GAY ALERT

Hello Lovelies!

I will be flying out to Thailand tom and may not be updating my blog in the next few days. I will be spending time with dear boyfriend. I am excited! I haven't seen him in more than a month!

Kisses,
Miss Ailema

Orosa-Nakpil Malate

To my gay friends:

I am glad to report that I already bought the book. No need to buy me a copy. I am looking forward to reading it. Thanks for recommending the book to me! :)

Project Ailema: Beauty is Pain

I haven't been to a dermatologist before. Okay I admit, I am stingy, I'd rather do things on my own(Read: DIY) than pay someone to do it. But since I am growing up and I am losing my baby soft skin(DISILLUSIONED), I realise that I should give derma a try. To tell everyone the truth, I have a secret obsession on making my skin perfect. The thought is scaring my credit card. :P

We started with consultation. Being inquisitive that I am, I asked my derma about my body scrub obsession. I told him that I used to do it everyday cause it leaves my skin soft and smooth. He told me that there is a reason why you should only scrub your skin every 2 weeks. It is no brainer that scrubbing everyday will take the natural moisture from your skin but I was surprised when he told me that scrubbing will make my skin thicker. That I don't want. He also advise me to stop sunbathing. This is gonna be hard, being a sun worshipper that I am. Well, I trust the expert and I will try to follow his advise.

I found one wart on my eye so I told my derma to remove it. He initially asked me if I have any intentions of going under the sun, I told him no. Warts is viral BTW. Dear boyfriend, you better be clear of warts. Derma Treatments are expensive! I don't want to undergo another laser treatment again.

Photos before the surgery:

Right side of my face. They found more warts. KILL ME!

Left side of my face. That's anesthesia all over my face BTW.
With dressing gown on. I haven't been hospitalised, ever. I am actually scared of going under the knife.

My mum's face with anesthesia. She wants the dark spots on her face removed.

Mum's photos after the laser procedure:

My laser treatment is almost painless. Thank God the anesthesia worked! My procedure took less than 10 minutes whilst my dear mummy took about 20 minutes. Laser means burning the top portion of the skin. My mum's cheeks are covered in scabs ATM. But since it was lasered, it will heal faster than cautery. In three days, she's gonna have a better skin. Almost 40 percent of the darkening will be removed. Good job mum for going to the derma!

Bingo Nights

The family that gambles together, stays together. This is very true with my family. When we were 6 or 7, Lola Aida(dear mummy's mum) taught us how to play mahjong so she can have people to play with. Years later, I mastered mahjong and most of the card games. My dear brother can even card count. I didn't have the patience to do that so almost always, I lost to him. Bingo on the other hand is a different story. I used to play with my whole relatives when we were younger. Most of the time I lose. Being a sore loser that I was, my granny would always comfort me by giving the money that I lost. Good thing I overcame that. :P

After our photo session, I asked my mum to buy us a bingo set. It was a blockbuster! All my cousins joined and played til 1AM. Hahaha! My dear brother and I reminisced about our childhood bingo games - how Nana Omeng would always call bingo when she's not, how the host would call the wrong number just to make fun of the disillusioned winner and how people would cheat when playing. Good times. Hahaha! The gods must be on my side cause I won for two consecutive nights thus making me the reigning BINGO QUEEN. It was tiring staying awake the whole night but I'd rather stay awake and spend time with family than sleep. I must organise a gambling night soon.

My cousin John John.
Filo Trivia: Most filo nicknames are either the month that they were born, double their first names or their names' initial.

My dear brother's gf, dear brother, Ivan and Izareene.

Gambling Night Day Two at my granny's living room. Good thing her living room is big to accomodate 9 people.

Wowowee

I've never seen any episode of Wowowee until yesterday. My mum's friend's wife works in ABS-CBN and with that, we were able to get into the show without queueing. Who would pass on that opportunity?

These are the photos from the show. I didn't take much. It wasn't that interesting.

School Friends

Do you have friends that you haven't seen for years? Do you have friends who you lost contact with but located them in networking sites? Do you have friends who you can always depend on? I DO and we are lucky to have found each other.

The day after Christmas, I met up with my school friends. With everyone's busy schedule, it is rare for us to get together. Bernadette is in Law School and working in Regional Trial Court, Xavier wants to be a priest and still have 3 years to finish his "calling" and Leo is a clinical instructor. Benjamin was missing. Noone can locate him but Berna told us that he was in Bohol during that time. Divine and I regulary sees each other since we are both from Quezon City.

It was fun catching up with friends. It was very easy to talk to them - No holds barred. Xavier once again told everyone about his experience with me when he saw me in University. He also told us about his experience when he went to the fiesta in my granny's which noone remembered. Now that we are older(and hopefully wiser), we talk about grown up stuff - why I came back after years of living in the UK, why I chose to spend all my hard earned money to travelling instead of saving for rainy days(Good thing Leo understood the importance of self fulfillment), who is dating who, their last reunion and how an old classmate hooked up, Bernadette finally liking someone and everything that we can think of. We promised to see each other. Xavier's bday is coming in a month's time. I am hoping to see everyone again. I miss them already.

Left - Ailema(Moi), Divine and Bernadette
Right - Leo and Xavier

We had our lunch at Razon's. I wasn't hungry then but I wouldn't say no to good food. :P

I learn the value of friendship this year. I know who my true friends are now. You should too. :)

Feliciano Family Christmas Tradition

What's your Christmas like?

CHRISTMAS EVE

Ours is very traditional. It starts with Evening Mass followed by a Christmas Feast. As you all know, Christmas Eve also happens to be my mum's birthday. Everyone helps out with food preparation and stays awake til Midnight - eating, chatting and getting excited with the thought of Christmas itself. Contrary to most family's tradition, we don't open presents on Christmas Eve rather we wait til aginaldo time the following morning.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

We were usually woken up early on Christmas day. Take note of the word woken up. Our neighbours start doing their rounds as early as the sun rose. That's like 6 in the morning! We give aginaldo(usually money or toys) to whoever drops by at our place, we also eat and chat with them. Christmas is the time to catch up with relatives. We make it a point to visit my relatives. I love being around my family. In 2010, I will make sure to visit them regularly especially now that my granny is getting older. I almost cried when I saw her again. She looks so weak and fragile. :(

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Of course we all eat lunch together. When I say all, I mean all. During Christmas, my cousins from all over the Philippines, visits my granny and spend Christmas there. We all stay in one roof. It is one of the things I look forward to this season aside from the mandatory film fest movie and picture taking. *wink*

I only have 3 married cousins so far and in this photo, none of us is married. In my family, it's either you marry late or not marry at all. I say, we must pass out or good genes. LOL!

Business as usual in the Philippines. Mandatory Studio Photo Sesh happens after lunch.

I don't know anyone serious in my family. Maybe that's the secret to looking young. Hahaha!

The stupid bunch. They edited the photos before they printed the copy.

My fun family. I wouldn't wish to be born to any family but my own. I love them!

And the Mandatory serious family photo. I feel sorry for dear brother. He had a hard time looking serious. :P

In this photo: Mama Bear, Older Sister Bear, Older Brother Bear, Baby Bear and Papa Bear.

Happy 52nd Bday Mummy!

I look up to my mum. She is a very strong woman, very independent and strong willed. She thought me the powers of visualisation and positive thinking. She is the most generous person I know. When I was younger, I used to be very annoyed with my mum's generosity. We struggled financially growing up but despite having just enough, my mum wouldn't say no to helping the needy. She always say, "Pera lang yan, mapapalitan pag nagtrabaho ako. If you give, you'll get more blessings in return." I now know how she feels like. It feels good to share God's blessing to other people.

I am so lucky to be my mum's daughter. Never did she made us feel unloved. She is so selfless and would give everything to make our lives easy. She is very supportive to what we want and she is not scared to let us go and spread our wings to try out new things. She is my worst critic but I know she meant well.

Thanks for everything mum! Happy Birthday! I love you! :)

2006 - Uni Graduation

2007 - In Malaysia

2008 - Filo Christmas Party

GAY ALERT

I miss waking up to this...

and

YOU!

See you very soon baby!

Day 5: Last Minute Trips

Our flight was not until 5:55PM so when Kuya Louie suggested a trip, we said Yes without hesitations. He promised cold springs, cave and falls. Believe or not, it was my first time to all. Living in the Philippines most of my life, I tend to take for granted what my country has to offer. That's why I plan to travel around my country and promote it as much as possible to my foreign readers(that is if I have one apart from my stalker. :P).

We paid, 250 pesos to get in the Basang Cave and Cold Springs Resort. It was very cheap considering that it paid for 3 people. Check out the photos below.

That's me scaring my sister. She is scared of drowning. When we saw Oprah's story about dry drowning, it made her even more paranoid. My God!

My dear mummy and I inside the cave.

Photo inside the cave. Sorry my camera isn't powerful enough. It was actually beautiful inside. My dear sister didn't come with us. She is scared. As expected.

At Jawili Falls. I was trying to scare my sister. It's an easy job. :P

The falls was dry when we get there. It wasn't raining enough.

This was taken on top of the falls. Could look higher with better angle.

I was gutted that I wasn't able to enjoy the cold spring nor the falls. My period was on its heaviest on that day. :(

At 3PM, we arrive at the airport. We opt for an early check-in. When we get there, we were told that they moved the flight to 4:50PM. The thing with budget flights is that, they move flights without informing the passengers through text. My mum informed me later that night Zestair emailed her. Who checks her email constantly while on trips? We don't. Kalibo airport is very small so it was very congested in the departure gate. They don't have enough seats for all. To make things worse, we rode a single engine airplane which seats 60 people back to Manila. My sister was scared! She was praying the whole time. Upon touch down, people started clapping. They were scared for their lives. Because of the heavy traffic, we got home at 9PM. I was so tired that last night.

Day 4: Must Try - Must Do

Photo Vomit Entry. Sue Me!

I am someone who isn't afraid to try anything. Remember when I wrote about *dying while still alive. I like to experience everything life has to offer no matter how simple it is. I find joy in cycling, in cooking, in baking, in everything. That's my secret to happiness and I intend to stay that way. I might as well do everything now that I am able, strong and with no financial responsibility to anyone but myself. I will live in the NOW. :)

*Dying while Still Alive(my definition)

People who are able and yet, manage to make their lives miserable and boring.
People who lives by what other people expects them to be.
People whose actions are dictated by the society.
People who are fun haters, who says no to opportunities. Young yet old and boring.

First stop: ZORBING. Before I left the UK, this was on my checklist but I couldn't find anyone who wanted to Zorb with me. I didn't even know that Dear Boyfriend aka My Blog Stalker wants to try this. Well, there's always next time.

Before the Zorbing Experience.

I did it with my dear mummy. I am glad she allowed me to do this. She actually zorbed with me despite her headache. Thanks Mum!

Once we were finished, they commented about someone sounding like a guy. It was me. I kept on saying, Woah! They heard otherwise. My dear sister, the paranoid one, was scared that something happened to us.

Someone has to stop the ball.

That's dear mummy gracefully getting off the Zorb. LOL!

Second Stop: ATV. I've always wanted to try this. Well, I wanted to try everything so this is no surprise. The only problem is, I can't drive. So I ask the guide if it's possible to drive an ATV when I can't actually drive. He said that it's no problem so I went ahead.

Gearing Up.

That day, I called myself Masked Rider Black from the childhood series that I used to watch. My sister gave me a pocket size prayer booklet before I started to drive. She is that scared. I bet she can't relax while I am driving.

In action.

My family is very supportive. They took loads and loads of photo of me driving without me asking. :P

As part of the ATV service, they took us to the Mt. Luho View Point. It's one of the highest points in Boracay.

Monkey! Thanks Mum for taking photo. We each have our own camera. That's how important taking photos for us. Haha! In Mt. Luho View Point, you can find a mini zoo with exotic animals(at least for my standards). Has anyone heard of a Bear Cat? They were very cute creatures!

That's the view. And yes, that's an elevated platform. It was very windy that day.

See, this windy!!

Third Stop: Spa. I told you, Boracay offers everything. Mum went to a detox treatment while me and my dear sister went for a foot spa.

It hasn't started but my mum is relaxing already.

My camera, my blog so my control which photo I will post.

Curious how the Detox Treatment works? Not for the weak heart.

5 minutes through the treatment.

And after 30 minutes. Yikes! That's toxins out of my mummy's body. We were told that 60-80% of toxins was removed from first treatment.

Final Stop: Seafood dinner. Since mum wanted seafood for dinner, Kuya Louie suggested that we should buy our own and ask the Inn staffs to cook for us. This is what they made. We nearly finish everything. I had tummy ache the same night. :P

Total Cost for the day:

Zorbing - 300 for 1 person but 380 for 2 people
ATV - 750 per hour including the tour guide
Bug Car(not in the photos) - 1500 per hour including the tour guide
Foot Spa - 500 each
Detox Treatment - 850
Seafood dinner - 700 for the crabs and prawns and 220 for cooking