keeping it real

This last stretch in my pregnancy has been rough. Gone are the days of relishing in that pregnancy glow that everyone seems to be talking about. These days, I often find myself complaining about the 101 aches and pains that I feel all throughout my now unrecognizable body. Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and don't recognize the person I see. Not to sound so much of a girl but this is the biggest and heaviest I've ever been in my entire life. And for a girl who managed to stay within the realms of 100 lbs for most of her life, I find it hard to look at 150 lbs register on the weighing scale (especially when you weigh in for your regular check up and the nurse's reaction to your weight is a resounding and unmistakable "WHOA!". Ah yes, please feel free to keep your opinions to yourself, thankyouverymuch).

I know this may sound selfish. After all, all this is for my baby. But sometimes, you got to keep it real. And I feel terrible to have to admit that there were days I caught myself saying I just want to get this over with.

But my husband, who is made of pure awesome, has a way of taking away all those nasty feelings. His encouraging words like "I'm so proud of you" or "Thank you for carrying my seed" (yes, it makes me laugh every time he says that), remind me to look at the bigger picture.

And this morning, he gave me another bit of sage advice. After telling him how boring it is to stay at home (did I mention that I am now in full time hatching mode?), he said that every day that passes is one day closer to meeting our little one.

And that thought changes everything.

the salad days

Lately, most of our days are spent like this. Relishing the quiet stillness of our apartment, indulging on spur-of-the-moment dates and late night dinners, unabashedly sleeping in til noon, and taking long guiltless afternoon naps after meals.

As much as we will miss the quiet, the freedom, the spontaneity of being just the two of us, I can't begin to describe how excited we are to welcome the new addition to our family. 60 more days til the little one arrives. D and I can't hardly wait.     

baby shower rave

For the record, majority of my friends are single and have never been to a baby shower in their life. So when my dear friend Alex organized a baby shower for me, we were faced with the question: so what do people do in these shower things?

We ate, we drank (well, they did), and saved a stuffed animal called Mr Fluffy from flying away, Up style (as in the movie Up...long story).

Ah well, we had a blast. Thanks again, Ninang Alex!

i keep comin' back to manila

Thanks to a speaking engagement at a conference in May, I had the chance to fly back home to Manila for free. The conference was held in Subic, and just my luck, my parents were going to the beach house that same weekend I was in town.

Being the awesome parents that they are, my parents made sure they were in Subic just in time for my turn to speak on stage. They watched and cheered on as I got on stage and nervously delivered my presentation to 100 or so people.

After the conference, we then made our way to the beach and spent a lovely weekend at El Paradiso with family friends that I haven't seen in ages.

epic march

It sure was. Who would've thought a month can turn your life around. It certainly was the case for March. Why?

Epic Germany: Frankfurt - Berlin - Trier - Bacharach - Frankfurt
It was truly a trip made of pure awesomeness. First long haul flight. First time out of Asia. First trip to Europe. First Doner Kebab. First currywurst... You get the idea. The whole time I was there, I had this goofy smile on my face and kept telling D to pinch me cos I can't believe I'm in Europe. It has always been a dream of mine to go, and when I turned 29 last year I told myself I'll make it happen before I turn 30.

 It's ok. I still love Berlin

 A walk along the Berlin Wall

 Soaking up the sun at Sanssouci Palace

 Climbing the walls of Porta Nigra

 Gorgeous Trier

Quaint little town of Bacharach 

And as if the trip in itself wasn't awesome enough, D and I received the most awesome (and I know I've been overusing the word awesome here but what the hell) news three days before leaving for Germany. Can you guess what it is? Here's a clue.

Baby Burckhardt coming out October 2012

D and I are over the moon. We said we were going to try this year but didn't think it would happen this soon. But we are overjoyed, just the same.

Funny story on how we found out: My mom was visiting and on her last day, she saw me making love to my toilet bowl so early in the morning. Upon sight of this, she immediately clapped her hands and jumped for joy. Perplexed by this behavior, I told her I must've eaten bad shrimp or something. She insisted I take a pregnancy test and wouldn't lay off it the whole day. I gave in and got a pregnancy test. We went home after a day of last-minute shopping and I took the test. And whaddayaknow, two lines! I was so excited and shocked and I-dunno-what, I broke the news to D on Whatsapp.

I know what you're thinking. Who does this? Ah well. It was joyous day nonethess.

A truly blessed month. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. The next few months will be interesting, to say the least. I'll keep you posted!

up in the clouds

There are days I just can't be bothered to write about airlines signing codeshare agreements with other airlines or hotel groups launching new properties in the newest booming province in China. No matter how hard I try, there are days that I just can't.

This is one of those days.

Today, my mind is perfectly content to be up in the clouds. And I think it'll be a while til it plops back down into the ground.

Sky over Krabi, Thailand

May 2011

how was your christmas?

Mine had...

Good food. 

Great friends.

Lots of fun. 

And for all this, I am grateful.

Hope yours was awesome too.

a new toy

I've been holding out since October. Always going to the Apple Store to check it out and always coming out empty handed. But not today. Because today, I finally gave in and got an iPad.

I always thought my netbook was enough. What will I do with an iPad? was the question I always asked myself when I held one while in the Apple Store. But after just six hours of owning one now I'm thinking, gawdamn what took me so long?!

I'm excited (and anxious) how this nifty gadget will take much of my time (as if the iPhone hasn't taken enough of it already).

So many apps, so little time! But first things first, Bjork's Biophilia. 

november weekends

My weekends this month has been nothing short of awesome.

It started with a mini 'moon in Koh Samui.

Several months ago, a good friend of ours got us a good deal to stay at the Renaissance Resort and Spa in Koh Samui. D and I didn't really plan on using it til off season (peak season airfares are ridiculous). But when D got a good deal for airfare from a colleague of his working for Bangkok Airways, we grabbed the opportunity to fly out -- even if it was just for a weekend. 

 Samui, here we come!

This view came with my lunch 

Up early to attack the breakfast buffet 

Followed by a weekend in Manila to celebrate my new niece's christening and watch one of my best friends walk down the aisle and marry the love of her life.

D can't believe how cheap beer is in Manila 

 Hanging out with the bride-to-be a day before she said "I do"

The beautiful bride all dolled up

Then a weekend spent checking out the newly opened Ikea Thailand.  

I've been waiting for this day for years. It's finally here! I was so excited I went twice in one week. And if D didn't stop me, I would have gone again this week.

The happiest place on Earth... at least in my opinion

The infamous Daim cake

This weekend, we're taking it easy. Yesterday, we enjoyed the beautiful day outdoors, drinking beer and catching up with friends at the Ploenchit Fair. Today will be a steady Sunday lounging at home.

November has been an awesome month. Looking forward to a stellar December.

sick for the big sun

Bangkok's gloomy weather these past few days has been weighing me down. I'm in dire need of a weekend getaway. Just like that spur-of-the-moment weekend getaway to Hua Hin last month with one of my BFFs.

last hurrah

I'm 29! And what better way to celebrate my last year of being in my twenties than by throwing a Mexican feast complete with margaritas, jello shots and a piñata.

the week that was and the week that will be

The weekend. Finally. The past week felt like the longest week evarrr. I got home yesterday and crashed into bed. I woke up at 1 am and realized that my Friday makeup was still on and the taste of what I had for dinner still lingered in my mouth. I got up to do my business in the bathroom and felt too awake to go back to sleep. I started packing and finished past 2 am. 

I'm planning to take it easy today. And by easy I mean, re-packing my already packed luggage at 6 am. Did I mention that my flight is not until Sunday morning? 

I leave for a week-long business trip to India tomorrow. My first time. I'm excited and anxious. Excited to be in a new destination. Anxious for what will most likely be stressful, long-working days. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it won't be all work and no play. 

I'm off to start my "easy day" now. No, for realz this time. I plan to get a 2-hour massage and get my nails done did. Pictures of India when I get back.

  

Indian Rupees!

Taken on the day I changed my Thai Baht to Indian Rupees.

breaking the cycle

Back in Bangkok. Oh that's right, I forgot to mention that I was in Penang when I wrote my last entry. It seems that I only get to blog when I'm away. Hopefully this blog post will break the cycle.

I miss blogging. D and I noticed that we both don't blog anymore. We don't write. We don't read books, listen to music or watch documentaries. We've become, dare I say it, boring. We blame TV. Crap TV. Too much of it. So, to rectify this, we cut our cable (goodbye E! and all the mindless shows that are on it) and have subjected ourselves to limited (internet) TV time to make more time to read books, listen to music and watch documentaries again.

Speaking of which, I picked up Truman Capote's Music for Chameleons recently, and have been pleasantly absorbed in it. I got stuck reading Zadie Smith's White Teeth for awhile. I had to switch books because I was struggling with it. Not that it wasn't good but because I had to get used to sitting down and reading again. I fear that crap TV has made me more restless, making it impossible to just sit still for a minute or two. So I decided to stick to short stories until I can sit through a novel again. Hopefully I get back to the groove of things and finally finish a book.

Last weekend, I also caught this fascinating documentary based on the equally fascinating lives of Herb and Dorothy Vogel. Have you seen it? It's called Herb and Dorothy, by Megumi Sasaki. I found it to be delightfully quirky and infinitely interesting. Made me want to go to New York, see their Manhattan apartment and pick their brains on minimal and conceptual art. Go watch it. I highly recommend it.

HERB & DOROTHY Trailer from Herb & Dorothy on Vimeo.

new home

Well, hello again. It's been a fun and crazy couple of weeks since my last post. For starters, we moved! After two wonderful years in a modest one bedroom apartment, D and I have decided to move on to a two bedroom. It was a difficult decision as we were in-love with the one bedroom we had. But the two bedroom was bright and airy, and well, the outdoor rooftop space was too damn hard to resist. As soon as I saw it, I was sold. D, on the other hand, was more cautious. But in the end, we just had to get it. And now, we're happy as two clams could ever be.

It's weird to have rooms. We've gotten so used to our teeny tiny apartment that it was strange to wander around the space, trying to find out where the other person could be. And we can't talk without being in the same room anymore. We'd gotten away with that in our old place. But now, we can't carry on with conversations from one room to the next. Don't get me wrong. The new place is not huge. It just... has rooms.

It's a work in progress right now. We have to buy a new couch, re-upholster the old one, buy plants for the outdoor space, put up art on the walls, get nice comfy chairs for the desk at the office (aka second bedroom), and yada, yada, yada. The list goes on.

Anyhoo, here's bits and pieces of the new place.

The Second Look: We first saw the apartment on a Saturday. We went back the next day, and we just knew we had to get it.

 Moving Day 1: The new place is in the same complex. We just moved from one building to another. But it was a lot of work. Countless elevator trips, loading and unloading. It took a whole weekend to move everything. And to think, we didn't have much!

 The View: Another perk of the new place? A lovely view of Bangkok! 

One night, we even got to watch fireworks over the river from our bedroom balcony.

First Purchase: The day we gave a verbal yes to the landlord, I got this chalkboard wall decal for the new place. It now holds daily reminders and sweet messages from the hubby.

I'll post more pics of the new place as we go along.