Here's some great pictures of my dear Jennie's (and Alex's) beautiful wedding. It was SOOO fun! And absolutely, positively awesome to be hanging out with my best friends again.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Hello there! We're really sorry that it's been so long since we've last posted anything. We're here in Australia now, in Melbourne. Here's what we've been doing: we arrived in Sydney in February. We stayed there for a week, and I met many of Guido's awesome friends! We had a really great time there. Thanks again to Greg, who let us stay at his place for a few days.
Next, we headed north to Guido's parents place in Cawongla which is a small town about 800 km away from Sydney. It's beautiful there and I loved G's parents' house. Arnie and Trudy Gautsch were lovely people, great cooks, fun to talk to and generally an enjoyable pair. They also have their own art gallery in the nearby city of Lismore. We stayed in Cawongla for a few weeks and relaxed on their quiet 10 acre property, and I even saw a few wallabies around the house.
Guido was offered a job teaching by the Department of Defense in Melbourne, so off to Melbourne we went! It took us a couple of weeks to find a place to live, but we finally found a great two bedroom townhouse in Seddon, a nice suburb of Melbourne. We love our place, and Guido is really liking his new job. We're still getting to know Melbourne, but so far, we think it's a great city. There are a lot a great shops, cute cafes, and delicious, cheap restaurants. The beaches are nearby, and not too crowded (although it is fall right now). We're sure we'll grow to love it since it looks like we're staying here a while.
Here are more pictures!
Next, we headed north to Guido's parents place in Cawongla which is a small town about 800 km away from Sydney. It's beautiful there and I loved G's parents' house. Arnie and Trudy Gautsch were lovely people, great cooks, fun to talk to and generally an enjoyable pair. They also have their own art gallery in the nearby city of Lismore. We stayed in Cawongla for a few weeks and relaxed on their quiet 10 acre property, and I even saw a few wallabies around the house.
Guido was offered a job teaching by the Department of Defense in Melbourne, so off to Melbourne we went! It took us a couple of weeks to find a place to live, but we finally found a great two bedroom townhouse in Seddon, a nice suburb of Melbourne. We love our place, and Guido is really liking his new job. We're still getting to know Melbourne, but so far, we think it's a great city. There are a lot a great shops, cute cafes, and delicious, cheap restaurants. The beaches are nearby, and not too crowded (although it is fall right now). We're sure we'll grow to love it since it looks like we're staying here a while.
Here are more pictures!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Langkawi
So when we left Koh Lipe, we took the Tigerline Ferry straight to another island called Langkawi in Malaysia. It's only about an hour away from Lipe, but the difference between the two islands is huge. Langkawi is a major port and a duty free island so many tourists, Malaysian and foreign(mostly European), come to the island to do their vacation thing and their shopping thing. Our first night there was not so good; we ended up sleeping in an old, dirty hotel room with cracks, paint peeling in the floor and on the walls, and a big piece of plywood for a window. It was pretty crappy (but only $8!). We were eaten by a ton of mosquitos (thank goodness no other big bugs were in there, or else I would've freaked), and woken up by what sounded like wrestling from the floor above us at 6 in the morning. Needless to say, we packed our stuff the very next morning, and moved to this beautiful, new, and clean hotel called the Sweet Inn. We didn't do much in Langkawi, other than more beach-y stuff. The beaches, Cenang and Tengah, were really nice. They were big and there seemed to be hardly any people on them. The sand was like light brown sugar. The views of other islands from the beach were beautiful, and made for nice sunsets. We had some good food, drank really cheap beer (60 cents!), and walked around a bit. So that's why we don't have many pics from there-- we didn't wanna bore you with more beach pics.
Friday, February 1, 2008
~Malaysia~
ello!
just a really quick hi from Guido. We're in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will be for another few days. Somehow, we fogot to get a visa for our flight to Vientam on Monday and since immigration is closed over the weekend, we wouldnabeen able to get on our plane! After much research and blahblah, we finally decided to move our trip up to the 6th, which leaves us with a whole week in KL and only 1 day each in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. Jetstar also not so kindly decided to charge us 400 Singaporean Dollars for the change :(
Nevertheless, it's really quite exciting here. We're staying at a lovely little bohemian guesthouse called 'Le Village', full of paintings, colourful walls and nice people, a dead-hamster-throw away from Chinatown and 2 semi-conscious cat swings away from Little India. We've already been on the skybridge on the 41st level of the famous Petronas Twin Towers, the world's second-largest skyscraper. We were subjected to some 3D brainwashing in the shape of a corporate ad flick beforehand but at least, the whole episode was completely free of charge. Bliss! Well, kind of, but something different for a change.
We'll be in town till the 5th and will head on down to Singapore, where we might meet up with Willierose's Tito Tony. Stay tuned folks!
-Guido
just a really quick hi from Guido. We're in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will be for another few days. Somehow, we fogot to get a visa for our flight to Vientam on Monday and since immigration is closed over the weekend, we wouldnabeen able to get on our plane! After much research and blahblah, we finally decided to move our trip up to the 6th, which leaves us with a whole week in KL and only 1 day each in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. Jetstar also not so kindly decided to charge us 400 Singaporean Dollars for the change :(
Nevertheless, it's really quite exciting here. We're staying at a lovely little bohemian guesthouse called 'Le Village', full of paintings, colourful walls and nice people, a dead-hamster-throw away from Chinatown and 2 semi-conscious cat swings away from Little India. We've already been on the skybridge on the 41st level of the famous Petronas Twin Towers, the world's second-largest skyscraper. We were subjected to some 3D brainwashing in the shape of a corporate ad flick beforehand but at least, the whole episode was completely free of charge. Bliss! Well, kind of, but something different for a change.
We'll be in town till the 5th and will head on down to Singapore, where we might meet up with Willierose's Tito Tony. Stay tuned folks!
-Guido
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Koh Lipe
Hello from Koh Lipe! We’ve been here for two weeks now, and the internet is slow and expensive, hence the late update on the blog. Apologies! We arrived at the height of peak season, so at first we had a little trouble finding accommodation. In fact, we’ve finally just settled into our dream bungalow: it’s one of only six on this small beautiful beach away from the crowds and the main drag, it’s right on the beach, has it’s own hammock, and is fairly secluded. We love it!
What have we been doing the last two weeks? Well, there’s not much to do on this little island, and that was part of the appeal. We’ve both been reading a LOT of books (me, 6 so far!), doing the usual beach affair of swimming, snorkeling, tanning (I’m brown, Guido’s spotted), and eating of course. It’s been fun and relaxing, but truthfully, I’m just about ready to leave Lipe. It’ll be sad to go, but I think we need to move on in our travel adventures. Guido will tell you more…
Hope everyone is doing well! Take care – Willierose
Lipeee! Really beautiful spot, I must say. I especially like our new bungalow, it’s gorgeous. Been snorkeling pretty much every day here, sometimes 3 times in one day. You can just swim out from any beach and there are coral reefs wherever you go. So far I’ve seen 3 sea horses, a moray eel, thousands of clownfish (Nemos!), lots of pufferfish (fugu-chan), a beautiful and highly poisonous sea snake, entire forests of coral etc. I’m toying with the idea of going diving, too, but’s a fairly pricey affair..2800 baht (about $85) but since Willierose still owes me a Chrissy present.. J
In a few days, my friends Reto and Petra will arrive here, too. Petra should be in the air as I type this actually and there shall be much rejoicing when they get here. I haven’t seen Petra in 3 years (not counting countless Skype sessions, esp. when Kete-chan was still in J-Land).
Alas, our visa will expire on the 26th, so we have to get out of here soon. After much debate, we decided to go to Malaysia for a week, since we’re really close to the border down here. We’ll take the train down to Penang first and hang out in Georgetown and then head on down to Kuala Lumpur, from where we’ll take the plane to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, hang out there for a bit and then to Oz on the 7th. Phew! Lots of countries in less than 2 weeks.
Over and out,
Guido
PS - pictures will be posted as soon as we find cheaper and faster internet, probably not for another week or so....
What have we been doing the last two weeks? Well, there’s not much to do on this little island, and that was part of the appeal. We’ve both been reading a LOT of books (me, 6 so far!), doing the usual beach affair of swimming, snorkeling, tanning (I’m brown, Guido’s spotted), and eating of course. It’s been fun and relaxing, but truthfully, I’m just about ready to leave Lipe. It’ll be sad to go, but I think we need to move on in our travel adventures. Guido will tell you more…
Hope everyone is doing well! Take care – Willierose
Lipeee! Really beautiful spot, I must say. I especially like our new bungalow, it’s gorgeous. Been snorkeling pretty much every day here, sometimes 3 times in one day. You can just swim out from any beach and there are coral reefs wherever you go. So far I’ve seen 3 sea horses, a moray eel, thousands of clownfish (Nemos!), lots of pufferfish (fugu-chan), a beautiful and highly poisonous sea snake, entire forests of coral etc. I’m toying with the idea of going diving, too, but’s a fairly pricey affair..2800 baht (about $85) but since Willierose still owes me a Chrissy present.. J
In a few days, my friends Reto and Petra will arrive here, too. Petra should be in the air as I type this actually and there shall be much rejoicing when they get here. I haven’t seen Petra in 3 years (not counting countless Skype sessions, esp. when Kete-chan was still in J-Land).
Alas, our visa will expire on the 26th, so we have to get out of here soon. After much debate, we decided to go to Malaysia for a week, since we’re really close to the border down here. We’ll take the train down to Penang first and hang out in Georgetown and then head on down to Kuala Lumpur, from where we’ll take the plane to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, hang out there for a bit and then to Oz on the 7th. Phew! Lots of countries in less than 2 weeks.
Over and out,
Guido
PS - pictures will be posted as soon as we find cheaper and faster internet, probably not for another week or so....
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Thailand, part I
And right back at ya! We're in Thailand and already had a busy week. Met up with Reto in Bangkok and went up to lovely Chiang Mai, a laid-back city in the mountainous North.
It was quite a lot cooler up there, which was a nice change. Like everyone else, we did one of the famous trekking tours, which was, of course, tres touristy but fun nonetheless.
Apart from walking a LOT through woods and hills, we also rode elephants, showered under waterfalls and took a bamboo raft down a river. Hanging out with Reto again was great and we spent New Year's Eve together as well. We had a yummy dinner at the gekko cafe, which included our first tom yum goong and a plate of roasted frogs! Mmmm...they were juicy and crispy at the same time. You can see one of their feet in the slide show. After quite a lot more than one beer, we decided to walk around town for a bit when we stumbled upon a great custom here. Hundreds of people lit sky lanterns, which filled with hot air and then suddenly took off! The entire night sky was filled with hundreds of beautiful paper lanterns. Of course, Reto bought one too, so we all let it go into the air together.
The next day, our trek started and luckily, we weren't as hungover as some of the other group members. Even though it was a fairly big group, we had a great ol' time with lovely people, gorgeous waterfalls and views and more beer ;)
This morning, we arrived back in BKK and will head down south tomorrow for some serious dolce far niente, sunbathing and coconut-sucking. Stay tuned!
It was quite a lot cooler up there, which was a nice change. Like everyone else, we did one of the famous trekking tours, which was, of course, tres touristy but fun nonetheless.
Apart from walking a LOT through woods and hills, we also rode elephants, showered under waterfalls and took a bamboo raft down a river. Hanging out with Reto again was great and we spent New Year's Eve together as well. We had a yummy dinner at the gekko cafe, which included our first tom yum goong and a plate of roasted frogs! Mmmm...they were juicy and crispy at the same time. You can see one of their feet in the slide show. After quite a lot more than one beer, we decided to walk around town for a bit when we stumbled upon a great custom here. Hundreds of people lit sky lanterns, which filled with hot air and then suddenly took off! The entire night sky was filled with hundreds of beautiful paper lanterns. Of course, Reto bought one too, so we all let it go into the air together.
The next day, our trek started and luckily, we weren't as hungover as some of the other group members. Even though it was a fairly big group, we had a great ol' time with lovely people, gorgeous waterfalls and views and more beer ;)
This morning, we arrived back in BKK and will head down south tomorrow for some serious dolce far niente, sunbathing and coconut-sucking. Stay tuned!
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
It's been a while! Guido and I hope everyone had a great holiday. If you didn't get our Christmas email, it means either we don't have your email address; or we just forgot (if so, we apologize). Our holidays were pretty darn good. When we got back from El Nido, Guido, cousin Kate and her friend Shids all went to Batangas and Tagaytay for the weekend. We'd like to profusely thank Tito Tom and Tita Vicky for providing us with the beautiful hotel rooms. We had a very nice, relaxing weekend. After getting back to Manila we had a big night out with some of the Natividad cousins. they took us out to a comedy club, and --can you believe it-- karaoke! So of course we had a blast.
For Christmas we went to Bataan. There we ate, drank, got very merry (even more karaoke)! Guido also finally got to try my Tita Emy's famous cooking. I had been waiting for her kare-kare dish since the year 2000. Yummy! Unfortunately, Guido got a cold and was under the weather for about a week. Poor thing. After a slow recovery at Tito Alvin's place, our stay in the Philippines sadly came to an end. We'd just like to thank all our family and friends in the Philippines for taking care of us! We had a great time and we're really going to miss all of you!
Here are a few more pics--
For Christmas we went to Bataan. There we ate, drank, got very merry (even more karaoke)! Guido also finally got to try my Tita Emy's famous cooking. I had been waiting for her kare-kare dish since the year 2000. Yummy! Unfortunately, Guido got a cold and was under the weather for about a week. Poor thing. After a slow recovery at Tito Alvin's place, our stay in the Philippines sadly came to an end. We'd just like to thank all our family and friends in the Philippines for taking care of us! We had a great time and we're really going to miss all of you!
Here are a few more pics--
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