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Hardly anything spells luxury better than a facial at The Guerlain Spa. This is something I recently found out for myself when I got to try it at their Berlin address, located inside one of the city’s most stunning hotels – The Waldorf Astoria.
So my last post on our first trip to Poland is finally here! It was our first summer here in Europe when we rented a small car and took the eight-hour drive to Kraków. It was the perfect base if you’re also visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mines and Auschwitz.
To say that I fell in love with Poland is quite the understatement. True, it’s not the poshest destination in Europe so it doesn’t make it to people’s bucket lists quite often. However, Poland is a country that has a lot to offer when it comes to history and culture. Oh, and the people are so sweet and helpful!
I’m sure you already know this if you’ve been following me on Instagram. You know, that platform with the attractive way of sharing what I’ve been up to without much of the effort. A few keystrokes and voila – sharing is done. While I love it so much (especially Instastories!), I must admit that it’s been making me lazy to put anything up here at Almost Diplomatic since it requires a bit more effort. And we’ve been busy and rather distracted on this side of the world.
Like almost every other person in this planet with an extra X chromosome, I grew up having a thing for castles. So, naturally, one of the first places my husband suggested we visit outside Berlin was Potsdam.
We went during my mom and her boyfriend’s (who runs amazing tours in Amsterdam, btw) visit to Berlin so it was sort of a double date. Take note that we’re a family of walkers so this post is going to feature a LOT of walking. In fact, the only ride we took was the S-Bahn going from Berlin to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof then, to the station beside the Sanssouci Park. We originally planned to walk from the Hauptbahnhof but the weather wasn’t cooperating.
Upon arrival to a new country, one of the first things I look for is something interesting to do. Seeing as I’m not the type who enjoys not doing anything, this was of paramount importance. Thankfully, one of the first things people recommended when I arrived in Germany was to join the organisation Wilkommen in Berlin.
It’s been two months (!!) since we moved to Berlin and I thought I’d share an update on how it’s been. We’re slowly settling in and getting to know the city. So far so good! But I thought I’d share with you some adjustments we had to face when we first arrived.
No complaints in being this city since I’m now really enjoying it. However, I want to share some realities with you in case you’re thinking of moving here or to some other city in Europe as some bits may be applicable. Just to avoid a teeny bit of shock and hopefully, help you adjust faster. 😉
Everyone at my wedding! (Well, almost! Francis, our photographer, was obviously taking the shot)
When my husband proposed on February 2013, we got into planning our wedding right away. We had a theme, a budget in mind, and 8 months to get everything in place. Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it? But truth be told, wedding planning isn’t as bad and excruciating as some people might think. It was actually a breeze for the both of us. (I didn’t turn into a bridezilla at any point in the planning and even on the wedding day!)
Nope. No bridezilla! Although I did cry on our wedding day – a lot.
With a husband who gets a kick out of planning along with friends and family who were ever so supportive, we got what we always wanted. A very classy (if I may say so myself) and intimate wedding with just our closest family and friends where we were able to talk, laugh, and mingle with everyone which made everything just oh-so special.
Plus, we were also able to go on a honeymoon in Singapore and Bali within the wedding budget! How much did everything cost? Php 250,000 (Conversion rates: MYR1=Php11.04, EUR1=Php51.92, USD1=Php45.69)! Which is basically unheard of in the Manila wedding circuit these days.
**In case you’re looking into having your honeymoon in the Philippines, you can check out this post by Honeymoon Backpackers!**
In fact, someone who writes for a wedding magazine found out about our wedding, saw the photos, and was eager to write about it for a feature on intimate weddings. However, when I told him how we did everything by ourselves and how much money we saved by not going through planners and all the people in the wedding business, he told me he couldn’t write about it anymore. Why? Because the magazine will lose advertisers. 😛
So I won’t go into detail about everything as this is not a timely wedding guide anymore since it was two years ago. But I hope what you read here will be great advice to anyone who’s in the planning stage! 🙂
It took a while but finally – Burt’s Bees’ Lip Crayons have finally reached our side of the world! I was lucky enough to be invited at the launch, held at Marini’s in Suria KLCC a couple of weeks ago.
Afternoon tea + blogger friends + makeup. What more can a girl ask for, right?
Six colours were introduced – Hawaiian Smolder, Napa Vineyard, Redwood Forest, Carolina Coast, Niagara Overlook, and Sedona Sands.
My friends and I had fun swatching the colours during the event but since the lighting at the venue was way too yellow, getting you good pictures that are true-to-colour was quite impossible. But fret not! I took some just yesterday under natural light. And there will be a review of 4 out of the 6 shades that they came out with in this post. 😉 I made the extra effort because you know I love you guys, right? *virtual hugs for my readers*
Things that have been happening lately compiled into one blog post. Get ready for the word vomit! 😉
Home Alone
The husband is off to another work trip and this time, he’s going to Davao, in the Philippines for a couple of days. I’ve always been an independent person but I don’t think I will ever be used to him going on work trips and being gone for days. Knowing that he won’t be coming home for lunch and at around 7pm (yes, the people at the Philippine Embassy in KL work long hours) feels weird for me.
Also, I do tend to worry and I’m not that used to sleeping alone anymore. The teddy bears on our bed are actually there for a reason, you guys. 😉
A week before December 15, I was informed that I will be hosting the program for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ladies’ Circle Coffee Morning that’s hosted by the Philippine Embassy along with one of my husband’s colleagues. Eeeep!
Though I’ve been doing hosting on the side while I was still in Manila (been doing it since I was 13 as it was a great way to earn extra money), I found myself excited and a bit nervous. Coffee mornings for ASEAN ladies are usually a great venue to promote country as a tourist destination. I’m huge advocate of promoting our islands to people especially since we’ve been getting some bad press. Some have basis while the others were written by travellers who just found themselves in the wrong places at the wrong season. So I really wanted to do well in this gig.
And two – if I mess this up, I won’t be just an embarrassment to myself but to my husband as well! It was even our Ambassador who picked me to host. So if I mumble or call someone by the wrong name or if I trip while hosting – arrrgh. I would end up beating myself up so bad. I hate disappointing people – especially those who have so much faith in me. (Thanks so much sir! :D)
In the end… It went pretty well. Whew! So all my worries disappeared by the end of that event. Thank goodness that the past 6 months that we spent in KL – where I was considered pretty idle – didn’t make me rusty. Most of the ladies even approached me after the event to tell me that I did a good job. That meant a lot to me since just days before the event, I was already having dreams wherein I mess it up because I haven’t been hosting and even reporting in front of a camera/crowd in months! Oh, and since it was my first time to do a hosting gig in Malaysia, this is really an event that I will never forget. 😀
