The year that was 2010...

2010 entered my world much like 2009 did, fruitful yet unpredictable. I had no idea what would it bring. It left no clue on how insane the roller coaster ride would be. Admittedly, I thought 2010 was boring. There were months that I did nothing special but surprisingly, it turned my world upside down.


2010 has been very good to me despite the hurdles I've encountered. I was able to conquer my fear and face all those hurdles with a fighting spirit. God never failed me.


2010 was like a fairytale, something I could not imagine for the past 27 years of my existence. It was tough, nonetheless made me strong. It made a major change {major, major.. that is!} in my life and embraced it with open arms.


Again, for the nth time already, I would like to reminisce everything as much as I can and express my heartfelt gratitude for the beautiful year that has passed.


January

Still pigging-out despite on a diet. Lawson's Best Team Lunchout at Gerry's Grill. Work resumed after the holiday. Dad and Mom's birthday celebration. Post Christmas Party with Solegy peeps. No shopping mode since I was saving for the Singapore trip. Started my lookbook version for 2010.

February

Rent Musical. Cooked for the first time - Chicken Pastel. Movie Dates with boyfie. Finally met boyfie's mom.

March

Kathy's much-awaited wedding. Last minute preparation for the Singapore trip. Glenn bought his Nikon's D3000 DSLR impulsively. :D Spent one Sunday afternoon at Bonifacio HighStreet with friends.

April

Our much-awaited trip to Singapore. It was my first time to go abroad and was so happy to go with the man I love. It was also part of our anniversary celebration. Martin also joined the trip. Shopping and touring around Singapore. Been to Universal Studios Singapore during one of its opening weeks. Crossed the border and toured around Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Bought a 32gb iPod touch impulsively, just a week after SG trip. Spent one Saturday afternoon in Korean Town. Tried Samgyupsal for the first time.

May

Nothing beats the summer with series of outings. Family outing in Batangas. MobileApps Team Outing in Laguna. Celebrated Family Day with Glenn at Enchanted Kingdom.

June

Lawson Product Development (LPD) Kick-off at New World Hotel with aftermath at Spicy Fingers and Chili's. Started to prepare myself from boyfie's departure.

July

27th birthday. First time to celebrate my birthday without boyfie by my side. Glenn's departure for Singapore. Ongpin Food Trip with friends.

August

CATS Musical with Teann and Arlene. Family day out.

September

Hectic Month. Nothing special, just a few preparations for my SG trip. So bored and pre-occupied that I got to do only this:

October

Glenn's Birthday. 2nd time in Singapore to celebrate Glenn's 28th birthday.

November

Still in Singapore for the first week. Had mini HS reunion in Singapore. Filed resignation after I came back from my trip. Hunted people for clearances. Went to Lawyer to notarized the needed SPA. Bantayan Island Getaway with MobileApps peeps. Got addicted to Mac Book Pro's photo booth.

December

Lawson's Masquerade Christmas Party at SMX. Said goodbye to my friends and officemates in Manila. Flew back to Singapore. Started working in Singapore. Christmas with Glenn. Trainings. New acquaintances. New life.

2010, I do have one thing to thank you for. You showed me just how strong I am. Strong enough to kick you in the ass as you go. And I believe I am strong enough to have complete faith that 2011 will be much better and much beautiful than you.

With this, I will say goodbye to you. I will not miss you but I will remember you as this will always be there to remind me of you.

As you go, I will welcome 2011 wholeheartedly. I will welcome it as much as I welcomed you. I will love it more, especially I am hearing a lot of good stuffs awaiting me. I promise I will do my best to make 2011 much fruitful than you.

2011, I will be looking forward on you. Let's do this! Cheers!

Hugs and Kisses,

All year round wishlist

It's Christmas time again and everyone has been talking about their Christmas wishlist. Admittedly, I don't know why I was not able to come up with this before. Maybe I have so many things in mind that I wanted a buy and to come up with a wishlist would be unnecessary. Besides, I don't want to feel frustrated over those things especially if I don't get to have them all. Haha! Well, just my two cents.

Instead, I thought of having an all year round wishlist. Nice idea, right? It would not only be limited to Christmas but something achievable in a year time.

So here's my initial all year round wishlist. I will update this list as time goes by.

Fuji Instax Mini-7 Camera because I was not able to get it on my birthday.

Sephora Makeup Palette - I just love makeups and to have this palette would be nice.

Charles & Keith Black Pumps - I used to say high heels are not my best friends, but I think

we're trying to catch up with each other. So to have this pair would make my formal days even better. I have seen and tried this, it fits me perfectly.

Pedro Peep-toe Pumps - So feminine. Love the details of the shoes. I saw this on Pedro's website and it really caught my attention. Would definitely buy this one. I just hope stocks last forever. Hahaha!

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella because I am shopaholic and I am a big fan of hers.

Apple iPhone 4 because I am in Singapore now and I need to have 2 mobile phones: 1 for Globe and 1 for Starhub. Besides, most of the people here are iPhone users and I would like to become one too.. hahaha!

Two of these items will be mine by January, hopefully. Yipee! Now, I am excited...

*photos used in this post are not mine.

Hugs and Kisses,

An afternoon in Orchard Road

Yesterday, boyfie and I decided to go to Orchard Road to look for a money changer.You see, we've been scouting a money changer which offers the best value. Unfortunately, the one near our place was the worst one. Actually, there are 3 options to choose from: (1) Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road; (2) Changi Airport; (3) Mustafa Shopping Centre in Farrer Park. And since our friends-turned-housemates were going to Orchard to shop, we opted to go with them.

Well, part of my intention was to visit Sephora and Pedro to check on the items listed on my wishlist. I was so excited that I even checked the websites to see if both items were available. But no, I was not able to visit those stores due to the influx of shoppers..as if everyone was so immersed on doing their Christmas shopping. The malls in Orchard were jam-packed, well, not as bad as the one we have in the Philippines. This one is more tolerable but still, crowded. So to avoid the crowd, boyfie and I decided to go for a stroll around Orchard, took some photos before we headed back to our place.

It was nice seeing those Christmas decorations everywhere. It really made the place so lively despite being crowded. Anyway, I would be going back there soon. I just hope when the time comes, hopefully it was not as crowded as before. Hihihi...

Decorations at Wisma Atria

Colorful decorations at Tangs

Christmas Tree outside Tangs

At the giant Christmas Tree outside Ion Orchard

The giant Christmas tree somewhat reaches the sky

Christmas is in the air...

Hugs and Kisses,

Breaking free...

I'm back! And yes, I am now in Singapore... for good.

*sigh* It feels like it has been ages since the last time I updated you. There are so many things happened since the time I came back from my Singapore trip. It was like in just a snap, everything in my life changed and it would still keep on changing as time goes by.

I know most of you didn't have any idea what happened after my trip. So after I came back from Singapore, I went to work as usual and the next thing I knew, I was already signing a contract for an employment in Singapore. Yes, I resigned from the company where I stayed for 2+ years. I had done transitions and knowledge transfers which ate up most of my time, doing clearances so I could get my last paycheck, and lastly, prepared the documents and other stuffs needed for my departure. Everything was so sudden. My mind back then was so focused on those stuffs, worrying about the future.. what would be my life here without my family by my side, or if I did the right decision on leaving the country to work.. but still, I left thinking about my family's future.

So today marks my 5th day at work { I survived! yey!} and apparently, I am still on the adjustment stage. I am talking about different people, culture, nature of work and even the work environment. Totally different from the Philippines but nothing to be scared of because everyday, you get to know a lot of things from different perspectives. I enjoyed exchanging conversations with my foreign colleagues. I get to know their culture and of course, I get to communicate with them in English. Haha!

I still don't have any photos to share since I am still adjusting to this new environment, not as a tourist anymore.. but more like of a resident.

For now, let me share the last moments I had with my former colleagues in Manila:

Bantayan Island, Cebu: 11/19-22

Playing with the Photobooth during our Christmasquerade Party

The development team { still with my teary eyes.. this is after I cried }

They keep on bullying me.. that's why I cried.. joke! :P

See? They're enjoying it.. big time! hahaha!

Saying goodbye to each and everyone of them..
The Christmas party held last Dec. 3 was also my last day..
The next day (Dec. 4) was my flight back to Singapore...

I miss everyone I left in Manila, but I need to sacrifice for now. Anyway, I will go back next year for a visit and I will keep everyone posted. For sure, it would be great! :)

FIGHTING!

Hugs and Kisses,

The long wait is over...

credit: google

Yes, and tomorrow I'll be heading to Singapore for my much-awaited vacation. Yahooooo!!! It has been 3 months since boyfie left and I could still remember how I cried and how I convinced myself that eventually we would meet soon -- on his 28th birthday! You could call it naive, cheesy, whatever...but I don't care... hahaha! Try to put yourself in my shoes and I'd bet you would understand. :P

So there, just a few things to prepare and I am all set.

To boyfie who will be spending his birthday tomorrow:

credit: tumblr

Happy Birthday!

See you tomorrow... literally! :D

Hugs and Kisses,

Hectic.

credit: tumblr

It's been a while.

Sorry for not keeping you updated. I tried but I failed. Actually, I've been preoccupied lately with lots of things including work. The development of the new project has started and I, being one of the developers have been striving harder to beat the deadline. And then, there's a demo to be done on the first day of October and admittedly, we are quite struggling with time. Time flies so fast. Well, on the other hand it's a good thing, actually. I will be on a vacation next month, and I can't wait to be reunited with boyfie.

For the meantime, let me share to you an excerpt from workawesome. I got this from a friend's FB post.

55 Ways to Relax After Work

1. Just go to sleep.

2. Take a bath, soak in a hot tub or relax in a steam room.

3. Change into your comfiest clothes.

4. Listen to soothing music.

5. Cook one of your favorite recipes for dinner.

6. Go for a walk in a park or take a short hike.

7. Kick it up a notch and go for a run instead.

8. Play a sport with friends like Frisbee golf, soccer or basketball.

9. Try yoga or do some gentle stretches.

10. Visit Oprah.com for guided meditation podcasts.

11. Light scented candles.

12. Look through old photo albums.

13. Write in your journal, try art journaling or make a collage.

14. Trade massages with your partner.

15. Knit, crochet or sew.

16. Bake cup cakes or muffins.

17. Go for a drive in the country.

18. Play with your kids (if you are a parent).

19. Escape into a great novel.

20. Take a bike ride.

21. Sing karaoke.

22. Cuddle with your cat or play fetch with your dog.

23. Relax by the pool with a magazine.

24. Play tennis, racquetball or squash.

25. Spend time gardening.

26. Sit on your front porch and watch the world go by.

27. Brainstorm your “bucket list.”

28. De-clutter, clean and make your living space as comfortable as possible.

29. Start planning a vacation.

30. Window shop in a new part of town.

31. Play a musical instrument.

32. Talk to your family.

33. Invite a friend over to play video games.

34. Go dancing.

35. Play pool or shuffle board.

36. Swim laps.

37. Build your own community with a blog.

38. Take an art class or a pottery class.

39. Bead a necklace with chunky gemstones.

40. Get ahead of schedule and make a Christmas gift for someone special.

41. Pray.

42. Write a letter or send a card…just because.

43. Mail a bunch of photos of yourself to your grandparent or an elderly relative so they know what you’ve been up to.

44. Make a cup of tea or warm up some hot apple cider.

45. Enjoy some deep cleansing breaths.

46. Sit quietly by the beach, a lake or a creek.

47. Savor a meal in a local café or pub.

48. Make plans for the weekend.

49. Challenge a friend to a game of foosball or go bowling.

50. Reconnect with a favorite childhood pastime.

51. Volunteer.

52. Call your funniest friend.

53. Get your adrenaline pumping with a kickboxing or spinning class.

54. Have a picnic.

55. Watch the sunset.

As for item #13, I tried to make a collage after playing with the webcam:

So far, I've only done a few but I'm planning to do more as days pass by. Actually, I am planning to give my best at work so I could fully enjoy and maximize my much awaited vacation. :)

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Wake me up when September ends,