RnMDelights : The Preps

How do I even start this?

It started with a YES. And then paper lanterns were in the air. AND THEN TIME JUST FLEW. We were getting married!

I'd have to admit that I was one clueless bride. Hehe! I haven't been to a lot of weddings and when I do I really just eat and look at the couple and chat and enjoy the moment. I don't look at the details. I have never imagined what my dream wedding would be like, I've never thought of myself on a wedding gown. I really had to start from zero!

To cut the story short, Ray had a better vision of how he wanted the wedding more than I did. Haha! We actually started talking about it since 2013. By 2014 we spent months discussing the motif and going around bridal fairs. In fact I think it took us 3-4 months to finally agree on watercolor pastels! Man we were bridal fair warriors!!

For clueless brides like me, the bridal fairs really helped. I needed to be exposed to a lot of wedding pegs for me to visualize how I wanted ours to be. And that meant several weekends of booking a whole day just to walk around on fairs. For Ray, the purpose was to canvas. I'd call him a canvas-monster HAHA. I don't know where he gets all this energy to talk to every single person in every single booth, and do it all over again on the next fair. I tend to get overwhelmed by all the people and the noise. But this is very helpful in making sure that you get the best choice in terms of value for money and quality.

For those who haven't been to bridal fairs, you can imagine that it's like your wedding market. So many people, so many couples walking from one space to another, and booth attendants trying to outdo each other and compete for attention. But because this is a wedding fair, you can expect an overflow of creativity, music, and pretty things in every turn.

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Inspiration Over At The Ayala Museum Part 2

(Continued from: Inspiration Over At The Ayala Museum Part 1)


The Paintings

The third floor was an exhibit by the painter Fernando Zobel (1924-1984) entitled Journey into Space: The Visual Odyssey of Fernando Zobel. He's a Spanish - Filipino painter and businessman, and the uncle of the famous Jaime Zóbel de Ayala. His father was a patron of Fernando Amorsolo, and this exposed him to Amorsolo's tutelage and art at a young age.

I have always loved visiting art galleries but I'm really not one to pretend that I actually understand what they're trying to say hahah! This was more of an abstract/ impressionist kind of set, and when you do these things, you do not try to communicate concrete thoughts but you try to invoke a certain kind of emotion. Sometimes it's hard to understand what the painting is trying to say because you're like 'uh okay what's that straight red line doing in a sea of muddled blue and green?' LOL.

And in this aspect, I appreciate the Ayala Museum's attempt to bring paintings closer to the common audience (e.g. non-art intellectuals and shiz) by adorning the walls with some of Zobel's famous quotes and perspectives. This way, the audience is able to connect the man with the painting and somehow is able to understand the medium better.

I particularly liked the Black Series because Zobel was able to come up with dynamic images by simply using the color black as the 'muse'. It really appealed to me how the concept of 'nothingness' can come up with something beautiful (emo not intended :p). It draws you and it pulls you away.

Photo from the Ayala Museum website

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Potipot Zambales

This will have to be one of the best summer outings we've had to date. We're composed of 4 vans, and almost 50 people, all from the process engineering department. They're technically my second family, as my first 5 years as a professional really evolved with these people. In spite of my resignation a couple of months ago, these people remain close to my heart.  There's been a lot of new engineers, but what's really cool is how a lot of engineers brought their families and special someone's to this outing. It's not everyday that you can organize a whole department trip to Potipot, Zambales anyway! Hat's off to Sir Francis for that!

It was a full day of chatting, catching up, swimming, and simply exploring the island. The beach was a bit rocky, but what made Potipot special was the fact that you're swimming in a sea surrounded by the mountainous terrains of Zambales. We spent the whole afternoon bathing ourselves in the sun (and sun block lol) while of course, cam whoring. I loved seeing the new engineers really bonding and having a good time with the Korean bosses who actively participated in the games with us.  

And then something special  happened :) We'll share that with you on the our next blog, for the meantime, this video really did a great job in showing the beauty of Potipot island, so enough of the talk! Hit the play button!! :D

2014 Amkor PE Summer Escapade | Potipot Island, Zambales from Pheltheray Segismar Mayol on Vimeo.

Level up ang Mayolcreations! hehe! Everything was taken using our friend Papa Leo's GoPro3+ Black :D :D

MemoryLane Tagaytay - The Real Throwback

Memorylane is a themed restaurant in Tagaytay that takes you back to the 50's and 60's the moment you step on the lawn. It's a big and cozy house that's a gift shop, a massage salon, and a restaurant inside. They're much famed for their big breakfasts, Baby Back Ribs, Sinigang na Lechon, and Bulalo. 

We were super super excited to have a taste of their breakfast however we got there past 11am, and they were apparently very strict that no breakfast meals should be served beyond the 9-11 am schedule and so no matter the pleading (and pa-cute and pa-beautiful-eyes lol) we still got heartbroken huhu. Lesson to future visitors!

The lunch didn't disappoint though. The sinigang was our common favorite!

Great place for reunions! I missed the gang!

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Bride For Rent and Giggling Thoughts

Okay this is gonna be quick, I loved Bride For Rent. Heehee!
And what's better is watching it with a sister. Haha! Madaming yugyugan at hampasan gawa ng kilig at ligalig ang naganap sa sinehan hahah! I missed this!

Me with sis unai after the movie

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Experience is the Best Vaccine - Hello 2014!

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Are you people on your way to making good of your new years resolutions? How many of you even had one? :)

While everyone else was jumpstarting their year with all sorts of motivation, I on the other hand, was tossing and turning in my bed right from the first day of the year.  I unfortunately got hit with measles. I was fired up, not with conviction, but with extreme fever that plagued me for days. What a way to start!

It started with headaches, I thought my head just got mad at me again after sleeping three days at 3am straight. So I popped in some Biogesic and Alaxan to keep me up. But the fever wouldn't go, and was soon followed by some coughing. At first the doctor thought it was just an allergic reaction because of the change in weather, incidentally it was found in my urinalysis that I also had Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), and this can also cause fever.

A couple more days though the rashes started appearing in my face, and my eyes started getting watery.  One look from the doctor was all it took for her to decide it was measles. I'm not one to join trends, but hey looks like I just jumped the bandwagon!

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Simple and Meaningful Christmas :)

It's Christmaaaaaas!!! :D

I gave myself a 2 week Christmas break and I'm so giggly about it hahah! I'm considering this as a reward break from all that nonstop working that I used to do. For 5 years, a buzz of pressure was always at the back of my head, if I'm not working I ought to be studying, and if I'm not studying I ought to do something productive to make the most out of that precious, precious time. I know things are entirely different now because I can finally tell myself "hush sweetie, calm down, we've got time". :)

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Roomie Triple Date!

One of the things I'm really thankful for is how I've always had really awesome roommates. And my current boarding house is no exception. I may not be there all the time (specially on weekends) but I love how close we have become, and it's always awesome to have someone to girl-talk with at the end of a looooong day, or someone to borrow clothes / critique your latest get up/ share gossip with or simply just laugh your heart out. 

Sadly though, one of us is about to leave for Cebu, because she just had one of the most awesomest job offers in the world. Okay I'm exaggerating but it's an awesome awesome job offer nevertheless. So, a despedida partey is a must! And turns out it's one of the most fun we've had. Wee!

We had four super sulit hours over at Acewater Spa, followed by a bundat-sagad buffet dinner over at Yakimix, then a sing-till-you-drop session at HQ right in the middle of Guadalupe Whew!

Madame Meriam, Maila Senyora, and Lola Marshee. hahaha

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We just hit 5K views! Oooh Wow! :D

Haha ang kilig ko lang. This blog has hit more than 5000 views today. Maybe it isn't much considering that we've been at it for half a year, but hey it's got to be something! :P

We're having alot of fun doing this. Lately whenever we see something interesting we're like "hey pwede sa blog!". It's a welcome break from all the toxicity from work. And when I say toxic I mean toxic to the nth-level-(insert-more-expletives-superlatives-here).

We love how it's a really cool learning experience for both of us. He's learning how to take photos in varying angles, setups, concepts, lighting conditions, and moving subjects. While me, aside of course from learning more about tech, consumer needs, writing, and such, I also study the perspectives of the people that we meet and get involved with and I'm learning so much. What great opportunities are opened up to us if only we could let go of our prejudice. :)

And we're raring to do more! Yey! Live with Delight! :)

To everyone who has dropped by this site once, twice, and a couple more times, thaaaanks alot nakakainspire lagi. Heehee.

For now however, I need to focus on the upcoming exam next week (insert-nagging-Ray-here-HAHA). There's a Lenovo entry to be published tomorrow and after that, the awesome awesome HTC Butterfly launch (fangirl mode ON), though this will have to wait until exam is finished. We're really really EFFIN busy with work so sometimes we couldn't update blog entries right away but I guess it's okay. *Priorities*Priorities*.

By the way, meet Crimson, my new friend. He's my first teddy! Yes my first teddy at twenty-six years of age. When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to play with my bears because I had asthma. I like him so much I take him anywhere haha. And here he is nagging me to manage my time. Heehee.

Umayos ka Marshee!

I created a wordle for the page, wee!

Valentine BLAST!

So i just mentioned that we had 4 valentine dates, yes?

The first one was really just a pre-valentine dinner, where we both craved for Jollibee float and had dinner at Starmall Alabang. It was a long day at work then, and we just wanted some simple quality time together. Pity we didn't get a photo, we were too busy enjoying our chicken joy. Hahah.

The second was valentines day itself, which was like a working valentine date because it was our first time to attend a bloggers event, the product launch of Line app, which I'm still using up to now by the way. :P We loved this experience because we were able to spend the day doing something new, and something we both get a kick out of. After the event, we had a mini-ice cream session over at Serendra.













The third, was my valentines gift for Papa Ray. I gave this while we were sitting at one of the benches in front of Gelatissimo at The Fort. heeheh! Tickets for two to the Midsummer Night's Dream at the CCP Theater! It was our first time to watch a stage play together, and I haven't done this for quite a long time already. It's a full ballet and I thought we'd get bored but it was REALLY GOOD. We totally enjoyed it. I was overflowing with excitement that I couldn't help but blog about it.I'm already exicted for the next play!

I just wish the prices would go down a little huhu. The key is to get more people to watch it so they'd cover the operating expenses better! Or, the government should provide better support.:)








The fourth, and the last, was a sweet sweet valentine date courtesy of Ray and Lloydie. I felt a little sad last Feb 14 because I didn't have flowers. Haha! Petty na kung petty. I've always liked flowers I really do. Because they're colorful and fragrant. And fragile. And beautiful. And yes because I'm a girl. Haha! Nevertheless I thought it was okay because we were gonna be attending an event that night and it would be a hassle to tag flowers along.

It was a Sunday and we had a double date with our engaged couple friends Lloydie and Meimei at the Megatrade hall to attend a Bridal fair. We learned about all the different prices, samples, and packages being offered for weddings. Afterwards, me and meimei thought we'd being having dinner at megamall before we go home, however the boys were insisting that we should have dinner at Alabang instead. And we were like, "why??". But being the good girls that we are (bwehehe), we simply followed.

We talked about meimei's brother working at Crimson Hotel Alabang. At first I didn't even know that it was already operational because it looked like it was still ongoing construction. Apparently though, a couple of floors are already open to the public. So we talked about visiting meimei's kuya TJ. Ang ganda pala sa loob!

AAAAND it turns out, there was a surprise waiting for us at the hotel restaurant! 

May beking paparating!

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Photo-Stress-Busters

I think all sorts of careers get more stressful by the minute.

I used to think that what we do at work is more stressful than others, but sharing work-rants with roommates and meeting other people, made me realize that everyone else just leveled up. Expectations are higher because technology kept making a way to make everything easier and more convenient, thus more to do with lesser time. Or maybe it's the other way around: technology had to keep up with rising expectations. You see, easier doesn't always mean better (at least for us).

Stress knows no time, and doesn't give a damn. If you don't handle it then it handles you. Stress and work haunts us even until we get home. Fact is it has become a norm. And that's the sad part because it's the family that suffers the most. I'm fast realizing how much quality time with family and the people who matter, has become more precious nowadays, and making these moments count are just as important.

I came across Papa Ray's photos from his Christmas 2012 vacation and a much deserved break. What i have always loved about him is that he never fails to make his whole family feel loved and cared for even if he's miles away from them. And I just love how photographs are able to capture these precious moments that only happen once a year:

The queen of the clan: Lola Nita! :)

Baaaabiiiieees!! Super cute! :)

Pretty cousins, noh? :p

In spite of all this RH Bill brouhaha, who's to say that small families are better with wonderful smiles like that? :p

And below photo is from the birthday party of our dear friend's son. It was my first time to attend a Jollibee birthday party and indeed it was alot of fun! Baby Josh couldn't get enough of Jollibee! :)

Now I know why Jollibee is such a classic hit :)

I guess I can't blame the rising prices of cameras and other photo-gadgets. Pretty much like fashion, you don't really need high end designer clothes but you'd love to have the best quality anyway. And these photographs aren't merely images- they're frozen memories. A quick break and escape from the fast-paced environment that we have here in the city.

It doesn't really mean that we all need to burn money with those DSLR's. Almost all mobile phones already have their own camera and I'm still happy with the 5.0 megapixel snapper of my Samsung Wave. A photo may be pixelized and all but as long as it captures the memory of a moment well spent, then its worth much more than a high-end image of nothing but fake smiles.

So while we're all struggling to deal with stress levels at an all time high, let's keep counting those happy moments and just snap away. Yes? :)

Twelve-on-o-Twelve: A Year-end Gratitude List :)

There's been 365 days this year and 365 chances to live, to make it happen, and to let life happen to you. My 2012 has been FULL and AMAZING, that I can only end it with a heart full of THANKS. :D

So I compiled a quick list of of my top dozen super-thankyou-universe-dozen for the year (in no particular order) :D

1.      FINALLY managing to cut my "no-swipe's" at the office. bweheheh. I am one forgetful lady and I know it. But the most harm it has done to me was losing approximately 20-25 days worth of pay last 2010 only because I keep forgetting to swipe out of the office, and at some point got too embarrassed to file for adjustments. Thank God I was finally able to discipline myself to stick to a routine and effectively cut my “no-swipe” down to only 5 this year. Oi achievement na yun!

2.      The gift of “renewed” health. Sometime September this year, we went to a popular Chinese doctor over at Binondo, and I was diagnosed with ovarian cyst, gallstones, and fatty liver. FREAKY! So I went to a ‘real’ doctor and had all of these verified via lab tests and they all turned out fine. I know it’s just a bozo experience but this made me conscious with the things I ate because I swear I had a real scare. I even got to see a matured egg cell in my ovary during the ultrasound it was so cool heehee. I’m healthy! Yey!

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And Though It's Been Said, Many Times Many Ways...

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,Jack Frost nipping on your nose,Yuletide carols being sung by a choir, And folks dressed up like Eskimos.Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe, Help to make the season bright. Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, Will find it hard to sleep tonight. They know that Santa's on his way; He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh. And every mother's child is going to spy, To see if reindeer really know how to fly. And so I'm offering this simple phrase, To kids from one to ninety-two, Although its been said many times, many ways, A very Merry Christmas to you 

When I think of Christmas this song always plays in the background. :) I just love the classic rendition of Nat King Cole. Makes you want to sit in a couch as you feel your insides warm up :)

This Christmas has been very very meaningful to me, in the sense that a couple of things have inspired me to really share my blessings. This year has just blessed me with so, so, so much. And it really felt good to give it back to the universe, in a more significant manner. More so, when I knew that those whom I shared it with, badly needed a blessing. 

At one point it has gotten sooooo stressful. I mean I wasn't really used to it. I'm used to spending Christmas only fussing about myself, my family, my monito, some friends, and one inaanak. But this December was a different story altogether. All the extra-curricular activities and gift-giving/ gift-wrapping/ gift-hunting with schedules that are hard to beat, was almost driving me crazy.

But then when all was done and given, it felt very FULFILLING. :D :D And for this I have him to be thankful for. Thank you for really inspiring me with your ENORMOUS heart. :) :) Being with you is seriously life changing in all aspects hahah. 

"This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone. - Taylor Caldwell"

I think I just experienced the real essence of Christmas.  :) 

****

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.

- Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

Why I Don't Want Christmas Everyday (And Other Rambles)

Haha, I'm missing this bloggie. December has been an incredibly BUSY month for us. BUT it was also exciting :D Will post some of the photos soon. PLUS a new venture that we're also quite excited about.

I'm getting a blogpost ready and I'm quite keen with peppering this blog with some product and service reviews :-D  Honestly I'm not very sure yet with the niche that I'd like to focus in, but while we're at it, I'll shoot in whatever comes to mind and whatever we're exploring at the moment and I tell you it's quite a handful! hehe! It's really fun to plan things and daydream and get some of these plans kicking. :D :D

Christmas is coming, yey for Papa Jesus and for celebrating relationships! :D Parties abound, reunions are on the way. And I'm really thankful that we have seasons like these. Some say that Christmas is merely a pagan ritual and that we're not really supposed to be celebrating Jesus. But seriously who cares? haha.

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So What Makes a Good Morning?

A good morning is the aroma of hot coffee waking your senses.

A good morning is made up of your favorite breakfast waiting at the table to start the day (pancit canton and toasted bread for me! :p)

A good morning is looking into the eyes of your special someone as he(she) breaks into a sweet smile (yihee)

A good morning can be from a random kind deed of someone you least expect.

Best of all, a good morning starts when you tell the universe that you'll have one :D


No matter how big or small, a good morning kicks off the start of a great day and a grand week. :D


So start that day right, yes? :)

Livin Laiya Loca

So how often to Front of Line Process Engineers go on outings?

WE DON’T!! SOS! Hahaha.

I guess it's because there just weren't enough people who were willing to push it through and organize for real. But all work and no play makes the Juan a dumb engineer at (PE) bay!

But not anymoooore! :)

Courtesy of FLINS, we have finally organized a summer outing!

If before all our plans were just writings on water, we have now FINALLY swam that water hahaha!

We had our outing at Virgin Beach Resort at Laiya Batangas, last September 29. What we loved is that we almost had the beach to ourselves. Steeg! The resort wasn't really out of the ordinary but what made it really fun was the how everyone was able to relax, and have a good time.

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SuperCeleb to a SuperSem with SuperFriends! :D

The beauty of friendships is the fact that no distance or time constraint can really keep you apart. You may stop seeing each other for how many months, years, or so, but when you see each other the separation feels never really too long.

"Pag ayaw may dahilan pag gusto may paraan" :)

The past few months have been really toxic for me, juggling work and school has been eating up way too much of my time and my only saving grace have been short weekend breaks with my family and dinner dates with my boyfriend :) That guy just kept me SANE throughout this semester and I can't thank him enough. His patience and support is just amazing.

Anyhow, needless to say, I've been terribly missing my friends. My life-friends :D Alam mo yung mga taong pag nakita mo alam mong naka-kunek na sa puso mo?

AAAAAND I'm super happy to have met up again with two of them, Narkee and Oc-Oc, just this afternoon. Yey! We had lunch and coffee at  the Fort and just chatted the whole afternoon away. It's just really sad that Joanie wasn't around.

It was a very refreshing experience. These are people who have known you for a longtime in as much as you have known them. It feels good that you know that no matter where you find yourself, you know that they're just there and they still love you and you're always going to be there for each other.

dropped by at gelatissimo :)

After the lunch and coffee date we went to Robinsons Manila to accompany Oc-Oc to her friend and dropped by the St. Thaddeus Church near the Malacanang to light some candles and pray. I was really thankful that I had the chance to visit the Church today because my heart was just overflowing with gratefulness for all the blessings that I have been receiving, the most recent of which was passing the hardest lecture that I've had so far in my graduate class.

Happy! Will now have to maximize the next couple of weeks before I hit the next semester.

Thought to keep myself going: "Success is not gained by pressuring yourself to win every time, instead it is achieved by NEVER.GIVING.UP." \m/