post-Ondoy, pre-Pepeng

Typhoon Ondoy has left the Philippines' area of responsibility, twas quite sunny today actually (thank God!). Am grateful that no one in my family was hurt, a few relatives' houses were affected by the floods but am just glad they're all safe. Despite these good things, my heart still goes out to those who lost their homes, family members, and livelihoods because of the typhoon. The flooding in so many areas all over Metro Manila and Northern Luzon brought serious damage. Since Saturday afternoon, I've been monitoring the news...and there are moments that I just break down in tears watching or listening to people telling their experiences. There were those who risked their lives to save their neighbors or complete strangers. A lot lost their lives doing so, but I know their demise was not purposeless. I cried when I heard an old man talking to his grandson (who was swept away by the flood in his area)--as if he was still alive and the man was telling him that lolo (grandpa) was just waiting for him. The old man was trembling and on the verge of tears. I cried when I read an article about a young construction worker who lost his life saving his neighbors. He was able to save not just his family but also 30 other people. The last two people he saved was a young mother and her 6-month old child. I cried for those who were not able to save themselves because they were helpless and alone at home--young children, old people who couldn't act quickly enough or weren't strong enough to seek the safety of their 2nd floor or their roof. I cried when I heard people crying out that their homes were lost--nothing was saved. Despite these sad stories, I cried as well for those who were just grateful that their families were still intact and safe. I shed happy tears because somehow there's hope that we will be able to surpass this. People might have lost their houses, but that's nothing compared to losing loved ones--and hearing people say that they're just glad that their loved ones are safe made me happy.

Ondoy has left, but another typhoon's arriving within the next 2 days. I hope this one isn't as strong as Ondoy. We haven't even started recovering yet.

I love this entry made by my godsister Tippy. Please do read it :)

please pray for Manila

To the rest of the world, I'd like to tell you that you guys should be thankful that you don't experience this several times every year. The flooding ALL OVER Metro Manila today (September 26, 2009) has got to be the worst one I've ever seen. Thank God that my house is in an elevated area...though we can't go out because surrounding streets and main roads are flooded.

while listening to PS I love you's soundtrack

It's 2 a.m and I'm still very much awake (no) thanks to me giving in to my caffeine craving. I'm actually not supposed to drink coffee yet because of one of the medicines I'm taking for my allergies, but I decided to give in to my craving because I need to finish something--yet again--for work. Call me crazy, but I'm desperate to stay awake and finish this report so I can temporarily be done and over with that certain client. I have a love-hate relationship with that particular client of ours...it's a balance, but there are times it tips more to the hate part.

Not going to the office isn't healthy at all. There's something wrong with you if you'd rather be at the office than at home. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the fact that I can work from home since I'm on sick leave but not being at the office sucks because I could do more. Yes, I am a workaholic. Eew.

And yeah, I'm listening to PS I love you's soundtrack just because it's the first playlist I saw in my music files. I might listen to Adele after. I could never get tired of Adele :)

Again, every paragraph in this entry are not connected to each other. Hahahaha! I do have the tendency to just write whatever I'm thinking at the moment...which means I'm thinking about a lot of things. Or maybe this is just the caffeine?

About my previous entry....yeah, I changed my mind I won't try to explain it. I think it pretty much speaks for itself. Ugh. It's so frustrating to not be able to express through words how you feel. Yes, actions do speak louder than words--as cliche as that sounds--but it's also different when you're able to say how you feel. God knows how many times I want to say it...everyday, actually. I want to say it everyday. I'm really not sure if it's the right thing to do--to say it. It isn't wrong because the honest-to-goodness truth is that's what I really feel...but I'm not sure if the time is right. Okay I just ended up explaining. Great.


Ooookay on a lighter note, I wish I had a decent camera to be able to take outfit shots. And yeah, I wish I finally had the time to take out my holga and smena. Yes, I told you each paragraph is in no way connected to each other.

should it even be said out loud?

IDK

but....

aaaaaaargh this is so hard.

I want to. I really, really, really do.

Ilocos, when will I ever visit you again? part1

It's been 3 weeks since my Ilocos trip with my mom and grandmother. I know I was supposed to blog about it right away, but I didn't have the luxury of time to do so with work and all. Anyway, what can I say about that trip? It was great! It was the first time my mom, grandmother, and I went to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. I was really looking forward to going on this trip because my mom and I wanted to take my grandmother out so she could just get away from the city even if it was just for 3 days. She's been holing herself here at home, which is so unlike her--but understandable. Also, I needed to get away from work. A few of my friends know how much time I've been spending at the office I should practically pay rent already.

Our trip was from August 29 to the 31st. We woke up quite early since our flight to Laoag City (Ilocos Norte) was at 10 a.m. and we had to be at the airport at least 2 hours before to be able to get decent seats. The flight was okay, the landing wasn't. Hahahahaha! Anyway, I really felt like I was at Ilocos when we got out of the plane. The airport was made of bricks...had that old Spanish feel to it. And yeah, it was sunny. We were afraid that it was also raining at Ilocos since it was (and still is) raining a lot in Manila.


I had all the arrangements for the trip done, so we had someone pick us up at the airport and bring us to our hotel. It wasn't really a hotel...more of a tourist's inn. La Elliana isn't that fancy, but if you just need a place to sleep and take a bath in, then it'll do.


What's great about La Elliana is that directly across it is La Preciosa Cafe! So right after we settled in our room, we had lunch at La Preciosa. The food's soooo good! I fell in love with their pinakbet! Actually, my mom and lola were also raving about it. I think that's why for the entire 3 days we were at Ilocos we ALWAYS ate pinakbet--I'm serious!



After lunch we visited the Museo Ilocos Norte and Sinking Bell Tower (which sinks a quarter of an inch every year). We were supposed to ride a kalesa around the city but I really wasn't in the mood for it so I had to persuade my mom and grandmother that we should just ride a trike. We ended up taking a kalesa back to the hotel. Hahahahahaha!

Museo Ilocos Norte

The interesting artwork that greeted us when we entered the doorway

Very nice installation :)

Inside a typical colonial (Spanish occupation) Ilocano house

My mom with a traditional weaving loom to make cloth
I think this is how they traditionally dry tobacco leaves before they roll them to make cigars :)
A kalesa
I think this is the municipal hall of Laoag City..not sure though :)
The Sinking Bell Tower..not a good shot of it, though :p
View from our kalesa ride back to the hotel

After our mini-adventure after lunch, we opted to just rest in our hotel room before heading out for dinner. We saw Saramsam, a local restaurant, on our way back to the hotel that afternoon so we decided to try it out there. I loved the interiors of Saramsam, the servers were very nice and accommodating--even explaining to us every dish we ordered and the background of the restaurant. Again, we just had to have pinakbet.

Lovely interiors

Pinakbet (again)
Yes, those are chili peppers...BUT, they're not spicy at all! Quite expensive here in Manila...that's why I had my fill while I was at Ilocos :p
Basil Iced Tea :)

Our yummy dessert (though we couldn't finish it anymore because we were sooo full already!)

More interior shots..

My mom, grandmother, and I--3 generations of Ortega ladies :)

After dinner, my mom and grandmother decided to just rest already since we had a whole-day tour scheduled the following day. I, on the other hand, decided to get some coffee and a bit of me-time at La Preciosa. I was able to try their carrot cake (which is sooo good, by the way...it can rival mine! Hahaha!). I also had a latte (you can't imagine how happy I was when I saw that they had an espresso machine!). I basically just stayed there for a couple of hours and enjoyed being alone and doing nothing--not thinking about work. I was also able to talk to the owner of La Preciosa, Pam Aragoza. The restaurant was her mom's and was passed on to Ate Pam. She's such a very friendly lady, and we were actually able to talk about a lot of things other than La Preciosa! I'm blessed that everytime I visit a restaurant, the owners are so nice. I definitely recommend La Preciosa to anyone who plans to go to Ilocos. And when my friends and I do manage to go up North, I'll bring them to La Preciosa because I'm sure they'll also love the food and ambiance of the place.

La Preciosa's carrot cake

La Preciosa's interiors

Of course I had to get my picture taken with Pam :)

Whew! That was quite a long entry...and my next Ilocos entries will be longer! Hahahaha! This was just day 1, people :)

going gaga over boots

-Ber months are here!!! Now's the time to show off your boots/booties! I've been drooling over these pair of boots from Zara. I want to buy them already but I'm battling with myself if I should wait until they go on sale or if I should buy them now. The price isn't that bad. 2k for a pair of Zara boots?? That's a steal already!

photo from: zara.com's lookbook

Christmas is less than a hundred days away!!! Which reminds me...gifts for my godchildren. Hahahaha! Will splurge a bit more for my family, and with a new baby cousin by that time I'm sure I'll be buying lots of baby clothes and toys. My aunt's having another girl--her 4th actually. Too bad for my uncle...he'll be having lots of sleepless nights. Can you imagine have 4 teenage girls? It's worrying enough to have one girl, what more to have four! What's weird about this is that by the time my cousins are in their teens, I'd be more of a parent than a cousin. Hahaha! I'll be pre-menopausal already by the time they're in high school. Oh my.

Anyway, I know it's just September but I want to put up the Christmas tree already. I dunno...I just want our house to have a bit more of a festive feel to it. Ever since my grandfather died, it's been quite somber here. I've been having my friends come over more so that I wouldn't have to leave the house so often. Plus, having people around adds more life to the place :)

A random thought...I watched this movie last week on TV. I forgot the title but one line really had an impact on me because it made so much sense. I mean, in relation to work.

"...It's supposed to be hard, if it weren't it wouldn't be worth it."

I know I'm supposed to blog about something else...will post another entry later when (or if) I remember what it is :)

I.am.ALIVE

I can finally post a decent entry without having to delete it or changing my mind about writing one. Hello everyone, I'm back! I have been so busy with work. I mean I literally spent nights at the office for 3 weeks straight--weekends and holidays even. What's twisted about it is that I still somehow feel fulfilled with my job despite it being so hectic and toxic at times. Though there's a lot of work to be done in terms of management and professionalism (ugh...it's so hard to have a couple of unprofessional officemates that you just want to..), the job's not that bad.

Anyway, enough about work. My mom and I went on a bit of retail therapy (yet again) this weekend. Wasn't planning on buying anything, but my mom got me something from Mango...so yay for mom! Haha!

OKAY. Was about to blab on about more stuff then my boss just told me to do a few things now so I'll continue this entry later.

Before I go, though....How was this weekend for you guys? :)

just to get this off my chest

...Happy, relieved, and grateful for restored friendships :)

...Hopeful for something....rather take my time nurturing this. Substance first.

...To you, I just hope you wouldn't stop...whatever that means :))

...Especially that night, I really did feel like I was home. Deeper than the situation being very familiar, it really did feel like I was home.

Can anyone blame me for being happy right now?