Finally our Tagaytay Weekend

Last Sunday, our forever postponed trip to Tagaytay finally pushed through! Ate Love, Ina, Camille, and I had brunch at Breakfast at Antonio's.

**More pics to follow!

Figgy's Beeday Celeb

Karina celebrated her 27th birthday two weekends ago! Close friends wined, dined, and watched "Guess Who?" that October 14 evening. Figgy reserved a room in Linden Suites. On the menu... Crispy Squidlets and Chicken Lollies from Conti's, Tita Olen's Lasange, and finger sandwiches.

Here's me and Figgy before everyone arrived. Parang may kulang sa pic... MAAN?! Where art thou?!



Guests started to arrive a little past 7:30. First one on the door was Bibay (asa next pic sya). In attendance were Karina's blockmates! Sean and Dino. With them in this picture is Sean's girlfriend, Ann, and Karina's HSBC friend, Lizzie.




Teng and boyfriend Carlo were there! And Karina's HSBC officemates who loves to DOTA! Haha!



As the evening progressed, our live entertainment finally arrived! Fresh from their Regine Velasquez concert. Don't be deceived by their meek poses here! Champion ang mga dinggaz lengguahe! Di na kami makafollow ni Karina!



We just had to take a picture of Dino's soo-very-metrosexual get up (well... combo ng shoes and socks). O devah?!



Representing Tahanan Village, Teng was super adorable with her bufra (who graduated from High School way back when... hahaha!)



Here's the golden couple! P.I., the nicest guy I know. Eh sino nga ba ang nicest girl?!



Foursome ba?! We just couldn't stop laughing at Macky's impersonation of Tyra Banks and her "America's Next Top Model" signature speech.



Breakfast buds! I was up at 9AM (after three hours of sleep) to sample Linden's breakfast buffet with Karina. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I had an Entourage marathon!!!



It was a JB weekend all in all! We were just chatting and chatting until 6AM about stuff. Thanks for calling Maan!!!! It was the cherry on top of this perfect weekend.

Happy Beeday Karina!! Hope you enjoyed AINROFILAC!! Hahaha!

Weekend Pics

Backlog pics!!

A few weekends ago, I spent one Sunday with the girls. Chowing down Korean food at this cozy BF resto. The spicy squid was exquisite. Perfect with a tall icy glass of Sprite! And even more perfect if eaten in the company of these super adorable girls.

Don't they look exactly the same??



Ina and I go Korea-crazy!



This super kikay 12 year old couldn't get enough of signature bags and lip gloss! I think she wants to be in showbiz someday.



This lil girl just loves her academics. Hehe. She's no nerd though. Over lunch we were talking about how opposites end up together. Iris then went on to say, "Ate Ten, ang makakatuluyan ko ay SUPER boring! At walang asthma."



The girls and I might be going to Tagaytay this Sunday. I'm hoping our excursion pushes through!!

Kind of a laid back weekend

I still owe this blog an entry for Karina's beeday bash... Mental note to self.... Upload pics when Mark returns my camera.

This work week has been toxic, toxic, toxic. 14 hour work days sometimes stretching to close to 16 hours. So very not sustainable. We finally have some momentum with work, and I'm just relieved we didn't have to work this weekend. So what did I end up doing??

Sleep until mid morning
Have a full body massage here at home
Do a little advanced Christmas shopping
Hang out with Macky
See a movie (and sleep through some parts)

Keysi and I saw "Employee of the Month" last Friday and it was kinda sucky. Hehe. We couldn't relate to the characters. It's like, they just didn't mesh well. Some parts were funny. But most parts weren't. Jessica Simpson on the big screen... No thank you! It's like she's shooting some commercial. Perfect curly blond hair, teasing curves, pearly white smile... Sooo not believable that she's a cashier.

Random thoughts for the week...

*Things never turn out the way you expect them to. I just got off the phone with Irene and we did some catching up. So many stories we never expected to share with each other.

*Everything will be alright... said the Killers in one of their Hot Fuss tracks. At some point, things just seem really bad. But at there's that certainty that everything will be ok eventually.

*Me likey choco chip cookies from Shortcrust! I discovered 'em goodies a few weeks ago and the girls loved them. So I bought a few for tomorrow lunch's dessert. Yummy.

Random thoughts for the weekend...

It's been a couple of days since I last posted an entry. I can't believe it's the weekend again (Thank God!). I've been so tired from waking up early, struggling with our test execution, and then hauling ass back home after a 14 hour work day. I caught a cold, my throat's a little dry, and I've been doing the "cough! cough! I think I'm sick" for real. Hehe.

So my random thoughts for the week...

Unwinding keeps the stress level at a minimum. Logical breaks, lunches, dinners, hanging out with peeps... I need all of those to stay sane!! I'm not really one to be all serious under pressure. Please make me laugh! I just like talking to people and unloading. We transfered to the 8th floor by the way, and my cubicle has a kick ass view (So sorry Mark! I will happily exchange seats with you if you like!). Everyone else though is kinda far from my seat. Please do drop by! I'll post pics soon!!

Sleep is a luxury! My body clock's still whacked. So sleeping straight, with no occasional moments of consciousness, is truly a rare thing for me nowadays.

Sometimes I wonder where I get all the energy! Coffee?? MY dearest friend coffee?? Had three cups yesterday. Was up till... 3am! Hahaha!

We met Shayne the other night. She's quite the pretty, reserved girl. Super nakakaaliw how they would look at each other knowingly. It's all in the look!

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Happy Beeday Popsie and Karina!! Papa is 56 and Figgy is 27. Pop's big beeday bash... tomorrow lunch. Figgy's big beeday bash... Tonight! We're spending the night at Linden Suites. Gotta get that bottle of red wine, and gotta keep my cellphone out of sight! Haha!

Sporadic Friday Gimik

My usual Friday companion, Ms. Maliwat, had a prior engagement. Which left me to wonder... what to do on a Friday night?? And so I braved the 6:30 pm C5 and Alabang traffic to go to ATC. The lady in Tower Records Edsa Shang said the latest The Killers album arrived! When I arrived in Tower Alabang... geez... their stock has not arrived yet. Poo hoo hoo! I was trying to look for a place where I could have a quick meal (my stomach was grumbling). I received an SMS from Mariless and she was asking me if I was free to meet up with her and Rosan next week. I told her I couldn't (Karina's big beeday bash), and jokingly said, "But I'm free tonight and I'm in ATC. Wanna meet up?" Voila! Ms. Villamar was free and we just chatted up a storm over two glasses of red wine in Vino Veritas. Talk about a sporadic Friday gimik!

*Sigh* I've been pretty beat these past few days. And as much as I would like to sleep in longer today, I couldn't go back to sleep anymore. It was just a little past seven, and I was wide awake. Geez... the wonders of the body clock.

Saturday today!! We celebrated Tito Mar's beeday in Pansol! A few laps here and there, a can of beer (this was my very first can of beer!), and several chicken bbq servings later, we were heading back to Paranaque. We stopped by Starbucks Caltex before taking the Filinvest exit. And we all noticed that Gibo looks like the Spark Hope Starbucks model! Check it out!



On tomorrow's agenda, Tagaytay with the girls (Ina, Camille, and Ate Love). Oohh... and some shopping for our Monday breakfast.

I do wish I had a day to just lay around and do... nothing. Hehe. I did buy a book in Power Books yesterday. It's called "She's Come Undone", on the New York Times Best Seller List and also on Oprah's Book club list. It's been a while since I last read a book (I've been a magazine girl forever).

12 hour work day

Oh so familiar work hours... I arrive at the office past six and leave... hehehe! Past 6 PM! Minus the one hour lunch break, the occasional YBs, the logical breaks and conversations on the side... I'd say it's pretty much a 12 hour work day.

Hence my "haggard" look (as observed by Mel), my droopy eyes, my now South (North) Park face, and the sporadic song numbers while typing away. Yes. I am busy busy busy.

I do like being busy to some extent. I just hope it doesn't get too intense. I'm not really one to be all serious about work. But if the situation calls for it, I can put on a serious face... or a masungit face (reminiscent of my Bondi Beach look before we had our late lunch). Hehe!

There are a couple of things to be smiling or laughing about....

Redford White and Bruce Wayne are one and the same.
"Sankapa?!" "Sa pantry lang ako."
"Yung boyfriend nya mukhang kabayo! Ang laki ng...."
Scott?! Scott Kemme?!
Milrting!

I was talking to Chae just today and we were saying how much we miss our team. The work sucked, but the bonding and the fun kept everything bearable. I'm pretty thankful that for Focus, we have a lot of the same elements. Crazy people, who are serious about work, but can take a break and crack jokes.

Song of the Moment : Stop This Train

Stop This Train
By John Mayer

No, I'm not colorblind
I know the world is black and white
I try to keep an open mind
But I just can't sleep on this tonight

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

Don't know how else to say it
I don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man
Said "help me understand"
He said "turn sixty-eight
You renegotiate"

"Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
Don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train"

Once in awhile, when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark
Singing

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I will never stop this trai

No Electricity and No Water

Saturday evening...

I am typing this while the generator is humming nosily in the background. Yes. Electricity was restored in some parts of Sucat. Of course, our lonesome village still is power-less because of the lamp post which was damaged by Milyeno. Apparently, the folks from Meralco have other high priority fixes. Not that I'm complaining. I know they have a lot in their hands. I'm just wishing they visit our area soon.

Today, to answer the call of my feet to leave the house and gallavant, I spent the afternoon out. The Geocaniga family (minus Pops) met up with the Figueroa family (minus Kuya Richie). We all had dessert at Bo's Cafe in Glorietta 4. It was an impromptu thing, and it was super duper fun. Rommel was the star of the afternoon, mimicking how Tonton speaks on the phone with his girlfriend. He had us reeling in laughter. I then visited Marchae in Tomas Morato to talk about our wedding video project for Rachelle. We spent most of our time just catching up. And we were able to squeeze in productive discussions about our video time line. I am soooo looking forward to how the month of October is going to go. It will be Toxic with a capital T. But of course, we gotta squeeze in several relaxing gimiks.

In the evening, I met up with Macky, Mau, and their cousin Jackie at the Powerplant mall. We chatted of course. Macky was entertaining as always. We met up with Karina and Irving briefly and then reconvened at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Tordesillas to discuss Mau's debut.. scheduled on the 22nd of December.

Geez. It seems the end of the year will be a busy busy time for me. Which I actually am looking forward to. It's just that Mr. Kap might have to be left in the sidelines.

I'm still kind of confused with what I want to do in the coming year. I thought I had made up my mind, but now everything is kind of hazy.

It's but normal I guess to change one's mind. I used to think I know exactly what I want to do, but now, I have doubts. It's probably because our project this started up, and the pace of my office life has changed. I do like working and delivering. I did miss that for a couple of months.

More random thoughts...

Christmas is right around the corner and I'm pretty psyched. I think I mentioned this in my previous blog entry. I have to get a head start on my Christmas shopping though. My roster of god kids has grown to about 14 I think.

I'm really liking "Stop this Train" by John Mayer. It's a song about growing old, and sometimes wishing you could just go back to your youth. But then there comes a point or a moment when you're just plain happy to be where you are. In John Mayer's second album, my favorite track is "Clarity" (because don't we all wish we have that all the time). In his first album, I love "St. Patrick's Day". It's just a sweet, laid back song.

I am officially naming Sunday as my rest day. Will try to get some shut-eye in the afternoon. Gotta pay for my Globe bill though. Trip to Tagaytay with the kids has been postponed. The girls just feel like staying home.

********

Sunday,,,

Hoorah! Power was restored mid-afternoon today! Hats off to Meralco! Thank you for working that post and those cables! I did not have the chance to pay for my Globe Bill today. I have christened tomorrow as, "work on test conditions" and "do your errands day". Which means, I have to leave the office at 2pm to catch the BPI office in Makati (where I could pay my AMEX card). Deng...

So what did I do today? The weekend mall tour continued... Tonton, Mark and I went to ATC to see... "First Day High"! Haha! I somehow managed to convince the boys to see the movie with me. They didn't happily oblige, but I think we all enjoyed laughing at Rich Alvarez's attempt to be an actor. Hehe.

Today I think, instead of being rest day, became LAMON day. I think I worked up a good appetite these past few days. We had lunch at Kamayan, merienda in Bizu, then dinner here at home. My oh my.

I'll be posting the lyrics to "Stop this Train" today. It's such a nice nice song.

Poo... Weekend's gone...