Here's To Love, Life, and Laughter

Happy Tatay's Day

2007-06-18T16:59:00.000+08:00

Happy Father's Day to my tatay! Thank you for providing us the good things in life, not many are as blessed... for teaching us the value of family, by being an example to us, seeing how you unconditionally loved lolo and lola, as well as your siblings... for having the patience to teach us all we need to know about the business we're in, we promise to take care of what you've started. Love you 'tay! (pengeng pera... haha!)

Happy Father's Day also to my brother-in-law, my uncles, cousins, and friends! Roz, happy father's day din sa 'yo dear. Ayan ha may mother's day greeting ka na last month, may father's day greeting ka pa ngayon (as promised).

And lastly, Happy Father's to all the tatays, daddies, papas, and erpats reading this. Stay happy!

Happy Nanay's Day

2007-05-12T10:14:00.000+08:00

happy mother's day to my nanay!!! whoever i am and whatever blessings i have right now are partly because of you -- and for that i'm truly grateful. i'll continue to pray for your good health (to better execute those ballroom moves), happiness (kasi pag masaya ka nanlilibre ka), and isama na rin natin ang mabagal na paglabas ng wrinkles mo. i love you dearly!

happy mother's day also to:

my sister -- thank you for bringing lance and isha to us, the house is much happier with them around.

my lola -- i only have good things to say about her being a mother. if not for her eh hindi lalaking mabait ang tatay ko (naks!). we'll see you soon lola majonda!

my titas -- who most of the time are not only mothers to their own kids but to me as well (medyo spoiled pa nga minsan).

my cousins -- especially to Marie who's four times a mommy (whew!), and to Mona who's working her ass off to provide only the best for her unico hijo.

my girlfriends -- particularly Roz who's working double time to be both mom and dad to her two adorable daughters. hayaan mo i-greet din kita ng happy father's day next month.

i admire you all for doing a wonderful job. i think it's a given that motherhood is such a tall order, but so far so good. and to all the mommies reading this, have a blessed day and stay happy!

Coming Soon

2007-04-22T11:10:00.000+08:00

Trinoma Mall will open soon... finally an ayala mall in quezon city... yey!

Things I Love 'Bout Bolinao

2007-04-15T19:37:00.000+08:00

Things I adored during our 3-day stay at Puerto Del Sol in Bolinao, Pangasinan:

This big wooden dining table outside our casita. I have this penchant for outdoor furnitures. Beautiful!!!

In the morning, when you step out of your casita and you have this view, you also hear a spa-like music from the speakers found in the resort premises, coupled with the sound of the waves nearby... perrrrfffeeecccctttt!!! Makes me want to get a massage and drift into sleep again. There was one day that they replaced the relaxing music with reggae, but I prefer the spa-like music better!

Nipa huts or cabanas found near the beach, the perfect place for lounging. Too bad we didn't have a chance to stay in one of these -- too expensive for day use. This is because the rate is good for an overnight stay. Yup, you can sleep in here, they'll provide you with mattresses, pillows, and blankets. Just pray that it won't rain.

The sunset is breathtaking! Need I say more?

How I Wish

2007-04-10T13:48:00.000+08:00

How I wish I can have this view...

every morning...

and every afternoon...

God is good! Happy Easter everyone!

Palawan Pleasure Trip

2007-03-12T15:00:00.000+08:00

one weekend in march, I and four other college friends went on a trip to puerto princesa via cebu pacific (as usual promo na naman ito)... some highlights of our 4-day trip...

- visiting the underground river for the 2nd time (last time was 1999 i think)... i noticed there are more formations now than before... amazing talaga how nature works!

- staying overnight at sabang beach right after we visited the underground river, only to find out that there was no water supply that day (malas!). sabi nga ni MM, feeling mga survivor contestants kami... thank God for mineral water, wet ones, alcohol, and panty liners.

- eating lunch at Vietville Restaurant... authentic Pho Bo Kho and Banh Mi Toi for only P103... yummy! we also had a brief chat with Sister Theresa, a nun based inside the village... bigla tuloy kaming naging good girls ni bambie :-P

- checking in at puerto pension on our 2nd day, straight from sabang... pleasure after pain... airconditioned room, cable TV, refrigerator, fresh towels, and most important of all... water!

- holding a baby crocodile for photo op, dami kong pics non, feeling ko ako si kuya kim... "laging tatandaan, sa bawat pagsubok ng panahon ang buhay ay weather-weather lang!" :-)

- having breakfast at the resort's restaurant located at the 4th floor, sipping coffee with a magnificent view of puerto bay...

- taking countless photos of us 5 girls while enjoying the sea, sun, and sand of snake, starfish, and luli islands... lunch at snake island was perrrrffffeeeeccct... we particularly love the inihaw na liempo paired with cucumber salad!
- dining at Ka Lui... my faves were the Sinigang ni Kaka, Fish Lumpia, and Kilawin... ambiance was great too...

- MM striking those fierce poses na ilang years nang pinag-aaralan ni chepay... ano ba cheps, si MM 1st time lang nating nakasama, ikaw 3rd trip na natin 'to?! ?!

- last but not the least... just hanging out...

First Times 1

2007-01-18T16:18:00.000+08:00

It was a day of first times last Saturday. First time to...

- watch a movie with best pal, Chepay (am I right Cheps, 1st time ?), and to think we've been friends since college. we watched Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo -- very nice movie

- watch a movie at Glorietta... batang QC kasi eh :-)

- try Origins Peace of Mind On-the-Spot-Relief. i've been hearing and reading about it and i've been wanting to buy one. smells really good and you do feel relaxed after using it

- dine at Haiku Greenbelt 3. food was good and there were a lot of choices in their menu. i liked their yakisoba and shrimp teppanyaki. however, service was terrible, only 2 waiters inside the restaurant, the rest were outside inviting passers-by to dine.

- see MM since college (all 4 of us had dessert at Cafe Breton). and my first reaction when i saw her? she's soooo thin! eh bakit nga naman hindi papayat eh ang daming activities, one of which is hip-hop dance lessons with Jason Zamora -- shet ang gwapo non! kung ganon ka-cutie ang instructor, kahit anong dance step gagawin ko, kahit ihagis pa nya ko sa ere, go! MM will be joining us in Palawan come March... woohoo!

From Makati to QC

2007-01-06T00:19:00.000+08:00

Had dinner with classmates from college. We decided to eat at Masas hoping that Geeann would show up -- nope, she wasn't able to make it. Two hours and a pinoy meal (sisig, pinakbet, crispy tadyang, and grilled pusit) later, Dick was also nowhere to be seen. A phone call to him confirmed that he wouldn't be able to join us at Greenbelt because of a still ongoing meeting at ABS ("saan 'yan?" - chepay). So we decided to all go to Quezon City and continue the drinking/reminiscing session at Yard House, this time with Dick present, fresh from his showbiz-filled meeting. Again, thanks for the freebies... the Marlboros and SCJ products. Shucks, can't believe it has been 10 freakin' years...

Food Trip: Roma Mia, Trattoria Gourmet, & Cibo

2006-12-01T22:11:00.000+08:00

A few weeks ago, I met with different sets of friends for pre-Christmas dinners. We were anticipating that come December our schedules will be crazy, what with all the shopping and family gatherings to attend to. By coincidence, all restaurants we dined in served mainly italian food.

Roma Mia (November 18) - located at 3rd level The Podium. their fried mozarella sticks were good, hindi masyadong makapal yong breading kaya you can really taste the cheese. although I prefer marinara sauce as a dip, pero pwede na rin yong garlic mayo. i also enjoyed their bolognese spaghetti... yah i know very common na 'tong pasta na 'to pero masarap sya ha. we also feasted on bruschetta and all-meat pizza. given that it was our first time to eat here, i think we did well in choosing the food. best shared with Len and Chepay -- friends from college.

Trattoria Gourmet (November 19) - located at 5th level Shangri-la Plaza Mall. one of my favorite restaurants. they serve complimentary bread and spinach spread. we started with cold cuts which consisted of prosciutto and italian sausage, tasted authentic -- but the sausage were sooo thinly sliced... parang masyadong tinipid. the beef tenderloin was yummy as well, sarap ng mushroom sauce, served with penne pasta and steamed veggies. my all-time favorite pasta dish here is the pescatore or seafood pasta in marinara sauce -- no explanation needed. for dessert we had tiramisu and i ordered gourmet coffee to go with it... perfect pair! best shared with Roz -- best friend from high school.

Cibo (November 24) - located at 1st level R1 lifestyle Power Plant Mall (one of the many branches). i wanted to eat something light, no creams or cheese in it, so i ordered their netunno pasta (couldn't remember the exact name of the dish) -- seafood linguine in olive oil and pesto. i absolutely loved it! you should also try cibo's iced tea with mint syrup... very refreshing! best shared with engfriends egroup -- chemical engineering classmates.

Nagutom ako sa ginawa ko...

Weekend Wedding

2006-10-24T19:25:00.000+08:00

T'was a wonderful wedding, yup the one I talked about in my first entry here. The weather was perfect... sun was up but weather was still cool... bride looked fabulous and so did her bridesmaids (syempre I was one of them eh)... food was divine... music at the reception was superb (Who Let the Dogs Out?!?!?)... but the most fun of it all was the drinking session with the rest of my cousins at the couple's penthouse at Hotel Elizabeth. Can't wait for November 5...

Senti Mode

2006-10-07T12:26:00.000+08:00

Last week, Chat and I went to UP to endorse our yearbooks at the MBA office (yes finally our yearbooks are out). It occured to me that it has already been 3 years since we graduated, and it only seemed last year. I remember more of the fun we had than the hardwork. And as the title goes, I went on a senti mode and suddenly remembered...

Case studies in the afternoon while feasting on manggang hilaw with bagoong & chili-salt or taho from Manong just outside the BA building or Mang Larry's famous isaw
Coming in late for a morning class and we were the reporting group and the laptop was with me... to think I only live 10 mins away... sabog!
My MMDA escapades with Ella and Roselle on our way to Manila for a research -- very interesting which you can read more in my yearbook write-up (thanks Ella!)
Yosi breaks outside our classroom while waiting for the next class
Sumptuous lunch at Beng's house in Fairview for her birthday... super dami ng food. If not for the class we had to attend to that afternoon, that could have easily turned into a drinking spree.
Crispy pata at Jenny's place in Antipolo... promise iba talaga, parang crispy pata na lasang lechon (yummy!)
Videoke at Liezl's house in Sanville, QC during her birthday... we went home at 4am... buti nalang malapit lang ang bahay ko. Halos nakanta yata namin lahat ng songs sa songbook. Yes kinareer ang magic sing!
Christmas party held at my place and the "guest of honor" that night. Nope, it wasn't a he nor a she... but an "it". I'd love to post a photo here but blogger.com might kick me out (haha!). Di ba ni-raffle yon? Kanino na nga ba napunta???

Oh well, those were the days. I wish the class can get together again kahit na busy na mga tao. Going back to our guiding principle (naks!)... Tama Na 'Yan Inuman Na!!!

Bohol Escapade

2006-09-22T16:46:00.000+08:00

It was a fun trip I had with four college buddies when we explored Bohol last August 7-10. Yes, vacation on a weekday. Well, there's a logical explanation behind... CHEAP FARES! Thanks to Cebu Pacific's new marketing strategy, we were able to get roundtrip plane tickets to Tagbilaran for only P1,620! San ka pa? The resort we stayed at for three nights (Alona Kew White Beach) was not bad either. The room was spacious enough to accommodate the four of us and all our kikay stuff scattered all over the place -- the only catch: there's no television.

Being the resourceful girls that we are -- we found a way to satisfy our craving for entertainment and food at the same time. For three nights, we had dinner at a nearby resort that has television... we just had to make sure that we get there early para hindi kami maunahan ng mga half French-half Pinoy kids (they are the ones behind us in the dinner photo below) who were mga "kapuso" and wanted to watch Majika and Capt. Barbell. While us girls and the rest of the resort staff wanted to know how Dorina was kicking Lavinia's ass and vice versa... how Adrian and Jennifer were concealing their affair from Benicio... and most importantly how Albert Martinez is looking oh so yummy (rice please!).

But more than all these, we enjoyed the trip because of all the bloopers and the laughters -- this would be another entry altogether. Given that the weather was not very cooperative that time, we still had a blast just making fun of each other, oh I mean making fun of Chepay (hi girl!). Thanks Len for taking care of the resort and tour reservations... but next time be careful where you make your wish -- hindi sa pinto kahit very intricate pa ang carvings nito (with matching closed eyes ka pa ha!). Thanks Bambie for the laptop, we were able to go online, listen to songs, and watch movies... we'd like to hear more of your "encounters" (hello banker!). Thanks Cheps for the Boy Bawang which served as our merienda and midnight snacks during chikahan/tsismisan/girl talk time... pero hindi pa rin namin kinaya ang pagiging mahaba ng hair mo (may asim ka pa!) Next stop... Palawan??? Let's go gurls!!!

A Wedding That Will Reunite The Girls

2006-09-15T23:25:00.000+08:00

For those of you who know me, you're probably reading this because of the title. Nope, I'm not getting married, not yet. I'm talking about my cousin Brenda's wedding to be held barely a month from now. What makes it extra special is that it will be a reunion for us five cousins. We haven't seen her for more than six years i think, because she migrated to the states. Memories of summer vacations in Baguio and Manila when we were still in grade school (geez that was a long time ago)... beach outings to La Union... roller skating at Camp John Hay... indulging on good food amidst the cool weather... ledge dancing... coney island ice cream... at ang pinakapanalo sa lahat... having our pictures taken, all 5 of us, inside a Foto Me booth!!! Now I wonder... pano tayo nagkasya lahat sa loob???