Friday, June 27, 2008

They should just start dating

I was really surprised at how good the dancers were on week 3 of So You Think You Can Dance. I was a little disappointed with Twitchington because I thought they could have done better. Don't get me wrong, it was good but it wasn't "awesome" in my opinion. Will was great with the disco although his partner, Jessica, I think should go home.

As always, I was impressed with Katee and Joshua. Oh-em-gee! Did you see the way Joshua's hips were moving during the routine? For a hip-hopper, not bad! I was laughing the entire time he was dancing because... c'mon.. how can you not laugh when a big guy in really tight spandex is moving his hips that way?!



I also adored Gev and Courtney's Rumba routine. It was sexy and intimate and just wonderfully executed. I also loved her dress! Gev looks like he's infatuated with her... they should just start dating each other! hahahaha!



I think these couples would be at the top ten:

Gev and Courtney
Katee and Joshua
Kherrington and Twitch
Chelsie and Mark

I don't know who the other couple would be especially since Comfort and Thayne will be partnering.

Oh I love this show!

Sad news.

The other day while on the train to work a woman reading the paper was sitting in front of me and while she was flipping through the pages, I caught sight of one of the headlines that had “Philippines” in it. Since it’s not everyday that you see news about the Philippines on a Canadian newspaper, I immediately got curious as to what it was about. I scanned the seats beside to me see if someone had left a copy of the paper behind and luckily enough, there was one not too far from where I was sitting.

I scanned the pages until I found it… an article mentioning the ferry that capsized killing more than 700 people onboard. It mentioned that divers were knocking on the sides of the boat, listening for signs that someone inside is still alive but that they heard no sound. It’s sad that when I read something about the Philippines on the paper, it’s always something tragic. I would have preferred to read something happy about my country for a change. The capsizing of the ferry has been the talk of the town even amongst non-Filipinos here in Canada. I don’t know the specifics of what had happened except that it sunk during the typhoon but I am a little puzzled as to why it was allowed to even leave the port even though their was a typhoon warning. I mean, typhoons don’t exactly appear out of nowhere right beside a boat. It typically develops somewhere further off-shore and we typically get some form of warning in the news of an impending storm. I thought the main purpose of being warned was so we’d take precaution. Obviously, when we don’t heed warnings, we are exposing ourselves to harm.

I was doing some online reading yesterday and stumbled upon photos taken of the damage caused by Typhoon Frank in the Philippines. It showed the floods, damaged property and even some of the casualties. There was one particular photo that struck me the most.. it was a man who appeared to be distraught, asking the people around for help. The succeeding pictures were of the same man, appearing to have found his relative or a loved one’s body in the water. Even from the photos, his pain is evident and I cannot imagine what it must be like for him. I know there are a lot of Filipinos coping with the loss of a home, property and loved ones.

For a country as impoverished as the Philippines, with all the natural calamities we get and all the shortcomings and problems Filipinos experience, I am often amazed at how resilient Filipinos truly are.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Karen on Wikipedia.

Out of curiosity and part boredom, I entered my name on Wikipedia to see what would come up and this is what it gave me:



Whoa! There are "Karen People" and a "Karen Language" and it also stands for "Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network"... huh. Interesting...

and here I thought my name just meant "Pure"! Hahahaha!

Whew, found it finally.

(Steve, I told you I would blog about this… LOL)

When we went to Mexico last month, I kept hearing this one particular Spanish/Latin song but since I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics, I couldn’t figure out what the title was. I even heard it play at the Disco in the resort we stayed in but I thought it might have seemed odd to ask the Deejay.

Since I developed a liking for this particular song, I wanted to download it. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the title and I couldn’t search for it in Google using the lyrics because they’re in Spanish! I had gotten a little desperate so I would regularly open iTunes, enter a variety of keywords in the search box and I would pre-listen to every song in the search result to try and find it. I have found several nice Spanish/Latin songs since then, which I have downloaded and put in my iPod but I couldn’t find the one song I wanted.

So finally last night, while doing my usual song-browsing, I stumbled upon an album containing the “Best Latin Songs” and it was among the songs in the list! I was so thrilled! I immediately pushed “BUY” and it was so funny too because I only had a dollar left in my iTunes card… just enough to purchase that one song.

What was it? It’s entitled La Vida Es Un Carnaval by Isaac Delgado. Yay!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Pumapatak na naman.

Ay shucks, umuulan na naman. It’s been raining on and off for the past couple of weeks now and I am missing the sun and the heat. This morning nung wala akong ginagawa kundi magsurf sa internet, maaraw sa labas and it was so quiet in the office. Tapos ngayon namang I have to do training, it’s raining really hard and the raindrops are so loud against my sun roof. It has actually turned into hail and the small ice pellets are hitting the roof and we have to yell just so we could hear one another.

Everyone in the office is so amazed at the amount of rain and hail that’s coming down outside. We’ve all stopped working momentarily and pressed our faces against the windows and glass doors to look at the spectacle outside. Ganyan talaga dito sa Canada… it’s so rare to get heavy rainfall unlike the Philippines so when we get torrential rain, namamangha lahat.

I just want it to be warm enough to not need to wear a sweater in the mornings and evenings… is it too much to ask?

Top Ten - funny as can be!

I didn't have much to do for work this morning and because I was bored and restless, I ended up doing some blog-hopping. I somehow ended up on this blog and found myself reading and really enjoying all of his Top Ten posts. I particularly enjoyed reading The Top Ten Worst Answers to a Question and I was laughing so hard that I had begun tearing up.

I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud because I don't want the people passing my office to think I was nuts for laughing by myself!

Life for Sale.

Found this article on Yahoo this morning and couldn’t believe it.

Online auctions have certainly taken it to the next level! You can now auction your life online?! What the…!?!

Surprisingly enough, there are people who would bid for it. At first I thought he was accepting bids from people to take his life… as in murder him… but as it turns out, auctioning his life meant that he’s auctioning his job, his lifestyle and everything he owns. The bid has hit a high of over 2 million dollars. I can understand people bidding for the property… but I don’t understand why someone would want to take over his former job as a rug store assistant even for the just 2 weeks (as his original part of the package). Surely, if someone could afford to spend millions of dollars to purchase his property, he/she is wealthy enough to not need the rug store assistant position…right?

Anyhow, it’s just surprising what people would auction off and bid for…

Friday, June 20, 2008

I Remember.

People often tell me that I have really good memory. I don’t know why that is but I seem to remember a lot of the things I see or hear. I don’t really tell myself to remember… I just do. I actually think I remember the things I see and hear better than the things I read. For example, when I am in a room listening to someone talking, I can almost always remember what they say even if I just hear something in passing. This seems to amaze Steve a lot.

My brother, JR, is also good at remembering things although he and I don’t always remember the same things. While I am good at remembering details like where things are located in a building and what color an object is or what the place looked like, or processes, he is good at remember titles and lines and names. Every time I go, “hey, do you remember from which movie it is where …” or when I go, “hey, what’s the name of the actor/actress/character again in that movie …” he always knows that answer. He’s awesome at it. I think he’ll win big money on those trivia game shows on TV.

I, for one, can remember if I made a left or a right in a certain area. I can go into a building and remember the turns I make. For example, I remember where stores are located in a mall. I can tell which entrance to go into that is nearest the store you want to go to. I can go into a building and tell you what we passed and what turns we need to make to get out the way we came in. The best way I can describe what it’s like… when I pass an area, my brain seems to take a mental picture of what I see and in some weird way, it begins creating a map in my head. The more often I go to a place, the better this map gets until it comes to a point where I can look at it from the top view or any direction I want. You know those directories/maps you see when you enter a building? It’s kinda like that in my head. I’m good with immediately remembering and making mental directions when it comes to buildings and structures but I am not as good with roads. Steve is better at it. He can drive to a place and remember which roads he took and can always easily figure out how to make our way back. I would easily get lost if I were the one behind the wheel.

Another thing that Steve’s memory is great at, he is insanely good at remembering anything that has to do with history… he remembers dates, names of prominent people and events. He’s awesome with anything that has to do with politics, history and business… he also rocks at geography. All areas I suck at basically. I am particularly bad with geography. How bad? Pretty bad actually. You can ask me where a country or place is located in the map and I will tell you I have no idea. I will most likely look at a world map and spend a long time locating it. I do not remember president’s names, capitals, and historic events. Don’t even ask me about historic dates. It’s like asking a child to give you the full anatomy of a human body. In which case, you will probably be met with a helpless, bewildered, and pitiful look. I am horrible at it.

But ask me where your sister said she was going on Friday, ask me who your cousin said she saw at the party last week, ask me for directions on how to find a store in the mall, which subway stop is nearest to the place you’re heading, ask me what color a certain object is and ask me to describe to you what the place looked like and I will give you the answer. I can even act like a tape recorder and tell you exactly what was said during the conversation. I remember random scientific facts too.

All I need is to see something once or hear it once and I will most likely remember. Of course, this is not to say I will remember absolutely everything since I don’t try to remember things intentionally. I just happen to remember bits and pieces or the whole thing without intending to. I also have no control over how long that memory will stay. My parents always tell me and my brothers how amazed they are that we can remember things that happened when we were very young…when they thought we were too young to remember or understand. I can still remember the weekends we spent at Tito Noel’s rest house… I can remember the house had a big balcony with hardwood floors where JR and I would play with our Matchboxes (toy car brand) and sometimes we would run and slide with our slippers. I can tell you that I remember Tito Bobby carrying JR and I across water that had a lot of Jellyfish in it and that I cried when he put me down in the water because I was terrified of Jellyfish.

There also things I should remember or should have remembered but I don’t. I don’t know how my brain decides on what to remember and what to forget. I sometimes recall things out of the blue and I don’t know why I forgot about it for such a long time. I don’t know why I forget some of the things that are important and remember the mundane, irrelevant details of something else.

It’s all weird how my memory works and sometimes there are certain memories that are a bit fuzzy that I can’t be sure if it really happened or not. I dread the day when my memory begins to fade. I don’t want to forget all the wonderful memories I have.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I'm Flooded.

There’s been a lot of flooding in my dreams lately. By saying that, I mean that I have been having a lot of dreams that involves water rising and there’s flood everywhere. At first I thought it might have been brought about by me thinking about the end of the world before going to bed. Ala Noah’s Ark kung baga. But it’s been a recurring dream ever since. It’s a different place every time and different people are with me but there’s always water involved and lots of it. The dream will start out pleasant and all of a sudden water will come out of nowhere, start rapidly rising and I can hear myself telling the people around me to close the doors, run or go on higher ground.

I never drown although I am scared shitless. I always somehow manage to float or swim (even while carrying 2 suitcases in one dream) and for some reason, although I am clearly in the water, I am not wet. Very weird. No one I know drowns or gets harmed even though I can’t really keep count of every one who’s with me.

In one dream, I was in a resort with some friends and water started coming from somewhere and we all ran away and it never got us. When the water settled we decided to come back to our rooms and grab our suitcases (or whatever we could carry with us). For some reason, when we got to our rooms, my clothes and all my stuff were already packed into 2 black suitcases (coincidentally, I do not own any black suitcases but they’re there in my dream). We grab our stuff and swim whilst carrying our luggage (I don’t know how I managed but I did) and while swimming, I passed this guy who also happens to be a prince or some important person with his body guards. He was very nice and friendly and seemed concerned for my safety. He even offered to help me even though his body guards were clearly concerned for him. The last thing I remember about it is that I was considering moving all my important stuff into just one bag I could easily carry with me while talking to this guy. I don’t recall what happens next but I think I woke up all confused.

In another dream, I was staying after work with a few of my colleagues and we heard rain coming down outside so we had all decided we should leave and go home before it gets worse. But by the time we walked outside, it had already flooded and Steve’s car and another colleague’s car were completely submerged. We all go back in and I call my parents to say I will be spending the night at the office since we’re flooded in. We then have dinner and we’re all just hanging out, browsing the internet and so on and then for some reason (like all weird dreams) it seemed like several days had passed and we were hungry and tired and these big birds were trying to get in from the windows threatening to eat us (huh.. do you think I have psychological problems??). I was peeking from the office window and I saw this boat with people on it looking for other people. I think I was talking to them but about what… I have no idea. One bird actually caught my foot in the process and it didn’t hurt me for some reason and while I was trying to get my foot away, I woke up. SO WEIRD!

I don’t know what it means that I keep getting “flooded” dreams. These are the only 2 dreams I can still recall vividly. I have forgotten all the other ones.

I did some reading on the internet and the general consensus seems to be that floods signify a sense of being overwhelmed, stressed or a strong force/feeling. It also seems to signify change or a major happening which could either be positive or negative. Apparently, the water temperature and whether it’s clean or dirty has some bearing over what it means. It also seems to depend on whether you get wet in the dream or if you’re drowning or not and so on.

I have no idea why I keep getting these dreams and I don’t really know if I’m one to believe in dream interpretations. A lot of people say that dreams reveal our subconscious state and our deep emotions… if it is true, then I wonder what could be going on in my head!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Listen please.

I have just gotten off the phone with 2 trainees. It was a 2-hour training session…the second half of the session I had done with them last week. I had been dreading this session since then and I have good reason to. The session I did with them last week left me frustrated, upset, tired and not to mention left me with a lovely take-away gift in the form of a massive headache. If there’s a training session that every trainer hates, this would be it.

A training session with only 2 trainees certainly couldn’t be THAT hard… right?

Let me tell you, regardless of how many people you have, whether it be a single person or more, when that person/s is not attentive, doesn’t listen and isn’t very sharp on top of it all… you can’t help but feel frustrated. Aba nakakapagod ata ang magsalita ng magsalita… it feels like I might as well face the wall and start talking. At least the wall will be quiet and won’t ask me questions about something I had just explained 3 seconds ago. You might say that I’m just being impatient and unaccommodating… but there is a difference between asking questions because you don’t understand and asking questions because you’re not paying attention. I don’t mind the first but I mind the latter…very much. Do it once, I will let it go. Do it over and over again and I will want to bite your head off.

If you’re in a training session… no matter how boring or uninteresting it may be, please remember to be respectful to the person talking. Teachers, trainers, speakers… or anyone talking to another person… I’m sure we all agree it’s nice to be listened to even at times when we don’t make sense… even if the other person’s just listening to be polite, that’s fine.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

You're Gonna Miss This.

I saw this song on iTunes and immediately liked as soon as I listened to it. I’m posting the lyrics here because I like the message of the song. It’s so true… we all rush through our years, wishing that we were older and better and we often forget to just enjoy the time we have and where we are currently in our lives. We are so focused on the future that we forget to enjoy the present. I am soooo guilty of this. I am always wanting to move forward, so eager for what’s next that I sometimes forget to just sit back and be thankful for the moment.

When I was young, I remember I would always tell my mom I wish I was older so I can start wearing heels and make-up and I can start going to work too just like her. Hahahaha! If I only knew! Thankfully, I had a blast as a child and even though I miss it, I don’t have any regrets about my childhood... I wouldn’t change anything about it.



She was staring out the window of their SUV
Complaning, saying "I can't wait to turn 18"
She said "I'll make my own money, and I'll make my own rules"
Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school
Then she kissed her head and said "I was just like you"

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride
In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by
He tells her "It's a nice place"
She says "It'll do for now"
Starts talking about babies and buying a house
Daddy shakes his head and says "Baby, just slow down"

Cause you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
And she keeps apologizin'
He says "They don't bother me.
I've got 2 babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this"

"You're Gonna Miss This"
- Trace Adkins

More on posting.

I just checked my site log and noticed that I currently have a total of 8k plus visits. It’s a combination of returning and unique visitors, I’m sure, but I’m still a bit surprised that there have been that many visitors. When I started blogging, I didn’t even have a stat counter… I put one long after.

I don’t know what people think about my blog and the stuff I write about. I am still a bit hesitant when it comes to my posts… afraid of what people might think, say or feel about it. I’m also a bit worried that someone who I’m not comfortable with reading it will stumble upon it… like someone at work for example. I prefer to keep my personal life far from my professional life (although it’s quite impossible since Steve and I work together and my colleagues and I have tea time in the morning where we talk about what goes with our time outside work). I worry that I might unintentionally hurt someone or that what I write could easily be misunderstood. Kahit paano, I still believe in the saying that some things are just better left unsaid.. in this case, better left unwritten.

Although I post regularly, I don’t always write anything and everything that goes on with my life. If you’ve noticed, I write mostly about the things that are pretty mundane and irrelevant. I have difficulty writing about the things that hit too close to home. I try to, but it’s not always easy for me to just put all of it out there. I’m the type of person that when something’s on my mind or something’s seriously bothering me, I like keeping to myself first until I’m comfortable enough to let someone else know about it.

Another thing, with blogging, I just never know who’s reading and I have to always be mindful of what type of information it is I’m sharing out there. It’s a fine line between providing someone a snippet of your life and providing someone with every piece of information about you. One just cannot be too careful these days especially with so many people having so much access to information online.

I admire other bloggers who have no qualms about writing whatever they want… sana ganun din ako. Yung tipong bahala na kung sino makabasa.. bahala na kung anong isipin nila. I would still be careful when it comes to the information I post out there. But I want to be more frank, be more open about my opinions and hopefully be more encouraged to share bits and pieces of things that are personal yet worth sharing. Maybe someone will take something good out of it… who knows!

Maybe I’ll take it one post at a time.

Sailing

I stumbled on this song while browsing iTunes. It's so old but still a really good song. The version I downloaded was sung by 'N Sync but still pretty good.

It's not far down to paradise
At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find tranquility
The canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me

It's not far to never never land
No reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy
Of innocence again
The canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me

Sailing
Takes me away
To where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free

Fantasy
It gets the best of me
When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie
Every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me

It's not far back to sanity
At least it's not for me
And when the wind is right you can sail away
And find serenity
The canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me

"Sailing"
- Christopher Cross

Weekend Activities

I had one busy weekend.

On Saturday, Steve and I drove to Kitchener with 3 other ladies for an assembly. I had never been there before so I was a bit eager to see the place and see what’s there. It was quite a drive from Toronto. We left at 7:30 am and arrived in Kitchener at around 9 am. Steve said we were lucky because the roads were good and we made good time. We only stayed at the assembly till noon and skipped out at lunch to catch the soccer match between Greece and Russia (Greece lost much to Steve’s dismay). After soccer, Steve and I drove back to the assembly to pick up the 3 ladies we went with and drove them home. It was long and tiring. I was seated in the middle of the back seat since I’m the smallest and if I had sat in front, it would have been very uncomfortable for the 3 ladies to seat at the back. But being in the middle of the back seat was quite uncomfortable and by the time we got home, blood had stopped flowing on my left butt cheek and my left leg.

We weren’t able to go around Kitchener but I liked the area I saw. The houses looked nice and the streets were quiet and the people seemed friendly (at least the ones I observed from the bar where we watched the soccer game). It seemed like an ideal neighborhood to raise kids.

Sorry folks, I didn’t really take any pictures of the place since I only had my phone camera with me and it was in my purse in the trunk.

On Sunday, Steve had to go to Kitchener again while I spent the day with my family. It was Father’s day and we decided to have lunch at Little Italy. Little Italy is this street downtown lined with Italian Restaurants (hence the nickname “Little Italy”). This weekend was Taste of Little Italy and they basically close the entire street and the restaurants sell food on the street. People just walk along the street and buy food and whatever item they like or you can just go in and eat inside. During the summer, there are a lot of festivals like this. My favorite is Taste of the Danforth which is basically Greek Town. It’s the best one, in my opinion.

Being at the Taste of Little Italy, one would think we’d have Italian food…but no, we actually had Gyros (Greek) and Burritos and Tacos (Mexican). Talk about irony. We didn’t stay there very long… there wasn’t a lot to see and do there anyways. After eating, we took the streetcar back to the subway where my parents took the train heading east to go home and I took the one heading west to Steve’s place.

He wasn’t home yet so I let myself in with the keys he lent me. I washed the dishes from our dinner the night before, changed into a pair of shorts I had brought with me and went online to browse for songs on iTunes. He got home shortly after and we went out to have dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Momiji. Wow, I realized just now that I had practically eaten the world that day – Greek, Mexican, Japanese… LOL! I love eating at Momiji…they have such good food!

After dinner, we rented a movie entitled “Misery” which is a Stephen King novel and is a classic according to Steve. Not my type of movie but I thought it was good. I just couldn’t help but flinch at that part where she cripples him. Majorly disturbing.

So yeah, it’s been a weekend full of activities and I can’t wait for the weekend already even though it’s only Tuesday.

Monday, June 16, 2008

1...2... blink!

I have been scouring the internet for some really nice images to use as headers and by golly, my eyes are tired. I juts cannot stop I tell ya!

I have been complaining that my eyes hurt at the end of the day. They are watery, they hurt and they keep closing even when I try to keep them open. It almost seems as if they have a mind of their own (coincidentally, it reminds of the Coke Zero commercial). A colleague said that I most likely forget to blink when I am working. Forget to blink?! Huh. I didn’t even know that was possible for me!

But then again, maybe I DO forget to blink.. I dunno. I never gave it too much thought before. I mean, who sits in front of a computer with a mental note to blink, right?

“Type…type… read… read… blink… type… type… read… read… blink…”

Since that colleague mentioned the possible culprit for my tired eyes, I have been conscious about remembering to blink every now and then. And how is it so far? My eyes are still tired and watery but they’re still wide open!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Playing with my layout.

I have been playing with my blog layout for a few days now and yesterday I finally learned where to make the changes in the code so that I can add fancy icons on my posts. Yay!

I spent a lot of time on it yesterday and even went to bed late just because I got fascinated. All of a sudden I had ideas on how I can tweak it in certain areas so it looks better. I don’t know why I never thought of it before. Now I just need to make few more adjustments and see what else I can add.

Last night while in the car, Steve asked me if I was tired because I had been sitting quietly. I told him that yes I was tired but I was quiet because I was thinking of my blog code and I was thinking of where I should be adjusting it. I am one of those people that once I learn something new and once I learn how to make it work the way I want it to work, I start coming up with so many different ideas. Minsan nga pati habang naliligo ako, naiisip ko pa ‘toh. I remember when I was still in college, pag di ko mapagana yung program, naiinis ako. Parang I get obsessed with it until I figure it out.

Until now, I still have this somewhat addictive personality towards coding. Not so much on algorithms but more so on web design specifically templates. I get inspired kasi by all those different designs I see posted on the internet. Ang galing galing naman kasi talaga nung ibang tao lalo na when it comes to designing templates. Parang parating ang astig ng design nila and I am often left wondering how they did it. So ayun, pati ako naglalaro din ng layout para mapaganda ko din kahit konti yung blog ko. I know it might not be as nice as others, pero pwede na for me.

Napupuno na yung PC ko ng graphics at icons of different sorts! I need to delete the ones I know I won't be needing anymore!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Dressing with the seasons.

One of the things I realized when I moved to Canada was that I had to have clothes for every season. In the Philippines, we only had 2 seasons: wet and dry. It basically means it’s almost always sunny but it rains a lot during certain months of the year. The climate pretty much stays the same (always warm) and the sun rises and sets at almost the same time every day of the year.

In Canada, we have 4 seasons of approximately 3 months per season. For me, it’s always cold except during the summer, the last few weeks of spring, and the first few weeks of fall. I remember reading an Ad at the bus stop where it stated that there are only 57 days of summer. I remember feeling miserable about it kasi ba naman out of the 365 days of the year, we only get 57 really warm days! I sometimes wonder how the people in the North and South Poles do it… how can they stand the cold, frigid climate and the months when they don’t get sunlight at all?

What was I getting at with this post again?? Oh right, seasonal clothing.

So yeah, as I was saying, being in Canada means having clothes for every season. Not only clothes but shoes as well. In the winter, one needs a winter jacket, a coat, a pair of boots, a few warm sweaters and long johns/tights, gloves/mittens, and a scarf. In the spring/fall, one needs lighter boots, a light jacket/coat, gloves, a scarf and clothing that can easily be layered so that if the temperature shifts, you could easily remove some of your clothing and still wear something. The summer is the easiest of all because you can wear almost anything.

One advantage of having multiple seasons is that you get to wear a variety of clothes, experiment by mixing and matching items and you get to try on different pieces. You can re-invent your look or your style with every season. The disadvantage is that it can be quite expensive to get a good set of clothes for the year. I always end up wearing out a few of my clothes and shoes in one season so I sometimes end up having to buy new ones.

It’s funny because every time the seasons change, I find myself re-arranging my clothes in my closet. In the summer, I put my summer clothes at the top of the pile and during the winter, I do the opposite. Since it’s summer, all my sandals and flip flops are out right now and my boots are in boxes in the coat closet. I put away my gloves and scarves and take out my sunglasses and bathing suits.

When I am commuting to work, I like looking at what other people are wearing. It’s interesting to see what people wear depending on how cold or warm it is outside. Pagmalamig, pagandahan ng jacket/coat with matching scarves and killer boots. Pag mainit, pagandahan ng sandals/flip flops, summer dresses and tank tops. I have to say though that there are a lot of good, stylish dressers out there… from head to toe with matching accessories pa. Sometimes, I can’t help but be impressed when someone is dressed impeccably. It’s as if you can almost tell a person’s personality by the way the dress. May mga magaganda… meron din naming nakapagtataka… yung tipong di mo malaman kung anung umaandar sa utak niya at yan ang kanyang suot.

Don’t get me wrong ha, I don’t look at what other people are wearing just so I can judge them. I just find it all very interesting. It’s like watching a live fashion show unfold right in front me kasi eh.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Crazy Love.

Read this.

We all have done crazy things for the sake of love. But oh-em-gee, I didn't think it was this crazy!

Do you think that, maybe, I could be in-love with shopping too? Bleh!

Warm weekend.

We had an extremely hot, humid weekend and I can’t complain. Despite it being uncomfortably sweaty and sticky, it was exactly my type of weather. I was happy to wear capris, shorts, tank tops and flip flops all weekend. It’s not even as hot and as humid as the Philippines, but it’s the closest we’ve got. Steve kept saying that it was just like Mexico except we didn’t have our swim-up pool to cool us off.

We tried to avoid activities which involved us being directly under the sun. We did some chores on Saturday morning and then in the afternoon when the sun wasn’t as high anymore, we played a bit of tennis. I suck at it by the way. I have terrible hand-eye coordination and when I’m lucky enough to hit the darn ball, it goes in any direction it wants to take. Poor Steve had to run after the ball. A few of his friends came by to play with us and I volunteered to just watch as they play doubles. I didn’t want to slow them down by being the only player who didn’t play well.

Me: Honey, I can tell all you guys are pretty active in sports.

Steve: Really? How?

Me: Well.. because all of you bring your own gear! When we play tennis, everyone brings their own tennis rackets, everyone of you has your own pair of skates and hockey stick… you even bring your own volleyball net and you have your own soccer balls… you guys have everything!

Steve: (Laughing) Huh. I guess we do have a few but not everything!

Me: Honey, I barely own a pair of running shoes.

I am not particularly good in sports by it doesn’t mean I don’t like playing or at least trying to. It just takes time for me to catch up. Thankfully, Steve’s patient enough to play with me and teach me.

After tennis, we left to meet up with friends at Danforth. Because the weather was very agreeable and Danforth is full of nice little restaurants with patios, everybody seemed to be there. It was packed and we barely found a place to park. We had a nice dinner (I stuffed myself with Kalamari, Saganaki, and bread) and stayed there for about an hour or two and then we headed home.

The next day, my family decided to celebrate Father’s Day early so we headed downtown for lunch and to do a bit of shopping. I didn’t buy anything although I did try on a few summer dresses and a few pairs of sandals.

Afterwards, Steve picked me up at the subway station and we went to see Sex and the City. I was so happy to finally see it. It was about 2 hours long (maybe a bit over… I can’t quite remember) and I loved every bit. I heard that some people didn’t like it and my co-worker said it was predictable but I thought it was great. It was the ending I wanted and more.

Anyway, go see it if you haven’t.

Friday, June 06, 2008

W.

Steve’s cousin sent us an email yesterday with a PPS (PowerPoint) file containing pictures of the W Hotel in Maldives. I was really blown away by how beautiful it is. I even searched for it on Google and found some videos on YouTube.

I WANT TO GO!!

I wonder how much an all-inclusive trip there would cost. I read somewhere that the rooms could cost somewhere between $1700 per night and some rooms, believe it or not, could cost up to $20,000 per night!! But don’t quote me on it because it’s not a fact and I could be wrong. I still haven’t done enough research to find out how much it costs exactly. I just read that off of someone else’s page.

I told Steve about it and he said it would probably cost a fortune and it’s not exactly nearby and we’ll probably be broke with airfare alone. Plus he said that if a Tsunami hit it, we’d have no where to go. Hahaha!

BUT, how can you not want to go to a place like this?!








Thursday, June 05, 2008

Final 20 of SYTYCD! YAY!

We've finally come to the final 20 dancers for this season of So You Think You Can Dance!! Awesome!



Because I enjoyed the previous season so much, here are some of my favorite routines from Season 3 of So You Think You Can Dance:

Pasha and Sabra's Table Routine:


Lacey and Cameron's Contemporary Routine:


Jesus and Sara's Cabaret Hoover Routine:


Hok and Jamie's Hip Hop Routine:


Danny and Lacey's Samba Routine:


Sara and Pasha's West Coast Swing Routine:


I'm practically jumping up and down because we're finally going to see some great dancing again!!

I have to admit that I felt really bad for those that didn't make the cut. I couldn't help but feel extra bad for those that worked so hard and they were crying when they got cut. I was like, "awwww..." I actually felt like crying for Jason and this other guy whose name I can't quite remember. But kudos to all of them for trying their very best. I have no doubt in my mind how much talent these dancers truly have.

Can you tell how much I looovvvee this show?!

Monday, June 02, 2008

SATC, Narnia and Happy Endings

I still haven’t seen the Sex and the City movie. It came out last Thursday and Steve and I actually went to the theatre on Friday night hoping to see it. But as soon as we got there, it was clear we weren’t seeing it that night. The parking lot was jammed and I’m not even exaggerating. It was so full that cars were parked all the way to the street… with some even parking right on the curb. We were lucky enough to find a spot and we decided that since we were there already, we might as well check out other movies that might be playing. We both knew Sex and the City would attract a lot of people during its opening weekend but we were still quite surprised to see how many people actually went to the movies just to see it. All shows were already sold out by the time we got there so Steve and I decided to see Narnia instead.

With tickets in hand, we made our way through the crowd muttering “excuse me” the entire way in and we couldn’t believe the long line of women waiting to enter the theatre for Sex and the City. Steve couldn’t help but chuckle noticing that there wasn’t a single male in line. He keeps saying that although he expected a lot of women to see it, he also thought some guys would go since it’s quite a good show. I got a little annoyed with some of the women sitting by the entrance to Narnia… kasi ba naman, nag e-excuse me na nga ako, ayaw pang tumabi. Hmpf, sarap tapakan talaga.. buti nalang mabait ako. Harhar!

If there’s one advantage of seeing a different movie at the same time as the opening weekend of a big flick is that it’s pretty darn easy to find a good seat. Pahirapan lang talaga sa parking and having to weave in and out of the crowd.

Speaking of Narnia, I really liked it. Steve said he fell asleep somewhere during the movie but I didn’t notice. I have to say though that I was really affected by the ending. Na-sad ako mashado when Aslan said that Peter and Susan weren’t coming back anymore and that only Lucy and Edmund would come back one day. Darn it, why can’t they just stay in Narnia forever kasi! They were happy there naman… nakakainis.

I’m a huge sucker for happy endings when it comes to movies.. but not just any happy ending ha.. it has to be the ending I want. Hahahaha! Di rin naman ako selfish and naïve ‘noh? Kasi naman if Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund stayed in Narnia forever, masaya nako. Kahit wala nang Narnia 3. I downloaded the song that was playing at the end of the movie and everytime I play it on my iPod, I get sad all over again. Hay naku, sira nga ata talaga ako.