full moon

on our first few nights in our new home, namamahay pa siguro ako. i wake up in the wee hours and find myself silaw. bakit kamo? nagulat din akong nasisilaw ako sa tirik na tirik na full moon! hahaha! sakit sa mata. malabo ba? ewan. weird siguro ako. on the third night, i took a pic of the moon... pretty small on this pic, but nakakasilaw sya sa totoong buhay! gally.

what's inside this plastic bag?

glorious tuyo! i was craving for tuyo around 3 weeks ago. the craving started after i read the story of the filipino family in US who were asked to pay an unbelievable amount as fine for cooking these stinking dried fishes.

i thought it was a bit unfair that you can't eat something that tastes this good because other people think it stinks like a rotting body. i feel sad for the family, but my cravings were terrible!

we went to LP and i bought it :p yay!

2 weeks later, the fishes hit the frying pan! but boy, was i overly paranoid! i was afraid that someone will knock any minute and ask about the stinking smell. our oil burners worked overtime to ward off the foul smell... but we should know better that the smell won't go away just like that. hehe... i bet the neighbors sniffed it and made their bratty faces.

no one complained. thank goodness. i think it will be the last time we will cook it. ako'y duwag.

tucked

kailangan talagang i-tuck ang pantalon sa sapatos? uso ba ito? hmmm...

look!

oooh, wow! east west line end station is now joo koon! :) i heard there are 2 new stations after boon lay. mapuntahan :)

paalam, smailing court!

paalam, room... at ang view ng tennis court ng astoria (kabilang condo hehe).

paalam, bathroom na may tagas sa gilid ng tub.

paalam, quasi terrace na kita rin ang tennis court ng kapitbahay.

paalam, sala at dining at chandelier na nasira ngunit pilit na ginawa ng housemates. paalam, owner!

paalam, kitchen at laundry area - wow ang liwanag!

paalam, kembangan. tapos na ang kontrata namin at ibebenta na ng owner ang unit na ito. paalam!

hello, klassic court! post to follow...

vday flowers

kuya, thanks for the flowers! mwah!

look who's here!!!

happy birthday, birthday boy!
hope you'll stay here with us.
kaso ayaw nya :( itago ko kaya passport? hehe

bata bata...

baka mahulog ka. tsktsk... pic taken inside the bus on our way to ikea. bakit kailangang ganito umupo sa isang moving bus? tsktsk...

anxious

isn't this the most anxious pair of eyes?

oranges distributed by the ceo on cny. i didn't know he was the ceo. he roamed around the work area and gave oranges to all employees. i said a slightly snob "thanks" and went back to work. hey, i was busy! sorry.

argh. i'm so lame.

skater dog and kitty

i was walking at suntec when i saw this weird scenario - a lady "walking" her dog. heads were turning at this stuffed dog on skates. i followed them so i could take photos.

ate and doggy hopped on the escalator. doggy behaving well. she was giving ads to people, probably selling the doggy product. i would never understand why i would buy this product. well, if you have it, you are different! you probably are cool. but it's just not for me :)

i miss kitty (was my pup)

i miss her playfulness

i miss the way she starts a fight with claudia (was our other dog)

i miss the way she knocks on my door so i could allow her to sleep in my room

i miss the way she struggles at the stairs

i miss the way she seems to laugh when i tickle her tummy

we lost her to leptospirosis a couple of years ago

health and wealth

dugtungan natin ang dragon dance... nagpabili ako ng pampaswerte kay
ate A at ate E nang tumungo sila sa chinatown.

here's a pampaswerte sa health and sa wealth! gogogo 2009!

dragon dance

taken last chinese new year: this dragon danced around the office.
mistulang kinain nya ako at ang mga empleyado. nawa'y magbigay swerte
ang pagkain at pagwagwag nya ng alikabok sa aming lahat.

a minute of thought - on being anxious

something is bothering me.

the tiniest beep or scratch wakes me up at night.

i hope it's nothing, but how can it be nothing?

i'm scared.

i hope i can handle it if it turns out to be that thing i fear.

addictive

* empty bag *

i have way too much junk in my system. argh.

neon eyes

hair band on my keyboard. Love those eyes!

"deeply moving"

i just finished reading "a thousand splendid suns" last night. i was asked how i found the book. i answered, "it was moving."

i looked at the cover page just now and saw the Sunday Times review: "deeply moving". i now correct myself. it IS deeply moving.

now i know what a burqa is - and what it is for. when we were in genting, we saw many women in black burqas. they were covered from head to toe and only the eyes were seen. i thought they were scary. now i know there's more to it than that shallow opinion.

i loved getting a front-row view of another culture, another country, another religion, another time. i could relate to mariam. i could relate to laila. i don't know why... i am not in their shoes and i don't think i would ever be. siguro makapagbagbag-damdamin lang talga ang storya. sniff...

chef at home

kuya and i love this show. Airs every night at 11pm over afc (of course, after watching tayong dalawa at tfc haha).


Mr. Chef doesn't only show yummy recipes, he also shares practical tips about cooking. He claims his secret recipe is cooking without a recipe :)


His baby is so adorable too! Eats everything dada cooks. I would too! Sarap siguro nya maging dada.. Hihi lagi kang busog! mama is so swerte too! hihihi. siguro maraming binibiling pampaswerte tuwing CNY!

the ring and rome

i've always wanted to have a nice ring rosary. i don't pray it everyday but i have a certain fondness for it. i remember buying one from baclaran years ago, but it faded and rusted. i also searched in silver works but they didn't sell simple ones that i thought i could fancy.

when we were in switzerland, we didn't hesitate to visit rome, italy on my last weekend there. i never thought i could see it one day, but we were there, all awed and amazed and thankful for the chance we were given... it turned out to be a sort of an unplanned pilgrimage. it was worth all the hassle we had to face with the italian consulate. hehehe.

day 1
we saw the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. we also met the filipino redemptorist priest who was there for a convention. i remembered all the wednesdays mama and i spent praying in the redemptorist church in baclaran - lighting candles and praying for the fondest desires of our hearts. Our Lady of Perpetual Help has a special spot in my memories.
next stop was the colosseum. before we went in, we saw this gladiator who invited us to pose for photographs. we all posed like crazy only to find out he would ask us for 10 euros each... he was such a pain! but we didn't want to ruin our fun time with such jerks like him.
the ruins of the colosseum. marvelous!

and the night shot outside - just after we had our good dinner.

then we headed off to the trevi fountain. they say your wish will come true when you throw your coin into the clear waters... but don't all wishing fountains claim it? hehehe no harm in trying. the fountain was a feast to the eyes. so relaxing and grand and breathtaking.

day 2
day 2 was reserved for vatican. i don't know what this ball was for, there was no caption in the courtyard of the vatican museum, but it sure was fun taking pictures "with" it.
inside the vatican museum: ceilings all adorned with paintings. it's nice in pictures but more awesome when seen with the naked eye... in fairness, 'di pumalya ang malalabo kong mata. hahaha!
we also saw the famous sistine chapel, but cameras were not allowed inside. so, no souvenir photos. i heard the reason they didn't allow cameras in certain areas of the museum was: they're trying to preserve the colors of the items there. and too much light may affect the quality of what's left of the original pieces.

next was the basilica. aaah nakakaiyak sa laki at ganda! hehe yun na lang ang nasabi. we weren't even talking with each other! just marveling and feasting on what our eyes could contain. when we learned there was an anticipated mass in latin, we didn't hesitate to attend. it was just too overwhelming even if i didn't understand a word of it. hehehe.
after the mass we met the most caring and loving creature. she is a filipina who works at the library of the vatican. she invited us to meet Msgr. Kabunga, one of the kind-hearted monsignors in the vatican. he was very gentle and he blessed us before we left. can't contain all these... must yell, "thank you, Lord!"
on our way out of the compound, comedy ito. we saw swiss guards! hahaha. our friend and companion is a swiss so we "asked" aka forced him to make friends with the swiss guards so we could take photos with them hahaha! susme, namilit lang.
the basilica at night:
this is a funny pic, instead of snow, leaves fell on cars. hahaha!
that night, something bothered me. because in the souvenir shop in the basilica, i found the ring i so desperately wanted, but i didn't buy it because i thought it was a bit expensive. they all convinced me that if i wanted it terribly, then i should go get it. i told myself: what better souvenir could i get from vatican than a ring rosary - one that i've been searching for... and i found it there. they agreed to accompany me back to the vatican the next day.

day 3
i finally bought it! wee! when we got there, the place was packed with people, all cheering and shouting for something. i asked one of the guards, "what are the people waiting for?" he answered, "look up, 2nd window from the right" and we looked: my galy it was the Pope giving his blessings to the people. so that's why they were cheering! so overwhelming talaga. grabe. nakakaiyak. it was a good thing we went back to buy the ring. we wouldn't have seen the Pope if we didn't go back.

off to the spanish steps. they say this place is adorned with a bounty of flowers during summer. but since it was winter when we got there, there were no flowers in sight. the place was just as beautiful.

this is their shopping area, similar to zurich bahnhofstrasse or singapore orchard or philippines gb5? busy, busy street. all those people shopping for goodies! i was contented just looking at them. never mind the shopping! it could be done elsewhere. hahaha!
the second to the last spot we went to was the pantheon - a temple to all the gods of the ancient rome. there is a gigantic dome and an opening at the center of it. the opening lets sunlight and rain in. there are small holes at the floor that act as drainage for rain water.

inside the pantheon:last stop was piazza navona. literally, plaza sya. :) there were clowns, tiangges, and just the usual sight of families taking time off.


haaay, the ring... i love it. :) i will keep it forever.

blurry

i'm scared. parang halos ganito na ang paningin ko sa paligid ko. getting older.

deserted

my usual way going to work is deserted on chinese new year. on a regular work day, this place is buzzing with employees going to work.