Random date at Aioli Cafe (Continuation)

Friday, February 29, 2008

Hehe. Trust me to procastinate again and continue with my entry two weeks after I started it, LOL! I had Ane to help me remember and do the verdicts :)

Click here to read the rest.

And CRT, I don't think this is the proper dinner place for E's...baka mabulabog ang katahimikan. LOL! Ask Papi to bring you there! :)


My eyes are killing me...

Thursday, February 28, 2008

I've been wearing contact lenses everyday for about two years now. But I noticed that for the past few weeks, I'd get really uncomfortable wearing them. It's worse when I'm outside (due to smoke and dust). At first I thought I just needed to change to a new pair (after two months of use), but it was the same even if I changed it. I have to lubricate every now and then. It's getting tiresome. Ditch O said I probably need to change my solution (but I just bought two bottles last week) or need to change the brand of my contacts altogether (I still have a pair).

Sigh.

Nagkukuripot ako ngayong sobra na akong pinapahirapan ng mata ko. Good thing, I will convoy with R later...I just might have a hard time driving.


Distracted

I am, for the longest time, generally distracted (read: since before Christmas up to present). I can't seem to focus on anything. There was one time my scrapping mojo returned (after I finished the album), but I can't consider myself productive nowadays -- scrapwise and otherwise. Time and again, I would blog about it that I am really starting to bore myself. Sigh. What triggered this feeling actually is my habit of checking the forums and reading other people's blogs (ie. drooling over their nice layouts, albums and even custom printed calendars). When I turn on Ivy, I would usually check my emails first, then my feeds afterwards, the forum/s (one of which turned me off because of one "mature" thread that's kinda inappropriate in a supposed family-oriented forum -- hey E's have you seen this one?). There is a need to change old habits.

Anyway, I was so surprised to receive an overseas call from my Hugabbub Eds, who is in SG, last night. The last time we talked was on Christmas day (when we were both stuck home LOL!). He asked me tips on wedding preps and we had a nice long chat, as if overseas calls aren't expensive, hah! Suffice it to say, I had fun talking to him as weddings (mine and others') excite me very well. I'm hoping to catch him at YM tonight so we can continue discussing his plans :) Yay!

Happy and Excited :)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I currently have this silly grin on...am smiling ear to ear. Just got off from YM with Ane and there is something we decided to do. Yayay! It's final (and reserved!) whether we attend Kat's wedding or not.

But I guess it's too early to share the details. Hihi. For the first time in years, I am actually excited to celebrate my birthday :)


Living in a farm.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

My parents always urge us to visit the farm with them, since they go every week. They would boast about the fruit bearing trees as well as some animals that they house in there (side: Mommy is so cute naming the chickens Anette, Badette, Claudette and so on, LOL!). I've been there three times and Dad said a lot has already changed. The times that I was there, sorry to say, I got bored. There's nothing else to do but just sit and chat. Even reading a good book isn't enough. The wind may be a fresh change but my concerns are mainly technologically motivated. There I said it. I am a prisoner of technology and I can't keep myself away from cable tv, mobile signal, and internet for too long, LOL! If in the future, the 'rents would invest in it, like this Florida land for sale, complete with amenities (as if I'm longing for a resort!LOL) then I'd probably stay there as long as they want. ;)

Over when it's over.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

I spent a few hours tonight chitchatting with a group of people older than me (read: peeps my parents' age) and the topic suddenly touched on the possible end of the marriage of one of the members (the husband). Apparently, the husband was thrown out of the marital home just recently. The real reason of such break-up is fairly unknown...only that everything has become ugly. Angry accusations, money taken out of the bank (by the wife) which means checks issued may bounce, kids getting confused...you get the picture. How sad. Months ago, I felt something was wrong and tonight, I realized my observations are correct.

Anyway, the group was torn between the husband and the wife, which side to take. One part said that it's the husband's fault. Another claims it's the wife's. They said that maybe, the wife wasn't taking care of the husband well. It's kinda scary for me because I don't consider myself domesticated (my loyal blog readers, and closest friends would know that by now) and I am not 100% submissive. I do not see myself bathing my husband as he sits on a shower stool (unless he's sick or whatever), nor staying mum when we do not agree on opinions. Some men expect their wives to treat them like this, according to one of the oldies. Look I love my husband and not doing the things as stated doesn't mean I love him less, right? And in case I change my habits, will that be an assurance that my husband will never ever stray?

This is actually a topic that can generate never-ending rebuttals (I actually left them still on the topic, mind you). I just brought it up tonight in this blog because the issue caused me fear. We, hubby and I, still have a lifetime to go and cases like this isn't that encouraging, is it? Sigh.

I just wish that they be able to settle their differences soon.


I am a Filipino through and through...

Friday, February 22, 2008

This is a tag from Mich, thanks sis! But then again, the "Filipino" has evolved so much through the years (as noted in the first paragraph of the tag). Some of the items listed below are already "makaluma" (it's nice to look back and re-check though :)) yet still reflects who we are. What I mean to say is, these things are the ones that truly makes us Filipinos and it's kinda sad that our culture is slowly changing and the kids nowadays are probably not aware of these things anymore. Fifteen to twenty years from now, I wish my future kids can still say 'Y' to almost all of the items below. :)

ps. I didn't change the gauge anymore, but I'm sure you'll get the drift LOL!

---------------------

Over time, the Filipino way of living has changed a lot, thanks to the influence of the western culture. The once-simple living has gone wonderfully sophisticated that it seems we have gradually lost the traits unique us Filipinos. Even so, we can’t and won’t deny the fact that rooted in our spirit and being is the pride that we are indeed Filipinos.

But how Filipino are you? Are the Filipino traits strong in you? Are you the typical Filipino? Take this simple quiz I have fabricated to determine your being Filipino. Read the items below and tell whether or not you do or exhibit them and count the items that are true to you. After evaluating all the items refer to the gauge below with your points. Remember to take seriously the frequencies (at least once, twice…) in the items; if you lack even one frequency, then don’t count the item.

Here it goes:

1. You can speak Filipino (erstwhile Tagalog). Y
2. Whenever necessary, you take the hand of an elder relative and pat the back of the palm of that hand to your forehead and say “mano po”. Y
3. You know “bayanihan” and had witnessed it personally at least once. Y, figuratively; N, literally hehehe
4. You’ve seen a bahay kubo at least once. Y
5. You’ve ridden on a jeepney at least five times. Y
6. You have separate clothes for in-house and outside use (pambahay at panglakad). Y
7. You’ve eaten adobo, dinuguan, kakanin, tuyo, dilis. Y
8. Your meal is incomplete if without rice. Y
9. You hear Sunday masses and attend Misa de Gallo with your family. Y
10. You can sing “Lupang Hinirang” very well, with no lines missed. Y
11. You don’t care donning ragged and torn clothes exclusively for use inside home. Y
12. You have bought items in a “sari-sari store” at least ten times. Y
13. You have played patintero, tumbang preso and piko during your childhood. Y
14. You can sing at least five OPM songs, and know what OPM means. Y
15. You know the Philippine presidents from the year of your birth onwards. Y
16. You have witnessed “balagtasan” at least thrice. N
17. You’ve been recounted with stories involving aswang, tikbalang, manananggal, nuno sa punso. Y
18. You’ve been read, have read or have heard Filipino legends (Ang Alamat ng…). Y
19. You’ve lived, stayed or visited Philippine places other than your city or town at least seven times. Y
20. You’ve visited local (or public) wet market at least five times. Y
21. You have heard guys trying to sing Englebert Humperdink songs on a karaoke machine. Y
22. Your main means of expressing anger is tampo. Y
23. You eat with your hands or use your fork and spoon together. Y
24. You visit home taking with you a few balikbayan boxes. Y
25. You use "po" at "opo" when talking to older people. Y
26. You don't feel comfortable calling people older than you by their first names. Y
27. You know what a "karitela" and "balut", "bagoong" are. Y
28. Instant pancit canton is a good snack. Y, but this isn't healthy.
29. You've eaten taho from the magtataho passing by in the morning. Y
30. You send money remittances regularly back home. N
31. You live with your parents until you get married. Y
32. You attended a town fiesta and has eaten at some place you didn't know. Y
33. You can text more than 30 messages a day. Y

Here’s the gauge to tell how Filipino you are:
———————————————-

22 - 24 = The Filipino blood, spirit and flame burns intensely in you. You are the typical Filipino, who takes pride of your nationality.
17 - 21 = You are proud of your being Filipino and that the traits unique to most Filipinos live in you.
13 - 16 = You are the Filipino who, even adopting strongly the cultures of other nations, still don’t forget some old ways of the Filipino life.
9 - 12 = The Filipino culture has little by little been forgotten by you. You need to at least try some of the items mentioned.
5 - 8 = The Filipino culture has substantially faded in you, or that you have not been exposed to the true, authentic traits of being a Filipino.
1 - 4 = You’re a Filipino, only that you may have not been born and raised in the Philippines and had not lived up or been accustomed to the ways of Filipino living.
0 = You’re not a Filipino.

Why I love the husband.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I've read Bebot Aggie's entries posting her reasons and thought I'd do the same. It is still February, so why not? It's not always that I do this for him anyway. :)

He's my best friend. He's my personal clown who never fails to make me laugh. He cries with me when I'm lonely and worried. He spoils me whenever he feels my whims are justifiable. He is my fountain of youth *wink*. He is my all around absorber (I wonder why he hasn't broken down, eh?!?). He helps me around the house. We have similar if not same interests. He allows me to become helpless sometimes so he can "rescue" me and be my own hero. He reminds me of my responsibilities when I become too distracted, which is always by the way. Oh! Did I say he spoils me rotten, already?

I love you Hun and thank you for being so nice to me...how about that pair of rare blue Havs papita is offering me? LOL! I can just imagine the look on the E ladies' faces once they're done reading this post, ROTFL!

Random date

Cross posting from my other blog. :)

This is a long overdue post as that normal but special night happened on 21 January. Ane took me on a date! Yay! :) We found this place over the net when someone blogged about it. Now it’s been ages since I started bugging poor Hubby to bring me somewhere nice. That night, we realized we had no one to play badminton with so off we went to this find.

Read the rest of the entry here
:) Am not done yet with the my story. I hope you'd still be interested when I find the time to continue with it. Hehe.

Winning is not everything.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Especially if you have won by seemingly cheating. A championship trophy is nothing but like engraved plaques, meaningless unless won fair and square.

On our way to Bulacan yesterday, Mom and I were talking about how my brother's basketball team is now eliminated from the tournament they joined. Now I am not gonna write the details here. I am not being sore for my brother...they did their best and his team line-up was perfect. If it weren't only us crying foul, then call me that, a loser.

Hehe. Let's leave it at that. Leaving in a few minutes to play badminton! :)

Truly Amazing

Friday, February 15, 2008

Giddy, giddy, giddy.

On Wednesday night, Ane and I were debating where we should spend the night on Thursday. Well, we usually spend it in QC but due to some logistics, we settled to stay the night at home. One problem though, since we don't have cable tv at home we won't be able to watch the Amazing Race Asia together (we would watch it usually at midnight, the first rerun). The primetime is at 9pm and Ane would still be on the road by then.

Last night was an important episode since it's the finale! I ended up watching it at 9pm here at the pizza parlor and then Ane came mid-episode.

I hate to say that the spoilers were true...that Marc and Rovilson won't win. They didn't. While watching, I was holding on to my seat the entire time. I almost thought another pair of girls would win (am not complaining anyway, the sisters Pam and Van are pretty competitive and funny too!). It was a painful loss...the RP team sucked in the last leg -- they had a mistake in going to the lighthouse plus Rov didn't know the flags (LOL, as if this writer knows her geography well hehehe). But it's still hands-down to the cutie boys because they won most of the legs and they made it quite obvious that they had soooooo much fun during the race. And they didn't fight each other the entire time. :)

I admire Adrian, who despite his handicap, was able to endure the 24 day-race. And he's got talent and he's very intelligent. I will never forget how he whipped the flags like he knows them by heart! And how 'excited' he was when he found out they were eating "balut" in the Philippine leg. Congrats to him and Collin (are they a couple? hehehe intriga).

TARA2 is so much better than the first one. I can't wait for the third season :) But first, gotta catch the Memories episode next week! Yay!



On losing weight...

Thursday, February 14, 2008

I may not be very vocal about it but it bothers me that my weight has been suffering from yo-yo syndrome since I got married. I would lose and then gain everything (or more) after a few weeks. There was even one time I asked our internist to prescribe me with the best of the diet pills she can recommend. She obviously declined (or I wouldn't be complaining here, would I?) explaining that my excess pounds can be shed by exercising and eating the right diet, and reasoning further that she doesn't consider me fat. I look in the mirror (naked, of course) and I just have to disagree. Oh I hate my big bones, really, my wide hips and fatty thighs and love handles as well! But I can't stop myself from eating too much plus the fact that I stopped going to the gym at that time.

Then comes the OB who suggested that I lose a little bit of my excess. Now she's talking! :) Her pep talk was all I needed. What better push would there be than telling me losing weight will help me conceive, eh? So I went back to the gym and really watched what I eat. And now...

I AM ONE POUND LESS THAN MY PRE-WEDDING WEIGHT (at 119lbs)!!!

Happy, happy. It has been a journey. I still need to lose about 4-6lbs to reach my ideal weight. I've been steadily losing about 2lbs a month (4lbs in January because I got sick) and I'm crossing my fingers I can keep it that way. Yay! :)

Layout Share

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

I finished two (YAY!) layouts yesterday (one I started doing two weeks ago and one from scratch). LO36 is for our Sixth Hunnyversary while the next one is my take for the Kaya Challenge 10. Visit my playground so you can leave me some love :) And remember, there will be a poll towards the end of the month, so I'll probably be needing your votes, LOL!

Digital Artist Magazine February Issue is now available! I'll say it here again: Yummy stuff! :) I posted the details and screenshots in the other blog too :)

Business Opportunity

On February 5, I went to visit my old High School in Manila through the invitation of my former Bio Teacher and Club Coordinator (I was her President). It has something to do with meeting the PAASCU panel for the school accreditation. Turned out they wanted to have a dialogue with some of the Alumnae and I went to represent the mid-90's batch. LOL, I feel old, gawd. I asked Tanya to come along coz Miss Tina said they need more volunteers, the more the merrier. I was supposed to take pictures to show you how much my school has changed but I was still feeling so sick that time that I was not able to do so. A lot has indeed changed, infrastructure-wise! There's nothing much to share about the dialogue since the parents were the ones who mostly held on the mic, hehe. But one thing's for sure, the school's essence haven't changed since we left in '95. The teachings about Ora et Labora and Social Responsibility are still there. That makes me so proud to be a Kulasa.

Anyway, the point of this entry is actually what happened after that meeting. I received a text message from Tanya the other day asking if I would like to invest in a business. I asked her if there is a feasibility study already but she replied none yet and that it was just an idea she had. A new business venture would be a nice change for me but I worried how much investment she was thinking (we are financially-shaky at the moment). Ideas started to run in my head. Would be need big cash? Would we need tools like bpm? I must be crazy to think about these things this early because Tanya said she's just thinking about a small-time business with an investment as much as Php5000 (less than $100!) only. LOL! To say that I was relieved to hear that is an understatement. Hehe. So now, we are doing some research and then we will discuss it further when we meet again on March 17 (a dinner date with Ms. Tina since we ran out of time when we visited the school). I'll breathe until then :)


12th Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

My first out of town trip for the year! Some of the E's and my two brothers trooped to Clark Field, Pampanga on February 10 (last day) to witness the take-off of very colorful hot air balloons. We also witnessed some aerobatics and parachute jumpers. We left early, as in early. I was awake by 230am (actually didn't sleep because I wanted to finish reading HP5 hehe) and then we were off by 3am.

We got to Clark just after 5am and there were already a lot of people that arrived before us. By 530am, the shootingfest began ;)



The rest of my shots are here while Ane's shots are here. I was using the Lumix while he practiced with the D40 (which has no name yet!). I haven't uploaded the "people" shots yet, hehe.

We started to get restless by 9am because it was getting hot and the time was like moving so slow. If we weren't there, I would have been still asleep by that time LOL! We decided to leave around 11am and had lunch at Teriyaki Boy in SM Clark (So CRT, don't worry, you didn't miss much on the "lafang" factor...LOL!). We thought we needed some caffeine fix but decided to just go home.

And oh! It was nice seeing BC (the blockmate who named me Kaje) and meeting some of his "cutie" friends ;)



Nothing much

Thursday, February 07, 2008

I am starting to really annoy my husband.

I am having a hard time expressing what I think and what I feel that he is getting frustrated. Poor him. Sigh. Let's just say that my EQ is at an all-time low these past few days, and that's all I can say.

I dragged myself from bed this afternoon (yep, you read it right, afternoon!) because I needed to do some Rotary stuff. Tomorrow is a regular meeting day and I can't possibly cram doing the bulletin tomorrow since I have an appointment at three pm. I was multitasking -- finding readings on market research (helping someone with something), laying out the bulletin, checking my feeds...that I finished just in time for dinner at 930pm (Hubby came to pick me up) and half of the 2nd to the last episode of TARA2. Sometimes, all I really need is to keep myself busy. Give me something to do!!!!!!!!!!!! (my "konsensiya" tells me I should really be starting on our wedding album but I have lost my mojo :( )

The weekend is almost here. There's a trip on Sunday. Maybe I should already feel excited?

p.s. I know this is one so-so entry. forgive me. told yah i'm weird.

Let's get this out of the way *wink*

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I'm still not feeling that well. But I feel I am getting there soon. Sigh, I so hate to take meds (on top of my workup meds!).

I just have to post this, which I should have done sooner than today (got it Monday morning). Pardon the shots (and the messy hair!)...



We went to Quiapo on Monday morning (too early in fact! the stores were still closed, ugh) even if I was still sick. The possible explanation that I didn't really touch it until tonight (after I pushed myself to announce it already!) is that I still feel bad (physically and emotionally). If this was a newborn child, you'd probably think I'm suffering from post-partum depression, hah! Not dwelling too much on that though. I'll rest tonight and let's see what happens tomorrow. Can't play with it yet though coz I'm probably commuting to Bulacan. And and and can you suggest a name we can lovingly call it?

There. I owe you the rest of the kwento of our Nikon D40 plus that entry on Aoili (long overdue) plus my trip today to my old high school with Tanya plus why I haven't been blogging lately (clue: I'm 'Potterized' all over again, currently in Book5).

TTFN!


Sixth Hunnyversary

Friday, February 01, 2008

Yay! It's our sixth Hunnyversary today. We didn't plan on anything, just texted each other. Corny, noh? :) We are not the romantic mushy cheesy type to begin with so that's perfectly okay with me. We celebrate our love everyday anyway. Yihee. I started a layout the other day but was not able to finish it because I got sick today. Hope to finish that soon.

Anyway, I changed my banner today since the love month also starts today :) Credits in my profile at the side bar. :P

Under the weather.

I planned to play last night. I actually went to the courts and meet my playing buddies. But I felt tired and had this dry and scratchy throat. I played three games at that was it. My third game didn't make me sweat eventhough I had a good run. We went home and I felt hot. I was able to take a quick shower and then took a tablet of Neozep to arrest whatever it was coming.

I slept and woke up with this pain in my legs and heavy head. Could it be flu? I cancelled all of my activities today and stayed home...actually stayed in bed (oh, how I wish our mattress here in QC is different, I want something that is more conducive for resting). I had a capsule of Alaxan during lunch today (no available Bioflu) and it helped a lot. Tonight, I'll take more Vitamin C (with lotsa water) and another tablet of Neozep.

Oh, I really hope tomorrow is a better day.

Awards overload :)

Yenny gave these to me :) Thanks sis! Talk about getting overloaded with awards, LOL! :P









Is this our new house?

My sister and her husband, with J tagged along of course, would once in a while check out real estate. They are actually more keen on checking out model townhouses near where they currently live. It is a nice pasttime, really. Hubby and I found one model house (we checked out two models while we there) that we would like to "copy" when we start building our own home.

The point of this entry is not about that model we wanted. :) Anyway, J is so used to come along with his parents to these nice homes, thinking that they're buying a property soon. So one weekend, my sister and her husband decided to spend the night in a hotel in downtown SJ. They got this big room and upon entering with their small luggage, giddy with excitement, J asked "Is this our new house?" So cute, eh!? He actually thought they moved out, LOL! Kids say the cutest things! :)