Milestones

Annyeong haseyo!!!!


Greetings from the land of happy, friendly and kimchi-loving people. My Husband and I are taking a quick break from our Manila vaycay to explore the streets of Seoul, Korea.

Seoul
SPRING IN SEOUL.  We thought we were too late to see the Cherry Blossoms but lucky that some trees are still abloom.



We’ve been exploring places, eating Korean cuisine, doing a bit of shopping, exchanging friendly banter with locals (despite our little knowledge of their language), getting lost and finding unexpected gems along the way.


The city is still cold even if it’s already Springtime but we feel a warmth while we are here. A city so charming and peaceful, we are wanting to go back and we haven’t even left yet.



Seoul
CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN THE STREETS OF HONGDAE


Seoul
KOREAN BBQ! Our first dinner in Seoul was at a Korean BBQ restaurant that didn’t have any menu.  


Seoul
YEOUIDO PARK


Seoul
THE TEDDY BEAR PRINCE!!! The bears seen in the Koreanovela “Princess Hours” can be  found in the TEDDY BEAR MUSEUM.


Seoul
N SEOUL TOWER



Every night inside our hotel room, we have a cup of tea while we look outside our window and watch Seoul in amazement. We realize how blessed we are to be here, to be together, to be sharing an adventure of a lifetime.

Follow ibyang on Twitter

It’s good to be back on familiar grounds.  It’s awesome to be welcomed by one of the best sunsets in the world–Manila sunset.  It’s wonderful to be surrounded by family and friends whom we grew up with.

It’s great to be HOME again.

Arrived in Manila, 30 March 2011, 6:00pm

The Husband and I arrived in Manila two days ago and we are very, very, elated to be here.  It’s been four long years since we’ve been here and we are discovering and exploring Manila like it’s the first time.  So many things have changed here and we are embracing and cherishing every moment.

-o0o0o-
Just a few things:
My Blogmates:  I will be keeping this blog as up-to-date as possible but I may not be able to reply to comments or visit you back.  Thank you for always checking in and reading my stories.  I will drop you a line in May.
Our Friends:  We have your contact details and we will get in touch with you in the coming days for meetups.  I’m still dazed and overwhelmed by just being here (at medyo nahihilo pa ako) so I’m taking it one day step at a time. 
Everyone:  I’m constantly updating my Twitter Page http://twitter.com/ibyang – this is where I relate my vaycay adventures and discoveries.  This is where I also share photos from time to time.  If you have a twitter account and would like to join me in my journey, please follow me.  If you don’t have a twitter account, you can just bookmark my twitter page. 
Happy 1st day of April!  Sending you happy vibes today!

We didn’t know we would end up here.
 
We didn’t know that we’d complement each other.
 

We didn’t know that we would make a good team.

We didn’t know that we would have enormous mutual respect towards each other.

We didn’t know we’d have this much fun! 

We didn’t know that we would share each other’s passion and be other’s champion.
 
We didn’t know that we would become the best of friends.

We didn’t know that we would end up being together.  For the rest of our lives.

Ten years ago, we met and our lives changed.  Four years ago, we took that biggest leap of faith and said “We do”.  Today, we still know not a lot of things.  Most times, we still take each other by surprise! 

But some things are certain….
that we will always make each other laugh
that we are each other’s confidante no matter what
that I’ve got his back and he’s got mine
that we will never get tired of holding hands
that we never like complications
that we find joy in the simplest of things
that we love each other…truly, madly, deeply.

To my dear Husband, thank you for four wonderful years of good-sweet-lovin’.  I love being married to you!

My 2010 was a good year.  Not spectacular, not as I what I hoped it would be but it was good to me.  It was year of extremes—moments that brought me enormous joy and moments that gave me so much heartache.  The challenges that 2010 faced with me with situations that resulted to an imbalance in my world.  Lots of times, I lost my sense of equilibrium.  If not for my faith in God, a sunny disposition and support from loved ones, I would have never surpassed this year.

2010 rocked my world!  My phrase for 2010 was, “STEP UP!”  I learned that challenges are a means for breakthroughs to happen in my life.  The difficult moments of 2010 gave me a chance to find my centre and learn that I have the capacity to step up and do more than what I can do.  In 2010, I have learned to use whatever negativity happening in my world to motivate good actions.  I have also learned to be more humble and accept that some things are meant to happen in order to make me a better person. 

last sunset of 2010


Some 2010 Highlights:

Reunions and Meet-ups: My Mom visited us last year.  Our friends Jeanny and Agnes visited Sydney.  Our Melbourne trips gave us the chance to be with friends Dith and Lui.  Chris’ College friend, Jemma, migrated to Sydney and we were able to spend time with her.

Photography:  We were able to cover several events and engage in photoshoots last year.  This is something we wish we could do more but time is always a concern because we have a 9 to 5 job that needs to be prioritized.  Last year though, I realized that photography is something I would really love to do in the future.  I see myself having a real career in photography giv
en the right time and opportunity.

Blogging:  2010 was a good year for “A Wife’s Charmed Life ” (AWCL).  In 2010, AWCL was recognized as a food blog and was finally granted a Page Rank of 3.  A great milestone for the blog and a huge source of happiness for me.  AWCL has also increased in readership and I have received lots of appreciation from readers (turned online buddies) and loved ones.  I’m very thankful for all the comments, feedback and suggestions for AWCL.  I’m doubly thankful to everyone who take time to read what I share here.  Your time is precious and I value the time that you spend here.

Writing:  I never dreamed of writing for a newspaper but last year, I was gifted with a column of my own in a
Filipino publication called “Ang Kalatas”.  This blessing has given me the opportunity to improve my craft in writing, learn new things and meet new friends. 

Career:  The big bulk of my 2010 was work.  Last year, I had to give up a lot of my time for photography and blogging, even sacrifice time for myself and family, just to give more attention to my job.  Work has taught me to step up and get out of my comfort zone.  I think 2011 will still be busy but I hope and pray that things at the office will be a bit more stable than what it was last year.

Health:  I gained weight last year…and no it wasn’t because I ate too much (hehe).  Due to my surgery in December 2009, I had to fully recover from that.  While I was able to do physical activities and even served time at the gym for a while during 2nd quarter of 2010, I still felt pain.  So I had to minimize doing physical exercises and followed my mom’s advice to wait a year.  True enough, after Christmas, I tried doing my usual exercises and the pain was gone.  One of my immediate goals for 2011 is to get rid of the kilos I gained from being inactive.

A challenging and humbling 2010, I’m grateful to you nonetheless for the many blessings you brought me and my family.    Thank you dear God.  Thank you, universe.  May 2011 be a kinder and better year to us all.

There are so many things to be grateful for since I moved here in Sydney.  Last month, I celebrated my 5th Sydney-versary and although I nearly forgot about it, in my heart, I’m celebrating the blessing of being here.

Living here has given me the opportunity to explore interests I never thought I would have time for like blogging and photography.  Never in my wildest dreams that I thought I’d be able to develop a website, share my stories and photographs and find friends in the blogosphere.  From the time I started “A Wife’s Charmed Life” it has grown immensely and I’m so grateful to everyone who has supported me and my site.

In September, I received an invitation to write for a community-based newspaper for Filipinos living in New South Wales called “Ang Kalatas“.  The publisher found me thru “A Wife’s Charmed Life” and had taken interest on the things I share online.  After a few exchanges of emails, I was IN!

While I only started blogging just to update my parents and friends back in the Philippines, as the years go by, the passion to share information became my motivation in maintaining my site.  I figured that being part of “Ang Kalatas” is an opportunity and a blessing to be of service to Filipinos here. 

For the second issue of “Ang Kalatas”, my column “Life Down Under” ran its debut article entitled “Making This Home Too“.  Seeing my first ever published article in print was like “Wow!”.  Until now I still cannot describe how elated I am with the birth of my “new baby”.

Ang Kalatas (Vol.1 No.2)

Ang Kalatas (Vol.1 No.2) Life Down Under

Ang Kalatas” has a website http://www.kalatas.com.au and you can subscribe to us by entering your email address on the right side portion of the webpage. 

If you want to read my article, the online equivalent is HERE.

I have shared this news in my FB, twitter & plurk and I’m truly grateful to everyone who congratulated me, took time to read the article and leave sweet messages on my wall.  It was also nice to hear from friends who migrated to other countries that they can relate to my article. 

Maraming maraming salamat po!

Know more about “Ang Kalatas” by clicking this.