Monthly Archives: March 2010

Life as I Know It

On the eve of my officially becoming health-conscious, I splurge

March 30, 2010 – 5:56 am

Tonight I splurged on an amount of food that’s good enough to throw a party with because (1) my dysmenorrhea is making me a very cranky person and I kinda don’t like messing with my hormonal, PMS-ing, cranky self so I had to cheer her up a bit; (2) I was at home and in front of the computer the whole day so I thought I should go out and reward myself for actually being able to get some work done; and (3) Hooray I’m officially starting to go to gym tomorrow anyway.

Krispy Kreme's Mini Doughnuts

Cheetos Puffs and a Can of Coke

Burger King's Mushroom Swiss

Heh. What’s a box of Krispy Kreme mini doughnuts (ohh and some painkillers for the dysmenorrhea please, thank you very much), a bag of Cheetos Puffs, a can of coke, and a Mushroom Swiss Meal from Burger King when I’m spending the next 6 months of my life being a slave to my gym trainer anyway, right?

Yes, friends, I finally succumbed and signed up for a 6-month fitness program! I was really just walking around one night checking out my neighborhood when I passed by this fitness center and thought I’d come in to inquire, and geewhiz, their lounge looks so inviting and they have dance classes and their marketing consultants are soo cute convincing and I. Am. Just. Human!

Kidding aside, I’m honestly starting to get concerned about my health and my eating habits and how my office and my bedroom are like 3 steps away from each other that my body has developed this horrid habit of resisting any form of physical activity. So yay, please be happy for me because I’m actually taking a step to the right direction (as Kara Dioguardi would say, LOL), and finally doing something good for my health, and my future, and the future of my kids. And oh boy, this is the first time that I ate this much food and didn’t feel bad about it. (Woot, let’s celebrate with more doughnuts!)

Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

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I blog this in behalf of Love

March 28, 2010 – 4:59 am

And I mean that two ways. (1) In behalf of my friend, whose name is Love; and (2) In behalf of this thing you won’t dare try to define because every definition would seem to fall short; this thing that brings two people together to take the leap and journey their lives as one.

With Lovelle <3

Meet Lovelle, or “Love” as friends call her. We knew each other from UP Diliman but her family migrated to Sydney shortly after graduation. When I went there in 2008, Lovelle was among the few friends I got in touch with. I honestly can’t recall the specific details anymore, but I do remember that our quick lunch date then was a meaningful exchange of stories and prayers between two crazy, lovestruck dreamers. These photos are from that beautiful afternoon in Paramatta, we only had a few, oh how I wish I took more!

It has been a while since I last heard from her, and since she last updated her blog. And so I was pleasantly surprised to read this short and sweet blog comment she left in one of my posts, which lead to an exchange of happy emails between two giggly, still-lovestruck but now-2-years-older-and-wiser dreamers.

Here’s an excerpt from her email, her response to my demand for details:

Last Sunday night after church, we were having our goodbye hug but this time, he didn’t let go straight away, instead he whispered, “Will you marry me?” So I had to step back and get him to repeat the question. Haha.

It’s so funny coz all day, even at church, he was agitated and always sulking but he won’t tell me the reason why. At that point, everything dawned on me that he was really scared/tensed/about-to-die coz he didn’t know if I’m gonna say yes to his proposal.

When he asked the question again, I said YES. :)

He didn’t even get a ring coz he’s not too sure of my size so we went engagement ring shopping just today and I got to pick the style and the cut I want. :D

I’ve heard all sorts of engagement proposals, ones which had all the grandeur and fireworks, and they’re great, no doubt about it. But there’s something about simple proposals such as this one that tugs into the deepest portions of my heart. I love the quiet, the simplicity, and how they happen at the most unexpected of times. I can just imagine Lovelle’s joy.

It inspires me to hear stories like these. Of lovers taking the path to marital bliss. Of couples being blessed with babies after years of praying for them. Of high school classmates passing the boards and now having an “Atty.” attached to their names. Of friends leaving their comfort zones, and successfully establishing their careers abroad.

Like I told Lovelle, stories such as hers are living testimonies and constant reminders that God stays true to His promises, and that He is who He said He is — Faithful, Perfecter of our faith, Author of love, Maker of all things beautiful.

Happy is an understatement, Lovelle. My heart soars for you, and the love of your life, and the exciting journey you’re taking together. ♥

Tags sydney, Weddings | Permalink | Comments (8)

Destinations Life as I Know It

New York, movie nights with myself, and the universe throwing signs my way

March 25, 2010 – 2:48 am

So I accidentally-on-purpose found this old photo of Time Square I took in 2008 with my Holga, and oh my wow, I just.. meh, I feel like my love affair with New York was cut too short I have to go back and pick up where we left off or else I’d spend my entire life counting whys and what-ifs.

Times Square, October 2008

I mean, come on. The signs are everywhere.

You see, I’ve been watching movies lately. Last full shows. By myself. And if you must ask, it’s not that I don’t have friends to watch movies with, I do have friends okay, it’s just that I recently discovered that it’s actually fun and therapeutic to watch movies alone. For one, I get to freely choose how I want my popcorn and have it all to myself (sour cream with extra salt, please). Secondly, I get to pick which movie to watch without the fear of being judged for my preference (something chick flick which doesn’t require too much thinking, please).

So it’s my third movie date with myself tonight. The last two movies I watched were Remember Me, and When In Rome, because they’re kindof the only chick flicks in the list and the other options were either way too comedy or way too serious for my taste.

I really don’t want to discuss in length how I thought Remember Me was too depressing to be watched alone, and how confusing it was to see Edward Cullen, James Bond, and Ellis Grey all together in one film; or how so-so When In Rome was, and how the only interesting part of it was the fact that some scenes in the movie were shot in Rome (you’d think, with that title, that the entire film took place in Rome, but no!)

I’m going to say my point now, people, sorry for talking way too much.

What I’m saying is.. What really made my heart leap in both movies was how they brought me back to New York and wooed me with beautiful moving images of Manhattan, Times Square, Central Park, Staten Island ferry, Brooklyn bridge, those yellow NYC taxi cabs, pigeons flying all over the place, and almost-empty subway stations, so much that it starts to feel like there’s this void in my heart that only New York can fill.

It’s a sign, you see. These movies — they are signs. I am bound for New York again, I know it. I just don’t know exactly how in the Universe it’s going to happen and when, but I am so going to be back there, the signs are just too obvious.

(And no, please don’t point out how stupid it is, and blasphemous, to consider these chick flicks as the Universe’ way of revealing to me my future. Of course I’m aware of the absurdity of that.) :P

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Life as I Know It

Bullets, because I’m too scatterbrained to put them into one coherent post

March 22, 2010 – 8:39 pm

+ I hate it when I struggle for days trying to gather my thoughts and translate them into words and sentences, and then later on, reading about what’s going on in my head in other people’s blogs. YouknowwhatI’msaying? On the upside, now I only have to link to them and exclaim, “that’s what I thought!”

+ I was reading Ala Parades’ tumblr post, Let The Right One In, and this one word came to my mind as I finished reading: Ahhh, VINDICATION. I mean, sure, Ala’s just another girl, and one can always say that this may not be the case for everyone, but it made me sigh in relief to know that hey, I’m not alone in wanting to feel needed. I’m not psycho, hooray! Admittedly though, (unlike Mae), I’m kind of the extreme version of that type of girl. The kind who, when in a relationship, lets the other person in too much too soon that she loses herself early in the process. Sure, I can take care of myself, I can easily adapt to whatever comes my way, and I have countless of dreams up my sleeve that I thought I can do without any help from anyone, more so from a potential boyfriend. But once in a relationship, I easily lose my grip on these things, carelessly let my guard down and just totally lose myself to the other person, which sucks, because when I start to realize that the other person does not really need me the same way, or that we’re not in the same page after all, then I start needing more, and well, everything’s just downhill from there.

I think I figured out what’s wrong in the equation. It’s not wrong to want to feel needed, or to expect your partner to need you in his life, or to lose yourself in him — those are, in fact, essential in relationships. I think what I missed out on is knowing/meeting/finding the right person to let in, the operative word being “right”, because letting one wrong person after another in is no good either.

+ I wish I have Ate Stef’s courage, sharing her breakup experience like that. I remember blogging something similar way back in 2007, and well, things like this amaze me. How easy it is to connect with people who share the same experience, and sometimes even with your 23-year old self. Break-ups may be ugly (I hate them, I don’t ever want to feel that sadness ever again) but, just as I blogged 3 years ago, I still believe that going through a break-up is one of the most (if not the most) liberating, life-altering experiences one can ever go through. It comes with the simple fact that when God allows something to end, it’s only because something else is bound to begin. And that’s kinda the part I love about break-ups. And whut, did I just use “love” and “break-up” all in one sentence?

+ My brother cooked his specialty Chicken Enchilada Sunday night and gee, as I munched on a plateful of that yummy stuff, I kept thinking, where did my brother learn to cook like that? Sure, he must have inherited his cooking instincts from my mother and my grandmother, who are awesome cooks by the way, but ohhh how I feel cheated! I mean, I’m the only girl among the siblings, and I seriously believe that I should be the rightful inheritor of any of their culinary skills, not my brother! I’m sometimes disappointed with the stagnancy of this life, I feel like I’m not getting anywhere! My friend Trisha, who’s in Sydney, used to just blog about random, girly, PMS-y stuff like I do, but now, her escapades to the culinary world are just WHOA. It’s awesome how her blog, Sugarlace.com in case you missed the link, has become a venue for some serious honest-to-goodness domestication. And I, meanwhile, am still blogging about nonsensical emo stuff. I am so envious. I have got to find something I can excel in. Maybe not cooking, but something. Anything!