it's been a while

it's been a while since my last post. i've been really lazy. work has been crazy and will be crazy for the next couple of weeks.

it's been a while since i last saw mom. i miss her. but hey! wawin's here! he finally decided to look for a job here. it's been a while too, but there's no rush. :) the perfect time will come.

it's been a while since i last played monkey bars (or baras sa pagkakaalam ko simula bata). it's been a while because the last time i tried was kindergarten. i was good at it! and all the while i thought i'm still good at it. last saturday, i tried it again. i was able to go forward by one bar! :( i'm old!

it's been a while since i last held and played the guitar. i'm not good at it. i've never been. hehe. but i learned to play the intro of "the best i've ever had" by vertical horizon. hehe.

it's been a while since i last jogged. had a good jog last saturday at east coast with wawin. nice one :)

it's been a while since i last played on a swing! and i had a grand time last saturday! woohoo!

red toes

yay! red toes! i never thought i'll ever wear my toes red. metallic red even! april invited me to try a pedicure/foot spa. i was supposed to have tan or something less obvious because i don't usually color my toenails. i think this is just my 2nd pedicure and the first was something very discreet. kuya said, "try something that will give your toes attitude!" wow kuya kelan ka pa naging concerned sa attitude na inaalay ko sa mundo? hahaha!

ok fine, try something new na lang :) so red it is! i actually like it. medyo maikli nga lang ang kuko ko. haha pero nakakaaliw syang pagmasdan. parang tumitingin ako sa christmas tree. ano raw?

the foot spa was very good. i enjoyed it! maka-avail ng package hehehe. enjoy! next time, parang ok din ang dark purple. o dava! attitude kung attitude! bwahahaha!

all you need is...

i found another yummy love! this is gardenia banana walnut bread.

at the bottom of the pic, there's this heart-shaped banana. or walnut. whatever. it's yummy :)

happiness is...

devouring on mom's favorite breakfast!

minana ko sa kanya ang pagkahilig sa nilagang itlog sa agahan, sawsaw toyo! yum.

ang dali naman naming paligayahin. hehe! 

awww, i miss mami. kung sinong maunang magising, syang maglalaga ng itlog! hahaha!

ang sabi nya...

"do you have to mightily wave the banner of your so-called perfect life just to make me feel i am living in a miserable slum?"

sometimes

- it doesn't feel so right -

- i feel there will never be a hundred percent -

- it just seems to be a hundred percent, but it isn't and it will never be that -

- there is a thought that the tip of the pyramid is just an illusion and it does not actually exist -

- i run (britney) -

- not sometimes, but always, i yearn to be a good girl (so help me God) -

happiness is...

walking leisurely on my way home...

while reading a good, addictive book :)

this is a 15-minute walk/read i'm talking about :)

and this is undomestic goddess by sophie kinsella i'm talking about.

it's a good read. thanks to april for lending the book.

(however, hmm, i don't like it when i step on something i'm not supposed to step on. hehehe. i stepped on something that looks like gum today. please, let it be gum. hehe.)

the saddest eyes i've ever seen

went to toys r us earlier today. kuya was looking for a toy for his colleague's kid. amidst the happy, bubbly, soulful faces in the stuffed toys section, this bear caught my attention. it has the saddest eyes and expression. poor bear. 

i guess i could pass as a sad, sad bear the other night and the whole day yesterday. give me a faintest hint of drama and i cry right away. i cried sadly when kris allen won. it was supposed to be a happy moment! 

feeling better now. for now, i leave dear bear in his despair. smile for me, dear bear? hard. but it's worth a try.

happiness is...

going home from work and catching the last few minutes of the warmth and gentle glare of the sun :)

found it!

wow! sinuyod ko na lahat ng tindahan dito, hindi ko nakita itong collagen elastin na ito. nagpatingin din ako kay ma nung nasa is-tates sya. 'di rin sya nakabili.

sa pilipinas ko lang pala matatagpuan! yehey! salamat kay mama sa pagbili ng 2 malaking garapon :) 

pero 'di ko pa napurbahan ang bisa nya sa mukha dahil may mga ginagamit pa akong gusto kong ubusin muna. yehey!

pagkain ng gutom

yum. tipak-tipak na kanin. tipak-tipak na menudo. cheez whiz on rice. yum.

(babala: walang tabang nakain sa hapunang ito. yum.)

comfort food, comfort beverage

comfort food

napakasarap ng cheez whiz. wee! matagal-tagal na ring panahon na hindi ako nakakain nito. nang maglunch kami sa LP nung friday, ay! may i buy talaga ako ng pinakamalaking bote :) yum. perfect sya sa gardenia bread - natry ko sa banana walnut at calfornia raisin. naiimagine kong masarap lalo sa corn bread. ay kahit saan sigurong bread masarap sya :)

comfort beverage

uso ang ubo't sipon. panong hindi e lahat ng nakapaligid sa 'yo sa bus at sa opisina e umuubo, sumisipon, dumadahak na parang wala nang bukas. walang takipan ng bibig! ayos! hay. sige hawa-hawa na tayong lahat. isama mo pa ang panahong matindi pa sa babae kung magpalit ng isip. masarap sa pakiramdam ang hot tea na may lime or calamansi. wow katamaran, delatang calamansi. hehe.

comfort. hay. sarap. ginhawa. :)

literally bottled up

i saw the poorest things in a restaurant in manila. i'm not 100% sure if these are lobsters caged in soda bottles (green bottles are sprites and clear ones are cokes hehe). i didn't find them yummy or tempting in any way :( i asked mike why they are kept this way. he said it's because they tend to eat each other so they have to be isolated from the time they were tiny babies until they reach their maturity and become ready for someone's plate.

sigh. it's a sad sight. talk about freedom. those in green bottles are even worse! imagine growing in a very secluded green world! hindi kaya magkaron sila ng deperensya sa pag-iisip? :(

naapektuhan na naman si ate. haha. i don't think i could eat them. ewan ko lang din. depende siguro sa gutom. hehe. susme e ganun talaga sila palakihin e. anong magagawa ko?

oh well. it was in that restaurant that i tried shabu shabu for the first time. dined there twice. one prior to the teeth extraction and one after. well, yung second time ata hindi na shabu shabu kundi sabaw sabaw. weeh corny. both times were superb!

all you need is...

one afternoon, i found a treasure while eating calbee chips. yummy love :)

healing

no, i wasn't knocked out by manny. this was me two weeks ago after the excruciating battle i had with, um, my 2 wisdom teeth. the lower left one started giving me pains a few weeks ago. i asked around and found out wisdom tooth extraction in singapore costs 900SGD per tooth. 900! there are so many things i could do with 900! no way will i have it done here. 

the dentist in MOA charges 10k PHP, 20k max. simple math and my heart told me to book a flight back home and have the surgery done there. furthermore, mom referred me to her dentist in sucat and the dentist estimated 4k per tooth! my my. fly home it is, with twinkling eyes and a hope of somehow going for a quick summer swim at the beach. nagbaon ako ng swimsuit :)

the day came. the dentist advised that we should extract the lower right one as well. keeping it, he said, will only cause similar problems some other time. fine. matapang ako. go for it, doc! fine. after the surgery, all energy left my system. all i wanted to do was lie down and be still forever. wow! try it... search for "wisdom tooth extraction" in youtube and see how bad it looks like.

thus the picture above. i would like to thank my mom and my brother for taking care of me during the first few days that i was incapacitated. susme saksakan ng oa. they were the best nurses, waking up to feed me with ensure chocolate drink (which sustained me for a week) and give me the meds that i had to take strictly every 6 hours. the first 24 hours was unbearable! more painful than my first extraction  a few years ago.

so i thought i could have a good summer swim?! suntok sa buwan. hahaha! wish ko lang. was lucky enough to meet a few friends - maria and college friends - during my last days in manila. i was simply not in good shape to have too much fun. 

on my way back here, the H1N1 flu hype was starting so i was a bit nervous. what if i had a slight fever due to my wounded gums? what if they stopped me and detained me? that was my negative, dark self thinking. i got back safely. safe doesn't mean well, though. my mind wandered to the darkest alleys, searching online for complications after extraction. dry socket scared me to death. it's a condition when the protective blood clot of the gum wound gets lost. in effect, your gums will heal slowly - it is a painful state! BUT only less than 10% of patients get  it :)

mind over matter works. i got the complication after all. hahaha. kakaisip ko, nagkaron ako ng dry socket. so i ended up consulting a dentist here. magaling sya. idol namin sya ni jan. he gave me a medicated mouthwash (pearlie white). i call it miracle mouthwash.

akala ko'y wala nang bukas. akala ko'y wala nang liwanag. napagtanto kong, umaarte lang pala ako. i became better eventually :) all i have now are two holes on my gums. and i realized just this lunch that i am eating normally again :) now i could say i'm healing.

music please... 

Now that we have gotten through 

One more fall

I can just admit I've got it all

Cause I do 

Cause I've got you 

We've crossed these battle lines too many times

It passes through the heart

But it never leaves a mark

Cause Your love just keeps on healing me

No matter how I bruise

If I just trust You

Your love just keeps on healing me

One more clue

One more chance that wasn't there before

In your arms

No pain can harm the way I'm feeling

Lord I know that Your love is healing

I've kicked around those lines in my head

But I've never listened to the words that You said

See where it's lead

Well I know I have it now

Cause You showed me how

And all I had to do

Was just to keep my eyes on You

Cause Your love just keeps on healing me

No matter how I bruise

If I just trust You

Your love just keeps on healing me

One more clue

One more chance that wasn't there before

In your arms

No pain can harm the way I'm feeling

Lord I know that Your love is healing

(Break)

Cause Your love just keeps on healing me

No matter how I bruise

If I just trust You

Your love just keeps on healing me

One more clue

One more chance that wasn't there before

In your arms

No pain can harm the way I'm feeling

Lord I know that Your love is healing

genius

whoever invented this screen frying pan cover is a genius. i love him! frying becomes a breeze with it. :)

tilansik is a pain. with this mesh cover, you get protected from the hellish pain of tilansik plus it doesn't "steam" the food you are frying. a regular pan cover doesn't do the trick. fried stuff becomes steamed stuff.

this one's fried fish for sarciado :) 

100 truths

1. Last beverage→ ensure chocolate drink
2. Last phone call→ mike
3. Last text message→ received and sent: mike
4. Last song you listened to→ song playing on michie's facebook video
5. Last time you cried→ dyahe... last sunday

SIX HAVE YOU EVER:
1. Dated someone twice → yes
2. Been cheated on? → yes
3. Kissed someone & regretted it? → no
4. Lost someone special?→ yes
5. Been depressed?→ yes
6. Been drunk and threw up? → yes.

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
1. white
2. pink
3. red
4. hmm, blue

HAVE YOU:
1. Made new friends → yes
2. Fallen out of love → yes
3. Laughed until you cried → madalas
4. Met someone who changed you → everybody i meet changes me
5. Found out who your true friends were → yes
6. Found out someone was talking about you → yes
7. Kissed anyone on your friend's list -> yes
8. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life → mukang lahat naman
9. How many kids do you want to have→ 3
10. Do you have any pets → na-dead na silang lahat
11. Do you want to change your name→ no. i just don't like it that much if people pronounce it like "katerin" yung matigas ba.
12. What did you do for your last birthday → aaah! enjoyed a surprise birthday party in our zurich apartment :)
13. What time did you wake up today → 1am, 3am, 7am to drink meds
14. What were you doing at midnight last night? --> sleeping
15. Name something you CANNOT wait for → can't wait to heal
16. Last time you saw your father→ hmm, jan, 1999
17. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → i love every nook, highway, and spot i've been through in my life :)
18. What are you listening to right now → a tricycle passing by
19. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → yes
23. What's getting on your nerves right now? → nothing
24. Most visited web page → facebook, yahoo, blogger

1. What's your name→ catherine michelle
2. Nicknames→ caths, cat, katuting
3. Relationship Status: in a relationship
4. Zodiac sign → leo
5. Male or female or transgendered → female
6. Elementary→ st. paul college of paranaque
7. high School → st. paul college of paranaque
8. college → de la salle university manila
10. Hair color → dark brown
11. Long or short - long
16. Height → 5 feet, without osteoporosis hehe
17. Do you have a crush on someone? → hmm, parang wala ngayon
18: What do you like about yourself? → hmm, siguro yung hindi nalulugmok for a long period of time. mabilis lang tapos bangon ulit!
19. Piercings → ears lang
20. Tattoos → none, and i don't intend to have one
21. Righty or lefty → righty

FIRSTS :
22. First surgery → first - wisdom tooth some 3 years ago. my last was last sunday for wisdom teeth again!
23. First piercing → ears, was still a baby then
24. First best friends → hmm, the paranaque girls back in elementary
26. First sport you joined → volleyball
27. First pet → a dog named lucky
28. First vacation → i think it was mindoro with my mama and papa. i still remember my first memories of foamy beach water touching my feet. was fascinated back then. i think i was 4 or 5?
29. First concert - eheads at st. paul. high school days!
30. First crush → a guy named mark hehe

RIGHT NOW:
49. Eating → goodness. i haven't had a decent meal since sunday. ensure has been sustaining me. i tried lucky me beef and chow king lugaw but i am afraid something will go wrong with my stitches. hehe
50. Drinking → ehem, ensure and water
52. I'm about to → go to MOA. yes, despite swollen jaws. uso yan, boxing season
53. Listening to → electric fan hums
55. Waiting for → mama

YOUR FUTURE :
58. Want kids? - yes
59. Want to get married? → yes.
60. Careers in mind? → i want to have a business

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
68. Lips or eyes → eyes
69. Hugs or kisses → hugs
70. Shorter or taller → taller. hello, may liliit pa ba sa akin?
71. Older or Younger → older
72. Romantic or spontaneous → spontaneous
73. Nice stomach or nice arms → nice stomach
74. Sensitive or loud → sensitive
75. Hook-up or relationship → relationship
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → hesitant - would mean he is exercising his brain. hehe

HAVE YOU EVER :
78. Kissed a stranger → no, and i don't i can
79. Drank hard liquor → yes
80. Lost glasses/contacts - not yet
81. Sex on first date → no. ehem.
82. Broken someone's heart → yes yata. or kebs lang sya. hehe
83. Had your own heart broken→ yes
85. Been arrested → not yet, but i've been to a police station in zurich for some trouble during october fest. mantakin mo yun! ni hindi ako nabarangay sa pinas!
86. Turned someone down → yes
87. Cried when someone died → yes
88. Liked a friend that is a girl? → like as in... attracted? yes, uso ito nung high school e. hehe

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
89. Yourself → yes
90. Miracles → yes
91. Love at first sight → no
92. Heaven → a big yes
93. Santa Clause → i used to
95. Kiss on the first date? → 'di ko pa nagawa ito, but i think i wouldn't mind a kiss on the cheek
96. Angels → yes!

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → yes
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → no. bad yun.
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? → yes

on science and miracles

i was watching national geographic while having breakfast earlier today. they featured a plane crash some years ago and the lone survival of a flight stewardess. there was an unexplained explosion which caused the head of the plane to disintegrate and the tail to dive to death.

at the crash site, rescuers were awed to hear screams coming from the stewardess. she survived - but all the rest did not make it. then they went on to give scientific explanations on how she managed to escape death.

(i can't recall the accuracy of the following medical/scientific details, but i will give it a shot...)

• while the tail was heading down, she was pushed to the far end of the tail, together with the food cart. 
• the same food cart pinned her to her safety and acted as a seat belt. 
• at the ground, after the crash, the temperature was less than 0 deg. this, experts say, helped to reduce the brain activity and further damage to her internal systems.
• prior to the flight, she was almost not given clearance because of a slight low blood pressure. but she flew anyway. they say this also helped reduce the damage done to her systems. 
• she woke up after 2 days. she had therapies. she went back to work.

and it still comes back to God being so great to let science do its work to help her survive! there is science, yes. but i believe that there is also God behind every wonder of science.

wow. haba ng kwento ko. for me, it's a miracle. ASAT - as simple as that. :)

i have also had my share of big miracles in my life.

it was dec. 1996. it was the time when dengue was at its finest. hehe. being the mosquito magnet that i am, i got the disease. i had typhoid at the same time. my platelet count dropped to critical level and this required white blood platelet transfusion. after consuming the first bag of the blood platelet, my body reacted to the transfusion. i had convulsion and was in a coma for some 8 hours. and then i woke up.

the other dengue victims in the hospital on my floor didn't make it. :( but i did and i am forever thankful for this second life. i believe this is a miracle!

wawin is another story. he has a congenital hole on his heart. it doesn't grow, but neither does it heal. it's just at a constant size and state. his doctors are amazed why he's still alive 'til now. he appears to be healthy. he's even stronger than i am! but there is still this undeniable fact that there's a hole on his heart!

doctors say that the hole is located in a very strategic location - it missed all the vital spots... so he lives until now. it doesn't mean he is immune to danger, though. because of this hole, his lungs are working double time to compensate the limitations of the heart. and this is the greatest risk: his lungs might collapse one day because it is under pressure.

for now, we appreciate wawin's every breath and every waking hour - truly a miracle!

chimni ulit

while kuya was still looking for work, life was easy for me. he did all the laundry. i didn't have to lift one finger to sort clothes and wash them. he also prepared dinner. when i get home, all i had to do was eat. life was easy.

today is kuya's first day at work. when i got home, 3 loads of dirty clothes are waiting for me. there's no food on the table for dinner.

so am i complaining? definitely not! :) i washed the clothes, i cooked sopas for dinner. now we go back to the routine of alternate turns in washing the clothes. i go back to cooking.

welcome back to the club, kuya! 

chimni na ulit ako. hehe. tapos na ang buhay prinsesita! bwahaha!

side A, side B

side A

watched side A concert last sunday with liza and michelle. super sulit ang SGD22 namin :) galing galing pa rin nila! nakakaindak. nakakaiyak. kasi ang daming love songs. at wala kaming kayakap. hahaha!

maraming pinoy sa event. nakita ko ang HS schoolmates kong sina katrina, che, at attila. ok din naman yung band sa 1st half ng show. sa dxo sila kumakanta everyday except mondays. o diba may recall ang schedule nila sakin? hehe!

naalala ko side A ang pinanood namin ng perslab ko. kasama namin si ecel nun. pagkatapos ng grad pic taking, derecho na kami sa concert. susme medyo may mga mekup mekup pa kami haha! 

sabi ni liza, nag concert daw ang side A sa la salle nung college. at nanood daw kami. pero di ko maalala :( shumoshonda na?

i'm in the mood for download mania -- for side A songs! i love them!

side B

after the concert, derecho na sa birthday party ni epril sa bahay nya. kumpleto and klassic court peeps. kumpleto rin ang friends ni april from city bank.

masarap ang food :) parang bonding moment na rin with housemates.

lumpia ang contribution namin. kaya lang namali ang prito. hahaha naging tustadong lumpia! hindi na rin nila inihain. pero ayos naman pala, naiuwi rin namin at nakain yung iba. hahaha!

happy birthday, epril!