feeling jet-setter kuno

the past couple of months have felt like a never-ending flurry of activity that i really haven’t been able to sit back and relax much less find time to sit down and write. i did promise earlier this year to write more often so here’s some pathetic attempt of an update of what i’ve been up to…

Boracay, 02.17-02.21

a bunch of my former teammates from the jogadores and i flew to boracay to witness the wedding of one of ours, taty, to the love of her life marcus.

pic by redsheepphotography

the wedding was beautiful, truly beautiful. the couple wrote their own vows and taty’s vows left some of us wiping tears from our eyes.

one of the highlights of the wedding for me was the bouquet toss. well, no one really does the actual bouquet toss anymore since we don’t really want to catch it anyway. this wedding, the bouquet toss was an improvised game of musical chairs with mr. garter sitting on one chair. when the music would stop, the first girl to sit on him would be eliminated. i was the slowest (although i still think the game was rigged) and ended up being ms. bouquet. during the couples pic, we were being teased to kiss too and after saying no the first time i figured there was no harm and did it. jencarps said i pretty much surprised everyone after doing that. haha!

this weekend confirmed a few things:

1. benta talaga ako sa mga puti. the groom described me as having the face of a filipina but the body of a european woman. o diba? 😛
2. i want a beach wedding. it’s so chill and laidback and nothing beats a party on the beach.
3. i’ve learned to be comfortable in my own skin enough to hang out with a really hot guy alone and not feel intimidated or shy, ergo…
4. i’ve become a flirt. *sigh*
5. boracay is always a good idea.

Singapore, 02/28-03/12

the day after i got back from boracay, my boss informed me that the singapore office wanted me to fly out the next week. it was a miracle that i was able to file everything i needed to file in time. my first week there was very quiet since i got a bad case of colds shortly after arriving.

i more than made up for this on my second week. i started hanging out with a french friend i met from late 2008 and his friends. it’s really funny how i keep ending up hanging out with the french crowd when i couldn’t even speak the language. they were really nice and accommodating albeit always speaking in their native language when they were all together.

here’s what i ended up cramming in my last 7 days there:

• relaxing at the singapore botanic gardens
• shisha’s at haji lane
• mint tea at arab street
• indian food at little india
• drinking beers at the clarke quay bridge, chijmes and even my hotel room patio –> hoegaarden is ♥!
• cycling at palau ubin and some chili crab after
• laughing to some really good stand-up comedians at a comedy bar
• window shopping at bugis street, arab street, haji lane and orchard road
• eating lots of ice cream. ice cream stands were practically around every corner
• watching alice in wonderland in 3D

i was actually sad that i had turned down the opportunity to stay there for another 2 weeks. hopefully i get assigned there again this coming june or july.

Boracay, 03/13-03/16

i had approximately 4 hours since arriving from singapore to pack my stuff before returning to the airport again for another boracay trip. this time i was flying there to watch the annual beach ultimate tournament. i decided not to play this year because i really hate running in the sand. i didn’t realize how exhausted i was from my singapore trip until i got to boracay. nina was down with a cold and had to work so the two of us were barely visible the entire weekend. it was pathetic. oh well, when your body crashes on you there’s nothing you can do but give in to it and enjoy the sleep. haha!

since my return from boracay i’ve gone to a bunch of parties, watched Cecile Licad perform Chopin’s preludes and worked a lot. this long weekend was supposed to be spent cooped up inside my house for some much needed rest and “me” time. well, at least, that was the plan. i ended up spending thursday, friday and sunday with nina with only saturday completely to myself. somehow that 4-day long weekend did not feel enough for me to recharge yet but i’ll take what i can get.

coming soon…

• yug & rose’s modern filipiniana wedding
• musical theater classes for the months of april and may with a dreaded recital after
• a family trip to kuala lumpur
• still unplanned trips to palawan and perhaps some other local destinations

here’s to living life to it’s fullest right? 😉

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!

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. 🙂

playlist: Stray Italian Greyhound

Stray Italian Greyhound
Vienna Teng

Oh no not now
Please not now
I just settled into the glass half empty
Made myself at home
And so why now
Please not now
I just stopped believing in happy endings
Harbors of my own

But you had to come along didn’t you
Break down the doors, throw open windows
Oh if you knew just what a fool you have made me

So what do I do with this?

This stray Italian greyhound
These inconvenient fireworks
This ice-cream-covered screaming hyperactive thought
God I just want to lay down
These colors make my eyes hurt
This feeling calls for everything that I am not

I’m not that kind
I’m so good at shooting down any notion
This tired world could change
It’s all been bought
Or at least that was my line
No use in spending all that emotion
When there’s someone else to blame

But you had to come along didn’t you
Rev up the crowd, rewrite the rule book
Where do I go when every ‘no’ turns into ‘maybe’

So what do I do with this?

This sudden burst of sunlight
And me with my umbrella
Cross-indexing every weatherman’s report
I was ready for the downslide
But not for spring to well up
This feeling calls for everything I can’t afford
To know is possible now

What do I do
With a love that won’t sit still
Won’t do what it’s told
What do I do
With a love that won’t sit still

~

ayn and i were able to get our mom to let us join mimay and her boyfriend mike on a roadtrip to Santa Cruz and San Francisco last weekend. we got tickets to watch Vienna Teng at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, CA. mimay and ayn are big, big fans of hers. i just jumped on the chance to have a few days of freedom from visiting relatives. and mike came along to drive us around.

we had dinner at this pizza place, Tony and Alba’s, where i saw the cutest guy i’ve seen so far since coming here. he was behind the counter and i was too shy to flirt with him. i think i lost my touch with the lack of flirting and alcohol these past few weeks.

The Paper Raincoat opened for her. the band is a collaboration between Alex Wong and Amber Rubarth, both very talented artists. i have a crush on the former. you all know i’m a sucker for a guy with a beautiful voice who could play multiple musical instruments. amazing! hehehe. he also co-produced Vienna Teng’s album with her. i really wanted to have a picture with him after the show but we couldn’t find him in the crowd and we were in a rush to head back to SF already. we got a picture with Vienna Teng though after mimay fibbed a little by telling her we came from the Philippines specifically to watch her perform. hahaha!

here’s a youtube video of a cool a cappella song, “Rewind”, which The Paper Raincoat also performed in the concert we watched…

a quick trip to paradise

after getting tagged in more than a hundred photos on facebook, i’ve decided it’s about time i wrote about my latest boracay escapade. as my close friends know, i’ve come home from boracay with some really memorable stories. for those expecting something juicy, sad to say but i was sort of tame this time. 😛 hahaha!

chillax friday

we arrived at the beautiful white sandy shores of boracay early friday morning, had breakfast at real coffee and immediately started working on our tans. (wag na kayo humirit na hindi ko na kailangan ng tan, alam ko na yun. sinamahan ko lang si joy and nina.) we decided to have a seafood lunch at the talipapa where we pigged out big time! we spent the afternoon sunbathing, swimming, watching the pickup in front of hey jude, drinking beers and camwhoring. this would be the pattern for the rest of the weekend.

the registration party was a bit boring, like it normally is, so nina, gb, joy and i hung out at hey jude instead where we met a really hot bartender. after two rounds of drinks we joined some friends at the registration party where we had a couple more beers. nina and joy decided to call it a night but gb and i joined some more ultimate people at a party in summer place. we turned in at 2am, i think. not a good idea considering we had games the next day.

“ay, may tournament nga pala” saturday

yeah, so i really don’t join the boracay open for the games. i already know i’m a klutz when it comes to running in the sand. this time around i wasn’t as bad as i thought i would be. it helped that we were 8 girls in our roster and points were sometimes short and definitely far between. after our games we headed over to jonas for some refreshing shakes. we hung out by the beach drinking beers, and singing and dancing to songs by boy bands, christina aguilera and britney spears.

some highlights from the saturday night party:

• photo ops with marc nelson. hot-ness!!!
• marc nelson giving his number to one of my friends. panalo talaga!
• nina joining the beer drinking contest but pouring probably half of her drink on the sand even before drinking it. daya!
• some really weird dancing and making out happening onstage.
• the shot attack. in fairness, masarap siya!
• finding roxy’s phone vibrating in the sand only to have it stolen later on in the evening
• post-party isaw-an. yum yum!

party sunday!!!

another game day under the heat of the boracay sun! it was pretty hard to be playing while dehydrated from a night of drinking. thankfully, the day passed by pretty quickly and by 3pm we were camped out by one endzone, drinking our beers and watching the finals between the Boracay Lovers, a team from the US, and the Boracay Dragons. it truly is a spectacle to watch the Boracay Dragons play. for the sixth time in a raw, the Boracay Dragons win the boracay open championship proving once again that they are unbeatable in their home turf.

my flight back to manila was at 630am so i already knew that i would be partying all night long. i’m really proud that i didn’t get wasted although i did reach my happy place. i don’t remember some of the pictures anymore. what’s new?! hahaha. nothing really crazy happened on sunday night just a lot of drinking and camwhoring.

at about 3am, we headed to jammers for some food. by this time i was really sleepy so i ordered a cheeseburger and promptly fell asleep at the table. i woke up to eat my burger but then fell right back to sleep immediately after eating it. hahaha! by 4am, we headed back to our rooms to take showers and pack and by 530am we were on the boat that would take us away from the island. i slept most of the way back to manila and my office and felt terrible at work. well, i was sleepy and a bit hung-over so by 3pm i excused myself and headed home.

i brought along a bunch of my cameras and film but was too lazy to take pictures much to my regret. argh! here is a collection of some of my favorite photos…

boracay is always a fun experience especially when you’re with a bunch (and i mean, a big big bunch) of your friends. this trip will be a very memorable one, mostly because of tons of pictures we took on the trip. i wish i could’ve stayed longer but most of my leaves are reserved for my US trip which i’m leaving for next week. yey! so hopefully, i’d have more “interesting” stories to tell from that.

*** pics stolen from joel, claire and joy.