Shopcrazy

yay! i was on vacation today. long leisurely brunch at nielsen's with marlon, a quick stop at the office to email myself work (ick) and a couple of hours at makati cinema square, where marlon and i enriched some chinaman by spending a small fortune on pirated dvds.

true to (male) nature, marlon completed his purchases in about five minutes. he bought new PS2 games, some of which i'm rather interested to try myself. we spent the rest of the time looking around for a dvd of queen margot, which i didn't find :-( BUT we did find a treasure trove of a whole lot of other classic eighties films. my favorite finds:

the omen one AND two. ooooh. my mom thought my sister looked like little damien as a baby. that thought really freaked her out. my mom, i mean.

splash. see how skinny tom hanks is? i used to confuse him with steve gutenberg. after watching this as a kid, i couldn't get the woolie boolie out of my head for weeks.

two major gems that we didn't get (and that i will probably go back for): a john tavener choral ikons dvd (go figure) and sheena, queen of the jungle. sheena (tanya roberts--for some reason i always thought she was played by sheena easton, har har) was marlon's very first crush. reading the plot synopsis on the back of the dvd made me realize that it is such a camp classic, like nympha and temptation island (right jason?). i HAVE to have it.

major disappointment: the swatch bunnysutra is way too big for me. for the first time in my life, i wished i had fatter wrists. i was thisclose to buying it. marlon later confessed that he was also thisclose to buying it for me. crapcrapcrap.

major perk: marlon got me a winner puson-minimizing skirt at mango (half off). after a year and a half, he has become a master at spoiling me. i almost got myself a red bag that marlon said reminded him of prostitutes' pouty lips (eh?). however, i exercised willpower by thinking of my sd card and infrared adapter. geek.

i got myself a planner instead, since the ateneo planner this year is kinda ugly, save for the quotes from ateneo institutions such as doreen, dax manacsa and padre ferriols. it's a lonely planet planner, which i will heretofore refer to as the lonely planner.

my lonely planner

postscript: i spent new year's eve day (?) with marlon. and guess what he did, again? took me shopping at mango.

i actually looked at this with interest (i noticed that i tend to buy things that match what i'm wearing at the moment) until marlon cried, "they killed cookie monster!" he's a sharp one, that boy.

mango has this line of strange furry kilikili bags. stick two of them (black, no less) under your kilikili and you have a veritable forest of kilikili hair. this was so insanely ugly that we had to take a picture of it. the mango staff must have suspected us of being pirates from shenzhen.

i think i've corrupted my boyfriend for life. he spends maybe an hour in mango sitting on the floor with all the other glazed-eyed boyfriends. then he decides to buy his sister a new year's present. it's his brother's birthday tomorrow and he doesn't want her to feel left out since she's not opening presents. then he walks into folded & hung and decides to buy a polo that he thinks would look really good on his dad. then, so that nobody feels left out in all this gift-opening, he buys a necklace for his mom.

he takes me home in a cab, loaded down with all these spur-of-the-moment presents for me and his family. he's tired and probably broke.

in the cab, he puts his arm around me, gives me a tight hug and a smile, and whispers in my ear, "this was a wonderful day. thank you, sweetie."

and i'm thinking, what on earth did i do to deserve this guy?

Stumped

i have extra cash on my hands and i don't know what to do with it. okay, the bobo answer is save it, of course ("jesus saves, so should you"), which i'm already doing. the nice thing about this extra cash is that it begets extra cash, even after a considerable amount of savings.

so i could actually get myself things that i want. i had this whole list of things that i wanted, except now i can't remember most of it. so here i am trying to remember.

the first two things that come to mind are positively geeky and are a shameful, despicable reminder of how deeply i have become entrenched in my job.

an infrared adapter? so that i can transfer pics from my phone to my desktop. no, i don't want one of those usb transfer cable thingies. sony ericsson probably sells a proprietary one that will cost me an arm and a leg. i don't have an extra arm and leg; all i have is extra cash.

a securedigital (SD) card for my upcoming new digital camera? although i got a really good deal, it doesn't come with a SD card so i'll have to get myself one. oh no--i can see this spawning the need for a card reader. ugh. desktops. maybe i should just scrimp for a year and get myself a laptop with both an IR port and a card slot... nahhhhh.

a swatch? ahh. now this is more me. getting a watch is more of a protective gesture for my new baby (my lovely sony ericsson k700i. maybe i should name it). tor's story about getting held up on her doorstep in freshman year really scared me. a passerby asked her for the time; since she didn't have a watch, she took out her phone to check. tinutukan siya. goodbye phone.

since i always take out my phone to check the time, i could do with a watch. i've always liked swatch, and the last time i owned one was in grade school. it was a pop swatch with polka dots--how eighties. the skin series has some pretty cool models. there's also a swatch bunnysutra that's really cute.

investment pants? mango is on its end-of-season sale.

moisturizer? the office air always dries out my skin and i end each day feeling like a scrap of sandpaper.

another pair of funky glasses? those pink ones in UP sarabia.

shoes? STOP. i should not get another pair of shoes. i should just pay mr. quickie a visit.

eena's monthly shopping list amazes me. the thought that she'll probably get every single thing on it is so... so... kakainggiiiiit. the girl has money coming out of her ears. i was telling marlon about it last night and he was like, "give up singing. mag-stewardess ka na lang."

a jazz cd? miles davis' bitches brew, charles mingus, or one of those compilations from tower records. i used to have a list of all the CDs i wanted to buy, but the titles escape me now.

a planner? a book? maybe not a book. i'm not lusting after anything in particular.

sigh. i'm stumped.

Year-ender

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before? -- take a plane ride by myself, work in a multicultural environment, get paid for overtime, played final fantasy x on the PS2, beat my boyfriend at tekken, fedex a birthday present, graduate from college, have my own room, break a customs rule, save a considerable amount of money, be very angry with someone close to me for a long time, maintain a long-distance relationship, live with someone for three weeks, wake up to a city view, become friends with my ex, get a foot spa.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? -- i don't remember most of them, but i think i did. will make more.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? -- no. well... does our dog vita count? oh yeah, aui gave birth to ela this year... i think.

4. Did anyone close to you die? -- no, thank goodness.

5. What countries did you visit? -- singapore, thailand, indonesia

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? a regular form of exercise, more time off from work, more travel, more time with my boyfriend, storage space for my room and a new mattress

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? -- june 11, my first year anniversary with marlon, which we spent together in singapore; july 1, my first day at global sources.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? -- graduating from college with honors, getting a job, nurturing my relationship with marlon

9. What was your biggest failure? -- hayy. dropping voice lessons with leslie, sitting on my goals for the most part of the year. oh and something called the south beach diet. hehe.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? -- yes. i was always sick for most of my first few months at global sources.

11. What was the best thing you bought? -- hmmm that's tough, since a lot of the stuff i really liked was bought for me by marlon. can't name any one thing, so here goes: funky logo tees at landmark, my blue lisa loeb-ish glasses, miles davis' kind of blue, the art of travel

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? -- my sister's, eena's, my boyfriend's

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? -- won't name names, but someone very close to me. oh and the usual local politicians. gma is turning out to be a horrid disappointment.

14. Where did most of your money go? -- transpo and food

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? -- going to bangkok, the acs' october concert, marlon's visits home

16. What song will always remind you of 2004? -- alicia keys' "if i ain't got you", songs from american idol season 3 especially "i believe" and "chain of fools". go fantasia!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier. definitely.
ii. thinner or fatter? thinner, thank heavens.
iii. richer or poorer? richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? -- sleep early, take better care of my belongings, exercise, work towards my long-term goals

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? -- eat unhealthy, fattening food, impulse shopping

20. How will you be spending Christmas? -- i spent it being mushy with my boyfriend, pigging out and ignoring the whoosh of impending deadlines

21. Did you fall in love in 2004? -- technically no, but i did keep falling in love over and over with one guy. (i'm mushy, shoot me.)

22. How many one-night stands? -- none, some stolen weekends though ;-)

23. What was your favorite TV program? -- ugh. for a very brief time: iron chef, jamie's kitchen (hmm i sense a pattern here), american idol (towards the finals), whose line is it anyway?

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? -- not hate. more like disappointed in/struggling with.

25. What was the best book you read? -- philip pullman's his dark materials trilogy. thanks jeline! oh and the art of travel. thanks doc garcia!

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? -- jazz, particularly miles davis' kind of blue. also mingus big band, ladysmith black mambazo, yo-yo ma and cecilia bartoli.

27. What did you want and got? -- a job, a feeling of working towards my goals, savings, new shoes (lots of them!!!), marlon home for christmas, a tagaytay trip with marlon

28. What was your favorite film of this year? -- kill bill vol. 2, the return of the king, the incredibles, wimbledon

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? -- lookie here

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? -- getting to go to the beach more, getting to watch alicia keys life, not going off the south beach diet.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? -- comfort with a twist, lots of accessories

32. What kept you sane? -- music, sleep, chocolate, books, feelings of accomplishment, my boyfriend

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? -- christian bale and jude law. fancied as in admired but not lusted after: anna netrebko.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? -- the US elections, Bush's bumbling in Iraq, the General Garcia case, pork barrel and the fiscal crisis

35. Who did you miss? -- aside from my boyfriend? maggie! was also really sad that i didn't get to see sir joel in the states.

36. Who was the best new person you met? -- surajit, darius and the EBU lunchtime group, new acs members like stalee, bong, alfred and liz

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004: -- get started.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: -- "The morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all/And even if I could it'd all be grey, but your picture on my wall/It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad" from thank you by dido. hmmm, there should be something better than this, but can't think of it at the moment.

Over the holidays

i was extremely overworked. no joke. it got to a point (twice in fact) that by the time marlon came to pick me up for lunch or to go home, i was close to tears. it was also compounded by the fact that i was sick most of the week. the worst thing is that the work doesn't seem to end no matter how much you do and how fast. i have five pieces to edit just sitting in this laptop, waiting for me. will probably have to take home some more work over the upcoming long weekend.

harrassed me having tea with marlon at seattle's best

i got stark raving mad at and extremely fed up with someone at work. (who doesn't know it.) i'm so fed up with this person that i'm not going to sit on my ass about it this time, perhaps even at risk to my own standing at the office.

my boss resigned. not my new immediate boss, but the editor-in-chief of the EBU. this was a totally unexpected blow and really got everyone down. when the email announcement from the president of our unit went out, you could see everyone in the big room just sitting in front of their pcs, totally shocked. i was surprised with how affected i was (am), considering that i've known him briefly compared to most people. but really, surajit is an amazing boss. and it is hard for me to imagine sticking it out or doing well without having a leader like him. (especially not when you consider his temporary [i hope] pinch-hitter.)

i was late to simbanggabi at gesu and lost my voice.

am getting fat again.

you get the picture. my work week leading up to the holidays was a complete and total piece of sh*t. i don't think i ever had a pre-christmas week like this one. and let's hope i never, ever will again.

Let the good times begin

on the other hand, the wonderful thing is that the holidays kind of pressure you to scrounge for some real gems among all the hassle. ever get that feeling? "it's christmas, it can't possibly be this crappy." does that make sense? and so my horrible week had its perks.

finding out about my possibly-family. i know next to nothing about my indian side. i tried to write dima (my paternal grandmother) about family history before but she didn't give much details. so, i am not quite sure whether surajit was just pulling my leg or we really could be (very distantly) related.

his mother was a dutt and dima is a dutta, both bengalis from calcutta or kolkata or whatever the hell they call it now. apparently both last names trace back to the same roots (the duttas), but one branch of the family dropped the a to become more anglicized about two centuries ago. surajit says there is actually a book about the dutts/duttas since they are a very prominent intellectual and christian family in calcutta. according to him, they are also known for being extremely lazy. now i know where my sister and i get it from. anyway, i think he's serious because now surajit calls me cousin. i started calling him mama which means uncle.

surajit to me: "now you know where your fat gene comes from"

surajit's effervescent wife anjali, who loves sampaguita ("i have no idea what she's saying, but as soon as i heard her i knew it was a rebel singing!"), and len at the EBU party

hanging out at bel field with marlon. i have always, always wanted to do this with someone. and now i have marlon. we stayed for bibingka and churros after our simbanggabi mass and the acs concert, sitting in the middle of bel field with the cold december breeze and the lighted acacias. it was absolute heaven.

finally, blessed rest. have lived the past few days in my pajamas, subsisting mostly on chocolate. mmmm.

lunch with eena. a.k.a. my high school friend who's now a flight attendant with emirates. this is the first time i've seen her since she junked her interior design board exams and flew off to pursue her dream exactly one year ago. i'm so proud of this girl. she's so not the "coffee-or-tea"-sweet-smile type but she's totally thriving. a fellow reformed commitment-phobe, she's got a sweet swiss-german boyfriend who actually bought me a birthday present (a very funky polished-wood cuff from nairobi. nairobi!!!). it was superfun hearing her bitchy stories about nasty passengers and finding out that the purser is actually not the most useless person on the aircraft (which is what i always thought, hehe).

christmas day at home. was nice and quiet, which is how i like it. fun too, with all the usual favorites--queso de bola (microwaved for me), coke on ice, nanay going through her gifts and not waiting her turn, pictures by the tree, and lots of little trinkets that are not much monetarily, but are just fun to unwrap.

i got some really good presents this year. some of my faves: a stress ball from lynnie (we soooo need it); a four-piece bedsheet set from marlon's mom, which exactly matches the pink of my bedroom wall (!!!!!!!!); a beaded, indian-inspired candleholder from mimoy and loi (again, goes with my room--am so inspired to fix it up over new year's weekend); spa set from my sister (most kikay elements: a supersoft brush for facial scrubs and tiny makeup brushes); a black bag (can never have too many) from my sister again; elderflower eyegel, fantasia's debut album and a sniffle-inducing portrait from marlon. and the piece de resistance...

the sony ericsson k700i from marlon. i love this phone, i love it love it love it!!!!!!

all the pictures in this post were taken with this phone. aren't they great? (for a phone, i mean). it has a fantastic camera, not to mention an mp3 player, 40+MB memory, fm tuner, bluetooth, and all sorts of doodads i am still finding out about. my boyfriend has turned me into such a boy. my last few presents from him have been gadgets. plus we're getting a 5.2MP digital camera from our taiwan bureau in january.

christmas with marlon. having marlon home for two whole weeks has been wonderful. celebrating our first christmas together has been nothing short of magical for me. (he was in singapore, too poor to come home, last christmas.)

my mid-workday lunches with him kept me sane, and ending the day with him was always something to look forward to despite the exhaustion.

my sweetie. *sigh*

we had a great christmas day dinner at the mandarin's christmas buffet. great food and great ambience--very cozy and private since you never see more than two or three tables around you. we bumped into mark escaler (every comm major's favorite genius/lustpuppy, which i hope his wife didn't overhear me telling marlon), which was such a pleasant surprise. my boyfriend dutifully tried to muster up some jealousy, which was cute. oh and i gave marlon my present, which was a "guerilla recording" of me singing some art songs etc etc and gideon playing the piano.

at the mandarin christmas buffet

my wrapping masterpiece

capping off the evening at the bel air III park (marlon desperately trying to reclaim his childhood); this after driving around makati cbd to look at the lights

yesterday i spent the afternoon and evening at marlon's house watching dvds (harold and kumar go to white castle, super size me and labyrinth). we had dinner with his family who have been so incredibly sweet to me in the one year that marlon and i have been together. i met his other brother val (the one who doesn't live with them anymore) and was fed oodles and oodles of yummy food. we played fight club on PS2 and cuddled and generally were mushy together. the kind of simple thing that keeps us going.

so yeah, i still have to work but it's all good. the worst of the hassle is over, the man i love is home and i'm optimistic about the new year. so, dear reader, i hope this christmas was a happy and bright one for you, and that you were highly instrumental in making it that way for yourself.

merry christmas!

Dancing in the street

FINALLY! NOW WITH PICS!

last friday was our office christmas party. it was held at astor hotel, a two-star hotel on makati avenue (yes, near koreatown and all the girlie bars) after work.

at 530pm, surajit started shooing everyone out of the office to go to the party, so rose and i walked with gulnar (our new vm! it's her first week) all the way down makati ave. i semi-played tourist guide for gulnar on the way, and realized how overwhelming manila at christmastime must be for someone who's seeing it for the first time. gulnar seemed to like the stroll down makati ave--i mean, it's so much more alive than the concretelandia of legaspi village, where she's staying. she said it reminded her of bombay (she's from goa, which sounds like a really nice place from the way she describes it). of course i had to point out hossein's persian kebab and north park. what else is important on makati ave? hehe.

this year's theme was "street party", although it was held in a function room. the first thing to greet us when we stepped out of the elevator was this gigantic picture of david wheeler (one of the expat bosses) sitting in front of a bar, holding a beer and scratching his enormous belly. uh. ok. the hallway leading to the function room was done up as a street--gray with the white dashed line, street signs (my faves: the victoria court sign and the one that said "aso lang ang umihi dito. ASO KA BA?" how authentic! hahahaha!) and lamp posts.

they had henna tattoo artists, face painters and caricaturists. and having james simpson (production boss), david wheeler and jommel (our buff layout artist-cum-personal trainer) dressed up as BOUNCERS was such a hilarious touch! james stopped me at the door since i was wearing my hot pink "i carry no cash" t-shirt.

"i can't let you in. you carry no cash," he boomed. "how do you expect to pay for anything?"

"uh... face value?" i asked. he waved me in.

Strawberry demystified

as it happened, there was one seat right between rech and our office toy, whom we gave several epithets: strawberry (as in blond), barney and britney. some of us in my office lunch group started finding strawberry cute when we finally saw him smile after weeks and weeks of bustling around the office with this purposeful stride and serious frown. he finished his business with our floor last week and we thought we would never see him again (except for rose, who stalked him during the fire drill haha).

so, back to the seat. syempre tumabi ako sa kanya. si rech kasi eh.

uh, rech? saan ka nakatingin?

in a nutshell, strawberry was demystified that night since we got to talk. he's pretty friendly, actually, but i must admit that the purposeful stride/furrowed brow/unreachable aura thing was a large part of his appeal. he started becoming a little geeky even (darius to emper: "si redford white lang pala ang gusto mo!"). especially when he started dancing. major flashback to lakenheath in the uk four years ago: whoever said white men can't dance is SO not kidding. of course that didn't stop rech and i from weaving our way over to where he and mayann were dancing, leaving poor jason dancing by his lonesome.

but anyway, it was all good. it's fun to flirt harmlessly pala. ugh i remember college--i think i took flirting way too seriously. fun moment: after he introduced himself and we lapsed into this silence, strawberry said, "uh...what else can i ask you?" (nagtilian kami ni rech like a pair of badings when i told her about it.) he gave me a high five when i came back to the table after singing time after time (rose: "ang haba na ng hair mo! grabe!!!!!" jason: "panalo ka talaga!").

the singing ngo-ngo (still had a cough and cold)

well, michael kleist from the fifteenth floor gave me a high five too, but he doesn't count.

my co-workers at the EBU (electronics business unit) chowing down.

pretty girlies from the EBU

Other highlights

getting a henna tattoo of a butterfly below my collarbone, to the right (it smeared though when i went to bed that night! now i have to live with it for two weeks!)...

stephen and anthony wearing shades to sing unwell with the band (ang cute nila! rock star mode! hahaha)

winning a cute teddy bear with a santa hat and seven hundred bucks; oh, and dancing! i have not danced in the longest time and it was so much fun.

spent most of the evening dodging darius, who went crazy at the sound of old show-band tunes. ballroom dancer pala si lolo.

my friends were pretty lucky in the raffle too. nina and rech won food baskets (rech: "ayoko ng fruit basket! gusto ko ng trip to hong kong!"), darius won an overnight trip at some resort (he deserves a weekend getaway with his wife, especially now that gulnar is taking over), jason won a 21-inch TV (how apt from someone from the electronics team) and emper won a trip to palawan!

jason, the lucky schmuck, with charlie, our resident pretty girl

empot, lucky winner of a trip to club paradise *sigh*

i am SOOOO glad i didn't have to host, because RU made a total, utter fool of himself with his manic master showman mode. he ranged from totally kroo-kroo onstage to rather offensive offstage. let's put it this way: i'm just glad i have a different boss. (on a side note: jason is now officially the biggest fan of janet pech, RU's co-host who kinda looks like marcia gay harden. hihi.)

we went to coffee bean at greenbelt to wind down after the party--me, rose, lynnie, jason, acy, ren, emper, mayann, melanie, rech and strawberry! yes, the one and only demystified office toy. we were actually surprised that he agreed to come along since it looked like he had plans with the other expats to go to some girlie bar (found out later it was cathouse on kalayaan). he was nice enough to stick around until 130am, by which time everyone was so dead i felt like the designated stand-up comedian. after he left, everyone had a fun time dishing about him (ang galing ni nina mag-fish ng info! grabe!) and laughing over the events of the evening.

mayann told us that the foreign bosses try to come over for business at christmastime, because the manila office is know for having the absolute best christmas party. (the china, hong kong and taiwan offices have none at all, and the singapore office just has a tiny unremarkable one.) this year, aside from strawberry, we had visiting expats from hong kong for job objective setting (my new neighbor is graham kelly, EBU marketing director, who has this fab irish brogue. sigh. i miss europe).

all in all, i had a blast and looks like most people did too. will update with pics soon!

Procrastinating again

01. I have a cell phone.
02. I have friends who use me.
03. I'm an only boy/girl.
04. I'm a shopaholic.
05. I love dangly earrings.
06. I haven't smoked a cigarette before. (believe me, i've tried!)
07. I hate cold weather.
08. I'm obsessed with the computer.
09. I have shot a gun before.
10. I can't live without music.
11. I have no tolerance of ignorant people. (it varies from day to day)
12. I have ridden on a motorcycle before.
13. Ill be in this town forever.
14. I've been to five other countries. (at least)
15. I get annoyed easily. (i have triggers. lean on the MRT poles during rush hour and feel my full wrath!)
16. I eventually want kids. (remember, this is the girl who's consulted baby name books since she was seven)
17. I have neat handwriting.
18. I have more than a few horrible memories.
19. I'm addicted to chocolate.
20. I'm an atheist.
21. My parents are strict.
22. I love airplane rides. (i can sleep right through a fourteen-hour flight)
23. I love taking pictures.
24. I hate people who are fake.
25. I can be mean when I want to.
26. My parents care about my grades. (surprisingly, the fact that my mom doesn't is one of the reasons why i did fairly well in school. no pressure.)
27. One of my best friends is a girl.
28. I have excessively many shoes.
29. Im obsessed with fashion clothes.
30. Im easy to talk to.
31. I would never eat raw fish.
32. I cry easily. (yes! especially when i'm angry!)
33. I hate it when people are late.
34. I procrastinate. (see this blog?)
35. I love winter. (just for the clothes
36. I have too many clothes for my closet. (a lot of them are piled at the foot of my bed)
37. I love to sleep.
38. I wish I were smarter.
39. I'm afraid of flying.
40. I hate drama.
41. I bite my nails.
42. I have been on an 8-hour drive. (try 18 hours.)
43. I never fight with my parents.
44. I love the beach.
45. I have never had the chicken pox.
46. I have gone out in public in my boxers.
47. I can't control my emotions.
48. I have a best friend.
49. I have moved more than once.
50. I truly love my friends.
51. I have/had braces.
52. I love to write.
53. I have never broken a bone.
54. I agree with racist people.
55. I hate my computer.
56. I love girls/boys that play guitar.
57. I state the obvious.
58. Im a happy person. (again, it varies)
59. I love to dance.
60. I love to sing.
61. I love cleaning my room.
62. I tend to get jealous very easily.
63. I love cute underwear.
64. I have gotten high before.
65. I love night better than day.
66. I have been on the phone for over 4 hours
at a time.
67. I don't like to study for tests. (who does, anyway? oh yeah, maybe tor)
68. I love God.
69. I am too forgiving.
70. I have horrible sense in direction.
71. I miss elementary school.
72. I have had a girl/boyfriend before & miss them.
73. Im a mamas boy/daddy's girl.
74. I love kisses with tongue. (any kisses are nice :-)
75. I love the color red.
76. I love to sew.
77. My eye color changes.
78. I should see a therapist.
79. I played on a girls sports team.
80. I become stressed easily.
81. I hate liars.
82. I like comfortable sweatpants.
83. I can play the piano.
84. I love the smell of rain.
85. I love my family.
86. I hate needles.
87. I am a perfectionist.
88. I always wanted to learn to play the
drums.
89. I hate the feeling of failure.
90. I have friends in other countries.
91. I know how to cook.
92. I can be quite selfish.
93. At times, I still act like a little kid.
94. I have food allergies.
95. I love little kids.
96. I love to read.
97. I wish I were more motivated for school.
98. I love getting stuff in the mail.
99. I have problems with letting go of old
feelings.
100. I hate being alone.
101. I love summer.
102. I love the weekends.
103. I love black eyeliner.
104. I think I'm fine.
105. I type with one hand.
106. I wear make-up.
107. I have never ridden on an underground
subway.
108. I can swim.
109. I have bad memory.
110. I go to church.
111. I sing in the shower.
112. I have never been to a camping.
113. I hate cheerleaders.

Bumbay alahera gets Web-savvy

bumbays are supposed to be tech-savvy naman right? what with all the hullaballoo about india being the IT outsourcing capital of the world, blah blah. here i am approximating at least part of my heritage.

so my sister and i set up a photoblog for our wares. we're still trying to navigate this busythumbs site, add descriptions and generally whip the whole thing into shape, but do stop by and check it out!

one of a kind jewelry made by my mummy! prices range from php 1,200 to 1,800. the edgier pieces make fantastic treats for yourself, while the more mommy-ish pieces will be unique gifts for your mommy/mother-in-law/aunt/whatever. (we offer wrapping/packaging for a small fee. anyone who's ever gotten a gift from me knows how much i LOOOOVE wrapping presents.)

some of my personal favorites:

cat's eye stones in green, blue, yellow, brown and white. the perfect piece to jazz up a neutral/earth toned outfit.

made with blue glass beads (NOT plastic!) and round blue swarovski crystals. comes with a matching bracelet.

bring on the bling-bling! i wore this last week with a simple white v-neck sweater and jeans. got a lot of compliments on it too! rhodium plated chains and pave pendant encrusted with australian swarovski crystals. comes in gold as well.

check out more funky pieces at imshca.busythumbs.com! (imshca is the name of my family's trading company.) and check back often because we'll be uploading tons more.

--

in other news, not only have i been asked to sing at the global sources christmas party, i've been asked to HOST it!!!! with RU and surajit!!!

reasons to DECLINE:

1) the party falls on our dtp (deadline to production) for the computer monitors MIR! i'm even declining a harang for this blasted dtp!
2) i'm totally croaking like a frog. went home early yesterday to nurse a cold, cough and slight fever.
3) i have doubts about RU's ability for host-ish witty banter.
4) i have serious doubts about surajit's willpower when it comes to tormenting me in public. it might just become a "torch the ditz/newbie" kind of evening.
5) did i mention that i'm totally croaking like a frog?

reasons to ACCEPT:
1) ksp ako eh.

Random fluff

be warned, because when i say random fluff, i mean it. i am totally zonked out today. corporate slavery must be getting to me. as an act of rebellion, i will spend the last fifteen minutes of my paid workday blogging.

--

horror of horrors, i saw k walking outside my building yesterday. people who were at tricia's birthday party two years ago will know what transpired with me and k, and by golly my sister won't let me forget it. anyway, we actually caught each other's eyes and needless to say, nag-deadmahan kami.

ibig sabihin ba he now goes to office here in makati? that isinuka na siya ng binondo paper cartel? that i could actually run into him again? horror of horrors talaga!

maputla at intsik pa rin siya. he's probably still spineless too. and now he's thirty! gadzooks. i hope his hair is thinning. it probably is. note to self: never wear that blue tie-dye halter ever again.

--

according to diet.com, my...

Eating Personality is Steady Snacker
Exercise Personality is Rain Check Athlete
Coping Personality is Persistent Procrastinator

yeah, whatever. these alliterations are just too cute to be credible. nyah nyah nyah, they missed with "rain check athlete", whatever the *(^&$#! that is.

--

hallelujah! a regine velasquez song that i actually like: shine. acs was supposed to sing it for last year's US tour (as arranged by kuya arnel for choir), pero hindi pumatok. it's a really nice song, and regine reined in her caterwauling to a tolerable level.

our songwriter goddess trina b. emailed gp a funny story about regine recording shine:

funny nga eh, according to arranger arnold buena (who originally co-arranged shine in '96 tapos siya ulit ngayon), during the recording session, si regine mismo napatanong ng "hindi ba ako masyadong nagwawala?" but of course, giliw na giliw ang client sa kanyang mga bonggastic birit and wanted to retain the bonggastic ending kaya ang tunog ng song ay "...and the winner is!" pa rin! hahaha!

so at least regine has some level of self-awareness. wonder if she's aware that she's beginning to look a lot like michael jackson.

--

i am now an official bumbay alahera. i've got the giant bag, the jewelry, the ziplocs, the listahan and the staggered payment schemes to prove it. although i do think i tend to be rather generous and unbusiness-like with payment terms, for which my defense is that i'm only half bumbay anyway.

my mom is working out a distributorship with this australian jewelry dealer. the pieces are extremely pretty and very well designed, and are mostly made with rhodium, 24k gold plate, cubic zirconia and australian swarovski crystals. i offered to take some to my office the other day and show them off.

anyway, either ma-chika talaga ako or the timing is really good (a few days after christmas bonuses came in!) or the pieces are very attractive or all of the above, but i made five sales in the space of one hour yesterday! nina also decided to get a necklace-and-earring set this morning, and rose and melanie want to see more stuff tomorrow.

one interesting observation from my afternoon as an alahera: sorry to knock us women, but guys decide on purchases with lightning speed. i think i made these sales because men (i'm talking men, none of you metrosexual wusses) hate shopping. a really pretty gift waltzes up to you in the office, you don't have to drive, hunt for parking and navigate the horrible holiday mall traffic to get it, you don't have to rack your brain for a perfect personality match and fret that she'll hate it; bling-bling is safe and hassle-free, and i dare you to find me a girl who would totally barf at the thought of receiving jewelry from her significant other.

so, why not? sige. eto'ng pera. a sale is made.

take stephen from the ec team: he bought a bracelet for his girlfriend like five minutes after seeing it on charlie (another girl from ec. in fairness mahusay na model si charlie). bal, ec's vertical manager, is another case study. he went over to my cubicle, asked me if i had any necklace-and-earring sets, took like a ten-second look at one set, asked me how much it was, and said "sige, kukunin ko." tapos ang usapan! isang minuto ka lang!

the only exception was darius, a bargaining king if i ever saw one, who subtly guilt-tripped and charmed me into giving him extremely generous terms. in fairness again, he did buy the most expensive set among my wares. his wife is going to look soooo classy wearing what he picked out.

so there. this is actually fun and pretty easy, since the pieces mostly speak for themselves. although i don't think i'd want to do it forever, and i've got this gigantic bag permanently welded to my shoulder.

but the hopeless romantic that i am, i loved seeing men buying jewelry for their wives and girlfriends. i liked seeing the twinkle in bal's eye when he asked me to wrap his purchase not for christmas, but for "basta lang" (sweeeeeeet!), seeing the gift-wrapped box sitting on stephen's desk the whole day, and seeing darius consider his purchase very, very, very carefully (you could almost see him picturing his wife wearing the jewelry--or maybe he was just mentally computing. i'm such a pollyanna).

--

a super typhoon is expected to hit tonight. good luck sa atin, 'pinas. i'm going home.

Stuff I need

1) good pants for work. something that can be worn with both decent office blouses and my growing pile of quirky shirts. something tweedy perhaps? no more el cheapo pairs from Landmark or wherever.

2) sensible but non-frumpy heels. preferably camel, white or brightly colored. again, no more el cheapo pairs from Landmark or wherever. this time it's for keeps.

3) rubber shoes. RIP my beautiful black nameless rubber shoes from Koln, which I bought three years ago with pia (our first bonding moment). waaah.

4) a phone. waaah.

5) crates. yeah, those things fruits are shipped in. i have long ago decided that this is the ideal, and cheapest, form of storage for my junk. those giant tupperware drawers are a major no-no.

6) a 20-watt bulb for my night light.

7) christmas cards. i want something with filipino paintings on it. go figure. oooh, i can go christmas shopping on monday. no work, lalalalalala.

anyone know where i can get any of these? the 20-watt bulb is a no-brainer, so i'm not accepting any answers for that.

p.s. i have resolved to put off personal shopping unti post-christmas sale season in january. i got two-for-one levi's during that same period two years ago.

FLAMES, the web version

♥Deepa Paul and ♥Marlon Plazo

Trying to adopt three related children. Hope to kiss when permitted. Demonstrate their affection with skywriting and embracing.

Orchestrated by ianiceboy

uh, ok. whatever you say.

actually, it's more like:

• trying to... LOSE WEIGHT.
• hope to... LOSE WEIGHT.
• demonstrate their affection with... MEALS AND CHOCOLATE. aray.
  let's try again, shall we?
  
  

  ♥Deepa Catherine Paul and ♥Marlon Plazo

  Secretly adopted twenty-eight thousand identical kids. Are prone to hug each other for the foreseeable future. Are as one for tax purposes.

  Orchestrated by ianiceboy

what IS this hullaballoo about adoption?

ok, i agree with the perpetual hugging bit. :-)

happy me, boyfriend coming home this weekend for chocolate buffet at the pen. lalalalalala.

Lifestyles of the young and hip

From: EMPER
To: Charlie, Denice, Deepa, Jason, Jayme, Jambi
Subject: Xmas party shoot for the young and hip teaser

Hello all,

In view of the teasers being circulated for this year's Christmas party, the planning committee has scheduled a photo session TODAY :)

Please take note of our schedule:

When : 23 November (Tuesday), 2:00 pm
Venue : 12/F Lobby
Official Photographer : Kat Zuno
Recommended Attire : Come as you are :)
Please bring: hip and cool gadgets e.g. iPods, MP3 players, cellphones, organizer atbp.

Thank you very much.

Talent manager,
Emper :)

ps. i won't take NOOOO for an answer hehe :)

DEEPA: wow! we're young and hip! hahaha! wala yata akong hip and cool gadgets. meron lang akong UPS dito na nakakahon. how sad for CP. baka pwedeng humiram from Elec.

JASON: err wala din. baka pwede humiram sa TS. jambi has all the toys hehe

JAMBI: i don't think bringing Bubbles to the shoot counts as hip and cool.

DEEPA: as in literally TOYS. pero, if push comes to shove, akin si wonder woman. hahaha

DEEPA: waaah jason blurred tayo! so much for our modeling debut! bale ang instructions lang po sa production, paki photoshop yung aking scary glowing eyes hahaha

JASON: i know... di tayo pang print ad... mas bagay tayo for TV haha

JAMBI: maybe sadako's coming for both of you. i'd keep a baseball bat with me everytime i watch TV from now on.