He’s a bit of a nightmare to buy presents for because he’s not really very decisive when asked what he wants. I was this close to just getting him a new pair of Sennheiser studio headphones because his old ones are starting to look distinctly woebegone, but – surprise, surprise! – he actually wanted something specific this year: AppleCare for his Macbook Pro. With this being about $250 on average, I probably shouldn’t have asked. La dee da.

Anyhow, we had a pretty low-key celebration. I had a voucher for an overnight stay in Shangri-La Mactan with a buffet dinner for two, so I figured there was no better time to use it. We got upgraded to a fantastic room in the Ocean Wing, and my, oh my, was it swanky! We spent an entire day snorkeling and kayaking, and it was bliss. We were very, very impressed with how well Shangri-La takes care of its marine sanctuary, as a matter of fact. It would be great if more big resorts would do the same.

It was a great birthday, and a great end to the most uncomfortably hot summer I can remember. For now, I leave you with Instagram pictures!

I blame social media. In fact, I’m taking inventory of my arsenal of social media accounts right now, and I’m ashamed to say that I have reached alarming hipster levels. You name it, I probably have it.

They’re just making it so easy. On average, I can tweet in about 30 seconds flat. On Instagram, I can take pseudo-artsy photos of everything from my cat to, I don’t know, medical carts; add a quippy line or two; et voila! People know what I’m thinking. Now, compare that to blogging. I’m a ridiculously slow writer (these days), and it’ll probably take me an hour or so to craft a semi-decent blogpost. And with me constantly drowning in work, I hardly ever have the luxury of time to hunker down and blog.

I don’t want to stop blogging, though. Or more accurately, I don’t want to stop writing. So I’ll keep trying to, whenever I do have enough moments to spare, such as now.

And in between those moments, there’s always Instagram. So follow me (username: irisgodd3ss) for a shitload of cat photos (and a few cakes, if you’re lucky).

The next few months had me moaning to anyone who’d listen about how much I craved – no, desired – red velvet cupcakes, but couldn’t find any in my city. My craving got so bad that I took to lamenting over the absence of red velvet goodness in my life on Twitter where the ever-so-pretty-and-seriously-awesome Kaith put me out of my misery by telling me exactly where to get ‘em. And that’s how I found The Cupcake Theory.

There are very few things that would compel me to leave my bed on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and apparently, cupcakes are among those things. I ordered a dozen red velvet cupcakes for P480 to split with The Sister and The Bestie (who just had a baby literally over the weekend), and now I regret it. I should’ve ordered two [dozen], or kept them all to myself (evil laugh) because as it turned out, 4 cupcakes are just not enough. They were so scarily good that I swear, I went into spasms.

Mind you, I’ve been so great at sticking to my diet the past month or so. Eating 3 cupcakes in less than 24 hours is not good, not good at all. At this rate, I might need to bust out the yoga pants again.

As of this writing, I’m down to my last red velvet cupcake. And believe you me, it is as sad as it sounds. I mean, look at it!

The Husband just tried to nick it, and I ended up clinging to his leg like a child before I fell on his badly injured big toe. Which, by the way, he had to go to the E.R. for yesterday after a little accident with our gate. So much drama for a cupcake, I know. But if that isn’t proof of how good this cupcake is, I don’t know what is.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go plop down on the couch, put on Game of Thrones on the PS3, and eat my last cupcake. Envy me.

Thighs. ❤❤❤

My nephew is a little ball of fun, is he not? He’s just a little over 4 months shy of his third birthday, but he already looks like a six-year-old. He’s smart, funny, and so precocious that it is impossible not to love him. I adore him so!

Obviously, he’s quite the movie buff. His mum managed to take these most of these photos when he wasn’t looking. Wouldn’t they make fun invitationbox.com holiday photo cards? I bet his Nana (grandma) would think so!

Auntie loves you, Xabier! ❤❤❤

First Stop, Kota Kinabalu!

As always, we booked our Cebu Pacific tickets to KK on a seat sale months before the actual trip. Ironically, CEBU Pacific does not fly to Kota Kinabalu from – you guessed it! – CEBU. It’s annoying, I know, especially since KK is quite geographically close to Cebu! But for the love of travel, we decided to just go via Manila.

Incidentally, Malaysian Airlines flies from Cebu to KK direct, but it costs an arm and a leg. It might be worth looking in to, though, if you think it’s too tedious to have to go to Manila and deal with their more expensive (P200 more!) terminal fee.

Getting Around

Getting to KK ended up being a whole day affair because we had a layover in Manille for a few hours (it was worse coming back). We arrived in the capital of Sabah at about 8 in the evening, and we took a taxi straight to our guest house in the city center for RM30 (about P400), which we paid at the airport taxi counter.

FYI, KK taxis have meters but apparently, they never use them. Instead, they charge per zone. When I was in Pulau Penang in 2007, they had the same system. So it’s always best to negotiate with the driver before you even set foot in the cab.

There are, of course, buses that ply the city routes, and I’m sure they’re a cheaper way to get around. But if you ask me, Malaysian names are just too long and too confusing, so it’s definitely easier to either walk or take a taxi. We weren’t exactly penny-pinching, so we figured, if we can’t walk it, we’ll cab it. Thankfully, we did more walking than cabbing.

But I digress. The taxi ride to the guest house was rather pleasant. Before we knew it, we were already pulling up in front of our guest house.

The Lavender Lodge

Weeks before the trip, I was already looking for places to stay. Considering that the last couple of overseas trips that I took were to Singapore and Hong Kong where even the grubbiest hostels cost upwards of $20, I was quite delighted to find that KK hotels and guest houses do not go crazy on rates. There were plenty of options, but I finally decided on The Lavender Lodge because of all the great things I read about it. It did not disappoint.

I made a reservation for 3 nights (the 25th, 28th, and 29th of May) in a private room with en suite bathroom for RM75 (about P1,100) a night. We ended up staying in a different room for each of the 3 nights that we were there because they were rather overbooked. For our first night, we stayed in a room that had an en suite toilet but no shower, so we had to use the shared showers down the hall.

Now, if you know me, you probably have a good idea of how freaked out I am by bathrooms, especially shared ones. Well, I had absolutely no problem with the shared bathrooms of Lavender Lodge. They were huge and spotlessly clean, so to me, they were perfect. It also didn’t hurt that they provided rubber slippers for the guests, unlike the hostel in Singapore that my sister and I stayed in in March where we had to go barefoot, even in the bathroom. Ick. But that’s another story.

Moving on, for our second night in Lavender Lodge (which was our fourth night in Sabah, but more on that in the next post), we finally got our private room with the en suite bathroom. We had 2 more nights with them and we really would’ve preferred to stay in that room until we left, but unfortunately for us, someone already paid for the room for the next day. We had to move to another room the next morning – this time, the family room. It was absolutely massive and we had a surplus of 3 beds. However, it was back to the shared bathrooms for us by then, but hey, no biggie.

Normally, I would’ve gone ape-shit because I did specify that we wanted the private room with en suite bathroom for all 3 nights and I suppose they screwed that up somewhat by overbooking. But the staff was fantastic and the facilities were wonderfully clean (and I suppose I was quite in love with the place), so I really didn’t mind, not one bit. In fact, The Husband and I have already decided that we will stay there again when we go back to KK. But I’ll make sure to pre-pay our reservations then, for good measure.

The Lavender Lodge has free wifi and free breakfast. There’s a common room in the second floor with a pool table and a TV, which is usually overrun by backpackers. At least two of the receptionists were Filipinos – Bisaya, pa jud. They were really sweet, even when I bombarded them with questions every time I saw them. They can also book tours for you, if you don’t feel like DIY-ing.

The Food

We were starving by the time we finished checking in. Right across Lavender Lodge, there was a big food court type place that served fresh seafood. You know, the kind that keeps live lobsters and prawns and crabs in tanks, so you can pick and choose and be a party to murder. I don’t eat seafood, so that really didn’t do anything for me.

We walked to the east of our guest house that night to look for grub, but only found a KFC and some local restaurants that seemed to serve the same things – duck, chicken, and seafood in various kinds of curry and noodle combinations.

We ended up having a late dinner in the coffee shop right beside Lavender Lodge.

The Husband had lemon chicken and some sort of duck noodle thing:

I had roast chicken (which was a bit icky) and a very blah egg tart:

Even my favorite cold milo was bland:

To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the food in Sabah. It was always either curry this or curry that, and by the time we got back to KK after 3 days in a jungle camp (next post!), I only wanted a cheeseburger. I am embarrassed to say that I ate nothing but double cheeseburgers and chocolate milkshakes from McDonald’s the last couple of days we were there.

We also discovered fairly late in the trip that going west towards the harbor would take us to the, umm, happening part of town. On our last night, we ended up in an Irish pub where my date had a proper – and expensive! – Irish stew. Yep, we were definitely in tourist central.

Activities

As far as I know, there really isn’t a whole lot of things to do and see in KK. Well, obviously, you can shop and eat and enjoy the nightlife like in any city. There’s also the Tanjung Aru Beach, but if you’ve been to a lot of great beaches, this is nothing to write home about.

There’s a group of 5 islands within the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park that’s just a stone’s throw away from the KK harbor where you can go snorkeling and stuff, but we decided to skip this. We heard that though it was okay for beginning snorkelers, it can be quite disappointing for those who have snorkeled in richer reefs in the past.

There are, of course, day trips to parks, wetlands, rivers, etc., but it takes several hours to get to most of these places. Suffice to say, you will really have to leave KK to make the most out of your trip (which we did).

Kota Kinabalu, In A Nutshell

KK is pretty diverse – quite modern in some areas, old-fashioned in some. It’s clean and quite orderly, so I couldn’t help but be pleased, especially coming from grubby, stressful Cebu.

The people are quite lovely, too. Just by looking at them, you already know that they all come from different backgrounds and religions, but they get along okay. It’s tolerance, at its best, and it kind of makes you wonder why people in other areas of the world can’t do the same.

There’s also a lot of Filipinos working not just in KK, but the whole of Sabah. It seemed to me that our countrymen have taken over most of the local jobs. There wasn’t a single establishment that we went to in KK alone that did not have one or two Filipinos working in it. Convenience stores even carried this:

Considering the island’s proximity to the Philippines, I suppose it’s completely logical. I just hope they’re legal. Although I did hear tell that most of the inhabitants of Pulau Gaya (one of the islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park) were illegal Filipinos. Sigh.

Tomorrow, I’ll be writing about the highlight of our whole trip! Stick around.

I’m also quite lucky that The Husband is a great Valentine. He never does anything cheesily spectacular, but he is sweet. That alone is spectacular enough for me. He gives excellent presents, too. This year, he gave me the customary rose, a gorgeous bracelet, and – drumroll, please! – the Tenba messenger laptop/camera bag that I’ve been wanting for a year and a half! Finding the color I wanted – plum – was a pain, but it was worth the wait. (I got him a Billabong wetsuit for snorkeling because I am an awesome wife, haha.)

Also, instead of just going out to dinner (which we do practically every night, anyway), we decided to use the overnight package voucher for Crown Regency that I got from Buyanihan.com. I’m glad we did because it was super fun and incredibly un-cheesy. The food – both dinner and breakfast – was great, too. It wasn’t good for my continuing quest to figuring out how to lose belly fat for good, but it does trump having to go to some restaurant with the ubiquitous hearts and cupid decors any day. There were lounge singers, though, AND a carved pumpkin, of all things. But then, stranger things have happened.

And now, photos!

Cebu from 14 floors up

Laaazzzzyyyyyy…

Bad TV, Awesome Movie

Shirt and shorts from Rose Paul (formerly Dress O’Rama); Dreamcatcher necklace from Palawan, a gift from The Sister

40th (???) floor

What do Valentine’s Day and Halloween have in common?

I love you, cookie.

Black and white bodycon dress, Forever 21; Janilyn leopard print booties

More photos here.

Honestly, I could get used to this staycation thing. Maybe we’ll make it a Valentine tradition. Now, that’s a thought.

Now for a little back story. These two met in high school and were sworn mortal enemies all through out. He then left for The Netherlands a few years after we graduated, but came back a year(ish) ago on holiday. They hung out, hooked up, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I’ve known the bride for 20 years, and we’ve been best friends for 15. I was, naturally, the maid-of-honor – except, of course, that they insisted on calling me the matron-of-honor. Which is why, in an effort to look as unmatronly as possible, I lost weight and agreed to put on pink lipstick. Thank God for fat burners that work and convincing makeup artists!

The hours leading up to the wedding was absolute bedlam, as expected. The bouquet went missing because some other bride took it. The bridal party got stuck in the most horrendous traffic jam in history because of some Sinulog thing. The Nephew – was late and had one tantrum after another, so the whole wedding ceremony was sans a coin bearer. My chair in church caved in right in the middle of the homily – while I was sitting on it, mind you – so imagine how that looked like.

But all in all, the wedding was lovely. Love was definitely in the air that day, and it was impossible not to be overcome. ♥♥♥

Congratulations, Jiovanni and Aileen! I ♥ you guys!

Even our usually rowdy neighborhood was a tad quiet. There seemed to be a real shortage of fireworks this year. Or maybe it’s because most of our notorious firecracker-crazy neighbors opted for the pretty, colorful sort this year, rather than the rude and annoying whistle bombs and Judas belts of old. This is a good thing, mind you, because it’s pretty hard to enjoy the New Year countdown when you’re jumping out of your skin every two seconds. So yes, the gorgeous fireworks were a welcome change indeed.

My new tattoo was 2 days old by NYE, so you can just imagine how much it was smarting. Plus I was miffed at having to give up the New Year ensemble that I had so meticulously planned because I couldn’t wear shoes yet. I didn’t feel like taking any pictures at all. I let The Husband take over the photographer duties so he can break in the shiny new hybrid I gave him for Christmas, but he just ended up taking videos of fireworks mostly. Maybe I should’ve gotten him a video camera instead. *sigh*

But the best part about NYE this year was the nephew’s delight at, well, everything. This is the first NYE that the 2-year-old really enjoyed because he is now at that stage when he notices everything around him, so you can imagine what a novelty it was for him to see a pig on the table and pretty lights everywhere. It was muy cute.

Nevertheless, it was a lovely NYE spent with family. And I won in Monopoly for the first time that night, too, so that means I’m off to a good start, yes?

Now, I have, of course, heard about how foot tattoos were of a different pain level altogether, but I barely flinched the first couple of times I got inked (lower back and nape), so I didn’t really think it was going to be THAT bad. I do pride myself in being a brave little thing, after all!

But oh, how wrong I was! The entire time I was mentally kicking myself for choosing such a huge design. Still, I didn’t cry, so I’m quite proud of myself. Never mind that I may have yelped a couple dozen of times.

This was my last major decision for 2010. And I got a discount, too, because the artist was an old colleague from work, so I didn’t even need payday loans or anything like that to get a design this large done.

My feet are not normally this fat. It’s SWOLLEN.

I suppose my only gripe would be the timing. I’m living on flip-flops for the moment, which meant that the lovely New Year ensemble I had planned was a no go. My foot is running a slight infection, too, and I worry that the swelling won’t go down in time for my best friend’s wedding next Saturday. (In which, by way, I am matron-of-honor because the groom refuses to refer to me as the maid-of-honor as I am married, hmp!)

I am, however, determined to wear pretty shoes for the wedding, no matter what! Which is why I’m spending the next few days popping Ibuprofens with my feet iced, coated in antibacterial solutions, and propped up on cushions. Ain’t life grand?

But oh, isn’t it pretty? It’s definitely pain (and not to mention, money) well-spent!

- Posted using BlogPress on Agrippa, the iPad

So I’ve barely finished going through everyone’s Photo Christmas Cards, and the next thing I knew, it’s 2011!

I have this mindset that every year is a GREAT year (except for a phenomenally bad one a lifetime ago), and 2010 was no different. It was another year of laughter, tears, and everything in between; lessons learned both the hard way and the easy way; and changes both welcome and unwelcome. Suffice to say, 2010 was exactly how it was supposed to be – and then some. And though I know that 2011 will be the same, I CANNOT wait to see what it has in store for everyone!

I don’t think I’m going to make any New Year’s resolutions this year because the novelty sort of wears off after, what, a day? I’ve only got one big plan this year – and that is to LIVE it and LOVE it! ♥♥♥

Here’s a not-so-quick look at the year that was:

From my family to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR!