Colors highly affect our moods

Did you know that was true?  Have you ever felt drawn to a particular color for a day? Or have you had days you just didn’t feel comfortable wearing the color of the shirt you picked that morning?  Hehe.. I pay special attention to how I feel about my clothes, and what color of clothing I’d like to wear.  I use my intuition for this.  This is also the reason why my clothes are sorted by color (how geeky.. I know :P )

Well, try this, this seems cool.  Although the results highly vary on a a daily basis.  This one’s what I got today: more…

Change is imminent

I open my serious post with a very light and easy title.  But I cannot stress it more that its far more serious than this.

Let me begin by saying, look around you.  Have you not noticed any change in the surroundings, or were you too busy to realize anything that has been changing?  Philippines has always been a disaster prone country.  And honestly, I’m happy that we haven’t been stricken by the worst.  If you aren’t aware, let me enumerate some for you. more…

Never on Sunday, the Manaoag edition

“Oh kiss me quick, while we still have this feeling..”

“Love me tender, Love me sweet, Never let me go..”

Oh, how sweet to hear these music again. Even my creator rested on the Sabbath, the seventh day of creation. So here I am sitting on the 25th seat of a Victory Liner Bus, with a bag of raisins on my left and a a pen and notebook on my right. I know I’ve been sick, I know I have many things to do for work, which I’m always willing to do now before tomorrow (for “tomorrow” is a word I use for finding time to rest). But today is special, as the mission is special.

We visit the miraculous church of Manaoag every now and then, but today, we scheduled this date to hear Mass in Pangasinan, our home province, a bare 4-hour travel from Manila. Its a wonderful break for me, and a special request for and by the family. We’ve come to ask for healing. My youngest sister has just been diagnosed with a lung problem; my mom and I are also on treatment for some minor health troubles.

As I’m writing this, I’m feeling quite drained of my own energy. I feel my hands are growing colder and there is pain in my weakest spot. I have to stop from time to time to meditate and re-energize, for without it, I wouldn’t be able to further with my writing. I won’t let this stop me though from saying how good this day is and how happy I’ve felt inside just visiting the church once again. more…

Divisoria is still one of the best places to shop

I’m not the typical girl.

‘Nuff said.  I don’t go around shopping myself to death when I have money.  Nor do I eat myself to death when I’m depressed.  I don’t hang around in coffee shops and I don’t like to hang out in the salon.

Once in awhile, I go to shop for new items to wear, usually depending on the necessity.  If I feel like I’ve worn the same clothes for quite more than often than usual, then its time I give in to the desire for shopping.  But ooopps.. I’d rather not shop in the mall.  Divisoria or Quiapo is the place!

That weekend was the worst I’ve had in months.  Friday night, I had to accompany my honey while he was out playing poker with his officemates.  Though I slept ultra late the day before, I knew he’ll be needing my help to safely drive home that night.  Friday night (err, saturday morning), I got home around 2am.  We had to wake up at 4am to prep for my sister’s UPCAT exam.  It was though, but the family needed me there.

Mama and I accompanied our upcoming college family member to her exam area.  From 6:30am, we walked towards the Shopping Center, then to the UP Chapel.  We prayed for her goodluck in the exams then had our breakfast at Rodics.  Oh, good old Rodics.  Never fails to please my tastebuds! more…

Brain required

I’ve been sleepy and quite under the weather lately.  Its because I’m having a hard time adjusting to my new body clock and extremely tight schedule.

I have to sleep at around 9pm (at the latest) because I have to wake up at 2am (for the simbang gabi–it has been a devotion that I started about 5years now, wherein I’ve perfected 4 simbang gabis already).  The midnight mass ends at 4am.  When my sister and I attend midnight masses, we only walk to and fro the church, ergo, we arrive the house at around 4:15-4:30am.  By then, I could either get a couple of hours more to sleep or go on with the rest of the day’s tasks as early as 4:30am.

I choose to leave the house at around 7-8am to go to the office since any time earlier than that is still quite dark.  I arrive at the office aro und 9am.  Usually, its but relieving to sleep in the FX along with the other super industrious employees of Ortigas area.  At 3pm, I leave the office to take my turn in watching over my (still sick) youngest sister.  It usually takes me around 1hour to 2hours max of travel.  Then I’d have to continue a wee bit of my work at home before retiring for few of my other coding projects.

If I decide to sleep early, 9-10pm is usually my earliest (I’ve never met the 9pm deadline for sleeping early).. and then the cycle continues for another 9 days before Christmas.  No room for complains, no room for hanky panky stuffs or gimmicks.  Its a drag, yes, but its also family bonding time.  Today is the 6th day of Midnight Mass and we did not attend.  Its not an inadvertent decision.. it was planned.  We’d be hearing Sunday mass in Manaoag, Pangasinan.  Though it was still the same dragging scenario/schedule for me, it was fun.  I got to sleep during the travel time.

But wait.. I’ve told you the story, and yet the punchline is just coming up!  more…

Oceanpark in Manila

If you wanted to have pets and not worry about maintenance or emotional responsibility, fishes and underwater animals are best for that purpose.
I grew up loving animals.. my father loved keeping fishes and lobsters as pets.  My uncles and aunts love dogs and cats.  We used to have seven cats and three dogs in our compound.  I usually visit them and play with them once in awhile.  I have only one favorite dog and my one and only cat Ebony. :)

Though I love cats (and their feline race) better than any other animal kind, I also love fishes and underwater animals.  I remember wasting time watching the fishes swim back and forth endlessly inside the aquarium as they show off their wonderfully colored fins.  Guppies have the most beautifully colored fins and tails.

Last month, my honey’s dad went home for a vacation from Afghanistan.  While he was here, they went for a trip to OceanPark.  Me and my youngest sister went along with them to enjoy the ‘underwater world’ of Manila.  Of course I had high expectations, since it has already been a buzz that Oceanpark had their design patterned against Singapore and HongKong’s underwater adventure.

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How Baguio awakened the heroes

My mom’s friend is leaving to migrate in Canada sometime soon.  He’s a close family friend, and as his last treat to us, he wanted to take us all to Baguio for a quick relaxing trip.  They set it for the weekend (May 17 and 18).  Believe it or not, it was my first time to climb the city of Baguio.

“I’ve got a couple of things to work on”.. that’s what I gave as an alibi.  “I’m sure I can’t go with you guys to Baguio.  It would mean sacrificing my schedule.”  I was sold out with the decision of not coming.  The ‘real’ reason?  Well, I knew that though Baguio is the summer capital of the Philippines, I felt that a visit to Baguio in summer would be what most travellers would do.  Ergo, I don’t like cramming myself amidst a bunch of other people.  I wouldn’t enjoy the visit that way.  Also, on a sidenote, I didn’t want to visit Baguio during summer.. to me, it felt like it would be just another warm city.

Alas!  I got what I wanted!  (I should’ve wished for another thing)

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At Amenia Beach

Day 3 of Catanduanes, Bicol vacation

This day, we packed clothes for 2-3 days away from Pananaogan.  We were to visit some of their relatives and stay overnight at Amenia Beach.  I remember, this was one of the longest days of my stay in Bicol.  The longest and most tiring.  This I say because the shirt I wore this day was the most soaked and used.  :D

Ahh.. that’s not all!  I remember this day so much because we were all having LBMs! Hahaha!!! :D Aside from the excitement, the travel provided us with the anxiety to stopover the relatives’ houses for comfort.  :D We had to go to the city proper to buy some medicine (especially for me because the LBM triggered my ulcer) and also to shop for some Catanduanes items.

I was surprised to find out that malls (err, I mean, mall without an ‘s’) close operations by noon time!  Even the small drugstores ended operation a little bit earlier than noon!  What a surprise!  For a moment, I thought, this is a direct implication that people of Bicol experience better economy.  (pardon the change of tone.. hehe).  Since they more or less work for only half a day everyday, it is safe to assume that they earn half as much as the normal wage here in Manila.  And moreso, it means that they worry only half of the things we worry about.  By further speculation, I realized that they need only worry about shelter and education.  They have abundant sources of food and water.  I remember seeing a lady by the roadside, she seemed to be picking something from the shrubs, obviously for cooking, and then I thought that it was a simple fact that the place provided them with food and that their lives are only about simplicity and happiness. more…

Sunshine, the movie

Last week, I was able to watch “Sunshine”.

Define Sunshine

Fifty years into the future, a Q-Ball cloud drifts into the sun and it is now failing, causing the Earth to freeze. A spacecraft, the Icarus with a crew of eight men and women is launched as a last hope,[2] carrying a stellar bomb with the mass of Manhattan in order to re-ignite the sun. Seven years prior, a similar ship, the Icarus I, had been launched for the same mission, but contact was lost.[3] When the crew of eight move toward the sun and out of radio contact with Earth, they discover the distress beacon of the ship that had been missing for seven years. After an informed decision (precided over by Capa (Cillian Murphy), the physicist who controls the bomb), the crew decides that it is best to rendezvous with the stricken vessel to attempt repairs in order to give themselves another bomb, and another chance at succeeding in their mission, should their bomb not have the desired effect.

From Wikipedia

Okay, now you know what I meant by sunshine..  I was able to watch it last week and I think it was great, though there were a lot of stuffs that I noticed regarding the movie.

As you might have noticed, its not a smashing movie with tons of great Hollywood stars, but it definitely has a catching story.  Almost similar to “The Core” movie (I also loved this one) wherein, they were trying to save a celestial element.  But here, they were trying to save the sun.  more…

AJAX and Eat Bulaga

Eat Bulaga

Has anyone ever thought why Eat Bulaga has a tremendous staying power?  Why for almost 28 years or so, it still hasn’t lost its touch of keeping its audience..??

Last Saturday, I was able to watch Eat Bulaga during lunch time.  As it has been for a couple of weeks already, they have been airing the recently popular hit “Itaktak Mo“.  They had many guests there and it was just as if they were featuring that hit song with different renditions from different artists popularizing a distinct genre.  They had SouthBorder, Francis Magalona, Kamikazee, and even Mike Hanopol.  Each of these artist/group had a different whip for “Itaktak Mo“.  It was funny and amusing at the same time.  Later still, they introduced to everyone the history of “Itaktak Mo” and how it came to be.  I myself, has witnessed that scene wherein one vivacious audience was able to bring about that famous phrase.  She was a resident of Sta. Cruz, Manila and a kagawad (a local political servant), I believe.  more…