I Blog, Therefore I Am.

My cousin Eliza, the daughter of my dad's brother, had the wedding of her dreams to Vince last Friday at the charming Madre De Dios Midlands Chapel in Tagaytay Highlands. The Real family (or what's left of it here in the Philippines) came in full attendance to celebrate the joyous occasion.


Madre de Dios Midlands Chapel
Tagaytay Highlands


View of Taal from Madre De Dios

Ate Meliza looked extra-fabulous and extra-beautiful on her wedding. She looked like a gorgeous Goddess who came down from the heavens! I almost cried when I saw her walking down the aisle to meet Vince. She's surely one of the best-looking brides I've seen and I'm not saying this because she's related to me.


The beautiful bride walking down the aisle


The nice altar at Madre de Dios


Ate with her immediate family


I love this photo! Everyone is looking at different directions

I love everything about the wedding! From the elegant styling to the on-site video with U2's "All I Want Is You" as music. I also love the way all things were in sync with the navy blue theme with the silver snowflake-like pattern. The ceremony and rites were also solemn and intimate. My other cousin, Jaymee, and I even had a small part on it.


Ate Meliza


The Real Women
Eliza, Margo, Abbie, Jaymee, Chay

The cocktails, reception and after-party were held at the Highlands Country Club and it was both an elegant and fun affair. My cousins and I truly enjoyed the food and the never-ending booze. Ate made sure that we were all tipsy or drunk by the end of the night.


White roses, glasses and candles


Norwegian Smoked Salmon + Cream of Broccoli + Fillet Mignon + Choco Toblerone Cake


I drank all of these at the after-party!

Congratulations and Best Wishes, Vince & Ate Eliza! Keep the love burning! :)

More pictures at my Multiply site.

November 21 was probably one of the longest and most tiring days of my life. Here's a detailed account of what happened:

3:30 AM My alarm went off and I punched the snooze button. I still had 30 more minutes of sleep time.

5:00 AM I left the house for the airport. My Philippine Airlines flight to Cagayan de Oro was at 7:10 AM. It was very early in the morning so I figured that it will be a quick trip from Laguna to Paranaque.

5:45 AM I was wrong! I spent more than 30 minutes on standstill near the Sta. Rosa interchange. The morning shift people going to nearby TechnoPark created a huge traffic jam.

6:25 AM I arrived at the NAIA Terminal 2 just in time! I quickly checked-in, got my boarding pass and paid for my terminal fee. Good thing I only had my big handbag and laptop thus no check-in luggage.




6:40 AM My flight was called and I was one of the last who boarded because I had "breakfast" of Red Ribbon Special Mamon and Coke at the waiting lounge.

7:12 AM I put on my sunglasses and pashmina shawl and was fast asleep even before take-off. Manila was dull and cold when I left.




7:30 AM I was awoken by the crew who were chatting noisily at the back of the plane. I also observed that PAL's already cutting cost since they are no longer offering juice inflight.

8:35 AM I arrived in sunny Cagayan De Oro and was pissed at the taxi people who wanted to overcharge for a 2KM trip.

8:50 AM I learned when I arrived at the Clubhouse of Xavier Estates that my presentation for the Mindanao Regional Meeting was moved to 1:00 PM instead of the original 9:00 AM schedule.



9:10 AM I took some some snaps from the beautiful place before hailing another cab to downtown CDO to kill time and explore the place before my presentation.

9:35 AM I arrived in Limketkai and was surprised to see how "sleepy" CDO is. I checked the Body & Sole Spa and Bigby's and both opens at 11:00 am. Despite that I observed that CDO is now more urban and progressive compared to my last visit in 2003.

9:40 AM I ordered a Chocolate Chip Froccino from Bo's Coffee, one of the few establishments open, while reading a tourist info flyer on CDO. I obviously looked for stuff I can do for the next two hours.

9:55 AM I went inside Limketkai Mall and saw this queue near the entrance of SMART Wireless Center. Wow..they can't wait to go inside?



10:20 AM I went to Vanity Works, a local spa place, and asked for a one-hour massage. The receptionist told me that their therapists were not yet in. I got tired of waiting for them so I left and just went on-line to check my work e-mail.

11:30 AM I went to Bigby's and ordered my favorite Grilled Rodeo Chops and Iced Tea. I love their Iced Tea, one of the best I had!



12:30 AM I got back at Xavier Estates for my presentation. The Wireless Center Managers were still eating when I arrived so I reviewed my presentation and watched 90210 on my laptop while waiting.

1:30 AM I presented updates and results for three of our projects this fourth quarter. There were some questions and suggestions. They were also excited when I announced the SMART & Nokia Davao launch of the N96 at Urban Bar on November 28 (everyone is invited!).

2:45 PM Our office van took me back to Cagayan De Oro airport for my flight back to Manila at 3:50 PM.

3:00 PM I checked-in and was told that all the good seats were already taken so I have to settle for a middle seat. I've always been an aisle girl so I was not happy about it. The kind airport personnel even checked if he can upgrade me for free to business class but it was a full flight.

3:10 PM I bought boxes of delicious Pastel (bread with yema filling) and Pastillas for my girls from the office and my family. I also watched 90210 from my iPhone while waiting for my flight.



4:00 PM Turned-off my phone and slept to oblivion as the plane raced through the runway. I woke up a couple of minutes just before landing. I was so tired!

6:19 PM I answered SMS and calls that I missed on my way to SM Mall of Asia for a customer event.

6:30 PM I arrived at Pink Pepper at SM Mall of Asia and was glad to see some very happy subscribers. The food - Pesto Pasta, Steak, Paella, Creme Brulee - were so delicious!



6:45 AM I got a call from Eugene from our Consumer Sales and he told me that I can already get my new handset from my SMART postpaid retention on Monday. Yey!

7:40 PM Marj, Kathy and I left the event after congratulating the South Metro Manila Wireless Operations for their successful and enjoyable "Wine, Dine & iMax to the Max SUKI Celebration".

8:00 PM I was supposed to go home right away but I decided to get a well-deserved Swedish Massage at Body Tune. My usual is Shiatsu but I decided to go for a more relaxing Swedish after the day I just had. It was great!

9:40 PM I went to Fully Booked to look for some interesting reads. I was supposed to get two biographies of the Clintons but I decided against it when I saw the international bestseller bio of Princess Masako. I also bought a copy of Newsweek which has President-elect Obama as cover.



11:15 PM I finally arrived home! I immediately went to bed, read a couple of chapter of the book I bought and finished the last few episodes of West Wing Season 1.

Whew! What a day! :) How's yours?

Pardon for the photos. I forgot to charge my digicam so the above are all iPhone photos.

David Cook's self-titled album will be out in 10 days!

Here's the official press release from MTV:

American Idol winner David Cook will release his self-titled debut album on November 17 (in Asia) and November 18. The first single, "Light On," produced by Grammy winning producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Kid Rock) is currently available at all digital music providers.

"Light On" was co-written by one of rock music's most influential innovators, Chris Cornell, lead singer and songwriter for Soundgarden and Audioslave, and acclaimed producer / songwriter Brian Howes, who has worked with superstar rock bands such as Hinder and Puddle of Mudd.

In late September "Light On" premiered on AOL Music's pop culture news site, PopEater.com, receiving over 1 million plays in less than week. Cook has been busy in the studio, co-writing many of the upcoming album's tracks alongside some of music's hottest rock songwriters. To view the rest of the songs redirect your browsers to DavidCookOfficial.com

Here's Light On (in case you haven't heard it yet). It's currently on my playlist at Blip.fm and I absolutely love it...it's definitely very David Cook!