on cue 3, the annual billiards meet participated by the best players around the world has started. being a big fan of billiards, i am not missing this event. and being a true-blue filipino, i am rooting for team philippines specifically for efren "bata" reyes and django bustamante. i'm also a fan of mika immonen, winner of last year's competition (wooohoo! guwapo!).
faye and i were glued to the tv as we watched marcus chamat battle it out with bata reyes. they were evenly matched during the first few games, bata only advancing one rack at the most. and then there was this second rack wherein chamat made the break and pocketed the 9th ball! no effort whatsoever! but when bata finally warmed up, there was absolutely no stopping him. he blazed through the remaining racks and left chamat exasperated and resigned to his fate.
calling all the billiards fans out there... this is something to watch!
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
...98...99
...100!
i finally reached a hundred posts today!
i was hoping to achieve this milestone when my blog turned a year old but i realized it a little too late. oh well, better late than never. :)
i started the blog to indulge a friend who, may i say, has the talent for this. sometimes, it has really been a struggle to write. other times, words just flow out of my brain and into the keyboard. that explains the million times i have to edit my posts (though i am fairly sure i have a lot of incorrectly spelled words and sentences using the wrong grammar). when i couldn't use my own words, i quote a phrase, a line, and most of the time, songs that would express what i wanted to say.
this has never been the perfect blog. it will never be. but this has been my way of sharing how i feel or think at that moment, my way of communicating, of updating people what is happening in my life. as i look back at all the things that happened, i am happy that some of those moments were captured here. thankful also for all my friends and some other good souls who have come and read my posts, commented and left me messages.
hoping to survive another blogging year. :)
i finally reached a hundred posts today!
i was hoping to achieve this milestone when my blog turned a year old but i realized it a little too late. oh well, better late than never. :)
i started the blog to indulge a friend who, may i say, has the talent for this. sometimes, it has really been a struggle to write. other times, words just flow out of my brain and into the keyboard. that explains the million times i have to edit my posts (though i am fairly sure i have a lot of incorrectly spelled words and sentences using the wrong grammar). when i couldn't use my own words, i quote a phrase, a line, and most of the time, songs that would express what i wanted to say.
this has never been the perfect blog. it will never be. but this has been my way of sharing how i feel or think at that moment, my way of communicating, of updating people what is happening in my life. as i look back at all the things that happened, i am happy that some of those moments were captured here. thankful also for all my friends and some other good souls who have come and read my posts, commented and left me messages.
hoping to survive another blogging year. :)
Monday, August 23, 2004
i have a crush
no, i am not going to divulge his name. what this is, it does not fit my normal definition of a crush. hindi nga ako kinikilig, e. i don't even think of him that often. in fact, i hardly think of him at all. and when i do think of him, i don't have this bursting emotion inside but just a warm and fuzzy feeling. he's got above average looks, he's smart and funny, he's kind and caring. do you know someone who is just downright good? he's one of those.
we're somewhere in between friends and acquaintances so we aren't that close but there is a sense of familiarity there. we joke around. we even have lunch together sometimes.
so why is he different from the others? why is it that he's worth a blog entry? i don't know.
there were just some instances recently that had me smiling because of him. and it's a nice thing, being able to smile because you thought of someone.
yes, i admit, it would've been nice if he was indeed my full-fledged crush with me having this goofy smile on my face all day and just feeling like i'm ready to burst. on the other hand, i will pity my friends who will have to endure me telling them every little detail of every minute encounter that we have. i would've wanted that since it's been a while since i've had that feeling. but i think i'd rather have this for now. a quiet admiration for him.
his girlfriend is one lucky girl. :)
we're somewhere in between friends and acquaintances so we aren't that close but there is a sense of familiarity there. we joke around. we even have lunch together sometimes.
so why is he different from the others? why is it that he's worth a blog entry? i don't know.
there were just some instances recently that had me smiling because of him. and it's a nice thing, being able to smile because you thought of someone.
yes, i admit, it would've been nice if he was indeed my full-fledged crush with me having this goofy smile on my face all day and just feeling like i'm ready to burst. on the other hand, i will pity my friends who will have to endure me telling them every little detail of every minute encounter that we have. i would've wanted that since it's been a while since i've had that feeling. but i think i'd rather have this for now. a quiet admiration for him.
his girlfriend is one lucky girl. :)
Thursday, August 19, 2004
tiring
my mind is exhausted.
i rushed in the office this morning to finish the presentation for the training i would be conducting. a training, may i say, that i am not confident of giving because i am fairly new at the job. my fear is based on the possibility of teaching my trainees something wrong and them being newer in this role than i am, they are bound not to question. but what if in the future they might do something with this wrong thing that i taught them stuck in their heads? i would really rather have all my information (especially the ones i am imparting to be correct). on top of trying to finish the presentation, i open my email to find an issue that needs to be solved urgently. it would've been great if, upon seeing the problem the solution immediately pops in my head. but no. i had to go to the system to check the data and log into the internet to verify everything. ready to talk to my contact in china, i find that she's already out for lunch.
after lunch, i conduct a training that had me talking for two whole hours. hopefully, my trainees learned something within that span of time. i go back to my workplace to finish the issue i had this morning but wanting to make sure my solutions are correct, i go and chase some colleagues to have my questions answered. when i finally was going to implement the fix in the production system, i find that i have no access to do that! so i again have to chase another person to do the fix for me! there was another problem that we had to fix which thankfully was a whole lot easier to do.
by 830 pm, my meetings started.
the first one lasted for an hour and a half. the second was over in a little over an hour. there was another meeting that i was supposed to have but luckily, my contact in latin america had another meeting lined up so we had to reschedule on monday.
good thing it's already friday tomorrow. i am so looking forward to the weekend.
==========
on a sour note, the post above is not my original entry. i just pressed the publish button after having one of the easiest times writing when my connection fails and i could not recover anything. the internet must be tired as well.
i rushed in the office this morning to finish the presentation for the training i would be conducting. a training, may i say, that i am not confident of giving because i am fairly new at the job. my fear is based on the possibility of teaching my trainees something wrong and them being newer in this role than i am, they are bound not to question. but what if in the future they might do something with this wrong thing that i taught them stuck in their heads? i would really rather have all my information (especially the ones i am imparting to be correct). on top of trying to finish the presentation, i open my email to find an issue that needs to be solved urgently. it would've been great if, upon seeing the problem the solution immediately pops in my head. but no. i had to go to the system to check the data and log into the internet to verify everything. ready to talk to my contact in china, i find that she's already out for lunch.
after lunch, i conduct a training that had me talking for two whole hours. hopefully, my trainees learned something within that span of time. i go back to my workplace to finish the issue i had this morning but wanting to make sure my solutions are correct, i go and chase some colleagues to have my questions answered. when i finally was going to implement the fix in the production system, i find that i have no access to do that! so i again have to chase another person to do the fix for me! there was another problem that we had to fix which thankfully was a whole lot easier to do.
by 830 pm, my meetings started.
the first one lasted for an hour and a half. the second was over in a little over an hour. there was another meeting that i was supposed to have but luckily, my contact in latin america had another meeting lined up so we had to reschedule on monday.
good thing it's already friday tomorrow. i am so looking forward to the weekend.
==========
on a sour note, the post above is not my original entry. i just pressed the publish button after having one of the easiest times writing when my connection fails and i could not recover anything. the internet must be tired as well.
Monday, August 16, 2004
housewarming, heart-warming
saturday was a busy day for me. though it started out late, partly because i arrived home late from the implementation team party and partly because i really have a hard time getting up early. it was probably the latter. anyway, i went to makati to help rose buy food for her housewarming though she did have everything planned out already. we bought bread from french baker, empanada from empanada royale and chips and drinks plus our breakfast the next day in rustan's. we were rushing from glorietta to landmark to rustan's and back again to landmark until our feet were hurting!
it was already past 3 pm and we already bought everything for the housewarming except that i didn't have a housewarming gift yet! we were looking for something but could not find it (i'd rather not say what it is)
until we saw some vases (this time ceramic and for flowers). we had a hard time choosing among a green one with a gold stripe (exactly matching rose's color scheme), a white one (supposedly to match an "egg-shell" seat in the apartment) and a creme one with light brown accents (rose didn't want those like hardwood anymore). so after a lot of thinking (not quite because we didn't really have much time), we opted to buy the third vase. talk about throwing away the anticipation of opening a gift. hehehe! :)
rose and i parted ways for a while since i was going to u.p. and she was having her nails done (she really was into "decorating" that day --- hehehe!). i was already very late since i was supposed to meet up with jenp, myn and ginia at 3 pm. they were still in the dressmaker's place when i arrived at the "new" meeting place so i waited for a while (i didn't have the right to complain since i was two hours late!).
i was really excited when i saw jen followed by myn's car. ginia wasn't able to stay around since she had to bring her mom somewhere and she had to go to work. after a short session of hi's and hello's, we proceeded to red ribbon in katipunan to have some merienda. as always, we started to update ourselves with what's happening. i suddenly realized i was so out of the loop. i must start keeping in touch more often. i did have a wonderful time catching up with my friends though time was definitely short.
by 630 pm, i was on my way back to oriental gardens for the housewarming. i arrived to see ate christy, kuya dennis, blesh, brian and helena with rose. we went to see some of their showrooms (i liked them all!) and to the pool area (upon which i told rose --- not asked, mind you --- to invite us again when we can already use it). back at rose's unit, we ate and ate and ate until we were all stuffed and it was time to go home. before that, however, we had to take our pictures. most of which were candid, because of kuya dennis. :) after everbody left, rose and i, as always spent the night talking and watching tv and eating (again!).
though the day left me tired and my feet aching, it was all worth it. a great saturday, definitely.
it was already past 3 pm and we already bought everything for the housewarming except that i didn't have a housewarming gift yet! we were looking for something but could not find it (i'd rather not say what it is)
until we saw some vases (this time ceramic and for flowers). we had a hard time choosing among a green one with a gold stripe (exactly matching rose's color scheme), a white one (supposedly to match an "egg-shell" seat in the apartment) and a creme one with light brown accents (rose didn't want those like hardwood anymore). so after a lot of thinking (not quite because we didn't really have much time), we opted to buy the third vase. talk about throwing away the anticipation of opening a gift. hehehe! :)
rose and i parted ways for a while since i was going to u.p. and she was having her nails done (she really was into "decorating" that day --- hehehe!). i was already very late since i was supposed to meet up with jenp, myn and ginia at 3 pm. they were still in the dressmaker's place when i arrived at the "new" meeting place so i waited for a while (i didn't have the right to complain since i was two hours late!).
i was really excited when i saw jen followed by myn's car. ginia wasn't able to stay around since she had to bring her mom somewhere and she had to go to work. after a short session of hi's and hello's, we proceeded to red ribbon in katipunan to have some merienda. as always, we started to update ourselves with what's happening. i suddenly realized i was so out of the loop. i must start keeping in touch more often. i did have a wonderful time catching up with my friends though time was definitely short.
by 630 pm, i was on my way back to oriental gardens for the housewarming. i arrived to see ate christy, kuya dennis, blesh, brian and helena with rose. we went to see some of their showrooms (i liked them all!) and to the pool area (upon which i told rose --- not asked, mind you --- to invite us again when we can already use it). back at rose's unit, we ate and ate and ate until we were all stuffed and it was time to go home. before that, however, we had to take our pictures. most of which were candid, because of kuya dennis. :) after everbody left, rose and i, as always spent the night talking and watching tv and eating (again!).
though the day left me tired and my feet aching, it was all worth it. a great saturday, definitely.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
party time
it was supposed to be a hollywood theme party but i didn't have any diva chic-y thing to wear like the invitation said so i went to the implementation party dressed as me (what do we know, i may end up in hollywood --- not!). the party organizers did dress up, however. krizel, together with rolan, dressed up as drew barrymore and adam sandler in 50 first dates while audrey dressed up as vikki hiller, renee zelleweger's best friend in down with love. i wasn't expecting anybody to dress up but irene came as kim cattrall in sex in the city. she really looked good, i must say.
the party started out slowly, with people mostly just eating and sitting around. that is, until they decided that we had to drink the beer bought for the party so we played charades. annother hurrah for irene... we won because of her. she was the one who was acting all of the movies for our team during the game. but that did start the drinking. paul was giving vodka shots to everyone. i never had a straight vodka before and i really think it's more potent than tequila (that, i had much experience drinking). i also had a bottle each of smirnoff and the vodka ice (which i didn't know i missed).
it was all in all a fun night, with the games, the stories and the dancing. we had to go early, though, but i still enjoyed myself. i'm looking forward to the next one. :)
the party started out slowly, with people mostly just eating and sitting around. that is, until they decided that we had to drink the beer bought for the party so we played charades. annother hurrah for irene... we won because of her. she was the one who was acting all of the movies for our team during the game. but that did start the drinking. paul was giving vodka shots to everyone. i never had a straight vodka before and i really think it's more potent than tequila (that, i had much experience drinking). i also had a bottle each of smirnoff and the vodka ice (which i didn't know i missed).
it was all in all a fun night, with the games, the stories and the dancing. we had to go early, though, but i still enjoyed myself. i'm looking forward to the next one. :)
Thursday, August 12, 2004
two become one
i decided to join the two blog sites that i have. so all my posts are here, whether they be in english, tagalog, those with sense and even those just random thoughts. as long as i can articulate them, one way or another, they'll find their way in this blog. :)
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
gut feel
you know how you sometimes have that nagging feeling that there was something that you are supposed to be remembering but for one reason or another, your mind just isn't cooperating and no matter how hard you try all you come up is a blank? i just had that episode yesterday evening and i'm refraining from calling myself an idiot but that is how i see myself right now because i didn't take heed. as ginia would say... *pok!* (hitting myself on the head)
listen to your instincts. most of the time, it's right.
listen to your instincts. most of the time, it's right.
Monday, August 09, 2004
in His time
we make plans... sometimes for ourselves, sometimes concerning the people we love. for a while, everything goes as we want them to then... bam! things fall out of place. then we get lost. uncertainty comes in. sometimes, we even question God why things have to happen that way.
but in spite of all the not-so-good things that happen, we have to keep our faith. we have to believe that God has His own plans, sometimes not the same as we have. we have to believe that God's plans are better than ours. that everything happens not in our time but in His.
but in spite of all the not-so-good things that happen, we have to keep our faith. we have to believe that God has His own plans, sometimes not the same as we have. we have to believe that God's plans are better than ours. that everything happens not in our time but in His.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
u.p. naming mahal
i am not a morning person. i never was. and so it was a struggle for me to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to accompany my brother to take the upcat. but since i didn't have a choice, there was nothing i could do but to drag myself out of bed this morning. good thing that our uncle was kind enough to drive us to diliman since the traffic inside u.p. was really bad. it was expected considering thousands of students flock to the diliman campus to take the upcat each year.
it was actually nice going back to my alma matter. i had a great time during college and reminiscing just came instantly to me. telling my sister what buildings were around the campus, where i usually stayed and where we took some pictures just came flowing out of my mouth.
u.p. has been my haven for five years. i know that whatever other people say about it, i wouldn't have gone to any other school. and i do hope my brother would get to experience all the wonderful things i had in this great university.
it was actually nice going back to my alma matter. i had a great time during college and reminiscing just came instantly to me. telling my sister what buildings were around the campus, where i usually stayed and where we took some pictures just came flowing out of my mouth.
u.p. has been my haven for five years. i know that whatever other people say about it, i wouldn't have gone to any other school. and i do hope my brother would get to experience all the wonderful things i had in this great university.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
super fast... finally!
i've been pestering the people from pldt every other day and what do you know, it worked! after waiting for i-don't-know-how-many weeks, i finally have dsl! no more painstakingly slow dial-up. wooohoooo!!!
Friday, August 06, 2004
friday merienda
when we were still staying at the office in 6750, we had a friday merienda. our admin assistant would group the 14th floor employees and we would prepare for that week's snacks. even when we moved up to the 16th floor and there were more people, we still managed to have the regular get-together at around 3 pm. work stops around that time. even conference calls were not scheduled on friday at that time. and we even had themed meriendas. there was a time when there was a pizza merienda (the group decided to buy different kinds of pizza), a filipino merienda (rice cakes, pansit and sago), chinese merienda (noodles and dimsum) and all other kinds of food you can possibly think of. well not really all... we haven't had weird food yet. :)
but when we transferred offices, this "tradition" stopped. maybe because our pantry is so small it could only fit a maximum of twelve people. or maybe because the other people we had the merienda with at 6750 were in a different floor already. and we couldn't possibly have merienda for the whole organization. so we had to content ourselves to our own snacks or going down to buy turon and babana cue.
that changed, however. we had our first friday merienda today! we had barbecue, two kinds of pansit, sapin-sapin, lumpia and puto. yum! the merienda was a welcome break for us (it's friday and we were looking forward to going home alrady). aside from that, it was a good opportunity for us to chat with our colleagues, especially those who are located in the other side of the room.
good food and good company on a friday. i can't complain.
but when we transferred offices, this "tradition" stopped. maybe because our pantry is so small it could only fit a maximum of twelve people. or maybe because the other people we had the merienda with at 6750 were in a different floor already. and we couldn't possibly have merienda for the whole organization. so we had to content ourselves to our own snacks or going down to buy turon and babana cue.
that changed, however. we had our first friday merienda today! we had barbecue, two kinds of pansit, sapin-sapin, lumpia and puto. yum! the merienda was a welcome break for us (it's friday and we were looking forward to going home alrady). aside from that, it was a good opportunity for us to chat with our colleagues, especially those who are located in the other side of the room.
good food and good company on a friday. i can't complain.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
feel good
i love watching movies, may it be in the movie theater with a bag of popcorn or just at home via our trusted dvd player. it's like you're transported in another place and another time. sometimes, i even feel like i am part of the story that is playing in front of me. i have always been like that, though. even in the books i read. but that's a different story. :)
one of my favorite feel-good movies is centerstage.
i'm not sure if this was ever shown here in manila but i bought an original video cd so i can watch it over and over again. that's big, considering i would shell out a couple more pesos to have an original version. :) why do i like it? maybe because it's a very light movie injected with a bit of humor here and there. maybe it's because the soundtrack is catchy and the choreography is great. or maybe because it's my childhood fantasy to become a ballerina (the closest i got was sitting in ate tetet's class in my black leggings and leotards, beside ate's teacher).
another feel good movie that i just discovered recently is 13 going on 30.
the movie is about jenna rink, your typical girl-next-door who tries so hard to be cool and accepted by the a-list crowd in her school. five days shy of her birthday, she holds a party at her house and is locked in the closet when her classmates trick her into thinking she'll be playing 7 minutes in heaven with her crush. the game doesn't go as planned and she wishes that the was thirty (after reading about it in her favorite magazine). she wakes up the next day with her wish granted. she's suddenly skipped 17 years of her life, and being so different from the person that she was. i won't ruin the story and tell you everything... all i can say is that jennifer garner was absolutely adorable in this movie. and so is mark ruffalo. go and watch it if you want to make sure you're smiling after the movie is over. by the way, jennifer garner's clothes? wow.
one of my favorite feel-good movies is centerstage.
i'm not sure if this was ever shown here in manila but i bought an original video cd so i can watch it over and over again. that's big, considering i would shell out a couple more pesos to have an original version. :) why do i like it? maybe because it's a very light movie injected with a bit of humor here and there. maybe it's because the soundtrack is catchy and the choreography is great. or maybe because it's my childhood fantasy to become a ballerina (the closest i got was sitting in ate tetet's class in my black leggings and leotards, beside ate's teacher).
another feel good movie that i just discovered recently is 13 going on 30.
the movie is about jenna rink, your typical girl-next-door who tries so hard to be cool and accepted by the a-list crowd in her school. five days shy of her birthday, she holds a party at her house and is locked in the closet when her classmates trick her into thinking she'll be playing 7 minutes in heaven with her crush. the game doesn't go as planned and she wishes that the was thirty (after reading about it in her favorite magazine). she wakes up the next day with her wish granted. she's suddenly skipped 17 years of her life, and being so different from the person that she was. i won't ruin the story and tell you everything... all i can say is that jennifer garner was absolutely adorable in this movie. and so is mark ruffalo. go and watch it if you want to make sure you're smiling after the movie is over. by the way, jennifer garner's clothes? wow.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
celebrations
it's been getting harder and harder for my friends and i to get together since most of us moved to new companies. before, we'd just stand up from our workplaces and plan our gimik right then and there. within a few hours, we'll be playing billiards or bowling or having dinner together.
we finally got together again after a looong time. we went to soulfood in greenbelt, one of our favorite restaurants. we were just a small group but it was nice seeing old friends, nevertheless. martha announced that she was finally free of her binding contract which is always a cause for celebration. then bert said that he was finally transferred to the makati office after so many months of requesting it to a manager who's... (inappropriate words deleted here). of course, the main reason why we were there was because eden was looking into transferring companies. something which doesn't have the exhaustively long hours that she's keeping in her current one.
i wasn't particularly celebrating anything then but then again, there is always a cause for celebration. i am celebrating
we finally got together again after a looong time. we went to soulfood in greenbelt, one of our favorite restaurants. we were just a small group but it was nice seeing old friends, nevertheless. martha announced that she was finally free of her binding contract which is always a cause for celebration. then bert said that he was finally transferred to the makati office after so many months of requesting it to a manager who's... (inappropriate words deleted here). of course, the main reason why we were there was because eden was looking into transferring companies. something which doesn't have the exhaustively long hours that she's keeping in her current one.
i wasn't particularly celebrating anything then but then again, there is always a cause for celebration. i am celebrating
- having a good meal and an enjoyable time with old friends
- seeing others reach their goals or at least, a step towards it
- having a good company to work for
- new beginnings
- all the things that my life is blessed with
Sunday, August 01, 2004
magda-drive ako hanggang...
i finally mustered enough courage to take out the car and practice my very little driving skills. it's been quite some time since i sat in the driver's seat and had to do adjust. i think i was "resting" too long when i started the car and instead of stepping on the brakes, i stepped on the gas pedal! good thing i had it on park or else i would've hit another car!
aljo and i took turns bringing mom to the clinic, driving home, bringing mom to the church, going home, bringing mom to her friend's house and going back home again. aljo was clearly getting better than i am in driving (little did i know that he was taking out the car everyday and driving it around). and that inspired me to learn how to drive real soon!
i also took a spin last sunday when we went to hillsborough to visit tita baby and tito ronnie's new house. it was great to drive around in hillsborough because the streets were wide and there was very little traffice (almost none) so you can speed up a little without worrying about hitting another car.
note however that speeding up for me is going above 40 kph.
aljo and i took turns bringing mom to the clinic, driving home, bringing mom to the church, going home, bringing mom to her friend's house and going back home again. aljo was clearly getting better than i am in driving (little did i know that he was taking out the car everyday and driving it around). and that inspired me to learn how to drive real soon!
i also took a spin last sunday when we went to hillsborough to visit tita baby and tito ronnie's new house. it was great to drive around in hillsborough because the streets were wide and there was very little traffice (almost none) so you can speed up a little without worrying about hitting another car.
note however that speeding up for me is going above 40 kph.
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