Evening with the Bausases

I'll be meeting up with Irene in a week! Tita Beth and Armie miss Irenie so much that they are sending her a plastic bag-full of pinoy goodies! Boy Bawang, sky flakes, dilis, sampaloc... Yummy. Miss B. is salivating at the thought of her package. Hehe. Anyway, I had dinner with these two fabulous ladies today. They treated me to pasta and dessert at Mary Grace cafe in Serenrdra.



Fun and interesting conversations about Irenie, Armie's A8 business, and travels. I've known Bausi for almost 16 years now! Wow!

Thanks Tita Beth and Armie for dinner!

Interesting tidbit for today! I found out, through Moie's Multiply Site, that she is onshore. She posted pics of Netherlands in her site. In the TCoE meeting today, Sheng mentioned that Moie will be in London next week! So I AIM-ed Moie and voila!!! She will be joining me and my brother in our Oxford, Stratford-upon Avon, and Warwick tour! Weee! She'll also be tagging along as we go through Oxford street in London and Notting Hill! Should be fun! I've no doubt she will hit it off with Irenie and my bro. :-) Such a great coincidence!

Sad note though. Was chatting with Keyce and she told me that this should have been our Eurotrip :( Aww... Oh well. We shall make another Eurotrip Keyce! That's a promise!

My smile worthy moment of the day. I was chatting with Ate Love and she said to me, "Hindi ka pa umaalis, namimiss na kita." Awww...

It seems unreal! I can't believe we're leaving next Thursday! Just a week away. I still have a ton of things I need to do, winter gear I need to purchase for the boys, peso to be converted into Euros, tickets which need photocopying. Micole, Jude, and Auntie Vernie are also visiting from Davao. Tito Ned's death anniversary dinner's also scheduled for this Saturday. I still need to pack all my stuff in boxes for the house renovation. Haha. Toodehls Schmenten.

Sound Bites

Busted Earphone
Just today, after brushing my teeth with my new favorite toothpaste (Sensodyne! Turns out I have sensitive teeth), I walked back to my cubicle. I put my iPod earphones on and to my surprise, no sound came out of the "R" earphone. Dengit. I guess it was a matter of time when my earphones gave out. Perfect timing though. Bummer.

Walking home alone. In the dark. After a breakup
I was talking to Karina yesterday, over dinner at Kitaro Paseo Center. She was telling me a story about our common friend and her ex-boyfriend. On the night they broke up, the girl was devastated. They were parked inside the girl's village and she just got out of the car. The guy just let her be. Walk by herself in the dark. Common girl/guy conflict here. Girl says she's ok to walk by herself in the dark. Guy believes this and lets her be. Well, although black and white are pretty simple, I'd say, you wouldn't let your sister walk home alone in the dark right?! Anyway, this got Kar reflecting about her own relationship. Nothing overly dramatic there. The usual tampuhans on the side, but generally good. I was telling Kar what a great guy P.I. was. And I was recounting this story this morning, I couldn't help but sigh heavily. Good guys come and go, but great guys are hard to come by. They need not be perfect at all, nor everything you've ever wished for. Their greatness comes from their sincerity and their kindness.

2 Hours of Sleep
Last night, or early today rather, I got a measly two hours of sleep. Macmacmac was in a fantastic mood and he just brought me from one tourist site to another in cyberspace. I only realized how exhausting planning for a trip can be. Perhaps in the past, I’ve been used to just looking at must-go-to-places within one city. Two at the most. What’s challenging for our April trip is trying to squeeze in all the good stuff in London within a day (because what’s all Tonton’s got allocated for London). Our 2 days in Edinburgh is still kinda vague as of the moment. I’m torn between getting a Loch Lomond Tour with the Braveheart stop, or just going around Ediburgh. We’re pretty much restricted by the train schedule. Irene warned me not to plan so many things within the day. That I should account for changes in the weather, delayed buses or trains. Goodie. I now see myself 21 days after we arrive in London. With huge circles under my eyes.

"I OWE U"s
I’m still behind my blog entries. There’s last week’s movie schmovie, “Fool’s Gold”. This review should be relatively short. Then there’s this super fun Easter weekend, where we stuffed our faces with Tita Alda’s bestsellers. Happy Beeday Yssa!

When Will the Waiting Be Done?
Something I’ve been asking myself whilst doing our Bisita Iglesia last Thursday.

Do What You Gotta Do
Another nice thought which Karina shared with me last night is this: If you have to do it (for yourself), go and do it. Made me wonder about things I do want to happen to me, not necessarily things I feel like I have to do. Maybe my problem lies there. I’m waiting for things to happen, rather than making them happen More so now, I’m having that feeling of wanting to be independent. Of all the years in my life, I think I’m feeling more “nahihiya” with my parents now. Perhaps it’s my empty bank account giving me the evil eye for all the impulsive purchases I’ve made.

Signs
On the cab ride to Philway Travel yesterday, I saw this the Fitness First window: Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

Mary ONAS ST Dinner

Our hardworking testing team got a break the other day. We treated them out to a Brazil Brazil dinner at the Powerplant mall, and I'm glad they all enjoyed themselves! The meat just kept coming and coming.

Ceasar just came back from his onshore assignment in Sydney and he's wrecking havoc once again. Here is with the a whole sausage. Sulit yung buffet sa kanya.



Here we are with our new manager Raffy.



Here's the entire team. Wish Rojie, Michael V., and Roselyn could have joined us.

Lea and Jesse's Despidida

Last Friday, D Gang in Manila all got together for Lea and Jesse's despidida. We all met at Solihiya in Greenbelt 5. Marian and I made sure everyone knew about Jan's booboos. Jan was quick to deny.

It's just nice having everyone together. These guys and I started our journey in The Firm together. And where are we right now? Couples, couples, and more couples! Haha!

Now the Chuas! Winston and Ave are cycling addicts. Ave competes and she's super fit. Wins is still working for this family.



The soon to be Gamboas? Hehe. Marian and Boom have been together for a little over 4 years now (I think). Mar is still with the Firm and Boom is still managing his business in Laguna.



The Panganibans! Mike and Pia, the crazy duo! A perfect match. Was asking Pia when we'll be seeing little Pias and little Mikes.



Finally, the Lucases! Fresh from the "I Dos". Jesse and Lea are flying to the US. We will miss them both! Jesse lost some weight because he had high cholesterol, believe it or not. Mike and I were giving Lea the mischievous smile and asking her about the wedding night.



So here we all are! I wonder when we'll ever take such a picture again.

Some things to blog about

I think it's been a while since I last shared my random musings in a blog entry. There are indeed a couple of things I can blog about...

** Our April trip is finally shaping up! We have secured all our VISAS (Yey!). Huge thanks to Philway Travel for helping us in preparing all the necessary docs and booking our flights! Our plane tickets have been issued and I just got them today from the agency. Rommel and I leave on the third of April, while Tonton will follow on the eighth. My main worry is our bunsoy's readiness to travel alone. Mental note to self, debrief him about immigration, airplane transfers, and what not.

** What I'm just realizing might entail a little more thorough planning in the next few days is our local tours within the UK. A couple of logistical considerations. I'm also a tad bit worried about my credit card. I need to be more cautious NOT to max it out. My Amex credit card remains suspended for an the unpaid amount of 3 USD. Deng. Now I need to get an company signatory to have it reinstated.

** But in the end, I'm just grateful Irene and Kuya Manny are both guiding us through our planning process. And of course, I am most grateful to my parents for this surely awesome experience.

** The Easter Weekend is coming up. Pampanga and Fontana time. I'm thinking of my personal sacrifice and spiritual contributions this lenten season. Not a lot, really.

** Pranny moments have resurfaced. In smaller, more manageable doses. i've been constantly reminding myself how everything is a matter of perspective. Better not to sweat on the small stuff. The past is past. Let it stay there.

Davao Weekend!

My much-delayed post.

Last weekend, I spent Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday in Davao City. The last time I was in Davao... 2004. Auntie Aida's birthday. This year, I went back for yet another special occasion. The Lucas-Nasser wedding. The weekend promised to be a fun one, considering I was going with some of the D'Gang members (Jan, Tom, Boom, and Marian), and I was meeting up with my cousins who knew the art of entertaining guests. Hehe.




So my long weekend started with a very long Friday. Why is it, that when you're just about to go on a trip, the bullet points on your To Do list seem longer than usual? That Friday, I was frantically composing my last email for the Mary ONAS SIT environment shakeout. Angelo, God bless him, asked me to leave because I was in danger of missing my flight. On the ticket, 7:45pm departure. On my wristwatch, I left the office at 6pm. I barely made it! I was running to the check in counter (which had a "Closed" sign glaring at me for being late).

The flight was ok and we arrived ten minutes before the estimated arrival time. After Jan, Tom, Boom, and Marian checked in, we went straight to Guitara 8610 to meet up with the Geocanigas! We had a yummy late dinner where I ate Tuna egg. Mushy yet tasty.




Later that evening, Micole, Ton, and Trisha and I crashed at Auntie Murr and Auntie Aida's house in Matina. Always homey! We didn't sleep right away of course. Micole and Trisha took turns in sharing their heart stories. Kilig ako. Haha.



Saturday, Ton and I slept in a little late. We woke up just in time for a late breakfast. We prepared for our lunch out with the family. Where else but in the best buffet place in Davao?! Marco Polo Hotel! Ton and I got our Gallenero Kiddie dose! See how tall they are?! And they're just 11!



Belle, Sophia, Alex, and Joshua kept us entertained on the way to Marco Polo. The choice of dishes was pretty good! Sashimi was fresh! The girls seemed to enjoy the strawberry dessert (so much so that Sophia had four servings!) With us were Auntie Murr, Auntie Aida, Kuya Roy, Ate Jinjin, Ate Joyjoy, and Auntie Baby.







Later that afternoon, I got dressed for the Lucas-Nasser wedding. Picked up the Manila kiddies at Microtel. Unfortunately, because I chose to blowdry my hair inside the mall, we missed Lea's wedding march. We underestimated the start of the wedding (and Lea's turtle-esque walk). But we got there just in time for the offertory (where all of us had important offering roles).





Lea was just beautiful. She looked like a Princess! Princess Lea! She was glowing and Jesse just had a sparkle in his eye while gazing at his beautiful bride. The entourage was a good looking bunch too! My eyes were pretty satisfied!



At the recession, Tom the photographer waited for the couple, armed with his SLR camera. He took a lot of great pictures and he shared them with his very proud model fiance Jan.




After the ceremony, we went straight to Waterfront, Insular Hotel, just 5 minutes from the church. Cocktails! While most of the guest milled and mingled in the cocktail area, we explored the beachfront property and look some pictures! I took a kick ass picture of Tom and Jan on his SLR cam. Here are some pics from mine.

Me with Boom. Ain't he a tall one?



Cocktail mingling! Ex-ccenture friends and Accenture peeps chatted over finger food and drinks.



Inside the main ballroom, an hour later, it was pink and more pink! I liked how they styled the venue. Simple, yet classy! A cherry blossom backdrop which gave off a very girlie feel.



Lito Sy's Davao team covered the Lucas-Nasser wedding. Here's a nice shot at the church which they showed at the reception.



Trigger happy guests! We took lots of pictures! My favorite moments... Marian "enjoying" all the bossanova songs, Jan and her magical HK dress tape, eating the tasty lechon, and the mothers' speeches (both leaving us teary-eyed).






After the wedding, I went out with the Geocaniga crew! We had drinks at Guitara 8610! The. Best. Beer. Ever. Ice cold! Frosted! We later went to Urban Club, Davao City's Embassy. Techno and house music all around. I most definitely felt my age. There were times when I was forcing my eyes open, and half-wishing we were all chatting at the nearby BluGre cafe. Hehe. But bonding time with cousins is always precious, wherever we are!






Miraculously, despite being home at 2am and watching a part of "Muriel's Wedding" till close to 330am, I was able to get up at 630am, for our Pearl Farm trip! Huge thanks to Lea and Jesse for treating us to this really fab fab day at the beach!




No pictures follow because the battery of Mike's cam ran out. Stupid me forgot to bring my own digicam that weekend. Anyway, after Pearl Farm, I met up with the Galleneros and had merienda at Swiss Deli. We had dinner at the same place with Jan, Tom, Boom, and Marian before flying back to Manila.

What a weekend! :-) Bitin sa dose of Davao. Need to come back for more!

Congratulations to the happy couple, Lea and Jesse!

[Movie Shmovie] Meet the Spartans

Yesterday, Karina, Tita Lydia, and I went to the Powerplant Mall to see "Meet the Spartans", a spoof of "300". The movie had its moments... Rare moments. Haha. I wish they took out Britney and Paris Hilton. They might have made this movie in a hurry. Deng. It was only a little over an hour long. I did like the way the Spartan men greeted each other. Nice. Kevin Sorbo (of the Hercules fame), still looks good!

[Movie Shmovie] Across the Universe

I heart the Beatles. I have almost a hundred MP3s of songs on my iPod. So I was naturally excited to see "Across the Universe". From the trailers, the movie promised to be visually stunning. I heart musicals too. Loved Moulin Rogue. Loved Chicago. So anyway, Tuesday last week, Yas, Mike, and I went to see "Across the Universe" in G4. The verdict? It was ok. Haha. Maybe I had high expectations. I wasn't really sold on the story. At the end of the movie, I just wasn't sure what the entire movie was about. There were so many side stories. Like Prudence. I think they could have done the movie without her. Or that scene where the leads frolicked in the field, all high. It's sad because the songs are just marvelous. Timeless! My favorite songs: "All My Loving" and "Hey Jude". I wish the movie could have had a more solid, engaging story.

[Music from the Baul] Let It Be

Last night on Idol, Brooke White sang this song. I'm not a big Brooke White fan, but I liked how she sang this song. Very heartfelt. That and sometimes, it's just good to let things be.

Let It Be
By The Beatles

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
[ Lyrics found at www.mp3lyrics.org/d3 ]
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.
And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
There will be no sorrow, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
There will be no sorrow, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be....

[Music from the Baul] All My Loving

Must be the McCartney/Lennon theme of last night's American Idol episode, or the fact that I recently saw "Across the Universe" on the big screen (Will blog about this soon). I've been bitten by the Beatles bug. Hehe.

All My Loving
By The Beatles
(Lennon/McCartney)

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you,
Tomorrow I'll miss you;
Remember I'll always be true.
And then while I'm away,
I'll write home every day,
And I'll send all my loving to you.

I'll pretend That I'm kissing
the lips I am missing
And hope that my dreams will come true.
And then while I'm away,
I'll write home every day,
And I'll send all my loving to you.

All my loving I will send to you.
All my loving, darling I'll be true.

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you,
Tomorrow I'll miss you;
Remember I'll always be true.
And then while I'm away,
I'll write home every day,
And I'll send all my loving to you.

All my loving I will send to you.
All my loving, darling I'll be true.
All my loving, all my loving,
Oooh...
All my loving I will send to you.

While waiting for popsie

Because Mama's car is in the shop, she's using mine today. So I'm hitching a ride with my Dad. While he's fixing his stuff, I thought I'd blog. Hehe.

Nothing much to blog about. April's just around the corner! We just did our Swiss Visa application interview. Minor glitches with some missing photocopies, but they were sorted out that same day. Ermin will be claiming our passports today, so visa wise, I'd say we're all set.

Oopsie. Will blog again later. Gotta run.

Back from the long weekend...

Expect a long blog entry for my most long weekend! Frantic Friday, Flight to Davao, Lunch buffet at the Marco Polo, the Nasser-Lucas wedding, Urban Club, Pearl Farm! And a couple other things in between. Ugh.

Right now, I have a bulging stomach underneath my top, screaming, "I ate too much this weekend." Need to cut back on all the eating!

Quickie random thoughts...

** Cancer remission (Err, sort of). Funny how you remember a feeling, and then see old things in a new light. Oh how very fortunate. A glimpse of the road that could have been travelled. It would have been a very nice trip.

** Moolah. No big hold up this weekend. In fact, I can't be grateful enough to our very gracious hosts in Davao. My relatives took good care of us. Anyway, I'm just a wee bit concerned about my own financial picture. I'd like to be financially independent someday. It's just frustrating at times. I need to open my eyes to better saving techniques. Maybe try a new lifestyle.

** I made a list of my work to-dos while on the plane to Davao, and in less than 15 minutes, I had filled out 4 sheets of paper (back to back).

** Ugh ugh ugh. Back to work tomorrow.

Maroon 5 Will Be Loved!

Maroon 5's love has taken its toll on me! Haha!

Last Wednesday, after a super busy day at the offfice, whose highlights include a super successful launch of the "Employee Appreciation Month" GP2W activities (The Chadwarts Quad Wizard Tourney), Mike and I went further up north (ahem Cubao) for the Maroon 5 concert. I felt a little guilty sneaking out of the office at 5:30pm. But I figured, I've been putting in a lot of overtime lately, so cut me some slack.

We arrived at Gateway mall past six. We had the parking fairy on our side. I had wanted to try a resto I've never tried before (Mike and I have both tried Ten Titas)... So we ended up eating at Italianni's. Haha. This was Mike's first time trying the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and parmesan cheese combo. And my first time to be in the same resto as Katya Santos.

We ordered the Sicilian salad and the platter with pasta, ribs and fish wrapped in bacon. Yes Grouchy, I had a glass of wine and the table cloth was pretty decent.





After dinner, we went to Aranet for the concert. As expected, the show didn't start of time. The band didn't have a opening act, hence more time to watch the coliseum fill up with Maroon 5 fans. So we took some pictures while waiting.






I tried on Mike's glasses. Went pretty well with my black top. Although this whole get-up makes me look like a teacher.



Then the show started! The guys sang a good combination of songs from both albums, "Songs About Jane" and "It Won't Be Soon Before Long". It's pretty obvious that Mr. Levine has a huge fan base because for the their more popular songs where the crowd got to sing along, the girls' voices were pretty audible!

We were standing the entire time... which isn't exactly a long time, come to think of it. The entire concert was prolly 80 minutes long. They song almost all of the songs I wanted to hear, with the exception of "Nothing Lasts Forever".

My favorite performances though were "Won't Go Home Without You" and "She Will be Loved". For the first time, the crowd just sang with the band! And well, it's a fab fab fab song on its own. "She Will Be Loved" was Adam's moment. Haha... I can sooo see Mike rolling his eyes now, muttering under his breath "Nagpapacute lang yun." During one part of the song, he paused and was obviously overwhelmed at the warm reception and energy of the crowd. He stood there, spotlight on him, smiling. Waaaaaah.... All the girls just melted.









Overall, the concert was good. The band wasn't exactly the concert type of band. We would have equally enjoyed their performance in a smaller venue. They didn't have a lot of special effects or whatever. But they sound just as great. No huge regrets on what we spent (given the circumstances). Although if I had to do it all over again, I think I would have been more resourceful to look for someone from Smart to sell me tickets.

The band took a bow after their last song.



We also a couple of celebrities from afar. Regine and Ogie. Ann and Sam Milby. Macky said he saw Jericho and Heart (deng).

We waited till the crowd thinned out before leaving. So we had some more time for pictures.




We met up with Erik, Bibay, Macky, and Mau after the concert and the girls were swooning over Mr. Levine as well. We left Gateway a little past 1030pm, and we miraculously found our way back to EDSA.

I think this has been my most recent concert experience. The last one was Ben Folds (two years ago). The next one, I'm hoping, is Coldplay or The Police. Or Justin Timberlake? Madonna?