We had arranged to see her as we had came into contact with her once before and wanted to get some copies of FHM signed so that we could auction them off and give all the money to a local chairty or worthy cause.

When we arrived at Paloma’s house, she was not in, but her maid said that we could wait in the lounge where she had a dancing pole. When Paloma arrived, we talked for a while and she then signed the copies of FHM. It was odd as this was the first time we had properly met, yet it was like we had been friends for a while as we all talked openly.

Ian was taking the photo of Paloma signing FHM while I was sat on Paloma’s bed using her glass bong hence the reason for her writing “smoke it up” on the cover.

You can read more about Paloma on her FHM profile located here.

Please click on an image to view in full screen.

Choritzo – These images were taken at a Spanish Restaurant in Makati, Manila, Philippines

The following sunset images were taken from my bedroom balcony in Las Pinas, Metro Manila

This skyline image was taken from a taxi window as we headed into Makati, Manila, Philippines. The photo shows the Makati Skyline with some very dark clouds moving in to the right of the picture.

I like the reflections that standing water gives and I was experimenting with angles and settings when I took the following image.

Standing on my balcony, I noticed the neighbours yard tab was casting a perfectly straight shadow. I snapped a picture and with the help of Ian, we edited it to give it a more dramatic effect.

We arrived at the hotel via a side entrance and made our way upstairs where we queued at the red carpet where they took our names and checked us off their list. We walked down the red carpet where there was a backdrop and a lot of photographers. Ian and I posed as they snapped and flashed away. Once they all had the pics they wanted, we continued down the red carpet and headed straight for the bar.

I met a lot of huge stars and players in the entertainment and publishing industry. Exclusive photos can be found on my girlfriends website in her review called Star Magic Ball 2010 EXCLUSIVE Photos.

It was a fantastic night and great to meet everyone that I got a chance to talk to.

My suit, shirt and bow tie are already hung up downstairs ready to go as soon as our driver arrives at 1pm. We will be going out to get our hair done, then back to my house to get ready and head to the ball later this evening.

The full story for the Star Magic Ball can be found here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/09/04/10/everythings-all-set-star-magic-ball

I will be posting more after the event (possibly tomorrow).

Then I met Ian and it all makes sense. I would crawl over hot coals on my stomach just to be with her for a few minutes. I would take up arms, take on anyone, face any challenge just for Ian. I feel like I want to leave a mark on this earth, or build some tower so that in a thousand years, whoever is left over of the human race will know what she meant to me a thousand years ago. Which I imagine would be abmost like us looking at the egyptions and trying to understand their way of life.

Ian, I love you and I will write it in the stars and scream it from the tallest mountains.

When traffic is bad all over, a one hour trip via taxi can take three hours. While in the taxi, I try to get some shots out of the window. There was a terrible storm brewing when I took the following shots.

Whenever we go out, we try to grab lunch somewhere that Ian can write about for DiscoverPh.com. Yesterday we went to a lovely spanish restaurant where we were in our own private room surrounded by bottles of wine. It was basically a temperature controlled wine storage room with a single table. It was very romantic.

This section of the mall is outside and has a very nice jungle. It is such a treat to eat in these surroundings.

When the food came, it looked absolutely amazing. I wont blab on about it because I do not have the same linguistic skills that Ian has. Click here to view the post she made about this great restaurant.

Here are all the photos of the restaurant and food:

Apart from the obvious perverted suggestions, i thought and thought and could only think of one thing I really wanted to do. Take Ian shopping. Call be fucked up, I dont care. I know this isnt normal. I also dont give a fuck. I know what makes me happy. I can be completely selfish because I know that what makes me happy also makes my girlfriend very happy.

So here’s how the day panned out.

Our chauffeur driven car arrived at 9.30am. I was shocked that they arrived 30 minutes early without even having to call us to find where we were located.

We were not ready and I didnt care, Ian had been shooting Rosalka on monday night and didnt get to my house until around 8am, so she didnt have any real sleep.

By 11am we were ready and we jumped in the car and headed over to Ians house. As we arrived we saw Christine, our eldest daughter going to college. In my mind, I had a car and driver hired and we would not be ready to leave quickly, so I instructed the driver to take her to college. Ian got ready, the drive arrived and we headed off for ABS CBN, the network that makes Rosalka so that Ian could pick up her cheque.

By the time we got there, they were closed, so we had a meal. We gave the driver some money for parking and food. He dropped us off at the front door and we went inside.

After the meal, we went to the studio to pick up her cheque. Once this was complete, we called the chauffeur who met us at the front door and took us to the bank to cash the cheque.

From there, we went to M Baretto’s shop to pick up my new jeans he had just finished designing. And very very bloody nice they are too. Talk about designer jeans. These are one of a kind. The only ones that were ever made and will ever be made. Don’t I feel special? Fuck Abecrombe and Fitch! lol

From here we headed to the Greenbelt mall in Makati, Manila. Again, we gave the driver money for his lunch and he dropped us off at the front door.

The first place we headed for was La Senza. My mother had worked in La Senza in the uk and even worked in Richards, the shop that it was before it became La Senza. I told Ian that I wanted her to be fitted first so that we could try on the bras that fitted and see how well they fitted. I may want to point out that I spent a few years running an online store selling womens knickers and bras, so I know how to do correct sizing. As I was checking the size of the bra Ian had on, the assitant came into the changing room and laughed at me. This was because she had never seen a man properly size a womans bra! Hey, if you’re gonna be a pervert, know your stuff, right?

We eventually left with a mix of sorts. The bra was just right but needed more width, so I had suggesed an extension which La Senza sold. We took one bra and three sets of knickers. If you have Ian as a friend on Facebook, she will be posting pics of these shortly I would expect.

We went around a few other shops but couldnt find anything we liked.

While wandering around, we found a jewelry stand and Ian really liked one ring. She moaned about the price and I told her to shut up. She said she would get the ring, but I knew she really liked it, so I made sure we got the ring when we went back to the store.

We were done shopping and went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Greenbelt, Makati, Manila where I could get a drink of Wild Turkey .

Once we finished, we called the chauffeur and arranged to meet at the entrance. We went to pick up some weights I had seen, spent ages waiting for them to process the checkout and headed for the entrance where our chauffeur was already waiting.

We jumped in the car (after making sure I opened Ians door, letting her in and closing her door (yes I am a british gentleman)) and headed to the shop ian had found that sold Wild Turkey. It was in the tourist area where a lot of white people hang out. I hate seeing white people here.

From here we headed home which took a hell of a long time, stopping at the 7/11 to pick up some pepsi for my Wild Turkey. However they did not have any, so I was forced to buy Coke grrr!

Shortly after we got home, Ian received confirmation that she would be in a shoot tomorrow too. She took an early night and finally the confirmation came through that she would only be on call from 8pm. Whoopee!

Throughout, Ian had kept saying “It’s your birthday, you can do anything, are you sure you want to take me shopping?” and every time the answer was “yes”. Call me fucked up or whatever you want, but I really enjoyed today and could not have thought of anything else I would rather do. Seeing the look on Ians face as we left La Senza made it all worth while. It made my day.

Put simply, its a mathematics equasion. When Ian is happy, I am reletively happy. To make myself  happy, I have to make Ian very happy. Maybe this makes me selfish. But for me to be selfish, I must first make Ian very happy, so is it so bad?

I had an absolutely fantastic birthday and we will be going for a meal with the kids and Ians mam on saturday. I can’t wait. Ians mam is great, she seems to really like me, welcoming me with open arms and we even like the same types of documentaries. An ideal mother in law for a geek such as me? Absolutely.

The one thing Ians mam said was when I asked her for her blessing in my process of marrying ian was “I knew you were the one a few weeks after you arrived and one of the boys made a slip calling you “daddy” and “daddy dave”". This one statement from Ians mother really made me happy. Not only were the kids accepting me, but it was so obvious even when I wasn’t there that Ians mam noticed.

Just a year ago, I was concerned as I did not have everything I expected to have by the time I was 30, all I had was my businesses.

Now, just 6 months or so further forward, I have everything I need. A beautiful girlfriend, a fantastic family, a life in a hot country.

I am so happy with what I now have. I will not turn 30 kicking and screaming, I will instead roll through it with most of the people I love.

So, the plan for tomorrow is as follows:

10am Car and driver arrive. I hired a car and driver for the day.
11am Go to Ians Studio to pick up her wages.
12 midday We will head to the malls in Makati and spend a few hours shopping, picking up some wild turkey whiskey, maybe even going to the Hard Rock Cafe for our lunch.
2-3pm Arrive at Ians house and take the children out for a meal.
6-7pm Back to my house to watch movies, have a drink and maybe even go to the bar over the road.

The main focus of DiscoverPH.com is to review and reveal all of the little known places in the Philippines.

One of the areas we have been wanting to expand into is podcasting. I have just finished editing our first podcast which you can view below.