happy birthday, nanay

nanay, may God bless you all the time, guide you and protect you. i love you and i miss you so much...

how i wish we can be together today just like last year. be somewhere and have fun... maybe, next time...

happy, happy birthday, nanay...

birthday cake

yesterday was my friend's son 7th birthday... though away from him, she still prepared something for her son's birthday. we had a tiny cake, our favorite vanilla cashew ice cream and i cooked bihon guisado. her colleague and a friend also came over to join us. 'twas a good time to give thanks and celebrate...

but when she called her son, she felt so sad and so we were... she asked if his dad bought him a cake for his birthday but poor little son said, his dad didn't want to...

when i was a little kid, there were only few times that i can remember i had a cake on my birthday... and i understood as it was only my mom who was there for us...

but for this kid, her mom works overseas... it could have bring a little joy for her son had he blown a candle on his birthday...

rooster embroidered pillow

before mrs. kacir's birthday last 16th of this month, i was thinking of sending her a gift. should it be flowers or anything rooster… brad told me that her mom just love anything rooster, maybe because she was born on the year of the rooster :) 

searching online for anything rooster gift items, i came across hobby hill farm's. and i found this pillow that looks so nice, i ordered two... it was delivered the day after her birthday. 

brad told me how her mom was so surprised, so excited and so happy when she received it... that her mom really love it and that it's so nice and beautiful :) 

i'm so grateful that she love it! i'm hoping and praying to meet you one day, mrs. kacir and the whole family :))

rooster embroidered pillow
(photo taken from hobby hill farm)

bohol & cebu city 2012 with nanay

nanay turned 60 last march 27… we celebrated it my way ;) she usually prepares a lot of yummy food for her birthday and invites her friend to come over. she just love to cook specially on her birthday. she would be busy the day before and on the day itself, and you would hear her say, "i'm tired of being beautiful..." when everyone's gone :)) 

early morning walk along alona beach at panglao island

but this year was different, i took her with me to bohol for a trip. just the two of us... we stayed at bohol for two nights and three days. 

sandugo (blood compact) statue

left: baclayon church,built in the 18th century
right: the shiphaus

butterfly garden

we had fun exploring the island. we had fun sitting by the shore at night having our barbeque, looking at some other tourists, the fire dance, the breeze coming from the sea and the early morning walk... things we missed on our trip, island hop and swimming :( but it's fine we still had fun... 

nanay having so much fun on loboc river cruise stop-over

tarsier conservation area

man-made forest of mahogany along the way

we also stayed for a night at cebu city. we met up with kuya lokie, my former colleague at rafi (ramon aboitiz foundation, inc.), his wife ate tata and chubby/talkative daughter nikki... they helped us get a place to spend the night. after having dinner with them, nanay & me shopped a little and watched the last screening of the hunger games at ayala mall. 

the famous chocolate hills

i'm so glad and happy that nanay had so much fun on our first ever trip together... 

happy birthday, ley

you're missed

happy birthday, babes... it's supposed to be your 31st today. you're always in our thoughts, me and nanay, and i believe all of your closest friends...

life could have been happier if you're still around. we always love and miss you...

#wishfulThinking

i had this wishful thinking which i posted as a shout out on my skype, yahoo messenger and facebook status… it said, "an adidas running shoes for adidas king of the road #wishfulThinking" 

i'll be joining the adidas king of the road 16.8km run this coming 28th of october. and i thought it would be cool to run with an adidas running shoes... 

it was only few days after i had that posted, when a nice and sweet country boy from illinois by the name of brad stumbled upon me, we've chat and talk on skype... he read all my blog entry as i had posted my blog site on skype, greeted me a belated happy birthday and teased him that i still accept birthday gifts... he came to know that i'm into running... 

and he feels like fulfilling that wish for me, but of course i can't believe that someone i've only known for few days will do. someone who doesn't know me personally, but he said he finds me a good person and that i deserved it... there's only one way to find it out and that is giving him my shoe size and mailing address. not expecting it, i still gave him the details he wanted... 

and lo, three weeks after that here it came... a box was handed to me by my manager yesterday and i was so happy when i saw who it was from. i wish it was time to get off from work as i can't wait to open it and see what is inside... 

two nicely wrapped gift inside the box
with a birthday card #charming

adi, my new running shoes all the way from illinois :D
adidas supernova seq 5w

mauna loa, brad's favorite

brad, i can't thank you enough for this. but, thank you... even if you felt so out of place when you went to running central to purchased it. and yes! favor will always be granted, i'll always have fun :) but it'll be more fun if you will join me running one day ;)

thank you for this wonderful thought as well, "if it puts a smile on your face it puts a smile on my face you can't put a pricetag on that :)"  and hey, it's not corny, it's sweet :))

it's my 32 | 33-ish bday

it's kinda confusing, huh… 

perlamiley gave birth to a baby girl named mikaela on the 12th of july, 1980. and another baby girl named babylyn on the 16th of september, 1981. but their father left them when mikaela was only 2 years old. as she and her younger sister grew up, their mother diligently taught them how to read a-ba-ka-da and a-b-c-d. these two little girls somewhat learned the pre-school and kindergarten lessons at home. they even memorized english poems, orations and declamations. while their mom manicures/pedicures, her customers get entertained.

mikaela was almost 6 years old, when her mom brought her to school. but during those times, u can't be enrolled for grade one if you're younger than 7 years old, and birth certificate is a requirement, but her father brought it with him when he left.

to comply the requirement, mikaela was late registered for a new birth certificate on a new name and new year of birth. yes! new name which is now char mae. charm, to many and charmz/chang/cha/tsarmi to some :)

late registration

i would always answer/insist my real age, based on the year 1980, when asked. but lately,  to get rid of telling the story behind it, i would directly answer based on the year 1979.

yesterday, i just turned 33 :)) still single but happy and enjoying the most of what life can offer...

birthday cake, i bought myself :)

even i'm away from home, i thank God for being so loved and blessed with all the birthday greetings and wishes i received and keep on receiving, it means a lot to me...

it's a polka-dot-themed party of four

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever."---Psalm 136:1 niv