my First blog

I'm not too sure where 2007 went, it all seems a blur. It just crept up on us didn't it? Another New Year's Eve is upon us. 2008 will kick ass, but 2007 was great all the same. I started 2007 an engaged woman, and I start the new year still an engaged woman, with 6 months left to our wedding. Now the real planning can begin, in between TVCs. It will be a very busy first three months of the year for me. I end 2007 with jelly fish stings and bites on my leg, but I bring in 2008 memories of a great roadtrip with my family and Reg to Boracay. All my favorite people in my favorite place. Makes the jelly fish stings and (in my opinion) ugly sea bites worth it. 2007 holidays are also the last holidays I spend as, officially, a single girl. I know this probably makes my family, most especially my mom, a little sentimental. But I refuse to make it sentimental. I think of it as a nice new beginning, with new additions to the family. :) It's been a nice holiday. And i don't th...

In the great tradition of most christmas parties - all three big christmas parties we attended this year were costume parties. First - the Publicis-Manila Le Noel En Rouge had us all in costumes, dancing to four songs from the movie. Can you say full production number? Have no pictures from the actual night, but I'll describe what happened to be my costume - that is, a one-piece, bodysuit with gold stars and beads and what-have-you hanging down from it and fishnet stockings and gloves. And high heels. That was it. :p Maybe I'll edit this when I get the photos from the actual night. :p (However, it should be up in my multiply tho, once I get the photos) Second - GASSO's Warlapalooza! World War II was such an inspired idea for a theme. And talk about career!! Gasso's contest for best costume is getting tougher as the years go by. Here are our costumes for the night: Yes, Rap came as an atomic bomb and I came as Rosie the Riveter (search the net! haha!) but this is the Chr...

Publicis Christmas Party tonight. Stuff in to-do list. But no one here to help me tick them off. Oh well, hello work come new year na lang. :p Anyway, we have a technical dry run at about 12:30. I dunno if i'm on "performance level" considering that this is a competition but let's see later. Right now, all i want to do is curl up and sleep. sigh. Anyway, later should be fun. I hope we win! hahahaha! :D

And so for the second time in five days, my iPhone's sms isn't working again. It received a weird-assed text both times from something called "p". And even if i ignore the message, it still affects my whole sms system because it's already in it. So later tonight, I again have to sync. The only good thing about this is that the syncing with my mac makes everything so much easier but i'd really just rather avoid this altogether. Does anyone know how this can be stopped??? some anti virus crap or something?? Grrr....

Yes, brighter note, despite the fact that the work keeps piling up with no end in sight, the past few days have been a flurry of rehearsals. And despite the crazy scheduling, the late nights and the even later nights trying to keep with present wrapping, it has actually been enjoyable. I've always enjoyed dance practices anyway. One of my weird simple pleasures in life is to learn a dance and master it. And then perform it. haha, what can i say, the girl likes to dance. Not more than once I have wished that instead of spending time learning to play the piano, maybe I should have insisted being trained for a form of dance instead. oh well. Some say that it's never really too late. Then again, I have a crazy schedule so I should've done it earlier. Again, oh well. But it's ok. Just as long as I can keep dancing. :) -==- Today is THE busiest week. There are christmas parties starting on thursday and going on all the way till Christmas. I still have my fingers crossed very ...

Funny isn't it. That sometimes it is those who profess very loudly in words and with overt actions to be more religious than most can sometimes be worse than the ones who don't go to mass every week. Sometimes they turn out to be more self-righteous than most, who are have more malice in their hearts. At minsan, sila din ang mga putang inang makakapal ang mukha na dapat rerespetuhin mo pero ang gusto mo lang gawin ay murahin ang pagmumukha nila. Putang ina nyo. [no i don't want to talk about it. next time na lang.]

... going to the doctor's office and finding a sign on the door that says "please wait". Lo and behold, about an hour or so after, I'm still waiting. When lunchtime hit, I left. After all, I was only on leave until lunch! Grrr. Now i have to try again on Friday because I really really need to see my freaking cardiologist! :p -==- ... this stupid, annoying song that keeps getting played in radio stations at the moment. It has no title, DJs don't introduce it and it's always part of a commercial break. I am pretty sure it's some annoyingly long song for some brand. See, I usually don't mind right? But this one is downright fucking annoying!!! It has this strange Indian beat coupled with a super lousy house mix (the ones you typically hear on badly mixed songs sold really cheaply in department store record shops) and this stupid guy trying to sing Indian-style. AARRRGGGHHHH!!! Play it on the fucking WRRs or what-have-you but leave them out of the stations...

Thursday night, we drove up to Tagaytay to attend Lala and Karl's wedding reception. Yes, just their wedding reception because they had their civil ceremony at home. :) Their wedding reception was at lovely Sonya's Garden. I'm not too sure which area we were in, but it was decorated really nicely (i totally loved it, it was all soft and nice). The food was great (you wouldn't believe how much bread I ate, ohmigoodness). The weather was absolutely nice and cold and windy (altho it did get a little warm in the venue we were in, but it must have been because we were jumping around). The Ronnies played and since the couple are 80s babies, it was a whole load of nice 80s music. Haha! i have to admit, being around people who grew up in the 80s makes you appreciate 80s songs a whole lot more. At least, the ones I remember and actually know. Get too new wave-y on me and I'm lost na. haha! :) What really surprised me though, was that there didn't seem to be a lot of alc...

Wow. That was really quick. I can still remember thinking that December 2007 was still a long way off and yet here it is. Seven months to go today. I can also still remember saying and thinking that July 2008 was still a year and a half away. Where'd this year go? It's amazing, really. How fast it went. Sometimes we take a look at what's happened and think it happened last year and not during the first half of the year. That's how the first half of the year feels - a blur and very far away. Tsk tsk. But it's exciting too. I love December. I love the craziness of Christmas, of christmas shopping, of juggling christmas party schedules. If only work didn't have to get in the way, but it does. :p But since it's christmas, you tend to be a little easier on things. But also more featherbrained. In the cold windy weather at night (and sometimes during the day), how can you concentrate on work? :p sigh. Anyway. December. Here come the christmas carols every hour! :D

For the first time in my life, I was given a curfew! Well, the whole of metro manila and south and central luzon that is. :p You could almost hear the cries of protest. After all, it was the start of a long weekend and they won't let us drink?? Damn you, rebels! :p haha As I said last night, if the curfew keeps going, I guess that's when people will really take to the streets. Added by some really great friends: yes, with wineglasses in one hand and yosi on the other, protesting their right to "gimik". ahahahaha! :) And so I was home before 12. Fuck that man. It better not be on today. :p

You know that this girl is from Mindanao when she thinks army tanks are "cool-looking" when she spots two of them seemingly waiting for their cue over at the shell station at mckinley. god. when will the stupid cycle ever stop? :p -==- and my biggest concern out of all this is - they wrecked "our" freaking hotel!! :p

Sometimes I'm extremely happy the other times, sad. In one instance, extremely angry. And then excited the next. My life is one big rollercoaster ride. -==- In the midst of sometimes very sudden moodswings, today is a very very good day. And I can't explain exactly why. It just is. :) The gem of the week. Maybe it's cos the week is almost over? Whatever it is, it's a damn, good day. :)

While waiting for my grilled chicken sandwich in Delifrance at AIM earlier, I started thinking of What Ifs for lack of anything else to do. Well it was more what-if-certain-things-didn't-happen-what-would-life-be-like-now? I started to feel really sad. So I stopped the stupid exercise and started to remember what did happen instead. It brought back the smile on my face. I realise, I haven't thought about What If in a long time. In fact, if it weren't for Neil Gaiman, I wouldn't remember What Ifs at all. The nice thing now though, is with a big What If already come true, I can now think of What Ifs without some semblance of heartache or sadness or longing. Now I can go back to thinking of What Ifs in its pure form - purely for imagination only. And I always have fun with that. :)

i always feel a little better. i won't be mad na. determined na lang.

none of you are here, how can you judge by a mere day???? arrrgggghh. I AM ANGRY. Because it makes it sound like I didn't make any effort when all I did was make an effort! you can ask everyone, anyone! Arrggghhhh!!!!! you're not here, how do you know????

I never realised that high school had that much of an impact in my life until I sat in Neil Gaiman's talk. That british accent enveloped me in a strange sort of blanket of comfort. Coupled with that cold venue, which was almost as cold as our classrooms back at BIS, I half-expected to walk out and ride a Blue Bird bus home. hahaha! -==- It's always more interesting to watch what's already been done than to listen to what can be done. :p -==- My luck may be changing (i almost won P75thou!! sigh), but I also may have been sent bad vibes from somewhere else. haha! Yes, THIS one is particularly VERY random. -==- Like everywhere else, everyone has their own little cliques. I'm glad I had friends there. But I missed some very badly! It would have been camwhore-crazier if they were there. :) -==- What was really crazy about the parties were the BARS. the fight for the free drinks. the endless waiting. But hell, it was fun! Anna's Marlboro event kicked some pretty major ass...

I've said it before, I say it now. EVERYTHING is mind-stoppingly PERFECT. :)

Yesterday, as i was having lunch with Glads and Guia, they asked about the "next steps" for the wedding (grabe, we sound like we're talking about a project or something, haha). Anyway, I said something like, "it's going" because well, to be honest, we haven't really done actual stuff for the wedding nor am I getting much feedback from my planner about anything about the wedding. Then the lunch cruised along and I didn't really think of that anymore. During dinner, I mentioned it to Reg and he said that it was ok since we still have time and all and our planner is steadily cruising along so that means pretty good news (that we're still making good time). So dinner went and all was forgotten. Until today. Lots of things led up to it actually: reading two-wedding related blogs (one by a good friend, and another by the fiancée of a friend's brother), looking at wedding photos of a friend's friend, making a countdown gadget for my blog (see ri...

Am in the midst of a lifestyle change. The post about the high cholesterol? Well, it's a little more serious than I still believe it is (but then everyone around me takes it very seriously. Am probably just still in my "surreal moment"). Anyway, I went to the doctor (i was sent to a cardiologist!) and after looking at my test results, concluded that yes, it is extremely high (shet, extremely high pala tlga) and prescribed me Crestor for the next 30days and told me to change my diet. And then I'm up for one of those dreaded blood tests again on the first week of December. So basically, what they're trying to see is if they can make my cholesterol count go down through the medicine and hopefully maintain it with just changes in my diet and definitely more exercise (yes, I can't make excuses anymore). As I'm too young (sigh. i still can't believe I have this), everyone prefers I don't start taking maintenance medicine just yet (my dad takes the same m...

But it was more like listening, really. We got the tickets for free at almost the last minute. All I really saw were heads, the screens were too small and at some bits, when the heads in front of me moved, i caught sight of an ant-sized Beyonce. Nevertheless, she sounded great live. :)

So today I got the results of my blood chemistry exam from our APE. Anyway, I was shocked to see my cholesterol and LDL levels were beyond the normal range indicated in the results. So the result of that is: 1. I've been asked by my dad to see the doctor (yes, it's possibly that bad) and most importantly, 2. I now have more reason not to go off and cheat on my diet. Well at least, in the end, i get to be healthier and thinner. Goddamn, I feel old! hahahaha :p

nothing beats sitting around doing nothing, surrounded by alcohol, good food (junk or not) and friends and then coming home to early morning lights. that being said, the four-day weekend was basically such, but surprisingly am not too tired. in fact, i'm quite sad that the holiday is about to end.

this and its twin kept us preoccupied for the most of today. tee-hee. :)

Last night, i had a fleeting thought. Some of the best moments in my life seem to happen during the simplest moments. :)

I waited a bit to write about this, because I didn't want to come off sounding like a brat too much. I'm trying to be an adult most of the time right now (bwahhahaha, i hope you sense the sarcasm). Anyway, we were hoping to fly to jakarta for the long holiday that's coming up. Imagine. Three-day weekend this weekend, and four day long-weekend next. There are two useless days in the middle of the week that we can take leaves and fly to Jakarta. Viola. One week holiday. But no. First, I forgot about this holiday thus I neglected to plan. Second, my boss already set her trip for the same number of days. Third, no one could confirm our schedules for the 30th to the 31st. So by the time I determined what may happen for that week, all the nice flights in Cebu Pacific were gone. Just plain gone. :( Add to that, we were still on waitlist for a flight back from Jakarta on Singapore Airlines. So I conceded. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. So we're spending the long holiday here....

but I really really miss him. Even tho I was with him earlier. And even though I will see him tomorrow. Right now, all I want is a hug and all will be right with the world. :)

I hate it when bad things like that bombing last Friday happen. I mean, who doesn't? But come on, as i've said before, when someone wants to prove a point, please let's just make sure you only affect yourself and not those innocent others who just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. You'll find it funny, but I am in somehow in mourning for Glorietta. I know it's a mall, but give me a break. It's also sort of a second home. It's another comfort zone. I have spent a lot of time and energy in Glorietta. Right now, it still feels a little strange not to go there, but I am still scared to go there. :p And with that fire yesterday, I mean, damn. Ang malas naman Sigh.

So it's the annual physical exam right now. After totally skipping it last year, I thought I'd be a good girl and do it this year. So I went earlier today and almost regretted it. Really tho, I have no real fear of needles or injections. When I was a kid, my severe house dust allergies (how unfortunate to be allergic to something that's always present) had to be treated by injections every week which my mom did at home. So after a while, I was desensitized to the whole injection-needles thing. That is, until I went for the pre-employment check for Citibank (and how unfortunate that I went through this torture when I didn't even push through, haha). I never had problems with blood tests, but that particular one was painful. It was established about a year or so before that I had thin veins, thus am unable to give or donate blood (the thicker needles needed for that will just collapse and give me lots of pain and very bad bruises). I never thought it'd cause a problem...

I can't quite figure out my current state of mind. I feel like I'm suspended somewhere. Like, my life only moves once I am out of the office but while I'm here it seems to stop. Then all I look forward to is 630pm - official log out time. I wonder what happened. I remember being okay exactly where I am at work in recent memory. I think I mentioned to Reg that it must have had something to do with being psyched to leave and then changing my mind. So now i'm readjusting. Slowly fitting myself back into the peg that was made for me, after having tried to rise out of it. Like all things that change, it passes. This i know for a fact. Just that with the last holiday and the upcoming long one, it's making the adjustment a little harder. -==- I'm hoping to go home this long holiday. I'm currently mentally kicking myself for forgetting about the holiday and not thinking of travelling sooner. Now i've been beaten when it comes to leaves and my going home now prec...

It was tiring. My feet hurt (still) like a mother. I need a foot massage. Some parts of Macau were really fun. Highlight: Skywalking at Macau Tower. Should've sky-jumped as well. Found good Chinese food at the basement of Lane Crawford. finally. we didn't just eat in mcdo. H&M. Ikea (must remember to order the shoe cabinet we found). Central. Causeway Bay. The Midlands escalator. Ben & Jerry's. at 7-11: Beer? Water? Beer? Water? sige na nga, water na lang. hahahaha Pictures. Pictures. Thank god for Bundi's tripod and Patrick forever taking photos of us. hahahaha Anyway, that was fun. Despite some things. Fun. and Reg was there!! wohoo :) Now it's back to reality. But really, it's more like back to Aysee (that's where we ate for lunch today, yummy!) and to uploading photos. I'm ready to go home now. :)

Me. The one always thirsting for travel finally gets her wish. Hong Kong tomorrow baby. Back next week. :) Now if only the wished-for trip back home during the long halloween break comes true. but no, flights won't cooperate. oh well. :) well, one out of two is good enough for me!

Yes, there was no holiday, but I was on long weekend anyway. The perk of working last Saturday was that I was entitled to a recovery leave. Having only five days to avail it, I took it last friday. Not that I didn't some work, I had to release an FA. :p Anyway, Reg was able to take a leave too, so we started our weekend early. Which was great, because he was supposed to work yesterday. Supposed to, because his shoot got cancelled! (yay!) So Friday was gym, Sta. Clara (yay! we made it!) and Shangrila where we ate at C2. Later that night, we headed to Ponti where Bede's gig finally pushed through and got drunk with the biatches and Paolo. Well, not so drunk. I focused on eating because we ate dinner so early that by the time we got to Ponti, I was famished. :) I didn't know that Ponti had an Illusion-like drink in their menu. It was pretty good! Saturday found us doing a whole load of errands, including getting the condo cleaned. We also finally got some new DVDs! Not like we...

Reggie was 7 and I was four!! :) Yes, we were both fat asses as kids. hahaha :) So can you imagine now? Our kids will mostly likely be fat as children too! :D And they'll also either be: 1. Kikay 2. Camwhore 3. Stubborn 4. Hot-tempered 5. Strong-willed 6. Smart-asses (ie. Pilosopo) hahahaha :D

I've been waiting for the end of the week since Monday started, and I turned on my computer and found a hated email of a work schedule for saturday (yes, tomorrow). Call me a brat, but I value my weekends, especially when all I do is look forward to them because it means being free - from waiting, from OT, from clients. This saturday though, I get to spend 9-5 with some of them. The consolation is, at least it's only from 9 to 5. fuck me, pa rin. sigh. I admit, I did not start this week out right. I was mad for the better part of monday, out of it on tuesday and for the rest of the week i've felt like i've just been going through the motions of work. I don't know how I can say this but I am fucking tired of the shit called work. It must be that time of the year - it is almost october. I'm always thirsting for a change of scene, even for a few days, come october. i've never really figured out why that is so. My mind is going on strike, even stubbornly refus...

I sometimes have moments where I feel like so many things are happening. I don't know if this is a function of my multitasking self (it must be), but man, sometimes things just keep happening. Other times, I have this feeling that the world just keeps going while i'm stuck in one place. The beat just keeps going. Of course, the world keeps turning. Anyway, it makes me all nostalgic because time just keeps zooming by. How are you supposed to stop and smell the roses and appreciate moments when moments are gone in a blink of an eye? Maybe the trick is to breathe deeply. haha -==- I have momentarily forgotten and now remembered that there's a new book waiting for me at home. It's been waiting for me since Saturday. Yes, Saturday! :p It's a book called Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (part one of a trilogy) and I picked it up because it's supposedly about a vampire and love and loving a vampire. I've always been fascinated by vampires, but I've never read Dracul...

right now, i hate the word busy. and i hate feeling like a child. oh well.

I feel this small

Industry parties are almost always fun, and Provill's victory party last night is no exception. True open bar, great music - this is why you're production house of the year! yeah! haha (no connection at all, i know). Had loads of fun. If my feet hadn't given up on me, I would've kept on dancing. Hmm.. that makes it three times within the week that i've been able to dance. The Lord is good. hehehe :) At least I can forget about moodswings, thoughts and being sad in the middle of the dancefloor. Welcome break. :) Now I have a heavy head. Maybe I should've skipped work today. Seems like a lot of people have. Or just massively late. haha! -==- I've decided that in light of the coming big changes in my life and the preparations for it, I shouldn't shake my comfort zone too much just yet. That being said, I'm not resiging. I almost did. :) -==- Weekend na. Fall out Boy later. Too bad he has a shoot tomorrow, it would've been a perfect weekend. :p

Gotta start weighing things now :) Thank you Lord, for answered requests. :)

If you find me sweating on a dancefloor more than I usually do at the gym, it means i've found my own little version of heaven here on earth. That being said, Warehouse 135's Remembering Planet Mars event last Saturday with Elmer Dado kicked major ass. For a girl who missed out on the heydays of Mars (first, too young. second, was not even living in this country at all), I relished in being able to dance to music I've heard and has had me wiggling in my seat. haha :) Plus the fact that Elmer Dado played a lot of classics! Super super saya! Also had fun dancing with my asawa (yes! he danced with me! wohoo), who was probably reliving memories of his Mars days. hahahaha :) Thanks to Julette for making us reserve the date and making sure we'll be there. After the longest time, I found myself dressed up on a Saturday night and out at a club. It's been ages. And i'm glad that the one time we did go, it wasn't the stand-around-holding-a-drink kind of thing. It was ...

1. I am surrounded by clichés come to life. in fact, I may even be one. 2. I have come a very long way. 3. My anger sometimes scares me. 4. Seems like most of our life is spent waiting. Like what i'm doing now. Just plain waiting. 5. I desperately want my weekend to please start.

I am a chatter. I'm on YM. but I hardly ever use anything else on it. Especially my webcam. I just can't be bothered. But today I caught one my best friends online (whom I saw again for the first time after 5-6 years last year in Canada where he now lives) and we both turned on our cams. Haha! I forget how funny webcam is. I even got to show him my ring. I don't know when I'll be back in Canada nor when he'll be back here so YM and webcams are the next best thing. Thank God Ian's finally back online! haha! Let's see na lang how often we can catch each other. okay, the blurry picture on the left is our pathetic attempt to camwhore. haha

I admit. I'm a watch freak. Right now, this lovely Philip Stein has had my heart in its grasp. I don't have a white watch (excuse, excuse!) and even before I found out that white watches are "of the moment", i have already fallen in love with white, large watches. Oh how I want this. It's gorgeous. It'll look great on my wrist, I'm very sure. haha. But oh well. How fucking expensive. :p

Yesterday, as we were trying to narrow down target markets for research, everyone got into the discussion of moving lifestages and how a 28yo first-time mom probably has the same mindset as that of a 38yo first-time mom. How these would have moved from the "single" state of mind to one where there is no more or minimal selfishness and where life is seen differently because of different/added priorities. In the course of listening, I realised. I realised I only have 10 months left to be truly selfish. Initially, I expected to be a little sad at the thought. But I'm surprisingly not. I'm actually excited. I'm looking forward to it. Tama na siguro muna ang selfishness. I think I milked that for all its worth the past 25 years. :D Of course, on the days I feel like being selfish (I am only human, after all), I should remember to look back at this. :D

A few minutes after the post below was posted and after a few ym exchanges with Gladys, my phone did one better than texting. It rang. hmm. Maybe i should write things more often. :)

let my phone ring. If not a call, then let a text message go through. :p

because of a series of events, i hd about four hours sleep each night this whole week. thus, it has made me very tired and caused me to miss: 1. Another one of Crizel's gigs in Chef and Brewers. With the barkada there, including Kris and Joe. Rap was OT, and by the time he ended, i was ready to crash. :p 2. A nice lineup of gigs at Saguijo that included Sinosikat (who i've been wanting to catch for the longest time). Due to the lack of sleep, i ended with a headache and slept most of the night. See, the thing about being so tired during the week is that you can't milk your weekends for all they're worth. Yes, i realise that you're meant to rest during the weekend but you're also meant to make the most out of it too. I hope this week is better, because there's a nice lineup of gimiks for the end of the week. I look forward to it. I have no plans of ditching friends again. I hate it. :p -==- I'm also quite emotionally tired. This week, i've swung from ...

it's damn hard to work for someone you don't respect nor trust. no, don't read into that wrong. it's NO ONE from my agency. and that is all that i will say about it. -==- being given another road to take is very interesting. i look forward to walking a bit more and seeing a bit of what's out there. i hope it doesn't disappoint. :)

this has been a pretty bad day, if only emotionally. brought on by stupidity and lack of professionalism. but i don't want to talk about that. the day is almost over. bad day and thoughts aside, i still have a lot to thank God for, one of which is this weirdly interesting sight I saw while walking to lunch today (thanks to my officemates who pointed it out): isn't that nice? can someone explain how this happens to the sun? I'd sure like to have a rainbow around me today, too. Not that i'm the sun or anything... haha. I just mean, i want my rainbow of color too.

Random texts can make an otherwise crappy day to an infinitely much better one. :)

The weekend was off-the-hook great. Can't explain. :) I had an awesome time. Why do long weekends have to end anyway? Oh yeah, so we can earn more money to fund more long weekends. ahahah :) ahaha, i should have been standing more to the center huh? :D

If you happen to be in Red Box last night and thought you heard extremely loud voices (because the rooms were supposed to be closed anyway) and thought that was weird, don't. It was just us, with our door wide open because the room we were in was too small to hold BIG TALENTS and bigger personalities. Hehe. :) In fact, I prefer to think it was precisely because of the big talents found in the group last night why we were given a much, much larger room for free rather than because we were too loud. :D Oh and what fun did we have in that larger room! Julette and I turned the bar into a ledge! We were up on the sofas dancing and singing loudly to (well, by that time it was) Spice Girls, Queen and Ige's Rage Against the Machine. Which in fact, is the reason why my neck hurts bloody much right now. I had fun headbanging. I hadn't done that in ages! And with this longer hair, it is so much more fun! haha! Anyway, Waya's suprise birthday party was a blast. Had a bloody fantast...

Sometime early this year, I was all in a huff because the only supplier for one of the things we'd like for the wedding was already booked for our date. We asked our wedding planner a few months ago to try and look for another supplier, but she hasn't had much luck. Well, well. God's really really cool. Last weekend, it was given to us. As in, we have what we want for the wedding and for FREE. I love nice surprises :)

(paraphrased from Evan Almighty. "Paraphrased" because I'm not too sure if i remember it word for word) "When a person prays for patience, what does God do? He creates opportunities for the person to be patient. When a person prays for courage, what does He do? He creates opportunities for the person to be courageous." Lovely, lovely. I guess, deep in my heart, this is what I've always known. It makes sense after all - we have a God who teaches. It makes sense that He would create opportunities instead of giving outright. It's how we will learn. I realised, not everything given to me was given outright. Instead, after a series of events, that's when the thing I prayed for landed in my lap. I had to go through a lot of things first. Sometimes the road is easy, sometimes it's very very hard. But in the end, I am a better person for it. Lovely, how that works out.

Last Saturday, the barkada thought of something else to do, so we headed on over to Timog to hang out at Laffline . Yes, you got it, kabaklaan na during the week, kabaklaan pa rin during the weekend! haha :) But still, super laughtrip. It was like watching a variety show live, with all the music and the singing. But with todo murahan. We manage to catch (lucky us?? haha) Ethel Booba and Pooh. They were actually really funny (yes, i was skeptical at first). I especially liked Ethel's partner, Polo, who kept ragging on the mayabang amboy dude in the audience na sobrang feeling. Nakakaasar sya! So I totally appreciated all the ragging. haha :D Reg and I liked Pooh though, he was so pa-simple. After all the over-the-top (but hella funny) skits we went through, it was a nice change. :) What stood out most was that it was so amazing, how all of them had such real talent - whether it be singing or just plain comedic timing. I mean, I had no idea that Ethel Booba could actually sing, an...

A week or so ago, we got emailed invites to Pau's third solo exhibit at Blanc. We marked it on our calendars and eagerly looked forward to it. :) hehe. Last night, the rain thankfully let up enough to let us head back out to Crown Tower in Dela Costa. The paintings were great. Pau is uber-talented, but then he doesn't need to be told that already. It's just a fact of life. :D Pau's work is very distinctive, the wolf on the picture here is usually central to his work. Okay... and that's about all that I'm going to say about his work because I am no art expert - i just know how to appreciate. And by appreciate, I mean saying, "I love it", "I like it" or "Erm, I don't..." hahaha :) Reg and I were looking over at the stuff, trying to imagine having a Vinluan on a wall in our future home (wherever it may be, haha). We settled in deciding that we'll most likely get something commissioned. Naks, sana by that time, we can afford ...

After extreme heat, drought, threats of no electricity and other dire things brought about by the lack of rain - it has finally rained. In fact, it hasn't stopped raining at all. It's funny, because for the first time, people are actually conflicted about what they think about the rain. Case in point, one saleswoman in Zara was overheard saying last night, "naku, ang hirap naman umuwi nito, umuulan. pero, ok na din, kelangan natin ang ulan eh. pero ang hirap lang tlga." Haha. I feel the same way. I've never been a rain person. Rain makes the trip home from a measly 30-40mins to a good two hours one. Rain means wet pants. Rain means bigger chances of slipping on the floor and potentially hurting myself, my ass AND my pride. Rain means wet umbrellas, which mean wet car interiors. Oh, and before you can get the car wet with your umbrella, you first have to hurdle trying to get in the car without getting yourself too wet, without other cars hitting your car's door...

Right. I know I said I'll never get into it but, see, the thing is - Facebook's got my middle and high school friends in it. That's right. BIS people. :) Fun fun fun.

After God-only-really-knows how long, Publicis has finally moved out of its condo-like offices into an actual office building. So goodbye, Zaragoza, Hello, Herco! :) We now have elevators that are quick, whose buttons actually light up when you press them, that doesn't skip your floor AND stops level at the floor (goodbye potential patid accidents). Yesterday I spent a good 40 minutes taking apart my keyboard and cleaning out the keys one by one (perils of a Mac white keyboard). I also spent yesterday bored out of my brains because our network was down. I'm loving the move. I've always loved moving anyway. Moving = Fresh Start. I like the new areas, I think i even like the new building. Now all we gotta see is if this building is as lucky as Zaragoza apparently is. :)

And so it was, for Julia's birthday party at, get this, the Austin Powers Room in Victoria Court, Pasig. Yes, you read right. Victoria Court. haha. Turns out, their Austin Powers room is actually for parties! Complete with a disco ball. A cage (all those bars made dancing reallllyyyy interesting! bwehe). A jacuzzi that everyone took pictures in. A "make out" spot that everyone took pictures in as well. There were good food, lots of beer and wine and pretty good music, thanks to our CDs! It was fantastic. I had loads of spankin' good time. We had a gazillion pictures, I can't wait to see them all. To Julia and her fab family, thanks for an awesome night! haha! (yes, her family was there too!)

Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex (CWC). Next year, hopefully. Sometime after the wedding is done, and I can again wear bikinis and have tanlines with no care in the world. Then we can hit CWC and I can finally try wakeboarding. yeah! :) For now tho, my bikinis are all packed in my closet, resting for a while. Must let the tanlines from April and June fade. Sigh. No more beach for me this year. Unless of course, I go in a long-sleeved turtleneck, as Rina laughingly suggested. haha! :) ah well. :) all good. bawi next year! photo credits: from www.camsurwatersportscomplex.com

The other night, I finally got around to cleaning out my closet. Sometime around 12 midnight. I don't know why I was compelled. After days of mom bugging me to clean out my closet, I suddenly felt like it the other night. So that's we did. We went through everything. I threw out loads of stuff. And I mean, LOADS. My sisters got shirts off me. Some other lucky duck will most likely pick up shirts that are practically brand new - some even had tags on them. As I went through everything, I thought that it seemed that every article of clothing i was dumping had a bunch of memories attached to them. How one particular shirt I wore through a particularly bad day - that it was so bad, all the details still stand out. How one tiny shirt I used to be able to wear because I was thinner then (those realizations i hate, haha). How, yeah, that's right, I used to wear longer skirts and that particular one, i ripped the slit in class. haha! Outfits I wore through happy memories still hold...

"Time" can be such a bitch. We spend moments counting how many hours and minutes we spend doing things (think timesheets). We spend moments watching it pass by while waiting for something and anything. Anyway, "moments" already mean "time" doesn't it? And in life, there are lots of "moments". Time is important. While we like to say that we are independent creatures and are ruled by no one, we are ruled by Time. Time dictates where we should be, what we should be and sometimes, how we are feeling. I don't know if I should be feeling the way I feel. All because of of that little thing called time. Actually, truth be told, I don't quite have the right to feel or to complain about time at all. It can't be helped that time needs to be spent on other, more important things. Things that spell duty and responsibility. It can't be helped that the hours that you can use in a day need to be allocated according to what needs more attentio...

by Cirilo Bautista (thanks again, to Jay and Cathy's blog) Lovers learn soon enough the risky geography of love, since the craft of loving survives to interpret the intrigues of heartaches, the joy that will not forget. Oceans, dark mountains and green, rivers with fishes, rivers empty as dreams– they fill the spaces of lovers’ maps, setting seduction and terrible traps. The journey taxes the heart and sex, as it should, for sun may burn grasses as it colors the woods, but true love travels and is blind to signals and hazards that stay the mind, O no, it pushes on, it moves on, it never weeps, and pushing on, moving on, increases, and keeps. the other line mentioned two posts down is part of a different poem altogether, called Ars Poetica, according to jayandcathy's blog.

Currently, there is a controversy brewing in the community my family is part of. I've no knowledge of full details nor will I pretend to know. What I have are overheard statements and forwarded emails. But this 1 thing I know to be true. Why is a community, who's apparent center is the Lord, acting very human? I know it is their very nature, but for a community to espouse living in the Lord's image and likeness, it is surely showing the world the opposite. Say goodbye to credibility. If the community's inspiration is the Lord, then why are power, pride and division ruling? Shouldn't we opt for humility? Even as humans, we are capable of being humble. I think it is hypocrisy to put in quotes from the bible to prove points that will serve a selfish purpose. I think it is hypocrisy to extol all to pray to God to further their own means. Most of all, I think it is hypocrisy to be putting "God Bless You" at the end of a series of paragraphs meant to answer spit...

by Angela Manalang-Gloria (thanks very much to Cathy, Jay's fianceé, who posted this in their wedding blog . This is such a beautiful poem, I had to copy.) You are my earth and all that earth implies: The gravity that ballasts me in space, The air I breathe, the land that stills my cries For food and shelter against devouring days. You are the earth whose orbit marks my way And sets my north and south, my east and west, You are the final, elemental clay The driven heart must turn to for its rest. If in your arms that hold me now so near I lift my keening thoughts to another one, As trees long rooted to the earth uprear Their quickening leaves and flowers to the sun, You who are earth, O never doubt that I Need you no less because I need the sky! -==- They also mentioned in their blog a poem by Dr. Cirilo Bautista called "Lovers Learn" but they only quoted a few specific lines: “true love travels and is blind to signals and hazards that stay the mind, O no, it pushes on, ...

Sometimes you really get more than you bargained for. I asked for a semi-interesting day, I got more than semi-interesting. It was downright... strange. It was strange because at one point I was all "eh?!" and the other, I was all, "awww". No, I won't make any attempt to explain. Anyway, it's nice to know that people you don't expect are also happy for you. I was touched. :) -==- Driving home with three giggling girls in the backseat meant one thing for us (apparently, we thought of the same thing during the drive) - Practice. -==- The other night, Aneka was telling me a story about how Bea, my inaanak, called her mom by her first name - Kristine. Somehow, as the name hung in the air, I thought it sounded very strange. And then I realised, it was probably only because I hadn't been called Kristine in absolute ages. I used to reserve my nickname for family. Now everyone refers to me as Kaye. I had a fleeting thought - was Kristine different from Kaye...

Woke up early today and was at Powerbooks Alabang by 9am to claim my book. I had great timing, I walked in, they handed me a book and I went straight to the cashier. It didn't take more than 2mins, max. An hour or so before, the store was apparently packed. And, well. I'm done. I didn't move much today, had my nose buried in the book. I won't say much, since everyone's probably still reading it but i'm allowed to express opinion right? I. LOVE. IT. My sister's currently reading it now. I think I'll have another go after she's done. haha. :)

Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan. Yes, I have reserved a copy, and did it last February. And yes, I am (understatement this) feverishly excited to get my hands on my book this Saturday. So you can imagine the agony (such strong words for a book!) to see these boxes used as display in bookstores. Much less to find a stack hidden from Powerbooks' window and within reach. Oh how I'd love to take a peek. But just like everyone else, I wait for my book on Saturday. :) Can't bloody wait to get me hands on my book! (BIS past resurfacing). hahahaha :D

Definition 1: From Weddings@Work The blueprints of wedding plans are drawn or made known during this occasion. The pamanhikan is often hosted by the bride's family as the groom and his folks visit them to formally ask their daughter’s hand in marriage and discuss plans for the upcoming wedding over lunch or dinner. This can be an uneasy situation if it's the first time for both parties to meet. The soon-to-weds may feel a little awkward (nervous even) seeing and listening to their parents consult each other on matters like their wedding budget, guest list and the like. It is customary that the visiting family bring a gift (often, the best home-cooked specialty of the groom's mom) for the hosts. Others may opt to hold the meeting on neutral grounds (a restaurant is a likely choice) or invite a mutual acquaintance to the gathering and help ease the awkwarness of the first meeting. Why do Pinoys bother with all the trouble? We all seek our parents' blessings for a happy ...

I have wishlists written down here and there. I came across one the other day and realised that maybe there is some weird underlying power to actually writing down wishlists. Without realising, I made a whole load come true. Ok fine, maybe I per se didn't do it, but a whole load did come true. Makes me wonder - do dreams just really come true on their own because it is the hand of fate that moves them? Is it because you unconsciously make them come true, written action steps or no? What is it that makes dreams come true? See, the thing is, I don't think I ever really believed in the phrase "dream come true." Maybe because I never really had a specific dream that I wanted so badly. Or maybe because those "dreams" that come true in my life weren't really "dreams" but goals. Or checks off a non-existent to-do list. That is, until a year or so ago. Until then I never really had something that I myself admitted was an actual dream. But then, there i...

I Belong To You Lenny Kravitz You are the flame in my heart You light my way in the dark You are the ultimate star You lift me from up above Your unconditional love Takes me to paradise I belong to you And you You belong to me too You make my life complete You make me feel so sweet You make me feel so divine Your soul and mind are entwined Before you I was blind But since I've opened my eyes And with you there's no disguise So I could open up my mind I always loved you from the start But I could not figure out That I had to do it everyday So I put away the fight Now I'm gonna live my life Giving you the most in every way -==- Panalangin Apo Hiking Society Panalangin ko sa habang buhay Makapiling ka makasama ka Yan ang panalangin ko At hindi papayag ang pusong ito Mawala ka sa 'king piling Mahal ko iyong dinggin Wala nang iba pang mas mahalaga Sa tamis na dulot ng pag-ibig natin dal'wa At sana nama'y makikinig ka Kapag aking sabihing minamahal kita

As the family recently acquired a timeshare at Anvaya, we all headed out there last Saturday to take a look. I can't wait for the whole place to get fixed up, because I want to stay there for a weekend! :) Okay, maybe i can't really, because I'm supposed to be letting my tan lines fade already. :D But it's so nice and peaceful. The beach looks great too, it may not be the white sands of Boracay, but at least it's not all shells and stones. Currently, the beach and the restaurant are open for daytrips, so there were other people there when we visited. My dad was convinced to get a timeshare in Anvaya because our family is forever thristing for roadtrips, and more than half the time we want to go swim somewhere and we always have a hard time choosing a place. Anvaya makes everything easier, we now know where to go. We headed back to Manila after staying there for an hour or so and had dinner at Trinoma. It looks like a pretty interesting mall, but it's just too d...

My moods seem to be greatly influenced by weather. It's been gloomy today. I've spent most of today in this weird funk. I feel as gloomy as the weather. It feels like a lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely day (as that song goes). sigh.

Photo Credits: Dino Lara , who is also our photographer Exactly a year, to the time, from today will be the coolest day ever! So. Fucking. Excited. Tee-hee. :D Finally. One year to go! :)

Because my notebook is starting to look a lil messy and disorganized :p jason magbanua - add onsite video - call back with additional details ruby confirm tomorrow's meeting rajo set meeting karla magbanua set meeting sta. clara start going saturday this week, and every first saturday till next year confirm with mom if we should still bring eggs penn confirm thurs meeting -==- start looking for other things to think about. because i've not much to do, i'm starting to think of the littlest details - majority of which i shouldn't even be thinking about yet. :p -==- steel self for possibly more work. i'm flattered, really. i hope it works, because i'm afraid my mind is going rusty. i can't even write proper sentences anymore (i think). -==- get over weird mood swings already

See, the problem with checking out wedding websites, especially if it's a wedding website of someone you actually know, is that you get this nagging feeling to fly out of your seat and do some planning of your own. My friend's brother's site is active because they'll be married in November. We have a year to go. And yes, while we're doing some stuff this month while the moms are here, I can't help but wish that I could start looking at other stuff too. Like, NOW. haha :) I'm just excited, you know? :p Since today is proving to be another really boring and steady day, the more I'm convinced that I'd like to go out and look at things. It's a good thing I don't have the car. I'd really fly out of here. :p Sigh.

I LOVED IT! :) Laughtrip! :) After a testosterone-filled Transformers (which I will watch again, mind you, haha), it was erm, kabaklaan naman the next day as we headed on over to RCBC for ZsaZsa Zaturnnah ze Muzikal! We were a few minutes late as the Gasso Corplan took a lot longer than anticipated but it was ok. I was there for the first transformation. Panalo. The whole cast was awesome, and Eula Valdez was funny. I always thought of her as this dramatic actress pero damn, magaling din pala sya mag-comedy. hehe. Watched the play with Reg (overload na raw sa kabaklaan, he said after), Julette, Kaye, Nina, Julia and Arnie. Paolo and Ige were supposed to be there as well, but got stuck in a meeting. Sayang. :p My ZsaZsa obsession started when I bought the comic book a few summers ago because out of everything in Powerbooks, it really caught my eye and held it. haha :) I even thought of watching the movie, but was too busy during the holidays to do so. THANK GOD. Because I heard that the...

one word (two? ano ba? haha) lang: PU.TANG.INA!!!!!! :D -==- i love watching movies where everyone in the cinema is on the same wavelength. such was the case last night. not only was the movie fun because it was a damn good movie but also because everyone would have the same spontaneous reactions! haha! :D I LOVED IT! REG LOVED IT! WE ALL LOVED IT! Wohoo!!! Yeah, Transformers! haha! fucking wicked man. Watch it. :D

So, as mentioned yesterday, i went back to my roots. The three places mentioned below was where i spent roughly the first four years of my life. Going back was such a trip, trying to remember things and places. I love going back to Mindanao. I forget, this girl is from Mindanao. And proud to be from the south. haha :) The cool thing about the whole weekend was Reg being with us - he got to see my roots, and we were able to tour him around and tell him bits of trivia. The rest of the family was pretty happy to share with him lots of little facts about the baby me. haha, it was great :) So here's a rundown of the trip: Cagayan De Oro We took Cebupac's 4:40am flight last Saturday to meet up with my family who flew in the day before. My dad had our Expedition shipped over to CDO, because he's been wanting to drive to Mindanao for ages now. So, as a compromise, and to avoid driving all the way from Manila, he shipped it to CDO instead. We got in at 6am, went to the hotel and to...

with dad, mom, aneka, inna, tito junjun and raprap: june 23 - cagayan de oro june 24 - davao city june 25 - midsayap, cotabato june 26 - manila so if you were looking for us last weekend, this is where we were - on the "before wedding nostalgia trip / returning to my roots / touring raprap in mindanao" trip. :D more on this later. must rest now. hella tired. hella happy. i missed mindanao something crazy. :)

it's not often that i go through a day not seeing reg. well today, after the longest time, i went through a day not seeing him at all. it's kinda... strange. haha oh well. tomorrow is finally a friday! very interesting weekend is coming up. i can't wait. :)