thirty....SIX!

I should have figured, with my amount of workload and with this annoying weather screwing my temperament, that I wouldn’t be able to make a blog post in time for my birthday. 

Yow, I’m officially on the other side (cannot get away with “early 30s” anymore). The current “36 years old” feeling is still strange, maybe because I can’t hold a proper celebration i.e. drinking for a couple of nights in succession. Also, with the amount of work that I have right now, I don’t even have time to dwell and maybe reflect(?) on the possible significance of being 36 especially during this time of corona.

Nonetheless, I’m blessed to receive so much love and well wishes sans the actual social interaction. Glad that my mom was able to finally fly in after being stranded for three months in the province and managed to make it just in time so I don’t have to celebrate alone.

I’m stumped as to what my birthday wish is/will be. I just remembered that during the virtual mass on my birthday, I wasn’t able to come up with a prayer intention (wonder why, haha). Maybe because there’s just a lot of things to deal with, not just on a personal level, that I’m forced to take stock of people’s circumstances aside from my own and made me view my life (and what I want to do with it) on a different lens.

That’s it. I posted a picture of one of the times that I went out of my house during the early days of enhanced community quarantine for posterity.

I’m thinking of making a separate post once my life has a semblance of (new) normalcy. That would mean being required to go to the office everyday (we’re on an alternative work schedule now), and wholly relying on public transportation. Until then, stay healthy!

35 -_O

Can't cull through my brain for words of wisdom for my 35th birthday. Going through the next few years with one eye wide open and one eye squinting LOL. I feel like 31-34 has been a warm-up to serious adulting session, but I honestly don't know if I'm already cut out for some serious adulting from now on hehe (but at least I've finished my travel bucket list!)

Still a lot of uncertainties in the coming months/years but if there's one difference from my limbo state 5...10 years ago, it's that I'm less scared now. Let's embrace the uncertainty, hedge our bets, and just be happy.

So thank you to everyone for helping me wade through the crazies and the snoozies. I'm currently holed up by myself outside the metro for some me-time and re-calibrate (as I oftentimes do). Resurfacing soon!

oh em gee 33

So I’m officially headed towards mid-30s territory lol. Good luck to me. The past year has been cray to say the least and here’s to hoping  that I’m prepared or at least able to adapt the amount of craziness that I’m expecting in the coming months. 

Thankful for my family and friends who made my birth-day/week/month extra special and for fueling me with the much-needed GV :D Aja!

why, hello

There were way too many crazy things that happened in the past few months. And I can’t elaborate here but I’m placing a cybermark in this blog so that n years from now and I feel like reminiscing, this will be THE post to trigger that lol.

As usual I have been remiss in updating this blog, even forgot to make a birthday post. Year 32 is shaping up to be eventful though. I officially resigned from my workplace of five years (longest evahhh, how did I manage to do that?) and I start my new job tomorrow. Nervous and excited at the same time since this post means a lot to me and I hope I can live up to their (and my own) expectations.

So yeah, I bungled up my farewell session to my friends of five years last Friday ‘cause I’ve been crying so much. I’ll miss not seeing these guys every day *sigh*

mabenta sa trenta!!!

the past year!

….and the age milestone is officially here! I’m excited and scared at the same time. Much as I want to say that age is just number, I have to admit that being 30 is a bit daunting. I don’t want to go on an existential rant (and I can just imagine my future 40 year old self cringing if I ever read this post again) so I just want to say that even though life may not have turned out the way I planned it, I just have to live it the happiest and most comfortable way I know how. The 30-year old self that I envisioned a decade ago I think is a far cry from who I am right now, but the recent years has made me face the reality that things do not always go my way and it’s just up to me to determine what is important and work (and pray) that I get to achieve them.

So now it’s the start of a new decade, and I hope that it will turn out to be the right amount of unexpected as I can handle, hahaha. I have finally moved to a place I can call my own, and the joys and pressures of solo living that come with it. With this new environment, I hope that my 30s will be even more exciting than my 20s.

So here’s to more adventures in the coming years! And thank you for being part of my adventure :) I cannot thank you enough ^^

(And yes, the blog title is the mantra for the year, as suggested by my best friend. I just hope I can live up to it *crosses fingers*)

my birthday card from officemates is so sehun-ified haha I love it!

How funny that the MID logo can also be read as 30? Harhar

twenty---shhhhh!!!

I'm looking at my previous birthday posts to get some inspiration for today's entry and my only takeaway was --- why didn't I blog last year? (okay, now that I'm typing this I just remembered I was out of town at that time *toink*)

So yeah happy birthday to me (and to all my birthday-mates especially Lee Min Ho and Jung Yong Hwa --- so happy that I got to see these two guys!) I was thinking that this is the last year of my twenties, then I realized that technically I will end my twenties phase later at 10:19pm (I was born at 10:20pm) and will officially start the thirties stage afterwards. Hahaha talk about milestone.

Anyway, just want to feature here my birthday goods from my officemates! Just imagine how my eyes bugged out when I opened my card! (And yes, that's a printout of Lee Seung Gi at the upper left corner) I have no skill in drawing at all so I really treasure all hand-drawn gifts! (Wow Kay, I was kidding about the chibi drawings but you actually did them! Wow!) I have three running themes in my card: more travels, more kpop/kdrama fangirling, and love life wishes. HAHAHAHA. The first two are taken care of, so let's all wish that the universe conspires and cooperates with the third one!

twenty-sevuuuhhhnnn!!!

So I'm 27 today (that's still mid-20's right?) and I'm closing the day thon-ing some videos and responding to greetings (thank you guys!)

Uploading 50 Cent's In Da Club just because this is IMO the birthday song of our generation (heehee), plus it's been a LONG time since my friends and I had a SERIOUS clubbing session, and because my officemate has been playing this song the whole morning.

Cheers!

twenty wha------

Instead of bemoaning that I'm already 26 (hence, closer and closer to the "late twenties" territory) or even becoming melancholic and have a how-life-has-passed-me-by post, I just decided to have a list random-but-sort-of-related-to-birthday stuff that I just want to post.


My fourth birthday (just shot it from my photo album, hence the blurriness). Initially picked a picture from my third birthday but my mom suddenly popped out of nowhere and told me to pick this one (stage mom much? it's only a blog).
BIRTHDAY RANDOM LIST:
1. My mom waded through the flood on the way to the hospital when I was about to come out. Good thing she didn't have me at that instant, I might get washed away and picked up by some random person (ala Moses sans the nice woven basket).

2. For the past 26 years, there were only two times that it didn't rain: on my 7th and 18th birthday --- those were the days when I prayed REALLY hard, didn't care about the rest of my birthdays.
3. A volcano erupted on one of my birthdays in high school. I tried to google to find out which one it was to no avail. All I remember is that it was (surprisingly) only cloudy that day and then in a split second it's like Armageddon. A lot of paper plates got lost that day.
4. I share the same birthday as Lee Min Ho and Jung Yong Hwa. Amazing timing, mom.
5. I almost got hit by a car on my 24th birthday. As in Edward-Cullen-close that I had to slap the idiot's car to stop it (as if I have the strength to REALLY stop one, good thing he heard my shout and my hand hitting his car).

6. The first time I watched While You Were Sleeping was on HBO on my birthday. Still remains to be one of my favorite movies.

7. If I was born on June 21 instead of June 22, all of us (older sister, me, and younger brother) would be exactly 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days apart from each other. Yes guys, I spoiled it by wanting to make a grander entrance.
8. One of my worst birthdays I think was in senior college where I had to write a lot of assignments and papers and only got to seriously finish at 10:30pm...an hour and a half left to "celebrate".
9. 90% of the time, my best friend forgets to greet me on my birthday. And 100% of those times, I don't even mind one bit. Weird. (That's how understanding I am of people taking up med)
10. One of my most memorable birthdays was in high school when my best friend organized a scavenger hunt (maybe that's why I don't mind the previous listed item) and I have to pick up random notes scattered in school. And I had to get all 16 (I think it was my 16th bday) notes before class starts. Talk about pressure.
11. According to bday legend, my dad got excited when he saw me at the nursery that he gave and signed my name, WITHOUT MY MOM'S KNOWLEDGE (she was sleeping at that time). If my mom had her way, I'll be Gladys Mae (since she's Fanny and my sister's Joy...kamusta naman).

I think that's it...I think I may be forgetting some stuff but oh well....and it's almost 10:30PM, which is the time I was born. Thank you to all the people who are always there for me, let's continue to live our life to the fullest!

EDIT: I don't know what's wrong with my timestamps (note to self: investigate!) but it's close to 10:30PM i swear.

quarter life

whoooo....im nearing quarter life na! just want to put this out coz i doubt that i'll get to blog on my birthday....geesh 25 years...*mulls*

Happy Birthday TCP!!!

Whoa it's TCP's 1st birthday! I'm happy that the site and the community is still up and running for about a year. To think that I really thought Daene was crazy about starting this in the first place (we really have no chance dude if it weren't for Minami and Meann). So here's a big thank you to all the people I've met and all the fun stuff that I've learned and enjoyed because of this whole experience.

1. First off, to Daene, Meann, and Minami: thanks for putting up with my craziness and accompanying me in the cyberworld while i work...i still remember our gchat sessions...especially the SHAVING part! hahahaha
2. To Echo, Rome, Gary, Paul, Tobbie, Caz, Paolo, and Ronald...thanks for the continued support and for lending your talents to TCP :D
3. To all the other TCP-ers you guys rock!

Here's to more Twilight years!

working class!??!

Haha, I'm back! So much has happened lately, and I'm too tired to always update my blog. But anyway, I just want to say that I already started my job as a Team Lead for Prople KPO, basically doing research for clients. Had I known about this opening earlier, I wouldn't slugged through like what...8 companies?!?! Nakakapagod din ang buong interview process ha, lalo na in the end when you find out that the terms are not in line to what you were expecting.

In fairness, I got four other job offers before deciding, lastly the fourth one (with APEC Business Advisory Council...taray!) came in too late...ahem...actually it came on my first day of work. Hence the whole first day was full of double guessing my decision. But I decided to stick with it and so far no regrets, hehehe. Learning a lot, DOING a lot!!! At least it keeps my brain working. Still debating where I want to direct my career...so far im still set on getting another Master's degree in the US in like...hmmm... 2 years.

So there, I'm officially in the working class and paying taxes. Hence, I am now affected whenever a government official has luxury cars when in fact the road im driving on sucks.

Also celebrated Daene's 22nd birthday last Saturday! Successful theme party, haha, to think that the idea was just conceptualized 3 weeks prior to it. Pictures at my multiply site.

But wait, there’s more!

As evidenced by the timing of this post, I’ve been pretty busy these days…”busy” not exclusive to academic work of course :D My fifth year, my last year in the University, with hopefully a master’s degree at the end, started just last week…

Non-University Life

Spent the last few weeks doing all my “entertainment” stuff before becoming swamped with all the homework…watched Goong again (really one of the best Korean series I’ve watched), Which Star Are You From? (this series is the cutest I’ve seen Kim Rae Won so far…highly recommended to Eds), Prison Break (the second half of the first season, ibang klase talaga! Love you Wenty!), and of course, watched Nonstop (my favorite Korean sitcom, if you’re watching Let’s Go in ABS, watch this instead) to pass the time. Already finished all the pocketbooks I’ve borrowed from Trisha, and now trying to start reading the books Miyay lent me.

Speaking of books, Aldous is sooooo falling in love with Pride and Prejudice! Welcome to the club! Also got in touch with one of my book club buddies, Aei (as one can see in my tagboard), got to read her fics at last (the last one was five years ago)

I’m going to abandon my intention to write a post-birthday entry since it’s almost a month now, haha. Here are some pics c/o Carm to reminisce:

Just want to say that it’s the hottest birthday (as in literally, ang init) I’ve had. Also went to my goddaughter Angelica Sofia’s christening last Saturday :D unang inaanak ko ‘to! Hehe…also had a wild ride in Donna’s car en route to the reception…I swear she has this road rage beneath her calm exterior…I almost prayed in her car…

Also watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Dianne and Miyay yesterday…feeling ko ang babaw ko kahapon (or I may be desperate enough to loosen up hehe)…sobrang tawa lang ako ng tawa sa lahat ng scenes! Even the shallow ones are hilarious…as usual my love Johnny Depp lived up to my expectations…can’t wait for the third!

University Life

Dunno what’s wrong, sometimes I’m excited, sometimes I’m just plain lazy…I mean, it’s 5th year, my graduating year, but I don’t feel it…yet. For this year, going through school without seeing a familiar face (aside from my classmates of course) is already normal….haaaay, I need an energy boost, to think that I have 4 romance novels on stand-by pa, haha. We also had a team building, aka 5th year bonding session, last Saturday—intense!

In fairness, I’m loving my international economics course…because so far I’m getting everything that he teaches…yun na yun! A bit pressured due to the things I have to do (I haven’t progressed much for my DBP project and I haven’t researched much for my thesis). Still a bit pissed with my school because apparently since we started the year late, we have to makeup for it…as in EIGHT sessions per course…why don’t you just kill us?!? Haaayyyy…as Anne in Anne of Green Gables would say, this is the depths of my despair.

So there, I’m trying to recall the other stuff that occurred to me but I seem to be having a writer’s block…Thank God for letting it rain again…the notable moments are those happening under the rain (dang, I’ve been reading too much romance novels…)

Gtg, wish me luck on my thesis…aja!

22 at 22...

If you don’t understand the title, then let me enlighten you: I’ll be 22 years old on June 22!!! Haha, just realized that I have less than a week to come to grips about being another year older. Dunno yet what to feel with the number itself…it’s still in the early 20’s but why do I feel as if time’s running out? Haaay, maybe it’s because it’s the last year of formal schooling for me, with a master’s degree no less, thus I think the remaining people in our batch are much older than our age professes us to be…

As usual, I won’t be making a birthday entry without my wish list (hint na to sa mga nagbabasa!). Actually my aunt who’s living in our house is also getting married on my birthday, so technically I have a much special handaan in our house (not just the usual take-out dinner pag birthday ko hehe). So to anyone who’s still not employed or studying and is willing to travel to the deep South at lunch: you’re invited! Just make sure you have a present for the newlyweds and for me, haha, joke! So here’s the wish list:

1. Original Pride and Prejudice DVD (Keira Knightley version)
2. Love Letters 1&2 (manga/graphic novel easily attainable in National Bookstore, not sure if it’s by Ken Akumatsa…kung masyadong mahal kahit Love Letters 1 lang hehe)
3. Bleach series (anime series meron ata sa Comic Alley, slightly mahal pero mas mamahalin kita pag nakuha mo to! Original or pirated, ok lang)
4. Kahit anong JDorama (a.k.a. series made in Japan) na feeling niyo magugustuhan ko…so far Golden Bowl at Taiho Schichauzo pa lang naman napanood ko.
5. Life size carton figure ni: Se7en, Vic Zhou, Won Bin, Tamahome (haha meron ba to?), Larc-en-Ciel, Johnny Depp….hay seryoso ba ko dito?
6. New Nonstop series (Korean series na so far walang pa sa Philippines ang may kopya, hihimatayin ako pag nakakuha ako nito)
7. Any original album ng L’arc-en-Ciel, or any dvd (original or pirated) ng concert nila (except ung sa Baltimore at yung Grand Cross)
8. Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux
9. kahit ano naman actually pwede din…I’ll be grateful :D
10. …ah yung man of my dreams din pwede?!?! Hehe

updates...

ok i'm almost done with my soceco paper, which gives me enough go signal to blog...is there sumthing wrong with blogspot? i posted a pic last time but it didn't appear...

went to Anabelle's 22nd birthday last thursday (ang tanda na namin!)...im glad to see my highschool barkada complete again (if you must know, it's hard for us to be complete when we go out)...ang saya ulit, ang mga hirit ng mga tao ibang klase, natadtaran na naman ako ng gay lingo from my UP friends, hehe...come to think of it, UP and UAP lang ang composition ng barkada ko...

also watched Rent with Ice that afternoon...grabe saya naiyak ako, shempre wid matching kanta kanta since musical siya...kinda deja vu, ang daming Augustinians in uniform...i remember the days when i used to be one of them...ang tanda ko na nga talaga hehe

also saw my youngest cousin for the first time...his name is JB, 1 y/o, his parents live in the States kaya ngayon ko lang siya nakita, they went back to the Philippines for the usual going home to see everyone trip :D

un na muna, konti na lang, grabe enrollment na naman for summer! parang walang nangyari!

hideto takarai's birthday!!!

today is the birthday of one of the coolest rock singers that i have ever known!!! omedetou gozaimasu hideto takarai-san (lead singer of my favorite jrock band, L'arc en Ciel) !!! totemo suki desu!

nakita din ang calculator ko, super thanks to the janitor who saw it on the floor and gave it to my friend...hay, ngayon ko lang na-feel na may sentimental value talaga itong calculator ko...

ten visited me yesterday for catching up and watching Pride and Prejudice (again), wc obviously she loved...hay, pinagalitan pa ko dahil na-awaken ko na naman daw ang romantic side niya (kinda cynical na kse siya abt love ever since stepping into college)....un lang... planning to do an entry in memory of valentine's day, bwehehe

mah bday...

yeah, i know, it's my birthday yesterday and i didn't get a chance to post a birthday entry due to unforseen events, i.e. the fact that it took me until 11:00 pm yesterday to finish my eco his paper. honestly, mas na-feel ko pa na ngayon ang birthday ko kahit na lahat ng greeting ay puro belated...cguro dahil mas hindi ako stressed today. i think the 2 moments that i felt that it's my bday yesterday was from 8pm to 9pm nung kainan na at 11:00-12mn nung natapos na ko sa paper ko...

anyway, how does it feel to be 21 years old? haha, i don't feel like it. like i said, who i am today was not what i envisioned when i was in grade 3, praying that i get old faster. simply put, i don't feel older, despite that im required to wear corporate attire everyday (nagskirt nga ko kanina, nagulat lahat as expected

also became part of the yearbook committee...i don't want to become the EIC kasi pag pangit ung yearbook ako sisisihin, hehe

here's a very informal features essay that i haven't finished since di pa ko nakaconsult wid frends (but i wanna include it here anyway)...

I've always been a fan of Eastern pop culture, not really obsessed about it, but im one of those who give the piratas some business. Anyway, ive always been an anime otaku since i was in grade 2 ata (not the geeky type naman), and for the past 5 years, into mainstream Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (pero konti lang to) culture.

There are always distinct patterns of scenes whenever i watch the romantic drama/comedy series and movies from these countries...from my widespread watching, here are some i have observed (better to enumerate in Tagalog)...of course not all of these scenes are restricted to those of this genre (or origin) alone....

1. Habulin mo ako
Palaging may scene na may moving vehicle with the heroine in it then the hero tries (most of the time unsuccessfully) to catch that moving vehicle...either on foot (mostly) or car...
E.g. MG (Meteor Garden), Lovers in paris

2. Aray....
Scenario: Girl gets sliced in the fingers (usually through paper cuts or by sharp objects)...guy sees it then sucks the blood out of the wound sa finger...
E.g. Stained Glass, My tutor friend, Mars

3. Music...
Laging may element of music, usually videoke, or the guy suddenly astounds the girl by performing a musical piece exceedingly well ...
E.g. Videoke: Little Bride, He is Cool
Guy is musically gifted: Lovers in Paris, Sweet 18, Oh happy days, MG, Dolphin bay (well ung girl ung musically gifted)
Videoke: Full House, Little Bride, He is Cool

4. It's Raining...
Pivotal scenes usually take part under the rain...kung tutuusin, it sets the mood...the rain could serve as the backdrop of a heart-wrenching confession or a declaration of love...
E.g. The Classic (the best rain scene i ever saw!), Dolphin bay (mamatay ako sa kilig sa rain scene dito), Bright Girl (ang sakit sa puso ng rain scene nito) MG, Sweet 18, Summer Scent, Full House....actually halos lahat may part na umuulan

5. Piggy-back
Girl gets either gets drunk, emotionally depleted, sleepy, sprained, then the guy gives her a piggy back ride...the thing itself is not of significance to us but apparently it's synonymous to saying that the guy likes the girl in korea
E.g. Please teach me english, Autumn in my heart, Lovers in paris, stairway to heaven... actually halos lahat ata ng galing korea meron ganun

Anyone care to add? just lemme know...