Post Created Jul 19, 2011 8:37:53 AM

a few nights ago, mike was showing me this phone application about math tricks. interesting, i thought. for one who hates doesn't like math, i could use all the tricks in the market that i could get.

so we looked at a certain trick that's something like this:



and i got more confused. and i felt proud. and thankful to mrs. jose, my grade 6 math teacher, who terrorized us to death until we memorized the multiplication table.

mrs. jose is a stout woman. she wore high heels and the fats in her feet are escaping madly from her shoes. that didn't make her less of a person though. in fact, reflecting now, i think she may have been one of the few teachers who left the biggest and most useful lesson to me (and the class).

this was her system:

1. at the beginning of the period, we all stand for the prayer (we start and end each subject with a prayer). i guess this is the point when you also say a little prayer for yourself for what lies ahead of you during the math class.

2. nobody sits after the prayer.

3. she signals for the class to start the recitation of the multiplication table, starting at 6. as in, "6x1 = 6, 6x2 = 12, ... up to 9x9 = 81).

4. you have to be honest. if you make a mistake, you have to sit down.

5. at the end of the number chant, all who are standing will sit down, and all who are seated will stand up. stand up until the end of the math period - yes, amidst lectures and taking down notes and all!

she was scary, yes, but effective to the maximum level. give me a complex problem about derivatives and i will perspire - with blood! but ask me what's 7x8 is and i'll answer in a breeze. :) it matters, i think! in a complex world like what we have now, it sometimes pays that you know simple things by heart. i know my multiplication table and i'm proud. thanks to mrs. jose, we know that some 300 students a year are memorizing their multiplication table too. i wonder where she is now? :)

mighty clouds

such a lovely view.
it rained.
then the sun came out.
then the clouds became amazing like this.
then i cooked lucky me instant pancit canton.
wanted to eat it with rice.
but there was none.
so i settled with banana walnut bread.
was just as lovely.

life's little pleasures :)

ka choleng

when i was a kid, we had a trusted labandera / plantsadora. her name is ka choleng. she would wash clothes one day and come back on another day to press the clothes. i'm not sure how many years she provided this service but she had to stop one day because she had to take care of her apos.

i don't know why there is this certain story that i can't forget about her. she said that she wanted to have a customized bracelet out of a "special" spoon. she said she would bring the spoon to an alahero, the alahero will then transform the spoon into a bangle probably.

i didn't see the spoon. neither did i see the bracelet. but i remember having a strong desire to own a bracelet that's made out of a spoon too! hahaha! inspired by ka choleng :p

now i realize that you couldn't always have what you want. i don't know about ka choleng but i never had that bracelet.

hehehe anong drama ito? all i really want to say is: i now realize that ka choleng was/is a gem. we got the luxury of having fresh, ironed clothes - no sweat.

these days, we do everything on our own. mike does most of the laundry and he is doing a very good job! our clothes smell so good! don't worry though, he has not turned into a domestic god. washing is as easy as dumping the clothes in the washer and coming back after 50 mins to hang the clothes. no sweat.

ironing? if i had a choice, i wouldn't do it hehe. but i have to. maybe not so much now but when mike gets his work then i'll have to iron big time like ka choleng did.

oh dear! what big clothes you have, mike! hahaha!

where does your heart belong?

i quote from bbc news:

"The heart of the last heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, has been buried in central Hungary.

The funeral of the last crown prince took place on Saturday in the Austrian capital Vienna, where his body was buried alongside those of his ancestors in the Imperial crypt.

His heart was buried separately in accordance with Habsburg tradition."

my condolences.

such an interesting tradition.

i wonder, if i have to go through the same, where will i have my body buried? probably i would like to rest my body in peace with mike.

and where will my heart rest? probably in my
hometown, paranaque. papa, lolo, lola are there.

chos!

aldwin and marenila

july is the birthday month of two wonderful people: kuya aldwin and tita marenila :)




tita's midnight birthday cake on the 8th:



dear tita, i wish you good health. we, especially keyla, can't thank you enough. a home is just a semi home if a mom figure is not around.




kuya's midnight birthday cake on the 13th:



dear kuya, i wish you more strength and wisdom as you continue to face fatherhood each day. you are the best!

the feast last weekend - chili crabs, baby kailan with oyster sauce, cereal prawns, mantau bread, peaches and cream, courtesy of chef aldwin and chef april. superb! finger licking good! who needs jumbo when we have jangbow? hehehe! pwedeng pwede! ;)



happy, happy birthday!!!

refuge

i was 6 or 7. mami woke me up at around 4 am. i got confused but woke up anyway. a few hours later, we were in mindoro, in my lola ading's house. i can't remember the details of how we got there, but we got there. mami was home, in her refuge.

lola was surprised, more of happy, to see us. she hugged us. we sat at the living room then it was there where mami started the ordeal of telling lola why we were there. i heard every word and saw every tear. it was something about papa and some bad things that papa was doing, but i couldn't grasp everything.

"alam mo na kung bakit tayo andito?" mami asked. i shrugged. i didn't fully understand.

we stayed there for the night. i could remember eating sardines for dinner - the best sardines i ever tasted, sharing a toothbrush with mami, seeing a giant spider on our kulambo, and going back home to manila the next day... because summer was ending i had to go to school.

that night, when papa got home, he carried me and brought me to the garage to tricyle-view and to mildly interrogate me.

"san kayo nagpunta ni mami kahapon?" he asked gently.

"sa mindoro," i replied.

"tsk. natututo ka nang magsinungaling ha?"

and i got more confused. why? what did i do? :))

catherine michelle

... is my full name. quite long. people never call me michelle. family members call me cath, my friends call me caths, my grannies in mindoro call me karen. i've always just used "catherine camacho" in exam papers. so what's in a second name? hehe. i think it's just pampahaba! i like the name michelle. just don't call me michelle 'cause i don't feel it's me. jejeje.

so the beckhams call their new baby girl harper seven. having seven for a second/middle name may sound, hmm, unique, but check this out. found the clip on bbc news, sort of an analysis on names...

"There can be more than one. British musician Brian Eno is actually Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, while Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland is Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland."

woah! how much space and time do they need in filling out forms??? :)) it's a good read. i'm happy with catherine michelle. thanks!

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? :)))