Ode to 2004

Kamiseta sent me a postcard! They spent P11 to send me holiday greetings. I'm quite impressed! Now if only they would hire me as a Marketing Assistant in 2005, then I'll totally love the company foreverrrrr.

Anyway, an ode to 2004:

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before? – Lots! Booked two plane tickets online; went to Colorado and Florida; drove to Vancouver B.C.; watched a Broadway musical on my own; harassed people in costumes; entered the real world; experienced a for-women's-only test; slept in the same bed with one of my website visitors (sounds sl()tty, huh? LoL); got my own Costco card; and how could I forget, I finally got a cellphone!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? – I don't make resolutions; I just aim to be a better person than the previous year. Umm, am I a better person? I'd like to think so.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? – Amazingly, no.

4. Did anyone close to you die? – Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit? – Canada.

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? – A few more good friends. Feeling special na kasi si Pen eh. LoL.

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? – March 17 because I entered the real world.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? – Getting a job in my field.

9. What was your biggest failure? – Sige na nga, lovelife. LoL.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? – I wouldn't call it an illness, since the doctor said that there was nothing wrong with me, but it was serious enough that it warranted me to see a doctor.

11. What was the best thing you bought? – That ice cream cookie sandwich thing at Disney World...500 calories of pure bliss! LoL.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? – Ummm...

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? – Itago natin siya sa pangalang "Lightswitch" because of her abrupt mood changes.

14. Where did most of your money go? – Food and gasoline.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? – Aba, meeting my long lost non-biological twin, of course!

16. What song will always remind you of 2004? – None, hindi ako in love eh so walang theme song. LoL.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, I was far too depressed last year for being unemployed
ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter, of course!
iii. richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? – Danced.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? – Watched TV, LoL.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? – I celebrated Christmas on the 24th with family. On Christmas Day itself, I worked, then spent the rest of the day watching Lovers in Paris. Patawarin sana ako ni God. HeHe.

21. Did you fall in love in 2004? – No. Naks, definite yung answer ha.

22. How many one-night stands? – Three; with Ken Zhu, Bae Yong-Joon, and Papa Christian.

23. What was your favorite TV program? – The Amazing Race! Okay, okay, it was actually Sarah, the Teen Princess, but shhhh. LoL.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? – Itago ulit natin siya sa pangalang "Lightswitch."

25. What was the best book you read? – Angels and Demons by Dan Brown; liked it better than The Da Vinci Code.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? – Christian Bautista! LoL!

27. What did you want and got? – I wanted to see my cousins and got to see them in Colorado last May.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? – My Sassy Girl? LoL.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? – I don't remember what I did, but that's probably because I treated it like any other day; early 20s.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? – Thing? A 15" or 17" Apple Powerbook with a SuperDrive...mababaw ba?

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? – Strictly 3/4-sleeved shirts, slacks, and black shoes. I call it my work uniform look.

32. What kept you sane? – My bank account (my paychecks are directly deposited kasi) and conversing with Pen via e-mail like it was Yahoo Messenger.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? – This year was the year of Asian men: Ken Zhu and Bae Yong-Joon.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? – Both the U.S. and Philippine elections.

35. Who did you miss? – My cousins in the Philippines and the Baretto sisters in Florida.

36. Who was the best new person you met? – Photography Boy...he made me believe that there's a pogi guy in this city. LoL.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004: – Believe in yourself.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: –
Even if there is pain now
Everything would be all right
For as long as the world still turns
There will be night and day
Can you hear me
There's a rainbow always after the rain
-- Southborder's Rainbow

Moving Forward

Today was a perfect example to illustrate my goals for the new year. I'm so upset that I'm blogging at this time of the day instead of my usual 9-10 p.m. "reflection hour." Here are my 2005 goals:

1. Move out of the house.
Whether it's out-of-the-state or out-of-the-country, I'm going to find a place of my own; the deadline being September 1, 2005. This morning, I found that my things downstairs were moved and displaced yet again by Mother Dearest. I've lost hope that my situation at home will get any better as time goes on, so let me move out and at least preserve my sanity.

2. Find a new (and fulfilling!) job.
By no means do I think I'm the greatest, but I think I deserve better. Case in point, one of the hoteliers (No Pen, not Bayong, LoL) called up my boss this afternoon and was telling my boss how impressed she was with me and that if I would like to work as the Catering Manager for her hotel instead. Little did my boss know that I actually took that as a serious offer when she told me about it. LoL. Anyway, someone should be thanking God that my mouse at work is not a wireless one; otherwise, it would have hit her on the head this morning. I was that pissed. My job description does not include anything about putting up with someone's attitude problems so don't give me an attitude because quite frankly, I have one of my own. I seriously think that doctors need to find a cure for bipoloar disorders because I know someone who could benefit from it. Argh! Co-worker L saw everything this morning and that person should also thank God that L was on the phone with someone at that time and couldn't yell at anyone. ::Breathe in, breathe out::

So those are my only two goals this coming year. When those two happen, I will be fine. Guaranteed.

I will take the time this weekend to update my resume and send them out. If you know of any jobs that have an international scope of some sort, please let me know. I'd like to work towards my life goals with this upcoming job change. The JET application process won't be finalized until April so I'm sort of stuck in the middle of things until then. However, I refuse to not do anything about my current situation because I've had it. *SIGH.

Bookness

Because I was basically the only person in the office last week, we didn't get a chance to exchange gifts before Christmas; we did it today instead. I can honestly say that I will remember this one for years to come.

As I handed my gift to Snoopy, I said, "Snoopy, this is the best Christmas gift I could give you. I hope you read it and practice it." She stared at me and said, "I think I got you the same thing!" So we both opened our gift for one another and whaddayaknow, we gave each other a copy of this. Are my boy problems that bad to receive my own copy?! LoL. She offered to give me the receipt so I could return it (since I've read the book twice already), but I think I'll keep it. I swear, that book is my weapon for 2005. LoL.

I also received books from Boss #1 and Co-worker L. I now have my very first cookbook! I can totally move out! =)

Speaking of moving out, Washington State is now ranked as the 9th worst state to find a job. In other words, unemployment is high and finding a job around here is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's a sign, people, it's a sign. HeHe.

Christmas 2004

Happy Holidays to all! (Yes, I'm being politically correct!)

How can you guys not blame me for being a grinch when I'm here at work on the day Christ was born (unless you've read The Da Vinci Code and now feel otherwise). And as if that's not enough, God must truly hate me for what happened yesterday. I was trying to be a good Catholic and went to church yesterday at 4 p.m., thinking that there would be less people at that time. Well, my sister-in-law and I thought wrong because the place was packed. We ended up standing at the back of the church along with the rest of the world. So there I was, trying to converse with God (while trying to erase vivid The Da Vinci Code excerpts from my head as I stared at the Crucifix) for half an hour when I started feeling light-headed. Instead of puking in front of my fellow Catholics, I asked my sister-in-law for the car keys and went back to the car instead. Hence, I didn't finish mass. I didn't even get to say "Peace be with you" to anybody. *SIGH. Sorry God...again.

Anyway, afterwards, the family celebrated Christmas together at our house (I had to put Pen's latest batch of Krung Krung DVDs in the backburner). As always, I was the only partner-less person around, but the great thing about my brothers and sisters is that they don't give me a hard time about this issue unlike the relatives. That, people, is what immediate families are for. LoL. Although, goodness, the Pogi Boys and Ganda Girl are majorly growing up. If these kids beat me to having a significant other, I'm surely going to have some major old maid issues. HaHa!

As I type, my sister-in-law and Ganda Girl are on a plane bound for Manila. Kuya will follow in two weeks' time. They're not going to Boracay at all, so I'm not that jealous...yet.

Smarter than Average

I picked up my new glasses at Costco today. I love them and because of that, I plan to wear my glasses more often than my contacts now. Hopefully, they're beneficial in attracting smarter guys this coming year. Yihee! HeHe.

See Right Through You

I got home just in time to see the last ten minutes of FPJ's funeral coverage; I had no idea it was even going to be covered. I'm no fan; I've never seen a movie of his and I have no clue what the Panday movies are about. The sadness that I felt was more for the realization that the adults that I know are getting older and events such as this in my family will be unavoidable in the years ahead. Sana lang, I'm a stronger woman by then.

When I first heard Susan Roces say that she didn't want politics to have anything to do with the funeral, I smiled because that's how I felt. But then, she took back her words today and I so wished she had not. I stand by what I'm going to say and that is politics did not do anything good for FPJ. If anything, politics tarnished his name and reputation. Hence, I would have preferred if politics was out of the picture during his wake/funeral as to avoid being used again for the second time around.

Jolly Days

I hate it. I hate it when people start talking about Thanksgiving when Halloween isn't over yet. I hate it when people start talking about Christmas when Thanksgiving isn't over yet. I hate it when people start talking about New Year's when Christmas isn't over yet. One at a time, people! Help me slow down my life at least once this year!

So anyway, the other day, I finally returned all the ornaments that I bought; the tree isn't coming up this year. 'Tis another grinch-like Christmas. I'm jealous that every single blogger in the Philippines is blogging about how excited they are about Christmas while I'm just ho humming along. Am I the only one who doesn't feel like it's Christmas around here? I mean, I see that it's Christmas with all the traffic everywhere, but I don't necessarily feel like it's Christmas. *SIGH.

The Code

For two Saturdays in a row (sunny Saturdays, too!) I rushed home after work yesterday and just read until the wee hours of the night. I am here to announce that I have finished The Da Vinci Code. I can now be a willing and able participant in such discussions. HeHe. My thoughts:

1. I wish I was still at Seattle U; I wish I had taken more Theology classes.
2. I really don't know much about my religion (as taught by the Church) and should do something about it.
3. I want to travel to Europe.

Back in Business

I almost fainted when I found out that my domain is back in working order. I thought I would have to cough up some dough to a) transfer my domain back to my old company or b) buy a new domain name. I'm glad I didn't have to do either one. Hooray!

To make things matters worse, I was having problems with my computer at home. I kept getting DNS errors which meant I couldn't view any pages (I didn't know how to fix that). How sad is that?! So I'm hoping that the ISP is the problem and not my computer. Let's see what happens in the next two days.

So what did I end up doing while being ISP-challenged? I read...and read...and read. Be like me and check these books out:

1. He's Not That Into You
Single ladies, please read this book. Unsolved mysteries about boys will be solved. I guarantee it. How did we learn to make excuses for boys and their shortcomings?! Who taught us that?! In 2005, I'm not making, nor taking, any more excuses. Hmph! Singlehood forever, here I come. HeHe.

2. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
My gosh, I've lost sleep trying to finish this book. Make sure you set aside some time (like no plans for the weekend) before you start this book. Good stuff.

3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
I'd like to think that some of the hype has died down, hence I decided to start reading it. I really hope it's as good as Angels and Demons!

What else is there to tell? Oh, I have to mention this because it's quite unbelievable. You got to realize that I don't really get many dreams while sleeping at night. Once in awhile I do, but things/people in the dream don't usually make sense. Guess who was the star of my dreams the other night which made me wake up with a smile that following morning? Christian Bautista! I swear, I was like, what the?! It was a PG-13 dream of course, but I couldn't believe that he was in that dream with me. That boy better watch out. HaHa!

For Culture

I saw the Broadway musical of The Lion King last night from my beloved front row seat. If you ever have the chance to see it, go see it! It was pretty cool to see how they translated the scenes from the movie to the stage. Simply amazing!

While watching the two kids that played the young Simba and Nala, I had to ask myself why I was never introduced to stage plays when I was younger. I don't remember having any opportunities back then at St. Scho. Now I understand (and appreciate) what Ayen Munji-Laurel was trying to do when she produced Rama at Sita for the Philippines a few years ago.

Dirty Pop

Lintik na Target. Everything that I bought yesterday is now on sale this week: my boxed glass ornaments and the Bratz dolls that I bought for Ganda Girl. Now, I gotta haul all of those back to the store. It's a good thing I couldn't find our Christmas tree last night, or else the ornaments would've been up already.

On to more serious topics, I've had it with that pop-up ad that keeps appearing whenever I enter my website! I have stripped the soul of this website (umm, that would be the javascripts), but it's still there! Argh! Anyone have any ideas (because I'm this close to losing my sanity as a geek)?

Wanted Daughter

Yesterday, we met our new boss at Job #1. He's basically our boss' boss (It's amazing how corporations aim to have a flatter organization, but not the government). Anyway, so how did my boss introduced me to the new boss? "This is MiNA. If I had a daughter, I would want her to be MiNA." Exactly how does one respond to that?! This isn't the first time I heard such a thing from an adult (I'm so lovable kasi eh, LoL), but this is The Boss at Job #1! She and I aren't exactly close. Sure we bonded over decorating the office earlier in the week and we've been talking more, but she's not exactly my best friend and I don't think she will ever be. So basically, I just want to know if she truly meant what she said or she just had to say something to the new boss and that's what came out of her mouth. Because all this time, I thought she doesn't like me or doesn't think highly of me. Oooh, as the world turns! HeHe.

No Two Turtle Doves Around Here

My holiday shopping has begun. As always, I bought more for myself. It's the time of the year that I'm actually not afraid to splurge because my motto is simply "Love thyself!" My two pairs of jeans came in the mail today and two books will be coming next week from Amazon. I wonder when I'll be able to declare on here that my iPod or PowerBook is coming. *SIGH. ;P

Anyway, this year, I plan to get more books for people than I have in the past. After almost 365 days, I have figured out that many people are simply clueless about their lives. Hence, books for the co-workers at Job #1. Then, we have the three Pogi Boys and Ganda Girl. Since, I'm enough of a horrible aunt to the boys (I don't know what they want for Christmas and they're always shy about telling me), I think I'll just give them money this year. When I was at Target today (Locals, check out the new Federal Way one, it's huge!), I saw a 4-pack Bratz collection so I'm thinking Ganda Girl will get her birthday wish one month late from me. Now, I just got to figure out what to get for both of my bosses. I'm more worried about my boss at Job #2 because I want to get her something uber nice since she really did go out of her way to write me a reference letter for my JET application. People, have any ideas?

O Christmas Tree

I brought home some work tonight. This is the second time I did this and I'm not too happy about it. First, I missed The Amazing Race. Second, I was so engrossed in perfecting a Request for Proposal (RFP) form that I totally forgot about the eBay item that I wanted to bid on. Grr!

I decided to work on this crap at home because most of my time today was spent on decorating the office. My boss and I headed to Target at lunchtime to buy a tree and trimmings for our brand new office. Yes, the grinch in me got into the holiday spirit after buying everything (there's something really enjoyable about spending money that is not your own) plus there was a woman who gave me Target's last two packs of ornament hangers after she overheard me saying, "Where the hell are those ornament hangers?!" I thought that was quite nice of her and very holiday spirit-y.

Anyway, so now I'm thinking maybe I should be nice and spend some money buying a nice tree for our house. Every year, I moan about putting the tree up because it's a pain in the butt to do so with having to stick each branch on the tree (versus those ones where you just unfold the branches). Plus, I thought it was cool that they now have "Christmas Tree Nets." Instead of circling the tree with lights, you can buy these nets where you just basically shove on the tree and voila! Lights all over the tree! I swear, they're the coolest thing I've seen this year! This can also serve as a Christmas present for my mom because I'm sure she'll be thrilled that I'm not boycotting Christmas this year unlike what I did last year (Hey, I wanted to be in the Philippines, okay?! HeHe).

(Let me babble because I need to entertain myself. LoL)

However, while driving home, I felt a tad bit lonely. There's a difference between being alone and feeling lonely. I'm usually fine being alone, but today I felt lonely. Tsk. Tsk. Two weeks ago, I bought myself earrings and I'm in the process of buying a new watch. While there are boyfriends and girlfriends out there who are worrying about what to get their significant other, I'm here relying on myself to buy the things that I want. There's definitely nothing wrong with that, but having meaningful things is nicer than just having things, correct? Sino kaya ang magbibigay sa akin ng meaningful iPod ko? HeHe!

Mareng Engineer

This warrants a shout out on here: Zara, congrats for passing the board exam! I'm so proud of you! Basta pagdating ko diyan, dapat may blow out ha. Tiyaka, sa kasal ninyo, sana pogi yung ka-partner ko. LoL.

HOTelier

I spent Thanksgiving having a Krung-Krung marathon, thanks in large part to Pen who insisted that I bring her Hotelier copy home with me to Seattle. I vividly remember telling Pen, "Huwag na. Wala akong time panoorin yan and it would be too expensive to ship the DVDs back to you." Of course, hindi nagpatalo si Pen sa argument: Biglang nilabas ang plastic CD protective sleeves and inserted each of the 10 DVDs in them just so that I would shut up and stuff the DVDs in my luggage. Bakit ba lagi akong damay sa mga teenybopper ways niyan?! LoL.

So while people salivated over turkey and gravy yesterday, I was salivating over Bae Yong-Jun (Shall be referred to as "Bayong" from now on. At least I'm not in lust with "Baheng," Pen's Korean papa of choice. LoL.). That man is hot. How come my Korean T.A. for International Business did not look anything like that?! Sheesh! More than anything though, I think he reminds me of Lance Gokongwei kaya falling in lust was inevitable. *SIGH. Hooray for smart-looking, glasses-wearing, tall, clean-cut, educated, English-speaking, and romantic foreign TV lead actors. Mabuhay kayong lahat. LoL.

Hear Ye

My JET application is now in the hands of the United States Postal Services. May they deliver that safely to Washington D.C. by December 1 (I paid extra for it to be sent as Priority Mail afterall). I really hope I get into the program. Please God, let me be three hours away from the Philippines next year! LoL.

Anyway, Christmas is around the corner. My wishlist:

- 40GB iPod
- Apple PowerBook (12" or 15", who cares? I just want one...with a SuperDrive)
- Sony DSC-W1 Digital Camera...because idol ko si Pen
- Il Mare Special Edition DVD (eBay is calling my name)
- two books from Amazon.com

As you can see, I'm going materialistic (and geeky!) this year. Screw the "I want love this Christmas" mantra. Hmph! HeHe.

Peace to All

Ang corny ko talagang mag-goodbye...bumalik na agad. LoL. No, before I go, I need to get this off my chest para makapag-concentrate ako sa mga gagawin ko (plus wala akong magawa dito sa trabaho as of this very moment). I owe a couple of people some apologies:

1. Mark Bautista, I'm sorry.
A month ago, I wished that your show would get cancelled. Kasi ba naman, 6 days a week kitang nakikita sa TV. I knew it was not your fault na may kamukha ka, pero I didn't need the constant reminder of your twin eh. Anyway, so after my little wish, the next Monday wala na ang Sarah the Teen Princess sa TFC. I'm sure it wasn't my fault, but maybe for the first time, pinakinggan ako ni God about my lovelife and he made my wish come true. Anyway, I'm sorry talaga. In fairness naman to me, I think you're a way better singer (and dancer!) than my Papa Christian Bautista (I really love him for his body only). Tiyaka, promdi ka pa...I love promdis, you know. LoL.

2. Parokya ni Edgar, I'm sorry.
When Pen decided to un-conyo-fy me in Florida, she told me that you guys graduated from Ateneo. I replied, "Parokya ni Edgar?! Are you sure?! I don't think so. Si Rico Blanco of Rivermaya, oo, but not Parokya." If I were to use Pen and Jen's words of wisdom, "You look poor" so I couldn't fathom the connection of you guys having gone to a school like Ateneo. But after checking out your website, I found out na Ateneo alumni kayo. So, I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't ruin my love affair with Vinci because I love him dearly. So much! LoL.

So, there. Peace be with you all. Pero, one last hirit: Bamboo. Sure, I think he's cute in that super-payat-he-must-be-taking-drugs-look pero I don't get him. His hit song is Noypi, glorifying being Filipino, pero bakit sa OK Fine Whatever guesting niya, he wouldn't utter a word in Tagalog? Don't tell me a few years here in America, after his Rivermaya days, did that to him. Archie Alemania, paki include nga yan sa Reklamador segment mo sa Whazzup Whazzup.

High Tech

Big news of the day yesterday at work: I got the office's new flat screen monitor. Sa wakas, there's something to be happy about when I'm working.

Around the World

I seriously think that The Correspondents' mission is to make sure I don't fly back to Manila to work. Did anyone see Monday's episode about the unemployment in the Philippines? Siyempre, the highlight was the applicants of call centers with matching footage of them taking tongue twister tests. Tsk. Tsk.

Anyway, then I watched The Amazing Race last night. The contestants had to pick between 2 American Airlines flights and 1 United flight to Ireland. You should've seen my face when people were considering American Airlines. One of the contestants even said, "We won't miss our connecting flight." Folks, if you fly American Airlines, you can guarantee that you will miss your connecting flight. Whether you have 5 minutes or 2 hours of layover, you will miss your connecting flight. Don't get me started. LoL.

So, back to the drawing board: whereelse would I like to go?

• Washington D.C.
  
• Chicago
  
• Honolulu...well, anywhere in Hawaii
  
• Philadelphia (I want to go to the Hershey's amusement park, LoL)
  
• Barcelona (Hola!)
  
• Tokyo
  
• Cairo
  
• Sydney
  
• London
  
• Taipei (for my wedding with Papa Ken, LoL)
  
• Cebu/Davao/Isabela Ilocos/Aklan

With some luck, I can cross off some of those places from my list next year. Saan kaya ako pupulot ng travel buddy? LoL.

Digital Edge

I just got back from Costco: $50 to develop 5 rolls of film. I think it is definitely time to go digital. Sabi nga ni Pen, "friendship cameras" daw if I get the same one as hers. Sosyal ha, hindi na lang friendship bracelets na $0.50 lang. LoL.

So yes, I have pictures to post, but I forgot my settings for my FTP server; I gotta wait for Pen to edumacate me again. Intay pa tayo ulit.

Florida Withdrawals

I hate filling out applications! After taking a shower this morning, I pulled out my JET application, hoping to finish it today. Pero kainis naman. They want to know my college awards, scholarships, leadership roles, etc. Ano ba yan, magreresearch pa ako to figure out when and what. Couldn't they just figure it out na I was on the dean's list based on my GPA for each quarter of college?! Tapos, if I spent two years at Seattle University, couldn't they tell that I got scholarships because who in their right mind would go to that school and pay full tuition?! I'm whining for no reason...tinatamad lang po. So let's all sit down and wait for Pen to post the Disney World pictures with matching captions. LoL. Pinasa pa yung trabaho doon sa isa. HeHe.

Random Florida Memories (No recaps yet. Tinatamad, di ba?! LoL.)

• The birth of my alter ego: Ling-Ling, the foreign exchange student from China
  
• Pen's declaration that I'm a Kris and Judy Ann rolled into one (Pwee! LoL)
  
• Second night's late-night bangayan session when we should've been sleeping (and counting how many Christian Bautistas jumped over the fence!)
  
• Jen's bathroom ways (with matching announcement pa to the whole world, LoL)
  
• $2 bottles of water (kinuha ba yan sa Fountain of Youth kaya ang mahal?!)
  
• Pen's white knuckles sa Splash Mountain...so priceless! LoL
  
• Aladdin and Jasmine, Lilo and Stitch, Chip, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, some random girl dinosaur...all harassed by me (hindi kasi nakakalabas sa Seattle eh!)
  
• "Mga Princessa ng Kagandahan" photo-op
  
• Guy sa Winnie the Pooh ride and Sam Coulson sa Dinosaur ride...yun lang ang mga gwapo!
  
• Seeing Pen in her natural habitat...krung-krung DVDs and vanity pics galore
  
• Visiting 3 malls...we're so Pinoy ha
  
• Crazy Cuban food (they have bananacue!)
  
• Wal-Mart is livin' large in FL
  
• Atlantic Ocean...so blue...so ganda...Ling-Ling likes!
  
• My figuring out why Pen is single in FL...puro lolos and lolas lang eh
  
• Watching Morning Star and MTB with Pen and Jen..."She looks poor!"
  
• "Don't Touch My Birdie" - Pen's farewell song for me before leaving FL (hindi ko kinaya!)

Don't you all wish you were there? LoL.

Trippin'

Not even 12 hours since I arrived in Seattle, I'm already back to the grind. I'm sitting here at work, wishing for warmer temperatures and...Aladdin. Yes, I want Aladdin. HaHa! Excuse me, that's an inside joke.

Anyway, I can say that some of my childhood dreams were achieved during this recent trip to Florida, namely:

1. Visiting Disney World
2. Having sisters (Yihee!)
3. Taking a trip with friends rather than family

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to The Female Twin, Jen, and Ate Len for taking me along with them, for making sure I had food to eat everyday, for taking time off work, for being my "Bambi Fuentes," for taking pictures of me, for treating me well. In other words, thanks for treating me like family. As Rachel Ann Go would say, don't cry out loud. LoL. "Mahal ko kah-yo!"

(Pictures and recaps will follow shortly. Oh...and American Airlines sucks.)

Bye Sunshine

My last full day in Florida has ended. =(

Advice

Let me take a short break from my vacation to say...

American Airlines sucks!

Now, back to some fun in the sun. =)

BBL

I'm off, kids. I'll be back in a week...with pictures...lots of them. =)

Global Connection

Do you guys ever talk about online people to people you know in real life? I always find it amusing whenever I learn that people who are on the other side of the globe talk about me. Ahh, the power of the internet. Yes, people, this is the beginning of my taking over the world. ::insert evil laugh here:: HeHe.

Anyway, let me just say that I absolutely despise my new ISP. I just felt like I'm paying AOL too much for just surfing the internet so I switched. Leche naman, PeoplePC installed like 5 spyware programs during the installation and my personal firewall is overworked from blocking every single application that's trying to communicate with my computer (I felt really geeky just now, LoL). I have tried (and didn't like) MSN, Juno, Netzero, AOL, and now PeoplePC. What else is there? Geeks of the world, please help. =)

Mabuhay si MiNA

I am very proud to say that I voted. More than the war in Iraq and the close race, I finally went out and voted because I realized that there are people in this country who want to vote but cannot. I now understand that I shouldn't waste this right that many people in this country wish they had. My high school U.S. Government teacher would've been proud of me. LoL.

Txt M8

The T-Mobile SIM card that I bought on eBay came in the mail today. Hence, I am now a proud member of the texting world! I'm so sprung! I'm starting to think that maybe I was in denial all these years by saying that I didn't like cellphones. Hmm...another new revelation. LoL. For my memories only...

First person texted
Pen

First person to text me
Belle

First conversation on the phone
Pen: Akala ko kung sino itong may 206 number!
MiNA: Tange! Bakit ka tumawag, mauubos load ko!

ROFL.

It's About Time

I am young. I am single. I have no boyfriend. I have no children. I do not own any properties. I have no pets. Simply put, I have freedom to do the things that I want to do.

Co-worker L has repeatedly pointed these out to me in the past few weeks. Last night, I took some time to finally accept the truth. With that, I have decided to do something about the things that I have only thought about since graduating from college.

Advertising. Working in another country. Helping people. Traveling.

I am very fortunate to have many options, but with that comes great confusion on my part. I don't know which one to take, I don't know what I want the most, I don't know how to get from point A to B. A couple of people have already told me that the best thing to do is to just dive right in. Fine.

In my current work situation, I now understand that life is too short to be doing something that doesn't excite me. Sanity is priceless so it's best not to lose it while trying to earn lots of money. If there's something that I choose to applaud Boy Abunda for, it's his "Are you relevant?" question. I love that question. However, I choose to rephrase that and ask "Are you making a difference?" instead.

I want to be able to answer that question well at every stage of my life and I'm starting now. I am going to apply for the JET Program this year. I am also going to be taking the foreign service exam next year for the chance to re-join the State Department (...Reunited and it feels so good...LoL). How about advertising? I'm currently trying to join them, if only they would answer my e-mail (*ahem!).

That's my current to-do list. I'm feeling good for the simple fact that I'm finally taking some action (who knew that a crappy workplace can do wonders to your sense of clarity!). I think the superwoman-me is back after two whole years of hibernation. Hooray!

Big Silver Thing

Oh my gawd. Oh my gawd.

I had my first "for-women-only" exam today. Twelve hours later, I'm still a little traumatized. HeHe. I saw the instrument and I can assure you that I definitely felt it. LoL. I can't believe women go through this every so often. I also can't believe that there are people out there who conduct these tests. Oh my gawd! Now I know why I chose not to become a doctor! LoL.

Illiteracy is Rampant

I ended up taking my winter coat out of the closet yesterday. *SNIFF. The cold days are here. And with that, pagbigyan na ninyo ako sa itatanong ko...

Wala bang pogi na male blogger dito sa mundong ito? LoL. Masyadong deep ba yung question? HeHe. Papa Patrick used to hold this title, but he has moved on to be with the man of his dreams. LoL. Kaya eto, wala na naman akong ka-loveteam. HaHa!

It's actually a deeper issue than you may think. You know how I always whine about guys these days not knowing how to read and write? Well, maybe that's the problem. The pogi boys of this world can't read and write. Hence, no pogi bloggers! O di ba, how scientific can I get?

*SIGH. Ang dami talagang problema dito sa mundo! LoL.

Five More Months

I know I said one year at Job #1. I know it's the right thing to do, but I swear, I think it's going to be easier said than done.

I want a positive working environment. I want a boss who values me as an employee as well as a person. I want to feel good about spending the day in the office every single time I turn that doorknob in the morning. I want to be with people who get "it." I want to be mentored. I want to not have to put up with someone's personal problems. I want an uninterrupted lunchtime and two 15-minute breaks per day as defined by the laws of this country. I want to be proud of who I work with.

Am I asking for too much again? I was excited about working in an all-women department again, but seven months later, I'm now starting to realize that maybe there was nothing to be excited about afterall (However, I do not wish to be the only woman in an all-men department either. Been there, done that, and wishes to not find herself in the same situation again).

It's a shame that all I'm thinking about is my one year anniversary in which I can finally say goodbye. These days, I'm pre-occupied with thoughts like, "There are three paid holidays in November; December will fly by; then it's only three more months to go." Pathetic!

Please tell me you have a crappier workplace than I do. Please, pretty please? HeHe.

I Will Be There

It's official: I will be in the Philippines sometime next year. Whether it's March 2005, or July 2005, I will be there because I am a woman of my words, and because *ahem ...that's what friends are foOoOor... =D

Butcher's Cut

I got a haircut yesterday. I was hoping for just a trim, but the woman straight butchered my hair. Well, she butchered it with my permission. I'm too stressed out about life right now and seeing my flat hair day in and day out doesn't help me feel better about the world. I swear, kapag nainis na talaga ako sa buhok ko, pakakalbo ko sarili ko. Promise yan. Target date ko sana paguwi next year. I don't know anybody whom I care to impress in Manila (ows?!), it's going to be hotter than Hades since it's summer, and I can go around the country on my backpacking adventures without anyone wanting to mess with me kung kalbo ako. Right? Right! I might have the ultimate freedom of not having to worry about my hair in the mornings kaso naman wala din akong dates nito. Umasa pa! LoL.

Speaking of which, I almost choked on the pretzel that I was eating last night while watching ASAP (Parang all of my entries lately are about TV shows. Obvious ba na tag-ulan season na and I'm in my pseudo-hibernation state? HeHe.). Christian Bautista's brother came on and said (and I quote!), "Sana magka-girlfriend ka na." Parang narinig ko na yan somewhere ha. LoL. Brother Jordan, all I can tell you is, I'm here for your brother; I'm only a call away. LoL.

I Have Joined The World

Hold on to your seats because you might not be able to handle the news that I'm about to tell all of you:

I bought a cellphone yesterday.

Is anyone still with me? LoL. So, I got home feeling like I now belong to society. I feel accomplished for having a cute, tiny Sony Ericsson phone and without signing a 1- or 2-year contract (No new commitments until March 2005, remember?). I started leafing through the manual and what did it say? "Roaming outside of your local network is not available at this time." Dammit. The only reason I finally decided to buy one is because I need it for my trip to another state next month. Goodness!

Now, I got to do more research and figure out which company provides a pre-paid plan with roaming capabilities. *SIGH. The last time I checked, none of the other companies had a cute Sony Ericsson phone for the pre-paid plans. I've checked eBay already for unlocked phones, but it's a pain in the butt to search and bid on phones (I should know, I woke up at 6:45 a.m. to bid last minute on a phone this morning; I lost). If only AT&T had something else besides the Nokia 2260 to offer. Doorstopper na lang ata yan sa Manila! LoL.

Say It Like This

A couple of people have told me to work for a call center once I get to Manila just because it's an easy job to get and the pay is good. Have people forgotten that I'm too idealistic for such a thing?! That is not my goal in my "Balikbayan Trail" adventures, people! Tarush! HeHe. Seriously though, if my "shallow" goal is to just have enough money to be able to eat out every weekend with my cousins, then maybe getting a job at a call center would do the trick. However, I seriously would pack my bags and go back to Seattle if I have to go through those "Hooked on Phonics" training sessions that I saw on Special Assignment tonight. Hindi ko kinaya ang mga nakita ko! LoL.

I even raised an eyebrow on a couple of occasions, mainly on the topic of speaking without accents. I'm sorry, but mas mataray pang mag-ingles yung isang na-interview kesa sa akin na lumaki dito. LoL. I understand that there are Filipinos with strong accents out there. However, I'd like to think that most Americans have interacted with other Americans who have strong accents and they have understood each other. I'd also like to think that people of other races, who have their own accents, have succeeded well in this country despite having those accents. At the same time, as years pass, most Americans will know that call centers are based in India and the Philippines. Just the other week, I called AOL and knew very well that the woman I was talking to was based in India. My point is trying hard na yung emphasis sa "slang." Yes, it is important to make the employees more understandable over the phone. For someone who struggled with understanding her Chinese Quantitative Methods professor for two straight quarters at Seattle University, I completely understand. However, to twist and bend one's tongue for the simple goal of covering up one's ethnicity/nationality is just too absurd for me.

Achieving

I watched Pipol tonight which featured Tony Tan Caktiong of Jollibee. Grabe, I'm feening for Palabok Fiesta and Mango Peach Pies right now. Ahhhh, ibalik na ninyo ako sa Pilipinas! HeHe. Seeing him on TV also made me think that maybe I should've met him in 2002. Baka pinakain pa ako sana ng Chicken Joy sa Ortigas. Although, I sure didn't get any free pabaons from San Miguel nor did I get a free plane ticket from Cebu Pacific Air (but really, seeing Lance Gokongwei in the flesh was enough, LoL). *SIGH. I miss good job perks...and meeting cool people...and having an all-expense-paid housing with 24/7 airconditioning. I guess it's true, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. But don't we always think how great the past is compared to the present? Kaya ako kinakabahan sa mga plano ko next year because I'm sure there will be a point in time when I'll say, "Man, I had it good before." But Mr. Caktiong tonight did emphasize that it's not really the money that makes one happy; it's the sense of achievement. Surviving pollution, traffic, and snatchers will be a sense of achievement, right? ;P

Gotta Get It

This girl loves the Philippines so much, for all you know eh may maleta na yan at umuwi na ng tuluyan! And that's one thing I like about her - she hasn't forgotten her roots. She's proud of who and what she is. Pwedeng patayuan na ng monumento katabi nung kay Ninoy sa Makati sa pagiging super-Pinay nya. -- Ate Sienna's Friendster testimonial

I'm fully aware that I surprise many people with my "Iuwi na ninyo ako sa Pilipinas!" sentiments. However, there are times when I wonder if I'm truly Filipino. Let me explain.

I get The Misadventures of Maverick and Ariel. I laugh whenever I hear the hirits of Ariel's mom. I laughed during tonight's "HipHop at Club V" episode (Is Club V the one in Libis?). I laugh just hearing Ariel say "I'm Ariel with a capital A." Simply put, I get "it."

On the other hand, I still don't get Wazzup, Wazzup, which I find disturbing. Why can't I find that show funny? Where are my Pinoy funny bones? I find it sad that I only turn to that show for eyecandy and not for laughs (Drew Arellano, whoop whoop! And who's that JC guy on tonight's episode?).

Ako lang ba ang hindi natatawa?

Pay Up

I just got my first ever credit card bill yesterday. I almost passed out. That's what I get for going to Vancouver, getting a facial, treating Manila relatives, and driving back-and-forth Seattle everyday all in one month's time. The sad thing is my next bill (or the one thereafter) will be larger. I hate lump sum payments! LoL.

The Cost of Friendship

I am here to declare that there *is* an amount of money that can equal one's friendship. It is $302.40. If you want proof that this is true, please check back in one month's time. =)

PNW Connection

I'm stressed. Hence, the slight layout change. Hence, my clean bedroom, too. I won't dwell in my misery, nor should you (for now, hahaha), so moving along...HeHe.

Pinay Pie was shown last week on TFC. Someone said that she found it funnier than Tanging Ina, so I taped it out of curiousity. Let's forget the fact that I was able to sit through the whole thing when I watched it last night. I wouldn't have if I didn't get a glimpse of Dale Villar towards the latter half of the movie. I had no idea he was in it. I even rewound to make sure it was indeed him and it was!

First of all, I wasn't in Manila anymore when Dale started his career so I never saw him in "Ober Da Bakod" or in his Pepsi commercials. I only knew of him because back in the 90s, there was a Saturday kids show on our local NBC station called "Watch This!" and it featured Dale once because of the Pacific Northwest connection. The storyline was how "Dalebert Ace Villar was a high school nerd" and how "popular he was in the Philippines." Ever since then, I've entertained the thought of my going to Portland and running into him (Portland is only 3 hours away from Seattle). Anyway, I had no idea he's back in Manila. See? I'm not the only crazy one around here who wants to make a career out of being a balikbayan! =)

Giant Scissors

We're using my "witty" ad. Hooray! If you're going to be visiting Seattle after November 1, let me know, and I'll direct you to where you can get the publication with my ad on the backcover. Naks! LoL.

Actually, I shouldn't count my chickens just yet. After submitting the ad to the publishing coordinator, she asked me to change the ppi of the file. She needs it in 300 ppi; I gave it to her in 96 ppi. LoL. So that's why it was looking ugly when I printed it out! I thought it was just our printer. HaHa! Anyway, so when I changed it to 300 ppi, everything looked much better when printed out. However, I had to change the image to 300 ppi also, but when I did, it shrunk the picture to three-fourths of its original size. No! My witty ad needs those giant scissors! So, I don't know what to do. When I resized the picture using "Pixel Dimensions" under "Image," the scissors looked crappy. Holy mother of pearl. I hope I can make this work by noon tomorrow.

Aside from that, I have other problems. Today proved to me (yet again), that there are people who get it, and there are people who don't. We're using this ad without the approval of those on our Board who have seen it. They just don't get it. They're thinking inside the box, while I'm thinking outside the box. Those people who get it can appreciate eachother's work, but we always have to get our work approved by those who don't get it, those who just don't understand. Ahh, have I discovered what the real world is about? LoL.

And So I Want to Work in Advertising

I spent the last 10 hours (no joke!) creating an ad for work. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to "beautify" the ad while I was at the office, so I took the files home in order to work on them. Now, my head hurts and my eyes feel like they're cross-eyed. This isn't the life of a workaholic; more of the life of an incompetent Adobe Photoshop user. LoL.

This is my first ad and I wanted to make sure that my boss will ask me again to do another one in the future. HeHe. I ended up doing two ads to present tomorrow. If I were to make the decision, I would go for the witty one instead of the "normal" (read: uber boring) one. Regardless, both are going into my pseudo-portfolio.

The graphic designers who are reading this are probably laughing right now because of my using Photoshop to create an ad. Patawarin po, Adobe PageMaker is a pain in the *bleep to use as far as I'm concerned. And no, we don't have Adobe InDesign or Quark in the office, so it's either PageMaker or Photoshop.

I don't think I need a second opinion, but is it time to get a graphic design tutor? LoL.

No Excess Packaging

I feel like telling a story, but I have none to tell so excuse this senseless entry...

I just went on MySpace to check out my 7th grade crush's picture again (because the weather is getting colder, folks, hahaha). I just want to say that he's pogi talaga. I can't get over that little fact. LoL. If I think about it, I haven't come across any guy who looks better than him after all these years. Ewan, maybe it's true that first love never dies? I would love to post his picture on here to prove my point but I don't want to re-live my 7th grade stalking skills. HeHe. I just firmly believe that if you're pogi, you're pogi. No amount of cars, clothes, or hair gel can help someone that isn't. That's probably why I like the simple guys because I know that they're not trying hard to increase their pogi points. Mukha talagang anti-metrosexual ako. HaHa!

Since I'm on this topic already: Richie Ticzon of San Miguel All-Stars, married with children na ba? Anyone know? Google isn't helping me much. HeHe.

House of God

I went to church this morning. Every single time I attend mass, I'm always secretly wishing that I would find a Piolo Pascual there ala 9 Mornings. But being that it's 7:15 in the morning, the chances are always slim. Kaya siguro galit si God sa akin eh, kung ano-ano ang iniisip ko sa loob ng simbahan. LoL.

Werk It

First of all, it has been five six years since I have performed in front of a large audience. How I wish that I'm still 20+ pounds lighter, much more flexible, and my mind is not full of confusion that I can still memorize 8 sets of 8-counts in one day without missing a single beat. Times have changed indeed. However, once a person has learned techniques, they are easy to spot on other people. So for the record, let me just say that the difference between amateur dancers and professional dancers is stage presence.

The basic rules that I think people should know when dancing in front of a large audience are:

• Don't look around at what others are doing
  
• Don't lipsync to the music
  
• Don't look down
  
• Don't fidget with your clothes/hair while dancing

But for me, I know you're goOoOod when you can dance your steps and do one of the following:

1. Make eye contact with the audience.
2. Make eye contact with a single person in the audience and just dance to that person. If you can make that person squirm in his/her seat, baby, you're goOoOod.

For the past two years, I've been attending a hiphop dance showcase once a year. I like to see what's going on and it's good entertainment. I don't even mind going to them alone. The "kids" who dance hiphop these days are awesome and I'm glad that they have the chance to start while they're young. However, since they learn from their peers/tv, I feel that technique is not emphasized enough. It's only bugging me because they are awesome, but they are going to be ten times more awesome if they *perform* rather than just *dance*. Werk it with a capital W. :)

(Let me just ramble on about what happened today)

So it was also during a hiphop dance show last year did I make peace with the fact that Dancing King is "playing for the same team" as I am and it was also during this time did I cross off the idea of wanting a significant other with a hiphop dance background. Well, let me just say that the hiphop hormones are back. HaHa! I saw him last year and I saw him this year also. He's clean cut, as light as I am, and frankly, he looks like a nice boy that I can bring home to mother dearest. LoL. He's not one of the popular guys and he's more of a breaker. But with my luck, he's probably way younger than me. Tsk. Tsk. I'm still searching for that hiphop dancer that's clean cut, in his mid-late twenties, a college-degree-holder, who can read and write, who's roughly 5'10," and...who is 100% straight. The last requirement is the hardest to fulfill. ;P

A Literary Find

I ended up going to Barnes & Noble after work to check out the two books. This was sold out. Ahh, the power of Oprah. HeHe. This was in-stock so I spent the next hour leafing through it to get me excited while I wait for it in the mail from Amazon.

If I were a single, twenty-something woman (oh wait, I am), it would be more beneficial for me to hangout at a bookstore rather than a club. At least at a bookstore, you know that the guy can at least read, which is more than you can say about a guy in a club. As always, that's just my opinion. However, it is really getting harder and harder to find guys who can read and write correctly these days. Am I asking for too much again?! LoL.

Anyway, I would've sat in Starbucks since I think it's more acceptable to approach another person there, but I would've had to buy the books first; I was just there to get some free reading time. I would've sat in the chair with the table (if it wasn't occupied by a Filipino guy), but it was located by the Relationships and Beauty sections and I wasn't going for that target market. I would've sat in the couch, but that was occupied also (The more I think about it, the more I don't like my local B&N, LoL). I ended up sitting at the far end of the store, right outside the children's books section. I know it's a bookstore and not a library, but can parents just drag their kids to where they want them to go instead of hollering at them from across the store? Geez! And you can tell how a kid was brought up by hanging out at B&N: the shouting kids were with the shouting parents. How scurry. Anyway, 15 minutes into having sat down, there were three guys hovering by the bookshelves behind me and to the right of me. Don't ask me which genres they were in, but I think I have found the men section of B&N. LoL. I only got a good look at the guy who was nearest me, and hey, not too shabby. HeHe.

My point is...hooray for bookstores.

The Dixie Cup Cycle

I want to get this book so badly (I'm a geek! I'm a geek!), but the Female Twin (uy, may title ka na!) wants me to get this book instead. If you ask me, she's just tired of my stupid boy stories and this is her way of telling me to get expert advice. LoL.

As far as I'm concerned there are four sins that can place a guy on my sh!tl!st. There are two parts of the list though: one part is "You've done me wrong, but I understand," and the other is "Uh-uh, I don't think so. Goodbye." Let me just say that the latter part of the list is longer and once you're there, there's no way out...err, off. Tarush, I know. Let me just break it down because I need to let off some steam anyway (FYI, in no way am I referring to one particular guy with the following...because that would make him so pogi. LoL.):

1. Lying
I'd like to think na madali akong kausap basta katotohanan lahat ang sasabihin. If there's another girl that you would rather be with, then tell me. If you spent your time this past weekend with another girl when you said you were out with the guys, then tell me. I *can* handle the truth unlike what Jack Nicholson would have you believe on "A Few Good Men." It's not really so much about the wrong you committed (we're only human, right?), but it's really the act of lying about it. I'm not dumb, and the more you think I am, the more I'll prove it to you that I'm not.

2. Broken Promises
I don't expect anything in return for any favors/good deeds that I do for others. Well, maybe a thank you, but besides that, I'm happy with the thought that I did something nice for someone else. However, if someone does promise to do something nice for me in return, it better be done. The last thing I want is to wait for nothing. If you're going to say you're going to hook me up with something, you better start hooking. LoL. Don't keep my hope alive if there is no reason to do so.

3. Bragging
I'm happy for the blessings that come to those I know. However, don't brag about them to me. Don't send me 10 pictures of you and your new girlfriend when you know that I'm single during these cold fall/winter/spring months. Don't tell me you took pictures of say, Christian Bautista, and not even share whatever you took with me. If you want to make me jealous of you, spend more time fixing your self-esteem first.

4. Hiding
I guess this is similar to Point #1. We all know that I have FBI-like skills. I'll figure out who the new person in your life is, or what you have been doing with your time lately. Don't say stuff like "Work has been busy" or some b.s. like that. Tell me flat out. Guys have never hesitated to talk to me about Janet's b00b during Super Bowl, or how much they want to upgrade their computer, so why can't they tell me about the new h00chie momma in their life?

But no, I don't blame the guys for everything (I'm a martyr, remember?). My problem is that I'm always here, and that I'm always single. They can return to me whenever they're not busy with someone else. If they need a girl (kasi girl ako!) to talk to, I'm here. I'm the girl that they can try their lines on without risking humiliation. I'm the girl who can lift up their self-esteem (I wasn't an Orientation Advisor, Peer Mentor, and Tutor during college for nothing! LoL). How I wish that one of these days, when a guy comes back after his break-up with someone else, I can say, "Sorry, I can't talk to you, I'm busy with The Boyfriend," or "Sorry, The Boyfriend will be mad if I talk to other guys (although, if he's my boyfriend, I wouldn't let him treat me like that, hahaha). I'm just tired of the Dixie Cup Cycle, getting disposed of for another girl time and time again. Kahit friend lang ako, may feelings din naman ako a! LoL. I really wish there were more guys in this world who are willing to pick the best apples higher up on the tree, instead of the ones that have already fallen from the tree.

So I'm convinced: I will spend the weekend at Barnes & Noble after work and read the book. I'm sure I'm going to be back to my man-hating ways in no time, if I haven't started yet. HeHe.

It's Really Amazing

The Amazing Race is over. As if by coincidence, I horribly missed most of the scenes with the Philippines in them. I hope that just means that God wants me to see the places in person. =)

This was my first time watching the series and I loved it! It made me realize that traveling is really what I want to do; I need to make my backpacking plans a reality. Also, this show proved to me that it would be much better if I could share the trip with someone else. Which of course makes sense: I need to have someone there to take pictures of me! ;P

Anyway, I wanted Chip and Kim to win and I'm glad they did. I was very impressed with Chip when he said in one episode to just give, give, give. According to him, when you do give to the world, you get so much more in return. I need to put that into practice more.

Last month, I asked Pen for advice on what to do about doing someone a favor. She told me not to do it (maldita talaga! LoL), but I did the opposite. It might have been the martyrness in me again, but I owe my good deed to Chip's words of wisdom. HeHe. See? TV is good for you...in small doses. HeHe.

More of Everything

Comments that have made me smile in the past week:

1) "You should be doing something else."
The majority of people I know have been telling me to be thankful that I have a marketing job right now. Yes, I am quite thankful. However, I just want more and I don't see anything wrong with wanting something better for yourself.

When Co-worker L told me that last week, I felt helluva lot better about the world in general. At least someone I know thinks that I deserve something better; that I have the skills that others would want.

Applied to a different topic: Now why can't the relatives have the same frame of mind and quit barking at me for being single. They always sound like I should just go out with any joe-schmoe for the sake of having a significant other. People, I'm single because I'm waiting for "the good stuff"...wow, by the sound of it, I haven't lost hope. ;P

2) "You're funny."
Good enough to be in "The Last Comic Standing?" Didn't think so. HeHe. Sense of humor is a very tricky thing. I just think that if you get it, you get it. And I'm glad that there's people out there who do get it. Naks.

Life for me right now...isn't sucky. I wouldn't call it sucky because I am blessed on many aspects. I'm not really whining anymore about life. I guess, I'm just yearning for more out of life right now.

I Heart Geeks

The Manila relatives left for Houston today. There is now time to feel lonely kaya kinakabahan na ako especially now that the weather has drastically changed. HeHe.

Anyway, a few months ago, I made it clear on here that I am not a geek. Well, I think I might have been lying to myself all this time. Guess where I was on Thursday? I was at the Seattle Conference for Adobe Photoshop Users. I know, I know, but it was work-related, okay? The City paid for it. It wasn't like I used my own money for such a thing. HeHe.

I realized that (okay people, don't laugh) people who can show me tips and tricks on Adobe Photoshop make my day. LoL. Seriously, if you were just staring at me, you would've seen that I got giddier and giddier as the day went on, simply because I was shown how powerful masks, actions, and overlays were. Mababaw talaga ang kaligayahan ng bata. HeHe.

And as if that wasn't enough, I have decided that my next computer will be Mac-based. Kuya Greg showed me the new G5 and yes, I was impressed. HeHe. However, since I need a laptop more than a desktop, I'm trying to decide between an iBook and a Powerbook right now. But since I need to save up for such a thing, I'm salivating over getting an iPod for now. I got to see it in person when I went to Frys for the first time on Saturday. Grabe, that darn thing is cute and I love how it's white and super clean looking.

Geez, what have you people done to me! ;P

Measuring Life

Yes.

That was the answer I got from Ninang when I dropped the "Can I stay in Manila with you for longer than three months?" question on Saturday.

So now, the only obstacle left is the battle between me and my comfort zone.

P10,000 / P55 = $182/month. Traffic. Pollution. Being always praning of getting hold-upped, kidnapped, etc. Dirty public restrooms. ATMs that are hard to find. Feminine pads that are way too small and have no leak protection. Image-conscious citizens. Floods. Heat and humidity. Lack of order. No clean tap water. No hot tap water. Ipis, butiki, langgam, lamok, oh my. No health insurance. Not finding pants that fit.

Those are my biggest worries. Pero sabihin na natin na I have "everything" here in Seattle. Satisfied ba ako? Hindi naman, di ba? Hindi basta madami kang meron eh ibig sabihin na maligaya ka na. There are truly some things money can't buy.

I guess the solution is not to think in terms of money. Better yet, I should say not think in terms of money that I'm not getting. Let's see...P10,000. Out na ang obsession with Kamiseta. Starbucks will only be used for wi-fi purposes and not for drinks. Chalk magazine is P75 lang naman. I've come to terms with not having a car; mas mageenjoy ako sa MRT kesa naman being stuck on EDSA for four hours trying to get from say, Pasay to Quezon City. As far as friends naman, you don't need money for that. Kung magkaibigan lang kayo kasi may pera ang isa't isa, eh di hindi na yon totoong friendship. Tiyaka, hindi naman talaga ako nagpapautang or nagpapauto eh kaya it doesn't matter kung may pera ako or wala. LoL.

March 2005. March 1, 2005 is the end of my 6-month probation status as a "new" full-time employee at Job #1; March 17, 2005 is my one year anniversary. What "sign" did I receive on Saturday after asking Ninang The Question? She told me that they're going to Boracay at the end of March next year (before the start of the peak season). I've never been to Boracay; I've always wanted to go; What a sweet Welcome Back party it would be.

So, who thinks I have enough courage to pull this plan off? Promise, no hard feelings. The online voting polls are now open. HeHe.

Baby Got Back

I watched My Sassy Girl again tonight. Regardless of how many times I've seen any one of my chick flick DVDs, I always manage to cry my eyes out. Feel na feel ata. HeHe.

On an unrelated topic, I think I finally do trust God with my lovelife. Whenever I try to lie to myself and say "Puwede na," eventhough deep in my heart I know it's not what I truly want, He always makes sure that I don't give in to the temptation. LoL. He definitely has my back. Someone had also suggested to me that I should start praying for my future significant other. I haven't really done it before because I feel like I'm really burdening God by asking for too much from Him (HaHa!), but I think I'll start doing so anyway. Let's see if He will take me seriously na. =D

Click

For the second time since I've created it, someone used Gmail's Password Assistance today in hopes of taking my Gmail account from me. Quit it! Stealing is bad! Besides, there are no juicy e-mails there. May I recommend my MySpace account instead? LoL.

Speaking of MySpace, last night, I randomly clicked on someone's profile and read one of his blog entries. He was talking about how great it is to find someone that you click with. Not necessarily a significant other, but just another person whom you can discuss one topic after another for hours. I've asked Pen before about this very topic: why is it that there are people out there that you can have long conversations with (online or offline), and there are those whom you can only say "hi, hello, goodbye" to? I've taken Interpersonal Communications in college and we were taught that we can always steer a conversation to make it more meaningful. I beg to disagree. Regardless of how many open-ended questions I throw at someone, sometimes they're not enough to make me not give a lame excuse to leave the premises. ;X Anyone have a scientific explanation for this umm...phenomena? HeHe.

First Paid Holiday

I haven't been spending much time in my room. If I'm at home, I'm usually downstairs where my computer and TFC are (HeHe). However, today, I spent all day in my bedroom, reading and just being under the covers. Super sarap! I was even able to take a nap from 4:00-7:30 p.m. *SIGH. Getting rest is definitely a good thing.

Letdown

It's official: The Instructor is married. Oh my poor aching heart! LoL. Now who the heck cares that he used to have a pinay gf before? Tsk. Tsk.

Kababawan

The relatives from Manila arrived yesterday. My pasalubongs?

• Muhlach ensaymadas (Carbs and all, I love you still!)
  
• Girbaud backpack
  
• Kamiseta shirt (How I missed you so!)
  
• UAAP and August issue of Chalk Magazine

I swear, I fell in love with Manila all over again through these things. Kababawan to the max! LoL. While leafing through my Chalk issues, I had to smile because of all the advertisements for cellphone-related products: Globe, Smart, SIM cards, prepaid cards, MMS...super-Pinas eh! And, the bitter person that I am kept wondering why there aren't guys like BJ Manalo and Ronjay Enrile here in Seattle. Unfair talaga eh! HeHe.

*SIGH. I hope these things can help me ease the pains that come with the "Ber" months. I felt the chill in the air after my Thursday night's capoeira class; summer is definitely over. SAD is going to be kicking in soon. As Alice Dixson once said, "I can feel it" (Yes, I know, so 1980s! LoL).

One More Time

The Instructor wasn't in class last night, so we had a substitute. Hence, I enjoyed myself more. I was less intimidated and was less frustrated at myself. Life would be much easier if I had ugly instructors for my extra-curricular activities. HeHe.

While having the whole office to myself today, the only thought that ran through my mind regarding a segment of my life was: "Let it go, MiNA. Let it go." I've done it numerous times before, so this should just be another walk in the park. Kaya ko 'to.

Dream Sequence

Setting: In the cafeteria, first floor of the office building, 8:45 a.m.

Guy: So, do you like Chinese food?
Me: Yeah, I do.
Guy: Would you go to dinner with me tonight?
Me: Sorry, I'm busy. Gotta go, I'm going to be late for work.

Setting: In the office, second floor of the office building, 10 a.m.

Co-worker: There's so many people outside! One of the guests in the room across the hall is getting a make-over from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy!
Me: No way! (Opens the door a tiny bit to take a peek. Sees lots of camera lights and people running around.)

A couple of hours later...

(A tiny toy, plastic teeth to be exact, slides under the office door)

Tiny Toy: MiNA, would you go out to dinner with me?

(Co-worker and I giggle.)

Me: Sorry! (slides the tiny toy back to where it came from)

The clock strikes 5 o'clock. Co-worker and I open the door of the office.

Queer Eye Guys: There she is!
Queer Eye Staff: Hi, are you MiNA? Would you please go to dinner with the guy? It's part of the show. It would mean a lot to him.

(I look towards the guy while he's looking into a camera. His hair is much shorter now. He's clean-shaven. He's wearing a royal blue polo shirt, a white shirt underneath, blue jeans, and white sneakers.)

Me: Fine, fine, I'll go to dinner with him.

Setting: Restaurant. I was asked to sit at an empty table with 20 chairs. A big group of people entered the door and headed towards me. The cameras continue to roll behind them. The guy sits next to me; his mom sits next to him; the rest of his family sits around the table. Both of us don't speak to each other for a good 20 minutes. Finally, I lean over.

Me: Sorry about this morning.
Guy: No, problem.
Me: When you asked me to dinner this morning, did you know that it was part of the show?
Guy: No, I just wanted to ask you.
Me: Oh.

The guy and I continue to lean towards each other, keeping our voices low so that the cameras don't pick up what we're talking about.
---
Then, I woke up. I only get dreams once in awhile and when I do-just like this one-certain things don't match up. For example, the people from Manila are in a U.S. location with me. Also, the faces of the people that I encounter are blurred. However, by far, this is the vividest dream I have had; it was vivid because of the royal blue shirt. It was also vivid because I knew that the guy in the dream was a white guy. In the dreams that I've had before, I never knew anything about the guy.

Anyone know how to intepret dreams? LoL.

Frustrated

I didn't have a very good day at capoeira today. I was a frustrated little girl. What I want is basically for someone to hold my hand, babysit me, and show me the sequences slowly so that I can pick them up. Unfortunately, my instructor is not that person, eventhough I would like for him to be that way. Ugh! I also think that I need to work on my endurance, so hopefully, I can get myself to go back to my 6 a.m. walks starting tomorrow.

But I am keeping things in perspective. Before class, since I was the only one there, The Instructor and I had a little getting-to-know-you session. Since, I'm not really the type of person to ask for personal information (I would rather have the other person volunteer that information), I basically got interviewed by him. In the process, I realized that a guy is a smooth talker if he asks me if I'm 35 years old. The whole world knows that I don't look 35, so he was just trying to get on my good side for sure. And yes, he did. LoL. In addition, you know how women don't reveal their age? Well, who knew I was capable of doing such a thing? I didn't mean to, but it turned out that way. It also turns out that he's had a pinay gf before. Yiheeee! LoL. Then, during our stretches, he did his share to help me with my flexibility. Since my site has always been (and will always be!) PG-13, I won't get into the details at all. LoL. I'll just say that touching amongst adults is a very, very beautiful thing. LoL. ::throwing some cold water at myself:: HaHa!

Vancouver

I went to Vancouver today with the sister-in-law and Ganda Girl.

Before going anywhere, I realized though that it would really be nice to have a boyfriend right now. LoL. The Brother was harping on me again about not maintaining my car correctly. Well, hello?! No one bothered to teach me these things. All I know is that I need to get the oil changed every three months and to make sure the tires are inflated well. His reply to me? "You have a manual, don't you?" Ugh! In addition to wanting my boyfriend to be a personal trainer and baskeball player (I've always wanted to learn how to shoot a 3-pointer; don't ask. HeHe.), I would like for him to be an expert at cars also so that I can shut my brother up when he starts going off about things that I don't know about.

Anyway, I don't think I set any records today as far as making it to the border. Remember that my current record is 1 hour and 50 minutes. Since Ganda Girl was in the car (and it's the end of the month were the cops are out and about), I drove more sanely this time around. HeHe.

We basically just went to Galing-Galing, Goldilocks, and Chinatown. To whoever said hi to me at the parking lot of Goldilocks, sorry I was deadma and didn't even bother to look at your face. =)

While at Chinatown, I bought My Sassy Girl, My Tutor Friend, and Asako in Ruby Shoes, all of which are Korean movies. Geez, just when I have finally expanded my Mandarin phrases, I have moved on to Korean movies. The thanks go to Pen as usual. LoL. You gotta admit though that the Korean guys look less metro than the Taiwanese guys I've grown to love so it was slightly inevitable. ;P I was hoping to find Il Mare, but didn't since the salesclerks were being shady and wouldn't tell me where I could find a Korean DVD store. I might have to go eBay on this one. LoL.

This is my last "out-of-town" trip of the summer. *SIGH. Summer flew by for sure.

No Day, But Today

I saw RENT today at The Paramount. Loved it! Absolutely loved it! I'm glad that I splurged on having a front row seat for this one. Hence, the tears during certain scenes. HeHe.

What did I take away from the show? The words, "No day, but today." I must admit, I'm no risk taker, something I inherited from my mom. I need to start learning that I should do the things that I can do today instead of putting them off for another day. When you're stuck at work for 40 hours/week, life does seem to pass you by and it's no easy feat to "live life to the fullest." Let me work on that.

And since today is one of those "let me ponder about my life" days, here's something that I got from my cousin's blog:

"Never let the odds keep you from pursuing what you know in your heart you were meant to do." -- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

My response to that is, "Pilipinas, game ka na ba?" HeHe.

Il Mare

Il Mare is now one of my top three favorite movies (While You Were Sleeping and Sana Maulit Muli are the other two). It is so good! How good is it? I watched it three times in two days! The first time I watched it, I was crying my little Vaness-like eyes out. Grabe, tinamaan talaga ako for many reasons, but instead of divulging those reasons on here, let me just post some unforgettable quotes (or maybe they're forgettable kaya kinailangan kong isulat?). Anyway, I left out a few that got me pretty bad (and will just give all my secrets away, hahaha), but here's the majority of them:

• "I thought love meant eternal bliss." (Charing!)
  
• "We're tormented because love goes on...not because it goes away." (Loved this one!)
  
• "I cannot accept my father's death nor my love for him."
  
• "There are three things a person cannot hide...coughing, poverty, and love. The harder one tries to hide them, the more they rise to the surface." (Ows?)
  
• "Love is a self-inflicted pain." (Ahh, this quote must be from a martyr. LoL.)
  
• "Love comes to us in different ways..." (Sige na nga, LoL.)
  
• "True love comes from true independence." (I haven't heard the term "true love" in ages. As you get older, I think you truly become less idealistic.)
  
• "Are you ready to trust me?" (For you, Lee Jung-jae, I will! LoL.)

Anyway, for those who have seen the movie, I have one question. They said that the house was designed for his true love. So, Sung-hyun designed the house for Eun-joo eventhough they have never met, and he considered her his true love eventhough they have never met? Puwede ba yon?! If that's the case, ang haba ng hair ni girl ha! LoL.

Falling Bricks

Mr. Twin: my goodness...go out and have fun..and if you meet a guy along the way great get to know him..it will only take you a few minutes to know since YOU know What YOU are looking for
MiNA: kaya nga, march 2005 nga
MiNA: geez
Mr. Twin: whatever
Mr. Twin: you know your defense mechanism will be up and running again when you meet any guy
MiNA: lol. u sound like kuya greg
MiNA: he used the term "defense mechanism" on me last week too
Mr. Twin: well its obvious with you thats why

You know, for being my twin, he sure isn't nice. LoL. Anyway, for the past two weeks, a few guys have been telling me "the truth." Terms like "defense mechanism" and "baggages" have been used by errrbody to describe my communication patterns towards guys. First of all, I didn't know I was *that* transparent. Could've saved me some explanations every year, you know. LoL.

I got to thinking though, would I still act the same when I'm in Manila? Would my defense mechanism be at work again when I'm finally there? This is a serious matter, folks. Would I call Christian Bautista "Kuya Christian" when I finally see him? LoL. Granted, I didn't call Totop Suzara "Kuya" when I met him in 2002. HeHe.

After thinking it over, let me sing you a few lines, HeHe:

Through the fire
To the limit, to the wall
For a chance to be with you
I’d gladly risk it all
Through the fire
Through whatever, come what may
For a chance at loving you
I’d take it all the way
Right down to the wire
Even through the fire

Kuya Greg told me that when love hits me, it will feel like a ton of bricks. My reply is that those bricks will be from my wall because it will crumble down for the right guy. The emphasis here is "for the right guy." The crumbling wall and the right guy go hand-in-hand, okay? One will not happen without the other. 'Tis I know is true. LoL. So after much reflection today (while vacuuming the dust bunnies under my bed, hahaha), I have realized that I didn't really need to cry last night (stupid Kuya Greg and his Dr. Phil ways) because indeed, I will be fine as long as I know what I want. And I do. Promise. =D

P.S. Let me know though if you guys know of a "right guy" with a bulldozer just to be sure. HaHa!

Facing Faces

I got a relaxation facial today. I loved it! Who knew that having someone play with your face as if it were a bowl of cookie dough was so nice! LoL. It de-stressed me a bit also, which I badly needed. I vow to do this once every three months. This is one kikay thing that I can definitely handle...I don't know about my wallet's threshold though. HeHe.

Sayaw Kikay

I really think God made a mistake when he made me a girl. Hindi talaga kaya ng powers ko to be kikay. LoL.

The area in between my two eyebrows has been breaking out lately. Mind you, I barely got pimples when I was a teenager, so I'm blaming threading for my latest facial blemishes. I decided to find an alternative just for that area in between my brows: Sally Hansen Extra Strength Creme Hair Bleach. Upon reading the instructions, I found out that one shouldn't put the solution near your eyes (duh, it's bleach!). So much for my being clever about a vanity issue.

Anyway, because I'm now a "professional," complete with business cards to hand out to people, I decided that maybe it's time to learn how to look "grown up" during those important business functions. So, today, I went to Gene Juarez to learn how to put make-up on. First of all, I couldn't believe that there are mothers out there who take their little 12-year-olds in these upscale salons for a haircut. It's the same disbelief I have when I see 16-year-olds buying underwear at Victoria's Secret. I just don't get it, folks. Anyway, first question of make-up artist: "So, are you in high school? College?" My reply: "Umm, I'm done with college and working full-time." Make-up artist: "You look so young!" Does society ever say, "You look so old!" to someone? Then why do I have to deal with such comments?! ::brushing a chip off my shoulder::

So for the next hour, she applied make-up on me. She introduced me to the different brushes, eyeshadows, lipsticks, lipliners, mascaras, blushes, stuff that are really foreign to me. I'm sure I had a confused expression on my face the entire time. HeHe. When she was all done, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought: women spend this much time in the morning to put this much crap on their face?! Although, I must say, having foundation is quite inviting for obvious reasons. Regardless, I have decided that make-up is really not for me. I'm too plain jane for all that. Instead, I vow to lose weight instead and drink lots of water in order to be beautiful naturally...starting September 1st. LoL. I need to fall in love with proteins first so give me a week to do the unthinkable. ;P

Afterwards, I mistakenly ventured into Wal-Mart. I should've known better than to go in there alone. What was I thinking?! Is it just me or do all of the ghetto people in the world congregate there? Such a scary place, I swear. Anyway, I have been very conscious of my feet lately due to capoeira so I wanted to give them a pedicure. How much money did I spend buying everything that I need? $35! That's just for pedicure stuff! What more if I had decided to buy make-up?!

So kids, the big lesson of the day is...I'm an amazona, hear me roar? LoL.

Bumming Around

From Aug. 23-31, I don't have work because union rules state that I get a "one week" break from being a temporary to a permanent employee. How did I spend my first day of freedom? Ate, slept, laid on the couch. How I missed it so!

Beso

Thank God, it's Friday. It has been a long week and I'm glad it's finished!

The week started out well, though. I don't think I ever had the chance to tell you about my capoeira instructor. He's hot. He looks pretty much like Dancing King, but manlier. HeHe. So for the past six weeks, I've been secretly drooling in class. Anyway, as if to give me something to remember him by, on Monday-the last class in my "trial series"-he greeted me in an authentic Brazilian fashion: a kiss on the cheek plus a hug. *SIGH. The stubble. The warmth. The rock solid body. The scent of fresh meat. HaHa. Ang saya-saya! LoL. And as if that greeting made all the difference, I was able to finally understand him when he talked in class. Amazing what lust can do to your senses. HeHe.

Sisterhood

She lives in FL. I live in WA.
She has sisters. I have brothers.
She is morena. I am Casper. (At least friendly!)
She prefers Hero. I prefer Joseph. (Bantay Bata, please!)
She drives a black car. I drive a white car.
She loves Vic. I love Ken. (Papa!)
She went public. I went private.
She is Korina. I am Kris. (Laos na tandem natin!)
She is pusong bato. I am pusong mamon.

Twin, Happy Twenty-Something Birthday! May you still have a rooftop over your head after Charley's recent visit. Grabe kang mag-birthday, bagyo ang handa! Anyway, the first time I saw your Kermit-themed layout back in the day, I knew you were special. Not because you were green, but because you had written about TFC (I was impressed with your public declaration of your jologs status! HaHa!). Since then, you've heard it all: Pinas 2002, college, past and present kalaguyos (from Apolo to Haciendero to Ken), my bodily functions (HaHa!), college grad depression, battle of the bulge, and of course, our favorite topic of them all, family drama. I just want to take the time to say thanks for listening (kahit ba palagi kang Dory about the details) and most especially, for being on the same wavelength as me. It's not an easy feat afterall. HaHa! So Sis, don't ever change, good luck sa career, God bless, and I will be here for you like Gary V.

Note: Happy Birthday also to my other twin, Mayie, na hindi na ako pinapansin dahil may lovelife na. Happy Birthday also to Papa JP (See you in 20 years! LoL. Hi Ate Mel!), Ben Affleck, and Cogie Domingo. LoL.

Left Behind

I'm glad that there's still at least one person out there who knows where I came from, what happened to me since then, and has made the effort throughout the years "to be there." Zara, thanks! Thanks for always remembering. Ikaw lang parati ang nagpapaiyak sa akin during this time of the year. However, this year is different, thanks to this hirit:

Hindi ko na alam kung ano pang iba iwiwish ko for you except na magkakulay na rin ang iyong lovelife. Yearly ko yata iwiniwish sa'yo yon...pero di bale, I'm sure when he finally arrives, he's definitely gonna be worth the wait.

You know it's been a long time when your friends who supposedly have your back have started "talking like the relatives." LoL. My thoughts regarding this matter: I'm not traumatized anymore. I'm still scared, but not traumatized. I'm open to the idea, but I'm definitely taking little, teenie, tiny babysteps to get to where I need to be. Think the tortoise instead of the hare, k? HeHe.

I do feel na napagiiwanan na ako ng mga kilala ko. They're having kids, getting married...definitely in the "settling down" department. Me, on the other hand, well, I'm here, folks. LoL. I'm not going to lie and say I don't need/want anyone. I do, but there are restrictions to that. HeHe.

What a Concept

My brother and sister-in-law celebrated their wedding anniversary yesterday with a barbecue. Six years. Six long years. My gawd, I can't even imagine. Exactly how do these married people do it...how do they put up with eachother's crap day in and day out? LoL.

My favorite moment yesterday:
Me: "Ganda Girl, why are you so happy?"
Ganda Girl: "Because you're here, Ninang!"

Hold on, let me get a tissue again. HeHe.

It's Nice to Be Happy...Sha La La La

I guess it's true: when one segment of your life is going well, another segment decides to turn crappy. It was such a miserable week.

Because of union laws, I needed to go through the whole application process to make my position permanent. "It is just formality." Fine. You gotta do what you gotta do afterall. Last week, I had my interview. It went well and the administrative skills test afterwards was not even a problem (Who knew my typing speed is 70 wpm?! LoL). I thought I had everything under control. By the end of the day, my boss told me that there was going to be a second interview because there were three top candidates. Excuse me?! What?! Fine, let me do the second interview.

The second interview was this past Thursday. Instead of three candidates, it was just myself and this other man. Fine. I went first. No problems at all. It was a comfortable setting with four women whom I've been working with or spoken with before. I left to go back to the office afterwards while the other man was interviewed. An hour later, Co-worker L called and asked me to give the phone to Snoopy. After taking the call, she said she needed to meet them at Starbucks. Clearly, I was the topic of the conversation. I knew something was definitely up and I have a feeling what it was about. Blame it on PMS, but I wanted to cry my eyes out when I was all alone in the office.

They came back in the office half an hour later and my boss asked me to come into her office. I got the job, but with caveats:

"It was a tough decision." Tough decision?! Why would it be a tough decision when I've already spent 4.5 months with you guys and you've seen my work ethic?!

"The other candidate was just more excited. He was willing to see a project from beginning to end." What?! So, I'm more Kwame than Bill (Think The Apprentice here). Sue me for being prim and proper all the time. After 4.5 months, you're going to tell me that I'm not willing to see a project from beginning to end?! I'm the one who does all the dirty work in the office! I stuff envelopes until my hands have become the grossest things in the world (Even I wouldn't hold hands with myself nowadays). I'm the one who overhauled the contacts list database that no one wanted to do! I've created all the in-house marketing collateral! Update this, call this, upload this, proofread this, edit this...I've done everything you've all asked me to do! And yet, you don't call these finishing a project from beginning to end?!

My thoughts:

• I've proven my worth in the last 4.5 months. I can't believe that you were willing to take a chance on a guy based on his words rather than my actions.


• I hate disloyalty. If you ended up picking the other candidate, I would've been unemployed...again. If I was a slacker, if I didn't perform well, fine, let me go. But the fact is, I was busting my ass eventhough I was getting paid way less than I deserved.


• I've been underestimated. I hate it.

Is the real world really like this? I felt so horrible that I even contemplated about going back to school (The AA graphic design degree is still calling me, folks). I felt so horrible that I wanted to buy a plane ticket to Manila eventhough I promised I wouldn't do such a thing for seven more months. I felt so horrible that I thought it's better to be unemployed than be around people who don't really think highly of me.

*SIGH. Thanks to Kuya Greg and Pen for the counseling. On a light-hearted note, so if work has turned really crappy, which segment of my life should I expect to turn out really well soon? >=P

Friends...How Many of Us Really Have Them

Why is it that when two people go out on a date and things don't work out, they don't become friends? Yet, there are guys out there that tell me (and I quote!), "Have you ever considered that not all guys have hidden motives...?" Where the hell are all these guys that don't mind hearing "Let's just be friends"? Show me!

Snoopy quit Match.com on Friday. She went out on at least 5 dates in the last month or so, all of which didn't produce Prince Charming. However, I thought it would've been nice if she at least came up with 5 new guy friends after all that trouble. But of course, that wasn't the case. *SIGH. Do people really have a lot of friends already that they don't bother making new ones when they're in their 20s (and instead, all efforts are diverted to finding Ms. Right)? Blas...phe...my!

Chances

The "Online Dating Couple" got booted off last night on The Amazing Race. *SNIFF. And yes, I had tears in my eyes when the man was talking about his current relationship as a second chance at love, etc. *SIGH.

This is the reason why I absolutely love hearing people talk about their love life: it makes me warm and fuzzy inside. I won't mention which kuya it was (to protect his manhood HeHe) but I hope his woman already knows the sweet stuff he told me about their relationship (Funny what you can get out of a man when his male friends aren't around!). But here's a food for thought that I came away with: I'll never learn these things if at the start pa lang I find something wrong with her and not give it a chance. Really?! Is it too much to ask the guy to send you grammatically-correct e-mails during the first months of dating? LoL. In fairness to me, I am learning (albeit slowly) to accept those not-so-perfect qualities in a man. Really, I am. Call it growing up. HeHe. However, it is tough to accept when you know that there are guys in Manila (Ateneo alumni to be more specific) who have memorized English grammar rules better than those guys here in Seattle.

Woman Challenge

I just finished two (not one, but two!) Dove Milk Chocolate Ice Cream Bars. I won't even mention how many Krispy Kreme donuts I ate from the dozen that I brought home yesterday (what possessed me to buy a whole box I will never know). Can someone tell me wtf am I doing?! Because really, I'd like to know. LoL. Although, I just remembered: I watched Bridget Jones's Diary last week. Wasn't it easier for her to find a guy who liked her "just the way she is" rather than lose 20 lbs.? Should I even dare find out my own answer to that challenge or should I just jump off a cliff right now? ;P

Claimed Baggage

That's it, I'm throwing in the towel: I don't understand boys! Hmph! But then again, maybe they don't understand me (nagpaka-martyr na naman!). Gawd, I swear, someday, I will find that special someone that doesn't have any strings attached and/or is not carrying any baggage. Together, we will sail off to the horizon. LoL.

Anyway, one of the books that I got Snoopy for her birthday is "The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right." Super cheese! But I am contemplating about reading it tonight before giving it to her tomorrow. LoL. To save some face, let me just say that it is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. HeHe.

Heart vs. Ricky

One of the many differences between men and women is that men will always lust after girls like Heart Evangelista and Anne Curtis (to which I can only roll my eyes at). On the other hand, women, such as myself *ahem, will be perfectly fine dating someone like Ricky Carandang of ABS-CBN News Channel. He definitely does not have any of the physical attributes that I would like in a man, but his intellectual prowess (facade lang ba?) and his ability to speak well definitely make up for what he lacks. As Kuya Greg pointed out last night, it's simply a case of wants vs. needs. How true!

Clear Waters

Right after work, I headed to the waterfront, one week later as planned. I didn't think it would be that busy on a Sunday, but there were boatloads of people (literally, because the cruise terminals are over there). Anyway, I found my thinking spot for the summer: Myrtle Edwards Park. I watched three ferries pass through the Sound, someone parasailing (inggit ako ha), a seagull trying to take off seaweed off its feet, wood floating on the water, and water splashing over the rocks. All this to clear my mind. Yes, there is a little Hua Ze Lei in all of us. I didn't stay very long because I didn't bother getting food before heading over there and I didn't bother putting on sunscreen before I left the house earlier this morning, but I feel super rejuvenated. I will be back. =D

It Was Friday

I simply just want to brag and say that I actually went out yesterday after work. LoL. Snoopy (Co-worker K's brand spankin' new nickname) and I went to the Bite of Seattle. I had my annual strawberry shortcake and didn't even have to look for eyecandy at all. ;P My gawd, I actually had a social life on a Friday! Yes, I'm still not over it. LoL.

Trick or Treat

None of you would play a horrible mean joke on me, right? Right? LoL. If someone is, he/she needs to let me know now and not prolong this any further. I will forgive you if you come clean now versus if you wait later on. Deal? LoL.

I just have this feeling that someone decided to create a Friendster/MySpace profile to remind me to be careful what I wish for. I know that I've been saying on here that I hope to find the male version of yours truly. Well, let's just say that maybe I have found him (Pen, we have a twin brother! LoL). However, the fact that we have way too many things in common makes me wonder if someone is playing a trick on me. Again, none of you would, right? But maybe God is? Geez, I seriously need to go to church this Sunday and pray my little heart out. LoL.

Singles

I know this is true for sure: that if there's a cute guy on a reality tv show and I end up watching that show, that guy will be eliminated during the first few episodes. Latest proof: Donny got booted off last night from The Amazing Race. Great, no more eye candy on Tuesday nights.

Anyway, my personal anthem should be "Hiram." Someday, I would like to get attention from guys who are actually unattached. LoL. As in, "Single, because I don't have a relationship" and not "Single, because I'm not married yet." Why do guys put "Single" on their profile, but have pictures of him and his gf up on the very same profile? And exactly why are they fishing for women anyway if they're trying to patch things up with their gf? Yes, another thing I don't understand about the opposite s3x.

Speaking of "Hiram" (and who the heck can watch *all* of ABS-CBN's soaps everyday?!), I got a little teary-eyed when the young Edward character told the young Diana character that she's not going to get fat from a candybar, but will simply become cuter. Now, there's a line to get the ladies, fellas! HeHe.