Celebrate joy!

Yes, we're still doing this tag! :) Big yaaay because I am still on track with my one-book-per-month resolution... and I have 9 days to finish my August pick :P I still haven't "picked" anything, actually. Hehe! #umayoskajoy Getting acquainted with a new author is exciting and scary... With the risk of sounding dramatic, somehow there's a part of me that secretly roots for the newbie (at least in my eyes) as I dive into the pages of his story because I want so bad to like and enjoy it... but at the same time, I am not as patient and forgiving because after about 10 pages, if the voice just doesn't resonate with me, I will put it down then try my luck with another book, lol!

Here's the last post for my SG trip last month. :) Sorry, it took awhile, but better late than never! Singapore is such a beautiful city and it ended up bigger than I thought, so there were many places to go especially great places to eat, to shop, to stroll around and take loads of photos with. Here are some places that really stuck to me that you may want to pay a visit to when you find yourself in SG... Gardens by the Bay The best time to go to here is around 5pm so you can see it with the natural light streaming down on everything, then have a quick bite at the restaurants in Marina Bay Hotel or go for a quick shopping then go back to see it at night because the lights are really beautiful!

In Joanna Goddard's blog, she re-posted this insight on happiness by Hugh MacKay. I just remembered Robin Williams when I was reading this and thought this is worth sharing :) "I actually attack the concept of happiness. The idea that—I don't mind people being happy—but the idea that everything we do is part of the pursuit of happiness seems to me a really dangerous idea and has led to a contemporary disease in Western society, which is fear of sadness.

What happens when you see your ex-crush with a bouquet of flowers -- obviously not for you because you haven't seen each other for months -- and he sneaks up from behind you and says hello?

Shoe business is kind of slow lately, but if there's one thing that I am thankful for - it's that friends and old customers come back to me for orders when I need it the most. You see, I need to earn back the travel spending I've done over my last two trips so this small biz is helping me with all my expenses (which grows together with your age) and savings. :) So thanks girls! Some people are not too keen on having their pairs delivered after 2-3 weeks (since SMFW specializes in made to order shoes), but friends and loyal customers of SMFW come back to get their comfy and affordable flats, especially when the heavy rains have left us with wet and ratty pairs of office shoes. Glenda has soiled 3 of my flats! That's the typhoon aftermath for some of the shoe-loving populace... Better the shoes than people, right? :P

Sometimes it's easy to just merely react to everything that goes our way, that things stop being intentional. And it is these series of reactions that leave you to find yourself that it's already Friday, then it's already the month after, then before you know it, the year is already halfway through... and the things that you were hoping for and those that you have penned as goals at the start of the year... are still that-- GOALS. I met up with an old friend and we started going through this material at church and I asked her to write down things that she was believing for - for the year. My list which I wrote months ago was tucked in between the pages of my Bible so I just held on to it while she drafts hers.

Sometimes when you want to get away, the perfect solution is to not be in one, but in SEVERAL make-believe worlds :) While Disneyland is a kid's happiest place on earth, Universal Studios is for the kids and the kids-at-heart (aamin na, kasama na kami dito :D)- - specifically those who have a fascination for movies and who can't help but be wowed by the brilliance of film-making. My friends and I were definitely looking forward to this experience because we're major movie buffs, and maybe we can say this about majority of the Filipinos, we appreciate world-class entertainment! Well enough introduction, come and see USS through these photos :)