Wedding Wednesday Series: 10 Things about Married Life So Far

Categories Misis Belleza

I wanted to go into the details of how we prepared for the wedding, but since I’ve yet to sort the 2000+ photos sent by our official photographer and I wanted to include photos in that particular blog entry, I’ll have to save that topic to a later post. I thought of sharing a bit about the things I’ve learned for our first 3 months as husband and wife. In a way, this would be a ‘quarterly’ report to our parents and our godparents, and…Continue Reading “Wedding Wednesday Series: 10 Things about Married Life So Far” →

International Student Farewell Gathering

Categories International Student Life

The graduating international students of Macquarie University for 2016 Session 1 were officially sent off by the academics and staff through the International Student Farewell Gathering held today at the Atrium and Lakeside Marquee. Truth be told, I was having qualms in attending since technically, we won’t know if we have successfully graduated until our final grades will be released on 15th July. I didn’t want to preempt any form of celebration lest I see the final verdict. It’s the main reason why I didn’t…Continue Reading “International Student Farewell Gathering” →

Living Eulogy for my Dearest Daddy

Categories Family

To be honest, I don’t see the point of eulogies done during a memorial service. What’s the point of saying good things to a person who’s not physically present to hear those words? We write beautiful speeches about a loved one who’s passed on but did we actually give them the opportunity to know about these things when they were still alive? Sweet to the ears of people who got left behind, but they’d be even sweeter to that special person being talked so highly about….Continue Reading “Living Eulogy for my Dearest Daddy” →

Wedding Wednesday Series: The Proposal

Categories Weddings

I knew it would be Karlo. It was just a matter of when and how he would propose. I sometimes avoid sharing to Karlo my delight in watching wedding proposal videos because I feel that I’m putting so much pressure on him to prepare for that eventful day. It’s often those big displays of affection and love, elaborately planned with all the logistics, which make an impact on me. Think of those proposals involving family and friends making surprise appearances, popping the big question in…Continue Reading “Wedding Wednesday Series: The Proposal” →

Wedding Wednesday Series

Categories Weddings

I’ve decided to dedicate Wednesdays for weddings. Being the middle day of a 5-day work week, Wednesdays are those days that you just got to get it over and done with. It’s called a ‘hump day’ for a reason anyway. So to counter the negative vibes attributed to Wednesdays, I will choose to focus on positive things and what better way to do it than think of pleasant events, and in my case, it’s our wedding! As of this writing, we’ve been married for 99…Continue Reading “Wedding Wednesday Series” →

Do Svidaniya, IR

Categories International Student Life

“Look beyond your borders. Know that you are connected to something larger. Have an ideal and move step by step. See the world. Serve the world. Be a global citizen and shape the world.” — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon I ended the International Relations (IR) component of my 2-year Masters Degree today through our final exam in my last IR unit: War and Violence in World Politics. I can’t say I’ve officially and successfully completed the IR component of my degree since grades won’t be…Continue Reading “Do Svidaniya, IR” →

Rest in Peace, Lolo

Categories Family

I called overseas to greet a friend on her birthday. A few minutes later, I was made aware of Lolo’s passing away. Today, a friend turned 29. My grandfather, who should’ve turned 92 on his next birthday, joined our Creator on the same day. Funny how, in a relatively short period of time, I am reminded of life’s ironies. No matter how much we want to hold on to people, at some point we have to let them go. If that would mean them being free…Continue Reading “Rest in Peace, Lolo” →

Filipino International Student Council of NSW

Categories International Student Life

Today, Karlo and I had the opportunity to take part in the launching of the Filipino International Student Council of New South Wales (NSW) at the Philippine Consulate here in Sydney. This initiative has been almost 3 years in the making, but hopefully the ball’s gonna start rolling this time. Who’s the target audience? Well, I’ve did a bit of research and found that in 2015, there are a total of 50,011 Filipino international students who enrolled and 21,271 who commenced their studies in NSW….Continue Reading “Filipino International Student Council of NSW” →

1st Day High on my 17th Month in MI!

Categories International Student Life

Today, I commenced my 4th role in Macquarie International office. Yes, you read it right – my 4th role since I started working in December 2014. But don’t get me wrong, aside from the uncomfortable 1st day innocence in every new role, I actually like the changes. Instead of changes, I actually prefer to call them as continuous blessings and opportunities. Well, here’s a sneak peek of my part-time work which helps pay for our rent, utility bills, phone, petrol and grocery in Australia 🙂…Continue Reading “1st Day High on my 17th Month in MI!” →

Tabula Rasa

Categories Life Musings

“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that’s the way new leaves grow.” ― Amit Ray I always like new beginnings, fresh phases, starting over. Who doesn’t? Resolving to be better is on everyone’s list whether it’s on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Christmas, your birthday or your wedding anniversary. Heck, even Sunday nights (especially when you’re dreading another busy week ahead) or simply those moments when you wake up in the morning are opportunities to start over….Continue Reading “Tabula Rasa” →