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La Dolce Vita 🇮🇹🇻🇦🇲🇨 🍸

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September 2023.  My birthmonth, my birthyear. I was born in the year of the Hare so I needed to make 2023, another year of the Hare, special. As I had never been out of the country, I decided to finally make that long-awaited "first trip" on my birthyear. It happens once every twelve years so why not make it special? My first time past Immigration! So many countries were considered. Spain and Portugal came to mind. Thailand seemed plausible. Nearby Indonesia's fantastic architecture were tempting, and because Singapore was close enough, it was also suggested. Malaysia came into the radar too. But, not until visas were approved or airline tickets were bought, nothing was final. And then - out of the blue - I heard my aunt and sister talk about a possible Euro Tour on no other month but September ... Since it happens to be my birthmonth, I immediately asked if I could join them... "Sure," said my aunt! Up until that point, my options were as flexible as they could...

Our Dancing Queen 👑

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  Young and sweet. Only seventeen. That is our dancing queen, our sweet and beautiful mother. She can dance, she can jive... Having the time of her life... Our mother was born on May 3rd, 1954. She was originally named " Maria Cruz Venus Mapusao " but our lola changed her mind when our mum kept falling sick. The name sounded ominous as it reminded them of the "cross" so she was renamed " Nancy ," a name that sounds simple and easy-breezy. Excited for her first dancing party after the pandemic. February 2021 Our mother is celebrating her seventeenth birthday today somewhere in Japan so she is not dancing with her friends and buddies as she would usually do on Saturdays. As you can see, our mum loves dancing, and "Dancing Queen" is one of her all-time favorite songs. She would always sing this song on Karaoke or Magic Sing. All the time. I don't get tired of listening because she has a beautiful voice. Mama Sarah joined one of our mum's dan...

Awesome Osaka 🍥

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Shinsaibashi Shopping District in the heart of Osaka Our first stop was Osaka. We arrived at Kansai International Airport at about 30 minutes after sunset. It was comfortably warm inside but, after stepping out, we immediately felt the cold winds embracing us like crazy. It was my first time to experience 12 degrees. Ironically, I was able to withstand the cold by just wearing my IBP jacket. Took a selfie to prove that IBP jacket was enough for 12 degrees 😅 What can I say about Osaka? It's a huge metropolitan city. I thought it was just some city. It's actually so huge, it could be bigger than Metro Manila. I didn't check and compare the two cities anymore because I'm that lazy. What I'm saying is, Osaka is huge. Train to Osaka from Kansai Airport Because of this, I felt that I will not be a hundred percent here and I would not be in my element. I was simply reminded by my experiences in Metro Manila where the crowd and traffic drove me home.  Osaka wasn't real...