Final Destination 5

Out of the blue, honey just emailed me yesterday saying, “let’s go on a date tonight” and honestly, I was thinking the very same thing. I love it how he can read my thoughts even when we are in our own offices nonetheless.

So we started planning and we wanted to watch a movie. Since we were disappointed with the last movie we saw, we are hoping that this time around it would be better. We decided that if we make it to the cinema by 18:50 we’ll watch Harry Potter again, but if not we’ll go for Final Destination 5.

Honey was stuck in a meeting in the afternoon so Final Destination 5 it was. The plot was more or less the same as the first 4 movies. Someone would have a vision that they will all die and he would freak out and save some of the people from the disaster that was about to happen that would have killed all/most of them. Although the plot was the same old one the movie was surprisingly entertaining. Think violent, gruesome, gory and gross. But because the scenes were so horrific and bloodthirsty, it was a little bit funny. I’m still impressed by the writer though, because although the plot is still the same, the details on each scene on how they would take each character out was really well thought off. Being the 5th instalment, I would have thought that by now the writers would have exhausted all possible means to create a ghastly way of killing off each character but they still managed to surprise me.

This movie is definitely not for kids, and needless to say this is not a movie that vies for awards or anything like that, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Cowboys and Aliens Review

This week’s date night, honey and I were trying to decide which movie to watch. As I browse through the schedule of movies, I was toying with three possible options. I was deciding whether we should see Final Destination 5, Harry Potter (I really want to watch it again!) and Cowboys and Aliens. A spark of memory flashed through my head as I recall the preview of Cowboys and Aliens when we were last in the cinema. I got excited coz the preview hinted of a very promising movie. You have James Bond and Indiana Jones in one film, what more can you ask for in a flick?

The film starts with a man waking up in the middle of a desert not knowing who he was, how he got there and where he was going. He had to defend himself against several cowboys, go to a village, again crush his fists on some more cowboy faces then Aliens appear in the skies and take some of the village people.

Now this is where we started to get disappointed with the movie. The movie started to move at such as pace that even a turtle carrying a backpack on top of its hard-humped back would still outrun it. At some point honey looked at me and said… “I’m bored.” LOL! Seriously, could the movie progress any slower?

After about an hour into the film, it did start to pick up the pace, but the lull that you have to endure before you get to the good stuff is a little bit too much.

Then I realized, this is the second Harrison Ford movie that we’ve seen that bored us to the point of slumber. The last movie of his that we’ve seen was the last Indiana Jones film. I kid you not I was asleep almost two thirds of the entire movie. This time it was honey’s turn to be rocked to sleep.

I think, next time Harrison Ford has a movie, we’ll really think twice, even thrice if we’re going to see it.

You’ve got Talent

(via)

Our company has a campaign about talents and stuff, I’m not really sure about the mechanics but from what my officemate told me you have to register your talent and share it with the rest of your colleagues. Initially, I thought it was all about singing and dancing or maybe even taking photos. But from what I’ve learned over lunch today, the scope of the talent search they were referring to goes far beyond that. Apparently, one of the talents registered is shopping around Amsterdam :D. Those people who want to subscribe to witness that talent first hand will be scheduled to go to Amsterdam sometime this week. I can’t discredit that, I do believe that is a talent. LOL!

After my colleague mentioned that, another of my lunch buddies faced me and this is how our discussion went.

Lunch buddy: Hey Christian, you should also register your talent!

Me: What talent is that talent that you’re suggesting I register?

Lunch buddy: Online shopping using the credit card of your Husband!

Toink! I couldn’t agree more, online shopping is a talent that needs to be honed constantly (to the utter delight of my honey, LOL), but I’m not ready to share that talent to everyone just yet. :D

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes

My honey is such a sweetheart, he told me that no matter how busy we both get, we should always make time for each other and he suggested we fix a day of the week for our date night. He thought Thursday would be the best day so for a couple of months now we’ve been having our date nights no matter what.

Yesterday was Thursday again so it was date night for us. We planned to go to a movie, initially we were planning to see Green Lantern, but hubby arrived later than expected and we wanted to have dinner with Bee first so we ended up in settling for the Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

I’m glad we ended up watching this movie coz it was really entertaining. The plot was developed quite well. The story revolves around a scientist (James Franco) who is trying to develop a cure for alzheimers to help his father who is suffering from the ailment. He was testing the drug he was trying to develop on apes. The drug improved the intelligence of the ape massively, the ape had faculties almost that of a human. Little did the scientist know that the ape he was treating with the cure was pregnant and she passed on the effects of the cure to her baby.

The movie had all the ingredients of a good flick. It combines emotions, titillating scientific ideas, great special effects, a dash of action scenes and cute and adorable monkeys, what more can you ask for?

Honey and I really enjoyed the movie.

Geneva Switzerland

Switzerland is known for its luxurious watches and breathtaking mountains, however, being the chocoholic that I am, it is surprising that Geneva has never been on my list of cities that I would want to visit since they are famous for their chocolates, among other things. So I was really thrilled that this year’s Couples for Christ European Conference was held in this city. This gave me an excuse to explore the city that I have overlooked for so long.

A warm and breezy summer day welcomed us to Geneva. The city is clean and quite modern. From the airport, we needed to take a bus to go to our hotel, which was to our pleasant surprise, free of charge. People are nice and very helpful.

After we checked in, the concierge of our hotel gave us trip tickets, he told us that we can use the public transportation for free our entire stay. Isn’t that a great deal.

One of the things that always fascinate me in a city is their architecture. I must say, I am partial to Gothic, Romanesque and Baroque architectures. That is one reason why I fell in love with Prague. The buildings in Geneva are more modern and looks quite new. After all, they are more famous for their ski resorts rather than their architecture. My favourite spot in Geneva is the lake. It’s so refreshing to look into the lake. We even explored the lake by taking boats. We aimlessly took several boats just to cover the entire lake. The cool breeze was such a welcome relief to the very warm day.



One of my favourite meals in Geneva was from a restaurant called Les Relais del entrecote. They serve steaks (as the name suggests). They only serve one kind of steak and they will just ask you how you want it done. The steak is split and served twice, I think so it won’t get cold, and you’ll get two portions of fries as well. The meat is perfectly seasoned, the sauce that comes with it is to die for and the fries are yummy, even Charlie loved it!



The word that stuck into my mind when after we’ve been to Geneva is “expensive”. I have lived in the Netherlands for quite some time now and a lot of people told me that this is an expensive city, but I already got used to it. I wonder how those people who told me Amsterdam is expensive if and when they visit Geneva would react. I was really surprised that the prices there are two or three times more than the prices in Amsterdam.

I’m sure we’re not coming back to Geneva anytime soon (as I’m still saving up for the watch I want to buy honey…. Maybe we’ll go back when I’m done saving :D) but it was a lovely city.

Charming city of Prague

OMG! I’m so guilty of neglecting this blog for the longest time, it’s almost a crime!

Oh well, will really try to make amends *keeping my fingers cross*. Let me start making amends by blogging about our recent trip to one of the places I’ve been dying to visit for the longest time….. the charming city of Prague.

This trip was booked on impulse. I have a colleague who receives these notifications on all sorts of things they offer on discount prices and he told me he just booked a trip to Prague and its cheaper. Since we were supposed to go to Prague last year but it didn’t push through, I’ve been eyeing a chance to reschedule the trip and what better opportunity than a discounted trip. So after a quick call to honey, I asked my colleague to book us as well and we’ll all go together. However, after coming down from the exhilaration of booking a trip that we’ve been wanting to make, I’ve decided to look around and book on my own and realized that I could have booked it at the same price at better accommodations. Darn, that’s one mistake I’ll never commit again.

Prague and I started on the wrong foot. We arrived in Prague at around 9:45pm and we were at the hotel at around 10:30pm. The biggest mistake we have committed is not having dinner before the flight thinking that we can grab dinner when we arrive. Such a sorry mistake, although there were restaurants near by the hotel, they close at 10pm. We were starving! Bee started getting grumpy because it was a bit warm inside the room. It's not like its a dodgy hotel or something, its actually a part of a chain of hotels. Honey and I were so tempted to pack our bags and search for a better hotel but it was late, good thing soon enough it started to cool off. Honey was so hungry that he tried to scout for anything he can buy to eat outside but his efforts were futile, he returned empty handed. Bee was the only one who had dinner, good thing I brought some baby food for her for just in case situations. Combine hunger with discomfort, we were fuming, but now that I can look back it was so funny coz honey started to eat Bee’s cookies LOL!

Prague completely redeemed herself to us the following day. We went to the town square and it was just breathtaking. The city has so much to offer. Beautiful architecture, charming cobbled streets, historical castles and such a rich culture. We walked for 6 hours straight and at the end of our 1st day of exploring the city, our feet couldn’t stand another second but our eyes have never gazed on something so wonderful and our spirits were soaring.

1st of the many Glorious years to come

I am really puzzled when I realized that I haven't even blogged about my little one's 1st birthday party. Being a first time mom and being someone who is always thrilled to organize a party, I have started whirling ideas in my head about Bee's party as early as February 2010 (her birthday was in November :D). I have specific ideas how I want the party to turnout. From start to finish, I tried to be as hands on as I can sans the many miles that separates me and the venue of the party.
I am so grateful that I have found a partner to create the dream party for my little one. Here is a supplier rating that I posted in a forum to for the details.

Charlize Jaeden's 1st Birthday
Date: November 20, 2010
Venue: Corinthian Gardens (South Hall)
Party Planner: Kathleen dela Merced (Hi5 Parties)
Caterer: Passion Cooks

I'll rate my suppliers na rin 5 being the highest 1 being the lowest rating

Venue (rating: 5): the venue was very nice, it has a high ceiling kaya maganda lagyan ng decors, very spacious, clean comfort rooms. It was a plus that we were the only party that day coz otherwise, with the glass walls, we would've seen everything that was happening in the next hall.

Party Planner/Stylist: Hi5 Parties - Kathleen dela Merced (rating: 5+++)
from the moment i started planning my baby's party, i already had a picture of what i want to transpire specially when it comes to decorations. I wanted it to be festive yet to be very classy at the same time. I've read before in some of our thread that there is a kind of PP who decorates parties in such a way na "mailagay lang" or malagyan lang ng maraming maraming decor" and there are those kinds of PP who carefully plans and executes so that every detail is coherent and the wow factor is not from the sheer volume of decors but from the quality. Kathleen is such the PP, i'm really very satisfied and more! Grabe talaga yung attention nya to details, and she is very hands-on, tapos she is very accomodating pa sa requests ko and she considers my comments. She is really a huge help specially for me who is a first time mom planning a party from abroad.








I love the backdrop, talagang pinag isipan, pati yung backdrop dun sa buffet and the design of the dessert buffet, oh pati yung entrance.... everything! ang galing talaga! I really got what i paid for and much much much more! Super love ko talaga si Kathleen! i'll recommend her to anyone.

Caterer - Passion Cooks (rating:5+) in the beginning of my party planning, i almost didn't get Passion cooks coz from the menu, hubby preferred the food of another caterer, that would have been a huge mistake, buti nalang naconvince ako ni Kathleen and ng mga reviews here in GT. super yummy ng food nila, and the presentation is awesome, added to that is the great customer service, very nice si Maja, very accommodating, when we had our food tasting nga she served us something that is not in our menu and when we liked it sabi nya gusto nyo ichange, pwede naman if you really want. ang bait! super!



Cake: Concept by Hi5 executed by Les Sucreries Rating (5): when Kathleen and I were discussing details for the party and she provided me the package, i asked for a cake upgrade coz i want the cake to really be one of the attraction during the party, and an attraction it really was. Galing galing ng les sucreries grabe! the flying fairies, the castle with blinking lights! wow talaga! and the cake was super moist and yummy, just the right sweetness!

Dessert Buffet - Sugar & Spice c/o Hi5 (rating 5+): I love that the dessert buffet was according the theme as well, it was very well executed and the kids really loved the treats!




Food Carts: c/o Hi5 (rating 3): we had fish balls, ice cream and corn dogs, i wasn't able to taste everything only the corn dogs which were super yummy! but i heard really good feedback from the guests. Actually it was hubby who commented on the presentation of the carts. It was served on tables just outside the hall, sabi lang ni hubby, he thought it would be like food carts talaga yun parang may booth, not on the table lang, para daw mas maka dagdag sa ambiance nung party. Next time daw sabihin ko na ilagay talaga sa mga carts at lagyan ng konting design din (talagang nagpplano na for next year ang stage daddy! lol).

Photographer - Richie dela Merced of fat boy studio (Rating:So far 5) The rating that i gave is partial coz i haven't received the finished product yet, so rating is for the quality of service that they gave, super nice si richie pati yung 2nd photog nya ang bait bait and ang sipag sipag nila, they never stopped taking pictures, sabi nga nung cousin ko "ang sipag nila ha bigla nalang silang sumusulpot" haha, first batch of pics na pinost nila sa FB are also great! I hope dun sa iba pang pics na hindi ko pa nakikita marami pang shots nung mga details ng party

Videographer Thor (rating 5++) - again the rating is for their service kasi wala pa naman akong narereceive na output. grabe super professional sila, ang aga aga nila sa venue, tapos super nice pa si Thor and Carmela

Photobooth Poof (Rating: 5++) - the staff manning the photobooth were really nice, they had a lot of great props, the quality of the prints were superb, ang cute ng mga bag tags, the leather guest book was awesome, need I say more? everything was great talaga sulit toh, everyone at the party loved this

Entertainment/Host Symond (Rating: 5) galing sya talaga, even the adults were very entertained. hindi corny mga jokes nya and very witty. Age appropriate din yung mga games nya and he kept the party lively at all times.

Outfit (2nd Party Dress ni baby, mommy's and daddy's)- Dan Cadiz (Rating 5+++) actually he was the one who made my sister's wedding gown and I was impressed with him kaya I recommended him to a friend who was also very happy with him kaya when i planned for my baby's party sabi ko i'll ask him make our outfits and hindi naman ako nadisappoint, he's very good, magaling sya sa bead works and very very nice pa, very reasonable pa ang price nya, sa itsura nung mga damit ang mura na nung quote nya sakin, uulit talaga ko sa kanya



Outfit (baptism dress and 1st party dress ni baby) Baby Fashionista (rating 5) - the dresses were really pretty and the details were great, un nga lang i specifically requested na i wanted the exact same wing na nandon sa picture sa site nila but hindi ganon ang binigay sa min, nonetheless ang ganda ganda ng mga dresses from them.

Hair and Make up - Archie Tolentino (Rating 5+++) galing nya talaga, he did my make up sa wedding ko and everyone liked it kaya sya ulit kinuha ko and just the same everyone complimented me on how i look during the party. tapos super early pa sya, sya pa nagsabi na agahan natin para just in case may kailangan ka asiksuhin hindi ka mashort sa time. bait bait bait pa. pati hair ni hubby inayos ayos pa nya.

The big 3-0

(Via)

I know a lot of people fuzz about turning another year older and even more people lament the very moment when they will reach this big 3-0. I’m getting a flash back of a Friends’ episode where all of them turned 30 and Joey screams “why god, why?” LOL! Anyway I digress. Well, I’m not one of those people, coz I’ve always believed that another year added to your age is always a reason to celebrate, even more so, it’s a reason to be grateful!

Turning 30 is a huge milestone. I am truly thankful that I’ve been blessed with 30 wonderful and glorious years. My appreciation for these past years comes with a tinge of trepidation though. I deem that the only way I can even give back to my creator for all his wonderful blessings is to live my life to the fullest, and reaching this point in my life gives me the perfect opportunity to face my fear, that is to evaluate whether or not I have lived my life the way I think I should.

Even before the term “bucket list” has been coined by a movie, I have already created my very own list, several of them actually, one list I call “100 things to do before I turn 35”, another I call “My life Plan”, still there are others but these two are the most prominent and the ones I really try to keep track of. I do like to plan a lot, I can say that although I am not very organized with my stuff (thank God for a husband/boy toy who is borderline OC and loves to organizes my stuff for me, LOL!), I like to organize my future. Every year, before I celebrate my birthday, I go through my list and my life plan, just to get a feel of where I currently am and where I want to be.

Looking at my list reminds me of my priorities in life. It gives me an overview of where I want to go and how I want to get there. I am glad that as I browse through my list, I was able to tick a couple of items in there. I was also able to add a few more things to the ever progressing manuscript. I cherish this moments when I leaf through the pages of my life plan, coz after realizing that I’m slowly getting there, I get a sense of calm deep within me.

As I celebrate a high point in my life, and after taking a moment to step back and look at the life that I have lived so far, my fears have abated because I know that although I am far from being able to say that I have lived my life to the fullest, I’m on my way there. As I look back, I also can’t help but be overwhelmed by gratitude for in the past 30 years of my life, I have received multitudes of blessings from my daddy God, blessings that I don’t deserve but were given to me just because he is him, my merciful Father. Then there is my honey, I can’t even imagine living my life without him for he is the kindest, most loving and ever supportive husband one could ever hope for. Of course, my little angel, the little one whose mere smile can turn my world upside down. Finally, my family and friends, who are always there no matter what.

It was indeed a glorious 30 years, I wouldn’t have lived my life any other way. Thank you daddy God for these years, and I’m looking forward to the next years to come!