it's my birthday!

august 17, 2011 - i am 31.

what changed since my last birthday?

my pants don't fit me anymore

i am more health (and weight) conscious now

i am now married

i have graduated from the LDR sector

my teeth are becoming sungki - wisdom teeth extraction side-effects (yata)

wrinkles

home address

and what things were unchanged?

my height

oh, i still don't have white hair!

employer

my passport - which i should renew this year

my surname - which i should legally change soonish

there there! so the birthday started with the traditional midnight bulahaw cake. i knew there was a cake. i saw a red cake box in the ref haha! but who would mind being bombarded at midnight if the bombarders will bring something like this:



kuya, april, and keyla gave me a perfume! it's been ages since i last bought one. love it!



my mike gave me this wristlet. we gave the same but black color to tita during her birthday and i liked it then. "di mo na gagamitin yung luma at marumi mong purse" awww



that plus a lunch treat in our favorite chinese resto, din tai fung. you are looking at the yummiest food in the world!



jan and frank gave these dr. seuss books! i didn't know who dr. seuss was until i got these wonderful books:



then last thursday, i got this:



it contained this much messages from friends and family! so good to receive messages from people all over the world! hehehe. each card was intricately crafted by the loving hands of good friends (and a drunk man, apparently. hahaha) needless to say, naiyak ako.



too much love in the world! makes me thankful i'm alive!

dear Lord, thank you for another year. thank you for another day. thank you for the overflowing love. thank you for all the blessings.

ps:
mike and i believe in this song...
Even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love with ya honey

but not in this...
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive

how? how? how?

happy birthday!!!

quasi tourists

for the 46th national day celebration, there's an electronics fair at suntec. we heard that 1) they are selling items for $46. items = washing machine, tv, camera, etc. 2) people started queueing since friday night for the opening at 11am on saturday. really, the things people do for a sale :) i would do the same if i had all the time in the world :)

so sunday, we decided to make uzi at the fair. some facts: 1) atm, we don't really need something electronic hehe. 2) no funds to buy something electronic hehe.

the day started bad like this:



because sundays are meant to be SUNdays and it made us really late for mass.

after lunch, the sun came out and we decided to go to the fair. just outside our block, a bird decided to poop on my arm. tita said it's malas. 3 friends said it's lucky. dun tayo maniwala sa majority at sa kaaya-aya :)) i changed clothes and we went to the fair after all.

as with all IT fairs, the crowd was incredible. as with all IT fairs, we go home empty-handed.

well, not really. we were able to watch a kung fu show. so cool! like i'm watching kung fu panda, only these are real people:



this is my favorite character. he seems so young! yet his bod's so developed, so are his skills! galing galing!



the kung fu show was the highlight of our date. we also bought goggles, swimming cap, combos, micro fiber towel. oh, and we got nice, free, sturdy plastic bags that could serve as trash bags. electronics fair ba yun?!

on our way home, we turned our tourist mode on and took pictures of these:

view from the memorial park:


the business district:


the suntec convention center:


i've always wantes to take pics of those. dyahe lang kasi ang daming tao lagi hekhekhek. happy birthday, singapore!

swim like a whale, eat like a whale

in an effort to trim down our tummies, we are on our 3rd week of jogging and we have been faithful to our program c/o the 5k runner app. highly recommended. not that our tummies have already toned down, but the app showcases interval training and kuya says it's an effective program. maganda raw na ginugulat ang bady mo at hindi yung consistent run lang. run-walk-run-walk ang drama. i also noticed that my knees hurt kung todo run lang. you know, old age.

we run 3x a week.
venue: there lang sa side side
time: after office hours

and we swim 2x a week.
venue: pasir ris sports and recreation center
time: after office hours

ang chochal ng new sports and recreation center at pasir ris. ong gondo!

there's a dipping pool, a kiddie pool, slides too! there's even a giant pail that spills when it's full. patok sa mga bata! apparently keyla didn't find it appealing. natakot daw. pero if i were a kid, i'll lavit!



an olympic sized pool. i love super! i'm not a fast swimmer. i feel nasusuya na nga ang mga lifeguard sa kabagalan kong lumangoy. hahaha! weh bakit? ehersisyo lang mga kuya!



nice ceiling lights. fancy them!



mistulang bromance. hehe joke lang powhz!



view from outside. there's a gym, tennis court, badminton court, at iba pang court na 'di ko na maalala.



and nice trees that i also fancy :)



yey! swim swim swim!

the problem with swimming is you get really hungry after a swim. then you tend to eat a lot, which kind of defeats the purpose of exercising (and dieting).

kebs. chos.

OLOPS

i like having vivid dreams. when i wake up, i'm reminded of good things. sometimes good, sometimes bad, but it's always good to be reminded. a few nights ago, i had a dream about this:



the dream was: i found my HS teacher praying the novena. it was very vivid - she was holding the blue novena booklet and i interrupted her prayer to discuss about the thesis.

and the memories that rushed through when i woke up were incredible...

my first commuting-all-by-myself experience was when mami asked me to meet her at the baclaran church so we could pray the novena on a wednesday. i was about 10. a jeepney ride from sto. nino to baclaran was a great milestone for me. it was also my first novena.

our novena attendance wasn't constant throughout the years but we tried to brave the crowds whenever we can. the feeling is different if you pray the novena alone and you pray it with thousands of devoted people. the latter gives you an unexplainable feeling of being closer to Mama Mary.

at the entrance of the church, there's a statue of Mama Mary that's enclosed in glass. the people knock at the glass, as if asking Mama Mary to give them just a tiny bit of attention and to listen to their prayers. they also wipe on the glass with small towels. so overwhelming.

people walk on a kneeling position from the entrance to the altar while praying the rosary. it's quite a long, difficult "walk". makes me think that whatever they are praying for is something grave. that, or they are simply devoted.

throughout the novena, your voice will drown in the voices of others. people are praying and singing at the top of their lungs. maybe, just maybe, they feel that there is a higher chance of God hearing their pleas if they pray louder. again, overwhelming devotion.

i remember seeing all sorts of people. you see a difference in the way people look - rich, poor, young, old, man, woman, burdened, contented, happy, sad. you could see a thousand varieties but there's no difference in the way they express their devotion.

there's a sermonette section where the priest will read a letter from someone whose wish has been granted - sort of a testimony. deliverance from sickness, poverty, finding a spouse... the stories are endless.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help has a special spot in my heart. the novena is also a bonding moment for mami and me. it made me feel that you will never be alone in the darker phases of life, that somebody saves, that something out of your comprehension will help you. put comprehension aside, belief is all that matters.

here in SG, she is known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

when we visited italy last 2008, we found ourselves in front of the original image of the Perpetual Help. it wasn't planned and we just found it by accident. we met one filipino redemptorist priest who was there for an event. i felt so blessed.

this is my favorite line from one of the songs... "when the voyage is o'er, o
stand on the shore, and show him at last to me"