A Wedding is a Day ...A Marriage is a Lifetime

Last weekend was a very interesting for my fiancé and me. We attended Catholic Engaged Encounter. No one referred us to attend CEE for our marriage preparation programme but I heard of another marriage preparation programme from a friend but theirs were a bit more expensive. It was a choice between attending a Parish Pre-Cana Seminar or a Weekend Retreat. But then decided to register Adrian and me to CEE. To tell you honestly, our reason for participating on this weekend retreat was merely because it’s a prerequisite so we can be married in the church. Not knowing that this experience will change my ideals on what marriage is all about and how to deal with the trials and difficulties in a marriage.

There were 5 married couples that shared experiences on their married life. And yes, it’s not always a bed of roses. It was really an eye opener for Adrian and me. Since he is not outspoken about what he feels, I’ve learned a lot about him, his views, ideals, values and attitude on marriage. It was wonderful to discover that we have a lot in common in terms of morality, life-giving situations, openness in communication, decisions in marriage, sexual intimacy and our values on people around us. And it was interesting to know that we differ on some aspects of marriage too, like our values in money and time. But the most important thing is that we are both open to change and to compromise on this matter.

I thought having a happy marriage is the best a woman could hope for. But after CEE, I realized that unity is what keeps a marriage happy. And that “I’m sorry” is not enough but asking for forgiveness to your partner whom you have wronged shows that you are humbled by your insensitivity. I’m so glad to have experience this weekend. It was not like any other retreat I’ve taken before. Now, more than ever, I can wholeheartedly say that I’m ready for marriage. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We’d like to thank Cory & Dado, Bernadette & Robbie, Malou & Galo, Susan & Tim, BimBim & Mike and Fr. Dave. For sharing your experiences with CEE’s Weekend Batch # 61.

This Weekend marks an important part of our relationship because it opened our hearts and minds to the different aspects of marriage. It not only tackled the spiritual part of marriage, but also the planning and what goes beyond marriage. –Adrian & Shiena

If you wish to know more about how CEE can help you prepare your marriage for a lifetime, contact Mr. Dado Hipolito at 810-0222 or email at ceephilippines@yahoo.com.

one Bad day coming up!

I never sensed a bad day is coming. After reading an sms message from my officemate while I was preparing to go to work, I thought what a bad news to start my day is not a good sign. I wore jeans and a white polo shirt to be comfy and I dropped in my neck my buddha beads necklace for good vibes. I never thought my day in the office would turn into a roller coaster of bad news. I was late. Time in 9:22 am. One more tardy this month would mean be another notice of tardiness from the Personnel Dept. Today is the cut-off of Accounting, so we need to get in as much sales as possible to meet the quota for the month. Intense follow up to clients but to no avail, either they will delay the contract or they decided not to get any services. Argh! Frustration sneaks in.

Adrian told me that Eric might be able to give us tickets for Ashanti’s concert tonight. I was glad to hear good news for the first time. But the catch is, I’ll know if we are going or not around 5 p.m. Clock is ticking, the cut-off time of 3 o’clock is fast approaching. I decided to call a client, which was my last chance to meet my target this month. He was not planning to send the contract today but next week. Panic strikes. Need to use my skills to convince him to send it before the time is up. After convincing him to send the contract within the day through email exchanges, phone conversations and sms messages. Which took me a total of 4 hours to do all of this [with in between meetings and inbound calls from clients].He faxed the contract around 5:30 pm. Darn! cut-off is done. What now?

Received another message from Adrian, its confirmed, we are going to Ashanti’s Concert tonight. I was so excited I forgot about the contract for a little bit. After I got my composure, I called up accounting if they can accept just these 2 contracts as an exception. And I’m glad they accepted it. My bad day didn’t turn out to be so bad at all at the end. I was able to not only just meet but exceed my target too. And a free concert ticket, after a tiring and exhausting day is so much welcome. I’m not really an Ashanti fan, but it’s a free ticket so why not.

Mesedilla Studios turns 3!

I know this is a super late post but I just learned and want to congratulate my friend, Fritz whose humble abode online turned 3 years old last May 5. [Hey, Fritz! this calls for a celebration] i’m so happy to be a part of this website. I can still remember when we [fritz, maya, kim and I] all share the same office back then. Mesedilla Studios was the first site that we go to when we turn on the computer in the office. To check out the latest posts in our forum / threads. I created the thread for "Shoppa-holics, Travel-holics & Gym-holics" where we commune.We also discussed our favorite shows like Charmed, CSI, Alias and topics like men vs. women, learning the tagalog language, word association game and even your favorite avatar in the forum. I really missed posting in this forum especially on our thread. I think I’ll start to revive it again... since we no longer see each other everyday. [what do you think misty? Game?].

And how about that thread that KillaCrab started about Meteor Garden? Were we argue over this TV show to the point that we wanted KillaCrab to be banned from the forum. And Fritz as the site admin told us to be nice to each other. hahaha! Then that same day, Fritz gave us the honor to be "Forums VIP" so nobody would think of messing with us...hahahha! those were the days.. Unfortunately we discover blogging along the cyberspace-way that’s why we became inactive at the forum. But I sometimes visit the site to comment on his blogs.

So many nice memories at mesedilla studios and I hope all of you continue to support this site..

Where is Tagaytay?

I wrote this entry for my friend Echa, who asked where Tagaytay is. Well, Tagaytay is 50 Km south of Philippines' capital, Manila. People in the metropolis, ususally go on a road trip with their families and friends to Tagaytay to escape hussle and bussle of the city. And retreat from the heat and pollution that can drive you crazy. Due to the surrounding mountains of this city, the climate is cool and the air is fresh. A perfect way to relax and enjoy nature This is also the home of the smallest volcano in the world, Taal Volcano. It is also a fact that the volcano itself has a lake of its own inside its crater which is called the "Crater Lake." Many restaurants in the area offers good food and a good view of the volcano too. Picnic sites and horseback riding are also available to the public.Tagaytay is the nearest escape of Manileños to tranquility.

Over looking the Taal Volcano and the Crater Lake

out-of-town weekend

My weekend was relatively exciting, frustrating and satisfying all at the same time. It was abnormal for me to wake up at 5 am on a weekend. But I have to. Adrian and I are going to Cavite to meet with Ezra [a household name in my wedding blog] and her husband Butch by 7am. They arranged a meeting for us with June Seculles, a photographer. After seeing his works, which were very good if I may add, we signed him up to be our official wedding photographer. I was excited to give him the first check that i ever signed and issue in my entire life. Hahaha! Filled with excitement, I didn't expect how frustrating our meeting with the in-house caterer of Chateau will be. In the end, we were considering to just rent the place and hire another caterer. But then we passed ourselves to give them a chance. We'll be going back there to check how they do an actual set-up of a reception on June 25.

We had lunch in Tagaytay at Green ATS Bulalohan, where they serve fast [they served our mean in less than 10 minutes or was it 5 minutes?], delicious and affordable meal. There was even a comic encounter between Adrian and a waiter.

Adrian: “May bottled water ba kayo?”

Waiter: “wala po”. “Mineral water lang po”.

Adrian: “ ahh.” “anong pangalan ng mineral water?”

Waiter: “samit” (refers to Summit Distilled Water)

Adrian: “sa inyo?” “kuha mo kami ng apat”.

(We are all laughing after the waiter left. Good thing Adrian and the waiter understood each other…and the waiter arrived with 4 bottled water after a few minutes.)

Went back to Chateau Royale to do some arrangements and headed to Nasugbu. Where Adrian, Butch, Dandin (Adrian’s brother), Arvin (Adrian’s cousin) and Tito Tony (Arvin’s Dad) had some brandy while Ezra and me nibbled on some grilled squid and calamari that are so yummy. I can’t remember if they emptied the bottle of Carlos I brandy. But nonetheless, all men were sober and can walk straight. Ezra and I took the opportunity to fit the flower girls their dress since Mae and Abby are there too. It just needs a little adjustment though, but it was beautiful seeing it on them.

After freshening up, and me changing into comfy clothes. We headed to one of Nasugbu’s landmark “Aling Celing’s halo-halo” and order it with the pork barbeque. This is what I always look forward to every time I’m here in Nasugbu and my visit is not complete without a having this halo-halo and barbeque combo.

Before heading home we dropped by Adrian’s grandparents’ house to chat with Lolo Paco and Lola Ina for a while. And went back to their newly painted house. Ended the day with a nice cool bath and slept as early as 9 p.m. My head hurts, and flu is slowly taking over.

Dimaunahan’s newly painted family abode

to clique or not to clique

I’m feeling the bad effects of being cliquish. Only Baet and I eat lunch together nowadays, since Maya and Kim already resigned. We do have our occasional group lunch with the SCP – (what it means? never mind) but still its different when your eating with your close buddies. Baet has been sick for the past 2 days. And my dilemma starts around 11:00am, thinking of where I will buy lunch and who am I going to have lunch with? Yesterday, I ate my salad and fries in my cubicle. Good thing Raffy joined me, cause if he didn’t, I’ll be eating alone while surfing the net. But today, it was a blessing in disguise that Maya’s officemates are all out of the office. I’m so glad that she called and was thinking of having lunch at Galleria. I’m very happy of this turn of event. I’m not alone today (Thank Goodness!). We ate at Sushiya and indulge on some FIC ice cream. I was nice spending time with old friends/ex-officemates. I even learned a new info: did you know that asphalt is a residue of refined petroleum? Well I didn’t not until today. Hehehe!

a day with my entourage

I've been looking forward for this day since last april when I set up the schedule for gown measurements of all my female entourage. And now the day has came and I woke up late (WHAT?). Now everyone was blaming me that we left Adrian's place around 8:45 am when our call time was 8 am. Though I'm glad that everyone (in consensus) said that I only have the right to be late because I'm the bride... haha! These are unique perks that a bride should enjoy. (don't worry I'll be on time for my wedding ceremony :D)

We squeezed ourselves into Varian's Corolla and all 5 ladies (Me, Nancy, Kim, Maya and Jan) sat at the back with just 1/2 of our butt sits on the cushion. Laughing, joking and conversations kept my mind off my odd position. But I actually didn't feel any stiffness in my legs and butt not until we got off the car. Buy 9:15 we were in Divisoria and traffic has welcomed us with open arms. We decided to walk to Ilaya from Juan Luna while Adrian and Varian looked for a parking space near 168 Mall. And there, they were to meet my other college friends, Jacq (who is part of my entourage), Mimaw and Weng. Baet got lost and went to another Jolibee outlet but was able to make it at Pasillio R safe and sound.

After everyone was fitted according to the design of their gowns. We searched for a fabric that would fit to Ellie's gown design (she'll be my Matron of Honor). We found a light pink embroidered fabric that looks alike the one in the photo that she sent me. But I would be needing additional measurements from her so her gown will have to wait until our next visit next week.

Adrian also had measurements for his Chinese-collar Piña Barong (pineapple fiber). I haven't seen the design so that would be something that I can look forward to on our wedding day:)

After all the measurements, we headed to 168 Mall to do some shopping (the shopaholic in us are alive again) I bought a neck tag for my flash drive, a pashmina and a sporty addidas watch which is of the exact design as Adrian's watch. I always wanted a his and hers watch :D. Adrian bought me a set of abanico (handheld fan).

Shopping was over by 1:30p.m. While the others already gone to do their own thang, Maya, Kim, Adrian and I, went back to Adrian's place. We had lunch around 2:30 p.m. at Pizza Hut which was right across his apartment. After a delicious pizza and pasta, Kim and I took a shower before we all head to Greenbelt where we disassembled. Kim had her hair cut, Maya went for a little more shopping at Glorietta. While Adrian and I went to Greenbelt3 Cinema and watched Kingdom of Heaven (Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons etc.)We ended the night with a cup of cafe Latte with caramel syrup, cafe mocha and a slice of oreo cheesecake at Starbucks.

It was a tiring but accomplished day. I'm happy. To my entourage, I may have not thanked you enough for sharing your time and weekend with me and taking that long and hot trip to Divi. I appreciate it very much. See yah guys soon.

composed for the diary of a bride to be

Guests & Invites

The long wait is over... last weekend, Adrian and I have finally finalized our guest list. And the lucky number is... 350. And here I thought we only have 200 guest at the most. But then when you start writing them down, you realized how many relatives you have and how many common friends you and your fiancé share. I was also delighted to know that we only need 118 invitations since most of our guests are either living in one roof, married or group of friends that only require 1 invitation. Though we might need to make additional arrangements for the souvenirs since we only ordered 150 pcs of it and from our last count we need 166 + 16 special gifts for our parents and the entourage.

I'm glad that the guest list has been finalized, but another dilemma comes in. Our invitation. When we inquired with the supplier of the handmade paper that we want to use, they require us to order 100 sheets. But we only need 20 sheets. I have asked almost every one in the office if they knew someone who makes handmade papers but to no avail. My friend Jan, told me to drop by SimpleJoys at Megamall because the sell handmade papers too. Baet and I went there yesterday and I saw 2 handmade paper that I like. One in pink and beige.

Darker shade of pink than our motif (baby pink). the flower is embossed. sheet is a little bit thicker than the prototype. -- my impression: a little bit girly-girl. P60/sheet. Sheet size is 1/2 smaller than the one we found in market! market!

The other one is in beige/dirty white with long thin green leaves. same thickness as the prototype. -- my impression: This one is perfect for our "nature" theme but they don't have this in pink.P55/sheet. same sheet size as the latter.

Both Adrian and I liked the Beige colored paper. My coordinator will still try to check with her contacts if she can get a better deal. But if not, I'm keeping my options open for the handmade papers being sold in SimpleJoys.

composed for the diary of a bride to be

my flash drive

I’m not a teckie person but I revolve around people who are. Not that I’m complaining. My fiancé would be my number 1 influencer. When learned about the wonders, capabilities and usefulness of a thumb drive or flash drive (does both differ aside from their name?). I wanted one for myself too. I know this device existed when our GM was telling us a story about her trip in our head office in Malaysia. She was looking for a floppy drive but she couldn’t find one in any of the computers since everyone there is using a flash drive. But at that time I didn’t find any use of this device for me. But now that I learned how this will be convenient for me. I gotta have one! And I got mine today, thanks to my fiancé who paid half the price :)

I’ve already saved all my pictures to be printed in my flash drive. I’m so excited to head to the photo center and have all my 163 pictures developed.

Can you interpret my dream?

I dream a lot. Usually every single night. But everytime I wake up, I can't remember any of it. Last night was different. I've never felt traumatized by my dream since today. I can still remember it as vivid as crystal. And this was my dream:

I was babysitting a 1 year old girl. She was very cute with curly locks. I was calling her Ella over and over so I assume that that's her name. All of a sudden she stopped breathing. I brought her to the hospital and a nurse performed CPR with her middle and fore finger. She was revived. I called my fiance and told him what happened and asked him to call the child's parents because I was so scared. I was crying [ franctically ], I could not breathe. Seems like my lungs were being squeezed so hard. I was just crying and crying while waiting for the parents to arrive. The next thing I was was that they are putting the child's body into a body bag [just like in CSI]. I asked the guy not to put the body away since the parents are not yet her. By then the crowd around us are starting to build up. And then the parents arrived. I stood up and met them and when we reached where the body was and looked down, all i can see were legs cut into pieces and they are cooking it "adobo" style. Then I woke up.

That was the most morbid, weirdest and scariest dream I ever had. Now, tell me, what does my dream mean? I thought is was real because it felt real until I woke up. I can no longer go back to sleep thinking of what the meaning of my dream.

If you get to read this post and you have a gift to interpret dreams, please tell me. Seriously. I'm bothered.

building our team at the beach

For this year’s company teambuilding cum summer outing was held last Friday, April 29 at La Luz Beach Resort in San Juan Batangas. I stayed the night before at Adrian’s pad so I won’t have trouble in getting to our meeting place. I woke up at the 3:30 am. While all the neighbors are dreaming in their sleep, I was up and awake, took a bath and dressed in my white top, string pants and jelly slippers, accented my white top with a long and colorful Buddha beads necklace. My beloved Adrian woke up 30 minutes later and accompanied me to our meeting place at mini-stop in Galleria. Waiting time was from 4:30 am – 5:00am, if you arrived after 5am, you’ll be penalize with 500 pesos. Na-ah! no way! Will they get 500 bucks from me. We arrived in mini-stop around 4:45am. We had breakfast while waiting for the others. Adrian went back home after finishing his breakfast and a stick of cigs.

Thinking that the penalty will encourage all to be on time, this was not necessarily the case. We left Manila around 5:30 am because others just didn’t quite make it on time. We stopped over at Petron in the South Luzon Express Way to pick-up our officemates who lives in Alabang and Laguna area while other bought breakfast and went to the restroom. As for the others [like me]... it was a time for a yosi [cigs] break. On our way to San Juan the bus was filled with laughter and jokes and stories. Some were asleep after waking us so early (that includes me). We arrived at La Luz around 9:30 am and headed to the day trip pavilion where we had our teambuilding. I belong to the team A. We won the trial round for the first game but we were the last in team standing after 3 rounds of games. After lunch, we were the first team to be completed in the line up thus the facilitator gave us the extra 30 points. But even with the extra points we are still way behind based on the standing points. But our luck changes as the afternoon becomes hotter and the competition becomes intense. After all the games that we did, we ended up as the top winner; closely followed by the team D, who were the team to beat from the start of the game. They were only 10 points behind us. Aside from the extra 30 points that we got, We got the points that we need to win at the last game, when we made Kim our Ms. Universe. We made him strip his clothes off and wearing only his brief (nonetheless he’s wearing a Calvin Klein brief), we made him wore a gown made up of crepe paper and Manila paper. Of course the design was by Bianca Santiago (the Chalk Mag Stylist). We are so delighted to hear that we won. It came to us as a surprise because we were not expecting to win because from the start of the games we were always at the bottom of the standing.

After the teambuilding, we headed to get our things from the bus and settled them in our rooms. I was actually in my swimsuit already before leaving the house so I can go straight to the beach after all the planned activities. [Talking about being too excited to go to the beach] Anyway, after the others have changed into their swimwear, we went to the beach font and applied sun block to each other and headed to the beach. It was a great and refreshing feeling. The sun is up and the coral stones are hot but the water is cold and the wind is blowing. This is just what we need. The others prepared some vodka with OJ so we drank while we were on the shore. While the others went kayaking, the others played beach volleyball with some of the other guests of the resort. After dinner, we had bonfire and games and drank the night and early morning away. I’m not really an alcoholic drinker by nature... so after a half finished bottle of vodka cruiser and one shot of Slammer (a drink made up of sprite and vodka); in no time, I was already in the corner and puking myself out. I called it a night after I vomited again [this time right in the middle of the dinning area.] ew! how embarassing.

The Gangs all here

Are we afraid of the sun?

Woke up groggily and headed towards the dinning area for breakfast... good thing the staff already cleaned up my mess from last night [hahaha!] We then headed to our rooms and change into our swimsuit and went to the beach. The others already are getting ready to leave around 11am but we are staying over for the whole afternoon since some of our Shopaholic friends [Maya, Kim, Fritz and Dom] were still on their way to La Luz. They arrived around 11:30am and had a little problem when the guard didn’t want to admit them because they don’t have reservations. Good thing, they were able to get pass the guard without being harassed the second time they passed him. We had fun and just enjoyed the relaxing ambiance while we were at the parasol. Fritz and Claude enjoyed girl and boy watching while listening to Bob Marley’s songs. Kim and Dom spent some quality time together while sunbathing. While me, Maya and Baet enjoyed the waters and the waves of La Luz.

afternoon siesta in the parasol at La Luz

The La Luz trip last weekend might be my last beach trip before I get married. For sure, 4 months to go before the big day, the wedding plans will get in the way of my already busy schedule. So I’m glad I had this chance to bond with my friends and colleagues.

More photos from our La Luz trip. Click here.