welcome home, te roch!Ü

ate is coming home this evening!!!
Ü

yep, yep.. all the way from RSA -- safari world, bebeh!!!

Ü

on gowns and tears...

...

irish got married today...
she's our first close-cuz to ever get married..
i wonder why i always cry during weddings?
i cried during anty dith's wedding.. and i also cried during irish's wedding..
gawd.. i'm such a cry-baby..
makes me wonder --- will i also cry on my wedding day?
=)

dear diary

i remember a friend back in iloilo.. she has this journal where she religiously writes her every waking moment.. and i mean that literally.. she writes from the second she wakes up.. to brushing her teeth.. if she missed her class for that day.. or went elsewhere.. or if she simply was bumming in the dorm the entire day.. upto the time she puts on her pyjamas at night.. it's sun up to sun down for that journal of hers.. and mind you, it's always updated.. and in chronological order (of course!)

however --- it's got no emotions involved.. it's just a list of the things that she did for the day.. period.

e.g. 8:18am brushed my teeth; 10:00 put on my clothes and went to BA101.. 10:29 class dismissed early..

hahaha.. i don't know if she is still doing this upto now.. but she sure has her own, erhm, unique concept of a diary (as we used to call it back then).. hahaha..

but sometimes i get to thinking that may not be a bad idea afterall.. what if i do that with my blog?

hahahaha... =D

nah--- you wouldn't wanna know when i farted.. now, would ya?
=D

hehehe... just a thought..

=D

free deal with a pro

i saw irish the other night.. before she left for manila.. we met with jurine and bong.. and just so you know.. bong is the official photographer of the Dept. of Tourism in Cagayan.. i needed to point this out because he offered us a deal.. he will be the photographer for irish's wedding -- at no charge!! Ü ain't he nice? hehe.. and the catch is that he takes his own shots.. at his own call and inclination.. and that he may use some of the pics for his debut exhibit here in Cebu.. he just then gives us the pics in a disk after.. period.
we can't ask him for lost pics..
we simply don't make any demands -- at all. nil. nada.
well.. sounds like a good deal to me.
we then shook hands.. and went our own way..
=)

undas

...
my fam went to medellin for undas.. almost complete na kami.. except for ate, kuya, and uncle edwin's fam.. and grasya! hehehe.. sorry, cuz.. almost missed you!! -- wella, too!! Ü
this place never fails to give me that melancholic feeling of the good 'ol days...
**sigh**
this is probably the last pic i'll ever see of that train... it used to carry loads of sugarcanes (tubo) to and from its milling factory and the fields... but greed put this train's journey to a stop...
=)
oh well... it still brings good memories...
good.. good.. good..
=)

fools do rush in

so, what did we miss out on?

hmmmm... not much i think...

there wuz jurine's surprise birthday party for her beloved Bong... when wuz this again?? i think that wuz on the 28th of September... i think... it wuz really sweet... they had friends over... and Bong was genuinely surprised... it wuz an emotional moment... for Bong, at least... i'm glad they found each other... i wish all the best to both of them! =)
**sigh**

then i went karaoke showdown with eliz! hahahaha... now, that wuz fun... dunno when we can do that again, gwapz? yet with my new restdays and all... i doubt it... however, i can always swap my scheds for another singing challenge! hahaha... we're terrible at it.. in fact, we suck at singing!! but only the four walls of that room can hear our pathetic-and-obviously-struggling-to-hit-the-right-notes voices!!! and we're having fun! so, what the heck??!
=D

i basically just go out with j, jing, and drei on my free days... it's either Brews or EastWest for us... jing has now gone back to eTel... and i became double... and then single... double again... and then single... and i have totally no idea what status i'm in now!!
**geez**

then there wuz that Leyte trip... i went with my family... it was a nice place... there's not much to see where we're at... but it's a nice place to relax and forget the city rush at least for a couple of days... yep, i consider it to be quiet and calm... albeit the storm...



*******************************
P.S.
hey... the title does not have to match the content... hahaha... it can be a totally different thought in itself...
;)

spams.. and all that jazz

i normally just auto-delete spams.. but this one really struck me..

Is It Time You Took a Risk?
Cliff Young
Contributing Writer

Risk, n., 1. possibility of loss or injury
2. someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard

Risk is a scary word. Risk is even a scarier action. Many people live their lives trying to avoid taking risks at all cost, but risk is all around us and in everything we do..

..this is just sort of the first part of the article.. and it goes on about weighing the consequences of risks in our lives.. i don't want to narrate about it.. but it sure had me thinking..

..oh well.. gotta get some zzZz's now..

attempt at ukay

i frustrate myself sometimes.. i hate it when our plans do not push through because of my tardiness.. you see, i met up with jurine yesterday.. we agreed to meet at around 5 PM.. then just 15minutes before the hand struck 12, i requested that we delay it to 5:30 PM.. jurine was pretty ok with that.. but expectedly.. i arrived even later..
tsk, tsk, tsk.. what's with me??
grrrr...
:(
we were supposed to go ukay-ukay.. and then pamper ourselves to the nearest parlor after.. but guess what we ended up doing?
EAT.
:P
thank goodness jurine is an accepting.. and an understanding.. and a hungry (!) girlfriend.. hahaha.. we went straight to our (my?) fave place for dinner.. eastwest!
Ü
**gawd**
i miss my girlfriends..
Ü

hugs and kisses

thank you to everyone who greeted.. Ü

hugs and kisses to all...

**mmwah**

24.. Ü

i haven't shown you any pics of my trip.. and since it's my birthday.. lemme' show you some today.. Ü

ciao! Ü

Paragon/Siam Square.. 5-24-2006

... then paui and ate sent me off to go to paragon/siam square... these are malls that are sort of linked to each other on the outside... anywayz... they sent me off to take the skytrain --- yep... alone!!
... i carefully listened to their instructions... they made it sound sooOooo easy... i mean, of course it was! hahaha... i wasn't trembling or anything... but you betcha' i was freakin' scared! but the second i got on the train, it wasn't really that bad... i acted calm and cool... hehe... and stood (all the seats were already taken) alongside some backpackers...
... i had a helluva' time mimmicking the voice over that would tell us what the next stop is... it goes...

"next station, Phrom-Phong.."

"next station, Na-na.."

..

For a Thai recording, she has a pretty good accent.. hahaha.. ! if only ate knew! she'd be soooo embarrassed if she knew i was loudly mimmicking the recording.. hehe..

i got to Siam Square/Paragon safe and sound.. i didn't have much dough to spare so i was careful not to spend much.. i went around the two malls till late afternoon.. they have Ocean City (or something to that effect) at the basement of Paragon.. they also have lagoons in the groundfloor.. i probably spent quarter of my time there to rest my tired butt.. they have this long Viet-designed pond with fishes and fresh water lilies.. Paragon is quite a huge mall.. but it doesn't really have much shops.. not too many people even.. i guess what probably made it huge were the wide spaces in between their boutiques.

and did i already mention their toilets? just beautiful.. i know it does not seem proper to mention stuffs like a mall's toilet in your blogs.. but what the heck?! this is my freakin' page! Ü

anwayz.. their toilets are sort of Harry Potter like (book2).. where there are sinks and mirrors going around the middle.. and it's amazing coz mirrors are just everywhere!

..

hehe.. what can i say? i'm easy to please..

;-)

CHARN ISARA II... dated 05-24-2006

(Chan-isala-song)
That's the name of the building where ate's office is.. it has a beautiful view of their river right in the middle of the city.. they say it's the fastest way around the city.. or at least, that's what they say.. i don't know.. i never got to try it..

ate took me out for lunch-ala-Viet with some of her officemates and bosses.. i'd say it was a pretty.. well.. interesting experience.. they have this leaf salad.. and it basically is what it says it is.. a bowl of assorted leaves.. no dressing. no add-ons. just plain green, fresh leaves.. i took a bite.. or two.. or three..
:-)
there's really not much to it.. tastes like.. well -- leaves! i had fun munching on them though.. i felt like i was a panda for a moment.. or some herbivore mammal or something.. haha..
told ya'
'twuz interesting
;-)

flying to BKK... dated 05-23-2006

it was a last minute decision.. i mean my sister and i had planned it for over a year.. but to buy the tickets that day and to fly to Bangkok the next morning was totally -- totally -- last minute!! just imagine my dad's reaction! i was already in the travel agency and still about to pay for my fare when i texted him these very words...

"dad, larga ko Bangkok ugma"

..

krazy!! but it gave him the shock of his life!! hehe.. but what's even funnier is that my family already thinks i'll be there for good! like -- duh?! i wish!!

anywayz, my itinerary gave me a 3-hour layover in HongKong Int'l. Airport to and from Bangkok -- which really had me freakin out! good thing there were some helpful and cute attendants to the rescue... hehehe... if only they weren't gay... oh well... bwahahahaha!

my flights to Bangkok were on time. Thank goodness! i wouldn't have known what to do if i missed my connections because my flight got delayed! i know shit like that happens based from the feedbacks i get from our Expedia customers... and considering how irate they can be? i wouldn't want to be in their position... and for an amateur traveler like me, that would have been a scary disaster...

i had a cold when i got on the plane.. so when the altitude rose and the pressure went up -- my nose and ears were burning like krazy... when the plane landed in HKIA and in BKK, i had a freakin' headache and my ears went numb from the pressure... i cried shamelessly on and off the plane 'coz the pain was just too excruciating.. i was traumatized. i swore that if only there was a boat going there, i'd take it anytime..

ate rochee was almost 2 hours late -- contrary to what she said in her blog.. (hi, ate rochee! hehe)... she intructed me to sit on one of those blue chairs.. but since i found no blue chairs at all, i sat in those yellow ones outside.. and an hour and forty-six minutes later, my gorgeous elder sis arrived with her boyfriend..

**gosh**

finally

was i overjoyed...

we stopped at ate rochee's apartment first to leave my stuffs.. after exploring ate's place, we went straight to Soy 38 for dinner.. alas! food! actually.. i already had my dinner on the plane.. both my flights served meals you see.. but well, erhm.. my screaming headache was just too much to bear.. and my brain was not able to decode the signals my stomach was sending at that time... (???)

hahahaha...

excuses, excuses...

i know...

but what can i say?

i was hungry.

ate rochee and i had the traditional thai lugaw with some quite humungous-for-my-taste meatballs.. while paui heartily ate his mango-sticky-rice.. i was initially curious how the mango-sticky-rice tasted considering how paui happily dug into it.. but i can actually just guess by the looks of it -- more or less something like our puto rice with some strips of mango on the side...

whoala.

mango-sticky-rice

may 13 - 16, 2006 Bantayan 101

i was stuck in Bantayan island for four days! we were supposed to stay for 3 days only but because of the storm (wuz it Caloy? i forgot..), the pumpboats were not given permission by the coastguard (or what have they) to travel.. i got to experience the "real" probinsiya life.. we stayed in another island of Bantayan called "Doong".. they only have electricity for the second half of the day till sun up.. they have this big energy source that turns their electricity on at around 6pm until 6am the next day.. i know.. i can't even believe i survived four freakin' days there.. but it wasn't really that hard.. really ;-D

i was with ian, lisa, neil, princess and a local named du ramil.. it was fun.. but it wasn't quite your typical vacation kinda' thing.. we (as expected) had seafoods for almost every meal.. and the best part is --- it's for free!! ;-D the friendly neighboring fishermen seemed to love the sight of some city folks that they give us enough portion of their every catch..

i got to try the most exotic food i hardly even knew existed.. did you know that those huge shells we see so beautifully decorated in our school libraries had something in them that is actually edible?? yep yep.. those big ones that we hold close to our ears and hear the sound of the ocean? that one. they cooked the insides of it.. sliced and diced.. added some vinegar for taste.. and whoala.. it was served and ready to be eaten.. i have to admit though that at one point i felt like i was one of those Fear Factor contenders.. only there's no prize for eating it --- just a full stomach! and contrary to how it looks, it was sumptuous. ;-D Delicious. Perfecto! Yumyum! and a heavy tummy i had!
;-D

Doong is separate from the main island of Bantayan. not that Doong doesn't have enough beaches to boast.. but we rather felt ambitious and wanted to go further.. so the group decided to take an hour and a half pumpboat ride to this other island called "Mambacayao".. virgin beach, dearies.. with soft white sands everywhere you look.. heaven. wow. i couldn't be more impressed. and the water is so fresh and clean. no part of it was ever turned into a resort nor was it commercialized to that effect. totally untouched.. i can't believe there's still a place like this in this side of the world..

of course, there's always a not-so-good side to it.. in the middle of my exploration of this gorgeous virgin beach.. i was snorkeling nearby when i was stung by the saliva of a jellyfish.. i didn't notice it because its color camouflaged somehow with the waters.. deadly? nah. it would've been if it was the jellyfish itself that stung me.. however, its saliva left marks on my right leg that i wish would soon go away. oh well..

no photographs were taken since we were too scared to wet our gadgets with the more-than-an-hour pumboat ride.. but it's memories will forever be embedded in my heart.. and on my right leg..

heavy..
;-)

graduating and stuffs like that

i know this is already kinda' late... but--- i finally graduated!!!! no... let me do that again ---
i finally graduated!
(good enought eh'?)
;-)
after 8 freagin' years, it's finally over... and you can only imagine my relief!! but there ain't really much to blog about that event (dated 26apr06)... i marched the deteriorated stage of our school together with hundreds of other graduates... no meteor shower happened that turned the place into Smallville (sorry, i've been watching a lot of clark kent lately) -- when our chairperson called my name-- nor did the heavens open to let the angels down and congratulate me... nope... no earth-shattering event... nuthin' like that.

a lot has obviously happened since i last blogged... and i apologize for that... lemme me make it up to ya... read on...
;-)

location: Bangkok, Thailand

pwede ko mag-drama today?

we reach a point in our lives where we find ourselves at a crossroad... we come face to face with life's choices... do we go on and continue taking the same road we have walked on for almost three years? or do you try the road less traveled? it would be nice to think that i chose the latter and wiggled myself out of my comfort zone...

but then again... it ain't called "less traveled" for nuthin'.

magic 7

you know it's time to quit when...

1. you've liked him for 8 fr***ing years -- and he's still as dense as ever (?!)
2. he asks you out for the first time but postpones it
3. he never follows up on your postponed engagement
4. he doesn't text you ahead of time to tell you that your appointment will be postponed
5. he never asked you out again
6. he only texts you if he's bored (or so he said he was)
7. he calls you by another girl's name (WTF?!?!!)

take the hint!

crush (-ed??) c",)

Gavin DeGraw
Crush

When my pass came in, you dropped the ball
It didn't change the way I feel
And I was wishing I'd break down your walls
The kiss will know if the lips stay still
There is a line I crossed
And when you missed I lost
I'm not a loser
Girl, you know that I'll be back again
My dear, I went for the steal
Maybe it was rushed
Oh, my crush, I've got a crush
I suppose that I could hold it in
But you excite my every cell
Sources say that sense are your friends
My senses say that I should tell
You that I"m not ashamed
You might just feel the same
But have to try it
If you're ever really going to know
My dear, I went for the steal
Maybe it was rushed
Oh, my crush, I've got a crush
I want to
I need to
I have to have you
You're so much to touch
Girl, you're too much
And I can't control it - You've got me all over the road
My dear, I went for the steal
Maybe it was rushed
Oh, my crush
Damaging my soul
You blew me off, but I don't mind
i just get better with time
And so do you
So do you
My crush..

at Burnham Park with Jurine.. dated 20.12.2005

...and this is the reason why we were 30 minutes late for diana's wedding...

we weren't really supposed to go to Burnham anymore 'coz Jurine didn't want to be late for the wedding... but Jure, being the considerate friend that she is, gave in to my non-stop pestering for Burnham Park to complete our Baguio documentation...
hehehe...

thanks, Jure!!!!!
=D

not exactly the final hurrah yet..

i'm at work right now... calling SAS (Scandinavian Airlines)... there's a schedule change on the return flights of my caller... but while on hold with the airline... let me fill you in on what's been happening... but lemme' explain myself first... i'm one of the first time bloggers here.. and i'm not really comfortable with making my thoughts public... that's why it took me eons before i finally gave my link to anybody.. so, help me out here, ok?

=)

today, i will be attending my class for the last time... (i refuse to mention this course--but most of you probably know this already.. haha).. anywayz... i will be attending that d*rn*d class for the last time... you can just imagine my anxiousness to finally graduate and rid myself of that school... i don't want to sound ungrateful... i am proud and happy to be an Iskolar ng Bayan... let me make that clear... thank you, working class, for religiously paying your taxes... which allowed me (together with many other iskolars) to complete a degree in this country's state university... i AM grateful... and i take pride in being one of the many graduates of a prestigious institution (as it has been occassionally referred to as).
but... (there's always a but...)
after seven long years... i've had enough... of schools, and notebooks and paperworks, and deadlines, and of frustrated teachers trying to inculcate in their students to accomplish the dream they failed in their yester years...
yes, indeed... i would want to proudly march the deteriorated stage of my school and end my stay there... but, (notice this is another but..) alas... i failed to file for graduation... =(
so much for pride then
=,(