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!

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!

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!

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. =)

'Tis the Season to be busy... 2

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

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!

American History ... What??

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.

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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.

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??

Weekend G's

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.

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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!

Wicker, Birthday, Badingsta

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!

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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.

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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

As The Good Book Says

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.

Scary Movie

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.

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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!

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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.

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

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.

Good looks, boots and work

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!

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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)

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.

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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!

Joven's Birthday (2006), Part 2

... 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!