What my name says about me

I stumbled upon my old page. My very first blog. I was so happy to discover that it is still up cos all along I thought it has been taken down.

Anyway, I went through my old entries and found this. This is very interesting. I can't remember if I had found this somewhere or someone had written this for me. But this really made me smile. Do you think this is really me?

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.
You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.
You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.
You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.
Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.
You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.
You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.
You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.
You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.
You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.
A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.
You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.
You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.
Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.
Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.
You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.
You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.
You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.
You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.
You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.
You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.
People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.

You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way.
And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life.
You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it.

The Swan Has Found Her Life-long Mate

A swan may also bear messages of love and relationships. They pair for years, sometimes male-female unions are sustained for a lifetime. When the swan glides upon the waters of our awareness, it might be a symbol of love, and a reminder of the blessings found in our relationships.  - Whats-your-sign.com

  

A Swan tattoo can be very well be interpreted as a symbol of eternal faith and loyalty to one's soul mate.

Boracay: The First of Many

Boracay, as they say, is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. For me, what makes it  beautiful is the quality of its sand. For others who haven't been to other beaches in the Philippines, Boracay may have the finest beach in the country. I still think it's not.

After Zeke's assignment in the Philippines, he decided to extend another week in the country to get his well deserved R&R. The original plan is to get to Bohol but our budget won't just permit us. So then we went to Boracay instead.

Day 1:

We should be taking the 8am flight. However, Zeke forgot to pick up our laundry from the shop the night before our flight. Although we'll be strutting our swimwear when we get to Boracay, we just can't afford to leave our home butt-naked. So we re-booked and took the 11am flight instead. You have no idea how upset I was because of his miss. >_<

First flight together

We made it to our 11am flight with our fresh clothes on from the laundry shop. We arrived in Caticlan, had a tricycle transfer to the Ferry Terminal then boarded a boat to get to Boracay Island. When we got off from the boat, we took another trike to take us to our accommodation - White Beach de Boracay.

Ferry transfer

An accommodation for me is a place where you can sleep comfortably and have shower. That's it. Accommodation can eat up a lot of your travel budget if you are not wise enough to look for the reasonably priced ones. White Beach de Boracay is a no fancy, no frills place. Since we are on a budget, we have to stick to our basic criteria for the accommodation: regular sized room with AC, has a decent  bed, ensuite toilet and bath, and hot and cold shower. With a rate of Php1,500 per night, this is quite reasonable. Plus they have Wifi and our balcony boasts a view of the beach. I'm glad that Zeke liked the place. He tends to be picky with accommodation.

The view from our balcony. We're on top of Yellow Cab

We didn't waste our time. As soon as we checked in, we looked for someone who can arrange our activities for us. We found a certain "kuya" who suggested we could start with the helmet diving and the ATV ride the next day. So we spent the rest of the afternoon strolling at the beach, swimming and watching the sunset.

Boracay's clear water

Boracay's fine beach

Day 2:

We woke at 9am excited for our itinerary for the day. We had mexican breakfast to stuff ourselves up before we do the fun stuff for that day.  Giddy giddy! Where's kuya?

Helmet Diving: I don't know how many metres deep we have to go down so we can reach the bottom of the sea. I went down first and fed the fishes while waiting for Zeke. He had issues with his ear in terms of pressure. He had to come up again, change his helmet then go down and equalize. I was concerned about him though because he seems to be drowning the entire time. Turns out, he had the wrong breathing technique. Oh babe!

While waiting for our turn

He's got a pink helmet. So cute!

Attempting to make love with Patrick the starfish even if he's drowning

Giving him food for the fishes

ATV/ Quad Bike: We had a bike each to drive and go to the highest peak of the island. Unfortunately, we can't race and my bike keeps on getting broken. Boooo!

Not again!

View from the peak

Zorb: Zeke was a little bit disappointed with the quad bikes. He thought we'll go off road and I thought we can race. Apparently, we had to convoy with our guide on a concrete road. Boring. We still wanted to do more. One good thing about Boracay is they never run out of activities in the island. So we finished our afternoon with a few rounds of the Zorb. Rolling inside the huge ball and landing on a pool was so much fun!

Just waiting for the water

A jump shot is a must

Roll out of the ball and in to the water

We actually did a lot of things on our second day. We missed the sunset though :( But Zeke could not be stopped in taking pictures from the sand sculptures. By the end of the photoshoot, we were both famished. My dearest Zeke then asked me if I wanna have a nice dinner. Why would I say No? It's food! So we had buffet dinner at Astoria Suites Resort beside our place. The food was really good. After our dinner, we dropped by a bar and had some cocktails. We were still full. We went back to our room, went to sleep... stuffed.

Beautifully done by kids

I got to have a picture with this thing

Day 3:

We woke up to a very nice morning. What's for today is just island hopping. But little did we know, we're bound to do something better and more awesome in the afternoon.

Island hopping: We rented an entire boat for ourselves. We went to Crystal Cove Island and explored its caves. We had to hike, swim, and crawl to see what's inside in those caves. The island also shows a great view of the sea.

Crystal Cove Island

In one of the caves

Where to jump?

Lovey love

We then went to another island to have our lunch.

Koreans using plastic gloves when eating crabs

This is our view while having lunch

After our lunch, we were supposed to head home and the rest of the afternoon will be spent doing nothing. Zeke decided to do tandem parasailing instead. So I did my role. I haggled. Haggled. And haggled until we got a good deal. So off we go again but this time in a speedboat to go to the parasailing base where we can put our gears on and they can release us up, up in the sky. I enjoy riding boats more so if it's a speedboat. So just imagine when the driver of the speedboat offered me to drive the damn boat. I was so happy I couldn't contain myself that I drove the boat like I'm some crazy animal. Whoah!!!! Best activity ever!!!! Zeke was just taking pictures of me and looked so amused.

I'm not really that excited. Hahaha!

Oh yes, that's me!!! Yebah!

Parasailing: I call this our date up in the sky. The ninjas (safety personnel) put our safety gears on and slowly released us up in the air. I may not have the worst case of fear of heights but this is somewhat pretty scary too. But once we were up and just sailing, I totally enjoyed it. I wasn't scared at all. We spent a good 15 minutes up in the air doing sweet nothings to each other. Up in the air, it was just the two us. There couldn't be any more peaceful, quiet and romantic date than this.

Ready to take off

We have a Superman chute

Is that us?

Love is in the air

Close up picture of us with the Superman logo

Picture from above

After our date up in the air, I got to drive the speedboat again this time with several rounds in the water. Woohoo!!!! Best afternoon ever!

We went back to our place, had shower and took a rest for a while. We then head back to Jonah's Restaurant to catch the sunset and some surprise...

Surprise!!!

Another Surprise!!!

Had the chance to play soccer with the kids I met at the beach

Zeke had an awesome time sipping his cocktails, watching the sunset and taking photos while I was down and sweaty playing with the kids. We ended our last night in Boracay by having a romantic Korean dinner date by the beach. The night was a bit chilly but it was perfect.

The next day we woke up late. We got probably tired from the activities we did for the past 3 days. And oh, I forgot to mention that we also did night outs enjoying House and RnB music in a bar in Station 2. So that has been the routine: we would wake up early, do fun stuff, pig out, party and get drunk, then wake up early again the next day. So on our last day, we just spent it packing our stuff. We arrived in Caticlan excited to get on our plane only to find out we've been diverted to Kalibo. And so there's another story of the 2 hour trip we had from Caticlan to Kalibo. All in all, this was really a fun first trip for the both of us. We didn't just have good stuff. We also learned a lot from each other. This is like a test trip for us: see if we can stand each other and cope with the environment that we are not familiar of. Zeke and I love to travel. Our future plan is all about traveling and seeing the world so this first trip is crucial for us. As important as it should be, this trip was also meaningful to us in a sense that aside from getting to know each other more, this is when we learned to just let love and understanding do the talking whenever personal issues would get in the way of the trip and spoil the fun. Issues are issues and can be resolved. Being able to travel and be in a place where you can have absolute fun just comes once in your life. You may never have that opportunity again. So let loose, have fun and be happy. I guess we are ready for our next trip. We are now ready for our future.

The Last

I'm a sucker for real love stories.  Actual stories that had made possible by love and not just for convenience.

At some stage in my life, I thought I really do not know what love is anymore. I thought I wouldn't know what it feels to love and to be loved. I stopped loving. Until he came in to my life.

He made me feel what it's like to love again. He redefined LOVE for me.  He made me believe that there's hope. And we both believe that there is such thing as FOREVER.

We vow to be each other's last.

An Open Letter to the Love of my Life

My Dearest Zeke,

I've had so much coffee in the past 2 hours that's why at 2:30am (my time), my mind is doing a marathon. The time that I had been awake was used for research and educating myself with the things that's been going on with my life right now. I'd like to empower myself. Surprisingly, a few "Hi's" and "Hello's" have come up from my Facebook chat. They're mostly from people at work. They miss me and I do also miss them. I had a chat with one of my closest TLs from work and I was comfortable telling him what happened to me. He was shocked and so disgusted of how others treat me. I appreciate him verbally acknowledging how hardworking I am. And that I spent hours dedicating myself to Operations and would not even take my breaks to accommodate their needs. We were both emotional during our chat conversation. It had to end though when he said I looked "fresh" when I started and how I have looked "haggard" after weeks of running the program. He can be brutally honest with how I look because he's a beki. :) I have to laugh out loud for that comment and well, I can't dispute a fact. He said after all my hard work, I ended up in this. I don't deserve this. They are being unfair. We ended our conversation by him telling me to fight for it and that he'll pray for me.

I am just so thankful that people at work are praying for me and want to keep me. I do appreciate them even if they only know half of the pie. But what I really wanna say is that I give full credit to you. It's you who gives me the strength to fight for what is right. Your undying love and support had sent me through greater possibilities that even I myself could not think I could do. You guide me through each and every process that I need to go to. You teach me how to go about things. You troubleshoot my phone. You troubleshoot my lappy. You read my letters and edit them. You Google things for me. You scold me for slacking off. You look and book my flights. You look for my accommodation even if it's the most remote places in the Philippines. You tell me what to say to those people who have been so harsh to me. You're my number one supporter. You're my number one fan. And most of all, you're my number one stalker. I will be forever indebted to you for the amount of time you've devoted to communicate with me.

There are two things that I wanna say to you. Thank you and I love you. Thank you for never leaving my side even when things fall apart and I'm slowly crashing down. Thank you for always cheering me up and making me laugh. Thank you for making me smile whenever I catch you staring at me. Thank you for saying that I'm not fat and I have the hottest ass and legs in the world (although I know it's a lie). Thank you for laughing at me when I do silly things and when I tell funny and nonsense stories. Thank you for just being quiet whenever I cry. Thank you for loving me unconditionally. No If's and But's. And most especially, thank you for being "my person".

I love you for many reasons. I love you for being the person who can put up with me. I love you for the reasons I've mentioned above. I love you because you make me happy. I love you because you love me. I love you for being the amazing person that you are. I love you because behind your sometimes stern attitude is a genuine heart and a pure soul that's wanting to please not just yourself but also the people who you think deserves your love and attention. I can take up the entire cyberspace to put the reasons why I love you in writing. But most of all, I love you because you're mine and for the first time in my life, you made me believe that there is such thing as Forever.

I am bruised right now. But I'm also happily wounded. What I'm going through is part of my life and somehow yours. It sucks that I have to go through these but I'm just glad that you're that big light and hope that keeps me going. I've never fell flat on my face, just a few slips and drops. It's because you're constantly holding my hand and keeping me still. I know that you're also going through a tough phase in your life and I just wanna assure you that I'll be there 1000% to support you and love you. I will be your number one supporter, admirer, fan and yes, stalker too.

Our journey has officially begun. No matter what happens, we're in this together. We'll go through this and we'll be each other's source of strength. Trust in our love that we will be rewarded with great things after these challenges. This might not be a walk in the park but this is definitely worth it. You are worth it.

Ever Yours,
Melissa

Thunders, Lightning, Sunshine

I cheated. That's what everybody thinks. However, I don't think I am. Call me crazy but I define my own words. Technically, I did or still am because I'm still within my marriage (Annulment coming up). But cheating for me happens when you have an affair. I DON'T DO AFFAIRS. I DO RELATIONSHIPS. And as far as I'm concerned, what Zeke and I have is a real relationship. A true one. The kind of relationship every couple wants to have (sans the marriage to other people). Yes, aside from cheating, I was also a mistress. Zeke is also married (Divorce coming up too) but with no kids. And while he thinks we are not cheating, I'd leave his story off as I am not in the position to share his personal life in this blog. Unless of course, it involves me and our travels. What I'm trying to say is that affairs are short-termed. Relationships are forever. We are going to be together forever.

So let's keep the ball rolling. People at work had a hunch about me and Zeke. Why not? He lives in Makati, works in Eastwood but why is he always in Alabang? (Try Google maps to check the distance and the traffic situation in those three places.) Things got more interesting when I was transferred to Eastwood and luckily, got to work with him for an entire month. That whole time seemed like a story I don't want to end. We lived together the entire time. We were so in love. We argue a lot though but at the end of the day, we still sleep next to each other, hugging. He would be the first and the last person I would see when I wake up in the morning and sleep at night. It was perfect. It still is.

While things are going very well with Zeke, dealing with old friends and family about ending my marriage with my ex is another story. I first dropped his last name on Facebook. Then my tweets about seeing an attorney sparked a controversy within my family back in CDO. Messages on BBM, FB, SMS and Twitter started pouring in. I was overwhelmed. Even people who I haven't seen in ages started messaging me albeit saying they wanna Hi but I knew they were nosy jerks. I only replied to a few friends saying I am okay. In which I am. I am very okay, very happy but I'm nervous.

So the things that I expected to happen suddenly starts happening. I was being judged. I get nasty messages, I had fights with my brother and some relatives, a BIG Someone from work knew about me and Zeke, and the list goes on. Not to mention, at this time, Zeke had already left the country and is back in Australia. So just imagine the difficulty of dealing all these while my Zeke is 3,861.3 miles away from me. I'd spent my nights again crying because I super miss Zeke and at the same time I am so overwhelmed with the messages and hearsay about me back home and I don't know how to deal with them anymore. Then I decided I had to make them stop.

Trust me, the things I've mentioned above are just 20% of all the sh*t that has happened to me. I wouldn't dare enumerate those thing as it would make the other people especially those involved think I am giving them the attention that they want. Thanks, but no thanks. But I thought of giving them a dose of their own medicine. I changed my status in FB from being Married to Single, and from Single to In a Relationship with Ezekiel McKenzie. I also started uploading our pictures. People flipped out. Hah! You want war, I'll give you war. While they all went ballistic about what's going on with my life, I am all over the clouds happy, smiling, focused, energetic and in love. So tell me, who gets to win this?

But I didn't let myself drown while I was sailing my life away. All is good but I know I have hurt other people especially my family. I owe all these confidence and maturity to my mom and sister who first knew about my situation, understood me and gladly welcomed me in their arms. They knew I was unhappy with my marriage and with the new love I found, they said they've never seen me this happy before and they will support me. I did the same thing with my mom's family in Surigao. I had a "press conference" with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and maybe neighbors. I was a bit nervous knowing that I came from a conservative family but knowing the kind of family I have from my mother's side, I knew they'd support me. And I was right. I never felt so much love from them until this thing happened. My uncles gave their opinions, helped my aunties and the grannies understand my situation, and even suggested lawyers who can help me with my annulment. I was so happy.

To this day, Zeke and I still encounter a few bumps in our relationship. Mostly coming from my side with some nosy people and some stalkers trying to sabotage my life and steal my happiness. Sorry, but I won't allow them to have access to my life. The first few weeks while Zeke is away is probably the most difficult situation of my life. But as I've said, I'll never give in, I'll never give up. We are now at the stage of acceptance. My family and friends have understood our situation and I can finally mention his name over dinners and casual conversations with my family. I wish I can tell you something about my annulment but it is deemed to be a sensitive case so pardon me if I leave it off from my entries. All that matters now is that I'm okay. People still hate me and judge me but I don't care because it's not their happiness that I'm dealing with. It's mine. I have just accepted the fact that there are people who love to poke their noses into other people's lives. But I'm sorry, I'm the person who could break anyone's nose.

I miss you babe

Sunshine. I call it Sunshine. As perfect as it sounds, that's how I would probably call my relationship with Zeke. We've been through hell and that but everytime I think about our relationship and our future, it lifts my spirits high. I know that fighting for this love is right. I may have been selfish but I've been deprived of happiness for a very long time and now I have someone who is my absolute happiness, I am not letting him go. I. AM. NOT. LETTING. THIS. GO. We admit that this whole long distance relationship sometimes scares us, he has his doubts but I know my role is to keep him holding on, to constantly remind us both of what a special kind of love we have. Just like a sunshine, darkness at night and scattered rains may come to our relationship but we will always be that bright thing that comes out daily and shines through most of the day. It's not that it's expected. It's a fact. It's part of life and you can always trust it to happen no matter what.

I am blessed. I am happy. I feel loved. I am in love. Capisce?

Of Rains and Rainbows

Credits to Scribbler's Sanctuary

 
It's been 7 months since I've last  updated my blog. I feel bad for neglecting this love of mine for months. So what happened?

February until March, I was restless. I know something's up but I was too in denial to speak up. I decided to resign from work and do something else. A Southeast Asian trip was scheduled, taking culinary classes and a longer vacation back at my hometown were a few of my things-to-do-when-you're-a-bum list. So I tender my resignation first week of March and started to do my last 30 days of work.

April came, and I was doing my last week for work when a friend who happens to be also a Quality Manager called me up and said I need to extend my resignation. He said there's gonna be new program that I will like and that he thinks I'm fit for. Then Boss Matt, who is our SOM, talked me out: The other things I want to do in life can wait. The opportunity to be able to start a new program is not given to everyone. So what the hey, I took the bait.

Mid April, I was told that I will have my training in Alabang... for 8 weeks. EIGHT WEEKS! Just so you know, I live in Cainta because I work in Ortigas. Commute is just like 30 minutes one way. Going to Alabang daily with a 6 a.m. training schedule was such a nightmare. So I decided to rent a bedspace near our office building so I can save time and energy. Training started, everything seemed to be okay except for one thing. My marriage. You all know I am married. I used to be happy being married. As a matter of fact, I wrote a lot about it on this blog. Little did you know I have this odd feeling inside me about how my marriage is going.

So this entry is not about why and how my marriage failed. This is clearly not an entry to explain things to random people so to cut the story short, I fell out of love. Yes, it could happen. I started feeling it early of last year but I tried to hold on because I thought that's what marriage is about. But things weren't really working out. I feel alone all the time. I live in a nice place with my husband but I feel so alone. I travel alone, sleep alone, watch movies alone, watch concerts alone, and pretty much all the things that would make an adventurous wife like me unhappy. My ex (then husband) lost me somehow.

Going through that separation thing while being on training in Alabang was a total crash of emotions. At work, I'd be perky and bubbly but deep inside me, I'm slowly killing myself. I need to get out. Right. Now. But I don't know how. I don't know how to deliver the news to my ex so I let it fly. I was such a coward I hated myself. There would be days that I don't message him not because I don't want to but he isn't really entering my mind. Days would pass and I'd just get a message from him asking me if I had forgotten I have a husband. Then I'd just spent the night bursting into tears and trying to figure out how am I going to tell him that I want out. I didn't figure out. Instead, I enjoyed my stay in Alabang then sulk at night time thinking how unhappy I was with my marriage. And that's my daily mental cycle: happy at work, sad at home.

Then PST came, we had clients helping us out during the training. Everything was fun and okay but there's something more that I want to share with all of you. I met an amazing guy. He was our SME and he would just sit at the back of the classroom quietly observing our class (and maybe me). His name is Zeke. Zeke is not just an ordinary guy. He's special. He's friendly, funny, sweet, thoughtful and kind. The girls could fall in love with him in an instant. I would fall in love quickly too, but I was married. Too bad, Melissa.

Days passed, I would always look forward on having breaks and lunch. Zeke and I had become close because during such times, we'd hangout with our friends but we stay in one corner because we don't smoke. Needless to say, we stick together. From common breaks and lunch, I had kidnapped him and his friends several times for dinner or for a few drinks. And that friendship grew deeper as I have enjoyed not just his company but his character just attracts me. We watched Lady Gaga. We sat next to each other. And that's it. Deep inside, I wanted more. The next few days were spent sending messages to each other more often. The messages were not just about "how to get tickets" or "Maccas for lunch" but they became sweet nothings. Saying "Good morning" and "Good night" in both English and Tagalog were most often used. I like him. I had already liked him but then again, I just kept it to myself.

Then the program launch happened. It was a success! We needed to party after days of hard work. We partied at Republiq. Had a few drinks, danced the night away and then the magical thing happened. Zeke kissed me. I froze. The world had stopped for like 15 seconds. Everything was blurry except him who apparently had auto-zoomed in front of me. It felt good. It felt right. It was LOVE. That's when I realized cliche scenes in movies are true and it's actually happening to me. Oh. My. Lord. A normal girl would probably slap him for doing that. I was abnormal. I was abnormal because I was insanely crazy over him. We continued to party and ended the night with another kiss. It still felt the same. It was damn good and oh so right.

I left Manila that morning, messages from him didn't stop. We barely had enough sleep. He moved from his hotel in Alabang to his new hotel in Makati. I, then, would still be in Alabang for a couple of weeks. I was with my CDO friends Saturday night and I was crying. Crying because my emotions would want to come out and shout. I wanted to tell everyone I wanted to get out of my marriage and at the same time, I wanted to tell them I kissed an amazing guy and for the first time in my life, I felt real love over a kiss and I knew it was right. But I knew they'd kill me. So I drank the night away, trashed myself. When one of my friends gave me coffee, my bestfriend said "You liked it (kiss) and you don't want it to end, do you?" And that time, I knew I'm going to get myself in trouble. But I will certainly fight for it. I am hopeful. I will win this. I deserve to be happy. Attack!!!

7 Random Things

I was browsing through my Facebook Timeline when I saw a blog from my friend, Barbie. Barbie is dear friend of mine way back grade school and I frequently visit her blog. Why? Aside from getting chismis about her life, she posts her latest discoveries in baking. Baking is her passion and she makes it to a point that she whips those mixes everyday. I am one of her loyal customers. Everytime I crave for sweets, she's just a text away. (By the way, there's not much chismis on her blog. It's all about baking and a little bit about her day.)

Anyway, it's just today I realized this is a blog award she gave me. I have been very busy lately that I missed reading some blogs including Barbie's. Then just as when I thought I should review her products, I came across her blog mentioning me. Thanks, Barbs (and I'll see you tomorrow!).

So here it is:

Seven Random Things About Me:

1.  I don't know how to play any musical instrument. But I love to sing!

2.  I love to surf but I am not a strong swimmer. I have MVP (Mitral Valve Prolapse) which means my heart is beating irregularly therefore I have breathing problems.

3.  I don't drink coffee. I am more of a tea person.

4. I am a sucker of reality TV shows especially if they have anything about the Kardashians.

5. I love to travel.

6. I don't like taking pictures. I don't even like holding a camera. Aldrin even reminds me everytime I travel to bring my camera.

7. I am more comfortable hanging out with boys than with girls. I grew up in a environment of guys. With my grandpa as an engineer, and so are my aunties and uncles, working with men in the field has always been "normal" for me.

Spreading the love to 9 of my favorite bloggers:

Topaz Horizon

Chyng Reyes
Heretishietishie

Just Wandering

Kape at Sigarilyo

Bottomless Pit of Needs and Wants

Pink Magaline

Dunnah Delirious

Choose Happiness

This award has its rules, if you receive it you have to:

• Thank who send you the award and add a link to her/his blog;
• Write 7 random things about you;
• Give the award to other 15 bloggers you love and tell them. - Now I only have 9 bloggers to give this award to. Does this mean I am disqualified? : )

Now, it's your turn!

Sperry is LOVE

I have always been fascinated with boat shoes. For some reason, I find them smart and chic. So when I told myself I want to get my own boat shoes, it should  not be a puchu-puchu shoes.

Then there's Sebago, Sperry and other boat shoe versions of each brand. But one time, during my cousin's birthday shopping, she bought her own Sperry boat shoes. I was able to have a chance to get inside the Sperry store in Trinoma and everything there is beautiful. But then again, the price is a bit steep.

And so how did Iget my own Sperry? Remember my Christmas Wishlist post and my birthday gift post? Aldrin gave me Php8,000 as his Christmas gift budget but I only spent Php1,990 for the Ray-Ban, right? Well, a portion of the money he gave me went to the Sendong victims and... there's few money left for my Sperry.

Then last Saturday, after Aldrin and I watched Enteng ng Ina Mo, we happened to pass by a store in Megamall that sells Sperry and Keds shoes. To cut the long story short, napabili ako.

So there.... Thanks, my dear husband for your advance birthday gift (My birthday is on January 27).

Bahama in Metallic Suede

A Happy Wife on Christmas

You all probably read my Christmas Wishlist post. And of course, my husband got to read it as well. And so for December, here's what I got...

Ray-Ban Outdoorsman

Pardon my one and only picture since I took the photo using my phone only.

The story:

So my husband said he'll buy my the Outdoorsman that I like. We went through the malls to check the prices. It's Php8490.00 for every pair. Quite steep. I bargained with my husband. He'll just give me Php8,000 and I will pay for the Php490. He agreed. Well, he agreed because he has really no patience of scouting for good prices and he just put the responsibility on my shoulders of looking for my gift. He's not a good shopper.

Honestly, I am hesistant to buy this since the price is well... you know. So in search for the most affordable Ray-Ban shades, I bumped into this RIMA Warehouse sale in the internet. And days after anxiously waiting for the December 15 sale, at 8am sharp, I was already Pasong Tamo Ext. Unfortunately, the salesman said that they already ran out of Outdoorsman since they had their first sale last November. But I did not lose hope. I told kuya to look for more shades in their boxes. They found 2 - a regular  Outdoorsman and a polarized one. I didn't get the polarized one because the shape does not fit my face. I held on tight to the only regular Outdoorsman since a lot of people are eye-ing on it and my money (Aldrin) is not yet here. Price by the way is Php3,900 only! Not bad!

Then Aldrin came, handed me his Php8,000 (Christmas gift budget). I did sort of a quality inspection and found a little defect on the sides of the shades but is not obvious actually.

Me: Kuya, may defect ng konti sa gilid. baka may discount pa yan?

Kuya: Wala na talaga maam.

Me: Okay, sige kunin ko na yan.

Kuya: Maam, pakibayaran na lang sa cashier.

At the cashier...

Me: Ate, baka naman may super super discount pa yan kasi may konting defect.

Cashier/ Supervisor: asan maam?

Me: ayan po (pointing at the tiny defect).

Cashier: o sige maam, Php1,990 na lang po.

Me: ooooohyeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Then I realized everyone was staring at me. Ray-Ban Outdoorsman for Php1,900 only. Quite a steal!!! It really pays when you do your research first and a professional haggler always comes in handy. 

What I got myself for Christmas

Christmas gift for myself.

the free toner!

This is a long overdue post. I bought these when I did my Christmas shopping a week before Christmas. Then Sendong came and we were all busy with the donations.

Etude House Treat! I bought myself the following:

Bubble Hair Color – Php378.00

Moistfull Peeling – Php448.00

 Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foam – Php148.00

 I NEED YOU Aloe Mask Sheet  – Php58.00

TOTAL:  Php1,032.00

And I get a free Wonder Pore Freshener Toner!!!

I should do a follow up post on my Bubble Hair Color. The Moistfull Peeling is very good. Aside from feeling smooth after every use, I noticed my skin feels supple. Or I think, the Happy Tea Time Cleansing Foam helped as well. I just love the Happy Tea Time smell!

Of Help and Of Hope

So when I got saw the pictures of how badly stricken our city was because of Sendong, it suddenly rushed to me the urge to help. It was like it was a reflex, a part of my system that did not require me to think about it. Even if I was here in Manila at the time of tragedy, I knew I could help. Good thing that we already have booked our flights on December 27, 2011 because we usually spent the New Year in my hometown while Christmas, on my in-laws. I thought it was a good opportunity for me to ask for any form of donations I can bring to CDO. Besides, my cousins are doing daily relief operations to the victims. Immediately after the tragedy, they started cooking and delivered foods to the people. Our family members tried their best to be of help at that time because government help wasn’t really there yet. Everyone helped in their best way that they can. Cagay-anons from other countries also sent cash donations. My cousins used that money to buy food, lampara, sheets, blankets, laminated canvass (trapal), banig, etc. because those are really the ones that are badly needed in the affected areas.

Photo credits to my cousins Maebelle Bernardino and KC Saldua:

Relief goods all set now.

Improvised lamparilla by my cousins

Laminated sacks

Dinner time for them.

I, on the other hand, collected donations from my in-laws, officemates and friends. Special shout out to Leslie of AUB, Ate Gena of Healthy Options, Boss Matt of CVG, Michelle of Sutherland, Marie of Project I Am Love for coordinating the donations of their respective companies/teams.

Cerelac for babies.

The donations inside our house

Vitamins and cough syrup for the kids.

Paracetamol, Mucosolve, Syndrex and Vit. C for adults

The donations outside our house.

The donations deposited at Cebu Pacific

All in all, we sent out at least 300 kilos of clothing in LBC, 100 kilos through Asia Brewery and deposited 271 kilos in Cebu Pacific. Unfortunately, Cebu Pac has a 5-7 days of backlog for cargo because of the relief goods.  We deposited then December 26, 2011 and the 21 boxes arrived in CDO December 31, 2011 and the remaining 4 boxes, January 3, 2012.

My Superfriends and I had a feeding session last December 28. I spent my New Year's Day doing relief operations with my sister, her bf and my cousins.

All in all, it was a tiring experience yet it was fulfilling. We never really had a Christmas vacation because we all helped out. Plus, there was no water in 80% of the city so we have to get water somewhere else. So everyone was really doing their part. There’s no room for laziness in this situation. We spent the New Year’s eve at my auntie’s house where my grandparents and other relatives who were Sendong victims stayed. The reunion was bitter sweet. I could not dare ask them to recount what happened on that tragic night. I just thought we should just celebrate and be thankful that we are all safe. I know it’s hard to forget especially with the kids that had trauma but I put everything in good faith that everyone will recover from this tragedy. There were fireworks at 12mn but it was really different. Different from other New Year’s celebration that we had. I think the word that best describes the people of CDO during New Year was EXHAUSTED. Everyone was tired but somehow had that positive hope that everything will be better in the following year. Truly this is one humbling experience for me.