Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Finally, the Hong Kong Disneyland post!

I promised I'd blog about it so before 2008 is done and I forget entirely... here it is!


The fabulous hotel
The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is marvelous. Absolutely the best hotel I've stayed in in my entire life (see my TripAdvisor review). My darling husband and his sister, Lizelle, were bemused. Liz said, "Vince, you have to take her to Vegas!" And Vince teased me: "You're so easily impressed." Grrr.
The architecture and decor are Victorian Era-inspired.

The maze behind the hotel features a Hidden Mickey in the very center.

I kinda got lost actually. So pathetic!

Our romantic bedroom with a fabulous view--the hills and the sea!

Strolling around the vast hotel grounds...

... and seeing marvelous topiary like this sea serpent

Admiring the hotel (wearily) from the pier


This made me really happy
My favorite book of all time is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I'm not as fond of the Disney film adaptation but, hey, when I saw Alice and other beloved characters in our quilt, I drifted off quite happily to Wonderland...

The delight is in the details
These crystal chandeliers hide an exquisite secret...

There are glass slippers everywhere!

Even the marble tiles on the floor of the grand staircase did not fail to delight the keen observer.

Then again, some details are scary
I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and as I washed my hands, I can't help but feel a shiver at the mirror-mirror-on-the-wall and its eight faces. I'm not posting all their carved faces here but can you name all Seven Dwarfs?

Meeting the citizens of Disneyland
This will sound silly but when I saw Cinderella (my favorite Disney character when I was a kid), I kinda melted. Vince told me to get a picture but I got shy. Argh.
Cinderella and Princess Aurora sandwich Elizabeth and Zo

Daisy was a doll!

The King of Disneyland graces us with his presence

Family made the fun even better
We totally enjoyed the trip because we were all complete. Actually, we were all kinda dreading the trip. Imagine 6 young and very excited kids, a huge park... But we all had an amazing time! I loved how the kids loved it. Their excitement really rubbed off on me.
Here we all are at the huge HK airport. My husband's so pogi (right)!

Mommy Di and Daddy Mon picked up the tab for this fantastic trip. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
(Doesn't Vince look like his dad?)

Adorable Zo inspected our room as soon as we arrived. He said, "Wow, it looks exactly like ours!"
Zo and Elizabeth check out Anj's slide show for Mom and Dad.

And here's my favorite member of the Sales family!

Find the Hidden Mickey!
There were more than these three, I assure you. I took a lot of photos, squealing each time I found a Hidden Mickey. Finally Vince said, "You have more photos of those than of us!"
The tiles on the hallway

The hotel park fences

The manhole covers

All aboard!
A lot of people complain that HK Disneyland, being on Lantau Island, is in the middle of nowhere. While it is indeed in the middle of nowhere, it's very easy to get there. A special MTR will get you from the city to la-la land in no time at all.
The charming old-world station

Another Hidden Mickey! Hold on tight!

These sculptures are all over the train (oh, look, another Hidden Mickey!)

Oh, and before I forget... Hong Kong Disneyland!
Ooops! Funnily enough, I don't have enough pictures of the park itself! I was wondering about that until I remembered I didn't like lugging about a big camera while on the rides so we left it in our room. The ones here are on the last day of our trip.
This cute train goes around and around the park.

On the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty's castle

Vince wanted a picture in Tomorrowland.

Me behind the wheel at Autopia scared the hell out of Vince! I kid. The car can't even go beyond 20kph, we think.
We got bored within a minute!

Oh, I had so much fun, I still can't believe it. Vince says HK Disneyland is nothing compared to the one in California, for example. I don't care! I'm planning to go back in the summer!

There you have it! Whew, this post tired me out, and I didn't even put up all the pictures! Anyway, this should be enough for you, dear readers, till after the New Year's celebrations! From our home to yours, we wish you a 2009 filled with joy, peace, love, friendship, wisdom, adventure... and magic!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

A December wedding!

My magazine's associate features editor Joanna Tuazon recently wed T3's deputy managing editor Elijah Mendoza. Since Vince and I are the editors of these wonderful magazines, of course we both had to go! It was a lovely day--the afternoon was cool and crisp, the beautiful bride was stunning, the groom looked like he can't believe his luck (click on the photo to see what I mean).

To Joanna and Elijah (or, in the tradition of Brangelina, the newly dubbed Elijo), congratulations and best wishes!
My gorgeous staff, Lana, Nikki, Elaine and Jay. Oh, the girl in the middle is Coni from Real Living.

Me and Vince, inside the church. I need to wear more makeup--I look so washed out!

Outside the church. The hubby doesn't like this photo sincehe thinks it makes him look fat. 
I love that comment! It's so Vince.Honey, you are not fat! Anyway, I am wearing 
a dress inyellow shantung silk designed by Vince, my fabulousgold brocade BCBG heels, 
and my topaz jewelry.

I wish I have more photos of Elijo but the couple was surrounded by soooo many people that it was kinda hard to take pictures of them. Nevertheless, we all had a lovely time at their wedding. Cheers to marriage and to that new adventure!


The Christmas report

This Christmas was fantabulous. For a while, we worried we wouldn't be giving away gifts because of the terrible credit card theft last month. But God is good! Not only did we receive a ton of gifts, but we were also able to give a whole lotta material love!

Exhibit A: This push cart filled with 7 huge bags of gifts. I spent an entire two days wrapping gifts but gave up and just piled everything into paper bags.

Exhibit B: We took this photo at the parking garage and as we piled the bags into the truck, we said, "Eat your heart out, Santa!"

Our families were so happy. Truly, while Vince and I enjoyed all our gifts, we delighted more in giving. Really! I'm not trying to be cute here. A thief almost ruined our Christmas--we almost didn't want to give any gift at all since all we thought of was the expense. Then we kinda overcompensated in our attempt to fight that fear. And, to our surprise, we really enjoyed seeing everyone's face light up.

Here we are at the Sales family dinner at White Plains. Since Vince and I don't have kids yet, the niece and nephews were an adorable substitute.

Here we are at the Amper Noche Buena at Antipolo. We almost didn't celebrate Christmas, too, because this is our first Christmas without Mama. But we actually had a wonderful time just being together. We miss Mama of course, but her absence made us cherish each other more so that really made Christmas more meaningful.

Have a blessed season everybody!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas cards are the best

I got a ton of gifts! And I always love the cards that go with them. I read the cards before I rip off the wrappers, chortle or squeal over the gift, fold away the wrappers, pile up the gifts, then I pad off to bed with my Christmas cards and read them all again before I sleep. Happiness.

Then the Internet happened and I got eCards! I love these:
Ana from Singapore made this one for me and the hubby!

Jennie and Jeff, authors of many blogs, my favorite being the one
on marriage and everything else that entails!

Bea and Briana, daughters of Weng and Angelo.
They don't have blogs yet, being so little!

Ivy, the doting mom of Marguerite, and author of a blog dedicated to all things
motherhood and God and family and more!

Susanna-Cole, author of the blog of ethereal images and exquisite thoughts

Oh, and I even got my very first blog award! And I am thrilled to bits! I've always wanted one, actually wanted to campaign, even beg for one (or two or three), but always stopped myself from total embarrassment. But I won't shy away now! I love my Lemonade Award from the dearest darling utterly creative blog Lovely Purses! Thanks, Duni. I appreciate the award.

Galadriel Rabbit: "Thank you all for making my mommy's Christmas very special!"

Thank you all so much! Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

That Obama magic

Well, if you didn't know it yet, Time magazine has named U.S. President-elect Barack Obama the Person of the Year. No surprise there. Everyone's so elated that a black man is now in the White House. I don't really get that, why people foucs on that. From where I stand, it's the man's platform that matters, not his skin color. Then again, this is something I don't think I'll ever understand because there's no racism in the Philippines. Just a lot of thieves.

Anyway, I always liked Obama. I don't really know his political whatever since I'm not American, but I like him. Since I first saw his smile in the pages of O magazine a few years ago. There's just a real warmth there. I like people whose smiles make their eyes go crinkly. Still, have you ever noticed how black people have such dazzlingly white smiles? From the looks of the photo here, Obama needs to go have his presidential teeth whitened before he gets sworn in on January 20, 2009. Time to go see a Washington DC dentist, Mr. President!