things i'm grateful for: road trip! (bavaria)

so this time we went to starnberg where we were able to peek inside a church wedding and take a snapshot of this cute car.

we went inside the church when the wedding was over.

happy father's day

to daddy t!

you are a wonderful dad.

and for that we are grateful.

thank you for the saturday breakfasts, the yummy dinners, the kisses on bruises, the beach outings...

thank you for all the love and happiness :-) thank you for being the best dad ever!

xoxo baby and mommy t

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (bavaria)

we will embark on yet another road trip around germany and some parts of europe in two weeks time.that makes me reminisce about our first ever road trip in germany and denmark which was almost two years ago!

as soon as we arrived in munich, we headed out to one of the beer gardens and made "lamon" (filipino slang for "ate")

my favorite: cure for all

is salon pas liniment! haha.

image from ioffer.com

tried and tested from muscle aches to sprains to bruises.pati insect bites, pwede!

movies

i was just telling mr t, that probably, deep in our hearts, we secretly adore crappy movies. everytime we try to decide to watch a movie, we always end up watching sh**ty, b movies.sometimes the movie that we want to watch is not yet released or is not shown here.sometimes the timing just does not match with our schedule, etc. etc.

so tonight, instead of watching the latest in the "pirates of the carribean" series, we ended up watching "hangover 2." it did not help that we haven't seen "hangover 1." but it helped that we were seated in "premier business class" seats.yes, we seriously paid good money to sit on reclining seats with blanket and pillow services (plus your food gets delivered to your seat!) to watch a bad movie.

yep

my favorite: perfume

hands down, is light blue by dolce and gabbana . it has a refreshing and clean scent.i've been a fan since it was released in early 2001 or 2002, i guess.wow, that means i've been using it for almost 10 years now!

BUT i left one half-empty bottle of it in the car of t, mr t's friend, when we borrowed his car during one of our road trips in germany.and i haven't bought a replacement since! mahal, noh. arg. when is the next friggin' sale?!? you gotta love dubai when it comes to perfumes.almost always, there are chances that you find these items on ridiculously low prices.you just have to be lucky in knowing where and when to get them!

runners-up: nenuco baby cologne (gurls, remember this?!), flower by kenzo,
l'eau d'issey by issey miyake, very irresistible by givenchy, happy by clinique

why am i making this list? so i won't forget! and so that you will know what to give me for christmas :-) *hint* thank you.bow.

hatta

hatta is about an hour away from dubai.it's a popular destination among dubai residents because of its heritage and cool temperature.mr t and i visited it about 3 years ago, right smack in the middle of summer.

al ain

i've always been blogging about dubai and other cities in the world.let me blog about somewhere close, about other cities in the uae.

my favorite: lipgloss

is victoria secret's strawberry fizz

image from blog.cdn.com

i've been using this product for almost five years now.the first tube that i got was a present from a friend who bought it in new york.

it suits me - i love the taste and the smell, and it lasts long and does not dry up so easily.

this is not an advert ha.i just like this product so much! it's one of the few staples in my (very bare) "kikay" (make-up) kit.

weekend (s) roundup

mr t and i just got back from a roman holiday, possibly our most stressful trip ever.more about it later while i catch my breath.

in the meantime, some overdue stories...

senti na kung senti

i've forgotten how much i adored this song until scotty sang it on american idol.

off we go

la dolce vita

**

and a hearty congratulations to my mr t! you certainly deserved all these blessings coming your way.way to go! baby and i are super duper proud of you! cheers!

**

Wonder of the World 2: Great Wall of China and Beijing Memories

day 5

last day in beijing!

Wonder of the World 2: Great Wall of China and Beijing Memories

day 4

so this was it. the day to view and traverse the great wall of china.we woke up early as we were picked up by our tour guide.yes, it was one of those rare times that we actually joined a tour group.we did not really trust ourselves to find the way going to the great wall so we figured, what the heck, let's just join a group.

Wonder of the World 2: Great Wall of China and Beijing Memories

so yes, hou hai is apparently an expat and tourists hang-out, with its rickshaws and tandem bikes and plentiful shops.

a li'l intermission

and a li'l perk-me-up note!

Wonder of the World 2: Great Wall of China and Beijing Memories

day 2

we were blessed with sunshine on thus day.thank god!

Wonder of the World 2: Great Wall of China and Beijing Memories

day 1

finally my long waaayy overdue beijing post! mr t and i took this trip back in august 2008 during the olympics! and with the 2012 summer olympics fast approaching, i better get my lazy a** moving to writing down this post.

so why beijing, you might ask.and i may answer, why not, coconut? first, there was the olympics, and second, there was the great wall of china.that would tick off one of our seven wonders of the world list.

sigh

weekend (s) roundup

we've been taking advantage of the great weather and eating out a lot in the balcony.soon it will be summer, and i will not be able to properly breathe na naman...

my favorite: painting

is the one by paul delaroche called "la jeune martyre (the young martyr)"



i will not pretend to know anything about art, but when i saw this painting (i was fortunate enough to see the real one at the louvre in paris), it just tugged at my heart.

i didn't even know about this painting until i saw it in person.it's just so serene and pure.

and yes i still have to blog about that first-ever-oh-so-memorable paris trip (with aix-en-provence/marseilles side trips) that i took in 2007.wow, has it been that long?

weekend(s) roundup

life happens.so sorry for the late posts.

we still love our cafe o or paul's friday breakfast brunches .here's our view from cafe o:

things i'm grateful for: milestones

how time flies.as of now, baby can:

-say mama, papa, (her name),hi, dada, babye, hallo (aha! a german word), yaya, whatsthis, whatsthat, why
-eat finger food
-use fork and spoon when she feels like it!
-sign "keep quiet!" by putting her chubby fingers in her mouth
-"read" fliers (adorable!)
-walk forward and backward,(almost) run
-do "beautiful eyes," "close/open"
-kiss you when you tell her to
-point to her head/mouth/nose/ears when you ask her to
-recognize the names of her toys
-give you a book, ball, toys, if you ask her to
-pick up a mobile phone and say "hallo?" haha.mr t said he gave her a calculator once.she then picked it up, put it near her ear and said "hallo?" freakin' hilarious.
-dance! honestly.if there's music playing, she would shake her li'l booty.cutest thing ever.
-kick/throw balls
-scribble with crayons
-climb stairs(thank god we don't have stairs!)
-stack blocks

her favorite (non) toys are cotton buds, newspaper, toilet paper.hehe.and oh, she has six teeth now.

goodness gracious.we are so proud of this adorable li'l one.

i hope...

please be brave, japan...

(chibird.tumblr.com)

good times!

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/24/five-seconds-of-ever.html

:-)

you're welcome.

out and about

as i'm typing this, mr t is somewhere up in the air , off to germany for a (well-deserved) skiing holiday! he's also going to meet some of his friends, including c and t, whom i have grown fond of as well.i might steal and pass them off as my friends, too! haha.hi c! hi j! hi t! it's so nice to be with people whom you have known since you were in knickers probably.hee.my own best friends are the ones i've known since we were in kindergarten or grade 1, i think.

as usual, i digress.

things i'm grateful for: celebrations

so for the valentine's weekend (meaning the weekend prior to v-day), mr t and i decided to stay at crowne plaza on yas island.it saved us the long drive back to dubai coming from the office and and we got a really goOd deal on the hotel.thank you, office.thank you, *connections*.heee.

hey mr t

happy valentine's day! xoxo

hey mr t

happy birthday.xoxo from me and baby bee.

london memories part 3

it was my birthday!

after a delightful birthday surprise (a hair make-over from one of these trendy beauty salons!) from mr t, we had a typical english dish!

senti: jars of clay

i'm sorry, but what ever happened to jars of clay? this has to be one of the best songs ever!

london memories part 2

we would always pass by this interesting-looking building when we'd go for our breakfast.i think this is their city hall.

london memories part 1

mr t is currently in london for a combined work and holiday trip.baby and i will have to fend for ourselves for a few days then...waah...

mr t loves london so much! he lived there for a few years and every time he goes for a visit, he gets giddy with excitement.as for me, well, i've only been there once so i could not really say if i get giddy every time i see the city.BUT, i can clearly remember that i was in awe of it during our week-long visit in 2008.

so i'm down to memory lane today...

ramblings

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

how remiss of me...

to not post about our holiday celebration.well, life happens.and now i'm posting so i won't forget.

christmas was an easy affair.we were like a family of gypsies the whole year round hopping from one place to another that we just wanted to be on our own in our own place and to celebrate our first christmas as well, just us...

kyootness

when i grow up, este, when baby grows up and goes to school, i'm going to prepare these hello kitty bento lunches for her.oh yes, i will!

kyotness factor palang e winner na! not to mention din that it's a sneaky way to make baby eat her veggies!















it's so kyoooot!!!!

ramblings

dude, mr t and i are totally digging "how i met your mother."

this is "friends" that we have been missing for so long!!!

**

and yeah, this is what i want to do this year and next year, and the year after that...you get the drift...

to my baby girl

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, “Hear the Fairy Whisper” (by Sofi)

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.