hanky story number two

this one's from mikey too. let me relay why it's all crumpled and why it's on a tissue paper.

here in sg, people use tissue packs to "reserve" or "save" tables in food courts. apparently, as you will learn later, they don't consider hankies as valid "reservations"!

jan and i went to food republic for lunch one day and we luckily found one free table. we reserved it using my hanky and off we went to buy our food. after a few minutes, we were devastated to find that our table was occupied. what's worse is, my hanky's gone! war mode, jan said, "we left a hanky to reserve this table." the local girl was a warrior herself :p "but there's no hanky here!"

enough said, we walked away and looked for a new table. i was determined to get my hanky back! we waited for auntie table-cleaner and asked her if she saw my hanky by any chance. she said her colleague found it and kept it. she looked for him (an uncle) and presto, he returned my hanky. he got the hanky from his pocket and handed it to me. me = extremely happy.

however, i didn't know what happened to my hanky from the time i left it on the table to the time it was handed back to me. i didn't intend to use it anymore for that day so i turned it inside-out and planned to just keep it in my bag. hola hola hola! when i opened it, something wet and slimy was there! wasn't that much though. hahaha! uncle must have colds :p

if it's just a regular hanky, i would have thrown it, but it isn't and it's a gift. so i just wrapped it in a tissue paper. aha, and now it's all clean and washed up! enough said. wet and slimy.

hoegaarden night

last night, kuya asked if we wanted beer. i have a mild headache and figured that it will be a good way to conclude the night. pampahimbing-tulog! so i said yes. they got back with 2 packs of beer and some chips.

the bottle says hoegaarden. it was good! beer minus the bitterness. in fact it somehow tastes like juice :p kuya said lakas-tama daw itong beer na ito. hmmm, mukang totoo kasi at one point, i was surprised to see that the bottle was leaning towards me. hahaha! lakas-tama nga.

we were drinking while chatting online with wawin. i just had 2 bottles and a lot of chips. it was a fine night. i almost twittered "intoxicated with love, good stories, good company, and two bottles of hoegaarden." but the post didn't make it. i died before i managed to post :p

fruity and milky

i like my orange juice with milk! 2 parts juice, 1 part milk, and it's all perfect. that's my glass of wonder drink. there's a reflection on the mirror. and that's me on the pink shirt! this shot's extra special because it's the first time i've known that my phone camera has a flash! wow! naaliw ang bata!

our little bumble bee/angel

look how big she's grown! :)

she's becoming a darling more and more each day. :)

she has tantalizing eyes and a promise of a unibrow. :)

it's not very evident, but she has massive legs! come here, crispy pata! :)

she loves to smile (when she's in the mood) like there's no tomorrow. :)

as if she has teeth to be proud of! :)

and a mighty laughter too! :)

at the end of a day that went all wrong, a mere keyla-power-hug could make it all perfect. :)

aah, this is a bathing suit. hopefully, she can use it soon. :)

i love this girl!

hanky story number one

my favorite hanky
a gift from mikey
i love the smiley

i wish i could always wear a smile as lovely as this... badly need one specially today.

yumyum

lunch @ bakerzin

ham, cheese, mushroom pizza = yumyum X 100
pumpkin soup = yumyum X 0
salad = yumyum X 2
mango iced tea = sugar X 100

ang pinakamasarap na siopao sa balat ng lupa

there's a tiny stall just outside suntec tower 5, near the body shop exit. i can't remember the name; i think they have a variety of local delights and I LOVE THEIR CHAR SIEW PAO!!! kuya tried their fried bee hoon but he said that it wasn't that good.

but the char siew pao! i! tell! you! it's the best! there was a point in my life when i had 2 char siew paos every morning. as in every morning! it's just a mini pao so if you get one, super bitin talaga. the dough is very good while it's hot, once it gets cold though, ay olats na. the char siew filling is just heaven! sweet, salty, soft, tasty! everything good packed perfectly in a small package!

here's yesterday morning's treat. i wanted to take a picture while it's still full but i just couldn't wait. i'm that hungry.

judo!

the yog fever is here! hindi naman ako mahilig sa sports pero nang magyaya sina jan at marco, syempre game naman ako. pero, i admit, i just went para maki-usi. :p there were a couple of events held in suntec. i think there's boxing (hmmm common na. sinong hindi pa nakakita ng boxing?), there's handball (weh tila pasahan lang ito ng bola), and there's judo. ayan, mukang bago sa paningin at pandinig. judo tayo!

look at these giant flags. so nice!

hindi ko maipaliwanag kung matutuwa ba ako or maiiyak sa mga napanood ko. nandyang hinablot ang kwelyo, inararo, binalibag, pinatid, initsa ang kalaban. brutal! hahaha! sobrang discipline talga ang kailangan kung hindi, baka nagkapikunan at nagkapitikan na ng tenga. so physical! salamat sa print-outs ni marco ng mechanics ng game at medyo nakarelate kami.

here are the girl medalists. i think belgium got the gold.

and here are the boy medalists. japan got the gold.

pasensya na, hind ko rin maipaliwanag kung tao ba o langgam ang gusto kong ipakita dito :p masyadong maliit. walang zoom.

gusto sana naming magpa picture sa mga athletes pero nagcecelebrate pa sila ng victory. in the meantime, may batang big boy na nag-aabang dun sa bleachers. athlete sya sabi ng lanyard nya. ayan, magkapicture man lang kami, nagpa picture na rin kami sa kanya. we learned that he's from belgium and a gold medal for cycling! wow!!! see those balloons? those are very nice clappers and we took them home. naputok nga lang yung isa hehe.

in the end, nakapagpapicture din kami sa mga medalists ng judo. pero wala sa phone ko hehehe, nasa kanila.

finally, we had dinner at tuktuk with anne. (sarap talaga sa tuktuk mura pa :) )

eight donuts, mochabella, toni

toni is my "other half" in sto. nino. she is 2 years younger than i am but we are always on the same wavelength. we are both paulinians but we met each other via the lectors and commentators group in sto. nino. we simply jive :)

she worked here in sg for 2 years but due to some complications at home, she opted to give up her job and just simply be home. i met her last friday. i didn't know that she was leaving for good :(

we met at tampi and had 8 donuts, mochabella hot coffee, and endless chikas. the donuts were perfect! we ordered 6 assorted flavors and got 2 plain donuts for free. i loved it! the crust was so soft and was sooo delicious. the coffee was almost perfect. it was delicious. only, it made me palpitate until the next day :p

the chika was the best part of it. i could say that, in our own ways, we are both sinners and saints :p don't ask why :p

singapore is lovelier the second time around

about three years ago, i learned that rp is here in sg. she is my second cousin. we weren't really close back in manila and we only see each other during lamays of our dearly departed relatives (sumalangit nawa).

i met her once here in sg when i learned that she's moving to macau to break free from a really, really bad employer. we had croissants and coffee and a load of not so good stories. employers and love life - hmmm seldom would you hear pleasant stories about these topics :p

rp's a toughie. she still had a very positive aura and she gave back only good deeds even if the world threw lemons at her back then. she's very calm, composed, and mahinhin. a genuine filipina inside and out.

a few days ago, i received an fb message from her. she asked me if we could meet when she visits sg again, this time for holidays.

this time around, we had good dinner at tuktuk, courtesy of rp. lovely dinner! thanks, rp! along with the good food were great stories that are not even close to the horror stories we had 3 years ago. the mood was light. she was surprised to learn that it will be my birthday the next day just as i was surprised to know that it will be her birthday on the 23rd. a double celebration!

this time around, she's off to see the wonders of singapore and the neighboring countries. this time around, singapore is lovelier for her. this time around, everything's all right!

3 decades

i owe myself a record of this...

i'm 30!!!!!!! i turned 30 four days ago. while others may look at it like a ticking bomb that's ready to blow up any minute, i felt like it's one of the sweetest moments in my life. no, i didn't have a bonggang-bonggang party. i didn't go anywhere extravagant. i didn't receive expensive gifts. nothing fancy. nothing worldly. nothing superficial.

two weeks before my birthday, i felt like i was a gumamela that lost 2 of its petals. mommy and wawin left for manila. what was left was a gumamela with 3 precious petals - kuya, april, keylabachoy. still it's a wonderful gumamela.

one week before my birthday, i was elated for 5 precious days: spent with my soon-to-be asawa. eventually he had to leave and i felt alone again.

a few days before my birthday, i'm worrying about a lot of things. i guess i was born to worry.

i don't know what hit me. on the eve of my birthday, i just felt so happy and loved and blessed! i have never felt so content in my life and it's the best birthday gift i've ever received - happiness.

i wanted to take the day off on my birthday. i can't. i just worked from home so i can be off by 5pm and hear mass. there was a burning desire in me to hear mass. during the past years, i felt very lazy to hear mass on my birthday. this year was different. i wanted to really have a date with the Lord, see Him face to face and simply say, "Dear bro, thank You for the gift of life. thank you for giving me all that i need and more. i haven't even asked and here You are, sketching the most perfect blue print that is my life."

i could have died when i was 14. my life could have just ended then if my purpose here on earth is done. i was blessed with 16 more years and all the beautiful moments overshadow the trivial, painful ones.

here are the highlights of my 30th year of existence:

• being far away again from mommy and erwin made me realize that love CAN and DOES exist despite the distance.
• mommy gave me a pair of dangling pearl earrings - one that i could use everyday and i love it!
• i had a sneak preview of what it would be like having your partner close to you. as i said, this is mike's best visit so far. so peaceful!
• mike gave me 3 blouses and, beat this, 6 hankies! which he picked himself! he normally would have asked tita to pick his gifts for me (or for anybody).
• i got to blow my birthday eve blueberry-cheesecake-birthday-cake that's specially delivered by kuya, april, keylabachoy.
• my ubs family gave me an oh so touching card that contained messages from people that i don't treat as co-workers but friends.
• facebook and sms greetings - i treat them seriously! i feel it's something you could read on days you are low. it's a reminder that you are somehow remembered once a year!
• i felt a hunger to meet the Lord and speak with Him!
• i was at peace!

so yes, it was all perfect! happy birthday! literally! yahoo!

pangtanggal ng puting-ulo

i think i have the most severe case of whiteheads. they're stubbornly and ceaselessly growing on my nose, chin, and middle of eyebrows area. i just hate them. to remove them, i use tweezers, i pinch my skin, i use my nails. argh. no wonder it only gets worse.

i found this rubbery thing in daiso. no words needed, the pictures on the label strongly suggest that this product is used to remove whiteheads. you know how it is with japanese labels :p the picture isn't that clear but there are tiny bristles on the surface that can be used to scrape the whiteheads. it's really good because the bristles are so soft.

i wonder if it's not harmful. i hope! and i'm so sleepy now...

so far

august 11. exactly 4 months to go. jitters. so what's up? i think we're doing fine :) what do we have so far? i think we've booked almost all the suppliers. we just have to put effort big time on the details. sheesh.

• church - all booked but we need to start to collect the church requirements soon. we'll have the interview on november 11 so i have to be home by then. the complication is: it's still to early for the wedding so i have to be back here for a few weeks then go back to manila again after a few weeks.
• reception - all booked. we need to pay more attention to the detailing: food tasting, decors, crew meals, final quotation. i probably won't put too much effort on the decors. we'll use the default decors on the venue and i'll leave it on their hands.
• photographer and videographer - prenup done. nothing fancy, i think. i wish we became a bit more creative but i guess i just don't have creative juices in me :p we need to finalize the songs for the avps, select prenup photos, and let them know about our preferred photographers.
• gowns/suit - measurement done except for 1 BM and 2 FGs. designs are also finalized and execution will start next week. mikey's suit is all good too, just need to collect after the alteration.
• shoes - my gown supplier requires 5-inch during the ceremony. they have a supplier and i will get my shoes from them. i'm still thinking if i'll change to a different pair for the reception. mikey's shoes are all good, bought when he was here.
• flowers - i didn't splurge on this one. i just booked during the last bridal fair in manila. chosen flowers are all good. i just want a bouquet of pink tulips, it's that simple :) mike just needs to send them the signed contract to "seal the deal".
• lights and sounds - booked via our venue supplier. they have a preferred lights and sounds vendor so we got them.
• priest - fr. alfred is my favorite parish priest from sto. nino. he already knows that we will get him for our wedding priest. i just hope that he remembers :p
• church choir - mikey's colleagues at work will sing for the wedding ceremony at church. we started with the song list but we have a few more missing pieces - bridal march song?
• ps and ss favors - for ps, we're planning to get wines and chocolates but we haven't booked yet. for ss, no idea.
• guest favors - we'll have the photo booth c/o our photographer.
• hmua - my gown supplier recommended her friend. we'll have a trial makeup on november and hopefully, i can book too.
• hotel for the wedding preparations - argh... we still don't know which one we'll get.
• otd/emcee - we had our first meeting last june. i'm wishing they could be a bit more hands on, but i don't mind as long as they'll be close to perfect on the wedding day. we still need to see a video of their emcee, btw.

whew. i feel it's a big production number. if i were to be asked, i want a super simple one lang sana :) in reality, all we really need to do is ask for His blessings and share the special day with the special people in our lives. that's all that matters :)

now, we're almost done. if only we could get enough funds to pay for these all hahaha!

perfect visit

this is a very unique visit for mikey. initially, he wanted to be here on my birthday. since there is the national day holiday on aug. 9, we opted for the 4th to 9th of august.

as i said on my first post, we were too lazy to go out! here are the highlights of his visit:

• thursday night - arrival. i met him at the airport, we had a good chicken rice dinner and went home.
• friday night - dinner with ubs people. this is the first time he's meeting them. he was touched at the gesture that my friends were eager to meet him too. after dinner, we went to don M's for a few rounds of wii. was perfect :)
• saturday - suit and rings and purnada sky park. please see previous post :) aah, it's also worth mentioning that we had a back massage that night. back massage or back kayod? was so painful!! as in hindi kami makabangon the next day sa sakit ng likod namin! susme!
• sunday - mass and ikea. church time was perfect :) instead of sky park, we went to ikea. it was perfect as well! ah eh, can i just mention that we also made tanggal the whiteheads of isa't isa? hahaha! so that's our idea of fun :p and lots of hilata! must be the painful massage! we also made tambay at the hawker center to watch football with the manongs hahaha! enjoy!
• monday - bye bye time :(

i seem so excited sa kwento. yes i am. pagpasensyahan na po, minsan lang ako magkaron ng bf stories hehehe. ano namang maikwento ko kung magkalayo kami at puro text at tawag at chat lang ang ginagawa namin :p

football sa hawkeran

last lazy sunday, nagawi kami ni mikey sa hawker dito sa may baba ng tahanan namin. we were still full from our ikea gluttony session so we just munched on these lovely pratas. i had cheese prata, he had onions and egg. yumey!

here was our midnight snack:

tamang-tama, a football game was being shown on tv. i didn't know which teams played. i didn't know the rules of the game. nakiki-excite lang ako kapag nagtatakbuhan ang mga pogi. hahaha! here are the giant fans, este, here's the game:

at heto ang mga repapips namin hahaha! susme. mga lolo at mga kuya nagsi-inom ng beer habang nanonood ng game. lab it! sayang kung hindi lang under medication si mikey, makikiinom sana kami :p

marina bay sands - sky park (NOT!)

mikey was here. was. argh i hate that word. why can't i always say "mikey is here" argh.

i think this is his most silly visit. silly in an oh so nice way. silly because we were so lazy to go out. the best that we could do was attempt to go the new sleek sky park at marina bay sands. we had a perfect plan, in this order:

1. check out his suit in domanchi.

2. have his wedding ring resized and at the same time our names engraved on both rings.

3. go to the sky park at sunset and have tons of pictures. we were ready for pure awe and amazement at the beautiful sunset.

somehow, we can't proceed with the suit first because we were running out of time for the sunset. so we arranged the rings first then rushed to marina bay sands. there's a free shuttle from suntec so it was perfect.

when we got there, wow. pangmayaman ang lugar! roaaaarrr! parang puro kashing kashing ang naririnig ko! yahoo! pero wala naman kaming kashing kashing. pupunta lang talaga kami sa sky park. hehehe. when we got to the queue, susmeyo, gahaba ng pila! we won't make it to our dream sunset for sure. that's when we decided to just go back the next day. we were pretty determined to see that sunset!

so we took the shuttle going back to suntec. boy, oh boy! it was our bingo bonanza day! we had a 1-hour trip from marina bay sands to suntec! i wasn't sure if the 1-hour duration was normal. at first we were having a good time because it was a sight-seeing trip on the side. but 1 hour? was too much :p bingo talaga!

here's a consolation: we were successful with the suit stuff! suit and shoes were perfect for him! :) i'll get the suit after 2 weeks after the alterations are done.

next day came. again, we had a perfect plan:

1. go to marina bay sands to purchase tickets for the sky park.

2. go to asian civilization museum.

3. go back to sky park for the sunset.

at dahil nga silly kami, ayun hindi na rin natuloy :p nauwi kami sa ikea :))))) i think we were pretty contented with the good company. no pasyals necessary. echos keso! na tunay!

oh, oh, oh!!! mind you! i have a souvenir photo in marina bay sands!!!! here it is! toinks! toilet!