mini-reunion

yesterday, i met up with my elementary friends. some of them i've seen last during our graduation day and that was almost 13 years ago! thanks to meg, who is on a plane back to new zealand as of writing, for being a reason for us to see each other again and for paying for our dinner!

charlene, june, gener, meg, baby, moi and beanne

photo op with the girls

sisters by heart <3

friday with my bgf

last friday, my best gay friend (bgf!) emman and i had a day-out together, hehe. he is a high school friend and brother by heart, yihee.

first, i had my bills enrolled to bpiexpressonline payment, and then emman had his hair cut, while i just wait, hehe.
 

we then went to the re-opening of the power mac center at greenbelt 3.

the first 50 customers

received a special-giveaways bag each!

what's inside?

t-shirt, audio cd, 2gb usb flash drive, keychain, pencil

after that, we had lunch at goldilocks in glorietta and then headed to mega tent in ortigas to check out the sony big sale. i was hoping they have the sony cybershot tx5 on sale, but since it is a relatively new model (i didn't know this!), they didn't have it there. good thing we stopped by the power mac opening or else we'd go home empty-handed, hehe.

emman was supposed to attend an event somewhere in malate that evening but he decided to just go home to the province. so we also started our trip to our respective homes together at around 5 p.m. we reached and parted ways at tambo, lipa around 8 p.m.

in his shoes

may 21, 2010. kim's shift ended at 6 a.m. if it were our usual friday, he would have boarded the 7:30 a.m. supercat ferry from orion, bataan and met up with me at sm mall of asia. but this was no ordinary friday.

on thursday night, an impromptu beach trip to bagac, bataan was planned. by 4 a.m. the following morning, i was already up to catch the 6 a.m. ferry in sm moa headed for bataan. i arrived at orion's port shortly pass 7 a.m. and kim was already there, waiting for me at the exit. from the port, we took a tricycle to the highway, a bus to balanga, a multicab to bagac and finally another tricycle to montemar beach club. we arrived around 9 a.m.

it was a lazy beach day for us -  swam in the sea, snapped photos of each other, went to the pawikan conservation center, took a nap under an open hut by the beach, practiced my strokes at the pool and ate good food.

almi + kim + the beach = <3

we left the resort around 5 p.m.  we took a tricycle to the highway and then a multicab to balanga. by 6:30 p.m., i was already aboard a bus headed for makati. i was home before 10 p.m., just as kim's night shift was about to start.

here be a jumpshot to remember this trip by:

more than anything, taking this trip made me appreciate kim's efforts of visiting me in between his shifting work schedule. makes me wonder how a boy can love a girl so much <3

in a bubble world

i have admitted to being a bubble girl because that's what i am. growing up, i wasn't like the ordinary kids who played in the rain, spent the whole day under the sun or ate everything they liked. i was an asthmatic kid and was allergic to almost everything.

i thought i can live outside my bubble. there were times when i thought i have outgrown my allergies. eventually, i have forgotten that i am a bubble girl. i started living carefree -  ignoring rules, pushing limits and crossing lines as far as my fragility is concerned. i thought that being brave can combat my allergies. but no.

for four days now, i have been enduring allergies on my hands and feet that i initially thought were minor cases of my usual allergies. it became more irritated as days passed - not very like my usual allergies. i then thought they might be jellyfish stings since i just got back from a beach trip when the rashes and blisters first appeared. the itchiness has been depriving me of sleep so this morning, i skipped work and finally braved my way into seeing a dermatologist in makati medical center. alone. for someone who once dreamed of becoming a neurosurgeon, my fear of hospitals is more weird than irrational. whenever i go to hospitals, i smell weakness and death all around me. i am nervous even in consulting my pediatrician in a small clinic when i was younger.

nevertheless, my first trip to a big hospital was a success. i was able to see the dermatologist and she said my allergies are common to hypersensitive skin especially after beach trips. i mentioned the jellyfish theory and she said with or without jellyfish stings, the same treatment should be made. i hear hate for skin irritation in the tone of her voice, haha. either that or she is trying to sound authoritative. she also inquired about the nature of my work. she must be wondering to what sort of allergens i am exposed. maybe i should have somebody clean my workspace, hehe.
      
she prescribed a lotion that's supposed to stop the itching and two oral medications: one to be taken in the morning and the other before bedtime. she told me to come back after five to seven days, especially if i would not experience any improvement.

except for water and dove soap (yes, she even recommended this soap brand, haha), my hands and feet are not to get in contact with any chemicals (i.e. no lotion, perfume, scented soap) and other allergens (e.g. dust). i cannot even do my laundry anymore (detergents are under the no chemicals clause). when i got back from the hospital, i kept staring at my laundry pile and i could have been crying inside.

except for the no laundry part, the dermatologist mostly said things that i already know. or maybe she just reminded me that i am a bubble girl.

i received a call from my mom a few minutes after i got home from my hospital trip. she said she heard i have been sick. i assume my sister told her about my facebook status a few days ago. i haven't updated my status since, maybe that's why she became worried. i told her i am doing okay but that i just saw a dermatologist because of my allergies. my mom should very well know her bubble daughter, she instantly made a litany on what food and activities i should avoid and what medications worked on me in the past. she's more convincing than the dermatologist, haha. at the background, i can hear my father saying that i should watch the food i eat. so, yes, i vowed to go back to my hypoallergenic diet (i.e. no eggs, chicken, seafood). my nephew suggested i eat bacon instead. my mom laughed and said i could eat bacon. my nephew asked if i am sick and i told him no, just some allergies. and he mentioned he also has allergies on his feet. he is allergic to rubber (i.e. no havaiannas, crocs without wearing socks). he likes making connections, hehe. he then asked if i'd be going home this friday. and i said i will.

after hanging up, i applied the prescribed lotion, which costs P420 by the way, on my hands and feet, and swallowed the daytime tablet (P35 each). i fell asleep and woke up around 5 p.m.

meanwhile, at the outside world, metro manila temperature hit a new high-record of 38 degrees, the lady gaga episode of glee was aired and lakers lost to suns tieing the series 2-2. and my cousin just lost a date (me) for tonight.

so this is bubble girl, rolling back into her bubble world. and she will be having bacon for dinner (and taking in a P30 tablet before sleeping. man, these medicines are so expensive).

i date these girls because

1. they watch eugene domingo movies.
on may 19, 2010, my research kapatids - cy, kate, eliza and abi (honorary, hehe) - and i caught the last full show of here comes the bride at glorietta 4. super funny! pakkk! for reviews go here and here.

we didn't have a group picture that night because we were not given this kind of opportunity we had when we watched our very first eugene domingo movie together:

september 3, 2009. with miss eugene domingo after watching kimmydora 

2. they never run out of stories over dinner and/or coffee.

my college friends - cy, kate and ice - and i make it a point to do something together at least once a month. this started as part of my annual "missions" and later on became a tradition we now call our monthly angels' night. our may 20, 2010 host was kate. we had dinner at aveneto pizzeria in glorietta 3, and then went for coffee at starbucks, 6750.

though not on a regular basis due to our conflicting schedules, i still go out with my former officemates - jeng, leng, karen, mix and gerl. i never thought friendships formed in the office can still thrive outside the workplace but here we are. the last time we went out was on april 26, 2010. we had dinner (thanks, mix!) at mr. jones, greenbelt 5. 

3. they are spontaneous.

may 22, 2010. i have no idea what's with this date but i know at least three plans that was supposed to happen that day that did not push through. lucky for cy and i, our up date happened. we didn't have a definite itinerary because we are spontaneous like that, haha. 

here's how the day went about: we had lunch at mcdo, philcoa before heading to as (palma hall) to visit our spot (where we usually hang out while waiting for our next class. she claims we were boy hunting but really i was girl watching, hahaha.) we then went to sc (shopping center) to check out the diliman republic and maroons stores. after that, we visited the up parish adoration chapel.

our next stops were the sunken garden and mang larry's isaw - two must-visit places for every up diliman trip. after having a dose of muni-munis, football boys and street food, we headed to the up-ayala technohub for some air-conditioned tambay. we had coffee at starbucks and then cy brought me to their house for dinner with her parents. we had a little tournament of blowfish poppers (an iphone app) with her brother, alvin, and i won! we also had some bonding time with her dad over tequila. that was just too cool!

and the "highlighter" of the day award goes to me, for stealing a stem of bougainvillea flowers for cy. (you should watch here comes the bride for you to relate to this.)

bonggang-bongga. bougainvillea!

i so love my girls <3

this ain't so bad

wednesday
6 a.m. to 2 p.m. - kim in bataan, working
2:30 p.m. - took bus + mrt + jeep to makati
6:30 p.m. - in makati for our last regular wednesdate
7 p.m. - picked me up from work
7:30 p.m. - kfc dinner
8:30 p.m. - glee app sing-along and glee marathon

thursday
2 a.m. - on his way to bataan
6 a.m. to 2 p.m. - work

friday
6 a.m. to 2 p.m. - work
2:30 p.m. - took ferry to pasay
4:30 p.m. - in makati for our 107th monthsary
6 p.m. - shopping at glorietta and greenbelt
7 p.m. - dinner at cpk, g3

saturday
2 a.m. - on his way to bataan
6 a.m. to 2 p.m. - work
2:30 p.m. - took ferry to pasay
4:30 p.m. - in makati, bought me big mac meal
9 p.m. - picked me up from work, to batangas together

sunday
8 a.m. to 3 p.m. - swimming with me and my family
7:30 p.m. - picked me up from home
8 p.m. - on our way to makati

monday
2 a.m. - on his way to bataan
6 a.m. to 2 p.m. - work
2:30 p.m. - took ferry to pasay
4:30 p.m. - in makati for our "mondate"
7 p.m. - picked me from work
7:30 p.m. - cooked dinner (he has a new burger patty recipe)
10:30 pm. - watched lfs of robin hood together (with nyfd fries, of course!)

today is his day-off. he woke me up with coffee this morning. he also cooked our lunch and my baon. as of writing, i think he is doing his laundry, hehe. we'll be having a smallville marathon later. with chips and coke, of course. tomorrow afternoon, he'll be off to bataan for his 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift. so far, still good.

sunday is family day

well, that is before i got this job with the newspaper in september 2009. my sundays have become ordinary working days since. but last weekend i asked permission to have a change day-off (meaning i went to work on saturday so i can skip work on sunday. it's the best deal i can get for now until i earn my vacation credits) to spend time with my family.

so yesterday, my family finally pushed through with our annual pool trip.  (we usually have this tradition on mother's day but this year that fell on may 9, which is the day before the elections - just one of the many busy days in the life of newspaper people. that meant i cannot take  a leave from work.) we were already up around 5:30 a.m. preparing food and stuff in between discussing where to go. by 7:30 a.m. everyone/everything was set except for the venue, haha. this has always been the hierarchy of our concerns - attendance, food and then the place.

we decided to head to valentino resort & spa. my mother is not very fond of traveling and this resort is about 20 minutes from our house (plus we've never been there) so it was our first choice this time. we arrived around 8 a.m. and there weren't many people around. perfect. for most of the day, we had the pool beside our cabana all to ourselves.

my siblings and i payed for the entrance and corkage fees and cabana rental. my mom took  care of our food - we had pancit for merienda. rice, hotdog, pork and tilapai for lunch, and chips and softdrinks for snacks. while dad did the driving, haha. 

i took this photo from the hanging bridge that connects the resort's main road to the viewing deck. from there, i can see my nephew and brother-in-law at the pool and the rest of the family in the cabana.

valentino resort & spa

and of course, we took a family photo <3

 (back row) boyfriend, me, elder brother, dad;
(front) brother-in-law, nephew, sister-in-law, elder sister, niece, mom.

over every meal of the day, we mostly brainstormed on what to name the new member of our family. my brother and sister-in-law are having a girl and she's expected to arrive late august. so by next summer, i will have three kids to babysit!

with angel and rajah

so cute in their swimwear :)

we left the resort around 3 p.m. and made a quick stop at home to drop off our stuff before heading to robinson's lipa to do the grocery. afterwards, we had merienda and early dinner at binalot to cap off our family day.

aside from being with my family, one thing i love about being in the province is the night sky - perfect for stargazing. and last night, the moon was exceptionally lovely, with venus appearing to be right on top of it. when i looked up my first thought was that the moon got engaged, haha. 

photo by yojan17

and that's just how i remembered my sundays to be. short and sweet. and definitely worth the wait.

a tale of two dates

to my readers here who do not know me (if at all you exist) and the people i know, allow me to introduce my dear gerpen cy. she is my first friend from our bloc in college. when i met her, she was wearing a pink shirt and eventhough she wasn't fond of smiling then, i took her pink presence as a sign that she was meant to be one of my best friends. i am positive that i read the sign right. and also, i have successfully taught her to smile more often. now, if only i can do something about her siga walk, hehe.

so yesterday, our month-long anticipation of going on a shopping spree together finally ended. the last time we went shopping together was almost two years ago. i know, you might be thinking, that long? and you say she is one of your best friends? well, answering that would require an entirely different post that i will never write because that would mean exposing cy's life, hahaha.

anyway, back to our shopping date yesterday. i brought her to market!market! it was her first time. and i am happy she got great stuff (of course with my help that's not really surprising, haha). i got few pieces compared to her purchases because i was focused on finding stuff for her (to buy for herself). i was really worried she wouldn't find anything she'd like because the girl was expecting topshop levels. she said she likes it when i pressure her to buy stuff. and i enjoy it too. i take pride on seeing her wearing beautiful pieces that i helped pick.

why i always always always find it hard to find stuff to buy for myself when i plan to, i don't know. as this date was intended solely for shopping, i wasn't surprised i can't seem to fall in love with anything. hey, universe, when are you going to get tired of your jokes? ha-ha-ha, really funny.

here's a photo of what i bought:

yellow top, P490; shoes (zanea), P599; skin-tone cycling shorts (unbranded), P75; 
board shorts (billabong), P420.

cy and i also went to bonifacio high street where we found a pretty pair of high heels at charles & keith that matched the gorgeous tube dress that i forced her to buy from market!market! the shopping spree was capped off by the yellow bag (despite my vote she get the red one) she bought from nike.

we then had merienda at krispy kreme. at 4 p.m., i had to leave for my second date. cy also has another date later that night. yes, our relationship is that open, haha, kidding. just so it's clear, my friend is into guys. she is single by the way. those interested, please submit your resumes to me.

date no. 2:
yesterday my boyfriend and i also celebrated our 107th monthsary. we've been together since 2001, and next month we will be turning nine years old. i am good as married to him but so just you people will stop asking me already. yes, there will be a wedding. someday. :)

after his work, kim traveled all the way from bataan just to have dinner with me at california pizza kitchen in glorietta 3. isn't he the sweetest? he still has work today that's why i really appreciate his effort of coming over just to continue our tradition of being together every 14th of the month.

not planning to shop more but that night i also ended up going home with these:

tube top (kamiseta ), P799; white shorts (zara girls), P745; white racerback top (zara trf), P395; yellow-green racerback top (zara girls), P345; orange top (zara girls), P345; grey and pale blue shirts (zara trf), P895; black spag-strapped top that looked like a minidress on me (zara trf), P795; headphones (skullcandy), P2,000.

i really need to stay away from malls until july, haha.

laundry night

i love doing the laundry. i love it so much i used to do my laundry everyday in college, haha. i love doing the laundry it's like a hobby. when my friends or officemates complain about doing their laundry. i often joke about doing it for them. for a fee, of course, haha. i bet they find it weird. but what can i do, i can't help it. whenever i hear the word laundry, i get excited. it's just one of my switches, haha. maybe someday i should put up a laundry shop of my own. it would house huge spinners, the types that automatically wash, rinse and dry clothes. pure awesomeness, i tell you, haha. a hi-tech laundry service. someday, someday. for now, i am okay with doing my laundry by hand.

testing

blogging from my iphone. :)

dear boyfriend,

today we learned about our next challenge. that which the universe fancied calling shifting schedules. you said you can’t bear this situation. that the mere thought of not seeing me as much as you want to makes you weak.

i feel that way too. tonight, after work, i walked home as usual. except that it was unusual because i was crying. i never felt how far away you are from me until tonight. maybe i was just anticipating the many days (and nights) that i would wish you were here with me but you can’t get here. and that even if i would be lucky to find a friend to keep me company (which is hard these days), i would still be hoping it would be you beside me. just thinking about it makes me miss you so much that it hurts.

but i am positive we can get through this together. so please keep holding on to your dream job. you don’t have to give it up to spend more time with me. you can have us both – your dream job and your dream girl, haha! if you want to, of course, i can promise you that. i will always be here. just waiting. waiting for you. only you. oohhh... so cheesy!

we’ll talk tomorrow and fix our schedules. we’ll make quality time that is so good, it would feel like forever and then we can forget we were ever apart.

love,

girlfriend

sms 05/04/10 1:43 a.m.

"you always give me strength, bebi... i love you..."

<3

a series of spontaneous events

we didn't have plans for that night (march 26). kim was supposed to go home to batangas. while i stay for my 11-day working week. but then he just can't leave me alone, hihi. so he dragged me to go on a movie date with him. it was already late and we had to move fast if we want to catch anything on. i didn't have time to change clothes, comb my hair or put on some color on my face, haha. and it was funny we still had on the same shirt color without planning to.

best moment: alighting the jeepney on the sight of the red light and jumping over the fence along ayala avenue to get to the greenbelt walkway.

here be a photo of two happy feeling-teenagers making it to the last full show of how to train your dragon in 3d:

team spontaneity! *\0/*

* * *

kim and i have been thinking about going back to puerto galera to see if it's still how we remembered it from six years ago. but it's proximity to batangas somehow makes us postpone our return trip there thinking andyan lang naman sya. so on the night of april 23 (friday) when kim told me tara, galera na talaga tayo! i, of course, said yes! and immediately prepared food and clothes. also i wasn't able to sleep. i was too excited! haha!

but so impromptu this trip was that we both forgot to bring our wallets and only had P4,500 bills with us combined. good thing, as it would later turn out, we didn't have to spend more than what we had because all we wanted to do was swim and laze around and take photos, haha.

we left makati on april 24 (saturday) at around 3 a.m. and was back in time for my work the following day at 11:30 a.m. we had a very quick wonderfun beach escape that felt like three days. and we so love it! <3

puerto galera is still very nice. much like boracay, really, minus the very fine white sand of the latter, of course. because, so far, none of the beaches i've been to has ever beaten that. eventhough a lot has changed in puerto galera, it still felt like 2004 to me. take out some of the bars and the houses and add the memories with friends and it would still be the same puerto galera we once knew.

ending this beach story with this spontaneous jumpshot idea i had:

here's to more beaching (be it impromptu or planned) ahead! *\0/*

* * *

i don't know if i haven't adjusted to our new *smaller* unit but i just kept accidentally banging my head on the wall next to my bed or hitting my elbows and knees to the few furnitures and what-nots we have.

and speaking of accidents, there was this one time after taking a bath, i was changing into house clothes and i slipped. yes, i slipped. i was just standing there or maybe i was standing on my left foot while getting my right foot into my shorts. i don't really know how it happened. but i just slipped. well, maybe my feet were not all dried up. so, there, i slipped. and while trying to regain my balance i lost control of my right leg and somehow it managed to swing backwards and hit the metal rim of my bed. and by hit i mean hard. and by hard, i mean really hard. solid hit. my heel to the metal. it was like i aimed for it. it hurt like hell that i cried like a baby. and thought of home. so instead of rushing to the hospital, you guessed it right, i went home all the way to the province. on a working sunday. because i am spontaneous like that, haha.

i took that last accident as a blessing in disguise because it gave me an opportunity to go home and bond with my family even just for a day. my sister even got a bit nostalgic having me around. we used to spend sundays together, she blurted out of the blue. so, we - me, my sis, bayaw, nephew and kim - watched iron man 2 at robinsons lipa. i can't remember the last time i went there and imagine my surprised happiness to shell out only P105 for a movie ticket. we caught the 6:30 p.m. show and by the time we exited the cinema around 8:30 p.m. the mall was already quiet with only a few lights on.

i had extra fun watching the movie with my nephew. he kept asking questions and laughing so hard. he gets the jokes!? every so often i would catch him getting bored already and i would ask him if he understands what's happening and he'd say yes and then minutes later he'd ask me what time the movie ends, haha. when the movie ended i told him we should wait until the end of the credits and he asked why and i said you'll see. i entertained him by catching familiar names in the credits, we saw a number of kim's, one jeremy, one kyle and a lola, that cracked him up, haha.

so i have this to thank for my impromptu trip home last sunday:

as of writing, i am no longer wearing a bandage (thanks to kim, my dear boyfriend who had some first aid training with the red cross. and to traditional hilot.) and i am almost missing it, haha.