My most awaited VL (Virthday Leave)

I fervently wait for my birthday as early as the first Ber day. Not really because I'm excited to be a year older, nor I have special ways to celebrate it. but because it's the only time of the year when I (feel that I) have all the right not to work. Yeah, since 2005, my birthday meant no work day!

Anyway, I nearly didn't get that tradition this year, when we had to prep up for something really big at work. Good that it was TOO BIG, thus it made me accumulate OT hours, good enough to take that traditional leave. este, offset. hehe. too bad though that I had to go home at 3am. well, it's better than having work the entire day!

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I was about to fall into deep sleep WHEN suddenly I remembered I have gifts to open!!! so I got up again then started opening the gifts I kept under my bed since that McDo birthday! haha! enough of high EQ! It is my birthday, I have all the right to act like a kid again right?! haha! Anyway, thanks ST peeps, I love them!

I woke up at 11 am. It's a bit late so I immediately got up, then started making dark chocolate ice cream (improved version!!!), so it would be frozen by dinner time! Yeah, I skipped the usual solo pigout and shopping, they could wait. I knew I needed more rest. THEN GUESS WHAT. just a few hours after putting the mix in the freezer... ELECTRICITY WENT OFF! BOOOOOO!

my mom's masseuse came, SO I HAD A FULL BODY MASSAGE INSTEAD, zen na zen ang feeling, punong puno ng kandila yung kwarto e. aroma and petals nalang ang kulang. LOL. hahaha! Then I psyched myself that I should no longer worry about my ice cream, it could wait till Saturday. Besides, mama made mango float, and my sister bought cake. hehe.

Paul came for my birthday dinner, with 2 roasted chickens. Mama cooked yummy penne ala something something (Salmon + Bacon + Bechamel sauce. She also didn't know how it's called. haha.) Ate Minnie came with her cake, then Papa as usual, led the birthday prayer. I'm so blessed to have my loved ones around! that, and the fantastic dinner, covered all the hassles brought by the brownout! haha! Btw, we were about to enjoy the candlelit dinner, when the electricity got back! haha!

then that's it, I had to sleep early because of work. the pause is over! I texted a close friend actually, "lahat ng plano ko di natuloy, di ako naka shopping, di ako nakapag pa pedicure. paggawa lang ng ice cream ang natuloy pero nag brownout pa!". haha!

Honestly though, I found the whole thing funny. I felt like I deserve all cancelled plans and unwanted surprises, after getting so much attention from a party I never had in my entire life. hahaha!

I know too that at the end of the day, what really matters is not the celebration, nor the food, nor the greetings, or what. what matters is that I had another birth day -a mark that He has blessed me again with another year full of challenges, laughters, and LOVE. Thank You Lord!
 

Ingat sa Mandurukot!

This morning I saw an actual "snatching", right before my very eyes! I was on the jeepney when the guy infront of me grabbed the bag of a student beside him (victim is a guy, about 17 yrs old). But before the snatcher could get off the jeep, WHICH WAS MOVING FAST BY THE WAY, the student was able to pull back his bag. The snatcher kept on pulling too, but the student never gave in. till finally the snatcher decided to get off and run quickly (at that point, the driver already stopped, maybe figured out what was happening!)

It turns out that the bag was the snatcher's bag! the student just pulled it because he believes that it has his stuff which the snatcher has been stealing the whole ride (hindi pala siya snatcher, mandurukot siya!). The student figured that out perhaps because the side pocket of his bag (a different bag, his real bag this time) had lots of cuts already. smart one! anyway, he scrutinized that snatcher's bag (dunno if he found any of his stuff) then threw it on the face of "guy B" beside him -and who's this guy? the snatcher's friend. yeah, I remember, guy B and the snatcher knew each other! They were talking to each other when I got in! So, as everyone was watching the entire commotion, guy B eventually got off too. I dunno if he was embarrassed or not, but either way he showed no remorse. nor fear. kapal! I wonder how many times they do it everyday?!

There, whew. I'm glad nothing really violent happened. I'm glad too I wasn't the victim, I could have freaked out. OR I would never notice the cuts on my bag till all the bad guys left. Though... on 2nd thought, if it was me, nothing bad could've happened... I learned from experience (I think! though, I believe anyone can be stupid anytime still!): When I was in college my cellphone was stolen, from that same style -I rode a jeep in buendia, then came 2 guys -one sat on my left, then the other on my right. the one on my left kept on moving towards me, but I thought it was because there are too many passengers on our row. Well, admittedly, I was a bit absent minded too that time. The next thing I knew the guys were gone, along with my cellphone. My bag had a tiny cut too -about the size of the phone's width. pro!

Since then, I've been so extra conscious of guys sitting too close (aka nanggigitgit). There was a time actually when I rode a jeepney somewhere in Susana then noticed that 3-4 guy passengers were already there. They seemed to know each other, BUT they let me sit between them. After sitting down for about 3 seconds, I stopped the jeep then transferred to a different one. I just can't trust that setup again.

So there, I just want to share that: it's christmas season once again, pickpockets are everywhere, so please be extra careful with your belongings, whether it's morning or afternoon or night, they choose no specific time during this season! Do not sit between two people if you think they know each other. Especially on jeepneys.

(and what's the relation between christmas and need for money btw? For the family's keso de bola or hamonado? Really, I don't understand why some has to do such grave thing to celebrate Jesus' birthday. HELLO!?)
 

It's never too late for a McDo KIDDIE PARTY!!!

...In fact, Bev and I just had one! Even though 1) The original branch we wanted was under renovation (Greenbelt! we didn't know!) 2) it was impossible to distribute hard copy invitations to old friends within three weeks and 3) McDonald's at that time, can't provide spaghetti because their commissary was flooded by Ondoy! SO... we moved the party to The Fort, then distributed this colorful e-nvitation instead THEN luckily, Mcdo's spaghetti came back days before we had to finalize the menu! yay!!! I'm so happy we pulled it off! Oh yes (look at our invitation!) we chose the Hannah Montana theme! Some got excited, some reacted violently, while some didn't know who hannah montana was! LOL!

Then Nov. 14 came! (adult time ito, 6-8 PM!)
Look, our hannah montana banner, prizes ang loot bags! :)


and our party hats!
(yes even the hats had to be hannah montana haha!)

Our college friends were there (our common college friends), mostly from ST, so it turned out to be a mini reunion too! It was really fun because everyone was into it -they wore hats, ran after kid mcdo for pictures (seriously. haha) AND joined in games even if it just meant getting hannah montana freebies. even the guys. haha!


me and paul with kid mcdo (yes, I still hate mascots.
can you see the space between us??? haha!) *


pyramid game - soooo funny!
I'll upload the video anytime this week!

It could be an "early midlife crisis" thing, or just a "cheaper treat", but whatever you call it, IT WAS FUN! and I can say it's much better than having that typical dinner-inuman in a pinoy resto -where you eat on a so long table then end up talking to just 3-5 people! right?

A lot has been asking btw why kid mcdo was there instead of ronald mcdonald (some asked, who the hell is this new mascot?! haha!) Well, actually we requested for ronald, but the mcdo staff said he's no longer available because he's always being harassed. HAHAHA! I didn't understand that, but okay fine, kid mcdo it is. I'll have anyone EXCEPT GRIMACE, and I'm glad bev's cool with it. haha!

Anyway, I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone who came. Bev and I are so grateful, so amazed that almost everyone who confirmed weeks ago really made it! Thanks too for the gifts, I'll open them on my real birthday :)


college reunion na rin! :) *

Thanks so much Paul and Chase for our yummy Becky's cakes. and for the endless errands: "Paul, pasulat ng names sa party hats!", "Chase, papicture!", at kung ano ano pa. hahaha! You're the best boyfriends! :)


our cakes :) and the magical candles
we had to blow them 5 times! haha! *

Now, if you think having this kind of party in the late 20s is totally NOT cool, you're so wrong! and this party is one proof! Yeah yeah, I'm entering the late 20s in a few days, BUT I'm not bothered at all. I welcomed my age with a fun Adult-kiddie party! I feel so young again! hehe!

See all pics here. Enjoy! :)

* - pics from kai. Thanks so much!!!
 

"Nag blog na me here, basa u ha?"

A friend and I got to talk about trends in text, chat and microblogging, thus I concluded that technology has indeed changed this generation's definition of "sharing" or "responding" or even "cute". How?

EXTRA TRIMMED DOWN TEXT SHORTCUTS. we shortcut a term so we could type fast, but there are just some who cut too much till a word's no longer understandable. Like: aq for AKO, xe for KASI, etc. Those are just the tolerable few. What I can't tolerate is THE FAMOUS YOU AND ME: kain na me! (to shorcut ako), punta na u? (to shortcut ka na). So, do you really have to mix english pronouns with tagalog sentences? I don't like it. and I know a lot who don't like it too. It's not cute, I tell you. while I know some can understand me, I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY SOME PEOPLE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT YET THAT IT IS SERIOUSLY ANNOYING.

TOO SUPERFICIAL (OR TOO MUCH) MICROBLOGGING. people write almost everything about their day through microblogging (twitter, FB wall post, etc) when in fact there are just a few things in your day that's worth sharing. unless you're watching a 24-hour live hostage-drama. You know what I mean? I know someone who posts "Today I had mocha frap. yummm!" in that exact wording and casing. EVERY SINGLE DAY. I also know someone who religiously posts his whereabouts, to the point I know his every furniture at home, the Jollibee branch where he eats breakfast daily, bar he's visiting tonight, and so on. it's totally fine with me, it's none of my business. but just a thought: microblogging shouldn't be a means for you to flaunt every atom of your life nor for you to be stalked right?

UNCUTE CUTE CHAT RESPONSES. H-syndrome is really popular -the adding of letter H after some letters to make words cute: koh, akoh, ditoh. and even bad words. like potah, pohtek, etc. Or the Z-syndrome for lolz, anywayz, etc. There's the sms-trend too in chats, like the famous you and me: "nag email me, nareceive na u?". They're all not cute! Oh, this one is quite famous too (around here at least. and yes I don't find this cute either): When I have a question answerable by yes or no, the response I get is either "uu", or "uu" with the "^^" after, or just "^^" for maybe or no or yes -figuring out entailed. Do you know that letter O is just an inch away from letter U?! haha!

I've been just rolling my eyes, now I'm glad I was able to blog this too. I don't mean to offend anyone okay, I'm just sharing here what annoys me. I'm sure everyone is annoyed of something. or maybe I make annoying remarks too. Anyway, write your own, I'm totally cool with it. Now would you like to add something? please friends, tell me I'm just being normal here!
 

some change - christmas template!

I need some change! So... I'll start with my blog template. haha! (change is good, so from now on I'll change my template every season!)