Stranger Than Heroes

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!

Eggs n Diamonds

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.

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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)

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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!

Risky!

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

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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?

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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!

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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... ;)

Late Bloomer

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!

aweSoMe Weekend

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:

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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.

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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??

To Date Again

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.

The Weekend

It was a long and tiring weekend for us. But, preps-wise, we accomplished a lot! Whew!


Friday Night

I got off a little earlier from work and headed to GB3 to meet Joven and eventually Christine of Espesyal na Ngiti. While waiting for them, Joven was busy programming something, while I busied myself with a Caramel Frappe and an Oreo Cheesecake. (Fitting was the following day and I couldn't care less! Haha!)

The meeting with Christine and her fiance was short since we're both running to our next meetings. Christine's very bubbly and I think that she's genuinely nice. =) I'm looking forward to the outcome of the photo mosaic. The easel, we have to think about. Hmmm...

After the meeting, we headed to Bollywood to meet our emcees.

Dulce and Ryan

Can we trust them??? Hahaha! Mind you, they're professionals! The meeting went well (with bursts of laughters in between). Both were receptive about how we want the program to be and suggested some changes to improve the program. Ayos! I'm confident that Dulce and Ryan will be great. I can now hear the laughter and see the surprised look on the guests' faces! Hihi! =)

Joven and I are not especially fond of indian food but free dinner? Who are we to complain? =D Food pics here.

After the meeting, Joven and I went to see Rent. But since we're too early for the movie, we decided to kill time. We had dessert at Cold Rock. Sarap! It was trop cher but di naman nakakasisi. =P

Rent was fantabulous! I loved it! Kakahiya man, naiyak ako. Hehe! Galing talaga! I want to see the play. Hala!

Our "segue" date was a real breather. I miss those. Haay. Can't wait for the wedpreps to be over. Hehehe!


Saturday Morning

We headed to Tet's shop for my third fitting. Buti nagkasya na! Not because I lost weight ah, niluwagan ni Tet yung gown. Hahaha!

Yup, Joven saw it already (no thrill)... sans the beads & what-have-you. He looked amazed though. He forgot to take a picture. I guess, you guys have to wait for the wedding day to see it. I'm not giddy yet but I love how it fits me. =)


Saturday Night

After taking a "short" nap (okay, we were late), we went to see our friends from my french class. We were looking for a perfect opportunity to use the Sakae Sushi GC we got from 2bu! =)

a supposed couple-shot but sumingit ang poster boy, hehe!

busy with the interactive menu & conveyor belt... cool!

The food was delish! The best jap food I've tasted in years... maybe the best in my life so far. Hehe!

As always, we had laughing sessions non-stop.

the frenchies (joven taking the pic)

Food pics here.


Sunday Morning
The most tiring day of all. Entourage Measurements! Our moms, our sisters and our female friends trooped to Tet's shop for the fitting. A vision in yellow indeed! (as per my sister's blog entry, hehe!) Maganda naman kulay eh. Maarte lang kayo. Hahaha!

Apres, we ate at the "famous" Johnny's chicken. The chicken was similar to Max's but the place needs a rehab. Hehe!

We have yet another fitting, for the FG this time.

Haay.

60 days...

Celebrations

We had a number of celebrations last weekend....

Friday, March 24

Dionne's Mommie's Birthday

The Birthday Girl



Celebration @ Dencio's



(Just have to post this) Our ring bearer... Jef

Food pics here.

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Saturday, March 25

Jeffrey's Graduation

Jeff and Caan

Congrats bro! =D

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Monday, March 27

Mae's Graduation

With Mae

Salutatorian! Galing! Dapat hanggang highschool. =D

Celebration was at Shakey's España. Food pics here.


Chaa & Tia Maria's

After the graduation celebration, I picked up Dionne from work for a dinner date. To pass the time, we sat down at Chaa. I had an OK blueberry shake while Dionne had a relaxing chamomile tea. I ended up sipping the tea (with lots of honey of course, hehe) till the last drop.

We then walked towards Tia Maria's at UN Avenue. The certificate said, "romantic dinner for two". Unlike at the Solomon Guest House where we already knew the menu, we had no idea what we'll get at Tia Maria's. The store manager told us that we could order anything on the menu as long as the whole lot's within PHP 700.

Of course we maximized the 700! We ordered food which cost at around 600, plus service charge... 700. Hehe. Food pics here.

The food was great! We were so full after the tacos that we brought home the burger and burrito... After dinner, we agreed that Tia Maria's is one place worth coming back to. Thanks (again) 2bu!

Getting Back On Track

... or not. =)

Ever since we got the 2bu! prizes, we've been on a tear as to how to maximize them. Since some of them were about to expire, they had to be disposed of asap. And dispose them is what we did for the past week.

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Tuesday, March 7

After office, I rushed towards Haagen Dazs in Glorietta to claim our petite cakes. Good thing that the attendant asked if I wanted to purchase extra dry ice. In anticipation of the traffic and travel towards LRT where I would meet Dionne, with Irish and Francis, I asked for an additional 30 minutes worth.

Inside those boxes were two delicious ice cream cakes... We ate half of the belgian choco cake for merienda.

Before 7PM, we were on our way to SM San Lazaro to meet Aggie and Glo. We first met Glo at Starbucks and were treated to a multimedia experience care of DIY queen Glo. Minutes after preggie Aggie arrived, we had dinner at Congo Grille, where Dionne and I had Congo Rice and Lenchon Kawali. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of the food... We did get this:



Karen, Glo's cousin, was on my left, while our takeout is in the plastic bag beside Aggie. =)

We had to end the night early because we still had work the next day. "Early" for us, but it was already closing time for the mall! =P

It's always nice to meet our friends from WeddingsAtWork. Even though we've only met once or twice, it's like we've known each other far longer than that... Glo was set to get back to Boston last weekend. While Aggie is only a few months away from having her 2nd baby. Good luck to you both. Until we meet again!

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Thursday, March 9

Again care of 2bu!.. We had dinner at Hotel Philippine Plaza. This has got to be one of our best dinners ever! There was even a cultural show! Dionne was kind of disappointed because they featured Hawaiian culture... She asks, why not feature the Philippine culture instead? It would have been great promoting our culture as most of the guests there were foreigners. Anyway, here are some pics:

Maybe I should've shutterflied them instead... Nuninu. =P

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Friday, March 10

Another date courtesy of (who else?) 2bu! This time, it's lunch at Max Brenner. Sarap! =)

Later that night, Dionne's office, FSI, had a bowling tournament at the Bowling Inn at Taft Avenue near Quirino Avenue. Dionne was unbelievable in the first game, having scored 180! Imagine that! All the time, she was insisting that she didn't know how to play... Things went the opposite direction on her second game. She finished with just 60+ points. Apparently, endurance plays a big role in this game. Hehe!

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Saturday, March 11

A very tiring day... Dionne was scheduled to have her 2nd fitting with Tet Hagape. We also brought one of our flower girls, Angel Nicole, to be measured. Angel got tired because of the numerous transfers and fell asleep on the LRT2 on our way to Gateway Mall... After the fitting, a realization dawned on us. We need to go on a diet once again. Nuninu.

That afternoon, we dropped by UST to get our marriage banns. Saturday... 3PM... Hmm... Could there be a wedding? Yes, there was!

Less than 3 months to go... ;)

Let's get it started! Hah!

Friday, March 3

Dionne and I went out with her FSI officemates to their favorite gimik place, Redbox. Before meeting the others, we had dinner at Big Buddha with Irish and Dang. I was quite surprised when we ordered 5 dishes for the 4 of us! And I was without my lamon-partner, Francis, who happens to be Irish's husband... At the end of the meal, only the crispy noodles was left standing. Sinabi na nga ni Dionne, kayang-kaya nina Irish at Dang yun. Hehe.

The four of us were the first to arrive at Redbox. In an hour or so, the room was filled with dancing, singing and drinking! Pictures are not enough to capture the energy. =P If only Lu sang even just one song... Maybe at the next session we'll be able to convince her. Or we would have to resort to getting her really drunk. Nuninu.

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Saturday, March 4

We were supposed to start early because of our full schedule for the day... But because we got home quite late from the videoke session, we ended up rushing to our appointments!

11AM, Unifair: We went to Unifair to finalize our invitation layout and get a job order in place. Within an hour, we were able to get the arrangements in place. We are expecting the invitations to be done by April.

Invitations - check!


3PM, Wedding Expo @ NBC Tent: Our original plan was to get here by lunch time so as to be able to have enough time to talk to our suppliers and scout for a good bridal car deal. Being hours late from our plan, we had to split up, all the while collecting the flyers that are being distributed. Here's a rundown of what we were able to do in less than 2 hours:

• purchase 29 bottles of Chamdor Sparkling Bubblers from Louis Maclean Wines
• update contract with and pay additional downpayment to Interplay
• update Fiorgelato on new reception venue
• order mini-cakes (thanks for the discount!) and pay additional downpayment to Hearts and Bells
  
• get new contact from TSG
• book bridal car with 2 vans (and free motorcycle escort) from Streetline

Bridal car - check!
Wines - check!

Daphne and Lyndon (with Jef-kulit) were kind enough to pick us up and transport the wines for temporary storage in Pasig.


5PM, Inquirer office: From the NBC Tent, we went to the Inquirer office at Makati to meet Pam Pastor and get the prizes...

Wow! We're overwhelmed! Thanks to 2bu! and to Pam. =)

Another surprise came from Mimi and Karl later that night. Thanks guys! =)

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Sunday, March 5

After mass, Dionne, Mommie and I went to SM San Lazaro to watch "Nasaan na si Francis?". We got there at past 11:30AM. I made my way to the cinema to check the screening time while Dionne and Mommie paid some bills. Next screening times were at 12:20PM and 2:10PM. We decided to catch the 12:20PM showing. Lunch was at KFC, where I think I established a new personal best by eating the bento meal with additional 2 pieces of chicken (from Dionne's and Mommie's 2-piece value meals) in less than 20 minutes!

I then had to rush towards the cinema to buy the tickets. Unfortunately for us, the free pass for senior citizens was temporarily suspended. Mommie still got a discount anyway, which is still good. The movie was quite funny. Though not as funny as I expected it to be. Dionne mentioned that it's like Weekend at Bernie's, which I haven't seen...

After the movie, we used the GC's from SM to get new underwear. Wala lang. Hahahaha!

Dionne prepared another four-cheese experiment for our dinner:

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Monday, March 6

Another VL day for me... Dionne and I had breakfast at Jollibee, afterwhich I went to uhrm-urhm. I got back to her office before lunch time. We made our way to the Solomon Guest House where we had our complimentary lunch, as one of the 2bu! prizes.

What can I say? We totally enjoyed the meal! Grabe, sobrang sarap at busog! If ever you have a chance to eat there, you should not miss the tiramisu. Thanks to Kevin and Rakesh for the wonderful time we had there.

After lunch, I went to Manila City Hall and got our marriage license. Woohoo!

Daddy's package containing the cloth to be used for my suit arrived yesterday. More woohoo! Thanks po!

Which means that we have to go to Namel's one of these weekends and get the suit started on...