chinatown

on brad's first three days here in singapore, i was working and so he had to go around the city by himself...

but the only place he kept visiting was chinatown. he was there everyday for the first three days. he wanted to buy some stuff he liked but then he listened to me ;) ... i asked him not to buy anything until i am with him, hehehe... 

on the last few remaining days, we were back for few times there and were able to buy some stuff he liked for himself and for his family back home...

he also shopped for me :D i was so grateful for his gesture... it is something i haven't experienced in the past... 

a surprise from the mom

along the way, brad told me that he has another surprise for me but this time it's not from him... i was in awe, when he said his mom has something for me...

when he finally hand it to me i was out of words... it's a silver necklace with 14k palm tree pendant. i tried it on and it looks so nice ;) though i never really wear any jewelry... 

but she didn't know that the price tag was left inside the box hidden... another speechless moment for me when i saw how much it is...

i feel so happy and so special to experience such gesture from brad's mom...

gorgeous :))

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...

gift

i feel so happy and grateful every time i receive gift(s)...

but this time, it's my turn to give myself something... i've been thinking of rewarding myself of something after completing half marathon for standard chartered marathon 2012... 

finally, i got myself something :)) it's an all-in-one gift for myself :)) sometimes we deserve something good for our self...

hamper (no more)...

this is my fourth chinese new year at work... 

every year they will give more than a hundred dollar worth of hamper to every employee. on my first year, i didn't get any as you can only have one if you worked for at least one year...

the next two years, i was able to have a hamper... but i can't eat most of it. and so, i sold it to my colleague but bought it at a very cheap price, less than a hundred dollar... got no choice...

but this year, the company break the tradition... and i'm so happy as it favored me, hehehe... this year they gave us a hundred and fifty dollar worth of gift voucher. 

my $150 gift voucher :))
ready to roam around ntuc...

surprise(d)!!!

i love surprises but i never really experienced it until i am with brad ;)

he kindly asked me to open his luggage and get something for him, and i obediently did it... after opening the pocket of his luggage i was so surprised to see a nicely wrapped gift with a ribbon on it...

i immediately gave him a hug and thanked him a lot :)

but i was so speechless when i torn the wrapper and saw what's inside... i never thought i could have this kind of purse, a coach leather duffle bag... another wish fulfilled... i can tick off #13 from my bucketlist :D thank you so much baby ko...

all i want for xmas is you but you gave me more than that...

classy

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... 

countless

it's been three months since i've known you but it feels like way longer than that. thanks to skype and/or viber we can  talk almost everyday, almost the whole day :)

less than two months left and we'll finally meet :)) 

thank you God for leading us both to each other. thank you God for letting someone like brad love me as he does, for letting me feel so special. thank you God because he is so sweet, so nice and baliw ;)

i'm so happy to have you in my life, baby ko... i pray that we'll have countless months, years & time to spend with each other...

iLoveyou, baby ko :))

blessingS

we talked about it and it became a plan... we both look forward to it... both excited & happy... can't wait but we can ;)

there has been frustrations & disappointments along the way but patience and being calm made it through.

thank you God for such blessings...

universal studios singapore - march 2011

the mariano's visited singapore again. and i've got a chance to go with them to universal studios 'cos they've got a spare ticket, yehey..! and it's jasmine's day-off so she went with us also… 

it was a bright sunny day and we had fun inside the theme park and the rides. yes! we took the chance to get on battlestar galactica: human vs cylon, but only on 'human'. i wanted to ride the 'cyclon' but nobody will join me :( another roller coaster ride was inside the ancient egypt temple and i was so thrilled because it's dark. 

celebrity moment...
oopppss!!! there's a paparazzi...

betty boop

with anne & jassie

the shows/attractions are just so amazing that even the adults will enjoy. i'm looking forward for another fun-filled day here with their newly added attractions... 

my moment ;)

phuket, thailand - january 2011

laurence, my very good friend, spent his christmas last december 2010 at london… thinking it would be very cold there, he planned to be somewhere hot when he comes back to bangkok… and so he asked me if i wanted to go with him to phuket. without a doubt i said yes..! he knows it's been my long dream to see and experience phuket... 

kata beach, right in front of club med

i flew to phuket from singapore early in the morning on the first day of the year... laurence booked our accomodation at clubmed. 

club med's pool and dining hall...

club méditerranée, commonly known as club med, is a french  corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. (ref: wikipedia) 

laurence, looking like a don...

i arrived there first as lau travelled by bus from his another friend. while waiting for him, i found myself a spot at the bar, had something to eat and drink. when he arrived we had our late lunch. 

cheers..!

one thing i really liked on this trip was our experience of international cuisine. everything's just there that you don't know what you're going to have for a meal. it was my first time to choose not just a few but a lot of dishes for a meal. and you can eat everything as much as you want... 

beautiful sunset along kata beach

we strolled down the shore of kata beach in the afternoon until sunset. after dinner, we joined the party and had fun... 

top: it's a red carpet dinner
below: party, party, party..!

on our second day we went to phi phi island on a tour. we took the ferry tour, had we known that we can't be at the maya bay, we could have booked that tour by speedboat. 

on board the ferry to phi phi island

top: maya bay from afar
below: viking cave

maya bay is where the movie of leandro dicaprio, the beach, was shoot. and even from afar you'll see how nice the beach is... but we still enjoyed our self snorkelling. the water was just so clear, but we can't go far from the ferry as we're both scared. we're both not a good swimmer... 

phi phi island

we had our lunch at phi phi island. we enjoyed the scenery of the hot blazing sun along the seashore... 

and then, we went back to our respective origin on the third day...

if given another chance, i would love to go back there...! lau, thank you for dragging me along on that trip... and for these nice photos as well ;)

formula 1 singtel singapore grand prix

it's the time of the year for the formula 1 singtel singapore grand prix. it's usually held every september for five years now. it's the world's only f1 night race. 

i had the chance together with my girl friends to witness a friday night practice last 2010 thru the sponsorship of our boss, mr. puah. 

krisna, lm, jasmine & me

girls having fun...

he wanted us to witness such event even for once... the feeling was so different hearing the heart-pumping sound of those racing cars that passed by infront of us. 

top: mr puah, krisna & me
below: concert ground

i'm so thankful for the chance that once in my life i was there...

iLoveyou

i love you... it's a three very strong & meaningful words. expressed to let the one you love knows you love him/her... and should only be said when you mean it! 

i've got those three special words from brad yesterday. and heard it from him as well.
i never expected it this early, but how can u hold back such feelings... i was speechless for a while and so happy, the happiest girl at that point of time.

i love you, too brad :)) i pray and know that you will not break the heart of this simple girl you love. 

thank you as well 'coz you never fail to complete my day by putting a smile on my face :)

grateful

i have a lot of things to be grateful of… 

but one thing i am grateful of right now is the happiness i feel. i am just so happy of the present. it has been my prayer that God will lead someone to me and that He will lead me to someone. someone who will be there for me. someone who would care for me and someone who would treat me someone special. and i'm so happy God heard my prayer. 

it's only been a while since i've met brad, but it feels like it's been a long time... i'm so happy to have him around as he puts smile on my face & for making me feel so special. 

i can't wait to say hello to 'ber' months as i look forward on meeting and seeing him... 

indeed, if we have patience, faith and trust, He will answer our prayers in His own perfect time. 

#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

my baby

yes..! i already have a baby :))

i am blessed by a boss, who is kind enough to finance for the construction of my 4-door apartment just behind our house…
he said, "i don't want you to go home and return to the philippines without any investment…"
he said it's a good investment which of course i agree.

and because of that, I'm living a frugal life now... more than half of my salary pays the loan…
but at the same time, I'm so excited to pay every cents I owe from him to be able to spend few dollars as a reward for having a life like this until 2 or 3 years more… and might as well cross some of my bucketlist ;)

my baby