Year four

Marlon and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with five days in Boracay. Holing up in our own little world is just the kind of thing marriage gives us license to do, without setting off a wave of wagging tongues!

Financially, 2011 has not been the best year for us—although we were prepared for that when we made the decision to move to Europe. So, no gifts this year. But just out of curiosity, I looked up a list of traditional wedding anniversary gifts. We've never followed the traditions (year three, leather = missed opportunity!) but upon seeing that year four is supposed to be fruit or flowers, I suggested that we share a Boracay favorite to mark the occasion. 

Yep, for our fourth anniversary we gave each other mango shakes from Jonah's! Slurping them in the shallows, under the sun, was absolutely perfect: another great memory to add to our growing list.

 Then Marlon made me funny things out of sand...

like a perfect white sphere carved with our initials...

an "Angry Birds" inspired effigy of Rogue (a.k.a. "Angry Cat")...

... and the silliest gift of all, a "love lump" in the sand. I told you this was a low-budget anniversary!

Thank goodness for Boracay's spectacular sunsets. Instant romance! Libre pa!

We both love, love, LOVE Dos Mestizos and make sure we have at least one meal there wherever we're in Boracay. So we didn't even consider any other restaurant for our anniversary dinner. Aside from their scrumptious paella, we also love their ostras fritas (fried oysters with aioli).

And don't even get me started on the bread pudding. My mouth is literally watering at the memory.

We decided to hoof it all the way back to our digs in Station 1. After walking past the perya atmosphere of Station 3 (all I can say is: not for me), I heard a familiar voice at Bom Bom Bar. Hello, Armand!

I've known Armand for years but was my first time to see him perform a full set.  In fairness nag-enjoy ako. He sure knows how to spread good vibes. And his songs are catchy. #proud

So that was our anniversary. Simple and sweet, but filled with all the things we love to enjoy together: travel, food, music and each other's company. I couldn't ask for more. 

Vintage treasures from Mom

My appetite for travel is something that I most definitely inherited from my mom. While I was growing up, if she wasn't jetting off to a foreign country then she was packing us—her two girls—into the car for weekend jaunts to the beach. 

In addition to being a consummate traveler, she was also an insatiable collector—or as we like to say, a hoarder! She would always bring things home from her trips: anything from heirloom-worthy pieces from Europe to whatever was the latest trend in Japan or the US or wherever she happened to be. I remember being the first family we knew to have a Discman and to wear t-shirts emblazoned with the faces of The Simpsons (whom I thought were really ugly and weird) as early as 1990.

Mom has since declared her jetsetting days pretty much behind her, except for the rare occasions when my sister and I succeed at convincing her to get on a plane and visit us. But some of the things she picked up on her travels still remain. And since we've been ragging on her to de-clutter, she decided to pass them on to us, her two daughters. 

So out came the tablecloths she amassed in Europe over 20 years ago. Not only are they beautifully handcrafted, but now, they're also vintage! #doublewin

I was torn between this lovely ecru lace cloth from Portugal, above, and an embroidered cutwork tablecloth with handmade lace, from Belgium. Each fits a table for 10-12 persons and comes with matching cloth napkins.

After much agonizing, I chose the latter. The details simply won me over.

Mom decided to wrap them up for Christmas—you know, just because it's more fun that way! 

She also threw in a set of handmade Belgian lace coasters...

... and matching cocktail napkins. I've never used cocktail napkins (I didn't even know such things existed!), but now I'm racking my brain for an excuse to debut them. 

Finally, Mom brought out the most delicate little demitasse cups in refreshing pastel hues. That was when I squealed like a tickled piglet.

Aren't they cuuuuuuuute?

Even Marlon, who's been known to veto any additions to our home that are too overtly girly, couldn't help but be charmed.

Feel free to come over to our house anytime for the most precious espresso ever.

Really. It's my pleasure.

Now this is how you recycle gifts for Christmas. Thanks, Mom!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the warm, humid frenzy of Manila!

I flew home with Marlon via KLM last Saturday. Since then, we've been spending time with family and friends whom I've missed, thus the inactivity on this blog. Next week, we're off to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary in Boracay (yay, warm waters and white sand!) so there will be more radio silence through New Year's. 

In the meantime, let me leave you with some photos that should get you in a lovely Christmasy mood (if you aren't already feeling it!). I've always wanted to visit the famous German Christmas markets, so Marlon and I took the train to Koln (a.k.a. Cologne) a few weeks ago for a weekend trip.

I've been to Koln with the Glee Club. That was 10 years ago, and I never thought I would come back. Being there with Marlon, and looking up to see the massive Dom (Cathedral) all lit up, gave me goosebumps. I simply couldn't believe I was there again. It was another one of those "funny how life works out" moments.

Being at a Weinachtmarkt, or German Christmas market, was like being in a Christmas Disneyland. I'd been warned by German friends that Koln was rather commercial as Christmas markets go, but that didn't faze me.

With much to gawk at, laugh at, buy, eat, drink and enjoy, how could I not love every single shimmering, sparkling moment of it?

After the Christmas market at the Dom, which is the biggest one in the city, we walked to the one in the Alter Stadt, or Old Town. This one was smaller, more intimate and felt more quaint.



It was also mobbed by 10pm!



This year, the Alter Stadt market was all done up in an adorable gnome theme that I loved!

On our last day, before catching the train back to Amsterdam, we dropped by the Markt der Engel, or Angel's Market, at Neumarkt.

Three out of eight Christmas markets is not too bad, right? It was a wonderful weekend that really put us in the holiday mood. I would love to visit other markets, in other towns, next year. I'm sure each one has its own charm... and its own selection of tasty treats and pretty baubles.

Wherever and however you're spending the holidays, I wish you lots of laughter, music, good food and great company. I wish you joy and belonging amongst the people you love most and who know you best. Because that's what Christmas is to me. 

Merry Christmas from me and Marlon!

Going green

I'm such a Christmas junkie that I put our home through not one, but two phases of Christmas decorating. I started out with dried and plastic decorations, some of which were brought over with us from Singapore. With a little creativity and red polka-dot ribbon, dried and plastic was fine. 

But the moment December hit, every flower shop on the corner sprouted greens. Christmas greens. Reds and greens, actually, and more. From pine to mistletoe to holly to blackberries, all those things I've only read about in books plus more that I couldn't even name. 

Suddenly, all this abundance of freshness changed my feelings towards plastic. So I redecorated. 

Before and after #1: the wreath on my front door. I started with a rustic-looking bare twig wreath, dressed up with plastic holly and some ribbon. In December, I tied boughs of fresh pine around the form. It looks a little like a shaggy green monster, but I like it. (I have to... I made it!)

Before and after #2: my dining table centerpiece. My Pinay friend Jec gave me a great idea: to fill a rustic-looking tray with candles and pinecones. Two weeks later, I replaced some of the pinecones and with fresh pine and berries. When I cut the pine into smaller pieces, the sap from the branches left an absolutely divine scent on my hands that is nothing—nothing!—like those pine air fresheners we see dangling from the rearview mirror of taxis in Manila.

We hung a real pine wreath in our living room, where it probably sends smug, mocking vibes over to our fake pine Christmas tree. Over the kitchen door went a bunch of various greens and berries that were pre... um, pre-bunched? So all I had to do was tie a nice bow over it and hang it on an S-hook. One last stray bough of pine also got the bow treatment before going up over the door to the balcony. 

And in front of the window, spare pinecones and a large spray of red berries. I wish I knew what these are called, because I just love them. On gloomy days (and there are many), that pop of bright red against the gray outdoors makes me feel a little bit better.

Don't you just love the freshness? I just might never go back to plastic again!

Ornament obsession

As I've blogged about in this week's post on MangoJuiced, I've gotten over the whole matchy-matchy Christmas tree. I've started migrating the red-and-gold ornaments that we bought in Landmark for our first Christmas to other places, like our dining room chandelier and this tabletop lamp.

What's made me reconsider our Christmas tree? I've made a few Canadian and American friends for whom the addition of one new, special ornament to the tree every year is part of the family holiday tradition. No themed trees, no matching sets—just a collection where every piece was chosen because it was pretty and special in itself. 

The idea of carefully selecting and slowly building up a collection of cherished ornaments has started to really appeal to me. Somehow, it fits in perfectly with the wearing-off of our newlywed excitement. That's not a bad thing, by the way—after four years, I've simply realized that Marlon and I are going to be together for a long, long time. That means many, many Christmases together... and lots of time to collect ornaments. 

These are some of the ones we chose to jumpstart our new, non-matchy collection. The only thing our ornaments should match are the memories we've made around them. I know I'll always remember these as being from our first Christmas in Amsterdam. 

I got the "antique" mirrored star and porcelain bird at the Osdorp Tuincentrum, a mind-bogglingly huge garden warehouse turned Christmas emporium where we shopped for our decorations. The clear glass ball with the feather (which reminds me of the final scene from Labyrinth) is from De Bijenkorf, Amsterdam's oldest department store.

The floral ball reminds me of India, and the red ornament is actually a capiz chesa from... the Philippines! I was elated to find both in a fair trade boutique in Haarlem. The black bauble was Marlon's choice, and I have to admit it looks pretty cool. 

A blown glass owl, a tiny delicate winged horse, an odd little Santa gnome, and Santa baking in his kitchen: these are the ornaments we bought on our visit to the Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany. The German Christmas markets are like the Disneylands of Christmas and deserve a separate post all together! So many beautiful hand-blown and hand-carved ornaments there made it excruciatingly hard to choose, but we managed to keep it down to these. 

Which of the new ornaments do you like best? And do you have any special ornaments in your family? I'd love to know!

Christmas chandelier

Remember the wineglass chandelier that we got in April?

It recently became the target of my Christmas decorating frenzy. I had something in mind, but before I could put my idea to work, all the wineglasses had to come off. Yes, all 36 of them. 

While the glasses received their first wash in months, I strung up a few new ornaments: a set of four very shiny silver ones from Ikea, as well as some fresh picks from De Bijenkorf. All of the ornaments I chose were either silver, gold, transparent or some kind of combination of the three. All the better to let through, or reflect, the light from the central bulb.



Marlon and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures while working. Shiny things are just too much fun to play with.

After throwing in a few of our pre-loved ornaments to fill in the gaps, and draping some faux greens over the top, our chandelier revamp was complete.

Watercolor Christmas cards

Success! I've mailed out my Christmas cards for the year. Yes, I'm one of those people that still sends out Christmas cards via snail mail. It's usually a struggle to get them out on time, but this year I managed my to do it!

I knew I wanted to make my own cards this year. And I knew I wanted to combine watercolors with hand lettering. So I set out my watercolors, tore out a few pages from my watercolor sketch pad, and played around with them one rainy afternoon. These were some of the cards I came up with. Apologies for the bad lighting, Amsterdam has been immersed in this weak gray gloom all week. 

Yes, the designs are pretty simple and it's a very small batch of cards (plus a couple that I didn't photograph). But each one is unique and is made with love and care. Which one do you like best?

Oh, and I also made the envelopes myself, as all the cards are odd sizes. I used this festive Japanese washi tape with polka dots (my current obsession) to seal the envelopes.

And now my cards are winging their way to Belgium, the UK and Singapore. Fly swift, my pretties, and spread the Christmas cheer!

All is bright

Here in the Netherlands, Christmas plays second fiddle to Sinterklaas, which is on the 6th of December. This means that any form of Christmas decorations are nowhere to be seen until after December 6.

By Filipino standards, that's just way too late in the game. After all, ours is a nation where Christmas jingles begin ring-ting-ting-a-linging in September. I'm not quite that hardcore, but by the third week of November, my inner Christmas junkie was rattling its cage and howling to be unleashed.

And so it was with a star shining bright that we cried to our entire neighborhood: Christmas is here! Oh and yes, we're early. But we're Filipino!

I would have loved to hang up a traditional parol. And I have a husband who actually knows how to make one (thank you, Ateneo Grade School). But do you know how hard it is to find long bamboo sticks in Holland... in winter, nonetheless?

So we had to settle for these punched paper stars, one for each window facing the street. It's not really settling, though, because I love them. They make such pretty reflections against the glass.

One of our big debates while preparing for the move to Amsterdam was whether or not to take our plastic Christmas tree with us. "Who needs plastic? We'll finally be able to get a real live tree!" was the argument against plastic. "But... you never know!" was the (rather weak) counter-argument.

Guess which side won?