Mela Diary: SG December Adventure

I was planning on another trip to Singapore by the last weekend of November for the 'Lives Made to Worship' Praise Concert of the YFC's there. Everything was set except for one thing my ticket. It even came to a point where my dad was the one asking me if I would still go, and then my sister suddenly wanted to go to Singapore during her Christmas break and so, I decided to not go anymore for the concert and instead join my sister in December.

Our flight was at around 4 or 5 and my parents were a bit too paranoid, we went to the airport too early. Well, it was really because they still had late lunch to go to and the wedding of my cousin after. So while stuck at the airport and not wanting to go in yet we decided to eat first in Pancake House.

When we were finally done eating and was left with nothing else to do, I decided to play with my newest 'accessories' -- Kola. :)

 

LENS: Red

LENS: Green

LENS: Orange

Kola really is just filters and you can either put it on top of the lens or the flash depending on what you want to achieve. Eventually we had to go to the boarding area and all I did was read. I'm currently reading 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'.

The relief of seeing this sign! Off to Singapoooooore!!!!

Why hello there Singapore!!! (I do suck in taking pictures without a flash)

When we got there we were greeted by Kate. And since we seemed messengers from the Philippines, we still had to do one errand before going home and that is to give shirts to a friend of a friend. We seriously had one whole maleta for all the bilins. And when that was done, we went straight to the house. We fixed up a little, figured out the wi-fi then off we went to Downtown East which was a 5-10 minute walk depending on your speed. Kate left us there since she still had a party to go to and so we were left to explore the place on our own. We decided to have dinner in Burger King then went around the area.

With Mr. Funny and Miss Chatterbox :)

This is basically what I did-- retail therapy

Little Mr and Miss.

The plan for the next day: WE WAIT FOR KATE TO GO HOME, GO WITH KATE TO VIVO, SHE'LL ATTEND SERVICE WHILE WE GO TO SENTOSA TO BUY TICKETS.

What happened that day: We woke up without Kate in the house so we decided to just go shopping in Downtown East at around 2pm we decided to go home and since we had a feeling that Kate wouldn't show up we decided to just walk to the station since we didn't know where it was and the fun started when we started walking to the station, it started drizzling and we didn't mind it as much until the rain came pouring down and we didn't have anything to cover ourselves, but we had no choice but to brave it anyway. Then we started our adventure to Vivo then to Sentosa.

 boo! some photos cant be rotated, I don't want to make you all tilt your head just to see my face! :))

RED M&M's mascot. OMG!!!

So if you're wondering what happened to Kate, well we were supposed to meet up with her for dinner but she was still her hangover self so we just decided to have dinner and while waiting for our food I played with my beloved KOLA again.

When we got home it was such a relief seeing Kate home and since it seemed like we were all back in college we decided to watch an 11:50pm showing of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Yea, we cool like that eh!

The following day, Kate decided to take the day off.

Here we are all fresh waiting for the bus

From Bugis we went Somerset to meet more friends. It was also where Ernest, Paolo and Gico also met us then from there we went to Coldstone. Aaaaaaah. Ice cream!!! <3

Then from Coldstone we had early dinner then went to IHM for Simbang Gabi and to meet with some more YFC's!!!

With the girls: (L-R) Me, Kam, Aika, Elisha, Ellaine

With the boys: (L-R) Kam, Ernest, Gico, Niguel, Allen, Me

We had our little adventure when we got off  the station. We had to walk all the way to the church 'cause they guys weren't really sure what bus to ride and to top this all of we had to walk under the rain and man it was raining really really hard but it was fun!!! When we got to the church we were already seated then we had to move to a different pew since the pew where we were seated was apparently reserved, but then the others followed us upstairs, creating a scene or what? HAHAHA It was such a good feeling seeing old faces. Despite the short amount of time that I got to spend with them the last time I was there I felt warm around them and I did really miss them. And as if we weren't tired from all the walking that we did, we still walked all the way back to the station to go home. So yea, that day was beyond tiring!

The next day was the most anticipated day of the trip, trip to USS!

At the Madagascar ride!

lining up for Shrek 4D

After the lamest show ever-- The Donkey Live (but it was super hi-tech!)

On the other end of USS. That's far far away land!

Battlestar Galactica, my most favorite roller coaster still!

I was really jumping up and down when I saw Bumble Bee

Transformers Ride, this got to be the longest wait ever!

After the Mummy Ride

It would take me 10 years to write what went down in USS it was a crazy day, tiring yet really really fun! After USS we met up with Ernest to have dinner then strolled along Orchard. It was super crowded then there were 'gimmicks' on the side. Pardon the next two pictures, it was rushed and I didn't even get to set it on the right mode.

The worst part of this day was that we had to start re-packing our stuff already. That would have been the most bittersweet moment of 2011, like fo'real!

For our last day, Kate invited us to their school's Christmas Party! OM. She does have super adorable students!!!

We had to leave by lunch then off for last minute shopping! Then we had to rush home fix some things rested awhile then off we go to the airport. Our flight was at 8:50 so we had to be there early on. And as if we didn't have enough adventures, our flight got DELAYED. Our flight was first moved to 10:00pm then to 12:15am. Mind you our ETA in Manila was 12:10. WHAT HAPPENED EH? So while we stranded in the airport, thank goodness Changi was super nice, we went around, abused the wi-fi and eat.

Our meal for the night-- Chicken Rice!

We got back in Manila around 3:45 waited for our luggage for at least 10 minutes and then finally we got home.

So that was it, that was the end of our adventure in Singapore. The five days reminded me of how blessed I really am. It was great to see familiar faces and it was such a great experience to realize a few things in my life. I will never get tired of going to Singapore. Until next time, SG!

PS. Thanks for bearing with my face. :)) Not the best travel entry but yea, thank you still!

The 11 Highlights For The Year 2011. :D

As the year 2011 is coming to an end, I decided to write a blog on how this year went. I remember as 2010 was coming to an end, I said that 2011 will be an awesome year. So let me write down the 11 highlights of my 2011.

This year started with me finishing our THESIS. I will never forget the stress that this caused me and at the same time the fulfillment I felt when I finally saw the hardbound copies with the signatures!!! OMG. I wanted to throw a party!!! But seriously, the process of making our thesis, tested my patience and tolerance towards people. After everything done and countless of sleepless nights I'm just proud of me and my group mates that we we're able to write and defend our thesis. :)

This has just to be said, part of the best things that happened to my year was the AZKALS, You see, with the rise of the Azkals, it also came with papers and finals and lots of them. And I have to say thank you to the Azkals, for keeping me company and sane at the same time during this tough time. In what way did they do this, well you have to be Tiffany Uy or if not get to read our 100++ paged conversation about school work and yes, the Azkals. Ibang klaseng makabaliw ang last hurrah for school and Azkals were keeping us sane, at least thats what we want to think! Aside from this, it was also fun watching the Azkals live! Hooray to me, I got to watch 2 matches. One vs Sri Lanka and the other versus Kuwait. :D

What's the best way to detox from the loads of school work but to have an out of town trip! This was perfectly timed since this was scheduled right after my finals week. Although, I still have a deadline by Saturday morning, I did all my best and submitted early my Media Laws paper! My family decided to fly to SILAY (BACOLOD) to visit my Mom's family there. It was also the first time after almost 11 years that we get to visit them again. The last time we were there we spent the holidays with them and sadly, my lolo died. We got to catch up with my cousins. We stayed there for the weekend after my finals week and that means when I got back here in Manila I'm on a one month break just waiting for my grades and rehearsals for Graduation. But you know what sucks is that after three weeks, we had to fly back because my lola died. No one expected this and my mom, sister and I had to rush back to Bacolod. It was such a heartbreaking moment especially after seeing my mom super indenial of what happened. And in this trip my little cousins got super fascinated with me and my sister that they want to come with us back in Manila or atleast we go back there and went back there we did. My sister and I went there for the 40 days of my lola and got to really bond with my cousins! So you see, we made bawi the 11 years in just 3 months!

One of the biggest things that happened to me during the year 2011 was my COLLEGE GRADUATION!!! Finally after 14 years of studying I am DONE with that chapter in my life. This was really the end and the beginning. This has to be the most bittersweet of all since I super love my block mates, we've been through a lot and we've seen each other in our worst and of course our best. But we all have to move on and continue our journey independently keeping in mind we have each other.

This year was also a year of DESPEDIDAS. I had two of my friends leave to study abroad. First is PJ, I knew of his leaving just a few weeks before he actually left and good thing he got a week or I think even a month delayed so it gave us more time with him. We even had a surprise despedida for him which sadly he found out, and mind you this was one of the more stressful things I had to do this year. Its not just throwing a party but we had to secretly do that we sometimes have to do in his place and we had so much to do and we're only four and to top it was also scheduled during the week of my defense!!! I'm such a good friend sometimes. HAHAHAHA. Anyway, it was also fun to get to see all of our friends just sad that it was because one of us was leaving. Oh well, that's life and life has to go on. My other friend which is now based in San Francisco is Nina. We all knew of Nina's plan to study abroad in 2010 and she always always gets delayed and we always always take advantage of the time we get to spend with her and we were even telling her, she wouldn't push through and when she finally had to leave for the states, what's funny was she even went to watch a quarter of a PBA game before heading to the airport, devoted lang eh. HAHAHA During her despedida, we had so much fun as well. It felt like it was my party since I had friends who were also her friends that were there. I didn't even get to hang with the people I always hang with. That's how intense it was.

Next on the list is ILC in CDO this year. The trip maybe be short-lived but it was worth it. Aside from it being the ILC, and ILC's are always fun, it was the first time that I went to a YFC conference without my sister and Dea. It seemed like the start of a new ere in YFC. And apart from that, we all got the chance to be silly and bond hardcore! This may also be because we had few delegates this year giving us more chance to bond. Late night bonding with the cluster was ofcourse beyond worth it. I just wish that I could back to the city and try their tourist attractions. Yes, as lame as it may sound, I wasn't able to go try White-Water rafting and the Zipline in Bukidnon, but I believe that in time I'll get to go back to that beautiful city. And while I'm on it, lets all continue to pray that CDO and Iligan can rise above the recent flooding and that they may slowly get their lives back. 

From one beautiful destination to another. Next of my highlights is my trip to BORACAY.  So this was my first EVER trip to Bora and my family decided to go on this trip to celebrate my parents' 25th Wedding Anniversary!!! So what was supposed to be a family trip turned into a vacation with friends. Okay, let me be clear with this. We were with Nina and Yma to begin with and after a tour around the island my parents gave us the permission to go on our own besides it is Boracay. So my parents had their 'date' while we go around on our own, that we only see each other in the hotel. And the best part of this trip we stumbled upon more friends which made it even a better trip. We even made new friends. Seriously that trip was fun. I would always always look back to May of 2011 and would want to relieve it over and over again. It would be fun to go to Bora to detox and just escape the business of the city. I couldn't really go to details because as what they say, what happens in Bora stays in Bora ;)

This year I've been blessed to ride the airplane numerous times. This time I flew to SINGAPORE and twice at that! :D Let me share to you both trips, and wait for my other blog about the recent trip there but here's the gist of it! The last week of May I flew to Singapore with Reg to join the Cross Culture. In 2008 my sister joined the team that went to Singapore and ever since I've always wanted to visit the country and a few years later I was given the same opportunity and it was worth it. We stayed there around 2 weeks, stayed with a host family, met YFC's from Singapore and most importantly have a one-of-a-kind Jesus experience! I can't really explain what transpired and how I felt during those 2 weeks all I know is that I feel blessed to have been there and given the chance to meet all of them wonderful people. In Singapore I found what I was looking for, it made me understand things more and it made me want more things for my service, for my chapter, for my cluster. YFC Singapore has been an inspiration ever since and what's best is that I found great people along the way. The Cross Culture Experience is actually a tie with my Graduation as the best things that happened to me this year. When I was leaving for Manila, they were all convincing me to go to back on November for the Praise Concert. I was really scheduled to go but for some reason the supposed November trip was pushed to mid-December. This was a different trip, it consisted of shopping and bonding with one of our friends who's now based in SG. It was fun exploring the other side of Singapore and walking around and the best part was we got to meet our friends there and they're still as awesome as ever!!! I think I can always always go back to Singapore. I love SG!

One of the most unforgettable experiences of 2011 for me is the ULTIMATE ALL STAR WEEKEND. If you're a basketball fan this seriously should be on the highlights of your 2011. Who would have thought the the likes of Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul would actually play a legit basketball game here versus selected PBA players and also our very own Smart Gilas. The best thing about this was that I got to witness it live, well the game versus the PBA selection at least. If you wanna know more about this experience you could read it here.

Next thing was this year's METRO MANILA CONFERENCE. You see around this time of the year, I wasn't my best self. I was questioning a lot of things, thinking of my future and what it holds and basically looking for answers. I've always attended every MetroCon since I joined YFC and it seemed like this was no different but it was. This conference spoke to me. I wouldn't go into details for this post 'cause I already blogged about it. But aside from God's message this was particularly a different YFC experience 'cause for one there were only a few of us who came, second is that the YFC's who attended weren't the usual YFC's and so we got to really bond with those who went. What's best was the basaan and Agawan Panyo after the conference.

Last on the list was our trip to EK with my beloved household! Us girls decided to sleepover at Marie's house. We had an ultimate girl bonding talking about different things that mostly centered about boys. We didn't realize the time and the next thing we knew the sun was rising and it was time to prepare so we could still hear mass before going to EK. EK is always fun, the rides may not be as exciting as it used to be but who cares its really the fun that we'll have with each other that would really matter in the long run right? It started with bump cars and bullying Trish, to really lame water ride, to the crazy Anchor's Away moment, to the insanely long line in Log Jam, through Space Shuttle and 'Horror House', to the anticipating drop of EKstreme and finally to getting all wet in Rio Grande Rapids and screaming 'yung bag'. This day was beyond fun, I mean seriously it was not only the chance to be with my second family, but also this binded us even more, yes we are cliquish like that. Allow me to share a blog post written by Mer. Going home was a totally different story and it was a chance to catch up with an old friend. That weekend has been really great, really really fun. Thank you God for this kind of family.

So that's it for my 11 highlights for 2011. This year has been great, it wasn't as exactly like what I had in mind, nothing of MY plans with my life ever pushes through anyway. This year has been tough, emotionally especially. It has been an endless roller-coaster ride, people may have left but at the same time I gained more. Non-stop laughter together with an endless stream of tears, the many days spent by my lonesome and the countless hours spent with friends, of travels here and abroad, of book I've read and movies I've seen. Life has still been good despite everything. There are times I question and at times I suddenly come across the answer. The random 'reflections' in life I've had.

This year has been crazy and this year has taught me numerous things. Despite things not going according to what I planned, I am still thankful after I realized what 2011 really has brought me. This year, God made sure that I am assured with myself and what I want to do with my life. This year, God gave me the chance to know myself even more, to re-discover myself and to re-define myself, by who I envision myself to be. This year, I was given  the chance to love, love not only other people but also love myself. To love myself without hesitation and know my worth.

2011, I thank you for bringing out the best in me. I thank you for making me realize what I want to be. And to everyone I spent this year with, from my college blockmates to my A3 family, to my basketball-related friends, to YFC Singapore to my own family thank you. Thank you for making this year as it is. I love you all and I'm looking forward to another year with all of you!

Crazy or what?

Our driver is crazy. You wanna know why?

1 - When I drive, I can't go past 20kph. He gets mad every time, I'm more than 20 in his words, mashado na daw akong bumibilis. But since, I'm pasaway I always go beyond 20. :)) 

2 - He's more tensed for me more than I am for myself. As in sometimes, he just pulls up the handbrake like I don't even know why. He actually thinks kaskasera ako, when in fact I'm not. :))

3 - He never lets me park. He thinks I can't park. :))

4 - He drives for us but he never makes me drive to the places I usually go to, but he brings me to the more challenging roads. As he puts it, he wants me to drive in 'heavy traffic' situations. SMH


5 - He is never happy with how I drive. He always gets mad at me, then when I adjust it, he gets mad pa din. What could a girl like me do? :))

And actually there's a lot more reasons but I couldn't really think of it at this moment. But do you agree with me or what. He is crazy right? :))

Smorgasbord

Disclaimer: This post is full of random thoughts. Forgive me. These are ideas/ thoughts I've wanted to write the past few days but I haven't had the chance to. I will divide this post into 4 lets see how this post turns out. 

I

A right thing is and always will be THE right thing but a wrong thing accepted to be right, well that's a whole different story.When does this even happy? Could this be even possible? A right thing is BUT right while the wrong one can go either way, it just depends on how you look at the situation. Sometimes just saying the flat out truth and talking about it is better than making the person feel better about themselves while you make yourself feel better think that you're such a good person for what you've done. Okay, I won't go preachy but really what I'm trying to say is that do we really want to live our lives in shortcuts, in thinking that the wrong thing is the right thing because that's the easier way out, or are we going to be man enough, be courageous and keep on doing things the right way, no matter how hard it will be, who will get hurt and the little sacrifices that we have to do. Living our lives head on makes us even stronger and wiser, it somehow makes us feel that we are getting most in our lives. 

II

Have you ever felt that you have the world on your shoulder? Living day in and out with problems here and there. Well I guess, we've all been at that point in our lives and sometimes we're brave enough to lift of each of our problems and resolve it; but other times, we just push them away, pretend they don't exist. We go on, like everybody else on the surface all happy and jolly but deep within  we are crippled and broken. On bad days, someone strikes a memory from a previous pain, buried with joy in pretension and we are once again faced with our life's reality that we really carry more than we recognize and we feel doubly hurt because we thought that all along we've forgotten about it. The truth is, we just couldn't really let it go. We couldn't let go of many things in life despite the pain it brings for the happiness that it is associated with. We feel that as long as we hold on to that one thing in our life, we could be happy or at least be that happy, but of course we thought wrong because we just allow ourselves to feel the pain of the memory, of the things we can never have and of the things that we wished we had-- we are slowly being masochists, plotting our own depression. Honestly, it is in facing it, experiencing the pain until all of it is gone could we only feel lighter, that somehow we got rid of it, and as it cliche says, we could truly move on. It is in the realization of the gravity of things, the acceptance of the circumstance could we truly derive our strength from. We could be broken and broken things could never be like the original one but we should always remember that we can never live in the past but rather we should be living in the moment and realizing each moments' potential of pain, sorrow, suffering and most importantly joy. 

III

Sometimes, we make our decision based on our emotions while at other it is based on our rationalization of things. We plan things but it didn't exactly go as planned and it turns out something better was in store for us. Sometimes, we only think of how much fun it would be for ourselves that we forget that we have more responsibilities to other people. We have to realize that one thing doesn't happen not because it was a bad idea but because it only does good to a few people. We have this notion that we have to look far to find our joy, our peace of mind, our purpose but in truth all we need is right in front of us. Besides our happiness and the reason behind all of those are just the same, we just mature and think differently from time to time but ultimately deep inside we still have the same formula for happiness, satisfaction and peace in our life. We just have the tendency to look at things from a different view and in a different perspective but in reality it is just the same.

IV

We are all looking for answers. Everyday we have a new question about our life, sometimes the answer is right in our faces but we still couldn't take it in.afraid of the unknown. We sometimes get too scared to step out of our comfort zones, afraid of what lies ahead unto the unknown. We have a picture of ourselves in our mind and yet we are scared on how we will get there. It is more than frustrating for one, but you know what's amazing, is when we get affirmation in weirdest ways. That we will be alright, we have to believe in ourselves that we deserve it and make sure we don't sell our self short of what we truly are capable of. We get the sense of assurance that whatever we have to go through in our life we will be ready for it, ready to endure it. After all our heart's desire is the most important and living it will be a dream come true. It would be like the princess finally having her happily ever after. Sometimes, these affirmations, no matter how small and weird it is, it gives us the boost that we need to take the step of faith, to finally conquer our fears and chase the dream. It is in that simple affirmation, in simple words where everything big and grand starts. 

Life is just a matter of perception, how we plan to look at the things happening in our lives. We go through our own battles, no one lives the perfect life, but we could always picture our ideal life at how we want our lives to be spent. Our lives is designed to be beautiful, there maybe the occasional hurts and suffering but really who cares if we have more than half a day laughing until we cry, we all get to sit down and eat with the people that we love and just have fun and enjoy ourselves and the company of others. We just need to have a beautiful outlook in life to be able to live it beautifully. It is only us who can live our life and it is really in seeing the beautiful, in doing the right, in being courageous and fearless, sensitive yet strong, that we could be able to live our life the best way we could.