The week that was

Monday:
Boring meeting, boring work an absolute boring day! the worst of all .. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy episode was a replay.


Tuesday:
Maya received a great news, she’s flying to Malaysia for free! Kim and me impulsively decided to tag along and so we started calling up travel agencies and surfing the net for infos.


Wednesday:
Started doing my cbase analysis as the deadline begins to catch up with me. We need to decided if we want to push thru with our plans on making this trip.. which eventually ended up in a trash because we cant get a return flight on our desired date. All my hopes just went straight down to the floor. Maybe next time.. ended my day with yoga to relax and calm my body and mind.


Thursday:
Was out on client call in the morning. Had lunch with my fiancé, whom I rarely see or talked to ever since he started playing that f***ing computer game. Another client call in the afternoon. Gone back to the office to finish my cbase and do other boring stuff at work. I was feeling sick later that afternoon and decided not to go to the Cosmo party that night (sorry Kim!).


Friday:
Free from work.. thanks to the seminar in GBF! The sales team enjoyed the yummy food and the learnings and we all were looking forward to the gimmick afterwards.. We then end up in Oyster Boy in Ortigas, a small but cozy restaurant that specializes in Oyster dishes (obviously!) and the best thing is that they serve beer for only P22. The September b-day celebrants (Emmy, Abi and Bhogs) treated us to a delightful dinner.. the oyster with garlic and cheese was superb. Got home with a rosy cheeks and a throbbing heart.


Saturday:
Last day of the training and I can’t wait for this module to end. Thanks to Maya, Kim got a free whole-body massage gift certificate from Gateway Spa. And Kim was so kind to ask me to join her and split the fee for the other massage. And so after the training, we went to the spa to pamper ourselves.. shower, sauna and then the Swedish Massage. What a great way to end the week?!


Sunday:
Too lazy to get out of bed. Watched F1’s first China Grand Prix in Shanghai. Though I’ve fallen asleep after lap 24, I’m glad Kimi Raikkonen won 2nd place in the race. Watched the replay of The Amazing Race (the best reality TV Show as per the Emmy’s..congrats!) and after finishing up my report for tomorrow’s boring meeting, I’m now writing this blog… well its almost 12:30am and I must get to bed now..

Spur of the moment

Maya received a wonderful news yesterday! Her million-dollar cousin is sponsoring her trip to Malaysia this weekend. And in a spur of the moment ... Kim and me decided to join her on this trip. Its really funny because Kim’s feet are itching to get out of the country for a vacation for so long and it would be a great opportunity for us to travel together. We made inquiries here and there, asked for quotation for the best (and cheapest) package for 3 days 2 nights trip. Searched online for hotels, travel agencies, we even asked suggestions from our colleagues in our regional office in Malaysia for the different spots to visit.

But unfortunately, the rates are way above our budget. It’s more expensive than going to Bangkok. And there were no more available flights on our preferred return date. Extending our stay there means more bucks. So, we guess it wasn’t really meant to be… the heavenly forces are too tough to fight with… Sadly, we decided to just scrap the whole idea.

It could have been my first time to do such a thing...
You know...making an impulsive decision to pack my bags and go out of the country
That could have been great, isn’t it? Oh well, I guess we’ll settle for Maya’s pasalubong then.

Pranayama saves the day

I have always enjoyed attending hatha yoga for the past 6 months. And I know that physically, it made me flexible and help me release toxins out of my body (layman’s term is Stress!). I also believe that this will help me loose weight through stretching of the muscles. Beyond these physical benefits I know that there are more to it than meets the eye. Emotionally, I vouch for the inner benefits yoga has to offer. And I came to realise that last night.

I was going to meet my fiancé in Glorietta after office. I was in a hurry to get there, that’s why instead of taking the bus I took the train. Arrived around 7:30 pm in our meeting place. After 20 minutes I saw my phone had a text message, He’ll meet me in G4 (not our agreed meeting place). I called him to ask where he is and I was completely stunned when he told me he is still in the office. I was angry, my blood rushed to my head. I turned off the phone without saying a word. I don’t know what to do, stride to the nearest bus stop and go home or stay and wait for him for another 30 minutes. I was walking fast toward the exit. Then I inhaled deeply and exhaled smoothly (recalling how pranayama should be done) did it a couple of times to help my body calm down. I started to feel relaxed though my anxiety is still there and my brain is racing for answers. What now? I began to think straight … telling myself I’m already old to act childish and self-absorbed and I should be more understanding and more patient. I did another pranayama and decided to go to G4 and wait for him. I was still a little agitated when I reached Starbucks but as soon as I settled in one of the chairs and drank my caramel latte with a book in my hand, I felt a little bit ok. I thought to myself that without me controlling my emotions earlier, I would be sitting in a bus by now and feeling frustrated and angry, full of negative energy and my day will end unpleasantly.

So what benefits have pranayama gave me yesterday? I ended my day pleasantly, I didn’t fought with my fiancé and I got a good night kiss. :) On a serious note, when you’re blood rises in fury, try doing pranayama.. you’ll feel relaxed and you’ll be able to think straight and make the right decision.

my prospect mobile phone

Time flies so fast, its Thursday morning and I’m still up and writing this blog.
My day (yesterday) at the office just went by in a flicker, the next thing I knew it was time for yoga. Though earlier in the day, my colleagues and I went to mega mall during lunch break to scout for mobile phones. Maya and Baet wanted to buy new phones for their respective moms (sweet noh?). Personally, I was doing my own quiet scrutiny on my prospect phone, the Motorola V600. So when do I plan to buy this? Not in the near future that’s for sure.. Probably I’ll wait after our honeymoon before I indulge myself to a new phone..and it might be cheaper by then.. I guess I'll stick it out with my very user friendly Nokia 6610 for the meantime.

a not so laid-back day

I was awaken by the cordless phone ringing beside my ear.. half awake, I turned on the phone and I heard my fiancé voice.. Wake up! Wake up! But its Saturday, I’m allowed to be in bed for as long as I want. It’s 9 a.m. and my fiancé is already wide-awake and preparing to go to an electronics depot in Manila. As I put down the phone, I stared at Angels and Demons (novel by Dan Brown) sitting beside my cell phone. A voice in my head said, “I don’t want to get up just yet, but I can read while lying in bed right?” the next thing I knew the phone is ringing again this time at 10:30 a.m. ( I obviously fell asleep again) It’s my fiancé again, he called to tell me he’s on his way out. I was able to convince myself to get out of bed at 11:00 a.m. made myself a tuna sandwich and hot chocolate for brunch.

While munching on my healthy breakfast (that sandwich with iceberg lettuce are so yummy) I decided to watch the VCD that Maya lend me, Uptown Girls (starry Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning). It was such a funny film and I was actually surprised at the ending and uncontrolled tears are falling down my cheeks. Dakota is so young yet so talented, I just love her acting in this movie.

I thought that the rest of my Saturday would be a laid-back day. Well, as I checked my Gmail, I saw the email I sent to myself (a backlog from work and my report for Monday), Sigh, I shouldn’t have checked my email so I can forget all out it… but then again ... I still have to do it tomorrow, so what the heck! I’ll do it and get it over with.

I took a break for an hour to eat dinner that was around at 5p.m. (I haven’t eaten anything after that tuna sandwich so I was so hungry.) Went back to work after my hearty dinner (fried tilapia and tofu with mushroom soup). After an hour, I went up to the den to watch TV (re-play of One Tree Hill). Back in my computer after an hour and finished my backlogs around 10 p.m. Now I can feel my eyes are in tears, too tired to keep them open so I need to go now and do my hygienically rituals and head to the sack to end this day.

Montayre-Olaguer Silver Wedding

Once again the A-holics unite to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of Maya’s parents, papa Nelson and mama Linda. All of us were gorgeously dressed for the special occasion which is so uncommon for us since we usually go out in our office attires or in casual rugged jeans. Truly an affair to remember. And I’m looking more forward to my own wedding where all of us will again dressed up and celebrate another union. click here to view photos

UL-R: Dominique, JR, Adrian, Fritz, Kimchi

LL-R: Kim, Winnie, Shiena, Maya, Baet



me and my fiance, Adrian

The Notebook

Have you ever experience watching a movie and you came to a point that you could no longer understand what’s going on with the scenes because your chest hurts from crying and the worst thing of it is that your trying so hard to keep yourself quiet because your inside the theatre? That your tissue is so wet and you wonder why you didn’t get enough tissue before leaving the house? And that you’re worried that people might think that you had a fight with your boyfriend because your eyes are red and swelling and your shirt have droplets of tears?

Well I have. And after watching The Notebook, I’ve realized that I’ve never cried on a movie as much as I’ve cried today. I cried in movies like Love Affair, A Walk to Remember, and Sixth Sense and even in Monster’s Inc. among others. But never did I ever felt so deeply touched and moved by a story as much as Noah and Allie’s love story. Though top Hollywood actors did not star the movie and even though the ending was not as great as the novel, it was a great film. A truly inspiring love story. Kudos to Nicholas Sparks . . . your an amazing writer.

Life is all about choices, and whatever or whomever you choose to love should only come from your heart and not from anyone else.

Exactly a year from now . . .

A year from now, I thee wed to my fantabulous fiancé Adrian. So what do I feel exactly? EXCITED definitely! I’ve been imagining what it will be like on my wedding day (more often than I admit to myself).

I’m just glad that we’re preparing it a year ahead so as not to be stressed out on some important details of the event. I don’t want to get through those sleepless nights because the invitations are still with the calligrapher and need to be delivered soon, the favors need to ribboned, the place cards should be printed, the programme is not yet finalized, the messaliate is not yet approved by the officiating priest. etc.

I just hope that everything will turn out great as planned. And of course be the most fantabulous bride! Heheheh!