judo!

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

look at these giant flags. so nice!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

eight donuts, mochabella, toni

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

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

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

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

singapore is lovelier the second time around

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 decades

i owe myself a record of this...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

pangtanggal ng puting-ulo

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

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

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

so far

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

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

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

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

perfect visit

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

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

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

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

football sa hawkeran

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

here was our midnight snack:

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

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

marina bay sands - sky park (NOT!)

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

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

1. check out his suit in domanchi.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. go to asian civilization museum.

3. go back to sky park for the sunset.

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

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

drama rama

last june 12, 2009, wawin arrived here in singapore to try to look for a job. it wasn't easy for him in manila. full of hope, he left everything he had, including erikaforever, to join the workforce here.

it wasn't easy as well. he came at a time when companies are hiring only PRs, citizens, or experienced mechanical engineers. the trend continued for a year until his long term social visit pass expired.

he had no choice but to go back to manila last thursday.

wawin is keyla's best friend. wawin does a mere nod and keyla does a super give na give na smile na parang wala nang bukas. it's just uncle wawin who can do this. when keyla cries and no one can make her stop, uncle wawin carries her and she magically calms down.

the scene last thursday was really heartbreaking. wawin said goodbye to keyla with a last nod and we all broke into tears.

today is a different story. for the whole year, i shared this room with wawin. i cleaned the room today, moved wawin's bed to the other room, and tidied up everything that used to be his. for the first time in so many years, i felt so alone and empty. the room seems too big now. too big and too quiet. well, it's not like wawin is loud hehehe but the absence is just too deafening. i cried like a little child (and why do i sound like a girl who was just dumped by her bf? hehehe).

why can't things be easy for everybody? why do people have to be apart? as i've said a thousand times, i believe in the capability of wawin. if you ask him for help to do something, he does it so well. why can't he have the good break that he deserves? :( whatever God's reasons are, i'm sure wawin is being molded into perfection. someday, we'll all be together... until then, we humbly accept God's plans. thank you for the wonderful year that you gave us, dear Father.

bulung-bulong

my lola ading, mami's inay is turning 88 (or 89?) this december. everybody is bedazzled by lola's good health. she outlived most of her nephews and nieces! i sometimes think i will, ehem, go to heaven (or hell?) ahead of her! she's that strong. her body is sure mighty but her brain is even mightier. she has a lending business and she knows where every cent goes. she's simply amazing.

about two weeks ago, we received the most unfortunate news that lola slipped and broke her leg. we were all anxious. everybody knows that breaking a bone in old age spells disaster. at first, we were having second thoughts if we'll allow her to undergo operation. will her body be strong enough to surpass the operation? my doctor cousin highly recommended the operation. he said that it, if untreated, will be extremely painful for lola. surely, she won't be able to take the pain if she didn't have the operation.

my lola is mighty in all sense, true. she is also mightily stubborn! apparently, she doesn't want to have the operation. she wailed and made a bad scene at the hospital when she learned about the operation. she used all the authority in her system so she can have it her way and go home. tiklop ang lahat kay lola. she said she'd rather go to a manghihilot.

my cousin said that it will do more harm than good - as in malalamog ang baling buto. the manghihilot ensured that the affected area will not be touched and he only needs to whisper prayers. bulung-bulong.

lola can manage to sit now. my cousin suspects that the pain reliever is working at its finest that's why things seem tolerable at the moment. i sure hope lola will be saved by her tremendous faith and that she will live a hundred more years to tell her wonderful tale.

"yey! buhay ka pa!"

yan ang sabi ni mikey sa akin nung sabado ng umaga. kung bakit nya nasabi yan, heto ang kwento...

friday afternoon, sad ako sa work. kung bakit ako sad, ibang kwento yan. deserve nyan ang isa pang bukod na post. feeling ko todo-buhos ang emosyon sa topic na yun.

so friday afternoon, sa gitna ng pagda-drama ko sa office, bandang 6:00 pm, bigla akong nahilo. gustong-gusto ko nang umuwi pero may tinatapos lang ako nang onti. nakatingin ako sa monitor tapos biglang umikot ang paningin ko. medyo may pressure sa batok, manaka-nakang pagsakit ng ulo. akala ko heart attack, umubo ako. lalo akong nahilo. relax nang konti pero pinilit ko pa ring tapusin ang trabaho.

nakiramdam, tumayo, naglakad papuntang MRT, lumulutang ang pakiramdam. halu-halo na ang naramdaman ko: hilo, pagod, lungkot, nasusuka, takot na baka mahimatay. nakausap ko si kuya at nabanggit kong nahihilo ako. naisip ko, kung magtaxi ako, lalo akong mahihilo. bakit hindi e jeprox mag drive ang mga manong dito. so pinilit kong makauwi sakay ng MRT. little did i know na tumatawag pala si kuya at di ko naririnig dahil wa ako care. ang focus ko lang ay makauwi nang may malay.

pagdating ko ng bahay, pati sina mami takot na takot na pala dahil di ako macontact. pagdating ni kuya, galit na galit at di raw ako macontact di na raw nila alam kung ano nang nangyari sakin. kung bakit nagalit si kuya, heto ang kwento...

thursday night, may officemate syang nakaramdam ng same symptoms ng sa akin + pamamanhid ng ulo. nag excuse sa meeting si officemate dahil na nahihilo at nasusuka. the next morning, hindi na nakapasok si officemate dahil hindi na sya nagising :-S in short, na-dead sya.

so sugod kami sa clinic dito na malapit sa bahay. hindi ko alam kung clinic ba yun o manghuhula.

doc: hi, how are you feeling today?

me: around 6pm, i felt dizzy, light-headed. with occasional headaches, with discomfort at the nape, and with feelings of nausea.

doc: aha!

me: [natuwa dahil parang may conclusion na agad si doc]

doc: do you have colds?

me: very mild, cough mild too.

doc: aha! you have common colds! i will give you medicine for colds!

me: no, no, no. i've had this cough and colds for two weeks now but it's the first time i'm feeling dizzy.

doc: that's right. maybe you just have sensitive nose.

me: [stunned that he isn't even getting my BP. and where did that common colds come from? what is the cause of my hilo attack?] but i still feel dizzy at the moment.

doc: that's ok, that's a side-effect of the colds. do you want lozenges for your cough?

me: no

walangjo. tawag ako sa pinsan kong doctor. mas may sense ang hatol nya. mukang benign positional vertigo raw. na may konting duda kung buntis ako mwehehehe! para maka sure na vertigo nga, magpatingin daw ako sa neurologist after din na ma-rule out ang issue ko sa nanlalabo kong mata.

natakot din si mikey sa kwentong na-dead na officemate. saturday morning, 7am, ang aga ng text. "gising ka na?" hehehe tinawagan ko... "bat ang aga mo nagising?" ang bungad nya, "yey! buhay ka pa!" hahahaha! indeed!

ps: sa wednesday, makukuha ko na ang bago kong eyeglasses. tingnan natin kung mata nga. sana.

ps2: the last time na nahilo ako nang ganito ay college pa sa pilipinas. walang nakitang mali si doc sa akin. sabi nya, kailangan kong bumalik para sa ibang test dahil na alarm sya sa biglang pagbagsak ng timbang ko. "may dahilan ang pagbagsak ng timbang mo" hindi na ako bumalik sa takot matuklasan ang dahilan na yun. hahaha!

six dresses

in less than three weeks, we'll have our prenuptial pictorials. jitters. excitement. anxiety. i admit, i love smiling for the lenses. it's the pow-sing-pow-sing that scares the crap out of me. i am ms. conscious. waaah! i hope the photographers could stir some magic in us so the poses will appear cool and natural-looking.

we'll push through with our beach pictorial no matter what happens. there are some complications at the moment and we are trying to sort them out so our sun-sand-sea setting could materialize. our photographers don't cater to prenup pictorials on weekends but our only available days are sat and sun. we'll push through no matter what :-S

if i were to be asked:

• i want us to SMILE, laugh even, in ALL shots. i want a generally happy theme :)
• i don't want serious shots. i don't want shots with angst. it's just not for me! i swear, i will look constipated! i think mike could pull it off, but not me :-S so dear mr. photographer, don't make us do those mowdel poses. ex: having a blank, expressionless face and looking at the horizon. please, no :-S
• no seductive shots. again, not for me. can't. hahaha.
• but i like shots with butterfly kisses :-* if only it will look natural ;-)

ok, so what to wear? april and i went to chinatown this afternoon to look for dresses for the shoot. initially, what i had in mind were:

a. tube-top, long beach dress

b. white, short dress

c. rompers - something like this, but i like white, tube-top or sleeveless, katya material maybe?

i found a :) one pink and one purple

i found b :) it's this dainty, white dress with strap. i'm thinking of removing the strap.

i will find c in the following days :)

here is a. please excuse the mess, and the payatotness:

in the end, i bought 6 dresses :) 3 for the prenups, 3 for whatever. hehe. as if i really wear them! :))

cat [sms to mami]: ma, magkano nga ulit yung patahi ng barong kay maxim?

mami [sms to cat]: tila P1200. 'di ko sigurado. itanong mo kay cecil.

cat [sms to mami]: oks ty mwah. talagang "tila" hehehe

mami [di na sumagot]...

hala naman mami, parang sa mga florante't laura ko pa narinig yung salitang yun :-S

happy birthday to me!

i took a screenshot of one of the most beautiful coincidences. the time is a numeric representation of my birthday. 8:17 - aug:17. haha babaw. it's a wonder because it almost always happens. when i glance at my phone to either check if i have messages or look at the time, it's 8:17 :)

birthdays are the sweetest days and it feels great to be reminded of your wonderful existence. life may suck at times but on your birthday, you are licensed to celebrate triumphantly because you surpassed the obstacles and you had a fair share of glorious days. maybe i should keep track of the number of times i am reminded of it. :) HBD in advance!

disgusting

what is the usual breakfast for me?

• burger king $2.95 meal - croissant with egg and cheese + hot milk tea - aka tinapay palaman itlog at keso + tsaa. kapag friday, pwedeng i-upgrade sa croissanwich meal nila. ito ay may halong karne: ham or bacon.
• bean curd with grass jelly - aka taho with gulaman
• 2 char siew pao - aka siopao palaman mala asado
• hard boiled egg with soy sauce + rice - aka nilagang itlog, sawsaw toyo, ulam kanin (weekends lang)

ayan. madampian lang ang labi't sikmura ko ng mga kakaning yan sa umaga e masaya na ang diwa ko. hindi ako malakas kumain pero kapag nasarapan ako sa pagkain e very vocal ako. bawat kagat, sasabihin kong, "sarap!"

hindi ako madalas magsisi sa mga bagay na nagawa ko na dahil wala nang magagawa. natapos na'ng lahat bakit magmumukmok pa? pero kahapon, ang ginawa kong ito ang pinakamalaki ko na atang kamalian sa tanang buhay ko, at pagsisisihan ko ito habang nabubuhay ako. dahil maling-mali.

ano kamo'ng pagkakamali ang nagawa ko? bumili ako ng chicken sandwich sa dome. "for a change," ang sabi ko. for a change mo muka mo! hahaha. shongit ng lasa!

unang-una, ang tinapay, parang mumurahing wheat bread lang na may expiration date na today-1 pero naisip mong pwede pa yan kaya kinain mo pa rin. sabi kasi ng nanay mo, pwede pa ring kainin yun.

pangalawa ang lechugas, mas lanta pa sa gulay na inabot na ng dapit-hapon sa talipapa.

pangatlo, ang chicken spread, may sapi! di ko alam kung anong ibang lasa ang sumapi sa kanya. definitely, hindi sya chicken. di ko nga sure kung spread sya e.

inubos ko pa rin. haha pagkatapos pintasan to infinity level. weh gutom ako. pero masama sa loob ko ang pagkakaubos ko. hindi nya binigyan ng hustisya ang essence ng pagiging chicken sandwich. di na mauulit. paalam.

music and noise

when we were in switzerland, janise introduced me to one of her good friends, jake. jake went all the way to switzerland to visit janise. talk about good friendship. :) on the topic of wonderful relationships, i remember when my best friends thecx and michie visited me in ohio last 2005. it's so heart-warming to see your good friends after a number of years and realize that nothing has changed despite the time and distance.

going back to jake, he's here in SG to visit janise again. janise asked if i wanted to join their pagtatagpo in clark quay. go! initially, i suggested a nice bbq/swimming in our place. another option was videoke. apparently jake didn't find these appealing at all. hahaha! how i've grown to be so manang over the years! oh well. clark quay it is.

i wanted to dress up. when was the last time i went clubbing? i looked inside my closet but i can't find a good dress. i settled with a black sleeveless blouse. i felt too bare. i changed again and snuggled into my favorite pink shirt. who goes to clark quay on a saturday and wears a shirt and jeans. uhm me? now i realize that my comfort level in trying out different styles in clothing is indirectly proportional to the number of years i stay alive. in all fairness to me and my confidence, i did wear a little makeup :) couldn't guarantee that i looked at my finest, but at least i tried :)

we didn't go clubbing after all. we just had 1 round of drinks, walked around clark quay so the visitors could get a glimpse of SG nightlife. as if i am familiar with it :p we got hungry and ate these wonderful shawarmas in one of the stalls. i just loved it! i had lamb shawarma and it is to die for. i promise.

where we were seated, the speakers were in full outrage. since i didn't know the songs, i assumed they are all from the latest charts. i was a bit embarrassed to see inang yaya (jake's yaya who was with him) swaying with the music and recognizing the songs, even naming them! how old am i?!? hahaha!

and then it hit me... that what other people (or generations) consider as music, i now find as noise. hahaha! to each his own. :))

so what do i now consider as music? stuff that other people might think as noise: laughter, stories, and chika. baduy much? hahaha!

bye bye bye

i just said goodbye and the other person doesn't know that i did. :p

goodbye to all the chikas.

goodbye to all the laughter.

goodbye to all the senseless questions, and to all the honest answers.

goodbye to all the trips to what-if-land.

goodbye to the mind-clearing opinions, solicited or not.

goodbye to no pretentions and to no filtering.

goodbye to trash talks and to sugar-coated ones.

goodbye to all the ego trips.

it's for the best.

trust me :)

bye bye bye

the cutest little girl

isn't she the coolest? :p

keyla just celebrated her 1st month of existence last week. i love it how she rocks our world now. ah eh, super iyakin lang talaga ng batang ito hahaha! the only things that could pacify her are: milk, more milk, karga, more karga. hahaha! could you believe a pacifier's purpose of pacifying babies is defeated with this little girl's antics?

i am certain that i won't mind cradling her for hours. even if she wails and wails and wails and wails, i won't get tired of taking care of her. just look at those eyes staring back at you. it melts all the negative things away. had a bad day? just hold her and smell her and talk to her. she won't respond or answer back, true, but just feeling her presence is like watching a thousand miracles right before your eyes.

i am confident that she'll be a very good person while april and kuya are in charge of molding her. :)

as i write this, i am a bit sad. i feel that i'll be sick and i can't get near her. i pray i'll get well soon. i can't get enough of this baby girl, keyla.

my hair is cheap

i didn't know this pic was sent. anyway, here's the story behind this pic: i find it funny that my hair is so cheap. i'm not hiyang to mamahaling shampoo hehe. i tried crab tree once, but my hair became stiff. fine hindi talaga sosyal ang buhok ko.

i'm a big fan of st. ive's shampoo and conditioner. it's relatively cheap and my hair is so lambot when i use it. the problem is, i can't find it in "normal" groceries. kuya bought it from mustafa. i don't want to go to mustafa. period.

i just had a hair rebond. the parlorista (or is it parloristo?), keno, urged me to buy a 70 SGD loreal shampoo and conditioner. i was urged. hehehe. so there, i'm now using a mamahaling shampoo/conditioner. my hair is unwell. see? my hair is not sosyal!

i also tried a kao shampoo. this one's also chipipay! grabe. i remember we have this brand in the philippines and it's caled kao biore, or something like that. my hair's so lambot din with this product! grabe. i'm so cheap nakakaloka!

so back to the pic: a few nights ago, kuya and i were at fairprice buying groceries. this brand caught my attention kasi naman pare, around 4 SGD lang silang dalawa! as in shampoo + conditioner at 4 SGD! what's scary is walang literature sa label kung ano-anong meron syang sangkap. i bought it anyway. my hair is cheap so it won't complain. i tried it once. so far, so good.

i love it how my hair is so cheap-o! i would love to be back to mustafa, though. i'd hoard tons of st. ive's. at least i know what's in it. haha!

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!

a sponge can only absorb so much water...

tired and still homeless

we've been house hunting for the past 2 or 3 weeks. it's a tiring ordeal! we have viewings after office hours. we also have a lot during weekends. during weekdays, we would rush from the office to various flats and go home at around 9 or 10 pm all drained and tired and hungry. on weekends, we spend almost the entire day doing the same thing.

this is the first time that we'll get a unit on our own. we always had acquaintances as housemates. with the baby coming, we feel it might be difficult to still share the home with people outside of the family. it might be unfair for them.

this sounds exciting but this also means that expenses will be higher. all expenses will be divided by 3 instead of the usual 5 or 4. whew. we better get ready for this!

for the first time, we considered getting an hdb unit. hdbs are public housing units and rents are considerably lower than condos are private apartments. there are really nice hdb units around, especially the ones that are renovated or well-maintained, and you will almost have no reason to get a private flat. if you stay in condos or apartments, you pay for the amenities, security, and the ehem nice view. hehe. hdbs are quite spacious compared to the private housings but there's still the fact that anybody could just come in and out of your floor. these units are not fenced or guarded, but then again, it's quite safe here.

so after viewing unit after unit, we considered the following units:

- hdb flat in pasir ris (2k) - we were 8 hours too late for the offer. we viewed the unit one weeknight and waited too long the next day. when we decided to offer, the unit was already taken. it was a really spacious and clean unit. we wanted it badly but the competition within tenants is also fierce. every minute counts.

- unit in clear water condo (3.1k) - we offered for 2.7k. hehe it was like shooting for the stars. we were probably insane for offering such a low amount for the unit, but it was the highest that we were willing to go - 2.7k. unit was perfect, with 3 rooms plus an extra small room plus a maid's room. just perfect. however, condo was not that accessible. even if it was, the owner didn't accept our offer of 2.7k. "crazy tenants! wanting to rent my perfect unit for 2.7k" haha!

- unit in white house condo (3k) - again, we offered 2.7k. this is the ultimate unit! accessible 100%, pretty, pretty, nice, nice! 3 rooms, no maid's room. we are waiting for the owner if he will accept our offer. we are crossing all body parts that we could cross!

so after all of these, as i said, we are all tired and still homeless! we still have 1 month and 1 or 2 weeks. timer starts now!

feeling her for the first time

in about 2 to 3 weeks, baby girl will have her first taste of life-giving oxygen. for more than 8 months now, she has been this silent living creature inside april's belly. in all those 8 months, i have never felt her move. sometimes, april feels amazed at how likot she is. sometimes, she complains because the movements are too rigorous, almost painful. baby girl moves when april sits too close to her office table. apparently, baby doesn't like it when things are in contact with april's tummy. hehe. that or maybe she somehow feels that something is close by and she wants to play with it.

i've been waiting for the perfect timing when i could feel her move. see, i had to wait for more than 8 months :) while we were having lunch today, april called us when she felt baby move. i ran and felt her... and there it was, the perfect moment! i felt her move!!! i think it might have been her knees that moved like a giant wave on april's belly! it was soooo amazing! i love her already!

the last time we had a baby at home was when wawin was born. it was 1986 and i was 6 years old. wawin was a delicate little child. as he had congenital heart disease, we were very careful when he cried. he would get out of breath and his lips would turn purple. those were frightening days.

that was so many years ago. now, i wonder how it feels like to have a baby in the house again. :)

dear keyla,

auntie cat awaits for you. get ready for countless hugs and kisses and showers of love! the world has so many things in store for you.

love,

nanay, tatay, auntie cat, and uncle toy

(april, kuya, me, wawin)

magtatakipsilim

sa mga panahong ganito (read: mga panahong madrama ako), naiisip ko ang kanta ni wency na next in line: "what has life to offer me when i grow old?" pwede rin namang que sera sera: "will i be pretty, will i be rich?" (talagang yung line ba na yun dapat?!?)

sa taong ito, mag-30 na ako. siguro palapit na nang palapit sa pagtatakipsilim ng buhay ko. remember, paikli nang paikli ang life span ng tao. who knows, naabot ko na ang 1/3 ng buhay ko. meaning hanggang 90 years old akong aabot. kung maging nega ako, maaaring isipin kong naabot ko na ang kalahati ng buhay ko. so feeling ko 60 years ang hangganan ng buhay ko? kung maging ultra nega pa rin ako, maaaring 80% na ng buhay ko ang na-spend ko.

grabe. this is scary. wala pa akong anak. wala pa akong asawa. hindi ko pa nagagawa lahat na gusto kong gawin. hindi ko pa napupuntahan ang lahat ng gusto kong puntahan. lumilipas ang bawat araw na nagtatrabaho lang ako, nagbabasa ng facebook at twitter, gumagastos. at pagdating pa ng ganitong petsa ng buwan, ayan na nagsisimula na akong maging monster mag-isip. idagdag na natin yan sa pampalipas-oras ko. hay. talaga naman oo!

bakit si mami, nung 30 sya may 2 na syang anak? hmm, in fact, 3 na ata e! grabe! ang dami-dami na nyang napagdaanan at nagawa. sa taglay ba naman nyang tapang at talino e! hay. ibig sabihin ba nun, duwag ako at medyo hindi ako matalino?

hay. magawa ko lang ang mga ito, siguro ok na ako. hindi na ako matatakot.

1. magkaron ng pamilya at anak. super pangarap ko talagang magka-anak. feeling ko, ang dami-dami kong love na gustong ibigay kung bibigyan lang ako ng chance. iba yung love sa asawa, iba rin yung love sa baby/ies. gusto kong i-shower unconditionally yung 2 love na yun.
2. merong nagpupumiglas na desire sa kalooban ko na gumawa ng something. it doesn't have to be grand as in "change the world!" kahit na sa "make a difference!" level lang super happy na siguro ako. the thing is, hindi pa sya pinapakita sa akin kung ano man yun. pero i strongly feel na there's something! excited akong i-reveal sakin yun. yung giving back factor ba. lead me and i'll follow.
   
3. mapagsilbihan ko si mami, or at least make her happy - si mami ang constant good thing in my life. ayokong dumating yung time na magiging alone si mami. she's been through a lot.
4. makita, at least, na masaya ang 2 kong kapatid at ang sari-sarili nilang pamilya.
   

for now, yun ang mga wish list ko. syempre there's someone greater than me and me wishing these. there's someone wiser who knows better than me - one who will grant OR will not grant these wishes. tiklop naman ako e. :) tina-try ko namang maging masunuring bata. hehehe.

ayan parang hindi na ako malungkot. :) siguro naman hindi pa 80% no? :p

sapok, sampal, hampas

as a lenten activity, the sisters of lingkod planned to watch the film "the passion of Christ". since kuya and april had plans to visit the IT fair today, i offered that we could watch the film here in our house.

this is the second time that i watched the film. the first one was during the movie screening in manila. i watched it with mami. a couple of years passed but when i watched it today, it had the same effect on me - shock. besides the fact that the portrayal was close to perfect, something that happened during college kept on flashing in my mind while watching the film.

it was RELS class (i'm thinking it's RELSONE). we had this professor (i forgot his name) who asked for a volunteer. one of the girls (i won't tell who she is) raised her hand and she was prompted to go to the front.

teacher asked her, "come, hit me hard on the face." we were all shocked. i found it hard to fathom what his point was. she didn't hit him. teacher made his point. we find it really hard to hit somebody on the face but every time we sin, we become one of the people who gave Jesus the deathly blows prior to His death.

i have so many moments in my life that i am not proud of, in fact i am really ashamed to even talk about these. how many blows have i given Him? in the movie, i cringed every time He was hit. i even cried at certain points. the realization here is... i am one of the killers. when i watched the movie for the first time, what i felt was just pure awa for Him. this time, my realization is different. i was able to associate myself with the soldiers who beat Him to His death, with the people who threw stones at Him, who rebuked Him and showed no mercy. i am one of them. it was so easy for me to show my disgust and cry when He was hit in the film, but it's amazing how easy and shameless it is for me to continuously sin day after day.

i appreciate the activity today. so many realizations. perfect way to end sunday.

PS: my girl classmate hit the teacher really hard after a good convincing. i didn't tell in my story above because i was trying to help teacher make his point :p hehehe. he was hoping she wouldn't hit him so he could get his message across. he was still successful, i think, because i still can't forget it after all these years.

so what do i do now? i know i'll still hit Him a million times or more during my entire lifetime, but i could always try and aim not to.

s-16 chums

i am in a sentimental mood. sentimental in a good way. i'm browsing through some old mobile pictures and look at what i found. these girls are my original buddies during college. pic was taken when i went home a few years ago.

we were lunch buddies, block mates (before i moved to a different block), project mates, thesis mates, movie and mall buddies, tambay mates, aba'y lahat na ata.

mauie was my elementary classmate and HS schoolmate. we didn't talk back then. i could only recall one instance during 4th yr HS but that's just about it. we were mere acquaintances. during the first orientation day, i was really shy to be around her. maybe because we were never close during HS. as the days passed, i fell in love with her being and i consider her to be my closest girl friend during college. we clicked instantly and we share the same kapilyahan. hehehe! as i mentioned before, our souls were twins! as in!

riche was the sosy girl from CSA. at first, i was really intimidated because she's so sosyal... with the english ispokening and all. she was the girl with long hair and big shirts. rakistang mistulan. she was best friends with allen - who is the other sosy CSA girl. hehehe. they were sosy but not maarte and not mapangmata. from the boyish image, she slowly transformed to this semi-girly image. i was with riche when she first learned of z's existence. i was with riche when i first met mike.

ecel was the girl na mahilig mambara. hahaha! while mau, riche, and i share the same characteristic of being bungisngis, ecel was the straight-faced one. when one will tell a joke, the 3 of us will giggle immediately. ecel will remain serious. hehehe. she's a very deep person but that doesn't make her less lovable. i love it when, during college, ecel shared her fears of remaining single forever, and now she's really blooming and in love with mr. papa.

i love these girls. we've been through a lot. we've been through everything. we shared the same wish of being hit by a bus when we almost failed our thesis. we (minus mau) shared the same house in laguna during ojt. we all stayed up all night doing projects in riche's room - all those countless nights we slept on riche's carpet! college days were tough but they were extra special and bearable with these girls around. towards the later part of the college years, i also became super close with camille and liza - they are not in the picture but i do hope one day we'll have the chance to be together in one great pic :) i love these 5 girls!

play pen!

look, look, look! baby has a new tambayan ;). my niece is coming home
soon. so sooooon! can't wait!

i miss hershey's brown cow

when we were young, mama would buy us hershey's brown cow. there's a small bottle and there's also a big bottle. if mama bought the big bottle, ay! jackpot yun!

hershey's brown cow has always been a treat for us. we didn't buy it regularly because we were not rich. it was quite expensive that time. fresh milk wasn't in yet and pang sosyal lang ang fresh milk noon. what we had was birch tree full cream powdered milk. prior to the refill pack era, we bought the canned birch tree. if we have extra money, mama will buy the biggest can. if medyo gipit, medium lang. hehehe.

i wonder if there's still hershey's brown cow. why did i remember? when we went to the universal studios, there's a hershey's shop and you could find everything that hershey's-ey in there... except brown cow :( the closest they have is this hershey's syrup. well, it's not that bad :) we also bought the one that's malt flavor but it doesn't taste superb. so-so lang.

moooooo

updates and bands

time check: 9 months before the wedding. everything is going smoothly. we agree on just about everything.

suppliers that have been booked so far:

• church - st. pancratius chapel
  
• reception - ibarra's garden
• invitation - wink
• photographer, videographer, photo booth - nice print
• gowns and barong - amonn velasco

suppliers that need to be booked:

• flowers
• music band for the church and/or reception (if we'll choose to have one)
• lights and sounds in the reception
• hair and makeup
• souvenirs for the principal and secondary sponsors
• honeymoon
  
• wedding rings/bands

wedding rings/bands. as i said, we agree on just about everything. when we are scouting for suppliers, one of us will give an idea and the other will agree right away. no sweat. no idea is ever too ugly or questionable for us. that is until we started talking about the wedding rings. last night we had our first disagreement about it.

mike wants to have bulgari rings. i don't. a paulinian is warm, simple, and active. i'm not warm. i'm not active. i think i'm simple (yes ginamit pa ang pagiging paulinian ;p). for this reason, i want a really, really, really simple wedding ring. i don't want too many flashing stones and neither do i want brands being advertised on my finger. the one he likes is this ring with "bulgari" boldly and visibly engraved on the sides.

really, i should have told him subtly but what i told him was plain and direct: i don't like having a brand name displayed like an ad. if we grow old, do you think it will look good on our fingers? i like just a simple band. i may have been too direct. he became quiet and gently told me he is making tampo because it's like i shrugged his idea away without even considering it.

dear me, why do we have to agree on everything but the rings? :( he really likes it so i don't want to force him to wear a simple band. but i also do not like the bulgari ring and i don't want to force myself to wear it. :( hay.

today, ahngel and ate a accompanied me to some jewelry stores and my my i fell in love with this very thin band with 2 or 3 small stones. the groom's ring is also gorgeous but i'm sure he'll not like it. so how, ah? the store manager said that i could ask mike to look for a design that he likes and he'll try to find a similar design. anyway, the ring that i like isn't too choosy with a partner, meaning we could try to mix and match.

mike is the most understanding soul. i told him, "i found some good rings today. they are also on sale!" he said, "ok, ikaw na ang bahalang humanap ng ok na design for us." i know deep inside that he still wants the bulgari ring and i don't want him to look at his simple ring with hidden disgust. so... it's still my dilemma. i forwarded him some catalogs. who knows, he might find one that he likes and he will give in to me mwahahahaha :)

for now, it is an open item. sale period is almost over. i have a few more days to convince him. kapalit ay kiss, papayag kaya sya? :p

ps: i don't have anything against couples who wear the bulgari rings. if it makes them happy, then it can't be that bad :) but it's just not for me. it won't look good on me. i. simply. know. bow.

turistas

it isn't very obvious but there are a number if tourists on this
picture. pic taken at the fountain of wealth one lunch break. i love
the feeling of being a tourist. you don't have any worries. you are
there to feast your eyes an fill your senses with all things that are
wonderful.

disturbing

a few weeks ago, i saw the ara mina interview by mo twister. she's running for some public office, mo was interviewing her. she said she doesn't watch the news because it's depressing. bless her :p

here are some disturbing news i've heard from the past days. maybe events like these make ara sad.

• during a show (forgot which US state), a killer whale grabbed its trainer by the waist and strangled the trainer to death - this happened in front of families watching the show :-S it shouldn't work this way. killer whales don't kill people. the trainer wanted to be a whale trainer since she was a little girl. who would have guessed that this dream will take her life one day? :-S
• a korean couple was arrested for the death of their baby. in the autopsy, the cause of the death was long-term malnutrition. investigations show that they were addicted to... wait for it... RAISING A VIRTUAL BABY! how lame could that sound! they were both unemployed and spent hours in internet cafes raising the virtual kid. the real-world baby was neglected to her death! they feed her only once day. poor baby. :-S
• earthquakes here and there
• giant waves hit a cruise ship and injure a couple of people
• drought affecting most crops in the philippines

hay...

travels

we went to the NATAS fair last friday. it was a fair that featured good travel deals. i'm not sure if they were pretty good prices. kuya and april scouted for packages for their planned australia tour on august. i went to look if there were nice packages for our honeymoon on december!

mike and i initially agreed on going to palawan for honeymoon. original choices were: cebu, bellarocca resort in marinduque, and palawan. i forgot how we narrowed down the choice to palawan. hehe. we initially had thailand in the list but we figured once we are here, it would be easier to go to thailand (due to proximity) than to go back to the philippines. so palawan it is.

but come friday, i saw some really tempting offers in the NATAS fair. we've always wanted to go to koh sa mui in thailand. the pictures are just gorgeous! i think the prices are not that good but the beaches are really nice! and so i was torn. i wanted to go to thailand and i wanted to go to palawan too. i sent mike and SMS and asked him, where are we really going? things are really easy for guys. his reply was really simple: "palawan :)". hehe ba't ba nanggugulo ako?!? so again, palawan it is! hahaha!

as for kuya and april, they decided not to get the australian tour because it's quite expensive too. so in the end, all i had taken from the NATAS fair is the picture above. :) people going to the MRT from the fair. hehe i wonder: how many of them went home happy with their dream travel packages?

ps: NATAS is SATAN spelled backwards. scary. :s

God Makes Wonders

today, when i logged in to facebook (yes, facebook is a part of my daily routine), i saw that dear mike became a fan of "God Makes Wonders" page.

the moment i saw it, i clicked "become a fan" right away. i have so many reasons to become a fan today.

• God makes wonders because today, i received a very good news. i was haunted since last week. it could have been worse, but i received a call today.

caller: hi, the results are back
me (ever bingi): huh? did you just say "the results are BAD?"
caller: sorry to frighten you. i meant the results are back. B-A-C-K. you have nothing to worry about.

yes, God makes wonders. despite my being bingi, i heard good news!

• God makes wonders because we were able to execute a successful despedida party for our dear sunshine who is leaving the team. the wonder here is we were able to celebrate and see beyond the sadness of saying goodbye. it was a joyous night. good food, wonderful people, happy laughter.

• God makes wonders because i have a strong mother - strong in all aspects. she is still in very good shape at age 56. no major health issues, i bet she'll outlive me :p she is just as strong emotionally. she has been through a lot, still going through some more, but she sure knows how to make lemonade out of lemons thrown badly at her. i know God is behind her every step and every breath.

• God makes wonders because baby girl is coming in a few more weeks. how else could you define a miracle? a concrete example is how a mother carries and nurtures another living creature inside her. new life never fails to amaze me. can't wait to see you, baby! auntie cat is here for you :)

dear God, i am a big fan. i am a big fan of how you make little wonders each day. i am a fan of the magnanimous blessings. i am a fan of how you touch my life. i am a fan of how you teach me and mold me into becoming who catherine really is. i am a fan! :)

sugarol

last saturday, we went to the resort world casino upang umusyoso. hehehe. it's not my first time to go to the casino. we were not frequent visitors, but mama, kuya, and i went to "visit" the casino filipino for a couple of times. wow! couple of times. couple of times na ba ang 3? hehehe. i was never lucky in gambling.

mukang hindi na mauulit ang casino visit namin dito dahil naman, meyn! papasok ka pa lang, olats ka na! nakapaskil sa entrance:

100SGD - entrance fee for Permanent Residents and Singaporeans
2000SGD - Annual Fee

my toinks moment:
me (malabo ang mata, napasigaw. later on wishing i did not think aloud): wow! ang mahal naman ng bayad kapag may dala kang ANIMAL! 2000! bat naman ako magdadala ng ANIMAL sa casino?!?! edi iiwan ko na lang sa bahay!
april (tumawa, pero parang nairita): ANNUAL yun! magsalamin ka na nga!

bwahahaha bat kasi nagmamaganda at ayaw magsalamin :p

visitors have no entrance fee. april and i are PRs, kuya and wawin are not. so entrance pa lang, may cash out na agad kaming 200. wow talaga.

anyway, we went there to have some fun. at the top of our heads, we'll not spend more than 100 each inside the casino. so ayun, mega buy na kami ng chips. 400 all in all, tig 100 na taya kung saan mo gusto. kuya introduced us to the roulette. ang ganda pakinggan! pero in reality, para lang syang laro sa perya hehe. may roleta, papaikutin ang bola, hanggang patigilin sya ni gravity at ma-stuck sya sa isang number sa board. ang mga tao sa paligid ng mesa, bago tumigil ang bola, maglalagay ng chips sa hula nilang lalapagan ng bola. pwedeng odd, even, red, black, first 12, 2nd 12, etc., or yung single number mismo ang tayaan mo. yun ang pinakamalaking premyo - kapag nahulaan mo yung single number!

as i said, malas ako sa sugal, so si wawin ang pinaghawak ko ng 200 namin. sabi ko "wawin, bahala ka nang tumaya kung saan mo gusto pero bago tayo umuwi, itaya mo ako sa number 5. yun lang ang hiling ko."

haling na haling ang mga tao sa pagtaya! as in isang tayaan ay 1600! na nawawala na lang na parang bula kung mali ang hula mo. as in!

hay, inabot kami ng 6 na oras sa loob. mananalo, matatalo. paulit-ulit lang. hanggang nagsawa na kami, malapit nang umuwi. pinaalala ko kay wawin ang number 5 ko. na-tempt akong imbis na 2SGD chip ang ilagay, 25SGD na lang. pero nagpigil ako. sayang naman ang 25. pinigilan din ako ni wawin na tumaya sa single number, bagkus ay inudyok nya akong tumaya sa 1 to 6. ibig sabihin, mas mataas ang chance na manalo pero mas mababa ang premyo. fine. sige malas nga ako diba?

boom! lumabas ang 5! "akalain mo?" yan na lang ang nasabi ni wawin. hahaha. jackpot na sana :p as i say, malas ako!

wawin's toinks moment:
kuya: o ito ang roulette... blah blah blah
wawin (bumulong sa akin): roulette? yun ba yung russian roulette?
ako: win, may baril ata yung russian roulette e. hahaha!

so magkano ang nalustay?
caths: 100 (entrance) + 50 (bets) = 150
wawin: 50 (bets) = 50
kuya: bawi lang (bets) = 0
april: 100 (entrance) + bawi lang (bets) = 100

ayus. pwede na rin ;) uulit ka pa? hindi na po :)

numbers (and june ticket booked!)

three reasons i should go home this coming june:
1 - it's maumau's wedding on the 25th and i'm MOH. i love maumau. my soul and her soul were twins during college. they still are :) very evident in the similarities on certain details on our weddings.
2 - we're having our engagement pictorials. the plan is to have it in boracay since we both love beaches. but... we're also trying to trim down the expenses so we opted to go with plan b - aquatico - we fell in love with this resort! so nice! promise! we still have to deal with out-of-town charges for the photographer and makeup artist, though. so we'll see if we can have aquatico.
3 - i want to see mama and mike.

two reasons i missed the cebu pacific seat sale:
1 - i haven't asked for leave approval yet and the sale was only until 21st of feb.
2 - i'm starting to boycott cebu pacific. they did something terrible to my mom.

two reasons i booked with jetstar:
1 - they have a prosperity sale! i booked my ticket at only $240++.
2 - jetstar is not cebu pacific.

one thing you should not do on facebook:
1 - post how you feel during petty and major fights with your bf. i think cheesiness is tolerable but fights - no no. give the other person some respect and dignity :) and do you really want the whole to know that you are fighting? :p baka naman gusto mong sa pribado nyo na lang pag-usapan yan, or why not have an imaginary thought bubble? AND KEEP YOUR THOUGHT IN THE BUBBLE? sounds better? :) yup!

one how-did-that-happen moment:
1 - i am trying to trim down my guest list. target is 75. the original list that i have contains 85. this morning, i sat down and tried the impossible task of trimming down the guest list. from 85, i was able trim it down to 91. toinks! how did that happen?!?!?

one person i miss:
1 - you
walang kokontra. sabi ko pwedeng maging cheesy. :p

Facebook says...

he's been nagging me to change my status since last year. :p yes, call me the queen of pessimism. i think i've cultivated too much negative vibes in me. i wanted my status to remain as "single" so i won't have to go through the shame of having it changed back to single again if something went wrong. :p

now that we're almost halfway done with the preparations, maybe it's time to change the darned status. so there you go. :) medyo nagtatampo na sya, kasi parang wala lang daw hahaha.

i am not an active member of w@w. i've just been lurking for the past months. i haven't posted a single query, neither have i helped another bride-to-be by answering a question or posting a suggestion. i guess it's just my personality to always just be in the background.

so how did it all happen? since last, last year (i think), we've been talking about getting married.

i have a backup plan, though: to remain single until old age. i told God, "dear God, i really, really, really want to get married and have kids. if it's not in your will, then please allow me to age gracefully and build loving relationships with my mother, brothers, nieces, nephews, and friends. let me live a happy life, married or single."

marriage was all just a dim plan until october, 2009 when we finally informed my mom and his mom about it. again, nothing formal, we just let them know and asked for their blessings over a quiet dinner at golden fortune. basing from the reactions on their faces, i could tell they were shocked. maybe they really didn't see it coming. maybe they thought it was just a quiet dinner :p

shocked, yes. i didn't sense anything negative from both sides, though. mama and tita and tito were all very supportive from day 1 up to this moment.

getting kuya's approval was another problem (or so i thought). though i know that he will not say no, he shows his disapproval in ways that will let you feel "wag ko na lang kaya ituloy?" hehehe. God moves mountains. no doubt :) when mike went here last christmas season, kuya welcomed him. no questions asked, like nothing bad ever happened in the past. i love my family. i love how supportive they are. likewise, i love his family too. equal levels of support from both sides. blessings from God = overwhelming amount talaga. woohoo! thank you, papa God!

and hey, i have my ring :) he gave it to me last december after a very loooong walk in funan. he said, "don't worry, you'll be happy later." and then i knew that he'll give the ring on our scheduled singapore flyer ride. you see he's not so good in keeping surprises hehehe.

so the preparations began. at ten months to go, i think things are great. :)

we need prayers for a smooth preparation. credits to mike for being very hands on. sometimes i feel so helpless being away from him and being away from manila - the site of the wedding. he has no choice but to arrange things on his own. much more than smooth preparations, we need more prayers for a blissful married life after 10 months. :)

may we learn to accept our differences. may we learn to complement and compliment each other. may we learn to forgive and love unconditionally. may we learn to not sweat the small stuff, but just laugh at trivial, silly things. may we learn to correct each other in a loving manner, in a manner that does not hurt the other. may we learn to accept corrections in the hope of being a better person. may we learn to grow old gracefully with each other. may we learn the art of reading the thoughts of each other in times of danger and distress (inspiration: lily and marshall). may we learn to live and love :) so help us, God!

remnants

he was here for 5 days. five. precious. days. if that's all that we could have then i'll take it. :)

we spent a good amount of time shopping. i told him no more shopping next time he's here. sayang ang miles. we could have just strolled to cool places or talked or enjoyed silly stuff instead of doing the less glamorous art of shopping. i never enjoyed shopping :p

moments like these remind me that i somehow have a bf :p whatever. hehe.

and now he's gone. i'm used to being away, yes. but somehow, seeing little things brings back good memories. i'm not sure if it makes me happy or sad seeing them. happy because we shared good times. sad because it's just temporary.

the towel that he borrowed from me on his last day still hangs on the terrace.

his unfinished pack of calbee chips is still in the ref.

his green cross alcohol is on the table. he left it because the bottle is broken.

the bed sheets that we used are still unwashed in the hamper. in fact, i'm still using the pillow case that we used.

he didn't bring home the souvenirs that he bought for his friends. how could he if they weigh 10 million kilos? hehe

there's this little stool that he brought out on the shoe rack area because he had a hard time time tying his shoes. must be the belly :p

little things. magnificent effect on my emotions.

the goal is to see each other again on feb.

cheers to a good year, cheers to forever! *wink*