CPR in progress

it started with my friend Jam posting links to his old blog posts on twitter. that's when i realized how much i miss reading my friends's blogs. with almost everyone on twitter and facebook now, blogging is almost dead (unless you do it for a living).

anyway, i've decided to check up on this old blog of mine and realized it's been dead for more than a year now. i did attempt to revive it a few times in the last year, but my posts always end up as drafts. heck, i'm not even sure if this post would ever be published.

but i do have some things i'd like to write about that would require more than 140 characters. especially now that i suffer from bouts of homesickness, i feel like this is another venue for me to reach out and connect to people who would still listen (or read, whatever). well then, let's see what happens from here on.

mini blogging

i've been working really hard the past few weeks and stressing over a lot of things in the office. so as soon as i left work yesterday (which was a saturday, i know), i've decided to try very hard to enjoy the rest of my weekend and really take my mind of work.

not sure if trying hard not to think about work counts as not thinking about work though. oh well... 

--------------------------------------------------------------
since the last blog post, the 30-day blog challenge which i failed miserably, i've had the opportunity to visit our Berlin office and stay there for 2 weeks. and since it has always been my goal to do some sort of European tour before i turn 30, i tried to make the best out of it.

the trip was a bit of a rush and since i was there for work and limited visa time, i really did not have time for a tour. but then i thought, if i could just see Paris, then i'm good. and with a little push from my friends, especially from K who researched flight, tour and hotel options for me -- i had an expensive, impromptu but very much worth it weekend trip to Paris.

it was sometimes lonely and scary to travel alone, but most of the time i was lucky. my colleagues in Berlin really took care of me and tried to keep me company if they can. in Paris, it just so happened that a high school classmate who is based on the US was spending that same weekend there, and so we met up. it was cold and snowing, i loved it!

memories from that 2 week-long trip now up on my wall

--------------------------------------------------------------
the past few months, i've already received a number of postcards from my friend M in Singapore. 2 of those are also up in my wall (in the pic above) and the other is in the office.

i repaid her by sending her postcards when i was in Berlin and Paris also. 

i love sending and receiving postcards. the message itself almost does not matter. it could be a bunch of nonsense. but just thinking of how much that message has to go through to get to you, it makes it so much special.

not to mention it's always better to see something else in your mailbox other than bills.

--------------------------------------------------------------
i finally finished reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman! (okay fine, not yet done. i still have a few pages to go through in The Wake. but that's negligible, right?)

i love Neil Gaiman's work, and Sandman is the first graphic novel that i really appreciated. the other day, M had this as her status message, one of my favorite lines from the series:

Sometimes you wake up,
Sometimes the fall kills you.
And sometimes when you fall, you fly. 

then i just saw Neil Gaiman blogged about this same line. he saw it tattooed on some woman's shoulder blade, while he was in Australia.

i wonder how it feels to have your own words inked forever on some stranger's skin. a stranger from the other side of the world, nonetheless. 

you can also find me here

We were bored. And so, this was the result.

The House of C+K

sakura mind speaks

Day 4 » The meaning behind your blog name.

Six years ago, most of high school friends started blogging. And I had to be with the "in" crowd so i started this blog as well.

During that time, we always play DoTA in the office come 6pm. My nick would always be "sakura" which is a rough japanese translation of my name (K might argue with this though).

And well, i thought what would i write about in my blog. I guessed it would just be everything that comes to my mind. Speak your mind, i heard that somewhere (is that even correct?). 

Well, this is what the younger me came up with.

belated happy birthday, sakura minds speaks!

bah! i was waiting for it all june and then i totally missed it! early last month i realized this blog was turning five and i've been waiting for that day to blog and celebrate it. but then a lot of things happened in life and i completely forgot about it. oh well, they always say it's better late than never... so to celebrate this blog's 5th birthday (last June 29), i thought i'd pick out some of my favorite posts, one from each year. click on the title to the see the original blog post. :) 1. nostalgic attack (July 6, 2004) i love love high school. even now, i still think high school were some of the best years of my life. i don't think i'll be the person i am today if my father had not been adamant 15 years ago that i study in pisay. i like this post a lot because one, it was one of the first blogs i posted and so it has some sentimental value. and two, whenever i read it, it never fails to make me smile and make me nostalgic. so for my high school friends who'll be looking into it, i hope it transports you back to the mid-90s too. 2. to the last 7 years (Dec 21, 2005) i have actually forgotten about this one. i just rediscovered it when i was browsing through old posts to see which would make it to this blog. i know i've written a lot of "self-evaluation" blogs over the years. but i particularly like this one because with the other (similar) blogs, i just basically write about what i already know of myself. but this one was about the things that i did not know about me until i thought deeply about it in order to write it (in the blog!). i hope you understand the difference. one of the things that i still have not learned is to communicate better. hehe! 3. faboulously single (Oct 3, 2006) actually i just wanted to re-share this one. because until now, almost 3 years later, i still feel the very same way! most of my best girl friends are already married and most of the very few single ones left are out of the country. i have a lot of single guy friends but as i much as i love them (and i know they care about me too), nothing beats some serious girl time. 4. the trip so far (Jul 8, 2007) my trip to Oslo was really special. it was my first time in Europe and Oslo is a really charming place to be in. thinking back now, it seems very unreal and i feel like i was in a magical place then. i was also away for a month in a foreign land, and during those times i have learned how to survive loneliness and deal with problems on my own, since i had very limited access to my friends and support system. 5. drunken post (Jun 11, 2008) i tried to drunk-post several times again after this one. but i always end up falling asleep before i can finish the post. and though there's always a draft saved, once you look at it when you're sober, it's not the same and not worth posting anymore. so i like this post, even if it does not really make much sense, because it made it to publishing! and drunk-posting is also fun. most of the time i still have enough sense in me to edit some things, but at the same time i always feel bolder to say what's in my mind. it's also liberating because i just immediately write about whatever it is that pops in my head. and it's okay if it does not make sense because you can always use the excuse that you were drunk when you posted it. :D lastly, the content of this blog (movie test for the movie buff in you - May 29, 2006) does not really mean much, but it's worth mentioning because i think it's the one that got the most comments. and i still like playing this game. so this is my birthday gift to sakura mind speaks. and as how blog commenting became "obsolete" when RSS feeds and google reader became popular, i just hope this blog would still survive despite Twitter and Plurk being born. if not, at the very least, it would always be great to have something where i can look back and remind me of the experiences i've had and shared.

why do we keep it?

i am stealing mark's idea. sorry meng, i've been wanting to do this, too. now, i have a format to follow. wehehe! :P Find all your posts that never got past the "draft" stage. Take the title, and the date on which it was supposed to be posted. Add the first line (or few words) of the original post, then comment on what the post was about, to add more context to your drafts. "on senti mode" July 11, 2004

Borrowing a line from the movie "The Mexican": When can you say that enough is enough?

i think this has something to do with me wanting to move on from my "recent break-up" back then. you know, you want to move on but can't seem to find the strength to do so, thus the senti mode. "i love you, part 1" September 6, 2005

I am really bad in expressing my "love" in words. The "mushiness" of it all makes me really uncomfortable. And unfortunately, i tend to not say "i love you" to people i love the most...

i wanted people to know how bad i am with this love deal and was trying to make-up for it by making this series of "dedicated to you coz i love you" blogs. but obviously, i never got around to finishing them. "it's harder than you think" October 24, 2005

" i love you, i'm just not sure if i'm in love with you" if you've heard this line just recently, then i suggest you stop reading RIGHT NOW....

for some reason, i found myself in a situation where i was pressured to make a choice right then and there. anyway, in the end, things went back to normal and the "other choice" disappeared that i didn't need to decide. "how come..." December 22, 2005

... after you've done something that's best for all, it still feels wrong?

damn! i dunno what i was thinking! i hate Christmas season. hehe! :D "post-valentine and pre-birthday post" February 28, 2006

i can't believe i'm turning 25 in 2 days. i'm a quarter-of-a-century old! i always thought that by 25, i'll be accomplished, successful and content...

bwahahaha! and now, i am 26! hmmm.... "missing old friends and old times" April 20, 2006

last monday night, i decided to buy two big containers where i can put all the junk i collected over the years. apparently, the two big containers were not enough...

well, the point of this blog is that i rediscovered old letters, pictures and what-nots, made me definitely miss high school where things were much much simpler. and btw, i still miss you guys everyday. "taking a vacation is BADDDDD!" November 9, 2006

i took a 4-day leave last week and had a 9-day vacation. sure it was great while it lasted. but now, i am being punished for it...

what i meant by being punished is that after i returned from my vacation, it took me a very long time to get my work-groove back. and it sucks because lots of things were happening back then. my latest blog is still in draft mode but i'm still hoping that i'll get around to publishing it soon. anyway, so do i have to tag people now???

sick and other things

i catched something last monday afternoon which cost me two days off work. you think some people would be happier to miss work, but i just felt so terrible that i'd rather be at the office than be sick at home. i just got back yesterday, still feeling a bit terrible. My throat hurts (you know that cold that is just starting and is still in your throat?? grrr..) and my head too for oversleeping (well, what do you do if you're sick?!?). I was constantly hungry since Tuesday, but i had no appetite, (which is why i was constantly hungry). Besides, i cannot swallow food very well because of the ball of phlegm in my throat. And so, you might have guessed.... i already lost 6 pounds (... or maybe more!). anyway, i feel so much better now. i ate some spicy food which helped "release" my cold. and the "ball" in my throat is probably reduced to a fourth of it's original size now since i've already spent 2 rolls of tissue for blowing my nose. well, the only downside is, my nose hurts and it's red (just in time for christmas! i can be rudolph!). --------------------------------------------------- my officemates were joking that i probably got sick from eating too much Krispy Kremes... hehehe! yep, the Krispy Kremes everyone is talking about. last Saturday, Allen and I fell in line, for only 20 minutes, to know what is the big deal with those 30-peso donuts. well, i was meaning to get a dozen, to try several flavors. and i was thinking of buying only 2 pieces of the original glazed ones. Allen wanted 6 pieces only of assorted donuts. but everything changed when we got near the cashiers area.... you see there's this person who is giving free original glazed donuts to everyone in line (well, once you get near her, she's not walking around, mind you). all i can say, the glazed ones is worth the 30-peso price! it was really good, sorta melts in your mouth but not really... well, can't describe it! :) so Allen and I got a dozen of the original-glazed donuts and another dozen of assorted ones (and we split them). i think the girl who was serving us was a bit annoyed since we were suddenly at lost as to which donuts to get. anyway, here's the assorted ones we got, they look great, right? the 3 donuts on the left-most column are "crullers". they're kinda hard so i didn't like them. the middle one on the second column from the left is Caramel Kreme Crunch.. it was great!! until i get to the part of the donut with the caramel-filling... it was too sweet, even for me. and i guess that is where i got the "ball" in my throat. hehehe! for the last two columns, they were Allen's share so i dunno what his experience was. i haven't tried the rest (uh-oh!), because i was sick and i didn't feel like eating anything sweet (see, i was really sick). so, *sigh*, i think i wasted some of the donuts... who would want to eat almost-a- week-old donuts???? :( --------------------------------------------------- hmmm.. i am looking for another flat-mate... or maybe another apartment if i can't get one. my current flat-mates decided that they can't stay anymore... so there. (i don't really know why the wind suddenly blew on the opposite direction, but no hard feelings). anyway, i needed two people. i already got ET on board... i need another one... and i need to find that other one, or another apartment, before the end of the month. anyone interested??? please please please!!! if you're wondering why i'd rather stay than find a new apartment... well, it's because of the ameneties. with the rent, i can get free use of the gym and the pool (which i intend to really use this time now). anyway, if you also know of an apartment in the Salcedo-Makati area where i can have my own room and free use of the pool and gym, which will cost me less than 9k a month, please just point me to the people i need to talk to. thanks! --------------------------------------------------- Blogger just offered me the option to switch to Blogger Beta.. so apparently, i don't have to leave pisay98 blog anyway. yey!

the choice

should i leave the pisay 98 blog just so i can switch to blogger beta?? hahahahah!