City of Pines: Baguio City

Baguio City is also known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines(because of the cold weather here) or as the City of Pines.

After visiting Manaoag, we went to Baguio since it is just 2-3 hours ride away from Manaoag via Kennon Road.

There is a terminal of UV Express going to Baguio just across Manaoag. Fare per person costs 90 pesos. And brace yourself for a total roller coaster ride since their route is via Kennon Road. Good thing Althea is sanay na sa byahe.

We left Manaoag around 6am and arrived at Baguio around 9am. We stayed at Baguio for one night only(Sept6-7) since may mga pasok na lahat kinabukasan.

Here is our itinerary, expenses and other details of our Baguio trip:

Day 1:
*We arrived at Baguio around 9am.

*We went to Cafe by the Ruins which is within walking distance from the UV Express terminal. The restaurant has a nice ambiance. The restrooms are clean. The food was great though I find it a little bit pricey. I heard from Lee's mom that everything in their menu was home-made. We ordered Tinapang Bangus for each one of us and Mushroom Omelet for Althea. Tinapang Bangus was very tasty. The mushroom omelet was so-so for me. All meals also come with mixed fresh fruits such as dragon fruit, mango, pineapple and papaya and fresh fruit juice or tea.

*After having a heavy breakfast, we now went to La Brea Inn. Rooms here costs 1,200pesos and up per night. The rooms are spacious and clean. Water coming out from the heater is medyo mahina. Maraming malapit na restaurants. In fact, katabi namin ang Yellow Cab.  Burnham Park is also near La Brea. Staffs are also nice and accommodating.

*Mines View Park- maraming souvenirs dito like bags, knitted cardigans etc. Fleece blanket here also just costs 180pesos for a king size. Sayang nga kasi ang dami na naming bitbit. Picture taking with Boomer, the St. Bernard dog, costs 50pesos for two poses. There are also horses for picture taking, 10pesos per pose. Marami ding inihaw na pusit and mais.

*Kiwi's Bread and Pastry Shop- it is near Mines View Park. The owner is a Kiwi, a citizen of New Zealand. Their breads are delicious and very affordable. L's mom bought a kiwi muffin. It is moist and fluffy and only costs 25 pesos. Btw, the muffin is big. Their triple chocolate cake is also very sumptuous. L's mom ended up ordering different kinds of bread and pastries that we will just pick-up on the next day, before we go to the bus terminal.

*Lunch at Chef at Home- I expected a restaurant actually but this one is just your plain old carinderia type but a little bit leveled-up.  The place is clean. The restroom is also clean. The food was also superb. The owner was there during our visit, which is a foreigner, and he told us that they are opening a new branch in Manila. Try their chicken in sweet and spicy sauce. 

*Wright Park - by the time we finished our lunch, Althea was already grumpy. So we went to Wright Park for some horseback riding. Horse back riding costs 200pesos for 30minutes and 300pesos for one hour.

*The Mansion - It is just across Wright Park but rain is already pouring down so no more picture taking. :p

We then went back again to La Brea Inn. Lee, Thea and I took a nap after taking a bath while his mom and younger brother went to the market to buy some vegetables. We woke up around 6 or 7pm for dinner.

*Canto - Canto is one of the restaurants inside Ketchup Food Community. Only L's brothers went to Canto and just ordered our dinner for take-out. They bought full slab lomo bbq ribs with mashed potato and salad. And the price? 350 pesos! Where in Manila can you buy a full slab that is worth 350pesos?  And no, the quality and taste was not sacrificed. In fact, it is very sulit!

*Night Market - every night from 9pm until 4am the following day, outside Burnham Park, one street lane was closed to give way for this night market. It is an ukay-ukay madness. Aside from ukay-ukay there are also few stalls that sell brand new bags and clothes, silver accessories and also street food.

Day 2:
*Buffet breakfast at Le Monet Hotel - The ambiance is nice and very elegant. Food choices was limited. I'm not that impressed actually even with the taste. Even Lee and his brother, who are both chefs, are not impressed with the food.

*Burnham Park - boating costs 100pesos for 30 minutes, additional 50pesos if you want ng tiga-sagwan. There are also bike for rent but I forgot the rates.

*We then went back at Kiwi's to pick-up the breads and pastries.

*Lunch at Slaughter House - maraming karinderya dito. With our taxi driver's suggestion, we tried the karindera sa may far-left side. We ordered beef kalderata, bulalo and papaitan.

*Packed-up our things back at La Brea.

*We then now finally went to Victory Liner Bus Terminal around 1pm. Our bus will arrived at 1:40pm. Btw, L's mom already made a reservation the day before our trip back home.  We left the terminal around 2pm. We had two stop-overs.

We arrived at Pasay around 9pm.
It was a very tiring trip but it was also a fun and memorable trip.

Entourage: Little Men

Happy Sunday everyone. :)

Our bearers will be my younger brother who is not really that young anymore because he is already 12 years old but we don't have any young boy on my side and even on Lee's side(aside from his cousin) so no choice (haha!) and Lee's 3y/o(I think!) cousin.

My brother will be the Bible bearer and Lee's cousin will be the arrhae/coin bearer. We did not have a ring bearer anymore because aside from the fact that we are in short of young boys on our family, we also have decided that it is more safe if we will let the best-man hold our rings.

So here's what the two little men will wear on our wedding day:

ctto
White long sleeves, black slacks, black shoes, suspenders and bow tie

Cute, eh?

 We will just make them wear bow ties that of the same color with the flower girls' sash. And I will still discuss with Lee if they will roll up their sleeves or not. 

  

Entourage: Flower Girls' Dress

As of  today, we have 3 flower girls already. Althea, my 3-y.o niece, and then my 5-y.o cousin. Anyway, the more, the merrier! 

It's also fine with me and Rolly since they will be shouldering their dress and shoes. And what I love the most, it is totally fine with the girls' parents.

Here's the design of their dress:

Floor-length and V-back

And to make sure that the dresses will be uniformed in terms of shades and fabric, we will provide them the fabric. Dalawa na nga lang sila (Althea will be wearing a different design) tapos iba-iba pa ng shades and tela. 

I will also ask the parents to make the girls wear a silver closed/doll shoes since Lee and I think it's the best shoes that will go with the dress.

100-day Countdown to Forever

Yes! It's 100 days till our wedding day. I'm excited and at the same time panicky. I think we still have a lot of things to do. I'm worried that there might be a detail we will forget.

Anyway, to start off our countdown. Here's our church and reception venue:

Church: OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH
We will be getting married at OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH in Binakayan, Kawit. As I said before, our original plan was just to have a civil wedding. But upon seeing this church, I opened to Lee the idea of having a church wedding. After discussing the pros and cons and after seeing the church and its altar, he eventually gave in to my idea of a church wedding. 

Reception/Preparation Venue: SOPHIA'S PLACE
This is our first and only choice for a reception venue. Why? First, because it is near the church. Second, my step-dad know the owner so we can get a discount. Third, the venue has a mini house which can double as a preparation venue. Fourth, the rental fee is very reasonable. Fifth, it is not that big nor that small. It can occupy our guests without the feeling of being too crowded or too big/spacious. Sixth, there is a swinging chair on the venue's mini garden, there is also a mini gazebo and a fountain that goes well with our wedding theme, RUSTIC CHIC. The pros are just endless and there is no any con we can think of.

photo grabbed from Sophia's Place Facebook page

#100daystogo  

SUPPLIER HUNT: Florist

Since the Church package does not include flowers for the aisle and altar, we need to find a florist na swak sa budget namin.

Our original plan was to look for a florist in Dangwa. But we have no time to go there and scout for a florist. Another thing, if we will get our florist from there, they might charge us an OOT fee. I'm also afraid that they will be late or worst, they will not show on our wedding day. que horror! 

So considering those factors, we decided to just look for a florist near our place.

1st florist:
Our Church recommended this florist.

After the 2nd day of our pre-wedding seminar, we went to the flower shop since it's on our way home. The owner was not there and the katiwala don't know the prices and packages they offer. What he did was he called the owner and we talked about their packages over the phone. Ok na sana. We were about to get them na sana as our florist. Ang kaso, while talking with the owner over the phone, I asked her if how much and how many months before the wedding should we pay the downpayment. She said, "kahit 2 months before the wedding po. Just write down your name, church, date, contact number on our logbook to reserve your date." I said,"ok po." So I wrote what she said on their logbook. Then after a few minutes, she called again and talked with her katiwala. Once the call was ended, the katiwala said, "Ma'am kahit magdownpayment daw po kayo ng 1k." I was shocked since the owner already said na kahit hindi pa ngayon mag-downpayment. Eh wala kaming dalang pera since the plan was just to inquire. So I told the katiwala na sabi ng amo nya is ok lang na wag daw muna kaming mag-downpayment since malayo-layo pa naman ang kasal. So he called again his amo. The he handed the phone to us para makausap si amo. I told the owner na ang unang sabi nya is kahit wala munang downpayment. Then she insisted na mag-downpayment kami ng 1k just to reserve the date. I said wala kaming dalang extra. And to my surprised, she said, "sige ma'am. Kahit idaan nyo na lang yung 1k sa isang araw." Lee and I was pissed off. Ang pangit ng dating sa amin ng sinabi nya. Paulit-ulit pa sya ng tanong kung bakit daw church lang ang kukunin namin and walang ento. So we said na lang sa katiwala na we will come back kapag nakapagdecide na kami since our purpose lang naman talaga is to inquire and we are clear about that pag-tapak na pag-tapak pa lang namin sa shop nila.


2nd florist:
After with the first florist, we went to another florist na on the way lang din. The owner was not there but the katiwala is really nice. I asked her about their packages. She said she did not know their price for a church-only flower arrangement. She gave me their calling card and told me to text the owner and asked about the packages. Before we left the shop, she even said."ma'am dito na po kayo sa amin magpa-ayos, mura na, maganda pa." I smiled at her because the way she said that is way, way better than the owner of the first shop we visited.

Moving on, I texted the owner and ask him about their packages. They offered the lowest package so far and they are accreditted/recommended by a lot of church in our area and also by one of the hotel here in Cavite. I also learned from the internet that the owner is a Kagawad before and a priest/pastor(not sure which one), a coordinator, and also an emcee. And also, the floral shop was in the business since 1996.


Lee and I decided to get the 2nd florist. We will arrange a meeting with him to know more about his packages and flowers they will use. I'm also thinking to get him as our reception host/emcee. 

Pre-wedding Church Seminar : CHECK!

And we're done with the seminar. Yey!

It's a two consecutive Saturday seminar at OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH(where we will be getting married.). The seminar is from 8am to 12nn. There are 5 other couple with us during the seminar. Some are getting married this July and some are on December pa. There is this speaker who asked us to introduce ourselves. Kaloka pero enjoy. hehe! We have a total of 4 speakers who discussed different topics such as Christian marriage, Christian family, the Sacraments, and communicating.

I'm going to share to you some of the things we have learned (and realizations) during this seminar.

• Christian wedding is different from civil wedding. In christian wedding, you are confessing your love and commitment to your spouse AND to God. In civil wedding, you are confessing your love and commitment to the Judge or Mayor.
• The W.E.D.S.S approach when you have a misunderstanding:
  W-writing. Write a letter about how you feel and what you are thinking.
  E-exchange. Exchange letter with your spouse before you go to sleep and read it alone.
  D-discuss. Discuss the letter, your feelings and whatever that is included in that letter.
  S-select. Select your options and decide on what to do with your problem(s).
  S-sex. This one is optional. :) 
• Marriage is not all good and happiness. You must learn to accept and love the person even beyond his imperfections.
• Wives should take good care of their husband and kid(s) as husbands should provide for the family. Though, this day, there can be an exchange of roles.
• Always put God in the center of your relationship and family.
• Remember Him not just during your "down" moments but also during your moments of joy, accomplishments and success.
• The three vices everyone should have:    
ALAK- Alalahanin Lagi Ang Kapwa
BABAE - Basahin Ang Bibliya At Ebanghelyo
SUGAL - Sa Umaga Gunitain Ang Lumikha

The catechist also discussed with us the Sacrament of Marriage and the meaning behind the symbols we used during the ceremony.

Candle - symbol of lighting our path.
Veil - the veil is put in a way that the bride's head is covered and on the groom's shoulder. The groom's head should not be covered. It means that the groom is the head of the family. The husband should be God-like. As God is the Head of the Church, the husband is the head of the family.
Cord - the bride and groom is united as one. Thus, no man can separate what God has joined together.
Arrhae - symbolizes the ability of the groom to support his wife. During the ceremony, the groom hands the arrhae to the bride. It symbolizes that the groom should provide for the family and the bride will be the one to manage whatever the husband will give.
Ring - it is circle because our love for our husband/wife AND God is never ending. It is forever. It is a lifetime commitment.

We also learned..

If your first marriage is annulled, the Church cannot marry you. Because you are still married in the eye of our Lord.
Church don't allow rings that are not circle-shaped. I don't know if all Catholic church have this kind of restriction.

There are surely more learning and realizations during this seminar than what I can write.

 I realized the impact of this decision, to get married. But I'm also happy that we chose to have a Church wedding rather than civil wedding which is our original plan.

 I realized that my partner have imperfections and shortcomings, but I also have those. Marriage is a two-way street.

The most remarkable words for me during this seminar from one of our speakers:
              "Tignan mo ang kapupunan ng partner mo. Hindi yung kakulangan nya."

And then we ended the seminar with a very beautiful song...
                       "When there's no getting over that rainbow                                                                                                   when my smallest of dreams won't come true.                                                                                              I can take all the madness the world has to give.                                                                                         But I won't last a day without you."

  

Seminar..seminar.

Happy 4th of July! 

Anyway, we are scheduled for a seminar (one of the requirements) tomorrow at our church. The seminar is held every 1st and 2nd Saturday of the month from 8am to 12nn. And couples SHOULD attend both Saturdays.

Since the deadline for submission of  requirements is at least TWO months before the wedding, we only have July or August. And to avoid any last-minute aberya, we decided that we are going to attend the seminar this 1st and 2nd Saturday of July instead of August.

I'm a bit nervous since I don't know what we are going to do or what will be the topics and who will be the speaker(s). 

Any ideas?

I'll update you what happened on our seminar once we completed it. 

After 5 years...

This one is a super late-post. But I still want to share this one with you.
--------------
After 5 years of hard-work, I finally graduated from college last April 2014.
I can't believe that I was able to do it. To finish the race. Ang sarap sa pakiramdaman! 

you mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling!

BS Accountancy
2009-2014

I am now reviewing at CPAR for the October CPA board exam. Wish me all the luck. 

  

Wedding Gown Inspiration

Simplicity is the keynote of all true form of elegance. - Coco Chanel

One thing is for sure. I don't want to shed half of our wedding budget for a dress that I will wear for only 5 hours or so.

------

I don't want a puffy wedding gown. And Lee don't want to see me wearing that kind of dress too. haha! I'm petite so a puffy gown is a bit overwhelming for me.

We went to some shops and look into their designs and gowns. But ALMOST every gown has a puffy skirt. Yun ata uso ngayon?


On our last stop, I saw this simple wedding dress. It was a love at first sight. And it is not puffy! It's so simple that some will even think it's just an evening dress. But the "this-is-it" feeling was really there. So I try it on. And it looooooks so gooooooood on me that when Lee saw me wearing it with a matching veil(haha!), he became teary-eyed. Drama di ba? 

Anyway, Lee also tried some of their suit and decided that we will also get his suit from that shop. So the mananahi took our measurements, discussed some details then we pay the downpayment required.

We went home happy that we accomplished something on that day. Another thing ticked off from our to-do list. 

Anyway, here's the inspiration:

Kinda similar to my wedding dress.

And oh! It's not white. 

Wedding Ring Supplier: First Meeting

Last June 23, Monday, we met with Tita Lyn, our wedding ring supplier.

We met at Red Ribbon, MOA around 4:30 in the afternoon. She was with his husband and I can say, that they are both really nice. As in super nice.

She has a sample ring with her. Not a sample ring really because it is the actual ring of one of their customer.

Anyway, I inspected the ring and I'm impressed with the craftsmanship. They are one of those who offer the lowest price in the jewelry making industry and I'm glad that quality was not sacrificed. It is even at par with those rings you can buy at jewelry shops inside the mall.

After that, Tita Lyn took our ring size. Then we discussed with her the design we want. Lee and I kinda have different opinions regarding the "look", he wants matte, I want it to be shiny. But after some discussions, we both come to terms. And I wont tell you who won. Hahaha! 

Then we also discussed some other details, like the diamonds, the karat, and the freebies!

We paid our downpayment and agreed to meet again, instead of having it shipped, to get the final product around July.

Side story, they are kinda late ng 15 minutes I think, kaya she gave us discount. Hehe. And she also bought a pack of pulboron for Althea and spaghetti. She also gave us some advice which we really appreciate.

Wedding Ring Inspiration
Which is which? :)

So as you can see(or maybe guess?), our wedding ring is two-tone. And oh! It has diamonds!

Lee and I are REALLY both excited. As in super duper excited to see the final output. Thinking about it makes us kilig. Actually, a big chunk of our wedding budget went to our wedding ring. I even tell Lee that maybe we can just buy silver rings or titanium rings to make tipid. But he really wants to get a nice ring. I'm happy we did not push through with my idea. 

And I'm also proud with my fiance. He worked his a** off for that ring, and also for this wedding. 

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