si tita, tito, at ang pool house ko

i've been watching OC for the past 2 weeks. yes, after the desperate housewives marathon, i'm on the 2nd season of oc - loving every episode. hay. i'm hooked. so hooked i call seth's parents tita and tito. yes, i call kirsten tita and i call sandy tito. as in, "bilisan mo kuya, hinihintay na tayo nina tita". and kuya would ask me, "at san ka nakatira? sa pool house?" mwehehe... makitira ba?! makirelate ba?!

i only have one worry in life now - where the heck will i get season 3? i'm running out of season 2 episodes! they don't have season 3 yet on the video rental. they're selling it though for $69. no, thank you. i'll just wait.

i think ryan is gay. hehe i have nothing against it, pero naglalalaki-lalakihan sya e! nakakairita! bwahaha! i like seth and summer. :) and julie cooper is the perfect bitch. haha! of course i love tito and tita - salamat sa pag-ampon sa akin at pagpapatira sa pool house. i love it! hahaha!

usapang bata

napag-usapan namin nung mga nakaraang araw ang aming kabataan. bigla kong naalala ang mga kalaruan ko noon. haaay nakakamiss. sarap bumalik sa pagiging bata :) hindi kami nilunod noon sa laruan. at maraming laruan na inisip kong sana meron ako pero wala hehehe. pero masasabi kong masaya na ako sa mga childhood toys ko:

pinky - isa syang teddy bear na pink. malaki. halos sing laki ko nung mga 4 yrs old ako. lagi ko syang yakap-yakap sa pagtulog ko (with matching pink na night gown). dumating ang panahon na medyo dumumi na sya at nadadagdagan ang edad ko. hindi ko na sya yakap-yakap at ang pwesto na nya ay sa tuktok ng cabinet namin - kasama ng ibang lumang laruan at alikabok :( hanggang isang araw, kailangan na syang itapon dahil na rin siguro sa kalumaan. i miss pinky.

barbie at nadia - si barbie - sinong di nakakakilala sa kanya, taas ang kamay. hehe. si nadia - ay ang barbie kong egay. konti lang ang damit nila, as in tig-isa lang sila. pinangarap kong magkaron din sila ng magagarang damit at accessories pero hindi yun ang priorities ng magulang ko nung panahong yon kaya tiis-tiis lang din sina barbie at nadia sa maigsing kumot. di ko maalala kung ginupitan ko sila ng buhok. hindi ko rin alam kung san na sila napapunta ngayon.

jakiston - marami akong jackstone set. merong nabibiling mura sa tindahan, yung malaking mabigat na bola na pangit ang talbog, lagi kang dead. pero meron din namang mga medyo mamahalin, magaan yung bola at maganda ang talbog. may case pa. ilan sa mga exhibitiong naaalala ko: around-the-world, check, dot, point, cave.

pick-up-sticks at chinese jackstone - hindi ko forte ang mga ito. ni hindi ata ako nagkaron nito e. pero nakasubok ako kahit papano. hindi ko sya trip noon. solid jackstone fan siguro ako.

10-20 at chinese garter - masaya ang larong ito. pwedeng garter, pero may kamahalan ata ang garter noon kaya kadalasan, goma lang na pinagdugtong-dugtong ang gamit namin sa bahay. sa school, garter hehehe. uh, hanggang ngayon memorize ko pa ang steps ng 10-20.

gumamela - gumamela bubbles! masayang-masaya ako pag nakakapag palobo ako ng gumamela. naaalala ko, lolo ko ang nagturong gumawa nito. mula non, lagi na akong nagpapalobo. ang saya saya noon! tamang-tama may puno kami ng gumamela sa harap ng bahay kaya di ko kailangang mamitas sa kapit-bahay. kaya nung nagpunta kami sa malaysia kamakailan, tuwang-tuwa ako nung nakakita ako ng sandamakmak na puno ng gumamela: pink, red, orange! wow!

lutu-lutuan - hindi yung mga mamahaling plastic. lata ito. as in may mga tatak pa ng minola sa ilalim. binili ata ng lola ko sa palengke. enjoy! marami-rami rin akong "nalutong" putahe dito.

kisses and stationeries - wala akong batang kakilala na hindi naniniwalang nanganganak ang kisses. nilalagay pa sa bulak pero di ako nakapagpaanak kahit isa. hehe. stationeries - meron akong mangilan-ngilan. ang uso pa noon ay makukulay na folders, dun mo iipunin yung mababangong statio. di ko maalala kung san ako bumibili pero i think uso rin ang palitan ng statio kaya nagiging iba-iba ang collection mo.

buti pa ang bata, laruan lang ang problema hahaha.

ang hooters at ang gang

yes gang talaga ito. last friday was the 30th of august. uh, very informative. camachca, cutchoja, libunama, mabalosu, and martirje (ubs characters ito) had plans of going to a videoke on this date. martirje couldn't make it. eventually, mabalosu and jo didn't make it too because of an emergency.

so the rest ended up going to clark quay for dinner. janise said papasa kami sa amazing race: janise with the best friend, mike. marco with the gf, anne. and caths with the brother, kuya. hehe... ayz.

hooters it is - with the skimpy shorts and oozing (not so) boobs. ibang-iba ang nakita ko sa mga pelikula hahaha. baby back ribs: perfect! all 6 of us were satisfied with our meals, and then a few rounds of beer and tequila followed. tipsy tipsy, but not too bad :) pampahimbing ng tulog later.

we met 3 filipina waitresses there. and dami na talagang pinoy dito hehehe. :) there was lovely, the ojt, who kept on fixing her hair as she attended to us. there was jasmine-trias-look-alike, who was fine and kind. and there was ate-slang who was, uh, slang :)) hahaha. yun lang.

it was a great night, gang! ulitin natin ito. masaya ang hot seat session na ito bwahahaha!

btw, walang pics kse the high tech cam was with jo so nobody brought one. i therefore conclude: no jo = no pics. hehe.

btw2, remarkable ang group sa tabi ng table namin dahil malulungkot sila hehehe. hello friday night ito! hindi ito lamay! masaya pa ata ang mga lamay na napuntahan ko kesa sa kanila. hahaha show some bright spirit! loosen up! bwahahaha nangealam...

wala

yan ang nangyari ngayong araw na ito. ang saya, diba? :)

tongtongtongtong

tongtongtongtong pakitong-kitong
alimango sa dagat
malaki at masarap
mahirap mahuli
sapagkat nangangagat

repeat (tempo faster) 100x

-ulam namin for dinner. yummmmmm.

masakit sa dibdib...

ang sobrang pagtawa. watched a movie with ate josh, jess, and mel - high school friends. patok talaga pag nagkita-kita ang dominic. :) imagine a HS senior class with a very diverse group of girls. there are different circles of friends within the 51-member class, but like open-the-basket game, each member could jump into other baskets and could still be so in sync with the rest of the bunch. ang friend ko ay friend mo ba... ganun.

so the dominic people SG chapter are increasing in number. we are 5 now. glo-ann, more popularly known now as joanne, wasn't able to join us because we had no way of contacting her except via friendster. and by the time she read the message, we were already laughing our hearts out.

the last time i saw ate josh was around a month ago in food rep. just met her for merienda because she happened to be around my work area that time - at kumain kami ng aloe vera. period. the last time i saw mel was during access days. saw her crossing one of the streets in ayala. hehe. and the last time i saw jess was way back HS pa! wow.

so it was hairspray. nice... funny musical. kakaiba si john travolta. parang naka-drugs hehehe. ate josh saw the film recently but didn't mind watching it again because she thought it was a cool film. at umiibig sya kay di-ko-matandaan-ang pangalan. basta yung bida ba sa high school REUNION.

nawala ang kredibilidad namin ni mel dahil ang sabi ni mel, "para syang si john travolta na nilagyan lang ng pading". ang sabi ko naman, "ay! si michelle pfeifer ba yun?!? i thought she was just some old woman". bwahaha! the!!! sya talga si john travolta... at sya talaga si michelle pfeifer! the!

this was followed by dinner at secret recipes where we met the pinay waitress, rechele. she said she's haunted by feelings of loneliness here in SG but seeing her co-pinoys makes her day. she badly wanted to sit with us and laugh with us and just be crazy... yes, it was very evident that we were a crazy pack of "older" girls. sheesh. she is 19. we're 27. so? :) she doesn't look 19! bitter ito? :) salbahe! mabait si rechele. period.

last stop was starbucks to plan for jana's trip here on sept. we listed all the spots we want her to see, made a schedule, and documented everything on a starbucks tissue. yep. tissue it is. crazy girls! pati ata attire ni jana e naplano na namin. hehe. somewhere in between the laughs, hindi ko maipaliwanag kung papanong naging hayop si jana. ang chismis nga naman... bwahaha!

heto ang permutation ng pics namin:

busog

mukang extension ng birthday ko. kuya cooked spag tonight. i cooked fried chicken. made some garlic bread. top it all off with left-over cake from my birthday. at malamig na malamig na baso ng coke. ayan birthday ko na ulit hehehe.

i had a very poor appetite for the past few days but tonight was the ultimate lamon night. lamon kung lamon... haha... aray aray naempacho na ako. a good walk would be nice so i went to the pool area, muni-muni, lakad-lakad, isip-isip, hum-hum, at kung ano-ano pang double-double. sheesssh...

the water seemed so inviting, i wanted to dive and swim - if only this could strip off whatever needs to be stripped from my body and soul. wow sosyal. body and soul ito.

matapos ang muni-muni ko, nakita ko si manong sonic lobby guard sa lobby (kse kung wala sya sa lobby hindi na sya lobby guard diba?). nakipagchikahan ako. ok sya kakwentuhan. kaso tinanong ang sweldo ko. a manong, ok ka lang? haha. nalaman ko, inutangan pala nya ang housemate ko. aha! may balak pang mangutang si manong.

i asked him if he doesn't see ghosts during the night shift. he said he just prays when he feels scared, and that he doesn't believe in mumu. he said that mumus are just people. yes, i agreed. i met one and lived with one for 2 years! uy, ni-re-relate!

in the end, bumaba rin ang kinain ko... ngayon lang ako ulit nabusog nang ganito. yum!

surprise, surprise!

august 17, my birthday. :) i felt like a monster that early friday morning. i know i have to face the truth some day, why not now? hit me on my birthday so i'll feel angry and not tend to look back.

for the past few weeks, i have been pretty hopeful that things will somehow work out. it didn't seem that way. so i asked for honesty. i wasn't expecting those facts but there they were. it hit me solidly. if you ask for the truth, don't expect that you won't get hurt. so what could i do? discreetly cry amidst work.

i asked myself why i had to put myself in such an unhappy state on my birthday. i could have asked for it some other time, but i guess i'm in the mood for it. hahaha... to get over things soon.

on the other side of the universe, i was perfectly clueless that my kuya was brewing up a secret party for me. he asked me to invite JUST my office mates for a quiet dinner at the house. menu was liempo - his specialty.

so i asked the good-natured 4 office buddies. janise and marco (with anne) confirmed. mommy jen and sunshine declined for funny reasons hehehe. so i was expecting a totally quiet dinner for 5.

time to go. my 3 guests and i went home together for our supposedly liempo meal.

from the street, i could see that there were a few shadows inside our house. weird, i thought. kuya should be alone today cooking his liempo. aha, must be just the other housemates.

at the lobby of our home, marco, jan, and anne were busy logging in when i spotted james and mitch alighting a taxi. aha! my scheming brother... i sensed it won't be a dinner for just 5 after all. "anong ginagawa nyo dito?!?!", i asked james. "uh, housewarming", sagot ni james. duh!!! you're so buko! hahaha.

so we went together to our unit. i opened the door and voila... some 20+ friends shouted and greeted me! grabe i was so shocked and overwhelmed to see my very good friends:

mommy jen and ian - who said they can't go to my simple dinner

sunshine and jo - same i-can't-go drama hehehe

len, mommy jen's housemate

liza - nakakapagtakang di nya ko tinext... hahaha kaya pala

james - ang nakita ko sa lobby kaya ako kinutuban

mitch - and kasama ni james nang nahuli ko sila

michelle - a college friend whom i haven't seen for ages

cindy - my spi batchmate

weng - spi and ubs ofcmate (and mind align chatmate as well)

donna - who doesn't know her? hehe

guen - spi and ubs ofcmate

suzy - spi ofcmate and bundok buddy

louis and liz - my housemate and his gf

edwin - a mainstay in our house

sonny - my housemate

noel - kuya's friend... and naarkilang cook hehe

janise - ubs bud ang kasama kong pauwi

marco and anne - ubs bud and his gf, kasama ko rin pauwi

allan and carol - kuya's good friend

mike - kuya's good friend, not the monster one

nick - ubs colleague and kuya's friend as well

it always prepped me up when people greet me on my birthday. sa kahit papanong paraan, i just love it when people give me well wishes. it's specially true today, maybe i feel i badly need the warm wishes on my break-up season. uh. kontento na ako sa simpleng happy birthday, caths! pero what just happened that friday night? i cried talaga when i saw everyone's faces. grabe!

there was liempo, shrimp, chicken, spag for everybody. good food, good company... grabe ang galing ni kuya super saludo ako. wala akong masabi. mahal ako ng kuya ko! and i'm proud of it.

thanks to everybody who came. you really made my birthday special. and thanks to my kuya... for everything... you all made me realize that there is always a reason for life to be sweet despite pain and bitterness.

i'm inching towards the sweetest part of the sweet. :)

genting adventure (delayed post ito... way too delayed)

so here it is... last, last thursday night, i rushed and packed my things for a two-day, one-night trip to genting theme park in malaysia (aug 11-12). my worries initially were: a) hindi ko na alam ang kapasidad ng katawan ko pagdating sa mga daring rides (janise shared the same sentiments). b) baka atakihin ako sa puso mwehehehe. yun lang naman. other than that, i'm sooo game for this trip!

janise and mike and i met at lavender station - the pick-up point for the coach. the coach was great. with tv monitors and high tech chairs that massage you, and hold your feet for you, and all that fancy fancy stuff... sabi nga nina janise, para ka lang nagpaparlor bwahahaha!

there were a few taranteyshus moments at the immigration but everything went well in crossing the singapore-malaysia border. long ride it was. comparable to a bagiuo trip at more than 6 hours + zigzag roads + cold climate when you get to the top of the mountains. oh we saw the petronas towers from afar! as in afaaaaaar hehe. it's also remarkable that malaysia is so much alike the philippines - almost felt like home.

so we got to genting highlands. yey! it was cold! good thing we heeded marco's advice and we took sweatshirts. otherwise, nginig ito. we checked in to our hotel room - which looked a lot like a crime scene! beds were undone and pushed far towards the wall, a few bills and coins (which seemed too much for a tip) were scattered on the table, and the room was just in a general state of disarray... put simply.

we called the operator and we asked for a new decent room. the new one was much better yey! a hearty lunch followed and then we headed off to the outdoor park. kelamig! rides time: i was almost ready to say byebye to my good lunch feeling ko susuka talaga ako, but hindi naman... bwahaha! had a couple of rides but i guess the most "unique" one was space shot: you sit on a chair, they lift you heck knows how high and give you a vertical drop. the feeling was kakaiba! can't explain! siguro that's how it would feel to die bwahahaha!

i also have to say this is the first time i saw that much fog... mapapakanta ka talaga ng "ale, nasa langit na ba ako? mama, kayo po ba si san perdo" hehehe. add a thousand Arab ladies in black overalls - mata lang ang kita - and you have an almost eerie place. i dunno why, but they scare me. sorry. i feel they're black ladies. :(

the best ride, i guess, is flying coaster. it's just like flying... ya know, like super man! todo! si superman ba nagfli-flip when he flies? naaah! flying coaster even flips you when you fly! how cool could that be? hehehe! short but super enjoyable ride. this is by far our favorite!

ripley's was also good... because it also served as a haunted adventure. todo tili at takutan ito. susme. ano ba kami? kids? gazz. it was good :) kid in me unleashed again.

ok, by 10pm, halos pilay na ang paa ko sa pagod. at uh, mabaho ang kanang paa ko kse yung boots sa snow world, basa at mabaho! susme dikit sa medyas ito! ang baho! pwe! oh well, so what?! dinner at kenny rogers and then a good bath and then a good rest. janise, nagitgit ata kita sa kama? soweee! hihihi!

the next day, we missed the flying venture because there wasn't too much time. this is the one where they give you a hard air blow so you fly... just like sky diving? too bad. good luck next time! we tried the longest cable car. and loooong it is! long and lush. this was where we formulated other travel plans. thailand, malaysia, japan? i'm game as long as the body, and of course the wallet, is not weak! hehe!

we also scouted the shops for a few pasalubongs and impromptu birthday gift. ehem, thanks, jan for the boxers and uh, undies. hehehe. i luv it! thanks thanks!

after lunch, it was time to go. mistulang mga pulubi ang drama namin sa stop-overs. susme tama bang simutin ang mga ringgit? ayan wala na kaming pambili ng dinner at souvenirs. susme! wow tunog forenjer talaga! ashush!

so another looong drive and off at lavender station once again... and finally - home! yey!

dear janise and mike,
thanks for tagging me along this very wonderful trip. :) thanks for the great company! woohoo! looking forward to more trips with you!

love,
caths =)

pics:
genting pics

freaky 0810

my first post 3 yrs ago was dated aug. 10. there, i sort of admitted that i was single.

after 3 yrs, aug. 10, i documented again that i am single. nice? hehe. kay galing naman... ha-ha-ha.

so ang aug. 10 pala for me ay araw ng pagtanggap na single ako?! haller! hahaha! dapat i-proklamang holiday ito.

genting post coming up... tonight sana :) hehe

ay-ay-ay

it happened again on my birth month. kay saya. :-) parang ayaw ko na ng august. maraming masalimuot na nangyayari. well... life goes on. single kung single ang drama...

single? but hey, there's genting tomorrow. something to look forward to. and there's my birthday the next weekend. and then what? maraming maraming araw ng pag move on. :-) ooh wow i could smile. :-) sa blog, of course...

tomorrow, genting muna. ok? ok! magsaya, maglibang, masaya pa rin ang buhay, get over it, and move on. :-)

isang gabing madilim

it's a holiday. it was... it's 1am and i'm finding my way to my sleep. not that i need it. i've had too much this afternoon and as a consequence, i can't sleep now. so here i am, eyes wide open, sitting on my bed, lights out, and writing my whatevers.

kuya and i went to vivo city this evening. he bought his gym bag and i was supposed to buy me a sweatshirt... couldn't find one. too bad. i was looking for a white one with little touches of pink. naaah... walang ganun.

we had subway sandwiches for dinner. i insisted he had one despite his diet. darned diet. hehe. roast beef is just superb - not with everything on it... just lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers. just right. parmesan oregano bread is out so honey oat it is. goody.

i wonder why i had to be shut out. well, if it's the way you want things to be, then so be it. you won't hear a word from me from now on. i hope i'll have the strength to pull this act somehow. if you ever need me, i'm just a buzz away. it's been some time since i unleashed words of anger... they may sound harsh, sorry. but they've been kept in there for too long, had to let it out somehow. :) and i did, and it feels good, and it felt bad (a little).

oh, did i mention it's independence day? independence from everything. woohoo!

hala hala

naninikip ang dibdib ko. syet... buti na lang... ano... kwan... yun na nga yun. buti na lang! thanks.

makabuluhang usapan at ang paraiso

mabuti pa ang mga impromptu lakad natutuloy. mangilan-ngilang attempts din ang sinubukan namin ni donna para magkita. at finally this is it... nagkita rin kagabi pagkatapos nyang asikasuhin ang baby nya hehe...

since matagal-tagal ang papatayin kong oras, sabi ko makahanap ng library. stick my nose in a book or two - yesss corny ba? bakit ba? this is my trip. pero mukang natakot ako maghanap kse baka maligaw ako hehehe... buti na lang busilak ang puso ni janise. sinamahan nya muna ako. chumika muna kami sa bonsai garden. the same garden we so desperately searched for during our first day. awww memories.

ayun naupo kami sa gitna ng hardin - na amoy incense (either that or jebs). nag-usap about love life. hehe. that's life. realizations, thoughts, ayos, airport moments, how much some people are willing to give it another chance... and another one after the another... and another one... sigh. if only things are running how you want them to... but that's not life. that probably is paradise and paradise is in heaven, not earth. whatever happened to heaven by your side... hmmm...

so time check, time to meet donna. byebye chumy janise. thanks for the good conversation.

hello, donna. kain sana kami sa new york new york kaya lang 1 mile ang pila e patay gutom na kami. lipat kami sa aming first-date spot - thai express. chow = baby squid, at some gulay in oyster sauce. yum.

okray... maraming okray... yun lang hehe... hindi naman. maraming boy talk. kung bakit sila ganun, hindi ko na talaga maipapaliwanag. hehe. it's a common denominator. boys will be boys and girls will be girls. alter some bits and pieces and again, it will come down to "but that's not life". :-) fine.

"you've had your chance and you didn't grab it". yan. magandang theme din ito (pwedeng pang formal theme writing nung high school). :-) di ba? pagkatapos ng lahat you just shake your head and tell yourself, bakit ba hindi ko pa kinuha nung may pagkakataon pa ako. mwehehehe. well... wala lang. sorry na lang sa ating mga taong nagkamali ng pinili. baka sa paradise, tama na lahat ng decisions natin hehe.

life is good with great friends. :-) almost as good as paradise if you come to think of it.

solitude

this world is full of chaos, full of shame. you hardly have space to do what you have to do. it's hard, almost impossible, to find a silent, peaceful spot for you and you only. and when you find that sacred place of peace, what do you do? you hold on to it as if it's yours. it may not be yours at all moments, but at certain moments of need, you know you can have your share of serenity and secrecy and privacy and hush. and then you can act freely and do everything you can to make you feel good and relieved. get rid of everything that's negative!

sa 4th floor. ok ang cr dito. walang tao palagi. hehehe!

maybe

it's better this way...
maybe not...
who knows?

i love my job

gets my mind off things…

thank God for ears and lips

for the past few days, there is an ongoing battle. the war within isn't over yet... and won't be over soon. both leagues are not showing any sign of white flag. wit, sarcasm, pity, almost hatred, love, unanswered questions, frustration, sadness, fear, deceit, doubt, pain, hope. name it, the feeling is probably there... all these except happiness. at least not for now.

if there's one thing i pray for, it is courage. courage to face tomorrow even without the light you're accustomed to see. i pray i will be like the blind. he does not see the sun but knows that it is there just because he can feel the warmth. he has the wisdom to understand that the absence of light doesn't necessarily mean that warmth is hiding beneath the clouds as well.

at the end of this day, i thank God for ears and lips... ears that patiently listen to your tales no matter how negative they may sound, and lips that tell you the truth no matter how painful they may make you feel. words you probably don't prefer to hear, but heck they are nothing but the truth and these are all you need to hear :). you see these ears and lips come along with this package most people call friends.

kung papatulan nya lang ako...

mangangalunya ako.



bwahahaha!!!

naks. pasintabi kay mikey... 'di naman nya 'to nababasa. dead ako.

ito'y isang HS-like crush lang naman... na may todong kilig hahaha! as in kilig to the bones. aaay ang landi!

wenongayon kung me girlfriend sya? may boyfriend naman ako! bwahahaha! pwede! hahaha dead talga ako kay mikey neto. bubugbugin ako nun hahahaha!

one more gift

if there's one more gift
i'd ask of You, Lord
it would be peace here on earth;
as gentle as Your children's laughter
all around, all around

your people have grown weary
of living in confusion
when will we realize
that neither heaven is at peace
when we live not in peace

grant me serenity within
for the confusions around
are mere reflections
of what's within
what's within me

when you come to think about it

sometimes, you are exerting way too much effort on something that's not really worth it. no matter how many times you scold yourself about not thinking about it too much, about not pouting about it too much, you become too helpless and rant about it after all... which is sooo wrong.

giving your all may not be right at all times. i believe in doing your best. but i've slightly modified this belief now that i learned and i guess i know better. now i know that you have to give your best to something that's really worth it, to something that's for a better cause. now i know that your effort is just wasted if exerted on the wrong things.

so whatever happened to "give you best and God will do the rest"? it still is true, only this time i know that i'll have to choose carefully where i will pour my energies. to be wise - is a lifetime hope. 26 years of my life has passed and i'm still in nursery level in this subject --> wisdom. learning it is a painful, and sometimes excruciating, process. sometimes it strips off all your ego, all your pride, and you swallow all that's bitter and sore.

realizations... you keep on having a good dose as you get older. ;) in the end, i hope all will be well.

tanong

sometimes i ask
is it too much to ask?
and then you ask
why do i ask?
nothing, just felt the urge to ask.
so i ask.

lame... all lame.

naisip ko lang...

i was watching tv patrol after dinner. there was news about a fire in a certain province - it involved the mayor's house and damaged millions worth of textile and stuff. and what's predictable was shown. the people said that there was only one fire truck in their area. had there been other fire trucks (that actually contained water, huh!) available, it wouldn't have been that bad.

and i thought, grabe naman... every time there's fire, there are complaints of inadequate fire trucks. there may be enough fire trucks, but there is just not enough water. sigh... problems we had from 10 or 20 or 30 years ago are still problems today... and will probably remain unsolved for the next couple of years? nakakalungkot naman.

the closest i could get to having a green thumb

i always wanted to grow herbs and plants back at home. i was dreaming of picking up basil leaves for a pasta dish, or rosemary and oregano for adobo, sage would be good too, green onions... the works. fresh herbs would be great! (instead of the bottled spices mccormick has to offer - mccormick is a dish saver though! lalo na't wala naman talaga akong herb garden hehe).

there's this quasi-veranda outside our room now and i also dream of having something lush outside. small flowering plants maybe, if not herbs. we were in ikea last saturday and there i found the perfect green living creatures - small plants with colors so vibrant! deep, deep green with small flowers as well. nice. really nice. but i thought, hey, do i even have a green thumb to begin with? i can't tell 'cause i haven't tried.

my lola ading and lola floring both have passion for the green life. lola floring used to take care of plants in pque and lola ading has this really wild array of plants and flowers, even fruits, in mindoro. really refreshing!

seems like i have the passion, but i don't have the will to even try. i didn't buy the plants in ikea. i thought it would be a shame if they died on my hands. shame and pity for the plants if i fail them. i don't know if i could have a dedication strong enough to make them happy. anak ba ito? hehe.

last saturday still, we had tepanyaki for dinner and we bought way too much toge. the washed up excess toge was left in the strainer by the sink. guess what? the following day, there was a sign of green life! and i was really happy seeing little fountains of leaves sprouting from the toge! and i felt a sense of attachment to the little sprouts and i watered them everyday for the past 5 days!

the day came when we had to use the strainer - that was yesterday. i transferred the sprouts of life into a paper plate and left it by the stove. i can't help it, i had to take a picture before it dies...



...after all, it's the closest i could get to having a green thumb. :) goodbye toge sprouts!

late bloomer sa multiply and it's all good

wow. i started using multiply today. ok naman sya :) nakakatuwa. nakakaaliw. ang tagal na ata ng multiply ngayon ko lang ni-try. maybe because it's a holiday and wlang magawa masyado dito. hahaha.

kulimlim, mukang uulan... dark clouds ahead. windy.

last night, kuya bought his new baby mac. naku! hindi na makausap. and i get to keep the old laptop. i don't really mind. :)

i'm keeping my old lowtech phone - because i can call, i can SMS and it's all good.

i'm keeping my old creative MP3 player - because i can listen to my playlist and it's all good.

i'm keeping kuya's old laptop - because i can chat, i can blog, i can check my email and it's all good.

ummm... hindi naman ako nagsasalita ng tapos... pero i swear, it's all good. hehehe. good luck!

hilaw

i realized just now how i've been a hilaw in every aspect sa aking IT career.

when i started to work on december of 2001, i was hired as a software engineer. i was assigned to an internal team that worked on applications for the department using VB. funny how rico, donna, and i had 3 different versions of the time tracking system 'cause we were just playing around with it while we were waiting for final instructions kung ano talaga ang ipapagawa sa amin. petiks pa kami non.

di pa man nag-iinit ang pwet namin sa team na yun, we had to be deployed to client teams because there were needs for staff. so it turned out: hilaw ako sa VB. donna and i were assigned to work on a team that worked on perl, unix, mainframe.

perl, i semi-like :) walang masyadong ek-ek kasi e.

but for unix and mainframe, it was a struggle. i handled a nightmare unix project. before i even made it work decently, the project ended. saved by the bell? maybe. the little things i learned on MF side were: code a little using PL1 and run autojcls . don't ask me to troubleshoot pag may error sa ni-run. i just can't dig it. and mostly mga 1-line modifications lang ang ni-handle ko noon.

again, oonti pa lang ang project na nahawakan ko nang magkaron ng bagong team: QA team. so hilaw ulit ako sa dev. we volunteered to be a part of the new QA team. masaya ang team. the thing is, all the while i thought we were performing "authentic" qa tasks... hindi pala. we were merely checking output files. syempre nahasa ang pagiging keen kahit papano, pero there are so many things about quality assurance na hindi ko alam... hilaw ulit na QA kse the team was dissolved after more than a year... more than a year of doing what i thought was real QA.

opening ulit sa ibang team, i was deployed as dev ulit. hay hilo na ito. mostly unix na naman umikot ang mundo. takot ako sa mundong ito. for 6 months, i adjusted to new work ulit. pero... di pa nga nakaka-adjust masyado, change of company naman ito. as QA ulit... note: hilaw pa rin akong dev at this point.

hay pagod na ko sa kwento ng career ko. so QA na naman. medyo authentic manual QA work naman for more than a year. pero not so pa rin. nung panahong feeling ko time to move on to another company na ulit, mantakin nyong hanapan ako ng automation skills at experience sa mercury at kung ano anong achuchuchu. marami na palang uso na hindi ko alam. :( and they judged me not qualified - for the longest dragging time because i have no test director skills. dang. hilaw pa rin after all. hay.

and then finally, i got this job. so what do you expect, as of now hilaw pa rin ako. kase i wasn't hired as QA, but as QA support. my first support job. hay... hilaw. so i have no expertise. a little bit of everything doesn't hurt, though. and that's the story of my career. kakaloka.

* saludo ako sa spi for making me aware of CMM processes. :)

* pwede bang maging lover na lang ako? haha. mas masarap mag love kesa mag career! naku!

may ubo, may sipon

friday... nagsimula ang lahat. may kakaibang pakiramdam sa lalamunan. parang makati. kinahapunan, ayan kumakahol na si ate. sa payo ni mommy jen, bumili ako ng robitussin sa guardian. kay mahal. $9++. parang almost 300 na un sa pinas a. vitamins ba ito?

sa office pa lang, nagstart na akong tumira ng robitussin. parang walang effect. in fact, parang lalong naninikip ang dibdib ko. parang pinipigilan nya ang kung ano mang kailangang magpumiglas sa katawan ko.

pagdating ng gabi, parang naka 3 shots na ako ng robitussin. ayos naman nakapaglaba pa ako. mag-isa lang ako kse si kuya nakipag-inuman with friends. pagdating ng mga 12 midnight, ayan na, inatake na ako ng ubo... ay para akong may sanib grabe nakakahiya! hahaha. hanggang mga 3am, para akong dog. susme.

sabado, dito lang ako sa bahay baldado. cancel ang lakad with liza at janise. :(

linggo, todo na sa kasamaan ang pakiramdam ko. uminom ako ng decolgen sa payo ni donna. sabi nya, nakakasama raw lalo ang cough syrup. ok. mukang nakatulong ang decolgen. although sunday lang ako uminom, lumalabas na ang sipon ko today :) feeling ko pag naubos sya, magaling na ko. at malapit na yun! yehey!

kanina, naka 5 baso ata ako ng tea. hahaha adik sa tea. pero nakatulong sya! magaling magaling magaling! :)

people

Sa 3 linggong inilagi ko dito, hindi pa pala ako nakapagkwento about the friends, acquaintances I've met here so far. When you're far away from home, every old friend or acquaintance you meet is a family.

Dunno if these are all.. I may have missed anything but here they go:

Guen - we didn't know we're working for the same company. We only knew when I arrived yata. Too bad we're on different locations. On my first week, we were reporting on their location for training. The meeting was very unexpected. She didn't even know I was there. She was coming out of the rest room, and wapak.. Para na kaming kiti-kiti. Hehehe. Si guen super excited makakita ng pinoy. And I was as excited. :) we had lunch with my sort-of batchmates. Very brief yet very happy ang moment.

Donna - I met her once sa ikea. Super brief… and we figured we needed a follow-up (ano itu, check-up?). It was supposed to be a meeting with guen and dacks, pero hindi natuloy ang the guen and the dacks. Hehe so it was a donna-caths date. She gave me these cool nets that I could use for undies sa washing machine. Then pasyal pasyal, bought twin sandals (ibang kulay), shopped (sa sale lang ha), made picture picture sa esplanade (chimni), then ate at a thai restaurant (salamat sa treat!), grocery and libot-libot onti (muntik mapaaway sa pila ng donut). Hehehe. Blast!

Noel and Cesz - lovelives. It was a lunch date with the two lovebirds. It was my first time to eat pineapple rice. Yumyum. I learned a lot of new terms na imbento lang naman nila pero it would work! Hehe. Nice to see them again. Pinaka sweet na couple ata itong nakilala ko e. :) I introduced them to Donna… ya know, lahat ng pdeng maging kapamilya, gawing kapamilya!

April - was a batchmate from college. I've seen her twice sa suntech… on her way home probably… :) we're not close pero it was good to see her. Kahit na wave hi and bye lang.

Liza - daming plans… wala pa masyadong natutuloy hehe. There's a day-out, dinner, night-out, bintan, swimming, biking, tennis, jogging, clubbing. Hehe. At last, we saw each other when Liza (along with James) dropped by our house last late night Saturday. It was good to see her. The last time I saw her was a sort of reunion with the college pals. Liza, Saturday tuloy natin ang flan ha. Hihihi!

James - dropped by our house (along with Liza) last late night Saturday. Daming kwento ni James hehehe… amusing stories pero… he saw my housemate's (Sonny) basketball shoes and he ended up persuading, courting (hehe) Sonny to join the Pinoy basketball team. This lasted for an hour? Hehe joke. Sonny didn't go to the try-out. Masakit ang katawan kakajog hahaha… James, try ulit next time hehehe!

RH - RH was a college classmate. She was this boyish girl. Ngayon, she's this pretty girl! Woohoo! She's changed a lot grabe! She looks great! Saw her sa starbucks lapit sa city hall ata. She approached me and asked me "excuse me, are you filipina?" hehe. Sagot ako… "HR?" toinks.. Mali pa! kse RH ang pangalan nya hahaha. She said I looked familiar and that's because we were college classmates :)

Noemi - Noemi is merely a character from stories I hear from Donna and Kuya. All I know is she's Donna's college pal. And she's kuya officemate back in Pinas. I finally saw her! Hehe sa MRT when kuya and I are on our way to jologs ata? Now there's a face to the name! hihihi.

learning the art of...

breathing using your mouth is essential to survive. promise.

sa mrt, si manong katabi ko. papasok ako. sa gitna banda nakatayo kami. nakasandal sya sa mga steel hawakan. ako nakahawak sa hawakan. ay!!! may I raise my hands and arms si manong. yung parang pormang nakahiga ka tapos yung kamay mo nilalagay mo sa ilalim ng ulo mo relax na relax… pero nakatayo sya. ganun. ganito:

manong, tao lang po. wawa...

test

gympurnada

sa pinas, i never went to the gym. unang-una, i'm not that interested in making buhat chuva. or making pawis. or making takbo. na may makakakitang tao sa akin. i never went to trial sessions 'cause i know i'd never enroll anyway.

pangalawa, di kalakihan ang sweldo ko. i only have enough to share sa house, to pay the bills. konting luho, ganun. sometimes, negative pa. so i never spent for something that i'm not really crazy about.

ikatlo, payat ako. i don't have a crazy appetite. kung mag engage pa ako sa too much cardio activities, baka lalong maging patpat ako. it's just my theory... what do i know about it? hehe.

my long-time dream and love is swimming... i thought a few laps a day would be good! i always wanted to swim but i never found the time to do so. there's a pool here just outside our door but i haven't tried because i don't have anybody to go and swim with me... and i'm not an all-by-myself person. hehe

this afternoon, kuya invited me to this gym near our office. he said i could bring my officemates along. the gym has this promo of $57 a month, no membership fee. i'm not interested but i went anyway. my officemates are interested. for less than P2k, i thought it's not that bad. kung di ko talga trip mag gym, stop. hehe

we saw the equipments, the classes are good, oh they also have a pool! a tennis court, the bathroom is great... in short, i was convinced to enroll. there were six of us: kuya + officemates. so manong gym instructor's eyes are now $$$$$$ hehehe... we all decided to sign in... signing the docs... manong jotted the amount to $1380. woah! where did that come from? whatever happened to $57? it turned out we had to pay for the 2 years but we could always get a refund in case we decide to terminate the contract. ah eh... red lights flashing. manong, we can't! mga bagong ofw pa lang kami and we can't afford to throw in that amount biglaan. manong's last bargain was... pay half and pay the next half after 2 months.

and then i thought... do i really want this? do i really need this? so he gave us until friday to think things over. baka naman mamaya, ningas kugon lang ako? haay... oh well, i could always go back to swimming. ;) malaman sa byernes.

a typical saturday

saturday mornings, i wake up at around 11am. i go down, have rice for breakfast, switch the tv on. if mom's not busy with the tapsi business, we chat like crazy. chat about anything and everything. magchichismisan like teenagers.

in terms of love life hehehe... mikey would sometimes just hang out with me and watch tv (yes, minsan nanonood lang sya ng tv. di nya ko kinakausap. mas lab nya ang tv kesa sakin. hmp!), or we go out and watchamovie. eat out. walk.

kung walang lakad, nakikigulo sa tapsihan. hehe. nilalanghap ang amoy ng pares. ulk nakakasawa hahaha. nakikipagkulitan kay wawin. meet with friends.

these are what i miss badly... :(

pangalawang...

taon na namin ni mikey. yun nga lang 'di kami magkasama ngayon. 'di kami magkikita bukas. 'di rin kami magkikita sa linggo. sa susunod na linggo, imposible ring magkita kami. mukang sa june 29 pwede, pero sana nga pwede talaga.

dati-rati, sinusubukan talaga naming magkita tuwing tuesday at thursday at syempre pa pag weekends. pero ngayon, olats. dyan-ka-dito-ako muna ang drama namin. at maraming maraming dasal na sana 'di maulit ang mga 'di na dapat maulit.

mahirap maghanap ng kamay na gusto mong hawakan. kasi wala naman talaga akong makikitang ibang kamay. kung iba yun, 'di na kamay ni mikey yun. ayoko yun. hay. mahirap din maghanap ng ibang bilbil na makukurot. mahirap maghanap ng hindi mo mahahanap... or alam mong hindi mo makikita.

haay. pare, happy anniv na lang. yung kiss, pag nagkita na lang tayo. hehehe. ok? wag ka magkiss ng iba. di rin ako. pramis. hehe. see you on june 29.

ala sais ng hapon sa kwartong ito

i'm in a new world. in addition to my hurting feet (which aren't that bad now because i wore sandals today woohoo!), i now share a room with my big brother (aka kuya hehe). so much has happened for the past month and everything happened so fast. for a while i thought i was just imagining things... that i'm really here - and not there. that i am away from home, i am away from my mom, from wawin, from mikey, from my humble room, from my humble country. hehe...

pero dizizit na talaga. i'm a bit nervous about the work. i hope i can do well 'cause pare, sobrang ibang-iba sa lahat ng work na nagawa ko. betchaby. medyo nerbyosa pa naman ako haha mana sa lola ko.

i'm a bit bored over the weekends. i asked kuya, "ganito lang talga kayo pag weekends?" hehe... but i realized there has been no change in my weekend activities. nood tv lang and tunganga. maybe it's just because i am away from home - away from those i dearly love. it hurts but at the same time i know i'm doing it because i have to. and it helped me a lot that kuya is here by my side. :)

cooking dinner... oh, i miss cecil too.

i should...

buy me a new pair of comfy shoes. i haven't worn black shoes for ages... my feet are bleeding ouch... bring me back my comfy sandals.

sabi ng kantang 'to

and all at once the crowd begins to sing
sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

all at once
-the fray

hankyut

ok lang naman pala

bakit ko naman ine-exhaust ang katawan ko over things na hindi naman worth pagkapaguran? :)
marami pang bagay na mas worth pag-exertan ng effort, right? :)
transform negative vibes into positive. :)
mamuhunan ng positive energy. :)
gain positive energy. :)
may tubo pa. :)
ayz? :)
ayz! :)
i love life! :)

"bantay, play dead"

diba dapat, para kay bantay lang ito? :(

annoying tv, annoying remote control

our tv remote control has been this useless piece of crap for the longest time now. we don't know why it suddenly stopped functioning. its time here on earth has just come to an end probably. it just ceased to serve its purpose. we kept it anyway. while waiting for the good timing to purchase a new one, it just sat there on top of the magazine rack. sometimes, we try if it would still breathe into life. it won't. crap.

how do we control the tv then? it's the biggest challenge of the century. instead of sitting comfortably on the sofa, munching on something, and channel surfing, we do everything manually - as in go in front of tv, turn it on, push channel up/down buttons, push volume up/down buttons, turn it off. i guess i'm just a lazy person that's why i find these burdensome. fine. it's not that much of a task provided the buttons function correctly. they don't. they have lives of their own - stubborn lives.

channel up button - also functions as off button - almost always. imagine the frustration it brings when you try to switch channels! mikey actually thought i was pulling a stunt on him once. he was changing channels and was getting really annoyed because he thought i was using a remote to switch it off. hahaha... and he gave me a mega glare. and i was like "what?!?!". hey, i'm not an alien! hahaha really annoying.

channel down, volume up, volume down buttons - also function as volume up. annoying. really annoying! imagine the bugnot i feel when watching the tv at 2am. naturally i have to turn the volume down - only it gets louder! at 2am. syet. louder and louder until it reaches the maximum volume. harharhar. sorry neighbors. you have to push really, really, really hard to turn the volume down. syet.

so watching tv has become this big, annoying, painstaking activity. hahaha. bakit ba kasi hindi pa bumili ng remote?! ilang buwan na yan e!

when i got to the office today, i called win. he said he miraculously brought the remote back to life! oh, good! yipee! tv, wait for me!

sobrang maling reaksyon

papasok sa office at 3pm, it was the usual super init day. todo wipe na naman ako ng kapawisan ko sa ilong (uuuyy selosa!), sa batok, leeg, at hairline hehe! pero ang summer season ay hanggang buendia lang. yez. dahil pagdating ng bandang mayapis, rainy season na. weird.

medyo windang ako... parang lagi naman e. basta papasok ako kse naman todo ang init! tapos biglang umulan so ang confusion at katuliruhan ko ay umabot sa maximum level. wala ba sa sarili. ang gusto ko lang talagang mangyari ay makarating ako sa comfort ng aking cube.

bago ako pumasok sa lobby ng rcbc, yung before na magcheck ang manong guard ng bag, may mga lalaking nakatambay dun. mga naka sports attire ba... parang kaka basketball lang. parang, aah, san kaya sila galing? pero kebs lang ako. muka silang sumilong lang dahil umaambon nga nang malakas. or hindi pa makababa... something like that. or parang waiting for someone. i didn't really care 'cause hindi ko naman sila kilala.

"hi cat!", yan ang narinig ko from one of them. sounded an awful lot like "hi cat!".

dahil likas akong magugulatin, halos napatalon ako sa gulat. i looked at him at todo smile sya... kung nakakapagsalita lang ang mukha, ang sabi siguro ng mukha ko ay: "sino ka?!?!?" at medyo lalong naghalo-halo ang naramdaman ko. hindi ko sya kilala, pero ang face nya ay parang "uy! ako 'to!". i smiled - a confused smile at hinukay ko ang utak ko pero his face wasn't even familiar! i was super clueless talaga!

i didn't stop. i just walked towards the lobby... and into rcbc. hahaha! i assumed he thought i was somebody else. i was sooo rude! grabe sorry! ang feeling ko ay nagkamali lang sya ng tawag, at akala nya ay ako si... cat? oops teka ako nga si cat! waah! kung sino man sya, sorry! nalito talaga ako... sino ako? asan ako? sino ka? hahaha! sisa! magpakita ka ulit sa'kin at magsosorry ako sayo... waaah!

* ang tumatawag lang sakin ng cat ay mga kapamilya ko... as in mami, wawin, kuya, a few relatives, mikey. at hindi sya isa dun... waaah! must be a relative... or a neighbor?

quickie tuesdays and/or thursdays

i so look forward to tuesdays and thursdays (bukod sa friday, of course). if the circumstances permit, mikey and i eat out. quickie ito hihihi. i say quickie 'cause we try to squeeze in eating, story-telling, kulitan, picturan, and all in more or less an hour. after his class sa vito cruz, he rushes to makati. kitakits, pre. hihi.

medyo challenging maghanap ng mga food spots na open pa at past 9 pm. well, marami pa rin namang bukas. and it doesn't really matter kung saan, as long as there's foodie.

after ng medyo mabilisang dinner, we head off to ate yogi's office. pick her up (sa pick-up point) and drop me off (sa drop-off). ayos sounds cute. that's the set-up. hihi.

one of my little joys in life... the feeling is light yet overwhelming... :) just right.

summer na naman

grabe na ang init ng panahon! parang kailan lang, matutuwa ka pa kahit na lumabas ka ng 2:00 ng hapon kse medyo chilly pa ang panahon kahit na may araw. e ngayon, hay. kasabay ng pag-init ng panahon ang pang-init din ng ulo ng mga taong nasa ilalim ng araw. halos lahat nakasimangot! kasama na 'ko dun. hehe. mahirap talagang ngumiti kapag mainit ang araw. ewan ko. instinct ko na sigurong kumunot ng noo. kse silawin akong tao. at hindi ako palangiti lalo na kung mag-isa lang ako. may mga tao lang sigurong nasa nature na ang pagngiti (hindi ako isa sa kanila. sorry :-S).

masaya ang summer. favorite ko itong panahon. mas natotolerate ko kasi ang init kesa sa lamig. hehe. pero... may mga bagay lang talagang nakakairita kapag summer (specifically kapag namamasahe ka lang):

mga mukang nakasimangot dahil sa init

mga pathetic na aircon sa mga fx at bus. hindi talaga nila carry ang init.

pawis. maraming pawis.

ang pawis ng katabi mo ay pawis mo na rin. yak.

isama na natin sa pawis ang amoy ng pawis. yak. (ok lang ito as long as hindi lilipat sayo ang amoy ng katabi mo)

dahil kulot ako, nagpaparelax ako ng buhok. at kapag naarawan ang relaxed kong buhok, lumulutong ito. ayoko nito.

yung mga taong sobrang vocal na naiinitan sila. mga super sighs at kung ano-anong sinasabi kahit na mag-isa lang sila. cool, man! bawal init-ulo.

yung init pag sinamahan mo ng traffic, riot ito. mas maraming nagiging vocal sa mga feelings of disgust nila. dangerous combo.

nakakaitim ang araw. kundi rin lang sa beach iitim, sayang naman. sa beach lang ako lisensyadong umitim.

hmm... yun lang naman other than those, i love everything about summer! what do you know? SUMMER NA TALAGA!!!! woohoo! life is good!!!

malaya na si wawin (for now)

wawin has just completed the school requirements for this term. today is their finals week and yesterday was the last day he did stuff to complete the projects.

things wawin did for this term:

sulat mania - i remember during elementary, we had this paulinian writing and we grew calluses writing on our paulinian writing book. win's engineering writing, i guess, is the counterpart for this. a paper would probably mean research, type, print, and submit. that is a REGULAR paper. win's paper meant manually writing and drawing on hundreds of pages using this engineering stroke. and i can't help him because my writing doesn't have an engineer's touch. i don't get it why their profs want it that way but they sure do get it the way they want it. as if students have a choice. it's just that it sounds freaky writing hundreds of pages. poor wawin.

sleepless nights - of course kadikit ng sulat at drawing kamay ay oras. win had a couple of nights with 0 hours of sleep talga. i used to do this during college. i guess, it's really a part of college life. you stay awake all night, and you go to school the next day looking and feeling like a zombie. mahirap ito. i remember i invited mosquitos to bite me just to ward off feelings of antok. bangenge.

no social life - for most days, weekends included, win was this geeky boy. he didn't have time to eat decently, he didn't have time to even make kwento with us, he had to say goodbye to his pc games, i hardly saw him watching tv, he never played his guitar, he didn't even have time to smile! beat that! although i know they manage to have alak sessions every now and then. ang kapatid ko'y masipag sa pag-aaral ngunit mabisyo rin. hehehe

marathon - ate had to be part of this ordeal. yesterday, i accompanied him in searching for a bookbinding shop. we were in crappy pambahay attire... as in crappy shirt, shorts, and tsinelas kse sa sucat lang naman, pero no luck. we were out of time so we rushed to moa - looking crappy and all. no luck pa rin, we headed to sm manila. and we made libot intramuros ata e and the whole of manila! grabe!!! we looked like palaboy people. argh. and i swear, the soles of my feet were all crappy na rin after ng hiking namin. ang libag! kung di ko lang lab si baby wawin hehehe.

i may have missed something. these are really exhausting... yesterday, after the bookbind session, win was really happy and relieved. he started watching tv series again, he even played his guitar! yehey! way to go! a few more months and your student days are done. good luck!

mga parte ng araw

umaga
dead pa ako.

tanghali
birthday treat nina ate maj at char. it was a trip to spi memory lane. dorots, jet, nina (paksyet ayaw gumana ng alt164 ko hehe. klangan talgang sabihin yun?), kent, joy, anabelle, angie, mumay, and iane were there. cool ang food sa dampa, macapagal. masarap. para ano pa ang masarap na pagkain kung walang masarap na ka-kwentuhan? everyone had a good dose of updates and chisms.

bad trip ang u-turn slot sa may coastal mall. ah eh, lalong nagpapatrapik ito, mga manong. mas maigi siguro kung paderetsuhin na lang sa coastal mall kesa mag u-turn pa. hassle e.

salamat sa great food at great company! happy birthday, ate maj and char!

gabi
sa mga hindi nakakaalam, 2 ang gf ni wentworth miller - si tonette at ako. this is the only time i could tolerate sharing of bfs. i wouldn't mind sharing a bf as cutie as went. and i wouldn't mind sharing him with a friend as special as tonette. tama na ang kalokohan.

i invited tonette to watch the 2 latest episodes of prison break since pareho kaming crazy over went. ang ingay namin. marami kaming shrieks of kilig and excitement and oa stuff na pinakawalan at 12 midnight. good luck sa mga kapitbahay namin. wala namang tanod na sumugod sa bahay namin. so good noise pa naman ang ginawa namin siguro.

ayos talga ang prison break. twist na naman! mukang may season 3 pa a. baka naman umabot na sa manhunt ng kaapu-apuhan nila. hehe.

madaling-araw
ganado ako magpost. bakit? ewan. good chat with acy about kiri and good chat with kuya about tfc. i never thought kuya would be a tfc advocate. he's asking me to have a week-long vacation dun. awww... miss na talga nya siguro kami. i will once i get enough leave credits.

*just a thought... maybe it's time to change strategies. i had a couple of useful tips and hints. :) thanks, pals!

walang punctuation marks

disappointed
over a lot of things
but like everything else
this too shall pass
but when it does
what happens next
it just goes by i guess
just like time
just like a moment
just like you and me

i remember
when as a kid i used to play
with this thing called magic slate
jot it all down
mess with it if i wish to
and in the end
if i dont find it appealing
just lift the tab
and what do you know
it is a clean slate after all

i can do just that if you want me to
but life is not a magic slate
neither am i

life is a big question mark

i had a good chat with michie. i told her things i was afraid to admit even to myself. the words just kept flowing out of my mouth... make that my fingers - i was typing LOL!

i realized it was the first time i ever talked it over with somebody else. i dunno if i'm just being affected with the sad circumstances around me (i'm being so vague sheesh), but yeah. THAT really is the case and it will stay that way.

it is a sad realization... sad but it felt great to say it point-blank. so there really is some sense beyond the bungisngisan and childish talks! we made so much sense in between laughs. and it all summed up to: life is a big question mark. it is not harmless to take risks, but what harm would it do to take them anyway? you'll never know until you try. if you feel it's worth a try, then go ahead! jump! as long as it makes you happy (and you don't use someone, that is).

nice talk, michie. ulitin natin. :)

being a user... is another topic i'd gladly blab about in another post... just you wait. hahaha. is this a threat?

what's up, doc?

i know three people who passed the Physician Licensure Examination:

GERVACIO, CHARMAINE ZITA LARDIZABAL
SIAPNO, DEBRELLE LOU PUCHERO
OBLEFIAS, JONATHAN ZAPATOS

charm and debbie were HS classmates from st. paul. charm was a class officer from 1st yr to 4th yr. she always has this blush on her neck and face probably because she's so puti hihi. her theme song is "love me for a reason" mwehehehe. debbie, i remember was a shy girl. i think the last time i saw her was on HS graduation. we were never that close but i know she is debbie and i am proud of her as well. and jo is a friend whom i met through friendster. i pest him with med questions from time to time - make that every time i see him online. hehe. i haven't met him personally but i know he's a good-hearted person.

it has always been every child's dream to become a doctor someday. i know i hoped for it once in my childhood. the difference, i guess, is they lived to make their hopes come true. it wasn't just a child's play but they were really called to it. some were called but didn't have enough dedication and guts to get through with it. i guess they're among the toughest bunch. they made it this far.

so there, i think i'm somehow proud to be acquainted with these great people. i know they're going to be good doctors with the biggest hearts. with this big leap, they have empowered themselves with the ability to heal, cure, and serve people. and what's next is really clear - people will entrust them with their lives and these lives will lie on their hands. they may pursue further education, but the important thing is, they're an inch closer to that every child's dream. :)

congratulations dear friends! libre?

tigdas updates

i'm just at home. all day and all night. what could i possibly write about but my tigdas...

so i went back to the clinic for my cbc count. i waited for an hour for the results. in the meantime, i watched dozens of kids waiting for their turn to be checked as well. doc is actually a pediatrician and so there were tons of kids there. i thought sobrang tiba-tiba si doc dito ah... hehe. that clinic is always that packed! everyday!

after an hour, i have the results and brought them to doc. she said that the platelet count is a bit low: 176. the normal value is 140 - 440. she asked me if i don't feel drained. "a little," i answered. so she wants me to be back on friday for another cbc count. she said she just wants to be sure the count is not dropping.

i'm not 100% dengue free. sheeez. ayaw ko na magka dengue. it's a traumatic disease for me - it almost killed me once way back 3rd yr hs. well, maybe because it was too late when we found out then. i've been having fevers for almost a week before we consulted the doctor. today is different. daig ng maagap ang maingat. maagap na ako. hehe.

i didn't get feedback from big boss about that vpn account so i don't know how i could work from home today. what keeps me busy?

matulog

at matulog

mag sudoku

manood ng tv

mag-internet

kumain

masaya diba? btw, i asked doc if it's german measles. yes daw. i also asked if i could take a bath. yes daw! yehey! and i also asked if nakakahawa pa ako by friday. yes daw so i should take friday off as well. haay. i miss my new cube.

meron akong...

tigdas hangin... sabi ni doc. viral exanthem - sabi sa medical certificate ko.

di ba masyado na akong matanda para magkaron nun? i thought. "uso ba yun ngayon doc?" i asked. yes daw, kahit matanda kahit bata. where the heck did i get that communicable disease? syet.

last sunday, my lymph nodes were swollen. particularly on the neck and behind the ears. i was feeling unusually tired. i thought all that sudoku made me drained haha meron na pala akong slight fever.

when i was about to take a bath yesterday,i noticed some rashes on my chest, neck, and arms. i thought those were just plain rashes and i went to work anyway. maria noticed my eyes were peachy in color... and true enough, my eyes were a bit swollen. when i got home last night, i had slight fever again.

mom said it looks like measles. i searched for symptoms and super swak sa mga symptoms ko. so i went to a clinic nearby and doc confirmed that it was tigdas hangin nga raw. i have to go back tom for blood tests just to be sure it's not dengue. not again, please.

so i'm on a three-day sick leave. i haven't earned that much leave credit yet so i requested for a vpn account so i could work from home on the 21st and 22nd.

hay. bawal magkasakit eh!

greatest gift on valentine's day version 2.0

it has always been a tradition for kuya to give me and mom flowers on valentine's day. i thought this year that it will be different and incomplete. kuya is away, so there will be no more flowers on vday. when i got home last night at 1:30am, there was this bouquet of red roses on my bed. in the card, it read:

dear ate/cat,

happy valentine's day!

love,
erwin/kuya

it was from a flower shop nearby. and i figured that kuya must have been the master mind but win was the implementor. hehe. i was teary-eyed. you thoughtful guys you... hihi.

it's not so much about the grandeur of the bouquet of roses thing, but who wouldn't want to receive roses, right? but for all i care, it could have been a mini cloud 9 chocolate, a bazooka bubble gum, a pretzel stick. wehehe... whatever. the thing is, he's far away and he still thought of giving us something. touched... sofer. mapalad ang mga babaeng iibigin ninyo at malas ang magpapakawala sa inyo. bwahahahaha!

greatest gift on valentine's day version 1.0

the greatest pre-valentine gift i probably received was the gift of forgiveness. a good friend has been aloof for a couple of weeks now. prior to that, he has been a great colleague. we shared sincere laughter, sentiments, and real friendship. he would pass by our work area to just fool around and laugh with us and, believe it or not, to impart the greatest lessons in life.

he started to avoid us all of a sudden. we didn't know why. we had a few paranoid clues but they were, for us, too shallow to repel him like that. we exerted effort to hopefully bring back what has been lost, or to simply know why he has been acting that way. but he continued to avoid us... said he was just too stressed with work. and we took it that way and we respected his indirect request for space. we found ourselves avoiding him just the same, bowing down whenever we see him just so our eyes won't meet, and yes, lousily pretending that we didn't see each other. it sucks.

we learned that yesterday was his last day at work. we received an email from him. he was apologizing and he told us that things were out of his control, but he promised us that he would keep in touch in the following days. we were in tears - a mixture of sad and happy tears, and every emotion imaginable.

thank you for the gift of friendship and forgiveness, given on the 13th day of february, year 2007. you can't get back what you have already given, and we'll keep this as long as we can... no matter what. we love you and you'll be a friend for life. 101.9

ulirang empleyado

whoever said that drinking on a monday night is ok? not that i had too much to drink. it's just a bottle, but we stayed out until 4 am. and i woke up this morning with a light head... and that's not good. i should get a plaque for being model employee. hey, i was able to balance social life with work! that's tough job!

the buzz

my current hit list:

heroes - is at the top of my list woohoo! i definitely love heroes! i'm aching for more every time i watch it. the twists make me feel bad at the end of each episode, and at the same time i feel good with longing for the next one. i used to not like claire. but now, i think she's very pretty and smart. peter is eventually getting control over his powerssss and i hope it'll be all good. my favorite character is hiro nakamura. he's so adorable! with that gigil look on his face every time he tries to control time, he looks like a baby. heroes... is simply the best. i wish i had an ability too. hehe. save the cheerleader, save the world!

prison break - i used to only roll my eyes when kuya would watch the first few episodes of prison break. he explained with eyes wide open that michael had the map of the prison tattooed on his body to save his innocent brother. lame, i thought. boring, more thoughts. but i was eventually forced to watch it. and there were two discoveries i made about myself. first is, i'm so in love with wentworth. hehe. and the second is, i probably missed 3/4 of my life had i not hooked up with him.. errrr with the series, i mean. there are so many twists as well, but i wonder how they could further prolong the story when the concept, really, is just prison break and man hunt. we'll see. i'd watch it forever if i have to. oa.

the holiday - is the latest movie i saw. fresh na fresh. something new for cameron - her role's not so kikay. kate was so pathetic at first - three years to get over someone?! and it's not even a relationship! jude was simply... yummy! overly perfect, though. he can't exist in real world! jack was cute! "boob graze!", i think, was his best line. mr. abbott's scenes were very touching. i would want to meet someone like him someday... someone who will make a difference in my life, and vice versa. there were a couple of good insights about relationships. very light, funny in some sense, romantic, cute film.

the messengers - haven't seen it. probably won't. i'd love too. but my movie partner doesn't want to see it. although i gave assurances that i'll hug him for the entire duration of the film, pat his butt so he can just meme, do whatever it takes to make him watch it with me, he wouldn't watch it. it'll give him nightmares daw. according to him, he'd rather watch it on dvd at home (where screams are allowed, probably). i'll take his word for it. just wait till i get one. just wait! and we'll watch it no matter what.

smallville - has been evicted from my list. i stopped seeing it. i used to love it, but it became this dragging piece of crap. how long till i see him fly with that spandex costume? argh. too much. win convinced me that the story's becoming interesting again with the justice league in the scene... so i watched the 2nd to the latest episode last night. it's becoming cute again but i'm still not that interested. giving it a chance though, so i'm putting it back at the semi-bottom of the list. we'll see.

maging sino ka man - dang. i used to watch it over youtube at the office (i'm not alone with this ordeal ha!). hehe. bad. but they probably found out about the mega bandwidth so youtube was blocked. clever. i sooo love celine and jb. not so much for bea and john loid. too mushy. all i could do now is ask cecil about it. what happened? so it's like this big jigsaw puzzle with too many missing pieces. i won't probably fill them in. sad.

on stepping stones

i know we all have a common goal and it is to be successful in life. we have different definitions of being successful.

to some, success is having megazillions of money in numerous bank accounts. the more money they gain, the more secured they feel, the more power they think they have. have an overflowing pocket and you own the world. the possibilities are endless. there's nothing you can't do or have, and they are happy that way.

others equate success to a happy family life. to have a decent and comfortable, if not luxurious life. putting the members of the family in a state where the necessities in life are handy is the priority. there might be a few room for the secondary pleasures, but everything could eventually come smoothly. what's important now is the family is there with a sturdy foundation.

to some, success may mean you are the apple of your boss's eyes. "yes, boss" is a staple phrase of the mouth. be good to big boss and you secure yourself of a good position in your job. you get good promises. you get to be the right hand. you get to know the headlines. you become almost immortal... almost. give boss a few "useful" information and you might have yourself grinning for some great surprises.

i recall that someone defined success as being anywhere you want to be at any given time. sweet! i like! hahaha!

people have different definitions of success and different strategies in life. we all have unique ways of reaching that end line. others are kind-hearted, others are built for the kill. when grasping for that medal we call success, we may step on other people, knowingly or unknowingly. we get what we want at the expense of stomping on other people's rights, make that SIMPLY stomping (not just stepping) on other people. and the others are just helpless and clueless that they're being treaded on. "i don't care, as long as i get there".

there's this game in takeshi's castle that's so like this concept. point A and point B are separated by water. player starts on point A and the goal is to reach point B by using the stepping stones. some stones are real stones, others aren't - they're merely floating and will pull the player along with it once stepped on. so you just hope that you get to step on the real hard stones. when you step on the fake ones, you fall. beware! you just might step on one of those and you too just might be engulfed by the murky water. game over. dead ka na. sa presinto ka na magpaliwanag. oh, it's just worth mentioning that this game on takeshi is sooo fun to watch! :)

lovers in bali

last saturday, after reggie's birthday party (salamat kay aman for the ride!), maria and i weren't in a let's-go-home mood yet. we decided to just stay somewhere where there's coffee and couch. and cafe bali it is (cafe bali nga ba?). it's a small cafe in megamall, really cozy! we had these potato balls with cheese stuff... and we swear manong's tukneneng tastes a lot better than those! i had strawberry with nut something coffee and maria had melon shake... and something else after that haha!

an acoustic duo was performing that night - the long haired gay-guy (ganda ng kutis!) was the vocalist and guitarist and the chubby guy was the hmmm... anong tawag sa parang tambol na kahoy na inuupan? so... the gay-guy was trying to make conversation with everybody in the room - over the mic! there were only a few of us anyway. so he asked for our names and asked if we were lovers. yes naman kami ni maria...

thus the phrase lovers in bali. duh. hindi ako masyadong natuwa sa mga talks nya. mas natuwa ako sa kanta nya. pwede bang kumanta ka na lang? if we wanted okray stuff, sa comedy bar sana kami pumasok diba? hehe.

he asked if we have v-day dates. and i said, yeah, kami nga ni maria e. LOL panindigan! and he said ang sweet naman daw namin. his partner (i think he's referring to his tambol guy partner) was never that sweet with him.

pwede syang mag sideline sa comedy bar... medyo dull nga lang mga jokes nya.. hehe good voice, though.

so, when we had the chance, we fled for dear life. haha... and we called it a night. lesbos!

"i don't drink coffee"

if this statement is true then the fact that i love to make coffee and everything about coffee doesn't make it false.

i may love the feeling of putting in half a teaspoon of coffee, a tablespoon of creamer, a tablespoon of sugar, and hot water in a cup.
i may love the aroma of coffee - be it instant or brewed.
i may love the sight of that dispenser filling in that paper cup with the essentials of coffee.
or i may love the ambiance of that darn coffee shop, along with the coffee mixes they make. i may even spend the entire day in a coffee shop, i won't mind!
i may love the act of gently stirring that lovely concoction to transform it into the most perfect coffee blend.

for all you care, i may - with a true smile on my face - lift that cup, put it near my lips... BUT I MAY OPT NOT TO DRINK IT. thus, making my statement, still, so true.

so what's the point of acting like a coffee enthusiast if i don't even drink coffee?

of course this is not about coffee! this is about something else. i absolutely drink coffee! i'm just making my point on when statements are oh so true or oh so false. and i'm oh so true! i bet ya! woohoo!

bitchy ulit

what's with the prudential life staff? they keep on calling you even if you explicitly stated you're not interested with their stuff.

this morning a new character from prudential called up again. and she was explaining the same crap. i cut her off... i'm doing her a favor - i'm helping her conserve energy and saliva.

so i stopped her... i told her, "hindi na ako interesadong i-avail yan."

"why po?" she asked. ay irritating pa rin ang tono. prudential agents have this common denominator of being irritating people.

i told her sweetly, "wala lang. :) hindi lang ako interesado."

tapos na naman ang usapan. hihi.

keywords

surprise, make up, white lies, ashes, night at the museum, gonutsh donutsh, laughs, getaway, skyway, mcdo part 1, reunion, mc, not so comfy foam, cramps, what are they doing?, creaking cabinet with mumu, broken remote, alone sleepless, making of night at the museum, 9th gate, hugs, mcdo part 2, someday, what if, pact, there's no sense, quiet storm, reality check - happy?, what to do?, dunno, tears, stop for a while, dead cats, accident, drop by, naps, phone call with tears, patol, haircut, happy this way, national bookstore, skrib-age or scrabble, skrib-age it is!, drive home, happy!

skrib-age - with practice, you get perfection. 'til the next match! hihi.

getting some sense from booba

i was up a little early this morning 'cause i wanted to see erwin before he leaves for school. i was channel surfing when i saw the show sis. ruffa mae quinto was there so i thought, hey, this probably is a fun episode. so i watched on.

the topic was about making mistakes in life. they asked the guests to think of a song that they think is most relevant in their lives - for the biggest mistake they've done. and what she said awed me.

the song she chose was all this time by tiffany. and she sang a few lines...

all this time
all in all Ive no regrets
the sun still shines the sun still sets
the heart forgives the heart forgets

and she further explained what was rather obvious about the lyrics. i thought that i never really processed the meaning of this song. all in knew all along was that it was an 80's song by tiffany. a song that i would sing along with but only in my mind.

now, i think that it's a wonder how 4 lines could briefly explain how we should - make that i should - have this very good disposition in life. make that every aspect of life... love, work, family, everything!

thanks to booba for putting some sense in my life today. *getting an mp3 of the song... ssshh... hihi.

make it or break it

one lesson he indirectly taught me a few weeks ago was: if you find yourself unhappy in a relationship, you work hard to either make it work, or end it. focus on doing just one thing: make it or break it.

it's not an original line, though. he heard it in one of the tv series he so diligently patronizes. i asked him why share a quote like that? is his relationship becoming blurry? and he said he just felt like sharing it.

a few weeks after, he tells me he's having sleepless nights giving every ounce of strength he has on devising a plan and script. he's breaking up with her. he said he'll be lost without her but he can't play blind that nothing's changed. he said it breaks him more to see her transform into something she's not. so the executive decision is... to end it - after sessions of is-there-something-wrong?-NOTHING talks.

i didn't expect it from her. i know she's the most affectionate lover... so affectionate it crosses the borderline of being possessive and jealous. so why the sudden change? i asked him if he feels there's someone else, he told me he's not sure.

if he didn't baby her too much, if he didn't tend to all her needs, if he were not the most thoughtful partner then i will not be this affected... but he is all that and i love him dearly. hurt him and you hurt me. i asked him if he wants me to talk some sense into her. he declined. he'd rather do it his way, i guess. i told him i support his decision all the way... if he thinks that's the right thing to do.

this post is a little biased... i only heard one side of the story. but if you could see just one side of the wall, and if it's the side where your loved one is, i guess that's all that matters. break it kung break it. :(

bitchy ata?

there's this agent from prudential who called me up last friday and told me that i won a personal accident plan. all i have to do is sign some docs and it's good to go. although i know that this is just one of those you-don't-have-to-pay-anything-NOT! schemes, i said that i'll go on monday (yesterday). besides, i had a tiny glimpse of hope that this is different since i'm a plan holder.

so yesterday, i forgot that we were also scheduled for an APE at 3pm. agent called up again, confirming my scheduled appointment. so i told him i can't come because i have this APE thing. so he starts harassing me... "pano po yun mam? nakaschedule kayo? pag di kayo pumunta, kami ang malalagot sa head department... si sir jay, kakausapin kayo.." and the voice was really irritating! he was trying to scare me! who the hell is sir jay? and i told him calmly but i was a bit irritated na rin... "e anong gagawin ko?!!?" and he started to oblige me to go there to have the plan transferred to an immediate relative.

and i was pissed off... i told him, first of all, i didn't ask you guys to give me this plan so don't oblige me to do stuff that i don't feel like doing. i haven't confirmed and signed anything so don't harass me like hell. and... second, it's not my problem! ok?!?

and he was like... ay ok po mam. thank you.

madadaan ka naman pala sa maayos na usapan eh.

fiestah

what's with the title? duh.

3rd week of january = fiesta. the day started with the 9am mass. bishop jesse mercado was here so the lectors had to dress up in filipiniana costumes. i think my barong-style top was a bit big for me. it is dencia's and it still looked big on me. how thin am i?

it was a 2-hour mass. there were dozens of sto. nino statues in front of the altar, all waiting to be blessed. i have a confession to make. i'm not too crazy about religious statues. sometimes they scare me... especially the super old ones. maybe i've seen too much images of dancing sto. ninos on tv when i was young. and i was really scared of it... i still am. i mean, i don't need dancing statues to make me believe in God. the sight of it just scares me. maybe because i know that there is a human behind it all... and it just looks, uhh... scary. gives me goosebumps.

the entire aldaba clan was invited for lunch to introduce them to tito danny. it was a good lunch, with too much food, the usual magic sing galore, my uncle's persistent requests for me to sing (i rarely give in), a few ballroom dancing for the oldies, the evening procession, and that's about it.

oh i forgot to mention the post drinking chaos... right now, i could hear a couple of drunk men fighting, or almost fighting outside. this is the 2nd fight session for the night. it never fails. give them bottles of beer, and there's a series of war afterwards. and i don't really get it. and the barangay tanods will have to work overtime to stop the sabong. argh.

but yeah, all of these trips make up the fiesta... take one away and it's not fiesta.

the sweetest thing...

read on the rear window of a car somewhere in sucat...

"I LOVE MY WIFE"

awwww...

on the brighter side of life now

our request has been granted! we're on 4pm to 1am shift now. i'm at the office now and i feel great!

guess what? it's now 551 pm and i just saw the sun set among the tall buildings. it's not the most spectacular sunset. the best i've seen, i guess, are puerto galera sunset and manila bay sunset. but this can pass as one of the best. it's the first i've seen in ages.

and when i look behind me, my shadow was there. i was alone and i was savoring every moment of it... the setting sun, my shadow behind me, the sun tranforming from bright blue and white to gray and orange. aaaah. i love it!

and i'm beginning to sound freaky. not freaking out, just enjoying the days more than the nights now. i love my life!

abot-tanaw na ang liwanag

i don't have a problem. it's not one of those moments when there's a crisis that's coming to and end hehe...

what i really mean to say here is... we asked our boss if we could work on an earlier shift - 4pm to 1am. sure going home will literally be thrilling, but it's worth the risk. i've been on night shift for more than a year now. it has become evident on the dark circles under my eyes and the raging moods i've had and the general feeling of being unwell. i just noticed i've become more irritable and grudging lately. it probably doesn't show yet but maybe in the long run, i'll be feeling something wrong with my health.

i know i've been the most diligent advocate of the "it's not what happens, it's how you take it" motto, but darn it... i give up. this is an exception. syet. i hate night shifts! and i can't help but feel pessimistic about it now.

try it. stay awake at nights and sleep on days and you'll know how i feel. argh. bad.

we're crossing our fingers that the request will be approved. otherwise, i'm doomed. but what can i do?!? syet.

makulit

may mga tao talagang makulit no? duuuuuh.

[04:39] manongkulit: hehehe
[04:39] manongkulit: musta na?!??
[04:39] manongkulit: wat tym is ur shift nyway ba??
[04:39] cathscamacho: 9pm to 6am forever
[04:39] cathscamacho: ano ba ang kulit mo kanina
[04:40] cathscamacho: a regular person... will somehow think that if one doesn't respond to messages, she probably doesn't have access to her phone...
[04:41] cathscamacho: probably away from phone... probably sleeping
[04:41] cathscamacho: and will probably get back to you... once she wakes up
[04:48] manongkulit: hehehe, bakit ka naiinis?!?? hehehe
[04:49] manongkulit: *giGgLe!*
[04:50] cathscamacho: e ang kulit mo eh
[04:50] cathscamacho: diba alam mong night shift ako!?
[04:51] cathscamacho: edi siguro tulog ako nun!
[04:51] cathscamacho: may mga taong nagigising kahit sa little beeps no!
[04:51] cathscamacho: at isa ako dun
[04:55] manongkulit: hehehe
[04:55] manongkulit: 'di ko mapigiLan yung tawa ko ah =D...
[04:56] manongkulit: cge, 'di na mauuLit ...
[04:56] manongkulit: peace tayo ah, caths ;D...
[04:56] cathscamacho: 2nd time na to no
[04:56] cathscamacho: hmp
[04:57] manongkulit: o cge nga, keLan yung 1st?!??
[04:57] cathscamacho: nung holidays
[04:58] cathscamacho: kaw p galit na d sinasagot ang call duh
[04:58] manongkulit: ows?!?? yung nasa singa ka?? hehehe
[04:58] cathscamacho: oo kaya
[04:58] manongkulit: hehehe
[04:59] manongkulit: oo nga naman... duH!
[04:59] manongkulit: hehe
[04:59] manongkulit: o cge, 'di na taLaga mauuLit...
[05:00] manongkulit: napangiti mo ko dun sa mga hirit mo ah...
[05:00] cathscamacho: ewan
[05:01] manongkulit: hanggang ngayon gaLit ka pa din dun sa nasa singa ka?!??
[05:01] manongkulit: cge na nga tatahimik na nga ko ...
[05:01] cathscamacho: naalala ko lang
[05:02] cathscamacho: kse makulit din nman ako.. pero medyo marunong nman ako mag translate ng signs no!
[05:05] manongkulit: I was never any gud w/ the signs ...

thirteenth of january...

is not a very good time to put up updates on the happenings of my life for the past few weeks. rather late, i'd say but better late than never.

i guess the highlight of the year 2006 was the singapore vacation i had with my family. yes, my brother is an ofw in singapore haha. it's the first time kuya is away for the christmas and new year holidays... so if he can't be with us then we'll be with him!

it was wawin's first out-of-the-country trip, so this made it more exciting for all of us... besides the fact that we'll be together, of course.

we were there from the 23rd of dec 'til the 2nd of jan. every moment was a blast. kuya's housemates all went home to pinas so we had all the freedom that our hearts desired inside the house - errrr dirty house?

we went to the usual spots. we were amazed by the efficient systems that are in place in that small country - from transportation to laws to cleanliness to big vegetables to meeting some people from the past to lqs to everything. we were hoping to stay (make that come back), if only i could find a job there - but i'm guessing it's not (yet?) written in God's planner.

but those are merely trivial details of the trip and i'd rather not elaborate on superficial stuff. i guess, more than all the glitz and radiance of the travel, i'd rather make a detailed account of how kuya has been at his best.

he took charge of everything. he cooked dinner for us for the first night - something he would never do had he been stuck in pinas. and yeah, even if it's just fried instant chicken tempura and maggi noodles, it is by far the best meal i've had in singapore.

having stayed there for only 3 months, kuya's a tourist himself. but he did his best to be the best guide there is (next to camille hehe. camille's still the best tour guide!). he didn't visit certain spots with his friends 'cause he said he wanted to experience the first time with his loved ones. awww.

i say he's at his best because he personified the word "kuya". he's characterized it perfectly it's almost close to representing the word "father". he's so responsible now. i bet papa will be so proud of him if only he could witness all this.

the only negative feedback i have now is... his nasty yosi habit. break it or you'll be damned. you're damned, we're damned. as simple as that.

overall, i give this experience a five-star rating. call it the first time we're complete as a family on an out-of-the-country trip. call it special because we felt reunited after three months. call it memorable because we opt to make it memorable. call it perfect. this is one of the moments that will always give a dreamy look on my face. and it's not oa. :)