It was definitely sheer bliss. We were on a one month road trip to explore New Zealand last December. Hence, my silence on the blog. 

Hope you're all having a great week. December entails wrapping presents, last minute shopping, traffic frenzy en route to your office Christmas Party, year end work load, travel plans looming ahead, vehicle tax increase, income tax reduction, ho ho ho 13th month pay, what a way to end 2017!  

As always, the year end brings a wave of nostalgia.  Before 2017 sneaks up on me, I'm going to post my favorite finds and insights about living in the Philippines this week.

Photo by Lito Flestado

I have always been intrigued by my friend, Shela's experience when she decided to move back to Philippines for good after living in Dubai for many years.  While most of our friends in the sandpit saw their future immigrating to western countries (I'm not saying there's something wrong with that), but Shela imagined herself coming home.

Shela enjoyed a comfortable life with her husband and daughter in Dubai. 

Like most expats in the Middle East, we all knew we had to leave at some point.  She quit her fabulous job in a luxury fashion brand in order to set up the business on her own, while her husband stayed behind in the UAE, as a back up plan.

We were still in Dubai then, when she took the leap.  This chapter of her life was not really a part of our social media conversations. Online chatting wasn't really an ideal medium to share what she went through during her first year in the Philippines.

An idea sparked recently to feature her which was initially driven by my curiosity.To be honest, I wondered if she ever did go through repatriation blues as I did.  Having read her side of the story while putting this blog post altogether, I wished I have read it before embarking on this journey.  So allow me to share with you my brief interview with Shela about her experience moving back home:

My youngest sister ecstatically gushes, "To date, this is the best waterfall I have ever seen in my life!" 

I paused and wondered for several seconds and yes, I found myself nodding as well, "Me too!"

I'm seizing this opportunity to appreciate the goodness that I discover in my home country. Here's a round up of 3 things that made me happy this week.