awesome place, awesome people

awesome is one word that i tend to overuse and my previous blog entries are proofs of that. but it's such a nice word, right? plus, that i have many reasons to use it so often is definitely a good thing :) so here i am, using the word once again, and rightly so because it perfectly describes the people i was able to spend time with on my second trip to singapore this year.

as with my previous singapore post, i'd like to thank capsy again for opening up her home to me and providing much needed counselling when needed :) we didn't get to spend as much time together for long talks, save for a hike at macritchie reservoir with her officemates, which i really enjoyed.

photo from caps's instagram

our conversations that day went from the silly to emo - a perfect match for the weather that went from sunny to extremely rainy. it cut our hike a bit short, and so we promised to come back next time to finish the trail. 

and then, there's dai, with whom i went on several loooong walks and did heaps of visualization :D

(allow me to channel ted moesby in himym) kids, in the summer of 2013, your aunt dai took a selfie - or a self-portrait - for the very first time. selfies were an 'in' thing during those days but your aunt has never been one to simply follow trends, so it didn't surprise me that she has never taken one. until one fateful day, when something extremely "exciting" happened, and she felt the need to mark the day with a photo of her with a huge smile on her face. someday, she will tell you The Best Back Story for a Selfie, and you will learn all about spectacularly maintaining grace under pressure.

(now back to my usual self hehe)

i also met up darwin, who treated me to drinks at this cool japanese bar called jibiru in the somerset area. we did some catching up over beautifully packaged craft beers, yakitori, and karaage.

i would write more about this, but i'm sure darwin will tease me about my ka-corny-han yet again if he ever reads this, so i won't divulge much haha. well, i do have to share about how he told me to let go of negativity. i am taking it to heart because if there was ever a person whose word i would take when it comes to things like this, it would most definitely be him.

i also chanced upon my cousin arjie - whom i have not seen in over a decade - in the philippine embassy, of all places! here's how it happened: my friend and i were chatting when a familiar name was announced on the p.a. system. i looked and saw that indeed, it was somebody i knew - none other than arjie :) what were the chances huh! after arjie finished with his transaction, he came over then we chatted. it turned out he was actually set to visit my sister lycel the very next day in jakarta!

arjie did get to spend some time with ate, but not for long, because ate was suddenly scheduled to fly to another country. guess where...

OF COURSE IT JUST HAD TO BE SINGAPORE! my sister and her co-teacher paolo flew in for a work-related visit and we were able to spend one whole day together. it was awesome because we hadn't seen each other in almost a year!

my favorite part of our day together was our visit to haji lane, which we both loved. it was mother's day too, so it was just fitting that i spent the day with her as she has taken on the role for most of my life. too bad her second day coincided with my flight back to manila, but she will be in manila this june so i'm definitely looking forward to that :)

p.s. an honorable mention is the cute little dog named bella, a pet of caps's friend sandy, who was set to go on a trip abroad with her husband, and so caps volunteered to dog-sit for this adorable furry creature. 

she was a little noisy at first, as she needed time to adjust to her new environment. but when she finally warmed up to us, she was just the sweetest :)