What’s the best advice you ever got from your Dad?

I was supposed to submit this blog entry to the Philippine Star’s online contest “A Toast to the Man” and the best advice he has shared with you. But I got confused and I thought the deadline for submitting the entries is tomorrow, June 30. It should have been on June 27. Oh well..

It took me some time to come up with the bestest advice I got from daddy. There were just too many and all of it are rather significant to me. You see, my daddy is the authoritative type but it would surprise you that he is very emotional when it comes to his family. I would often catch him teary-eyed everytime we have our bonding moments as a family, which is rare nowadays because we live apart… exactly a 3-hour plane ride apart. 😦

So here it is, from the top of my head… 🙂

Work – Nobody is indispensable.

Even with his stature, he never considered himself indispensable to his company. He believes that there would always be somebody else to replace him, when he resigns. If a better opportunity comes, he would pursue it and make it happen.

Working abroad is hard, dealing with different cultures makes it even harder. He would always tell me that it is a learning process, just try to do things as promptly and as efficiently as I can.

If ever I were to be a career woman at some point in my life (at this point, I think I’m not, hehehe!), I would be happy if I can achieve even half of the success he had in his career.

Life, in general – Always have something to look forward to.

He once told me, that the reason why he decided to pursue golf is because he wants to have something to do after he retires. He even thought of taking up painting and guitar lessons. It amazes me how much enthusiasm my daddy has.

We should learn a thing or two from him, this should be our life’s mantra.

Love – Find a man who will love you as much as I love you.

Is it just me, or does every girl subconsciously try to find the endearing qualities of his daddy from every guy she meets? At least for every self-proclaimed daddy’s girl, I would say it is true.

I am blessed to have found a man who takes care of me and loves me almost as much as my daddy loves me… well, almost… because they say there is no greater love than the love you have for your child.

I love you Daddy! 🙂

A Sneak Peek at Universal Studios

We went to tour the outskirts of Universal Studios last weekend with friends. They made a side trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where they were having a company outing. They were able to purchase a day pass via online ticketing, but we opted to not to come with them inside and just wait for our respective families to visit us before going to Universal Studios for the first time. We want the experience to be very memorable by spending it with family. And we wanted to wait for Battlestar Galactica! Oh yeah! 😀

Here are some pictures that my boyfriend took from his camera, enjoy! 🙂

(Inggit mode but happy to be a tour-guide)

We shall return UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, in less than 2 months? 🙂

Movie Marathon Sundays

As soon as I woke up that beautiful Sunday morning, I immediately thought of booking three movie tickets for that afternoon, after attending mass. But we were arguing what to watch first… Prince of Persia or Sex and the City 2. In the end, we watched the two movies back to back. 😀 So much fun!

It’s so easy to reserve a seat for a movie in Singapore. If you have the iPhone application Golden Village, you can reserve from there and choose your seat number. Then collect your tickets an hour before showing time. So easy!  😀

We loved both movies! From an action-packed movie to a chick flick, it doesn’t get any better than this! 🙂

Prince of Persia will literally transport you through time because it’s about time travel and you’ll feel like you are watching a videogame. Great cinematography!!! 😀

Sex and the City 2 is so hilarious!!! I absolutely adored Carrie and Big’s penthouse and Stan & Anthony’s dreamy wedding… And ooohhh Liza Minnelli!!!! She rocks!!! Love love love it!

Lovely Saturday

It was one of those weekends where absolutely nothing could go wrong… And I thank God for that! 🙂

I went to the wet market of Ayer Rajah (West Coast area) last saturday, and I should say I missed doing it. Our take-aways and dining out lasted for about a month when I was not feeling too well… But now I can finally cook and eat Sinigang na Spareribs! Yum! 😀

If you have no idea how a wet market looks like in Singapore, see below slideshow. It looks like farmer’s market in Cubao, only it’s smaller.  

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 I should say that it’s more expensive here in Singapore, i just don’t know by how much. I highly recommend it because it’s better than eating at hawker center everyday. At least, we get to eat Filipino foods, as we wish. 🙂 If all else fails, there is always chicken rice or satay. 😀

Later in the afternoon, we were finally able to visit my inaanak, Sheila‘s baby tamtam! So cute!!! 😀 Happiness!

Paalam nAPO Concert

I am back!!! After a month-long blog hiatus… 🙂

Last weekend, I came home for the APO Hiking Society’s farewell concert at Music Museum which we attended on 29th May 2010. We got so lucky with our chosen date and seat location because President-apparent Noynoy Aquino was there!!! We were seated a row apart from him and his girlfriend Shalani. As what Jim Paredes replied to me on twitter, “You had a lucky vantage point sitting behind Noy. Great. Sinwerte ka!” You can just imagine how excited I was the whole time. Not just because I voted for this man, but because it’s my first time ever to meet a President of the Republic of the Philippines. I may have raved too much about it on facebook, but I just don’t care. I love the Aquinos and I’m proud to say it. 🙂

I will forever cherish this picture of me and Mr. President smiling at each other. Thanks to Ms. Kay Bunagan for giving me permission to post this.

 

I am not ashamed to say that I am too star-strucked that night! Majorly on fanmode! Besides Noynoy and Shalani, other celebrities who graced the concert were Juday and Ryan, Kuh Ledesma and her daughter Isabella, Gary V and his wife Angeli, Agot Isidro and her husband Manu Sandejas, Virgie Ramos, Girlie Rodis, Leah Navarro and former Isabela Governor Grace Padaca. The only excuse for my behaviour that I can think of is because I’ve worked in Singapore for almost three years now, any contact with Pinoy celebrities would be a delight to me. Or trash the excuse! Hehehe. 😀

After delighting ourselves with appetizer and desserts, let’s proceed to the main course! I cannot find the words to describe how happy I am that I decided to come home for the APO concert. As I said in my facebook status, “APO Concert is worth going home for! Watching APO perform live for the first and last time made me realize that their music is (and always will be) a part of me and every Filipino.” They were so fantastic and timeless!!! Great songs, perfect rapport among Jim, Danny and Buboy, timely and witty jokes, impressive arrangement of medleys and engaging audience. 😀

Instead of posting the videos I took from my iPhone here, I would like to share to you the video they were showing after the final curtain. Everyone got teary-eyed watching this… Because APO feels like family, we’ve heard of them since we were young and we still enjoy them up until now. And it lives on…

Is it too early to ask for a reunion concert? Hehehe. Thank you APO! Wala kayong katulad… 🙂

Among other things

I have so many things to blog… so little time… and no pictures to come with it!

Because the laptop that my boyfriend uses to edit the pictures won’t start! 😦 We have to bring it to HP Singapore for repair or canvass for a new laptop. 🙂

Bittersweet! 😀

Dilaw ako!

As the entire nation anticipates the May 10 Presidential Elections, Overseas Filipino Workers have already started casting their votes which started 10th April 2010 until 10th May 2010.

It’s my first time to vote ever! I feel excited to finally be able to exercise my right to vote the next leaders of our country. And I did not come unprepared. Beforehand, I asked my mom and dad on their insights on my possible candidates… They said their piece and I contemplated on it. 🙂

The procedure may be different for OAV in other countries, but in Singapore it was a breeze! We finished in 10 minutes! I almost can’t believe it that we can have a procedure as efficient as this!!! 😀

As soon as we entered the Philippine Embassy, the guard on duty told us to go inside the holding area and verification. You need to prepare your passport and IC (identification card for employment pass holders), then the volunteer will prompt you where to go next. I was assigned to go to precinct 3, then another volunteer greeted us and briefed us what to do.

At Precinct 3, you need to give the stub bearing the precinct number and they will ask for your surname. They will ask you to sign the Registered Voter’s List, give you the ballot form with the Ballot Secrecy Folder (Standard Folder). I advice you to get to know all the party list before you vote, because it’s very confusing, we have about more than 100 party list candidates, insane! 😀

Once you’re done, you will feed the ballot form in the PCOS machine yourself and wait until it says, “Congratulations, your vote has been registered!” The election officer will ask you to mark your thumb in the voter’s list to confirm that you have cast your vote already. And it’s done after putting a drop of indelible ink in your forefinger!!! 😀

I found this on Che-che Lazaro’s twitter and this sums up all we need to do..

“With just 13 days before election, it’s time to shut out the noise and listen to your inner voice.” 🙂

Date Night

We watched Date Night yesterday at Vivo City. It was so hilarious despite a few technical glitches. But I still think Tina Fey and Steve Carell deserves a better “date night.” They are very talented!

My favorite scenes are with shirtless Mark Wahlberg! Laughtrip! 😀

Out with the old, in with the new

Why do new commodities, opportunities and relationship attract us so much? If we gave in to the lure of the “new,” does that mean we reject the old and familiar?

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1. There is nothing like the thrill of wearing a new pair of shoes for the first time. You feel so proud to wear it, blisters aside. When the time comes that you are already breaking in with your new shoes, it feels great.

But there would come a time that you will miss your old favorite pair of shoes, and think of the times that it used to be a perfect fit.

Of course, a girl would never admit that she have enough shoes and bags, because there is always room for more. We just need to buy additional cabinet for extra space!!! 😀

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2. I have been on this crossroad before. Almost three years working with the same company. Everything is a routine and there is nothing much to learn.

I have to force myself to get up every morning and come to work. Sometimes it’s bearable, when it’s not then I deal with it as it comes. I’m working on my back-up plan though.

Kids, that is the life of an adult. Responsibilities and more bills to pay. So, don’t rush yourself to grow up and enjoy life. (I hope I don’t sound too old mature saying this… :D)

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3. It’s not about US. 🙂

I’ve heard the same old question a few times before. Heard it yesterday from a friend and got me thinking… How do you decide what to choose… The Old and familiar or the New and exciting?

It’s a very tricky situation to be in because there are a thousand ways to deal with this. So, we really can never say, “out with the old, in with the new.” It could be the other way around. Different folks, different strokes.

One thing is for sure. You can never love two persons with the same weight. Follow your heart, it won’t fail you. 🙂

My Beach (Philippines) Travel List

Spending the holy week holidays in Singapore, strengthened my desire to travel and explore the world! I realized the perfect time is NOW!!! If only, I have enough vacation leave…

1. Bellaroca Island Resort and Spa (Marinduque)

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It’s a Santorini (Greece) inspired beach resort, I’ve seen this resort a few times in the internet and can’t help but be amazed!!!

For more information, check out their website here.

2. Thunderbird Resort (Poro Point, La Union)

(Picture Source)

Another Santorini inspired beach resort, but much more near from Manila!!! I hope I can squeeze in a few days at this resort the next time I go home. 🙂 And they have a golf course, yey! 🙂

They also have one resort in Binangonan, Rizal. Nice!

For more information, check out their website.

Still, nothing beats the beaches (resorts) in the Philippines! 😀