October Calendar

Let There Be Peace on Earth

This painting was inspired by the song “One More Gift,” which I listen to every time I paint. The composer wrote this piece as a young boy as he was struggling with family problems. He once said, “Growing up in a broken family has become a very valuable ground to nurture my faith. It allowed my to find God even in the darkest moments of my life, or in the history of our people.” I see myself falling down like toy soldiers do in those moments when I try to prove myself right and the others wrong. Those instances I steel myself to be impenetrable are usually followed by attacks of raw weakness. So it is while painting. I always encounter the struggle and the forces of hard strokes, the bravura; but there are also the soft glazing of fine smudges. Every hard stance in life hides a corresponding tenderness. Let us listen to the tender laughter of children.

– Joey Velasco –

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pardon for the long absence. I guess by now, most of you already know that we got affected by the great Ondoy flood. As of this writing, our house is still a mess. I will try to make a separate post on that horrendous experience very soon. But first, let me thank all those who texted, YM-ed, called and e-mailed me to check on our status. All your concerns were so much appreciated. From the bottom of my heart… MARAMING MARAMING SALAMAT PO! 🙂

Let us continue on praying that the country will be spared from similar disasters slash calamities in the future.

Be safe always and God bless us all!

Random photos…

For me (and for most, I guess), travel and pictures really go together. And so, whenever I go places, I only not try to capture my special moments, but I also make sure that I take interesting slash funny snapshots of things that I encounter. And here are some of those I found in my digital folder:

Mongkok, HK

 Mura nga kasi talaga ang VCD/DVD dyan! 😛

 

Inside the Tram in HK

 Sa kabila po yung Out Only 😛

 

HK Airport

 Ano ba talaga? Free Duty or Duty Free??? 😛

 

7-11 Outlet, Singapore

Whatever talaga ang laman nyan… as in di alam! 😛

 

7-11 Outlet, Singapore

Katulad ng Whatever, anything ang laman nyan. So, di rin alam! 😛

 

Vivo City Foodcourt, Singapore

Softdrinks po yan, not Chinese medicated ointment! 😛

 

Street Resto in Chinatown, Singapore

In fairness, may kilala talaga akong yummy viet… *winks*

 

This is all for now, dear friends!

The Kiss Quest

Late this afternoon, my colleague Tink (not her real name) told me about an interesting news she found at yahoo. It was about a 27-year old Taiwanese girl and her quest to kiss 100 men in Paris. I guess, this too got your attention now. LOL.

Well, here’s the entire article from yahoo news:

TAIPEI (AFP) – – A Taiwanese woman’s ambition to kiss 100 men in Paris has become an overnight web sensation after she provided details of the quest on her much-visited blog.

Yang Ya-ching, a 27-year-old music major living in the French capital, has so far notched up 54 smooches, she said on her blog, which features photos of some of the encounters.

Collaborators in her project included a factory worker, a model, an Italian tourist and even a soldier visiting the capital of romance for Bastille Day.

“I came up with the idea three years ago,” she said on her blog.

“Three of my four friends who were aware of the plan warned me that I might wind up getting slapped rather than kissed.”

Yang, who plans to write a book about her kissing experiences, has attracted 1.97 million visitors to her blog, including more than 224,000 on Monday alone.

“Aren’t you afraid of catching a disease?” one of her followers asked.

“No,” she replied. “The more you’re afraid of, the less you accomplish.”

Hmmmm… I bet the guys would click on her link now! Sorry to disappoint you my dear male blogger friends, but her blog is written in Taiwanese. Good luck naman kung mainitindihan nyo! Bwahahaha! And besides Paris is way too far just to get a kiss from her. (Ay, parang bitter ang statement! Whehehe!)

But hey, this is a nice tactic to hit two birds with one stone. She was able to generate enormous hits for her blog and at the same time will get the chance to taste at least 100 men… from different nations!

How cool is that?!

Masubukan nga rin… but I would need updated 2×2 photo, comprehensive resume and authenticated certificate from an accredited dentist. Ang hirap ng requirements bigla!  LOL.

Do Guys Prefer Dressed Up or Dressed Down?

I browsed through the Cosmopolitan Philippines site just now and got caught by this interesting article published under Style and Fashion. It was a very short one. In fact, it only featured guys’ responses to that very intriguing question, “Do Guys Prefer Dressed Up or Dressed Down?”. Click here to see the actual article.

And here are the responses:

Dressed Up:

Jay Jay, Vocalist/Guitarist (Bloomfields)
“I prefer girls who know how to dress well. I think they’d look really attractive.”

Birdie, Product Manager
“Dressed up girls are better eye candies.”

Paco, 30, ENT Head And Neck Surgeon
“I prefer dressed up girls because I like girls who have a lot of class and style.”

Patrick, 26, Project Manager
“Dressed up. It highlights their figure and it gives them a classy, elegant look.”

Arvi, 35, Businessman
“Dressed up. We prefer that they look good when in public with us.”

Dan, 30, Businessman
“Dressed up. It highlights their taste and class and they look more sophisticated.”

Dressed Down:

Wesley, 31, Customer Development Team Leader
“Dressed down girls—they’re low maintenance but still sexy.”

Mari, 24, Marketing Executive
“Dressed down…the simpler the better.”

Jon, 27, Self-Employed
“Dressed down. It’s the one who wears the simplest clothes and makes it look like a million bucks [that] attracts me most.”

James, Project Manager
“Dressed down, because you know how they look when not exerting too much effort…you see the real them.”

Female readers, kindly take note, ok?! LOL. 

As for me though, I’m most of the time in the dressed-down arena. I like being in comfy jeans and polo shirt. Aad if I’m way too tired to look for clothes to wear, I just put on a simple shirt and shorty shorts matched with a pair of flip-flop sandals… in short, mukha akong nakapambahay. Hehehe! People would normally see me in that outfit when heading to the supermarket or just making a quick trip to the mall. 

But I wanna know what my male readers have to say. Is it really…

You choose! LOL.

SMS Conversation

Earlier today, I had a funny SMS conversation with a good old-time friend. It started with this message:

Moral Lesson for Today: ‘Pag binato ka ng bato, batuhin mo ng cookies. Para social!

I got interested with the message, so I replied. And this is rest of my SMS exchange with my good friend:

Winkie: Anong cookies? Oreo or Chips Ahoy?

Friend: Marie or Rebisco lang, ‘day! Carry na yun! LOL.

Winkie: Ay, I don’t have those eh! Whehehe! Bakit nakikipagtext ka? Magpray ka nga! Pagpray mo na makga-BF ako! Nyahahaha!

Friend: Loser ka yaya! 27 days ko nang prayers yan dito. Nagpakita na ang anghel sa akin kagabi. Tantanan na daw!

Winkie: Bad na angel yan ah! Papuntahin mo nga dito at kukutusan ko lang. Haha! Try mo kasi kay St. Jude… hopeless case na ako! Bwahahaha!

Friend: Umiiyak na nga ng dugo si St. Jude. Sumuko ka na kasi!

Winkie: Ganun? Pwes, susugurin ko si St. Jude mamaya. Magpoprotesta ako!!!

Friend: Pakipot ka pa kasi dati. Eh di sana may 7 na tayong kids now. Ano kaya ang itsura nila? Bwahahaha!

Winkie: (insert name here), pasensya na at kelangan talaga kitang murahin… LECHE KAAAA!!! Pinagnanasaan mo talaga ako! Whahaha!

Friend: Bakit? Mas maganda naman ang apelyido ko kesa sa (insert surname here, starts with the letter B). Hahaha!

Winkie: Hahaha! Mahaba kasi apelyido mo. Tsaka parang mas mdali ipirma yung Francia (insert surname here, starts with the letter B). Bwahahaha!

Friend: Ay FB! Parang Facebook lang! Nyahahaha! Dyan ka na nga! Ginugulo mo ang katahimikan ko!

Winkie: Ako pa ngayon ang nanggugulo! Ikaw ‘tong text nang text! Babay! Ibo-blog kita!!!

Friend: Ay manakot daw! Sayang… may pasalubong pa naman sana ako.

Winkie: O sige, hindi na! Pasalubong ah!

I thought it was the end of our conversation, may huling hirit pa ang friend:

Friend:

(Friend’s Name): St. Jude, sige na po, bigyan nyo na si Winkie ng BF… desperada na po eh!

St Jude: Hanube! Hindi ka ba titigil? Sige ka, ibo-blog kita!

~~ Juice ko po! Si St. Jude, blogger din?!

 

And so, I replied back:

Winkie: Lokong St. Jude yan ah! Unahan ko nga syang magpost. Ibo-blog ko din cya!

So, who do you think  that was? Lemme see if you could guess my unnamed textmate slash close friend.

Here’s a clue: he’s also a blogger 😛

Whispers to self: Wish ko lang hindi nya mabasa ito… baka mapurnada ang pasalubong ko. At wish ko lang, hindi magalit si St. Jude dahil nauna akong magpost sa kanya. Sana ay dinggin pa rin nya ang panalangin ko!

My Love Shirt… at last!!!

Sungit moments ahead!

Read at your own risk! 😛

 

 

Last Thursday (September 3), Mon texted me that he sent me a package and was expected to be delivered at our doorstep the next day (September 4). Sadly though, I didn’t receive any package. I tried to follow up from LBC but their customer service reprensentative said that as per record, there’s no one home so their courier guy didn’t leave the package.

I waited for another day (September 5) and still, nothing came. I called up their hotline again the next day (September 6) and asked for the package. Still, the CSR told me the same thing, that is, there’s no one home. After I heard her say that, I got confused… okay, okay, I got a bit pissed off. I told her that  for the last 3 days, my mom hasn’t left our house waiting for that package and so I said, “I really need that package. I expect to have that delivered tomorrow.” (Sungit galore to the nth power!!!)

The next day (September 7), a delivery guy called for my name. An LBC guy, at last! As he was handing me the package, I asked, “Bakit ngayon lang?” He replied, “Sorry po ma’am, ang hirap hanapin ng house nyo.” And I went, “Huh? Nakakapagdeliver sa akin ang 2Go tapos kayo di nyo makita? And besides, I called your customer service at ang sabi, walang tao sa bahay. Eh hello, nandito lang ang nanay ko.” He again replied, “Ma’am, nahirapan lang po talaga kaming hanapin.” And I again went, “Well, yan dapat ang ini-report nyo. Hindi yung sasabihin na walang tao. Anyways, thank you.”

Well, I really don’t have much patience for lousy service. So much for LBC’s claim on fast delivery!

– End of Sungit Moments-

 

So what was that package, anyways? Here is what Mon sent me…

And inside were these…

Ang bongga! May individual paper bags per person!!! Those bags were for Jason, Alvin, Ax, Crisiboy and moi! Inside those bags were these:

That’s my prize for winning Mon’s Love-Emo Writing Contest… and with that are two of my faves, dried mangoes and danggit!!!

Of course, I immediately tried on my wonderful prize from Mon:

Bagong gising lang... ang pangit!!!

Bagay ba???

At ang danggit… eto ang kinahinantan nya:

Ang sarap ng tanghalian naming mag-ina!!! 😛

To Mon, thanks so much for the shirt, danggit and dried mangoes.

And to the other boylets mentioned above, how and when will you get your love-emo shirt from me???

Missing Hong Kong…

Whenever we have a long weekend here in Pinas, I would always find myself thinking of going somewhere else. It’s always nice to spend that 3-day weekend in a short getaway without having to file for vacation leaves (VLs) from work. And during those special times, I would always find myself checking air fares to Hong Kong.

I have been there twice already and I always enjoy my time in HK. Just recently, I always find myself telling a friend that I miss HK so very badly. And that I wish to go back there within the year… hopefully in December. The weather is so nice during that time because they have winter season there. I’d definitely have the chance to wear my brown boots (a great steal from Dumond, a Brazilian brand) and trendy trench coat (another great steal I got from an Ukay shop in Baguio)… things I couldn’t wear here in Manila. But I know it’s a bit too impossible to feel winter time there this December as I have an upcoming travel to another Asian country next month. I know I would be freaking bankrupt after that trip.  Poor me! Well, I will just save up for a few months more so I could visit HK in April and celebrate my birthday at Disneyland.

I guess you are wondering what is it with Hong Kong that I miss a lot. Well, here’s my top 10 list:

• The Clean Streets. I am really amazed with HK’s cleanliness. I have tried walking around the whole day just wearing slip ons and that proved to me how clean the place was. My feet were still freaking clean when I reached back home at night. Kung sa Pinas, ‘pag labas mo pa lang sa kanto eh sangkatutak na alikabok na agad ang nasagap ng paa. Hehehe!

• The Convenient Transportation. HK is really known for its convenient transport system, may it be subway train or buses. Their MTR System is really awesome that it can take you anywhere in HK. All trains are strategically connected to each other to give commuters prime convenience. Well, even the buses are numbered and has time schedule so passengers would know where and what time to take the ride. 

• The Tram. The cheapest mean of transportation in HK. A tram ride only costs HK$2.00 (roughly Php14.00), regardless of distance. For long rides, I’d always take the upper level so it would give me a nicer view of HK. For me though, that’s the cheapest HK tour I could take should I want to spend time just seeing the streets of HK.

• The Shopping Malls and Outlet Shops. These are definitely for me as I am a self-confessed mallrat. I love strolling inside malls like The Landmark and Queen’s Way because they sell grand brand names like Dior, Valentino, Ferragamo, Tiffany and Company, Louis Vuitton, YSL and the like. I don’t shop there though as I couldn’t afford them. But I really like hanging out in those kinds of malls… feeling sosyal lang! But what attracts me most are those outlet shops located in Citygate Outlet (a very nice mall located 2 stations away from Disneyland where all items are on sale), Ladies’ Market in Mongkok and small everyday-on-sale shops just around HK. The last time I went there, my friends mistakenly thought that I was doing some panic buying! At pag nakakakita ako ng Esprit Outlet shop eh para akong nag-palpitate! LOL.

• The Sights and Sounds. HK is a very small place and one can see the entire place once atop The Peak, which offers a nice view of all the nice buildings and water that surrounds the island. And on the other side of Hong Kong Island is Kowloon, where the famous Avenue of the Stars is located. At night, it showcases a spectacular display of lights and sounds. From Kowloon, I can see a well lit Hong Kong Island with bright lights dancing in sync with some nice upbeat music. 

 

• Hong Kong Disneyland. I’m a child at heart so Disneyland is still and will always be part of my HK itinerary. I so love spending an entire day at Disney. Whenever I’m there, I need not to worry about anything. Spending the entire day with rides, shows, parades and photo ops with the Disney characters is reallyworth my precious time. Miss ko na si Mickey Mouse!!! LOL.

• St. Joseph’s Church. I always find time hearing mass at this Filipino Catholic Church. Although, as I may have written in one of my HK posts in the past, I have mixed emotions whenever I go to this place. I feel both happy and sad. Happy because it’s not everyday or every Sunday that I could hear mass at this church, ang mahal kaya ng pamasahe noh?! I always feel blessed to have traveled that far just to be in that church. It simply means I have excess funds to do just that. Sad because I hear mass amidst the OFWs or the so-called domestic helpers. I’m proud of them because they took the courage to work there just to earn money but I feel sad for them because they had to leave their families back home and be servants to other families. Naluluha talaga ako whenever I hear mass with them. 

• Jollibee. Weird as it may sound, but yes, I still eat at Jollibee in HK. Walang basagan ng trip! Gusto ko lang matikman ang hambuger dun kung kalasa nung sa Pinas. LOL

• The Pedestrian Lane. Yeah, you read it right! I miss their pedestrian lane. I really like crossing the streets of HK because of traffic signals for pedestrians. They have this sound that would prevent people from crossing the street and a much more faster sound slash signal to remind people that it’s time to cross the street. Effective ang sound kasi literally magpapanic ka pag narinig mo yung mabilis na ‘toot-too-toot-too-toot-too-toot’ na sound. Hehehe!

•  The Huge Airport. The first time I set foot on this airport, I really said, “Whoa, this is huge!” (Yes, english talaga ang reaction ko! Nyahahaha!). Coming from NAIA, I really had to compare our local facilities with their’s… and it was way incomparable. There were nice shops inside the airport. Yung tipong pwedeng hindi na ako lumabas because everything I need is already inside the airport. I bet airports of other countries are way better… but I have to see them yet. 😛

I know it’s nicer here in Pinas… but once in a while I want to spend time there to experience these nice things. Basta, pupunta ako dun sa April… by hook or by crook! 😛

Bloggers’ EB at Tivoli Gardens

I guess most of you already know that we had a sort of Grand Eyeball 2 nights ago. Etong si Hamster ang bilis kasi magpost kahit wala pang pics. Atat talaga! Hahahaha! And as of this writing, I already saw entries written by Lovely and Joycee.

So, let me start my post with the cast of characters, according to arrival:

• Kengkay
• Lovely
• Yhen
• Joycee
• Taympers
• Bernard
• Rye
• Lei
• Jason
• Special Blogger
• Ax
• Alvin
• Wolf
• Eli
• Otep

I left work at around 6:30 p.m. I did not opt to meet up with Lovely and the rest of the girls since Tivoli Gardens is located somewhere near the Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge, which is very near from where I work. It was kinda raining that night, traffic was terrible in that area and I was carrying a lot at that time. But it did not stop me from attending that most awaited bloggers’ get-together.

When I arrived, I got a bit lost as I was expecting some kind of welcoming committee. Kidding! LOL. I was hesitant to go directly to the videoke room so I called Joycee on her cellphone to check if I was really at the right venue. Gladly,I was in the right spot. Di aketch naligaw, hehehe! With Joycee were Kengkay, Yhen, Taympers and Lovely. The host, Bernard, arrived some minutes after me. It was really nice of him to have reserved such nice and cozy place.

While waiting for the rest of the gang, we took the chance for some photo ops…

Then, Rye arrived with his friend Lei, a new blogger.

Moments later, Jason the Hamster came hopping in (mahilig kasing tumalon at tumambling, hehehe!). So, it called for another photo op…

The rest of the gang then arrived.

We started off by introducing ourselves… with URLs, of course! Kelangan talaga kasama yun kasi bloggers. LOL. Machong Butiki was with us in spirit (oist, di sya dead ah!). He wasn’t able to make it that night due to some more important things to attend to at work. If I am not mistaken, he sent a letter through Wolf. Kengkay read it to the whole group.

So, to put faces behind those names, here is our first group shot (Bernard not in pic, he was the photog. Poor Berns!):

L-R: Lei, Yhen, Rye, Lovely, Jason, Ax, Otep, Joyce, Mmi, Special Blogger, Eli, Taympers and Kengkay

 There were two missing, Alvin and Wolf. And here they were…

... parang kawawa lang itong dalawa! hehehe!

There were food and drinks enough for the entire group. We had sylvannas (courtesy of Yhen), bread sticks from Germany (courtesy of Kengkay),  booze (courtesy of KL Callboy Rye) and pizza (courtesy of everybody).

We did a lot of getting-to-know chats. And here as some of the proofs…

Lovely received a phone call straight from Saudi Arabia. It was Bons. He asked that the phone be passed. I was able to talk to him for a short while and the first thing he asked me was, “Kumusta naman ang kahel?” Oh di ba, ang kulit lang! Hahaha!

At some point, we lost some of the boys while we got busy with videoke. Eto pala ang pinagkaabalahan ng mga kalalakihan. Naisihan kami ng bonggang-bongga!

And when we got re-grouped, we continued on with the singing session. There were a bunch of singers in the group and they did not hesitate to belt out songs to entertain us all through the night…

 Buti na lang at walang proof na kumanta ako! Hahaha!

While others were busy singing, Rye took the chance to distribute his pasalubongs for all of us. Everyone got chocolates and keychain fresh from Malaysia.

Here are my pasalubong from sweet Rye…

 And here are the some of the pics of that fun night…

 

I wonder what Joycee, Yhen and Kengkay were looking at?

Siguro yun din ang tinitingnan ko. Hehehe!

A little past 10 p.m., Kengkay bid the group goodbye. Joycee, Wolf and Jason joined her. The rest were left behind and continued on with the videoke and chikahan sessions that turned out to be a Q&A portion which was led slash hosted by Otep.

For those who wasn’t able to join, don’t worry you were with us on that night. Pinag-usapan namin kayo! Nyahahaha!

At 1 a.m., we all called the night off. But before that, we had one final photo op. At last, Bernard was with us in this shot!

So, that was it… until next EB!

 Photo credits: Joycee and Bernard

******************************************

Update (posted September 7, 2009):

I forgot to include these things in this EB entry as I was so engrossed playing some games while writing. Tapos may isang blogger pa na ka-chat ko na nangpe-pressure na ipost ko na ang entry na ‘to! 😛

That same night, I heard slash received some surprising comments from some blog friends:

• Otep – thinks that I have resemblance with Mariel Rodriguez. But he told me that here is a specific angle… and that my left angle looks like Zanjo Marudo! (Lokong Otep! Lagot yan sa akin sa next EB!)
• Rye – told me that he is a bit confused with me and Kikay. He said we look a bit the same. I told him that Kikay is way too slender than I am (read: Sobrang taba ko pag itinabi ako sa kanya! Hehehe! Face-wise though, I don’t have any complaint. She is a pretty girl —  Rhona, may bayad na Starbucks ‘to ah!)
• Alvin – thought that I’m also an expat. He got surprised to learn that I am Makati-based and just a simple Manilan. Mukha daw kasi akong galing abroad. (Duda ko, ginogoyo lang ako nitong si Alvin eh! Hehehe!)

That’s it. Nalimutan ko lang isulat. 😛

September Calendar

Hilumin Mo

Just three days before he was due to graduate from college, my friend Raymund was detained for seven years, accused of a murder he never comitted. Instead of succumbing to depression, he taught his inmates math, grammar, reading and writing. He even wrote a book regarding the national criminal justice system. He found himself and his God.

I can identify myself with him when I was confined in a small room due to sickness. I felt the whole gamut of sorrows of the human heart. These raw feelings came as I learned to let go of my old notion that God would take in against me for being so inquisitive. Painting Him led me to believe that He is with me despite His seeming absence. As I painted this youth in jail, it was as though I was looking at myself in a mirror.

– Joey Velasco

Glorietta, North Park and Singlehood

Yesterday was the start of my 3-day weekend. I didn’t have anything grand planned out for the long weekend as I am dead broke wanted to just chill and have a relaxing time. But as a normal ritual, I spent the day with my Mom at the malls. Since Mommy has been dying to eat Chinese food, I opted to take her to Glorietta. She really loves to eat at North Park.

So, we left home at around 10:30 a.m and went straight to Makati. Since it was a bit too early for lunch, we initially went to Landmark for some window shopping. I tried my best to just look around and browse. But as always, I failed! I ended up buying some cosmetic products. The nice saleslady even offered me to have my eyebrows trimmed for free. I instantly gave in… sayang eh, libre daw! (Paging AC, magpa-deviriginize ka na ng eyebrows, libre lang!!! Hahaha!)

After that short cosmetics shopping, we headed to our main agenda… the North Park. Months after the Glorietta 2 bombing, this Chinese resto was relocated  at Glorietta 5, a separate building slash mall across Glorietta 4. (Para di kayo maligaw in case gusto nyong kumain dun, hehehe!)

As always, we ordered this:

Counterclock wise: Yang Chow rice, Boneless Honey Lemon Chicken and Steamed Brocolli with Oyster Sauce (my fave!!!). Apparently, that small meal was too much for me and my Mom. We had to take home the half portion which we ate at dinner time. Ang tipid naming mag-ina noh?! 😛

Here we were having a quick photo op while enjoying our lunch:

Right beside our table, there were 5 middle-aged women also enjoying their lunch. Since they were seated just a few inches from us, we could hear their conversation. So, I found myself eavesdropping. It reminded me of the usual for-the-girls talk I used to have with my equally single friends. You know, those usual things single girls talk about… going to places, office gossips, make-up, other friends… and boys!

I started to eavesdrop even harder when I heard one lady uttered these statements, “You know what girls? I’ve got you some boys. Makipag-blind date tayo noh?!” I secretly laughed when I heard her say that.

A lot more singlehood conversation floated in the air like finding love online, exploring a relationship with a non-Filipino guy, dating an awkward-looking officemate, etc. I was a bit too surprised to hear some desparate statement about finding love and Mr. Right. Those women are not the ugly ones that would made people say, “No wonder she’s still single.” Mind you, I have actually heard some people utter those words. Appartently, those women talking near us were rather good-looking in their own ways, some were even sophisticated looking. And not to mention, they all looked like successful in their own rights.

That simple lunch made me realize that there are, indeed, a lot more other women around who are single, darn busy with their own careers while patiently waiting for Mr. Right to come.

And that ladies and gentlemen, made me realize… HINDI AKO NAG-IISA! *ice queen’s evil laugh*