Taking a Breather

Busy days are still up ahead but after spending the past weeks on work, mini-trips and running around supervising renovations (home and office), Jerry and I found some time to visit Body & Sole at the Forum for some foot scrub and massage.

It was a glorious 1 hour break from all the dizzying schedules. I think I must have dozed off while the lady attending to me was busy kneading and scrubbing my weary footsies.

After gulping the last drop of hot tea, we drove to nearby Waterfront Hotel, Lahug for a few drinks. Our stop was at Treff where Jerry had a couple of San Miguel beer bottles while I tried something I should have done (but didn't) in S'pore, the Singapore Sling.

Hmm...a relaxing massage, some drinks, good conversation with my best bud and thumping chill-out music sure unhinged my knotted muscles a bit.

How was your weekend?



Body & Sole at the Forum




Singapore Sling

Summer 2007-Trip #3 (Bohol)

This should have been trip #2 as it happened before Jerry and I went to S'pore. However, the recent spate of rush activities at work and at home prevented me from updating my posts promptly. Anyway...

When the Manila office went to La Luz in San Juan, Batangas for their company outing, Cebu decided to go to quiet Bohol for an overnight trip. Except for a few, all of us hauled ourselves to the pier early Saturday morning of April 14 for a Supercat trip that would take us to Tagbilaran.

Since the boat fare was only about P600 for a Cebu-Bohol-Cebu trip, Jerry and I decided to take the kids along. The three boys were all excited. 3yo Jake couldn't stay seated and kept mingling with the office employees while on board the boat. Two hours later, we arrived and docked on the pier which was pretty small but looked newly renovated.

First stop was the food shop where we had a sumptuous seafood lunch that set the mood for this entire trip. By 1pm we were inside the coaster that took us around the sights of Bohol. Sagbayan Peak was slightly over an hour away and fortunately for us, Jake slept throughout the drive. By the time we got there, he was up and about until after we got back to the hotel after dinner.

If I completely narrate the beauty that we saw in Sagbayan, Carmen, Loboc, Baclayon, and Panglao, this entry is going to be reeealllyyy long. Let me just embed this slideshow just to give a glimpse of what Bohol could offer its visitors, but believe me the pictures don't do justice to these faces sights!

Summer 2007 - Trip #2 (Singapore)

Back in February '07, we decided to purchase roundtrip tickets for Singapore. Total fare for the two of us was a little more than 15k. Not bad, considering that the flight was straight out of Cebu and back via Cebu Pacific. That alone was enough justification for us to decide on taking the trip plus the fact that we timed it on our 15th anniversary. :)

It was Jerry's second time, while it was my first time to see the place. Thanks to my good friend from high school in DLS-Z who opened her impressive condo for our 2-days-2 nights stay. She even gave us valuable sightseeing, shopping and food tips!

Together with Jerry, I had fun doing these...

- spending time with friends...
- taking the MRT and experiencing one of the most efficient transport systems in the world...
- blending in with the locals and people of other cultures...
- taking the Duck tour for an hour of sightseeing...
- seeing the Boat Quay, Merlion Park, Suntec City, Night Safari, Orchard Road at night, Clarke Quay, Forbidden City Bar, hawkers, Sim Lim, Little India, Orchard Road at daytime, Mt. Faber...
- touching the little sharks and manta rays in Underwater World, Sentosa...
- seeing a fantastic view of Singapore and neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia aboard the Carlsberg's Sky Tower...
- sampling the famous fish head curry, laksa, chicken rice, prawn noodle soup, roti prata, sugar cane and lime juice, one shot of vodka kiwi inside a -12degree bar...
- shopping...

Our trip was simply too short and we would have wanted to spend a day or two more. It would have been nice seeing more of the place, tasting more of the exotic foods and meeting up with Singapore-based Marikit sisters! The short trip however did not stop us from taking in as much of what the place could offer. Singapore was a totally new experience for me and I still have a lot more reasons why we should go back... someday... soon.

Have you been to Singapore? What did you enjoy seeing/doing the most while there?

15 Years Today

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

Once in a lifetime comes a love,
So sweet, so pure, so rare;
A flashing, brilliant, blinding light,
Like a comet through the air.

A love without rhyme or reason,
That knew no space or time;
Wrapped itself around my soul,
And captured this heart of mine.

There was something there so special,
Mere words cannot explain;
The way our hearts were intertwined,
And how that still remains.

A fabric woven tightly,
Each strand a color rare;
An intricate pattern of richness,
With beauty beyond compare.

Once in a lifetime comes a love,
With no beginning or no end;
The sweetest gift I ever shared,
With my love and my best friend.

Allison Chambers Coxsey
©1995 ~ All Rights Reserved



Happy Anniversary to Jerry and me! :D
Thanks Junnie for your anniversary post!




...at Fort San Pedro, Cebu (April 2007)




...Loboc River cruise, Bohol (April 2007)

Ahh... Elusive Sleep?

Not for Jake and certainly not for me.... Sleep is our friend...



photo courtesy of 13 year old son, Matt


The sleep of a laboring man is sweet. - Bible, Ecclesiastes v. 12.
Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night. - Unkown


Do you have a hard time sleeping? :D

Just For The Sake Of...

Everyday I stuff my laptop bag with folders containing invoices for payment processing, receipts for reimbursements, printed pages from the internet like maps and tips for our upcoming trip, bank statement for reconciliation, unread newspaper for the day, etc....

A lot of times, these papers don't even get the chance to be taken out of my bag and looked at which I regret not doing, when I wake up the following morning. I get sidetracked by listening to my boys' stories about their activities for the day, by watching Jake's antics the moment he sees me walk in the door, by watching Sanjaya on American Idol or Grey's Anatomy, by going online, by dinner, and (gasp!) by the junk food...

Why do I keep doing this? Hehehe...It's a lost cause, isn't it?

Have you (ever) tried bringing home some paperwork hoping to be able to get something done? How did you fare?

To Date

- We now have a new house help. Yay!
- Our house renovation is almost done.
- Our office renovation is 90% completed. Target move-in date is in a week's time.
- Our loan from Mama Sol is already FULLY PAID (just a few more loans to pay off).
- The family had a 4-day Manila trip and stayed overnight in La Luz, San Juan, Batangas together with Manila colleagues.
- We will be going to Bohol this coming weekend for our company outing.

There are still more to happen (which I will mention in a later post)!

Things are definitely looking up this side of Cebu! ;)

How about in your part of the world? Highlight what recently happened to you. Or better yet, is there something you're looking forward to?