it keeps getting stranger by the day...

This is It

2009-11-02T11:35:00.002+08:00

In my whole 8 year stay in the company, about 7 years of that were spent chanting "magre-resign na ako!". and yet i still stayed for 8 more years.

But now I feel, this is it... anytime I will go. It's just a matter of waiting for 8 more months or in the next few weeks.

I have asked for signs that say that I should stay. But all I get are signs that I should leave. Maybe I'm just biased, I don't know. I just can't find any more reasons to stay.

Friends have left, at least one per week.

Stomach cramps are very frequent now, every time the thought of it enters my mind.

I'm smoking again, heavily this time. I am capable of finishing an entire pack within the day.

I just got back from a vacation and thinking about returning to the city makes me want to throw up.

I'm losing appetite everyday.

I may be weak, but I have never cried this much about work before. Morning and night.

I'm having heartburns. I get mad every single day.

So telll me... is it still worth it?

Next question, what will I do after?

What I really really want - a looooonnngg good vacation. Far, far away. To restore my mind and refresh my soul. And clean my lungs.

What the majority say I do - No breaks. Have to look for a job while working and once there is one already, I can start right away. Practical.

This is all so bleah.

To my friends

2009-03-21T18:30:00.003+08:00

It's quite sad to realize that you can't keeep the friends you want to keep forever. I can't help but assume that they move away because either I did something wrong or I didn't become the good friend that they want me to be.

Or maybe everything just isn't meant to be.

To my closest friends, I'm sorry kung marami akong pagkukulang...

wtf?!?!

2008-12-04T00:16:00.003+08:00

I made an entry about them a few months back.

And now, may nag reunion at naga-attempt mag comeback ala Take That... from "boyband" to a reformed English pop-rock musical group.

And isa lang masasabi ko...

ANG BAKLA!!!! bwahahahahahaha!!

I'm alive!

2008-10-30T16:13:00.002+08:00

after almost 3 weeks of being bored at home... i'm finally back online! yahoo! I thought it would take forever for PLDT to install my DSL.

But being bored does have its advantages. I'm now sorting, cleaning, and throwing away all the trash I brought from the house. That includes meaningless stuff from grade school - college. And it was really nostalgic, reading all those letters and notes and whatnots. I'll blog about it sometime.

So now, salamat naman at may internet na rin ako haaay!

on hiatus... again

2008-10-07T18:40:00.002+08:00

Just moved in to my apartment last Sunday, and i still don't have internet. Plus, my monitor's busted. So it might take a while before I can be online again. I'm here at an internet cafe right now. Haaay life!

Kerol/Plee, tara inom na tayo dun! No smoking nga lang hehehe! =)

Aahay... had a picture of you in my mind

2008-09-17T23:59:00.005+08:00

Listening to old songs make me happy lately. The songs of my generation, 80's and 90's rock, pop, and yes, high school music!

Hello boyband!! *paging Plee bwahahaha*

Fine, laugh! But this song has been on loop in my mp3 player since yesterday. I won't deny that this upbeat song was, and is still, my only favorite from this famous but now defunct Brit boyband. Hindi ako fan pero masaya talaga yung song eh. Hehehe!

Enjoy!

I want to post the video, kasi natatawa talaga ako sa kabadingan ni Stephen Gately. Ahahahahaha!

LP #22 Ayaw Ko!

2008-08-31T18:27:00.003+08:00

Haaay salamat naman at mayroon na rin akong akda. Matagal din akong nanahimik sa LP.

Mahilig akong maglakbay. Pangarap kong makapunta, kung papayagan lang ng oras at bulsa, sa lahat ng mga magagandang tourist destinations di lamang dito sa Pilipinas kundi sa buong mundo.

Yun nga lang... takot akong sumakay ng eroplano.

Maraming beses na rin akong sumasakay ng eroplano pero hindi ko pa rin maiwasan na kabahan ng sobra pag papalapit na ang petsa ng aking paglipad. So paano ko ito nakakayanan? Dasal lang ng dasal!

a rant

2008-08-13T14:17:00.000+08:00

Wow, it has been quite a while since I updated this blog. I'm sorry, a lot of things, complicated stuff, going on right now. I don't have the luxury of time, or even the energy or interest, to really "surf" the net.

My sister's getting married and moving out next month. Early this year, I also decided to move out of the house once she leaves, as initially suggested by my sister. So I started looking for my own place and fortunately, I found a good one, and can start moving in early next month. When I told my mom, she was obviously upset. I understand her worries as a mom. Anywhere in Manila is a dangerous place, living alone is a big risk to take. But I want to try to be independent now. And for reasons that only me and my sisters' know, moving out is a smart decision, even if it is a little risky.

Now I feel like I just told them the worst news they could possible hear ever. Na parang may nagawa akong masama na hindi na ako pwede mapatawad.

This too shall pass...

Here's a toast...

2008-07-16T22:40:00.004+08:00

Here's to the nights we felt alive
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry
Here's to goodbye
Tomorrow's gonna come too soon

I will really miss you, ding! Enjoy your much needed rest and vacation. I will see you soon. =)

*photo courtesy of Rica E.

LP #14 Tatak Pinoy

2008-07-06T22:08:00.003+08:00

Kahit saan... sa kalye, sa beach, sa katabing karinderya... patok na patok talaga sa mga Pinoy ang INIHAW! Isaw, betamax, adidas... matibay ba ang sikmura mo? =)

LP #12 Itay

2008-06-19T20:26:00.003+08:00

Itay...
Kahit gaano ka man kakulit...
Mahal pa rin kita...

Marunong ka rin pala mag emote? Hahaha!

Margo

2008-06-17T19:39:00.003+08:00

Family will always be family.

Thanks so much, cuz! Thank you for everything! I love you to bits!

LP #11 Kalayaan

2008-06-16T21:23:00.004+08:00

Minsan ba nararamdaman ninyo o naiisip ninyo na para kayong preso na nakakulong sa sarili ninyong bahay? Isang hakbang lang, nasa inyo na ang kalaayaan. Pero dahil sa mga iba't ibang limitasyon, hindi nyo ito makamit?

...

2008-06-09T11:28:00.003+08:00

Something I got from PostSecret:

"No one knows what a struggle it's been lately... but I held on one more day."

I don't usually rant in my blog but this time I'm desperate. I can't say why, I can't share the details because, to quote Hazel in her blog:

"As much as I would love to talk about it and shout it out to those who would listen without being judgmental. I simply can’t because, they will get judgmental. They will think bad thoughts. They will speak behind our backs. They will ruin us."

To my friends, please don't ask for details, and please don't take it against me if I don't. Just tell me what I need to do to survive an ordeal... if I can't go out as much as I would want to anymore. I'm just so lonely.

To all Artemis Fowl fans

2008-06-08T15:24:00.002+08:00

Click on this link. Can't wait!!

Playlist

2008-06-07T18:43:00.002+08:00

I copied this from my sister Ces. Now I'd like to play along hehehe!

Taken from the songs in my current playlist:

You had this look that of an angel, it was such a bad disguise

Truth is not kind and you say neither am I

And i feel hopelessly weighed down by your eyes of steel

I just can't look, it's killing me and taking control

We all have a sickness that cleverly attaches and mutliplies

I will sit and earn the ransom from up here

Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong

Promises mean everything when you're little and the world's so big

Your friends they stand around they watch you crumble, as you falter to the ground

I've been on the outside, looking in

My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof

I wasn't jumping for me it was a fall, it's a long way down to nothing at all

There is nothing in the world that i ever wanted more than to feel you deep in my heart

LP #3 Ihip ng Hangin

2008-05-29T22:35:00.004+08:00

May kwento kung bakit ito ang napili kong litrato para sa tema ngayong Huwebes...

Ito ay kuha noong mabakasyon ako sa Boracay kamakailan lamang kasama ang aking ka-opisina. Kami ay nagpapahinga at nagpapa- tan at sa isa sa mga kainan na walang tao, para libreng libre ang upuan at payong sa tabing dagat. Nag order lang kami ng pagkain at inumin para kahit ilang oras kami doon ayo ok lang.

Sobrang init nitong araw na ito. Kaya't laking gulat na lang namin nang bigla na lang lumakas ang hangin at nilipad ang iba naming mga gamit. Kasama na ring nilipad ang napaka laking payong na ito na aming sinisilungan at walang tigil na nagpa gulong gulong sa buhangin. Nagulantang ang serbidor ng kainan at dali daling hinabol at sinagip ang nililipad na payong. Ang galing ni manong! Hahaha!

Sa lakas ng hangin, kaya nitong dalhin ang malaki at mabigat na payong na ito.

LP #8 Tubig

2008-05-22T00:08:00.006+08:00

Ang mga beaches natin dito sa Pilipinas ay pwede nating ipagmalaki sa buong mundo. Maraming mga turista ang bumibisita sa bansa natin para magpahinga at maglibang sa mga magaganda at malilinis nating tabing-dagat. Maswerte tayong mga Pinoy at madali lang para sa atin na pumunta sa mga sikat na beaches na ito. Kaya huwag nating kalimutang mahalin at alagaan ang ating mga karagatan.

Mahalin natin ang tubig. Bawat patak nito ngayon ay mahalaga.

Tagged: Top 10 Songs of the 90's

2008-05-18T10:41:00.004+08:00

Tagged by Plee. And tama silang lahat... bakit 1o lang?? Kulang! Hahaha!

Anyway, thanks ding! I enjoyed doing this. I'm now downloading the 100 Greatest Rock Songs of the 90's. Hahaha!

--------------------

10) No Rain (Blind Melon)- Must be sang in every karaoke night. Hahaha!

9) Runaway Train (Soul Asylum) - The disturbing video struck me the most.

8) Selling The Drama (Live)- I'm very much a fan of Live, and of all their songs (and I love all of them), this is my favorite.

7) Plush (Stone Temple Pilots) - I was still in grade school when this became a hit. I remember one day I was watching the high school students' Pep Rally at the gym, and I was awed by this Senior (or probably Junior) who began strumming the song's intro. I loved the song.

6) Counting Blue Cars (Dishwalla) - Hands down, I'm a Dishwalla fan! I brag that I have ALL their albums. Hahahaha! This is the song that made me one.

5) Silent Lucidity (Queensrych) - My sweet escape song. When I need to forget and be numb, even for a little while.

4) Far Behind (Candlebox) - My ultimate angst song. I can imagine myself in a band playing this song, me behind the drums, and just letting it all out with every strike.

3) Cliffs of Dover (Eric Johnson) - It's the ultimate guitar solo. I can never get enough of those rockin' guitars!

2) I Want You (Savage Garden) - Oo na oo na!! I adored them. And i lovED the gay guy! Besides, there would be no "Ple" without them. Right, Plee? Hahahaha!

1) Shimmer (Fuel) - This song always reminds me of that day of the Blue Butterflae at Caylabne. (Nikki and Plee... BWAHAHAHA!) And this song will forever be applicable to me.

Now I'm tagging: all those who read my blog, if you're up to it. =)

LP #7 Umaapoy

2008-05-16T23:20:00.003+08:00

Hindi madali maging isang "fire dancer". Sila'y nagsasanay para sila'y gumaling sa kanilang sayaw. Hindi maiiwasan na mapaso ng ilang beses pero sa huli, napeperpekto nila ang kanilang "routine" at maraming tao ang humahanga sa kanilang galing.

Parang buhay lang... hindi madali ang takbo ng buhay, at napakaraming beses kang mapapaso at masasaktan. Pero kung may tiyaga, tiwala, at pasensya ka lang, makakamit mo rin ang mapayapa at masayang buhay, kahit hindi man ito perpekto.

*Burnt to the core but not broken... - Live"

My favorite Tito in the whole world

2008-05-14T23:02:00.002+08:00

For reasons obvious to the Cesario Family only. Hahahahaha!!!

*last photo courtesy of Margo =)

PIL-COLL Chronicles # 6-8

2008-05-12T22:25:00.003+08:00

What *Girl* wanted to say: "Eto ma'am, kuha ho kayo ng ballpen bigay ko sa'yo yung number!"
What *Girl* actually said out loud: "Eto ma'am, bigay ko ho yung ballpen!!" (galit pa)

-------------

What *Girl* wanted to say: "Sige ma'am, pakitago na lang po yung receipt, i-monitor namin yung posting ng payment."
What *Girl* actually said out loud: "Sige ma'am, pakitago na lang po yung posting."

-------------

What *Girl* wanted to say: "Pwede ho ba malaman yung number nya sa bahay?"
What *Girl* actually said out loud: "Pwede ho ba malaman yung number nya sa ba... sa ba... sa BAHOUSE?"

LP #6 Mahal na Ina

2008-05-08T23:34:00.003+08:00

Ang aking mahal na Ina.

Mahusay mag-alaga. Malambing. Sobrang mapagmahal.

At syempre... Masarap magluto!!!

PIL-COLL Chronicles # 5

2008-05-06T21:49:00.002+08:00

During my sit-in session with one of our top agents (may "summer classes" kasi ako. hehe!)

ME: gaano ka na katagal dito sa loans?
GIRL: mag one year na sa August.
ME: wow tagal na rin pala!
GIRL: oo nga eh, parang kailan lang.

two seconds pause...

GIRL (singing out loud, with matching nginig sa boses): "parang kailan lang, ang mga pangarap ko'y kay hirap abutin..."

Bwahahahaha!!!

PIL-COLL Chronicles # 4

2008-05-02T21:36:00.002+08:00

Friday is 89.9 Friday Magic Madness day in our team. We tune in the whole day listening to the hits of the 80's and 90's. Growing up with that music, we normally find ourselves humming or singing along to the songs being played.

This morning, everyone was quiet. Advertisements on the radio were being played.

All of a sudden...

Boy (out loud): "five-five-five fifty-five-five-five-fifty five-fifty five.... greenwich delivery!"
Everyone: BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Ay sya, tama ba namang maki-kanta sa jingle sa radyo! Bored siguro.

LP #5 Malungkot

2008-05-01T20:59:00.004+08:00

Hindi ako "alcoholic", maniwala kayo, pero alam ko na sasang-ayon kayo sa akin na ang alak ay nakakatanggal ng lungkot o sakit, kahit na panandalian lamang. Kaya karaniwan nating naririnig sa ating mga kaibigan kung tayo ay may problema, "iinom na lang natin yan!"

Sana lang ganung kadali at ganung kabilis matanggal ang lungkot o maging manhid sa sakit, na sa isang inom lang at pag gising kinabukasan, wala na. Pero alam naman nating lahat na babalik at babalik din ang sakit pag wala na ang amats natin.

ang simula ni POOH

2008-04-30T21:35:00.002+08:00

When Pacquiao impersonator Manny POOH-kiaw was discovered at Wowowee.

Tawa talaga ako ng tawa dito!!!

"House of Horror"

2008-04-29T21:44:00.002+08:00

This has got to be the MOST disgusting thing I've ever read/seen/watched.

Read full story here.

Definitely worth placing this guy in Most Evil.

PIL-COLL Chronicles # 1-3

2008-04-27T20:40:00.003+08:00

Our team is really a crazy bunch! Sa dami ng ganitong moments, kailangan nang i-document:

Officemates, if you want to know who they really are, just ask me personally. =)

----------------------

Boy: ay potek!
Girl: bakit koyah?
B: kanina pa ako hello ng hello, nagtataka ako kung bakit wala akong marinig!
G: anong nangyari?
B: wala pala akong suot headset!
G: bwahahahahaha!
B: pinipindot ko pa yung "mute".

----------------------

pre-"ang pagbabalik ni Gabby Concepcion" days...

Boy: nakita mo na yung bagong palabas ni Gabby Concepcion?
Girl: huh? andito ba sya? umuwi na sya?
B: hindi, si ano, si Gabby ng PBB!
G: aaa koyah... si Gaby dela Merced yun!
B: ay pucha...

----------------------

malapit na ang araw ng bonus:

Boy: Boss!! Wala kang bonus diba? Pa-cheeseburger ka naman!!!
Everyone chanting: Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!

LP #4 Hugis ay Pahaba

2008-04-25T22:55:00.003+08:00

Kuha ko ito sa balkonahe ng isa sa mga kwarto sa Baguio Country Club. Simple, walang kahit anong pang-abala. Maganda ang panahon sa Baguio noong araw na iyon, walang ulap, malinis ang hangin.

mommy love

2008-04-21T20:46:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I was a child again.

I had a horrible, horrible weekend. Except for the hours I spent at Haze's house on Saturday, I was generally deflated. (Yes, Plee, you didn't know that. But thanks for keeping me sane. Someday you'll know.) I had to numb myself by drinking, and it did help me sleep effortlessly. But the numbness was gone when I woke up on Sunday morning, feeling the same dread I felt the day before. I went to mass alone, prayed to God to help me last the entire day.

Then Mom sent an sms. She told me they will go to Ate Ces and Joel's condo that afternoon because Joy Joy and her friend wanted to go swimming, and asked me if I wanted to go with them. Good, an opportunity to go out, so I said yes.

When we arrived and got ourselves settled, I just sat down, stared blankly into nothing, obviously depressed. Then Mom told me they brought me lunch. I was too sluggish to move so I said I'll eat later. So Mom and Yay started to unpack and set my lunch in front of me, complete with plate and utensils. Yay even poured me a cup of Coke with ice. I was equally surprised that they made my favorite lunch... sinigang na bangus... with 2 parts of fish! Ü

"O ayan, kain ka na," Mom said.

I had no appetite, but I ate with gusto. After the hearty meal, Mom offered the cupcakes I bought for them. Then she let me wander to get some fresh air. All that time, she never asked nor pried. She was just there for me.

They spoiled me that afternoon but... aaaahh happiness!

So it really is true after all... that mommies have this amazing "sixth sense." You don't tell them what's wrong, and yet they still know you need them. And they act without being asked.

And my Mom did one helluva good job. Her pampering made me feel so much better.

Thanks, Mom. =)

LP #3 Apat na Kanto

2008-04-17T21:35:00.004+08:00

Para ito sa aking unang pagtangkang sumali sa LP. Ito'y aking kinuha sa makasaysayang Fort Santiago sa Intramuros noong nakaraang taon lamang. Naisip ko lang na ang pook na ito ay pwedeng isang magandang taguan para ika'y magkapag-isip o makapag muni-muni, makatakas lang nang panandalian sa mga problemang bumubulabog sa iyo. Mas maganda kung ika'y may kasamang mabuting kaibigan na walang sawang makikinig sa iyong mga hinaing.

so hold on...

2008-04-14T23:12:00.003+08:00

this is such a powerful song! if you are in a state of misery, how can this song not move you?

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on
Don't let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

"sing this song"

2008-04-12T21:54:00.003+08:00

I just can't get enough of this video. My cousin Carlo said there was something "emo-ish" about it, such as the beaten beating heart. And I couldn't help but agree with him on some parts. But I don't mind. I was drawn to the song and the video, and not mainly because I'm an Incubus fan. Hmmm... a projection maybe? Perhaps. I don't know.

We all have a sickness
That cleverly attaches and multiplies
no matter how we try...

with or without you

2008-04-10T21:30:00.004+08:00

i watched U2 3D last Sunday at iMax SM Mall of Asia with my cousins. Hmmm... it's good, but it's something that you won't regret if you missed it... well, for me anyway. As Carlo said, "para tayong nanonood ng dvd na 3d." I'd rather watch the real thing instead, now that would definitely be worth it!

Larry Mullen Jr is sooooo HOT!!

So, nag camwhore na lang kami habang kumakain ng Razon's halo-halo at nag "Beatles sound trip" si Tito Mario sa San Miguel by the Bay:

no showing of teeth daw eh...
Nica naman kasi, pakita na ng passport pic mo!! hahaha!

weird widget

2008-04-08T20:34:00.003+08:00

I find the FEEDJIT real-time blog traffic feeds widget really weird, and amusing at the same time (please see left side page element, below the Site Meter).

Why weird? When I view my own blog at home, I'm considered "Manila, Manila Philippines". On some days, they like to place me in "Las Pinas, Rizal, Philippines" or "Paranaque, Rizal, Philippines". San ba talaga, koyah?!?!?!

Why amusing? I find it amazing to know that people who live in different parts of the world get to visit my blog via Google. Akalain mo yon, na-Google nila ako?? Bwahahahaha! =p

Yon lang. Now back to playing The Sims 2. I haven't played this game for the longest time. I was reunited with my Sim families over the long weekend out of desperation to kill the boredom! Now, I'm addicted again. Hehehehe! Oo nga pala, magkakaroon na ng The Sims 3 sa 2009. Wala lang!

This guy's got AWESOME skills!

2008-04-06T12:43:00.002+08:00

Discovered this amazing video thru Hazel who saw it in her friend Iggy's multiply site.

Grabe ang galing...

Kulasa ako!

2008-03-30T13:15:00.006+08:00

Stolen from Hazel. She has a similar, and longer list in her multiply account. This is sooo nostalgic.

It has been 10 years since we graduated from high school. And it's a good feeling to bring back all those memories... and laugh at their craziness.

Julls, this is so like your St Scho photo post. =) I'd love to visit St Scho soon.

I'm adding my comments too (in yellow):

Highlight nyo na lang pag di nyo mabasa yung ibang comments.

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Nakatikim ka ng stone soup - ano na nga ba lasa nito? matabang? at bakit nga ba tayo gumawa ng ganito? anong purpose? hehe!
Nakatikim ka ng German cookies hindi siya masarap! haha
Aware ka sa Hiroshima bombing - eh pano every year ba naman may exhibit!
Nakapag noise barrage ka
Kilala mo si Tita Naty (A Midsummer Nights Dream in my case. hehehe alamat na ata siya sa st scho eh - since grade 4! hahahaha!
Alam mo kung na saan ang Tunnel of Truth/Lies eto ba yung papuntang GS bldg?
Alam mo ang SRA at ang iba't ibang colors nito (favorite ko ito! hindi ako nag grade school eh. hs to college lang -- favorite ko rin to! pag SRA na, hindi ako inaantok sa class!
Alam mong may star section at honor's class kahit ideny ng mga teachers
Lahat ng accessories mo ay blue, black at white. more or less true nga - no choice eh! hehe!
Pag nakakakita ka ng music notes nirerecite mo ang ta ta ti ti ta ta titi ti ti ta ta (at naalala ko si Mr Reyes at ang hanger nya sa likod) - mr reyes!! one time tinago nun yung coleman kong lunch box! hmph - bwahahaa natawa ako dun sa hanger!
Kilala mo si Ms. Camu - "Listen, listen, listen everyone..." (with matching bounce dapat ng head, hindi dahil sa kailangan, pero dahil ginagaya mo lang sya)
Kilala mo at may phobia ka kay Gng. De Vera at ang Pulang Kotse ng Kamatayan (ano yung pulang kotse??? –well mas naalala ko ang pajero ni Ms De Vera) - ang alam ko honda civic ang kotse nun.
Kilala mo at may phobia ka kay Ms.Salazar (sobra!) naku naabutan ko siya. pero after nun si mrs pengson na whee!! - na pag nakita mo ngumiti si Ms Salazar, parang may miracle!
Nagaayos ka ng uniform pag papalapit si Mrs. Ferrer o kung sino mang discipline head (I guess this one's for the lower batch kasi if I'm not mistaken, kami ang last batch na hinandle ni Salazar) - korek!
Nagtaka ka bakit hindi umuulit ng damit si Mrs Pengson. (Hahaha! Idol!) eh model ba naman ang lola nyo eh. pero oo nga, never siya nag ulit ng damit. haha - fashionista until now kaya!
Tinry mo gayahin ang signature ni Mrs Pengson.(not really…) hindi ata
Natry mo na din gayahin ang signature ni Ms. Salazar (that's more like it) hindi rin. pero tempting noon - i tried pero sa scratch paper lang, hindi para mag forge sa mga slips. hahaha!
Pag lower batch ka hindi ka dapat tumatambay sa stone tables - didn't mind it at all. haha
Nag Arnis class ka in lieu of CAT.(or martial arts class to the tune of EYE OF THE TIGER) - can't remember! - hahahaha!! Si Tikyo ba nagtuturo nito? nalimutan ko na!
Nag SEEP ka. (Ano to??? –i think sa batch ko e BIVOUAC to–tama ba spelling? our batch had ours at Lemery, Batangas) - outreach na ata to hehe - sa batch namin eto yung SWEAT
Nung Senior ka ginamit mo ang POWER OF THE "G" BADGE bully the kids!! haha - na very powerful indeed! bwahahaha!
Wala kang problema umupo sa sahig (which I still have the habit of) until now. which results in weird stares from friends. masaya kaya!! - i agree, am doing this until now. hehe!
Mabigat ang bulsa mo. May wallet, suklay, ballpen at cellfone kasi. (Wala akong cellphone nung HS…i agree! inside my pocket: yung mahabang wallet ng girbaud, hair doctor, face poweder, panyo/tissue, beeper, 1 cattleya filler, jnj cologne, at face wash pag after lunch - wash tayo!! ahaha - wallet, brush, ballpensss, balat ng candy, tissue, beeper
Pag tumatakbo ka nakahawak ka sa bulsa mo. of course!
Pag after periodical exams, nasa Glorietta ka. of course! - parang required eh noh?
Pag nagkikita kayo ng friends mo sa ibang place, kung magbatian kayo parang 10 years na kayong hindi nagkikita. - until now. hahaha
Mabigat ang paa mo pag naglalakad lalo na sa hagdan ganun pa rin ako maglakad. haha - oh yes! kahit naka heels! and sa office ngayon, i'd know if may kulasa sa vicinity, kasi "blag blag blag" talaga yung paa! hahahaha!
Sanay ka sa debates and impromptu speeches (GIRLS, this is one skill that will come useful in the REAL WORLD, meaning: at work and in your married life–trust me. Thanks to all our speech teachers esp RONO) - AMEN!
Gumawa ka ng physics toy
Ayaw mo gumamit ng banyo malapit sa physics room may multo kasi dun. meron talaga! - never ata ako nag banyo dito.
Alam mo ang Let's cheer for St.Scholastica, Fealty Song ("We are here,dear SSC..", Come loyal, St Benedict,To thee we turn. wahahahaaha korek!
Alam mo kung ano ang SCHOLARI - at alam ko pa rin ang sections ko. 1R 2H 3R 4H naks! - may bagong section na daw ngayon ah, after I?
Alam mo kung ano ang late slip, absent slip at index cards hehe
Kilala mo si tita Vicky
Tumutungo ka sa "God" sa "That In All Things God May Be Glorified" di na ata to mawawala eh
Marunong ka gumawa ng parol na puro recycled materials ang gamit. (well, making the advent wreath was more memorable for me. I cant seem to perfectly cut the green crepe paper to make it look like the actual leaves)
Marunong ka gumawa ng Advent Wreath gamit lamang ang dyaryo at crepe paper (refer to my comment in no. 36) - i hated this! hahahaha! pag grade 4 up ka na, tuturuan mo gumawa yung mga prep and grade 1. and you'll end up destroying the kid's advent wreath. hahaha!
Pag may birthday after mo kantahan sasabihin mo "Happy Birthday ___! How old are you? Jump ____ times!" - hahaha! sikat na sikat ka pag tumatalon ka!
Alam mo ibig sabihin ng Ora et Labora galing mag isip ni st benedict noh? swak na swak
Game ka sa lahat ng bagay. Hindi ka maarte. Korek! (TALAGA!!!!!!!) - korek to the highest level - SOBRANG TOTOO!!!!
Tinatawag mo lahat ng matatanda sayo sa campus manong at manang. oo nga no... - hanggang ngayon gawain ko pa rin to. hahaha!
Pag late ka after recess or lunch ang ilalagay mo sa late slip mo "traffic along the stairs" or pwede rin, had to change into my uniform/came from debate class.
Ang tawag mo sa song sa grad march ay "tan tananan tan tan…" wahahahaha
You are a feminist
Natatawa ka pag may nababarok (Hahaha! Hanggang ngayon!) (Alam mong there's a Kulasa in the "same room", pag nagtinginan kayo pag may nababarok) OMG, tunay!! - grabeee tayo lang talaga yung ganito noh? hahahaha! hindi natin napipigilan.
Hindi mo kayang di mag-comment pag may wrong grammar or diction. (Oo nga…) click here to prove my point - true true! di natin mapigilan mag comment.
Alam mo yung dark stairs na matarik sa high school building. freaky talaga yun. yung stairs malapit sa GSR. -diba dito maraming nagtatagong "couples"? bwahahahaha!
Nag Agri Arts and Sewing with Miss Ponce. (ang naabutan ko was the Typing Class) - typing class din ako - sa typing class pa lang si ms ponce nun.
Alam mo yung "Blame It On The Rain" na pinapatugtog ni Mrs. Ponce sa typing class. (And other 80s music like Friday I'm In Love) di ko na maalala yung song. basta may suot kaming manila paper na parang malaking supot sa ulo. dito rin naganap nung nahulog si mrs ponce. hehe
Nag fashion show ka suot ang damit na tinahi mo sa Sewing class - never ata kami gumawa ng damit. puro cross stitch ginagawa namin eh.
kaya mong magsulat, magdirect, magproduce ng play in one week
fave lunch nyo ay cutlet, sizzling or bLT pumpernickels!! - miss ko na pumpernickels!
kaya mong magpalit ng PE uniform and school uniform sa gitna ng gym at naaply ko siya until now. - hahaha korek!
kaya mong magpalit from uniform to swimsuit and vise versa ng di nakikitaan.
alam mo ibig sabihin ng O, VS, S, MS, NI - na nasa sobrang laking report card pag prep/grade 1 ka. tapos after the 4th Quarter, nakalagay sa likod kung eligible ka sa next grade level or mag repeat ka. hehehe!
pastime nyo ang magkalikot ng wallet during Morning Praise and school gatherings sa field, gym & St. Cecile's. hahaha
Napakalaking adventure na sayo ang takasan ang mga guard sa gate 1 para pumunta sa U.M. ng naka uniform (True!)
nung grade school ka, naniwala ka na gumagalaw sa gabi ang statue ni Mama Mary sa Mary's Garden na Peace Garden na ngayon (at may time na natsismis na umiyak sha with matching tracks of her tears dun sa statue) - na forever binabantayan during Peace Camp, titingnan kung iiyak.
favorite mo ang manggang hilaw at bagoong sa gate 6 habang wala pa ang school bus - wag naman kalimutan ang singkamas. bwahaha!
nung prep ka pa, naiingit ka k hindi ka pwede sa reference section ng LRC, pero nung naging grade 4 and above ka na, naiinggit ka dahil di ka na pwede sa children's corner sa LRC na madaming pillows at stuffed toy
New Building ang tawag mo sa New Building kahit hindi na siya ang pinaka-new building. korek! - hahahahaha oo nga noh!
alam mo ang mga kwento ni mrs bucad pag health class. *wink wink* - may demo pa yan!! bwahahaha!

fire truck siren: a sound i wouldn't want to hear at 4am

2008-03-20T16:12:00.006+08:00

At predawn today, at about 4:00 in the morning, I was roused from my sleep to the sound of an ambulance siren. I'm normally used to the sound of ambulance sirens, assuming that this is just an ambulance. But this particular "ambulance" never moved. It stayed and blared her sirens as if to alarm and wake everyone in the vicinity. I didn't move but I kept all my senses alert for any sign of unusual activity. I didn't smell anything. And aside from the blaring siren (which by this time has already stopped), I didn't hear any running or shouting, just a distinct "cracking". Then our dogs started barking. Then my sister opened our door, turned on the lights, and calmly said to our mayordoma "Yay, may sunog."

Ok, panic mode! All of us got up and went outside to check where the fire is. From the compound's garage, the only view we have is that of Kingswood Condos. And we saw that the entire side of Kingswood was lighted up with orange, lighted by the intensity of the flames that were engulfing the squatter's area below. Then there was a loud and sudden blast followed by bigger flames. Our neighbor went out to check how "far" the fire is from our place. She went back and reported that the fire won't reach us until the house behind us catches fire. But as a safety measure, Units A and D already packed their very important things, took our their cars from the garage, and waited.

Meanwhile, my sister and I went out and decided to do what Filipinos are best known for... "maki-usi". And besides, in our case it's better to see for ourselves how bad the situation is, to see if we really need to leave as well.

Geez, it was HUGE! Ang scary talaga!! The flames reached almost the 7th floor of Kingswood (and their 2nd floor is actually 3rd level na from ground level). And the wind is blowing glowing ashes into our direction, threatening to burn our home as well.

More fire trucks coming in, all the way from Binondo (ah yes, the chinese volunteers), Quezon City, Tondo. There were fire trucks everywhere and we're pretty sure that in no time, they'll be able to put the fire out. We went back home to check on the others. Mom's pretty calm now. Our neighbors are still out in their cars waiting. Then we went back to the scene and saw that the fire's almost out. Thank God!! We really had a scare.

We decided to go to Kingswood to check on Tito Ody and Lola. Tito Ody was the one who called Mom and alarm her of the fire near our place. He was roused from his sleep by thick choking smoke, looked at the window and saw that the fire was just below them, though they were 20+ floors up. The lobby of Kingswood was like a mini refugee camp. Residents, most likely of the lower floors, with their luggage, some are still in their pajamas, are just waiting for a signal to leave. The podium lobby was full of thick smoke, it stings the eyes. We got to their room and found Tito Ody, Tito Toto, and Lola calm in the living room, watching tv. Even if the fire's out, they can't go back to their bedrooms because it was still full of smoke.

here's a pic i took from Tito Ody's room, 20+ floors up. The fire's out now but the entire area's still smoking. yeah, malabo, from phone camera lang kasi yan.

Ok, all's well with them. Now back home. Units A and D went back inside. Everything's safe. Time to go back to sleep again. I went back to bed but can't sleep, I'm still in shock to even feel sleepy. I just prayed and thanked Him endlessly for sparing our home from the tragedy. Then sleep finally overtook me and I was out. I woke up and it was almost noon.

The fire deparment's fire prevention month warnings, I take them seriously. You'll never know when tragedy will strike. Or you see them in the news, read them in the newspaper, seeing them happening to somebody else, wishing it won't happen to you. Unfortunately, according to Calvin's mom, "you are also somebody else to somebody else."

Better be careful.

Oh, and did I mention that throughout this whole ordeal, my Dad, our resident fire brigade volunteer, is in Bicol with the priests? He felt really helpless and can't sleep until everything was ok. Naging joke na lang tuloy sya... "ay si dad, hindi makatulog kasi wala sya sa aksyon. hindi sya makapag bida bidahan." hahahahaha!

Ken Lee!!!!

2008-03-11T21:25:00.001+08:00

grabe dude! tawa talaga ako ng tawa dito!!

Bulgarian Idol with "English" Translation! For your viewing pleasure.

Criminal Yaya!

2008-03-09T17:35:00.004+08:00

a repost for a dear friend of mine, Carol. Will really be very grateful for any information.

It's just so sad and frustrating that this has to happen to my inaanak.

http://kennykerol.blogspot.com/2008/03/help-us-find-this-criminal-yaya.html
http://cpix.multiply.com/journal/item/137/HELP_US_FIND_THIS_YAYA

----------

I am still in shaken up. I am actually struggling writing this down. But here is a story I have so often read about, but never thought would happen in my own house, with my children at stake. Here are the events, just to update the details from my brother's email. I obviously did not get to give him clear details for we were so preoccupied with all the nitty gritty that has to be done to respond to this particular incident. Nonetheless, I, of course, thank Carl for taking the initiative to inform everyone he thought should know.

March 3, Monday - Ken and I got home and saw Ricci's arm with bruises that appears to be a mark from a tight grip. Usually, Ricci tells me how she gets hurt, but when I asked her this time, she just said she doesn't know or tried not to answer.

March 5, Wednesday - Ken and I got home and again saw a small wound on Ricci's forehead. Again, we asked her of what happened and we got the same response.

For these two incidents, I kept asking the yaya how the bruises and the wound happened. Fishing out, not showing her that we suspect her of hurting Ricci. On both occasions, the yaya just responded with "Hindi ko nga alam e. Hindi ko napansin. HIndi naman umiyak..." and so on, the typical defensive answers. But despite her sounding guilty, I told myself that it could be one of three things: 1-di nya binabantayan mabuti yung bata; 2-wala syang pakialam kung masugatan since she doesn't seem to know (daw) how Ricci gets hurt; or 3-sya mismo ang nanakit sa bata. Ken and I were getting ready to pin these on her, though, but we needed concrete evidence. We talked about getting a cheap surveillance camera and all that. We were actually trying to be patient (and you have no idea how hard it is to wait on this if you are the parent of the child being abused), and we wanted to do the smartest thing for the situation. I took pictures of the bruises and the scratch.....

March 6, Thursday - Ken and I arrived about 9 pm with Manang Linda, our long-time helper who is based in my brother and sister-in-law's house (Carl and Rox). The front door was unlocked, which caused Ken to worry. He opened the door to the garage for me and ran up to our room immediately to check on the kids.

Here's the usual scenario when we get home: Yaya Josie would be in the room and the kids would be in a corner somewhere hiding and waiting for us to look for them.

The scene was different on March 6, though, as the yaya was nowhere in the room. The kids were hiding, but without the yaya to be seen, that caused panic to us. And then there were cheering and jumping when we found them in the bathroom of the master's bedroom. Then Cushie said, "Ate just bought something." I said, "What? She left you here?" Although Ken already had already thought that the yaya was gone, he hurried to the maid's room to find that her things are no longer there - a confirmation. I asked Cushie if he knew the time the yaya left, he responded, "7". He's 5, but he can tell time, so it's highly possibly that the yaya has been gone since 7 pm that night. That's 2 hours of my children being by themselves!The second floor of the house was upside down - my mom's closet of curtains, bedsheets and blankets, my closet -my bags, hats, clothes, the playroom (can you believe it?)...every room in the 2nd floor!!!! She tried to get anything of value that she can trade for cash. She got my cellphone (which is already deactivated), my Sony Cybershot digital camera (with pictures from Gael's birthday, Ken's birthday and more of family's), about 400++ cash, groceries (fresh meat), Ken's charger. So far, these are the items we found missing. We haven't had the time to check the entire house yet because we preoccupied with laying down options for the next steps we should do.

We called ferry transits and asked when the next trips to Cotabato (her hometown) are. We have printed photos of the yaya (thank God, Carl has copies. I had some, but, yun nga, my camera was stolen. So the pictures I took of Ricci's bruises and scratch are also gone). We have had the yaya blottered already.

We're really serious about this. I am asking everyone for whatever help you can give to find her. I now realize that when people send emails with this could happen to you's, you should not take the warning for granted. This, something so prevalent, happened to us, to my darling Ricci. Please help us, even by just disseminating this information.

Thank you,

Carol Bustos-Santiago

Information about the yaya:

Name: Josephine Gatan

Age: 43

Height: ?

Weight: ?

Skin color: somewhere between fair and kayumanggi-ish

Eyes: ?

Last contact number: 09203740311

tagged by Plee

2008-03-08T14:08:00.002+08:00

here goes:

Here are the rules: Remove one (1) question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag eight (8) people in your list. List them out at the end of this post.

1. At what age do/did you wish to marry?
:: Scary age: 35.

2. What color do you like most?
:: Aquamarine. or anything blue-green.

3. Have you ever shoplifted?
:: Yup, when I was a kid. Diba sa lines sa grocery, may nabibiling Kiss na air freshener (yung "nanganganak"). I successfully nabbed one without anyone looking. I admitted it when we got home and obviously, napagalitan. Haha!

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
:: Domestic: Bohol, Cebu, Davao. International: Greece, Cambodia, New Zealand

5. Which part of you that you hate the most?
:: The flabs everywhere. -- > I agree with you, plee!

6. When you encounter a sad moment, what would you do?
:: Grab a pack of cigarettes and smoke a lot (but I wouldn't finish the entire pack), if there is no alcohol available. Then cry myself to sleep.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?
:: My sanity, hehe. My memory, and my family, of course. - i have to agree on mama meeya with this hahaha! --> And I have to agree with this too. =) Haha gaya gaya!

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
:: Pay off my credit cards (haha!), donate to Gawad Kalinga, save, invest invest invest, then travel!!! bwahahaha!

9. What do you loved the most last year (2007)?
:: GK Bicol 2, January 2007.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you:
:: a loving and caring mother, a loyal wife, and the world's greatest bestfriend.

11. Is there anything about you that people misunderstand?
:: Hmmm... I'm always one of the boys...

12. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
:: I don't believe in regrets. you get to do things the first time and there's no do-overs or an undo button in life. it's either you do good the first time or learn from it and never do it again. --> i agree with this! =)

13. Which type of person do you hate the most?
:: People who look down on others and who thinks everyone else is stupid. And people who fake accents (mahilig mag "sleng") when engaged in a normal conversation.

14. What is your ambition?
:: be my own boss! haha!

15. If you had one wish what would you wish for?
:: my own kid.

16. How did you celebrate new year?
:: with the Cesario clan at Kingswood, taking pictures of the fireworks, ate a lot of good food

17. Name your body part that hubby tells you he adores.
:: not applicable. no hubby.

18. It is already 2008, do you have a new year’s resolution?
:: i don't do resolutions, i take things one day at a time. --- same here, same here.

19. What do you look forward to in 2008?
:: my sister's wedding in Sept. and moving out to be on my own.

20. What new skill have you learned?
:: how to take good pictures, thanks to FPPF. hehe!

i'm tagging: julls, albert, wynzyl

new template

2008-03-05T23:28:00.002+08:00

obviously, i downloaded a new template and tried to edit it so sidebar links would still appear, as with my old blog template.

apparently, my old template was a "classic" one and i downloaded the xml version, so it needs many many changes. it's already 11:30pm and i'm sleepy, so i'll continue the editing some other time.

so blank muna ang mga sidebars today. hahaha! and next time na ang kwento.

attention, plee... pa-email naman ng template ng blog mo oh! aaralin ko lang. hahaha!

Ben Affleck

2008-02-27T21:49:00.001+08:00

This is hilarious! Thanks, Rica for sharing this to me. =D

Josh Groban, astig ka! Hahahaha!!!

in response to this video by Jimmy's gf Sarah Silverman:

Lolo Erning: 1917-2008

2008-02-03T23:16:00.000+08:00

It's a one way ticket to heaven, according to the priest. Now we know that you're in a happier and peaceful place. And with that, we're happy too.

We love you, Lolo! And we'll definitely miss you...

hu-wat?!

2008-01-14T23:42:00.000+08:00

many many months back, sa isang tambay sessions namin nina Ria, may nagsukli kay Abi ng Php20. Napaisip kami sa nakasulat:

O diba, pati ba naman si Quezon binigyan nyo ng palaisipan?

Well, how ironic lang na nung papunta ako sa may bandang Commonwealth, eto yung nasa harap ng van namin:

aaahhh... oo nga naman... keep distance tayo, ok??

bwahahaha!!!

yey!!

2008-01-13T13:56:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Micci and Llewel!

i can't wait to see your Baby Andre! =) You guys are so blessed!

T.I.I.M*

2008-01-08T22:46:00.000+08:00

*Tang Ina It's Monday

meron akong stationary na yan talaga ang naka print. ayaw nyo maniwala? punta kayo sa workstation ko. hahaha! sorry, wala kasi akong scanner so hindi ko ma-scan.

anyway, i saw this video from WynzyL. not applicable today na kasi tuesday na ngayon eh. haha!

more christmas funnies

2007-12-27T23:46:00.000+08:00

you really have to watch this! panalo!!

7-11 workers!
6 IT graduates!

bwahahaha wonderful!!

margs, super thanks for showing me this!

=)

2007-12-25T11:59:00.000+08:00

Happy Christmas, everyone!!

eat, drink, and be merry!!... for tomorrow, it's a working day again. *sigh*

calling all Incubus fans!

2007-12-20T00:39:00.000+08:00

check this out!!!

http://www.enjoyincubus.com/node/14450

game na to, game na!!!!!

12 days of christmas

2007-12-18T22:17:00.000+08:00

this was forwarded by my cousin, Margo.

and i lavet!!! =) they're goooood!!!!

i love the Africa cover. =) grabe! winner!

dmb

2007-12-18T00:07:00.000+08:00

i'm currently addicted to this song:

"Take these chances
Place them in a box until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die"

-----***-----

shet shet shet!! i'm going crazy!!! waaaahhh!!!

SC ka na!

2007-12-07T12:11:00.000+08:00

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!

Senior citizen ka na! makakapanood ka na rin ng libreng sine sa Makati! at sa birthday mo next year, may birthday cake ka na c/o the City of Makati! hehehe!

sorry na, i don't have solo pictures of my dad eh. he really don't like having his solo pic taken. so i'll do with whatever i have here, para ma-post lang. hehehe...

happy birthday ulit, dad! *hugs*

-----***-----

to all those who greeted and spent that special day with me....

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

plee, suppie, rica, joy, danny, kitkat, kuya k, meng, marc, marklim, twin, louis, beth, yanee, jean, pitoy, kerol, dolly, mommy, jinky, faye, aissa, albert, daddy, holler, lei, candy m, 2381, bru, togs, micci, llewel, fra, paul l, jaime m, mama tweet, chris a, koya franz, hasmin, mac, cushie, ricci, shelly, frank, arlo, twink, brent, robbie, christian, margo, mama lin, tonji, gboy, jogue, abi p, myrna, janina, jandy, james, tita melong, nay net, marlon, carla, nang ne, mond, tita let, ate, ate ces, ate yen, yay, joel, princess r, itay nilo, euge, clare, pam, ivy, geoff, kyle, plee's mom, pia, ms cindy, bahey, roy, mimi, toktik, berlyn, obet, yogi, jullienne, kaye, giselle, mai, iryn, reh, yano, bobsie, edna, val l, gel, jaime, kristen, alan, princess v, mady, timm, marco, alannon, and to all those who greeted me via l/n (i'll get to read it pa when i get back from my leave though).

sorry if i missed anyone. basta, salamat sa lahat ng nakaalala! =)

*hugs* to all!

let's eat!

2007-12-04T12:55:00.000+08:00

i found this while surfing the net, looking for a place to stay for my sister...

Eat-All-You-Can Places In Manila

so far i've tried only four in the list. how about you? =)

hahaha!

2007-12-01T22:23:00.000+08:00

was bloghopping, and i saw these videos from Nikki's blog.

Laugh trip, sobra! =) And in all fairness, sikat na pala talaga sya! =)

Wherever I Lay My Hat, That's My Home by Paul Young

Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis

Torn by Natalie Imbruglia (this one i like. as in performance talaga sya!)

enjoy!

rest...sleep...shoot

2007-11-30T15:12:00.000+08:00

it's my core leave... FINALLY!!! after all that madness and endless tears that occurred this past two weeks, i deserve a much needed break...

"Your mind tricked you to feel the pain
Of someone close to you leaving the game of life..."

...away from the office and colleagues for just two weeks... away from my reality and escape into my silent refuge for a while...

"It's a place where you will learn To face your fears, retrace the tears And ride the whims of your mind..."

...when I get back, I don't expect everything will be the way it was before. Worse, actually. I just hope I won't give up and break down...

"You're safe from pain in the dream domain A soul set free to fly..."

I'm really sorry... You know who you are, if you're reading this.

-----***-----

on a lighter note...

I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!

as Kerol told me during our Thanksgiving lunch: "FADIST!"

hmmm... hindi ko na alam, basta natutuwa lang ako mag picture picture! hahaha!! pero baka nga. Ü

and yeah, i was able to enroll: PhotoWorld Manila Basic Photography Workshop

yey!

-----***-----

at La Luz Beach Resort, San Juan Batangas. During our company's Yamang Dagat Volunteer Program last 17-18 November 2007...

READ AND LEARN!!

can't wait!

2007-11-25T23:08:00.000+08:00

my sister is coming home in two weeks! and i'll be on leave!

yey!

yey!

yey!

she won't be spending christmas and new year with us though. she'll only be here for a week. but i'm still ecstatic! she's still coming home. =)

yey!

hmmm... time to cross out one more object from my wish list! hehehe! *one item crossed out already, will get it by tomorrow. hihihi excited*

yey!

oh yeah, speaking of wish lists, i have a new addition: Our Lady Peace - A Decade (it's their "the best of" album and i want it! hehehe!)

i wish for...

2007-11-21T22:39:00.000+08:00

"it's christmas time in the city..."

Kerol started it already! Now it's my turn! And besides... lapit na birthday ko!! bwehehe!

surprisingly, i had a difficult time filling up this year's wishlist, unlike last year's. i only have a few things in mind. hmmm... let's see... (in order of preference)

- Sennheiser CX 300 Earphones (any color, but preferably black or silver)
- Sennheiser MX 55 V Street Earphones
- yung pinakamurang Altec Lansing speakers
- Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR
- Ursula K. Le Guin's The Annals of The Western Shore

crazy crazy list! all are gadgets except the last one. hahaha! see, that's why i had a hard time filling this up... because it's expensive (especially the 4th item)!!! bwahahaha! but of course, these do not only serve as gift ideas, but as a personal purchase goal (actually, it's very much more of the latter). i don't expect my family and/or friends to give me these. =) kaya nga wish list eh... yung iba pangarap lang. pero at least attainable... pag kumayod ako sa overtime. (c'mon, let's do this!!). but i'd be very very very grateful if i was given at least one of these items. as in super! haha! =)

oh yeah, eto may naalala ako, additional:

- pang-enroll sa PhotoWorld Manila Basic Photography Workshop

haha sponsor??? i'm hoping that i'd be able to buy my camera na this weekend so i could join Rica in the December run of the workshop. hehe! =)

gusto ko na mag core leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm on vacation!

2007-10-31T01:33:00.001+08:00

nope, not my core leave yet. but finally a whole week off! i took a leave on nov 30 and 31 so the long weekends wouldn't be bitin, expecting that we wouldn't have to render overtime on monday (brgy elections). unfortunately, we were required to do OT (as usual) so it's not entirely a week-off from work for me. but anyway, 1 day lang naman yon so ok na. hehe!

i'll be off to Bacolod this thursday with my cousin margo and her mom. it wasn't really in my plans but about 2 months ago, margo just told me she was already booking their flight online. ang nasabi ko na lang, "sama ako!", then yun na. may ticket na agad. hahaha! so the 2 days leave that i took were supposed to be spent either shopping for groceries and other stuff for the trip and other errands that i have to do before i leave.

day one came and went with me just at home, unproductive, nothing accomplished. haha! all because i slept almost the whole day (and yeah, it rained really hard in the afternoon too). so.. puyat ba kamo? obvious ba!!!

why?

my dear ding friend rica couldn't have narrated it any better! hahahaha! grabe! for harmless people like us, they should ban the liquor ban!!! bwahahaha! ding, your Stoli was a life saver. i'm beginning to consider stashing vodkas/tequilas/tanduays here at home for such emergencies. *potek, alcoholic?!?! hindi pa noh!* hahahaha!!

quotable quote for that night: "You made me believe... you made me believe we had a chance." - Sharon Cuneta (Minsan, Minahal Kita)

ayun naman!!!! hahaha!

hmmm... we noticed that we're more interested to watch old tagalog romantic movies (richard, sharon, aga, vilma) than the ones being shown today (kim-gerard, bea-john lloyd, etc etc). i don't know, maybe there's more kilig factor in them. and yeah, they definitely have winner quotes that strike (and sting, most of the time), as the one uttered by Sharon above. or maybe... we're just getting old. hahaha! it's only now that we appreciate 80's/90's tagalog movies.Ü thank God for Cinema One. hahaha!

haaay, so much for an unproductive day! once i got home this morning from rica's place, i slept some more and woke up late in the afternoon already. well, whatever plans i had for today can still be done had i not subconsciously looked for reason not to leave. ayun... umulan... bumaha pa! hahaha! so tomorrow, no more excuses! i have to cram my 2-day plans into one day. which means i have to wake up early. now why the hell am i still online... it's already 3am!!

goodnight! and happy halloween everyone!

oh, btw, for all you corporate junkies out there, check out this site: http://www.careerbreakcafe.com/ we definitely need one! =)

i've been tagged!

2007-10-13T22:16:00.000+08:00

by plee! hehehe! para lang siguro may bagong content ang aking currently boring blog...

my desktop at home (none at my office pc... bawal mag edit ng properties dun eh):

It's the 2007 Vodafone McLacren-Mercedes F1 car at the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. I love F1 and I'm a McLaren-Mercedes fan through and through (kahit na nasa Ferrari na si Kimi my love. hehe!). Likewise, Monaco is included in my "top 5 places to see before i die" list.

Like plee, i prefer a clean desktop, less clutter. that way i could see my wallpaper better.

Notice the icons... puro games. hahaha!

I'm tagging: Jullienne, Kerol, Nikki, Van, Albert (and all the rest who want to be tagged)

-----***-----

Friends, i'll be blogging again soon... pag hindi na ako inaantok. hehehe! my so-called "straggel" is far from over. but i realized delaying blogging just because of a personal drama is just plain pathetic. oh well... thanks for bearing with me, though. Ü

-----***-----

kerol, i'm glad that you're now ok. i hope to see you soon!

to my BFF

2007-10-01T20:52:00.000+08:00

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PLEE!!!

Here's to more drama sessions, bottomless rhum cokes, YBs, day-offs at the Coffee Bean, gigs gigs gigs, chilling and/or wreaking havoc with your kiddies at your humble del pan mansion, shopping, and simply coming up with unique ways to spread our craziness all over the universe! bwahahahaha!!!!

C'mon, let's drink!!!

i love you so much, best! *hugs*

on hiatus again

2007-09-11T21:21:00.000+08:00

nagparinig na si kerol. hehehe!

sorry friends, no decent blog entry for a while. and will not be writing any blog entries for a while. issues to deal with... an internal battle that i need to end soon...

later, my friends! =)

bumblebee!

2007-09-02T14:28:00.000+08:00

I AM
69%
BUMBLEBEE Take the Transformers Quiz

*from Wynzyl

Troy and 300...

2007-08-11T00:27:00.000+08:00

... in ilonggo! i didn't understand anything, but it's soooooooooo hilarious! i was watching this with my sisters and tawa lang kami ng tawa, non-stop! hahaha!

"tonton and paghaharap"

eto pang isa...

benjo kag ang batalyon pitbull

masaya to, pramis!!! =P

-----***-----

"If only I could stay asleep, at least I could pretend you're thinkin' of me
'Cause nighttime is the one time I am happy, you see in my dreams you love me..."

random blah again after a party

2007-08-05T00:48:00.000+08:00

"And it's frightening
Oh, I didn't expect that from you
It's blinding
Serious are you seriously
I am feeling really STUPID now"

"Well this is not for real
Afraid to feel
I just hit the floor
Don't ask for more
I'm wasting my time
I'M WASTING MY TIME"

it was a sudden hit of realization that i really am feeling very very stupid and definitely wasting my time liking you...

my friends, don't ask pa rin.... =)

-----***------

"i'm fighting back emotions that i've never fought before,
but i'm not supposed to love you anymore..."

random blah at 1am

2007-07-28T00:45:00.000+08:00

"just when i thought i was over you..."

i dreamt about you last night. and after a long time of silence, out of the blue bigla kang nagparamdam... grabe naman, just now that i'm already starting to forget...

haaayy... dreams really do have a way of bringing back memories or feelings that you've long buried into your subconscious.

FRIENDS... please do not attempt to ask!! =)

-----***-----

"And it really makes me wonder
If I ever gave a f**k about you"

happy 30th!

2007-07-22T19:28:00.001+08:00

happy happy birthday, ate yeyen! =)

hmmm... tumatanda ka na... ibig sabihin ako rin... hahaha! shet!

all of us don't spend birthdays at home (the case for us sisters). we always look for somewhere to go to, spend it with people outside. not that we don't want to spend it with our families at home. wala lang, gusto lang namin lumabas. all our childhood birthdays were spent at home so now we're grown-ups, it's something new, something we want to experience. well, para sa akin yon ha! ewan ko lang sa kanila. anyway, regardless where we are on our birthday, yay never fails to cook something for the occassion. wala man dun ang bday celebrant, may food pa rin.

children's party food

parang children's party... may happy birthday spaghetti and fried chicken. may mocca ice cream with cone pa! kulang na lang yung hotdog bits and cheese cubes kebab na naka-tuhog sa repolyo.Ü yey!!

-----***-----

"Well this is not for real
Afraid to feel
I just hit the floor
Don't ask for more
I'm wasting my time
I'm wasting my time..."

drowning it all out on alcohol!

2007-07-16T22:19:00.000+08:00

busy busy week. grabe ha, what i need to do just to try to forget:

Wednesday:

"reunion" at The Embassy

it's actually Val's birthday (Mark L's sister, 3rd from left) and we were Mark's guests (thanks, Val and Mark!). he invited a lot of people but we were the only ones who made it, the old collectors (circa 2001). =P it was fun to reminisce the good old days while drinking lots and lots of vodka-sprite, and yeah, dancing like no one's watching too. =) i think we're the only "mature" people in the club at that time. and it became more obvious when come 12am... "tara uwi na tayo." sus, napaghahalatang matanda na! hahaha!

Thursday:

Happy Birthday, Itay!

this picture was actually taken last April when we went to Baguio. i just used it to show that it's the 3 of us again, celebrating itay Nilo's birthday (middle in picture) at Pier 1 Fort Strip. i wasn't able to take any pics. Beer beer beer... (thanks, Itay!)

Friday:

Sama-Sama at the NBC Tent

jaime, faye, net, me

a bankwide event where half of the people that came were there because of the free food and booze. but this time, the beer ran out (i only had two cans). =( but i always take these events as an opportunity to meet up and spend time with people whom i don't get to see regularly but are very very very dear to me.Ü as usual, kulang in this pic though. we were the only ones who made it an effort to seek each other out in that place. thanks, arubato, for taking our pic!Ü

and Faye, super thanks for listening, understanding, and for the "payong kaibigan".Ü when this situation comes to an end (hopefully soon), i will keep in mind and heart everything that you have said. it all made sense. thanks so much!Ü i owe you, girl!

Saturday:

welcome to the christian world, Santi!

Meng and Marc's little bundle of joy, Don Santiago Miguel Balmaceda's baptism. this special day was held at St Francis of Assisi in Mandaluyong with very close family and friends.Ü reception followed at Max's in Shaw Blvd.

CBG and the energy-in-the-form-of-a-little-boy-and-girl a.k.a. Cushie and Ricci

these kids are hilarious!! they're mini-Enervon's... more energy mas happy! hahaha!Ü they can talk, eat, and play all at the same time!Ü kawawa si albert ginawa nilang mascot-for-the-day. on the way to t.morato for coffee, cushie was blabbing something about shorts. i guess wondermom kerol is very much used to this blabbing, but i was laughing the entire time. tanungin nyo na lang si albert, sila yung nagkaintindihan eh. hahaha! Ü i so love these kids!Ü

after coffee at Kopiroti (first time ko dito!), headed straight to plee's house (as usual) to celebrate Kyle Xavier Hung's 2nd birthday.

happy happy happy 2nd birthday, Kyle!!! Ü

actually, kyle's birthday was the day before (13 july) and he quietly spent it with his lovely family at home. with cake, ice cream, and all! the following day, kyle's parents invited very close friends at their humble home to celebrate his birthday. so this translates to... inuman na!!

with our friends (at the back) coke, jr lapad, and marlboro lights

when we're together, riot ito!! but when we're together and drunk, damn, all hell breaks loose! bwahahaha! pansinin mo, you only have one decent picture, putol ka pa! =P i love you, best!! *mwah*

plee, mahiya naman tayo! nakaubos tayo ng dalawang jr lapad! hahaha!Ü

Sunday:

with, as usual, the first family plee and pitoy.

so how did i find the movie? hmm... no comment.

-----***-----

"... So would I be out of line if I said
I miss you?"

the cadaver calculator

2007-07-08T23:13:00.000+08:00

$4325.00

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

ooohhh...

-----***-----

watched Transformers again yesterday with Mark and Abi at TriNoma. once again, the movie never fails to amaze me even if this is the 2nd time i've watched it. parang first time ko pinanood. hehe! =D Astig!!

anyway, it was also my (and Abi's) first time to visit TriNoma. we asked Mark to accompany and tour us since this is already his second home. in fairness, it definitely has the feel of an Ayala Mall. what gives it more oomph than the other Ayala Malls in makati, is their roofdeck. punta na lang kayo don para malaman nyo. sabi ni Mark, highlight of the mall daw yon. =D and try watching a movie also, masaya din ang movie houses nila don! now i know why Kerol loves this mall so much! Ü

-----***-----

"if loving you must mean i really have to set you free"

memories of Leyte

2007-07-02T23:27:00.000+08:00

i heard this song again when we were practicing for our team building last Saturday. and it just brings back happy memories and good feelings...

Jam by Kevin Roy & Cookie Chua

This was the theme song of GK Bayani Challenge 06. not only was this our everyday wake-up call during the 5-day build. this song was being played every 30 mins or so. may dance steps pa (nalimutan ko na lang).

oh happy days... Ü

-----***-----

"tell me what it takes to let you go"

more than meets the eye

2007-06-29T22:22:00.000+08:00

one year ko din hinintay to. so nag last full show kami ni Ria and Brent sa Power Plant yesterday, first showing day.

eto lang masasabi ko: GRABEEEHH!!! heart-stopping, adrenalin pumpin'! astig to the highest level! WOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!

buti na lang may tickets pa, but we sat sa 3rd row na, near the screen. ok lang, basta makapanood lang! most of the time i was covering my mouth shut kasi ang dami kong "sara-bibig" moments (mouth agape sa sobrang amazement). pauwi kami from the movie, wala ata akong ibang nasasabi kundi "grabe!".

oo na exaggerated na! but the movie really rocks!! the long wait was worth it. i'm going to watch it again (pag may nakasama ako or pag may pumayag na sumama ako sa kanila). and it's worth buying an original DVD copy when it's out na. hehehe! =D coolness!!

funny moments lang: when Optimus Prime first said "My name is Optimus Prime", several people at the back hooted and clapped loudly, walang paki-alam kung magalit o pagtawanan ng ibang tao. intense ang feeling ha! hahaha!

then after the movie, we overheard a lady outside the theater "I'm falling in love with Optimus Prime all over again!" mas intense ang feeling!! bwahahaha! =D

o yon! gusto ko pala ng message alert tone ng sound ng pag transform nila. hehehe!

-----***-----

"And it's frightening
Oh, I didn't expect that from you
It's blinding
Serious are you seriously
I am feeling really stupid now"

i was tagged by Plee!!

2007-06-25T23:44:00.000+08:00

The rules -- list 7 random things about yourself on your blog. At the end of your post, list 7 people you are tagging. Let them know that they are tagged by leaving them a comment in their blogs.So here goes...

Here are the 7 random facts about me:

1. i love Snoopy. Our house already resembles a mini Snoopy museum.
2. mahal ko si Chrstian Klein. dating driver ng F1 Jaguar Racing then napunta sa F1 Red Bull Racing pero ngayon ay di-hamak na test driver na lamang ng Honda Racing F1 Team. sobrang olats sya mag drive, pero that doesn't change the fact na mahal ko pa rin sya. feeling ko soul mate ko sya. charing! bwahahaha!
3. takot ako sa ipis, lumilipad man o gumagapang. ipis pa rin yan. grrr!! nung bata kasi ako at mahilig pa akong i-bully to death ng mga ate ko, hinagisan nila ako ng cockroach cadavers. oo patay na naman yung mga ipis, pero dude, more than 5 din yong hinagis nila sakin no, all at once! hehehe! =D
4. hindi ako kumakain ng maanghang. hindi ko gusto yung lasa, at pag pinilit kong kumain, rambol ang tiyan ko.
5. iisa lang ang tawa namin ng bestfriend ko. pakinggan nyo one time pag nag laughing trip na kami. sounds family. haha! =D
6. i love young adult books. pag pasok ko sa isang bookstore, ang una kong pinupuntahan na section ay young adult. tapos non fantasy. tapos comics/graphic novels, tapos fiction. sama ko na rin dito na ang kaisa isang librong iniyakan ko ay isang young adult book: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (book 3 of His Dark Materials). at nabasa ko ito 3 years ago lang. he he...
7. kaming apat na magkakapatid ay hindi kumakain ng lenggua. kasi nung mga bata kami, may isang araw na akala namin roast beef ang ulam namin. tapos tinanong ata ng ate ko (or ako) kung ano yon. sabi ng nanay ko, "lenggua". ask namin "ano yon?". sagot nya (honest kasi mom ko eh), "ah, dila yan ng baka." tas ang naalala ko na lang after nasa banyo na ako para iluwa ang kinakain ko. i don't know lang sa mga ate ko. after non, never nang nagluto ng lenggua si mommy. kasi nasasayang lang, sila lang ni dad ang kumakain. haha!

i'm tagging: anyone else who read this post and who hasn't done this game yet.

-----***-----

Your Score: Eden McCain

You scored 45 Idealism, 70 Nonconformity, 29 Nerdiness

I think you really want a donut.
Congratulations, you're Eden McCain! You've got a colorful past, and your persuasive abilities are second to none. In addition, you're a quick thinker with a solid amount of guts.

Your best quality: The art of persuasion
Your worst quality: A fondness for some stereotypically "bad" behavior

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

-----***-----

"all i know is i've gotta be
where my heart says i oughta be
it often makes no sense
in fact, i never understand these things i feel
i love you, goodbye..."

a romantic visualization

2007-06-19T18:09:00.000+08:00

"Tonight we walked under a sky hung with a million billion trillion stars, and a perfect crescent moon, and watched the constellations of fireflies blinking greenly and magically in the trees and hedgerows like a tiny magical cityscape. Other fireflies would fly up, and arch across the sky and come down like falling stars."

ang romantic no? it's just that Neil Gaiman was talking about his dog (June 19 2007 entry). hehehe! but still... *sigh*

-----***-----

"And it was never a question
You were crowing for repair
You'd give him love and affection
You couldn't keep him there"

places to go, so little time

2007-06-16T19:08:00.000+08:00

My Lakbayan grade is C!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

i saw this at aoitenshi's site and i remember that 3 or 4 years back, my officemates and i photocopied a map of the Philippines and we would highlight all the places we've been to. it was sort of a race, paunahang maka-yellow ng Pilipinas (yellow ang stabilo na gamit). a few years later, the race was forgotten and we just maintained our maps for our personal goals. my map's still alive (it's still at the office), and it looks just like the map above (sans yellow). nakakaaliw!!!

-----***-----

i miss going out for a drink with my kids (aka cousins)... although we didn't stay long, it was very relieving to see them...

at Saguijo: with Ba-hey, Margo, Carlo

-----***-----

bummed at the beach last long weekend. this is actually my first langoy sa dagat this year, not being able to go back to Bora. a spontaneous out of town planned by Plee's husband Pitoy's barkada and they dragged me along the trip (i crashed their party! hahaha!Ü). finally, a major "day off" for me and my best friend.Ü this was at Canyon Cove in Nasugbu, Batangas.

camera whoring at the beach

all tanned up

now Plee's tan, and i'm black! bwahahaha!!Ü next stop, Bohol!!!

-----***-----

i just wanted to share my own freak show... i took this picture when we were in Batangas last weekend. my close friends know this.

alam nyo bang yung left foot ko size 8 tapos yung left size 7 1/2? walang trick yan! kaya shetness, ang hirap maghanap ng sapatos!

wala lang...

-----***-----

"our wicked lies is where we hope to keep safe from pain..."

we miss being here

2007-06-03T20:59:00.000+08:00

reminiscing in the place where we used to have coffee and play games during lunch time every single day. and how sweet, they remembered us! hindi lang sila nagpahalata... hehehe!

super nakaka-miss ang Podium... Ü

*syempre wala ako sa pic, ako kumukuha eh! Ü

-----***-----

"you were like a dream, woken up just as begun"

in case of...

2007-05-28T20:32:00.001+08:00

as much as possible we would all want to be prepared for whatever unfortunate events that might come our way. we somehow already have in mind the things we need to prepare, need to do, need to pay, etc etc. but it's the first time i've known someone actually do this:

in case of war. to hoard...

written by Rica, as stated, during the Oakwood muntiny. at that time she was still living within the Makati CBD area so she and her roommates somehow got into semi-panic mode. thus she wrote this. this is her complete list:

take note of the addition below 4 years later...

para kasi sa kanya, currency ang yosi. if ever daw they're stranded in an evactuation center with limited sources of food and supplies, pwede ka makipag trade. parang "excuse me, pwede pahingi ng yosi?", ang sagot "trade tayo, corned beef penge!"

haha kaloka!!! =D

------***-----

"... and fighting all the demons will take time, will take time..."

party time

2007-05-23T22:01:00.000+08:00

personally, i didn't come to celebrate. yes, i'm glad that finally, what we have been waiting for has been completed. but i'm not too ecstatic as to jump for joy for the people who made it possible (but i did thank them, sincerely). instead, i came for the free beer and for them...

not complete, but i'm happy i was with my Bicol II family again... =)

we made it look like it was OUR party... Sir Ben dancing most of the time with us (and not with the hired DIs), we doing all the ingay... happy time. =)

and congratulations to new manager "Sir Jaime"! the best definitely deserves the best! =)

see you guys this weekend!

-----***-----

"...you're still on my lonely mind
i think about you, baby
and i dream about you all the time..."

hot Tagaytay

2007-05-20T20:30:00.001+08:00

if you want a cool out of town retreat this summer, Baguio is the coolest. or if you'd want to go for a day only, go stay inside a mall instead, mas malamig pa dun. we went to Tagaytay this weekend for our company summer outing and it was scorching! and take note, this was held in Tagaytay Highlands ha! last time i was there (same time around 4 years ago) ang lamig lamig don. ewan ko lang kung ano nangyari. ayun, may na-heat stroke, kami na-dehydrate, may nag nose bleed. masaya sana sya, relaxing... nyeta ang init nga lang!

overused word for the day: STRESSFUL!!

my friends and i decided to stay for the night (this is not an overnight function kasi) so we can stay as late as we want to without worrying how to get home. friday night we were told that a vacant cottage is available for a fair price so we had it reserved, para di na kami maghanap sa labas. of course being there, we expected no less than a small hotel-type room (kahit good for 4 lang) complete with hotel services. so after 4 hours of waiting for the person holding our room keys, we are here...

yeah, welcome to Tagaytay Highlands!!!

that's our kubo at the far back. that's Yanee looking, well, stressful! in fairness, may aircon na malamig. the small room has one twin bed and two end tables... that's it. the bathroom is outside and you have to share with your neighbor, if you have one (duplex kubo). it's made entirely of bamboo and the roof is made of straws. there's a mini mini-pool outside (size of a big jacuzzi) and we call it our "bathtub".

this small room can hold max 4 people (with extra matress) but 3 can't sleep well on the twin bed so to maximize the space, we had to haul the bamboo bed frame up on its side and place it by the wall. we spread the matresses side by side on the floor para hindi kami siksikan:

chaotic bedroom

josme, bago namin maakyat yan riot naman at 1am! tawa lang kami ng tawa! but anyway, successful naman so we were able to sleep peacefully. buti na lang talaga malamig ang aircon kaya mahaba ang tulog namin. =)

at eto pa pala, yung isang kumot may butas! wahahaha!!

hindi po ito entirely panira sa Highlands ha! it's still a beatiful and relaxing place to stay. we just find it so hilarious that we would be staying at a kubo inside a high-end place. ika nga ni Rica, "i feel so deprived! bwahahaha!"

something takes a part of me

2007-05-14T20:26:00.000+08:00

ASTIG!!!

wala na ako masabi... ang galing!

boom

2007-05-09T23:18:00.000+08:00

Sana May 14 na... sana eleksyon na... i can't wait for it to end... kasi super nakaka LSS na yung mga jingle nila sa TV and radio ads... kakaloka...

zzz.......

they grow up so fast...

2007-05-08T22:25:00.000+08:00

last 18 March 07 i introduced mom and joy joy's (now mom and dad's) new pet, Hot Pink Chick:

after two months...

White Pink Little Chicken Run

i decided to name it such because:
1> he/she's not hot anymore. ang harassed!
2> it's not pure pink anymore. the white, true feathers are more noticeable now.
3> it's already a little chicken. hindi na bagay na tawagin syang "chick".
4> run: gosh, it's everywhere!! it'll chase anything small that's moving. i tried dangling a thin cord above it and it chased and sometimes it tried to fly to catch it. nagkanda-dulas dulas na sya, hala sige, habol pa sya! hahaha! =) sus, pinapakain ba ito ng magulang ko?! hahaha! =)

visualDNA

2007-05-07T20:49:00.000+08:00

nakikigaya.. hehehe!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

04 May, duh day

2007-05-05T23:23:00.000+08:00

haaay! T.G.I.F but unfortunately it didn't go well. first two hours at work, i already argued with more than 3 of our clients. the fight to stay calm and relaxed after each call was difficult, it drained me by lunch time. after work, some of us headed to Rockwell for a little shopping, dinner, and coffee. finally, a relaxing moment to end my friday night! at 3am, after a long march to ria's car at the hot and stuffy basement parking lot, we headed for home. then another bad news. the security guard on duty at that time charged us an overnight fee of Php300 instead of the normal Php45 flat rate! said Power Plant's basement parking closes at 2am and all vehicles who check out after that is already considered "overnight". ria was furious but maintained her composure all the way until i got home. sino ba naman kasi hindi mapipikon don noh? high way robbery!!! pero oo nga naman, yung rates nakalagay sa "exit" at nakasulat don till 2pm lang. pero walang sinabi na after 2pm, Php300 agad. oh well, lesson learned... pay more attention to signs! haaaayyy... glad that day was over.

Jaime, hope you had a happy happy birthday! =) we miss you already!

-----***-----

latest (and hopefully the last for this year) acquired gadget:

Sony Ericsson K800i

i have finally decided that i already want a digital camera (dati ayaw ko, gusto ko kasi palagi ako nasa pictures. hehe!). and i know anytime within this year i would need to replace my 2 year old beloved Samsung D500 ... it's already showing signs of aging. my budget can't buy me two gadgets in a year, so i'd settle for a two-in-one. it took me more than two weeks to think about it (with arubato's dissuading. hahaha!). then one day i just headed to the mall to buy it. buti na lang mura ko na lang sya nakuha. =) sa Goldcrest mura lang!

-----***-----

i bought the phone just in time since we headed to Baguio that weekend with my GK Leyte friends. got a little disappointed though since half of the people who confirmed backed-out. i was excited pa naman kasi marami na kami nag confirm this time, and it's GK Leyte's one year anniversary so this trip would be a little celebration na rin. i guess it was not meant talaga that we be complete.

"I learned...not to become attached to a group of people just because they were a part of the best days of your life." - 01 May 2007

but i enjoyed the trip naman! and just like most of the Baguio tourists... i have a ghost story to share! hindi ko muna ikukwento ngayon, hindi ako matapang ngayon while writing this entry kasi 2am na. next time, pag maliwanag na at may kasama ako. haha! =)

poker time! Tim, Nilo, Frankie. 1 1/2 hours later... awoooo!!!

-----***-----

l & r will never be the same again... ang sad lang...

negativism

2007-05-01T22:17:00.000+08:00

Isn’t it ironic that the people who don’t like to be left out on things or on topics are the ones who, inadvertently, let other people feel the same?

-----***-----

I learned the hard way not to become attached to a group of people just because they were a part of the best days of your life.

-----***-----

Regardless of your effort to do well and be nice to others, you just can’t please everyone. It’s normal for people to set standards on how rightfully should people treat one another but some have set them unusually high. It’s acceptable for VIPs such as politicians, showbiz personalities, etc. But I’d never imagine I’d get to know someone of the same status as mine who act like they do. Not to the extremes, though, like Madame Gretchen. Siguro like a simple customer service matter. I know all of us, as customers, want the best service from those who are tasked to give it. But sometimes we can not avoid circumstances that unfortunately do not go in our favor (due to system error, human error, or simply just human nature). Small things that we can let pass and accept the apology of the erring party. Sure, you’ll be irritated but you don’t have to exert all your effort just to degrade the person you’re talking to, or to openly bad mouth them. Nobody is perfect and everyone is prone to make mistakes. Don’t act as if you’re the only person in the world who has the right to get mad and complain because you didn’t get what you expect, or you didn’t like what you saw, or someone made a remark at something which didn’t sound good to you.

-----***-----

...or maybe i am the only person who thinks this way... ako pala yung others.... oh well, hehe...

sights and gastronomic experiences in Singapore

2007-04-05T19:17:00.000+08:00

highlights of my Singapore trip: (a long blog so this is not for the easily-bored reader)

day 1 on Orchard Rd. my sister said i should have a picture taken by the famous road sign. we were still not familiar with the controls since i just borrowed the camera from ate yeyen, so after taking experimental shots, we ended up with this one... favorite shot namin to...

hanapin nyo koooo...

then i told her i also had to have a picture taken here...

wow, loyal!!

shopped shopped shopped till we dropped. then that night we went to the Night Safari and this is the only picture of an animal that i took (hindi ako ha!):

tortol...

bawal kasi camera na may flash. and it's quite useless to use night mode since the animals still can't be seen anyway. this one we took by accident. we just forgot to turn off the flash, hehe! no one reprimanded us, sa aquarium kasi pwede. sayang, di ko man lang nakunan ng picture ang African wildlife (aka, my favorite giraffe and zebra). then we had quite a heavy dinner at Bongo Burgers inside the park. we were really really hungry...

enormous chicken wings, fish and chips

day 2 and as mentioned in my previous entry, we woke up late and missed the buffet breakfast. hehe! =) headed to Suntech City and had lunch at one of ate ces' favorite restaurants, Swensen's. it's not authentic Singapore cuisine (more of western) but it's good. best in the house...

banana split!!!

outside was the Fountain of Wealth. it is said to bring you good luck (or whatever you will wish for will come true) if you circle the mini fountain (the one in the middle) 3x clockwise while touching the water in the fountain.

haha, wish naman kami!

after hours and hours of walking, we made it to Esplanade-Theaters by the Bay and beside it was a Hawker Center. in other words, sosyal na turo-turo.

chai beef noodles, chicken and pork satay

this was taken around 6:00pm, ang araw pa kaya! weird time difference! same time as Manila, pero ang gabi nila maliwanag pa. hehe! =) so lamon again till our tummies burst, then walk again to Merlion Park...

believe it or not, this is ate ces' first picture w/ the Merlion

tingnan nyo naman, kelangan kita pa rin ang building. hahaha! =) headed back to Orchard Rd to buy stuff but made a pit stop first at one of the dozens of "magnolia" ice cream stands. a frozen block of ice cream (available in various flavors!) wrapped in a slice of tasty bread or wafer. kaka-addict! it's not in any way related to our Magnolia here. yun lang talaga pangalan nya. at hindi sya nabebenta sa supermarket.

it's only $1! yumm-o!

we tried out our hotel room service (busog pa kasi kami) and ordered their club sandwich. it's ordinary club sandwich, but what caught my attention was the cute ketchup bottle...

awww bebe ketchup...

i didn't pass the chance... i kept it and took it home. hahaha! =)

day 3, we woke up late again and without taking a bath, we headed to Orchard Rd for lunch. dammit, i forgot the name of the resto, but it's in the foodpark in Wisma Atria. delicious chinese food! the prawns were spicy but manageable for me.

chai beef, friend rice, cereal prawns

after taking a bath back at the hotel, i headed out on my own to Orchard Rd (ate ces needed to work). shopping, sight seeing, and another round of the $1 magnolia ice cream. we had dinner at Taco Bell (and may i say ha, ang sarap ng Taco Bell don!) then headed to Clarke Quay. oh cool, night life! thought we were going to drink, but we ended up at Haagen Dazs to try their..

banana split again!

day 4, i bravely commuted to Sentosa alone (ate ces at work). it wasn't very difficult, just a series of MRT rides. not to disappoint the others who are still planning to go there, but i got disappointed. Boracay is better. i enjoyed Underwater World though.

Sentosa Express monorail

Nemo and Dory at Underwater World

jaws and the mermaid

for our last dinner at Singapore, we chose a place that's nearer our hotel, at Newton Circus Foodpark. it's like the hawker center, so it's authentic Singapore food.

roast duck and fried rice

i loved my drink...

they call it milo dinosaur!!

actually, tinimplang milo lang yan na may milo powder sa ibabaw. pwedeng gawin sa bahay! =) na engganyo tuloy ako bumili ng milo. haha! =)

uwian na!

at Changi Airport

that's ate ces by her current project and me staring nervously at the airplanes taking off outside.

in fairness, gusto kong bumalik kahit wala ka masyadong magagawa doon. =)

back to work na naman tomorrow... =( demmit!

home and tired

2007-04-04T16:15:00.000+08:00

landed at the NAIA around 1pm, got home by 3pm, and super tired! well, the trip shouldn't be tiring and all since Singapore is only 3 hours away. but i've been so anxious and restless since the time i woke up at 6am this morning until the plane touched down the runway at 1pm in the afternoon. geez, this fear of flying has got to stop! it's draining me a lot! so right now, no energy to post about my trip.

plus, i just heard from my boss that i sorta messed up the work that i left with my colleagues. miscommunication, i guess. so, no welcomes for me. albert and reh, i'm really sorry! =(

on a happier note:

CONGRATULATIONS!!

ATTY. PRINCESS RIVERA
ATTY. IVAN TABLIZO
ATTY. GEM ABELLA
ATTY. EM EM AGLIPAY

for passing the bar exams!!!

hola!

2007-04-01T23:44:00.000+08:00

*written at 11:37am, sent 11:50pm same day. just as i was about to publish what i wrote this morning, internet connection timed out. hahaha! =) anyway...

--------------------

Greetings from Singapore!

day 2, and it's 11:37am. my sister and i just woke up an hour ago. yes, we missed the buffet breakfast. we just made do with the brownies mom gave me before she brought me to the airport, Cheetos we bought at 7/11, and the hotel's complimentary coffee. my sister's now taking a bath, and she's letting me use her notebook (internet connection will be reimbursed by the company. wow, talk about perks! haha!)

had a very exhausting day 1! i only had 1 hour of sleep, expecting that i would fall asleep in the plane, but i didn't. panalo ang Singapore Airlines, dude! being someone who has fear of flying, and being a first time solo on an international flight (on my very first international trip), i actually enjoyed it. thank God for in-flight entertainment! napanood ko na rin ang Dreamgirls (well, i got bored, but i liked the songs!). landed Singapore around 12nn. my sister was already waiting at the arrival area (tagal ng pila sa immigration eh!!). went straight to Sheraton Towers, just dropped our stuff and went straight to Orchard Road. potek! na-challenge ang leg muscles ko doon ha! endless malls, dude! will elaborate next time, doon pa lang dami ko na kwento.

after 5 hours there, we went back to the hotel to drop off the stuff we shopped, rested awhile, then went straight to the Night Safari. another endless walking and animal sight-seeing! FINALLY, NAKAKITA NA RIN AKO NG LIVE NA GIRAFFE AND ZEBRA! WHEEEE!! got back to our hotel at 12mn. long long day! hehehe! but i had so much fun!!

ok, update soon. ako na next maliligo. =)

@WynzyL: dude!! ang bookstores nila dito... wooooowwwwww! pwede kang tumira dito!!! walang sinabi ang Fully Booked!

@arubato: ang mangga dito, 4 na bookshelf ata. ganong karami! hehehe!

to my colleagues: find the hexagon in the picture! hahahaha!

congrats!

2007-03-20T22:52:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Mommy Meng for a healthy baby boy!!!Ü

Yey?

2007-03-20T22:29:00.000+08:00

*18Mar07 news from http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/

Raikkonen storms to Melbourne victory

18 March 2007 / Results / Photos

Kimi Raikkonen stormed to a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix, his debut for Ferrari. The Finn took his tenth career win ahead of McLaren's reigning champion Fernando Alonso and F1 debutant Lewis Hamilton. more...

---> hindi ko alam kung matutuwa ako or hindi... i'm a hard core Mclaren-Mercedes fan... but i love Kimi Raikkonen... am confused! hehehe! but i'm content... 2 Mclaren drivers at the podium! yes!Ü

random pics

2007-03-18T16:51:00.000+08:00

Namnamin mo ang kape!!!

ok fine...

This can be found at the back of any Nescafe sachet (the long one). wala, natawa lang ako nung nakita ko. hahaha!

***---***

mom and joyjoy's new pet:

a hot pink chick! they got it from a children's birthday they attended last Sunday. i first found it inhumane since i got info how they color these birds, and i was furious. i didn't want it in our house, so joyjoy took it to mom's. but it's hard to resist this adorable pet. you hold it in your hand and it sleeps... awww! =)

***---***

"you're so vain..."

Fra: "grabe ang ganda ko talaga!"

"love yourself" to the next level! hahaha! she zoomed a picture of herself and admired her beauty. promise, this picture is not photoshopped. tapos may nakigaya...

... we're that bored! hahaha!!!Ü

so long, farewell...

2007-03-11T19:02:00.000+08:00

the view from the top. this is what we normally see on a daily basis for the past 5 1/2 years. but last Friday, we all said goodbye. Goodbye, Ortigas. Hello, Bonifacio Global City... *sigh* =(

*this was actually taken by Ria R. on another building within Ortigas and on a higher floor, but we still see the same view. visit Ria R.'s multiply site for more fabulous pics!Ü

VBS purchases?

2007-03-09T23:15:00.000+08:00

Alright!!! Gelo, you rock! super thanks for taking the time to buy this for me, kahit na sobrang pahabol lang. special thanks to Nelli for emailing Gelo all the time. hehehe! wooohooo! astig!!!

then...

i didn't know it was out until i passed by Data Blitz one Wednesday while i was on my way to lunch at Landes, and i saw it was in their window display. i entered the shop and was about to ask the sales lady if the expansion pack is really available but as soon as she saw me, she immediately pointed to the shelf where the i can get the game. haha! no need to ask, alam na agad nila.Ü

great expansion pack, by the way. Ü

then...

boots!!! well, this is not the exact pair that i bought. just downloaded this image from the net. hehehe! new office, new shoes! naaaks!

ok, tama na gastos! mapapa shopping ka pa by 1st week of April!Ü

busy saturday, lazy sunday

2007-03-04T19:58:00.000+08:00

it's been a while since i wrote a proper entry. i'm too lazy these past few days to open my pc and surf. after a hectic work day, all i want to do when i get home is sleep. i only get to check my email twice a week, when i'm not out most of the time i'll be sleeping or watching tv/dvds.

so what's up?

Reunion # 2 yesterday for the Bicol Phase II people. we organized an outreach activity in the morning followed by dinner/drinks/karaoke at Sir Ben's house in Antipolo. everyone had such a great time! food and all kinds of drinks (mostly alcoholic) overflowed as we sang our hearts out in the magic sing. colleagues you don't expect to be drunk ended up really really drunk, and in only one night you've already seen them in their drunken extremes... dancing like crazy one time, seriously talking about work ethics the next. ikaw ba naman umubos kalahating bote ng tequila, inumpisahan mo pa ng 5pm, sino hindi malalasing non? hahaha! i'm looking forward to our next reunion, hopefully next week on Mendel's despedida. these guys are one hell of a blast to be with!

speaking of despedidas, i wasn't able to attend Karla's yesterday at the Linden Suites because of the reunion. Karen and I followed afterwards, say around 1:30am to wait for morning there. we weren't able to attend the party itself but at least we got to spend time with Karla before she leaves for Dubai this month. i'm definitely going to miss her, being one of my first friends in the bank. our original group has been through a lot and we may never spend that much time with each other, but thankfully she has never treated us any differently. to one of the most true people i've ever met, thank you! good luck in Dubai!Ü and sana maga baby ka na soon.Ü

we will miss you a lot, Karla!*

orig COLL people, ganyan kakulit!!*

***---***

this week will be COLL's last week in Ortigas. we'll be transferring to our new operations building in the Fort this weekend and by next monday, we'll start reporting there for work. time to say goodbye to the most wonderful business district in NCR. goodbye to the Podium, Megamall, St. Francis, El Pueblo, Galleria. the Loaners is planning to have a "farewell Ortigas" party this week. there are no definite plans yet but most likely we'll just be having dinner and drinks, and take pictures of the famous landmarks in area mentioned above. actually, it's only an excuse to get together and drink. hahaha! after 5 1/2 years, it's hard to let go of this place we've come to love. eventhough i live in makati and i'm nearer to the Fort, i'd rather stay in Ortigas. why? hmm, eto na lang: try staying for an hour in Ayala Ave during lunch time, then the next working day same time, spend it along ADB Ave, then spot the difference. you'll see why. Ü haay ang sad! =(

***---***

new book purchases:

hehehe! albert, hindi ko natiis na hindi bilhin ang Inkheart! hehehe! last copy na eh.Ü

***---***

Belated happy birthday, Pitoy! last thursday, after a really long time, i went to Yagie's to have dinner and drinks with the birthday celebrant and his wife, my bestfriend. i finally saw Kyle again and baby Keon for the first time after Yagie gave birth to him, one month ago. we did a lot of catching up, translated into 6 bottles of beer (for me) until 2:30am. we 3 just talked and talked and talked until we realized that we must be really drunk (only me and pitoy, yagie can't drink yet, she's still breastfeeding) to be talking about priorities and friendship and God in general at 2:30am. hehehe! weird! but we had a great time!Ü it was nice seeing my favorite family again!Ü

***---***

will do a little plugging: Meng and Kerol's stall in St. Francis Square now open. it's in the upper second level, near the elevator. big sizes available!Ü

***---***

funny story: last tuesday, the GK Leyte 3 (aka Timm, Nilo, and I) had a couple of drinks at Congo Grille in El Pueblo. around 11pm, we were about to cross to the Podium to wait for my mom to pick me up. we saw this taxi pass by... a new Toyota Avanza taxi. we were amazed at how fast they got this new car only to turn it into a taxi cab. but anyway, we didn't talk about it further. in front of the Podium, the same taxi passed by and slowed down as it approached the other taxi cabs waiting. this new taxi had a piece of cardboard sign dangling in front, much like what FX taxis have that display their destination. we wondered where this will head (maybe Pasig, Rosario, Crossing), and we squinted to read what the sign said: TAXI PO ITO. we blinked and read what it said again as it came closer: TAXI PO ITO. then we burst out laughing! it didn't stop there. on the backseat door, on the window there says another sign: TAXI PO ITO. we can't stop laughing until the taxi left (with the driver looking at us as if we're mad) and until my mom arrived. hehehe... oo nga naman, mukha kasi syang FX! we even made up "what ifs" afterwards (what if buksan mo yung pinto tapos tanungin mo sa driver "manong, Megamall ho?") hahaha pangasar!!

more next time... gotta sleep. Ü

*photos courtesy of Ria R. click on the pic to go to her Multiply site.

on books, etc.

2007-02-18T15:22:00.000+08:00

an update to my wishlist update:

~~- Converse Chuck Taylors, size 8. low cut, any style basta bagay.~~
- SamsungD830 (i love it na!!)
~~- The Sims 2 Pets GBA game.~~
- The Sims 2 PS2 cd - ok lang kahit pirated. hehehe!
~~- The Sims 2 Pets PS2 cd - ok din lang kung pirated.~~
~~- Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman~~
~~- Eragon by Christopher Paolini (original book cover, not the movie adaptation cover)~~
- Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Series
- George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice Series
- Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragonlance Legends by Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis
~~- Incubus' new album Light Grenades~~
- Monopoly Philippine Edition (promise, nakakita kami sa Toy Kingdom)
~~- Magallanes cake (yum yum yum!!!!)~~

c/o Powerbooks of course! hehehe! on sale!

***---***

i mentioned before that i should be making a separate book wishlist since i have lot of books i would want to read before i die. so here... finally sinipag akong gawin...

- Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Series
- George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice Series
- Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragonlance Legends by Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis
- Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever
- Ursula K. Le Guin's The Books of The Western Shore
- Piers Anthony's Adept Series
- Juliet Marillier's The Sevenwaters' Trilogy
- Joe Hill - Heart Shaped Box
- Diana Wynne Jones - The Pinhoe Egg
- Cornelia Funke - Inkheart
- Avram Davidson - Adventures in Unhistory
- Kim Newman - The Man From The Diogenes Club
- M. John Harrison - In Viriconium
- Noel Langley - The Land of Green Ginger
- Noel Langley - Desbarollda The Waltzing Mouse
- Marcus Sedgewick - The Book of Dead Days

majority of the books recommended by Neil Gaiman. and a book recommended by Neil Gaiman is actually worth reading! proof: read Nine Hundred Grandmothers by R.A. Lafferty and Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Bobs, and Some Other Things by Timothy McSweeney

***---***

haha, sorry! got nothing constructive to say again...

10 Feb 07

2007-02-11T16:02:00.000+08:00

Best wishes to:

CHRIS AND SAM

TRISH AND ALEX

Congratulations, guys! Ü

one of the things that make me stay

2007-02-07T20:41:00.000+08:00

Bicol Phase II...

for lack of better words, i'm posting here Sir Ben's email/report to all the Bank employees on our Bicol relief and rehabilitation project (i'm proud to say that i'm part of both). the first part of the email is Sir Ben's message to the entire team. certain parts are omitted for confidential reasons.

Sir Ben is the Bank's SVP HRD who stood as the Head of the entire project.

---------------------

Dear Team

Please be advised that I released a report to the whole Bank on our Bicol Relief and Rehabilitation efforts last night. This report should bring closure to these activities. It was also done to raise the bar of interest in social responsibility, to inspire our colleagues and of courseto inform them of what you did with the Bank's and their donations!

I apologise to those whose pictures were not carried in the report. This is due to system's limitation. IT and PAF are doing something so that more people will be able to read and see what you did in Bicol by tomorrow.

Whilst these activities end, I trust that our friendship and memories will last us a life time and that our shared ideals will live forever.

Mabuhay kayong lahat!

Best regards to everyone,

Ben

Sir Ben's Bicol Report
----- Forwarded by Ben M CLAUDIO/HRD MNL/HBAP/HSBC on 02/07/2007 09:19 AM -----

Dear Colleagues

I am pleased to report the following on our Bicol Relief and Rehabilitation Efforts for the victims of Typhoon Reming:

1. Funds:

*omitted

2. Relief Efforts (15-17 Dec 06)

We delivered around 10 tons of relief goods consisting of 1,000packs of blankets, corned beef, noodles, bottled water plus 60 boxes of goods which were donated in kind such as used clothes, rice, sugar, noodles, canned sardines and blankets. Packing medium was a 12 liter pail covered by a small basin.

Distributions were done in Milaor, Camarines Sur (250 packs plus 18 boxes); Ocampo, Camarines Sur (250 packs); Daraga, Albay (500 packs plus the balance of the goods in boxes).

A total of 24 employees volunteered to pack the relief goods in two nights (13-14 Dec 06) whilst 29 employees went to Bicol to deliver the relief goods on 15-17 Dec 06. The relief operations took 36 hours. We stayed in Bicol for 12 hours. Going there by bus took 12 hours and another 12 hours to return home.

We spent a total of Php 428k, excluding the salaries of the guards, runners and other hidden costs, for the relief operations.

3. Rehabilitation Efforts (24-28 Jan 07)

The rehabilitation efforts were focused in re-roofing 40 typhoon damaged houses in the GK Village in Ocampo, Camarines Sur (about 480kms South of Manila). Fifty (50) employees volunteered for the rehabilitation phase but we were able to accommodate 10 male and 10 female employees only due to budgetary and operational constraints.

The 20 HSBC employees, who were divided into five teams and were augmented by two carpenters per team, were able to re-roof 37 houses in three days- (9 complete roofs and 2 half spans on the first day after an overnight travel of 10 hrs with little sleep; 15 roofs on the second day and 13 on the final day). GK re-roofed 10 houses with materials from our donated funds prior to our arrival. Forty-seven (47) houses were re-roofed by our Rehabilitation Efforts.

The total budget for the rehabilitation phase was Php780k; Php 600k was earmarked for the materials and Php 180k was for operating expenses. We spent a total of Php 747k.

4. Thank you!

Typhoon Reming killed more than 1,500 persons and damaged or totally destroyed more than 100 thousand houses in Bicol alone. Another 30thousand houses were damaged in Marinduque Province.

Thank you so much for your donation, time and efforts! As a Bank and as individuals , we stood up and acted together during the critical moments in our nation's history.

Our volunteers worked so hard.

The Relief component was a continuous 36 hours undertaking with very little sleep.

The Rehabilitation phase was hard work of 3 days and two nights of land travel.

During a brief send off ceremony in the evening of 27 Jan 07 in Ocampo, Camarines Sur, the GK Project Director, Mr Boy Sarte, commented that as bankers they expected us to finish 15 roofs in 3 days. But "HSBC employees work religiously, passionately and methodically. They are like the US Marines. The difficult, they do immediately. The impossible takes them a little time but it gets done anyway."

Marites, a house owner and a 4th grader with 6 minor children, wrote in Pilipino that "HSBC employees are heaven sent. Now my little children will no longer sleep under the elements." In tears, she embraced the team members that re-roofed her house.

Please see attached photos for information. kindly see StaffExchange for more information.

Regards

Ben

---------------------

Previous to this email, Sir Ben narrated in detail our experience in Phase II as he nominated us for a G2G award:

Sir Ben's G2G nomination

"Foregoing employees volunteered for the HSBC Bicol Rehabilitation Project (Bicol Phase 2, 24-28 January 2007) to re-roof typhoon damaged houses in Gawad Kalinga Community, Ocampo, Camarines Sur which is located about 480 kilometers South of Manila.

The team left Makati at 7pm on Wednesday, 24 January 2007 and arrived at the site at 5am of the following day. After the welcome ceremonies with a holy mass, breakfast, briefing, distribution of gears and the formation of the team into five groups, with two carpenters for each group, the team devoted themselves into the task of re-roofing the houses, stopping only at 5pm when the Gawad Kalinga ran out of lumber. Nine (9) houses were completed whilst half spans were completed in two houses. These accomplishments for the first day were delivered notwithstanding an overnight travel of 10 hours with very little sleep.

The following day, 26 January 2007, the team started at 8 am. A local group of two carpenters plus helpers were likewise organised by the team. At 2:30pm, the team encountered severe lack of lumber. Some of the team members helped in making concrete hollow blocks. One team worked up to 7:30pm to finish their third house for the day. The team completed 14 houses (2.8 per group) whilst the local group finished one house for a total of 15 houses on the second day. These output were delivered notwithstanding the fact that the team was rained out in their sleeping quarters at 4 o'clock in the morning. (The sleeping quarters was a school house with rough cement floor with no division, no doors and windows. Half of the roof was blown off by typhoon Reming and was temporarily replaced with canvass which did not prevent drenching some of the sleeping team members).

On the final day, 27 January, the team started to run out of lumber starting at 3:30pm. Some members worked up to 7pm whilst those who ran out of lumber moved to help the other groups. The team managed to finish 13 houses on the third day.

A total of 37 houses were completed by the team in three days. Gawad Kalinga completed 10 houses from the funds donated by HSBC before the team arrived. A total of 47 houses were re-roofed by this Project.

The team left Ocampo at 7:30pm on 27 January. Dined in Naga City for two hours and arrived in Makati at 6am the following day, 28 January 2007. Every member of the team reported for work in the Bank the following day, Monday, 29 January 2007.

This award is likewise given for the safety consciousness displayed by the team. Whilst the 15 locals were wounded, no member of the team suffered job related injuries."

Ben

---------------------

Sir Ben's report was forwarded by my boss to the Loans team, and i was very very touched by his simple message:

wala lang...Ü just like our GK build in Leyte, these are the things that i'll always look forward to in the next few years that i planned to stay with the Bank.

to the team: Sir Ben, Danny, Eugene, Baybay, Adrian, Bong, Cynthia, Faye, Flora, Gboy, Jamie, Karen, Mau, Mendel, Mikko, Net, Nilda, Pam, Nilo... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! i had sooooo much fun being with you guys! miss ko na kayo! Ü

one week after...

2007-02-03T17:47:00.000+08:00

reunion agad! so eager to see each other. so sir Ben planned a dinner for us to be hosted by the CEO and the senior management at Circles, Shangri-La Makati.

i miss you, guys! Ü

*still waiting for the compilation of all our pictures in Bicol, that's why i haven't posted anything about it yet. Ü

all tanned up

2007-01-28T19:16:00.000+08:00

and i haven't even been to the beach! hahaha! just got back from the Bicol build this morning, muscles aching, really really tired. will post that next time, when i have the pictures already. for now, what i can say about my new tan... my right arm is darker than my left, and i have a "t-shirt tan"... go figure.

---***---

new book purchase:

i reserved a copy at Powerbooks and picked it up last wednesday. i also reserved Eragon (with the original book cover) and i'll get it by tuesday. haha! another two items crossed-out in my wishlist! Ü

---***---

Yagie is about to give birth any minute now to baby Keone. she told me that they were on their way to the hospital, and Pitoy called up to give an update. all the world ready for baby Keone! wheee! Ü

---***---

was blog hopping and found that Neil Gaiman was promoting the weirdest holiday ever:

January 31 is a day to celebrate! hahahahaha!! i wonder if some people in the US really follow this. and i mean, those eccentric ones. Ü

---***---

i feel the need to make a book wishlist, aside from my list in LibraryThing (see sidebar link). wala lang, nagpapaka-OC lang. Ü

---***---

ok, back to sleep. i haven't had enough since wednesday night. zzzzz......

at 2:30am

2007-01-21T01:33:00.000+08:00

in fairness, internet connection is way faster today! i guess they've already fixed the damaged submarine cables. nice! i've been uploading pics at Multiply like there's no tomorrow! hehehe!

---***---

nag reunion ang That's Entertainment sa Walang Tulugan (hahaha nadaanan lang ni ate while channel surfing!). ang jologs pala mag tagalog ni Billy Crawford (aka Billy Joe)! kakatuwa lang, considering na sikat na sikat sya sa Europe! hehehe! Ü

---***---

to Congo But Grilla... out of town naman tayo! nakaka miss na kasi nakikita ko yung pics natin nung nag Darasa tayo... tawang tawa talaga ako sa pic na to...

tapos eto pa, naalala nyo pa kung pano nangyari to? hehehe!

hehehe! kakatuwa lang! ang payat ko pa dito!

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i'm currently trying to study HTML/Web designing. wala lang, baka pwedeng gawing career in the future. hehehe!

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i've got nothing constructive to say...