i miss hershey's brown cow

when we were young, mama would buy us hershey's brown cow. there's a small bottle and there's also a big bottle. if mama bought the big bottle, ay! jackpot yun!

hershey's brown cow has always been a treat for us. we didn't buy it regularly because we were not rich. it was quite expensive that time. fresh milk wasn't in yet and pang sosyal lang ang fresh milk noon. what we had was birch tree full cream powdered milk. prior to the refill pack era, we bought the canned birch tree. if we have extra money, mama will buy the biggest can. if medyo gipit, medium lang. hehehe.

i wonder if there's still hershey's brown cow. why did i remember? when we went to the universal studios, there's a hershey's shop and you could find everything that hershey's-ey in there... except brown cow :( the closest they have is this hershey's syrup. well, it's not that bad :) we also bought the one that's malt flavor but it doesn't taste superb. so-so lang.

moooooo

updates and bands

time check: 9 months before the wedding. everything is going smoothly. we agree on just about everything.

suppliers that have been booked so far:

• church - st. pancratius chapel
  
• reception - ibarra's garden
• invitation - wink
• photographer, videographer, photo booth - nice print
• gowns and barong - amonn velasco

suppliers that need to be booked:

• flowers
• music band for the church and/or reception (if we'll choose to have one)
• lights and sounds in the reception
• hair and makeup
• souvenirs for the principal and secondary sponsors
• honeymoon
  
• wedding rings/bands

wedding rings/bands. as i said, we agree on just about everything. when we are scouting for suppliers, one of us will give an idea and the other will agree right away. no sweat. no idea is ever too ugly or questionable for us. that is until we started talking about the wedding rings. last night we had our first disagreement about it.

mike wants to have bulgari rings. i don't. a paulinian is warm, simple, and active. i'm not warm. i'm not active. i think i'm simple (yes ginamit pa ang pagiging paulinian ;p). for this reason, i want a really, really, really simple wedding ring. i don't want too many flashing stones and neither do i want brands being advertised on my finger. the one he likes is this ring with "bulgari" boldly and visibly engraved on the sides.

really, i should have told him subtly but what i told him was plain and direct: i don't like having a brand name displayed like an ad. if we grow old, do you think it will look good on our fingers? i like just a simple band. i may have been too direct. he became quiet and gently told me he is making tampo because it's like i shrugged his idea away without even considering it.

dear me, why do we have to agree on everything but the rings? :( he really likes it so i don't want to force him to wear a simple band. but i also do not like the bulgari ring and i don't want to force myself to wear it. :( hay.

today, ahngel and ate a accompanied me to some jewelry stores and my my i fell in love with this very thin band with 2 or 3 small stones. the groom's ring is also gorgeous but i'm sure he'll not like it. so how, ah? the store manager said that i could ask mike to look for a design that he likes and he'll try to find a similar design. anyway, the ring that i like isn't too choosy with a partner, meaning we could try to mix and match.

mike is the most understanding soul. i told him, "i found some good rings today. they are also on sale!" he said, "ok, ikaw na ang bahalang humanap ng ok na design for us." i know deep inside that he still wants the bulgari ring and i don't want him to look at his simple ring with hidden disgust. so... it's still my dilemma. i forwarded him some catalogs. who knows, he might find one that he likes and he will give in to me mwahahahaha :)

for now, it is an open item. sale period is almost over. i have a few more days to convince him. kapalit ay kiss, papayag kaya sya? :p

ps: i don't have anything against couples who wear the bulgari rings. if it makes them happy, then it can't be that bad :) but it's just not for me. it won't look good on me. i. simply. know. bow.

turistas

it isn't very obvious but there are a number if tourists on this
picture. pic taken at the fountain of wealth one lunch break. i love
the feeling of being a tourist. you don't have any worries. you are
there to feast your eyes an fill your senses with all things that are
wonderful.

disturbing

a few weeks ago, i saw the ara mina interview by mo twister. she's running for some public office, mo was interviewing her. she said she doesn't watch the news because it's depressing. bless her :p

here are some disturbing news i've heard from the past days. maybe events like these make ara sad.

• during a show (forgot which US state), a killer whale grabbed its trainer by the waist and strangled the trainer to death - this happened in front of families watching the show :-S it shouldn't work this way. killer whales don't kill people. the trainer wanted to be a whale trainer since she was a little girl. who would have guessed that this dream will take her life one day? :-S
• a korean couple was arrested for the death of their baby. in the autopsy, the cause of the death was long-term malnutrition. investigations show that they were addicted to... wait for it... RAISING A VIRTUAL BABY! how lame could that sound! they were both unemployed and spent hours in internet cafes raising the virtual kid. the real-world baby was neglected to her death! they feed her only once day. poor baby. :-S
• earthquakes here and there
• giant waves hit a cruise ship and injure a couple of people
• drought affecting most crops in the philippines

hay...

travels

we went to the NATAS fair last friday. it was a fair that featured good travel deals. i'm not sure if they were pretty good prices. kuya and april scouted for packages for their planned australia tour on august. i went to look if there were nice packages for our honeymoon on december!

mike and i initially agreed on going to palawan for honeymoon. original choices were: cebu, bellarocca resort in marinduque, and palawan. i forgot how we narrowed down the choice to palawan. hehe. we initially had thailand in the list but we figured once we are here, it would be easier to go to thailand (due to proximity) than to go back to the philippines. so palawan it is.

but come friday, i saw some really tempting offers in the NATAS fair. we've always wanted to go to koh sa mui in thailand. the pictures are just gorgeous! i think the prices are not that good but the beaches are really nice! and so i was torn. i wanted to go to thailand and i wanted to go to palawan too. i sent mike and SMS and asked him, where are we really going? things are really easy for guys. his reply was really simple: "palawan :)". hehe ba't ba nanggugulo ako?!? so again, palawan it is! hahaha!

as for kuya and april, they decided not to get the australian tour because it's quite expensive too. so in the end, all i had taken from the NATAS fair is the picture above. :) people going to the MRT from the fair. hehe i wonder: how many of them went home happy with their dream travel packages?

ps: NATAS is SATAN spelled backwards. scary. :s

God Makes Wonders

today, when i logged in to facebook (yes, facebook is a part of my daily routine), i saw that dear mike became a fan of "God Makes Wonders" page.

the moment i saw it, i clicked "become a fan" right away. i have so many reasons to become a fan today.

• God makes wonders because today, i received a very good news. i was haunted since last week. it could have been worse, but i received a call today.

caller: hi, the results are back
me (ever bingi): huh? did you just say "the results are BAD?"
caller: sorry to frighten you. i meant the results are back. B-A-C-K. you have nothing to worry about.

yes, God makes wonders. despite my being bingi, i heard good news!

• God makes wonders because we were able to execute a successful despedida party for our dear sunshine who is leaving the team. the wonder here is we were able to celebrate and see beyond the sadness of saying goodbye. it was a joyous night. good food, wonderful people, happy laughter.

• God makes wonders because i have a strong mother - strong in all aspects. she is still in very good shape at age 56. no major health issues, i bet she'll outlive me :p she is just as strong emotionally. she has been through a lot, still going through some more, but she sure knows how to make lemonade out of lemons thrown badly at her. i know God is behind her every step and every breath.

• God makes wonders because baby girl is coming in a few more weeks. how else could you define a miracle? a concrete example is how a mother carries and nurtures another living creature inside her. new life never fails to amaze me. can't wait to see you, baby! auntie cat is here for you :)

dear God, i am a big fan. i am a big fan of how you make little wonders each day. i am a fan of the magnanimous blessings. i am a fan of how you touch my life. i am a fan of how you teach me and mold me into becoming who catherine really is. i am a fan! :)

sugarol

last saturday, we went to the resort world casino upang umusyoso. hehehe. it's not my first time to go to the casino. we were not frequent visitors, but mama, kuya, and i went to "visit" the casino filipino for a couple of times. wow! couple of times. couple of times na ba ang 3? hehehe. i was never lucky in gambling.

mukang hindi na mauulit ang casino visit namin dito dahil naman, meyn! papasok ka pa lang, olats ka na! nakapaskil sa entrance:

100SGD - entrance fee for Permanent Residents and Singaporeans
2000SGD - Annual Fee

my toinks moment:
me (malabo ang mata, napasigaw. later on wishing i did not think aloud): wow! ang mahal naman ng bayad kapag may dala kang ANIMAL! 2000! bat naman ako magdadala ng ANIMAL sa casino?!?! edi iiwan ko na lang sa bahay!
april (tumawa, pero parang nairita): ANNUAL yun! magsalamin ka na nga!

bwahahaha bat kasi nagmamaganda at ayaw magsalamin :p

visitors have no entrance fee. april and i are PRs, kuya and wawin are not. so entrance pa lang, may cash out na agad kaming 200. wow talaga.

anyway, we went there to have some fun. at the top of our heads, we'll not spend more than 100 each inside the casino. so ayun, mega buy na kami ng chips. 400 all in all, tig 100 na taya kung saan mo gusto. kuya introduced us to the roulette. ang ganda pakinggan! pero in reality, para lang syang laro sa perya hehe. may roleta, papaikutin ang bola, hanggang patigilin sya ni gravity at ma-stuck sya sa isang number sa board. ang mga tao sa paligid ng mesa, bago tumigil ang bola, maglalagay ng chips sa hula nilang lalapagan ng bola. pwedeng odd, even, red, black, first 12, 2nd 12, etc., or yung single number mismo ang tayaan mo. yun ang pinakamalaking premyo - kapag nahulaan mo yung single number!

as i said, malas ako sa sugal, so si wawin ang pinaghawak ko ng 200 namin. sabi ko "wawin, bahala ka nang tumaya kung saan mo gusto pero bago tayo umuwi, itaya mo ako sa number 5. yun lang ang hiling ko."

haling na haling ang mga tao sa pagtaya! as in isang tayaan ay 1600! na nawawala na lang na parang bula kung mali ang hula mo. as in!

hay, inabot kami ng 6 na oras sa loob. mananalo, matatalo. paulit-ulit lang. hanggang nagsawa na kami, malapit nang umuwi. pinaalala ko kay wawin ang number 5 ko. na-tempt akong imbis na 2SGD chip ang ilagay, 25SGD na lang. pero nagpigil ako. sayang naman ang 25. pinigilan din ako ni wawin na tumaya sa single number, bagkus ay inudyok nya akong tumaya sa 1 to 6. ibig sabihin, mas mataas ang chance na manalo pero mas mababa ang premyo. fine. sige malas nga ako diba?

boom! lumabas ang 5! "akalain mo?" yan na lang ang nasabi ni wawin. hahaha. jackpot na sana :p as i say, malas ako!

wawin's toinks moment:
kuya: o ito ang roulette... blah blah blah
wawin (bumulong sa akin): roulette? yun ba yung russian roulette?
ako: win, may baril ata yung russian roulette e. hahaha!

so magkano ang nalustay?
caths: 100 (entrance) + 50 (bets) = 150
wawin: 50 (bets) = 50
kuya: bawi lang (bets) = 0
april: 100 (entrance) + bawi lang (bets) = 100

ayus. pwede na rin ;) uulit ka pa? hindi na po :)