Ibyang
Ibyang

The Married Life

Happy Australia Day!

It’s my first time to celebrate Australia Day as an Australian this year. My Husband and I stayed indoors today but we had sausages (for the first time at home) for lunch to honor the day.

Last week, we had a relaxing short summer/anniversary/birthday getaway. For a change, we decided to chose country areas to explore instead of a city where we usually end up exhausted from lots of walking around and shopping.


This recent 3-day road trip was a myriad of breathtaking sceneries: luscious forests, desert-like beaches at a park (take note: it was a park with a beach with desert-like sand! see photo above), pretty lighthouses and beautiful beaches.



It was such a great experience as we learned more beautiful places in this country–and there’s still a lot! So we’ll take it one travel at a time.
I’ll share more about the things we saw during our travel soon (I’m currently busy watching the Australian Open). In the meantime, I wish everyone had a fun-filled and safe Australia Day. To the rest of the world, hope you’re having a great week! Smile!
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20 Things That Made Me Say “Wow!” on Our Wedding Day

In celebration of our upcoming 3rd wedding anniversary on Wednesday, I hope you enjoy reminiscing with me as I look back on what happened on that fine, happy day I became a wife for life.

As a child, while most girls have theirs when they were kids, I never had a dream wedding. Bakit nga ba? I really don’t have a clue. On the day of our wedding, I woke up like a clean sheet of paper with no grand expectations of what will really transpire on our special day. I told myself I will just enjoy whatever the day brings me.

Instead of writing a blow by blow account of what happened during our wedding day, I’ve decided to write about the moments that made me say “Wow!” and made me realize that I was so blessed to have become a bride for a day and a wife for the rest of my life.

WOW #1: I WAS THE CALMEST BRIDE I COULD EVER BE.

I woke up at 6:30am feeling relaxed and refreshed with a total of 7 hours of sleep. I had a good night’s sleep which only showed that my nerves were calm and I was not anxious the night before.
During breakfast, I ate tons of food (try having buffet breakfast at Circles Shangri-la and i swear you would never want to leave until you can’t eat anymore) and enjoyed it with my family and Chris’ family. We were all in a happy mood and i think it helped that Chris and I were so relaxed that our families felt it too.
Amazingly, I was like that the whole day. I never got affected by anything around me. I knew that everything will be alright and if there was anything bad that could happen, my thought was “So what?” and I think what made me calm was that I was just peacefully happy…at tawa lang ako ng tawa the whole day.
When I saw the wedding photos submitted by our photographers, there were photos of me just making chismisan with our wedding team and watching them work.

WOW #2: PICTORIAL WITH MEL CORTEZ AND KIX TAVORA

I did not only have fun being photographed by two of the best photographers in the wedding industry BUT i got to enjoy taking photos WITH them. Hah! Oh ha? Saan ka nakakita ng bride na photographer pa =)
This was impromptu. At that time, I was only learning how to use a DSLR then but Chris sent the DSLR to my room (after breakfast, my couturier didn’t want us to see each other anymore) and so I was fortunate to take photographs too.
WOW #3: I WAS MADE TO BE A BRIDE
Wearing my gown made me realized one thing: that i was made to be a bride, that this day was meant to happen, that this was destined, that this was written in the stars at kung ano pang chuvanes dyan…basta when I saw myself in the mirror with my gown on–yun na!
WOW #4: MY BRIDAL WALK
The bridal walk was indeed one of the highlights of every wedding. And knowing that i will only walk once, I had to make it good =)
Funny/astig moment: while waiting for my turn to walk, Cecil’s (my couturier) two assistants were behind me with my train and asked “Ma’am, tulungan ka namin sa train mo hanggang sa makaayat ka sa entrance” and being the astig bride that I was (lakas talaga ng loob ko hehehe), i told them, “Wag na, ilatag nyo na lang ng maayos. Kaya ko to”. As in wow! it was a four meter train and I was at that time 41 kilos only…the train was a bit heavy but i wanted to walk in all the grace that I could muster.
Dramatic moment: All the elements were there: me in my white gown, the song “Come What May” when I entered the church, relatives and friends all smiling (some admitted that they were teary-eyed)…and when I reached the middle of the aisle, everyone clapped their hands. As in wow!!! Impact diba?
Touching moment: (1) Seeing my parents teary-eyed; my mom trying her best to not cry and my dad, I saw his contained emotion. (2) Seeing my mother-in-law crying (although I’m really wondering why she’s crying—tears of joy pala so she told me haha). (3) Seeing Chris about to cry (Hah! I saw that!) but he tried not to.
I admit, I almost cried too…out of sheer happiness. I was so touched to see so many people in the church. I’m so into that moment that i felt everyone’s love and joy for Chris and I. Believe it or not, it was not a blur. When I walked down the aisle, I saw everyone’s faces. I cherished every step that I made when I made that walk. I treasured the moment when i saw Chris’ face when he saw me, and like he said, it was the moment he had waited for.
WOW #5: THE HOMILY
Two things why I loved our homily: (1) The priest thanked us for believing in the sacrament of matrimony and (2) He left us with this advise: to always share and forgive.
WOW #6: RITE OF MARRIAGE and ANNOUNCEMENT THAT WE ARE MARRIED
Being blessed with the grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony –that is heaven! It is indeed true that all you need is each other and a priest and everything else is a bonus really.
No matter how open-minded I may be with how relationships go, when it comes to my relationship with someone whom I want to spend the rest of my life with, the only thing I want is that we do things in the right order and in the right time and I’m very glad that Chris wanted the same thing as well. Chris and I never took shortcuts when it came to our relationship. We knew that waiting for the right time and following a certain order, everything is worth all the sacrifices we made.

WOW #7: SIGNING OF CONTRACT
A proof that our marriage is legal and binding.
WOW #8: THE KISS
My most kilig wow!
WOW #9: PICTORIAL AS HUSBAND AND WIFE
An activity that we enjoyed so much. It gave us time to breathe in a way. Although it’s a bit tiring to smile and pose but still the time in between the church and reception party was the time that Chris and I were able to internalize that the church ceremony is over and that we are truly married.
WOW #10: GRAND ENTRANCE TO THE ROCKWELL TENT
Our wedding team transformed the Rockwell Tent into a spectacular venue. We loved it as soon as got in. And again, we were greeted with happy guests =)

WOW #11: AVPs FOR PARENTS AND FRIENDS
Decisive moments prepared two avps: (1) a tribute to our parents and (2) tribute to friends and photos taken during our pre-nuptial pictorial.
Our guests were entertained and some of them were touched coz they were in the AVP. I enjoyed it a lot…I was laughing while watching it coz Chris had some funny photos in it and it’s nice to see old photos that reminded us of happy memories.

WOW #12: OUR FIRST DANCE
This was my sweetest wow!  We danced to the song “Knocks Me Off My Feet”, Chris’ song for me and has become one of our songs.

WOW #13: THANK YOUs OF OUR PARENTS
It took a lot of courage for our parents to speak infront a lot of people and we were grateful that they were able to do it for us.
WOW #14: NINONG FERDIE’S AND NINANG JULIE’S SPEECHES
We were very grateful that two of the closest people to us said yes to our request for a speech. Our ninong’s and ninang’s words of wisdom will always be in mind in times of challenges in our lives.
WOW #15: MATRON and MAID OF HONOR’S and BEST MEN’S SPEECHES
These are the people that knew everything that Chris and I have gone thru in our relationship. We were touched by their speech and we’ll forever be grateful that they are always there for us.
WOW #17: ONSITE VIDEO AS GRAND FINALE
This was a big wow! To see what transpired during the hotel preps to the church ceremony is a gift to us and to our guests. chris and i were smiling up to our ears while watching our onsite video. A perfect way to end the program.

WOW #18: SURPRISE SONG FOR CHRIS
Since I moved to Sydney I never took care of my voice and I never practiced. But for the love of Chris, I knew in my heart that I’d have to sing him a song one last time before i really retire from singing. The song was “Valentine” (an original of Jim Brickman) and it was a song I chose because it simply describes what he is to me.
During the performance, i knew that my voice didn’t sound as great as before but other than that, it was really hard to sing when overwhelmed with emotions, I can’t even looked at Chris coz I was fighting the tears.
WOW #19: OUR THANK YOU SPEECH
It was during this time that i finally broke down and cried. Chris and i held on tight to each others’ hands for strength.
I had prepared a speech (a long one at that) but i wasn’t able to read it all. *sigh*. Nawala ang pagka-trainer ko dahil sa sobrang emosyon.

WOW #20: BACK TO OUR HOTEL FOR OUR REAL FIRST DINNER AS A COUPLE
We weren’t able to eat during the reception. I think I only had soup and drank lots of water. It was only in our hotel room that we were able to eat like pigs hehe.
While we ate, we talked about the day’s events and we’re very very happy to know that everything went well.

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Take A Walk With Me

When I moved here in Sydney and was nursing my broken heart from all the homesickness one migrant is plagued with, some Fridays I would go to some touristy place in the city to remind myself how lucky I am to be living here. I’d usually walk the streets of Circular Quay for a view of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge (para todo na sa pagka-touristy!) and whenever I’d see those amazing structures, my homesickness fades away. The lonely feelings turn into feelings of blessedness. As much as I love and miss my first home, I can never deny that this city, this country, is a beautiful place. And lonely or not, I will always be grateful for being here.

Nowadays, it is very seldom that bouts of homesickness strikes me. Nowadays, I walk along the streets of this city with just the need to explore and relax.

Today being a Friday is another one of those days when I walk around the metro. I started walking in the streets of George Street. First stop, St. Peter Julian’s Church.

First time to be here. I forgot to make three wishes. My mom always reminds me to make three wishes whenever it was our first time to visit a church. But then I realized, my prayer consisted of a lot of wishes, so I guess, I did more than three wishes.


From George Street, I made my way to Chinatown. I entered a building full of clothing boutiques that sells funky dresses, the ones we see actors and actresses wear in Asianovelas. Looked at the prices and some of them were a bit expensive.


When I got out of the building, I made my way to Darling Park. Great weather this afternoon. Thank goodness the sun came out as it was cloudy when we woke up this morning.


They’ve got a few rides for kids. The thing about places here in this country is that they make sure that there’s something for everyone. 

They even have these mini-trains around the Harbour for those who would like a tour or who are too tired to walk. I’ve never tried riding these trains. Since I live here, there are some things that I take for granted.


 This country has the bluest skies I’ve ever seen.

On days when it’s so hot, men take off their shirts. The women, they wear their bikinis. In public places, not just the beach. Very laidback and carefree.


Blue on blue. So beautiful, isn’t it? I just used my point and shoot Sony camera today and the photos turned out lovely. No tweaking done here, just resizing.


Since it was hot, I didn’t stay in the sun too long. I went inside Harbourside Mall to have a little bit of “me” time while waiting for the Husband to finish work.



I went around looking at bags, clothes, sunnies, shoes…stuff that a girl fancies. I almost bought a new pair of sunnies but can’t decide between two pairs I liked. Which one–the white or black?


Since I can’t decide, I didn’t buy any. But I was lucky enough to find boots on sale. It’s the best time to buy winter stuff these days because everything’s on sale. I bought two pairs (black and brown) because it was half the price each. I know it’s the same style but I don’t really care much for boots anyway. For me, the simpler, the better. As long as I’ve got boots to keep my feet warm during winter that’s fine with me. Plus, I need boots for our sweet November trip to *toooot*. Secret muna for now. 😛

When Husband arrived, we hung out at the Glue store because he needed a new pair of pants. All the pants there were on sale, 20% off. He was able to buy a new pair of Levi’s for a hundred dollars.


Ambushed photography while Chris was trying pants on hehe.

After that, we decided to go home. On our way out, we stopped by Movenpick Ice Cream because I wanted to try them. I had Hazelnut Ice Cream. It was delish.



HHWWEII = Holding hands while walking and eating ice cream. 🙂 Such a relaxing and peaceful afternoon at the Darling Harbour today. Love it!

Sunset today was 8:10PM so when we arrived home, the sun was still shining, the skies blue as these flowers welcomed us home.



Thanks for walking with me…happy weekend!

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One Last Coffee Date at Starbucks Before 2009 Ends

Went to see some friends this afternoon and on our way home, I told the Husband I’ll treat him Starbucks. My ulterior motive was to have a cup of Toffee Nut Latte as I’ve been craving for weeks now. The last time I had Toffee Nut was on the last day of November. I feel like I haven’t fully maximized drinking Toffee Nut this year coz I’ve been on house arrest (due to my recuperation chuva) for three weeks. And also, I wanted us to celebrate coz we finished one big project (a family portrait shoot) we’ve been working on for the past few days.

So here we are at Starbucks.

I had a Toffee Nut Latte…

while the Husband had Mocha Frapuccino.

We brought our cameras with us and played a bit.

We also talked about the things that we want to happen for us next year–family goals and personal goals. As the new year unfolds, we have this kind of talk always. As partners, we think it’s important that we know what each of us wants/needs to happen, places we’d like to go to, projects we’d like to be a part of and things we want to buy. It doesn’t have to be concrete. The important thing is we have made each other aware of our goals so that for the big things, we can plan accordingly. So far, our 2010 looks very promising.

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