2007 in Retrospect

It's an hour away from my self-appointed deadline for this month's blog and also an hour away from the entire Philippines (and those sharing the GMT +8:00 time zone) welcoming the new year. I actually started this blog thinking of writing about those things that I miss when I was in the US. But now that the firecrackers outside are getting plentiful by the minute and my television tuned-in on GMA7's Celebr8 to '08 party, I can't help but to think of the year 2007, which will, in about an hour, be known to everyone as the year that was. So I guess i'll just reserve that blog that I have in mind for another time and right now try to focus on reflecting on the good, the bad, the nice, and the ugly about the year 2007.

To make this easier (mostly for me Ü), i'll enumerate some of the highlights of my year...coz i'm sure all the TV stations out there will be enumerating the highlights of the year 2007 in their end of year specials, so i'll just leave that to them. At para maiba naman, i'll just list down the highlights of MY year...since blog ko naman 'to! HEHEHE! So, here it goes (in random)...

• For this year, I increased my number of inaanaks by 3: Renzo, Iya, & Gaby Ü
• I had my eyes lasered at St. Lukes last Feb.14 (so doctor ko ang ka-date ko nung araw na yun! hehehe)
• The passing of Tito Andy & my Ama
• I bought, with my own money, my first non-Nokia cellphone (a pink MotoRAZR Ü)
• I saw through the implementation of a project (that's close to my heart...hehehe)
• I got to show my dancing prowess 3 times this year...hehehe!
• My family and I celebrated my maternal Lolo & Lola's 50th Wedding Anniversary
• I had my first diving experience with friends at Anilao
• I had two of my colleagues moving to greener pasteurs...Dio & Jacky
• I had a drastic haircut (the first in years), the Mega Bangs 'do Ü, on the month of August
• I experienced my first ever "company" outing (although it was just our group who went out of town...and it was not even an overnight thing...hehehe)
• I voted...for the 2nd time around.
• I danced at Obando (not to get pregnant, ha!) with a few of my colleagues
• My family and I celebrated my Dad's surprise 70th birthday at Gloria Maris, Greenhills, wherein all 6 children of Papa were present (Vian flew in from Canada, Walter flew in from Shanghai, while Bambi was already here coz of her schooling Ü)
• I got sent to my first ever "training/workshop" at work (all the past ones got cancelled...hehehe...)
• I joined a gym
• It was the first time that the entire Philippines celebrated my birthday...hehehe...holiday kasi (Ramadan)
• I experienced the worst emotional rollercoaster ride to date
• I had a 2-week US Vacation!!! YIPPEEE!!!
• My mom and I celebrated thanksgiving in the US for the 2nd time
• My mom and I got great deals during the after-thanksgiving (or "Black Friday") mega sale! (We got to buy a laptop, digicam, digital photoframe, and a whole lot more!)

Well I guess that's all that I can remember for now.Ü Here's to the year ahead! Cheers to 2008! Thanks for visting my blog! *HUGZ!*and*MUAH!*

Hail to the Alma Mater

To all Lasallians out there, listen up (literally)...a new twist to our beloved Alma Mater song...reggae version (naks!). It's nice actually...I like it. Feeling ko ako si Bob Marley every time I hear this (it's in my phone, under my Pang Ubos Batt playlist Ü). I got this from Jerome, my officemate, who's from USTe, so I don't really know where he got this but he just came up to me one morning and said: "Diba from La Salle ka? Pakinggan mo 'to, yung Alma Mater song nyo." So I listened and I liked it then he sent it via bluetooth from his phone to mine. And that's the story of how I got this version of our Alma Mater song.Ü

Here's another version...in a cappella, sung by the DLSU Chorale. I got this from another blogsite (Nekti Ka No? Rektikano!), which I learned about when an officemate told me about it a few months back. May added bonus pa kasi may kasamang video yung song.

Well, what other line to end this blog but to borrow a line from a song: I'd rather be green than be blue.Ü True yan!Ü Animo La Salle!

Of Holidays and Vacations

A colleague of mine has been telling me for months now that I badly need a vacation. Well, I guess he's right coz a day or two before leaving for my much-awaited US vacation, I realized that a week before, I implemented the wrong customized program in production (PROD). To make it easier to understand, rather than implementing Program A to PROD, I mistakenly implemented Program B. Imagine my horror after I realized this mistake! My oh my...I really DO need a vacation!

Well, I finally had my vacation and headed to the US with my Mom last November 15. Imagine my excitement knowing that I won't have to think about work for two whole weeks! Yippee!

Our first stop, after landing at LAX and heading to San Diego where my Godmother lives (and where we'll be staying for our entire trip), was Las Vegas to attend a fund-raising event that my Ninang organized. After the dinner event, we partied the night away at the newly-opened Planet Hollywood (PH) hotel. At first I didn't know what "PH" meant and kept on asking "Where's the hotel?" (coz we walked from Monte Carlo, where we were staying, to Planet Hollywood), and they said, "Ayun oh! Yung may 'PH'!" And I replied, "Ah, yun ba! Akala ko kasi 'PH' stands for 'Philippines'!!!" HARDIHARHAR! Stupid me!

Well, there are actually two things that I wasn't able to do in Vegas: (1) Gamble...I wasn't really planning to anyway, I'd rather spend my money shopping rather than gambling; and (2) Get Married...this, I think, I really should've done. HAHAHA! Well, with drive-through weddings available in Vegas, it really IS very easy to get married in this place! I should've thought about that in the 4 days we were there. Oh well, there's no use crying over spilt milk anyway.

After the "Vegas Event" (as I would like to call it), we were back in San Diego to spend one of the most awaited holidays in the US: THANKSGIVING. It's actually the 2nd time that my mom and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my Ninang's family (the first was in 2004) and it has always been fun spending Thanksgiving with them seeing that my Ninang's family is quite big and very close-knit. We had fun eating all the food in the table (we had Turkey the day after, but that's a different story), singing the night away with the videoke/karaoke, playing poker, and just sitting by the fire pit in the backyard talking about anything that we could think of.

The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest sale of the year for the Americans: the After-Thanksgiving Sale, where all stores offer discounts that one can't just pass off! We were actually at Best Buy by the crack of dawn: 5AM! Imagine that! HAHAHA! But it was all worthit coz we got to buy, among others, a Digicam with Digital Frame for only $100, and a 2GB RAM, 250GB HD Laptop worth $600. After that, we went to a few other stores like Walmart and Staples, then headed back home to rest.

That night, after resting, we headed to Pala Hotel and Casino, which is about 40 minutes from my Ninang's place. We stayed there to relax and gamble (but my mom and I didn't), then had our facial and massages the next day at the Pala Spa. The one who did my facial was actually half Pinay! But she looked more American than Pinay. Anyway, we also celebrated Ate Ping's birthday (Ninang's youngest sister) there with a heartful lunch at Noodles, the Chinese resto there.

Oh my...I can't believe that my vacation's over. =( We'll be heading back to Manila tomorrow night and i'm sure it would be very hard to get my mind and body into 'work-mode' once again. Oh well, that's life. Gotta enjoy the happy moments while you can. For now, i'll just try not to think about work and make the most of the remainder of my vacation.

Til next month's blogs you guys! *MUAH!*