Sharing of interests, stories of where I've been and what I did. Insights, thoughts, learning that may be applicable and helpful to anybody in this world!
We were all having our normal working routine when George, LJ, Silvia and Phoebe decided to have a bowling night for LJ's last day in EPS. (which was July 20th)
George was the one who arranged everything including the respective teams which made the event more exciting. I did not play but I was lucky to be represented by my husband.
Team A: Jose, George, Sie Leng, Yvonne, Silvia Team B: LJ, Noel, Phoebe, Eben, Kenneth
Dinner first at Mc Donalds and then we had our bowling at Midvalley Megamall.
Now that the lanes are ready, so as the players. First throw will be George!
More excited players here...
I was just at the back stage cheering and clapping as the players enjoyed themselves. I cannot play because I cannot carry the ball for a long period of time, it will give me a terrible back ache. (arte lang!)
Okie, this is how we all looked like while watching the pins..
Then after carefully making their best shots, here are the scores.
Okie, you do your own math! Regardless if they scored low or high, what matters is that we all enjoyed this night!
After the bowling, some of the boys still wants to play. This time basketball! :)
Who scored highest? I do not know. Can I safely say that it's Jose since he is a Basketball player? hehe.
After this fun night, how can we forget to take a group picture!
I know there will be more activities and therefore more stories coming up!
It's again the time of the year where all of us will anticipate a lot of energy and determination coming out from every Olympian.
As we speak, the Summer Olympic games is currently being held in London, Great Britain and I am pretty sure that all sports enthusiasts are very much excited to see how this year's Olympics will end versus the previous years' Olympic Games.
Just to provide a little bit of information about the Olympic Games; it is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports and thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competition.
However, I am not a sporty person, I do play some sports but I am not that passionate. Now what can I benefit from the Olympic games?
From the thousands of Olympians that I have known and heard, there were a couple whom I find interesting, not because they are famous but because of the things that they possess that made them successful in what they do.
He once said "Dream as big as you can and anything is possible".
This is very true in everything that we do because all of our actions are driven from what we think about and what we believe in.
Once the thought is built, a dream is looked forward to, then behavior and action will come next to the picture.
There is no harm in dreaming big, as long as we take each moment one step at a time. I am pretty sure that soon enough we will be right where we want to be.
Like Michael Phelps, Usain holds a world record for his field. He once mentioned that "I can't, I won't compare myself with Michael Phelps, I'm on track; he's in the water. We can't compare too much. He's the best in what he do".
This proves to say that we can all be good in what we do, we just need to find out which field we want to excel.
When I read Usain's biography, I saw that before the triumph, there were trials and tribulations. However, despite of all of that he continued to strive and to be successful in what he do.
For the guys, definitely you know who Maria Sharapova is. Not only about her ability to play tennis but also because of her beautiful and sexy body.
She has defeated a number of opponents already but has also lost in some of her games. From these situations, this is what she has to say ~ "I think I learn a lot from losses and they make me a lot tougher".
This is what I always put into mind every time challenging times are coming my way. I hope that we can all have the same mindset because whether it is a game that we need to play or simply the game of our lives, every defeat will give us the chance to learn from our mistakes.
One of the best known gymnast in the world and is also good in what she does. Nadia together with other athletes shares the same passion, discipline and self belief.
Believing in oneself is the start of all greatness and this is similar to each and every one of us. We all have to believe in ourselves if not who else will, right?
She once said ~ "You should also appreciate the goodness around you, and surround yourself with positive people", andI very much agree with her.
Having the talent is one thing and enhancing it with the support of the people who believed in us is another thing. Positive people carries positive energy, they will give joy and laughter that will make us even more successful.
Of all the athletes that I have known and read, one of her statement struck me.
"Family's first, and that's what matters most".
No matter how successful we are, no matter how busy we are, we should never forget the people who helped us achieve everything that we have right now. They are non other than our family, our loved ones.
When everyone will turn their backs at us, our family will always be there to support us all the way. It is just right to return the favor!
What does these people have in common? They know what they want and they know how to get there! We can all do that, we just have to learn to have self belief, determination and a lot of positivity.
For me Olympics is more than just sports, it is LIFE.
If you were able to watch the movie Ice Age (whether part I, II, II or IV) then I am pretty sure that you know who Sid is. Sid is a ground sloth and is one of the main characters in the Ice Age. He is portrayed as clumsy, annoying, slow moving, fast-talking, and unpopular, and is voiced with a lateral lisp. Although he was present in all four Ice Age movies, unlike Manny (woolly mammoth), I can say that Sid is a supporting actor in this film. Sidney, as what his mother calls him is my favorite character in this movie. For me, he is very cheerful and positive, someone who takes things very lightly and always brighten any sad situation.
One scene that I liked in the movie (Ice Age: Continental Drift) was when Sid mentioned that "bad news is just good new in disguise".
For me that line was very inspiring. Something that I can relate to when things are not so well; something that we can all relate to and can inspire us to be positive at all times. There will always be a time where the things that we planned will not work out just the way we like it, but that's the reality. We need to be flexible and always look on the other way around. How we can turn every situation to our advantage and how we will benefit from it. If we are able to master this act, then believe me, everything will feel like all right. Do not forget to Subscribe to hear more from me! :)
It was my Tita Ninang's 38th birthday last July 13 and we celebrated it with a whole day pool party at Maria Paz Royale Garden Resort last July 15. Most of the time we spent our swimming occasions here (even my wedding reception).
Going back to my Tita Ninang's birthday celebration ~ my mother decided to make some Makizushi, most commonly known as "Maki". Maki (rolled sushi) is a cylindrical piece, formed with the help of a bamboo mat, called makisu. Maki is generally wrapped in nori (seaweed) and for our dish we included cucumber, mango, crab stick and Japanese mayonnaise. It looked very simple to do. :)
First thing to do is of course to prepare all the ingredients.
1. Japanese Rice (we did not use this one, instead we used glutenous rice). 2. Nori (Seaweed) 3. Sliced Cucumber 4. Sliced Mangoes 5. Crab sticks 6. Mayonnaise
All you have to do is:
1. Cook your Japanese rice / Glutenous Rice 2. Cut the ingredients to thin slices 3. In your Bamboo mat, put little amount of mayonnaise, it will make the mat smoother 4. Place in your seaweed in the bamboo mat 5. Put your rice and flatten it 6. Place all your cut ingredients and mayonnaise 7. Roll the bamboo mat carefully and there you will have your finished product.
It will take a lot of patience because once you roll your bamboo mat, you will notice that the ingredients will come out from each of the sides.
Surely, practice makes perfect. Nonetheless, Mama was able to do it perfectly!
Serve in its small bite sizes with Soy Sauce and Wasabi. :p You are sure to have a burp!
There are a whole lot more ways to make Maki, all you have to do is to be creative! Well for me, this is the simplest way and thus we will do this more often.
"Being positive is always looking at the other side of the coin".
Looking at things in a positive manner will mean a lot; not only to ones perspective but to ones behavior and relationship with people.
For me this is like the cause and effect phenomenon. Where as, rather than events, the cause and effect is all about behavior and attitude. This is similar with the philosophical concept of causality, in which an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event.
Positivity can always make wonders and will make one person be more motivated in life. Like in my case, when I became a recruitment consultant. I have 20% experience with recruitment and my first 6 months was a constant struggle. I always say that "this is not my forte", "this is not what I am good at" but how can I prove myself if I continue to believe that I am weak?
During those days, I always thought that everything happens for a reason and this situations were not given without any lesson in it. I realized that such circumstance should not break me but instead should make me. This is what I always tell myself, to keep the positive outlook and to keep me going!
Now, I know that I am on the right track and everything that I went through for the past 6 months were all lessons to make me tougher in each situation.
This is what I meant when I mentioned that we need to see good things in every situation. Just like the sign above, for an ordinary person it will look like just a simple sign of "Falling Rocks". However, an extra ordinary person will always see this sign as an inspiration.
Isn't it a good feeling to be positive, inspired and in love? It will always be, without a doubt, best to be happy. It is good for our health.
I heard from one talk show before that Paeng Nepumuceno's initial sport was golf. He was telling the host that during the time that they were playing golf, it rained, therefore, they stopped playing and went in for a shade.
While waiting for the rain to stop, they played bowling. This is when his passion for bowling started. Now Paeng is known as a six time World Bowling Champion and is widely acknowledged as the greatest international bowler of all time.
I can vividly remember that story and I always come to think that indeed everything happens for a reason. Whatever circumstance is given to us, it all happened for a reason. Similar to what I have posted before in Sliding Doors, it is just how we manage to take each situation to our advantage.
There were times where I felt that the things that happened to me in the past were not falling as what I expected them to be. Although sad, I know that there is a reason why those things happened to me and I tried my best to be positive at all times.
Now, I am at the point of my life where I realize that everything that happened to me before were stepping stones for a brighter tomorrow. Now everything is just slowly falling into the perfect place. I will always be very thankful to have my husband and family's support all the way.
This poster from Karen Salmansohnis very inspiring and will help us set our mindset into focus. Focus on what will be good for our health which is positive vibes rather than the negative ones. Negative thoughts will just drain the energy out of our system and will just leave us with wrinkles and problems.
It's already August and soon it will be the "ber" months now. What is it that we look forward to during December? I know, I know, it's Christmas Season! The time to be jolly, gift giving, sharing and everything! But aside from that what else??
Hey, this is the new Wedding Month! Long ago that it used to be June, now it's December! :D
What made me even more excited was about the wedding preparations AND of course, now a days we have this thing called "Engagement Photographs" also known as "Pre-Nuptial Pictorials".
One of the many things that I enjoy a lot is looking at pre-nuptial pictorials. Even if I had mine two years ago, I still smile every time I browse through our album. I already discussed my thoughts about this activity (Click here to read more!) and I don't think it will change anytime soon. Anyways, my intent of writing this blog is to highlight some of the things that inspired me as I was browsing a lot of engagement shots. I would like to share some of the things that made me smile. First off, in our generation now, there are a lot of things to do about pre-nuptial pictorials. It is just a matter of how imaginative and creative the couple would be and how far they can go in terms of experimenting. My two cents:
(1) Think about your theme - this is where you will get inspiration for what to wear, how to look and where your photo shoot will focus.
- Special place (zoo, cemetery, mountain, beach) / event - Movie (romantic / comedy / sci-fi / anime / fantasy / horror (duh!) - Period of time (Greek Mythology / Medieval / Futuristic / Stone Age) - Profession (teacher / doctor / traffic enforcer / model / fireman / clown) - Sports (basketball / volleyball / swimming / baseball / tumbang preso)
(2) Think about your props - if you are not that imaginative on your theme, might as well step up on your props. - Balloons, Bubbles - Your pet - board games (chess / monopoly / scrabbles / poker ) - party items (confetti / shout out / party hat) - Masquerade
Regardless of what you think your pre-nuptial inspiration would be the most important person to look for is your trustee photographer :). Well, my husband and I was very lucky to have Noel Salazar. Here are my favorite engagement photos (in no particular order):
Very elegant indeed! Couple is showcasing their elegant style with a vintage car. I particularly liked Raquel's dress and it matched with Jonathan's jeans and sneakers! Good twist.
Or simply a stroll in the bay walk holding hands, isn't sweet? Always remember that your outfit should match the location, or else it may not look very well in your photos. Nevertheless, if you want to be outrageous and creative then that's another topic.
Are you asking about being relaxed? Now this is my winner for that category! Couple was very creative to choose this theme for their engagement shot! Now who wants to snooze after this shot? :D
This is another cute and creative theme! Of all places who would have thought about Rapide? I particularly liked it when they used all the tools and cars in the place.
If you said "will you marry me" in a hot air balloon, then might as well do your engagement shot here. Memorable place isn't it.
Location: Operating Room Photographer: Jayjay Lucas
Don't ask! This couple is both doctors and so I guess the perfect place to do your engagement shot is in an operating room! After all, this is where they spend most of their time.
Now this is one of my favorite! I do not know this couple but I can say that they are a "perfect match". :D
There you go, these are my top favorites. There are a lot of inspiration to draw from the internet, friends, photographers and studios but I hope that I was able to make you smile.
Everyday when I go to work, I ride the train. It will only take me 10 minutes and I am already in KL Sentral. I was not even tired of walking nor exposed in any pollution. My commuter experience here in KL is very convenient.
When the time comes that I will be back in PH, this is one thing that I will surely miss.
I can say (comparing to PH) that MY has an established railway system (and still planning to improve it). Majority of the commuters take the train and there are even some connecting trains that make travelling around KL even more convenient and hassle free.
This is how trains are connected.
There are many times where I chose train over cab. Aside from the fact that it is cheaper, it's an exercise for me and my husband to walk.
Cab "only if" I am so tired to walk. :D
One free weekend, my husband and I decided to ride the train without any destination in mind. Since we are just 10 minute walk from Kelana Jaya Line, we decided to visit all 24 stations! From Gombak to Kelana Jaya. :D
Four hours drive or one hour via plane from MY is Singapore. Last April, when my brother and father in law visited us here in MY, my husband and I decided to go to Singapore to visit our friend and take a tour.
We were very lucky to have our friend Liza, accommodate us in Singapore. :)
With no more time to waste, our first day in SG was the city tour.
I am not good in directions but getting this package made me an expert in maps and locations. They gave us all the information that we need for the tour, they gave us a very helpful map of the tour's destinations.
This tour has 22 destinations. Even if we were very excited to visit each pit stop, we decided to visit the most recommended places only.
One good point about this tour was, we had the option to visit any place for as long as we liked. Skipping those that we believed is good to see while we were on board the bus saved a lot of time to spend more time in the locations that we really wanted to visit.
In 1998, this fountain was named as the largest fountain in the world.
When we were there, they opened the fountain at the middle, we were asked to touch the water while we circle around the fountain. We need to do this three times while saying our wish, they say it's for Good Luck. We did completed the routing nonetheless, there was no harm in trying..
The fountain was surrounded by the four towers of Suntec.
Our next destination was in China Town. This is were we bought our souvenirs and ate lunch.
While we were waiting for the next bus (at the designated bus stop), I can't stop but to look at these colorful stores just within China Town. Their colors were so refreshing (the sun helped in the colors' brightness).
Our next stop was in Clark Quay, this was a historical riverside quay in Singapore, located within the Singapore River Planning Area.
We also had the opportunity to see how G-Max worked.
We just took photos because I did not have any plans to shock myself and be thrown into the air with a speed of 200km/hr.
If you want to see how it is, then watch this video below. :)
After waiting for the next bus to arrive, our next stop was our second most anticipated. It was our visit to the Singapore Flyer. The Singapore Flyer is a giant Ferris Wheel that was constructed in 2005 - 2008. It reaches 42 stories high, with a total height of 165 m (541 ft), making it the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world.
Source: Wikipedia
The Flyer offers you breathtaking, panoramic views of the Marina Bay, the island city and beyond. There's also a wide range of shops, restaurants, activities and facilities. Click on Singapore Flyer to learn more about it.
Here were some of the scenery while on the flyer.
Singapore Sea Shell Green House
Marina Bay Sands
High rise buildings and Art Science Museum
We were at the Flyer for approximately 30 minutes and we enjoyed it a lot. The view was very refreshing and it really felt as if we were on top of the world! Well not as much as Titanic but we were literally on top of majority of the people there. :)
After a lot of photo opportunities and some refreshments, we waited for the bus to head to our last destination. We decided that Merlion would be the perfect ending for our city tour and thus we did.
The Merlion (Malay: Singa-Laut) is a mythical creature with the head of a lion and body of a fish, used as a mascot and national personification of Singapore. Its name combines "mer" meaning sea and "lion". The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village and lion's head represents Singapore's original name - Singapura - meaning "lion city".
Source: Wikipedia
There were many tourists when we were there and we stayed there for at least an hour. We seated and waited until the sunsets, my feeling was very relaxing as I sit and look at the people around while listening to the water coming out from Merlion's mouth.
After some time, we walked our way to the nearest food court to have some noodles and pork.
Yes, this day was one busy, walking, eating, laughing, tiring but worth it day.
We were all having our normal working routine when George, LJ, Silvia and Phoebe decided to have a bowling night for LJ's last day in EPS. (which was July 20th) 
