Junior Then and Now

Found from the web a high school class picture of my dad from Ateneo De Naga. It was so funny to see my dad so ugly in high school! Hahaha. Couldn't imagine he looked like that and turned out to be my handsome Papa now. Hehe.

Josef's Portfolio

again, being a proud ate, i've dug my brother's portfolio and posted excerpts here. this is the one he submitted to ad agencies when he was applying for OJT. he got accepted at 5 but chose only these 2: Publicis (P&G's ad agency) and Y&R. the good thing is he got paid P250/day for these internships aside from learning valuable things he'll be able to use once he starts in the real world. btw, of these artworks and those i posted in a previous album, he got paid for them, too. and he gives our mom 20% for every earning he gets, even though we never told him to kasi naman kaya nga he's doing commission work is for his own money because the allowance i give to him is just enough for food and transpo. kaya we feel really blessed na on his own, he's giving a percentage of his earnings na kahit student pa lang sya. =)

.... i swear i'll kill whoever tells him that i posted these here!!! =P                                             

Wella Photo Shoot

My bosses asked me to take picture of our new Wella Team for our upcoming Wella Business launch. This is, by far, the most enjoyable work they've given me. Here are the pics. =)

Animated Yava

This is what you get when you have artists as parents. Pwede nilang gaguhin ang baby pictures mo. Hahaha. Animation done by Sajico, Yava's mommy. =)

Papa's 62nd Birthday

Papa's birthday celebration last Friday with our whole family. I think my father's greatest gift this year is his granddaughter who enjoys him as much as he enjoys her. Yava's morning routine would always be talking to my father and Papa is the only one in the family who could make her laugh so loud. I'm glad my dad now has his 2nd girl to cheer him up everyday while I'm far from him. In a conceited daughter manner, I would say my dad is enamoured by Yava because she looks like me! Hahaha. =)

A Day At The Spa

A friend of mine gave me and Miguel a full-day spa voucher and a free full-course meal at the spa's cafe as a late wedding gift. I was already grateful enough to be getting a free massage in this expensive city but was ecstatic it turned out to be in a luxurious spa. Even Miguel, who usually doesn't enjoy spas, was so amazed with this one and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Pls bear with the extremely crappy picture quality of my Nokia phone.

Little Tintin's Visit to the Doctor

My niece, Yavanna's, monthly check-up yesterday when she turned 3 months old. Her doctor was my doctor when I was a baby, and this very, very nice lady doctor is now 81 years old! Amazing, right? She's now doing these check-ups to keep her busy but not charging any of her patients anymore so imagine her paying for her clinic's rent and staff's salary from her own pocket. Now that's what you call passion!

I Miss My Family!!!

i miss them all so much!!!

Mama sent some pics of the gathering last Sunday for Lola's 90th and Tita Loleng's 63rd Birthdays. It made me miss my family so much! I wish I was back in the Philippines right now! =(

Baby Fats

I don't know what they're doing to my niece but each time they send me her pics, she just gets fatter and fatter! Sabi ng kapatid ko kulang daw budget nya pambili gatas ni Yava so she is, most of the time, being breastfed by Sajico. Grabe naman ang lusog ng pamangkin ko because of breastmilk! Hahaha.

Bebe La Moi

still at our old house in Antipolo

Since Miguel is so curious how I look like as a kid and my brother still don't want to believe his daughter looks like me, I asked my mom to scan my pics when I was young.

Another Weekend at Melbourne

Visited my cousin and her family again at Melbourne for 3 days. Didn't go around much as last time since a lot of parts of Melbourne are still in smoke due to the bushfires. So just did a lot of shopping since Melbourne is the Fashion Capital of Australia! And Ate Rae & Kuya Elmer brought me to this very very good buffet restaurant -- so yummy!!! Really enjoyed all the bonding sessions with my cousin and nephews. =)

Yavanna Cabana

pics again of my niece. my brother sends them to me regularly and it makes me want more to go home and see her! and because of this, i keep buying stuffs for her from here. mas madami pa kong na-shopping for her than myself here. hahaha.

Blue Mountains

Last weekend, we went to one of Sydney's prime tourist spots. Okay, the mountains are not actually blue, but, the trees here release eucalyptus haze so the surroundings all look blue from afar.

TGIF

For the last Friday night of Summer, went to The Ranch for drinks with colleagues from here. Pictures taken at almost 8pm yet sun is still bright. Haha. This week is start of Autumn so we're now in for a cooler weather and shorter daytime. Autumn = <3!

Wella Bella

Since I'm here for Wella Project, have been going around showroom and salons this week. It was fun being away from the office for several days, going to every part of Sydney, and meeting customers who are artistic and funny people. Pictures below by my officemate and are supposedly confidential. Hehehe.

Sydney Revisited

First week's activities here in Sydney. Really enjoyed coming back to this beautiful, beautiful place. It's no wonder this city is named Best City in the World for the past 2 consecutive years. Ang hindi ko lang ma-gets sa mga kasama ko, sa kaganda-ganda ng lugar na to, ang hilig hilig bumalik sa Chinatown which is ang pinakamaduming part ng Sydney, IMO. Anyway, here are pics of our 1st week here.

Yavanna 2

latest pics of my niece. my brother just takes crappy pics.

Memento

A pic to make me remember, for the 2 months I'll be away, the 2 cutest people in Singapore for me -- Miguel and Stefi! Hehe. Taken by Kuya Glenn yesterday.

And an excerpt from the conversation with my mom this morning regarding this pic, to further feed Miguel's vanity. Hahaha.

Kristina: gwapo ni miguel sa shirt nya noh? sale yan sa giordano factory outlet store dito malapit sa amin. buti nabili ko, 1 piece na lang natira sa size na yan.
Mama: oo nga, maski ano naman suot ni miguel, kitang guapo nya.
Kristina: bagay ata tlaga kay miguel un white kasi mas gwapo sya pag puti suot nya
Mama: i agree, naalala ko na masyado nakita kaguapuhan nya nung nag-lunch kayo sa megamall basement where i ate in different resto, nung dumating kayo nka-white polo cia he wore in his san miguel training labas sobra pgkaguapo nya dun.

Open Your Eyes guitar

Since he keeps promoting it in all his sites, maipromote na rin nga dito. My brother playing the guitar in a vid he posted in youtube. An Ate's yabang moment: he never had any guitar lesson in his life, everything is self-learned from books and internet. Hehe. He's the type of person na pag may narinig na kanta nun bata pa sya, he could play it in the keyboards afterwards (since keyboard un binili sa kanya nun bata-bata pa sya). Erm, wala din nagturo sa kanya sa keyboards nun. He just learned the notes by listening to each of the keys' tune. He now has his own college band and plays in UP Diliman's events, where he's also majoring in Fine Arts. =) Di ko lang nga trip un mga songs na trip nya tugtugin. Hahaha.

His artworks naman are here: http://meyli888.multiply.com/photos/album/31/My_Shotis_Artworks

Velasquez CNY Trip

Click 'Zoom In' to save pictures in original size. Sorry, 1st time kong nagamit un phone camera ko sa low lighting kaya hindi clear un mga kuha dun sa makulimlim na time sa Vivo.

Family Holiday Celebration

Our usual New Year's family gathering with my most loved people in my life! This family is the reason why I am always homesick and longing to be back in the Philippines. What I love about my big family is that no matter what happens, we have always stuck together. Kahit pa nagkakasigawan and nagkakamurahan yan (as they are the emotional and violent type), just give them a few weeks' space then they'd patch things together and all the hatred would be bygones. No one holds grudges against each other, despite the really grave offenses some might bring to others (that really are unthinkable already to other people). It's nice that we remain a strongly-intact family that sincerely loves & cares for each other. And since I was a kid, I've always been comforted to know that whatever happens, I have this family who will fight for me to death.

Someday, when I have my own children, I will definitely return to the Philippines so that my kids can grow up with my big family and enjoy growing up with their cousins and loving them as own siblings, and have a super happy childhood like I did.

Girls Night Out (16 Jan 09)

@Boat Quay. Maganda pala mag-dinner dito! =) I would usually have dinner nights once a month with my close friends from P&G and are ex-P&Gers. Would not be seeing them for the next 2 months that's why we took more pictures than usual.

Yavanna

Updated 19/01/09.
First pic of my niece, Yavanna. Sabi ni Mama, aside from the nose na nakuha nya sa nanay nya, kamukha ko daw nun baby ako! Hehe. Kaya lang it shattered my dad's dream of having all his descendants na matangos ang ilong. Haha, unang apo nya pa naman. And my mom said she has so much hair already and ang kapal like I had when I was born. Hahaha kay Ahia, ako un kamukha ng anak nya. =P