BIG wedding that I was not in.

So how is this related to my daily life being able to watch a wedding on the news yesterday...hmmnn...well it was said to be the wedding of the year as it befits royalty. A wedding between a senator and a tv journalist/news anchor. I don't know if it's really the wedding I want if I were a celebrity or royalty at all...you know the BIG crowd, the non stop flashing of cameras, shrieking fans, I don't know if I'd ever fit into that scene anyway, I'd be a total obsessive-compulsive mess! But there they are radiant, smiling, teary-eyed and owning the moment as if nothing else matters than meeting eye to eye down the longest aisle I've ever seen (so far) at the Santo Domingo Church. The theme was classic Filipino where the ladies wore traditional "Filipiniana" (Fi-li-pin-ya-na) dresses with butterfly sleeves and the men wore Barong Tagalogs, an embroidered, off-white, long-sleeved-collared shirt made of weaved pineapple fibers. Classic, very elegant and now I wished my wedding was Filipino themed...arrgghhh...it seemed so posh.

old picture of women in Filipiniana and men in Barong

Korina Sanchez is the bride and Senator Mar Roxas is the groom...hmmnn...now if you can remember me doing a post about Mar Roxas he is the supposed to be presidential candidate that gave way for a much popular candidate who is Noynoy Aquino...what's interesting is Noynoy Aquino is Korina's ex-boyfriend whom they made into a godfather in the wedding...haha...Noynoy is not even that old and is single. ^^

oh well... their fates are intertwined in so many, many ways you can read them in my older post.

here's the wedding on the news:

PS. I just learned that her florist was the same with the florist of my friend who wed in my last post. ^^

xoxo
Sassy loves weddings.

Wedding at the Bamboo Church

How fun it was haha...eventually the whole formal event didn't came to be...^^ Everyone was notified to just store away their gowns and be in a "semi" formal wear or whatever they feel right about wearing to a wedding...my husband has stuffed his tie in my clutch bag and I wore a flowy blouse and pearls. We car pooled with friends making the travel less harassing. The traffic was sooo bad at the coastal road, we began watching movies...yay! 'perks of being friends with a Congressman's wife, we rode into her car with one digit plate number and 2 LCD screens and snacks! awesome... We were able to breathe in our clothes as the location is about 2 hours drive from our city that wore on to be an hour more snailing our way through.
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We finally reached the church 20 minutes before 4pm, our first time to see the St. Joseph Parish in Las Pinas (Las Pin-yas) famous for the Bamboo Organ built in the 19th Century. The organ still plays, they used it for the wedding and it sounds fantastic, very much like what Dracula would use in his castle at the mountaintop to sound scary...tentententen! But this sounded awesome clear, you can only imagine what it was like for the people of the 19th century singing with this instrument playing, it would've been the coolest church in the country! The church also has bamboo chandeliers and ceiling, terracotta tile floors and ornate stone walls, though small it is cozy and has a feeling of being in a medieval world but also very Filipino for the use of Bamboo.
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The ceremony was very solemn, they only have about 100-150 guests of family and friends. The church was decorated with Sampaguita..^^ I find it very interesting that they did...even the Bride's bouquet was made of clustered Sampaguita, it's a white Jasmin flower that's very fragrant, it filled the church with it's scent.
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At the reception, the tables were still set "somehow" formal with all those spoons and forks and glasses that we scrabbled together eventually when the food came because the tables have huge centerpieces of roses and fruits, beads and the couple's photos that there weren't much space for the plate with food sooo...yes, eventually the utensils went out of its proper order, so what!

The cake was HUGE too! wow...I gaped at it.period.
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My husband and I won a game for the couples, winning our table an extra bottle of wine! yay! we were awesome at naming body parts with the letters "P" and "T"...

The night went on great, I'm sure the couple are pleased that there are NO major hitch at all besides the guests not being able to find their seats because the seating plan was a "mirror" image of what is actual! haha... nothing bad or worse was noticeable other than that so good job to the couple and the on-site coordinators! ^^ and good job ME and hubby for winning the delicious wine!

i love weddings!

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me and the hubby reminiscing...

the bamboo and Capiz shell chandelier

Sampaguita (jasmin) flowers as aisle decor

my red shoes to go w/the motif.^^

the 19th century Bamboo organ played at the wedding

coming as we are!

ceiling lamps at the reception

the HUGE cake. 'but was too far for my camera...and me.

Donabel

HUGE centerpiece.

yummmm...not just for the kids! yay!

friends not behaving.

me and the hubby

cheers!

Happy Weekend!

xoxo
Sassy

age of consequence

You know, when it's not better it's good. We don't want to think the worst though it is the worst this morning ever to hit the northern provinces of the Philippines. It's not over yet, Parma the typhoon that went away came back to stay for days...that's so weird for a typhoon to do but yes it did happen and it wanted to sweep off whatever is on its path very "thoroughly" leaving more than the damages Typhoon Ketsana caused. Yup, our miracle was short lived, but people are not losing hope. God is with us in this most difficult times, as people have not lost initiative in helping each other.

Manila and the nearby provinces are recovering good, it's the Northern Provinces this time that's been badly damaged and is submerged in deep, murky waters. WE ARE ONCE AGAIN APPEALING for your PRAYERS. That there'll be no more casualties adding up to statistics, we have accepted our fate that properties and land doesn't belong to us but borrowed from nature. Everyone is accountable for mother nature's wrath, small island countries like ours are the most vulnerable to Earth's abnormal rising of water levels brought about by too much heat in the atmosphere.

This isn't a WARNING...

"We are at the age of consequence"

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Some beautiful photos of Philippines' Provinces of the North.

Ilocos Norte

Ilocos Norte

Laoag, Ilocos Norte

Baguio (Bag-yo)

Baguio
Pangasinan (Pan-ga-si-nan)
Pangasinan
Baguio
Vigan, Ilocos Norte
Banaue Rice Terraces (Ba-na-we)

We don't want all these to perish with bad, crazy weathers.

'Love each other, plant more trees!

xoxo,

Sassy.

=============================

my BIG happy City.

Hello bloggie world! It's been a tough, tough week for me but I'm fine now...I think everyone here is keeping their spirits up and is very positive to be moving on from what the Typhoons have brought the country. Help is flooding in, that's the kind of flood we want, HELP. ^^ Everyone's been very generous with helping in kind and in prayers. Thank you all.

Meanwhile, I'm sharing you photos of Manila I took 4 days before the flood happened. Aerial shots I took while on board a plane back to the "BIG CITY", you can see the greens and the buildings and the colorful rooftops...several places there have submerged in water, but we are hopeful in restoring everything to it's beauty.

So here goes Manila's Cityscape.

greens and buildings

colorful rooftops

manila bay on view

city by the river.

This is still my BIG happy city, despite the crazy weathers!

Have a good week ahead!

Love,

Sassy

bad yesterday.

We were struck by a typhoon yesterday here in Manila among nearby cities and provinces, the worst in 42 years! We all thought that it's going to be OK, at least as far as I know, we just let typhoons come and go without it affecting our "busy" work life in the BIG city. We never cancel a day on the job just because there's typhoon. Our buildings could withstand them besides the occasional flood that happens on expected below sea level areas, the city goes on with it's life.

We thought that the rain will eventually stop by the afternoon in time when everyone from work gets home, but it didn't, the rain came from dawn yesterday till the morning of today, worst is rising above 12-ft. in some locations. People got stucked in traffic in raging flood, some in their balconies waving curtains and bedsheets for the rescuers to spot them, some climbed up their rooftop drenched in cold rain with no food and without their belongings, some helplessly looking for their relatives, for kids especially whom they left when they'd gone to work.


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My husband and I are safe and dry. We got no work on Saturdays and our apartment building is located at one of the highest points in the City though our address brings a lot of panic to our families in the province since Pasig City is one of those cities that's been badly hit, the city is mostly submerged in water but our location is one of the few spared. We thank God a lot, almost in tears! We were supposed to transfer to a bigger place and looked in one of those homes that were unfortunately submerged up to the second floor! Our would've been neighbors perched onto their rooftops awaiting rescue.

We had no electricity though, our cellphone batteries were running out, we were eating canned food, our small apartment is lit by just one candle ... and we find humor in that amidst the calamity, that our apartment is indeed tiny to realize that we could brighten the surroundings by just one candle. ^^ WE texted our friends and relatives, relayed numbers that could help people in need like the numbers for the RED CROSS and TV networks that went on patrol. My parents texted me that I have relatives in different location that were stranded in their homes and might need rescuing, of course I feel bad that I couldn't do anything but pray for their safety. Well, that's all what we are unless we're RED CROSS or the Marines, we cannot go out and save the day. Our mortality smacked us in the face.


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Everyone is equal.

No one is rich or poor, celebrity or ordinary ... a famous actress was being interviewed on top of her mansion, ridiculous! How could they? Why don't they just airlift her, she's lost plenty for sure. MY rich cousin, had all of her Ford SUVs underwater and god knows whatever things she had swimming away with the flood... doesn't matter anymore. This is the worst that has ever befallen them and their properties but, she didn't care. All of her family are safe and that's what matters.

I'd rather go live simple you know and be happy with life from now on. Although I never did live large, I think I'd better not wish for more than what I can carry up my roof! BE grateful that we survived... I know we did for a purpose.

Stay safe everyone.
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mabuhay

the small city we left for the BIG one.

We're up north once again to the BIG city where my husband and I created a life away from everything we knew, grew up with and fond of. Everything is just the way we expected, busy streets, ongoing traffic, gigantic billboards, the buzz of a busy CITY life, 24-hours non stop.

WE arrived yesterday to a happy warm weather at 10:16 am exactly as the Pilot says we'd land. How convenient, 45 minutes of flight from my province to Manila. You know we used to take an overnight travel by bus for almost 13 hours with just two 20 minute break to stretch and eat at stop overs, we like the old fashioned way of coming and going by the BUS... but! that was when we were 'younger' - energetic and crazy for long road trips, especially when sitting side by side and cuddling all throughout the 13-hour ride not feeling any bigger hassle than just lining up for the comfort rooms. Well, at 28 we are past that phase if there's an easier way to anything, we'd be using that regardless how much we pay for comfort! Indeed it was worth it, I felt super nothing like when we take the bus that I felt like I had a 12-round boxing match with Pacquiao the next day, we even went to work minutes after we arrived! ... ^^ haha well...Sorry if I'm sounding like a person from Mars who hasn't heard of the Wright Brothers ever inventing this bulky, winged vehicle that flies. Actually, it's not my first time to travel by air, I've been to some parts of the world and back aboard the biggest aircraft there is... but my experience of leaving my hometown to the BIG city that took only 45 minutes by flight means a lot to me more than any of those other flights I took...it means that I am just that close to my roots and that I didn't get emotional of leaving the neighborhood I grew up with compared to how I'd be able to think and wallow for the rest of the 13 hour ride...the quick flight wont even let me gather my thoughts! It was too fast of a ride that I'm still beaming with happiness as my parents drove us to the airport and kissed us both goodbye and 'till we meet again.^^

A reckoning, that we must take this fast flight off the soil that makes us weaker ... maybe not weaker but SOFTER. You know, it's a different world out here in the BIG city.