bury me in this dress

This post serves as my contest entry to avalon.ph’s Moleskine Colour A Month Daily Planner Contest.

2009 is a very trying year for us Filipinos. There was the death of our beloved former president Corazon Aquino. The typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng brought so much devastation and grief and we here in Metro Manila were directly or indirectly affected. More recently, 57 people met their untimely death with a horrendous massacre. One would think that we have nothing to be thankful for but the fact is, there are many things we can.

• I am thankful for the outpouring of love from all walks of life during Cory’s wake.
• I am thankful that so many Filipinos were ready and willing to help the victims of the typhoons.
• I am thankful that my friends and family weren’t severely harmed during Ondoy and Pepeng.
• I am thankful for my successful operation.
• I am thankful for the love and support of my friends and family.
• I am thankful that our business is doing well.
• I am thankful for my family’s safety and good health.
• I am thankful that people read my blogs

I’m sure I forgot something but you get the idea.

Awhile back, Nash and Karen sent this surprise to me. Karen, that’s really sweet of you but is this supposed to be art? Where is the watermark?! Toral and Yuga will object! Srsly, the photo is now framed and ready to hang in the office. Nash, tama na ang pa-diva and add me back!

I celebrated my birthday with a few friends last November 26. A lot couldn’t come. It’s their loss. Hmmp. Here are some photos taken by Jenny.

great food. ate too much that i became sick afterwards

mmm cakes. but i r annoyed cos i had to buy a slice just to blow a candle

journal from jenny. tickets to london to follow daw

(more…)

I know, I’ve been neglecting this blog. Well Plurk is to blame for this. For those in the dark as to what Plurk is, officially, it’s a social network cum micro blogging site. For me though, it’s more like a chatroom/forum wonderland. I joined the website because most of my twitter friends were transferring there. I was curious and it was getting lonely in Twitter. I was telling some friends that Plurk sucked but after a week, the addiction kicked in.

I’m not as addicted to it as I first was. At least I don’t think so. Plurk used to give me a natural high. It made me hyper and it felt like I was shouting whenever I posted or replied. I plurked for hours, forgetting sleep and even food that I became sick for awhile. It was that bad. Up to now my sleep pattern is fucked up because of the site. Used to be I can sleep 8 hours straight but now it looks like the most sleep I can get is 5 hours. Oh, before it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m so totally not. I love it even if I’ve neglected so many things because of the site. It’s only because my timeline is quiet right now that I am finishing this entry which I started…I forget…a week ago? But see her, I’ve benefited a lot from it. I’ve met some great people through it and they’re now my friends in real life. I discovered good films and music through recommendations by other Plurkers. There are more but the best so far is I’m *cough cough* quite taken with someone right now. I won’t give any clues as to who it is. Moving on…let me just say that Plurk makes me happy and I think that’s reason enough to justify this addiction.

Sooooo, if I’ve managed to convince any reader to join the website, please use this link because I want more smilies. Until the next time I blog!

I love my friends. They gave me a much-needed ego boost last Saturday night just exactly when I needed it. Here are some photos from my get-together with them. We spent most of the night at Xocolat in Serendra. These photos were taken using Jenny’s camera. Newly-acquired vintage cameras are ours

Click the photo to access the album

Mrs. Noemi Dado of Touched By An Angel blog informed me that Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) will be offering a free workshop on creative writing, photography, and videography on the 24th of June at their branch in Bonifacio High Street. I signed up for the workshop on June 18. On the day of the event, I learned that my family will entertain our balikbayan relative that night at Serendra. I haven’t seen my Aunt Rose for years so I decided to prioritize family even though I’ve always been a big fan of CBTL. When we got to High Street, my other relatives weren’t there yet so I decided to drop by the workshop. I informed the girl with the sign up sheet that I wouldn’t be able to stay long but she said I should still fill up her sheet. After doing that, I went inside and saw some people I know from my days working for ABS-CBN. We chatted a bit since the workshop hasn’t started yet. I also greeted some bloggers I know. When the workshop was about to begin, I got a call from my mom and she told me that I should go to Conti’s since they’re eating already. I had to leave the event and join the relatives.

I’m sure the event was a success. My relatives and I passed by CBTL a couple of times and I saw that the workshop attendees were busy doing their tasks. I know I missed out by not going to the workshop but CBTL is still my favorite. Especially their “The Ultimate” – mocha and no whipped cream please. To make up for it, some of my college friends and I had a spontaneous reunion last June 25 and we went to CBTL Eastwood.

It was a fun night. I missed my college friends. It was a night of nostalgia and catching up on each others’ lives.

Friday night I met up with Phoebe at Shangri-la so we can dine at Cibo. I miss the food there and I ordered my usual. Telefono with spaghettini and the Crostini with the Spinach dip. Did I spell that correctly? Phoebe ordered her usual as well which is Spaghetti Alfonso (I think). Basta it tasted good. We’re kind of lactose intolerant though and our stomachs were rumbling after the cream-based pastas.

Last night I had another Italian dinner at Amici. It was my first time there and I was surprised that it’s a self-service restaurant. The place was packed but Phoebe and I got a table easily. I forgot what she ordered. I wasn’t able to taste it because she ate it all so fast. That girl has a really big appetite. I got Spaghetti Vongoli something something. Very long name but I didn’t like it much. It also took a loooong time to arrive so I just lapped up the pizza we shared. It was the Al Funghi pizza (my spelling sucks, I know!) and it was really good. I think Amici’s specialty is their pizzas. Jenny caught up with us and we indulged in their toe-curling gelatos and profiteroles. I especially loved the sans rival gelato and ended up buying 1 kilo of it to take home. I think the price is reasonable for P450.

Yummy pizza!

Scrumptious profiteroles

After Amici, we hung out at our usual Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Only Phoebe ordered because Jenny and I were so full but usually I order The Ultimate mocha there. Since I bought that gelato from Amici, I asked the staff if they can store it in their refrigerator and they were so nice enough to accomodate me. We spent hours there just talking about different things. Phoebe showed me her new Sony Ericsson W960i and I’m now more tempted to get one too. We used the free wifi there and their internet was fast. I’m not sure if it’s because of the phone or just the ISP in the cafe. We made plans of going to Fort Ilocandia soon. If I’m going to buy a W960i, I won’t have enough money for the vacation so now I’m having second thoughts about the trip. Is the phone more worth it or Fort Ilocandia which I’ve never been to? We talked about so many things from American Idol contestants (I don’t watch it anymore) to US politics. Fun times. I haven’t gone out for ages because of the damn PCOS so last night was a good catch-up for us three.

I went to the 12th Hot Air Balloon Fiesta last Sunday with Phoebe, Jef, Egg, Mark, Patrick, Anthon, Loreyn, Jet, Kate, and our driver Arman. Got sunburned and drained but twas worth it all even if I have to spend a day recuperating. I didn’t have any sleep the night before because my friends came over early and we left at 3am. I wanted to kick them out but it was already too late. Hehe. Click the photo below to get to the album.

It’s my birthday today. Ugh. The big 3-Oh. I hate that number. I don’t feel that old yet and my friend said I don’t look 30 so that’s good. Still, I don’t feel like celebrating. I want to save money and there’s really nothing to celebrate.

This birthday isn’t too depressing compared to last year’s. I feel loved now especially since I reconnected with old friends. Of course, it’s not like before when we were younger and have the energy to stay out all night and drink too much booze. I don’t even drink liquor anymore.

A friend was inviting me earlier to go to Baguio this weekend. Maybe going there would do me good but I’m too lazy. I don’t want to travel 4 or more hours just to play cards with them. Besides, they’re all boys and I’ll just be reaffirming my role as one of the boys. That has got to stop but that’s always the case with almost all my male friends. Tsk. Not that I’m interested in any of them in THAT way. Yuck! It’s just depressing when I’m never seen as an object of affection or whatever.  So yeah, one of my birthday wishes is to finally have a love life. I’m not raising my hopes up though.