The One with the 20-20 Retrospective Vision

Wow, I stopped in August and I totally have myself to blame for this little oversight in my schedule.

After I turned 30, so much has happened. 

Funny picture of a lady stopped short near a car... I'm nowhere near this hot. 

1. I have just taken on so much more projects at work 

Never tried chewing a pen this way, but perhaps I should. 

2. I helped a few friends get a design job - yay for me! 

Totally could have picked more feminine shoes but what the hey... :) 

3. I have met someone... yes... met someone 

Not us, but could be us... :) 

4. I traveled 

Thailand, baby!

5. I signed up for my Masters degree. 

Guess what, ma! I need some tuition!

Yes, I am quite an overachiever. By far, it's been one weird show after another. My life can be considered one heck of a cool sitcom now. I have been enjoying the company of friends, been experiencing new things and totally digging the fact that I am learning so much about myself and my environment now. 

I could say that not updating my blog was not really a plus, however, of the very few, selected people that read this blog, there are so much more experiences that I wish I could actually write about and share with the world - not because it feels amazing but because I feel like people who are going through the same thing would have something to relate to. 

They always say that in retrospect, things are always in 20-20. So here's what I learned by far...

Clearer, baby! 

1. I wanted to be with someone so badly. 

Yes, after my last relationship ended, I wanted so badly to be with someone. It didn't matter who it was, it could have been some weird rebound relationship, it would have given me someone to love and someone to love me back and intimacy (read: not physical) was what I needed. I felt like my ex was never completely open and intimate with me (because of the lack of time spent and everything in between) and so I was constantly needing to validate myself through another man's eyes. 

It's hard to always be part of someone's schedule. 

2. I never enjoyed what I had. 

I have a loving and wonderful family. My friends - I couldn't ask for more. These people know me and would spew truth from mouths over a bitch brew. I had and have a great job. It's like life really equipped me for what I consider to be a great fall. It's like what my friend would always say, you never get it all. The theory is if you find a great job, your love life will be a total decimated mess. She's right. So, enjoy the mess, make mistakes, sleep around (this I haven't really followed yet) and find who you are. 

Ahh... haven't had a "glow" for a while. Lolz! 

3. I was always chasing one high after another and I never stopped to smell the roses well enough to enjoy the next chase.

I think it's pretty self-explanatory, when there's no one to push you to be "better", you push yourself to be better and yet, it never felt like something I would do cos I always chased after what is something people would be after - a better job, a faster and sexier life, a handsome man and a delicious car to boot (Jaguar). I don't even drive! :) So what's the lesson? Back to basics. Pray (if you believe in a God), love (be with family and friends) and live it up (sign up for a class and damned it, baby, there's no need to date around if you don't believe it). 

Everything is a hurdle cos you are so set on the finish line. Sometimes, it's cool to just walk around and ignore the people, places and things around you and just figure out what you want. 

4. I don't want to be anything other than me. 

Yesterday, I had a conversation with someone who told me that everything changes. Evolution is the essence of life. So when men want to sleep with you before they decide whether they like you or not, when men decide to leave you because they can't get everything they need from you, when bosses yell and scream at you because you can't perform the way they want you to, when school pushes you to be a half-beaten zombie at the end of the day because you friggin' asked for it, b*tch, and when friends don't spend time with you because they're married, with children or in a relationship, you have to go with it. It just dawned on me after the conversation that I don't want to sleep with men to figure out if I like them, I refuse to believe that love is dead and can't compromise, I will do my homework when I can and I'm awake and to hell with what everyone thinks in a coffee shop cos I'm alone and drowning in paper and books, I am not going to sit down and be yelled at by my boss cos he/she is simply having a bad day and I will do my best to spend time with friends, even if it means babysitting or enduring a long, winded conversation about motorcycles with their respective boyfriends or the latest Prada collection with their girlfriends, no matter how much you want to shoot yourself after. I am me. I don't have anyone else to love me and to change me just because circumstances tell me to. 

All in, baby! 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to read through some of my school stuff. :)

All pictures were taken from Stock Xchng, my leading provider of stock photos.
Thailand pictures taken with an Nokia N8 phone camera. 

The One with the Prowess

I had a quick talk with a younger family member of a good friend. She currently works for a BPO and has mentioned that as an agent, she does pretty well but her scorecards change so often that she gets so confused about what to follow and what to expect next. 

BPO personnel often think that they should always change it up. 

I figured I'd talk to her and find out more about what she wants. She opened up and told me that she wants to be a coach someday. I asked her what she's doing about it and she said, nonchalantly, that's fine. It's all politics. You can date an OM (Operations Manager) and next week become a supervisor. 

That really troubled the heck out of me. I was never the type to rub elbows intentionally. If I see them, I'll say hello, offer them a smoke or a cup of coffee (if we have some handy) and if I encounter them in a resto, I'd of course walk over and say hello. 

Losers wear a frown and smilers wear a crown! Booyah! 

I do a lot of sideline work, and special marketing and consulting projects tend to make you seem more popular than you are, especially if they're Chinese businessmen and they just want some marketing or campaign letters, newsletters or magazine ads. I bump into them in the doctor's office, near my old school, inside a mall boutique and yep, sometimes, while walking home from the nearby drugstore. So, yes, I do walk over, say hello, speak in their vernacular and tell them that I hope they contact me soon for more pictures or web templates or marketing pieces. But I figured, it's only because I'm selling myself (not myself literally!). And let's face it, in the project-contractual world, we don't have scorecards. We only have face value, a hard copy and a soft copy that can be replicated by 10,000 other Six Sigma, SDI and Industrial Manufacturing certified personnel in the field. 

Talking to her, this is when I remembered what I had written in my journal when I was younger. I was so pissed off. One of the high school classmates I had was "voted" an editor. Yes, the high school paper's editorial board was actually voted. They were not judged based on writing skills or knowledge of lay-outs or who's been in the group long, it was an election, which obviously turned out to be a major popularity contest. I had a diary then that would lock in front and I had the key with me at all times. Thanks to Ondoy (International Name: Ketsana), I was able to unearth the diary and I jammed the lock out, allowing me to review and read what I had written so long ago. 

I remember sitting by a tree in the school and writing about it while trying so hard not to cry.

It's never who you know, it's always who you are... Never mistake perception for personality, never assume power for prowess and never take pertinence for passion. 

I was 15, I was miffed and I can't understand why on earth would people choose someone popular and not someone who can do the job? Why does it matter who your clique is? Why can't you get a job or a position based on how efficiently you did? 

I looked at my younger friend across the table. I told her fine, rub elbows, but be sure you're competent enough cos people who can't simply won't. 

All photos are taken official from Stock Xchng. 

The One with the Dreary Tales Part 1

Thanks to those who voted on my side panel about what you want to read about. Because a few people asked for it, fine, fine, I'll give you a peek into my love life (or lack thereof). These will be random musing because, I am technically, not allowed to write about love since I don't feel that for anyone or anything at this point. 

Disclaimer: This is a post about love. Yes, love. How I see it now, how I used to see it and all that ballyhoo. If you're not the type to read about something this cheesy and loving, go ahead and skip through and just read this... Link

When I was a little girl, I was read fairy tales before I went to sleep. It was narrated how Cinderella, in her patience and grace, came to snag Prince Charming. I marveled at how Snow White's sheer beauty was enough to stop a hot guy in his tracks and kiss her, despite the creep factor (remember the Enchanted Forest?!) and 7 stocky dwarfs, because he simply can't resist. I was amazed at how Rapunzel's hope was enough to give her strength to wait for her Batman (and I call him Batman cos he used her hair as his utility belt). Finally, Beauty was so kind and loving to Beast, no matter how monstrous he was, that she was able to change him from jerk to McDreamy in a snap. 

They tend to live happily ever after. 

Those fairy tales made sense. It was a girl, a princess or a commoner, whose heart was golden and had purity, grace and honesty weaved into their characters. She always "meets" a prince, whether by accident, by luck or just plain fate. It was like it was written in their destinies. It was bewildering how they'd find their princes cos they lived in far away lands! Why would anyone want to gallop into the wilderness, only to find love?

Men have supposedly ridden into the sunset while dreaming of their fair maidens. 

So, maybe I'm not beautiful, pure and golden-hearted enough to warrant a man? Sometimes, I really think that way. I mean, it's not as if I have a committed and loving man by my side, eagerly awaiting until I come home to ask me for dinner or lunch. Sometimes, I wonder if it's also the reason why my first serious relationship didn't pan out. Was I not good enough, was I too much to handle, was I unfair or unjust? It's too much of an anxiety for me to even figure it out.

Was I the bad, rotten apple of his life? 

A good friend once told me that whatever it was that happened with me and the ex, it was better left to the past. Primarily because he won't have anything to do with me anyhow. If I died today, he probably won't even flinch because he already made his decision and if he ever says he cares, it's not true. He is only guilty when he reaches out and to "kill the guilt", he needs to know I'm alright and happy. Sometimes, I think what he says is true. He makes sense so much that it makes me wonder why I even try sometimes to make my ex feel comfortable about a friendship. The truth of the matter is, I think I may have feelings for him still. No one gets rid of that easily. If you loved someone for 5 years, believed you'd be married to that person and built rainbows and butterflies around a dream that involved the two of you, there's no way you can just wake up one morning and tell yourself, 'ahhh, it's over'. I admit, it still breaks my heart to know he has someone new, someone better perhaps, someone that he will take a bullet for, over me but I have to be happy for him, cos that person may be the key to his happiness.

All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put the little princess' heart back together again... 

This made me believe that the fairy tale is over. The fairy tale that never began was over before I knew it. No unicorns, no dwarfs, no nymphs, no rainbows, no magic spells, no enchanted forests, no loving kisses and more importantly, no prince charming.

Another friend told me that "My prince charming has already been run over in a highway or freeway somewhere, along with his white horse..." That sucks. 

And when you think friends can console you, that just made it a little worse for me (no offense meant to my friends)... People think that after a break-up, you're supposed to enjoy and live life and party like crazy. I did that. I would be high on times when I was dancing, living it up, eating with friends, drinking like crazy and then when you come home, you crash. You remember. You get reminded of the tears and the apologies and you bawl in one corner of your room, hoping no one in your family can hear you and think to yourself, oh God, what kind of concealer and eye drop would I be using this time? What was so hard for me to do was to show them any sort of emotion. It was sad because I kept myself from crying in front of them. It wasn't their fault, nor was it something they imposed on me, but I felt like I couldn't put them through so much. They have been with me with every fight, every argument I've ever had with my ex. I felt like bringing them there, to a point of sheer destruction, being left alone, being left in the altar, being abandoned was just unfair. Friends were there, not knowing I had eye drops and concealer every time I'd leave my room, not knowing I cried every night, for 30 minutes in one corner of my room, praying to God to take me or take my pain away. I hid it from my family as well, because in their opinion, I was lucky. God protected me from a possible hurtful and painful experience.

No more of these... 

Fast forward almost a year since he first broke up with me, there are still feelings and I'm not going to lie about. The pain isn't as strong. God kept His end of the bargain cos He hasn't taken me yet. I won't wake up in the middle of the night crying and I won't come home baffling my cab driver cos I've been crying in the cab... I would be okay. I functioned well and I am still learning everyday. Every day, I take as a challenge. As I come home, I find something to do. I accept jobs for graphic design, I talk with friends, I watch TV, I read a book, I blog, I subscribe to silly feeds over the net, I do something... anything to keep my mind off him and what might have been. Does it help? A little. A little at a time. One bit at a time. I guess that's how you get back on your feet. You don't stand up after a fall, you slowly and gradually get back on your feet, cos the second tumble will hurt more.

Trying to recover from the pain isn't easy. 

Do I still love him? Yes. Do I do something to get him back? No. Do I want him back? I don't know. 

People come and go, that's what fairy tales fail to tell you. They teach you lessons, they show you what's right from wrong, and enables you to form an ideal in your head. It allows you to dream. It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside and tells you to go for things. It never teaches you how to deal with a broken heart or how to cope when no man comes and sweeps you off your feet. It never teaches you what to do with pain or hurt or disappointment.

But it teaches you hope... and someday, my fairy tale will be told. I don't doubt it for one minute.

No photographers were harmed during the making of this post. All pictures are linked and obtained legally from Stock Xchng. 

The One with the Singaporean Breakfast

I have never been to Singapore. I've always wanted to try to get there alone - for the sheer need to see what the heck the fuss was about but I never tried. I've heard of clothing sales, how cheap Bath and Body Work is in that place and all other gadgets and electronic devices. I have heard of the great IT migration where all IT folks seem to want to leave the Philippines and move there for greener pastures. I have also heard how fashion, banking and finance seem to be taking off in that place. I guess this year, I'll have more reasons to go.

One of them is this quaint little place...

Ya Kun Kaya Toast - Since 1944!!! 

What is amazing about this place is how small but packed with deliciousness it is! I can't believe that toast can taste so damned appetizing!

So to demonstrate what a true-blue Singaporean breakfast is, I had Candy and Jessie bring me there. Candy was based in Singapore for some time as an Instructional Designer, while Jessie had taken several trips there for training. I just wanted to experience what coffee, tea and delicious things they had there...

Candy taking a bite of her Kaya toast. 

Jessie + Coffee = Common Sight 

So let me show you what's on their menu.

This is a full breakfast meal. 

Forget breakfast steaks, or hotdogs, chili or even bacon. It's thinly sliced bread with some oozing butter and Kaya toast. So what the heck is Kaya? It's coconut jam and some eggs. What makes it super special and aromatically great is the addition of pandan. It's not too sweet and too sticky so the taste is just perfect for breakfast. Kaya toast is simply slicing bread in half, butter on one side and Kaya on the other side and lightly toasting it on your oven toaster or a sandwich maker (think your panini maker now has use, eh?!).

The taste is just amazing paired with some soft-boiled, runny eggs. It takes some magic to recreate these eggs in your own kitchen. I tried once and I ended up with some hard-boiled eggs. I tried poaching some (ala Eggs Benedict) and failed miserably, cos I ended up with some Eggs Benedict instead. The real magic is in what you put in the eggs. Soy sauce, salt and pepper is given to you for you to mix and match to your taste. I tried it with the usual suspects - salt and pepper. Pouring some soy sauce in eggs seemed a little too odd for me.

Supposedly, to eat like a local, you're supposed to dip your Kaya toast on the runny eggs. I tried it and it was pretty fabulous. I ate it separately though. I guess I haven't imbibed the culture of Singapore just yet.

The counter where the server pours coffee at a height to "pull" the coffee. 

The coffee served was piping hot and super aromatic. I'm guessing that the consistency was different too, since the coffee was poured from a height of 3 feet or so (as far as I can estimate), supposedly making the flavors so much more powerful. I had tea latte which tasted so delicious and so yummy, I could have it everyday in lieu of coffee (did I just really say that?!)

Obviously, we can't have enough of this... 

Did I mention how much more delicious things can get? Kaya is available by the jar! So you can actually recreate this in your own kitchen!

The lesson of this story? Forget protein, sometimes carbs can make you super happy - and super full too!

Ya Kun Kaya is originally located in Singapore. You can check out their website here. The Ya Kun Kaya Toast outlet visited by *meg* is located in Robinson's Place, Manila.

Candy is a blogger just like me. She defines life and love on a regular basis. Check it out.
All pictures were taken using a Sony DSC Camera.

The One with the Indian Food

Another point of this blog is not to simply take care of me, but to take care of my primary love (not a boy), which is food.

This is long overdue, but by God, I promise I will go back to that place and adore the food that graces my plate. The name of the restaurant is Queens Crystal Garden. It's along Jupiter Avenue in Makati and they're open for lunch. So if you want to grab some friends, head on to that place and pick your food from their wide menu! It's amazing!

Just entering the place, you know it's fit for a Bollywood queen! The interior had high ceilings and you can't imagine how much I had to crane my neck just to see the whole area. It's like a 5-star hotel sprawled and adorned with velour and velvet all over!

Captivating furniture to help you feel like a queen. That's actual hardwood seating right there, next to a royal red table cloth contrasted against yellow velvet. It's almost royal! 

The wall is adorned with pictures of Ganesha. The pictures seem etched on thin paper (not sure if it's Papyrus). 

That's a bronze representation of Ganesha, once more, with some of the awards they've won and a little shrine to India. 

Because you eat with your eyes first, and we were freaking hungry after the slightly long and hot walk to Queens, we wanted meat and lots of yummy Indian bread. Guess what we had first?

In case it's not obvious, it's beer we're drinking. In the middle of the afternoon, in high bustling heat. Candy seemed fine. 

There's the handsome Pareng Ken with his shades on, posing next to my Super Dry. 

After the niceties over some ice cold delicious beer, we had to have our sampler so, on to our love for breads! There were so much to choose from and so little time cos we were so hungry. It's a good thing that Ken decided to get the Pudina Naan, which is unleavened flat bread made of potato, some yoghurt and dry yeast and it gets the word Pudina because of the mint (yup, guys, mint's not just for Mojitos!!!). Candy and I opted for the Roti which is also unleavened bread made of wheat and a lot of unclarified butter.

Candy's tearing into a Roti Channai. It's basically unleavened bread, with a little bit of sweetness embedded in it. It's perfect dipped in hot delicious curry. The green bread you see in the far right (top) is Pudina Naan (which literaly translates to Mint Naan Bread). 

This is a heaping pot of mutton curry which is so rich and so good and so delicious. It makes my mouth water just thinking about the flavors and the delicious, amazing feat it took the cook to make it so damned rich and creamy! 

Of course, no meal for me is complete without meat. I'm a little Western, I work like a sailor and I eat like a trucker so I got to have my protein. The waiter was kind enough to suggest a sampler. The sampler contained everything you'd ever dream of in Indian cuisine. It featured fish, chicken, mutton and delicious shrimp. It's almost orgasmic!

The fish was cooked to perfection. It was so creamy and flaky and you literally can use your fork and flake it out. The green coating in the fish was minty, fresh and it had the right amount of citrus in it. The mutton was thick and chewy and so meaty. Everything about the mutton was just accentuated right with the mint chutney, it was almost perfection. The shrimp was lightly seared in a pan and the flavor was just so light and so perfect. It made the whole experience almost tie together perfectly cos it complemented everything else in the plate. My personal favorite was the reddish curry-dipped chicken. It was fried lightly but the batter made the chili so much hotter. The flavor actually bursts in your mouth! And the mint chutney on this was just wowza - I can't stop eating and you can ask Ken and Candy, I think I was wiping the last drops of the chutney with the last piece of chicken I got.

The mint chutney (far right, green dipping sauce) made everything so much more delicious than it could ever be! I'm so glad Ken asked for it! 

The last piece of the puzzle was a Paneer dish. Paneer is actually unaged, acid-set cheese. It was lightly basted with a few mint leaves and some vegetables and I think it just capped off the perfect lunch.

Food I eat rarely? Not anymore. Indian food is one of my favorites now. Ajeet, a friend told me to get Masala Dosa the next time, which I will. I promise to have more pictures of the delicious food next time!

All pictures were taken with a Sony DSC series camera. 
Apart from making sure that his friends try Masala Dosa, Ajeet is also a great and amazing blog author. Don't read his blog and die. :) 
Candy is a blogger herself and she loves Indian food just like I do. Read about her food trips and her riveting stories on Define. 
Queen's Crystal Garden is on 146-B Jupiter Street, Makati. Check out their official webby here. 

The One with the Anniversary

I took a quick hiatus from the world of online blogging the past few weeks to focus on something I needed to do for myself. In case you're wondering if it's part of my bucket list, I would say it's part of my happy list. While most people have been wondering about what to do for Valentine's Day and how to find the love they long to have, I have been busy finding time for all the crazy activities I wanted to have for this month.

I still have yet to read Outliers. I know I've had that since December and I still haven't managed to read it. I have been meaning to get a massage and I just choose to waste whatever free time I have on either TV or sleep. I have been wanting to try out several restaurants and yet all I actually do is settle with some fast food quick fix (and the McDonalds Twister Fries are AWESOME!!!) and finally, I have been wanting to do the "in" thing and run a marathon (hey, a fun run would do) and my treadmill hasn't seen the light of day. It's still occluded (read: buried) under my clothes.

So ever wonder why I'm always busy? I have this conference call, that issue to deal with, this director to please and this course to deploy. 

An email I sent out to my entire team. 

I turned one StarTek year old! 

I wanted to thank my team for making me feel like I'm home. I have set-out last year wanting so badly to belong (ergo, almost getting married) and now, I feel like I do. I have wonderful mentors, like my mean best friend James and my "Positive Polly" Candy and I have a corporate US boss that I love a lot. I have Ivan who doubles as my son and my best friend at work at the same time (primarily cos we work in partnership a lot with some admin tasks). I have great friends at work and a lot of perspective. My SMEs have been great. There's Dan, the director of Human Resources, whom I have come to love and enjoy the company of, cos he's just a lot of ideas in an hour's meeting. There's Kevin and Judy from Finance whom I think the world of. There's a lot of development going on and if I can ask for one thing, I'd ask for one thing only - a higher salary, lolz. 

The One with the Sunday Trip

I love weekends, because as my bucket list says, I love reconnecting with people. This Sunday, I got to reconnect with me! For some reason, I just realized that I haven't really gone to other places. I'm so used to going to the mall I love hanging out in, we have an SM next to us which I frequent for groceries, toiletries and yes, even clothes.

So when the opportunity to go to Marriot was presented to me, I had to grab it by its horns. Chloe was kind enough to be my host for the amazing experience I was about to embark on.

First shot of the plaza. Amazing autumn tree with Chinese lanterns. 

Chinese lanterns adorn the facade, to celebrate Chinese New Year. 

Took a picture of the people right below me as well. 

Beautiful square next to the Casino. 

My trip, as usual is peppered by a nice dinner with Moussaka and some Chicken Gyro and pita bread. I can't get enough of the drinks though. I had a drink after weeks of preventing myself from doing so. I love, love, love Mojitos and I can prolly a drink a gallon of it. Along with the drinks came a show.

At first it was POSH, an all girl group that was scantily-clad (think Japanese schoolgirl costumes with butt cheeks showing and all and for their second costume change, they had on some glittering brassieres and silver stretchy pants... it's enough to make me want to crawl back into my oversized black poncho) but singing 70's and 80's songs. It's funny cos at a certain point, they went down to the audience part and passed the mic around. Renz, one of the girls sat beside me and made me sing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".

Then came Prince of Persia, where there were, of course, scantily-clad women dancing a belly up routine which made me think that I should prolly take up belly dancing cos it looks so darned sexy! They also danced the cancan, which made me think that it had nothing to do with Persia. Another portion of the dance was a Latino Flamenco type of dance that I enjoyed so much.

As we were heading home, Chloe said that it was the perfect revenge, being happy without the guy that tore my heart apart and I looked at her. For a moment, I had to really dig through my mind... And truthfully, without any hesitation, I told her that I forgot about him. I think honestly, I've learned to let go and I'm moving on. It was a Sunday trip I won't forget. I may have lost something along the way, the man I was supposed to marry... but I gained something else - friends, family, my life.

Me and Chloe, hanging out at Cafe Med... Happy after Moussaka and Chicken Gyros. 

Watch out world... I'm back! 

All pictures from this post were taken with a Sony DSC Series camera. 

The One with the Prodigal Friends

We tend to categorize friends. I think it's a fair assessment to say that we have really close friends who know every little dirty secret we've ever had (from the fact that you used to collect Peter Andre CDs as a 12-year old freckle-faced girl and dancing to the tune of "Mysterious Girl" in the wee hours of the morning to the most recent guilt trip your momma/poppa/significant other/sibling/boss gave you cos of <insert random reason here>). Then you have work friends who don't really have a choice but to take your crap every day of their lives cos you're there and they need to deal with you. Then there's your breakfast or common lunch buddies on weekends who prolly live the same lifestyle as you (which for me means work, head home, check FB and Twitter, perhaps read some Wikipedia entries, play some games online and on random weekends, have a friend over for lunch or head off to the mall and get cracking on some long overdue shopping). Depending on your lifestyle, you can have churchmates, drinking dudes, gimmick entourage, an arsenal of gym buddies, your team of sports fanatics, online fans who follow you on every social networking site but you've never actually met, your own league of warrior princesses and princes for MMORPGs and in some extreme cases, even an FB (friends with benefits, or FuBu).

I have amazing friends and I won't trade trade them for anything in the world. But I had the opportunity to reconnect with someone I have not seen for almost a decade.

Meet Ajeet, my crazy, sarcastic and amazing friend from 10 years ago...

Hawt right? Girls, this guy's available. We can talk about the price if you PM me. Lolz! 

And we had an adventure. I think it's amazing how when you don't really think about anything, you tend to have a lot of fun.

I actually spent 8 hours hopping from one bar to another on a Sunday night! Well, technically, it's just 2 bars, hahaha! 

I'm really glad that I spent that Sunday with Ajeet. We had coffee in Breton and then moved to the Blue Room (where Jazz and old 80's songs were playing) and then off to a place called Silya.

Silya... looks like a house but not quite... 

For those unaware and unknowing of the Malate scope, they have the high-end bars and then they have the bars that look like houses, and this is where you get the cheapest beers and the most affordable eats. You can also have people performing like crazy.

This is the first time I ever sang in front of other people holding a mic. Imagine my surprise when my once very shy and slightly angsty friend started belting out his rendition of a Filipino love song!

I had a wonderful night and I really wouldn't trade it for anything else! Cheers to reconnecting!

All pictures were taken with a Sony DSC series cam. 
Ajeet himself is a blog author. Check out his rants and raves at Read This and Die. 

The One with my Godson

Have you been a really, really good godparent? It's common in the Philippines to ask classmates, friends and even colleagues to become a godparent. You should never refuse if you get asked, lest you be cursed by the ancient ancestors of the land. Because I don't claim citizenship of the world, and I always proudly state that I am born and bred Filipino, I will always abide by its laws, written or otherwise.

But being a godmom to Xander is a joy. Last Saturday, I really wanted to spend time with Aileen, Yogi and Xander.

Had lunch at Mango Bistro in Trinoma. 

Had Pad Thai - amazing fusion of flavors! 

Had some chicken stir fried and wrapped in banana leaves. It had a sweet and spicy sauce. 

It was a fun day of catching up, venting about things we shouldn't vent about but we do still, sharing of experiences, realizations and even the weirdest things that happen to us. It was like old times, when we would hang out after work and make Starbucks a more powerful conglomerate by purchasing an Americano, an Apple Berry Juice Freeze and an Iced Latte with side orders of cheesecakes, breakfast muffins, ciabatta veggie sandwiches and some fish in foccacia.

The main event was when we got to Aileen's house. Seeing Xander lying down is just a joy.

So cute even when he's crying! 

So adorable. Xander looking at Uncle Aldrin. 

That's got to be one of the cutest, hottest and most amazing-looking boy on earth! High five, Aileen and Arnel! 

I got to hold him for some time. I lasted all of 5 minutes cos he started crying. I'm still scared when I hear something weird, like a whimper, a wheeze, a burp... I am not ready to be a mother.

But nothing is more beautiful than seeing a mother hold her child.

All pictures are taken with a simple Sony Cybershot. I'm a point and shoot gal until I can afford a DSLR. 
No babies were harmed during the making of this post, except my probable ones thanks to coffee and nicotine.