What's the sense of having a Krispy Kreme kiosk in your office when it's closed during your working hours?

Why is fate messing with me just when I don't really want it to? Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.) always seems to apply to me. You see, I will be having my two-weeks vacation leave next week and I am planning to go out of town so yeah, I would be needing funds. Incidentally, today should have been one of the two happiest and most anticipated days in my workmonth - payday. I checked my Internet Banking last night just to see whether it has already credited my account and lo and behold! I got waaaay less than what I normally get (during you know, when things don't go wrong). I would take it in stride if only a couple thousand pesos is involved, but almost half of my salary has gone missing! I went to work today feeling so bad and learned that my officemates also experienced the same thing. I don't know when everything will  be sorted out, but I do hope they make sure it's done the soonest time possible as I have a vacation (and an Owl City concert - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!) to look forward to.

And seriously, I love being a girl, but I am not a big fan of periods. I mean, I know it's necessary for conception and continuation of the human race, but does it really have to involve menstrual cramps? It is very inconvenient as it is, but why does it have to hurt? x_x

I am probably the most un-sporty girl I know. I love school, but I hated PE. In Elementary while my classmates played volleyball and basketball I play with the Barbies I have brought. If we are required to really play, I just stand there and wait for the balls to hit me. In High School I was probably the happiest girl in class when we were allowed to play Scrabble and were taught Dances instead of other sports. (Imagine playing Scrabble for PE, how lame LOL). In college I chose Social Dance, Arnis and Badminton for my required PE units. I would never be able to compete though; in these occasions I would prefer to be the spectator - a part of the audience, thankyouverymuch.

Yesterday my bestfriend Jerome invited me to watch him and his twin brother Jonas defend their title as Champion of the Navotas Mayor's Cup. I might have neglected to say it before; he is not just an awesome graphic artist (he designed my blog's header btw) and the best guy friend a girl could ever wish for, he is also an excellent badminton player. Together, he and his twin are a force to be reckoned with in Doubles. He is a leftie while Jonas is a rightie, so you know, they can easily cover the bases. So much are their skills when it comes to this sport that Babolat asked them to be their endorsers. So yeah, they have Babolat uniforms, rackets, even bags. Isn't that great? :D

In the years Jer and I have been bestfriends, this is the first time I saw them compete. I marveled at how fast, agile and strong they are! And I am so amazed at how fit they look and how toned their legs are!

They won against two other pairs, but lost to Edison and Jess (who coincidentally are also very close friends with them. Jess is also our classmate in high school.) in the last round. What happened yesterday was just the Eliminations. They have another game tonight, and the Finals will be on Saturday :) I'm hoping they win it again, that would be awesome! :)

After the game we all went to Steakside in Malabon for a celebratory(?) dinner. 

It's always great to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones!

At the risk of having an accident (gulp), we also had fun taking photos of ourselves using my camera's Self Timer in the drive home.




Fun times! Now if only there is a way to have toned legs like theirs without exerting any effort. Dream on, Krissy :D

In this era of text messages, IMs, emails and tweets, it seems like we have already forgotten the art of writing letters. As opposed to composing a quick email or a short PM, creating a handwritten letter takes real effort. From choosing the right stationery and pen, to writing what you want to say and to making sure that you are able to get your point across using correct grammar and spelling (it's not like you can enable Spell Checker and/ or just press Backspace anytime, right?), and then sealing the envelope, everything is done meticulously and carefully. These days, letters have become a novelty.

I have always loved writing letters. The first letter I ever wrote was when I was in Kindergarten. The moment I learned how to string words into phrases and then sentences, I asked for the help of one of my aunts and composed a letter for my friend and classmate Joan. I will never forget what I wrote in my letter - I asked her why we have the same last name (Cruz), are we sisters separated at birth? :D

This love for writing letters did not cease. I remember writing letters for my classmates (even though we see each other at school everyday) and then posting them. You see, my father works for the Post Office so I didn't have any problems having them sent. If anything, I was even more encouraged, especially when I received letters from them as well. It even became more prevalent in high school. United in teenage angst and with teenage hormones rising, all of us sent each other notes and letters all the time. There were Valentine letters, Christmas letters, reconciliation letters, love letters, and my favorite - just because letters. I collected more letters in my senior year than the four years I was in college :D

I am saddened by the fact that I lost all the letters sent to me from when I was young up until year 2001, when a big fire razed our house down together with all our belongings. It is never too late to begin collecting them again, though. I have saved every letter (and every note passed in class, plus Post-Its from when I was in college) after that in a big box of memories, and whenever I get sad and PMS-y I just dig through that box and read away.

I also have a couple of notebooks and an open journal where I ask my friends to write in. I tell them it's better for me to hear my eulogy now in case I won't be able to go to my funeral and listen to them say good things about me LOL!

And of course, I am happy that my blogfriends have shared this forgotten art with me (even though it is just too easy to just leave a note in each others' blogs. Ü)

And, when I arrived at my parents' house this afternoon, this was waiting for me:

I opened it, and I was sooo touched I shed a single tear (did I ever tell you I am a big crybaby? I even cried while watching Pink Panther x_x).

Thank you so much Ejann! You have made my day week (as I have been feeling an overdue case of PMS)! :D

P.S. Let it be known that I do not oppose Facebook and all these methods of instant communication that modern times has brought. Fast, easy and reliable (and cheap!), what's not to like? I am just saying it's always a pleasant surprise to receive a handwritten note (and a bit more special than if receiving their digital counterparts) and I am sure you all agree with me. :)

I have barely had enough sleep as I slept at 4:30am today and then woke up at 8:30am. Where did I come from? From our team building last night. Jessica asked yesterday, what exactly do we do at team buildings? Basically, we eat, drink (at least they do as I don't drink. Boo.) and bond over lots of stories. Sometimes we also do karaoke nights. Before, we used to go out of town or go swimming but because we now have different rest days, it is not practical to go somewhere far so these days we just resort to eating out or holding it at a team member's house. 

Yesterday we held it at Sasha's house. We are given monthly team building funds by HSBC to spend for these events, what we do is save it until it accumulates so we can spend more. Plus, some of the best agents in our team received their Deferred Cash Incentive last week so they also chipped in. As expected, we had lots of food and drinks  last night! We had grilled pork, grilled fish, shang hai, pork and chicken adobo, ensalada, spaghetti, roast chicken, ice cream and cake! They also had an endless supply of beer and vodka.

Everyone, I'd like you to meet our line manager and immediate supervisor, TL Jimmy. Judging on first impressions alone, you can easily dismiss him as someone who is up to no good (especially now that he sports that hairstyle as well haha) but once you get to know him, he really knows how to manage a team. He cares for all of us and patterns his approach to each team member's distinct personality. When problems arise, he does not take sides and instead listens to each offended party. He can easily make you laugh with his antics and jokes, but he knows when it's time to be serious. He is a rockstar. :)

We ate at the dining room on the 1st floor of the house, and they drank at the rooftop. After the nth drink my guy teammates removed their shirts because they said it was getting warm o.0 I will spare you their topless photos though, but I will show you this:

You know how when everyone's drunk they get really talkative? My teammates are the same, it was a riot! TL Jimmy gave us a small lecture about life, and then asked all of us what we think of him. After we all said our piece he then proceeded to tell us what he thinks of us. (I was given the titles Ms. Fashionista and Ms. Opinionated :D) Sure, we've had lots of other team buildings before, but last night was different. It was a night full of food, drinks, realizations and revelations, one I will never forget for a long, long time. :) 

All parties (and bonding moments) come to an end though. By 11PM, TL Jimmy and Watcher were too drunk to go home so they slept over at Sasha's. I also slept over at her house mainly because our two former teammates - Asther and Ruther - who already transfered to other departments are supposed to come after they end their shifts at 1am. I took a very short nap and was woken when they arrived where we again, bonded over food :D

Ruther went home at around 4am, and Ar, Sasha and I managed to sleep at around 4:30am. I woke up at 8:30am, and went straight home here to my parents' house. Tomorrow, I go to work again. :)

For my parting words, I'd like to tell you a little bit something more about my workmates. One thing that I can say about my team, we certainly know how to have fun. Even when faced at times with some impossible-to-please customers, our targets are constantly being changed, and we sometimes get a call with out-of-this-world concerns that is enough to single-handedly meet one's stress quota for the week, we still make it a point to laugh about it. Even when some egos clash and there are inevitable fights, everything is sorted out on the same day. If not, then it will be fixed on the same work-week. I admit though, there is someone in the team that I have never spoken to voluntarily because of an issue we had in the past but at least we are civil towards each other and respect each other's differences. And even when Dane and I had our big falling out where I did not speak to him for 5 months (September 2008 - February 2009), we were civil and prevented any dramatic scenes worthy of an Oscar nomination.

What TL Jimmy said is right: years from now, even when all of us have gone on to our separate paths, we will still carry the memories of our being together in one team. No one will be forgotten as each one has left his/ her own unique mark where he/ she can be remembered by. I read somewhere that you cannot stay long in a job where you do not like the people you work with. Let it be known that I really did not intend to stay here, but I did because I am happy with them and couldn't imagine working where they won't be there with me anymore. I have said before and I will never get tired of saying this: I am and will forever be grateful that they are the ones I shared my first job with.

I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine and Chinese New Year weekend! How did it go? Yes, I am snoopy, I would love to know all about it! :D

Yesterday (13 February 2010) after work, Dane and I went to TriNoma. (Let it be known that this is not a date though,  it is just two friends going out for some good food. Right.) It was our first time to be in TriNoma together as he hates the mall for some reason. He said it is too crowded, the layout's terrible, and the parking lot is awful. 

Unlike him though, I like this mall. They have a wide range of shops and restaurants, and you can score really good deals in Landmark! But yeah, I agree with Dane. It is too crowded, the layout's terrible, and the parking lot is awful.

Anyway, after much prodding I finally convinced him to go there instead because one of my favorite restaurants ever is there - Bigoli.

Bigoli is an Italian fastfood (but certainly  not as laidback a place as say McDonald's or KFC; the ambience is a bit more flair-y), much like Sbarro. It was my bestfriend Jerome who first brought me here. After that first time, I made it a point to convince other people to try it :D I'm so happy I got Dane to eat here - he loved it! 

We ate Italian Chicken with Italian Rice, Baked Ziti, Cheesy Pizza, and Turtle Cheesecake. I wasn't able to take photos of everything because I was too embarrassed to whip out my camera but I managed to stealthily take this snappie:

Everything was super yummy! I was too full I didn't want to get up haha!

After we ate we went ahead to do some chores (i.e look for a radio for his Mom) Told 'ya it's not a date :D

We drove to Monumento, got stuck in traffic jams (where he got a bit grumpy) and just joked around (so his mood got much better). While in his car, we listened to a local radio station (note: one of life's pleasant surprises is hearing one of my favorite songs being played on the radio as opposed to hearing it in my Music Player where it is saved.)  and got a kick out of hearing jingles for Enchanted Kingdom. Was fate mocking us? (If you didn't know, we were supposed to go to Enchanted Kingdom yesterday had I not been required to go to work. Ah work, you suck sometimes. Except during paydays. I love you during paydays :D)

We went to two other malls in Monumento but the search for a radio proved futile. He took me home and I got to my parents' house at around 8PM. :)

Today - Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year and my Dad's birthday  - is reserved for family. My Mom cooked one of her most delicious recipes - stuffed squid - and we brought them to my relatives's house in Malabon. There were also lots of yummy food there (I bought Red Ribbon's Halo-Halo cake) and I stuffed my face full :D

This is my family:

How was your weekend? I hope you had a great one! (And if not, well, there are more weekends to go :D)

Have a fabulous week ahead!

First of all I would like to thank you all for listening to my little rant yesterday. It was one of "those days" when I just needed to blow off some steam. I appreciate all your comments and well wishes, thank you for making me feel so loved. :) 

I wanted to tell a completely different story for today but I guess that would have to wait.

Today is supposed to be my paternal grandmother's 72nd birthday. Her name is Virginia, and I call her Lola Binyang. She succumbed to a hypertension attack on September 21, 2005. After showering, she just felt dizzy, and that was it. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced brain-dead as one of the veins in her head has already popped. My aunts, uncles and father had no choice but to agree for the life-support system to be switched off.

It's a shame I don't have a photo of her in my computer... She was what you may call a "classic beauty" (and I got my dimples from her.) She was the mother of eleven children and was a very charming and kindhearted grandmother to us. She was strong yet gentle at the same time. I still do miss her, and sometimes it is still hard to believe she is already gone.

Today my Papa and Mama together with my sister Kyla and cousin Jerico (my brother Ken had classes) went to their house in Malabon to "celebrate" her birthday and offer prayers for her. It was nice to see my aunts and uncles whom I haven't seen for a while (since I wasn't able to attend the family reunion last Christmas.)

We got home at around 5PM. By 6PM, my mother had to leave again because she and his brother had to take their father (my  maternal grandfather) to the hospital as he has been sick for a few days now. They went there last Sunday but were told by the doctors to go home since his condition is not that bad. Now they told us that he would have to be confined to the hospital already because of pneumonia. Now I am really worried, and I hope he gets better soon... My Lolo is tough though, I know he will get through this.

It got me thinking of the book I read recently thanks to Marj aka Miss Guimba. 

She sent me her personal copy for Christmas and I was so touched! I read it here in my parents' house before going to sleep and I was drawn by the story. It is about Susie, a 14-year old girl who was raped and viciously murdered. She watches her family (and how they dealt with their grief) from her heaven. Through this she was able to discover and realize things about life and about herself and her family. This was made into a movie by Peter Jackson and Stanley Tucci - the actor who portrayed Mr. Harvey, her murderer - was even nominated for an Oscar award. I don't know if it will be shown here though, I hope it will.

Quite incidentally, I was listening to the Music Player in my phone earlier (where the songs are in Shuffle mode) when it played Kris Allen's song Gotta Live Like We're Dying (which was written by the guys from one of my favorite bands The Script.) I thought it was very apt; let me share with you the lyrics of the chorus:

I don't want to sound cliche-ish and preachy to you guys but we all know it's the truth: that time spent is time gone, and while we're here we have to make the most out of our stay. I am happy I am able to chronicle my life through this little space I have in the Internet. In the event I die unexpectedly, I have already entrusted someone to post the details of my death in this blog. Morbid much? Not really, I just don't want you guys to think I abandoned you. :)

For now, let's all seize the moment! I do hope that we all get the life we want and deserve.

PS: Ana and Mel also wrote about people close to them who have died in the last couple of days. What's sad is that they died at the prime of their lives, their hopes and dreams (and those of their families unnecessarily taken from them. RIP Jessa and Mr. Cuan.

Thank you for reading this and I hope I did not creep you out. As Susie said, "I wish you all a long and happy life."

The last two days have not been good for me. 

Yesterday I was really excited for 3PM to come already because it was my last day of work for the week and I will go home to my parents' house where I will spend my rest days. But then something came up and I - with my officemates - were not able to go home until after 6PM. It would be hard for me to commute to Navotas by that time because it was already rush hour so I just opted to go home to my apartment for the night. 

Problem solved? Not really. You see, ever since I experienced the wonders of the world wide web I found it hard to let a day go by without getting my Internet fix. It has been my ritual to surf the net before I go to sleep. I use my desktop PC when I am in my parents', and my netbook Lady Fabrize when I am at the apartment. The problem was, my netbook is in my parents' house. I brought her home on Saturday because I didn't have work on Sunday and figured I will be home anyway from Monday - Wednesday. So that's the reason why I did not have an entry for Make Me Smile Mondays yesterday. Left with no other means to get my Internet fix, I just watched my DVDs of How I Met Your Mother again so that Barney can somehow cheer me up.

And so, instead of eating my Mom's home-cooked dinner I was looking forward to after five days' worth of less-than-satisfactory dinners, I ate this last night:

I finally got home this morning and proceeded to use the computer after I ate breakfast prepared by my Mom. Alas, the Internet connection was not working! I tried to use my prepaid Internet stick but I really was not able to connect! The CSR from SmartBro advised me they were having some repairs done on their base station. This carried on for another couple of hours. I was finally able to use the computer at about 1PM. Gah! It was so frustrating =[

Everything's fine now, though.Yay?

I know these are superficial and I sound really shallow to some of you after reading this post but I just wanted to vent. If I may, there is a line (I can look it up, but I am feeling too lazy) in the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower that not feeling these things does not necessarily mean the problems of the world will bee solved. My friends, it's okay to be annoyed by stuff that might seem too trivial for others even if there are people dealing with more serious issues.

Regular blog-programming resumes after I hit the Publish Post button.

I like: that it's the Love Month! Perfect excuse to go on endless rom-com marathons! Bring on the cheese-fest! :D

I don't like: that Dane's and my plans to go to Enchanted Kingdom (the biggest theme park in our country)  on the 13th was cancelled because my VL from work was not approved. Plans have been pushed back to next month. My VL on the 14th was approved though so yay! We might still come up with something on the evening of the 13th. :)

I want you to know: that Dane and I are not a couple. Nobody believes me when I say so. We are just in a special friendship, people. x_x

I've planned: to not be bummed this Valentine's even though I am not part of a couple. In the next posts I would like to tell you about my *ehem* experiences when it comes to that four letter word - love.

This is a game thought up by the Toothfairy so we can all share a bit of ourselves to our readers by completing a set of unfinished sentences every first Sunday of the month. Easy enough right? And fun! Want to join? Click here! :)

I guess when you really want something, you will do what it takes to get it.

So, even when temptations (to go shopping for other stuff instead) surrounded me, I am happy to say that I resisted them and finally got myself a new digital camera! That's one item crossed off my wish list!

Casio Exilim EX-Z29

Dane, Watcher and Mich accompanied me to SM Fairview to get this new baby. We went straight to the mall after work and went home after dark. Fun! :)

Believe me, saving up for a big ticket item is very, very difficult for me as I am the type of person who spends endlessly as long as there is cash to burn. Yes, I know that's bad, but I cannot seem to help myself. The only way I can buy something that needs saving up for is if I receive a windfall. Technically, I did not save up for my new gadget; he is a product of all those double pays during the Holidays. :) But kudos to me for not spending them on other stuff I wanted to get like a new pair of shoes, dresses and an eyeshadow palette. :)

I really wanted to watch Kris Allen's concert with Jabbawockeez and Boyce Avenue tomorrow but no one is available to go with me and the venue is too far. Dane will not be able to accompany me because he will have an admission exam for his MBA the next day. So yeah, the money that I was supposed to use for the concert went to my camera funds.

Because of that, I (with my compulsion to name everything in sight) am naming my new baby after Kris Allen :D

Meet Lord Fontaine d'Allen

Yes, I wanted to follow the pattern of my netbook Lady Fabrize, thus the name. I really wanted one in white or pink, but the only choices are black and silver. I preferred the black one over the silver model since it looks more sleek and "formal". :)

And today I went to SM North EDSA to get a pouch for him.

I only paid P99.75 for this because I got P100.00 rebate :D

I am happy I finally got a new camera. I am expecting my blog will have better photos; no more squinting at images by my 2mp phone Alister! :D

I hope you're all having a great weekend! I will be on VL on Sunday so I will be off to my hometown tomorrow to see my friends! :)

I already knew what I would wear the first time I read about it. I bought this really pretty white and pale pink dress from my soul sister Ana's online store way back in September but I haven't got the chance to wear it. I have also been wanting to have a photoshoot with my good friend and classmate-from-college Karlo since I was impressed with the photos he took of us in our Tagaytay trip. I have said this to my friends and I am going to repeat it here, "We are only young once so it's best to wear what we want to wear now and take lots of photos so that when we're already old, then we'll have pretty photos of ourselves to look back to." So yeah, this photoshoot is like hitting two birds in one stone :D

I had the photoshoot last January 23 at UP Diliman. I was actually supposed to go to Bicol that weekend but my Vacation Leave for Monday the 25th of January was not approved. I did not want to waste that one weekend away from work so I contacted Karlo and I am so glad he agreed. My good friend/ officemate Mich also went with us.

Enough talk, here are my favorites from the 100+ photos!

I did my own make-up, hair and styling. Karlo hasn't sent me the post-processed photos yet; I did all the editing. Minimal editing only though, I just did the Vignette, Round Edges and krissyfied Watermark :)

I hope you did not get too tired looking at a barrage of my photos :D  I can't wait to see yours! I think this is a really good way to get bloggers involved (it is a really great way to meet other bloggers!), I hope that there will be more of this in the coming months! :)

Click here for the full details ;)