Acan’t Forget

It’s the little things

You know how they always say the best moments happen when unplanned? I was just reminded by Timehop one of those awesome times.

Rewind to 1 year ago…

As we were starting to build our home together, one of the things that excite us is furniture shopping. We had just invested in a new set of sofa and our living room was slowly but surely coming to life and was just missing a centre table to match.

We didn’t want to spend a fortune over a new one so we went to Facebook marketplace for some secondhand items. I then found the Ikea table I was looking for for only 10 quid (versus the brand new price of 60); checked the map which wasn’t too far off, messaged the seller and immediately closed the deal. That same day, we scheduled to pick up the item and as it turns out, the actual address was not where we expected. It was far off and the roads felt like it was leading us to nowhere. I was starting to regret driving (well technically I wasn’t driving lol) all the way to their place but we then found the house and got the item; the family were just so nice and the table was like brand new so I guess it was a good deal after all. Before heading back, we also noticed that it was unusually sandy around plus there were loads of caravan around so we thought of checking where we actually were on the map which looked like a shore line. Went to drive nearer to what looked like water and lo and behold, we found this beaut.

St. Lawrence Bay

Cool winds. Relaxing sound of the rippling water. Sunset. Orange hues. Talking and laughing about random things. Everything was just perfect. The moment was just perfect. It’s moments like these that makes you just appreciate the little things that makes life worthwhile you know? And it’s these little things that make my heart so happy. :)

Lamyerda Diaries

Hinga

Have you ever been overwhelmed with so much you wanted to just escape?

I am quite proud to tell everyone that I’m a tough cookie. Kung maikwekwento ko lang lahat ng mga pinagdaanan namin, pinagdaanan ko sa buhay, mahihiya ang Maalala mo kaya sakin. Char! So whenever something comes in my way, I always think “you’ve been through worst, keri mo to bakla!” and get on with it. Fortunately, nalalagpasan din naman. Pero minsan, I have this feeling na inaasar ako ni Lord. Just when I thought kaya ko na lahat, ayan nanaman siya bibigyan ako ng panibagong unos na may mas bonggang intensity! Iniisip ko nalang, he wouldn’t give me something I couldn’t handle. Keri ko to. Ako pa ba?

Times like these, kelangan huminga. Habit ko when I’m super stressed, either lalamyerda somewhere (depende sa budget lol) or mag aalay lakad lang ako. As in super lakad anywhere, everywhere. While walking, nagiisip, nagrereflect, nag iisip ng strategy, game plan at my best and worst case scenario. After a few hours, okay nako. Renewed person na ulit. This time, yung stress ko brought me (us, rather) to Newcastle. Eh stressed din si friendship, and he needed this as well so dito kame napadpad! Super random! We even left the house so late. The 5-hour drive was also therapeutic, yung nakadungaw ka lang sa bintana, emote emote habang nakaplay yung Never Enough sa background.

After 5 hours, we were lucky to have a bit of sun left so nasulit ang random gala. We were also lucky to be sheltered by old and new friends.

Day 1: Tynemouth Priory & Castle. £5.60 (entrance)

Day 2: Alnwick Gardens (4.60 on winter)

The castle was closed during the winter so sayang and we will most likely come back for that. As for the garden, avail naman siya. We’ve been wanting to visit the poison garden for the longest time so at least na tick na Namin siya sa list.

Anyway, here’s a random video of our trip! (PS. Bear with my editing skillz, I’m still learning!)

Blabbermouth

Welcome to UK, Justin!

It’s not everyday that you would get the chance to meet an old friend again so when we heard that one of Gelo’s college classmates was going to visit, we made sure to give him the warmest welcome (despite the branded “typical English weather”).

It was my first time to meet him and I’m pretty sure we blended well enough cause were from the similar “berdeng bloodline” (wink, wink sabay kembot).

We met at Hotel Strand around 1400H, which is roughly 5-10 minutes walk from the iconic places in London. From there on, we started our mini tour with a cruise around Thames (despite the normal pouring, which we kept on saying happens most of the time) and where I gave them time to catch up and enjoy the view as it was also my first time to try the cruise. I pre-booked for the London Eye+River Cruise package which costs £28.80 per person which is a better deal than buying individual tickets for each attraction. If you visit their site (https://www.londoneye.com) they have other deals that would better suit your taste especially if you have little kiddos. (Oh di ba!? Nagpromote!?)

Since there was still daylight when we finished with the cruise, we decided to stroll around before going for the Eye. We went to Westminster Abbey, walked till we reached St. James Park then of course, the famous Buckingham Palace.

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It was a good decision to go sightseeing first and wait till it got dark cause we had spectacular views while we were up the Eye. I would highly recommend night rides to enjoy these city lights.

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Of course, we also had to show him everyone’s favorite spot

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After the walkathon, we headed back to his hotel to freshen up since our next agenda is dinner @ Jamie Oliver’s (Covent Garden) and the most looked forward to- SOHO! #booking #alamna

Day 2!

We started early at the famous 9 3/4 quarters and we were lucky cause the was no queue! So, grab the opportunity!

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We asked Justin if he had any specific places he wanted to see and one on his list was Borough Market – perfect timing cause we were already starving! While we were there, we also had the chance to make him experience an authentic full english breakfast + ireland’s clonakilty black pudding. (Sorry, no pictures taken, we obviously prioritised getting our tummies full).

Next on his list was Tate Modern. Oh, Art! <3

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We didn’t bother entering the other galleries (kasi may pa-entrance hahaha) so we went straight to our next appointment. Here’s the millenium bridge exiting at St. Paul’s.

Above anything else, never forget…

Another ticket I had to book was for the Sky Garden. It was free this time but they only have limited number of people going in so good thing there slots available for this certain day. And–the sun came out! Wohoooo!

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Last stop– the famous Tower Bridge which is often mistaken as the London Bridge.

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We ended the day with 3 bottles of wine at this nice bar called the Alchemist found at Aldgate. Bid our goodbyes, and made our draft plan for our next adventure next year!

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‘Twas really nice to meet a new friend and thank you for 2 wonderful days Justin! See you again SOON! :)

PS. Thank you for getting this and bringin it to UK Justin! I superrrr loooove them! Brought me back to my ballerina days