byahe ni nelanie

Lola Toray would have been 120 years old today. The lola I later came to know went through so much emotional rollercoaster while raising 5 daughters of the 11 she was blessed with. I hear of stories of what she went through. Her exemplary business acumen for someone who didn’t finish elementary. She ran what was once one of the biggest stores in town with no business degree but just…

Of late, life has been reminding me that life is fleeting and things can change in an instant. Well thought of plans suddenly can go awry. One minute, i can still flex my middle finger properly and the next i have usable middle finger but with a slight deformity. There has been so many changes, apparent or not but they are stark reminders that everyone and everything changes. What matters though…

While looking for places to visit in Perth, Google mentioned the Mammoth cave along with the pink lakes of Western, Australia. We had wonderful hosts in Perth though which meant most of the day to day itinerary was already planned. It was just a bonus that one of the sites in the itinerary was the Mammoth cave. So, yay for me! 🙂 The Mammoth cave is at Caves Rd, Forest Grove WA 6286. It is…

Dad wanted to go to the NASA Space Center in Houston last time we were in the US. But given the circumstances, we are marking this as done for him. It is so amazing to be in a place were science is at the forefront and using science for space travel and studies at that!. It was interesting to see what the astronauts had used during their missions as well as have the opportunity to touch a real…

Driving from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo was just gorgeous. But once we arrived in Lake Tekapo, I was thinking why I never even considered relocating here when I was younger 🙂 It would be a joy to start and end your day with such a beautiful panoramic view – a perfect way to decompress when things get rough at work and your brain cells are just dying. This should be one of the most photograph…

As a child, i once dreamt of working with telescopes and the stars. so the nearest thing to that is the recent dark sky project stargazing summit experience at Mount John we went to last May. The dark sky project is located in the middle of Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. We were a pretty lucky bunch. The visibility was 100% (no clouds or anything) and while the temperature at…

2023 was the year that things were getting better. It had to be better than the past 2-3 COVID-19 pandemic-impacted years. It just had to be. With travel restrictions being fully lifted and companies encouraging their teams to start going to the office, it was finally time to start things moving. 2023 saw us celebrating Mom’s 79th birthday in Siem Reap, Cambodia; my brother Estong’s 50th…

we bought a small piece of land over the pandemic and we have been experimenting on what crop to grow that would help us with the upkeep of the small farm. our caretaker loves to plant but tends to leave it to the Lord when it comes to growing for profit. “ang Ginoo ra magtanto”. this time, our caretaker wanted to try peanuts and after buying 2 “gantas” of peanuts and a lot of tilling and rain,…

dearest olive. it has been a month and a day since you crossed the rainbow bridge. little things that remind me of you still hit me hard. i still expect for you to bound up to me or in most cases, sidle up to me and position yourself as my furry footstool. luka looks to feel the same. he still sleeps right at mom’s door, waiting for mom’s aircon to turn on. of late, he would go to your grave…

We have had more than our fair share of rain for the past month or so but waking up to the rain that went pitter-patter on the roof still gives me that laidback vibe. It brings back memories of being a kid enjoying nature’s shower on the streets, of time spent watching the leaves rustling as the onslaught of the raindrops fall heavy on them. But, it’s time to get up,bwear those big girl pants and…

I look like my Mom but act like my Dad. I know he would have been proud if I told him that. The need to solve things (and crosswords!), finding humor even in the most dire situations, the love for travel and nature, a voracious reader – these are things I got from him. Definitely. Dad has been gone for almost a decade now, yet I still find inspiration with how he led his life. Success for him…

We have always put her in a class all her own. the brightest of the lot, her head and heart was always in the right place – too much so that we tended to treat her like someone who cannot make a mistake. Brainy, cerebral. That’s how i always saw her. Someone who would be intrigued to no end with solving a problem and finding why and how something works the way it works. It is likely this…