frustrating. But we have 18 races to go so hopefully this is just a one-time thing for their car. Hopefully, they'll fix everything in time for the Australia GP by the last week of March.

Other happenings on the Bahrain GP:

• first leg of the season, new scoring, new rules - no more refuelling and pit stops where done for changing of wheels
• of the new teams - HRT, Lotus and Virgin - only Lotus drivers (Heikki and Trulli) finished the race
• Schumy returns to F1 although it wasn't a BIG comeback because he didn't get to the podium, he finished 6th
• 2009 champion Button finished 7th behind Schumy, another 2 - 3 races like this and Button will be forgotten, a lot of people will be convinced he didn't deserve to win last year's championship
• Hulkenberg is a cutie hehehe

Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort

And I'm back! Went to Kota Kinabalu on a 4 day/3 night vacation with my friend, Grace. On her insistence, we stayed at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru resort. At first, I didn't want to stay there although I was the one who suggested the resort. It's just that I found the price a bit too steep for my budget. But she convinced me since we haven't travelled for a few years now and I really need this vacation away from work, I thought I deserved it. And I'm so glad I relented because the hotel was fabulous!


We were picked up from the aiport by a hotel staff. Here's Grace posing outside the airport.



Check-in was a breeze! When we went out of the aiport car, the staff directed us to the lobby and we were asked to seat and wait for a couple of minutes. Then I was asked to fill-in some forms, while they gave us cold towels and welcome drinks.





I originally booked us a superior Kinabalu mountain view room but upon check-in we were upgraded to a deluxe room at the Tanjung wing. Look at those beds! They're so soft and comfy, although I didn't get to sleep that well because I missed the husband.




And the view from the balcony of our room. We had a view of the swimming pools and the beach. It was always so tempting to go for a swim when we look out our balcony.



Our balcony has its own seating area. It can get a little hot outside but there's a ceiling fan in the balcony so it's still a nice place to hang out.


But we also have a seating area inside the room.


The bathroom is very nice as well, the countertop is full with toiletries.





Up next, more photos of our trip. I wish I could have eaten low carb bars before the trip so that I looked more fit. Grace and I were always taking a couple of photos of each other before we got the perfect one (the one where we don't look so fat hahaha).

Got Sick

I cant' believe I got sick a few days before the trip. I was feeling terrible after lunch yesterday and by the time I got home I just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep. I'm still not feeling 100% okay now but I'm getting there. I don't think anything's gonna stop me to go on our trip. Please pray for me that I'll be totally well by tomorrow.

New Header

Do you like the photo in my new header? Just thought it was high time I change the photo because we're not exactly newly weds anymore, although it still feels like we are.



I wanted the photo to still have some greens because I immediately think of greens for my blog title. I initially wanted to upload a photo of us from Bohol but the photo had too much more face (ours) than the Chocolate Hills behind us. This photo was taken by my cousin on March 2009 in Pangasinan when we went there for our Lolo's wake and burial. I don't know what the heck I'm doing there with that pose, but I'm definitely not dancing. We were there in the bukid because my cousin wanted to take our jump shots but they were a total disaster hehe. So there, just a photo of us not looking at the camera but with a beautiful, beautiful landscape behind us. Don't you think nature is so amazing?