a call for help. so i received this email from marlette today that made me laugh. she started her email with this:

HELP LULA...SA PAG-ORGANIZE NG KASAL KO! POTEK!

ok diba? she's in singapore, i'm in hawaii, and the wedding will be in the philippines. hehe.

or maybe i forgot to tell her i would get extended? hmmm...

so i guess this is the ultimate test of our skill to organize. whatever happened to that pact we made about never organizing any event ever again? sa teambuildings lang yata applicable yun? haha.

it just makes me shake my head and smile when i remember this one conversation i had with her a couple of years ago at GT's 12th floor. i can still remember that sunny day so clearly. we were sitting on one of those yellow plastic rattan chairs outside and she just started talking about "possibilities" and then i told her that if people in the group are gonna start getting together as in going out, it can't be any one of us - glenn, jt, marlette and me.

and here we are, 3 years later organizing her and JT's wedding. how things have changed. :)

p.s.
visit this for hawaii pics and stories (i just started blogging again so there isn't much stories yet). 

  be careful what you wish for... i've been a delinquent blogger i know.

my bohol post has been in draft status for the longest time. and there were so many things in the past 10(?) months that i could have blogged about. i just never got around to writing them because of the limited internet access at work, which is where i spend 90% of my waking hours now.

a couple of weeks more, and let's see if i get more time to blog and catch up on things i've been wanting to write about...

one thing's for sure though. i want to be able to have the time to explain the title for this post.

if all goes well...i really will find the time.

...as soon as i get settled in hawaii. 

  Panglao Island, Bohol


may it be water or land...
ANG GANDA TALAGA NG PILIPINAS. :)

** left: mahogany trees almost embracing you as you traverse the road going to chocolate hills
**right: one the little islands around Panglao


i'll leave you with those as i write the tales of my trip. :) 

  i must be getting old.
this morning, i happened to step into a noisy elevator full of vibrant, bubbly college kids probably starting their practicum in some company in the building.

trying not to be rude by covering my ears, i could only wince in my corner on the cramped elevator as they talked in really loud, excited voices all at the same time about their new id laces, yahoogroups, pictures and what-nots.

when the elevator finally stopped at the 12th floor, imagine what i must have looked like when they (all 10 or so of them) shrieked in unison as the elevator doors started closing while some of them were still trying to get out.

ahhh...the uhm, "springtime of youth" can sometimes be annoying isn't it? 

  samu't saring kwento lang.
one night at the casa, JT dropped by to de-stress. as he was opening the (kwatro kantos) Ginebra gin from our "stock", shawie shouted:

Shawie: JUTAY! wag mo uubusin yan ha!
(and then she turned to me)
Shawie: Wag na nga tayo bibili ng malaking gin! yung maliliit na lang.
...kasi nawawalan ng espiritu. sayang lang.


ahhhh...spoken like a true-blue alcoholic! but in fairness, concerned naman sya talaga sa kalusugan ni jutay. (:

************

last friday, we celebrated shawie and jen's birthday at the casa. i call the attendance an "all-star" cast because it wasn't just the usual casa people. it looked like a reunion of sorts for our (ex)project. and it felt nice to be catching up, kidding around, and basically reclaiming that old feeling of belonging - if only for a few hours - from the people that i worked with for more than 3 years, but most, i haven't seen or talked to since the start of the year.

and for the first time ever, we committed the gravest sin of all: we ran out of alcohol. we had red wine, 1L absolut kurant vodka vodka kurrant (the current group favorite), 1 kwatro kantos gin (JT's leftover from my story above), and 20 bottles of beer. come 2AM, i was desperately rummaging through our fridge to look for any stock we might have overlooked. i found an unfamiliar-looking bottle with contents that smelled like alcohol and brought it out. that was when i found out that there is one kind of alcohol not even our group can drink: whiskey. hehehe.

************

and having talked about "belonging", about two weeks ago, those of us who went to the combined teambuilding (with another project) got a shock of our lives. for years, we were so wrapped up in our world, being happy among ourselves, welcoming new comers and their quirks, not exactly caring about whatever is happening outside our project, that we almost forgot one tiny thing: the world doesn't revolve around us pala.

maybe we just weren't used to being the minority. maybe we were just expecting that we will be welcomed in the way that we used to welcome people. maybe we were looking for signs and things that weren't there: a spark of enthusiasm or eagerness to get to know us as much as we want to get to know them. the effort to make new people feel at ease. any semblance of the closeness that we used to have as a project composed of 60+ people. maybe we're just too hung up on what we used to be that we're having a hard time accepting what is right now.

or maybe...it's just basically not possible to embrace new people into your circle when you can't even embrace one of your own.

we wanted to fit in. we were ready to be a part of them. but maybe they weren't.


************

sometimes, it's ok to make wishes. because you'll never know, maybe some of them are bound to come true. (:

back in December 2004. i wrote this entry entitled my selfish, really really impossible wishlist. what do you know, about a year later, i was granted 2 out of 5 wishes (the first and the last). not bad for something i thought was "selfish" and "impossible" huh?

and sometimes i still marvel at how so precise i phrased this particular wish:
a prospective The One who will look after me, and take care of me, and will patiently wait until am ready to love again.

it makes me smile na lang. (:

...now let's see if we can work on those boracay/palawan trips. hehehe.

************

and speaking of trips, one of my goals for last year was to go to singapore. i was meaning to take this trip with marlette, but since she already went last year when i wasn't available, the plan reverted back to the original.

so yes, am going to Panglao Bohol on May. yay! this time, not with my beach buddy marlette, but with glenn, cholo and pangga. we availed of the Cebu Pacific promo and we already have our tickets. next is resort reservation and am off to another adventure in one of the beautiful beaches of the philippines. :) 

  2005
it was the year of a thousand movie nights.
...of scary movies and funny movies
...of good ones and bad ones and anything in between
...of watching more movies in a year than i ever did in my lifetime


it was the year of finding our favorites (if i may borrow the 2006 starbucks planner's goal) - the places we've been to and the food we ate not once, not twice, not thrice...but n times.
...of our favorite place to eat: this japanese carinderia called Keiji Japanese Garden resto located at the Fort
...of our favorite chilling out place: for it's ambiance and comfy pillows - Ziggurat
...of our favorite cocktail mix: frozen gin pomelo at Masas GB2
...of our favorite casa mix: rhum slush is out, but we have wine-sprite with a splash of orange, gin-sprite-gatorade, extra booze, and our very own Shewang drink
...of our favorite inuman place: Bistro/Gweillos in Palanca and Booze Stop right beside bobet's apartment in Kakarong Kamagong
...of our favorite hangover/comfort food: Nanking beef, spicy garlic squid and beef with brocolli at North Park in Makati Ave


it was the year of trying out new things.
...of italian cooking and acrylic and pastel painting classes
...of chocolate fondue and ice cream in Manila Pen
...of flirty tops and skirts and two-piece swimsuits
...of the Luneta experience and CCP food trip (yes, it's new to me)
...of badminton games and timezone trips for the percussion freaks


it was the year of weekly routines and special celebrations.
...of Monday night McDo's in Paseo Center and People Support
...of thursday nights turned 80's night every wednesday at Grilla in Kalayaan
...of the Mazzini Zobel de Ayala NJ celebration in Manila Pen
...of the great Ogos Minas dance showdown at the PA/DE celebration in Dusit
...of the luau cruise around Manila Bay for the MD/VW celebration


it was the year of tireless coffee sessions - from makati to libis to alabang to tagaytay to just about anywhere
...of late-night stories and debates with our frappes and hot mochas
...of crying, ranting, and laughing sessions over our (non-existent) lovelife
...of the mad scramble to get 21 stickers for the coveted starbucks planner


it was the year of road trips and beaches
...of the Batangas to Quezon 12-hr trip just to find the perfect beach
...of summer in Boracay and Puerto Galera
...of trips to Planet Dive Anilao and the great snorkling place that topped Galera 2 yrs ago (salamat Taytay!)
...of the Pahiyas Festival in Quezon
...of the whole day Zoobic Safari and the scary lions and tigers
...of CSI - Matuod in Batangas
...of unplanned trips to tagaytay just for the bulalo and coffee


it was the year of countless sleepless friday nights. (i can count with one hand the number of times i slept through Friday night in 2005)
...of the perpetual casa parties at the call of ANY occassion we can think of
...of videoke nights with the provocative ladies prancing around in their swimsuits
...of dance revolution nights...until morning (and yes, it's baduy to be learning it at age 23, but i'm proud that i'm finally good at it)
...of numerous poker nights using mentos and fox's candies as 5-peso and 10-peso chips
...of board games night that proved CLUEDO is not the game for a group of drunken idiots like us
...of the year that saw us consuming insane amounts of alcohol - our footprints practically etched in the alcohol aisle of shopwise. hehe.


towards the end of the year, however, our casa group had to "break up". jen was assigned in ortigas and had to move out of the casa because she lives in marikina, marlette was assigned in pioneer and had to work midshit (as in 2PM-11PM dapat, but she works til morning), ogos had to teach and moved to 6750 so he has to prepare for his class each night, glenn had to work irregular shifts, chix became busy sometime december, and JT had to work on weekends as well.

it was a drastic change actually just not being able to see each other everyday (yes, we're attached to each other like that because marlette, shawie, jen and i used to live together in the casa and the boys just come and go as they please). harder still that we had to work different shifts. it became nearly impossible to keep the old routine, the old lifestyle now that our work schedules don't jive at all anymore.

i used to wish that 2005 would never end. but alas, there are only 365 days in a year. we knew it had to end sometime but we were still shocked to see the changes unfolding before us. but as i said, it wasn't all sad ending for me. looking back at 2005, i can only be thankful that i was given not just a day, or a week, or a month to enjoy all the best things in life, but a whole year. :)


************

happy birthday to my favorite nephew, JIRO :)
 

  it's been a long, long, while

i hope i would get the chance to post about the year 2005. i keep imagining it will be a looonngg entry so i end up procrastinating. but anyway, i keep saying that so far, 2005 is the best year of my life. it started with a bang and ended with a bang as well. not quite what we (casa people) wanted or expected...but i believe the changes, no matter how sad it made us, weren't as bad as we thought it was/will be. sometimes i think that in a way, we were "punished" for having too much fun in 2005 that we sort of jinxed it. it was like all the proclamations that nothing could ever sink the Titanic...and look what happened.

it was actually a bittersweet ending for me. there were parts of my life that i didn't want to change...but some were inevitable, and some had to happen so i could be happy. it was a tradeoff that i do not regret, but still sometimes brings a wistful sigh out of me. i'm sentimental like that. i want it all. hehe.

anyway, i just want to say that all the effort i poured into taking all the right steps to healing, loving myself, my family and my friends, enjoying all the things that life offered me, pruning myself to become a better person, paid off because here i am - happier than i ever thought i would be. :) nobody expected it, but in a way, i think that it's about time. i was ready. and i still had my faith: there is someone out there who will make me happy. i don't mind if he takes his time finding me. i just know he will.

...and here he is.

hi glenn! :) 

  BLUR
funny how being internet-starved the past three months still leaves me speechless now that we have 2 stolen days of internet service at work...

when i try to remember what has happened in my life lately, everything comes in a blur.

i've had a lot of internet-less moments before when i would feel the urge to rave, vent, or rant, but when the moment has passed, i find myself unable to write at all.

how sad.

what's been occupying my mind lately is this weird homesickness i feel for boracay. it was around this time last year when i went there. oftentimes, when the sun dares to peek in the mornings after nights and nights of rain, i'd find myself thinking how perfect it would be if i was in bora. walking in its shores in the morning when most of the people are still asleep (as if i used to wake up early eh once ko lang naman nagawa yun. hahaha), checking out the brightly colored bracelets and necklaces, deciding where to eat and what to eat, lounging in the sand watching the boats, the sea, the sky...and all those many picture perfect moments which are still so vivid in my mind.

bora is so beautiful in november. there aren't so many people, the nights aren't as noisy, hanging out in the bars isn't so stressful (you can spot an unoccupied bean bag from meters away), the water is crystal clear. the air just right - not so humid and not so cold.

i miss it so. i told myself, bisyo na to go there twice in a year...i hope i have the sense to realize that it's over to indulge that much.

if i survive the urge to go to bora this november, heaven help me, i hope resist palawan.

i so need a beach-break. :( 

  what happens when security lockdown takes effect at work?
1. no internet
2. a neglected blog (two entries in a month???)
3. an expired chatterbox

sniff. and of course it doesn't help that majority of the people who read your blog works in the same hell hole too. 

  in hibernation...
i never thought i would survive it...but here i am, on my 3rd(?) week without internet at work and yet i'm still alive. but still...curse you security lockdown! sniff.

and since i've been tagged by dyanis...

here goes:

10 years ago: i was intensely infatuated over a guy i used to call China Eyes (hehe, ja, naalala ko ang ating unrequited love days). i think he'll go down as The Puppy Love in my scrapbook. hehehe.

5 years ago: i was on my 2nd year of college, feeling very out of place, but still believing that i made the right decision choosing DLSU over the other choices for college.

1 year ago: i was trying to claw my way out of the darkest time of my life.

yesterday: i stayed home, slept and pampered my feet with a peppermint foot spa. :)

tomorrow: i'll probably be late for work (again) and still be internet-less (hmmpphh!)

5 snacks i enjoy:
- chilled lychee jelly
- mcdonald's french fries or sour cream french fries
- kiwi ice from ice monster
- magnolia chocolate twin popsies
- taho (yes, it's a snack. hehe)

5 bands/artists that i know the lyrics to most of their songs:
- Eraserheads
- Rivermaya
- Freestyle
- MYMP
- Nyoy Volante
(syempre OPM na OPM. haha)

5 things i would do with $100,000,000:
- travel, travel, travel
- put part in a trust fund
- buy a house for myself and my family
- treat my friends to the best beaches in the philippines
- give part to charity

5 locations i would like to run away to:
- the best beaches in the world
- somewhere with the biggest open space you'll ever see with lots of different flowers (tulips!) growing in it (or the place na lang like the one where Love in the Tuscan Sun was shot. so i guess that would be in Tuscanny? hehe.)
- the mall (of course with the $100,000,000 in my pocket. hahaha)
(hmmm...can't think of anything else. i thought of very general places. hehe.)

5 bad habits i have:
- i don't eat on time
- i sleep late and wake up even later (natural. haha)
- i procrastinate (a lot!)
- i spend too much
- hmmm...and certain other habits which i'd rather not enumerate. hehe.

5 things i like doing:
- sleep, sleep, sleep
- read on my bed
- have coffee with my friends until the wee hours of the morning
- hang out anywhere with good company and good conversation (syempre sa gabi pa din)
- travel, road trips

5 things i will never wear (or wear again):
- blouses with shoulder pads (even if they go in fashion again!)
- itchy, lacy dresses my mom used to make me wear to church
- knee socks?
- anything uber polka dots or shimmery
(on the contrary, ja, me thinks spag straps, gypsy skirts and rubber tongs are cool. it's so beach-y! i like! i like! hehe)

5 TV shows i like(d):
- Friends!
- Charmed
- Sex and the City
- 7th Heaven
- Smallville

5 movies i like:
- Finding Nemo
- Monster's Inc
- Shrek/Shrek2
- Love Actually
- 50 First Dates

5 people i'd like to meet (alive or dead):
- JK Rowling
- Tom Cruise
- Cast of Friends (syempre five people lang daw diba? hay pasaway)
- Cast of Charmed
- Kristin Kreuk (hehe)


5 biggest joys at the moment:
- my nephew Jiro
- my coffee and drinking buddies
- my "treasures" from college
- the prospect of a new beginning somewhere far


5 favorite toys:
- the original Big Bird i bought in Baywalk last year and the pirated Big Bird my friends gave me for my birthday (ha.ha.ha.)
- the purple porky pig lulu gave me
- my brown/black little dogee
- my green porres bear
- my boytoys - ogos and bobet, does that count? hahaha!


5 people that i pick to do this thing:
- ria
- emma
- mec (i know you don't do these kind of stuff. hehe.)
- anyone from niligang group. haha. let's see
- si chix, kahit na she doesn't have a blog 

  my birthday (July 2) post
i know, i know, it's been almost a month. but i can't NOT blog about my birthday just like i did last year because i definitely want to remember my birthday this time around. :)

can i just say that having your birthday fall on a saturday is the best? because it feels like you're celebrating in two days instead of one - celebration at work on friday and then celebration at home on saturday. for me, it felt like the longest birthday because early in the week, lots of people were already greeting me via text and friendster. :)

i wasn't feeling up for a big celebration. and if i had my way, i would have been bonding and eating ice cream on friday night with a few close friends, and having lunch at home on saturday with my family. come thursday night, everyone was already asking what my birthday plans are. realizing that i can't very well haul everyone to Manila Pen to have ice cream, i finally decided to just have a party in the apartment - which we now fondly refer to as Casa Barberan for all the vices (smoking, drinking, gambling) Marlette and I brought with us when we moved in. hehe. - and then invite my highshool friends over for dinner at home on saturday night.

for me, my birthday really started when i received the beautiful bouquet of pink tulips. i went to the reception area to receive the delivery and read the message:

imma,
these might not be growing on sidewalks,
but i still hope it would bring a smile to your lips.
Love,
R

R? i knew immediately that the initial was intentional and the message was meant to confuse. too bad the sender made a mistake of referring to this blog post. hehe. the Ex doesn't read this blog so it took me about 10 seconds to figure out that the flowers really came from Rhea. sigh...that girl, even if she's in singapore, she makes us feel like she's really not. she's the best and when i got home, i put the flowers in a prominent place in my room so i would be constantly reminded of the sweetie that rhea is. :)

come 11:30PM, the party at casa barberan was underway. almost everyone was there. you know how you feel honored and grateful when someone invites you to a party? multiply that tenfold, and that's how i felt looking at all the people who came to celebrate with me. glenn brought the videoke and of course the booze was overflowing. twice, the lola neighbor walked past the gate to check who's causing the raucus at such an ungodly hour (it was 3AM) and slammed the gate hoping to shut us up. we're bad, yes we are. but we were having so much fun.

by 6 AM, we ushered the last visitor out the door. it was real sweet though that some decided to stay and give in to my pagiinarte na bawal umuwi hangga't di pa tapos birthday ko (meaning 11:59PM of that day). hehehe.

we all woke up to the heavenly smell of breakfast at 11 in the morning. the living room looked like it's been through world war III. but there was dude, standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding a sandok with one hand and a pot holder in the other. and then one by one, sleepy and hungover people started walking out the rooms. there was jen, chix, marlette, don, den, bobet and JT.

those moments after breakfast would be my "birthday picture perfect moment". we were in the middle of a mess but to me, everything was perfect. it felt like the world was in perfect sync. marlette started sweeping the garage. jen started on the living room. even dude and i have a strategy - he would mop the floor and then i'll follow him around to dry it. and then people just started righting odds and ends in a somewhat lazy harmony.

but it was when marlette pointed to the kitchen that i felt a gentle tug at my heart. there was don returning stuff in the ref, den putting the plates in the sink, and chix washing the dishes - my SOUVENIRS, marlette said. don, den, and chix who were the Ex's college barkada...i wouldn't have met them had it not been for him. and being with them used to remind of how so much have changed in my life...i realized then that yes, they are my SOUVENIRS. TREASURES even. i consider them my friends now. not just my Ex's friends. and it's just amazing how these people who were so much a part of my painful past can now bring great joy to my life.

(tut-tut)

there goes my phone, i read the message and laughed out loud:
MAMA: Happy Birthday PANGGA! Umuwi ka na kasi magluluto pa tayo.

hehe. classic talaga mama ko. i hurriedly took a bath and met iyah (who, thankfully was in glorietta).

my saturday celebration was more like what i had in mind. i invited only a few people so we can talk more and catch up. chie was there, so was iyah and arvie and roma. and then there was also eva and vi. the food my brother and mom cooked (i missed all the cooking because i got home late. hehe) were all delicious. up to now, i get hungry when i think of my brother's kare-kare. yum!

after dinner, we went to hang out at the Lanai Red - this cool bar in WestGate near Ayala Town Center. i felt kinda bad really that everybody else was still in the mood to hang out, but i was already too sleepy because i've been up all night the previous night. i became a party pooper at my own party and went home at 2AM.

eva and I still spent some more bonding moments while getting ready for bed. it was when my head hit the pillow that i realized that this is one almost complete birthday. everyone that matters in my life shared it with me. old friends and new friends and family.

my world isn't so bleak anymore. compared to my birthday last year (i didn't want to remember the turmoil so i didn't blog about it. hehe), it felt good to be looking forward to occassions like this again. although that's not to say that my past will never creep up and grab me again. i know there will still be moments...but i'm stronger now. and my heart is healthier now. :)

***

my nephew is growing so big already...he's thinner now because he's too malikot. but i was glad to discover that he can speak more words now and can tell a story that i can understand. :)

these are pics i took on my birthday...he was hanging out in my room and wreaking havoc in it. hehe.




nope, that is not a hat, that's the box of his birthday present :)

***

a birthday realization:
silence really IS deafening. 

  Book 6!
this has been a long delayed post and i intentionally didn't make the title more descriptive because for me, there is only one Book 6 (and Book 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 for that matter. hehe)


  


July 16, at 7:30AM, I excitedly walked inside Powerbooks - ATC clutching my reservation slip dated Feb 27 on my hand. I expected the place to be jampacked, but imagine my disbelief at being directed to stand behind a girl whose line was already snaking through eight freaking bookshelves towards the counter. I looked to my right and saw 5 people (no, i'm not exaggerating) standing in front of the supposedly non-reserved books-only counter holding the very object of my obsession the past what? 4? 5 months?

I thought: this is not the way a tired, hungry, sleepless, over-excited girl (uhrm, woman) should be treated especially when it comes to Harry Potter books! I nearly cursed centralized airconditioning to oblivion (it was stuffy and hot inside the bookstore i swear!) while i watched in dazed amusement as a man lashed out at a staff for "punishing" those people who were buying reserved books. Honestly, their system sucks. How can it be that i am holding a slip of paper (that they gave me) proving that i paid 500 bucks to reserve my copy but they still feel the need to countercheck it with their list in the PC???

Well so anyway, by 9:30 I was already sitting in starbucks reading the first chapter of the book.

RIA, stop reading when you get to this part because you will most likely try to strangle me again just as you did when you read my post with the Book 6 Teasers. (But really, after all this time, how can you still NOT know that Sirius will die?! You've had my book for months!)




I finally finished the book Monday morning. I had to stop at Chapter 29 on Sunday night because I got a bad migraine from reading and crying. Hehe. Man, did i cry when Dumbledore died. I saved the chapter on the funeral hoping that reading it in a public place wouldn't make me cry as much. Later, i realized what a stupid idea that was because i couldn't stop my tears even when i was reading in the shuttle on the way to work. hahaha.

I have mixed (and biased) opinions on the book. You see, I liked Book 5 the least because Sirius' death overshadowed everything (can't help it, i love the guy). I've only read that book about 3 times. The last one out of necessity because I wanted to refresh my memory for Book 6. Anyway, Book 6 was actually good...but, because I also love Dumbledore (even more than Sirius, I think), I guess it would be yet another HP book that would take me a long time to read again. Heck, I was browsing the last chapters this morning and it still made my eyes water when I got to the Chapters discussing Dumbledore's death. hehehe.

So anyway, here are my thoughts on the book. and questions too. hehe.

**
I remember reading in JK Rowling's website that there are chapters in Half Blood Prince that she originally intended for the earlier books but she decided against it...however, i really didn't see the point of the first few chapters of HBP (the muggle prime minister meeting with the minister of magic). Hehehe.

**
I think Slughorn is a shady character. I don't know why.
I didn't like Fleur for Bill at first, but she seemed to have redeemed herself in the end, didn't she? :)

**
And maybe this is a stupid question, but i just have to ask...if the dementors already walked out of Azkaban to join Lord Voldemort, who's guarding Azkaban now?

**
Bellatrix and Narcissa (the bad people) are humans after all. :) I like that JK thought to portray them that way (in that chapter where Snape made the Unbreakable Vow)

**
I was kinda frustrated that it still wasn't revealed what made Dumbledore trust Snape oh so unconditionally. And i would have liked to have known a little background about Dumbledore sana...how he became so powerful and all that.

**
I wonder what JK thought when she chose the title for the book. Is there more to Snape being half blood and his mom's maiden last name being Prince? Would Snape being the Half Blood Prince have any significance at all in the last Book?

**
What happened to Dumbledore's hand? He didn't have the chance to explain that to Harry in their meetings. Or did he? Did I miss it?

**
I loved the tender moments between Dumbledore and Harry.
One when Harry admitted to Dumbledore that he is a "Dumbledore's man through and through"
And another when, after getting the (fake) Horcrux, a weak Dumbledore said he's not worried...because he's with Harry. (am sure there's more, but i couldn't remember them at the moment)

**
I was intrigued by the conversation Hagrid overheard in the forest between Dumbledore and Snape. When Snape was said that Dumbledore took too much for granted and that maybe he didn't want to do "it" anymore and then Dumbledore said that Snape had to do "it" because he agreed to. Could they have been talking about the Unbreakable Vow? I'd like to believe that Dumbledore's death is all part of his "grand plan" and that Snape, for all his evil ways would redeem himself by dying in the last book for the sake of good.

**
The one who found the real Locket Horcrux and replaced it with the fake one...R.A.B...could it be Regalus Black?

**
I loved how the funeral was written. The merpeople and centaurs paying tribute... So solemn. And sad. Sniff. I still hope he will come back in Book 7.
**

ohhhh...i can't wait to see how it all ends. and when that time comes, i know i'll be both happy and sad. happy that i've read another good book (i have faith the JK will not disappoint) and sad that it will be Harry's final journey. Some laugh when they hear us talk about the books as if the characters in it are real. I know not a lot of people understand, but to us HP lovers, Harry and Ron and Hermione and Dumbledore and Sirius and everybody else are as real to us as the people around us. And we can't help but share in their joys and sadness and triumph and pain.

I consider us lucky, for I think not all can have that gift of appreciation and enthusiasm for the books they read. :) 

  a joke...
Ponkan at mansanas sa loob ng ref...

Ponkan: "Grabe! Ang lamig naman dito sa ref! Parang di ko na kaya!"
Mansanas: "Hala! Nagsasalita yung ponkan!"

gawd, i must have a really boring life because this ultra corny joke totally cracked me up...

*smiles*

someone. anyone. please take me to the beach. please? 

  PAHIYAS 2005: May 14-15 It was an unusually hot morning as jen, shawie and i went to meet chix, her family and melvs on our way to Lucban, Quezon. it was my first time to go to the Pahiyas Festival so i didn't have big expectations. i was just basically excited over the prospect of going some place i've never been to before.



this is us: jen, chix, melvs, me, shawie, mike and macel

we took some time resting after arriving at chix's house (it was sweltering hot outside!). her family made sure that we never went hungry during our whole stay there. despite the house being full of other visitors, our little group always had the first dibs at the feast spread on the buffet table. wasn't that sweet? :)

come 4:00, we were ready to go out and explore the world of Lucban. Off the top of our list is Pansit Hab-Hab, whose name we murdered so much that karma decided to take over and made sure we exhaust ourselves first before finally getting our hands on it. hehehe.

panalo naman talaga ang mga pangalan na binigay namin sa pansit na ito. see, me, macel and melvs all had different names for it:
Me: Pansit Hap-Hap (one hap pansit and one hap pansit nga po...)
Macel: Pansit Had-Had (hahahaha. ewww? well at least katunog diba? check out what Melvs calls it...)
Melvs: Pansit LUB-LUB (eh???)

we started walking towards the church and took some pictures. and then, because we refused to eat before leaving the house (because we were saving our appetites), we were ravenous as we walked from one street to another looking for the infamous Pansit Hab-Hab. and you'd think chix, having spent most of her childhood vacations in Lucban would know where to buy it right? but noooooo! i swear, we looked everywhere but could not see one store that sells pansit served in a banana leaf with no fork. we couldn't take it anymore, so we decided to stop by this famous place that sells the best (or so they say) halo-halo. looking back now, i'd say i really did eat a tall glass of real good halo-halo. we would have been more appreciative, if only our mouths weren't watering and our taste buds screaming for pansit hab-hab and pansit hab-hab alone. hehe. we finished off our halo-halos and mais con yelos and then went back to hunting. 6:00 came and the sun was already setting as well as our hopes of ever finding the elusive pansit. we passed by the Plaza and debated whether we should go on to the next agenda (which is the grotto) or keep on looking for the pansit...

and then there it was. i don't remember exactly who saw it first. but imagine our delight when we found carts and carts of Pansit Hab-Hab in the Plaza! and what's more, they're giving it out for FREE! how cool is that? hehehe. it turns out they have a contest for the best pansit hab-hab. they had these adorable sidecars decked with vegetables, anahaw, and kiping among others. they were so colorful and creative and the fun is just starting. i was sooo happy!


look at our smiles at finally getting the fruit of our massive hunt for the pansit hab-hab

we washed our food down with ice cold coke and off we trekked to the grotto. and i'm not exaggerating when i say TREK. you really have to literally take a hike up the grotto if you want to get to the top. you see, this place used to be a mountain standing beside the church (or chapel? it's too small to be a church). and then some really bored Lucban people decided that they want to change the sceneries and make a holy place out of this mountain. from the bottom, there are stations of the cross going up. at the top of the grotto is a gigantic statue of Jesus Christ decked in red and white robes that the people can see from miles and miles away.



check it out. that's a steep climb isn't it? took us more than an hour because we went from one side to the other so we can pass by all the stations of the cross.
the breathtaking view of the sunset and the roads and houses below more than made up for the exhaustion when we reached the top.


we went home to eat and rest a bit. come 10:30PM, we were out on the prowl again. this time, our goal was houses. we wanted to see the transformation of houses - from plain, normal looking houses to colorful, lively ones. as we turned into the first street, we were struck with awe at the picturesque view. it looked like something straight out of a painting - only, with people actually moving around. on the sidewalks were coconut leaves(?) and actual coconut branches. and then there were lots and lots of different kinds of vegetables waiting to adorn the walls of the houses. and of course, there were the vibrant-colored kipings. some houses looked better at night. others bloomed when the sun is out. but all of them are beautiful nonetheless. here are some of the houses i liked. :)




i loved those hats! and nope, that is not a statue on the other pic. hehe. that's an actual living person trying to arrange them vegetables.

funny: chix and her mom wanted to buy tomatoes for breakfast. but when they got to the store, the owner won't sell them. kasi daw ilalagay pa nila sa pahiyas. hehehe. those tomatoes on the left pic are fresh, firm tomatoes, i tell you. and there are crates and crates of them right outside the house!




and presenting, our favorite house. :) you can't see it, but beside the green and red kiping are dozens of coconut halves (the coconut meat still in it), with tomatoes stuck in the middle. and then that flower under the window is made from corn (the yellow part) and sitaw and siling labuyo (the green part). this flower is set on top of corn husk. :) galing no? very creative! loved it!
i thoroughly enjoyed this trip, and vowed to go to more fiestas this year. :) i would LOVE to go to the Maskara Festival in Bacolod...nuninuninu...

 

  am procrastinating i know... i have yet to blog about my trip to the Pahiyas Festival last May 14 and 15. I already have a draft of that post, but i can't publish it yet because am too lazy to do the picture thumbnails...

and then there's the Zoobic Safari trip last weekend which i can still procrastinate some more because the pics aren't uploaded yet (damn workstation lockdown disabled our USB ports. sigh)...

and who knows how slow my page loads when people using dial-up accounts try to view it what with it looking more and more like a photo album as months pass...

and well...when internet lockdown at work becomes effective sometime in the very near future (like maybe in the next month at most), who knows when i'll be able to update my blog again.

i swear. am gonna work up the energy to update real soon.

p.s.
sis mec...took me a looonnggg time to figure it out. i knew i got this from PEx, but for the longest time i've been unable to figure out what it means...

TBIYTC = the best is yet to come

aysus...DITO ko lang pala makikita. in big fonts pa. hay! and to think i've been visiting this site for months!

 

  i dream of...

...fir tree-lined streets
...tulips growing on sidewalks
...beautiful sunsets in the horizon
...swaying palm trees and silvery white sand amidst the clear, blue sea
...yellow leaves falling in autumn
...flowers blossoming in spring
...little birds chirping in the morning
...crickets at night

i dream of quiet, uncomplicated, blissful thoughts everyday,
of a light heart, skipping with delight at each unmarred memory.

i dream of freedom,
of boundless enthusiasm.

i dream of unjaded views and beliefs,
of a fresh, new start.

i dream of a new life.

sigh...is that too much to ask? :(

 

  ang lakas ko naman kay Lord...

I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple of days because I’ve been haunted by (recurring) unwanted dreams of something I try not to think about when I’m awake. The last 4 days, I’ve been waking up more restless, troubled, and distressed than refreshed.

And so, in a desperate effort before I slept last night, I prayed to God not to send those unwanted dreams my way even if just for the night. I badly wanted to rest my mind. I’m tired of thinking troubled thoughts everyday.

I think God heard my plea. He must have swished and flicked his mighty hand to block that particular unwanted dream...

He sent me a nightmare instead.

Hehe. Oh well. Better be thinking about a non-existent mad killer trying to slit my throat in a dark area beside a swimming pool than...something else. :)

 

  Distinctly Galera - Apr 30 to May 2.

10-hr travel. We left the Buendia terminal at around 5:30 AM and arrived in White Beach Puerto galera at 3:30 PM. Why did it take us that long? You might ask. It's because we made a mistake of boarding a RORO bound to Calapan that leaves at 9:30AM rather than wait for the ferry going straight to White Beach at 12NN. And of course none of us idiots knew that it takes 3 hrs to travel from Calapan to White Beach. hehehe. I had fun though. We saw more of Mindoro on the way. And we stopped by this pretty view and was able to take pictures.


zinni, jen, jt, me, lette and irene

Reservations! Reservations! And because we thought we weren't pursuing this trip, we cancelled our reservation at the last minute...and ended up having to spend the rest of our afternoon looking for a place to stay. Finally before sunset, with our patience stretched to the very limits, we settled into our crib for the night. It was cool though. We slept so well that we woke up all refreshed and ready for the day ahead.



People, People, Everywhere. OK. so it was a long weekend. but i didn't expect the beach area to look like a mob hit it. the ferries were carrying throngs and throngs of people nonstop! modern day exodus yata ito. next time, maybe i'll spread out my beach trips over the year. never only during summers. nasstress ako instead of being relaxed.

Dancer-Flasher. On Saturday night, because we were too tired to drink and try out the Mindoro Sling, we contented ourselves with just hanging out at the beach (we couldn't stand staying in this table we originally snagged for dinner because they had the speakers blaring at our faces). At around midnight, we were watching this girl at a bar who was dancing (she's a great dancer and she's really voluptuous) wearing a bikini top and denim shorts. Either she was really drunk or was totally drugged, but when the people's call to "take it off! take it off!" got louder, she finally gave in. at first it was just flashes of her boobs. and then she'd pull at her bikini top for a little while longer...and longer...and longer. she even posed for the camera showing off her boobs! and then it was her shorts. she danced at the pole showing off her black thongs and butt. it made for good entertainment for a while until i felt things were starting to get out of hand. the tanods came to her rescue and stopped the show to the disappointment of the audience. i was actually relieved that nobody from the crowd dared touch her while she was dancing-flashing. can you just imagine how many drunken men are out there that time?

Dead Corals. had it been only a year ago when i raved about how beautiful the corals were in galera? snorkeling was the one thing i was looking forward to in our trip. and i was severely disappointed to see dead and destroyed corals in the famed coral garden. the colorful plants and anemones that made the underwater world so alive in galera are almost gone. yes there were still lots of fishes, but am guessing they were only staying because they're already used to people feeding them. it was so so sad. i didn't last an hour (or maybe i did). but the waves got me (and the lack of excitement) and made me dizzy so i had to rest by the boat.

A Lot of Back Shots. I don't know why. Maybe our faces aren't worth gracing Irene's digicam but...i noticed that there are more shots of our backs than our faces. hehehe.





Two bottles of Gin, Lime and Sprite. was all it took to make a mess out of our drunken little group. hehehe. We should have taken a picture of ourselves after downing those GSM Blues. That way i'd have Before and After shots with the concoction's pic in between.





Over-all? I learned that you will only have great fun if you don't let all the stress and pressure overwhelm your trip. That, plus of course, good company who wouldn't let your mood level fall below terrific, and who would pick after your mess and make sure you're safe and warm and tucked up in bed before he falls asleep. :) Thanks JT for taking care of all five of us. hehehe.

How can i blog and not post this pic?


am so sorry guys. it still makes me smile. :) humor me. hihi.

 

  HP Mania! Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

Jen, Marlette and I are self-confessed HP addicts. As early as March, we already have HP6 reserved in Powerbooks. And in preparation for its release, Jen and I read Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix all over again in search for little tidbits of information that might give us clues about what Half Blood Prince will be about.

We are HP geeks because we can spend hours and hours dissecting the books (and Marlette can quote the EXACT sentence as it was written there, i swear!). We are geeks because we would prefer to stay up at 3AM talking about HP instead of sleeping off a long, tiring day. and we WILL be the three HP geeks who will be in Greenbelt, specifically Coffee Bean's comfy couches come July 16, each reading Half Blood Prince with cups of untouched frappes in front of us. hehehe. yes, we've already set our HP Date. And because both Marlette and Jen have their books reserved in Powerbooks G3, I will be traveling from Powerbooks ATC to Greenbelt just to read it with them. hahaha.

I was a bit disappointed though that our company decided to offer reservations (with a 28% discount on the retail price) about two months too late. siiggghhh...i would have gotten it for the same price i got Goblet of Fire sana...and that's only P1,150.

Oh well.

Here are random facts about the Half Blood Prince (taken from http://www.mugglenet.com/index.shtml):

* We will learn a lot more about Voldemort in this book.
* The opening chapter of Book 6 was originally planned for the early parts of Book 1 (Perhaps we get a more in-depth story of what happened the night Harry's parents died.)
* We will find out what happened to Hagrid's half brother Grawp. He will be a bit more controllable in Book 6.
* We will find out exactly why Sirius was killed.
* Harry becomes even more powerful in Book 6.
* We will find out why Dumbledore trusts Snape.
* We will find out what happened to Wormtail aka Peter Pettigrew.
* More about the animosity between Snape and Sirius will be revealed.
* We'll definitely find out what Snape's worst fear is, and it'll be important.
* We will find out what exactly Dudley saw when he looked at the dementors.
* The reason Voldemort and Harry both didn't die when Voldemort tried to kill Harry will be revealed.
* We will see more of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, now that Lucius is busy.
* We'll learn more about Harry's scar.
* Moaning Myrtle will make an appearance again, as will Tonks.
* More about Voldemort's birth will be revealed, thus helping us understand why he is so evil.
* Muggles begin to notice "more and more odd" occurrences.
* The wizarding world is really at war.
* Harry will tell his dearest friends about the prophesy after it sinks in to him.
* We will learn more about Harry's relatives, including his grandparents.
* We will find out what happened to Sirius's motorbike.
* It's very important in the plot that Harry has his mother's eyes, and that her wand was very good for charms.
* Something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter.

what could it be?! what could it be???

i am positively tingling with excitement right now. hihihi.

July 16 = Red Letter Day

 

  the things i did differently in boracay this time around...
mar 31 - apr 4

the gang: richard, chix, don, den, me, jeff

1. i slept earlier and woke up earlier
yes, 12NN never found me still snoozing in our cold room and soft bed. and 3AM never found me still gallivanting and drinking myself to near-delusion.

2. i only got drunk 1 out of 4 nights
no, i wasn't intending to be drunk as can be proven by my NOT ordering Bangenge at Pier 1. after my traitorous experience with the tequila sunrise in club paraw on our first night, it was just a bottle of vodka ice for me.

3. island hopping!
a must for first timers. i wasn't able to go island hopping the last time so i made sure i'll get to do it this time. a little note though, start very early in the morning so you'll get to enjoy the sceneries without getting heatstroke, and, make sure the boat has a roof of some sort so you won't get toasted beyond imagination (yes, that's me. and am naturally morena to begin with!)


while waiting for the boat that would take us to crystal cove and puka beach

cystal cove shots and the batugan dogee. unfortunately, we weren't able to explore Cave 2 because the tide was high.


my little boys (who grew up too fast) strutting their stuff at the puka beach

4. jonah's shake
you have got to try this! the best shakes in the island for only about 65-75 bucks! Jonah's is located at Station 1 right beside Pier 1.



5. breakfast
on our last day, we woke up at 7AM and i had my first EVER legitimate breakfast in Boracay. yay!!!

6. eat-all-you-can seafood
though crabs and lobsters weren't included, we were happy with the P295++ buffet at the Boracay Peninsula. they had comfy setting too! low tables and mattress on the sand draped with white cloth.

7. glitter tattoo
prettier than henna, which i think i can also do, if only i knew what kind of paste they use. hehe.

8. cheap meals!
though we sometimes indulged in pricey dinner and breakfast, we're also regulars at Smoke. we also tried Blueberry and Mickay...these heaven-sent restos tucked in the palengke near D'mall. they offer meals for less than a hundred bucks.

9. walk, walk, walk and walk some more.
and i thought i've already seen every nook and cranny of the island the last time i was there. it took us 4 whole hours just to shop for pasalubongs. that's not to mention our everyday afternoon strolls and midnight walks in search for hotties and sexy bodies. haha.

we own this place. yes we do. haha.






 

  the problem is...




i still somehow expect to get this view each time i go outside the house or look outside my bedroom window. and i get incredibly sad each time, when i realize that indeed, i am back in noisy, polluted, chaotic manila. :(


oh, and iyah, did i say it's easier to accept this time that am back?
i was wrong. take me back to boracay please...



 

  comic relief from an 8-year-old



so here's the thing: marlette and i has been totally harassed and stressed organizing our project's summer outing. i was so tired that i was finding it hard to even enjoy what we've been coordinating and planning the past two weeks.

next time i get confronted with this situation (God help me, i INTEND not to have a next time!), i know the solution: bring a kid with you and listen to them talk. this conversation really did make me laugh.

johann: (to khatz, as we were abt to start the games) sasali ka din sa laro?
khatz: (who's 5 months pregnant) ay hindi, baka mapaanak ako bigla eh.
johann: ay may baby ka pala jan. kala ko mataba ka lang din tulad ko.

hahahaha. i could have kissed her for making me laugh.
yes, that's johann on the pic. :)

 

  Things I Learned... from friends' advices and self-help articles i've read. :)

1) i am not a perfect person. but i deserve to be swept off my feet because i know i'm worth it. :)

2) decisions are never right or wrong. no one can ever tell you what to do. so it's ultimately the choices you make that determine your happiness.

3) it is always best to take time in everything - making decisions, healing yourself, being single, accepting your self-worth, falling in love, etc.

4) important things may slip out of your fingers no matter how much you hold on to it. you just have to be comforted with the thought that it is happier in the palm of the one it chose to rest into.

5) pain consumes you. but at least you know you're capable of loving someone. your wounds will heal if you allow it to heal. and in the end you'll know that scarred people are beautiful people indeed.

6) regret also consumes you. but molds you into a better person - or otherwise if you choose to.

7) forgiveness makes your heart light.

8) there is no such thing as never-ending love. only steadfast love weathering all kinds of ups and downs and the loss of the heart-fluttering, stomach-wrenching thrill of young love. the kind of love that may not always be on a high, but it does not mean it's not there anymore.

9) the world may crumble, you may walk through hell, but in the end when you've seen the light, you'll find out that you're stronger than you thought you were.

10) Love is a choice - waking up each day knowing you'll still choose to hold his/her hand, enough to say "It was worth it".

11) You may find another love, but there can never be another you, so continue taking care of yourself. :)

 

  and because we are a group that talk too much...

setting: Coffee Bean - Gbelt
time: 1AM

marlett: so ikaw naman JT...ano naman ang kwento mo?
JT: oo na! wala na kong kwenta!

eh?

dapat kasi hindi talaga nagkakape at nagpupuyat pag may pasok kinabukasan...tsk. tsk.

 

  i just realized... after all the frustration in counting the months, remembering the moments, waiting for The Day...my greatest hurdle just passed and i didn't even notice it.

let me give myself a pat on the back for recovering so well. :)
here comes the sun...

 

  my biggest goals for the year... nope. not new year's resolutions...but things i want to do and accomplish this year. :)

Top 1 - visit rhea and vida in singapore (in lieu of that Bohol trip we've been wanting to take this november. goodbye dolphins! see you next year!)
Top 2 - learn how to drive (and make my dad trust me enough to let me take the car to ATC)
Top 3 - go back to boracay

at this point, it looks like my goals will be realized in reverse order. hihi. and it also follows that i cannot include SAVE MONEY as one of my goals for this year. hehehe. i think am destined to die a poor lady...ok lang. well-traveled naman. :p hahaha.

 

  too many broken hearts around me... some expected. others not.

but fact is, i hate to see hurting hearts. especially hearts of people who are dear to me. and just like rhea, each night i pray, that not one of my friends ever feel the same pain i went through a year ago.

am bothered. am sad. am stressed. :(

i need a peach-cream flavored fruitella lollipop.

 

  gawd...am gonna miss rhea. :(

the other day when i got to work, i found this note on my desk:

imma,
wag ka na umiyak...
your tears are well appreciated
but i'd rather see you smiling. :)

and naturally, being the crybaby that i am, i cried. :(

sigh, i'll never have another friend like her. and i swear, when i get the chance (and the money), i'll go visit her in singapore.

 

  hookah! hookah!

whoever said that you shouldn't go out and stay out late on weekdays when you have work the following day, probably didn't have as cool and fun friends as mine.

wanting to try out something new, our little group of pasaways had a hookah! hookah! bonding last night. off we went to Ziggurat to try out the pricey meditteranean food and ambiance. i was never really price conscious when it comes to food - as long as i like it. but last night, to be honest, i didn't enjoy dinner that much. hehehe.

for the appetizer, we ordered papadum(?), which looked like thin crust, toasted pita bread and tasted like crackers. this is dipped in mango chutney, which tasted like spicy tamarind. it was somewhat sweet at first, and then sour, and then spicy - a burst of flavor that my tastebuds actually didn't like. hehehe.

and then we had kofti(?) which is kebab, (that tasted exactly like Brother's grilled burger. hehehe.) with grilled tomatoes and sweet onions (i don't know how they made it sweet but bobet said it tasted good). it actually wasn't so bad. except that i can order a half pound burger in Brother's for 130 bucks, while this kebab costs more than 700 bucks. haha.

and then glenn ordered cous-cous with beef something, which i know i wouldn't like because my best friend and i had a bad cooking experience with cous-cous a few years back. true enough, when the platter (more like bilao) arrived, the dish looked like bird food and tasted like parmesan cheese. aside from that, it cost 500 bucks. hahaha.

but i guess, it really wasn't that bad because everybody else enjoyed the food (except for the cous-cous). maybe am just not born to be adventurous with food. hehe. am probably fated to eat crabs ang shrimps and lobsters until the day i die.

now what i like about Ziggurat is the ambiance. we ate on low tables lit by a candle lamp in the middle, while seated on big, comfy soft pillows. it was really cozy and after eating, we had to fight the urge to lie down and close our eyes. hehehe. we would have stayed all night (the place is open 24 hours can you believe that?) if only we don't have to go to work the following day.

and then came the highlight of the night: The Hookah - a waterpipe connected to a tube of flavored tobacco (for the night, we chose cherry). it's supposed to be very low in nicotine and the waterpipe is supposed to filter out the nicotine even more. while singing "puff...the magic draguuun", we each took turns smoking from the pipe (yes, there's only one, and yes, it may sound gross that we're sharing, but hey, we're friends! and i have yet to see a person who can smoke the whole thing by himself. hehehe) and the non-smokers got dizzy and the smokers got light-headed almost instantly. hehehe. i wish i have a pic of the hookah. it's an intimidating piece of contraption - something you wouldn't want your parents to see you with because it'll look like you're having a pot session. hahaha.

and well, of course, as i always say, it really doesn't matter where you are as long as you're with good company. and the reason why i immensely enjoyed the night, despite the food, is because of the little group of nuts am with. :) all of us were being silly and we laughed so loud that we robbed the place of any hint of a romantic ambiance for the couple dining in the next table. hehe.

and so this morning i woke up at 8 and lethargically walked past the manager at 10:30. who cares if core hours start at 9? i had a late night. hihi. :-D 

  Jan 28.

From: maxwellandfriends@yahoogroups.com
To: maxwellandfriends@yahoogroups.com
Date: 26 Jan 2005 16:02:23 -0000
Subject: [maxwellandfriends] Reminder - Jeff's berdey


We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Jeff's berdey

Date: Friday, January 28, 2005
Time: All Day


he would have been 23 today. Last night, i prayed that his soul finds peace and that justice for him and his family would come soon...

this morning as i signed in to my yahoo account, i couldn't believe my eyes. I blinked a couple of times to see if i'm really seeing what i'm seeing. but there it is: a lone mail from Jeff.

imagine my disbelief! but then again, there's no reason to be spooked after all...

Jeffrey Gonzales wrote:
To: maxwellandfriends@yahoogroups.com
From: Jeffrey Gonzales
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 06:44:14 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: [maxwellandfriends] Reminder - Jeff's berdey


Dear Friends of Jeffrey,

Hello. This is Jeff's brother, Creighton.

Yes, January 28 is Jeff's birthday. He would have been 23.

I hope I didn't spook any of you by sending this email using his account. But this is the only way I could send this message to the group. And I'd like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for being there for me and my family when Jeff passed. But most especially, for being TRUE FRIENDS to Jeff all these years.

From all the stories that have gone around since he passed, we all know that the past year was a troubled one for Jeff. But one of the highlights for him last year was your Christmas get-together in Sucat (was it Dencio's or Gerry's? I forget). We waited up for him from that outing and he seemed in high spirits coming from seeing all - or most - of you.

His highschool years in St. Francis, and with the Maxwell Class, was really when my brother "came out of his shell" It was there that he developed his varied interests and honed his skills. It was there that he developed some of the closest and dearest friendships of his short life.

In honor of this, we the family of Jeff, together with the comapany he worked for, is working to put up an endowment (scholarship) fund. It will be called the Jeffrey Wernher L. Gonzales Endowment Fund through the auspices of SYKES Asia, Inc.

An endowment fund is a type of fund that, once set up, the principal amount cannot be withdrawn from or closed. Only the annual interest earnings can be used for the scholarship's requirements. This will ensure that it will perpetually benefit the purpose in which it has been created.

We hope to initially sponsor a 1st year highschool student for 2005-2006 but if we do not set it up in time then it will be for 2006-2007. Once our first 1st year scholar enters 2nd year, we will sponsor another 1st year scholar and so on, and so forth, until we will have a scholar in each year level.

This will be a FULL scholarship for each. This means the tuiton, books, uniform and even a daily allowance will be provided for. We envision this to be a coveted scholarship that would benefit an underpriveleged but very deserving individual or individuals to receive an education from teh Scince High School.

I will inform you when this fund has been set up. If you so desire, you may contribute to the fund then. The larger the fund becomes, the more interest it will earn. This, in turn, will allow us to sponsor additional scholars in the future.

We hope that by doing this, we will ensure that Jeffrey's legacy and memory will live on.

For now, though, I will ask that you continue to pray for the eternal repose of his soul. And to silently greet Jeff a "happy birthday".

Thank you all and I hope this finds you well.

Best.

Creighton


his sister and uncle mentioned this when we went to the burial (which, by the way, i knew made Jeff smile because it was done beautifully) and i never had doubts that it would push through.

it makes me teary-eyed thinking about how his family went and are going through great lengths in honor of his memory. i remember creighton in the burial, asking us to keep in touch with his family because it will keep jeff's memory alive. and i know, despite the silence in our highschool mailing list, that jeff isn't far from everyone's thoughts...

happy birthday jeff! beam us a smile from up there.

 

  on a lighter side...

i didn't expect it would be this soon...but yes, i've decided am going back to Boracay this summer. yaayyyy! :)

and well...it looks like everything will be all set and paid for before i even get to tell my parents about it - again. hehe.

************

my nephew will be turning two years old next month. his vocabulary is still very limited to mama, papa, meme, and a lot of other incoherent one word babble. i've asked a lot of people about this but they said that's normal development for little boys. last time he came for a visit, he ran to me and shouted "Tita!" and it's the sweetest sound ever. :)

i am against toys that are remotely related to violence. but after seeing how much he enjoyed playing with our maid's son's toy gun...i finally gave in and bought him one for Christmas, constantly reminding his mom not to let him play with it too much. teehee.


this is jairo striking a pose for tita :)
family arrangement only allow our side of the family to see him at most twice a month. oh what joy it brings every time i discover something new that jairo can do. as of last, whenever you ask him what Nemo said, he would delightfully shout: "hu-ha-ha!" (from that part of the movie where they baptized him as sharkbait and kept chanting "sharkbait, hu-ha-ha!")

sigh. my nephew is such a little bundle of joy!

************

another friend (yes, rhea may aquino, that's you) is about to take a huge step for her career. and that means leaving the project, the country, and our happy little group of friends in pursuit of uhrm...greener pastures. and that also means no more impromptu coffee breaks at starbucks the fort at night, no more sleepy kulitan in the afternoon, no more let's-soothe-each-other's-heartache-with-words-of-wisdom bonding til morning, no more senseless talks, no more lunch breaks na kelangan pa ng memo...and a lot of other stuff.

sometimes you just can't help but hate CHANGE.

but rhea, because i love you, i'll pray that this path leads you to a more fulfilling and rewarding job...pero sana hindi mo na ipagbawal umiyak sa bon voyage party mo diba? hehe.

i'll miss you. that isn't so bad an excuse to cry isn't it?

p.s.
dear Lord, sana when rhea gets there, matuto na sya mag-friendster. hahaha. :)