gratitude list 11.02

1 - i received an early birthday gift from kate and drea.
2 - kim and i had an impromptu movie date (his treat!). we watched tangled in 3d.
3 - i turn a year older, happier and more-loved. kim surprised me with a birthday cake and we were able to have dinner together (my treat at krazy garlik). we also went shopping at zara. a happy birthday, indeed.
4 - i finally visited the dentist and tried brow threading at browhaus.  i was able to celebrate my birthday with my gs gehls at il ponticello. i got letters and books as gifts from them. mica introduced us to casa nami surf pub.
5 - i was able to spend some bonding time with my cousins aiza, ate jing and sharrie.
6 - i had a light day at work. i received only one inquiry from an editor and it was very easy. of course, i also had to do the weather forecast
7 - kim and i had an impromptu nyfd dinner and movie date.
8 - kim treated me to a nuggets and fries merienda at mcdonald's.
9 - i was able to book promo round-trip tickets to south korea (via incheon) for november.
10 - my credit card balance transfer application was approved.
11 - i won P2.5k at the pdi coop's 11th anniversary pabingo.
12 - kim and i had the same day-off for the first time this year.
13 - i learned to eat the pickles on my cheeseburger.
14 - kim pulled off a very lovely 116th monthsary/10th heart's day celebration.
15 - i was able to resume watching one of my favorite tv series, chuck.
16 - i finally finished editing 1986 pdi edsa-related stories. i hope i can say goodbye to hives and sneezing for now.
17 - i had a super fun and youthful post-birthday celebration at the up fair with my angels and kim.
18 - i was able to go home to the province. later that night, i went to visit my niece with my mom, dad and nephew.
19 - i took a short road trip with kim and my nephew. we had merienda at kim's mom's lomi house in ibaan. yum!
20 - kim and i had a greek (tv series) marathon. i'm glad cassie and cappie are back together.
21 - i was able to spend the whole day with kim, albeit while suffering from dysmenorrhea. we watched six episodes of how i met your mother (tv series). i was also able to resume my reading while kim practiced drawing using his pentab. later in the afternoon, we went out for merienda and dinner and we were able to watch the sunset from sm mall of asia.
22 - i was able to survive another busy tuesday. i attended the daydesk meeting and assessment and had to compile the stocks and draft seven corrections. thank god, sir j did not have any comments with the corrections! my day was capped off with another tv series marathon (the big bang theory) with kim.
23 - kim was asked to undergo urinalysis again because his previous test showed there were traces of proteins in his urine, which is said to be a sign of failing kidneys. good thing the results this time showed that he was cleared. we also watched three episodes each of fringe and modern family.
24 - rhea promised to help me with our south korea trip itinerary, yay! also, i had a light day at work so i still had energy after to stay up late and watched a few episodes of the vampire diaries and hellcats with kim.
25 - kim and i spent the whole day together. same days off are hearts.
26 - my month-long birthday celebration was capped off by watching the pyrolympics.
27 - i survived my first fun run and actually had fun! i ranked 66th in the 3k category, finishing at 18 minutes and 53 seconds.
28 - hannah sent a very detailed e-mail on the korea visa application. she also offered to help with our itinerary, yay!

my first fun run

i once had a dream of becoming a runner ala-lydia de vega. i was in grade school but our p.e. teacher told me i wasn't fast enough. i was drafted into the volleyball varsity team instead. /dream

this morning, i was reminded of that dream when i joined a fun run for the first time. it was company-sponsored (free for employees!) as part of the inquirer's 25th anniversary. i signed up for the 3k run, enticed mainly by the singlet, haha.

my race kit

i was up by 4 a.m. but i was able to drag myself to the bathroom 30 minutes later. i didn't have time for breakfast because our call time was 5 a.m. so i just had coffee.

see the moon?

so with no breakfast and a little over three hours of sleep, this little girl covered a distance of three kilometers within 19 minutes. not bad, huh? :D

this stride tracker makes me feel 10 times cooler, heh.

here be our before and after photos. parang hindi pinagpawisan ah! ;P

before

after (photo by almacenes reales)

* * *
february 28 edit: my official time and overall rank: 00:18:53 | 66 via pacebook.

my active moment :))

friday-off, saturdate

february 25. two weeks ago, one of kim's days off fell on a saturday. this week, it fell on a friday, which is also one of my rest days from work. yay!

so what to do to make the most of this rare occasion? first, we had lunch at mcdonald's, heh.

same day-off days are <3

then we headed to the inquirer exhibit at sm north annex.

25 years of inquirer

fruit of our labor

kim with guyito

after that, we just went mall-hopping for exercise, ha-ha-ha! from sm north (the block, main, the annex) to trinoma to market!market to serendra and then finally, bonifacio high street.

we spent most of our time at saizen, japan home and muji, ha-ha-ha! i was able to find polymer clay. too bad saizen in sm north have them in yellow and green only. kim was very happy with his new P85-wallet from saizen too.

february 26. to cap off my month-long birthday celebration, i waited for kim to be off from work and then i treated him to dinner at kenny rogers roasters in sm mall of asia. we had baby back ribs and grilled chicken fillet. over dinner we talked about kim's first birthday with me as his girl friend. he treated me at kenny's in lipa bus stop. that branch was closed down years ago, haha.

after dinner, we headed to the seaside boulevard for the 2nd philippine international pyromusical competition. that night's competitors were china and french republic. we got our gold tickets (P200 each) at the tanduay booth. we got two bottles of whiskey for freebies, haha.

here is a collage of some of my fireworks shots:

this one is my favorite:

my own pink galaxy where it's spring every day <3

we had fun all right but gahd it's so hard to find a ride home after. it's like half of the people in metro manila were there that night. the show was done by 9:30 p.m. but we were able to squeeze ourselves into a multicab around 11:30 already. that was also the time i suddenly thought of asking kim for his phone and we found out he lost it. kim was really sad because that phone was a birthday gift from me and it just turned exactly six months old yesterday. i tried comforting him by reminding him it's just a cheap phone anyway (P2,000/six months/30 days = P11.12 rental per day, haha). but he's still sad. he wants to give me money and buy him the same model. i hope he gets over it very soon.

teenage dream

february 17. for my late birthday celebration with my angels, i treated them to the up fair. i really missed going to the fair and while we were there i really felt like i just got off from class and headed to the sunken garden. oh, yeah, to be a student again for a night!

first, kim and i had dinner at one of the burger stands (because all the ihaw stands were packed). a hamburger is pegged at P30 and an order of cheese-flavored french fries goes for P30, too. and we still have to buy our drinks ala carte. who says 'street food' or a student meal is cheap? it's even more expensive than mcdonald's! anyway, the food tasted good so i'll stop complaining right now.

and then, we had ice scramble! happiness!

we then headed back to the concert grounds, laid out our newspapers and sat indian style. et voila! we'd pass as college students, right? where is vinzon's hall, again? ah, i don't know... perhaps we can look for it together? hahaha.

and then, we parteyyy!!! kamikazee started its set with martyr nyebera, while parokya ni edgar's first song was halaga. what's up with that? :)) *dear friend, if you were here, you'd know the latter song was another sign from the universe that you'd probably just ignore, as always.*

and went all the way (a.k.a tried a perya ride)--no regrets, just love. to living on the edge, y'all!

of course, we also had to try the perya games! isa won a bite-size pack of nagaraya, while i got a piece of cloud 9! not bad at all. :P

parokya ni edgar's bonus performance of ordertaker with kamikazee made my night.

a youthful night indeed. here's to being young forever!

< 3 < 3 < 3

february 14. i usually plan our monthsary dates but on very rare occasions kim would volunteer to take care of everything. and he did for this year's 116th/10th heart's day celebration.

i think he's getting good at making surprises (remember the surprise cake he got me on my birthday?). last night, aside from that we'll be having a french dinner, he didn't give any clues no matter how many times i asked.

he picked me from work, hailed a cab and told the driver to drop us off at rockwell power plant mall. i later found out he reserved a table for a sit-down dinner at chef jessie, which is not inside the mall but at the rockwell club beside the mall. we arrived just in time for our 7:38 p.m. photo.

before i move on, let me present our seven-course dinner so you can close the browser after the food photos and save yourself from the mushy parts of  my story, hihi.

served with a glass of hardys notage hill cabernet shiraz and hardys notage hill chardonnay (and unlimited house water, hehe):

pickled heart of palm with seared scallops

homemade goose liver terrine

clear essence of natsutake mushrooms (with heart-shaped chicken dumplings)

strawberry & champagne sorbet

grilled us black angus rib eye in cafe de paris sauce

trio of french macarons, vanilla panna cota & tranche of dark chocolate tart

strawberries dipped in chocolate & mini chocolate kiss

this is the first time that kim took me to a dinner like this (too pricey, i think). to be fair to chef jessie, everything was tasty in a sophisticated kind of way. kim and i, however, agreed the ambiance was so-so and was saved only by the great instrumental playlist.

but no matter, my man turned out to be very determined to sweep me off my feet last night. so it was really not about the place or the food or the gifts. it's all about celebrating love, right?

in between the food being served, we exchanged letters. when he asked me what i wanted for heart's day, i told him he doesn't have to buy me flowers. i just want a letter. (when we were inside the cab he told me he didn't have time to write the letter and handed me a domo stuffed toy.)

i let kim read my letter first. i don't know what's funny and at the same time tear-jerky about it. remind me to ask for that letter later.

kim's letter, on the other hand, was very overwhelming. it was different from all the letters i've received from him throughout our relationship. i was reading through the start of the second paragraph when i felt my heart swelling... my vision became blurry and tears started flowing from my eyes. good thing i have the camera beside me so kim wasn't able to take a photo of me crying (and at the same time trying to laugh to stop myself from crying). he showed me a different side of him through that letter and at the same time he showed me that even though we always feel like we're in a day-old relationship, we've really gone a long way. i was crying until the very end of the letter; i didn't care if some people stared. "time can make us old and weary, but this thing between us will keep us young and live forever. i believe and will always believe." 

how a letter like that can be attributed to "after watching the rite," as mentioned on the opening paragraph of his letter, baffles me. i wonder what his letter could have turned out if we decided to watch 127 hours instead. typed neatly on a plain bond paper, his words, strung together, became a blanket of security that embraces me. why that thought always makes me cry, i'm not sure. maybe after all this time it still amazes me that someone could really love me that much. too much.

kim handed me domo to cheer me up. not that i really needed a picker-upper. i was actually very high that's why i was crying. ahhh, to be so loved...

my first gift for him was also a domo merchandise. blame our inseparable moment while gift-shopping last saturday.

kim also got me a bag from mango. he said this one is a date bag (as his gift to me last christmas was an office bag).

i got him a pen tablet in a flexible design. i've seen him eyeing a more expensive version at power mac but i know he'll enjoy this one from cdr-king for now.

a picture or it never happened.

outfit shot:

pardon my huge bag, i came straight from the office XD

* * *
when i got home, there was a baby plant waiting for me. this was my birthday wish. i took a photo of it this morning.

dear baby plant, mommy will be taking care of you. xoxo, mommy bebi

* * *
thank you for last night, baby. to true love and happiness always and forever <3 <3 <3

saturday-off

february 12. for the first time this year, one of kim's days off fell on a saturday, which is also one of my rest days from work.

we had breakfast together and then he cooked lunch for me. after lunch, we went to the mall and got each other gifts for tomorrow. we initially planned on shopping separately but we turned out inseparable. it was our first chance of spending a whole day together this year after all. in an effort to leave room for surprise, we closed our eyes or turn away once the other is set to buy the gift, haha. we also made a deal to wrap the gifts first and put off exchanging gifts until tomorrow.

anyway, it also turned out to be an extended birthday celebration for me because kim treated me to dinner at bonchon.

best chicken chops ever :9

and then he treated me to a movie. it was a close fight between 127 hours and the rite. but in the end, we agreed to see the latter because we are both anthony hopkins fans.

after the movie, we went to starbucks and did a little planning-our-life session over free tall frappes courtesy of hsbc.

so far, we are so close <3

of course, there was camwhoring involved in between brainstorming and stuff, hahaha.

the smolder vs the kwink

on our way home, we noticed it was almost a fullmoon. kim tried to take a photo of it with me as background, hahaha.

my birthday weekend

february 2. picture me in a semi-schoolgirl outfit literally running late from my unit to the office. yes, that was how my day started, haha. anyway, it took me roughly two minutes so i think i should join a fun run, haha.

taken later that night by kim :)

later in the afternoon, i bought two boxes of pan pizza and my research family was happy.

spot the difference

after work, kim took me to a movie date. we watched tangled in 3d, which we both loved (especially for that boating moment while watching flying lanterns. we're now dreaming of flying lanterns for our wedding, hihi). and of course we had nyfd fries while watching (nomnomnom, i missed this).

entangled :))

february 3. happy birthday to me! i was on birthday leave so i took this day slowly and surely. on my to-do list: banking duties, manipedi, dental check-up and brow threading. but because i wanted to just relax that day (a.k.a. was feeling lazy or i think i owe myself some deserved rest), i was able to accomplish the first two items only (there'll be time for the other two tomorrow, i thought).

birthday girl ;)

 at around 5 p.m. i heard noises outside my door and i really held my breath, almost anticipating something out of the ordinary to happen. what exactly, i don't know but i just felt like that. i guess i've been watching too much fringe and chuck and stuff. so anyway, it became silent for a few seconds and then there was a knock on my door. it was kim's signature knock so i was relieved.

when i opened the door, kim started singing the happy birthday song and in his arms was a goldilocks (how thoughtful) rocky road cake.

on the cake: to my one and only <3

i was really touched because kim is really not a man of surprises. he usually ends up telling me of his supposed surprises for me. i'm thinking he thought of this at the last minute that's why he didn't have time to tell me about it beforehand, haha. well, he said he thought of giving me a cake because i didn't have one last sunday when we celebrated my birthday with my family. a birthday ain't a birthday without a birthday cake, right?

because i was so touched i treated him to dinner at krazy garlik in greenbelt 5.

he's crazy and i'm a garlic :))

complimentary kimchi was served. then we had baba ghanoush before moving on to spaghetti aglio olio and then garlic lovers pizza.

nomnomnom :9

i like it how their tableware comes in uncommon shapes.

after stuffing ourselves with garlic, hehe, we went shopping at zara. i wasn't planning to but that's how my shopping spree go ever since. when i plan on shopping i can't find anything to buy and when i don't plan to shop i end up buying so much! one shopping spree down, only one more to go for this year (part of my missions 2011) and it's only february. wish me luck!!!

february 4. finally pushed through with visiting the dentist. the dentist said my teeth are still okay so no need for cleaning. three of my teeth, however, needed light cures, including the one that ached terribly last week and gave me a headache.

after an hour of saying ahhhh, i went to browhaus to try brow threading for the first time. it wasn't as painful as other netizens made me expect it to be. in fact, i enjoyed it so much i wished i had more brows to thread, haha. plucking my brows on my own turned out more painful.

having accomplished the fourth and last item on my two-day to-do list, i went home to freshen up and prepare for dinner with my gs gehls at il ponticello.

[click to enlarge]

normal/wacky :))

they got me two neil gaiman books and bob ong's new book. i am so happy!

another surprise cake! another candle to blow! another wish! yay!

a piece of the most sinful cake :9

we thought there'd be dancing at ponti that night but around 11 the place still wasn't happening so mica brought us to casa nami surf pub, which is owned by her friend. we heard two bands play rock music. once in a while a customer would volunteer to sing and tissue papers were handed to the lead singer for requests and greetings.

we retired early, around 12:30 a.m. i brought leng home with me and we chatted until 530ish in the morning before finally succumbing to sleep.

february 5. leng and i woke up around 8 a.m. i made coffee and offered her bread pan, haha, and chatted some more over breakfast. stories really never run out between friends. i saw her off by 930 a.m., i think.

i wanted to catch more z's but there was a pile of dishes and clothes to wash so i had to pull my butt out of bed and do my house chores. i was already done within an hour and was about to resign on my bed again when my cousin aiza texted me to meet her at sm mall of asia. now na because someone wanted to meet you, she said. i know i had to go back to the dentist that afternoon because one of the light cures newly-installed yesterday had a sharp side that scratches my cheek every time (and it sure hurts a lot!) but thinking that someone who wanted to meet me could be her jeddah-based sister ate jing who i haven't seen in years, i said okay and cancelled my dental appointment (even though she had told me she won't be visiting home until april).

and yes, it turned out to be ate jing! she gave me a birthday present and treated me to lunch at gerry's grill with her friends. after that we met up with her other sister sharrie and their mother tita sherly at a beauty salon in pasig near aiza's apartment. we went to robinson's galleria for dinner.

after the others have left for home, aiza and i spent the rest of the night chatting over coffee while i wait for her to be off for work at 11 p.m.

camwhoring with cuz aiza :))

kim picked me up from galle and then treated me to a late dinner (because he hasn't eaten yet) at north park. i was too sleepy already so after eating we headed straight for home.

a tiring but fun-filled birthday weekend. thank you, universe.

kung hei fat choi ;P