Restless Momentum

Australian Open Week 1 Highlights

2012-01-23T17:05:00.001-08:00

This week marks the start of the Quarterfinals (Top 8) in the Australian Open. And by the end of the week, we will know who the Australian Open champs would be!

I usually watch WTA more compared to the ATP. I find the women’s is more interesting and has a much more open field, not one dominant player. A lot of the players can take away the trophy. Unlike in the men’s field, it’s always the four of them – Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Federer.

First few rounds was usually lopsided, except for a few nice matches and even upsets.

Round 1 proved to be a tough round for one of my favorites – Agnieszka Radwanska. She battled it off with Mattek-Sands from the USA winning on a very tight 3 set match.

Speaking of upsets on Round 1, reigning US Open champion Sam Stosur lost to Sorana Cristea on straight sets. Big upset here. I was hoping Stosur could move on a few more rounds, at least to the quarters. But things happen in these tournaments! There’ll always be upsets here and there.

Another great match during day one was Fernando Verdasco versus Tomic of Australia. 5 set match – and I felt bad for Verdasco because he was up 2 sets before Tomic made his comeback. I guess the heat was taking its toll on him because he’d wear ice packs around his neck and throw water at his face. Come to think of it, how can you survive playing top notch tennis under the blistering heat of the sun and temperatures in the near 30s? Tough conditions for sure.

Best Match So Far

Round 4 was a blockbuster round with reigning champ Kim Clijsters battling it out with our favorite Chinese tennis star, Li Na. It’s a repeat of the finals last year, and this time with Li Na, looking like she’s in way better shape, and much stronger than Clijsters.

Set 1, with 3 games a piece for each player, Clijsters rolls her left ankle during a rally point. Everyone’s heart probably stopped at that point (Clijsters is a very popular player in Australia, having even been dubbed as “Aussie Kim”, although she is Belgian). This is supposed to be her last Australian Open so she mustered enough strength to continue on with the match! She still lost the first set to Li Na who was playing superb!

Set 2 went into tie breaker with Li Na gaining ground having a 6-2 lead! That’s four match points!! And miracle of all miracles, Clijsters somehow manages to save those four match points, and score 6 straight points to win the second set!

I guess the disappointment of the second set proved to be too much for our favorite Li Na, as she eventually lost the set, and the match to the great and loved champ Kim Clijsters. Now Kim Clijsters is off a quarterfinal square off with the number one seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Highlights of Round 4

A Japanese by the name of Kei Nishikori has made history books by being the first Japanese man in the open era to move on to the quarter finals of a grand slam by beating fan favorite Tsonga of France! His powerful ground strokes proved to be too much for the big man Tsonga. That was a very entertaining match. Folks who bought tickets surely got their money’s worth.

Serena Williams goes down against Russia’s Makarova. This is the same woman who took out Kanepi and Zvonoreva! She’s definitely on a roll. Watching the game, Williams just wasn’t in it, she made a ton of unforced errors but to Makarova’s defense, she was hitting baseline forehands crazy accurate! Congratulations to Makarova. She’ll now be facing off with Maria Sharapova in the quaterfinals.

Quaterfinals

Quaterfinals is about to start and I’m waiting for two blockbuster games coming up – Azarenka (who could potentially win the grand slam) versus Radwanska (who I love watching because of her very calm demeanor) and then a little later, another blockbuster game worth watching: Clijsters versus Wozniacki! It will be a very busy day for me!

Angie and Vince’s Wedding

2012-01-22T18:33:00.001-08:00

It’s really exciting to see one of your closest friends finally getting married! It was the first wedding of a close friend that I’ve attended. I find that it’s different if you’re just attending a wedding because it’s a family friend or relative who you’re not really close with, as compared to attending a wedding where the bride and groom are really dear to your heart.

My friend Sheila and I were a teeny bit late for the church wedding, half of the entourage already walked down the aisle before we got there. At least though, I still saw the beautiful bride make her wasy down the aisle, looking beautiful as always. And since we were in such a rush, we forgot to bring the camera to the church. Wala tuloy ako pictures sa Church!

The church wedding was held at Santuario de San Jose at East Greenhills (airconditioned!) and reception followed at New World Hotel in Makati. I didn’t realize the food in New World would be really good! I loved their hot shrimp salad (It was a laureate serving, by the way).

Here are a few snaps I got during the reception. The girls are looking very pretty!

And here’s how the ballroom was setup. Beautiful too.

It was kind of annoying that I ended up sitting right in front of the sound system. I cannot talk to my seatmate without having to either shout or speak close to their ears!

And you know during weddings, there’s always this part of the reception where they call in the single gals and guys? I ended up getting called up there, at bigla akong giniginaw sa stage ah! It was a nice game though. An envelope was passed around the the folks and when the music stops while you’re holding the envelope, you have to perform the consequence written on the note inside. And as the game progresses, the consequence gets tougher and tougher.

Lo and behold, for the first round, I ended up getting the envelope! I was so nervous, opening the envelope, so good thing, the consequence was easy – “give a message to the bride and groom”. Whew, that was easy, I have no problem making speeches! haha at napahaba pa, the host even told me that we should have had a toast to go with it! Ang daldal kasi!

As the game progressed, there were to more consequences, kiss someone on the nose, carry a girl for 10 seconds. And the last consequence ended up with this girl, who was asked to pick a guy. Sa sobra niyang kaba, hindi siya makapili. Finally, napilitan pumili ng isang guy. And well, it was a nice surprise because her consequence was actually “a congratulations as you and your partner just won an ampao worth 5000 pesos each!” A total of 10k! Why didn’t the first consequence contain that instead?? Haha great game though!

Overall, the day’s event was really great. Bride wore two gowns – her wedding gown during the church wedding, and her red gown during the reception (I guess to coincide with the chinese new year!). I had fun, and the reception did not drag on until midnight (which is good!). Good food, good friends, good laughs!

Oh, and I got to have Pat Dy take a photo of us, using my camera! That’s almost worth a hundred thousand pesos! haha

World Vision Philippines

2012-01-14T16:35:00.001-08:00

World Vision Philippines is an organization that assists in child and family development across the Philippines. As individuals, we can help this advocacy by being sponsors to young kids who need our help.

Instead of buying a Mocha Frappuccino, how about setting aside that money to sponsor a kid? It’s only 7,200 per year, and you get to help a young one have a better future.

The nice thing about World Vision is that they provide you with regular updates about your child. In fact, Aira, who I’ve been sponsoring for a few years now, even writes letters to me, sends picture to me and I’m updated with her grades in school!

I am writing this because I want to encourage everyone to join this advocacy program. Let’s share our blessing to those who need it the most.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace

^{1 Peter 4:10}

First 12 days of 2012

2012-01-12T02:31:00.001-08:00

12 days into 2012, what have I done differently so far?

1. Bridal Shower

- The first of many friends getting married this year had her bridal shower last Jan 07. It’s the first official friends’ bridal shower that I was able to attend and a pretty good one too. They organized it quite well. It was fun! To be honest, I almost didn’t go because of my laziness syndrome. Thankfully I was able to pull myself out of bed and drive all the way to Linden Suites to join my friend on her memorable day. Korny yung gift na binigay ko, but now I know what to get my other friends next time!

2. Work

- I’ve been somewhat unsuccessful with my work life balance goal so far. I want to blame it on my work because they just keep on giving it to me, but in the end, it’s still me who will have to learn and know how to manage work properly. I need to learn to say no, I need to delegate, and I need lessen the stress. It’s not good for the health, and it’s not going to help me improve the quality of my work anyway. So, I need to work on this more.

3. Read

- I‘ve finally picked up a book to read! I have around 6 books in pending to read and finally got to finish one. I will try to finish one book per week moving forward.

4. Exercise

- Stopped doing circuit training with a trainer. I want to focus more on cardio exercises instead of strength and toning. According to my ipod nano tracker, I’ve done almost 20k steps in two weeks already – a 4km run in the treadmill will probably give me 6-7k steps. Not too bad. I’m hoping to log a lot more in the upcoming weeks. Unfortunately, my plan earlier to run was postponed, because I just had to take a nap this afternoon. Too sleepy!

- Aside from treadmill running, I’ve been trying to incorporate biking in my cardio. I’ve tried riding the new bike around the village. Unfortunately, every time I ride my bike, after only one round of biking around the village, my legs are already shaking. Only means one thing – the legs are not as strong as I hoped they would be. All the more reason to ride the bike!

Hopefully I will get to do more exciting activities in the next few weeks. After writing this entry, I just realized how boring my life is! haha

Piggybank and Bike

2012-01-02T01:23:00.001-08:00

As the new year begins, I’ve decided to empty out my golden piggy bank! It was just half full though… but nonetheless, this is like free money!

Took me a while to count all the money because someone (hopefully not me), put in three pieces of chocolate coins! Alam niyo yung chocolate na yun? Anyway, it was annoying because although two of them was still intact, the third one was opened up and the chocolate was every where! Thankfully the chocolate wasn’t melted, but it was still disturbing to see lots of chocolate crumbs amongst the coins! And the smell! Coins smelling like chocolates? Not too appealing.

It took me some time to clean up most of the infected coins. But nonetheless, after finishing it all up, I think I got a pretty good amount!

And since I consider this “free money” (though not technically), I’ve decided to use this small savings amount to fund my new toy!

I bought it earlier, and I’m planning to ride this as often as I can, and even use this to go to the gym (instead of taking the car). It’s additional exercise, plus, environment friendly. I still have to get a head gear though. Don’t want to be riding out in the streets without one!

I’ve heard a lot of good things about biking. So, hopefully, I can try to incorporate this to my daily lifestyle (plus my gym time too!). Perhaps, a good start to 2012.

heat!

2011-12-28T16:52:00.001-08:00

We had a sumptuous meal last night at Edsa Shang’s HEAT! Haven’t been there for quite some time. It was a treat for our family, from a family relative. It was a great surprise and fun!

Highlight for me was probably when I met my uncle’s (ka age ko pero uncle ang tawag) girlfriend. Turns out, she’s two years younger than me, and also a graduate from ICA. Naturally, we ask if we have common friends. Small world, she’s cousins with my classmate from high school!

Funny thing is, when she was introduced to me, I heard Kim, but I wasn’t sure if I heard right. So I asked my mom, she said she thought her name was Gib. I asked my sister, she though her name was Gin? Ano ba talaga? Hindi ko tuloy siya makausap and matawag according sa name niya!

Since we have a common friend, I checked my friend’s FB. Unfortunately, there are too many Kims on the list, but there is one Gin – but wasn’t sure if that’s her. Kasi naka private ang profile. Anyway, for now, I’ll just call her Gin. haha

I ate a lot last night, yummy prime rib, and today, I’ll be having another sumptuous lunch at Peking Garden so I will go to the gym for now, and get some cardio workout first! After all, we exercise to eat!

Christmas tree

2011-12-27T08:16:00.001-08:00

Here’s our wonderful n-year old Christmas tree. We normally don’t have a lot of gifts under the tree, but I do find that…

the important ones need not be wrapped!

They can just be put in a red envelop instead!

Just kidding! Of course, it’s the thought that counts!

Merry Christmas everyone!

ivr team - photobooth

2011-12-18T22:01:00.001-08:00

Uso na talaga ang photobooth ngayon sa mga events.

Here’s ours!

showbiz!

2011-12-06T00:53:00.001-08:00

Our local showbiz news these days is quite exciting! First is the KC-Piolo breakup, and now, the Mo-Rhian issue.

I can't help myself not to react to the current showbiz talk of the town – the Rhian Ramos and Mo Twister issue.

To be honest, I feel really bad for Rhian. Supposed that what Mo’s alleged comments were true, isn’t it hard enough already for Rhian? And then here comes Mo, doing a kiss and tell. Definitely a no no. Real men don’t kiss and tell. Too bad. I don’t know how a person will be able to even overcome something like this. The trauma!

I think it was still Mo who divulged that video. I remember reading somewhere, correct me if I’m wrong, that before he was going to leave for the US, that he was going to divulge a secret to the masses. What a tool.

Let’s say Mo was really hurt by what happened, but I still think he should’ve kept things private. The same thing I can say to KC – she should’ve just not done that interview with Boy. Perhaps KC should’ve just done a Carmina… just keep quiet and let things pan out. Things like these are meant to be private, and not shared with the whole nation.

Hospital

2011-11-30T03:34:00.001-08:00

Time flies by so fast, it’s now December. I haven’t been blogging for a while, too many things going on. But generally, I feel very blessed these past few weeks.

Around three weeks ago, my younger sister was experiencing intermittent fevers. My mom, being the worrywart that she is, had a feeling that this may be another case of dengue fever (my sister was struck with dengue just last May 2011). So we had her platelet count checked over two days, and as soon as we saw the drastic drop, we decided to bring her to the ER. Another check was made there and another drop in her platelet count. So, she was confined yet again.

The dengue wasn’t that bad. A few days later, she was feeling a lot better. As the doctor says: “she is clinically well and no fever for the past 72 hours.” But before she will officially be released, the doc wanted another round of xray because the xray that was taken during her second day in the hospital showed a small sign of some liquid in her lungs (and by then, some antibiotics were being administered to her).

Surprise surprise, the second round of xray revealed that this whitish thing in the scans dramatically increased from a small block to the whole left and right lungs! The doc panicked like crazy, called up both infectious and pulmonary doctors to do some consults.

Turns out… my sister caught a very severe case of pneumonia! From then on,the doctors administered the “ultimate” antibiotic to clear up her lungs. If that didn’t work, whatever that was inside had to be drained. Administering the antibiotic had to take 10 days. We ended up staying in the hospital for three weeks. Finally yesterday, she was discharged.

We all know that getting confined in the hospital is very expensive. And in this case, it’s mostly the antibiotics that’ll kill the bill. Amidst all these though, what a blessing that it was only this year that I enrolled my sister as my dependent in the HMO in my company (my parents used to have her under blue cross but discontinued it starting last year). I just realized how important these health cards are! Although we do pay for it, but at least during these cases, we can utilize them. Subtracting philhealth and intellicare, we ended up paying just around 70k in total. Thank you Lord.

What’s important though is that my sister is safe, she’s alive and kicking, and she’s going back to school tomorrow after three weeks out! haha Good luck to her catching up on schoolwork.

And finally my mom can sleep soundly now – she was the one staying in the hospital the whole three weeks.

Hunger Games Official Trailer

2011-11-15T23:04:00.001-08:00

Finally!

Hunger Games Official Trailer

random thoughts

2011-11-14T01:59:00.001-08:00

My sister, for some reason, was hit with another strain of Dengue late last week. Around April/May this year, she already caught the dengue virus and was confined to the hospital for around a week. Now here she is again, struck with the 2nd strain of dengue in just a span of a few months. Now she’s confined again, and been there since last Thursday.

On another note, my sister, who is preggers with twins has just confirmed to us that they just had their ultrasound check and well, lucky them, they will be having twin girls by early next year! That’s two new baby girls coming just around the corner to add to their family! Grant will have two new sisters! Sorry Grant, you will no longer be the baby of the family!

Hike at Mt. Batulao

2011-11-08T01:24:00.000-08:00

I have never hiked in the Philippines so when a friend invited me on a hiking trip, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Unfortunately, due to my impulsive nature of saying “yes”, I didn’t even think of how long the hike will be and how the trail will look like.

I only had a look at it a day or two before the actual hike and I was surprised that the hike would take around 4-6 hours and the trail was open! No trees whatsoever to block the sun! I wanted to back out but since I committed already to the trip, I went on with it.

So with a heavy heart, I woke up 4 am the next day, and we went on our way.

Mt. Batulao is located just near Caleruega. It’s just around 1.5 to 2 hours from Manila.

The hike was long and arduous. The heat was terrible. Good thing I brought sun block because I would’ve been cooked up there. But as it turns out, hard work usually pays off because at the end of the day, the view you get to see from the top is amazing.

Not sure if you can see it in the picture above, but there are actually people hiking here. They’re already on their way back at this point!

My companion was not as prepared as me, so we ended up taking a break (even before we reached the peak) for almost 40 minutes! Technically, the hike would’ve been just 3-4 hours, but we finished it in 5 or 6 hours. We reached the peak at around 11:30 AM, and we got back to the car around 3:00 PM already.

All in all, for a first time hike, it wasn’t that bad. I sure hope that the sun was cooperating with us, but then again, I wouldn’t mind doing the hike again but definitely minus the scorching heat of the sun. I would highly recommend this to first time hikers. It’s not as hard and the view up there is very pretty and is worth the hard work.

Until next time!

For more info, you may visit this website: PinoyMountaineer

One Week Vacation!

2011-11-08T01:21:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been crazy busy. I haven’t done much except work. But I finally was able to take some time off this week (one week vacation!!).

Few things I want to accomplish this week:

1. Renew my license (done… almost)

2. Apply (finally) for my SSS Card ID (done)

3. Go back to badminton training (started yesterday, check!)

4. Meet up with the girls

5. Shop

6. Relax and bum around!

Tennis

2011-10-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Aside from being occupied with work for the past few weeks, I’ve also been very very much occupied with Tennis for the past few weeks.

Two weeks ago was the Pan Pacific Open held in Tokyo and last week was the China Open. Since it’s an Asian event, Eurosport’s live coverage of the WTA tournament’s started from the afternoon until night. You can just imagine how busy I was each day! And since these were top notch events, where top ranked players are playing, it made the events even more enjoyable to watch!

Tokyo

Radwanska overpowered Zvonoreva to win the Pan Pacific Open (and $300k+ in cash winnings). Watching Radwanska is very fun. Even big hitters like Zvonoreva can’t find a way to break down the defense!

China

Radwanska yet again wins another tournament, two weeks in a row, beating Petkovic in a thrilling finals match last night (winning $700k+). This was one of the best matches I’ve ever watched. Although Petkovic downed Radwanska in the second set 6-0, the first and third set was AMAZING. By the third set, you can’t figure out who will eventually win this! If you’re rooting for Radwanska, you’d be crazy nervous. If you’re rooting for Petkovic, you’d be crazy nervous too! I can’t imagine how the players were feeling when they were both 4-4 in the third set! But finally, Radwanska broke Petkovic to lead 5-4 and the next game had Radwanska serving for the match, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, since the match was so long, Eurosport’s coverage had to cut it off to show Cycling so we were not able to watch the awarding ceremonies. Anyway, I’m hoping for a replay today, perhaps I’ll be able to catch the awarding ceremonies then.

Hunger Games Trailer

2011-09-19T03:17:00.001-07:00

Been wanting to post this for a while.

Here’s the first official Hunger Games trailer released!

Hunger Games–Official Trailer [HD]

When they cast Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, I wasn’t convinced. But watching this, for some reason, they were able to make her look so much younger! I still think that they should’ve picked a younger actress for the role of Katniss, but this casting might just work. I’m 100% sure that this movie is going to be a blockbuster. Hopefully it’ll be more popular than the Twilight series. This has way more substance and action!

Hopefully the movie will live up to the quality of the books.

Few more months of waiting left!

Ultimate Taste Test @ Rockwell

2011-09-04T23:19:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Rhys, Marcy and I were able to attend Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test event last September 03, 2011 (ang mahal pa naman ng entrance fee!). I never heard about this event and apparently, it’s already in its 6th year! It’s in 6th year and this is the only time we heard about it??

There were limited tickets only, 1000 sold for 585 pesos each. Quite pricey, but I think for the experience, it’s definitely worth the money.

There were 55 merchants, and you get to try food from each of them (if your stomach can fathom it). I think I only tried half of them. Medyo naparami kasi agad yung na try namin na desserts, probably why nabusog agad and then by dinner time, I was sooo hungry.

Anyway, there were a couple of standouts for me.

Theo & Philo Chocolate.

I haven’t found a local brand of chocolate yet which I feel like will be up to par to world standard chocolatiers. And I was surprised that Theo & Philo Chocolates existed. According to the owner, their chocolates are created from locally grown cocoa beans (from Davao, if I’m not mistaken). What was interesting with their chocolate was that they added a little something unique and Filipino to it. For example, the picture on the right, if you look closely, it’s actually a sample of “Dark Chocolate with Siling Labuyo”. Very very interesting right? In fact, I just had to buy a bar to get my family to taste it! It was a really unique chocolate!

Mang Pedro

We all love Taho. Who doesn’t? So it was a nice surprise to find a stall called Mang Pedro who’s main product are different flavored tahos. I tried the regular taho and the chocolate taho. I still like the regular taho.

According to the owner, a 12 liter jug can serve up to 50-60 people will cost 1200 pesos. Their main clients would be during parties, and with restaurants who outsource their taho desserts.

Yoh-gee

Amidst all the craze these days with yogurt and gelato, here comes a different variety of yogurt/ice cream/gelato – Frozen Kefir. It’s another variety I guess of fermented milk. Don’t really know the details about it but it is a bit sour, like yogurt, but it’s actually pretty good. I first tried the Mango flavor, nothing special about it, but when I tried their best seller – the regular/plain kefir, oh that one was pretty good.

There are so much more to talk about this wonderful experience. Thanks to Rhys for introducing us to this great event. And I can’t believe I even saw some friends there who I haven’t seen for years! What a small world!

Final Destination 5

2011-08-29T16:05:00.001-07:00

When Marcy, Vicky and I planned to watch a movie at Trinoma yesterday, we were supposed to watch Crazy, Stupid, Love but the cinema was packed so we ended up watching Final Destination 5.

Final Destination is on its 5th and hopefully, last installment. This popular movie series has been making people cringe with expected yet “unexpected” deaths. I remember watching the first two installments in the movie house way back in college and as expected, the horrible deaths and expecting when the death will come is just cringe worthy! I remember watching parts 3 and 4 just in dvd so it wasn’t that bad.

I found watching Final Destination 5 to be very very stressful! I cannot believe Marcy put me through an hour and a half of this ordeal. I have to say though, it’s quite entertaining, except for the fact that you just wonder who gory the deaths will come out to be! I remember Vicky telling me “Bev, pangalawa pa lang yun!”.

Overall, the film is entertaining given its plot – you cheat death, death comes after you. Would I recommend it? I would say yes, because it’ll be fun to go through the whole thing with friends and see each other’s reaction! I saw Marcy cover her mouth with her hand a couple of times, and I knew Vicky wanted the movie to finish already!

I did notice that a couple of the scenes were shot in Vancouver! I knew the restaurant and the bridge where the initial accident occurred.

5k Run

2011-08-25T22:58:00.001-07:00

I think I did pretty good this time around. I felt good running, didn’t feel as tired. Seems like all the badminton training, circuit training is paying off!

Next 5k run in a month’s time. Will try to get it done below the 30 minute mark.

random thoughts

2011-08-25T01:04:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had that feeling when you’re all happy and relaxed, where you feel like you’re doing things right, and then suddenly, you feel down the dumps, and things just aren’t working right?

That’s exactly what I’m feeling right now. I feel like happy days are over, and things will be getting serious in the next few days… and weeks, or even months.

Sometimes I think it’s just that I’m too hard on myself. Might be because I am a worrywart by heart? Or is it because I just hate failing? Too many things to consider, but one thing I’m sure of is that, I need to change this attitude of mine where I just can’t let go of things at once. And the bad thing about this is that it brings me too much unnecessary stress.

Not only is this about work, but something happened yesterday that suddenly woke me up from my deep slumber. And it had to do with me driving. Argh. I can’t get it out of my head!

So, my teammate suggested that perhaps, I need a long overdue break. Relax from work. Away from work, go on a long vacation, you name it. Now, that made me think about my plans for the rest of the year… perhaps, I’ll finally say yes to the long overdue trip that my friend’s been pushing me to go to… abangan ang decision!

Lunch/Merienda at Conti’s

2011-08-18T01:58:00.001-07:00

Leda, Marcy and I had a really nice simple lunch/merienda yesterday at Conti’s in Makati. Funny how we ended up going for lunch at 2 pm on a weekday! Very unusual time I must say. But you’d have to realize that we all did have weird working hours that day (especially for Leda anyway).

I went to work 4 AM, got off from work 12 noon.

Marcy went to work 12 midnight, got off from work who knows when.

Leda started work at 5 AM, off by 2 PM.

Just goes to show that even though you work odd hours, as long as your friends who work the same odd hours as you do, you can still have a successful social life!

So here’s to two beautiful ladies who I consider my one of my closest friends amongst the bunch… to more get togethers and kwentuhan!

One week back

2011-08-14T20:59:00.001-07:00

It’s so much fun to see my family and friends again in Manila!

I arrived back last Sunday morning from what was the best flight ever! Normally, the direct flight from Vancouver to Manila is actually a stopover flight from Las Vegas. It’s Vegas – Vancouver – Manila flight, and by the time plane’s in Vancouver, it’s already half full.

But in this case, the plane was not only new (with tv sets on each seat!!), but it was just half full! I had the whole three seats to myself! Which meant that I could lie down to sleep instead of sleeping sitting down!

Well, the food still wasn’t great but at least I got a terrific sleep and was able to watch a couple of movies as well (including Sarah Geronimo and Gerald Anderson’s Catch me I’m Falling, which was funny by the way!).

I had a lot of things I wanted to do as I arrived back here in Manila. Top of the list is to go shopping, go back to gym and meet up with my friends!

And so, here’s what a summary of what I did for the few days after I got back.

Monday – Gym, Shopping, Derma

Tuesday – Quiz Nights

Wednesday – Badminton Training

Thursday – Shopping

Friday – Back to Work, Badminton Training

I think I was able to do quite a bit in a span of a week. I think I logged a lot of hours of workout via my badminton training. Also, I was able to do some shopping. Every time I am in Canada, my pants and shirts get old as those keep getting washed via the washing machine and dryer.

Now, what do I do this week…

I do have a 5k run this coming Sunday. I just came from the gym. I have Badminton Training on Wednesday and Friday.

How come these are all exercises that I’m doing? Haha

Random Thoughts in YVR

2011-08-05T22:38:00.001-07:00

After the exercising and diet for the past few weeks and months, I think I gained it all back in just a span of a week. Not that I’m complaining. My goal wasn’t to bloat this time around anyway.

On another note, we finally finished our July release last weekend. Finally!! Now I only have one project to look after instead of 2-3 all the at the same time. A huge sight of relief. Since last Monday, after around 2-3 PM, I no longer have much to do. I haven’t felt this way for a long time. It’s nice to finally get some much needed down time from work. And just in time for my return to Manila.

On top of the relaxed week I’ve had, I also got a lot of nice farewells from my teammates. My manager surprised me with this set of books as a going away gift. I remember back in Manila, we were talking about book and this was the series that he recommended to me. Now I have something to look forward to reading when I’m back.

I also had a lot of coffee and lunch/dinner out this week. Talk about overeating! Almost all of them were free meals, free coffee, free drinks. Lots of love going on around our team these days!

As I was walking home this afternoon, I just felt happy. Just happy. So happy, that for some unknown reason, I was drawn to going to the church, and just pray and thank the Lord for all the blessings he has showered upon me this past months. And I did. I a, very thankful because everything is from him. All the hardships, all the happiness all came from him. I’ve grown so much the past months, more contented too. I think the bad vibes are totally gone now.

One of the realizations I’ve had just in the past few days that I want to share is that, you can be “alone” but very happy and contented. It’s been a year, and well, I don’t think I’ve been happier. And when I was thinking about it, it’s because of the people around me and the things I did. I’ve met so much more people this time, I’ve done so many more different activities, and all these made me realize that I am very blessed, and there’s nothing more I can ask for. Maybe work took 70% of my time while I was here, but I realized too that I loooove my work and it makes me happy. This is one way of being happy – learning to identify the things that make us happy, and realizing its impact to us as a person.

I do hope that people realize this too, that we can be happy on our own. And I think in order to be un”alone”, we first have to start happiness within ourselves. And as I always say, good vibes, attracts good things.

And thus, I’ll be seeing you Manila in a few hours. Signing off from Vancouver airport.

Less than a week to go

2011-08-01T17:38:00.001-07:00

In less than a week, I’ll be back in Manila.

As excited as I am to go back, I’m also sad to leave. I think this past 5 months was the best 5 months that I’ve had in Canada for the past three years. It might be because I did a lot of things this year, compared to the previous years.

1. Went to the gym regularly (3 – 4 times a week)

2. Got to go on a one week vacation to Quebec, Toronto, Montreal

3. Started running again

4. Watched a whole lot of movies (up to date na ulit ako!)

5. Went on two long hikes – Garibaldi and The Chief

6. Was able to do grouse grind again after two years!

7. Watched a live football game!

8. Shopped for myself a lot this time (instead of shopping for pasalubongs all the time).

9. Went out with friends more

10. Did a whole lot of work!

For some odd reason, I felt good again. True, I can’t wait to go back, but I’m going to miss what I have here again. After three years, I finally think I really won’t mind staying here for good.

BC Lions!

2011-07-26T20:59:00.001-07:00

One more thing I can finally cross out on the list of things I want to experience is… watching a live Football game! Nope, not soccer, but the hard core American Football sport!

My friend from the gym has season tickets for the BC Lions home game and last July 22 was a home game so he invited me (or I invited myself) to watch. It’s the first time I’ve watched this sport live. I used to only watch football from the movies and maybe some highlights from ESPN or TSN, but not watch the whole game.

BC Lions is British Columbia’s home grown football team in the Canadian Football League (CFL). If USA has NFL, Canada has its own version which is the CFL. Although NFL is popular in the states, I don’t think CFL is nearly as popular in Canada as it wants it to be. It might be because Canada is more of a hockey country, just like how Philippines is a basketball country.

Mind you, I’m not really a great big fan of American Football. Perhaps because it was never big in the Philippines or maybe it’s just too much testosterone. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed watching this match! I was into the game! My friend was kind enough to teach me the rules of the game throughout the match. By the end of the game, I knew what a 1st down, 3rd down, yards gained, punt was!

And you know how it is in live games, everyone’s just in it! I heard a guy seating a couple rows behind me shouting “Knock his head off!!!” and then another lady a couple of rows down dancing like crazy! It was all fun. As for me, I ended up stomping my feet (they do that to distract the opponents while they’re making their plays), shouting and cheering for the big boys.

Unfortunately, BC Lions lost though. But what the heck, it was a fun night, my first live football match, and that’s another first for me!

Garibaldi Lake

2011-07-23T21:19:00.001-07:00

Today was spent hiking on Garibaldi Park in Squamish, British Columbia. This is about 30 minutes further north of Stawamus Chief, which we hiked a couple of weeks back. This hike took us approximately 7-8 hours, covering a distance of 25km. Elevation's hard to determine. Our ultimate goal to doing the hike is to get to the beautiful Garibaldi Lake, situated right smack in the middle of mountains, which is why, the only way to get there is to hike, or if you’re rich, perhaps, use a helicopter.

Here’s the picture of the trail map around the Garibaldi Provincial Park. This picture is from VanLiving.Net.

Our trek started from the Rubble Creek parking lot, going up to the junction (roughly around 6-7 km hike). From the junction, we decided to take the longer route so that we can pass by Taylor Meadows. Taylor Meadows is supposed to be a very pretty place at this point in time, but look what we encountered halfway up there:

(Left) from dry path to (Right) wet snow!

Hiking in snow is no fun at all. It’s slippery, it’s soft, and worst of all, it’s wet. Most of the effort was trying to be balanced. As my friend told me, the experience of hiking and walking through snow is like one who’s walking on a tight rope, trying to keep the balance, and the rope just keeps on wobbling. A couple of times I almost twisted my bad ankle.

And another thing I realized with hiking in the snow is the illusion that it is packed snow, but when you step on it, your whole leg submerges down! I think It happened to me a couple of times, which I hate more because if you don’t have any balance, you might just break your leg.

And what’s worst, I had my runners on! Which is not a good idea at all. If you hike, better use proper hiking shoes.

Continuing on with the hike, from Taylor Meadows, we somehow lost track of the markers and got lost for around 40 minutes, just wandering around the snow until we found the markers again. The good thing about my friend, he had his Garmin GPS so that we somehow had an idea where we were wandering to.

At this point, we’ve been hiking for roughly 3 hours already. And according to my pedometer, I’ve been walking 12000 steps already! Talk about being tired and then, worst – being lost! But somehow we managed to find the markers again (thank goodness!) and continue our way to Garibaldi Lake. By the way. I somehow managed to snap picture of the Black Tusk! Awesome isn’t it?

Even though we’ve been trekking for a while now, I still have energy left to continue the hike. But with a view of the lake (see below), I don’t think you’ll be tired at all! It’s well worth it after all.

Garibaldi Lake is amazing! It’s also extra special because there were still snow around, and we have to admit, even if snow is very hard to work with, it still looks beautiful with nature. And can you believe it, snow in the middle of Summer! Weather here is really absurd these days.

We stopped here for a quick snack and to enjoy the view for a moment. My other friend let me taste this Korean rice cake or something. It wasn’t bad, but… after eating the whole slice, my stomach suddenly felt really really absurd. Ang sakit! It was tolerable, but it didn’t help at all with the trek back. Of course, I didn’t tell her that. That’ll be too rude as she offered that to me anyway.

Our trek going back is to go via Barrier Lake path instead of the Taylor Meadow trail. That’s roughly another 10km back to the parking lot. Hiking down is as hard as hiking up. Going down, your ankle, knee, calves take all the weight. While going down, my legs and ankles are about to just give up. So in order to lessen the stress, I tried running down (after we got past all the snowy area, which was almost an hour later). Running down definitely lessened the pain. In fact, it was really fun running down the hills. You just have to be careful though. There were rocks all over the trails and some of them are protruding and they were as sharp as a knife.

Finally, around 3 PM, we finally made it back to the parking lot. We started around 7:30, if I’m not mistaken. What a day! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to track my overall steps via my pedometer because my iPod Nano died an hour before we got to the end zone. But according to my friend’s GPS, he said we trekked a total of roughly 25 km. Not bad at all.

This is definitely something I wouldn’t mind doing again, but not just in the next few weeks. Perhaps next year again!

Random Thoughts for the Day

2011-07-16T23:18:00.001-07:00

Ipod Nano

I have a new Ipod Nano! I’ve been scouring craigslist for a few weeks now and I was finally able to find one selling his brand new nano 6th gen for just 110 CAD. Normally, the Nano sells around 149 (+ tax) in the Apple Store, so at 110, I think it’s a good deal.

Although I do have an ipod Touch, but I once tried using it during running and it was felt pretty bulky carrying it around. I wanted something small and handy that I can carry during hikes, runs, and even in the gym. In fact, I have an unopened ipod shuffle 3rd gen back in Manila but never wanted to use it, and was intending to sell it off because I didn’t like that model. Anyway, I ended up with the Nano because it had lot more features than the shuffle, and with the 6th gen Nano, Apple shrunk it to a size close to that of the shuffle 4th gen.

Let me see if I can improve my Grouse Grind time with this new gadget I have.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market is an amazing store where you can get all these diverse organic and natural products that you won’t see in any other grocery store. Just going into this store is an amazing experience. All the unique items there are awesome, and I especially love their selection of breads. I also heard the salad bar is amazing but I haven’t had the chance to try it out.

I’ve been here a couple of times already, and I usually just look around. I like going back here every now and then and so when my friend saw my tea mug (I have a post about it a couple of weeks back), he said he wanted one too, thus after we picked up my Ipod Nano this morning, we went straight to Whole Foods at Broadway and Cambie so that he can get himself a new tea mug. Oh boy did he like the other model as well, and he ended up buying 4 tea mugs in total! I was thinking of getting one for my sister too, but ended up not getting one because I am not sure if she’s an avid tea drinker as I am.

Anyhow, I did end up buying an organic green tea + jasmine tea. I’ve always loved this type of tea, but I haven’t tried out this brand yet. This was a bit expensive though. So hopefully this is worth the price I paid for it.

And since I loved their assortment of breads, I got an Italian Garlic Bread too. My colleague highly recommended that specific bread to me, so I got one earlier, which cost me almost $6 by the way, and I’ll give it a try tomorrow morning for breakfast.

Stefano’s

My landlady and landlord (Ate Mae and Kuya Toni) are celebrating their wedding anniversary this coming Monday and as an advance celebration, we went to Stefano’s, a Greek restaurant in New Westminster.

I’ve heard nice things about this restaurant, food is good, ambiance is wonderful, and music (live band) is entertaining.

Instead of ordering the usual Souvlaki, I got the Halibut Teriyaki instead with Ceasar’s Salad. According to their menu:

Halibut Teriyaki - west coast halibut fillet broiled and topped with teriyaki sauce $23

I loved my order. I don’t usually enjoy Greek food as much, not a big fan, but this one was really good. I find the Halibut usually bland, thus the addition of the teriyaki sauce was definitely a plus factor. However, I was disappointed with the desert we ordered – Tiramisu cake. It was all cream, hardly any of the good parts of an actual tiramisu was there. Very disappointed.

Although I was disappointed with the desert, I enjoyed the music and the band though. They were playing all different music from love songs to disco songs! And at Stefano’s, they have a nice dance area too so diners can dance and enjoy the music! Of course I didn’t dance (and I never will!) but it was so much fun watching people of all ages dance! That’s probably one of my frustrations – I can’t dance!!

Slippers

2011-07-12T22:34:00.001-07:00

I have new fluffy slippers, a gift from my very thoughtful landlady!

Which means, I can now use my 3+ year old ipanema slippers, which is still by the way in the best condition, outside. Well worth the 1k I paid for it! I’ve been looking for another slipper sana, but, I can’t seem to find a similar one. Unfortunately, Ipanema doesn’t make the same type of slippers anymore.

Grouse Grind So Far

2011-07-09T20:21:00.001-07:00

As part of my fitness theme for this year’s Canada “work/vacation”, I’ve been challenging myself to do the grouse grind, not just do it, but improve on my time. Back in 2009, I bought myself the grind timer so that I can keep track of my hikes. Last year though, I went home to Manila before the grouse grind opened, so I didn’t have any hikes under my belt last year.

But this time, since I am extended here for another month, I’ve set a goal for myself to do the grind every week. It’s a good calorie burning exercise, and endurance training as well. So far, I’ve done three grouse grinds this season, with time improvements compared to two years ago:

Last night’s grind was my personal best so far. I’m trying to crack the one hour mark, so hopefully, in the next few weeks, I’ll be able to do so. And it only means one thing, more training in the gym! In fact, I did go to the gym earlier and got a 30 minute run as well (but I barely hit the 5km mark!), and did some nice circuit training too.

I thought I was going to make the one hour mark last night, but my time in the 3rd quarter wasn’t good. Took me a good 20 minutes there, which ideally should’ve been just 15 minutes. The change I did this time was to slower my pace the first quarter. In my second grind, it took me 15 minutes to reach the first quarter mark, but I was so tired afterwards, thus the 1:10 result. Last night, my first quarter was 20 minutes, but I had more energy all throughout.

What I really want to improve on are my legs and my heart. Some times, I just have to stop because my heart’s beating like crazy already. And at times, my heart’s ok, but my legs are just giving up. More training needed!

You know it’s summer here in Vancouver when…

2011-07-06T22:32:00.001-07:00

1. I need an electric fan in my room.

2. I’m wearing shorts at home.

3. My landlady changed my sheets to something cooler (no more comforters!).

4. The window in my room is now open.

5. I don’t wear my jacket outside.

6. I need to apply sunblock when I go out.

7. I’ve changed my walking route to and from the office, because I want to get as much shade as I can. The sun heat here is terrible!

8. It’s 9PM and there’s still light outside!

9. I finally sweat when I’m outside.

10. You see more people in parks and beaches, sunbathing and showing as much skin as possible.

11. You see more people riding their bikes, roller blading and running outside.

12. When I get asked by security (on my way to the gym) why I’m not enjoying the sunny weather outside.

And you know we’re Filipinos here because when we’re waiting for bus stops, we try to look for the best “shaded” place as possible! And my friends and I were talking about how the sun is just painful here, and we all agree that we all just want to take out our umbrellas to shield ourselves from the sun, but we’re just too embarrassed to do it! After all, people here are totally into this summer weather, which they only get for just a couple of months a year. Summer here is something people here really enjoy!

Welcome summer in Vancouver. Haven’t seen you in two years!

Blog Site: Welcome Home Blog

2011-07-04T07:34:00.001-07:00

My usual routine before I go to bed is to read some random article online via my iPod Touch. Last night, I was supposed to go to sleep around 11 pm, but as per my routine, I stumbled upon this pretty nice website: Welcome Home Blog.

This blog posts different videos of American soldiers coming home from military duties and surprising their loved ones. Each video you’d watch, you’d probably be shedding a tear or two. I think I’m going to have puffy eyes today because of all the “crying” I did last night by just watching these videos. Oh, and did I tell you that I ended up sleeping at 12:30 am?? I just couldn’t stop watching these touching videos.

I recommend everyone to find time to check this website out. Although we’re not Americans, but the idea of family and love will always be the same for everyone. And make sure to have a tissue paper handy at arms reach.

Quebec Trip: Montmorency Falls, Charlevoix

2011-07-03T20:19:00.001-07:00

Another two places we visited was the Montmorency Falls and the Charlevoix City in Quebec Province.

Montmorency Falls

Montmorency Falls is a tourist destination in Quebec Province. It is a huge waterfall situated just close to Quebec City. The entrance we used was from the top, thus, we had to ride the Gondola down (it’s not free by the way) to be able to get a shot like the one below. Unfortunately, it was really windy and rainy during this time so we stayed only for a few minutes at this point and went back up to the top of the falls via the same Gondola.

On top of the waterfall, in the surrounding area, houses the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency. It is a restaurant or meeting area where one can dine, hold business meetings, or even wedding banquets.

Pictures above were taken mid point of the falls, there’s a viewing area. You can see the St. Lawrence river from here. Very pretty sight, especially since you’ll see bits of pieces of snow still there, but melting away. I wonder how beautiful this place would look like during Winter and the Fall seasons.

You’ll also notice in the picture above on the left, that there’s a bridge that crosses across the whole waterfall. Unfortunately, when I got to that point, the battery of my camera died. So no pictures.

You can read more about Montmorency Falls here.

Charlevoix

After dropping by Montmorency Falls and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, our next pit stop was to go to Charlevoix and do some whale watching and to visit a casino on the side.

Unfortunately, it was such a windy and rainy day that when we got to the whale watching site, there was no boat sailing out! Too bad… but the good thing is, we found this nice trail which ended up in a shore line area with these huge rock formations looking out to a body of water. This sight was amazing. My aunt’s said that it looked similar to the ones in Newfoundland (originally part of the itinerary but had to be scrapped out because of time constraints).

We stayed at Charlevoix for one night, before heading back to Quebec the next day. From Quebec City, we went travelled to Montreal, then to Cornwall, and then back to Mississauga.

More about the next pit stop on another blog post.

Quebec City Trip: Frontenac and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré

2011-07-01T17:42:00.001-07:00

This is supposed to be a continuation of my previous post: Niagara Falls. Took me a while to finally finish this up.

Niagara Falls was just the first stop on that trip. The following day, we drove up to Cornwall, still in Ontario to go to my Aunt’s place first. She lives there and is working as a physical therapist. Cornwall is a nice little town, 4-5 hours away from Mississauga City. I like this place because you can pretty much go from point A to point B by just walking. And it’s a quiet little place, I wouldn’t mind staying there to relax. In fact, my dad once visited this place as well and he fell in love with it, saying that this place would be a great place to retire and live the simple life.

There’s a lot of things one can see in Quebec City.

Château Frontenac

This is a grand hotel located in what I would say is Quebec’s version of Intramuros. It’s in a fort and sits beside this body of water – I think it’s the St. Lawrence River.

This was our first stop in Quebec City. I just love the ambiance of this city. Everyone’s speaking French, the weather is cool, and the architecture is beautiful, like a mini version of Europe. For instance:

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré

This is one of the most beautiful Basilica’s I’ve seen in my life. The basilica is huge. The basilica per se has been around for hundreds of years, but in the year 1922, the original basilica was destroyed by fire, thus, this one in the picture is actually the rebuilt basilica. If the outside was magnificent, wait until you get inside – it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Outside view of the Basilica and the inside ceiling view.

De La Salle is here!

At the back area of the basilica is the “Stations of the Cross”. It’s almost a lifelike replica of the different stations of the cross. I can’t recall in the Philippines where I’d seen a similar Stations of the Cross where you go up the hill as you go to each station. It’s very beautiful. Even though it was cold that day, we visited each station, and trekked all the way to the top.

I can only imagine what this would look like during Fall and Winter season, it would be very very beautiful. You can read more about this Basilica here.

I will need to post these pictures somewhere!!!

This is just the half of the trip – there’s still the Montmorency Falls, Charlevoix, Attempted Whale Watching, Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. That’ll come in the next post!

My Finances

2011-06-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

In line with my attempt to fix up my finances, last April, I started logging all money related data into an excel sheet. This will definitely allow me to see where my money is going. And having three months worth of data, so far, has given me a better idea of where am I wasting money, and how much am I really saving.

I separated my document into 4 categories:
1. Income
2. Investments
3. Debt/Obligation Expenses
4. Miscellaneous Expenses

My monthly "net" is computed as:
Income - (Investments + Debt/Obligation Expenses + Misc. Expenses)

What's left just goes straight to my savings account.

And what gets accumulated in my savings account eventually will be used for some "purchases" that I'd like to do some time in the future.

Now, I've only had three months worth of data, and I've been in Canada all those time, so it'll definitely be different once I am back in Manila. No extra Canada income and expenses for me!

Going back to my excel sheet, I've noticed a couple of things:

1. Miscellaneous expenses goes to shopping, food, and extra curricular activities. You only spend a few bucks here, and few bucks there, but eventually when you add it all up, it gets quite big. We have a tendency to scrimp on huge expenses, but when you list down all the mini expenses, it sums up to perhaps, an even bigger amount.

2. Investments and Debt Obligations take up majority of my monthly expenses. There are what we call good and bad debts, and my debt here is definitely not a good one. It's more of a luxurious debt for me because I wanted a car, and it's not earning me any money, but it's something I wanted, and I love very dearly. On the other hand, at least, I am still maintaining the consistency of investing monthly. I believe that if we want to prepare for our future, starting earlier is better. Thus, I make sure that I regularly and religiously "pay myself first" by setting aside money for my investments.

I used to be very thrifty and always saved a lot of my income. I realized how much of a "kuripot" person I am when I was about to go to Canada for the first time (this was way back 2008). When I was preparing, that's when I realized that I didn't have much clothes to bring over to Canada! Paulit ulit lang pala ang suot ko the whole time! That was a crappy feeling because normally, at home, we have someone who washes our clothes everyday. But in Canada, you don't do laundry on a daily basis! You do it on a weekly basis! Thus, what I needed was at least a week to two weeks worth of clothes! And you know how it is when you are cramming to buy clothes for yourself, you just can't find what you want/like when you need it!

My mom kept on reminding me that I am now earning my own money, thus I should start enjoying it! And so I started enjoying it, buying this and that but still on a controlled manner.

That is until late last year, when my spending habits went through the roof!!! Ok, I have to admit, that was a coping mechanism at that time.

Which is why early this year, I finally decided that I need to take some action and fix up my finances. I started diversifying my investments and I started my excel sheet. Well, I'm still spending quite a bit (I'm excused! I'm in Canada anyway!), but at least, I have some things fixed and aligned.

Hopefully I will continue to strive hard to maintain or even improve my financial standing. It'll definitely take a lot of work, but I think the important thing still to remember is that we still need to enjoy! There's no point working and working like crazy, earning the big bux but couldn't even enjoy the fruits of one's labor.

Longest Day Race

2011-06-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

Aside from the Hike we did last Sunday, we also ran the "Longest Day Race" last Friday night. It's an annual even held during the spring/summer season here in Vancouver - in UBC to be exact.

For some reason, this picture keeps on rotating. I'll leave this in this position for now.

This is my second time joining this race. The first time was two years ago, and I joined the 5km. Now I can do 10km! I was with a couple of friends and all of us ran the 10km. I didn't run for the time though. I was there to motivate my other friend, who's running his first 10km. He did pretty well! 1 hour 14 minutes. Not bad!

The nice thing about this run is the after party - BBQ!!! A ton of food, burger, fruits, cookies, chips, you name it! We got to stash a lot of free stuff for ourselves as well. Some of which, I used for the hiking trip the following Sunday.

I like how things are going these days, I've really become more into fitness. In fact, we have a couple of things up and coming. Later this afternoon, we're joining this stretching class in the fitness center, and then this coming Saturday, our first Grouse Grind! Then next week, we're thinking of doing another hike.

My only concern is that I hope, I can continue this fitness craze when I get back to Manila. Let's wait and see.

I Conquered The Chief!

2011-06-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours from office invited us for a hiking trip to Stawamus Chief in Squamish, British Columbia, not knowing what was in store for us! According to him, the hiking trip would take around 4 hours. Ok, that's not so bad. But that was under the assumption that the hike wouldn't be that hard!!

I was under the impression that the hike will just have sloping paths, zigzagging its way around the mountain, but I was mistaken. The first part of the climb reminded me so much of the Grouse Grind! It was like walking up endlessly in a staircase with no end in sight, add to the fact that you're climbing and stepping on rocks and roots instead! Total madness. Took us around 1 hour something just to go to our first stop, the rock, which isn't even halfway up!

But swaying away from the topic for a moment - I didn't expect my legs to hold on that well. Seems like my gym time is paying off!

Anyway, back to the chief. After reaching the end of the "Staircase", we reach this point where you need to grab on to a set of chains just so you can climb up! Scary portion of the climb, but very exciting. Unfortunately, I don't have hiking boots so I had to stick with my running shoes, which wasn't a good idea. Climbing through slippery rocks was very scary and my running shoes aren't providing me with the grip necessary to climb up there. I was scared like shit at one point, because I was holding on to dear life and my feet kept on slipping while I attempt to cross this huge boulder. I have no idea how I got to the other side, but what I do know is that I got a little bit of scratch mark in my legs after that portion.

Of course, anything you work hard for, always pays off after. Thus, reaching peak #2 was amazing! Unfortunately, it was foggy so we didn't see much of a view from up there, but we were given a different perspective with all the fog up there. It actually feels a bit more scary with all the fog around you, and you cannot even see the end of the cliff (just like my picture from up there)!

So all in all, it took us 6 hours to climb up, go to peak 1, 2 and 3, then climb down back to the parking lot. I find that going down is as hard as going up. Going down is terrible on the knees and ankles. Our friend Ronald, could hardly go down anymore. His knees were killing him. As for me, when I woke up this morning, I was expecting my legs to be sore, but it's not (I ran 10km last Friday night, so the soreness was still there). But I'm surprised that my shoulders and my back are pretty sore! Argh! I will need to rest for the next few days for sure or else I might aggravate the pain in my back. No gym

But then again, this is one activity I won't forget for a long time. I probably won't do this activity again next week, but perhaps, I'll do it again when I'm back in Canada some time in the future.

gym, work

2011-06-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

I missed yesterday and today's gym sessions. :( I'm so disappointed.
Missed it yesterday because I went to watch a movie instead, and I missed tonight because I was too tired from my stupid work these days. I need to do my circuit training tomorrow! And this coming Friday, I have a 10km run! Can't wait!

On the other hand, my work these days have been terrible, terrible. I hate it! I hate the shitty reporting work that for some reason, always goes back to me. I'm hoping for a miracle that everything will just go away, and that I can just go back to doing coding, and that's it. Perhaps, I ought to pray about it tonight.

Canucks craze

2011-06-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

Canada normally has a cold weather majority of the year which is why it's no surprise that hockey is their favorite sport here. And with the Vancouver Canucks reaching the Stanley Cup finals, everyone's just in hockey fever here.

I haven't seen this type of love and support by a whole city (or perhaps, even the whole country) to a sports team ever! A week ago, I was walking at Broadway and I see all these people, of all kinds of race, age, you name it, wearing a Canucks jersey, Canucks shirt, just about anything as long as it has the Canucks logo in it. Cars even have the Canucks flags sticking at their window. You'd even see houses setup with all Canucks related stuff!

In Manila, I'm guessing that when the Mavs won the NBA championship yesterday, everyone was talking about it. But here? We almost didn't know that NBA just finished, because basketball's just not the sport here. Everyone's just talking about the Stanley Cup!

The whole Canucks being in the finals of the Stanley Cup has proven to be good in the economy too. During a Canucks game, tons of people make their way to downtown, to different pubs and bars to watch the game. In fact, for this finals series, they even close off some areas in downtown because the fans are just everywhere! There's just this feeling of elation everywhere when the Canucks are playing. Once, I was in the skytrain, I saw these guys wearing their jerseys, had their face painted with the Canucks color, shouting around, and holding a replica of the Stanley Cup! So much fun to see these fans! I love their energy and support!

Think of it as when Manny Pacquiao has a boxing match, everyone in the Philippines is zoomed into their tv sets to watch the match. The only difference I see with the fans here is that, everyone's wearing the Canucks jersey (which by the way, will cost you 130++ dollars per jersey)! It's total madness, but it's so much fun too!

Tonight's game 6 at Boston with the Canucks leading the series 3-2. Everyone's gonna go bersek if they win! And I sure hope they win! It'll put everyone to a good mood! :)

Libre

2011-05-28T23:33:00.001-07:00

For Leda, as requested.

Tea Cup

2011-05-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't like tea before. But ever since I started going to Canada, for some reason, I ended up loving tea. Loving it so much that tea has become my water all day long. My usual drink were either earl grey's or the tea from Starbucks. I used them up because they were in a pouch. So no loose leafs there. And then one day, a colleague brought a huge stash, a ton of variety teas! There were so many different flavors, I didn't even know which one to choose. But the problem there was that they were loose leafs, and well, we don't want loose leafs in our drinks.

And thus, my other officemate, got me this:

A very very nice tea cup.

And the nice thing about it is that... look below, it has built in filtering system!

So technically, there are three parts to this cup: the cover, the filtering device, and the cup body. And what's even better is that you can remove the filtering and reseal the cup with just the cover and the body. Isn't it sooo cool?

Oh, and you won't notice it in the cup itself, but it's actually glass inside, and plastic or some other material outside. Which means, even though the tea is way hot, you won't feel it in your fingertips.

Beautiful isn't it? It makes tea taste better for some reason.

annoying take 2

2011-05-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

We have an event tomorrow at the office where we can showcase our own cooking to different people. This event's been ongoing for the past three years and this year, we decided to join the event! As everyone might know, I'm not really a kitchen person, and so when we decided to join, I thought that maybe, I can prepare my mom's very very delicious leche flan. It's not the usual very creamy leche flan, which I don't like. I like it a bit thicker that the usual. And my mom's recipe is the best.

And so to prepare for this, I did a trial run of my leche flan last Monday. The result was a good old tasty leche flan but it had some flaws - it's not as soft as I wanted it to be. Perhaps this could be because it might have been cooked a little too much, and too high heat. But all in all, it tastes really good.

Since the event is tomorrow, I was going to prepare a new set of leche flan tonight again. The plan of action was, lower heat this time. I was excited to do that when my K.I.A. teammate (same one from my previous post) had to meddle in the affairs and wanted to change the recipe. Add this, add that. Whatever. I told him I didn't want to change the recipe but he insisted. While he was cracking the eggs (while changing my recipe), I left his side and went back to work in my laptop. And then he kept on calling me to help him out then out of my annoyance, I told him "No, recipe mo na naman iyan eh!" Haha... maldita noh. Sobrang inis.

I saw my landlady's reaction. I think she didn't know how to react because she probably knew I was annoyed. Strike 2 na ah. In two days!

Anyway, I still hope his leche flan is good. Because if it's not, I'm not going to say I made that. lol!

annoying

2011-05-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

I find it annoying when people ask you something, you've already done it, and then you'd learn later on that they'd ask another one again to do it. I find it either a waste of my time, or even a lack of trust.

Take for instance what happened earlier.

My teammate has been asking me to ask our manager in Manila about the possibility of extending the vacation leave for onshore members. I did this. I sent an email, went online last night to try and catch her in communicator. Unfortunately, she didn't reply to either my emails or even my messages in communicator.

Ok so here's my teammate, asking me about that again. So I told him, I have asked, sent and email, but got no reply. But I assured him that I will followup.

Then the next thing I know, he goes and talks to my other team lead, asking her if she can ask our manager in Manila about the same thing he just asked me to do, and which I did!

The reason why I knew about it because this teammate of mine forwarded that inquiry to me. Asking me to do it.

Isn't that annoying? You do what you're asked to do. And it's not like it's my fault that I haven't gotten any response and yet, for some reason, I feel stupid that this teammate of mine don't have the trust to even consider my reply to him - that I'll followup on it again. Mababaw sa kung mababaw, pero it's definitely annoying.

You know, I don't mind if it's something that really needs to be confirmed or validated by another person. For example, I made a change in the code, we want someone to code review it for validation right? Or for newspapers, magazines, they usually have fact checkers for the articles written.

Maybe I'm just pissed off and stressed today. Perhaps, I wasn't in a good mood earlier that's why I'm pissed off over such a small thing.

Theme of the week: Gym and Shopping

2011-05-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last week's theme was shopping and gym.
Those are the two things I "majored" on last week.

Gym

Went to the gym 4 times (actually three times only, the fourth was going on a 5k run in Central Park). I don't know why my friend and I just suddenly became so obsessed about losing weight. Perhaps it's because history tells us that we gain so much when we're here. Case in point. This is my fifth time over here in Canada and 4 out of 5 times (5th is right now), I gained a few pounds of weight when I went back to Manila. So this time around, we're focusing of killing off that pattern, and go the other way, be more fit and ready when we get back to Manila.

For the past weeks, we've been religiously going to the gym 3-4 times a week. My friend and I were both frustrated because we are killing our butts off in the gym, but we feel like there's no weight difference. But as I was reading through some articles off from the web, one article I read mentioned that we need to stop thinking about losing weight, but focus on fitness instead.

Yes, now that I think about it. I have better sleep these days. I don't get tired as much, and I'm not as cranky as I usually am especially with work being stressful these days. I'm attributing this better "mood" and lifestyle to having better fitness. And as long as I fit into those pants I love wearing, then I'd just have to maintain my fitness. No more worrying about numbers, instead worry about overall body feeling/state.

Workout

Last Saturday, I did a full body workout, following the exercise plan my trainer from Manila gave me. And holy cow it worked so well, specific areas in my body which I really worked on for that day ached! But that's aching in a good way. On weekday workouts, I usually just hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then depending on the day, I focus on one area at a time. The only area that gets exercise regularly are my abs.

And now I'm up to this state wherein I'm adding exercise as part of my lifestyle already. I think a lot of people gave up on exercise because they didn't look at it as part of a lifestyle, but instead, looked at it as extra work that needs to be done. I am hoping that when I get back to Manila, I will be able to maintain this lifestyle.

Shopping

I've been making excuses of the need to go on a shopping spree because I left of couple of items back in the east coast - a couple of shirts, pant, etc. That's a good excuse to go buy new things right?

So in line with yet, another tradition that my friend and I do every time we're here, is that we go to the Roots outlet store in Grandview to buy ourselves some new stock of clothes. Well, at least I just ended up buying three shirts - two for me and one for my nephew. And spent a total of around 40$ all in all. Not bad if you compare it to Ronald, who spent almost a 100 dollars during that 1.5 hour window of shopping.

And that was last Thursday.

Last Saturday, we went to an outlet store area in Queensborough for one reason - to go to a Best Buy store to get Ronald's laptop fixed. Since we had to wait for an hour or two before he gets it back, we decided to walk around and see the goods out there. Of course, I couldn't resist and I ended up buying something else again.

Now yesterday, Sunday, we went to Costco and Walmart to stock up on some items that we'd like to send back to the Philippines. This time around, I did spend more that what I was planning to spend. But the difference is that, most of these things aren't for me. They're for my family back home. I bought chocolates, pistachios that my Dad loves and my mom's annual supply of Dove soap!

All in all, in a span of 4 days (Thursday to Sunday), I've spent close to two to three month's worth of my budget for miscellaneous expenses. But you know what, it's so much fun to do so! It's about time I reward myself with items I can really use (although I just did reward myself with a vacation last end of April). After all the shopping spree (though I feel like I want to do more!), the next few weeks will probably be slower paced weeks for us, meaning, less shopping for us.

As my mom always says, you need to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and I just did that last week, and I won't mind doing it again and again and again. :)

Bones

2011-05-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

One of the many reasons why I love watching Dr. Brennan in the tv show, Bones.

Dr. Brennan: Can you sign? Cause we'll need to communicate with her.

Lawyer: Yes, but as of yet she hasn't responded and who are you?

Caroline Julian: Dr. Brennan is the best forensic anthropologist in the country.

Dr. Brennan: World.

grocery shopping

2011-05-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I like going to the grocery store. I may not necessarily buy anything, but just browsing around is fun. If I had my own place and I cook my own food, maybe I'll love grocery even more!

There are two major grocery stores on our way home so for the past two days, we've been dropping by there to check things out. First was at London Drugs where I was supposed to buy some toiletries but forgot all about it because we ended up browsing for a gift to give to our landlady during Mother's day. And then the following day, we dropped by Safeway because a friend informed us that you have to check the store every now and then for nice deals - and we've been wanting to buy Kraft Dinners to bring back home (they're almost the same price with the ones they sell in Manila, but if you get a deal here, it's way cheaper). And lo and behold, we did find a deal. Buy one get one free! So we ended up with two boxes each, 2 dozen Kraft dinners in total!

The Chocolate flavored Lucky Charms was a surprise because the last time I ate one of these was way back 2008. I haven't been able to find one again since. It's not available to all grocery stores. I heard it's just available to a very few select stores so when I saw one of the shoppers holding that box, I dashed to the cereal isle and looked for this at once. Thus, I couldn't resist and grabbed myself two to bring back home to Manila! These, however, were not on discount. A bit pricey but what the heck, I want them!

My friend and I were talking and this only means one thing, that we need to send a balikbayan box home because these are too heavy to fit into our luggages. Which may be good for me too because I always bring a lot of items back home and I am usually stressed out packing trying to fit everything in the luggage. Usually, half of the items I bring back home aren't for me anyway! And just coming back from Toronto, I have quite a bit of stuff to bring home for some relatives. So this balikbayan box may not be such a bad idea. Gives me more reason to shop though.

Niagara Falls

2011-05-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Traveled all the way to Toronto for my annual vacation!

From Mississauga, Ontario, we went to... Niagara Falls!

Went to Niagara Falls last April 24, 2011. It's just around an hour and a half to two hours away (via car) from Mississauga (where my aunt lives in Ontario). It's actually my second time already, but we went there again because my cousin Kat has not been there yet.

And it's still breathtakingly beautiful.

Niagara Falls is actually right by Canada and US border. But if you're standing in Canadian soil, you have the better view. If you're in US soil, you don't have much of a view. You're probably closer to the falls but there's no view!

And then we went to this central district where there are a ton of places to see. Of all things here, I decided to go inside the Guinness Book of World Records.

Unfortunately, for the 13 dollar entrance, it wasn't worth it as much because a lot of the displays I thought were pretty old already. It's not as updated as it should've been. However, at least I was able to size myself up against the tallest man ever! I didn't even reach his waist!

The Niagara Falls area all in all is really really pretty. I'd love to live here. But I was told that the winter could be hard. Just look at the falls and just imagine how cold it would be during the winter season! We, who are used to warm climates might just find it a bit too hard to stay put here. But nonetheless, I would still brave the cold just to see this magnificent piece of natural architecture!

Next stop... Cornwall, Ontario... and then Quebec City, Quebec!

random thoughts

2011-04-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

Gym

I've been religiously going to the gym for the past two weeks. In fact, last week, I even went to the gym 4 times! MWF + Saturday. Been feeling really great again. I can personally attest to the fact that going to the gym really makes one feel better, mentally, physically, and perhaps, even emotionally!

Vacation

On another note, amidst all the busyness and stress from work, I've decided to shift my worry concerns into something more "exciting". My Atlantic and Maritimes road trip happening next week!

I have to fly off first to east coast, to Toronto this coming Saturday. And then by Sunday, we're off to who knows where ( my aunts are preparing and planning the itinerary ). All I know so far is that, we're going on week long road trip passing through Quebec City, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Halifax, St. John's. I cannot wait!! Initially I just wanted to see Quebec City as I envisioned it to have architecture similar to that of Europe. But I didn't expect that we would go all the way towards the east. So aside from Quebec City, I'm really looking forward to Prince Edward Island... a.k.a. PEI.

I remember PEI because when I was watching either Discovery or History Channel, it featured a documentary about how the Confederation Bridge was constructed. It's perhaps one of the longest brige ever to have been built. From the website:
The Confederation Bridge joins the eastern Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, making travel throughout the Maritimes easy and convenient. The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and a decade after its construction, it endures as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century.

I'm going back to Vancouver May 2, instead of May 1. If I ended up getting the Sunday ticket instead of Monday, there would've been around 100-200 dollar difference. So I decided to go with the cheaper of the two, but will have to work remotely from Toronto on Monday.

Frustrations + Blessings

2011-04-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

I've been having some serious work frustrations the past few days ( or weeks even ) but the past week until now just propagated my frustration to a whole new level. And this is to the point that I'm blaming myself already for something that screwed up. I keep on asking myself, was it my fault? Could or should I have done more? What were my missteps? My teammate said that I shouldn't beat myself too much over what happened. Things happen. According to her "hindi ka lang kasi sanay... ako sanay na madalas may sablay". But still, there was a miss! And I don't know why, but for some reason, I keep on blaming myself for it.

And you know what, I've been bothered by this so much since last Friday. And God is truly great because out of the blue, I got an email from a friend who I haven't even talked to for almost 3 months! And the content of the email? See below:

For whenever you feel life is too hard, don't forget God cares.
Hope everything's great over there at Canada!

READ: Isaiah 46:1-9

I will carry you! —Isaiah 46:4

The prophet Isaiah draws a picture for us in Isaiah 46 of the siege of Babylon and the evacuation of its idols. The carts and carriages that carry them creak, and the weary animals groan under the load (v.1).

In contrast, Isaiah says that God carries His children from birth (v.3). “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you!” God declares (v.4). The contrast is precise and vivid in the Hebrew text: The carts and carriages are “loaded” with the weight of the idols (v.1), but we are loaded upon God (v.3). Idols are a “burden,” a thing carried (v.1), but God has gladly “carried” us from the womb (v.3).

The Lord has made us (v.4). Nothing could be more comforting, for our Father loves and cares for His children. He promises, “I will carry you!” and that includes every care and worry that comes our way throughout our lifetime.

So we may let Him carry us and our every burden. This song by Annie Johnson Flint challenges us to experience God’s care: “Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision, / Our God ever yearns His resources to share; / Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing; / Thy Father both thee and thy load will upbear.” —David Roper

Heavenly Father, I want to unload my
burdens on You today. Help me to leave them with You.
I trust You with my past, present, and future.
Thank You for Your goodness to me. Amen.

Our work is to cast care; God’s work is to take care!

I was feeling so down at that time and then when I got this email, I felt like it was God's way of reaching out to me and telling me to just lift it up to Him. Don't keep it all inside you. Don't worry and everything will be fine. I've been praying a lot more the past few days, praying that things will get better. Please pray for me too.

I just wanted to share this to let everyone know (whoever gets to read this anyway), that God truly works wonders. We should always remind ourselves to trust in Him. That email sent to me, at the right place at the right time, made me feel so much lighter. Thank you Lord.

Spring is here!

2011-04-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

Spring is here...

This picture was taken at around 6:30 pm. And yet ang liwanag pa!

Vacation Leaves

2011-04-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

I still have around 7 days left from my 2010 vacation that I need to use by June this year, thus, I'm hoping I could somehow manage to gather the courage to ask for a one week vacation this coming May. Not that it's hard to ask for vacation time here, it's just that the timing is a mess. I have two upcoming production releases for June and July, and that's pretty much consuming a whole lot of my time these days. May might be a crucial month too. Well, we'll see. It may still be worth a shot to ask. If they allow it, good. If not, better luck next time. I can totally understand if they say no.

But if they do say yes, Quebec City here I come!!! Hi East Coast! I have not seen you in two years!

I Love You Victoria

2011-03-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

I've always said that I find Victoria to be one of the beautiful places that I've visited. I've gone here once, and I wanted to go back. Last time I was here was 2008. But after two years, finally, I've come back! And the pictures below will just tell you how beautiful this place really is.

Not the best qualities as I only used my iPod Touch, but it's still beautiful. These three spots: Parliament, Empress Hotel and Inner Harbor are all located within the same harbor area. You look at one side, it's the harbor. On the other side it's the Parliament and the Empress Hotel.

Think of the Parliament as our Senate House or probably Sandigan Bayan. Amazing right? They have the Parliament in Victoria because this is the capital of the province of British Columbia. The other Parliament building that I got to visit two years back was the one in Ottawa. That time, I was lucky enough to get into their free tours. This time however, the tours were only open on weekdays.

The Parliament sits directly in front of what they call the inner harbor area. This is a nice place to just hang out and walk around. From the picture I took, you can just see the walk area just by the bottom right of the picture.

Now just perpendicular to the Parliament, and still facing the harbor is the very pricey, old and beautiful Empress Hotel. Apparently it's one of the oldest hotels in British Columbia. The picture doesn't pay enough homage to this beautiful hotel.

But that's not all there is to Victoria.

We also visited Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle.

Butchart Gardens is one of the premiere tourist spots in Victoria. Unfortunately, the flowers were not yet on full bloom since it was still officially winter when we went there. But if you come around summer time, you will be even more mesmerized by the beauty of the flowers, roses, trees, etc.

The picture below is just a part of the garden. This is what they call the Sunken Garden. If I remember correctly, this used to be an abandoned quarry which Jennie Burchart slowly developed into this beautiful garden. Unfortunately, the picture below doesn't do justice to the beauty and color it would have during the spring and summer season.

Craigdarroch Castle was a castle built by James Dunsmiur to for his wife during the late 1800s. At that time, Dunsmiur was considered the richest man in British Columbia. Unfortunately, he died before the castle was completed. The parked car below killed the picture.

The castle is breathtakingly beautiful. It's wood all over. I'm a sucker for woodsy yet elegant houses. It's a self guided tour, you can go through all floors and rooms of the castle. It's so interesting that just around the castle, you see a regular homey neighborhood. Haha how I wish we'd have one near our place.

There's a lot more reason why I love Victoria. Hopefully, at least for whoever will read this blog, will remember that when they get the chance to visit Canada, they really have to stop by Victoria.

Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

Harry Mitchell: Free will is a gift that you only use when you have to fight for it

As part of our regular tuesday, we went to Metrotown again and watched a movie. This time, it was the sci-fi/romance movie "Adjustment Bureau" starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Nice premise. My friend said it reminded him of this twilight zone episode way back in the 90s. Anyway, it has an interesting synopsis. It's about a group of people of makes these minor adjustments in our daily lives, that we don't know of, that literally alters our future.

This movie reminds me of a question I often ask myself... is everything that's happening right now, part of this bigger plan that's designed for us? Are events that we go through, no matter how big or small they are simply adjustments to a future that's being readied for us? I always wondered about that. Do I accept what I have right now, what I am right now and what I've experienced as part of a great plan that.. in my faith says, that God has destined for me?

Which begs the question, what about the free will? Do we control our destiny?

Too many questions, very few answers. But what I believe in (for now anyway) is that everything happens for a reason. We do still have our free will. We can still make decision on our own, but eventually, we will still get to our destination. If let's say our life starts from point A and ends in point B, even though it's not a straight line towards point B, we will still end up at point B, no matter how many twists and turns we go through first.

Which is why I always try to convince myself that God must've a reason why I'm here in this situation, why I'm like this right now, at this point in time. What his plans are, I probably will never be able to guess. But with faith and trust, I know the destiny He has planned for me is something I will forever be grateful for.

And I'd like to end it by saying, although I didn't want to be sent back to Canada again last year, now I'm truly grateful that I am here right now. There must really be a reason for everything. I don't know the details yet, but I'm just... happy right now.

Battle LA

2011-03-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Watched Battle LA last Tuesday with the gang here.

Battle LA has a simple premise. Aliens invade earth, and humans fight back! The story revolves around a group of marines who attempt to save LA from aliens. Simple story. Reminds me of Independence Day. It was action packed from start to end. Definitely entertaining.

However...

The one thing though that I didn't like at all was that the director opted for a "realistic" approach to the movie. His main goal was probably to make you feel that you're with them in battle. Unfortunately, that was a terrible decision because just by the first 10 minutes of the film, you'd realize this because the camera kept on moving, zooming. In other words, if you know Cloverfield, it's something similar. But for some reason, this one got me totally dizzy.

If you want to watch this, either wait for DVD release so that you can just watch it at home, or if you still want to watch in the movie house, make sure you sit way at the back para hindi mahilo. My friend didn't even finish the movie. She couldn't bare it and an hour into the movie, she just left. As for me, halfway through the movie, ang sakit na ng ulo ko na nasusuka na ako.

I still think it's entertaining enough. I'm a sucker for end of the world type movies anyway.

By the way, I just have to note that I wasn't surprised at all when Michelle Rodriguez showed up as one of the soldiers there. She definitely kicks ass. Bagay talaga siya sa mga ganitong roles.

Anyway, just watch this at the comforts of your home. If you have an LCD TV, the better :)

Work Productivity

2011-03-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy at work that I got to thinking that maybe, it's not really just about me having a ton of work, but maybe, I'm just not managing the tasks well enough to still be productive? Is it really too much work? Or is it my approach to work that's driving me mad?

I've been thinking about this for a couple of nights already. Am I over allocated? Or am I just slow when it comes to work? Many "negative" reasons that's causing the dive into my productivity. But as I ponder more, I realized that perhaps it's my approach to work that's really something that needs to be re assessed.

For instance, I pondered on what was recently a crazy Monday. I had a total of a half day spent just juggling back to back meetings (I hate meetings!). What happened was, I worked on this one thing, and then another request comes along and then I go look at it instead. And then while this isn't even finished yet, another discussion needs to be addressed and by then, it's the end of the day and I didn't have anything finished.

In light of this, I've decided to do something different - focus on one task at a time. Let the others wait for a bit until you finish a certain task. I started this last Tuesday night (after another jam packed day). I worked during the wee hours of the morning to finish a couple of things just to catch up on work. How I did it was to just open up one of the task at a time. Finish it off (mind you, I didn't even open gtalk!) and then close those apps, then move to the next. I actually got a lot done in a span of 2 hours. Maybe it was because there were no distractions but nonetheless, at least I finished something!

For example yesterday, I got pretty much the whole afternoon yesterday to code! Finally!

I will observe in the next few days, or even weeks, as to how this approach allows me to get more things done. Maybe multi tasking is not something for me. Trying to do too many things at once won't get you to the finish line. It might just even slow you down further.

Vancouver Aquarium

2011-03-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

I went to the Vancouver Aquarium yesterday with some of my officemates. I'm really not into animals that much but I haven't been here yet, and my friends wanted to go so I thought, ok, might as well join them! The Aquarium wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but I did love the Dolphin show! We were able to catch the Beluga show as well but it was pretty boring. All in all, I think I still liked the fishes that were available in HK's Ocean Park, but the Vanc Aquarium was just much more cleaner. I didn't bring my camera as usual, but I did bring my Ipod Touch which produced a couple of pictures of poor quality though. Haha

Here's a picture of the group, stolen from my friend's camera. Leda, do you see my coat? That's my coat!

And here's the one I like best. Sting ray ba tawag dito? But look at the skin, totally different from what we usually see. It's spotted!

Here's another one... red colored fish.

Unfortunately, we missed a couple of shows like the Sea Otter and the 4D. We got there late at around 2 pm already and the aquarium closes at 5 pm. But all in all, I think it's a pretty nice place to go. I probably won't be going back any time soon, but maybe when I have kids, I'll bring them there. But what I want to do is actually be able to go to the Manila Ocean Park. My officemate tells me that that place is pretty much comparable to the Vancouver Aquarium. In fact, he found that the Manila Ocean Park might be even better. That sparked my curiosity. So when I go back this July, maybe I ought to visit that park!

random thoughts

2011-03-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

Work's been crazy the past few weeks. But more so this week. My team mate was on leave this week, and she happens to be my lead, and so a lot of the tasks were passed on to me temporarily and it is only these days that I'm really getting the experience of being the true blue team lead. I am getting more and more responsibilities. Before, my team lead roles were simply to administrative tasks such as preparing time sheets, etc. But now, they're slowly involving me with these different tasks such as figuring out resource allocations for the different projects. It's good training, for sure, but it's just taking its toll a bit. I'm doing all these work, and that's on top of the actual work I have to do!

But, I'm not complaining. I think I've learned to love this job even if it's really been a crazy past few weeks. Just means I'm still enjoying, which is very good. I realized that I've always liked my job. Maybe I had that moment when I didn't, but at least I'm getting the jive back.

Anyway, on another note, we are going to visit the Vancouver Aquarium tomorrow. This is already my 5th time here in Vancouver and I haven't even gone there yet. Well, I'm still better off I guess. My team mate, who lived for probably 10+ years already in Vancouver has never even visited the place. I think that's usually how it is. The person who lives in the area, has not even visited the tourist spots at all.

And please, let's pray for the people in Japan. 8.9 magnitude. I cannot imagine how that feels.

Welcome back to Canada

2011-03-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

I have been away for too long from my blog.

Anyway, I am back and now in Vancouver. There are so many things I miss back in Manila already, but there are still a lot of things to look forward to here in Vancouver. For instance, when you're about 30 minutes to an hour away from Vancouver, just look at the plane's window and you'll see this:

Beautiful isn't it? Back last November, there was much more snow but I didn't bring any camera with me during in flight so this time around, I made sure that at least my ipod Touch would have enough battery left to capture this beautiful scenery.

The picture below is near the city already, farmlands I suppose. Still looks pretty nice right?

On other news, Canada's always been a place where I gain weight. I gain weight here, I lose it again back in Manila. To prove my point, when I arrived last Saturday, this is what I saw sitting in the kitchen:

Hello there deadliest catch. This is something I look forward to when I'm here, but gaining weight? That's definitely something I'm not looking forward to! But then again, no complaints right? In fact, last Sunday night, I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant with the family, and then this coming Thursday, my team mate Jeff is going to treat us to another Chinese restaurant to satisfy our pecking duck cravings!! Too much food already, all in just a span of a week! Oh did I mention my grandpa is planning to have hotpot/shabu shabu this coming Sunday? Noooooo

Anyways...

What else to look forward to in Canada? Work of course! It's always nice to work here... normal hours, you talk to them face to face instead of over the phone. You get to interact with different people - different culture, different ethnic background, you name it. In fact, tomorrow I'll be meeting some of the QAs I've been working with for the past 2 years. I'm finally meeting them!

I also missed the weather. It's raining so it's a bit colder but my wonderful coat is keeping me warm. Sulit. Kaso lang nasira yung porma ko, kasi yung baunan ko bag na malaki na pang bata. Hahaha I thought it would snow, but seems like it's passed. It's almost spring anyway. But spring time is nice, that's when the flowers bloom. You see a lot of different colors everywhere. I do see the trees here finally getting some color. Winter's almost over! But out of all the seasons, I would say I still like Fall the best. I've been here in Canada during the Fall season only once, but it's my favorite season. Every where I look, it's pink!

I think I'm still in jet lag mode so I will be off sleeping soon. Until next time.

Honda City Recall

2011-02-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

My City, my one and only City that I love so much is part of the recall that Honda's having around the world. I was hoping they'd give me a brand new spanking vehicle, but apparently, they're just replacing the defective spring or something. Couldn't understand it. But I'm calling in later to get my city schedule for "fixing". And which reminds me, I will give City a very nice vacuum and cleaning before I leave for Canada. May umupo kasi doon dati kumain ng pandesal na madaming crumbs. Ok lang naman sa akin iyon, but I just need to get it cleaned para hindi ipisin or dagain!

Housewarming @ Mae's

2011-02-20T21:13:00.000-08:00

Our spur of the moment housewarming at Mae's new spanking crib last Wednesday brought a lot of nice thoughts to me. We've definitely gone a long long way since our college days.

Everyone's growing up. When I compare how things were 6 years ago, as compared to how things are right now, everything's different. Here's a gist. Mae has a condo unit already, bought a couple of years back and recently furnished (and paid a hefty sum to get it all fixed up). Leda and Sally, both living independently now, renting out a place in Makati and Buendia respectively. For Vicky - nagdadalaga na... yiheee... Marcy, well, she's richer I suppose :) And as for me, I don't know what's new with me, a bit wiser I suppose. Now I'm envious, I want a place of my own too!!!

And what you know what else I noticed? That everyone just seems to be in this happy state of mind these days. Which is definitely good. I think after all that we've been through, if we haven't learned anything yet from those experiences, then I don't know what'll happen to us.

In fact, Mae and I had this impromptu lakad last night when we met up at around 7pm to pick up our IPOD touch from Rhys in Abad Santos. That was supposed to be it, just pick up the IPODs but then while we were in the car, we decided... hmm why not go straight to Trinoma and buy ourselves new casings for the new toy? And so off we did. Then had a quick dinner as well at Chowking. Then went home! It was really a nice way of talking and sharing different thoughts. Sabi nga namin ni Mae, we never did this before. Ngayon, we pretty much do what we want! Or perhaps because these days, we have the resources to do these things that we want!

I love it. Slowly but surely, we're getting and reaching our goals. Good vibes attracts good things. I'm pretty sure that all my friends will definitely have a successful future ahead!

Two More Weeks

2011-02-15T02:57:00.000-08:00

Two weeks remaining before I am off again to the other side of the world. As much as I'm sad to leave the Philippines every now and then, I've realized that having this kind of life is a blessing as well. I've been dreading it so much for the past year that I haven't been looking at the good things that this experience has given me for the past 3 years.

So as a shift of outlook (to a more positive one), I will list the things that I like most about going on these business trips.

1. I get to travel.

I love traveling and seeing new things. I like seeing different places, learning what's unique about them, walking around and exploring. And so far, it's been an awesome experience. I've been to British Columbia, Seattle, Oregon, Arizona, Las Vegas, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Cornwall, Buffalo (well, just by the border).

If it were not for this job, I wouldn't have even been able to get to these places. Now, it's something I look forward to doing every time I go back to Canada - plan a new place to visit and explore. I'm thinking about Quebec this time. The old European charm is something I've been wanting to see.

2. I get to earn extra money.

The allowance I get from the trip is kaching kaching in itself. I consider this my extra stash of cash, which I either stash away, or spend! Hopefully my waldas days are over, but it would still be nice to splurge every now and then. After all, these are all hard earned money.

3. I get to be on my own.

No amount of money can pay for experience of being in another country, away from your family. Ok, maybe not really away, I still have my grandparents, aunts around there. But coming from a home where we're pretty much sheltered, this experience is definitely a welcome sight of relief.

I remember my best friend telling me when I got back, that ever since that first trip I took last 2008, I was never the same. Perhaps, I grew up. My views changed, my objectives and goals changed. Maybe I did really change, and that's hopefully for the better.

4. I get to meet new people from different cultures.

This is related to #3. Canada being a diverse country has given me the opportunity to meet a ton of different people from all over the world. I got to talk to Russians, Filipinos, Canadians, Chinese, East Indians, you name it.

The nice thing about being exposed to different cultures is that you learn what they are, how they are, and you'll realize that the world is way bigger than it looks. That these you may actually find a good friend amongst these mixture of different cultures, descents and nationalities. Some times, it takes a big deal of adapting to the environment, but it also builds character, don't you think?

But I have to admit, at times, I'd just like to stick with my Filipino friends. I find that I get tired speaking English all the time. Some times I just want a break. haha

As a conclusion...

Of course, there's also a fair bit of sacrifice that this type of life entails (which I wouldn't want to dwell on anymore - everyone knows what happened). But somehow, I really do believe that God and his magical ways made sure that I go down this path and that he's preparing me for something even bigger. This might just be a training in preparation for something more exciting. Who knows right? But in the mean time, I will start learning to appreciate these blessings more and more. Embrace it to the fullest, and learn to be happy and contented once again.

Gregory in Manila

2011-02-14T02:08:00.000-08:00

I've been missing in action for a while because my manager from Canada flew in to Manila last Feb 03, 2011 and we've been very very busy. So many meetings to attend, activities to do and lunches to eat!

EAT!!
For one, we've been doing a lot of eating: Spiral, Sentro, Banana Leaf, Dampa - all these in a span of a week! The spiral and Dampa were just too much. I don't think I ever felt hungry the whole week. I just felt full the whole time. Probably gained a couple of pounds in a span of a week. Here's a picture of us enjoying our lunch at Spiral:

Pasyal!
Aside from the eating and work related meetings, we got to do a lot of extracurricular activities so that Gregory can fully utilize his time here in Manila.

For the first weekend, we went to Tagaytay and then had the Corregidor trip. Fun, but very tiring too. The Corregidor trip costs around 2k per head, but it was very well organized. The 2000 pesos per head fee includes the boat from Manila Bay harbor to Corregidor island, the trolleys, guide, and even lunch. Not bad. It's a pretty good tour. I hope people become more aware of this beautiful island and its rich history. It is nice to know that they preserved what remains of Corregidor.

On the other hand, Tagaytay is still beautiful. And the nice thing about this trip was that, I got my best friend to set me up as a guest in Tagaytay highlands. How I love that place. I could live there. Weather is perfect, place is beautiful, and with its amenities, you can't go wrong. It's a nice quiet place to live and relax.

Gregory wanted to buy his wife a pearl necklace and so we ended up going to Greenhills last Friday to do our shopping. Apparently, South Sea Pearls are mighty expensive. A necklace with a good sized 13-15 mm pearl would cost around 80k pesos! That's way over the budget so we ended up finding these beautiful fresh water pearls (cultured), way cheaper, costs around 9000 pesos. Not bad. Oh and the haggling was awesome. Ngayon may suki na kami. Ang dami namin nabili sa kaniya eh! And she was nice.

Oh and then we also went to Subic and Clark last Saturday. Grabe nakakapagod. Pagod din si Gregory. But I sure hope he had fun. Tiring but fun trip. At least we got to show him how we Filipinos are truly hospitable!

Australian Open 2011

2011-01-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't watched tennis avidly for the longest time. I remember back in high school, when I loved watching the game. I watched Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati play the best women's tennis at that time. On the men's side, it was the time of Agassi, Patrick Rafter, Michael Chang, and Brazilian French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten. Kuerten I remember distinctly because he had curly hair, he was unseeded, and he won two consecutive French Open grand slams.

And now, I'm watching again. Been watching Australian Open for a couple of days now. I'm still rooting for my favorite - Kim Clijsters. Wozniacki, the other semifinalist lost to Li Na. So whoever wins against Clijsters and Zvonoreva goes on to the finals against Li Na.

As for the men's draw - stick to one ako, Roger Federer pa din!

materialistic me is happy

2011-01-22T15:42:00.000-08:00

The materialistic me is very happy for the past week.

January 14, 2011
The talent acquisition team in our company has these gimiks to entice us employees to send out referrals to them. Aside from getting a nice sum of money when your referral is a success, they also have a raffle giveaway to those who were successful in their referrals.

I didn't have one successful referral last year, but a friend of mine who now works in TELUS asked me to refer someone, and tag it under my name. Lo and behold, she got in and my friend and I split the referral fee. Also, since technically I had one successful referral, I was part of the raffle draw held last January 14.

Surprise surprise - I won an IPOD shuffle.

January 19, 2011
I've been eyeing this coat from Zara for a couple of weeks now. Initially priced at 6450, it was marked down to 5950. Still too expensive. So I didn't buy it. A couple of weeks later, Zara marked down their items even more, so when I went to checked it out, it's just now 2990!. And there's only one Small size left, so i decided to get it! It may get marked down further by the end of the year, but I don't want to risk it, my size is hard to find. Anyway, another 3k down the drain, but I love it! I can't wear it here, but since I go to Canada anyway, I can finally have a more "formal" jacket to wear there instead of my usual sports jacket!

January 22, 2011
Yesterday was our office department's 2010 Awards and Recognition Event. We decided to make it a party/event instead of just an office "meeting" to make it more fun! I also volunteered to be part of the organizing committee and to be the co-host of the event. The games we prepared were similar to the game show Minute to Win It. Very simple games, but fun! Gasgas na yung mga pinoy henyo games and charades!!

And so far, I heard good feedback that they enjoyed the event. It's probably one of the most memorable events we had so far. (Patting myself in the back now.)

Part of the event, we had 5 raffle draws to give away. And I don't know what God is telling me, but I got the third prize!! Magic Sing! Can you believe it? I don't win in raffles but two in a row? Unbelievable!

Not only that, I got a 2000 pesos electronic gift card, plus our team got a 5000 pesos worth gcs!! Blessings indeed! Now I will go to church later to thank Him up there for all these kind and wonderful blessings he's been showering me with.

IPOD Touch
My next materialistic task is to get that new IPOD touch replacement I've been clamoring for.

See, materialistic me is very very happy.

wedding and a tv show

2011-01-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

Been very busy and tired the past week. I think it'll be like this in the next few weeks pa (or probably months). I told myself I will be anti social this past week so that I can catch up with work. I did catch up with work a bit, but still a long way to go.

My Cousin Ryan's Wedding

This week wouldn't have been complete if it were not for my cousin's wedding yesterday. As I didn't have time to get a new dress, a simply reused the old black dress I had in my closet. Same event, a wedding, but different crowd. I tried something different this time, I went to the parlor to get some nice eye makeup on. Leave it to the experts ika nga. Unfortunately... I didn't like the end result at all (or maybe I'm not used to it). I felt like it was too dark. See for yourself.

It was also the first time my nephew is part of the entourage. I still think he's too young to even listen to what he has to do. My brother had to "assist" him along the center aisle, and he even dropped what he was carrying. My sister and her husband couldn't make it, so it was only Grant who was there, thus, we were the babysitters.

Here are the newlyweds! I wish them all the best!

Pretty Little Liars

I now have a new tv show to watch. I'm still a fan of Grey's Anatomy and Bones. But this one now adds to the list of the tv shows I look forward to watching every week. It's a teeny bopper show, Desperate Housewives + Gossip Girl type. I finished up the first 12 episodes yesterday. Yes, I was a bum and a coach potato altogether.

The story revolves around a group of girls, who are being tormented by a mysterious person named 'A'. I think the reason why I like this show is that there's this mystery and intrigue aspect to it, and of course, there's this teeny bopper aspect to it, which I still love even though I've obviously outgrown that age. It's generally entertaining. Kinda reminds me of Gossip girl and Dawson's Creek too.

Dear 2010

2011-01-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Dear 2010,

Thank you for a turbulent year. It has been one wild roller coaster ride. I'm not sure if I had more ups or more downs this year, but one thing I'm sure is that this is probably the most emotionally challenging year of my life. But don't get me wrong, although there are a ton of memories that I'd like to literally erase, there are still a lot more memories that I wish to keep and cherish.

For one, I'd like to thank you for giving me an opportunity to spend time with my family in Canada and experience the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas scene. This is one experience I will always cherish.

I'd also like to keep the memories of my friends and family who were all there when I needed them the most. As you know, your year was just too emotional for me. But it just showed me how lucky I was to have the best friends and family out there who made sure I will survive and get through one of the most painful journeys I ever had to go through. Thank you.

2010, you made me a different, and a way better (and perhaps more mature too) person this year. I've learned to care more about other people, instead of just focusing on me. I've learned that I need to learn how to prioritize other people and take care of myself more, rather than just work work work. Although I had to rebuild a lot, but it was a good process to go through. Had you not given me all these experiences, I probably wouldn't have become the person I am today (a good person and wiser person too I hope).

2010, you have made such a huge impact in my life that I firmly believe 2010 will truly never be forgotten to be the turning point year of my life. Probably 20 years from now, I'm pretty sure I'll remember your year.

Now that you're passing on the baton to 2011, can you let 2011 know that I'm hoping for it to be an awesome year in terms of work, family, friends, and of course, in matters of the heart?

Sincerely,
Bev

Article: The Line Between Giving Up and Acceptance

2010-12-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting article I chanced upon early this morning. The title pretty much says it all: The Line Between Giving Up and Acceptance

Here's a two paragraph excerpt that pretty much sums up the whole article.

It became clear to me when I was recently talking with a friend who was agonizing over what to do about a two-year relationship she was in that was laced with conflict and overall pain. She voiced the elevated mantra that so many of us live by as she was debating on what to do next. She said, “I just think that this is worth fighting for, and that if we really love each other it will all work out in the end.” It kind of sounds like those Idol wannabes who think their singing careers are warpaths to be fought rather than elegance to be revealed. It sounds so noble; how can you argue with that kind of fierce desire and commitment?

Well never fear, I found a way. I looked at her with total clarity in my eyes and said, “There comes a point in life when what we are pursuing stops becoming an investment of our time and instead becomes a waste of our time. And it is our responsibility to figure out where that point is and do what needs to be done to change courses.” She looked at me kind of like someone who just saw a possum in the middle of the road with it’s big pink eyes staring in their headlights. You may not know what look I’m talking about, but it’s not a good one.

One may agree or disagree with the author's point. Me, coming from a somewhat similar situation, I can relate to it and I do slightly agree with it. But I think as women though, we are more inclined to be emotionally attached to the whole relationship. We are stronger, thus we attempt to make it work more so, than men. When a man says no, that's probably the end of it. When a woman says no, you can still work your way around to changing her mind. I may be wrong though.

Ultimately in the end, these things, it's always easier said than done. And if getting out of a stagnant and unhealthy relationship means getting hurt, maybe that's what we really have to experience first hand, head on. I did.

Stop fighting for them when all you’re doing is fighting. And start fighting for them when all you’re doing is waiting for the life you long for to magically land in your lap.

To be honest, I do miss being in a relationship at times. But I don't really see the need to get into one now. I meet new people. I can work on myself, prepare myself so that when the right one comes passing by, I will be ready this time around.

In the meantime, I can live my jetsetter life without having to worry about leaving someone behind over and over again. :) Planning to do some nice trips this year - East Coast Canada, Australia are my targets.

Looking forward to a good and fruitful 2011! Cheers!

Long PAL Flight

2010-12-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

Couple of things that either irked me, or I found funny during my try flight home last December 21.

1. My flight got delayed for almost an hour and a half. The flight was scheduled at 9:50 PM. When we got to the airport, we found out it was delayed to 11:00 PM. By 11:00 PM, we were just called to board and we actually left the airport at 11:30 PM.

2. Once you're on board, they don't let you sleep at once and it's because the crew will serve you a midnight dinner soon. Not only was the food not good, it was almost 1:30 AM Pacific when we finished. Too sleepy at this point.

3. You can't really sleep soundly in an airplane anyway. So you make do with what you have and you can. But when you are sitting beside this friendly lady, who constantly bumps you with her left elbow, I don't think you can really have any good sleep at all.

4. PAL Flights to and from Vancouver still uses these old model airbuses - they still don't have the lcd screens per seat. You'd have to watch from the center monitors. I personally think they should upgrade the fleet. Manila-Vancouver-Las Vegas flights are usually full anyway.

5. PAL airport design is not good. After disembarking from the plane, you have to walk towards immigration first. The thing is, you have to go down these two long flight of stairs. And take note, only stairs. No escalator. How about if your hand carry is a small luggage? It just doesn't seem right. The engineer or the architect should have thought of considering passengers with luggages when they were designing this building.

6. Carousels in the airport are poorly designed too. Only a few can actually stand by the carousel to wait for their luggages. I had to stand way back, and then take peeks every now and then to see if my luggage is out.

7. But the good thing about the airport? They have porters to help you out, even when trying to get your luggage from the carousel. I just approach a friendly personnel and they get my luggage for me - without asking for any tip! They even put the heavy luggages into my cart.

8. While waiting for my luggage to come out, I heard these two gentlemen standing beside me talking about the flight. One of the men was ranting and said: "Itong PAL talaga, dapat i upgrade na nila yung mga airplane nila. Napakaluma na itong plane na to! Tapos yung mga stewardess, matanda na, masusungit pa!"

Travelling by air isn't always perfect, but it's still something we have to be grateful for. Even though it was a tough 14 hour flight, I'm still thankful that because of them, I was able to come home and be with my family for Christmas. There's still no place like home.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Going home...

2010-12-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

My last weekend here in Canada. Oh how I'll miss this place. How fast time flies. It's already been a month.

Finished my initial packing last night. Finally. I have a lot more space and around 5kgs left to spare. Not bad. I'm usually tight with the weight so this is definitely a welcome relief. I cannot wait to go back home. See my family. See my friends.

I will leave my Canada journey with this picture and quote to sum up what I've learned from my one month "hiatus" from the "real world":

To New Adventures

Liz Gilbert:

In the end, I've come to believe in something I call "The Physics of the Quest." A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.

Jollibee @ Seattle

2010-12-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I've always wanted to try and visit a Jollibee store here in North America. I tried to last May at Las Vegas, but due to time constraints, we couldn't go. And so this time, when I came here, I heard that there was a new Jollibee that opened in Seafood City somewhere in Seattle. Apparently, from what I gathered, there was even a Chowking, Tokyo Tokyo and Red Ribbon beside it. And... when they opened last October or September, the line was so long.

I know we have a ton of these stores back in Manila. But I think it's just different when you're in a foreign land. There's just something about genuine Filipino that makes you want to see it, try it out, and just be plain proud of it.

And so my aunt, together with a couple more relatives went all the way to Seattle, which by they way is around a three hour drive one way to see Jollibee. So almost 6 hours back and forth. And here it is!!

Jollibee!

I love it. I was so excited to see Jollibee. I don't know why. Must be something about how reachable it is now, even if you're so away from the Philippines.

And there's more! Chowking... And Red Ribbon!

Red Ribbon!

Chowking and Tokyo Tokyo

Anyway, we ended up of course eating at Jollibee and mostly the menu is pretty much the same. Except... here it is.... check this menu out! It's a bit blurry though (just used the ipod touch camera for this shot), but you'll notice that they don't have a 1 piece chicken meal, unlike ours where we have a 1 piece chickenjoy meal. Instead... they only have 2-piece and 3 piece!!! chickenjoy meal! As in! Ang tatakaw talaga ng mga tao dito.

Big drinks too, different presentation...

They do have rice, but you'd have to request it. By default, the meals come with mashed potatoes instead of rice.

My 2 piece chicken joy meal

Of course, what Jollibee will be complete without Jollibee himself?

So all in all... this was really a fun trip. I can't get over how many Filipinos there are here, and that Jollibee is really an institution by itself. Even in North America, hinahanap hanap pa din natin siya. When we were parking, I already saw a couple of Filipinos holding Jollibee take outs! And in the store itself, what's also interesting is that you see non Filipinos (only a few when we were there earlier) trying it out too! Makes you really proud that this is a true blue Filipino product.

I don't really eat much Jollibee back in Manila (I like KFC better). But I was really just excited to go eat here this time around. And it was definitely worth the trip. In fact, nag take out pa ako ng cheeseburger, not for me though, for my coworker here.

Work work work!

2010-12-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

Work's been super crazy ever since I got here. The reason I'm here in the first place was because of the urgency of the project. And it's actually a good thing because I have to work closely with Harry because we're refactoring a whole bunch of applications for our upgrade project. Lots and lots of changes. He mostly designs the changes, but I learn anyway. Busy from that end. And then, there's the other tasks. When you're here, you're easily approachable - meaning, anyone can ask you to do something, especially urgent ones. Just as an example, during the past two days, there's been a couple of urgent changes that they need to get in before the lockdown (no changes during the holiday season), and they're rushing me to figure out what's wrong, fix it, get it tested, support testing and finish all these request for change documents! I've been going home late at night the past days.

But you know what, for some reason, when I'm here, even though I have too much work, when I get home, I'm not as tired. Maybe that means I'm finally enjoying the work again, the collaboration, and the opportunities they've given me. It actually feels good. Don't you ever get that feeling? I love it. It's nice to finally feel the excitement to work again. Work's something you should love and enjoy. Or maybe it's really just because my life here is totally relaxed compared to back in Manila.

And who wouldn't want to go to work if you have a view like this when you look up from your desk:

How can you not be inspired to work right? Luckily, it was sunny earlier so I was able to capture some nice photos using my ipod. The quality's not the best, but it works :) My desk it facing the north (mountains are in the North of Vancouver) so lucky me I got this spot. It's probably one of the best seats in the house.

On a different note...

In line with my Yes girl persona (Leda.. check this out), I will be attending a Telus gala event this Saturday with a couple of friends. It's a formal event. Though I didn't bring any formal wear, my friend Christine got me a nice short skirt and tube top to wear. She couldn't let me borrow her other stuff daw kasi it's too revealing! Hahaha I'm not sure if it's really a formal attire, but it works for me. Fits me well. But I'm not used to these types of attires! But have to be able to try it out at least once right?

Almost Christmas!

2010-12-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

In line with the Christmas spirit, I've downloaded a ton of Christmas music to my ipod to keep me company on my day to day life. I feel Christmas already. The weather is cool, the house is all lit up, and everyone's in a good mood!

And another thing:

Christmas = gift giving.

And gift giving = shopping.

And so earlier I went to Toys R Us Coquitlam to look at its huge selection of toys. And holey moley! Ang ganda doon sa loob. So big! I feel very Christmassy. So we looked around and these are the toys we got (see below picture). Actually, I only bought two toys for my nephew and inaanak. The rest, my aunt bought at ipapadala sa akin.

Here's my surprise for my nephew Grant - this is a special request from my sister.

I'll worry about how I will try to squeeze in all these (and my) stuff in my two luggages. Hehe. My packing skills will be put to test!!!

Of course, work work work muna this week. Pero next week, the plan is on Saturday, we're going to try out this Japanese Shabu Shabu. And then on Sunday - going to the US. I've been wanting to go there just for the Harry and David stores. And then will try to go to Seafood City in Seattle, apparently may newly opened Jollibee and Chowking doon!

Old Times

2010-12-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

I was browsing through old facebook pictures... and I found these!

I believe this was 4th year college. Somewhere in Luneta area. Can't remember the name. It's a small butterfly place yata. We should go back there some time and have coffee. May mini cafe siya sa loob. I don't know if it's still there though. Do you know I still have Jansport bag? I still use it every now and then. That's actually not mine, it's my sister's, but I use it anyway.

And then here's another one. I remember this, one of the last few days in college. We had a huge lunch out in KFC to celebrate! Yes, those were the days.

And now... look at us.

I think si Marcy ata ang biggest change (physically anyway!) haha. Compare mo naman to before and after.

It's nice to reminisce knowing that it's been a long road since. A lot has changed in us through the years and hopefully we've become a better and wiser person too. Who would've thought that we'd end up in this place right now? I wonder what we'll be like in the next 5 years.

I ask myself that, where will I be in the next 5 years? All the paths seem to tell me that I need to make a drastic change, maybe a drastic decision even. I am very confused. So much things to think about. I'd just have to continue praying to God that He will guide me to the right path. Sabi nga nila, all you have to do is trust Him. We may not know why things are the way they are right now, but just trust Him. He knows what he's doing.

Laptop = Waldas

2010-12-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

My waldas days is not yet over, apparently.

And I finally got to buy my new laptop!

So the plan was just to buy a netbook. Something to play around with, and surf, chat, the usual. So while at Best Buy store earlier, I just couldn't get myself to buy the little netbooks there. For some reason, I'm just not impressed and convinced. So I ended up getting the way pricier piece of toy - HP Pavillion dm4.

14 inches
2 kg (with battery)
i5!!
4 gig memory
500 gb HD

Pretty good specs. Hopefully this'll last me for the next 5 years or so. I'm sick and tired of my Acer Aspire. From day one may problema na. And mukhang nasisira na yung USB ports nito and I just don't like it anymore. Mainit pa!

So that's another thing crossed out from my list of "things to buy". I better start saving again. Been purchasing stuff here and there. Walang kapaguran.

Examining one's self

2010-11-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

I was listening to the homily during this week's Sunday mass and the topic was about examining one's self. It was really interesting because the priest told a story about (ok, I missed the first part - not listening attentively).. something about... this guy, had to do something... then due to events that happened, he ended up in this house where he had to spend the night. He was pissed off because he was supposed to be somewhere else. But in that house, there he saw a library, picked up some books and read, and read, and this eventually became the reason why he was converted into a devout Catholic and became a priest (basta something to this extent) or maybe a saint perhaps? Can't remember.

For me though, the point is, there are events in our life, might even be bad events, that will change the course of our lives forever. These are turning point in our lives that force us to re-examine ourselves.

I think this is one of those years for me. I know it's a repeating topic for me how things have changed for me this year. But I just can't get over the fact that everything's so different now. Everything's different in my personal life, and everything's different in my career as well! My work now is doing pretty great. Because of a stupid thing I did (which is partly an aftermath of the "event"), our work schedule have actually improved! And look, our project's on the go and I'm back here in Vancouver. Time here in Vancouver is a blessing in disguise. I have more time just for myself, to again - re examine things.

All these things that have been happening, reminds me of a quote from Eat, Pray, Love:

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..."
— Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

I think I have an idea. haha

Anyways...

And here I am right, examining myself. I've been thinking about the things I need to do before I jump into another relationship. I've also been thinking about what were the bad things I did before, and how should I change those. So much lessons learned and I feel like I've grown older bigla. But I still need to make a lot of changes in me. Long way to go. But still very thankful of all blessings received.

For example, I now have to really think about what I really want to do with my life. I don't think I can sustain a relationship any longer if I keep on going back and forth to Canada and Manila. What do I really want? What's my priority now?

I can list a lot more here. And the list will go on and on and on... the important this is that we stop every now and then to re-examine ourselves. We need these as sanity checks. Are we still on the right track? How are we doing now? Have we prayed and said thank you for all the blessings? Have we changed our bad habits? Have we changed for the better?

But at least this is a start already right? The fact that I'm acknowledging my mistakes in the past, and trying to figure out what to do or change.

As a good friend once told me...

"We're both still works-in-progress. And I'm happy that you've gone so far. Everyone needs a little help once in a while. I'm just an email/text away. "

We're all works-in-progress. We become works-in-progress because we want to improve ourselves. And in order to improve ourself, we need to examine our self. :)

Grouse Mountain

2010-11-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

Been here for a couple of days. Missing Manila, friends, my family. Ganoon talaga. Sometimes I feel like this is a blessing and a curse at the same time, especially when you get lonely. But I should always look at the bright side of things - I do get to experience something totally new, I earn more, and I get to meet a lot of different people of different cultures. I get to forge new bonds of friendships too!

Saturday - Grouse Mountain Day

I joined some friends to Grouse Mountain last Saturday. During winter, Grouse Mountain is jam packed with winter activities. The ski slopes were open so people of all ages are brining their skis, snow shoes, ice skates, snowboards, etc up to the mountains. You only get to play with snow for a couple months in a year anyway! Kind of nice how families enjoy doing this activity so much. You see parents and their 5 year olds already skiing! So cute.

As for us, we didn't do the usual winter sports (you'd have to have the attire and equipment - though you can rent), but we did however get to meet Santa Clause and his reindeer at Santa's workshop!

Here we are with Mr. Santa.

And here's Santa's reindeer. I think he's in a bad mood though.

What snow activity won't be complete without snowman building? We did create our own snow woman instead though. With boobs. Pinaghirapan namin iyan! Took us a long time to build it up!

I got home around 6:30 pm yesterday, and boy was I so tired. Alam mo yun, hindi ka naman pinagpawisan sa taas ng mountain habang lakad ka nang lakad, pero afterwards pala, sobrang pagod ka. But it was fun. And... important pala to bring shades when going to a snowy mountain - sobrang nakakasilaw yung snow. It's too white, and then you have the sun too. That's a lesson learned for me!

Oh, and so far nasulit ko na yung snow shoes ko! Yehey!

Winter @ Vancouver Part II

2010-11-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here's what I woke up to today:

And it's still snowing!! I knew it, I should've brought my laptop home yesterday so I can work from home. Now I need to go to the office.

Good thing I bought those nasty expensive winter boots last night. I'm going to use them for the next n years (If I get to experience another winter) or maybe just forever.

I have my bonnet, scarf, jackets, gloves, warmers, boots ready. I'm off to go to work.

Update

My new boots worked perfectly fine! My feet was warm, and dry. And it wasn't slippery so it's worth the $124 so far. You get to eat chunks of ice every now and then when you're walking, so I opted to use my umbrella to shield me from the droplets. Right now, from my office view (where I'm sitting at - I'll post pictures later), seems like the snow is getting more intense. It's like raining hard, except snow. So vision's pretty.

New experience for me again! I love it when we travel. We always experience something new.

Winter @ Vancouver

2010-11-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Vancouver. This is a very welcome blessing for me. Gives me a chance to get a "relaxation" out of it. I'll just be here for a month, for work. When they asked me if I wanted to go back, I didn't hesitate. It would be nice to go away and experience something new again.

My flight was delayed for an hour, and then when I arrived in Vancouver airport, I couldn't find my other luggage! No luggages were coming out of the carousel so I was in panic mode. That missing bag contained all my clothes! Good thing I heard someone say that there were still some luggages on a different area. Whew, lo and behold, my luggage was there!

When I got here, snow everywhere! Very cold temperatures. And so I ended up having to buy leg warmers and body warmer. Had to borrow my friend's bonnet and wear gloves too. Next is to buy my boots! Yehey, nagkarason ulit bumili. hahaha By 5 pm, it's already like 10 pm. Too dark outside.

So here's the one picture I have of the snow... this is the view from my room:

Snow's melting, but they say it's going to snow some more in a couple of days. Not really looking forward to it.

Dual Voltage Hair Dryer

2010-11-15T02:18:00.000-08:00

I finally found a hairdryer that's 110/220 volts! The problem with travelling in North America is that they have a totally different voltage compared to us. You cannot just buy any appliance there, or here, and then bring it back to Philippines/North America. Totally different.

And you'll need a hairdryer when you're going to live in a cold place. Your hair will freeze once you get out of the house!

Cecille's Wedding / Subic Trip

2010-11-14T19:55:00.000-08:00

I like attending weddings. The only time I don't like attending weddings is when I am not particularly close to the couple getting married. And so when a close friend of ours invited us for her wedding to be held at Subic, I didn't make any excuses of not attending. Even if we were busy prior to the event and practically no one planned this out beforehand, the girls and I still pushed through. And the whole weekend actually went well.

Saturday morning, November 06, 2010, started with us meeting up at, as usual, Balintawak LRT station. It's no surprise that both girls Mae and Sally are on time, but the other girl, Marcy, is late, as usual. Apparently, she decided to go to LRT2 instead of LRT1. Haha I think we left around 7:30 am, and then had a nice breakfast at Tropical Hut in one of the gas stations along NLEX.

Going to Subic is fun fun fun! I loooved driving in SCTEX. Road is beautiful, scenery is awesome, and there's pretty much no traffic. Hindi nakakapagod mag drive! It just took us around 2-2.5 hours to reach Subic itself. The only irk I had was that you had to go through 3 toll stations altogether! And that's just one way!

Now at Subic Freeport, surprisingly, the hotel Sally picked was very nice. It's huge, it's clean, it's cheap, and the location was nice. Getting there was half the battle, the next one was preparing for the wedding and it was fun fun fun! Si Sally ang official taga plantsa. Mae helped me with the eye makeup!

The wedding itself took place in a small chapel also around the area. Ang ganda ganda ng mood, tapos itong pari, nagmamadali, kept on saying "buksan na mga pinto para makapasok". Siyempre close yung pinto para may drama effect!

Mae was standing in the aisle area so she was holding my camera, unfortunately, puros malabo! This is one of those that was clear. Nakatalikod nga lang! Peace Mae!

So reception followed afterwards... best part was the Photo booth! after taking this picture, hindi na kami matigil sa kakatawa... literally! Halos maiyak na kami ni Sally.

All in all, that weekend was memorable. And I won't forget Sally breaking the strap of her 3 inch heel shoes. Who's next?

SNES and Secret of Mana

2010-11-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

The past few days, I've come back to the kid in me and decided to play one of the best Role Playing Games ever made in the history of the Nintendo game console - Secret of Mana. We don't have our Super Nintendo (SNES) anymore so my brother taught me how to setup an emulator, including using an actual playstation controller to simulate the original SNES controller.

I love this game, even before Final Fantasy VII (This is the only version of Final Fantasy that I enjoyed playing). I always enjoyed naming the three main characters of this game! I also liked the level up, skill up concept.

For some reason, this game comes to my mind when we talk about SNES. SNES was a popular game console that came out right after Nintendo, and right before the Sony Play Station (PS1). I still remember the days when my brother and I will fight for who plays the game console. The last game console we had was PS1. I guess we all got over game consoles after that. It's either we're getting older, or that personal computers just took over our lives.

+ 1

2010-11-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

I am now officially +1 year old.

My birthday was spent with family and friends. Celebration started way back a week ago when our friend Del invited us to spend Halloween at Haven for Children and participate in an out reach program. It was a very nice way to celebrate my pre birth day!

And then as tradition calls for it - my officemate and good friend Melvin and I celebrated our birthday together by treating our colleagues to a nice sumptuous dinner at Gloria Maris last November 04. After all, we have the same birthday! Why not celebrate it together?

Of course during the day itself, I spent it with my family. They gave me a new badminton racket as I've been complaining for quite some time that I don't have one (Mind you, my younger sister borrowed it and she broke it - that's how hard she hits!). Finally they got me one! I hope I can use it at least once, before I go leave for Canada.

Speaking of Canada, that's another blessing from the Lord I wanted to share. I shared this with a couple of friend already. Way back during the crazy and disastrous months, I wished and hoped that I get sent back to Canada, just to get away from everything that's been happening. I considered it as an escape from all the emotional troubles I've been experiencing. As we know, it never materialized then, after all, I just came back from a 4 month stint there. But the Lord is good.

Just recently, my team lead asked if I wanted to go back to Canada for even just a month to work on this new project we're working on. It'll be easier if my teammate and I work side by side (since it has a pretty tight deadline too). So I said yes. And what I realized then was that, this was what I was asking for before. Except the Lord waited for the right time, when I'm in the best state in my life, to go there. Now, I am not escaping reality. But instead, I'm actually going on a nice relaxing, vacation. There are no excess baggage left behind. And I have only good things to look forward to.

Now, before I end this entry - I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who celebrated this birthday with me, and to everyone who made sure I am genuinely happy when this day comes. The Lord is indeed good.

new camera

2010-11-03T02:12:00.000-07:00

I've been a materialistic person for the past few weeks and one of the things I had on my list was to buy a new camera. Our old digital camera, which is around 5 years old already, has been losing its touch. Focus isn't any good anymore so I've decided to buy the family a new one! It's my gift to myself, and to the family! It's not the top of the line, but it's pretty slick.

I have no idea how to take a picture of the camera given that I need a camera to take a picture of it.

At least starting today, I can take my own pictures and not rely on my friends' cameras all the time!

What to buy next?

Another update

2010-10-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from the blogging world for quite a while. Work's been keeping me busy. Stock market's been generous for the past two weeks, so that's also taking up my much of my time in the mornings. And then I have some other extra activities to do, plus, I still need my bum time!

I can't even recall everything that's happened!

Happy Birthday City! (October 20, 2010)

My very own Honda City has finally turned 1! One year old, 8000+ km in mileage, two more years of payments left! This year alone, my City has brought me to places I never thought I would've driven to. He has provided me comfort each day I go out of the house. As my gift to him, I will give him a much needed cleaning day. He needs to be vacuumed!

I remember, just a year ago, I was supposed to get just a second hand car, just to help me out when going to the office (since I work at nights), and then Ondoy came and we all know there were a lot of cars eaten up by Ondoy. And so we decided to just buy a new one. And City came about. It's truly a blessing to get City. I remember writing the down payment check! Biggest purchase ever, but after a year, definitely worth it.

Unfortunately, my City has been the cause of some nasty events in my life, but you know what, I wouldn't change anything. People come and go, but my City, he'll be accompanying me through my trips for a long long time.

Adidas King of the Road (October 24, 2010)

I try to join an event at least once a month just for fun. Adidas had their annual run last October 24. The fee was a whopping 850 pesos as they included free breakfast and the timing chip. Unfortunately, for me, there was just too many people who joined. The first part of the run was terrible, you had to dodge the slow people and that's a bit tiring. And the food afterwards? I thought it would have been at least rice + egg + tocino or some protein. But it was just two pandesals, banana, hotdog, and butter/jam. Medyo not worth the 850 I had to pay.

But nonetheless, running is still fun. I was not able to crack into my goal though, to run the 5km in less than 30 minutes. But definitely it's a work in progress. Here are my results:

2 minutes. I think I can improve on that, provided I try to go to the gym again more often (I am only going once or twice a week now! huhu). I have another up coming run this Nov 21 - the UNILAB run. I've already registered but unfortunately, I'm not yet sure if I can run it since some things came up in work and I might need to fly to Canada for a month. But we'll see, there's no final word yet.

More balanced life

I have promised myself that I will maintain a work-life balance, even if it takes much more effort to do so. As Leda teaches me, be a Yes girl! I've been missing in action before, but now I'm not. When my friends invite me to go out, if I have time, I go. Laziness is not a valid reason anymore. :)

For instance, last Friday night, I decided to go to my friend's birthday celebration at Bardeli's in San Juan. And to think I was going to go to work afterwards! Good thing my redness has subsided after I got to the office. Or else it would've looked like I've been drinking (which I was... but just a little!)

And then the next day, we went to the Haven for Children outreach program that our friend Del has organized for us. It's an interesting and very different way to celebrate Halloween's. Instead of just going to parties, why not celebrate it with the less fortunate? Even though I hardly had any sleep, and I had to travel from North to South just to attend this event, all I could say is that it's definitely worth the time and trip. Just seeing those kids very happy, you'd already know it's worth it. Next year ulit!

I can't even recall the last time I joined an outreach! It's always nice to give something back! After all, grabe grabe na ang blessings na binibigay sa atin ni Lord.

Starbucks Card!

2010-10-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Our awesome project manager from Canada sent us a wonderful present - starbucks card with $20 CAD initial load. Unfortunately, they won't work here, only works in North America. But, what the heck, a gift is a gift, and it's very much appreciated. This doesn't expire anyway, so I'd still be able to use it some time.

haircut na naman

2010-10-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking of having longer hair, for a change. But I couldn't help myself and decided to get a haircut. But I did not expect my hair to be this short!!! Argh!

A reflection

2010-10-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

4 months has passed since my life was drastically turned upside down. I went home from Canada with excitement, but was met with terrible and awful news. I remember those nights when I can't even sleep because all I kept thinking about was what happened? Why did this happen? What did I do? Too many what ifs. Too many thoughts running through my mind. I cried, I wept, I was angry, I was in denial, you name it.

“Love is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he turns on you with a miniature machine gun.” - Matt Groening

Things change. I made mistakes, he made mistakes. It just wasn't right anymore. Too many reasons why things ended the way it did, but you know, each passing day is a moment of new beginnings. Time is indeed a great healer.

I have to be honest, I was a disaster then. But I'm not the type of person who would let these bad things control my life. After some time, I made a conscious effort and a brave decision - to start my new life. There is no point on dwelling on the past. I cannot live in the past. But, I can learn from it and be a better person. And it has paid off so much.

Since then, I've met new people, became more active, focused more on myself. I've realized that being happy doesn't depend on having a special someone in your life. In fact, I have been taking this time to reflect on myself. I want to make myself a better person. A broken me isn't any good. I remember looking like hell before, but now, I look so much happier compared to then. I feel so much better too! There's this feeling of relief perhaps? That I'm finally ok.

As I was reading one of the articles from Relevant Magazine, here's something that struck me the most:

"My wife and I found that when looking for a future spouse, most people tend to put the focus on the other person, instead of themselves. The issue isn’t about finding the one, it’s about being the one."

This reminded me that be happy on your own first. We have our family who supports us, friends who cares for us. Use these love to inspire yourself to be a better person.

There are still a lot of things in my to do list that I have to do. I'd still like to look for a more regular shift job, something that'll be a better fit for me. A change of environment is good. I think it's about time I go for it. I'd also like to continue learning more about stock trading. I've been meeting new faces in the trading world, and it's been a great ride so far.

There's just so much that I want, and I want to do. So much more. Maybe I ought to list it down to make it more concrete. Bo Sanchez suggests writing these down to. And then crossing it out one at a time. Next thing you know, you've accomplished them all already.

I'd like to give myself a pat on the back. I think I deserve it. :)

Dinner with Sheila

2010-10-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

My very good friend Sheila came home from China around two weeks ago and last night, we were finally able to meet up! I have not seen her for 1.5 - 2 years and boy was I surprised to see that she lost a ton of weight! Lost around 40+ pounds over a span of a year! Way to go girl! Good for her. Not only does she look great, she feels awesome too! It's good she finally worked on it because she wasn't healthy at all before. Naglabasan na mga iba't ibang sakit. I hope this is the start of a new and healthier lifestyle for Sheila.

Sheila is the one right smack in the middle.

Great dinner at Trinoma. Sa uulitin!

an interesting october 5 day

2010-10-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, October 5 was quite an eventful day for me.

Item #1
Since it was a Tuesday work day, I went in to the office instead of working from home. Since I've had my City, I've always driven to work, parked my car in the basement, and go out mid morning to go home. I usually park in the basement because it's cheaper even though the parking space is way too crowded and small. It's always deserted from people but I always felt secured there. So imagine my surprise when I got to my car the morning after and found a note tucked in the driver's seat window. I opened it and this is what it contains:

This is just the first time it happened to me here, it might be just some stupid prank or stupid person putting that note there. So for me, it was nothing and I got in the car, and went home. Surprise surprise, when I showed it to my parents, they immediately got worried and we ended up going back to Discovery building and reporting it to the security staff there. As they say, it's better to be safe than sorry. Now my parents don't want me parking or even driving to the office! They'll bring me to work and pick me up every week from now on. I appreciate the gesture but for me it's probably too much of a waste of time for them. I think I can manage (very independent!). But, I don't think I can appeal much with that decision. Parents are usually right. They just want to be assured.

Item #2
I got a surprise text earlier from Andrei, one of the stock trader guru I usually follow whose seminar I paid for and joined a couple of months ago with my friend Rhys. As a background, I joined the seminar to gain some additional knowledge of different stock trading strategies. During the seminar, for some reason, he remembers me, calls me during the seminar, and even posts a picture of our group, with a caption that has something to do with me. I guess I made an impression? Haha. Anyway, he was asking me to join this seminar happening this coming Friday. It is a special seminar, where, the one and only JAP is going to be there!! For those of you who don't know JAP, he is otherwise known as Jerry Angping. A hugeeee businessman, owns a lot of the stocks that is high risk-reward (simply because most of the time it is jockeyed!).

Of course, why would I say no to this opportunity? Apparently, pretty Chinese ladies are very much welcome to this seminar. So I told him I was bringing my friend Rhys, who happens to be a Chinese too - but a guy! And he was asking me to invite some more girl friends. I don't know anyone else in my circle of friends who are into stock market trading anyway, so I just told him to just reserve another +1 seat, aside from Rhys and me. I think Rhys is inviting another friend along as well. Andrei's paying for everything so headcount was important.

That was an interesting conversation. What I'm really looking forward to is meeting new people and expanding the network. Remember, this is the business people I might meet. So Rhys and I didn't even hesitate to say no. We're going and we will hopefully even have a picture with Jap!

Item #3
A friend of mine from work, split up with her ex a couple of days ago. She's been talking to me a lot lately, and as her friend, I am just there to support her. During our conversations, what I realized is that what I was telling her, was something I was already slowly doing for myself! Ang daming realization. Those thoughts and realizations deserve another post. But as we all have our happy endings, I just found out they got back together :) Oh love. I hope more and more people around me are getting happier by the minute.

Item #4
I had to cancel a movie date with the girls because of some things I need to prioritize (right Leda?). Unfortunately it didn't push through, however at least I did get the chance to have my second boxing session at Elorde's last night. For some reason, I just can't get the hook and uppercuts. Mali daw porma ko eh. But one thing's for sure, boxing is a great cardio. Tagaktak pawis ko the whole time. I'm still thinking of instead of going to Elorde at Shaw, I might try out the one in Tektite. It's more convenient for me, especially if I schedule it on Wednesdays after work. The only problem with that boxing gym, it's way more expensive than the one in Shaw. Pero sabi nila madaming artista dun and celebrity. Plus points sa akin yun, I'm a sucker for celebrities. Haha

Quote of my day

2010-10-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

"To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy . . . is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Active living

2010-09-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've signed up again for another set of sessions with my personal trainer last Monday. I have to do this. If I don't sign up for a PT, I'm pretty sure I won't be going to the gym anymore. At least this way I'm forced to do my sets! I did four sets of the whole routine Sir Jon showed me. We're supposed to do 8-10 sets of the whole routine, but I only did 4. Puyat eh! Haha couldn't do anymore. The triceps exercise was painful!

Boxing
Rach has been inviting me to join her and her friend Nikki to go boxing on either Wednesday or Thursday night at Elorde gym near Shaw boulevard. So finally, I did try it out earlier. Slept whole afternoon, drove to Shangrila first to buy my own hand wraps (boxers wear this for added padding I think, before you wear the actual gloves). Generic brand hand wraps were supposed to cost around 200 pesos, but in Toby's Shang, they only had the branded one, which will cost me 495 pesos!! Unfortunately, Shangrila only had Toby's. They didn't have any other sports store, and I didn't want to borrow some used hand wraps from the boxing gym, so I ended up buying them.

I tried a one session for beginners. And my arms and shoulders are already aching. I'm pretty sure it'll ache more tomorrow. It was fun though. You have a trainer, who's your sparring mate as well, and you get to punch the hell out of everything you can hit on. Very good stress reliever indeed. And now I know how to do jab, straight, hook. Medyo nalilito pa, pero masasanay din. I'm thinking of going back next week.

And the best thing about boxing, right after boxing, I had one of the best bbqs there is. It's a eatery called Ihawan ni Speed. Reminds me of La Salle days when we used to eat at those small eatery cheapy place. Yummy.

Badminton
I've also been trying to kick start playing badminton again. My parents play every Wednesday and Friday nights so I try joining them at least during Fridays. I play a couple of games only since I need to wake up around 4 am for work (ugh!).

Running
Of course, running! I've been into running since last year, when I was in Canada and some friends from Canada persuaded me to try and run a 5km race. And then next thing I know, I was running a 10 km race around Stanley Park, under tremendous heat (hindi na bumalik yung kulay ko pagkatapos ng run na yun)!

After finishing last week's 5km run - roughly around 35 minutes, I have two more runs to look forward to this coming October. The Pink Run on the weekend of October 17, which I'll be running with my hs friends, and which I'm probably not going to take as seriously as I want to. And the Adidas King of the Road run the following weekend, which I will attempt to get to < 30 minutes time for my 5km. Disadvantaged ata ako, ang liit ko, smaller strides! haha

Being Active
Initially this gym thing started out because #1 I didn't feel good about myself and #2 I had to find some distraction. But now, it's more of getting fit now and what I realized was, when I started going to the gym, I'd thought I'd be more tired for the day, but in fact, I actually have more energy now. Compared to before when I needed to sleep for almost 10 hours just to get me through the day (night shift work). Now, I can manage my time and do a lot more, and not feeling tired all day long. Good effects! And I even lost weight and gained some muscle. Not bad at all!

The running, boxing and badminton are really good sports to play every now and then. It's different from the usual routine in gym, which is good! These activities are something to add energy to my life. It makes me happy and energized. You get to interact with different people and have fun at the same time! It beats having to just sleep the rest of the day away or bum and do nothing right?

Hope my friends start living the active lifestyle too! And I hope this isn't just a phase for me. I hope to continue it as much as I can.

Youtube comment

2010-09-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

There's just something about going through youtube trying to look for some nice videos to watch. And this one video I stumbled upon - some person placed this comment there that just made me laugh! I found this in one of Journey videos (Any Way You Want It)!

Yeah - why the hell is Justin Bieber always being talked about, everywhere, anywhere. Sikat naman!

Glee!

2010-09-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

I bummed around for the weekend and ended up watching Glee's season 1! I haven't finished it yet, a couple more episodes left. Funny thing is, I ended up scouring youtube for some pretty funny glee moments that I absolutely loved (took so much time from me!). Aside from the wonderful music, the comedy here is just fantastic. They have these one-two liners that are just out of this league!

Sue Sylvester:

That's how Sue sees it!
I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then on some dark cold night, I will steal away into your home and punch you in the face.

Brittany, she's not given much screen time, but she's just hilarious!

You guys, it's like cool epilepsy!
Ms. Sylvester didn't tell me to do this.

random thoughts

2010-09-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Kuya: 24 hours na ba trabaho mo?
Me: Hindi naman, nagkataon this week grabe ang busy sobra
Kuya: Parang hindi na kita nakitang natulog eh

Napaisip ako dun ah. Think about it. Example this Friday, After lunch, went to have my monthly foot spa, worked, sleep, late dinner, played badminton, back to work, and in the next few hours, I'll be running a 5km marathon in the fort. Good luck to me!

HS Friends

2010-09-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging out with my high school friends more the past couple of weeks. I've already tried a couple of new restaurants because of them! I even went to CDO with one of them (not in the picture though). And one of my closest friends is coming back from China, so another get together really soon! BBQ at KO's place!

5th wheel!

5th wheeler no more!

HIMYM Quotes

2010-09-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

***Just took the picture from the web. If it shouldn't be here, just let me know and I'll gladly remove it.

How I Met Your Mother has been my staple food for the past few weeks, trying to squeeze in a couple of episodes per day to watch. I'm already down to halfway of season 5 and it's not only been entertaining, but it's almost always hits home with their "food for thoughts" every now and then. If you're a regular viewer, you'll probably pick a thing or two. But if you are like me who just came off from a long term relationship, each quote, each conversations the characters say is much much more valuable.

So as a tribute to this great show who has taught me a lot over the past weeks, here are some of the favorite "food for thoughts" that I got from this sitcom.

Barney [about how easy it is to run a marathon]: Step one, you start running. There is no step two

Things happen in our life that don't usually turn out the way we planned it to. Regrets often clog our minds that we find it hard to move forward. Barney tells us that life can be comparable to running a marathon, you just go ahead and run. There's no other way to look at our lives than forward. Moving on is getting on with our lives, and not looking back any longer.

Barney: So he stays home all the time not getting laid? No, see, that's what you do when you have a fiancée. He should be out here celebrating! He's free! He got that red-headed tumor removed.

My best friend did something for me which I appreciated so much. It was a simple gesture but it just said so much.

Future Ted: The great moments of your life won't necessarily be the things you do. They'll also be the things that happen to you. Now, I'm not saying you can't take action to affect the outcome of your life. You have to take action. And you will! But never forget, that on any day, you could step out the front door, and your whole life could change forever. You see the Universe has a plan kids; and that plan is always in motion. A butterfly flaps its wings, and it starts to rain. It's a scary thought, but it's also kind of wonderful. All these little parts of the machine constantly working... Making sure that you end up exactly where you're supposed to be.. exactly when you're supposed to be there. The right place. At the right time.

I loooove this quote. I believe in this, that everything that's happening, it's happening for a reason. We grow from it, we learn from it, and we get to exactly where fate wanted us to be.

Ted: Okay, I'm going to say something out loud that I've been doing a pretty good job of not saying out loud lately. What you and Tony have, what I thought for a second you and I had, what I know that Marshall and Lily have, I want that. I do. I keep waiting for it to happen. I'm waiting for it to happen. I guess I'm just tired of waiting. And that is all I'm going to say on that subject.
....
Stella: I know that you're tired of waiting. And you might have to wait a little while more but, she's on her way, Ted. And she's getting here as fast as she can.

This is probably one of the best lines from season 4!

Let me know if you have other favorite How I Met Your Mother quotes!

CDO + Bukidnon

2010-09-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Stella and I had a planned overnight trip to Cagayan de Oro last weekend. She booked us the tickets about a month ago when Air Philippines had a seat sale - the tickets just cost us ~2000 pesos per head round trip. This is the first time Stella and I went on an out of town trip. For the longest time, the farthest we went to together is just Tagaytay. She actually planned everything. I didn't do one thing. Yehey!! That's a change from the usual!

White Water Rafting
This was my second time trying out CDO's white water rafting. The first one was way back 3 - 4 years ago? We were thinking of doing the extreme rafting this time (more rapids, plus a rapid that's a kilometer long!) but due to time constraint, we couldn't book that one. So we decided to just do the advance level.

Since there were only two of us, we had to join in with some other group. So we met this group who half are from Manila, and the other half from Cagayan de Oro. One of them opened a new hotel in CDO so they invited some of the relatives from Manila to try it out. And they were going white water rafting with us too. We ended up sharing the raft with a couple of people from that group. The part I loved the most was riding the kayak. Feel na feel namin ang rapids! And by the second half of the ride, bumabagyo na! Masmasarap mag white water rafting when it's raining. More rapids and mas exciting!

* all pictures are on my friends camera. I really need to buy a new one! Hindi na nakakafocus nang maayos yung camera namin

Bukidnon Trip

There's a new adventure park in Bukidnon which just opened last quarter of 2009. They offer the longest dual zip line in the whole of Asia so of course, we had to try it out! We hired a driver for one whole day to bring us everywhere we want to go for the day.

Nakakatawa talaga itong driver namin.

While we were waiting for our turn for the zip line (they have to drive you all the way up first), our driver, lucky for him, was given a free zip line ride (dahil first driver of the day daw na dumating sa Dahilayan Adventure Park). While he was up there somewhere waiting for his time to ride the zip line, nag text sa amin, ang sabi "ma'am, baka pwede po kuhaan niyo ako ng picture habang nag zip line". Hahaha lol. kakaibang driver ito!

And then when it was our time to go up, we left our camera to the driver, asked him to take a picture of us this time when we ride the line. And he did take our pictures. So when we reviewed our pictures - lo and behold, I knew he'd do that - he took a picture of himself. Tapos may another picture na nag papicture pa siya (with posing eh). Laugh trip! And that doesn't end there, sa kakakalikot yata niya nung camera, he didn't take a still photo of us, instead, naka set to video na pala yung camera! Crap! Video yung nakuha nung posing ni Stella.

Before I forget, nasapawan kasi ng katatawanan ng driver - The zip line was awesome, by the way. I loved it there. Weather was cool. Reminds me of Baguio's weather. Maganda kung ma develop pa yung place na yun. Dadami ang pupunta dun. In fact, there were a lot of people going to the Dahilayan Adventure Park. When we left there around 10 am, there were already probably around 20 who already rode the line and a lot more in line, and then we saw a couple more cars going towards the park. This is pretty good business. And think about it, per head is around 500-600 pesos, depending on which lines you'd be taking.

For lunch, we dropped by Del Monte Country Club. Going to del monte country club, magsawa ka sa pineapples. Of course, we had to buy some pineapples to bring home!

I love it here. When I grow old, I would really love to go live in the province, somewhere quiet and more relaxed than the busy and crazy Manila.

Food
Of course, what trip would be complete without food tripping. Whenever Stella and I go out, food is always the focus of our activities. Number one priority. Just take a look at what we did last Saturday. Right after the white water rafting (roughly around 5-5:30 pm, they provided us with a full meal - barbecue plus rice and drinks). Hindi pa kami nakontento diyan. After getting home and cleaning up, we went to Countryside Steakhouse!

This restaurant is located in Limketkai center. It's pretty nice there, reminds me somewhat of Greenbelt where there are a lot of restaurant choices around. Countryside restaurant, we heard, is popular for their steaks. Stella ordered Beef:

While I ordered... the Ostrich Steak!!

Ostrich steak was really good. I ordered medium rare, but I initially got it as rare. I think sa sobrang kapal nung meat hindi na talaga maluto yung loob. I did ask them to cook it a little bit further and turned out pretty good. The ostrich steak is tasty!

By the end of the meal, masakit na ngipin ko sa kakanguya.

But our food trip didn't end there. Even if we were so full at this point, we saw this restaurant Candy. It's owned by a friend's aunt. The chef trained in France or something so we decided to try out their desserts. We ordered the "sinful" cake slice. Akala ko "senfol" kasi yun ang sabi ng waiter. Sinful naman pala. :)

Look at that cake! It's brownie + some white cream. Yung white cream napakasarap.

Grabeng kabusugan that night.

Back to reality
Unfortunately, vacation is just vacation and it always has to end. We packed up our stuff and headed home. But if there's one thing I learned from this trip, it's that we really need to go have fun once in a while. Do something out of the ordinary! Be free from all problems and headaches. Times like these, not only do we get to rejuvenate, but we end up making new memories!

New Things...

2010-09-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

"There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain. One should sympathise with the colour, the beauty, the joy of life. The less said about life's sores the better. "
- Oscar Wilde

Comedy Cartel at Aruba

My friend Kat invited us to watch Comedy Cartel at Aruba Bar in Metrowalk last Thursday night. One of the stand up comics is her friend so she wanted to support him. It's a different brand of comedy. It's not like the ones you see in Punchline or Laughline (spell check) where the brand of comedy is basically insulting other people. This is more in line with stand up comics you may have seen in the Last Comic Standing show. It was actually interesting, but also painful to watch. The show is as follows: they have a list of comics that goes one after the other. I am guessing the first few are the not so popular ones yet. Take for instance the first guy, literally no one was laughing. It was so painful to watch him on stage trying to make people laugh. Eventually, the show picked up. I can't remember how many they were though. I think it ran for an hour and a half.

We didn't go at once after the comics were finished. We stayed up until 1:30 am there... listening to accoustic music! Parang nag jajamming na lang mga tao doon. The main guy - Lei is really good with his guitar. We even requested a couple of songs and even met the guy!

I'm not used to going to doing this thing at nights. I'm a homebody person so it took a lot of effort from my end to really go to this event and you know what? It was worth it (aside from my City getting scratched while parking there!). Not only did I end up listening to good comedy and awesome music, but I actually got to see an very old friend too and hang out with the girls! Romana - I cant' believe we haven't seen each other since who knows when!

Badminton

I always had an excuse not to play.

"I'm too tired"
"I have work later"
"I'd rather sleep"
"I'm not good at that anymore"

You name it... all possible excuses. But finally, my parents were able to drag me off the bed and got me to play. I told them I would only play one or two games because I still have work the following morning (4am) but lo and behold, I ended up playing 4 games, and staying there 'till around 11:30 pm! In fact, aside from my gym, which has slowly been getting less attention from me, I think I'm about to engage more into other sports from now on. I was thinking of making this a regular Friday night activity for me.

Quiz Nights #7 or 8 at Murphy's

After skipping a week from our weekly quiz nights affair, the gang and I came prepared this time around! Or at least Marcy did. I still can't believe she answered Congo River and Tanzania right. How in the world would you know those things? My brother's team went as well and being newbies there, they actually did pretty good.

Our score was pretty decent this time around 62 (yehey first time in the line of 6) and they got 74! They would've gotten something better had they chosen the right category to jokerize. I still can't believe one of the logos we missed was Pizza Hut! Argh

Papa's Surprise Birthday Bash

On another note, my dad is celebrating his 60th (Yes! Senior na! May discounts na!) his birthday September 10, 2010. And as a surprise for him, we have cooked up a pretty nice surprise party for him this coming Sunday. He doesn't know it yet, but we are throwing him a surprise lunch this coming Sunday at Saisaki! Eat all you can siyempre. We've invited a total of around 40 guests all in all. He still doesn't know it. He thinks we're going to have lunch with my brother in law, who's celebrating his birthday on the 12th. We have some videos prepared for him as well. I'm looking forward to Sunday!

Bev's work area

2010-09-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Since I work from home almost 4x a week, I setup my own "workstation" at home! Not the best picture as I only used my camera phone for it. Anyway, about a year or so ago, I decided to buy a new 19 inch monitor so that I can work dual monitor - Laptop + Monitor. And then recently, I noticed that my brother has not been using his other 19 inch monitor for his desktop computer. That desktop has been out of order for quite a while so I decided to borrow that monitor, plus some other peripherals so that I can set up my new work area! Complete with 2 19-inch monitors, with keyboards, headset and mouse. He even suggested I also borrow is wireless mouse!

This setup is awesome. I can honestly say that I can do more work this time around! This setup is actually the same as how my workstation looks like when I'm working in Burnaby. I guess that's why I decided to set something similar because it really made a difference. Dual screens definitely increases productivity.

However when I'm in Manila office, there's a huge difference. Here, I only use my laptop, plus I have another desktop computer. Helps me with other work processing I need to do. Since these are separate computers, I use a tool called Synergy to sync up both machines. Meaning, I can use one set of mouse and keyboard (the one's in my laptop) to move the mouse and type on the other desktop machine! Helps a lot because you won't need to keep on switching mouse/keyboards all the time between those machines.

What I really want next is to have a better work table, work chair for my mini office at home. I did buy a nice desk around 2 years ago, but that one's stuck in my room. Ever since I started working from home, my brother moved to sleep at my room with my sister, and I ended up using his room as my mini office. Actually, my bro's the one who's making good use of my desk! I on the other hand, ended up with his old huge office desk, not really ideal for computer setup like mine.

That's it! Just wanted to show you, my readers, where I do most of my work!

weekend rush

2010-08-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday

Saturday early morning started out with me driving all the way to the office to go to work. I usually just go to the office just once a week so a Saturday (or Friday in North America time) was an exception because our team had new members coming in as their first day. Welcome to the team Sally and JD! I'm glad I did too as I had a lot of work I was able to finish that day.

I don't know how I got by that Saturday because I went home around 10:30 am, slept for around 2 hours? And then headed off to Powerplant mall in Rockwell. You see, an old friend just happen to buy a new Honda Civic! Top of the line model pa! He was supposed to buy a Subaru about a month ago, but that didn't push through. So I was surprised to get a text message from him last Friday informing me that he finally bought a new car! Not Subaru as intended, but a Honda Civic instead! Not bad at all. So he invited me to go for a joy ride. We were thinking of driving around the metro but since I had dinner appointments that night, we just decided to meet up around 4pm at powerplant and then drove all the way to Mall of Asia and had merienda there to talk about anything under the sun. Interesting as I never really talked to him much before (ok, I never really bothered talking to anyone before!).

So he did bring me back to Powerplant just in time so I can meet up with my girl friends that night for dinner. Before we went to dinner, the girls and I dropped by Urban Bazaar there. They have some pretty nice stuff there. We did end up going back later on that evening so my other friend who came later could check it out. Lo and behold, nakita namin si Marian Rivera and Roxanne Barcelo (spell check). They're both very pretty and petite girls.

Sunday

Woke up pretty early Sunday (after only sleeping for a couple of hours) and dragged myself to pack up for our girls overnight and go to EDSA Shangri La Hotel by 9 am to attend free yoga class! Who can say no to that? The best part of it is that, we finally got to go Chi Spa! Pagpasok mo pala doon para kang nasa ibang mundo! Very solemn, ang bango, you name it! The yoga session itself ran for 2 hours... but it seemed so short! I was just learning the Koshas! And trying the various poses that I couldn't figure out. Hahaha But it was fun! I sure hope there are yoga classes near my place, that would be better. Good thing though that I got a yoga book from Leda. I should start reading it.

The only thing I didn't like was walking in the hotel and in the mall wearing my house shirt looking like I just woke up.

Malayan Overnight

My college friends and I decided to have our overnight after n years again last sunday to monday. We stayed in Malayan, which is just in front of Podium. Not a bad place for the price, but not the best as well. I think I remember Astoria was better.

Anyway, we went to Megamall to check out Forever 21. That store is huge! But we ended up shopping at Cinderella! Hahaha I think everyone bought something right? I didn't realize how fun it was to shop with these ladies! Ang hindi ko makakalimutan were the times we were in the dressing room. I will not forget Marcy's catwalk with her new blue blouse! Grabe payat ng tiyan ng lola mo!

In general, it's always nice to hangout with friends. That's what the girls and I just did in Malayan. Although, madaming plans na hindi natuloy, paano ba naman, sobrang antok na! Ganoon na ba tayo na tumatanda? Hindi na kaya mag stay up till wee hours of the morning doing nothing? hahaha We love our sleep more these days.

We're getting older!!

bible quotes

2010-08-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

"therefore i tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your FaTheR in heaven may forgive you your sins."
mark 11: 24-25

"'for i know the plans i have for you,' declares the LoRd. 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
jeremiah 29: 12