Easter weekend!

happy Saturday everyone!

Been up super early cuz I pretty much knocked out all day yesterday after work. I was asked to do OT on my last shift cuz it has been crazy busy...as usual! It was also Good Friday...feel a little bad because Lent started while I was in PI so I never got into it (if that's even the right way to put it!) but I always pray and feel thankful!

Anyways, I wanted to talk about how horribly hung over I was last week--a little traumatizing I would say! I went out with all of mikes best friends from HS..even his ex gf was there (haole chick pictured below) lol. But it's whatever, I don't even trip. I think we drank from like 8pm-5am....went to probably 6 bars, & they were all into Patron shots! Agh!! I hate patron nowadays because I get the worst hangovers. Anyways we got home and I wake up and FaceTime with Lynn and Tess all drunk. They had soup..so when I got off the phone I was craving and so I drove mike & I to Chinatown to get pho at like 730Am. Not a good idea, I was soo dizzy!! Afterwards, mike and I were literally bedridden for 24 hours..so horrible. Mike was throwing up til like 9pm that night, haha! & Every attempt to stand up was like, "okay, no I'm still dizzy." I blame it on the patron. I don't think I was even fully recovered til Sunday evening. We drove all the way to Kapolei for our first real meal at brick oven pizza on Sunday night. So that was my traumatic weekend! Lol. I am staying away from Patron for a verrry long time!!!!

So cheers to a new weekend!! I love the e-cards that I posted below..hahah! Reminds me of us, out here at least--regressing almost 30year olds. Me and mike wanted to plan camping this weekend cuz it's going to be my last free weekend for a looong time (damn scheduling!)...but the weather is shitty. Anyways, have a Happy Easter weekend everybody!!!

Puppy love.

Koko Isle Circle. Koko Drive. Koko meaning "blood" in Hawaiian. Sometimes she drives us Koko. How fitting that we named her Koko!!

It's been about 2 months since we've had her, although 1/2 of that time I was away. But, she has brought so much JOY to us! Nothing like waking up to a puppy whining to go shi-shi at 6am, nipping at your toes when she wants attention, & following your every step around the house. Never a dull moment with a puppy:) I seriously can't imagine a baby! Right now, she is teething and boyy has she been biting more than usual! She has this "kolohe Koko face" me and mike call her..looking like she's ready to nip you any second! Ill post a picture.

Anyways, just felt like talking about her cuz I love her so much! Haha. I am back to work again...unfortunately, with the crappiest of schedules starting in April:( working lots of weekends, fridays, and split up nights...but how can I complain after being off for a month. Mike has started his new job as well..& he really likes it so I'm happy for him.

I have lost 4lbs of the weight I gained in PI but I still feel fat, lol! I feel like I always get in phases of eating well/exercising and then totally go bad cuz I go on vacation somewhere every 3 months & just indulge! Well I don't have anything booked at all this year (yet! Haha) so I'm actually gonna stay on island for more than 3months! Hopefully this means I can try to keep healthy for now..well see. Mike and I have been cooking a lot more at home and I would say eat out 75% less than before...that's a lot! Makes a big difference in my pocket & belly!

Anyways, this post was supposed to be about Koko only..& I like how it finishes off with how I want to lose weight. Lol. So random--just how my mind is. Like "oh I love my dog...hm I wanna get skinny" hahah! Ok, until next random posting✌

Back from the Motherland

Three weeks later and we're back!  We had a great time in the Philippines--had a lot of experiences, saw a lot of beautiful places, and bonded with a lot of family.   Happy to be back in the comforts of home now-- where I have a sense of time, can drink ice cold beverages, can go out without bug spray, take a long hot shower, can eat a salad and fresh veggies, and use my iphone &internet freely.   Makes me realize how lucky we are to have simple things like that!...often taken for granted for sure!  

This trip was a little different than all the other trips back to PI.  This time I was old enough to appreciate everything.  On prior trips I was like 14 and 21, respectively--both times I remember talking on the phone and going out with friends was my priority.  Like, "ugh, wonder what my friends are doing. I wanna go  home" kinda attitude, haha.  At the age now where I could really appreciate getting to know my family...appreciating all the luxuries we have at home compared to there....and just being in the moment.  

So, going back to work tomorrow--I am totally dreading it because I feel like I forgot how to work and stay awake at night.  I am also trying really hard to watch my diet, exercise, &limit my drinking cuz I feel totally fat/disgusting from the trip:(  Not cool at all!  

Anyways, I took tons of pictures. Thought I'd share a few each time I blog...

This photo was taken before heading to the P.I.  We hiked Mariner's Ridge.  Little did we know, this would be one of the last times before PI that we could be physically active (aside from swimming) on our trip.

This is a photo where we visited our Tatang.  Said a small prayer for him. We love and miss you!

Our first meal at Darayonan Resort in Coron, Palawan.  We stayed here for about 5 days.  Every morning we ate tapsilog, had a cup of instant Nescafe, and started our days around 6 am.  They have "brown outs" during peak hours of the day..meaning no electricity, no water, no AC, no cold drinks...nothing! Very humbling to say the least, learning to deal with it--but definitely worth seeing this paradise:)

Spent our first evening poolside.  The only choice we had--it was soo hot! & no electricity or water.  We drank the typical San Miguels and got semi-drunk.  First time seeing Mom and Dad swimming in the pool in a long time.  They used to take us every weekend at 32nd pool base we were young; consequently, all of their daughters are water lovers!

This is on our boat. We were lucky enough to get our own boat tour for just our family.  That is Tatay in the back, along with Raffy "the silent sea warrior"  and "OJT"--we called the little boy who was on the job training:)  Random story:  one day we ran the boat into shallow water over the reefs, and the propellor broke.  Tatay in the back said he's been saving for a long time to buy a new one....Dad did the kindest thing and gave him the 3000 pesos he needed to buy it.  It was theee nicest gesture, made his day and MY day! lol, love to see nice things happen.  Tatay, who reminded us a lot of our Tatang Lucio,  had a cheesy smile on his face the rest of the day...amazing!!!:)

No words can describe and no pictures can justify really how beautiful this place was!

Snorkeling was so so so so so so amazing.  Soo much live coral and abundant fish---I hope it doesnt get ruined in the future. By far, the best snorkel experiences we had were in Coron...hands down.  This was taken with my little underwater Sony, cool yeah?

This was our first actual stop.  Bulog island.  We were so excited and took tons of photos here..little did we know, it was just the tip of the iceberg.  I remember looking around like WOW.   Wow wow wow, soak up the feeling and the moment. Wish I could rewind back in time!

Ok I could go on forever with more pics..but wanted to share this last one!  This is Raffy the silent sea warrior.  Yeah, we made that last part up. Because he truly was!!  I've been around a lot of water people especially here in Hawaii, but this guy is something else.  If you look closely at his right foot, that is a handmade fin...yes, just a piece of wood with some bands.   Just one foot, lol.  But this guy was free diving the deepest of waters...coolest grand finale of our boat trip was when he dove I have no idea HOW deep but DEEEEP below...and snatched an unsuspecting turtle and swam it back to us.   Who does that?!!!!! A man of few words, but impressive nonetheless! (We tipped them big time).

Hope you enjoyed! Will definitely share more in the future! Aloha.