SK's Big Day

SK and I have been friends for as long as I remember. Growing up there was horseback riding, altar girls, forced singing &/or dancing performances at parties, slumber parties, Freshman year.. the list goes on.

Naturally, I was thrilled of course she told me she was engaged. And then.. I felt old. Lol. I think it may have all of a sudden hit me that geez, we really HAVE grown up!

SK married her man in magical Bali about a month ago. It was a lovely wedding, and a relaxing weekend away. Aside from a bit of sweatshop work of manually putting together the chocolate giveaways - my only official role was to host... the actual ceremony. Hehe. So while the other bridesmaids were running about attending to the bride, me and a few other friends spent the rest of the weekend relaxing. Leisurely breakfasts, a good number of hours on a sun bed facing the ocean with smoothies and cocktails, massages, having the most amazing meals - you name it, we probably DIDNT do it because we were "busy" lazing about.

Aside from the obvious bumming, and witnessing SK's dream wedding, it was great to catch up with old classmates and the Titos & Titas from the old crew. All in all - an awesome weekend away I'd say!

Welcome drinks and fragrant cold towels upon our arrival at Ayana Resort & Spa 

Some of Ayan's lovely details 

Pool upon pool upon pool at Ayana

Beautiful door frame @ Ayana

Banana Pancake at Warung Made (nom nom nom)

I think we spent 4 hours just sitting on this sun bed - moving from sun to
sunset, smoothies to cocktails

Love love love this restaurant - beautiful place and delectable French food.
Above is a friend's appetizer of scallops & Foie Gras 

After I had my lobster ravioli & rack of lamb - I finished off my meal with some sinful mille feuille 

Prep the boxes, cut & tie the ribbons, attach the charms.
Godiva goodies handcarried by R from Seattle to HongKong to Bali

SK & C 

The most insane shower I have ever seen - at the beautiful Ayana Villa 

Wedding reception

Wish tree at the Reception

Thanks too guys!

Hotel Heaven

I love everything about hotels: the sheets, the room service, the bathrooms, the breakfast buffet.. I think I could go on and on.

When I'm not day dreaming about marrying royalty (you KNOW you were moved the same way I was when watching Princess Diaries!!), I daydream about marrying someone who will buy me a hotel. None of this becoming a powerful woman and building my own hotel empire - i mean, BUY ME A HOTEL. Yup - found in the same sack of day dreams about  becoming a lady of leisure :)

I was lucky enough in October to have stayed in 4 different hotels - all for different reasons. Thought I'd just immortalize it in a blog post.

One of these days I really will indulge in a stay-cation and spend it lolling about a hotel.

Summer '11: (back to) Paris

10 years later.. I FINALLY come to the end of my blog posts about my summer spend in Europe.

We train-ed back to Paris from Amsterdam - hanging out for 2 days before hopping back on a plan towards reality.

The 2 days was just enough time to finish up whatever errands (ie: shopping) wasn't accomplished first time around, and spend a day at Versailles.

The last time (and first time) I was at Versailles was in 2001with the ACGC. The Chateau unfortunately was closed at the time, so we spent the day exploring it's massive massive MASSIVE grounds. Picnic-ing, watching the others doe-a-deer-ing while biking up and down garden paths, and being dragged around by L while searching for Marie Antoinette's secret garden are a few of many memories I treasure till this day.

Thank you Tita Nanu for this photo. Several pounds gained and
upgrades in cameras later  - but do you recognize any of us? 

10 years later for D & myself

A 10-year reunion with a few of the people I first saw it was a great way to see it again. I finally got to see inside of the Chateau and daydream about the history that was made in its opulent halls, and seeing the gardens again with older eyes was awesome as well.

Our return to Paris also marked the end of our 2-week summer adventures. I think about it now and am still amazed that I not only afforded it all on my own, but that it happened even with the unexpected move threatening my chances of going. This summer trip was EPIC to prepare for!

What a blessing it is to travel - what more, to travel for and with people you love. So happy I put my mind to making this happen and as always, looking forward to my next big trip :)

This Past Weekend..

...  I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Ok, I lie - I did have plans. But it was my first FREE weekend in a month. I love traveling, I love that I had friends come and visit me - but seriously, nothing beats puttering around on your own and dictating what you can and cannot do with your free time.

What a glorious (3-day) weekend it was:

• I slept (I got lots and LOTS of this.. in fact, I may have gotten too much.. if there is such a thing, hee hee)
• I went to the 11:15 sunday mass - which I prefer over the 6pm one. The choir uses the piano and not honky tonk organ music
• I quenched my craving for mapo tofu & fried rice - while laughing catching up with N & K
• I cleaned & did 2 loads of laundry
• I read
• I finished my Christmas shopping for my family (yes family - i know you're reading this, I finished my Christmas shopping for you)
• I finished a few personal errands - which included replacing a wallet (thanks for the push, J), and buying drawers to dump my shoes in 
• I exercised
• I caught up with J (which included shopping and stuffing our faces at Mozza and TWG) - our first one-on-one time in... 2 months?!?!
• Caught a performance by a local Filipino choir
• I did some grocery shopping
• I finally skyped with M - also for the first time in over a month

So yes - I did everything and nothing this weekend. It was wonderful. 

Best thing about a 3-day weekend - you've only got 4 days of work to get through till the next weekend :D

Visual DNA

I'm a sucker for personality tests.

I recently took the Times Visual DNA test.

Here are my results:

YOU ARE CULTURE CURIOUS

You have an innate ability to see beauty in things of all shapes and sizes, and your love of the arts doesn't prevent you from having a warm down-to-earth attitude and a calm, peaceful outlook on life. Nature is close to your heart, and you are equally likely to find art in the outside world as you are in a gallery. You are an emotional spirit and you make really strong connections. Good friends and lots of laughs are the recipe for really happy days. And nights!

You're sophisticated and inquisitive with a real passion for art and culture. You pride yourself on being an early adopter of the latest music and films and always like to have a good book on the go. Your ability to bring together very diverse and even dissenting opinions is rooted in your appreciation for all points of view. You believe in immersing yourself in interesting experiences that make you look at people, places and opportunities from new angles. Being sensitive and creative you want to feel connected to the world around you and actively seek out opportunities to explore it. It's all about broadening your horizons and living life to the full. Anything else would not fulfill your curious nature. You'll love the list of The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, the Critics' Picks and Arts Beat.

Whacha think? Sounds pretty close ya? 

Making my way home (Singapore) 

Inside Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam) 

Love love love flowers (Amsterdam)

Rolls upon rolls of colours textiles (Seoul) 

Summer '11: Amsterdam, Netherlands

My usual frame of mind when I travel is "Spending money to go all the way here, so will jam pack my days with every possible thing to do". You will most definitely see this true of many of the trips I've blogged about in the past. 

Amsterdam leg was initially planned to roll out in the same manner, day trip to other towns in the Netherlands as well as trip to the nearby towns in Belgium. But the few days hubbed in Amsterdam played out a little differently than planned. Blame it on Amsterdam's super relaxed vibe, beautiful surroundings and fabulous weather that particular weekend? Or possibly easy-going hosts (with cozy home and yummy home cooked food) combined with our bodies needing to recharge from a week of running around Italy and France? Maybe. But at the end of the day, it was EXACTLY what we needed for our vacation - an honest to goodness BREAK. 

My first time as well in the Netherlands and I totally fell in love with it. 

• Albert Cuypt Market
• Lots of wandering around Amsterdam and easy-going days 
• Merienda with an old classmate (whom I haven't seen in 11 years!)
• Van Gogh Museum
• Vondelpark
• Anne Frank Museum
• Dinner at Bistro Bij ons & awesome Citron Tarte & chihi at Palazzo Plazo
• Watching Gay Pride Parade with awesome all veggie dinner!
• More walking about Amsterdam (Red Light District, Jordaan, etc)