The Couple, The Husband, and The Mother

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!

Delinquent Bloggers

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. =)

Bashya!

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

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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. =)

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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.

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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

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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

A beautiful people.

"We are all part of the problem. We are all partly to blame.

But the good thing is, we are also the answer. We are also the solution."

Alexander Ledesma Lacson

Yesterday, I had a late (but great) birthday gift from Dulce. It was a 105-page book entitled "12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country" by Alexander L. Lacson.

My boss saw it on my desk and told me he heard a lot about the book. I knew that he was a book enthusiast but his genre is a bit different from what I like. From what he said, I got curious. This morning, I picked up the book. The moment I started reading it, I cannot put it down. There were moments when I got teary eyed because of frustration. The Foreword by E. D. Apostol was right, it will bother you.

I'm sharing the list to you. But I suggest you get hold of a copy yourself. His insights really bores a hole in one's conscience.

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.

3. Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively about us and our country.

5. Respect your traffic officer, policemen and soldier.

6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.

7. Support your church.

8. During elections, do your solemn duty.

9. Pay your employees well.

10. Pay your taxes.

11. Adopt a scholar or a poor child.

12. Be good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country.

Among the 12 things, I'm already doing 7. I'm struggling to do 2. One I will do soon. One I will do once I give birth. One I will do in the future.

Like these people, I dream that we would be a beautiful nation with beautiful people someday. I just hope that my children will live to see the day that this dream is realized.

Updates! Updates! Updates!

Wala! Hahaha!

Actually, meron naman.

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Last week, we finalized some of the details with our caterer plus had more food tasting. =P Ms. Connie of Robert Camba was very attentive even though she had dozens of clients on that day. We were able to choose our menu, flowers, tables, chairs, motif colors for the linens and the like. We're also glad that they were able to exchange the corkage fee for the wine glasses for the other amenities we did not get. Yey! =) We were also able to finalize the headcount to 240 (including the suppliers). We have yet to look into the layout. Haay, another thing to think about... Anyway, I'm just glad to check some of the details off our list. =)

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We took the day off last Friday to see my doctor. I hope to see the last of these allergies. After going to the doctor, we decided to head to SM Manila since we're already in the vicinity. We decided to check out the thank-you-cards from QP Designs. We followed what Edwin of Unifair told us. Buy the cards at a low rate, have Unifair print our monogram to it and voila! Our personalized thank-you-cards! So, we bought 200 of them. =)

In the course of our strolling, we chanced upon Sprint Digital. They do different kinds printing stuff in a reasonable rate. After inquiring, we decided to have our save-the-dates printed there. Of course I had to do the layout first (Yax kasi is still frolicking in Bohol eh. Hahaha! Nanisi pa daw. Peace Yax! May souvenir magnets pa naman eh. Hehe!).

After SM Manila, we headed to the City Hall to check out the requirements for marriage license. Actually, I already know the requirements. I just want to know where we're supposed to go for the application. Since we're under the 120-day mark, we can apply for our license already. We'll probably do that next week. =)

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Last Saturday, we had our save-the-dates in printed. This is how it looks like:


Now, we're busy mailing them. I just hope everything will be out this week. =)

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Sunday, we went to Megamall to go to the travel fair but chickened out when we saw the number of people inside. We went to The Wedding Library instead. Sad to say, I didn't find anything I needed there. Most of what they have, I already have. =D

We went instead to SM lingerie section to look for what I will be needing for the wedding (take note: wedding day, not night =P ). Good thing we didn't have to go to Rustan's to look for a Maidenform there. I need all the help I can get! I gained weight again. Hahaha!

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Updates techie-wise after the Net connection upgrade:

• Joven bought a pc cam with mic for easier chatting with my sister in Dubai.
• 100-gig external hard disk for file storage. The CDs are piling up and will crush us to death soon.
• A dvd-writer. Pamimirata ito! =P
  
• USB 2 card; unfortunately the other USB ports went dead after its installation.
  

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Books update

Have finished a number of books already. Most notable would be this one:

photo from sonypictures

I cannot put it down! After reading it, I went to the official website and found out that it will be shown on the 22nd. Ang tagal! Gash, we're one of the last countries to view it. Argh! I think it will be visually entertaining after seeing the pictures. Can't wait! Joven-san, nood tayo! =D

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Lapit na birthday ko. Di ko pa feel. (Pero binoblog. Hahaha! Shameless!) =D

HP4@MM!

Woohoo! We're watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire tomorrow at Market! Market! We'll be going with Benj and Beej, Ryan and Cors. Showtime is at 9:45PM, but we'll be there earlier, to shop for gifts. I remember there's a bookstore there with good books. 'Hope to get some new ones for Christmas *hint hint*. =)

I'm currently reading the Legends of Dune series, starting with The Butlerian Jihad. I've had the next two books for the longest time but was unable to get a paperback copy of the first book. A recent Powerbooks sale solved that.

Aside: Between now and our wedding day, we have four non-w@wie couples of friends that are also getting married. Wow.

Busy on...

Current Diet...



Joven and I have been into this since last month. He lost 20 lbs and I lost 5! Haha! We have been to Phase One, Phase Two and now back to Phase One. Ang saya! I never thought that dieting could be this easy. At least we can eat almost anything we want. =D Goodluck to us!

Current Reads...



I have been reading this since forever. I still open it I think once in every two weeks. Hehe! It's sooo boring yet I don't want to give it up. I just have a lot of respect to Dean Koontz that why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Yes, I'm a late bloomer. Mind you, I love the movies. The movies last two hours or so... the book is a different story. I love reading books. Initially, I just didn't want to jump in the bandwagon. Now, I'm trying it... Let's just put it this way... I have other interests. At least after more than two weeks, I'm already in the Sorting Hat. Hahaha!

I just started reading this two days ago. According to the reviews it's similar to the Dan Brown series. I liked Angels and Demons so this tweaked my interest. Let's just see. *No spoilers please!*

Current Game...




I was already a Sims fan since I was introduced to the game. I have all the expansion packs and would play god every time I had the chance. I still remember sleepless nights because of that. I have always wanted to play this I saw it come out. Thanks to Joven, I'm now trying to make our sims woohoo every night! Haha!

Current Likes...



I've been gaga over the beads I saw in Divi. I bought a number already. Late bloomer talaga cause I saw a number of these in Boracay a number of years ago but I didn't buy any for myself. But fell in love with it last weekend. Now, I want to go back to Divi to buy some more. Hehe! My ever so creative officemates, Ara and Irish, are now thinking of cool centerpieces with a few of these. Yey!

Latest acquisition...


I wanted to buy this magazine since I saw it in the ads. Not because I'm fond of artistas but because it's all about weddings (talagang may disclaimer eh.. hehe!). And nice weddings they were! Some were simple and elegant yet a number were lavish and outrageous.

Current Look...



Bead girl in the office. Lost some weight but still need to lose more. Hehe!

Last gimmick...



Went out with my grad school barkada (missing Dette), last Tuesday. Trisha visited Manila for a few days. Must have more of these. =)

What a Haul!

Wow! This has been a very exciting day. :D

First up: the Wedding Expo at the NBC Tent. We were supposed to go there with some friends, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, only Dionne and I were able to do so. Addendum to Dionne’s 10 signs of a w@wie addict: wearing the w@w shirts to the fair. As a couple!

Arriving at around 10:15 AM, we didn’t expect that there’ll already be a lot of people at the fair. We had to fall in line to get our ID’s and loot bag claim stub from the pre-registered queue. Guess who we found behind us? The multi-w@w-arded Aggie.

As we were making our way to the entrance, we met our wedding coordinators from Impromptu, Gladys and Lai. Dionne kidded them about their discount for the w@w tag. Aba naman, binigay din sa amin! Thanks Impromptu!

Upon entering the tent, the w@w booth was hard to miss as it was immediately to our right. Benz greeted us, and showed us the photo mosaic of the w@wies. After a couple of seconds, Dionne was able to spot our entry. Nice.

After more than 4 hours of roaming around; collecting a pile of promo materials; talking to different suppliers; trying out the different choco fountains, cakes and wines; and skipping lunch, we were able to book 4 suppliers! :D

For our rings, Goldenhills Jewelry.
For our cake (all edible syempre), Hearts and Bells.
For the bouquets, Interplay Flowers and Events Specialists.
And lastly, for our dessert, Fiorgelato. Sarap!

We will be going to the Fiorgelato plant next Saturday to select the flavors, though we’ve already decided to have 1 or 2 low-sugar varieties. I must say that this is welcome change to the choco fountain we were considering, budget-wise especially.

We were also able to meet Fol, TSG, John (and Benz earlier) at their booths, and fellow w@wies Ivee and Rhein, Yna, Mai, Geri and Raymond. Unfortunately, the EB photos were not yet available… We will probably get our copy from Aggie (paging Aggie!), and make copies of it for distribution.

Ah! How could I forget? There was also a Del Monte Tomato Sauce booth at the fair. As to how it’s related to the event beats me.

Another surprise... I met 2 of my college teachers from different departments at the fair: Ms. Barra (Soc Sci) and Sir Orillaza (EE)! They're set to be married this December. Congrats to them! :D

By 2:30 PM, we were on our way to the World Trade Center for a book fair. We were met by Pearli and Vince who have already gone around the site but have yet decided on getting a magazine subscription. We plodded our tired bodies around the first few booths. But, being book lovers, the more books (and magazines) we saw, the less tired we felt. By the end of our endurance, our haul consisted of: 2 FHM back issues (2-for-100), 3 Good Housekeeping back issues (3-for-100), a George R. R. Martin novel (95 pesos) and a hardbound The Battle of Corrin for only 295. Not bad. :D

We also met Andrew, but since we were feeling the effects of having no lunch, we (Dionne actually) declined accompanying him around to look for medical books. We then decided to leave and go to our final destination for the day, SM Manila.

At 5 PM, we were finally able to eat our “lunch” at Burger King. French chicken sandwich rocks! After the meal, we went straight to the Customer Service section to get our Michael Buble tickets. LB214, B9-10. See you on October 12!

Rings - check!
Cake - check!
Flowers - check!
Dessert - check!

Where art thou, Sandman?

Last Saturday, Dionne and I met Velvet and Gleoh of WebDevices, for a demo of their LCD projector and screen. Dionne already "knew" Velvet from w@w, but haven't met each other yet. Just like when we met Aggie, we were pretty excited to finally meet the people behind the blogs. The business talk only took a few minutes as we were already sold on getting their services for our wedding. We (actually the ladies) spent most of the meeting, talking about the preps, tips on how to effectively use the projector... (reminder to Dionne and me: ask Bayview if they have the wall/ceiling-mounted projectors)

Velvet even gave us some practical tips for the day itself, having experienced the not-so-good end of situation:
1. Eat, at the least, your breakfast. You may not have time to eat until the wedding cake ceremony. Make sure that you put a bottle of mineral water (with straw) and a pack of skyflakes in the bridal car in case you get hungry.
2. Maximize your bathroom breaks! This goes out especially to the ladies... As the next time you'll be taking off your gown is when your groom does it for you. =)
3. (Coming from a techie, hehe) Test the device connectivity before the reception: laptop to projector, laptop to sound system, laptop to Imaw-types... hehe!

After our meeting, we decided go eat merienda at Robinson's Galeria. We wanted to eat at a place that's not normally in the SM's we go to. Dionne knows how much I looove donuts, as we trekked our way to Hot Loops. Dionne got the Choco Caramel, while I tried White Choco (an obvious choice according to Dionne) and the classic Bavarian. Hot Loops is a welcome alternative to Dunkin' Donuts and Mr. Donuts, but has yet reached the yummyness of Go Nuts! Donuts. Moreover, I don't think it would hurt if they added softdrinks to their menu...

Before going home, we decided to drop by Odyssey and National Bookstore. At Odyssey, the new Parokya ni Edgar album was indeed now available (paging Benj, hehe). And if you buy now, you'll also get a limited edition Rexona deodorant sachet with it! What an offer!

Ah... the bookstore. One of my favorite places to be. =) I can't remember the last time I bought a book before that day. Unfortunately, I didn't find the first book of the prequel to the prequel of Dune, The Butlerian Jihad. I already have the second book, and I refuse to buy the third one without the first... Moving on... Hmm, an illustrated Terry Pratchett book... for just 400+ pesos! Nice! For myself, I got The Last Hero and the Best Fantasy Novels of 2004, and for Dionne, Like Water for Chocolate.


On Sunday, Dionne, her Mommie and I went to mass earlier than usual to be able to watch Bewitched. Since we were not able to catch the first screening at 10:50AM, we decided to watch at 1PM instead. As we still had a couple of hours to wait, we decided to buy the stuff we needed. They went to National while I went to buy the tickets and a stack CD-Rs. At National, I bought another book (nuninu) on Caesar and Cleopatra, for 30 pesos only. =) Dionne also got an interesting book from Bob Ong, ABNKKBSNPLAKO (tama ba?)

Bewitched was a nice movie. Hilarious scenes here and there. The very beautiful Nicole Kidman everywhere. Lucky Will Ferrell!

After depositing our groceries at their house, Dionne and I went to St. Luke's to visit Mem. We hope she gets well soon. We were hoping to finally meet Monching, but unfortunately he was not there. Well, maybe some other time...

And, oh yeah... Benj. It was Benj's first encounter with Dionne and Beej's barkada. So, how was it Benj? =P


LCD - check!

Read on...

Got my issue of Metro Weddings... even if some w@wies say that it's quite disappointing... (actually, it is) I just got to have it. Hehe! Thanks brad! =) I hope the next issue will be better though. P250 is P250!

Dulz also bought me a copy of "Yes, I do" from Paulines last Sunday. Got the idea from one of the w@wies (Lanie ni Fred). I find it useful since it has the meaning of all the wedding symbols, sample missalette and it discusses christian marriage. For P50, I think it was a good read, mura pa. =)

Suddenly, I want to get my hands on more of these. More books on marriage, having a family and the likes. I still think that it's important to prepare more on the marriage than the wedding alone. I want to think that we are prepared. Joven and I have our thoughts on this and we talk a lot about it. But I also hear a number of things about marriage... mostly from my mom, her friends and my titas. Not all of it positive, so I guess we still have to better prepare. With all the badminton and wed preps, we have to find the time... but I'm sure we will. =)

Any suggestions? Must read websites/books? =)