More than blessed: My 27th Birthday

27 years and counting...I have been more than blessed in the past 27 years of my life and I am so ready for more! I can't thank God even more for bringing me where I am now. I got my family (though was faced with multiple challenges in the past) who has always been there to support me. I've got a lot of mentors who have taught me a lot in this life. And of course, the best set of friends anyone could have.

Looking back, it has never been an easy ride. I've been through a lot of challenges, and a lot of instances where I tried to prove myself to people. But growing up, I have learned that I shouldn't do things to please people, I should do what I want and what I think is right, with or without the approval of others. There will always be people who will judge you no matter what you do and you don't owe them any explanation for being who you are. I would always be thankful of my past experiences because they made me stronger and more knowledgeable about life.

I couldn't be any luckier because just before I turned 27, I have already graduated from my Masters Degree, I got a new job that's more than I have prayed for, and I still have my family, friends, and God on my side. My 27th so far was indeed one of the most memorable birthdays I've ever had. Here's how I spent it:

April 23 - Dinner with my girl friends in Cafe Mary Grace, Greenbelt

April 24 - Wine and cheese with a few friends in Las Flores, BGC

with Ana and Gary (my older friends :p)

April 24-25 - When the clock ticked 12, I was surprised by my friends with cake and sparklers at Privé Luxury Club. A friend even bought me bottles for my guests. Thanks to Wonderland Thursdays (Models' Night) at Privé and to their photographer, Rich Sarto for always taking nice photos of us in the club.

my sweetest girl friend, Angelia

royciepoisie (must be "i" instead of "y" haha)

Lady and Dianne

with my good friend, Lady

my beauty queen friends

girl friends forever

new friends, Lady's co-models/beauty queens

for keeps! pretty ladies :)

thanks Gary for the champagne! :)

Then at night, my bestfriend and I just had dinner at a Japanese resto in Glorietta.

I also saw Anna, my sorority sister ('cause she works with my BFF)

April 26 - My Morning Crew family (friends whom I met through CrossFit) had a get-together and they surprised me with a Starbucks cake that night.

Morning Crew at Marga's place

happy kid :)

Since my family was abroad, I didn't get to celebrate with them. That's why I've been extra thankful to my friends for making my birthday extra special. They're definitely for keeps!

Now I'm ready for another awesome year! Bring it on! :)

Awesome Summer 2013

Summer of every year is what I always look forward to for so many reasons. First, it's been raining all year and it would be nice to go to the beach and have fun under the sun even for just a short time. Second, it's vacation from school. Yeah, even now that I'm in my Masters, I'm still excited for summer vacation. It's the time of the year when I can go out of town or out of the country longer, that's why I spent 3 months with my relatives in Japan last year and in 2010, and a month in Boracay in 2009. Third, it covers the Holy Week and the Labor Day weekend, when everyone's out and spending time with friends and families. And lastly, April is my birthday month! And I haven't spent my birthday under the rain.:)

This year, I didn't go to Japan because I had to attend the summer workshops in school that I've missed twice because I was always out of town or out of the country during summer. But since I'm already about to graduate, I was required to attend them. So I stayed and spent three weeks in Boracay (with side trips in Iloilo) instead.

My friend booked me a flight for her wedding in Iloilo, but I told her to book me to Boracay first then I'll just take a land trip to Iloilo for her wedding. So what happened was, I arrived in Boracay on April 19 and spent the weekend with my bestfriend and PLDT friends. The highlight of this weekend was Jay Sean's concert, and the relaxing time with friends at our hotel, The District, and our roadtrip from Caticlan to Iloilo.

On April 21, we arrived in Iloilo and had a food trip. The next day it was my friend's wedding at Punta Villa. Did my own makeup using Urban Decay's Naked palette, while the hairstylist helped me with my hair. The next day, I moved to my friend's place where I stayed for 2 nights. I had my birthday salubong in Bourbon and Flow at Smallville, then the next day, we had my birthday lunch at our friend's resto, BBQ Shack. I really had a great time in Iloilo.

On the day of my birthday I spent 3 hours in the van waiting for it to be filled with passengers. I should've gone to the terminal earlier so I didn't have to wait that long. Anyway, I arrived late in Boracay and went straight to our hotel, LSM Square, owned by my friend's aunt. That was my birthday weekend and I spent it with my friends from graduate school, and some Manila friends. We also had one Couchsurfer who joined us in this trip. We got passes to "Sunkissed" at White House and The District 'coz one of the organisers was my sorority sister. So that's when we discovered why sunset parties were a lot better than late night parties haha! Some friends and I also had a picnic at Puka Beach, the reason why I missed the Ariel's Point cliff diving with my classmates.

When my classmates left, I was adopted by my friends in their hotel. Then I moved to another place when they left. Good thing I never ran out of friends while I was there. I kept moving from one hotel to another. I think I've stayed in a total of 7 hotels in my 3 weeks there haha, and the only accommodation I've paid for was the actual planned trip which was during my birthday weekend.

Anyway, there came the Labor Day weekend. More friends and acquaintances came to the island. It meant sunset parties everyday. The problem with that was, a lot of my friends are already drunk at around 9 or 10 pm that no one's there anymore at 12mn or 1am to party more. haha! El Hombre, Antonov sponsored the sunset parties at Whitehouse and Sur in Station 1. My friends and I loved chilling at Two Seasons 'coz of their Four Cheese Pizza and Oyster Sisig, plus they serve good cocktails too. During the Labor Day weekend, the happy hour at Two Seasons is exclusive only for their in-house guests, but since we were there everyday, the waiters did us a favor. Sur had the longest happy hour, from 2pm to 8pm I guess. And they sold Jack-Coke for Php 100 only and it's Buy 1 Take 1. Summer was so crazy because of those sunset parties. Vans also partnered with Smart in their Smart Live All Out event in Boracay Uptown. We also joined the Vans family as they celebrated the birthday of WynWyn Marquez at Discovery Shores. That same night was Zedd's concert at Club Paraw sponsored by Marlboro. Unfortunately, we didn't make it 'coz the place was so full that even the VVIPs were not allowed to enter the overly crowded venue.

Then on May 5, my friends and I went on a land trip to Iloilo 'coz our flight was on the next morning at around 6am. That flight only cost me Php 1500 via Zest Air. In Iloilo, we had dinner in Villa, where a basket of fresh oysters only costs Php 40. Everything in Iloilo is so cheap that's why I love it there!

So after 3 weeks in Boracay and Iloilo, I could say that I had an awesome summer!!! It's probably one of the best summer vacations I've ever had! Thanks to my friends.:)