Madrid Part 1

Let’s start my long overdue post about my trip to Spain last September, shall we?

So almost two months after I moved to my new employer, I was given this great opportunity to attend three weeks of migration sessions in Madrid. I was so thrilled of course! It has always been my dream to go to Europe. And I was flying there for free so that made me doubly ecstatic! Though I wasn’t able to go to France, my uber ultimate destination, at least I was able to cross-out the top 5 on my ‘Places to visit before I die’ list - Spain.

Lucky as I was, going to Spain meant sacrificing my long-awaited trip to Singapore and Malaysia with Jaypee. This was because 4 days before the SG-MY trip, I went to the Spanish consulate to apply for my visa and was surprised to find out that I have to leave my passport there for processing. Of course I grudgingly left my passport behind, business first before pleasure wtf. But I was so upset because we have waited for the trip for more than 5 months and I hate to disappoint Jaypee. Plus we booked a non-refundable ticket so double ouch! But he was very supportive of my Spain trip and since he doesn’t want to go there by himself we just said buh-bye to the SG-MY trip. Sigh!

Anyways, going to Spain was like visiting the motherland – the Philippines having been colonized by Spain for more than three hundred years. We have so much in common - from our names, architecture, culture, even a bit of our language – that it wasn’t difficult to feel at home there. When we first arrived in Madrid, what surprised me most was the weather. It was so hot! Much like Manila. You see, I have always imagined the weather in Europe to be cool even in the summer, and to be welcomed by the same weather I left behind in Manila was a little reality-shaker for me. We arrived in Spain during the last stretch of summer. Luckily, after more than a week, the weather started to chill as the autumn season begins.

Madrid was beautiful! It was so nice that they were able to preserve the beautiful architecture of their past. If only Manila was able to preserve the architecture during the Spanish era, it would be as beautiful as Madrid. Unfortunately, we were only able to tour the city during our last weekend there as we were so busy with work that we were working even on weekends. It was a super-stressful three weeks that we were not able to visit even the park in front of our hotel – the Plaza Espana.

Anyway, we stayed at the Espahotel at Plaza de Espana, which was almost an hour away from the office at Pozuelo de Alarcon. Everyday, we have to travel an hour each way, 2 train rides each, just to get to the office and back which of course added to our already stressful states. It was also difficult to navigate Madrid’s train system which was made up of more than 10 train lines and crissed-crossed like crazy it was astounding that the Spanish know it by heart. But fortunately, we didn’t get lost.

I also enjoyed the food! Especially the paella! Gained a few more pounds when i was there wtf!

Sorry but my network connection is acting up so I'll just have to do a part two. Peace!

1. the Palacio Real de Madrid

2. the street that we always cross on our long journey to the office

3. the price that I had to pay for not posting this entry immediately - i forgot what place this is

4. at Museo Del Prado

5. the leaning towers of Madrid! haha!

6. really pretty greenery on the side of a buidling. marvelous!

7. at Plaza Mayor

8. had a super long walk that day. good thing i was weaing my chucks!

9. at the garden of the Royal Palace

9. when we were in Barcelona, we were looking for a police car so we could also take pictures with it. couldn't find one though.

10. the Palacio Real de Madrid

11. i always pose like this. don't know why.

12. at the bus

13. looking at the view of Madrid through a telescope

14. Templo de Debod

6 Months in the Making

after 6 months of neglecting this blog of mine, finally, a new post! it seems like a lifetime ago since i last made my 'lackluster' post. back then, i was so emo and negative and exhausted of everything, which in little doses i still am, though now i have learned to be more positive and to always try look at the bigger picture - that my life isn't perfect but i'm still blessed in more ways than one. as they say, life is what you make it. so right after writing my last post, i had an awakening. i realized that i should stop procrastinating and blabbering about how miserable my life is but instead focus on how to turn my life around. if i want to change my life's direction, i should act to make those changes and not just wait for change to come. so i decided to take it in stride, one step at a time.

the first thing i did was to quit my job. my job is my daily source of unhappiness. the kind where i'd rather camp in my room the whole day to read for the 23rd time the whole Harry Potter series on a beautiful Tuesday morning than dress up to go to work and waste 9 long hours on doing something i hate doing. everyday, i always need to motivate myself, more specifically, to remind myself that i needed to earn money, just to get out of bed and go to work. i always end up coming to work almost two hours late or else, making up 101 excuses on why i would not be able to report to work. that is how i despise my job at that time. so of course, if i wanted to rid my life of the things that make me unhappy, that is where i should start. a few hours after i wrote my 'lackluster' post, i quit my job. less than a week after that, i became officially unemployed.

of course quitting my job isn't an easy thing to do. i am a breadwinner. my family's life depends on my job. that is the reason why i stayed there for almost 5 years. but certain sacrifices have to be made. risks have to be taken. my decision raised eyebrows of some of the people around me. they thought i was being selfish and irrational. but i did not explain my actions to them. what for? they would not understand whatever i say anyway. so i stood by my decision. in the end, i proved them all wrong. a few days after i quit my job, i found a new job on a multi-national company and 2 months later, i flew to Spain for a 3-week business trip. i felt vindicated!

imagine my happiness when i learned that i was chosen to go to Spain after being in the company for just 2 months! i never felt so blessed in my life until that moment. (of course, my whole Spain trip - Madrid and Barcelona - deserves a separate blog post of its own) it felt like all my hardwork have been rewarded. it made me realize that i'm still blessed. it put my whole life into a whole new perspective. after i came back from the trip, i felt a whole new vigor and i vowed to continue making positive changes in my life. continue chasing my dreams.

for years, i have been living on my own. i preferred it that way. i always find myself to be independent in nature. even when i was younger, i couldn't remember a time that i asked my parents for help on my homework, no matter how difficult it is. if i don't know the answer, i will try to browse all the resource materials i have until i find it. it doesn't work all the time of course. but it gives me a certain pride whenever i get a high score knowing that i worked hard for it. the same applies on my personal life. i always try to solve my problems on my own. somehow, i feel that it made me stronger. so living on my own has never been a problem for me. it may get lonely sometimes, yes, but i sometimes find solitude comforting. i thrive in silence. whenever i am alone, i just get burried on my own thoughts and somehow feel at peace. that's my all-time favorite past-time by the way, thinking. my imagination is so deep i can spend the whole day just thinking about anything under the sun. sometimes, even when i am around people, i just sit there in silence and just think.

but i got tired of being alone. i get so lonely whenever i come home to an empty house. i feel that i'll lose my marbles whenever i spend even just a day alone. thinking a lot has become exhausting. i feel that my problems are magnified whenever i am alone in my house with no one to talk to. i could no longer stand to be alone. in time, i began to come home at my place less and less. in the end, i stopped coming home altogether. i decided to drop my place and live with my boyfriend.

the new set-up had a lot of getting-used to. i now had to do the laundry for two, not just mine. i need to learn how to cook. i learned to remove the long strands of hair clinging to the shower drain. i learned to accept the fact that i could not watch iron chef america in peace because he will sometimes grab the remote and change the channel to UFC. but i am happy. it feels so good to come home to a house where someone is waiting for you with delicious, home-cooked meal. it also feels good to do the same in return. it feels good to be taken care of and care for someone in return. we do not yet treat each other as husband and wife. we're still boyfriend-girlfriend. the only difference is we live in the same roof. we do not yet think of getting married because it will just complicate things. we are happy this way. the set-up is for practical reasons. we could both save for our future but still help our own families. and we're happy this way. it may have raised the ire of some people but we don't care. we may not share the same principles as them but our own principles tell us that we are not doing anything wrong. we are still supporting our own families. isn't that what they are bothered for anyway?

my relationship with my family has also improved. since i was living away from them, i decided to visit them more often. i love them dearly. i feel very protective of them. i will not let anyone hurt them. i know that problems will always be there but as long as were together, we can surpass anything. we have been through a lot and that made us stronger. we can withstand anything.

during the past six months, a lot of things has happened. both good and bad. but i realized that bad things will always be there, no matter how much you try to avoid it. they're inevitable. but they're always there for a reason. they add the spice to life. they teach you lessons. they make you stronger. and they make you look forward to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

i am happier now. i learned to look at the bright side of every situation, no matter how bad it is. i have wanted changed. i did everything in my power to achieve that change. and now i am reaping the fruits of that change. of course there will always be bumps along the road. that's given. but i know that i can breeze through it because haven't i been cruising along life's bumps all my life? and i'm still here ain't it? i'm still thriving. so bring it on, i say. let's rock and roll!

Lackluster

Yesterday, while taking an afternoon nap, I had a dream about flying. In the dream, I was on-board an airplane while it was doing exhibitions in the air. Me and my companions (who were all old ladies, I don't know why) were strapped upright on the sides of the plane instead of sitting down on the plane's seats. When the plane landed, I found myself parasailing off the shores of Boracay. But instead of just parasailing above the sea, the wind blew me into the city and I was flying, sometimes landing, on the rooftops of buildings and houses before the wind blew me again to Boracay and landed safely to the sailboat.

When I woke up, I had no difficulty in interpreting what my dream meant because that was exactly what I've been thinking and feeling for days. I wanted to fly. I wanted to break-free from all these mess that my life had become. I wanted to go to a far-away place by myself for a couple of days to think things over and cry and scream endlessly and uninterruptedly and just simply take out all my frustrations and shout to the world how life can be so damn unfair! I wanted to leave everything behind and start a new life somewhere where no one knows me and no one can reach me. I wanted to simply get lost. All because I am so sick and tired of my life!

I don't know how or when I reached this point. I have become unhappy. The small things that usually bring me joy during times like these like DQ rocky road blizzard, corny jokes, Milo, chocolates, upbeat music, movie marathons or Johnny Depp couldn't even uplift my spirit even just a tiny bit. What is happening to me? How did I become so weak? I used to think that time and experience had toughen me up and taught me important lessons that I could use as weapons to defeat all my life's enemies. But now everything seemed futile. I have fallen prey to the very thing that I've been trying so hard to avoid at all costs: misery. Now, I feel so miserable. Life has lost its splendor and long as the tunnel is, I still couldn't see the light at the end of it.

The thing is: I hate my life because it is not going the way I had planned it, or liked it to be. It had come to a point where I had become tired of living it. I'm tired of sacrificing everything for other people. I am tired of being the breadwinner. I'm tired of being the only person who had to carry the burden of trying all means possible to save my family. I'm tired of being the only one who had to look for ways to solve every problem of my family. I am tired of taking care of people who are old enough and are capable of taking care of themselves. I am sick of people who do not care about us just because their life is going pretty well. I am sick of people accusing me of being selfish just because I allow myself to experience a few, rare luxuries when I am sacrificing a lot and working my butt out to provide for my family. Since when did rewarding one's self equate to being selfish? I am sick of my job or rather, I hate my job. I am tired of having to stay at this job just because I could not afford the downtime and the ephemeral unemployment that comes with searching for the perfect job. I am tired of being rejected by people I care about. I am sick of broken promises. I am sick of weak people who gives up easily. I am sick of being hurt by the people I love. I hate it that I could not do everything that I want to do because I need to work on my priorities first. I am tired of fighting for something that is just going on spiral for quite sometime. I am tired of feeling so alone. I am tired of living.

Some of the things I mentioned above concern my family. Don't get me wrong though. I love my family and I am willing to give and sacrifice a lot for them. But I am only human. I get tired too. I was just thinking, how long should I put my dreams, like starting my own family, on hold for them? Will it take forever?

I have been fretting and procrastinating and crying for days because I don't know what to do to turn my life around. There were things that I have no control over and I am just leaving it up to fate. I couldn't sleep last night so I spent it thinking. I was thinking of going away for a couple of days, all by myself, somewhere far from the city like Baguio or the beach. There, I will spend my solitude on reflections and letting go and creating action points for my life and from there, I will try to emerge a better, stronger person. Oh, if only things are that easy!

Bev(heart)Shu

Have you seen the new Mika(heart)Shu collection by Shu Uemura? If not, well then check them out 'cause they're fantabulous.

Check out these babies! Fabulous!

When I first laid my eyes on the collection, I immediately fell in love with them. The vibrant colors are very much pleasing to the eyes and is a far cry from the monochromatic colors of today's make-up kits. It's a limited edition so you have to hurry up if you want to get your hands on them.

The Mika(heart)Shu collection is a collaboration between Shu Uemura and Mika Ninagawa, an award-winning Japanese photographer. The collection pretty much reflects Ninagawa's style which is filled with vibrant psychedelic colors, feminine beauty, and a subtle inocence. As Ninagawa puts it, “the message I wanted to convey was ‘dressing up for your own beauty’”, which is really what the collection is all about.

The collection includes the Mika(heart)Shu Portable Brush Set which is really pretty. The brush case is purple on the outside with a special Mika red rose photograph lining the inside and includes 4 brushes: goat brush for the face, pony and squirrel brush for the cheeks, sable and kolinsky brush for the eyes, and a sable brush for the lips. Fortunately, one generous soul is giving us the chance to get them for free! Check out Beauty For A Living for more details.

love the purple color!

mine!

Blast from the Past

You know the feeling when you saw an old picture, heard a song on a radio or went to a familiar place and suddenly memories (even those you dread) come flashing back at you and sometimes, old feelings that you thought you have already bottled up deep in your recesses suddenly seem fresh anew? Well such was the case for me today. Mine came in the form of a letter.

I was rummaging through my old files this morning when I came upon a letter written for me by my boyfriend's ex that she posted on her blog. It was written almost a year ago during the time when we were still tangled up into the crazy mess that left a huge scar to us all. It was an episode in my life that, although it has taught me a valuable lesson and has given me something both tangible and intangible to grasp and hold on to, was painful and life-altering that I desperately tried to forget it (and quite succeeded...quite..). But now, suddenly and out of nowhere, a memory from the past broke the bubble that I have created for myself. Defenseless, I suddenly found myself immersed anew to the pain and anger that I have felt during those fateful times. Maybe it caught me in a bad time. For I think that if I discovered it during my normal state of being, I would have easily brushed the old feelings aside and say, so what wtf! But today, I am not my normal self. And that is why I'm feeling this crappy wtf!

Quite a long time has already passed since the things that shouldn't have happened, happened, so I was hesitant at first to talk about it here...now...because I don't think it is appropriate and relevant given that we have all tried to move on from it already. But maybe, part of the reason about this sudden surge of this blast from the past was that, the episode ended with that letter. Unfinished business as they say. Primarily because I wasn't able to say what I have to say or defend myself to the accusations that were thrown at me. I am not a war freak as much as I am not a coward. As much as possible, I stay away from those kind of things, not run away mind, but I always want to have the opportunity to defend myself. Especially when I feel that I deserve to defend myself. But it didn't happen that way. I decided to shut my mouth and just let it go.

But I think, for my peace of mind, I will say what I feel or rather felt that time. When a friend of mine sent me a copy of that letter, of course I was angry. Who wouldn't be when someone accuse you of being selfish for not allowing your boyfriend to see her vacationing ex-girlfriend who in the first place, has already met up with him 3 times in 1 week? Am I selfish because I asked my boyfriend not to see her the fourth time? or fifth? or sixth wtf? What? does she want to be with my boyfriend for the whole month that she was back in the Philippines? If she was just a normal ex-girlfriend I would have allowed them to meet up a couple of times more, for old times sake wtf, but such was not the case with her. We had issues. And during that time, it was still too fresh to just ignore it and act like nothing happened. Besides, my boyfriend and I were just slowly putting our life back together that time. I also think she was a hypocrite for saying that she doesn't want to do anything that will ruin what me and my boyfriend have and all she want was friendship when in fact, my boyfriend told me that when they met, she was asking him back wtf! That was the main catalyst why I, in her words, 'forbid' my boyfriend to see her again. So I don't think I was being selfish. More of being practical wtf for trying to stay away from 'harm's way'.

I asked my friends and even some mere acquaintances (because friends are friends and they will be patronizing and loyal so I seeked impartial opinion) if they would have done what I did (asking my boyfriend to stopp seeing her ex) if they were in my shoes. I asked because I wanted to know if I really am being selfish and irrational about it? All of them said they would probably have done what I did owing to the circumstances. They would allow them to meet up once or twice to talk about things and finish whatever unfinished business there was between them but meeting up a couple of times more is too much and is totally unnecessary. That said, I rest my case.

I also asked my friend's opinion, my boyfriend included, if I should reply to what she wrote. With this, I got contradicting replies. My boyfriend said no because for sure it would just blow out of proportion and would turn nasty again so since we were already happy, we should just leave it to the past and let bygones be bygones. Others told me to reply and air my side, especially since she wrote it on her blog for all her friends to see, with me being unfavorably judged by people who doesn't even know me nor half of the story. Personally, I really wanted to reply to her letter and say my piece, because as I said, I always want to defend myself especially when I feel that I am right. But upon giving it careful thought, I decided to heed my boyfriend's advice and not reply to the letter because I felt that the issue between us have already dragged long enough and that we all need to move on and end that chapter in our lives once and for all.

Some of you may ask why I am writing this now when it happened a year ago and I said we have already moved on. My answer would be I needed to do this so I could "completely" move on and close that chapter for good. You know what they say about ghosts coming back to the world of the living because they have unfinished business? (how lame to compare it to a ghost story wtf) Well, in essence, this is what it is all about. Settling my unfinished business. My way of letting it all go. Because years from now, when another memory of that episode showed itself before me, I could finally say, so what wtf!, coz I know that I already did what I have to do, said what i have to say, and not have regrets and what ifs. I have let it out of my chest already so I think I could close that chapter already, for good.

If she reads this, this could be misconstrued the other way. But like when she wrote that post in her blog, I just also want to say what I feel. What I said above was how I felt during that time, what I would have replied to her, and does not necessarily mean that it is still what I feel up to now. It is not my intention to start another fight. We all don't need that! This is just me seeking closure.

And so I'll end this in a happy note. I wish her well. And as for me and my boyfriend, we are happy now, and our love is stronger than ever. Maybe years from now, when we look back on our life together, we could laugh about the silly things we did, this included. =)

A Quick Post

Ok. So this blog of mine have been neglected for quite some time now. There were so many blog-worthy things that happened but I just couldn't find the time to blog them cause I was so busy with work and work and work. Duh! Excuses, excuses, I know wtf! But see, I am an accountant. April 15 is looming. It's crunch time baby! Enough rants wtf!

As I said, a lot of blog-worthy things transpired during my hiatus, and the most important was that my boyfriend and I celebrated our first anniversary last March 29. *applause* *thank you, thank you* It's only our first anniversary, but in essence, we've been together much longer. This was actually our second relationship. Our first relationship lasted for only 2 months. But I won't bore you with the uber long story. It isn't pretty.

Anyway, on the eve of our anniversary, we took part in the Earth Hour 2009. We lit a candle and had a romantic candlelight dinner. No, actually we prepared our dinner quite late so we were forced to eat in the dark wtf! To kill time, my boyfriend decided to serenade me with his guitar and I was forced to listen to his horrible singing cause I can't read my friggin' book. But don't tell him I said that. =) (honey if you're reading, you know i love you)

Our anniversary celebration was quite simple. We went to the salon to get our facial. Romantic, right? No? Oh, whatever! We also went to Intramuros cause we were feeling a bit historical. I've got no photos cause the camera we used went bonkers. So much for capturing precious moments!

Before that, we cooked spaghetti which isn't really for us, it was actually for my mom. My mom's birthday was March 28th and since she was visiting at my place I decided to surprise her with a simple birthday celebration. My brother and my niece will also be dropping by. So I went to the grocery to buy the stuff that we'll need but when I was about to go home, my brother told me that my mom went back to Tarlac already. Major screw-up! I called my mom and scolded her for not telling me that she was going back to Tarlac already. That would have saved me from buying all those stuffs for nothing. But I couldn't blame her entirely cause she doesn't know that I was planning a surprise for her. So since it's our anniversary, we just cooked the food for us. At least, it wasn't really wasted.

On another note, we are going to Singapore and Malaysia this August. Yey! I'm so excited. I've been browsing different websites to see the places that we are going to visit. I had our itinerary all planned-out. All i gotta is save wtf!

I don't know what's into me lately, but I've been lurking on different wedding websites especially those of people I know. I watched their wedding videos and got all teary wtf! Pathetic! But I'm really a hopeless romantic. I even had the perfect wedding team in mind for my wedding, from the cake, the motif, the wedding planner, the couturier, the videographer, even wedding favors. But don't get me wrong. I'm not getting married yet. I still have too much baggage and I find it unfair to suddenly drag my boyfriend into my mess. In time.

It's the Holy Week. Sad that I won't be able to go to Tarlac where I usually celebrate the Holy Week. Will be stucked in my house instead with my books as company. Might as well go to the office and work instead. Haih!

Boracay 2009

Just got back from a wonderful weekend in Boracay, though it was not really a relaxing weekend getaway one would expect from going to the beach due to the cornucopia of activities that we did while we were there.

Boracay is beautiful! I've never seen such fine, powdery white sand in my life. The turquoise-colored water is also beckoning. Boracay is indeed one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. What I don't like about Boracay though was that, it was too crowded and commercialized for my taste. The thing is, my idea of a perfect beach getaway is lounging around in a secluded beach, sun bathing in the powdery white sand while reading a good book and sipping fresh buko juice straight from the shell, getting a good massage, watching the sunset with my boyriend while holding hands and kissing in the beach, having long, senseful conversations and swimming in the warm, crystal clear waters of the ocean. Aahhhh... paradise! Boracay, I can say, is almost paradise (oops, is that a song?) but not quite. Wtf!

me, remie and jing enjoying Boracay's white sand and clear waters

Anyways, as I said, we did a lot of activities while we were there we hardly had time to swim in the glorious waters of Boracay.

1. ATV Driving to the top of Mt. Luho

This was the first activity that we did while in Boracay. Aside from parasailing, the other activity that I was most excited to try in Boracay was ATV. ATV, short for all-terrain vehicle, is a small 4-wheeled truck that you have to drive on the rough, uphill road leading to the top of Mt. Luho, the highest point in Boracay. I almost backed-out at first when I learned that I have to drive it to get to Mt. Luho. I thought I only have to drive it in an ATV course. I mean, I don't know how to drive. I don't even know how to ride a bike, wtf! How do they expect me to drive it all the way to the top of Mt. Luho? Wtf! But when we were test-driving the ATVs, I found out that it was quite easy and that you don't need to know how to drive a car or a motorcycle to learn how to drive it. Unlike cars and motorcycles, all you have to press is the gas and the brakes and you're good to go. Gas and brakes, I can do that. The total drive to Mt. Luho and back was about an hour. It was such a great experience. The view from the top of Mt. Luho was exhilarating! It has been one of the highlights of our trip and I'm definitely trying it again.

all geared-up for the ATV ride

me on the ATV. I can drive! see, I'm not completely useless! =)

the amazing view from the top of Mt. Luho

enjoying the view at Mt. Luho viewpoint

2. Parasailing

The ultimate experience! When I was planning the itinerary for the trip, it was the foremost on my list. As I said before in my previous blog post, I wanted to try skydiving at least once before I die. And parasailing is the closest I can get to realizing that dream. I found it so liberating to be strapped in a parachute hundreds of feet in the air while being mercilessly blown by the wind. While I was in the air, I was endlessly screaming due to both excitement and fear, and shouting I Love You to my boyfriend who was strapped beside me. It may sound cheesy, but I found it romantic when my boyfriend and I were shouting I Love You to each other while we were hundreds of feet in the air. Hahaha! Parasailing was an experience to remember. As with ATV, I'll definitely try it again on our next Boracay trip next summer.

parasailing with my boyfriend

up, up and away! yihee!

the operators asked our friends waiting on the sailboat if they wanted us to get wet, and they said, "hell yeah!". so that explains the water touch-down. wtf!

3. Island Hopping

The Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands so naturally, island-hopping is a staple on every beach trip in the country. Our Boracay island-hopping experience was unfortunately unexciting due to the strong waves. The waves got me all dizzy and nauseous. We only got to land on one of the islands, Magic Island, but fortunately our sumptuous lunch made up of sinigang na sugpo (prawns), grilled fish, bananas and fresh buko juice that the island's caretaker cooked for us brightened up our moods and made the grueling boat ride back to white beach much more bearable.

on the boat for the grueling island-hopping

at Magic Island, the only island we were able to land

Boracay love

swimming at Magic island

4. Snorkeling

Another activity that I didn't get to enjoy due to the strong waves. Every time I tried to put on my mask and snorkel and dip my head in the water, I have to remove it again because the water would enter the snorkel and would leave me swallowing the salty sea water. Wtf!

no comment, wtf!

5. Helmet Diving / Seawalking

Helmet diving or seawalking is another underwater activity that Boracay offers. Helmet diving gives you the chance to get up close and personal with the fish in Boracay waters, watch an interactive show featuring your friendly divers, and best of all, have the option to take home the memories (free video and photos are included in the package). Morning is the most ideal time to don the heavy astronaut-like helmet (it weighs 25 kilos on land and 1 kilo underwater, so it's quite a strain on the shoulders) and take the plunge. The fantastic thing about this 30-minute under-the-sea activity is that you don't even have to know how to swim or dive to try it.

while waiting for our turn

taking the plunge

under the sea

honey feeding the fish


seawalking

6. Banana Boat ride

I was still able to enjoy this ride despite the coast guard's prohibition on throwing the passengers in the sea. I don't really have any qualms about that fact since I don't really want to be thrown nonchalantly into the sea and consequently drinking lots of salty sea water. Wtf!

paused in the middle of the sea for a photo-op

goin' bananas

7. Watching the beautiful sunset

Boracay has one of the most beautiful sunsets ever. It's awe-inspiring! And it was so romantic to be sitting on the beach with your loved one while watching the breathtaking sunset that is uniquely Boracay. Aawww!

Boracay's magnificent sunset

watching the sunset

hmmm... nuff said..

8. Nightlife

Boracay is famous for its thriving nightlife and excellent bar scene. But since we were too tired and needing much sleep, we just decided to get a few drinks and sample Aria's pizza while lounging on the throw pillows on the beach before heading back to slumber zone.

chillin' at Aria

cheers!


For more pics, click here.

Life is unfair! T_____T

warning: this is a VERY angry (and stupid) post!

I am the most STUPID person ever!

'cause I committed the most STUPID thing one can do.

which is: NOT BACKING UP MY FILES ON MY FREAKIN' USB STICK!!! WTF!

and now, I am so paying the price of my stupidity!

my USB stick just died on me the other day. it says that my disk is unformatted whenever I tried to open it. and so now, all my files were LOST. WTF! WTF! WTF!

My last back-up was on December of last year. That's 2 1/2 months worth of my files! I don't mind some of the files that's in there, cause I can easily reconstruct them. I am most worried about my files on this particular client of mine. For 2 months, I've been working on finishing it's monthly financial statements from July-December. I am almost done. Just finishing touches on my December FS. When this STUPID thing happened! When I checked my back-up, only July was there. Which means I have to re-do everything from August-December! WTF!

I'm gonna die! T______T

I have downloaded about half a dozen file recovery programs I found in the net which claims that they can recover my files from my USB stick. But they are all completely USELESS!

And now I am completely HOPELESS!!! T______T

Ok fine! Another lesson learned. Boo!

Kaleidoscope World

I would like to share this very beautiful song from the King of Pinoy Rap, Francis Magalona, who died of leukemia last March 6, 2009...

Kaleidoscope World
by Francis M.

So many faces, so many races
Different voices, different choices
Some are mad, while others laugh
Some live alone with no better half
Others grieve while others curse
And others mourn behind a big black hearse
Some are pure and some half-bred
Some are sober and some are wasted
Some are rich because of fate and
Some are poor with no food on their plate
Some stand out while others blend
Some are fat and stout while some are thin
Some are friends and some are foes
Some have some while some have most
Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world
Some are great and some are few
Others lie while some tell the truth
Some say poems and some do sing
Others sing through their guitar strings
Some know it all while some act dumb
Let the bassline strum to the bang of the drum
Some can swim while some will sink
And some will find their minds and think
Others walk while others run
You can't talk peace and have a gun
Some are hurt and start to cry
Don't ask me how don't ask me why
Some are friends and some are foes
Some have some while some have most
Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world

Learn more about Francis M. and his battle with leukemia at his blog.

Facebook's 25 Random Things About Me

Thought I should post this list I made for my Facebook account. It's just me and the stupid things I do. Oh, well...

1. I don't know how to ride a bike. Wtf! I never learned how to ride one when I was a kid because first, I'm not really good at balancing myself, up to now, and second, I was so scared of falling over and getting ugly bruises and scars on my legs (I was always told to take care of my legs). Ironically though, my one and only scar that I have on my legs came from a freakin' bicycle. I was riding on the sidecar of my friend's bike when I accidentally cut myself from a metal protruding near the seat of her bike. It got infected and all and now it looks like I have a 25 centavo coin sticked to my left leg. Wtf!

2. I enjoyed chemistry and physics in highschool because of our teacher Ms. Suniega. I especially enjoyed the contests we had wherein each row will go up against each other and race in answering our teacher's questions in the blackboard. Whichever row wins will have additional points added to their quizzes. I remembered one time we had a quiz wherein the total score reached 1000 points (that high because each question was worth like 10 points, I think some even reached 50 points per question) and I got like 950+ points and since our row won the contest we each get additional 50 points and after that my total score reached 1000+ points. It's more than a perfect score. Hahaha!

3. I almost flunked my Rizal subject in college for the silliest of reasons: I rarely attend our classes because I was so engrossed in playing tong-its with my friends. We were that addicted to tong-its we even rented a boarding house so we could play tong-its non-stop and we would even spend over-nighters there. Silly!

4. I cry a lot. I have easy tears. I cry over sappy movies, I cry when I'm mad, I cry when I fight with my boyfriend, I even cry when I have my facial wtf!

5. I love to travel and experience new things. My dream destination is Paris and Greece.

6. I read blogs everyday. I'm currently into Malaysian blogs. My favorites are Su-Ann, Audrey and Tim. I never thought Malaysians could speak that good English. I thought we Filipinos are better in English than them. Apparently, our English is rusting while theirs is rapidly advancing. And are there really that many Chinese in Malaysia? I have never read a Malaysian blog written by a Malay, all of them are Chinese-Malaysians. Hmmm!

7. I don't know how to cook. But now, my boyfriend is teaching me how to cook because he is afraid that he will eat canned-goods and fast-food for all of our married life. Now, I am happy to announce that I now know how to cook fried rice and adobo. I thank you! Bow!

8. I don't know how to clean and paint my nails. I always have to go to the salon just to have them done. What an idiot!

9. I studied in a Catholic school from elementary to highschool. We would pray every flag ceremony, before and after classes, Angelus at 12nn, the 3 O'clock Prayer every 3pm, Novena every Wednesday, Mass every first Friday of the month, Mass every Sunday, confession every month. I was even a commentator and lector during masses since I was a member of the Liturgical Committee. Having said that, you would think that I am a devout Catholic and have an unshakeable faith. But I don't. I don't go to mass anymore because I don't feel anything when I'm in Church. My last confession was before my highschool graduation. I don't really know what is happening to me but I do have lots of questions about my faith. I don't believe everything that is written in the Bible. I am literally losing my religion. But I still believe in God. He is just different to me as He is to most of you. Ok, so I think I'll burn in hell because of this.

10. They said signs of aging becomes visible at age 25. I believe it now. So I think I should start using an anti-aging cream. Wtf!

11. I regretted taking up accountancy in college. I don't think this is the right path for me. I am currently analyzing my options and contemplating on what I really wanna do with my life. Hope it's not too late.

12. I am currently addicted to Body Combat of Fitness First. I love all the punching and kicking and all the action of it. I just hope I'll see the results soon.

13. I want to try sky diving at least once before I die. For the meantime, I'll try parasailing when I get to Boracay this month. It's the closest I can get to sky diving just yet.

14. I thought I will kill myself at 16. I sort of forgot.

15. I started drinking when I was in college. We have this every other day, albeit sometimes everyday, drinking session back in college because of our long vacant periods. We would sometimes attend our classes all drunk and one time our law professor asked us why it smells like chico in the room. We just kept our mouth shut. It's not something to be proud of. But they were good times. And I am now reformed. =)

16. I am often asked if I'm related to Smokey Manaloto. Wtf! Well I'm not.

17. I hate okra! Yuck!

18. I love math. Back in highschool, I represent our school during inter-school competitions and I won a couple of times. Ha! But now, I think I lost it in me. Blame it on technology!

19. I used to collect stationeries back in grade school. My friends and I would use our collections to write daily notes to one another. I kinda miss those days. Today, when I see a Papemelrotti paper, I remember Che.

20. For almost a year a now, I'm afraid to sleep alone. This is due to a traumatizing experience I had a couple of months ago. The thing is, I used to share an apartment with my uncle. One morning, I woke up and found him dead in the living room. He had a heart attack. They said he was already dead for hours when I found him. There I was sleeping soundly in my room oblivious to the fact that my uncle was already dead. I'm still not over that experience. I think it will take time before I fully recovered. Sigh!

21. I usually get disappointed when I hear myself sing. I sound better in my head. Wtf!

22. I rarely watch the news (especially the local news) cause I only get disappointed and irritated. Damn those politicians can't they get their acts straight?

23. I am moody and I often get irritated even with the littlest of things. I hate it when people act so morosely obtuse! Please don't push your luck with me that far.

24. I really wanted to become an astronomer. I love seeing heavenly bodies and i want them revolving around me. Joke! Lol!

25. I am satisfied with some parts of my life right now and is aching for change in some. Life is a never-ending journey. I will just be ready for whatever life will throw my way.

An Early Birthday Present

Yeah, I'm turning 26 on February 15. Wtf!

Anyway, I received an early birthday present last night in the form of a free spa treatment courtesy of the Fitness First Spa. It's one of the perks that Fitness First offers its members; a free spa on their birthday. Actually, prior to last night, I also received a free spa treatment from them when I enrolled last month. Luckily, I was able to use it last week on the day of its expiration coz I totally forgot that it is only valid for 30 days upon issuance. Wtf!

Last night's free spa treatment was actually just a back massage but I totally loved it. They used the traditional Filipino massage technique called hilot and it was really great. I don't know how the masseuese did it but it felt like electric current was flowing through my body when she did a certain massage technique. Maybe it's the oil, or not, whatever. I wanted to ask the masseuese last night if she could massage my legs instead of my back because my legs really hurt last night from 2 consecutive nights of doing Body Combat but I decided to just shut my mouth and just be thankful that I am receiving a free massage. Wtf!

Anyway, I totally enjoyed my 2 free spa/massages so I decided to book the couple room for me and Jaypee. It will be my Valentine's gift for him. Awww! The staff at the Fitness First Spa showed me the couple room during my first visit and it was so romantic because they decorated it for Valentine's Day and there's even a bathtub with flower petals where we can soak ourselves in (or take a milkbath for an additional fee =)). Since Jaypee had been complaining to me for weeks that he needs a massage and I couldn't give it to him coz I don't know how (he had to content himself with my mediocre massaging), I decided it would be the perfect Valentine's gift for him. =)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It's been a long time coming..

Finally, an update...

The start of this year was crazy on my end. I literally did more than just multi-task since December up until now and sadly, I'm not seeing the end to all of it just yet. There's just too much stuff do and I honestly don't know how I could accomplish all of it before my self-imposed deadline. I call it my self-imposed deadline because I've finally decided to say adios to this company that I am working for. It's been a long time coming, believe me. But my heart is not in it anymore. I am no longer happy. So I'm leaving. At first, I thought of leaving at the start of the year... you know, new year, new job... but since it's the audit season, I decided to forego my plans until April 15th. Now, I have to add "scour for new jobs" to my long list of to do's. Well, goodluck to me.

Before the new year started, I had time alone to reflect on the life that I have lived thus far and of the things that I (still) want to do with my life and how I could live the life of my dreams. I have learned that the past 25 years, my life was littered with inconsequential, unimportant things. My life had no focus. My life was a tangent. I am living just for the present without even thinking of the future. Sure, there are some aspects of my life that are good, they may need a little tweaking in some areas, but they are good, nonetheless. And it comforts me. It comforts me that I wasn't a complete failure after all. But there is still time. And with the new year, it gave me new hope. Hope that I could still change things. I know this is waaaayyyyy too late for a new year's resolutions-slash-to do list, but since it's the Chinese New Year, I still think it's kinda appropriate.

......

So, this year, I resolve to:

1. Live healthy / lose weight.

I must admit that one of the things that my boyfriend and I disagree upon is the concept of living healthy. I would literally roll my eyes everytime he would tell me to eat fruits or go for fish and veggies instead of meat or when he would stop me from getting my Snickers bar in the grocery. Wtf! Torture, man! But since I'm a good girlfriend, I would grudgingly oblige. Haha!

This year though, I decided to finally heed my boyfriend's advice and change my eating habits. I thought that since I am not getting any younger and my family have a history of hypertension and diabetes, I must as well start living healthy before it's too late. I also started working out at the start of the year. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. I would be healthy and the best part is, I would lose weight (hello Boracay and Bohol!). Oh, I must add that I really think that I will succeed in my attempt to lose weight cause I would literally starve myself for 1 year just to afford my monthly gym membership dues. Le sigh!

2. Change the world ( lol!)

Ok. I know this is a BIG thing and that I cannot do it alone, but I really want to do my part in all this "change the world" brouhaha. Really. I do want to make a difference in other people's lives, even in my own little ways. This was one my resolutions last year that I was not able to accomplish. Hopefully, this year I would finally be able to make headway with it. I was thinking of volunteering in an NGO that helps other people and at the same time, I have interest in. Well, as they say, small things do make a difference.

3. Socialize more.

Last year, I was kinda anti-social. I love my boyfriend so much so I wanna spend most of my free times with him and I don't wanna be anywhere else but with him. Haha! Guilty. He's like a drug to me, what can I say? My own brand of morphine. So this year, I decided to, you know, live more. Like go out with my friends (go clubbing again! haha! kidding hon!), keep in touch with old friends, strengthen old ties and meet new friends. Sounds pretty exciting to me.

4. Try new things.

This is something that excites me the most. There are a gazillion things that I wanna do that I haven't tried before. Don't get me started on the list cause I tell you, its verrryyyy long. I would just blog about my progress on those things in the months to come.

5. Be more disciplined.

Something that I lack. Wtf! Haha! But I need more of this to succeed in this nth attempt on New Year's resolutions. Goodluck to me!

......

Oh, by the way, January's about to end. So what?, you ask? Nothing really. It's just that, it will be my birthday soon. Just thought you should know. Haha!