Gone too soon.

Two weeks from now would have been your 60th birthday. I am dreading that day already.



I asked a friend whether I should go home on your birthday because it's ironic that I haven't celebrated your birthday with you for years and now that you are gone, I will go home and celebrate your birthday? Isn't it too late?

She said something that you would have said to me... You are not going home for you papa but for your family... because it will mean a lot to them... Specially to your mom. Made sense. Like you.

You always made sense to me Pa. Even if i don't understand you at times, in the end, you always made sense.

You always say be practical and be pragmatic. Don't be too emotional. Be strong. Be a good example and always try to do the right thing.

Up to know, I still cannot believe that you are gone Pa... I guess I haven't accepted that I will never get to talk to you again. I miss having you in our life Pa... I wish I could go back to the last time that we had a real conversation...

June 2007 I went home for Auntie Esther's wake... I can feel how sad you were. We were in your room that you were having renovated. You were showing me the color of the walls that you choose. You were always proud of the things that you built. You could have been a great contractor :)

I vividly remember that night because that was our last conversation before you had a stroke just a few days after. A stroke that left you paralyzed on your right side and worst, aphasic.

I think that it is only now that I will admit how angry I was and still am that you had to be in that situation. It pained me to see you in pain... and almost powerless. I remember seeing your eyes when you realized you couldn't express yourself fully anymore. The sadness and pain in your eyes still haunt me. I wanted to hug you and tell you that everything will be okay... To tell mama that you will fully recover from the stroke but I knew... :(

You never did fully recover from that stroke... But I also saw how you tried to live your life to the fullest... Till the end. You made so many sacrifices for us before the stroke... But you made so much more after... You braved 2 1/2 years of being wheel chair bound and aphasic. I know you lived for us Pa... That is why when you wanted to finally rest and go to God last January, I had to let you be. I didn't want you to be trapped anymore. I wanted you to be free of all the pain.

But there are days when I would still wake up not believing that you are gone... Or wishing that I can turn back time.

You left us too soon Pa... We could still have had many adventures together.

But I don't want you worrying about us. I told you last January 11 that we will be fine...

I love you Pa. We will see you soon. We will talk again. Things will make sense again. Things will make sense again...

Location:11th Ave,Taguig City,Philippines

Shopping day

My last night in Singapore was pretty bad. I had fever and was coughing practically the whole night.

But that did not stop me from meeting up with Joann. :) I had bilins from Achie and Che and I know I have to go to Ikea :)


First stop was Lucky plaza to have some money changed. I decided to buy some electronics there and I would recommend for you to exercise extreme caution when dealing with these sellers! Grrrrrr. Prices were not bad but they were not very transparent.




Needless to say, I felt stupid. But I didn't let that (or my fever) get in the way of Prada :)


That's Joann :) We went to prada to buy something for my sis. :)

I wasn't very lucky with my Singaporean meals and lunch was no excuse. The chicken and hainan rice was eww. The roasted chicken was cold? Why?


Yuck.

So what made this trip worth it? ( for starters I didn't pay for it lol ! ) ... IKEA!




I want this sink! :) I love love ikea. :) brought some duvet fillers and covers :) hope we finally have ikea in Manila.

So I won't have any reasons to come back to Singapore. :)

A second look at Singapura!

My first time in Singapore was a - ok. I was not so impressed. I found it blah.

I was with my whole family so I would normally have lots of fun but I was just not impressed with what I saw.

Maybe it was because I was pregnant.

That was 2008. Two years after, I think Singapore is a bit better than my initial judgement. I was stuck in the conference for 2 days so I will have a better opinion tomorrow :) After I go to ikea :) lol



I had to eat laksa and I was not disappointed :) I had this in ion orchard food court. For only 6 sing ! Yummy! 4.8/5


Thanks to mic for meeting up with us :)


Joey seemed to have enjoyed it too :)



We stayed in Pan Pacific Orchard and I will rate this hotel 3/5.

Location : 4.5/ 5 Location is good because it's near orchard road.

Cost for money: 3/5 I think the price for the room is a bit costly for what it really is. We were even stuck with a queen bed since two twin beds rooms are 60 Singaporean Dollars more expensive.

Staff : 2.5/5
The frontliners were not friendly at all. The doormen were not even smiling.

The waitress and the guy who brought my food up was was though. I give them a 4/5.

Breakfast buffet: 3.5/5

The selection was not impressive but the cheese omelet was yummy! :)


I was forced to order in because I am feeling sick.





Fish sticks. Super bad. :( 1/5


Ham sandwich. Good enough. 3/5.


Mushroom room : passable. 3/5

Overall food rating. : 2.5/5




Needless to say I am not recommending Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore to anyone!