will i? won't i?

so last night, i was invited by my friend marlowe to come with her and a couple of other friends to visit our friend, lizanne, who has been in kuala lumpur, malaysia, for more than a year now. she's working there with her husband, tony. haven't seen them since their wedding--just shortly before they had to fly off to that country. and of course, my first reaction was: YEAH!!! but then, i have to be prudent about this. (hate being an adult!) i mean, i have money that the company was supposed to reimburse ages ago, but hasn't given me yet. i'm praying the checks are released before july, so that i have money for the trip. in addition, i have to pray my boss will not lose her head when i ask permission to once again take a leave from work. because, although i don't get paid when i'm not at work, she's not really inclined to let us skip work for long periods of time. and to a travel bug like me who only feels right when i'm travelling, that's not good. besides, my last overseas trip (to vietnam) was 3 yrs. ago!

some of my family from far away

haven't written for a while, because i've been sick. but before that, have to tell you about some of my family that visited from the US lately. i believe i talked about my tita (who is the wife of my dad's brother) who visited a few months ago. well, this time around, she came over with her two daughters, lian and stephanie. they're both just a few years younger than me. their older brother, chuck is a year older than me. (yeah, good luck guessing my age. that's really not the point!)
anyway, they spent about two weeks in the province with their mother, and just made time to meet up with us june 13th, which was declared a holiday. we spent the entire day with them. we met up for lunch in greenbelt, and i finally got to eat at sentro. yehey! (i love that my parents trust me enough to entrust meal arrangements to me. i mean, it's not like there's a wide range to choose from. my mom can't eat high cholesterol food. my dad doesn't like complicated and, according to him, "exotic" food. my sister and i pretty much eat a wide variety of food. though, obviously, she eats MUCH LESS than i do.) thankfully, i chose well, this time.

we had the sinigang na corned beef, the sizzling tofu, and the steak. their desserts there are amazing too! aside from the great food, we were all happy to find that my cousins aren't the ultra-americanized types. they've eaten the requisite balut, know how to kill a live chicken, and though they don't know that much tagalog, they're willing to try. i had only met lian once when i was 1 or 2 years old, and stephanie, when she was 6 i think. so really, we had no prior knowledge of each other, save for pictures exchanged over the years.

i thought it was amusing how they kept looking across the table, trying to figure out who my dad resembled--their dad, our uncle, our grandfather, or our aunt? the way they called me "ate", i mean, with a different accent, was also amusing. not weird, just different. we talked about the other places they could go, and stephanie wanted to stay to go to boracay, but she has to go back to san diego because she was moving house.

we walked around greenbelt, passing by the theaters, where they were bowled over by the price of movie tickets. lian said "it was $11 for star wars!!!" then we stopped inside music one, where they bought OPM CDs! i was so proud of how in touch they are with local entertainment. then they told me how they went to ASAP and met celebs backstage. it made me think, once again, how sad that many filipinos would find such activities baduy. after CD shopping, we walked around a bit, then my dad suggested i go with them to divisoria.
once there, they were all game to walk around, and we emerged with arms full of goodies. love divi!!!
afterwards, we got on a cab to go to aristocrat, where we were meeting my parents for dinner. we talked more about places to go to on their next visit, what they did in the US, and had a discussion about whether or not filipino identity is lost when you don't know the language. we had their super-delicious chicken barbeque. and my sister and i tempted stephanie to have halo-halo. then we walked around baywalk.
i was so happy to find that my cousins are smart, sensible, and fun people to be around. i hope to see them again soon.

men

well, cathy started it!!!:O so, here's my list of (ooh-lala!) MEN:
1. michael vartan
2. robert downey jr.
3. gael garcia bernal
4. fujiki naohito
5. ewan mcgregor
6. liam neeson
7. jude law
8. colin firth
9. hugh jackman
10. conan o'brien
*just note: the ones further down the list come later only because they're married.

moment of weakness

the only reason why i might watch "monster in law" against my better judgment:

mt kanlaon

i didn't get to climb kanlaon (not that i didn't daydream about doing so!), but i did get an amazing view of it from several angles. here's my favorite:

that's from the 7th floor deck of the building where f.un. shop is located, near silliman. all 360 degrees of it affords a wonderful view, not only of the city, but of cebu on one side, siquijor on another, and so forth. and the clouds look so clear from up there!

by the way, i had a wonderful time in dumaguete, with some really nice people i met. here are some of them:

kim, mel, hummy with kai and me at buonissimo (of course!)

i'm really looking forward to my next trip... thinking about cotabato or zamboanga or ilo ilo... or maybe i'll be off to another country. as long as i'm exploring new places, i'm happy.:)

to market! to market!

not that we bought a lot of stuff there. but we went to tabo, the market near where we were staying, and the feast of fresh stuff was really a feast for the senses!
i was even able to buy bananas on my own--with my limited bisaya vocabulary. mama's going to be so proud!:D


the sky's always so beautiful outside of luzon. the blues are bluer, and are several interesting shades, and the clouds almost glisten, and the sun's rays touch your skin but don't scorch.

i also like the parks in provinces. they're spacious and very inviting. we hung out at one near the state college dedicated to ninoy aquino. it was designed by that burnham guy who, you've got it, also did baguio's burnham park, and that nice park that i also liked in bacolod city.

nature tripping and nice stuff on wheels

dumaguete is a quiet (read: no-stress) city. everybody's laidback, and no one's rushing from one place to another because traffic jams are an alien concept. but i still had to get in some nature exposure, so we went to agan-an, which is in the next town, a bit farther than the airport. it's such a serene farming community. we stayed there, watching the day turn to dusk then to night. beautiful!


here's another thing of beauty:


did i mention i finished off the 500-picture space in my new memory card?

i also learned how to ride a motorcycle. and didn't fall off it once! hummy, my very able mentor, said i'm a very good student. yehey!!! now to get that license. and a bike of my own! hehehe!

sin-sational

yeah, yeah, baduy title. but "sin city" is really cool. i love it!!! i first read about it in cathy's blog, and was looking forward to it opening in theatres. yes, that's saying a lot! i made it a point to read the graphic novels i had access to before watching it. so i read 1 and 4, lent to me by geray. and, as luck would have it, i got to watch the premiere pa!
ganyan talaga pag may friends who have connections!:P
the direction was, of course, exceptional. expected as much from robert rodriguez and quentin tarantino (he directed the bit in the car with clive owen and benicio del toro). winner! and of course, frank miller. it was amazing how they were so faithful to the visual elements of the graphic novels.


i'm buying the DVD. definitely!

another quiz

i'm on "quiz mode" today.
no comment on this one, though my friends can say quite a bit about certain items, i'm sure. got this off rye's blog:

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is low. Even if you're tempted, you'd try hard not to do it.

You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage.

In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

gaiman, neil

running the risk of repeating just what many other blogs before me have said, i just have to say: i'm very, very excited about neil gaiman's visit to manila in july. yehey! i love his stories. granted i'm not the type of fan who can quote him or rattle off stats about him, but i appreciate his short stories and am starting on "american gods" (thanks to pam).
oh, take this quiz i stole off pam's blog:

You are American Gods! You are mysterious,
intelligent, and creative. To the rest of the
world you may seem a little standoffish, but
really youre just a quiet person. Youre sort of
bookish and are intrigued by mythology and
fairy tales. You might be Wiccan or Pagan,
either that or youre unreligious. You have a
sarcastic sense of humor and are the kind of
person people like to talk to because youre
such a good listener.


*~Which Neil Gaiman book are you?~*
brought to you by Quizilla

pick a number...

got this off gissy's blog. except for the emotional assessment, i think it's pretty much on the money:

Your Expression Number is 7

Very intelligent, you are usually thinking, introspecting, or analyzing. You have a good mind, and you are especially good at finding out the truth. Very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You tend to obsess over wisdom and hidden truths. You are likely to become a authority on any subject you undertake. Operating on a different wavelength, most people don't know you that well. Very logical and rational, at times you tend to lack emotion. So much so, that you often have times coping with emotional situations. You are not very adaptable - you may tend to be overly critical at times.

What's Your Expression Number?

interesting estabs

after i arrived in dumaguete, of course i went over to the cathedral. (i have to confess: i went to get an amazing massage first--at only P250!!!) and i discovered that they did a major facelift on the place. it certainly didn't look like the cathedral i visited when i was last there. but they retained the historic belltower.

nearby, we discovered a new italian place, that's pretty much laidback. it's called buonissimo, and it's run by a G.I. (as in genuine italian). he's a retired pilot from milan. the food is sooo good and the prices are soooo affordable. we ate there several times during my stay, trying out their pasta and pizza and tiramisu. yum!

i also found out that there's an ice cream company that's from dumaguete, and whose market is the visayas. it's called panda ice cream, and they purport to have less fat and less sugar in their ice cream. they also have soya milk. the design of their ice cream parlor, near the boulevard, is really nice. we tried the fried ice cream. interesting!!!

oh, and there's a mcdonald's there too. sort of. apparently, the branch in bacolod sent over vans that they parked beside bethel inn. it's exploratory, i gather. and no, didn't give in to the fries and sundae temptation. (i have a rule about these things: no malls, no fastfood during out of town trips)

i got to see this house that gets overhauled every few years, and is opened to the public during christmastime, garbed in major decorations.

out to sea towards dumaguete

finally, i can sit down and tell you all about my trip to dumaguete. i was there from sunday til saturday, visiting my friend kai, who now has a business there along with some friends, called f.un. shop. they teach kids (and some adults) art and music. the place is so cool, with colorful interiors, and lots of youthful energy. since it was summer vacation, the violin, voice, piano, guitar, flute, and art classes were in full swing.
i took the boat going to dumaguete via tagbilaran. last time i was on such a boat was on a trip to dumaguete also, some 8 odd years ago. i love being out to sea. there's such an enveloping radiance at any singular time of day. no, i don't like being out on deck before the boat leaves the pier--because the air and the stench of the manila harbor is just bad. but once you set out to sea, the wind, the water, sun, and sky all just surround you and fill your senses.
i had to share my cabin with 2 women with 2 kids each--all very noisy, i might add. that was my cue to spend as little time possible in there. but no matter, the deck was a wonderful place to spend time.
before sunrise, the air is crisp. the stillness and vastness of the night slowly become colored by the rays of the sun. pinks, blue, purples, and yellows brighten up the dark sky. throughout the day, the sea changes colors and textures--from smooth to foamy, to latticed even; displaying shades of green and blue and bluegreen and shades you'll never see in photoshop palettes. and it's alive with flying fish, jumping fish, and bangkas, boats, and buoys, and the occasional islands that people point to, but can't really identify. i spent an hour staring at the side of the boat, observing how the waves crashed and receded, and felt completely refreshed afterwards. the sea is the perfect place to watch a sunset. the colors and silhouettes that accompany the vanishing of el sol are delightful, then calming.
owning a boat is one of my corollary dreams. i realized i still feel very strongly about it. so i might just put up a "fund" towards that goal. to be surrounded by wide open spaces, the vast sea, the wind all around... (insert images from "Moby Dick" here)

a mirror project onboard

view from the back of the boat

i'm back!

i've been back to the congested city of my birth for a week now. but the consequence of taking time off for a vacation is more work!
so by some stretch, i haven't posted for more than a week. but i have fabulous news, dahlings! this blog has spawned a new one! (collective shrieks and claps in excitement!)
i've decided to put together all my "funny signs" and etc. and they're all to be seen at thefunnys.blogspot.com.
so that's the good news. the sad news is... i have to rest my aching head, so i'll blog about my adventure (well, not quite an adventure) in sunny dumaguete another time. oh yes, while you were all running for shelter because of the rains (love the rain, don't like its unpredictable nature sometimes), dumaguete was enjoying fair weather--sometimes hot, but never scorching.
more of that next time.