Eighth Month-sary as a Couple: Bronze Pottery!

by: mhe-anne ojeda - isidro

It is our eighth month as a couple, so I love everything bronze, pottery, linens and lace. We are in luck as we found ourselves back in Tagaytay, where we actually got married, for Emma and Al's civil wedding celebration we have arranged for them. We didn't have to spend anything to celebrate our eight months of marital bliss!

Sonya's Garden Bronze pottery 

Bronze and Pottery are said to be traditional symbols for an eighth wedding anniversary. We are far from reaching our eight year, but I can say that our eight months of marital bliss is a bronze anniversary in the making. As bronze is a combination of copper and tin, a strong marriage is created by the joining of two individuals who love one another and spend time together. I can say that for eight months, I spell love and time as RED! He quits his job at the call center to help me manage our law firm and be with each other 24/7. And I couldn't be happier with that arrangement!

Sonya's Garden charming blanket

Pottery represents nature, simplicity and the slow creation of something beautiful from just a lump of clay. I am not sure if it is just coincidence or an intentional eighth monthsary gift, but Red has surprised me with a beautiful backyard garden last May 21! I am amazed to see a clean backyard with new plants, peebles and frog grass. In time, I know that we will have a beautiful garden, in the same way as our relationship as a couple, will start to shape into a beautiful marriage.

Estancia Hotel & Resort's Moroccan table linens

Linens or Lace are the contemporary alternative for bronze and pottery. Aside from the charming linens at Sonya's Garden, we found different linens and laces at  Estancia Hotel Resort's special presentation of themed set-up for wedding receptions called "Love in May" last May 18, Sunday. This Moroccan - inspired wedding theme are easy reminders for us that our eight month-sary is something special and colorful!

Peanut Butter: Finding Similarities in Differences!

Raymond and I are at the opposite ends of the pendulum in many ways esp. with food. He loves fish and beef while I'm allergic to them and get dizzy just by the fishy / beefy smell when being cooked. He craves for tocino, morcon and embutido when I can't really stand viands that have a bit of a sweet taste. Then I eat kimchi and sushi nori with every meal which he finds weird. Then he eats pandesal and I eat celery. Oh wait. I'm erasing that part about pandesal and celery. I guess we just found a meeting point one night when we were looking for a snack! He grabbed some pandesal and I got some celery. Then  we both reached for - Peanut Butter!

Pandesal is a Filipino bread rolls which everyone in the Philippines eat for breakfast or snack, well, maybe except for me. I find it bland and has no distinct taste other than the taste of its filling - peanut butter, liver spread, chicken spread, jam or what have you. I haven't eaten a pandesal ever since I was a kid. Celery, on the other hand, is a snack I learned to love during my first trip to the US. My mission friend Dana Cummings brought lots of celery with peanut butter during our drive from Las Vegas to Page, Arizona. I got hooked since then with this healthy snack rich in fiber and protein! But back in the Philippines, it is weirdo to be eating raw veggie as a snack! 

So now, back to the Peanut Butter. Guess I'm gonna see lots of peanut butter in the pantry. More couple date nights. Less oppositions on food. But more meeting points! 

Seventh Month-sary as a Couple:Copper!

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda - Isidro

Copper is the traditional symbol for seventh wedding anniversary as it is associated with prosperity, good luck, and good fortune. For our seventh month-sary, we are in luck to be celebrating it in style at a Thai luxury hotel, Dusit Thani Manila. Our client from the US invited us for a buffet dinner on the 19th and we were back at the same hotel on the 21st of April for a lunch meeting. 

Basix, Dusit Thani's all day dining resto provides a myriad of choices of sumptuous food from different cuisines, and so we were happy filling our palate at client's cost! Call it combining business and pleasure huh! But more than just the food, the most important reason for celebrating our seven months of marital bliss, is the good fortune of finding each other (again!) after two (2) decades of absence!

Sixth Month -sary as a Couple: Candy!

Candy represents sweetness of love, Iron is indicative of strength and Wood symbolizes the solidness of relationships. These are the usual gifts for a sixth anniversaries. So on our sixth month as a couple, it was timely that we received our favorite candy  - a box of See's assorted chocolates!

Red and I love chocolates (the reason for ahmm our love handles. but let's just skip that part in this post lol). You can just imagine how thrilled we were to know that my friend couple, Joel and Jacque Wright from Sacramento, California, have sent us a box of See's Famous Old Time Candies! 

"3-10-14.  Congratulations in your marriage. Xxx.
We are sending a gift which we hope you will enjoy"-Love Fred & Jacque

In the card attached to the chocolate box, they wrote that they had to select something small so as not to over burden Christine in bringing it to us. To Fred, Jacque and Christine, thank you for your sweet gift! We truly enjoyed them!  

And not only that! See's Famous Old Time Candies is such a fun assortment of amazing flavors of chocolate-covered nuts, creamy caramels and more, that come in different sizes and shapes, and made Mary See's way with no added preservatives. See's truly mirror the various sweet, nutty, pure love experiences we have as a couple during those six (6) months of togetherness. And like every piece of See's candies, every single day of our marital bliss is worth savoring!

2014 Couple Date Nights: Silly Selfie Moments

We have gone on dates everyday this week, and we made sure that whatever we do - stargazing or sunset viewing, or satisfying our cravings or just enjoying the good life, we take plenty of funny, silly Selfie photos!

As Oxford Dictionaries word of the year for 2013, Selfie which means "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website" is one inexpensive couple date idea you can try. We did it over and over again this week using the Nikon camera or the Lenovo smartphone that Raymond gave me last Christmas. We truly feel connected looking at those funny and silly photos!

Satisfying Our "S" Cravings on Wednesday Night (January 15, 2014)
As nocturnal beings while in Sta. Rosa, hubby and I headed to Nuvali at night to satisfy our "S" cravings! And before you get the "S" all wrong, it stands for Sisig, Starbucks' Choco Chip Cream and Seven Eleven's Hot Chocolate!


Cost: Sisig - P100, Starbucks Choco Chip Cream Venti - P180 and 7-Eleven's Hot Choco - P45!
Romantic Meter: Satisfying. The chill of the night makes you long for each other's embrace and taking the silly selfies get you feel even more connected (if not more techie resourceful lol)

Short- Trip To Tagaytay on Thursday Night (January 16, 2014)

We live about 15 minutes away from Tagaytay, a tourist destination and where we had our wedding ceremony! So tonight, we thought of driving there to satisfy my hubby's craving for "Bulalo". He loves beef esp. the bone marrow and missed it for a long time since I'm allergic to anything "beefy". The Tagaytay Mahogany Row Restos serve the best Bulalo according to hubby which you can get "solo" (P80) or "with the bone marrow". I feel good seeing my hubby enjoys his dinner, while I enjoy the free use of "wifi" there of all places lol. After dinner, we went to Sofia's Cake to pick up our wedding cake topper figurines that we have them fixed.

Cost: Bulalo with bone marrow (P350) & 3 order of rice (P45) for hubby.Half order of Adobo (P50) and rice (P15) for me! He had the rest of the Bulalo for 'take-out' which he ate for breakfast and lunch the next day.
Romantic Meter: Sugar high "sweetness" you won't need any dessert and sure way to fall in love all over again!!!

2014 Couple Date Nights: Stargazing and Sunset Watching

Our house in Sta. Rosa (near Nuvali)has an extra room and is much closer to the airport than our house in Valenzuela,so we decided to come here for the weekend to host my PhilAm friend Kami from Utah. She volunteers for a medical and relief mission for Yolanda victims and arrives in Manila on Friday night before proceeding to Cebu on Sunday night. But after seeing Kami off, we decided to just stay longer in Sta. Rosa to enjoy the chill and some peace and quiet. The result? We have gone on a nightly Smorgasbord(or a large mixture of many different) romantic dates instead of our usual once a week date - comedy movie and Wensha Spa pampering!

STARGAZING on Monday Night (January 13, 2014)

I got a text message from my friend Ver telling me to get out of the house and take a glance at the moon which we did. Wow! The moon has a halo around it which we found astonishing, so we threw a picnic mat on our lawn and reached for the camera for this one awesome date! Later, we learned from news and social media that the rare optical phenomenon is caused by sunlight refracted in millions of randomly oriented ice crystals in the atmosphere and usually happens during cold months to warn of a coming storm. To us though, this phenomenon made way for us to spend one romantic night outside the house just checking on the sky, the moon, the stars and of course – each other without any pretense!

Cost: Nothing.
Romantic Meter: Steamy High *wink *wink

SUNSET Watching on Tuesday Night(January 14, 2014)

We spent the whole day driving between Chinatown and Pasay to purchase and deliver the school packs that Kami and Help One Future are donating to students of Balangkayan Central Elementary School. Since we loaded a whole lot in our Sportivo, we were driving rather slow. At around 5:46pm, we found ourselves along Roxas Blvd. and whooah, a chance to view the Manila Bay Sunset!

We decided to stop at CCP Complex Harbour Square and enjoy a dimsum treat for half the price at Hap Chan (P350) and Banana Split at Icebergs (P198).

Cost: Sunset viewing is free.
Romantic Meter: High, as it comes with unlimited photo ops for those silly selfie pictures that makes us feel even more connected to each other.

2014 Couple Date Nights: Wensha Spa Pampering!

Since our first date night involves only the two of us enjoying a comedy movie, we chose a date that includes couple of friends for this week's date - pampering at Wensha Spa!

My friend Leily's flight back to US was at 6am of Wednesday and she needs to be at the airport at dawn. So instead of letting her wait alone and sleep at the aiport, I thought of inviting Leily and Jean to join me and Raymond for our weekly date. Leily's friend Walter happened to be in town so it's like a double - date with a third wheel. sorry Jean lol!

Why Is It Cost - Effective? WENSHA SPA is a 24/7 facility and there's one by the airport in front of World Trade Center in Pasay. For any service availed of, one could stay for eight (8) hours inside the facility (including the time of the availed services). So if you want a whole body massage,for example, you will pay P780which comes with a free use of steam bath, dry sauna, hot jacuzzi and cold whirlpool. It also comes with free provision of lockers with safety automated wristband locker key system, robes, shorts and towels (and there are toothbrushes, toothpastes, comb and lotion for free use). But that's not all! The P780 (or P680 for foot spa) also comes with a free complimentary food - an eat-all-you-can buffet of Shabu shabu and ready -to-eat Filipino dishes, bottomless juice drinks and ice cream,available anytime during the 8-hour stay.

Given Leily's early flight, going to Wensha Spa is a great idea since she goes home fully recharged and ready to start work right away with the relaxing whole body massage and she was able to sleep / rest after the massage. For our weekly date, this is very cost effective since it is much cheaper than what we would normally spend for our regular massage at TonTon's (P300), dinner (usually P400) and breakfast (usually P300) and accommodation at hotel (Sogo lol) to use their sauna and jacussi (P1,500 cheapest) and it has no steam bath!

Romantic and Fun?. It was FUN to the highest level! I love the time we are actually cooking with friends, serving each other [and getting naked among female friends at the jacussi] which removes my inhibitions when I'm with my husband. And oh yes, getting a simultaneous "rub" is truly romantic. Although Raymond and I were on separate rooms during the actual massage, we both know that we are getting the same strokes that we could both apply to each other when we are at home.

The night after our Wensha Spa pampering is to date our "best night" ever as a couple! SUCCESS Baby!!