The Dreamerie

Bought another dress from another vintage online shop – The Dreamerie. This is actually by Riz, whose blog I've started reading. Got this nice dress.



When I got the package it had this little sweet sticker.



After this purchase, I started thinking how I could do this too - set up an online shop. I just have to really think about what to sell. I can buy and sell clothes too. But I'm thinking if I can do something I did with my own hands. I wish I'd enrolled in that polymer clay workshop they offered in the office. I'm also thinking of enrolling in basic pattern making and basic sewing, but that's really just so I could sew my own clothes ahahaha!

Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

The hubby and I quietly celebrated our first year anniversary last weekend. Sometimes I still can't believe it's over a year now since our wedding (and I'm not yet done documenting our wedding in this blog *teehee*). So what better way to celebrate it than just be together, just us. The initial plan was to go to Baguio but because of the recent typhoon we opted not to push through with this and we both agreed not to travel far to celebrate. So I started scouting for hotels in the metro. First choice was Hotel Celeste in Makati but the price was a little bit steep so I wasn't totally convinced. We agreed that we don't have to spend that much on the hotel so I tried booking a room at Astoria – this is for sentimental reasons since we were checked in at this hotel on our wedding. But their one-bedroom suites were fully booked on our anniversary weekend. Joema suggested Sofitel because he loved our previous stay there – he enjoyed the breakfast buffet so much!

So last Saturday, after going to his check-up we got our bags and trooped on to Sofitel.

The view from our room


Very inviting bed

The idea was just to relax and enjoy the weekend. So after checking in we took our afternoon nap (we're like babies ahahaha) and then around 6pm , we headed down to the pool. Unfortunately, the water was too cold! We didn't stay too long.


When we got back to our room and after showering, we ordered room service.

My Hainan chicken rice and his nasi goreng. Didn't enjoy my food really. I was disappointed.

But the breakfast buffet the following day made up for our dinner.

And just because we're celebrating, we had champagne with breakfast but only a glass each.


After eating we lounged around the pool before heading back to our room.





Funny thing that happened on our anniversary. I told my husband that I will give my present to him on Sunday at home after we returned from the hotel (because I didn't want to bring the gift and let him know about it already - it wasn't gift wrapped but just bagged with the stores paper bag but I didn't tell him that). And I guess he thought to himself that he'll do that, too. While packing on Saturday morning he was looking for his Speedo but couldn't find it. Since we're running a bit late for his check-up, I told him he should take his bath. After he left our room I started looking at his drawers again to look for the Speedo, too bad I saw his gift for me ahahaha! It was covered with a face towel to conceal it, but I've put back the face towel and decided to just tell him about it after he gave me his gift, officially. No, I didn't open the gift, but like me his gift was "wrapped" in the store's paper bag so I kind of had an idea what the gift was. When we got to our hotel room and were lying in bed, he asked me if I saw his gift for him. I couldn't lie to him so I said yes and started laughing. I asked him how he knew, he said it's because the towel wasn't in its proper place when he looked back at his drawer ahahaha!

Hay, time really does seem to fly by if you're having fun. Here's to more years of us being together, more laughter, more travels, more adventures!

Neno's Award

I've got a lot of lined up blog posts but I want to do this first because I'm really thrilled to get this award. Got this award from Anna, and here's the criteria of the award:

1. As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging.
2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging.
3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it.
4. Don't forget to mention the person who gives you the award.
5. Answer the award's question by writing the reason why you love blogging.
6. Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.
7. Don't forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

A few years back I dreamed of getting accepted in a university and relocating in a foreign land, thinking that that will be an adventure of a lifetime I started blogging to document the things happening in my life. As it turned out, that didn't happen. But I still found myself continuing this blog because I find it fun to document my life, even if no one gets to read it but myself. I love to blog because it's been really helpful to blog the details of my trips and more recently the details of our wedding. If a friend asks me to recommend what to do in Bohol, I can easily refer to my blog post about that trip and I can give her a ton of activities to do and places to see. I must say, most of the blogs I first followed where blogs with wedding posts. I was a sucker for weddings even before we got engaged, just about the time when I felt I'm ready to get married ahahaha! I discovered Anna's blog when I was searching for a church, their wedding church is in a village along Katipunan Ave which we went to when we were searching for churches. I first commented on her blog on her post about Avilon zoo because that's where Joema and I had our prenup. Cheryl's blog, I discovered while searching for stores in HK, she was based in HK then and she blogged about Citygate Outlet. I continued reading her blog because she was planning for her wedding at that time, too. Now her blog is filled with colorful layouts from here digiscraps, a real feast to the eyes. I also bumped into Frances' blog because I was searching for photos of Archbishop's Palace. Their brown and pink wedding was the epitome of elegance. Oh how I loved her wedding gown! It is through Deepa that I got my wedding gown designer, Tria. Her attendants' gowns, which Tria designed, are so so adorable. And I'm so pleased with myself that I was able to guess the clue on her husband's birthday gift for her. Even if I had to email her about it because I'm having problems commenting on her page, I really did because I was too excited about it haha. On the other hand, Liz found my blog because we had the same church. She asked me if I can recommend the nearest reception venues for our church. I love that through blogging we are able to share information to others while they can also share their know-how's to us.

I also follow my online friends' blogs. Although Abbie, EJ and Eds don't blog as frequently, I get to get updated on what they're doing through Facebook hehehe. Even before I started blogging, I met these beautiful ladies online because of our delusions on certain men ahahaha!

I may not be a great writer but I love to blog simply because I have an outlet for all my experiences and discoveries.

Now, I'm giving this award to Cheryl, Liz, Abbie, Eds and EJ.

Download This

Do you have a favorite US TV series and you can't wait for it to be shown in our local channels here? My current favorites are The Big Bang Theory, Family Guy and American Dad, all shown on Jack TV. The husband and I have a regular viewing schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays starting at 8:30pm is That 70's Show followed by The Big Bang Theory. And then on Thursdays we start at 8pm for the Family Guy, then American Dad and The Simpsons. Me, I usually prefer to watch it on DVD because of the added features but some friends of mine prefer downloading the series. My friends tell me that free torrents download are easily available on the internet. The websites offering this are very easy to use for us non-techy people out there. They said, the interface is simple, which is a plus especially for non-techy people like me, and it's very easy to search for your favorite music, film or even games. Maybe I should try this torrents download thingy.

Seoul Enriching

On our first official day in Seoul, we were scheduled for a city tour. Our guide picked us up at 9am and then brought us to the National Museum. I think we spent almost two hours going around there, knowing more about the history of Korea. Did you know that Korea once had three kingdoms and one of the kingdoms is named Goryea but most people can't pronounce it properly thus Korea was born.

Here I am in front of what's supposed to be a tomb way back then in Korea.

Joema and I looking at a map.



This artifact was taken from Korea (forgot if it was China or Japan who took it) but was later on returned to them and was placed here in their museum (I hope I got that right)



From all the bits of history in the museum, I found this water cooler (which isn't really part of their history) really amusing. Well, mostly it's the "paper cup" it uses that I found amusing. Forgive my ignorance if this is common in your part of the world, but it's the first time I saw this. The cup isn't really a cup but more of a small envelope without the closing flap. And you can drink water from it!




Next stop was the Gyeongbok Palace. If you've been watching a lot of Korean shows and movies, I'm sure you've seen a palace like this on TV. I'm not really a fan of Korean pop culture so I don't know much about them which was ironic because I get to visit the country without realizing how fortunate it was for me since there are thousand of Pinoy fans out there who are dreaming of going to Korea just to get a glimpse of their idols or the places in those shows/movies. Anyways, this is outside one of the entrances of the Palace.



We were part of a guided tour. Our tour guide speaks very good English. The Palace grounds is massive. We went to different buildings. This one is the Geunjeongjeon Hall. Remember this photo? At the side, there are markers where the cabinet members stand as the king and queen walks towards the hall. The center is slightly elevated because only the king and queen walks there.



A little trivia about the structure. Can you see those nets on the roof? The guide said they were put there so that birds won't build their nests under the roof.



I think this is the king's living quarters and then behind it is the queen's living quarters.



This was the retirement home of one of the royalties. It's a very relaxing place, very laid back compared to the other buildings in the compound.



This is the building inside the "secret garden". See those two small gates? Again those are for the cabinet members and other dignitaries while the big gate is for the king and queen.



The secret garden is actually more of a min-forest. It's called secret because this is where the king and queen rendezvous hehehe.



This is the oldest tree in the palace. It looks like a big bonsai.



Next stop after the palace is lunch. Our guide took us to this restaurant that served us ginseng chicken soup. When I first read this in our itinerary I was like "just soup for lunch???" Me and my big mouth! It was soup alright with one whole chicken and rice. Kind of like arroz caldo but more watery and not bits of chicken was included but as I've said a whole chicken for each serving! Our guide ate with us and we were so pressured to eat quickly because he ate fast. The soup was piping hot but it's like it didn't even bother him. He was dumping chicken bones in the little pail on our table like there's no tomorrow while we're blowing our spoons before even taking a mouthful.



We then bought a few pasalubong outside the restaurant.



The husband was very happy with our next stop.



He is such a fan, I don't know why he wanted a photo with this clock.



We were there in time for the 6th Asia Song Festival and a group was there rehearsing. If I only knew who they were, I would have teased my friends about it and let them die of envy.



In the museum they have this interactive game where you get to play the goalie. My husband was happy to oblige.



After this was shopping time. First stop was the amethyst store. Bought a little something something for myself hehe. We have no photos there though. And then we were dropped off at Namdaenum market. I think our guide left us there for about an hour and a half. Bought more pasalubong from here. By the time we got to the hotel, the boys were tired. But my mother and I still went out and went to Myeongdong. We rode the subway from our side of the town to Myeongdong. Their subway is as efficient as that of Hong Kong. No worries! The subway cards can be bought from a vending machine, then you can replenish the amount and after you're done you can return it and get your deposit back. Although we only figured out we can replenish it on our last day, on our last subway ride ahaha. So everytime we rode the subway, we immediately return the ticket and get our deposit back. So every ride, we have to get new cards ahahaha!



If in HK you get to see Giordano in every corner, in Seoul you get to see The Face Shop in every corner.



I tell you Koreans are shoppingeras! We were in Myeongdong on a weeknight and that's around 8pm but the Koreans are shopping like there's no tomorrow. We'll go into a store expecting there was a sale ongoing because of the throng of people but we were mightily wrong. We were only able to buy stuff at Uniqlo because that's the only place with the sale items ahahaha!

When we got back to the hotel, the boys have rested and were both hungry. We decided not to experiment this time so we went to a chicken place. Every restaurant in Korea serves kimchi as side dish and they give a lot, they replenish the plates after you've finished it. Aside from kimchi they serve other side dishes. If you want to scrimp you can just order one entrée and then just eat kimchi ehehe.



One setback of tourists in Seoul is that not many people speak English. When we order we only point to the menu and gesture how many we wanted. In this particularly restaurant they have regular rice and sticky rice. We ordered the regular one but they came back saying they don't have it anymore. We asked what's the difference but we shouldn't have asked anyway because they couldn't understand us. So we just ordered the sticky one. Good thing not much of a difference in taste, it's just that the sticky one is well sticky.

Oh one more thing about the restaurants there, they don't get your payment from your table. After they served you the food, they will give you your bill. And then after you've eaten you have to bring your bill at the cashier, which is usually located at the area just before you exit, and make your payment there. We had to observe this system before making the payment on our first night there.

Our Little Night Out

I'm so sleepy. Stayed most of last night at the ER of Makati Med. The hubby had LBM and was vomiting for two staright days. Although it only happens right after he eats so he wasn't that dehydrated when we got to the hospital. But it got me scared right after he vomited last night. I thought he was supposed to be feeling well when I got home...but it wasn't the case. So off we went to the hospital around 9pm. There were so many people when we arrived. We were admitted around 9:15pm. In Makati Med the drill is there's a door just for the patients so they do the triage there, then get the patient's BP, get their info. Then we proceeded to the information desk, where they asked another bunch of questions. Since Joema was so weak at that time, I answered the questions for him. He was then asked to proceed to primary care while I answered the basic questions. He was handed a paper which was the form filled up right after we entered which he then gave to the nurse in primary care. And then I was handed a paper too by the lady in the information desk. Stupid me I wasn't able to hand it immediately to the nurse in the primary care area. We were waiting there for God knows how long before I realized I should give "my" paper to the nurse. Gah! I though Joema's paper was the only thing they needed. Yikes! After almost an hour of waiting, he was called by the doctor, asked him how he's feeling, poked around his tummy and then we were asked to go back to the waiting area. Medicine was administered to him then stool sample was collected and then we waited again. It was past 1am when we left the hospital. I'm okay with the waiting but all the while we waited, Joema was sitted on a chair, he wasn't even asked to lie down! I don' want to argue with the nurses, Joema might get stressed out with that. And they have a big sign there that says something about how the doctors won't treat the patients on a first come, first serve basis but rather on the severity of the illness which was ended with the sentence..Please be patient. So yeah how's that for pun. Joema wasn't complaining about the situation so who am I to complain. I just wished he was lying down so he could have taken a nap while we were waiting. Haaay! Thank God, everything was okay. No bacteria found in the fecalisis and that it was just stomach flu. He was given hydrite tablets and some other tablet for his tummy ache.

Photo of the primary care area. This was around 12:30am. Only a handful of people were waiting but when we arrived more plastic chairs were there for the patients.

Seoul Late

It's been over a month since we've been to the land of kimchi but it's only now that I get to blog about it. Sorry about that, the photos were with my brother and I can't bug him about it what with the typhoon and all. Nevertheless, here's the first part of my Seoul posts. I can't possibly do it in one sitting.

This family trip was booked as early as April this year, well the plane tickets atleast, thanks to Cebu Pacific's sale. But due to unforeseen circumstances, my father wasn't able to come with us. We met up with my brother and mother at the airport on the day of our departure. They've already checked in at the counter when we arrived. Joema had work so I had to wait for him before going to the airport. But all was well after we've checked in. We ate first before proceeding to the gate. Here's the hubby getting some zzzz's because he came straight from work.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 3:55pm but it was delayed for over an hour. Tsk Cebu Pac! When it was finally time to board, we lined up with the other passengers and walked towards the plane only to be told to turn back and wait again. Ugh! But we only waited for a few minutes after that and we were already boarding the plane. We were supposed to arrive at 8:45pm Korea time (they are one hour ahead of us) but because of the delays I think we arrived there after 10pm. Good thing there was someone who picked us up although he was complaining a little bit about how long he was waiting for us there haha. The ride from Incheon to Seoul was more than an hour so we arrived at the hotel before midnight. But look how busy the streets of Seoul are even at that time of the night.

We stayed at Young Dong Hotel which is located in the district of Gangnam-gu. The nearest subway station is about a block from our hotel and the station is called Sinsa. It was a fairly good neighborhood because there were a lot of restaurants within the area. But on our first night because we were starving, we just went to the first Korean restaurant we saw - Korean Restaurant Sinseon Seolnongtang is the name of the place (based on their posters). No we didn't oreder those in the picture below.

We ordered the Korean Sausage. It looked good on the menu but it wasn't good in real life. Blech! It's like ground beef or something..like gluten and then made into a sausage. It's rubbery and slides inside your mouth. My husband only ate the vegetables, my brother was happy with the kimchi. In every restaurant we ate in in Seoul, they always serve kimchi as side dish, you don't even have to order it. Although we were all not satisfied with what we ate. Okay, I looked happy there because I haven't tasted our food yet hahaha.


Cute cup we took at the restaurant.
After eating we went to a nearby 7-11. Look at all those Korean products ahehehe. We are definitely in Korea because we can't understand a thing!

We bought soju which we drank when we got back to our hotel. That drink is something else! Lakas tama! No wonder the Koreans we saw at the street that night were lying there without a bit of care in the world because they were sooo drunk! We didn't even finish the whole bottle (it was me, Joema and Jay drinking). It lasted for the three nights we were in Korea.

World Series

I'm really getting the hang of this sports watching thingy. The hubby first got me hooked to F1 and then now the World Series, although I did watch a game of a game of baseball before. Just so sad the series is over…Yankees won over Phillies. Tsk! I would've liked watching it until game 7. I'm quietly rooting for the Phillies by the way. I thought Utley looked like David Arquette ahehehe only to be disappointed when I saw an interview of him with a shot of his face upclose. Layo-genic ang bugoy!

Happy Halloween

So what did you do this Halloween? Did you dress up as a ghost or as a witch or as a fairy? Of course you can be as creative as Jimmy KimMel. I've watched his guesting on Ellen and he had fun ideas for Halloween, he makes a 50-50 costume like Indiana Jonas Brothers (Indiana Jones and Jonas Brothers) or Barack Obamaman (this I think is Barack Obama and Seaman, or something haha). He is really hilarious! Or if you don't really want to dress up maybe you can use Holiday Fun Eyeglasses to accessorise. Like this one…doesn't this remind you of stained glass in an old church?





Check out the New Arrivals and other $8 Prescription Zenni Glasses, just click the links.

Gives You Wings

The 2009 Formula One season is unofficially over after the Brazilian Grand Prix. Button got the driver's champhionship while his team Brawn GP bagged the constructor's championship. Oh well, I can only sigh in disappointment. But needless to say, Vettel didn't go down without a fight. Although after the first round of qualifying it seemed that it was really hopeless. Vettel wasn't even able to go through Q2, he was 16th! Which I wasn't able to watch because it was shown really early in the morning (this was around 2am I think). And at the start of Q2, the qualifying was halted due to an accident of Liuzzi and heavy rains. We just read from a news report the next day that the round was suspended for more than an hour before it resumed. And then from the same report, we learned that Button will start 14th on the grid while Barrichello is first. Whoopee! That sort of gave me hope. If Button and Vettel won't score and Barrichello finishes on top, then we still have hope! During race day, Vettel actually started 15th because of Liuzzi's penalty (he started 20th). And really, Brazil is really something else. It was the most exciting leg of the season. Here are some of the highlights:

- Safety Car on the first few lapses of the race due to accident of Trulli, Sutil and Alonso
- Kimi's car on fire while on the pits because of Heiki fuel hose
- Button overtaking Grosjean, Nakajima and Kobayashi
- Rookie Kobayashi proving his worth as an F1 driver, good thing he tried holding his place while Button tried overtaking him
- Only 14 cars finished
- Rubens' really really bad luck in his home race. He was supposed to finish atleast 3rd but because of some engine (or wheel?) trouble he finished 8th giving Button 5th place which gives him enough points to win the championship
- Massa waving the chequered flag
- Weber's win overshadowed by Button's rejoicing hehehehe

This photo breaks my heart (this is Vettel after qualifying)

But let me quote Michael Schumacher's message to Vettel:

"What a pity obviously for Sebastian, but he still has a lot of time. He had a fantastic season and showed that he has everything to become world champion. He must not forget that with all the disappointment now. Of course he will see that differently at the moment and will need some days to digest this weekend. But I am sure we will see and hear a lot of good stuff from him in the future."

Photos source

Suki Club

Got this from my inbox this morning.

Yey! I get to have 10% discount for every purchase from Ukay Manila! Know more about this from Ukay Manila.

Work Desk

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging that much. I realized I haven't blogged as often this October. Been busy with work and not so much happening in my personal life either. A friend mentioned that PGMA has declared another series of holidays by the end of November and as always we don't benefit from that. Sigh! I wish there's a holiday every month. Or wouldn't it be nice if we only go to work four times a week? Yeah, yeah I'm one of those people who don't really love their work but they stick to it because that's the best thing they can do. I'm kind of like Chandler in Friends. Remember that episode when he quit his job as statistical analysis and data reconfiguration and then he found out after consulting with a career expert that's that what he does best? Although of course later on he was finally able to get a job he really loves – advertising. So anyway, what was I blabbing about… yeah my work! Well, what can you do if something isn't really something? You try to make the most out of it. And here at work like most office people, I spend 95% of my time here at my desk. I try to make it as personal as possible but still with a level of professionalism in case the boss decides to visit my cube. Here it is.

I actually took this photos for Riz's giveaway thingy but wasn't able to blog about it soon. And sorry for the rant accompanying this photo…I just really really need a break. Really.

Weekend Whatever

We felt we accomplished so much over the weekend. SM Megamall had its three-day sale and we were there for three days. No we weren't there shopping for Christmas gifts although we did buy some home essentials. There were just too many people that it turned us off to look for gifts.

Friday

After work I met up with the hubby at the 5th Floor. We went to Megaclinic but there were no cardiologist at the time so we ended up going to the department store instead. Bought new shoes for him since we've been planning to do this since we went to Korea. We're supposed to buy his shoes there but he didn't like anything. I was egging him to buy the Puma red shoes the limited editions one for Ferrari when we were in Seoul but he said it was too loud for him. Hindi daw nya carry ahahaha. But guess what we ended up buying instead…another red sneakers although it's really red and grey. But still the dominant color is still red. Anyways, after that we went at the basement to see the sale items for at the home section. What is it with getting married and getting so into buying things for the home? When I was single you wouldn't even see me going to that floor of SM but now it's like Disneyland for me ahahaha Okay I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration but really I see so many things to buy for the kitchen, for the toilet, for the bedroom, for the living room…aaaah! But we only bought a wok hehehe. We then played poker at a friends house which ended at 2am.

Saturday

Was back at Megaclinic by 11am but we had to wait for more than an hour for Joema's consultation. The doctor gave him some meds but ordered additional tests like blood workup, ECG and 2D Echo. After buying his meds, we had a late lunch at Brothers Burger. I know we're supposed to eat healthy because of the hubby's hypertension but call it as his "last supper" if you will ahahaha. And then he wanted to watch Red Cliff, so we did. For me, it was boring ahahaha! He so wanted to watch it because he read the book and he said that the story from the movie is a lot different from the book. That's Hollywood for ya! Had to sit for more than two hours watching the movie…I was almost fell asleep, my eyes were so heavy. I kept on turning in my seat. I don't know if it's just because I was too sleepy to appreciate the movie or if it was just really boring. Went to ACE Hardware to buy some home essentials again before finally heading home. And I was finally able to get some shuteye before waking up again to watch the F1 qualifying in Brazil. That will have to be another post.

Sunday

Back at Megaclinic for Joema's ECG and blood extraction. We're praying for negative results. We then met up with my family for lunch and were back at home for siesta. But we had to go back to the clinic for Joema's 2D Echo by 5pm. What a day right! Going back and forth to the mall and there was even a sale so there were really a lot of people. We were able to buy some Christmas gifts for the kids and a tennis outfit for me ahahaha. Joema's been bugging me to try playing tennis – no, he doesn’t play either. There's a nearby tennis court in our place so we vowed to inquire next weekend and really start playing. It will be good exercise for him, and he really needs it for health reasons. So to interest me in playing he said we should buy an outfit for me. But we agreed I shouldn't wear it the first time we go to the court because people might say na puro porma lang kami pero bano maglaro ahahaha. After dinner at home, we're back in front of the TV to watch Formula One.

So that's our weekend, how about you? Sorry if this post bored you to death (like Red Cliff) but this is the most exciting part of my week so there ahahaha!

A Whole New World

Caught Aladdin last night on the Disney Channel. I wasn't able to watch the start but the scene I caught was after Aladdin and Jasmine met at the marketplace and Aladdin was put into jail. I remember being so amazed at the scene when Genie sang and danced to Aladdin when he was telling him about his three wishes. Aladdin is one of my most favorite Disney cartoons! While watching it last night, I still remember some of the lines from all the songs. I don't remember having the soundtrack but I think I did because I really remember the lines. "Prince Ali, fabulously he, Ali Ababua. Genuflect show some respect, down on one knee" – Genie sang while Aladdin was entering Jasmine's kingdom. And who can forget that the Philippines' very own Lea Salonga sang "A Whole New World". I even remember watching Lea at the Oscars performing for the Hollywood actors and actresses. Haaay.. it would have been nice to be a kid again…nothing much to worry about. Growing up is a whole new world, isn't it?

My First F1 Season Coming to An End

I wasn't able to watch the Japanese Grand Prix over the weekend. My family came over and we had lunch at our place then headed over to the mall to buy some things for them. They are now doing fine and can laugh about the funny things that happened during the flood. My brother's playing jolly Christmas songs in the car when we went with them. But before we left, we were able to catch the start of the race. So I knew Vettel was able to hold his lead (he won P1 during qualifying) and I'm pretty much confident he can do it until the end of 53 laps. The question was, what will Button's place be? He started 10th on the grid so he had a slim chance of getting some points. When we got back to the house, the race was over. Good thing Chequered Flag was still on so we caught the press conference, race analysis and highlights and a summary of the driver's points. Vettel is only 16 points away from Jenson. Woohoo! It's all still possible after a dismal 4th finish during the Singapore Grand Prix, where he had a chance to get the 2nd place but was penalized with a drive through because he was going too fast inside the pit lanes. It's all good, it's all good. Hoping that Jenson will continue to get minimal points for the next two races. Oh, while watching Chequered Flag, they showed highlights of last years Brazil Grand Prix, Massa's win was heartbreaking. It was supposed to be a win for that race but wasn't enough to get the driver's championship. And all because Hamilton got enough points to win the championship. I was telling the husband, who's a Massa fan, that I can now understand why he really wants Massa to win the championship and I'm fine if he does win next year (yeah as if I have a hold on things like this) BUT only if Vettel wins this season ahahaha!

It still amazes me how scientific this sport is. I guess that's one of the things that keeps me interested in watching – aside from the cute drivers – everything's so technical. And the drivers aren't only good looking, I believe they're also very smart because they can understand the technicality of it all – the downforce on the car, the aerodynamics, G-force. There's this TV ad about F1 where it shows you how much G-force is used and the driver's body are strained with this G-force. I used to laugh about it because F1 drivers are compared to firefighters. I'm like how can you compare such a noble profession to something like that. But I guess I didn't know anything back then. F1 drivers are like other athletes in that they also take care of themselves for the sport to keep them healthy – no cigarettes (not even electronic cigarette with electronic cigarette e liquid) and no drinking (well, maybe just GH Mumm which is their sponsor ahahaha) for them. I will surely miss watching the races after this season. Only two more races before the season ends.

PS Apparently Hamilton and Nicole are still very much together. Sorry about that on my last post on F1. I only heard about that from Steve Slater.

Coping

While almost everyone has gotten back to their feet, my family is now slowly rebuilding our home. I've told myself and my mom how fortunate we were to have them all safe during the floods. But I think we were all unprepared for the aftermath. I am feeling helpless as I'm not physically there to help my family clean the house, wash the soiled clothes, buy groceries and whatever other things they had or have been doing to cope. Last night my mother called me up crying. She said our neighbor was asking about me if we were okay and she told her that I don't live there anymore. Our neighbor hugged her and then she cried. You know those times when you're just putting up a front for everyone to see that you're okay, but when someone touches you or gives you a hug to comfort you, you suddenly break down? I think that's what happened to her. She suddenly felt how kawawa they were. Naawa sya sa kapatid ko who was dead-tired from washing their clothes driving back and forth to our tita to use their dryer afterwards. Naawa sya sa Papa ko who had to use wet shoes to go to the office. She told me they can't eat anymore because wala silang gana. Nagpabili sya ng Coke sa tindahan para lang ganahan sila kumain pero wala naman daw malamig. I told her we'll buy more things when we see each other this weekend. And they should come over to us for them to relax. I was holding back tears when I was talking to her but I broke down immediately after we ended the call. I couldn't do anything. I can only pray for my family's broken spirits. I pray that the Lord embrace them and feel the warmth of His Love. I pray that all families stricken with this tragedy will find a glimmer of hope that all of us will be able to move past this. True, material things are easy to replace but it's hard to mend broken hearts and spirits. Let's continue praying for one another.

Ondoy

I woke up to a rainy Saturday. We had plans for that day - a birthday party to attend to, a birthday treat to go to, Singapore Grand Prix to watch.

My mother started texting me around 11am. She was going back home because their househelp told her water was going inside the house. A cousin helped the maid get some things inside their room but that was it. I think they only got some important documents and immediately left the house because the water was waist-deep. They went to my Tita's house. My mother never got to our house. The jeepney she was riding got them off a nearby intersection. She waited for a few hours then realized she had to check-in in a nearby hotel/motel. She was panicking a bit because my brother was not replying. We were texting back and forth the whole time. While she was worrying about my brother, I was wondering where my husband was. His last message said he can't ride a tricycle because the water was flooded and he was going back to wait for a cab. After an hour there was a knock on our door. My husband braved the flooded streets because he wanted to go home. I immediately told him to have a quick shower and we ate our late lunch afterwards. I wasn't at all worried about everyone else outside our little nook. Later on, my mother texted me that my father and brother are both OK. But that night they slept separately, mother in a motel, my brother with my cousins and my father inside his car parked in a supermarket. My husband and I were able to watch the Singapore qualifying around 12 midnight. The birthday hooplas were all cancelled.

The next day the sun was shining. I thought everything will be OK. My cousin called me asking me if he can go home. He slept with a classmate but I told him not to go home already. They didn't have electricity and the roads weren't cleared yet that morning. So I told him to stay put because he will be safer there. It was only last night when the impact of the typhoon really hit me after I talked to my brother. He was in a panic asking me where our parents where. It was then that I realized it was me who was connecting all of them. My mom was texting me, he was texting me, even my cousin was texting me. But they weren't able to contact each other. My brother told me our little chow-chow didn't survive the floods. Mini was gone. The other dogs were safe. He said the water inside our house was neck-deep, and nothing was salvaged. It was only then that I started to worry. I guess I'm sad for my family. I'm not sure if I could have done something for them. I couldn't even go to them because most roads were not passable. I could only pray that everyone will be safe.

It was also yesterday when friends started texting me how my family was. I think they saw it on the news. I wasn't even aware how they knew or what they've seen on the news. Thanks so much for the concern. It felt like you were more concerned with my family than I was. And for that...thank you! I am so so grateful my family's safe. Even though we lost every thing in our house, I know nothing will compare to the loss of a love one. I am grateful my family was spared from this disaster. No one was harmed.

Another Set of Clues

Dear Anna,

It seems that the last photo I posted is not unique to the place we visited because you still did not get it right *teehee* Here's another clue. This is their FIFA World Cup Stadium. When we were there, a group was rehearsing for the 6th Asia Song Festival. *hint hint*



xoxo,
Cris

PS Can you tell that this is my way of postponing my travel posts? hehe I don't have all our pictures with me now so that will have to wait until next week.

PPS I'm glad you liked my little "Dear-xoxo" post. :)

Pre-Singapore

We're excited to watch the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend. It's the only night race in Formula 1 and after last year's controversy for this leg of the season, every F1 fan will surely be watching it.

So anyway, I've lost hope for Vettel to win the driver's championship after last week's race when he got only 1 point. And it was only because Hamilton who was in 3rd place lost control of his car during the last lap and wasn't able to finish the race. Plus the Brawn boys are back on top so the championship might be between Barrichello and Button. If it had to be the two of them then I'm hoping it will be Barrichello. He's just so much fun to watch when he wins and I don't really like Button hehehe. Oh by the way, the commentators mentioned that Hamilton and Nicole apparently has broken up that's why the Pussycat Dolls withdrew their participation in the show for the SG Grand Prix. A little chismax to make F1 more interesting hehehe.

Walang Tama

Dear Anna,

Walang tumama kahit isa man sa mga hula mo ahahahaha. But I'll leave you with this clue. I hope you get it right.

xoxo,
Cris