Category: personal

Dinner for two: soup, spam-and-egg sandwiches, rootbeer floats.

We had Thor-day on Thursday. Friday was supposed to be badminton, but Jaykie was feeling sick, so I lifted weights while he rested with his iPad. Saturday was Free Comic Book Day and the first day of the two-day Comic Con, but it was too hot to leave J’s air-conditioned room. It was so hot I had to take at least two showers. Saturday pm it began to rain really hard, complete with thunder and drama. Counterproductive weather. We did nothing but eat and watch shows. White Collar. Sons of Anarchy. Battlestar Galactica (the remake). How I Met Your Mother. Parks & Rec. Big Bang Theory. Community. Modern Family (their Mothers’ Day episode cracked me up – I love Gloria). Plus Inside Job, a documentary that J and I liked a lot.

Around 800 words on a new story. Yaaaay.

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Happy Mothers’ Day, Nanay (who thankfully doesn’t read this blog, haha). :)

stilts

Maundy Thursday’s the only day the entire department is available to go anywhere as a group (no newspaper for Good Friday so the office is closed), and this year we grabbed the opportunity.

We went on a daytrip (8 am to 6 pm) to Stilts in Calatagan, Batangas. Left Makati at 4:30 a.m. We were able to arrive and leave on time, it was ridiculous. On the itinerary: lunch on the beach, swim, camwhore, dinner on the way home. Special thanks to Boss Kate for making it all happen.

Her notes: “Technical notes re this trip: Entrance to Stilts was at P350/head (daytour). Since we brought in our own food and drinks, we also had to pay corkage of P100/head. (Food at the resort was around P300/meal). We also rented an open hut good for max of 15pax for P850. How to get there:View map here. Rented a van for P3,500, excluding gas and toll fees.”

Photos from Ate Julie, Andrea and Kate, Almi, and my camera.

I was happy to see that the beach wasn’t crowded at all. (Even though we ran out of parking space.)

We were given green mango juice as a welcome drink. Sour and yummy.

The Research Team: Marielle, Almi, Schatzi, Lawrence, me, Kate (plus Andrea and Jaykie!)
My beachmates.

Lunch was Andok’s chicken!

Stilts also has a pool –

Those were Jaykie's legs. Definitely Lawrence's idea.

and a raft, to fulfill your camwhoring needs.

I have never been in a successful jump shot before. UNTIL NOW BWAHAHA.

See Jaykie jump! Howeeee!

Final pose before packing up:

Wheeee wiiiiind.

The water was cold and the beach was stony but the weather was fine and the company was great and the place was beautiful. I had fun! Next year uli!

Beach tomorrow, then home on Friday. I’ll be offline till Easter. My mother’s been pestering me to take home my Free Press copy with “Reunion” published in it, so yeah I should put that on the to-do list. (I also have awesome news involving that story, but I’ll keep that under wraps for now, tee hee.)

Stay safe, you guys. Spend time with your loved ones.

senior year

The high school that Senior Year shows is the high school that I know. I have never seen a more honest, more vibrant depiction. This is not the oversexed, ultra-hip, super-rich, privileged variety shown in Western TV, or the overwrought, lachrymose, mechanical high school dramas shown in local shows. In this high school, teachers are real characters, lovelorn students leave anonymous letters, graduating students fret over college entrance exams, and players cry when their batch loses during the intramurals. Here, the characters talk in class and with each other, and every time, they sound exactly like high school students – overeager, overconfident, a little bit naive. They speak in cliches (“Wala kasi tayong batch unity, e.”), use generic terms, and at times are unintentionally funny, but always, always, you see that shrug, that smile, that says you cannot touch them because they are invincible. And then, years later, the things that used to mean the world to them, they forget. High school has always been bittersweet, and Senior Year works because it offers no false note.

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What could be better than watching Senior Year with your high school friends? Jaykie’s my date. After the movie, we had dinner. It was a good night.

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Old pictures (ninakaw sa Facebook ni Ghia):

:)

– Saw UP Samaskom’s L.I.V.E AIDS for the first time. The thing with watching a first show (we watched the matinee on Saturday) is you can be sure there will be mistakes. This shouldn’t be the case, but it happens. It’s the first show of a run, people are giddy/nervous/crazy, and the audience is basically a guinea pig. The second show will be tweaked and perhaps will end up better, with no dying microphones, people who forget their cues, etc.

purple stage

 

There were errors. Yeah. The pre-show felt like it was done on the fly, although I did laugh at the Mara/Clara gag: “Anong gagawin ko, Clara?” “E di mag-aral ka, bitch!” In the show itself, some jokes fell flat, and the ending feels rushed, but I still found myself laughing at certain segments (Shalami is HILARIOUS). But it could have been better. It should have been better, damn, it’s Live Aids. They decided to put up a musical, but the music isn’t extraordinary, and the story arc (based on the Wizard of Oz) actually restricted the comedy. We don’t need a story, Samaskom, we just want to laugh.Give me one skit after another, and I’ll be a happy clam.

I heard last year’s show was better, so now I’m having second thoughts. Should I watch again next year?

– Jaykie and I tried Wicked Kitchen. I’ll recommend everything we had: buffalo tenders, chunky cheese sticks, chicken kebab, fish and chips, drunken seafood platter, and this big-ass cookie (Gluttony, cookie with ice cream – to share). They have good food.

– We weren’t able to exercise this weekend because we weren’t feeling well, but next week! I need a month to burn this m*therf*ckin cookie!

health and wellness fair at the office

Findings:

1. Bone Scan by Calciumade – 0.4 bone density, still normal

2. Body Age Testing by Sustagen Premium – Body age is 24.4 years, almost the same as my actual age (I’ll be 25 in seven months); weight should be 116 to 143 pounds, I’m just a pound overweight! That came as a surprise, but of course I’d like to lower my weight by more than just a pound.

3. Massage by Salonpas and White Flower – Three-minute back massage, loved it.

Glad to hear I’m relatively healthy.

I smell like White Flower right now.

good, good, good. good.

1. Book 2 of 3 from The Book Depository has arrived!

I need to read faster.

2. Got my investment papers (ooh so serious, so grown-up) from the bank, and finally figured out that particular bank’s online banking system. Dyusko, enrolling took me ages.

3. We’ll be watching Live AIDS for the first time this week!

4. Weighed myself a while ago.



Weight Chart

That’s a loss of almost six pounds since February! I still have nearly twenty pounds to lose (ugh) but I’ll take it!

I don’t run anymore. What I do now is I go to the (small) (free) gym at the condo at least twice a week and use the stationary bike and do seated rows and lift weights. I eat rice when I feel like it, but no more than once a day. Badminton on Fridays. Saturdays, since Jaykie’s classes are over, we plan to either run or play Frisbee.

I feel better about myself. I mean, I still try to watch what I eat, but at least now I can eat pizza without freaking out.