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Dinner with President Ramos

May 17, 2012

A couple of weeks ago Former President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) was in town to give a speech. And TD had the privilege of being his “close in.” TD picked him up at the airport in the wee hours of the morning and got home at 3 am then was up again to pick up FVR at 5am for his 6am golf game with some Ambassadors. TD was really amazed that  he was able to play golf with only one hour of sleep… and they even played the first couple of holes under the rain. Wow what energy! Anyway on his last evening I was lucky enough to be invited to the small dinner for him at Crystal Jade.

FVR no longer smokes, but out of habit he carries around cigars and then just chews on them. I think he quit more than a decade ago. Crystal Jade in Pacific place has meal sets for groups of people and this makes it so easy to order for a group. We started with super yummy sweet and sour soup then had some sweet n sour fish, pecking duck, chicken and mushroom, black pepper pork chops and my favorite dish in crystal jade, salted egg prawns. (I recommend asking them to shell the prawns next time)Then we had coffee at Liberica Coffee because, surprisingly, Crystal Jade doesn’t offer anything except Chinese Tea. Good thing too coz FVR and his aide (his 21 year olf grandson) were able to try the Kopi Luwak (or civet cat poop coffee haha!).

Why am I not surprised to see this bunch! We bump into them everywhere – bali, lombok, etc. I guess our tummies take us to the same places aye? =P
I didn’t realize that FVR is so funny and that he has a penchant for directing people before a shot. Haha! If you’ll notice we are posing with our thumbs up in a lot of the pictures – following his directions LOL!
former president fvr
We did some last minute pictures with him right before he left for the airport.

What an unforgettable night full of humor and laughter. FVR is so charming and witty and we were lucky to have spent the evening being regaled with all his stories and jokes. I feel fortunate that I was invited to this dinner. Another DiploMoment that I will never forget.

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  1. Mia says

    May 17, 2012 at 9:58 PM

    Hi, hey the guy wearing a black shirt. I know him. I forgot his name but, i Met him in when I was living in Singapore. He works with the Philipippine Embassy in Singapore and worked with him during the elections back in 2010. He now is based in Jakarta?
    :).

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Welcome

Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

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I am an Amazon affiliate, but all opinions are my own. The content of all my blog and social media posts are products and experiences that I truly enjoy and I only work with brands that fit my life and style.

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SANTA CLAUS MAIN POST OFFICE So one really meanin SANTA CLAUS MAIN POST OFFICE

So one really meaningful part of our trip was @santaclausmainpostoffice which is right outside of @santaclausoffice.

🎄 @diplobaby wrote a postcard for Santa

🎄 He also wrote some postcards to his friends

🎄 I wrote a postcard to @diplobaby to remember our many firsts in this trip.

For the last 2 we were lucky that our hotel @glass_resort  had many FREE POSTCARDS  and STAMPS and we didn’t have to go to the post office. They conveniently sent it for us.

His close friends were happy to receive them and I also loved getting our own post. So cool!

Please don’t forget to LIKE this post to see more family adventures & travel tips!

If Finland is on your bucket list then definitely SAVE THIS!

#udwinfinland #udwinsantaclausvillage #diplobaby #diilofamily
SEEING SANTA Everyday is Christmas Day in @santac SEEING SANTA

Everyday is Christmas Day in @santaclausvillage_rovaniemi! 

While we were walking back to our hotel @glass_resort guess who passed by and was sweet enough to roll down his window to say high.

Roll down for the quick conversation. I’m glad I caught it on camera.

TD was pretty impressed that his car is also red. 😂

Mind you his facial hair looked totally real!

#udwinfinland #udwinsantaclausvillage
NIGHT OF THE MUSEUMS 2: For the 2nd Museum we cho NIGHT OF THE MUSEUMS 2:

For the 2nd Museum we chose
SAINT PETER’S CATHEDRAL ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE

🤍 Impressive cathedral even from the outside. If you are interested in the Church’s history, or even just history, this place is a must!

🤍 Off to the right is the stairs to go to another time, to see the ruins underneath the current cathedral. 

🤍 You get to see what was built here before the cathedral even up to the years before Christ.

🤍 I was really impressed with the mosaic tile flooring

🤍 You can see how Christianity evolved in Geneva over millenia 

🤍 There were a lot of deep wells. I wonder how they dug them out during simpler times? Some people even dropped credit cards. Be careful because once something falls out of your wallet, it’s gone. 

🤍 If you have fear of heights there are parts on the floor where there is a bigger distance from the ruin to the flooring. I got a bit scared in those parts.

🤍 We explained what we learned to @diplobaby and he was very fascinated with it. From the coins of the old days, the combs, how baptisms were done and how old these things were… he soaked it all up.

🤍 It’s so important not to underestimate our kids. If we share what we read and explain things to them even a museum like this is interesting. 

🤍 When we got out at 11, we walked back to the shuttle to get back to TD’s office. We saw some things like canons that made us realize how little we have explored of @ville_de_geneve! Must come back for more!

🤍 shuttle was like a private bus coz there were only 2 other people with us!

Night at the Museums is a great way to explore the city on a budget!
#UDWinGeneva #diplobaby #diplofamily #undiplomaticwife
NIGHT OF THE MUSEUMS 1: Last 13 May we went with NIGHT OF THE MUSEUMS 1:

Last 13 May we went with some colleagues & their families to check out Night in the Museums for the first time!

A FEW TIPS:

🤍 Doing the “Nuit des musées” is another way to see more museums in Geneva on a budget.

🤍 To avoid long lines, you can buy tickets online for chf10/adult. Kids are FREE.

🤍 BUT you might not get the pink lanyard/ID if the museums run out. No worries, nobody checked us.

🤍 Included in your ticket are FREE shuttle buses to take you from different points to another. So no need to buy regular train/tram tickets.

🤍 There are less people in the shuttles too, so this is good if you don’t like crowds. 

🤍 It starts at 5pm & ends at 12mn. But some museums close earlier

🤍 This year we started at 7pm and only got 2 museums done. If you get 2 in one night, it’s already worth it. 

🤍 Next year we will definitely start at 5 to see more museums.

🤍 And it’s better to schedule & book where you will have dinner, otherwise everything is totally full. 

🤍 For our group of about 20 (coz we were with 2 other families) we were able to get tables at McDonalds. 

🤍 If it’s rainy, use a lightweight hooded down jacket that can easily be folded like our favorite @uniqlo UltraLightDown Jacket. The cool thing about it is if you have not time to go to a coat check, you can roll it into it’s own bag.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM @museum.geneve 

✨ We prioritized this because we knew the kids would love learning about the animals, the environment and even the crystals.

✨ It’s interesting because it’s also interactive. 

✨ It’s small but packs a punch and has several floors so the kids didn’t even want to leave. 

So happy we are exploring @ville_de_geneve more!

#UDWinGeneva #diplobaby #diplofamily #undiplomaticwife
TRUFFLE TIPS When buying truffle products, it’s TRUFFLE TIPS

When buying truffle products, it’s important to know what you are buying. I’m not an expert but I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned over the years. 

Did you know that many TRUFFLE OILS only contain faux truffle flavoring?

⚡️Try to buy oils that contain small truffle bits to know that it’s a genuine truffle infusion. 

⚡️If the oil is clear (or even if it’s not), it’s important to read the ingredients list & make sure that it lists truffle/truffle infusion as an ingredient. 

⚡️Truffle flavor(ing) is not real truffle.

⚡️Black truffle is more common & cheaper than white truffle.

⚡️TRUFFLE SALT is cheaper but less flavorful than truffle oil. It’s great to layer on top of truffle oil when making truffle popcorn, eggs or pasta. But used alone the flavor isn’t as strong as time goes by. It’s good bang for buck though!

⚡️TRUFFLE POWDER is nice to have to give that truffle color, but not a must. It’s also more expensive coz it’s pure dried truffle.

Swipe to see how much we get them for at @tkmaxxat. We always go to @tkmaxxde when we go to Germany to get fancy things to fit within our limited budget.

As for the @turci_firenze traditionally infused truffle oil, we get them at an affordable price in @elcorteingles when we are in Madrid.

We don’t have it all the time, but when we want to treat ourselves at home we make our favorites:

1. Truffle popcorn for movie nights
2. Truffle scrambled eggs for weekends
3. Truffle cream pasta for special meals

What are your other truffle tips?

What are your favorite truffle dishes? #diplotummy
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