2008 Best Costumes

The Silicon Valley pirate with his pirated disc "The Ring." We got the most original costume award during this party. Believe it or not, this is actually the first time I've dressed up for Halloween. Back in the Philippines, we celebrate halloween in a different way: we'd go visit the tombs of relatives who passed away and normally the cemetery looks like a carnival ;) Somewhat funny but true!!! Anways, we had a blast that night playing all the Halloween games. We won the mummy game, in which your partner wraps you up with a toilet paper (Randall was really good in wrapping without breaking the toilet paper). Randall also got abused by one of our friends when she put on make-up on him blind-folded. It was crazy how it turned out!!!

We also decided to start out our own family tradition which is to make halloween pie (that's what we brought to our party). It turned out okay, except that the crust won't come off the pan ;-) So we just decided to make something else for next year.

More with families

Here's a picture of my little niece, Jewel. She's really cute. She's my oldest brother's baby girl, and the only niece or grandchild so far in our family. I really like her smile in this picture. She's scared of us, Randall and I. It was hard for us to get her to come... you have to bribe her to like you!

On the left is a picture with my highschool friends. They were the only ones who were able to make it, since our visit was a short notice. It was great to see them again.

Here are some native products out there. They do a lot of wood carving and to some, what they make is somewhat funny... but its art and they have symbols to it! (";)

On the left is a picture with my grandpa and his cousins. They live up in the mountains and we rode on a tricycle to get there. Randall sat at the back of the bike and that was a rough ride for him. Well, the thing was the road to my grandparent's place is not paved (his bum hurt after the ride!).

Swimming at granma's river. Top is Amy (my brother Philip's fiancee), Lynette (oldest brother's wife), BJ (oldest brother), and little Jewel. Bottom: Ardy (my cousin), Mama, Me (I look really big here... the belly i got there is the water... that's not my real belly!!!), and Randall!

The Countryside

My parents took us to Baguio City on our way to Laoag. There are a lot of native products out there since it's a tourist spot in the Philippines. We got to take a picture like natives.

On the right is a scenery photo of our drive to my small town, Laoag. It was a pretty drive by the ocean! Laoag is located at the northwest side of the country.

The following day, after we got to Laoag, my brothers planned a trip to Portabaga falls. This is a really beautiful area. They made swimming pools around the falls and it was a fun place to swim at. The water was really cold. Almost everyone in the picture is my family. I have a big family in the Philippines. Both my parents have 10 siblings each, and there are 7 of kids in our family. All my Uncles and Aunts on my mom's side are all married, with at least 2 children of their own. It was a big family reunion!

On the right is Randall with my youngest brother, Ezra. That day, we were preparing for our dinner party. My family cooked traditional Filipino food. Ezra is holding a goat's head grilled over fire. I made Randall help with the cooking. He was the one who grilled the guts of the pigs and goat we butchered. I don't think he enjoyed the smell of them, but it was quite an experience for him!

On the right is our traditional Lechon Baboy. Every party in the Philippines, we always have lechon baboy. It's a whole pig roasted over fire.

On the right is a picture with my 3 younger brothers. I have 5 brothers, one of them is serving his mission in the southern part of the country. My older brother, was probably busy tending his little daughter, that's why he wasn't here in this picture.

Left is a picture with one of the oldest churches in the north, the Paoay church. Here we got to taste the famous pinakbet pizza of the north. It's pizza with all these vegetables in it (eggplant, beans, okra, etc), and of course it has either fish sauce or shrimp paste with it. It didn't taste too bad, Randall was able to handle it! ;)

Manila Area

We met with my Sister at Manila Philippines temple. My sister, Beverly Rafada, is currently serving her mission at the Quezon City Mission. She looked really happy when we saw her. She's loving her mission. It was the first time for Randall to see my family in person, except for my parents.

On the left, this is a picture of Randall at the temple after our session. The temple is pretty small. No wonder why my parents were really amazed with the size of the Oakland Temple when I took them there during their visit in California.

Randall looked pretty tall when he's surrounded by Filipinos. That's my dad's brother, Uncle Nelson, standing at the very far left. My dad was taking the picture.

On the right is the Mall of Asia. This is actually known as the 2nd biggest mall in Asia. We didn't get to walk around the whole area, since it was just too big. At first we thought it would be a nice place for us to shop, but after seeing the prices of clothes and stuff, we decided not to. They were so expensive, same price here in the US. Well, we're just so cheap I guess... Randall and I don't like spending much! ;)

We were in Manila for 4 days. It was a new site for Randall to see. We didn't really like the traffic and pollution in the city. But the good thing is, Randall got to meet some of my family, especially my sister and Uncle Jinroy. He was my nanny growing up!

Philippines Trip

This is Randall's first time to have a journey in a foreign land. We left the San Francisco Airport on August 29th at 10:30 pm. The trip was really long. We were at the plane for about 12-14 hours. Well, the truth is, I didn't really feel bored during the trip. Randall was a very good company, he made our trip seem short!
This was our first stop after the airport. Of course, we checked in at our hotel and got showered and everything. We didn't have a rest that day. Uncle Orlan (2nd from the left), took us to Tagaytay. In here, you can see a chain of volcanoes in a lake. One of them is actually active.

We took a boat ride to get to the foot of the volcano. It was a nice ride. The lake was so blue and the view was pretty. It was fun making deals with those people who took us there. They actually have 2 set of prices, one for foreigners and one for locals. The foreigner price is double the price of the local.

My Uncle was pretty good in negotiating with that small boat ride business. We paid for the local price in going on that boat ride. It was a fun trip!

The Honeymoon

Welcome to Yosemite National Park

Randall and I both love to hike. We like scenery, views, relaxing places, so we thought Yosemite would be a great place to spend our first few days of married life. This picture was taken at Glacier's point. We were trying to get a good view of the dome but unfortunately, as you can see, we weren't succesful.

This is the view from our room. We stayed at the Ahwahnee hotel, which is in the valley. We had a pretty good view of the mountains. The second day after we got there, we just drove around the valley, had short hikes every now and then, saw a couple of waterfalls (bridal veil and yosemite falls), and hiked down the river or stream.

Then the following day, we did it... we finally hiked the half dome. It was a 16 mile hike. We started hiking at around 7:00 in the morning and got done at about 6:00 at night. We actually took our time, since we had all the time in the world! ;) The hike was pretty challenging... I can say that we were both physically fit, since we made it all the way to the very top of the dome.


But then of course, we were sore the next day. We probably stretched out every single muscle during that hike! It was pretty funny 'coz we had a hard time sitting and walking the following day! But it was definitely worth the hike. Now, we can finally say that "We've been on top of the Dome!" (";)

The Wedding

This is one of the best days that ever happened to me. Randall and I got married at the San Diego California temple on July 8, 2008. I never thought this day was going to happen in a short period of time. I used to be one of the girls who never believed in short-term dating... but not this time I guess!?! The night after I met Randall, I told my friends that I found myself a prospect!!! I kind of had the idea then that he is a good catch... then after a few dinners and hanging outs, I proved myself right... he was and still is a very great catch!

My coming to California was quite an adventure. When given the decision to which part of the state I would work at, San Jose (for some reason), stuck out to me while looking at the map. It was scary at first, but I just knew then that it was time to turn the page to the next chapter of my life. I stepped in that plane without any regrets of leaving the beautiful islands of Hawaii. Friends and colleagues wondered why I left such a great place, but now, I can fully answer each one of them; "It's because this is where I need to be... perfect time and perfect place for me!"

To everyone in this picture, we thank you all so much for the support that you've shown during this very day. We really appreciate the time, effort, friendship, and love that you've given us. We knew it would be hard to make some time out of your busy lives to witness our marriage, and that is why your presence during that day meant so much to us.Thank you for coming and celebrating with us this most awaited day of our lives; the day we were sealed for all time and eternity. We love you all!!! (";)