Welcome To My Life

Stronger Woman In Me

2009-01-31T09:25:00.002+08:00

The song in my last post is about acceptance and forgetting it all. Now, this is the song for me and to all my marekois all over the world. Ito na dapat ang kanta natin talga!!! Thanks to Doths for giving this song to me! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah

Stronger Woman
Jewel

I guess you could say I'm one of those girls
That's always been with one of those guys
You know the type
Like right now, he sleeps while I write
But it's better than crying
I'm worn out from trying
From loving a man who always makes it clear
I'm not welcome here
Just when he's hungry and frisky
or needs something cleaned
And you know what I mean

But not tonight
'Cause come the morning light, oh
I'm gonna love myself more than anyone else
Believe in me, even if someone can't see
A stronger woman in me

I'm gonna to be my own best friend
Stick with me till the end
Won't lose myself again, never, no,
'Cause there's a stronger woman,
A stronger woman in me

Light bulbs buzz,
I get up
Head to my drawer
I wish there was more
I could say
Another fairytale fades to gray
I've lived on hope like a child
Walking that mile
Faking that smile
All the while
Wishing my heart had wings

Well from now on, I'm gonna be
The kind of woman I'd want my daughter to be, oh

I'm gonna love myself more than anyone else
Believe in me, even if someone can't see
A stronger woman in me
I'm gonna be my own best friend
Stick with me till the end
Won't lose myself again, never, no
'Cause there's a stronger woman,
A stronger woman

This is me, packing up my bags
And this is me, headed for the door
And this is me, the best you ever had
I'm gonna to love myself
More than anyone else
Believe in me even if someone can't see
There's a stronger woman in me
I'm going to be my own best friend
Stick with me till the end
Won't lose myself again, no, no
'Cause there's a stronger woman
Stronger woman
There's a stronger woman,
A stronger woman in me,
Stronger woman in me...

Forget About Me

2009-01-22T23:31:00.002+08:00

Though All The Love In The World is still the theme song, this is my song for now... Sometimes I wish I could just forget some things in my life... Selective Amnesia, where art thou...

Forget About Me
Little Bit

Hmm
Whoaaa Oohhh
Yeahh

You Said It Wasn't
Gonna Be Like It Was Before
Then It Happened Again
Pushing Me Back Out The Door
Thought It Would Be For Real This Time
Love Me Forget About The Signs
So Now What Do I Do
Now, That I Know That We're Through

Wish That I Could Move On
Can't Let Go, It's Too Strong
Just Like That And Then You're Gone
Is This How You Wanted It To Be
Everything You Had To Say
Sent The Tears Right Down My Face
Now I'm Trying To Escape
The Misery
Why Don't You Love Me
The Way I Loved You
It Feels So Crazy
Cause I Dunno What I Did To You
If You're Gonna Hurt Me
Then Do It Quickly
Cause I'm Tired Of Cryin
If You Don't Wanna Stick Around
Then, Baby, Forget About Me

Too Late, Sorry
I Didn't Even Have The Chance
You Said You Were Happy
Baby, I Don't Understand
Gave You Everything You Asked For
And Was Ready To Give You A Lot More
I Would've Given The World
Right In The Palm Of Your Hand

Wish That I Could Move On
Can't Let Go, It's Too Strong
Just Like That And Then You're Gone
Is This How You Wanted It To Be
Everything You Had To Say
Sent The Tears Right Down My Face
Now I'm Trying To Escape
The Misery
Why Don't You Love Me
The Way I Loved You
It Feels So Crazy
Cause I Dunno What I Did To You
If You're Gonna Hurt Me
Then Do It Quickly
Cause I'm Tired Of Cryin
If You Don't Wanna Stick Around
Then, Baby, Forget About Me..

Boy, My Heart Was True
And That You Can't Deny
Don't Be A Fool
And Walk Away From a good life
It's Up To You
Cause Heaven Knows I've Tried
Tell Me You're Still In Love
Yeahhhh Ohh

Why Don't You Love Me
The Way I Loved You
It Feels So Crazy
Cause I Dunno What I Did To You
If You're Gonna Hurt Me
Then Do It Quickly
Cause I'm Tired Of Cryin
If You Don't Wanna Stick Around
Then, Baby, Forget About Me
Forget About Me...

A Diamond can only be scratched by another Diamond

2009-01-18T13:25:00.004+08:00

Nothing to do on this lazy Sunday, my cousin Ate Liza and I were talking about our non-existent love lives. We were asking each other ba't nga naman ganon ang takbo ng buhay namin sa love aspect.

Sinabi ko naman sa kanya ako kasi parang mas ginagamit ko ang utak ko kesa sa puso ko. Sagot naman nya, ang puso mo kasi baka Bato na.

Sabi ko naman sa kanya eh yang sayo Bakal na. Sabi nya, ang bakal natutunaw, ang sagot ko naman yung bato nabibiyak din naman.

Tapos sinabi ko sa kanya, di pala bato sa akin -- Diamond ang puso ko. It can only be scratched by another diamond also.

So I'm waiting for that other diamond to come and scratch this precious heart of mine...

Shet!!! Corny...

Ayun, nagtawanan na lang kami. Kumain na lang para pampalubag-loob.

Having pizza, roasted hotdogs and marshmallows with couzins on a very cool evening

2009-01-17T23:50:00.004+08:00

My cousins and I had another case of our food trippings.

All afternoon we were just chatting in our living room about our family and other stuff when we had the urge to eat, eat a lot.

First suggestion was to have pizza, but from S&R. I was willing to drive but I'm not gonna pay for it though. Hehehe So that was scratched. Then came suggestions for Dominos, Yellow Cab or Brooklyn deliveries so we can all share the bill. We ended up with Pizza Hut. Two pizzas for the prize of one (thanks to the Palm card).

Next, my sister wanted to have pasta, she wanted Ate Perlie to make spaghetti in an instant. Problem was, we still have to buy ingredients. But we were so lazy to go to the grocery so that was scratched also.

So we just have to make do with what we have in the house.

In the fridge, we saw that there were macaroni salad, cakes, marshmallows and some hotdogs and a few leftovers from my Mama's birhtday. So that was it! Leftover party in our garden!

We decided to roast the hotdogs and marshmallows and order pizza.

This was planned during merienda time but we ended up having it for dinner. We bought more hotdogs and marshmallows and began roasting them. My sister has this special sauce for the hotdog that is just delish! It makes the hotdog taste yum-Oh!

We all ended up chatting until midnight in the garden. It was still cold but we didn't mind 'coz we were wearing our jackets. Hehehe Plus my crazy cousins invited someone over as a surprise for me. But I knew what they were planning all along. They could never ever surprise me. I know what they were up to and they could never outsmart my crazy thinking also.

I dunno if their plan worked on me though, but the thought of it was so sweet. All I can say is.. "There is a time for everything and everything will fall into place."

Bad memory lapse

2009-01-15T22:47:00.002+08:00

Oh my God! I just forgot my Mama's Birthday. Huhuhu Gosh this is not good. Hayz...

When I was about to go to work my Mama was on the phone talking so I just went out of the house as usual, bangag and hoping I won't be late for work.

Then when I came to the office, I suddenly remembered it and said to myself that I'd be going home early 'coz it's her birthday nga pala.

But deadlines got in the way and I forgot it again.

If my sister hadn't texted me to home early and buy something for Mama I would have forgotten it again.

Hayz... got home a little late though. I didn't get to buy what was requested but I was there. Gosh, kelangan bumawi talaga ng todo-todo...

Promise to be sober... Nada!

2009-01-12T23:22:00.002+08:00

After a long day at work. Bryan invited, no, insisted to have a drink or two with me. Bwahahahahahaha ;-)

Since I got home early with not much to do, I said yeah why not. Catch up on what we did on the weekend.

We had a pitcher of this drink called Surferboy. Wow! It has kick to it after finishing a pitcher of it!

We'll bring Jhie and Nikks here next time! Cheap drink, good barbecue. Greate combo!

A little tipsy on a Beautiful Monday night! The week is looking good already!

There is a time for everything

2009-01-11T23:53:00.003+08:00

Spent the whole day with my family. It was different. I didn't end up drunk. Not that many jokes flying around. But it was fulfilling.

We had lunch at Crustasia, Rockwell Powerplant. Papa wanted to just eat at Superbowl but I told them that we need to try out new restaurants just to experience their food. Glad they agreed to it. Must-tries at Crustasia: Catfish and Green Mango Salad, Thai Shrimp Pancake and Thai Pandan Chicken. They have hella big crabs. ;-)

Isabel got cranky if she didn't get to eat also. So we all took turns entertaining her and feeding her her own lunch (squash and cerelac). No yaya needed, it was just us.

After a hefty lunch, careof my brother, as it was in celebration of my Mother's 59th Birthday and Isabel is now 9 months old, we went shopping. It was still the year-end sale so there were a lot of big discounts everywhere!

We went home to Kuya's house to drop off Isabel because we're planning to watch a movie later in the evening.

Watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with my Kuya, Shing (Kuya's wifey) and Ging. It's been a long time since I've watched a movie with my brother, as I remember it was E.T. along with my older cousins then.

The movie was curious. I salute the writer of this movie, he has a very imaginative mind in writing a story about a man that is growing backwards. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are amazing actors. The effects on this movie is to be commended. Aging the faces of these actors was amazing.

I got emotional at the latter part of the movie, though I dunno if it was mixed emotions on the story of the movie or spending the evening with them.

All The Love In The World

2009-01-10T23:19:00.003+08:00

Jhie's right. This song says it all.

Went out with a friend today, due to my cousin's insistent command. It was nice sharing stories but that's all there is to it. I dunno if it's gonna move on further. He's not my type of guy. I need adventure in my life, someone who knows want he wants and will lead the way. Someone who can command over me and not just do whatever I like kind of guy.

I'm looking for someone who will give me a fun adventure. That we both will enjoy doing. Hayz.. ang hirap naman.

In celebration of the first work week of 2009

2009-01-09T23:04:00.001+08:00

We, Bryan, Jhie and I, enjoyed a few rounds of Daiquiri and Zombie drinks at the Sidebar cafe at Ortigas.

They offer 3 rounds of each drink at only P150.00 San ka pa?! Yun nga lang, since it's a bar, it was a little loud for me. I really am getting old, loud places irritates me a little now. I just want a place where I can enjoy drinks like these and still talk and joke around with my friends without shouting at each other.

Left the plate more tipsy than my usual since I'm not driving anyway. Aaaahhhh it's fun not being the designated driver!

Drop Jhie at her fabulous condo and enjoyed cold pizza, chips and salsa at her patio, watching the city view. Wanted to continue drinking some more but I had to go home 'coz I had to drop my cousin at the airport. Teehee

Next time, Jhie, Bryan and I will learn how to make Zombie or any drinks at Jhie's condo's na lang. Bring a blender and drinks. It's a lot cheaper and we learn a new skill.

Anywayz, after coming home, I ended up sleeping 'coz of my tipsydoo and puyatdoo. So my sister had to bring our cousin to the airport. Hehehe Thanks sis for covering my lovely tipsy cute ass. ;-)

40 Year Old Wedding

2009-01-04T23:29:00.005+08:00

Instead of being in Tagaytay with friends, which got cancelled 'coz my friends had gotten sick, my Mama let us all (me, my sister and my cousins) attend a wedding that she was a Ninang of.

A 2nd cousin of mine just got married. He got married with his Highschool batchmate. They are both 40 years old and they were happy at the wedding.

I will never forget the speech of the bride, she said that when they were picking their list of Ninongs and Ninangs, the bride, Bing, wanted this certain person to be a Ninong. But Kuya Lito (our cousin), said to her, No, he cannot be our Ninong because he doesn't have the values that we have.

Whoa! Now that's what I call a very very short list of people. I was proud that my Mama got to be a Ninang at their wedding. It's not because they would give a very extravagant material gift for the couple, but a gift of what being a Ninang really is. In these times, we tend to forget the real meaning or responsibility of being a Ninong or Ninang at weddings or even at baptisms.

I'm glad I attended this wedding, it gave me hope that even at that age, Mr. Right will still come and there are still people who value good values.

Though one incident badly reminded me of my beautiful age, a cousin of mine was introducing his daughter to us and this lady was already 14 years old! My God! She was making "mano" to all of us at the table. Hayz...

2009 Affirmation

2009-01-01T00:01:00.004+08:00

2008 has been full of bad habits and new discoveries about me. Lots of lessons learned and knowing more about myself.

This 2009, this is my affirmation for the whole year:

I Resolve

To FACE My Demons

LAUGH At Danger

CHALLENGE Fate

Dream BIG

LIVE Bigger

and LOVE Myself More

This 2009 feels exciting, like something great is about to happen to me. The newspapers are right, I've never been so hopeful for the coming year.

2009 looks very very promising as far as my life is going to be concerned...

Chillaxin' @ Rosewood Pointe

2008-12-30T16:08:00.004+08:00

Here at Rosewood Pointe chillaxin' with Augs, Bryan and Jhie(the one who has a wonderful condo here)! Jhie invited Augs and I to some pool party or what we call spending some quality time at her condo since she lives alone here, might as well have a bunch of noisy and wacky friends around. Bryan tagged along 'coz he has nothing to do at his house so I tagged him along with Augs' and Jhie's permission of course.

Bryan and I met Augs at Glorietta and bought some chips and wine glasses for us to use. Then next we bought the wines, we bought a box of the Butterfly Ridge white wines. Cheers! Salute!

When we arrived, our host, that's Jhie, so welcomed us with a... Hi and then a dinner out 'coz she doesn't cook in the condo. Hehehe Good thing she was hosting this party...

After that, it was swimming, videoke, booze and lots of laughter time. We talked to Kendz too via Skype. We miss you again gurl!!! Too bad though Lala, Joey and others didn't make it to the party, but good for us 'coz more booze for us! Yey!

Come morning when we were about to go swimming, people were staring at the next building, apparently there was a fire but it was already gone that time. Gosh! We didn't even hear the alarm for that.

Oh yeah, I have to mention that Jhie cooked corned beef and eggs for breakfast for us. Our amazing host can cook after all.

This place is like a home away from home, you have free and fast wifi at the clubhouse, with the view of the pool and only a few people hanging out. We played poker at the clubhouse and drank the remaining wine that we had. It was like we were on vacation somewhere.

Rosewood is a place to relax.. enjoy.. you're on vacation mode...

Now I'm really thinking of getting a condo.. just thinking...

Merry Christmas Isabel!!!!

2008-12-25T19:06:00.001+08:00

Christmas 2008 became more meaningful because of you...

Tagaytay Debauchery

2008-12-21T17:26:00.006+08:00

Pamilya Kwela

Went with Nikki, Augs, Donish and Jhie to Tagaytay for the weekend. Nikks wanted us to experience what she does on weekends at her friend's house. So off we went to David's house. A house full of stories from her.

At the master's bedroom

It was a different kind of weekend for me as the title of this blog states. I said to them I've never been so relaxed and wild for the entire year until I came to David's house. It was like seeing my old self after a long time. Who wouldn't be relaxed once you wake up with a view of the Taal Volcano. Now that's what I call a view.

The view from the master's bedroom

The view from the deck

And who wouldn't go wild having company like these friends of mine. Though Kendz was the only one missing from this wild bunch of group.

Just chillin' at Tagaytay Highlands

It was also fun driving to Tagaytay Highlands at night with all the thick fog, with wine glasses in hand and bottomless wine pouring inside and outside of the car! Can you imagine that!

Cheers!!!

As for the debaucheries that happened, let's just say that what happens in Tagaytay stays in Tagaytay.

I hope a repeat of this happens again.. soon... ;-)

Singapore-Malaysia @ 30!

2008-11-23T16:49:00.006+08:00

Spent the eve of my 30th Birthday between borders of Singapore and Malaysia on a bus. My friends were with me celebrating this milestone in my life.

Had fun times, lots of laughters and I will always keep the good memories of this trip.

For spending that very significant event in my life, to Doths, Elaine, Paola, Nanay, Lod, Bhing and Kendz -- Thanks a bunch!!! 'Til our next adventure... ;-)

Hangover 101

2008-11-20T23:17:00.001+08:00

The things you do and say when you're drunk. Tsk Tsk Tsk Oh well, I've posted that already and there's no turning back. It still is true with what they say:

Don't make decisions when you're Angry. Don't make promises when you're Happy. Don't do anything stupid when you're Drunk.

No regrets...

Blogging Again

2008-11-20T00:55:00.004+08:00

Been a long time since I had the time...

I'd just like to post these Bob Ong quotes that somehow creates a blank stare in me... I'll just leave it at that for now...

I'm a little tipsy already and I love the feeling... Numb and NO Hesitations...

I miss my drinking buddies: Kendz, Nikks, Jhie, Donish and Augs... I miss our fun gimiks so much... reunion time when all of you get back home here in our beloved country... Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! Tara na! Magwala na tayo!!!

1.) "Gamitin ang puso para alagaan ang taong malapit sayo. Gamitin ang utak para alagaan ang sarili mo."

2.) "Kung hindi mo mahal and isang tao, wag ka nang magpakita ng motibo para mahalin ka nya.."

3.) "Huwag mong bitawan ang bagay na hindi mo kayang makitang hawak ng iba."

4.) "Kung maghihintay ka nang lalandi sayo, walang mangyayari sa buhay mo. Dapat lumandi ka din."

5.) "Pag may mahal ka at ayaw sayo, hayaan mo. Malay mo sa mga susunod na araw ayaw mo na din sa kanya, naunahan ka lang."

6.) "Hiwalayan na kung di ka na masaya. Walang gamot sa tanga kundi pagkukusa."

7.) Kahit ikaw ang naka-schedule pero hindi ikaw ang priority eh wala ka ng magagawa."

8.) “Ayokong nasasanay sa mga bagay na pwede namang wala sa buhay ko.”

9.) "Hindi lungkot o takot ang mahirap sa pag-iisa kundi ang pagtanggap na sa bilyon-bilyong tao sa mundo, wala man lang nakipaglaban upang makasama ka."

10.) ”Kung nagmahal ka ng taong di dapat at nasaktan ka, wag mong sisihin ang puso mo. Tumitibok lng yan para mag-supply ng dugo sa katawan mo. Ngayon, kung magaling ka sa anatomy at ang sisisihin mo naman ay ang hypothalamus mo na kumokontrol ng emotions mo, mali ka pa rin! Bakit? Utang na loob! Wag mong isisi sa body organs mo ang mga sama ng loob mo sa buhay! Tandaan mo: Magiging masaya ka lang kung matututo kang tanggapin na hindi ang puso, utak, atay o bituka mo ang may kasalanan sa lahat ng nangyari sayo, kundi IKAW mismo!“

Quotable Quotes #1

2008-04-12T22:53:00.003+08:00

Read this in magazine. I great reminder to me and to eveyone who has a job.

"Remember, the key to competent leadership--and teamwork--is the ability to establish, extend, and restore trust with all key players--customers, business partners, investors and co-workers."

Alesandra Isabel Olfindo Torres

2008-04-06T11:22:00.000+08:00

The first apo. The first niece. The little bundle of joy was born thru a Caesarian operation on April 5, 2008 at 7:30 AM at The Medical City. She weighed 6 lbs 4 ounces and is 19 inches long. A lot of people have been waiting for your arrival Isabel, we can't wait to see you in person. You are a great welcome to our family and we love you very very much.

This is where we waited to see you

Here you are finally out of your Mommy's tummy. Hurray!!

Cleaning you up

Seeing you for the first time

When we first saw you, you look like a lot of people from both families, but one thing is for sure, you got your tita's big cheeks. Hehehe

The very first family picture!

Now, the spoiling begins...

Work, Work Work lang dapat

2008-03-25T00:37:00.004+08:00

Got home early today. I was able to watch an episode of a soap opera or what they now call a "Sineserye" on TV entitled "Maging Sino Ka Man."

I loved this soap when Book 1 ended, and today, I caught the first of the last five episodes of Book 2 and it still awes me. I so LOVE the love story of this soap. Even if it's been a long time since I've watched an episode, today's episode still captured me. I guess that's what you call effective acting. I really love the acting of John Lloyd. And of course, it made me cry. Wah!!!!! I'm such a cry baby for sappy love stories.

So now, I WANT (ayan Kendz ha, WANT yan, hindi WISH. hehehe) an Eli-Jackie love story IN MY LIFE. Pero syemps, yung happy ending lang ang gusto ko. Hayz...

Maybe going home early is not a good idea after all. Hehehe Work, work, work na lang dapat...

Finally!

2008-03-04T01:20:00.006+08:00

Samsung SGH-D900i

After so many years, I've finally upgraded my cellphone. I've had may Nokia 6610 for more than 5 years now, I think. My 6610 has its problems every now and then but it still works. I stopped being obsessed in getting the latest phone models when I realized that all I ever did with my phone was text and call. I don't use the other features that goes along with it, plus new phones are getting quite expensive.

In choosing a new phone, these are the features that I wanted to have:
(1) a camera with at least 2MP
(2) bluetooth
(3) mp3 ring tones and message tones
(4) expandable memory

So now, I finally bought my Samsung D900i. At first, I was contemplating on buying the Nokia 6300 because ever since I can buy my own phone, it's always been a Nokia for me. But now, I wanted to try other phone brands just to see the difference it has with the ever reliable and easy to use Nokia. So, Samsung was closest to the keypad, texting, calendar and smiley features that Nokia has, so I went with this one.

So far, I'm happy with it. I hope it could also last as long my old Nokia phone.

So near yet so very far --- victory

2008-03-03T23:30:00.001+08:00

My first official badminton tournament is over. The first surprise in this tournament was when my doubles partner, Anna and I read the email that instead of being in Level E, we were placed in Level F. When I first saw this, I didn't know if I'd be angry or sad. I was already psyched up in being in Level E, and when Level F was thrown at my face, it was all mixed feelings.

and this winner is...

But on the day of the tournament, all those feelings went away. I realized that the organizers or the person in charge of the leveling really knew how to spot the beginners from the experienced ones. I finally accepted that we were right in our level and we really have to play at our best.

the championship trophy -- ganda no?

So on a Sunday morning, March 2, 2008, I was forced to wake up early and play serious Badminton. Since this was our first tournament, when my partner and I got there, we didn't know what to do. We were almost late for our first game because we had to register first and get our shirts and loot bag (I won in their raffle by the way, it was a calling card case from the Phil. Daily Inquirer, I feel so lucky already; plus their loot bag was composed of products from Prima and Colgate -- the sponsors).

the PDI card case that I won in the raffle

Prima Pasta Invitational Badminton Open Loot Bag

The contents of the loot bag -- the mouse and the sandok were weird contents

On our first game, the ladies weren't that good, we beat them in 2 sets with a wide margin. One was good though and was rather frustrated with her partner, her partner was the cause of their downfall. All she did in the court was pretty herself up and look good in uniform and that was it.

On our second game, my partner and I weren't playing that good. Lots of errors from our side and nerves got in our way. We lost in 2 sets. After the game, we talked a bit with the players that beat us and found out that it was their first tournament also, it was their first time to be partners and they don't play that often. So after knowing all that and being beaten by them, morale was a little low between me and Anna. Also, with no one to support and encourage us further, it was a pretty bum feeling. We both wished the Wednesday group were here with us.

After sulking over that game, Anna and I were convincing ourselves that the previous game was a wake up call for us and was a challenge for us on our upcoming last elimination game. We have to win the next game in order for us to reach the finals and win the big moolah. This is it! Make or Break!

The third game came and we won! Though it was a 3 set game, we were happy! It was our best game ever! It was like we were playing with our Wednesday group buddies. We kicked their asses, considering this third team was a "Team Prima" team, wherein they had their coaches and cheerers on the side. Everyone in our level also thought that this team was the strongest team. Too bad for them, we're through to the finals!!!! Whoopteedoodahh!!

At this point, Anna and I can taste our victory. We were so very sure that we can win the championship in our level. Bwahahahaha The team that beat us only got lucky when we played them. On the final game, we'll show them what we're really made of.

posing before the awarding

On the final game, we experienced what it felt like to be in VIPs. Before the game, the finalists have to be introduced to the crowd and announced to the whole event that the finals on our level is up. We had to march to the middle of the court and bow to the audience and the officials. It was fun!! We were all psyched up. Anna and I are ready to crush our enemies.

with the owner of Prima, awarding our medals and cash prize

We won the first set with a big margin. The other team was scared now, we can tell. Hehehe Then came the second set, a little bit of errors from our side but the margin in the score was still close. Then, on the most fateful and crucial part of the game, my partner hurt her knee. She twisted it in an awkward way and it hurt. She's had this injury for quite sometime now too. I know what she was feeling because I twisted my ankle the last time I played in our office tournament and it really hurt.

After that incident, you've guessed it -- we lost. We lost the second and final sets. My partner really hurt her knee and according to her, my morale went down with it too. I didn't play well after that and I have to admit that. It was like I lost hope in winning the game even if she still played after the injury break. So sad... but I didn't mean to feel that way. Sniff!

with the team that beat us in the finals -- Chris and Madonna

Though I wasn't that too disappointed with our loss because we lost because of an injury and not because they were better than us. We knew that we were better than them, if not for Anna's injury and my support for the team gone, we could've been the champions that's for sure. I was even worried of my ankle getting hurt again, but it was my partner's bad day. I should've passed on my adrenaline rush to her so she couldn't feel the pain in her knee whatsoever. At least that's what I did on my last tournament, and after the tounament, my ankle hurt like HELL!!! But it's getting better now, I think... hehehe

kahit ilang sandali eh mahawakan namin ang trophy na di naging amin

Oh well, another lesson learned for both of us, maybe next year... For sure we'll join other tournaments, but before that, we better make sure our injuries are gone so we can finally taste the sweetness of victory.

typo lang sila dito, dapat champion ang nakalagay dyan

1st Official Badminton Tournament -- Team Prima

2008-02-17T23:11:00.005+08:00

For the longest time, I've been wanting to join a tournament in Badminton just to see if I can stand the pressure of an official Badminton game. I remember Doths, Mommy Weng, Joey and I were planning to join one after we were done with our training a couple of years ago. But they got busy with their US relocation that the tournament was totally scrapped off the list.

Now, that we've resumed play in my office, the tournament idea was brought back to life. This is also due to the insistent invite of Anna to play in a tournament, we finally had the guts to join one.

We've been playing at Powersmash for almost a year now and we saw a poster of a tournament that will have its leveling on the same place also. This is it! It's now or never, we have to join na!

Today was the leveling of players, wherein, a certified Badminton trainer/official (I think..) will see you play and will determine the level you will play in.

I almost didn't want to go today, I get intimidated easily especially if we are small in numbers. It was only Anna and I who joined this tournament and not knowing what to do and expect is a big No-No for me. When I get into something, I want to know everything -- how it works, what's the whole process, what to do and what to expect. True enough, nerves got into us and the level we got in was quite disappointing. It didn't help us too when we were paired to play with topnotch-Level A+ players that we often see at Powersmash. We literally looked like Beginners of the sport when we played them. Hayz...

We felt defeated after that leveling. We just stayed there for awhile and watched other players get leveled and tried to console ourselves (like: "Wag kasi mag-expect masyado!" tsaka "Bakit ba?! First tournament kaya natin to. Level up na lang next time." tsaka "At least yung makakalaban natin eh ayos lang" tsaka "At least natupad natin yung advise ni Axel na mag-downplay, yun nga lang di sinasadya" hehehe). We played like crap and leaving the court feeling like that was not a good thing. (Di man lang kami pinagpawisan!)

But if Doths and Lod were there, I think we could've mustered enough courage, confidence and added a little fun with it and would've done well at the leveling. (-->Kasi naman eh, ba't wala kayo dun!!! Wah!!!<--)

Oh well, maybe next time -- our goal now is to win in our level --> Level E - Intermediate III. Jonathan, our trainer before, would surely be disappointed if he ever finds out that I'm only playing at this level. Bwahahahahahaha

By the way, Level F is the lowest level in the tournament. Games will start on March 2, 2008. So that's that... Wish us luck, I think we're going to need it.

2008 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

2008-02-10T12:29:00.015+08:00

Doths (a.k.a The Janitress), Angie (a.k.a Warla), Rosa (a.k.a RoFa RUMPA), Anna (a.k.a. Baby ni Dan), Dan (a.k.a. The Driver) and I (a.k.a Bespren ni Jose) went to attend the 2008 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Clark Field Pampanga. Dan and I wanted to take some pratice shots with our cams and the great thing was our friends wanted to come along with us too. What fun!

The plan was to go there on a Friday night after office hours and spend the night in a cheap 2-3 star hotel because we have to witness the early morning flights of the balloons. So after office, off we went to Clark. I had fun during this trip because I was not driving all the way to Pampanga. Dan was the designated driver and I can just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Aaaaahhhhh, that's what I call a weekend getway.

The Troopers -- Off to Clark

We were booked at the Maharajah hotel that was recommended by our friend Fang. It was a so-so hotel, the downside was that they didn't allow 6 people in one room even if we were only going to spend the night there, oh yeah, plus the TV is so small you cannot plug the magicsing to it. Angie almost lost her temper at the front desk because it was not a fair price for the room. She vowed that when we check out the following morning, she will trash the place and not clean up and will never go back to this hotel ever!!! A good thing was Mr. Jose Cuervo and Mr. Bicycle kept all of us company 'til the wee hours of the morning.

Just arrived at the Maharajah Hotel

Still at Maharajah, before trashing the place

I didn't think that all of us could finish a liter of Cuervo, but lo and behold, we did. And as far as my drinking escapades goes, this is the first time that I can't uhm.. remember some stuff I did while drinking an alcoholic beverage. Hihihi Such fun...

My bespren goes great with oranges

The oranges goes great with my friends

The bespren

The oranges

Come morning, the sane ones, Doths, Angie and Rosa, told stories of what the insane ones did that night. One was being a human electric fan and broke a glass, one puked in bed and slept on it and one was being woken up by ice and stripped half naked in bed because it was already 5AM and we all have to go the Balloon Fiesta already. Angie was surprised too because the place looked spic and span the morning after the insane ones (this one included Angie) trashed the place. After much investigation, someone in our group cleaned the place up because she couldn't take the messiness around. Hehehe Any guesses who?

The result of mixing my bespren-oranges-wacky friends:

Happy

A-scared

Riot

Blissful

Memory Gap

Knocked-out

Sad to say though, the insane ones couldn't wake up at 5AM and see the Balloons take off. A good thing though (not sure if it's really a good thing) was that the winds were too strong that morning that no balloons were able to take off so the insane ones didn't miss much. Hehehe

The morning after

I have to say sorry to Doths, Angie and Rosa though because that morning, they were forced to commute around Clark just to attend the early take off of the Balloons because both drivers were unavailable and were so dizzy and dreaming in Tralala Land. And that was the ONLY reason why we wanted to sleep in Clark in the first place - to see the take off of the balloons and not get totally wasted.

Doths took this shot. Nice no?

Tres Sane Ones

Anyway, we checked out of the hotel around lunch time already and had our lunch at the famous RUMPA restaurant where the specialty was the Pork Barbeque Ribs. A good recommendation by Dan, it was really delish! Rosa marked this place with something, that's why after we left this place, her alias got stuck.

At Rumpa -- with a slight hangover

Enjoying the house blended iced tea(Sorry Angie at natakpan kita Hehe)

Pork BBQ Ribs

After that, the sun was still high and it was still hot at the Balloon Fiesta field so the group decided to go to Duty Free first and buy some pasalubong. Outside the store was a lady that sells these cute little puppies for a cheap price. They were so cute!!! I took lotsa pics of them too.

Dan, Doths and Rosa with the puppies

Ang mag "Baby" with their baby

At the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, it was so dusty and the balloons were still not inflated due to the strong winds. It was such a bummer indeed, all we did there was to take photos of ourselves and buy the same shirts as a souvenir. Hayz... Do you think this was Karma for being drunk the night before? Hehehe I don't like to think so... The company was still fun though, so that was the only thing that's not boring at that place.

I'll just share my favorite shots in the event:

Pre-nup pic?!

With Jake Roxas

Kid and Kite

Pre-nup pic #2?!

EDSA Katorse

My tank

Reach out

Inflating Balloon #1 -- with no luck

Inflating Balloon #2 -- still with no luck

Inflated! But for a few mins only

Wacky pic na lang tayo guys...

The Night Glow -- with no Balloons

On the way home, we were planning to eat at a good merienda place again recommended by Dan. But we got lost going there so that took up a lot of time and it was already closed when we got there, we were also planning to eat at Razon's but it was also closed already. We ended up having a very late dinner at Chowking and Tapa King in San Fernando.

Identical shirts -- with a flaw, can you see it?

Then the following day, we got news that the Balloons were inflated and were able to take off. Bummer.. though FUN.. but still Bummer...

There's still next year!

Can't sleep

2008-02-04T01:32:00.000+08:00

I can't sleep. Lots of thoughts enter your mind while you're in your bed, tossing and turning. I really hate this scenario. I don't like to think about a lot of stuff in bed, it's f*ucking frustrating, it starts an anxiety attack and it's gonna be another one of those sleepless nights which I can't afford to have.

I read in a magazine that in order to sleep better, one way is to list whatever it is you're thinking about so as to get it out of your head and level out those thoughts. So to be able to sleep tonight, I thought I'll write about what I'm tossing and turning about here. Oh what the hell.. I'll write what I want to write.

I'm turning the big 3-0 this year. Whoopteedoo, yehey, whatever?! I know that in today's times, it's like being in your 20's only. Just like they say when you turn 40 it feels like your 30 and so on and so f*cking forth. Well, maybe it's just a state of mind. Your mind is in your 20's but your body is the real one that's turning 30. But true also as they say, that the mind is a very powerful tool. So just think that both your mind and body are turning 20 instead of 30. Magical!

The thing is.. life is great and fun when your single. You can do whatever you want, you only think of yourself, you spend money the way you want it, you don't think about tuition fees and what will you prepare for dinner. I just think of my personal bills, my parents' health, the places I want to visit this year, not think of the next love that comes your way and gifts to buy for this year's Christmas. However, it's also true that sometimes aside from your parents, you want someone to be there for you too, i.e. only for you.

I was editing my Friendster account awhile ago and I remembered my favorite movies, some of which are Love Affair and The Moulin Rouge. I love the part in the movie Love Affair (which was remade by Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) where they went to an island to visit Warren Beatty's character's Aunt. She had a house on top of a plateau that is in the middle of a grassy field where wild horses run free. That is my most favoritest place in the whole wide world! I would so love to visit that paradise one day if I can. In Moulin Rouge, the tagline is what is unforgettable. Who would ever forget: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."

I was also watching a TV show wherein one of the characters asked her fellow girl friends a question, the question went: "If they only get to have one thing only, what would it be: Love, Sex or Kids?" I'll answer this with another question, Why do women now a days have to choose from these three options? In reality, why can't we have all of them?! For those who have all those things, lucky you!

Damn! I'm getting sentimental, I'll stop now. Enough of this. This is not helping me go to sleep. I'll just watch another crappy movie, maybe that'll put me to sleep.

Tara! Coffee tayo!

2008-01-28T17:52:00.000+08:00

Yan ang unang plan for the night namin nila Jhie, Nikks at Beng (ala si Kendz kasi she's so far away, ayaw kasi lumipat sa may Makati lang hehehe). Kaso Jhie suggested a KTV joint na medyo matino naman daw. Matino, meaning, hindi tig-5 or 10 bawat song at nasa loob ng room dapat. Eh di go na nga kami sa idea na yun, kantahan kasi eh. In fairness pagdating sa KTV na un, cheap naman sya at may mga latest songs sa playlist, yun nga lang may bilyaran na kasama at medyo pumasa lang ang food. Pero kung hanap mo lang eh todo kanta at booze na mura, this is the place!

So ang balak eh kantahan lang ng konti at palipas oras lang sandali kasi nga Sunday night naman kasi yun diba?! May pasok kinabukasan. So ayun, kanta lang kami ng mga love songs muna, kaso itong si Jinky eh umorder ng beer, bucket pa ha! San Mig Strong Ice pa ang special request. Jusmiyo! Isip ko tuloy, sige kahit isa lang, pwede na yun.

Kaso dinaan ang gabi sa pakanta-kanta ng mga nakaka-relate at masasaya! Ayun tuloy, di namin namalayan ang oras at isip namin na madaling araw na at medyo nakakarami na ata ng inom. Bwahahahahahaha At may drama pang nangyari at inabutan pa kami ng closing ng place. Ang saya! Kaso syempre bago umalis eh hindi pwedeng matapos ang videoke session ng hindi kinakanta ang theme songs na "That's What Friends are For" at ang walang kamatayang "Count on Me" na in Whitney character pa dapat syempre.

After a few hours of deep sleep, ayun.. hilo pa din ako.. kelangan bumangon kasi kelangan umattend ng aking PT session at papasok pa sa opisina kahit na may slight hangover (Shhhhhhhh.. wag nyo ko sumbong hehehe). Jusmiyo.. tama ba yun?! Ako ba ito?! Why am I doing this? (Naks, another Why question yun ah, may kasagutan din ba ito?)

Lessons learned: (1) Mag-coffee kung magco-coffee! Wala ng iba! (2) Wag uminom ng madami pag Sunday night at (3) Wag ng pumasok pag may hangover pa! hehehe

Why

2008-01-27T14:30:00.000+08:00

Why is it so much easier for me to work at the office up to midnight with loud music blasting in the background than during office hours?

Why is the gas still so expensive even if there's such a thing now being called as the U.S. recession?

Why does my computer keep on restarting by itself even if it doesn't have any virus?

Why does the game Wedding Dash doesn't work on a Windows 2000 system?

Why are establishments closed at 3:30AM on a Sunday morning when they have all these "Open 24 hours" ads?

Why am I now bored at home during weekends?

Why do I keep on delaying something that is inevitable?

Why am I scared to meet this person in person?

Why is my sprained ankle still not healing?

Why does my right arm hurt when I don't play badminton for a long time, but doesn't when I play every week?

Why is it hard to forget?

Why is it easy to care?

Why can't my badminton buddies enjoy the multi-colored shuttlecock that we often use?

Why did my brother ever nicknamed me "Yeye" when we were little?

Why can't I have my jacket obsession back?

Why does Oishi keep on making new kinds of junk food?

Why are original DVDs still expensive when a DVD at CDR-King costs so cheap?

Some have answers.. some don't.. some I don't want to answer.. some I couldn't care less..

rest in peace

2008-01-26T14:14:00.000+08:00

I attended a funeral today. It was our good and long time neighbor Tito Rod, whose wife is my Ninang Judith. He died rather suddenly. He was admitted to the hospital on a Thursday and died on Saturday early morning. He was just complaining about stomach pains and died because of a ruptured nerve in his abdomen.

I don't like funerals. I don't even look at the body in the casket 'coz I end up having bad dreams about it and I cry easily too. Anyway, he will be missed in our neighborhood and of course his family too. I remember, when we were kids, we called him the smoking man 'coz he was always smoking. He was very kind though. In one eulogy, they described him as a man with few words full of patience and love. Rest in peace Tito Rod.

Tagged I'm IT

2008-01-21T21:31:00.001+08:00

1. Can you name one person who made you laugh last night? Bryan O.
2. What were you doing at 0800? Driving home
4. What happened to you in 2006? Nadagdagan ang age ko...
5. What was the last thing you said out loud? Ewan ko sayo! Iheytsu!
6. How many beverages did you have today? Wala pa...
7. What color is your hairbrush? Black.
8. What was the last thing you paid for? My insurance bill.
9. Where were you last night? Went to a wake with my neighbors and brother.
10. What color is your front door? A shade of Brown.
11. Where do you keep your change? In my wallet.
12. What’s the weather like today? Cloudy with scatterd rain showers.
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Coffee crumble forever!
14. What excites you? Naku madami!!! Too kinky to mention...
15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yeah, a few inches lang siguro.
16. Are you over the age of 25? Define "over"...
17. Do you talk a lot? Oh yeah, kahit mag-isa ako I still talk a lot!
18. Do you watch the O.C.? Nope.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yep, si Even Steven...
20. Do you make up your own words? Like what watawat?
21. Are you a jealous person? Oh Yeah.
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Alodia.
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter K. Kaye.
25. What does the last text message you received say? "Sige magreresearch ako mamaya :-P"
26. Do you chew on your straw? Nope, that's icky.
27. Do you have curly hair? Nope.
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Sa house para matulog.
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? My Grade 2 Advisor.
30. What was the last thing you ate? Eaji Potato Chips - Sour Cream Flavor.
31. Will you get married in the future? Yes, definitely! I know I'll get married in the future.
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Nada. No time to watch good movies lately. Dapat sana Sweeney Todd kaso di natuloy...
33. Is there anyone you like right now? Hhhmm.. 50/50 eh, minsan oo, minsan hate hehehe
34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Can't remember.. pero kung paisa-isang plato lang eh last month yun.
35. Are you currently depressed? Starting...
36. Did you cry today? No.
37. Why did you answer and post this? Sabi ni Kendz eh.
38. 5 people you tag next? I'm too lazy to tag, let's play poker na lang.

Corrales-Orbista Nuptial

2007-12-21T23:27:00.000+08:00

My cousin's wedding day finally came. After preparing for only a few months the day has arrived. It's also time to test my new camera, but my dilemma was I'm part of the Entourage and I can't possibly march down the aisle with my big cam in tow, would I? hehehe Think again, anything's possible with me. hehehe Here are some shots I took.

my pamangkins: congressman darryl, chloe and bel

kat kat and cel

the first family

wacky pic with the sponsors

the bride and groom

ate alo and kuya sher

naval family

cocktails

little yuan boy

watching the avp

bride and groom watching the avp - back view

bride and groom watching the avp - front view

the bouquet toss -- down to three

gettin' the garter

garter toss winner!

the first kiss of the next in line to wed!

the bride with the ladies

the bride and groom with the ladies

after party texas hold'em

the morning after

this is for the bride.. mmmwwwaaahhh!

goodbye tagaytay!

And here are the only shots that I was included in the picture, taken by my cousin.

the family of the groom

serious pic with the bride and groom

wacky pic with the bride and groom

tantantadan tantantadan!!!!

My Nikon D80

2007-12-14T22:24:00.000+08:00

I finally got my first ever Digital SLR camera. I'm sooo excited to use and experiment with it. I'll be posting some sample shots along the way.

Thank you so much to Mommy Weng, Papa Joey and Augster for making this Digital SLR dream of mine happen. ;-D

The very first shot that I took

My first macro shot (a snowman candle)

My first portrait shot (Adi, son of Axel)

My first flower shot

24

2007-11-23T16:56:00.000+08:00

No, It's not the TV Show. Nope, that's not my age either. Definitely not the date of my birthday too. It's the hours that I get to celebrate my birthday, 24 hours. I was born upsidedown at about 5:17 AM and I want to have a blast this year.

Eto ang kasama ko parati mapa-happyor sad man ako bwahahahaha

So, at the stroke of 12MN on the 23rd of November 2007, I started it with a shot of Tequila with my good friend Anna. Yeah!!! Bitin sya sa first shot kaya she convinced me take another shot, another one for the road lang. Lalong Yeah!!! And YES, I am now 29 f***ing years old. First high of the day.

I got home late, slept for a few hours. Woke up. My mama and papa greeted and kissed me right after I woke up. Went to the office.

Eto ang mga pasaway daw sa IST

Arrived late at the office, but I think I got immunity 'coz it's a special day. hehe I couldn't work. Got occupied with greetings and online chats with friends.

Lunch time, it's Axel's long overdue birthday treat to our team. He called it "pa-bertdey kay Tabel" hehe Sira! We were supposed to treat the team together but not all could come on the after office hours celebration so we decided to have 2 separate ones. Good for the team, bad for me and Axel's wallets.

IST Faces

Pa-bertdey ni Axel
RED BOX
Galante ang ating bday boi. Lunch buffet feast ang aming trip. Of course the first thing we did was eat! While the guys were eating, I entertained them with my not so gift of God talent in singing. They had no choice it's my birthday anyway. Hehe

Red Box Buffet

After giving them a stomach ache from my singing, it was their turn to sing and for me to eat. Good thing was, they didn't only sing, they danced too. The ladies danced to the song "Stop" of the Spice Girls. I think the guys enjoyed this one.

Darating pa kaya sya gayong sa dami ng ginagawa

Since time was limited on this videoke session, no slow songs whatsoever. Only fast, dance and hip hop songs are allowed to feel the party mood. So, the line up was composed of songs from Beyonce, Akon and other dance songs. The result... everybody was dancing and jumping around. Whoopteedoo!

Axel and me doing the craxy in love dance

BTW, there was a surprise at the end of the party. I really had no idea that they were gonna do this to me. I thought they were just playing me since I'm a jokester most of the time and this day was my turn to be joked around.

Anyway, first they played my fav song "Hanggang" by Wency Cornejo that Axel will sing along to. I thought that was it and I was already touched by the thought of it. Then they gave me a paper bag with my gift inside daw. I was never expecting anything promise!! Now I was really shocked and surprised and I thought that what was inside was something kinky. You know naman how my brain works... hehehe

Giving Axel a kiss after his rendition of "Hanggang" Mwuah!

While Axel was still singing in the background, they told me to open it already and so I did. I was laughing to hard when I saw the gift. It was 3 lighters from the brand Cricket. It was so amusing and funny I so loved the idea of it. You R-O-C-K!!!! I so love it! Another high for the day.

Cricket Lighters are the best!

I don't smoke btw, but for those who don't know the "Cricket" story. I'll make kwento a little bit about it lang para maka-relate naman kayo. hehe He's what we call a person that I admire in the office, ok fine eh di crush. Ang name nya eh Cricket. Pero hanggang dun lang yun no, crush lang! hehe Kumbaga nung highschool eh tuksuhan sa loob ng barkada sa taong yun pero di alam ng taong yun na tinutukso sya sa sayo. hahahaha Gets?! Basta yun na yun, mga lokohan lang sa isang opisina para malibang at mawala ang stress...

I'm starting a new bisyo, Ayos ba?

Oh yeah, before the gift giving part, Axel and Arlene (our boss) sang the theme song they had christened for me which is "Secret Lovers", and it was a very good rendition too, parang sila yung Secret Lovers! Bwahahahahaha Madami akong kilala na nakakarelate din sa kantang to kaya enjoy din sila. But if you ask me the perfect song would be Crush by Jennifer Paige and it goes a little something like this:

It's just a little crush (crush)
Not like I faint every time we touch
It's just some little thing (crush)
Not like everything I do depends on you
Sha-la-la-la, Sha-la-la-la

IST late na kayo sa meeting ah, may time pa kayong magpapicture

Balik Office, palipas oras lang
We all got back to the office around 3:00 PM. Went straight to an all-hands meeting with our Big Boss. So far, this is the only official work I've done for the day. Rock on!!

After an hour or so, the meeting was over. Went to our desks. Shared and made fun of the pics and vids at RED BOX and more greetings. At around 5:30ish PM Doths wanted to grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks so we went with her just to accompany her to buy coffee. Isn't it obvious I don't want to stay long at my desk?! Chatted for awhile, delayed all we can for our walk back to the office.

A few minutes after makaupo sa desk ko, Cands and Nikks were outside our office to greet me and brought a little something for yours truly. I'm touched guys! Yummy nung cake!!! Mwah and Mwah! Kwentuhan, kulitan at picturan kami sa may elevator with Angie, Doths and Ritche. Ang kukulit!!!! Hahahahahaha

dating magkakasama sa isang kompanya

Pa-bertdey ni Ako
Pagkaalis nila Cands and Nikks, it was dinner time na. Packed our stuff and we all headed to Rockwell. We decided to eat at Banana Leaf, glad that Fang and Charo graced this little affair of ours. Mwah and Mwah ulit. Kainan, kulitan and picturan na naman.

teka.. grineet na ba ako ng mga to

Videoke time na! Since we just went to RED BOX nung lunch time and wanted a change of venue, Platinum was the next best thing. We got the room with the wireless mic and displays a score after every song. Whooopteedoooodaaahhhh!!! Kantahan at Inuman na!!! Since this room displays a score after every song, the game that we love to play in our magic sing comes to mind. This time, the losing team will drink 2 shots of tequila and the winning team will drink 1 shot of tequila. R-I-O-T!!!!

Teka, bakit kayo nasa corner ng table?

Team A was composed of Charo, Fang, Axel, Rosa, Jay and Onax. Team B was composed of Lod, Angie, Anna, Doths, Ritche and Apple. Since it's my birthday, I would just be the host and "distractor" and leave the entertainment to them!! hehe The song categories for each round were

(1) an English song (any International song)
(2) an OPM song (any Local song)
(3) a song that will be picked by the other team
(4) a random song from the booklet (up to 3 picks only)
(5) a song from a certain artist that I will select (I chose the BeeGees)
(6) a song and dance number

Bday Gurl with Team AT-B,L-R: Fang, Me, Lod(singit), Charo, Rosa, Onax, Jay, Axel

Bday gurl with Team BT-B,L-R: Me, Lod, Ritche, Anna, Apple, Angie, Doths

For the first round, it was between Charo and Lod. Charo sang "Close To You" while Lod sang "Heaven". In this round, Lod got a 98 while Charo got a 97. Team B was ecstatic.

Hala Ritche, what are you doing???

2nd round, it was between Fang and Angie. Fang sang "Nandito Ako" while Angie sang "Kung Alam Mo Lang". Fang got redeemed from his Baguio singing days and edged Angie in this round. He got a 97 while Angie only got a 96. Team A was in high spirits since most of them do not drink Tequila. They SOOOooo want Team B to lose.

3rd round was between Anna and Axel. Anna sang "Through the Fire" while Axel sang "Better Days". This round surprised me because both of them got a 97 for their versions. Ka-level na ni Anna si Axel sa pagkanta! Hahahaha Papayag ka ba nun Axel?!

alangya, ako nag-set ng cam na to tapos papatungan nyo lang pala ako

4th round was between Rosa and Doths. The random song that Rosa got was "Open Arms" while Doths got "Promise Me". In this round, I was starting to feel their passion in singing so what better way to remove that than by distracting them with a little annoyance and comedy. Bwahahahahaha It's time for me to get krezzy and krezzy I was. Hihihi

From here on end, I'll leave it to your imagination on how krezzy I was while Rosa, Doths and the rest of guys were singing their songs. *Wink*Wink* If you know me, then you can imagine the krezziness.

are you one of us?

Anyway, in the 4th round, Rosa won with a score of 97 while Doths got a 95. I guess Doths couldn't tune out my annoying voice. hehe

For the 5th round, it was Ritche vs. Jay. Ritche sang "How Deep Is Your Love" while Jay chose "Words". Jay of Team A, got this one too with another score of 97 while Ritche only got a 95. It was looking bad for Team B. The tequila shots are waiting for them. hehe

Finally, napakanta na din si Ritche, sintunado nga lang hehe

For the last and final round, it was Onax vs. Apple, two people in IST gifted with dancing skills. In this round, they didn't disappoint the guys. Total performance level in their song and dance number. This was the most entertaining of them all. I wasn't expecting them to perform like this. It was the most jologs song and dance number ever. I almost died laughing while they were performing. Apple got a 97 and Onax only got a 95. Thanks guys, that was the best high of my day, itatago ko ang videos nyo dito. But, even with all the todo dancing from everybody, Team B lost to Team A.

OMG! Di ko maalala to ah

Tequila shots for the losers and the birthday girl as well!!!! Awhoo! Awhoo! Awhoo! Since I was still gonna drive home, the guys limited me to a shot of tequila only. No FUN!!!! I hate limited drinking but it was for my own safety so I obliged. Na-miss ko tuloy si Augster, ang aking driver pag bangag na. Hayz... sila tuloy yung nakarami. Wah!!!

Yan ang mga tunay na singers

After the game, some of the guys bid their goodbyes, kisses and hugs to me and everyone. The survivors ended up singing 'til the wee hours of the morning, around 5ish ata yun. hehe Sakto tapos na din ang 24 hours of celebration. Tsaka safe na din umuwi ng may araw na diba? Kesa umuwi ng madaling araw na maraming lasing sa daan. Mas ok na umuwi ka na sa umaga at least may araw na nun, tulog na ang mga lasing. hehe

Group hug daw, eh bat nasa baba na ko

Yan si lemon head hihihi lesson: bawal matulog after ng party kasi pagtr-tripan ka

kitam, tutulog-tulog kasi eh

The survivors.. tulog nga lang yung isa

Eto ang tunay na mga Survivors of the night

So thanks guys for this fun filled day, even though I didn't end up getting drunk, I was overwhelmed with happiness. I thank God for the blessings he has given to me and here's to many more! I love you all!!! Mwuah, Mwuah, and Mwuah!

Gosh! Kapagod mag-party huh

I missed you guys so much as in!!

Catching up

2007-11-17T13:06:00.000+08:00

Cands, Nikks and I finally got to do some catching up after months of being busy with everything going on in our lives. As an added welcome to the group, Jhie joined us at the last minute. We planned to watch the latest local "kilig" love story in town, One More Chance at Rockwell. We wanted a change of ambiance and also maybe a few people will watch it there. We were wrong! The cinema was full of people and we had to sit at the 2nd row from the front. I'll give a review of the movie after this post as I have a lot of things to say and ponder about it.

Anyways, watching the movie with these ladies who have had experienced a "one more chance" scenario at some point in their lives was fun. As much as I'd like to cry along with the movie, I was distracted by these gals who were crying their eyes out because they really can relate to the movie. All I could do was shed a tear from laughing everytime I hear a sniff from them for crying. I kept on saying "Sorry, I can't relate no!" Hahahahaha

It was fun watching a feel good "kilig" love story. I'm just not sure if I can say that one day I hope can relate to it. I don't know if that's going to be bad or good. hehe

After the movie, we were famished. Cands, Jhie and Nikks were famished from crying and trying to hide their "just had a cood cry" eyes and I was famished from laughing. I was still laughing while we were eating because everyone was so quiet. Reflecting on their own personal love lives with the movie's plot line and quotable quotes. Again, I stated my own quotable quote, "Sorry, I can't relate guys!"

We dropped off Jhie at work, who's late as usual. Then we headed out to Aedner and company at GB3. Aedner wanted to meet with Nikks and Cands for a little last day at work treat.

When we got there, I think everyone was a bit tipsy and with a gloomy mood. Even when Cands, Nikks and I tried our best to give happy thoughts, the overwhelming gloom was abundant. With the sad news and all, I can't blame these guys. Sorry we couldn't do anything to cheer them up a bit.

Mga sawi??? Ako hindi!

After chatting a little with Aedner and company, we went our separate ways. They wanted to go home already and we, Cands, Nikks and I, wanted some alcohol in our system. After seeing those guys, we wanted a drink or two too.

So we hung out at Cena, ordered our favorite frozen GinPo and talked about what's going on in our very own lives. We talked about family, love or for the lack of it, career was also mentioned and we got stuck on how our former company had a one of kind environment and the things we miss about it.

Tabel, are you drunk again?

After exchanging stories, we wanted to sing our hearts out, especially the song "I'll Never Go". It was already past 3AM when we decided to go to Platinum for some songs, however, we found out that they've changed their rates and it was not a good deal for us to spend that much for an hour of singing. So we just hung out at Tiananmen Bar that Nikks recommended.

I miss gimiks like this one. Going home when the sun is already rising. That's what I call a night out.

Handwriting Analysis ---> scary talga!

2007-11-13T20:09:00.000+08:00

Read in Donish's blog about this handwriting analysis, and thought I try it out. This is what came out.

The results of your analysis say:

1. You plan ahead, and are interested in beauty, design, outward appearance, and symmetry.
2. You are a shy, idealistic person who does not find it easy to have relationships, especially intimate ones.
3. You are affectionate, passionate, expressive, and future-oriented.
4. You are a talkative person, maybe even a busybody!
5. You enjoy life in your own way and do not depend on the opinions of others.

P***ng INA!!! Yan ang SCARY!!!!!!! Wahhhhhh!!!!!!!! Wala na talga akong pag-asa. Hayz...

To people who've left you or even the ones you've left too

2007-11-12T09:42:00.000+08:00

This is a song to people who've left you or even the ones you've left too. When I heard this song for the first time I loved it. I got it from PBBCE2 (a Reality TV Show here), that Mcoy sang. I don't know the title of the song but I love the lyrics. It made me remember the close friends or just friends I've had or still have through the years. It made me think that if I ever do see my friends that I haven't seen, heard, touched or even talked to in a long time, what would I say or even do?

If you like to hear the entire song, you can get it from my "other" site: If ever I see you again

Here's the lyrics of the song too. Just for "EMO" purposes...

i want to stay awake now
stay with you 'til the break of dawn
don't want to go to sleep now
for tomorrow you might be gone

CHORUS:
if ever i see you again
will you ever be the same
if ever i see you again
will you even remember my name

inside i found my true love
i don't want to be alone
all the laughters and teardrops shared
memories and friends i cared for

CHORUS

hold on i'm almost there now
out to the great unknown
farewell and don't you worry
keep the faith and wait for me

CHORUS

i want to stay awake now
stay with you 'til the break of dawn
close your eyes and go to sleep now
i'll be watching over you

i'll be watching over you

The Beyonce Experience -- Manila Style

2007-11-07T23:58:00.000+08:00

Fate lead me to Beyonce. So Beyonce it is.. and it was worth it. Scheduled plan was to play badminton as usual on a Wednesday, but this day was different 'coz Beyonce was in town. Cands and I have been wanting to watch this concert since the ads came out that Beyonce was going to perform here. But we got dismayed when the other people that would join us backed out. We shelved the plan to go since it's going to be just the two of us who'll go.

our grand entrance

But lo and behold, on that day itself, maybe it was the photos and news that Beyonce was really in town got Cands and I in a panic. We SOOOOO really want to watch the concert as it's a ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience. We decided that we'll leave it to fate, if we can get good seats at the last minute that's within our planned budget and still avail the discount then it's meant to be to go and see it. We got our wish!!! It was like fate was really with us to go and see The Beyonce Experience.

the view of the stage from our seats

When we got our tickets, we couldn't contain our excitement the whole day! I couldn't keep my poker face on, I was giddy and like high on something! We wanted to go to the place right there and then. I couldn't wait for the work day to end, I didn't want to be stuck in traffic and Cands can't wait also.

photo-op after the concert

It was a long drive to The Fort. Traffic and parking was that B-A-D! Cands and I arrived at the concert around 8PM. We hurriedly went to our seats 'coz we don't want to miss Beyonce's grand entrance and the ticket said to be there by 7PM. Good thing everything started late as usual and the weather was cooperating.

formal intro for the beyonce experience

The concert started at 8:28 PM to be exact. Crazy in love was the first song. It was just the usual entrance for Beyonce, no upside-down from a rope entrance. The songs Cands and I wanted to dance to but couldn't because we were standing on the monoblock chairs were Baby Boy and the Destiny's Child medley. Listen from the Dreamgirls soundtrack was also a pleasant sound trip. She didn't sang One Night Only though.

crazy in love entrance of beyonce

The best highlight of the concert for me was the finale. It was an acoustic version of Irreplaceable. I sooo loved the way she sang this song!!! It's my fave song again, too bad I cannot find a version of this on the net.

baby boy song

Beyonce ended the concert at 10:08 PM with a Birthday song. I considered that as a birthday greeting to me!! Woohoo!!! Now that's another highlight of the day for me. Beyonce, singing Happy Birthday to me!! Amazing, how did she know?! hehe I was so surprised! Though after the concert Cands and I wanted more out of it. Bitin kami kumbaga, good thing our seats were definitely worth it.

Finale song -- Irreplaceable (the audience's version)

Finale song -- Irreplecable (Beyonce's Acoustic version) I SOOOOO love this version!!!

a birthday song for me from the diva herself

The only regret I had was I should've brought my own camera. A reminder, if you see in a ticket that you cannot bring cameras, don't mind it!!! Bring a camera!! I was supposed to go home and get my camera to get better pics and videos but when Ritche saw the small print in the ticket and after confirming it to Ticketworld I scrapped the idea. But when Anne told me that small digicams can be brought it was too late to go home and get a digicam but I had to get one immediately!!! So thanks to Angie for the last minute availability of her cam! It's better than having no pics or videos at all.

The Christmas List 2007

2007-11-03T22:32:00.000+08:00

I officially started shopping for Christmas gifts today. I didn't plan it or anything, it was just a spur of the moment thingy.

Bored out of my wits in this long holiday break, I asked my Mom to come with me to the mall and just hangout. We went to SM Megamall for a change of vicinity, and besides, my Mom's been asking me to take her there for weeks now because she wants to check out the exhibits, if any, at the Megatrade Halls.

To our surprise at Megatrade Hall 1 was a Toy Kingdom Sale (up to 70% off and exclusive to SM Advantage holders on the first day). At first I was hesitant to come in because first, I don't have enough money yet to buy toys for the ones in my List and two I don't have enough will power to say "No" to toys, especially the ones that I like. But my Mom wanted to check it out, so in we went.

There were a LOT of toys and they were really on sale because some of the toys there I've bought already as gifts and now they were selling it cheaply! Jeez...

Anyway, we started looking around for toys at around 10:30 AM and there were already a lot of people with carts and even boxes that were already full of toys! It's like the end of the world for toys and people are buying them by the bulk.

A cool thing too was I saw an old friend of mine, Sands and her sister, shopping for toys too! They too were starting on their Christmas List, the difference was, they knew about this sale way ahead of me and they're ready to spend big money! hihihi Sands and I were both eyeing the Nintendo Wii because it was on sale too but it was still way too expensive for our budget so we just sighed upon seeing it. BTW, Sands and I have the same agenda on why we want to have a Nintendo Wii. Any guesses? hihihi

But the things is, I don't like shopping in too crowded places that much that I finished getting toys around 11:00 AM and headed for the end of the line to the cashier and just wait for my mother to finish her shopping.

When I saw the line, I thought to myself my patience is really going to be tested now. The line was so long it reached way over the entrance of the Hall and up to the escalator outside. The staff had to do something about the line because people can just run off with the toys without paying for them, it was that easy. The dumb person/people who thought of only placing 3 cashiers at a Toy Kingdom sale should be put to death. I mean c'mon people, toys.. on sale.. with the xmas holidays coming up.. think people! THINK!

After lining up for 3 hours, yes, I left the damn place at 2:00PM, I was proud of myself. I didn't blew my top for waiting that long and I didn't argue with the staff nor got angry at people bumping me on all sides. I didn't! I just didn't! It was an achievement from me and I'm hella proud of it. Ok, maybe I had a thought in my mind that I keep on replaying that helped a lot in not losing it. Try repeating these lines on your head for 3 hours, it might help a tad bit: "These are for the kids and it's cheap. Think of the money you'll save. For the kids. The money you'll save."

So you kids better behave 'till Christmas or else...

OCS Sportsfest 2007 --- Yellow Team Champions!

2007-11-02T22:24:00.000+08:00

Go go Yellow Go Go Go Yellow GO! We're number 1!

We just had our Sportsfest in my company. I nudged my friends who were organizers of the event to include me in the most fun group or team. I wanna have fun on this event no whiny, no excusers, no too busy to join members whatsoever. hehe I got my wish.

The fun and classy Yellow Team

The Yellow Team was the most fun, sporty and cooperative team of all. With a combination of people like that, we got the championship trophy of course! Woohoo!!! Kudos to the Red Team though, they were our closest rival, for without them we wouldn't have pushed ourselves to perfection. So to the Red Team (which btw is composed of half of my office team -- IST) thanks for the motivation.

Is this creature beside me part of the Red Team???

The funny thing about this sportsfest was that it was only in our team, IST, that the games were THAT serious, as in trash talking, wish they lose and put other people down kind of way. In IST, it was literally WAR! hehe And this was what actually made it more fun and exciting. It was like the IST Red Team VS. the other half of IST which were distributed to other teams. We're 14 in IST, so 7 people were in the Red Team and the the rest were: 4 in the Yellow Team (my team!!!), 2 in the Green Team and 1 in the Blue Team.

Si Malakas at si Maganda! Pasaway nga lang...

Of course, when it comes to cat calls and sweet insults I stepped up a bit. hehe Angie lost her concentration during the Bowling games because of me and others also, good thing they didn't ban me after that. bwahahahahhaha

Alex, Grace and Rosa with the obvious Pasaway
Though I think I had my karma for stepping up on that "sweet insults" thingy, on the first day of our sportsfest I sprained my ankle really bad during a very serious badminton game with the Red Team. To add insult to injury, a player of the Red Team told me that maybe I didn't do my warm up exercises that's why I landed badly on that smash. This made me sooo mad because I always do my warm up exercises before playing. So i decided to still play my ankle after a little injury timeout. Maybe it was the adrenaline that was pushing me to play and get back at that comment and prove that person wrong, it payed off anyway because we won all our games after that and became champions. Woohoo!

Although, the day after, my ankle hurt so bad, I had to bring myself to the ER. huhuhu The doctor's advise was to rest my ankle from 4-6 weeks!!! huhuhu I can't play badminton during Wednesdays. Wah!!! Of course I didn't follow this, I still play during Wednesdays but only light playing. hihihi Also, I didn't get to play Bowling with the team, but don't worry I contributed to the team by cheering them on and jeering the other teams. hehehe

Anyway, back to our Sportsfest, the different categories in determining the champions were:
1 - Best Muse (The Red Team won because one of the judges belonged to the Red team hehe)

Eto dapat ang mga muse... Panalo!

2 - Best Cheer (The Red Team also won still because of that judge and also, 'coz the other judge was the wife of our team member but they were in a fight so she didn't let us win hehe)

Me: Guys, masarap ba ang hamburger ni Zarah?? Sagot: OO!!!

3 - Dodge Ball (The Red Team won because it was very chaotic and we all think they were a little unfair in playing hehe peace!)

Anak ng tipaklong! Di ko natamaan yung naka-red na yun ah!

4 - Badminton (Mixed Doubles) in 8 levels (The Yellow Team won in 5 levels and was the overall champion; hands down better than all hahaha)

with my mixed doubles partner Alex,after hitting my back with a shuttlecock

5 - Bowling in 2 levels (The Yellow team won in Level A; The Blue team won in Level B)

Iisa lang ang official bowling player sa pic na to. Guess who?

6 - Badminton (Men's and Women's Doubles) in 4 levels each (The Yellow Team won in 4 levels and still the overall champion)

with my Women's Doubles Partner in Crime, Anna,galeng-galeng nyan! hehehe

It was a fun Sportsfest. Looking forward to next year's.. i.e. if i'm still in OCS. wink*wink* joke!!!

We're the Yellow Team. The BEST team. Let's go Yellow!

Hong Kong 2007 (the rest of the kwento)

2007-11-02T22:21:00.000+08:00

Day 4
Lantau Island and Big Buddha

at the start of the steps, start climbing...

A Sunday, we thought we were gonna relax and rest our feet up. But instead, a plan was concocted to climb stairs and reach the Big Buddha statue in Lantau Island. Parang di pa nagsasawa sa kakalakad nung isang araw hay... Naabutan pa ng ulan, Signal No. 1 ang weather sa HK sa araw na ito at gusto pa namin mamasyal. Rak on!

finally at the top! after 250 steps! it's like heaven up here

Ang reward naman sa dulo eh nakita namin ang Mall na puro Outlets ang laman!!! Lahat ng stores sa Mall na to ay puro Outlets!!! Shopping galore ulit kami bago umuwi ng bahay. hehe

i hold the buddha in my hand

Day 5
Last day nila Shine at Dawn kaya shopping na lang
Dapat mago-ocean park kami sa araw na ito, kaso sobrang bad weather, sayang ang punta namin dun kung di kami makakasakay ng Cable Car at nung Hot Air Balloon. Kaya, ang ginawa na lang namin ay, nag-shopping na lang ulit sa Hunghom, Whampoa. Aliw ang mga stores dito, may plastic sila sa labas ng store nila para dun mo ilagay yung mga basang payong para di mabasa yung floor sa loob ng store. Sa sobrang aliw namin sa mga plastic na un eh kumuha kami ng maraming plastic na yun! hahahaha mga pinoy talga... hehe

at HongKong Park, i so love this waterfall thingy

Day 6
Central Shopping Galore!
Di ulit tuloy sa Ocean Park kasi maulan pa din at uuwi na din ang kapatid ko sa araw na to. Agenda for the day, shopping sa Central! Ni-recommend kasi ni Ate Cecil(isang relative ng pinsan ko dun) na mas maganda mag-shopping sa Central. Tumpak nga ang sabi nya! Pang-pinoy taste ang shopping sa Central! Mas marami akong nabili dito kesa sa Nathan Road at mas mura pa ang mga bilihin dito compared sa Nathan Road. At mas maraming tiangge din dito. Sabi nga ng mga pinsan ko, bilhin mo na yan, pagdating mo sa Pinas eh magsisisi ka na di mo binili yan. Tama nga naman sila, no regrets dapat ang pag-shopping kasi once in a lifetime experience lang ang HK namin na magkakasama kami. Nakita din namin ang Jollibee at Little Quiapo sa Central!

may beach pala sa HK. bawal magkalat o, ang mahal ng penalty

Repulse Bay statues; welcome statues for sea travelers daw mga ito

Repulse Bay
Day 7
Lantern Festival

lantern ba to or the full moon?
Di ulit natuloy sa Ocean Park kasi holiday sa Hongkong sa araw na to, at pag holiday sa Hongkong eh maraming tao sa Ocean Park, masasayang lang daw oras namin kapipila dun at mahal din ang entrance pag holiday. Kaya, ang ginawang agenda for the day ay pumunta sa Repulse Bay!!! Di ko akalaing may beach pala sa HK, akala ko kasi puro buildings lang sila dun. In fairness, maganda na din ang beach nila at malinis. At dito lang ako nakakita ng beach na may mga istatwa sa dulo nya. So di lang kami naglakad-lakad ulit nadagdagan pa ng umitim kami sa tindi ng init. Hayz... Pagkatapos nun eh onting shopping ulit sa Central, pinakita naman ni Ate Cecil yung Prize Mart Store kung san mga whole sale na chocolates ang mabibili!!! Ang mura ng Ferrero Rocher dito grabe!!! Kahit mabigat sya dalhin eh bili pa din ako kasi sayang!!! Chocolates!!!! Bwahahahhahahaha

at the Lantern Festival
Day 8
Ocean Park sa wakas!
Last day na namin sa HK at magO-Ocean Park na daw kami. Not too excited to go ako nito kasi nakapunta na ko dito dati at pagod na ko maglakad. Pero para di naman ako masabihang KJ eh go na din kahit papano. Tsaka totoo nga ang mga kwento na pag matagal na kayong magkakasama ng mga tao (mapa-relatives or friends or strangers man) sa isang maliit na lugar eh they will really get on your nerves!!! Medyo mainitin na ang ulo ng mga kasama ko, lalo na ako. hehe Ggrrr...

the hot air balloon, di ko nasakyan pero nahawakan ko naman

Nothing spectacular to tell sa Ocean Park experience, dapat di pumunta dito pag last day nyo na, kasi lalo lang kayong mabibitin. At dahil sa sobrang stress namin eh pagdating sa bahay at last minute na impake eh walang kibuan dun, tahimik na nagi-impake ang lahat. Weird! Para kaming nalulungkot sa pag-alis namin sa nakapa-gastos na pamasahe sa public rides nila at sa shopping galore stores lalo na pag weekends at holidays.

Hong Kong 2007 (Part 3 of 7)

2007-10-07T20:11:00.001+08:00

Day 3
Shopping along Nathan Road and Gimik Night
Let's just say we started shopping around 2 in the afternoon. We were just too tired from all the walking we did at Disneyland the day before that we thought we needed a little rest. This day was way much more walking than in what we walked in Disneyland. After walking along the long stretch of Nathan Road for about 6 hours, resting only when we want to try on shoe sizes, we finally had our late dinner at Mcdonalds in Harbour City at around 9PM.
We needed to hurry because our cousin Kuya Dean will meet us at 10PM at a club for night out in HK.

eating, walking and shopping along Nathan Rd

Gimik Night
Getting Lost and A Looooooooooooooooong Walk
We had to find a club named Sticky Fingers. Our cousin will meet us there. After dinner, our adventure began... We started walking again around 9:30PM, we got lost on our way there, no one could understand us when we ask for directions, worst was, the only roaming line that we had was mine and all the phones that we had had low batteries. We found the place around 12MN, we just walked from that Mcdonald's place to about the border of Tsim Tsa Tsui and Hunghom.

I L-O-V-E Smirnoff!!!

The reward for me here is that I wanted to drink a LOT of alcohol, I needed my legs to feel wobbly from all that walking. Thank goodness it worked! I was my old jolly self having consumed 4 bottles of the yummy thirst-quenching Smirnoff Ice in about an hour. The price I paid for that happy hour was another walk to Hunghom from that bar. It was another 45 minutes of walk before we reached the condo. Wah!!! But because I was in my old jolly drunkard self, I kept them entertained along the way, taking pics para di naman boring at cranky!

paglakarin nyo na ang lasing wag lang ang bagong gising! hahaha saya!!

In short, what we did on Day 3 in HK was WALK, WALK, WALK and WALK!!!! I swear my legs and feet needed a good spa after this day and night!

Hong Kong 2007 (Part 2 of 7)

2007-10-07T19:32:00.000+08:00

DAY 2
HongKong Disneyland

Welcome to Disneyland!!!

Hindi sulit ang punta ko sa Disneyland, pano naman kasi late na kami nakaalis ng bahay. Dapat kasi 9AM-9PM dapat ang time sa Disneyland para mapuntahan mo lahat dun. Nakarating kami 12NN-9PM. Nasayang ang tatlong oras namin sa late ng paggising ng late, pagkain ng breakfast at pagligo ng 9 na tao sa maliit na condo. Hayz... kaya tuloy next time na pumunta akong HK eh kelangan ko pa tuloy bumalik dito... ang mahal pa man din ng entrance Hayz... Di bale, kakaibang experience naman ang nangyari dito.

Sobrang init pagdating namin, tila prinipito ka ng daan. Napabili tuloy ako ng payong na worth HK$85 para di mapaso ng init. Hu hu hu ang mahal ng lecheng payong na un.

Anywayz, first stop was the Lion King show, we all enjoyed the Lion King performance. Next was the parade! Then the Donald Duck 3D. Also the interactive Stitch and last was the boring Golden Mickeys. Kay tarzan lang ako nabuhayan sa Golden Mickeys and I think you know why.

The pics with the characters took a long time, lots of long lines for pics with them. And out of all the Disney characters that graced us, there was one character that was very snobbish of them all. It was Snow White. She only wanted one picture for one group, the nerve. She's not that pretty anyway, Belle was the prettiest out of all the characters. Too bad nga lang, di sya pumunta sa locations na pwede magpa-picture.

I enjoyed two things in Disneyland, the Lion King show and the parade. The parade changes every season, and for this season, it was a heatwave show. We were all wondering why the staff were wearing raincoats, yun pala babasain kami habang nagpa-parade sila!!! hahaha Fun getting wet by Pinoy staffers pa ha! Tinitira talga kami! hehe

I'll post a teaser video of the Lion King show. It's the first part of the show. I'll also post a vid of the first part of the parade and where my sister made a booboo. Watch out for her booboo... hehe

For the fireworks, I was disappointed dahil na din kasalanan ko. Di ko minadali mga kasama ko na pumunta na sa harap ng castle para manuod ng fireworks. Ang view kasi dapat is in front of the castle, yun pala ang best view. Malay ko ba na dapat dun panuorin kala ko kahit saan eh makikita mo sya. Naabutan tuloy kami ng fireworks sa likod ng castle. Makikita mo pa din yung fireworks pero wala yung effect nya na wonderland sayo. Hayz... oh well, at least babalik ako dito ulit someday and for that I'll make sure that I will save a spot in front of the castle grounds.

More pics and vids can found in my multiply account as it's easier to upload them there.
http://tabel0229.multiple.com

Hong Kong 2007 (Part 1 of 7)

2007-10-07T15:58:00.000+08:00

DAY 1
Ang Bahay ni Kuya Dean

Sampu na magpi-pinsan ay mananatili ng isang linggo sa isang maliit na condo unit ng pinsan nila sa HK. Tig-tatlong tao ang matutulog sa 2 kwarto at pati sa sala, ang may-ari ng bahay ay sa sofa naman. Good Luck sa ating magpi-pinsan at sana sa huling araw ng ating pananatili sa HK ay di pa maiinit ang ulo natin sa isa't-isa. hehe

The Cast

L-R from Top: Lalie, Kuya Dean, Ate Perlie, Dawn, Kuya Sherwin, Ate Alo, Daisy, Sunshine, my sistah and mwah

Ito ang lugar ng pinsan ko, Hunghom Whampoa, Kowloon. May malaking boat sa gitna ng syudad. Medyo malayo ang lakaran papuntang ferry pero ito ang easiest way to get around HK lalo na kung turista ka. Ang hirap kasi basahin yung mga bus stops dun.

ang whampoa. bow.

ang barko sa gitna ng whampoa. bow.

Tagged by Christiane :-D

2007-05-11T22:11:00.000+08:00

Instructions: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

My Seven Things

1. Back in my senior year in Highschool, my barkada and I started a girl band. I was the keyboardist since I knew how to play the piano back then. We already had one song composed, too bad though we didn't push through with it as it took us a long time to practice one song. Our priority was more on school work and not on music plus we had a busy sched on our senior year. I think the name of our band was Psyche.
2. I don't like going to the gym but I do love to play any athletic sports.
3. I'm a romantic at heart and I cry easily.
4. I don't know how to haggle the price of something I want to buy in a market or tiangge store.
5. I dream of owning my own island.
6. I don't enjoy massages. It hurts when I get a massage, I don't even feel relaxed after getting one.
7. My good friend Weng instantly thought of a date on when she thinks I will get married. It's on May 14, 2008. (Good luck talga sa akin!!!)

Hi ho! Hi ho! To Baguio we will go...

2007-05-03T11:43:00.000+08:00

Night 1 - The Loooooooooooonnnggggg Drive
The day of our team outing finally came. I was nervous because it's my first time to drive to Baguio na walang karelyebo sa pag-drive. Imagine, more than 6 hours of non-stop driving at sa night pa! From 10:30 PM to 6:00 AM, ako lang ang nag-drive mula Makati, EDSA, NLEX, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Kennon Road at finally sa Baguio! Whew! I was so happy and relieved nung nakarating na kami sa bahay. Tuwang-tuwa ako sa achievement na yun kaya ang reward ko sa sarili ko nun eh matulog agad pagdating. hehehe Buti na lang may free entertainment ako sa mga pasahero ko na sila Fang and Axel, they really kept me awake with their neverending controversial at kahindik-hindik na stories, I never felt sleepy while driving to Baguio. Nag-umpisa ang biyahe sa EDSA na nakapa-traffic on a Friday night at 10:30 PM!!! Ang masama pa nito eh nagpahatid pa kasi yung Nigerian na may-ari kuno ng ni-rent namin na van sa Robinson's Galleria. Syempre hinatid namin sya dun kasi iniisip namin na baka bigyan kami ng discount sa pagmamagandang-loob naming ihatid sya dun... yun pala malaman-laman namin na ni-rent din pala nya yung van at di sya yung totoong may-ari! Hayup talga yung negrong yun... naisahan na kami, na-traffic pa kami ng dahil sa mga mababagal na bus na nag-aantay sa wala sa EDSA. Kung kelan talga nagmamadali ka saka pa mangyayari yung ganito... tsk tsk tsk

van riders and me

Anyway, next stop is daanan si Axel sa may Balintawak at magkita sa first gas station sa NLEX. Sa wakas ay nahimasmasan ang aking anxiety sa traffic dahil sa NLEX ang sarap mag-drive, tuloy-tuloy at mabilis pa! hehehe So far so good naman ang biyahe pagkatapos ng NLEX, daming kwento ng dalawa sa akin. Ni hindi ko nga napansin na nakalampas na pala kami sa Tarlac. Stop ulit kami sa isang gas station sa Pangasinan, kwentuhan sandali, stretch ng legs at mag-kape. Mga magaalas-kwatro na ata ng madaling araw yun at ang sabi ng mga locals dun eh sandali na lang daw biyahe namin at nasa Baguio na kami. Excited na kong matapos itong pagdr-drive ko! hehehe

Pagkaalis namin sa gas station na yun eh parang nag-iba ang mundo naming tatlo sa kotse. May checkpoint pa kaming nadaanan na chineck pa ng mga sundalo o pulis mga gamit namin sa loob ng kotse. Siguro nagtaka din mga yun na bakit babae yung nagmamaneho at dalawang lalaki ang pasareho ko. hehehe Buti nga di pinaghinalaan si Axel na mukhang goon. hehehe Yung dinaanan namin ay parang liblib na lugar na, napakadilim ng daan at buwan lang ang ilaw namin, walang mga bahay sa paligid, walang sasakyan sa harap o sa likod namin. Medyo natakot na ko dito kasi madilim nga at baka biglang harangin sasakyan namin ng kung sino. Tuwang-tuwa nga kami pag may nakikita kaming ilaw sa daan akala namin kotse na, yun pala tricycle. Relief din pag may nakikita kaming signage papuntang Baguio, kasi ibig sabihin nun tama pa din dinadaanan namin.

Pinabasa ko tuloy kay Axel yung directions na dala ko papuntang Baguio, kasi may naalala ako dun na may sinasabing alternate route to Baguio pero wag daw dadaan dun kasi mas malayo at mas mahaba ang travel time at ok lang dumaan dun kung may araw. So yun nga, nalaman namin na alternate route pala yun, hay... lecheng signage yun.

Wow! Can you see Forrest Gump?

After nun nagkasalubong din ang daan namin at nagkita-kita kami ulit sa isang gas station na bordering Benguet na. Hinintay talga nila kami kasi baka malito kami ulit sa daan kasi aakyat na kami sa Kennon Road papuntang Baguio. Kinabahan ako ulit dito kasi zigzag yung daan at madilim pa. First ito baby!!!! hehehe Exciting din naman pala ang Kennon, dinahan-dahan lang naming tatlo kasi mga puyat at pagod na. Sayang nga lang at di namin ma-enjoy yung view sa Kennon nun. Pero sa wakas ay nakarating na din kami sa tutuluyan namin. Binigay ko na yung susi ng kotse kay Fang para sila na magbaba ng gamit dun at ako'y naghanap na ng kama at kinalimutan ko muna sila. Hayzzzz...

Day 1 - Wright Park, The Mansion, Botanical Garden, SM Baguio, Camp John Hay, Burnham Park, Infamous Palengke
Wright Park

After 3 hours of sleep, my friends woke me up because it was time to go sight-seeing in Baguio! First stop was Wright Park, lots of horses here, brown, white, black and pink! The smell of horse poop was quite strong. The stench alone made us wanna go back inside the van. So we just took pictures with the horses and went our way.

Can you see the pink horsie?

the pine 'n me

Hala Angie! Anong ginagawa mo? Lagot ka kay Joel!

The Mansion
We just took lotsa pics here. That's all we could do anyway. Nagkantahan din ng "team" song habang nagsisight-seeing sa park. Ang kantang yun ay yung kanta sa PCSO!!! bwahahahahaha si Axel kasi walang ibang kinanta kundi yan lang. Lahat tuloy kami LSS dyan sa lecheng kanta na yan. The song goes a little something like this...

Ikaw ang kandungan ng nangangailangan

Ikaw ang pag-asa at kinabukasan

Haplos mo ang lunas sa bawat pagal

Salamat sa iyong dampi ng pagmamahal

PCSO PCSO PCSO

Salamat Axel at kabisado ko na ang kantang to! At salamat Angie sa kakaibang tono ng P-C-S-O! Nakakaloka!

tropang IST

one, two, ready.. jump! ay mali... naka-zoom pala

I hold The Mansion in my hand

The Botanical Garden
It's my first time to see this place. The guys already warned us about the lolas and lolos at the entrance. You see, when you take your picture at the entrance, the lolas and the lolos there will be the picture no matter what and they will ask money for that. Even if you don't intend to include them, they will still insist to be in the picture. It's like they own that space. Axel went on ahead to take a video of the front for documentary purposes thinking that a videocam doesn't cover their fee. Axel was dead wrong. After taking a few second clip, a lola approached him and asked for Thirty pesos for that clip he shot. We were laughing so hard when the lola kept insisting that he pay the amount or else. Here we started imagining what if Axel insisted that he will not pay for that video clip: (1) The lola would kiss him, as in french pa with tonsils! Eewwww (2) The lola would call all her apos or tribu and they would come down from the trees and get the Thirty pesos from Axel or (3) she would curse him. In short, there is no escaping the lola so just pay the damn amount. hehehe

Lots of pictures were taken here also. It was already lunch time so we speeded up our tour at the Botanical Garden. We all met up at the van. It was taking a long time for the others to go back to the van so we called them up and told them that we were getting hungry and we have to have lunch already. As it turns out they were having their sketches drawn by locals that's why they were taking so long. When they got back to the van, we viewed the sketches and some looked like them while some looked like Julie Vega and Mary Walters as Axel was joking about it.

SM Baguio
I know.. I know.. of all the places there why did we have to go to a mall. That's because our lunch was on a budget and fast food is always cheaper than the local restaurants there. So we had our lunch at Gerry's Grill. Nothing interesting here except the view at the mall.

SISIG!!!!

Inihaw na pusit!!!

Camp John Hay
While the others rode the bump cars and had their merienda, Cheli, Vic and I played mini-golf. I didn't think it would be fun hitting that small ball on to that small hole, susprisingly though I was a little good at it. Now, I'm thinking if I would take this sport up with my Dad. hehehe

Mini-golf anyone?

Cheers! Nakup! Mainit ang tsokolate.

Burnham Park
We parked nearby, looked at the soccer field and the lake with boats. Then we proceeded to...

Infamous Palengke
Time to buy pasalubong. They said that everything here was cheap. As for me, I don't know the difference because I don't know how to buy stuff in a palengke. Anyway, the others enjoyed it. They bought a lot! As in A LOT!!!

NIGHT 2 - Dinner at 11 PM at kantahan na!!!
I helped in preparing dinner. I peeled and sliced the sayote and I cleaned the green beans. I cooked the soup and prepared the dinner table. Grabe achivement talga! Wag lang malalaman ng nanay ko na ginawa ko yan kasi pagagawin sa akin yan sa bahay. mwehehehehhe

After kumain at mag-binge (hehehe) kasi nalipasan na ng gutom, kantahan na!!! I introduced to the guys yung game na nilalaro namin dati nila Donish sa pad nya. Four members sa isang team, at bawat isa ay kakanta ng isang English song, isang OPM song, song na pinili ng kalaban nila, at random song(up to 3 selections only). Nung una, ang consequence sa matatalo ay iinom ng isang shot ng Bailey's. Kaso nga lang yung ibang members na maarte ay ayaw uminom, kaya ang naisip na lang ng grupo ay pagsuotin ng bra ang boys na ayaw uminom (with matching pic at video ito) at magsuot ng brief ang mga girls na ayaw uminom. Nung nalaman ang consequence na to, level up na ang performance!!!! Riot talga!!! Bawal ilabas ang pics eh so hanggang imagination na lang. Pero ang nanalo sa game na to ay mga girls!!! Bwahahahahahahaha

OMG!!! Is that Sayote I'm peeling?!

Explaining sa madlang tao the rules 'n consequences of the game. Makinig KASI!

DAY 2 - Strawberry Farm, A Rainy Mine's View, Lion's Head, Babush guys!
Strawberry Farm
Medyo late na nakaalis ng bahay kaya konting shopping at sight-seeing lang dito. Kumain ng din dirty ice cream.

Ice cream kayo dyan!!!

Mine's View
Umulan ng malakas kaya sobrang traffic papunta dito. Nagmamadali na din papuntang bahay kasi maglu-lunch pa kami at magi-impake ng gamit. Last picture taking sa bahay ni Kuya!

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE #1:

Woo!

Hoo!

Lion's Head
Sumunod na lang kami sa kanila kasi pinuntahan muna namin yung tutuluyan namin nila Doths at Angie kasi nagpaiwan kami dun. Mahirap pag di mo alam ang mga daanan sa Baguio, mawawala ka talga at nalaman pa naming may number coding din pala dun.

Pagkatapos nito eh goodbye na sa mga kasama namin. Uwi na silang Maynila, kitakits na lang sa office.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE #2:

Waz!

Zup!

NIGHT 3 - Tuna sandwich and Pancit Canton for dinner
Yan ang dinner naming tatlo. hehehe Wala na kasing resident cook at ayaw namin bumili na sa fast food kaya yan na lang kinain namin, tutal late lunch naman kami at we're on a diet na din. hihihi

Nanuod ng PBB, na-witness ang pagwawala ng isang housemate. Nanuod din ng King Kong sa HBO. Nalama ko din na ang lakas magulat ni Angie at ang lakas sumigaw ha!

Sa wakas, 8 hours of sleep.

DAY 3 - Palengke ulit, Burnham Park, Solibao, Mine's View, Good Sheperd, Adieu Baguio
Sa haba ng tulog namin eh di na kami pumasyal masyado sa Baguio. Tsaka isa pa, baka mawala lang kami eh gahol pa kami sa oras kaya namalengke na lang kami, bumili ng mga murang gulay at pasalubong ulit. Nag-ikot sa Burnham Park ng kaunti at kumain din sa native restaurant sa Baguio. Medyo may kamahalan pero nakabawi naman sa sarap ng pagkain nila. Tapos, dumaan kami sandali sa Mine's View at Good Sheperd at nag-impake na. Ciao Baguio! Sa uulitin!

Malaala mo Kaya... Take 1... Action!

Naalala ko pa ang aso kong si Berty. Masaya kami nun.. kaya lang..

kelangan kong umalis at pumunta sa bulubundukin..

at mamitas ng mga pagkarami-raming bulaklak.

Driving Home
Proud ako sa mga pasahero ko pauwi ng Maynila. Di sila natulog o naidlip man lang, pano kasi nabusog sila sa mga controversial at kahindik-hindik na mga kwento. hahahahahaha

Konti na lang tatawa na si Angie... Yiheee!!!

Sana nga maulit yung team outing namin na to at sana medyo matagal ng konti para di masyado nakakapagod. Masaya sya lalo na kung riot din mga kasama mo.

Good 'ol times

2007-04-23T11:41:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, we had a mini-semi reunion with my college friends. Mini, because it was only a part of our typical catch 2000-S14 reunion that we used to have. Semi, because the barkada was not complete. We were short one barkada because she had to work really, really late; oh well, maybe next time. Anyway, me, Doths, Jonki, Chelle and her sister Kaye met up in Makati for dinner and videoke. At first we were planning to watch a movie, but suddenly changed plans because I wanted to hear the crazzzyyy voice of Jonki. According to Doths, she mimicks the voice of the artist, and when she heard her sing, she was laughing out loud and rolling on the floor. So I was excited to hear her sing.

For dinner, as usual we ate at Recipes, this is the favorite restaurant of Jonki. Whenever we meet up in Makati, she always makes sure that we eat here. Doths and I wanted to try a new restaurant but since Jonki just had the chicken pox a couple of weeks ago, we gave in to her cravings. Also, this is Chelle's first time to eat at Recipes. We ordered the usual gising-gising and general's chicken. We also ordered the shanghai rolls and the mixed seafood, which is a must-try in that resto! We had a very sumptuous dinner and it was even more sumptuous because our resident birthday girl treated us. Yahoo! (nakakarami na kong libre kay Doths! mwahahahahahaha Thanks Doths! Sa uulitin at uulitin pa!)

After dinner, Jonki and I wanted to get dessert but we hesitated because we wanted to preserve our voices for later. But the heat of the night got to us so off we went to Cold Rock for some delicious ice cream!!!! Yey!

We tried to get a room at Red Box but it was full so we opted to go to Platinum instead. We sang our hearts there without inhibitions whatsoever, kahit na ang tono mo eh parang naiipit ka na sa pinto, go lang!!! I now have a favorite song that Jonki and I have to sing everytime we go to a videoke place, the song is "We Didn't Start the Fire"! Bwahahahaha It was a blast singing that with her!

the whole group and nothing but the group

Kaye, Chelle and Mwah!

DLSU CCS-IT Catch 2000 S14 (minus one :-( )

Jonkinator and the Bangs Gurlash

Krezzy Nite

2007-04-17T18:09:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, we were invited to a very posh party in a hotel suite here in Makati. We had lots and lots of red wine, different kinds of cheese that I've tasted only now and tasted a very unforgettable salmon dish that Augs and I loved. It was a very krezzyyyy nite with old and new friends. It was soooo krezzy that Augs had to drive my car on the way home. hehehe

S.O.S.

2007-04-13T19:33:00.000+08:00

HSUS MySpace Page | Get web badges

Way Back Into Love

2007-03-22T11:54:00.000+08:00

My song of the month is Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant's hit song in their hit movie Music and Lyrics. Again, I love the lyrics of this song...

Way Back Into Love
Drew Barrymore & Hugh Grant

I’ve been living with a shadow overhead
I’ve been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I’ve been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can’t seem to move on

I’ve been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need em again someday
I’ve been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I wanna to do is find a way back into love
I can’t make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I’ve been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I’ve been searching but I just don’t see the signs
I know that it’s out there
There’s got to be something for my soul somewhere

I’ve been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me throught the night
I could use some direction
And I’m open to your suggestions

All I wanna to do is find a way back into love
I can’t make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I’m hoping you’ll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don’t know if it’s real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can’t make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I’m hoping you’ll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I’ll be there for you in the end

Badminton buddies

2007-03-22T11:23:00.000+08:00

Here are my badminton buddies. Picture taking muna...

Pics with my seatmate, Ritche (aka "Pink Boi"):

Fang (aka Dengue Boi) and me

the gang with Axel (aka hmm... di na kasi sya pwedeng "boi" overage na daw)

hehehe Peace!

Sosing's Carinderia

2007-03-02T20:58:00.000+08:00

Kumain kami ng mga officemates ko (Axel, Fang, Ritche, Angie at Doths) sa Sosing's Carinderia sa may Dian St., Palanca Village Makati. Matagal na nila akong gustong pakainin sa lugar na to. Umaayaw ako kasi, ayon sa mga kwento nila eh kakaiba daw ang ambiance at lalanghapin mo lahat ng alikabok sa daan. hehehe

Pero sa pagkakataon na ito eh pinagbigyan ko sila. Ala lang... para ma-try lang sya kumbaga. Live a little din... hehehe At magtigil na din sila Axel, Fang at Ritche sa kapipilit sa akin na kumain dun. Kaya ayun, Friday, lunch out ay sa carinderia ang tungo. hehehe Kakaibang lunch out nga ito.

Gamit ang brand new spankin' ride ni Axel, nakarating din sa famous Sosing's. Madumi ay este madami nga ang tao nung pagdating namin. hehehe Nag-antay pa kami ng kaunti para makaupo. Natatawa lang ang mga guys sa reaction ko kasi nakatayo lang ako sa tabi.

Nung nakaupo na kami at naka-order na eh nagbibiruan na ang grupo na yung sabaw eh ilang beses na sinawnaw yung maduming medyas dun para mas maging malasa at pagkatapos naming kumain, yung mga natirang sabaw eh ibabalik din sa kaldero at kung anu-ano pa.

In fairness masarap naman ang pagkain, ang mga kinain namin eh nilagang baka na maraming litid(na peborit ng mga guys), inihaw na liempo, ginataang tilapia at bicol express. Ayos naman ang lunch namin dun, ang wish ko lang siguro eh sana plastic spoon ang fork na lang ang gagamitin na kubyertos. hehehe

Ang pinaka-natuwa ako eh mura ang kinain namin compared sa mga usual na kinakainan namin pag Friday. hehehe May kasama pang "dirty" ice cream yun ha. Pero considering carinderia sya eh a bit pricey for a high end carinderia. hehehe Natuwa din ako sa sarili ko kasi ayos din naman pala kumain dun. Kay Angie pa kami nagulat kasi di mo rin pala sya mapapakain dun. hehehe Di nya alam na carinderia pala yung tinutukoy ng mga guys. Bwahahahahaha Sya tuloy yung unang natapos kumain. hehehe

Sayang nga lang daw eh walang souvenir pic, milestone ito. Pero isip-isip ko eh ayos lang, baka mawala pa yung camera dun pag dinala. hehehe joke lang!

Tingnan natin kung sakaling bumalik pa kami dun... may photo-op na.

A Grissom Quote

2007-02-20T10:29:00.000+08:00

I wanna share this line stated by Gil Grissom in one of the episodes in the latest season of CSI. This guy really have a lot of lines that would really make you think.

Anyway, this is what he said:
"Truth is.. a moral compass can only point you on the right direction, it cannot make you go there. Our culture preaches that you shouldn't be ashamed of anything you do anymore, and unfortunately this city is built on the principle that there is no such thing as guilt. "Do whatever u want! We won't tell..." So, without a conscience there's nothing to stop you from killing someone, and evidently you don't even have to feel bad about it."

This makes me scary and sad because somehow there's a truth to it. If our society thinks like this now, what more in the future.

"bad apple"

2007-02-15T12:54:00.001+08:00

I read this article in Yahoo! news yesterday. It's quite an interesting read. See if you can relate to it or you've experienced it. As for me, I'm not telling if I can relate to this article or not.

One "bad apple" does spoil the whole office

By JoAnne Allen Mon Feb 12, 2:14 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One "bad apple" can spread negative behavior like a virus to bring down officemates or destroy a good team, according to a new study examining conflict in the workplace.

Negative behavior outweighs positive behavior, so a bad apple can spoil the whole barrel, but one or two good workers can't "unspoil" it, researchers at the University of Washington said in the current issue of the journal Research in Organizational Behavior.

"Companies need to move quickly to deal with such problems because the negativity of just one individual is pervasive and destructive and can spread quickly," said co-author Terence Mitchell, a professor of management and organization.

If a bad apple slips through screening in the hiring process, he or she should be placed to work alone as much as possible, the study's lead author, William Felps, said.

The study defines negative workers as those who do not do their fair share of the work, are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or bully or attack others.

Felps said he was inspired to investigate workplace conflict by his wife's experience with a "bad apple" and what happened when the worker was out sick for several days.

"When he was gone my wife said the atmosphere of the office changed dramatically," Felps said. "People started helping each other, playing classical music on their radios, and going out for drinks after work. But when he returned to the office, things returned to the unpleasant way they were."

"He truly was the bad apple that spoiled the barrel," Felps said.

The researchers said they found that a single "toxic" or negative team member can be the catalyst for a group's downward spiral.

In a follow-up study, the researchers found the vast majority of the people they surveyed could identify at least one "bad apple" with whom they had worked and who had produced organizational dysfunction.

Hiring managers could head off the problem by being more thorough when screening potential employees, Felps said.

He recommends checking references and administering personality tests to weed out those who are "really low on agreeableness and emotional stability."

Hmmm... Who has a better service?

2007-02-12T15:44:00.000+08:00

I am in search of a broadband service provider here in Bicutan, Paranaque that is fast, reliable, no or rare service interruption and has a great response time in customer service...

The candidates are:
1.) Globe Broadband
2.) PLDT DSL
3.) Smart Bro

Hhmmm... it's hard to choose because as I've read from the net, all of them have a LOT of bad reviews and only a few (very few!) good ones. I wanna get my money's worth (a 1 year tie-up)and no stress whatsoever when reporting downtime connections to them.

Good Luck na lang ba sa akin or there's hope in finding a great broadband connection???

Yehey!!!

2007-02-08T18:58:00.000+08:00

Yehey!!! Wala na kaming shifting sa work. Sa wakas nagkaron din ng additional resources sa kompanyang to kaya ang resulta ay inabolish na ang di magandang shifting sa trabaho. Buti na lang no! Back to commuting days ulit ako. Wheeeee!!! Akala ko kasi tinitipid na naman kami ng mother company namin sa may Europa. Di naman pala. hehehe Gosh! Sana pati sa darating na bonus eh di kami tipirin. Please Oh Please wag naman sana!

Yun nga lang medyo nababahala ako sa balita si Augs na may nangho-holdup pala sa mga shuttle na yan. Nyay...

Happy 65th Birthday Father Dear!!!

2007-02-05T14:25:00.000+08:00

We planned to give our Papa a little surprise party for his 65th birthday. Mama wanted to surprise him to celebrate a milestone in my Papa's life with close friends and relatives. The hardest part in preparing for this party was the surprising my father part. It's hard to keep my Papa out of the house without him knowing anything is going on. He will know that we're up to something the minute a change in routine happens. So we have to work around that routine of his.

Papa's ecstatic on his new phone and party ;-D

Papa goes golfing every Sunday. He comes home around 2 in the afternoon and takes his afternoon nap immediately. Then wakes up after 2-3 hours of napping. That's the only window we could have in preparing the party for him in our house. Another part of the surprise is celebrating it a day before his b-day because we suspect he's already expecting us to throw him a party on the day itself.

Sino yun?

February 04, 2007 arrived. Papa did his usual routine of golf. But on this day, we had a delay tactic on him wherein my brother and his wife would join him for golf. They've been planning to have lessons with Papa anyway, so we thought, why don't you start it now and just delay the game for him. True enough, it worked. They got home a little late in the afternoon and immediately, Papa had his late afternoon nap.

Papa and Mama dancing kuracha

(the native dance in our province)

While he was napping, we worked on preparing the party stuff and food in the garden. We also need to be very, very quiet in case Papa suddenly wakes up. As quiet as can be, Mama cooked her delish dishes in the kitchen and hiding them once it was done. Food and party deliveries were hush hush and quick. Some friends and relatives came a wee bit early and preparations we're still not done, so we directed them to the house of my cousin(Ate Perlie), that's just a house away, to hide them.

The senior citizens are saying "Cheers!"

Good thing it was getting dark already so Papa won't see the decorations in the garden. We thought that everything was going well until Papa woke up and we were still not done preparing!!! The funny thing was Papa saw Mama and me bring a tray of glasses and a dessert outside the house. To our surprise and my Papa's puzzled looked, he asked us "Anong meron sa labas?". Mama just said "Nanghihiram ng mga baso sila Perlie." and I said "Pinabili to nila Ate Perlie." We thought we got out of that little white lie, but Papa had to ask another question, "Bakit? Anong meron kela Perlie?" I just said, "Di ko alam." Then we rushed the things outside. Panic mode came... "Gising na si Papa!!!!!! Bilisan nyo na dyan!!!!!!"

Papa was about to go to the garden, curious on what's going on. Ging, my sister, diverted Papa's attention by going back to their room and asked about the laptop battery that I just bought for him and told him that something was wrong with it or something. That bought us a little more time in getting all the things done.

Finally, the candles in the cake were lit and all the guests were in the garden. Kuya called Papa and told him he has a visitor. In his "bagong gising" look, sando and shorts, Kuya brought him to the garden and everybody sang happy birthday to him. He really looked surprised at all the people that came to celebrate with him. After blowing out the candles, he excused himself for a minute to change his clothes. hehehe

some of the party people

We ended the party on the eve of his natal day. We greeted him again, he thanked everyone for the wonderful surprise and called it a Birthday.

Happy 65th Birthday Papa!!!
Many more birthdays to come!
Muah! Muah! Muah!

Guess where?

2007-02-03T12:09:00.000+08:00

Bored of the usual Friday Gimmick??? Try this...
1.) 1 bottle of fine red wine
2.) "Aidan" cheese

Day off? hehehe

Cheers!

Ayos ba? Are you one of us?

Lasheng na ba ako?!

Haaappy Aaaaanniversary!!!

2007-02-01T15:00:00.000+08:00

Isang taon na ko nagtr-trabaho sa current company ko. Hay... di ko akalain na makakatagal ako dito. hehehe Tingnan natin kung umabot ako sa TWO. Bwahahahahaha

Where's my Chuck????

2007-01-31T13:59:00.000+08:00

When I first saw this sneaker(All Star Deluxe Mary Jane) last month, I so wanted to buy it right there and then. I've been searching for my ultimate sneaker for awhile now and so far that's the only one that I really, really, really liked! However, during that time I couldn't afford to buy one. Boohoo... Even if I was soooo tempted to use my credit card and buy it, I didn't. I restrained myself from adding it to my list of debt. So I told myself, I'll sleep over it and see if I still like it. Maybe even save some money first before I buy this shoe. The following day I still want it sooooooooooooooo bad!!! But my budget wouldn't allow it. It was the holiday season and also the wedding of my brother so there were a lot of expenses and if I buy this one it would really destroy my budget and I'll be half-happy if I get it.

So I decided to save some money first before I buy it. Even if it breaks my heart to not buy this shoe, I had to wait. I don't want to end up having a big debt when the year ended. To console myself, I visit this shoe everytime I go to the mall and try it on and feel the sole on my feet, imagining that I finally have my own pair. hehehe Pathetic I know!

Finally, the day came when I have enough money to buy it. I hurriedly went to the shop and asked for a size 7 on this style. My heart broke again when the salesperson said that the display was their last pair and it was a size 5. Wah!!!! I wanted to shrink my feet to a five just to make that shoe fit. Wah!!!! I felt so low. Sniff! Sniff! I've been waiting for this shoe for a long time, imagining that I'm wearing it. Only to find out that it's not meant to be. Huhuhu I just wanted to eat lots and lots of ice cream after that. Sometimes.. it really doesn't pay to wait.

But I'm not losing hope. I'm gonna search every mall here in Manila and find a size 7 of my Chucks! My precious!

Closing Time

2007-01-30T12:58:00.000+08:00

Kainis talga! Shifting na naman kami sa opisina ngayon. Simula bukas eh iba na ang oras ng trabaho ko. Sakto pa talga sa unang anibersaryo ko sa kompanya. (Ayuz! Sarap magdiwang ah!) At syempre pa ako yung magtr-trabaho sa gabi. Kung dati gustong-gusto ko yung pasok sa gabi kasi ang laki ng natitipid ko, ngayon ayaw ko na ng kahit anong shift dahil mas nakakatipid ako ngayon pag regular working hours.

Pag morning shift kasi matitipid ko lang eh konti sa parking at konti sa pagkain. Mas mura kasi ang pagkain sa umaga kesa sa tanghalian at mas nakakabusog pa ang agahan no. Yun nga lang eh gigising ako ng super-aga.

Pag evening shift naman eh medyo malaki natitipid ko sa parking at onti sa food. Konting oras lang kasi eh pwede na ko makakuha ng free parking sa gilid. Sa pagkain naman eh pwedeng mag-tinapay na lang ako. At ang pinaka-maganda dito eh di ko kelangan magising ng maaga.

Kaso mula nung nadiskubre ko yung regular hour commute ko eh walang-wala itong mga natitipid ko sa shifts na to. Walang-wala talga. Kahit anong adjust ko sa allowance ko sa mga shifts na yan eh panalo pa din ang regular hours. Nakaka-badtrip talga. Parang mas ok pa tuloy yung night shift, kaso ayaw ko naman kasama yung mga moomoo sa opisina namin no.

Pero syempre bilang isang responsableng empleyado(Huwahahahaha natawa ako dun ah) eh wala akong magagawa kundi gawin yang shifting na yan para matapos lang ang trabaho. Binibigyan ko lang sarili ko ng onting oras para magreklamo at ilabas tong kainisan para pagkatapos eh magtigil na sa kaiinisan at makapagtrabaho ng maayos. Sana di lumampas ng isang buwan to. Tapos!

So let the pain remain

2007-01-29T11:08:00.000+08:00

Sa wakas at nakahanap na kami ng pinsan ko ng mga kalaro sa badminton. Nakahanap na din kami ng mga manlalaro na gusto din mag-badminton. Ang sarap talga pagpawisan lalo na kung matagal-tagal ka ng hindi nakakapag-ehersisyo.

Sana nga lang eh magtuloy-tuloy na tong paglalaro namin para yung sakit ng katawan, braso at kamay ng dahil sa tagal ng di nakakalaro eh matanggal na.

Aray ko, ang aking likod. Aray ko, ang aking braso. Aray ko, ang aking kamay. Masakit! Buti na lang at nakapag-warmup muna kami kundi eh mas lalong masakit at di ako makakapasok sa opisina.

Friday Classics

2007-01-27T10:49:00.000+08:00

I thought that this was going to be another CLASSIC Friday nightout. A little poker, dinner, then choose from videoke, movie, more poker or drinking session with friends. But none of those were on the agenda last night.

First one crossed off the list was poker. I got an invite from Augs to play at a certain time. But since I came to work late, I have to leave work late also. Plus, out of nowhere, an OLD college friend wanted to have dinner with Doths and me. According to her, she just suddenly had an inkling to go to Makati and have dinner with us. So, as I was torn in playing poker or meet an OLD friend(whom we rarely get to see), I couldn't decide instantly. But a poker addict as I am, I told Doths that I would just follow them for dinner after I get to play a wee bit of poker. hehehe That's how I so wanted to play.

But the poker gods wasn't on my side and the guilty feeling sunk in a little. hehehe True enough, when I got there, they were already playing. :( As a result, I didn't get to play poker. :( Ggggrrr for being late for work. I could've played a little if I didn't come in late. Oh well, at least I got to watch them play LIVE! That's still better than playing with a computer on my laptop or watching a boring poker game on TV. After the first game, which Mike turned out to be the lucky winner, there was supposed to be another game. But the only players left were me, Augs and Donish. It's boring to play threesome.. poker. Teehee.. especially if there are no new players to play with. So we wrapped up and parted ways. Everybody was planning to go home early anyway so it was really a sign for me to go see my OLD friend.

So as a lesson learned(yes, it's a lesson learned for me),I hurriedly went to meet Doths and Jonki for dinner. After dropping off Beng at Glorietta, I was off to Recipes to finally meet them. When I got there, I thought that they already started eating. To my surprise, they were still waiting for a table! So I thought this is great! I'm not late! Yey! Clappity-clap!

Anyway, we got the yummy general chicken, cripy tilapia and the gising-gising, which is a vegetable dish that was so delish! I was surprised that I liked that vegetable dish. During dinner, there were lots of talk about OLD times, OLD and new romances, OLD crushes in college who are now married and what could've been called love at first sight. The love quotes for the night came from the always hilarious Jonki, that went:

1.) GIRL(finally realizing she was falling for a guy that's not her type and stopped it before it became serious): "Oh my God! I was hit!"

2.) BOY:"Labs talga kita!"
GIRL:"Ahhh hehe"

and lastly

3.) BOY:"Pwede ba ko manligaw?"
GIRL(took a deep breath and stoically stated a memorized line):"Sorry I can't entertain your courtship."
BOY:"Ah, bakit?"
GIRL(surprised at the follow-up question):"Ah eh.. bata pa kasi ako."

Mind you, these are all true and uttered by one girl to two different guys that are NOT her type.

After dinner, I was craving for a delish ice cream so we had dessert at Cold Rock. Doths had the Cookies and Cream with additional mixes of Oreos and Soft Batch cookies. Jonki had the Aussie Vanilla Low Fat Ice Cream with an additional mix of Cookie Dough. I had the Chocolate Ferrero and the Chocolate Chipaholic Ice Cream with an additional mix of Cookie Dough. Doths had the best combination of flavors but it was too sweet. Jonki's combo was "nakaka-umay." While mine had a hint of medicinal after-taste but still good.

After dessert, it was still a little early to go home from a Friday nightout but Doths had to catch her ride home, so we called it a night and promised next time Chelle should also be there and we have to either go to Red Box or to a Comedy Bar. I'm looking forward to that and I promise no to poker on that day. hehehe Also, we need a camera or a better camera phone to clearly capture memorable moments. Hhhmmm... I wish!

Changes in My Life

2007-01-16T09:10:00.000+08:00

I was supposed to start something new today. Errr Ok Fine! Something I haven't done in a long time then. I was supposed to start commuting to work today. My goal is to lessen my expenses for the year and to start saving a little money. And one way to start attaining that is to only bring a car every Monday and Friday; and commute to work from Tuesday-Thursday.

Bringing a car takes up a lot in my allowance and there a lot of choices for me in going to work everyday. This idea so far has a lot of positive outcomes for me. So now, I choose this.

I woke up early today to prepare for my commute 'coz I know I'm gonna have to wait a little for the FX rides in my town, also I was a bit excited. (Hehehe Babaw no?!) But instead of commuting this morning, my Dad offered that I hitched a ride with him because he's going to attend an early meeting in Makati. (Naawa ata sa akin. Hihihi) I couldn't say NO to that so Yey! I saved half of my commute money! So as a reward, I bought some food for brekky. Mwehehe

The last time I commuted was when I was in 3rd year college. It's been a long time since then, so this is somehow a big challenge for me. Especially since I've experienced the conveniences in bringing a car everyday, it's really hard to go back. But this is a goal I've set myself to do for the day, the week, the month, the other months to come and for the year. I'll take it a day at a time, let's see how far I will go.

Of course little adjustments have to be made, like waking up a little early than before, walking a few more meters to the office and inhaling the fumes of other vehicles in the road. But just thinking of the money I'll save in doing this is enough motivation for me to bring back my commuting days.

A New Year

2007-01-01T12:28:00.000+08:00

Here are the pics we shot while we waited for the new year. We didn't get to play poker this time as people were getting ready to go somewhere in the morning.

Here we are jumping, wishing hard to be a little bit taller this year... just a wee bit more hehehe

Here we are in our dramatic poses, while watching the dragon fireworks of our neighbors... no budget for expensive paputok

Picture taking during Medya Noche... we all had three heavy dinners from three different houses

and of course our first kiss of the year is from our cutie brave baby boy Yuan... he's quite big now and he didn't even cry while all the fireworks are booming around us. He was even pointing to the sky every time he sees one.

A Retro Christmas in 2006

2006-12-26T12:22:00.000+08:00

The Retro Clan

Christmas with my family is full of fun and revelry. Since almost all of our relatives decided to stay until Christmas, me and my cousins decided to organize again our little Christmas party. We didn't plan on having this party this year because we were all busy with the wedding. My sister used to organize these parties, but she didn't have time this year because she's so busy with her new job.

The Sassy Women

But, as faith would have it, we all found time to organize this special Christmas party. We first discussed the theme of our party. Two Christmases ago, our theme was formal. We all dressed up in our formal wear. Long sleeves and ties for boys. Skirts and dresses for girls. Last year, our theme was a Luau "Hawaiian" Party. We all have these colorful hawaiian shirts that my sister and Kuya Sherwin bought in Divisoria. The kids had to wear grass skirts 'coz they performed some hawaiian dances for the oldies. It was so colorful and cute.

The Groovy Men

So this year, we all decided for a RETRO theme. Wherein, boys will wear thight-fitting, brightly colored, psychedelic shirts and pants. Complete with sideburns and weird looking hair. The girls will wear, short colorful dresses with big belts. The hair will be arranged like in the 60's or 70's like fly-away hair and big headbands.

The Groovy Family

It was so fun seeing all of us in period clothing and to think we didn't spend that much on these clothes. It was great to see our uncles and aunties laughing at us wearing what we think they wore when they were our age. We prepared a program for this small Christmas Party of ours. The kids and the youngsters prepared a dance number for the oldies to enjoy. We also prepared games for the oldies to join in. Of course, food, picture taking and gifts were plentiful. One auntie of ours even commented that this year's party was even better than last year. That's a complement that all of us cousins wanted to hear. We were so glad they enjoyed it. It was a surprise that we topped our Party last year, because we thought that one was great. But Christmas 2006 is the best so far. Hope we can top it again in 2007.

The Groovy Family with the Balikbayans

Oh BTW, the performances presented were:
1.) My niece Bel and nephew Darryl, danced to the tune of Sumayaw Sumunod by VST & Co. Wherein Bel was the one leading Darryl throughout the dance. The oldies had a laugh on this.
2.) All the kids dancing to a medley of songs from the 60's to the 80's. Like songs from the Beach Boys and the Papaumamaw jingle. Everyone enjoyed there performance.
3.) Lastly, the Groovy men, danced to the tune of Katawan by Hagibis. Wherein they had an image of machomen at the start of the song, but in the end the image changed to "they like machomen". This performance got a standing ovation from everyone!

Oh yeah, after the oldies went to sleep after the party. My cousins and I played poker 'till morning; and naturally, yours truly won again. hehehe Much to the complaints of my cousins, all wanting a rematch. hehehehe I'm ready anytime anywhere my dear cousins. I'm ready anytime...

The Wedding

2006-12-16T12:06:00.000+08:00

The Torres Family

Kuya with our Parents

The day finally arrived for my brother to get married. At 10AM we arrived in the townhouse in Tagaytay where my whole family would be staying. Settled in and enjoyed the cool air breeze for a little bit. After getting settled, my mom, sister and I went to Shing's hotel to have our hair and makeup done. It took a long time for that to get done as they have a big entourage. After the picture taking with the bride and the whole bridal entourage, my sister and I went off to the church. Take note, I was in my dress and still driving the car! hehehe It was also getting cold and the shawl we have didn't help much with the cold. The wedding was nice, the bride and her parents almost got teary-eyed as they walked down the altar. After all, it was their only daughter/child getting married.

After the wedding, my cousins and I went back to the townhouse to get all the wines and brandy for the reception. Again, I'm still in my dress and in heels driving the car in Tagaytay! Imagine that! hehehe

When we arrived at the reception, I was in awe of the place, too bad it was already dark when we arrived. It would have been beautiful if we caught a little sunlight on the place and took pictures there.

Some of Our Clan

Anyways, my brother placed all of us cousins in the last table to be called for picture taking with the couple and to get food at the buffet table. Thinking that we wouldn't mind waiting that long. We were all so hungry waiting for our table number to be called that when our number finally got called, we were teasing Kuya of the table number and how hungry we all were.

Goofing around with the Bride

After the wedding was over, we went back to the townhouse and continued our party there. Drinking, laughters, neverending stories were exchanged up to the wee hours of the morning. That's the most fun part of weddings anyway, the after-parties. hehehe

Goofing around with the Groom

After all the oldies finally had enough alcohol, stories and food, they went to sleep. Us, youngsters, were left with a little more booze and little bit more stories to tell. As we were getting sleepy and bored, I decided it's time that I finally taught my family to play Texas Hold'em Poker. hehehe We played 'till morning and they still can't beat Donya Soledad. bwahhahhhaaha That's me by the way, in case you didn't know. (Trivia: That's the alias bestowed upon me by my fellow PAA(Poker Addicts Anonymous) club members during our poker days in my previous company.) hehehehe

After waking to a hangover the following mid-morning, we all finally packed our stuff and headed for home. But before going home, my cousins and I decided to have lunch first in Tagaytay. We discussed our upcoming Christmas Party on the 24th while we were enjoying our bulalo. Yummy!

Chilly Saturday

2006-12-04T15:44:00.000+08:00

Spent my Saturday with my kuya and my future sister-in-law, Shiela. We went to Tagaytay to look at some houses that are for rent because my family(and when I say family, I mean family and relatives, and when I say relatives, I mean clan) would be staying there for their wedding.

It was a fun day spending it with the two of them. I got to know both of them a little more. I saw a more mature kuya now. It was a great day. It's starting to be a little chilly in Tagaytay even at midday so I expect a very chilly wedding for the couple.

The day was made even special when my brother treated me to a hearty lunch as a gift for my birthday. They gave me three restaurants to choose from: Antonio's, Sonya's Garden and Restorante Carlos (Sosyal ang couple, kwento ni Shiela eh they make sure that they get to eat at those restos every year). I chose Restorante Carlos because they said Sonya's food are great but has little servings, Antonio's have steaks and a lot of people have eaten there na, while Restorante Carlos have this steak and prawns dish that is so delish daw. They also said they serve spanish food. I wanted prawns and I was curious of the different Spanish food being served daw plus it's the first time I've heard of this place so I chose that.

The restaurant looked great, Shiela said that the owners themselves cook the food. The place really have a Spanish theme with the whole family crest and all. When the food arrived it was really good and have a big serving. The steak and pork tenderloin was so good and tender. The prawns were really delish and creamy! What I didn't like was the pesto pasta that goes with it, I'm not a big fan of pesto kasi. But it's still all good. I had freshly squeezed dalandan juice too. Thanks Bro! :p

me and shiela

me and bro

Books!

2006-11-30T20:44:00.000+08:00

These are the books that were given to me after my birthday.

Hhmmm... I think I'm going to have an interesting year ahead...

Show me my money!!!!

2006-11-27T10:19:00.000+08:00

Please allow me to rant on this entry...

Last Monday, I deposited a certain amount of money to my savings account thru their Express Deposit machine. I've been depositing some of my money thru that machine because it's convenient, it's real-time and no more long lines at the bank. However, on that fateful day, while I was depositing my money, the machine suddenly made a sound that I don't want to hear and then it displayed an error. I was horrified because it was a big amount of money and it's a big part of my birthday-christmas budget. Wah!!! The money was not credited to my account. So I quickly called their customer service hotline to inform them of what happened. At first, I was calm about it. Because this bank of mine is one of the most recognized and reputable banks in the country. I know that my money would be safely returned back to me in three banking days.

UNFORTUNATELY, it's been a week and I haven't seen my money. Wah!!!!!! I cannot move on my christmas list and other plans because I need that money!!!! All the customer service people are telling me that they've e-mailed the responsible people for this and waiting for their reply, etc. etc. etc. ... Wah!!!!! I want my money back. I really do... Huhuhuhu

Never before seen Boracay Pics

2006-11-23T16:35:00.000+08:00

Here are some of the makukulit pics in Bora. Dito nyo lang makikita ang mga kakaibang pics namin sa Bora! Mwahahahahahahaha

a boring wait at the boarding area

see the boredom hehehe

finally at Kalibo

finally at Bans Resort

activities na ginawa namin

inuman to the MAX!!!

syempre di mawawala ang pagmo-model sa Bora! Panalo ba?

bonding to the MAX din!!! Nahulaan nyo ba kung sino mga acrobats natin?

ALL ME!!!!! ala lang... hehehe

Here we all are sa tapat ng store kung san bumili ng mga bikini si Apaul

This is me trying the new bikini that I bought. Nice ba? Mwahahahahahahaha

Boracay 2006 (Part 4 of 4)

2006-11-09T19:42:00.000+08:00

DAY 4
Our itenerary for the day was:
5:30 AM Wake up (Yeah right?! After last night. Yeah?! Right?!)
5:40 AM Go jogging to the grotto and take pictures (Tsk tsk tsk di nakapag-exercise)
7:00 AM Have Breakfast
8:00 AM Try the ATV (Damn! Didn't get to try this one!)
9:00 AM Go swimming and buy pasalubong
1:00 AM Check out

We have to get up early because it was check-out day and we have lots to do pa. BUT, we woke up at around 8 AM and still woozy from the night before. Augs, Apaul and I planned to try the ATV (All-terrain vehicle), but because we woke up late, we didn't get to try this out. Bummer!!! Maybe on our next visit na lang. So we skipped two planned events and just had our breakfast. After that, we went swimming for a couple of hours, had our pictures taken at the grotto, had our early lunch at Jonah's one last time, bought a few more pasalubongs and packed our bags.

The guys placed their extra pasalubongs in my bag so my pasalubongs didn't have any place in my bag. Hay... hehehe Anyway, Albert greeted us again to bring our bags to the Port. He accompanied us until we rode our van that will take us to the airport. It was like we knew him for a long time, waving us goodbye, thanking us and saying "Ingat!" while watching us go. hehehe

A little delay on our flight and we're back in Manila. My mom gave me a weird look when she saw my new hairdo. She said it doesn't suit me and made my face look bigger. Hay Mother! hehehe After that, I slept like a baby. I didn't get to report to work the following day, my body was not agreeing with my age. hehehe

At least I learned one good thing about my new hairstyle. Nobody messes with people who look different. They're afraid to mess with you because you look unpredictable and can do anything crazy. Mwahahahahahaha

Boracay 2006 (Part 3 of 4)

2006-11-08T15:24:00.000+08:00

DAY 3
Woke up with a slight headache from the previous night. We had another one of our measly breakfasts. Doths, Apaul and Nikks decided to try parasailing after breakfast. Augs and I joined the nervous ladies on their adventure. hehehe They ended up enjoying it.

After that, I decided to braid my hair. I finally get to change hairstyles after 20+ years of my life. Mwahahahahaha Nikks found someone to braid my hair. I was a bit nervous because I wouldn't know if braids would fit my face and I've practically have had the same hairstyle since I was a kid. After an hour of braiding, I was looking at my friends' reactions. They were laughing and praising the braids at the same time. They said it suits me. But I still had my doubts, I didn't know if it was good or I look like moron. hehehe

They took pictures and true enough, I look different with braids. It was cool! I have to own this hairstyle for a week. hehehe

It was a laidback day for all of us. We just spent it by the beach, relaxing and swimming. Lots of sunset pictorials from the direction of our favorite photographer Augs Quijano and a sponsored Sony camera of Apaul Kilroy. hehehe

Oh yeah, there was one incident that we all didn't want to happen again. Before we had our dinner, Nikks decided to checked-in at Pearl of the Pacific hotel because she won a free overnight stay there. A horrible thing happened there. We were all excited on this hotel because it was located at Station 1 were all the "classy" hotels are located. However, this hotel was nowhere near being "classy". It was a scary hotel! First off was the room given to Nikks was located way on top of the hill!!!! As in!!! We have to climb and climb to the top just to get to that damn room. Cands and Apaul felt something eerie while we were looking for that room.

Nikks wanted to change rooms but there were no more rooms available that was near the beach. Also, the receptionists were rude to Nikks after she was just explaining as calmly as possible that they need a room closer to the beach because she has Oyo with her. Nikks ended up not getting that free accomodations at all. Screw it even if it's free.

NIGHT 3
We had dinner at Aria. We were craving for pasta and this was the only place in Bora that serves pasta.

This time around, we wanted to show to the guys what the night life in Bora is really like. But unfortunately, it was high tide. The little walking space to go to the bars in Station 1 was all water. We didn't want to get wet going there so we just opted to stay at the shore in front of our hotel. Besides, there were only a few people going to Station 1. I don't think the guys will enjoy the ambiance if it were just us there. hehehe

So we set up our sarongs at the front of Bans Resort. We were lucky enough to find a spot were there was a spotlight in the beach. A little light aside from the full moon was a great welcome. We were also happy to see a little entertainment there. There were two people practicing their bar tending skills. They were flipping shakers and bottles around. They were fun to watch while we were drinking our tequila on the side. hehehe It was like we were in a bar na din.

After a few more tequila shots, pictures were taken and BIG laugh trips we all called it a night to remember. A pact was established that what happened in that little spot in Bora, STAYS in Bora. No excuses from anyone.

Caught our Zzzzzz's after and that's it. Mwahahahaha

Oh by the way, Doths slept through all the happening that night. Too bad for her. She missed A LOT. Tsk tsk tsk

Boracay 2006 (Part 2 of 4)

2006-11-07T14:17:00.000+08:00

DAY 2
We woke up around 8 AM to have our breakfast and get ready for our island hopping gig. A sure treat for our first timer friends in the island. Our breakfast was had really small servings. It wasn't a recommended breakfast at all. Anyway, next on the agenda was island hopping. Albert, our guide, was gonna be joining us on our island hopping gig. Albert was a bit moody today and a little snobbish so we left him be. I guess he was having a bad day. hehehe It was a little cloudy and windy too so we got a little nervous because the waves are gonna be a bit big especially when we get a little further off the island.

Sure enough, it was windy and very maalon. Cands was not a fan of deep water, expecially if it's maalon. hehehe But our fears were gone when we got to the dive site. There were a lot of fishes this time. They were just swimming beside me, in front of me, below me, in short, everywhere!! It was great to see those many fishes. We got to feed them the oishi crackers that we brought, but we panicked because all of them headed straight to it and to my finger too! hehehe It was fun and scary at the same time. We all had a laugh about it because so many fishes wanted to eat the treat and they swarm around you and if you're not used to it, you will really panic. hehehe

After our snorkeling, we proceeded to go around the Island and to Puca Beach to have our lunch. The way to Puca beach was very scary, it was raining, windy and very, very maalon. We all were very nervous in our little banca that were only enough to hold 10 people the most. Augs even vomited along the way because the waves were just really big. Albert in his moody mood scoffed to us that we being OA about the waves. That there is nothing to worry about and this is just normal around the island. We just didn't mind him because if we did, we would have pushed him off the banca. We were relieved when we reached Puca beach to have our lunch.

The restaurant was again a recommendation from Albert and his cousin. The restaurant's name was Tesebel. It is run by a relative of theirs and they said the food was great and they have a great cook. So, we ordered inihaw na tuna, sinigang na ulo ng tuna, calamares, honey-buttered sugpo and some mangoes. It was truly delicious!!! All the food we ordered was very, very delicious. Everyone enjoyed it and we wanted to come back here to eat again as it was really, really yummy! Quite expensive but worth it. The calamares was the winner! I recommend that you eat at this place when you go to Boracay.

After lunch, Albert approached us and apologized about his behavior, he said he was just having a bad day and wanted to make up to us this time. True enough, he became fun after that. He took us to a private spot of the island called 'Balanghai' where we took a short dip and swim. He took pictures of us and with us. Smiled a lot now and even joked around us now. But he became a little frisky so we distanced ourselves to him a little bit. I think he drank a little during his lunch break. Anyway, We all laughed about it, we said that our guide had topak and wished na sana di na lang sya nakipagbati sa amin. hehehe Oh well, at least the adventure we had was worth it.

After 5 hours of island hopping, they didn't charge us extra OR we didn't allow them to charge us extra. hehehe Nahilo na kami't lahat at ang tagal ng food sa lunch namin tapos ch-charge nyo kami ng extra! No way no! hehehe

After island hopping, Apaul and Augs wanted to get massages. Cands and Pau retreated to their room to rest for awhile. While Doths, Nikks, Oyo and I walked to D'Talipapa to see if we can buy a few pasalubongs. It was long walk indeed. It was a good walk though for our full stomachs from that yummy lunch!

When we got to D'Talipapa, Doths and Nikks went shopping. Oyo and I played around the place since I wasn't planning to buy anything naman. hehehe We spent the rest of our afternoon at this place. Just looking for stuff and nice things. Before sunset, Apaul and Augs joined us as Apaul wanted to buy some stuff too. When they arrived, Augs told us that they almost got into an altercation with the locals because Apaul's tattoos are getting a lot attention from the locals. They were in awe of her tattoos. But some folks are a bit aggressive in showing their awe. The two of them got scared because some locals looked like goons and a bit drunk. hehehe We were laughing so hard when we heard this story. Apaul bought a shirt out of the blue just to cover her tattoos so as not to get that much attention. After that, another round of shopping was done and then we noticed it was night time na pala.

NIGHT 2
We had our dinner at a small place in D'Talipapa. The food was ok and filling. We were all a bit tired but I didn't want to ride the tricycle back to our hotel. I wanted to enjoy the view of Bora so we decided to walk off our dinner and enjoy the view of Boracay at night time.

When we got to our hotel, this time we decided to have some alcohol in our bodies on our 2nd night in Boracay. The bum thing was, it rained that night. So we decided to drink our Vodka bottles in our room and just swap stories and make fun of people. hehehehe Great stories were shared, though I don't remember when the drinking session ended because I got drunk first and was the first one who slept or passed out. hehehe All I remember was Oyo waking up beside me, crying and wanted to push me off the bed. I didn't budge of course. Too dizzy to even care. hehehe

Boracay 2006 (Part 1 of 4)

2006-11-06T11:25:00.000+08:00

DAY 1
Woke up early to go to the airport. My dad's gonna bring us to the airport very early because he also has an early tee off time. Being early birds in the airport, there were no lines so our check-in went smoothly.Our flight was delayed for 10 minutes only and Doths won a prize on the on-board Cebu Pacific games.

Arrived in Kalibo and proceeded to hire a van to take us to Caticlan. The recommended van was a slow-poke. He drives so slow that I wanted to take over the wheel so we can go faster. After an hour and a half, we were at the Jetty Port and off to Boracay Island. I was so excited because I get to see the island again.

While boarding the banca, we were approached by this local offering his recommendations to us when we get to Boracay. Like, where our accomodations are, do we want to go island hopping, parasailing, jetskiing, etc. More stories on this local later, for now, we just ignored him because we don't have plans on those items yet.

After 10 minutes, we got to this Port in Boracay that was way off Station 3. I was surprised because the banca usually docks passengers at Station 3. But the locals said that now this is where all the banca docks and we just have to take a tricycle to get to our accomodations. The tricycle costs P100.00!!! Talk about taking advantage of being a tourist spot. Grabe! Good thing 4 of us shared that cost. But still, it is quite expensive, compared to getting off at Station 3 wherein you can have the option of just walking to your hotel or take a tricycle not costing P100.00! Hay...

So reluctantly, we rode that tricycle as we were anxious to get to our hotel already. Remember the local I was talking about earlier, well, he was kind enough to guide us to our hotel since we didn't know where it was located. After the tricycle, we had a little walk to our hotel. Good thing the local(named Albert), who guided us, went with us and lead the way to Bans Resort and carried all our very heavy bags(it was still full of our liquor so it was very heavy). It was a relief because I didn't want to bring my heavy bag either. hehe Anyway, he received a very nice tip from us.

After checking-in, we had our late lunch. The first decent restaurant we came upon was Binalot and we didn't want to go any further because we were so hungry. My friends and I had our first lunch at Binalot.

After eating, we went back to our hotel and changed to our swimwear. We went swimming and took pictures 'till dark. We had our merienda at Jonah's, where they have the best shake in Boracay! It was yummy indeed.

NIGHT 1
We arranged our island hopping event for the following morning with the cousin of Albert. He gave us a very hefty discount so we jumped on that chance immediately. We had our dinner at Mikay's in D'Mall Palengke. The food was muy delicioso as Donish would say.

Afer dinner, we were so full and tired from the trip that some of us decided that we call it a night and just make bawi on the following nights in Bora. Boring huh? But we were all just tired, well, except for Apaul, who wanted to see the night life in Bora on her first night here. But, sad to say, nobody was up for it. We all lacked sleep the previous day and wanted to have a long sleep for the days ahead. In short, nothing happened on our first night in Bora. Apaul also slept her boredom away. Zzzzzzz...

***pics to follow

Someday

2006-11-03T10:24:00.000+08:00

I love this new song by Nina entitled "Someday". I love the way she sang it too. This is the song that I keep playing over and over and over...

Here's the lyrics:

someday you'll gonna realize
one day you'll see this thru my eyes
by then i won't even be there
i'll be happy somewhere
even if i can't

i know you don't really see my world
you think your the last guy on earth
well i've got news for you
i know i'm not that strong
but it won't take long...
won't take long...

'coz someday someone's gonna love me
the way i wanted you to need me
someday someone's gonna take your place

one day i'll forget about you
you'll see i won't even miss you
someday... someday...

right now, i know you can't tell
i'm down and i'm not doin' well
but one day these tears
they will all run dry
i won't have to cry
sweet goodbye

'coz someday someone's gonna love me
the way i wanted you to need me
someday someone's gonna take your place

whooa one day i'll forget about you
you'll see i won't even miss you
someday.. i know someone's gonna be there

someday someone's gonna love me
the way i wanted you to need me
someday someone's gonna take your place

one day i'll forget about you
you'll see i won't even miss you
someday... someday...

Off to...

2006-11-02T13:16:00.000+08:00

On Sunday, November 5, 2006, my friends and I will be off to...

Movies

2006-10-25T12:39:00.000+08:00

I finally had the chance to watch a couple of movies that I've had in-stock for quite some time now. The first two were love stories, "Closer" and "Bridget Jones' Diary: The Edge of Reason". The next two were disturbing and heartbreaking movies, "The Constant Gardener" and "Munich".

I enjoyed watching the first two movies, they were heart-warming, lovable and of course have a happy ending, which I like. Well, except for "Closer", which is more of a "dark" love story, but nonetheless, I still ended up having a happy feeling afterwards.

But, when I watched "The Constant Gardener" and "Munich", a different feeling settled in. More of sadness, depression and a reflection on life. The two movies display the reality of what is going on in our world today. Especially on the movie "The Constant Gardener", which really leaves a heavy feeling afterwards. I couldn't sleep after watching that movie because it just stays with you and haunts you. It shows the other side of Africa. "Other side" meaning, the things you will not see as a tourist on that country. There is this one scene in the movie that will really really break your heart and will make you cry buckets! Wah!!! I cry everytime I remember that scene. In "Munich", it shows that discrimination and war should have no place in this world.

I should've watched the depressing movies first before the happy love stories to change my mood. Lesson learned I guess...

I also recommend that you do not to watch "The Constant Gardener" and "Munich" one after the other and especially if you're feeling depressed. It will only worsen your situation. But if ever you do, watch cartoons or play with your kids/nieces/nephews after watching them.. it will help a little.

Hay...

2006-10-16T12:09:00.000+08:00

Sana November 5 to 8 na... Nakakawalang-gana na... Hay... Nakakawalang gana na magtrabaho... Nakakawalang gana na gumawa ng kahit ano... Parang wala ng saysay ang patutunguhan ng buhay ko... N-A-K-A-K-A-W-A-L-A-N-G G-A-N-A N-A T-A-L-G-A...

Hay...

Krispy Kreme

2006-10-02T13:17:00.000+08:00

Yep! You read that right! It's coming!!!

When my cousin who lives in HK arrived last Saturday, he brought a few boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts. We were all suprised because we didn't know that there's already a Krispy Kreme branch in HK(at 2 branches pa! at madami daw tao parati!).

Now, when I posted it in my YM, a friend told me that soon it will also be available in the Philippines!!!! I was ecstatic!!! No more hand-carry deliveries from Balikbayans or travelers in the US. hehehe

The Flagsgip store will open on November 16, 2006 at the Fort. A second store will open on December 2006 at Megamall. Cool!!! For sure, madaming-madaming tao parati ito just like when Gonuts Donuts opened a few years ago.

For more info look at: http://www.krispykreme.com.ph

Woohoo!!!

Yun nga lang... ready na ba kayo sa isang donut na worth P60.00. hehehe

Getting Married!!!

2006-09-08T09:28:00.000+08:00

No way!!! Not me!!!! Mwahahahahaha My brother's the one that's getting married. hehehe They're gonna make their "I Do's" on December 15, 2006 at a church(forgot the name) in Tagaytay. A plus is only a few people can get to attend the wedding there 'coz it's too far. hehehe They chose that place because that's where my Kuya and Shing (his fiancee) always go to relax and get away from the maddening crowd in Manila. The two of them often spend the weekend there in Tagaytay. HHmmmm... I wonder what they do there. hehehe Oh well, that's their choice I guess.

Now that there's a wedding in the family, of course this means that my sister and I are gonna be part of the entourage. Yes, you read that right. I'm gonna wear a #*$&ing gown or dress(whatever it is you call it) come December. Wah!!!! I'm not a fan of dressing up and wearing makeup but this is for my brother and her soon to be wife, so there.

My dad is pretty excited about the wedding because finally he's sure to have a grandchild in the coming year or two. My mom though is a little shocked. My brother's still young pa daw. hehehe You know moms, they don't want their baby to have another life outside hers. I wonder if my mom would still be shocked when one of her daughter's announce marriage at the age of.. nevermind! hehehe

My brother just announced his plans a month ago. In the beginning of the year he didn't even have plans on marriage, that's why my mother was a little suspicious and really shocked to hear that's he's gonna get married by the end of the year. But still, she's happy for them at least one of her kids is finally on the marrying stage.

Now that my brother's gonna leave our home in a year, we're all fighting who gets his room. hehehe My bro's room is not quite big but it's a very cool room. Even when it's summertime, it's still the coolest room in the house. I wanna convert it into a gym room. My sister wants it to be her room. My mom wants to make it an extension of the dining area. I wonder who will get the room the next year. hehehe Abangan!

Planning a trip to Boracay

2006-09-06T10:45:00.000+08:00

My friends and I are planning a trip to Boracay in November. We're finalizing everything now while the rates are cheap and affordable. Now, we can't decide which accomodation to choose. We are currently choosing between Bans Beach Resort(a cottage type) in Station 1 or in La Carmela Beach Resort(a hotel type) in Station 2(but I read it is near Station 3 already). I'm torn between the two because I want to stay in a resort in Station 1 but I also want a resort with a pool so we can still go swimming at night(in case it rains also). But if we're near Station 1, we can just go to the different night parties in Station 1. However, if we're in Station 2, we can also go to the parties but with a longer walk, which is a good exercise, but not recommended if you're drunk. hehehe

Anyway, Bans Resort is cheaper than in La Carmela. But La Carmela has more package inclusions(welcome drinks, daily breakfasts, land-boat transfers--additional fee if from Kalibo) than in Bans. But if we compute these inclusions together with the accomodations in Bans, it is still a little cheaper than in La Carmela.

I'd like to know the exact rate of transfer from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan Port and from Caticlan Port to Station 1 or 2 on the days we would go there. I don't know if these rates also change like the different season rates in Bora. (I wish it doesn't change!!)

Here are a couple of reviews on Bans Resort(it contains some pics too): Traveler Reviews on Bans Beach Resort

I couldn't find a review on La Carmela though. Hhhmmm... is this a sign?

Oh yeah, another thing why I'm hesitant about Bans is the way to contact them(long distance, no manila office) and paying our reservations(dunno how this one goes too). As for La Carmela, all these can be done by the travel agency here in manila.

So far, my friends prefer La Carmela. It has the majority vote. I haven't voted yet as I don't know which one to choose!!

What do you think is a much better, affordable and a practical choice? Any other affordable but nice hotels or cottages to recommend in Boracay that we can easily contact?

I am SO open to suggestions.

It will never be the same

2006-09-04T10:43:00.000+08:00

I stayed up late last night just to see if Andre Agassi can do another miracle. He didn't, whoops, no, he couldn't. A valiant effort from a noble man. When he was crying after the game, I noticed I was too and that was already around 3 in the morning! Tennis will never be the same without him.

This is like when Jordan retired, I didn't watch any NBA games anymore after that. When Caidic retired, no more PBA games either. Basketball to me, was never the same again. The excitement was gone for me. Now, tennis is too. They're saying that Roddick could be the next Andre?! No freakin' way! He doesn't have the charisma that Andre have. He looks to me more of a McEnroe in the making because of his temper.

We'll miss you Andre! I wish you didn't have to retire. Oh well, I guess we'll just hafta wait for your kids to grow up. 'Till then, I'll just watch poker games on TV na lang. I don't think anybody will retire in playing poker.

Sukob

2006-08-02T11:57:00.000+08:00

Hindi talga ako mahilig manuod ng mga pelikulang Tagalog. Siguro mabibilang ko lang sa mga kamay ko yung mga pelikulang Tagalog na napanuod ko sa sinehan. Unang-una kasi, nanghihinayang ako sa pera ko kasi pare-pareho lang naman istorya ng mga yan, recycled/copied stories ba. Pangalawa, eh yung acting ng mga ibang astista eh hindi moving, para lang kasi silang tumutula at mga bato sa screens. Pangatlo, bihira lang magkaron ng magagandang pelikulang Tagalog, as in once in a blue moon lang.

Pero pag magkaron naman ng magandang pelikulang Tagalog eh may mga dahilan din ako para mapanuod yun. Unang-una, required sa school panuorin (sana pati pambayad sa sinehan eh sagot ng school nun). Pangalawa, nilibre ako sa panunuod ng pelikula na yon(libre naman eh, so sige nuod na lang). Pangatlo, marami ng nagsasabi na maganda at kakaiba nga daw ang pelikula (sulit daw ang bayad at lahat ng kilala mo na nakapanuod na ng pelikulang yun eh puro yun na lang ang pinag-uusapan).

Kaya eto, dahil sa pangatlong rason na yan kaya ako napanuod bigla ng pelikulang "Sukob". Pelikula nila Kris Aquino at Claudine Barreto na nasa direksyon ni Chino Roño. Tungkol ito sa pamahiin ng mga Pilipino na malas magpakasal ng sabay o magkasunod ang magkapatid sa loob ng isang taon. Mag-aagaw daw ang malas at swerte sa magkapatid. Ang isa ay mamalasin at ang isa naman daw ay su-swertehin. Kaya obligasyon daw ng kapatid na sinuwerte na tulungan ang kapatid na minalas. Pero sa pelikulang ito ay walang sinuwerte at iba ang ibig sabihin ng malas.

Maganda ang istorya ng pelikula, di mo akalain na magiging ganon ang takbo nya, unpredictable ba. Bihira lang ang ganong pelikulang Pilipino ha! Pero bandang dulo eh medyo alam mo na kung ano mangyayari, ayos lang diba? Kasi sa dulo lang sya naging predictable. Kahit na may isang eksena dun na parang Sadako ang dating, eh patatawarin mo na din. Nagulat ka naman kahit papano. hehehe Pero as usual, iilan lang ang nagbigay ng magandang performance sa acting. Eto ay sina, Ronaldo Valdez, Boots Anson Roa, Claudine Barreto (pwera lang yung crying scenes nya, crocodile tears pa din hanggang ngayon eh, di ko feel yung pag-iyak nya), at yung multong Bride (hehehe, convincing syang multo eh).

Ha? Ano kamo? Ba't wala si Kris Aquino sa listahan? Kasi magaling na Host si Kris at dun na lang sya mag-concentrate. Gets mo na? Buti naman kung ganon. Balik na tayo sa movie ha.

Ang isa pang medyo di ko nagustuhan sa pelikula eh yung pagpaparehas ni Wendell Ramos at Kris Aquino at Bernard Palanca at Claudine Barreto bilang mag-asawa. Walang chemistry whatsoever. Di mo ramdam na in-love sila sa isa't-isa at mag-asawa pa. Pwede pa siguro kela Bernard at Claudine, merong isang eksena na ramdam mo na mag-asawa sila (dahil mas angat yung acting ni Claudine sa eksena na yun nadala nya si Bernard), pero di pa din sila bagay eh. hehehe

Sa pangkalahatan eh ire-rekomenda kong panuorin nyo ang pelikulang ito, yun nga lang eh kung hilig nyo ang horror/suspense movies. Maganda sya, wag nyo na lang pansinin ang acting ng iba, concentrate na lang kayo sa istorya at sa multong Bride at maaliw kayo.

Isang babala nga lang, wag nyong panuorin to sa gabi o bago kayo matulog, kasi baka bangungutin kayo sa pagtulog gaya ng nangyari sa akin. Tigas kasi ng ulo ko, di na kasi ako natuto sa "The Ring" na pelikula. Lecheng Sadako yan...

Gin Pomelo or Gin Pineapple, a deceiving drink for me

2006-07-24T09:47:00.000+08:00

Last Friday night I was not a responsible drinker that I usually am. :-( Whenever I have gimiks, I know my limitations in drinking alcohol because I have to drive home after. But last Friday was really different, maybe because it was a big group this time or there were lots of teasing or the conversations were so hilarious that you don't notice you've drank too many. Gin with any combination for me is really a killer. I can drink different liquors and recover immediately but with Gin... Uh Oh! At least now I know that next time I won't drink too much.. Sigh.. unless I'm not gonna drive home. hehehe

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

2006-07-19T10:38:00.000+08:00

I got to watch Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest last night. It's a great movie. No wonder it surpassed the box-office record of Spiderman ($135.6 million dollars on its opening weekend only!). Woohoo! Johnny Depp is getting another peak in his career. The action scenes involving the wheel with a three-man sword fight was executed excellently. The story is fresh and very entertaining, though the love triangle was really inevitable it still has a mystery on who Elizabeth Swann will pick as her true love.
Johnny Depp and his Capt. Jack Sparrow is entertaining as ever. But I think William Turner had more action scenes than Jack Sparrow. Nice to see Elizabeth Swann do something manly rather than just play a damsel in distress character.
I think this is better than the first one and now I can't wait for the last installment. This movie will keep you hanging on to your seats up to the very end, so you will really have to catch the next one. I also read that it's final, The Rolling Stones member, Keith Richards, will make an appearance on the third one. All I can say is, nice marketing strategy. hehehe

Now, is Lady in the Water by M. Night Shamalayan worth watching in the big screen or not?

San Jorge (San Hor-he) Part 2

2006-07-18T11:53:00.000+08:00

Fifth day, we went to another beach called Malahog Beach that is an hour and a half away from our place. This beach is also nice. They have clear waters and have very fine sand that have green crystals on it. But as usual when we got there, Haring Habagat was doing his work again. It was still windy that the waves are much higher than in Burabod Beach. The only difference here is they have much clearer waters, so it's swimmable. When we arrived, we headed to the water immediately even if the waves were splashing so hard. If you don't have good balance, the waves will knock you down to the shore. The aunties who came with us had a hard time standing up near the shore 'coz they were being knocked down by continuous waves. Of course to us young people, this was entertainment but all of us had a good laugh on this even the aunties. hehehe At first the oldies were afraid of the big waves. We just told them to flow with the wave and not against it and you'll enjoy the water. That's what they did and they ended up having more fun than we did. Can you believe that? hehehe The following day though the oldies complained of aches in their arms for all the swimming they did in the beach. hehehe

do you see us or the waves?

Sixth day, we climbed the bundok fronting our town, went back to Blanca Falls to cool off as the sun was finally out this time and went to see farms. In the morning, we decided to climb the bundok fronting our town. We've climbed this before during the Chistmas season and I recommend climbing it then than the rainy season. The grass were so high and so itchy that we only stayed for a couple minutes at the top. We just took pictures of the town and us too.

climb every mountain!

After climbing, off we went to Blanca Falls again. This time I drove the resident van to Blanca. While going there, we got stuck in soft mud!! I got scared when we got stuck because we were in an isolated area and it'll be a long walk if we couldn't get out of this mess. My passengers pushed the van until we got out of the hole. hehehe They ended up having fun after that and they didn't know I was scared when we got stuck. hehehe

to Blanca Falls by boat

On our way home, we stopped in a place where it was all rice fields and took home some crops. Whew! What a tiring day indeed.

Halika! Biyahe Tayo!

Seventh day, we were supposed to spend two days and a night in San Antonio Island. A four hour drive and a 20-30 minutes motor boat ride from our place. A newly discovered beach that the coral reef is so colorful and alive that you don't want to ever leave. But because of the nagging of the elders that it was unsafe to cross the seas during Habagat season on a banca, it got cancelled. Bummer talga!!! So what we did, we went beach hopping!!! hehehe We went back to Burabod beach and Malahog beach. When we got there. The seas were so calm you can actually walk it!!! Bummer!!! We all wished na sana natuloy na lang kami ng San Antonio. Wahhh!!!
At night, we had our despedida party. My Uncle invited a local that is good with a guitar and has a very soulful voice. He sang waray, english and tagalog songs that was very, very pleasing to the ears that when you hear him, you'll have goosebumps for sure. After that, it was MagicSing 'till early morning. hehehe

Eighth day, was rest day. Woke up after lunch. We just bummed around the whole day. Went around the neighborhood, bidding farewell to all cousins, aunties, uncles, nieces, nephews etc. Bought our pasalubong.

That's how my vacation went. Full of Fun, Relaxation, Adventure, Laughter and Family Bonding. I wish I could go back there every year to just relax, climb a mountain, go fishing, swim in the beaches and eat and eat and eat in every house of a relative. hehehe An adventure that should not be missed next time is going to that San Antonio Island and another island in Northern Samar where you can experience a Survivor-like atmosphere(no electricity, sleep in a tent, fish for food and swim all day), it's an extremely high priority adventure.

Halika! Biyahe Tayo!

San Jorge (San Hor-he)

2006-07-17T16:19:00.000+08:00

I just had a blissful vacation in the hometown of my parents, San Jorge, Samar. It was nice to see the farms, the mountains, the falls, the beaches and the people in my hometown. The fresh and clean air and the billions of stars at night was a major plus. Whenever we go home to the province(which only happens every 3-4 years. Bummer!), my cousins there(which is like half the barangay hehehe) make sure that we would go on an adventure everyday to make our vacation unforgettable and fun!

This time though, the weather, although not bad as in Manila was (si Florita kasi eh), was not permitting us to have much fun. It was so windy when we got there. A few rains here and there plus the howling of the wind. My Uncle Nonoy said it was because of the Habagat season. Good thing after a few days, the sky cleared up and the bright sun was out.

Blanca Falls

First day, we went to Blanca Falls which is found in a nearby town. A 30 minute rough road drive or an hour Banca ride. I've been here a few times. The only difference now is I'm with my nieces and nephews from Manila and it's there first time to come here. I also jumped the ledge of the Falls which almost drowned me(thanks to my cousin who rescued me, I survived that encounter). The first time I had the courage to jump the Falls and I ended up almost drowning. Sheesh! Good thing the kids were there to entertain us and made me forget about that, although I'm a bit proud I did something extraordinary that day. hehehe

here I am about to jump

Kids love the water, even if it's freezing cold. The water here is so cold that my Uncle narrated that a decade ago they would just put the beer or drinks in the water and the water will cool it. That's how cold the water was then. Brrrrr It's a must visit when Balikbayans visit San Jorge. It's one of the beauties found in my province.

the kids enjoying the c-c-cold water

my nephew Pao and I enjoying the c-c-cold water

Second day, it was my Uncle's 70th Birthday. He's our favorite Uncle because he makes jokes a lot just like my Lolo did when we were little. It was a party from morning, night 'till the wee hours the next morning. hehehe The visitors just kept on coming. It's like the whole barangay went to party with us. The food and drinks were non-stop and some people brought plastic bags to get some extra food for their families at home. The lechon was sarap to the bones! Tsk tsk tsk

The Corrales Siblings

Oh BTW, a bit of trivia for you guys, on my Uncle's bday, there is a tradition that in the early hours of your birthday, the locals(with very very good singing voices) and your friends will organize a little choir that will "harana" you with songs until you are awaken by them, they call it "Manyanita". This is unexpected, a surprise of some sort. Only a limited of people will know that you will be given a Manyanita on your birthday so as not to spoil the surprise. What they do is while you're sleeping, these people will come up to your house and will sing songs (slow songs, birthday songs, fast songs) non-stop until you wake up and come out of your room to greet them and hear them sing some more. Nobody will wake you up. The songs they are singing will wake you up in your sleep. They will sing songs for you and even if you sleep like a log at night, they will go inside your room and sing fast and loud songs until you wake up. It's a privelege in the our town if you're given a Manyanita. It means that people around the town see you as a special person. After the songs, you treat them with breakfast. hehehe I didn't get to witness my Uncle's Manyanita, because I slept in another house where we can't hear the singing. Sayang talga! I wanted to witness this one so bad. I wish I can go back to the province during my birthday and be given a Manyanita. hehehe That would be Uber Duper Cool!

Third day, it was time for some of my cousins, nieces, nephew and brother to go back to Manila. They could only stay for a few days there. Work! Work! Work is waiting for them. hehehe Next time though they would ask for longer vacation days so they can enjoy the province more. After they left, all of us there were a bit sad. The kids were gone. Quietness prevailed. In waray, we called it "mamingaw". So instead of sulking, my Auntie suggested that we go to a nearby beach and enjoy our vacation! That's what we did. We immediately prepared food to bring to the beach and off we went. We went to Burabod Beach. It's an hour away from our place. When we got there, we were all laughing and getting a bit cold because it was soooo windy! The waves were a bit high, it's like we were going surfing instead of swimming. But instead of sulking again, we tried to enjoy the surroundings. It's still a beach anyway. We enjoyed the low tide because there were lots of shells near the beach. We went shell hunting and took lots of pictures na lang. The black sand was so fine it's like in Boracay. I wish they would develop this area, it would make a very nice resort.

let's go swimming!!! errr wag na lang pala hehehe

Fourth day, we went to Catbalogan a town that is an hour away from our place. This is where Tessie Tomas grew up and still has a house too. Our cousins, toured us around the town, we went to Imelda Park(which is being renovated), the town hall, the famous and yummy places to eat and the Pier (where my cousin said, the ship Donya Paz used to dock).

at the pier

To be Continued...

Superman Returns 2

2006-07-05T17:57:00.000+08:00

Watched Superman Returns again last night but this time I was with my bestbuds in college, Doths and Jonki. It's always fun going out on gimiks with Jonki. You'll always have a laugh for sure and an aching arm for all the hits she makes when she's laughing too much. hehehe

A different experience watching the movie again. This time I noticed the background more and minute details that didn't get my attention the first time. I still enjoyed the movie though and Brandon Routh became much more appealing to me as Superman. I hope he continues to be a nice guy like Christopher Reeve even after all the movies on Superman comes out. He's the right choice so far. But for me, it's still Tom Welling of Smallville that's PERFECT. Even the character of Erica Durance in Smallville is PERFECT as Lois Lane instead of the angelic face of Kate Bosworth. No spunk at all. Kate Bosworth is just a typical damsel in distress character much like Lana Lang. Her face onscreen is not so convincing enough to fight back Lex Luthor unlike Erica Durance's face. Oh well, Bryan Singer must have seen something in her to have that part or maybe some other reason that I don't want to mention at all.

For sure the kid in the next movie of Superman is the next target of Lex Luthor. Lex knows the kid is the son of Superman. I'm curious what powers the kid will have when he grows up and I hope the script won't be concentrated on the kid whether he chooses good and evil blah blah blah. That would be so predictable and a sure-end flop.

I'm quite disappointed that Superman didn't beat Spiderman in the earnings contest. Spiderman still has the biggest movie earnings on it's first three days. I don't think that will be beaten anymore.

Off to my next movie... Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

Up Up and Away

2006-06-28T09:10:00.000+08:00

Finally, Superman Returns is finally here. I can't wait to watch it. I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! Come on Come on Come on Come on! I want you! I want you! Wish ko lang eh maganda talga yung movie.

A milestone here... A milestone there...

2006-06-15T10:03:00.000+08:00

I've been working for exactly 6 years now. It's been 6 years since college. It's been 10 years since highschool. Wow! I can't believe I'm this young already. hehehe I remember the exact moment when I first showed up for work, excited and nervous at the same time. Although there were no new faces to see because this was where my batchmates and I had our OJT and after graduation, we all decided to accept a job from them. It was a startup company back then with only a few employees and through the years it evolved a lot and I mean a LOT while I was there.

I can't believe that I've survived a lot of company name changes, company closures, employee "unions", relocation, intrigues and disappointments. But after all that, I gained lifelong lessons, knowledge, great experiences and most especially good friends. Do you remember saying right after gradeschool or highschool or even college graduation that this has to be the greatest time of my life. Well, I'll say it again and I know I will say it again and again in the future.. This has to be the greatest time of my life!

Another milestone achieved I guess... Now off to achieving another milestone in my life... HHmmmmm... I wonder what it will be? hehehe Maybe it's gonna be the goal that Don, Nikks and I would start on July 1.

Don't Get TOO Excited

2006-06-14T09:39:00.000+08:00

Another lesson learned yesterday... Don't get excited too much on one thing or you'll miss important details. We (Don, Cands and I) bought our Superman Returns tickets yesterday, in our excitement, we didn't get to check the time in our tickets. Here's the thing, after getting the tickets from the counter, I checked the date, the seat number and the movie title, and I (bleeping!) forgot to double-check the time!!! I just saw 12 something and thought that it was ok. Gggrrrrr When I got home, I was just staring at the ticket for some reason of excitement again I guess, and lo and behold the time printed was 12 f*#&@*g PM!!! We were suppose to get the 12AM/12 midnight showing of the movie but instead we got the 12PM/12 noon time. Sheesh! Instead of being excited about the movie coming, frustration and "katangahan" got the best of me. I couldn't sleep at all last night because of this dumb booboo of mine. Sana pwede pa to mapalitan...

Thought Bubble

2006-06-13T16:10:00.000+08:00

Something I've been thinking about... In every company when you ask an old employee how he/she views the company, for sure he/she will somehow say at least one bad thing about the company and the longer that employee has stayed in the company, a long list of disappoint stories you will get. But if you ask a new employee on how he/she views the company, he/she will answer with much enthusiasm, excitement and hopes for a long career and a positive outlook for the company. Now I can say I've experienced those two scenarios already.

I guess the only lesson I got from this is, whatever you say to the person that asks you this question is to give the answer of the new employee. Because whatever you say has a bearing and it will stick to the mind of the person who asked the question.

Again, it's easy to say but really hard to actually do it. But I guess I can always try... try to make the person ask specific questions. So in the end I can say, "Hey, you asked."

Discipline+Execution+Humility+Love for GOD and Country = Tugatog ng Tagumpay

2006-06-08T15:28:00.000+08:00

I read an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G speech by Mr. Butch Jimenez in Jane's blogsite. If I was there when he made this speech, I would also be having goosebumps and would feel proud to be a Filipino. I truly wish that every Filipino, including me, could have all the characteristics that he pointed out in his speech. The Philippines would be in a different league when that happens. I searched the net to see a pic of Mr. Jimenez but I got more than that. I found his blog! What a surprise! Millionaires are bloggers too! hehehe Here's a link to his blogsite. I think this is really his blogsite and he's such a cool guy!

http://butchgjimenez.blogspot.com/

BTW, the speech he gave to the graduates of 2006 in Silliman University can be found in his blogsite too. Read on guys...

OCS Kick-off 2006

2006-05-30T16:07:00.000+08:00

Day One:

I had my first company outing in my new company last May 26-28, 2006. I guess I'm gonna have a lot of "firsts" here for sure as I am just starting my career here. Anyway, we went to Subic, White Rock Beach Resort. We arrived around 11 am and went directly to our rooms to freshen up. We had a weird lunch because some of the food was half-cook only. Blech!

Anyway, after that, we had our team building activities. My team, the BLUE team, was the target of all the teams because we were the overall champions in our recent sportsfest and they didn't want our team to win again. So, in the activities, we always ended up in last place. Bummer! Well, at least they thought of us as a threat, that we already have enough prizes and just give a chance to others to win na lang. Anyway, we all had fun in those activities, which was the objective and the prizes were just a bonus.

The IST Team with the bosses

After the team building activities and dinner, off to the pool we went! We went there to take pictures and play a little basketball on water with the ladies! hihihi My team won again and now the guys call me baby-shaq. Tina is the Jaworski in the group and Karen is Lebron. hehehe

After the exhausting activities and basketball match, we slept early on that friday night. Too tired to go anywhere and besides, we had no car to go out of the compound, forgot to bring my MagicSing, and there was nothing much to do as all the restos in the resort were already closed by 12am. Bummer! I really wished I brought the poker chips, we would have played all night. I missed my fellow Pokerians here. hehehe

Day Two:

We woke up early and had a breakfast buffet, the food was promising.. pancakes, sausages, fish, omelette, cereals, goto, salad, muffins, cakes and fruits. Had my more than fair share here. I had a BIG breakfast. Then it was the Conference the whole day!!!!! Not much to report here but the presentations of each manager in the company. One cool thing though is that I got an Oberthur umbrella as a prize for asking the first question. hehehe Cool!!! I'm just starting in the company and I already have an umbrella!!!! Unlike.. nevermind... hehehe Now I have an umbrella from the companies that I've worked on. Hhhmmm... maybe I should start a collection... hehehehe Lots of prizes were given away, Oberthur pens (not cheap ones huh!) and hats. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, they gave away the prizes of the sportsfest and team building activities too. The GREEN team won overall champion, we were only third place. Bummer! Anyway, I still got 2 commemorative plates and a bonus cash prize for winning in badminton and placing 4th in bowling. Yippee!!!!

The BLUE team

After the conference, which was around 4 pm, we all went to the beach to take some pictures. Our french and brit bosses were asking what will we do now, we told them that we were planning to ride the banana boat and go jetskiing but it was quite expensive. To our surprise, our brit boss said he'll pay for the rent of those two for an hour! Yippee!!! So we all had to line up to take our turns in the banana boat and in the jetski. Even though it was only for a short time as we were many, it was more fun because it was free!!! Doths was shouting at me to stop being "magulo" in the banana boat as I was bouncing on it non-stop. hehehe But it's more fun that way diba?! hehehe In the jetski, I was riding with Ritche, told him to go topspeed as that was more fun in the jetski. Too bad there weren't any big waves like in Bora, we would have gone flying up and down on the jetski.

After the beach, we went to the pool and played mixed basketball again. My team lost this time but only because it was dinner time already and we wanted to eat na. hehehe During dinner, Doths told a scary story that happened in our room!!!! We ended up sleeping in the guys' room 'coz we don't want to sleep in our room that night. C-R-E-E-P-Y-!

After dinner, it was now our time to dance, jive and have fun with the house band. It was open bar so that made it more fun. hehehe Up to midnight, we just danced the night away. One good thing here was, everybody was in the dance floor dancing, even our bosses!! That was F-U-N! We were all perspiring so much after, that we enjoyed the cool breeze of the sea air. Aaaaaahhhh the beach!! I missed the dance moves of the Ephil ladies here though(u know hu u are gals hehehe), no girls were dancing that daring enough on the dance floor with the guys and I was surprised I was a little shy to go all out on the dance floor and I can't figure out why I suddenly held back a little. teehee I wasn't that "makulit" on the dance floor unlike when I'm with friends esp. at Vodka bar. Hhhmmm.. I wonder why... Maybe its because its not yet time to let them see my crazy idiot dances and choreographs that's only reserve to crazy idiots like mwah! mwaahahahahaha If I can only dance as well as my sister, maybe I would've made that dance floor a little more vellicating.. kaso hindi eh, so hanggang palakpak, pitik at jump lang ako sa gilid. hahahahaha Anyway, the guys were dance freaks more than the ladies. A lot of laugh trips there.

The C-O-O-L and Wacky IST Team

After the par-t-e-y, we didn't want to go back to our rooms because of Doths' story, but we were all exhausted and decided to just sleep our imagination off.

Day Three:

Woke up to another breakfast buffet, had my more than fair share again. hehehe Very, very full. After that, some decided to tour around the place and buy some souvenirs, while some just packed their bags and prepared for check-out. We bid White Rock Goodbye and off to Zoobic Adventure we go! Going to the Zoobic Adventure is fun if it's your first time, but if you've been here before, I think it's gonna be quite a bore. We headed home after that. Looking forward to the christmas party now... mwehehehehe

The OCS team now... next year... 100 people na. hehehe

The Last Stand

2006-05-25T06:41:00.000+08:00

I'm beginning to like my new work schedule lately (06:00 am - 03:00 pm). The only thing that bums me out is the waking up in the weeeee hours of the morning part. One fun thing though is I do get to watch the latest movies in town after work with friends and cousins who are also free. hehehe Like yesterday, I watched another movie on it's first day, X-men III: The Last Stand. The movie was Super-Duper, Uber-Duper, Ultra-Mega-Duper-Duper C-O-O-L!!! This is one of the movies that I'd watch again and again and again and again..unlike the The Da Vinci Code. Bleh!

The latest X-men movie surpasses the previous one which is rare now a days. There was one scene where all the X-men were doing their "Last Stand", I have to confess I got teary-eyed on this scene that I was laughing at myself for feeling that emotion on an action-adventure movie. hehehe It was a great and exciting feeling that I wish there were people like them around in this world of ours. This was how I also felt when I was watching the last episode of the latest season of Justice League the Animated series when Superman was fighting his strongest enemy yet; and on this episode I finally understood why Superman is the greatest superhero of all; and after watching this movie you'll know who the greatest mutant of all. hehehe

On the 2nd installment of X-men, I thought that Charles Xavier was the greatest and strongest mutant of them all. I was wrong..in the first part of the movie I thought it was the kid that has the cure for the mutant gene. I was wrong again, in the middle of the movie, again I thought it was Jean Grey a.k.a. The Phoenix was the most-greatest and most-strongest mutant of all. BUT, that was ALL WRONG..for Wolverine is the mostest-greatest and mostest-strongest mutant of them all!!!!! He is super C-O-O-L!!!! This is why a movie on Wolverine alone should be in the works in the near future.

A great appearance of mutant characters in this movie that pleased me, Beast, Kitty, Archangel, Spike and Juggernaut, although, Nightcrawler's appearance on the 2nd one is still the best. A bummer though is the characters of Rogue, Cyclops and Xavier were underutilized in this movie but that's because there was a purpose for it. Though I think it's an unfair and unequal purpose. SPOILER ALERT!!! **Do not read the next sentences if you don't want to know anything about the movie. But don't worry I'll be vague as possible.** It was unfair and unequal because no class 5 baddies died!!! The baddies were only "cured" of the mutant gene while three goodies died on the movie. The sad part about it is the deaths were caused by one of the good characters and not by a really baddie one. =(

A side note: Watch the Superman Returns trailer, it will blow you away!!! The last scene is jaw-dropping. hehehe Now, I can't wait for it to be shown here and watch it many times, well, twice maybe coz it's quite expensive at the IMAX theater in Mall of Asia, that Donish is suggesting where it'll be great to watch. Can't wait for 06.30.06!

Next movie please...

The Da Vinci Code

2006-05-19T06:37:00.000+08:00

I watched this movie on it's first day where the crowd in the moviehouse were yuppies, amigas, fil-am teenagers and curious people thinking what's the fuss on this movie. Only a few movies come to mind that deserve a peek on it's first day and this has to be one of them. I tell ya, the movie is more fiction than the book. That's that. Now, I don't really understand what's the fuss about. The book is more believable than this movie and Ron Howard did a great job in entertaining his audience. There was even a scene where Tom said that what matters most is what you believe in.

While watching the movie though I can't help but laugh a little in every scene where Tom Hanks had his "thinking look." hehehe A little trivia for you, Ron Howard, selected Tom Hanks to play the main character because Tom has a very fascinating look whenever he is thinking on-screen. It's like Tom will make you think also. That's why on every scene in the movie that Tom has this "thinking" look, (which is several by the way) I ponder also. So watch for it. hihihi

Audrey Tatou was quite ok, although there was no chemistry between her and Tom Hanks in the movie. I feel like she's starstruck with him. Her accent and reverse driving was a major plus on her though. Alfred Molina was Doc Oc to me all throughout the movie. It's really hard to picture another character on this person when he has played a very distinct role on a blockbuster movie. Just like Jim Caviezel, he will forever be Jesus Christ to me in the movies. Paul Bettany is really a great actor. He really transforms to the character he plays in every movie he's in. I love him! Of course as usual, a great performance by Sir Ian Mckellan, who'd think that we'll be seeing him again next week for X-men III: The Last Stand. He's done a whole lotta blockbuster movies at his age. Lastly, Tom Hanks, he did justice to Robert Langdon, although I still liked Langdon's character in the book. A history buff at heart, flirting with the ladies and ruggedly handsome. But if it would be my choice on who will play Langdon in the movie, I'd choose Daniel Day Lewis.

I hope they do Angels and Demons next, that's another controversy for sure. But no matter what, my faith is still intact and that's what I will believe in forever.

Cutie Heffalump

2006-05-17T11:42:00.000+08:00

I just L-O-V-E the latest character addition in the land of Winnie the Pooh, Heffalump!!! Isn't he a cutie!!!! He's the new version of Dumbo, only cuter. hehehe

My niece is going to HK Disneyland next week as a reward from her parents because she got two Red Eagles in two consecutive quarters in her school. Yey! We both love Heffalump so much that we've seen the movie on video at least 10 times already. I hope she remembers to bring home a big stuff toy of Heffalump for her favorite Tita!!! hehehe

Oprah

2006-05-15T10:00:00.000+08:00

I was watching the Oprah show last night and the topic at hand was "Stupid Girls." This is also a song that Pink wrote for her latest album, and it's about what the girls are doing now a days in America. The topic was about girls in this era of ours that are making themselves dumb, small and stupid just to get attention or be accepted. These girls are looking up to celebrities like Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Lindsey Lohan, that are obsessed with beauty, shopping, acting dumb, plastic surgery, anorexia and buying very, very expensive clothes and other stuff, which BTW, Pink spoofed in her video. Girls that are downgrading themselves just to be IN the crowd. Wow, I didn't even bother to look at these times of ours this way until this show pointed it out. Disappointing times we live in... Though, Oprah was quite happy that this issue is coming out now to let us be aware of what's happening, because smart ladies are really dumbing themselves out. Are women now a days really making themselves this small just to get attention? What has our world gone into?!?! Just when women are finally getting equal or maybe even higher rights as men in these times and yet here are some of them who still want to be looked down upon and let these men look at them as things.

There was also an author of a book named "Female Chauvinist Pigs" on the show and she pointed out that there are a lot of women acting like chauvinist pigs now a days too. Women in our times freely choose to be exploited, humiliated and be called hoes, whores and bitches in a normal conversation. Wow, I didn't believe it when I heard it. I guess some women have become what they didn't like before. Times a' changin' alright. The author also pointed out that these kind women have a thinking that they don't want to become their mothers who are old school feminists, that's why they do the opposite thing. That now, it's cool to have a sex tape! Another twisted thinking in our twisted world. Tsk tsk tsk... It's sad that women themselves are putting themselves down in this situation. Making themselves small to make someone big is losing your true essence.

Pink was saying that she did a survey among her friends that if they could instantly name 5 young smart women at the top of their head... Her friends said, they had to look it up thru google first before they can name one. That made me laugh, because she's right, you cannot think of any at the top of your head. But if you ask people to name 5 sexy women at the top of your head. You will have 10 names at the minimum for that. BTW, on the survey, the women mentioned were only three, Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman. Sad... it didn't even reach to 5. How about you? Can you name 5? I bet yah you can name them, but it will take you 5-10 minutes to point them out. But, if I ask you to name the 5 sexiest women, you can name them in less than a minute. hehehe Am I right or am I right?

I named 5 smart women in 5 minutes, although one of them is a political figure not a celebrity and not even that young! Sheesh! HHHmmm... I wonder if that would count...

Noooooooo!!!!!!

2006-05-11T13:19:00.000+08:00

I can't believe that one of my favorites in the latest season of American Idol got booted out!!!! Waaaahhhh!!!!!!!

Time flies too fast

2006-05-09T09:48:00.000+08:00

When I was about to go home yesterday, I was surprised to receive a memo from our HR that I am now a regular employee in my current company. I can't believe that it's been three months since I started here. Time surely flies when you're having fun that's for sure. It's already half of the year, my birthday and christmas season is a few blocks away already. One thing's for sure though, I will serve this company of mine even better than the way I did in my previous company. I just hope this time it will be both ways...

Summer Outing on the Other Side of the Fence

2006-05-08T09:33:00.000+08:00

I had a blast last weekend. Nice sun. Nice beach. Great company. Great outing. Sa uulitin...