Princess and I - TV series

“Hello, I am from the kingdom of Yangdon,” has been my cliché here in the Philippines for the last 1 week.  Everywhere you go, be it in the shopping malls, on the beach or on the street they mistake us as a fellow Filipino because of the same race to which we belong to. To avoid that confusion, I have been saying the following:  

   

    1. I don’t speak Tagalog, the Filipino language and

    2. Since they don’t know where Bhutan is, Kingom of Yangdon tells them the

       location: P.

Kingdom of Yangdon is the fictional kingdom based in Bhutan in the Filipino television series Princess and I and it is currently airing on ABS-CBN since April 16, 2012. Read here to know more. Since its telecast I have wanted to watch it unfortunately it was not uploaded.:( And it is the top most series on my wanna watch list. It was shot in Bhutan and portrays the Wangchuck dynasty. The costumes worn while in Bhutan are our traditional dress. From the trailer I could see that it has been worn with so much grandeur,poise, beauty and elegance. And from what I learned Mr. Pila Wangyel was involved in selecting their costumes. So hats off to him! 

The mystical sunset

A walk on the beach

The deep blue sea in Subic Beach, Manila

Momo from Zombala, oh i miss it :(

Bhutan has become popular as the fairytale kingdom of Yangdon and its people as Yangdonese hehe. So I tell here that I come from a fairytale kingdom to which they seems intrigued and for some few minutes I am busy advertising Bhutan lol.

The warm beaches with blue sea, plenty of sunshine, awesome food and the warm Filipino people are making me intoxicated :P and I am enjoying to the fullest. While I miss hot momo (dumplings) and the cold weather of Thimphu I will be basking in this glory of life for another week. Until then hope you lovely people had a wonderful Sunday and here is wishing you a great week ahead!

The Happiness pill

What is the first thought that comes to your mind as soon as you open your eyes in the morning? Do you think of the things that you will do to make you happy? Well, I don’t! Mornings are the worst part of my day. First thing, I struggle to get out of the cozy bed. Since winter is approaching, it will become even more terrible for me to start my day :(. Then comes the part of scurrying to office with meetings to attend, minutes to be followed up and deadlines to be met. So where is the time to think about things that will make me happy? Grrr...

Today's post by Cheeky Pink Tulip here had me rather thinking and instead of leaving a comment I decided to create a list of things that will make me happy seriously. :). This way I can think and write on stuffs that will make me happy. Since it’s a Sunday post, I shall focus on things that will make me happy on a SUNDAY.

   Going to the church: A Sunday spent without going to the church means a Sunday wasted for me. Throughout the week, God’s grace and mercy keeps us protected in good health. So I believe in thanking Him for His grace and mercy by offering him prayers of gratitude worshiping Him.

   Writing: Nothing is much more important than writing when the inspiration strike. As soon as I read this post on her blog the sudden inspiration to write hit me and therefore this post. So this post is ‘spur of the moment’ post. A deep sense of satisfaction overwhelms me after doing a blog post. I am sure all you bloggers also feel the same. Those of you who constantly update their blog must be achieving satisfaction now and then which I am so envious of lol. I hardly update this space :(. I have promised myself that I will at least write once a month, and if you notice there is at least 1 post every month hehe.

    Reading: I am one hell of a lazy bone. I can’t sit straight while reading a book. So I lie down most of the time. That way I go to bed with a book and sleep with the book as well. My idea of reading a book is to be inside warm covers in the bed with a good cup of hot coffee. This way nothing can take away my pleasure of reading.   

    Exercising: Yes, exercising makes me immensely happy. I have been a huge fan of Pop Pilates of Cassey Ho, know her more here. I have downloaded almost all her vids yet the lazy spirit inside me overtakes it. I bought a new yoga mat also for inspiration yet I have been too darn lazy. But I make a point to do exercise on weekends and I seriously need to do more of it. 

   Taking a walk: Booming construction in Thimphu especially around the place where I live has made it inconvenient to talk a walk around. While in college we used to take long walks almost every day back then. There was one particular lecturer, an Indian guy who used to take brisk morning walks every morning. Rain or shine, he would be up for walk with ear piece of his iPod plugged in his ears. I wish I could remain dedicated like him for more happiness :P.  

    A clean room: I have this obsession for things to remain in its place in order. So my weekend is basically spent on cleaning and arranging my closets and drawers. That’s why I hardly have time to hang out with friends and family. But an orderly room gives me so much joy. 

              

Tit-a-bit example lol

   Tit-a-bit:  I could not think of any other title for this description so the name tit-a-bit. From manicure to waxing my feet and using face mask or peel off, all these things I love to do on a Sunday like today.

So these are the pills to my happiness. If I could do all these in a day, what more can I ever ask for? Happiness is subjective. It varies from individual to individual. Since great things come in small packages, my ultimatum to happiness would mean doing these small things.

What is your pill to happiness? Did you ever ask yourself? If not, please do it immediately.

All good things come to an end, thus this Sunday. It has come to an end. I had a blissful Sunday, hope you had the same. So a happy week to all lovely readers!

Autumn muse with a pinch of childhood memoir

Cold has seeped in unusually early in Thimphu this year. It’s just autumn and unbelievably we (I) are already with socks and curled up in bed with warm heater at the bed side. Its getting colder, brrr...Warm jackets, leggings, uggs, thick socks and scarves have already started replacing my wardrobe. 

Just back from a tour to Gelephu where it is still hot in the day and I have been already pampered with the warmth down there that as soon as I reach here, heater was the only thought on my mind. And I know it’s too early, yet I have started using heater also. :(.

December, 2008: that was the last time I had visited Gelephu. Young, fresh and with lots of enthusiasm at 22, I had just completed college and travelled south through that route to Wangdue. I had nothing then except a college degree. The whole world lay before me to be embarked upon. 3 and half years later, soon after my 25^th birthday, I got a chance to go to Gelephu, as a civil servant on a tour. Nothing much has changed in these last four years in Gelephu except for the whopping Punatshangchhu hydro power project on the way. But so much has changed in me, in my life. I have heaps of my fair shares of sorrows, downfalls and happiness and yeah not to forget my heartbreaks also.  

Autumn in Bhutan

Autumn- next to Spring I love this season to its end. With abundant sun and cloud less blue skies, I have so many reasons to be in love with this season. Firstly I am the seed of autumn, born in October. I believe that my parents have planned rightly to conceive me to be born in this month. For that matter my father need not wash my diapers in the cold winter water and the weather is so warm with bountiful sun, perfect for my mother to bathe me in the warm morning sun :). I was an ugly and a sick baby then hehe. If I plan to have a child, I would plan just like my parents did for me :P. And of course my wedding, I would have an autumn wedding as well. The warm autumn sun simply amazes me. It is so bountiful and vast in nature. No wonder we had the royal wedding in autumn at this time of the year last year. Why? It must be for the awesome weather and perfect time of the year hehe.

Autumn reminds me of a particular verse from the book of Ecclesiastes in the bible:

“A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is

planted;”

Autumn is a time to pluck whatever is planted. It’s a season to harvest the bountiful produce of the year and store the barns for the winter. At this time of the year I would love to be in the countryside, merrymaking with the rural folks in the terrace field to store the barns.  Isn’t it beautiful? Yes, God has made everything beautiful in its time. 

Leaves grow, alter its color and fall to the ground in autumn giving way to dry winter. As a kid returning from school me and my brother used to run to catch the leaves falling from the large trees and if we catch it we used to save it in our books. And used to name it “Lucky leaf.” 
Years later, if we see the leaf, it would have turn dried and flat and sometimes left its print perfectly inside the book. That was the best part of autumn for me as a kid.

And I thank God everyday for the beautiful life He has bestowed upon me, for the beautiful past 25 years of my life.  God, its 25 years? I have spent the silver jubilee of my life, yay! and every morning I thank God for this. 

And I hope to do a blog post on the golden jubilee of my life hopefully :).

My awesome readers, wish you all a bountiful autumn. 

Locked up Abroad

No no no, don’t get me wrong. Looking at the title of the post, I am not locked up abroad. I am rather addicted to the series Locked up Abroad. :P. My favorite past time these days has been watching Locked up Abroad on National Geographic channel. Not enough of the series on TV, I had my friend download all the series and since then I am hooked to my laptop screens. 

Locked up Abroad is a British documentary featuring true stories of people who have been arrested while travelling abroad, usually for trying to smuggle illegal drugs out of a country and have received lengthy prison sentences as a result. 

It takes viewers inside firsthand accounts of capture, imprisonment and pure terror far from home. From kidnap and torture to foolish plans to smuggle drugs, this nail-biting series tells the harrowing stories of people who set out hoping for adventure or easy money, only to end up in situations beyond their worst nightmares. All the while your heart will be on your throat pounding.  It’s suspenseful. And it leaves you thinking, What if that were me?

And also, Thank God it’s not.

All the stories basically revolve around easy money through smuggle of illegal drugs. Each and every one of them are offered a vacation of their life time abroad with good amount of money at the end for exchange of bringing in little (sometimes large) amounts of cannabis, heroin, cocaine, name it.  Some have been kidnapped, some have “accidentally” swallowed condom after cocaine-filled condom, but they all face the same fate – dismal grey cells, some serious hard time, and an understandable fear of shower time. The difficulty they have to undergo at the airport security and through the customs officials are the tickets to their prison. And some even try to escape through the prisons after not being able to tolerate the prison terror. All the prison escapes tales we have read about or seen in movies turns out to be true here.

It set out a food for thought for me. It kept me thinking. How naïve we are in this part of the world. I have no idea as to what would happen if we get locked up abroad and if we do not speak the language. Especially if you love traveling, you got to be careful.  After all these episodes, it had heightened my paranoia so severely that I felt I would never leave Bhutan. Maybe I am overreacting here. :P 

It might be a night of stupidity that goes horribly wrong, a brief moment of indiscretion, a lapsed visa or a straightforward case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but whatever the circumstances, there is no doubt that being arrested or detained in a foreign country could be the most terrifying and alienating experience to ever go through.

If you want to experience the thrill and the suspense and want to know more about this series watch Locked up Abroad on NatGeo channel every Mon-Fri at 10:30 pm BST. And trust me you will learn a lot of lessons. Learn the laws of the land and stay safe.