hey, hey, hey....crazy!

oh my...i am so sorry :( i've been busy with a project that has taken up most of my time; so much that i haven't blogged for close to three weeks already!

well, things are definitely crazy, sometimes crazy good but most of the time, crazy bad *sigh* but, let's not get into that....

what happened since we last "saw" each other? well, the pac man has done it again! crazy isn't it? his fight against dela hoya was telecast sunday, december 7 and boy, you should've been outside! no traffic whatsoever; i bet that edsa was one hell of a smooth ride all the way from quezon avenue (because from monumento to north avenue, it's crazy what with the construction of the lrt - mrt link)to taft. restaurants had a tv set up, people indoors were glued to their tv. crazy. i wonder if his next fight (is it going to be ricky hatton?) were to be telecast during a weekday, would companies and businesses operate or would they close because everybody is on leave for the fight? hmmmmm ....crazy? maybe not...

it's that wonderful time of the year...

aside from my birthday, christmas has always been my fave holiday (yes, my birthday is a holiday, a personal holiday :) ). when i was young, i loved it because christmas meant trees, decorating the tree, making snow angels, snowball fights (rarely do i get into one because we weren't really allowed to play outside), fantastic lawn decorations, santa in the malls, the presents and so much more but most of all, i loved waking up and seeing our snow-covered lawn, unblemished with footprints, human or otherwise :)

when i came to the philippines, christmas took on an entirely different meaning. christmas starts on september one because it ushers in the BER months (septemBER, octoBER...get it?). nowadays, i get more text messages on september 1 than i do on december 25 (how's that for trivia? :)) in the states, there's still halloween and thanksgiving before christmas but here, there's only all saints and all souls day on november 1 and 2 so you can just imagine how early houses start bringing out the tree and wreaths. then you have your bibingka and puto bumbong vendors outside churches making your stomach growl with the aroma of those goodies and of course, the simbang-gabi. you really know it's christmas

in the malls, it gets crazy as well. i took pictures of landmark's area for christmas decorations at the ground floor. although there are more decorations in the home section of the department store, they of course, brought some of the stuff downstairs in the selling area right smack in the middle.

main thoroughfares in the city, ayala avenue, edsa, gilmore (where the spectacular lanterns are on display and are for sale...) even north avenue already have the christmas lights and decor in place. it really does lend some christmas cheer to an otherwise bleak outlook what with the economic setbacks everyone is facing

*sigh* it is christmas and i cannot avoid it. neither can i avoid feeling so sad about the season. up until 4 years ago, like i mentioned, it was my favorite season. now, it just reminds me of so much sadness and loneliness. this year, will i begin to look forward to christmas with anticipation? will i feel the excitement, happiness and cheer again? i know you're going to say that the true reason why we celebrate christmas goes beyond our personal burdens or situations. i know, but i'm just ... human.

the 44th

the people have spoken

adorable enzo

i'm a godmother again. saturday, october 11 was lorenzo antonio s. rivera's dedication; enzo for short. enzo is the muy gwapito son of my dearest friends ben & tess who got married in 2003 then migrated to canada. they were here two years ago and this year, they're back for the dedication. the occasion also served as some sort of reunion for the petiks gang.

i *heart* globe....

i *heart* globe. i do. i truly do. oh my god...i love my service provider, i love globe. yesterday, last night rather, i was at my wits' end on how i was going to get my moto razr v3x up and running as a modem. i needed, desperately needed, an internet connection. i didn't make it to the internet cafe and i had to send an assignment. aarrrgghh...what am i going to do? when i got home, i tried to set up my phone using the motorola phone tools program but, to no avail. i even used up my prepaid credits because i dialled the isp ergo, i was charged per minute for the rate of mobile to landline...AARRRGGGHHHH how stupid could i be? i called the globe hotline. the customer service rep couldn't really help me, i wasn't actually expecting he would solve my problem. truth be told, i was frustrated. i just informed the people expecting my assignment that i had trouble with my internet connection.

this morning, i went to my "satellite office", trinoma and first order of business: send my assignment with profuse apologies for the delay. once that was accomplished, i checked my mail. then, i received a call; it was from globe technical support. the tech rep's name was ron (ron, thank you so much!) and he guided me thru the process of setting up my v3x and internet connection to globe. it really helped that i was in front my laptop and my mobile was connected so the whole process was smooth, easy and fast. i gotta hand it to ron, he was patient with me. now, i wasn't an angry customer; i was nice :) believe me, i'm usually an assertive customer.

when we set-up my internet connection, he asked me to try connecting to the internet. naturally, i couldn't start a session because we were using the phone so he asked me to hang up, try connecting and he'd call after 15 (was it 15?) minutes. i hung up, tried to connect and OH MY GOD! it worked!!!!!

true enough, he called back and i immediately said "ron? it works!!!!!" i know he could tell i was sooooooo happy because i could tell from his voice and tone that he was smiling too because of my happy reaction. i said thank you over and over again and he said, "thank you ma'am for taking my call."

awwww....i'd like to shake the hand of his foundation (and/or soft skills) and product specific trainer; good job!

ron, thank you very much :) i can't thank you enough..i didn't get your surname ...

globe, you've got a happy and satisfied subscriber here :) (i hope it stays that way)...

oh and by the way, i got my assignment back and i needed to edit it. it's 12:04 a.m. and guess what? i just sent it back using my v3x, laptop and globe internet connection. I LOVE IT!

"hot" chocolate

for me, a good life has three C's: coffee, cheesecake and chocolate :) and i love my 3 C's. now what if i could combine one C with another C that i also like? well, i have been, for the past 3 months, on the lookout for the 4th C; "hot" chocolate. and by hot i don't mean the hot cocoa drink. i literally mean, hot as in chili hot. yes, my 4th C is chili. i'm looking for a chili chocolate bar.

it all started when i researched for chocolates in singapore that i hoped a very good friend of mine would bring home for me (he didn't but he's still a friend hehehe). of course in singapore, there's royce; also godiva and leonidas chocolates. all mouth-watering but not uber interesting. then, an online "singapore street directory" lead me to my first encounter with chili and chocolate; i was truly intrigued. next, i came across the chocolate gallery. oh dear, this for me was the best (website and selection) among those that i saw. imagine, espresso, raspberry truffle, hazelnut truffle, champagne truffle, coffee ganache and of course, dark milk with spice power (or is that "powDer"?) pralines! it is the second to the last picture but again, the thought of chocolate and spice (chili) was enough to set me on a hunt for something like that here...

i consulted my best friend, google (hehehe) and i learned that sarotti is available locally, in SM! alas, when we inquired at the snack exchange in megamall, the elusive chili chocolate bars weren't in stock :( i tortured myself some more and googled sarotti chili chocolate and found myself reading a blog that had a post on sarotti. more research and whattaya know, there's also Lindt Chili Chocolate!


oh dear... :( i gotta get my hands on one of these bars !







(l-r: the sarotti nuss chili bar; lindt chili chocolate)

it's 802.11g Jollibee!

whenever dial-up just can't cut it, (yes, i don't have a dsl connection yet - go ahead and laugh your head off) i head off to my 2nd office, the glorious Trinoma Mall ... :) of course, wi-fi is what i need so i usually trek to a coffeehouse. but, i have been for days intrigued that there are a few patrons of Jollibee who have their laptops setup while eating chickenjoy! hmmmm....so today, i decided to ask them if they do indeed have wi-fi and lo and behold, they do! they gave me the password for access and here i am, blogging from Jollibee! while i didn't get the chickenjoy today, i had burger steak and their crispy fries, yes carb overload hehehehe .

(l-r: the "terrace" where "wi-fiers" usually are; what's left of my crispy fries)

i got my motorola phone tools installed, i blogged (well, still am) and checked my mail. the only downside is there isn't any available electrical outlet and my battery lasts only for 2 1/2 hours (and that's on power saver mode).

but, it's nice to know i have an option for my wi-fi :) i'm bad aren't i?

aaarrrggghhh!!!!

more often than not, i find myself wishing i had a secret hideaway that i could retreat to everytime my life dishes out more than i can handle. a place that's quiet, cool, sunny, lots of trees, a beach - yeah, i am describing bora aren't i? but if i can't drop everything and go to bora, where can i go? the metropolis i live in, known as manila, has a few places that i go to just to chill. one of them is starbucks greenbelt...

(l-r: the view from my table just outside the entrance to starbucks greenbelt; what did i have? my fave combi - croissant and coffee ...)

an addition to my list: last week, i had lunch at the park with a colleague of mine. at first i thought it would be "weird" to have lunch in the park aside from the fact that it conjures up childhood memories when mom, dad and i would go to the park, have a bbq or go apple-picking. anyway, i was pleasantly surprised. we ate lunch in the legaspi park. i only took two pictures; i failed to get a shot of the mini-bridge with a koi pond flowing underneath.

(l-r: the view from my end of the park bench...yes the second picture is slightly askew, i took it that way...)

sometimes, exposure to "greens" really does you some good....after that wonderful late breakfast (first set of photos), i became a freelancer again and i'm happy about it :)

who was in town recently?

who else but our good friend ian, who was in town for less than 2 weeks....once he got some free time, we met up at megamall...

(l-r: 3 biggies and a smallie; compress!; da boys)

thank you ian, we miss you lah! see you in december? we hope so!

happy birthday

happy, happy birthday dad...

it's another first (father's day was the first) - first special day for you without you. it's different but i know that the celebration up there is bigger, better and grander than the one down here...

i miss you and i love you...

i miss you...

a few days into april, i asked my sister if there was something we celebrated in april. we thought of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and many other occasions. but, nothing to celebrate. little did i know that my question would be answered; certainly not an occasion worth anticipating.

saturday, april 12 was a "busy" day for me and my sister. around noon or so, we were already in the mall. after a pizza and chicken lunch, we went around the stores, bought everything my sister needed for the weekend, did some window-shopping and had a hot fudge sundae at mcdo. we were happy (as we always are when we go out) and that joyful mood lasted until the evening. in the living room while watching tv and playing with the dogs, my brother texted my sister with some news we never expected.

dad was gone.....

my sister who read the text aloud without really comprehending it at first was shocked. so was i. the smiles on our faces were replaced with shock, disbelief and then sadness.

we wanted to talk to them to confirm the news, hoping that our brother would be joking but we realized he would never crack a joke like that. never.

when they called us, they confirmed what we hoped false, dad passed away in his sleep. they said mom woke up on saturday morning and found him lying on the floor.

at that moment, i would've given up anything to be at mom's side; to help her, be with her, support her and see dad. but we are too far apart to do that. thank god my brothers, sister and brother-in-law got there as fast as they could.

i am and will forever be grateful to the neighbors and friends that stayed with mom and helped her attend to dad while my siblings were en route to michigan. thank you.

i know the frenzy one is in when a loved one moves on and you must attend to the details. when our grandparents passed away, there were always 2 or 3 of us; i can only imagine how hard it was for mom. you have no time to grieve, you must have a semblance of calm and enough presence of mind to do what must be done. mom, we wish we were there to help you; if only...

to all of my friends who texted their condolences, offered help, offered a mass for dad, called to ask how ate ynna and i were coping, called to ask how i was dealing with it or called to allow me to cry, thank you. our family is grateful for everything; i am grateful for everything.

that night, it was hard to sleep. but what was more difficult was the fact that i would never see dad again. he passed away on saturday and by wednesday, he was cremated.

i will never get to hug him, kiss him, talk to him or see him again, i'll never hear him say "hello lyn" and "o, heto na si mommy ha anak..." whenever we'd talk on the phone...if i should be given the chance to walk down the aisle again, he won't be there to give me away, he won't get to see his grandchildren. he won't get to visit his hometown (ate ynna wanted to take dad, the whole family, on a trip to antequera, bohol).

all that and more...but, i know you're in a much better place than we all are...

i miss you dad; i miss you a lot.

i love you....

i'm back :)

OMG! I’m back! I truly am! The feeling is truly overwhelming! I can do the dance of joy (remember the TV sitcom, Perfect Strangers?)!!! Now that I have access (albeit at a snail's pace) my to-do list has grown and grown and grown…

Of course, this is all because of one of the most awesome birthday gifts I’ve ever received and it’s from my brother….Kuya Boychie, thank you very, very much! *MWAH, MWAH, MWAH* Don’t worry, you’ll get to see more posts, pics and maybe some videos. And that goes for everyone out there…

Let’s see, it’s been almost 7 months since my last post and I’m talking about my regular posts, not my hiccups…and if I could only share with everyone what I went through those 7 months, *sigh*… you win some, you lose some. You “win” stronger friendships, time to regroup, a chance to see what you’re really made of and a chance to see if you've got enough faith to see you through. You “lose” friends, people whom you thought were friends, several professional opportunities, business travel and most of the time, my sanity. At the risk of making myself so “weak” in the eyes of family and friends, it seemed as if I hit rock bottom. Nay, I DID, not seemed. I really did and I truly hope I can get back on my feet again.

The Christmas Season, my birthday passed by and I couldn’t feel truly happy during those times. It was really difficult but with friends, family giving encouragement and a faith in Him that was constant, I have the chance to “redeem” myself and start anew. I’d like to say that Life begins at 38 and not at 40.

So, welcome back … to me… and I truly look forward to “seeing” everyone again and I am grateful that there are still some of you who frequent my space on the web even with the lack of new stuff.

Again, Kuya Boychie, thank you from the bottom of my heart…I Love You bro!

38 and still counting

yup, i turned 38 last tuesday! yipee! happy birthday to me!

it was a "quiet" day for me, i started it with a mass and ended with a prayer.

to everyone who sent their beautiful birthday wishes, know that i am forever grateful that you remembered my special day, i'm simply overjoyed! :)

i love you guys!


p.s. hang in there guys, soon, i'll be back in blogging mode!

i'm still alive ... *croak*

yes folks, i'm still on the planet earth although my posts have been far (very far) in between, i'm still here...

how has 2008 been for you guys so far? i hope it's been good ...