A Birthday Post

I had no intention whatsoever in recognizing that it is my birthday today. I was planning to turn in early since I've got a lot of catching up to do for work (too much holiday-ing here!) and I've been depressed (notice all the video posts I've made the past few days). I have been emo-ing the whole weekend over something (I hope he is perfectly guilty over it!) and I couldn't see myself getting out of the rut. And add the fact that I've ended up brooding about all the mishaps I've been through the past year because the latest mishap triggered it (...I have not been smiling for 3 days!).

I have given up hope and accepted the fact that it was definitely one of the worst years of my life, and thus, a much worse birthday than last year (I was bedridden last year).

But when a friend of mine sent me this message -

We are often distracted by small dot-like disappointments, and we are prone to forget innumerable blessings we received from the Lord. The good things are far more important than the adversities that monopolize our attention. Rather than concentrating the trials of life, we should fix our attention on its blessings.

I felt like somebody whacked me on the head. Really hard. And here are just some of the wonderful blessings that I received in the past 365 days -

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Get your own

And I've got loads of other stuff I wasn't able to put in! I realized that indeed, the good things outweigh the disappointments. But then that's life coz it's the only way you can really appreciate all the good things and all the blessings that you receive.

It's almost 2 a.m. in the morning now and I could say that it's been one of the zaniest and craziest birthdays I've had. I never expected to have a salubong party! And online at that! I was about to prepare this post when I received an invitation for a blogger online conference. I joined in but had to wait to participate coz I was still working, little did I know (I think they didn't know as well) that the online conference would turn out to be an online party! It felt like New Year with the countdown, the booze, the pulutan, yummy food, cake and gifts (where's that fafa guys?). Toasts were made and I got all different kinds of wishes and I promptly cried (and finally broke down after holding it off for 3 days). The best things in life are really stuff that come unexpectedly and in a very simple manner. God always has His surprises after all.

Thank you guys! I'd love to publish the whole conference, but then LOL, madami sa inyo sasabit eh (so whatever it is that happened in the online party, stays there!)! Palagay na lang ulit ng wishes niyo in the comments. (Well I saved the whole thingy! Papabasa ko sa mga magiging apo ko).

Another year in my life, of course it wouldn't have been so blessed without the graces given by God (thank you Papa God), the support of my family (Dad, Mom, Miguel, my Ate and Kuya and the whole Enrile clan!), my best friends who keep me sane (Darwin, Tappy, Anne, and Jay), my friends, my colleagues (from the past and present) and all those who have helped me in the past year, especially the bloggers (mabuhay ang mga bloggers!).

Updates:
#1 Oh! My birthday is August 28. (I forgot I registered my account in the US that's why the date is August 27).
#2 Thank you very much for all the greetings! Warm, fuzzy feeling :)

The End

Sunday night video!



Now I'm interested to watch Grey's Anatomy. And now that I have extra time... I probably would!

New on Google Earth

Let us fly! Watch this-



Read more about it here.

Taste Asia Part II, Simply Fabulous

More than 400 bloggers and blogger-friends met up and partied once again at Taste Asia located at the Mall of Asia. The event was made possible through the generosity of SM Hypermarket. Many, many, many heartfelt thanks to Mr. Herbert Sy, president, and Mr. Robert Kwee, executive vice-president of SM Hypermarket (plus Ms. Josie Gan, Ms. Beth Funelas and all the tireless, friendly and great staff of SM Hypermarket, bilib po ako sa bottomless cheer ninyo!). They have really been supportive and generous to us bloggers. Great thanks as well to the other sponsors (Coca-cola, San Miguel, Colgate, Cliquebooth to name a few).

View Album

Get your own

Congratulations to the winners of the SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest -


Grand Prize (trip for 2 to Kuala Lumpur) - Anitokid
1st Runner Up (Sanyo digital camera) - Anton Diaz

Winners of a DVD Player

Ganns Dean
Butch Dado
Annabelle Caloschoy

Winners of the Nike Sunglasses

Olivia Burgos
Nikki
Rowena Wendy Lei
Myrna Co
Dine Racoma

For all Blogger users! Please sign-up in the Filipino Blogger Help Group. This is where Blogger users can ask questions, find answers and discuss Blogger with other users. (Pierre! Ito na ang pangarap mo! Pero bakit parang wala ka kanina?).

To all those who attended, I hope you guys had fun!

Other reads:

Paul's Blog
Touched by an Angel
Pinoy Food Photoblog
Laurganism
Bakla Ako, May Reklamo
Manuel Viloria
The Lonely Vampire Chronicles (live blog)
The Lonely Vampire Chronicles (retrospective)
Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything
Takbo! (sa wakas ng pagkatuliro)
Macuha.com
Utakgago
Magikel
Dax's Site
Ganns Deen
Roaming Around with Romela
Cliquebooth
Real People / Real Style (girls)
Real People / Real Style (boys)
Pinoy Moms Network
Teacher Julie
Atheista.net
Abuggedlife.com
Justwandering.org
Jehzlau Concepts
Prudence and Madness
Refineme.org
Scrooch Chronicles
AnitoKid
Mike Villar: Rising Internet Star
TJ Cafuir
Loida de Vera
Mon's World
The Four Eyed Journal
The Disastrous Urban Primadonna
Pinoymoneytalk.com
Pinoy Blog Machine
SM Hypermarket
Byahilo
Tainted Song
Bababa ba?
Half the World Away
Noisy Noisy Man
Chickenmafia.com
Penny for Your Thoughts
Lastleaf.org
Baratillo.net
Angel's Sentiments
I. Am. Chef.
iMom
The Parody
Sexy Nomad
Fritzified.com
Our Awesome Planet
Vaes9
MagandangBalita.com
Kape ni LaTtex
Yatot Chronicles
Ang Lolo Niyo
Temporary Madness
Sheero's Post
Apples Pie
Ako si Eagleman
Everyday Discovery
Style Manila
Pinoyblogosphere.com
The Sweet Life
Temporary Madness
Sharmskee

Photos:

Aileen Apolo
Noemi Dado
Sexy Mom
Cliquebooth
Geeky Guide
SM Hypermarket
Sasha Manuel
Fritzified
Eugene Villar
Kenneth Yu Chan

Bahala na si Batman and Other PInoy Expressions

I think every culture has it. I mean every country has its special sauce of expressions. Malaysians say lah at the end of each sentence. Latinos say jeje instead of hehe. Australians are fond of using the word mate like how our Cebuanos say bai.

Little words but these are nuances that friends from other countries do not "get" when we speak them. Weird lang talaga ako. Anyway, this post actually came up when I was exchanging emails with dYu because of the Wika2007 blog writing contest which I have not started judging (accckk!). So, here are some of our favorite Pinoy expressions I could come up with:

1. Bahala na si Batman - sino nga ba si batman? (who is batman?). Normally said when we are at a bind, pressured or harassed.

2. Toxic/ngarag - favorite expression in the office or school connoting stress.

3. Wala lang - literally means nothing but could mean a thousand things especially when a girl says it to her boyfriend.

4. Hehehe - connotes being sheepish or sometimes being unsure of something said. It's also normally the ending in every chat message.

5. Uyyyy! - one of my favorites. This expression is used for teasing and is supposed to elicit a red-faced negating response.

6. Kiber - the equivalent of "whatever" (now how come I haven't gotten around to doing that "whatever" video... soon... soon... my videographer got sick when we were in Boracay).

7. Ano baaaaa - what gives? Ano baaaa

8. Toinks - the act of hitting ones self or another but only figuratively.

I'm sure there are many, many more Pinoy expressions that I've missed, but these are just some I use everyday. Care to share any more?

Growing Up

My Ate is 16 years older than me and my Kuya is 13 years older than me. I remember when I was a kid I'd tell myself I cannot imagine being a 20-year old, I was like, "Euwww, that's old!" And to show how maldita I was to them, I'd also highlight how old they were whenever I'd send them birthday cards, and I'd also always tell them, "You are favorite brother/sister... because I have no other choice." Hehehe. But they still love me to bits, no matter how kulit I'd get. That's just me being the youngest in the brood. It's called the bunso privilege. Hehehe.

Anyway, my siblings have been away most of my life. I see my Kuya more often coz he sends tickets to visit him in Jakarta and well I'm still checking if I can afford to visit my Ate soon. I just realized how time has passed quickly and how time has flown since I recorded "Buttercup" with my Kuya when I was 4-years old and how I would hang-out with my Ate's college classmates in DLSU when I was just a toddler (oh yes I can remember). Time flies fast as the old adage says. Miguel's 13 already, it's been almost 2 decades since I started high school, I've known one of my friends since second grade and she is now a mother, how a lot of my friends have left for greener pastures abroad and basically, that I am getting old as well.

Yikes!

It hit me full blast this morning when I woke up from a bad dream. A really, really bad dream which made me realize that there are harsh realities that I am facing and will be facing in the next few years. I've always had very supportive parents around and no matter what kind of scrape or fall I've gotten myself into, they've always been there. I guess I have not really thought about not being at home and not having my parents even though they've been telling me that eversince I was a kid. "Aileen, we will not always be around," is what my Mom tells me every so often.

Strange lah? To think that I've helped my friends organize weddings, given them advise on how to properly burp their babies and how take out goo from the baby's nose.

Wait... I need to emote a bit before I could finish this post.

...

...

...

Let's pause for some photos... (while I'm emoting haha).



Anyway, oh yeah (yea, yea, yea as one of my colleagues would say), I am feeling melancholic. Probably because I had too much tea last night, it took away all the sugar in my system. Hmmm... So what's growing up all about? Paying bills, getting married, having children, having more responsibility. Yeah, no more books, no more school... replaced by bills, bills, bills and responsibility. I'm sure any adult would exchange doing that excruciatingly hard calculus assignment over receiving another bill.

My friend yesterday was ranting about accepting the fact that when you have kids your social calendar is basically filled-up with changing diapers, producing milk, wiping noses, burping the baby, laundry, disciplining your kid and whatever. And how you cannot just easily go to the beach with your friends anytime. I've totally forgotten about those since Miguel's 13 already and has been so low maintenance since he started going to the "big school". I am very lucky and blessed to have such a great, loving, masunurin son (hindi siya nagmana sa akin!).

On the other hand, growing up isn't as bad as it sounds. It's actually great to earn your own money, have responsibilities, children and the other problems grown-ups have. I definitely do not want to go through puberty again. I don't want to go through the time when I couldn't get a hold on my temper (early 20s madness they say). Quarter life crisis? No thanks. And I don't want to go through the time that I didn't know what to do about boleros. Haha. At least now I could just say, "Bug off!" LOL.

I guess I've always remained cheerful despite the many challenges I have faced because I know there is always another day and I will not get lost (even though sometimes I do) because I always leave everything up to God. Plus, as Bugs Bunny said, "Do not take life seriously. After all, no one has ever come out of it alive."

Be silly. Be happy. Be un-serious.

I guess this means I'm ready to be a grown-up now. Are you?

Cheerios!

Partying, Frogs and Just Hanging Out

Spending a quiet Sunday afternoon at home now. And I'm just simply sooooo lazy today. I think it's the first Sunday I'm home this month and it's been truly crazy the past few weeks.

Thank God I'm home!!!

Just a couple of random thoughts:

Time to Party!

Let's just relax and meet-up on Thursday. Free FOOD FOOD FOOD! And don't forget to submit your piece for the SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest.

What: SM Hypermarket Invites Bloggers to Party!
When: August 23, 2007, Thursday, 7:30 pm
Who: bloggers of any size, age, status or whatever
How: Just leave a comment on my blog or any of the coordinators blogs
Why: Party and awarding ceremonies for the winner of the SM Hypermarket blog writing contest and, of course, to meet many, many new friends!
Where: Taste Asia (beside SM Hypermarket), SM Mall of Asia

Sign-up by leaving a comment in this post or in the announcement post. Check if you've been registered here. You can also tag along a friend or two.

Frogs and Finding the One

I had a grand time the other night with Eilanna, Sorsi and a colleague at this bar/resto that makes the best chicken sisig in town. Yum yum! We girls definitely had fun much to my colleague's chagrin. He must've been pretty annoyed coz we were conversing in Filipino. You just have to learn to speak Filipino then hmmm? (But then so sorry for being rude, pero kelangan mo mag-aral mag-filipino kung gusto mo tumambay kasama kami!).

"You have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince." Or something like that. This came up several times in the past week. Well, let's just say it's been my problem for the past four years. LOL.

Anyway, I remember being starstruck when I met Bo Sanchez a couple of months ago and you cannot imagine my kilig when I exchanged a couple of emails with him. Anyway, back to the frogs errr finding the one, I certainly espouse what Brother Bo said in his book, "How to Find Your One True Love" - meet guys, at least 5 a week, the worst thing that will happen is that you'll have a new guy friend. Now that's probably why I now have an oversupply of guy friends LOL. Well, I must warn the single girls though, sometimes it's not just a few frogs, but A LOT and many will leave pockmarks on you (well figuratively).

I just realized though that sometimes God makes you wait... wait... and wait! And wait and wait and wait. Get the picture? Well He does that. I used to get all upset like my dear friend, Sorsi, but I told her to just wait and see and keep herself busy for the meantime. It's not as easy as it sounds. Waiting is hard, but then, just think of it as an act of patience.

I think I'm not making any sense (as usual). Haha. Umm, let's just say my brain's like somewhere in the clouds (must have fallen out on the trip back from Singapore). Hmph. Anyway, here's my sweetie's favorite singer who's based in San Francisco, watch it, promise, nakakakilig.



If you wanna feel kilig, read these -

A Valentine Story
A Wedding Anniversary... 48 Years (got this from Sexy Mom)
Cebu Love Thoughts: How Will I Know He is the One (read the comments!)
The Proposal

Sorry, I must've bored you out by now... but I love reading about other people's love stories (despite being a Twisted Wedding Planner haha). Make kwento naman your kilig story.

Just Hanging Out

Sigh. I miss my friends. A lot of them have gone abroad already. So I dragged my friends, Denz and Matthew out last night to meet another friend, but due to unfortunate circumstances, we ended up hanging out just outside where we live. Oh well, I bumped into my Mom and Dad who I haven't seen for quite sometime and that made up for the misfortune. Here are some photos from last night's gimmick and after hearing mass this morning -

I am Filipino and Proud to Be One!

The other day I posted about the best "Pasalubong for the Pinoys Abroad". Why? Because I wanted to basically share that we take for granted a lot of simple stuff (this goes for those who live here in the Philippines). Living abroad is not only about missing loved ones. It's about being far away from your homeland. Try celebrating Christmas in another country and you'll learn to appreciate singing our local Christmas carols. Believe me, we were all crying during Christmas eve while singing "Ang Pasko ay sumapit tayo ay magsiawit nang magagandang himig...", by New Year I already locked myself in the bathroom out of depression. I just wanted to go home.

And my Filipino colleagues who were born and raised abroad always come to me to learn more about their roots. Actually those who are abroad have more yearning to be home. They might be better off, but they always tell me that they always feel something is missing. Home.

Jake the Miserable left a really nice comment on the Pasalubong post the other day, he said -

Pero ate, it's pretty interesting that you actually choose to stay here in our Motherland when most of our people are really pushing through to work and live outside. I also choose to stay and die here here, helping this nation through my own small ways. Abah, Batang Maynila ako. Nyehehe. Medyo pangarap ko nga lang makabisita sa Japan.

I have always been emphatic about staying home. I blogged about this a few months ago and my stand stays. It would take a lot to uproot me from here. Matinding negotiations yun. I have very high respect to those who are forced to go abroad to earn a living for their families. I feel their sadness whenever I'm in an airplane with them. I feel the sadness of their loved ones when I do trainings for educators and kids whose parents are abroad. I am sad too because I basically grew up an only child because my brother and sister left when I was still in elementary school. I missed out a lot on them because they've lived in other countries for more than half of my life already. And I wish that I had my nephews and nieces around to annoy as well. Sigh.

And that's why I was really upset when I read about the article that Malu Fernandez did. I do not wish to rehash it here because I don't want any of it here in my blog, you can read up on it at Tingog.com. All I can say is I am at a loss for words and am very sorrowful over the comments she made about our brothers and sisters who are abroad. I definitely do not find what she wrote humorous. Na-ah, not at all. Nakakapikon. As in, pikon na pikon ako kasi just the other day andami kong kasabay na OFW ulit sa airplane. And it is sad that we are losing a lot of our best people to other countries.

I am definitely proud to be Pinoy and will never be ashamed to say that I am one and I'm definitely planning to wear that yellow shirt wherever I go (especially abroad!). And, if ever, I ran into someone like her I'm just going to stare back and raise my brow. Helloooo, go be a citizen of another country if you're not proud to be pug-nosed, brown and simply Pinoy.

This definitely made me cry today. Hmpf.

What about you? Why are you proud to be Pinoy?

Thinking Green

No, not that kind of green.

And not the environmental kind.

But, La Salle Green! Oh yeah! This post goes to all Green Archers!

De La Salle Philippines has launched it's new website where you can interact with fellow alumni or even current students! Makihalubilo through the forums, find old friends through the directory. What I'm looking forward to seeing is the blog section. Oh! Register and get a free delasalle.ph email as well (I wonder who's sponsoring it? Hihihihi).


And DLSP also launched the One La Salle fund campaign... DLSP is targeting 100,000 alumni to help "broaden access to quality education to 18,000 futures". So it's time to give back friends! You will not be where you are today without the education you got from DLSU (or any De La Salle school). Donate today! (Even non-La Sallians are welcome to donate!).

Pasalubong for the Pinoys Abroad

Most of my friends have gone to work abroad. I think I am the only one who refuses to leave my beloved country. Anyway, they are quite happy there and what's good about it is I have many places I can crash in whenever I travel hehe.

And the top 5 things you can bring for Filipinos working abroad (and stuff you can share with colleagues from other nations) are:

1. Chocnut - very expensive at the Lucky Plaza at Orchard Road. So, don't take that Chocnut for granted.

2. Boy Bawang - my colleagues and friends said, "Sasambahin ka when you bring this."

3. Dried Mangoes - ahhh, last Monday my boss complained that someone stole my pasalubong for him. Hahaha. No worries, I'll bring more next month. Dried mangoes, still one of our best export products.

4. Datu Puti Toyo and Suka (vinegar) - the secret must-have ingredient for adobo.

5. Purefoods Hotdog - believe me, my Mom requires me to lug around hotdog and tocino whenever I visit my Kuya... at least 5 kilograms of it!

And well one bit about having friends and relatives abroad is teaching them how to send money to the Philippines online, that, and teaching them how to purchase load for their Philippine prepaid number. Well, ahem ahem to my Ate and Kuya now you know how to do it hehehe. I'm still the bunso after all.

White

Written at an altitude of 11,583m, 1,140 miles away from home (so I'm just typing this out now)

I was busily brushing my teeth the other night at my friend's pad in Singapore and just thinking of mundane thoughts, when I saw a streak of white in my reflection.

No, not white heads. That's normal.

Not acne either...

But...

White hair!

Egads!


Miguel found one or two a few months ago and that was just about it. But that night, I found 3! At first I thought it was just one of my hairs' weird colors - my mop has a myriad of colors from black to blond - must be from my Chinese, Spanish and Pinoy ancestors. But WHITE HAIR? Gasp! I know it sounds mababaw but it did get me thinking why I have white hair at my age. Well, these are my thoughts on why I have white hair (I pulled all three out!):

1. Wisdom? Like the way Gandalf the Grey became Gandalf the White when he defeated that monster. Nah, I doubt.

2. Hair abuse? Nah, my mop is just wash and wear and the occasional gel to keep it down for my speaking engagements. I think the audience would find it funny to have a speaker with big hair. I've never tried straightening or doing hair rebonding and have only had 3 hot oils in my entire life. LOL.

3. From Dad? Must be hereditary. My brother started having white hair in his 20s. Well it may have been because of me haha.

4. Stress? Perhaps. Maybe. Most likely. When I'm stressed the physical manifestation shows up on my scalp. Weird huh. Try having 6 plane rides in 9 days and let's see if that doesn't stress you out. And gee I'm no one important and thanks to my colleagues and friends who have been rallying behind me to just continue my work. And to dispel rumors, I am still here! I've just been really busy lately. Hmpf! LOL.

Yeah, I know, just another mundane post and perhaps that is what we should remember. Enjoy life! I've been busy working and traveling and here are some photos from my latest lakwatsa (more to come in Lakwatsera Ako).



Oh and for those interested in taking a voice acting workshop my friend Pocholo, the genius behind Creative Voices Productions is hosting VoiceWorx, for more details you can visit their website at: www.creativoices.com, or call them up at 729-7274 during office hours.

And, don't forget to sign up for the party we are having on August 23!

Biggest Blogger Party

Nabitin ka ba during the Taste Asia blog party? O di nakarating?

Well, cheers to second chances!

SM Hypermarket invites you to the biggest blogger party and announcement of winners of the SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest (you have until August 21 to join!).

What: SM Hypermarket Invites Bloggers to Party!
When: August 23, 2007, Thursday, 7:30 pm
Who: bloggers of any size, age, status or whatever
How: Just leave a comment on my blog or any of the coordinators blogs
Why: Party and awarding ceremonies for the winner of the SM Hypermarket blog writing contest and, of course, to meet many, many new friends!
Where: Taste Asia (beside SM Hypermarket), SM Mall of Asia

To confirm attendance, kindly leave your name and blog address as a comment here in my blog or visit any of your other favorite blogs:

Noemi Dado
Sexymom
Gibbs Cadiz
Jay de Jesus
AJ Matela
Mike Abundo
Jonas de los Reyes
Andrew dela Serna
Jedi Dancel
Anton Diaz
Marc Macalua
Rhiz Sanchez
Lauren Dado
Sorsi Soriano
Ely Apao
Jonas Diego
Jayvee Fernandez
Markku Seguerra
Juned
Janette Toral
Manuel Viloria
Jomar Hilario
Pierre
Marc and Gail Villanueva
Shari
Blogie
Sasha
Rico

Oh and bloggers are entitled to invite 1 guest. Just register their name as well in the comment.

What are you waiting for? Sign-up now!

You may view if you've been registered here.

Drawing Strength

My Dad scolded me the other night (yup I did spend one night this week at home). I was whining about something and to shut me up he said, "Don't mind it. It comes with the territory."

That stopped me from panicking. My Dad listens to my no-end chattering everytime we're dining in our kitchen. He doesn't really say much and is kalog most of the time. When I say something preposterous, he'd just usually raise a brow and grunt a bit. I'm a Daddy's girl and my Dad is the only person who can really make me see reason whenever I'm upset. All my Dad has to do is say a line or a phrase and everything just seems to fall back into place. My logical side kicks in and then I'm back in tiptop shape.

I realized that things will not always be great. There would be times that everything may be going as planned, then disaster strikes (well I exaggerate). Sometimes it just gets out of proportion because of one's imagination and I think that's one thing I learned to control in the past week. It's not easy, but you just really have to believe in yourself and know what is the truth. There would always be instances and situations which you are thrust in because God knows you'll know how to handle them. He will not give you what you cannot bear.

My Dad may not be the most malambing father in the world, but he has taught me how to be strong and how to keep a clear head in the face of adversity (which gets me out of trouble most of the time and when all else fails I just scream, "Dadddddyyyyy!!!"). We were all brought up that way. It was my Ate's edge when she took the chemical engineering board exams. My Mom said then, "Just answer the test. It's just an exam and you don't need to panic." My Ate topped the board (#1). (Just had to say that coz I realize I never said anything about my Ate in this blog hehehe.)

Well, I'm the silliest among all of us and I guess I drive my Dad crazy a lot of times. I think he's already planning to sell me coz I'm still living with them. But then again, who's going to make kulit them when I'm gone? LOL.

Yeah I know, it's one of my emo posts again... I'm like stuck again in the airport and my flight's delayed again. Grrrrrrrr! Maybe I shouldn't blog whenever I'm at the airport.

I Heart Pinoy Breakfasts

One thing I love about traveling is getting forced to eat breakfast. When at home I don't eat breakfast coz I'd rather use the extra minutes to get more sleeping time (and snoozing always gets me in trouble! almost missed my flight yesterday morning!).

Anyway, I like breakfast best when traveling within our country. In other countries they only serve bread, cereals, a couple of fruits (no mangoes!), cheese, yoghurt etc. which doesn't really fill-in my very Pinoy stomach.

And here are my faves:

1. Tosilog (tocino, sinangag and itlog) - tocino is sweet meat which is usually colored red, the yummier ones are made in Pampanga; sinangag is fried rice - my Dad still makes the best fried rice anywhere; and itlog, egg, have it any way you want.

2. Longsilog (longganisa, singangag and itlog) - the most unique longganisa I've eaten are the ones from Lucban, really tasty indeed, just don't get turned off by its strong smell. Best eaten when fried to a crisp.

3. Tapsilog (tapa, sinangag and itlog) - tapa sometimes is served thin and sometimes thick, sometimes really maalat, sometimes a bit sweet. I prefer the sweet ones.

4. Bangsilog (bangus, sinangag and itlog) - I love bangus since it's very tasty. The best ones are those that are boneless. I tasted the Chowking boneles bangus the other day at Kalibo, Aklan and it was quite good.

5. Baconsilog/basilog (bacon, sinangag and itlog) and cornedbeefsilog and hotsilog - these ones are not that popular but some establishments do serve it. Miguel is a real fan of bacon and even gives me a round of applause whenever I perfect frying it (he should coz cooking at 4 in the morning is a really mean feat hehe). Anyway, I love corned beef better, not the dry ones though.

Oh, and don't forget to dip that hot pandesal in coffee. Yum.

What about you? Are you a breakfast person?

Photo by Sasha Manuel.

Sleepless in Davao

Yes, Tappy's right, I can actually snap out of a daze (a.k.a. sleep mode) in an instant. And what's funny is I've developed a new talent! Falling asleep before the airplane actually takes off. LOL. That's what happens when you lose a lot of sleep when traveling.

And I don't mind traveling since here I am again in Davao. The place where I would want to live. And even with just a night to spend here I managed to squeeze in some bonding time with The Usual Suspects - Ria, Dennis, Jun, Blogie, Andrew, Marc (nang-indian!), and joining us through an online conference were Winston and Jehzeel. We definitely had a ball and I learned a couple of new words from them plus the words for the day, "alambre" and "adhikain".


We had grand plans to go off to another cafe, but just ended up hanging out at the Sagay Restaurant of Casa Leticia. Brought out all our laptops, chose a corner each - seems weird huh, but let's say we really had a great time.

For Mindanao Bloggers, don't forget about the following:

You Got Blogged (win up to US$150)
Mindanao Bloggers Summit

Back to Being Silly

Hmmm... what to blog? What to blog?

Now that I've managed to sign-in in my Blogger account (using Globe Visibility - I'm a happy customer again!), I don't know what to blog about. Not because there's nothing to blog about, but because there's just too many stuff in my head! And I'm very excited about so many things!

Well, first things first, many, many thanks who left comments in my emo post. Hugs! Hugs to all! I really felt the warmth and care you guys were sending across the net. Awwww. I'm okay now. Hied off somewhere near the sea yesterday with Miguel and it was more than enough to make me calm and bubbly again. Nothing beats the breeze from the sea to put things back in proper perspective (when I was a kid I thought I was actually a mermaid! gave my Mom headaches when she couldn't get me to stop swimming hehe). My heartfelt thanks especially to those whose ears are still ringing from talking with me, you know who you are.

I just realized that it's really going to be a crazy, crazy month (check Stitching)! And my blog backlog list is getting longer. Urgh!!!

Oh well, I wanna be able to make a proper post and now my Ate Anne is already scolding me through Gtalk to sleep already.

Good night world!

My Heart on My Blog

I had a huge grin on my face when I approved Sophie's comment in my post that got a lot of my friend's grumbling (coz they were forced to read it!) -

Congratulations! :) I just keep on going back to your blog , it has "heart" :)

I dunno. But it's what got me back to being silly again. You might have noticed that I haven't been blogging the past week. Extremely busy? Yes, but it usually just takes me 10 minutes to make a post. I was just not my usual bubbly self as what my best friend told me because something was bothering me.

I loved Sophie's comment because that is precisely what this blog is all about. Inasmuch as I try to keep it light, perky, bubbly, fun and silly, I do have my moments and I emo too. Who wouldn't when a friend betrays you? I am just really blessed that my family and friends are very supportive, patient and understanding and they provide me with the strength to keep focused to fulfill my mission. Now, now, I don't want to cry.

Anyway, I'm off again and for those in Cebu, I will be speaking at the Mandaue Business Forum on August 9 at the Cebu International Convention Center.

And to my friend, I hope you are happy with what you are doing. May God bless you to have the wisdom to realize that your actions do hurt other people a lot. Good luck and thank you for the good times and if there was anything I did to deserve what you did to me, then I'm sorry. And I forgive you.

Sigh. That's life. Moving on... moving on... Hi sweetie! :)

Mark Your Calendar

August 23, 2007, Thursday.

Block it off for the BIGGEST blogger gathering.

Abangan.

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And for all those who greeted. Maraming, maraming salamat po!

Warm, fuzzy feeling. :)

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And please say a little prayer for me, for strength and wisdom :)

I Won a Car from the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 Party

I'm still not feeling that silly. I must be really exhausted. Uh-oh.

I was in a daze last night coz I walked from Ayala to Max's and that's the kwento behind my "Sometimes when I'm alone, I Google myself" shirt from Y.R.Y.S. (I had to buy one coz the long walk made me look like I joined a marathon). Anyway, I was 45 minutes late, but good thing the program didn't start yet.

Last night was the culminating activity of Janette Toral's writing project for the "Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007". She arranged for an eyeball of those who joined and raffled off ten $100 and a lot more of goodies. Dinner was sponsored by our country's local search engine Yehey.com (Yehey!) and Iggy spoke about their new online game Dangka (more about that in a future post).

Anyway, anyway! Let's get to the car chase! I mean... the car! Yes! I won a car! And here it is:


Hehehe. Asa pa ako. The only other raffle I've won in my whole life was during the 2003 Ad Congress and I won PhP100,000. It all went to my Mom and Miguel. Hehehe.

After all the prizes were raffled off, Janette announced the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 and An Apple a Day was one of the first. Wow! I never really dreamed that my blog would earn such an accolade since I only mainly write to amuse myself. It was also great that my other blogs - Stitching, Lakwatsera Ako, and Tales from the Moonless Sky (I don't think the Twisted Wedding Planner got any mentions though) garnered some mentions. I'd like to thank all those who included any of my blogs in their entry for this writing project. HUGS! Believe me, I was really surprised An Apple a Day was there in all the 11 weeks of the project coz I only got my best friends to join in the last week (thanks Darwin, Anne and Harry!).


Here's the list:

1. An Apple a Day
   The Philosophical Bastard
2. The D Spot
3. CokskiBlue
4. Make Money Online with a 13-Year Old
5. Culture Shiok!
   Utakgago
6. Kubiertos
7. FruityOaty
   PinoyBlogero
8. The Dork Factor
   The Anitokid Chronikos
9. Gibbs Cadiz
10. Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic

I hate making speeches and good thing Janette didn't make me say something last night. LOL. I think I'm able to gather my thoughts better on paper than when I'm forced to speak. I still don't know what to say. I'm still quite overwhelmed by all this attention and am quite embarassed coz I know I've been writing a lot, and a mean a lot, of silly things here in An Apple a Day (ummm... I think it would be better for your sanity if you just read Stitching hehe).

Well, since I've made it a point to go beyond amusing myself, ummm, I guess I just wanna leave these thoughts:

1. Blogging is just a platform - use it to express whatever is on your mind. You can use it for personal use or for your business. There are no rules. No existing code of ethics. And nobody should force you to disclose anything about your blog. And nobody can claim that he/she is the overlord of blogging. So you can basically do anything with it.

2. Be a responsible blogger - always remember that bloggers are human beings and they have feelings. I've noticed some bloggers who attack/criticize other bloggers. Be constructive. Controversy does bring traffic, but it does not really gain anything. It is counter-productive.

3. Check your blogger ego - don't let it get out of hand. Blogging is just blogging. There's a whole world out there who doesn't read you and doesn't know that you exist.

4. Bring Good News - I've said this time and time again (online and offline). Let's help our country. Talk about good news. Help the media with it. I am glad that Inquirer.net and the Philippine Daily Inquirer now have a section on The Good News. Check out iGMA. They've got loads of good news as well.

5. Love the Philippines - the SEO community has a huge project called the Bayanihan SEO Contest which is supposed to promote the keyword "Paradise Philippines" and that is precisely what we need.

Now, this doesn't sound like me. LOL. I know it's not a silly post. But then again, being silly is just my writing style for this blog and it does get the message across (I think). Hehehe.

Before I end this post, I'd like to sincerely thank Janette for pushing me to blog more. She gave me a lot of tips and really encouraged me when I was just starting to blog. We need more generous people like Janette in our country. Will you be one?

What about you? What are your objectives for blogging? Have you thought of how it can help others? Your community? Your country?

And, now for the photos...

View Album

Get your own

You know what I realized about the photo opt part? There were more cameras than any media event I've attended! I think about 70% of people had cameras trained on us when we posed with our certificates.

Oh and please don't forget!

SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest
Wika 2007 Blog Writing Contest
Digitalfilipino.com & Mindanaobloggers.com Review-a-Blog

And mark your calendars for August 23! Planning is still underway, so kindly await further announcements!