The Single Diaries: Royal Wedding Blah

Everytime I’d hear updates on this “momentous” occasion on each and every channel in the tube, I can’t help but frown or raise an eyebrow.  The other night I was in the treadmill and I saw the program for Saturday (10am – arrival of prince/ family, 1030am arrival of bridal etc, etc.), I rolled my eyes so hard they almost didn’t resurface.  LOL, kidding!  But seriously, do I really wanna know all those details??

Self-check:

And everytime I’d make these facial reactions to myself, I also can’t help but ask myself, “Am I just being bitter?  I mean, given my current situation?”  Bitter to what?  About weddings? Of course not.  I bloody love weddings.  They’re such happy occasions.

Twitter:

I was very careful about voicing out this sentiment to my very own cyber thought bubble world.  I was quite hesitant that I might offend some followers who avidly follow the whole wedding cavalcade.  Not that I found one among the 76 persons (and still minimizing) I follow but as soon as one of them took the same pessimistic approach, minutes, nay seconds passed, and I was retweeting her post echoing the very same opinion.  Finally an ally, I thought to myself.  I mean, really what’s the fuzz all about?  She’s actually one of the fashion bloggers I follow and who I once featured in this site.  Taghrid, she’s quite strong-opinionated methinks. :-|  Coz really, while it’s mean-spirited not to rejoice about two persons who are about to enter that unknown euphoria of betrothal, it wouldn’t do the world so much favor if we go all through that unprecedented level of details. :-|  Who needs 'em anyways? 0_0

Looking at the other side:

The only way for me to understand these entire hullabaloo is to echo this line – “Every girl wants to marry a prince.”  But the thing is, I. SORT. OF. DO. NOT.  LOL!  I know that while some girls grew up to stories of fairytales and happy endings or even have fond memories of them in their mini princess gowns and tiaras when they were young whereas I played with my brother’s robots and rode bikes (not that I have any inclination of becoming a lesbian when I was young, no!).  So what exactly about being a princess does a girl want??  Of course I could understand the dressing part. *wink, wink* But do they mean our literal connotation of bing a “prinsesa” which is to live a sheltered life and not doing anything nor fending for yourself?  Coz I certainly don’t wanna be this type.  Or maybe be one of those with “royal blood”, get the respect of people and act for greater good.  But we can also achieve these even if we’re not a princess right?

Or is it the whole lavishly spent wedding preparations?  I can totally understand if some girls dream of big weddings for their own.  Ideally, this should be case if money is of no concern.  Of course, this is a once in a lifetime event.  And this royal wedding is what it is exactly offering to the people – the dream wedding.

The problem is, I don’t have wedding visions of my own (not even when I was with my ex-boyfriend).  In all fairness, while I was dating this guy, the answers came flashing to me sporadically.  A sudden vision of a wedding, a dream of getting having a kid or hearing a song in the radio that I thought could be used during our “gray hair” days – it was almost scary that these flashes of thought occur to me randomly during the span of time that I was going out with him making me think that he might just be the Proverbial “One”.  Apparently, I was wrong.  We didn’t even end up together and that’s THAT.  No, I’m not telling you who he is.  Haha!   And don’t ever think that he’s one of the foreign guys I went out with.  Sorry, I just had to prick your thought bubble.  Hahaha!!

So maybe there’s really something wrong with me.  (Sabi na nga ba, ako pa din sa huli eh.  Ako na, ako na!  Hahaha!!)  I ain’t sure if it’s abnormal not to have one but I practically grew up grounded and can be considered an independent woman.  I don’t even find myself comfortable with princess-like treatments from admirers or the likes.  And lastly, a woman visionless when it comes to her own wedding.  LOL!  Well, atleast I’m not someone who runs away from them.  I know a close friend whodunit three times!!  :P

Given with the situation above, please don’t think that I’ve given up on love.  So to end this, I’d like to stress that every girl can be a princess.  It’s just a matter of choosing the right prince that will treat her as one.  And maybe if I find mine someday, I can finally envision the right one that suits me.  Not just mere bursts of thoughts, but a full projection up to the very minute details.  ;)

So to Prince and Kate, here’s a toast to finding love.  Cheers! :)

The Commemoration

" A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's being born." - Ecc. 7:1


A special celebration to commemorate His death and its value to us.

That's me and Mitch during the Memorial. 


P.S. Congratulations to Mitch for being a newly licensed engineer. ;)

Ways to Wear: Chambray

Needless to say, I was extremely bored during the last holidays.  I was supposed to go somewhere with Joy but unfortunately she got sick and can't make it.  And so I played around with this blue denim top I got from Dorothy Perkins and toyed with it and my camera.  Phhhbbt! XD


The color is so light almost chambray but I learned that the word meant an entire different clothing so let me just add it up to my rusty thesaurus. :P

1) With a pleated dress

pleated dress from GH; belt from Dorothy Perkins; shoes from Aldo

2)  With a maxi floral skirt:

wide belt and maxi skirt from Dorothy Perkins; shoes from Aldo; hat from Mint

3)  With a bandage skirt:

mini skirt from Topshop; shoes from New Look (SG)

4)  With high-waisted shorts:

high-waisted shorts from Zara; wedges from New Look (SG)

5)  With wide-legged jeans:

belt and wide-legged jeans from Dorothy Perkins; shoes from Aldo

For me, the best thing I saw how it was worn was from Blake Lively below:

So posh and sparkly right??  I was almost impressed with her style when I saw this around November last year but when I searched the photo again this morning, I was informed that it was inspired from a runway.  :P

Oh, apart from this I was also able to do a movie marathon (mostly Jolie flicks) and it has been a while since I last watched any movies (not only at the cinemas, but at home too).  I hope y'all had a meaningful and relaxing holiday. :)

Coron Day 3 - Barracuda Lake

Barracuda lake, I’m fast learning while we’re on the way is a diver’s site.  They come here I think for the introductory course or something.  And this guy going up is my crush.  Ssssshhh!!  Hahahaa!!!! =))

Que gwapo! :P  We clambered over the rocks to find a very peaceful and picturesque lake.  Aaaaah…..

As soon as the divers went all the way down, I started jumping again and again at the lake.  Haha!!  I swam father away to this huge rock below where I took the photo to rest and after a few minutes everybody got startled with my screaming.  Eskandalosa!!  Haha!! Jeez, it’s so embarrassing.  The divers 10 to 13m below could’ve heard me. Haha!!

Err, it’s because of this resident crustacean on the rocks.  I felt like something is in my legs and there was that little thingy climbing in it.  And I shrieked like it was a cockroach or something.  Jeeezzz!!!  Haha!!  I actually don’t like the looks of the limestone in the water here, the black shells in it looks a bit yucky.  Hehe. :P

My other friend explorers Bert, Bong and Joan (complete in their suit) swam further away to the other side.  Bert advised me not to come along coz I didn’t have the tube and the fins.  They find it hard for me.  I remembered the scene a while ago at Malcapuya (where I almost drowned) so I very well stayed by that side (in the photo above) swimming only back and forth to talk to Randolph who remained at the entrance area as well.  Hmmmp.  XD

And with the help of our guide Jolo, took these photos below. ;)  The limestone underneath is beautiful.

A few more minutes when I find myself already bored, I mustered up the courage to swam to that unseen other side.  I know I can do it.  I just have to find a company and Jolo was willing to do it.  and when I was about to, he started regaling me with the story of the resident barracuda in that lake (only small ones according to him) and how he saw some clips in Youtube on how that fish can slice a person into half.  WOW, very nice timing Jolo, I must say.  Those were some very inspiring words.  And of course within a few seconds, I backed out.  Hahaha!!!

Bert and the gang took their jolly time swimming so I in turn just waited for my crush to come up from the dive.  Hahaha!!

Just now I saw an underwater video of a dive in Barracuda Lake and wow, it was just so amazing underneath.  It makes me really want to learn scuba diving.  Sigh.  You can see from the video here there’s like a separation of the water that makes you think like there’s oil in it or something.  We also saw this in the Twin Lagoon, it is actually a divide between the hot and cold water.  Cool!  And in the video, they were playing with the crustaceans I got scared of and they’re very safe.  Jeez! I’m such a freak! Haha!

I may have not explored Barracuda Lake that much but it kind of left us in an entranced state.  Again, we were the last group to leave.  Most of the drivers left already when we went back to the boat.  This is the view to the entrance, beautiful isn’t it?

Sadly, that caps off our stay at Coron.  There were still a lot of islands left unexplored.  Sigh, 3 days isn’t really enough.  There is still a zoo with an island, Cayangan Lake, Culion and many more.  The Philippines is such a beautiful place. :)

For dinner, we went to Coron Bistro and you must try their Margarita Pizza.  Scrumptious!! 

Coron, you definitely blew me away!  I will be back.  Pinky swear. ;)

Coron Day 3 - Malcapuya Beach

While waiting for Bong and Joan who bought our food for the day from the wet market, I had my pictorial by the boat station. :P

Our first island for the day was Malcapuya Beach.  In FB, my friends suggested Banana Island but according to Jolo (our extra company for the day), this beach is even better.  And since we're obedient kids, we gave it a go! :)

This beach is perfect for just lazing around.  It has lots of tents and hammocks in it.  The sky was so gloomy by the time we arrived around 10 AM much to disappointment of Randolph who couldn't get a new wallpaper for his phone.  Hehe. :P  What we have though is a caught in the act "kulitan" photo that broke one of the hammocks.  Sssshhh! :))

It's also perfect for meditating, LOLs!

I will never forget that I almost drowned during swimming in this island because of the strong waves.  :P  And when we finally decided to come up out of the water, there was an acid rain!  LOL!

Actually that morning I received quite a number of warnings from friends thru text messages to be careful about the acid rain due to a nuclear plant explosion in Japan.  True enough, it rained and we all stayed very well under our tent while having our lunch - grilled parrot fish.  Not to be paranoid but, who would've thought it would rain that day?  Better safe than sorry. :P

Around 1 PM when we decided to leave the place coincided with the time when Mr. Sun had to come up.  XD

There was also a viewing deck from here but we didn't have time since we wanna explore more islands before we leave tomorrow.  Kasi naman, yung acid rain!  LOLs!

We had to exit on the rear side of the beach (I believe the reason is to preserve its beauty) where you would see lots of cashew plants.  It's about 3 to 5 mins trek from the beach.  And off we went to our next destination,

Barracuda Lake!  My favorite by far.  Why?  There are lots of cute foreigners in here.  HAHAHA!!! :))

Friday Firsts (Cyma/ CAV/ Republiq)

Opa!  It's kind of startling when you hear the waiters shout this word at this restaurant but it was fun!  Haha!  It was all our first time in there and we were joking around whenever we hear it.  Hahaha!  As for me I feel like singing after, uno dos tres un pasito pa'delante Maria.  Hahaha!! :))

Jeez, it was a dead giveaway then to all other customers that it's the Makati girls' first Greek cuisine ever. :P  I've been hearing really good feedback on this restau and it was high time that I try it with the girls.  Since this is all my "pakana", I had to do the reservation and arrive on time and get to order the dishes first.  I picked their Spinach and artichoke fondue for starters, got intrigued by the Chicken gyro and opted for the Roka Pasta.  Then decided to let them order once they arrive if it's not yet enough.

Aryan enjoyed the Roka pasta and for me I would have love to chow down that huge chicken gyro but I wouldn't have that room for the other food.  :P  The additional Greek roasted potatoes on the side are FTW!! :D

Another reason for the get-together is Liz's upcoming business trip to Oz.  She will definitely be missed not only by us but by this guy also, TJ.  Yiheeeee!!! :D  FINALLY!!!!

Unfortunately, Joy wasn't able to come and because of that, she's our topic when TJ left to render overtime at work. :P

Their Skolatina dessert looks very tempting but it takes 30 mins to prepare so we had to let it go.  Also from the reviews, there is a very famous salad which we we were not able to  try that's why again, must come back.  Haha! 

Recently, I found myself bumping into a lot of acquaintances.  What's up with that??  Last Friday, it was my ex's mom!  Forget the ex, his mom is someone I would rather look presentable to than him.  LOL!  And "tita's" comments did not disappoint.  :P  Anyway, after separating with the girls, I found myself transported into this place:

It's CAV Wine Bar and Cafe in Boni Hi Street, another first for me.  Uhmm, let's just call this half-Turkish girl a "new friend" of mine and she asked me to be the third wheel on her date.  He said the guy's rich.  And when a sumptuous Range Rover picked us up in Makati, I thought that was quite an understatement.  Even more so when the guy arrived in his yellow Porsche parked bang infront of the wine shop.  And in a few minutes, I was face to face and air-kissing with one of the wealthiest businessmen in the Phils.  Yays.  Anyway, their smoked salmon tart is amazing!  I believe it would've been best with a wine but too bad I don't have the taste buds for it.  The photo above is their wine vending machine.  Looks fun for wine lovers. :P

At 1:30 AM, I was transported back to Greenbelt to meet up with my brother and his friends.  And another hour passed, I found myself here:

REPUBLIQ!!! The newest happening place for party-goers!  Got myself introduced to a few beautiful people and partied 'til 4AM!  Aaargh!!  Now if only I didn't wear those blue pumps, I almost walked barefoot in the parking lot.  Ouch! :(

Coron Day 2 - Twin Lagoon/ Lusong Shipwreck

One crazy thing I did at Twin Lagoon was: (click on the photo if the .gif is not working ;)

It was so fun, I did it quite a few times.  Haha!  Take for example Herbert's dive below, it wouldn't take someone with half a brain cell that his touchdown was ..................

OUCH!!! Hahahaha!! "Plakda" is how we call it in Tagalog.  :))

Until eventually the other two followed suit and they complained in the photo below:

I mean, come on, is it supposed to be my fault I was the one nearest the camera? =))

Moving on, the two lagoons are separated by a wall of rock wherein if it is low tide you can swim through it or dive through the tunnel otherwise.  It was high tide then when we reached the place and it became quite a challenge for me knowing that I'm not that capable of holding my breath for long nor swim very quickly.  Sure enough, I resurfaced just before I fully reach the other side but good thing is, I was already halfway through it.  My lower back hit the rocks!  Until now, I cringe at the very thought of what if I never made it.  Yays!  In all fairness everybody advised me to take the stairs if I wasn't sure but I can be quite strong-headed at times. :P  I did ask Bert and Bong though to wait for me at the other side.  :P

Another equally momentous (haha!) achievement is being able to swim through the lagoon without any snorkel tube. :P  I refused to use it because of my braces.  Bong said he couldn't do it but no worries, I'm used to huffing and puffing the entire time in the gym.  LOL!  I didn't have this kind of photo though,

I mean not the "face-mukhang-ewan" type but the one with that beautiful backdrop. Tsk!

I tried Bong's fins.  It's much easier to use than the ones I rented.  I really have to find one in pink.  Haha!

Stopped by a nondescript island for lunch which is grilled fish from what Joan/ Bong / Bert bought from the market.  Eating that with its parter dip (mix of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili) in bare hands is the best.  Cowboy style.  But friends selling you off to foreigners to the next "kubo" is not the best.  Uuugh!  We were able to catch some zzzzzsss (thanks to the lulling sound of the waves in the shore) so that in the afternoon we had some more energy for more snorkeling.  This time was in Lusong shipwreck.  It was a Japanese ship that sank during the WWII and it was very shallow you do not need scuba diving to see it.  The thing is, the very thought of getting near it sends shivers down my spine.  I imagine a lot of things that's why most of the time I stayed very well away from it.  I'd rather take the snorkeling with sea urchins thank you very much.  Haha!

For dinner, Joan cooked pritong pusit (yum!), danggit (yum yum!!) and prepared ensaladang mangga (yum, yum, yum!!!).  Hahaha!!  Now go figure why I was so fat in Bora! LOL!

Our lady company for the night was Marga (rita).  Thank goodness for my dishwashing job after dinner, I have an excuse not to finish the entire glass.  LOL!

Lugang Cafe

Very classy.  I'm so impressed with the interiors of this new Taiwanese restaurant in Connecticut, Greenhills.  

Lugang Cafe interior

Its colossal door quite gives you an impression that you're entering an empire; the high ceiling is decorated with elegant chandeliers and the very posh purple velvet seats all screams "Sosyal" to me.  Haha!!  I was kidding Mely right after we parked (plus points for having a dedicated parking lot across the street) that we can just wash the dishes if the food is too pricey. :P

Mely and me after gym

For starters we ordered the Xiao Long Bao ('twas my first time to try), some Pineapple with Shrimp stuffed Crullers, Chicken Rice and Tapioca Milk Tea.  Xiao Long Bao is now my favorite, haha!  I'd say the ambiance can be intimidating but the price is just right for the quality of the food.  ;)

It was already late when we arrived (after gym around 9PM) so I wasn't able to explore the whole place.  I saw that the guests are given the chance to observe how the Xiao Long Baos are prepared.  Plus after studying their menus, there are still a lot of delicious drinks, dishes and desserts to try so I must definitely come back here. :D

Wearing my "tinker bell" dress from M&S. :P

Style Inspiration: Audrey Hepburn

When you hear Audrey Hepburn, I'm sure only one image comes to mind:

That very iconic photo of hers in little black dress and pearls at Breakfast at Tiffany's.    And that was very well today's inspiration for a Sunday dress. :P

Hihi.  This is the closest I can come up with.  My pearls aren't even real (they're from Kashieca).  LOLs!  I just thought of revisiting my black tube dress from MNG.  The lace dress underneath is something I got on a sale at Warehouse last year.  It still has its price tag when I took it out today.  Errr!!!  

It'd be so nice to do my hair up like Audrey's but I don't know how to do it. :P  My red lips are even something that's so hard to achieve on my own.  It's a dream to be photographed like in the movie above but obviously I would need a lot of help for that.  Hehe.

When I reach a certain age ( though I haven't decided when exactly :P), I wish to be known as someone who dresses up like her.  So classy and elegant always.  Hence, the black dresses collection in my closet. :P  Right now at her age of 25, I'm seeing Olivia Palermo as such woman.  You'll never see her in sleazy photos. It'd be nice to see her do a Breakfast at Tiffany's pictorial.  Yes?  Yays! :D

My accessories are all from Charles n Keith.

Coron Day 2 - Siete Pecados

From my Bohol trip last year where I came to appreciate island hopping, I came to a conclusion that the boatman is a key factor in making your trip enjoyable.  What happened there was Joan and I soaked up too much under the sun because of the snorkeling part in Panglao.  Haha!  Our boatman, a certified scuba diver, was too much kind and generous to assist us with all our needs.   He was even fixing my bangs then to make me look good in the photos.  Haha!

And again another takeaway from there was to come prepared for the snorkeling.  It is again another activity which I only got to appreciate there.  Maybe, the marine life there is indeed a factor.  But taking it from master Bong, we forgo snorkeling in swimsuits to diving gears/ rashguards so we can stay more under the sun.  Comfort over sexy time. :P  We were advised that this one I was wearing below is one of the trusted brands for the activity.  And because I was feeling “cute” in my gear, hahaha!!!

before leaving our lodging

boat station

I came only prepared for the rashguard part.  But I did not buy any mask/wet shoes/ fins with me.  Haha!  I cannot find them in pink.  LOLs!  The mask I used was borrowed from Bong and I rented the shoes and fins at a diving shop near the boat station.  Bong had spare fins but Joan made the first reservation.  Hehe.  Here she is, super cute in her gear.

Joan and her blue fins

Anyway, our first stop was – snorkeling at Siete Pecados.  Of course, I was already told that the sanctuarium here is way way better than what we saw in Panglao.  That’s why it came to me as a surprise why we didn’t have that much photos, hahaha!  I think for the first part, both Joan and I were busy getting used to our fins. Then I don’t know what happened.  But I assure you, there’s lotsa marine life there.  Here’s the proof: 

HAHAHAHA!!!  Count the fish, count the fish.  LOL!  I was just kidding.  I just posted photo above because if you remember my iconic (iconic daw, hahaha!!) Panglao snorkeling photo with one fish “inserted” out of nowhere, it seems there is a common pattern among my underwater photos.  The fishes are my fan they wanna have a photo with me.  Hahaha!!!

Among all the boats that docked in there, we were the last to leave because we enjoyed snorkeling too much.  We even swam farther away from the boat even if we have one liability in the group.  Oops, I’m not slagging off Randolph. Hahaha!

It was still early for lunch when we left Siete Pecados.  So off we went to our next island,

The Twin Lagoon.  :)

tbc..

Coron Day 1

After we settled our things in our room, off we went to the dirty market for our groceries.  We rented a trike (or tricycle) and it only took less than five minutes to reach the place.  It is also near the boat station.  Now admittedly, this is the task that I really don’t know anything about. :-|  We have to do this in order to save us from dining at the restaurants and we have in the group people who can cook.  Bong the “ever-ready guy” brought his portable cooking apparatus that’s why if you remember we had to harass him when he was late for the check-in.  He can miss the flight but not the stove, LOL kidding!    Everybody has their roles and so in order to contribute something, I humbly proposed that for this trip I will be the………………..drumroll please………..dishwasher.  Hahaha!!!  I’ve said it too many times in this blog, you can ask me to clean the house just please don’t trust me on anything related to cooking or food preparation.  LOL!

tamang shades sa trike, LOL!

That’s why I was so amazed to the “mommy” of the group Joan for handling our money wisely.  At one instance, Bong asked for a ten-peso coin to buy something to which Joan instantly argued that the cost he is asking for is more than the actual price.  This thing caught the attention of the sellers in the area and they were not able to help but retort “Ganyan, talaga ang nanay.  Dapat marunong magbudget.”  Jeez, I just realized I can’t be a mom.  Yet.  Hahaha!!

Since we arrived late (thanks to the delayed flight of Airphil – hindi maka-get over? Haha!), we can’t plan for any island hopping for day 1.  Okay, just going back on the delayed flight AirPhil.  If you would recall, this trip was scheduled 2 days after the tsunami in Japan and there were aftershock alerts to neighboring countries.  Normally, I’d take the delayed flight thing as a sign to back off.   Yes, I can be paranoid like that but thankfully the warning for PH was lifted the day before our flight and these guys I was with were so confident nothing would happen.  Not that I need any convincing but I was just thankful we had a safe and awesome trip.

Okay, going back.  We decided we visit this Maquinit Hot Spring - one of the common itineraries in Coron.  We once again rented a trike and the ride was quite bumpy due to the unpaved roads.  Joan and I hanging on for dear life at the back of the trike since the “gents” took the front seats of the trike.  LOL! After about 15 minutes, here I am at Maquinit:

Before we took a dip, we had some group photo-ops by the mangroves area.  There’s a bridge like structure in there, perfect for a backdrop. ;-)

My, my.  It takes time getting used to the temperature.  This one's a little hotter than the normal hot springs I've been to.  38 to 40°C according to some blogs I visited.  But after a while, you'll feel relaxed and rejuvenated since we all know it can also be a form of a therapy.  No wonder there were a lot of elders who super enjoyed soaking in the hot pool when we were there.

That position of mine above is the best.  Hot water underneath and cold air above.  Don't ask me to submerge, yikes I can't take it. :P  We stayed there 'til around 730 PM.  And since we were so rejuvenated from the hot spring, we decided not to cook for the night and just have dinner by the Coron Village Lodge restaurant.  Hahaha!


After the dinner, we again had another company.  Last time at Quezon, it was Jose and Carlo.  This time around, its the ladies accompanying us.  For the first night, it's Burnett's or you can simply call her Moji.  Bong really picked these drinks and made his "special mix" just so I can participate in the errrr, drinking.  Uugh!

We played some local games "Pinoy Henyo" using Joan's Ipad and had fun with the tripod after.  LOL!  Good times!