Honeymoon Pictures - El Nido, Palawan 9/3/07-9/5/07

We had our honeymoon at Lagen Island, El Nido Palawan. We left Monday, Sep. 3 and returned to Manila, Wednesday, Sep. 5. We stayed in one of the water cottages near the breakwater.
If ever you see pictures wherein Leo and I are in the same frame, it means that our co-tourists/honeymooners took the picture for us (or Leo took it for the both of us). Incidentally, we were the only Filipino tourists on the island. Most of the guests were Koreans or Japanese.
Enjoy and see how beautiful Palawan really is.
On a side note, this was my first time on a plane since 1990. So it was a nice repeat experience for me. :)

Prenuptial Pictorial 8-23-07

These pictures were taken on August 23, 2007 at Tagaytay Highlands where we had our pictorial. Our photographer is the one and only John Mateos Ong.

Back to Work

After 3 weeks of vacation, I'm returning to work tomorrow. I don't know what to feel when I get to the office. Happy that I had a perfect wedding yet sad as my lolo passed away. I'm going to be one confused person.

We had our lolo cremated this afternoon. It was surprisingly fast. Our lola took almost 3 hours while my lolo was done in an hour and a half. Maybe because he was not embalmed and having no food or water intake for the past 4 days drained his body of fluids. We took his ashes to Sacred Heart where a mass was said and the urn was blessed. We then proceeded to my lolo's house in Makati where a small gathering took place; where people talked about him and remembered him fondly.

I'd better turn in early as I've set my alarm for 530. I intend to leave by 630 so I can be in the office by 730. I have 3 weeks of email to go through. Also, I have to look for the terminal for the shuttles going to Makati at Alabang Town Center. If I can't find it, I'll just have the driver bring me to my previous shuttle terminal in BF.

It was good while it lasted. The real world beckons.

Goodbye, Lolo

My lolo Ruben passed away peacefully at 2 o'clock this afternoon. He died in his home surrounded by family who loves him.

Lolo Ruben was diagnosed with liver cancer last May. It was a big surprise to all of us as he's known for his healthy living. My grandmother, his wife Pacing, died 4 days after his diagnosis. It was Mother's Day.

I guess it's only apt that Lolo died on Grandparents Day. He was a loving lolo to all of his grandchildren. We will really miss him.

Two weeks before my wedding, he was rushed to the hospital as he had difficulty breathing. It turns out that his cancer has metasticized to his chest cavity area and the mass was pushing against his trachea thus the difficulty in breathing and eating. He was hooked into an IV and it is only there that he gets his nutrients.

I used to have this fear that he would pass away days before the wedding or on the wedding day itself. But when I visited him a week before the wedding and saw him lying in bed, I just let everything go. I silently told him that if he needs to go, I won't mind. If he wants to be with my lola, then nothing should stop him. I'll be fine. We'll be fine.

But he hung on. When my dad came home from the wedding, he whispered to my lolo that the wedding was done. My dad said that my lolo smiled and after a few minutes, his arm began to swell. Apparently, the vein where his IV was connected collapsed. They couldn't find any vein anymore on his arm so they connected the IV to his foot. When we got back from our honeymoon on Wednesday, we were told that the IV was removed as the veins on his feet also collapsed. We knew then that it is only a matter of days before the inevitable.

My best memory of my lolo was when I was a little girl, he knew of my budding love for books and magazines. He would call me from our house next door and he would tuck me beside him and we would read his magazine together. I remembered we would look at the Larry Alcala comics and we would make it a contest on who would find Larry's head first.

In compliance to my lolo's wishes, we will hold no wake for him. His remains will be cremated tomorrow and we will have a memorial service for him right afterwards in his home in Makati. Still a simple man up to the end.

My lolo was a great man. He will be very much missed.

Pictures and More Pictures!

Jong gave me 3 CDs of all our wedding pictures (3-4GIG all in all). I'm choosing the nice ones to post and so far, I've already posted some in the photo album portion here. Give me a few more days and I'll be able to finish posting all the pics. I've also managed to post the slideshow presentation that Jong prepared that was shown during the reception. You can view it here. It took forever to upload but it's so worth it.

I also need to upload our prenup pictures at Tagaytay Highlands and our honeymoon pictures at Lagen Island, El Nido, Palawan.

I'm doing the upload while fixing our room, closets and bathroom. Who knew both of us have so much stuff! And our wedding gifts! We still haven't sorted them out yet.I'm already done with the bathroom. I just need to transfer Leo's clothes to his new closet and I need to get my clothes from BF and bring them here. I have 3 days left to finish everything as I return to work on Monday.

Leo & Sunshine.mov

The slideshow that was shown during the wedding reception.
Photos and slideshow by John Mateos Ong

Wedding Pictures

Some pictures of our wedding. Photos by John Mateos Ong.