Oh, Yes. Life is Beautiful

01/03/2023

Happy birthday to my Dad, my look alike! It should have been his 103rd birthday this year but because he was born on February 29 in 1920, a leap year, he must only be celebrating his 23rd -ish birthday now.

I got his almond-shaped eyes, his nose, his (furrowed) eyebrows and even his lips. I used to have those kind of eyebrows that meet together (synophrys in medical term). I remember he was very frustrated when he saw that I shaved the middle part of it, where it met, when I got to college.

“Dad, Emm and I have started celebrating your birthday since yesterday and will continue today, having no 29th day in February this year. Thank you for everything you have given me: love, patience, values, education, and so much care and pampering, since I was quite sickly when I was young, and I happened to be your ‘bunso.’ I will not be here and would have not been where I am now without you and your love for my Mom. My heartfelt gratitude to you, Dad. And, I’m sorry for all my shortcomings to you. I love you and I miss you so much! Our prayers are always with you. See you again in the next life.”
,

25/02/2023

Yes, Life is Beautiful! Happiness during Raisa’s and Patrick’s wedding.

19/02/2023

I started blogging way back in 2011 and had several blogsites. I thought I lost them all. I was surprised to discovery that my blog at blogspot. com is still searchable. So, food enthusiasts and travel bugs like me, please visit my old blog. It is alicekalaw. blogspot.com. I have recipes there that I prepared in the past and some places I visited and some jottings i did. It was a mix of many things. Hope you’ll like it.❤️ Again, it is alicekalaw.blogspot.com. The link is below.

’s me, Alice! Oh, Yes! Life is Beautiful!

Celebrating life through food, travels and the sharing of thoughts

14/02/2023

Happy Hearts Day, Everyone! Sharing with you the poem Emm wrote for me today.

LETTING LOVE LEAD
(For my beloved wife, Alice,
on this day of hearts)

by Emmanuel R. Fernandez

With everything else in my life,
I let my mind do the leading.
But when it came to you,
I let my heart show me the way.

I trusted the words that it said to me
in whispers, and turned a deaf ear to
the voices of sages in my head.
I grasped its hand and followed its steps,
even when I barely had an inkling of
where we were going.

When it came to you,
I let my heart have the last word --
and the years have proven that
I had been right to do so.

For you were the shining shore I finally
reached when I let the waves carry
me where they wanted.

You were the sunrise whose golden
splendor filled my eyes with wonder
when I allowed the dawn to rouse me
from my sleep.

You were the silent music I heard
from the flowers in that nearby field,
when I let the wind blow among them
as it willed.

So, when it comes to you,
I shall always -- always -- let my heart
have the last say.

And I know that when I reach
the end of my days,
I shall close my eyes with the grateful
thought that the heart is, indeed, so much
wiser than we are wont to give it credit for.

14/02/2023

Sharing with you a poem written by my loving husband, Emm, on the occasion of our wedding anniversary. ♥️

SCRIBBLINGS ON LOVE
(For my beloved wife, Alice)

by Emmanuel R. Fernandez

Love is what lives on,
long after the flowers have wilted and withered.
It is what lingers,
long after the violins have hummed
their last note.

Love is what survives
after fires, earthquakes and storms
have ravaged our quiet corner of the world.
It is what remains standing
after the waves of the sea have come crashing
against the castles we have built on the shore.

Love is what stays on
after we have drunk the last drops of wine
in our glasses,
and both of us have run out of stories
with which to while each other's time away.

Love is the way we continue to hold each other's hand –
day after day,
year after year,
regardless of what happens.

Love is the way you put up with the frog
that sometimes becomes of the prince
you wish I could always be.

Love is the way you love me,
and the way I love you,
even on those days when roses have turned into thistles,
and petals have been overrun by thorns.

Love is the vow we continue to keep,
and the vow that continues to keep us.

Love is the yes we once gave,
and the yes we shall keep giving –
endlessly,
stubbornly,
relentlessly…
until we ourselves become
the yeses we give.

(Photo: Alice and I at an old café in Madrid, Spain, sometime in March 2018)

12/02/2023

Celebrating our wedding anniversary together, but separately.❤️

01/02/2023

Hello Everyone! I am Alice Kalaw-Fernandez. Welcome to my Fb page.

By profession, I am a banker. But after I left the banking industry some years ago, I started a blog that featured the recipes I loved to prepare, the places I went to and the things I enjoyed doing.

In this FB page, I would love to share with you what I enjoy doing, that makes me happy, every day of my life. I do art works and paint on canvas, explore places, cook food I love to eat, go to restaurants to try new recipes, and spend quality time with friends and loved ones. Whenever I can, I conduct motivational and inspirational seminars for overseas workers and volunteer my services to a secular, non-denominational and non-affiliated charitable institution in preparing free meals for distribution to the less fortunate ones in various locations.

As we all know, life is short but it is certainly beautiful. So come and join me as I reap the simple joys of everyday life.

24/11/2022

CHIJMES is the acronym for Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Middles Education School which used to be in the complex located at Victoria St. corner Orchard Road, Singapore. The complex also used to have the school dormitory and its Gothic-style chapel. But after the school was relocated to another place, the complex was converted into a dining and entertainment haven. Restaurants, eateries, bars, cafes and some retail outlets can be found there. The former chapel is available for private functions. The open large lawn spaces and courtyard are now being used for festivals, musicals, and private events.

From November 21 to December 18, CHIJMES will have a live screening of the Football World Cup 2022 on big screens at its lawn and its basement. Enjoy food and beverage offered by restaurants, bars and cafes around exclusively for this football season.