inspirational

backlogged

the problem with not putting into words everything you want to at the exact moment it happens is that you tend to postpone writing about the succeeding events that happen in your life as well. i have so much to blog about but since i was not able to write about one thing, i am now overwhelmed and don't know where to begin.

tomorrow, tomorrow

i love you, tomorrow... you're only a day awaaaaay!!!

going home tomorrow for a much needed two week vacation. yahooooooo!!!!

i am in shock

roger federer just lost to andy murray --- 5-7, 4-6.

he's out of the tournament. there's no federer vs. nadal in the finals. somebody please wake me up.

losing doesn't take away anything

we were having lunch today at arloi dee, a thai restaurant in mason when i realized that paradorn srichaphan was in the same restaurant. i was just watching him last night play against roger federer!!!

i was almost certain it was him. none of my teammates knew who he was and they weren't able to watch him last night. my hunch was confirmed when a girl of about 10 or 12 went up to him. so i decided i will to.

we passed by his table as we were leaving the restaurant and i asked him if he was indeed srichaphan (i made sure i said his name correctly -- thai names are so hard to pronounce!!!). when he said yes, i shook his hand and told him that he played a good game last night. i told him i was ushering so i was able to watch him play. after i congratulated him, i went on my way.

my officemate asked me if srichaphan won last night. he didn't. he was up against federer, the no. 1 player in the whole wide world! but i told him that i congratulated him because he played a good game. it was just unfortunate that he had to go against the top seed. it did not take away the fact that he played well. and i just wanted him to know that he did.

we should always tell someone when he/she does a good job or else how would they know?

breaking up

i was surprised to see my sister online at 4 pm yesterday (that was 4 am manila time). little did i know that there was a bigger surprise waiting for me... not a good one, unfortunately. she asked me to go to her blog site and read it from there. she and her boyfriend of four years have just broken up.

truthfully, i did not have any emotional connection with her ex. i don't have any for all of my sisters' exes and current boyfriends as well. the only exception is my brother-in-law because he is now part of the family. sure, i talk to them when they're visiting or on the occasions that they join us for some family celebrations. but other than that, i've always distanced myself.

needless to say, i was sad for my sister. and it saddens me more that i am not there for her. i don't know if she needs me to be there but still, i wanted to be there just in case she did. i told her i don't have any advice to give. this is probably the one area that she has more experience than i do. although by the end of our conversation, i did give her one advice: that it's okay to be angry, it's okay to be sad. and it's okay that people around her see that.

i have no doubt that she'll eventually be okay. she just needs time to grieve, adjust and then move on. the good thing is that they've agreed to be friends. they've started as friends and they're just not willing to let their friendship go.

boston

there's nothing much to say about my trip to boston except that it was short and was really devoted to work. our day started at 8 am and we did not leave the office until past 6 pm. we did go to a lot of nice restaurants to eat --- summer shack, legal seafoods, cantina italiana and ole mexican grill. by the time we were finished with dinner, it was already dark and we could not do any sightseeing anymore. on our last night, however, ximena kindly drove us to harvard.



unfortunately, we did not see much of the campus. i did have my picture taken rubbing the foot of john harvard's statue. ximena told us that everyone that goes to harvard does that and so we did. that leaves me with one other place i had to go to.

the next day, i woke up reaaaaally early (which was a big thing for me) and walked across the bridge to the other side of the river to... yep, MIT.



i remember requesting for an application form, just to check what i needed to get in. well, i needed around 2 million pesos so that ruled out any chances of me attending MIT. anyway, i was taking pictures outside of the engineering and sciences building when i saw someone go in. seeing that there was no security checking if you're a student or not, i decided to go in as well.

i was in awe the moment i went in. i don't know what it was that made me feel this way. probably the prestige that comes with the school, being one of the best schools in the world. it somehow dawned on me that this was just a dream for me, same as when i dreamt of being an olympian. i am not nor was i ever a very technical person. i don't think i could ever be a great engineer or an exceptional programmer. but i am entitled to dream, aren't i? :)

***

another good thing about boston is... cheesecake factory!!! they have the best cheesecakes, i swear! the godiva cheesecake is still the clear winner. i also tried the chocolate sundae cheesecake (i'm sure this is not the correct name but it's close) and it was also fantastic! yum yum yum!

self control

each person has an image of herself --- a mixture of good and bad traits, unless you're deluded and you see yourself as perfect. believe me, i've never seen myself as perfect. far from it. although one of the things i believe i am is kind. sure, i have my off days when i get all tempramental and become a big time B-I-T-C-H but most of the time, i think i am a nice person. but has it ever happened to you that you meet someone and for some reason that person sets your blood boiling? i did once when i was in high school. and for the longest time, i haven't felt the urge to put out my devil horns out. that is, until now. aaargh! there are times i have to stop myself from blurting out nasty comments when that person speaks. if i could only raise one eyebrow, i would have done it a million times by now. there are even instances when i'd like nothing more than to wring that person's neck. good thing i can control what i say or do. hopefully, i can do this until i no longer have to deal with that person any more.

oh, Lord, give me strength.

trying to get out of my shell

i've always known myself to be an introvert. although i really have to ask my parents and my other relatives if indeed i was, even when i was a child. i distinctly remember my aunt telling me that i would prefer to be in my room, reading than going out and joining a party. between my parents, i think i may have gotten this from my mom. my dad is clearly not an introvert. he always seems to know everyone at a gathering and if not, he would probably do by the time the party ends.

there are times, though, that i put on this extrovert facade for work. i've been the contact in asia for one of the applications that we implement for our client and this involves extensive networking on my part. i've had to talk to people way up in the corporate ladder, plant managers and loads of contacts from different places. and i think i've done well on those instances. so now, the only question is how i can put up my extroverted face when meeting new people outside of work.

i was talking to my cousin bea via ym last week and we've touched on this subject. i told her i was actually envious of the way they (she and her siblings) can easily interact with people. even at this age, i still have a hard time starting a conversation with people i meet or even those that i know but not close to. with friends, it's a different matter. although when you're in a foreign country, you would need to talk to someone new before you can befriend them, right?

this is one of the reasons why i decided to volunteer as an usher in the tennis tournament here in cincinnati. it's the western and southern financial group masters and women's open. of course, i wanted to watch the games for free but i could have simply bought tickets the way i originally meant to. i figured i might meet some new people while i enjoy watching the games. and i did. all of my new acquaintances are way older than i am and i found it to be fun talking to them. they were surprised to learn that i don't play tennis and have been convincing me to take up the sport (since almost everyone plays). i am thinking about it although it's probably going to be difficult to play once i go back home and have no one to play with. other than this, i've not done anything else to "expand my horizons" and meet new people. i've been keeping to myself the way i always have.

someone once told me that i was the serious one in the group (this group being me, irish, rose and martha). i think on groups i am part of, this is the case most of the time. and i guess i'll never be the life of the party or the one that keeps the conversations going but i am trying to find a spot in between. for the mean time, at least.

4th of july weekend

i've been really busy with work these past few days (well, more like weeks) and so i haven't posted much here. but i've been keeping myself busy beyond work, enjoying my remaining time here in the u.s. as much as i can.

i went to orlando, florida with officemates and spent two days going on rides at the universal studios theme park.



it was a 16-hour drive from cincinnati but we really did not mind. i, for one, didn't because the guys were the ones driving and we were only awake to make sure they don't fall asleep behind the wheel. in short, we were there for entertainment purposes. hehehe! we arrived at the hotel, a mere 5-minute dirve away from universal studios, at around mid-afternoon. after freshening up, we decided to just get our tickets, go around the vicinity, take pictures and have dinner. the rides will have to wait the next day. we were more excited than we thought we were, i guess, as we stayed until around 1 am taking pictures around the area. we went back to the hotel exhausted but excited for the next day's activities.

i was the first one up the next day (shocking, i know) since i was the first one asleep as well (my companions still had to work --- yuck, geeky!). after eating breakfast, we headed back to universal studios to take on the rides. our first, and my favorite, was "the revenge of the mummy". it was like an indoor roller coaster with all the effects. there was even fire on the ceiling! that was probably the most exciting ride in the park. all others were tame in comparison but it was fun, nonetheless. we went to "twister" and "earthquake" where they make you experience both natural phenomena, "e.t. adventures" where we like on bikes while travelling through stars and to e.t.'s world; "men in black" wherein we had to shoot aliens; "shrek", a hilarioius 4-d adventure and all the other rides that we could go to within the day. day one over.

we vowed to wake up earlier for day two but tiredness seemed to have caught up with us that we actually started our day later than we planned. this time, we went to islands of adventure, another park in the universal studios resort. we immediately went to the rides that will get us wet --- first stop: popeye and bluto's bile-rat barges. it was like white water rafting although we were seated in a circular raft and we weren't paddling. the water seemed to like me the best as i was the most wet among everyone within the raft. we then went to the ripsaw falls, similar to the jungle log jam that enchanted kingdom has although the log fit all five of us. as always, i was screaming my head off when the log "fell". then we were off to jurassic park. i thought that we wouldn't drop off any incline since we were in a very big "boat" but we did! it was not as steep as the ripsaw falls and wasn't as high but it was still exciting. the change of clothes also meant a change in pace as the other rides we went to were not as exciting as the previous ones. i even went on the cat in the hat carousel. one of the rides i did enjoy was spiderman. it was a 3-d ride but it was like you're also in a roller coaster. it was the best 3-d ride i've ever gone to so far (including the disney ones in tokyo). mind you, we weren't the only adults riding! i did not attempt to go on the really scary rides like the duelling dragons and the hulk. i knew i just would not enjoy myself with those kinds of rides. the guys went, though, as the last ride of the day. reluctantly, we headed home after that. day two over.

it was another long ride home but we were also looking forward to reaching cincinnati to have a good rest. before we went back to our own apartments, we had breakfast at ihop. i told my companions i wanted to go there since i've heard stories from my aunt and my friends that they go there for breakfast and i wanted to try it. soon, everyone else was excited to eat there as well. and we were not disappointed. i soooo loved my stuffed french toast (everyone knows i have a sweet tooth) with my refillable coffee (and of course, about my coffee addiction --- hehehe!). it was a great way to end a wonderful adventure.

more stories soon!