ramblings, random musings, fascinations, rants, raves and revelations

As I was about to leave the grocery yesterday, I walked past a women with long hair. She was loading groceries into her car’s trunk and talking as if she were in the middle of a conversation. She looked at me as I walked past and kept talking. I was puzzled and all. I even gestured with a question, “me?”. She didn’t care to respond. Not to me, clearly.

A year or two ago I would have said she was crazy, carrying on a conversation with herself in the middle of a parking lot. That would be a reasonable assumption on my part.

Today it isn’t that simple. Thanks to bluetooth headsets, there’s no way to tell. Not only do people look incredibly stupid walking about with a piece of plastic clipped to their ear, I feel that we’re somehow obligated to expand our benefit-of-the-doubt for crazy people. If you encounter someone in a parking lot who’s looking at you and talking, they could be:

• not crazy, talking to me directly
• not crazy, talking to someone on the phone
• crazy, talking to me directly
• crazy, talking to themselves
• crazy, wearing headset but talking to me directly
• crazy, wearing headset but talking to someone on the phone
• crazy, wearing headset but talking to themselves
• crazy, wearing headset but thinking they’re talking to someone on the phone

It makes my head hurt.

Trying to make sense here.

WTF, Powtangina, Funyeta, Fuck, Sheez, etc…

I’ve been making a conscious effort to cut back on the profanity at work, on my blog, at service crews. Impressionable minds don’t need to listen to my foul mouth and it doesn’t add a whole lot to the conversation. I also think it’s about time I come up with some new adjectives and adverbs to use, all while reserving profanity for times when I really want to get my point across or hurt someone’s feelings. While I adjust, I anticipate a lot of prancing about screaming “fu fu fu” at the top of my lungs. It’s a process, I tell you.

So what do I do when I hear someone talking like his a BIG cono who does not know anything but mag-inarte and magma-feeling? Trust me, I heard a lot. “Paano kung…”, “Bakit kailangan mag-ganito…”, “Mahirap ba yon?…”, “Kaya ko ba ‘yon?…”, etc, echosera, puro ka-artehan, puro ka-plastikan…

Pownyeta! I thought matalino ka? and please, you don’t look like you came from the family of the Royals of Brunei who are being carried avoiding earth to touch their pinkish soles, fed on golden plates and bathe on milk and honey.

You were born with the mountains, crowing roosters, sinangag na kanin and poverty surrounding you. I believe you also have a TV or at least read some books right? It’s a simple thing. Doesn’t need a genius to know. So please spare my ears from your kaartehan.

A long lost, long time “friend” just buzzed me earlier. I saw your Baguio pics, ang gaganda! Punta ulit tayo pag balik ko diyan Pinas ha. Miss you!

Scouting out good restaurants in advance is always a smart bet when you’re visiting other cities, even when it’s close to home. And it can be especially tough to ferret out good recommendations for midsize cities, as so much of the food-finding energy is focused on bigger places. That said, I usually just scout around and ask the locals, taxi drivers mostly.

Experiencing Baguio will not be complete without their unique SM Baguio. Experiencing SM Baguio will not be complete without a taste of Balconaje Bistro Cafe. My first time there was with my then bf-Chris. He and I were going to have a late lunch after a tiring walk along Burnham. I wanted to go to a restaurant that is unique to Baguio City – a place I won’t find in Metro Manila. So, we came upon Balconaje and decided to dine there.

At first, I thought they served local dishes, because of the furnishings and decor that have Baguio City written all over it – the wooden chairs and tables, the bamboo adornments, etc. I was surprised that they offer international dishes, instead. Still, we went ahead and tried their “specialties”.

It has always been an exciting experience to dine out and ask for the place’s best sellers. I have always been tagged as makulit when it comes to asking such. I would usually get away by saying, I’m just trying to get my money’s worth.

Remembering Mami Chus Chicken Cordon Bleu, I decided to give it a try. Chicken Cordon Bleu - which is a big roll of breaded and fried chicken breast filled with ham and cheese and smothered with creamy sauce. Chris picked their Hunter’s Chicken, which is chicken breast with some kind of tomato sauce with mushrooms and onions.

After our orders were served, the sound of utensils touching our plates, glasses being filled with water were the ones left to my hearing. Both dishes were great! The Cordon Bleu, can feed two people. I love the breading that they used – perfectly fried, not burnt. The smooth cheese sauce had just the right amount of salt and the dried basil cut the creaminess of the sauce and gave the whole dish a good sprinkle of spice. The sauce of the Hunter’s Chicken did it for the dish. With that hint of red wine [if I’m not mistaken], the sweetness of the onion, and the big mushroom buttons, just the sauce itself and the rice can be a complete meal for me.

Pictures below show us with Carla [our Baguio based friend] and her friend chismissed as her partner [hahaha].

I would definitely recommend this for you and your family or friends. The food here is inexpensive and delicious. A really great discovery for me, my then-bf, and our tummies!

I want Chinese food. I’m just in the area, can you join me for a quick bite? Mwah! *H_Hon_Sungit - via SMS

That made me jump to my feet. Finding authentic Chinese cuisine in Manila is not necessarily a dificult task. with the fairly large population of Chinese Filipinos in the country, there are many places to go for food that is comfortably familiar. I remembered Jc, Kiko, Ralf, Jay, Agatha and I having a great time at Mr. Choi. I then suggested the same. It’s an updated looking Chinese restaurant. The clean lines, paneled walls, and warm yellow lighting set the ambiance. The place uses black and red for the interiors. Service is brisk. Food always prepared upon ordering.

The cliche restaurant name aside, this is a good place to go to for a casual dinner.

On the Table

• Chips with sesame seed and seaweed [priceless- nice pica pica to nibble on while waiting for the things you ordered].
• Though the tables were a bit small, the setting was neat and tidy.
• We ordered our regulars when eating out at Chinese restaurants… the Yang Chow fried rice, steamed fish, the fried chicken, the crispy squid, and of course, the house pancit!
• We tried some interesting items on the menu like their spinach soup and their mushrooms with tofu.
• The ambiance and the service were good. The price was even better. As for the food, it wasn’t bad. But we had better gustatory experiences elsewhere.

I personally enjoyed their eggplant with ground pork and palm sauce. Soft peeled eggplant… ground pork nicely marinated… flavored by the sauce made from palm sugar… with the right amount of heat. Now I’m missing OJ’s restaurant at Libis. Sigh. I miss Mami Cez, Dian, Joanne, Denden, Gen, Inay G, Mikee, Len, Bernie, and all my friends from WSI.

All the dishes are meant for sharing.. good for 3 to 4 persons. Good thing he invited 3 of his girl friends to comeover so we didn’t have to be burdened by eating them all. What I like about this place is that service is quick. Food is hot. Prices are affordale. This place will always be an option when looking for a place to eat in Robinsons Mall.

“Sa Robinson’s lang ba meron nito? Para siyang imitation ng Gloria Maris ‘no?”, I agreed.

Earlier, Z YM-d me about a post Benjay made. Makaka-relate daw ako. It was about “Love is lovelier the second time around” or “would you still accept your ex if he/she comes back?”

Im in a shaky relationship now and another one would like to get back [haba hair]. The post really hit me straight that I decided to make a response comment.

SERIOUSLY? :
To me, most break ups are for a reason, right? You don’t just break up because it’s cloudy outside one day, and sunny the next? You have a legitimate reason for the break ups.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you can reconcile your differences and get back together, but most of the time you should move on with your life. You had some good times, and now either one or both of you has moved on.

LANDI-LY? :
I’ll give it an FB chance… = )

I was watching a show at my sister’s last month called “The Ex Factor”, and it was all about creating drama in seeing if two exs should get back together. All the while, their current boyfriend or girlfriend is watching the entire thing. This is a show, seriously? While I admit that I had a hard time changing the channel, most of the time it was purely the drama of it all that I enjoyed watching. As many of us do.

If You Really Do Want to Rethink Your Break Up

Here are some things to think about when you are thinking about rekindling an old flame:

• Why did you break up in the first place? [This is the main factor, did he/she cheat on you? did you fight all the time? you didn't communicate well? All of these are good reasons NOT to get back together]
• Do you only want them because you can’t have them?
• Do you think that they are the best person for you?
• What did your friends think of him/her? While your friends don’t have the end all be all opinion, they know you well and have your best interests at heart, so you should probably hear their opinion too.
• Why do you really want to get back together?

Be reasonable when you think about these questions. Let your head catch up with your heart. You will make the right decision for you.

Midnight gettin uptight where are you
You said youd meet me now its quarter to two
I know Im hangin but Im still wantin you

Hey jack its a fact theyre talkin in town
I turn my back and youre messin around
Im not really jealous dont like lookin like a clown

I think of you evry night and day
You took my heart then you took my pride away

I hate myself for loving you
Cant break free from the the things that you do
I wanna walk but I run back to you thats why
I hate myself for loving you

Daylight spent the night without you
But Ive been dreamin bout the lovin you do
I wont be as angry bout the hell you put me through

Hey man bet you can treat me right
You just dont know what you was missin last night
I wanna see your face and say forget it just from spite

I hate myself for loving you
Cant break free from the the things that you do
I wanna walk but I run back to you, thats why
I hate myself for loving you

I hate myself for loving you
Cant break free from the things that you do
I wanna walk but I run back to you thats why
I hate myself for loving you

I think of you evry night and day
You took my heart then you took my pride away

I hate myself for loving you
Cant break free from the the things that you do
I wanna walk but I run back to you thats why
I hate myself for loving you
I hate myself for loving you
I hate myself for loving you

Clap, clap, clap, clap!!! Perfect, juuussstt perfect!

Last night, a friend confided his problems to me. I saw his burden and how hurt he really is. I have lot of my own but I thought it wouldn’t be healthy if we’ll both put ourselves 6 feet under frustrations. They have been a good couple for quite sometime already but seems like the other one doesn’t even know how to accept his mistakes or at least recognize one. I have witnessed it myself so I told him to talk to his guy and tell him how he feels about being always the one to say sorry. I know people who really couldn’t accept mistakes. I don’t know if they had placed themselves in high pedestals that they couldn’t reach it even themselves. I also have one from my department who wouldn’t even let you talk or explain things for clarifications. He would just raise his voice, talk like there’s no tomorrow or just storm out his way. [pangalanan na kung sino 'yang mga 'yan! har har har]

I don’t know what’s wrong with these kind people. One thing I have noticed, they have a problem about self image and being conceited.

“SORRY?” No way! It’s against my reputation. I’ve never said sorry to anyone and never will.”

Do you think like this? or do you apologize for the mistake you have caused? In which category you belong to?

We all make mistakes and No one can get away without making mistakes. Sometimes, we make such mistakes that hurt others and we were unable to revert it. The only thing that is going to make you feel comfortable inside your heart is to make it up with a single word SORRY and you are sooner or later forgiven for your blunder. Love means having to say sorry. There is no big and small person to whom you say sorry.You won’t be humiliated if you say sorry for the mistake made by you… It will make your relationship with anyone long-lasting. Never hesitate to accept your mistake and apologize before the situation gets worst. Feel good, not bad to apologize.

So please, say sorry. You have to.

This entry has been on my draft page for quite sometime already. For some reason I really don’t understand, It remained unpublished. Good thing H asked me out last Sunday. So i’ll just post first the “draft” okay?

I love big action popcorn flicks. You know, movies where you go for two hours to unwind and forget about everything. I really dig good military and Sci Fi. Well, today I was browsing around and found a link to an independent film entitled Mutant Chronicles. When I saw the title, I thought, “Great…another mutant and/or walking dead horror film.” I don’t really love horror films but maybe this one could pass. Well, I visited the link out of curiosity and waited for the train wreck. Oh my. Not what I expected.

This one is a combination of Sci Fi and military! The beginning looks like a WWI film. No really, trench warfare and those little round hats. We later see flying ships and huge steampunk looking guns. So who are the stars? Thomas Jane from the first Punisher film and Hell Boy himself, Ron Pearlman. Of course some of you probably know him by his more famous role from Quest for Fire [yeah, right]. This one has all the makings of one great flick. Not sure when it will be released but will be keeping an eye on it. Use the link below to see the entire glorious trailer. I’m telling you folks, this one looks good. What do you think? Leave us your comments on the trailer and don’t hold back the conjectures!

I don’t know if it was because I was so tired and sleepy but I really just slept the whole time. H was so pissed that he was left alone watching it a I snored to great heavens. So sweet of him that he bought a pirated DVD for me to watch so that I’ll have something to write here. I might try to write a review but I don’t think it I’ll be giving it a passing grade. He didn’t like it though.

Yesterday, as I supermanly [faster than the bullet] make my way to work, I passed by Megamall and unintentionally bumped into a very thin lady. She was so thin and all. I immediately said sorry and helped her be at her feet. She was so nice and said “It’s okay” but I know she wasn’t.

I can’t help but to still feel a little weird seeing someone so thin. I can’t still hold my laughter everytime I remember the incident. It’s bad. I know.

Okay - so I was perusing my google finds, my secret link to all fun pics, quotes, and moving craziness, and I came across this pictures. Scary.

Those of you who know me know that I’m not a small one [pun intended]. In fact, I’m bigger [another FUN intended], though I like to think I carry it well. My weight fluctuates depending on the time of the year, and depending on my depression level. I’ll admit it - I eat when I’m depressed, and unfortunately, when I’m bored. That explains why I’ve been eating a lot these days. It’s not a good thing, but I’m a DARN good pancit canton cook when I want to be, and I won’t deny myself the loveliness that comes from my kitchen.

My issue is that I don’t exercise enough. I actually had this conversation recently. If I could get my lazy arse to the gym, or up at an early enough hour to actually do some cardio damage, I could be in good shape again. I’ve done it before, and actually enjoy it, but I’m not very motivated at this point in my life to get out and do it. I want to, and I know I should, but I haven’t made it a priority. Why is that? All the television shows, magazines, movies and internet advertisements have pictures of hunky, sexy bodied, in-shape men displayed in every way, shape and manner, but yet, I am not doing my best to assimilate.

Am I trying to be anti-establishment? Am I a rebel? Sure. That, and I’m just lazy, darn it. I guess I have to change that. I will keep you updated on my progress. Monday will start a new hell - I will wake up earlier and walk or hit the gym again. I’ll have to let you know how that goes. Ugh.

I have not been able to update because of being sooo busy at work. For this weekend, I’ve been really productive.

I started reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini on Friday night. I felt some “me time” would be a good thing; lately movies have been my thing [27 dresses, that Sarah and John Lloyd thing, Marimar and Serio's, Iron Man], but I’m always bitching about how I haven’t any time to read anymore. So I’m glad I made time to. It definitely isn’t light reading, but the story was compelling and the writing itself was good and I enjoyed it. So much that I couldn’t put it down, finishing around 2:30 Monday morning.

I slept for 8 hours.

I asked Yaya to cook one pound of bacon, both in the oven and in the skillet. Haven’t-never baked bacon before, I must say it was really easy. No mess or spattering fat, plus you can fit a lot of bacon on a cookie sheet. The house still smells fantastic. The skillet bacon will end up in turkey sandwiches this week for lunch. The baked bacon [that just sounds weird, “baked bacon”] was chopped up and was included in two mini-batches of mega tots [that is, mega fries but with tater tots instead of fries] destined for two different BBQ’s on Sunday. Just a taste of pagmama-feeling mayaman as I put it.

I bought another DVD rack. This makes more room on the bookshelf for books. This is a project I’d been meaning to tackle for some number of months, but never got around to. This morning I saw the stack of books at the top of the stairs that had been there collecting dust and said to myself, “that’s it!” An hour later, I had a new shelving unit. Anyone who has lived with me for any duration of time could attest to my affinity towards homemade wooden furniture. It may not be classy, but it’s functional. I like functional.

Despite some thorough preparation, attempts to make-peace-and-love to my H failed. I’m starting to feel numb about the fight again. I hope I can still stand it. I hope I can still be patient.

I finally got the chance to buy Heroes Season 3 and Smallville Season 8 - the complete season. Next will be Lost, Supernaturals, Prison Break, Greys Anatomy, One Tree Hill, QAF and all other series that I haven’t been able to finish. Simply amazing.

I caught up on all of my magazine subscriptions. Still need to get that copy Yes!, FHM, Cosmo, Him, etc. Caught up with Emman, Nates and Rain also during the latter’s birthday.

I napped. A lot.

I attempted a nice afternoon BBQ and got to see progress on a fellow blogger’s home. Also attended a birthday party at Caloocan, dinner wid new friends, coffee at Tagaytay and some nice conversations with AL [yes! his name is Al - a new friend].

I’m so glad that the weather held out.

My good friend’s cute little baby is celebrating his birthday this Sunday. I was tasked [hahaha] to do the tarpaulin and the invitation cards. Here they are!

My good friend’s cute little baby is celebrating his birthday this Sunday. I was tasked [hahaha] to do the tarpaulin and the invitation cards. Here they are!

I have been pondering about life the whole weekend. I went out with friends, attended parties, met new people, finished my DVD marathon, cooked pasta, and enjoyed life to it’s fullest. Many things happened, heart issues took its toll also but nothing answered my “hello? “.

I had taken time to think things over. Many people have been struggling to prove their worth as a person, many chose to exert so much to please the wandering eyes and many chose to waste time proving how they can score. Just earlier, I realized… What if life isn’t all bout it?

Yes, life isn’t about keeping score…

It’s not about how many friends you have. Or how many people called you. Or how accepted or unaccepted you are. Not about if you have plans for the weekend. Or if you’re alone. It isn’t about who you’re dating, who you use to date, how many people you’ve dated, or if you haven’t been with anyone at all. It isn’t about who you have kissed. It’s not about sex. It isn’t about who your family is or how much money they have. Or what kind of car you drive. Or where you’re sent to school.

It’s not about how beautiful or ugly you are. Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on, or what kind of music you listen to. It’s not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, brown, or green. Or if your skin is too light or too dark.

It’s not about what grades you get, how smart you are, how smart everyone else thinks you are, or how smart standardized tests say you are. Or if this teacher likes you, or if this guy/girl likes you. Or what clubs you’re in, or how good you are at “your” sport. It’s not about representing your whole being on a piece of paper and seeing who will “accept the written you”.

But life IS about who you love and who you hurt. It’s about who you make happy or unhappy purposefully. It’s about keeping or betraying trust. It’s about friendship, used as sanctity, or as a weapon. It’s about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening. About starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip. It’s about what judgments you pass and why. And who your judgments are spread to.

It’s about who you’ve ignored with full control and intention. It’s about jealousy, fear, pain, ignorance, and revenge. It’s about carrying inner hate and love, letting it grow and spreading it.

But most of all, it’s about using your life to touch or poison other people’s hearts in such a way that could never have occurred alone.

Only YOU choose the way these hearts are affected and THOSE choices are what life is all about.

File this under “activities that are nothing more than a timesuck”. For a long time I fought getting involved with Facebook. I have seen friends and officemates opening their accounts there. I have been lured activating my Multiply because my officemater prefer to read my blog entries there instead of opening wordpress. I obliged but opening another networking site didn’t really come into my mind. I didn’t see it as offering any particular advantages and figured that I had enough ways to waste time without engaging in a new activity.

And then one day I woke up and discovered that I had not one, but two Facebook accounts. It wasn’t quite as shocking as Gregor Samsa had in Metamorphosis, which is good because who wants to discover that they are a giant cockroach anyway.

On a sidenote I remember this teacher from elementary who used to pronounce it as cock-A-roach. I can still hear that guy spitting it out with the emphasis on the middle. I think that he thought that it was a safe way to try and belittle students. Believe you me, if he called you a cock-A-roach he was none too happy with you. One of these days I have to share the story of the time we filled his classroom with his favorite curse word, but I digress.

I created a Facebook account as a sort of test. I had decided that I wanted to check it out, but I didn’t want to put a lot of effort into it. So I created one using a fake name and took the thing out for a spin.

For a short while it was mildly interesting. I was poked and poked back, threw sheep at people and tried to remember to duck when they threw them at me. And then one day I decided that I just didn’t need it, so I nuked it. Goodbye Facebook.

I didn’t think twice about it until I heard from a few real world friends. They told me about how they had used it to network and to reconnect with some mutual old friends and encouraged me to open up a new Facebook account. That got me thinking about it, but it wasn’t until my sister asked me to that I gave in to the madness again.

So once again I opened up an account only this time I used my real name and was surprised at how many people found me. In a short time I had a ridiculous number of friends. Some of them were people that I really consider friends and some were acquaintances. I kind of wondered if some of them were more interested in collecting vast numbers of friends than if they really wanted to reconnect with me.

But in truth I didn’t care all that much as it didn’t take any more time so what did it matter. And in reality I did find that it was an easy way to get back in touch with some old friends. We are scattered all over the country and the world so it is easier to drop a quick note on their wall or send a message than to call.

Anyway, that is enough for now. Time for shuteye for this grumpy and problematic man. I’ll get up in 3 hours to meet my bf. Night from the Philippines.

I timed-in in the office today at around 8:08 pm since I have to be early and conduct pre-shift meeting with our Account Manager.

Opening Outlook, I noticed that the feedback I am waiting for a particular task hasn’t arrived yet so I had the luxury of opening some websites for me to check - at the least before I start official work by 9:00 pm. Since my blog was the least opened most wanted site for me [and the heck of the irony], I realized how long have I been inactive doing blog posts [im using my own blog-efficiency-meter here]. Indeed, I would agree people would always look for quality than quantity posts in a blog but I think sometimes you have to forget about this and tell what’s happening and what plays on your mind. Comparing the activity that I had with my previous blog, I think I had the luxury of time and it seems like I missed the good old days wherein I have something to say to the world, at least one post a day.

With the recent work environment changes, work load I had for the past days [not that I'm overworked, I don't think merong ganun or maybe they're just acting as if], it has taken a toll against my blogging activity and I hope I can resume blogging regularly - at the least on the personal and art aspect.

Despite having a lot of visitors, whether or not I know these people, I think I owe them something that I can share.

I have been quite stressed for the past weeks. Especially these last few days. Na-debitan ako sa ATM, lot’s of financial obligations to attend to, emotional sommersaults, heart aches and missing my friends. I just hope I’ll be able to write again and post pictures that would of course mean I’m back and on track. Sigh.

This is something really funny. I decided to post happy thoughts now to lighten up my mood.

I joined H yesterday for dinner at Greenbelt. After the “soon to be posted dinner story”, he invited me to see an event at the Romulo Auditorium. From Starbucks RCBC Plaza located at the third floor, we ambled towards the escalators in order to get to the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium on the fourth level. We were happily talking and fooling around and I felt heavens [hahahaha].

As we were approaching, we saw to our dismay that the escalators were not moving.

Known to be the short tempered, I groaned out loud, “Can someone please turn on the escalators?”

As we trudged forward, the escalator suddenly stirred into motion, as if someone had heard my request and had waved a magic wand to grant my wish.

As we reached the top, we noticed that silver poles were by the sides of the other set of escalators. When we looked down, the same set of silver poles were at the mouth of the escalator we had just vacated.

Then we realized that it was indeed magic, courtesy of technology. The silver poles were sensors that turned on the escalators whenever its beams were crossed.

Hahaha. Suddenly it’s magic. I’m in love!

I have so many things I’d like to write about but my mind wouldn’t cooperate. After few clicks on my keyboard my stream of thought goes astray. I don’t know if I’m just being upset of what happened yesterday when my money [separate post on that] just went wherever courtesy of BPI ATM.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just be thankful that the incident made my new H to join me and bear with my whims and whoes.

Strolling through a tiangge style of booths at a mall, I spotted an item that caught my fancy. Asking for the price, I was informed that it was the familiar 3 for 100, i.e., get 3 of the items for the price of Php 100. Then I posed the usual follow up question, “Magkano ‘pag isa [How much is it if I just buy one]?”

Expecting it to be more than Php 33.33, the price per item if one divides 100 by 3, I was taken aback when she said it was Php 30/each. Thinking she just made a mistake, I repeated my question, which garnered the same response.

Seeing my disbelief, she turned to her companion to confirm the Php 30/item price, which her co-worker did.

I attempted to explain, but, sensing their non-comprehension, I gave up.

As we were walking away, H asked me whether I would have bought the item.

I replied, “Well, if I had bought 3, I would have insisted on the Php 30/item price.”

He smiled, held my hand and whispered “I Love You”. Sarap madebit-an ng atm card! [joke lang]

How do people see you? How do they think about you? Do you know how others perceive you? Have you ever wondered? Do you even care? You may have heard this proverb somewhere along your career path:

They’ll never care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Trite? Maybe. But there’s probably a nugget of truth there. In fact, I’ve learned recently that often the things that seem to bug me the most usually carry with them a lesson I need to learn.

We are measured …
Not by what we are, but by the perception of what we seem to be;
Not by what we do, but by how we appear to do it.

It really doesn’t matter what I think as it relates to my behavior in the world. If I’m a nice, caring person in my own mind but occur in the world as a pushy blowhard, that’s what I am. Others’ perception is their reality, and unless I’m willing to take a look at that through eyes other than my own, I’m destined to remain forever locked in that perception.

It’s as easy [and as difficult] as having a conversation. But I’ve got to be willing to hear - really hear - what the other person says.

Try it - I guarantee it will make all the difference in the world.

I was having lunch with another blogging friend Antonio earlier and was reminded how important it is to pause… to breathe… and to be mindful.

I’m reminded of a song by Freestyle. I may not exactly mean the exact meaning of the lyrics [or I'll be stoned to death] but just the main thought of it. Let’s take it slow. Can we?

This is a great song that just happened to come on the taxi’s radio when we stopped at a red light on my way to work.

SO SLOW

I’ve been with you boy
Three years is quite a while
But getting too sensual
Is really not my style
You know I love you
And i like it just like this
Sometimes I feel like giving you
More than just a kiss

Refrain:
But baby it’s wrong
Baby it’s not my kind of game
If I give it to you now
Our love will never be the same
It won’t be long
We gotta play our love just right
I know you know the time will come
But baby for tonite…

Chorus:
Lets take it slow
[So slow]
Anywhere you wanna go
Baby for you
I’ll lay it all on the line
You ought to know
[Ought to know]
Boy I ain’t got nowhere to go
I’ll give it to you
Only to you
We gotta take it real slow…

When we get together
You know I feel the fire
It burns up inside me
Oh, that natural desire
I know that you feel it too
I know you wanna flow
Keep dreamin about it
And the fire starts to grow

[Refrain]

[Chorus]

I know tomorrow
It would still you and me
I’m saving it all for you especially
Trust in me baby
When I say this to you:
If we wait a little longer
Our love will be forever true

[Chorus] 2x

I love to sing this song while sitting on a red light. I know, I should have slowed down. How about you?

I have been so pessimistic about love from time I can’t already remember. I have always been cautious and distant. I always tell myself - “I’ve already been there and done that..” so being fooled once again is a big NO NO.

I thought I already learned all the love lessons I could get. I thought I already knew the right signals. The dangers and the selling points. I thought I knew…

I’ve been involved and lured once more but the good thing is that I’m taking them positively now. I don’t feel bitter anymore, I can just easily smile and say - “Well, there’s another lesson learned”.

Wow, it’s amazing how readily those pesky life lessons can appear - and how prevalent they are when we have something to learn! The funny thing about lessons is that they are so personalized! Served up on a silver platter, tied up with a beautiful bow, and complete with a gift card with my name on them! It’s like being knocked and called - “Special delivery for Al Michael!” - the way Starbucks baristas call your name when your coffee is ready. “Grande cappu-lessons for Al Michael!” Hmmm… I love that.

Did you ever wonder why the exact same situation can totally tick one person off while another person in the same environment doesn’t even notice? That’s the fancy gift-wrapped lesson with the personalized card on it. I’m learning that the situations that bug me the most are the ones with the most important, and often the most pressing, lessons for me to learn.

I’m finding some situations are appearing in more than one package for me recently. They might not look exactly the same on the outside [one's got a gold bow and one's got a red bow, for example], but the lesson inside is exactly the same. Until I figure out why these gifts are still being presented to me, I’ll be destined to keep unwrapping the packages - hoping to find new gifts inside, but finding the exact same thing in the box. It’s not enough for me to say to myself “I’ve already got one of these” … I’ve got to really ACCEPT the gift for what it is - a lesson for my entire life. When I get that I have a choice to really accept the gift as a GIFT, not a reprimand, an “I told you so” or a form of punishment - I can get beyond this gift and beyond the situation that presented me with the gift, and on to other opportunities to learn and apply.

It’s not enough to just understand this insight… I now need to actually DO something with it. The true test will be whether I’m presented with this gift yet again. I’m banking on getting something brand new next time!

Another boyfriend for Al Michael!

And yeah, here’s what I did when I thought okay talaga kami. Sad ‘no?

Visiting Baguio has always been fun. There was even a time that I decided to just stay and work there. So like what I said from my previous post, I went to Baguio last month for my much-needed break. Days before leaving Manila, I made sure I won’t miss the most happening restaurants up there. People would always catch me browsing ClickTheCity.

Jc, Kiko and I - we all love eating. We usually have our weekends saved for movies and a lot of binge-ing. I used to restaurant-hop back in college. I remember going to one place over lunch and just jump from one resto to another. Different place for appetizer, main course, dessert, and drinks. I can spend that much for food and not feel guilty about it.

I frequented Baguio when I started working because I thought it’s the most convenient place to go to if anyone wants to feel being in a totally different place. But I’m done with fancy places and I’m sick of tourist spots. I wanted to experience the city’s modern culture, something different and authentic of Baguio.

If you think you’ve had enough of Session Road with its dense cluster of “traditional” culinary musts - Swiss Baker, Star Cafe, Cafe Luisa, 456 Restaurant - think again. You may have to crane your heads a little higher, way above the first floor establishments along Session Rd, and check out what’s cooking in the upper reaches of the Session buildings. Vegetarianism has found a strong foodie foothold in one of the rooftops along Session, and even if you are a meatlover, you’re bound to visit and revisit this foothold not only for the food, which is good [fresh vegetables in Baguio make this possible], but because its such a fantastic looking place. It’s called Oh My Gulay!, and if I were a brief and concise person, my review should consist only of an “!”.

From the minute you walk through the cave-like entryway into OMG!, the first words that would come to mind would actually be its name.”Oh my Gulay!” literally translates into the silly phrase, “Oh my vegetables!” But this exclamation is really the Filipino version for the expression “omigosh.” Makes no sense? I didn’t think so, either. But the restaurant is living up to its name and more, and here’s why…I was born and raised a carnivore. Veggies never had much appeal for me and vice versa. But this cafe/bistro on the top floor of an ancient building along Session Road had too much intrigue for me to ignore. So, as is customary in the highlands [you have to huff and puff in order to get anywhere], this particular climb to the fifth floor can really work up anyone’s appetite. And so there I was at the entrance, panting and parched and starved, and what lay before me was a vision. This wasn’t just a restaurant; it was a village on top of a building, secluded from the rest of the city four floors below.

This place would remind you of a scene in a Peter Pan flick. There’s a tiny bridge you’d have to cross to get to the numerous seating areas. Further from the bridge and up a few steps is a semi-open space that overlooks this storybook spread. Practically everything here has an ethnic touch to it, making it much more extraordinary than any other public place I’ve visited in Baguio. The place even has a mini-water mill that actually turns! And if you think that’s unique, wait till you visit the john — it’s inside the village chapel. Haha! The entire area can seat 50 people easily. I went there on a weekday, but as I was informed, they also have a live band that plays during weekends, which justifies the stage you can see to your right the moment you enter this Peter Pan world.

Still don’t wanna believe? Play the video below courtesy of Jc’s cinematic mind.

I miss our Galera group so I thought of doing this. This wallpaper is now gracing my cellphone. Nice no?

I was blog browsing earlier when I saw Rain’s post. I haven’t confirmed it yet to her but the entry seemed to have been pertaining to a break up and getting over the heart aches. I know how painful it is and how hard it is to get over no matter how we deny it.

If a person has an experience that is physically, mentally or emotionally traumatic, the mind deals with the situation in one of several different ways. Some people abuse alcohol, food, drugs or other substances to numb the feelings they have inside. Others mourn for a short period of time, restore their faith, balance and sanity, and somehow miraculously move on. But the rest of us left over, usually those who are very analytical and logical, have trouble processing deeply troubling situations. So, we replay the painful situation over and over again in our minds, searching for an answer. But the problem is, the answer cannot be found in the rational mind, because the problem is on an emotional plain. Therefore, the solution has to come from the heart, which needs to be healed and restored. Here is the step by step process I have adapted to end obsessive thinking about an Ex:

Step 1:

Don’t take anything your Ex ever said or did personally, because nothing your Ex ever said or did was about you. Even if your Ex downright blames you for everything that went wrong in your relationship, realize their statement is only coming from who they are, which has absolutely nothing to do with the person you are.

Step 2:

However, not taking your Ex personally is a two sided coin. If during the heat of an argument you react and tell your Ex what an idiot THEY are, and how everything is THEIR fault, then it has nothing to do with them. Your statements only reflect the kind of person you are, which is a person who likes to blame and judge. This has nothing to do with your Ex. Therefore, consciously make an effort to be the person you are, regardless of how your Ex is behaving. Make a list of all the qualities you admire in others, for example: kindness, confidence, compassion, and respect. Chances are you already possess the qualities within yourself. Be very careful not to make statements that don’t reflect who you are, even when you may be tempted to give into the hurt and anger you feel.

Step 3

Release your judgments and opinions by becoming friends with Death. As morbid as this sounds, realize that in 100 years, you and your Ex will likely be dead, and nothing you ever fought about will be remembered. If your Ex has the obsessive need to be right and argue with you about everything, give in to their whim and say, “You are absolutely right.” Not only will this reinforce your relationship with Death and save you a tremendous amount of personal power, your Ex will find it impossible to argue with you because you are giving the non-verbal message that it really doesn’t matter. As one my favorite authors Wayne Dyer once said, “Have you ever noticed how hard it is to argue with someone who isn’t obsessed with being right?”

Step 4:

If the hurt and anger is overwhelming, distance yourself from your Ex completely. And no matter what, get on your knees and pray for your Ex every morning. Pray that your Ex will be granted all of the health, wealth and happiness you wish for yourself. Even if you are not a religious person, or you don’t believe in God, the act itself is liberating.

In twelve step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, they are taught to pray for people they have a deep resentment towards. At first, you will not mean a word of the prayer. But if you say the prayer consistently for two weeks, you will come to genuinely mean it, and find that there is a part of you that realizes your Ex is just a human being, with their own imperfections, weaknesses and short comings. If you go deeper, you will realize your Ex may also be a very hurt and scared person - even if they outwardly seem very hostile, aggressive and manipulative. Of course, no matter what happened to your Ex in their childhood or even in their day to day life - it does not give them a reason to mistreat you. But by being aware of the fact that your Ex has a certain set of issues to deal with on their own time, it will help you replace the hurt and anger you feel with compassion and understanding.

Step 5:

Own your personal power. Because when you are who you are, regardless of the situation or circumstance that comes your way, then this transforms you into a very powerful person. This is the step that absolutely baffles your Ex, because by you being who you are, and not letting them get you down - it sends your Ex the non-verbal message that you are who you are and they are who they are. But most importantly, it tells your Ex that you are not going to take any of their crap! When you respond to your Ex’s hostility with kindness, and your Ex’s blame with compassion, it frustrates them to no end, because your Ex cannot get you to play their game.

Step 6:

Come to understand that you are doing all of this work for no other reason than to realize who you are, restore your sense of balance, and reclaim your personal power. If you do all of this work in order to manipulate your Ex, and make them want you back, your Ex will subconsciously sense your intentions, because at one point or another, you will slip and let your intentions be known without realizing it. When this happens, you will give all of your power back to your Ex, and will have to start all over again with Step 1.

Step 6 is often tricky, because if you master each step up to this point, your Ex may very well want to reconcile. At the very least, your Ex will begin responding to the kindness you send their way in a positive fashion. But regardless if you want to get back together with your Ex, just be friends, or just get over the obsessive thinking - remember your sole purpose is to realize who you are, restore your sense of balance, and reclaim your personal power. If you do all of this work just to manipulate your Ex into responding the way you want them to, it may work for a very short period of time. But I guarantee your Ex will pick up on the fact that your intentions are not genuine, and you will lose your personal power. Not only that, but when you genuinely become who you are, you attract the right kind of people to your life. And maybe your Ex is not the person you are meant to be with! And the only way you will know if you are meant to be with your Ex or anyone else is if you are genuinely who you are.

Step 7:

Forgive your Ex, no matter what they did or didn’t do. Unfortunately, it may not be enough at this point to say, “I forgive my ex.” And leave it at that. Forgiveness has little to do with words, and more to do with action. Before proceeding with this step, I recommend reading up on the topic of forgiveness, and reading heroic stories about the power of forgiveness. I once read a story about a woman whose daughter was brutally raped and murdered by a man that was eventually caught and sent to prison. As anyone can imagine, the woman spent years of her life in rage and obsession over what this man had done to her daughter. I am sure there are no words to express how much pain this woman was feeling. However, she somehow stumbled on a book entitled, The Course of Miracles and began reading about what the power of forgiveness could do for her. She started to pray for the man, and eventually sent him a letter, letting him know she had forgiven him for the actions he took against her daughter, even though she didn’t condone his behavior. To make a long story short, the man wrote the woman back and apologized profusely. The woman felt compelled to see this young man in prison, and she held him as he cried during their first visit. To make a long story short, they became friends, and she became his number one advocate in attempts to release him from prison.

There are not a lot of people walking on the planet as courageous as this woman, but it is an extreme example of what is possible within each one of us. I thought about this woman before I reached out to my Ex with forgiveness in my heart. I sent a gift to my Ex and the woman my Ex left me for, which seemed to pale in comparison to this woman’s story. Of course, it took me a little over a year to reach that point, and a lot of soul searching. To this day, I love my Ex with all of my heart on a platonic level. We live in two totally different cities, but still call and send each other emails on occasion as good friends.

I am also in a healthy relationship with someone I am deeply in love with. Next week will be our two year anniversary. I do not think I would be as happy and as deeply in love with this new person as I am now, had I not let go of the anger, bitterness, and resentment I once felt towards my Ex, which is another reason why forgiveness is so important.

A lot of people believe turning off your feelings for a person you once were in a romantic relationship with, or even hating them is a way to show that they are “over” the person. But I believe the exact opposite is true. When you are completely “over” a person, you really wish them nothing but the best - and you are totally detached emotionally from how they act or react. Another point to consider is the fact that love isn’t real unless you loved your Ex for the person they are, not the person you wanted them to be. And just because the romantic relationship didn’t work out, doesn’t mean your Ex isn’t a lovable person.

So get over him Sweety.

Jc, Kiko and I just got back from a much needed Baguio vacation and see what’s next?

I love my life!

Sometimes you need a weekend away from the world. Away from work. Away from side work. Away from your normal locale. This weekend we headed up to Baguio City to relax. After a good bit of rain and some light hydroplaning along the way, we arrived unscathed. There’s something about chips, Country Style sandwich, iced tea, tamarind candy, hotdogs, chicharon and good friends that’s really comforting on long drives like this.

Thank you pinkrosebud.

I was trying to write something earlier about how and why this blog has been so quiet the past few days. Aside of course from the fact that I dedicated Saturday for my Manager’s birthday, I went on a vacation leave with friends. Yes, I visited Baguio once again and this time with my good friends Kiko and Jc. I wish I could tell you how wonderful it was but my mind isnt working that good now. I then decide to just check all the updates I missed, and good thing I did! good thing I really did. Thanks Ash.

Here’s an excerpt of concert review by Dan Aquilante of the NY Post.

After all the success in career, the beauty, the heart, the soul that Ms. Dion has, the critics are still brutal on her. I’m one of the millions though that feels Ms. Dion’s performances as heartfelt and as soulful as it can get. At least the reviewer is positive on Charice’s performance with Ms. Dion. Excerpt below:

“One of the most interesting turns in this show was the MSG debut of 16-year-old vocal prodigy Charice Pempengco, whose manager, Oprah Winfrey - that’s right - secured the Philippine singer a duet with Celine for the song “Because You Loved Me.” The Charice segment was the night’s brightest moment. The teen was able to blast notes with Celine-like power, but she was also able to get in touch with the song’s emotions.”

Kinilabutan talaga ako.

There are various meanings to the word BOSS - one of them is AN IDIOT!

But MY BOSS - YOU proved to be nothing close to the meaning of that word and having you as my BOSS - the only other meanings which I can associate you with the word BOSS is :

FRIEND, MENTOR, GUIDE, ASSOCIATE, COLLEAGUE, LEADER, MOTIVATOR, INSPIRATION, CREATIVE, TASK MASTER, ACHIEVER, SUCCESS and MORE!!

It’s nice to work for someone who knows the secret to being a good manager… being a good person.

Happy BIRTHDAY!! Dont BLAST but HAVE A BLAST! Haler?!

You might be wondering where I am right now, I’m at Figaro ShangriLa. I’m just waiting for my friend to finish her order, infront of me is a wall picture of gorgeous male models wearing nothing but their soul and black smoke which deprives me of what I really want to see. I also have a full view of my least-favorite species in the animal kingdom: Homo sapiens sapiens.

I think I’m the only one of my sex genre with zero fashion sense: I’m just a jeans-shirt-jacket-cap fellow. The only way I know how to “spice up” my usual non-fashionable self is when I’m wearing my regular plaid shorts, statement tee, flip flops and aviator shades which are annoying nowadays because everybody seems to be wearing plaid shorts. I don’t know how it all started and what started the craze. I used to be the only one wearing plaid shorts before. Whenever I go out, it will always be in my trusted plaid or checkered shorts. But now? Lahat nalang! However, my jologs fashion sense had me developing a rather keen eye for the fashion sense of other people.

Consider call center girls or party girls who wear ultra-short miniskirts and shorts even if they have ensaymada dough for legs.
And then there’s the fashion sense of fathers everywhere: the collared, short-sleeved polo shirt. Nothing speaks more of corporate fatherhood than wearing a Lacoste polo shirt, jeans, and leather loafers. I think the inventor of the Daddy-Do should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for changing the way we look at fatherhood in general.

Or that annoying trend of today, Abner Mercado’s abel Iloco scarf. I don’t know what’s up with that, and I certainly don’t know what’s up with emo kids wearing it with their skinny jeans and Paramore t-shirts. Then they take pictures of themselves at comfort rooms at Gateway… I just hope they don’t go to Recto.

Which might beg the question… who the f**k do you think you are? Okay, I am AL and I’m just saying what my observations are. This is my blog. The same way you have your mind. Just that you can’t write yours. See? So stop reading this if you’ll take it against me or better yet, check the concept of blogging.

Stay happy.

The usual weekend craving got the best of my original plan to start dieting. Not wanting to go more into specifics on how we [the weekend group] agreed to go out, let me just say that “So, nag-Glorietta nga kami”. After checking out some shops and visiting Kiko’s optometrist for his black contact lenses, we started our usual practice of cruising for a restaurant and soon decided to check on Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. We were really craving for pasta but Kiko didn’t like the place. We were already seated with the menus and the utensils in front of us so we were really having second thoughts and at the same time thinking of a good excuse to leave but we made it. I can’t remeber how we did it. We then soon settled at Dampa Macapagal.

Earlier, Z texted that he’s craving for Italian Pasta. He said that he’s just strolling around Greenbelt and so invited me to join him. Since I can’t go back to sleep anymore, I obliged. Red and green colors of a nearby dining place caught our eye and we stopped to read the menu. It was impressive at first glance. The name of the place is A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. I then remembered that it was the same restaurant last Sunday. Having such a name makes me think authentic italian and italian always makes my mouth water. We entered excitedly and hungrily.

It wasn’t really a beautiful place and I mean the interior. It appeared to want to look more high end but ended up short. The sign at the entrance said “Please wait to be seated”, but no one greeted you at the door so Z just charged in and picked the nearest table there was.

We were given thick laminated menus that were neither chic nor cheap. The selection though was interesting. There were several choices for appetizers, salads, pasta and pizza. Everything sounded delicious even though the pictures on the menu were far from enticing. It may have been to z though, because he ordered enough for 6 people [we were only 2].

We chose the A Veneto Family Platter, the Baked Zitti with 3 Hungarian Sausages, and two sliced of pizza - Bacon Cheeseburger and New England’s Best.

A Veneto Family Platter - This barkada appetizer included french fries, onion rings, breaded crabsticks and chicken wings. It came with catsup and sour cream for dipping. The first piece I tried was one of the onion rings. It came big, round and floured. Someone though forgot to put in seasoning and the whole thing just tasted like fried flour. The sour cream did wonders so it was bearable enough for me to wolf down a couple. The crabsticks tasted… well weird and soggy so I stopped at one piece. The fries tasted like the frozen one I buy at the grocery for my kids or those that are cooked by Potato Corner using a turbo broiler. The saving grace of this dish is the chicken. It was fried crisp and salty and doused with chili sauce. Yummy.

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza - Large, thin and oh so bacon-ly. It might have been my love for anything bacon but this pizza tickled my fancy. I am embarrassed to say I finished every last bite. It was thin. It was sweet. It was salty. It was soo yummy.

Baked Zitti with 3 Hungarian Sausages - The dish came very hot and oozing with cheese. That was about it. You could have eaten 3 spoonfuls and not notice anything. It was that forgettable and disappointing. Z kept nibbling trying to find some sort of flavor. I told him “hayaan mo na”. I advised him to eat some sausage with the pasta and it worked. He said it indeed tasted better. I still beg to differ. The sausages added flavor to the dish, but it could not hide the fact that it lacked taste and quality.

I no longer tried the New England’s Best pizza. I thought if that was New England’s Best, I do not want to imagine their worst. The pizza looked like a bigger version of a Greenwich pizza, only bigger. Tsk tsk.

You may think I am being too harsh and I do not mean to be. But naming your place A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante, one would expect some sort of authenticity in your establishment. There was nothing authentic about the place. It was all store bought and assembled. From the sauce which tasted like canned tomato paste cooked and seasoned, to the canned mushrooms spread on top of the pizza, to the fries, and even the black pepper. We saw the servers earlier spooning black pepper into McCormick containers from a big pail of black pepper [not sure if it was generic or just tons of McCormick black pepper in a pail].

Ok I will say one good thing about the place. You get what you pay for. The dishes are served and priced enough for sharing. To me, it was more a like a casual place where you took your friends if you want to and save money. The place feeds hungry diners and that’s about it. If you wanted to eat pasta or pizza and enjoy it, why not just go to TOSH. Its got a simple name but delicious food at least.

I was not really a bad experience in all. I don’t think there’ll be bad experience with him. Chot!

I have here the new addition to my wish list. Nice no? I want the white one and the green too.

http://kathydaylightful.multiply.com/photos/album/86/Ion_Sports_Watch_and_Bracelet - Here’s where you can get them.

Soon as I posted my last entry, my boss asked me “ako ba ito?” which I replied “nyek!”, she insisted by asking “ako nga?”, I immediately replied “hinde! di ka naman nakipagharutan dtio. Haler?!”.

I maintain a good relationship with my boss. I can approach her and talk to her with my face held up high because I know I didn’t say anything negative against here. Not that I’m trying to be sipsip but I really don’t find anything bad about her. I understand that we can’t avoid negative impressions and I admire her on how she handles such.

I have been called and referred to by many names. People have viewed me as someone who feeds the boss all the information because we’re friends.

You know what the funny thing there is?

Of all people, I’m the one who can’t just open those things to her.

I’m just thankful that despite all the issues and problems on my job I’m still enjoying it. Sometimes the thin line that makes the difference between a nightmare job and a dream job is a good relationship with your boss. I’ve had one too many friends who complain about their jobs. All of them acknowledge, though, that their jobs will be a whole lot more fun if their bosses didn’t have that “I am God and you’re just a mere maggot” aura.

The most important policy is respect. Under any circumstance - in success or failure, you should always show some form of respect to your boss. Sure, it’s pretty tough to do if the bastard’s like Dilbert’s Pointy-Haired Boss. Of course it’s more ideal if you become friends with your boss, but even though you joke around with each other, always maintain that level of respect so that you never do anything below the belt.

Cope with your boss’ leadership style. It might not work for you at first, but s/he’s the boss so you’ll just have to make it work. You can either adjust or resign. One of the best values of professionalism is being able to cope with different leadership styles. In the long run of your career, you will come across different leadership styles. And the best that you can do is to make yourself efficient under any leadership style.

Know when to assert and when to back off. Your boss needs your ideas, your efforts, and your full cooperation in every project. When it comes to brainstorming, planning, and execution, be at your best and give all you’ve got to contribute to the success of every project. Equally important is to know when to back off. Your boss needs space when s/he comes to office in a bad mood or when s/he seems overly stressed. Be observant and sensitive. Just wait for the tempest to ebb a little before you give him more things to stress over.

There’s nothing really wrong to be friends with your boss especially if you can both keep things isolated. You take professional matters as they are and so do you with personal matters. One advantage of being friends on the professional side of things is that, it totally creates a better line of clear and honest communication. You probably wouldn’t get that I’m-about-to-wet-my-pants feeling when the boss asks for you.

So there it is. Make her/him your friend. Maybe then you’ll realize BOSS ko nga siya.

It has been raining hard since yesterday. Many of my officemates called in for their SLs [Sick Leaves]. I wasn’t feeling good also but of course I’m not the type who would just give in and succumb to the heavy feeling.

I’ll wait out headaches and deal with muscle ache and a host of other ailments. I head to the doctor once in a while if some problem doesn’t really feel right after a while. I don’t usually medicate unless I’m a complete mess and can’t function, such as the other day when my nose just would not stop running.

After the minor hassle obtaining medication yesterday, the only thing I can say about Advil Multi-Symptom Cold is that it works. Oh man does it work.

I always have a back up of anti spasm, Tylenol, and paracetamol at home but the geniuses at Wyeth have shoved an antihistamine, ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine in the same pill. How good is that? I took two over an eight hour period yesterday. An hour after taking the first one my nose just stopped running without clogging up my sinuses. I slept through the day soon as I got home around 10am without waking up needing a tissue. I felt good when my timer alarmed but took another one just to be on the safe side before heading to work. I shoved an extra in my pocket in case I needed it, but didn’t. I was skeptical because 10 of them cost the same as 20-30 of the regular Advil Cold & Sinus. Good thing it really did the works, damn if they didn’t.

I’m full of life today. Energetic and happy. I feel like my body stored up all of the energy that I didn’t have yesterday somehow, then released it today. Very groovy indeed.

So for those who need it or to those who acts as if they need medication [hahahaha] try mo ang Advil. Thanks Advil.

I have been thinking of starting to diet again. For these past few months I have been eating all I want. As you may have noticed from the pictures posted from my previous entries and the most recent ones, I have gone literally big from -this- to =THIS=.

A large number of people often eat relatively healthy during the week, however, when the weekend comes they seems to let their hair down a little too much and negate all the hard work they did through the week.

I still remember the last time when we were eating at French Baker, Jay told us -

“You should try to work on prioritizing Quality over Quantity”

or something of that sort.

It is an easy thing to do, if you go out with your friends, have a few beers or wines and the next thing you are snacking down on potato chips, lollies or you find yourself in the queue for McDonalds.

The weekends for many are seen as time off, time off from work yes, from being healthy NO! before you go out with your friends make sure you eat a healthy meal at home, or at least some healthy snacks, this will help curb your hunger cravings as the night progresses.

You also need to ensure that your house isn’t filled up with unhealthy foods. Because your home more often on the weekends, if the junk food is there, then there is a greater chance that you will eat it. So ensure you get your fridge and pantry stocked up for the weekends, and ensure you keep to your healthy ways even if others around you are not.

Yes! I’m trying to make sense here. I want this blog to at least be of use for my readers… so nevermind what we look like, just try to get what I’m trying to say. I may not be the perfect example to live a good life but at least my thoughts and my words can be used to attain that. I’m trying to do the same.

On the other hand [hahahahaha] here are our pictures from last weekend’s food binge-ing. I told you I’m just trying to make sense.

Another visit to Dampa, Macapagal [1st time for Ralf though]

Having fun at Glorietta and a visit to MAC

Coffee after a full meal

Wanna know what these guys are really checking?

I have been playing Christmas songs soon as the BER months started. Some find it weird and some, especially Mhel feels the same way as I - excited. I don’t know how you guys feel about the Christmas Season but it’s an uplifting feeling for me to know that Christmas is just around the corner. You will usually see me head banging with house music on my earphone but this time, it’s all about

Away In A Manger, Jose Mari Chan’s, Coca Cola Christmas Theme [Yes! the one you get to see every year on their TV commercial], Deck The Halls, Feliz Navidad, Himig Ng Pasko, Let It Snow, Little Drummer Boy, Chestnut Roasting In An Open Fire, O Come All Ye Faithful, Pasko Na Sinta Ko, Sa Araw Ng Pasko, etc…

Maybe alot have just renewed their membership to SMAP [Samahan ng Malalamig ang Pasko]. Every time you hear the song “Pasko Na Sinta Ko” played on the radio, you want to go out and shoot your neighbor’s dog. Okay, so you don’t have a boyfriend this Christmas. What are you going to do, sort of hiring a macho dancer as your boyfriend to present to the relatives for the Christmas Day reunion? Eeeewwww…

Well, first of all, make sure you pay him at least a thousand bucks. Just kidding!

You are not alone in this world. I know a number of people who have husbands, boyfriends, or family who still don’t feel the Christmas spirit at all despite the grand day being just few months away. So I can just imagine what it must feel like when one is all alone with no one to share a special romantic gift over the holidays. I also have spent numerous occasions being alone. It is true that this is the time of the year when suicide rates spike up as people either don’t have money or don’t have loved ones to turn to. If you let the Christmas blues get to you, you will likely feel empty, wretched and miserable. At the end of the day, the only one who would be most affected by your blues is YOU. So why let it happen?

I, for one, have always been thankful that, despite some years when I have to cough up my membership dues to SMAP, I still have my family around me. It will be a bit different this year,maybe because I lost some friends and BFs? [pun intended], but I know we will all pull together to make Christmas still meaningful despite their absence. Having kids around helps as their wide-eyed innocence and belief in some bearded fat man in a red suit bringing them gifts just makes us work harder to make the holidays extra-special. My nephew knows him already and that adds to the joyful pressure.

There is no reason, however, to feel lonely on Christmas just because Prince Charming seems to have lost his way trying to find your house. [Baka na-traffic].

Focusing on other people instead of yourself eases the loneliness. If you become self-absorbed and keep obsessing about your loveless plight this season, you will likely need more than a bottle of Paxil to lift your spirits.

While shopping malls have all but eroded the real meaning of Christmas, try to remember that the season is all about giving love and joy to all, and making peace with others. It is also the time to count your blessings and realize just how lucky you are. You may not have Prince Charming by your side, but you’re healthy, are able to eat three meals a day, have a roof over your head, and good friends [or family] around you.

You have every reason to be happy.

As I was playing/baby sitting to my nephew ealier, I received an SMS saying “kapal naman ng mukha mo to call me panget and bobo, di mo pa naman ako nakikilala, bakla ka rin naman ah!!!” Yes, with three exclamation points.

I decided to just ignore it but he kept on bugging me by his incessant text messages and missed calls. If you know me, you’ll know how I responded. I called him up and started my “talak” - “So how would you like me to call someone who uses somebody elses picture on his profile and still have the nerve to invite me for meet up, face me, talk to me and invite me to come with him as if I wouldn’t recognize the big difference of his claimed picture and the bullshit atop a shoulder stinking infront of me?”. He was speechless after my tirade and later on muttered - “Putangina mo, napaka-pintasero mo!”. Duh!

I admit being pintasero. I’m not afraid to laugh out loud and poke fun at my own gender’s stupidity and complexities, as well as our counterparts’ stupidity and simplicities. No subject is taboo, I claim no expertise, and my writings are merely opinions from the perspective of an opinionated person enjoying what life can at least offer. You’ll get an honest opinion without the filters of youthful insecurity, bitterness or overt political correctness. Basically, I’m happy to tell it like it is. And you must be a friend to hear all these. Trusted friends who wouldn’t take such words against me. Trusted friends who know what jokes are and what they are for.

So if you’re reading this [in case you will still continue reading my blog everyday], I didn’t make pintas on you. Panget ka talaga at bobo. Next time, gamitin mo totoo mong mukha.

And yes, I also write about subjects discussed during girl’s/boy’s night out, but they are well aware of my right to steal any story that exits their mouth regardless of alcohol consumption [names at times will be changed though to protect the not so innocent].