We had a great holiday at the beach. After three weeks in the Philippines it was our first time to be at a beach. The last weeks we met lots of friends and attended three birthday parties and one wedding. We also had to arrange things for our guesthouse and do look for other practical matters – such as opening an local bank account. It was also our first time since at least 20 years to be at Paradise Island without our kids and family. So especially Thomas was very excited to swim and spend time at the beach. Watch our video and learn what we learned about holiday … and see some impressions from our favorite beach resort in Davao – the Paradise Island Beach resort at Samal Island.
Tag Archives: inlove
25 years after our wedding we visited the hotel were we got married – the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao. It was very special after many years to be back at this place. Some things changed – but still it is very much the place of our wedding. One highlight of our wedding was, that all members of both families were there to celebrate with us.
Some impressions from the wedding of our friends Monik and Carlo. We were asked to be Ninang and Ninong (God parents). It was a wonderful party. Both Monik and Carlo grow up in Davao – Rosemarie knows both parents for many years – but the met in Sidney, Australia. Both families and many friends came to this special celebration – around 350 guests. We were asked to give a speech during the reception. Find out in the video what these items have to do with marriage: One thing which also blessed us, is that both families really stick together. Even after being married Monik and Carlo will still be very much part of their big families. They both expressed that during the celebration and it is so different from the way many western young couples deal with their families.
25 years after getting married we decided to renew our marriage vows. Actually we were first thinking to do this at a local church – but than we decided to just do it as a video. So all of you you witness and we can go back to listen to our own vows anytime in the future. The recording was a very special – and also a very emotional – moment for the two of us. But the vows are not just a video or a show – it is a statement, that even after 25 years we stick together – for better or worse. We believe it is important to make commitments to each other – especially in a time where it seems that the traditional view of marriage is replaced by an often short-term arrangement between two people. In German, there is a term “Lebensabschnittsgefährte” which literally means “Companion for a period of life”. But marriage is much more than that.
We went back to some places where we had our first dates. Both of our favorite places have now different owners – many things have changed in the last 25 years. But here are still sweet memories – not only to the Hallo-Hallo and to the places it was served. You do not know what Halo-Halo is? See at the movie and look for more details online. On our first dates we were seldom alone – normally we brought some chaperones to be with us. For us our chaperones were usually Rosemarie’s sister or her brother or other friends. Wikipedia explains the following about a chaperone: A chaperone in its original social usage was a person who for propriety’s sake accompanied an unmarried girl in public: usually she was an older married woman, and most commonly the girl’s own mother. In modern social usage, a chaperone is a responsible adult who accompanies and supervises young people. Maybe the younger ones feel strange about that – but even today in many countries chaperones are there