2009 in Retrospect

It is, once again, the start of a new year. And same as in the past years, we (as a nation, and the whole world, I suppose) are welcoming the new year with new hopes, new desires, and a dream that the new year will be the start of a better life for all of us. But before I embrace the year that is forthcoming to all of us, let me first reminisce the year that was, which is 2009. So…what would the highlights of my year be? Let me see…

• Rang in the first day of the new year with an impromptu Tagaytay day trip with mom’s side of the family [I just love reunions & impromptu trips! Note to self for 2010: Be more spontaneous!Ü]
• I got to go to the following places this year: Calaruega, Pinatubo, Boracay, Subic, Bicol, Bataan, Hong Kong, US.

Some trip highlights:

• That heavy rain (with matching blackout & baha) while eating at Aling Lucing’s Sisig place on our way back home from Pinatubo
• First time to try Parasailing at Boracay [So much fun!Ü]
  
• Bumping into Jay-R at Boracay (with bonus picture c/o Mom…hehehe!)
• Vacationing with typhoon Dante while in Bicol
• Wakeboarding at CWC [This is us making the most of our Bicol trip with typhoon Dante Ü]
• Bicol road trip on our way back to Manila [12 hours on a rented bus Ü]
• Ninang Merl & Uncle Ken’s and Tatay Wenceslao & Nanay Conchit’s renewal of wedding vows (25th and 50th…in this day & age, this is such a milestone!Ü)
• That Black Friday sale in the US [I finally have a laptop! After 14.5 hours of waiting outside of Best Buy…hahaha!]

• Some close friends who got married: Aya & Jomike [and now with a BWP Junior on the way!Ü], Charm & Kim Ü
  
• Got to attend the following PAL-sponsored trainings: Presentation Skills Workshop, Basic Family Assistance Training, BA Certification
• Passing the BA Certification training and being a certified CqBA!Ü
• My high school batch’s 10th year reunion [It was so nice seeing old familiar faces again.Ü]
• That Pussycat Dolls concert [Thanks Shiela!], Club LAX [Thanks Jen!], Transformers & Harry Potter @ Director’s Club, MOA [Thanks again, Shiela for organizing Ü]
• First time to try Pole Dancing and Lazerxtreme Ü
• Single Ladies/La Perla Ladies night out [First time to ____ (fill in the blanks). You ladies know what happened that night. No need to elaborate. Hehehe!]
• Got to see that partial solar eclipse on the 22nd of July [Candy: “Amazing!” O ha, partial solar eclipse pa lang yan! Pano pa kaya kung total (eclipse of the heart)? LOL!]
• Celebrated Father’s Day at Circles in Shang [Thanks to the promo!]
• First time to join two "run for a cause" events this year…and both got postponed because of typhoons [Sana hindi ako ang dahilan. LOL!]
• Lunchmates photoshoot for Maan [I ♥ that white blanket. LOL!]
• Did some catching up with best friend Silver, long-lost college batch mate Derek, and Vegas tripping with Tita P Ü
• Tried to reinvent myself with an eyeliner & hair highlights towards the end of the year. Hehe!Ü

Some not-so-nice things that happened in 2009...

• Manong Guard’s scrutiny of my outfit on a Saturday morning [Manong: “Ma’am, bawal po yung naka-shorts.” Take note: I was wearing knee-length shorts. HOWEVER, (even) short(er length) skirts worn during weekdays are allowed. Kung alam ko lang na sisitahin nya ko, I would’ve worn super short shorts para justified naman ang pag-sita nya sakin!]. However, I’d take this anytime compared to that BDO fiasco back in 2008.
• Used up half of my allotted ELs for this year (which is actually not a good thing coz I only use my ELs if there’s flood due to heavy rains)
• Typhoon Ondoy. Although I’m thankful that all we had to deal with was that 12-hour blackout at our area. It’s just heartbreaking to see those who were not as lucky as we were.
  
• Failed attempt to reformat my PC from Vista to XP on Christmas Day. Hay, it was just so frustrating.
  
• FB taking over the time that should've been spent writing my blogs [Currently contemplating on killing my FB account. Hindi ko pa ata kaya. Hehe.]
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And quite a few personally unrelated matters that I just want to take note of...

• Obama’s inauguration
• Death of the following icons: Michael Jackson, Cory Aquino
• AH1N1/Swine flu
• Typhoon Pepeng

So...that was 2009 for me. For 2010, I only have one resolution and that is to: SMILE. Always.Ü Good luck to me on that! Hahaha! TTFN!Ü