awake

what keeps me up when i feel so sleepy at work? this cup of coffee.
the image formed looks so wide awake too. haha. if this can't keep you
up, what else will?

i am a hard-headed girl. i drink coffee, i palpitate, i get jumpy, i
complain, i promise i won't drink coffee again. it's just a cycle. argh.

an early stress

time check: 8 months to go before the wedding.

things have been moving in a very slow pace. we haven't really added anything in our accomplishments list since february. i hope we are not taking it too easy.

gowns. i'm getting a little nervous about this. when i went home last feb, we booked our gown designer. we booked in good faith - no sketches, no serious talks at all. he had a lot of good feedbacks in w @ w so i was pretty confident that he delivers well. that, plus i've seen his portfolio and his designs are great! i met him one saturday last feb. he didn't sketch then. he just asked for details and inspiration and told us that if we decide to get him, he'll send the sketches via email.

i thought that i will go ahead with the booking after seeing the sketch, just to be safe, and we left the shop. after 2 days, i was eager to check the gowns designer on my checklist. so i said, i'll just go ahead with the booking - in good faith - and just wait for the sketch. if i don't like it, then i'll just tell him to sketch another one.

so we deposited the DP to his account and sort of "booked" him.

then came some negative feedback in w @ w. negative as in: he didn't deliver on time for this bride and the outcomes were not satisfactory. then that's when i started to get nervous. i don't know what his reasons are for not delivering for that bride as agreed.

march is over and i still don't have my sketches. i followed up a number of times but he's really hard to reach. i was lucky last thursday. i saw him on chat and asked about the sketches. he said he'll send them after the holy week. he isn't apologetic at all. sure, it's just a sketch, but if you say you'll send something to a client by this date, aren't you supposed to keep track of it somehow? and deliver? otherwise, send a notice that you can't? it seems he isn't even aware that he promised the sketches by march. sheesh.

somehow, trust is broken. i'm not sure if it's too early to worry about it or if it would be better to withdraw this early and look for another one. the problem is, i'm not sure if he'll be happy to return the DP. sigh.

quasi-cherry blossom festival

it's cherry blossom season in japan :) i've always wanted to go. well, japan is on my places-i-must-see-before-i-die list, with or without cherry blossoms!

there is a park in front of our apartment. and there are a number of quasi-cherry blossom trees there :)) quasi, because: they are NOT cherry blossoms. the flowers resemble the kalachuchi flowers in pinas. mygali. they are quasi-cherry blossoms AND quasi-kalachuchi. what are they?! hahaha!

one morning, before going to work, i was mesmerized by the bed of flowers that formed on the ground. the trees adorned with flowers are wonderful to look at. the bed of flowers is also gorgeous, but it's a bit mushy if you step on them hehe.

flowers everywhere! flowers on the grass, flowers on the kanal rails!

cherry blossoms everywhere (weh kunwari lang!) white ones and even pink ones a few meters away!

flowers on the sidewalk. ;) lovely!

dear japan,

will you wait for me? one day i'll see you.

mwah!

love,

me

seven churches, a semi-full moon, and fried beehon

maundy thursday, after office, the camachos went to visit 7 churches.

we also commemorated the stations of the cross. two stations per church. it was a good experience.

i somehow feel the spirit of Holy Week is slowly draining out of my system so this is a very humbling and timely experience for me. glad to have done it with people closest to my heart.

when i was younger, the spirit was oh so alive. there would be pabasa of the pasyon within the neighborhood. the pasyon was broadcasted via loud speakers so it's undeniable that it really is the Holy Week! i miss mami. we used to do the visista iglesia together. i wasn't active even back then. it's just that the feeling is different when you are in the philippines.

there were also a number of times that we were in mindoro for Holy Week. we would join the procession and we also witnessed the penitensya rites. it was a bit scary. i didn't understand this ritual back then, really. for me, they were just a group of scary men. now, i understand what they were trying to do.

here are the seven churches that we visited. our route was: from city going to the east. please forgive the poor quality of the pictures. my humble phone did its best given the absence of good light.

St. Joseph's Church

Church of Saints Peter and Paul (church under renovation)

Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

Divine Mercy (this will be our parish come May 1)

Holy Trinity

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

Church of the Holy Family

the semi full-moon - i loved how the moon watched over the earth with love that night.

yummy fried beehon. what is penitensya? after the four-hour event, the camachos got hungry and decided to share this lovely meal together. it was perfect with pickled chilies and hot soup and fried tofu. this eatery was just across the last church.

we started at 7:30 and ended at 11:30pm. i really, really loved the experience. i'd also love it if our future kids will keep this tradition alive!