summer!

*warning: video heavy.don't say i didn't warn you!

yes, the temperature is somewhere in the 40s. thank god for air conditioning.thank god for summer.contradictory much? heh. that's pretty much our life here.

and thank god for happy summer songs

exactly

so sad with what's happening in the world...

baby update

baby was a handful during our trip, but we would not have it any other way!our li'l family bonded to the max, and baby just developed socially.it was amazing.

now, she can name parts of the body like head, nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, ears, chin, hands, feet.one of her favorite songs is, you get it, "head, shoulders, knees and toes."

things i'm grateful for: tuscany

tuscany is *love*

if tokyo assaults your senses in a wonderful way, tuscany lulls you in the most relaxing way.

its gentle rolling hills, golden fields, endless rows of vineyards, magnificent cypress trees, stunning churches and picturesque villas are enough reasons to just stop, and let your surroundings take your breath away.

look who's back!

let me get back to reality.

meanwhile, here are some of my favorite photos from this remarkable trip:

st moritz, switzerland

munich, germany

tuscany, italy

disclaimer: we have not (yet) won the lottery, we just work our a**es off.and i'm also shouting my gratitude to the entire universe for this wonderful opportunity.that is all.

and what's worse than forgetting your camera on a trip to tuscany? well, it's actually taking the camera with you, without the charger! WTF. anyhow, our video camera saved us as we were able to take decent (but grainy) shots.could this be another reason to return to possibly the loveliest place on earth?

seriously, i left a piece of me in tuscany.

this is the place i can stay in forever.

off we go

our li'l family is off to get some bavarian/swiss/tuscan sun.so excited to see how baby will react to these new surroundings now that she's more aware and she's physically stronger.

see you in three weeks' time.

**

meanwhile, i leave you with this. would you rather be an octopus or a mermaid? hee.

whoops...

there's an iceberg in the sea!

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

our next stop on the next day was a romantic summer residence park called liselund.it was buit in the 18th century by a french nobleman for his wife.

there were houses like this manor

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

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things i'm grateful for: road trip! (dusseldorf and gelsenkirchen)

we did not get to spend a lot of time in dusseldorf.we just went there for dinner and walked around altstadt or old town.this is called the "longest bar in the world" because of its abundance of bars and nightclubs.i remember circling the area for a long time, just looking for a restaurant that appeals to us.so amongst all the cuisine readily available there, i suddenly craved for thai food.haha.poor mr t could not really say no.so there we were, the only two people in a thai restaurant in dusseldorf, eating noodles and rice.

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

we did not actually go to frankfurt city centre as we stayed for a night at the g family's house in the rhine-main region, near frankfurt.they have two young sons who were just simply adorable!

they took us around the town the next morning.again, local guides! yay!

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.