korean horror film festival fail

it's not everyday that kim agrees to take me to see horror movies so i thought i hit the jackpot when i didn't have to pull an arm to get him to edsa shangri-la mall earlier for the korean horror film festival. we were there by 12:30 this afternoon. the line was already long eventhough the first show was 2 p.m. the first film on today's line-up was "m." we were all too prepared to scream our lungs out but this move didn't scare us one bit.

it's also frustrating that we didn't make it to the cut-off for the second show at 2 p.m. we decided to window shop to kill time. wrong decision. because when we went back in line for the 8 p.m. show--it was only 6:30 p.m.--we were informed that we won't be getting any tickets anymore. major fail.

and so we just decided to head to the province for my long weekend. good thing the commute home--from buendia to lipa--took only an hour! now that's a winner.

halloween break

today is the last working day of my week. yes, it's only thursday in my world. but after 9 p.m. tonight, i will be work-free until next thursday (real world). 

and of course i have an outline of how i want to spend this once in a blue moon staycation:

you bet. i'm excited to tick those boxes! (^-^)

trick or treat '10

i never got to experience trick-or-treating as a kid so i always get excited for my nephew. i remember buying him a costume when he was two (or three?) years old:

baby the flash

today, he was supposed to attend the trick or treat in our office but we missed the deadline for registration last tuesday. anyway, here's what we (eliza, lawrence and i) prepared (in behalf of the research team) for the kids:

as for me, no treats. and i haven't received any halloween party invites. not that i get one every year. i just miss having the halloween feel and with magandang gabi bayan gone, it's harder to be haunted nowadays, ha-ha-ha! 

i miss spending halloween with our mercado clan. it used to be like a reunion for us. my favorite part is when my cousins and i would form two or three groups and each group would be assigned a bedroom in nanay lipa's (my maternal grandmother) house to transform into a horror room. our uncles and aunts would choose which room is the scariest. sometimes, my cousins and i would play spirit of the glass or share ghost stories inside a dark room. oh such fun times.

last saturdate in photos

kim + almi <3

our mojos art at shakey's :))

eastwood open park

i love walkways

and high ceilings!

and CARS!!!

superheroes inside the mall

waiting...

for kyla!

 i found out kim likes kyla's songs!

living statues along eastwood city walk

full moon

congrats to my mom

for being the no. 1 councilor in our barangay! *\0/*

newly-elected (l-r): brgy captain, my mom, councilor #2, councilor #3

and congrats to me for being able to vote! *\0/*

to my favorite teacher

it was heartbreaking that the last time i saw her was when i went to visit her with my classmates during her battle with cancer in 2007. she could barely lift her back from the bed without whimpering as she tried and succeeded in recognizing each of us. despite the weak look in her eyes, she was full of positive words to encourage us (instead of the other way around).

up to this day, i still find it amazing that i thought of her the night before she succumbed to her illness. it was just so out of the blue that i considered it her way of telling me her signature ba-bye. the blog entry i wrote then said i had wanted to "go on and on" talking about the memories i had with her but i was too busy with work. 

on world teachers' day (oct. 8), i thought of writing an entry about her but i had the same reason - i was busy at work.  i feel guilty. after almost three years, i still haven't sat down to write about her so now let me just do that.

ma'am z was our first year adviser. i think the most loving (a.k.a. patient) teachers are always assigned to freshmen(i believe that is also the case for grade one teachers). naturally, ma'am z became my first mother figure in my new world that was high school.

[click image to enlarge]

she was also our english teacher. only a week after the classes started, i was handpicked to be the freshman representative for the englicom society (the equivalent of an english club), which was handled by ma'am z, of course. so yeah i got attached to her almost instantly. i was involved in almost all other clubs but the englicom society was closest to my heart and yes it was mostly because of ma'am z.

thinking about it now, i really don't know how or where my love and respect for ma'am z started. i guess with her first impressions really last. the moment she welcomed us on our first day of class and introduced herself as our adviser i already knew that she is my favorite teacher. she has this enthusiasm that i later found out was unfading. she was one of those few teachers i know who teach because they love teaching and who are experts in their subjects.

one of my most memorable moments with her was when we went to laguna for the regional school's press conference. i think there were about 10 participants from our school. aside from being a supportive and inspiring mentor, ma'am z was a good friend who listened to our stories during free time and even joked and played around with us. she accompanied us to a nearby park one night where we played lampihang habulan. we all thought that was so cool of her because the other advisers from the other schools were so uptight, monitoring their delegates every move. apparently, they were conscious about what others will say if they "misbehave." but ma'am z had her full confidence on us that she didn't have to put more pressure on us.

my favorite class with ma'am z was our greek mythology class in fourth year. we have a weekly journal for that class and ma'am z would patiently comment on each of our thoughts about the subject. i remember my last entry was about how much i liked the book and that i thought i would be reading it again and again in the future. ma'am z wrote under my entry that it was also one of her favorite books. she said i should read more books and get inspiration from them to improve my writing and pick up valuable life lessons in some.

on our last school day, i had ma'am z write a dedication for me in my greek mythology book:

[click image to enlarge]

for my graduation, ma'am z got me a desk lamp. the message she wrote on the box said that she wanted to guide me even when i'm already in college. every time i use the desk lamp when i am studying should remind me of ma'am z supporting me, she said. the note also had some comforting words about the ranking issues (which i don't want to talk about again, ha-ha-ha!). she ended it with encouragement, saying she believes in me so i should believe in myself too and that whatever happened then and the people around me should never bring me down.

i realized none of the other teachers i had ever told me they believed in me the same way ma'am z did. and i took up journalism because of that. (maybe i could have been a doctor or an engineer if my science and math teachers had been more supportive and inspiring, ha-ha-ha!)

* * *
dear ma'am z, you are missed. love, almi.

a tale of old friends

in fifth grade, a group of sixth graders who call themselves amico permai (which they said means "friends for life") set up a private meeting with my barkada. they said they've been looking for successors because they will be graduating soon. they said they've been watching our group and figured we fit the bill--a bunch of smart, good-looking and popular girls like them, ha-ha-ha! i know, it's so gossip girl. they said we'd be called unica hijas and eventhough none of us were an only daughter we agreed.

prior to that meeting, the five of us were already bffs. may, je, babes and i have been friends since kindergarten. and rio immediately clicked with us when she transferred to our school in third grade. we spent our formative years together sharing secrets, talking about our crushes in codes and whispers and stuff like that. pretty normal.

after graduation, may, je and i went into the same high school while babes and rio attended two different schools. so may, je and i eventually lost touch with babes and rio. sometimes, we would still hear from babes. as for rio, we met up with her in high school only once when she treated us out for her birthday. their family moved around a lot and when finally the cellphone era arrived we had no way of locating her to get her number.

after high school, may, je and i went into different colleges but i was able to keep in touch with them online and via sms, and meet up with them once in a while. it was also the case with babes (i was even able to attend her debut). we lost all forms of communication with rio.

maintaining the already thin lines between each other became harder after college. i still get updates from may, je and babes but meet-ups turned from occasional to rare. for a time, i even lost touch with may.

in 2008, babes and i became reconnected when she got me to be her son's godmother. one time, the two of us thought of visiting je and since then the three of us would communicate regularly. that's when we started thinking about getting all five of us to meet again.

it took as more than a year to get in touch with may and rio again through facebook and finally last saturday, this happened:

now: may, babes, mi, rio, je

it was an amazing day. we met for lunch at shakey's and ended up lounging around je's place like we used to in grade school. nothing fancy. but the fact that after so many years, all five of us were finally together in one place was enough for us to believe that friendships, at least for us, really don't have endings.

a different kind of monthsary

for a change, kim and i decided to stay in for our 112th monthsary last thursday. we had a modern family season 1 marathon. thanks, eliza, for the recommendation. we did enjoy watching. :D

in between the 24 25-minute-short episodes, we had lunch -- bacon, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber salad;

daytime dessert -- curly tops;

merienda -- nachos and honey mustard dip with parsley bits (thanks, joan, for the recipe that i know now by heart);

and dinner -- buttered young corn and baby carrot, and bacon and cheese mashed potatoes.

corny and mushy ;P

we finished the whole season by dinnertime so we headed to krispy kreme in bonifacio high street for dessert.

we stayed there until the store started turning off its lights shortly before midnight (because they have free wifi, ha-ha-ha!). we then decided to walk from there to rufino corner chino roces just for the heck of it. the adventure proved that i was the better navigator.

stopover at the mini store <3

we had so much fun walking for almost two hours. we discovered that some parts of global city are dark enough for stargazing. kim spotted a shooting star (he claims he did, but i missed it). i saw migratory birds flying in v formation (at night? i don't know about you, but i think it's amazing.)

we also talked about anything and everything. and then ended up scaring the hell out of each other with ghost stories when we passed by the huge empty-looking houses along mckinley road. they just have the haunted feel. we were even running when we passed by a half-open wooden gate, revealing a dark alley, near the church.

* * *
also featuring food cravings on thursday -- mcdonald's chicken nuggets with rice and big mac meal,

what my bigmac is made of <3

and saturday -- sbarro's baked zitti in white sauce and pizza.

nomnomnom :9

no-no

the sound of metal cutlery against ceramic/porcelain (and the like) dinnerware annoys me. i don't know but the noise just makes me crazy. this has always been a problem of mine especially when eating with other people. when in sit-down restaurants or big events  (e.g. weddings, formal parties) and you spot me eating carefully, it's just me keeping my utensils from touching my plate. you may also catch me wincing and it's not because the food tastes bad but because i'm trying to stand the noise from other people's eating.

at home, i use plastic plates and a wooden chopping board for food preparation. i pack my lunch in plastic containers with plastic spoon and fork.

i don't have a choice but to bear it. like a non-curable disease. sadly. but when i really really can't take it anymore i try to tell those i am eating with, particularly if they're close friends or relatives, that the noise is driving me nuts. i usually get the same reactions - they'd give me the weird look and then annoy me by making that noise again. some are more considerate (kim's relatives would always set a plastic plate for me at the table) and would even kindly point out to other people to try to at least minimize that noise because i hate it (a former officemate raises my issue when someone makes that noise over lunch).

i've heard about people who hate the sound of scraping fingernails against blackboard, rubbing styrofoam or balloons against each other, or griding tin roof, among others. but i am yet to meet someone who has the same problem with the noise of metal against ceramic/porcelain et al.

a perfect 10 kiss

it wasn't planned. at least i didn't have any plans. maybe kim had a plan but it wasn't this specific. but i know the universe must have planned that moment for us. i believe it is so because we were not rushing or stalling to catch that moment. we were more like flowing just right in sync with time.

after dinner (at kfc), we had our usual walk home. as we were climbing the stairs, kim suggested we go to the rooftop. i know there is nothing special about that rooftop and i was already tired so i told him i didn't want to go there. he said he has something to tell me. but he always says that just to get my attention. when we got inside the unit i took my shoes off and told him he can go up there by himself if he really wanted to. "i bet it's dark up there," i warned him. he went out anyway. i was chatting with my roommate when he came back shortly after. i asked him if it was dark and he just said he's tampo. i'm not in the mood to have a fight over little things so i eventually gave in to his request and went up the rooftop with him.

at the rooftop, we were greeted by clothesline. so the first thing we talked about was if it's possible for us to have our own clothesline there and how we are going to keep it from the rain. and how our imaginary junior would someday be running wild under those clotheslines. i also remember checking which corner of the rooftop has the best view. we looked up the sky for a long time and realized the moon was missing and only one star was visible.

in my mind i was also thinking how long kim was planning for us to stay up there so i asked him what it was he was going to tell me.

he then hugged me and said, "10/10/10 and here we are under a single star. i love you." and then he kissed my forehead.

i saw him check his watch. and inside i hoped he'll realize it's already late (i.e. time to leave the rooftop). he made a second look on the time and said it was 10:09. he added that if i had agreed to go up right away we could have been there at exactly 10 p.m. and then a better idea came to his mind and he suggested we do a countdown (up?) to 10:10:10 since his watch  is digital.

that's when the magic hit me. and all i could remember after that was we were giggling like we have a secret. we didn't make an agreement to kiss but we did. there was a split second when i realized his face was already close to mine and we were still giggling and i remember whispering, "just 10 seconds!"

a 10-second kiss at the rooftop under a moonless sky with a single star, on 10/10/10 at 10:10:10 p.m. <3

thank you, universe, for simple lovely moments like this. :)

friends make you feel old

first, you'll get invited to a wedding...

next, you'll be witnessing a child's christening, and then going to a 1st-birthday party!

the upside is you'll realize that you are still friends with the people you were friends with when you were younger. :)

* * *
so earlier today, kim and i attended baby paolo's 1st-birthday party, son of our friends aloi and jopai. we were among the early birds. XD

here be a quick outfit post. because we realized we both had purple shoes on without planning to. ternong-terno with our yellow tops - go, lakers! ha-ha-ha!

our lootbags included a three-pronged vibrating massager (everybody loved this! rofl.) and foldable hand fan.

it's d-day

 as in diabetes day. :)) 

P15 hershey's dark chocolate ice cream

happy cream puff's petit puffs and eclairs

a sweet day, indeed. <3

oc sunday

yesterday morning, before going to work, i organized my cabinet and bags. i found out that the handle of my black office bag is nearly falling off already so i had to transfer my stuff into another bag. the skin of my red and white bags were wearing off so that left me with my purple bag. but the corner seam of the latter's inner lining has a rip so i had to sew it first.

inside my everyday bag

spare mobile phone, pencil case, to-do list pad, planner, eyeglasses, kikay kit, double mint candy, flashlight, pepper spray, foldable umbrella and wallet . i also have my office id and some loose tissue paper (from mcdo, kfc, chowking, etc.) in the front pocket of my bag.

on my way to work, my sandals gave up on me. it was one of my favorite pairs. good thing, i have a spare footwear in the office.

at work, i thought of rearranging my desk. at first, my only concern was to place my telephone as near as possible to my computer but then i ended up cleaning and rearranging and organizing everything in my workstation. 

later, i also made a monthly calendar that fitted just right on the remaining space of my cork board.

after work (and grocery shopping), at home, i took a long bath. i shampooed, conditioned and then treated my hair. i cleansed my face and used a pore strip on my nose. i then toned and moisturized my face. it was so refreshing! i felt so organised and clean and went to bed smiling. (^-^)

book happy

i am glad that i am finding time to read again. i've been too caught up with scrapbooking and jewelry-making (and other parts of my life in general) that the most i could do with my books is to smell the pages once in a while, ha-ha-ha!

i am currently reading the likeness by tana french, which my dear office/shiftmate eliza (tenkyuberimats!) loaned me. i am hoping to finish it today this week so i can *finally* start striking out titles from my to-be-read pile.

nine books!!! <<<333

the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society - mary ann shaffer & annie barrows

hardboiled and hard luck - banana yoshimoto

a wild sheep chase - haruki murakami

einstein's dreams - alan lightman

the stone gods - jeanette winterson

the over easy - jasper fforde

lullaby - chuck palahniuk

a dirty job - christopher moore

the wind-up bird chronicle - haruki murakami

last friday, i went bookstore-hopping but decided (with a heavy heart) not to buy anything until i'm done with this pile. aja, aja, fighting!