Thursday 29 January 2009

Better late than never

The Christmas package that our company gave us last year was quite interesting, my favourite item in the box is the travelling bag which is perfect for carry on luggage. The Christmas box also has a thermos, several food items and a cookbook. I love to cook but I wasn’t at all thrilled with the cookbook in spite of the fact that all the recipes inside look delectable. Reason: it was in Dutch. I was frustrated when I browsed through the book. The pictures in each recipe look so yummy and I can’t even try them. It’s too much of a hassle to translate them.

A couple of days back, I received an email saying that if we want to, we can exchange the cookbook we received in our Christmas box for an English one. I immediately registered.



Today, I finally got my English copy of the cookbook. Yey! I can finally try the recipes, I would’ve wanted to do it for the holidays but hey, it’s better late than never.

Monday 26 January 2009

Birthday Flowers

Last Thursday, I have celebrated another year of my life and, as all the other years before, for me it was special. The one great thing I love about my birthdays is that it triggers my mind to look back and as I have said, I can’t help but be thankful simply because the past year has been filled not only with so much blessings but more so of love.

Niko came to me with another tag and as always, her tag couldn’t have had a better timing, her tag is about enumerating the things that you love about your husband.
I have been itching to write about this instance last Thursday which is a typical example of why I’m so thankful that my life is filled with love and explains some of the things that I love about honey.

Last Thursday, since it’s customary in our office for people celebrating their birthdays to invite the team for cakes, instead of buying the normal cakes that we order, I made some cheesecakes and brought it to the office. As everyone from our department was having cakes in my office, I was stunned to see honey standing on the door with a huge bouquet of flowers in his hand. I was so surprised for two reasons, first because just thirty minutes before that, he called me from his office to tell me that he was stuck in a meeting the entire morning, second, you cannot get past our lobby without an employee of the building picking you up from the reception. I blushed profusely as all the girls in our team went “aaawww, that is so sweet!” Everyone was so impressed that he drove all the way from his office, dropped a bouquet of flowers on my table and head back to his work again. One of my colleagues even said “he’s setting the bar too high for the rest of the guys!”

That is one of the greatest things I love about honey, he always thinks of grand gestures to express his love for me and he stops at nothing to pull it off. I couldn’t believe that he called one of my friends from the office to pick him up from the reception so that he can give me the flowers personally and surprise me.

Later that evening, honey planned a dinner for the two of us and made reservations at a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam Central, but since it’s an utter nightmare to get a parking space in that area, we would have to take the train and since it was raining so hard, I didn’t want to commute to the restaurant. Honey surprised me by saying “Don’t worry I have a back up plan, I’ve made reservations in another restaurant near our place where we can take the car.”

I love it that honey always anticipates the things that I like and he’s always willing to alter any plans or decisions that he makes to accommodate me. Some of my friends even tell me that he spoils me a lot that way but he’s just like that, he wants to make me happy.

There is just too much about honey that I love, like when he makes me his omelets for breakfast over the weekend, when he records my favorite shows on TV so that I could watch it later, the way he makes me laugh, the way he is so passionate about his faith, when he tirelessly and neatly rearranges my closet each time I’ve completely made a mess out of it, the way he is with my family and friends and most of all the way he is with me. He does have his own flaws but for me they are quirkiness that I find cute and in the end utterly lovable. I know that there is no one perfect person but in my heart and mind, I know I’m married to one.

Friday 23 January 2009

The ring that binds us

One of the happiest days of my life was when Honey popped the magical question “will you marry me?” I knew it would be the start of my very own fairy tale coming true. As momentous as the wedding is for both of us, we considered the symbols which stood witness to our big day vital and so have given them a lot of thought and attention, the chord, the veil, the array and most importantly our wedding bands. Seven months before the wedding, I remember we were on our way home from our Valentine’s date, we passed by one of the shops of one of the biggest jewelers in Dubai. Being the sale fanatic that I am, I immediately noticed their promotional banners saying that all diamonds are on sale. It was a woman’s instinct (after all diamonds are our best friend), I asked Honey if we could check out the jewelries on sale.

Upon entering, the very nice sales man approached us and asked if we wanted anything in particular. My mom already promised that she would give me a pair of earrings that I should use for the wedding so I thought this might be the best opportunity to look for a bracelet or necklace to go with it, after all the diamonds were on sale, what better excuse to have than that. While browsing through the very beautiful collection, the sales man noticed the engagement ring that I was wearing, he said that it was very beautiful and remembers it as part of the store’s limited collection design and at that point were no longer for sale. That was the time when I remembered that indeed the box of the second engagement ring that Honey has given me bears the name of this store. Then it hit me, maybe we could also check out their collection of wedding bands.

He gave us the first tray of wedding bands which contains normal, nothing to fancy, plain, old style, traditional wedding rings in gold and white gold. I asked if there were more and he presented another tray of fancier wedding rings, some has etched design, others were two-toned still others were three-toned but still nothing that struck my fancy. Perhaps, noticing that we still hadn’t found what we were looking for, the sales man offered us another tray of wedding bands while saying “these bands are not traditional, maybe this is what you are looking for.” And indeed it was, the moment he laid the tray in front of us, this magnificent pair of white gold rings adorned with diamonds just stood out and caught my attention. Honey and I looked at each other and we both knew that this was it, we found our wedding ring.
(our first wedding rings... simply beautiful)

Finally, on that faithful day of September, my prince charming slipped that very same ring onto my finger where the engagement ring has been patiently waiting the entire year. It was pure magic.

Two years of marital bliss, our love has strengthened more than ever and married life proved to be more than I could ever hope for. However, on our way to our second wedding anniversary, due to unforeseen circumstances, one of our wedding rings got loss somehow and as much as it pains Honey and me to let go for it was the symbol of our love and has stood witness to our first years as man and wife, we had to move on and find the perfect ring to replace it, a ring that symbolizes our covenant of eternal love.

As if faith was on our side, we were showing a visiting friend around a touristy village in Amsterdam a couple of weeks before we celebrate our 2nd anniversary, without even the slightest of intentions to buy another pair of wedding rings for we already eyed a pair we saw online but we couldn’t find a pair sold locally, we chanced upon this quaint jewelry shop. The very same thing happened as when we were looking for our first wedding bands, there was something about the shop that invited me to come in so I asked Honey if we could go in and from then on, we never looked back. We found this simple, elegant yet unique pair of white gold wedding band adorned with several small diamonds and one bigger one. It was just perfect!



After engraving our name, the owner of the shop himself gave us the rings and said: “This will be the ring that will bind you for the next 20 years to come.” Hopefully, the jeweler is wrong on that, I do hope and pray that this will be the ring that binds us till forever.



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Excess: our ever reliable community priest, Father Yacou to blessed the wedding bands in time for us to wear them on our 2nd anniversary.

- this post has been delayed for soooo long due to lack of a good picture. Finally i managed to take a shot that i like.

Thursday 22 January 2009

Thankful

(photo from flickr)


I’m thankful for the man I see when I wake up,
Whose mere hugs and kisses make my heart stop.
I’m grateful that I sleep like a baby through the night,
And ‘coz just before I doze, I hear, “I love you, sleep tight”.

I’m grateful for the roof over my head,
and for the warmth and comfort of my bed.
I cherish those hearty meals coupled with resounding laughter,
But there is nothing more exhilarating than a playful banter.

I’m thankful that I see a bright future coz of my past,
And that I’m full of hope even when the sky is overcast.
I’m thrilled by the sun, whose warmth can rejuvenate,
But I also long for lazy afternoons only a downpour can create.

As I look around, I can’t help but appreciate
the miracles, the magic, the wonders, even fate.
I have been a witness to how life can be so pleasant,
If only we can learn to live, not the future, but the present.

So today, as my life counts another year,
I can’t stop my smile, which goes from ear to ear.
Coz I can’t think of any other phrase more fitting,
But “I’m thankful” to portray how I feel about the life that I’m living.

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as i was trying to write something on my birthday, all the words that are popping in my head seem to rhyme so I though might as well make a poem :-)

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Compromise & a big cup of coffee


Every morning, I prepare breakfast for honey and me. I have always been a firm believer that one shouldn’t skip the first meal of the day. So, ever since honey and I became a couple, I’ve influenced him, who previously was not a breakfast eater, to have breakfast. Although honey and I are not big on coffee, it has become a part of my breakfast, not for honey though. So each morning, I would ask him if he feels like drinking coffee, tea, juice or just water. Normally, when he would request for coffee, he ends up not drinking it at all, otherwise, if he doesn’t request for it, he ends up sharing my small cup of coffee which leaves me with less than a cup. He’s just like that, he prefers to share my cup of coffee than having one of his own.

This morning, I’ve finally come up with a solution for our dilemma, I’ve found a bigger mug in the cupboard, made one and a half cups worth of coffee and we were all smiles during breakfast.

Over the big cup of coffee, honey and I discussed another compromise. See, I’m morning person, so it’s not a big deal for me to wake up earlier to work out. However, honey is more of a nocturnal creature… he prefers to stay late and wake up as late as possible. A couple of weeks back, I’ve agreed with honey that instead of my normal routine of going to the gym in the morning, we both could just wake up earlier and work out together at home, anyway we have several equipments at home which should be good enough. He’s main protest is that it’s harder for him to wake up early. So while having our big cup of coffee, I proposed another compromise. I told him that we could wake up early on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and do our work outs at night on Tuesdays and Thursdays, that way we could stay longer in bed two weekdays. He was happy and we were all smiles after breakfast.

Coffee and compromises, all in a wife’s day.

Tuesday 20 January 2009

Honest Scrap Award


After days of complete neglect, I finally had a chance to come back to my blog and a pleasant surprise welcomed me back, a comment from Niko saying that she has gifted me with a blog award, Honest Scrap Award. From what I understand, this award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog’s content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. Thanks Niko this is such a wonderful surprise!

So what does this blog award entails? A receiver is entitled to post the nifty icon on top. You also have to (an absolute must!), choose seven other bloggers, (and to quote the instructions from Niko’s blog) “improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are, if you don’t have 7 friends”. Include in the list the links to their blogs and whoever is chosen should be informed by leaving them a comment in their blog informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog”. Finally, the receiver should enumerate 10 honest things about themselves.

Now, about the ten random things about myself….

1) I absolutely love books, any kind of books. I love to savour the smell and texture of paper as I leaf through the pages. I can sit still and be quiet for hours as long as I have a good book with me.
2) I love to travel, but I’ve realized that I only enjoy travelling immensely if I’m with honey, otherwise, the travel downgrades to an OK experience.
3) One of the drinks that I absolutely loved in Singapore is the soya milk with black jelly… yummy!
4) I am not a fruit person.
5) I prefer dogs over cats.
6) I am starting to develop a fondness for orchids, maybe because all the orchids we received as gifts last year for our house warming party are still blooming with vibrant flowers that definitely lighten up our home.
7) One of my most favourite ornaments in our home is the water fountain at the corner of our dining room, its so soothing.
8) My most uber favourite dessert would be blueberry cheesecake.
9) I’m a morning person and during weekdays, I have to be in bed by 10:30pm.
10) I love, love, love pajamas….


Now it’s quite tough to choose just 7 bloggers give this award to because ever since I devoted a significant amount of time blog hopping, I have admired a lot of blogs along the way. Here are 7 of my favourite blogs (in no particular order):

1) Pulse - this is a blog I hop to everyday, if I can, I find all the entries informative and really entertaining.
2) Wifely Steps - this blog’s posts are witty and funny and very entertaining.
3) Witsandnuts - I find it easy to relate to her entries having lived in Dubai/Abu Dhabi for a while. Her posts bring back fond memories
4) This Randomness - this blog is so candid and homey.
5) Mrs G - this is where I found a lot of informative stuff specially when it comes to running my own home.
6) Everything but the Kitchen Sink - this is one very entertaining blog and a cute baby also helps a lot.
7) Fit4All - I’ve browsed through this site and found the entries refreshing.

Monday 19 January 2009

Knots are getting tied



Last week has been one hell of a busy week. I was buried with tons of reports to produce for month end, quarter end, year end and all possible fiscal-period-end anyone could ever think of. This is why I’ve been slacking on my blog for the past couple of days.

This morning, when I finally got to read my personal emails, I was stunned, there were several emails from several friends updating me about the status of their wedding preparations. All of their weddings are happening this year. How could I have not noticed how many of my friends are getting hitched this year? Six of them to be exact, 4 of which are very, very close friends (of honey’s and mine). All of them invited us to be a part of their celebration but how on earth would we manage to go back to Manila at least three times this year? When I told this to my sister, she said, “your age group is really the marrying age, that explains why you have lots of friends getting married in a year.” I can buy that explanation. One of my best friends, actually, she’s also one of the bride-to-be, told me that maybe, there are a lot of our friends getting married this year because according to feng shui, this is a good year for a year-of-the-rooster born to get married, which most of the people born in 1981 would be. I can buy that as well, coz I know a lot of people consulting feng shui before tying the knot.

Whatever reason it may be, honey and I are looking forward to a very festive and momentous year for a lot of our friends. I am so excited to see all of them get married as I’m sure they were when they attended ours. Since we decided to celebrate honey’s birthday this year in Manila, we’re sure to be able to attend to two weddings which happen in the same week, what joy! Birthdays and weddings are perfect combinations after all. Now, we have to make a crucial decision, what other month are we going back to Manila? Ninuninuninu…. We really have to decide soon if we want to save on ticket costs. One of the disadvantages in living far from home, you have to choose some important dates, you can’t be there in all.

Sunday 11 January 2009

Picture Perfect

One of the best gifts that I’ve received this Christmas, which also happens to be in my wish list as well, is a Canon EOS 450D. Actually, it so happens that this item is also in honey’s wish list, so on our December mensiversary (how cheesy, we still celebrate our mensiversary... haylaveet!), after honey took me on a lunch date, we went straight to the one of the chains of electronics shop here in the Netherlands and bought this camera, we agreed that this is one of his gifts to me this Christmas and also one of my gifts for him this Christmas. We call the camera “Marty” coz we bought it from a shop called Media Markt (pronounced as Mart).

So before I confuse the heck out of anyone reading this, since I’ve used Marty, I’ve been enjoying myself a lot while exploring his properties…. Simply amazing, I’ve never taken pictures as nice as the one I’ve taken on this camera. We took Marty for a test drive (or is it test shot?!?) when we went to Paris and to Disneyland and I have to say so myself, all the pictures were marvellous. Marty gives us more room for creativity and it turns any environment, not conducive for taking pictures even, simply dramatic.

Here are some of my favourite shots from Paris and Disneyland (honey has been my favorite subject hehe).





i love the black and white shots:





I’m sure this is just a beginning of a long and sweet love affair that I’ll have with Marty.

Friday 9 January 2009

Winter Wonderland


I have to say that we’ve been having a proper winter this year. In fact, I think this is the best winter we’ve ever had so far. Our first winter here, according to most people I have spoken with, was one of the worst winters they’ve had in this country in the sense that it was not cold enough to turn rain into snow but it was really cold because of the wind and there were lots of rain which made it all too gray and depressing. Last year, it was better, less rain, lower temperature. The canals were even frozen in some instances which didn’t happen at all in our first winter here. As I normally say, as long as it doesn’t rain which is normally coupled with strong winds, I don’t mind cold at all.



Now, this year is a totally different story. Since winter kicked in, we’ve had very less rain, temperature that ranges between 3 degrees to minus 13 degrees Celsius, snow, frozen canals (for quite a while now!), fields that are covered in pure white, clean frost which is really breathtaking. In fact last weekend, when we took our friends for their last tour of the city before they go back to Dubai, we saw a lot of people skating in the canals. How exciting!

Oh, and I remember a couple of weeks back, I wondered how long it would take before the pond just outside our office freezes, apparently not too long. I took a picture of the frozen pond with my mobile phone and I was surprised to notice something different with the artwork in the middle of the pond. Since people can now walk in the middle of the pond, some very nice, concerned people climbed up the ladder and draped the man on top of the artwork with a robe so that he will get cold (hehe), only thing is he’s wearing a pink robe for the rest of us to see the entire day… if he only has feelings, that artwork must be so embarrassed right now!
(frozen pond right outside our office... the artwork is quite small but the guy on top of the artwork is wearing pink robe)

Hopefully that the winter we’re having now is an indication that we’ll also have a great spring and summer ahead. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Thursday 8 January 2009

Disneyland… Magical

(gate entrance to disneyland parking)

One of the greatest dreams of most kids I know is to go to Disneyland. Maybe the reason for this is because we’ve been exposed to Cinderella’s, Belle’s, Ariel’s, Rose’s and Snow White’s uber romantic fairytale stories at a very young age. Or maybe because we’ve all adored Mickey and Minnie mouse for as long as I can remember. Whatever the reason maybe, Disneyland exudes this magic that entices kids of all ages and of all races. True enough, as a young girl, I am one of those kids who dreamed of someday visiting the Disneyland park.
(Sleeping Beauty's Castle)


We’ve been to Paris a couple of times but we’ve never got to visit Disneyland, all of that changed day after Christmas, my very own Santa, my honey, took me to Disneyland Park. The little girl inside me finally got her long time wish come true. It was a beautiful park, the castle, the ships and the Disneyland characters we all know and have loved through the years. It was pure magic. I can’t help but believe that Disneyland is indeed enchanted.
(House of Terror)

(Jack's Beanstalk.... I think)

We spent two entire days roaming around the park, exploring all the rides, the castles and taking pictures of the Disney Characters in spite of the minus 5 degrees Celsius temperature. At the end of both days, I felt my hands, my face and my entire body numb from the cold but it was all worth it. Hopefully, next time we come back to the Magical World of Disney, I the magically numbing winter will be over.
(beautiful display of lights in Sleeping Beauty's Castle at night)

Wednesday 7 January 2009

All I want for Christmas

It has been one busy holiday season in our home. Initially, I thought that I would have a relaxed Christmas eve since honey and I decided to accept the invitation of a good friend, Ate E, to spend Noche Buena with them together with rest of our friends from CFC. Then I thought wrong, I laboured the entire day making the fondant cake that I wanted to bring to the party. Oh well, it all turned out great so my efforts were not put to waste.


I made the fondant from scratch and moulded it to cover the cake. I also bought some snow man decors to top the cake with. Using my cookie cutters, I cut the fondant in heart and flower shapes to decorate the cake as well. I am so pleased with the outcome. It was so cute. I coloured the first tier of the cake (which is cappuccino flavoured cake) red and the top layer (chocolate cake) green, very Christmassy.


Oh and by the way, I was able to tick some items off my wish listand I’m waiting for the other items which are still in transit and hopefully, I’ll be able to tick the others as well. Thanks honey!




Tuesday 6 January 2009

Angels in the tree



It never ceases to amaze me how a simple tree, when draped with sparkling lights, glittering balls and shiny ornaments, can transform a house into a home. One of the things that I look forward to the most during the holiday season is dressing up the tree. For me, there is a certain joy upon gazing at a freshly decorated tree in the corner of the living room.

Ever since we lived here in Amsterdam, I can’t help but notice that we have fewer options when it comes to ornaments that we can decorate the tree with. I have always liked putting a star or an angel atop the tree but truly, I have searched high and low but found nothing that I liked. For the last two Christmases, we decided to let the top of our Christmas tree remain bare instead of putting just anything there.

A week before Christmas though, I think our fate has finally changed. While strolling along the Christmas market, a glittery light from one of the stalls caught my eye. I immediately went and there it was, low and behold, beautiful angels lined in a row in different shades of gowns and various styles. A squeal of sheer excitement escaped my lips and honey had to rush to me to see what it was that I was so happy about. I pointed out to him the treasure that I was gazing at he understood immediately what I meant. There were so many designs that are so pretty and in the end I couldn’t decide between two angels so I asked honey just to pick and buy one. In the end, I saw honey handing two angels to the seller and paying for it telling me that it was so obvious that I liked both of them so he decided that we can always have more angels at home. So sweet my honey!



I have finally chosen the angel dressed in a green gown to occupy the top of our Christmas tree. I can’t be any happier with our angels. I just wanted one but now I have two.

Monday 5 January 2009

New Year, new beginning


(fireworks taken right outside our home)

The sky glittered with sparks of lights, the air is filled with smoke from gazillion of fireworks ignited, loud music could be heard from most houses, people are hugging and kissing in the streets greeting one another, this can only mean one thing, New Year has finally arrived.



Inside our home, a feast awaits. At the corner of the table, twelve kinds of round fruits are on display, a tradition that has passed on from generation to generation in my family that I can’t bring myself not to follow. I look out through our window and an overwhelming excitement fills me as it contagiously spread outside. I couldn’t help but believe that there is a subtle magic (or miracle) that occurs every year between 11:59 pm of 31st December and 12 am 1st January. This is a time when a lot of people, all of a sudden, are a lot happier, kinder, more patient, or decides to reform themselves for the better, aspire to do more, live a fuller life or seek ways to improve themselves, now if that is not magic (or miracle), I don’t know what is.

As for me, the miracle starts when the chime of the clock to signal the coming of a brand new year brings back memories of the year that was. I am filled with happiness from of all the joyous moments that occurred, I am armed with the knowledge gained from mistakes made and I am strengthened by the trials that tested me. Above all, the most magical moment for me, during this turning of the year, is when the memory of all the love showered upon me come flooding my thoughts. It’s exhilarating and I am left with nothing but gratitude.

The minute I step out of our door to witness the magnificent display of lights in the sky, I am filled with hope. Hope that the year we are welcoming will be filled with challenges that will leave me empowered, will be showered with a lot more happy occasions, will hold a great deal of knowledge to be learned and overflowing with love, a kind of love that gives everything more meaning and gives a zest to life.

Once the outside world has quieted down, our family and friends gather around the table to finally share the feast that was prepared. As we utter a simple prayer of thanks, my heart is filled with gratefulness and faith that in as much as the previous year has been a great one, the coming year, through prayers, will be even better.

I wish every one a Blessed and Peaceful New Year!