March 13, 2009
February 15, 2009
Valentine
Okay. So I’ll be like everybody else who writes and tells the world about what they did on Valentine’s Day. I never spent V-day in a special way, yeah…it’s true, I’m not a party pooper nor cynical about it. I’m just not a V-day person and if you were to ask me why – one of the reasons I guess is you can always make every day a Valentine’s Day – you can always treat your lady to a nice restaurant, give her flowers and make her feel special on any given day. There are a lot of things that I consider nice during V-day nevertheless – like it’s nice to see a spectacle of beautiful flowers displayed in the malls or held by the ladies with happy faces, restaurants are filled with flower and balloon decorations just to make a romantic ambience.
Much to my shopaholic nature, a few days before V-day I have told Teejay not to spend money on flowers, in fact, I told him that I would prefer to get a bag or a nice pair of shoes instead of flowers and he just flashed me a sinister smile. It’s very usual for us not to plan on doing anything on V-day but when V-day came, I thought of going to Tagaytay for an overnight stay in a nice hotel. Get a soothing massage and experience almost all that’s included in the spa package. I surfed the internet and saw the rather enticing package of nurture spa, so I called for booking unfortunately they are fully booked, the same with the other two hotels so I have gave up on the thought of going anywhere outside of Manila.
So I decided to look up The Spa. I called the one at The Fort for booking and unfortunately I got the same scenario, I guess everyone had a spa indulgence on V-day. tsk tsk. Anyway. I finally decided to watch Marley and Me instead, which surprisingly made me and Teejay cry LOL. It’s a funny movie but very touching at the same time. It was our first time to cry together over a movie, I guess it’s because we have also developed a unique and intimate attachment to our first pet Cheebah and so it made us relate to the story of the movie. For me, one of the downsides of getting a pet is to face your pet lying lifeless on the ground one day. Deep Sigh.
Anyway. I just have to tell you that prior to watching the movie, we had a sumptuous dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. There was a long queue and we were among the many couples and families who stood outside waiting to get seated. After that highly delectable dinner, we stopped by at Lancome to get my new make up set hihihi. We then went to Sarabia Optical and got Teejay’s costly spectacles because the previous glasses were chewed by their voracious dogs. ugghhhh. We then watched the movie, went home and had some. Hush!
January 26, 2009
Happy Birthday To Me
Please be warned that some of the words/statement in this entry is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements. In short, I am using a style of expression characteristic of the scenario I have today. If you don’t get it, just let me know.
Today is my day, unfortunately I’m not feeling good in a “motivated way” so I refused to enter in the four corners of my pit as I am seeing a grandeur of plague that will soon ingest me, leaving me helpless and galloping in a maze of one pit to another. This day is to my self and to whoever I choose to spend it with. I am sensing a deep-seated ideological divergence and skepticism, I have no room for that kind of heat today so I’m getting out of the kitchen. I will leave it to the rest of the skeptic scholars, they are gifted with the highest abilities of the human mind which therefore brought me to conclude that the floor is theirs to swarm with collective vengeance and scrutiny finding their own allies in wonderland. Meanwhile, I am keeping my arrogant mouth shut.
—————————————————————————————————
I wish for nothing but great Health for all of us especially Aldolito and for God to keep our families together at all times. I will not ask for any extravagant gift as I have received the most wonderful gift one can ever have. A sound mind and body will be more than enough and an undying wisdom to live through for eternity.
A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY TO ME!
Cheers!
January 8, 2009
Starting the Year Right in Bacolod City
They say that as you face the new year, you have to start it right so I started mine with a nice vacation to my beloved hometown the city of SUGARLANDIA – Bacolod City which is renowned as the city of smiles because of the colorful and spectacle parade of smiling masks every second week of October commemorating the festivity of the city. We had a peaceful flight on the way to Bacolod but my heart was a little sad leaving my Cheebah behind for merely 10 days. Upon arrival, I was amazed with the new Bacolod airport protruding amid the mountain range of Northern Negros and the vast land of sugarcane haciendas. It was great seeing my family picking us up at the new airport. Newly built structures are evidently rising in Bacolod including the costly starbucks. We went straight home to unload our things. My mom cooked an Ilonggo style nilaga (beef with young jackfruit, batwan and tanglad) for lunch, Teejay loved it.
Day 1 was spent at Uma Cafe beside L’Fisher Hotel, we had a fabulous dinner with Cell – Teejay’s former officemate who happened to be an Ilonggo also. Uma Cafe’s pizza and pasta are to die for. Their espresso based drinks are also great combined with a tiny piyaya that is great with a big cup of cappuccino best served with muscovado sugar. All in All it was a delectable treat. We then went to Majj at Mayfair Plaza where we expressed our whiny demons through a delicious red wine and a delightful platter of buffalo wings. Had a few great laughs while our spirits are surreptitiously dancing in the sound of house music. My place is located in the suburbs so it’s not advisable to travel late at night so we checked in at Business Inn located at the heart of the city. It’s an inexpensive hotel that offers a good comfortable sleep and a lounge that shows a live band at night while you are sipping a highly delectable Kansi (bulalo).
We had lunch at Lions Park restaurant on day 2 with my cousin and sister. Relax though, as it is not a literal Lions Park. For me, they have the best Inasal in town. We feasted on Chicken Inasal (pecho – breast, paa – legs, baticulon – gizzard) and a bowl of fresh oysters best served with tangy and spicy sinamak (vinegar with chili). We have enjoyed every second of it. We then went to SM City for a little shopping and came back to the hotel for a power nap. Evening came and we went to Pendys for coffee and chocolate cake. We then went to Pala Pala, it’s a local seafood market where you can haggle for fresh catch of the ocean and have it cooked by the restaurant. It’s just an array of nipa huts that doesn’t resemble any ostentatious design nor an elaborate facade but the way they cook the Tinola nga Isda (Sinigang na isda – boiled fish) is to die for, with unique ingredients only famous in the islands of Visayas. We had Sinigang na manumbok, half a kilo of buttered prawns and half a kilo of grilled native squid. We only paid Php 750 for everything. We then went back to the hotel lounge with a full stomach. We watched the live acoustic band, had some tea and relaxed with the gentle pour of the rain.
We checked out from the hotel on Day 3, we spent the rest of the day at our store in the market as it was the concluding day of the year which means, it’s the busiest day for our store. We helped my mom at the store, Aldolito enjoyed selling fruits and toys and taking random pictures at the same time. We had lechon (roasted pig) for lunch. We went home late afternoon watched some dvd and waited for the new year to come. As the first hour of the first day of the new year came, we went out to watch the festive lights of the fireworks. We then feasted on lechon manok and fruits as our media noche. we didn’t prepare any special food as all of us were dead tired, it was fun nevertheless.
Day 4 was filled with adventure, want to know why? We had breakfast at Pala Pala once again. We then went to a place called The Ruins in Talisay.“The structure of The Ruins is of Italianate architecture with neo-Romanesque columns, having a very close semblance to the facade of Carnegie Hall in New York City.
The mansion was built in the early 1900’s by the sugar baron, Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson (1865-1948) and was home to his unmarried children with his first wife, Maria Braga Lacson (+1911), a Portuguese from Macau. The mansion was the largest residential structure ever built at that time and had in it one of the finest furnitures, chinawares, and decorative items, as the father of the Maria Braga was a captain of a ship that sailed across Europe and Asia and would cart with him these items. One of their daughters maintained a beautiful garden of lilies in and around the 4-tiered fountain fronting the mansion, all brought in from abroad.
One of the sons supervised the construction of the mansion making certain that the A-grade mixture of concrete and its pouring was precisely followed.
The mansion met its sad fate in the early part of World War II (1942) when the USAFFE (United States Armed Forces in the Far East), then the guerilla fighters in the Philippines, burnt the mansion to prevent the Japanese forces from utilizing it as their headquarters. It took days of inferno to bring down the roof and the two-inch wooden floors.
To this day, the 903 square meter structure still stands tall amidst sugar plantation and continues to awe both local and foreign tourists. Truly, a picture-perfect backdrop and a magnificent sight to see.” We made a little joke while we were on our way to see The Ruins, Aldolito said that it is only right to call it The Ruins because you’ll get ruined as you enter the road that leads you to the place. It’s a long, narrow, unpaved and undeveloped road that made our ride downright bumpy. But once you get there, you will be amazed and say to yourself that its all worth it. After taking numerous pictures, we then went to Silay to see the heritage houses and had lunch at Manokan Country and went striaght to SM City. As we were strolling down the mall, we decided to watch Ang Tanging Ina Niyong Lahat.
Day 5, we had coffee at Cafe Uma and took advantage of the free wifi brought by the nearby L’Fisher Hotel. We headed to Goldenfileds Commercial Complex to have some Kansi for Dinner – our very own version of bulalo. After a brief greasy dinner, we then went to MO2 to see my friend Cynthia. We had a few drinks, watched the live acoustic band and had a run-of-the-mill talk with Cynthia. It was nice seeing college friends like her still kicking it in the city. We ended the night at McCafe for a cup of coffee and a chocolate cake.
Day 6, we had lunch at Chicken House in Singkang for a different taste of Inasal. We then crossed the street and bought some fresh piyaya for dessert and drove around town for sight seeing. Evening came and we stopped by at Robinsons place and had a nice hot chocolate and some muffins. We then went to the supermarket, grabbed some pringles, breads and doritos and headed back home for a fun evening. We had chicken tinola for dinner and it was very satisfying.
To be continued…….
Making Peace with the Past, Aha at Last
Its 12:44 AM, on the concluding day of 2008, I’m sitting here idly in our hotel room. Before the year ends I must take time to write an excerpt of the bitter sweet hodgepodge that took place this year. It is rather a year of retribution, and transcendental reflection that made me experience life in the brink of uncertainty, decrepitude, felicity and even hell itself. It was a journey from utter misery to nirvana – the ambuscade of life uncovered with a vengeance which resulted to a series of unforeseen epiphanies that made a significant change and a palpable impact in my life.
The year started with remarkable blessings, we are now certified homeowners – a goal we never deemed to achieve that early. Our clientele seemed to have grown progressively this year. A lot has been accomplished, dollars kept on coming, and we bought things to satisfy our arbitrary indulgence. I met some people who have somehow vexed me, to the point that I had to run away and cease on getting involved on whatever with them but gained a few great ones seeming worthy to keep for long through good times and bad.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
………continuation, I started writing this entry on the 31st of December due to limited internet connection from my stormy vacation but I am finishing it today january 8th 2009.
2008 was definitely the most tremulous year of my life. I was stomped to hell, shaken vigorouosly from head to toe, I was dazed, bewildered, helpless, wandering, sobbing, seeking for refuge, filled with utter misery. I was in a deadly maze and a labyrinth of distress perforated every inch of me, it came in bolt, it was fierce and extremely painful. I couldn’t see anything but utter darkness. Seeing him lying on the hospital bed was like standing on the precipice and any minute can turn into a deadly dysphoria, when I look down I can see nothing but pitch-black abyss waiting to swallow me and erase my brief existence leaving no clue but when I look up, I can see a very little light, there I see him standing, the silhoutte of his face ignited a spark of hope. I reached out my hand to touch him, screaming at him to stay with me for eternity and to never lose his grip to that little light that makes him visible from the precipice where I’m standing.
I prayed with all the saints and Virgin Mary, I prayed with my loudest voice hoping that God would render his marvelous mercy on him, that he will make him stay with me for eternity. I woke up one morning anxious to see the light, I walked and peeped through the glass door of the room and there I saw his beautiful face. God concluded my dysphoria. I was brought to heaven and my sun recrudesced and shone to light all the darkness I saw. Life comes with infinite enigma and could be a real bitch sometimes but God is the greatest and he is the owner of this so called life. Miracles happen, indeed.
I ended the year with a new job, a curly hair, a set of new friends and happiness with Aldolito. I’m starting 2009 with a fabulous vacation, new set of significant goals to plan and an invincible hope to face everything come hell or high water. I am living my life full to the brim, welcome 2009. Make more room for travel, leisure and anything suggesting fun and extravagance. And a firm conviction that I represent no one but me, myself and I and I am not answerable to anyone but to myself and my God which means haters keep on hating. My grief is mine, my misfortune is mine, my money is mine, my happiness is mine, my wisdom is mine which is tantamount to whatever I have is mine so zip your filthy arrogant mouth, whatever grudges or opinions that you may have, keep them to your lousy depreciating self. I am laughing my ass off to the ground. WOOHOO!
Have a Glorious New year!
November 12, 2008
He’s Just Not That Into You Movie Trailer
A lovely self-improvement best selling book He’s Just not that into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo is emblazoning in the big screen soon with a powerhouse cast. The book was inspired by an episode of Sex and the City. I remember I’ve read this book 3 years ago and mind you, it’s very sensible. For all the women out there, please watch the movie trailer below:
Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie Trailer
The New York Times Bestseller Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella is coming to the theaters near you in 2009. It’s a crazy and hilarious book, if you haven’t read it yet…then what are you waiting for, grab your copy now. Please watch the movie trailer below:
Twilight Movie Trailer
The New York Times Best Seller Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer is showing soon. I believe the movie release has been moved from 21st of November to the 26th. Please watch the Twilight Movie Trailer below:
November 11, 2008
Things to Look Forward to
As I wait for the clock to tick at 4 PM so I can go home, I couldn’t help myself but convert my thoughts into words by typing them in this inutile computer. There are a lot of things that I have to look forward to in the coming days.
To the Twilight fans our long wait shall end at last. The mind-blowing New York Times Bestseller Twilight saga is emblazoning in a motion picture. The incomparable love story of Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan – it premieres in the theaters near you in the 21st of November. Don’t forget the popcorn.
I’m excited to start with my new job. I’m sure that it won’t be easy as the resposibilities are bigger but I’m anxious and I hope that things will be brighter on that side.
After 11 years of bittersweet journey of being together. Ateng and King are finally tying the knot on the 13th of December. The love birds are really meant for each other. I’m so happy for them. Watch out, I’ll sing one of the wedding songs.
We will be launching the world premiere of our online clothing store in the nearest future. Prepare yourself for super hot and original items, brought to you by ____.
If things are well, Aldolito and I might spend our christmas and New Year in the city of Sugarlandia – Bacolod. I can’t wait to sink my teeth on original chicken inasal, kansi, nilaga, pasayan etc. waaaaaah
And of course the holiday season – the most wonderful time of the year.
November 10, 2008
Difficult Times Always Lead to Better Days
For the past months that I’ve been screaming bloody murder, I’m not a hater nor am I fond of tittle-tattle, you can rely on that. However, the most unpleasant and roughest aspect of life have been thrown at me lately, from the constant battle over indecisiveness and vexation in my career; the struggle I’ve had over personal issues that I wish to impart with you but I choose not, its for the best nonetheless; the inevitable changes and ordeals that my family has faced; and most of all, TJ’s infirmity that affrighted us all and the multitude of possibilities it may induce; it’s as if I’ve been dashed all the way to the nether where frightening monsters that you can never imagine, lurk and just by seeing them, fear subjugates and kills you. Surely, I’ve made a lot of deep breaths whilst convincing myself that I’ll get through it, and that it’s just one of those hard times that life constantly throws at me and I have to resolutely face it with all my strength and vigor. After all, this is my very own battle and at the end of the day, it’s not just about winning but how I fought and withstood everything come hell or high water.
Of all the things that has happened, I have every reason in the world to be grateful. I am very grateful to my mom that she brought me up with compassion and ethics based upon actual evidences and not on firm conviction; for evangelizing the teachings of God and for obliging me to go to the church together with the entire family as I don’t see it being practiced by most families nowadays, and I’ve seen the great importance of it in people’s lives; for teaching me to be firm and to not be afraid of taking the road less traveled, I wouldn’t be here where I am today if it wasn’t for her. I have learned that variety is the spice of life, you should not bound yourself on one principle just because everyone else is adhering to it. Things are not mainly black or white, open your eyes and give way to iridescence. My offbeat personality has put me in a different plane where I can see vividly that our evanescent life is made more interesting by doing new or different things.
I have wanted a big change in my life and now it is there laid out for me. There are good avenues and there are bad ones but I am embracing them, as I know God has reasons of his own for giving them to me. I would like to share with you the good changes I am facing now, the bad ones however, it’s best if I keep them to myself. Finally, the search is over, I am resigning from my present job, the endless whining and exasperation have finally come to an end. The good thing is, if I wouldn’t have landed this job I wouldn’t have discovered the dormant skills which laid, all the while within me. I shall embark on a new beginning in December as I start with my new job, surely, there will be endless office toil but my fingers are crossed and I hope yours are too. After all, I have saved up a fair amount of maturity and substance and I hope they are enough to aid me face the bigger responsibilities bestowed for me. Career wise, I’m on the threshold of a new horizon where my dreams emanate. Tj is doing great and I hope he remains like that for eternity. So you see, every cloud has a silver lining.
