American Idol 7 : fave auditions

auditions have begun and i'm oh so excited to see who makes it to the top 24.

so far, the only memorable auditions for me are those of adorable diva Leo Marlowe and cute farm boy Drew Poppelreiter

oh and must i forget our very own Renaldo Lapus and his original song?

now i have reason to go home early on wednesdays and thursdays! well, that is, if work permits. crap!

sashimi cravings

i have always loved japanese food and i've been craving for salmon sashimi since monday. cooked salmon just doesn't do it for me.

so for lunch today, my officemates and i went to teriyaki boy.

my order was a no brainer : shake sashimi and tendon. the salmon was perfect, the kind that melts in your mouth though i could use a wee bit more wasabi.

yvette ordered the usual chicken teriyaki and their famous tofu steak while joanne opted for their yakisoba which she paired with yakimeshi.

yum! though it was not the best shake sashimi i've had, it was definitely worth the entire two-block walk from the office.

Repertory's Tuesdays with Morrie

a few years back, my college bestfriend Anele's older brother was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - the same illness that Morrie Schwartz has in Tuesdays with Morrie. i read the book and i cried buckets.

shortly after, i chanced upon the the tv adaptation in Hallmark. I've always loved Jack Lemmon and his portrayal of Morrie was exceptional. yes, i cried even harder.

last saturday, i had the privilege of watching Repertory Philippines' take on the best-selling book as it was staged on Greenbelt 1.
the cast only had the 2 main characters : Bart Guingona as Mitch Albom and Jose Mari Avellana as Morrie. the set could not have been any simpler - a couch and a table on one end, a hospital bed in the center, a cofee table under a Japanese maple tree on the right. there were no costume or set changes. it was just Mitch and Morrie from start to finish and it was beautiful.

halfway through, people started sniffing and as the intensity of the scenes increased, so did the sniffs. it was one of those where people's emotions are caught even long after the curtain closed.

towards the end, a long standing ovation was imperative.

all praises go to both actors and the Repertory for staging such a wonderful production.
"don't let go too soon, but don't hang on too long" - Morrie Schwartz

P.S. I Love You, the verdict

watched the film.

can't say i loved it. at least not as much as i did the book.

the plot, though similar - dead husband helps grieving wife go on with her life by sending her letters long after he died. wife is stubborn at first but with the help of friends and family, she was able to come around and realize that the world really doesn't stop while she grieves - unfortunately, is far from how Cecelia Ahern wrote it.

a lot of characters were not included including holly's family which played a huge part in the book. instead, they added a new character, william, which i think is a pretty desperate attempt at spicing up the story. though, i must admit, seeing Jeffrey Dean Morgan's tush is an added bonus *wink*.

there were, however, scenes where one would shed a tear or two. mostly when a letter is opened. or when gerry looks at holly or talks to her.

the cast, with the exception of Gerard Butler, was forgettable. yes, even eye-candy JD Morgan was a slight disappointment. his Irish accent was weird and his discomfort in speaking such was obvious. he did sing well though and played the guitar like a rockstar.

it is a feel good movie that i wouldn't mind watching on DVD and for those who have yet to read the book, it's best to watch the movie first. you'd appreciate it more.

as they say, disappointments come when expectations are high.

au revoir heath

he was found dead inside his New York apartment yesterday.

how sad. another great actor gone and he has yet to reach his prime.

he will be missed.

P.S. I Love You

i've read the book.

loved it.

time to see the film.

i'm not keeping my hopes up since most books are better than their movie versions.

one thing's for sure though. i wouldn't mind seeing jeffrey dean morgan in the big screen.

24 hours

24 hours ago...
i woke up to get ready for work.

24 hours later...
i'm still at work

while the rest of the world get's ready for work, i have yet to sleep.

tell me, where is justice there?

3rd party is never a good party

warning: entry might be offensive to some. but i don't care. my blog. my thoughts.

i believe in choices and all the consequences that may come with it. and i hate it when women who made the choice to be with married men, weep and act like pitiful victims. sorry but i will never empathize.

men go astray we all know that. but women let them. so who's to blame?

one reason why i dread the idea of marriage is not because i don't trust men...it's women i don't trust. sue me!

the weekend that was

Friday

dinner at National Sports Grill with dear friends from UP. angela, who is now based in Singapore, came home for the holidays and we had our usual post Christmas get together. it was as close to the LB experience as it could get - drinks, food and lots of wonderful conversation. oh and we got to hang out with a Freestyle member til 6AM!

Saturday

anele and I spent the night at angela's house in Antipolo. stayed up til 8AM. slept for about an hour. and i taught baby basti the first nursery rhyme i could think of. by noon time, he was going baa-baa followed by words he could only understand and it was adorable!

Sunday

it didn't rain! hurray hurray! april, celia, arlene and I drove to Tagaytay. the reason, we wanted to try our new cams! hahaha! april just got her new lomo cam and of course, i gotta test my pink cam too.

we had lunch at Firelake Grill overlooking Taal Lake. it was a pretty good spot for photo op but first off, we had to eat!

i ordered their pesto pasta with tiger prawns. it wasn't on the menu but the waiter was kind enough to tell me since i wanted pasta but didn't wanna have angel hair. the pasta was ok. nothing really special about it except that it was a tad bit citrusy for my taste. the prawns are a different story though. they were sweet and perfectly grilled.

celia had the norwegian salmon which was served with butterred veggies. (april and arlene ordered lamb but i failed to take a picture)

after lunch, it was time for pictures and boy did i get carried away. here are my fave shots:

hope your weekend was as good as mine.

rain rain go away!!!!

it's almost midnight and the rain hasn't stopped since this morning. in fact, it's getting pretty heavy. darn it!

i never liked the rain. i'm so not liking it now. april and a bunch of other girls and i have a planned trip to tagaytay tomorrow. that is, if the skies clear up.

so please, please please oh rain, go away! the bitches wanna play!

adobong manok 101

got this from jovan and i just had to repost.

wouldn't it be nice to have someone this hot cooking adobo for you??? hahaha!

just isn't my day

i was supposed to be done working by 8. just about the right time that i was meeting up with pam, ayi and jax for a nightcap at Apartment 1B. i've been craving for their white toblerone cheesecake for the longest time so to say i'm excited is an understatement.

but no, i didn't leave the office til 10:30! i figured since it was dessert i was looking forward to, i don't mind. so off i went. walked the entire two blocks just to have my sweet fix.

my cel beeped as i was entering the cafe but i ignored it since i already saw my friends. they were happily munching on a carrot cake as i sat down. i was about to call for the waiter when they all said that they texted me. the message: we're almost done with dessert. ordered your cheesecake but somebody ordered the last slice already CRAP!

i ended up ordering their frozen pie (as shown in photo) instead. the menu said vanilla ice cream on oreo crust topped with walnuts, chocolate & caramel syrup. it could not be any simpler. what can go wrong with vanilla ice cream right?

i spoke too soon. my order came. the oreo crust was ok but the ice cream was soggy. just my luck. it was supposed to be frozen friggin pie!

it is true what they say, when it rains, it really pours! i need my bed now.

still raving about my Sony Cybershot

things i like about this cam:

color - it's pastel pink. 'nuff said!

easy to carry - compact and light, it fits inside my small purse so i can bring it anywhere i go

cool features - it not only has face detection but it recognizes a person's smile as well. how cool is that?

image quality - up to 8.0 megapixels and 3x optical zoom

ease of use - with touchscreen LCD, everything is literally at the touch of your fingertips. for those who are queasy about scrubby fingerprints on the screen, they can simply use the stylus pen that comes with it

here are some shots i took tonight while waiting for my ride. i used the scene for subjects with soft background and considering i took these with one hand, i'd say i did well

i cannot say it enough! i love, love love my new cam!

get paid for blogging

knowing very well that i blog whenever i can, mike, a friend from work asked me if i wanna try making money out of it. besides the usual AdSense for Google, he said there are those who will pay you just for creating a simple entry about them in your site. not bad since i blog almost everyday anyway.

naturally, i searched for such. there are thousands of these blog advertisers, each catering to a particular target market. after checking out some of these websites, i decided to register on Blogsvertise.

their approach is pretty direct and simple : you register, choose a category which you would like to write about, you get tasks then decide whether to accept them or not. once accepted, you write about them and voila! if the entry is approved, instant money for you. the best part is you need not write an entire post dedicated to it. for more detailed guidelines, you may click on this link

i have yet to get an assignment and i'm curious as to what my first paid blog is gonna be about. it's like i'm back in high school only this time, my reward isn't a grade but one that helps pay the bills (or buy that new lacoste bag i've been dying to have hahaha).

so, if you too wanna make money doing what you love to do, Blogsvertise!.

dinner @ 12:30AM

McDonald's Fillet of Fish Meal.

i would've wanted my first food post to be a fancier meal but what the heck. i'm stuck at work and i'm hungry so this will suffice for now.

my first time to try this sandwich and i can't say i'm thrilled. i should've ordered the BigMac instead.

Sony Cybershot T70

my newest toy has finally arrived.

thanks to my brother's gf, jam (who was sweet enough to hand carry her for me) i now have in my hands, the coolest point and shoot digital cam ever! ok ok, so i'm biased coz it's pink shoot me! pun intended hahaha!

prepare to see some really cool pics on posts ahead. ooohhhh i can't wait!

my peter pan

his name is dane and we've known each other since highschool.

we lost touch for a while but in late 2006, he resurfaced. he introduced me to poker and we started spending more time together.

he didn't change one bit. same humor, same outlook in life, same tricks with women. only difference was, he tried to use the tricks on me. even going to the extent of driving for my family and spending new year's with us in baguio last year.

several times he asked me why i didn't wanna be with him. my answer was simple. he needs to grow up. to which he would always answer with a smile and a shrug on his shoulder. for months that's what he did but my stand never changed. and when he didn't stop, i ignored him completely.

last night however, i faced him once again. his sister got married and she invited me. i was apprehensive at first. i mean, i did ignore all his calls for a year. what was i supposed to say? "hi! sorry for ignoring you. nice to see you again?"

so i went. and there he was, clad in a traditional Barong Tagalog and sporting a longer hair. i had to blink twice just to make sure it was him. he is cute. i knew he was cute then but it never occured to me that he was that cute. ok fine, he was hot last night. maybe it was the barong. yes, it had to be the barong.

the dane i knew didn't make me gasp for air when he's near. last night, i gasped more than once. crap! why the sudden attraction? why now?

i tried to avoid him at the reception but he would always find me and when it was time to say goodbye, he softly whispered "you look good. i miss you" as he held me for a dance.

damn it! why do i feel like this now? why when his girlfriend was watching from across the room? crap!!

2007 in a glance

as i welcome every new year, it think it's best to look back and reflect on the year that was. here are the highlights of 2007:

january

my family spent the new year in baguio. it is one of those holidays that i shall forever remember.

bought a house in Bulacan

march

bottomless margaritas @ TGI Friday's

my sister and i got back together after months of falling out

april

my personal life took a major blow

dear friend samantha got married in boracay

two of my closest friends lost their loved ones

may

beach! beach! beach!

voted hoolah hot momma at the company outing

june

found out the ex had a new baby

consecutive weekends in Tagaytay first with chinabank friends then with my family to celebrate father's day

less than a month upon diagnosis, cousin kuya pochie passed away due to liver cancer

july

had a minor episode on being single and got all weepy about it

august

got promoted

september

watched cinderella

sucky turnover month

pau's car came

october

had a minor disagreement with a friend from work

dear friend pam got her visa

much to my utter surprise, my sister told me she was getting married and being the overprotective sister that i am, i was of course apprehensive

november

met my sister's bf, marlon who turned out to be a fine man and my family approved.

Sabangan Beach with chinabank friends...last out of town trip before pam leaves for the US.

the itch that couldn't be scratched struck again. fuck it!

had one of them pre-birthday episodes

the Manila Peninsula Mutiny

december

wasn't too excited when i turned 32

pau got married

missy the newest bitch in the house made a debut

mama lily (papa's sister) passed away at the age of 86

on christmas eve, pau told us she's pregnant and everybody was ecstatic! i remember my dad did one of his silly dances and i got teary hehe.

finally found the perfect template for this blog.

here's to better things to come in 2008

related post:
recap of 2006