a must see




Underwater world, Sentosa Park, Singaproe

a must ride



Cable Car, an alternative ride to Sentosa

Merlion Park at Singapore

...Despite unequal ways
Together they mutate
Explore the edges of harmony
Searched for a centre;
Have changed their gods;
Kept some memory of their past
In prayer, laughter, the way
Their women dress and greet
They hold the bright, the beautiful,
Good ancestral dreams
Within new visions,
So shining, urgent,
Full of what is new.

Perhaps having dealt in things
Surfeited on them.
Their spirit yearn again for images,
Adding to the dragon, phoenix,
Garuda, naga, those horses of the sun,
This lion of the sea
This image of themselves.

excerpt from Ulysses by the Merlion)

One of the highlights of our trip was obviously staying at hangout.

And one of the really nice surprises for us, was the breakfast that they offered --- a tiny, simple but delicious buffet.



This is where we had it --- a very cozy, modern setting and with minimal designs.

The sausages and peanut butter on wheat bread were our favorites and their brewed coffee was awesome too – we would have 3-4 cups in one sitting and neither one of us would feel edgy -- we suddenly forgot all about starbucks and seattles and san francisco or ucc!

First stop: Singapore
With who: toni, a.k.a the ‘life of the party’ and very dear friend

…as if we just went back to our province on a weekend.

We flew from manila to kl and landed in kl at 730p.
Took the airport cab going to puduraya bus station where we booked tickets going to Singapore.

It’s a 6-hour drive (plus 3 hours previously on the plane), we looked forward to sleeping on the bus. At 10pm, we were on board and ready to doze off. The bus is called ‘transnational’ --- a three-seater bus with comfy seats (just what we needed) just like the lazyboy seats you find in premium buses going to bicol.

We reached Singapore at around 4am and took a cab again, costs 150 pesos (or SG$4.6) going to hang-out hotel.

This hotel has a funny story with it haha! For one week, toni and I surfed the net for a hotel that we could stay in --- cheap but neat and safe, those were our requirements. When we asked andy, our british expat officemate, his exact words at our choice hotels were ‘shabby and dodgy’ word of advice: take hangout hotel, it’s a small backpackers’ hotel, a nice leafy area, and 10 minute walk from the orchard road.

So we took his advice and true enough, hangout hotel or more clearly now its called hang-out at Emily park is indeed such a nice, nice place!





this is our room - where we zonked out



and veg out...

pagpapacute 101

happy birthday tinsky!
health and happines for you!

practicality
i've been to several ukay-ukay lately and have been really happy, ecstatic is more like it (hehe) because of great finds!!! bags, blouses, cardigans... now, when i enter malls, i find everything exorbitantly priced.
there goes the 'miss practicality' side of me, at last, i finally found you.

i wonder how long this side of me will last --- hmm, for as long as there are generous people who expend their best kept things for sale.

be vague
some people can really be mean with the words they say.

i went through my old cherished mails, and came across this:
'if you can't be kind with a person, then at least be vague'

That's what i'm trying to learn now so that someday i won't make the mistake of making a person feel the way that i'm feeling now towards someone who has been unkind to me and was so clear about it.

i am happy for stirofechoes and hideandseek. they're just so brave.
can i ever do the same and take a chance ?

a lot of things have happened between me and this person --> she was my mentor, a leader i look up to. If there was one person who respected her the most, since the start and till now, that was no other than me. But if there was one person who would be most 'unable' to say face her now, that was also me.

perhaps, one day when time has healed the wounds (cliche but true), i would go see her and we would talk about how things are going with us --- and hopefully just laugh over what happened years back.

the only thing i'm certain of right now is that, as Toni (one of my few dearest friends at work) would say, He has a reason for making things happen as they did. and in due time we will know that reason as well.

feeling high when feeling low
everytime i'm feeling low, i just give my niece, jenny a call, hear whatever she can say, some i wouldn't understand and some i fortunately would. and there, im feeling high again. see ya soon!

i was at this bazaar last week and i bought this oshkosh pink dress for jenny,my niece who i adore so much. the lady had to ask me twice, "are you sure its for a two-year old girl?"
"yes"
"because that size is for a 5-year old"

so the next day, i was at my fone with my sister (jenny's mom) and i begged her to put my niece on diet, the pink dress might not fit her. Please?

lately, life at work has been so emotionally draining, people around me are feeling TOO low and i get to hear their stories --- some asked for and some just given. i sometimes wish i can shut out my senses for just a few hours. then, i can feel myself back in shape.

i wonder how advice columnists do it --- people unburden their problems to them and carry them along with their own problems. is there a limit to how much problems we can carry ourselves?

Best combo

At 230am, we were at mcdo feasting on fries and mcflurry – best combo the world has just like the four of us here who waited for the celebrant (plus 3 tag-alongs a.k.a bf) till wee hours of the morning.
happy bday atty chai!



How does it feel to be 26 and a budding lawyer?:)

Together with my friends, we paid our last respects to Raul Roco – up to his very last moment, he was most private, devoid of glamour – no media men and the likes. For some reason or another, a part of my hope for this country died..

the first in my circle of friends just tied the knot at the time of this shoot.
who's next, ladies!?!

betting on priorities
Some priorities need to be prioritized…
like, if the priorities that we’re talking about are time and space –
is there anything worth prioritizing than this?
I say, we ask hideandseek! Haha! peace my friend!
Just happy that I won the bet, almost!

As of this time...
fortywinks is out diving with the masters,
she wants to follow my footsteps.
heartonsleeve is on abscbn - tv.
twisterfries is in boracay.
winespirits is in binondo having lunch.
it is mother's day and some people have greeted me
(in anticipation for the quite distant future haha)
i greeted my mama, while i'm here in the office --- working before monday.
in self-pity, i asked my d if i can go out with a friend later and
with an understanding heart, he says yes.
thank you for making life a little easier for me.

inggit ako sa friend ko.

Why are some people hired for work to have fun!?!
palawan, you should definitely await for my coming too,
if not this year, then maybe next...

Bangkok, April 2005

Meritus Suites, Bangkok

Moi, by the porch