Whole Family Vacation in Boracay

I must say that Boracay is beautiful but experiencing its beauty with my whole family made each moment we spent more special and wonderful.

For almost 8 years, two of my brothers are working in UAE to support our family. We seldom have time to be complete by then because they need to have different schedule of vacation in Manila. By God's grace, he answered our prayer. I was so happy hearing the good news that both of them will have a vacation here at the same month to celebrate the wedding of my eldest brother.

To maximize their presence, I proposed a whole family vacation in Boracay; and the good thing was they were all game! After all the efforts did in planning for this vacation, it was all worth it. Seeing the smiles, laughs, and happiness of my family were just priceless!

Here's a group shot when we landed in Kalibo. It was a first-time for my parents riding in an airplane, and so I was so excited for them.

Our family photo after our island hopping activity. I remember that when I asked my mama and papa on what they enjoyed most, they told me this one. 

A group shot of couples in the family - Erwin and I, Kuya Jun and Ate Diane, Kuya Roger and Ate Evelyn, and Ate Badeth and Bro Em. We had a lot of fun trying adventurous activities like ATV and Banana Boat. 

Night life in Boracay wouldn't be complete without fire dance! Glad to have a chance having a picture with these talented Filipinos.

Of course, my vacation wouldn't be complete without my real-time partner, Erwin. I'm glad he was able to join us despite of his busyness at work.

A scene that will remind me to have a rest, savor the moment, and go back to this amazing place.

Photo credit goes to Jun Millares

So there you have it, these are just some of the many photos taken during our vacation. 

Insights gained:

1. I love having a vacation with my whole family and hope my brothers can do this again, having a vacation on the same month. 
2. Boracay is sooo beautiful. I love the fine, powderish white sand and turquoise water in the beach. There are plenty of adventurous activities to enjoy as well
3. Eating in paluto restaurants in Talipapa was a nice experience. We enjoyed buying raw sea foods and have our personal choice on how to cook them.
4. Do not go to free lunch/dinner in any hotels. They will just let you expect on the food, place, and entertainment but they have selfish reason of presenting lengthy sales pitch to purchase something. 
5. Be careful to fixers to arrange your activities. Go to DOT booth in D'Mall or ask your hotel concierge on their recommended person to arrange and coordinate your activities. They are the best people to ask for since they know more the place and the right people to speak with. As a help for you, want to share a good person we met and he really did a good job on helping us in arranging our activities. His name is Harry and his contact number is 0949-834-46687.

I thank God for a safe travel, good weather, and wonderful memories we had in Boracay. 

Wedding of My Eldest Brother

May 17, 2013 was a very special date for my eldest brother, Kuya Roger, as he finally tied his knot to Ate Evelyn.

I remember when he had a phone call to me and told me the big news of marrying Ate Evelyn, I was genuinely happy and teary eyed. This is because after all the sacrifices he did for our family to make us happy, he will now go for his own happiness.

Here's our shot together before the wedding ceremony. Notice our big smiles!

 

Whole family shot 

I'm always a proud sister on all the wonderful things he did for us and doing for other people. I'm prouder that he will be a good husband to Ate Evelyn and a good father to his future kids. 

Thank you Lord for blessing our family with this intimate wedding celebration and I pray that you'll bless their marriage with all your love. 

Weekend Road Trip in Tagaytay!

Since I planned (and recommended by my manager) to take a whole week leave to recover from stressful months of working on a complex project, I already thought of going to Tagaytay to unwind and reflect.

Thank God, few days before I go back to work, I was able to get a chance to be there. I also loved the idea of sharing the same relaxation and fun with my college friends and my parents (who happened to be my chaperones since this is my first long ride with Katniss (new car).

I absolutely enjoyed the whole trip. I love the food in Sonya's Garden and how I saw mama and papa simply had fun with the flowers and plants.   I love the reflections I've had with my girlfriends in the cable car ride and picnic grove while viewing the beauty of Taal Lake. I like how my companions enjoyed the bulalo in Leslie's.  Most of all, I love the jokes, laughs, and conversations we've had in hours of ride in the car.

Insights gained:

• It's fulfilling to bring parents into lovely places like Tagaytay and share the enjoyment with them. 
• It's refreshing to catch up with college girlfriends. We may differ in our paths now, but our reflections still crossed.
• I learned to take things lighter. Thanks to my friend who reminded me of this. 
• I would love to do this again. 

7th Anniversary

Happy happy 7^th year anniversary, mahalko! When I was browsing our pictures to grab some and put in a collage like this, one word really instill in my mind – EVOLUTION.

From its literal meaning, we really evolved physically – sobrang payat natin non and mukha pang totoy and nene then becoming as fine as we can be. Kidding aside, I think this word exactly describes our relationship.  God is so great in transforming our relationship into something I’ve never imagined. Seven wonderful years of having a sweet, lovable, thoughtful, supportive, understanding, inspiring partner is such an extraordinary blessing. Thank you for just being you and for just being there whenever I need someone to talk to, to make me laugh, to remind me of good things about me, to hug me when I need strength, to join me on my crazy thoughts and trips, and to love me despite of my flaws.

Thank you so much for everything. I love you so much and I look forward spending more years with you.

Your future wife,

Leonie

Revisiting My Blog

It has been 3 years since I stopped writing on my blog.
3 wonderful years full of blessings, opportunities, and realizations.
As I read some of my previous entries, I think I want to still continue writing and reflecting.
There are so much things I'd like to share here...
Will be back, soon :) 

First Solo Business Trip

Who would have thought that after my Facilitation Mastery workshop in Singapore recently, I'll have an opportunity to do a business travel in Sydney, Australia on Feb 10-16. God's plans are really mind blowing.

This time, I travelled to personally observe a big and complex project that my manager has tasked me to manage overall delivery readiness that will be rolled out globally. This is also my first time to only have my luggage, books, and laptop as my companion all throughout.

The whole experience was unforgettable. I feel I was the main character in Eat, Pray, Love movie who is looking for something in her life. All my friends have known me as a strong, go-getter, and confident person, but deep inside I always have what ifs in my mind. What if I can't relate with the new culture, what if my foreign colleagues would judge me for being young and innocent, what if I will not enjoy, what if, what if, what if. Thank God, these thoughts did not last.

Solo Adventure
When I was in the airplaine going to Singapore and Sydney, I just enjoyed everything - good movies, sumptuous food, inspiring books, and comfortable seat to rest and lay back. Getting to an airport for the first time is weird - friendly immigration officer, different colors of skin and hair of people with different languages and gestures, and fresh air that seemingly welcoming me to the new world. From the moment  I stepped in Sydney, I feel I would love being there and would definitely go back.

When I put all my stuff in the hotel in a Sunday morning, I maximized the remaining hours to walk around the city. I saw nice architecture of buildings, struck by the beauty of opera house and harbor bridge, and surprised by cost of food and pasalubong stuff whenever I'm converting them in peso (haha, expensive!). Then, when the sun has set, I returned to the hotel to rest for another set of adventure at work.

HP Sydney Office 
Monday and it's my first time to go to HP Sydney Office to attend coach prep session and business meetings. It took 45 min. to travel from my hotel to the office. I love the building because it has a lot of trees.  Then, I am so happy to finally saw my foreign colleagues who are locales, from US, UK, India, NZ, China, etc. I don't mind if they are taller than me, I just enjoyed shaking hands with them, hugging people I'm closed with already, and conversing about work and other non-work stuff.

Then by afternoon, someone opened the door in a meeting room. A lovely lady wearing red blazer who run to hug me and say her warmest welcome and hello. It was my former manager who opened doors of opportunities and development in HP. I feel it was a dream come true appreciating I am working in a virtual world.

EG Sales Competency Workshop
This is it. The 3 day-large event with 400+ HP Sales force and Channel Partners finally started. Inspiring kick-off with cool speeches. Everything went smoothly from first to last day. HP L&D leaders also attended to observe and join business meetings in between. I savored every moment to listen, learn, help and engage.

On the last day of the workshop, which was also Valentines day, we had L&D Team dinner at an Italian restaurant. I love the food, wine, and laughs in between.

Here's our group picture.  Beautiful people, aren't we?

Play by ear
It was Friday and I feel I deserve to maximize my last day in Sydney to see what other wonderful things out there.  Good thing I have two other colleagues who were game to join me. We went to Taronga Zoo and Watsons Bay through Hop on Hop off ferry. I really enjoyed the whole experience - the food, the ferry ride ( I love standing in the front), the koala, platypus, and kangaroo, the hidden treasure in Watsons bay, and being with two guys who would just join you having fun.

I was bloated by wonders of what I've seen, I've felt, I've experienced, and I've learned. It was such an extraordinary blessing I have never imagined I would experience in my early twenties. 

Facilitation Mastery

Had a wonderful opportunity to participate in Facilitation Mastery in Singapore on January 14-18. Though I'm not a full-time instructor yet, I had a privilege to join HP L&D Delivery APJ Instructors for a week of  engagement and development.

Insights gained about Facilitation:

• It's not about you, it's all about your audience. Always focus on your audience' need and aiming to make them successful. 
• State point of objection of your audience in the beginning and lead to a benefit for them. In this way, you will let them feel that you are with them who can understand their concerns and you are there to help them. 
• Storytelling is powerful to play their emotions. Remember, if you let them think, follow it by letting them feel. 
• Training is like a stage performance, you really have to have good body language and voice to captivate your audience. 
• It's a very enjoyable job, all the effort during preparation and energy during the training are all worth giving. It is such a self-less work.

There is one thing that really made the whole workshop memorable to me. This was when I was randomly selected to demonstrate the framework we have learned on the first day.  I have millions of reasons to be nervous, get mental block, and back-out because my audience are very experienced trainers/speakers and delivery managers.  But God is just so great to provide the right words to say and override my very short preparation.  Surprisingly the feedback was overwhelmingly amazing and everyone is congratulating me. Such a wonderful blessing.

I'm excited following my dream of becoming the best facilitator that God wants me to be for my audience, in His perfect time. :)