What is My Voldemort? And the Three Things Meme

Uhuh! It's Harry Potter season again! The movie's already showing, but Miguel and I will watch it probably over the weekend (we haven't watched Transformers yet! Acckkk!!!).

Anyway, Harry tagged me for the Voldemort question and Jehzeel tagged me for this really long meme. Well... since I'm kinda bored and want to do something mundane before I sleep...

My Voldemort. Of course, it goes without saying that I am absolutely terrified of losing my loved ones. Everybody is scared of that. Hmm... I guess one thing that scares me is making a wrong decision, especially if it will greatly affect other people and my son's future.

3 People Who Make Me Laugh. Darwin, Jay, Raymond.

3 Things I Love. Happy (my laptop). Blogging. My work.

3 Things on My Desk. PC. R2D2 walkie-talkie. A calculator.

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now. Listening to some music. Blogging. Thinking of someone.

3 Things I Want to Do Before I Die. See Miguel become successful. Have a baby girl. Complete my mission.

3 Things I Can Do. Conduct really nerdy research studies. Bead. Cook spaghetti.

3 Things I Can't Do. Bungee jump. Surf (dunno how). Pilot an airplane.

3 People You Should Listen To. Parents. Best friends. Elders.

3 Things I'd Like to Learn. Speak Spanish. Program. Cook more types of food.

3 Favorite Foods. Pasta. Grilled food. McChicken Sandwich.

3 Shows I Watched as a Kid. Care Bears. He-Man. Sesame Street.

Now I'm tagging the following: Anne, Harry, Ting, Darwin, Migs.

The Kikay in Me

Lady Cess tagged me to name 7 things about my sense of fashion, style, hair, beauty and vanity. Eeeeep! I could just imagine my stylist-friend Sasha raise her brow. So I took the Blogthings quiz Lady Cess took to find out how vain I am.

You Are 57% Vain

You're a little vain, but more than anything you have a healthy amount of confidence. Thinking the world of yourself is great. Just don't think less of those who aren't as pretty as you!

How Vain Are You?

I expected it to be higher! I am a Virgo after all and much as I could be geeky in how I look, I still fix up myself. So here are the 7 things about my ka-kikayan:


1. I don't like wearing clothes with print. I like `em plain. I'm sure I drove Sasha crazy last week during our shopping binge coz she wanted me to try out wearing printed clothing. The only exception would be striped shirts or block prints (like that bikini above). Sorry Sasha it's just too freaky! About the colors I wear... I had my floor to ceiling closet painted in red and in it the clothes are arranged by color. Most of them are white, off-white, red, pink, blue and black.

2. I'm never going to get my hair colored. If I do that my Mom's going to kill me. The most I would do with my hair is go for hot oil once a year - when my Kuya drags me to the parlor in Jakarta LOL (and he has to pay for it!). Homemade hair spa (virgin coconut oil + honey + egg) works better for me.

3. I have a stiletto collection from my past corporate life, but you'd rarely see me wear them now. I like wearing sneakers better (much to Sasha's consternation).

4. I like wearing a bikini at the beach. BUT! I am very much conscious about my pata and usually have it covered up with a sarong or shorts.

5. I don't like wearing make-up. Cheek tint and lip gloss is enough for me, but on some occasions I wear mascara to look a bit older (I am old though!). To maintain my bushy brows, I get my long-time hairdresser Inay clean them up every once in a while.

6. I have to have at least a hairpin on my hair. I don't like putting goo on it and I know it's go a life of its own, so that's why I always tie it up.

7. I've been asked many times what is my secret for looking young - I smile and laugh a lot, I'm silly, makulit, I don't wear make-up, sleep a lot, drink lots of water (and err...) and drink vitamin E and C before I sleep and I basically don't allow myself to keep a stiff upper lip (if you get what I mean). Bawal masungit!

So since this is a meme, I'm tagging my dear friends Anne, Ivan, Sharm, Honey, Chel and Mayi.

*Photos by Sasha Manuel.

Meme: Funniest Childhood Memory

I’m writing this in the middle of a family expedition to Lucban, Quezon where these coconut trees –


hide my funniest and most embarrassing childhood memory.

During summer and on weekends I remember hopping on my Dad’s huge Mercedes Benz with my Dad, Mom, Ate and Kuya. Being the youngest I was always relegated to be seated at the middle back seat and I carry that habit to this day. I was only 8 months old when I started going to the beach.


But let me digress first to another adventure our family had. We were on our way back to Manila from a summer holiday at Villa Merced Resort in Camangui, Pasacao (Bicol), my Dad was driving fast on the National Highway somewhere in Camarines Norte when suddenly a huge inahin pink pig crossed the street. There was no time to swerve so we hit the poor piggy pig pig head on. Sniff sniff. It went to heaven immediately, but we were all safe and the MB was intact. Now you know why I collect pigs. It’s in memory of that poor piggy pig. I was about 3 years old then.

Hohumm... I’m now about to reveal my funniest and most embarrassing childhood memory.

I was probably 2 or 3 years old and we were on one of our expeditions. We were on our way up to Lucban, Quezon (my Dad’s hometown) and I just had to go. You know, go, as in number 1. So my Dad pulled over and I remember there were a lot of coconut trees where we parked. The place was deserted and no cars were passing in the road. My Mom opened the car door and let me out. She told me to pee by the door. I might’ve been just a toddler but I was very much stubborn already at that age. So I walked off towards the trees ignoring her admonitions, squatted and started peeing.

And then, a loud noise startled me…

MOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodness! I squealed. Stood up and ran to my Mommy! So much for keeping dry. LOL. Gross!

And I have not heard the end of it to this day. Gah!

What about you? What’s your funniest childhood memory?

Tag as many as you want to:

I wanna read about your funniest childhood memory guys! - Miguel, Ely, Anne, Ivan, Tappy, Lady Cess, Jay, Honey, Blogie, Marc and Sharm, Andrew, Sasha and Rico, Gail and Marc, Celeste, Juned, Janette, Markku, Joey, Hanson, the green Migs, Mike, Migs, Noemi, Sexymom the CEOs Mr. Ed Mapa and Mr. Efren Ricalde.

Here are other funny childhood memories from my friends: Ang Lolo Niyo, Miguel (my annoying kid hmph), Anne, Marc

Read more about our family expedition to Lucban and check out photos by clicking on my photo below:

2007 June 8 Lucban

Meme: The Ideal Guy

I was chatting with Sasha a while ago about making a post about the "ideal guy". I told her that I don't think that topic would sit well here in my blog since it's not a blog about dating and relationships and hello I don't really have much to say about that. Well, apparently she found a way for me to discuss it here in my blog. She suggested I do a meme she did last year. So, here are 8 traits I think a guy should have to be my ideal guy.

Hmmm... after all I've been through, I think my ideal guy is a nerd. Yes, you read it right. A nerd. Some would contest that geek is a better term because it has a more positive ring to it, then so be it... a nerd/geek.

Why, oh why? My girlfriends and I had a long discussion over dinner about the three types of guys: (1) the normal guy; (2) the bad boy; and (3) the geek/nerd. I'm not going to go through #1 and #2 coz that's going to be a looooong story. Let me tell you why my ideal guy is #3.

1. They have passion. When they want to get something done, they do it and they exhaust all efforts to get it done, i.e. Larry and Sergey.

2. They are romantic. And it's not the romantic-cheesy type mind you. I don't like the traditional type of courtship (listen to BOBCast 8 for more info). Getting surprised is just simply so adorable. See also #3.

3. They are very creative, especially when they are wooing you. And they don't just give gifts off the shelf, it's a well planned activity for them.

4. Mababaw kaligayahan. I'm not saying it's easy to please a nerd/geek, but you know if you manage to "get" what they are passionate about and you show interest in it, it's going to make `em mighty happy.

5. Simple. WYSIWYG.

6. Stable. I've noticed that when they are happy in their job, they stay in it and they flourish. Hey, I'm a nerd, so I know.

7. Patient and not judgmental. I'm not going to say anything about this coz I might incriminate myself. LOL.

8. One-woman guy. When they say it's just you, it's just really you.

What about you? What is your ideal guy? Or, if married, why do you think your husband is an ideal guy?

Girls! Meme time! Anne, Honey, Sharm, Lauren, Micholle, Mimi, AJ and Chel.

*Photo by Rico.

Interview ala Juned

I requested this interview from Juned. It's where you ask to be tagged or interviewed by the blogger.

Leave a comment if you want me to interview you. Kindly leave your e-mail address as well.

My answers to Juned's questions:

1) We are reading a book called Aileen Apolo. Describe the book physically. What is the book about?

It is a hard bound book, not brand new, but like those you'd find in your home library. It's been read a lot and you could tell because there are a lot of marks and folds. The book is a story book filled with adventure, mystery, fantasy and data. LOL.

2) You are Cinderella and you have now reached the end of your story, the part where you and your evil sisters are trying on the shoe. The first sister could not get the shoe to fit. And then the other sister slipped on the shoe with ease. Then Prince Charming exclaims, "We have found my bride!"

What would you do?

Well, if the Prince Charming was stupid enough to find me only through my shoe, then it means he is not really into me and is most probably not the right one for me. I would then approach him and tell him, "I would've expected you to think out of the box. It was me you do-do. Hmph!" Then I'd walk out, go back to my tower and sing with my friends, "Someday my prince will come..." Ay, Cinderella ba yun?

Hehehe. Sungit ko eh noh?

3) Create an evil fictional character. Describe its physically. What are its powers and why is it evil? And then how can it be defeated.

This is quite hard to answer. My Mom taught me not to think about evil and bad things. The fictional characters I did in the horror stories I wrote back in college were usually creatures that were ugly, stinky, slime-y, green with piercing, glowing red eyes who preyed on helpless people. It has the power to terrorize people based on their fear and the only way to defeat it is by facing up to your fears.

4) If you were invisible from sunrise to sunset for a day and only a day what would you do?

It is very tempting to be in places where there is a lot of information that I can learn and utilize, but I think there is a reason why I don't know about it. After all the training I've gotten to keep things to myself, I think I'd rather not know what I shouldn't know. Information is power, but my mission is different. It's best kept that way. So, I think I'll just stay home and play hide and seek with Miguel.

5) If Aileen Apolo were not with Google what would she be doing?

I'd be a consultant and I'd have started my export business by now.

Feels GREAT to be Pinoy

I've always been vocal about being "proudly Pinoy". I shared here in my blog a few months ago Why I Wanna Stay Home and I still do because I know I have a mission to accomplish here.

Anyway, Marc tagged me for the meme, "What are the 3 signs you see happening now that make you say, “it feels great to be Pinoy” then tag ten (10) of your blogger friends." Here are my 3 reasons:

1. Pinky David, Licensing Director of Discovery Channel in her keynote address for the 38th Marketing Conference this morning quoted Tony Meloto's speech for a Gawad Kalinga event, "Filipinos, you were created for excellence...". That gave me the shivers and I remember my Kuya sharing to me that GK will indeed manage to build 700K+ homes within 7 years and it will drastically lessen the poverty rate in the Philippines. And, guess what, GK is already reaching out to other countries and working with the UN to eradicate poverty as well in other countries. The secret to the success of the program? Pinoys.

2. Filipinos give care and help in healing people. Did you know that 40% of nurses in New York hospitals are supposedly Pinoys? (I got that statistic from a friend.) Who'd give the TLC that patients and children need if there weren't Pinoys?

3. Filipinos are very talented and creative people. Guess who sings at bars all over Asia? Guess what Pizza Hut ad actually contributed to the boom of the 1-800 numbers (now sing it - nine-one-one-one-one-one-one!? Guess who are the best animators in the world (remember that bahay kubo in Nemo's aquarium? And who does the best non-American "American accent" in the whole wide BPO industry? PINOYS!

God loves us. He created us to be excellent, talented, big-hearted, humorous-even-at-adversity people and there are actually foreigners applying for Filipino citizenship! Imagine that.

And I am just simply so PROUD to be FILIPINO!

And now I'm tagging my friends:
Tappy, Anne, Lady Cess, Sasha, Rico, Jonas, Honey, Janette, Blogie and Andrew.

(And that covers Singapore, Makati, QC, Paranaque, Cagayan de Oro and Davao)