Baguio 2014

After the wedding, we really had no plan where to go for our honeymoon.  We were thinking of just driving to the north: Vigan-Laoag-Pagudpod-Baguio since I had almost two weeks off from the office.  But then the balikbayans overstayed and we couldn't leave just yet until they left last Wednesday... We only had 3 days at most to travel. So the plan was trimmed down to: Baguio-Vigan-Laoag.

We arrived in Baguio lunchtime last Thursday after 5 hours drive.  Yes, only 5 Hours going to Baguio and thanks to NLEX-SCTEX-TPLEX (exit to Paniqui)... Imagine hom much time you'll save if the TPLEX will all be operational, they say it will only be 4 hours to Baguio. Woot woot!

We checked-in at Microtel by Wyndham Hotel, rate: P4250 per night for a queen sized bed and a sofa, inclusive of breakfast, free wifi (in the lobby area), P100 charge for 24hour wifi access in your room which we didn't avail and complimentary drinks: water, coffee, tea, milk, hot choco.  What I love in Microtel is the friendliness of the staffs, the food and the location.  Microtel is just beside Victory liner bus terminal, and is very accessible to all our destination.

We had shopping on the first day we arrived in Baguio.  The Commisary (Mile Hi Center) in Camp John Hay is the place where you can buy imported goods at a lower price.  Afterwards we had food trip (will post separately for the restaurants that we dined-in). 

 The next day, we visit places... Places that we've been to 10 years ago.  The google map served as our GPS, hubby was the driver and i was the navigator.

Strawberry Field in La Trinidad, Benguet.  It is 7.5km away from the city and it took us an hour to reach our destination.   The sun was so intense although the place was still cold because we arrived at lunch time in the area so I bought the hat for P40. The last time we were here, it was not the season of strawberries, so we had no chance to see strawberries from its roots.  And now, we were so lucky that we came here on the right season.  Strawberry picking costs P400 for 1 kilo and buying 1 kilo of strawberries is just P150... So we chose the latter.  But the vendors allowed us to still go to the strawberry field and take pictures, I picked 1 piece of strawberry though, hahaha!

We also bought some brooms (Walis - double stitched) for pasalubong P280 for 3 pieces and tried the strawberry ice cream P25 each.

On our way back, we dropped by to the Bell Church.  It is my first time to be in a Chinese temple but the temple itself is closed and no picture taking was allowed inside.  So, i took the opportunity to have pictures on their park instead.

Afterwards, we went to the Good Shepherd to buy more pasalubong.  I know there's Good Shepherd in Tagaytay but they don't have the cashew brittle (P215 each), then we add some more of the choco flakes (P115 each).

Mines View park is just beside the convent so we also just dropped by and see if there's something new to see. Had some pictures with the famous St. Bernard (P50 for 4 shots).  I was scared because the dog was too big, but hubby is much more scared than me so I braved to have a picture alone with it.

And became Igorots for P10 unlimited shots.  And because hubby knows I have no experience riding a horse, he urged me to try the horse back riding (stationary lang.. #takotAko) also for P10 only.  

We could really have the real horse back riding in the Wright Park just below Mines View park, but when we were there, i could not take the smell of the place, so we scrapped the idea.

We went to Ibay's store to buy silver earing for hubby, but he found nothing that suit his taste.  Then, we dropped by the Botanical Garden.  I was expecting lots of flowers in the area but found very few, as in parang wala nga eh.  Medyo pinagpawisan kami pag akyat sa pabalik sa mines view park so we already took off our jackets here.

We had our lunch at 3PM, then went to see the Black Market, we thought we could buy a lot of things there, but we just saw imported perfumes, soaps, etc, and money changers,  I can say it is just regular market and nothing special in there. We were not interested, so we looked for the Skyworld, the ukay-ukay that I went with Kate last 2011.  As expected, we were not able to buy anything because we are not both fond of buying in ukay-ukay... Ganda lang ng experience, so the next time may gustong magpasama, we can bring them to the area.

Went back to the hotel to freshen up then we went out to Camp John Hay for dinner.  On our way there, we saw Le Monet, the ever beautiful chandelier in their lobby is what I can always recall the first time I saw it.  I really liked to check-in at either Le Monet or The Manor Hotel sana but both were fully booked.  So for experience, we just dropped by the Le Monet hotel for a while and had some shopping in the stores beside it then went for a walk to checkout if we can buy some more in R.O.X before going to dinner.

We were supposed to checkout the night market in Harrison Road, another ukay-ukay which starts from 9PM until 2AM, pero tinamad na kami, we know we will not be buying anything from there and the weather was so cold that night, 14 degrees at 9PM so we chose to stay in the hotel.

The next morning, Saturday, we are supposed to drive down and go to Vigan. But we woke up late and i wasn't feeling very well, so i asked hubby if we can just go back home.  Hubby was telling me, I might be pregnant (i know he is so excited for a baby) because I missed my period that day (that was the first time i ever missed my period) but I know the feeling and it was just dysmenorrhea.  True enough, by today... I think my period is starting.  I am not showing na malungkot ako because of this... Still praying to God to bless us with a baby soon... Very soon sana.  

So this is the end of our honeymoon trip, but we promised to make everyday a honeymoon. :)

12-31-2013 Wedding Reception

What happened in the reception, I'll be telling the stories through pictures.  Below pictures show how my reception looked like before the party started.  Photos taken by Jops Espinili, a friend and the husband of my wedding coordinator kate:

 

At the entrance

Table arrangement before the guests arrived

Our love chair

Wines

Before we arrived in the reception area, I know everyone was hungry that's why I asked my coordinator to make sure everyone gets to eat.  Appetizers, fruits etc were served while our AVP for the prenup countinuously played on the screen and the N-tune band played acoustic songs.  When we arrived, we were welcomed by the guests and the party started.

Because our wedding date was the night before the New Year, we opted to keep the program very short and divided it to two parts so the guests who wanted to leave early can still take their dinner.  The first part includes the traditional 1st dance of the couple... And while we stroll the dance floor, the guests lit up their sparkles.

The cutting of the cake and the wine toast... 

Our coordinator surprisingly added a number wherein we will be saying our personal vows, and guess what? Hubby was prepared and I wasn't... Nyay!

Next, Picture taking with the couple and the most awaited part of all... The Dinner (sorry, i have no pictures yet)... While everyone was eating, we had the chance to say thank you to the guests and bade goodbye to those who will be leaving.

For the 2nd part of the party, our moms had their individual speech and I had a dance with my dad. Funny though, I was really trying not to cry and my dad was telling me not to cry and kept on nudging me with his shoulders so I will not cry, but i still did.  He just opened a topic so we'll revert our emotions to other things.

Then, I had a surprise number for my groom. This one I prepared (quite) by listening, but I had no chance to practice singing. I sang "Feels like home" by Chantal Kreviazuk.  #WalaNgAtrasan

Then, the garter and bouquet tossing... But we did some twist.  Instead of throwing the bouquet to bunch of single women and the garter to the bachelors, we made it into a kissin game.  We called in couples (not married yet) and the women were handed with red lipstick.  They need to kiss their partners and the pair with least kissmarks wins the game.  The least fortunate couple este the lucky couple Jeannine (sister of hubby) and Ged won the game. 

The consequence was, the winning couple will do whatever the groom and bride will do, the usual stuffs like macho dancing, etc.)

Afterwards, the Same Day Edit Video was played where it showed the summary of the whole event (will post it in my next blog)... Then, the guests were asked to go outside to witness the fireworks display (this happened before the new year countdown). This is pretty much the end of the program, hope you also enjoyed the party like we did.

...But the real party where drinking and dancing are involved will just start. So brace yourself and wait for my next posts. :)

12-31-2013

It is the 7th day after the biggest event of my life happened.  Until now, I still couldn't recall all that had happened on that night because all I know is I wanted to cry from happiness the whole time.  I am always a cry baby every time I attend weddings and true enough (as expected) I was crying and crying the whole time on my own wedding. #iyakin

The day before the wedding, both our families checked-in to Bali Village Hotel where our reception was held.  We didn't had the usual "pamamanhikan", so it was the only time both our families got along with each other after our announcement of our plan of getting married last June.  On that same night, it was the last time I was able to sleep with my family and cried myself to sleep.

I just don't know if it is normal for the bride to become so emotional but I was like that on that day. Thanks to my make-up artist Teejay Nonato, he was able to hide my "mugtong mata" because even before I had my make-up on, tears were streaming down my face.  Waterproof make-up surely did the job of preventing the smudges. (Location: bridal suite in Taal Vista).

And the time finally came, I reached Caleruega "The Transfiguration Chapel" and I needed to go down my bridal car (Mercedez Benz 1952 model by Royal Carriages)... my heart was pounding and I was telling myself a mantra, "I will not cry, I will not cry"... repeat to the nth time.  The first thing I asked my coordinator, "is my groom already there?".  There was so much mixed emotions when I knew he was already there waiting for me.  I was so excited for him to see me because he had really no idea what I will be wearing and how will I look like in my wedding dress (Wedding gown by Nina Ricci Geffe Couture). 

I heard the song "Tadhana by UpDharmaDown" being played by N-Tune band and the entourage procession started.  And then, the door was closed and "One Love by Acel Bisa" started playing, as soon as the door opened, everything went silent, I can't recall hearing the music anymore.  I saw my mom and dad waiting for me to reached them and I was still trying to hold my tears as they walk me down the aisle.

I saw my groom crying as we approach the altar and I couldn't hold my tears any longer when my parents handed me to my man.  The ceremony was graced by Rev. Fr. Stephen Redillas and he made the ceremony even more meaningful not only for us couple but for everyone in the church.

We had our first kiss as husband and wife and the rest is history... i don't have the official photos yet, all these were just tagged pictures from my guests.

All I Want For Christmas 2013

It's such a blessing waking up this early although I was able to go to bed last night very late because my sister arrived from Australia yesterday and we had a quite long chat up to around 1AM.  Anyway, i saw the post of mommy joy of Joy's Notepad and learned that i was tagged with this virus from the PBO.

Here's the mechanics:

1. Make a post entitled, "All I Want For Christmas 2013," and please use the photo above.
2. List 6 things that you want to receive as a gift.
3. Tag 3 friends who will make the same post (no tag backs).
4. Send me the link so I could check it too (optional).

And here is my wishlist this Christmas 2013:

1.  That I'll have a very happy marriage with my very soon to be hubby. 

2.  That our hearts will love no other else but the one we promised to love in this lifetime.

3.  A healthy baby soon (honeymoon baby sana)

4.  A family that is full of joy, happiness and guided by God's love and protection.

5.  Good health to my family, friends and loved ones.

6.  A prosperous life to everyone i know.

And I'm tagging:

Jackie of Lucky Jackie

Casey of Sooo Blogging This!

Balut of Balut Manila

Have a Happy Christmas Everyone!

DIY Misalet

It's 11 days more to go before our big day... And we are just finalizing some more little details for the wedding.  The one we've missed is the misalet.  The church provided us the template for the misalet as early as I could remember but I think i prioritized the other bigger details and thought the misalet will be just easy to accomplish.   When I had the time and started to read the instruction for the misalet, I found that we are the one who will be deciding for its content.  I am lucky I have mommy joy of Joy's notepad who helped me on the bible verses... Thank you again mommy joy.

When I finished the content, we seek for supplier who could do the misalet.  The one in the mall has again a 100 pieces MOQ for 85pesos each... It's a big NO-NO, i don't really need 100 pieces of misalet you know, i just need at least 35 pieces. Our wedding coordinator Kate found another supplier, for 65pesos each but the leadtime is 2 weeks, di na aabot and we need to pay additional kasi rush na daw. :(

So, we opted to do it ourselves.  I thought it will be very easy but I was wrong.  The challenge was arranging the sequence into a booklet form back to back.  The pages should finish on even number so there will be no blank pages and be sure that every turn of pages will lead you to the next right page, took me half day to figure out the correct sequence.

We prepared the following:

1) board letter size paper for the cover (P33.50 per pack, 10 pieces each) - cost: P134

2) Printing on the board paper in Netopia (P10 per page, 35 pages) cost: P350

3) Printing for the content in Netopis (P10 per page, 6 pieces back-back) - cost: P120

4) Photocopy of the content in National Bookstore (P1.50 per page, 420pieces) cost: P630

5) 1 roll of Gold ribbon (30 meters, P4.25/m) - cost: P127

Total Cost: P1,361 for 35pcs (still a great saving versus P2,275 from the supplier with 2 weeks leadtime)

We had an option to photocopy in copytrade for P0.75 each but we opted to do it in National bookstore since we no longer want to drive to another mall.  It will be a great savings if we have a printer... Pero di na kami students kaya di na naginvest sa printer ulet.  So there are really other options if masipag ka para you'll have a much greater saving. 

So here is our finished product... Mission Accomplished!

Prenup Pictures

Hello everyone!.. I've been missing for quite a long time because my wedding is just few weeks from today.. 3 weeks to be exact and I am still occupied by work on weekdays, wedding preps at night and on weekends.  I couldn't actually start composing blogs anymore.  I am happy that I arrived in the office so early today and still have some little time to blog.

I just want to share some of our pre-nuptial pictures taken last November 17 in Intramuros, Manila. We've gone a lot of stress getting a permit and almost gave the place up because of the crazy requirements of the Intramuros Administration.  I still chose the place because it was where our love begun and it is in sync with our theme... Vintage.

PICTORIAL / VIDEO REQUIREMENTS
(PRE-NUPTIAL SHOOT, POST-NUPTIAL SHOOT, PRE-DEBUT SHOOT, PERSONAL PORTFOLIO AND THE LIKE)

 1. Letter of Request address to: ATTY MARCO ANTONIO LUISITO V. SARDILLO III
a. Purpose
b. Date
c. Time (8:00 a.m. to 12:00 n.n only)
d. Specific areas: (choose only 3 areas)

1. Casa Manila Patio
2. Plaza Moriones and Fort Santiago Gate (bricks area)
3. Puerta Real Gardens
4. San Diego Gardens
5. Baluarte de San Andres
6. Baluarte de Dilao

e. Specify in the letter that pictures/videos to be taken will not be use in any commercial purpose.
f. Client complete address and contact nmber.
g. Props / model (if any)
2. Pictorial fee is P2,000.00
(Free of charge for client who has booking / scheduled function at the venues of Intramuros Administration.)
3. Subject to payment of entrance fee (Fort Santiago and San Diego Gardens)
___________________________________________________________________________

** For Inquiries please call:
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT DIVISON
Telephone No.: 527-30-96 and 527-90-12 (Telefax)


I highlighted the basic requirements and they're seem easy to accomplish. Submitting a letter of request is not really a problem, we can only choose for 3 locations and specify them to the letter, we chose:  Casa Manila Patio, San Diego Gardens and Fort Santiago, the couple should not forget to both sign the letter.  P2000 peso for the pictorial fee is expensive but manageable, but either of the couple should pay this amount to the Intramuros Admin office and get the permit.  Ang hassle kasi you need to spare time pa just for this permit.

On the day of the shoot, we started in Fort Santiago.

Fort Santiago (Spanish: Fuerte de Santiago Tagalog: Moog ng Santiago) is a citadel first built by Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpifor the new established city of Manila in the Philippines. The defense fortress is part of the structures of the walled city of Manila referred to as Intramuros ("within the walls"). Source: Wikipedia

To our dismay, we were only allowed to take pictures within the gate of Fort Santiago.  The reason that they gave us was because Fort Santiago was sacred... What?!!! If only they know I spent 5 years in Intramuros for college and Fort Santiago was just our TAMBAYAN and practice area whenever we had dance or presentations in school. I also wanted take picture with Kalesa, pero bawal din, naman! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Good thing, our photographer, Sir Chito Ignacio is very artistic and has really an eye for good views. It's a matter of framing the areas where we thought there's nothing to see.  So here are some of the photos:

Then, In Casa Manila Patio

Casa Manila is a museum in Intramuros depicting colonial lifestyle during Spanish colonisation of the Philippines.

The museum is the imposing stone-and-wood structure circa 1850, one of the grand houses in Barrio San Luis (one of the four original villages) of Intramuros is located across historic San Agustin church and bounded by Calle Real, General Luna, Cabildo and Urdaneta streets. The other two are the Los Hidalgos, circa 1650 and Cuyugan Mansion, circa 1890.

Casa Manila is a copy of a 1850’s San Nicolas House that was once located in Calle Jaboneros. The architect and urban planners of IA was Ramon Faustmann.[2]^[1] It was constructed by Imelda Marcos during the 1980s and modeled on Spanish colonial architecture.^[2]  Source:  Wikipedia

And in San Diego Gardens

We finished the photoshoot in time... 12noon, we needed to wear shades because the sun decided to shine so hot and bright on that day.  I just got the copy of the pictures last Saturday and we are happy with the results .... and I still love Intramuros.

Special thanks to my make-up artist Teajay Nonato and his sister for my hair and Sir Chito Ignacio for the beautiful photos. Mahirap pala maging models pero the experience was so much fun!  We really had a great time. ^_^