Saturday, April 30, 2005

mataba na ba ako?

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that's tine and me after nanette gave our surprise despedida cake...

sabi ni dacks mataba na raw ako. hehe mataba na nga ba? or ilusyon lang? mukang... pero kung meron mang parte ng katawan kong tumaba, yun ay ang... tyan ko hehe. ang payat na may bilbil... hehe =)

leaving...

yipeee! going home in less than 24 hours! can't wait to be back home... but i'm sad to leave good friends din dito - new and old ones.

checklist:

packed stuff? - not yet
bought enough pasalubong? - i hope so
enjoyed? - super
fixed docs to be shipped to manila? - yepyep
gigimik pa mamaya? - probably
printed boarding pass and checked in to flight? - yeba!
said goodbyes? - not yet
saw snow? - definitely
went swimming? - na-uh =(
met the camachos? - yez
met good friends (u.s. chapter daw hehe)? - definitely
excited to go home? - super!

may we have a safe trip home. =)
beach mode na naman woohoo!

Friday, April 29, 2005

pista sa nayon

ok. just finished my toka. baked mac. suddenly we feel like we're in the philippines, preparing para sa isang pista sa nayon. hehehe lahat, mega hiwa ng kung anik-anik, mega cook, mega hugas ng plato, mega tikim, meka taktak ng salt and pepper sus. kulang na lang daw ay halaya at leche flan, authentic pista sa nayon na. =)

we're cooking lunch for 50, not 10, people tomorrow. well, it's a farewell lunch for our trainers and everybody who helped us out during the training month. we're having a couple of filipino dishes.

* sana may lasa ang baked mac ko ang hirap tantyahin ng pasta eh. sumobra ata ang noodles sa sauce hehehe. medyo maputla pero niremedyohan ko.. pero parang matabang pa rin. good luck sa mga kakain tom. ay mamya na pala yun geez.

three

more days and i'm outta here... yahoo! uyyy super excited to go home! can't wait to see everybody back there. my kuya and my mom haven't expressed this much affection to me before. every night, mom said they were counting the days 'til they see me home (naks song). well, si win manhid pa rin ever. hehe. mabuti ito medyo naging mas affectionate kaming lahat sa isa't-isa naks drama.

and well, uhmmm... kase... basta. pano ba? mahirap i-explain. we'll see what happens when i get home. something to look forward to? i guess so. waiting has never felt this good. hehe... ano ba ito. basta. it's not the waiting-in-vain-slash-crap type of waiting. yata? it seems? hehe ang gulo. basta. ang labo ko.

nonsense? definitely, hindi. =) ewan ko. hehe.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

blast from the past

why past? i've spent another best weekend (hehe could there be two bests? well i now define two bests) with my good friends from HS, michie and thecx. i never thought i could be with them again after all these years and the distance.

i've missed them for 7 yrs (thecx) and for almost a year (michie) and i'm missing them again now. you can't really have enough of the best things in life, but sometimes, a weekend is too much to know that you have it all. =)

spent friday night in ohio, saturday in kentucky, and back to ohio on sunday. we wish we were in cali, where the sun's not lazy and the weather's so aloha-ooh. why didn't we think of it earlier? but fast is fast hehe ang nakaraan ay nakaraan ba hehe and we had the best times just the same. actually, i would be contented kahit na maupo lang kami sa damuhan at magkwentuhan. hehe... but we just had to make pasyal sayang naman ang pag fly nila dito diba?

i'll definitely miss:

  • checking in to a couple of inns and sheepishly laughing at "do not disturb" signs at the door mwehehe! katukin sana namin eh kaya lang baka mapulis kami.

  • pigging out... i mean, eating out an awful lot!

  • road trip! woohoo! with either mich or thecx as the driver. yeah, i get to be the passenger always... princess me hehe.

  • viewing fishy fishes and other under the sea creatures

  • super giggles and laughs and senseless but sentimental talks

  • being discriminated and discriminating hehe

  • trying out white castle and crispy creme

  • seeing snow for the first time awwww

  • walking under the rain and snow and cold wind just to make pasyal together

  • picture-taking... a lot!

  • exaggerated stories

  • maki-alam sa buhay nang may buhay sa friendster

  • group hugs!!!

  • sharing of uhmmm... insights about "it"

  • subaybayan nang parang tele-serye ang "cable shows" ya know... "cable shows"

  • at gumawa ng mga kung ano-anong characters gaya nina: manong, ate, officer, inspector

  • maka-miss ng someone because of way too much panunukso... geeez...

  • scouting for ref magnets

  • mapagkamalang triplets ni lolo sa white castle. he was like, "excuse me, are you triplets?". and we were like, "hmm... no we're just good friends". and he replied in disbelief, "that's impossible! how do you do that?". hehe si lolo aatakihin sa sobrang wonder. hehe!

  • habulin ni manong guard sa grocery when we bought beer. "excuse me, are you all above 21?". and i smiled and answered, "yeah, we're 24!" hehe. sagot si manong, "just making sure..."


  • pics... pwede bang mawala 'to?

    roadtrip! woohoo! that's me, thecxy, and ms. driver michie woohoo!
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    on the way to ky... rainy... geez... nothing but rain! bad timing!
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    yellow bridge
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    green green grass under the sea
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    mr. bumble fish hiding
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    star fishes? bat yung 1, 4 lang ang paa?
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    nice back view!
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    and another one =)
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    dan dan dan dan piranhas!
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    pong pagong
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    under the sea
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    weee! my first time ever to see snow! thanks, thecx for waking us up to see the snow!
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    yeah, yeah... missing someone enough of the teases already!
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    asus... missing someone din! yahoo!
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    naks ang aarte! familia zaragoza
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    uuyyy! kunyari nasa ny! hehe
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    feeling model? pants from michie, tops from thecx and panties from me! hehe di pa nila suot.
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    f na f ever!
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    red roof inn - dayton, oh friday night
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    forgot-the-name-inn - newport, ky saturday night
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    forgot-the-name-inn - newport, ky sunday night
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    sleep inn - dayton, oh
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    and the sun finally did the job of shining. when? sunday on our way back to oh. thanks! duh! hehe!
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    Saturday, April 23, 2005

    waiting...

    for the girls. well, it's great to hear they arrived safely. hintay ko na lang mag honkhonk hehehe... kanina pa ko nakadungaw sa balkonahe. ay florante at laura itu romansa sa balkonahe mwehehe! yeez! HS na HS ang dating!

    and they're here... later =)

    weekend na naman... choose mode: =) or =(

    hay this is our last weekend here. can't really tell if i'm disappointed or i'm glad. i mean, i like it here. parang walang problema hehe but i love my home and my family and friends back home =). and everything i love and need is back there. =) so i guess it's just good enough that i had a taste of what it's like to live here for quite a short while.

    ang alam ko lang... excited ako kse in a few hours, i'll be reunited with another set of great people. hehe todo bola! pero nde bola yun. lahat naman ng tao great! =) hehe!

    michie and thecx, welcome! aloha! mabuhey! well, you don't know my blog site, but just the same i send out my thoughts hehe!

    i guess we should get ready for sleepless saturday and sunday, a great deal of rain and thunderstorm (and possibly snow [wee and boo at the same time]). pero nothing can stop us now! hehe! woohoo!

    *on 360 - i tried this yahoo 360 thing. it's like a friendster/blog/album thing and i think it's cool. ang hirap nga lang ata mag maintain ng 2 blog hehe. pde bang copy paste na lang? baduy!

    Friday, April 22, 2005

    long ny weekend

    this post's a little overdue but very much detailed hehe. but just the same, let me relive the wonderful life that was for the past weekend. it's not every weekend that i get to spend time in a great place and with people i love...

    friday
    it was my first time to travel alone. i was a bit nervous 'cause i know i look too young to travel alone. and true indeed, i got a lot of "are you traveling alone?" questions. darn it. to hell with it haha! i just brought my passport for support document haha!

    from above, i was dying to take snapshots of the vast lands of ohio and the neighboring states. i was in total awe how this big land could ever be so real. hehe no wonder they don't have beaches here. everything's just brown and green hehehe! no matter how far i extend my gaze, it's nothing but land, land, and more land. corny.

    ok so the flights went well. ohio to pittsburgh and then to new york. it was pretty cold in new york. dilemma: i only brought a light jacket. i thought the weather will pretty much be like here in ohio where it's spring mode na. pde na mag flipflops. so i brought one and i also brought a capri and spag strap blouse haha! imbyerna! nde pala pede.

    after a couple of attempts to contact camille, i was beginning to get nervous 'cause it was really cold, i was alone, in a foreign land. ni-try pa ko lokohin ng 2 mabait na taong sina camille and reagan. hehe... so after our besos and shrieks of excitement, we headed off to have dinner (at 11pm) in this thai resto. it's a really cool place. i thought that some restos in the phils are like that na. yung tipong gimikan and resto at the same time. kaso there were couples kissing indiscreetly and medyo mas wild ang suot ng mga tao. it was a wonderful dinner treat courtesy of papa reagan. thanks camz and reagan!!!

    in a cool chair! mega wait pa kami for the other gimik peeps na magsawa sa chair na tayo. and so the picture goes...
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    with reagan and camille on a swing-bench-type chair...
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    good foodies! lahat masarap! yummiee...
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    after dinner, we went straight to the spot where we had a clear view of the manhattan skyline. it was great! i only see this scene in movies or paintings or pictures and now, it was right before my eyes. =) with the moon shining above, it was really a spectacular view. masarap may katabi sa bench sa mga pagkakataong ito. well, kung hindi masyadong biting ang cold. it WAS REALLY COLD! so cold we couldn't get a steady hold of the camera haha. night mode pa yung cam kaya malabo, we just had to capture the lights... but the pictures are great just the same:

    with camille...
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    solo this time...
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    after the cold trip, we went to camille's apartment, caught up with lost time, chika, and then dozed off at around 430am. hehe this is why we woke up quite late the next morning...

    saturday
    first stop was the subway station. woohoo! it was just like our lrt pero it was really amazing how it could take you to places. o diba mag picture sa subway... woohoo!
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    and then to battery park, where we had to take the ferry to go around the liberty and some more spots. we could've taken the ferry that'll take you to the liberty spot but the queue's so long, it'll probably be night time by the time we had our turn hehe.

    ms. liberty at the background...
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    this one's my fave! thanks, camille for the expert shot and for the picture frame that came with it!

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    and more mahangin poses with camille at the ferry:
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    in front of brooklyn bridge... so this is brooklyn bridge:
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    ok pagdiskitahan ang toro haha! bashtush! hey, the other foreigners grabbed the balls too! why can't we?
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    next stop was trinity church. i'm not aware that this became famous because of the movie national treasure. well, 'cause i didn't see the movie hehe. it was a very great church. ang bango amoy kahoy sa loob =)

    the magnanimous stained glass work at the back of the altar...
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    give thanks for the magnanimous blessings i've had as well. wushu!
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    the magnaninous altar...
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    even the door's magnanimous!
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    and the bulletin board's uhmm... magnanimous too. hehe
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    and then to ground zero. gave me goosebumps just standing there looking beyond the wired fences... =( my cousin, ate elaine used to work at WTC and she was there when the tragedy happened. God's so good to have saved her, along with others.

    used-to-be lobby daw of WTC (info c/o camille)...
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    what lies beyond the fence...
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    camille: "the cross was part of the original foundation of WTC. and they're now building a memorial for the lost souls"
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    after the semi-drama, headed off to china town, where there are chinese everywhere and it's simply a simulated chinatown/binondo in manila. =) this is also where we met my long-time-haven't-seen cousins from nj.
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    with the girls: camille, irish, ate elaine
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    hello my name is caths and i'm in chinatown... btw, i left this name frame in the van on my way home. still trying to retrieve it now. =(
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    and then to the broadway show, "naked boys singing!"... oooh! hehe... tuwang-tuwa ang mga girls. geez. i've never seen that much uhhmmm guy's thing! there were 8... of varied sizes and hues haha! i think it's more entertaining than miss saigon haha pinagpalit ang miss saigon sa mga hubong lalaki. we found it very... what's the word? ewan. basta it was funny!
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    with 2 of the 8 casts... woohooo! great performance, guys!
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    after the makabusog-matang performance, time to fill up our tummies again... off to jaya korean restaurant to chow once again.
    with the pretty camacho cousins: irish and ate elaine
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    with the pretty camille
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    with joe and ate elaine. sheesh look at all those food!!! masarap lahat! yum yum! camille cooked all the bbq. yum! camille definitely has a taste in good restos and plays hehe... =)
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    and then, we went back to times square to witness the display of lights once the sun's tulog na.

    the girls with joe...
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    the girls with reagan...
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    we wanted to have dessert sana sa serendipity resto but the place's so packed we just had some pics... what else? better to have pics than dessert. haha the dessert i could have here, but the pics, na-uh.. hehe.

    and then we decided to call it a day and headed off to joe and ate elaine's apartment for some drinks and videoke. it was also there that i met whisky. the famous camacho cat. she was kinda aloof with me. siguro kse caths ang name ko bwahaha!

    and then we finally went home to irish's home. had a few chika moment with tita marie and slept na rin.

    sunday
    had a quick talk with tito nards (papa's only brother). heck it was a so-serious moment. i don't like moments like that. hehe! after the confession-like conversation, irish and i went to hear mass and we were late. as penance (i think), we were asked to offer the gifts haha! and the guy thought i was irish's little sister mwahaha! nakabola na naman ako!

    and then there was lunch with the camacho clan and the roma clan (tito joey is my father's best friend). it was very touching how they prepped everything up for me. i mean, i guess i was the only camacho link that they've got this side of the world so they were really glad to have seen me (again). lunch was great. camille and reagan also graced the celebration (thanks).

    so after the dramatic byes, ate elaine, joe, irish, and i headed off to ny once again to see some more sights: empire state, central park, st. patrick's church, there was a flowery area, and then to my final destination, the airport.

    and so now, i'm back here and doing the usual stuff. it'll take me quite a long time before i could get over that coooool weekend. =) and another one's coming this weekend with michie and thecx. can't wait.