Celebrating My Birthday!

My habibi threw a surprise birthday party for me last week. It's my first birthday away from my family. I was expecting a quiet celebration with just my habibi nothing like the festive celebration that I'm used to since my birthday falls on the day before the New Year. Honestly, I had an inkling that he would prepare a surprise party for me about 2 weeks ago.

Here's the backgrounder; two weeks ago while at work he called me and asked me about the confirmation email of the resort where we'll stay for our anniversary. Since, I used his email address during registration, we searched the Inbox of all his email account and found none. I searched my emails as well and found no luck. Now bothered that our reservation may now be in limbo, I once again opened his email and searched for it. As soon as I logged in, I noticed that there's one new email that has arrived. The email came from my former colleague that he hasn't met yet. Also I need not open the email for the subject says it all! - "ANNE'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!". I can't remember well if it's written in all caps but I saw it as it is. Probably just my eyes popping in shock. Hahaha! I immediately closed his email and never opened it again. As I told my friend, I wanted to be surprised on my surprise party! Hahaha!

Days passed and I never saw signs of the party from him again. I thought the surprise would happen during our Christmas Party. I thought that maybe they'll just give me a birthday cake but it did not happen. So I thought that there would be no more surprise for me. I thought that maybe no one will be able to come so the surprise was probably cancelled. Then the day before my birthday came. I'm starting to feel sad this time so I arranged a day date with my friend Mitzi. We just had a simple lunch and watched a movie. My Habibi then told me that he found a new restaurant that he wanted to try, a new restaurant at the new mall that we don't usually go to. So my mind started playing again. I thought that maybe there's a surprise party after all! That we'll meet our friends in the restaurant.

Since he's at work, we agreed to meet halfway. When we finally meet, he showed me a sms from our Ninang asking him to come over her place for she's experiencing problems with her internet connection. Since her house is on the way, I agreed to pass by her house before having our dinner. At that time, my hopes of having a surprise party went to drain. I thought that if she is not already in the restaurant, may there's nobody waiting for us in the restaurant! My habibi told me that we'll just stay for about 30minutes then we'll just ride a cab to reach the resto in time for our reservation.

When we got to her place, I immediately saw the YES! Magazine featuring the house of Willie Revillame, I sat down on the couch then just started reading not minding them at all. Then my habibi sat beside me and asked me to get him water. I looked him in the eye and hissed to him; Why would I get him water? This is not our house! We've been there only twice so it's just not right to just barge into her kitchen to get water. Then suddenly, I hear someone cough inside the bedroom. Knowing there are other people here. I may have a surprise party after all!!! Hahahah! Then again JayR asked me to get him water. I obliged only after he asked permission to get water from our Ninang first! Thinking that the people who will surprise me are in the bedroom, I went to the kitchen to get water. When I opened the kitchen door, I was actually surprised when our friends shouted SURPRISE!!!


There in the table are baked mac, pizzas and KFC chicken bucket! Then JayR gave me flowers!
My birthday cake didn't seem to be a surprise for he innocently blurted about it when we're talking about the flowers! I'm happy the writings on my cake is in chinese. It's a Happy Birthday To You in chinese. I've been singing its chinese version to JayR as early as December 1! :D


To those who came and helped organized the allegedly suprise party, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart! To mamaK for the baked mac and informing JayR of the flavor of the cake that I wanted. To Mam Ces for the venue. To Cathy for the pizza. To Con for the chicken. To Omar for simply just coming!


The following day, my actual birthday, we had lunch in Pariss International Seafood Buffet Restaurant! The manager was kind enough to bring me their birthday cake plate! :D

Thank you so much darling for all the things you've done to make me happy on my birthday! I love you so much sweetie!

Our First Christmas Twogether

Merry Christmas everybody!!!


It’s our first Christmas as a married couple, our first Christmas away from our families and friends, and our first Christmas in Singapore. We could have been too homesick if not for the Christmas decors around the city and malls. I insisted on buying a Christmas tree for our house here just so we could feel the spirit of this most awaited event at home. I didn't want to splurge too much on decorating our house so we just bought a small tree.


Also to feed our soul, we have completed the Simbang Gabi here in Singapore. There is no one church here that holds the nine nights novena masses in just one church. It's like doing Visita Iglesia and Simbang Gabi all at the same time. Every night, simbang gabi is held at different churches. It's too tiring for most of the churches are far from our home. Nevertheless our will power to complete it always win!


On Christmas eve, I prepared a small feast for our Noche Buena. Since it'll be just the two of us, I cooked three dishes only, Roasted Chicken, Beef Lasagna, and Buttered Garlic Prawns.

As we have been traditionally doing since we were still dating, our Kris Kringle was the highlight of our Christmas celebration. Since our first wedding anniversary is just around the corner, I chose a "Wedding" theme for our Kris Kringle.

Category 1: Something Blue and Stretchable
Inspiration: Garter
I gave him: A blue boxer shorts
I got: A blue socks







Category 2: Something that Can Be Borrowed (Something the we could both use.)
Inspiration: Something Borrowed for the Bride
I gave him: Swimming goggles (very timely for our Bintan pre-Anniversary weekend getaway.)
I got: A Nike cap that perfectly fits his head!





Category 3: Something Round and Shiny
Inspiration: Wedding Rings
I gave him: A clear hair gel placed in a round container
I got: A paper weight! *tsk tsk







Category 4: Something Long and White
Inspiration: Wedding Gown
I gave him: Four Pieces of White Toblerone
I got: A personalized bag charm! (This is my favorite!! Thanks sweetie!)






Category 5: Something your Baby Needs
Inspiration: Sacrament of Marriage
I gave him: A set of Adidas Deodorizer and Bath Gel (Not that he smells..hahaha!)
I got: A Pooh stick massager (Perfect for smacking his head if he's makulit! hahaha!)




For our special gifts, we bought each other what we really liked. For our special gift 1, I got a DKNY watch, and he got a free mug from Pizza Hut! :D
For our special gift 2, I got an Oakley sunglasses, and he got his cds of games. For our special gift 3, I got my waterproof digicam while I gave him one thing he had been asking me to buy since early this year, PS3!

Lenten Season In Singapore

Holy Week in Singapore is nothing compared to what it is in the Philippines. Despite that we are not in a Christian country, we are blessed with one day off from work on Good Friday. I was on a diet in preparation for my friend’s wedding the following week, so I just considered it as my penance for the holy week. Since I’ve just arrived and am still familiarizing myself with the city, we took this opportunity to be a tourist even for just one day. We joined my visiting friends at the Jurong Bird Park. Macky (my former officemate) and Ruthie (who rocked Macky’s world! That’s how he described Ruthie to us. Ain’t it sweet?) spent their holy week in Singapore with Ruthie’s family. With our work and their itineraries, we only had one day to go out before they leave. Packed with our 3 cameras, (yes! you read right!), we walked through cages of birds.



First, we watched a show where parrots do tricks.











The show was alright. There were not much tricks to awe you that much. The parrots can be easily distracted so audience must follow instructions of the trainer seriously. A man in front of us read a paper the whole period of the show. Hehe..



Honestly, we really didn’t pay much attention to the different species of birds at the park. We just looked for good spots for picturesque sake! Hahaha! But we didn’t let go of the chance to feed the birds. I didn’t know that I can get this close to them without scaring them!






Just as we decided to have lunch and go somewhere else, dark clouds started to fill the sky. We got lost finding the short cut to the exit making it even longer than the usual route! Hahaha! As we got to a little tunnel, the heavy cloud rain started pouring hard. We were thankful that we didn’t get soaked in the rain or our 3 precious cameras will pay for it! Ironic as it can be, on a rainy day we have 3 cameras and only one umbrella! Hahaha! The rain poured and we’re trapped for almost an hour with our growling stomachs. It seemed like we’re in the middle of a rain forest where civilization is far.


When I can’t handle it anymore, I grabbed my umbrella and searched for a nearby bar to grab some snacks. That’s when I found out that we’re just a few meters away from the civilization, i mean the main hall!

Fortunately we were able to pose for some pictures before the rain poured.

Chijmes: Lei Garden

I started looking for a place to celebrate my habibi’s birthday a week before I came to Singapore. Since it’d be just more than a week before his actual birthday, I felt that it would be short for I’m still not familiar with the ins and outs of the city. After my search over the net gave me no luck, I asked for some advice from a co-w@wie based in sg. She advised that I look into Chijmes. So I did. Among the restaurants in Chijmes, I chose Lei Garden for it’s the only Chinese restaurant there since we both loved Chinese food, I felt that this would the safest place to eat. I’ve kept my secret to where we’ll eat until we reach the place. Since I can’t plan a big surprise for him, keeping it to him will give him the excitement for the day. He’s a bit worried that we might get lost, without giving much details, I just assured him that I know the place. It’s great that Chijmes is just a few meters walk away from an MRT station.


When we arrived at Chijmes, we were amazed how cozy the place was. At that instant, we knew that that wouldn’t be the last time we’ll be there. There are a lot of varieties of food to choose from. Unfamiliar to the place, we kind of got lost a bit. Until we got to an open area and saw Lei Garden sitting at the center of Chijmes. From outside, we knew that Lei Garden is not a typical Chinese restaurant. It was a fine dining Chinese restaurant! Most of the men were wearing coats and ties. Good thing, we came from the office so we’re a bit dress up for the occasion. We came a few minutes early. While waiting, we were seated at their receiving area and served a jasmine tea. We took the chance to look at their menu, I myself concerned with the price since we’re spending both our money now and not just his. Surprisingly, their price was not too expensive. Their crews were very kind to us as well. The lady who attended to us guided us through our orders. Since we’re not very familiar with the food, she’d say if what we ordered is enough or too much for the two of us. We ordered Double Boiled Soup with Beef, their specialty, and Fried Noodles with Prawns. The other crew knew little English so we had hard time speaking with him. When JayR asked for a glass of “house” water, we were given a glass of “hot” water! Hahahaha! What JayR should’ve asked for was a glass of “ICED” water.

During our dinner, we were unaware that outside, people started filling in. When we went out, the quiet ambience was filled with acoustic music from a nearby bar. There were more crowds dining at the basement. We’ll definitely come back to try dining by candle light out in the open.


Before Chijmes became haven of restaurants, it was once an all girls school. The history of Chijmes intrigued me. I'd blog about it once I got the right information.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Its my birthday today and I can't think of a better way of celebrating it than to be with my wife. March 6, aside from being my bday, is special for the two of us because its the date when we first met. I can still remember how nervous I was waiting for Anne in their complany's lobby and i'm sure that my wife during that time felt the same. I dont know if it's a coincidence, but good thing it's my upcoming birthday when I invited her to go out on a dinner for if not, Im not sure if she would agree to go out with me that time.

It's my first time to celebrate birthday outside the Philippines and I thought I would be celebrating it alone again, just like I did last Christmas, because our original plan was for Anne to go here to Singapore around April. But God is really good. He didn't allow that to happen. He blessed Anne with a new work here and she started on the first day of March. God truly makes all things beautiful and perfect in His own timing. And she even got that work without the need to endure the hard process of job hunting through job fairs, classified ads and the like.

Actually, it's a two day celebration for us because March 5 is our 2nd month wedding anniversary and in spite of our hectic working schedules, we made sure this day will still be special. My wife, as always, never fails to surprise me. I think she got that exceptional skills of surprising people from me. ;) Last night, she cooked a very scrumptious mouth-watering dinner for us. It was so yummy I thought we were eating on a fine dining resto! For our main course, We had penne pasta in creamy white sauce with chicken and mushrooms. This goes with a pan fried salmon marinated with fresh lemon.


She told me that its her first time to cook this kind of pasta dish but the way it tasted, its really hard to believe what she said.

(I asked jayR to give me some time to cook our dinner on our monthsary. I wanted it to be very special since this is the first time we'll spend it together. I kept the details secret to him. I asked him not to hurry home but go straight home. I'm sure all the wives out there will understand what I mean! :D Unfortunately, I got home 30mins than the usual since JayR asked me to buy some groceries and I had to pick up the birthday cake I ordered for his birthday. As soon as I got home, I tried to hide the cake but it's not easy to hide a red box inside a ref filled with just juices and water and some left overs! I just kept it inside a plastic bag and prayed that he won't see it. I'm done cooking when he arrived. I had him stay at our living room while I prepare our dinner. I placed everything he would need from our ref on the table so he won't have any reason to open it and accidentally see the cake. Since we're eating pasta, JayR suddenly grabbed a bread, stood up and got the cheese from our ref! I tried to act normal and wished he won't say something about the cake. Good thing he didn't. That was a close one!)

I thought that was the highlight of the day but more surprises kept pouring on. After our dinner, we watched our previous AVP's and that inspired me to do my own version of our wedding AVP. Anne urged me to start doing the AVP when she noticed I started to get sleepy. It's because she had another plan to execute and she didn't want me to get sleepy until she carry out that plan. Very clever huh! So I started doing the AVP, until I became so engrossed with what I am doing that I didn't noticed its already 12mn (my bday already). My wife took this opportunity of me being so occupied, to go to our kitchen and execute her next surprise. I have earphones in my ears so I didnt hear any noise made by what she's doing. Then she walked towards me, carrying the candle-lit strawberry cheesecake in her hand while singing happy birthday! She was so sweet!

(I had a hard time finding the right timing to bring out the cake. Since we're now living on the same roof, plotting a perfect surprise is difficult. Thank goodness he worked on another AVP project, I found the opportunity to execute my plan. Since he was on an earphones, I did not bother keeping my silence as I bring out the cake out of it's box. We both don't smoke so I lit the candle using the stove! One surprise perfectly executed!)








And the surprises will not stop there. Tonight were going to have a dinner date in a place which my wife has chosen. She would not tell me where it is for its her next surprise to me. She just told me to relax, stay calm, and dont forget bring my credit card. hahaha. She just came here last friday but it seems she has been here for months already, well thats what she told me =) and she will prove it to me tonight in our dinner date. Hope we will not get lost on our way. Dont worry sweetheart, I trust your direction skills. ;)

To you my wife, thank you so much for always making me very happy even with the smallest things that you do. I love you so much!

(Anything for you my sweet habibi! I love you so much!)

Starting Anew

I’m back in Singapore. I’m now ready to start a new life together with my husband. Though we’ve been married for almost two months now, it is only now that I can truly say that I have a husband and that I’m certainly a wife. A few days after our wedding, JayR left for Singapore. So I’m left alone as if nothing major changed in my life. We’re back to our web cams. Good thing there’s Skype! He seemed like he’s just in some province nearby. It’s better than phone calls too!

Another great thing happened to me is that I got a job in Singapore! This came earlier than we’ve planned. It’s such a blessing to us. We’re both thankful to Him for all the blessings he’s showered upon us. Now, we’re both realizing how our dreams are starting to come to reality.

It's no secret that I don't do much chores at home. Amazing as it may seem, suddenly I became domesticated. I admit that I may be ignorant on some things, but I'm not totally clueless on household chores. I'm just still at a learning process. Good thing I know how to cook. I've remembered everything my mother used to tell me about some dishes. That guided me in all the dishes I've prepared for my habibi. Indeed, living a life out of your comfort zone is difficult. But with my habibi beside me, I’m sure we’ll do just fine.

Wish us both luck!

Our Humble Abode

My flight was delayed for almost one hour. There were only two baggage counters for our flight. I am very patient with waiting in lines as long a I know that when it's finally my turn, my patience will be rewarded. Minutes passed. I could've been bored had I not chat with the other passengers. An hour more passed. JayR got a bit nervous that I might not make my flight. I assured him that there's still more time. Then another hour passed, now I'm scared. Finally, a flight attendant approached the end of the line and took our tickets. Apparently, there was only one counter working. There's only 5 minutes left before our plane takes off and I need to go through the immigration! That was the first time I ran in an airport to really catch the plane! No matter what, I'm grateful I was able to board the plane.

JayR picked me up from the airport! It's almost an hour past midnight when I arrived. We rode a taxi to our home. After JayR paid the driver, the driver clearly said "Arigato" to us! He thought we were japanese! Hahaha!

Our home was very cozy. It's neither too big nor too small for us. JayR placed a streamer on our living room wall that said, "WELCOME HOME SWEETHEART LOVE!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" It was so sweet! I felt I was indeed at home! It's the first time I saw its improvement after JayR painted it a few days ago. And it really did improved a lot! When JayR sent me pictures of the house, I felt it's too small. But I didn't mind for as long as we have a place we can call our own even for just a while is more than fine with me. Here are some of the shots I took.

The view from our kitchen window.



The living room.

(before)



(after)



The front door. We have no sofa yet. We'll add furnitures little by little.



We have TFC!!!



The Kitchen. I cooked my habibi's favorite sinigang!



The bedroom

(before)






(after)






There's a wet market just across our street. And a store which sells Filipino goods manned by no other than a Filipino! The MRT station is just a walk away! There's a bus stop with bus that stops at most malls in the city right in front of our building. The area is very quiet. It reminded me of Baguio. There were lots of trees around. We are at the 17th floor so the cool wind fills our home. We can live with just a fan throughout the day. I'm just not sure when summer comes. We'll definitely save a lot with electricity bills!