MFEO

We've Moved!

2007-02-10T17:48:00.000+08:00

Please update your links…

MFEO - http://www.dionneandjoven.com/mfeo

Dionne - http://www.dionneandjoven.com/dionne

See you there!

When it rains...

2007-02-08T21:37:00.000+08:00

I am happy.

Check this out.

BUT, I'm missing Joven already.

Stranger Than Heroes

2007-02-05T18:49:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, Joven and I went to see Stranger Than Fiction at G4. Since I got out of the office quite late (because of an extended meeting that left me in high spirits for the weekend), we had a quick dinner at Burger King - one of our favorite fast food restos. The movie was funny but not as funny as his other movies. But we both enjoyed it... well... if not for the annoying man behind us. Grabe sa hilig mag-comment! Di ko nga maintindihan kung di nakikita nung kasama nya yung palabas eh. He's verbalizing everything he's seeing! Gash! Haay. Anyway, I enjoyed laughing at them afterwards.

I love going out with my husband, whether it be a simple grocery errand or a big date. Kahit na may mga kakaibang sitwasyon, nakukuha pa rin namin mag-enjoy. =)

Our Saturday was uneventful. We spent our day lounging at home and finished 13 episodes of Heroes. I must say we're hooked. Aliw! Hiro looks sooo cute. Teddy bear-ish cute. Hehe!

Yesterday, Joven and I went to Bench Fix to have our hair fixed. =P

This is how Joven looks like:

Pogi no?

Ever wonder how I look like with straight hair? The stylist told me that he needed to texturize my hair (whatever that means) so he needed to blowdry my hair straight. It took him quite some time, para hindi naman masayang effort nya I took a picture of me. Hehe!

The Couple, The Husband, and The Mother

2007-01-30T08:16:00.000+08:00

The Couple

It has been more than a year (and 20+ pounds re-gained) since the train incident...

Still wow.

The Husband

Last Saturday, January 27, Dionne and I met with OJ, Bon, N93 (with Allan), Dhang and Irish. In that order. Hehe.

OJ was the early bird. According to Bon, he was already at Gateway at around 11AM, while everybody else came after 12PM. Meeting was set between 11 and 12... Nuninu.

When we got to the food court, OJ was munching on delectable french fries from NYFD. Then he left us to meet Bon downstairs. He was kind enough to offer us the half-full regular-sized bucket of fries. We were quite hungry by then that we couldn't resist eating them... Nakakahiya naman kay OJ kaya we decided to buy large fries! Good thing too, since we still had to wait for the others.

Allan and his wonderful N93 arrived next. Seeing the N93 made me want to hide my N90 in shame...

We then decided to check out the movie schedules. Babel was it.

A few minutes later, Irish and Dhang joined us. Unfortunately, Dhang won't be joining us for the movie because of more important people (drama, hehe). So it's just 6 tickets for us at the center of row K, which I will later realize is a little too far. Row G would've been "optimal". At least according to Richie's theory that the best seats are those that are as far to the screen as the screen is tall. Whatever. Hehe.

Lunch was at Bellini's. YEAH!

Dionne and Bon

OJ, Irish and Dhang

*Pics courtesy of N93 and Allan

Allan, at first, because he thought we were going to Marikina (Shoe Expo), then Gateway. He preferred the latter. OK... After a little explaining by the girls, he was in.

Before 3PM, we were on our way back to Gateway for the movie. I got 2 vanilla lattes for us from our favorite coffee shop, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

On to the movie!

The movie was interesting. I got a bit disoriented at first, regarding the sequence of the events. But eventually got it. I must admit that I was more attentive with the parts with the Japanese girl... Haha!

After the movie, we went to Dionne's new favorite clothes shop, F&H. She got a new office jacket at 50% off.

We also went to Bayo and Kamiseta and then Rustan's, to look at wish bracelets, crocs sandals, and the new Wade. *drools*

Before going home, we dropped by Fully Booked to check out the expensive books... We went home with Orson Scott Card's Shadow Puppets, a book on Spanish verbs for Dionne, and Dean Koontz's The Husband.

The Mother

January 29 was Nanay's 52nd birthday. We had lunch at Aristocrat's at SM San Lazaro to celebrate this wonderful occasion. Mommie came with us. Jonjon, unfortunately, was not able to make it from Laguna. He better make up for it next time. Hehe. Meanwhile, Jayson came just before we left. He came from work and looked exhausted. He ate the supposed takeout chicken barbeque right there and then. I'll be awaiting his libre from his sweldo. Nuninu.

Dionne, Mommie, Jeff, Nanay and Mae

Nananaba. Nuninu.

To Nanay, may you have good health and many more years to come! Happy birthday! We love you!

5 Things You Don't Know About Us

2007-01-21T16:07:00.000+08:00

Thanks for an interesting revelation Fol. =) Now, it's our turn. We added a twist in this and made it 5 things a lot of people don't know about us. So, here it goes...

Buzz me. Joven and I talk online even if we're both at home. It's not like we live in a huge house. Weird huh? We just like to maximize our resources. Before dinner time (or even after), we are immersed in our own computer/web life. I use the desktop in the living room, he uses his laptop in the bedroom. We end up sending messages and love notes online.
How sweet it is. We do not only love to eat, we both have a penchant for the sweet stuff. We have a Lock and Lock full of chocolates. When in the grocery we will never forget to pass by the candies and chocolate area. That accounts for our beautiful bodies. Hehe.
Lights out? Light on. For the two nights he was alone, Joven slept with the lights on. He has these crazy thoughts of Sadako (with much help from me of course). Scaredy cat!
Round and round. I love carnival rides even if I scream my heart out. Hehe! Joven, in turn, hates them. It'll take forever to convince him to get on a ride. Peer pressure pa kailangan. Hehe! Kaya hindi kami matuloy tuloy sa EK eh. Haay.
Bear Hugs. We always start our day with a hug. Every morning when we wake up, Joven waits at the foot of the bed, pulls me up and gives me a great big hug.

There!

Now, I'm interested to know what are the unique things these couples do:

Beej and Benj
Mimi and Karl
Aggie and Edil
Glo and Jun
If you're interested, consider yourself tagged!

I hope they'll find time to answer this meme. I am quite interested with their answers. =)

Eggs n Diamonds

2007-01-13T21:33:00.000+08:00

You had me at scrolling

iPhone. iWantOne.

No touch

Jason of 37signals says:

How can you dial the iPhone without looking at it? How can you reach in your pocket and press “1” for voicemail? How can you orient yourself with the interface without seeing it? With a traditional phone or device with buttons you can feel your way around it. You can find the bumps, the humps, the cut lines, the shapes, the sizes. You can find your way around in the dark. Not with the iPhone.

With this phone, it is no longer possible to text without looking at the keypad, as there is no more keypad. Instead, the user is given with a full QWERTY keyboard. A fair exchange for the flexibility it offers? Maybe. Whatever the case, I'm still excited about this phone.

SAL Mini-reunion

We were just supposed to meet Brian for dinner. He went to France last December and was kind enough to bring home a pair of Eiffel tower key chains for us. Dionne won't be able to join us as she now has Spanish class every Thursday. I suggested that we invite our SAL friends to join us since it has been a long time since the group met.

Last Thursday, January 11, the mini-reunion pushed through, thanks to Brian's persistence. Unfortunately, he was unable to join us for dinner as he had to attend to some office matters. He joined us at Starbucks later that night though.

Besides Brian and me, the others who were there, according to time of arrival: Chris J, Brymac, Bob (with Shine), Tseri, Lino, Benj (with Beej), Kat, and Richie.

Pics courtesy of Brymac:

The Reason

The Group (Bry took the pic)

Blood Diamond

Friday, January 12, was reserved for our date.

Before lunch, I got a text from Dionne, a message from Mimi, that one of the photos from our prenup was printed as part of a feature on prenups on Wedding Essentials:

Nice.

Dinner was at Heaven n Eggs. The food was OK, but a bit expensive. The hot chocolate was good though.

We watched Blood Diamond at Glorietta 4 with tickets we bought via Sureseats. Only 4 months left on Dionne's M-Pass load... We initially wanted to watch Night at the Museum, but would have to wait another week for that one.

Blood Diamond... Another very good movie for Leonardo DiCaprio!

It's fun to go out with Dionne again. We must do this more often. Yihee!

Delinquent Bloggers

2007-01-11T11:08:00.000+08:00

We are.

Since January kicked in, we've both been busy. Well, Joven's mostly busy with work stuff while I am busy with mundane stuff.

So, here's a short recap of the things that happened in the past few days...

Saturday, January 6

Since I've been busy the past week, I decided to pick up my free spa gift certificate from Manila Bulletin Saturday morning. The contact person, Sarah, was nice enough to wait for us since it was already nearing lunch time. We almost got lost, thanks to the taxi driver who brought us to the Manila Times. Haha! Fortunately, Intramuros is small enough for us to find our way.

After, Joven and I plus my mom went to SM San Lazaro to watch Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo. The movie won over Shake Rattle and Roll 8. The movie was surprisingly funny although by the title alone, you'd expect it as mushy. All in all, I enjoyed the film because of Gina Pareño. Hehe.

Sunday, January 7

With nothing better to do, Joven and I went to Tutuban Mall and 168 in Divisoria to shop. I was able to buy 2 blouses and a pair of pants in less than 30 minutes. Since we have time to kill, we went to 168 to see if there are anything we can get our hands on. After going around for almost an hour, we decided to buy DVDs. I bought an 8 animated movies in one CD and 8 action movies in one CD. I got lucky with the first one. The second one was a different story. Audio was terrible! Oh well, that's what we got because we only paid P75 for it. =P

Ang saya mag-Divisoria two weeks after the holidays. Konti lang tao! Hihi!

Monday, January 8

I was running like crazy in the office. I had four meetings with different groups. Kapagod! I missed one meeting because the previous meeting extended for over an hour. Haay. I had to have my boss attend on my behalf. He was nice enough to make notes. Hihi!

Tuesday, January 9

First day of my Spanish class. The teacher was early and the classroom was still half full when my friends and I got in. I kindda enjoyed it... sort of washed the anxieties away. It's actually easier to understand because of my background in French. I just hope it wouldn't be so difficult towards the end and the teacher would remain as nice as he is.

Wednesday, January 10

Big shout out to my sister: Happy Birthday Tita Dap! Hope you had a good one. See you on Saturday!

After work, Joven and I met at the MRT station to have dinner at Kalye Juan @ Tomas Morato. We're to meet SML sans Ryan (Cors, Benj, Beej & Richie) because he has a Baguio thingy. Richie will be leaving for the US next week and it won't be until summer of 2008 we'll get to see him again.

The night ended at Baang coffee (which we were not initially sure if it's Baang or BangBang. Haha!). According to Richie, the coffee's not "Wow!" but it's not bad also. I ordered a Chai Latte which for me was a bit sweet.

Conversation was from "What's new with you?" to "What's new with blah-blah?"

We had to end early because of work the following day.

Ingat Richie! See you soon!

Pics here.

Current

I'm busy reading Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. I got it in Booksale at a very reasonable price. I usually look for books that has the Oprah's Book Club seal because I usually end up liking the book - The Pilot's Wife, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True - to name a few. This one, I can't put it down. I'm not finished though but I'm really enjoying every minute of it. Another great find for me. I have yet to devour Icy Sparks, House of Sand and Fog and The Poisonwood Bible. =)

Bonne Année!

2007-01-03T18:52:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

Last two holiday events to blog about...

Last Dec 29-30 we checked-in at The Pearl Manila Hotel for an overnighter with my college barkada. It was unfortunate that preggy Mem and hubby were not able to join us. Masama daw ang pakiramdam ni buntis.

So far, this has been the "most attended" of the past get-togethers. Since Andrew has been seriously studying Medicine (Hehe!), he didn't have much time to go out and socialize. =P Now that he is a full-fledged doctor, he only has the USMLE in mind. Plus, Lalaine's been in town so this is really something we're looking forward to.

The day started with a serious Risk match between Benj, Beej, Andrew and moi. Andrew won on the merit that he is very serious in destroying my empire. He hates me because luck was on my side. =P I hope that somebody will study the manual and teach us how to play the Star Wars mode. Hehe!

Cri-c arrived and was giving us hell because she was not included in the game. At least she acquired a new best friend in Benj. Hehe!

Anne arrived a few minutes after with boyfriend, Joseph. *Kilig!*

Soon after, Cri-c and Anne were updating each other with what's happening in their lives.

We got tired with Risk and switched to Guesstures. We were odd-numbered so we decided that Andrew should act out all the words. And boy, can he act! Wow! Most of us were in awe watching him, we forget to guess the word. Andrew acted the words until Lalaine got to the hotel. He was acting for more than two hours, dinner lang pahinga. Hihi!

Manuel joined us close to midnight. Being the booze carrier, he was worth the wait. But, it seems that age are getting to us because soon after, people were switching to Pepsi and water.

To ward off sleepiness, we decided to switch to the classic Pinoy Henyo. (BTW, did you know that there is an online Pinoy Henyo??? Haha! Weird!) We finally gave up fighting sleep after 2AM.

Later morning, we still didn't have enough of Guesstures and played some more. After we got tired, we moved to videoke singing. Cri-c belted her college winning piece. Walang kupas!

We decided to part ways at 12 noon - check out time na kasi. Hehe!

*Sigh* I miss college, where life was less complicated and when we say overnighter - nobody really sleeps. =P

Pics here.

New Year Party

We have an annual tradition to invite relatives and friends to join us for a simple get-together at home. My mom turns into a kitchen whiz and prepares delicious food for everyone.

Thanks for those who came: Con (with Arjahn & Luiz), Mavis (with pretty Angel), Beej & Benj, Lalaine (with Ninang, Ate, Kuya & Kulit), Allan, Bon, OJ, Ate Malou, Nanay (with kids), Kuya Mel (with Tisha and kids), Annie & Tony... at marami pang iba. Hope to see you again next year, same venue, same time. =)

Pics here.

How come the clock spins fast every time one is on vacation?

I'm already anticipating the next long one. Kelan kaya yung susunod? Nuninu.

'Tis the Season to be busy... 2

2006-12-28T20:42:00.000+08:00

We had a crazy, busy December. Just like last year. But, who's complaining? =D

December 13

FSI Christmas Party

Allan and I ended up hosting the event. Our day started as early as 9AM and ended at 4PM. Parang children's party. Hehe! I was dead tired but had a really great time.

Our intention for hosting the event was to get away from performing that day. Although I also ended up as the choreographer of our dance presentation, it was less stressful for me. After teaching them the steps, that was it for me. =D

We won second place! For the past years, we always had the worst presentation. At least second na ngayon! =D

Dinner at Tokyo Cafe

Together with my office barkada, we had dinner at Tokyo Cafe in MOA. Since Irish, Allan and I had lunch there a few days ago, we thought of bringing the other peeps there. Joven joined us after work. After loads of laughter and kwentuhan, we decided to call it a night. Joven and I went around shopping but were unsuccessful with what we want.

December 16

Last minute errands and more shopping

We started the day with a few errands - meeting his Tita and accompanying my mom for some of her holiday shopping.

As a surprise, we brought her to the appliance center to buy our gift for her. My sister and I (of course with Joven) decided to get her a brand new television. Since our TV broke down a month ago, my mom has been watching her favorite teleseryes in a 14" TV. We got her a 29" TV this time. At least di na nya huhulaan yung tao. Hehe!

Joven and I decided to get our own 29" TV as well. Now we can watch DVDs at the comfort of our bedroom. Nice! That was our big gift for each other. =D

December 17

More Shopping

Joven asked me a life-changing question a few weeks back: "Magic Sing or PS2?" Aaaaaargh! I said I needed to think about it. I ended up asking people around me.

Magic Sing it is! Haha!

We bought ours after dropping off at Nanay's. Shempre, tinest agad! I think it took them four hours to make me stop. Hahaha!

December 19

Lunch at Krua Thai

Our boss treated for us for a sumptuous lunch. The whole group went to Blue Wave and ended up at Krua Thai. Parang last meal, super busog! Minsan lang 'to, kaya dapat i-blog. Haha!

Get-Together with Lalaine from UK

My high school best friends, Con (with hubby, Arjahn), Lalaine and I (with Joven) met at SM San Lazaro. Lalaine went home for the holidays and to try to make arrangements for her wedding on 2008. Dinner was at Congo Grille and, since we cannot get a decent seat at Starbucks, coffee was at Coffee Dream. Laughter and chika non-stop. *Sigh* Miss the simple life of high school.

December 20

Vidoeke at Music Match with Office Barkada

Much awaited! We prepared for it (with matching exchange gifts) for almost a month. Videokes are never the same without these people. They sure know how to have fun. We really had a great time! =D

Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera at hand so we ended up begging for pics instead. =P

Here are the ones from Yax and Dhang.

December 21

Videoke with SML

What?? Videoke again? Haha! You'd think that partying till 1AM will stop us? Nah. I even came to the office before 9AM. Joven was in his office earlier. =D

The night was for SML this time. Richie came home after a year of studies in the US (he'll be back there in January though). We haven't had any videoke session when Richie was away. So what would be best but to welcome him with one. Ryan, Cors, The Bs were also present. It was great to hear Cors singing this time. =)

December 22

Dinner with Frenchies & Japs

There was a Frenchies dinner at Crazy Roll a few weeks back but Joven and I weren't able to join them. That was the time Joven got sick. It was great of them to fix their schedules and have dinner with us again.

Dinner this time was at Burgoo in MOA. Coffee was at Starbucks. Jera brought along her friend from Japan. It was nice how they teach her bad words. Haha!

December 24

Noche Buena

My sisters from Pasig trooped to our place for our annual Noche Buena. Mommie was busy in the kitchen all day. I took the liberty of baking a chocolate cake (which didn't stay long in the fridge. naks!) and fixing the chocolate for the fondue.

My 5-year-old nephew, Jef was soo excited in opening his gifts. He was shrieking and laughing while he was tearing off the gift wrappers. He got his ultimate dream this Christmas: WWE action figures.

I got three bags from my two sisters and mom this Christmas. I wonder why. =P I also got a shirt from Jef. A Coelho and a Micheal V DVD from Joven. Hihi! Aliw! Joven and I got Chritsmas money from my dad which will turn into a love seat one of these days. Thanks thanks everyone!

December 25

Christmas Day!

We woke up mid-morning and were immediately swamped by inaanaks and neighborhood children. After our ninang duties, we went to mass at Lourdes church.

We were expected at Tita Nene's place by lunch time. We asked Jef if he'd come with us, surprisingly he said yes. I guess it was after enticing him with duguan (what he calls dinuguan) - his favorite viand.

When we got there, the elders were already eating lunch while the young girls were upstairs and the young boys were playing PS2. Jef immediately took his place with the boys but I urged him to eat duguan first. I guess the call of PS2 was louder because after three spoonfuls of food, he told me he was already full. He immediately made his way to the group of boys as if he'd known them since he was born.

Of course we were asked the question again, "Wala pa ba?" Ahm, I told them we're trying to get there. Insert *sigh* here.

December 26

MMFF

With nothing better to do, Joven and I, together with my mom, decided to watch a movie. We were weighing our options (nothing much really), and ended up with Ligalig. It was supposed to be rated A by the cinema board, for Joven and I it was quite predictable. There were certain scenes that were unnecessary, some scenes produced a "duh!" from me, some effects were not really that good. Oh well.

December 27

The day was spent with Lalaine, Merc, Cheche, and Tantan. I won't spill the beans. I'm keeping my mouth shut since I signed a contract. =P

We ate lunch at Tokyo Cafe. Yeah, yeah. I recommended the place. I can't help it. If we were on the north side, I would've recommended Crazy Rolls. =P

ArtBag

Joven told me he has a surprise for me when he gets home. Apparently, Leslie (Fol's wife) dropped off our finished album to his office. Of course, with our own ArtBag. Woohoo! Thanks Fol and Leslie!

Whew! That was a busy December indeed. We still have an overnight thingy tomorrow. Kwentos on that on our next blog entry.

BTW, I'm a winner again! I just got it from the mail. Apparently, I'm one of the five lucky poll voters who won gift certificates from Sanctuario Spa. Many thanks to Manila Bulletin's About Weddings and of course to Benz because it was her who e-mailed us about the poll. I've yet to get it though. =P

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T20:16:00.000+08:00

As we celebrate our first Christmas together as husband and wife, we would like to thank you for being a wonderful part of our lives.

We wish you and your family a blissful Christmas and a better year ahead.

May your days be filled with love, happiness and good health.

Dionne and Joven

Credits: Shabby Princess Holiday Sampler, Fol Rana Jr. Photography

That Thing You 'Do

2006-12-11T09:00:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, Joven and I together with Irish (with hubby, Francis) and Allan went to Sofia Roxanne's baptism. I hope Sofia grows up to be a nice lady like her ninang. Hihi! Seriously, I know that little Sofia will be blessed with people who love her as I've witnessed in her baptism.

Highlights of the day: I was able to hold her! Super scared but it was a blast. =D

Unfortunately, we weren't able to bring our digicam so we're still in the process of begging for photos. Will update this post as soon as people are kind enough to give us copies. =P

Updated as of December 12, 2006 - 8:59 AM

Pictures here.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Scene It at Allan's place. Joven and I love the game! We're thinking of getting one in the future. Hehe! I've never seen a person as addicted to movies as Allan is. Nalula ako sa collection nya! Wow talaga! DVD master indeed!

Yesterday, Joven and I went to the mall for groceries and some last minute shopping which turned out to be a DVD shopping spree. My dear husband also bought me clothes and sandals as part of his Christmas gifts. =P

Since time immemorial, I've always wanted to do something to my hair. I thought of rebonding, relaxing, digital perm or just going back to my short, short hair. Yesterday, I went to the salon for a cut and a consultation. After a cut, some color and adding some joie de vivre to my hair. Here's the result! Love my new 'do. =)

Olio

2006-12-04T13:13:00.000+08:00

Auction Winners!

I joined the annual auction at w@w with the hopes of getting something for Joven. Good thing, Impromptu's sponsoring P1500 worth of M-Pass (movie tickets at Market! Market!, Gateway, GB3 or Glorietta 4). Nice! I bid for it since the beginning. I was surprised when I won! It seems the w@wies were not as aggressive as last year. Hehe!

We picked it up at John & Benz's place together with the desktop calendars they gave us. Yey! It was quite an adventure since Joven and I are not very familiar with the area. At least we still ended up in one piece. =)

Another cool thing, the movie tickets were worth P1600! =D

Wedding Fever!

Our good friends, Cri-c and Manuel, were married last Saturday. Whoopee!

I was one of the secondary sponsors and was supposed to light their path but ended up binding them together instead. The ceremony was in St. Pancratius Chapel in Paco Park and reception was in Teatrillo in Intramuros.

Iyay, Cri-c's sister prepared an AVP for the couple and asked us to submit a photo and message to the couple. Here's our message to the newlyweds:

"Manuel and Cri-c has always been one of our favorite couples. We've seen their love blossom and mature as the years passed. We know that they would be able to surpass any challenge God will throw their way and emerge from that stronger and better. We wish you good health and happiness always. We love you!

Welcome to married life!"

More pics here.

In Sickness and In Health

Before going to the wedding, Joven was telling me that he's not feeling right. He said that something in his throat hurts (from drinking too much chocolate - we guessed). He also says he feels like he's coming down with something.

During the night, it seemed that he's not really feeling well. He didn't eat as much as he used to. Tsk! Tsk! I told him to take paracetamol. Before going to sleep, I took his temp - 38.7C. =( During the night, his fever worsened. He was covered with two blankets but he says he's still cold. Not wanting to panic (but panicking already!), I took two small towels, water and alcohol. I put a wet towel in his forehead and used to other one to cool down his extremities. I was watching him sleep and praying the whole time. His face with a pained expression, his arms crossed in front of him and his legs kicking once in a while. Finally, he started to sweat. The fever went down significantly. Thank God! Whew!

We went to the emergency room of the Chinese General Hospital yesterday morning. The doctor told us that his tonsil was swollen - the infection is causing the fever. He was given meds for the next 7 days. This morning, the fever stopped. Sana tuloy tuloy na.

It's Up!

2006-11-27T08:32:00.000+08:00

No, I don't have a problem with that. =P

It's this one that's finally up:

On a high (note)

2006-11-20T09:48:00.000+08:00

Friday was spelled C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N for us. It was the birthdays of my office friends, Irish and Dhang. We started off the day with some gift giving and a quick lunch at Sbarro in MOA.

Since we were psyched for the day, we also bought "matching shirts." Mine read like this:

Here are some of the other shirts:

Later that night, Joven and I plus my office friends went to Music Match in Tomas Morato to sing our lungs out. Since we are RedBox regulars, this was the first time we're trying something new. We were not disappointed!

We were given a big room (i.e., big space to dance around) and our own comfort room. The staff were very courteous... even the owner was surprisingly "game" in our little surprise. You see, we bought two cakes from Kink Cakes for our friends. One with a pair of big b**bs (because she can only dream of having such... hehe!) and the other with huge behind (she has one!).

Three of our friends picked it up from their branch in Timog. I was surprised when I was called by one of the staff because of a "phone call." The owner was in the hallway and instructed me to proceed to the front desk. Voila! The cakes and my friends were there. To make the timing right, we had (the staff & owner included) to call Joven for another "phone call" (I wonder why nobody questioned that... hehe!).

In the end, the timing was perfect. The birthday girls were very surprised (one even cried!). After the candles were blown, the real party started!

We sang and danced our hearts out. Food and drinks kept pouring in. Ansaya!!!

We capped the night with a cup of vanilla latté in our favorite café.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Joven and I were supposed to go shopping for gifts at 168 on Saturday morning. But, because of a very tiring night, we weren't able to get ourselves out of bed early. Shopping was moved to the afternoon. We're almost done with our shopping but we still need to go back next week. We also need to go to the mall for additional gifts. Mahirap maraming kaibigan. Haha! It was definitely tiring. But for women, shopping is shopping. Hihi! The fun part - my husband was so kind to carry most of the stuff. =D

Since my friend mentioned to me that she's addicted to Prime Suspects. I got curious. I begged Joven to download me a copy (with the crack, of course!).

Yesterday, Joven and I were playing it together. We finally stopped after 5 hours! Call that addiction. Maybe we'd get Huntsville too. Hehe!

Risky!

2006-11-15T22:26:00.000+08:00

Dionne always jokes that if we'd met 5 or 6 years ago, we probably would not have ended up together. Here's why (daw):

I think not! =P

Last Saturday, November 11, Dionne and I went to Gateway Mall to spend the Rustan's gift certificates that were given to us on our wedding by my Nanay's officemates. Items here are somewhat expensive for my taste... We once saw a nice box. It costs around 6k. I would not pay 6k for a box! I would rather buy a nice pair of rubber shoes. Hehe.

Dionne wanted to get a pair of Crocs for us. I hesitated. They're even more expensive than Havs! They do look comfortable though... Something for Christmas? Could be.

We continued looking around until we found ourselves in the toys section. Dionne mentioned that she liked Risk so we looked for the board games there. I remember playing this with Benj, Cors, Ryan and Richie, and enjoying the friendly (aka competitive, hehe) atmosphere.

That's why when we saw this:
We bought it!

Now, who wants to play?

For a long time now, we have been craving for Bellini's. Friends have been saying that the food there was great and reasonably priced too! From Gateway, we made our way to that famous resto.

We were not disappointed. Sarap!

The following day, November 12, we met Cri-c and the rest of her entourage at the LRT-2 office at Recto. Judgment day! Aka, fitting day. Hehe.

No problem! Still sexy... ;)

Soooo happy!

2006-11-10T19:20:00.000+08:00

I was bloghopping last night when I saw this!!!!

WOW!!!! Ang ganda!!! Mamatay matay ako. Pramis!!!

I was crossing my fingers that Fol will give it to us but I was thinking that maybe he'll use it as a sample for bridal fairs or something. Waaah! I just lamely commented in his blog entry.

When I arrived at work this morning , first thing I did was check his reply.

He's giving it to us!

Weeeeeee! Soooo happy! =D

'Tis the season

2006-11-04T17:35:00.000+08:00

A few nights ago, I was awakened by vigorous shaking.

Joven was lying beside me holding my thigh and shaking it.

Scary thoughts flooded my mind. Emergency. Fire. Somebody broke in. A bad phone call. He's hurt. My mom's hurt.

I turned to him, "Bakit???"

He said, "Wala, wala."

Puzzled, I went back to sleep. Of course, I have to calm myself first.

The morning after, Joven asked me, "Naalala mo kagabi?" I said yes. Grinning sheepishly, he told me he dreamt that he was playing basketball.

Basketball season is back! Argh!

Late Bloomer

2006-11-04T16:59:00.000+08:00

We've been meaning to watch The Prestige since we saw the trailer. Based from the reviews in the papers and from our blogmates, we really had to make time for it. Finally, last night we did. Joven and I together with friends (Irish, Bon and OJ) went to RobPlace to see it.

We both enjoyed it. Other than the fact that Angier and Borden were so beautiful onscreen, the story's very engaging. I was gripping Joven's hand during the climax of the movie. Nice!

It's a mix of drama, suspense, sci-fi and what-not. =D

The love story came after... in Starbucks. Finally! Hihi! Saya!

American History ... What??

2006-11-02T08:02:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, as I was about to have my afternoon nap, Dionne enticed me into watching a movie instead. American History X was it.

Dionne already saw the movie and wanted to watch it again, saying that it was one of the best movies ever, with a frontal nudity from Edward Norton! Uhm... OK...

With nachos in hand, we loaded the movie as we sat on the bed.

First scene: Bed scene with loud moaning. Wow, this ain't that bad after all. Hehe.

First disappointment: The frontal nudity scene was cut out. Yey!

And then the talking started.

"Derek!"

And that's the only thing we understood... The movie was dubbed in German (or so we think)!

Sheesh. Never mind. Just get another copy. Hopefully, it'll be in English this time.

Not wanting to waste the nachos, we loaded Leon instead.

Just like the time when we got a copy of The Aviator. It was in French!

We still have that copy. Hoping that someday we (Dionne, at least) will be fluent enough to understand it.

Halo-Halloween!

2006-10-30T21:20:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, Joven and I together with Bon, Dhang, Irish, OJ, Jera, Allan, Malou plus Dave (Dulce came late) went to see Little Miss Sofia Roxanne for the first time. =)

She's sooo cute! Jon's mini-me according to most of us (for the time being according to the dad). When we saw her first photos we thought that she's a big baby. But since she's a premie, she's really small in actual size. Kakatuwa. =)

We were, of course, teased to make our own. =P

While waiting for dinner, we were in our especially hyper mood and were horsing around. Hehe!

Yax and Jon served great food for the guests. Sarap!

Since most of us live far from Yax and Jon's place, we had to leave early. But not without a photo-op with Sofia. =)

More pics here.

A few weeks ago, Fol emailed us the album lay-out for our approval. To our surprise and excitement, he e-mailed us last friday that the album's done and ready for pick-up!

Saturday mid-afternoon, we headed to Fol's place to pick it up. We loved it! It was beautiful!

We dropped by my sister's place to show it off. They loved it too. =)

Here's the album layout. =)

Unfortunately, none of us noticed that in the album spine it says "Jove and Dionne." Fol said he's very sorry and to return it to them immediately. Haay. I have to put off showing it to my other friends. Excited pa naman ako. Hehe!

We haven't met up with the frenchies for the longest time. Or at least that's how we all feel. Hehe!

That's why last Saturday night, we (Joven and I, Christophe, Jera, Dax) trooped to Michelle's condo to watch scary movies, chat with Lu, kwentuhan, and eat ourselves to death. It was our halloween party, so to speak.

We stressed ourselves screaming, eating too much, and laughing. =D

Lastly, Happy Halloween everyone!

Win(TM)ner!

2006-10-26T08:36:00.000+08:00

My tech org, PHISSUG, initiated a challenge a couple of months back. As the interest in the problem increased, the prize became Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with 25 CALs.

A few weeks ago, the verdict was given. I was the first one who gave the correct solution. =)

I think we need a new, more powerful computer for this one...

Addendum 10/27
Due to insistent public demand (Stephen and Brymac), here's the problem: Using T-SQL, get all possible combinations of values from a set whose sum would equal a certain value. For sample sets and results, check out the challenge.

aweSoMe Weekend

2006-10-22T19:14:00.000+08:00

Friday, October 20

For the first time since Dionne and I got together, our text messages got delayed when it mattered...

Dionne rides the LRT from Libertad while I ride at Buendia. Instead of going to Libertad, I would usually wait for her at Buendia. She would then text me what type of train she was riding (silver or not), how long (for non-silvers, either short or long), which door, and which side she was in (left or right). For years, this system has not let us down. But last Friday, the messages arrived after the train left.

Network problem? Phone problem?

Too dependent on technology? Nuninu.

Anyway, we just met at Tayuman station and walked to SM San Lazaro. Although it's already 7PM, we still went there for we had some things to take care of.

First order of business, our Smart Bro payment. We got our bill earlier in the week and were surprised to see that the auto-debit was not reflected on the bill. We talked to a representative at the Smart Wireless Center where we were assured that the auto-debit was still in place. According to their records, we don't owe them anything. Maybe the bill was sent before the auto-debit was made, she said.

Next up, dinner! Chef de Angelo was my our choice. We had oven-baked ziti and a classic hamburger. (Sorry, we forgot to take pics.) We were quite hungry but still had half a hamburger for take-home. Dionne wasn't her usual self as she didn't even have a bite of the burger! OK, she was still recovering from being sick for the past few days... Which has never been a problem for me. Hehe.

It was already past 8 when we were finished. Enough time for our final task:

Saturday, October 21

Busy day for me. Early in the morning, I had to go to my tita's office to deliver a special package.

From there, I had to get to Buendia by 10AM to meet Deyb and Jayne. We would be going to Neil and Nancy's house in Parañaque. We got there at around 11AM. Rodj and Sig were already there.

While the boys had a "meeting", the girls watched Princess Lulu. During the meeting, NBA Live 07 became part of the agenda.

At around 4PM, I left with Rodj and Sig. I was meeting Dionne at SM San Lazaro again.

I rode a jeep towards the LRT-Baclaran station. Not knowing where I was, I just spent the time reading. Man, it was far! It took a good part of an hour for me to reach the Baclaran area. As expected, the streets were full of vendors and the traffic was awful.

I got to the mall before 5:30PM and met Dionne at Booksale.

We first went to the cinema to get tickets for TXT. Screening was at 7:20PM. We then went to the baby's section to get a little girl a gift.

Dinner was at Yellowcab. Unfortunately, no pics again... We had the 10" #4 Cheese and Spaghetti and Meatballs. Pizza went poof together with the meatballs. The spaghetti would be today's merienda.

The movie was OK. Except for this very noisy man in front of us. At first, we thought he was just making those loud comments to impress his girlfriend. But when the girl went to the CR, he still continued talking! Tsk, tsk. Some people need to be taught some basic manners in the cinema.

After the movie, we went to Starbucks for a Caramel frap. Just like old times.

Sunday, October 22

We attended the 10AM mass at Espiritu Santo. Mommie didn't come with us because she and her amigas went to Manaoag yesterday and already had mass there.

From the church, we walked towards SM San Lazaro. (Striiike!)

This time, we just bought our groceries. I got the Pioneer Contact Bond for the loose plastic strip on my boots. It turned out to be a fancy name for rugby in a tube!

I was supposed to go to the gym today... (shhh...)

Instead, I spent the afternoon with my wife, which I would rather do than anything else.

We watched Shawshank Redemption. Nice film. Quite sad in some parts.

After the movie, Dionne finished the 2nd DVD of Angels in America, while I got acquainted to NBA Live 07. PC requirements are quite high. My laptop couldn't handle the graphics at the highest setting.

I tried playing it at the Rookie level. Although the controls are almost the same as that of the 2005 version, I'm still not used to the Superstar control. I'm disappointed that the back-down button no longer exists. How do I get Shaq to post up now?

Also, can anyone tell me how the freethrow controls work??

Chocolat, Calauan, and Caramel Mocha

2006-10-18T10:56:00.000+08:00

Finally had time to blog. I just need to be sick to update our blog. Honestly, I feel terrible. My whole body aches, I have colds and cough. Worse, I need to go back to work immediately. Haay.

Enough about me. Lemme tell you about our weekend.

Saturday was set to meet Trisha. She came to Manila for a visit from Iloilo. Together with Pearli and Vin, we had merienda at Chocolat at MOA. We almost finished the whole cake of chocolate if not for the sugar rush. Yummy cake!

The conversation was peppered with laughter while Trish recounts her quest for THE ONE. The boys were very interested in what happened and what will happen next. Getting up to use the restroom is very difficult. Nobody wants to miss anything!

We ended the afternoon with a promise to go back to Bora and Iloilo to visit Trish on May next year. Can't wait!

Sunday was set to check out our place at Calauan. Milenyo definitely made its mark on it. 3 big trees fell down... the building was left in shambles... almost all the fences flew to the river. The caretaker told us it was really scary. Oh well, nothing we can do except deal with the renovation.

We had lunch at the building (or what was left of it). Jef was almost bitten by the caretaker's dog (almost because the dog's teeth just nicked his hand). We still decided to have him injected of anti-rabies in Manila just to be sure. He didn't cry because of the dog bite, he started crying because everyone was telling him that he'll turn into a dog soon. Hehe!

That didn't dampen his spirits though. He went to the river to bathe. Nakakatuwa talaga ang bata.

After an hour or so, we decided to go home but not with a quick stop at the pasalubong center in Los BaÃ±os. =)

More pics here.

It's adjustment stage again for us. This time I think Joven is making a lot of.

His new job doesn't entail him to be early at work. We're used to waking up at 5AM for him to get to the office before 7AM. Now, no need to rush. We can leave for work together instead of him leaving very early. But, this also means he comes home late than usual.

He's used to coming to work in jeans, t-shirt and rubber shoes. Now, he dons a barong/polo, slacks and leather shoes. This also means we have to shop for a new pair of leather shoes, undershirts, etc.

He's also used that he brings lunch to work. Now, he eats at the nearby fastfood or canteen there. He's planning to return to his old ways though, probably next week. Meaning, I have to cook again. =P

He used to carry a laptop with him everywhere. He didn't have one for the last 3 days (hell for him), fortunately as of writing, he is tinkering with his new one.

His biggest regret, I think, is that there's no caramel mocha coffee there. =P

Senti

2006-10-13T10:03:00.000+08:00

Last night, before going to sleep, it begun to sink upon me that today was going to be my last day at PBG. It's been almost three years, the longest I've ever stayed with a company.

Wow. It has been a long time.

I used to be a job-hopper, as much as I don't like it. One time, when I told my boss about a job offer which I'm thinking about, I also told him that I don't really a reason for leaving. It's just the salary being offered. What did management do? They matched it (and more)! Much to my delight. And that was just on the first year.

I sure am going to miss a lot by leaving. Here are some of them:

Laptop - It'll be the first time in so long that I won't have one by the bed. I will be getting one when I join the company. It's just that I won't have one this weekend.
Food - Whenever there's a birthday or promotion or a new employee gets his/her first salary, people would tease that person to pauga. I have no idea where that term came from, I just stay for the food.
Downloads - Rates of almost 300kbps. Enough said.
Petiks - This is the most relaxed environment that I've worked with. Deadlines? Bah! Pressure? What's that!? Heck, I even had time to go out on dates... Hehe.
People - Being with the same group (for the IT team mostly; call center people come and go quickly that we sometimes never get to learn their names) for that long endears them to you and you to them.

By Monday, I'll be joining a new/old company. Old, because my boss is a previous employer. I already know most of the people there. New, because we will be establishing a new company of which I am hoping to be a major contributor. It's risky I know. But, as my very supportive wife has been telling me, it's an opportunity that's very hard to pass up on. There will be people who'll help me so I need not be worried of being in the dark. Let's see where this leads me.

Going back to last night. Before going to bed, I set up my laptop for an all-night download spree. All torrents set at "Forced Downloading". This was the last night that I'll be using it so I better ~~abuse~~ make the most of it.

And then I slept.

4:50 AM, I wake up, go to the bathroom. When I looked at the laptop, it's displaying a different screensaver...

And when I disabled the screensaver, it displayed the Logon screen!

What happened? What about my downloads??

I logged on to check what happened. Only one file was completed. Tough luck. Then, Windows displays a balloon, with a message like "Security patch was applied. Automatic restart was required."

Just great. Thanks Windows. Hmp!

But I digress. In a few moments, I'll be walking out of here. Thanks PBG. *sniff*

Weekend G's

2006-10-08T20:25:00.000+08:00

Friday was in celebration of Bon's birthday.

Bon is one of my favorite people on earth. We became really good friends when I came back from France two years ago. She's one person I can unabashedly share my frustrations, opinions and goofiness. =D

Her birthday was of course a special occasion for us. The pre-planned dinner at MOA became a videoke-all-nighter at RedBox. The birthday girl, Irish, Francis, Dulce, Ara, Malou, and our new recruit, OJ partied the night away.

We went home with sore throats and happy hearts. Happy birthday VC Bon!

More pics here.

Saturday was set for a movie-dinner date with Benj, Beej and Cors. (Get well soon Ryan!)

Joven and I wanted to go to Greenhills earlier to shop, but because of unforeseen circumstances (i.e., I was late), we got there just in time for dinner. On our way to the Promenade, we were sooo amazed on how much Greenhills has changed. Ganda na! It was a mix of Gateway, Market! Market! and Greenbelt. We hope to come back and explore some more. =D

Dinner was at Cibo. Yummy! Food pics here.

I should have brought the camera to the bathroom. Wala lang aliw kasi! Hehe!

Ever since I saw on TV that they're making The Departed, I asked Joven if we could watch it as soon as it's shown here.

Being a fan of mob movies, I enjoyed it immensely, the blood and gore included. I don't have much words to describe the film. It will really leave you speechless. I just loved it. I hope they'd get to show more of these stuff as they do back in the old days. Hehe!

I looked up the movie in IMDB (I only do that only after I've seen it to avoid spoilers), and learned that it was based on a HK film, Infernal Affairs.

Which got me interested too.

Andy Lau and Tony Leung! My HK action star crushes! It's really like Caprio and Damon! Hehe!

I hope we'd be able to get a copy of the movie. Help!

Pretty, Pretty Sofia!

2006-10-05T19:37:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to the parents of this beautiful child, Sofia Roxanne A. Cuy! Jon and Yax, she's truly an angel!

Yax is really a trooper throughout her pregnancy. Jon played the very supportive hubby. I'm sure you guys will be wonderful parents. =)

Sofia was born when we were in Cebu (September 27), unfortunately we weren't able to visit her. We hope to see you guys plus little Sofia soon.

Samboan Adventure

2006-10-03T16:13:00.000+08:00

For a change, I will not show you pics of the devastation of "Milenyo." =)

Last March, we took advantage of the Cebu Pacific promo and booked us flights to Cebu. We opted to go this September for my mom's hometown fiesta in Samboan.

For me, this trip was more than just time away from work. To be honest, I'm not a kamag-anak person. Most of my extended relatives, I haven't even met (met but probably forgot). I only knew them through my mom's stories. This was the perfect opportunity for me to get to know my roots.

Day 1: September 27 (Wednesday)

Joven and I left for the airport earlier than my mom and sister. Since the flight schedule got screwed up, we ended up going to Cebu a few hours earlier than the two of them. We killed time by reading our pocketbooks, throwing dagger looks at the "malikot" man sitting on the far side of the bench, eating lunch, donuts and coffee, i.e., spending a fortune on airport food and Joven trying to install (to no avail) NBA 2006 in his laptop. While we were waiting, heavy rains were starting to pour. Fortunately, the rain gave way before we boarded the plane.

The plane ride was smooth sauf the turbulence that made one of the ladies on board shriek and Joven more tensed (he hates plane rides).

We waited a few hours in Mactan Airport for my mom and sister to arrive. Soon we were picked up by our very accommodating uncle, Tito Aguinaldo or Tito Agi as we call him.

Earlier, he made arrangements for us to stay at an inn in Llorente St. The inn (Apple Tree) is relatively new, clean and comfy. The staff were very courteous too. Tito Agi left us for a few hours to settle down. He promised to come back because he wants to take us out to dinner.

The front desk called us since Tito Agi was at the lobby already. Instead of him, we were met by his beautiful wife, Tita Joanne and daughter, Kid (Kid has an exceptional voice by the way, like her sister whom we haven't met yet).

Dinner was at Golden Cowrie in Salinas St. One word: Delicious!

We were so surprised by the prices, we just had to take a pic of the menu.

Food pics here.

Day 2: September 28 (Thursday)

The day started early. We wanted to cover much of the city (and buy pasalubong as well) before we go to the outskirts. We had breakfast at Jollibee where we learned that they serve "Super Breakfasts" there. Joven was quite apprehensive to approach the counter because he might not understand the cashier. =P

After breakfast we went to Magellan's Cross and the Basilica del Sto. Niño de Cebu. Like any other tourists, we snapped away.

Since SM Cebu is quite far from where we are and Tabo-an is nearer, we decided to head there for the pasalubong. The sight and smell overwhelmed us. After getting over that, we began to order what we want (with haggling for the prices on the side). With two boxes of pasalubong in tow, we decided to call it quits.

We got back to the inn and was immediately helped by the bellboy. I think he got a good hint of where we came from and volunteered to put the boxes in their office and not in our room to prevent the smell from spreading. Hehe! After sometime the smell seemed to linger, we later realized that it was us who smell! Yikes!

After freshening up, we decided to eat lunch at Orange Brutus (they still have it there!) and eventually check out from the inn. We wanted to ride the bus to Samboan right after lunch because according to my mom, the bus ride will take about 3-4 hours. We got to the South Terminal (bus station) via taxi. Joven and I were so shocked when the porters opened the car door and began grabbing our stuff. Scary! I asked Joven to follow them while I pay for the cab. They were soo aggressive. Later, they asked us to pay P10 for each baggage! Grrr!

We rode the bus to Samboan, me pumped with Bonamine (I'm not so fond of land travel), for 3 and a half hours. The sights were beautiful! I wasn't able to get shots of the scenery because the bus was moving too fast and I was getting groggy.

We arrived in Samboan a little after 5pm. Tita Nora, Tito Boy and his kids (Hershey, Joshmer and Jairuz) welcomed us with sumptuous merienda.

The rest of the day was spent in settling down, freshening up and getting to know our new housemates (or I think it was the other way around).

Day 3: September 29 (Friday)

The first day of the town fiesta! We had a full breakfast (bread, peanut butter, tinolang isda, rice, puto - which was totally different from the puto we all know, hot chocolate/coffee). Grabe! I'm still in awe on how Tita Nora cooks all day. Her kitchen, with two househelp, opens at 5AM and closes at past 8PM. They cook all day and serve us great food almost every two hours! Wow!

Anyway, Tito Agi arrived early from the city. He volunteered to tour us around the town after lunch. Lunch, by the way, includes the delicious Lechon Cebu courtesy of Tito Boy. Yummy!

After lunch, we strolled around the beautiful town of Samboan. We saw their big municipal hall, old stone church, beautiful beach (which was being quarried, tsk tsk!), busy market and one of their secrets... Aguinid Waterfalls!

The hike to the waterfalls was fun. Funny though, the two kids - who are from there, met small catastrophes... one kept on falling on her butt, the other one lost his slipper after the current took it from his foot. The bakasyonistas were formidable. Hehe!

We went home and ate (again) dinner. The kids kept on bugging us to accompany them in the perya (carnival) nearby. I have never been in a perya before and I was just as excited. The kids pleaded for them to ride the ferris wheel. A bit reluctant for their safety, we agreed only because they told us they rode the ferris wheel the night before. The P10 ride was the longest ferris wheel ride I've ever seen. It seemed that they were there for more than ten minutes! After the ride, the kids busied themselves playing some of the games. I joined the color game and won two pesos. Joven, on the other hand, lost seven pesos. Haha! The kids capped the night with fruit shakes and street food. =D

Day 4: September 30 (Saturday)

Our flight was not until 10pm so we decided to maximize the day. Another delicious breakfast started our day. We went to the old church to hear mass. Cardinal Vidal officiated the mass in Visayan. The churchgoers were very much different from those in Manila. They dressed well (decently, that is) and brought their family with them (including the men - I don't see a lot of men in Manila churches except for those in the altar).

After the mass, we had a quick lunch and waited for the bus that would take us back to the city. The bus ride was uneventful except for the surprisingly low fare. During the bus ride, I was constantly texting my former officemate who we will be meeting at the terminal. She promised to take us around the city while we're killing time before the flight.

She initially took us to her place (so that we leave our stuff for the stroll) and told us of our itinerary. She said that there was a nice park under the new bridge she wants us to see. I was beginning to feel tired that I asked her to take us to SM Cebu. =P

SM Cebu's quite big. Since they were on a 3-day sale, we got VCDs for a good price plus his and hers souvenir shirts. Hehe! =) Dinner was at CnT (the best Lechon Cebu in my opinion). Yummy!

Thanks to Tito Agi and family for helping us find our way. Tita Nora, Tito Boy, Hershey, Joshmer and Jairuz for fattening us and making our trip really worth it. Evelyn and Dessa for the warm send off.

We had a wonderful vacation. We had all the elements present: beautiful sights, warm people, great food. We hope to be back soon. =)

(More pics here.)

Winners Again!

2006-10-02T22:44:00.000+08:00

Remember this?

Now, we won this!

Unbelievable!

We forgot about the promo we joined after seeing the indie film, "Nasaan si Francis?"

Last week, Joven got a letter from the mail saying he is a potential winner because of a promo he joined through the movie. We remembered the promo but forgot the prize. This afternoon, he claimed it. Apparently, he was one of the two who got the top prize.

N90 is N90. Now, what do we do with another phone? Hehe.

Irresponsible

2006-09-23T12:27:00.000+08:00

Last night while waiting for our routine TV show, my mom flipped to channel 2 a bit earlier and we were able to catch the last 15 minutes of TV Patrol World. From a raised eyebrow in distaste to fuming mad in 15 minutes...

We caught the segment on sexy-ladies-posing-for-sexy-magazines (duh!). They showed a number of photos of these ladies in skimpy outfits... in prime time TV! Sus!

Apparently that was just a teaser to the worst news segment of the night. Later they featured a zoo that is not well maintained and the animals not taken cared of. Blah, blah, blah. They later focused their camera to a croc. They said that the caretakers are feeding the croc live animals, e.g., dogs, cats, goats. They said that based on a certain law, this is illegal. They should not feed the croc with live animals. For whatever reason, they said that they paid the caretakers P500 to show them how they feed the croc. Given the money, the caretaker obliged. They literally dropped a live goat in the croc's cage. Within seconds, the croc attacked the crying goat. The ABS-CBN crew just kept the cameras rolling. Jeez! They said that it was illegal. They even directly quoted the law. They want to illustrate a point?? I don't think so. They're just in for the "good stuff." Damn those people.

I Want This!

2006-09-23T12:10:00.000+08:00

I love Elmo! The dog really amuses too. Hihihi!

Note: For those who can't play it, click here.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2006-09-16T17:09:00.000+08:00

Fathers and daughters have a romance

Fathers and daughters have a romance
That goes on for the rest of their lives,
Destined to ripen and age as they dance
Through the days of their husbands and wives.

Up near the surface their love is distinct,
Like a garden surveyed in the sun,
In which seedtime and full bloom are credibly linked
By a consciousness shared and hard won.

Deep down below, where the world is a dream,
And the dream is a world of its own,
All manner of memories the moments redeem
In a place where one's never alone.

Poem credits: Nicholas Gordon

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Thank you for being a wonderful dad. I miss you.

Love you!

Happy Birthday, Tatay!

2006-09-15T08:09:00.000+08:00

My father, Cornelio Jr., would have been 62 today.

Haay. How we miss him.

Wicker, Birthday, Badingsta

2006-09-12T18:32:00.000+08:00

Last movie we saw last weekend was The Wicker Man. Joven didn't like it because of the ending. While I liked it because of the ending. Cool! Hehe! I know I have an evil side. =D All in all, it was worth the time. I won't mention the details on how we saw it or who we saw it with. Hehe!

Summary of that:
Walter Mart movie theater - Wow!
Kitaro - Never again!
Cafe Mocha from Starbucks - Pfft! Compared to Vanilla Latte of Coffee Bean
Dome cake from Starbucks - Yumyum!

Last Saturday was a road trip to Pampanga. I got to see the Larin clan again. =) In all honesty, I enjoy really seeing them.

It was Dominic's 10th birthday. I still can't believe he's only 10. We were received by the gracious Bapa Juan, the great cook Tita Bebeth, and the excited birthday boy, Dominic. As always the food was superb! I was surprised when I was handed a plastic bag of goodies before going home. Nice!

Pics here.

Sunday was grandparents' day. Mommie was visited by our super kulit nephew, Jef. The morning was reserved for Sunday mass and grocery while the whole afternoon was kept for lounging around. Since Jef's mom went to her office to check if any of her stuff was damaged by the flood (it's been raining heck these past few days), we were tasked to take care of him. He insisted in going up to our room (his current favorite place) to play there. Joven and I were coaxing him to sleep but he'd rather play computer games.

After he got tired of the computer, he insisted that he wanted to go downstairs. Joven finally gave up sleep and called him. Jef's going crazy over Batista (since he recently saw the guy on TV). I don't remember whose idea it was for them to wrestle. I ended up as the referee cum announcer (yes, he wanted to be introduced). Most of the time, I ended up laughing instead of doing my duties. Hehehe! We called him Badingsta a number of times because while wrestling Joven, he would playfully pull Joven's shorts and look at his "drip" (briefs). Apparently, he was amused seeing a big "drip" like that. Hahaha! The teasing made him more aggressive in showing Joven that he is not a bit girly. Jef definitely knows how to kick a$$! Joven ended up bruised, bitten, scratched and almost hairless. All the while, Jef was insisting that what he's doing is within the legal limits. =D

Hellos and Goodbyes

2006-09-04T14:17:00.000+08:00

The last time we saw Pearli and Vin was almost 3 months ago. Yup, on our wedding. Pearli was one of the readers during the ceremony. Unfortunately, they had to leave early to attend to a family matter. So it has been a while since we had a chance to talk to this ehem-ehem, uhm, couple. ;)

The last time we saw Dette was January of 2005. We went on a mini-tour of Boracay-Iloilo-Bacolod in a span of 6 days, together with Pearli, Trisha, Kurt and Richelle. It's a group whose core were grad school students. If you remember the news about the fire in Boracay at that time, we were there. A block or two away from where the fire started. It was part of Dette's vacation here. After which, she had to go back to Dubai.

Which is why we were so surprised to find out a couple of weeks ago that she'd been in the country for quite some time! She says that she left her phone book at Dubai. Understandable. What's more surprising was when we were told that she already got civilly married there and just went here to get civilly married as well.

That's not all! She's 3 months pregnant! Imagine that. Last year, we were still egging and teasing her about meeting Benj. Now, she's way past that. Hehe. She'll be leaving the country on Friday, September 8. It'll be another year before we see her again, with the rest of her family this time. We weren't able to meet her husband because he only stayed here for 4 days. I couldn't even remember his first name. Oops. Anyway... (It's Carl according to Dionne.)

Congratulations to Dette and her new life!

We finally were able to catch up on Pearli and Vin, and Dette last Saturday, September 2. We met at SM Mall of Asia and were treated by Dette to a hearty lunch at Burgoo. We were quite hungry that we forgot to take pictures of the food... We also weren't able to take pictures of us because of Dette's request. No pictures at this phase. Hormonal changes. They say that her child's going to be a boy. We'll see.

From Burgoo, we went to the World Trade Center for the annual book fair. Again, I was the one who bought books. I got 6 new books for only PHP 398, which includes Robert Jordan's New Spring and Raymond E. Feist's Talon of the Silver Hawk.

We would've wanted to have dinner with them as well but we had another engagement to go to. We'll be having dinner with Dionne's classmates from French. It was Lu's despedida, part 2.

Dinner was set for 630PM at Chili's GB1. We got to Makati an hour before that so we decided to have coffee first. Vanilla Latte is our current favorite at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. In the middle of coffee and kwentuhan, John (Tita Dap's officemate) greeted us. Hi John!

Before 7PM, we went to Chili's. Yup, we knew almost everyone would be late. Hehe. When we got there, we were greeted by newly-arrived-from-Japan Jera and her boyfriend, Bianco. Soon after, the rest of the gang arrived: Lu, Michelle, Christophe, Joyce (with husband Mon and handsome son Paulo), and Dax. Unfortunately, the guest of honor/teacher, Louis, wasn't not able to make it. Surprisingly, Dionne and I were still somewhat full from our lunch that we just shared our herbed pork steak.

Note: Chili's has bottomless nachos (I forgot what they call them) with bottomless salsa dip and non-bottomless cheese dip. Be sure to order this one when you eat there and plan to stay for a while. Hehe.

After dinner, we had coffee at Starbucks. In between sipping coffee, we had some shots of the Jera's rice wine. This had to be done discreetly, for fear of... the security guard? Like high school kids hiding something. =P

Lu's flight is scheduled tonight. It'll be at least a year before we see her again. Good luck Lu! Take care of yourself!

This coming Friday, we'll be trooping to San Mateo, Rizal to congratulate (as we won't be able to attend the 10AM ceremony) the (by then) newly weds, Mem and Monching. Congrats!

Yesterday, we went to Pasig to pay our respects to one of Jeff kulit's ninongs, Boom-boom. He was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery last May. The doctors said he had 4 to 6 months left. He died 3 1/2 months later. He was 42.

Both Dionne and I refused to look at him. We went there and saw the coffin but didn't look inside. We wanted to remember him as the jolly and makulit person that he is. He will surely be missed.

Amused

2006-08-30T20:27:00.000+08:00

I was on my way to our office on the 5th floor from the 14th when the elevator doors opened. Two colleagues from the Department came in. D lightly touched my tummy (to my surprise!) and said, "Pregnant ka na?" What the?!! I answered in an amused tone. "I just gained weight!" Realizing her booboo, she jumped up and hugged me, "Sooorry! You got married na kasi eh." To which I retorted, "It doesn't follow, noh!" We ended up laughing in the lift.

I was not the very least angry nor annoyed. I was amused. Very amused. I couldn't believe that some people are like that... just plain tactless. She even touched my tummy, mind you! Sheesh, I ask permission from pregnant women before I touch their tummy! I think it's only polite to ask. It's still a body part and a sensitive body part at that. Nakakaaliw lang. =P

New Twist to an Old Game

2006-08-28T08:07:00.000+08:00

Remember playing tumbang preso?

My brothers and I used to play that during our summer vacation at our Lola's house in Pampanga. To make the game harder, we would sometimes use smaller evap cans. If we had a grudge against the "it", we would aim at him/her instead of the can. Hehe.

Last Saturday, as Dionne and I were on our way to my mother's, we passed by a group of kids playing a different flavor of this game.

Instead of a can, they used a tansan (softdrink bottle cap).

Now, that's hard.

Guess Who's in the House

2006-08-23T20:42:00.000+08:00

What did we do in the long weekend we were blessed with?

Nothing much. We stayed in the house most of the time. =D

Last Saturday, Joven went to Makati to meet Ryan for something "business related." While, I stayed at home and dealt with my own business a.k.a. Cake Mania. I was able to finish the whole game in one sitting! Hehe! Now, I'm starting another business, Tropix. These things can be really addictive. They should really be not that accessible to kids. =P

Joven initially wanted to watch a movie in Makati but I was too lazy to get out of the house. We compromised by going to the nearest mall to do our weekly grocery. My diet is getting worse. I'm having too much carb and sugar in my system. I need to trim down! My mind tells me to do that but my stomach is saying otherwise. I guess it boils down to willpower. Argh!

After church last Sunday, Joven and I, together with my mom went on a short divi trip. I miss going to this place. Who could resist the cheap finds?! After getting myself two pants, one t-shirt and one blouse, I called it a day. And oh yes, we got ourself curtains! It looks like a big monopoly gameboard. Really cool! Hihi! We even installed the curtain rods ourselves! *bows* Geez, I never thought I'd gush about curtains in this lifetime, so Stepford! It's just that it really makes a lot of difference in our room. I won't post pics, that'd be quite too much. I didn't take any... I was tempted though. =P

Highlight of our weekend!

I ~~like~~ love House! My officemate has been gushing about the series since it first aired here. Since I didn't have time to watch it, I put it in our "list of to watch when we have time." But after reading a number of blog friends saying the series is great, the curiousity kicked in. Joven's officemate has a copy of the first season. From the pilot up to the tenth episode, we were glued to the monitor. Niiice! We can't wait to watch everything!

We also need to find time to watch this and this. Probably another long weekend?

Deal or No Deal?

2006-08-22T07:50:00.000+08:00

We don't get to watch that much TV these days. But when we do get the chance, it's usually tuned to Channel 7: 24 Oras, Captain Barbell, Majika, I Luv NY, and the korea-nobelas.

In between those shows, we flip over to the rival network to watch Deal or No Deal, another franchise from Endemol. Why? Although it's purely a game of chance, it has become a habit born of getting tired of watching fanta-seryes. It's a break from the usual stuff we watch.

Yesterday, the contestant chose the briefcase containing the top prize of PHP 2,000,000 but settled for a much lower amount of PHP 300,000++. She just got what she needed. She didn't get greedy like the other contestants who ended up with not so rewarding deals.

I remember Ditse saying that this show would die a natural death since it doesn't have anything to hook people into it (besides the money). Maybe after a year. But for now, it's something to pass the time with, just like this and this.

Seasons of Love

2006-08-15T19:07:00.000+08:00

Allow me to be nostalgic...

Last Saturday, we (with some frenchies) had a small get-together in honor of our two beloved friends, Tet and Lu. Both will be leaving this September to study in France. They'll be gone for about two years. I have been thinking about this for quite some time already because I know how much I will miss seeing them in the future get-togethers.

Almost four years ago, I studied French in the Institute. I initially did not plan to enroll since I just entered the office. But my ever so makulit officemate and eventually friend, Dulce, enticed me to enroll with her. Since I had nothing better to do and the classes were free anyway, I relented. I will never regret that decision.

With the two years we have been together in class, trying to decipher the language, learning the cultural nuances, living in Paris for a month, and countless experiences under our belt... the classmates I had eventually became my friends who will always be close to my heart.

Tet was our teacher (but she was the youngest in class!) for the first three consecutive semesters. Although she left the Institute for better opportunities, (which is very wise for her =D) we never lost touch. Whenever the frenchies have a get-together, we always make it a point to contact and invite her. Soon, the teacher-student relationship we had melted into friendship. What I like about Tet (even before she ceased to be our teacher) is that she never made us feel that she can never be our friend. She's such a comfortable person to be with, no pretensions, very down-to-earth and downright sensible. We'll miss you Tet! See you soon. =)

Lu and I have been classmates and seatmates since day 1 in our class, but, we always end up talking about French lessons and activities. Lu and I came to understand each other and became really good friends during our Paris walks. It was then when she told me that she dreams to study there. I told her that her dream is not far fetched. I'm very happy for her because not everyone gets to realize a dream, no matter how big or small it is. I will miss her in dinners, conversations, hallways, coffee and more. We'll visit you soon Lu. Hehe! Take care!

As mentioned, last Saturday we had our despedida for them. None of it was emotional. We're not like that. We love basking in the sun. We're happy people. This is a send off... to their dreams. We can never be happier for them.

click on the pic

"It's time now to sing out,
Tho' the story never ends
Let's celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends
Remember the love!
Remember the love!
Seasons of love!"

Greetings for August (So Far)

2006-08-10T13:17:00.000+08:00

As of today, we've had 3 birthdays in our immediate families.

Dionne's eldest sister, Ate Desire, celebrated her birthday last August 1. A mini-celebration was held at our house last Saturday, August 5. This coincided with a neighbor's wedding where Ate was a principal sponsor. Mommie cooked carbonara for the occasion. Carbonara which lasted until Tuesday to become our baon.

My favorite sister, Mae, had hers last August 2. She's now a teenager. We had lunch at Pizza Hut (SM San Lazaro) with our mothers, Mae and Jeff. I initially kidded my sister that we'll be having lunch at the food court. Hehe.

Jeff, Mae, Nanay

Mommie, Dionne, Joven

Mae, Before & After Eating

Today, it's our kasambahay Isay's day.

We'd like to congratulate our good friends, the B's, on their paper.

Edited by Dionne @ 6:50 pm: Shoutouts to August birthday celebrants, Jon and Mavis. =) Shoutout to Glo too! Hihi! Mwah!

As The Good Book Says

2006-08-07T07:26:00.000+08:00

I wanted to watch Miami Vice for the weekend.

Fortunately, we didn't. We stayed home and watched Fiddler on the Roof.

I was quite skeptical at first because I didn't know what it was about. I just knew that it was an old film (released in 1971). Dionne was familiar with the movie because they had a VHS copy of it when she was young. She still knew most of the songs as we were watching it. It's just now that she got to appreciate the dialog as well. Dionne told me that Sunrise, Sunset also came from this movie/play. We used that song in the father/daughter-mother/son dance during our wedding. *sniff*

A few minutes into the movie, I was hooked! After 40 minutes, we decided to stop because it was getting late. We finished the rest of the movie yesterday afternoon. Wow. Aylavet!

Some quotes from the movie:

Tevye: As Abraham said, "I am a stranger in a strange land..."
Mendel: Moses said that.
Tevye: Ah. Well, as King David said, "I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue."
Mendel: That was also Moses.
Tevye: For a man who was slow of tongue, he talked a lot.

Perchik: Money is the world's curse.
Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover.

Perchik: Your daughter has a quick and witty tongue.
Tevye: Yes, the wit she gets from me, as the good book says...
Golde: The good book can wait, it's time for Sabbath.
Tevye: The tongue she gets from her mother.

Villager: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
Tevye: Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.

How to Shower

2006-08-03T18:40:00.000+08:00

I found this in this blog while I was bloghopping...

Natawa ako. Hehehe!

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN:

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.
Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
Look at your womanly physique in the mirror -- make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
Get in the shower.
Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.
Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced.
Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash. Rinse conditioner off hair.
Shave armpits and legs.
Turn off shower.
Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.
Spray mold spots with Tilex.
Get out of shower.
Dry with towel the size of a small country.
Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN:

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
Walk naked to the bathroom.
If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the woo-woo sound.
Look at your manly physique in the mirror.
Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your ass.
Get in the shower.
Wash your face.
Wash your armpits.
Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.
Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.
Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.
Wash your hair.
Make a Shampoo Mohawk.
Pee.
Rinse off and get out of shower.
Partially dry off.
Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.
Admire wiener size in mirror again.
Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
Return to bedroom with towel around waist.
If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo sound again.
Throw wet towel on bed.

Parafunctional Habit

2006-07-31T18:54:00.000+08:00

For a number of weeks now, I have been awakened by strange noises. I always wake up confused on where it was coming from. There were nights when I turn to the headboard and imagine that there were creepy crawlers behind it. Other times, I thought that the noise was coming from outside the window. Joven, on the other hand, is in deep sleep. When I told him about it, he said he didn’t hear anything. I tried to describe the noise to him but I can’t seem to describe it. Scratching, squeaking, high-pitched scraping all rolled into one.

That same night, the noise revealed itself to me again. I turned my head to where it was coming from. Then I saw… Joven. The noise was coming from him! His jaws were moving! He was grinding his teeth! What the?! Naku! I thought of waking him up but he stopped the grinding when I was about to touch him.

That morning, I told him of what I saw. He said it’s not him. In denial! Hmp! I was actually more worried than anything else. I’m not sure what it was exactly.

I googled it in the Internet. They call it bruxism.

Causes remain unclear.

No accepted cure.

Haay.

Any experiences in this? What to do? =(

Meatcake!

2006-07-31T07:43:00.000+08:00

For those looking for a non-traditional wedding cake, take a look at this. =)

Scary Movie

2006-07-30T21:34:00.000+08:00

Another scary movie is showing in the metro. And Kris Aquino is once again in the starring role.

Dionne and I watched Sukob at SM San Lazaro with Mommie and Isay, our kasambahay. It was a rare occasion when the cinema was filled with moviegoers. I guess, like us, they wanted to get a little system shock.

As expected, the movie was one scream-fest. Every now and then I'd get surprised too.

But I don't scream. Hehe.

I was more annoyed with the people behind us. They kept on talking to each other as if they were at home, watching from their television.

Dionne says that Kris did a better job at acting this time, but still had that constipated look during heavy drama.

Bon voyage!

Dionne and I had lunch with Lu, Dax and Japan-bound Jera last Saturday at Luk Yuen at Megamall. It was a short lunch as we got there later than we wanted to. Dax and Jera, even later.

Once everybody got settled, the discussions were non-stop. Lu and Dax were talked about items for the upcoming Foreign Service Officer exam. Dionne and Jera were discussing Jera's Nihongo class teacher. While I continued eating. =)

We would have stayed and talked more, or watched a movie, but we had a wedding to go to. Before leaving, we wished Jera a safe trip and hope that she enjoys her three weeks in Japan. Pasalubong naman dyan!

Congrats and best wishes!

From Megamall, we had to make our way through heavy rain towards Edsa Central to meet Irish and Mau. We had less than two hours to get to Dennis and Lea's wedding at Binangonan, Rizal.

Despite the traffic and flood and heavy rain, surprisingly, we got to the church before Lea started walking down the aisle. Credit that to them having 30 pairs of secondary sponsors and 11 pairs of principal sponsors. Dang was one of the secondary bridesmaids but felt like a debutante at the end. Ara was responsible for everybody's flowers, including the centerpieces at the reception.

The ceremony was short and simple. It was the signing of the contract and picture-taking that took most of the time.

From the church, we hitched a ride with Dionne's boss to the reception. Apparently, Lea's house wasn't that near.

We got to the reception at almost the same time as the newlyweds. We were told where our seats would be so we went straight there. A few minutes later, when the rest of the guests have arrived, the couple was at the entrance, welcoming them. While we were already seated. Oops.

Anyway, we were lucky enough to be among the first persons in line for the buffet. As later on, the neighbors started to flock in and get a piece of the action. Even the kids swarmed the sorbetes. So Allan had to push some kids aside to get near the sorbetera. Tsk, tsk!

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for the rest of the program. We still had a long way to go. Dionne's officemates were kind enough to give us a ride towards Manila. Along the way, Dionne didn't feel good. Good thing Mau was there for the paracetamol, Vicks and hilot. Thanks Mau!

Photos by Allan and us.

Sexist God?

2006-07-28T19:26:00.000+08:00

Last night, I was lying in bed asking the sandman to sprinkle his magic sand onto me. Joven was already snoring lightly and I was left preoccupied with our conversation before he fell asleep. So, I decided to pray myself to sleep. I was praying hard, not only asking for sleep to come, but of the things that are happening to me and to us lately. (Happening to us? Well, nothing that bad really.)

I was in the middle of my prayer when I remembered one of the speakers in our precana seminar in UST. The speakers, who were a couple, told us that when women pray to Him, He listens but doesn’t give their requests immediately... sometimes, not at all. But when men pray to Him, He will give their requests immediately, without a doubt… and they say that that’s guaranteed. I was sitting there, grinding my teeth and hoping things will be over soon.

Why would they say that?? Did they really think that God is sexist?? Is that some kind of old, old, old church teaching nobody knows about?? Did the people from UST even review the contents of what the couple was teaching us?? Sheesh.

I sat there mum about what they were saying because I needed their signature on our church documents. I don’t want to argue… they’re older than me and because of that, I respect them. But I still couldn’t believe (until now) that they said what they said.

So, I continued to pray, until I fell asleep, to my God who I believe is not sexist at all.

Bashya!

2006-07-25T17:57:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a relaxing weekend for me although none of our previous plans pushed through. =D

Last Thursday, because of a cancelled meeting, Joven and I had an impromptu date with the Bs at Rob Place.

Before heading to the cinema, we wanted to buy new swimsuits firsts. Unfortunately, the style I wanted didn’t have my size and Joven wants to buy one in a different store. Because of time constraint and we saw the Speedo store quite late already... we headed to the cinema instead and made a rain check on the swimsuits.

We watched Nacho Libre. I was not too keen on seeing it but relented with a promise that Joven and I will see Lady in the Water (I’m such a fan of M. Night Shyamalan!). Anyway, the Nacho Libre gave me a few laughs but I still think that it’s worth watching in DVD or HBO rather than on the big screen. Thanks for the libre brad, but I’d still want to see the Shyamalan movie. Hehe!

Dinner was at Piadina’s. Nice and cozy. With matching uber-hot-olive-oil-with-garlic to boot. If ever we head that way again, we just might come back. =)

Friday night was uneventful. Joven was at the gym while I busied myself bloghopping.

Prior to that I was able to (finally!) finish the novel I was reading. Maya Angelou’s autobiography – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. If a copy of the book comes your way, get it and read it! It’s an old book (first published in 1969) but the eloquence of Ms. Angelou is remarkable. Countless of times I passed by the book in the bookstores, my sister even owned a copy of it but I didn’t take notice until I saw it in a book sale in San Miguel. Just an afterthought, I placed it on top of my mom’s purchases. Nice read talaga.

Saturday was set for Jef’s, (my nephew) 5th birthday. He was to have a party at school early in the afternoon and a party at home, late afternoon to dinner. We decided not to go to his school anymore because our house is quite far from theirs. On board the taxi, we saw Fel’s car in the garage of the school. We decided to stop and take a peek. The party was over and the children are preparing to go home. The “organizers” were already packing the gifts and leftovers. Jef was sitting in one of the benches with his classmates; he has a bubble maker in his hands. He immediately jumped up when he saw us come in. After kissing everybody, he gregariously introduced us to his teachers. He had to repeat twice because the first introduction was unintelligible.

We went to my sister’s place for the second half of the party. Jef was so busy playing until he noticed that he has gifts to open. When he did, he did not stop bothering the adults until we finally had to give in. He was most excited with his Lolo’s gift. He wanted to open it first. We insisted for him to open the smaller gifts instead. When it was time to open ours, natuwa naman ako when I saw his eyes light up. He got his wish daw kasi according to his mom. Robot na nagsasalita at pumapatay ng monster. Although we got him a non-talking, walking robot that lights up instead, he didn’t seem to notice. The dinosaur set we gave him was supposed to pose as monsters were shoved to the side immediately. He later learned who they were and engaged them in his play later. He was also very enthusiastic with the construction set he got from his Lolo. He’s having a hard time not to touch it though. =D

Pics here.

Segue: While I was searching the net for Jef’s gift, I was surprised to find this. I didn’t know if I should laugh, be surprised or get myself one of those plants. =D

Sunday was spent at home. The heavy rains got the better of us. We didn’t even dare to buy groceries for fear of being stranded. So the plan to buy swimsuits and swim apparel was crossed out of our list already. Plus Lady in the Water is out of the question. We were to stay at home and do something else.

We did! We watched the 16 60-minute episodes of Mai Geol (My Girl)! We got hooked! Okay, speaking for myself… I got hooked! The first 10 episodes we finished last Sunday and the remaining 6, yesterday! Yay! I’m not a kapamilya so I’m not aware that it’s being shown on TV until I read it in Weng and Geri’s blogs.

After the 16 episodes, I would greet Joven with yoboseyo’s. In turn, he would put his fist up and say bashya (which until now, we don't know what the meaning is) and fighting (with thick Korean accent). I was so interested, I had to ask a number of details from my officemate who studied in Korea for a year. Ako din kaya? Nuninu. =D

Lee Dong-Wook does look nice. I have to agree with Weng and Geri on this. Throughout the series, Joven and I would comment that he looks like some local actors. In the end, LDW has a face of his own. Gwapo nga talaga.

My Girl official website. Di ko nga lang maintindihan. Hehe!

Next stop. House M.D. =D

To Date Again

2006-07-19T07:19:00.000+08:00

Saturday, July 15

9:30AM: Dionne and I awoke to the ringing of the phone downstairs. We slowly got up thinking that somebody downstairs might pick up the call. As I opened our door, the phone had already rung four times and that the answering machine had kicked in. I was surprised to hear Daddy's voice that I told Dionne, "Si Daddy!", and immediately, I ran down the stairs.

I didn't pick up the phone immediately after realizing that Daddy was dictating the transaction number for Western Union. It would be easier to replay the message later to jot down the number. Hehe.

"Hello Dad?", I said. "Kakagising lang po namin."

"Bakit, anong oras na ba dyan?" asked Daddy. Ooops.

It was then that I noticed that Mommie was taking a bath and that our kasambahay, Isay, was ... I can't remember. Probably outside. It could also be that she is still too shy to answer the phone.

That's how our lazy Saturday morning got jump started.

After lunch, I went to the gym to continue lifting weights that I never before thought I could lift. Have I been losing weight? I don't think so. At this phase of my training, I'm more concerned with my strength and power instead of shedding pounds. Those will come off as a side effect. A later phase would accelerate this. I have been enticing Dionne to join me at the gym, especially now that yoga, salsa and belly-dancing classes will be added. I will join her for the yoga. Salsa: maybe. Belly-dancing: not likely. I'll probably be there to "watch" the class though.

After gym, Dionne and I were supposed to meet at LRT-UN Station for our ocular inspection of the swimming pool at EAC. Lessons are handled by Bert Lozada Swim School. I arrived a little later than expected because of the light rain and the two plastic bags of books I was carrying. They were part of the latest installment of 150 or so collection of books (fantasy and sci-fi) that I bought from Dexter.

Saturday was a busy day at the pool. Most of the swimmers were young people and students from other schools. Only a handful were adults AND beginners. All of them were wearing the proper swim attire: swimming trunks and bathing suits. Haay.

We were introduced to Remyr, one of the coaches there. He told us of the lessons and suggested that we take our lessons 2-3 times a week instead of 2-hour marathons on Saturdays. There would be 12 1-hour sessions in all. He also mentioned that I could wear a swimming/cycling short. As long as it's not yet loose and won't easily come off as I swim. YES!

Lucky that there was a Western Union branch across the school. While there, we planned on what we wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon. Since my mobility was reduced (books were actually heavy compared to when I first lifted them at the gym after squatting weights heavier than I am), strolling at Robinson's Place was out. SM San Lazaro would have to do.

At SM, Dionne went straight to the cinema while I went to check on my Advantage Card which turned out to be not yet available. Dionne bought 2 tickets for the 6:45PM screening of Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest. We decided to eat dinner first before the movie.

Problem was it was already 6:15!

We headed for Burger King for a quick bite. Unfortunately, the family ahead of me wanted to order all of the toys that BK was currently selling. It turned out that they only had 2 currently in stock. The boy started to cry and shout. Exactly what we needed when we're in a hurry.

I had a chicken sandwich while Dionne had spaghetti and 5 very small, deep-fried-almost-burnt chicken tenders. McDo's chicken nuggets still rule. I even had a small "discussion" with one of the crew when I was about to refill my drink. They put Dionne's apple juice in the cup where my rootbeer was supposed to be. I was quite worried with the time that I wouldn't budge. They had to refill my cup or else... Or else I'd refill the apple juice instead. They gave in and I had another cup of rootbeer.

5 minutes to go...

We hurriedly went into Cinema 1. This was bigger than the other cinemas, explaining the 30 peso price differential. We didn't know that the movie ran for 2 1/2 hours. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the movie. There were even times that I was the only one still laughing... It makes me want to see the first movie. And the third as well, Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. I only learned from IMDB that there extra scenes at the end of the credits. Too bad we missed it.

After the movie, we had frap and chocolate cake at Starbucks. Just like old times...

But before I even get to our table, I spilled my drink onto the floor. :(

I was waiting for the crew to refill the tissue, and then when I was about to get some, I toppled my venti mocha frap. Another venti gone to waste.

Dionne was puzzled when I came back to our table with only 1 frap. I told her what happened. I was responsible for the screams a little earlier. I didn't want to buy another one but Dionne saw the look on my face and decided that she'd be the one to get me my drink. While waiting for her, I couldn't help but overhear the conversations at the table beside us. It was a lady's suitor meeting her co-workers. No, I wasn't really eavesdropping. They were just too noisy. =P

Sunday, July 16

After mass, Dionne and I went to my Nanay for a visit. No statements yet from my credit cards. Whew!

From there, we went to SM San Lazaro again. This time, to look for our swimming apparel and Jeffy-jeffy's birthday gift. And also to check on my Advantage Card. And also to get 2x2's of me having hair.

We were set to have lunch at home but by 1:30 PM, we were still at the mall. I had to have lunch. The Zagu and 50g of chicharong bituka were not enough to fuel me for what we still had to do.

We had lunch at the food court. Sizzling Plate. Sarap!

We got home at past 4PM. Pics, check. Grocery, check. Advantage Card, check. Jeff's gift, check. But no swim apparel (not enough choices, actually). This is the difficulty in trying to look for swimming stuff during the rainy season.

Bridal Shower 2

2006-07-17T19:04:00.000+08:00

Of course not mine. =P

For the past two weeks my officemates and I planned a secret bridal shower for our officemate and friend, Lea. Lea's to tie the knot on the 29th.

We (Dhang, Irish, Ara and I) bought gifts a week before the event and we were "inspired" by the book Ara bought for Lea. We made our own souvenirs (bookmarks) and prizes (alarm clocks - we changed the face of the clock). I won't post pics here baka ma-ban yung blog eh. Hehe!

Since Lea goes home early (she lives quite far), we asked her fiancé, Dennis, if he can come over and bring a bouquet for Lea on the day of the shower (which of course was a secret). Dennis came in quite early for the event. The shower was to begin at 530p, he arrived an hour early. We had no option but to lock him in the MIS room. =D

There were a number of times Lea almost caught us. Lea told me that she got a hint that something was up because I arrived late for work (which seldom happens) and I brought the signature frame I was to give her for her wedding (meaning Dennis will pick her up, but Dennis "declined" when she asked him). Dennis almost gave the secret away. Also, I explicitly told everyone I was going home (but I was headed to the training room where the shower will be held) but after a few minutes Lea saw Joven coming in to pick me up. =P

I was responsible for the games and to host the event. Sayang I wasn't able to join the games. =( But since I was the host, I made sure I'll take home a prize. =P I prepared 5 games for them. Some of the games came from my own bridal shower. The tissue & stick thingy, the tissue bridal gown, and the couple's getting-to-know-you questions.

I added the kiss-the-groom and donut-licking games. In the kiss-the-groom we "stole" Dennis' picture, scanned it and printed a larger image of it. The idea's similar to pin-the-tail game. I asked the ladies to put on very rouge lipstick. Blindfolded them and asked them to kiss the photo. The one who kissed closest to Dennis' lips wins. In the donut-licking game, we bought donuts with frosting on top. The single ladies in the room was asked to lick clean (no biting) the donuts sans the use of their hands. After licking clean the donut, they have to lift it up using their tongue. Hilarious! All of them enjoyed the games. Hehe! It ususally takes them a few minutes to "recover" from it. =D

Since Ara bought her magic sing, the party ended with people dancing and singing their hearts out. FUN!

Lea and Dennis, the couple

Some incriminating photos =P

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring our digicam. The shots were taken using Joven's mobile phone. No shots of the games because Joven and Dennis were only allowed in the room after the games. =D

From the mail...

2006-07-15T12:48:00.000+08:00

An officemate forwarded this e-mail to me. I think it's a good read. =)

6 Steps to Enjoying Your True Wealth

By Bo Sanchez

We were going to Hong Kong that day. I was going to preach for three days but had two extra days to be with my family.

Picture us at the airport: My wife carrying our baby in her arms, my eldest son bouncing about like a rabbit and announcing to the whole world, I'm going to Hong Kong Disneyland! And the poor skinny father? Straining to push eight massive bags on a wobbly cart with a stubborn right wheel. (I've noticed that these eranged carts supernaturally end up with me wherever I go.)That was when we heard the crying. Correction. Not crying. But spine-chilling, lung-busting screaming. Two kids were holding onto their mother. They were separated by four-foot tall steel bars. But to those distraught children, those steel bars represented two years of being without their mother — the contract of a domestic helper in Hong Kong. Four small arms clutching, grabbing, not letting go. The whole world heard their pleading scream, Mommy, please don't go! Please don't go! I'll never forget the mother's pained, tortured face —

as though a knife was ripping through her body. My wife cried openly. I wept inside and held onto my kids more closely.

That was two days ago.

Yesterday, the story continued… Yesterday was Sunday. And I walked around Central. If you don't know Hong Kong, Central is where thousands upon thousands of Filipina Domestic Helpers congregate. They sit on sidewalks. They sit on overpasses. They sit by storefronts. I walked passed one woman who was reading a handwritten letter. The handwriting was obviously a child's penmanship. I walked passed another listening to a little cassette player — not to listen to music — but to a a voice of a kid telling stories. But what broke my heart was the news given to me by Shirley, the head of one organization that tries to help them get financial education. I was shocked by what she said. Brother Bo, out of our 700 members who are married, 80% are already separated from their husbands. Families aren't designed for prolonged separation. They're not just made for that. We're supposed to spend time together.

6 Steps to Spending More Time with Your Family No Matter How Busy You Are

Bo, why are you telling me this? I'm not in Hong Kong. I'm living with my family under one roof. Listen. Yes, you're not in Hong Kong. But if you don't have time for your family — and your heart is not focused on them — you might as well be in another country. You could be physically present — but are you emotionally present as well?

Let me share with you five important steps you could take to become more emotionally present with them…

Step #1: Be Close.

I'm still in Hong Kong as I write this piece. It's five in the morning as I type this article in bed. And my little family is literally around me because we're all sleeping on one bed. Yes, we've become one mass jumble of intertwined humanity — our limbs, legs and arms crisscrossing each other. And that's when I realize — gosh, I don't know how blessed I am. Why? Here I am with my family. I feel their skin. I smell their scents. We're so close, I feel their breath.

And yet I'm surrounded by 148,000 domestic helpers here in Hong Kong that have been away from their families for months, for years, for decades. And for those who've separated — forever.

Let me say it again: We don't know how blessed we are. We complain that our families are nutty. But we don't understanding how blessed we are to have them close enough to experience their nuttiness. We complain about our petty quarrels, our cold wars, our dysfunctionality. But whose family isn't dysfunctional? I've talked to some people here in Hong Kong who would give anything to be with their families again — even for just one day of nuttiness.

The first step is to be more emotionally present to your family is to actually be physically present to them. Be close!

You need to know how precious your family is — and treat them that way.

You need to see them as your true wealth — that nothing is more precious than your relationships.

Step #2: Be Deliberate.

Because you need to protect this treasure or they get stolen from you. No matter how busy I am, I schedule a weekly romantic date with my spouse.

Yes, I actually write it down in my appointment book and treat it like a meeting with the President of the Philippines. These weekly nights are blocked off for the entire year. Nothing can touch it, except some dire emergency. Why? Because if my marriage fails, everything else stands to fail as well: My ministry, my businesses, my soul… So it is an emergency that I bring her out every week. I also schedule a weekly date with my kids. I believe parents need to do these one-on-one dates with each of their kids. Unless of course you've got 18 children and may need to bring them out by two's or three's. Sometimes my son and I just walk around the village and talk. It doesn't have to be big. But swapping stories and opening our hearts to one another on a consistent basis is already very big to them. It means they matter to you — that you value them — and you'll see their self-esteem grow.

Step #3: Be Expressive.

I tell my wife I love you seven times a day.

I hug my kids countless of times a day.

At night, I tell my kids, I'm so proud you're my son.

I'm so proud I'm your Daddy. You're a genius. You're a loving boy. You're

an incredibly gifted young man…

This is true. I have met 40-year olds who long to hear these words from their parents — I'm proud of you, and feel an empty space — like a gaping wound in their souls because their parents have never told them this. Don't do that to your kids. And before I forget: Praise your kids seven times a day. And praise your spouse seven times a day. I'm not kidding. It will revolutionize your marriage.

If I say, Criticize your spouse seven times a day, I bet you'd say, Kaunti naman. I do that already. But that's the problem. We don't realize that when we criticize our spouses, we actually destroy our marriage bit by bit — not just our spouses. But when you praise and honor your spouse — you build up your marriage.

It can be very simple stuff: Ang sarap ng luto mo ngayon, Hon. I thank God He gave you to me. You're so hardworking. I love it when I see you play with the kids. You know how to make me happy. Ganda mo ngayon. Keep on doing this and you'll see changes in your life and your marriage you thought were not possible.

Let me say it again: Praise your spouse — and your children — seven times a day.

Step #4: Be Deep.

Your weekly dates shouldn't just be watching movies, eating out and going home.

Talk deep.

Talk about your feelings.

Enter into each other's worlds. Dive into each other's dreams, hurts, desires, worries, hopes and burdens. When you open yourself up to your spouse or your child, there are more chances for the other person to open up to you.

Step #5: Be Simple.

Yesterday afternoon, I preached to 700 people in Hong Kong. I usually give my talks for 45 minutes. That's been my trademark. But yesterday, I gave a solid two-hour talk. Vein-popping, heart-pounding, passion-driven talk — because I had a burden in my heart. Because I preached on Financial Literacy. I challenged them, Raise your financial I.Q.! I scolded them, When you left the Philippines, you told your kids, Anak, two years of separation lang 'to. After two years, Mommy will have saved enough and will go home and we'll be together again. But after two years, you go home and you haven't saved. Because you repainted the house. Because there's a new TV set in the living room and a new gas range in the kitchen. Because the kids have new designer rubber shoes. I taught them how to live simply and ruthlessly save 20% of their income. Because unless they do this, they will be forever trapped in Hong Kong.

Look at your life.

Are you living simply?

Are you saving 20% of your income?

Step #6: Be Financially Intelligent.

I also taught them where to invest. I told them, It's not enough to just save. You need to know where to put your money. Because savings accounts at 1% and time deposits at 5% won't do. Inflation — which is at 7% — will simply eat at them up.

So I taught them about mutual funds and other investment vehicles, including the ability to sell something and get into business. Here's the truth: The more you know about money, the less time you need to make money. So the more time you have for your family. Actually, a time should come when you don't need to make money. Instead, you let money make money. And that requires financial intelligence.

Read. Attend seminars. Look for mentors.

Go Home.

After giving my talk, I took a deep breath and told my audience in Hong Kong,

When you follow these principles and have saved enough— please go home. Please go home to your children. I made a lot of people cry that day.

I'm telling you the same thing.

Oh yes, you may be living with your family in one house, but it's possible that your heart is so far away from your spouse and kids — and they are far away from you as well. You need to let your heart go home.

Go home my friend.

Your heart belongs there.

One Month

2006-07-11T09:05:00.000+08:00

Being married to Joven, I have discovered a number of things…

I can cook. I’m not superb but I’m not a disaster either.
Supermarkets can be fun too. I discover things I haven’t seen before. You know... the ones you use for cooking. =P
I can handle breakfasts and lunches. Even sandwiches in between. It's been three weeks! Woohoo!
It takes me approximately two weeks to adjust with a malikot sleeper beside me. But I’m well adjusted na. Kahit magpaikot ikot pa sya. Basta wala lang cow-talk.
My husband is very appreciative of what I do for him. I get wonderful text messages when he’s on his way to work.
Joven’s somewhat like my almost-five-year-old nephew: He says “I love you” when cooked a delicious meal.
It’s hard to keep one’s eyes open during work. So sleepy at times from the 5AM alarm (I'm not complaining ah). But at least coffee still works for me. =)
Changing one’s name is not a breeze. I filled up more than a dozen of pages of paperwork and I’m still not done with it.
I need to be in better shape. I’m enthusiastic about the upcoming yoga and swimming lessons. Sad that we can’t play badminton because of schedule conflict. Well, maybe we can insert that someday.
We need a kasambahay. We got one… yesterday. Yay!
I need to be more organized. Know where to put things and not lose them. I lost Joven’s SM Advantage Card with a lot of points in it. Huhu! Buti na lang it can be recovered pa. Whew!
I just might be able to finish the novel I’m reading in two months. Maya Angelou 's book (very interesting!) but I can’t seem to finish it.
I have tons of books to read from the bridal registry in Powerbooks. But I still have to find time to cover them with plastic before I read them. OC!
We seem to have not enough space for the gifts we got from the wedding. The cabinets are not big enough. =P
I’m starting to get unaffected by the are-you-pregnant-yet question. I have a standard answer for this. One year pa po.
I’m always amused by the kamusta-buhay-may asawa question. I think those who were married 40+ years ago can give you a better answer.
Married life is fun! But you’re also faced with countless bills. But an occasional pair of shoes or dress would not hurt. Hehe!
Getting a dress gives me a certain high. Especially if it costs “50 pesos.” Haha!
It’s nice to cuddle at night. Bliss.
The possibilities in life are endless. Joven and I discussed things we wanted to do in the future and near future. Swimming lessons, study French, driving lessons, yoga, AIM for Joven, kid/s, badminton, programming for me, shift in careers/jobs, etc… hopefully we’d get to do these things and more.

The Shoe-perintendent

2006-07-09T20:12:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I love shoes. Benj made sure everybody knew that during his speech at our wedding. Dionne already knows this. That's why I get away with the occasional splurge on footwear. She even wanted to give me a new pair for my birthday. But unfortunately, we had to postpone it because the shoe "we" wanted wasn't available in my size.

Yesterday, luck smiled upon us. =)

We were supposed to have dinner at Cafe Breton with Dionne's classmates from French class. Upon arriving at Glorietta, we went to Karimadon first, to finally be able to use the GC from 2bu! Dionne got this for "only" 50 pesos:

On our way to Greenbelt, Michelle and Dax texted Dionne that we were going to have dinner at Banana Leaf at Glorietta instead. While waiting for them, we went into the nearest shop, Nike Park. In there, we saw the new Nike Free Trainer 7.0... Dionne probably saw the look in my eyes. She decided to give me my birthday gift. =)

And so we asked the salesperson for a size 11...

Haay, they only had a size 10.5. Somebody already bought the size 11. Not losing hope, I tried the size 10.5 on. Masikip. =(

I tried to put the shoe out of my head. We then met Christophe, Dax, Lu and Michelle near McDo.

At Banana Leaf, we ordered 3 orders of nasi goreng, 2 orders of chicken curry, an order of roti to be dipped in curry sauce, and 2 orders of a pansit-like dish. Christophe looked sad when he saw that there were only 3 orders of the rice dish. We had to explain to him that it was good for 2 people! Which, of course, would just be enough for him. Extra rice would have to ordered later... We were so hungry (especially Lu) that we were not able to take any pictures. Not even of the group!

Dinner was sooo good! We even needed 3 extra cups of rice because the curry was so spicy... As expected, Christophe finished off everything. Down to the curry sauce and potatoes.

After dinner, off we went to Cafe Breton, where Jera was already waiting for us. Another classmate from French class, Bev, was also there, with her daughter.

As we passed by Landmark, we looked into the Nike area. No sign of the shoe. *sniff*

Good thing that there was a big Nike Park at Greenbelt... And they had a size 11. =D

The shoe:

But of a different color. Think, UST colors. It even matches my new jacket from Arrow:

Wow. Thanks brad! =D

(By the way, we capped the night with dessert at Cafe Breton. Crepes for most of us. Some even had wine. We also forgot to take a group pic. I was holding on to the shoe plastic bag the whole time. Hehe.)

Wedding Pictures

2006-07-06T21:35:00.000+08:00

At last! It took us almost a month to sift through tons and tons of pictures. Enjoy!

click on the pic for the abums

Note: If you want high resolution soft copies of any of the photo (or other photos that we might have =P), please e-mail either one of us. =)

Fatness First

2006-07-05T20:57:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday, we went to our usual mass at Lourdes. Interestingly enough, there was a free body fat percentage test being offered near the entrance. At first, we just passed by the counter. But since we were still early for the 10AM mass, I decided to give it a try. It'll be my "starting point" since I'm now back at the gym.

To my surprise (and the attendants' as well), the weighing scale was pointing to 220 lbs... What, 220?? Weird. When I got back from vacation, I weighed myself at the gym. I distinctly remember that it was "only" 214, plus 8 from before I went on vacation. It could be because I was only wearing a shirt and shorts then, whereas at the church, I wore pants, sandals, and my pockets were full. That, I think, could attribute to the 6 unaccounted pounds. =P

Back to the body fat test... I knew all along that it was a gimmick to promote their dieting products, which I didn't really mind. As long as they don't force it on the consumer. They had this device which you had to hold up vertically while your feet are a foot apart while squeezing the middle portion of the device with your thumbs. Just goes to show how accurate the measurements are going to be... Hehe.

The result? 24.1 %.

Yup, almost a quarter of my body is fat.

Their assessment is that I'm at the "warning" level of fatness, a few points shy of "high risk", which would be 25 % and above.

Whew! =)

I know... I better start burning these. Let's see how the measurements come up in the next month. ;)

Sleeping...

2006-07-04T20:33:00.000+08:00

Last night, lying in bed with Joven...

J: (putting his arm around me) Okay lang ba ganito?

D: Medyo urong mo brad, di ako makahinga. Nasa lungs ko.

J: Eh yung baka? (baka as in cow)

D: Huh??

Apparently, he was already starting to dream. Hahaha!

Buhay may asawa talaga.

Good looks, boots and work

2006-07-03T13:13:00.000+08:00

After church yesterday, Joven, my mom and I went to see the mega-hyped Superman Returns. Joven and I had little expectations of it as a result of former mega-hyped movies we were disappointed with. We did not even reserve tickets anywhere.

Joven came out of the theatre very much satisfied. He liked it! The effects and all. =) I came out of the theatre very much in love! Hahaha! I liked the movie of course. When I saw teaser pictures of the upcoming Superman movie last year I thought that Brandon Routh will not be able to come close to the image Christopher Reeve left in my mind. I even thought he was fat. =D When I saw him present at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards looking like Clark Kent, I was so surprised.

photos grabbed from: Christopher Reeve Homepage and Superman Megasite

New crush. Haha! Can't wait for the next installment. Superman and Superboy? =P

BTW, the boots... argh! Pambaha! Sheesh!

I just came out of weekend work from Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo. The sessions turned out well. We got great speakers (Monette Hamlin, Cory Quirino, Jaime Licauco and Rosario Manalo) which kept me interested the whole time. I was so interested, I wanted to take them home. =P

The participants were supposed to return to Manila on Sunday morning although the sessions ended Saturday night. I opted to go home early which was a first time for me. I miss my husband. Since the boss supervising us there was leaving early too, I got the nod from my boss (who was not there) and the boss (who was there). =D Good thing we had colleagues covering for us. =)

It got me thinking about how difficult it really is to be in long distance marriages/relationships. I salute those who survive them. I was just away for a night. What if I go on scholarship? Joven would of course understand. Nuninu.

Let's see. Hahaha!

Honeymoon Kwento (2 of 2)

2006-06-28T07:32:00.000+08:00

June 15

Before sleeping, we asked the receptionist for a call-time of 630AM. At around 615AM, both Dionne and I were already up. We were both excited to go to Panglao Island Nature Resort.

After having breakfast at the hotel, a taxi took us to a the resort. The drive was quite far. We had to cross a bridge onto Panglao Island. The meter ticked in PhP 100. Dionne graciously gave the driver a 50 peso tip. She found it weird that the driver wasn't happy with it. We only learned later that we would be asked to pay double the fare since the cab won't have any passengers in going back to the town. Oops, our bad.

By 8AM, we were already at the resort. There were hardly any visitors there. We had the resort all to ourselves! Another stroke of luck was that the sun still hasn't appeared at that time. That was one of the reasons why we wanted to be there early, to avoid being tanned too much, as requested by Daddy.
After changing into our swimming attire (all of us except Dionne bought ours at the BQ Mall the night before), we went into the seashore. We waded through the water towards the resort-islet. But as we were nearing the islet, we bagan to notice that some areas along the way were deeper than the expected slope. Because I didn't know how to swim, I didn't push any further. Instead, we just took pictures. =)

We then went to the swimming pools, which were "architecturally designed to have an overlooking view of the sea". There are 2 main pools at the resort. One's a constant 4.5 feet deep, while the other had a gradual 3-4.5-6 feet depth. I spent most of the time at the small kiddie pools which had bubbles/jaccuzi-type outlets. Free massage!

Dionne even tried to teach me how to swim... Unfortunately, even at just 3 feet deep water, it's just not my element. =(

We even have a picture of us walking along the shore... but we dare not post them yet. Not until I have edited the image to hide unwanted fat exposure. =P

By lunchtime, we were on our way back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping. Hehe.

That night, we had dinner at Gerry's Grill at BQ Mall (sorry, we forgot to take pictures). After which, we watched the 2006 remake of The Omen. I think there were at most 10 of us inside the cinema.

When we got out, true to what Dionne mentioned before, most establishments were already closed. We got a little disoriented because we came out via a backdoor. Thanks to the helpful security people, we got our bearings into place and got to the hotel in one piece.

June 16

As usual, we got up earlier than our wakeup call... It was our last day in Bohol. We had a wonderful time there. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great vacation spot. =)

Balik sa Bohol, balik!

Honeymoon Kwento (1 of 2)

2006-06-26T09:00:00.000+08:00

Finally, here's what all of you have been waiting for...

THE HONEYMOON KWENTO!

*clap* *clap* *clap*

June 14

We were already awake before 6AM as our flight for Bohol was leaving by 8AM. By "we", I'm referring to me, Dionne and her parents.

Yes, Daddy and Mommie were with us during our honeymoon. The newlyweds and the 40-year-weds. =)

Dionne was able to book us through PALakbayan. We would be staying at MetroCentre Hotel.

By 7AM, we were at the Centennial Airport. Daddy was impressed with this new terminal. It's much better than the international one and even some of the airports in the US! But this is exclusive to PAL flights only...

A few minutes before 8AM, we boarded the plane. During the flight, I had a slice of marble cake and a glass of super-sweet orange juice. Dionne gave me her merienda since she was still full from our pre-flight merienda of kababayan-like bread from Delifrance. Then, Daddy waved at us their merienda as well. No, I didn't eat all of them. =P We packed them into our merienda bag, for later consumption.

At around 9:20AM, we were already at Bohol!

Mang Rod, our tour guide/driver was already there to meet us. And so, our tour of Bohol began.

First stop, the "supposed" Blood Compact site.

Next was Baclayon Church. There's also a museum here that displays relics from the Spanish era, like candelabras, missalettes (sheets made of cow hide daw), and even the clothes (abito) worn by priests made with threads of gold.

Along the way, Mang Rod showed us the real Blood Compact site. It only has a marker which is probably why tourists prefer the site we first visited rather than this one.

By this time, we were quite hungry, just in time for the lunch at the Loboc River. Buffet for PhP275 each... Sulit, kasi ang sarap ng pagkain! What made the cruise more enjoyable was the man serenading us with Cebuano folk songs, and even some pop songs. Daddy and Mommie enjoyed his singing very much that they each gave him a hundred peso tip!

As we were traversing the river, we saw some kids swinging from some vines into the water and making their way to the floating restaurant. Some kind tourists, like Mommie, even gave them money. I think she gave them PhP20 each. And then another kid showed up. Having lost track of whom she had already given to, she just asked them in Tagalog. But then they conversed in Bisaya, which Mommie understood much to their surprise.

At the far end of the river was a singing group with rondalla waiting to serenade the boats. Some of the tourists even had pictures with them. Not us. Dionne, Mommie and Daddy were enjoying the view while I was still having some barbeque and dessert. Hehe.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit the Loboc Church nor see/hear the Loboc Children's Choir... I do think this alone merits another visit to Bohol.

After lunch, we drove to a nearby place with captive tarsiers.

And then there were the real ones, with Mommie and Daddy, hehe:

Up next was a long ride towards the Chocolate Hills. Along the way, we encountered the man-made forest which was planted in the 1960's.

At the viewing point, we had to climb some 200+ steps to get to the top. Good thing there were sheds every 50 steps where people can get some rest before continuing the climb up.

At the top, the view was breath-taking!

We were lucky enough to have gotten down when the rain started to fall. We bought some souvenirs from the stores before heading out to our hotel. Dionne then made arrangements for our Panglao Island trip the next day.

Suppliers' Ratings

2006-06-23T18:37:00.000+08:00

The following ratings are based on our personal standards and on our personal experiences with these suppliers as their clients. It is best to take these ratings objectively and to not generalize because some errors are merely case-to-case basis.

Rating
1 – Poor
2 – Needs Improvement
3 – Satisfactory
4 – Very Satisfactory
5 – Outstanding
5++ – Exceeds Expectations

Church
Santisimo Rosario Parish
Address: UST Compound, España, Sampaloc, Manila
Contact Number: (632)731-3062
Contact Person: Sister Nida M. Sabangan
Inclusions:
Decorative sidelights of the church, Royal red carpet along aisles, Organist & Soloist (did not avail of these), Fresh flowers, ribbons and lace along aisle pews, Marriage rite souvenir booklets for couple (copied the contents and made personalized copies), Lunch and merienda during the marriage dialogue, Stipend for the officiating priest, Registration of marriage contract, Marriage certificate, Solemnized within the mass

Rating – 4

We had difficulty booking this initially because we started our preparations late February 2005. The church only accepts bookings 9 months before the event. But after we have booked, we didn’t have anything to worry anymore. Sister Nida’s very accommodating. The people from the parish office even call us to follow-up if we forgot about something. The church coordinator (Manny Doncillo) is quite mataray at first but he turned out kind din naman pala in the end.

We chose UST because it’s close to home (and our hearts), quite accessible, nice & simple altar, lotsa parking area, and lotsa places to shoot for pictorial. Other than the fact that for an aircon church, it was relatively cheap. The thing is, they opened the aircon only 15minutes before the event. They promised us they’ll open it as soon as the people are there already. The people were there 45 minutes before. Joven and I were sweating like crazy! Well, maybe because of tension, stress, etc. as well. But, at 3pm on a hot day, the aircon failed to deliver. But towards the end, the church was getting colder (tension release perhaps? Hehe.). Then there’s the sound system, which was a bit muffled. Good thing my ear is still okay. =P The church pews according to my dad lacks padding too. =D

They’re quite strict with a number of regulations as well. No lyrics for bridal march (at least, I can still choose a love song), latecomers will have reduced pictorials toward the end of the mass (which I agree with), and they have a list (they specify what you’ll offer!) of items to offer (which I’m not very keen of). But there are plusses as well, there’s no need to shell out money just so the photogs/videogs can shoot at the loft, petal dropping from the loft is okay, closing of doors is okay, there’s a big space where the ento can position themselves before the march.

In the end, UST is still a good choice for me.

Reception Venue
Kaisa Heritage Center
Address: Anda cor. Cabildo Sts., Intramuros, Manila
Contact Number: (632)527-6083; (632)527-6086
Contact Person: Ms. Vivian
Inclusions: Reception hall, Electricity, 20 parking slots

Rating – 4

We were originally booked at Bayview Park Hotel but they gave us a tough time with the ballroom layout, corkage fees, follow-ups, etc. They want things their way - sila masusunod hindi kami. Joven and I talked and decided to look for another venue. When we told Bayview that we’re not pushing through the wedding there, they told us that we cannot refund the P10k we paid them, I told them it’s okay since it was in the contract. I told them that we’ll have an engagement party there instead. The AE, Miles, told us that it was not transferable daw. I told them that it wasn’t being transferred but will be used to a different function. Suddenly, she said that she’ll have to talk to her manager pa daw. Boosit! With everything going on with the preps, I forgot all about it. Until my fiery sister & MOH talked to them... We were finally able to use the booking for my parents Ruby Anniversary. =)

Going back to Kaisa… Joven and I wanted RMC Hall sana since it’s near Manila Diamond. But somebody booked it ahead of us. =( Intramuros is the nearest place for us to look for venues. We were specific with enclosed venues since June is an unpredictable month. We looked into Teatrillo and Casa Blanca. Both didn’t feel right for us. (No offense to those booked at Teatrillo & Casa Blanca ah.) We were eyeing Villa Immaculada but unfortunately it was also booked on our date. Kaisa Heritage Center was recommended to us by Rowena, AE of Tamayo’s. We went for an ocular and liked it immediately. We liked the fact that it has parking space below and they don’t require additional fee for the caterer. They also have two staircases where the bride and groom can come down simultaneously… drama!

On the day, I heard Gladys of Impromptu talking to Ms. Vivian of Kaisa. Apparently, Ms. Vivian was asking for an additional charge for the freezer of Fiorgelato. When we booked them, I specifically asked her if there were additional charges for the freezer. She told me that there was none. Gladys took care of it and there was no additional charge for the freezer.

It appeared to be a bit cramped on the day (other than the two presidential tables, we had a gazebo and 22 tables), I guess it would be best to just stick to just 200 guests. We were informed that 250 guests can fit in the hall yun pala it would be 250 guests without a dance floor. =P Sayang nga since at least two tables were empty (bad guests, nag-RSVP tapos di dumating), we could have removed the tables para maluwag. Anyhow, I’m still very much satisfied with Kaisa.

Caterer
Robert Camba Catering Services
Address: #12 Resthaven St., Baler, Quezon CityContact Number: (632)371-1098; (632)372-9755; (63919)-2243182
Website: www.robertcamba.com
Contact Person: Ms. Connie
Inclusions:
Chairs and tables (full length satin chair cover w/ very elegant organza ribbon, Floor length table cloth with colored toppings, Complete catering equipment, Buffet table and w/decorative & buffet décor, Presidential table, 2 tiffany chairs for couples, Gift table and cake table, Cage and dove (did not avail of these), Champagne for toast, Uniformed waiters, Motif color for cloth and ribbon, White color napkin, Carpet, Gazebo with flowers, Pedestal for couples back draft, Torch parade (did not avail of this), Ordinary flower arrangement, Emcee for 150 – 200 heads (did not avail of this), Public address sound system, Guest book and signature frame, Bubble Machine at the entrance, 12 pcs. live butterfly, Free food tasting for 2 person, Purified water and ice for drinks, Swan Ice carving for 150 – 200 head, All tiffany chairs (first come first serve) (was able to get this).

Rating – 4

We got Robert Camba from W@W. We were looking for caterers and were considering Tamayo’s and Swan but Robert Camba won us over because of the food and tiffany chairs. And of course their prices are relatively cheap. =)

The food was delish! People were raving about it even after the wedding. The set-up was beautiful. Really nice! The tiffany chairs added glam. Ms. Connie was easy to talk to. She was straightforward and really nice to us. She gave us a lot of freebies and discounts. =)

Tip: Ms. Connie’s always busy. Make sure you ask her to write down everything you talk about. (Actually, she initiates this and she even tells you to remind her)

Ms. Connie told us that there waiters will be a dozen of waiters present during the reception. But to our surprise, they were definitely more than a dozen, more like 20. The service was great! They were fast. If you request for water, water is there within seconds. The principal sponsors were also pampered according to one of our titas.

At the end of the reception, we asked the waiters to wrap the leftovers. We were told that they don’t have any plastics for it. I was told by the captain waiter that they really do not bring plastics with them so as to avoid waiters from taking food home (a detail Ms. Connie should have told me). I asked him to kindly buy plastics for the food and gave him P100. Later on, I learned from the petty cash breakdown from Impromptu that they gave him P40 for the plastics pala. Haay. Joven also saw one of the waiters hid a tray of untouched fettuccine. Haay ulit. Also at the end of the reception, the waiters were lining up for the photo magnet souvenirs din. But that last detail was okay. There were plenty of leftover souvenirs anyway. =)

I would still recommend Robert Camba. Just be wary of the food incident plus bring plastics. Hehe.

Invitation
Unifair Printing
Address: 874 Alvarado St. Binondo, Manila
Contact Number: (632)242-4701; (632)242-4703
Email Address: unifairprinting@yahoo.com
Contact Person: Erwin Tiu and Shirley
Inclusions: Formal invite, Entourage inserts, Reception card, Envelope, Jacket, Missalette cover and binding, Thank you card printing

Rating – 2

HEADACHE. I’m really disappointed with them. We got Unifair from the reviews at W@W and because they were recommended by Marita of Hearts and Bells.

When we inquired, we were able to talk to Erwin Tiu (owner) and he was very accommodating. He was easy to talk to. Tipong no-nonsense. He gave us good quotes on the design we wanted. Relatively cheap. He also gave us tips on how we can further stretch our budget and get the same results. Cool!

We gave them the proofs for the invites March 4 with the agreement that they will complete everything by end of April. Erwin told me to call them before we get the invites. Come last week of April, I got missed calls from someone. I was in training and wasn’t able to answer my phone. They got to Joven pala. They told Joven that the invites were not yet ready. Apparently, they were having problems with their printers. They informed us that the invites will be available a week later.

After a week, we contacted them to verify if the invites will be available in the morning or in the afternoon. They’ll get back to us daw. After a few minutes, Shirley called Joven to say that they won't be able to complete the invites that Saturday and that it's going to be either Monday or Tuesday. By this time, I was already fuming mad. Why the heck did they wait for the last week of April to run our invites?!

May 9, Tuesday afternoon. That’s when we finally got our invites. As opposed to April 30, Sunday morning, what we agreed upon.

The final output was okay though. Simple and elegant. How we wanted it. The font in the entourage card was unreadable (the roles of the entourage). It’s difficult to read because it’s embossed, different from the proof given to us (that one was readable). Learning point for us.

Nevertheless, it took them two freaking months to do our invites! Mura nga, palpak naman.

Cake
Hearts and Bells
Address: 928 Alvarado St., Binondo, Manila
Contact Number: (632) 244-0255, (63917) 537-9388
Email Address: heartsnbells@yahoo.com
Website: www.heartsnbells.com
Contact Person: Mrs. Marita Laddaran
Inclusions:
3-layered wedding cake, All edible, 24 small cakes with ribbons and tags (souvenirs for entourage), 1 polymer cake topper, Free foot spa at Holiday Spa

Rating – 5

We got Hearts and Bells in the Wedding Expo last September. We were torn between Hearts and Bells and Sugarbox. Marita won us over. She gave us good value for our money. Plus her cakes were delish. Moist and not so sweet. We got chocolate, carrot and apple walnut. My dad who’s a great cook liked it too.

I loved what she did with the cake! We found a cake design in the internet and asked her to do a sketch with our motif colors. She’s always prompt in replying. If she’s cannot reply immediately, her assistant, Maricel, was always there. The final output’s really nice! The mini cakes look great too.

She also gave us a Mini Me topper at a good rate. She was introducing this topper to her clients and gave us an introductory price. But, Joven and I cannot accept that the topper look like us. =P

BTW, the topper almost broke in half. Thanks to the one who packed the cake. =(

Dessert
Fiorgelato
Address: 1263 Gen. Luna St., Ermita, Manila
Contact Number: (632) 524-0184, (63920) 910-9480
Website: www.fiorgelato.com
Contact Person: Mr. Omar Tigno
Inclusions:
Ice cream cart with two attendants, 6 ice cream flavors (1 gallon each): Pistachio, Bubble Gum, Raspberry Cheesecake, Choco Nut Fudge, Vanilla, Mango Sherbet, Cups and cones, Platter for couple.

Rating – 5++

We got Fiorgelato from the September Wedding Expo also. We wanted a chocolate fountain but it was too heavy on our pockets. We were about to leave the Expo when we chanced upon the booth of Fiorgelato. We got a pricelist and found out that it’s affordable! Yey! We booked them immediately.

Fiorgelato was easy to talk to, especially Omar. We went to their plant for food tasting and they showed us all the flavors they have. Yum!

The ice cream was a big hit! The guests fell in line the moment they got in. Almost all went back for seconds. My nephew went back 4 times! At the end of the day, no trace of ice cream can be found. =)

BTW, they were also the first ones to set up at Kaisa. =)

Photographer
Fol Rana Jr. Photography
Address: Block 8 Lot 8 Lili St. Lexington Garden Village, Pasig City
Contact Number: (632) 640-7946, (63917) 843-5118
Email Address: bigpicture@pacific.net.ph
Website: www.folrana.com
Contact Person: Mr. Fol Rana, Jr.
Inclusions:
14 x 11 ArtBook, 3 photographers, Digital pictures in a personalized CD in high resolution, Metal halide lighting system, Slideshow presentation during reception, 6 x 4 Artbook

Rating – 5++

Brilliant!

Fol’s the first supplier we booked. He was easy to talk to, warm and he really knows what he is doing. When we booked him March 2005, he was on a promo. Lucky us! Big savings talaga. =D

Due to our busy schedules, we weren’t able to neither meet nor talk to Fol before the big day. Everything was through text messages only. I was a bit apprehensive about that but he proved me wrong! The pictorial after the ceremony was great. He has fresh concepts that would leave you amazed. He took us to the basketball gym of UST and had pictorials with the varsity team of USTHS. The Arch of the Centuries shot was remarkable.

His team – Edong, Russ and Grumpy and are also great to work with. Nakakatuwa ang rapport nila with Threelogy.

Tip: Always consider this. Make sure that your suppliers have good rapport or the very least know each other.

We had a lot of plusses from Fol. He brought along his new lighting system and made great shots. He also did an onsite AVP (Moving Pictures) for free!

I have yet to see the ArtBook… but so far, I only have good words for Fol and his team.

Prenup Photographer
Fotogra by Mimi and Karl
Contact Numbers: (63917) 624-6464 (Mimi), (63917) 897- 3327 (Karl)
Email Address: karmina@fotogra.ph, karl@fotogra.ph
Website: www.fotogra.ph
Contact Person: Ms, Mimi Abesamis & Mr. Karl de Leon
Inclusions:
2 digital photographers, minimum of 350 shots, on-location pictorial, high-resolution proofs in CD, Guestbook

Rating – 5++

We booked Mimi through W@W. I was looking for a prenup photographer who does guestbooks. Aggie (ni Edil) just finished her prenup pictures and I was so impressed. Who would have thought that those were taken at UP Diliman. Galing! I asked Aggie if Mimi does guestbooks. It just so happened that she just recently launched it. Yay! I emailed Mimi about her rates and it was reasonable. We booked them immediately. Later, Mimi would kid us for booking too early. We booked them June 2005. Haha!

We had our prenups at LRT2. Originally, we wanted to do it in a bookstore. We were thinking of having booklovers as our wedding theme back then. But we scrapped the theme idea because it was giving me a headache already. That’s when the LRT2 idea came up. Joven and I take the LRT to work everyday. But the LRT doesn’t look good anymore. =D We learned of the LRT2 route when we went to Tet Hagape’s shop in Pasig. Incidentally, I have a friend working there (Hi Cri-c!). I asked her how to go about it. In short, we were able to get a permit signed by a lot of people. =)

I told Mimi (through chat) about the idea. She liked it. =) We had the shoot at stations Araneta Center-Cubao, Katipunan, Betty Go-Belmonte and Santolan. It took us more than 3 hours for the shoot. Tiring! But Mimi & Karl were really game.

At the end, the shots were beautiful! Astounding! Gagaling! We got nice reviews from everyone. =) The guestbook looks great too! Ayaw ko na sanang pasulatan eh. Hehe!

Videographer
Threelogy Digital Video
Address: 39 Maginhawa St. Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City
Contact Number: (632) 434-4428 (63917) 539-6148 (Jon), (63920) 950-6558 (Bong), (63916) 719-9406 (CJ)
Email Address: inquiry@threelogy.com
Website: www.threelogy.com
Contact Person: Mr. Jon, Mr. Bong, Mr. CJ
Inclusions:
3 3CCD cameras, 2 professional video lights (boling metal halide & unomat color corrected lights), Audio captured thru Audio Technica Wireless System, 2 copies of the final video in DVD format, raw footages in DVD; Onsite AVP and Photo AVP

Rating – 5++

We learned about Threelogy from W@W. But, when we also asked Fol to name videographers that he thinks are good, Threelogy’s name came up. We did not hesitate. We gave them a call and asked to meet them. We booked them upon meeting them. Not only that they’re easy to talk to, straightforward and nice, but, we also felt the passion they have for what they do. They’re genuine people. Even during our preprod meeting nakakatuwa kausap.

At the time we booked them they’re not yet offering their onsite AVPs (yup, that’s how long we’ve been clients). I asked Jon for a quote and they gave us a really good one. Nice Christmas gift for us. (Thank you talaga guys!)

During the day, I really enjoyed their company. They made me feel at ease, making jokes and having light conversations. Nakakaaliw.

When we (including the guests) viewed the photo and onsite AVP, can’t help but elicit reactions (laughter, oohs and aahs) from the guests. Some even break into applause. Galing eh. We were really impressed with their output.

Like what I said with Fol, I have yet to see the final output, but I only have good words for Bong, Jon, CJ and Omeng.

Band and Sound System
The Sentimental Groove (All in One Music Ensemble)
Address: 362 Dansalan St. Brgy. Malamig, Mandaluyong City
Contact Number: (632) 533-3688, (63919) 890-7580 (Kate), (63919) 688-9515 (IG)
Email Address: tsg_prod@yahoo.com
Website: http://thesentimentalgroove.kasal.com
Contact Person: Ms. Kate Fermin, Mr. IG and Mr. Randy
Inclusions:
Flute, Keyboard, Digital Drums, Acoustic & Bass Guitar, Violin, 3 Singers

Rating – 5

We first heard Sentimental Groove from a former w@wie and officemate, Yax’s (ni Jon) wedding (Dec ’04). We were impressed. From the church to the reception, best I heard so far. When Joven and I started preparing for the wedding, they were already on our list. We considered no other band/choir. We went to their studio in Dansalan and heard them perform live. We booked them after the listening session. But even after booking them, I still received a text message inquiring if I already have a band. Weird. I just booked them and they don’t remember me na? But when I called them, they cleared it up already.

That was 2005, fast forward to 2006… I saw Kate in the March Wedding Expo and inquired about the production meeting. She gave me the number of IG. She said that he takes care of production meetings. I texted IG and he gave me a schedule. When we got to their office it was Randy who met us. From then on, for any update I call Randy. No problems.

Three days before the wedding, my dad told me that he wanted a father-daughter dance. He said that “Sunrise, Sunset” would be perfect. He was asking me if I can get a copy of the song. I told him that the band would sing it for us. I called TSG for the update. I wasn’t able to talk to Randy because he was out.

Come wedding day, the father-daughter dance was perfect. All the songs we requested were played. Everything we (with Randy) talked about was executed perfectly. Even a few days after the wedding some of the guests were asking for the number of the band. Everybody appreciated how good they were. =)

Bridal Hair and Make-up Artist
Ara Fernando
Contact Number: (63917) 847-1019
Email Address: ara_fernando@yahoo.com
Inclusions:
Bride + 3 pax, Groom. Flower Girl, Retouch

Rating – 5

This supplier I had problems picking the right one. I tried one HMUA but it didn’t work out for us. I looked different. I wanted a natural look. Ara promised that (and gave me that in the end).

I got Ara through W@W (Hi Malou!). With her caliber and her rates, she was definitely worth a try. We scheduled a trial with her and I was very happy with the outcome. Feeling bride na talaga. I even got a 10% discount because of my W@W tag. Ara has a bubbly personality which keeps the nervousness away. Naturally madaldal, I sometimes find her amusing. =)

She also did my hair and make-up during the prenups. Feeling maganda na naman ako. Some thought the shoot was for a print ad of some sort. Haha! =D

A few days before the wedding, Ara texted me that she will not be able to make it for the retouch during the church and reception. She told me that she’ll have her assistant attend to me. I was really disappointed since I expected her to be there. But since I cannot do anything (I was starting to let go of the preps already in order to relax) I relented.

Come wedding day, Ara and her team was the earliest to arrive. She did a great job. Everybody told me I’m beautiful. Even in pictures. Hehe! I’m glad of the outcome. Plus points were she was able to hide the dark bags and red eyes (because of no sleep!) and the make-up lasted long. Retouch was minimal. Downside, her assistant, Elaine, is not so amiable (may pagkasuplada) but in fairness, di naman nya ko sinupladahan… nang masyado. Medyo nasupladahan lang nya si Tet when they were putting on my veil. Tet was quiet naman about it.

But all in all, I’m happy with how Ara did my hair and make-up. I was beautiful (well, am still is. Haha!) on my wedding day and that’s important.

Entourage Hair and Make-up Artist
Annie Mendoza and team
Contact Number: (63921) 247-4637
Email Address: eyniemendoza@yahoo.com
Inclusions:
Entourage hair and make-up for 5

Rating – 4

Annie’s my sister’s best friend. I had difficulty looking for an Entourage HMUA. When my sister told me that she recently graduated in Franck Provost, I asked Annie if she’s going pro already. She said that she’s willing to test the waters. She gave us a very good quote and my entourage agreed naman (they paid for their own make-up eh).

The final output looks good. I love the hairstyles! Annie and her team finished in the nick of time. Since they’re relatively new, I don’t think they were able to calculate the time they need to do the intricate hairstyles and make-up.

Tip: Give them more time especially for intricate hairstyles. I think they have a lot of potential.

Bridal Gown & Entourage Gowns
Teresa Hagape Fashion Shop
Address: 105 Rome St., Green Park Village, Manggahan, Pasig City
Contact Number: (632) 645-0076, (63917) 832-5285
Email Address: tet_hagape@yahoo.com
Contact Person: Ms. Tet Hagape
Inclusions:
Bridal Gown, 1 MOH, 3 BMs, 1 Jr. BM, 3 SS, 1 FG, 2 Mothers, 1 Sister

Rating – 5

I got Tet through W@W. She lived far from us but because of good rapport and because I’m happy with the designs she sketched for me, we booked her. Tet was easy to talk to, she listens to what I like, and she consults. There are incidents that she becomes forgetful. There were times that she would ask me to change a schedule we already calendared.

Tip: Remind her. Write down what you have talked about so that you won’t forget yourself. Text her to remind her if you have to. Be tolerant of small glitches in the schedules. Text her beforehand to avoid these glitches.

The entourage gowns were delivered the night before the big day. She brought everything in the hotel, including mine. I loved my gown. It’s me. Simple yet sexy. Naks! Haha! Exactly what I wanted.

The entourage gowns look great especially in the pictures. Some of my entourage complained of my color choice (Tet recommended it). Maarte lang sila, it actually looked good on them in the end.

All in all, I’d still recommend Tet. She did a good job. =)

Entourage Florist
Interplay Flowers and Events Specialists
Address: 14 Aurora Drive St., Vergonville Subd., Las Piñas City
Contact Number: (632) 871-7260, (63917) 892-5252
Email Address: interplaycreative@gmail.com
Website: www.interplaycreative.com
Contact Person: Ms. Lala Baldelovar
Inclusions:
Bridal bouquet, 1 MOH, 3 BMs, 1 Jr. BM, 3 SS, 1 FG, 3 PS, 2 Mothers, 16 Boutonnière, 2 Offertory baskets

Rating – 5

I got Interplay through W@W. We booked her during the September Wedding Expo and got a big discount. Lala’s nice and very approachable. I was in luck because she showed me a bouquet of calla lilies (exactly what I wanted) in display during the Expo. Nice! We emailed each other from then on. I told her what I wanted and she put everything in the contract. We finalized everything last March Wedding Expo. After that, we just texted each other.

Come wedding day her call time was 10AM but she did not arrive on time. I don’t exactly remember but I think she arrived sometime past 11. I did not let it bother me because the bouquet arrived just in time for the pictorial. The flowers were beautiful! I loved them! I loved my bouquet! It’s so pretty!

Wedding Rings
Goldenhills Jewelry, Incorporated
Address: 2/F The Jewelry Center, Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan City
Contact Number: (632) 726-5189, (63916) 391-8695
Email Address: golden_hills88@yahoo.com
Contact Person: Ms. Connie Atienza
Inclusions:
Lifetime cleaning, free arrhae

Rating – 5++

We booked Goldenhills in the September Wedding Expo. I heard reviews about them at W@W also. We initially considered Matus but Goldenhills gave us a better quote. They were easy to talk to. We told them that we’ll get the rings on January. They told us to call first before we pick them up.

I was so surprised that a month later they texted me that the rings are ready for pick-up anytime. Ang bilis! When I called them and told them that it might be some mistake, they told me that it was not. They also told me that they can safe keep the rings until January.

The rings were beautiful. We love wearing them! Simple and elegant. =)

Arrhae
Unity Coins by WeddingsAtWork
Contact Number: (632) 725-4827, (63917) 811-1026 (John), (63917) 850-1026 (Benz)
Email Address: mail@weddingsatwork.com
Contact Person: Ms. Benz Co-Rana, Mr. John Rana
Inclusions:
13 gold-plated coins, white leatherette keepsake box with coin slots

Rating – 5++

This was our first purchase. I saw the idea from Yax (ni Jon) during her wedding. When I saw the unity coins up close, I fell in love with it. My family members complimented it for being unique and beautiful. The leatherette keepsake box is very nice. No problem with storage. Great find! =)

OTD Coordinator
Impromptu Events
Contact Number: (632) 645-5248, (63917) 837-6647 (Jing), (63927) 796-3410 (Lai), (63920) 950-4640 (Gladys)
Email Address: impromptu_events@yahoo.com
Contact Person: Ms. Gladys Leonidas, Ms. Jing del Rosario, Ms. Alaiza Alday, Ms. Michelline
Inclusions:
Schedules & appointments, RSVP services, Meet with reception host re the reception program, Ensure that all suppliers meet their deadlines & service agreements, Coordinate with all the event participants, Arrange & carry out the sequence of the wedding, Account all gifts for the couple, Schedule meals of the different suppliers, Turn-over the client’s payment to the supplier

Rating – 5++

I heard of Impromptu from W@W. I did an extensive research on coordinators because a lot of them are fly-by-night these days. I made worksheets on the quotes given to me, printed feedbacks by w@wies and compared them one by one. I ended up with Impromptu and I’m glad I did.

When I first met them, I immediately liked them. The rapport was good. I also learned that they were former officemates with the Threelogy guys which is also a plus point for us.

Throughout the preps, I met with them only twice, the initial meeting and a few weeks before the wedding. Di naman kasi ako alagain. Hehe! They mean business whenever we meet them but there’s always the chikahan part which also lightens the mood.

On the day, they were on time. They were very reliable. I didn’t have to tell them anything. They know what they’re doing. They kept problems away from me which I really appreciated. They made my day stress-free (which is suuuper important!).

Souvenirs
Konsepto (Photo Magnet for Guests)
Address: 157 Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon CityContact Number: (632) 453-3417, (63917) 327-8398Email Address: konsepto@gmail.com
Contact Person: Ms. Meme
Inclusions: 200 photo magnets, photo magnet design, onsite printing

Rating – 5

I saw Konsepto’s work at the W@W Christmas party. We loved the photo magnet idea. We wanted souvenirs that the guests will not throw away. When we saw the magnets, it was perfect! Who would dare throw his/her picture away? Plus they’ll always have it in display, right? When Benz emailed the group of the promo, Joven and I did not hesitate and booked them immediately.

The guests were so happy with their magnets and gamely posed for shots. There were a lot of magnets left when the reception ended so the last few guests enjoyed their multiple magnets. =D

Meme was also kind enough to provide us an easel even if I gave her a short notice for it. I would have given them a 5++ but there were times that Meme is not prompt in replying to emails or text messages.

Louis Maclean Wines (Chamdor Wines for Principal Sponsors)
Address: Suite 1907 Antel Global Corporate Center, Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Contact Numbers: (632) 687-0701
Email Address: tere_danga@lmfe.com.ph
Contact Person: Ms. Cecille Estillero

Rating – 5++

We were eyeing Chamdor wines since the first Wedding Expo we attended. We finally bought ones last March Wedding Expo. The salesperson in the Expo was easy to talk to. They helped us load it in our vehicle pa kaya lang the manong obviously waited for a tip.

We used Chamdor for the toast and for the reception. We also gave bottles to our principal sponsors. So far we got nice feedbacks for it. They liked the idea that it was non-alcoholic and sugar-free. =)

Host/Emcee
Dulce Amor Fortunado
Contact Number: (63919) 862-6541
Email Address: dfortunado@yahoo.com

Ryan Cocjin

Rating - 5++

Dulce is an officemate and friend and Ryan is Joven's college barkada. Dulce's pro already. She used to anchor a radio program. She also hosted a number of events and w@wie weddings. Ryan also has his share of hosting and singing. =)

Dulce and Ryan were great! The reception program ran smoothly thanks to them. Dulce helped a lot in preparing the program since she's very experienced in hosting already. I liked the way they complimented each other. They were very receptive in the cueing of the coordinators. There was a part when they had to stall because the program was about to end and the onsite is about to be ready pa. Dulce thought of asking questions to the ones who got the bouquet and garter to lengthen the program a bit. Ayos! They even sang the kick off song for the dancing part of the program! Galing! They really made the reception program a blast! =)

LCD Projector Rental
Webdevices Corp.
Address: Upper Ground 20 Cityland Megaplaza Building, ADB Ave. cor. Garnet Rd., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Contact Number: (632) 687-7003, (63917) 834-4803
Email Address: webdevicescorp@yahoo.com, velvetnd@yahoo.com
Contact Person: Ms. Velvet San Diego
Inclusions:
5-hour use of LCD projector, Projector screen, Technician

Rating – 5++

Velvet and I were already blogmates when she ventured into this business. Since Velvet was a former w@wie, I got a lot of tips from her about the wedding and not only on projectors. Velvet has always been a darling. She’s easy to talk to and never fails to give encouraging words. When we visited her shop near Robinsons Galleria, we ended up chatting about the details of the wedding and not really about projectors. She gave me a good package which was really affordable (as opposed to others who offer the same). Her technician even brought cables that were requested of Threelogy. =)

Hotel Preparations
Manila Diamond Hotel
Address: Roxas Boulevard cor. Dr. J. Quintos St., Manila, Philippines 1000
Contact Number: (632)528-3000 local 1144; (63917) 848-5548
Contact Person: Ms. Trina Panapanaan

Inclusions:
One executive suite for a 2-night stay and one executive suite for a 1-night stay, both with complimentary daily breakfast for 2, free use of hotel amenities

Rating – 5++

I initially wanted to make my hotel preps at Hyatt and was eyeing vouchers for it. When I chatted with Jane (ni Eugene) about the vouchers she was selling, she told me about Manila Diamond (Thanks girl!). She gave me her contact person (Trina) and told me about how she booked her preps there. She told me that Trina can make arrangements for me. I called Trina and scheduled an ocular.

She took us to adjoining executive suites on the bayside of the hotel. Sweet! The room was spacious with a receiving area before the bedroom and two bathrooms. The view is also great!

We booked them the following day. I would call Trina from time to time for updates. She was always accommodating. The other staffs are courteous too. Great thing, Trina gave us the 2005 rate. Yey!

BTW, Buffet breakfast was delish too! =)

Bridal Car
Streetline Bridal Cars & Motorcycle Escorts
Address: 1135 Attila 1 Kingsville Subd., Marcos Hi-Way, Antipolo City
Contact Number: (632) 645-1982
Email Address: street_line04@yahoo.com
Contact Person: Ms. Lolit
Inclusions: MB E220 bridal car, 2 MB100 vans

Rating – 4

This was the last supplier we booked. We got them last March Wedding Expo. We didn’t have any problems with coordination with them.

The bridal car and two vans arrived on time. All the vehicles have good working aircon and comfy seats. The drivers were courteous naman. But one van left almost half of the entourage. Before leaving the hotel, my dad told the last van driver to wait for the other entourage members and that they were on their way down (the other van left with Joven and the other ento members already). When I went to the bridal car with my parents, Lai of Impromtu with my nephew went to the van. The driver told her that the all the ento members left with the other van already. In short, naiwan yung iba. I don’t want to blame it on Lai since she was only responsible for me and she was told by the driver such.

I really don’t get what happened. But the rest of the entourage got to the church on time. That’s most important of all.

One more thing, when we booked them at the Wedding Expo, I was told that there was a free motorcycle escort. On the day, I didn’t see any. Not that there is a need for one. The bridal car has its own siren. But like what I said, I didn’t see any motorcycle escort there.

Photo Mosaic
Espesyal na Ngiti
Address: 11 Cagayan de Oro St. South City Homes, Biñan Laguna
Contact Number: (632)699-6084; (63915)420-5877
Email Address: info@espesyalnangiti.com
Website: http://www.espesyalnangiti.com/
Contact Person: Ms. Christine Palanca
Inclusions: Free classic frame with matting

Rating – 5++

I heard of Espesyal na Ngiti from W@W also (Hi Glo!). Christine and Jeff did a great job! They work fast and their output’s great! They’re easy to talk to and they consult you with the output. I really love what they did with the mosaic! The guests loved it too!

Highly recommended! Joven and I would want to get another project with them soon. =)

Groom’s Suit
Namel’s
Address: Dapitan St. near cor. Baco St. Sampaloc, Manila
Contact Number: (632)741-5112
Contact Person: Mrs. Nazaria dela Cruz
Inclusions: Joven’s coat, vest and pants, Daddy’s coat and pants, Ring bearer’s coat and pants

Rating – 5

We got Namel’s to do Joven’s suit because we’ve known them for a looong looong time. The owner is my godmother. She gave us a good rate (of course. Hehe!). They also work fast. The fit’s perfect. I think Joven looks really great in his suit (of course that’s a biased opinion. Haha!).

Groom’s Accessories
Shoes: Bass
Watch: Casio
Perfume: Bulgari Aqua
Tie: Tieline (Renato Casati)
Shirt: Arrow

Rating – 5++

The shoes fit perfect. No blisters. =)
The watch was part of the prize we got from PDI’s 2bu! =)
The perfume was a pasalubong from my Dad. Bango!
Tie from Tieline is relatively cheap. A lot of selections to choose from.
The shirt was a perfect fit. Gift from my Dad din.

Bride’s Accessories
Shoes: Janilyn
Hairpiece: SM Department Store - Manila
Earrings: Marcella
Bracelet: c/o Mom
Rosary: Heirloom from my lola

Rating – 5++

We bought the shoes at Marikina Shoe Expo. It was relatively cheap. Nice fit! My feet didn’t ache. =)
The hairpiece was on sale at SM. I wasn’t supposed to buy it but when I saw that it was on sale. Game! I love how it turned out in the end. =)
Tet told me that cascading earrings would be best for my gown. No necklace. I bought a rhinestone cascading earrings in Marcella. Cheap lang. =)
The bracelet is my something borrowed.
The rosary was my something old. It was my lola’s given to my dad who in turn gave it to me. =)

Male Entourage’s Accessories
Tie (Spongebob and Domenico): SM Department Store - San Lazaro, Manila, Megamall

Rating – 5++

We went to SM San Lazaro looking for entourage ties. We found the perfect color of ties but they do not have enough stocks. The manager was so kind to call other malls and inquire the availability of ties. He also facilitated the reservation of those ties. The following day, we went to SM Manila and SM Megamall to pick them up. =)

DIYs
Ring Box
Arrhae Box
Matchstick lighter
c/o my sister and MOH

Rating – 5++

I gave my sister a few days to do the boxes and the lighter. I also gave her very few materials lang but she did a great job! I especially love what she did with the matchstick lighters. =) Thanks Tita Dap!

Offertory Candles
Unity Candles
c/o my officemate, Ms. Ara Albiento (PM me for her number)

Rating – 5++

Ara’s one of the most creative beings I’ve known. She turned my bare candles into beautiful ones! Galing! She has a lot of talent in the arts – painting, flower arrangement, layouts, balloons, etc. Incidentally, she also does invitations (shameless plug. Hehe!).

All in all, I can say that the wedding was a success largely because of these suppliers. Many thanks to them. =)

OT: Almost A Wade

2006-06-22T18:39:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to the Miami Heat for winning the NBA championship!

Galing talaga ni Dwyane Wade!

He's now tied with Shaq as my favorite basketball player/s. =)

(Image from ESPN, Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Speaking of Wade, he is one of the endorsers of Gatorade, together with Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett and Yao Ming. "Get into the NBA 2" is a local contest sponsored by the sports drink wherein the grand prize is a trip to the US to watch an NBA game live. As consolation prize, 1000 jerseys will be given away.

A week before our wedding, a representative of Gatorade Philippines called me... to inform me that I won a jersey! Immediately, I inquired which jerseys I can choose from, not knowing who the endorsers were. Upon learning that Wade was one of them, I asked that one be reserved for me. *high hopes*

Last Tuesday, June 20, I went to their office (Rapp Collins Philippines). Guess what I saw? Another winner claiming his jersey. It was Wade's. Apparently, that was the last one. *hopeless* =(

That's how my chance of getting one of the hottest selling jerseys in the NBA for free went pfft.

And so, I "settled" for Yao Ming's jersey. I didn't like Garnett's because it was light-colored. As for Carter, I already have his teammate Jason Kidd's jersey.

The Heat won the championship yesterday because I won't be able to watch any more live games on TV because it was my last day of honeymoon vacation. Thank you Heat!

In another stroke of good luck, I also won the bracketology we had at the office. At the start of the playoffs, we would pick our choices from all the rounds up to the Finals. I love Miami, but I didn't think this would be their year, so I chose Detroit. As for the others, they picked either Detroit or San Antonio. One bravely picked Phoenix, as he did last year as well.

Since none of us had picked Miami or Dallas, it came down to the total points. Four of us had the same point total. The tiebreaker was who could be the closest to guess the final score of the title-clinching game. If there's still no clear winner, the one who guessed closest to the winning margin wins.

My guess: 88-85.

3 points. The final score was 95-92.

I actually wished that the teams stopped scoring when the score was 89-85 with under two minutes to go. Hehe!

And I thought my luck would continue...

While discussing with Ryan the prospect of a project at Starbucks at Robinson's Place, here's what happened to my Venti Vanilla Frap worth PhP 145:

It wasn't the barista's fault...

The fly somehow found a way into the large hole at the top...

And died on the cold ice.

Sayang pera ko. =(

Our Lady of Manaoag

2006-06-22T09:47:00.000+08:00

Since the year kicked in Joven and I were asked by family members not to travel out of town. There’s a Filipino superstition that altar-bound couples are accident prone. (Uneventful summer explained)

Three days after getting married, we had our first out of town trip.

The Larin clan invited my parents for a trip to Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan. Our itinerary was a mid-morning breakfast in Joven’s uncle’s (our ninong) place in San Fernando, Pampanga, visit the Our Lady of Manaoag before noon, proceed to the Larin’s hometown in San Luis, visit Tatay in the mausoleum and visit their still under construction ancestral house.

We wanted to join the trip because (1) it has been sometime since we went to Pampanga to see Joven’s relatives; (2) we wanted our families to get to know each other better; (3) we wanted Tatay to meet me again as his wife; and (4) we wanted to give thanks to the blessings we have just received. =)

The trip was a real breather. =) It’s fun being with the Larin clan. We were pampered with food! Yum! (Yes, I’m gaining weight again! Haha!)

Click for more pics

Wedding Kwento

2006-06-20T22:38:00.000+08:00

The wedding’s been over a week… whew! Now, the M-life begins. =D

I’m currently at home and swamped with a LOT of things to blog. So here goes…

June 9

Joven blogged about him leaving me and my parents at the hotel. He didn’t mention about us strolling along baywalk and finding a place to eat dinner. We, including my parents, ended up at Aristocrat. Hehe. It was a nice and quiet dinner. I was busy with a lot of text messages from well wishers (thanks guys!) but I was also weirdly emotional that night. We were having a light conversation when my dad started giving us advices on married life. I didn’t know the relevance of those tears that kept on falling from my eyes. Weird but I’ve never been so emotional before.

We figured that it would be better if my sisters also slept at the hotel so that they won’t have any hassles in coming over the following day. Tet, our couturier, also texted me that she’ll arrive a little over 8pm to deliver the dresses. So while we waited for them, I had a hot bubble bath.

Tet arrived with her mannequin, entourage dresses and my gown. I asked her to set it up near the bed. I couldn’t believe that it was the same dress I fitted when I was in her shop. I love the beadwork. It wasn’t as grand as the other bridal gowns I saw but for me it was perfect! I couldn’t help but look at it from all angles! Haha!

My sisters and 4-year-old-nephew arrived next. When my sisters got in, they immediately saw the dress and admired it. My nephew on the other hand was in the receiving room with his lolo. When he got in the bedroom, he started playing with whatever it is he can get his hands on. After a while, he started crying. He said that he wanted to go home and he doesn’t want to sleep in the hotel. We tried to pacify him by telling him that there were nice city lights outside that he can see from the window. As he was about to go to the window near the mannequin, he stepped back and eventually ran back to his mom. Apparently, he was scared of the headless mannequin wearing a white dress with a white veil! Hahaha! When I looked at it again, it was indeed scary! We resolved the matter by closing the bedroom and making him sleep in the receiving room. =D

June 10

The big day!

I wasn’t able to sleep! I don’t know if it was because of anxiety or it was because of my parents’ exchange of snores (Hihi!). I woke up and had a hot chocolate and a few slices of bread for breakfast.

At around 8am, the doorbell was ringing. I thought that it was just someone from the hotel but it turned out that it was the hairstylist. Nyaiks! I haven’t bathed yet. I checked my schedule, they were supposed to arrive at 9:30. It just so happened that she was early. After taking a bath, she proceeded to fix my hair. Soon after, Ara, my make-up artist, arrived with her assistant, Elaine. After 30 minutes of fixing my hair, she was done! That was quick. Ara began to prettify me. She was scolding me for not sleeping. She had to hide the dark bags under my eyes and put eye drops to get rid of red eyes. Nuninu. While Ara was working on me, the Impromptu girls (our coordinators) arrived. They began working immediately. Ara was already done with my make-up when the Threelogy boys (videographers) arrived. Fol and his team (photographers) arrived a bit late. But all of them worked immediately when they arrived.

I knew that there were some glitches but the Impromptu girls kept it away from me and fixed it among themselves. Whew! Interplay (florist) came late. Good thing the bouquet arrived just in time for the pictorials. I was getting more and more tensed that when they asked me to pose for pictures, I cannot easily smile. Good thing Threelogy, Fol and his team have good rapport. They kept on making me laugh. They really know their jobs well. They made things easier for me. I couldn’t help but laugh at their conversations. While doing the pictorial, Alaiza from Impromptu informed me that I have to get dressed. Tet was back and was ready to dress me up.

Fol and Threelogy left the bedroom while Tet zipped me up. Good thing the gown fit! Hehe. They came back in time for my accessories and veil.

I was told that Joven left for the church already. Segue: We have adjoining rooms but it’s a custom in the Philippines for the bride & groom not to see each other during the wedding day (only at the altar) and for the groom to arrive at the church first.

After getting dressed, I was ushered by the photographers to the 2nd floor of the hotel. We had another series of pictorials. Alaiza was bugging them to end it already since we will be late for church.

Together with my parents in the bridal car, we traveled with ease (thanks to the bridal car’s siren… yes… it was like a police car!) and arrived at our destination early. I was left alone in the bridal car with some guests asking to take my photo. I also learned that half of the entourage, including my two sisters, was still missing. The van left the hotel without them. Argh! Good thing they arrived just in time! Yey!

The church coordinator asked me to alight the bridal car. My heart was already pounding. I still couldn’t explain my emotions until now and I do not wish to justify them. =D The coordinator was right beside me. They fixed my veil, warned me not to step on so and so, and cued me when I should start walking. My parents walked ahead of me. The coordinators closed the door. My knees are getting weaker and I’m suddenly not sure if I can still walk. I heard the first few notes of “You Raised Me Up” and I felt like crying. I tried to breathe deep so as to avoid the tears.

As I stepped up the chapel stairs, the door swung open. I feel all eyes at me. I tried to see straight. I felt my dad’s hand on my elbow and my mom on my side. I cannot even look at them. I looked around. I saw some people wiping their tears. Then I heard my sister say “Smile, smile.” I tried to. I don’t even remember if I did smile. Next thing I know, I was beside Joven walking up the altar. I forgot to kiss my mom and dad! =(

The mass started and ended with us sweating! The church did not open the aircon long enough to cool the church. =( Anyway, the celebrator was Fr. Gutierrez. He was the one who conducted our canonical interview. At least he knows how to pronounce my name. Whew! He has problems pronouncing Joven’s though. Hehe.

In the middle of the ceremony, Joven and I would look at each other and whisper I love you’s. We would often hold hands and check on how the other is doing. Being beside Joven washed all the uneasiness away. I could smile easily; I begin to really understand what’s going on. =D

The mass ended with Fr. Gutierrez cueing us for the kiss. I remember some weddings I attended where the priest didn’t even bother to cue the couple to kiss, good thing he did. =) Joven took off my veil and gave me a soft kiss. He then hugged me tightly.

After the church pictorial, we were greeted with poppers, rose petals, hugs and kisses outside the church. We were whisked by the bridal car… to the university gym! Fol talked to the coach of the high school varsity basketball team for a pictorial with them. The pictorial was FUN! The boys were soo game and they love the camera! They kept on posing! The pictorial ended with the boys calling me Tita! Hehe!

Next stop for the pictorial was the Arch of the Centuries (it’s the most prominent icon of UST). I didn’t realize that the poses we’re doing would be as great as the photos Fol showed us after. =)

We arrived at the reception and headed to the second floor. The idea was to go down to the two staircases and meet in the middle. Arte! Haha! We waited for the coordinators’ cue and made our grand entrance. =)

After my sister’s thanksgiving prayer, we had our father-daughter/mother-son dance. I cried... again. I’m such a crybaby. =P After dancing with my father, time for our first dance. Joven and I rehearsed this dance three times. So the dance looked like it was rehearsed three times. =D

After the cake cutting ceremony (which I almost died choking.. kidding Brad!) came the best man’s toast. Benj gave a nice toast… describing Joven in his eyes, reminiscing their BenJoven days, and giving me his approval. (Thanks Benj!) =)

One of the things we did to liven up the reception was the Model-Kiss game. Married couples are to model a kiss that we would imitate. Funny! One kiss actually shocked me! =D

There were three AVPs shown during our wedding (di naman overload noh!). One was the Photo AVP from Threelogy, the moving pictures from Fol and the Onsite AVP by Threelogy again. Nice! Ang gagaling! Grabe! =)

Later, the unmarried couples were asked to participate in the quiz show we came up with. This is in lieu of the most dreaded bouquet and garter toss. =P After three questions, Benj and Beej won! No, it wasn’t rigged… THEY answered the questions! Hahaha!

Next were the speeches. Nanay (Joven’s mom) gave a short speech... thanking the guests for sharing the special day with us. My dad gave his heartfelt speech (almost cried again!). He cited a short story about me, how he thinks we’ll fare in this M-life, how to look back on that day we worked as a team, and how proud he was of me… of us. *sigh*

It was our turn to do one. I worked on this a day before and gave Joven a copy. He made the speech. Hehe! =D

It’s party time! Joven and I practiced a swing dance (three times again) and asked our hosts, Dulce and Ryan, to sing the kick-off song for us. Midway through our dance, nobody was joining us (I think they were busy watching us instead) I told Joven to get somebody to dance while I walked across the room and grabbed Christophe for a dance. =D

After the party, guests slowly came up to us to say goodbye, their comments about the wedding (which were all positive… Syempre! Haha!) and to have pictures with us. Fol and his team never left our side. They gamely took photos of all of the guests until none was left. =)

After the leftovers were packed, the photo magnet souvenirs were exhausted, the band, photographers, videographers, and coordinators left, we headed to the hotel. I was dead tired but extremely happy on how the BIG DAY turned out! =)

First Night

Of course I wouldn’t blog about this! =P

Videos Galore

2006-06-17T12:02:00.000+08:00

I was teased by Threelogy on the number of AVPs they saw on our wedding. =D

I reasoned that it was only three and it really pays to book early. Hehe!

I was finally able to figure how to upload the videos in youtube (but in low resolution only) with the help of my husband. (Yihee! I still have to tease myself everytime I refer to Joven as my husband. Hehe!)

Enjoy!

Officially Mrs.

2006-06-16T15:07:00.000+08:00

We just got back from bohol a few hours ago. =)

I have tons of pictures, kwentos and videos. I don't know where to start! I still have to figure out how to upload them. Nuninu.

The wedding was wonderful and more. We're overwhelmed with our guests' reactions. Until now we still get comments from relatives and friends on how beautiful the wedding was. Thanks thanks!

I heeded the advise of my friends to let go of any worries and enjoy the wedding. Which I really enjoyed a lot! =)

Six days after the wedding, I'm still sooo tired!

I still have to catch a few zzzz's.

For those who weren't able to see the onsite video of Threelogy. Here's a link to their blog. =)

And here are some (as in some pa lang ah) shots from Fol. =)

Kwentos and more pictures soon. =D

The Last Night

2006-06-09T22:08:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow's the big day.

I'll be the one blogging today because Dionne's already at the hotel with Mommie and Daddy. While there, we took some pictures:

"Dionne, stay away from the light!" - Her Ex's =D

Before the professionals get their hands on my w2b...

Here's our final look/shape (what diet?? hehe!)

The view from our room

Daddy and Mommie

Dionne's been getting lots of text messages from well-wishers. While I got 2. One's a "regret" text, while the other's a "cheers" text. At least I got one. =)

Tomorrow, I'll get up early to wake everybody at home. It seems that everybody here's excited as well. 11PM is quite early for us to be sleeping. Hehe.

I was hoping to be able to post an entry tomorrow, right after reception, but we don't want to pay the $15/day internet access fee.

Oh well.

We could be too excited to post anything anyway... =P

Photo Mosaic

2006-06-07T22:08:00.000+08:00

Here's our mosaic from Espesyal na Ngiti. We have already provided a space for it in one of our bedroom walls. =)

See it "live" in our wedding. Hehe!

I remembered to post it because we got our guestbook from Mimi & Karl this afternoon. I saw our prenup pics again. Galing talaga! The guestbook, as expected, was great! Ayaw ko na ngang pasulatan eh. Hehe! Thanks Mimi and Karl! You're the best! =)

Pamamanhikan

2006-06-05T18:40:00.000+08:00

Exactly a week before the wedding, we had the pamamanhikan. We wanted to have the pamamanhikan once Daddy arrives. But because we weren’t sure if Daddy will be arriving before the 27th, we postponed it to June 3.

Joven told me that 10 people will be arriving for the pamamanhikan, him included. He said that they’ll be bringing 3 dishes for dinner.

On the day of the pamamanhikan, my dad cooked his specialty, paella. My mom also made leche flan. My sisters arrived from Pasig and helped us prepare for the event.

A little over 6pm, they arrived. I was the one who opened the door and welcomed them. I was shocked! Almost all of the Larin clan was present! Not only that, all of them are carrying a dish or two. Whoa! Parang fiesta!

I even got a bouquet of roses & calla lilies! Yey!

After dinner and kwentuhan, Joven and I "toured" his titas to our room upstairs. =D Napasarap kami sa kwentuhan which made my dad wonder what we're up to. Hehe!

Thanks the Larin family for welcoming me and my family into yours. Thanks to my family too, for making my new family feel welcome. =)

Scenes from the pamamanhikan:

sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach

2006-06-02T12:36:00.000+08:00

In the middle of DIYs, planning our honeymoon, listing down last-minute things we need to buy and need to do, calculating expenses, pimple outbreak, errands here and there, e-mails from suppliers and friends, updating our guestlist, Joven and I gave each other a virtual hug.

The good thing about all this hullabaloo is this...

I finally found someone
That knocks me off my feet
I finally found the one
That makes me feel complete
It started over coffee
We started out as friends
It's funny how from simple things
The best things begin...

My life has just begun
I finally found someone.

Allow me to be mushy.

I'm still not losing sleep which is good. But, I do have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach from time to time.

June 2006

2006-06-01T07:26:00.000+08:00

Wow. So here we are, after more than a year of preparations, it's now June 2006.

It's -ing JUNE 2006!

WOW!

9 days...

SAL Generations

L-R: Maco (batch 97), Brymac (96), Tseri (98), me, Bri-tan (95)

Yesterday, my old friends from SAL treated me to dinner at Giligan's Makati. Unintentionally, each batch that I've known from our lab was represented. =)

Not in the picture was Berto (94), who came with long-time gf, Rose.

Thanks guys for the dinner. I always enjoy our get-togethers. 'Hope to see you on June 10. ;)

Updates Inc.

2006-05-31T12:47:00.000+08:00

Tuesday, 23 May

On my last day at the office (before I went on leave), Ara, Dulce and I went to the newly opened (at that time) mall for dessert. I ended up with a bagful of bread from BreadTalk.

Mall of Asia is huge! I'm definitely coming back (with sneakers and a rested body... and Joven of course). =D

Wednesday, 24 May

The day was devoted to house cleaning. The construction's finally over! Woohoo! Here are the before and after pics. It's not much but we're glad it looks a lot better. =D

Bathroom, before and after

Bedroom, before and after (ala pa kaming entertainment system at sofa =D)

Before and After: With our new bed, fan and A/C! Yihii!

Before again

After again

It was a long wait, but it was worth it. =)

Segue: Last night I slept in our bedroom for the first time. I had the bed and the room all by myself. It felt kindda lonely (and scary! Haha!) but quite fun. =D

Thursday, 25 May

I took a looong leave not only because of the wedding preps, wedding, after the wedding but because of this...

My dad is here! Yipee! I can't get a better picture because of the excitement. Hehe!

Friday, 26 May

My dad, mom, sisters and nephew went to Namel's for Daddy and Jef's measurements. While Joven and I went to UST to proofread our marriage contract and distribute invites. We also went to the cleaners to pick-up Joven's suit. We then met with Andrew to get him a shirt for the wedding. We accompanied him to Gardini's for the coat rental.

During all the fuss, Andrew told me "Grabe, you're getting married na!" I told him I couldn't believe it as well. He knows every heartache I had... being one of my bestfriends. He gave me a quick hug. We both know nothing would change between us and that wherever life would lead us, we'll still be bestfriends. We still have a lot of Christmas eves to spend together. =D

Saturday, 27 May

Joven and I headed to Monasterio de Sta. Clara. After giving our offering and our petition, we went to the chapel and said a short prayer. Hoping for good weather on our wedding day. =)

After lunch, we went to the caterer to finalize the details and to make our final payment. Whew!

Sunday, 28 May

We headed to Tet's shop for the final fitting and to pick up the gowns. Unfortunately, out of the 11 female entourage, we only got 3 gowns. It's either they lost weight or they gained weight (mostly the latter). =D I'm also guilty of this, I gained weight... that's why my gown didn't fit me well. Hihi! I'm back to my no-rice-and-sugar-diet. =P

Incidentally, it's my parents 40th wedding anniversary! (Happy Anniversary Mommie & Daddy!)

We had a simple celebration with the Larin family at Bayview. (Remember the downpayment we gave for our supposed reception there? Hehe!) It took my feisty sister, Daphne, to help me arrange this.

Since Mommie & Daddy's reluctant to do the cake cutting and wine toasting thingy, we had some sort of a practice. It was hilarious!

But, it wasn't only us who had a taste of cake & wine. =D

Before I forget, My uber creative friend, Ara, was kind enough to DIY our offertory and unity candles. Yey! (Notice the J & D initials in the unity candle, Galing!) Thanks Ara! Mwah!

Bridal Shower

2006-05-24T23:29:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, my sister and maid of honor, Daphne, with the help of my sister Desire threw me a fun fun bridal shower.

It was supposed to be a secret but a "secret" email to Joven, a "bridal shower" email to Irish and Bon's slip-of-the-tongue gave everything away. Eventually, I knew the location and date as well. I'm nosy eh. Hehe!

Thanks to my officemates, french friends, Cri-C & Manuel, Annie, Kat & John for making it uber fun! Sa mga hindi pumunta, except for Beej & Yax who had valid reasons, bahala kayo sa buhay nyo. Gaganda nyo! Hmp!

Earlier that afternoon, Joven and I met at Ortigas MRT. We went to Megamall and shopped for ring and arrhae boxes at Regalong Pambahay. Yey! Enfin! Meron na din kami! Whew! We ate churros from Dulcinea (yum!) and looked around for Joven's shoes. Sayang, wala talaga. Someday brad, someday... =P

Joven said we need to go to SanMig Cafe to meet someone. Syempre yun na yun. =D

The night started and ended with videoke-belting sessions. =D When we entered the cafe, people were singing already. I was swamped with kisses. Aba! Parang birthday ko!

We headed to the buffet and we were greeted with these. Sarap!

After eating, we had games!

Four pairs daw. Sali agad ako. We were asked to put a roll of bathroom tissue in between our knees. Grabe, Hilarious!

Our partner has a stick in between their knees, their goal was to insert the stick to the roll of tissue. They were blindfolded. Laugh trip! I couldn't help but laugh whenever my partner (Ara) would try to insert the stick at kung saan saan napupunta! Bawal daw magsalita eh. Hehehe!

We lost! I was laughing all the time eh. =P

Lu's winning moment. (orgasmic daw)

Next game was Dress-Up-The-Bride. Two rolls of tissue paper, a bride and two couturiers. =D I was asked to judge this one. Nakakaaliw ang amount of creativity a ten-minute game can produce. =D

Team 1

Team 2

Team 3

Final Output

Jera (the sexy-nahuhubaran bride), Irish (the futuristic bride), Annie (the conservative-reklamadora bride)

The futuristic bride won. Must be the boots. =D

Next game was What's-in-the-Bag. Kakagulat ang mga laman ng bag ng mga lola! Sayang walang umamin na may condom sa bag. Hehe! Annie won by 1 point. =)

Last game involved us. We were asked to answer questions simultaneously. Dami ko mali. =( Every wrong answer would mean lipstick on our faces. The consequence was changed in the middle of the game. Wala yatang gustong kumiss kay Joven eh. Hehehe!

After the games, I was asked to open my gifts! Hilarous moment na naman! Hehehe!

I got Lactacyd from Dulce, lingerie (na natatanggal ang pundilyo! hehe!) from Lu, lingerie (lacy-transparent which I heard Christophe helped choose! yaiks!) from Michelle, edible belgian chocolate thongs (for him to wear! ayos!) from Jera, Hot Sex book (mabasa nga... hmmm...) from Ara, x-rated DVDs from Cri-c (from her collection perhaps? =D), lingerie (wholesome) and boxes of condoms from malou (sanay bumili eh... haha!), massage gel, glow-in-the-dark lotion and kama sutra checkbook (cooool! pang blackmail someday! hihi!) from Bon.

Thanks thanks for making the shower super FUN! Love you guys! =)

More pictures here.

Paging Benj... pa-stag ka naman. Hehe!

Joven's Birthday (2006), Part 2

2006-05-23T07:28:00.000+08:00

... aka "So Dark the Con(s) of Wade".

Dionne and I watched The DaVinci Code at Greenbelt 3 last Saturday. Good thing I was able to buy our tickets a few days before that, as the ticket booths were overflowing with people. Before we went into the cinema, we saw this booth by Coffee Bean. They have this service that they'll deliver the drinks right inside the cinema. Lucky us, since we were quite sleepy from a tiring day. There was also this promo that if we buy 1 large Ultimate Ice Blended drink, we get a regular drink for free. We ordered mocha and vanilla, which was delivered just as the movie was about to start. I was too engrossed in the film to remember how they tasted...

Ah, the film. One of the most anticipated titles to hit the screen. Dionne got bored on some parts of the movie because some scenes seem to just drag on... Whereas I was fully awake throughout the movie. I wanted to see how it was executed, having read the book (but couldn't remember what really happened, and sometimes mixing it up with Angels and Demons, hehe). At the very least, Tom Hanks was much better this time than the last time I remember watching him.

After the movie, we felt like grail questers rushing from Landmark to Glorietta, looking for a pair of Wade's. They were supposed to be part of Dionne's gift...

But luck was not on our side. Most shoes in stock were just too small for me (size 9's, 10's). Even before that day, we already tried to find a pair at Megamall and Robinson's Place. :(

I originally wanted a pair of I-Robot Chuck Taylor's. I thought that the whole upper part was black but, apparently, the ones in the stores have white rubber for the toe part. (I just found out now that they have rare black versions. Now where can I find those? Hmm.) Until I finally decided that I'd be using the new pair as workout shoes as the And1's I'm using are already worn out. Heck, I would've even settled for the Limited Edition All-Star Wade that comes with a Dr. J pair, for twice the price. If only they had a size 11! Oh well..

As backup, I would've settled for a pair of Nike Free's. But no, size 10.5 is still not the right fit. Haay. I guess I'd have to wait for another time. I do remember a guy at SM mentioning that the bigger sizes will be arriving in 2 or 3 weeks time. Yey, just in time for the wedding!

I could use them as dancing shoes... =P

Speaking of dancing, last Sunday, Dionne and I got a 2-hour instructional class (mostly for me) from Mang Tony on the basics of swing and foxtrot. He advised us to practice everyday, after office, to really get a feel of the dances. Yesterday, we had another round of practice, but something in me was out-of-sync. I was "bouncy", as Dionne would describe it.

I say, it must be the shoes (Nike ACG's). Hehe!

Joven's Birthday (2006), Part 1

2006-05-19T08:11:00.000+08:00

It's Friday again. And I'm wearing the same shirt I wore to the "Stag Party in the Sly" last week (details of which are to remain confidential, hehe). It's the same shirt I wore to our Christmas party.

I wanted to take my picture now but I'm at the office and it's a bit embarassing when my officemates hear me clicking away, trying to get the perfect angle. Hehe.

I guess this has to be my favorite shirt. Dionne gave this to me last year and at that time, I was still hesitant to wear such bright colors. These days, I try to wear this shirt as often as I can. ;)

Let's see if this streak continues next week...

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. My friend, Ryan, even kidded that it was my last as a bachelor. Sorry guys, no stag party for me. At least, that's what I'm publicly declaring. =P

Dionne, once again, treated me to a wonderful dinner. She cooked, with her mother's help a lot. My mom, brother (Jeff) and sister (Mae) were also there to join us.

Thank you, my beloved Dionne! I love you too!

To my wonderful husband-to-be

2006-05-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

What are the odds this would happen to someone? Of ending up with a wonderful person perfect for them? Sometimes I can’t believe how blessed I am. Thank you for being the wonderful perfect person for me. The path leading to having you might not be the best route to take but I’d go through it over and over again if it meant ending up with you.

I love you, Joven.

Oh, Brother!

2006-05-14T21:13:00.000+08:00

My brother called this morning and told me about the news.

They won't be able to make it.

They're still waiting for the same document that they'll have to submit to the immigration. Immigration processes normally take a month. We don't have a month.

I can't remember crying as much. I was sobbing like a baby on the phone.

It's not because he, my nephews and niece are in the entourage and we don't have a plan B yet. It's not because the headdress, flowers for the stroller, butonnieres, neckties, and other paraphernalia are already prepared and we can't take everything back anymore. It's not because of these.

It was because he was my second dad when I grew up. It was because he guided me through life as a young girl, as an adolescent and eventually as an adult. It was because he saw me become who I am. It was because I cradled my nephews in my arms when they were growing up. It was because I know I will fall in love with my niece the moment I see her (as I am so fond of her photos).

It was because it is my wedding and I want them there.

'Tis the season to be married

2006-05-12T11:06:00.000+08:00

Sitting at the office, I couldn't make up my mind as to what to do first. Should I continue spec-ing the projects I'm working on? Should I start studying a new programming language? Should I start drafting the material I'll be using for an in-house tutorial?

Too many things to do. And yet, I'm not working on any of them. It may be because it's Friday and I'm just too lazy and unfocused to work on anything right now. Hehe.

One thing that crept into my mind while I was doing #1 a while ago was that, this year, a lot of my friends got married or are planning to. Most of us are in the late 20's age range. Could this have something to do with it? Maybe that's why a certain mid-20's friend isn't even contemplating on this yet. Or so he says.

Just 29 days to go until our big day. We got our invitations last Tuesday. I already mailed some of them last Wednesday. Later today, I'll pick up the cards from the Powerbooks bridal registry. We hope to finish printing the labels over the weekend.

But before the weekend, I'm going to a secret stag party for a friend who's getting married 6 days before us. I will take pictures. I'm not sure if I can post them here though. =P

Something to rave about...

2006-05-11T09:47:00.000+08:00

Early this week, we received a text from Mimi. The prenups guestbook layout is ready. Woohoo!

Check it out!

Click on the pic for the gallery.

Ishlefi

2006-05-08T08:11:00.000+08:00

I wasn't able to sleep much last night.

It's not just the weather. And no, it's not the wedding preps that kept me awake... It's the Grand Showdown of the Pinoy Pop S(h)uperstar. I wanted to see if Aicelle Santos would win. Throughout the contests, she was, by far, the best among the contenders. But last night, another Santos, Gerald, was better. Congratulations to the new millionaire!

After learning who the winner was, this was around 1 AM already, I texted Dionne so that she can read it when she wakes up in the morning... Or so I thought! I got a reply from her a few seconds after my text. Hahaha! She was still awake! We couldn't resist not watching this one... Now we're both ishlefi at the office. This is going to be a long day. =P

Friday, May 5

Upon getting the wonderful new$ from Brymac, Dionne and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner at SM San Lazaro. We got there early, which was good because we were able to discuss how we were going to handle the delay in the printing of our invitations...

The invitations were supposed to be delivered on the last week of April. Unfortunately, Unifair was having problems with their printers so they called us to inform of this and that the invites will be available a week later. That day, we contacted them to verify if the invites will be available in the morning or in the afternoon. We had a full day so the timing was critical. I was even ready to cancel an appointment just to get the invites. So I texted my friend Ryan about our situation, but was not able to get an immediate reply, which turned out to be OK. More on this later.

While waiting for Dionne's mom to join us, we went around the department store looking for ties for our entourage and principal sponsors. Dionne already spotted a nice red shade but we had to wait for Mommie because she had the swatches, which turned out to be a perfect match for the ties. We are very grateful for the staff of SM for helping us complete the 14 ties that we needed. San Lazaro only had 6 items on their stock, but a manager volunteered to call other SM malls to reserve the ties for us. Megamall still had 4 while Manila (City Hall) had 6.

We also dropped by Ace Hardware to a get spraypaint can for the house. While there, Shirley of Unifair called me to say that they won't be able to complete the invites that Saturday and that it's going to be either Monday or Tuesday. I told them that we didn't really have any other choice but to wait. I also told her that I'll drop by to give them the missalettes for binding. I think they can sense that Dionne's very angry and disappointed that's why they were calling me instead. And so, my earlier text to Ryan was to be ignored and whatever was our original plan would push through.

We had a late dinner at Congo Grille. We were all very hungry at this point that it was a good thing that the food was served quickly. Eating fast, we also got full immediately. It could also be because we ordered more than we could eat. Hehe. Well, that night's leftovers became somebody's breakfast.

Saturday, May 6

We were already up and about by 6AM. Dionne was going with her mom for some diagnostics at a clinic near UST. While I was going to Unifair to deliver the missalette and get a commitment on the delivery of our invites.

By 830AM, I was already at Unifair but Erwin nor Shirley were not yet around. I was able to talk to Tors and told him of the situation. He assured me that once the printers are OK, they'll run our invites immediately. As for the missalettes, I discussed it with Lisa and even gave her a sketch for the cover. I also drew a draft for the Thank You cards. I had to leave early because Dionne and I had a 10AM appointment at UST.

Before 10AM, we were already at the UST parish office for our canonical interview. I was never really good at interviews and it showed... The priest lectured me on love and marriage because on one question, I answered with a resounding "ahmmm". Which probably prompted him to ask me if I wanted to stop or to go on. I cluelessly (bu confidently) answered "go on, of course". I didn't realize that that could have meant us not passing the interview. Good thing Dionne did a much better job before my turn. Nuninu.

One thing I forgot to do was to withdraw money for the full payment for the church... Dionne and I had to walk across the UST campus to get to the MetroBank ATM at España. By 11AM, we were already exhausted that we had to stop by Jollibee Tayuman for some cold refreshments and get some rest.

At around 1130AM, we were on our way to SM Megamall to meet Ryan, to get him his black polo and also to get the other ties.

We arrived at past 12PM. Fortunately for us, Ryan didn't get bored that much. Since he had a whole load of new comics to read! Hehe! And it cost him... Grabe. =P

We ate at Chef Donatello but forgot to take pictures because we were already hungry... Food was OK, not that special, but was reasonably priced.

We then headed to the department store for his polo. We got him a nice one from Sahara. It'll probably be the same for the other ento. We also got the 4 ties we reserved and another 3 ties for the kids. We think the kids will like their ties, especially Ep-ep. We can't wait to see his reaction when he sees what he's going to wear.

From the department store, we went to BTIC to buy pasalubong for our ninong/ninang-to-be, Ryan's parents.

By 2PM, we were excitedly met by Ryan's parents at their home along Commonwealth Ave., near Ever Gotesco. The last time we were there was the first time I introduced Dionne to them. We gave Ryan and his dad the ties to be used for the wedding. We spent the next hour or so over merienda, talking about our preps, their love story, but most of time, the talk always goes back to Ryan. What topic? No comment. =P

Ryan was kind enough to give us a lift to the GMA/Kamuning MRT station. From there, we went to SM Manila to get the final 4 ties. We were thinking of watching a movie but decided to go home instead because we were already very tired.

To sum up our day: Divisoria - UST - Tayuman - Megamall - Commonwealth - Manila City Hall. By 11PM, I just had to sleep, another busy day was ahead of us.

Sunday, May 7

Before 8AM, we were on our way to one of our flower girls', Angel, home in Bambang to pick her up. She was scheduled to have her fitting with Tet by 9AM. Angel was well-behaved while Tet was fixing her gown. She had to adjust it because Angel didn't get taller but had a bigger tummy than before.

By 10AM, we were on our way to return Angel as she had a party to attend later that afternoon.

At 11AM, Dionne and I decided to drop by SM San Lazaro to have lunch and to buy our groceries. Lunch choices were: Super Bowl, Pizza Hut, Chef Wong, Yellow Cab, Chef de Angelo... We picked Chef Wong since we wanted to try something new.

To our delight, the food was so great! That's why there were always people eating there. Pics to be posted soon...

That afternoon, I was supposed to go to the gym. Since it was still hot outside, I decided to take a 10-minute nap first and get some rest before the workout. Ten minutes stretched to an hour, to two hours, to the rest of the afternoon. My body still felt exhausted from the previous day's travels that it had taken its toll on my gym schedule. (Excuses! Hehe!)

We're still awaiting for news on our invites. Hopefully, we can get them today.

Photo Magnet Souvenir

2006-05-03T13:37:00.000+08:00

I did this a few weeks ago. I just forgot to post it. Meme of Konsepto said "this looks great... very dramatic and romantic!" Natuwa naman ako. =D

Food ~ Platelets ~ Suit ~ Gifts ~ Shopping

2006-05-02T09:31:00.000+08:00

It has been an uber tiring weekend for us. Thank God for Labor Day! At least nagkaroon ako ng pahinga. Pahinga = paggising ng late. =P

Friday night was a scheduled dinner with Lalaine, my HS, college & taekwondo bud who came home for a vacation. She texted me a few days earlier and asked me if I can take the day off to accompany her for errands (I won't say what errands were those, secret daw eh Hehe!). Since I can't take the day off, we compromised. I got off early from work na lang. Ang init pala ng Maynila pag hapon! We were sweating like crazy! I'm not used to the going out with that kind of heat anymore. Grabe! Enjoy naman kasi tsismisan to the max! =P

After our escapade, we had coffee and met Anne & Joven @ Bo's in Glorietta. Dinner was @ Giligan's with Cri-c (Food pics here). We updated each other with what's happening with our lives. Laugh galore na naman. May revelation pa. Hehe! We had fun! (mejo na-unwind din)

Violet couple (Notice in the previous post we're both wearing red? Di sadya, pramis. =P)
The girls (soon-to-wed Cri-c, me, Lalaine & Anne)

We got the news that Joven's youngest brother was brought to the hospital because of high fever. Saturday morning we went to see him. His platelet count was low and he needed plasma transfusion. =( Hopefully, he'll fully recover soon. Get well soon Jay! =)

After the hospital visit, we went to Namel's for Joven's fitting. The suit fit him well. He looked so gwapo. *sigh* I was so mesmerized I forgot to take a photo. Hihi! =P

We went to SM San Lazaro to finish shopping for bathroom accessories and buy our weekly grocery. I had fun buying stuff for our bathroom. Nakikita ko na din yung taste ni Joven when it comes to home stuff. Di naman kami nagkakalayo, mas magastos nga lang sya. =D

We dropped off the shopping bags at home and had lunch. After an hour or so, we left for Rustan's Glorietta. We chose items for the registry. Fun! Shopping without paying! Hihi! We also went to PowerBooks for our registry. Dito namin naramdaman yung pagod! We had to choose 50 titles for the registry. 40 pa lang suko na kami. So the last 10 titles were not supposed to be there. Hehe! The registry is nice pala (I knew this for Rustan’s but not PowerBooks), Rustan's is giving 10-15% discount when you buy registry gifts there and PowerBooks is giving 10% discount naman. Nice! So... sa mga magreregalo... Hahaha!

The day didn't end there... Some of my college barkada (Anne, Lalaine, Cri-c + Manuel) decided to meet for dinner (again) at SM Manila. Dinner was at Karate Kid. It was a short one because Anne lives in Las Piñas and Lalaine in Bulacan. Sinusulit lang naman yung time with Lalaine. =) See you in December Lalaine! Ingat pag-uwi! Sayang talaga you can't make it on my wedding. Haay!

Anne, Lalaine, Manuel, Cri-c, me & Joven

After our early mass, Joven and I went to Robert Camba to make additional payments. We finalized some of the details. Ms. Connie (as her usual self) was so candid and helpful. She gave us tips on the reception layout. She was kind enough to rummage through her files to show us one. We had another “food tasting” and went our way. We stopped by SM North to pay our phone bill. Fortunately (or unfortunately), they were on sale! We were able to buy shorts for Joven and my make-up outfit (Yey!). S-a-l-e is baaaaaad therapy. =P

Blogging is good though. I hope I won’t be dooced. Nuninu. =D

Something to Smile About

2006-04-30T17:54:00.000+08:00

Last Thursday, I trudged to GB3 to meet Christine & Jeff plus Joan of Espesyal na Ngiti. Joven went ahead of me since his office is in Makati. When I got there, they were already seated with the bubble wrapped photo mosaic at Christine's side. Laki pala nun, was my initial thought. When we looked at it closely, wow! Aliw! Ganda!

Well... other than the fact that our beautiful faces were there (hehe!), we both liked the way they work - super bilis! We were surprised when Chistine texted me that the photo mosaic is ready for pick-up na. They finished the mosaic for less than 20 days! May delay pa yun kasi medyo matagal ko bago nasabi yung layout of our choice tapos nag-ayos pa kami ng schedule. Hehe!

Thanks to Christine and Jeff for a great job! Looking forward to another project with you after the wedding. =)

Christine, Jeff, Joven and me

Yung mosaic, sa wedding nyo na lang tignan. Hehe!

fr&s-'trA-sh&n

2006-04-27T21:37:00.000+08:00

frus·tra·tion (fr&s-'trA-sh&n)
1: the act of frustrating
2 a: the state or an instance of being frustrated
b: a deep chronic sense or state of insecurity and dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs
3: something that serves to frustrate.

Lately, I get easily frustrated over small things. I'm not my usual calm and collected self. I guess stress is definitely kicking in.

There's work, house renovation, and of course... nitty gritty of wedding stuff.

Allow me to vent... I need to...

The master's bedroom of our house is currently undergoing renovation for almost two weeks now. There's the bathroom that needs to be tiled and new fixtures to be installed, bedroom flooring to be replaced, repainting of the whole room plus cabinets to be installed for our stuff.

Initially, it was fun to choose stuff for the room, to specify the cabinet features to be installed, the type of tiles to be used, etc. But renovation expenses are getting to me... not to mention the furniture and appliance expenses. Argh! (As if ako gumagastos... I'm a worry rat! =P)

Well... there are positive things to look at... It's the size of a studio-type condo unit so I'm glad of the space. We can fix it the way we want it to look. I can be close to my mom so no need to worry about her. Plus I won't miss her cooking. Hehe! We need not pay monthly rentals which would be a big help for us. We can start saving for whatever it is we want to save for. =D

Hopefully, the renovation ends next week which I doubt would happen.

Work, I don't want to talk about. I have office friends reading my blog. =P But I guess they know about my frustrations. At least some of my office friends understand where I'm coming from. Hopefully, this too shall pass.

At least my boss approved my leave for June. Woohoo! =D

It is only now that I realize that I have been too relaxed. I missed out on a number of things. At least I still have time to realize this. Our April weekends were fully booked... looks like May weekends will be too. It is as if we don't have weekends anymore. I always end up tired... and cranky.

Yesterday, I got an email from my sister-in-law telling me that their plans of coming home from the US is dependent on some papers from the immigration which they were not sure when will arrive. I was dumbfounded. We moved the wedding in JUNE just so they can come home because my nephews' classes end in May. I want to scream! Okay, nobody's fault. I'm not blaming anyone.... It's just soooo frustrating. I'm praying though. *sigh*

There's the story of some (highlighting the word SOME here... doesn't mean YOU) pasaway people around. I just hope they'll give us some slack. Just some little consideration would do. Naway ma-realize nyo rin.

We also have a lot of things to do. Stuff to buy, things to DIY, suppliers to meet, payments to make... the list goes on... Don't even know if we'll have a honeymoon (insert sad face here).

Just a while ago, Joven got crabby at me. He apologized a few minutes after. I guess we need to breathe a little.

Thanks for listening.

Praying for serenity here.

When In Rome.

2006-04-24T08:14:00.000+08:00

Taking my cue from Benj, it's time to post the results of my leagues. Since November last year, I steadily made my way up the UnitedBallers league. Too bad I ran out of games to catch up with the league leader... At any rate, moving from last to 2nd place ain't that bad. ;)

Pay up ballers!

Last Saturday, April 22, I started the day quite early to pick up our banns from Immaculate Conception Parish in Tayuman and San Roque Parish in Blumentritt. Dionne and I then went to UST to submit the banns together with the other requirements. We have yet to confirm our schedule for the canonical interview. It'd probably be this coming Saturday.

Along the way, I took some pics:

The church from afar...

This IS the church...
not this one:

Main Building

Later that night, we went to party at Michelle's condo at Cubao together with Dionne's FSI officemates and French friends. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our trusty 3.2 megapixel digital camera (we need to buy a new one! hehehe) so we had to settle with my cam-phone. Well, at least until Ara or Bon uploads the pictures. It'll probably be in December. Hehe!

It was a night of singing and eating and drinking! Thanks to the gracious host Michelle and to the energetic party people: Ara, Bon, Jera, Lu, Christophe, Dax and Marc. =)

Marc gave us an encore performance of 99s and even a 100 for Lalalalala... I love you. He was so good that night that we survived My Way! Hmm, I'm having a hard time recalling what else happened... 'must be the wine and sake. =P

We were finally able to watch Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy courtesy of Brymac. Very funny!

Sometimes you gotta look yourself in the mirror and say, "When in Rome."

Search-Smearch

2006-04-20T07:46:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through our site stats at Branica, and was surprised to find out that our top referrers were Google and Yahoo!.

For Google, look for: mfeo blog.

For Yahoo!, simply search for mfeo.

Surprise! We're both ranked #1 on both searches. Wow!

Note: No Google bombing was performed. =P

Wedding Music and Movie Marathon

2006-04-16T21:01:00.000+08:00

Whenever I browse through our site, I always try not to look at the counter above. When I do, I start panicking. I know that it's just a wedding. I know that it just flashes before your eyes, tokwa, it's only one day noh. But it's my wedding and I'm a drama queen. Haha! Buti kung pumapayat ako sa stress na 'to. Worse, I'm starting to gain weight (again!). I'm sure Tet's going to kill me if my gown won't fit me ulet. Oh well... I still have a month. =P

Last Wednesday, Joven and I headed to The Sentimental Groove's office for the production meeting. Sounds grand? But it's just telling them how we want the music in the ceremony and reception program to be. We were quite surprised because their "office" changed a lot. They already have a bar and a real office na. Hehe! I was quite apprehensive before our meeting because I've been hearing a number of kwentos that they were not this, that, blah, blah. I think they are now responding positively to these.

We were met by Randy who I initially thought was I.G. Hehe. My bad, I assumed wrong. Anyway, since Joven and I have a song list already, we just breezed through the parts of the ceremony and reception program one by one. Randy gave good suggestions along the way. He even played the songs we didn't know from their PC and hummed some that cannot be found in their library. I was in my makulit mode that day and kept on joking around. He was warming up on us and was beginning to joke as well. He described how the TSG evolved over the past year (we booked last year! =P). I guess it was his way of explaining to us why some couples encountered a few TSG problems over the past months. Somewhat, the meeting reassured me. But, I'm still crossing my fingers.

Our holy week was uneventful. We just veggied in front of the TV and PC... channel flipping and stalking blogs, respectively. We also tried to update our movie list.

A Moment to Remember... (courtesy of Kateh & Beej... thanks!) cried my heart out. Joven didn't know how to stop me. He was already offering his t-shirt to wipe my tears. Kakaiyak eh! Sa last scene lang naman todo iyak. Makes me think, what if it happened to me... Joven said he'd put me in an institution. Loko!

Next was A Tale of Two Sisters... (courtesy of Brymac... thanks!) I was bugging Joven for us to see this film for a loooong time already, lagi syang may excuse. =P I was hooked and spooked at the same time. I was hooked because I wanted to know what was really happening and boy, was I spooked! Half of the time I was watching the movie in my periphery... I was also telling Joven (actually, myself) that they are just movie actors and there are a lot of people in the set while shooting the scenes... that of course did not help. Hehe!

One of the movies I was insisting that Joven has to see was What Dreams May Come. Finally happened yesterday... It might be mushy but the movie has a number of plus points. At that time (1998), I was surprised by the superb cinematography. The story was interesting also. I've seen it three times and it made me cry three times too! =P

Veering away from drama and horror films, we decided to watch a comedy. We borrowed a DVD copy of Old School from Joven's brother, Jeffrey. Might not make a lot of sense... call it trash... but it was funny. We both had a good laugh. If you don't want to think but want to laugh, this one's for you. =P

We missed Ice Age: The Meltdown in cinemas so we decided to download a copy (please don't arrest me, he did it! Hehe!). It was funny but I liked the first one better. =P

Anyway, Joyeuses Pâques mes amis! I hope you all had a blessed Easter.

Can't wait for the office egghunt on Tuesday. Hihi!