Anticipating!

As of this writing, my lovey is on a plane heading to my beautiful country Philippines. We've been separated for 6 weeks and we're both excited to see each other again. The whole wedding preparation has been keeping me busy but we sure miss each other everyday. We chat everyday but it really feels weird to be away from him. I'm glad that has to end. We'll pick him up at the airport on Sunday morning, bond with my family a little bit, then we'll check-in at Shangri-la Mactan in the afternoon for our pre-nuptial pictorial the next day. It sure is gonna be a busy 1st week for him. We'll take it slow over the holidays though. Wow, 3 more weeks and it is going to be The Big Day! I'm excited to see the overall outcome of this whole thing. I'll always keep in mind what my wedding coordinator told me the other day...which is to relax and to enjoy the moment! I'll try not to stress myself from too much worrying over minor details and stuff. Everything is gonna be alright...

Moalboal Family Beach Outing

In the midst of a busy wedding preparation, we managed to take a short but relaxing breather. One Sunday morning, we thought of driving to Moalboal Bas Daku Beach. It was an impromptu beach outing. We didn't prepare much. We knew we're gonna stay overnight in Club Serena beach resort so we just brought a couple of clean clothes and a swimwear of course. Moalboal is approximately 2 hours away from our place. We dropped by the market and grabbed some lechon baboy, lechon manok, fresh mango, budbod, drinks, chicharon, puso, watermelon, pineapple and saging saba. I love the beach but I prefer the water in the pool. It was low tide when we were there so the seawater was less inviting, however, I enjoy the view especially the small strip of white sands. We rented a small house (casita 1 & 2), a 2-storey house with 2 comfortable rooms. I just love the cool breeze in that place especially in the late afternoon. Yes, it was a long drive but I loved the serenity and the provincial feel of the resort. It was definitely a nice breather. The whole family enjoyed it as well. There's really nothing like Philippines! Woohoo!

Sandy "Jenn"

The gang

The Millers

The Hisoler's sisters

Night swimming in the pool

The entrance
The small house we stayed at

From a different angle

The pathway to the beach

My mama emoting

One last pose before heading out

My dear mama before we went to the pool

This is Me!

Splish splash

My Family minus our youngest sister

Wrestle with mama

Mom and Bren

A nice breather

Here's more vacation photos...

My sister Jingle with hubby and Bren arrived in Manila 2 weeks ago. Mom, Dad, nephew Andrave, Andrave's mom and dad met up with Jingle and they went to Mall of Asia, Star City and Manila Ocean Park. They stayed in Manila for 3 days and they've bonded with Bren and they all had fun. Some of these photos are taken during our beach outing last weekend. I'll post more beach photos soon. As always, I'm pretty busy but I'm doing very well as far as the wedding preps is concerned. Jeff is gonna arrive on Sunday and right on the next day, we're going to Shangri-la Mactan for our pre-nuptial pictorial. They say all work no play makes you dull so I took a break. The family went to Moalboal for an impromptu beach outing. It was a nice breather. I'll talk about it on my next post.

Dress-up and Make-up at Marco Polo Plaza Hotel

The culmination of all the hard work put forth for this wedding happens on the 9th of January. There's no better way to end the preparation and get ready for the Big Moment than to stay in a grand bridal suite at Marco Polo Plaza. The entourage will meet at the said hotel for the make-up and pictorial session. We were allowed to see the suite before I made the reservation and I must say I was impressed with the room. It's spacious and modern-looking. The only drawback I saw was the location of the hotel. Dominating the Cebu City skyline, it is situated at 600 feet above sea level in the district of Nivel Hills. But that can be easily remedied since a lot of public transportation like jeepneys and cabs can take people there. Besides, some of my entourage drive their own vehicles, so that shouldn't be a big problem. I rented a 45-seater air-conditioned tourist bus to transport my entourage from the hotel to the church, then to the reception venue. The big day is getting near. But before that happens, I need to have my groom with me, don't I? That part is fixed too. My hubby (who will be my groom for the 2nd time) will be arriving in Cebu next week. Woohoo! I can't wait to be in my hubby's arms again!

What insurance agents should know

I’ve learned that most insurance policies give you a certain level of security. In the U.S., most people have car insurance, health insurance, house insurance and even life insurance. It’s not necessarily true in the Philippines though. Most people here take care of the most basic needs first. But that doesn’t stop insurance agents from trying to sell policies to people. My aunt used to convince me to get one. I was on my 2nd year of my job as a data processing staff back then. I didn’t see the need so I kept on saying no to the offer. She didn’t make it big as an insurance agent so she shifted on a different area. If only she has an idea on how quality life insurance leads would help her find clients who are really ready to buy insurance and not just shopping around, then it would have made a difference.

There's always a place for some legal advice

I’ve always thought that riding on a motorcycle is dangerous. Motorcycle accidents happen all the time. Most of the time, it’s the cause of heavy traffic in the Philippines. I’ve seen bikers went out of balance and fell off their motorcycles plenty of time. But that doesn’t really stop people who simply love to take adrenaline rush rides like motorcycles. They can only try to be extra cautious but still accidents do happen. That’s why it’s necessary to have a good motorcycle accident lawyer if the need of one arises.

Be on the alert!

After being away for 2 years, I think my dad has not changed. He still is the “security freak” in the house. He’s always the one who make sure all our doors and windows are locked when we go to bed every night. He’s always been suspicious to strangers. I can’t blame him. I’m sure he just wants us to be safe and sound. Like me, I think he’ll be amazed with how awesome some home security systems in the U.S. work. I bet he’d be partially at peace if he had one of those security alarms installed in the house. But knowing my dad, he’d still double checked everything, lol!

Go contemporary

Have you thought of updating your old furniture to contemporary furniture? Present-day furniture seems to have a touch of class and modernity that could enhance the over-all look of any room in your house. I know for a fact that we need to update our dining table. We kept putting it off but when we get back after our wedding, that is one of the things that we’re going to take care of.

Look dashing on your special day!

Aside from Christmas, December is also the time for weddings. I claimed my certificate of confirmation in the church yesterday and I’ve found out that they are fully booked for the month of December and January as well. Wow! A lot of people like to get married huh! I’m not sure if December is also a wedding month in the U.S. Probably there are brides that would like to get married in December despite the cold weather. After all, it’s perfect for winter-themed weddings. For the grooms, it’s time to pick the best tuxedos for your special day. Surprise your brides with your dashing look.

The smaller, the better!

I miss my fast broadband internet connection in the U.S. Besides the time constraint, the limited connectivity with our SmartBro Broadband here in Cebu is keeping me away from my Entrecard dropping and uploading of vacation photos on Facebook. This is better than dial up connection though, but I was spoiled with our fast connection back in the U.S. that I’m beginning to yearn for the same speed back home. I didn’t even get a chance to use my laptop since our internet here is wired connection and for some reason, it will only work on my sister’s laptop. Jingle, Jhazel and I each own laptops but we’re all stuck with using our youngest sister’s because of the internet set-up. I love my HP Pavilion lappy but mine is the heaviest and the biggest of the 3 so I’m looking into netbooks and see if I can afford to get one someday. I love the huge screen of my laptop but sometimes I'd wish it's lighter and smaller so maybe getting a cute netbook is my next project.

Pre-nup Pictorial Location: Shangri-la's Mactan Resort & Spa

I had a hard time deciding where to have my pre-nuptial pictorial session. I once considered mountain view background, lighthouse or even a provincial setting as location for my pre-nuptial photo shoot. But in the end, I've decided to have a luxuriously romantic setting instead. I think Shangri-la Resort is perfect for that. It's convenient as far as distance travelling is concerned as opposed to having to travel hours to go to the province. Plus the fact that we can enjoy the beach waters after the photo shoot is too irresistible. I've never seen the place except on photos until weeks ago, when I made reservations for our stay on December 21st. I love the place and the ambience. Jeff will arrive from the U.S. on the 20th and despite the jetlag and time zone adjustments, we need to have our pre-nuptial pictorial right away, because we need the pre-nup photos for different purposes such as the slideshow presentation on the reception, wedding give-aways with frames provided, background for our foto-booth wallpaper, and for our wedding Guestbook. Whew! There's still so many minor details to take care of, which reminds me of getting in touch with my wedding coordinator later today. I'll try to update you more about my wedding preps from now on. Enjoy the internet photos of Shang, everyone!

In between the wedding preps, I still blog!

In as much as I’d like to update my blog every day, I just can’t. There’s not much time really to even use the computer. I am so busy with the wedding preparations. At times I wish this is just pure vacation, no wedding to take care of. But then this is the whole purpose of this trip…to make my ultimate dream come true…which is to walk down the aisle, on a very pretty wedding gown, in a Catholic church, witnessed by my family, close relatives and chosen friends. So even if the whole thing has almost taken a toll on me, I still wake up in the morning with a smile anticipating the big day ahead. Since blogging has really been a part of my system now, I can't do away with it completely. So whenever I get the chance, I'd sneak in to the computer and write to my heart's content.

As I've mentioned in my previous post, my sister Jingle, her hubby John and son Brennan arrived with my family from Manila last week. I can't believe how fast my nephew had grown. He looks so handsomely mestizo as ever. He's such a handful but the family just love him to be around.He's sweet with his Lolo (my dad) but rough with the rest of us, hehehe. It's just good to have such a cute English-speaking kid in a house full of bisdaks, lol. We all think he needs a dedicated yaya though. With everybody busy doing stuff, sometimes Bren and Andrave are left alone playing and breaking stuff. I know it's hard to find a job these days, but I think it's doubly hard to get a trust-worthy dedicated yaya for the kids. After all, you don't just trust your precious kids to anybody you don't know, do you? So I guess everyone in the house just have to take turns and babysit my nephews. It's a tough job. I've learned it the hard way the other day when me and my sister Jhazel accompanied Bren in Timezone in Ayala. The poor little boy had fun with all the games though. We were tired but seeing the innocent giddy face of Bren while he ran all over the arcade playing bowling, shoot balls, billiards and other kiddie games and stuff, it was all worth-it. I tried to ask myself though after that, am I ready for this? lol! I'd better be, because after this wedding, we'd work on having a baby. Whoa! (*wink)