Where am I going?

xc is back in the city!!!

2009-03-08T22:30:00.003+08:00

new blog, new city, old tricks:

XC in the City

leave me a message on the new blog so i can put yours as a link.

peace and luv,
xc

Saging lang ang may puso

2007-10-26T23:58:00.000+08:00

photo by Greg @ Route B, Cloud 9, Siargao

Blog blog blog blog blog

2007-10-23T17:27:00.000+08:00

After 10 years, I am back to blogging. Let's just see how long this will last.

So far so good. G has been in Manila now for almost 4 months and is now sick and tired of the city. Since I can only go out of town on weekends, we have only been able to go around Manila, like Laguna, Batangas, Cavite. But we have spent 10 days in Palawan, a week in Siargao and 10 days in Malaysia. In fact, G is still in Malaysia right now. I had to go back earlier to work...boo!!! And since he is on a year long vacation anyway, it would have been a waste if he does not make the most out of Malaysia.

So now, while he chases wild animals and birds in the forest, while he is getting attacked by leeches, I am all alone in Manila. Bored out of my mind. More boo!!!

I have also just resigned from my current work. Yay? Mixed feelings about leaving but when it's time to go, it's time to go. The new job will be more interesting since it will be more on programming not to mention I get a bigger salary plus a tax break. Something which is not in my current company's vocabulary. In fairness, my boss is trying to convince me to stay by giving me a better deal. We'll see how it goes. I still have Until the 16th of November to decide.

It's halloween and people in the office have decorated their work areas with fake webs and spiders and pumpkin cut-outs. It's quite nice actually. Nicer still if we also get to take the declared holidays as off days. But no...since the people in the UK are not on holiday, we have to be here at the office too. Sucks for us. At least I get three days of holiday pay! Yay!

So that's it for now. I just found out that the new Ikea catalog is now online and I'll have to go and drool all over my laptop now.

More pictures on Multiply: The World Through My Fishbowl

peace & luv,
xc

Ultimate Summer Getaway

2007-05-10T16:51:00.000+08:00

Although this year's USG didn't have the WOW factor that Pandan Island had, I still had a super great time. So great that it's still difficult to go to work right now. After 10 days of vacation I think I'd need at least 20 days to get back into the work rhythm. Gah.

We went around Bacolod, La Carlotta, Mambukal, Silay, Iloilo, Guimaras, Miag-ao and of course 4 Jony's shake filled days in Boracay. Can you say Ultimate???

Pictures will be posted in Multiply...as soon as I can get the copies from Quay and Mai.

Next year's USG: Camiguin!!!

Time to save up.

Joke time

2007-04-19T16:51:00.001+08:00

Doctor: Lola, kailan ho ba kayong last nakipagtalik?
Lola: Mga 1955...
Doctor: Matagal na ho pala ano?
Lola: Di naman! (sabay tingin sa relo). 20:55 pa langnaman ah!

Sssaaaallllooooppppeeeee!!!!!

I hearts and I hates

2007-04-18T21:14:00.000+08:00

I love airfare promos. Cebu Pac's piso promo, Air Asia's free seats promo, anything that can be used for travelling cheap, I absolutely adore.

I hate having only 15 vacation leaves in a year. Well, technically I can use 20 leaves for this year since I still have 5 left last year. Actually if I don't use those 5 days before June, they will be converted to ca$h. But seeing that I am leaving for our yearly USG (ultimate summer getaway) in 2 weeks, I am forced to use those 5 days from 2006 before being able to use any of my 2007 ones. Hence this year, I have 20 paid days off but no vacation leave pay out at the end of June. Yuck.

I also hate other people who take advantage of these promos from the first second they come out. Excluding me of course.

I only realized that I can take advantage of Air Asia's free seats promo since travel dates start from October 1. G and I will be in KL on Oct 7 (at 1 am thanks but no thanks to Cebu Pac's piso promo). We have planned to go to the Perhentian Islands but are thinking twice since travelling there by bus is quite the endeavor. Or we can fly to Kota Terangganu and from there it's only a few minutes by taxi to the port but will be, obviously, more expensive...Not if I get free airfare!!!

So, slow me only checked out Air Asia's website a few minutes ago and found out that only the return flights are now free. But the fare's not that expensive so it's still a possibility. Slower me thought that maybe flying to Siem Reap instead would be so much cooler if I manage to get free seats. No luck. Hanoi? Nope. Bali? None. Phnom Pehn? Nada. Any other international destination? Nope!!! Although I did see a couple of return flights for free but from unknown places. What the hell is in Pekenbaru that all seats from November to March next year are all taken?!?!?!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!! Why can't people stay put wherever they are????

Oh well, I guess I'd have to wait for another time to be able to go to Cambodia. But damn! This was the chance!!

Come on airline people!!! Me want more promos!!!

grrrr,
xc

My Travel Guide

2007-04-17T21:54:00.000+08:00

There are tons of travel books and guides popping up everywhere and everyday. Well, I too have an idea for a travel thingie!! And if I'm not too lazy, I might just find myself actually doing it (imagine the shock!). Plus, G is coming over and surely we'll be able to go to places I've never been to nor would ever think of going to. So I might as well document everything and get a few bucks (hopefully) from it. Not to mention I have my own personal photographer to get me them cliché-ish yet oh so awesome sunset shots for the book. I'm posting my plan for the world to see so that I can say I thought about it first...or at least I think I thought about it first.

So here's the plan: the guide will sort of be a weekend warrior's quick and easy travel plan. 52 weekends in a year (or something like that), 52 quick and simple weekend getaways.

-We wouldn't have access to our own car so it will be a real step by step how to get there guide.
-We are backpackers so accomodations will not be very luxurious. Quaint, certainly (or at least it should be) but fits in a weekend budget. Surely pitching a tent in a rat infested island with no water nor food will not make the cut. (Believe me, we have done that and will not do it again...EVER)
-It wouldn't be in the usual over crowded areas. Serenity and seclusion will be highly regarded. (Maalala mo Bantayan and Pandan)
-A weekend is all we have, hence, the getaway should be doable in just 2-3 days.

This should be the perfect guide for those who rack their brains out thinking of what to do for the weekend...aside from partying and such, of course.

The best part of all is that I would have been to all these places and would be writing from experience!!! How cool is that???

Well, maybe a book is too much. Maybe a nice blog will suffice. Oh well, we'll see, we'll see.

Wachatinks??

excited,
xc

Presenting...

2007-04-13T19:55:00.000+08:00

My über kulit nephew Julien:

Facts:

- 3 years old

- Drinks coffee

- His teacher has already told his parents that she doesn't want to see him again

- Sniffs everything first before touching them

- Super dooper ever kulit

What's in my bag?

2007-04-12T21:32:00.000+08:00

I don't usually bring a purse whenever I go out. I use my pockets (yes, fashionistas will kill me for that) or my brothers' pockets or mom's purse. But whenever I do bring a purse, it is filled with useless stuff that have been there forever and I forget or am too lazy to take out. But aside from the usual wallet and phone, I do have some other things I never take out of my purse:

1. Cherry Chap Stick...a necessity. When I was in Paris I had super dry lips but they never hurt nor chapped too badly...thanks to Chap Stick. I've only tried Strawberry and Cherry and Cherry's my favorite. It's not as useful here but old habits are hard to break.

2. Fino coin purse...I used to have on of thos magic wallets you get for Php100 and of course it didn't have a coin purse. So for our office Kris Kringle, I asked for this totally cute orange coin purse from Fino. And voila! Ryan was kind enough to buy it for me.

3. Earphones/Hands free thingie...I have an iPod but my brothers seem to think it's theirs. So instead, I use my phone as an mp3 player. In fairness, it has iTunes but it can only accomodate about 50 songs regardless of the size of the memory card. Loser.

So there. Actually, the only point to this post is to show off the pictures I did this morning. I've been super frustrated with my cam and tried to shoot some stuff this morning to see if they would come out good. In fairness...some where okay...after a lot of tries! These particular ones turned out cool...sans photoshop too! But I'm still thinking of getting a new one and am restraining myself from even thinking of it. Argh! Help!

peace & luv,
xc

Apartment Therapy

2007-04-12T21:01:00.000+08:00

Now that I'm in the mood to write more than two sentences, I would like to talk about my new favorite website...and no, it's not perezhilton.com. That has been my favorite since 2 months ago...

Apartment Therapy!!!

I discovered this site while surfing through ikeahacker (my next favorite site). On Aparment Therapy, I get my daily fix of beautiful furniture, amazing designs and of course, awesome apartments!!! The best thing they have is the Smallest Coolest Apartments contest!!! (I can't help the !!!s) We get to see how others live in style in a small space. For those of you who has had the weirdest desire to look into other people's places (um, like moi) this is the site for you. You can peek into how other people have decorated their units and get great ideas on how to spruce up yours and make it look chic and expensive.

The only thing is...this site sort of makes me depressed. Seeing all those great designs and decors make me wish I had my own pad..and not just any pad...a cool one!!! With wide big windows, a bathroom you would wish to live in (I know some people who actually sleep in theirs *ahem*), a killer kitchen...the works!!! I already have the look I want in my head, I just need the moolah to make this dream come true.

But while I'm still cooking up schemes on coming up with the moolah, salivating on the cool apartments on apartmenttherapy.com will just have to be my own therapy...even though it just lights the designing desire within. How that classifies as therapy, I don't know. I just know that I love the apartments they feature on the site. It's not like the unlived ones you see in design magazines. These are real flats where real people live in. There's actually hope that mine will look like one of those someday.

So everyone should check this site out and don't forget to look at the smallest coolest apartments section. I promise you it won't disappoint. Someday you'll see mine there!!!

Besides, spying on other people's houses makes a good time killer.

dream & design,
xc

I want to be...

2007-04-11T19:22:00.000+08:00

an Interior Designer!!!!!!!

Promise to self:

2007-04-11T00:55:00.000+08:00

-Try to be better
-Actually be better

Decreasing increase

2007-03-23T22:39:00.000+08:00

X+(Y/100)X = Z

"No matter how big Y is, if X is the lowest basic salary ever, Z will never be good enough."

-xc

A Cuppa

2007-03-23T22:00:00.000+08:00

I'm sooooo bored!!! I've been doing nothing but watch movies and eat the entire week. I don't know if I should be happy or disappointed.

In other news, I had pre-dinner with my aunt this afternoon and got to try their croissant aux amandes. Not bad. It's sort of like the ones mediocre boulangeries sell..or the ones you can get at Auchan or Carrefour. Not the top, but quite okay anyway. I also bought madeleines...it's quite good but like I said, not the top. I miss the bread in France.

Looking forward to the weekend. I plan to play a bit of pétanque (at last!) and get dinner with the college friends. Still can't believe Krish is getting married already!! Then it's Mikey's birthday and we usually eat lunch at whichever restaurant he fancies.

Then it's the work week again. Blah.

peace and luv,

Ikea Hacker

2007-03-22T23:47:00.000+08:00

I've been a huge fan of Ikea ever since my first Ikea HK trip back in 7th grade. I bought one of those cool wooden pencil cases. Heavy and not really functional, but it was my first Ikea purchase. I'd leaf through pages of the Ikea catalogue and dream that one day my house will be designed and furnished the Ikea-way. Yes, I know, I dreamed of great things when I was young.

When we were in Paris, most of our furniture were from said store even though the designs weren't really appropriate for our appartment. Most of their stuff are made for small flats and our high ceilings made the furniture seem too small. But still my mom and I (and I think even my dad) enjoyed our Sunday Ikea trips even though we don't really buy much. My dad likes their 2 euro sandwich and soda meal and I LOVE their spice cookies and meatballs. I still love the catalogue and dream that one day I'll design my flat just the way they do in their magazines.

But there's no freakin' Ikea in the Philippines!!! Although I did find a blog in Blogger's list of Noted Blogs: Ikea Hacker.

Ikea Hacker is one of the coolest blogs I've ever read. They take normal pieces from the store and modify them to something else. Daybeds become seaters, curtains to dividers making $10 look like $100. Awesome!! I love, love, love, love it. Let's all go to Ikea and go DIY-crazy!!
The only thing is that when browsing through the site, I go green-eyed monster with saliva dripping down my mouth (not a good image...) seeing all them lovely flats and furnishings.

Damn you Ikea and makers of nice appartments!!!

I swear when I get my own, it'll be the bestest flat ever! And maybe by then Ikea will be making an appearance on Philippine soil.

wishing and dreaming,
xc

Back to Gen San

2007-03-22T23:32:00.000+08:00

For Holy Week, the fam will be going back to Gen San. Since I will only be there for 5 days, we have decided to go to Davao on the 7th 'til the 8th. But for the other 3 days, it will be Gen San...

Aside from Nadiz (the bestest chicken inasal ever!) and durian (which I don't eat by the way), what other things can we do there??

We've been there twice before and have been to the fish port, the mall (of course), the beaches...What else can one do in Gen San?

Oh, and for the curious or the one who suggests to go see Manny P: he's not gonna be there as he is currently in the US preparing for his fight and mommy whatsername is busy campaigning for him.

Suggestions anyone??

Name that chicken

2007-03-22T00:58:00.000+08:00

Overheard @ the pantry:

guy: whenever at a thai restaurant, i only order that dish...the chicken breast wrapped in pandan leaves....how do you call that again?

ummmm....Pandan Chicken????

ps - 3 posts in 1 day!! and i was worried about content.

Dead fish

2007-03-21T23:40:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday I went to Cartimar with Mark D. It was my first time to go there (naks, virgin) and I was excited to see all the cool pets they were selling for almost half the mall price. I've been wanting to go there coz I wanted to buy a pet goldfish. The want was fed by an episode of Scrubs where a patient gave JD a pet goldfish. So I asked Mark if I can go with him on his next Cartimar trip so I can buy my own. And that was where I ended up just last weekend.

By noon, and with only 350 pesos, I had in my hands:

2 goldfish

1 kilo of white sand

1 water plant

1 big fishbowl

1 fighting fish

1 small fishbowl

And after spending the afternoon at the SM baggage counter, my precious fishies finally went home. By the end of the day they were comfortably swimming around in their fishbowls. I didn't even think of naming the little bastards then.

Sunday - 1 goldfish was dead!!! Holy mother of all holies! My brother said it was because of lack of oxygen despite the quite living plant in the middle of the fishbowl. I thought it was due to lack of space. I name the remaining goldfish Zander. Greg names the fighting fish Terreur.

Wednesday - Zander dies...................................Sad day. I wasn't even able to take pictures of him swimming around his little world on top of one of our tables. I'm not going to post a picture of him upside down in his little world on top of one of our tables..that's just morbid. At least Terreur is still alive...for now. I didn't even have the guts to fish out Zander (haha @ the pun though not funny) and give him a proper burial. Just like the other goldfish (yes, I call it that since it has no name), his future probably lies in an ice candy bag in the left-over food trash bin.

Cruel I hear you say. Cruel I am. I just wanted those fish for decorative purposes anyway. Haha. Kidding. KIDDING!!!

...and I'll still buy another one this weekend and I promise I'll take care of it better this time around.

peace and eternal life,

Yay! I'm on Joomla!

2007-03-21T23:16:00.000+08:00

The title might be a bit misleading...

Although I have downloaded Joomla! and installed it on my server (uh-huh, my server), I still haven't published anything nor "created" anything on it. For the moment it's just a Joomla! page. I still have to play around with it and master its inner workings if it's possible seeing that I have some free time at the office. (-->insert exaggerated face here<--).

Then I thought, maybe I don't really need to create my own website when there are easier alternatives out there wherein I can channel my inner writer (haller! Blogger!) and inner trying hard photographer (haller! Multiply!). I can actually do my blog and photo album all in Multpily. I can't even maintain my blog. Gah. Designing skills? Gah. It was probably just a phase.

So my own website will be delayed until I can find enough content to put on it. Hehe.

Flow creative juices, flow!!!

Ce Weekend...

2007-01-07T17:01:00.000+08:00

I am currently on a hammock on the balcony, homemade chocolate chip cookies beside me, listening to Josh Groban *blush*, the wind blowing in my face...ahhhh...the wonders of wifi.

So I'm supposed to do Self Appraisal for work but obviously I'd rather browse through YouTube than browse through my "goals" last year and say something about them. You think procrastination can be considered a goal? But then again if I'd have managed to achieve that goal then I would be failing, wouldn't I? Gah. Thinking's not good for me.

*Should not move too much 'coz I'm afraid the hammock would collapse and I'm in no position to effectively protect myself from that fall*

So...2007. I have at least 2 saved drafts about how I spent the holidays and all that giddy stuff but those will never see the light of day now. I don't think it's fair to reminisce about tohse happy days when it's back to stupid work for me now. I'd rather think of sad mediocre things to make me feel better about the after-holiday season....

or go shopping!!

Yes, that's one good thing about the after-holiday season. It's the after-holiday sales. Although Zara's sale now isn't that exciting nor interesting. But I did go crazy at People Are People when I saw my shoes (I've been wanting them forever) on sale. P499!!! Haller!!! It was the last pair left and they were my size. Can you say Destiny? So 3 shirts and a pair of shoes later I thought I'd reward myself with churros at Dulcinea. That was a successful shopping trip *pat at the back*.

And that is how you're supposed to start a year! Well, there's that and Cho's way which I think I'd actually prefer.

So 2006 ended with a blast with the Gen San trip and now 2007 looks promising. Looks like this is everybody's year.

Watch out 2007 here we gooo! (Romy and Michelle style)

peace and luv,
xc

2007-01-05T14:34:00.000+08:00

Josh Groban on Michael Buble's Concert

Arggghh!! Two of my favorite singers ever. Josh Groban's my secret crush.

Because I'm vain...

2006-12-28T15:38:00.000+08:00

Regalo

2006-12-22T05:06:00.000+08:00

I can't really remember the last time I had a Christmas Wishlist. It was probably at 14 years ago or something. I remember wishing for a Sony walkman for Christmas...which happily I got. But since then, I don't remember asking for anything particular. Maybe because I already ask a lot during the year. I also remember wishing for Marks & Spencer socks for my birthday when I was in 5th grade and a Benetton bag when I was in 6th grade. But for Christmas, nothing special pops up. I've never really expected anything for Christmas. But this year it is slightly different...sort of.

The other day, I received a slip from the post office. I had to claim a package at the Makati CPO. Duh! Only one person would send me something that the customs people might be interested in. I was excited..giddy actually I think. I don't think G really likes giving presents to his girls so this made it extra special. By the way, the note on the package says it was supposed to be for my birthday...but since it came late, I'm considering it as my Christmas present. Yahoo.

Even if the customs people took out all the fun by insisting they open it there at the post office, I didn't let that lose my moment. I didn't look at what's inside. I specifically asked them not to tell me what's inside. Besides, the note also said that I open it with G on cam. *rolls eyes*

So I did. And the coolest part was that he received my Christmas gift that night so we both opened our presents almost at the same time. Cheesy!!! No I'm not going to say what was in it. But just to say that I absolutely adore it. J'ai ses yeux avec moi!

Anyway long story short, this is one of the coolest Christmases ever.
We will be flying to Gen San on Saturday and spend Christmas there. What a change from the solo Christmas I had last year. Happy happy joy joy.

I'm so happy I started giving out presents again haha.

peace, luv and lots of holiday spirit,
xc

Busy as a Bee

2006-12-12T21:28:00.000+08:00

A day at the office:

--thanks Bry!!

My Jologs Moment

2006-12-07T19:56:00.000+08:00

Did you know that the Bee Gees is actually an acronym for the Brothers Gibb? And that they went to live in Australia because Barry was in so much trouble in England? And that they only started using their famous falsetto voices for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack? And that they don't consider the music they did for that movie as dance but more on the soul side?

Well I do...why? Because I was a huge Bee Gees fan and I mean huge! Huge like owning pirated videoke cds huge. Buying Keppel Road - The Life & Music of the Bee Gees huge. One Night Only DVD huge. Not seeing the sights in Chicago coz you'd rather watch VH1's Bee Gees special huge. Promising to watch them in concert if ever they go to Manila huge.

Eeeewwww, I know. I can hear myself barfing.

But yes, those were my jologs days. I loved loved loved them. Actually I only like Maurice coz he was the only fun one even if he didn't really sing that much and had no hair.

And ever since he died, I sort of lost interest in the brothers Gibb. I've never really like Barry even if he did compose those cool songs and Robin was just plain weird. He was a judge on Pop Idol and didn't really say much there either.

So I didn't even know that Robin Gibb was coming over to do a solo concert here in Manila. But apparently as far as the reviews went it wasn't all that anyway. His voice isn't as strong as Barry's and he can't dance if his life depended on it. After all he is just 1/3 of the group. It's like having your choco peanut parfait and only getting the peanuts. How sad. Not to mention the toupee.

I'm not as loco as I am over them before but I still love love love their music. I can still lip sync to all of their songs. But as for watching a Bee Gee in concert, I think I'll pass (um, I did). That's just sad.

But anyway, those were my jologs days...eeeewwww.

Rachael Ray is Annoying

2006-11-19T21:17:00.000+08:00

Rachael Ray has taken too many happy pills. The other day on her show she was screaming and imitating Bill Crosby's voice...if you could call that a voice. Ugh.

Actually, she's okay in small doses. I like 30-minute meals...I can handle 30 minutes of Rachael Ray. Besides, all she's doing is cooking and some of her ideas are actually cool.

But giving her her own show wherein she can wreak havoc on any subject under the sun is like setting a nuclear bomb in the middle of New York. Not a good idea. Seriously.

Try listening to a loop of her laughing (exactly like the one they do for her show's ads on the Lifestyle Channel) and see if you don't get the urge to assasinate her.

Argh!!! Oprah, what have you unleashed?!????!!!

Greg Flips his Flops

2006-11-17T18:49:00.000+08:00

Photo taken by Greg - chasing flamingos in Cyprus

For a guy who didn't know how to use slippers last year (don't deny it!), he's improved a lot. Notice the Pinoy Havaianas. He's been around Makati and Cyprus in them.

I'm not gonna post pictures of his feet though during that time. It will destroy the mood.

Just imagine them.

Curb my enthusiasm

2006-11-16T02:29:00.000+08:00

No, not the TV show.

I'm talking about something more serious...well, for me at least.

I've always been consient of my finances. I've only used my credit cards whenever necessary and I've managed to control my plastic-using tendencies making sure that I'll be able to fully pay whatever it is I charged each month. So I was a bit nervous of getting my bills this time around knowing that I've sort of over used my credit cards the past month.

I wasn't shocked when I received the statements. My initial reaction was more on the lines of "Ack, it's here!". And with a bit of calculation (read: bit = a lot + stress) I figured that if I don't spend more than 1000 each week until the next payday which is in 2 weeks, I'd be able to pay all my credit card bills, the electric bill (I offered to pay my family's electric bill..which I might regret sooner than later since it's usually 5K/month), half my share for the DSL bill, and redo half of my room.

Now the challenge is: how to spend less than 1000 a week.
answer: (possible answer) curb my shopping tendencies. Every time I pass by the mall I feel like I am obliged to buy something. Not necessarily new clothes (I don't really go for clothes that much...anymore) but more on the spa side.

I have to postpone my foot spas, hair spas and massages until maybe mid december!!! Not fair.

And so near the holidays too. Why oh why?!?!

Oh well...thank god for gift checks.
At least SM has some cheap yet nice stuff.
Or I can splurge on groceries and just buy stuff for a home made spa thing.

Blah. We'll see.

broke and wanting,
xc

Headache and revelations

2006-11-13T14:06:00.000+08:00

After sleeping for only two hours, I woke up with a splitting headache. The kind wherein you can't even turn without thinking of vomiting. I couldn't even go back to sleep because it was already day and I can hear cars and sidewalk sweepers outside. I even resorted to using that thing you put over your eyes so you can go to sleep...the one people get from airplanes. But to no avail...

But an Advil did help a bit. I fell asleep after about an hour.

When I woke up...argh! The allergies were back. It's weird 'coz I didn't even drink a drop of beer!! Then the revelation....

I only get these when I drink and smoke at the same time!!!

I swear this must be the cause.

I drank without smoking in Subic and I didn't get allergies...

But then again, I drank vodka and smoked when we went out the other night and didn't get anything either.

Oh well, so much for my theory.

Maybe I can only drink 3 kinds of alcohol: tequila, vodka, and red wine. Which is actually enough if you think about it. Those are the only three drinks I really do drink usually anyway.

This still doesn't make any sense 'coz I think it's still the alcohol typing.

Crap! I still need to create a French lesson plan!!!

peace and luv,
xc

I know what I want...

2006-11-13T03:27:00.000+08:00

I want you.

Thanks to the people at Cedric's party. I realized that I am a guy...and that guys are stupid.

Sorry if I ever hurt you.
But that was my point..to hurt you...to see how well you'll take it.
And to see if you'll understand and come back.

And you did.

And I'm stupid.

And I hate being a drama queen.
I don't want drama anymore.

I want you.

Thanks for wanting me.

Soon...

I hope...

We'll make it.

'Coz you're you.

And for that I choose you.

I am so fucking drunk.

2006-11-12T03:08:00.000+08:00

What if I change my mind?

I have this feeling.

I don't like it.

You won't like it.

I need a freakin' make-over.

I'm Alive...Hardly.

2006-11-08T02:36:00.000+08:00

I have been sick for the past week. I wouldn't get too detailed on it since it's quite gross. Let's just say that the only good thing being in a deluxe suite in a nice hotel is that it's got a really nice roomy bathroom.

Come to think of it, I have had more interactions with good ol' mr. potty seat more these past weeks than I've had in months. Well, maybe not "more" but it's definitely more interesting. Quality of quantity I say.

So what have I been up to the past month or so resulting in non-blogging, toilet action scenes, and mild depression?

Well, my last post was when I was still in Paris and that was about two months ago. And quite a lot has happened in two months.

- Greatest European summer ever
- Mild depression after greatest European summer ever.
- Boring unsatisfying work.
- Stupid more unsatisfying not even supposed to be my job anguishing work.
- One of the biggest dramas of my life.
- Getting drunk for the first time after almost 10 years.
- More drama.
- Slight happiness in light of the drama.
- Subic escapade which is actually hotel room/toilet escapade.
- Sickness and more sickness.

Might not seem like it since bullet points doesn't really do justice to those two months but it's a lot. Trust moi.

So now what I actually want the most is a quiet moment to myself. To relax and just cleanse my thoughts. God knows I need the pampering once in a while. I bought 3 spa packages from Clarins and I haven't even used one yet.

I'm taking this one day at a time. Not really caring at this point nor even knowing what would happen the next day, the next week, month, year. Of course I'm hoping something will happen but I can't take the anguish of it not happening so better not think about it right?

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure or something like that.

So short term goals: Spa at Clarins
Long term goals: stay alive and healthy to be able to achieve a real long term goal.

I wanna go home and I want mon Ours!!!

cough and colds,
xc

'Coz I'm lazy

2006-09-26T19:43:00.000+08:00

You Are a Retrospective Soul

The most misunderstood of all the soul signs.Sometimes you even have difficulty seeing yourself as who you are.You are intense and desire perfection in every facet of your life.You're best described as extremely idealistic, hardworking, and a survivor.
Great moments of insight and sensitivity come to you easily.But if you aren't careful, you'll ignore these moments and repeat past mistakes.For you, it is difficult to seperate the past from the present.You will suceed once you overcome the disappoinments in life.
Souls you are most compatible with: Traveler Soul and Prophet Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Time's too fast

2006-08-22T01:28:00.000+08:00

I've been in France for 3 weeks now but it feels like I just arrived yesterday and the last three weeks never even happened. It went by so fast that everything seems just like a blur...arriving at the airport, going to Britanny then to the Pyrenées...And now I only have one more weekend to spend here.

Time sucks.

Work sucks.

Not to mention it's raining in Paris now.

That's all I can say for now. Just a quick post to tell anyone who cares that I'm still alive.

I'll try to write about Britanny and the Pyrenées tomorrow.

Mai, I still owe you that article.

peace and luv,
xc

Hello again

2006-08-01T16:18:00.000+08:00

I've forgotten how much walking is done in Paris...and since no one really "walks" in Makati it's not a surprise that I was hecka tired after just 3 hours outside.

I'm staying on the 4th floor of an old building, hence no elevators. Yesterday I had to go up and down the freakin stairs at least 8 times. Went to the supermarket twice, the restaurant just across the street twice, the embassy to see friends (more stairs!) not to mention the train transfers I had to take.

I haven't been to the tourist spots yet. I don't even think I'll be going to the tourist spots except maybe for Paris Plage (the makeshift beach along the Seine) and check out if Quai Branley's already open. But I have seen interesting things at the spermarket and the boulangerie around the corner. I love love love the tomatoes and veggies here. Not to mention the pastries everywhere!!!

Cam fun photos:

5 hour lay...over

2006-07-31T22:54:00.000+08:00

**I wrote this during my stop over in Doha...no sleep, no food so it sort of turned out as nonsense.

So here's the long awaited post. A lot of people has been asking me what my problem is, based from the last two posts.Well, they didn't actuallydirectly ask like that but that was the point they were getting at.I don't have a problem...anymore. I used to, I'd admit to that. So here's a post thay may or may not explain it all.

I would think most people know that I have been planning/finding ways to go back to Paris ever since I arrived. It seemed like a super impossible operation until about two months ago. Unknown to everyone including my awesome parents, I have been preparing to go to paris for the past two months. What seemed like a super impossilbe endeavor only seemed to be impossible then.

I was getting stressed just by the idea of how to go on about the process of going there.The money, the visa, when, how. The stress, stress, stress, stress.

But with a bit of courage and a lot of luck, I tried...And believe you me it was not easy. There were a lot of sleepless nights, a fewscheming here and there, in short extensive planning.
First of all I had to have the money not only for the plane fare but for the stay there as well. And that has to be enough for the embassy to believe that I am indeed ableto travel: show money as one friend puts it. I feel guilty about this point actuallyas I used money from my and my mom's dollar account without really telling her in advance.

Then, there's the issue of leaves from the office. I've only been in the company for about 7 months and I didn't know if I could be granted such a long vacation: theentire month of August.
But apparently luck was on my side as my boss granted me the leave, I got all thepapers I needed for the visa on time, it was just the matter of waiting for the embassy to grant (or deny) me the visa.

But then there's stupid pretentious girl from window 3. But that's another long agonizing story worthy of a separate post.

However, it is the end that counts because as I am writing this post I am on a 5 hour lay-over in Doha waitingfor my connecting flight to Paris.
That's it for now 'coz I am hungry and have to claim free food from the food court.
This story is actually more agonizing that it looks because of stupid pretentiousgirl from window 3. I'll tell you more about it plus my mad 2 hours before leaving for the airport to catch my flight shopping spree.

ps. Thanks to Grey's Anatomy and Dynomite for keeping me company for 5 hours.

Stress

2006-07-10T22:13:00.000+08:00

My luck has ran out.

I don't think things are going my way anymore...or at least I'm starting to feel like it isn't.

Jinx.

+

Ciao Zizou

2006-07-10T17:56:00.000+08:00

Apart from the fried mozzarella, it was a disappointing early Monday morning at TGI Friday's as Les Bleus lost to the Azzurris (I don't know how to spell this correctly, I don't care)...on penalties!!!

Oh well, that's football for you. Just like it's so football like to want to kick the fat girl in front of you cheering wildly for Italy then asking her "boyfriend" what the rules of the game are.

"C'est très français ça, d'être content d'avoir perdu, d'être content de ne
pas être vainqueur. Moi, je ne peux pas être content. Forcément. Il y avait de la place (NDLR : pour gagner). Je ne peux pas être heureux d'être simplement le finaliste" -Raymond Domenech

Crunch time

2006-07-09T01:09:00.000+08:00

This is it.
No mistakes nor miscalculations should ever ever happen.
One sure step at a time.
Please don't jinx it.
This has to push through.

F*ck, I'm so damn excited!

Blah

2006-07-04T03:28:00.000+08:00

I don't feel like myself today. I feel like I'm just...there.
It's not really depression, it's more like a blah feeling.
I don't even want to think anymore. It's tiring.
So I just let myself be carried away by the flow of whatever.

Blah.

This is such a weird feeling after one of the most awesome weekends I've had in a while.
Maybe we've had too much fun that I've reached my maximum share of fun and this period is necessary to balance it.

Blah.

Parking hell

2006-06-14T21:34:00.001+08:00

When my brother was still making tambay at home, doing nothing, "waiting" for his diploma, we had him as our resident driver. I was able to ask him to bring and pick me up from the office with our parents' consent since he doesn't do anything at home anyway. When he started training for his new job, I had the car all to myself and I took it to work everyday. During the times when he'dwant to use it, he'd get it from our building but he'd also offer to pick me up from work afterwards. No problem.

Now that he's doing his regular shift at work,which is at night, my dad smartly cooked up a car-sharing scheme which is supposed to benefit the both of us.

The scheme:
I'd commute from home to work since I my shift starts at 4pm. Reasoning behind it: it's easy to commute at this time.
Bro would take the car to work at 8pm.
I'd get it from him on my way home.
Bro would commute from work to home at 5 am. Same reason behind it.

Problem 1: His building is 2 blocks away from mine. And when I say blocks, I mean Ayala sized blocks. So walking from my buildingto his at 1 am can be quite dangerous especially for a girl.
Problem 2: Parking at his building is twice as to what we'll have to pay if he parked in my building. This makes me think that it would really be easier to just a cab if I have to pay the same price anyway.
Problem 3: At their building, you pay for the parking at the lobby. This may seem reasonable for normal people who take their own cars to work. But for us, since we have to find a way for me to get the parking ticket, we have our own scheme. And having to go down to the basement parking then up again to pay then down again to get out is just such a mega hassle.
Problem 4: I hate the parking scheme/set-up in their building. It just doesn't make any sense and whoever designed it should die when the incoming cars collide with the exiting ones in one of their ramps.

I don't know if it sounds as bad as I think and feel it is. Oooohhh the injustice!! Maybe I was just too pissed off last night having to walk two blocks in the middle of the night only to find out that the extra car key I had wasn't working. The thingie you press toopen the car wasn't working or needed new batteries, I don't know. So I had to open the car door using the key...and...alarm mania!!!When you're stuck in a small basement parking sweating from the walk you just did only to hear the irritating beeping of your own car,you are sure as hell going to be pissed off. I didn't know how to turn it off so I just relocked the car, waited for the alarm to stop and called my brother. As bro was working, he wasn't able to answer the phone, even after 4 calls and a text message.

I was already outside ready to get a cab. I called him to tell him that the alarm goes off when I open the door and I'll just take a cab home when he told me how to turn off the alarm. Great!! So I had to go back to the basement, open the door (with the insistentbeeping on) disengage the alarm, get the parking ticket, go back to the lobby, pay for parking (which was as expensive as a cab ride back home), go back to the basement, open the door again (this time witout alarm, thank god), and go to the exit by passing all parkingslots in all 4 floors.

Now let's see who's not going to be pissed off with that.

We'll try again tonight to see if this scheme really works or if I have to convince him to just park the car at our building. I'll even volunteer to pay for the parking myself, no need to share.

If not, I have to find a way to convince my dad to let me take the car instead. Brother has to learn to commute sometime in his life anyway!!!

Plus, I can't even wear cute skirts and hyper heels to work anymore seeing as I have to walk out of the camp to catch public transportation. Ugh!

...mad...

Cam whore

2006-06-07T00:03:00.000+08:00

It has been a while since my last real post.

Well...it's going to be a long time until the next one, I think.

I'm just not in the mood to sort out thoughts and events that happened weeks ago.

But like they say, a peechur is worth a thousand words. So...

PEECHURS WORTH MORE THAN A THOUSAND WORDS

Stupid quiz thing

2006-06-02T17:25:00.000+08:00

You Should Date An Australian!

You're a down to earth, outdoorsy kind of girlAnd you need a guy who can keep up with your adventuresA rugged Austrailian guy is just your styleBetter start learning how to surf!

Which Foreign Guy Should You Date?

Morning date

2006-05-19T22:06:00.000+08:00

Night shifters everywhere can all say that "social life" isn't really in our vocabularies anymore. Well, for me at least. I don't really like going to bars to drink so going to bars after shift 'til early morning is an out for me. Leaving me only with 7-11 and Starbucks to hang out in. Besides, I'm usually too tired already to go out after shift. I'm content to having to plop down on my bed catching the late showing of Monk or CSI on Star World (thank you Lord for this). But lately it's been such a routine that it's not really fun anymore.

I'm a morning person and I'd prefer it if I had something to do before shift starts. This usually means a trip to the mall. But malling isn't fun when all your friends are at work or still sleeping.

So I was really glad when G arrived. I now have a constant morning date. Sure it's stressful having to wake up that early after a late night and I'm sure I complained about that in the last few posts. But I really like having him around or should I say dragging him around. Poor guy. I've ran out of malls to bring him to so I asked him if he wanted to go to Ateneo and UP. Pathetic, I know. But anyway, we planned to go.

By chance, we left the house before noon which meant that we needed to stop somewhere to eat. Yay Eastwood. I haven't been there since I arrived and the place has changed a lot! All I remember was Fazolis and Country Waffle (which I didn't see anymore).

Anyhoo to make the long story short, we ended up wasting the afternoon going around Eastwood then going to Tiendesitas for a quick look. Then it was straight to work for me...and to another mall for G. Again, poor boy.

But all in all, not bad for a morning date. If this is what I get for only 3-4 hours of sleep, I'll do it anytime over anything.

...view from heaven and eggs...

For Myrha

2006-05-18T23:34:00.000+08:00

I am not DITCHING my blog. I just have a lot of thoughts in my mind that I can't seem to make one coherent paragraph. Hence, no post. That plus the fact that I've been forgetting to bring the camera cable and the card reader to work so I can't post office photos of the day too. And okay fine, because I'm too busy working and being a tour guide at the same time that I don't get to post as often as I want to anymore. But...no ditching.

So as all people now know, G is in Manila for vacation. His vacation, not mine. Let me tell you this, it sucks when you NEED to work while other people are on vacation. It sucks more if you work at night and can't even go out to get a drink with the people on vacation. You might sneak in a two hour lunch/dinner break here and there, but that's pretty much the most you can do.

I'm only thankful that I do not do much in the office these days giving me a bit of time to power nap and rest a while before getting back to the cycle that is G's vacation.

Not only do I get to sleep later (4am) but I need to wake up earlier as well so we can profit of what little time we have together. Although the latter part isn't really true since we both usually wake up at around 11am. Leaving us 4 hours to go around town, which is not enough time to visit nice places (translates to: we only get to go to the malls). How frustrating.

And such a guilt-trip since I know he came here to spend time with moi. We only really have the weekends for ourselves so we try to make the most out of it. Like last week. We went to Lucban to experience the Pahiyas Festival.

...one of the nicer houses...

It was a bit gloomy the first day (Sunday) as it rained the entire morning. So people only started putting up decorations that afternoon. But it was a clear and sunny Monday which was spent going around the entire town, snapping photos and just having a good time. Tiring but well worth it. I do have to mention though that I went straight to work after arriving in Manila. Tiring X2.

...even the chicks were in a pahiyas mood...

So that was our first weekend. And now I'm feeling guilty leaving him at the mall every night.

But I am looking forward to this weekend's adventure:

Taal volcano, here we come!!

I have to conserve all my energy for tomorrow so I'll finish this up.

But not before the office photo of the day:

...look! clean desk!...

(this only happens once in a blue moon so I really just had to take a picture of it as proof)

'til next time.

peace and luv,

LSS

2006-05-10T23:44:00.000+08:00

*disclaimer: I'm posting this song for no particular reason. I am not touched by the lyrics but I like the melody. I've always like APO anyway. I do not relate, in any way, to this song. As the title implies, it's this week's LSS and I just like it. Period.

When I Met You - APO Hiking Society

There I was an empty piece of a shell,
Just mindin' my own world;
Without even knowin' what love and life were all about.

Then you came,
You brought me out of the shell;
You gave the world to me
And before I knew,
There I was so in love with you.

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.

I love the touch of your hair
And when I look in your eyes
I just know, I know I'm on to something good

And I'm sure my love for you will endure
Your love will light up my world;
And take all my cares away with the aching part of me.

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.

You taught me how to love,
You showed me how tomorrow and today
My life is diff'rent from the yesterday;
And you, you taught me how to love
And darling I will always cherish you
Today, tomorrow and forever.

And I'm sure when evening comes around
I know we'll be making love like never before;
My love, who could ask for more?

You gave me a reason for my being
And I love what I'm feelin'
You gave me a meaning to my life,
Yes, I've gone beyond existing
And it all began when I met you.
When I met you.

...Do I sound too defensive? Well I'm not!!

singing and luving,
xc

Taxi taxi

2006-05-10T01:01:00.000+08:00

For the past three days, I have been commuting to and from work. For those of you who know where I live, it's obviously such a hassle. Since last week, they were not letting any cabs in the camp from 10pm onwards. Apparently, it's a new rule along with the no slippers for military personnel rule. C-r-a-z-y. They're not letting anyone in slippers pass through the gate, well, unless you're in a car.

I do not know what they'd like to achieve with these new rules. All I know is that I have been walking from the gate to our house for the past three work days...at 2 in the morning. Mega hassle.

I am thinking about writing to the post commander about this. It is just not right to let people walk miles in dark streets in the middle of the night. What's the use of taking a taxi if you're only going to end up walking the last leg of the freakin' journey!?!? And at 2 am!!! I asked the guard at the gate if he can bring me home with their jeep. Apparently that's not possible, he only offered to walk me home. No thanks. Unless he was going to carry me home, I am not interested.

I complained about this to my mom, as I was about to commute once more and I didn't want to walk in the middle of the night anymore. She obliged by having my brother (who has work at 7am) pick me up at 1am so I can go home early...

...to drive her and my other brother to the doctor tomorrow at 8 am. Talk about hidden agenda. Just when I thought my dramatic performance did the trick...

Anyhoo...there won't be any office photo of the day today, even though I took a picture. I forgot to bring the USB cable again and I'm too lazy to do the SD card swap. So I'm just going to save all office photos for this week and probably post it all at the same time.

I'm off. I wanna go home!!

peace and luv,
xc

Manic Monday

2006-05-09T00:45:00.000+08:00

Not! As mondays go, this has been the best...so far.
The day was spent chatting with Toni (inuman na next time!) and G (see you on Saturday!).
Boss left early so I got to play my games.

I didn't even realize that it's 1 am already and it's time to go home.
Actually, I went in early today thinking I'd be able to go home early too.
But I got so obsessed in posting the office photos of the day that I had to stay to take a photo, upload it and write a short entry on my blog. And since I forgot to bring the camera's usb cable (but did not forget to bring the webcam), I had to improvise by using my phone's SD card as temporary memory card for the camera then switch it back to the phone and transfer the pictures via infrared. Although it took quite a while to download the 1.8MB pictures via infrared, it did work. And now I am happily posting today's office photo of the day:

...messy drawer...

Technology is awesome!!!

Now I've packed the things I have in my messy drawer and I'm ready to go home!
Too much time spent in the office is dangerous to your health.

peace and luv,
xc

It's not the vitamins

2006-05-05T23:33:00.000+08:00

I forgot to drink my meds today. Including the vitamins. Yet my day wasn't all that bad.

Sure, my boss caught me playing online games, but do I really even care? (okay maybe I do, a little)

Anyhoo, to get to the point of this post: It's not the vitamins! It's just good luck. Unless the vitamin effect has spilled over to today.

Blah, I'm rambling.

Finally it's the weekend! A long weekend for the French folks (damn you and your holidays!!) even though I still have to go to work on Monday. Obviously I am going to have a lot of free time on my hands on Monday so be prepared for another long rambling nonsense post seeing that I can't play games as much as I want anymore.

In all fairness, my project manager (who won't be in the office in monday, damn you french folks and your holidays!!), she acknowledges that I will have a lot of idle time in my hands come Monday. So she gave me additional work. Winner.

I'll end this post here because even I am bored reading all this. It doesn't have a point.

Have an awesome weekend! There are only a few more days of summer left!

G, rien. Saperlipopette, tu vas voir tes fesses, oui!!

peace and maybe a bit of luv,
xc

Office photo of the day:

...work package...

The miracle of vitamins

2006-05-04T23:08:00.000+08:00

Work has surprisingly been bizarrely good today.

Arrived early, which does not happen that often. Contacted the TPs I needed to contact, replied to emails and cleared up some outstanding issues.

Buffet dinner with some English guy who happens to be the team lead of the other team.

A bit of chitchat with the PM, downloaded Mark's Pandan pictures, did a bit of work.

Not a bad day at all, I say!

Now this gets me thinking. Is it just a lucky day for me or is there something else in the air that made this day a bit more bearable.

Or is it because of the Stresstab I took this morning that I had the energy to burn the entire day?

I have to take another Stresstab tomorrow to see if it is indeed the one giving me the extra oomph today.

That or this weekend bungee jumping plans.

Let's wait and see.

peace and luv,
xc

Office photo of the day:

...the meeting room...

It's all downhill from here

2006-05-03T23:06:00.000+08:00

Wednesday! The middle of this stress-filled week.

Although technically it's only the second day of the work week, I already feel like I need another long weekend.

The project's reaching its deadline and yet TPs are still slacking off. Which is a change since I'm usually the one doing that. But now, I'm doing all the work and the TPs are off on holidays. Awesome.

I saw a dermatologist today to consult about my stupid bed bug allergies. I can't help it if my soft baby-like skin is a bed bug magnet. I'm the only one who sprayed layers of insect repellant and yet I'm the only one with bug bites. Anyhoo, long story short I now have special soap, layers of lotions and creams to apply plus antibiotics to pop for 2 whole weeks. Not to mention the consultation fee and cost of all those meds.
Great.

The only thing I'm looking forward to this week (just this week) is the family's trip to Subic. I'm not planning on soaking up rays nor hitting the beach as I've had enough of that already thank you very much. I'm looking forward to laying in bed in a luxurious (I think) hotel and be waited on head to foot.

3 more days to go.

It's all downhill from here.

peace and luv,
xc

Office photo of the day:

...dirty connection thingie...

No peechurs

2006-05-03T01:05:00.000+08:00

It's hard getting back into the work rhythm after a great long weekend.

The only thing to look forward to is to show your vacation pictures to anyone who's willing to listen.

Unfortunately my stupid camera ran out of freakin' batteries 3 hours after arriving in Pandan. Of course in an island so cut-off from civilization that they have to have fresh water delivered from the main island everyday, each room has a 12 watt lightbulb running from a car battery, and wherein the only nightlife is playing Jenga with the "bartender", it is pretty much obvious that they don't sell high quality AA batteries. Hence, I have to wait until Mark D. uploads all our pictures from his camera.

All I have with me are the pictures before going to the island and after, when we were about to go home (right when Mark's camera ran out of batteries).

How sad.

And it's even sadder that I have no pictures to distract me from working today.

*sigh*

Well, it's not as if I have tons of work to be distracted from anyway.

*wink*

peace and luv,

xc

Office photo of the day:

...cisco ip phone...

Office Photo of the Day:

2006-04-28T21:26:00.000+08:00

..dirty trackstick..

Two week notice.

2006-04-27T00:18:00.000+08:00

Hello world.

It has been two weeks since my last post and most of that has gone by in a blur.
Not because I was drunk and wasted (oh how I wish!) but because it was days of vacation-stress-vacation-stress that my mind and body has not had the chance to recover yet.

Holy week wasn't really holy as I didn't go to any of the masses nor went to any church. Besides, half the Yuppie population is having drunken high sex either in Bora or Puerto. I on the other hand made love to my bed, tv and refrigerator. And as with real sex, it left me wanting more.

Don't ask me how I know. It just is.

The week before the company outing was spent searching, albeit unsuccessfullly, and scrounging for ultimate summer getaway spots and outfits. At the last minute, we were at least able to reserve rooms at Pandan island.

Pandan what?!?!

Exactly our sentiments when we first heard about it.
In Cho's words, at least it looks promising.

Then it was the company outing in Batangas.

It was well worth it, save for the awful, and boy do I mean awful food.
It was so awful that they decided to use the noodles to culture worms:

Actually they used it for one of the games. When bad food becomes worse.

And now it's back to the real world. Stress, stress and more stress.

The only thing that's keeping me, or should I say us, going now is the idea that this weekend will be spent lounging and basking in the glorious sun of an unknown island.

Watch out Pandan, here we come!! (Romy and Michelle style!)

peace and luv,

Hows about a bunch of crap?!?!

2006-04-12T00:52:00.000+08:00

Everyone's going to fucking Europe except moi!

My former Director: He's flying to France on May 15 for some kind of business thing for his new team. Why couldn't it have been our team? My team? Me? Or at least when he was still our Director. Blah.

Cuzn Ay-suh: She won a scholarship to study Italian in some region (Calabria if I'm not mistaken) for the summer. All expenses paid, plus $200 allowance per month (good luck on that point though). But still...Italy's nearer to Paris than Manila is. Double blah.

That new french sales account manager (that I interviewed pa!!): She's going to be sent to Paree for training. To think that that position was first offered to me in January. But no, I had to be all MIS-sy and take the technical position instead. If I'd have taken the sales post, I would have been to the US for the annual sales kickoff plus fly to France for damn training. Triple blah.

I guess I've been having an off year in decision making. Stoopid stoopid stoopid.

Where are my lucky leprechauns when I need them?!?!?!?!

no peace nor luv,
xc

Brokeback mania.

2006-04-07T22:07:00.000+08:00

I know it seems a bit late...

But even the doggies like Brokeback Mountain.

*This is the first real stuffed toy I've received in 10 years I think.

Quote of the day:

2006-04-06T23:27:00.000+08:00

"Life should be a little nuts, otherwise it's just a bunch of Thursdays strung together."

...yeah, nuts like a Junior sized 5-club golf bag dammit!!

Weekend warrior.

2006-04-04T18:35:00.000+08:00

Apart from Mai's cheesy cop-out (yes Mai, galit kami sayo!), the weekend was pretty F-U-N.

Went shopping, although I got a little depressed when I spent more that what I wanted to. No thanks to the sale signs plastered all over the mall.

EK Sunday pushed through, at last! Had a superb time riding all the rides and getting mega wet in the Rapids ride.

Not counting the mega scare we had when Sandro started jumping and turning the ferris wheel thing (I don't know what those are called) and the back ache I had driving home trying not to ruin the henna tattoo I got on my lower back.

Well, what can I say, cheap thrills are usually the best.

Weekend spree.

2006-04-01T00:38:00.000+08:00

To get over the temporary depression, I shall be going on a weekend shopping semi-spree.
Semi because I don't think I'll be able to part with my hard earned cash that easily considering I'm saving for the "future".

But there's no other choice. I think my clothes are becoming drab, some of them don't fit me well anymore (and I mean it on a positive note), and I think I only really wear 3 pairs of shoes and my other footwear are not suitable for the office (think collection of flip flops). Plus, the wardrobe crisis may be contributing to the state of depression.

Hence a self made make over.

It's my cousins' graduation dinner party on Saturday so I actually need new clothes anyway. So no guilt in spending.

Plus, it's gonna be a girls' night out with Mai and whoever wants to join on Saturday. More reason to splurge on nice outfits and beautiful shoes that won't give me blisters while dancing the night away. (Ugh, I'm actually not gonna "dance" haha. I'm gonna cheat!)

Then we are supposed to go to EK on Sunday. That plan is still a bit vague and the fact that we cancelled the EK plan last weekend, there's a 50% chance that this one might not push through either.

Then it's beauty Monday. A long overdue facial will be awaiting my sorry face. Then it's a fresh brand new moi to start another dull boring week at work.

Yay for the weekend!

Have a good one folks.

Peace and luv,
xc

Sick...psycholo sick

2006-03-30T17:26:00.000+08:00

As Toni pointed out in the comments section, I might indeed be schizo…or probably more on the manic-depressive side.

Such a post after the cloud nine one isn’t really very healthy is it?

Scary.

Well, that happens once the excitement has all died down. The dreaded lull period. The time when you’re still reminiscing about the fun times and hoping that it will happen once again yet not knowing exactly when and how. Hence you’re stuck between the good times.

Just like Ronan Keating said, Life is a Rollercoaster.

It’s gonna pick up again soon and my posts will once more be merry and gay (although I rarely post during this time since I’m too busy being merry and gay).

But then again why should I wait for life to be happy once again when I can make it happen right now? (I think I can, I think I can)
The parents being out of town will be a factor.

This weekend’s resolution:

- GO OUT and get a life!!

…this might be quite easy this weekend seeing that it’s sale at Market Market.

'Coz you had a bland day...

2006-03-29T19:10:00.000+08:00

I am in a rut. All I ever do these days is go to work, go back home, sleep, wake up, go to work again. It's an endless cycle.

I need a life. Something new and exciting to give me that "oomph!" in each step out of that doorway.

I don't do anything physical that I can stay up for 24 straight hours. I don't feel tired in the physical sense.

It's like I'm just....there.

Waiting, walking like a ghost. I have reached the saturation point. I am not amazed by things anymore. Well, the things I encounter daily at least.

Blah.

I need a vacation.

"Danse comme si personne te regardait, travaille comme si tu n'avais pas besoin d'argent, aime comme si tu n'avais jamais soufert."
...et baise comme si tu es toujours filmé.

Cloud 9

2006-03-20T19:18:00.000+08:00

This has nothing to do with the box of Cloud 9 chocolates that I bought last weekend, along with 4 bags of chips, some French Onion dip, tortillas, and enchilada sauce.

It has everything to do though with the feeling of blissful happiness.

My head has been up in the clouds the past few days thinking of what great adventure awaits me. Actually, I already have a very clear idea of what the adventure would be, the only problem is determining where and when and maybe, in some cases, how.

Which makes me wonder...why do we call this sort of feeling "On Cloud Nine" ? Whis is it not cloud 8 or 7? Mountain 12? Evaporation 4? Mist 22?

Apparently the expression was formed through the US Weather Bureau. As the story goes, they used to describe clouds by assigning them numbers: Level Nine was the very highest cumulonimbus (whatever that is), which can reach 30,000-40,000 feet and appear as glorious white mountains in the sky. Hence, if you were on cloud level nine, you would be at the very peak of existence with a horrid sunburn on your back.

So there you go. This also explains why it hurts so bad once you're not on cloud nine anymore. I just hope I don't get burned and broken that bad once this all falls over, or should I say once I fall off.

By the way, out of the box of Cloud 9s that I bought, I was only able to eat 2. With 3 snackin' crazy brothers, go figure what happened. Sometimes I'd like to throw them on top of a white mountain in the sky and make them disappear forever in the midst of wonderful cotton candy-like fluffiness (see, I'm still a good sister: cotton candy is good!).

Tag you're it!

2006-03-17T20:59:00.000+08:00

OK, I’ve been tagged! Now you have too! How well do you know me? For instance, did you know that...

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Junior Analyst
2. IT Help Desk
3. Comelec person
4. Technical Implementations Consultant

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. While You Were Sleeping
2. The Sound of Music
3. Mighty Ducks 1 & 2 (they go together)
4. Snatch

Four places I have lived:
1. Teacher's Village, QC
2. Fort Bonifacio
3. Iloilo
4. Paris

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. CSI Las Vegas
2. Scrubs
3. Lost
4. Arrested Development

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Paris
2. Rome
3. Amsterdam
4. Bantayan Island, Cebu

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Gmail
2. my blog
3. other people's blogs
4. freakin' Valeo rollout site

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pesto with blue cheese
2. Tempura's Tofu Teppanyaki
3. Sinigang na Baboy
4. The Honey cake and Mango Torte be buy in San Lo

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Paris
2. Amanpulo
3. Australia
4. In bed

Now that that's done, I am going to tag...
1. Gregory
2. Cho
3. Jem
4. Mai

So you guys better shape up and do it. I'm gonna check on you too, so if I don't see your 4s next week, you're gonna be sorry!!!

Huwaattt??!?!?!

2006-03-15T02:02:00.000+08:00

Putain d'enculé de sa mère!!!!!

I've talked about Astrology before and how uncannily eeriely constantly accurate it could be. But this is just crazy.

You and a certain someone have been going back and forth about the logistics of getting together, and the stars finally bring about an end to all this vacillation. It feels strange to have everything fall into place, but enjoy it.

Crazy and scary.

EMEA Sucks

2006-03-14T17:46:00.000+08:00

Times like these at work can be so depressing!
No mood to think, no mood to talk, no mood to smile, no mood to work.

But then one simple email can make everything change.

You get in the mood to think, but not about which TP to call next but about where to go on vacation and how to tell your boss that you'll be catching some sort of horrible illness mid-May. You get in the mood to talk not about EDI specifications but about any single interesting thing you can think of. And you do not just get in the mood to smile, but you turn into a giddy 6th grader who just found out that the cutest guy in the school plans to ask her to the dance that your mouth muscles start to ache because they have been stuck in "smile-mode" since this morning.

But you are still in no mood to work because now you are occupied with other more pleasant, wonderful things.

The day's not depressing anymore, but work still is.

I didn't say that the change was for the better did I?

Meron din akong "bakit"

2006-03-13T00:10:00.000+08:00

Bakit...

ang dali dali ko ilayo ang sarili ko sa bagay o tao na nung minsan ay napakaganda ng relasyon namin?

Am I that aloof and shallow na kaya ko itapon ang isang magandang pagsasama, walang kadahilanan, isang iyak lang at patuloy nanaman ang buhay?

Ayoko man isipin, pero siguro nga.

Sana defense mechanism lang ito. Or maybe it's a matter of "Do unto others before they do it unto you"?

Is there a shrink in the house?

Blech.

Time to bring that Sarah Mclachlan album out again.

Clueless.

2006-03-11T00:29:00.000+08:00

At least 3 guys asked me why I was wearing a dress yesterday.
I was wearing a skirt.
Of course the OC me corrected them by saying that it's not a dress, but a skirt.

Today, the same guys noticed that I'm wearing a dress once again.

For the love of fashion guys, it's called a skirt!!

skirt: n. a separate free-hanging outer garment or undergarment usually worn by women and girls covering some or all of the body from the waist down

key word: from the waist down.

Maybe men and fashion just does not go together. Unless he's gay, P. Diddy or David Beckham. But I am not saying that these guys have good fashion sense either but at least I'm sure they know the difference between a dress and a skirt.

The post says it all:

2006-03-02T21:46:00.000+08:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!DIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm as calorie-filled as a whole boxful of Petit Écoliers, dammit!!

The art of resourcefulness

2006-03-01T23:19:00.000+08:00

Eversince Limewire was blocked at the office, media files have been pretty scarce. Take note that I am using the word scarce loosely. It basically means I cannot download the stuff I exactly want (no, not porn!) and I, like a poor remora eel, had to content myself by sucking off the resources of other people more resourceful than I was.

I'm not complaining or anything. I have copied the first season of Lost, AeonFlux, Brokeback Mountain and other neat (OMG, I just said neat) new movies and shows. But of course, I can't be a leecher the entire time and besides, I have my own agenda. Thanks to Bit Torrent and a lot of sneaky bandwidth usage tweaking, I can now resume more fruitful activities.

I have now successfully acquired the first few episodes of Scrubs season 5, half of the new Les Bronzés movie and a quarter of Pink Panther.

And this just right after our company's Integrity session.

Being resourceful is fun!

*********************************************
Phone fun:

I know the perfect person to model this shirt!

All by myself, mexican style

2006-02-28T22:43:00.000+08:00

Sing it Celine Dion style!

All by myseeeellffff...don't wanna beee...all by myyyself...anymooooorrre!!

I've always been comfortable going out alone. I've been to the movies alone, the pool alone, to the mall alone, to a museum alone. I am not one of those girls who would just die if no one's there to go to the powder room with them. I can survive by myself. Sure it's lonely, but just because no one's available to go with you does not mean that you have to waste that perfectly beautiful day to do whatever, right?

So for lunch (I'd say this is pretty much my time zone)/dinner (for those of you who's in regular Pinas time) today I had to eat (sing it!) all by myself.

My regular dinner buddies had dates and no one in the team was hungry yet. I was the only one who was hungry at 7 pm when they usually eat at around 9.

So there I was, my poor self, buying dinner alone, eating dinner alone. But it wasn't that bad. The not so good part was the fact that I had the smarts to get burritos and tacos for dinner when earlier today I had a not so good stomach situation.

Plus, the meal had a side order of beans.
*Red alert* Not good.

Now's the time I'm thankful I was all by myself.

NO! I did not do anything nasty!! (sounds defensive but it's true)
I was just a nice feeling to know that if in case something might suddenly come up, I don't have to excuse myself from anyone.
Eeeewwww...

Now I'll really be all by myself once everyone gets to read this post.
It was good burrito though. Well worth it. I'd say I'd get one again as soon as my stomach settles.

Confessions of a (semi-former) CNN Junkie

2006-02-22T18:41:00.000+08:00

Aside from the Cartoon Network, there were only 2 other english tv channels available in France. Well, for our cable subscription at least (this is right after our illegal cable card which unblocks all stations was blocked).

The choice was easy: BBC was boring and lifeless and CNN had cute journalists. Guess which station I watched the most.

Back then, ask me who anchors which show, what time this show airs, and what color tie Richard Quest was wearing that day and I could answer it in a second. I recorded Business Traveller, asked Terry to send me a copy of her Vinci DVD mix *wave*, and even stalked or at least tried to (we ended up having a 2 hour coffee break just outside their office building) the guy in Rome.

But when I came back to Manila, I didn't have time to watch CNN anymore. Plus the fact that the cable shows/channels here are waaaayyyy better didn't help either. I don't even know who anchors CNN Today anymore nor if Quest even still anchors BI.

Until I saw Vinci's winter olympics report!!
Now I remember why I stalked the guy.

*Photos from Terry

Swoon!

So maybe I'm not a CNN junkie anymore but I can still take a peek at it once in a while if I know hotness like this would likely to come up every now and then.

Blue's clue.

2006-02-21T22:58:00.000+08:00

Guess what the color of the day is:

Server down.

2006-02-20T21:01:00.000+08:00

UGH! It's the down after that natural high.

Work is the last thing on my mind right now. And to think the day's only have done. I still have 5 hours and approximately 16 TPs to contact. Good luck. Maybe I'll try to call 5 TPs per hour, that'll do it. Maybe. If I can muster up the strength that is. And unless my project manager tells me to do it of course.

I've been contacting hundreds (yes, hundreds) of TPs the past few weeks and all that's left for me now are the non-priority ones (read: unimportant). And since the deadline has been long gone, I am not really in the mood to chase people anymore.

So for now, I'll just wallow in my music, pretend to work and try to sleep with my eyes open.

(Now that's one skill that will come in handy in the future).

Pretty boy.

2006-02-20T01:49:00.000+08:00

I've known this for quite some time now. I go for the bad guys. The evil ones who insert a curse in almost every sentence, the ones who are so hard to get along with, the ones who have dark mysterious pasts, in other words, I go for the guys you wouldn't want to introduce to your mother. I don't know why...maybe I like the edge that they have. It's a compliment to my bland personality I guess.

The noble, honest, good to the bone man's charm is wasted on me. I don't like a puny girly man just smiling beside me nodding at everything I say.

I want a man who would force me to do things...the right things at least and give my life, or what's left of it, a direction. Someone who would contradict me in something I'd say so we can have a heated argument and would end up having make-up activites.

I don't want a Jack Shephard (he's damn boring and a know it all), I want a Sawyer.
For the non-Lost fans, it's basically the good doctor vs. the murderer/con man.

In short, I crave for the drama and the conflict.

However I do not know if I can handle it in real life as well as I have had in my dreams.

Saying for the day:

It's not that the glass is half empty or half full. Instead, the question is why isn't the glass the right size to hold the amount of water it's got?

New discovery.

2006-02-18T01:46:00.000+08:00

While sitting in my station waiting for the clock's short hand reach that big black magical 2, I decided to go over my french music collection. Actually, it's not entirely french, but it did come from a french guy (*wave*) . Understandably I haven't listened to each and every track from this 4GB collection. But in sheer boredom I listened a bit to each track: from Arno to Ernest Rangling.

That's right, I only got to 'til the E part when I discovered Ernest Ranglin and his Below the Bassline album.

Can I just say that I love this guy's music!!!

It's really good music to smoke weed in and then make love to. I'm saying this theoretically, not that I've done this kind of thing to know what music it would be good to go with. *smirk*

I'm not good with words so I'm not gonna ruin this moment with more nonsense.

I *heart* this!

Now all I need is a cuppa java, a joint and a ....

Holy hearts day, Batman!

2006-02-14T23:45:00.000+08:00

So it's Valentine's Day, another "holiday" invented by greeting card companies. It's hard to miss since there have been red crepe/cardboard hearts hanging all over the office's ceiling since the beginning of February. Flowers are sold everywhere, and I mean literally everywhere. Offers for couples here and there (buy 1 palm pilot get the second one for your loved one at half the price, free 2 hours at your favorite motel, get a free blow for every prostitute bought, etc.). Chocolates and balloons at every store's window.

To tell you the truth, I have never had a proper Valentine. And when I say proper, I mean a real Valentine date on the day of hearts. And no, I am not bitter because of that. The most fun "date" I've had was when me and a couple of dateless highschool friends when out for dinner and drinks and walked along Manila bay while holding hands because one of us might get "pimped". We ended up scaring each other on the steps of the Manila cultural center and giving our doggie bags to street kids who said a few not so nice things since they were expecting money.

Then it wasn't Valentine's day anymore and the single people were special again.

I actually think it's quite sad that some couples make such a big deal out of this day and make such an effort to make their partner feel special. Wake up and smell the dozen red roses you guys!!!! Everyday should be Valentine's day. You don't need a day that only comes once a year to make her feel special. Everyday should be a special day. Imagine if she'd only agree to having sex with you for one special day. I know that would be a disaster.

In conclusion, f*ck Valentine's day...but not only during Valentine's day.
*if you know what I mean*

Now it's time for me to avail of that free massage they're offering on the 36th floor: the only real good thing about the day of hearts.

Monday blues

2006-02-13T20:02:00.000+08:00

Given that I slept at 6 am this morning, my waking up at 3 pm should be well excused. For the first time in days, the good people at home did not wake me up to eat lunch. Thank you!

9 hours of sleep helps a lot. It would have helped better if I had a proper bed to sleep in (currently, I am sleeping on a very thin mattress 2 inches off the floor, but that's another story). Anyway, I woke up bright and sunny to face the coming work night. I'd need all my energy to be able to keep the headset glued to my head and urge the temptation to take it off and while away the time by surfing, chatting, and chikahan sessions.

But apparently it does not happen that way. I am still waayyy behind schedule (okay, so it's just one day behind...but still!) and all I want to do now is sleep. Ack. Disaster. Not to mention muse nominations for the sportsfest. Double ack! Double disaster! Luckily the only other girl in our team is super pretty and there's a 99% chance that she'll be the one nominated. *whew*

Now I have to go back to work and wish this day was already over.

I hate mondays....

2006-02-13T02:34:00.000+08:00

It has been a sober weekend for me this time around.

A grand aunt passed away and we had to go to the province for the wake, had a creepy german guy ogle me while I was eating my flan, a stupid car accident and now a bad stomach.

Happy weekend to you too.

But then again someone sends you 5 second videos reminding you how special you are. You just can't help but smile...and cry a bit, while laughing at yourself for crying. And it makes your entire day better (except for the fact that you now miss him more than ever) and you forget about the dead, the accident and the stomach and all you remember is that crazy smile.

Whoever said it's only the big things that matter must have had a pretty miserable life.

*ugh! I hate my mushy self!*

It's such a cryin' shame.

2006-02-13T02:06:00.000+08:00

Nakakainis. Nakakaaliw.
Nakakainis na nakakaaliw.

Tumatawa. Umiiyak.
Tumatawa habang umiiyak.

Malayo. Malapit.
Kahit na malayo, parang malapit.

Masaya ang buhay.

****************************

Syempre hindi ko na masabi lahat ng gusto ko sabihin dito sa ingles. Pero dahil ito lang ang outlet ko para sa mga naiisip at nararamdaman, isusulat ko nalang siya sa tagalog. Malamang itatanong din naman sa akin kung anong ibig sabihin ng mga sinulat ko bukas. At mejo nahihirapan din ako magsulat na tagalog lang lahat. Magaling.

Say that again?

2006-02-11T01:24:00.000+08:00

you know what's stopping me?
i'm scared.
i'm mush.
i'm a coward.

you know why I'm not gonna let that stop me?
You.

Astrology schmology.

2006-02-09T01:21:00.000+08:00

So I admit it, I subscribe to daily horoscopes. But let me make it clear that I'm not an astrology buff. I'm not one of those people who'd know what star sign you are just by being with you for 10 minutes then ask..."Let me guess, you're a *insert sign desired here*, right?" Heck, the only sign I know is mine!

Although I have to admit, what I read about my own sign can be surprisingly true, right to the spot, bulls-eye. However, for the daily horoscope forecasts/things whatever you call them, sometimes I just find it funny.

Here's today's horoscope:

Learn how to be more sensitive, and your life will improve.

Wouldn't life be better for everyone if all of us are sensitive to other people?
Wait, don't answer that. 'Coz I myself think otherwise. We can't be sensitive to other people ALL the time!
There are times when we have to fight for what is right regardless of whose feelings we "run over" so to speak. If we think about everyone all the time, we will never get anywhere. We can't please everyone.

Someone once told me (fine, a "fortune teller") that I have a heart made of rock. She's actually 85% right. I am not the most sensitive person in the world and it's true that I might need to be more sensitive from time to time.

She also said that because of this trait I'd become rich and own a nice car.

But then again, according to the stars, my life will also improve if I become more sensitive.

What to do? What to do?

This is why you're not supposed to believe this kind of crap!
(There goes the sensitive me now...)

Hell week.

2006-02-07T01:08:00.000+08:00

Remember when you had philo orals, theo orals, accounting finals and that big project all due within the week?

That's what I'm talking about: Hell week.

Who says hell week only happens in school?

This week is the office version of hell week. Mine.

Deadlines here and there, people to contact, bosses to calm down.

I can already see my stress level shooting up by mid-week.

Don't you just love hell week?

I might just go through my stock of stress-tabs this time around.

More paranoidal thoughts on a saturday morning.

2006-02-04T22:56:00.000+08:00

You know how it's funny you never talk about an issue to the person directly concerning it?
We usually prefer to talk to someone else, everyone else, about it except the person you really should be talking about it to?
Maybe because you think they'd get hurt, maybe because you think YOU would get hurt.
But it all comes down to cowardice.

For that, I am a coward.
I am scared to say things directly because I don't want people to know what I feel.
or that I feel, period.

They might not feel the same way and where would I be left then?
Nowhere.
I'd rather them talk to me first, than me bringing the subject up.
Sure, eventually, we all have to put our cards out on the table.
Confess to everything before we burst of unsaid words.

But I am not ready for it yet.
So for now, I'll continue to pretend that my issue is the least bit of my worries
Continue to talk about you, us, to someone else

...Maybe that's what shrinks are for.
...Well, aside from getting drugs….

Thoughts on a Saburdi morning.

2006-02-04T10:05:00.000+08:00

I never thought I'd miss anyone as much as this.
I never thought I'd be able to miss anyone at all.
It is so not me to be pining away for someone who's thousands of mile away.
Or is it?
People used to think of me as a rock with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth which just happens to have two breasts too.
Heck, frankly, that's what I used to be.
But people change, feelings grow, people grow up
And the rock becomes pulp.

It's weird.
Feelings are supposed to go away after a long time
But this seems to get stronger every single day.
I know it sounds so cliché-ish and cheezy and cheap
(Yes, just like those sayings you find on cheap Korean stationnery)
But that's exactly what I feel right now.
Scary actually.

What's even scarier is that I want the entire world to know it.
This is self-destruction at it's best.
Admiting to love.

By doing this, I am opening myself up to the unknown.
Literally saying, "Here's my heart world, now point me to the wooden stake so I can throw myself at it."
I fall hard, I bleed hard.
But in the end, I know I'd be glad I did it.
Or would I?

Yehey for Friday!

2006-02-04T00:01:00.000+08:00

YES!!! It's finally the much awaited weekend. I'm literally jumping up and down waving my hands and clapping in joy.

After a grueling week at work, I need my damn rest.

Although the headset has been replaced by earphones and I'm still going to spend the entire weekend in front of the computer.

But now it's for a totally different reason and that makes all the difference in the world.

I'm gonna drown myself in nonsense movies and endless hours of sleep.

My brain's starting to shut down little by little counting down the hours 'til I get the hell away from the confines of the office.

Bleh!

See you next week.

Where in the world is XC?

2006-01-27T20:13:00.000+08:00

To answer Mai's question: XC can no longer be found. Except maybe on her bed sleeping the day away or sitting in front of her computer, her headset glued to her head, duh, explaining to french people why the country code on the number flashing on their caller IDs is unrecognizable.

Yes, people, 0063 is the Philippines.

XC is up over her head in work that she no longer has time to go to the mall (a bad sign), go online (a very, very bad sign), nor watch American Idol (lord, save me!).

She barely has time to abuse office resources in between breaks that she needed the entire day just to write this short post.

Once XC has found a way to unglue herself from her ergonomic seat in front of her old 10GB hard drived PC, she will return to civilization and catch up on which Hollywood celeb finally admitted on being anorexic.

Panutsa Spicial

2006-01-10T03:35:00.000+08:00

In all fairness, the panutsa (I didn't know it was spelled like this) was actually not that bad. Some might even say it is indeed spicial (I didn't know this was spelled that way either).

For those of you who do not know what panutsa is, it's some sort of peanut brittle only thicker. In ilonggo it's called bandi. I didn't know what panutsa was before this trip. Being raised in an ilonggo family (well, mostly ilonggo), I thought panutsa was big chunks of brown sugar.

Celebrating 2006

2006-01-05T19:26:00.000+08:00

It's 5 days after the new year so I assume it's not too late to greet everyone a Happy New Year. So what exactly is new this year except for the fact that you write 6 at the end of 200 and not 5 anymore?

I don't feel any different. The monday right after new year I woke up late like usual, went to work grudgingly like usual, parked myself in front of my PC surfing and chatting the night away like usual. In other words I didn't feel like it was a new year at all. It's just one more boring day in the life of Chrissy.

Sure the new year gives us all a reason to prepare all kinds of fruits and dishes that we would not even eat because one of our new year resolutions is to go on a diet, make a whole vat of fruit salad (apparently a must at all new year celebrations), get ourselves drunk with cheap champagne and wine, and spend thousands of pesos so we can light up beautiful fireworks that pollute the air and could result in a couple of stiff necks.

It's the same routine over and over again and again everytime the clock strikes 12 on the 31st of December.

So again, what exactly is happy and new this time around?

The debts I have this year are still the same (or now even more) than what I had last year. The rich are still rich and the poor, still poor.

But with that cheap champagne flowing like the Pasig river, by the time it strikes 12 we are (or at least I am) all already too drunk to actually think why I was celebrating in the first place.

So a happy 2006 to everyone and I hope this one doesn't turn out to be as shitty as the last one.

Bakit?

2005-12-30T01:31:00.000+08:00

Bakit hindi ko alam kung anong nararamdaman ko ngayon?
Bakit ang bilis ng mga pangyayari?
Bakit hindi ako makasabi ng hindi at ayaw ko?
Bakit ako naguguluhan?
Bakit ako natatakot?

Pero bakit excited din ako?

Bakit lahat ng tao pag nakasakay ng elevator, lahat sila nakatingin sa readout kung nasaang floor na kayo?

ang sudden.

Symbols shmimbles

2005-12-27T00:08:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday in church I couldn't help but stare at the young man sitting beside me.

No he was not good looking.

He was however wearing a shirt with an American flag blazing on the front, a swastika pendant and a Che Guevarra cap.

Which makes me wonder...do the young people these days really know what the heck they're doing?? These symbols have become nothing but some fashion thing. I wouldn't even say fashion statement since the ones wearing them don't even know what these mean.

Seriously man, a Swastika??!! And who in their right minds would sell such things? Don't the words Hitler and World War 2 mean anthing to you?!?!

I actually really wanted to grab that pendant and shove it down the guy's throat. Good thing I was in church.

I'm b-o-r-e-d

2005-12-22T21:50:00.000+08:00

The title says it all. Most people would think that this is an ideal work load: zero. I have to admit, not working could be a whole lotta fun. But as with everything, moderation is the key. Not doing anything for an entire week is not moderation at all.

Now I'm wishing I have tons of work to do and to occupy my precious time at the office.

Hang on just a second...did I just actually say that? Haha, that was the best joke of the year.

I have to go splash some cold water on my face before I start saying I love working and that it's all I ever live for.

NBI my a$$

2005-12-20T23:40:00.000+08:00

Of all days that the NBI people decided to update/maintain their system why should it be today?!?! Just when I've scrounged up all the courage and energy (which does not happen often) to brave the LRT system and it's mob of rushing people, I get slammed in the face with a sign: December 20, 2005 NBI clearance processing will be suspended at 12 noon due to computer maintenance.

So guess who gets a boink on the head for going there at 1 pm telling herself that she's just right on time after the lunch break??

Boink!

But in all fairness, losing my way around Carriedo was very informative. I learned that one can get pretty decent Chucks imitations for 400 pesos, 3 pirated DVDs for 100 and lots of other gadgets for pretty decent prices. Although one can easily get intimidated (read: scared shitless) of the people and everything about the place, I sort of kinda wanted to go around and check out what they have to offer.

I didn't have time then. And besides, I was still trying to control the urge to eye everyone who passes by me like they're all suspects on a rape case while clutching tightly on me bag and wishing I had pepper spray with me.

However, thanks to stupid NBI and their lazy computer whatevers (I say they should do the maintenance on a weekend or when there's no work...) I have to go back there soon anyway.

Ugh! Things would be so much simpler if only I could find my original clearance copy and just have it renewed at Park Square.

Am I really working?

2005-12-20T01:21:00.000+08:00

Yes. I really am working. Unless you would differentiate working with employed. In that case I am employed but not working...yet.

30 minutes before I call it a day and so far all I have done is check email, go on breaks and call up G in Paris. Hurrah! As far as I am concerned, this is the only perk I have in this company (even if calls are limited to at most 10 minutes). So overall, I would say this first day is as productive as my first day at the WTO minus the CHF allowance, dammit!

But tomorrow's going to be a busy day albeit not at work. It's errands galore for me tomorrow morning. Did I just say morning? Yes, morning. Considering my shift ends at 2 am (we are on UK time), early morning activities don't really appeal to me just yet. However, these aren't just simple errands. Other people expect me to do it or else their Christmas plans would be ruined which would then lead to my own ruined plans (as if I have some).

So an early start tomorrow means I only have at the most 5 hours of sleep. Doable. It's not like I'm stressing myself out at work.

I think tomorrow's a great time to get myself acquainted with the Quiet Room.

Greeting card plastic from hell

2005-12-16T21:55:00.000+08:00

What is it with the plastic wrapping of greeting cards? Why is it so difficult to take off? Just like those old cd plastic covers. You'd have to either bite the plastic or have really long scissor-like nails to open them.

I tried opening this greeting card I bought and I almost tore the envelope inside into half. I bet it's another Hallmark trick: Make the buyer nearly rip the envelope and even the card itself in half so he/she has to buy a new one again.

It would be easier to just get a piece of bond paper, fold it twice and write something that would make people think you're smart (even though you just copied it from another greeting card) and doodle a malnourished Santa.

Sweet dreams are made of these

2005-12-14T02:53:00.000+08:00

It has been three weeks since the start of the pinas tour. Amazing, but tiring as well. As a matter of fact, I now have fever (or lab-nat as some of you may try to imply). But it was all worth it.

A lot has happened during the 3 weeks that it would be so tiring (reading as well as writing) to post everything. Besides, I don't think I can get back into the groove of blogging yet.

Physically I'm back in Manila, yet psychologically I'm still on vacation. Like some wise man said "Maalala mo Bohol" with a very cute french accent while chilling out at Nuts Huts. The beach and sunset over Santa Fe sure made up for G's highway to hell on the way to Sagada, the freezing cold water in the worst "hotel" we've been to and the terrible weather in Banaue (4kms down the mountain in the rain).

But it was all worth it and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Yes, I know this is such a cheesy line especially coming from moi. I might not be such a heartless bitch after all.

Anyway, like I said, it's back to reality now. Meds for my fever, clearances for work, work. Now don't get me started about that subject. I'm starting on Friday hoping that I'd be all better then. I wouldn't want to get the chills on my first day.

So all I need now is to get more rest, fluids, fluids, fluids and hope for the best.

p.s. I might be getting into the blogging groove sooner than I would have thought if I follow Jem and Cho's work habits.

3 week break

2005-11-22T03:50:00.000+08:00

Once again, I managed to wake up at 3:50 am. My body clock's out of order.

I was not able to go to the clinic Saturday morning...one of my many delaying tactics, as my dad likes to call them. I only went this morning, or yesterday morning if you want to get all technical on me. But the delaying tactics did not stop on Saturday. As usual, peeing on a cup still is a problem for me. I'd rather donate a gallon of blood anytime.

or drive to Tagaytay at 2 am just to make tambay at 7-11. Holler to Cho and Mai - sa uulitin! Baguio naman!!

Anyway, I'm off to see the Philippines and might not be updating...unless I get really bored and find myself in an internet cafe *add evil grin here*.

I'll see you all in December.

I hate medical examinations

2005-11-18T23:10:00.000+08:00

The title says it all.

I have never liked medical examinations, ever! I remember running around the house trying to escape from my syringe brandishing mother and keeping my mouth tightly shut that they had to pinch my nose so I'd be forced to open my mouth and drink cough syrup (which I'd expertly spit out after).

These aren't really medical examinations per se but it has something to do with medicine and doctors.

But I got used to all these after 3 (or probably even 4) hospital confinements. I can drink up to 4 big pills at a time while an incompetent nurse murders my vein while extracting blood. I have to admit though that I still hate drinking syrup (there goes the junkie cough syrup addict me).

However being a veteran confinee (or whatever you call it), I still don't like doing medical examinations for whatever reason.

When I entered university, a medical certificate was needed. Thanks to doctor friends, that was quickly drawn up. First job, medical exam for pre-employment: never went. First license renewal, urine drug test: had to go back the next day and wait for almost an hour to be able to pee in a cup. Have I mentioned I never pee in public toilets?

So here I am again, schedules for a pre-employment medical tomorrow. Ugh. But this as to be done, just to get this over with. But really, a stool sample?!?!? For what?!?!

On the brighter side, after this medical thing clears I'd be able to smoke a little sumtin' sumtin' in the beautiful mountains of Banaue, if you know what I mean.

Bring it on.

Dazed in the mornings.

2005-11-18T07:32:00.000+08:00

Setting up a new blog could take some work. Putting up links, a shout box, setting up the profile and if you're even OC, creating a new template. But I think the hardest part is telling other people that you've changed your blog. Who to tell...and do they really care if you have one or not?!?

As proof of what I wrote yesterday (read: something about one's brain shutting down) I unconsciuosly gave out the wrong URL for this blog. I admit, I really wasn't sure about my URL in the first place.

Long story short, I sent my friends to some chinese blog. I don't even know what it was about since it was all in chinese. It could have been a porn site for all I know (some friends might not be surprised by that, actually - I wonder why).

Needless to say, I had to go back to each of their blogs to give out the correct URL. Yup, hard work.

And today is another early morning start for me. I have some errands to run (naks). In reality, I've always considered myself more of a morning person than an evening one. So being a bit dazed and confused in the mornings is a bit new to me.

I hope I don't mess up as much today as I did yesterday.

And since I don't drink coffee, Where's my hot chocolate?!?!

A fresh start

2005-11-17T03:30:00.000+08:00

It's 3:30 am. The perfect time for a fresh start.

For a goddamn baker that is!!

Now, I'm not a good sleeper which means that when waking up during a REM cycle, I have trouble going back to sleep. Thanks to the 1 message received alert in the middle of the freakin' night, I am now wide awake and ready to face the new day.

at 3:30 am.

So I thought it best to finally move my blog to it's new home. Then thought otherwise. Then decided to go ahead with it. But now I decided to start anew: without the embarassing archives, without the fancy schmancy template (sure), just plain old normal boring blog.

And now here I am, eyes wide open yet brain sealed tightly shut.

All I need is a nice plate of bacon, eggs and rice and I'm ready to go. If only I can muster up the energy to make one.

What a nice way to start a brand new day.