December 2016

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
Capping off the year with my last life lately post for 2016 an update of life things that happened in December :)

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
Random Mr. Park's visit sometime early December. The last time we went was around a month ago, so I missed their cakes and pastries a little bit.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
A few days before we left for Malaysia, MJ, an online friend of Aian's and mine, asked if their group could interview Aian for a group project. Aian agreed, so just a couple of days before our trip, we went to MoA for the interview. (I very rarely went out for the first half of December, so I put a bit of effort into my makeup even though I was only there to accompany Aian, heh.)

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
They had the interview at Bo's Coffee. I can't remember the last time we went to Bo's, so I don't remember it looking this cozy.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
With MJ after the interview~ Aian and I both knew MJ through FB. We're friends because of similar interests (J-fashion, visual kei, etc).

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
Having coffee after the interview. MJ and her group wrapped up quicker than we expected, so I couldn't even order a coffee or anything. We had peppermint mochas at Starbucks instead.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
MoA had this huge Christmas installation up in the middle of the center atrium. I found it really cute because there were these huge Funko Pop figures of elves and reindeer on the decorations and on the tree itself.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
After coffee, Aian wanted to play at the arcades a bit so I went around MoA and did some window shopping (and a bit of actual shopping as well). I only bought concealer because I ran out of my previous one, but I saw a lot of other pretty things that I also wanted ;___;

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
We then had dinner at the newly opened Dohtonbori at MoA. It's been ages since we last had okonomiyaki, so we enjoyed it a lot!

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
The day after, Aian and I went out to have his business cards and postcards printed. (I wasn't able to take photos of those, sorry.) After that we went to SM Makati to buy red velvet crinkles to give to our friends in KL~

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
They had a Kumori on the same floor, so I finally got to try their cheese tart! The filling itself was super yummy, but I was put off by the soft crust. I like my pastry crusts to be crisp and flaky so I felt a bit sad about that. I don't know if that's the standard though, as I only tried one piece.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
Also, on that day, I saw the Payless shoes that I'd been looking at on their site for some time. I'm not sure if these are still available now, but I still really want them even if they don't have platforms or anything.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
When we got back, I spent the rest of the day packing. Mimi kept getting inside my luggage because he fit there perfectly, lol.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
The next day, we flew out to KL. If you don't already know (even though I've been talking about it nonstop these past few days), we spent 5 (or 6?) days there. It was so much fun! This year's trip was the most eventful, I think, so I took SO MANY PHOTOS. I'll share those with you soon!

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
When we got back to Manila, we were so tired that we spent the whole day asleep. After that, I had to finish a bunch of product reviews that I couldn't work on while in KL. I spent my Christmas weekend cramming everything. Whenever I had time for a short break, I spent it by cuddling or playing with our kids, because I missed them so much while we were away ; v ;

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
I couldn't do anything particularly Christmas-y for the blog on Christmas day, so I asked Aian to draw something featuring our 7 kids instead, lol.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
On the 27th, Aian, his brother, their friend, and I all went to eat at Little Tokyo in Makati. It was a pretty random trip, but it's been years since I last had Kagura's okonomiyaki. I missed the taste of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki when we ate at Dohtonbori, so I was glad that we went.

December 2016 photodiary | chainyan.co
And right now, as I'm typing this, this one is sleeping beside me. Recently he's been sleeping on my netbook a lot, I don't know if it's because he think it's warm or if he just really likes sleeping on it, as he does it even when the it's turned off. Either way, it's cute.

That's pretty much it for December. Nothing particularly interesting, really. The highlight of last month was definitely visiting Kuala Lumpur again. Aian and I have been visiting KL every year for 4 years now, but this time was only the second time that it was just the two of us, so it felt a little like we were taking a break from everything. I really appreciate spending those days with Aian, especially since we celebrated our 7th year together just recently. (I have a ton of photos from that trip that I want to share – I'm halfway done with the photos so I might be able to post my travel diaries a week after New Year's.)

Around this time last year, I'm pretty sure I was typing a long thank-you letter to all the friends and loved ones that made my year meaningful. And while I won't be able to do that now, I'm still just as grateful as last year, if not even more so. Overall, even though 2016 wasn't a particularly good year for everyone, I'm glad it's ending on a fairly positive note for Aian and myself. Here's to hoping for even more good things to come in 2017. See you all in the new year ♥