me, my lips and i

those who know me very, very well know that i can't live without lip balm. my friends know that i even use lip balm before going to sleep. so, imagine how happy i was to know of a lip balm blog!

bring on the lip salve! :)

Way Back Into Love

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on
I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind
All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh
I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere
I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not just somebody just to get me throught the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions
All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end
There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration, Not just another negotiation
All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

why?

until when can one stay a fool?

until when can one "beg" for something they know in the back of their mind is wrong?

until when does one stay, even if they're being kicked in the face?

why do i keep asking you even when i know the answer?

set me free...

happy birthday to me...

it was my 37th birthday yesterday, ergo, it was new year for me....i see my birthday as my "new year" so this year, i celebrated new year twice in february and on 2 consecutive days, the 18th and the 19th. to all my chinese friends and relatives, KUNG HEI FAT CHOI :) it is the year of the fire pig!

well, my birthday was very quiet. my mother called me and as always, it is so nice to hear my mom's voice and of course, dad's as well...i miss you both...the birthday messages started coming in and i was so deeply touched by family and friends who remembered my special day. thank you to all of you ... *mwah*


then, i spent most of the day in one of my favorite places on earth -- the mall :) what a productive way to spend one's birthday! but, it was my chance to get some personal errands done like replacing my watch's battery, pay my bills and of course my most preferred form of exercise, people-watching while sipping coffee. if me and my friends were together at starbucks, it would be one hell of a riot....woe to those who happen to cross our line of sight! :)

i heard mass then got together with my friends for dinner. (mom, i was good, i didn't have any alcoholic beverage...i'll save that for the weekend :) )

i have so much to be thankful for, i know. i hope i can remain strong and until i do, i hope that love finds me this year...


the gang has been busy and i haven't posted pics in a long time...here are some from our christmas dinners (there was more than one...)

(l-r the early birds: carol, giselle, me, tess and marlet / the whole gang having dinner @ bananaleaf / after-dinner coffee @ starbucks)

our next get-together & gift-giving @ starbucks promenade: rose, ben, tess, joy, marlet, john, me and carol ... arnold took the pic...

happy oink, oink!

happy new year! how did you welcome the new year? my year-ender was slightly hectic but manageable. i'll post pictures soon.

next, it's the chinese new year and 2007 is the Year of the Pig...what will it bring us? i found this article in my preliminary surfing about the swine's year...

Out with the old, in with the new...

A Meaningful Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to everyone!

I hope that 2007 will be a better year for us laden with opportunities, new beginnings, chances to redeem ourselves, blessings and new inspiration.

I pray that God will continue to guide us and keep us safe from all harm.

For my family and friends, I pray for your safety, good health and your unwavering support that will still be there for me.

For myself, I hope the coming year will be the start of a "new life" for me and that my fortitude won't forsake me.

I pray that the Lord will always keep a watchful eye over me and never cease to be a source of inner strength.

I hope that this year, love will find me...

Boracay Chronicles - Day Two

YEHEY !!! we woke up around 8 and immediately, we checked outside if the weather changed and by golly it did! it wasn't sunny but it wasn't raining! excitedly, rose and i had breakfast (breakfast buffets were part of our package) and by 10 a.m. we were on the beach! rose was going to swim and i was going to relax and possibly sleep more on the shore. wow! yesterday i couldn't fully appreciate the beach since i was lugging around a heavy bag. on our second morning i just had my mobile and digicam with me and writing materials (pencil and sheet of paper). oh dear, the sand is all that i've heard about and more. it's so fine, it's like powder! baby powder! you could walk the length of the shore without any slippers and your feet won't get burned! the trees that line the shore are like a wall that separates you, the sand and the sea from the world... ah, life...all i could say at that moment was..."life doesn't get any better than this..." so rose and i simply walked on the beach looking for our own spot. and it turned out that our spot was beside the famed "sandcastlemakers" of boracay. rose was fascinated by the castles and was interviewing the manong on how to make one. apparently she got so inspired that after her dip in the water, she settled in the sand and made something. not a castle but a turtle :) so that's how we spent most of the morning, in the sand, taking pictures, looking at the beautiful people there, rose making her baby turtle, listening to music and me, writing. ah, life... since the sun wasn't out, we stayed there until mid-afternoon or when our stomachs finally couldn't stave off the hunger :)

we went back to the room to change then it was off to d' mall for lunch...after scouting around, we chose lemon cafe, one of the newer restos in bora. perusing the menu, i noticed that almost all of the offerings had lemon in it...well, i should've known because it is lemon cafe. rose had the porkchops and watermelonginger slush while i had the seared tuna and mangolemon slush...for starters, we had shrimp bisque.

(l-r the bisque, shakes and my tuna beautifully presented. the tuna sits on a bed of lemon mash, surprisingly delicious mashed potatoes with lemon!)

after that sumputous lunch, rose and i went around d' mall then hurried to find a spot on the beach at around 5:30 for sunset. we found a resto that had lounge chairs and we ordered mango shakes so we could sit there without being bothered. between rose and i, she has an eye for poster shots.

those are just my shots. i'll provide the link to rose's pictures once i've uploaded them. so we lounged around until around 8. that was our last chance to see bora at night since we were leaving the following day.

rose and i "hiked" to station 3 then back and finally settled on having dinner at Patio. it was a very relaxing day...the kind of lifestyle you can only dream about. we didn't want to think that we were leaving soon...but we did have a couple more hours to be on the beach tomorrow...

Boracay Chronicles - Day One Part 2

we watched movies on cable all night, alternating that with local programs and newscasts because we wanted to know what Typhoon Reming had in mind. unfortunately, the area that included bora was under typhoon signal # 1 *sigh* oh well...so i took pictures of our room so that you'd have an idea of the rooms in Patio Pacific. we got room 101. this room is actually the last room you'll pass by on your way to the beach or their swimming pool when go through the back entrance. the room is great (by my standards). there's a double bed and a single "bed" or duvet on the side. actually, it can accommodate three people. rose wanted to sleep on the single bed so i had the "big" bed all to myself. it has a tv (which saved us from boredom on the first night), of course a bathroom (a very clean one if i may add) and although there wasn't any closet, there was a rack with an extra chair that we could place our bags on. it was clean, no irritating odor and the airconditioner worked fine. it was a bit dark, they could probably put in either another flourescent bulb or a lamp to add more light.

rose and i were relegated to the room by 2:oo p.m. and the rains didn't let us out anymore. since we had a snack, we just decided to rest and fix our stuff. i also took the opportunity to go thru my purchases and made a list of what else i needed to buy.

by 6:00 p.m. or so, we were hungry. even if we wanted to venture out to the beachfront, the rains and wind orevented us so we ate at Garden Cafe. prior to the trip, i came across some articles on the net about dishes that the Cafe is famous for. we decided to sample two dishes: the Chili Prawns and the Fillet Mignon.

rose also decided to get the Vanilla Bailey's Mega Milkshake. well, both dishes were delicious. they were deserving of the article that i read. but, they would've been more delicious if the fillet mignon wasn't that "tought" and if the prawns weren't so hard to peel. i guess they grill the prawns first before cooking them in the sauce and they may have been grilled too long thus making the skin "stick" to the meat. but, the sauce was delicious and they were really prawns, not just shrimp. so 6 pieces were enough for us. the meal was satisfying but if i may recommend anything in bora, please do try the Vanilla Bailey's Mega Milkshake. for those of you who have the occasional liqueur, you've definitely had bailey's. the drink rose always has. i'm partial to tequila but no cuervo milkshake on the drink list so...anyway, going back the THE shake. i wanted to get a mango shake but i didn't place my order. i asked for water first. then, they served the shake. rose took the first sip and you should've seen the look on her face. that look made me want to grab the glass and pass judgment. when rose offered the glass, i didn't refuse. one sip and i was hooked...for life! so hooked that i brought my milkshake to the room :)

after dinner, it was back to the room for more hbo, axn, star movies and local channels....it was a long wait until sunrise...

after the one-hour trip, we arrived in Caticlan. from there, we rode the hotel's shuttle service to the Jetty Port where you take a 5-10 minute boat ride to get to boracay. there are absolutely no pictures in my camera nor in my phone during the boat ride. this is the only part i hated about the trip because of what happened in shanghai.

the sign that greets you at the Caticlan Airport...

at last when both my feet were on land, we took a 5-10 minute tricycle ride to Patio Pacific. unfortunately, we couldn't check-in yet because there wasn't any room available. well, it was only 8:00 a.m. so, rose and i decided to get a headstart on getting to know bora. after we left our bags at reception, we crossed the street and went through patio's back entrance to the beach. it's a walkway approx. 300 meters bounded by walls on either side. it's like a marker to the beach ...



and once you've reached the end....




and that is the view in bad weather... wow... (as i'm writing this, i realize how much i miss the place...)

after rose and i came back to our senses, we decided to walk down towards station 2. patio pacific is on station 1 but not beachfront. i find it's location very ideal because it's between stns 1 & 2 where most of the action is. we were there really early and most of the shops were still setting up so we decided to have breakfast. our first meal on the island. aria, famous for its pizza, was open but they weren't serving food yet. their cafe, cafe del sol, was so we ordered from there. rose had the breakfast set while i had panini and latte.

we stayed at cafe del sol until some shops in d' mall were open. now, the mall rat in me was super excited at the prospect of going from stall to stall looking at all the merchandise they had to offer. for those who haven't been there, d' mall is not the kind of shopping mall that we're used to in manila. i'd describe it as a high-end tiangge where the stores carry an assortment of charming boracay items. and this kind of mall is well-maintained, very clean and "charming"...i wouldn't mind going through all the shops everyday :))

well, rose and i went through 2 or 3 alleys remembering which stores to go back to later that evening. we also started buying things as pasalubong for friends and family in manila. our stroll went on until after lunch. after d' mall, we walked along the beachfront in station 2 to probably the beginning of station 3. nothing special, we just walked checking out the stores and restos, occasionally stopping to appreciate the beautiful beach and then it's back to walking. before 2 p.m., we decided to go back to Patio and check-in. they promised to text us as soon as a room became available . unfortunately, no text so it was check-in time anyway so back to the hotel. wise decision. because as soon as we reached the hotel, it started to rain. we were a tad hungry so we headed for Garden Cafe and asked if they could ring front desk and ask if there was a room ready for us. shortly thereafter, an attendant came with our bags and showed us to our room. we placed our orders and informed the dining staff that we'd be back after a couple of minutes. we returned and "devoured" their delicious Egg Drop Soup, Mango Crepe and I had a Mega Banana Milkshake. Now the milkshakes in Patio are amazing. They are so delicious and "super-sized"! i'd say a milkshake is at least 750 ml...750 ml of divine ________ shake (fill in the blank with whatever fruit shake you're having :)) )! the soup calmed my grumbling stomach, the crepe filled it and the shake satisfied it....wow...by this time, it wasn't drizzling anymore it was really raining so we retreated to our room. we planned to go out in the evening once it stopped raining but to our dismay, the rains didn't let up. so we were relegated to the room...thank god for cable tv...

boracay chronicles

we were booked for the 5:45 a.m. asian spirit manila to caticlan flight on thursday, november 30. so, i slept over at rose's place so we wouldn't have problems about being late for the trip or worse, oversleeping and missing our flight. but, i guess we were really excited because we made it to the airport two hours before the flight.

it was also my first time in the domestic airport. hmmm....really small and i couldn't help but wonder how it looks like during peak season. wow...finally, with all the baggage check-in and boarding problems out of the way, rose and i had breakfast inside the pre-departure area and waited for the boarding call.

there was a bit of anxiety about whether our trip was going to push through because of Typhoon Reming. Actually, the flight to Tacloban was delayed because of the weather so Rose and I were hoping that our trip wouldn't be delayed or worse, cancelled.

so, you could imagine how happy we were when they paged all passengers for the Asian Spirit flight bound for Caticlan and asked us to proceed to Gate 1. yipee!! from there, a bus took us to the plane and a couple of minutes later, we were airborne.

rose slept as soon as we put on our seatbelts because she was still working on a project 'til midnight. i couldn't really sleep so i read the in-flight mag, browsed thru rose's book and just stared out the window. then, i took out the pen and paper i had and started jotting down stuff that i wanted to put here in my blog and also lists of stuff that go on in my life. you know, the usual things that women write down.

so the hour passed until i could finally see the outline of Caticlan from my window. that image stirred excitement that i couldn't contain...i'm almost in bora !!! rose woke up just before we landed. as the plane taxied to a stop, i still kept thinking, "soon enough, i'm going to be in boracay!" but then again, i still had that boat ride to go through. oh well...