wearing color!

I've had one of the most relaxing weekends since...I can't even remember! I didn't do anything for work (on purpose). Although my boss wants me to work on something, I decided that I don't really want to be stressed and I could just work on whatever that is early Monday morning.

I went shopping, haha! I bought a cool shirt from Zara. And I also bought a nice pair of flats from Celine. I noticed I don't really have sandals, which is weird. So that means I go out wearing my trusty ol' Havaianas 80% of the time. This doesn't include workdays, of course. My boss would kill me if she saw me wearing slippers at the office. And yeah, that's not really appropriate.

Shirt: Zara
Dark gray leggings: heehee from Landmark!
Flats: Celine

I got my nails done :) I wanted to use a polish that had a nice, summery color :)

random post

Here I go again with another post on my random blurbs. It's been a while, though, so yeah...Sorry, The previous sentence didn't make any sense at all. It's just that a lot of things are going on right now, and I've been thinking about a few stuff and truthfully I need to just let these out to keep my sanity. Okay, here it goes...

- To you...whatever will happen, will happen. I don't think I would really want to care anymore since obviously you don't. Will it forever be one-sided? Our supposed "friendship", I mean? Ugh. It's so annoying that you think you're aaaall that. Ummm..NO. Puhleeaaase. I'm tired of trying to understand you and being patient with your..whatever. I'm just sick and tired already. No wonder you don't have a lot of friends. You suck at being one.

- Career-wise, I think I've finally made up my mind about what I want to happen. Going home late or at the wee hours of the morning, not sleeping, working on weekends, having a not-so-good boss--I AM TIRED OF THIS SITUATION. So...let's see...Hmmm...I have a couple of deadlines that I've set. If things don't get better by June, I'm sending out my CVs. If between June and my second anniversary at work (September) things still don't get better, I'm gonna spread my wings and bid my company adios. I cannot live like this. I mean, I love what I do don't get me wrong. It's just that work is only a part of my life, and I don't want it to take over it. I don't want to plan things out based on my work. I know my priorities. Work is a priority, but it's not my TOP priority. My top priority is God, then myself, then my family, then work. I can't continue being ruled by my work.

- I've been visiting soooo many inspiring blogs that I want to do something creative as a stress reliever. I have yet to decide what I want to do, but it has something to do with art. Like painting, or something. I'll have to figure it out soon.

- I need to go shopping. Hahaha! I want to buy a nice pair of wedges so that I can wear my recent purchase from Zara. Actually, my mom's the one who bought it but I'm still the one who's going to wear it so it's sorta "my" purchase. Hahahaha that didn't even make sense but whatever.

- Working out is something I need to do ASAP. After my Pulag climb, I realized that I should be more outdoorsy not just for the sake of being sporty. It's for my health, primarily. All that dieting won't do you any good once your weight has plateaued and what you really need to do is work out or to engage in any good physical activity. Work up a sweat even if it's just for 45 minutes a day.

- I MIGHT go back to Tagaytay next month so I can start shopping for my online store. Heehee watch out for that!

- I need to start baking again. I'm thinking of selling carrot loaves again. Yummmmy! With cream cheese icing, of course :)

- In a couple of months, we'll be electing our public officials again. I hope we all get it right this time. God save our country! We need good public servants. I just noticed...our government officials seem to have forgotten that they are PUBLIC SERVANTS, i.e. they are supposed to SERVE THE PUBLIC=PEOPLE.

- I seriously miss my friends :( I haven't seen them since Valentine's. Hopefully we'll see each other next weekend...


- I didn't wear this today, but I want to share with y'all a really nice find from my ukay trip last month with my officemates

The ring on my right hand (the white ring, not the wooden ring with crystals and the huge stone)--I got from Baguio this weekend. Heehee I got it for 50 bucks! I had my hair cut, by the way...I think Tuesday. It's hot, but I didn't want to cut it too short since I'm trying to do the long hair thaang...Just had it trimmed and of course I've gotz to have zee bangs :) Oh how I missed having bangs!!

justin or shane?

I rarely post stuff not related to what's happening in my life, travel, and fashion--but I couldn't pass this up. You see, I'm amused but at the same time bothered by Justin Bieber. If you don't know who he is, Justin Bieber's a 13 y.o (??) singer who became famous through youtube and is now the obsession of tweeners in the US. My brother told me that at a mall somewhere in the US, they had to close down for a day because Justin Bieber's fans were causing a riot. He had a mall show there, I think. Not sure. Anyway, he's like the Justin Timberlake for kids--haha!

For some reason, he reminds me of Shane from the L Word. Actually, Shane's more masculine than Justin--considering Shane's a girl! Hay I dunno about you ha...but I think Shane and Justin could be long lost siblings. Hahaha! Sorry, I'm just really amused by the fact that Justin's so young yet he sings about love and "doing anything and everything" for a girl, yada yada yada...His voice hasn't even cracked yet!!! Okay, done ranting.

You guys be the judge...

Justin and the girl from his video for his latest single "Baby"

Shane and Carmen from the L Word

Conquered Mt. Pulag!

I went on an adventure this past weekend--I was actually able to climb the 2nd highest mountain in the country, Mt. Pulag in Benguet (northern part of the Philippines). You may wonder why the heck I would want to go through a physically challenging ordeal. Why not? It's not something everyone will do or would want to do, and how many people can actually say they've actually climbed a mountain--what more the 2nd highest peak? This trek didn't only serve as an adventure for me. It gave me clarity as to what I should do in terms of my career and life in general. You see, I've been struggling with my job since the year started. Things are supposed to get better, but that's not really the case. Let's just say after my Mt. Pulag climb, I know what to do now. Hehehe you guys will find out in a couple of months what direction I'll take in terms of my career as a market researcher.

Back to Pulag! Can I just say, this weekend was the BEST weekend for me this year...so far :) I'm not really an outdoorsy person. Lately, though, I've been attracted to the idea that I could try being more active and I shouldn't be afraid trying new things--going outside my comfort zone and pushing myself to see how far I can go. The climb was far from easy, believe me. Considering we took the beginner's trail, there wasn't anything amateur about it! I wanted to cry at times and just give up. But then I realized that there's a greater purpose why I was doing the trek, so I soldiered on--and I made it! I'm glad that I went up the mountain with my cousin Diwa, who's also a godsister of mine. I love it that I get to experience such adventures with people I love and care for. It bonded us even more, given that we're already quite close.

I want to share with you all my Mt. Pulag experience through photos. Enjoy looking at these and I hope that through these pictures you'll be able to somehow experience Mt. Pulag.

Our group before we started the trek up. It rained! Good thing we were ready with our raincoats :)




An hour to go before we reached the campsite...photo-op/an excuse to rest!

At last! We've arrived at the campsite. All smiles, but you have no idea how tired we were!

Our campsite

View from our campsite


With my cousin Diwa and her friend Solo. 4 layers of clothing and we're still freezing!


I had to put my feet inside my bag because it was so cold! Considering I was in thermal wear already.

At 3 a.m before our trek up to the summit. FREEZING COLD, I TELL YOU! F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!

On top of Mt. Pulag, waiting for the sun to completely rise

My dearest cousin Diwa and I on top of Mt. Pulag

Finally, the Sun's out!

Just awesome :)

A sea of clouds

Our group on top of Mt. Pulag


Trek back to the campsite...

Resting after an hour of the trek back to the Ranger Station

Lovely view while climbing down the Mountain...

...although we were still quite high up :)

See? :)

Note: Some of the photos are from Eric Ofina who was with my group to Pulag, some are from my camera. Always site your sources :)

Pulag Preview

Hello, my dear readers! I got back from my Mt. Pulag trek early Monday morning, and am still recuperating haha! I should've prepared months before the climb. My body is aching all over. But all the pain and hardship---SO WORTH IT! I won't be able to share with you my Pulag experience now since I'm still a bit tired and I have to organize my thoughts first. Plus, I've been absent from work for two days (best 2 days ever, haha!). Seriously, there's something wrong when you feel this way about work already. Oh well...hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Anyhooo, here's a preview of what I experienced in my weekend adventure up north....

This isn't even a shot I got from the net...I took it while I was on top of Mt. Pulag--THE 2ND HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN THE PHILIPPINES!! It's 2970 meters above sea level. Can I just say I'm so proud of myself? Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be able to climb a mountain.

Watch out for my next post! I promise I'll try to share with y'all the details of my trip. Not much drama, though. We all just almost froze to death up there, hahaha! Can't wait to write my Pulag entry, but now I have to rest first.

To my dear readers--followers, frequent readers, or maybe you just stumbled upon my blog--go out and go on adventures! Don't be afraid to take risks and try something new. My Pulag trip was truly lifechanging, and I hope you get to experience an adventure so grand that you'll be able to say after "This was so worth it. I'm glad I did it."

almost burned out

Or maybe I am burned out already from work. It's 4 a.m and I still can't sleep. Well, I did just get home about an hour ago. I had dinner and a looooong conversation with two of my girlfriends from work. One of them doesn't work in our company anymore, but we were teammates and we decided to have a reunion of sorts.

I'm so stressed out with work. Seriously. I can't sleep because my mind's still racing with stuff to do. My boss is driving all of us insane. I know that the field I'm in is really a stressful one, but there are just internal issues in our office that...nevermind. I don't really want to go into the details. All I can say is that I am really stressed to the point that I lose sleep over work and I even dream about work sometimes. That's not a good thing.

I'm going on a few trips this summer--my Mt. Pulag climb this weekend, my Sagada trip this April, the Pahiyas Festival and another climb this May in Batangas. Besides the fact that I want to be a bit more outdoorsy, I want to go on trips/adventures that would take my mind away from work. If I don't go on these trips, I wouldn't be surprised that I might just explode in the office and resign. It hasn't reached that point yet, and I'm hoping it won't. I like what I do, I just don't like what's happening in our office now.

I'm....tired.

on a quiet Sunday night

...I'm just plain bored. Haha! My little cousins were here this afternoon. We had two babies in our house today--my youngest cousin Megan and of course our puppy. I am a bit tired after I spent an hour in the kitchen cooking dinner. Well, my grandmother made chicken ala king while I figured out what to do with the sukiyaki sliced beef and pork. I ended up quickly frying the strips in butter (with a bit of oil so the butter won't burn...there's a cooking tip for you hehehe), added a bit of garlic, then added just enough teriyaki sauce, plus 3 tablespoons of honey to make the sauce a thicker and a bit sweeter. I often cook like that---no recipe in mind. I just think about what would go well with whatever and hope that the results would be edible, haha! All my recipes have been quite successful, so I'm guessing my cooking isn't that bad ;)

With nothing to do and no outfit posts for today, I'll share with you what my "work" desk looks like here at home...

This is just 1/6 of my table. The rest is messy so I won't post it here :p

I got this at Powerbooks. I have a thing for cute stationery sets. To my surprise, I found this Nancy Drew card and envelope set!!!! I was so obsessed with Nancy Drew when I was a kid. I didn't read the new ones. My mom bought me the old Nancy Drew books, you know the ones that were in yellow hardbound covers? I actually completed the series. All of the books are at our house in Bukidnon. Note to self: Ask mom to bring back all my Nancy Drew books to Manila.


I attended oil painting lessons with my friend Lhas when I was 7 (and she was 9) at Angono, Rizal. Twice a week, Lhas would pick me up at my house and we'd go to Angono for 2 hours of lessons and the rest of the day playing with our art teacher. We only knew him as Lolo Badong. I never really found out his real name but my mom told me he's a famous artist. Well, a lot of famous painters here in the Philippines come from Angono. It's the art capital of the country, duh.

Heehee I signed it--See? "94' Nicole". I should get this framed.