daydream believer

What's up?

2013-04-24T22:19:00.002+04:00

I know, I've been neglecting you, blog. So sorry. Life happens...

Current obsessions:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/OpQFFLBMEPI

http://www.youtube.com/embed/JRfuAukYTKg

Current baby-isms:

"I'm not a princess! I'm a prince!"

"The king is coming!"

"Im not pretty. I'm maganda!" (sabay irap)

LOL.

So baby started with her swimming lessons along with two of her closest girl friends. She is also attending a hip-hop class twice a week. She still goes to nursery three times a week, every morning. Busy lang ang lola.

:)

2013-02-23T16:53:00.002+04:00

and suddenly it's 2013.

how have you been?

i thought i'd post my current favorite songs :)

pink - try
http://youtu.be/yTCDVfMz15M

swedish house mafia - don't you worry child
http://youtu.be/1y6smkh6c-0

pitbull & christina aguilera - feel this moment
http://youtu.be/QV0xSN46Pn4

rihanna -diamonds (in the sky)
http://youtu.be/5oGVd72e6Ro

david guetta - titanium vs the proclaimers - 500 miles
http://youtu.be/VYjZZ1fuXFY

xoxo

2012-12-02T16:37:00.003+04:00

my husband would love these :) his favorite characters clowning around.

kyot!

**

and i bet he would give this a thumbs-up too!

our cable provider suddenly stopped showing our beloved series for unknown reasons! grr. so pardon all these images if you don't get it. it's a withdrawal symptom.

check!

2012-11-25T20:38:00.001+04:00

our weeks of potty-training had paid off! yes, you read that correctly -weeks.i know some parents probably did it successfully in a few days, but our baby took her time.

it's been almost a week since she started going to the potty on her own, alerting us if she wants to make wee-wee.and it's the third day now that she's making poo-poo (sorry for the toddler language) in the toilet.oh we are so happy! she only wears nappies only at night now.oh, our baby is really growing up.

and just a snippet of our daily conversation:

me: baby, do you want to invite anyone to your party?
baby: yes, B-I-N-G-O! (as in spell out pa ha)
hahahaha! (For the clueless - Bingo is the dog's name in a popular nursery rhyme)

**

this is how i see my lil' one.kyot and feisty!

babyisms

2012-11-03T14:10:00.001+04:00

i think our baby is witty :-)

aunty j (looking at baby's watch): what time is it?
baby: time to go out!

**

me: please say pardon, instead of "what?"
baby: who is pardon?

**

and my favorite...

baby (to me): i want to love you.

**

awww...

baby's expressions

2012-09-15T21:37:00.001+04:00

i'm curious where baby is getting all her favorite expressions now.

just some examples:

oh my god
oh my dear
that's a good idea
(and my favorite) whoopsie daisy

it's just so cute hearing these from her!we are not a british household, and so baby must be getting these expressions from her nursery. or maybe from some of her playmates?

her playgroup is a mini united nations - an italian-filipino girl, two french girls, a canadian girl and a south korean boy. plus a bunch of kids coming from several arab countries like lebanon and syria.

she's already added the arabic slang words "shuhada" (in tagalog, ano ba yan? sorry, i can't find a proper english translation!) and "kalas" (finish) to her vocabulary.

and her deutsch has improved a lot after a month-long holiday in germany with oma and opa.

she still has to catch up with her filipino, though.

we have a linguist in the family, and we could not be any prouder!

things i'm grateful for: al ain!

2012-09-08T13:16:00.000+04:00

this year is a very busy one for my husband, so a staycation in the uae comes as a blessing for us.

it was sort of a pat-in-the-back gift for ourselves as we managed to keep the household sane as nanny went on three-week holiday.

so amidst summer camps, weather in the 40s, sicknesses, work duties, we emerged triumphant!

we got ourselves a good hotel deal, and off we went to al ain, an oasis in the desert.

it was a very-much needed boost.

don't you just love mini-holidays? they make you anticipate of lovelier things to come!

Never mock another person’s dreams...

2012-08-11T10:32:00.001+04:00

To do anything well, you must first care. Passionately. And be enthusiastic. Be hungry. Stay hungry. Be proactive. Do more than your job description. In fact, create your own job. Understand that receiving criticism is the quickest way to improve. And that sometimes being fired, or not getting what you want, is absolutely the best thing that could happen. Be a team player. Give credit where credit is due; ‘we’ is always stronger than ‘I’. But if something goes wrong, take responsibility, stand up and be counted. Love your life outside work – it’s the only way to stay sane, and that’s more important the higher up you go. Know your physical limits, but never stop dreaming. Never mock another person’s dreams. Don’t be a quitter. If you believe you can do something, you’ve already done the hard part. Be curious. Stay curious. Rules are overrated but respect is everything. Play for win/win scenarios. Don’t ask permission to succeed, just get on with it. If something hasn’t been done before, it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. In short, dream, believe, do! But be prepared to work bloody hard, over and above expectations. Never cheat. Don’t gossip. Have a moral code. Enjoy the ride. The aim is to screech to a halt when you finally get to those pearly gates and say wow, what a blast! Not oops, I forgot something.

-from the Editor's Letter (Elle Decoration UK)

precisely, ms. nora

2012-08-09T17:34:00.000+04:00

gratitude

2012-07-21T22:50:00.001+04:00

i have a lot of things to be grateful for today...

1. i was able to spend the day at ferrari world in abu dhabi with three dear friends without splashing a lot of moolah.don't hate us, but we were able to get in by paying 25 dirhams each (around 250 pesos). we paid for just 10% of the actual price which is at 250 dirhams (2,500 pesos)! really, really appreciated this promotion.

as a result of this, we were able to ride the world's fastest rollercoaster! more on that later :-)

2.free dinner! i got invited to a dinner which i readily accepted. it was at this asian-themed restaurant in dubai marina called chinese village.it was free because we used a lot of groupon vouchers :-) and oh, the food was great.

3.a pleasant brunch with my husband.there is this restaurant called thyme near to our place.we always passed by it, and we always said we would try it one day.so we had a chance to finally try it, and oh boy, were we pleasantly surprised! the interiors were great, the staff were friendly and the food was just right for a pleasant brunch.

4.hearing my baby's voice on the phone.she is in germany now for a holiday with her oma and opa.i felt a bit guilty when she started crying, but we don't really have a choice :-( it IS scorching hot in dubai now.talk about 40-50 degrees.baby is an outdoorsy girl, and she would just be miserable if she were here, stuck in our flat.at least in munich she can run around farms and parks, and improve on her deutsch :-)

that's why i can totally relate to this.

friday also marked the start of ramadan in the uae.here's a blessed ramadan to my muslim friends.

and to the universe, here's a little note for you :-)

2012-06-30T12:16:00.000+04:00

Some of Nora Ephron's Her Best Lines

by The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nora Ephron's characters were highly verbal and hyper-analytical. They had a head for the absurd and a heart for romance. But above all, they were funny.

The big New Year's Eve speech Crystal delivers to Ryan at the end of "When Harry Met Sally ...." This is vintage Ephron in a nutshell.

"I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

From 1998's "You've Got Mail," which Ephron wrote and directed, when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are walking through a farmer's market ruling out the people they won't date.

Hanks: "I could never be with someone who likes Joni Mitchell. 'It's clouds illusions I recall/I really don't know clouds at all.' What does that mean? Is she a pilot? Is she taking flying lessons? It must be a metaphor for something but I don't know what it is."

The last lines of "You've Got Mail," after all the gesturing and posturing, the sabotage and mistaken identity, they meet in Riverside Park and Ryan finally realizes that Hanks has been her secret email pal all along.

Hanks: "Don't cry, Shopgirl. Don't cry."

Ryan: "I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly."

From 1993's "Sleepless in Seattle," which Ephron also wrote and directed. Tom Hanks' son has called into a late-night talk radio show for him. As he explains what was so special about his late wife, Ryan is listening in her car across the country.

"Well, how long is your program? Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they just meant we were supposed to be together. And I knew it. And I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home, only to no home I'd ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like ... magic.

gratitude

2012-06-29T00:41:00.002+04:00

things i am grateful for today...

1. bubble baths

2. baby just finished her spring term at her nursery. her teacher sent us all her artworks that she had accumulated for the past three months. it's a delight perusing them!

3. kid-friendly brunches. we celebrated father's day with a family brunch in mazina at the address hotel in dubai marina. there were a lot of activities for the wee ones - face painting, nintendo gaming, bouncy castle jumping. there were also a variety of food choices, from asian to british fares. i am so thankful that we can enjoy this.

4. breakfasts where it is 40 degrees outside, but inside you get this view. whoa, thanks ski dubai!

these might be trivial for most of you, but i am really, really loving the universe now.

gratitude

2012-06-23T15:59:00.001+04:00

i've read somewhere that keeping a gratitude journal is one way to enrich one's life by appreciating what you have and by actually getting rid of envy as you are already grateful of what you have.

i am starting a gratitude list of three things i am grateful for. knowing myself i am not sure if i can keep this daily. when there is a boost of overwhelming gratitude, i will surely write my thank-you's to the higher-ups.

from the mundane to the huge ones, expect me to write them down! i actually had posts already tagged as "things i am grateful for," but these mostly focused on our trips together as a family and as a couple.

i'm hoping, though, that this will not just be a simple counting of blessings, but that this will make me appreciate life more, and be aware of the positive aspects in my life. the secret is in motion? :-)

so here goes...

things i am grateful for today...

1. i am grateful that mr t and i wake up to this amazing view everyday!

2. i am grateful that mr t only feeds us healthy stuff :-) he even makes an effort to decorate the food!

3. i am grateful that baby is thriving in our community.

***

so universe, here's a massive...

music

2012-06-22T22:30:00.000+04:00

i am in senti mode today.

and i also struck gold with finding these music gems.

this video is something that i wished i was part of. it's nostalgic, and it makes me want to go to the vatican again.

http://youtu.be/ghdmveZdhR0

i found this next video through tiborce's blog, and it makes me reminisce about my high school/college days. gawd, I miss my friends.

http://youtu.be/JocM61FVZy0

and this one makes me really, really wistful.

http://youtu.be/ldXFxtqKGmU

best lyrics ever.

so, so you think you can tell heaven from hell,
blue skies from pain.
can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
a smile from a veil?
do you think you can tell?
and did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
hot ashes for trees?
hot air for a cool breeze?
cold comfort for change?
and did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
how I wish, how I wish you were here.
we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
running over the same old ground.
what have you found? The same old fears.
wish you were here.

it's june!

2012-06-08T14:20:00.003+04:00

i can't believe it.it's already june, and i've just finished posting about our christmas holidays.

time does pass when you are a working mom. no offense to the sahm's, i know you are doing one heck of a job.and i salute you for that.but to each his own naman, di ba?

baby has started with nursery.and it is going ok,so far.at first she did not want to go and actually proclaimed she disliked it.but after two weeks,she suddenly decided she liked it.

her school reports are positively glowing with praises.so she must really love it, and we are not just imagining her love for education.

so far, she has become very chatty, bossy and mischievous.these are her favorite one-liners:

-bye, see you later!
-big one!
-i remember...
-i forgot... (lol)
-maybe
-carry! (she always wants to be carried by mr t)
-come here!
-go away!

she still scowls when getting her photos taken.she still likes carrots and apples.she still likes clothes with pockets.and oh, her favorite color is purple.

she's playing with her baby bitty doll now.yes, it's her first american girl doll.i had to ask a colleague to get it from new york.said colleague had to hand-carry it!

and don't even get me started when once upon a time, she found her favorite milk in tokyo.i had to browse countless of websites just to look for that brand again and email it to my japanese colleague.said colleague had to lug cans of japanese milk in his luggage.

she's so high-maintenance, and i love her so.

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011 and new year's 2012

2012-05-25T22:42:00.003+04:00

i'm very, very choosy when it comes to friends.that's why i only have a select few of them.they are the ones who have been with me through thick and thin (and i for them!), who know me inside out, who love me (i hope so!) warts and all.

so i also consider it a blessing that i get to "inherit" mr t's close friends. they are a lovely bunch of people, and although we may not speak the same language, our bond with mr t brings us closer together.

everytime we are in germany we always make sure we see them even for a few hours. we've already met with t and with f's family.i also got to meet k who seemed to be a very jolly guy.

on new year's day, we had cakes and cappucino at j and c's house, with m and i in attendance.

their house is close to a forest, and mr t, baby and i had a grand time doing a mini-walking tour through the woods at night.

the next day was our last day in munich.we were blessed with beautiful lights and the alps can even be seen from afar.

still my favorite german landmark, so far.

**

this trip is definitely one for the keeps.

and so, as always, here's a big hurrah to the universe for trips like this one.maraming salamat.

and syempre, here's wishing for more to come? yes?

things i'm grateful for: christmas 20121

2012-05-05T13:38:00.003+04:00

we have been to garmisch a few times before. i've written about it a lot of times, and i am going to write another post about it as i like that place so much!

baby's godmother, l, lives in garmisch so that's why we always have a reason to visit.
this is the view from l's apartment.

after some cheese (and wine? beer? tea?) i can't remember, we went to a snow-covered field. i can't barely contain my excitement as there was a promise of a snowman! baby would be delighted (or so i thought)!

looking at this photo sends me shivers!

we had a blast throwing snowballs.we tried making a snowman, but baby was just not into it. she was surprised by how cold it was, and she only enjoyed the snowy weather for some time.

mr snowman!

snowy field

l's neighbors

we left when it was almost dark, and we basked under the glow of garmisch's lights.

it was so lovely.

we got home just in time for new year's eve cheese fondue dinner.

welcoming the new year with your loved ones is indeed priceless.

we welcomed 2012 with open arms, grateful and happy...

next...last-minute visits!

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

2012-04-28T11:50:00.000+04:00

we are very thankful for the chance to see vienna in its christmas glory and to marvel at bratislava in its quirkiness, but it is always a blessing to come home to somewhere familiar...

we were back in munich spoilt by home-cooked food, all-around goodness...

and christmas cheer...

we visited friends and played in interesting-looking parks.

it was a great way to recharge our batteries.

you don't think we would be able to sit still, doncha?

our day-trip to garmisch...next!

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

2012-04-27T13:13:00.000+04:00

so...bratislava...

i'm still amazed at how much our little family had so much fun in this historical town.

we went inside a beautifully-decorated chapel

and saw a nativitity scene.

there was an ice skating rink

and some more chrismas stalls

we sat on one of these benches and just took in the fresh cool air while having yoghurt and some sweets.

novy bridge (at the right side of the photo) looks a bit weird amidst all the historical structures as it has like a flying-saucer hovering above it.

the danube river.

we can see bratislava castle from the bridge.

really, that ufo thing looks strange.

passing by a lot of beautiful sceneries on the way to the castle.

possibly one of the playgrounds with the best view ever. turn right and you have a castle,

turn left and you have an old town view.

the castle itself is simple.its shape looks like a four-poster bed.

view of the bridge from the hill.really, that bridge...

we ended our trip to bratislava by having a cup of coffee at this charming bistro.

wow, bratislava.you are definitely a revelation.

next...back to munich!

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

2012-04-26T21:37:00.001+04:00

who would have ever thought i would set foot in eastern europe? it seemed so far-fetched, but we did it. bratislava in slovakia is just an hour away by train from vienna. we took this opportunity as god knows when we would ever have this chance again.

we set off early.early being 930 in the morning.

baby got her first ever train ticket and it's now safely tucked in her baby book. it was not her first time to ride a train, but it was the first time that a train inspector actually took the trouble to hand out a kiddie train ticket.i took it as a good sign.

i still can't believe it - we were in slovakia!

this time mr t and i totally felt like tourists. baby and i stuck out like sore thumbs while mr t's german was of not use here.i remember that we just kept on walking...

and walking (if you have been following this blog, you would have noticed that we usually do a lot of walkings in our travels. it's because we (i) would usually forget the travel book we would regularly perused so many times before the actual trip. i think we just like getting lost and finding interesting places without actually having to follow a guide)...

until we saw this. we figured this was the town hall.

we edged closer, and look at what we saw!

changing of guards! look at them. they looked like toy soldiers. heh.

we saw a lot of old-fashioned trams!

thank god we saw this map! we realized bratislava was easy to navigate.

we saw a group of tourists heading north.so, yes, we followed them.

we reached this tower gate called michael tower, which has a 14th-century base, a 16th century top and an 18th-century steeple.kaya mo yan?

lots of quirky stuff on this cobble-stoned street.

but oh, it was so prettyyyy. we struck gold with the weather.

we passed by remnants of a christmas market.

baby had a blast running from one stall to the other.

meanwhile, i had a blast staring at this fountain

and at this cafe.look closer and you will see that it actually has two floors!

they seem to like strange-looking creatures over there.lol.

i love bratislava and its quirkiness! more of it...next!

just a li'l intermission

2012-04-20T20:22:00.001+04:00

50 reasons it's great to be a tourist (cnngo.com) by Duncan Forgan

If you hate them, you need to join them.

With their worldly sophistication, cheap fisherman pants and penchant for being smiley all the time, tourists are a much-hated group.

But before you laugh too hard at the lost look in their eyes, or mock too much the clattering chaos of their attempts to board the roof of a minibus with five bags and three cameras swinging from their torsos, understand this: they don’t care.

They’re having the time of their life. And we all know why. Being a tourist is awesome.

1: You get to go on and on and on about how amazing India/Paraguay/France is without actually having to live there.

2: You can eat like a feudal lord every night, and still lose weight from all the walking.

3: Whether you’re terrifying yourself on local transport or basting yourself in the sun next to a bag of beer, it beats what you’re friends are doing back home.

4: Freedom from the tyranny of socks.

5: The guilt attached to not utilizing your gym subscription is way less severe than it is back home.

6: You can ensure you return home looking svelte and lean by seeking out the town’s dirtiest street vendor on the penultimate night of the trip.

7: Visiting a foreign country is way more stimulating than staying at home all year. And if you don’t like it, you can at least sound exotic when you moan about it.

8: Cold beers on the beach/in a hammock/in bed/in a bar/on a road trip in the middle of the afternoon? Don’t mind if I do.

9: Breakfast buffets. Fresh fruit and muesli then hash browns and sausages then perhaps some blue cheese and ham. It doesn't make sense, but so what? You’re on holiday.

10: If you don’t like someone, you never have to speak to him/her again -- unlike the person who sits next to you at work.

11: Bringing home a tan and worldly knowledge is like dousing yourself in pheromones. Just be sure to cover up with mosquito spray, to avoid unsightly welts.

12: No matter how linguistically challenged you are, the words “beer,” “toilet” and “hotel” work nearly everywhere.

13: Getting drunk excused under the guise of “testing the merits of local brews over homogenous imports.”

14: It’s easy, in fact it’s imperative, to flick the off switch on the depressing news and awful TV shows that otherwise fill your life.

15: If you’ve got any sense, your destination of choice will be significantly cheaper than your own country.

16: If you look as if you’re going to spend some money, even locals who don’t like tourists will pretend they do.

17: You can finally finish that book you’ve been falling asleep with every night for the last three months.

18: You can bolster your social networking cred by Facebook-friending lots of exotic foreigners.

19: The weather. Even the rain seems somehow exotic when abroad.

20: The buzz you get walking around a new place knowing you're not at work is one of life’s greatest highs.

21: You can get a foot massage every day without anyone thinking you’re a fetishist.

22: You can finally wear those expensive sunglasses without fear of looking like a poser.

23: In fact, you can wear anything. Baggy Thai pants with a singlet? Go on, no one will bat an eyelid.

24: You can indulge passive-aggressive tendencies by posting lots of pictures on Facebook of yourself paragliding or surrounded by Hawaiian dancers or [insert jealousy-inducing image here].

25: You learn about the country you're visiting through experience, rather than National Geographic.

26: Stories about eating still-beating snake hearts and downing tequila straight from the bottle are pretty rock ‘n’ roll.

27: You finally get to use those foreign phrases you learned in junior school, like “Voulez vous couchez avec moi, s’il vous plaît?”

28: There’s a good chance you’ll be allowed to smoke cigarettes indoors.

29: Happy hour is actually worthwhile -- half-price drinks starting just before sunset and extending for at least two hours.

30: An afternoon siesta is not just acceptable, it's a necessity.

31: You get to try local specialities previously only seen on TV: balut (Philippines), fried monkey toes (Indonesia), tete de veau (calf’s head, France) and roasted ants (Columbia).

32. Those childish antics people get up to in pictures -- fingertips on the top of the Eiffel Tower, posing with fake gladiators at the Coliseum -- yep, you get to do them too now. Cool.

33: The lack of decent television channels in your mother tongue means you’ll have no choice but to go out and enjoy life.

34: Taking part in a drunken karaoke session becomes an appealing prospect.

35: The nearest you get to cooking is pointing at the fish you want grilled for your dinner.

36: You can slob out safe in the knowledge that someone else is getting paid to make everything spotless for you again the next day.

37: The local eye candy is exotic and different.

38: You get to mingle with a range of nationalities. Then escape them the next day.

39: Your sense of appreciation for your surroundings returns.

40: You get to buy silly hats, small plastic mementos and other ridiculous trinkets without guilt, because they were designed specifically for you.

41: With minimal effort -- such as sending a postcard -- you make your friends and relatives think you really care.

42: You can feign incomprehension when a suspicious taxi driver tries to convince you that a 10-minute journey really does cost US$75.

43: Those 1980s iPod playlists you compiled especially for the trip go down particularly well with others.

44: You get to mock other tourists who say things like, “By discovering the world, I am actually discovering myself.”

45: If you travel long enough, you get to say things like, “By discovering the world, I am actually discovering myself.”

46: Write something nice about a bar on TripAdvisor on your first night and you might never have to buy a drink for the rest of your stay.

47: Tanned fat looks better than pale fat.

48: You get to wantonly fritter away money with the sudden knowledge that experiences are so much more valuable than things.

49: Whether it’s sniffing out a great sunset spot or a backstreet bar or restaurant, there are always new discoveries on the horizon.

50: You can finally jettison your mobile phone and laptop without stress. Phileas Fogg wasn’t online for hours at a stretch every day and neither should you be.

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

2012-04-19T15:12:00.001+04:00

after a few hours of basically doing nothing at the cafe we ventured out to one of the most beautiful palaces i've ever seen - the schloss belvedere.

the gardens are amazing! just imagine this during springtime!

you can also look onto the city from the palace.

on the way to the castle...

belvedere was built for prince eugene of savoy in the 18th century. it is said to be one of the finest baroque palaces in the world.

i was falling in love with vienna by the minute.i wished we had more time to just explore the area!

it was already dark when we wemt back to our hotel, but it was also the best time to take photos of the city's christmas lights. what a delight!

the opera house

another christmas market!

we returned to stephansplatz where st stephen's cathedral is because it was just so pretty!

hats!

charming window displays!

and more christmas lights!

we heard mass at st stephen's cathedral. we did not get to finish it though as baby was getting restless.can you imagine, she was clapping everytime the priest finishes a mass song.hilarious! lol.

inside the cathedral...

outside...

vienna...i'm already missing you!

next...a day trip in bratislava!

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

2012-04-13T13:33:00.001+04:00

the next day we went to the kalke village where we saw the radical works of mr t's favorite artist - hundertwasser. there is a colorful block of flats that add so much character in the area.

even the interiors of the gift shop are oozing with character!

we saw a playground nearby and of course, baby could not resist it!

a museum of art fakes!

one could not go to vienna and not try to go to a coffee house!

we found cafe zartl by chance.it was cozy and charming.there were lots of locals around which is always a good sign.they were just hanging around, reading the newspaper, chatting in low voices. it was a perfect way for our little family to experience a typical local day in a vienna.

oh...

next...a beautiful palace and the lights of vienna!

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

2012-03-31T16:25:00.003+04:00

the adjoining schonbrunn gardens are arranged in french style. as we visited right smack in the start of winter, the shades were either in brown or grey. however i got enthralled of this seemingly sad combination of colors.

beautiful.

the gardens were arranged according to a grid and a star-shaped system.

guarding the gardens is the majestic gloriette.

gloriette offers the most amazing view of vienna.i was bursting with gratitude and love just by looking out at this vast horizon.for this wonderful view. for this opportunity. for the beauty in the world.and to be able to share this moment with my husband and daughter.amazing.i cannot say thank you to the universe enough.

well all these walking called for three hungry stomachs. we had coffee and at a cafe by the entrance of the castle.yum!

i dont know who this lady is, but i think she is a bit exposed noh? hee.

to cap off our christmas day celebration we headed off to the prater - the home of the riesenrad (ferris wheel) and amusement parks.

the giant ferris wheel is basically a viennese institution. we simply could not let the opportunity to ride it to pass us by!

there was a mini-museum called panorama at the ground floor where you can browse around while you wait for your turn to ride the ferris wheel.

cant wait to get in! even baby was super excited!

the view! fantastic!

the ferris wheel was built in 1887 by an englishman.

the whole ride took about 20 minutes. it was one of the best 20 minutes of our holiday.

one of the scarier rides at the amusement park.

prater at night...

a christmas japanese dinner in vienna. you can see a lot of contradictions in that phrase alone.haha.

next...more beautiful houses and palaces!

teehee

2012-03-30T23:33:00.000+04:00

i know, i just promised that i am going to post more updates.hopefully i can keep that promise!

we just got back from an amazing holiday in the philippines!

truly, it's more fun in the philippines nga!