CRISTINE FARINAS

After a few years of passing through Dubai, I finally decided to extend my layover so I can meet up with two special people, my niece Erlie and my nephew Moel. And it was one of the best travel decisions I've ever made, all because of those two who made sure that my first ever travel to Dubai was nothing but memorable. I arrived at Dubai International Airport via Emirates (of course) just after midnight. My niece Erlie picked me up from the airport and we went straight back to her apartment. I haven't seen this beautiful lady for over a decade and seeing her in Dubai was so surreal. There was so much to catch up on and I can tell you now that the 16 hours I spent in Dubai was definitely not enough. As it was almost 1am, we decided to sleep as the following morning, we would meet up with Moel. We picked up Moel from his apartment around 0730. And just like Erlie, I haven't seen Moel since he was a young boy. I am so blessed that despite the distance, we remained close and ke

I love birthdays and I always look forward to mine. This year though,it feels kinda different. The excitement seemed to have been overshadowed by feelings of regret, inadequacy and overall melancholy. These feelings have been building up for the last three months and yesterday, it finally blew up. For the first time since my 39th birthday , I was honest with myself and accepted that perhaps I was and still am having a birthday depression, or commonly known as birthday blues. I remember one of my good friends reminding me on Friday that it was soon my birthday weekend. My reply was, "I am not even thinking about it." The weekend went, and then Monday came. I started becoming an emotional wreck. I was feeling very down and cried a few times throughout the day. J tried his best to comfort me, but that even made me feel worse. I felt a complete failure. And then I started asking myself why . Why was I feeling that way?  Then I reflected on the last year, most especially the last

People have asked me why I only stayed 10 days in the Philippines. I guess this is a question that people should avoid asking because whether I spend 5 days , 10 days or three weeks in the Philippines, it will still not be enough. I guess the most important thing is that I was able to go home and spend time with my parents, my family and some of my friends. Ten days is very short indeed, however it is definitely how you spend those ten days that matters.  In my case, I had to divide my time between my father, my mother, my pamangkins and my Aunt who was also visiting from the States at the time. Although my visit was short, I can say that I had the most amazing time. It was all about maximising each day, visiting places that mattered to us, knowing when to spend quality time with my parents and spending time with people who were worth my while. So, here's how I spent my 10 days in the Philippines: Day 1 - I arrived in Manila early in the morning, so we d rove straight to Tagaytay