Goddess, I Am.

I’ve said this once, and I’ll say it again: I love my job. And by extension, this means I really do enjoy working; hence, why I do little else.

These days, however, my focus has been quite off. Case in point – a task that would normally take me an hour to do now takes me about a couple at best, half a day at worst. I can’t help it. I’m now on vacation mode! The slightest reminder of the trips that I’m going to be taking within the next few months is enough to get me Googling like mad and planning our itineraries like a woman possessed.

Although Branson vacations are not part of the agenda right now, I am still heading to parts made of awesome.

Next week, The Husband and I are off to Donsol, Sorsogon for a couple of days. In case you’re wondering what could possibly be in Donsol that’s worth the excitement, I’ll give it to you in two words: whale sharks.

Oh, and we’re not just off to watch whale sharks, we’re actually going to SWIM with whale sharks. How cool is that? I’m absolutely DYING with excitement! So much so, in fact, that I’ve had my sister make me a special swimsuit that will guarantee that I don’t get mistaken for plankton. And yes, I’m serious.

I’m also looking forward to the firefly river cruise. I love fireflies, really I do, and I’m looking forward to seeing so many in such a romantic setting.

Next, we’re off to Singapore in April with The Family. I’ve never gotten around to visiting Singapore, even back in the days I spent gallivanting around the Southern Thailand and Malaysia, so I’m very much looking forward to this trip. Oh, I hope they finally open up the new Universal Studios by then!

In May, The Family and I will be going on a beach trip – probably to Bantayan again. If so, that would be my sixth time on the island, but hey, we all know that a trip to the beach is always something to look forward to, no matter what!

At the end of June, The Husband and I are going back to my favorite city (so far): Hongkong! I. CAN’T. WAIT!

I’ve been looking forward to going back since our first trip in 2007, so we’ve decided to stay a bit longer than we did the last time. We’re very much looking forward to exploring Macau some more and going birdwatching in the wetlands near Mai Po and, of course, getting back on The Abyss (THE mother of all rides, baby!) in Ocean Park.

Pardon the video. I was nearly 3 years younger, 3 years more stupid, and 3 years more O.A. The potty mouth hasn’t changed, though.

We’re yet to plan more trips for the second half of the year, but right now, I’m thinking of Coron (Palawan), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), and Jakarta/Bali (Indonesia).

Yes, it still amazes me how happy and giddy the prospect of traveling makes me. After staying put in Cebu for so long, I’ve almost forgotten how good it feels to be someplace new. Oh yes, I’ve missed being Wander Girl, I tell you! And the prospect of taking hundreds upon hundreds of potentially gorgeous photographs is absolutely exciting!

So how about you? Where are you off to this year?

I grew up in a Christian sect (which shall remain nameless) that staunchly discourages the celebration of Christmas. Nevertheless, I’m a big fan of the holiday – not only now that I’ve left said sect, but even back in the days when I was quite the active member.

Because of this upbringing, however, I don’t see Christmas the way most people do. For one thing, the religious implications are completely lost on me, so I’m not going to go into that. I simply see Christmas as a time for family, friends, great food, and of course, presents.

This year’s Christmas is definitely one of the best ones – EVER. I’m thinking it’s probably because so many great things happened this year, and everyone in my family just has so many things to be thankful for. Not only that, because most of us work at home, we haven’t been obliged to go to this or that party to socialize with people we may or may not like, so our holidays have been spent with the very people we wanted to celebrate with – each other. Most of all, the coming year is going to be a big ‘un that’ll bring about a spate of huge changes that I can’t talk about right now, so I guess thinking about this time next year is making everyone want to make the most of this year’s holidays. (Plus, this year saw the return of mum’s famous “turbo chicken”, a family favorite that we haven’t had in at least 5 years!)

And then there are the presents. Everyone in the family gave the best, so we all received the best. No, I didn’t get any of the gadgets on my wish list, but I did get a lot of stuff that I wanted and needed.

First, there’s the fabulous new bed and mattress that The Husband and I decided to give ourselves as a Christmas present. The bed frame and headboard are made of a soft nubuck, which is really lovely to the touch. It’s also Queen-sized, a bit of an upgrade from our old double bed. The thick, firm foam mattress is somewhat recessed with a good half-foot nubuck border/frame around it, so I’m not likely to fall off the bed anymore.

We were actually eyeing it for months at SM’s Our Home where they had a camel-colored one on display, but when we finally decided to buy it, it was gone. I nearly burst into tears! Luckily, the salesman told us that there was a chocolate brown one still tucked away in storage, and when he showed it to us, we had it reserved right there and then. I’ve had zero insomnia since it was delivered a couple of weeks ago. In fact, I don’t think I’ve slept so well in my entire life! It’s well worth the $500 price tag!

The Husband and I decided to get the bed because we couldn’t decide what to give each other for Christmas. The idea was not to give each other presents anymore, but somehow we ended up getting wrapped presents for each other, anyway. I got him a Casio Edifice chronograph; he got me a Moleskine Daily Planner because I didn’t win the giveaway (sniffles). He couldn’t find the Moleskine Color-a-Day sort, so he just got me the plain black one because I already had a red Starbucks planner this year. I’m so happy! Moleskines are L-O-V-E.

The rest of this year’s haul was quite as impressive. Chin gave me my present earliest: a beautiful notebook made of all native and recycled materials, which is a great addition to my ever increasing notebook collection (yes, I have one!). The best thing about it is that Chin has its twin – isn’t that sweet? I wasn’t able to take a picture of it, though, because I didn’t have Caesar on me that night.

My best friend, Aileen turned up the morning of Christmas Eve with a fabulous Guess? bag – in purple! Now, I’m extremely bag-challenged. I hardly ever buy bags because I usually just take whatever my mum isn’t using (she has LOADS), and I would normally use whatever bag I’m currently using until it’s worn out beyond recognition. It’s nice to have a pretty new bag of my own, for a change.

My uber generous mother surpassed herself this year. The whole month has been a constant stream of surprises from her. I got a pair of jeweled wedges, several fancy Wacoal underwear, a fancy jewelry box, gorgeous white gold hoop earrings, and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. The rest of the family got a ton of really cool stuff from her, too. Our mum is definitely the most awesome one in the world!

From my sister, her darling Mike, and everyone’s darling Xabier, I got an extremely cool portable laptop stand and cooler in hot pink. It’s totally ergonomic, and I’m working more comfortably now. Octavian is also kept nice and cool at all times, which I’m hoping would prevent heating problems in the future. A week without Octavian is a week too many!

From Tita Pilar, my sister’s mother-in-law, I got a beautiful pair of pearl stud earrings, which had me squealing with delight. I love, love, LOVE pearls, but I haven’t worn any in years! I gave all my pearl jewelry to mum before I left for Thailand, and I’m just so happy to be wearing pearls again.

Yes, aren’t Christmas presents lovely? Why, I love ‘em so much that I’d be quite happy getting promotional tote bags!

What about you? What did you get for Christmas?

I have lost the will to live, really I have. All because I think Nestle might have discontinued my favorite milk. And yes, this is a very big deal for me, folks.

You see, I’m an insomniac. And it doesn’t help that I normally get hunger pangs just when I’m about to go to bed. In fact, the slightest sign of hunger will keep me awake till kingdom come. On the other hand, eating before bedtime makes me feel so porky that I end up staying awake and obsessing about it all night. Honestly, I can’t win either way.

So I drink milk. Lots and lots of milk. And my milk of choice is Nesvita Pro-Weight Management. In fact, I’ve refused to drink anything else since I discovered it 3 (or was it 4?) years ago – save for the year I spent in Thailand, that is, when I subsisted on that lovely Foremost chocolate milk . . .

But I digress. I love Nesvita Pro-Weight Management because it tastes so good without being sinful. A glass of which only has about half the calories of a glass of ‘normal’ milk, which means I could drink it anytime I want without feeling guilty.

I drink about 2 or 3 glasses a day, which means a big box usually lasts me about a week or less. That’s not a lot, is it? I couldn’t have possibly consumed every single box there was in Cebu, could I? Because I cannot find a single box anywhere now. And believe me, I’ve looked and looked and looked in every grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store I could find every single day for nearly 10 days now.

Out of desperation, I picked up a box of the Pro-Bone variety, hoping that it would allow me to enjoy the same milky goodness that I’ve come to know and love, but I took one sip and flushed the whole lot down the toilet. I’ve tried going back to Nido and Birch Tree (the milk brands of my youth), but I only succeeded in eating them the same way that I used to as a child. I’ve tried various brands and kinds of fresh milk, too – none of which do it for me because I’m a powdered milk kind of gal.

Maybe I should write to Nestle and beg them to bring back my milk. Surely they won’t ignore me, right? After all, it’s not like I’m demanding an all-expense-paid trip somewhere complete with Myrtle Beach vacation rentals or anything ridiculous like that. I just want my milk, sleep, and my sanity back.

A Plea for Help: If anyone has seen a wayward box of Nesvita Pro-Weight Management, do let me know. Better yet, buy it for me. I’ll pay you back, of course, with interest. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 10 days!

One of the things that I missed most when I moved to Thailand was Filipino food. I absolutely loathed the shit that they tried to pass off for food in that country, and after living there for nearly a year and a half, I’ve had enough. It was no wonder, then, that the moment I set foot in my own country, I attacked Filipino food like it was going out of fashion.

Months later, I was a good 15 pounds heavier and finding it next to impossible to cut down on food. It didn’t help that I worked from home and maintained a largely sedentary lifestyle. With my wedding a month away, I decided to take matters into my own hands and started taking fat burners.

This is what I looked like on my birthday back in March (my arms = ick), a few days before I started ‘em pills (and yes, that’s Chinese food you’re seeing – patatim, anyone?):

This is what I looked like – post pills – on my wedding:

This is what I looked like on vacation with the family a few weeks later – and what I still look like now (I slouch and it’s bad, I know!):

Whoever said weight isn’t everything has never lost any. It feels good!

Okay, I haven’t really been reading up on Thailand much, so I can’t say I’m updated with what’s going on thereabouts. Come to think of it, I barely know what’s happening in my own country, let alone elsewhere. But I digress.

It’s hard not to be the slightest bit curious, though, when the place I called home for nearly a year and half made the headlines yet again. From what I can surmise, the people in red are unhappy that the people in yellow got their way barely 4 (or so) months back, and have decided that two can play that game. After all, if the yellows can do it, why not they?

And so they will demonstrate and riot and maybe take over airports until they get their way. And when they do, it’ll be the yellows’ turn again. Hmmm . . . does anyone see a pattern here?

Ahhh . . . the Thais never learn, don’t they? But then, stupid is as stupid does – no surprise there. Yes, the rest of world can think that we (The Philippines) are pretty bad in the politics department, but, really, we’ve got nothing on Thailand. Enough said.

On a side note, I hope those tourists unfortunate enough to be there right now have travel insurance. Or, at least, cushy sleeping bags for those hostile airport takeovers that the Thais do best.