no celebration...

last april 28 was our anniversary as a married couple, i can't really say 'wedding anniversary' coz we never really had a wedding...... yet! ours was actually a marriage consecrated between two matured individual consented to a lifelong commitment of loving and taking care of each other and our future family.... [hanep, beri deep!]

what we had 11 years ago was a 'secret' civil ceremony officiated by a judge... the only problem was, the judge was drunk errr, 'slightly' under the influence of alcohol, to say the least, lol! [i don't think anybody actually knew about our story, we never really told anyone about it on fear of being laughed at i guess... i'm sure it would be immortalized at family gatherings and reunions... and now, my sis (who's an avid follower of this blog) would know and she'd tell the whole family and i'd never hear the end of it! "what? you were married by a drunken judge? what were you thinking?" lol!] and it's not just it, it was a day full of fun and adventure, just thinking about it now puts a smile on my face already... i knew i had to tell this story and relive it once more...

flashback to 1998...it was a lovely tuesday morning when we met at our shop{dot.com}... what i don't remember was how we meet up with my bff KEI and hubby's friend MONSA, i just remember that we started at 10 in the morning, and went to the judge's office in Morong in Monsa's beat-up white VW, but were told the judge was in a hearing somewhere... hubby {then BF}, who was so determined for us to be married that day, doesn't want to postpone it for tomorrow or any any other day any longer, so we decided to wait for the judge... his secretary doesn't know what time he'd be back so we were advised to just come back and check every now and then... we waited at this restaurant called Emma's [coz it's near and so we can eat lunch as well] it turned out, we would have to spend the whole afternoon there waiting... there was this particular moment that we got so tired of waiting already {coz it was already 3 in the afternoon} that we decided to 'hunt' for the judge, looking everywhere for him... there was this time we saw his car {or we thought it was 'his car'} we followed it like mad everywhere it turned lol! we even had to go to Teresa, Rizal where he also holds office in Munisipyo ng Teresa to see if he was there! then, we also went to his house, [which was near hubby's {then BF} house] and ask if we could wait there, the family was kind enough to welcome us after telling them that it was really very important... while waiting there we were able to watch the live telecast of Goma & Lucy Torres' wedding on tv, which made me a little emotional, by this time it was already 6 or 7 pm and it was already dark... a phone call from the judge to his house informed us that he was in his Teresa office and was about to come home... so we waited... only to be told by the judge that if we really want to get married at that moment we had to go back to his office in Teresa because all the documents needed were there... and so we went, by this time it was already past 8 pm... when we got there, the judge (who was drunk errr slightly under the influence of alcohol) forgot that he doesn't have the keys to his office...

to be continued...

after 11 years...

it still feels like it's only the beginning...

finally, SPRING!

remember this? i've been secretly loving them for a while now and have been so wanting for SPRING to finally come just to be able to wear those pretties, and now that spring is finally here, there's really no stopping me now! {even rain} lol!

how i love that i can wear them with anything, jeans, shorts, dresses[maxis], skirts, denim minis, leggings, as in ANYTHING! it's so versatile and comfortable! definitely a spring must-have!

and then this bonus...

i just can't decide between the two, so i said, what the heck! i'll buy both! lol! i am one happy girl!

now, all i need to do is have a DIY pedi! if i'm brave enough to wear brights, i'm thinking of maybe fuschia or turquoise blue, idk! i just might, what do u think?

[Q. of the day]

why doesn't TARZAN have a 'beard'?


come to think of it, he lives in the jungle and he's clean-shaven?


hahaha!

confirmed!

*[excuse the photo, taken from my fon...]

jollibee closing?

the thought makes me sad, just the other night i was drooling while looking at their brochure brought home by hubby from the store 2 wks ago and was mentally making plans to take a trip one weekend to satisfy the cravings...

why are they closing? it's just been exactly a year [this march] since they opened! and we haven't hang out that much...

apparently, they can't keep up with the competition [KFC and McDonalds]... heard they are moving to a place where KFC and McDonalds are nowhere near... where could that be? as far as I know, there's a KFC and McDo in the city, anywhere I turn...

add to that, the fact that the 'tsekwas' are not ready yet to give up their mian bao, rou bao, dumplings, noodles and what-have-you's in exchange of the panlasang pinoy {e.g. 'sweet' spaghetti, 'salty' chickenjoy} anytime soon!

it is really too bad... i'll miss you... we will miss you, jollibee! come back soon....

what? those are buildings?

seriously looked like stacks of crates and boxes to me! {what a great imagination and creative minds these chinese have!} i am in awe!

what do you think?

{buildings outside WOTW}

caricature

while walking around inside the window of the world, we chanced upon this chinese artist at work, doing a caricature of a male chinese... gabe {as expected}, was amazed and doesn't want to leave until the artist is done...

and here is his work... with the model...

amazing talent!

{he did it in 15 mins.}

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the signage says: {as translated by gabe}

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portrait done in charcoal/pencil is RMB50(yuan)

colored portrait is RMB100(yuan)

[that's x6 in php, in rough estimate]

homefront

still here! nope, i haven't abandoned my blog, how could I? it's just that unfortunate string of events had happened in the homefront the last two weeks... the reason i was experiencing recurring headaches {or maybe it was the crazy weather we're having? yeah, maybe...}

just a recap of the last two weeks:

washing machine breaking down.
no, the washer is working all right, but the dryer isn't.
not good, sun is currently AWOL in this part of the world.
calling friends for help.
friends contacting repairman.

repairman coming.
looks at the machine.
dragging the machine in the terrace {through the living room}.
making a mess.
sigh!

pretends to repair.
cannot repair.
aaargghh!
i'm left with the mess.
dryer still not working.

calls the manufacturer [haier].
repairman coming.
checks the machine.
old model.
calls company..
will come back tomorrow.
frustrated.

meanwhile.
water heater decides not to work as well.
dryer + water heater.
WTf**k.
boils water in the stove.

ask friends {again} for help.
calls the manufacturer.
will come tomorrow.

w. machine repairman arrives.
repairs the machine.
removes a broken part.
replacement.
working.
YAY.
too much noise.
oh well.
as long as it's working.

water heater repairman arrives.
inspects the machine.
points out a few things.
in chinese.
explains what's wrong.
in chinese.
friend translates.
it's now working.
thank goodness.

in frantic search for the receipt.
otherwise i'll pay.
found receipt.
goodness.

now, its the water pipes turn.
calls village management office.
sends repairman.

needs to replace everything.

kitchen sink faucet.

bathroom sink faucet.

had to buy new ones.
fine.

replacement done.
everything's fixed.

that's what i thought.
a few days later.

on a friday.
no dialtone.
intermittent internet connection.
waits.
tired of calling friends for help.

monday.
cannot wait any longer.
asks gabe to report to china unicom.
calls 10000 help hotline.
nothing.

decides to 'sms' friend.
somebody comes.
checks the lines.
after few minutes.
finally, dialtone.
whew.
how i've missed that sound.
funny.

FRAGILE - handle w/ care...

gabe just trippin' one morning...

agahan...

sunday.7:23am


dahil pupunta kaming jongkong at mejo late na bumangon, e2 ang agahan namin today...

buti na lang nag-jollibee myhun kagabi [met up with pinoy friends] at me uwing 'burjer at prays' kaya me instant breakfast kami!

hiking in heels...

feel kong magchika lang ng bonggang-bongga ngay-on, hayung para bang may ka-talkies lang akong friend hahaha! ganare ah, gusto ko lang maniste kc! lumalabas ang pagiging taga-cardona ko... hahaha!

remember my previous post hiking, i was supposed to do a part 2 of that post but, you know, 'life' got in the way, haha! but anyway, i was so bored with surfing the net today {yes, that happens! believe it or not!} so i decided to browse my 'My Pictures' folder and i happened to see an interesting photo/s which i totally forgot that i took ala-paparazzi! well, as you may have guessed, it should be posted here definitely! so, here it is!

we saw 'this girl' when we went hiking in Wu Tong mountain, aba naman! subukan mo kayang umakyat ng bunrok ng naka-heels! try lang! para ka talagang nagpenitensya niyan! {tamang-tama for mahal na araw!}... in all fairness naman to her, baka nga pag 'fashionista' to the nth level ka, wala kang pinapalampas na pagkakataon to dress up kesehodang aakyat ka ng bunrok!

at korek ka, sinunran ko talaga para makunan ng pic hahaha! bang-bad hane, eh sabi ko nga taga-cardona ako eh! second-nature na ang maniste!

kayo kaya? kaya nyo kaya yan?

36 years.....

Tatay & Nanay,

Happy Anniversary!

{with LOVE and thanks!}

the {lefty} artist

we got up early eventhough it's a saturday because it's the first day of gabe's art class [every sat-sun]...

he exhibited great passion for the arts as early as 4 years old, his dad [then working as designer] would draw during the weekends and we would see him sit beside his dad with a pencil in his left [he's a lefty] hand trying to copy whatever his dad is doing...

and that's how they 'bond'.....

up until now...

[both still in their jammies!]

this is his sketch of 'CONAN' [the cartoon character] ... well? whatchuthink huh? you gotta agree with me he's quite good! i'm not trying to brag or anything but i really have to say he's one budding artist, yeah? [...this coming from 'one proud mama'!]

more artworks to come [mostly are still in his sketchpad] ... if and when i get around to scanning them...

so try to check up on us again...

NONGNI & TITA JEN

You know, the secret to a happy marriage is how often you say those three little words...

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"let's go SHOPPING!"

Happy Anniversary!

{love you}

...and the OSCAR goes to...

i figured you already know who won, so i wont talk about that anymore...

i planned to watch the OSCARS yesterday morning here but right after the ACADEMY AWARDS ARRIVAL OF STARS, the 'live' telecast of the awarding ceremony unfortunately was cut off , so i had to watch [the replay] last night ... it was a great show all in all! i think this year's Oscar was the best I have seen for a long time... [not that i've been religiously following the past Oscars]...

here are some of the highlights of the show that i truly enjoyed...

- particulary because of HUGH JACKMAN... honestly, he did great as host and his opening number [with special participation of ANNE HATHAWAY] was awesome!

- unlike the past oscars, the presentors this year were past winners of the categories [such as best actor/actress, best actor/actress in a supporting role]

- whoopi goldberg, hugh jackman, cuba gooding jr., will smith delivering funny remarks!

- the part wherein HEATH ledger's family accepted his award [tho' they were very calm and composed while giving the speech, i still think it was very emotional!]

- the top winners' speeches esp. kate winslet, heath ledger's family and sean penn [never mind penelope cruz', it was hard to understand what she was saying!]

random comments:

best hair: halle berry

there were lots of whites, wedding gown kinda dress this year, but i liked best the dresses that evan rachel wood, anne hathaway and penelope cruz wore...

i love JENN aniston's dress and the braid in her hair [i said BRAID not 'brad'] looks cute but i think it was inappropriate for the glamness of The Oscars, don't you think? ...and i so love her but i think she looked a bit conscious up there presenting with jack black, was it because 'brange' is basically right in front of her? what the heck? time to move on girl! they already have a basketball team in their family!

i saw the signs! {say what!? part 2}

{taray na suplada pa! lol!}

please read and follow the signs {if u can understand them!}

{I SAW THE SIGNS at wutong mountain}