Our Malaysia Valentines Day!

Love is truly in the air for me and for my husband!


Just last week, I was teasing my husband that he should not bother to give me anything for Valentines because I don't like flowers and chocolates.

Therefore, I really did not expect anything from him.  Besides, it's enough for me to know that he is always there to guide me and be with me forever.


Yesterday night, he told me that he wants to have lunch with me.  He will go to my office for lunch but I told him that it would be great to have dinner instead so that we have more time to talk and to celebrate hearts day.


This morning, he said that he might need to go overtime and thus he cannot make it to dinner.  Then we went to the original plan for us to have lunch near my office.


At around 10:45am, I was busy looking at my laptop because of work. Then my office mate, came to me and gave me the flowers.


Eben: Hey Kristine, it's for you!
KL: What? it's for me?
Eben: Yeah, it got your name in it!
KL: Wow!
Eben: Also this Teddy
KL: You Sure??
Eben: Yes


When I touched the flowers and the teddy, tears just came out from my eyes. It was definitely tears of joy as I REALLY NEVER expected anything from my husband.  I am a mushy and cheesy person but I was very touched with this gesture.


It may be a normal thing for a guy (husband, bf, fiance) to give something to their partners on this very special occasion but I had a different perspective.


For me, even if you are already married or have been with someone for quite some time, the feeling of excitement and kilig once you receive something from your special someone is STILL priceless!


It is truly the THOUGHT THAT COUNTS.  It doesn't matter if it's as simple as a letter or as an extravagant dinner cruise, it's the intent to make someone happy, smile and remember the day for the rest of their lives that matters most.


That's why Sweets wants to have lunch it was because the teddy and the flowers should have been delivered to me before our meet up!

I am happy and I know that I will forever be!

Mission Papansin: Dress Code

If you are interviewing a couple or a person truly in love with one another, one famous line that we ask is “When and where did you meet?.  In my case, I don’t remember the exact date but I know some more details about it.

I was an HR Representative at Accenture and I handled a lot of projects.  One of the project is where I met my husband.  I was doing my weekly “project visits” – we do this to make sure that we (HR Reps) are visible to our clients and that we have a personal image to them rather than just a name in another email. :)

Usually, when I do project visits, I just sit in any available cube and inform the project that I am in their area.  One normal project visit day, I sat in an available cube and announced via email that I was in their area.. people came to me to ask about HR stuff. One employee came to me, she was with another employee, it was Jacqui, and she asked me an HR Question.  While I was casually answering her question, I noticed her team mate, whom I don’t know who.

KL: Bakit ganyan ang suot mo?
Employee: Galing kase ako sa recruitment activity eh?
KL: Kahit na, Thursday ngayon eh pang Friday ang suot mo.

Employee: Eh pinayagan naman ako ng Manager ko.
KL: Kahit na, dapat nagbaon ka ng damit na pang Thursday.

After that quick conversation with the employee, I turned my attention to Jacqui and continued to answer her other questions.

A week after, I had my weekly project visit again in that same project area.  Similar to before, I announced via email that I was in the area so people can ask HR questions to me. A man approached me, he was wearing a white polo barong with eyeglasses.

Employee: Hi, im Noel Fernando
KL: Ok

Employee: Ako ung napagalitan mo sa Dress Code last week

KL: Okie, buti naman okie na ung suot mo.

That quick chat started everything and up to this moment I can still clearly recall when, where and how I met my husband.

It was one Thursday of August 2007, at 32F UBP Bldg. Ortigas.

Chinese New Year in Malaysia

I know that there is Chinese New Year; every year I always here about the Lion and Dragon dance, Tikoy and Chinese calendars... those were the things that I knew of and for me it was just an ordinary day.

Now that we had the chance to celebrate Chinese New Year in another country, the story changed.  It was more than the Lion and Dragon Dance and Red Chinese Dresses; now I knew that it is the most important traditional Chinese Holiday.  It was also known as the “Spring Festival”.

Being here in Malaysia where there are many Chinese people means we have the opportunity to experience Chinese New year with them.  First off, we had two days holiday because of this [thanks a lot :)] and we had the chance to spend holidays to where we can celebrate Chinese New Year.

We started to celebrate CNY with our very own Movie Nights, movie nights with chicken and pizza.  Since I am working with Chinese people I learned about the beauty of Ang Pao and Mandarin.

Ang Pao is one of the Chinese Tradition during Chinese New Year and is called “Red Envelopes”.  Ang Paos are given by married people to single people and kids for good luck. It was also believed that money inside the envelope should be an even number because odd number is for funerals.  Anyways, that’s just a belief.  What’s important is the luck in giving Ang Pao :).

Mandarin (ponkan or kiat kiat in Pinas) is also one of the famous presents during Chinese New Year.  They say that it’s for luck and prosperity, with its color it’s like gold.

Our next journey for our Chinese New Year Celebration was at Berjaya Time Square where their theme was “Spring Blossom”.  The Cherry Blossom stands proudly at 50.46 feet holding 398,998 blooming blossoms with spanning at 20.6 feet entitled recognition in Malaysia’s Book of Record.

According to Mr. Tan Mun Choy (Chairman of Berjaya)... “We wanted a fresh and light as breeze concept to usher in the Year of the Dragon and the biggest tree with flowers in full bloom in perfect!”

When we were there, we had the chance to watch the Acrobatic Performance. They were very amazing; I was just speechless while I was watching them perform because they were very flexible and light.  I felt that the discipline in them is so strong that they were able to do those acts.

This was a 30 min Acrobatic Performance. This was just the intro :)

We also had the chance to watch the Chinese Cultural Dance. 
Of course we can never miss the photo opp with the Golden Dragon!

After which we decided to have our dinner in a Chinese Restaurant to experience it on a Chinese New Year but we failed to find one! Awww.   After our long tiring walk in China Town where we were not able to find any Chinese Resto, we then ate at Piccadilly. :p

The following day, we went to One Utama to witness their Dragon and Lion Dance.  The Dragon Dance’ movements symbolize historical roles of dragons demonstrating power and dignity.  Dragons are believed to bring good luck to people, which are reflected in their qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. 

Another was the Lion Dance, it was believed that Lion can drove away bad spirits and bring luck and fortune.

At that time we were still looking for a Chinese Restaurant to eat and have Yee Sang and now we were lucky.  We didn’t find a Chinese Restaurant but managed to find Yee Sang. 

Yee Sang is also called as the Properity Toss.  It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments.  Yee Sang is a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor. 

All ingredients are mixed together and it will be tossed all together while saying thanks and wishes.


This Yee Sang was when we had our CNY Dinner in EPS.

Generally, Chinese New Year always brings us hope that every year there are always new beginnings to fulfil our dreams.  We may believe that luck is not always the key to achieve our goals but it is our belief of luck that keeps us all going and believing.

Sliding Doors

Every start of the year, it is but normal that we have our New Year's resolution.  Things that we want to change from ourselves for the better. Things that we write about but not all the time are happening.  It is not because we purposely do not want to do our resolutions but maybe because we did not write it wholeheartedly. 


Another factor might be the circumstances that are beyond our control. Whatever they may be, it is not how it happened or how our plans didn't worked out, but how we take each moment as an opportunity for us to learn and to grow.


When I was in HighSchool, I saw this movie "Sliding Doors" by Gwyneth Paltrow and from that movie, I realized that our life is like sliding doors.  If I am not able to ride the train because the door closed, another train will arrive.


Similar to our everyday experiences, when one door closes, another will open and we are up for another ride of our lives.


The "What Ifs" in our lives are inevitable. After deciding on one thing, we tend to think of the circumstances if we had chosen the other side.


What if I broke up with him, will I still be this miserable?
What if I took Law, will I be this popular?
What if I bought Laptop instead of iPhone, will I be able to use it for work?


Or may be as simple as...


What if I was able to catch the school bus, will I be able to remember I left my ID at home?
What if I was able to take a vacant seat in Starbucks, will I be able to meet a new friend or maybe soulmate?


I believe that decisions and actions that were thoroughly thought of are worth every decision.  If in any case we fail, do not look at it as a failure or a wrong decision but something that will make us learn and realize that everything is worth the try and everything is a learning process.  One that will make us strong as we go along our this journey called Life.

Do not forget to Subscribe to hear more from me! :)

 

Xoxo

Where is this Question leading?

Blast from the past - August 3, 2009

Sweets arrived from his onshore assignment last July of 2009.  Before he arrived, we already planned for a one day vacation to rest and have some time together. Only the two of us to bond and catch up.  It was a Monday, August 3, 2009 and therefore it was the perfect time to catch up for the lost time.

Even before we arrived on this day, Sweets already told me that he wanted to hike.  There is this hill near their place where they used to climb during their CAT time.  For me, hiking is one good way to exercise and thus I agreed to this one.  Besides, I love walking and walking together with someone you love can never be more exciting.

Sunday night, we agreed to start our hike at 5:30am.  At this time, its no longer that dark but the sun is still not rising.  


- 5:00am, Sweets is waking me up and I told him that it is still 5:00am and our alarm is at 5:30.  
- 5:15am, Sweets again is waking me up and I told him that our alarm is at 5:30am.
- 5:20am, Sweets again is waking me up. Ok, ok, I said.. we then woke up and prepared for our hike.


The foot of the hill is like 15 minutes walk from Sweets place, we stopped by a bakery and went to buy pandesal.


While we were walking, Sweets was telling stories about how they climbed the hill during their CAT time. I was just listening and imagining what they did during that time.  The hill that we climbed was going to the Eastridge Village in Angono, a gate entering the village is where you will see the famous Blanco Tree.  It was situated on top of a mini tower over looking Angono, Antipolo and other neighboring towns.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrecawagas/ 

This is when the Duhat Tree was still alive

This is when we went there.. No more life left

This is what you will see when you are up there...

It was about 6am and the sun have risen.  It was cool and quiet and I loved the view of the city from where we were standing.  It was like all calmness and peace.  


I cannot recall how long we walked but it was quite tiring.  Nevertheless, we had water and pandesal to help us on our way up.


When we were on top of the mini tower.. I told Sweets...


KL: Ang ganda ganda ng view
Noel: Sige ivideo mo ako
KL: (Kuha ng camera at vinideo si Sweets)

Click here --> The Video

Noel: (grinning) Survivor series ito

KL: Kase?
Noel: Kristine Loidz, you are the first team to arrive. And on this point, since you are the first team to arrive, Survivor Series has something for you...
KL: My God, Ano yan?


Okie, ako na ang bulag, alam ko na tinatanong ko pa! Well I guess that was what I thought of that time and then everything that followed was history.


The proposal was not as emotional as what I have expected it to be, like the ones in movies but I really did not expect it and I was still on high heavens even when we reached home.  I still can't believe it that I was engaged.  


I did not thought of "what will my parents say?" "what will my friends say?".  In my heart my answer came from my heart and what I wanted to happen in my life with Sweets.


This is where it all began, this is where our dreams slowly became reality.


--------------------------
Of course, I had to ask, how did he knew my ring size.  It was then that he said he asked help from one of my friends, Portia :)

The ring that symbolized it all!

That same morning, I called Portia to tell her the proposal which she already knew before I did :)


Everyone were very excited and were very supportive of this road that we are about to take and I thank everyone for always being here for us. Through the good and not so good times!


It was a happy beginning indeed and from that time until now I have never been happy in my life!

Talk to Nature! Broga Hills Malaysia

After 4 months of being here in Malaysia, I was lucky to be invited to join a morning hike at Broga Hill.  This place is almost 45 minutes from KL. You should have your own transport to be able to get there because of the location.

My last hiking was when Sweets proposed for our wedding and then after more than 2 years, here I am again ready for another hike of my lifetime.  Walking is one of my passion (its another form of exercise) but this one will be different since we are going up the hill.


We left at around 5am. At the start of the day we were all fresh, smiling and so much excited! This was our first out of town trip together!

We arrived at the foot of Broga at around 6am. It was still dark and you can see people with their flashlights.  Yes, people! and lots of them!  For me, it was like one of the normal routines, to hike Broga on a weekend!


Hiking provides a lot of benefits:


 1. It is a form of exercise
 2. It is a time for bonding for family, friends and partners
 3. It is taking responsibility of ones action (when you are up there, you should know 
      what you are doing)
 4. It shows how you care for the people around you
 5. It gives you the opportunity to appreciate nature
 6. It gives you a sense of fulfillment 


A lot more benefit and this will all depend on the person doing the hike.


Anyways, walking all the way up may be challenging for some and maybe simple for some.  In my case it was like at the middle.  At first I was enjoying but when we were going all the way up I was already catching my breath! Whew!


We don't want to torture ourselves and thus we had several pit stops as we go along.  This one below was our first! :p

We needed to keep going because we want to reach the top before sunrise and that's exactly what we did! We kept on inspiring one another that we are not tired and we can all make it! hahaha! That's the spirit of positive thinking!


All the way up, I noticed that there were a lot of people hiking as well.  Mind you, teenagers and kids and they were like very much energized all the way up.  Which reminded me of my younger years, where my energy is so much that I can sustain my hiking for long hours.  Enough of our age, I know deep in my heart that this journey was a test that we were not just young at heart but with our mind and body as well. Literally!

Going all the way up and thinking that I can make it was my motivation at that time! I wanted to show myself that I can still walk and hike! 


I have to be honest, I got tired of walking, especially it's all going up the hill.  However, all my sweat and tiredness was replaced with fulfillment and joy when we finally reached the top.  The view was breathless with the fog and all and it was a wonderful sight to see and realize how Nature can be this beautiful.


I have seen a lot of breathtaking scenery already, like the ones in Kiangan, Ifugao, Banaue Rice Terraces and a lot more mountain places but Nature never failed to amaze me of what she can offer, of what she can show me. Everything has always been breathtaking for me.

This was what we saw from above. All fog and just Nature showing off.

We were all pushing ourselves to get to the top as fast as we can because we all want to see the sunrise. For this goal, we never failed ourselves.  We were able to see the sunrise at Broga!

We were able to reach just the first part of the Hill.  There was another hill but we decided not to go there anymore because we were already contented with what we have achieved.  


Of course we will not miss our opportunity to take photos with Mother Nature!

All in all it was a fun and good experience for me! Spending time with my friends and at the same time appreciating Nature in Malaysia.


More photos at This wall! (if you have access :D)

The Support I got!

Indeed Life is Sweet especially when you share it with the people whom you love and who loves & believes in you.  


When I resigned from Accenture, I had no work to jump into.  It was with my strong desire and belief that I want to be with Sweets more than anything else instead of continuing my career in the Philippines without him.


It took a lot of mind boggling discussions, in and out emotions, what ifs and a lot of prayers.  It finally dawned into me that my decision is to be with him.  Only 90% convinced, Sweets, supported me with this decision and took on the challenge and possibility that I may never find a work in Malaysia.


A month after I resigned, I flew here in Malaysia to be with Sweets and tried to pick up my career here in Malaysia.  It was not easy to begin with, I was used to waking up at 5:30 in the morning to head to Mc Kinley for my work.  I was used to answering emails, calls, pings, meetings, training and a lot about busy stuff.


Now, all I have to do is to wake up each day and make sure that Sweets has his breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared. Make sure that his clothes are all pressed for work and our room clean.  I don't have my own money and thus I make it a point not to spend for unnecessary things.  


Sweets has always been very supportive of me.  When I was looking for work and failed, he was there to comfort me and say "try lang ng try" and I will stood my head and say "Yes, we will try again" but it came to a point wherein trying may not be an option anymore, it was also tiring, I must say.


Sending a lot of emails to potential employers and receive no response is like torture to me.  But hey, it is my decision and was supported by Sweets and my family and thus "I should not give up!".  I stood by the support given to me by Sweets and my family, their prayers made me strong and their belief in me made me determined that I can make it.  


Not in my time but in HIS time.


When I was close to my 2nd month stay here in Malaysia, I was already loosing hope.  Sweets and I were already discussing that I will be his dependent and so on and so forth.  The thought of me not having a job is like waaahhhhh!  Although being a full time housewife was never a problem at all, its the thought that scared me.  When people asked me if I was not bored at home and all, my answer was "no" because there were a lot to do but can I do it for 2 years? Maybe yes, maybe no, this one only experience itself can tell.


Answered prayer! I received a call from EPS and it was the call that I have been waiting all along for 3 months.  Everything else was history!


When I gave the news to my family, I can sense that it was like a huge thorn picked up from their throat!  It was a relief and I know that they were all happy for me and Sweets!  Prayers do come true, all we need to do is to believe and do our part!


I was surprised when our friends (sa pangunguna ni Sweets) here gave me a Congratulatory Dinner! It was very touching to see how we were supported by our friends!! 

This picture was taken by Che! :)

Special Thanks to the following:

- Sweets (Noel Fernando)

- Cedrick

- Nelven

- Az

- Karl

- Aries

- Che

- Khristian

- Connie

I love you all!