as i bid 2009 adieu...

i shall take what was good and leave what wasn't.

for 2009, i prayed and worked for career advancement.

for 2010, i want something more personal.

so here's to a new year. my year for personal happiness.

a friend once told me not to think too much and just go with what makes me happy and what feels right even if the odds are not too much on my side.

so this coming year, i promise not to overthink and over analyze. that goes without saying that i will not use my head at all. i'm just gonna have to learn how to use it less. :)

cheers everyone! may we all find that one thing that will make us happy.

deeper shit

it. must. stop. soon!

deep shit

i've been spending quite a lot of time guy from work. over the last couple of months, we have gone from mere buddies to confidantes. he's nice and sweet and everything else that could make a girl swoon and fall head over heels.

he puts up with my moods. he calls me spoiled and yet he continues to spoil me.

i usually put out a sense of calmness, composure and strength but with him, i find comfort in showing that i too, at times, am weak.

i once had a thing for him. i still think i do. i just buried it somewhere deep so i won't have the chance to entertain any thoughts that i know would lead me to where i am now. deep shit!

it's that time of the year again

when i will turn a year older.

hmn....i wonder what's in store for me this time.

birthday gods, please be on my side.

Repertory's Sweeney Todd

i guess i expected too much from this musical. i mean, the cast in itself is reason enough for one to go gaga the moment it was announced to be staged.

sadly, this Sweeney Todd, if not for the awesome Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, fell short of what i was expecting.

Gibbs Cadiz couldn't have said it better in his blog

while Audie Gemora's vocal skills still remain impressive, he was overshadowed by the dear Mrs. Lovett. Franco Laurel's Anthony sounded whiney while the young lady who played Johanna ate her words most of the time. as for Judge Turpin, i could care less.

what was surprising was the lady who played Lucy/beggar, Liesl Batucan, who's voice was crisp and her acting was spot on. while i liked the movie version of Tobias, Marvin Ong's take on the lad was ok. especially on the last few scenes.

needless to say, Liesl and Menchu were my favorites as they both stole the show.

i almost fell asleep on some parts. sayang. not the money, but the production in itself. i mean, i love Rep but this one was a dud. sorry.

wake up call

just what i needed and it came right on time.

I must have done something good coz someone's still watching over me.

lab rat

for the last 3 days, i was at Makati Med where i was poked and pricked which made me feel like a lab rat.

i had what they call hypokalemia, a condition where the body's potassium level becomes sigificantly low that caused temporary paralysis on my lower extremities. yes, my legs just lost power.

they just needed to normalize my potassium level, i was told but they had to keep me as well to run some tests since my blood pressure became erratic.

what's in my lab menu you ask?:

several blood tests which meant they had to draw blood 6 different times from 6 different spots;

kidney and bladder ultrasound;

thyroid imaging;

saline loading;

and loads of pills

i am now at home where my staple diet includes one banana each meal.

buti na lang hindi mangga!!!

thanks to those who dropped by :)

my kind of movie

no mush.

real.

funny.

simple.

plus a real good soundtrack

i. loved. it.

and i quote... "Just because she likes the same bizzare crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate"

fruition

finally. Scary yet i welcome the challenge. I say bring it on but not without apprehension. Thank you.

halloween 2009

for miguel's first trick or treat, my sister made the perfect costume...

of course the whole family wouldn't miss it for the world...

ink

Chinese cherry blossom tattoo
my bday present for myself this year.
what it means
"For the Chinese the cherry blossom is a very significant symbol of power. Typically it represent a feminine beauty and sexuality and often holds an idea of power or feminine dominance. Within the language of herbs and herbal lore of the Chinese the cherry blossom is often the symbol of love."
i'm at 90% now.
yes, it's a tad bit juvenile and no, i don't care. the design is nice and feminine.
ok...91% and rising....
can't wait!

--- update January, 2011 ---
click on the link to see my first tattoo 

lust

Bacardi by an Australian label called Wittner

i.want.one.

and i will, thanks to deeaye who promised to buy me a pair while she's still in Melbourne.

salivating yet?

could he be my William Hayes?

i wonder.

after all these years, could he be that?

wishful thoughts perhaps. wishful thgoughts.

off to shanghai

where food is great and facebook is banned. which means that i will gain weight and not be able to tend to my farm, cafe and aquarium for the next two weeks.

bend like a pretzel

or at least i tried my darnest best! hahaha!

i barelysurvived my first Bikram Yoga class last night and i have to admit, sans the random nausea attacks on the first part, i loved it!

for a first timer who has no sense of balance and very limited flexibility, i lasted the whole 90 minutes class in an overly heated room. without fainting. ok, i almost fainted hahaha! but it was worth it. i sweated buckets. seriously! plus, the instructor was uber nice and the class was fun.

after my melbourne indulgence, a bucketful of sweat is what i need.

my muscles are in pain and i could barely walk down a flight of stairs but i will go to class again tonight with the hopes that one day, i too can bend like a pretzel or at least make my forehead touch my knees! hahaha!

funny conversation with papa

when i learned about yet another typhoon hitting the Philippines, i immediately called home.

here's how the phone call went:

me: there's a typhoon again. be safe all of you.

papa: yeah, i saw it in the news. tell your mama to stop cleaning!

me: hahaha! you tell her! i'm going home next week

papa: have you found a rich aussie boyfriend yet?

me: no eh.

papa: well you have one week!

you gotta love my dad! seriously, did you smell desperation? i did! hahaha!

guilt and irony

while i was watching the footy finals at the Federation Square. secretly having fun under the rain...

i wasn't aware that this was happening in Manila...

that's not right. that is so not right.

my heart goes out to those who were severely affected by typhoon Ondoy.

donations/volunteers can be coursed thru the ff:
Philippine National Red Cross - contact numbers: Pasay Chapter 8542748/4343751; Las Pinas Chapter 8734873/4689688; Pasig Chapter 6350922; Alabang Chapter 8097131/8506813; Bulacan Chapter 0446625388into NHQ Manila 5245787/5270864; Caritas Mnl 5639298; DSWD 9318101
Manor Typhoon Relief Drive

sources:
The Globe and Mail
more pictures from this blog

indulgence : coles quadruple chocolate chunk cookies

it is the best thing that ever happened to cookies i must say!
the packet says:


"Luxuriously decadent chocolate cookie laden with milk, dark and white chocolate chunks. Finished with a base smothered in creamy milk chocolate. Incredibly divine, so 
indulge yourself"
so i did.
and for someone who doesn't like sweets much, i couldn't stop.
i'm seriously thinking of filling my luggage with just these! hahaha!

fondness

it doesn't matter how long we've lost touch or how far we've fallen out.

i will always be fond of you. like i said, i was never away. i never left and will never leave.

i'm glad to see that you're ok. steady ok.

and yes, i miss you too.

maybe not always. but whenever we talk of how things were, a part of me aches. the nice kind of ache. the kind that reminds me of how beautiful things can be that it becomes a promise of more beautiful things to come.

you bring me hope and i thank you for that.

move over martha

so i've been cooking and i'm loving it!

steak with rosemary and buttered veggies buttered veggies pork schnitzel pork nilaga beef stir fry with asparagus in red wine reduction sauce fish escabeche adobong pusit

sleepless in melbourne

it's 5am now and i have not slept a wink.

since i got here, my body clock refused to adapt. i am still in manila time.

i know it's just two hours. but if your sleeping habits are anything close to mine, 2 hours is a lot. i sleep late in manila which means i sleep even later now that i am here WHICH MEANS i have to wake up earlier!

sleeping gods...can you be a bit nicer to me? plesae pretty please?

domestic diva

this little piggy went to Queen Victoria market
and then cooked adobong pusit!

i'm such a martha! my mom would be proud! hahaha!

haller from down under

i'm in melbourne. where its winter in spring and i don't have any winter clothes in my luggage. hahahhaa!

i'll be staying here for a month and if the rest of my stay here is anything close to how my first day went, i'm sure to have a blast.

in 2 weeks time, there'll be five other from manila who will come in but until then, it's just me and the fabulous aussies who seem to always have a smile on their face.

i love my job!

now on twitter

follow me

about a boy

here i go again...

on my way to heartbreak hill.

hay.

running

you know, the usual friendly run for a cause thingy that seems to be the buzz all around the metro? well a number of my friends are already into it and have constantly raved about it. i, on the otherhand, am not.

i.am.not.athletic.

i don't even know how to ride the bike. seriously. i never learned. never wanted to learn. the reason is very simple. i don't like scars. maarte na kung maarte.

last night, a friend showed me photos of him finishing a race. here's how the conversation went:

dan: did you see the pictures?
me: yeah. athletic much?
dan: you should start running too
me: nope, not my thing
dan: try it. it's fun
me: no thank you. besides, it's painful on the boobs!

nuff said.

perfection

my night so far...

bordeaux

and

Chinese acupressure massage.

of ASLs and LOLs

back in the day, back when facebook nor friendster has yet to hit the online community, chatting via MIRC was the in/cool thing happening.

online access then was also limited thus, if you're in it, you are sorta part of the elite so to speak. it was a whole new world of fun to say the least. i remember being excited to go home just to check if my online friends are in the room. to say i was an addict is an understatement.

who wouldn't? the thought of striking interesting conversations excited me to the core. it was, in a way, a means a channel to spar with somebody else's wit. and boy there were a lot.

it was fun. until the information highway peaked. suddenly everyone had access. the elite group became the norm. chatrooms got saturated and were overtaken by pervs and what nots.

the once staple asls and lols were replaced by sebs and sops and who knows how many other chat lingos. people started to become less interesting and the chance of finding a decent conversation was as slim as finding a needle in a haystack.

my addiction waned and my interest disappeared. oh, and i grew up and had a job. but that's beside the point.

suffice to say that i have not entered a chatroom for years.

until last night.

for lack of anything to do and my usual inability to sleep at will, i downloaded and installed mirc. it was like riding a bike as they say. once you know how, you won't ever forget. before i knew it, private chats started popping. sadly though, none were worth a single keystroke. the first line counts. a mere asl or hey there! simply wouldn't do the cut.

and then this guy messaged me and said something about my nick to which i replied with a bitchy comment. before i could type again, he strikes back in an even more sarcastic tone. i was pumped. that was what i missed! the exchange of sarcastic, obnoxious banter accompanied by funny witty remarks. i couldn't help but smile the entire time. nothing excites me more than a play on words. a mental foreplay if i may say. sarcasm, wit and charm is such good combination.

this morning he messaged me again, YM this time. i have to admit, it did put a smile on my face.

hmn...i have a funny feeling that i won't be missing facebook anytime soon.

if and when you don't know the answer...

DON'T ever pretend that you do. otherwise, you will just look like an effin idiot.

so please, please please! shut the hell up!

eating my words

so maybe i spoke too soon. and yes, over reacted to the whole Shanghai thing of not having my usual dose of entertainment.

it's day 4 here in Shanghai and it's not as bad as i thought. i'm beginning to appreciate the things and people around me more.

i guess now that the initial shock has subsided, i have started to see this part of Shanghai in a different light. the rain has stopped and the sun came out for the first time today which allowed us to walk around this beautiful man made lake near our office.

the food is exceptionally scrumptuous and does not leave a dent in the wallet. my mom would've loved it here.
as for work, after a series of unforeseen errors on my implementation, i am now back on schedule. if all goes well in tomorrow's agenda, the rest of the week should be a walk in the park but not without fingers crossed.

so there. life here ain't bad after all and i'm almost back in my usual happy bubbly self.

ps. i will post pictures soon. my bathroom has such an awesome character!

bitchings and musings in Shanghai

my hotel is uber nice with a glass walled bathroom to boot. which means i could watch TV while in the tub or in the loo.
--- BUT it is in the middle of nowhere. my view consists of trees and miles of roads and rows and rows of manufacturing plants, semiconductors and the like. the nearest place to eat would require a 15 min cab ride to the nearest train station.

internet is free. which meant i could surf all i want.
--- BUT all the sites i frequent are blocked. no facebook, no multiply, no twitter. i have to connect using a different proxy just to blog. and no, this proxy does not allow facebook and twitter as well
there is cable at the hotel.

--- BUT there's only HBO and CNN.
the people here are sooo nice. --- BUT communicating with them is a long and painful task.
on top of all that, it has been raining since we got here.

ibalik nyo ko sa Pilipinas! now na!

from nasi goreng to noodles and dimsum

China, here i come.
i'm leaving for Shanghai tomorrow for another project with crazed-up butterflies in my stomach. i learned about this assignment while i was in Jakarta and the panic button has yet been switched off since.
even as i packed my luggage, i still can't shake the jitters off. i should be excited. but i can't. not yet at least. i will be using a platform which i am not too comfortable with. hence the butterflies.
hopefully everything turns out fine. or at least better than what my uber panicked imagination keeps on telling me.
on the upside, i know imma like the food. hahaha!

Have I told you about the time I won a bottle of tequila...

over a beer drinking contest...happy times. really happy times hahaha!

when a somebody sends your table a drink....

NEVER assume that it's from some guy who has the hots for you. hahahaahahaha!

off to Singapore for some RnR

my 3 wks here in Jakarta is up. can't say i won't miss it. not saying i want to stay. suffice to say that it's been a pleasure being here. sans the bombing incidents and the uber crazy motorists that is.

the project we implemented was a success. there were a few kinks along the way as expected but it all ended pretty well.

tomorrow, i'm off for a few days of RnR in Singapore. time to party and have me some Singapore sling baby!

on hotel arrest

due to the bombings here in Jakarta this morning, we were asked to leave the office early. that being said, we were advised to stay in for the rest of the weekend.

the blasts happened far from where we're staying and we weren't even aware until friends and family started asking if we were ok. a quick google search confirmed everything.

naturally, i got a bit scared. who wouldn't? right?

so we are putting ourselves on hotel arrest. until everything normalizes that is.

homesick much?

so i'm back in Jakarta. the trip was uneventful. or was it? not sure since i had wine. lots of it so i slept thru most of the trip.

i'm staying in the same hotel. the only difference is that now, i'm on the preferred guests floor. naks!

one thing i noticed though, whenever i go abroad either on business or otherwise, it's always the first night that gets to me the most. no matter how fab my room is, i always get a bit homesicky on the first night.

i know i should have gotten used to it by now but i haven't. as they say, the first time is almost always the toughest time. i'm sure tomorrow imma be normal.

1 day. 20 days to go.

if and when i need a good pick me upper

all i do is look at this uber adorable baby boy.

he turned one last week and now can call me na-nang(ninang). he is able to walk a few steps by himself and has learned how to mimic the sound of his lolo's snore among other things.

life simply is more fun since he was born and for times when i feel the need for a smile, all i do is look at him and all worries are thrown out the window in a snap.

off to Jakarta. again.

not excited. not the least bit.
i'm not ready for another nasi goreng frenzy. nor am i ready to leave my nephew who is now uber kulit. i will miss the Harry Potter screening in Manila. not to mention my mom's bday on the 20th.
plus, that thing that didn't happen still gets to me. i know, i know. my time will come. still, i'm not happy.
the only upside is that i get to visit friends and relatives in Singapore on my way back.
so there. i'll be packing my bags again and leaving on a jetplane.

can't have everything

i was expecting something to happen at work. it didn't. now i'm a bit disheartened. can't help it. i worked hard. i know i did.

at the end of the day however, it wasn't enough.

fire...

must

NOT

play

with

it.

manila-sg-jakarta-sg-manila-camsur-manila

i have been on six different airplanes for the last 3 wks. to say i'm exhausted is an understatement. to say i didn't have fun is a complete and utter lie.

after coming home from jakarta last thursday, i barely had the time to unpack because i had to pack another set of clothes. this time, for my Camsur trip the following day.

the CWC trip was long planned and i almost didn't make it. if the jakarta trip didn't go on schedule, i would've missed the fun that is CWC.

no, i didn't do the wakeboard thingy. yes, i'm such a loser.

i did however get got myself a spankin tattoo. yes, it's henna. hahaha!
we stayed in one of the trailers which was ok albeit the not so squeaky clean shower room. most of our days were spent in the cabanas anyway where we ate and drank and ate and drank to our belly's content.

okay, maybe next time, i will try the cables. maybe.

one week down, another to go

work
one reason i didn't mind coming back to Jakarta is the fact that my colleagues here are nice. so far, everything has gone according to plan. we are even a bit ahead of schedule which is such a relief since i have a scheduled CamSur trip the day after i fly back to Manila. hopefully everything goes well next week.

food
i've been here for just a little over a week and while i love love love Indonesian food, i'm at the verge of almost gagging at the thought of another nasi goreng or bacon or waffle. don't get me wrong. i know i raved about the uber delish breakfast buffet at the hotel and the local dishes and i still think they're good but having them every single day for 8 days straight kinda spoils the palate.
note to self: must.eat.adobo.when.i.get.back!

home
i missed my sister's birthday last monday and i'm gonna miss Father's Day tomorrow. my brother had to undergo a minor surgery and i so so so miss my nephew. that being said, i can't wait to go home. and eat my mom's adobo :D

one week down, another to go.
and i'm coming back here in July.

deep fried baby what????

imagine my shock when i saw this in the menu!
naturally i had to ask if they really eat baby gold fishes here. turned out that the menu meant, baby fish fried to a golden crisp.
whew!

from Jakarta with love

greetings from the land of nasi goreng! as with my previous trip here, i'm staying Hotel Le Meridien where the breakfast buffet is to die for and the service is superb. the only downside is that internet isn't free.

that being said, i won't be going online as often as i usually do.

so there. i'm just checkin in to say i've landed safe and my tummy is full :)

when buying luggages

make sure to test the combination lock before leaving the store.

otherwise, you will end up trying out all possible combinations until you get the right one.

now, if after the first few tries, you are able to get the right combination, good for you. if not, you might end up spending precious time trying to unlock when you could've spent that time actually putting clothes inside that friggin luggage!

or you could just start packing early so you won't freak out when the stupid lock won't open using the default 0-0-0 combination hours before your flight.

procrastinating

i'm leaving in 2 days (if my visa arrives tomorrow that is) and i have yet to pack.
i bought new luggage and it's still in it's package from the store.

at any rate, one thing i know for sure is that i won't be having the same problem i had in Korea coz i got me a bigger luggage. a spankin red one from samsonite.

now, if i can only bring myself to get some clothes in the luggage, then i'll be good.

what everyone doesn't know is...

Cherries

i can make a knot of cherry stems using my tongue in just a few seconds.

now what does that make of me? hmn.