Better Late than Never #AAF with REAlity Bites

Previous week's #AskAwayFriday, I swapped questions with Rea from REAlity Bites. Rea is a fellow filipino blogger who has a toddler son and a loving husband. She lives in Cebu, Philippines and is an aspiring event organiser. She loves to travel just like me and her passion is writing. If you haven't met her, make sure to drop by her blog and say hi. 

Here are the questions that Rea asked me:

What made you decide to move from the Philippines to New Zealand?

It wasn't my decision. My parents wanted to move and try our luck in a different country and to be honest, I didn't want to move back then. I'm so glad we did though.

What were the highlights and challenges of your move? Do you consider New Zealand to be your permanent home now or are you still thinking of going back to the Philippines?

If I do go back to the Philippines, it will probably be only for a vacation. I like where we are living now. Don't get me wrong, Philippines is still my home but with all the bad government happening, prices going up and crimes in most places, it doesn't seem to be too good to go back. Whenever I hear news about my country, I can't help but feel sorry because no one deserves a corrupt government right? How can you live peacefully if there are a lot of bad people attempting to rob you or harm you and the government doesn't do well enough preventing those things. But that's just my opinion. I'll certainly go back for a visit. I do want Kaelyn to see and experience her homeland. Anyway, the highlight of my move to New Zealand is I get to explore another country. I guess I better check that on my bucket list. And also, if I didn't move, I wouldn't have met the love of my life and wouldn't have had Kaelyn. The challenge is probably being homesick in the first few years and had a hard time making good, loyal friends. But that does take a while anyway. I don't consider this to be my permanent home though. Me and Patrick talked before that we want to move somewhere else like Australia (but this was way before we had Kaelyn). I'd still want to live somewhere in Europe but that will only happen if I get rich.

Weird question, I guess. Is it true that there are more cows than humans in New Zealand? I'm curious!! I've read that somewhere. LOL.

LOL! But yes it is true. There are about 4 million + people and the rest are cows and sheep which is around 60 million. I just heard that somewhere, lol. Whenever we travel and pass by fields or mountains, you can see that there really a lot of them.

What's the most beautiful place you've visited so far in New Zealand? Any photos?

It's probably Auckland. Compared to where live, there are more beautiful parks and recreational area to go to. Although nothing beats Queenstown but I haven't been there.

Mt Eden, Auckland, New Zealand

I love your daughter's name. Why and how did you choose that name for her?

Thank you!! I wasn't the one who came up with her name though. Her second name, Rylai, is from a character of a game that my partner plays. He chose that one and we were just looking for a first name that suits it. We ended up searching online and found Kaelyn to be the best first name.

How did motherhood change you as a person?

It changed my views on a lot of things for sure and it made me appreciate my mother more. I became more adult and all my decisions are based on whether it would be good for my daughter and family or not.

What have you crossed off from your bucket list so far? What's next?

Definitely Justin Timberlake's concert (posting about it in the coming week). I've been wanting to see him perform live for a very long time and it was an amazing experience. I'd pay to watch his concert again. The next would be the sky jump. I'm hoping to be able to do that the next time we go to Auckland.

Do you think you can completely go offline for a week? A month?

HAHAHAHA! I just laughed after reading this because to be honest, I probably can't do it. This has already happened when we went away for new year a few years back. The place we stayed in didn't have WiFi or even cell reception.It was almost a week and I almost went crazy. Good thing we had board games to keep our head from boredom. I used to be able to do it but now, I don't know what I'd do without it. Probably not a very good thing.

What quote has the greatest impact in your life?

"Do unto others what you want others to do unto you" - I'm not sure who was this from but I've heard this since when I was young and I'm trying my best to be nice to everyone I meet.

What do you love most about blogging? What do you hate most?

The thing I love the most is I can express myself without anyone judging me (hopefully). I also love the supportive community and friends that I have made over the year since I started blogging.

What lovely questions Rea. It took me a while to answer it but that isn't the reason why this is late (LOL). Our past weekend have been quite busy and all that but better late than never. Make sure you go to Rea's blog and check out what she answered on my questions.