The Loss of the Ring

After two weeks of sleeping in an unfamiliar hotel bed in Dubai, I am now back in my own messy but comfortable bed. However, this day has a bittersweet ending because amidst the chaos in the Hong Kong International Airport, I lost my engagement ring. :(

I remember taking it off in the restroom to wash my hands and apply my makeup. I even reminded myself to put it back on after all my bathroom rituals. But somehow, I still forgot about the ring, even though it was right in front of me. Sometimes, I am surprised how forgetful I can be. Kasasabi ko lang na wag kalimutan yung singsing, nakalimutan ko pa rin. I only remembered about it when I was already near our boarding gate. I ran  back to the restroom as fast as I could, but alas the ring was gone. :(

Mox tried to comfort me by saying that he would replace the ring with a new one, this time with sparkling diamond on it. After all, my engagement ring was just a silver band that costs P250. Kayang-kayang palitan diba? But I said no, because 1) I might misplace the ring again, and this time it would hurt not only my feelings but also Mox's wallet; and 2) no diamond ring could ever replace the sentimental value that my silver engagement ring holds. Everytime I would look at my ring, I would always remember the tears I shed when Mox proposed to me inside my car. Iba talaga kasi ang pakiramdam nun eh. And even though Mox will propose to me again, this time on his knees, with a diamond ring hidden in his pocket, it would never match the kilig I felt during his first proposal.

Until now, I am not yet used to seeing my left ring finger bare. I would absentmindedly stroke my finger only to find out that the ring is gone. I could even see an imprint of the ring on my skin. Gah, I miss it already. :(

You will be missed :(

Searching for the Perfect Color Palette

Other than their wedding theme, brides and grooms must also decide on their motif, or as some would say, their color palette for the wedding. This would dictate how the wedding would look like: the colors of the bridesmaids' dresses, the colors of the linens and ribbons used during the reception, and even the colors of the paper used for the invitations. Frankly, choosing the wedding colors  is possibly the hardest thing in planning a wedding, other than saving up for the budget of course. Haha.

I have been searching the Internet for months trying to find our wedding motif. At first, I wanted to use purple because purple is my favorite color, but I felt it was already overused. I also didn't want anything with pink, mauve or peach in it because I felt it was too feminine. After all, I also have Mox to think of and I know he doesn't want anything too girly for him. I thought of green, but I just didn't feel any kinship with it. Walang "This is it" feeling eh.

When we decided on the beach theme for our wedding, our search for the perfect motif became easier because we immediately thought of TURQUOISE to signify the blue of the ocean. Now, all we had to do was to pair of turquoise with another color to create our color palette. I wanted vivid colors that would pop and create a lively, fun vibe for our wedding, especially since it would be held in the summer. One of our choices was yellow, but I've already seen numerous weddings with different shades of blue and yellows together. I wanted to our motif to be different and I wanted it to somehow be related to our beach theme. Luckily, I found the perfect color palette:

Turquoise and tangerine orange are perfect complements to one another because the warmness of orange can balance out the coolness of turquoise. Tangerine orange range also contributes to the beachy vibe because it represents the color of the hot sun. Oh diba, beach na beach ang dating.

I still don't know how we would incorporate the colors in our wedding. We could use turquoise as our main color (bridesmaid dresses, linens, etc.) and orange as the accent color (flowers, ribbons, etc.), with a few splashes of white to balance everything out. Or maybe we could use white as the main color then have turquoise and orange as the accent colors. We'll just discuss this with our wedding coordinator to see how we could pull this motif off. Good thing, I found some pegs that would at least help us visualize the colors together.

Note: All pictures were from Google images. :)

Seat Sale Fever

There was a time when the words "seat sale" would always give me an adrenaline rush. Trying to book a flight was very nerve-wracking and yet I love the satisfaction I get whenever I was able to book one. I used to book flights regardless whether I have the money for it or not. Addict lang eh. But when Mox and I started saving up for our wedding, I had to let go of my seat sale addiction. Masyado na kasing magastos ang luho na yun eh. So now, I ignore all the seat sale announcements so I wouldn't be tempted to book a flight.

That is until another seat sale has caught my attention:

Because its Airphil's second anniversary, they are offering P2 fare for all domestic destinations and P200 fare for Manila to Singapore and Cebu to Hong Kong flights. Oh diba, ang mura! This is valid for travel from July 1 to December 31, 2012. The selling period begins tonight until March 31 so better book now because these seats are selling like hotcakes. Unahan na to mga kuya at ate! Haha.

Thanks to Airphil's seat sale, I was able to book two roundtrip tickets for me and Mox to Bohol in October. Just in time for our second anniversary. And only for P2060 to boot! Wow, this seat sale is much cheaper than Cebu Pac's seat sales so far. Me likey! :)

Dubai's Dancing Fountain

I just arrived from Dubai Mall where I spent hours walking around and visiting every shop. Grabe, walang nasabi ang Mall of Asia sa laki ng Dubai Mall! It took me almost the whole day to explore all four floors of the mall, and I even skipped some shops since I was too tired to go in anymore. I think I'm done with malls for now. Pahinga na muna wallet ko sa pagshopping. Hehe.

But the pièce de résistance of my trip to Dubai Mall was the nightly show of the Dubai Fountain. Set on Burj Khalifa Lake,the fountain shoots water jets over 150 meters in the air, almost as high as a 50-storey building! It has over 6,000 light and color projectors, which creates more than a thousand unique water expressions just in time with the music.

The show happens every thirty-minute interval between 6:00pm to 11:00pm, but each show attracts hundreds of people so be sure arrive early if you want a prime spot. I took a video of the show earlier, but it's a little shaky because I was craning my neck and raising my camera high above my head just to get a proper look. Yeah, it sucks to be a short girl. Haha.

In other news, more wedding-related this time, we will have another food tasting session on Saturday (our fourth since the start of the year). This time, it's with Swan Catering at their office in Quezon City. I just hope that my flight to Manila could already be booked so that I don't have to worry about missing this event.

UPDATE: My  flight was moved to Friday night so I would arrive in the Philippines on Saturday afternoon. That means I would miss the food tasting with Swan Catering. Boo! :(

Lucky Number 17

Today marks our 17th month as a couple, but since I'm still here in Dubai, I just made a little something to brighten up Mox's day, even though I'm so far away. *Wow rhyming. Haha!*

We are now 17 months old. :)

Photographer: Booked!

Before I left for Dubai, I met with our prospective photographer to discuss their wedding packages and view their portfolio. They are one of the few suppliers who already accept 2014 bookings, so it would be an advantage for us if we could book them as early as now.

And luckily, everything went so well during our meeting that we booked them on the spot. So my fellow brides and grooms, let me introduce to the photographers who will capture the heartwarming moments of our special day:

I fell in love with their use of bright, vivid colors and their ability to capture the candid moments of every wedding. The vibe of their photos is fun, lively and fresh—just what I wanted for my wedding. They also capture in black and white for a more dramatic feel. Plus, dealing with Osep, the main photographer, was a breeze! I had a great time during our meeting because we just laughed and chatted like long lost friends. There was no air of arrogrance from him, considering that they already have lots of great reviews from their brides and grooms. I was also surprised to learned that we were of the same age. Akala ko kasi matanda na siya eh. *Peace Osep! Haha.* And the best part of all is that their rates are relatively affordable. Of course, I am willing to shell out more cash for photos since they would be our only remembrance of the event, but luckily, I was able to find a great photographer within our budget. :)

OM Photography is actually my non-negotiable supplier so when I learned that they are willing to accept 2014 weddings, I immediately grabbed the chance to meet with them and book them. Osep told me that I am the earliest bride to book them (25 months in advance!), and that Mimi was so happy to hear about it that she posted it on their Facebook page. See, may advantage rin pala ang pagiging excited sa kasal. Haha!

Here are some of my favorite OM photos. Check out their website for some of their other works. :)

Finally, we can checked off one supplier from our checklist. Now, all I have to do is come up with a great concept for our prenup pictorial. Nakakapressure! Haha!

OM PHOTOGRAPHY
0947-8128910
osepmimiphoto@gmail.com

Let It Snow!

It's my first day here in Dubai and up to now, I haven't adjusted yet to the four-hour time difference. My body clock is still running on Philippine time, which is 2:49am right now so I'm already feeling sleepy even though it's just 10:49pm here in Dubai.

This is a very tiring day, not just because of the jet lag, but because we've spent an hour and a half skiing. Yes, you heard that right. SKIING IN DUBAI! Who would have thought that a Middle Eastern country would have snow. Well, it's artificial snow, but still! Yeah, we were pretty excited to go down the mountain of snow, but after falling countless times, we all just wanted the session to end. We were such pathetic skiers that kids were already beating us down the slope. Waley kami sa mga batang yun. Haha!

The ski slope

Ski gear on!

"Professional" skiers

Trying to ski

Epic fail

So now, my legs and muscles are already screaming in pain. And to think this is just Day 1 of my 15-day training here in Dubai. Hay, 14 more days to go.