New Year's Resolution

I have stopped making New Year's resolutions eons ago, because:
1. I believe one does not have to wait until the end of the year to improve one's self (Hah! This is so obviously a palusot!)
2. I do not fulfill any of my resolutions anyway.

But this year, I will be reviving the tradition again after, get this.... three people told me that I'm mataray! THREE people...within ONE week! Hwaaat?!?! How can that be? I'm quiet...yes. I'm an introvert... yes. I'm impatient...yes! But mataray?!?! (Stop nodding your head in agreement Mike!) I have never thought of myself as mataray!

Is mataray the opposite of mabait?

"No," said my brother a.k.a. wise guru. "The opposite of mabait is masama. Your tarayness is not the loudmouthed type of taray. It's a silent type of taray, which is even more irritating." Thank God for brothers who tell you the truth no?

Eniweys, for the year 2005, I hereby resolve to:
1. Limit the taray only to people who deserve it.
This means, I will not be mataray to my very very loving parents, my thoughtful brothers, my dear but busy friends and my very patient boyfriend. But I will intensify the taray to low life creatures of my world which include (in order of their lowliness) -- liars, thieves and all paternal relatives.

2. Stop procrastinating!!
Procrastinating = working under too much pressure = setting myself up for a heart attack.

3. Work out more.
ELJ Building, which houses Fitness First ABS CBN branch, has the gall to charge P30 for the first three hours of parking! That means, if I go to the gym religiously for a month, I will be charged P900 for parking alone. Add that to my P1800 monthly gym fee, and that's a freaking P2700 a month!! Or a whopping P32,400 a year! And no! I'm not willing to spend that much to keep my body fit!

Hmm... I cannot think of anything else as of this moment. Can anyone suggest other areas that need to be improved? Or baka wala na? Hehe... Maybe I need a resolution to learn the art of humility? =) Oh well, will add more resolutions as I go along.

My Dad is an Only Child

How I wish this was true.

Then I wouldn't have had to deal with my uncle a while ago. For some reason, my dad decided to punish me today by forcing me to spend (and waste) 15 minutes of my time to accompany my uncle. I had to listen to him as he went on and on and on about his latest "successes" in his non-existent business. "Shut up! Shut up! I do not care about the P121.50 discount you're getting on your cameras. Or how many thousands of batteries you sold yesterday. I just want you to sign whatever it is you need to sign so that we can have our freedom from your worthless lineage!! We shelled out millions to save your crappy house from the bank! Why can't you do this one thing for us?!?!" But my dad taught me well enough to not make a scene in a public place, so I just stared at the floor and wished it would open up and swallow him alive instead. That obviously did not happen.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why my dad ended up with crappy, money-hungry siblings. Like the uncle who asks us to pay for his crappy registration costs for his crappy vehicle, conveniently forgetting that he now has millions in his bank account. Or that bitch in Quiapo who does not understand the difference between a corporation and a single propietorship. Or the bigger bitch in QC who sang her tales of woe to my dad to ask for money to put up a factory together. Like her sister, she doesn't understand the difference between a corporation and a single proprietorship either. Nor can her simple mind grasp the difference between lending and donating. Ah sus.. hindi naman pala money-hungriness ang problema eh. Tanga lang talaga ang mga tao pagdating sa pera. Wow... everything's clearer now.

chanchan sleeping on my side of the bed.

"artistic"

a picture of yosemite park that mike took during his recent US trip... i have to rave about it daw.... so here. but it's nice no?

things i'm loving right now

1. OUR MALTESE PUPS!
There's PANPAN, named for the infection on her head when she was younger which made her look panot.
Then there's SUSHI, Mike's suggestion para partner daw kay MAKI the mom.
CHICKBOY, because he's the only guy in a group of 4.
And my favorite -- CHANCHAN!! She had an infection near her abdomen area when she was younger kaya tiyan-tiyan evolved to chanchan. =) She sleeps with me most nights and I think I've toilet trained her well coz she has never peed on my bed. (Knock on wood)

2. CREAM BASED PASTA SAUCES
I have been addicted to cream sauces for the past 3 months now. And the first pasta dish that comes to mind is Italianni's Carbonara. This is sooooo good. Ewan if it's because of my cravings. Price is good, and the portions are big. I don't think I have ever finished one order by myself, no matter how hungry I am.

3. BLOGGING!!

I have to:

• finalize details for product seminar happening on December 2
  
• submit new names of products before tomorrow
  
• complete our 2005 sales, marketing and promotion plans within the week
  
• think of giveaways for the 33 BAI people which I overlooked

..... and here I am, blogging the night away. Need I say more?

4. THE APPRENTICE
I love this show! I get a lot of tips on how (not) to run a project. For the episodes that I've seen, the projects are usually centered around creating a buzz -- which is what we need to do with our company next year!!

5. PINK
I am now in my pink stage. Most of the clothes I buy, on the rare times that I go shopping, are colored pink. When I was in my preteens, I was obsessed with navy blue. Everything had to be navy blue. In my teens, it was black. All my stuff were black. After graduation, it was white. And now, in my mid-20s, pink. I wonder what color is next?

6. BRAINLESS MOVIES
For a while, I used the I-am-too-mentally-stressed-out excuse to watch brainless movies. But I have been using that excuse for almost 1.5 years now, and I am still in my brainless fun phase! Oh no! Should I be worried? What the heck. I thoroughly enjoyed 13 Going on 30 and New York Minute. Next on my list is Mean Girls.

7. "TAMBALANG FAILON AND SANCHEZ" on AM radio
I am not sure why I like this radio show so much. Maybe it's because I think listening to them will make me wiser in my dealings with people. Narinig ko na ata lahat ng excuses and hullabaloos from politicians they interviewed on air. And you should hear them when they're trying to get out of giving an answer that will put them in a bad light. "Aaaaaah... Korina... aaaaaahm... Ted..... kasi... aaaaaah.... ganito yan no..... aaaaaah......" and then the line goes dead. While I am typing this, the jingle for Bacchus energy drink is playing in my head.
Mag-Bacchus ka araw mo'y balik sigla. Mag-Bacchus ka, araw mo'y balik sigla!

THE PeRiwInKle RooM

my room

Lunch at Causeway

I am typing this with MYMP's "A Little Bit" playing in the background. I heard them sing live in Powerbooks Megamall 2 weeks ago, and I have been addicted to this song ever since.

Anyways, my 2nd ex's Friendster profile now reads that he is "in a relationship." Reading it was a trip down memory lane. Our (short) history together came flashing back -- from the first time we saw each other to how he broke my heart twice in 7 months. And I am once again reminded of the many reasons why we're better off as friends. I say "once again reminded" because Liza and I were just discussing the same topic a few days ago.

And I was reminded for the 3rd time while having lunch with Mike at Causeway Libis this afternoon. I don't think I have laughed that hard with (at) anyone for the longest time. =)

......"artistic" kasi siya eh.....
......"maganda sister mo nung araw na yon".......
......"hindi na kita dadalhin sa basement"......
......"eh diba ikaw, artistic ka rin? ay? ay? hindi ba?!?!"......


Life is good. =)

Dog-eat-dog world

One thing I'm learning (the hard way) right now is this - it's a dog-eat dog world out there. As I was telling my dad a while ago, there is no point being honest and moral anymore. In my two years of working for our company, I have seen for myself how people can be conniving and deceptive. Mabait pag kausap, pag nakatalikod ka, may iba nang binabalak. In the end, it is us who always lose. We end up losing money; they end up with the resources and the sympathy of the people. Which is what I don't get. How come there are people, who, after stealing from your company, have the gall to tell the world that they were mistreated? Ang kapal. It has never been my style to spread rumors about other people, especially the low-life types. Karma karma lang yan eh -- that's what I used to believe in. But heck, the people who stole from us are having the time of their lives. Habang we're here picking up the crap they left us. And really, I'm getting tired of this.....

bubungka

My parents were so excited when I told them I wanted to make and sell bibingka. They even asked someone to comb the streets of Divisoria to look for the clay stove and clay pot used to cook bibingka. So, I bought cookbooks with bibingka royale recipes and set out to work. It looked easy enough when I observed the person manning the Ferino's outlet in Gilmore. So, it should be a piece of cake for me, right?

WRONG!

The very first bibingka that came out was flat, and looked more like flattened hotcake. That time, it was my dad who was doing the cooking, and I was prepping (and watching The Apprentice). After 4 flattened bibingkas, he finally gave up and left me and Emmy to do the work. I showed the bibingka to my mom, who laughed and said we should call it bubungka instead. Harrrr... very funny. Harumph! When I build my bibingka empire, I will tell that story to Entrepreneur magazine -- how my mom made fun of my initial efforts at making bibingka.

So, after adjusting the flour, we came out with an improved version. Although the bibingka became fluffier, it still bore no resemblance to the ones being sold at Ferino's. I compared the recipe I used with the other recipes which I haven't tried yet, and I discovered that the problem was with the amount of baking powder I used. Oh well, will try other versions soon.

In the meantime, I am stuck with 8 bibingkas, 3 of which I had to practically force people to eat , 1 I offered as a peace offering to my brother (harhar... malamang after eating it, magkagalit na naman kami), and the other one I had to eat by myself. There are still 3 cakes left. Any takers? =)

my one-hour getaway

Finally! I was able to go to the Getaway Spa this afternoon. Just one hour of pure bliss and relaxation. I chose the Swedish massage -- a traditional full body massage using our selected G-Spa oil applying long strokes and kneading techniques. This process is ideal to soothe and relax tired musclees. It is a popular therapy choice among those visitng the spa to take the edge off a long workday. I was curious about their body treatments too, as I have read good reviews on Femalenetwork.com. But when they told me that I would have to take my top off, I backed out. Di ko pa kaya. =)

Anyways, I liked the massage. My masseuse, Cathy, made sure that the pressure was right. She even allowed me to overstay in the room since only a few clients had made their reservation that day. I kinda felt sorry that the massage was over so soon. I wish I had chosen both a body treatment and a massage. But Cathy told me that body treatments have to be done before the massage.

The Getaway Spa is celebrating their anniversary this month, so they are giving a 20% discount on all their massages until the end of the month.

thinking beyond the box

eeeek! mike's sister is getting engaged this coming sunday, and i have nothing to wear. all my clothes are either too casual, to frumpy, too happy or too blah. which is why i bought a stretch white blouse from MEMO in glorietta yesterday. it was okay when i tried it on in their fitting room. but horrific when i tried it on again in my room's harsh fluorescent lamps. it showed my curves... in the wrong places. will see what i can do about that.

we wanted to see the xmas bazaar in ortigas home depot. but it was empty when we arrived. there were a handful of booths and a lot of unoccupied stalls. sayang. either it was still to early, or the bazaar was not advertised well. so we ended up visiting the newly opened ortigas home depot. i think this is different from the old mc home depot along meralco ave. a lot of good brands there. am currently lamp shopping for our newly renovated dining room and saw a nice lamp at LUXEN lighting. good price too.

lunch was at craving's, where i had their pork stuffed with prunes in apple sauce. mike had callos. i don't really eat callos, so am not sure how that tasted. but my pork with prune stuffing was tender and flavorful. didn't care much for the sauce though -- it didn't taste "appley" enough. it tasted like regular gravy. the salad bar offered the usual stuff -- mushroom, ham, cheese, pasta salad, raisins etc. etc. the staff didn't do anything about the flies flying above the food until we shooed the flies away ourselves.

also visited the women's world bazaar at world trade center. saw a lot of good stuff too, but ended up not buying anything. one of the stalls there was selling back issues of myhome magazine. i browsed through the mag and saw pictures of a big palace-like house fit for royalty. and guess who the owner is? it's none other than ricky reyes. nakakabilib. considering that he started out as a hairdresser lang. according to the article, he armed himself with pages and pages of pictures from ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST and designed the house himself. mother ricky reminds me of oprah. both struggled to make a name for themselves despite lack of societal acceptance (oprah being black and ricky being gay). and now that they've made it to the top, both of them are sharing the wealth by giving back to the public.

dinner was at cabalen. their banner says that they offer 50 dishes for their buffet. but i counted and wala pang 50 yon no. they must have counted the ice and syrup for their halo-halo too. =) but their kare-kare was sooooooo good! next time i eat at cabalen's, will go directly to the kare-kare na.

btw, can someone tell me if there's anything gramatically wrong with my title?

e x h a u s t e d

I do not think I have ever been this exhausted my entire life. Is this what adult life really is like? When I wake up every morning, I automatically make a check list of things to do for the day. But the weird thing is, no matter how tired I am, no matter how many times I complain loudly to the people around me, deep inside, I really like what I do, even though I have little interest in the industry we belong to. Does that make sense? Sabagay... an accountant can love her job even if she belongs to an industry she doesn't like. I guess it's the rush I get.

*****

I made a leche flan cake last Friday. I have been getting good reviews about it so far. Made a booboo though. I wasn't able to fold in the butter properly. Kaya all the melted butter stayed on the bottom of the pan, much to my dismay. Oh well, as Jean said, "practice lang naman ito." =) Credit goes to her for the creamy leche flan she made. But for those who have tasted it.. comments naman dyan!

*****

Mike and I went to Market! Market! last Saturday. Was surprised about the ambiance. Kasi naman, in their print ads, Market! 2x looks like a high-end tiangge and mall for Class A and upper B people. But there were a lot of "pang-masa"stores, plus some high end stores as well. Which led us to conclude that maybe the developers of Market!2x originally wanted it to be a Class A tiangge, but ended up attracting the middle and masa crowd. We had lunch at Pancake House where we had tacos and value meals. Is it just me? Or did the taco at Pancake House tasted different? Parang it lacked something. We went to Karl Edwards afterwards, where I bought a beautiful bracelet for my mom and a crappily made Nike shirt. I felt so ripped off with the Nike purchase! Paano ba naman, ang pangit talaga ng pagkatahi. But I bought it to get new ideas for fabric we can make. Then dinner was at Suzhou Dimsum along Retiro. Their siao-long-pao is sooo good!! We had the steamed beef with a lot of garlic which was really good. And the seafood fried rice which was good din. Come to think of it.. everything we ate at Suzhou Dimsum was good! Will bring my parents next time.

Mike called me around 10:30 pm tonight. It was only then that I realized that that was our first communication for today. I have been so busy in the office, what with the customer compilations and dealer agreements that I am rushing to finish. However, I seem to be getting nowhere with all my tasks. Parang the more I try to do things, the more I end up not accomplishing anything at all. And work doesn't stop at the office. When I get home, the first thing I do is check office-related emails. And since most of our suppliers are in Europe, communication doesn't stop until 12 midnight (5pm at their end).

Aaargh... somebody please take me to the spa!! Or a vacation for that matter!!

Speaking of spas...I recently noticed how addicted I am to shower stuffs that smell like fruits. Actually, except for a Cream Silk conditioner and a floral scented body wash, ALL my shower stuff are fruit scented. I have 2 strawberry scented shower gels, a pear scented shampoo, kiwi, grapefruit, orange, citron. Hmm... come to think of it, I also have vanilla, almond, walnut, honey and cola. I always go for the food scents rather than the floral scents. I just didn't realize until this morning how obsessed I am with creams and lotions that smell like fruits, nuts and honey. Wala pa ako chocolate scents (HINT HINT). But please, no durian scents!

Bush-It!

How did this happen? How did Dubya win the elections? I still cannot believe it. I have NEVER liked Dubya or his dad for that matter. And after watching Fahrenheit 9/11, I dislike them even more. The thing is, I thought a lot of Americans would naturally turn to Kerry, after the 9/11 fiasco. I guess I was wrong. There was a scene in Fahrenheit, where an American woman claimed that the pictures of injured Iraqis in the media were all staged. Could this be the reason why America still went for Bush? I cannot, for the life of me, understand how they could have overlooked this fact -- that after killing approximately 100,000++ Iraqis, it was found out that there were no hidden weapons of mass destruction.

Ironically, the man who promised to save the world from mass destruction is actually the same man causing it. Just take a look at the oil prices! And his .. er.. "frenemy" -- Mr. Osama Bin Laden, has sworn to vindicate the deaths of thousands of Iraqis by threatening the U.S. with an attack similar to 9/11.

Wow.. it's gonna be one bu-shit Christmas this year...

Dinner with ELF

ELF = ever lovable friend

That was the code we used back in college. Cheesy, I know. But I don't care.

Had dinner with Val a while ago at this small Japanese resto in one of the side streets of T. Morato. Food was great. Prices were reasonable. Had the unexciting katsudon, as I was not in the mood for anything new. Val had the fish-roe something.

It has been almost a month since we last saw each other, and we had a lot of catching up to do. Her MBA, my err... "future plans," her friends, my friends, pics of pretty fondant cakes she made, my latest money making scheme.... Somewhere in the middle of our dinner, we both agreed to take a trip to New York... as a sort of last-minute hurrah. If things do not go our way, Plan B is a trip to Japan. Hopefully, we'll be able to go through with our grand plans.