FIBA

OK, there are many highlights to the 2013 FIBA Asia held in Manila. Gilas placed 2nd and booked a spot to FIBA 2014 in Spain. Manila did an amazing job hosting the tournament. Lots of game highlights can be found on youtube. But I only want to remember this one particular personal highlight: I was able to bring my family, especially my dad, to the FIBA games. My brothers loved the sport, and my dad loved the opportunity to be in the patron area and hobnob with the people he calls "VVIP". My dad is a starstruck corporate & political-scene fan, on top of being a basketball lover. The look of joy in his face was indescribable and the heart of a daughter beating inside my chest kept swelling up with pride and happiness. He got to take so many photos with these "VVIP"s and got to shake so many hands. He had a front-row seat to the feat that Gilas landed, and was among the thousands of cheering fans when they won that match against Korea. He was so happy and sent me a text last night expressing this joy and his gratitude.

You see, my dad is highly "choosy"-- it's supremely hard to excite him and elicit a reaction, and that makes this "achievement" mean so much more to me. Yes, it did cost me quite a lot of money to make it happen, but it was money so well spent. It's rare for me to have an opportunity like this. And I'm also grateful to have such a supportive and loving husband who didn't mind the expense and recognized what we were actually buying with that amount.

Love you, Papa - so much more than I can ever express.

A bit of TTC humor

Here's a bit of TTC humor to jumpstart this long weekend. I got my period yesterday and was feeling kinda low, as I was hoping the extreme relaxation at Siem Reap would've helped us bag our first pregnancy. Oh well, it's not meant to be. Dennis did cheer me up though by trying to act out a mini skit (I know, it's hard to imagine my teddy bear husband doing this but that's how much he loves me) showing how our baby is choosing to play peek-a-boo with mommy and daddy and teasing us before he/she makes the grand entrance.

The same idea is shown in this pic :p

Happy long weekend!

Siem Reap

is the "place we haven't been to before" vacation of 2013. We agreed that we will try our best to visit one "new place" every year, and there happened to be a great deal on airfare to Siem Reap (only 3,500 per person, yay!) so off we went to have a delayed celebration for Dennis' birthday.

And it turned out to be one of our favorite vacation spots. SR has a good mix of enough places to see and visit, and not too many distractions that will make you feel like sitting idly in a cafe and people-watching would be a waste of vacation time. It was a very chill kind of place, and we loved it! I think this was our most well-rested vacation, where upon arrival to Manila, we did not feel like we needed another vacation to recover from the vacation we just went on.

Food is cheap and good. The place is safe for tourists and there are many hotel options that don't break the bank (ours was a 4-star hotel at only $60 per night with so many free inclusions like free round-trip airport transfers, free laundry, free minibar, free breakfast & free room upgrade!). Shopping is a bit limited though, but the nice ones that are worth your dollars are also quite affordable. Tuktuks everywhere also make going around easy.

And of course, the reason one would go to SR would be to see the biggest religious complex in the world and one of the Wonders of the World - the Angkor Wat complex. It IS a must-see, at least once in your lifetime. It's marvelous how the complex was put up and how it remains so well-preserved until this day.

In fact, the Philippines can learn so much from SR. They maintained their best features / sites so well, and they take care of their tourists. Even their airport can kick all of our 3 NAIA's butts. Tsk tsk. To think this country just completely ended civil war about 12 or so years ago, and how well they have recovered and gotten back up. Galing!

So yes, visit Siem Reap when you can! :)

Mom-in-waiting

Both my sisters in law were briefly pregnant and are now both not pregnant anymore. One had a chemical pregnancy so wasn't technically pregnant, but hey a conception is a conception, regardless of whether or not it was able to implant. My other sister in law had a more painful experience -- getting confirmed to be pregnant, hearing the heartbeat, being told to go on bedrest then finding out that the baby no longer had heartbeat on its 8th week. I am only observing from the outside but even I felt immense sadness and can only imagine the pain of hearing the heartbeat only to have it taken away. I don't even want to think about it. How can a baby be there one second and be gone the next?

That's why sometimes I wonder if I am better off in my current situation of not having anything happen at all, rather than fall pregnant, be over the moon about it, get all excited and hopeful, only to come crashing down to earth. 

Then again, I guess all this is still worth it to go through, if only to learn from the experience, have a better chance next time and hopefully be able to give birth to a bouncing, beautiful baby. 

To each her own path, I guess. 

I pray for all broken-hearted moms-in-waiting. 

:-/

Trying not to be too let-down, even if we did get a tip already before to manage expectations. It's just so tough. 

I wish. 

I wish many things. 

Oh well.

Halfway through 2013

It's July 1, so that means we just passed the halfway mark through 2013. Lots to look forward to : Siem Reap in July, China in September, Bangkok in October and Baguio again in December. We would've added another trip in August but well, that didn't work out hehe. Also look forward to my husband pursuing hjs acqdemic plans-- which I prefer and support over the foreign-service idea before. Then before we know it, the year will be over and it'll be 2014! How fast! 

I am only human so let me get this off my chest....

Whenever I see posts from pregnant women who are whining, complaining or bitching (the stages of complaining) about their symptoms, whether it's morning sickness, fatigue, bodyaches, zits, etc., I feel like telling them, "Ok I'll take all your symptoms away but can that mean I take on your pregnancy for you too?" I know that I feel this way because they have something I don't have, but it just strikes me as.... Okay, since I'm getting ultra honest here.... as unbelievably ungrateful to be complaining about temporary discomforts when these are a small price to pay in exchange for a blessing that some women would PAY to have. The way I see it, the aches and pains come with the territory --- a territory that you presumably wanted  to enter in the first place. You've been blessed with a gift-- a gift not everyone gets to have-- so take it lock, stock and barrel. 

Because really, at the end of the day, women like me would KILL, PAY and BEG (choose whichever desperate action you prefer) to be in your acne-laden, nauseous, bloated and overly fatigued positions. We'll take all that in exchange for a baby on the way. We'll take your OB checkups over our fertility consults and invasive procedures. We'd rather be in your shoes. And you wouldn't want to be in our symptom-free, baby-free ones. If you knew just how closely infertile women stalk symptoms, magnify every little ache or nausea, in the hopes of joining your club, I believe you'd see your symptoms for the blessings that they truly are. 

It's like rich people telling poor people the hassles of having money. Or privileged kids in school whining about homework to street children. Or that they don't like the baon that was packed for them. Earns the "tang ina naman" response, right?

So please. Please choose which side you wanna be in. And take all that that side entails. You will not be uncomfortable forever. But you will be someone's mom forever. Some of us are still waiting if our turn to be that will ever come.

Ok, glad that's off my chest. If you're one of these women, please don't take offense. Nothing personal. Just a general sentiment. 

I will miss you and love you forever.

Day 1 -- My new (and first ever) room

Welcome to my new office!

New wallet! <3

<3

MD

So, it's the second year in a row that I got my period on Mothers' Day. Last year was pretty rough on me, but this year, there's been an improvement in how I received this, well, unwelcome visitor. I guess what's different now is that I am letting time & fate do their jobs. 

But still hoping and praying that I get the one promotion I've been praying for and the one completely and utterly out of my hands. 

Happy mothers' day to all moms out there. Hopefully, it's in my fate to join your ranks by next year. 

Bye for now

Bye for now to this super-convenient setup I have with my condo and my office. Bye for now to the hours of my life saved by just being 3 minutes away from my work. Bye for now to the peace of mind from being able to go home anytime I need to, whether my maid has a health emergency (one time she had a severe allergic reaction to tuna) or if I need to go home an d rest because I don't feel well. Bye for now to eating lunch at home, leisurely watching tv or catching a short nap before heading off to work. Bye for now to not minding OT work because I am just a stone's throw away from my condo (and my waiting husband).

I know it may seem like a small thing but I really do love this setup I've had for over 2 years now. It makes everyday just a sliver better. I need to say a proper good ye to this super convenient setup and start acclimatizing again to riding a vehicle to and from the office :p

Trips for balance year!

Apart from the annual Co Family trip to China every September, we have the following trips lined up for 2013 :

1. Siem Reap in July for Dennis' birthday
2. Bangkok in October with FILC and husbands

Yay!!!!

I'm in Chuvaness!

Haha! This really cracked me up. I was in Grace Park the other day, with a good friend of mine, and upon sitting, I already noticed the party in front of us, composed of Chuvaness, her husband and their really loud friends. I didn't really mind them anymore afterward though I noticed they seem to be in celebration mode.

Then 2 days later, voila! I'm famous. Haha!

My YMMA acceptance speech

Click here!

More changes a-coming....

So, apparently, the grand plan does not end at me changing bosses, which happened a bit under 2 months ago. This plan of epic genius-levels also involve me changing companies, along with my boss. This new change is still quite new and I'm not yet done processing how I feel about it, but with divine help, I am able to chart a course for myself and be entirely, utterly, 100% sure of where I want to go (and where I don't want to stay). I am so so so so so thankful for having this "tip" and being guided and protected and blessed by Buddha. Thank you, thank you. I acknowledge that not everyone has the same opportunity and not everyone will have their choice followed, and for this I am deeply grateful.

I also cannot help but concede, life really isn't about OUR plans. This is a tall order for me, because I am such a planner and a meticulous planner at that. I like to be prepared and I prefer to ready myself before making big leaps and changes in my life. But now I understand and accept that not everything can be controlled at my level. We may make our overall plans and direct our lives a certain way, but that has a limitation. It ends at the same spot where divine plans start. And I am in complete awe of this plan that Buddha has for me, to enable the course of my life to go in my favor and to protect me.

There are still many uncertainties, and the details have yet to be filled up and accounted for. But for now, what matters most is I am at peace with my decision and there's no turning back.

My YMMA Interview Video

Click here.

Time for a deadline?

They say a goal without timelines is just a dream. Recently, I've begun to wonder if we should start setting a deadline for... nature to run its course and set a point when we start going back to embracing the wonders of sciece.

It's a treacherous path to traverse. On one hand, you don't want to "run out of time" and feel that you should get your ass moving to be able to achieve this dream (or goal) that you have. On the other, you also think maybe some things aren't meant to be rushed and are not meant to be decided upon by anyone else but God.

What to do... What to do...

Alabang staycation

We checked into B Hotel in Alabang yesterday and are staying until tomorrow. So far so good! We realized that this may just be the best staycation spot for us because:
- The hotel we found had a reasonable set of room rates, but more importantly,
- Alabang is near enough to Makati yet far enough to make us feel that we actually went somewhere. This is important to instill a "we're on vacay" mindset.
- Alabang is not a usual destination for us. We probably only come by once or twice in a year. It's not only against Dennis' principles to pay so much in toll and other fees just to go to a city within Metro Manila's jurisdiction but also because there's not much to come for here that you can't get in Makati.
- Alabang is deserted during vacations such as Holy Week. Residents are either just at home or are out of town.
- I do love the wide, palm tree-lined streets and the fresh air. And the urban planning within the what I call "nice Alabang" is good and makes it easy to navigate.
- All the major facilities are available and a quality hospital is nearby in case you need to rush to the ER. We did today. Long story.
- There are some good eats to be had! A major selling point.
- Most importantly.... The vibe is so chill -- perfect for staycations. And the service crew are so nice and friendly. Thumbs up! Such a great place to spend this long break in. It has really recharged us, reset our brains and taken all our stress away. We do feel as refreshed as if we went away for a vacay. But less tired and less poor than if we went abroad.

So I guess we'll be back! ;)