going old school in bangkok

one of my goals since i started playing ultimate was to join the annual bangkok hat. i was originally planning to go in 2008 but that didn’t push through. then somehow it totally slipped my mind in 2009. when some of my friends started booking for 2010, i knew it was now or never.

i was uncertain on whether or not i really wanted till play even when i was there because truth be told, i’m not so confident with disc anymore. i played with the pink with blue sleeves team, the molly ringwalds. (yeah, i don’t get why the sleeves were blue either. haha!) i was just glad i didn’t get neon orange or neon green or neon yellow because that would’ve really clashed with my color.

yeah mollies!!!

my nerves were gone when i made the assist on the very first point we scored. whew! i played really well actually… handling on some points, cutting hard when on mid and even running in the cup on defense. it was such an exhilarating and confidence-boosting experience!

throwing a forehand

yeah, not my best action shot

my team ended up playing undefeated till the finals which we lost to a team we had previously beaten the day before. sucks when that happens, huh? actually, i was a bit disappointed when we kept winning because i really was looking forward to partying and drinking on the sidelines during the finals, not actually playing it. every time someone congratulated me on making it to the final, i replied… i just want to drink already. haha! oh well, at least i got to take home a medal! not too shabby for my first international hat.

claire and me kissing our sweet medals during the sunday field party —>

aside from playing the finals, my best memories of the weekend include:

• apple pie shots! can’t post a pic of me here ‘coz it looked like i was puking it out because of all the vodka sol put in my mouth
• the food on the field, which enjoyed too little of ‘coz i couldn’t run on a full stomach
• bonding with the girls (on and off the field)


with the apple pie shot gals, who i wanted to be a part of so much. oh well, next year!

claire and me with jody, who i ended up teaching some carmen electra moves to. haha!

with rox and ther, going old school at the saturday night party. i came as an 80’s explosion of pink

• taking care of three of my drunk/high girlfriends after the saturday party. i texted nina the next day, when did i become the responsible one?
• bonding with a toilet seat in pat pong, sunday night. i sped drank myself after we played my finals on a practically empty stomach. no wonder i started puking after a one-hour cab ride to the red light district of bangkok. it also was quite an experience seeing girls do stuff with their va-jay-jays that i assure you normal women would not be able to do.
• the shopping would have been a great experience if not for my aching legs. we met up at a fashion mall at around 1pm, ate lunch then agreed to meet at 530pm. by 3pm, most of us were crying no more shopping so we decided to call it quits a bit earlier. next time, shopping should come before the playing. haha!


having beers after an exhausting shopping trip on monday afternoon

if you’re waiting for the dirt about the boys on the trip, sorry to disappoint but i was a good girl during that weekend. to be honest, i wasn’t planning to be but you know what they say about best laid plans right? haha! i ended up playing the finals, taking care of my drunk friends and being too lazy to really flirt and mingle with any of the cuties on the field. i kinda disappointed my friend, sol, who until now still keeps saying i was too pathetically good. i’m still kinda confused at the moment kasi eh. haha!

all-in-all, that weekend was awesome! not quite what i was expecting, but still perfect in it’s own way. sign me up for bangkok hat 2011!

january wrap-up

with everything that’s happened in january, i somehow feel as though i’m already right smack in the middle of 2010 rather than just in the first quarter.

2010 started out really rough. scratch that, it started out pretty awesome actually with an impromptu beach trip with some of my high school classmates. having been stuck to the house most of the time i’m in davao, i haven’t really explored the beaches in samal island. i’m glad that during my latest vacation home i was able to go to the beach not once but two times. the first time with my high school barkada and the second time with a handful of my high school classmates.

davao beaches are gorgeous!

the alchemist by paulo coelho

i bought this book along with by the river piedra i sat down and wept way back in college. it’s been in my bookshelf since then and i only got the urge to read it last week.

this inspirational story is all about a boy’s journey to follow his dream. it’s about overcoming personal obstacles, finding strength in God and finally achieving his Personal Legend. he meets some strange characters along the way that help him learn important truths and continue on his journey.

oh, and he falls in love somewhere in between too. and for some reason, this is where i related to the book. haha! he, of course, has to leave her while he’s still hasn’t found his treasure and she promises to wait for him…

From that day on, it was the desert that would be important. She would look to it every day, and would try to guess which star the boy was following in search of his treasure. She would have to send her kisses on the wind, hoping that the wind would touch the boy’s face, and would tell him that she was alive. That she was waiting for him, a woman waiting a courageous man in search of his treasure. From that day on, the desert would represent only one thing to her: the hope for his return.

as the boy keeps thinking whether it was right or wrong to leave the love of his life behind (in the meantime), the alchemist tells him…

“If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”

but my favorite line of the entire book is this… “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” it should feel that way, shouldn’t it?

right now, i feel as though i am the desert woman, waiting for the return of a boy in search of his treasure. i only hope that what was there was pure matter and not just a moment of light.

A Quick Goodbye to 2009…

yes, i do realize we are already towards the end of the 3rd week of January, maybe a bit too late to be waving 2009 goodbye but you can’t blame a girl for being busy. and i can’t really welcome 2010 without saying goodbye to 2009 first. so here goes… (and yes, i just copied this from last year.

DRINKING BUDDIES OF THE YEAR?

nina, mela & the frenchies. partying and dancing till the wee hours in the morning were a big part of my 2009. nothing makes me feel older than going to a club nowadays, so many kids. but when i’m with these people, i really couldn’t care less about anyone else.

YOUR SONG FOR 2009

Mr. Brightside – The Killers

this song came out earlier i do realize that but i grew to love it so much in 2009. here’s a pic of me and nina looking at each other and singing… it was only a kiss! it was only a kiss!… during the spirits ‘09 party.

DATE AWARD

nina – my constant companion, partner-in-crime and my other half. we spend so much time in each other’s company that people constantly ask if we live together. hahaha!

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR?

watching Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco!

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by the rules
Of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!
 ~ Defying Gravity

 

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR?

i guess that harrowing experience with Ondoy.

BEST HOLIDAY

i really thought i’d only have the 3-week US vacation as my only trip for 2009 since i would be consuming all my vacation leaves for it. luckily i was still able to fit some more trips specifically 2 trips to boracay and 1 to iligan. i was also booked for a bacolod trip but wasn’t able to go because of work.

if i have to choose which one was most memorable i would say it was the boracay halloween trip. i met a bunch of new friends and bonded with both mela & nina. it was a crazy and yet laidback fun trip. we plan to go there every halloween from now on.

BEST MOVIE FOR 2009

500 Days of Summer. for this…

Glee was also one of the biggest highlights of 2009 for me. love love love it!

VALENTINE’S DAY DATE

i really can’t remember. probably went out with nina to some club or somewhere. but yeah, my love life for 2009 was zip, zilch, zero, nada.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR?

• Bangkok Hat 2010!!!
• Planned trips to Boracay, Siargao, Palawan, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. yey!
• Rekindle my love affair with the piano.
• Go on beach trips as much as I can.
• Another tattoo.
• Write more.

Hmm…. Yan lang maisip ko for now. Will try to make my 2010 list early next year. 

MOST STUPID IDEA WHEN DRUNK

ahhh… yes… sorry can’t really broadcast that out.

MOST MEMORABLE FIRSTS

Oh, I have a few of these!

• something to do with the most stupid idea while drunk category.
• river tubing in cagayan de oro. we capsized in the “washing machine”, that was an experience.
• surfing. i was able to stand on the board but it’s not for me. next time i’ll just watch while my friends surf.

BIGGEST CHANGE OF THE YEAR

not getting drunk at parties anymore. after that awful work party experience i had in 2008, i’ve actually learned to stop drinking at a certain point. i’m proud to say that i got wasted only once in 2009. in my opinion, a big big improvement from 2008.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

Live. Love. Learn.

GENERAL FEELING FOR 2010

Be gentle, 2010! 

hello again =)

yes, i’m alive. i know… i know… i’ve ignored this blog for too long already and it isn’t because nothing interesting has been happening to me lately. i guess i’ve been too preoccupied with tumblr and facebook. truth is, i haven’t felt like writing in the past couple of months. i’d start an entry then have no time or inclination to finish it through.

i’ll try to run through the stuff that’s happened to me since i last posted.

A Close Encounter with Ondoy

i actually have a half-finished entry on what happened to me and my sister that fateful day but i never got to finish it. so here’s my sister’s account and some pictures for those who really want to know what we experienced. for those still wondering… yes, i did save my lingerie collection. it was one of the first and few things i ended up saving from my room. surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), that’s the question most of my friends have asked me post-ondoy. well, at least i can say my friends know me well.

when events like this happen, you get to ponder on a lot of stuff. i realized how lucky ayn and i were that we just lot material stuff and neither of us got hurt. it was a miracle that the water level stopped just three steps shy of the second floor, or else we would’ve had to move to the roof.

my mom was here on and off since then since repairs had to be made to the house, and each sunday she’d bring us to church. i remember that first sunday, sitting in the pew, watching a video montage on the havoc that ondoy wreaked in metro manila, struggling to fight back tears as images of loss and destruction filled the screen. so many people lost so much… valuables, houses, loved ones. a part of me felt the pull again, the same pull i felt when i requested to be baptized. it’s like God was saying… come back to me child. but once again, i’ve brushed it aside. perhaps someday i’ll be ready to embrace my christianity again but right now i won’t be able to fully commit to it yet.

Meet Lexi

i’ve finally gone digital. do i hear sighs of relief from some of you there? haha! well, i’d already bought a D40 kit when i was in the US but it didn’t arrive it time. since the kit is more expensive here, i reconsidered and decided to get a Lumix LX3 instead but then there wasn’t any stock available anymore. so i had to wait months and months before i finally got my hands on this baby. and i am loving it oh so much! don’t worry, this doesn’t mean i’ll be ignoring my film cameras (any more than i have been lately. haha!). i love shooting film too and don’t plan to stop any time soon.

The Sweet Escape

aaaahhhhh boracay…. the fine white sand, clear blue water, relaxing atmosphere and hot guys (huh? who said that? hahaha!) before you think, wow ang payat naman ni tisha sa pic na yan, hindi ako yan ok!?! date and i decided to join mela (girl in the picture with nina) for an impromptu trip to boracay for halloween. it was very last minute since we booked our tickets a couple of weeks before the actual trip. and it was just perfect! it was a great weekend… we partied all night, slept till noon, watched a few games of ultimate, sunbathed, drank mojitos during sunset, dressed up for halloween, flirted with cute guys, met some cool new people, laughed a lot, swam in the cool water, walked along the shore… *sigh* i really wish i lived by the beach.

Thrilla in Manila

i haven’t been training lately. i’ve been too busy with work and fixing the house. but i still decided that i wouldn’t miss Manila Spirits so i joined the party team, Breakfast Club. i finally got to wear a pink jersey!!! yey! it went perfectly with my black&pink cleats, pink socks, pink sports bra and pink bikini bottom. even my skirt had a touch of pink. matching kung matching, diba?!

we didn’t win a lot of games (understatement of the weekend!) but it was still a whole lot of fun. the sun was unforgiving on sunday though, the reason for which i was sick the entire week after. i realized i miss ultimate so much. i should make more time to train again.

~

so there you go… that’s what i’ve been up to while i’ve been MIA. there still are quite a few stuff lined up the next couple of months. christmas is fast approaching and so are the parties! i promise to write more often though.