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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!
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. 🙂
i can hardly believe it. i’ve finally gotten to that age, where a bunch of your friends are getting serious with their lives and settling down by getting married and having kids. my emotions are a mixture of envy and wonder. you see, i still feel so new at being an adult like i’m still a kid playing house making decisions that are way bigger than me. so while i am a hopeless romantic, it still is a constant wonder for someone my age to decide to spend the rest of their life with another person. to be honest, i’ve always imagined myself engaged at my age then married by around 27. but now that i’m actually living the “adult” life, i realize goals are a bit harder than what they seemed to be when i was still young and idealistic. finding your perfect match/soulmate/one true love isn’t as easy as it seems in fairy tales and chick flicks. don’t get me wrong, i believe all of my friends who are getting married or are already married are truly in-love. therein lies my envy. i keep wondering when love will deign to grant me an audience but in the meantime i’m truly content seeing that it exists in other couples.
however will all that said, being the hopeless romantic that i am, i do have a dream wedding. it’s changed throughout the years, bits and pieces as i grow older and undergo changes in my own lifestyle. so here’s a sneak peak on how i envision my dream wedding…
the setting
Flickr #1 The Smith-Smith Wedding Party Jump originally uploaded by capturingreallife
i used to want a garden wedding during dusk so that my future husband and i say our i do‘s by the sunset. this was when i still hated the beach. yes, once when i was younger and i hated getting darker, i did hate the beach. 😛 it’s very different now though because i love the beach so much! after i started playing ultimate there really was no point to hate going to the beach anymore as i got darker from playing. plus, it’s so much fun to get drunk at the beach. haha! so now, i dream of a beach wedding. jc gonzalez, bianca gonzalez’s brother (ya, ‘coz you know, i’m so showbiz this way), had a beach wedding and it seemed like lots of fun. i’m actually attending a beach wedding next year and i can’t wait to take pictures there! haha!
the vows
i’ve always joked that i wanted a broadway type wedding where my groom and i will be singing our marriage vows. when lea salonga sang her vows in her own wedding, i wanted it even more. now, all i need to do is find a groom who can sing. 🙂
here’s the concert version of the song:
i couldn’t find the youtube video footage of the wedding which i could embed but here it is if you want to check it out.
the photographs
as i’ve mentioned before, i really love tumblr. i’m glad i’ve even got a few of my friends addicted to it too. 😉 that’s where i discovered this photographer couple whose photos i really love. i secretly want to fly them over to anywhere i’m getting married so that they can take my wedding pictures. i love the fact that they added me as a contact on flickr too. i like this other photographer couple, too. in the local scene, redsheepphotography takes pretty amazing pictures. yeah, i think i’m spending too much time checking out wedding photography online. but it’s really fun to look at wedding pictures. everyone looks so happy, it truly is a celebration of love.
despite the fact that brad pitt and jennifer aniston have gotten divorced, this remains to be one of my favorite wedding pictures ever.
the groom
<pic to follow>
i was actually planning to post a pic of some hot celebrity i fantasize about marrying. but then as i was googling different crushes of mine, i realized that i never really imagined marrying any of them. yep, it’s true! unlike some other girls, specifically those stalking rpatzz (rob pattinson) everywhere, i can differentiate between fantasy and reality. and for some weird reason, i’ve never imagined myself married to a celebrity. hahahaha! so i guess this part of my dream wedding will have to wait.
the passage
i’m re-reading The Time Traveler’s Wife right now so that my memory will be refreshed before the movie comes out. it’s a beautiful book so read it if you haven’t yet. this quote, which is actually from Possession but is quoted in the book, really made me an impression on me…
“What is it? My dear?”
“Ah, how can we bear it?”
“Bear what?”
“This. For so short a time. How can we sleep this time away?”
“We can be quiet together, and pretend – since it is only the beginning – that we have all the time in the world.”
“And every day we shall have less. And then none.”
“Would you rather, therefore, have had nothing at all?”
“No. This is where I have always been coming to. Since my time began. And when I go away from here, this will be the mid-point, to which everything ran, before, and from which everything will run. But now, my love, we are here, we are now, and those other times are running elsewhere.”
~ A.S. Byatt, Possession
during my recent daydreams, i’ve been writing my wedding vows in my head. this is a bit embarrassing to admit but given the number of weddings i have to attend within the next couple of years, you have to cut me some slack. 😛 anyway, somehow the fact that i’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment (of getting married) makes it’s way into the vows. and as i read this quote in the book i had to pause and think. that last paragraph is beautiful. it may not seem like a marriage vow but i think it’s absolutely lovely. if ever i end up not singing my vow, i’d like to read this paragraph as part of my vow because i know that’s how it’ll feel… as though my life would’ve started from the moment i say i do.
so, i’m back from the US. i arrived home on the 4th of may but had to stay home for a couple of days to nurse a bad cold (which wasn’t the swine flu!!!). my internal body clock was a bit cuckoo for the first week. i kept waking up at 5am despite sleeping at the latest 1am. this means, i started showing up at work at 830am which i haven’t done in quite a while. the rest of my first week back was pretty eventless since i had to be home early because my mom was still here. yep, i’m a good girl when my mom’s here. ;P
summer league
i showed up for the 3rd week of summer league (my first week) really scared and anxious. you would be too if you’ve been MIA from training for a month. to say that i am out of shape is an understatement! my heart was beating so fast that i even held off on drinking my extra joss till the 3rd game of the day. it didn’t help that i’m playing with T1 again for this league which means running after faster girls. our first game was against sexual chocolate which we won by a universal point. yeah, it was a real nail-biting experience since i was in that last point praying that the girl i was marking would not sprint to their endzone on a turnover. i was slow and i seemed to have forgotten some of the basics like faking and pivoting properly. oops! in our 2nd game, we were down to 4 girls in our lineup but at least that game ended quickly and without any mishaps. as is usual, i don’t eat between games because it’s hard to run on a full or semi-full stomach. by our 3rd game, i was pooped! i could barely run anymore and i felt like i’d blackout in any second. the weather didn’t help because it was hot as hell! we survived that too though, playing 5-2 on offense when necessary. needless to say, when i woke up on monday morning i felt sore all over. i really have to build my endurance back up again and brush up on my field fundamentals. i’m glad to be back playing though. i love ultimate! 😉
oh really now?
it’s quite a suprise that the comments i’ve gotten since i’ve been back is that i’ve lost weight. one girl even told me, “aren’t you supposed to gain weight when you go to the US?” apparently, it was the opposite for me. honestly, i feel like i’ve gained weight given all of the junk we ate over there but who am i to reject such ego-boosting compliments. haha!
epic FAIL!
most of you know that i was planning to buy a DSLR kit in the US. i actually did buy a Nikon D40 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lens kit BUT it didn’t arrive in time. *sigh* it wasn’t my fault though. i ordered it on time, paid for it on time, confirmed the shipping address on time BUT they didn’t ship it on time. the reason i really wanted to buy the camera there was that the 2 lens kit was such a steal. now, i’m back to debating whether i really want a DSLR or whether a really good point & shoot will do in the meantime. you see, the 2 lens kit for the Nikon D40 is not available here. i’ll have to buy the Nikon D40 kit and add an extra minimum Php10K for the 55-200mm lens. not to mention, i want to buy a Lensbaby composer too, which is another Php13K! gastos noh? i was thinking that maybe i really do not need all of that equipment since i really just enjoy the lomography way of shooting. so now i’m seriously considering just getting a Panasonic Lumix LX3. i’m still waiting for the money i paid for the Nikon D40 to be credited back to my account before i’ll be able to buy anything though so i’m taking my sweet time in deciding again. any suggestions?
speaking of lomography
the newest addition to my film camera collection, a russian cyrillic Lomo LC-A, got fixed just in time for my trip to the US so i got to take lots of pictures with it. it is ♥♥♥♥♥!!!
however, my favorite lomo pic from my trip was taken using my holga 120gn…
this was taken in the santa cruz beach where we stopped by before watching vienna teng perform. i wanted a picture of the seagulls flying so i kept approaching them and saying, “fly! fly!” i was able to take i think 3 shots in one frame before realizing that i was using ISO 200 film and that i might overexpose it. i love the finished product! the fun thing about lomography and film photography is that sometimes you never know how a pic will turn out until you have it developed. there are no second, third of fourth takes. just that one!
there can be only one…
AMERICAN IDOL!
my top two prediction has come true and we’ll be having an Adam-Kris showdown next week. i secretly wanted an Adam-Allison showdown because that girl can sing! but well, she didn’t have a big enough fanbase. i really think Adam will win. he is truly blessed with amazing vocals. Kris is good too and he’s not as flambuoyant as Adam is sometimes. i love his cover of Kanye West’s Heartless. galing! anyway, i’m sure everyone will be in front of their tv’s next week as this is sure to be one exciting final.
labandera na naman
we still don’t have a helper so i’ve officially resumed my lifelong dream to be a maid once again. i already did a batch of laundry last night which i’ll probably be ironing come saturday. oh well, life’s like that! i’m glad to be back though! the Philippines may be a third world country but it is my home and well, there’s no place like home, right? 😉
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.
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