An English Tea Party in Manila

To make my birthday memorable not just for me but also for my closest girlfriends, I decided to host an English Tea Party for my 23rd bash. Honestly, I've never had a birthday party since my 18th. My birthday oftentimes conveniently falls on Holy Week so I can't really have a party during that time, can I? Anyway, I had the tea party a week after my birthday since I was at Sagada on my birthday weekend. I asked my friend Gab to design my invitations. Can I just say, she did a great job! Thanks again, dear!

Back to the party--I asked Portia, the owner/chef of Isabelo Garden Restaurant, if she could accommodate the tea party on an afternoon. Isabelo's open just for dinner so of course I had to ask permission. I couldn't think of a better place to have my tea party than in Isabelo. It's quaint, quiet, and the food's great as well. I love it that Portia customized the menu for my tea party since her current menu doesn't really have food for that kind of a celebration. She really sat me down and asked what I wanted, how I envisioned the place to look like, if I wanted flowers on the table, etc. This is why I love Isabelo--the service is great and Portia really takes the time to get to know her clients. That's why I'm a loyal customer of Isabelo...which reminds me, I have to take some of my girlfriends there soon!

Going back (again), I had a fun time hosting my English Tea Birthday Party. The food was good, my girlfriends were all dressed for the occasion, great conversations--what more could I have asked for? The party even extended until 9 in the evening! What can I say... I am a very content, happy 23 yr old lady :)

Bukidnon, My Home

I was neither born nor raised in Bukidnon, but I consider it my home--my second home, that is. Almost 10 years ago, my dad moved there to make use of the farmland my maternal grandmother's family owned but never bothered to use until we had problems with illegal tenants who were claiming that the land was theirs. So, despite having no experience in farming and having been raised in the city, my dad moved to Malaybalay to start a new career as a farmer. Well, as a businessman/farmer. It wasn't an easy decision to make because that meant he'd have to leave my mom and me and my brothers here while he was there staying with my grandmother's relatives. Fast forward to 2010, my dad would rather stay there than go back to Manila I kid you not. I'd like to think that my dad has always been a 'probinsyano' at heart. He wasn't your typical Manileno. Adjusting to the provincial life wasn't as difficult for my dad, and the major adjustment was just not having us with him there. Well, my mom and brothers followed after 3 years and they're feeling the same way about Manila. It was their home almost their entire lives, but they'd rather live out the rest up in the cool mountains of Bukidnon. Even if I never moved to Bukidnon, I consider it as my second home. I get excited whenever I find the chance to leave Manila and visit my family there. I don't really need to adjust that much.

I spent Holy Week this year in Malaybalay with my family. My grandmother was in the US visiting my uncles, while my other brother spent it here in Manila because he still had work. I've gotten used to going there alone so I didn't mind.

As usual, I'm not going to dwell so much on narrating every little detail about what I did there. I'd rather show it to you through pictures (with the help of captions, of course :p).

Our coffee shop--Bukidnon Brew Cafe

Our home

Living Room

Dining Room Mirror

Dining Room (with a view of the kitchen)

Our long parking area/'runway'

Dahilayan Outdoor Park (with Asia's longest zipline!)

Dinner at La Vetta, Cagayan de Oro. I treated my family :)

My adventures haven't ended yet...they're just beginning :)

The weather's been 'menopausal' here. Yes, you read it right. MENOPAUSAL. It's so hot in the morning but in the afternoon until early evening the rain just starts to pour. Or sometimes, it rains in the morning then it's sunny in the afternoon. Like my mom's mood swings, the weather seems to be hormonal the past 2-3 weeks. Or maybe it's just global warming and climate change. People, this is what we get for not taking care of our planet! :( We can't really blame anyone but ourselves.

Anyway, despite the weather being uncooperative I still went out this weekend. As you dear readers know, I went to Bataan this Saturday. I'll be devoting an entire post for that, don't worry. I just wanted to share that even if the rainy season has started already, I still want to and plan on going on trips. I think an adventure every month or every other month would be great.

The past few months have been awesome. Let me share with you what I was able to do in just 4 months...

I climbed one of the highest mountains in the country...

I did Asia's longest zipline...

I hiked on one of the 7 Wonders of the World...

I went caving and spelunking...

I went to one of the most colorful festivals in Philippines...

...and I visited one of the most historical places here--Mt. Samat Shrine in Bataan.

I recall mentioning in my first entry for the year that one of my goals for 2010 is to travel more and to meet new friends. Can I just say, I'm so proud of myself hahaha! I've gone to places I never imagined I'd have to courage to go to. I even mentioned in one of my entries that I wish I could climb a mountain--and I did! I've met new people who, until now, I'm still in constant communication with. I've developed friendships with them and we've actually become travel buddies. We're starting to plan trips together for the following months until next year.

I know my adventures are just beginning. I'm excited to see where my next trip will be, what new food I'll be able to try, what new place I'll be able to explore, and who are the new people I'll meet. I love how life is made richer by our experiences. I will forever remember the places I've gone to these past 4 months, and I'm looking forward to adding new memories from my future travels :)

Lifestyle by Feliz

I started becoming fascinated with pre-nup photos when Jay-Jay, the boyfriend of my friend Tin started posting his works online. It amazed me how creative couples can be, and how wedding photography has been 'evolving'. I'd have to think that it'd be quite a daunting task to conceptualize pre-nup photos, especially if you're going for shots that would reflect you and your partner as a couple, but also showing each one's personality. I'm so thrilled that now you can actually have someone style your engagement shoot! Yes, there is now someone you can rely on for helping you conceptualize and execute your pre-nup photos! I would like to introduce to you my friend Tin, who is an Engagement Stylist. She is soooo good with what she does and when that day comes when I've met the right guy, I will definitely get Tin to by my pre-nup photo stylist! She really sits down with her clients and listens to what they want, but also she comes up with the most awesome themes I'm just amazed with the results.

Meet Tin :)
(photo from here)

If you want to check out her work, visit her site at Lifestyle by Feliz.

one wish

I wish I knew how he really felt so I wouldn't feel like there wasn't any closure to what happened. That's the thing with me, I always need closure--like a defining conversation where things are laid out...I don't need to speculate afterwards what the other person is feeling. Ugh why do I need this?!? Is it really a need, or just something I think I need. Or maybe I already know the answer and I just haven't accepted it yet. This is making my head hurt.

telecon shmelecon

I know, the entry's title is lame. I just couldn't think of anything so I decided to settle with that one because I had a telecon with our colleagues in Canada earlier this evening. I'm feeling....random today. So yeah, this is another one of my random blurb posts. Ready, set....

I am SO SO SO SO excited for this weekend trip to Bataan. It turns out I won't be a solo traveler since my cousin Pau and her friend will be joining me. Yay fun fun fun :)

I'm scared of how this new project at work will turn out. It's so big I can't imagine how we'll be able to manage it. I.Am.Afraid.

When will I ever get my Pentax repaired?!? I should before the end of....July. Hahahaha!

My Malaysia trip this October will be moved to January or February next year. No worries, that means we can increase our budget for the trip and we won't starve in Kuala Lumpur and we won't have to beg the entire time just so we can go around the place.

I need to clean my room. Again. Damn it.

Excited about something. Not even sure what it is, haha!

--Fin--

one last hurrah for summer

Summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to the beach...

I love the Sun, the sand, the clear blue water...

I will definitely miss summer.

Another adventure this weekend!

So where am I off to now? Well, let's just say it's going to be like going on a trip back in time....heehee :) I'm such a sucker for history! If I could watch the History Channel the entire day, I would. Am not kidding. I'm a dork, I know. It's just that I find history fascinating because EVERYTHING we know and do now are results of what happened before. Who we are, our world, our practices, our languages, our cultures--these are all shaped by what happened in the past. Who wouldn't be fascinated by that???

I'll be seeing THIS on Saturday...

picture taken from here

I'm not joining our office outing for this trip. One, I already paid for it weeks ago so I don't want to waste hard-earned moolah. Second, I don't want to spend 2 days with someone from my office (haha!). Third, well...it's the weekend and I don't really want to do anything work-related...even if it's an outing.

EXCITED EXCITED EXCITED!!!!!!

not down with the fever, but I understand the hype

The World Cup games this year started more than a week ago, and I am now not surprisingly not taken by all the madness. I must confess that I have never liked sports, maybe because even if I do want to be "sporty" I lack the physical stamina and the courage to go out on a court or field and face my team's opponents. I veered away from contact sports my entire life. The only ones I can willingly play are table tennis, badminton, and swimming--obviously sports that make me at least 2 meters away from my opponent. My aversion to sports, especially to basketball, volleyball, and football, are because I don't want to be hit by balls. I experienced being hit on the head by a basketball and a volleyball. God forbid should I ever get hit by a football.

It's not that I totally hate sports. I actually love watching basketball games. That's the nearest participation anyone can expect from me in that sport. I get so crazy watching games between Ateneo and other college teams that I feel like my friends were already getting embarrassed by all the profanity and screaming coming out of my mouth. I seem to be possessed by a mad sailor when watching basketball games. And oh, don't get me started whenever I watch Purefood's (a local team from the PBA...Philippine equivalent of the NBA) games. I'm so passionate about the teams I support that sometimes I don't even recognize myself after every game. With all the adrenaline from shouting at the referee for an unfair call, for taunting the opposite team and their fans, I come out of the stadium looking all sweaty and dazed.

Now the World Cup season has started, I expect to see friends go on 'status wars' on facebook. I've seen quite a few already. With all the jeering and team bashing, I'm glad this'll all be over in 3 weeks. I sometimes think I feel this way just because I can't relate to all the hype, haha! So imagine to my surprise, yesterday I bought the latest issue of Time Magazine. What was on the cover? A feature on the World Cup! What caught my eye was on an article about the Cup. I'm almost done reading all the articles about FIFA 2010 and these have proven to be beneficial to my "education" about the Cup. I like what was written about the sport itself, that people from all walks of life can play it, there's no discrimination about your height and race. You just have to be passionate about the sport and play it really well to be able to get in a team. Unlike basketball where it'd be to your disadvantage if you weren't as tall as your teammates and your opponents, football overlooks your 'shortcoming' in terms of height, no pun intended. What was the term?....Democratic--yes, that's what the author used in describing football. I also like what Samuel Eto said. By the way, he's a player for Italy but he's really from Cameroon, South Africa. He said "(I) always seek to do the best I can in every position, in every facet of the game. Success is much more than a question of quality--it's a question of heart. That's what gives you the winning edge." What he said actually made an impact on me, and the aspect of my life that was affected wasn't even sports-related hahaha!I also love the fact that there's a bit of history attached to the sport, and that nations-at-war forget about their conflicts once there's a football game.

While watching CNN last week, I saw a feature on Cameroonian inmates having a friendly match against England fans. It really touched me because it really showed that the game brings people together. I couldn't help but get teary-eyed when I saw how enthusiastic the inmates were when they were putting on their brand new uniforms and spikes. The looks on their faces got to me--how they lit up while preparing for the game. What was so amazing was the camaraderie among the inmates and the English fans on the field--they were all just having a grand time playing.

I may not be down with the World Cup fever, but now I have a somewhat deeper understanding of the sport. Don't expect me to watch a game anytime soon, though :)

just...lazy

Hallooo everyone, I'm still not quite up to writing all my backlog entries because I'm lazy like that--haha! Please understand, this is a process. I can't just spew out articles like invectives to ___ (which can come out quite easily). But I do hope that this weekend will prove to be inspiring/motivating so that I can finally post those entries. What I'll do now is share with you guys a few pictures from my Holy Week weekend in Bukidnon, my English Tea Birthday Party, and my recent Pahiyas Festival day trip. Enjoy!

HOLY WEEK 2010, BUKIDNON

MY ENGLISH TEA BIRTHDAY PARTY

PAHIYAS FESTIVAL 2010