360 degree turn of mood...

Now, I'm happy. Hahahaha yesterday was just a blah day so don't mind my entry. Wishing everybody a Happy New Year! 2010's gonna be awesome! Cheers, everyone! :) Shoutout to my blogger friends Vera, Leah, Nina, Betz, Gab, and Tippy--Happy New Year, ladies! May you have a fun-filled, blessed year ahead. Let's rock 2010!

Oops...wait, wrong year :p hehehe

There you go! Happy 2010, everybody! :)

I ♥ you all :)

will not elaborate further..

I hate feeling this way :| Hoping the New Year will bring in good vibes...go 2010!

Post-Christmas Pre-New Year diet

Yup, I'm on diet-mode until the 30th. I don't think I can afford to pig out some more in the next few days if I still want to fit in the clothes I've been buying for the past few days. Before the year ends, I want to post my outfit for the day! Yay! Hahahaha finally.

dress shirt and vest: Azu (a small boutique in HK..I looooved it there!)
black ballet flats: Rubi from Cotton On
bag: H & M
cocktail ring: H & M
watch: my fave Fossil watch

My new fave accessory is this huge cocktail ring I bought at H & M. Isn't it nice? I absolutely love huge rings.


Anyway, I've only given 3 of my friends their Christmas gifts. I have a few more to deliver. Sosyalin, all my gifts for my friends are from H & M. I don't give out gifts that I don't think I'd like if I were to receive them, so I spent almost 2 hours in the store looking around and thinking about what's the best thing to give to each person. Yes, I'm late giving out gifts but that's just how it is this year. 2009 has been a very busy year for me, thank God. I love being busy. It keeps me sane, I think. I don't like being idle. Believe me, I get depressed when I'm not doing anything. That's what happened to me mid last year after graduation. Imagine, I was unemployed for just 3 months but I felt like such a loser already. I have nothing against people who would rather rest out a year after grad, but that's just not me.

How has December been for y'all? It's been great for me :)

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone, I'm back from Hong Kong! I arrived yesterday afternoon. I haven't really recovered from my trip yet because right after eating late lunch I went straight to the grocery to buy ingredients for Noche Buena. We all slept around 1 a.m, and I had to get up at 7 this morning to prepare the lasagna for Christmas lunch (father side). I am still uploading pictures from the HK trip on my facebook, and I think it'll take me forever haha! We took a total of 700++ pictures in 4 days. My goodness! My brother and I were very happy with the weather because we were able to take out our coats, scarves, and boots. Unfortunately, I don't have any money anymore because of all the shopping we did. Hahaha! We never really left Tsim Sha Tsui (in Kowloon) except when we went to HK Disneyland on the 22nd. We didn't even go to Macau! My mom decided we'd have more fun shopping anyway, so we postponed our Macau day trip (supposedly on the 23rd) and opted to explore Tsim Sha Tsui a bit more and do more shopping. I will share a few pictures when I'm done picking my favorites. And yes, I still have to upload the Sitio de Amor pictures so I'll get to that first.

Okay, here's one of my fave shots taken in HK...I think my brother took it.

Dress (worn inside my sweater): vintage
Long sweater: Promod
Scarf: Gift from my Ninang Ella, Tito Noel, Tippy, and Lean
Leggings: Ever-reliable SM :)
Boots: Zara
Leather bag: vintage
Men's watch: Fossil (I ♥ big watches!)
Shades: I bought it at a bazaar a couple of years ago
Picture taken at the Park Hotel lobby while we were waiting to be checked in

By the way...Merry Christmas, everyone! Spread the love not only during the holidays but all year-round :)

time to clean out my closet

Literally. I need to set aside the stuff I don't use anymore...so that I have a reason to shop for more clothes. Hahaha! I'm planning on donating my old clothes and shoes. I may not use them anymore, but I can't just throw them away. They're still in pretty good condition and I bet there are other people who badly need clothes and shoes to use. I doubt they'd need heels, though. Hmm...

Anyway, I got a bit peeved earlier. Won't go into the details...sorry! I might just end up getting even more ticked off if I say it now. If I don't forget, I'll tell you guys about it tomorrow.

Wow, two more days before my bazaar! I haven't ordered the additional shampoos and conditioners yet, oh noooo! And I haven't done the groceries for my cookies so I don't know how I'm going to manage to prepare everything in less than 2 days. Great! Wish me luck.

If you've been reading my blog long enough, you'll notice that I tend to jump from one topic to another. My entries are sometimes not cohesive at all. Haha! I tend to just ramble on about stuff simmering in my brain--my way of destressing or "decluttering" my head. Not crazy...trying to keep myself sane with my random blurbs..wait, I have a term for that...oh yeah! Brain farts. Hahaha, I know, I know...it doesn't sound nice.

I've been on vacation mode since last week, yet I still have 2 more days of work. I'm on leave starting the 21st because of my HK trip with the fam. Unfortunately, I'm coming in for work on the 28th :| I have to check a few data tables, send these to the client, then go home or go shopping (whichever comes first). I'm hoping I wouldn't need to come in on the 29th. I just want to go to the spa and relax the entire day. Or maybe I can take out my cameras...yes! That'd be the perfect way for me to spend my day--go on a photo trip! Now where should I go? Hmmm...I need to think about this first..and I'd have to buy lots of film. OH YEAH! I have to get my Pentax repaired coz there's something wrong with the shutter.

I love December! Even if it can get kinda crazy at work since clients are suddenly asking us to do loads of stuff, I love the entire vibe of the season. Lots of get togethers, parties, FOOD (hehe), shopping, a few days off from work...What I like about December is that I get to look back and evaluate how the year has been for me, and I make plans for the following year. I actually make lots of lists, like where I want to go, what I should be able to accomplish, etc...How about you? What do you like about December?

Ilocos, when will I ever visit you again? LAST PART :)

So it took me 4 months after my Ilocos trip to finally post the last installment (day 3, August 31). Am so sorry. It's now going to be a bit more difficult for me to come up with the descriptions for each photo because I'd have to try to remember the details! So I'll just be sharing with you a few of my favorite shots..I'm sorry I don't have descriptions...there are more pictures, actually...just chose the few that I really like :) Too bad I forgot to remove the timestamp :|

Sta. Monica Church

Burgos Lighthouse

Bangui Windmills

Patapat Viaduct

Pagudpud

before I go off to bed

A few random blurbs :)

- I'm excited because my mom and little brother are arriving tomorrow. Yay! It won't be that quiet and lonely here at home for the next 2 weeks :)

- Am SUPER excited for my bazaar this weekend at Greenmeadows. I have a stall with my friend Annick--she'll be selling clothes, bags, and accessories while I'm selling gift sets with organic beauty products, and cookies (cinnamon butter).

-More excited for my HK trip next week!

-I haven't done any Christmas shopping. I'm serious. So I have no idea how I'm going to manage doing that this week.

-I went grocery shopping before I went home after work to buy the household products and toiletries for my office's Christmas outreach (organized by yours truly) to CRIBS in Marikina this Friday. I bought 8000 worth of groceries. Let's all share our blessings and love to others. We don't usually realize how a simple, random act of kindness can affect someone's life.

-I miss going on photo trips...but I have yet to master using my Russian 8m Lomo :| And I miss taking out my Holga!! I want a Diana Mini for Christmas. It's 3k, and I spent my money on paying bills so..oh well.

-When will I ever post my 'outfit for the day' shots? Ugh. I hate not having a decent camera. And a full length mirror. I have a tripod without a camera. Great. Hahaha!

I'm off to lala land hoping to dream about wonderful things...

to see is a wonderful thing

Please pray for my lola (grandmother), everyone...she needs to go through a procedure tomorrow because a blood vessel in her left eye erupted so she can't see using that eye anymore :( My lola's 73 but she's really quite strong for her age. She's actually more fit than I am. She goes brisk walking every morning for an hour, only eats oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, and she prefers eating fish and veggies. According to the doctor, her diabetes and her age could be reasons why the blood vessel erupted.

I can't imagine not being able to use either one of my eyes. More than being able to see, the fact that one is able to see makes you appreciate how beautiful life is because you can actually witness it--problems and all. Despite all the horrors we've seen in this world, these shouldn't "blind" us from the many wonderful, beautiful things there is out there.






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*All images taken during my March 2009 trip to Malaybalay, Bukidnon for the Kaamulan Festival except for the sunset photo and the two kids on the seesaw which were taken in October 11, 2008 by the bay in Manila and in Fort Santiago, respectively.

just a sneak peek...

I'm still waiting for Esther to post the pictures from her camera, but here are a few from Tin's when we went to Sitio de Amor at San Pablo, Laguna last weekend :) Thanks to Anton from Our Awesome Planet--if it wasn't for his review, we wouldn't have discovered this wonderful place.







I promise my Sitio de Amor entry will be the first one I'll post for all my backlog entries :) Heehee

Glee's Season Finale..and other random things :)

Watching Glee's season finale on a Saturday is the best way to spend a lazy day at home. The last 2 episodes were soooooo intense! Aaaaaack! I actually cried while watching the sectionals. Heehee :)


The past 2 days at work weren't really good ones because, well...people problems. Actually, I have a problem with only one person in the office. Am trying my best not to react in a way that would make things worse. This will pass....it's not as if this is the first time I've had problems with that person. Lord, please grant me the patience I need to deal with her...


Got off later than usual from work. I was trying to contact people if they were free to drive off to Tagaytay last night, alas no one was available. Thankfully, Simon went online right before I left the office so I asked if he was free. He was a bit down in the dumps as well so we decided to chill at Farsi (it's a cool kebab place near Tomas Morato; great ambiance, yummy food, FREE WIFI! I think it's at Scout Lozano). Seppi followed after a few hours. After Farsi we were supposed to hang out at Coffee Bean at the UP Ayala Technohub but it was closed already so we settled for Starbucks (hahaha!). Spent just an hour there...was too sleepy I had to go home.

I woke up late this morning so I wasn't able to go to the doctor. I've been having this throbbing pain in the right side of my head since Sunday...I hope it's not something bad, but I do need to get it checked...maybe this coming Tuesday I can drop by the doctor's.


Okay, I have to go and prepare for dinner...Raiz, Kten and I are having dinner at Isabelo's. Yay! I'm sure I'll be posting something about that but I'll post it maybe in a couple of weeks next year (hahaha!). I have lots of backlog entries--am really sorry :| So many things to write about! :) Actually, I already made an entry about Isabelo a few months back. Isabelo is DEFINITELY one of Manila's hidden culinary treasures. If you're looking for a laid back yet sophisticated ambiance, Isabelo is one place you should try. No walk-in customers, though. You have to place your reservation at least 3 days before and you should pre-order your menu because Portia (the owner) cooks everything! Okay, I will really have to make a separate entry about Isabelo.

I really don't get why in Glee, to be a part of glee club is social suicide. Why????? After watching the 12th episode, I feel like it's so unfair to be deemed as a loser when you're part of such an awesome club. You'd have to be talented, and not afraid to perform in front of lots of people. It takes so much dedication to be part of the glee club. Haha I'm sorry...I'm so affected after watching the latest episode. Being a former glee club member, I got upset after the last scene.

I miss singing with my glee girls :( I miss spending the entire afternoon until late at night rehearsing our songs. I miss spending Saturdays either in someone's house or at the school's music room for workshops or more rehearsals. I miss running out of the gym after practice when Manong Bebot would turn off all the lights. I miss how we would all just get sooo into a song that after singing, we'd get giddy with goosebumps. I miss suddenly breaking out into song, singing the melody first, then slowly adding the other voices--we'd end up with another song to add to our repertoire :) How I wish we'd have a reunion of sorts. I would have to bring this up with Krina!

my wish list

Precisely why it's called a wish list...wish ko lang naman. Hahaha! I am hoping I'd be able to buy item number one on my list, though. Or number two. If I had oodles of money, I'd go to Spain right this minute. I'm trying to destress my brain just for now. I was assigned to plan my office's Christmas party and outreach and I have barely 2 weeks to plan both. Hurrah for me! Ugh...wish me luck. Plus, my mom told me to plan our itinerary in Hong Kong. AND, I have to plan a few Christmas dinners/parties. And yes, I have to come in for work on the 28th and 29th which totally sucks. Blech. ANYWAY, going back to my list...lemme see...

1. Lomo Fisheye 2: I've been eyeing this baby since last year. Unfortunately I still don't have it and please please pretty please Santa, if you really exist, can I have this for Christmas?

photo from here

2. Leica X-1: Hindi masamang mangarap, okay? Hahaha!

photo from here

3. Steve Madden Findd platforms. See here : Though I prefer wearing ballet flats to work, for the sake of my feet, there's something about wearing heels that makes one feel sexy and confident...then after an hour of walking, you just want to sit down and take your shoes off! Haha!

4. More ballet flats!One can never get tired of ballet flats :) Don't you agree? Not necessarily Tory Burch (but if you want to give me a pair by all means go ahead! heehee), but really nice, classic yet stylish pairs would be great.

got the photo here

5. A gift certificate to The Spa: I think I need to spend a day here...to prepare myself for next year. Haha! I have a feeling we have a lot of projects waiting for us in 2010. Good thing for the company, bad thing for my health and well-being. WHICH REMINDS ME...what happened to our Strat Planning? Weaw.

6. A decent, sturdy, large, stylish dark brown bag (I don't like bazaar bags because they don't last long...my bags that I bought in ukay ukays are sturdier).

7. A document bag from Fino

8. A Filed document folder so I don't look so ugh when I'm in meetings (with my brown envelope and folder. ha!)

These are my top 8 items on my Christmas wish list. There are 17 more. Hahahaha!

learning to live on chicken and fish

I haven't been able to post entries on what I've been eating since I came back from my out-of-town trip last week. I'll start from today going back to Tuesday so it'll be easier for me to remember...

Today (Day 17)- I had fried tilapia for lunch. For dinner, I prepared baked penne with spaghetti sauce (I used ground chicken), honey glazed grilled chicken, and grilled minute steaks. Of course I only had the pasta and chicken. I prepared the steak for my family in case they were already sick of chicken (haha!).

Saturday (Day 16)- My friends Esther, Tin and I had a bit of girlfriend bonding/adventure day. We went to Sitio de Amor in San Pablo, Laguna. Can I just say, it was soooo worth the long drive! But, I'll devote another entry about that..back to my diet--we were served lots of food for lunch but of course I didn't eat anything made from pork or beef. We were served blue marlin, liempo, bopis, soy chicken, pako salad (sooo yummy!), and this dish that was made of baby shrimp cooked with coconut milk then wrapped in gabi leaves then steamed (to die for!). For our afternoon snack, we were served this special kind of suman (that was bought in Lucban, I think) with a slice of mango and drizzled with a light caramel sauce. I swear, that was the best suman I've ever tasted. After spending the entire afternoon at Sitio de Amor, we headed off to Kusina Salud for dinner. We had their fried lumpiang ubod for our appetizer, and the Hot Crispy Tilapia as our main dish.

Friday (Day 15)- lunch out with my college friends Ria and Eia. We ate at Kimono Ken at Podium. I had salmon sashimi, chicken teriyaki and japanese fried rice. I don't think I had dinner. Hahaha! I think after my dgroup, I went to this spa near my house and had a very relaxing massage. Me thinks that's why I woke up late yesterday. Hahaha!

Thursday (Day 14)- I think I had shrimp and ginataang papaya for lunch.

I can't remember what I had for Days 12 and 13. But I'm sure I didn't break my diet :)

just noticed...

I've never been able to post any of my daily outfit shots. Hahaha! Ugh. Am sorry...I've been terribly self-consious as of late, you see...because my camera's quality sucks. The camera (s) I used taking the shots I've been posting here are either my friends' or my mom's. I haven't been able to buy my own digital camera yet. Oh yeah, I have lots of film cameras but no digi ones...I have a thing for vintage shots, but sadly I haven't had the time to take out my babies. For convenience' sake, I need a digital camera. As a Christmas gift, is anyone willing to give me one? :) Hahaha! I'll forever love you (whoever you are) and I will bake you cookies or cupcakes every month. Game? Thank you in advanced! Heehee :)

Please do watch out for my photo entries on my recent long weekend trip and the last installment of my Ilocos trip (previous posts here and here). Also! My long time friends Esther, Tin, and I are going to Sitio de Amor in Laguna this weekend. Watch out for my post on that, as well :)

I just noticed...it's the 2nd day of December already! How 3 more weeks till Christmas! :) Have you started shopping for gifts already? Or are you already done (half way done?)? Unfortunately...I haven't been able to start yet!! Waaaaah!

my out-of-town long weekend...bitin!

As you dear readers know, I went to Davao, Malaybalay, and Cagayan de Oro this weekend. For this entry, I'd like to share a few favorites of mine from all the pictures I took this long weekend.

DAVAO

Lunch by the beach. After a very long interview that morning, Ma'am Carmen (the field supervisor), Ma'am Ofel (our contact in Davao) and I had lunch at a Dampa type of restaurant somewhere in Davao...seaside! :) Lovely view while eating, don't you think?

There's something enchanting about this tree...I took this shot while waiting for the interviewers to screen one of the possible respondents (unfortunately, she wasn't qualified for the interview :|). Mind you, this was at a slum type of area. Back to the tree...the branches are all green and bare, with just a few that still had their leaves. This tree brightens up the place a bit.

After my very tiring afternoon doing fieldwork, I went to the Davao Convention Center to check out the Christmas bazaar. There really wasn't anything spectacular about it, except that I was in a bazaar in Davao. Hahaha! I was able to buy something for my family which I thought was worth the excess baggage fee I had to pay at the airport--organic products from Kablon Farms in South Cotabato. I bought tablea, wild honey, and passion fruit-pineapple marmalade (soooo good!) for my lola. And yes, I bought lots of suha for my officemates and friends. And durian candies.

EN ROUTE TO MALAYBALAY
I asked the guy sitting behind me to take my picture on the bus before the bus got full. You see, it was my first time EVER to ride a bus alone. Considering the trip was 5 hours long, it really was a milestone sort of thing for me. I just had to document it. And yeah, I have really bad posture...need to work on that.

Really happy to be on a bus. Haha! I got lucky...buses in the terminal in Davao City left every 30 minutes so when my bus left, I didn't have a seatmate yet :) I was enjoying the view, actually.

Our first stop was the Provincial Sanitation Checkpoint, where we all had to get off the bus and walk on the floor that was doused with water mixed with meds...to avoid foot and mouth disease (the bacteria usually latches on to the body through the feet/shoes).

Wonderful view once I got off the bus :)

Pretty flowers at the checkpoint. I don't even think they were selling these.

Okay, I'll continue this post later because I have other entries I need to work on...as in delayed ones like the last installment of my Ilocos trip, and a new one about my trip yesterday to San Pablo, Laguna. SORRY!!!! I tend to forget about making certain entries or I procrastinate. Haha!

Day 9, 10 and 11

I'm back in Manila! I arrived last night around 7, I think. I'm still pretty tired from the entire trip but am glad to be back. Although, I wish I stayed a bit longer in Malaybalay--maybe two more days? It's so nice to get away from the city once in a while and just relax somewhere far from all the hustle and bustle of the Metro.

I wasn't able to share what I've been eating for the past three days. Don't worry, I was able to veer away from all tempting kinds of food and I'm still sticking with my diet :) Okay, last Saturday I wasn't able to eat breakfast because when I arrived from the airport in Davao I went straight to my uncle's house and slept for a couple of hours before heading to my meeting. For lunch, I had inihaw na tuna belly (yum!) and sinigang na hitang (??). I had fish for lunch, and I had fish for dinner as well (fish and chips) at Coco's in downtown Davao.

On Sunday, I took a 5-hr bus trip from Davao to Malaybalay. So I left at 7:30 a.m and arrived at Malaybalay before 1. My dad and brother picked me up before heading off for lunch to Chicken Ati-Atihan, a local restaurant near our place. The grilled chicken's quite good, actually. The ambiance is nice as well. Too bad I wasn't able to take any pictures of the place...maybe on my next trip there :) I slept the entire afternoon because the bus ride was a bit tiring. Woke up around 6 (thinking it was already 8. hahaha!) and hung out at our cafe--which reminds me, I have to make a facebook page for it! Hahaha! Anyway, I hung out at BBC with Ate Abie, a close friend of mine from Malaybalay. She brought her super cute and kulit daughter Bianca. We spent a few hours talking about whatever. It's been a while since we last saw each other (I think March of this year for the Kaamulan Festival). I was only able to eat dinner after we closed the cafe. Had chicken again. Hahaha!

Yesterday, I left Malaybalay around 7 so that my dad and I could run errands first at Cagayan de Oro before he dropped me off to do fieldwork. Upon our arrival at CDO, we had breakfast first at Pancake House. I had the Continental breakfast (scrambled eggs, hashbrown, and toast with butter) and my dad had the regular pancakes. It's a good thing I checked in first at the airport before heading off to do fieldwork. At least I didn't have to worry about making it back on time to check in and being able to buy pasalubong. I did fieldwork from 1-3:30 before goign back to the airport. Had a super late lunch there (chicken again. wow.) and spent the next two hours waiting for my flight. I arrived at Manila around 7 and I went home right away. Guess what we had for dinner? Chicken. Hahahaha! I might start growing wings already.

Now, I'm in the office (sooo early) but I want to go home. I'm still so tired and I think I'm going to get sick if I don't get more rest. The weather in Davao and Cagayan de Oro was just..ack! It was soooo hot!! I love both cities, but I just couldn't stand the heat. It doesn't help that from Davao (hot) I went up to Malaybalay (super cold), then from there I went down to CDO (hot). From CDO, I'm now in Manila (humid). Wow. I don't usually drink vitamins, but I think I need to. I can't afford to get sick because I have loads and loads of stuff to do--projects to finish, a bazaar, shopping for gifts, organizing dinners with different sets of friends, etc. Whew!