ang lapad

bakit ba ang lapad ng pics na ina upload ko? nakakasuya! :)))

spell gluttony

so... twister fries is back. that's what donna said on her fb status. so what?! so what? waaah i have to get it!

ininggit ako ni aldwin kagabi sa pamamagitan ng pagpost ng twister fries pic sa beluga. so what? e tamang tama gumawa ako ng planong mag midnight snack kami ni mike kagabi. nagkataon lang naman. ano kayang masarap kainin? hmmm. alam ko na! ang bright ng idea :)

twister fries!!!! hot fudge!!!!





dinner at home at 8:45 midnight snack at 10. what?! i felt bad at some point. there we were eating like there's no tomorrow and some people in ethiopia are dying of hunger. i'm sorry.

15th

i am a late bloomer - as always. the morning rush with chico and delamar is celebrating their 15th anniversary today. where was i during those 15 wonderful years?

i started listening only this year and i'm hooked. i tune in daily at 8am on my way to work and aim to finish the show up to 10am. they are so hilarious. everything from the top 10 anythings, to the witty commentaries, to the green side kwentos, to the perfect tandem - i like them all!

i have this app radio philippines. everything's good. i listen happily until i get this annoying thing:




buffering!!!!! palagi na lang buffering! waaah! i thought it's because of my phone topak but it seems it's because of problems with the station's streaming services. i think... :( days like this, i feel so bitin. aww.

learnings from great men

i came to know two great men. i'm lucky. when you are compassionate, i'm certain you'll leave a mark on the people you meet. some things i learned:

1. some 4 years ago, we were on our getting-to-know dinner. this fact was imparted to us: it's almost always safe in this country. if you end up being a victim of a pickpocket in the mrt, then you probably have a very, very bad luck that day.
2. on my birthday card, something like this is written: never fail to give each day the chance to be the best day of your life. sapol! this is now my favorite quote.
3. on a farewell note, something like this is written: "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor”
4. and while searching for number 3, i stumbled upon this lovely quote: "a ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for" this is my 2nd fave :)
5. you can still function at your best at work, complete your duties, and still get along with everybody. it's a beautiful life.

again, thank you to burger king and to crimson cheeks! hats off to two beautiful persons. i'm lousy with byebyes. i may have been too dramatic when i said goodbye. :(

518A tales

when we moved to the new house, i stopped riding the mrt to work because by the time i get to the mrt station, i'm like a carpenter who just finished work for the day. pawisang mama.

i found comfort in riding 518A because it takes me from the bus stop near our block to the convention center in ~ 1 hour. sitting pretty. prenteng prente. i could read the news, read blogs, tweet (but i'm now in a 1 month LOA from twitter), and sometimes just close my eyes. it's almost therapeutic when you sit silently for an hour.

i have my regular bus mates.

running man - he's almost always running everyday to catch the bus. he doesn't make it sometimes but i think he sure does fight a good fight.

cutting auntie - she's the rude old lady who cut me once at the bus stop just when the bus was arriving. rude.

sonic lady - she's the groovie girl with a hair so stylish it reminds me of sonic the hedgehog. she's so cute!

sleeping headset - he's always sitting near the tap out machine and he's always wearing his headset while wandering to his slumber paradise. so peaceful :)

you can't miss 518A. there' just one bus. why? i don't know. so if you miss it, you have to take the mrt (and be a carpenter, see above) or you have to take 518 (and be doomed, see below).

yesterday, i made the biggest mistake of riding 518 because 518A was not operating. not sure why... but my bus mates were as dumbfounded and bored (too) as i was in the 1 hr 20 min ride. 518 doesn't take the expressway that's why. and i'll never take that bus again. i'd rather take the mrt, thank you.

if running man is the gold medalist, i think i'm the silver medalist! ako na! i didn't make it once or twice but i learned since then. i learned that if i run fast enough, i'll make it - even if the bus is 3 just mins away. even if it's arriving! bring it on!

i love bus 518A!

how to personify winnie the pooh

1. wear tight pants/shorts to make your tummy big(ger). the pressure on the waist will evacuate all the tummy fat in one central bulge.
2. wear a tight, short blouse.
3. when you sit, allow your big(ger) tummy to be exposed (remember, blouse is short). yes, show some skin (aka fat).
4. magpacute.
5. get a jar with honey.

et voila! you are now winnie!

no pic, sorry.

Post Created Jul 5, 2011 6:58:21 PM

and just like that, people let you go.

bye bye burger king.

bye bye crimson cheeks.

until we meet again.

you both deserve a big round of applause.

greasy but lovelove

i first heard of this nice product from maria. if i remember correctly, she said she uses it on her face at night and her skin's sooo soft when she wakes up.

when i was still in manila, i tried it too but it didn't work for me. i thought it was greasy and messy so i gave up on it.

i gave it another shot now and i think it's just great! yes, it's still greasy but i learned that if i apply it in a certain manner, it's all good! i use it on the face and body at night. yes, i think it clogs my facial pores at times, but i use it anyway. super moisturizer!

mahaba-habang sabado

11th of june. our 6th month of being married. our 6th month of being apart/together. cool!

it was also a very eventful day. it was when we took our chances and applied for mike's pr. weeks before, we prepared all the requirements and, in good faith, we now await for 4 - 6 weeks for the result.

we started the day early. after around 3 hours, we completed the application. yay! then there was the IT show. we didn't have the chance to look around when we got the free tv 2 nights before because all we ever did was queue up.

but prior to the IT fair, i brought mike to the office to show him where i work. elev shot!





then it was chow time! this, i think, is the best part for me. we didn't have breakfast and we just came from a mega pila galore big time.





lunch: hokien mee and dimsum. purfect!

oh and i love these lamps!





the IT fair? it was crowded. period. end of story. bow. thanks.

jogging mania

for the past 6 months, i've been ranting at how fast my tummy has bulged - and i'm not even pregnant! we're talking about around 8 soon-to-be-retired pairs of pants if i don't do something about it. early retirement. i love those pants. pinatahi ko'ng mga yun sa maxim's tailoring sa paranaque!

i'm not alone in the eliminate-the-bulge issue. sige go go jog na kami ni mike! 30 minute lakad-takbo. that's what we planned to do. here was our first jog ever, pawis and hingal and all.



i bought 1 nike running shirt. kuya insisted that i buy nike shirts, nothing less, so i could have that f na f na get-up. dagdag to the gana factor daw. ikaw na ang fashion consultant!

hindi ko maatim. na bumili ng sangkatutak na 30+ sgd na shirts na papawisan ko lang sa araw-araw. mike and i got these instead from carrefour (a la sm) at 10 sgd each! kuya couldn't take the sight and smell of cheapness. ikaw na ang sosyal! bwahahaha.



progress was good. the runkeeper app is a good motivation tool. you get to keep a record of each run: how far, how long, number of calories. here's mine and i feel good every time i look at it :)



so far, i've got:
- a sprained ankle
- strained knees
- the bulge STILL
- sapilitang pag zip ng pants ko STILL

hehe. bakit hindi? i've been in rest mode for the past 3 weeks? promise, i'll just let my knees heal and i'll run again. maybe i'll take it easier. hey, i love my knees too! kuya sent me some stretching tips and he swears there's no pain after a jog if you stretch properly. ikaw na ang fitness instructor! :) stretch it is!

ang tanong: magamit ko kaya ulit nang maluwalhati ang mga pants ko? :p

flooded

manila was flooded again last night. i called my mom. she asked me to call back, "cat, mamaya na lang. nasa baha kami" ok, i was a bit alarmed, but i know my mom has been through the worst "floods" in her life. a little drizzle like this is probably just sisiw to her.

apparently, they just had to walk through a few meters of knee-deep flood before coming home. that's fine. it could have been worse.

this morning, i saw a tweet from recio and he was describing his worst flood experience during college.

here's mine, and i think it's an infant compared to the bad, bad experiences of others.

it was 1997, i think. it was raining hard in manila and the streets got flooded. mauie and les (my bus mates) and i opted to still board a bus routed to the south despite the flood and the dead traffic. wrong move. it took us about an hour from gokongwei to the university mall! that's like a few 200 steps!

we decided to head back to the school campus because we didn't think traffic will improve. the consequences: wet shoes, wet legs, wet pants, wet feet. not bad, but the thing is, my shoes were blue. and it bled when it got wet. so i had wet - and blue - feet. yay! in fairness royal blue ang shade! :)

we ended up being stranded in the school. i can't remember how and what we ate. i do remember that we initially stayed at the tambayan area and ended up sleeping in one of the classrooms. the next morning, there were still no buses but we eventually got home around noon. sheesh!

the valenzuela flood with liza is another story... and it IS the story! wait lang. nahihilo na ako sa bus. later na lang. bye!

sunset

why is the sun so fascinating?

i got home early one day and i was at the bus stop when i witnessed the sun setting by the ummm buildings and kalsada. and road construction machines. hehehe. that's the best sunset i could see these days. yes, the sun still sets beautifully and gloriously in the midst of life's hustles and (not so) occasional glitches.

tangkilikin natin ang freebies - OMG

at talagang napa OMG ako sa mga pangyayari kagabi. hindi ko maipaliwanag kung paanong ang plano kong ipahinga ang na injure kong paa ay nauwi sa matinding parusa at pagtityagang pumila sa IT fair. OMG talaga. para sa libreng tv!

so it all started when i decided to work from home after having a bad foot after jogging. the plan was to complete some pr forms and sleep early. heto na si general aldwin tumawag... may free na tv raw ang starhub cable kapag new subscription. since our current subscription is under april's name, we have to terminate it and get a new plan under my name. sounds like a witty plan, but here are the glitches:

1. we had to go to suntec because that's where the roadshow is. seriously - masakit ang paa ko!
2. we had to go last night because baka maubos daw ang tvs kung ngayon pa. seriously - 7pm na!
3. seriously - bakit ba seriously ako nang seriously? makaarte lang :p

so we got there at 8:30 pm. we queued, the staff warned us that the processing will take about 2 to 3 hours. seriously?! pero since kailangan namin ng tv sa kwarto. sige tyagaan na itong matindi. we waited for our turn. 120+ customers lang naman ang nakapila. 120+! heto pa:

1. hindi pa kami nagdidinner
2. hindi ka na makakalabas para bumili ng food dahil di ka na makakapasok ulit
3. may katabi kaming annoying, noisy, big (sorry, i just have to say) girl

but we survived! for the love of freebies! what did we get?

1. a new and better channel set
2. a new tv, to be collected after july 11
3. $40 robinsons voucher
4. a disney tumbler for keyla
5. free water. i super appreciate this. this sustained us!



11:30 and it's a done deal. ang isa pang matinding pagkakamali - nag bus 518 kami. at nakarating sa bahay after an hour. dinner was served at 1:00 am - maggi chicken noodles.

susme! anong pangyayari ito sa buhay namin? :)))

cheese sticks :)

meryenda last sunday = cheese sticks love

pros:
- super yumyum
- cheese overload

cons:
- hard to prepare
- hindi nakakabusog

i had more than 5 sticks but these didn't sustain me hahaha!

kung po 3d

watched kung fu panda 2 in 3d last friday. loved it! hilarious! we watched it in golden village in tampines. kuya said cathay cinemas are better so we'll try it next time :)

we were sitting next to 2 girls who were around 9 - 10 yrs old. it was fun because i got to watch a kiddie movie plus witness children's reactions in the purest forms! lulutong ng tawa ang saya! hihihi!

hey, this is our 2nd sg movie date! :) the first one was source code. so this is how it goes when you are together! go go go!

stealth mode

two buildings trying to hide behind some trees. life's like that sometimes. no matter how hard you try to hide, "they" just keep on finding you.

ps: wala akong pinaghuhugutan. i just like the scene, that's all. :)

sharing my room

next tuesday will be a legendary day.  my husband is coming here - FOR GOOD.  i know it isn't easy for him to leave his room, his house, his friends, his car, his family.  it isn't easy taking away your comfort zone.  likewise, it isn't easy taking you away from your comfort zone.  but honey, we have to build our own comfort zone together.  it isn't easy for me too because this is the first time i'm sharing a room (and my life) with a "stranger", you know :) and we both have to adjust and we can't get  there unless we start now.

some 5 months ago, we got married, signed that piece of paper, and lived our separate lives just the same.  now where's the marriage there?  i could say i've had enough of long distance affairs and i'm feeling i'm getting too old for it, life is too short!  let's live our life to the fullest -- being TOGETHER.

here are a few preparations, as you requested:

a mat at the entrance of the door

and a matching one beside the bed so we could wipe off the dust before getting on the bed.  see that bin?  this is where we'll put your socks, as you requested too :)

on this site will rise (hehe) our tv.  it's a tv rack, alright, but it acts as a vanity drawer for now.  tv coming soon, i hope.  now we have to get a new kikay corner.  ps: keyla got all the stuff into a big mess!  it's not me!

a bedside table.  i was hesitant to buy the drawer i found in ikea.  it's a bit small so the table will do for now (batas militar, i know).

a computer/study table.  this one's all for you.  i could do without one, but as you requested, i got you one :) i know the chair's not ergonomically built and we already get backaches just by looking at it.  one by one, we'll get there.

a bench at the foot of the bed.  you said you wanted to have one, so here it is :)  i'm thinking of transferring it to the other side of the bed so we could sit on it when watching tv... let's see.

and the sacred resting place, the bed :)  oh, remember the quilt cover that mama gave us?  the one that's apparently a king size and wouldn't fit our quilt because we have a queen size?  i already altered it and now it fits perfectly! :)

and something to remind us of the happiest day of our lives.  that's an everlasting flower on the background.  got it from the bouquet you gave me the last time you were here.

i know you are sad for now, saying goodbye to your friends and family, saying goodbye to your single life, but beyond that "death" is a new life that we'll build together.  i will forever thank you for the sacrifice.  let's seal it all with a prayer that things will continue to be better.  after all, the best is yet to come.  God makes ALL things beautiful in His time :)

are you ready?  brace yourself!  let's be  A W E S O M E  together, sweetheart! 

byebye, baby tee!

i am such a sentimental freak.  some 6 years ago, i was sent to ohio for a one-month training.  those days were sweet.  weekends were spent visiting other filipino communities or going places or going shopping.  i don't really love shopping.  i rarely shop and i just buy clothes when i need them.  sometimes i need them and i still feel lazy to shop.  yahoo!

but since i was there and shops were everywhere, ok, i got a few items.  and by few, i really mean few!  i could even count the items i bought and i think of them more as souvenirs of good times.

there's this gap baby yellow tee for, ehem, kids - size 10.  i loved this shirt!  i know ate maj also bought one.  i was thinking i should have bought a dozen.  why didn't i?  it's very cute and comfy and fits me perfectly!  i wore it a lot when i went out.

after a few years, my favorite shirt became so losyang because of wear and tear.  she became so losyang that she was embarrassed to be seen in public and just wanted to stay home.  thus, she became a pambahay.

and now... i made a very hard decision... i am about to clean the house and i have no basahan.  baby gap is a very sound candidate because she is the oldest in the bunch.  she even has stretch marks!  poor baby tee.  she will now have a different purpose in life, and that is to make other things squeaky clean.

here is baby tee in her less glorious form.  sniff sniff.

iced green tea

when i was a kid, tang was the known brand for panghimagas orange juice and then came eight o 'clock.  and of course there was nestea iced lemon tea!  everything comes in powder and in tetra packs!  hehe.  nestea iced tea was a wonderful treat at home.  

one hot, summer day, we ran out of nestea (not that it was a staple at home.  as mentioned, it was just a treat.)  papa boiled some water, dumped in a few liption yellow tea bags, some sugar, calamansi, and tons of ice.  and it dawned on my childhood brain that iced tea is simply just "iced" tea!  yes, it was obvious, but i didn't know it was one and the same!  haha ang labo ko.  i was surprised at how it tasted so similar to nestea, and even better!  so there goes the history of how i came to know how iced tea is made. :)  well, the powdered iced tea is another story.

a few weeks ago, we didn't have juice on a hot day.  i used the same ingredients that my papa did, but as we don't have yellow tea, i used green tea.

verdict: hmmm... hindi masarap.  toinks!  

let's just stick to yellow tea, pokka even! :p

life's little surprises

2 weeks ago, we were not at our best.

you were there, i was here.

you think this way, i think otherwise.

you do the most "normal" things, i get upset.

every little thing is foul.

every little thing is magnified.

then i told myself a good movie with good friends is a good thing to do on a good, long weekend.  fine, do your stuff and i'll do mine (plus, i'm really excited over this movie... why not, it's thor!)  when was the last time i watched a movie?  all done, tickets were booked courtesy of elzie.  she even sent us the confirmation number.

then one of the most bizarre things happened.  elzie told us that due to "technical issues", our movie tickets were not booked.  ergo, movie date is cancelled.  fine.  "what about the confirmation number?" i thought.  being the gullible person that i am, i believed.  no doubt, no questions asked.

then came sunday.  i had to go to church alone.  kuya, april, and keyla went to a baby shower party.  i was feeling a little sad hearing mass alone, but i realized a me-time isn't that bad, and in fact it was very good.  i felt very peaceful, very one with my God.  after mass, i roamed around pasir ris west mall and looked for anything interesting i could find.

then i got a phone call from tita.  she was asking me where i was and what time i would be home.  odd, i thought.  tita never calls me, never asks where i am and what time i'll be home.  i told her i'm about 10 minutes away from home.

then i arrived home, the wonderful baby girl greeted me with cheerful shrieks and laughter.  i carried her and we went to my room.

then i found flowers on my bed.  who could be sending me flowers?  i asked tita but she didn't answer.  fine.  maybe those are from kuya.

then i found you at the door, with the biggest smile on your face, the warmest hug in the world, and one of the most priceless moments that halted time.

then i remembered again how you seldom give surprises but the ones that you execute are just the cutest and the sweetest.

then i'm reminded once again that i'm spending the rest of my life with you.  bati na tayo.  fine.  

PS: i missed thor.  it's a connivance.  a pleasant connivance :) life is wonderful.