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 -