Maya Maya Beach Weekend

Found an adorable beach house for rent in the village paper. Took the one remaining free weekend left (as all our adult days have suddenly been accounted for. Why is that?), and hied down to Maya Maya and Punta Fuego for some much needed R&R.

Best decision ever. Lobsters. Our own cook. Pool. Jacuzzi. Boat. More importantly, SUN.

And, we were the only ones on the island(s).

Click on image above to view entire album

p.s. Pardon the cobwebby imprint on all the photos. I totally missed that when I cleaned my lens. Grr.

Saturday dinner at the house

Bebo's highschool friends and a few of our neighbors joined us last Saturday for a quasi-home cooked meal. By quasi, I mean Bebs cooking the baked chicken and spicy tuyo pasta, Jons and Paul spotting the pizza, Weedge bringing the salami and cheese and his cook preparing the eggplant casserole, and JJ and Carol taking charge of the booze. Lovely evening! We enjoyed ourselves till 2:30am, as no one seemed to want to go home! hahaha. I wonder why...  

Group shot

My hubby and me

More photos here. 

Nocon-Chua Nuptials

08.08.08.

Some highlights at Chuck and Abbey's wedding:

• The Friday night traffic brought us hours late to the couple's wedding. Dyahe. We arrived horribly late, but somehow managed to have two dinners that night. Even more dyahe.

• With JJ in town, the evening also turned out to be a high school reunion of sorts for Bebo's batch. There are tons of pictures to prove this, thanks to Matron of Honor Maggie and her constant pull of the wedding photographer.
  

• Chuck can sing! And so can his older brother. Standards, no less. I was highly impressed.

And finally, the story that will go down the anals of barkada blooper history:

• A 60-ish year old barong-clad guest catches the eye of Carol who is absolutely certain the man was a senator. She convinces JJ and Bebs that he is in fact a politician and they spend a good portion of their time eliminating personalities and figuring out that elusive name. Until a moment of clarity suddenly hits Carol and she finally puts the man's face in proper reference... the assumed dignitary was actually an active Knights of Columbus in Merville. HAHAHAAHAHAHA. Nice one, luv.
  

The Orosas, Bharwanis, Filarts and Montinolas.

Best buddies

My handsome date

More pictures here.

Congratulations, Chuck and Abbey! We were honored to have shared your special day with you.

Still in the calendar...

I forgot I had these.

I'm not sure who took most of these photos, but THANK YOU for covering the event!

And thanks to everyone who came and shared the evening with me :) You know you're getting old when you don't dress up for your own party! Hahaha.

Bebs enjoying the food a little too much it seems...

Posing with some of the guys post dinner.

The party was over, but they still made habol! In the end it was just the Moratos and Bharwanis enjoying the wine. Awesome nightcap.

The rest of the photos are here. Happy 30th to me!

Is that even a good thing?

It seems that I have become the poster girl for the Big Woman's goal in body weight.

Here at work, my heftier colleagues when discussing that other four-letter word (diet), find themselves referencing me as their benchmark for achieving an ideal body weight. That, if they only reached my size, would make them utterly content and happy.

Awww...

Until,

Good Sense processes all that as being one-two rungs below the fat ladder, but too chunky to be thin (which is the Impossible to attain without a miracle--or a surgery category).

Sound Judgment then proffers the (unsolicited) verdict:

In essence, you are the Big Woman's benchmark because you, my friend, are still classified under the Chub Club. Yes. You still play in this team, honey.

Potek na yan.

Sniff.

Previously on this drama series...

Yes, I am back from the dead.

Soon as I moved blog sites ten months ago, I found myself more and more lazy to update it. Well friends, here I am, returning from the silence and attempting to bridge the gap between September 2007 and July 2008. In situations like this, I find that the bullet point is always the quickest and easiest cataloging device (read: tamad! haha), so here goes.

In a nutshell:

• What was initially a three-month vacation to the Philippines turned into six, then a year--and counting... until one day, Bebs and I looked at each other and knew in our hearts we were meant to stay. Vancouver will still be in the future, but for now, Manila is home.

• Soon after the all-important decision, we moved into a cottage guest house of sorts in the lovely village of Ayala Alabang. It was the first place we looked at, and we were instantly smitten. Living quarters and vacation house rolled into one. Awesome.

Our housewarming party with the gang

• Residence down, mode of transport next. We acquired a promising low-mileage second-hand pick-up--shiny and looked almost brand spanking new. It was diesel, and automatic--what else could you ask for? Let me tell you, the degree of comfort we experienced in our charming new home was proportionate to the amount of hell and headache we faced--correction: still face--with the truck. Sigh. Life can't all be perfect.
  

The truck gets towed one Wednesday night at the Fort.

• Always the workaholic, I got me a job even before I even knew we were staying. My current employment was also one of the main reasons we decided to work it out in the homeland. At long last, I am in a job that marries my college education and my eight years of marketing & communications experience. The opportunities for growth are daunting, and yet worth getting both hands and feet dirty. I have never been so excited about work.
  

Where all the magic happens.

My office, although this is old news. Office is under renovation, so I am currently sardined with six other officemates in one of the few remaining functional rooms.

• As if a career wasn't enough, I am also back in school. Yes. Writing a screenplay and it is unfolding ever so slowly. Loving my new thesis adviser, though. Would be unfair to divulge his identity as he has no knowledge of this blog, but let me just say that for my personality, crazy work sched and erratic communication habits, he is just the mentor that I absolutely need to get this much delayed stage of my life over and done with. In another life and on a more level playing field, I think we could actually be very good friends.
  

• Ministry. Ah, yes. The feeble attempt of flawed humans at expressing their faith towards a BIG majestic God. Most days we hope it actually counts for something. And sometimes, in His grace and mercy--and definitely not of our doing--He shows up in spite of us, and makes those feeble attempts worth something. This is one such case. Eight months, and still counting. :) And hey, if you're ever in Fully Booked - High Street on a Wednesday night, do come by and join us. We have good music and donuts (Thank you, Krispy Kreme!) And we do not bite.

And finally,

• After almost six years of wedded bliss, we have decided to try for a baby next year. It is by far the scariest decision I have ever had to make.
  

Whew.

As you can see, all guns are blazing in this season of our lives. What can I say, I'm getting old. There is no other way to go, if you think about it.

Switchfoot rocks Manila!

I know, I know. Long absence and all.

BUT.

You’ll forgive me when you see the pics I’m posting. Whoo boy, this week has been nothing short of amazing. I lot has happened the past two months, but this one takes the cake. So the rest of my life will have to wait another blog entry. hehe.

The short of it is, I got to be Artist Liaison for Switchfoot at their recent concert last Monday (September 10th). Awesome, awesome guys. Extremely down-to-earth. I’ve seen them three other times in SF, but they are definitely better now. Not some rehashed gig. Totally rocked Manila. A friend said it best, “It’s like I fell in love with Switchfoot all over again.” hahaha. So true.

Oh. And Jerome is now on my list of Pinoy heroes. Definitely.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Read and weep, loveys

Testing out a new home.

I'm almost certain, but not fully. And so I need your help.
Check out my new home and let me know if I should take that final jump.

Oh, and don't mind the layout, or the blank pages. I'm not done with it yet ;)

:)

The perfect time to blog.

Been stuck at home by obligation the past two days. I underwent surgery last Monday for my third molar (an odontectomy, for those in the know). It was growing horizontally so it had to be drilled, sliced open, then removed. Sweet huh? I've never had any serious work done on my teeth EVER because I've never had cavities, so you can imagine how terrified I am the day of the operation. And I'm not crazy about needles either. Ayayay.

Good thing my dentist had me on headphones watching The Devil Wears Prada. Still, it was hard to concentrate, what with the sound of the drill and the constant shower of blood, saliva and shards of teeth sprinkling out of my gaping-wide traumatized mouth. God knows how much of that was on my poor dentist's face. Ugh.

I don't think I'll ever want to be a dentist. Ever. In my lifetime or the next.

Which brings me forward two days, at home, on bedrest. Half my face is swollen, and the toothache is a killer. I'm told these are signs of healing. Funny. Did I mention that when I'm better I'm supposed to go back to have my other third molar operated on?

The only upside to my anguish is that my current diet consists of ice cream and all things cold. Yay! The very things I'm supposed to avoiding in my normal diet. Bebs got me a gallon of FIC Sugarfree Mangoes & Cream... and expressed his commiseration by finishing it. Hmm.

He owes me another gallon.

Meanwhile, check this out: Visual DNA kuno. I do like how it got me. (Thanks to Patsy for the link).

Read my VisualDNA™

Better than life Project Launch Night

A big THANK YOU to all those who came to the launch of The Better than Life Project. You guys are so so awesome! :) Traffic was horrendous last night causing a delay in the show, but we're glad you guys braved through it and stuck it out with us.

For those who didn't get to join us at the first gig, do come to the next shows! We still have the remaining Tuesdays of June.

Here's a glimpse of last night's launch:

From left: Wowee on keyboard, Pido on guitar, Radha, Chedie and Noah (hidden) on vocals), Top on guitar, and Bebs on bass.

Chedie (of the defunct Smokey Mountain). Amazing pipes this girl.

Radha, another crazy lady. She can BELT like nobody's business.

The master himself, Noel Mendez, and my Bebster.

More photos HERE

The Better than Life Project LIVE!

Shameless plug, but all for a good cause...


I need your support guys! :)

My husband Bebs is launching his music album THIS Tuesday at 19 East (along Sucat Highway Service Road). He did all the words and music and got his musician friends to sing them. Some of the artists include Barbie, Jay Durias (South Border), Naldy Gonzales (Side A), Top Suzara, and MANY MORE.

Anyway, I know it's a work week, but I would absolutely appreciate it if you guys could come and watch the show. It starts at 930pm, so you can actually come earlier and have dinner there. Their food is good AND the place is pretty ;) There's an entrance fee of P250, but consider it a good investment for a concert featuring some of the country's best musicians from different bands. Not to mention, the proceeds of the CD sales go to a non-profit organization that feeds street kids in Manila.

The show will run every Tuesday of June at 19 East, so please do invite your friends to come. Also, the CD is available for only P250. I guarantee the music is good . Here's the CD artwork so you know what to look for in the music stands:



PLEASE PLEASE do come. Support local music. Support my husband. hehe. And pass the word around!

Do let me know if you guys can make it. Text or email me so that I can expect you.

See you all there!!!!

One hundred and one reasons

...for not posting, all of which spell the four-letter word: BUSY.

But it's good to be home. Although I forget how excruciatingly hot it is here. Someone has GOT to invent a portable airconditioner. Like one of those gigantic anti-freon cooling contraptions they have at those al fresco restaurants in Greenbelt. Only much smaller. Something you can attach to your phone maybe and packs a good two horsepower charge. And lasts the whole day. I'd definitely buy that over the iPhone. That, or my friend Kira says global warming might actually cause the Philippines to snow one day. I'll take either one.

But yes, all in all it's good to be home. Check out our recent Holy Week beach trip with JJ and Raffy to Subic and Batangas, summed up in our weekend's toys: a 115-ft yacht & her seven-man crew, a chopper, a speedboat and a suburban. Surreal.

Thanks to JAC's good graces for the lovely weekend.
And J for coming home with a bang.
Click on photo to view album, Holy Week 2007.

Never use your cellphone in the shower.

...Yup. that's pretty much the short of it.

So now I've a new phone with zero contacts.
Please be a dear and email (or text) me your contact number/s.

Thanks, loveys. Highly appreciate it :)

Two truths and a lie:

1. I enjoy meeting different kinds of people.
2. My eyefolds are fake.
3. I love wild rides.

So, wanna give it a shot? :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, South City!

About a thousand people showed up at Bellevue last Sunday.
How awesome is that...

My ever so handsome husband and his Alembic

Grooving during rehearsal with Bebs and Dani.
(Note to self: buy a VISIBLE shaker next time!) If you can't find it, it proves my point..

More photos HERE, care of Jamie.