Waking Up

I love you, Emafe :)

Emafe and I went to SM Ecoland again today. And once again it is now part of our weekly routine. Sometimes we visit the mall 3 to 5 times a week. But it is different this time. Instead of just shopping or window shopping we now take time to relax. We still eat at cafe's and restaurants like Blugre but it is now common for the two of us to sit at a nail salon and get a foot massage.

I used to feel guilty whenever I thought about getting a massage. Like I would be wasting money on something that wasn't important. I avoided treating myself for relaxation and self-care. But after years of doing that, the lack of care that I showed myself was visible in my appearance. Not only in the clothes I wore and my personal hygiene but the things I would say and the things I would do.

I am now recovering from years of self-abuse. I hope that unlike me, the world is already taking care of their mind and emotions. Just in case, I'll send a thank you to everyone who is kind. Thank you for being the light of the world.

Our wedding rings.

Husband & Wife.

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Health is Wealth

Grilled Tuna Belly.

At a ripe age of thirty-two I am now starting to get more health conscious. I am eating grounded corn that tastes like rice instead of standard white rice and I usually drink water instead of juice or soft drinks. Sometimes it’s hard to only drink water if people are encouraging me to drink Sprite or Coke during family get togethers but other people have abstained from drinking soft drinks for years, so I can too.

I am also exercising a bit. I started doing 10 push-ups and 20 bicycle crunches a couple months ago and I have more than doubled the repetitions since. I think I will be in decent shape in 2 to 6 months. We'll see! :)

Another thing that helped me was taking photos of healthy food. I still eat unhealthy food sometimes but photographing healthy food on Instagram encourages me to continue a healthy diet. As the saying goes “Health is Wealth” so let’s not spend it all at once.

Pancit Lug-Lug from Jaltan.

Peanuts with a little bit too much salt.

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D'Leonor Inland Resort

Group Photo.

Emafe and I visited D’Leonor here in Davao City the other day. Ten of our family members and one friend went with us. As a group we ate roasted pig and relaxed in the wave pool. It was a cloudy day but it was still a good day to go swimming.

There are a ton of cottages there so a lot of people can fit inside the resort. But on that day there were only a few families there including us. The best part of the resort in terms of photography has to be the dinosaur statues. They look realistic and photograph well.

My biggest happiness was seeing Lungly, Renz and Jake have a good time. All of us had a good time but it’s nice to see that the kids in our presence are able to live a relaxed life and enjoy a beautiful day at D’Leonor, even if it was cloudy.

Dinosaur Statues at D'Leonor Inland Resort & Adventure Park.

The cottages at D'Leonor Resort.

Jake Abello.

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Bambu Estate

Memories in Bambu Estate.

Purchasing our first home in Bambu Estate was a good experience and hard lesson at the same time. It was hard waiting for the house to get built and waiting for the construction of the amenities, planned shopping malls, etc. But it was a good experience based on the fact that we learned from it and got to experience home ownership for the 1st time.

The number one thing I learned from it was not to want so much. Wanting is often the same thing as suffering. And sometimes we think we want something new when in fact, we just want to stop wanting and that cannot be done by purchasing new things or trying new experiences. Most of the time though, it is hard to know that. But with experience and honesty, we can all see for ourselves that money and shallow happiness cannot bring joy into our lives.

P.S. The 1st photo below is a picture of the Gaisano Capital shopping mall built right beside our house. The second photo is a store Emafe's Mom opened for a short time.

Gaisano Capital in Davao City.

Mama's Store.

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Memory

Marilou Verzonilla

We met a broker in 2016 who came to our house to discuss a developer that was pre-selling houses in Davao City. We talked about real estate for a while and then she saw our cats. I was in the middle of recovering from an illness at the time and Emafe was two months pregnant. We were also in the process of selling our home. Because of our hardship and unique circumstances we decided to sell our cats. The broker was the perfect candidate and she agreed to adopt them.

Our cats will be taken care of and I'm sure they'll be happy with their new family. But I will always remember my wife’s favorite cat, Toby Boy, the grey cat below. I will also remember my biological Mom (in the photo above).

Toby boy.

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Back in Davao City

Old-fashioned building constructed in 2015 or 2016.

After almost a month in the province we are now back in Davao City. Shortly after arriving I took a photo (above) of a brand new old-fashioned building. It's a building I always notice whenever we travel in the city and I think the construction of it was finished in 2015 or 2016.

After arriving in the city, Mama bought us a jack fruit so that we could have a snack and relax. It was really tiring to travel that far and I must admit, I was a little over fatigued after that.

So today we did something different: Emafe, her Mom, her Dad and I relaxed at a nail salon to get foot massages. It was a really nice experience and I enjoyed seeing her parents relax. The name of the nail shop is Nailandia. I have gone there with Emafe a few times and will definitely go back.

One of the unique fruits in the Philippines, Jack Fruit.

Emafe Rice and her Dad.

Pedicure at Nailandia inside SM City Ecoland.

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Divine Mercy Foundation

Our family at the Divine Mercy Foundation.

On the way to Davao City we dropped by a religious tourist spot named Divine Mercy. The site consists of a good sized church, a large landscaped park, and a big statue of the legendary Jesus Christ. There is also a place to light candles and some souvenir booths lining the entrance.

I was still sleepy when we got there so I didn't look around that much but I got to sit in a large peaceful church. It was easy to observe the silence and I enjoyed it. Thank you for reading about our travels and I hope you enjoy the photos!

A statue of Jesus Christ at the Divine Mercy Foundation.

The landscaped park at the Divine Mercy Foundation.

Overlooking a beach in the Philippines.

The ocean in the Philippines.

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Photograph

Emafe & Chris Rice.

Emafe and I were laying down last night and I asked her if we could take a photo together. It is now one of the many photos we have taken together as a married couple. I also asked Jake if I could take a photo of him.

I upload my photos to Instagram and I like the fact that it's like a personal diary. I have a lot of our memories there. IG (Instagram) can be less stressful for people who want to avoid reading the rants of their peers. It is mainly for photography, not text.

I hope you enjoy IG, Facebook and the Internet. If used properly they can relieve stress but if used incorrectly, they can generate stress. Have a good day everyone.

Jake.

Dried fish.

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The Top of a Mountain

Emafe & her relatives.

Emafe and I visited a mountain top the other day. It is actually where some of her relatives live. I felt a little discomfort at first since it was a new scenery and I felt a little stressed from the news I saw on TV. But then it was time to sit down and look at the chickens that live there.

A chicken's eye looks like a fish eye and their necks move fast in twitching-like motions. I saw how innocent they were and felt a sense of peace watching them take care of their young. I also took a few moments to look at the mountains that sat off in the distance.

The last thing everyone did was play volleyball. I didn’t play but I took a few pictures to remember this moment. Thanks everyone for reading! :)

Emafe & Chris Rice.

Mama chicken and her chic.

Chicken playing peek-a-boo.

Walking chickens.

Coconut trees on a mountain.

The family playing volleyball.

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Holy Child (school) in Davao City

Jake’s in his Holy Child outfit. 

Holy Child is the school he went to in Davao City (2016).

This is one of the good memories that I share with Jake. He was wearing his Holy Child t-shirt with red face paint and his Ate Emafe is the one who took the photo.

Holy Child is the school he went to when we lived in Mintal of Davao City. It was an English speaking school and the education there was good. There were a lot of school projects and extracurricular activities like swimming and taekwando.

On the day of this photo Jake was singing at a Holy Child event with his classmates. And he was singing so loud that the veins in his neck were getting really large. And I remember seeing a strong sense of innocence in his expression and gestures. That is probably the closest thing to fatherhood besides my wife’s pregnancy that I have ever experienced.

So I am looking forward to more interactions like that with Jake, and especially the birth of my son, Zac Lucas Rice. I have a good sense that the day he is born will be similar and probably a lot more intense. It will be the first time I witness the miracle of life in person and I predict it will be a day of pure joy :)

Jake & Renz (July of 2015)

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