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...