check list

Ten things for me to do before my first year anniversary (which is in October) in Singapore:

1. Get at least two new "country stamps" in my passport (Japan, and maybe Malaysia)
2. Try out zumba and drums alive
3. Take swimming lessons
4. Go to at least one museum
5. Enroll in a baking/cooking class
6. Explore at least two major parks
7. See at least two musical plays (Phantom of the Opera should count, right?)
8. Get a bicycle
9. "Hello world" on iOS
10. Go on a date?

the 30-day blog challenge

it's all mapet's fault.

now J and K are doing it also. and as a member of the STTS Academy, it is my duty to accept this challenge in order to uphold the academy's principles.

so starting tomorrow, expect at least one blog from me. i'll be using mapet's topics as guideline, though with some modifications. except for the first and last topic, i've also randomly reordered the other ones -- just so we won't be talking about the same things at the same time.

Day 1 » A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 » A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 3 » A song to match your mood.
Day 4 » The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 5 » A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 6 » A photo of your comfort food.
Day 7 » A photo of yourself five years ago.
Day 8 » Your celebrity crush.
Day 9 » What’s in your room?
Day 10 » Your most romantic date.
Day 11 » A photo of you and your family.
Day 12 » A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 13 » An animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 14 » Your best friends.
Day 15 » A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 16 » Another picture of yourself.
Day 17 » Your favorite movie.
Day 18 » A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 19 » Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 20 » A letter to someone who you miss and rarely talk to.
Day 21 » 15 facts about you.
Day 22 » What’s in your bag?
Day 23 » Your favorite musician and why?
Day 24 » Your dream job.
Day 25 » A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 26 » A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 27 » A place where you want to go.
Day 28 » Something you crave a lot.
Day 29 » A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 30 » A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days.

and since i just discovered blogger's Pages feature, i'm creating a separate page for this just like mapet!

well, here we go. let's see how long i'll last. :D

friday

i really need to unwind. dinner. movie. videoke. dvd marathon. jamming. not all of the above, just whatever. i really don't want to drink. or rather, i'm still avoiding it. :D coffee would be okay though. and i just want to get out of the "office/work" mode. so even if i like hanging out with my dear officemates, especially my teammates, well i'd prefer some other company (sorry office friends, i know you'll understand.). question is, where are my other friends? anyone interested to hang out? otherwise, i'll end up finishing the Twilight series. because yes, i am also in love with Edward Cullen. :D

another list

more than 2 years ago, i made this list. six months after that, i got to this point. scratching off 5 items out of 10 was indeed a very good sign. but then i did this, and it all went downhill from there again (bye-bye list). over the weekend, Jam and I had this conversation about things we want to do. actually, it's been a series of conversation i've been having with some friends, and mostly they are items i've been meaning/wanting to do but as usual, never got around to doing. but with Jam's encouragement (and now a possible "partner-in-crime" in these activities), i'm making a new list. 1. pay credit card debts 2. take driving lessons 3. get braces (still on the fence with this one though, but i'm putting it in!) 4. join a gym (instead of dance classes) 5. learn to swim yes, unlike Jam i am only putting in 5 items. because unlike him, he has proven he has great will power and self-control. so far, i've only proven that those are almost non-existent traits of mine. also, in case you didn't notice, these things would require some money. and getting that money would require that i change certain parts of my lifestyle. now these changes are the tougher ones, and form the second part of my list: 1. find a cheaper apartment 2. limit splurges on very good but very expensive food (ergo, find a new stress reliever) 3. start cooking again (no more to everyday take-outs for dinner!) 4. limit DVD and book purchases (i guess i should avoid malls now) and the hardest one of all... 5. avoid being late for work and working "for free" (no idea whatsoever how i'd even begin to do this) that's it. wish me luck!

my pre-birthday blog

in about a month, i'm turning 27. and ever since i wrote this blog years ago, and after jam and pat made those comments, becoming 27 has become the age to remember for me. ok, people might be commenting i'm becoming morbid again. but i am becoming a bit morbid because i'm turning 27 soon, and i have not been able to get that blog out of my mind. :P -------------------------------------------------- for the past 2 years, around the time of my birthday, i try to write a blog about my life. i obviously never got to finish and publish them, but they will be revealed now! 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. but really, that moment seems so far away now. heck, i even thought i'll be getting married by 26. 26 years seems like a long enough time to go through relationships and find the person you can spend the rest of your life with, right?? well for some people, it might be enough. but not for me..."

march 5, 2007

"when i was about 13 years old, i planned out my life. i wanted to have my first boyfriend and first kiss at 16. it's because i wanted to have one while i'm in high school (because HS was so great and full of "kilig" moments), but i wanted to have it later in high school so i won't get "distracted". i didn't even take into consideration that we might end up in different universities. i wanted to be an engineer. i wanted to have that title placed before my very long name. i wanted to work "in the field" and not be stuck in an office all day. i wanted to accomplish something, and come up with a product that would change or deeply impact people's lives. then, i planned on getting married at age 26, and have my first kid when i'm 28. and i was also hoping that i'll marry my first boyfriend. but of course, we have to break up first, then i'll have 2 more other boyfriends, and then i'll meet first boyfriend again and fall in love again. then i'll quit my job to be a full-time housewife and live happily ever after. yes, that was a great plan, a kid's plan. so the first boyfriend and first kiss came 5 years later, i ended up loving software instead and became a programmer (meaning no "fields" for me), and i am now 26 and still very much unattached. the old plan is not working very well as expected, what now?"

so basically, every year i rant about how my plans never worked out and my life isn't what i thought it would be. and i think i am already past that stage where i can still pick it up and continue to try to make it work. i am not sad of letting go of this dream that i had as a child. but since i am no longer looking forward to anything, i feel greatly uninspired. i just don't have to drive to prepare for a future when i do not know what kind of future i want to have. this is also why i am such a big fan of living in the present, and would also greatly explain why i have nothing saved up. :p -------------------------------------------------- well for now, my goal is to travel the country. i think it is about time i see those sights in the postcards available in our souvenir shops. hopefully at least this year, i will get to see:

1. Banawe Rice Terraces
2. Mayon Volcano
3. Chocolate Hills of Bohol
4. Palawan

i need a travel buddy though. anyone interested? :)

i really should blog...

about the last musical play i saw, Avenue Q, and how "there's a fine fine line between love and a waste of time." about the zipping class i took last Wednesday with J and how i am liking it even if i've only tried it once. and i'd really like to dance again, and try on a new sport. about my new TV show obsession, How I Met Your Mother, and the funny things in life that it reminds you of. how it made me realize, for one, that i love being the person people go to bitch to (not "bitch about"), and how it'd be nice to find the person i'd love bitch to (not "bitch about"). and most of all, how it'd be funny, annoying and awesome at the same time to have a friend like Barney. about Gary and Dyan's wedding last Friday, and how i almost ended up with the bride's bouquet. that i found it funny to realize that i was the only "eligible contestant" in our table for the toss. and i thank my sort-of old basketball skills which enabled me to catch that last rose and saved me from the "higher, higher" garter tradition. how the girls with me in the table, Ria and Hannah, were talking about babies, their babies (!), and how it made me realize that we really are getting old and it made me think if i'm sort of late already for this rat race called "family life". but then i see the guys with us and can't help but notice how they have not changed since high school so maybe it hasn't been that long or it isn't late at all. about how it makes me sad that my best friends are moving somewhere far and so it would be much harder now to meet up, catch up and see them. how i would miss them sleeping over in my place on Friday night, watching DVDs even if half of them already feel asleep halfway through it, and how they'd wake me up before 8am on Saturday which makes me hate them. but of course they know how much i love them. and finally about how i think i am ready for phase 4, i'm just scared to admit it. well, let's see what happens.

10 things to do once i get back to manila

1. eat all the pinoy food that i missed. like sinigang, tocino, ginataan, barbecue!... yum yum.. 2. eat rice every meal for at least one week 3. buy a starbucks frappucino 4. watch all the new movies in the cinema, especially "Pisay the Movie" 5. catch up on TV shows i missed 6. videoke! 7. pay bills and all debts 8. do laundry 9. meet my closest friends 10. finish that bottle of kurant in my apartment, because you deserve to turn me into a wreck just one more time

i need an alternate life

i am currently bored with my life. nothing new is happening and this is supposed to be when i am enjoying it the most. wouldn't it be fun if you could pick out from your character the traits that you like and just live as that person? that also means that you could remove traits that you have that are bringing you down. like at this moment in my life, i just want to be the outgoing, generous, "kaladkarin", astig and game me. then i'll temporarily unload the conservative, sensitive, insecure, high maintenance and caring-too-much-what-other-people-think me. then i'll drive my friends mad until they agree to join me in doing everything i want. maybe we could go to a club and dance on the bar. talk to a cute stranger or go on a blind date. go to the airport and take the next flight out. buy a car on a whim or hitch a ride. join a reality show. change careers. ask to TRY 10 different flavors of ice cream and not buy one afterwards. sigh, i hate being an adult. still, i have to ask... anyone up for a week of alternate life?

learn-list #2

continued... 4. complain less (and be more patient) well, i mean verbally. i tend to overreact, get irritated and complain a lot when things don't go the way i expect them to, or want them to. i know i am not the queen of the world and "as the philosopher Jagger once said, you can't always get what you want". but despite knowing this, i still tend to make a lot of noise by speaking my mind (with biased thoughts and through offensive words). and i know i could hurt other people or worse, make them misinterpret my intentions. intentions of which, just to simply release negative emotions. i believe it is better to just rant now and be over with it than to bottle-up emotions and explode later. 5. stop being fickle-minded and contradicting myself if you can't believe that i am this, then just read #4 (and probably, my other blogs). you'll often see something like.. "well, it's like.. blah blah... BUT come to think of it.. blah blah... BUT THEN AGAIN i can't.. blah blah blah". 6. stop being judgmental (again..) i know i've been worse before, and i already learned my lesson. that's why i "stopped" being BEFORE, but now i'm relearning it again. man, i hate myself for calling some people (who i don't even know) stupid. and somehow, it slips and i say it loud and clear, before i can even try to stop myself. i mean, i don't say it to their face but i say it to other people ("nakakainis naman kasi tong si ..., ang tanga!). stressed or not, masama pa ring magsalita ng ganun. engot ko talaga. 7. be humble and accept criticism i am a very proud person... do i need to explain this? 8. be more punctual waking up early is really hard for me. but i shall try to be there on time whenever i'm needed. 9. really, really save up i just realized how lucky i am to be earning much, how some other people need more than i do and how much i really need in the future (not in the very near future, i hope) to support what i really want to be. :P

learn-list

before the year ends, i want to learn how to: 1. drive (in real-life, not just "in theory" anymore) 2. dance the tango 3. do sign language