Happy New Year everyone!

Dear 2010,

You were a fantastic roller-coaster ride.Thank you for the year that was.

**

Dear 2011,

Wishing for a fantastic and magical year ahead! Please be kind and generous to me and my li'l family.Thank you!

**

And why not try these, eh? These basically sum up what I want to do on a perfect day!

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 7

i actually had a heavy feeling in my heart as it was our last day in japan.

we decided to go to asakusa, one of japan's oldest districts.what better way to end the trip than to go to where the spirit of old edo lives?

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 6

we had to say goodbye to aoyama as our japan trip was drawing to a close, much to my dismay...

anyway...

we booked at ana crowne plaza in narita for our last night in japan as it was conveniently located near the airport.we had around five luggages among us so we did not want to carry all these while hurrying towards the airport.note that there was just actually one luggage for our japan trip.everything else was a carry-over from our philippine trip.hmm...

they remind me of my high school best friends...

'cos in their own way they also spread some christmas cheer to those who need it the most.

made me tear up, actually...

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 5

by this time i was on the verge of getting a runny nose and a splitting headache.but when i saw this view from our hotel lobby, i knew we just had to go there.

this is aoyama cemetery

ho-ho-ho!

hey everyone!

wishing you a magical christmas and a fantastic new year!

from the t family

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 4

so for this day we decided to go on an excursion outside tokyo.this place called hakone seemed to be the most logical choice.it's a mountainous area with lots of lakes and hot springs.and it's a perfect place to view mt. fuji!

and in order to get there, we had to take a...shinkansen...that's the bullet train for you and me.

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 3

so there we were trying to figure out how the metro worked.



mr t immediately figured it out, of course.don't ask me, though. the only thing that really concerned us was the seemingly lack of lifts in the stations. :-( my poor husband had to carry baby's pram up and down the stairs in some of the stations.there was even an instance when he had to help a japanese mom carry her baby's pram up the stairs as well.i'm sure it's the lack of space that hinders the japanese from putting up lifts.ayan ha, that's how much i love japan.i can find excuses for any of their shortcomings :-)

the best things in life are free: film showings!

can i just say i love where we are now?

i just watched an open-air (free) film screening of "the king's speech" while laying on a bean bag with sea breeze breathing through my hair.the dubai film festival opened today, and part of the event was an open-air showing of this wonderful film.the venue was just a mere two-minute walk away from us, so i just have to go.

colin firth, i thought you will always be mr darcy.pwede din palang king george!

**

tokyo saga to be continued...

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 2

since we were still looking for a bookshop that sells english travel guide books, we decided to just take a leisurely walk on the way to shibuya where there are more bookshops.

i think aoyama wants to think of itself as the paris of tokyo.there were so many french cafes dotting the area! we had some muffins in a french cafe after trying to feed baby in the backstreets.

we passed by a farmer's market, and we were amazed (and scared) actually with the appearance of the fruits and vegetables.they were huge! and they looked so fresh and perfect.even when we would go to supermarkets, we would just gaze at the produce 'cos they looked so fresh.it was actually, er, weird.

things i'm grateful for: tokyo lovin'

day 1

narita airport was a breath of fresh air and efficiency.

after around an hour from the airport, we arrived in aoyama in the middle of a rainy night.we hauled our wet, er, backs off and tried to find a cab to take us to our hotel as the bus from the airport only stopped at certain places.great, we thought, welcome to a nice holiday.there we were, just off sunshiny boracay,and we were greeted by a cold, wet tokyo.

things i'm grateful for: celebrations

thank you to all who were part of the best ever celebrations in manila and boracay. you all know who you are.i will not elaborate anymore on it as i am still beyond words of how wonderful and beautiful everything turned out to be.it was perfect.it was magical.it was breathtaking.it was our dream turned to reality.

**

now, let's talk about tokyo...

something beautiful happened...

in manila, boracay and tokyo.

meanwhile, here's a video that inspired my wedding march. this was so reminiscent of my own wedding in denmark, down to the bouquet that we ordered a day before the wedding from a local flower shop opposite the town hall that it made me tear up every time i watch it, thank you to lavender-honey.com for the link.and of course, thank you to the sweet, oh-so-real couple for this video.


we said vows. from Jeremy on Vimeo.


sweet times ahead...

weekend roundup

it's been a crazy week.

anyhoo.

i've always believed in this mantra.


(no, that's not my arm.i found this on tumblr.wish i have the guts to get a tattoo!)

boo!

happy halloween!

it's baby's first ever halloween party over at her baby centre.we dressed her up as a fairy angel, but we had to take off the wings and the halo as she hated them.oh my gawd.so freakin' adorable.

all the other kids were dressed as bees, pumpkins, witches, princesses.somebody also painted whiskers on baby, and she was so exited.she kept on screaming happily.

too bad my camera conked out.

but.

there was a photographer onsite so we had some photos done.

and a happy halloween to you all!

weekend roundup

well, well, well, the universe probably realized that whatever is in my piggy bank cannot possibly suffice for a new camera! nyark. mr t was able to fix my broken camera.hooray! the lens does not fully shut automatically, but it can still take photos.well, that's all i need. thank you!

i know, i know..

...that this is supposed to be a happy blog where everything is dandy and fine, but i'm majorly annoyed! nanny broke my camera, the camera that has been with me from china to austria.and please don't think i'm a whiny li'l brat.i would not be as annoyed like this if she only admitted that she did break it.no, she said that she was trying to take a photo of baby, and the camera just stopped working.hello? it was too obvious kaya that it fell.there were scratches all over.

i'm really p***** off.

maybe this is the universe telling me that i need a new camera.

*sigh*

**

ANYWAY, happy, happy birthday to my only brother :-). my sister and brother are both october babies.he turns ** today.:-)

weekend roundup

my office gave us free passes (thank you!) to the ferrari world theme park, days before its official opening on 27 october.

mr t and i went there last thursday night.it's located at yas island in abu dhabi and it's the largest indoor theme park in the world and the first ever ferrari theme park.now, i'm not a fan of cars so i was basically clueless when we went there.it was all so, uh, red.duh, ferrari color kaya.

the best things in life are free: family outings!

it was a very good family weekend for our li'l family.we went out for our usual friday breakfast brunch, and passed by a closed ice cream shop.look at the reason why they're closed:





lol.

10/10/10

such an auspicious date.i tried to capture the perfect time on the web (with me bugging my husband pa to look for websites showing world clocks), but i was too early to click the camera! 10/10/2010 and 10:10:01 lang tuloy.pwede na :-)



**

things i'm grateful for: together during oktoberfest!

the best time ever!

i read somewhere that oktoberfest is the world's largest fair.true enough, everyone seemed to be like kids set loose in the largest fairground ever.

thankfully, we stayed at my in-laws' house.they were gracious enough to accommodate us and to tolerate our high school excitedness.heehee...

prost! (cheers!)

we're off to munich for the annual oktoberfest! :-) boy, oh boy, i'm glad my husband is from bavaria.weeheehee.this will be my second oktoberfest.let's see what's in store for us this year.

meanwhile, i'm leaving you with our 2008 memories:

my husband is working in abu dhabi today (on a saturday!) i admire hardworking people.i do admire mr t's dedication to his job.for one thing, this is the job that puts food on our table and a a roof over our heads so i don't really want to complain.my poor husband deserves to get proper massages though, but silly ol' me cannot properly do one! ugh.i just wish i know how to properly do these reflexology massages, you know? it's actually a part of my mental bucket list - to properly learn how to give good massages.someday!

baby was in a bad mood yesterday.she would not eat properly.mr t and i were actually thinking of going to a proper friday brunch in one of the hotels here, but baby was just not in the mood.so we settled at cafe o for lunch.usually, we have our breakfast there.it was our first time to try their lunch.it was great! they had a set menu.i had mango and crab salad, stir-fry vegetables and fried vanilla ice cream.mr t had tom yam soup, pepper steak and tiramisu.their mocktails are oh-so refreshing!





i had my balikbayan box (care package) delivered to the philippines.i played lots with baby.she can do a bit of hide-and-seek now.she also knows now how to give-and-take stuff.and she understands it when you say "no!" to her.and oh, she can do high-five, too! adorable!

So, how are you?

from tumblr

nice, baby!

my husband and i are still gushing on how well-behaved baby was today.we went to our usual friday breakfast brunch and met baby's friend a together with her parents.she was smiling all throughout, and was sleeping on cue.she also made us laugh so much with her antics.hay naku, nakakatuwa.i just wish she would behave like that everyday!

we went to yo!sushi for dinner last night.i would not ever, ever get tired of sushi.love it! from nobu to yo! sushi, go! and... mr t even gave me a bouquet of flowers out of the blue.*sweet*



ok, enough eye-rolling.

:-p

mag-exercise tayo!

we caved in.we enrolled baby in the big muscles for little babies class.i wanted the other class (wee wiggle giggle), but their available class falls on baby's naptime which is at 1 pm.today was her first day.nanny said she liked the exercises, especially when they let her sit on the swing! i can imagine.she did not like the push-ups though.i wouldn't like it either! but we really want her to have all these exercises 'cos she cannot yet crawl :-( she cannot support her fat tummy... she can basically do everything that a baby her age is supposed to do, except crawling! so i hope this class can help!

**

we can learn a lot from children:

A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.
— Paulo Coelho

things i'm grateful for: 5 years!

so our four-day public holiday is about to end.it was fun and oh-so relaxing! on friday, we finally went to il caffe di roma where we had our usual breakfast brunch.ramadan is over, so cafes and restaurants are open once again during the day.yay.

eid mubarak

since it's eid (end of Ramadan) tomorrow, we don't have work starting today until sunday.my husband needs to go to work though.

if i were single, i would have hopped on a plane and go somewhere in southeast asia.really, i used to do this a million years ago.the cities in southeast asia are the easiest choice 'cos i don't require a visa.

things i'm grateful for: together in athens

day 4: bye-bye, athens

wow.time flew fast.

we woke up quite early and proceeded to the plaka again for our food and charm fix.

things i'm grateful for: together in athens

day 3: exploring the city

so on the next day, we went to the plaka again, to where our ascent to the acropolis would commence.




we passed by a church


and this artist

things i'm grateful for: together in athens

day 2: exploring the city

thank god our hotel was located near a tram station.me and public transport, we're not exactly the best of friends.i don't think you can blame me.we don't exactly have the best transport system in the philippines.i only know how to ride jeepneys, buses and tricycles.systems that don't follow any specified schedule.you just wait in a "kanto" (street corner) and pray that a tricycle would come.i didn't take the lrt in manila 'cos it was notorious for pickpockets and smelly cabins.i had to rely on friends who had their own cars to pick me up.a habit which followed me until dubai.

things i'm grateful for: together in athens

around this time last year my husband and i went on a long weekend trip to athens.we were quite so excited about it.who wouldn't be? this was where democracy was born, where gods and mortals interacted and where my good friend n lives. n is a local,a true-blooded greek.when he was in abu dhabi he would tell me glorious tales of his city, and of his glorious beach house in one of the islands.too bad we did not have enought time to go island-hopping.i'm wishing for that in the near future!

day one: arriving in athens

it's the start of the -ber months!

oh hello september! and a merry christmas to you, too!
(for those who don't get this greeting, please allow me to tell you that as soon as september rolls in, filipinos start getting ready for the christmas season.yes, it's the time to be merry and bright!)

**

i went to virgin music store just to browse around (yeah, right) and i went out with a board book for baby and a cd of nursery rhymes.

**

i've been watching this german show called "x-diaries: love, sun and fun."it's so trashy.i love eeet! it's like a documentary following different groups of people on their holidays.each one always has an issue or another.of course they're all talking in german, but you don't really need to understand german to follow the show.the body language of the "characters" can give you enough hints to understand what's going on. sometimes i had to ask mr t too translate as the dialogue seemed to be juicy to ignore.this week, they are in ibiza having fun.

**

our cable provider has a summer promotion on which you can watch some videos on demand for free.mr t and i watched this horror flick "stir of echoes." now let me tell you about this movie.i initially watched this one years ago in a cinema in manila.i found it so scary that i walked out of the movie house.it's the only movie that ever made me walk out of a theatre.so i kept on telling my husband how scary this movie is, and when we finally watched it together on tv, he didn't find it scary at all.whyyyy??? and yes, i was still scared out of my wits.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 31

my nails were done by a girl called jiopai at nail spa in ibn battuta mall:-)

i can't believe that it's already the end of august! in short, mag chchristmas na sa 'pinas! BER months na kasi!

**

baby has finished her baby class today.we still don't know if we would enroll her in another class (uh,it's pricey)...there are two options for her age.one class is called wee wiggle giggle and the other one is called big muscles for little babies.i'm more inclined to go for wee wiggle giggle 'cos the name itself makes me want to wiggle and giggle.not make wee-wee, though!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 30

we placed these small balls infront of baby to see which one she's going to pick up first.i was hoping she would pick the tennis ball.she did not.she picked the basketball!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 29

har har har

disclaimer: this photo is not mine.i found it on 9gag.com.if you are the owner of this photo, please let me know so you can be properly credited.ta!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 28

some weeks ago, my husband and i went to the newly-opened mirdif city centre mall.it was good.they have all these american brands that you don't normally find in other malls, and...they have pottery barn! yessir.the store of my dreams.before i would just browse online and salivate and wish, now i can salivate and wish inside the store in person! haha.i was kinda disappointed that i did not see their children's section.maybe it was still under construction as the shop was huge.



sometimes (like today) when i'm in a nesting mood, i browse through their catalog (and ikea's too).

**

baby's friend a came by for a visit with her parents.they were looking at each other quietly.they're almost like twin sisters 'cos they're only a month apart and they're both half-filipinos, only a is fairer than my baby.baby's skin is like a mixture of my skin and mr t's.it's not white, it's not brown.it's like honey :-)sometimes i get amazed when we go out under the sun and she immediately gets a tan.after sometime, she gets back to her old color.as for me, as soon as i'm under the sun, i immediately get the color of a talong (eggplant).ayaw.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 27

we went for a lunch buffet at horizon restaurant in the newly-opened rotana hotel near our place.look at mr t's nicely-laden out plate as opposed to...


mine! haha

**

baby's been a handful today :-( she wouldn't go to sleep, she wouldn't drink her milk.she was basically having a bad day.it all started when i let her wear her hello kitty hat.she did not like it.then i let her wear her hello kitty sunshades.she hated it.does she have anything against hello kitty, kaya? anyway, we bought these baby biscuits at cheothram for baby to chew on.she seemed to love it, and it's good for teething.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 26

not your typical dinner - salad, french onion soup, and...purefoods hotdogs!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 25

hahahaha

i would like to apologize on behalf of tigger.he is having some crisis of sorts so he has decided to bounce around using baby's door bouncer.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 24

arabic coffee

**

i'm choosing to be apathetic. still, my heart goes out to the innocent victims...

**

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 23

we had *iftar at jedoudna, a lebanese restaurant near our place.it did not disappoint as we were still so full until the next day!

**

i'm catching up with my movies-to-watch list this summer.the other day i was able to watch "the bucket list." ya, i'm waaay behind all you movie buffs out there.i'm currently watching "alice in wonderland." i still have to watch the ending of these movies (i've watched them onboard a plane, but i've never seen the ending):

-the lovely bones
-shutter island
-that movie about john lennon when he was a teenager

*Ramadan dinner.This is the evening meal when Muslims break their fast.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 22

so my husband and i decided to take a walk along the marina as we had to do some errands anyway.i was pleasantly surprised that it was not as hot as i thought it would be.

this was our view, and no, that's not our car.haha.

**
after 154 years, we were finally able to watch "inception." i'm still in "limbo," to be quite honest.i think i have to watch that movie about ten times before i could come out with my own analysis.i still think it was fantastic.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 21

i love baby's socks! apple green, pink and brown with li'l owls on it! i want my own pair as well.

**

we had a li'l drama in our house involving nanny.don't want to divulge anything more at the risk of us sounding like whiny, ungrateful brats, so let's leave it at that, shall we? this is a happy blog afterall.

baby had her first fish today.nanny mixed it with sweet potato, brocolli and pumpkin.i know, kinda yucky.surprise, surprise, baby finished her portion!

**

just to let you know:


from tumblr

31 Photos in 31 Days: Days 19 & 20

it was 45degrees outside, but this was our view inside.

we went to a restaurant and bar called apres at the mall of the emirates.it overlooks ski dubai.this was also the place where we welcomed 2010.

**


we had cheese fondue!

**

baby's been rolling back and forth on the carpet, and she keeps on babbling "da-da." kyot!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 18

meet sleepy bear.we got him at carrefour (of all places) but guess what, baby adores him! tsk.tsk.she likes gnawing at his hat.

**

so i went to this (free! yay!) workshop called the "uae cultural awareness." a very energetic, open-minded and smart emirati gave the talk.it was very enlightening and interesting.i have been here for five years, and i realized i still have a lot to learn about the uae.Just to let you know, my three favorite arabic words are: "Alhamdulillah|" (Praise to God) "Masha'Allah" (God has willed it)and "Inshallah" (God willing). "Inshallah" reminds me of our very own "Bahala Na" which can be translated to "God will take care of it." It's nice to learn that their language is very much connected to their religion.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 17

so yesterday i went to mothercare to buy some stuff for my colleague who has recently given birth.we all pooled money together, and i volunteered to get her the presents.any excuse to go to mothercare.hee.

i came across this pink doll, and i could not resist it, i just had to buy it.i called her ling-ling! i was so excited to show it to baby.well, baby then took one long look at it, took the doll's hand, and threw her across the floor.

i don't know about me and my choice of toys. :-( first there was uglee monkey. now this one.i bought it 'cos it's a cute chinese doll.i want baby to play with a variety of dolls, not just your typical blonde, blue-eyed dolls.

guess baby and i just have different toy choices...hmph.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 16

mr t's high chair when he was a baby.now, it's baby's turn to use it.the sentimental value of this chair is priceless.we brought it all the way from germany to dubai.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 15

this is one of the games from baby's class called little maestro.it's supposed to be fun, but mommy has to work so i've never seen baby enjoy the class.ah, the joys of a working mom.:-( i'm hoping that i can at least attend one class before it gets over by the end of august.it's the holy month of ramadan so we actually have reduced hours on which we only work from 8-2 pm.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 14

mommy & baby's sunglasses (mine was from a tiangge/market in manila, baby's was from hello kitty in h&m in garmisch)

we visited a, baby's half-italian, half-filipino friend.she's a month younger than baby.she was already eating carrots and sweet potato and seemed to be well-mannered.kyot!i wonder how she and baby will communicate in the future.in tagalog?in english?in taglish?in ilonggo?haha!

things i'm grateful for: together in germany part 3

road trip!

things i'm grateful for: together in germany part 2

so this is a continuation of our trip in germany.aside from fixing stuff, doing errands, eating out a lot, and meeting with friends, we were also able to go out of munich and visit these pretty places.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 11

view from the outside, reflecting baby's play area.i took this photo while mr t was swimming in the pool that you can see on the bottom right side...

***

today marks the start of ramadan.

wishing you all ramadan kareem (blessed ramadan)!

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 10

our dinner.mr t had to work late so we ordered in.we had japanese food from haru robatayaki.yes, we love our asian food. we had sushi and maki take, miso soup and vegetable tempura.

arigato!

**

baby was wearing her sleeveless, red blouse today.so cute! u have to get her more sleeveless dresses.i just want to pinch her arms.hihi.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 9

Meet Maja Bee. Her name was derived from the leading bee in the German animated series "Die Biene Maja." She and Tigger are thisclose.Don't mess with her.She can sting really badly.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 8

mr t makes the best pasta dishes and salads.a combination of both, you have a pasta salad.teehee.


our dinner

i remember my mom would always reprimand me for not wanting to cook.she would scare me, "hala, you will never find a husband.you should learn how to cook." i got so scared that i always said to myself that the man i would marry should have the following traits in the proper order: 1) he can cook; 2) he should not be a senorito or a spoiled brat.one brat in the family is enough; 3) he should treat waiters and service staff nicely; 4) he should have nice, smooth skin (haha). and my husband has all these qualities and more.gosh.thank you, lucky stars.

31 Photos in 31 Days: Day 7

We took baby to the beach and she got in the water for the first time.She seemed confused.Haha.She did not look upset, but she did not look ecstatic either.Somewhere in between lang.


I have a thing with baby feet, especially ones that are covered in sand.

**

You have all seen satc2, right? they were supposed to be in abu dhabi and staying in a luxurious hotel. in reality, abu dhabi did not allow them to shoot in the city, and they had to make do with morocco as the location for the shoot.

the hotel that the satc girls were supposed to be billeted in is the emirates palace, and experiencing a day of luxury in this hotel is enough to make me want to work the bejesus out of me so I can be rich someday and so check-in there anytime i want to.hush.a girl can dream, ok?!


emirates palace hotel (swiped this photo off from the net)

upon check-in, they provide female guests with roses. a lady staff accompanied us all the way to our room (east wing) and explained how to navigate our way in the hotel.this place is huge so for somebody as direction-clueless as me, I would have needed a map.

there was a butler assigned in each room.ya, haha.there was a butler.we did not make use of him though 'cos we did not know what to ask.haha.clueless! it was the first and last time we saw him.although we could have requested for another kind of pillow 'cos the hotel is offering seven kinds of pillow to choose from.well, i got overwhelmed with the choices that we just stuck with what we had which was heavenly as well.

the room was superb, and of course, everything that can be adorned/painted in gold is adorned/painted in gold.we had the room with the city view. the tv was huge and they had this fancy remote where you can basically control everything.of course, i had to take lotsa photos.








terrace


their hallways look like this


and the hall ceilings look like this

we then went to the beach that is exclusive for hotel guests.they have two pools, one pool caters for family with kids and one pool caters for singletons, couples, business travellers, etc.i did not swim, though.i just stayed in the jacuzzi.

views from the beach:











pools:











may nalalaman pa silang gold vending machine:



we went to hakkasan for our anniversary dinner.it's a modern chinese restaurant which is also located at the emirates palace and it offers the best chinese food i've ever tasted! (well, outside of china,at least. we went to a random restaurant while we were in beijing two years ago and it was excellent. but i digress).

we had dimsum (best dimsum ever) and hot & sour soup.for the main course we had duck, red snapper, mullet and rice.we had oolong tea afterwards.







hay naku, decadence, opulence, lahat na meron sa emirates palace.we had a blast! fun times.