🌊Seychelles, a Love Island🏝

April 9, 2018April 12, 2018 / lenasattic / 4 Comments

Seychelles, a small island in East Africa, a relaxation from stressful cities, people & leeches. There are only 90, 000 dwellers, their main source of income is Tourism & the crime rate is low. They speak Creole, French & English. It’s a very simple place to live in, no wonder why many people around the globe choose to have their staycation in this lil island. It reminds me of my relative’s province, when I once had my vacation in Ilocos Sur. Living in a humble abode, the beach is just nearby & you can just take a walk with your hubby and appreciate life together.🌏

Wonder how Seychelles became Seychelles? Lemme share you about what I’ve learned from our chauffeur slash tourist guide. Seychelles was just a quiet island before with no one inhabiting the place. In olden times Arabs used to take slaves from East Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia,etc) but the Brits stopped them and took the slaves and kept them in Seychelles Island. There begun the journey for freedom of the slaves and they developed their country with the help of the British government. During the British colonization their main source of income were peppermint & coco production. When they became independent on the year 1960s, construction of Seychelles Airport started their break away to the Tourism World and became one of the sought-after attractions in the world. By the way, before when they didn’t have an airport, they used to travel via boat so it took like 2-3 day ride going to their neighbouring countries.😲

So Mr. Francis the chauffeur, oriented us where to go to before going to places, our aim is to visit Victoria, Eden Island & a nice beach to chill with.🚘

That island with lots of red roof is an artificial island called ‘Eden Island’ built and owned by South Africans. People don’t only visit Seychelles, some of them migrate here to live a simple and enjoyable beach life, most of them are whites, including South Africans. They actually make pretty good businesses here.🏞

Mi amore. I’m loving him more after our wedding. My favorite view. My heart is bursting with love right now. He’s my Oasis of Calm, while I’m his Roaring Thunder. Lol
An enigma to me that rings true, someone will really accept you for who you are & won’t make a big fuss out of it.🏖

Tropical fruits anyone? Too bad the vendor was not around, I would love to ferment those Santol seeds with vinegar and eat them afterwards.🍈🍑🍌

Let’s take a dip and mermaid for a bit.🐙

That sunshine feeling watching for the sun to set in our own paradise, indeed I am happy.🌞

The reflection of the sunset slapping this scenic view is my own kind of bliss. Getting married is a relief, it’s like you’ve dislodged a wishbone out of your throat. Yeah, that kind of feeling.🐚🌅

🦑VICTORIA🐟
The capital city of Seychelles.🦀

Here’s a truck load of big fishes. Its like Philippines huh. Most of it actually…. key chains, accessories, shells…it’s just that Seychelles is very overrated, 10x more expensive than the Philippines, 2x more expensive than UAE & Turkey.🐟🦐

The only Hindu Indian Temple, it just caught my attention cus it is very colourful. Like a candy to the eye, I’m sure every histrionic person would agree.🕍

These big turtles were rescued from the forest when they have to develop it to residential areas. These turtles live only by land. Some do steal these turtles at night so they barricaded it with wires. Unluckily, they don’t have cctv… guess it would be more effective.🐢🐢🐢

Some spices & tea♨️

Dunno where this place is. It’s too hot, I nearly fainted. I’m really not used to the sun. I’m anemic mix w/ a skin condition. I’m such a KJ wifey. I can’t do the island girl thing.😵

He’s so happy to discover that SPAR, a grocery shop in his country is in Eden Island. He really missed South Africa & his family there…soon, sweetheart… we will see them soon.💔💞

Him making himself busy while waiting for our chauffeur going to the wedding venue. I’ve never seen him that happy on the day of our wedding.💕💕

Get you a guy who massages your pale feet just to relieve your anxiety.😝🤣

Post wedding selfie with the island people!!! The guy is our photographer & the lovely lady is our event organizer.💍💍🏝

That feeling when you’re already married. That’s non alcoholic guys, it’s grapefruit okay. Stop judging us, judges of the Earth.🥂

🏠ORCHID SUNSET GUESTHOUSE🏠

Get you a guy who can practice abstinence before the wedding🎊

Get you a guy who cooks breakfast when you hungry & lazy🍞🥓🍳

Our veranda for 4 days…😊

The hostess of the guesthouse gave us a warm welcome & a sweet papaya.🔪🍽😄

Intead of eating fish, we cooked lots of pork since it’s cheaper here…haha. We had our last supper at the veranda, just simply fidgeting & talking about stuffs, knowing more about each other…everyday you will discover more about the deep feelings and emotions of one another…and that for me is a very important milestone to our relationship as husband & wife.💑

This stamp symbol of Seychelles got us thinking that it looks like a butt or a peach…🍑

Then I saw this coco de mer, the world’s largest nut & can only be found in Seychelles. So we figured out that the symbol is a nut, coco de mer.😅

My shoes got me to diff countries. I love them… I’ve got lots but this pair didn’t fail to make me feel comfy on my travels. here’s to more adventures to come, my favorite shoes!!!! Fred’s in love with his boat shoes as well, he asked to take a picture of it. Haha.🐾🐾

As I thumbed through the pages of my life, I’ve figured out that tho the world didn’t always glide calmly with me, I am still blessed by spiritual Manna, heaven poured right before my eyes. That gives me an ultra energy that warped my body to go on & not let go of who I want to become. I was able to achieve my goals in upgrading my career, had a better & more satisfying working environment, garnered true friends along the way, & stayed committed to a relationship. With these blessings, I felt like I’ve reach my own zenith of my small successes intertwined, & I guess I’m ready for it. Yes I am married. And I am happy. We’re both happy. I hope the one who’s reading this is also happy. May all the bitterness of your heart be wiped away & kept anew with more joyful memories. Thank you for reading. 😗

👀A Glance To The Modern Constantinople🇹🇷

January 9, 2018May 19, 2018 / lenasattic / Leave a comment

A quintessential city.. Traces of Pagan, Christian and Islam religions are all imprinted all over. While dwelling in The Great Constantinople (Istanbul) of Byzantine Empire, I am seeing the Past in the Present, cus a beautiful disaster can’t be forgotten, even if it turns someone into salt. I identify myself with Dan Brown and I feel ablazed that he included Istanbul in his novel Inferno.

We fly back from Cappadocia to Istanbul, the last day before our flight to at least visit Istanbul before we leave the country. Our legs hurt & hardly slept but it’s okay. Were still hyped for you Istanbul! This is the kind of thing where u can be exhausted and at the same time happy!

DOLMABAHÇE PALACE

The Treasury Gate. Very mesmerizing indeed.

Dolmabahçe Palace has been the house of 6 sultans and of the 1st President of Turkey Republic, Mustafa Ataturk. It’s where he did some of his works until he died. We toured all the rooms in all floors, we even saw the President’s deathbed. My favorite room was the library, the smell of the books are so delicious, felt so good, sad thing we cannot touch any, the rule when you enter the palace is ‘for your eyes only.’ It’s fine. I respect all of it cus I love everything of it. No pictures allowed inside. But believe me, everything is jaw-droppingly amazing! Just imagine yourself that you’re the Belle in Beauty & The Beast. That’s exactly how it feels when you tour inside the Palace. An mp3 with an earphone will serve as your tour guide, it can detect where you are, explains the history of every location inside the Palace.

Clock Tower of Dolmabache –adjacent building of the Palace

Gate to the Bosphorus– through here, the Sultan had a good view of the famous Bosphorus, the boundary between Europe and Asia

The style is kinda baroque & neoclassical..I took Drafting as my course for 3 years during my hi school…I didn’t excel on the practical part, so I focused on the theories. Now I am able to appreciate the Baroque & Neoclassical Architecture, so amazing and breath-taking.

Yep, he’s not allowed to smile..& that’s the hardest job for me- to be serious.

‘Tale as old as time’ 🎶🎵

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BOSPHORUS

The boundary between Europe and Asia. There’s lots of tale of war & commercial exchange between tribes here.

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HAGIA SOPHIA, “Holy Wisdom”

It’s the only structure who served 3 religions Pagan, Christianity & Islam. The emperors of Byzantine empire were crowned here. It was once the largest church of Roman Catholic until St. Peter Church of Rome was built.

“Cerca Trova” [Seek and Find]

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BASILICA CISTERN

People who watched Inferno must be familiar with this. Even James Bond movie with Sean Connery was shoot here.

The BASILICA CISTERN is located underground, it provided water filtration system to the Great Grand Palace of Constatinople during the Byzantine Empire.
The supply of water came from the Black Sea thru aqueducts.

The Visage of MEDUSA– At the latter end of the cistern, monuments of Medusa can be found. They are inverted sideway and upside down to counterfeit the petrifying gorgon’s gaze (Medusa is one of the Gorgon Sisters). It was believed according to myth that when you look at Medusa you will turn into stone.
From the movie Inferno, the virus that would cause plague and wipe out mankind was kept and found here near the upside down monument of Medusa.

Hahahaha. Just because I love Mulan. I look like a boy.

She’s really the conservative type. Love ya sistah! 😙

There is a booth for picture taking where in you can dress up in medieval costumes. It’s 200 lira (almost 200dhs) including 1 printed scrolled photo & another picture in a photoglow backlit frame lol plus a disc with all of the soft copy of 100+ photos taken. As usual out of those 100 pics I only got 2 nice pics. I look awful & funny..I look like a flower boy. I’ll never be serious my entire life. Even the other tourists were laughing cus i cant serious. But still it was a great experience, I wanna try it again next time, with my brows fixed and better poses. (I’m not really photogenic huhu)

I think this is a nice idea for prenup photo shoot. Dressing up in Byzantine costumes. Just a trivia, when Turks get married, all of their gifts are gold, also in India. In the Philippines, mostly are appliances, linens, housewares. Same story with U.S., I have a friend when they got wed, he shared an online site wherein the guests could just pick& buy a home appliance then deliver to their new home.

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TAKSIM SQUARE Monument of The Republic

There was bombing here last year according to ate florence. I hope terrorism would stop. Why can’t we just love each other? Why can’t we just admire things without exploiting nor harassing them? Sic. God bless their souls.

Just walking towards the Taksim Square

Wondering what’s for lunch…

She’s too curious to taste the hard bagel with nutella. It’s crunchy and it tastes nice. Thanks Lolo! 😁

TRAM. Ate Florence took a picture of us with the tram, since we dont have it in our country. The first tram was used to be horse-drawn. So imagine a big calesa.

All of the colourful drama of Istanbul, we may not be able to experience it all in one day but still were so grateful. A reason to come back again. Swear, I hope everything goes well next year. It was really a dream for me to come to Turkey but I was afraid cus the airport was bombed 2x. I was afraid to die. Not ready yet. Not now. My sister was more confident to explore turkey and her incessant liner ‘if it’s your time to die then you die. God is in control of everything.’ kinda convinced me. And we are that happy that we came home alive. Some stupid mistakes were made & money has been unnecessarily wasted but still we’re grateful for the gift of life on the new years eve.

Thank you to vfs global for assisting us with the visa processing, Ms. Farah have eased my anxieties and I knew she shared with our happiness when we get a hold of our turkey visa. She laughed when we let go of our screams cus we can’t contain our euphoric state that time.

And to our ate Florence, who’s more excited for us than us, who constantly updated us and wished us well, and tour us to Istanbul. You have such a very great heart, your husband is so lucky & blessed to have you. Thank you for treating us like a family since day 1. And when I say day 1, that was when we were in hi school hehe. I still can’t forget the Graham cake you shared with us on Christmas Eve back when I was 13 years of age. We feel like you’re an angel heaven sent to us. Thank you for the free tickets to those amazing places! 😉 You will be blessed doublefold!

I’m happy to let some steam out of the kettle. I’m really talkative. My love in playing with words took me to different bounds of curiosity. I’m longing to seek more, learn more & ponder God’s magnificent creations. And that would be my goal 2018. Thank you for reading, either you skim or scan, I really do appreciate.

#turkey #istanbul #hagiasophia #basilicacistern #dolmabahçe #bosphorus #taksimsquare

🐾The Mystique Charm of Cappadoccia🐾

January 2, 2018January 29, 2018 / lenasattic / Leave a comment

You dazzle us with your splendid beauty. You’re more than a collection of pixels, indescribable, unblemished, no one can justify your worth and the worth of change you brought to us. We’re instantly smitten by your lovely charm. Eyes dilated 4x in hypnotic stares in everything we see. You fill up our HAPPINESS STASH inside, it’s been OVERFLOWING a long while.

A WALK TO IHLARA VALLEY

How can a sleepy hollow tree can be full of life at the same time?

This has been the simplest yet the hardest.. we had a 4-kilometre walk appreciating the true colours of nature. For an hour, it was just us, the hollow trees, rock formations, mountains creamed in white, the whooshing sound of the river & other creatures. I was with my sister & some other tourists, friends & lovers, I could see them enjoying while our eyes are lit up with these sceneries. It felt SURREAL.

The soothing rush of the river before it bends is a relaxation to my subconscious.. and great memories of the past keeps on coming back and that makes me feel happy…

It’s kinda weird to see these creepy chucky-looking dolls. Very eye-catchy.

Walk with me and let’s find out all the twisted trails & wonders in this mystique world I’ve known…..🐾

❄Snow. Starin’ at snowflakes, that’s so enchanting. Brushing me off and makes me feel cold. And still I’m having a deep connection with the snow. Isn’t this a PROOF that a COLD-HEARTED BEING is a BEAUTY too? Isn’t this a proof that everyone’s beautiful? Oh, my lovely snow. It’s a SHEER JOY, wondrin’ if throwing snowballs is an effective emotional catharsis. I’m having my moments haha. Omg.❄

A WALK TO DERINKUYU UNDERGROUND CITY

I had imagined myself discovering the underground cities but I never expected that I’d be given this chance to witness these remnants of old. I can’t even touch any of it, I don’t wanna disgrace its epic beauty, knowing how clumsy I am. I hope everyone could see what we have seen, I’m in DEEP AWE. Everything just makes me feel so good. How could the ORDINARY CITIES in the PAST could be AN EVENTUAL PERFECTION in the present and the future?

See this stairway? This was the widest already most of them are steep & small, you gotta walk with your upper body curved down. Imagine the people living here before.

According to our tourist guide, this is a livestock pen to which they stored their flocks. Most probably small animals like chicken, ducks, etc. This underground city served as their haven when Persians, Romans and Arabs were trying to invade them, they stayed here for as long as 3 months, so they have this food storage to suffice them all throughout their stay.

Located at the center of the aisle, this has been assumed as their PUNISHMENT AREA for the invaders or wrongdoers. It’s located at the middle for PUBLIC HUMILIATION, so that everyone could see the consequence of doing bad deeds. There are 2 holes up in which they would tie the wrists of the enemy, hanging in chains, body suspended until he slowly die from dehydration. Horrific. Ouch.

This is predicted to be a SANCTUARY since the wall at the center looked like a CROSS. (Sorry I’m not a good photographer, but the middle wall is really positioned like a cross.) It’s a small chapel and yeah Turks were Christians way back then. And that part where in there’s small door-like opening is a room for priests, seminarists. I guess. Haha. ( It’s kinda hard retrieving data in my brain, but Bilal, our tour guide is a really great story-teller. Everything he says sounds very interesting to me. I love history. It’s never boring! )

That hole on the left side of my sissy is created as their COMMUNICATION AREA to the other room. They can’t text nor call thru phone back then. Harsh. If you were to choose, the SIMPLER life before or the COMPLICATED TECHY now? (I can hardly choose huhu)

All of the underground cities are INTERCONNECTED with TUNNELS so that if 1 city has been INVADED by the enemies they could easily en route to other city then they block the way going to that other city by rolling a 200-KILO DISC SHAPED STONE so that the enemies can’t get thru it… pretty interesting isn’t it? I’m loving all the knowledge I’ve learned here. I’m rekindling history.. it isn’t even creepy at all, it’s too interesting that all the things I loved to study during my hi school and college years, I’m seeing them in ACTUAL now… the story of BYZANTINE EMPIRE is one of my fave & all of the buried schemes in my attic cat came rushing into my conscious mind. 5000 years old, 8 floors & it could house 20k people. Hail to the Hittites for constructing the underground cities.
The only cons are first, there’s no toilet room, they are just taking it all out in a small pot lol. Second, you would really understand that having kyphosis is hard, we’re literally walking in steep stairs with our back bended on a 90- degree facing to the ground…and we have to endure it. It’s really a perfect hideaway from invaders. Well done.
Archaeologists, anthropologists, geologists & historians are really cool people. Their jobs are subject to pure imaginations. They must be loving their jobs much discovering history…

(The illustration of Derinkuyu Underground City c/o google)

Creepy is the new sexy.

FAIRY CHIMNEYS

Fairy Chimneys or Hodoos! Were they made out of magic? What do you think? Lem’me share to you what I’ve learned about it.

These FAIRY CHIMNEYS are originally Monasteries then became geological stone formation from volcanic ashes, snow, rain & other natural elements. The STEMS are becoming THINNER in time as you can see since they are made up of soft tuff. While the CAPS are made up of harder basalt so it’s slower for them to shrink in size. According to geologist these rock formation later on will be deformed- be changed into a different version since NATURE has its own course to CARVE them into other shapes. That’s why I am so happy I was able to see these fairy chimneys!!! Let’s see the difference after a million years or maybe after the judgment day and lets see if this blog would still exist. 😁😁😁😁

SELIME MONASTERY

See that? That is the biggest monastery in Cappadocia. And we have to trek all the way up. The way going up there is so steep your 2 shoes won’t fit in. We were so exhausted, our feet hurt…but I see two lil kids trailing up as well, so I don’t have the right to murmur.

My sister is so fashionista! 🌬

And photogenic too! She has lots of good shots, can’t help not to put her as my subject. 😄

Most of the tourists are Chinese, Koreans & Blondes, there’s no other Filipinos there…It’s only us. Maybe because it’s hard to get a visa. Cus we really struggled for the visa. But again. It’s all worth it.

POTTERY

GOREME OPEN AIR MUSEUM

Goreme is the most popular tourist spot in Cappadocia, it’s crowded, people visit the museum and old churches turned into rock forms, we can’t take pictures on the paintings inside the churches to protect its holiness maybe.

Oh I think I’m inside a home for students in the monastery. This looked like a long table and chairs. Imagine the seminarists sitting here for dinner.

SATO CAVE STONE HOTEL

Living in a chilly cave…
This is a true rest house…not that kind of city hotel…. A cave house, everything you see has an impact of Kapadokya’s history…it’s like every object has a resounding story to tell.. It’s like the reality world of the FLINTSTONES! And the owner OSMAN is the friendliest!! He fathered us throughout our stay. God bless him. He cooked breakfast for us, made us feel warm, covered us with blanket while we were just sleeping in a sofa at the terrace while waiting for our airport shuttle. He the best man in Cappadocia! Very humble in the humbliest city I’ve been. And people here are the nicest, our driver would stop the car allowing the cat, chicken and sheep to cross the other street. They are very dear to all sentient beings. The cars are mostly vintage. Everything is old and homey. I so love!
Coming up to this, we’re thankful for our parents they struggled to put us to college, encouraged us to take the nursing course..and now we have a fulfilling work that enables us to travel around the world.

As I travel, I’m appreciating God more and more. He is a truly Omnipotent Being. He the Greatest. Everything is a manifestation of His Power. Everything represents God himself.

Thank you Papa G for making us experience Cappadocia in 2 days! If we could just stretch out our stay there for a week, we could have done that but our schedule won’t allow us. The balloon ride has been cancelled for a week, but it’s fine…a reason for us to come back again.

Breaky, Breaky! Turkish breakfast, anyone?🍞🥛🥒🥚

There are more things to share, more sights to wonder, but I’m honestly running out of English vocabulary…& I forgot the rest of the stories, I tried to jot down while Bilal, the tour guide was talking but it was too fast-paced… I can’t talk more about it. Just visit Cappadocia itself and you’ll find out everything. Hehe

We were sad to leave Cappadocia at the same time excited to see Istanbul! The CAPITAL of Byzantine Empire!!!! It’s too much to handle, so I’m gonna make a separate blog for Istanbul, Turkey. Ya better watch out guys!!! Thank you for reading the Part 1: The Charm of Cappadocia.

Happy Unicorn!!!🦄

“A unicorn has the EYES TO SEE infinite possibilities and WISDOM to take advantage of them.” 🦄

“Have you taken a pause today? A moment to glance the beauty that surrounds you? The fallen leaves of a hollow tree, the melody of a song bird, the crystal blue that fills the sky? Within this moment MAGIC is happening all around you..Just pause and observe.”🦄

#turkey #cappadocia #kayseri #ihlaravalley #goreme #satocavestonehousehotel

Get Doomed!

November 15, 2017January 29, 2018 / lenasattic / Leave a comment

Wake up just to feel yourself dying, hating your job, not exactly the job itself but the toxicity & the powerful crooks, they make you feel miserable the whole time, extracting all the energy left in you. Gotta sleep more to let your body anabolize but instead your cells are catalyzing more of what you’ve got and you end up exhausted from snoozing.

Am I getting thin being a damsel in distress? Nope. You’re still fat. Fat, fat, fat. Ugly & fat. I dunno why but when I mock myself, I feel better. When I punish myself, I feel less guilty of the mistakes I mistakenly do to others. If I do mistake, I feel like I’m the worst person in the world. Questioning myself if I am sane enough to do the bad stuff I had done & I can’t change a thing about it. I don’t like disappointing people, I don’t wanna be a subject of gossip, I am too paranoid to think the things that might happen, is already happening, doesn’t actually happen but still think it’s happening. And I am that kind of person, neurotic, got a defective wire in my brain and it’s gonna stay that way forever.

When I commit mistake, I’m thinking, why am I still alive? What’s the essence of me existing? Being humiliated to people, I will never get used to it or immune by it. If I convince myself that all is well, everything’s gonna be alright…My worries still outweigh my optimistic mantra chant. I’m still afraid what’s gonna be next? I’m done with level 1, level 2, level 3 humiliation.. If I wake up and face people, am I gonna experience the level 4? I hope it’s done. It’s all done. Now that I am still hanging & not losing grip to being a bit hopeful.

To the people I disappoint, I am sorry for being a pathological liar. You can spank me, make me kneel in front of you, beat me like a bad servant, just give me your precious forgiveness, that’s all I ask. To the people who gossip about me, please don’t judge me about my single mistake. To the people who hate me & think this is my karma, you can do that to me but please don’t wish karma to other people. Good karma is good and bad karma is bad. And we should never wish anything bad to a person. I will keep in mind, “Do unto others, what you want others to do unto you.” This will help me to be better, and be careful the next time. I am aiming for perfection, but if I do mistake, I wish I will not do the same again. I am more than my mistake. I hope it will not overpower the good things I contributed to life.

And to my dear God, for being so gracious to me..thank you for giving me Angels in this world. My support system is the best and I know your divine intervention is all I ever need right now. Continue to pour your warmth and comforting words to me, O God. I rest my case. Thy will be done. I love you so much Father. I will serve thee with all my heart and soul. Everyday is a thank-you day because you’re giving me the chance to make up and prove to myself that I am worth living for.

We have different perspective of thinking. You might think you’re just right, but to the other person he is the one who is right. Which is which. It doesn’t really matter. God see the whole perspective of everything. Move on and keep going. This is a note to self and to the others struggling with personal issues like me. Don’t take this seriously, I am full of exaggeration. I am a mass of contradictions. I will get through I know. #keepgoing

🇿🇦 Perks of Having a Foreigner Boyfriend 🇵🇭

August 21, 2017September 9, 2017 / lenasattic / 1 Comment

I’m just a girl…standing beside my foreigner boo observing how our 2 worlds are completely different from each other.
Like how?
Well…

#1 is FOOD
He only eats beef or chicken when we go to Filipino restaurants. Even when we go to buffet, he would only appreciate the beef. And that’s it.
He’s not a fan of rice. He’s a potato head (lol). I remember him flipping his slipper, just to get rid of a sticky rice that was stuck on it while we walking out from the resto.

So there’s this pre-filled sago balls in glasses for the Gulaman drinks. And he doesn’t know about it. So he ended up getting a glass with sago balls and put water on it. He was wondering what was the purpose of sago balls? Why put them in a glass?… Oh dear, it looks odd.

#2 FINANCES
In their country, once they were 18 they became independent from their parents, rent their own apartment and take care of their own selves. Very diff from our practice. I definitely stayed with my parents til I was 22 yrs old and started working abroad since then. My parents paid much for my college and I owe much from them, I am who I am right now because them. For Asians the financial umbilical cord isn’t cut @ 18. So it’s a practice for us to always give back. But for them, it’s different..they can help each other as a family but never obliged to pay back.. the parents will continue working til they become old and unable to do so. They are so independent financially which is a good thing I guess.

#3 MATURITY
He’s way more matured than me…well people who knew me would expect that even without knowing him. I annoy him a lot and he’s not liking it. And even if he wants me to stop, I really can’t. I just can’t help it, I’m all over him and I tend to notice every lil silly things and make fun of it. He’s damn serious bout it, but guess what I would still keep teasing him!

#4 Language
He would always correct my grammar, intonation, proper pronunciation just because he’s a linguist. I think my English is not bad.. I even used to teach English to Koreans online before I became a full-pledged nurse.. thanks to myEOL,boss Alwin and Ate Marcelle, they trained me well. But then I’m a Filipino, I’m not born English speaker. I went to countries speaking carabao English. I’m not as good as him, that’s so given. And when I’m angry at him, most of the time it’s because he can’t understand me. One time, out of frustration I threw my phone and started crying. He’s trying to pacify me but still I can see he’s hiding his laugh. It’s so hard to argue using the English language. It’s hard to pick up the words And it’s hard to get rid of my ilocana accent. Well, it should get better in time…hope so.

#5 THE SUN
Living here in the middle east is like swimming in a boiling water… It’s for real, you can count our fallen hair strands as witnesses. We get rid of the sun and usually use long sleeves since Abaya isnt required in this place. (I used to wear Abaya back in Saudi, I actually miss wearing it during summer.) Just because I don’t wanna damage my skin, I sometimes mummify myself with a veil or head scarf. And even if the mall is near I prefer using the cab instead of walking. But for him, since he’s white, he loves getting tanned by the sun. Walking on sunshine wohoooow while her girlfriend is all covered by scarf with an umbrella. Arguing inside the taxi why we have to take the taxi, with the taxi driver siding him of course. Oh well… I’m anemic and has skin condition, and exposure to the sun at bad hours are not advisable. Deal with it.

#6 …….

Am I bashing my boyfriend? Kinda. Am I complaining? Probably. Am I gonna give up? Never. There might be lots of complexities and situations to settle but actually our feelings and affection to each other are golden bridges that bind us together. Plus, We share the same religion which has a great impact to our culture. I met him at the church. Got our first date at the gym. Experienced long distance relationship for half a year. I’ve visited his awesome country, got to meet his humble family. Now working on the same country tho we are an emirate apart. Conflicts are always there, esp on my schedule but hey we’re working it out.

☁️ A heaven-sent compact printer for memory keepers ☁️

August 5, 2017January 29, 2018 / lenasattic / Leave a comment

Living in my twenties, I’ve seen how technology transitioned our life from simple to a complex wonder. When I was a kid and my parents would bring me to pay visit to their old friends’ house, while they were chatting about some adult stuffs, I would keep myself busy by looking at the photo albums of the family I barely know. I mean, at least by looking at those pictures, I could at least have a clue of what the family was like. Anyway, nuff said. In high school my friends used to print our friendship photos. Up until college wherein social media sites became the new craze.. From Friendster to Facebook, we would take pictures and just upload them to our social media wall and that’s it. The social media became our virtual albums. No need to go flipping our friends photo albums on the table of their sala room. A stalker could benefit on that as well. We barely print photos since everything is all out & so public in Facebook or Instagram, even people’s skin it’s inside out these days. What I’m saying is, if you are born in the 90s and below, you probably missed what’s been missing the whole time you’re doing selfies. Every time I go for vacation, I always gather my family for a family photo in a studio just to have a print out I mean hard copy of our photos and that could be so hectic.

That’s why when I saw this HP Sprocket, I was totally amazed cus it’s so handy, like if you go traveling, you can just print your photos in an instant. It’s smaller than my phone and maybe just twice as thick of it, it’s even ink free so no need for refill, you can personalize the photo with emojis or whatever, you can just charge it using an android charger (anyway charger is included in the box), there’s free 10 sticker photo paper, and it can be easily printed, just download the ‘hp sprocket mobile app’ and connect it to bluetooth, just like sharing something thru bluetooth, so basic, easy peasy. To a dummy & stubborn person I am, it is a relief.

Why not just choose Polaroid? Naah… to a non-photogenic person like me who has to find my best angle by taking multiple selfies (yeah 20-50 selfies), it’s not convenient nor practical to use Polaroid cam. Aside from that, the polaroid films are too expensive. 50 sheets sticker photo papers are worth 79 aed. And I think that’s cool. You can just choose the good ones you want to print and voila, there you have it girl! What’s the sense of having Iphone 7 plus or Samsung Galaxy 8 plus with nicer & grander pixels if you don’t print it out? Hp Sprocket will make you feel that buying your new smartphone is all worth it. It’s an amazing invention, I could use it when I go on vacation. Anywhere place I go, I could just bring it with me using a small bag. Of all gadgets, this is the one I really fell in love with without being forced or feeling coerced by sales-talking people. I am fueled by pure elation buying this in Sharaf DG.

It’s a heaven-sent, til now can’t get over it. It’s something divine. Can’t wait to explore the world wishing I could capture rainbow of endless flowers.

#HpSprocket #ilovehpsprocket

Getting Old, Getting Classic

July 3, 2017January 29, 2018 / lenasattic / Leave a comment

#1

5 days off!!!! I am thinking to go somewhere else, to achieve that transcendental state, to know thyself well…says who? Naaah. I’m here, cuddling my own blanket and pillow baby. Sleeping more than my sister does, yeah I sleep 12-16 hours a day. Procrastinating and doing nothing than stalking my idols on instagram, waiting for the new posts of Angel Locsin and hating every post of Jessy. What’s wrong with me, being unproductive is making me a social media addict, more addict than before. Taking a meal once a day, bed rest with bathroom privileges. If I could just use a diaper while lying on my bed, I would do that, cus peeing is an interruption to happiness and distracting my sweetdreams. Lol. Good side of it, man I lose 1 kg, I’m back to 40s baby. haha. But yeah gotta read something inspirational, I promise I will feast upon the scriptures starting today. Promise!!! Gotta feed the good wolf inside me!

#2

High school and college got me into fighting time mode like I’m trying to save the world, like the powerpuffs, fighting for what I know is right when I see someone’s wrong. Some did misinterpret me because I admit when I fight back, it was kinda rude. Most people hated me while some true friends stayed. But now just thinking about it, I find it so sissy. Now that I’m on my late 20s, when somebody annoys me, in my mind, I’m breaking her bones, pulling the hair while I walk to make her realize her mistakes- but it stays there, on my mind. haha. I am too lazy bringing up the bull out of me and I feel like I’m ’bout to shine bright like diamond in the sky, busy ripening to perfection, so let those twisted thoughts be dumped into my attic cat.

#3

During my teen years, I exercise regularly. I had my routine. I wake up at 3am studying for exam, 5am go to Marcos Stadium jogging for 30 minutes then prepare to school at 6am. Now that I am working and earning on my own, I enrolled myself to the gym and ended up gaining more weight so I was discouraged after that. So now this is me, having the desire to exercise but ended up being lazy. After work, I am even lazy to take a bath, lazy to move a finger to turn off the light. Even lazier to reach my tumbler to have some water to drink. I’m too lazy I gotta marry, I could hardly do it on my own. If my bf says he will treat me like a queen, then he gotta make it real cus I’ll be the laziest girl he ever have!

#4

Getting old, is getting fat. Yup! Gone are the days where you can eat a lot and stay thin. Say hello to big arms that are not proportion to your body and for that fluffy tummy they accentuate your fat cheeks! Hello also to those lousy clothes, say goodbye to fitted jeans and blouses, it’s been quite a journey, they will be missed.

Rooting for this day.. So I could totally eradicate my fear of getting fat. haha

#5

Care about blood work up? I do. Being a nurse at late twenties, makes me more be aware of my body. I do get checked about my labs cus who knows what’s wrong with my blood. Signs come first before symptoms. I don’t have to feel it first before checking. Better be sure than regret at the end. All of the people of my age should do the same thing, no matter what profession you are into. Stress aberrates the hormones.

#6

Real talk. Even if you are super-ultra-mega tired, you still have to be that fairy god mother waving your wand to make your patients feel better. You have to because that’s your job. You are on your own now, you have to work or else you’ve got no food on your plate, no money for your dependents, no house to live, no money on your bank account. You’re a big girl now. And big girls don’t cry no matter the situation is, remember that! You are here to work! And who says that money doesn’t make the world go round? It does my dear. You gotta work to stay alive and money will keep you alive. Again this is real talk, not your fairy tale, Utopia kind of talk.

#7

Yeah til now, I’m not used to it. Especially if the one calling you Ma’am is way older than you.. I know it’s just them being courteous and try to sell stuffs but still it’s kinda awkward. Because of them calling you Ma’am repeatedly, you tryna portray a more matured Madam kind of thing, and it just doesn’t suit you because you have a baby face and it makes you look more awkward. Just because you have a credit card, they are calling you Ma’am. Try looking like a beggar and you won’t hear a thing. The inequality of man. Never a communism will exist in this world, only in heaven.

This is a true story.

#8

When I was a girl I used to pretend looking like a lady. Going to school wearing my red high heels, I could even run to my next class with my heels on, now I’m amazed just thinking about it. But now that I’m an adult I prefer comfortable slip in cloth sandals. I’ve got lots of shoes like most women do, but I use the same sandals. Except during church of course. When I am forced to use my heels just because I have a tall boyfriend, I am always complaining while walking even if the destination is just nearby. Who says high heels give you a good feel? It actually sucks.

#9

Getting old and still doesn’t know how to use make up, oh that’s classic. I remember when I had my date and my colleague put on mascara on my brows and I ended up scratching my eyes during the date, wow that’s classic. Since then, I vowed not to use liners nor mascara. No powder since the workplace is air- conditioned, no contouring since I really dunno how. I’ll just smile as needed, and take advantage of being Asian. (They said Asians look younger than their age)

#10

Getting old is getting classic. Before I try to impress people that I should look cool in their eyes. Now I am more on trying to impress my God so that I look cool in His eyes. Been working on it since primary years, but this time I am more serious. Trying to figure out myself is drawing me closer to Him. I still commit mistakes, but I’m trying to get better, to be in sync with God. It’s a long and a lifetime process but I am willing to get into that journey of knowing Him more. Avoiding to be hypocrite and judgmental to other people is my goal, because I know my God is a God of justice and mercy. Everyday, I am a witness of God’s grace, truly my family is in God’s grace and I am grateful for that.

Tho sometimes I’m scared, so scared. I still put my trust on Him no matter how slippery the slide is.

This is the best meme ever!

Getting old, getting classic, is getting to know more about God’s goodness.

God is good. He’s in everybody’s business. 👆👆👆👆👆🙌👏

#gettingold #gettingclassic #gettingclosetoHim

3 Lil Monkeys in Thailand 🍉🍉🍉

June 4, 2017January 29, 2018 / lenasattic / 1 Comment

Sunshines&Shadows
Hi! I am up to scattering sunshine than casting shadow… My aim is to make you fall in love with Thailand and to compile all our photos (mostly mine hihi) rather than posting it one by one on fb. Not necessarily give trivias about the places..to tell you frankly, i didn’t learn much about the places just because I was busy taking pictures (my bad), i would still try to educate tho.

When I traveled to South Africa, my soul is always wanting to have my family with me while visiting the places, i was like, ‘Oh they must see this, they must taste this awesome worsh too.’ My younger siblings are more deserving to play with cubs since they are the real lovers of pets. It’s happy traveling alone or with your significant other and it could have been happier if your family could see the other wonders of the world too. We tried to do that, but since we are all adults in the family- time, school, work and physical stamina are of issues to some. I am still grateful that I was able to travel with my younger siblings, Sandra & Dimple and being with them exploring Thailand is such a roller coaster delight. And I hope when we all get older if God permits, this blog could be seen by our future children and they would get inspired by the bond we have and realize that this is what family is all about.

Me and my sister allotted some of our lil earnings for this trip. It won’t hurt that much if you spend it for leisure esp if you’re with your family. It is always important to give back. Just to see them happy makes me happy as well. This break is much needed after accomplishing our exams and nursing our pets and families for 3 weeks in the Philippines. It was 4 days and 3 nights. We spent half day magnetized by our beds and the other half were like us being self satisfied Columbus-explorers searching for a lost land.

I must say during our stay, our anxiety had spread out on those days of smiling sunshines and white lilies. And we left Thailand so energized like the bull elephants on charge!

Here’s the mini-cherry on top of the regular cherry on top of the sundae of awesomeness- that is the Elephant Riding! I though we would be like princesses riding on elephants, never did I imagine that it would be so thrilling and full of oohhss and ahhhs. It was really scary and at the same time fun cus Im with my siblings, we were screaming and laughing our lungs out, like whoahhh we didn’t expect it. We thought it would just be like riding a horse. This baby elephants are real giants with gigantic po0poos.

And yes, we did still manage to paste a smile on our faces like fuzzzzz

I am that genuinely happy, oh dear, saves a lot of eustress in my heart

And oooh we are that sad, getting off the elephant. It’s worth the 30 minute bumpy ride! Thank you King of the Jungle!

Bye elephants, thank you for the thriller ride~

We actually road a boat going to the floating market where we could go to the Elephant Riding station.

I am that worried because our tourist guide did not show up and we paid already everything. And we only have this day to experience the elephant ride, so we used our remaining money and I am that anxious the guide won’t give us our money back. Supposedly we can only have a ride for my siblings but upon knowing our situation, our taxi driver persuaded the Thai guy to give us extra ticket so that we could go all for the ride! It’s just a proof that good samaritans come in all shapes and sizes.

Coconut ice cream for lunch anyone!

__________________

WAT SAKE

300 STEPS going up to Wat Sake and it’s worth every step! Along the way are these happy statues and garlands on top making you feel like a fairy adventurer

He used to look like that when he was a kid hehe

Believe me when I say I could be more annoying than these!

Channeling my inner anne curtis pitch! I’ll never be serious my whole life!

This kind of weather after the rain was so therapeutic, we could just wear our skin out!

Thanks for spreading happy virus to us, you might be a non- life statue but your laughter is so contagious we carried it all the way touring your temple young boy, Kob kun ka!

_____________________

WAT INTHARAWIHAN

On the daytime, we visited Wat Intharawihan! Could you imagine..this was the haven for the prisoners of war provided by their King. And the temple had a priest officiating them. A proof that humans are all treated like humans. The king must have loved the lost sheeps.
Inside the temple, buddhist offer mackerel, flowers &boiled eggs as they pray. Pretty much the olden times, where jews offer lambs for prayer.

Wonder whats inside…

Last feb 2016, I was able to visit the Global Village in Dubai, I saw the facade of this temple as Thailand’s iconic pavilion. I’m so happy I’ve got to see the real one. Can’t believe it. It’s amazing!

Here’s how to keep it cool but at the same time posing for a quick photo~

I couldn’t care less while walking

_______________

FOOD HUNTING!

After taking a nap, we were like hungry wolves searching for something to eat..we stayed in Bangkok Inn, and it’s a humble place to stay plus the shops are highly accessible there. We arrived at this food market outside the mall and guess what our eyes started twinkling again!

This Thai entertainer along the street represents a Thai spirit- silently funny and full of life

Of all the food selection, the Pad Thai is what amazed me the most. It’s very interesting how they cook it. If mangoes and bananas are the main products in the Phils, in Thailand, watermelon is their push over product. Watermelon juice, fruit, purse, passport notebook, shirt, etc.

Street foods stole our hearts!!!

BREAKFAST

Breakfast buffet at the hotel. They served lotssaa soup and greens, i love it! Can’t believe veggies could be this delishhhh. And their boiled midget hotdogs are our fave, in fact we carry them all along during our tour as our emergency food if you know what I mean haha

Our first selfie as we landed in the Thailand airport. We knew we’re excited about Thailand but never expected the bountiful moments we collected vacationing there. I love my country Philippines, the more I travel to places the more I appreciate my own country irregardless of the politics and poverty. Thank you for the love Thailand!!!!

A lotus symbolizes a PURE SPIRIT. Growing from the mud and dirty water, a lotus is able to RISE UP from it beautifully and with purity.

‘He who is lowborn may develop himself like the lotus growing out of the mire. The followers of Buddha shines above others thru their wisdom, like the lotus.’

#thailand #bangkok

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🐯A Sweet Escape To South Africa🐯

March 22, 2017April 4, 2017 / lenasattic / 6 Comments

Scaffolding my life to the fullest…

Hey! Got my blogging ball rolling!! Sometimes I lose steam due to some toxic circumstances but as they said, don’t let your momentum be ruined by a single cockroach. So I just gotta let my mind flow and here we go.

Here’s a true story. Ofw routine- work,eat then sleep, with a lot of browsing the fb and ig in between. While browsing, I see people traveling here and there. Enjoying nature or snow, taking pictures of buildings and statues, hangin’ out to popular restos with their in demand gadgets, like okay, how lucky are they. I’ve noticed this trend, like if someone goes to this overrated place, others would delve and the heck they would go there too and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just saying. Haha

Well, so many things hàppen in life and it’s really exhausting and suffocating to be with your emo baggage shadowing you behind. Hard to people, hard to enjoy. Until one spike of event triggered me to take my step and say I gotta do this. It’s now or never. I’ve gotta say it’s just an impulse, not really part of the plan..But since certain events didn’t go as it planned to be, well then I gotta take my chances to be happy. Yup. I’ll go to South Africa to take a break from this very hard LDR relationship. To where my boyfriend is, it’s where my heart is. Haha

At first I was hesitant cus it’s gonna cost me a lot, but I’ve realized I’ve been spending tons on clothes,shoes,food which gives me temporary bliss, I’ve been a responsible contributor to my family fees and that gives me a feeling of satisfaction but at the same time feel burdened as well..And now maybe this is my time to be completely happy. To have the backbone to be brave in love (lol) and get rid of the walls of fear that keeps me caged in, break the should-be-the-man-doing-everything-to-the-girl tradition. Maybe I could do the other way around.

I have a 🌽 corny thought… I subconsciously sang Vanessa Carlton’s,

‘Cus you know I’d walk a thousand miles if I could just see you tonight’

And it made me think. Oh no, I can’t do that. That would cost me my job, my health, my skin and for sure I will not be able to reach SA on foot cus I’m not good in maps. (Yurrryt I’m taking it too literally) But here’s the thing, I’ll continue with the lyrics..

‘Cus I need you and I miss you, and now I will really fly to South Africa if I could just see you…If I could just hold you, tonight.’

Uhm,it’s all worth it. With him it’s all worth it. If the universe is conspiring to delay our plans to be together, to hell with the universe, we only belong to one earth it’s just a one plane ride away and I’m with this man.

Just like the 🌟 stars, our wonderful moments are countless and these photos I am sharing are just a ✊ fistful of it.

To the person who cared to take a peek on this blog:

Hey I’m not trying to make people jealous, ldr relationship sucks, it’s like a labyrinth. You might even have a better relationship than what I have. And hey, don’t think that my social life is full of highlight reels, that I am so successful i can travel anywhere…A Huge NO. I’m just like you…Full of afflictions and trials I have to go through with just a tinge of upper syndrome. It’s like trial happiness trial trial happiness..Trialtrialtrial happiness.. I’m just sharing this cus I’m proud of the açt of bravery I did, something I didn’t imagine to do in my entire life. I’m just like you, a human being constantly beaten by trials, dwarfed by the world, to the point of even limping and having a dramatic meltdown, but just like you, I DESERVE TO BE HAPPY. WE ALL DESERVE TO BE HAPPY.

For a moment i felt like I’m a proverbial breath of fresh air

Flights got delayed, parks were closed on Mondays so we just gotta take a lil nip in Walter Sisulo Botanical Garden. For a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way. Yep, it’s a song haha

Like I can waltz the cradle even with a blindfold.

This is called the Cradle of Humankind. When I googled it I just find it amazing to take a picture outside. But as always, there’s more to it insulated inside. We had water rides touring us to different rock formation, lava, all something bout geology stuffs. So it’s like a sci-fi tour mainly tackling about evolution thing. It’s called Cradle of Humankind cus as claimed, the Australopithecus remains are found here. Do I make sense? It’s 0130h right now so I don’t know if I’m saying things straight. Hehe

He’s like the pleasant earthly smell after the rain

I believe in evolution except the theory of us evolving from apes. I believe in dinosaurs, Lamarck’s natural selection, Giants and the like but no not the thing with the apes please. Satan will say 20 truths for us to believe in 1 lie. That’s according to my mentor, Pres. Manahan. My God is not an ape.

If they claimed that this specific era is the survival of the fittest, I couldn’t have survived back then..a wild animal could have just devoured me while im smiling sweetly at the corner.

Elemento: wind, fire& earth

I AM THIS HAPPY WHEN I’M WITH YOU MISTER BREDENKAMP! Love you to the 🌒 moon and back

RHINO LION PARK

So we went to Rhino Park and get up close to the animals while strolling their home- turned- park. And this zebra is having the time of his life walking on our way, like he doesn’t care. YOLO zebra

I only see him in puzzles before. Happy to meet him. He doesn’t look happy tho. Poor lil thing, maybe he wants a more spacious wild.

EPIC.

Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing that he will stay with me no matter how beast I am. (Trying to look calm but actually I’m very scared inside)

I’m not that obvious, am I? These baby tigers are cute but still they are TIGERS, real tigers, and I hope they’re just cartoons

So I’m always at his back all the time actually haha

These baby lions are introverts. Don’t tryna burst their bubble. Oh my friends and sister are somewhat like them haha. No invasion of territory pls.

This is actually my food when I arrived in Dubai airport. Turkey cheesy bacon, it’s kinda costly but thanks to my patient who became my angel she gave me a pocket money as a result of my hardwork. Lol

I don’t know how to end this blog. Really not good in closure. Maybe I could try it with this picture of a great wall with a great guy photobombing it? Hehe

I’ll keep coming back to South Africa, I swear.

A hyperbole creature yearns for a metaphor 🍃🌾

Should rather live life close to the bird rather than waste time wishing for wings,they said. Not everyone are born equal, they said. You can aspire but you cannot have all things, they said. But you know what, I might have wings, I said.

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