high school stuff

Last night, a conversation with a friend made me recall a poem that I memorized back in highschool. Funny enough, I remembered every single word that I was able to recite it to him!

Before I get to the poem, do you remember what I.T.A.L.Y., J.A.P.A.N., and C.H.I.N.A. meant? Was there even a C.H.I.N.A. in the first place (cause I totally don't have any idea)? What about the other places and their meanings?

And what about H.H.W.W. and it's longer version of H.H.W.W.P.S.S.P.? Also, does T.C.C.I.C. ring a bell?

Do you think you'll win the lotto if you bet the numbers 5-1-4-3 or 5-2-5-4?

Do you remember the others???

* * *

SEX

Sex is a gamble

Kissing is a game

Boys do all the action

And girls get all the blame

One night of pleasure

Nine months of pain

Four nights in a hospital

And a baby to name

They say you're pretty

They say you're fine

But months later

They say "It's not mine"

So think about it...

Sex is a situation

In this teenage generation

Do you dig this conversation?

Or do you want a demonstration?

* typed from memory... if you have a copy of the original, please don't hesitate to correct me.

visita iglesia

Last Maundy Thursday, some of my relatives and I went together for Visita Iglesia, a yearly event of us going to Churches with blessed sacrament exposition.

This year we aimed for 14 different Churches to go to near our area.

So we did. We first attended the mass with the washing of the feet at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Filinvest, Antipolo Rizal. Much to my scare, I thought the lay man would be washing my feet. The idea of someone else removing my rubber shoes and socks in public isn't really a thrill for me.

Anyhoo, the 14 Churches we went to that night are as follows:

1. St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Filinvest, Antipolo Rizal
2. Church of Jesu, Ateneo, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
3. Holy Sacrifice, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City
4. Holy Family, Kamias, Quezon City
5. Sacrad Heart of Jesus, Kamuning, Quezon City
6. St. Paul the Apostle, Timog, Quezon City
7. Christ the King Seminary, E. Rodriguez, Quezon City
8. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Broadway, Quezon City
9. Carmel of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Gilmore St., Quezon City
10. Sanctuario de San Jose, Greenhills, San Juan
11. Christ the King, Greenmeadows, Quezon City
12. Monasterio de Sta. Clara, Katipunan, Quezon City
13. Holy Family, Provident, Marikina City
14. Our Lady of the Abandoned, San Roque, Marikina City

This is us when we started out (around 3:30pm)...


Some pictures at Church of Gesu (left) and Monasterio de Sta. Clara (right)...



This is us when we went home around 11pm...




*it took me some time to upload the pictures.

a holy week special

Of all the religious songs that are memorable to me, two of them are listed below. Quite frankly, these two are translations of each other. What makes them so unique to other songs is the message that they give.

Take and Receive payer by Saint Ignatius of Loyola Music by Manoling Francisco, SJ	Paghahandog ng Sarili Panalangin ni San Ignacio de Loyola Hmig ni J. Arboleda & M. Francisco, SJ
Take and receive, O Lord, my liberty Take all my will, my mind, my memory All things I hold and all I own are Thine Thine was the gift, to Thee I all resign Do Thou direct and govern all and sway Do what Thou wilt, command, and I obey Only Thy grace, Thy love on me bestow These make me rich, all else will I forego.	Kunin Mo, O Diyos, at tanggapin Mo Ang aking kalayaan, ang aking kalooban Isip at gunita ko, lahat ng hawak ko, Ng loob ko ay aking alay sa 'Yo Nagmula sa 'Yo ang lahat ng ito Muli kong handog sa 'Yo Patnubayan Mo't paghariang lahat Ayon sa kalooban Mo Mag utos Ka, Panginoon ko Dagling tatalima ako Ipagkaloob Mo lang ang pag-ibig Mo At lahat ay tatalikdan ko Tatalikdan ko

The trait that makes the human being so different from other creations boils down to this: Free Will. If you take free will away from a person, then the sense of living is reduce to instincts and going with the flow, and not choices.

I have to admit, these songs are scary for me. Not because I don't trust God to lead my life according to His will, rather that I would willingly give him what essentially makes me, me -- the Cecil that I am. We're not just talking about my favorite things as mentioned in the previous post, but my will, my thoughts, my freedom, my memory, and my choices.

The fear of losing myself is what comes to mind. If my choices were not my own and the path I live is dictated by another person, won't I be living my own life?

I realize I still have a choice even if God would take the lead the direction of my life. I have a choice on how I'd want to perceive and receive the events happening in my life and how I would accept and make the most out of it.

* * *
Santa Clara, Quezon City, Late November 2002.

I recall this one time that I prayed to God that He make the decision for me. It was a relationship that I was praying for -- the first time I did that in my entire life. I wanted to be with this guy and I was praying to God about him and my heart's desire.

My tears started to fall when I realize that the other end of the spectrum would be if God does not grant me what I was asking for. If it was not His will, I only requested that He give me the courage, grace, and strength to accept that it's not meant for me and move on.

God gave me what I had asked for. December 28, 2002.

More than a year later, the ex-boyfriend decided he wanted out.

I cried then, asking God, why He gave me what I asked for, only to take it away?

Kbowing I can't do anything about it, I went back to the prayer that I made in December 2002. That God would give me the courage, grace, and strength to accept that it's not meant for me and move on.

Maybe God made me experience him so that I wouldn't be wondering "what-if" for the rest of my life. So that I would be able to wake up from my childish dreams of ever after with him. Maybe God made him experience me so that he would learn what love is and how to love the girl he loves in his life right now. Maybe God made "us" possible so that we would know we're never meant to be together, but meant for other people.

I realize that my experience made me more knowledgeable about relationships and made me help other people recovering from their own break-ups. I realized that the whole exercise made me wiser, stronger, and hopeful still that there will be somebody out there who would love me more than anyone else in his life. And I him.

some alone time

Updates in blue.

I started my penitence for the holy week a bit early this year. Abstaining from gimiks.

Unintentionally, though.

After all, I had plans on going out to gimik both Saturday and Sunday. But due to Mark cancelling Saturday's gimik (what's new???) and the impromptu lunch and dinner at our house on Sunday, I was a couch-potato over the weekend.

I was literally in bed the whole time, save for anticipated mass last Saturday.

Plus the fact that the monthly visitor dropped by on the wee hours of Monday morning, which made me unable to go to work. Ergo, I stayed in bed a day longer.

I managed to watch two episodes of The Contender, the first episode of Lost, an hour each of CSI: las vegas (season 5), Fear Factor, Oprah Primetime, and Amazing Race 7, two hours of CSI: Miami reruns and Amazing Race 4, various of cartoons from Disney Channel, in between channel flipping through ETC, AXN, Star World, Lifestyle Network, HBO, Star World, Cinemax, and Hallmark. I watched (and re-watched) a couple of movies like Spartacus, Alex and Emma, Intolerable Cruelty, and The Rundown.

It took forever for me to watch HBO's Pay-Per-View's Morales vs. Pacquiao: Coming with Everything. Results were known two hours before it was shown in Solar Sports. Such a disappointing game to think that Manny put on a pretty good fight. He got Erik so wobbly in Round 12 but not woozy enough to knock him out. I felt bad for awhile so I went on flipping channels.

To be honest, I can't wait for The Pacifier (showing March 30) and CSI: New York (premiering on April 5).

Due to my hormonal imbalance at this point of the month, I ended up crying when I saw a replay of Oprah's 2004 Favorite Things. It was in this episode that she gave each one of her teacher guests a laptop, flatscreen tv, mp3 player, dryer, Burberry jacket and scarf, all expense-paid trip to her favorite spa, among other things. I cried because I imagined how it would be like to receive all those gifts and to be recognized for all the efforts you made educating the young people of America. I guess that episode weighed soooo much more than the cars she gave away one time.

I'm no Oprah but I'd love to put up a list of my favorite things right now. However, I don't have a complete list... At the top of my head, I can say:

• Starbucks in the mornings: White Chocolate Mocca, No Whipped Cream, Non-fat Milk and honey glazed donut (heated!).
• Jack's Loft Decadence Cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• McDonalds (Hongkong) and Big Brother's Vanilla Milkshake.
• Always Double Dutch or Coffee Crumble when it comes to ice cream.
• Hershey's Kisses with Almonds for chocolates.
• Capri Menthol for smokes. (Big thanks to Mharlon for reminding me. I can't believe I left that out!)
• I don't wear knickers that aren't Marks and Spencer.
• Despite the dozens of perfume I have, Gucci Rush 2 and Armani White are at the top 2 places.
• Jeans are normally David Bitton and slacks are Giordano.
• Shoes are typically Bass. But the ones I got from China are a close second!
• Day-to-day shirts (indoor) are Giordano, cutie (pastel) shirts and skirts (that make me feel like a teenager) by Just G, while office clothes are Guess, Bossini, Baleno, and U2.
• Esprit and Girbaud for my conventional wallets, belts, and bags.
• Lotions and body oil by Nuetragena, while Ivory is the only acceptable soap and shampoo so that I won't have pimples.
• Books are from Nicholas Sparks to Dan Brown, Mike Gayle to Jane Green, Shell Silverstein to Bill Watterson. So love the book Mr. Commitment by Mike Gayle, Mr. Maybe by Jane Green, and The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. Every (romantic) girl should own a copy of these books. Definitely Calvin and Hobbes for comics.
• TV Shows that I watch consistently in a week (meaning I make it a point to be go home early!) are Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, CSI (las Vegas and Miami), and, now, Lost. Oh yeah, Disney Channel every Saturday morning. However, I try to catch as much TV as I can over the week days.
• Movies that I will always have no matter what: My Bestfriend's Wedding, Matrix Trilogy, Something about Mary, Wedding Singer, Meet Joe Black, and Love Actually (Hugh Grant dancing still racks me up until now!), among dozens of movies
• Songs that I will play forever in my head: Moon River (Andy Williams), Till There Was You and As Time Goes By (Peggy Lea), The Nearness of you (Frank Sinatra), The Way You Look Tonight (Tony Bennett), People are People (D'Sound), Name (Goo Goo Dolls), You're a God and I'm Still Here (Vertical Horizon), Basketcase (Greenday), Back to You and Love Song for No One (John Mayer), Unwell (Matchbox20), Satellite (DMB), Soul to Squeeze (Red Hot Chili Pepper), The Scientist (Coldplay), among hundreds of songs.
• Of course, my phone, O2 XDA ii with 512mb SD Card, despite them coming up with a smaller version with supposedly the same features. Can't leave home without it!

Nothing extra-ordinary. Just a mix that makes me, me.

twice in my life

Last Friday, I had a meeting in U.N. Ave., Manila, with two other officemates. Normally, we have a car that services us to client calls. Worst case scenario, we take a cab. But for this particular meeting, the head of the team announced that we'd be taking the MRT3 and LRT1.

I had mix emotions when I heard that. I'm sure the transfers between trains would induce my sweat glands to be more active and I didn't feel comfortable meeting with clients smelling like the sun and perspiring like ice on a hot day.

However, although I have riden the MRT3 more than I can count, I only rode the LRT1 once in my life -- when I was in second grade. Approximately 18 years ago. I remember that memory all too well because I was robbed of ten pesos while I was riding the train. (Mind you, ten pesos back then was a lot of money.)

Now, that's twice in my entire life.

Like Baguio, I've only been there twice in my entire life. Once when I was barely seven and the second time when I was twenty-three.

Or Putipot in Candelaria, Zambales, twice but succeeding years (2003 and 2004.) We might just be going back there this year.

* * *

In general, I believe in doing things at least once in my life. If I'd be given the chance to experience it more than once, then I know I'm going to enjoy it more the second time around.

Travel is something I'd really want to focus and experience. If I were to be given the chance, I'd want to experience the Philippines before I experience (or settle) in places outside the country. Visit the places at least once -- and if I really enjoy them, I'd come back for more.

My shortlist (in no particular order):

• Puerto Galera
• Boracay
• Palawan
• Cebu
• Sagada
• Pagudpod
• Davao
• Batanes
• Bohol

Maybe I will do some island hopping before I get married or migrate (if and when the family's decision and papers finally work themselves out.)

The thing is, it will not be so enjoyable doing this alone. I'd want to have at least one person to back-pack with me.

Any volunteer? ;)

problematic mornings

Every morning, on weekdays, I wake up with a very big problem.

What am I going to wear to work today???

I know it sounds so pathetic. But I do spend a lot of time thinking what I'm going to wear and trying out three or five clothes every morning.

Every single morning.

If I'm lucky, or if I know I have a date, I know what I'm going to wear the night before. But lately, I haven't been going out much. I'd rather go home, watch cable, than date. Ergo, there's no need to dress up that much.

Weekends are a different thing. Days before an impending gimik, my attire is ready in my mind. From my clothes and shoes to my accessories -- this includes matching underwear!

For the past four mornings, I admit waking up pretty late than usual (normally an hour). But what makes me really late for work (like an hour and a half late!) is chosing what to wear. Sometimes I think having limited choices is easier than having a whole spectrum to choose from! It's normally easier to get dressed with less number of ironed pants, or less number of clothes from a recent shopping binge in Hongkong.

There are days that even though your clothes are pretty, they don't look pretty on you. But there are days they are a hit. There are days that you dress lousy and then you have an impromptu date and you wished you had a change of clothes with you. Worse, there are days when you're dress to kill and there's no one to gimik with.

*Sigh.*

That almost happened last night.

P and I haven't seen each other for the longest time (probably a month or so.) A couple of times he bailed out on me. After much deliberation, we set the date to Wednesday (last night) and I told him if he didn't pick me by 8pm, I'm going home. To be fair with me, he's always two hours late... If I'm lucky, an hour.

Last night, he called me around 7:40pm telling me he's on his way.

WTF?!?! He lives 40minutes away.

I admit I made an issue out of this -- after all, he did bail out a couple of times, and he promised to be on time, coupled with PMS. I got mad at him. I really got mad at him.

I almost didn't let him pick me up. But I had two reasons why I waited for him until 9pm.

1. My pasalubong for him -- a bluish Bossini polo shirt from Hongkong. We kinda had an agreement before that there should be no giving of gifts whatsoever because he doesn't like it. I guess you could say I broke my end of the bargain with that gesture but I did it because I wanted to. He liked it, anyhoo, but made me promise no more... Hmmm, let's see.

and


2. I was dress to kill yesterday. With my white fit top, my 13-inch skirt, and my knee-high boots with pointy tips and stilleto heels. (Of course, I had pants on during working hours -- I only changed to the skirt when he said he was near already!) You can say, he appreciated the attire very much. It was worth the reaction I got from him.

Of course, that was a break from the norm.

This morning, I was back to my problematic self. So I ended up looking like a prisoner -- with my orange striped top and black pants.

Good thing my improptu gimik with Mark and his officemate didn't push through because of the traffic!

(A non-sense post, I know, but I missed blogging. So sue me!)

woohoo!

Woohoo!

My ex is reading my blog. Hi, ex! =)

I received an email from him who-shall-not-be-named telling me that I had great Hongkong pictures... Speaking of HK pics, I apologize for being inconsiderate to put so much pictures in my blog that it takes awhile to load but I am not that sorry to take them out. =P

Told him, it's just that I look (dress) better now than I did when we were dating. Bwahahaha =)

* * *

The other night, I met up with Ara and Gary for dinner. Gary picked me up from work and we were to meet Ara at Yellow Cab. On the way there, I bumped into someone I used to go out with.

Yesterday, he messaged me and asked me if Gary was someone I was dating. Told him we were just friends. He asked if Gary was my type. Told him he's a friend. Obviously he was fishing -- fishing for what exactly??

Later on he tells me I look great, short of saying I didn't years ago. He was wondering if I would be willing to date him once more considering "ur pretty and sexy na rin. as for me, im fat and old" (his words, not mine!)

Woohoo!

I know I'm getting ahead of myself and the complements are going to my head! I can't help it... People need compliments once in awhile.

Whoa-oa-oa!

I feel good (Na na na na)

I knew that I would, now (Na na na na)

So good, so good, I got you

I don't think James Brown would like me adlibing the "Na na na na".

This girl is thankful she's getting some right now!

* * *

Song of the moment:

What a Wonderful World

Loius Armstrong

I see trees of green, red roses too.
I see them bloom for me and you,
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white.
The bright blessed day, the dark say good night,
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by,
I see friends shaking hands, saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, "I love you."

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow,
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Oh yeah

* * *

This post awfully reminds me of Ara's July 7, 2004 post. I think I'm lacking originality right now...

Give the credit to you, girl! =)

2 bz 2 blog

I've been longing to blog for the last couple of days. A lot has happened since I made a honest-to-goodness post. I have a couple of things that I want to blog (hopefully, I will be able to in the near future) and some of these are:

1. My vacation trip to Hongkong and China: (a) How scared sh*t I was on the flight going there because it was raining in Hongkong and there was a lot of air packets; (b) How it was freezing cold there for someone who's used to 20 degrees (being the coldest) and experiencing 7 degrees at the beach in Repulse Bay, Hongkong (my first time there); (c) How I didn't sleep for three days because I was excited and went shopping at the night market until 2am in the morning; (f) How I didn't max out my credit card and didn't even use it, despite the numerous purchases -- which meant good, bargain shopping; (e) How I only PHP1470 or HK$210 or USD$30 for four (yes, 4!) pairs of shoes; (f) How I met the cutest steward in Cebu Pacific on the flight home (Richie, M, 28); (g) How I spent the whole weekend trying to recover the sleepless nights during the trip -- well, I don't really have anything to say on the part except zzz...zzz...zzz...


2. How I thought I was going to die in the past couple of weeks: Ever since my bad dream, I kept thinking that I was going to die soon, to the point that I was absent from blogging and I was crying to my friends. I even gave one friend my username and password so that she could announce my untimely demise in my blog. Glad it didn't happen, but I have to say I had two close calls. Yes, two (2)! (a) the flight going to Hongkong -- It's not like I've never ridden a plane before but it was that bumpy! When they were releasing the wheels, it made screaming scary noises that I was thinking the plane was being sawed in half!; (b) car accident on the way to work yesterday morning, wherein my cousin hit the car in front of us along Meralco Avenue. Two bad things about it were that, one, I was sleeping and, two, I wasn't wearing seatbelts. For the love of me, I forgot to put my seatbelts on. I ended up jumping from my seat, almost hitting the windshield, and hitting my right leg on the van's dashboard upon impact. Lucky me, I only got a bruised (blackened) right leg, which translates to no skirts for the next week or so.


3. Change at work: A change is about to happen at work and I don't like it one bit. I'm going to be transferred to a different boss, who I don't like as much as I like the CEO and CIO.


4. I feel content and happy (inspite of the changes, slimmer wallet, and boyfriendless existence). Primarily because I'm still alive. =)

That's me in a gist.

shopping trip

Last week, I went out of the country to take a break. Of course, I wanted to do the tourist-y activities and go shopping even though it means I won't be getting much rest. And where is the nearest place you can go to from here?

Hongkong (and a side trip to Schenzen, China to boot!)

I have to admit, I've been to Hongkong twice before this trip but the reason why we went there and not anywhere else is because (1) my mom has some business to attend to for half a day, and (2) it only cost USD$120 to go there. Well, around USD$200 taxes and all.

You read it right, boys and girls. The whole trip cost my mom and I PHP10,800 each only, which includes roundtrip tickets, hotel accomodation (with breakfast), half-day city tour in Hongkong (with lunch), and half-day city tour in China (with dinner). We asked the others in our tour how much they paid and they said around USD$280 and $310 without taxes. So we knew we got ourselves a very good deal.

Without further talk, here's my trip in a gist:


in the airplane


the airport in general


me in the airport




my mom and me all over manila, hongkong and china




sights in hongkong



sights (and friends i met) in china

what in the world?

Can you guess what this is?

(Answer will be revealed in a day or two.)

bon voyage

Wish me a safe trip!
=)