Rafael Nadal

This blog has been neglected for a few days for I was sick. A lot of things that I want to post is a history now. By the way, I'm still eager to tell you guys to those who doesn't know it yet that Rafael Nadal captured his fifth straight Monte Carlo Rolex Masters win last Sunday April 19, 2009. Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic with the score 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. I'm a big fan of him so I just can't help it(lol).

The top-seeded Spaniard won his third ATP World Tour title of the 2009 ATP World Tour season and is the first player to win an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament five consecutive years. Nadal joins Roger Federer with 14 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and Andre Agassi being the first and has 17 titles.

Nadal received €434,000 in prize money(whew!). He is now playing in Barcelona Tournament.
Vamos Rafa!

McDowell Mountain Ranch Real Estate

For couples who live in a small apartment like us but dreaming of having a nice home located in a very good location and environment then we are on the same boat. Home is a place of comfort; it is a place where an individual or family can rest. And wouldn’t it be nice if it is situated in a location where the environment is beautiful and the neighbors are wonderful?

Why don’t you visit McDowell Mountain Ranch Real Estate? The Ranch as the homeowners call it is nestled in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains in northeast Scottsdale. The place has its natural beauty and serenity of the mountains. The place amenities include pools, spas, tennis court, picnic areas, and children playgrounds.

So visit it and have fun looking around!

Serena Water Park

I got interested into Water Parks after last month adventure of ours. Never did I expect that we'd go swimming when I arrived in Finland. It was freezing cold and snowy and slippery. We were in the car when my husband told me that him and his sister were thinking of going to the water park 2 days after my arrival. I said yes as I was going with the flow. As the day for swimming arrived I was still confuse if how we will do it since the temperature was freezing. Until we arrived in Serena. Outside was a huge parking lot and the snow is all over the place. Theres a huge slope as well and I've seen lots of people skiing for the first time.

Serena is the most popular water park in Finland. There's a lot of swimming pools and exciting rides in the place. There are over 1000 square meters of pool area and a huge number of attractions in the outdoor water park but it was closed during that time as it was still too cold for anyone to swim. Inside of the huge building is a restuarant and an indoor pools and slides. There's a jacuzzi and sevaral sauna. The long slides were kind of scary so I didn't try it no matter how they convinced me. The scariest slide is called the Black Hole, it is a combination of light and sound effects that creates a unique adventure. We really enjoyed it a lot that we went back there after a week. And hopefully this summer we will be back again.

6 Unimportant Things That Makes Me Happy

Few day ago, Chuchie of Chuchie's Hideaway tagged me. I wasn't able to grab it soon as I was busy this past few days. The tag is about naming six items that are not that important and yet you are happy with those things. Thanks Chie for tagging me, its my second tag in the blog world.

I'll start with my hubby's dvd collection. He completely opposed me in this matter and said that its vital to our living (lol). I enjoy watching films but I would also survive without them.
(Photo below is just part of his collection, he's seriously into it)

Second is the nail stuff that hubby bought for me last week during our movie day. I'm not really into nail polish thing coz i prefer my nails to be short and clean and unpainted. This stuff includes nail file in 3 colors (black, green and white) that would give your nails a glossy touch without the colorless nail polish. Its nice to look at your nails sometimes when they are glossy.

Third is the make up. I like them but putting only a baby powder on my face will do also.

Fourth would be the lotion. I am very lazy to apply it but I have to, coz my skin is dry here.

Fifth are the Colognes. I use to like them and loved them but I learned to survive without them when I found out that my husband doesn't like it. Though I still wear them once in a while.

The last is my mobile phone. Not really needed as I use my phone once a week and sometimes not but this stuff makes our lives a lot easier to communicate.

And I am tagging my first reader.

Inkheart

Its Tuesday, our movie day today. My husband invited me to go to the city center to watch Inkheart. Hubby decided to go to the biggest cinema house in Copenhagen called Palads (Palace) to watch the movie there.

The story is about an adventure of a father and his young daughter searching for a long lost book that would help them reunite a lost relative. Mo (Father) and Meggie (daughter) share an extraordinary gift of making the characters come to life when they read the book aloud. One day, Mo finds the book he's been looking for, for nine years. The book would help him bring back his wife, who disappeared when Meggie was three years old. But Capricorn the evil villain from the book captured Meggie and demanded to read the book once again to bring back some other evil characters to life. Mo and his other two friends from the book joined forces together to stop the evil plan of Capricorn. In the end, the characters from Inkheart returned to where they belong and they have rescued Resa (Meggie's mother).

The lead actor is Brendan Fraser (Mo). Movie fans must have known him because he has done the popular movies The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Inkheart is not as good as the Mummy movie series but not bad too, so I would recommend it to everyone to watch it.

Group Hug!!!

My friend Yen tagged me last night. Its my first tag ever in the blog world. Just the thought alone, that she think of me makes me smile. Yen is the woman behind the blogs Heavenly Delight and Cooking With Me, and she is happily married to an English man and they both live in The Netherlands. I knew her from the TWOF forum, her words encourage me to try blogging.

The photo below is one of my favorite shot in our wedding pictures, it was taken last November 12, 2008. The photographers were shouting "group hug" as they click their cameras. My husband and I were trying to get as close as we can to our bridesmaids and maid of honor for the group hug but I was surprised of the outcome of the picture. Turns out that each and everyone of the ladies are trying to my make their own wacky pose.

} Start Copy
" A good Snapshot stops a moment from running away."

When you photograph people in color you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in B&W, you photograph their souls! ~Ted Grant} End of Copy

Standing: My hubby Petri and Yours Truly
Sitting from Left: APRIL (My bestfriend since high school days), DYANE (My 11 year old niece but looks like a lady in this pic), JANE (equally beautiful like her younger sister Dyane, and she's just 14), SHEILA MAY (My bestfriend since high school too), Anne (One of my closest friends), and MIMI (RN and my bestfriend in the Nursing School)

I would like to share this tagged to my friend Sarah of A Journey For Life.

Addicted To Simpsons

Hubby is really into Simpsons. We are watching it every night for atleast 3 hours. He is recording everyday Simpsons episode in tv. He already had the complete fifth season in his collection, and last month he just bought nine DVD collectors edition. He have the complete first to tenth seasons of Simpsons, and has atleast 90 hours of Simpsons to watch now.

The Simpsons is an animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening. They live in a town called Springfield. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American homtown. The family are in yellowish colors and the characters are named Homer (Father), Marge (mother), Bart (son/troublemaker), Liza (daugther) and Maggie (baby) who never talks and the family owns a dog and a cat.The Simpsons has won lots of awards including 24 Emmy Awards and they even have their own star in Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has a total of 20 seasons and 436 episodes. Hubby must be very interested to collect the other seasons (11-20) to add in his collection.

Roger Federer Got Married

The second rank tennis player in the world marries his long time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in his hometown Basel. He announced the wedding on his website.

Federer lost to Rafael Nadal this year in Australian Open. He was very emotional that time as I watched him on tv. He will play in Monte Carlo Masters next week and is aiming for his sixth Wimbledon title this summer.

Davao City, Your Next Destination

Growing up in Davao is one of the things I can say I am proud of. The city is famous for a lot of things. There's the waling-waling known as the queen of Philippine orchid, Philippine - eagle one of the biggest eagle in the world, durian - king of the exotic fruit, and you can find all these in Davao City.

Davao City is located in the southern part of Philippines. It is situated in southeastern Mindanao. Just an hour and a half plane ride from Manila (capital of the Phil.). It offers a lot of urban amenities such as shopping malls, beaches, sea foods, fruits and an active night life. The city's spoken dialect is Cebuano and English is the medium of instruction in schools and is widely understood and spoken.

The city celebrates Kadayawan festival an annual festival that celebrated every second week of August and is one of the most famous festivals in Philippines. People from different places in the Philippines and as well as foreigners travels to Davao just to witness the event. There are lots of activities during the festival. Including the street parade, flower float parade, agro industrial fair. floral exhibit and the left and right midnight sales in shopping malls.

Tourists will not be bored in Davao. As it has lots of white sand beaches, a nature park, crocodile farm, Philippine Eagle Center and a lot more to visit.

Tennis, Anyone?

Tennis has been my dream sport of all time. I really want to learn and play it. I got interested more in this sport this year. I watched most of the tennis shows in tv when I returned to Phil. I am a big fan of Rafael Nadal, worlds number 1 in ranking, in this sport. I've watched most of his games until I flew to Finland.

Tennis is a sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two (doubles). It can be played by anyone, in all ages and I learned that even those who are in wheelchair can play it too. It's one of the most popular sport these days. I'm convincing my husband to give it a try.
Since he is willing to lose weight then he can do it as his exercise. Just that he has an injured(operated) right ankle so he is still hesitant to try it. My hubby has an aunt who plays tennis at the age of 70. In one of our talks with his aunt we've both promised to play tennis together one time. And she give me 2 years (smile) to prepare. I guess, I should start learning it soon. Can't wait!

Visiting Malmo, Sweden

Last Saturday (April 4) hubby and I went to Malmo, Sweden to attend baby Julia's christening. Al (Julia's Dad) phoned hubby few days before the event and told him that he will be Julia's Godfather. The new Church of Scientology opened the same date too. And everyone is excited.

Malmo is not that far from Copenhagen, just 30 minutes away. Almost 10% of its population works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Oresundtrains cross Oresund Bridge every 20 minutes connecting Malmo to Copenhagen that's why its very accessible. According to history, Malmo is thought to have been founded year 1275 and was part of Denmark. It was, for centuries, Denmarks second biggest City.

The 2 cities are very different from each other.From buildings, people, culture to currency. I was surprised that the stores there doesn't accept Danish Krona at all. Good thing we bought our roundtrip ticket in Copenhagen, so we didn't had a problem in paying for the tickets in our return to Copenhagen because we didn't have Swedish Krona. From the train I've seen the famous Turning Torso building. It was such a site to see. I didn't know that it was built in Malmo until I've seen it with my own eyes.

I enjoyed our visit in Malmo. I was so happy to meet some friends (hubby's friends). Hope to be back there again.

Fruit Diet

Hubby and I met sometime in November 2007. He was thin and so was I. After 1 year and 5 months I gained like 10 kilos and hubby gained 20 kilos(grrr). How I wish I can turn back time (daydreaming). The clothes that I left here when I returned to Phil are now very tight to me. Whenever I look at the mirror I miss my thinner body. I miss the days when I just can fit all the clothes I like in Phil. My husband always says that he wants to go to a diet so he can lose some pounds but it is always difficult for both of us to do such. We always love to do our hobby called EATING. Last week he said he would do the Juice Diet and the Fruit Diet. Lately, I've been busy in the kitchen peeling the apples, pears, carrots and garlic, juicing them. My husband likes it but I hate the taste. And in the shop we don't buy much meat anymore, we buy fruits more. I'm learning to love this fruit diet thing of ours. It is so difficult to control yourself from eating. Just the good thing about this diet thing is that I'm in Denmark and all the food that I love are far away from me. Though I'm missing the Filipino foods. I hope this fruit diet will be successful but all in all, what matters most here is discipline to our selves

From Start To Finnish

My husband is from Finland but he is living in Denmark for 10 years now.I was not pressured that I should learn Finnish the soonest because I always thought that since he lives in a different country then we don't need to speak Finnish every now and then. He told me before that Finnish language is one of the most difficult language to learn. It didn't sinked in to me until we visited Finland last year. His family is talking in Finnish most of the time and I can't understand anything of course. His family are trying to translate everything they said but they are having trouble also in speaking English. I can't even talk to his grandmother if no one is around because she doesn't speak English at all. So I made a promise to myself that I will really learn Finnish this year so I can talk to his grandmother even if its just the two of us. My mother in law gave me a book last Christmas named Englanti-Suomi-Kuvasanakirja. Its a picture dictionary written in English and in Finnish. She helped me to read the book and was so kind to my pronounciation. She always says someday I'll pronounce those word right and then would give me a smile. Last month, my husband tried to look for some Finnish language course for me in the biggest bookstore in Helsinki. He bought a book and a cd entitled From Start To Finnish. Last night I finally opened the book and started to read it. Its easy to understand just that I have trouble pronouncing some words. And the additional letters from Finnish alphabet makes it extra difficult. My husband guide me in reading it. He surely gave me a hard time(grrr). He always corrected every wrong word that I pronounce. It was hard and difficult but I'm very eager to learn. Hopefully tonight I'll read my book again

My Snow Experience

I always dreamed to see the snow since I was a kid. I lived in Philippines for 22 years of my life and it was always in my thought to see and experience the snow someday. That dream came true last March 18, 2009. I flew to Finland for the second time. And this time they still have snow. I was very excited for the entire flight. I couldn't wait til we arrived in Finland. I was surprised when we (hubby and I) were walking outside of the airport that there's no snow in Helsinki. I was even a bit sad. My husband told me that there were snow in the place where his sister lives. It is outside of Helsinki and we are staying there for a few days before we'll go to Lapua, his hometown. When we arrive to his sister's place, the first thing I did as I get out of the car was touched the snow in the ground. It was so cold as I don't have gloves on my hand but still I couldn't stop myself to smile. Another dream come true to me. The next days were exciting. My sister in law invited us to go to her backyard with her kids to play in the snow and slide. I was afraid and hesitant at first but hubby and SIL really convinced me to try it so I decided to give it a try. The feeling is unexplainable. I feel like I was a child again. Playing, sliding, laughing that's what we did at that moment. It is such a nice feeling living in your dreams.

I'm Back!

I decided to try blogging again this time. I have nothing to do here at home so I guess I'll give it another shot. I tried making one last year but I got shy about it when my husband (boyfriend that time) started asking about it. So i deleted my 2 post (lol) and just thought that its not the right time yet.

Well, a lot of things happened to me since then. I returned to Philippines after a month and I got busy to prepare for our wedding. I got married last November 12, 2008. It was a dream come true to me. The event was a bit extra special because it happened in the Philippines. My family, friends and relatives witnessed the event. And my husband's family flew all the way from Finland just to join us.

It took me 3 months to prepare the papers I needed for my second visa application. After 3 weeks of my application I got the result and my visa was approved. I flew to Finland last March 18, 2009.The timing was to perfect because its just few days before my birthday (March 23) and they still have the snow that time. After 22 years I finally meet and greet the snow (lol). It even snowed twice in our 11 days stay there.

I'm so happy to be back and hopefully I will not delete this post again. The photos in our wedding will be shown below. Thanks and enjoy my blog.