It's Autumn

The warm weather from june to september draws more tourists than at any other season. And now its autumn here in Germany and leaves started to fall. The weather also turn to be temperamental, sometimes its very cold, the next day its warm.

In this kind of weather, there are really millions of leaves around. In our driveway and in the hotel where we work, we always gather the dried leaves but the next days there are new ones. Thanks to our very own super broomstick (walis tingting), it helps a lot. You can also notice the presence of snails, frogs and other insects around. Take a look at our catch outside the hotel, the baby frog. We left the creature somewhere maybe there's a chance to see the mother and the father frog.

College Life

My college life was full of action, the same with my youngest daughter Astrid. Last tuesday, she send me a text message that she passed her oral defense on her thesis, but its just half, because the other half will be next semester. At least, there's some good output on all my sacrifices here in Germany. Education is everything and its a key to success.

Relaxing Massage

Massage is one of the oldest and simplest form of therapy in which touch is a very important part of human contact. It becomes a part of our everyday life for it help the body heal itself, increase health and well-being.

Dirk like body and foot massage very much. It relaxes his muscle, improved blood circulation, helps manage pain, relieves stress and a lot more health benefits.

Dirk having thai massage at Shangrila Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Swedish massage with a blind masseur at Boracay Island

Dirk in a massage chair

Cool mom while waiting for her massage girl in Mission Hills, Shenzhen, China

Cecille's Birthday

Cecille, a friend and colleague celebrated her 50+ birthday today. It was just a small gathering of close friends. Her sister cooked a delicious afritada while the other had a pot luck of adobo and sinigang. It was a small get-together but we enjoyed it a lot.

A toast to the birthday girl

Horseradish (Meerretich) Fest

Urloffen is a small village and was incorporated as part of Appenweier in 1975. The place was well-known in Germany for producing and selling meerretich or horseradish, a vegetable which was planted in Urloffen for many years.

Horseradish-spiced curd or cream cheese is a popular spread and its also great with smoked fish, boiled and roast beef, meat platter and vienna sausages.

We did drive there yesterday to feel the festive atmosphere. There were carousel for kids, floh markt, food,beverage & liquor stalls, meerretich stalls, and a kilometer long of vendors selling their wares.

Bonding Time and Saving Lives

I don't have work yesterday but still i woke up early. I was able to clean the house, washing and ironing our clothes. Then, in the afternoon we did drive to Freiburg to visit my relatives and to get the small package that they're going to send to their family back home. We're leaving in a few weeks and this time we're going to stay in the Philippines longer. We really enjoyed our visit to my first cousins in which we exchange pleasantries over cup of coffee.

Our next destination is Lahr, we were invited by Thomas and Mabel to have dinner with them. While driving on the highway, we saw the tourist bus in front of us swerving to the left because of a flat tire at the back, we tried to get the attention of the bus driver by driving ahead of them flashing the emergency signal. We have a sigh of relief when the bus stopped on the side of the highway, accident was avoided and we help save lives.

How time flies, Annika, the daughter of Thomas and Mabel is now 10 months old.

She loves to read book and eat it too!

Uncle Andreas, Uncle Ralf and Ninong Dirk, please speak not so loud, my poor ears are fed up with your big voices.....pleaaaassse......

AIG, Philamlife and Me

Last week, i received an email from my agent sharing with me the letter sent by Philamlife President Jose Cuisia Jr. and Deputy President Michel Khalaf. The letter is an assurance that my insurance policies from Philam Equitable Life Assurance Company that i purchased through the former EPCI Bank will remain unaffected as:

"The insurance policies written by AIG companies (such as Philamlife)are direct obligations of our regulated insurance companies around the world (in our case, Philamlife in the Philippines). These companies are well capitalized and are subject to stringent regulatory and capital requirements. These companies continue to operate in the normal course to meet our obligations to our policy holders."

The saga continue with the plan sale of Philamlife in which the President said that the financial issues pertaining to AIG Company will not affect the ability to pay claims and underwrite new policies. Philamlife has about 143 billion worth of insurance contracts with more than one million policyholders including me.