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

That Thing You 'Do

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

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

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

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

Pictures here.

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

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

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

On a high (note)

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

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

Here are some of the other shirts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Risky!

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... ;)

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??

Guess Who's in the House

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

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

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

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

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

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Highlight of our weekend!

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

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

The Shoe-perintendent

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

Yesterday, luck smiled upon us. =)

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The shoe:


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


Wow. Thanks brad! =D

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

Food ~ Platelets ~ Suit ~ Gifts ~ Shopping

It has been an uber tiring weekend for us. Thank God for Labor Day! At least nagkaroon ako ng pahinga. Pahinga = paggising ng late. =P

Friday night was a scheduled dinner with Lalaine, my HS, college & taekwondo bud who came home for a vacation. She texted me a few days earlier and asked me if I can take the day off to accompany her for errands (I won't say what errands were those, secret daw eh Hehe!). Since I can't take the day off, we compromised. I got off early from work na lang. Ang init pala ng Maynila pag hapon! We were sweating like crazy! I'm not used to the going out with that kind of heat anymore. Grabe! Enjoy naman kasi tsismisan to the max! =P

After our escapade, we had coffee and met Anne & Joven @ Bo's in Glorietta. Dinner was @ Giligan's with Cri-c (Food pics here). We updated each other with what's happening with our lives. Laugh galore na naman. May revelation pa. Hehe! We had fun! (mejo na-unwind din)

Violet couple (Notice in the previous post we're both wearing red? Di sadya, pramis. =P)
The girls (soon-to-wed Cri-c, me, Lalaine & Anne)

We got the news that Joven's youngest brother was brought to the hospital because of high fever. Saturday morning we went to see him. His platelet count was low and he needed plasma transfusion. =( Hopefully, he'll fully recover soon. Get well soon Jay! =)

After the hospital visit, we went to Namel's for Joven's fitting. The suit fit him well. He looked so gwapo. *sigh* I was so mesmerized I forgot to take a photo. Hihi! =P

We went to SM San Lazaro to finish shopping for bathroom accessories and buy our weekly grocery. I had fun buying stuff for our bathroom. Nakikita ko na din yung taste ni Joven when it comes to home stuff. Di naman kami nagkakalayo, mas magastos nga lang sya. =D

We dropped off the shopping bags at home and had lunch. After an hour or so, we left for Rustan's Glorietta. We chose items for the registry. Fun! Shopping without paying! Hihi! We also went to PowerBooks for our registry. Dito namin naramdaman yung pagod! We had to choose 50 titles for the registry. 40 pa lang suko na kami. So the last 10 titles were not supposed to be there. Hehe! The registry is nice pala (I knew this for Rustan’s but not PowerBooks), Rustan's is giving 10-15% discount when you buy registry gifts there and PowerBooks is giving 10% discount naman. Nice! So... sa mga magreregalo... Hahaha!

The day didn't end there... Some of my college barkada (Anne, Lalaine, Cri-c + Manuel) decided to meet for dinner (again) at SM Manila. Dinner was at Karate Kid. It was a short one because Anne lives in Las Piñas and Lalaine in Bulacan. Sinusulit lang naman yung time with Lalaine. =) See you in December Lalaine! Ingat pag-uwi! Sayang talaga you can't make it on my wedding. Haay!

Anne, Lalaine, Manuel, Cri-c, me & Joven

After our early mass, Joven and I went to Robert Camba to make additional payments. We finalized some of the details. Ms. Connie (as her usual self) was so candid and helpful. She gave us tips on the reception layout. She was kind enough to rummage through her files to show us one. We had another “food tasting” and went our way. We stopped by SM North to pay our phone bill. Fortunately (or unfortunately), they were on sale! We were able to buy shorts for Joven and my make-up outfit (Yey!). S-a-l-e is baaaaaad therapy. =P

Blogging is good though. I hope I won’t be dooced. Nuninu. =D

The Boss

Today, I got news that my colleague had to give up his laptop upon request of one of our bosses. A new one will be purchased for him. The reason for this urgent request? The boss's kids need a machine for their games... Wow.

As in, wow.

W-o-w.

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On other, more relevant, news, Dionne and I went to Rustan's Makati last Sunday, April 2, to avail of their Bridal Registry services. We will go back by the end of April to select the items to be included on our list.

While at Rustan's, I was intimidated by the different items on display, always thinking that they're too expensive for me... But Dionne proved me wrong. They were actually reasonably priced. During our rounds, we spotted a pair of Bass shoes that could be used for... nuninu. We delayed the purchase until after we went around the Glorietta shops. Lucky us, the Bass shop at Glorietta was also on sale, with an additional discount if paid in cash... As I was about to get up and withdraw some money, the salesperson said that EPS (Express Payment System) is as good as cash. Wow, talk about convenience. =)

From Glorietta, we went to Greenbelt 1 to visit Tie Line, where we purchased my tie... As for my suit, we already scheduled a visit to Namel's for my measurements. 2 months to go... ;)

Groom's shoes - check!
Groom's tie - check!

You didn't see anything!

Friday, March 31

Welcome to the "real" world Dioven!

Birthday: March 31, 2006
Birth Place: EDSA Shangri-La
Principal Sponsors: 2bu!, Animaland

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From Shang, we (Dionne, Dioven and I) trooped to Cubao to go to the famous Marikina Shoe Expo. Not only were we able to buy Dionne's bridal shoes, she also got a pair of office shoes, sandals and a leather bag. Unfortunately for me, the sandals I liked didn't have any other size besides the small one on display... No problem, we'll definitely go back there anyway. Good shoes at good prices. ;)

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Saturday, April 1

Dionne, her Mommie and I were out early, on our way to Divisoria... We bought materials for the unity candle (candles, ribbons and, of course, the candles). Ara, Dionne's officemate, is gracious enough to work on this for us. Thanks Ara!

We didn't even try to go to 168 mall because of the recent events. We satisfied our shopping craving at the stalls of the Cluster Building... As expected, we got lots of stuff at bargain prices. I was surprised that they actually gave receipts if you ask them. We also bought cloth to be used for the ties for our male entourage.

After dropping our stash at their house, we went to SM San Lazaro to catch Moments of Love. Well... There were a lot of people in the cinema. Hmm... People cried in some scenes. Uhm, it's an OK movie. Dionne says that the movie had some elements of Somewhere in Time.

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Bridal Shoes - check!

Hello Banaue! Hello Ilocos! Hello Moto?

Been away for five days because of work.

I was part of the team of facilitators that brought the participants to a study tour of Banaue, Vigan, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. It was my first time in the north and I armed myself with a fully charged digicam. It was also opportune that a good resource person and some locals guided us throughout the trip. Galing! I really appreciated it a lot.

Batad trek was unforgettable... and the terraces were breathtaking. Vigan was a different experience as well. Ilocos churches, for me, are the best in the country. I was especially impressed with Paoay's Baroque architecture.

More pics here.

Tara na, byahe tayo!

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We were scheduled to have our precana at UST, Sunday morning. After more than 10 hours of travel last night, I had to drag myself out of bed. Joven and I went to UST before 8am. We were the second couple to arrive, soon all eight of us were in.

The speaker for the topic on Catholic Marriage was a deadringer for Brod. Pete! I couldn't help but giggle most of the time. Of the three speakers, I liked him best. He was candid and more participative in the discussion.

Responsible Parenting was next. The lady who discussed it kept on wandering off from the topic. By this time, Joven was constantly pinching me to keep me awake. She was nice though, very motherly.

Husband-Wife Relationship was discussed by a couple. Some of the things they mentioned were not so gender sensitive that I had to cringe sometimes. But they're quite inspiring because they have been married for 40 years and still look very happy together.

We were also briefed by the church coordinator of UST on the rules and regulations on the day itself. Natatawa nga ako, he had a crush on Joven kasi. Haha! At least we have a better picture of what will happen on that day.

The precana was a nice experience. For me, it was a series of testimonials that marriage during these times still work. It gave a feeling that I'm in the right place at the right time. It also feels that the rest of my life is unfolding the way He wanted it.

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Highlight!

Scene: Joven and I were malling at SM San Lazaro. Window shopping for gadgets on the top floor.

Dionne: Tingin na tayo ng laptop para alam na natin yung prices dito. If ever, mas madali nang magresearch sa net. Tsaka kung magpapabili ka kay Kuya at least alam natin kung mura nga dun.
Joven: Sige, ikot ikot tayo.

Going inside Electroworld. Dionne transfixed at the mobile phones on display.

Joven: Ganda no?
Dionne: Oo nga, ayan pala yung Motorola SLVR. Ganda!
Joven: Gusto mo? (serious tone)
Dionne: (shocked) Nge! Mahal! Tsaka na lang.
Joven: Di nga?
Dionne: Baka kapusin tayo.
Joven: Hindi.
Dionne: Sure?
Joven: Sure.
Dionne: (obviously excited pero hiding the excitement pa din) Wag na. Kakahiya naman. Gash!
Joven: Pili ka na.

After an hour, we ended up with this.

Weeeee! Soooo happy! Grabe na ito! =D

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

tIdBiTs

Been tamad to blog lately kaya, here goes...


Nov. 26

• Joven, my mom and I went to SM Manila to watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Not that scary, it was like a long episode of Law & Order. I got curious and searched the Net after the film. I guess that's a thumbs up (but not two, hehe!).

Nov. 28

• Joven and I went to 168 to cross out some peeps from our xmas list. Nakamamatay. Grabe!

Nov. 29

• Joven and I, together with my mom, went to see my ninang (who incidentally was celebrating her birthday on that day) to ask her to be one of our principal sponsors. She said she'll be more than glad. Yey!
  
• We also went to see my other ninang to inquire about suits. Since she owns a tailoring shop and has been in this business since forever, it will only be logical for us to have the suit done by their shop. My dad wanted to know if they can do it in 10 days since he'll be arriving on the last week of May. She said they can do it. Woohoo!
  
• Went to Quiapo to buy my nephew a new bike for Christmas. We wanted to drop by the bead haven but it was just too hot outside... we ended up eating at Greenwich instead. =)

Dec. 2

• No work for us! Yey! (Good thing that DFA is in Pasay, hehe!) Office friends ended up in Red Box instead. We had a blast! But before that, dinner at Sentro. Delish! Pics here.

Dec. 3

• Watched Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros. One of the best films I've seen this year. Worth every cent and more. If you haven't seen it, watch it. In my opinion, it's actually better than the film about that Potter guy. =)