Sunny Beluga will be back as soon as she is done with highly important tasks! 

Much Love from a Sea of Papers xxx

On darling diners:

The other day I was talking to our store manager after I entertained a group of regular customers. She was looking for a certain face and told me how extremely sweet that customer is. 

She explained with such a happy smile, "She's always cheerful and she always tells us to just keep the change." 

We visit our franchise as often as we can. We really enjoy seeing familiar faces and talking to our manager about our diners, that's actually our favorite topic. The staff especially remembers who are really nice and it makes us happy to know when they are treated kindly. 

Be courteous, be lovely where you go because believe me people remember you for it:)

xxx Spreading Hope, Sunny Beluga 

Daddy Dearest.

 Happy Birthday to the greatest man I know. I love you so much Dad, I'll write more about you in the days to come. As you know I have a test tomorrow morning and I want to do great! You are my inspiration Popsicles, I love you always and forever. 

Love and Kisses, your Steffi :) 

                                  

I Have the Sun on My Side

The sun lay like a friendly arm across her shoulder- Margorie Rawlings 

Taken in Gyeongbok Palace, Seoul— South Korea (October 2011)

Today I Helped Light the Sky.

Wish- A desire or hope for something to happen. 

I have always been fond of making wishes. I truly believe that the world hears what our hearts desire but only if we have the courage to say them out loud. When I say "out loud", I don't literally mean that you declare your most precious dreams to everyone in sight. What I'm trying to say is that you have to keep wishing for it until YOU make it come true.  You have to want it to happen so bad that to imagine it not coming true is enough to kill you. When you want something THAT bad, you will do absolutely anything to make it happen. Don't let the fear of blood and sweat discourage you. Most of our wishes are hard to earn. Think about it. Even the smallest things you may want in this life don't just get dropped on your lap like that which is why we wish for them. But that's the beauty of it! Anything that you have worked hard to get will glitter like gold to you once you can embrace it and call it your own. You cannot rely purely on luck.I read this quote that said something like "Luck looks a lot like something we worked  hard for" and that's true. It's a combination of magic(eg. wishing on a falling star),wise personal decisions and most of the time—a whole lot of toil. 

So remember: 

1. KEEP WISHING. Wish on any little superstitious thing you know of and do it with much gusto! I've wished on wells, fountains, a lighted Eiffel Tower, shooting stars, each new Church I've visted, 11:11, etc. ANYTHING. Start looking for that rare four leaf clover, rub a rabbit's foot or stick an upright horse shoe on your room for luck. It's part of the fun of desiring something in your life. Once it comes true, it will be nice to guess which one of those "wish buckets" helped make it come true.I believe in luck, I just believe we work hand it hand with it.

2. MOVE IT. Your wishes don't just come true with you just sitting there.Even Disney's Rapunzel had to use her own hair to climb down her tower so she can see those floating lights. Take rare opportunities, know how to take risks from time to time, show up when you say you would. 

note: I know not all wishes come from "working hard". A lot of people wish for love and well at first it may seem like love isn't worked hard for but it is. Which is why I said to take a chance. If it's with the right person at the right place and time and FOR NO OTHER REASON BUT LOVE then take it. I once told a young girl (who's never been in love) I met through my other blog that the risks of getting your heart broken and happily ever after is equal. It's a complete gamble but you will never be close to your true love if you don't open yourself to risk.Then once you're within love and all of it's risks, work for it. Being together should feel natural but staying together entails sacrifice, patience and understanding. It's always worth it, that is if you're right for each other anyway. 

3. BELIEVE IN IT A WHOLE DAMN LOT. Paste a picture of yourself in the photo of the Bahamas that you cut out from your travel magazine, write a love letter to your future prince charming, say "when" not "if". Visualize yourself in your dreams, make it a part of you.The moment you start doubting, the more you wipe out your chances of having it. Shut your ears and stitch it up if people say you don't have what it takes. YOU DO. The most outstanding stories of success out there started with a dream and the belief of self. When you believe it, you can do it. 

4. YOU GOT IT? DON'T STOP. So you finally get what you wish for? don't stop dreaming until your on death's door. You have to have a goal. May it be one big one or a billion tiny ones. The main point is to have something you can motivate yourself with.

Anyway, like I said— I make wishes on almost everything I can make a wish on. But I have never wished on a sky lantern before and on the hour of 11:11 on 11/11/11 I finally did and with hundreds of people doing the same thing. It was a beautiful sight. The heavens must have adored us. This was all made possible by my friend Giselle who organized the whole event for the South(but we had guests from the city too!) and we all can't thank her enough for it. She was our Flynn Rider that night and she will forever be remembered for it. 

Some of the beautiful photos I took that night:

 This is me! Thank you Megan for taking this lovely shot!x

 Southern Wishes

 My Irish friend— Megan's hot pink lantern

Giselle- the real star of the night 

tangled in a sea of wishes

Much love from your daily dreamer and do-er, 

Sunny Beluga xxxx

Signs that Give Me Hope

Taken in Brighton, England. 


While we were driving around Brighton (which by the way is one of my favorite places in England!) my Aunt and Uncle explained that there are countless people who have committed suicide by jumping off this cliff by the sea.

Eventually this sign was put up there(along with a fence) as a reminder to people that help is out there and that people care. The bus we take passes by this sign and it always makes me smile to think of it's purpose. 


Much Love
Sunny Beluga xxxx

Hooked and Paged

 This is a really late post on a dinner out with a few of my friends in the city, but better late than never! I'm starting to get used to spending time in the North because a lot of my close friends are from that area and I'm there often now especially that I report to our restaurant in Ortigas.

The Menu

We had dinner at Shangrila Mall in this restaurant called "Fish and Co." which makes the best Fish and Chips I have ever tasted. We all haven't eaten there in awhile so our hungry stomachs led us there. The last time I had Fish and Chips was in England, it's supposedly a dish they're famous for but I've tasted it and sadly, I didn't find anything special about it! Anyway, feast your eyes on our dinner hihi. 

Seafood Platter(Calamares, Sea Bass, Chips)

Lemons, they have to be included.I am obsessed with Lemons.

"Best Fish and Chips" (yes that's the actual name haha!)

Seafood Rice (tastes like Paella, yum!)

Tanya and Me, the "Ladies in Lace"(no, we didn't plan on it haha!)

We had so much fun talking and catching up on each others lives. I am in awe with how much our friendships grew since our trip to Spain and all over Europe just two summers ago. I barely knew them when we departed from home and now I can't imagine not having them in my life. Our lives have drastically changed since then. Some of us were going through turbulent times and some were in their moments of bliss and not everyone knew of those "baggages" we brought along during our trip until we bonded and unravelled each others lives in different countries we found ourselves in. Now we are simply there for each other, rain or shine whether it is back at home or lost somewhere in Europe. 

 I get to see my friends Tanya and Mich a lot more than our other girlfriends, Rachel and Tara. There are a whole lot of us, maybe about twenty more people including our professors.They all come from our rival school and I was the Europe obsessed girl who tried to find a way to travel to my dream destination. Their summer program accepted me and I was the only one who came from a different school. I didn't know ANYONE AT ALL when I entered that program, now that I think of it IS quite crazy hahaha! Everytime I tell that story, people's eyes will always bulge and say that I have a lot guts and yeah I guess I do have a lot of balls under this sweet facade of mine HAHA! but back then I didn't think of it as serial, all I wanted was a chance to set foot on European soil and to meet entirely new people to add to my circle of friends.I left on a plane bound for Europe barely knowing everyone. I came back home with a dozen bestfriends and a lot of beautiful memories and unforgettable experiences together. I never back out of opportunities to broaden my horizons. I always HUNT for such opportunities. Try it, you will never know that these new people you invite in your life might just be the ones who you can't live without. 

Anyway, more on our night out! we went to this Deli called "Pages" as suggested by Tanya. We had such a hard time choosing our desserts because everything looked so good! Pages also had such a romantic and relaxed ambience. It's perfect for intimate conversations and the whole place were sprinkled by quotes from novels. We felt like were in Italy! we talked about so much things that night that I can't post here hahaha but all I can say is that whatever plagues we go through, we can always find a reason to laugh about it and give each other hope. Here are our pictures from "Pages"! 

Belgian Chocolate Cake= HEAVEN

Magnolia (white chocolate with cheese)

Tanya, Rachel and Tara (My pretty ladies!)

One last, before leaving!

from "Girls Rule" by Penelope J. Miller

I've been reading this encouraging book for girls which was given to me a long time ago by one of my friends and I cannot simply express how much it has changed my perspective. It's a really thin book about the simple things in life and everything is just written so beautifully. The descriptions, the choice of words and the trail of thoughts from this amazing writer leaves you feeling refreshed and uplifted.


No matter what you're experiencing in your life right now whether your extremely happy or extremely depressed, you'd be able to relate to the entire book. The illustrations are adorable too, they all look like they were hand drawn by a five year old child! 


I wanted to share this particular note on sadness that I really liked because I know a lot of people right now who are going through challenging situations in their lives and it's just a simple reminder that it's okay to take a step back. Step back, grieve for as long as you need(do not ever skip this phase! suppressing your feelings will not do you good in the long run), soak and reflect on what you can learn from that tangled mess you're in and then step back out when you're ready.There is no time limit, come out when you feel like it. Time is a powerful thing and you'll know when the moment has come to join the living again. 


Life was never easy so it's okay to be sad, it's part of being human.  Don't ever beat yourself up for that and believe me once you come out of that grieving  shell of yours, you will always come out wiser. Don't ever go through hell without coming back out as a better person. Take the setback as an opportunity for growth, if you don't then your pain wasn't worth it and who wants that???

"If life gives you lemons, make orange juice and let people guess on how the hell you did it." 

                                                                                        -Taken from some witty genius on Twitter

Labels and Love.

My room is tickled with my personality. Every single thing in my room has a bit of me and everytime I get home I look forward to just lying on my bed(which is the most comfortable thing in this world by the way), being surrounded by things that remind me of who I am. When I travel, I never come home without anything for my room which means if I find some trinket that's breakable or a bit of a trouble to carry around in my luggage, I will not leave without it haha! and besides, it's nice to see something in my room that reminds me of a place I've been to. Well except for the framed Egyptian Papyrus on my wall, I'm hopelessly addicted to Ancient Egyptian culture but I've never set foot on Egypt. So when my mom said she was going a few years ago, I begged her for bring me a papyrus painting so I can have it framed. I like visualizing my dreams so since I have a bit of Egypt in my room already hopefully it could mean I'd find myself there someday. I know exactly what I want to do once I see the the Pyramids of Giza and that is to scream and roll around the sand hahaha! 

Well anyway, these are the new additions to my bat cave. I got the bracelet holder from Brighton-England. I was shopping around with my Aunt and my mom and found this store that sells stuff for the house. I always find myself in these stores because I love buying things for the house!I like cooking and baking too and absolutely love looking through adorable cookie cutters and colorful cupcake holders but I'll post about those things next time when I've actually baked something already. I was really happy to see the "Bracelets" sign because I've never seen anything like it so when I finally hammered this on my wall two nights ago, I couldn't help but to applaud myself for how lovely it looked along with my charm bracelets. Charm bracelets look a lot prettier when they're hung up like that don't you think? Another thing I found was the "Love" sign and I felt as happy as a clam when I found it because just a week before arriving in England, I was in Scotland and while I was walking back to our bed and breakfast I saw a lighted window with the same "Love" sign on it. It looked so romantic and I wanted it so bad that I was tempted to knock on the door to ask where he/she got it hahaha! I can't stick it on my window though because my window is too big for such a small sign(there was a bigger version in the store though) and I almost never draw my shades up because I hate waking up to the sun on my face. So I decided to put it on my bookshelf. Just a reminder to myself that Love will always be the most important thing in this world. 

The small blue book that says "GMH" is more special than everything else here because one of my dearest friends gave it to me. Sarah holds the spot of being my longest friend, I've known her practically my whole life.I can't imagine not growing up with her. We were born only a week apart, our parents even knew each other even before we were both born so we were destined to become friends.Oh and we're neighbors hahaha! she's just seven houses away from me but she's in Med school now so she only comes home during the weekends. I miss her a whole lot during the week or when she has exams.She crashes my house during her rest days and we end up talking the whole night in my room that she ends up sleeping over.So one night she brings a spare toothbrush and she put in my purple mug near my sink for those unplanned nights of sleepovers hahaha!It's in a tube and it's labeled "Sar" with a smiley face and everytime I feel sad and I see it, I laugh haha! well anyway, the reason why Sar gave this to me during Christmas is because I'm a huge fan of the site Gives Me Hope http://www.givesmehope.com/ The Spartz network are amazing people to have come up with sites that give people hope all over the world. I read them everyday and I always feel inspired afterwards. So she gave me a blank book labeled GMH(that's how people end their stories with in the site, please check it out) so that I can write and collect my own stories of hope:) It's a really thoughtful present, there were actually two books. The other one is a blank My Life is Average(MLIAhttp://mylifeisaverage.com/) book . I've been writing on it a lot recently that's why I decided to include it. It's nice to go through it every time I'm upset, I've been feeling the need to jot these things down because there's a lot been going on with me lately and I've been blessed with surprising heroes and kind strangers that give me hope. I really get by because of the kindness of some really good people out there, it's relieving to think that God never really leaves you with nothing. If something pains you, someone or something comes along to make the load lighter. I would have died by now if the world didn't come with opposites.Sometimes I hate the fact that every good thing in this world comes with a beast but I'd rather have it that way because that's what makes life's complications worth learning. You have to have a bit of both(rain and sun) to come out wiser in this life. There's pain but there is always hope, ALWAYS. It may not come instantly but it's always there, whether someone gives you hope or if you choose to give it to yourself. Giving yourself hope takes work though, it's not easy. It's a tiring chore but that's where true strength comes in. People take time to reboot themselves after a painful experience, even the strongest spirits out there take time to rebuild:) 

I highly suggest that people have their own blank books of Hope. It's nice collecting moments of kindness. Whether you were a witness to it, whether it was done to you or whether you were the one to responsible for giving hope to someone else:) It's nice to be reminded that the world is not all cruel and when you see the selfless acts of love you do for people, you're reminded that since you can bring hope to someone else's life than you can bet that you can bring hope back to yours as well.Chin up darling, the sun will shine on your yard too.Don't give up. :) 

Much Love xxxxx

Sunny Beluga