when i met you

I was rummaging thru my CDs and played one of my old compilations of mushy music. I played one with only "OPM" as my clue and it had this song.

WHEN I MET YOU
Apo Hiking Society

There I was an empty piece of a shell,
Just mindin' my own world;
Without even knowin' what love and life were all about.

Then you came,
You brought me out of the shell;
You gave the world to me
And before I knew,
There I was so in love with you.

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.

I love the touch of your hair
And when I look in your eyes
I just know, I know I'm on to something good

And I'm sure my love for you will endure
Your love will light up my world;
And take all my cares away with the aching part of me.

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.

You taught me how to love,
You showed me how tomorrow and today
My life is diff'rent from the yesterday;
And you, you taught me how to love
And darling I will always cherish you
Today, tomorrow and forever.

And I'm sure when evening comes around
I know we'll be making love like never before;
My love, who could ask for more?

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.
When I met you.

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.
When I met you.

Too bad it doesn't quite fit the bridal march category. Hehehe.

a thai wedding fair

Jane and I went to the Wedding Fair in Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. As in all things Thai, it was a virtal Chatuchak of wedding suppliers -- mostly wedding studios that are so popular here.

Thais place great importance on pre-nuptial pictorials rather than cermony photos. It's probably because they don't have church ceremonies, only wedding ceremonies in their houses. Their wedding ceremony begins early in the morning, with a procession to the bride's home. It involves monks, the couple's parents, and only close relatives and friends. Here they wear the traditional thai dress. In the evening, they have the wedding party (the reception in more familiar terms) with a bigger group of friends -- this is the only time they get to wear their "western" bridal gowns which they often rent (or is often included in wedding studio packages).

So naturally, there were a lot of wedding studio booths, all employing girls who would hand out brochures and persuade you to come and sit at their booth. Of course they would recite their whole spiel, only for me to stare blankly at them and say I don't understand Thai.

We found 2 bridal gown designers which were pretty good -- they even let us try on their gowns. They were even more surprised when we asked how much their gowns cost because apparently, they don't get inquiries like that very often. Although the designs were a bit different from the ones found in Manila, they were beautiful and a little less costly. Unibride had several pretty gowns but I decided to try a princess-cut gown with beautiful swarovski crystals. It was beautiful, except that the top part was beadwork overload. It had a beaded top, plus frills (probably to enhance small busts) that had beadwork as well. Surprisingly enough, the designer said that she would gladly alter it to my liking if I wanted to buy it. With the reasonable price, it wasn't a bad deal... something even worth considering.

Another interesting booth was this young photographer whose work was a cut above the rest. Instead of traditional poses and shots, she used the photojournalist approach and compiled her pictures in a hard-bound book (think encyclopedias). Pretty interesting, I do hope I find someone in the Philippines who can do the same. A book with pictures or poems would also be a good idea for a guestbook. At least that way, people will write down a note or two, rather then just sign their names and addresses.

our first gift

Breakfast Utensils!
Posted by Hello

My Tita Helene sent me egg cups and salt & pepper shakers as an engagement gift. Our first wedding-related gift! Too bad the handling wasn't very fragile because the shakers are badly chipped. Sniff, sniff.

hockey fever

Go Canucks Go!
Posted by Hello

This was last January but hey, I just learned about uploading photos today.

To complete my Canada experience, Aldo took me to Shark's Club downtown to watch a hockey game. A day earlier we bought identical Canucks shirts so we could wear them to the game. Funny, it's the first time Aldo and I did that. The bad part is, the Canucks lost that night. =(

our sleigh ride

On December 27, 2003, Aldo proposed in Banff, Alberta, Canada. It was a perfect day – we started with a wonderful breakfast quiche and coffee made and served by our hostess Twianne, went to the Banff Gondola to see the breathtaking view of the Rockies, and a half-day tour to the Johnston Canyon. After the tour we had decided to walk around the town center, which was a hodgepodge of restaurants, diners, cafes, stores, and tourist souvenir shops – and finally settled on having coffee before arguing on where we were going to have dinner.

Halfway through my coffee (it seemed like he finished his latte in 2 full gulps), he told me we could see the sleigh rides since we still had time (we had seen them on the internet when we planned our trip but didn’t bother to make reservations). I was exhausted from the full day and the only thing on my mind was a warm bath – but I figured he wanted to make the most out of our time in Banff so I reluctantly put my toque, scarf, and jacket back on.

Before I knew it, we were back in the truck and I was trying to figure out where the stables were on the map. Since I’m not that much of a map reader, it took me a while to even know where we were, much less where we were headed. I eventually found it, only to realize that we were in an empty parking lot – an almost-empty field – and something that looked like a horse and a sleigh from where I was. It was pitch dark, save for a light at the door of the stable’s office. There was only one car parked in the lot and no one in sight. It was either we were lost or the stables were closed for the day – so I told him that I think we were too late, but he insisted on checking the office to see if there was still a public sleigh ride available. So I got out of the truck and went with him to the stable office. One family was on their way out, and only 2 men were in front of an old fireplace. By then I was convinced that they had closed for the day, but to my surprise, he told one of the men that he had a reservation for a sleigh ride.

HA! I can’t believe I fell for that one.

We got on the sleigh, put a buffalo hide blanket over our laps, and drank Bailey’s Irish Cream. The sleigh driver even took our picture and asked us if it was a special occasion. Of course it was – a first trip to Banff was reason enough for it to be special. It was still pitch dark and I couldn’t see where we were going. All I could see was the thick blanket of snow on the ground, the clear night sky and a million stars, a snow-capped outline of the Rockies, and a moon that was so big I felt I could reach out and grab it. It was eerily quiet, I could hear the wooden wheels of the sleigh moving across the ground, and I was half-expecting either a) the trees to move (too much Lord of the Rings), b) a unicorn to appear (thanks to the Harry Potter re-runs on HBO), or c) some crazy psycho killer run after the sleigh with a butcher’s knife. Thankfully, none of those happened. Instead, he started going mushy on me… saying how important I am in his life and how much he loves me.

Then he called me by my first name. And said, “be the most important part of my life and grow old with me. Will you marry me?”

I’m not entirely sure if my momentary shock was because my cheeks were frozen solid or because my heart skip a beat. If I wasn’t fastened securely on my seat by the blanket, I’m sure I would have turned into jelly or I would have surely fallen next to the cow in the field.

And as if I couldn’t be more surprised, he whipped out a small blue box tied by a ribbon – it was THE blue box we have teased each other with for years.

I did say yes when he asked me for the 3rd time. So I did have the sleigh ride of my dreams… only it was a thousand stars better.