vacation – Girl Gone Cuckoo

contemplating on staying forever ~ boracay day three

day three of our beach bumming and beer drinking honeymoon vacation in Boracay. we woke up early enough to have breakfast at the resort then immediately proceeded to spend the whole day by the beach. i wish all days can be spent near the water, with the water splashing and i’m just lounging with a book and good music. if only. seriously, on our way home, Harry and i were contemplating staying here for a while and were imagining ourselves getting just about any job we can find in the island and live a simpler life together. *sigh*

the major peril when traveling with just the two of us is that we don’t get to take photos together. we didn’t bring a tripod and only brought an SLR with a 50mm lens, not a digital camera so it was even more difficult to take photos of ourselves. it took us 3 days to attempt to take photos on a timer and we ended up with a series of blurry photos and my iTouch getting dumped in the sand. thank you to the korean guy who took pity on us and volunteered to take our photo. LOL.

the beach x rum-spiked shakes ~ boracay day two

day two was spent entirely at the beach, as it should be. we woke up late and missed our free breakfast from Microtel so we had brunch by the sea instead. of course, we started the day with beer matched with a fatty double cheese ham sandwich — the perils and at the same time joy of a vacation = pigging out.

while harry took a swim, i spent the rest of the morning until past noon, sitting on the lounge chairs, reading a book and still tuned in to my iPod. that was the perfect morning for me. by 2 in the afternoon, we had massages, compliments of the resort, beside the pool which we wished would last longer. by 4, we walked past the boundary of Diniwid and the beach stations to visit a Estacio Uno to have a quick ocular and meeting with management for a client whose wedding Cuckoo Cloud Concepts will be styling this December. yes! i had to insert a bit of work but it was still fun because the manager was really accommodating and told good stories of his life in the hospitality industry.

the sunset was still something we looked forward to and we finished the afternoon with a touristy bottle of shake spiked with rum, paired with a chori burger and a longer walk from station 1 to 2 for some heavy dinner.

mismatched bikini – props | blue floppy hat – boracay find | oversized sunnies – urban outfitters

sunset city ~ boracay day one

two of the things i look forward to when visiting Boracay: the awesome i-never-get-sick-of sunset and the beach bohemian culture. Harry initially wanted to go to Palawan for our honeymoon but i asked him to compromise and booked a resort on the farther side of the island, away from the crowd yet still near the amazing beaches of Boracay.

day one was spent just lounging around, reading a book while waiting for Harry to sleep off his night shift (which he came from before we flew here) and listening to good indie music while experience the amazing sunset. the rest of the night was spent walking on fine white sand — holding hands of course, looking for good food at the beach stations and discovering Ti Braz which became our day-ender until we left the island. one thing we also realized and became a habit during the stay is that beer is only P20.00 more expensive than water. so naturally, since we were on vacation, we bypassed water and drank beer all day.

white one-shouldered maillot – nudo swimwear | floral pencil skirt – props | embroidered and beaded sandals – people are people | rainbow knit bag – gifted by sister | elephant tusk necklace (which i lost during the trip) – bangkok find | bangles and bracelets – bangkok and downtown finds

forgive the haggard, make-upless face. this was during the later part of the night. anyway, i realized while preparing this post that i haven’t posted any details about our wedding. You can find our bohemian wedding here. hope you guys love it! ♥

hale manna part 3: mornings by the beach

we did take a dip when the tide rolled in the night before so our time at the beach wasn’t wasted at all. tired from the late swim, we slept early and woke up early enough to enjoy the cold morning breeze. the tide was mid-level and we were able to kayak safely over to the hut on a raft in the middle of the sea and swim with the fishes. the water was so clear, you don’t need a snorkel to see the corals and colorful creatures below it. okay, okay, so i am a good swimmer but i cannot snorkel for the life of me. i don’t know, i’ve tried it several times but end up getting water up my nose. sue me! LOL.

after the swim and before our sumptuous lunch, we spent the great part of our morning lounging, the best way we know how.

printed monokini – bangkok find | denim cut-offs – tommy hilfiger | pink flip-flops – havaianas | oversized sunniess – urban outfitters, gifted by sis | black wide-brimmed hat – cotton on

we went home around 3PM, hearts a little heavy and promising to come back soon. my sister will be leaving for Sydney in a few days and we had other duties to attend to but our stay in Hale Manna will always be something we will remember.

we couldn’t pass up the chance to grab yummy dessert on the way back to the city and dropped by the milk station in Barili. a cup of homemade ice cream (okay, i got 3 cups, shared with Harry since i couldn’t decide on flavor) and locally made barquillos completed our weekend vacation.

hale manna part 2: afternoon bliss

since we arrived at the beach past 2PM, the water has receded by the time we got settled in our room. actually, our detached bungalow which housed 8 beds was a dream so we found ourselves rolling in our beds, eating and just having fun — we almost forgot we were at the beach, so it took us more than an hour to get settled. what a waste of a beach right? well, it’s our vacation and we call the shots.

so we stepped out and just spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the beach, waiting for the sunset. my sisters, my mom, dad, cousin and I stuffed ourselves in the cabana and played that app game with the icons. i think Harry even dozed off in one of the hammocks and my brother-in-law Warren still couldn’t disconnect himself from his Mac. an afternoon by the beach, in our own version of afternoon bliss.

polka dot ruffled maillot – cotton on | white denim cut-offs – thrifted | black wide-brimmed hat – cotton on, rubi shoes | oversized sunnies – urban outfitters, gifted by sister | bangles and bracelets – downtown finds

hale manna part 1: tribal print x polka dots

it has really been awhile since i’ve enjoyed the beach. aside from having to maintain long hair to prepare for my wedding, i also promised myself last year to achieve my natural fair skin — which we got a hint of from my mom. i’ve been avoiding the sun and have been wearing sunblock everyday. whenever i need to be outside, i cover myself with long-sleeved cotton tops and oversized hats. last year, i only visited the beach once and we were under the shade of the boat, most of the time. don’t get me wrong, i have no regrets — i wanted to be fair so i will stand out in my wedding dress but i’m sure you can all imagine my relief when we got to hit the beach this year.

words can’t describe how beautiful hale manna in moalboal is. pictures can’t even do it justice because you need to be there for the experience. yes, the sand is not as fine as that of boracay’s or bantayan’s and 25% of the resort is by the cliff but the serenity you feel when you’re in the place is beyond measure. the beach is lined with small huts that house mattresses, overlooking the ocean so we got to spend a whole afternoon relaxing. the service and amenities were amazing too. it didn’t feel like we were in a resort, we felt like we were in tita’s rest house. we were pampered beyond belief.

hold on to your seats, this will be the first of 3 posts of our hale manna vacation. ♥

tribal printed swimsuit top – props | polka maxi wrap-around skirt – thrifted | elephant tusk necklace – bangkok find | oversized sunnies – urban outfitters, gifted by sister | bangles – braids and bonds & downtown finds

church dressing in humid weather

for four days in our province of Sindangan, these were the only photos i took that were..uhhh..for the lack of a better term “presentable..” no, i’m not saying i didn’t have fun nor that the other photos my relatives and i took were not fun or were ugly. by “presentable”, i meant that i was fully dressed and doesn’t look like melting. Sindangan is located in Mindanao, which is the southern island group in the Philippines. southern, meaning it’s very near the ecuator, which means it’s hotter and more humid.

photo details:

1) this what i wore on the first we attended Mass, on Holy Thursday and it is the only outfit i brought that was comfortable in the humid weather. made me regret not bringing more cotton or shift dresses.

2 – 5) food, food, food. eating fish everyday may be daunting but not if you live just 2 blocks away from the beach and the seafood is fresh everyday. fish and other seafood is softer and creamier in your mouth. so i present to you, grilled tulingan, fish ceviche in coconut milk (kinilaw na isda in coconut milk), the fresh and delicious steamed rock lobster and my uncle’s grilled steak blue marlin. YUM!

6) the sole reason that we come back to Sindangan every year — the carro for the Resurrected Christ. this has been in our family for generations and every year, our responsibility is to dress up the carro to ready it for the re-enactment of His meeting with Mary and to serve breakfast to the church members and the little angels that sing in the re-enactment called, Sugat.

ps. i helped decorate the carro. my mom did the top parts, i did the bottom ones. what do you think?

printed dress – thrifted | turquoise belt – robinson’s dept store, dumaguete |

multi-colored gladiator flats – khaosan road, bangkok | elephant necklace – carbon find

photo catch-up: holy week 2011

1) the propellers of our small plane to Dipolog — scared the crap out of me. as it turns out, propeller planes are slow but are safer than jet engine ones. the flight was fun and really quick.

2) my mom’s wedges and my studded flats. stole this shot while waiting for the procession after the Seven Last Words.

3) the Barlas — a quick shot born out of boredom.

4) the two dresses we found at the line of thrift shops in Sindangan — will be drooling over them as they won’t fit me!

5) a shot of our entrance here at the house, with the sneak peak of the flowers for our Resurrection carro.

back to the provincial life

there’s a week in every year that people take to disconnect and go back to the basics. i’ve taken that break and am currently in our small town of Sindangan, the one place we go back to every summer for the holy week. i haven’t been here for 4 years due to work and am very glad to be back. we go back here every holy week to fulfill our obligation as a family to prepare the carro for the ‘Sugat’ — the re-enactment of the meeting of Mary and the resurrected Jesus Christ.

the place is not the same as before, what with our grandma and grandpa gone (may they rest in peace) but the memories still linger. it’s not an ideal summer home here, oh not not at all. our house is just the right size, we have no cable tv (no TV at all), we only have old songs played over and over (think, frank sinatra and elton john), we all sleep in the big room with our beds on the floor and this is the first summer i’ve brought internet over. despite the lack of modern technology and activities that are supposedly ‘productive’, we are definitely satisfied by simply sitting down in the living room after meals and just talking and joking with each other.

try it. disconnect, sit down with family and just talk. you’ll find more connection than expected.

(photo credit here)

waking up whenever i want to!

i am officially free from the corporate world! and i am jumping like a kid on christmas day!

and then after jumping, i ran to my room, turned on the AC and watched 2 movies and totally cried over another nicholas sparks movie…haha!, slept, went to Harry’s place and ended the night drunk after jager bombs (say, jager bombs!) and my favorite kurant sprite (oh i love vodka) and with the infamous Orange Brutus Burger Steak…tihee!

so i woke up the next day with a really bad so-worth-it hangover, got a mani-pedi, went off to watch Inception with Karen while eating the mini-sampler burgers (5 mini-burgers with different toppings) from Flame it.

the best thing about this freedom is waking up whenever i want to! this break is like my summer. the best thing about school was getting summer and semestral breaks but when you start working, you don’t get any anymore. so here’s my chance, just for a month.

i hope everyone is having a great weekend!

ps. i know my mustard cardigan is a repeat and it may be too soon but i just love it too much! you know when you get a cardigan or jacket in a certain color that you think you can pair with anything? my mustard cardigan is that one for me now. it’s mustard and it has a hoodie. what could be better? haha okay, so maybe i’ll get over it and move on to the next one.

star-printed tee – thrifted

mustard cardigan – thrifted

denim shorts – thrifted

grey flats with animal-print bow – parisian, sm dept store

silver spring cuffs – thrifted at carbon

bronze bangle – props

printed enamel bangle – a gift from april mae

rings: orange howlite – dane’s giveaway | burnt orange stone – thrifted at carbon

round imprint necklace – a gift from gelie

brown sunnies – thrifted at carbon

in the land of mickey

felt like a kid again in disneyland! after watching all the amazing shows there, my sister and i had the urge to a have a disney princess movie marathon — beauty and the beast, cinderella, little mermaid…haha! we had to laught as we remembered my friend’s facebook status: “thank you disney for giving me high expectations for love…” so true!

scarf – macau street market

blazer – thrifted

white tank top – thrifted

grey knitted sweater – thrifted

black skirt – props

studded boots – ladies market – mongkok

chinese + portuguese

i didn’t mind walking around too much. the streets were clean. and everyone looked fabulous. went on a 1-hr ferry trip to macau and it was a lot colder than i expected. i always imagined macau to be sunny just like how i see it on tv. it was sunny alright but windy and lot more colder than hong kong. the streets were somewhat empty because of the grand prix. too many roads were closed. did some more shopping at the macau streets..as usual!

pashmina scarf – hongkok street

black blazer – thrifted

pinstripe shirt dress – thrifted

black tights | black belt – props

boots – janilyn

bag – maldita

glasses – thrifted