Seize the daY!

2009-08-14T16:56:00.002+08:00

happy birthday honey! =)

mmmmmmmmwwwwwwwahhhh! =)

what do you say...

2009-05-14T08:16:00.003+08:00

when somebody sends you texts like

i don't know where you are & what you're doin, but now i'd like to have you here next to me
hi darling. i start to be sick.. it's too long i'm not seein you
i'm already in bed... i'm so tired, i miss you here next to me

uyyy... nag eemote! =) hahaha! =)

i wish...

2009-04-15T15:52:00.011+08:00

i wish i was the ball in between these two men i worship! =)

here's a closer look at the two

The Captain #8 - Steven Gerrard

# 9 Fernando Torres

This is your fault, Malcolm!!! you made me fall in love =) --> this shall be the subject of another entry =)

nice girls from maldita

2008-10-23T07:43:00.003+08:00

ok ok, i know. this ain't right, no entry for more than 2 months!!! i don't know, i just don't have anything interesting to write about, that is if i even get to find the time to write! (being a multinational slave is very demanding, huhuhu!)

so last night, as i was killing time (to avoid the rush hour), i went around megamall. i was looking for some stuffs to buy and i found a good pair of pants which really fit me well (it's not everyday that i get to find a good pair of pants that fit me well) at Maldita and the best thing about it is it was on the sale rack! but as i was fitting it, i noticed there was some stain on the left leg of the pants. i asked the sales lady if it can be removed. she said she can't assure me if it can or can't be removed (huhuhu!). so they tried searching for a new stock, but couldn't find any (huhuhu again, and i thought i was lucky!) as an alternative, they called up their branch in galleria to check if they have the same pair of pants, and alas!!! there was. although i was happy, i thought it was too much of hassle to get the car from the office, park at galleria and get the pair. so keeping my fingers crossed, i asked them to try if the stain can be removed. and guess what? the two ladies went to the wash room and tried removing the stain... and lo and behold!!!! the stain was gone!!!! yahu yahu!

i was sooo lucky to find a new pair of pants (on sale!) and to have those three girls helped me out that much. no pun intended to other sales ladies, but there are some sales crew who couldn't care less about helping out their customers.

Thanks sooo much to you girls, Glena, Noemi and Che. If anyone knows the owner of this Maldita branch in Megamall, kindly spread the word. =)

xxxiii

2008-08-08T17:27:00.005+08:00

to my friends......

Thank you for the advance birthday surprise! =)

# 8

2008-07-21T15:22:00.002+08:00

i'm so in love with you! =)

land of the giants

2008-06-19T18:02:00.002+08:00

for the past few weeks, i've been lucky to watch philippine professional basketball games live! the last time i got "hooked" with basketball was during the era of Yves Dignadice, Samboy Lim, Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc and their contemporaries (O di ba talagang matagal na!) During my younger years, i used to watch Atoy Co, Abe Guidaben, Billy Ray Bates of the ever famous arch rival teams Crispa and Toyota (hahaha! do you guys remember them?!?!)

after that long gone era, i settled for basketball in the office. most of the players were my friends. they were average in height, tallest guy happens to be my boss who is a little over 6 feet. but they can play real classic hard games. it was i guess the proximity with the playing court that allowed me to witness how physical basketball is, the banging of bodies, elbows and knees here and there, bodies dropping on the court. there were times i had to cover my eyes because it was to painful to see.

and a month ago, i went to the land of the giants. it was my first time to watch professional basketball, and the first thing i uttered - " siyet, ang lalaki nila." my gulay! they are real giants!!! (mukhang hanggang waistline lang nila ako!)

we were seated at the patron rows. these were the seats directly behind the players' bench. (yes ganun kami kalapit!) the players were just a spit away from us. although there were some "average-sized" players (like 5 ft 9-10 inches), most of the players were tall, and had big built. I would have appeared like a dwarf if i stood beside those guys!

at first it was their sizes which overwhelmed me, but later on, i found myself yelling and clapping and cheering for the game. i didn't have a particular team, but i was enjoying every play!

thanks laurie for the tickets and for all those very interesting footnotes on the players! =)

happy birthday bok!

2008-04-30T21:07:00.003+08:00

i met him in 1996. he was a classmate of a friend of mine. at that time, he was the type of guy who would not create any impression. well, if there was any impression that he created on me at that time was that he looked like a UNICEF card model: thin, big popped out eyes, smokes, dark skinned, big popped out eyes, dirty school uniform, big popped out eyes...

but then i heard him speak during their thesis defense, and that was the start of a changed perception. in fairness.... at least the guy makes sense.

he is a bedan by heart and soul, one of the official founders of the Bedan Cult. when NCAA season comes, he sees RED!

he is the reason behind my 4-year debt to Orix Metrobank (uy, 3 years na lang pala! yahu!).

he gave me many children even without fertilization, hehehe!

he brags to people that i am in love with him (carl, tama na ang drugs!)

he doesn't know emotions, he tells you truth and cruelty in its purest form!

he is no gentleman and at a certain degree, he can even be an A1 a**-hole,

he was my beacon of light (naks!) during my dark days

he was God's way of telling me there's hope amidst the pain...

he was, still is and always will be... my best boy pal!

Happy Birthday Bok! MWAH!

Tagged by Dragon Lady = 20 Questions

2008-03-18T17:42:00.003+08:00

1. At what age do/did you wish to marry?
:: 28, unfortunately, he has yet to find me! (awww!)

2. What color do you like most?
:: Black (and white, red, yellow) =)

3. Have you ever shoplifted?
:: Nope, what do you think of me poor? and eventhough i am, i will never admit it =)

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
:: Bedroom, beach, mountain top

5. Which part of you that you hate the most?
:: my body.... it's just too gorgeous! bwahaha!

6. When you encounter a sad moment, what would you do?
:: Breathe deeply and pray

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?
:: My family and my self-respect

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
:: Travel and shopping galore with my family

9. What do you loved the most last year (2007)?
:: So many blessings from Him

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you: :
:: small but terrible =) sweet.

11. How do you cope with boredom?
:: Sleep or Stretch

12. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
:: That i compromised myself too much for a relationship (naks!)

13. Which type of person do you hate the most?
:: Liars

14. What is your ambition?
:: To find inner and world peace (gusto ko kasing maging tuff 10, bwahaha!)

15. If you had one wish what would you wish for?
:: That i will have 100 wishes more (hehehe!)

16. How did you celebrate new year?
:: Cooking and throwing candies to kids

17. Name your body part that hubby tells you he adores.
:: Hmm... hayaan niyo, tatanungin ko sya pag nakita na nya ko =)

18. It is already 2008, do you have a new year’s resolution?
:: To be tuff 1, hehehe!

19. What do you look forward to in 2008?
:: My new slavery den, i mean my new department =)

20. What were your accomplishments last year?
:: Better life

conversations with the bosses

2008-02-28T17:28:00.002+08:00

it's my third week in my new home. so far, it has been a blast! (as in parang sasabog ako!). It's waaaaaaayyyy different from my autistic world at the dungeon. though i have my own workstation, i share a workspace with 5 other people. Yes!!! may kausap na akong tao! (wohoo!)

life is really fast... i mean really fast. the work seems to be endless, i don't seem to notice how time flies very fast, and before i know it, it's time for lunch, or it's 5:00PM. as of today, i have never left my workstation earlier than 5:30 because of the tons of work i need to do. don't get me wrong. i'm still (at least til this day), enjoy the rush of things. ( i am used to this kind of work) and damn... am i so lucky to have the coolest bosses in the office. (one of these days, i will write a blog about them)

so here's just some of the more "interesting conversations i have with my bosses =)

Boss #1
1st incident
While ST was giving me how his travel will look like in the next couple of months.

ST: So on 2-7 March i will be in Paris, on 16-18 March I will be in Singapre, 3rd week of april, in Washington, then i have to be in Hokkaido on May.

J (butting in) and on April 1 you will have yourself cloned

ST gives me a surprise look and laughs... and continues on with his travel.

J: (butting in again) and on August, you should get a life! =)

2nd Incident

J: (while ST is rushing to a coach a kid's football team... poor kids =) You still can't go, we need to discuss your itinerary.

ST: hey, i need to go, i'm late for the practice. go away, or i will undress in front of you.

J: undress in front of me? go ahead, and let me have the time of my life laughing at you.

ST: ok fine, let's discuss my itinerary.

Boss #2
after revising his itinerary for the nth time, TK asks, "what's my best option"

J: ahhh.. contact harry potter?

Ayos ba? *wink

my OSEC send off

2008-02-18T11:22:00.009+08:00

i wanted to leave as quietly as possible, but my OSEC family wouldn't agree. They were kind and generous enough to prepare a sumptuous meal of grilled pork and chicken, boneless bangus, sago and gulaman, at ang mala pangkargador sa dami ng kanin! =)

and at the end, i got my 2 wishes.... a pink tie and a whole lotta cupcakes from mom's and tina's! yummy!

kunwari nakikinig sa mga sinasabi ng mga boss

my necktie and cupcake

one big bite

Thank you so much for those kind words. Mamimiss ko kayo! MWAH!

it's my third!

2008-02-15T10:17:00.005+08:00

14 February 2005 marked the day when i first joined this multinational bank "committed" to poverty aleviation and improving the quality of life of the poor. After six years in the government slavery, i mean service, i thought it was time to get selfish, and move the slavery, i mean service, to the next level, and that is being "global".

three years after, i am still here (Thank God!) and i am about to "embark on another journey" as i joined my new home. i say goodbye to my little "dungeon" and say welcome to my new work station.

this is my first photo (for the ID) at the office 3 years ago

and this is me three years after.

Happy 3rd to me! =)

balentyms =)

2008-02-13T13:38:00.004+08:00

For the past few days, there were many features in all forms of media about the love day, suggestions of gifts, prices of flowers, delivery services, dinner dates, etc. Not being a social deviant, Feb 14 means something else to me. it marks my anniversary here in the office. three years ago, i became a multinational slave, and today, this year, marks my 2nd to the last day in office. Tomorrow, i am packing up! i say goodbye to my "dungeon" as a join another department in the bank. On Monday, i am officially part of the "mainstream" bank operations!

and so as i was (and still is) packing up, i came across this file i wrote for somebody for the love day i think 2 years ago. I was actually looking for it 2 weeks ago because my staff assistant asked me about what surprise can she give for her boyfriend for V-day. so i told her, one time, i gave somebody 14 gifts that remind me of him, (i gave 14 gifts kasi nga feb 14, hahaha! nagpapaka corny ako). each gift contained a note/explanation. so for the sake of being "in tune" with the love month, i am posting this notes i did. they actually gave me one hell of a laugh while reading =)

Disclaimer: for the purposes of posting this, i had to omit some "obscene" words =)

i got an award! =)

2008-02-12T08:30:00.000+08:00

this is a great way to start my morning! i just got my first award as a blogger! Yahu Yahu! many thanks to dyes and i have the honor of passing it on to meeya and ruy

changing of the guards at the house of reps

2008-02-05T09:53:00.001+08:00

it was in the news for a few weeks that a possible change in the speakership at the lower congress was impending. i have always been fascinated by current affairs (especially politics) as my previous work as a defense research officer required news to be part of my daily life.

all hell broke loose when the son of JDV Joey exposed the "inside deals" between the government and ZTE. Joey actually lost this contract to ZTE allegedly because of the First Gentleman.

after countless reassurance that he has the support of the President, JDV met his end (as far as his speakership is concerned) last night after more than 9 hours of session. He held an unprecedented 4 terms in the House of Reps.

i have always appreciated ANC for covering events like this live, even till the wee hours of the morning. last night, i let my eyes (and ears) bled, as i witnessed a "historic" time of the lower house, the changing of the guards.

Politics is about numbers, it's the rule of the "majority". I watched as a vote is added to 3 choices: YES for agreeing to declare the Speakership vacant, thus ousting JDV; NO for status quo and ABSTAIN.

A roll call was made to all congressman/woman as they cast their vote. Each of them were given 3 minutes should they opt to explain their vote. I watched with amusement, i actually hurt my tummy at one point, because of laughing as i listened to the explanation of some of them. Here are some exerpts (not verbatim). (For reason of putting some "spice" to these, and for the love of my life, i will not mention their names, but instead i will just be describing them.) the ones in green are my unsolicited side comments.

Comment from JL, a vertically-challenged representative married to a sexy actress (this is a no-brainer!) - I just don't get it Mr. Speaker, i just don't get it. You can't change an institution just by changing the leadership, and you don't change the organizational structure (wow! parang ang daling baguhin ng organizational structure ng congress, eh mag change nga lang ng speaker, inabot kayo ng buwan noh?!) i just don't get it. I just don't understand, and therefore i will vote No Mr Speaker. I really don't get it. (Hmm... with due respect Mr. Congressman, didn't it occur to you that you were just stu*id that's why 'you just don't get it?" bad!)

Explanation from Congressman DD from Mindanao, he became famous for being the Spokesperson of former President Estrada for sometime - Hindi ko binoto yan si Speaker de Venecia dahil wala akong tiwala sa kanya (frank frank naman) pero pagkatapos nya mag salita kanina, nagbago isip ko (aruy). Baka hindi na magsalita yan sa mga inexpose nya kanina pag hindi na sya speaker. So i vote No, pero kung lahat lahat Yes (ano daw? will you make up your mind?!?!)

Explanation from an actor turned congressman who was involved allegedly in a domestic violence against actress wife. - Ninang ko po sa kasal si Ms. Gina de Venecia (wife of JDV), kaya masakit po sa aking ang aking boto. But it's about time na magkaroon ng pagbabago sa leadership ng congress. sa isang neophyte na congressman na tulad ko, na minamaliit, bigyan nyo din po kami ng pantay na opportunidad, na hindi dahil baguhan kami, ay isinasantambi na lang kami (uy may sarili isyu!)

Explanation from a Congresswoman of Taguig - Nagpapasalamat po ako sa suporta ni JDV sa akin noong nakaraang election. nagpapasalamat ako sa aking mga constituents, na ako'y inihalal kahit walang akong proyekto (u-oh! hala lagot! wala ka palang ginagawa jan eh! =)

A Congressman opted to abstain because the Speaker is the father in law of his brother, and that he is the third cousin of the speaker? (aysus! nalito na ko sa bloodline!)

A Congresswoman from the land of tuna who defeated the pambansang kamao in the last local election, who delivered her explanation that would bring back Shakespeare from the dead because of the choice of words, challenge best actress Halle Berry in terms of emotions, and the "statesmanship" of Winston Churchill in terms of delivery, finally declared her vote, in the most anti-climatic way possible... "I abstain". (yun lang!)

I had the "time of my life" laughing while i watched things unfold, but it also made my "patriotic heart" hurt as i realize what kind of electorate we have. we have a long way to go in educating our electorate, to make them aware of the real issues of our country, to make sure that "such kind of public officials" are not put into office who make a mockery of an institution which is supposed to "represent the people"

A friend of mine said the voting was like a typical Filipino movie. I replied, well, this one's for the FAMAS, the Plot- there are no permanent enemies and friends, only permanent interest. I rest my case Mr. Speaker.

NOTE: Davao Congressman Prospero Nograles was nominated and voted unopposed and is the new speaker of the house after 174 voted to declare the Speakership vacant, and thus ousting JDV. May God bless the Filipino people.

... still no blog

2008-01-19T21:28:00.000+08:00

hay.... the end of january is nearing, but i still don't have any "serious" entry besides the pics in my previous blogs. i was actually planning to write my 2007 year-ender through photos (pikchur ulit?!) highlighting the "remarkable" (naks! yan talaga ang gusto kong adjective noh?!) events of my life, but i simply don't have time to organize my thoughts, kasama na ang pics.

can somebody cast an organizing spell for me please?! =)

wasted!

2008-01-03T13:23:00.000+08:00

in my entire life, i seldom get wasted because of drinking alcohol simply because i don't drink that much. i don't think i have a high tolerance as far as alcohol is concerned. i don't like the smell, the taste and of course the effect of it. but the phenomenon of human socialization most often than not "require" drinking, and so you learn to join "them".

if my sober memory serves me right, this is only the third time i got wasted because of drinking, blame it on the three bottoms up challenge (after about 7 bottles of beer) i took. (i won 2 out of the 3, the third one i lost by matter of 3-5 seconds, darn!)

This is me, wasted.... tigas pala ng tiles ng cr sa office! hehehe! thanks RR for the pic! until the next bottoms up! =)

Emote Mode: ON

2007-12-21T11:05:00.000+08:00

... i miss my barbie..... : (

To cut!

2007-12-14T16:54:00.000+08:00

From this.............................. To this!

"ang haba ng hair mo 2007"

2007-11-23T17:32:00.000+08:00

the tile of this post is the subject of the email i received. i'm sharing this to simply prove that some people will make a career of doing something para lang mang asar! salamat hitla for this ;0)

my before and after

2007-11-19T17:31:00.000+08:00

the photo on the left was taken july of 2006 and the photo on the right was taken last October 2007.

best picture

2007-11-19T16:10:00.000+08:00

kjl was the "official" photographer of the class. he just loves taking pictures of the various events of our class and in so many other events such as badminton and volleyball tournaments, concerts, etc. and i'm telling you, he's got the eye for it, and well he is no less than the president of the camera club in the office. for special occasions, he is armed with a canon 20D for taking pictures.

kjl patiently took pictures and filed them all. at one time, he uploaded every picture taken of the class. as i browse through the collection, i saw the "before and after" pictures of my classmate. the "evolution" was really quite interesting to see, and yes memories were refreshed by looking at the pictures, aruy! memories!

recently, he came up with the best photos of mba6, individually and collectively. just like what he's doin as the prexy of the camera club during photo contests, he examined every picture taken of our class and chose the best photo. for my photo, he chose this as the "best"

i then inquired how come he chose my i-haven't-combed-my-hair-yet and i-just-woke-up picture to be his top pick. he said he liked it because i looked so innocent. grrr.... talagang may ganung factor? ;0)

anyhow, thanks kjl for this!

stramma and adobo

2007-11-08T07:34:00.000+08:00

last night was our first session "formal" session for our strategic management (stramma) class. this is our last subject for MBA (yahuuuu!!!! matatapos na kami, hopefully!. we started late because the professor found it difficult to reach the office at 5. for this session we were required to submit some basic info about the company we want to study.

i am a professional crammer, as in!!! ( i earned this "degree" as early as my high school days) i am a crammer simply because i think better under pressure (o wag ng humirit!) i am just never used to papers/writing in advance specially so that my writing highly depends on my mood, pag wala ako sa mood, kahit 3 days na ko nakatitig sa computer, i won't be able to start a thing, but when in the mood, i can write papers in 15 mins, and they are not so bad, that's according to my professors who gave me fairly good grades for my photo-finished papers, hehehe!) at around 5:45, i had 2 sentences, and another 20 words (ang class ko 6PM, galing!) thanks to my ability to think under pressure (read as: extra special cramming talent) i finished my paper at around 6:10, and my prof approved my paper!!! (hmmm..naka drugs kaya sya?)

our class surprisingly, was listening very intently (yes! ang babait namin sa class!) while the professor was discussing the guidelines on how to write the next chapter of the stramma paper (ggrrr!!!) and our first group report (grrrr ulit!!!) the lecture was long na ginutom na kami sa class. i'm not sure if our hunger was really a physiological "calling" or it's the GIGANTIC tasks in this class that made us starving!

so we were thinking where to have to dinner? good thing brye offered us to have dinner at his place. his brother cooked adobo, pork and chicken (yummy!). already famished, jo, aileen and i went to brye's place and hurriedly ransacked his adobo! we all used our hands when we ate and we finished the chicken! hahaha! buti may natira pang pork adobo. thanks brye! mmmmmmwwwaahhhh! sa uulitin! ;0)

INSIDE STORY WHILE I WAS DOIN MY PAPER
jo: ilang sentences ka na?
j: hahaha!
j: 2
j: plus 20 words!
j: pwede na ba to?
jo: sige, i-font 50 mo. he he he.
j: at expanded ang font, arial black!

i can see clearly now

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

i think for a year now, i have been enduring this pain... seeing things differently. i had to exert effort to have a clearer view. sometimes i find tears falling from my eyes because i was so tired... tired of trying hard to have a better view... what was wrong? why can't i see things clearly?

but even pain has its ending. alas! i can see clearly now. thanks for my new pair of eye glass! ;0)

happy birthday mama!

2007-10-30T09:58:00.000+08:00

SM advantage card

2007-10-29T15:34:00.000+08:00

i'm not sure when SM introduced this point system called the advantage card where a shopper earn points for purchases in SM and other affiliated stores. Later on, these earned points may be used for purchases. before this blog, i don't have this card. Everytime i did a purchase in SM/Watson, the cashier always asks me if i have this card, and of course i replied with "nope, i don't have that", and the cashier always gave me that odd look as if to tell me "Huh? wala kang advantage card?" I asked myself, "is there something wrong with me because i don't have that card?!? Everybody seems to have that card, and i don't! so what's wrong with that?!?" (i really have this tendency to be a little bit "non-conformist" to many "fabs and trends" read as: May pagka autistic ako)

My shopping buddies told me that the point system of this advantage card really works, and that they were able to make some purchases without shelling out any cash. So last Friday, as i was wandering the corners of Megamall (while having a bandage on my left foot! pasaway talaga oh! - subject of another entry), i purchased a belt, and when i was at the cashier, i was asked that golden question again about the card, and again my reply was "nope, i don't have that". however, this time, i followed it up with a question "how do i get one?" (wow! following the mainstream!) the cashier patiently explained how i can get my own card. it's quite simple actually, all i have to do is pay P150 for the card and fill out an application form which i will need to submit to the information counter. after one month, i can get my own personalized card. geeze, no sweat! so i paid for the card and the cashier gave me a temporary card and an application form. The cashier told me that i can use the temporary card for my purchase so i can start earning points already. ( i have not filled out the application form though)

so there you go, the next time the cashier asks me if i have an advantage card, i will say "yes, i have!" proudly! hehehe! ;0)

a night of wine and cheese with carl and holden

2007-10-26T16:35:00.001+08:00

and in the words of carl... a social-climbing night ;0)

with our second bottle of red wine in Italianni's Greenbelt (our first was in Cafe Alexa. hmmm... wala na yung red wine sa picture, kinuhan na ng waiter ; (

tristan

2007-10-23T11:18:00.001+08:00

haay..... labi pa lang ulam na ;0)

to cut or not to cut

2007-10-23T10:55:00.001+08:00

it's been weeks since i've been contemplating if i will cut my hair or not. you see i influenced my friends to give themselves a new look through a new hairstyle. 3 of my friends gladly agreed and they are now sporting their own versions of the bob. now i am thinking to have my own hair cut. i have long and technology-enhanced curly hair up to the bra line ( i have not grown my hair this long since i was a kid, as in kid na hindi pa nag aaral ha, thanks to the caring hands and coconut oil of my lola). i must admit, it's kinda "hard" to maintain. i am actually used to the "wash and wear" hairstyles, i simply don't have the time for styling (hay! lalaki talaga ako!) matagal nga lang ako sa banyo dahil sa haba ng buhok ko. everyday, i have to condition my hair to avoid drying... and i am an "OC" in terms of rinsing my hair (takot ako sa dandruff) that's why nagtatagal ako sa shower! ; (

but my friends told me to keep my hair for a while... so i am still thinking if i am going to cut my hair or not... sa bagong taon na lang kaya? bagong taon bagong buhok?!?! duh! ;0)

38 questions... si mawie kasi ;0)

2007-10-16T16:34:00.000+08:00

38 Questions
1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? Robert de Niro (including the whole cast of Stardust)
2. What were you doing at 0800? Parking
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Went to the 8th floor, delivered some documents- read as: nagpapanggap! ;0)
4. What happened to you in 2006? FREEDOM ;0) Got hospitalized too, for the first time!
5. What was the last thing you said out loud? Ang choray!
6. How many beverages did you have today? Two (coffee and water)
7. What color is your hairbrush? wala akong hairbrush, comb meron kulay owange
8. What was the last thing you paid for? My lunch
9. Where were you last night? Podium having one of the best laughs of my life
10. What color is your front door? Red
11. Where do you keep your change? in my wallet, car, bag, floor ;0)
12. What’s the weather like today? semi cloudy
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? double dutch
14. What excites you? something/someone new ;0) at si Taufik Hidayat!
15. Do you want to cut your hair? i just did! trim nga lang.
16. Are you over the age of 25? Age? what age? ;0) Yup
17. Do you talk a lot? Yup, may angal? ;0)
19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Pwede ba si Steven Seagal? ;0)
20. Do you make up your own words? Minsan, pag naka drugs, joke!
21. Are you a jealous person? some kinda of a yes ;0)
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Acoi
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kaibigan? corny ko, Karen
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Rocel
25. What does the last text message you received say? "grabe na yan ha! ako bibili ng dvd pag may clear copy na, so i cn watch it anytym hehehe"
26. Do you chew on your straw? Sometimes ;0)
27. Do you have curly hair? yup, technologically enhanced curls ;0)
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Badminton court
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? si ano!!! si... secret ;0)
30. What was the last thing you ate? beef (di ko alam luto eh, pero yummy!) and mashed potato
31. Will you get married in the future? why marry? why not marry? ;0) labo ko
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Star dust, hehehe!
33. Is there anyone you like right now? Marami sila, hahaha! isa na si Whitey! ;0)
34. When was the last time you did the dishes? can't remember na
35. Are you currently depressed? di naman.
36. Did you cry today? Nope
37. Why did you answer and post this? si mawie kasi eh, hehehe! ;0)
38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey. meeya, rey, didi, jo and rocel

the magical movie stardust

2007-10-16T08:33:00.000+08:00

we received a text last saturday night a little past 11:00PM from aileen asking us to watch a movie entitled stardust. it was kinda odd, first, aileen is not the type who texts late at night if it's only about a movie (kung report pa namin sa class to pwede), and second, she indicated in her text that she has just watched it. huh? she was inviting us to watch this film with her, eh kakapanood lang nya? (naka drugs ata talaga si aileen!)

so come monday morning, we were making plans already, shuffling are own schedules to accommodate the movie. we decided to watch at podium which was showing the movie at 5:55PM. sadly, jo and aileen (who wanted to watch it again) weren't able to join us because of prior "commitments" (tsuweh!) so it was me, rocel, jimmi, brye and rhoda.

stardust is a film by Matthew Vaughn based on Neil Geiman's novel. It's about A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) who professes her love to Victoria (Sienna Miller) by promising her a fallen star Yvaine (Claire Daines).The story becomes more complicated because of the people who also wanted to star: the sons of a king who needs the star for the throne and Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) who needs the star to make her young again. Tristan later on encounters a pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) who changes his quest as he found true love with Yvaine.

the moviehouse was empty when we entered, later on a couple joined us. the movie had good pacing, no dull moment. it actually started with high energy and that energy kept building and building til the last scene.

The story cuts right through your very heart as it tackles finding true love, finding your star who will light up the sky for you, finding that someone who gives you that magical experience beyond the competence of words. (now i am carried away!) Surprisingly, the movie was also sssssssoooooo funnnnnnyyy! we were simply laughing our hearts out because of the movie! WARNING: the succeeding lines may be spoilers for those who have not seen the movie yet: Imagine Robert de Niro (The Godfather, yes he played the young Don Vito Corleone) a whoopsie! and dancing while wearing a dress with pink feather fan; imagine a girl with the most beautiful breasts replied when asked her name (with a low, well-modulated male voice)"Bernard" Hahaha! The exchanges of lines of the characters (with the English accent, don't you just love people with accents? ;0) were also hilarious and very witty!!!

I just fell in love this film! (and yes, with Tristan! aruy!) This is one of those films i won't mind watching over and over again (in fact we're watching it again tomorrow, hahaha! for the sake of Jo). KAALIW talaga siya! so if you are feeling depressed, if you wanna reaffirm your belief in finding true love and at the same time having a good laugh, do yourself a favor: watch this movie!

and to you my star.... i know you will always light up my sky ;0)

*Inside Story While Watching This Film
Ji: Is there such thing as true love?

R and J looking at each other upon hearing this

R: Guard!!!! Guard!!!

J: PPPPPPPOOOOLLLLIIIICEEEEE!!!!! ;0)

smooth driving

2007-10-12T16:18:00.000+08:00

don't you just love it when you can drive smoothly from home to the office? today's a holiday (at least "outside" our office). President Arroyo declared it a non-working holiday in recognition of the end of the Ramadan for our Muslim brothers and sisters (Happy Eid Fitri!). So most of the working/studying people are enjoying themselves in bed while "we" prepare for an ordinary working day at the office. (The office only recognizes 10 national holidays of the Philippines, the rest of the specially proclaimed holidays are working days for us)

i left home at around 7:10 and reached the office before 7:30 (hindi ako kaskasera ha, my drive on a ordinary working day is about 30-45 minutes) the usual pasaway sa kalye are gone. the only pasaway this morning were the buses who were eating up all the lanes in EDSA, day off kasi ng mga MMDA. ;0)

hay... sana laging ganito ang kalye ;0)

funnies # 3

2007-10-09T13:12:00.000+08:00

why do i always get this kind of calls!!!!!

Phone rings...
J: ADB good afternoon
Caller: star studio? tatanong ko lang kelan lalabas yung susunod na issue ng chalk?
J: ano pong number tinatawagan niyo?
Caller: 63241527....
J:wrong number po.
Caller. hindi ito star studio?
J: hindi po
Caller: bakit di mo agad sinabi?
Caller hangs up!!!! oo na ako na pumatay kay Rizal!!!!

stop me by mark ronson

2007-10-09T11:05:00.001+08:00

and ironically, i simply can't stop listening to this song. love listening to it the whole day. napapagod na sya sa kakakanta ;0)

funnies #2

2007-10-03T13:50:00.000+08:00

for some reason, i always get these calls which are meant for ABS-CBN, including their publishing, their star studio, etc. I guess it's because their number starts with 4152 (that's my extension number). Usually companies who publish their phone number (may it be in a website, magazines or what have you) includes the country code of the philippines (63) + manila's area code (2). so some people include these first digits when dialling. since the phone will reconize the first 7 digits, the calls are directed to my line. here's one of the funniest conversations i have with these wrong calls.

Phone ringing...
J: ADB good morning.
Caller: good morning, ABS-CBN?
J: Hindi po.
Caller: gusto ko sanang mag audition sa star circle.
J: ay sorry po, hindi po ito abs-cbn.
Caller: ay oo nga, sasali ako sa star circle.
J: Ma'am hindi nga po ito abs-cbn. mukhang namali po kayo ng dial.
Caller: kelan po ako pwede mag audition
J(getting irritated already): Ma'am, sabi ko ho hindi ho ito abs-cbn, asian development bank po ito. wrong number po kayo.
Caller: kelan ba ang start ng audition (IS SHE HEARING ME?!?!?!)
J (pikon na): Hindi ho ako kapamilya, Kapuso ho ako.
Caller hangs up. I guess she finally heard me all right! ;0)

has taufik lost his touch?

2007-10-03T10:38:00.000+08:00

i watched the replay of the chinese taipei badminton grand prix last weekend. one of the events was the all indonesian men's singles finals between sonny kuncorro and my beloved taufik hidayat (kailangan may "beloved" talaga noh? ;0)where kuncorro beat taufik in a 3 set match ;(

it seems so long since i last watched a game of taufik, or even heard of his winning a major badminton event. the world badminton championship in kuala lumpur last august (which was not aired live, huhuhu) even saw the upset of taufik against a rookie from india (huhuhu ulit).

has he lost his touch in the game? though from the last game i saw, he still has a venomous backhand smash (he still holds the fastest backhand smash) and deadly net shots, it seems he lacks what it takes to win a championship (why oh why?)

taufik is a character in the badminton court. he's got this certain presence, like a royalty in the court (well at least to taufik fans like me and to that english commentator covering the chinese taipei open.) when he's in the mood to play and win, he really plays exceptional game, but once he lost his focus and sometimes temper, he's really bad! it such a pity that lately no feathers are added to his cap.

but eventhough this is the case, i still adore you to the MAX! i still think you are irrestibly delicious with your ultra suave moves and killer smile! ;0) iuuwi kita eh! ;0)

what man wants for christmas?

2007-10-02T14:45:00.001+08:00

yesterday, rocel sent an email which contained a remote control describing what man wants for christmas.

then good old kuya jimmi asked "how about woman?" so rocel replied with her version of the remote that described what a woman would want for christmas, and her version was... (click on the image to have a better view)

inspired by what my sis rocel did, i came up with my version ;0)

;0) i wonder where i can get a lifetime supply of this remote control ;0)

Kuya's send off

2007-09-26T09:47:00.001+08:00

kuya asked me to drive him to the airport and i gladly said yes (though it meant getting up at 4 in the morning! i am really bad at early wake up calls. i'd rather stay awake all night!) so i pulled myself to get up this morning at 4:00. I was actually awaken by the knock on my door. it was mom. she told me my kuya was downstairs already. i grabbed a band and pulled my hair to a pony tail, grabbed my car keys and went down.

There my kuya was, making some last minute packing with his baggage. i lied on our couch while waiting for them to finish the packing stuff. mom was busy helping my brother with his things while i was having a battle with my eyes! (it just wants to close!) after a few minutes, my father said they were set to go. Mom asked me if i was joining them to the airport. (i didn't join the first send off, i feared that i would cry like a baby seeing my brother go. so i just stayed at home and did the crying there) I said was not joining them because pop will be driving anyway. i watched my kuya put his baggage at the back of the adventure. i knew i wanted to cry (was teary-eyed na), but i pulled myself together and held back my tears. Kuya hugged me and said "alis na ako ha, ikaw na bahala dito." entrusting me to take care of mom and pop while he's away. i hugged my kuya tightly. He waved at me before finally driving off. wasn't able to hold back my tears anymore, my jaw and neck were hurting too much(do you get that feeling when you're trying to hold back your tears?) haay.... i'll miss my sparring partner. ;(

sibling separation

2007-09-25T14:33:00.000+08:00

I was never close to my one and only sibling, my elder brother. when we were kids, we fought a lot, and i mean a lot. It reached a point where my mother bought us boxing gloves. every time we fought, my mother gave us the gloves and directed us to wear it. she said she was so tired of our shouting, guess she thought boxing would "quiet" us (especially if somebody was knocked out already, hehehe!).

I guess this is because we didn't grow together. He grew up with my parents, and i grew with my grandparents. We were only brought together when i started school. by this time he was already grade 2.

My mom told me kid stories about me and my Kuya. She told me that my brother was really really cute when he was born(ok fine, add insult to injury! ;0). He was a 9-pounder and i was a mere 4.3. (my mom always says that when i was born, it was SOOO easy for her, so easy that she thought she just urinated, but alas! i was out na pala, hmp! gawin ba akong urine! ;0) My parents were so fund of cuddling Kuya, because she was chubby while my dad barely carried me (sob sob!)because he was afraid he might break me as i looked so fragile when i was a baby (naks! fragile ako?!!)

as we grew up, kuya had the most favored child clause. He would have better birthday parties than i do. He had better school stuffs than i do and he had bigger baon to school (hmp!) He had a room while our living room became my room for a year. He would ALWAYS ALWAYS have the backing of my parents everytime we had a fight. Galing pa manggatong nyan sa parents ko pag pinapagalitan ako. He would bring up my past mistakes so that my parents would ground me some more. We really had terrible fights. That's why every time one becomes nice to the other, we would ask each other if we have a fever or were we into a lot of drugs. ;0)

But in all honesty, i never loved my brother no less. I remember when i was a kid, i used to go home with a black eye because i rumbled with somebody who hit my brother. i used to save money from my baon to buy even a small gift for his birthday.

2004 was a tough year for my brother. (I am just glad he overcame his storm and i am so proud of you Kuya). this was also the year when my brother left the country to work. my parents were so much against his overseas work. But my Kuya was determined to leave. somehow, i also wanted him to leave (considering what he has been through). I thought it was his time to be independent, to find his place under the sun by himself, without the usual assistance of our parents. I thought that this experience will make him stronger.

This was the first time we got separated (with such distance and time). and i cried when he was leaving. I remember him comforting me, assuring me that he's goin to be fine and that he will work hard to make it there. I know we were never close, but my Kuya is the family's baby. It was tough letting go.

After his stint in Saudi Arabia he came home to the Philippines and spent 6 months here to look for a new company to work for. During these 6 months, we would have occasional fights, like the old times, without the boxing gloves though. but we would eventually be ok. Last week, he informed me that he found new work and he was leaving soon. He actually leaves tomorrow at 8:30AM. I really would've wanted my Kuya to stay for his family, for my parents and for me But i know we shouldn't clip his wings if he wants to fly.

To my Kuya, good luck. I hope you will be able to make it again. Bring with you our prayers for your constant safety and our love. We shall await your homecoming. We will always be here for you, and should you feel the need to break somebody's neck there, i won't mind flying in to help you out, promise! I love you Kuya.

back to blog business

2007-09-19T14:08:00.001+08:00

ok, i am back to my blog business - read as I have a life! hehehe! ;0) part of this "resurrection" is to give my blog a new look. initially, i have changed header of my blogsite (with the assistance of my official blog helpdesk Meeyah, mwah!) i actually tried to study the template of my blog, but after having a headache while carefully reading and analyzing the pattern, i gave up and just sought the help of my ever reliable sis Meeyah who has the patience to give free blog tutorials ;0)

i have been wanting to blog, considering the many interesting things that happened and is still happening to me (see, i told you i have a ife, hehehe!) i was just swamped with many many men-y, i mean many stuffs. it came to a point that i complain why only 24 hours made a day, because the 24 hours were simply not enough, not enough for my activities and not enough if i were to include my resting hours which will require another 24 hours ;0)

well, here's to my resurrection in my blogging ;0)

my share of funnies

2007-09-18T16:57:00.000+08:00

most of my friends linked up in my blog have their versions of funnies about places and people. here's my share.

Yesterday, i went to gas up at a station in EDSA. I gave the fleet card to the gasoline boy (GB)and this is how it went.

J: Boss XCS, full tank,
GB: Ma'am full tank?
J: Yes.
GB. Ma'am zero zero po, xcs full tank (i gave him a nod)

i was waiting for him to fill the tank when he suddenly said

GB: ma'am ok na po (with a smile pa ha)
J: full tank na? ( i checked on the amount, it says 1000+, can't really remember)
GB: hindi pa po.
J: huh? eh bakit mo ko tinatanong kung ok na?
GB: sige po full tank ko na.

Duh?!?!?! malabo ba ako kausap? ;0)

what does it tell you?

2007-09-17T10:57:00.000+08:00

what does it tell you when you have 754 unread emails (i actually trimmed this from 1437), 947 messages in mobile inbox, 3 weeks worth of laundry (yes, i am nearing adam & eve fashion sense), two entries per month in blog?.... I should get a life!!! ;0)

one way my *ss!

2007-08-27T09:25:00.000+08:00

i was looking forward to do a blog about having Xyrille back (Yes! i "lost" her for more than three weeks, well this will be a subject on another blog), but i just couldn't stop myself from writing about my encounter with the police last friday after coming from a carwash.

i usually have Xyrille washed at Remedios (Malate area). After getting her from Toyota Otis, i thought i'd give her a much needed shower. I finished around 5:30pm. Anticipating the traffic (Friday, rush hour?), i opted to take another route (there's always a traffic jam in Pedro Gil) I took F. Benitez street and made a right turn at Escoda. Upon reaching the intersection (there were actually 3 streets in that intersection,a nd pardon me, i don't remember the name of the street), I saw i police mobile going towards my direction on the street that i planned to make a left turn. I slowed down to look for any signage, to check if it was a one-way street. For a moment, the mobile and i stopped. I waited for signal from them, if it was a one-way street. after around 30 seconds, I opted to go because there was no signal from them that i can't go thru. so i drove til the end of the street (it was a good 30 meters street) and made a right turn at San Gregorio Street. When i made a right turn, i just saw on the rear mirrow the mobile, with its siren on, and blinking the lights on me. I thought for a second if it was me they were "chasing". Unsure if it was me, i slowed down and decided to pull over. The mobile stopped and a policeman went out of the mobile and went to my car. I rolled down my window and conversation went something like this:

JAKE: Yes sir? Is there any problem?
POLICEMAN: Ma'am, one way po ang pinasukan niyo.
JAKE: Ganun ba? Ang tagal ko pong nag antay ng signal niyo bago ako pumasok ng street, kung one-way siya or hindi. so nung hindi kayo nagsignal, i proceeded.
POLICEMAN: One way po talaga yun. (At this juncture he asked for my license)
JAKE: Sir, kung one way yun, bakit inantay niyo pa akong pumasok, matapos ko yung street, at makakanan na dito bago niyo ko hinabol?
POLICEMAN: May pupuntahan po kasi kami dapat, eh bumuwelta pa po kami.
JAKE: (medyo di na ako natutuwa nito) Tatanggapin ko sana na violation ko, pero naman, talaga pong inantay niyo pa akong pumasok dun sa one way street, nakakanan na ako't lahat, tsaka kayo nagdecide habulin ako. Sir, magkasalubong na tayo kanina. (not to mention the fact that the street didn't have any signage that it was indeed a one-way street!), pero wala naman po kayong ginawa.
POLICEMAN: eh ganun po tlga, matiticketan po kayo ma'am. or kung gusto niyo ma'am kausapin niyo na lang ang kasama ko (i think his companion held a higher rank than the one i am talking to)
JAKE (mas hindi na natutuwa): ganun ba? ok, sandali lang may tatawagan lang ako.

At this point, i was choosing which general to call. don't get me wrong, i don't enjoy using my "connections". I had the rare chance to work in the highest office of the land, that "little palace by the river", but i didn't use my connections to get out of mess, especially if it was my fault. I think i am responsible citizen of my country. I took the public servant title very seriously, but this one is but ridiculous!!!

I called up General Piano, classmate of my former boss in PMA. I explained to him what happened. I actually tried to call on someone who was considered the "big boss" of the Western Police District, unluckily he missed my call. I handed my mobile phone to the other policeman. He asked me who was on the other line, and i told him it was General Piano. I can only guess what transpired during their conversation.

The policeman handed over my phone back and said he won't issue a ticket but will put it in his log that he issued a written warning (on his logbook) on my violation. I told him if he can also include in the entry that he waited for me to enter and finish the street, make a right turn before he decided to chase me and reprimand me of my violation.

This is just cruel!!! i can only imagine those people who don't have "connections" who become victims of policemen like these! They either pay up or experience inconvenience in getting their license back.

I appeal to those men in uniform (the policeme, i mean). Our streets are inherently stressful - bad road networks, bad road construction, traffic, reckless drivers) Please don't add up to them! and do your job... properly!

my day

2007-08-12T20:24:00.000+08:00

right now i am swamped with work and with my other activities in the office (volleyball, MBA, dance concert, etc) that's why i haven't found the time to blog (arggghh!!!!) However, this is a preview of what happened during my day. if and when i find the time (hopefully soon!!!) i'll blog about that day... the day i felt like a queen ;0) To those who remembered me, greeted me and made my day EXTRA special, thank you sooooooooo much! it really meant a lot to me! Mwah!

under attack by my sweet tooth

2007-07-26T11:21:00.000+08:00

Help! Help! i am under attack! i think i have mentioned before that since i started the meatless diet (which i already broke!) i gained appetite for sweets. i was addicted to the banofee pie (i am undergoing rehab now. I took 3 of them in a day, about 3 times a week! i stopped because my budget pie chart was extremely complaining that a "chunk" (naks! kala mo naman dami ko pera!) of my budget is dedicated to buying this pie. However, i gained fancy over cupcakes! one time, i dined out with my badminton mates in Mom and Tina's and they had cute and very affordable cupcakes. i borrowed the pic from donna.

Since then, i have gone back to the place several times. I like the banana chocolate fudge and the butter cupcake. The prune cupcake was also nice. The other day, Ruby let me sample a cupcake from Gonuts Donuts. they have several flavors,and so far i have tried the dulce de leche, fruit and nut, chiffon rossette, strawberry something (can't remember the name, sowee, hazel nut and the white chocolate crunch. What i like the most is the dulce de leche coz it has some filling (yummy!)I have yet to try the other flavors. Come to think of it, the cupcake itself of Gonuts is really ordinary(at least for my taste, except for the dulce de leche) It's the toppings that makes the difference. they place a generous amount on their cupcakes.

another sweet habbit is the crepes and cremes in Podium. Jo and Aileen introduced this to me and again, i have gone back there for several times! my favorite is the hazelnut banana, but i think the mango mania is their best seller. ( i still have to try this)

See what i mean? i have so many sweets in my diet!!!! waaahhh! and i don't like it anymore! it's giving me the bulges in the wrong places!!!! my b*tt's gone bigger with my tummy!!!! (can we just do the bulges on my upper body instead? ;0) can somebody put some bitter melon on these sweets? it might just change my mind about them. Hmmmm.... but i like bitter melon! hehehe! ;0)

the break of the meatless diet

2007-07-26T11:07:00.000+08:00

for so months now, i have tried a meatless diet, and failed! ;( it was during an overnight stay at an officemate's house that i broke the meatless diet! she served us with shaved maple ham that tasted like bacon without the fat! yummy! she asked (or should i say coerced) me to take breakfast with ham and bread on the table. though there was pork and beans on the side, the ham was calling me ;0) and so there it was, my first meat after months.

i accepted the fact that it is just so hard to have a meatless diet, especially having friends who mastered the art of tempting me to have some meat simply because they can't do a meatless diet! ;0) however, i still stay away from red meat as much as i can. i dined out at oks manoks with my friends last night, and eventhough i wanted some inihaw na liempo (this is my ultimate favorite meat dish)to go with my garlic rice, i opted for the squid. well.... so much for being ,meatless ;0)

aero marathon

2007-07-10T16:01:00.000+08:00

i learned about the aero marathon contest in the office through forwarded emails. I didn't have any interest in joining because i don't enjoy aero activities that much. i prefer sweating it out in the badminton court. However, Miss Charie, the Fitness Club Program was very patient in following up my participation in the aero marathon. I had some hesitations to join because i knew we had dance rehearsals at the same time the marathon was on. But with some reshuffling of rehearsal sched, i was free to join.

There were four 20-minute segments - the low impact, kick boxing (the one i enjoyed the most!) Latin Dance, high impact and belly-dancing (though this was not included in the judging). There was a 2 two-minute break in between segments. If a participant fails to return in time for the next segment, then he/she will be disqualified from the competition.

The judges used the following criteria for judging: Endurance - 30%, Form & Execution -30%, Ability to Follow - 20%, Enthusiasm- 10%, Overall Impact- 10% totalling to 100% (ah, galing ko sa math noh?!)

I woke up at 7am and hurriedly prepared because i had to pick up Rocel before going to ADB. The marathon starts at 9:00AM. We reached ADB at around 8:30. I wanted to grab a bite before the marathon because i had nothing on my tummy when i left the house. I had a toasted bread with butter and a C2 for my energizer. As i was preparing for the aero, i went through my bag and i couldn't find my socks!!!!! ( wah!) it was early, so the mall was still close, and eventhough it was open, i had no time to buy because the marathon was going to start in a couple of minutes. so i told myself, i just have to finish this thing without socks on! (great!!!!)

the most exhausting part was the high impact, not only because it was really high impact, but also because i had to exert effort to learn the routine. most of the people there were members of the fitness club, so they were quite familiar with the steps, and i had no idea about them.

after 80 minutes of sweat, we were done! Yes! i survived my first aero marathon! and guess what? i won two awards! finishing the aermarathon was really rewarding in itself, because it was a true test of endurance and will. the two awards were actually bonus (naks! showbiz) I was first awarded Miss Body Beautiful (bwahaha! parang typo error, dapat ata Mr. Body Beautiful) and then i was first runner up in the aero marathon (sayang!) The prices included one year membership in the fitness club (yipee!)(for the first runner up price) and 1 quarter free membership (yipee again)(for the body beautiful award). Now i will have enough reason to go the gym, because i am going there for free!

Thanks to the organizers of this aeromarathon.... til next year ;0)

my trophy as first runner up and my medal for the body beautiful ;0)

eating rice

2007-07-04T17:27:00.000+08:00

up to this day, no pork and beef allowed. i will restrain myself as long as i could, and so far, i have been successful with the restraining ;0)the funny part is i think i am gaining weight! i guess it's because i increased eating sweets! (this is banoffee pie's fault! ;0)3 pies in a day!?!?!?)

So i thought of decreasing my rice intake (take that carbo away, hahaha! yung rice ang pinag initan hindi yung banoffee pie) and then leikhs sent me this interesting write up about eating rice.

Here it is...

DON'T EAT TOO MUCH RICE

The human body was never meant to consume rice! You see, our genes have hardly changed in more than 30,000 years. However, our food choices and lifestyle have changed dramatically. The caveman would hardly recognize our food or way of life.

Caveman food was never cooked as fire was not yet tamed. Thus, he ate only those foods that he can eat without treatment with or by fire. He ate fruits, vegetables, fish (sushi anyone?), eggs, nuts and meat. Yes, even meat. You can even eat meat raw if you were starving in the forest. You have the necessary enzymes to digest meat.

However, rice - like wheat and corn - cannot be eaten raw. It must be cooked. Even if you were starving in the desert, you cannot eat rice in the raw form. This is because we do not have the system of enzymes to break rice down. We were never meant to eat rice. To make matters worse, we not only eat rice, but also make it the bulk of our food.

In some parts of Asia, rice forms up to 85% of the plate. Even if we take rice, let's keep it to a minimum. Remember, it is only for our tongue... not our body. Actually, rice and other grains like wheat and corn are actually worse than sugar. There are many reasons:

Rice becomes sugar - lots of it!
T! his is a fact that no nutritionist can deny: rice is chemically no different form sugar. One bowl of cooked rice is the caloric equivalent of 10 teaspons of sugar. This does not matter whether the rice is white, brown or herbal rice. Brown rice is richer in fibre, some B vitamins and minerals... but it is still the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. To get the same 10 teaspoons of sugar, we need to consume lots of kangkong... 10 bowls of it.

Rice is digested to become sugar.
Rice can be digested only when it is thoroughly cooked. However, when thoroughly cooked, it becomes sugar and! spikes circulating blood sugar within half an hour... almost as quickly as it would if we took a sugar candy. Rice is very low in the "rainbow of anti-oxidants".
This complete anti-oxidant rainbow is necessary for the effective and safe utilisation of sugar. Fruits come with a sugar called fructose. However, they are not empty calories as the fruit is packed with a whole host of other nutrients that help its proper assimilation and digestion.

Rice has no fibre.
The fibre of the kangkong fills us up long before our blood sugar spikes. This is because the fibre bulks and fills up our stomach. Since white rice has no fibre, we end up eating lots of "calorie dense" food before we get filled up. Brown rice has more fibre but still contains the same amount of sugar.

Rice is tasteless.
Sugar is sweet. There is only so much that we can eat at one sitting. How many teaspoons of sugar can we eat before we feel like throwing up? Could you imagine eating 10 teaspoons of sugar in one seating?

Rice is always the main part of the meal.
While sugar may fill our dessert or sweeten our coffee, it will never be the main part of any meal. We could eat maybe two to three teaspoons of sugar at one meal. However, we could easily eat the equal value of two to three bowls (20 - 30 teaspoons) of sugar in one meal. I am always amused when I see someone eat sometimes five bowls of rice (equals 50 teaspoons of sugar) and then asks fo tea or coffee without sugar!

There is no real "built in" mechanism for us to prevent overeating of rice.
How much kangkong can we eat? How much fried chicken? How much steamed fish? Think about that! In one seating, we cannot take lots of chicken, fish or cucumber, but we can take lots of rice. Eating rice causes us to eat more salt.
As rice is tasteless, we tend to consume more salt... another villain when it comes to high blood pressure control. We tend to take more curry that has salt to help flavor the rice. We also tend to consume more ketchup and soy sauce which are also rich in salt.

Eating rice causes us to drink less water.
The more rice we eat, the less water we will drink as there is no mechanism to prevent the overeating of rice. Rice, wheat and corn come hidden in our daily food. As rice is tasteless, it tends to end up in other foods that serve as rice substitutes... like rice flour, noodles and bread. We tend to eat the hidden forms which still get digested into sugar. Rice, even when cooked, is difficult to digest.

Can't eat raw rice? Try eating rice half cooked. Contrary to popular belief, rice is very difficult to digest. It is "heavy stuff". If you have problems with digestion, try skipping rice for a few days. You will be amazed at how the problem will just go away.

Rice prevents the absorption of several vitamins and minerals.
Rice when taken in bulk will reduce the absorption of vital nutrients like zinc, iron and the B vitamins.

Are you a rice addict?
Going riceless may not be easy, but we can still go riceless. Eating less rice could be a lot easier than we think. Here are some strategies that we can pursue in our quest to eat less rice:

1. Eat less rice - Cut your rice by half. Barry Sears, author of the Zone Diet, advises "eating rice like spice". Instead, increase your fruits & vegetables intake.

2. Take more lean meats and fish.

3. You can even take more eggs and nuts. Have "riceless" meals. Take no rice or wheat at say, breakfast. Go for eggs instead.

4. Go on "riceless" days - Go "western" once a week. Take no rice and breads for one day every week! That can't be too difficult. Appreciate the richness of your food. Go for taste, colors and smells. Make eating a culinary delight. Enjoy your food in the original flavors.

5. Avoid the salt shaker or ketchup. You will automatically eat less rice.

6. Eat your fruit dessert before (Yes! No printing error) your meals . The fibre-rich fruits will "bulk up" in your stomach! . Thus, you will eat less rice and more fruits.

OUR WATER AFTER EACH MEAL
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It says it is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine!
Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. :)-

haayyyy!!!!!! eating is so complicated ;0)

2007-07-04T10:47:00.001+08:00

My Lakbayan grade is C!

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

Created by Eugene Villar.

Tagged by Didi

2007-07-03T19:15:00.000+08:00

A- Age: 31

B-Band: Listening To Right Now: Band of HP Laserjet 1200 Series (does this count? hehehe!)

C - Career: multinational slave and a professional crammer! ;0)

D - Drink or Smoke: Both (occasionally ;0)

E - Easiest Friends To Talk To: Sche, Xtn, Acoi, Jo, Mia, Superman ;0)

G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Bear, especially Barney Bear

H - Have a Boyfriend: I refuse to answer this item on the grounds of incrimination ;0)

J - Junk Food You Like: Chippy, Cheese Curls, Clover

K- Kids - si Superman! ;0) si Yada and Obi

L - Longest Ride Ever: 15 hours going to Vigan, it killed my b*tt!

N - Names For Your Future Kids: Sam, Emmanuelle, Diego, Isaac, Danielle, Paul, Jonas

O - One Wish You Have Now: To be filthy rich!

P - Phobias: Heights

Q - Favorite Quotes:* "What goes around, comes around"

R - Reasons To Smile: My life... my beatiful life! Si Superman! si Godfather, si Kulot, My friends, Yada and Obi

S - Sleeping Hours: 1:00AM-2:00AM

T - Time You Woke Up: 6:00

U - Unknown Fact About You: I trained with the Presidential Security Group for one month and ranked 13th among the 37 in a markmanship course ( yes.. i can shoot!)

V - Vegetable You Hate: I love them all

W - Worst Habit: Forgetting... where am i? what am i doin?;0)

X - X-rays You've Had: knee and chest

Y - Yummy Foods: Banoffee Pie!

Z - Zodiac Sign: Leo

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

1. I hate panty lines.

2. I am disorganized with my things, but i love organizing other people's things.

3. I always wake up anytime from 2:00AM-3:00AM, turn on the tv (if it was off) and check if there is any badminton replay on Solar sports. (i wouldn't be an addict for nothing ;0)

4. I wanted to go bald.

5. I sleep with my leg bent to my chest. (according to my father, i have weird sleeping positions, sometimes i sleep with crossed legs!)

6. I love banana with peanut butter.

7. I like to dip my toasted bread with butter in my coffee.

I am tagging claire, becky, donna, carmie, rhea, meeya and rey.

;0)

2007-06-28T19:27:00.000+08:00

how would you feel if someone tells you "why would i want to share .... I want to keep you for myself?" i have always believed that it's only me who owns myself and no one else (talk about girl power and women's liberation). even if i am in a relationship, i own myself... but someone told me these words.... and i just can't help but get weak, and feel like curling... like a shrimp! ;0)

i'd fly with you superman.... anytime... and yes.... you can always keep me for yourself... promise! ;0)

a taste of "gold"

2007-06-19T16:03:00.000+08:00

two months ago, gigi volunteered me to play volleyball when she learned that i used to be a volleyball player. many years ago, volleyball was the love of my life. it was during my elementary years when i learned the game. in high school, i joined the varsity team during my junior and senior years. i was lucky to be chosen to go thru a series of training for the Palarong Maynila. my mother used to curse volleyball because i was falling short of my academic requirements due to the number of hours i put on training. in college, i was able to play volleyball during the intramurals called Bakbakan til my sophomore year.

more than 10 years have passed since i last held on a volleyball. two months ago, thru gigi, i decided to join the game here in the office. we first started with the stretchings (which i enjoyed the most), jogging around the court, then the drills, spike, toss, service. it was like deja vu of my younger years when i held on to the volleyball like a kid holding on to a precious toy/candy.

during the game, i had to struggle, had to learn to hit the ball properly, serve properly. i attempted to spike but i had the wrong timing with the jump (hay, i am used to smashing a shuttlecock not jump and spike a volleyball).it was painful hitting the ball (hello, 10 years!) that's why when i went home, i was in black and blue. i decided to come back the following week and continued to play, and last saturday, i joined the Intercolor Tournament here in ADB.

There were four teams: yellow, orange, blue and green. ( i belonged to the green team). The elimination round was race to 30 for only 1 set (teams exchanged courts when any of the team reached 15). We only lost to orange who had a varsity player with them (Sue, yung petition online, hehehe!) during the elimination by 3 points! (sayang). however, we defeated the other two teams making us eligible for the championship.

the championship round was played with 2 sets, race to 15. we were all nervous, because orange had the psychological edge over us since they were undefeated entering the finals. (not to mention the fact that they had a varsity player with them) but with the team effort and hard work of each member, we tasted gold! we won the championship! galing mo talaga anna banana at gorgy porgy ;0) so to all my greenmates, Anna, Em, Yllah, Aiko Cris, Tintin, Harry and my Kuya George... CONGRATS!!!

the green team

by the way, just a sidelight during the tournament. harry took pictures of the girls as we candidly pose for him. thanks harry for this pic ;0)

addicted and goin bananas!

2007-06-14T16:30:00.000+08:00

yes, i found a new addiction... it's the banoffee pie of starbucks...it's driving me bananas! ;0)

meatless!

2007-06-06T11:41:00.000+08:00

last friday, i made a pact with a friend that we will do away with meat. he got the inspiration from the actress Juliano Palermo who went vegetarian 4 months ago. he said she had glowing skin ( i actually think that the glowing was mainly due to the wonders of dermatology and not because of being vegetarian, hehehe! no pun intended).

anyhow, we agreed that we will try to remove meat from our diet. for the meantime that we are starting, only red meat is not allowed (wahhh!!!!! good bye inihaw na liempo, barbecues and steaks!!!!) so we can still eat fish and other seafoods, and chicken, but only the breast part and without the skin ( geeze! why did i even think of agreeing to this?!?!?!!) Later on we'll try to be strictly vegetarian- ONLY VEGGIES (that is if i am still alive to even proceed with this stuff)

5 days.... no meat.... and still counting ;0)

lost in the parking

2007-05-30T09:43:00.000+08:00

yes, i was literally lost in the parking of the office. i usually park xyrille in the basement, especially during the summer, when the heat was simply untolerable. the basement has limited parking, and since i always arrive early in the office (i give my mother a ride every morning), i can avail of a slot in the basement. the other day, i arrived a little bit late than the usual, because i was caught up in traffic in guadalupe. so i parked outside. there is space in the office, and parking is really not a problem. however, i had to chose where there is some shade for xyrille.

in the middle of the day, i had to get something from the car. so i went out with my keys, but the moment i stepped foot on the area where i thought i parked the car, it was nowhere to be found. so i made a couple of steps to look for xyrille but can't find her!!!! i pressed on the alarm hoping that it will make sound and therefore help me find her (just like when you are looking for your phone and you ask somebody to ring it for you), but i just couldn't! (this is sooo silly of me!) so i went back to where i started, i looked again. Gosh! it took me a good 7 minutes to find her! hahaha! lost lost lost! ;-) and found ;-)

smile ;-)

2007-05-23T08:37:00.001+08:00

have you ever caught yourself smiling all day? or just giggle because a thought just popped in your head? and no matter how hard you try to "compose" yourself, the smile is just liked glued ( using the best adhesive in town!) on your face the whole day! your adrenaline is pumping and you get all excited about everything! you are extra patient with things that would normally raise your eyebrows to a 90-degree angle? you think that the sky is bluer than before, that life is a huge bed of beautiful roses (without the thorns) and you just simply glow! thanks Red Cape! You're more than a man in a silly red sheet ;-)

Level A! ;0)

2007-05-22T10:43:00.001+08:00

i seldom join badminton tournaments. although i am a self-confessed badminton addict, i am not very keen on tournaments. (kasi naman mahal ng tournament fees! ; ( they usualy cost 700 and up) but to have some competitive spirit in the game, i usually join dual meets with other companies or in-house tournaments.

last may 5, i joined the mixed doubles tournament of the adb badminton club. i have a constant mixed doubles partner edwin. we have played together during past dual meets and in house tournaments. we know each other's game, and if i may say, we have a good rapport in the court. we usually play side by side, because i am not comfortable in a front-back game(especially when i am in the front! though i am trying to practice more to be in the front now).

edwin and i are usually leveled "B" during tournaments. this time however, we were leveled "A". Does that mean we improved as a pair? or that there was misleveling? hehehe! whatever, i just feel good that once in my badminton addiction, i was leveled A. ;-) and below is a certificate to prove! hahaha!

and then superman landed

2007-05-15T16:55:00.000+08:00

the usual "she looks at him, he looks at her"... constantly crossing each other in the hallways of the maze ... the unexpected interaction over a glass of water, toasted bread with butter and coffee ... the exchange of good morning... the stare on the ID... the offering of the infamous nickname if only to hide the real name... the apology on the email that went to become an all afternoon exchange of wit and smileys... the dreaded question of "why would you want to know my name?".... the confession... the flattery.... and the invitation for coffee... the man of steel landed my way ;0)

curly club/cult ;0)

2007-04-20T14:15:00.000+08:00

it started with simple "kantiyawan" among the girls in the office... but some did try and then it went on and on and on ;0)

two of my office mates leikhs and acoi started it all. they had their hair permed. they said it was out of the blue. a visit to the parlor, i suddent thought and voila... curls curls curls!!! ;0)

i used to put my hair in a bun, simply because i don't have anything to do with my hair and i don't have the time to style in and put on a hairdo. after releasing the bun, wave are formed on my hair. acoi noticed that it looked good and she convinced me to have it permed. I had long straight hair when i was a kid (i have to thank my late lola for treating my hair every week, as in every week with coconut oil). but then my father wanted me to have curly hair, and so he made me a model of Wella (this is the popular curling chemical during my younger days) and had me permed for like 4 times!!! after that nagtampo na ang buhok ko. it developed waves wherever it felt like growing waves. the strands of my hair were like at war with each other, because they hate being side by side together. in short, my hair was "buhaghag" as they term in.

in my lifetime, i have had my hair straigthen for like 3 times. i never bought the idea of rebonding because i think this is too harsh for the hair. the last relax i have for my hair was last year, and i just think it is too high maintenance for me (tamad tlga ako mag ayos!)

and so my officemates convinced me to try the digital perming. and so one day, after a lot of contemplation, i joined the cult, i mean the club. ;) i was actually nervous because i didn't know what to expect, and i just can't have any idea how it will look like. but after i saw the result, i simply love it!!! not to mention the fact that i don't have to comb it every now and then. i also don't have that heavy feeling on my head after taking a bath. (i used to have this feeling when i had my hair relaxed). I do my hair in no time and without exerting any effort ;0)

after seeing my curls, two my officemates were "inspired" to join the club.. and then the official count was 7 permed girls! the curl varied from one lady to another, and the best part of it is it suited each of the ladies. so here we are, all the curly girls in the office.... some are naturally curled and the others have to thank technology for their curls. nonetheless, we love our curls! ;0)

lost article

2007-04-09T10:24:00.000+08:00

have you ever read an old letter / article you wrote way back? and then you ask yourself "did i really write this?" i was trying to get rid of old unused files in my computer because it is due for replacement. as i was opening up files, i came across this article i wrote i think two years ago. it was actually a reaction to an article written by a first class cadet of PMA, when PMA was at the center of talks because of the oakwood mutiny. (most of the leaders of the mutiny were members of PMA class 95).

it is through this article that i realize how i miss my NDCP days, when we used to write speeches and policy briefs for the Secretary of National Defense ( i worked during the time of SND Orly Mercado and SND Angelo Reyes), when task forces were formed among the research officers to do a briefing on a flashpoint security issue with only two to three hours lead time, when we faced senior officers of the AFP to discuss the revolution in military affairs and the first thing they asked us was that if we have graduated from high school already (we used to go to interviews and panel discussions with our backpacks)

anyhow, i am posting that article here to reminisce my defense writing days ;0)

Reading the article was brought about by idle time. I was once a researcher at the National Defense College of the Philippines & my area of research was the military. I have dedicated many hours reading about the military. But the countless interaction (which i think was a privilege and honor for me) with the men and women in uniform were far more enriching than reading any book on the long gray line.

As apolitical as it may seem, the Armed Forces has been used by sectors of society to advance interests, which most often than not do not serve the purpose of the many men and women in uniform. The PMA has become subsequently the victim, the easiest organization to blame for the "failures" and anomalies in the AFP instead of being the refuge for better reforms.

I have always kept high respects to the graduates of PMA. Pardon to other officers who are not alumni of this institution, but one can tell the difference of the Ayers to other officers. Realistically however, there will always be bad seeds among the produce of this organization, but to generalize, will be a great injustice to PMA who have become instrumental in more ways than one, in molding the leaders of this nation.

I have pure admiration for the writer and the rest of the Cadet Corps who holds the same fervor of idealism and service for this country. I can only wish that the spirit and idealism of the writer will spread like grass fire not only to the whole of the cadet corps but to the rest of Armed Forces.

Here's one snappy salute to the men and women who continue to believe that the love for God, country and people is above the love for self, those who continue to willingly shed the last drop of his/her blood for peace and progress even with sometimes, sad to say, an ungrateful society.

seaside and singing

2007-03-16T10:18:00.000+08:00

last wednesday, we were in for a treat from KJL who just received his pay increase (congrats kuya!) it was the second time that the group was doin this seaside thing (i was absent the first time). seaside is ortigas' version of Dampa dining.

after class, we hurriedly went to seaside because, one, we were starving already and two, we didn't want to go home late since it was a working day. the girls were in charge of marketing and the boys went to secure a place for us. we bought crabs, shrimps, squid, lapu-lapu and tuna belly. (huling hapunan na ba to? ;0)

we had the head of the lapu-lapu for the sinigang sa misu (yummy nito!) and the body for the sweet and sour. We grilled the tuna belly, calamares for the squid, the shrimp with garlic and margarine, and the crabs with oyster sauce. (grrr! i am getting hungry doing this blog!!!) it was a sumptuous meal, (at lahat nakakamay kumain!) everything was perfectly cooked. we ravished the food in less than an hour. (we had to occasionally stop to breathe)

while eating, kjl requested the duo to play a song by his new found love kitchie nadal (her mom works in our office, and kitchi interviewed kjl for a school project... and the rest was history!) but i guess we were not impressed by how they sang the song, and so we decided to do our own version of the song by checking in a videoke place called contessa.

the initial plan was to have an hour for singing (just enough time to digest that dinner!) one picked out a song to be sung my another. rhoda picked my immortal for mia, mia picked wag na wag mong sasabihin for jimmi, jimmi picked we could be in love for rocel , rocel picked the glory of love for brye, brye picked i need you for me, and i picked maybe for rhoda. there were also some duets done. brye and i did cruisin, rhoda and jimmi did endless love (aruy!) we had so much fun singing the one hour plan turned to 3 hours of concert! ;0)

We went home at around 2:00am and i reached home at 2:30 since i was designated as the school bus driver (which i really don't mind at all) The following day, everybody was still ecstatic about the blast we had the night before, but there were minor complaints of voice not functioning very well (ayan kasi, ayaw tumigil sa kakanta last night!), two hours of sleep (that's me!!!! grrr that color coding!) and consciousness floating somewhere out there ;0) til our next pig out, i mean dine out and concert! ;0)

cute pics

2007-03-02T09:53:00.000+08:00

such a porn star displaying her (toot toot!) while playing by herself

because

obi's sleeping. ;0)

going back to cooking

2007-03-01T09:50:00.000+08:00

i started early in the kitchen. i remember since grade 3, i stay in the kitchen to see how my father cooks (yup, may father is the cook of the family, and he cooks better, far better than my mother, no pun intended mama!) i am usually given the task to saute or to mix the food being cooked. I also watched cooking shows, i remember the Cooking it up with Nora show ( i think it was aired during Saturdays) that later became Cooking it up with the Daza's. I also grew up watching that amazing Chinese woman who has a cooking show at Channel 9 (does anybody remember that show?). Though i did not understand anything she says, i enjoyed watching her cook, especially seeing that hot wok she was cooking on and how she mixes water with constarch to make the sauce thick. i also remember watching Del Monte Kitchenomics at Eat Bulaga hosted by Chiqui Hollman, and later Coney Reyes and still later Maricel Laxa. i am just not sure if the show still has this segment. now, i still enjoy watching cooking shows (thanks to the lifestyle channel)- the Iron Chef America, Everyday Italian, 30 Minutes Meal with Rachel Ray, Food 911, Boy meets Grill, Wolfgang Puck's Cooking Class, Tyler's Ultimate, Molto Mario, and on local channel, the Katogue on Qtv. by grade 5, i was cooking already. i remember cooking basic dishes like sauted vegetables, anything fried - chicken, fish, pork. as i grew older, i tried to cook more "complicated" menu, with the help of my father.

During college, I am the usual cook everytime we have activities that require food. This is not because i am a good cook but because of budget constraints (and there was no one who wants to take on this task). It's much cheaper to prepare food by yourself. (it's tiring nga lang) So i cooked during our org's anniversary, bar operations for the bar ops team, etc. sometimes, my orgmates go to our house and i cook food for them. When i started working, i seldom cook, because my father usually cooks and at the that time,we have household help who prepare food for us.

i regained interest in cooking when i became active in the blogosphere. I came across food bloggers (c/o candice's awesome foodies link, like market manila . btw, candice too has some nice foodies on her entries ) who share recipes, put on some pictures (which usually make me starve!) review and rate food. from appetizers to main courses to desserts, you name it, and they have it. it just interests me to read their entries (though i had to suffer from starving and salivating while reading them)

Since my father moved to the province, it's only me and my mother at home. Somethimes she doesn't cook anymore because it'll only be for the two of us (thank God for take outs!) and/or sometimes, she's too tired from work to cook. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to go back to cooking. so last weekend, armed with ideas from food bloggers, i planned our menu for one week. i listed down the ingredients i will need and my mother went to the market to get them for me. i designed the menu in such a way that it can be cooked the night before and be reheated the next day for dinner, without spoiling of course. So sunday night, i prepared some food. i cooked adobo (for monday, so that when my mom comes home after work, she doesn't need to cook anymore, and all she has to do is to reheat it) i also marinated the pork steak (i got so inspired by the pork steak of market man so i thought i had to make one) On tuesday, I cooked fried rice for dinner (the one with egg, shrimp and luncheon meat). Since i had some left overs, i brought it to work yesterday and my friend Rhoda, sampled it, and she liked it (Yipee!) Last night's dinner was Paksiw na Bangus, c/o my mother. For tonight, we will have the pork steak. I cooked it last night and brought some today to work to let my friends taste it. again they liked it (they really are my friends!, hehehe!) Now that's some inspiration to cook some more! Tomorrow, i will be preparing fried chicken, and now i have to prepare extra for Brye, Rocel and Rhoda (because of Brye's insistence). What I usually do with the chicken is to steam it with butter, garlic and other herbs after marinating them. after steaming, i let it cool for while, quote with some flour and then fry it. (well, i shall see the verdict for this tomorrow).

i am just thankful for the food bloggers for writing so passionately about food and cooking that it inspired me to cook. Next time, i will try to post pics too of the food i prepared. You just have to bear with my pics as i am only armed with 2 megapixel celfone camera. Bon Appetit! ;0)

changing lifestyle

2007-03-01T07:45:00.000+08:00

since i got my babies, there has been changes in my lifestyle, (actually including my mother's). i really thought that taking care of two pups is not a joke, it's a huge responsibility. i knew it will require time, effort and yes, money. that's why a lot of contemplation was done before i decided to become a mother to these two angels.

i used to not care what time i'm going home. i didn't mind accommodating requests from friends for dinner, badminton games, drink or coffee after office or during weekends. i used to just eat and watch endless tv (til i fall asleep) everytime i come home from work, class. i used to not clean the house, at least on a regular basis, but i do, i really do!) in short, i had the time of my life! ;0) i did what i wanted to do at my own time and pace. but something happened when Yada and Obi became part of the family.

i used to sleep at around 2 or 3am. now, i am knocked down at 1 or 12 or even early. now, there are nights i miss the news because i fell asleep na (this is the only thing i do religiously, watch the news before i sleep) i am not sure if this is because i am tired (of cleaning the house and playing with Yada and Obi) or i am just anticipating the early wake up call the next day. and speaking of early , now i wake up earlier than i used to, since i have to give them breakfast and prepare their lunch. i also have to clean the mess they did during the night.

now, i easily say no to some invites after work (sometimes i asked them to go to my place na lang) so i can be home early for their dinner and to bring Obi out to poop. (Yada doesn't like the streets, so everytime we go out with Obi, I carry her) now, i clean the house almost everyday to make sure it doesn't stink with their pees and poops. (i think they are too young to be pressured to toilet training ;0) now, rags and domex are my best friends! i became more patient because of their playfullness (i tell you, they can really tear the house down and yes! they are now officially playmates! i'll try to make another entry on this) they tear up newspapers, pull the rug from one place to another. now, i make sure that everything is in order.

i welcome these changes with a smile. It is indeed tiring sometimes, doing all these chores and adjustments for them. But it's nothing compared to the joy these two babies bring to my heart (*wink)

my pups

2007-02-23T08:27:00.000+08:00

a month ago, i decided to adopt a puppy. a professional staff here in the office is giving out puppies on a regular basis. he takes care of more than a hundred dogs which he usually breed for competition.

i got lucky to be a recepient of one puppy. He is a three month old
basenji. I named him OBI, short for OBIWANKENOBI of Starwars. Starwars was showing on cable tv when i got OBI, thus the name ;0)

We actually lost OBI while he was staying with a friend of mine. but luckily, we recovered him and i brought him home. OBI was really active. when we reached home, he just ran and ran around the house, and he just couldn't contain himself. He is also very playful. If he's trying to get attention, he climbs up my shoulder and bites my hair (kulit di ba?)

I took this picture of OBI during one of those rare moments he was calm ;0)

Last night, i had to put him on a leash because he's tearing our house down (pero love ka pa rin namin OBI) and he pees everywhere! (parang tamang tambay sa kalye, no pun intended street boys!) that's why i had to contain him. (i also learned from Jai Rodriguez of Queer Eye that dogs should be put on a leash to "regulate" behavior) He really doesn't like being on a leash. He struggles by biting the leash, going round and round (which does more trouble for him as he ends up entangled in the leash).

Last Wednesday, i got my second puppy. i sort of "applied" to be a mom (again) to another puppy when a friend of mine Candice mentioned she was giving up some pups for adoption. Last Monday, i got the news that i "passed the screening" to be a mother to one of her pups (Yipee! thanks again Candice!) So last Wednesday, after class, i fetched my new daughter. I instantly fell in love with her. She was sssssoooooooooo cute!! She wiggled her tail when i held her in my arms. I named her YADA (after Master Yoda of Starwars. I'm actually thinking of getting another pup, a pitbull perhaps, and i will call him Darth or Vader ;0 ) does it look like i'm building an empire? ;0)

isn't she a charmer? ;0)

YADA is "low maintenance". She doesn't run around that much (except when she's running away from OBI). But she has some appetite! YADA actually eats more than OBI does.

The first time they met, OBI was just wrestling YADA. So i had to hold her to keep OBI away. But they are slowly learning to be playmates. Now that OBI is on a leash, YADA does her vengeance. She barks at OBI, and i can see that OBI is quite intimidated (atta girl YADA!), OBI doesn't bark eh.

these two pups are keeping my hands full these days. I have to feed them, play with them, cuddle them, scold them as needed. Now i get up in the morning earlier than before, as i had to give them breakfast and prepare them lunch (mommy-ing mommy ba? hehehe!) and sleep late coz i have to spend quality time with them. but i really don't mind. it's really so fun having them around. Welcome to the family OBI and YADA!

hot air balloon part 2

2007-02-20T09:13:00.000+08:00

as mentioned in previous post, we stayed at blue bianco. it was one of those quarters of the US service men which was transformed into a hotel when the Philippine government kicked Uncle Sam's a** and got control of these bases (the same goes with subic). It was really ordinary, but good for the price: 2 big beds, a tv and an aircon, quite big dining and living area and a toilet and bath. It was nothing fancy, it was really ok for the price. the only complain i have about it is that it had low water pressure, and the heater was not working.

i had a good night rest ( i must have been tired of driving) i had to be the first to get up (as usual!) as i take the longest bath time (this was according to the survey we did before calling it a night) i had long been awake when jimmi got off the bed, and the first thing that he did, was to take a picture of us!!! but luckily for me, i was able to hide under the sheets when he was taking picture, hehehe!

as a gentleman, (hehehe) i allowed jimmi to take a bath first. as i was in the mood for a little stretching. while waiting on them to finish, i went down to check on the car. it was sooo cold outside! mas malamig pa sa room namin na may aircon! no wonder gen advised us the night before to bring some jacket.

we hurriedly left blue bianco to catch the take off. on the way, we saw some balloons airborne already. there were so many people and there was heavy traffic on entrance. we can actually feel the festive mood already. we had to park far away from the entrance, as there were really many vehicles. (i haven't seen that many cars!) we had to walk a good 50 meters from where we parked to the entrance.

jimmi already started clicking his camera and we willingly posed for him ;0) i don't know, but the mere sight of the balloons delighted us ( parang ngayon lang nakakita ng hot air balloons noh!) the size and the colors i guess woke the child in us, promise! nakakaaliw sila tingnan!

after having breakfast, we walked around the area, and there sooo many people, from all walks of life. there were families, friends, riders (with those big bikes and leather suits!), men from the uniformed service, old, young! it was just a huge celebration. and like everybody's clicking their cameras to capture the fun of it all! many people posed beside the planes and choppers displayed by the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Navy.

we settled to one place and see the acrobatic airplanes and all we could do is watch in awe and applause for the great acts!!! there were also some skydivers who had their colorful parachutes on. what a sight to see! we didn't mind the pain in the neck and the nape when we watched the skydivers and the paragliders go!

the program was really packed! there was activity after activity. the people continued to pour in. however, we decided to go back to blue bianco because we had to check out. the sun is now up, and there was scorching heat when we left the festival area to get to the car. and when we we're back at blue bianco, we had to freshen up as it was really hot outside.

while i was waiting for them to settle our bill, i had the biggest suprise! i saw my long lost daddy (as in father figure ha!) of the airforce, Gen. Oban! the last time i saw him, he was a Lieutenant Colonel, and it's only during the festival that i saw him again, and now his a one-star General! (yes! it was that long!) we had a short chat as he was also hurrying up because some VIP from the Air Force and the AFP was going to arrive and as a matter of protocol, he has to receive them. (boy, am i glad to see this brilliant man again!)

we went to lunch at SM Clark and did some shopping (hindi ako, sila lang, hehehe!) and since we thought it will still be hot in the festival area, we decided to see the PX goods shop. we went to Puregold and bought some chocolates and a whole lot of Spam (right rocel? hehehe!) and then we were off to the show again. we waited for the night glow part as the balloons will light up as it gets darks, and when we saw it, it was worth the wait. (i will try to post the video of the night glow in my next post).

after the night glow, we thanked Gen for the help he did, and we had dinner at El Mexicano. the food was great and cheap! ;0) after a sumptuous meal, we were off to manila.

til the 12th hot air balloon festival!

philippine products on Queer Eye

2007-02-13T15:51:00.000+08:00

last night, i was watching the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as i was trying to make myself sleepy. I have always loved watching them, because of their great ideas about "make overs" and the characters... they are simply hilarious!

Last night's episode was about an african american guy who has a big event in his life. he was about to introduce her girlfriend to his godmother. as the guy said (i think his name was reuben, i'm not sure) two of the most important women in my life were about to meet! (naks! how sweet!)

Anyhow, each gay has a chance to give his tips to reuben. the first was tom felicia whose expertise is on interior designing (sssooooobbbbbrraang galing niya promise!) since reuben had an "ethnic" side, he was brought by tom to a place selling "ethnic" furnitures. as he was describing each furniture to reuben, tom pointed to a very nice dark wooden table and tom said it was from "the philippines!" galing di ba? and then he went on to show reuben some more stuffs from our country. he showed him the people chair ( i am not sure if this is how tom termed it). it was initially a wooden sculpture of a man ( i think this is the equivalent of our anito statue) turned into a chair. then, tom showed some fish baskets made to be hanging lamps, also from the philippines!!!

i really felt good and proud, having to see products from our country appreciated by other parts of the world (not to mention the fact that it was appreciated by a "celebrity"). this is a proof that the Philippines is world class! proud to be pinoy! ;0)

11th hot air balloon part 1

2007-02-12T14:20:00.000+08:00

kuya jimmi posted this event a long time ago, but it was only 2 weeks before the event that the group finally decided to give it a go. we were 6 in the group, me, rocel, mia, rhoda, brye and jimmi. but survey said brye won't be able to come because of prior engagement (daw! ;0)

i called up gen, a friend from the airforce to arrange for our billeting. he was kind enough to reserve a room for us at blue bianco (more about blue bianco on part 2) and because he sponsored us, we got a good discount for the room.

i took a leave friday to attend to personal stuff before i went on a little get away during the weekend. i had to make sure that the house was in order before i left. i picked up the rest of the gang at the office after going through hell traffic! i travelled 1 and a half hours from manila to ortigas!!!! (para na kong nagpunta ng clark nun ah!)

anyhow, after suffering from traffic, i reached ADB (thank God!) i grabbed a quick bite and we're off to Clark. we were all excited about this activity, as it was our first "official" out of town gimik as a group (though we weren't complete. last minute, mia had to back out of the trip because she wasn't feeling well) it was a surprisingly smooth drive from along edsa and of course NLEX.

we we're planning to gas up at shell station along nlex, and to have dinner there as well. unfortunately, i guess because i was enjoying the smooth drive and the chat, we missed the shell station! (wah!) when i saw the shell station on my right, i was in the left most lane! and it would be a disaster if i even tried changing lanes! my first concern was the gas i had, kung aabot ba kami ng clark if there was no other gas station along the way, or magtutulak na kami to reach clark! hehehe. but i assured my passengers that we can reach clark without the scenario of pushing the car to reach there ;0) and so we continued the drive. at san simon, we saw a total gas station and we decided to gas up, even just for a little (as i usually gas up at shell), just to make sure we reach clark by riding a car and not pushing it, hehehe.

i think the gas station was fairly new, some of the establishments were still under construction and/or were still putting some finishing touches. as we were deciding where to eat, we saw an andok's restaurant. di ba the andok's that we usually have here in manila are take out counters only? but this one's a "full-blown" dine in resto! ang galing! sayang nga lang we didn't eat there as they opted for tapa king.

so we ended up gasing at total san simon and we decided to have dinner there. it was interesting because we saw an andok's resto there (yes! as in pwedeng mag dine in!) they usually have take out counters lang in manila. but we decided to eat at tapa king. after dinner, we headed to clark. we exited angeles and asked for directions from the toll guy, he just said just turn right and to straight. and that's what i did. thank God for signages we were able to find our way to clark.

from the road, we saw lots of tents in the festival area, but we decided to check in first. we met up with gen late in the evening, as he was still in the festival. he asked us to go to Coffee Overdose (which i had a hard time finding: it's either i was so bad with directions or that gen was not good giving them- later we found out that it was more of the latter! hehehe!)

it was a long time since i last saw gen (the last time was when i was still working at the little palace by the river and he was still aide to CSAFP). we brought him an oreo cheesecake from the ADB cafeteria as a token of our appreciation. we discussed what to expect from the festival. he asked us to be early in the venue so we can see the balloon take off. and so at 12, we called he a night. and before gen left, he gave me a free ticket for the show! yipee! thanks gen!

we headed back to our hotel with a warning from kuya jimmi that we should not sleep early as he was going to take our pictures. unfortunately, he was the first(!) to sleep, now who's picture was taken? hehehe

huli ka! .... really?

2007-02-07T15:40:00.000+08:00

last night, i thought i will make history. i thought i will remember 6 february as my first traffic violation. I just came from the in house tournament in the office, left at 9:00PM. i have this route for home - greenhills-wilson-san juan-erap bridge-home. but i noticed that my right wheel at the back needed some air. i checked on the gas station in the office for some air, but unfortunately it was closed already. so on the way home, i took a little re-routing. instead of turning left going to wilson, i went straight to pass by a gas station.

i was at the intersection of wilson and ortigas, i was following a cargo truck (that was quite long). the light turned green and so i went ahead. there was some traffic in the area, and when the light turned yellow, i was in the middle of the intersection. so i had no choice but to go straight rather than stopping in the middle of the intersection or backing up (i think the former was the wiser thing to do) and then there it was, behold! the blue-uniformed man, who came out of nowhere signaling me to stop! and so i stopped, put down my window and said my most "innocent" "yes sir?" he said that the light was already red and that i beat the light. calmly, i said no and that it turned yellow while i was already in the middle of the intersection, and that i had not much of a choice but to go. he insisted that it was already red, but i stood my ground (at this point, i was actually thinking of who to call if worse comes to worst!) and then he asked for my license. i gave my license to the MMDA but i reiterated that i did not beat the red light. He said that upon confiscation of my license, i will have to pay at Metrobank so i can claim it back. Calmly (i was surprisingly calm! really!!!) i again told him that it turned yellow when i was in the middle of the intersection. He said that i can contest what he thought was my violation. so i replied to him that i will really contest because i was pretty sure of where i stand. so after exchanging our views on the alleged violation, he gave up. he handed me my license back and said to be careful... his exact words were "ingat na lang kayo ma'am, may banggaan na po kasi kanina" and i said thank you sir.

after leaving the "scene of the crime" , i told myself was it really my ability to argue with him that got me off the hook or was it because i was wearing shorts at that time? hehehe! whatever that is, i am sure glad i still didn't make that part of my driving history where i am caught with a traffic violation ;0)

seeing candra & tony play

2007-01-29T09:49:00.000+08:00

it was a saturday afternoon. i was preparing for my usual badminton game in pasig. and as i was dressing up, i was watching the live telecast of the korean open. before i took a bath, i watched the mixed doubles and the ladies doubles semi-finals match. both won by china. the commentator announced that the next game was the men's doubles... and she announced that indonesia is up against korea. i was actually curious who's the team from indonesia... and then she said those magical names... candra wijaya and tony gunawan!!! i literally screamed in excitement! i watched these two play (courtesy of youtube), and they were just phenomenal!

as a pair, candra and tony (naks! first name basis! close ko sila!) won gold at the 2000 sydney olympics. after that, they seperated because they were both given different partners. i don't know, but when i watched them play against each other, i felt sad, (naks! affected tlga ko noh!) because i thought they should've been partners.

later on, tony left indonesia with his wife and migrated to US. He continued to play and was representing US. he paired off with bach, a vietnamese-american. candra continued to play for indonesia with sigit budiarto. and if i am not mistaken, they got to play against each other at the world championship, and it was won by US.

after candra retired from the national team of indonesia, he reunited with tony and joined tournaments representing US (by Tony) and Indonesia (by Candra). Last year, they bagged the championship crown at the Korean Open. This year at eh semis, they bowed down to the young Koreans.

It was awesome watching them, they have not lost their magic touch in terms of defense (best i have seen so far, besides that of Taufik of course!), their smashes, they dropshots. I was actually in a dilemma when i was watching them. i have longed for this match, to see these two play again as partners (you can actually see the bond they have in the court), but on the other hand, i had to go already to pick up somebody for my badminton game (arghh!!!!) i left after finishing the 1st set.

i hoped against hope for a replay of the game. ( did i tell you guys that my body clock wakes me up anytime between 2-3 am just to check on solar sports if there's a re-run, baddict!) and just this morning (30 january), as i was dressing up for work, there it was!!! the replay of the game (only the 3rd set though) and this time, i stayed to watch (di baleng ma-late sa office! hehehe! bibilisan ko na lang magmaneho! hehehe!) and though they lost, i still enjoyed seeing them again. there's actually a request from Candra and Tony to the Olympic Committee and the National Badminton Team of Indonesia ( i think) to allow them to play together to represent Indonesia at the Beijing Olympics. Wow! that's something i will definitely look forward to! ;0)

polsci peyups peeps

2007-01-26T14:24:00.000+08:00

last january 17, i attended a reunion of the polsci block of UP batch 96. though this is not my block, i got invited because i was close to them. most of the members of this block are my orgmates and sorority sisters and fraternity brothers. i have long been invited to join their get together, but it was only last jan. 17 that i got to attend. thank goodness that the reunion was set near my area, and though it was a wednesday, (i have class on wednesdays) i said yes to the invitation.

i met them at superbowl after my class. i have not seen most of them in years!!! and vise versa. they were unanimous in saying that i lost weight, that i was thin (di nakakaflatter ang comment na to ha, hehehe) and i replied that i was not thin, they just gained weight, hehehe.

it was great to see these people again, i grew up and survived UP with this people. i closely worked with some of them during my volunteer work at the student council, and these people were also with me during my campaign when i ran for CAS Student Council Chairperson ( i lost the election to Mr. E, who some said was gay... hay! they voted for him, i guess the UP Constituency was not ready for a Thai-created lady to run student affairs, hehehe! joke! )

it was great reminiscing college days. i was with the most "notorious" people in school, people who were termed as "latak", people who go to school with only a ballpen and a pack of cigarette on hand, wearing white shirt, shorts (yung 3 for 100 ng SM) and our ever reliable mojos, people who were master crammers, who would rather go to Mrs. Wongs (inuman to sa old robinson's place) than attend a class, who would use the fire exit to go to class, who takes a philosophy midterm exam after having a debate with the "pilosopo" of the tambayan (and mind you, they were able to ace the exams), people who at first sight would let you ask yourself "estudyante ba to" or worst, "matapos kaya tong mga to ng kolehiyo", people who take their snack by collecting coins from the people in campus ( o yes, kahit hindi nila kakilala!), people who treated me as if lalaki din ako, hehehe! but these were the same people who are now well-established in their chosen field, some of them are laywers already, and some are finished and/or still pursuing their masters. (who would have thought, may future pala kami? hehehe!)

i hope to see them again. it was great touching base with my roots.... tough steels forged in the hottest furnace ;0) nice to see you all! sa uulitin!

2007-01-25T17:01:00.000+08:00

you're one of the nicest and sweetest girls i know...

happy birthday didi!

because of driving....

2007-01-10T09:07:00.000+08:00

this shall be my first attempt to go back to blogging. Gosh! it has been awhile.i know i lost a lot of interesting things to write about ( i am hoping against hope that i will "recover" them in time (sigh)

i grew up in a time where there was an increasing number of female drivers. And so i asked my parents if i can take driving lessons ( this is actually a way to get my frustration out, kasi di ako marunong mag bike, kaya magmamaneho ng lang ako ng kotse! hehehe!)i was in college when i took up "formal" driving lessons at A1. and as far as i remember, i didn't enjoy it... sungit kasi nung instructor! hmp! not to mention the fact that some drivers honked on me and some even drove their vehicles close, in fact too close to me coz they know i am a student driver. ( driving schools put a sign at the back of the vehicles, announcing to the whole driving and traffick system of the philippines that you are a student driver!)but nevertheless, i learned the basics of driving.

after that, i never got the chance to really drive. There were some occasional trial driving (often times in the province) but i wasn't able to pursue it (kasi naman, most often than not, my father and brother were using the car... hay dapat natuto na lang tlga ako mag bike, hehehe!)

but my circumstances now pushed me to drive and thank God for that masungit na instructor of A1 and the tips from my friends, i am now driving ( but i always disclaim i am no pro!)

the more interesting part of driving is not the driving itself, but the learnings and realizations i get whenever i drive. i learned how bad our roads are ( sabi ni bok dapat daw i complain ko to kay PGMA, as if!)... i learned that there are sooo many undisciplined drivers in the Philippines (sana later in my driving life, di ako masama dito, hehehe!) especially those of the PUVs, buses who use their size as their might on the road, kahit anong busina or ilaw mo sa kanila, deadma sila!) jeeps and taxis who stop in the middle of the road to get/negotiate (in the case of taxis) with passengers. [i can forego of those who cut me, but my gulay! those taxis and jeep who stop in the middle of the road are simply unforgivable and very inconsiderate!!!] i also learned that motorcycles are the real KINGS of the road - they cut you from nowhere, they always stay in the middle of the road, they swerve from one lane to the other without any warning, and when there's a collision with them, you're the one at fault! grrr!

but nonetheless, there's still a positive side of driving, it's very empowering (sorry for the somewhat political term) especially for women. now, i can go wherever and whenever i want to go (mahal nga lang ng gas, hehehe!) it's also a test and training for having much much patience, especially during traffic and my encounters with not so nice drivers ;0) we have nice roads din naman, although not to many, sa NLEX at Zambales pa lang ako natutuwa ;0)

i look forward to driving. every chance to drive is a new learning experience for an amateur driver like me. here's to more driving adventures xyrille and more driving blogs! ;0)

missing my blogs

2006-12-18T13:25:00.000+08:00

i miss blogging...it's been more than a month since my last entry ;( i have lots of things to blog about, but i am afraid i am slowly losing the special points of my stories, hay!!! hopefully not!

funny little becky!

2006-11-17T11:17:00.000+08:00

i have sent this to my friends thru the email, but i just can't stop laughing because of this audio. i disturbed my ever helpful sis, who's miles away just to teach me to upload this in my blog (thanks so much sis meeyah! what will i do without you, mwah!!!!). listen and enjoy laughing! ;0)

blog-sary

2006-11-14T13:41:00.000+08:00

i was exploring my blogspot, wondering if i am going to make some changes, and then i noticed that it has been a year since i started blogging. Actually, when i checked, it was last month when i should have "celebrated" my first anniversary. As i looked at the archives, i found out that after the first entry, it took me one month to do another one, and after that, the next entry was March 2006, and so on. There were months that i had no entry, and when i got lucky, i had one entry (sigh)

It was during September, when i resurrected myself to blogging, and since then, i think i did quite alright in updating entries (c'mon guys, give this to me, from a no-entry-in-a-month to one-entry-in-a-month, i made progress!) I gave it a new look, tried to make as much entries as possible, learned how to put images, and now videos! yehey! (thanks to my very helpful friends!)

i've also read many blogs. The first blog i read was that of the polsci block batch 96 of UP Manila, beyondfencing. I was even part of the blog, but i never contributed to the site (wala tlga kong kwentang blogger). I also came across ronibats, an INTARMED student of UP who is a prolific writer on his experiences as a med student. then i came across cofibean who, to use his words "Certified glitterati from Makati. A commoner of all the chichi places. Simply suave and primo. The envy of many. Adonishingly fantasmo... Yep. That's me pare. Motto: "Make Poverty History!" -- I hate the baho masa / orcs. Obliterate them all!"! Ganda di ba? This is where i read the most nastiest (yup, i exaggerated to emphasize a point, try to read it and you'll understand why i had to make a double superlative) comments in the blogosphere. Right now, i have lost count of the many blogs i have read.

The information in blogs are just endless. Blogs give ideas on what products to use (especially kikay products), where to go, what to eat, what to order, how much is the food. They also allow the readers to take a peek in the heart and soul of people as they write their experiences and the various events in their life, however big or small - heart aches, happy moments, wild thoughts, angst in life. ( a lot of people use blogging as a therapy) Blogging is also an avenue to meet people and expand the network of friends, business partners, or sometimes even foes! (hehehe!)

hay, after one year, i am just happy that i am able to blog more often now and i am able to read very informative, insightful and funny blogs. it showed me how big the world is, and it's just waiting for me to explore, that there's so many things to do, many places to go and many people to meet! ah.... La Vita e Bella!

I hope someday, my children, and my children's children will get to read these entries so they can say "Granny had nothing to do before!" Hehehe! Just kidding! Here's to more years of blogging!!! Cheers!

successful video posting

2006-11-14T12:07:00.000+08:00

Yes! Yes! Yes! i have successfully posted a video of Taufik in my blog. see, i started the entry november 6 and just finished it today (pardon my ignorance please! wink!) Thanks so much candice for teaching me! You're a life-saver :0)

help!

2006-11-13T10:44:00.000+08:00

i have been keeping an entry on my fondness to Taufik (yes, it's just never-ending!) but can't seem to finish it. I wanted to post a video i found from youtube on his defensive move during the 2006 IBF World Championship in Madrid where he was up against Cheng Hung of China (unfortunately, Taufik lost this game 2 sets to 1 (sob!) but it was a great match).

So, if there's anyone out there who's willing to help an amateur blogger, i'd really appreaciate it! thanks in advance! ;0)

the defensive taufik

2006-11-07T10:26:00.000+08:00

i am a self-confessed badminton addict. i am not only hooked to playing the game, but watching it too. lately, i think i can not over-emphasize my "fondness" to taufik hidayat (fondness? i love him! hahaha!) from my computer, celfone wall paper to friendster picture to blog entries, he's definitely there.

this fondness reached a different level. I am now in search of any thing about him, videos of his games, photos, badminton shirts with his name on it ( am a fan!). I also learned that he launched a book on his biography, but was not available in English. (Kuya Jimmi, help on the translation please!) Likewise, in my search, i came across youtube (thanks Carl for the suggestion!) There were some videos of Taufik's games as well as those of other badminton players. However, after looking at all the list, i can't find his Athens Olympics games where Taufik won the Gold. I actually came across ahtat who uploaded many badminton videos. i actually wrote him and inquired about the athens videos, but he has not replied yet (sob) hopefully, he'll respond to my query and hopefully he has those videos.

anyhow, here's a video showing the great defense move of taufik where he defended a smash by cheng hung. according to the commentator, it was "outrageous" and "naughty" ;0)

happy birthday ysabel!

2006-11-06T15:52:00.000+08:00

To our one and only Ysabel...
hApPy BiRtHdAy!

We love you very much!
May you grow to be one fine lady and we will always be here for you.

a little tribute to my mama

2006-10-30T22:06:00.000+08:00

My mother and i were never close. i remember having World War III sessions in department stores when we used to shop together (this was during my younger days, now we learned our lesson, we never shop together ;0) and it always seemed that there was this distance between us.

when i was a kid, i remember my mama visiting me at the province. life was hard for my parents then who were both working. they could not afford to bring me to Manila when i was a baby. that's why they had to leave me with my lola in the province. she visited me every now and then. when she was supposed to go back to Manila, i remember my lola had to bring me somewhere else so that i won't see and stop her from leaving.

i went to manila when i had to go to school already. but my mom became a stranger to me. i guess its because we spent many years apart, not to mention the fact that my brother always had the "most favored nation clause".

today is the birthday of my mother and i want pay tribute and tell her things.

to you mama, these are the things i don't' tell you often or that i don't tell you at all, but this is how i feel. i am grateful that you have brought me to life (ikaw pala ang may kasalanan kung bakit may isang pasaway sa mundo, mwah!). i admire you because you were not only the light of our family, but together with papa, you were also our cornerstone. you endured many hours at work and less with us because you wanted us to be financially stable. you endured many heartaches, (some of which i was personally responsible for, and for that i am TRULY sorry), but you never gave up and just kept on going. i admire your strength and faith in God, you taught me to go back to Him, and to always trust in Him during my most difficult times. You have always wanted to shelter me and kuya's life from any harm, but it's just that there are lessons in life we need to learn by ourselves.

i know we may never "recover" the lost times, we may never be really close the way i wish we could/would be, we may still disagree with a lot of things, you may not seem to say the right words to me whenever i seek your advice, you may favor kuya more than you favor me, we may still not understand each other, but i love you no less.

Happy birthday mama! Mahal na mahal kita!

one more time for Taufik

2006-10-27T09:50:00.000+08:00

ok ok, i got excited with my previous post, that out of nowhere, i just placed his pics and put some caption on it and a wishful thinking that one day we'll meet. Hay! i am simply charmed by the guy!

My going gaga over Taufik started when i first saw him play in one of the European badminton tournaments (sorry can't remember) He was Indonesian, so i expected that he was really good. (i think badminton is considered the national sports of Indonesia and generally speaking, team Indonesia is always at the top of world badminton rankings) and he didn't disappointment me. from then on, i got hooked with him!

I always make it a point to watch his games, win or lose. The closest thing i ever got to watch him was during the last SEA games which was held in the Philippines. I was actually close to getting his autograph!!! kaso i chicken(ed) out!!! Kainis! si rey kasi ayaw ako samahan magpaka jologs, hehehe!. I was ready to be a fan tlga and was supposed to ask him to sign my shirt (the one i was wearing) but i simply chiken(ed) out! his presence was just too mesmerizing! hay, so i just took his picture when he was saying hi to us! (hay his sweet but killer smile!)

he plays with such smoothness, coolness and suave. He shows no emotion in court while playing, unless he contests a call (he even walked out of a game because of a bad call in the Hongkong Open) and at the end of a game, that is if he wins. (i remembered he cried during the Olympics where he won Gold! i wanted to hug him that time, as if!!!) But he can also be moody in the court. If he's not in the mood to play, he couldn't care less if he lose, but if he's in the mood, he is absolutely at his best (Note that he is still the only badminton player who won the Olympic Gold and World Badminton Championship back to back and he holds the fastest backhand smash! galing tlga ng love ko! aruy!)

anyhow, i didn't limit myself to watching his games (obsession na to!). i searched a couple of info about him. here are some:

Name : Taufik Hidayat
Nickname : Taufik (aka my love, bwahaha!)
Place & date of birth : Bandung, August 10th 1981 (See!!! magkasunod kami ng bday!!!)
Height/weight : 1.76 m/64 kg
Religion : Moslem
Hobby : Travelling and football
Right handed
World Ranking: (as of October) 16th ;(
Status: married (ok lang di ako selosa, joke!!! i am happy for him, hahaha!)

I'll stop the info here. if you want to read his interview, click on this (please pardon my love's (pinanindigan) grammar, he doesn't speak fluent english) link . You can also use google for searching infos about him. He also launched his biography but it's in their native tongue Bahasa(wah! bakit ba German ang pinag aralan kong language!!!) I think for now, i will settle for the autographed picture of him from my Indonesian classmate Jimmi. (Jimmi, you better get that signed picture or else i will smash you back to Indonesia, just kidding kuya!)

Anyhow, this is my little tribute to "my" Taufik Hidayat who never seems to stop captivating me and inspiring me to play badminton.

the one, the only Taufik Hidayat

2006-10-26T16:37:00.000+08:00

Taufik is the only player to have scooped back to back the Olympic and World championships titles. He was said to be a true talent and gift to the Badminton World.

with sweat and all, he still look so damn yummy ;0)

killer smile ;0)

one day... we will meet... hay wishful thinking!!!

fake coins

2006-10-24T15:16:00.000+08:00

it was in the news, i think a couple of days ago, that a businessman returned worth 40K of fake P10 coins after learning that a taiwanese involved in counterfeiting coins was arrested. the news also said that "it is easy to tell the genuine coin from the fake one. The former is composed of copper, nickel, aluminum and zinc. The latter is made solely from steel, which means it will stick to a magnet." (Source: "Trader surrenders fake coins" http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=53836)

and last night, during our management economics class, the topic of the fake coins came up. a classmate who was fond of collecting/keeping coins told us that she discovered she had P800 worth of fake P10 and P5 peso coins. She kept her coins in old (but washed and clean) stockings (parang lola, hehehe!) When she heard about the news, she got a magnet and tested the coins and voila! she got P800 worth of fake coins.

In class, while we were waiting for the reporting group to set up, she got her magnet and tested the coins that we had. My gulay, almost everybody in our table had a minimum of 1 fake coin in his/her wallet/coin purse! but it is however fortunate that only the 25cents coins were fake, which stuck to the magnet instantly!
As for me, I found one fake 25-cents in my purse!

Hay! lahat ng lang pinepeke, minsan pati feelings (wink * wink)

that gentle cool breeze

2006-10-20T09:32:00.000+08:00

i felt it the other night, but i was having second thoughts about it. I thought it was a residual feeling of being exposed to the aircon in the office for the whole day. i had to let another day reconfirm the feeling, and last night it did.... the cool breeze of the holiday season is here! ;0)

every year, it seems that preparations for Christmas is getting later and later. I remember during the more prosperous years of the Philippines, decorations are up by mid to the end of August. Buildings along Ayala lit the street as huge and bright Christmas decors were put in place. Christmas lights and decors were everywhere, in all sizes, shapes and colors! The Christmas carols were playing very often on the radio, products usually show Christmas versions of their commercials, tv networks came up with greetings. artists launched christmas albums. all of these happened on a much earlier time.

But it is almost the end of October and last night, according to "Igan" (host of saksi), it is 66 days before Christmas but it seems the spirit is still not there ( or is it just me? scrooge naman tlga ko noh, ay naku, possible topic ito for another entry) except i guess for the midnight madness at megamall and galeria last weekend for an early gift-shopping spree.

Is this because of economics? even the spirit of Christmas has depended on it? scrooge that i am, i am hoping this is not the case, though something tells me, it is quite like that (sigh)

well, i still enjoyed that cool breeze i felt last night, the subtle air that touched my face. I was looking forward to feeling it this morning, but it was the sun that kissed me... later tonight then cool breeze.

atty. jake padua?

2006-10-18T16:28:00.000+08:00

This morning i had a little chat with my boss about a case of a friend (Ms. M). A friend of mine was "kicked out of the office " because of a pending case in one of the MTCs in the metro. I already had a previous discussion about it with Ms M. according to her, the office found out about the case and gave her the option to resign or else be terminated. the office said that she had "misrepresentations", as she did not disclose about the case upon her employment in the office. she said that the case was bogus, and that she was sued because of what she knows about the office she was formerly working for. after her story, we were discussing her options.

I didn't want to speculate on the legal aspects of the case (as i am no laywer) but somehow i had an opinion about it. if she was being "fired" because of her non-disclosure of the case, she can claim that there was no malicious intent when she did not "tick the box", that there was no intent to cheat or not to disclose the said case against her, that it was due to pure carelessness (?) or to brutally put it, katangahang hindi nabanggit.

Second, if indeed she was guilty of something (at least as far as the office policies are concerned about disclosure), she still should have given proper treatment, the due process of law, the opportunity to defend herself on the accusations against her before rendering a judgment on her.

I shared this humble opinion with my boss who is a "legal expert". and he was surprised (tadu yun ah, kala ata eng eng ako, hehehe!) that i gave the exact right legal opinion about the case. he said that i had a lawyer mind (whatever that is!). anyhow, he asked me, actually he convinced me to take up law (no way! baka maging teacher ko pa sya noh! ;0)

I remember my mother and brother telling me that indeed i should take up law, as i always have a way of arguing (with them most of the time, hehehe), They even volunteered to finance my law study, if only i agreed to pursue it. My father even made me take up political science in college as he really wanted me to take up law after. Honestly, when i was a kid, i enjoyed court room shows, (i remember perry mason sa channel 9, gosh, ang tagal na nitong show na to, siyempre wala na siya ngaun noh) and enjoyed reading books that have a court room drama base. I guess one time or another, i have also dreamt of becoming a laywer. but when i heard of the horror stories of law school, (the professors and the demands of the course) i said never mind!!! wala akong balak maLawko ;0) i wanted to be a laywer, but not a law student! my gulay, 4 years ulit ng pag-aaral? not to mention the Bar! no way! masisira social life ko. hehehe!

But it actually tickled my mind. hmmm... ano nga kaya? Law school? Bar? Atty. Jake Padua? Dream on ;0)

a family affair

2006-10-16T09:50:00.000+08:00

it was a much awaited affair for my family, especially for my parents (the excited lolo and lola that they are). after a long time, we were able to "borrow" my niece pia.

we prepared early as we will be picking pia and her mom in antipolo. upon seeing us, pia jumped on me and gave me a big hug. She ran to her Boss Art (this is how she calls her lolo) and Bunso (this is how she calls her lola) and gave them kisses. Then off we go to Tagaytay.

On the road, Pia and I were talking about her subjects in school and how she was fairing. She said that her highest grade was Music (Music? was that even a subject? hehehe! just kidding baby) and her lowest was Math (hahaha! mana sa ninang! I am her godmother by the way)

We reached Tagaytay around lunch time and we went for the buffet at Taal Vista. i really don't usually go for buffets knowing that i have such a small appetite (lugi ako sa bayad noh). Actually we are a family of "small eaters". We were not blessed with big appetites (is that good or bad? ;0)

I started with the pumpkin soup and worked my way around. I tried a little of everything, but after just one round, my stomach was complaining that it can't take no more (heller! wala pa akong dessert, ano ba!?) so i rested for a while and took some pictures of my niece (hoping that after some time, i'll get some room for desserts) pero wala na tlga (argh!!) white flag na ang stomach ko for eating.

So, habang nagpapababa ng kinain, we watched the cultural performers at Taal Vista. They performed various folk dance including that of the Ifugaos (I heard the people from the highlands consider the term Igorot as a pejorative, thus i used Ifugao). The women dancers carried pots while dancing, and as a finale, a woman carried all the pots on her head while dancing gracefully.

look at the number of pots she's carrying on her head.there was absolutely no tricks ( hindi dikit dikit yung pots, eventhough they were, it's still heavy) because the pots were set on her head on the spot! and i thought i was hard-headed, hehehe!

after lunch, we went to go horseback-riding. pia really wanted to ride a horse, but she became afraid when she was about to ride one, baka mahulog daw siya. so she opted for a bike. she pulled me and said that i drive the tri-bike for her. my gulay!!!! it's either, the bike was defective or pia was too heavy as i found it so hard to pedal! after one round, i gave up! hinihingal na ko! magbabadminton na lang ako! ayoko ng bike! ;0) but she had fun going around, there were many kids biking too.

we went home at 3:30 coz we didn't want to tire pia too much as she has an early class the next day. But i was so thankful that this happened, i know how my parents miss their only grandchild and they were absolutely ecstatic about seeing pia again. well, til the next bonding ;0)

adultery

2006-10-13T10:36:00.000+08:00

i am reposting an article from triple x which he posted sometime ago.

last night, a friend of mine poured his heart out on me, because of his "fallin out" with his wife (sigh) because of another girl. he insisted he still loved his wife, but was confused (really, hehehe! boys!)

sabi ko nga, talaga naman, ako pa pinagtanungan ng mga ganitong bagay bagay ;0) i have never been married, at least not technically, wala pa kong "I do.... and in sickness and in health til death do we part". I have not professed this to GOD and to a priest or any person authorized to administer marriage.

This is why i thought of reposting this article i got from triplex. i decided to post only the article, in the original blog entry, triple x shared some of his thoughts na baka hindi kayanin ng readers ko, (hehehe! i may be "violent" in my blogs, pero at least wholesome pa rin)

so read on.... let's be good boys and gels, oki? ;0)

ADULTERY

Adultery happens when you start looking for what you don't have."Wow,this girl in my office is a real looker. I'mcrazy about her because she's also understanding,intelligent, tender - so many things that my spouse is not."Somewhere along the way, you'll find a woman or a manwho will be more charming or sensitive. More alluring.More thoughtful. Richer. Have greater sex appeal. And you will find a woman or man who will need you andpursue you and go loco over you more than your spouseever did. Because no wife or husband is perfect. Because a spouse will only have 90% of what you're looking for.So adultery takes place when a husband or wifelooks for the missing 10%. Let's say your wife is melancholic by nature. You may find yourself drawn to the pretty clerk who has a cherry laughter. Or because your wife is a homebody in slippers and pyjamas, smelling of garlic and fish oil,you may fallfor a fresh-smelling young sales representativethat visits your office in a sharp black blazer, highheels, and a red pencil-cut skirt. Or because your husband is the quiet type, your heart may skip a beat when you meet an old college flame who has the makings of a talk show host.But wait! That's only 10% of what you don't have.Don't throw away the 90% that you already have! Add to your spouse's 90% the 100% that represents all theyears that you have been with each other. The storms you have weathered together. The unforgettable moments of sadness and joy as a couple. The many adjustments you have made to love the other. The wealth of memories that you've accumulated as lovers.Adultery happens when you start looking for what you don't have. But faithfulness happens when you start thanking God for what you already have.But I'm not just talking about marriage. I'm talkingabout life! About your jobs. About your friends. About your children. About your lifestyles. Are you like the economy airline? The main message:If you start appreciating what you have right now,wherever you are is FIRST CLASS!

my new badminton buddy

2006-10-10T10:31:00.000+08:00

my first badminton shoes was an addidas wirano which i bought on sale. as in sinadya ko siya sa megamall during one of their mega sale last year to save extra bucks. for the time it has served me, masaya naman ako, kahit na twice ako namatayan ng kuko (thank God nagresurrect sya!) unfortunately, i complained of ankle pains after games. mike told me that this was the defect of addidas shoes, it doesn't have much of ankle support daw. he suggested that i get a mizuno. now, i decided to give the wirano a rest.

after brownouts and milenyo (remember my end of the world post?), i was able to get a new pair. my new badminton buddy is a silver, red and black mizuno wave lightning 2. (Thanks Toffie for picking it up for me... mwah! promise di kita irerebond, hehehe!) after using it twice, i say i am happy. no ankle pain yesterday, at masarap syang tlgang ipangtakbo sa court. I was just wishing that with the shoes comes the ability to play badminton better. ;0) to my badminton buddy, here's to more baddiction!

badminton addict.... in retrospect ;0)

2006-10-09T13:37:00.000+08:00

i started playing badminton during my sophomore year in college as my P.E. subject. I remember challenging my instructor to a singles game. he said that if i beat him, i'll get a flat 1 in my grade. unfortunately, after being made a wiper in court ( as i was made to run from left to right, like a car wiper indeed!, i lost ( can't remember the score though, and i am pretty sure it was not worth remembering anyhow) so in the end i got a grade of 1.25.

i also had an early share of playing competitive badminton. in my junior year in college, my father volunteered me to play for their office. I thought it was just a "fun" competition, but after finishing the elimination and qualifying for the finals, i found out that we are challenging a team from Indonesia for the finals! Heller, Indonesians eat shuttle cocks for breakfast! (no pun intended) I mean, c'mon badminton is the national sports of Indonesia and what, i played it just to pass a PE subject? after being played around, (oo, as pinaglaruan nila kami, para kaming dalawang wiper ng kotse!) expectedly, we lost the game and i remember that the day after, i was bed ridden!!!

i guess the last badminton experience was traumatic for me (hehehe!) as it was only after six years that i got hold of a badminton racket and a shuttlecock again. A friend from the Philippine Airforce invited me to play in Villamor. At this time, badminton was slowly establishing itself to be a prime sports/hobby in the Philippines. I remember villamor was packed with people waiting to play.

This games extended, not in villamor though but in Malacanang Park, the home of the PSGs. Allan, invited me to play. There were many officers, men and women who were so good at it. I can't help but watch in awe and tell myself "how they do that?!?!?!" The smashes, the drop shots were simply amazing. I guess this inspired me to take a serious interest in badminton.

and then i got hooked with it. i played 3 times a week and thank God for those people who have patiently played and taught me the basics of the game. Up until now, some of the things i've learned, i still can't apply, like the backhand, hmp! Later on, i found out that my boss was also playing badminton. So my work as his Executive Assistant included playing with him at the park, hehehe! this is one part of my job i really enjoyed! ;0)

and then che-che, (my buddy for life!) told me that her college friends (the likes of erwin, holden, eugene, noreen, louie, carl and reggie) were regularly playing badminton every sunday. so one sunday, we joined them. They played in QC and makati alternately and i played with them even when che-che was not around. This time, i was playing 4-5 times a week! Yes, ganun ako ka-addict! ayoko tumigil! hehehe!

then i got hold of my fraternity brothers and sisters who played badminton every saturday naman in pasig. if i have time, nakikilaro din ako sa kanila, but the sunday group was the more regular thing for me.

when i worked in ADB, yung badminton club lang yung gusto kong salihan besides the dance guild. and so i became i member. later on, i tried the competitive side of badminton, i started joining dual meets in the club, tournament outside office and mini-tournaments with friends.

This addiction is not limited to playing it. I love watching badminton games too! i watched the badminton games during the last SEA games. unfortunately, team Philippines didn't do well. I also thank God for Solar Sports for tv coverage of international badminton tournaments! kahit ilang replay na ng mga badminton games, i still watch them! ( di ba addict tlga ako!) the last one i got to watch was the World IBF Championship in Madrid. I watched the games til 5am in the morning! literally, naduling ako kakapanood. i was seeing two Taufik Hidayat! I had to cover one eye to watch properly!

i can go on and on to tell stories about my baddiction (badminton addiction) pero baka maging isang libro na tong blog ko. ;0)

taufik hidayat, former world No. 1 and Olympic gold medalist holds the fastest backhand smash. i took this picture during the last SEA games in the Philippines... simply DELICIOUS!

world's no. 1 men's doubles pair fu and cai from china (fu, the one on the right holds the fastest smash with 337 kph, i think);0)

end of the world? ;0)

2006-10-06T10:02:00.000+08:00

this blog is a little bit delayed, given that almost everything has normalized a week after milenyo hit manila. but i really wanted to share that friday night experience.

Friday, after the Thursday hit, it all came to being... the effects of milenyo. when i woke up friday morning, still no electricity. i knew i wasn't goin to the office, heller! not when i didn't take a bath noh. ;0)

anyhow, i have thought of ways to take a bath because it was imperative for me to go to the office, because i had to meet with my groupmates in MANSCI (management science) since we are the reporting group come monday. likewise, i was meeting some friends after work. so after much contemplation, i thought of one thing, how about checking in to a motorist hotel (ok fine, motel for short, di kasi maganda ang impression pag motel lang sabihin ko eh, hehehe! mahal naman kasi masyado kung magchecheck in ako sa isang hotel para lang maligo!)so after looking for options, that was the only feasible at that time. so i went to a motel. after going thru traffic, i reached the place, only to be "rejected". I think it was their policy that no one was allowed to check in alone. i guess this is due to people who check in alone and then commit suicide, siyempre nga naman bad rep for the motels yun.

anyhow, di daw tlga pwede, policy daw tlga. i begged, i said i just wanted to take a bath, i even asked if i looked suicidal to them, hehehe. after much persistence, they allowed me to check in for 3 hours, but they asked me first to pay, so i did (come to think of it, eh kung magpakamatay ako dun sa loob, ano namang diperensya kung nagbayad na ako? at least bayad na ako? hehehe!) anyhow, i enjoyed the warm water and strong pressure. after taking a bath, i went to the office to meet with my groupmates.

it was a week before since some of my badmintonmates and i scheduled to check and buy a new badminton shoes ( i am using an addidas wirano for my badminton, and by the looks of it, gusto na nya magpahinga. at gusto ko na rin ipahinga ang paa ko, twice na ko namatayan ng kuko dito noh! buti na lang marunong sya mag resurrect!) according to a friend of mine, mas ok daw ang mizuno na badminton shoes. he asked me if i experience pain in my ankle and knees after i play, and i said yes. He said that it was the defect of addidas, it doesn't have much support for the ankles.

so after office, i was off to makati. the plan was to take the mrt. when i went out of the office, the guard informed me that there was no mrt!!! wah!!! so i had to take a different route. damn! edsa was dark! as in dark! since i didn't want to be late, i took an ordinary bus to go to ayala. my golly! there was so many people on the streets!!! and traffic was really bad. north bound, the traffic stretched from ortigas til ayala!

i took off at ayala, and again a lot of people were on the street, as in ang dami. i asked myself, where did this people come from! we met at dusit hotel, and to me and my friend's surprise, even SM Makati was closed! and again people were flocking, it was damn dark! i told my friend, that this was really scary. so we decided to leave makati. when we went to edsa to take a ride, my friend was surprised of the number of people who were on the street, told you so!) after bumping with the people in EDSA, we caught our ride, standing bus only--- to the door!!! what was happening! along edsa, we saw a couple of billboards torn down by milenyo and if you see them, you can't help but wonder, how in the h*ll did this happen? because the billboards were huge!

we finally met carl, who was bringing us to the mizuno shop in magallanes (di ba ang tigas ng ulo namin, sa gitna ng bagyo at brown out, badminton shoes pa rin iniisip namin) and we told him of the situation we saw in makati. we reached the mizuno shop, but it was closed (heller! what were we thinking!) because the area had no electricity.

so we decided to leave. but carl had to gas up first, and so we went to shell magallanes. there were lots of cars, and posts that DIESEL -OUT of STOCK. huwat! ano na ba ang nangyayari sa mundo? ;0) and even the music in carl's stereo was in the mood.. it was playing the end of the world (why does the sun go on shining... why does the sea rush to shore.... don't they know it's the end of the world) wah!!!

we can't help but comment "katapusan na ba ng mundo? walang mrt, ang dilim, and dami ng tao, ang ttttrrrraaaaaaaffffffffffiiiicccc!!! sarado ang SM, out of stock ang diesel!!!!

just thank God everything is ok now.. well til the next "end of the world" experience! ;0) hopefully not!!

the wrath of milenyo

2006-09-30T16:59:00.001+08:00

We received an advisory Wednesday, 27 September on the upcoming typhoon expected to have a direct hit on Manila. I took it as one of those usual advisories we have whenever weather disturbances occur in the Metro. Wednesday's night news already said of the damage it left in the Bicol region. The government has already suspended classes in ALL levels for Thursday (Hmp! di ba ginawang wednesday, wala ako class ng thursday tlga!) Consequently, some work was also suspended based on the discretion of private companies.

It was not the usual typhoon the Manilenos experience. I think the usual expectation whenever there is a typhoon, is the amount of rainfall it brings. But this time, though there were rains, the wind made the more damage.

For some reason, i was out during the direct hit of Milenyo... i had a prime seat during his passage and it made its presence felt. The peak of its hit was felt between 11:00 to around 2:00PM. after the pounding, there was an eerie silence and what was left were the remnants of Milenyo's wrath.

The first photo was that of a flooded street of the Metro which literally looked like a river. (pardon the blurred picture, i just took it with my celfone camera inside a vehicle.) The second photo was that of a big tree uprooted and was lying/blocking the middle of a street. Now, i can just imagine the beating this tree received from Milenyo to cause it to be uprooted, and i tell you the tree was huge!

Milenyo is one of the swiftest typhoon to hit Manila, and though it was swift, it was one of the most destructive leaving 61 people dead (and still counting), ripping and flying off roofs, toppling down posts and power lines and a major black out in Luzon area.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned... hmmm... this time, hell hath no fury like a Milenyo....

they call it a massacre

2006-09-25T16:39:00.000+08:00

it was the second dual meet i have joined after being a member of the ADB badminton club. Dual meets are supposed to be "friendly" games between two companies as there are no prices at stake, except for points earned, and i guess bragging rights. But the matches are as fierce as those played at the world IBF championship (ok fine, i am just exaggerating! ;0)

the first one was the ADB-IBM dual meet held sometime last year at the the Olympics Badminton. coming in as a new member of the club, i was nervous, primarily because this the closest thing i ever got to a "tournament", and second, of course, i ought to prove something to the members of the club that i was "worthy" to join the meet.

i played at the ladies doubles twice and won 3 out of possible 4 sets in two matches. this is the first time i broke my string (at naputol sya, di pa ako naglalaro, warm up pa lang... ganda). no, no, no, it's not because i smashed too hard... luma na tlga yung string ng raketa ko ;0)

anyhow, the IBM was really short of players. their men's doubles played against our mixed doubles ( mga amasona tlga mga babae ng ADB! parang lalaki na rin) because they don't have female players to field anymore.

after 3 hours of play, ADB surfaced as the winner. here were the scores (hope my memory still serves me right)

MEN'S DOUBLES
ADB-28
IBM - 8

LADIES DOUBLES
ADB- 24
IBM-6

MIXED DOUBLES
ADB - 26
IBM- 10

I have a friend who works at IBM who commented that we were "merciless" . To use his words, "Nilampaso niyo naman kami." and that was my first meet.

Last Saturday, it was the Shell-ADB Meet at the Zone in Makati. I arrived their at around 2:00PM. Siyempre ako lang ang hindi naka ADB Badminton shirt (ang galing ko tlga!) Some of the games started already and my partners were nervous coz they thought that i won't be able to make it. my co-members said that we were leading. the games were played using the rally point system (if a pair commits an error, the other pair gets the score, regardless who served) race to 21.

and after all the games were played, ADB emerged as the winner. it was fun as the players gave it their best, not to mention the fact that ADB people were really roudy and loud in cheering. (kasama na ang walang kamatayang asaran!)

the final scores were ADB - 72 SHELL - 19. and this time, hindi lang lampaso. The Shell team called it a massacre. ;0)

Congrats ADB Team!

and i am back with a new look! ;0)

2006-09-15T11:39:00.001+08:00

after almost two months of not opening my blog, that i think it grew cobwebs in here already, i am back! ;0) and in line with the renewed spirit to go back to blogging... i decided to give it a new look ;0)

why did i decide to go back? last night, i was with friends, Didi and his Panget (hope you won't mind didi), Holden and Jen. In the middle of dinner, the topic of blogging came up. Didi was actually surprised that i had a blog pala (actually, sometimes i think my blog is technically non-existing na because i rarely write. )We three girls chatted about bloggings, about writers or should i say bloggers, and the various topics in blogs and we marvel on how amazing people write. Kaaliw, we exchanged notes on the blogs we read. And ask what the boys were doin? Di lang naman sila makirelate, hehehe! In short, na OP sila sa mga bloggers, hehehe ulit!

but i MUST thank didi, and jen too, for motivating me to go back to blogging. Sana lang hindi short-lived ang motivation na to ;0) hopefully i can write about lighter moments in life... kasi naman my previous blogs eh medyo seryoso/minsan parang violent pa and "analytical"

Thanks too to my sorority sister Mia who inspite of being many miles away from me, patiently addressed my panic and my questions about formatting my blogs... thanks Mama Mia! ;0)

Well... here's to more entries!

sides of a story

2006-07-10T09:48:00.000+08:00

i wanted to start this entry with a quotation about life... but after much search in the internet, i can't seemed to find one that exactly captures what i had in my mind (i found some quotes that were close, but i was looking for something perfect). so i gave up the search before my ideas about this blog fly away (di na nga ako ganun kadalas magblog, mahirap ng mawala ang idea ;0)

what i wanted to say is that life is a story, we write the stories of our lives. i remember people (unfortunately usually after a break up) that its' another chapter in your life, that when you end one chapter, it's an opportunity to start a new one.

we tell all kinds of tales, from a story about a good meal, a good buy, natapilok ka sa harap ng crush mo to the more serious narratives about the difficulites and challenges of our lives, the separation of your parents, the untimely pregnancy of a teenager, the drug addiction of a friend. we not only tell our story but the story of other people. basta everything is a kwento.

now i begin to think ( as i always enjoy looking into the endless questions on life) how many sides does a story have? i am pretty sure, all of us have told stories about our own and others' experience, but how do you know what's the real deal to a story? for example, sa isang away ng magkaibigan or magka-ibigan, there's supposed to be two sides. i will take the latter as a case in point for further examination. pag nagaway ang mag boyfriend-girlfriend, there's the side of the boy and the side of the girl. but there's the side of the people around them, relatives, friends and even enemies. even for some people who don't know the couple but have heard of the story, will have something to say about it, thus becoming another story.

To further "complicate" a story, is the perspective of people, the usual subjective evaluation of a story, that when people retell a story, it most often than not contain (in content and in the manner of narrating) their opinion on the story, thus "distorting" the story even further. In short, the sides are directly proportional to the number of times the story is told? Now the sides become perspectives...

After being confused with this story, what i realized is that people should be very cautious telling stories, especially that of other people. a small or big "editing" puts the tale in a totally different angle and may have some bad repercussions to the person concerned, and this is one thing that can't be easily rectified (in case it still can be rectified). In plain and simple words... let's do justice to the story and to the characters of the story (showbiz na showbiz) ;0)

10 life's simple pleasures

2006-06-01T09:03:00.000+08:00

Instructions: Name ten of life’s simple pleasures that you like the most, then pick ten people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not to use things that someone else has already used.

After thorough introspection (naks!) here's mine (in no particular order)

1. a nice pair of white lacey underwear ;0)

2. a good photo of me (narcissistic ata ako!)

3. fresh air

4. a good hair day

5. a tight warm hug from a person i love and who loves me

6. a witty remark

7. good food, the likes of ube hopia, chien pao, chocnut, flat tops, penoy - yummy! ;0)

9. a restful rejuvenating sleep ... zzzz...zzzzz

10. sincere compliment

the people i will tag, (sorry, can't come up with 10, huhuhu!: ( ) didi, rey, vergie

am i nuts?

2006-03-07T13:37:00.000+08:00

right now, i am mad! i am actually furious!!!!! i am judged as guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, even prior to trial, or perhaps a preliminary investigation?

am i such an easy sacrificial lamb?

i never had any pretensions that i was and is an angel. although i have always believed that man is basically good, i am also in touch with the reality that man can easily grow horns and a tail, if he doesn't already have one. but when you judge a person that he is evil, you better have more than a story told by some wacko in your hands.

when presented with an information, especially if is an accusation of someone, it is better to validate the information. even the criminal is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, even there is an overwhelming evidence of one's guilt, one is subjected to the due process of law.... this is how justice works.

but i am judged guilty as sinned, pinned down by stories concocted by some wacko. this is why i am furious!!!! the only guilt i carry is i have loved and cared for those children, i treated them as my own. but the utter lies to excuse yourself from the responsibility to your children makes me wanna vomit!!!!

to you wacko, please don't flatter yourself that you would even think i will dial your number, and all the more talk to you.... i'd rather talk to dead leaves than justify your existence. You better reserve your strength and spend it to your kids, than exert your effort trying to make up a story on my expense, simply because you're too selfish to share your financial gains to the benefit of your kids' education!

to tell the truth or just lie?

2005-11-04T16:18:00.000+08:00

in this day and age when everything can be covered up by anything or that things can be made to appear other than its true form (pwede na gumawa ng nude photos or video ng isang tao, pwedeng mag edit ng totoong sinabi ng tao either thru the help of technology or by just mere editing -magdagdag or magbawas, ang mga taong nagkukuwento, magbago ng expenditures by adding some commas and zeros, magbago ng election results), i ask this question... does it still pay to be honest?

since we were kids, we were taught that lying is bad, that liars go to hell, o kaya naman hahaba ang ilong mo pag nagsinungaling ka, [thanks to the story of pinocchio!] hmmm....pwede rin at di masyado matangos ang ilong ko! our elders, (parents, grandparents, godparents, teachers at lahat ng taong naunang ipanganak sa atin) can't over emphasize the lesson that honesty is the best policy. but while we are growing old, this lesson tend to be bent and/or broken. sa mga matatanda, ang nagiging lesson na (actually nagiging 11th, 12th at 13th commandment pa respectively) is thou shall not be caught, or if caught deny, or if denying doesn't work, implicate others.

mahirap ba talaga ang magsabi ng totoo? sabi nila, the truth hurts, but the truth shall set you free. ano ba talaga mga ate at kuya? mahirap ba ang magsabi ng totoo at magpakatotoo? if almost everybody is lying, will it make sense if you also lie? (if you can't beat them, join them) why not join the game of deceit? eh teka muna, bakit ba kasi kailangang magsinungaling?

for one, nagsisinungaling siguro ang tao kasi alam nya, mali ang ginawa/gagawin nya and he/she doesn't want to pay the price of his/her wrong doing. in short, this is a premeditated act (parang sa kaso, ito ay murder dahil pinag isipan, di tulad kung homicide lang ang kaso, tama ba ang aking legal opinion?) in the movie a few good men, tom cruise was questioning jack nicholson, JACK: You want answers? TOM: I want the truth! JACK: You can't handle the truth! hmmm.... so this is another reason to lie, because people can't handle the truth? aren't we being unfair to these people who seem to us, to be incapable of handling the truth? aren't we denigrating their capability to process no less than the truth that's why it becomes necessary to lie?

lies come in different form and intensity, but i think one of the more serious form of lying is lying to oneself and lying to others on how you feel. I will have to say that people who are capable of doing this has my utmost admiration (for lack of a better term). teka, nakukuha kaya ito sa isang acting workshop? ; ) isa pa nga direk!

i have lived 30 years of my life here on earth.... met a lot of people already and experienced a bunch of ups and downs in life. but it still saddens me that people have been dishonest, especially about their feelings. i am not saying i never lied, i have my fair share of lying too.... lalo na pag gigimik ako nung high school (lahat na ng kamag anak ng barkada ko, pati kapit bahay ng barkada ko nagbirthday para lang makaalis ng bahay) but what i have proven is, it pays to be honest on your feelings.

we can lie about anything and everything, we can deceive anybody and everybody..... but in the end, only two will know the truth, the person involved and GOD.

can i blog?

2005-11-03T14:29:00.000+08:00

It's been almost a month since i tried exploring the world of blogging and as i suspected, i was not able to do this thing religiously. (obvious ba, isang buwan ang pagitan ng first and second enty. muntik pang madisgrasya coz i can't remember my username and password!!! buti na lang equipped ang mga ganitong site ng recovery of pass words and username, para sa mga taong uliyanin, by choice or by chance). though my mind is capable of processing events and things just like fernando alonso finishes a grand prix race sa formula 1, (though i am not saying i am a genius, minsan praning lang ako kaya madalas mag isip) i couldn't find enough time(?) or motivation (?) to sit down in front of my computer to share my thoughts. hesitations? marami. i have read a lot of entries of my friends, of people i really didn't know and who don't know me either and i simply marvel on how they can put into words their heart and soul with reckless abandon. and i simply ask myself... "kaya ko ba yun?" can i express myself that well? to tell my story, my thoughts, that people will see through the words i write and see the human letting out his/her very soul?

i am in one of the most "interesting" (lack of a better term) in my life... when i am experiencing, i think if not the most difficult, one of the most difficult times in my existence, when the true resilience of the human heart and spirit is tested with unforgiving events... and i wanna let it out, not to consciously share it, but i guess and more importantly as a therapy that can hopefully cure me, that can help heal a wounded soul... well, wish me luck.

2005-10-05T11:44:00.000+08:00

blog! blog! blog! kala ko dati sound effect lang to ng isang bagay o taong nalaglag... but i guess because of modern technology, blog has a new meaning...

thanks to my bord... nalaman ko ang meaning ng blog... web log pala sya kaya naging blog... so what's the fuss with blogging? ano ba itu? isang web diary...outlet, your free space to share thoughts, angst, happiness at kahit anong pwedeng ilagay dito... hmmm magandang idea... libre na anything goes pa... i guess this is one space na matatawag mong iyo... sige nga at masubukan ito ; )