New Interface

I've been going through google trying to find a new template for my page. Although the templates I've been using before were good, I wanted to give my site a make-over. I came across several designs that I liked but I decided on this one because it looks neat and simple.

I've been swamped at work and it's causing me a great deal of stress. I try to remind myself that I should leave all thoughts of work when I leave the office. But it's so hard especially when I know there's so many things I need to do. -sigh-

The other day I was sitting in the bus on my way to the subway station and it was crawling! For some reason completely beyond me, I seem to have a habit of getting on a bus driven by a driver who seems to be taking his sweet time getting to our destination. Mind you, this is not merely safe driving. I know how to drive and there is a difference between driving safely and driving reaallly slow... Each time I found myself on that bus, I felt like smacking myself in the head while thinking, "shit, not again!!" but alas, c'est la vie... sit and enjoy the ride (even if enjoying the ride is a challenge..)

The computer chair I'm sitting on right now is soooo comfortable! what can i say? simply wow... JR had bought the chair with his money. I couldn't believe the price of this thing when he told me how much he paid for it. But now I see it was worth it. I feel like I could sit on this chair for hours. If only I had a chair like this at work...

A day at Wonderland

I still feel a bit tired from the weekend. Jerry and I had gone to Wonderland on Saturday with Stephanie, Rachel, Tyler, Alex, Antoine, Gabriel and his nine-year old cousin Pierre and another guy whose name I can’t quite recall probably because he was so quiet the entire time and we hardly exchanged words. He was nice though and was most probably just shy. I’ve met Stephanie, Rachel and Gabriel before because they work with Jerry but the others I only met on Saturday. They’re friends of Stephanie and Rachel. I thought it would be a bit awkward for me since all of them speak French (including Pierre!) but they were nice enough to speak English for my benefit.

It was a sweltering 36 degrees that day and I was already dying of the heat the moment we got there. Mind you it was only 10 am when we got to Wonderland but to me it already felt like noon. Jerry could already sense that something was amiss since I was uncharacteristically quiet. I told him I was fine and not to worry. They decided we should go on Top Gun first (it’s the name of one of the roller coasters) so off we went only to find the line was about a mile long, curving in all directions. I was so ready to go on a different ride and just come back for it later on but then I thought to myself the line might get even longer later on during the day so we might as well go on it now. So we stayed and waited in line for about 40mins. By this time I was starting to feel really bad. Jerry kept watching me, making sure I was fine. Tyler, to my surprise, offered me sunscreen. Here’s a guy who I don’t know and who I just met about 20 mins earlier and he’s sweet to offer sunscreen. I put some on and I drink water every now and then. I stand underneath a tree while they remain in line. We eventually make it and go on the ride. The Top Gun roller coaster is one where your feet dangle in mid-air. It’s very high, it’s fast, it plunges, makes a lot of loops and turns to the side and it’s just one scary ride. I like it but I feel a bit woozy afterwards. Everybody’s excited and they all decide to go on a ride that looks like a sledgehammer. I’ve ridden that one before when we went to the Expo and I knew it would be a bad idea for me to get on it. Thankfully Rachel didn’t want go either so the two of us decided to go on the carousel while waiting for the others. We meet up afterwards and since water’s running low, we decided to buy some more. We couldn’t believe it… a bottle of Dasani is $3.25… what a ripoff!! Konti nalang and I can pay the bus fare to go home!! No choice, we needed to drink so ayun.

We go on some more rides, most of them roller coasters, and by noon I was really close to fainting. I was extremely hot, nauseous, and weak. We decided to eat lunch and although it helped a bit, I still felt pretty bad. Stephanie (bless her!) had Advil so I gladly took one. We didn’t want to go on another roller coaster right after eating so we decided to go on this ride (I forgot what it’s called) and it’s basically a big salbabida that could fit 6 people and it would float through rapids. Since there were ten of us, we split in half, five people on each. Jerry, Tyler, Alex, Antoine and I were on one and the others went on the salbabida before ours. We loved it! We thought it would be a pretty mild ride but everytime it hit the rapids we’d get splashed with water! They also had water that burst out of these tiny holes at the side of the river and it would go straight up and then land back on us. We were yelling and laughing and teasing each other about who was getting soaked the most. I was so proud I was barely wet until we got to waterfalls!! Our salbabida suddenly made a sharp turn and headed straight for it! We were panicking at this point but there was no way of controlling where we were going. We brace ourselves for the worst and wham!! Our salbabida went right under the waterfall. Guess who’s sitting underneath?! ME!! I don’t understand how, out of 6 people, I’m the one who gets soaked from head to toe. I did try to move away but sadly to no avail. Now, we were really cracking up especially the guys. Buti nalang I wasn’t wearing white! I started feeling a lot better when I got soaked. I was feeling bad the entire morning due to the heat and the water helped a lot. The next ride we went on was similar to Jungle Log Jam in Enchanted Kingdom. We all got soaked from head to toe and it made me feel better knowing I’m not the only one completely soaked. We didn’t bring extra clothes with us so we walk along dripping and laughing and chatting excitedly. We didn’t feel self conscious about being wet because Wonderland is both an amusement park and a water park.

We went on different rides throughout the day and stayed there until a little after 10 pm. We were exhausted by that time and were just dying to go home and crawl into bed. Alex was kind enough to drop Jerry and I home. I could barely keep my eyes open and i was extremely glad Jerry came with me. I was so sad to see the others go. I had so much fun and I was sure to miss them. Eventhough they all spoke French, they were all so talkative, warm, friendly and sweet. They were very easy to get along with and it made wanna hang out with them all the time.

I woke up early Sunday morning and spent almost the entire in bed resting. It was so much fun and I had a great time but I can’t believe I feel exhausted still.

Another Day, Another Dollar

Thursday. It seems the days are going by slowly. I had a hard time getting up again this morning…I would have loved to sleep some more. I don’t know why but my bed seems softer in the morning just when I’m struggling to get out of bed. It’s as if to tease me. No matter how hard I wish that I don’t have to go to work or that time would freeze, it’s all to no avail. If I decide to lay still and do nothing, I would end up being late for work. So naturally, I had to get up, turn off my nightlight, turn on my bedroom lights, get my clothes from my closet, turn off my cellphone and ipod chargers, and go to the bathroom to take a bath. All these with my eyes half closed. As I enter the bathroom, I take a glance at myself in the mirror hoping I don’t look as dishiveled as I feel. Thank God, everything looks fine. I then proceed to take a shower… it wakes me up.

I think about the things I need to do for the day as I bathe. Sometimes I’ll get caught daydreaming while bathing and end up taking longer. My mom would knock at the bathroom door every morning to tell me she’s leaving for work. If it’s going to rain later that day, she’ll remind me to bring an umbrella. She’s the sweetest mom in the world and I love her so much. We celebrated her birthday last night at the Mandarin downtown. Jerry came and celebrated with my family. It was really good and I had a great time.

I have a morning ritual I follow every morning. If I miss one thing, that’s how I know how tired or sleepy I really am. While drying my hair this morning, I am reminded that a trip to the salon is becoming all the more necessary. I brought some hair clips and elastics with me just in case it becomes unbearable during the day. Sometimes, I end up leaving the house late simply because I had a hard time deciding what to wear. Thankfully, I didn’t dilly dally this morning so I made it to the bus stop on time.

I grabbed a copy of 24 while waiting for the bus and proceeded to read it on the way to the subway station. I was able to get a good seat on the train and I slept all the way. I couldn’t help it, I was sleepy and the ride was boring. I usually have my ipod on so I have some music and partly to suss out annoying passengers who seem to think the entire train needs to hear their conversation. Having my ipod on also sends the message, “I’m not in the mood to talk and would really rather be left alone… let me enjoy the ride in peace”. I’m friendly but I feel very uncomfortable talking to strangers.

I finally get to work, drop my things off at my desk, and turn on my pc while saying hi to Steve and a few people around me. I talk to them for a few minutes while checking my e-mail and hoping nothing urgent or disastrous has come up. Afterwards, I walk to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I then return to my desk and begin another work day.

i'm missing my friends again

I was reading Pao’s blog yesterday and I couldn’t help but laugh. I must say he’s so good at writing. He’s words on paper seem to capture his personality so well. I miss him so much.

I’ve always loved my friends’ personalities. Each one is different and yet we all, surprisingly, mesh well together. Of course we also have our similarities amongst our differences but it is our differences that make our friendship all the more interesting. I think if we were all the same, it would be pretty boring and very predictable. I would never want my friends to be exactly like me. We all compliment each other the way we are.

I miss my friends…I wish I could see them even for a short while.

mini break

Mid-day break from work… I’ve just finished eating lunch and am fighting the urge to shut my eyes and sleep. Steve made grilled chicken and salad and ordered potato wedges. It was heavenly. I feel a bit anxious and a bit weak at the same time and my hands are shaking. It’s either I’ve had too much caffeine or too much sugar. I hate this feeling. I’ve decided to keep the bag of gummy candy away from me and chew mint gum instead. Hopefully this will help. I suddenly have the urge to run around the block…this is bad.

Since I’ve been working my ass off all morning, I’ve decided to give myself a mini break. I’m allowed to anyways. Nakakainis lang kasi ambagal ng internet. Someone or something’s screwing up the network again. Stop watching streaming videos on your laptops kasi noh! Sinabi na it’s jamming our networks eh…ang kulit naman kasi. Come to think of it, ang pathetic naman ng network namin, easily jams up. Ayun, the internet died all together. While they’re fixing it, let me continue with my post. –grin-

I had to force myself out of bed again this morning. The long weekend just passed and I’m still in vacation mode (kahit di naman talaga vacation yun… holiday lang nung Monday so we didn’t have work). I saw superman returns and I now have a crush on Brandon Routh… minor crush lang naman…ops walang kokontra... the role fit him really well. I liked it eventhough there’s been so many superman movies. It’s funny that no matter how many superman movies they come out with, people still watch them. I think the same goes for all other super hero movies. We all know the story from both the comic books and the television series and yet, we still feel the need to watch the movie. I guess it’s either out of curiousity or we’re hoping for a different twist. I know I watch it because I never really read the comics and I never really followed the television series and I’m just curious. I also want to find out how it would fare against the cartoon version or in the case of superman, batman or x-men, I just wanted to find out how it would fare compared to all other previous movies they came out with in the past. Nothing much changes though…but it’s still interesting to watch. After all I am a movie buff.

Fred the Cat

I’ve been trying to coax Fred to come to my desk (he’s our office cat). He’s so big now and he’s gotten so heavy. I didn’t wanna pick him up because I don’t want cat hair all over me. He’s been quiet since he got sick. A few months back he was jumping on desks and stepping on our keyboards. There was a time when leaving your cup on your desk was a bad idea. Not only was there a risk of him tipping it over but there was higher probability of him sipping from your cup without you realizing it. Eew. He’s such an adorable cat though and I must admit there are times when I think he can read minds. He’s got to be the smartest cat I know. I’m not particularly fond of cats. I prefer dogs (even tho they scare the hell out of me). Dogs are playful, lovable and sociable. They’re proactive. Cats, I think, are lazy, picky, require high maintenance (although I’ve been told this is untrue), and they shed too much. I think that Fred has grown on me.

random things

Ow my back hurts. I think it’s because of the way I’m sitting. A back massage would be so nice. I think I should go to a spa and spend an entire day there. I’ve never been to one except for the nail spa. I’m surprised at how expensive it is to get your nails done. But then again, getting a hair cut here in Canada also costs a fortune. I actually have to save money to get a hair cut and some highlights. Being a girl is fun but at the same time it takes a lot of work and it costs money.

I just looked at the stack of client folders I have on my desk and thank God they’re depleting. I’ve finished working with almost all of them but I like to keep some on my desk so that I can remember to do follow ups.

So I’ve resumed going through the next release version of our software and for the life of me there is an area where I can’t figure out how to make it work. The programmers seem to have changed a very small but integral portion of the interface and now I’m stuck trying to figure how it works. It’s frustrating.

I received a message from Carl and it’s such a relief to hear from him. He’ll be in Iraq for a few months and until he’s safely back home, he’ll always be a point of concern for most of us. It sounds like he’s doing ok and I sure hope so. I hope we get to go home to the phils at the same time.

Jen went online this morning and I was able to chat with her for a few minutes. It’s good to hear she’s doing great but we’ve both been so busy these past few months and haven’t hung out for awhile. I miss her a lot.

Leslie turned 22 last week and JR turned 21 the following day. I heard Les had a family get-together over the weekend and i wanted to come but they’re in the states and I’m in Canada. I haven’t seen some of my cousins for over 10 years! Ate Kit recently joined Friendster and since she’s joined, we’ve been sending each other messages back and forth. I like that we’re so much closer to each other now. I don’t remember talking to her so much when we were growing up since they moved to the states when I was still very young and we have such a huge age gap. I’m surprised she still speaks Tagalog so fluently and that she writes to me in Filipino still. She’s pretty funny and I love writing to her. I think all my cousins have a good sense of humour or maybe I’m just extremely fond of them that I think they’re funny all the time. Haha! But one thing’s for sure, whenever we get together we end up laughing like crazy expecially when Kuya Danny’s around. He just says the funniest things. Les would agree with me.

Books

I went to Eaton Centre yesterday after work in the hopes of buying this cute top I saw over the weekend. I already bought a brown one but I wanted a white one too. Unfortunately, they only had 3 pieces left and none of them was my size. I walked around the mall, window-shopping and trying out some stuff but I didn’t find anything I liked. Jerry was working till 7pm so he couldn’t come with me but he called to ask me to wait for him so he could see me even for a bit. Since I was getting tired and I dind’t have anything else to do, I decided to wait for him at Indigo (it’s like Powerbooks). I grabbed a magazine and a book to read while waiting. I love going to Indigo because they let you read anything (even magazines). They even have comfy chairs where you can sit and read and they have benches near the windows overlooking the mall. It’s like a library except you can’t take out books unless you’re buying them. They also have computers all over the place where you can search for a book. It tells you how many are in stock at that store and where else can you find the book and how many they have in each store. If they’ve ran out of the book you’re looking for, you can have them call another branch and reserve one for you or you can order, or you can have it mailed to you at home. Pretty convenient noh? I actually have a memebership card there which entitles me to discounts. Jerry and I love to read so we buy books occasionally. Hey babe you gotta admit it was me who got you addicted to reading!!

I was thinking of buying The Time Traveller’s Wife next. Steve told me it’s a really good book and Suzy’s reading it.

I’ve always loved reading. My dad used to buy me Hans Anderson’s Fairtytales when I was young. I remember my grandma giving me lots of children’s books to read and I would spend hours sitting on my bed reading. She gave me and my brother so many books that we had to be careful when opening our top closet and our head boards or else we’d have books falling on us (and no, I’m not exagerrating). JR and I would also browse through Reader’s Digest and National Geographic and I remember having some difficulty understanding some of the big words. My parents would tell me what some of the words meant and they would teach me how to learn new words using context clues. Now I can go through an entire book in a few hours.

Reading books help me relax. They transport me to different places and times and they allow me to be a part of someone else’s life (whether it’s real or fictional). Once I start reading a book I like, that’s it I’m hooked. I love reading books by Nicholas Sparks, Dan Brown, Steve Berry and James Patterson. I also love books written by Sophie Kinsella, Stephenie Meyer, and Cecila Ahern.

Here are just some of my faves:

Twilight
Can You Keep a Secret?
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
The Notebook
A Walk to Remember
PS I Love You
Where Rainbows End
The Da Vinci Code
Angels and Demons
Digital Fortress
Deception Point
Sam’s Letters to Jennifer
The Wedding
Tuesdays with Morrie
The Five People You Meet In Heaven

I can read the aforementioned books over and over again. Sometimes I can’t help but think of how talented these authors are to be able to write something so good. I don’t know if I’ll be able to write something just as good… probably not… but in any case, I stil love reading.

slow point

I’m extremely bored. I’ve been swamped all month with so much work and I’m so glad I’ve had some breathing space these past few days. My pc at work unfortunately faces the hallway and i have to constantly watch my back when I’m surfing. Not that it’s forbidden, we are free to surf when we have free time. But just the same, I don’t want them thinking that I’m slacking off or being negligent of my responsibilities at work. I find that once in awhile, i have some free time especially when I’ve done all my work and I’m ahead of schedule. I think that, if not all, most jobs have that period when you’re so swamped you can barely breath and then follows a slow point when you find yourself staring at your monitor wondering what you’re going to do for the next few hours til 5pm. This is this month’s slow point for me. I’m not complaining…i’ve been busting my ass off this month. I was actually scheduled to fly to the US to train a client and thankfully, it didn’t go through. I’d be horrified travelling all by myself for the first time.

I’ve got an hour and 10mins till 5pm. I can’t wait till I’m outta here.

Talking to pao and shey

I was talking to pao and shey this morning on MSN. I miss them so much and I can’t help but be happy whenever I see them online. Shey’s currently based somewhere in Europe and she’ll be there for a few months and then she’ll be returning to the Phils. I know it must be hard for her to be so far from the people she loves but she’s also priveleged to be able to do something she likes and get to travel at the same time. I have to admit that I am partly grateful for the fact that she is only about 5 or 6 hours ahead of me which makes it easier for us to catch each other online. It’s harder for us to talk when she’s in the Phils because of the 12-hour time difference. When I’m up, she’s sleeping and when she’s up, I’m sleeping.

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen them for 2 years now. A lot has changed in those 2 years I’m sure. Although we keep in touch and we update each other on the on-goings of our everyday life, it’s still different being so far away. I’m missing out on those lunch get-togethers they have once in awhile or the jokes they share or the minute details of what’s going on everyday. It’s a challenge for me to write e-mails often since I tend to get caught up in whatever it is I’m doing whether it’s work or something else. Buti nalang my friends and I have no problems picking up right where we left off. I’m really happy na kahit paano I’m still involved in their lives and that my friends still open up to me whenever we get a chance to talk. We may not be able to talk or chat for hours like we used to but atleast I’m still able to lend an ear or offer an advice when needed. The one thing that I wish I could do but am unable to is to give them a hug or be physically there for them.

I sure hope that we’ll continue to be close throught the years and hopefully I’ll get to see them soon.

a really great weekend

Jerry and I celebrated his birthday a week ago and I decided I’d put it in here. =)

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!! I never get tired of greeting you.

The plan was to surprise him at work by having a cake, flowers and balloons delivered. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out as planned so I had to improvise. I wasn’t able to find a place that would do deliveries so I had to give it to him myself. Luckily I got off work earlier than him so I was able get the stuff I needed and pass by his workplace. He said he loved the flowers and told me he bought a vase so that he could put it at his desk. Awww…

We were thinking of going to the beach where we had our first date but it was a bit chilly that day and so we decided to just stay home and spend time together. We had dinner delivered and we spent the rest of the evening just cuddling and talking. We even played Mortal Combat on his play station while waiting for the food. Jerry was telling me that most people would find the stuff we do pretty boring but we love spending time together and enjoying simple things. Of course once in awhile we’d go to a fancy restaurant or do something else.

The following day we went to his uncle’s house and we spent time with his relatives. Later we went downtown to see the Lake House. Really good movie! After the movie, we decided to take a walk downtown and we stopped by POD (Jerry and I invented this acronym for our special spot at Nathan Phillips Square). He brought me home afterwards.

Sunday we went to the MMVA (Much Music Video Awards)! It started at 9pm but we were there an hour early since I wanted to have a bite first. We ate at the Crepe place along Queen Street West. It was already pretty crowded since the celebs were arriving and people were screaming, taking pictures and asking for autographs.

Jerry and I were lucky to have found a good spot. I had to stand on a ledge to get a good view while Jerry supported me. He kept teasing me by pretending he’d let me fall. We were able to see Simple Plan, Nelly Furtado, Timberland, Tori Spelling, Nick Lachey, Massari, Rihanna, and some other celebs that I can’t recall. We didn’t finish the entire thing though because it was getting late and we both had to go to work the following morning. I was able to take some pictures and I was able to record a video of Nelly Furtado and Timberland performing. Unfortunately the recording I did didn’t have sounds. Kainis!!

It was a great weekend… =)

a trip to the Philippine Consulate

Friday at last! Yey! Couldn’t be more grateful for the weekend.

I had to take the morning off today so that I could go to the Philippines Consulate and get my passport renewed. JR and Miguel came with me and I practically had to drag them out of bed just so we could leave the house early. I’m just as guilty… I had to force myself up this morning at 7:15 am (yes, I set my alarm to ring at 7 am but I snoozed it…LOL) I slept late last night since I went out with jerry yesterday and we ended up talking till late at Pickle Barrel. We completely lost track of time and couldn’t believe it when we looked at our watches and it was already 10:30 pm! After dinner, we made our way to the subway opting to take a walk along Yonge Street (since it was so nice outside) instead of passing through Eaton Centre. I was exhausted when I got home but I didn’t sleep until around 1 am. Jerry went straight to bed when he got home but called to say goodnight first. I love spending time with him.

I forgot to mention we had been walking around earlier and I happened to be wearing heels. My feet started to hurt really bad and I was forced to buy a pair of low sandals to replace them. I thought I’d sneak it in here. LOL

It was so warm today that I decided to wear capris to work. One thing that I do love about work is that we get to wear whatever we want. We only dress up when we have clients coming over but most of the time we dress casually. JR, Miguel and I got lost trying to find the Philippine Consulate. We had the address but the way the buildings were numbered just did not make sense. It wasn’t very intuitive. We saw building number 160 and right beside it building number 164. On the opposite side of the road was building number 117 (or something like it). Well, where the hell is 161? I had to call their office to find out and it turns out you had to walk further East until you get to the intersection. Yup, makes perfect sense…right!!

We got three application forms (one for each of us – which I ended filling up for all three of us since we kept messing it up and asking for new ones. In the end, we had a total of 5 forms, 2 of which we had to throw out). Then we find out we couldn’t use our debit cards because they only accept cash, money order or cheques! Yup, very useful information… might have been helpful if mentioned right from the beginning! JR and I ended up looking for an ATM machine to get cash while Miguel waited. Thankfully there was a convenience store close by that had an ATM machine so we didn’t have to go very far. We paid and were told we had to come back to claim it. Very typical. Nakakainis pa naman yung girl sa counter… hello?! Customer service! Ring a bell?? I found it funny when I overheard a few people in line before me saying, “Ano ba naman yan, pilipinas na pilipinas talaga… pati ba naman dito?!” I couldn’t help but laugh… I couldn’t blame them, I mean everywhere you go here, it is pretty organized and convenient to do things and get everything done quickly. It guess it is expected somehow the Philippine Consulate would adopt the same methodology. I guess not then.

It was a relief though to be there and be around Filipinos and everyone’s speaking Tagalog. It gives you that same familiar feeling and you can pretend you’re in the Philippines. I know, I keep repeating sentiments about the Philippines and just everything about home. Proves how much I miss it.

miss..miss..missing

Jerry called to tell me (rather, yell) that Togo just scored a goal against Korea. He’s so cute! He is the biggest soccer fan that I know. He has the complete schedule and knows the different players and who’s good and who’s blah… He even rearranged his work schedule to accommodate it! So adorable! I don’t even have a sport that I regularly watch.

I wasn’t feeling too well the other day and I sent Juhl a text message complaining at how upset I am with some stuff at work. He sent me a message saying I should just come back home since I’m always happy when I’m there. I wish it were as easy as a snap of a finger and I’m there. I miss all of my relatives and my friends and I miss going to places and eating at restaurants…I miss being able to wake up in our house in Las Piñas and the smell of morning…God, I miss everything and everyone…

I miss the little things most of all… minute details that you normally wouldn’t think of or even notice. I miss the sound of a friend’s laughter, the smells and sounds I hear every morning as I commute to shool, the sound of each door in our house in Las Piñas…I miss being able to see my relatives during birthdays or holidays… I miss our mango tree… I miss being able to watch my fave TV shows… I miss my old bed… being able to eat halo-halo, squid balls, tokyo-tokyo, really good chinese food…I miss so many things… most especially my close friends. I miss having long conversations over the phone, complaining about school work, making jokes, laughing together, hanging out together… it’s different.

I cried a lot the first few weeks I came here. After awhile, I guess I got used to it…being here I mean. I still miss everything and everyone and I still think about them everyday but it’s not as bad as I originally thought it was or would be. I strongly believe there is a reason for everything. Yes, life can spin out of control and throw you places you never thought you’d be at or situations you’d never thought you’d be in but there is a God and God is good. I trust in Him and I know He has His own reasons and I know He knows what’s best for me. Don’t get me wrong, yes I do have those moments where in I think life is pretty shitty but that’s only when I’m really upset and really down…but I learn to get over it and accept it for what it is and hope for the best. What else can I do, right? Life is life…that’s all I can say.

so sleepy

TGIF. I’m so tired and I really need to catch up on my sleep. I’ve been so busy since last week and it looks like I’m going to be swamped until I get the clients going. I love being busy but not all the time! My eyes were so tired and desperately needed some more snooze time this morning that I had to force them open while I was getting ready for work. It hurt so much and my eyes were so watery.

Steve made the infamous ribs again!! This just made my day… I love those ribs. Too bad I can eat about only 2 of them. I’d eat more if I could but I’m already too full after just 2 that I can’t have anymore. We had a late lunch today too because we were waiting for the UK distributors to get here. They took forever and by the time they got here, everyone’s already starved and I was beginning to get a headache due to hunger. The UK distributors finally arrived and I’ve been talking to Daniel about how nice his phone is. Too bad they only have it in the UK. They’ve got such cute accents. I think I can listen to them talk all they and never get tired of it. It reminds me of Hugh Grant in Notting Hill. I’d love to go to London someday (minus the bombings of course).

I want to go home already. Really.

i miss my friends

i miss my friends from back home. I was going through my friend list and I suddenly realized how much i miss them...bummer

AD: Divorce $300

I hate this ad. I see it on bus stops, posts, walls… I see it and I think to myself, “whatever happened to the sanctity of marriage?” Is it really as simple as having $300 and that’s that? Call me old fashioned and yes maybe I just don’t know what it is like to be in a marriage that doesn’t work but entering a marriage with the thought that you can always get out of it isn’t such a good thing either. You tend to take marriage lightly. What happened to the vows you took? With divorce present, what makes marriage different from dating? Marriage is supposed to be a life long commitment. You don’t get married just because you feel like it or just because everyody else is doing it. You get married because you and your partner want to build a family, grow old together, to be present in each other’s lives and to be there through good and bad. Yes, marriage isn’t perfect and yes, there are times when you feel like you just want to hurdle a pot towards your husband/wife but you have to work together to overcome that challenges that you come across. People change, yes that’s true but if you truly loved someone, you accept them for who they are. As husband and wife, you do your best to understand each other, to embrace each other’s imperfections and to learn from each other. It is absolutely normal to have differences because even though you are husband and wife, you are still two completely different people who grew up with different families and different life experiences. It is by being together that you fulfill each other.

You don’t stop making mistakes just because you got married. You and your husband/wife will make mistakes, you will probably hurt each other by words or actions (not physically of course – that would be abuse) because you’re human and you’re not perfect. To forgive is extremely difficult especially where immense pain is present. But give it your best shot. Learn to appreciate each other. I think it also important to do your part. You can’t expect your partner to do everything for you. You get what you give. If you want your partner to be responsible then become reponsible too. I am not saying you should change the other person. I think most people make the mistake of getting married thinking that they can change their partner. You don’t force your partner to do something you want. All I’m saying is that you do your share. Learn to know when you should compromise and when you should be firm.

I think couples should pratice good communication. Marriage, like most things in life, is a big risk and will always be a big risk. There are no guarantees in life. But your attitude makes a lot of difference. Knowing that marriage is a life long commitment and learning how to value the sanctity of marriage makes you want to make it work. I think divorce is a petty excuse for being lazy…giving up and not giving it your best shot.

Meteor Garden

The plasma TV came yesterday. Daddy and JR were so excited they had it set up right away in the living room. They moved the old one to my room so I now have my own TV but I don’t have anything to hold it yet so it’s just on my floor. I don’t really watch a lot of TV… I love movies though. While dad and JR were in the living room moving stuff around and setting the cables up, I decided to look for my VCD collection which I had brought from the Philippines. I was in the mood to watch a movie. I was actually able to find my F4 vcds!! I was so happy! I’d totally forgotten about them. I have the biggest crush on Jerry Yan from watching Meteor Garden years ago. I loved that show. I actually find it silly that I got caught up in it when it wasn’t really the type of show I would normally watch.

It was such a hit mostly to female fans. I loved it because it was different from all other programs on TV. During that time, TV shows were mostly either soap operas or talk shows. Meteor Graden was in some sense a soap opera but without the heavy drama. I liked it because it was funny (in some ways silly but cute) and at the same time it was a love story between a rich guy and a poor girl. It begins with Shan Cai enrolling in a prestigous high school and she ends up getting into an argument with Dao Ming Si who is the leader of a group called F4. F4 is comprised of 4 guys who are the sons of the 4 richest and most powerful families in Taiwan. Everyone but Shan Cai is afraid of Dao Ming Si and Dao Ming Si does his best to bring her down (she gets teased, bullied and she looses her scooter too. While she was being bullied, Hua Ze Lei – another F4 member – comes to her rescue and she falls for him.) Instead of relenting, Shan Cai gets back at Dao Ming Si by challenging him to do his worst. This ticks him off but at the same time it surprises him since no one has ever dared to stand up to him. He ends up falling in love with her and tries to win her over. I love the show because he tries so hard to win her heart and at the same time copes with the fact that she’s fallen for his best friend Hua Ze Lei. Just the entire thing touches your heart but at the same time makes you laugh. Here are some of his attempts to win her over:

Attempt #1: Dao Ming Si has Shan Cai kidnapped and brought to his home. She is frightened and confused because she doesn’t know where she is, she gets a makeover and she gets all dressed up then left in a big room by herself. Enter Dao Ming Si (Shan Cai gets even more confused as to what the hell he’s doing there) and he then tells her that she’s in his house (this, by the way starts to piss her off) and he tells her he’s fallen for her. Shan Cai goes nuts and starts yelling at him and he yells back at her telling her if she agrees to be his girlfriend she has access to the spa as much as she wants and he will give her a credit card that she can use for shopping. He also offers her a car complete with a chauffer so she can go around in comfort. Instead of being impressed, Shan Cai gets insulted because she feels that Dao Ming Si thinks she can be bought. Dao Ming Si in turn gets upset because he’s never been turned down before and thinks she’s being ungrateful (this is pretty funny especially when you see the look on Dao Ming Si’s face… he obviously has no idea what he’s doing).

Attempt #2: Shan Cai calls Dao Ming Si insensitive so he buys all these personality help books and gets his butler to do a personality test on him (his answers are funny and self-centered) and of course he fails the test and finds out he in facts falls under the category “insensitive”) The book provides several tips on how to improve himself with one ecouraging him to try to be cute and sweet. So he comes to school the following day wearing a tight yellow shirt with a picture of Astroboy in front (LOL). The rest of F4 laughs at him and even Shan Cai wonders why he is wearing it.

Attempt #3: Shan Cai gets bullied in a baseball field and Dao Ming Si comes to her rescue. He gets hurt in the process and she escorts him back to his house and helps him treat his wounds (this was pretty sweet by the way).

The story basically follows how they work out their differences and you can see Dao Ming Si’s personality gradually improving and how Shan Cai slowly gets to know his good side. Of course they come across problems caused by their differences in social status such as Dao Ming Si’s mom trying to wed him to a rich girl and disapproving of his relationship with Shan Cai.

I think girls, like me, loved the show not only because each member of the F4 was georgeous but because we loved the idea that there is a guy out there like Dao Ming Si who is romantic, who will love us and be there to catch us everytime we fall. What I loved most about Dao Ming Si’s character was the fact that he was willing to do his best for her, he’s status and reputation only came second, and he knew what he wanted and did whatever he could to show her how much he loved her. I loved seeing Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai’s character grow together.

It’s been years since I watched it. Meteor Garden 2 came out a few months after Meteor Garden 1 ended and like the first, I watched all its episodes. I own the entire series and I even own the soundtrack. Even though it’s been awhile since I saw it, I will always love that show.

passing time... =)

After several days of rain we finally had the chance to see a bit of sun today. The forecast said we can still expect some rainfall in the course of the week but right now I’m just enjoying it. Back in the Philippines I took for granted the fact that we lived in a tropical country where the sun was out all through out the year except for those rainy days. When I moved to Canada, I suddenly missed the climate back home. How I sometimes wish Canada was a tropical country. Whenever the sun is out, everybody just seems to bask in it. I, for one, love the feel of warmth on my skin.

I heard the managers will be taking a vacation soon…one after the other. I’m suddenly thinking of going on a vacation too. I don’t plan to go anywhere this year but it would certainly be nice to get some time off work. I’m just having second thoughts since I haven’t been with the company for a year and I don’t know if I’ll qualify for one yet. Atleast a week off work would be nice.

Oh no, I’m beginning to feel sleepy… the effects of the coffee I took this morning are starting to wear out. Surprisingly I wasn’t sleepy at all this morning. I was actually trying to take a nap on the train to work but to no avail. I took longer than needed this morning getting ready for work because I couldn’t decide what to wear. I hate it when that happens but it happens to me all the time. Typical girl eh? lolz…

I paid all my bills y’day which always leaves me feeling like I don’t have any money left although I think I have enough until the next pay check. Atleast I know I have a savings account (thanks to jerry who encouraged me to have one set up – he knows my inability to stop shopping). I’m a bit bummed out since I know I can’t really afford to shop so much in the next few weeks but I’m good. I already have enough. I just have to avoid going to the malls so much.

I have been trying to encourage JR and Miguel to go to the gym to work out. I think it would be good for them. I was thinking of going myself. I would prefer swimming though. Unfortunately we don’t have an indoor pool in the condo so we can’t really swim unless it’s summer. We only have an outdoor pool.

Ugh…3 more hours to go till 5 pm…eck!

The Da Vinci Code

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning and I’m sitting at my desk at work trying to find something to do. I have just been informed I can’t go into the database I was going to work on since it is currently causing network problems. That’s just great…that means I can’t do work and it’s not even 10am yet. Bummer…

I was hoping it wouldn’t rain today since it didn’t rain y’day eventhough the forecast said we were expecting some rain. I actually wore summer clothes today in the hopes maybe the rain would avoid us. So much for hoping…atleast it isn’t raining hard yet. I brought an umbrella with me anwyays. Oh I hope it doesn’t ruin the sandals I wore today. They’re my fave and I’d be bummed out if they got ruined. I had comforted myself in the though that if it did get ruined, I would just buy new ones.

Someone needs to vacuum here around the office. It’s kinda getting uncomfortable and Mark’s allergies aren’t getting any better. He started bringing a can of Lysol with him to work which I thought was kinda funny. The other day he was cleaning his desk like crazy and he even has a hand sanitizer. He likes to call me shorty…his way of teasing me since I’m vertically challenged although I would have preferred the term “petite”. Lolz! Jerry says I should take it as a compliment because shorty could also mean honey or baby… I don’t think that’s what Mark means but what the heck…

I was reading the Metro this morning on the way to work and there was one article about the Da Vinci Code. In the article it said the book was not one that could be classified as a good novel but surprisingly sold over 40 million copies. I, for one, am not familiar with the standards by which a book could be measured against in order for it to be called a work of art or a bad book. I thought the Da Vinci Code was a really good book and so did everyone I know who’s read it so far. It suddenly made me curious as to how authors or book critics decide whether a book was good or bad. I think I need some more research on that. The article said that one of the reasons why it sold was due to the fact that aside from entertaining audiences, it also offered lessons on art and a bit of history. I think that article meant that the book educated people to a certain degree and everyone knows the mind loves to absorb information. The article also said that it offered an alternate belief to Christianity and the church and that it offered a different scenario than the one the church paints. It depicted Jesus as a husband to Mary Magdalene and the possibility of having offsprings that live among us and the church as murderous. I don’t know about that. Although it is certainly an entertaining book, I still believe in the teachings of the church. I read in another article the other day about an interview with Ian Mckellen (I am not sure about the name…lolz) but he was asked what he thought made the book so interesting to people and he said that Dan Brown wrote about something that has long been a question to us…”What is the Holy Grail?”. He mentioned how people would sit through an hour and half long program on Discovery Channel about the Holy Grail eventhough they know they wouldn’t get an answer at the end of the show (I had to laugh at this when I read it because I am one of those people… I even sat through one of the programs in Discovery Channel about UFOs). He said one of the reasons people love the book was because he took you through art and history and made you believe in a story that gave you an explanation about what the Holy Grail is and he made it so believable that if he had said it outright from the beginning, you would have said it was “rubbish”. I agree.

I think just because you read something doesn’t mean you necessarily believe in it.

on the subject of cooking...

Friday (finally!) and I’m off to the watch MI 3 tonight with Jerry =)

It’s almost noon and I’m on a 45 minute break from a training session. My boss had decided that I should probably handle all training for this company so I am learning the other system from the tech manager. I kind of like this other system better than the one I am currently assigned to because I think it is more intuitive, easier to use and in a sense built to be more logical. In any case, it is still training and being a trainer can be draining and occasionally sucks. I wasn’t even hired to be a trainer but it is somethig that was designated to me as part of my job (-sigh-) since one trainer quit 2 weeks after I started and another was let go.

Moving on, the birthday dinner we had last night for lola was good. She prepared so much food and being the excellent cook that she is, you can’t help but eat a portion of everything. Tito had bought a birthday cake for her as well from a Filipino bakery and it was good too. Unfortunately we didn’t have any birthday candles but we still sang happy birthday for her and she pretended to blow out candles afterwards. I remember when we were still young and back when we all lived in the Philippines, she would bake a cake for every birthday celebrant. My family lived in a different city and we lived about an hour away but she would bake a cake and have the maid deliver it to us. I remember she would call my mom a few days before and ask me what cake I preferred. I loved it when she made sansrival. It’s the best! (-sigh-)

Here is a brief list of the food that she makes that I like:

· Cakes
· Embutido
· Fruit salad
· Garden salad
· Turbo-broiled chicken
· Soups
· Arozcaldo
· Pansit
· Kare-kare

And a whole lot more! Too bad I didn’t inherit her love of cooking. Sadly, I have always been afraid of getting burned while cooking. I don’t like it when hot oil starts flying everywhere. I do cook but very seldom and I can’t really say how well I cook. I do help out once in awhile when I’m home though. Growing up, I’ve never really had the need to cook since we had a maid when we were still living in the Philippines and when we moved here to Canada, we stayed with lola and tito for over a year so lola did all the cooking. Since we no longer live with lola and tito, mama does the cooking since she’s home well before me. I know I should really get into it. I think I need to be exposed more into the world of cooking. Jerry cooks better than I do! He cooks all the time and he actually experiments and his food is amazing! It’s embarassing enough that my mom asked him to teach me some of his cooking skills. Lolz!

I miss restaurants and fast food places in the Philippines…going to these places will definitely be on my agenda when I do get the chance to visit. =)