London!

London is so beautiful and fascinating and is such a charming place – hirap i-describe in words… you’ve got to see it to love it.

I wish I can freeze the moment I was in:

-St Paul’s cathedral – breathtaking interiors – when I looked up on the ceiling, I was speechless. I wish I can get married in this cathedral, so I told andy (our pseudo-tourist guide). no pics allowed inside so sa labas na lang.

-Big Ben and house of parliament – never fails to mesmerize. I couldn’t stop looking at it. I’m no architect/ engineer pero sobrang nakakabilib ang exteriors ng building – they were beautifully mounted – even the littlest of the details.

-British museum, national gallery, and national history museum – every museum has something in store for one – I thought after hopping into the second or third museum, I’d get tired of looking but I was wrong. Since no pics were allowed in the national gallery, I had to stop and freeze them in my memory. Hmmm goodluck if it works. I especially liked Van Gogh’s….

-les miz! Theatre/ plays especially west end is a must in London and Im so happy ha, agreed to join me on Friday night. Wow. Such wonderful voices, intense drama and amazing theatrical setting…

Anyways, my London trip will never be this special if not without ha, my partner in crime, andy, vince and carrie, whose company I enjoyed so much coz save for andy, first time namin lahat to go there. My office colleagues certainly were warm so that made life easier, especially during the ‘less exciting’ times hehehe.

I won’t forget the tube – how easy and convenient it was to go around with it. But I will forever be shocked by how expensive everything is – a tube ticket was 5.9GBP or about 500 pesos. I will always be terrified with their huge ala carte servings but will always be awed by how they walk all day and never get tired. Wish I had the appetite for both hahaha!

Ultimately, I wish I was with family or friends or jo to share this with. Happiness talaga is meant to be shared…multiplied more precisely! J

Perfect eco-adventure!

negros oriental is definitely a perfect eco-adventure!

Admittedly, di lang si toni ang may hangover, me too! Hahah!
thanks talaga to sands for helping arrange our itinerary – sobra kami helpless without her. And kahit sobrang busy sya, she found time to help us and had dinner with us while we were there.

and super thankful din kami kay LORD for giving us such a WONDERFUL WEATHER all throughout our three days there! and for keeping us healthy and in tip top shape (may slight tummy probs lang si ferdie but nevertheless he got by and was up for kayaking again the next day hehe)

Our first dinner at hayahay, Saturday, Aug 16:

See the space in the table, nothing left! Coz dami inorder ni sands for us. For those visiting Dumaguete, this resto bar offers the best of Dumaguete, ang sasarap ng seafood dishes nila and they have pizza too! J

This one in the pic, lasted for less than 5 minutes hehehe.

Kami ni j ang advanced party, we got there at 830 in the morning

And here, the rest of the gang,

But wait where’s mike and ferdie? At that time this pic was taken, they were bound for cebu coz naiwan sila ng dmgte plane – so they went to another route and was gonna arrive in dmgte the next day na.

Day 2:

Dolphin watching in Bais and swimming at sandbar

I can’t believe that we’ll be swarmed with dolphins! And dami nila and they were so beautiful!!!! J to see them out in the wild, with no human intervention, just playing with you and jumping in the waters, overwhelming! Then they will come chasing your boat, ang galling. nothing like this kind of experience!

And sandbar in campuyo, what a lovely place, see the nipa huts and the clear waters, reminded me of IL MARE….

Day 3:

Apo island - dive and snorkel

Enchanting pa rin sya as always – Apo is one of the best diving destinations in the world and is known for its marine reserve and fish sanctuary.

Am so happy for my friends who finally experienced diving – thanks to sands again and the ever patient and very nice DMs for making it happen J

After lunch at the resort, we went snorkeling and as earlier warned by joel, ang daming coral garden and reefs and variety of fishes. Toni was lucky to spot schools of jacks (ehem hehe)!

Day 4:

Trek and Kayak Fun at twin lakes in balinsasayao

First time for most of us to ride a kayak pero ayun... competitive pa rin! Haha!

One kayak accommodated two while the other one could carry three – since there were 6 of us, may isa na sa bangka na lang muna with ‘kuya’ – and ako yun but coming back after seeing the other ‘lake’, toni volunteered.

Ang ganda ng lakes and view ng mountains and such crisp, cool air was so refreshing – wish lang namin, maibaon sya sa manila.

negros oriental adventure!

our dumaguete/ negros oriental adventure was exhiliratingly fun! lahat kami may hangover pa. may isa, named toni, who can't get enough of it and spent the wholeday yesterday sorting/ looking at the pics we took! hahaha! speaking of pics, to follow!!!!:)

travel agent

am a pseudo travel agent these days. and i feel challenged doing it haha. we are going to dumaguete three weeks from now and with 8 of us going, ang saya :)

i am drawing up the itinerary with sands' help (the real travel agent) and it becomes complicated coz one of us is leaving on the 2nd day. the other one on the 3rd day. while the rest of us will stay until the 4th day. there are many things that we can do so that leaves us with lots of options but with little time. gustong gusto ko ung dolphin watching and sandbar at bais coz i havent been there. tapos meron din siquijor, which is a intriguing, captivating little island, heard from friends, from the net. and of course, the cant-be-missed apo island, hmm sino kaya magiintro dive this time. and then finally, the trek to balinsasayao twin lakes.

hayy bahala na. basta ang importante walang kj sa group hehe.

jo made me do this! :)

Who was your last call about?

My J, tracking, este asking his whereabouts

Is there a member of the opposite gender on your mind?

Hmm..none

What do you wish you were good at?

Sports, any!

Have you told anybody you loved them today?

Yup

What mood are you in?

Relieved, its weekend!

Do you miss anyone?

Jenny, my pamangkin

Are you growing apart from someone close?

Ex-officemate and dear friend - I think, and for a reason I don’t understand

What are you listening to right now?

Hangin sa labas

Where was your default pic taken?

Rizal - at a company retreat

Have you ever liked anyone on your top friends in friendster?

Top friends? Dint know it existed

Do you have a facebook?

Yup, nakikiuso lang

Do you do drugs?

my highschool friends keep joking about it and to this day, di pa ngkakatotoo hehe

Is there anybody you wish you could kill?

Not to that extent

When is the last time you cried?

Almost did – last Thursday, during my appraisal with my boss

What is your favorite sport?

Swimming, not that im good at…

Who is the last person you held hands with?

My j

How much are you on the phone daily?

Not that much

Are you in a good mood?

Yup but a bit restless

Have you ever been in love?

YES!

Do you love your life?

Absolutely!

Where did you get the shirt you're wearing?

ensembles

What kind of phone do you have?

Nokia 6070 and erickson

Was your last kiss sober?

I think so..hehe

Who do you trust the most?

My eldest sister, j

Sometimes, do you wish you were someone else?

Yup!

Did you kiss or hug anyone today?

Yup

Who made you laugh last?

J, coz he’s wearing a brand new pair of sunglass and hindi sya bagay! Haha!

What were you doing at 1 AM?

Answering this survey – this is not me! Nachallenge ako kay jo hehe

What is your background on your phone?

Jenny may pamangkin on both phones!

Would you date anyone on your myspace friends list?

I don’t have myspace

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Travel with my family!

Who were you with last night?

My officemates

What's outside your window?

View from my window? Tennis court ng condo and residential area somewhere in mkti

What will u do this coming weekend?

Work L

Have you ever taken a nap with a member of the opposite sex?

Yup yup

A fact about the person you love?

Chubby na, makapal pa ang kilay

What happened at 10:00am today?

I was talking to the lady at the bank to get a bank cert

What do you want in your life right now?

Vacation from work

Something you just don’t understand?

Myself and why I cant leave TNS

What is the last thing someone bought you?

Cadburry chocolates from my officemate!

Name someone whose name starts with the letter A?

Ava!

Will you ever kiss the last person you kissed again?

Of course!

Who’s the most annoying person in your neighborhood?

Yung mga tricycle driver na nakapark sa sidewalk!

What were you doing at 8:30PM last Friday night?

Working again L

Do you have a job?

yup

What is your current problem?

How to get by financially till my payday hahah!

What are you looking forward to in the next week?

Payday! J

Have you ever had your heart broken?

yup...

Have you ever done something outrageously dumb?

Yup and j knows about it

Do you regret anything that you have done?

Yup and wish I can ‘erase’ it from my life

What is something you say or do when you are mad?

I cry. I keep saying ‘stupid’ either to me or to someone I’m mad at

Is there anyone you would want to see now?

Si cel, a dear friend from UP, who just left for Australia

How old will you turn in 2009?

30….ooopps

Do you prefer call or text?

call

How many houses have you lived in?

In manila and in the province, I think about 5-6

How many city/towns have you lived in?

Naga city, quezon city, makati

What are you doing for your next birthday?

Usual – stay home, watch the fireworks with my family

What is your favorite TV show?

24! Greys, private practice, the OC, one tree hill

Last picture you took?

Jenny, using my celfone

Who are the funniest people you know?

J, myls, chai, tin, diwa, adys

What is the main ringtone on your phone?

I forgot the title, pambata

Are you mad about anything?

Deadlines at work – endless kase…

How old do you look?

With my new hair – I hope 5 years younger hahah

Who has your heart at this moment?

J of course

Are you waiting for something?

My trip to London!

Can you handle the truth?

Yes!

Have you ever read an entire book in one day?

Yes! A Sydney Sheldon book and Mitch Albom book

What's the longest you've stayed awake?

Almost a day..

Have you ever thought about converting your religion?

Not at all..

What's most stressing right now?

Work!

Do you own a computer?

Nope

What are you going to do after this?

Surf some more and then try to sleep..

ayan jo, i did it! didn't know it was that long, when i was reading yours, i enjoyed it, it felt short and bitin pa nga hahah!

kayo naman... :)

waiting for 4am

yes am still up coz am waiting for 4am

am going home again and seeing my family!!! :) kaya pardon my excitement. eto, am tinkering with my laptop and all i can find are very recent photos --- my TNS family

at pancake haus, lunch treat ng boss namin but who's not here in the photo unfortunately.

now these two girls up close, are my children...in TNS

they're my companions, my friends, my family back at work..

lets see each other on tuesday..hahhayyy wouldnt get by at work without these people.

Addicted

…to massage

I find myself and j getting massage every week…with or without any special occasion.

And no matter how broke we are on some weekends, we still squeeze it into the budget – unlike any other things that I spend on, this one I find myself not feeling guilty afterwards hahaJ

Ansarap kase. My housemate influenced me on this – ayun ginawa na naming weekend destination ung spa place at the ground level of my place.

The fee is reasonable, their place is neat and simple and the service is great. Now they’re having this promo, 12-hour massage at only 2.5K.

tempting….:)

Life’s never boring…

Life’s never boring…

Heard from friends recently

“Am 30 am not getting any younger, I need to hear something concrete…”

“Ihanap nyo ako ng blind date..am ready..i want to move on..end this crap”

“Kaya go ako sa singapore para mgka proper closure…Perfection is boring”

“Bilib ako kay j, masyadong secured sya sa kanyang buhay, ganyan dapat lahat ng guys”

its july... and the 2nd half of the year...

its july already and i realized i havent posted for months. its like rollercoaster at work.at times i feel like am on top of the world, other times i feel like am six feet under. nevertheless, its easy to get through it - i am lucky to be with a company that believes in looking after each other :) and at the risk of being mushy, ung daily comfort from family and j, does help a lot.

anyways, since july na rin naman, let me welcome myself and everyone to the second half of the year.. we still have time to make it ' THE YEAR' that we've always ASPIRED for.meron pang time.. guys! :)

for july celebs, like juls, its just the start of the year so have a wonderful, exciting beginning juls! happy burppday!

time with family just wheeze by so fast..

Two things that I have been so looking forward to this year has just passed by.

1^st my graduation. Second my family’s trip to Manila.

They just wheezed by so fast but I’m so happy coz they all went so smoothly and much more exciting than expected and thankfully, nothing bad or unsafe happened.

Jenny, my pamangkin who is now 4 years old, not as chubby as she used to be and now smarter and a bit stubborn already was so thrilled being here.

When she got to my room, she can’t stop looking at the windows – kita nya kase lights ng city and she was looking at all the houses, the roads and the buildings down below.

And then when we visited a lot of the malls, mall of asia, glorietta, megamall – she stopped at every worlds of fun/ timezone space na makikita nya. And if you don’t let her play, ayun tantrums to the max sya. So we give in everytime.

Okay lang, she won’t be a child that looonggg.

And then my graduation last Saturday.gusto pala ni jenny, andun din sya. She was excited to see my toga coz she had one when she recently graduated from nursery. So my sister (her mom) had to explain to her that no kids are allowed during the rites. She was swayed naman and at dinner at fort boni, she and my little cousins were running and playing all night at the open space there – the place is really for kids. May garden, may big havaiana slippers, may ice na nakatayo with the letters ‘remember’ and there were lots of fountains – different kinds! Even us, the not so kids anymore had so much fun!

Now when we got to krispy kreme, the red lights were on, which means free donuts! So I asked my cousins and jenny, my mom, my sister, my aunt to get in line and get one. Ayun, jenny went there thrice, together with my cousin! Even overtaking the long line of people! Haha! J

And then on Sunday morning, we drove to tagaytay and had lunch at josephines, bulalo+crisp and cool air = winner!

We went to picnic grove after where my cousins and jenny spent all day, running, strolling and even riding a horse! We were back in manila by 5pm and after resting a little, we headed to amici, an Italian restaurant right inside of Don Bosco – the kids were pizza addicts to we finished 2 pans in minutes..

Wala pa pics coz my camera is with my sister. In the meantime – I just reminisce the sweet memories from time to time – when you’re with your family, time indeed pass by so fast! Ang saya pero nakakahomesick..

weekends!

the long weekend has just passed and guess what i've been doing? dvds. tv series marathon. imagine chips.lazy afternoons.quick fastfood meals.ganun ka-boring. j went home to bicol and i was left here, both scrambling for some deadlines at work and ultimately, just watching dvds.

now four of my close high school friends are in bangkok, on a trip abroad for the first time. i imagine them having such a blast! i couldnt join for two reasons, money + practicality or pareho lang ba yun? hehe. anyway, their pics just tells all - and i've only seen 4! so am sure maiinggit ako when i see some more of them.:) but im really excited they finally pushed through.

as for my lazy weekends, that includes, just this weekend hahah! all that j and i did was to again buy dvds. but this time, i enjoyed it. we had 3 oscar winning films in line - and we watched them in between desserts and tea and chips. there was michael clayton starring george clooney, juno with ellen page and atonement by keira nightley. of the 3, michael clayton was the best! :) i wouldn't preempt anything here so go and enjoy the rest of the 2.:)

but the weekends, lazy or lazy (hehe) they speed things up. march na!!! cant believe it. well happy travelling to us all - whether it's just off to the office or school or off to another country.

2008 rocks!

ang saya ng 2008. start pa lang, ang dami ng magagandang nangyayari and people have a lot of things to look forward to including those close to my heart.my highschool friends -- 4 of them are embarking on their first trip abroad! ang saya! unfortunately i cannot join. both by circumstance and by choice. hehe.and not just that, my friend from dubai is joining them and they're staying with another friend who's based in bangkok. how exciting can that be? :)

now another BIGnews. si hideandseek has a new 'sweet beginning' with a german guy, who we met last CHristmas and who impressed our friend's parents, the friends and everyone else haha!

hayyy ano pa kayang masasayang mangyayari?:) Cant wait..:)

MCDO breakfast

This is not MCDO anywhere abroad but right infront of our office…

testing js new fone and kopiroti

Bago ang fone ni j and meron pang carl seizz na nalalaman ung camera ng fone nya.i don’t know exactly what that means pero sabi nung salesguy, okay daw yun

Matest nga..

hmmm...the face that delayed a thousand ships

pasali nga.. thats somewhere at food choices where the lights were a bit hazy but then turned out okay pa rin

and at kopiroti in columns ayala avenue..

still at kopiroti.. sarap ng bun nila and the french toast dipped in eggs.

no wonder, last christmas, we kept coming back to kopiroti (shoelaces friends and myself) and we ate like its our first meal of the day. sabi ni fortywinks, how come sosyal tingnan ung iba while having their cup of cofi and their roti, pero when it comes to us, para kaming starved haha!

the power of change

I'm a firm believer in the power of change. But there's one thing I've learned. And that that the hardest part of moving forward, is not looking back. ---Sally, "Felicity"

This line came to mind when my officemate told me she was going to resign. It was both heartbreaking and confusing to hear her talk about her decision to leave. nevertheless, i shared to her this quote and it struck her. these brave things we do. these changes we do. when was the last time i had to 'change' something? it was a long time ago and indeed the change has brought something immensely powerful. changes.

three's a crowd?

Minsan, minsan lang kami magkita ng ex-tns friends ko and hence, these pics…

Buti na lang cofi bean didn’t make us pay for claiming their space for 2 hours. Haha!

The guy on the left is ngsb, if you know what I mean kaya the whole time we were bugging him, bading ka ba? Di naman daw, di pa daw sya ready. The girl in the middle has been ‘s’ for a long time, and she was bugging the guy on the left, how can she attract boys.

Ewan ko ba, but maybe they should consider looking at each other, baka pwde naman, maging sila. well no objections allowed please J

goodbye 2007and welcome 2008!

sabi ko i want my first blog entry to be this one, but of course what can be a better year-opener but the event that me and my friends loook forward to the most.Meri kidsmas! wow 2007 has just passed by just like that, ang bilis. so much has happened. and i thank GOD for every part of it. good and bad. and i certainly look forward to 2008. i'd like to do new things but which i will only bravely tell j, coz mahirap ng masumbatan if they don't materialize haha!:)

but i am soooo excited for 2008. thanks and goodbye 2007. happy 2008 and happy new life to all of us!!!! :)

MK 10th was a success!

My friends and I pulled it off together with BIG help from our families, our friends, our officemates, our friends’ friends….

So many people helped and which made the event even more meaningful

Look at our youngest philanthropist

Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts….