2012, you’re a blast!

I re-read my year-end post in 2011 for some take-off points and apparently I wrote in the end that I can't remember when I was THAT much excited for 2012. And boy did 2012 deliver – I can’t focus on ONE specific moment that can capture the year since there are just too many awesome experiences this year.

First, thank you Lord and I’m still employed lol. This year marks my first year in my current workplace. Which is a milestone in itself since the last time I had an anniversary at work is, uh, four years ago? Still grateful that my work is mentally stimulating and my workmates are great to be with. Hahahha, well let’s not jinx it. Here’s to more “happy times” in the office, and may the stress be worth it!

And because of my still-employed status, thank you Lord that I have money to spend (and save)! Despite my initial plans to rein it in (as if I could), I kind of overindulged a bit on my travels this year. So happy that I have enough funds this year and a LOT of friends who are travel-happy like I am. I love that my domestic trips are bordering on the more active type (Sagada, Oslob, and Pinatubo) although I still have my chill trips (Boracay, Vigan, Laoag, Iloilo). My out-of-the-country trips were at the peak of craziness – from going to Thailand with my cousin as a pseudo excuse to catch L’arc-en-Ciel to capping the year with a five-day trip to Seoul, South Korea (this music video just about captures how much fun we had).

I also considered this year as one of the highlights of my fangirling life – rocking to Laruku alone (hence, you can go crazy with no judgment) last March was amazing. Also going through crazy traffic in November just to attend Lee Min Ho’s fanmeeting at Araneta. I also watched A LOT of kdramas this year, and of course spread the hallyu lovin’ to more friends. This year also marks the end of the Twilight series (holler to my TCP friends!) and of course that epic Rurouni Kenshin movie. And how can I forget that epic Big Bang concert where in two fairy godmothers helped me to even catch the rehearsal, THAT was so surreal I can’t even think of anything that can TOP (pun intended) that…yet.

Lastly, I think this year was a blast due to my enjoyable family and friends. My sister got married this year (yay!) so I’m happy that I now have a new extended family. We also had a grand reunion from the mother’s side of the family so I was ecstatic to see everyone, including the new faces and be back in Negros again. I’m also so glad I got to hang out with my forever-reliable friends more this year. And in the midst of all the happy times, I will always remember Ice even if I can’t see her.

So this rounds up 2012. I can confidently say that this is definitely one of the exciting years I had so far. Can’t wait for what 2013 (my last year in the 20-zone!) will bring! So here’s to all of you and may you have a blessed and crazy year ahead! Cheers!

resurfacing (yet again)

I swear, if my blog was a person, he/she would've condemned me by now. I'm a bit surprised that I let go of my blog for so long to think that I'm still unemployed (big surprise there). But since my current freelance job is on hiatus and will resume in a few weeks, I have no excuse not to write more here.

My last post was October 1, today is December 15. And some people know this about me: October-November are Twilight months. So yes, that's what I'll blame my lack of blog posts at.

In retrospect, preparations for the promotions of The Twilight Saga: New Moon is less hectic than last year's, mainly because we've learned our lesson last year to not overexert and just focus on things that will be of most use to us (TCP). Since I rarely talk (nor post) about my TCP exploits outside of those involved in it, I'll just gloss over what happened related to this in the past two months.

Sam Bradley in Manila

Sam Bradley (co-author of 'Never Think' in the Twilight OST) could possibly be the closest celebrity connected to Twilight that will land in our shores, so we got a rare opportunity to interview him in an episode of Danag Podcast. It was a fun interview (and the succeeding days watching his mall shows), and my English skills were REALLY stretched to the limit LOL. We also gave him a barrel man which was quite cheeky of us but was greatly appreciated, hehe.

TCP Events

October and November were also filled with meetings with various partners for the promotion of The Twilight Saga: New Moon. For TCP, we hosted a screening at the first day of regular screening. Also conducted several discussions on behalf of Powerbooks and a launch party for Warner Music Philippines.

It was fun to have to be in the less busy mode when it came to the fandom, and yet able to meet again old and new Twilighters for these events. Minami and I are almost joined to the hip for these two months since we both have the most flexible schedules among the admins (not to mention, a guesting in Unang Hirit, which I won't post here haha).

So that's the Twilight-related "work" I've been doing for the past two months. Hopefully I get to post within this month on the other stuff that's on my mind. Won't make promises though, I think ever since I resigned my previous job, I've been lazy like crazy.

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!

FANTASY! O-M-G!!!

this pic MADE my day!!!! whoooo, thanks Leia for the pic! as in sakto pa talaga, ben barnes and cam gigandet side by side!!! is it me or did it get warmer all of a sudden?


meann, ano game, kailangan nating mag-Mega agad!

“With our luck…”: Kota Kinabalu Day 1&2

Haven’t posted long entries lately, I’m now on a blogging backlog, now’s the start of the blogging recovery period.

Some general observations during my Kota Kinabalu trip:
1. Pay travel tax first before checking in.
2. The Malaysians really look like us most of the time. And they are definitely warmer to tourists than I expected.
3. I really cannot do a Discovery Travel and Living documentary on Asian food. I’m THAT averse to eating spicy food so help me.
4. No lost in translation moments. 60% of the people we met are Filipinos (coming from Mindanao). I felt like we just went to a random island in the Philippines when I got there.

Day 1: November 28

Once again, a big thanks to Cebu Pacific for the cheap airfare. This is my second international flight this year and is less planned compared to my Hong Kong trip. I was so busy during November that I did the itinerary and costing (that’s just the OC travel person in me talking) just a few days before the actual trip.

Carms almost did not make it to the flight. Eds, Daene, Dale (my brother — I get to say that phrase a number of times during my trip), and I had a panic moment while waiting for our flight. But in true Cebu Pac fashion, the flight was delayed and Carm made it 30 mins before the “planned” take-off. Also traded stories with the people (juicy ones, hehe) since we haven’t seen each other for a while. We also drew theories from the “party of 3” idea…well we’re disillusioned, no party of 3 exists (it’s a party of four) and that’s as far as we would like to go, haha.

We stayed at Lavender Lodge for this trip and I got a 2/2 from scoring value-for-money accommodations. The place was spacious and the people are so friendly (big shout out to Daniel and the staff!), and it was great that my “tripmates” are even more sociable than I am so they did the talking most of the time. We asked their opinion regarding our itinerary and they offered alternatives and arranged for our transportation (apparently, public transpo there is not reliable so though it tweaked my budget a bit, it was worth it).

Dropped by a nearby mall to grab dinner and that’s when we realized that there are a lot of Filipinos around. There was a short brownout while we’re eating (welcome to Kota Kinabalu!) which was a bit scary given that we’re in the basement of a mall that we don’t know about hehehe. I ordered a coke float and the ice cream was surprisingly chocolate instead of vanilla…weird, but it tasted great, hehe.

Day 2: November 29 – Beach and Twilight

It’s Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park Day! This is the primary reason why we went to Kota Kinabalu in the first place – to soak in the sun. Luck was on our side (at least in this sense) and the day was sunny. Daniel said that it was raining the day before we arrived so seeing the sun was a big sigh of relief.

We did the three-island-hop. Went first to the Mamutik island which for me was the best out of the three islands as they have better fishes, great sand, less people. Daene, Dale, and I snorkeled and found the same culprits Daene and I saw in Dive and Trek. They were trailing us (probably trying to gauge if we have food), too bad we don’t have an underwater camera. We then went to Manukan which was the most popular I think and it has the most people. It’s mostly perfect for the “tampisaw” experience…I mostly just ate and listened to my ipod (reflection time) since the fishes were a bit scarce. The we went to Sapi Island where we saw a komodo dragon (I think) and Eds had a Koreanovela moment, too bad it wasn’t documented.

We ate at a nearby restaurant that Daniel recommended…that curry lhaksa and beef rendang was freaking spicy…I’m so happy I ordered a different dish, hehehe. Eds, Dale and I watched Twilight with Malay subs…vampire in Malay is Pontianak. Sorry I just HAVE to say that because I was having a hard time containing my laughter at that moment.

* pictures from Day 1 and 2

be still, my fangirl heart....

i haven't blogged on how much i ADORE Cam Gigandet (who's playing James in Twilight), but you'll pretty much get the idea when you hear me on the Danag podcast.

and then i came across this pic from LA Times' Twilight Stars: Then and Now


all i can say is: well done, Cam, WELL DONE *matching slow clap*

Postcards for Stephenie Project - Pinoy Twilighters Show Your Support!

Reposted from the TCP blog:

We are calling on all Pinoy Twilighters to showcase your creativity and show your support and appreciation for Stephenie Meyer! Create your own homemade postcard with a message to Stephenie, send it to us, and we'll include it in the Postcard Book that we will send to her. Our goal is to collect 108 Postcards by November 2, so we'll need everyone's support. :)

Click on the icon in the sidebar for more details. I really hope we get to reach the target.

Currently stressed since we're kind of in limbo still regarding the promos for the movie...hope it all irons out by next week. Not to mention other projects by TCP! Hehehe

Breaking Dawn Pre-Launch Party!!!

This is probably one of the rewarding nights of my life, hahaha...I barely got to work the past two weeks for this events (priorities? haha) but it was all worth it. Daene and I a few months ago were constantly talking about such an event and thank God He created Meann and Sheila for we would not be able to accomplish much without them.

We held the Breaking Dawn Pre-Launch Party on August 2 at Powerbooks. Thanks so much for Powerbooks and Hachette for collaborating with us. It was pure adrenalin rush, it was such a blur...there are SO MANY people....I mean, I expected a lot, but I didn't visualize this many...too bad for those people who were expecting a peaceful session of reading at Powerbooks, hehe. Still can't get over the screaming girls (and boys? haha), I kind of lost my hearing for a while (and I doubt that I had a decent interview, which btw, dapat si Daene na, I suck at interviews, because of the noise). I'm so happy to meet other Twilighters, especially fellow TCP members.

Went home with a sore throat (from talking to all those people), sore shoulders, suffering feet...yeah the list goes on. Again, it was all worth it, seeing all of them revel in something we all love. Thanks so much to my fellow TCP admins, and to all of our friends who rescued us literally.

Other pics

Edward Cullen is the new Mr. Darcy (well for me anyway…)

It’s about high time that I write something about my recent obsession, which hopefully would fade in time (as most of my obsessions usually do) since it’s seriously not healthy…seriously…

Daene told me about this book called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and how she’s interested in reading it, and I was like, “yeah sure, go ahead and let me know how it goes” (this knowing that her taste in books and mine don’t usually meet). It was vacation during Holy Week, and Daene’s texting like crazy telling me that I just HAVE to read this book (and that she can’t help feeling all gushy about it, it’s already driving her insane), and e-mailed me a copy of the book since she couldn’t possibly wait to see me and then wait a few days for me to finish it before talking about it. So anyway, fine, I read the book anyway…

Upon reading the first few chapters of the book, I was again texting Daene, and telling her, somewhat accusingly, “this is a young adult book, isn’t it?” Haha. This is what I get for reading something with an only “it’s about vampires” as a background and someone telling me she’s all mushy about it when in fact she hasn’t read a lot of romance books (and believe me, I have). But, somehow, I got on the Twilight zone (pardon the pun) and soon appreciated it for all its teen love angst. Just got me reminiscing when I watched Underworld and I really thought that being a vampire is so cool. Well, being a vampire is definitely cool in this book. What really hit the nail for me in this book was when I found out that this book is going to be made into a movie and Robert Pattinson’s playing Edward Cullen, the vampire hero of the book. And I, to put it succinctly, am hooked.

As of now, I’ve read the other two books of the series, New Moon and Eclipse. Granted, I’m still hooked to the series as ever, although my usually obsession now runs with the movie. Maybe it’s because I’m really all in for the action in the second half of Twilight, and of course visualizing how Edward could be in the widescreen. Nonetheless, I’m all for Edward Cullen being in my list of ideal men, even head to head with Mr. Darcy (and that’s already saying A LOT about the fellow). Or maybe Edward is the teenage (well technically not since he’s more than a hundred years old) version of Mr. Darcy (well, why not? Meyer mentions Pride and Prejudice in her series so there could be a character reference). The overall plot so far is definitely gripping, although there are a few lulls for me (is it obvious that I want every page to be eventful?). Upon finishing the third book, I’m totally in love with Edward, and I’m kind of not liking Bella, hehehe. I mean I’m all for character flaws, but crap, sometimes I can’t handle the indecision. Edward also has some characters in a guy that I don’t like, the possessiveness for one, but damn, if it’s him, I’m game for anything. He’s an intense guy, that’s for sure. He makes me gooey sometimes it makes me sick.

Hence, this obsession, although I expect it would lie low for a while, will probably run through August, when Breaking Dawn comes up and until December, when the movie will be shown. As of now, I’m trying to do some serious withdrawal techniques, i.e. watching other romantic series, reading other romance novels that don’t deal with creatures, getting immersed with my HK trip to tide me through the coming months. Good luck to me.

* to drive home the point of obsession, my friend put up the Twilight Coven Philippines, aimed to serve all Filipino Twilight fans out there. So please drop by if you have time!!! (link also located at the sidebar)

* my brother FINALLY finished the new look of my blog…although he says it’s a work in progress, so yeah, I’m celebrating this new look with this Twilight entry. Thanks Dale for finishing this :)