Wayback Wednesday Post: The Best is Yet To Come

Always remember that your pain today becomes your strength tomorrow.

In six words: The best is yet to come.

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#waybackwednesday
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“Cheers to life. Cheers to everyday.”

The most memorable moment with my child was during our Boracay family trip last year.

It’s not the destination but it’s how we made everything in that destination special.

Every single day is memorable because I choose it to be one to be able to live life to the fullest. The Boracay trip was one for the books because it’s not everyday that my family and I get to enjoy the beautiful island. We had different activities during our 3-day trip. We walked endlessly while looking for places to eat, to enjoy the sea shore, to burn calories (from station 3 to station 1), and to just walk hand in hand.

What made it memorable?

The sweetness in his smile.

He enjoyed the fish spa that he had. It was his first time to experience it and he ended up giggling because the fish spa tickled his feet.

The “ Mommy, let’s do this again” statement.

He said that when he laid on the sand to play. I found that statement truly memorable because he was so much in the moment that he wanted to experience it again.

The "Wow" moment.

My son Gavin is so much fascinated with sea creatures. He likes it when he gets to see these creatures in real life. We brought him to a hotel where these sea creatures come to life. 

Swim, swim, and more swim

Swimming made the memorable package so much exciting. 

Beach swimming? Check! 

Swimming pool? Check! 

He loves to swim. I can say that this was the highlight of the Boracay trip. Cheers to swimming!

The essence of family in this Boracay trip

What made the whole trip most memorable was the precious time we spent with him. I made sure that all activities were planned accordingly. My goal was that he gets to see different places in Boracay in which he did not see the first time he was there. 

Lastly and most importantly, I listened to him with all my mommy heart during the trip. 

Cheers to a happy and memorable moment we had. 

For every special moments like this and birthday parties for my Gavin, I make sure that we use Cheers table napkins to complete the occasion. This has been a staple in our household  especially during parties and out of town trips because of  its quality.

Photo Credit: Nuffnang PH

The Beauty of Coron, Palawan

It's Thursday and I start my Thursday with a little throwback. It relaxes me. It brings me beautiful memories. I was going over my writing files and I chanced upon an essay that I did for a colleague. Coincidentally, everything that I wrote there became a reality this year when my family and I had a memorable vacation in Coron, Palawan. I wrote the essay back in 2015 and I did a little editing on this. This essay perfectly fits what I've experienced in Smith Point White Beach, Coron. 

 I am now basking in the sun under these fluffy clouds while I watch silently the picturesque sight of this island. The clouds look like a painting from a distance bursting with shades of blue and white. It’s been only a few minutes but it feels like a paradise experience is coming to life in which I gladly savoured. I wish this attachment with the sun, sea and sand would never end.

Out of the many spectacular islands in this province, this place attracted me to come back to create awesome memories once again. The pristine waters have been whispering me to take a dip and lose myself in the coldness it will bring to my body. I told myself that maybe in a bit I will give in. I am still in awe watching the soft crash of waves dance in front of me while my bare feet enjoy the dry powdery sand as if I am having a foot scrub. I could do this everyday. As I close my eyes and ponder, I know I made the right choice and all I need to do now is savour this fleeting moment and create a brief relationship with the calm wind, glaring sun and gentle sea. I could only hear the whispers of the wind as it blows my hair in different direction. I love this natural blow dry it does to my hair. I opened my eyes and decided to walk in the shore to and let the waves touch my sand scrubbed feet. It feels refreshing as the first waves gently touched my feet.

As I walk this lovely and clean shore, I passed by different shapes of shell scattered all over the white sandy place. They looked like ornaments in this vast nature living room. In no particular order, they shined like diamonds and completed the whole paradise setting. I picked up five pieces just to keep me company in this walk in the shore. I told them “You are my new found friends” but decided as well to return them after my little journey in the shore. They all appeared immaculately white. It could be the waves giving them a bath all the time. There were also small stones scattered which I think compliments the beauty of the shells. As I walk further, I can see the swaying trees nearby as if giving me a warm welcome. The slippery sand rubbed its way to scrub more my feet and this is way better than the dry powdery sand scrub earlier. I let it for a couple of minutes as I reach the end of the island. I took a deep breath and smelled the freshness of the sea and the wind. Calming and relaxing were the perfect words that came to my mind. I decided to go back to where I started and when I reached the starting point, I took off my cover up and decided to swim. The temperature was perfect. It’s like a different world and it looked peaceful. I decided to leave the peaceful water and go back to the resort to know if the buffet lunch is already prepared.

Back then, I had no idea what time is it because I intentionally did not bring my watch for relaxing purposes. I just want to let the time slowly pass by. I didn't want any alarm or the idea of looking at my watch to know if it’s time to eat. I guess I wanted an element of mystery for myself to know what time is it by just looking at the sun. When I knew that it was time to eat, I put on my cover up and walked towards the buffet area with my family. 

Happiness greeted me. Delectable is an understatement.

I missed the opportunity to take picture of the other bountiful lunch food that we devoured. This lunch experience in this island is one for the books. It completed the whole memorable vacation. 

If there's a chance to experience this again, I would take it wholeheartedly. I would always remember that one afternoon, I had the luxury of interacting with the wind, beach, sand, shells, and sun. Priceless.

Design Your Health 2016

Inviting everyone to this upcoming beautiful event entitled " Design Your Health 2016". Join me and other speakers as we contribute to your wellness and mental journey. I am grateful to Unilab Foundation and Manila Workshop for this wonderful opportunity to share to people what I know and what I've learned in Personality Development. I am excited to learn from different speakers as well. 


From Manila Workshop:

• Design Your Health 2016
  October 8, 2016 - October 9, 2016
  10:00 am - 8:00 pm
  
  

Be part of the first Health and Wellness Fair this October!

Design Your Health is a 2-day holistic health and wellness fair that aims to promote holistically healthy lifestyle. It showcases the importance of your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual activities that affect the overall design of your health and well-being. Aimed towards entrepreneurial moms, young professionals, and health-conscious consumers, Design Your Health proposes a unique approach to wellness. Attendees and participants will be treated to a healthy mixture of stores, workshops, clinics, and talks that introduce and showcase a holistically healthy lifestyle.

It’s happening this October 8 and 9, 2016 at the Mandala Park, Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.

The event will feature 50 bazaar exhibitors: workshops on arts, fitness and entrepreneurship; and talks by experts on health and wellness.

Design Your Health is brought to you by Unilab Foundation. All proceeds of the fair will go fund the health programs of Unilab Foundation particularly on kids’ nutrition, therapeutic and developmental play for children, and employment of persons with disabilities.

For more information, visit
http://manilaworkshops.com/events/design-your-health-2016

Who Am I and What I've Learned from the Old Refrigerator

Image from this link, credit to the owner

This reminds me to take a picture of our old refrigerator

When I was six years old, my sister and I were playing hide and seek but in a different setting. We own an old refrigerator that was not in use that time and we took advantage of it while our mum was doing the laundry outside our house. The refrigerator being an old one is not the usual type where you will just open it freely, this oldie has a push button (a hard one by the way) to open it. The game began when I told my 2 year old sister to close the refrigerator and open it after. Back then, I would like to experience how it feels inside a refrigerator. I did. I certainly did. I wasn’t able to breathe properly and I began shouting to my sister to open the door. The thing is, a 2 year old can’t open that door because the push button was hard to reach. I kept on shouting and fighting for my life. It wasn’t the way I planned our hide and seek. Finally, my mum heard me from afar and saved my life. I would always remember this experience not because I would remember how I almost died inside a refrigerator but the lessons it taught me after my realizations on it. First, is to live life to the fullest and second is always expect the unexpected.

I live life to the fullest by going after my passions in life and they are writing essays and my thoughts, training people, and doing creative stuff that makes me happy. I used to blog back from 2006- 2013 (an on and off thing because of work) and came back to blogging in 2014 as a momma blogger. I maybe in blog hiatus right now but my love for writing will never change.

I am a Learning and Development freelance trainer and have been doing this for the last five years. Learning for me is a continuous and beautiful journey. I love delivering Personality Development training where I talk about the ABC of image, dress codes, grooming, and make up.

It gives me a happy feeling doing creative stuff like event styling, table setting, journal designing, and event planning.

When I say expect the unexpected, it doesn’t mean being negative but having a solid plan when things doesn’t turn out the way you planned it so you can bounce back when it happens.

On a lighter note, I am foodie at heart. I love trying out restaurants of all kinds. I love discovering new places in the metro and provinces.

The oldie refrigerator is still alive and kicking in my parent’s house. It always reminds me of the lessons learned from that hide and seek game we had one afternoon.