FREE on Valentines!

My relationship with Ian was never big on Valentine's. For our first two Valentine's, we did not exchange gifts or do something special. But I started to feel a little queasy last year, after all, we are in Eastwood and couples on date with the girl holding a bouquet are everywhere during the day. Though I'm never one to be appreciative of big flower arrangements that cost too much (especially on V-day), wilting and collecting dust a few days after, I would definitely be happy to see a little effort on his side.

So, there I was whining about how I am not receiving anything again from him ("Buti pa ang office me pa-ferrero at roses!"), when he slipped me our locker key. I knew then and there something was up. What I kept thinking was "sana di flowers". Haha. Typical of me. Get whiny that you dont receive flowers but once the chance that it may BE flowers, I get scared that they were. Where am I suppose to place them and it would be to heavy to carry home!

To end my anxiety attack, I peeked in the locker and there was a shiny Nike plastic bag. NIKE FREE!!! I've been wanting to buy those shoes for years! My enthusiasm for them made Ian and Inggo buy their own pair but I never got to buy mine because I never had the spare money.

Ian and I signed up for gym a few days earlier. Since I got a whole lot fatter when my contract expired October last year (read: 20 pounds more of what my initial weight has been before ever going to the gym). I'm pretty anxious to start to lose them again. I guess once you start gym you never should stop because you'd balloon like a hippo (well that's my case) . Anyway, the shoes are to psych me up more. Hopefully, since Ian is now coming with me I wouldn't get too tamad like the last year, I may have only used 6 months out of the 1 year contract.

This time would be different. I swear.

Special thanks to my sensible boyfriend who knew just what I needed.

i wish..

It was December last year when my friend Val emailed us about the wish bracelets she has stumbled upon somewhere in the web. The moment I saw the pics I fell in love with them, with their intricate details and lucid wishes that seem just right for you. Since it was Christmas Season and I just loooooved the bracelets, I figured it would be the perfect gift to give to everyone. But getting them was not easy. We had to reserve days in advance and go back to Rustan's four times. They are gone too fast, one time we went there to buy some and decided the next day to get one more and the three rotating shelves that were there the last day were reduced to only one.

Val got the I wish I was at the Spa bracelet but I couldn't find its pic anywhere. I would just share to you the rest:

This is the I wish I could get away bracelet. Ian got me this and I just love it so much. It has eight beautiful charms: the Big Ben, a suitcase, an airplane, a passport, a cruise ship, the leaning tower of Pisa, The Eiffel tower and a boat I know is popular but can't remember where can be found. (I got this pic in a blog, just want to give a thank you to where I got it.)

I got my Mom the I wish I had a Million Dollars bracelet. The pics aren't really as nice as the actual bracelet because you can't really see the details of the charm upclose which really make these so special. Plus you can't see the rest of the charms at the back.

This is my gift to my sister, Kris, I wish I was by the sea. This has no relation to her whatsoever, there weren't so many options because it was one of the few last ones left (sorry). If I had a choice I would've gotten her this:

I wish I could eat junk food all the time, coz she just loves to pig out. Unfortunately this was not available. Nevertheless, my sister still loved the bracelet and wears it everyday until now.

This is what I got my friend Michelle for our exchange gift. The things I wish for my Friend bracelet. What I like about it the most is that all of its charms has a legend at the back. I'd try to recall the charms: a heart for I wish you love, a movie ticket for more fun, a cellphone so we can always keep in touch, an angel for your guidance. Hehe, that's all I can remember.

I wish your prayers come true, this is such a sweet wish and I got this for Ian's mom. Not exactly this but something similar though.

Ian got her sister this. I wish I had more shoes. Lovely.

And this was for his cousin who came back from the States. This was not exactly it, more like I wish I was at a tropical island.

Di naman kami masyadong nag-hoard no? :P Anyway some of the other bracelets I like are:

I wish all food was low-carb, for all you south beachers. ;)

I wish I had more time to exercise. Well I have the time I just dont have the will. haha

I wish I was shopping for my favorite things.

And I wish I had something to wear.

Call it obsession but I just love them. Search the web for blogs and you'd know there's a lot of us. I'd probably check Rustan's again soon to see if they have some new stock. :P Bye for now.

O yeah. Happy Valentine's everyone!!!

The year that was..

So, ok. I had intentionally not written on this thing for exactly a year and 2 days. I have no excuse for it except I got too lazy to keep it up (no sense pretending that I got busy since no one would believe me). I also figured, heck I don’t even know if someone would be too lifeless to actually read the stuff I write in here. The 890 hits on the counter on the right may even be just me, visiting the page again and again. Haha.

And so, I talked to my friend Tuni the other day, and he showed me his read: updated blog page, and tried to convince me to update mine. Here’s how our chat went:

ton_zap: nagbasa ako ng blog mo
ton_zap: ung mga past post mo
ton_zap: tawa ako ng tawa
nes: baket?
ton_zap: ung room renovation
ton_zap: 3 taon na ata un
nes: oo nga e
nes: susko
nes: mgrecommend n kyo ng karpintero
ton_zap: hahahhaa
ton_zap: wla pa rin ba
ton_zap: magupdate ka na ng blog mo
nes: tinatamad ako..
ton_zap: wahahhaa

Another reason I didn’t write in this for long. After years of raving about and new year’s resolution after new year's resolution on getting my room fixed, I still haven’t come around to getting it done. So, up to now it is still in number one on my things to do list. When I finally come around to getting it done, the before and after pics of my room would be in here.

I’m back to updating this for reason number 1: I miss writing stuffs with the only subject revolving to me, and me only. 2: I don’t care if nobody is reading this, at least I can read it in the future and have something to remind me of the important things from my past. 3: And in case somebody DOES read this, at least they would get to know a little something about me.

2006 eh? So what has happened.. The year started off with me celebrating our (Ian and mine of course) anniversary alone because he was in Taiwan for a month. I’d just try to summarize everything in pictures for you guys (or for you, future me).

This was taken January 20, 2006 at Inggo's house during his birthday. I think I was at my thinnest in years.

This was with my K friends, February @ Gerry's Grill. One of the rare eat-out's we're almost complete.

Came March and we were off to Puerto Galera again for our summer outing. This time there were more of us plus more days on the beach this time was much much much more fun! Hmmm.. Wonder where are we off to this time..

After this shot was taken, my cam fell off and got her first bruises, I rode the banana boat and fell off myself thinking about the cam. (Mind you, I fell off, alone and had to be rescued by a lifeguard because the stupid banana boatman didn't hear my friends screaming that I fell off) .

Next stop was to Punta Fuego, our comapny outing. The place was GORGEOUS. Even the comfort rooms are picture background material :P We were lucky to have the place for our outing. Only thing is I was too bangag that time because I was from the previous night's shift, hence not much pics for me because I was just sleeping the whole time.

Ian and I also went to Baguio over the summer for four days but my pictures got lost somewhere :( I'll update this as soon as I find them. (Hopefully)

This was our Indian-inspired picture taken May 2006, especially for Jyoti. she was leaving for the US.

June was a chaotic time as far as I can remember. We were housing 10 family balikbayan's or so for my Ate Cathy's wedding. When you put too much people in such a little space, plus the Pinas heat and some unresolved family issues expect more and more bickerings everyday. But all's good, when I look back I just think of how fun it was to finally meet some of my cousins I never saw before. Like Nic here in the picture (middle). Of course with all the balikbayans expect June to be very hectic. There's a party somewhere every night (translate: inuman ng mga Tito), malls and other tourist destination every day, a wedding, and a very special surprise 80th birthday party for my Lola. I get goosebumps everytime I remember her face when she walked to that hotel ballroom, 50 or so people holding candles in the dark room then shouting surprise! when she entered. It was really something.

We were there at Araneta July 2006, when Purefoods won the 2006 All Filipino Cup. Or whatever. Im not sure of the title. :P Ian is such a big fan but I dont really care too much about Basketball. Must be one of those times he wished he was with somebody else (meaning more people not somebody else, girlfriend!) to watch the sweet victory of his beloved team.

Awwww. O di ba ang sweet. Pair watches for me and Ian.

My sisters got obsessed with watching Eastwood concerts. There's one almost every week. Aside from they're free, you'd get to see your favorite local bands perform super upclose. One time Bamboo, got off the stage and walked thru the audience, unfortunately, my cam's battery was already down so I got no picture of him in front of me. All I got from the event was the memory of the sweat on one of his arm, as I gripped it and said "Bamboo.."

I got to meet up with Lanie and Jama come August 26 (Lanie's birthday) after all these years. We just went grocery shopping and ate in Mega Mall.

September was ofcourse Ian and my birthday month. Sometimes I feel we should have our birthdays in separate months. Since our birthdays are only days apart, it 's like we just exchange gifts as same with Christmas'es and Anniversaries instead of really making the celebrant feel it's his/her time of the year.

I got a very nice blessing came November. I was sent by the company abroad for the very first time. It's my first time to leave the country on my own and it was really nice getting to immerse yourself into other cultures, learn a little on what it's like to live in another setting for a while. I was really impressed on how clean Taiwan is. But, it could be just because I'm from the Phil, any country would be a cleaner country. Plus the people are so disciplined. You could never hail a bus from anywhere else except the stops. Even if it means the stop is a 15 minute walk from where you are. Getting my first taste of travel made me want to do it more.

I only stayed there for 10 days but I made sure that I would make the most of my short stay. I went out every night after work and on the wekend, my friend James took me around the popular places in Taiwan.

Last year, Christmas 2005, we went to a Home for the Aged in Bulacan as our outreach activity. This year we decided to donate to our kababayans who were hit by Reming in Bohol.

An artista sighting. wahehehe

And it was December once again, the time for parties, parties and more parties. Our comapny Christmas Party was held at Speedzone, The Fort. If last year 's theme was formal, this year was all about rugged, F150 racing looks. =)

Of course, we also have our Christmas Party which is gearing to be an annual thing. Ang saya saya. :D

Hence, the year that was 2006. With all the things that happened: people leaving for good (Chad and Caitlin, and Jyoti), vacations and tons of works, getting thin then getting back to being fat (probably 3x to my weight before I started gym), new gadgets and new gastos-es, I'm still happy on how it turned out to be. Im far above lucky to still have my work, firends, family, and Ian.