Wonderful Friday night surprise...

I just got home about an hour ago.

The guys threw a surprise party for me last night. Later on, I found that it was my friend Jon who went through all the trouble to organise the gathering.

I seriously thought that the gathering was for the birthday celeb of @MkSurf8. When I reached the lobby of Amara, @RKGreg fetched me at the lobby so that I could go up to the room.

The sweetest surprise welcomed me as soon as the door opened - my closest friends in Singapore, the most important people in my SG life all gathered together.

It was really a memorable night.

I stayed the night with Jon, Lara and Migs and we had brunch at nearby Group Therapy cafe.

What a wonderful gathering. I was deeply moved by the whole gesture and thank you, thank you, THANK YOU a million times over to @astralcowboy for organising the whole thing.

Now, I'm ready...

Still a Mama's boy...

I brought my Mom to the airport earlier. I have to say I was somewhat emotional while I was waiting for her to get past immigration.

There is a somewhat hidden motive as to why I asked her to come over. I really needed her help with some things these past few days. Though I know I could've managed on my own, it was just a relief to have her here and help out with these things.

Moms really are the best.

Thank you, thank you, Mama! I'm already nearing my 40s but I'm proud to admit that I still need you.

Tiring Tuesday...

Though it's my first day of not having to think about going to work, I still woke up at my usual time - 545.

My Mom was up even earlier. Lol! I prolly got the morning person genes from her.

We did have a lot of things to do, so it was good that we were out of bed early. After having breakkie, we set about to do the things I planned to do for the morning.

By noontime, we prepared to go out. My brother and Tey were both asking for this salted egg chips as pasalubong. However, I have no idea where to find it. Lol! It's as elusive as the chocolate balls that Tey also wants.

Mom and I did cover a lot of ground walking. We alighted at Orchard station, had a heavy late lunch and spent the next few hours just walking around. From Orchard, we took bus 14 to go to Ikea Alexandra.

She wanted to buy chocolates. To my surprise, only the dark chocolates are available. From a poster at the cashier, it seems that the other chocolates were recalled because of possible allergies caused by the pistachio or almonds in the chocolates. So Mom just had to settle for the dark chocolates.

Afterwards, I asked her if she still wanted to go to another mall but she said she just wanted to head back. It's fine by me.

Just now, I went to the library to drop off some books that I no longer read. As soon as I left, I saw an elderly man walk over to the book exchange shelf and browsed the titles that I left. Hope someone would pick up the books, read them, and then pass them on.

Tiring Tuesday. Few more days to go!

Thank you, Wiley...

An exciting chapter in my professional life concluded today. The last 5 years at Wiley was filled with meaningful and memorable experiences! Many blessings came my way and my family's because I work with Wiley, because I am in Singapore. For the opportunity to work for a well-respected publishing house, for the amazing experience of working outside of the Philippines - THANK YOU, MARAMING SALAMAT PO!

Busy, busy...

This week has been extremely busy.

A lot of things have been happening, a lot of things are going to happen.

There's a lot to write but I just really have to find the time to sit down and compose my thoughts.

I'll prolly do that later or over the weekend.

In the meantime, I have to head to the first of three meetings for today! TGIF! :)

Afternoon with things that glitter and sparkle...

It was a packed day today.

I'm a bit tired so I'll just post first about what I did in the afternoon. Today is the last day of the The Art & Science of Gems exhibit at the ArtScience Museum. The exhibit featured pieces from the French jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels as well as some pieces from the French National Museum of Natural History.

It's the last day of the exhibit today and I do know that Mon would be interested to see the exhibit as he loves jewellery. Haha! Unfortunately, Rich couldn't join us as he's still in Manila. Ian is also overseas. Jon had work. Meanwhile, JB was also keen to go.

The three of us met at the entrance to the ArtScience Museum at 420ish and spent the next 2 hours at the exhibit.

It was a wonderful exhibit. Of course, seeing all the precious gems and stones was awesome. However, what I really admired was the craftsmanship of the men and women behind the jewels. Amazing, just amazing. One can really see the passion and the dedication to create beautiful things in the works.

One of the highlights of the exhibit was a section showcasing the jewellery owned by some of the world's most stylish women includng Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace of Monaco, and the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson. What I loved the most were the gorgeous vanity cases! I want one! Haha!

I read an article about the exhibit and I simply loved this quote from the president of the French National Museum of Natural History, “There is a difference between the value and the price. It has big value, but I don’t know the price because we do not intend to sell it. It has big historical value and mineralogical value. It is something completely exceptional.”

I couldn't agree more!

18 days...

Change is coming. LOL!

Happy 51st birthday, Singapore...

Today, I only want to say...

Happy birthday, Singapore!

THANK YOU and I REALLY DO LOVE YOU!

Flowers, flowers, flowers...

Here are some photos from the SG Garden Fest and the Orchid Show at the Gardens by the Bay.

Since Sunday was the last day of the Garden Fest show, it was expected that the event was going to be crowded.

There was a part of the exhibit entitled "Floral Windows to the World." The hall featured a showcase of flower arrangements that were designed by local and international floral designers. I found that to be the best part of the exhibit.

From the SG Garden Fest, we walked to the nearby Flower Dome to check out the Orchid Show. Again, it was packed but it was quite pleasant since the dome had AC. Haha!

The orchids were just pretty, really pretty. I guess it does take skill to grow the orchids. The flowers were really lovely to look at.

Our day ended with a much-deserved dinner and chitchat at one of the cafes at the neighbouring MBS. It was a good Sunday!

Weekend with friends...

It was quite a packed Saturday.

In the morning, it was over at Boon Keng for a BBQ gathering with Jon and my ex-colleagues Arlyn, Joann.

In the afternoon, I was in Mountbatten for a gathering with fellow museum volunteers. One of our friends recently gave birth so we dropped by to say hello to the new parents and their wonderful baby.

Sunday was just as busy. Hehe.

Jon had free tickets to the SG Garden Fest. Together with our other friends, we tropped to the Gardens by the Bay where the event was held.

Since it was the last day of the event, it was packed.

The tix also included a free entrance to the Flower Dome, where the current theme is orchids. The place was also crowded. Hehe! It was a bit of a challenge to appreciate all the beautiful flowers.

Tiring weekend but good one.

Hey, August...

Can't believe it's already August.

Come on, August. It's going to be an exciting month! :P

A normal heart...

"Your heart is okay."

That's one of the main things that stuck with me after seeing the doctor yesterday.

In my mind, my thought was, "So, does that mean I can fall in love again?" Haha!

Of course, the doctor was referring to my heart, the organ, and that it was functioning well physiologically.

When I moved to Singapore, one of the things I still try to do on an annual basis is to go for a health screening. I guess it became a habit since it's something that I did annually when I was still working in the Philippines.

The results of my health screening were good. In addition to the normal heart, the fatty liver is now a normal liver. Haha! Singapore was really good for me, I suppose. I became more active and eating healthier is a lot easy here.

Only the uric acid was the concern. This, I attribute to bad genes. It runs in the family and I've been doing what I can to lower my uric acid but alas, it's still high. I have to try harder I suppose.

The doctor told me to give up Coke and Coke Zero. I guess I can do that, except when I'm having whiskey. The doctor told me to lessen red meat intake. I can do that as well. The doctor suggested going on a low purene and low fat diet. Good luck with that.

Google Low Purene Diet and it'll lead you to depressing pages. Lol!

Oh well, I'm just glad the results are good! Yay!

I love today #6...

I love today #6.

I love today #5...

I love today #5.

I love today #4...

I love today #4.

I love today #3...

I love today #3.

I love today #2...

I love today #2.

Today was all about good food...

Today was all about good eating. Hehe!

Good thing I decided to do some workout this morning.

For lunch, the department headed to a restau in Bugis for a wonderful meal. Beef rendang, fried ayam, tahu telor (?), and so many other yum local dishes.

In the evening, I met up with a few fellow museum volunteers.

We had dinner at a Turkish restaurant in Bugis called Sofra.

Again, the food was gooooood!

What a nice way to end the month and say hello to June.

Waiting, waiting...

Note to self...

Relaxed Monday...

It's a public holiday today! Yay!

However, I still did some work this morning. It's okay. One of the projects I'm handling at the moment involves publishing a book. The materials need to be with the press by middle of May. Hence, it's been quite busy busy these past few weeks.

Last night, I slept before 10. That was because I wanted to wake up this morning to go for a run. I woke up at 6. Uhm, I was really tempted to stay in bed. Thankfully, I managed to drag myself out of the house by half past six and I went for a 4K run.

After lunch, I met up with Shane and Kok Kuan to catch The Jungle Book. The movie was okay. It was more for kids than adults.

Right after the movie, I headed back because I wanted to do some organising and stuff.

It's a chill Monday. Yay!