Friday Night

After almost 9 months .... I finally came back and revisited Clark Quay. It was a friend's idea that made us all gathered and danced the night away with a couple of cocktails. It was also nice to see some familiar faces who I only get to see on a night like this.

I hope no one will post my video as someone took a video while I was dancing "Apologize" hahaha! Ended the party at 3AM.

Jacket Hunting

It has been like 10 days since the moment I started looking for a jacket. Nangangatog kasi ako lagi sa office dahil para akong nasa loob ng fridge sa lamig kaya daig ko pa ang buntis sa dalas umuihi. Dahil sa kakuriputan ko, hindi makabili ng jacket ang budget ko na $50, kaya halos hinalughog ko na ang buong Singapore (na makakabili na ng magandang jacket ang naubos ko sa pamasahe sa bus) pero wala akong makita na swak sa pera ko. Hanggang kanina, hindi pa din ako sumusuko at dinala ako ng paa ko sa Nautica .... sa wakas, nahanap ko na din ang jacket na pinapangarap kong design. Lampas hanggang langit man ang presyo kumpara sa budget ko, gustong-gusto ko naman, kaya konek-konek na din. Lalo ko tuloy naisip kung gaano ako kamahal ng parents ko, kasi nung nasa University pa lang ako sa Baguio, para lang akong bumibili ng softdrinks kapag nagpapabili ng jacket sa nanay at tatay ko. Eh ang mamahal ng jacket pero sige lang sila sa pagbili alang-alang sa anak nilang hindi naman alam ang value ng pera. Natuto na din naman pala ako since 1994 to 2009.

Si Jose, na pinoy officemate ko ay may discount naman sa halos lahat ng sports apparels kaya nagamit ko ng todong-todo sa pagbili ng running wallet ng Nike na $19.99 lang naman pero ewan ko ba kung bakit hindi ko mabili.

Charice's latest Single

She came back on Oprah and nailed a song of her own.

Angels and Demons

I was so glad that I watched this movie on a weekend, at least I got my ticket for only $6 cos I don't think this movie deserved my 8 dollars. Nakakainis.

Anyway, mabuti na lang at napagbigyan ko ang tyan ko na kumain ng isang galong blueberry cheesecake yogurt, sarap! Kahit papano naging productive pa din ang gabi ko sa sinehan.

Sunday at Fox & Spoon

Joe invited me and other friends as he will be launching few menus in his cafe. He asked me to bring along my toy as well cos he wanted me to take the images of the new menu. I was surprised to see a lot of people in his cafe, a few good old friends who I have not seen for quite a long while was there, it became a sort of reunion in that sense. At the same time, we celebrated Bernard's birthday, Matthew baked a ginger bread for him.

Here are some of the images I took.

I forgot the name of this drink, a very refreshing one tho

Baked pasta
Beef stew

A green pasta (I forgot the name again)

Weekend at work

My weekend was occupied with work. My beloved client has scheduled an annual shutdown which happened to fall on my 3rd week with them, and as part of my job, I have to be present in both shutdown and startup of everything. Pag suswertihin nga naman.

The photos below were long overdue as it was taken on my first week with IRAS. I was amamzed by the internal design of our building kaya hindi nakaligtas sa camera ko. Salamat sa officemate kong Pinoy na naging taga-kodak ko last-last Friday.

Our pantry (astig di ba?)

This is the Basement 1 where I always passes by every morning

One of the walls of IRAS, still at the Basement 1

Training room

Facade of the building

Outside the lobby

Doc C's Bday Celeb

May 9, 2009 - Gathered the Saturday night at Jacky's house as we celebrated Ate Cleofe's birthday. Konti lang pagkain pero ang sasarap. Ang dami ko ding inuwi na chocolates kasi nagkalat lang sa table. Ang ending, 4 days na masakit ang tyan ko kasi nagulat yata sa balde-baldeng kinain ko.

Movies

May 11, 2009 - Taken.
May 7, 2009 - Xmen Origins: Wolverine

Ofel in Singapore

At talagang nagpasundo pa sa Airport si Bombarda. Tamang-tama naman ang dating ko, kasi almost 10 minutes lang ako na naghintay sa labas bago lumabas ang lakambini ng Purok Talisay. Agaw pansin si insan sa talaga namang nagmumurang PINK na kanyang maleta (na bagay naman sa personality nyang pink din). Hindi na kami nagsayang ng oras at dumiretso nang umuwi sa Kim Keat, then sugod na agad sa Sentosa. Ang una kong pinakain kay Ofel was Hokkien Mee (my ultimate favorite local food). Demanding si Ofe, kasi nagrereklamo ng mainit, na nauuhaw sya, at minsan, nagbibitbit din ako ng camera nya. Pag dating naman sa pikchuran, gusto nya laging madaming shots kahit na iisang pose lang. Pero lagi nya naman sinasabi ang "Ang taba ko" sa lahat yata ng pictures nya. Mabuti na lang sunog ang balat ko ngayong panahong to, kasi kung maputi ako, malamang may isa pa syang dayalog kapag tumitingin sa pictures, no other than ... "Ang itim ko".

We stayed late sa Sentosa kasi we cathed the 8:40pm show of Songs of the Sea. Then after that, we walked the lanes of Clark Quay. Dito na din kami nag-dinner sa isa sa mga Thai restaurant. At sino pa ang magbabayad ng mahal na pagkain kundi ang galing sa Japan, hahaha! Mahina palang kumain si Ofel, kasi naman, ang huli yata naming kain dinner, was 10 years ago pa. Kaya halos hindi ko na din matandaan kung gano ba sya kahinang kumain. Pero mabuti naman at mahina syang kumain, kasi sakin lahat napupunta yung hindi nya maubos.

The following day, we went to the Zoo just to catched the 3 main shows which started at 1:30PM. It was a hot sunny day in the Zoo. After that, we went to Esplanade and have a closer look at the Singapore's icon, which is the Merlion. Walang hilig si insan sa picture, kasi mga 300 lang yata ang pictures nya sa loob ng tatlong araw. Hindi na masama.

Our 2nd night dinner was a Taiwanese food, which happens to be one of my favorites again. We had hardcore dim sum and tasteful beef soup with of course, the main course na shrimp and pork and baby kailan.

The 3rd day was the shopping day. Pinakyaw ni insan ang mga souvenirs sa Chinatown at sa Orchard. Syempre dinala ko sya sa Lucky Plaza kung saan makikita ang mga kabayan natin na "OFF" kapag Sunday. Kaya sa Paragon na kami nag-lunch ng Indonesian food naman (puro na lang peyborit ko to).

At hindi nakaligtas ang beautiful friends ko na ma-meet ni Ofe, kasi on the 3rd day, nag-anak ako ng binyag kaya sinama ko na din si Ofel sa venue, where she met most of my Singapore-based friends.

May kadugtong pa ang shopping namin sa gabi kasi madami pang laman ang wallet ng tinaguriang Miss Poblacion (Most Punctual Award). Teka pala, hindi ko naisulat sa unahan... nagpapalit ng pera si donya at talaga namang nanlaki ang mata ko sa value ng pinalit nya. Kung magkano man yon, secret ko na lang!

Napakabilis ng tatlong araw na visit ni Ofe sa Singapore. Parang wala man lang kami naging time para pag-usapan yung ibang kaibigan namin na halos hindi na din nagpaparamdam. But nevertheless, we had a wonderful moment together as we reunited on behalf of our missing friends. And on the next level, I will really try harder to save money in order to see Japan .... very, very soon.

Cebu-Bohol-Boracay

The much awaited vacation has arrived on April 18-26, 2009. It was my first exit to Luzon kaya mas lalo akong nae-excite. Ok, the trip started with an amazing race round, kasi naman, may two hours lang kami na allowance to transfer from NAIA to Terminal 2, ang ending, wala akong check-in luggage para mabilis ang pagtakbo. Lucky enough, we reached T2 on time. That was the highlight of the first day, ang pagtakbo namin ni Joe from airport to airport.

Day 2: Journey to Bohol. Pero bago kami mag-travel kung saan-saan, dumaan na muna kami ni Joe sa Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu. We started the day tour with the guidance of Roy who was recommended by Mylah. The highlight of day 2 was the encounter with tarsier, kasi ilalagay sa ulo ko nung bantay nang wala man lang paalam. Ayun, sumakit ulo ko sa takot kasi parang daga ang buntot. We cruised at the Loboc River and had buffet lunch. We met new friends from Korea, kaya pala kami kinaibigan eh para lang pagpraktisan ng ingles nila.

After lunch, we drove to see Chocolate Hills. Where I got this coolness photo. Then the tarsiers, then the oldest church in Bohol, then the Blood Compact thingy, then we reached our resort just in time for the dinner. Sa sobrang pagod sa day tour, dinaig namin ang construction worker sa pagkain ng seafood.

Day 3: Isang umagang mahangin at maulan ang bumati sa amin. While I was preparing for our island hopping and dolphin watching, narinig ko ang isang ale na nagsabi ng "gusto pa naming mabuhay kaya hindi na lang muna kami mag-a-islang hopping ngayon". Di ba syempre dapat kabahan ako sa sinabi nya, pero lalo naman kaming na-excite ni Joe na lumabas :) And we were lucky enough to caught hunderds of dolphins after 30 minutes of sailing in the strong waves of Bohol sea. The whole day was cloudy, but it was the same cloudy day na sumunog sa balat ko.

I met a friend in Balicasag, isa syang aso. As in dog, he or she, I don't know. Lagi syang sumusunod sakin, and kapag umupo ako, uupo din sya. I was taking pictures of the boat while nakaupo ako, tapos silip sya ng silip sa viewer ng camera na parang bata na gusto makisilip ng camera. Pero pag pinipicturan ko naman sya, laging umiirap sakin. I think this dog must be someone from the past na naging aso, hahaha! Tapos nung aalis na ako sa Balicasag, para syang iiyak na nakatingin lang :(

to be continued ......

Day 4: I was standing in front of majectic sunrise in Bohol as I woke up very early as we need to travel back to Cebu. Myself and Joe were totally disrupted by the our painful sunburnt skin caused by our Bohol island hopping. And so we decided to consult specialist where we were given skin medicines. We need to do this in preparation of the Boracay getaway.

Once we applied the cream on our skin, we took time to explore the city of Cebu where we had a day tour. Without exaggeration, hindi kaya ng balat ko na ma-expose sa araw ng kahit na 5 seconds lang after the sun-tragedy. Sumisigaw talaga ako sa sakit. Maraming salamat sa medication dahil kahit papano, may protection na ang balat ko. We went to the Tops, a place overlooking the whole city of Cebu.

It was also on the day 4 where we had (what we claimed the best meal of all) farewell dinner to Cebu.

Day 5 (Wednesday): It was our flight to Boracay, pero we took time to drop by at the Basilica de Sto. Nino bago kami maglamyerda uli. With just a minor pain ng balat, medyo nakakalakad na kami ni Joe ng maayos on day 5.

We reached Boracay at 1:30PM.

Ang una naming hinanap sa Boracay ..... D Mall. Hindi ako na-disappoint sa shopping area kasi madami naman silang surfer shorts.

Our first gimmick night was in the Bamboo Lounge. Ang sarap mahiga sa matress nila na nasa sea shore lang. Parang naririnig ko pa ang agos ng dagat habang umiinom ng Sex on the Beach na may paminsan-minsang paghiga sa matress para manood ng sparkling stars sa kalawakan.

Day 6 (Thursday): Parasailing and helmet diving day. It was very peaceful up in the sky. Halos hindi ko na naririnig yung speed boat na humihila sa balloon namin. With a bird's view of fantastic Boracay, I took time to close my eyes kahit na ilang seconds lang para maramdaman yung solemn moment. Until Joe shouted these words ... "let us pee, its not everyday you can pee on such a high ground!"

When the sun sets, the party begins. Bar hopping kami ni Joe, naka-3 bars yata kami.

Day 7 (Friday): Island hopping and trip to Mt. Luho. Sobrang nag-enjoy ako sa island hopping kasi nakapag swimming kami finally sa iba't-ibang cave. Sa gilid ng Crocodile Island ang snorkeling area. Ang sarap tumalon sa bangka habang tumatakbo pa!! Crystal clear waters na nakikita ko na halos ang mga isda kahit na almost 20 feet pa ang lalim ng tubig.

Pero ito din ang moment na muntik na akong malunod .... medyo malayo ako sa boat namin nang biglang lumakas ang current ng tubig na humila sakin papalayo. Ang ending, para akong binugbog sa pagod para lang marating ang boat.

On this night, nakainuman ko si Richard and his two female friends na inakay pauwi sa kalasingan. Joe was also very lasing pero nakayanan pa namang umuwi ng hotel dahil alam nya na iiwan ko sya.

Day 8 (Saturday): We had the most expensive lunch of our trip. Not that we planned for it, but it just happened that our bill had climbed up to P1,600 with just an italian pizza, cordon blue and fresh mango juice.

Day 9 (Sunday): Time to leave the island. We headed to Manila with Donaire on board. We had breakfast sa Manila na, and lunch sa Mall of Asia with my family. Bago kami ihatid sa airport, hindi ko pinalampas ang halo-halo sa Razon.