Mike’s Random Thoughts

Well, well, well…It’s been more than a year since my last post. How I miss writing in blogs like these! Time flies by so quickly if you ask me. I decided to continue my blogging from this day onwards until probably the day I get married.

Lots of things have happened since my last blog. I have been to different roles in Intel, I have had my head shaved and regrown twice, tried on different facial hair styles, watched my nephew grow from being a baby to a naughty toddler, watched countless movies with which I hoped I have written reviews for, etc.

Probably one which I feel is the most important is with regards to wedding preparations. I think Tabby and I have gone a long way. We have attended a couple of bridal fairs and we basically have everything planned out already. We have the church, reception, video, rings, etc ready, the only thing missing is the cash to pay them with LOL. It really takes a lot of sacrifice getting this thing to work especially if you don’t have tons of cash to start with. Saving up for the wedding is really pretty hard, considering that there are a lot of things that we had to give up. Gimiks have been reduced to the minimum, our dates have been brought down to 1 to 2x per week, shopping expenses have been cut down (with the exception of occasional impulsive buying of Havaianas LOL), you get the idea, right?

Another thing that I could say I have "accomplished" is to finally get my kumpil. This was one thing that I missed somehow when I was younger and the reason I still cannot figure out. I mean almost every person who studies in a Catholic school must have had their confirmation before they graduated elementary, but as I said, this was one thing I missed. I was probably absent the day that my classmates had a mass confirmation. I even got a couple of my officemates to act as my sponsors which made the process a lot easier, I guess. This means that I’m really on my way now to being married.

Lots of things have also happened at work. There were a lot of times that we were depressed due to some things happening int he workplace, which I dare not disclose in this blog. Take a hint: just read articles about Intel or do a google search for "Intel Flash". Well, at least for now, everything has been cleared up and the dust is settling bit by bit. I used to be very concerned about what will happen to me but I’m quite confident as for now. Let’s just say that I have taken care of myself somehow LOL.

Blogging will again be a part of my daily activities. I will again talk about random stuff, post my rants and rages, update on my personal life, and just about everything that happens to me. Happy reading again guys!

Aileen and I had the chance to map out our plans for the wedding this past Tuesday. I never thought that planning a wedding would be this difficult. Even though the date is about 2 years from now, it is important that we look at all the things that would go into the wedding, such as the costs, number of guests, the venues, the food, and the list goes on.

Bringing my laptop again to Glorietta, I met up with Aileen first at Aveneto to have dinner. Then we went to Gloria Jean’s where we got a good place away from most of the people, a Cocoa Loco, and an Iced latte. I had made a spreadsheet the previous night detailing out all the expenses that we have per month, all the debts we still have to pay, even mapping out our salaries in a 2 year horizon. Yes, everything should me made known to each other if you’re at this stage of your relationship.

And so we started computing all the delta’s as you know. We planned how to pay our credit card bills, even agreeing to help each other out so that the payments would be made faster. Then we placed all the wedding needs and placed a minimum and maximum that we expect to spend on those. So basically, here are the items that we have mapped out…

Wedding Gown and Entourage
Groom’s Suit
Hotel Rooms prior wedding day
Videographer
Wedding Cake
Make-Up
Church Fee
Reception (for about 200-250 people)
Flowers
Wedding Rings
Car Rental
Miscellaneous
(Honeymoon)

What’s funny is that I thought that we could do on a working budget of 150,000. I thought that that was enough money to have a good wedding. And so we added the costs one by one and ended up with almost double our initial working budget. Anyway, this is still the planning stage. Costs will change on the execution, depending on how good we are at bargaining for prices.

It’s also a good thing that we are receiving help from friends and relatives on how to find the best prices on some of the items above. They continue to give us advise on how we could save on this and that. I just hope we could execute our plans flawlessly.

In the love cycle of a couple, after the man proposes to the woman, what comes next? Meeting the parents! Of course I have met her parents a million times already and she has met mine half that time. But meeting the parents after the proposal is a very different case.

First of all is that it’s quite nerve-breaking to make the announcement that you and their daughter are already formally engaged with each other. I remembered the night that I proposed to Aileen: I was so nervous when I gave her the ring that my hands shook during the ring-giving and until 10 minutes afterwards. Since she was so excited this event, she told me that we have to tell her parents about the engagement on the same night (Yikes!). To tell you honestly, I’m not yet prepared to do that that night since I don’t know how to tell her parents. But I agreed anyway. But before we went to their house, I requested that we first pass through a coffee shop so that I compose myself and rehearse whatever it is that I will say.

And so after our dinner at Italianni’s, we stopped by at Seattle’s Best in Greenbelt and had my fill of their Java Kula. As I was drinking, a lot of thoughts kept running through my head, weaving into each other and then breaking up again, trying to compose the sentences that I will say, and then eventually ended up with nothing. After I finished my coffee, I still didn’t have anything rehearsed. I just told myself that whatever it is that I would say would come naturally. I had to trust my instincts again on this one.

While we were at the taxi, I was trying hard to relax myself through breathing exercises I have learned at the gym. Aileen was actually laughing at me because she says that I’m so nervous. But of course I said that I’m not (though it was really really obvious hehe). When we arrived at their home, a countdown device suddenly started ticking in my head. I could really hear (or imagine) a ticking sound whihc grew louder and louder as we approached their front door. As we entered the door, I saw her father at their dining table doing some stuff on his laptop (the ticking gets louder again). Her mother was already upstairs and already resting due to a headache.

Aileen requested her father to wake up her mother because we had an announcement to make. Unfortunately, her mother wasn’t able to get up anymore. I wanted to postpone it since I wanted both her parents to hear it from me but I guess it was already too late for that. Her father asked us what we were going to announce and so we joined him at the dining table and I told him that I have already asked her daughter for marriage (yeah, straight and simple like that…no rehearsals needed!). The ticking suddenly stops. Aileen showed him the ring and there was like about 5 seconds of silence until his father spoke up.

He said that he was actually expecting that already (which is a good thing) and that they have nothing against us. He closed his laptop and he started to give us a lot of advise. He shared some of the experiences they had when they were just newly wed. Then he told us about the different businesses and jobs that he has ventured into, all the sacrifices that had to be made just to give his family a brighter future. And in all that, I could say that he has really done a good job at being a provider for his family. No wonder AIleen is very proud of him. I wish that I could be like that someday but of course, it will be up to me and our future decisions.

While we were talking, Aileen’s sister was already passing the news around to some of their friends and a lot of congratulations came in that night. Some of Aileen’s friends even called her personally to greet her. Her dad then asked us when they could meet my parents and we agreed on a Sunday luncheon. It was already past midnight that we ended our conversation and I was so thankful that I had this chat with her dad. We surely picked up a loot of advise that we could use in planning for our wedding and our future.

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June 1 is the anniversary of Aileen’s parents and I was invited to join them for dinner. They treated us at Crocodile Grill and there I had one of the heaviest meals this week. Here’s a picture from the celebration (L-R: Jansen, Joyce, Anjo, Helen (Aileen’s Mom), Jose (Aileen’s Dad), Tabby and me):

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And so Sunday comes and it’s now time to make our parents meet. My father did me a favor by cooking the favorite dish of Aileen (kare-kare) adn also cooked some shrimps which is the fave of Aileen’s mom. We left the house at about 10:15am and arrived at their house at about 11:35am.

It was Aileen’s dad who opened the gate for us and I immediately introduced my parents to him. As we entered the house, Aileen’s dad announced that she was still taking a bath and so we waited in the living room. There was initially a moment of awkward silence, which is quite common when the parents on both sides meet. But as soon as they started talking, they just went on and on. They’d talk just about anything inder the sun, from their family backgrounds, raising children, diseases/illnesses running within the family, etc.

It was now time for lunch and we were asked to sit on the dining table. Aside from the food that we brought, we found that there was also sinigang  na sugpo, roasted chicken, and a big talakitok at the center. It was like a small fiesta in there hehe. We had a great lunch and our parents talked about a lot of other stuff. I was actually surprised about my mom because she didn’t talk much at first but now she is "bangka".

After that, we went back to the living room where we had some more snacks. They served pistachio, almonds and cashew nuts. Then at around 3pm, they ordered some pansit and barbecue for us. We found ourselves eating again, though I haven’t recovered yet from the heavy lunch that we just had. There were more talking and eventually it was now time to say our goodbyes.

I am so glad that we had the opportunity to do this kind of stuff. We’re also glad that it turned out good, that our parents were getting along with each other very well. We hope that it would continue to be like this since it won’t be long until we become one big happy family.

"If two people are meant for each other, the whole universe would conspire to bring them together."

I have mentioned this in one of my blogs before and decided to put this as a starter in this very special blog I’m writing now. I just had the happiest day of my life yet. Let me tell you the story…

My girlfriend (Aileen) and I have been going out for exactly two years already. This is not counting the time we spent on our previous relationship. And during those times, our realtionship have been put to the test over and over again. We had a lot of rough times but we also had the best moments of our lives. So it’s like saying we’ve had the best and the worst of both worlds. There were times that we almost broke up due to our differences and priorities, but we managed to stick with each other. I could say that it was hard to keep our relationship going since we are two very different people. One always had to adjust to the other but as you all know, this is part of any realtionship. You need to bridge the gap, meeting halfway or completely giving in to the other’s demands. There are certain traits that could be changed or that could be influenced, but there are really those that wouldn’t change.

After putting up with all my flaws, I realized that this is the person I would like to spend the rest of my life with. She’s the one who understands (or tries to) who I really am. We have shared some of the deepest secrets, most embarassing moments, baddest memories, and best memories with each other. And we have learned to love and accept each other more as we learn from these.

So tonight, I asked her to marry me. And she said YES. We are now formally engaged and will be marrying soon after we’ve saved up enough money :).

I have always wanted to buy her an engagement ring a long time ago. But due to my financial situation, that day was yet to come. I would always pass by the jewelry stores in Glorietta and wished that I could one day buy her the ring that would make her my fiancee. I had that chance just this Sunday. I passed by one of the jewelry stores and finally had the courage to ask about engagement rings. I had a short chat with the saleslady, and I asked her about pricing, payment schemes, ring types, everything. I wasn’t really decided at that time if I should buy the ring already and so I told her that I would just return some day.

I left the store and proceeded on my way to the bus station outside SM Makati. But just before I stepped out of the SM exit, it was like something held me back. I found myself walking to the jewelry store again. I decided that this is the perfect time to buy the ring. It was now or never.

I went back to the store and immediately told the saleslady that I’m going to buy one right now! She showed me a tray of about twenty different rings and I was so nervous and excited at the same time. I’m not the kind of person who knows what a beautiful ring would be like for a girl but I trusted my instincts on this one. I carefully examined each of the rings and tried to find one that I think she would like, giver her personality. Some of the ring had elaborate bands and small stones but I thought that she wouldn’t like those. To add to that, the stones were not that brilliant, and I want something that would shine in the light. Then I found some with large stones but they were so expensive that it would take me another year of saving, so they were clearly un-buyable. I did a process of elimination, until it boiled down to this very simple yet elegant solitaire diamond ring. The band was made of white gold and there was a beautifully cut, brilliant, high quality (given the specs) diamond at the center. I fell in love with it and decided that this is the ring!

The next dilemma I had was the ring size. I never bothered to ask her ring size before since it would be too obvious, right? I remembered a couple of months ago when I borrowed one of her rings and pretended to wear it on all my fingers to see how it fit. I specifically remembered that it fit my pinky finger well, just allowing enough space for it to rotate around that finger. I also remembered that it went just above the third digit of my middle finger. Having these in mind, I tested the rings and found one which matched the criteria. This was a risk I took since I really didn’t know if it would fit her finger. But the saleslady gave me the assurance that it was okay to resize the ring should it not fit. And so I bought the ring and went straight home afterwards.

Monday comes and I had to do some overtime work. I won’t be able to meet her that day so we talked on the phone after office hours. Since we are about to celebrate our monthsary in June 1, I asked her what she wanted on that day. At first she didn’t want to tell me but she jokingly said that she wanted a ring (what a perfect timing). But of course, I did not want to spoil anything so I told her that I couldn’t afford to buy one yet. I just told her that I bought her a blouse from her favorite boutique and hoped that it would fit her. She was very happy with that anyway. Then we chatted in the evening through IM and she informed me that we cannot go out on June 1 since that’s her parents’ anniversary, so we decided to go out on Wednesday at her favorite restaurant, Italliani’s. I could feel that she was very disappointed since she thought that it would take a long time before we could formally get engaged. I wanted to tell her that I had the ring already but I was really saving it for THE DAY. So I had to say some more white lies (sorry!). I knew she was sad when we ended our conversation, but this is all in preparation for that special day.

On Tuesday, I told her that I would be going to Makati to buy a new shirt to wear on Wednesday. She insisted to help me choose one so I met with her in Landmark. We went first to Onesimus, since there was one sweater there that I badly wanted. Unfortunately, they did not have my size available so we went on looking for another. She spotted a long sleeve polo which she said would look good on me. I fitted it and she said that it was good so I bought it. We then went to Picture City to have some pictures from her cellphone developed. She also bought a picture frame which she said she would use on her parents’ anniversary. Then we went to their house and I stayed there for a while before going home. I immediately washed my new polo when I got home and left it with the electric fan the whole night. Luckily it was already dry when I woke up the next day.

I went to the office today wearing my new polo. I know that this would be a very busy day for me since I had a lot of meetings lined up and we had a benchmark in the afternoon. I was very excited and nervous for the coming evening. I rode the first shuttle to Cubao and arrived in Ayala at around 5:20. By this time, she was still in the office so I went around the malls first. I also had the chance to freshen up myself. I arrived at Itallinai’s in Greenbelt at around 6:15pm and chose to sit at the mezzanine so that we could stay away from the noise below.

She arrived at 6:45 and she gave me her monthsary gift. She gave me a new shirt, and together with that, the picture frame with our pictures that were developed last night. Again, one of her many surprises to me! I told her that I left her gift first at the baggage counter in Landmark and that we would just go and take it after dinner (another white lie, haha!). We ordered Angel Hair Pomodorro with Chicken and the Herb Roasted Chicken, which is one of her favorites. We had a great dinner and lots of conversations. After the waiter has cleared our table, I asked her to come sit on my side since I would show her a video I made for our monthsary (Photo Story is such a great program!). On that video was a picture presentation of a poem I made for her, which goes like this:

Wonderful thoughts surround my head
In every moment with you I spend
Love will forever be on our side
Let it always be our guide.
Yet sometimes problems will arise
On such occasions be advised
Unwise decisions could be made
Mocking, hurting words are said.
And yet we manage to get through
Returning to our love that’s true
Remember that whatever will be
You’re my only choice, my dear Tabby.
May God be with us in everything we do
Everlasting love, my gift to you.

I told her that there is a clue in the poem and she found out that the first letters add up to something (go figure!). I showed her the ring immediately after that. She said "YES" and I thought I heard her say "Oh My God" a hundred times before she could say another sentence. She was looking all over the place, muttering the same phrase over and over again. The look on her face was priceless. I could say that this is truly one of her best moments. I took out the ring and slipped it on her finger…and it fitted perfectly (Thank God!). And then I heard her say "Oh My God" a hundred more times while admiring the ring. And she was looking all over the place again like crazy. I guess I’m still the better person at giving surprises, huh? She told me that this was the happiest day of her life. Mine too.

It’s now time to start a new chapter in our lives. I’m hoping that we could get the support from the people around us: our families, friends, colleagues, and from God. Happier days are still to come.

Again, I’m too busy to update my blog within the week so I decided to just update it during Sunday every week. Here’s the highlights of the week that has just passed:

Poloy’s Birthday (May 22) - It was my previous manager’s birthday this week. And one way to celebrate it is to treat everyone with ice cream! Thanks Poloy! We’re still waiting for your big bash!

American Idol Finals (May 24) - After my favorite contestant was voted out, my next bet would be Taylor. I didn’t quite enjoy the final performance night, since they were mostly singing songs that they have just recently sang, but the finale was great! A lot of artists joined them including Live, Meatloaf, Mary J Blige, and even the previous American Idol Carrie Underwood! It was really no surprise that Taylor should win this season. From the very beginning, he was a consistent topnotcher and has never even been part of any bottom 2 or 3. It’s like even if he has had a terrible week, America still sees him as the number 1.

It’s really a huge advantage having a big fan base, unlike for the others who just won their fans along the way. One perfect example of this was Elliot. When I first saw him, I asked to myself what the hell he’s doing there? I never saw him even in the auditions so I was actually surprised that he was in the top 24. But anyway, without a huge fanbase to start with, Elliot still proved that he has what it takes to become a great singer. Due to his humble and noble ways, he was able to capture America’s heart and made his way to the top 3 (and beating the popular picks such as Chris and Ace).

Taylor on the other hand was over-emphasized from the local auditions, to the Hollywood auditions, until the main competition. He has already won a big fan base from the moment America watched the auditions. Being sort of an underdog at first, he went on to be the 5th American Idol. Congratulations Taylor!

King Bee Lunch (May 24) - We had an out of cycle lunch at KingBee last Wednesday. Together with me are Iya, Shy, Rica, Rose and Emann. One of the heaviest lunches I ate this week. Yum!

X-Men 3: The Last Stand (May 25) - After Tabby and I had a small fight, we finally decided to watch X-men on a Thursday. It was a good thing that we were able to get good seats since there were a lot of people watching that time. I was very excited at first since I was expecting much. However, the movie was full of wierd moments. What I mean is there were some things that I’m not so comfortable with having read a lot of X-men comics. One example of this is how Cyclops and Professor X died. Then there was also this instant where Rogue gave her self up to be healed. And then Angel was there for no reason at all, aside from saving his father towards the end of the movie (I mean for me, at this time, he has one of the worst "mutant powers" since a lot of mutants are able to fly and has some extra powers to go along with that). But it was a good thing seeing Mystique turn into a human.

All in all, I rate this 6 out of 10. I’d still recommend it for watching if you want non-stop action.

Payday again (May 25) - It’s time to put money back in my pocket again! At last, it’s payday once again! Unfortunately, I also have a long list of bills to pay. There is the electricity, phone bills, cell cards, credit card bills, and some other small stuffs. So that basically just leaves me with enough money to survive until the next payday (except for some instances where I have to ask for the help of my best friend, the credit card hehe).

Photo Story (May 28) - My groupmate Bhetty gave me an idea on how to better improve the presentations of my pictures. She showed me this program called "Photo Story" which you could download for free from the Microsoft website. It’s a program to put your pictures into a sort of video presentation, complete with background music and scrolling effects, which is quite similar to what you currently see during debuts and weddings. What’s also good about this program is that it’s very very easy to use. I learned it in about 5 minutes and I was already able to make a video of me and Tabby. You could see this video at my Friendster profile. 

:) Date Day once more! (May 27) - It’s Saturday and it’s date day for me and Tabby. I can’t remember how long we’ve been consistent on this but what I know is that we only don’t go out if she or me is in the province or somewhere else.
I woke up early yesterday and immediately went to the gym. Unfortunately, there was a sportsfest yesterday and there were a lot of people in the gym. It was okay at first but they started to get rowdy. I started to lose my appetite for working out and left after an hour.

I met up with Tabby at lunchtime at Tokyo Tokyo at Glorietta. Since she is in a mission to make me fat again, she ordered two meals for me (a 4-pc shrimp tempura and a beef yakiniku bento) and an 8-pc order of California Maki. If I were the "old" Mike, I’d be able to eat all of those without any problems. But ever since I started working out, my stomach seemed to shrink with my waistline. I really had a hard time eating all of those and even came to a point when I felt the food jsut under my throat :P. But I still managed to push everything down and I really had a full stomach.

Then it was now time to go to Greenbelt. We had been planning on going to Red Box ever since we received a free headcount on one of our visits. We also told Joyce (Tabby’s sister) to join us since they both don’t have keys to their house. So at 2:30, we were already singing our lungs out. We ordered sisig and some drinks and you wouldn’t believe that I ate a big portion of that sisig. I guess belting out really makes you hungry.

It was also a good thing that Joyce was there. She used to be a voice coach for The Center for Pop and she gave Tabby and I some advise on how to sing. I’m not a singer myself so I had to follow her instructions. And I think I did pretty good. I seem to sing well if there are only one or two people around, but when it comes to a big group, suddenly my voice wouldn’t come out. But anyway, we had a really really great time there and stayed there until 7pm. Imagine how many songs that would be!

Julius’ Birthday (May 28) - Today marks the 25th birthday of my friend Julius. He has been my roommate since highschool (until college) and we had a lot of good times together. I’m waiting for your "libre" hehe. Happy Birthday Julius!

:@ It’s Bitching Time once more! (May 28) - This is somewhat connected to my "High on Thigh" entry a couple of posts before. I went ot the gm this morning and spent about 2 hours there. I was very hungry when I left the gym and decided to have lunch at Jollibee, wherein I’ll be ordering my favorite meal, Chicken Spaghetti meal with extra rice and a diet Coke. I arrived at Jollibee at around 30 minutes before lunch and there was a considerable number of poeple there already. I found a vacant table and placed my bag there and then lined up. I waited in the line for about 10 minutes and I was gettig hungrier by the minute.

At last it was my turn. I ordered the food I mentioned above and specified that I wanted the breast part. Then when I got to the food servers, they told me that they don’t have the breast available and that there were only wings and legs. That just ruined my appetite. I told them that I was willing to wait, and so the cashier went back on the phone to talk I think to her manager or someone at the cooking area. Then she told me that there was really none available. I asked them why they were so "matipid" on serving large chicken portions and of course they couldn’t give me an answer. I mean, what would it take to cook a breast or a thight portion??? They offered to give me a wing or a leg but this time I refused. The bitch in me won over my kind and humble personality hehe. I told them to just cancel my order and get a refund. Then I went straight out of Jollibee after giving my money back.

I sought refuge in KFC and I was awarded well. I got one of the biggest parts I have ever recieved in my life (it was a very big thigh portion). And then I just took an extra order of spaghetti to appease the meal I was craving for.

I had a lot of activities this week. Since I’m not able to update my blog as often as I used to, here’s my chance again to give the highlights of the work week that has just passed:

:) Tabby’s Birthday (May 17) - Tabby celebrated her 25th birthday this. She was on leave that day. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take a leave since this a very critical day on our group. I did my part by just working at MN so that I would be near their house. By noon time, I went to their house to have my lunch. She prepared some lasagna for me (yum!). I was so excited and she never failed my expectation. She claims that what she cooked was a little bit salty, but I did not notice it anyhow. I had two servings of the delicious lasagna. Then by 1pm, I again went back to MN to finish some stuff and left again by 3:45. We went to Glorietta (again?) to celebrate her birthday more. We watched "Poseidon", and I actually liked it. After the movie, I treated her family to a dinner at Rai Rai Ken (this is the most I could do to repay what she did for my bday). Tabby and I ordered our fave, the beef and tempura bento! Another delicious meal for me. Then after that, we went back to their house and stayed there for a while before going home.

Belated Happy birthday again Tabby!

Poseidon (May 17) - A movie starring Kurt Russell and "others". The story was about a group of people finding an exit in an upside down cruise ship that was capsized by a giant wave. Of course, the group loses one member after another as they continue on their quest for the exit (like any other survival movies). Seems to me that a lot of money went in to the making of this film. It just amazes me that they managed to simulate an upside down ship [imagine chandeliers on the floor :-)].

This is a perfect example why I don’t want to travel by sea. I’m pretty much afraid of travelling in the water since anything can happen there. It’s okay for me if the trip would be short (like 1 day), but anything longer than that would give me the creeps. Aside from fear of travelling by sea, I’m also afraid to travel by air. Sure I’ve been in the USA twice already and have rode the airplane to other destinations, but I still don’t feel confident riding an airplane. Forgive me for being a pessimist but I always think that there would be an engine problem and the plane would go crashing down (knock on wood). Anyways, bottomline, I would suggest that you watch Poseidon (however, you could do away with just buying the pirated DVD).

Iya’s Birthday (May 18) - One of my officemates, Iya, also celebrated her birthday this week. I hope she makes her "libre" as soon as possible hehe. Belated Happy Birthday again Iya!

American Idol Results (May 18) - Probably one of the saddest moments this week. Elliot, my bet for the American Idol 5, was eliminated. America does not know how to vote! I was already waiting for the results since Thursday morning. I kept on logging to rickey.org since there is a live blogging there. Every moment of the show is uploaded there which makes it easy for us to view the contest early on. As I’ve mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I’m a Yaminian. I would vote a hundred times if only we were allowed to. I don’t know why they let the poor guy go. I mean, he has the best voice among all the contestants. I would be a little concerned on his choice of songs since he normally picks songs which we haven’t heard of, but he manages to make us appreciate them. I really looked forward every week to watching him perform because he really has a very amazing voice and that he could play with his voice without ruining the song. I know he’ll be making it big someday, and I would buy his CD when it comes out. So for now, I’m rooting for Taylor to win the competition. But I really wished it was Elliot.

Amazing Race Results (May 18) - After sadness there is joy…  I’m so glad that my fave team in this season’s Amazing Race won! BJ and Tyler, after being almost eliminated twice, finally emerged as the winners. Too bad for the dumb frat boys haha! And to think that the race was so tight, having the frat boys arrive first in the road block. I think that the hippies really deserved to win this competition. They have been joked and sabotaged by other teams (damn you frat boys!) and still they managed to keep their cool. I wish I could one day join a contest such as this and travel to different parts of the world. But living in a third world country, I think that this is an impossible dream. Kudos to BJ and Tyler!

:) The Da Vince Code (May 18) - After several months of waiting, finally it’s here! I have read the book twice and longed for watching the movie version. I won’t tell the story since I know most of you already know it. I absolutely loved the movie, which lasted for 2.5 hours. I wanted to make sure that we will be able to watch this on the first day so we again bought our tickets on the previous day. At least we have reserved seats and would not need to line up on the day itself. I would even sacrifice sleep for this one (since the schedule we got was 9:30pm to 12:00am).

I don’t care if it received bad reviews. This is THE movie to watch this May. Even thought they were not able to put everything from the book into the movie, it never destroyed the storyline. One thing lacking though is the romance between Robert and Sophie. If you read the book, you will find that there is something going on between the two of them, but in the movie, it seems like purely business. But anyway, that’s a very small detail to deal with. What’s important is what we can learn from the movie.

Watch, watch, watch this movie. And I recommend to watch it in the cinema (and not the DVD) on the first time. Do the DVD afterwards.

Yellow Cab lunch out (May 19) - Any "libre" should not be missed. And we had it today at Yellow Cab in Tagaytay. Excellent meal, ’nuff said. Thanks Rey!

Scenario: You will be meeting with a friend and you agreed at a specific time and place where to meet up. You arrive there 15 minutes early, ordered a drink, and sat on one of the chairs. After 30 minutes, you’ve already consumed all the contents of the glass, and you’re just sipping the air in between the ice cubes. Your friend is still no where in sight. After another 30 minutes, you’re hungry, your butt aches for sitting too long on the chair, you’re starting to get sleepy due to the boredom, and still you’re friend is still not there. Then after another 15 minutes, you’re friend finally arrives with all the reasons in the world for being late.

Sounds familiar? I’m sure that in one time or another, you have experienced this. I HAVE experienced it a lot of times. And when I say a lot, I mean a "LOT"! I have a many different experiences on waiting past the expected time, and I have pointed out one very common example above. Others would include job interviews, waiting in the restaurant, commitments at work, arrival of bills, and the list goes on.

It just seems to me that everything comes in late. It sometimes gets frustrating because I myself make it a point to be there on time. Sometimes, I even arrive there 30 minutes before the agreed time. I don’t want the feeling of others waiting for me since it’s very discorteous. Why make the commitment when you can’t follow it anyway?

This is what we call Filipino Time. A simple definition for this is "to come way after the expected time". This is observable in a lot of occasions. A wedding set at 3:30pm will begin at 4:30pm. The reason? Half of the entourage has not yet arrived. An outing set to begin at 7:00am will begin at 9:00am. Why? The out-of -towners are not yet in the venue.

It’s seems that the Filipino time is really instilled in all of us. People will come up with a million excuses to be late. Some of them are valid, and some are just simply ridiculous. Some would even seem "sadya". I have no problems in waiting, just don’t make it too long. We only have so little time for ourselves and I wouldn’t want to waste it on waiting. I mean, there are a lot of other things I could do. I wish that people would follow the time they have committed. Being late is too much an inconvinience for the person waiting.

I had an experience before in one of the companies I was applying for. It was my final interview and they told me to be there at 8am. Since I would be coming form Cavite, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning so that I wouldn’t be late. I left the house as fast as I could and actually arrived at their office by 7:15am. So I thought I have 45 minutes more and I was preparing myself for the interview. At 8am, the HR told me to wait for a short while since the interviewers are still engaged in something. So I thought it was okay since I could prepare some more. Then came 9am and still no word from the HR. I was already very hungry by that time and I couldn’t think properly. I was already freezing in that place since it was raining outside and the aircon was set to high. 10am and still no signs of an interview. I was starting to develop a cold and getting hungrier every passing minute. Then at 11am, I asked the receptionist what happened to the interview. She told me to just wait there and that she would call me when it’s time. So I sat there for another hour and by noon, I just left the damn place. I heard the receptionist call my name when I walked out the door but I didn’t mind her anymore. Luckily, I was also scheduled for another final interview that day on another company (which became my first job).   

Given this situation alone, almost 4 hours of my life have been wasted. The company kept on calling me and scheduling me for another interview. They apologized for the inconvinience they have caused but I said it was ok. So they scheduled me on a certain day, but I did not come. They asked me why and I just gave out a stupid reason and so they re-scheduled me again. But of course, I did not come, and they never called me again. Talk about revenge!

There are instances that I would agree to meet with a friend (or a group of friends). Most often than not, I would be the first one to arrive at the venue. Then at the agreed time, I would start texting them to ask where they are. Some would say that they are just about to leave the house, then some would say that they are just about to leave the office, etc, etc. Hello! There is an agreement to meet at a certain time at a certain place. This is not the time when you are just about to leave the house, or the office or wherever you are. 

I wish that we would start respecting the time of other people. Filipino Time is surely not one value that we should keep. We set a time and it is expected that we follow it. Don’t commit when you know you can’t.

It’s been almost a week since my last post. I could say that I’ve been busy with other things. So here’s a quick recap on what went on during the weekend:

Saturday: I went somewhere "special" during the morning and went to the gym by noon. Nothing much happened. I bought tickets for Mission Impossible 3 for Sunday (since we didn’t get the chance to watch this last Wednesday due to the people traffic!). I figured that it would be better to buy in advance so that at least you’ll know that you have guaranteed seats. I also plan to do this for the Da Vinci Code. I’m expecting that this movie would have one of the hugest crowds ever (in the likes of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia).

Sunday: I went to the gym (again) in the morning and met up with Tabby by noon time. We had our lunch in Greenwich in Glorietta’s Food Choices and then watched MI:3. After that, I went with her to Landmark and bought some groceries. Then after that, we went to mass in Greenbelt (believe it or not, I went to mass!). We met up with her sister Joyce and her youngest brother Anjo after the mass and went to dinner at Big Buddha.

Okay, so now Monday comes. I came in the office to have another day at my job rotation. I was very sleepy since as usual, I did not get enough sleep the previous night. I knew that one of my team mates (Lolit) will be on leave until Tuesday, so that’s minus one for our head count. That means I will be handling all the products currently assigned to her but it was okay for me since I already have the proper background on those. Then I just found out also that Liberty (another team mate) will not be going to office today and will be working from home. So that makes me the lone person on the job today.

Since it was my first time to really do a hands-on, I wanted to have someone that I could ask. Unfortunately, all I can do is IM Liberty for today, and IM is not the best way to ask a question. Anyway, There were certain issues that arose and of course had to ask a lot of questions to different people. At least this is really a good exercise for me since I get to be independent in a certain way. I’m forced to discover things that I would have just simply asked from my teammates. So this is like getting first-hand information and you understand it better that way. As the day went by, I was learning more and more new things. However, I had to do overtime since as I mentioned, I’m still learning. But I know I would be able to do the job faster the next time.

As I mentioned in my previous blogs, I am celebrating my birthday today. I’m turning 25, and I realized that I’m really getting old (OA!). Some may say that I already look older for my age, and I may agree with that. Sometimes, it’s just hard to handle stress and of course it takes the best years out of me.

At exactly (or almost exactly 12am on May 2), Tabby called me on my cellphone. This was the first surprise I got since she told me that she was already going to sleep prior this. I was already half asleep and I let the phone ring twice before answering it. I was so glad that I got the first greeting from her. Thanks Tabby!!!

Then the next text message I received was from my best friend (12:12am). Things were off to a good start. Then the next one came from Iya, and got it the first thing when I woke up. Thanks guys!!!

So how was I going to celebrate my birthday? I know! Let’s start off by going to the office! So it was like any other morning. I woke up at 4:45am, ate my breakfast, took a bath, and rode the shuttle going to Intel. Since it’s my birthday, I decided to wear something more formal. I got into a long-sleeved polo and slacks, and wore my favorite leather shoes. It was more of like a "dress for the position" day.

I already expected that this is just going to be a normal day (except for the fact that I was looking forward to the dinner that Tabby and I will have at Italianni’s in the evening). I arrived at the office and found out that we will not be doing much for the day (things were pretty much going my way!). We only have one benchmark to finish and it’s not due until Wednesday (yipee)!!! Also, early in the morning, the greetings suddenly came pouring in. I was receiving text message after text message. I got text messages from my whole family, some from my college friends, from high school friends, and even from my officemates in my previous company. I even got some messages from friends I haven’t contacted for a long time! I went to visit my officemates in CV4 and had lunch with them. I have been in CV2 for the third week and I’m already missing my Divisional Planning family so much!

I also called Tabby and we talked about the dinner. She told me to be there by 7pm since she had to change her clothes (haha!). So by 4pm, I rode the shuttle going to Cubao and got off at Ayala at around 6pm. Since I still had time to kill, I decided to get a haircut since I haven’t had one for almost a month already. I was looking for a cheap barber shop but of course there were none (it’s Ayala you know). So I went to Frissure salon (a barber shop somewhere in Park Square) and had my haircut there. I paid P250, which was way more than what I was willing to pay. But let’s face it, it’s my birthday and I have the right to splurge. I liked the cut anyway.

I left the barber shop at around 6:45 and rushed to Greenbelt to meet Tabby. She texted me earlier and said that she was already there, looking around. I arrived at Italianni’s at exactly 7pm. Tabby arrived around 5 minutes later. Until now, I was thinking that this was going to be a "normal" birthday dinner celebration.

Of course, we ordered my favorite (Chicken Parmigiana) and she ordered some salad. I’m not really a fan of Italianni’s since I find the food a  bit overpriced, but I really liked their parmigiana. While eating, we talked about some things and of course, she still can’t help looking at the watch I gave her. She was always asking me if I wanted to know the time and she would keep on looking at her watch. So I guess she really, really liked it that much. Then my eldest sister called me and she greeted me again and chatted for about 5 minutes. During that time, I saw Aileen whispering something to the waiter but I never really paid attention to that.

When we were almost finished, suddenly her sister Joyce and her friend (Rea) arrived. I was a bit surprised since I thought that the dinner was only for us two. We ordered an additional Herb-roasted Chicken for the newcomers since we were almost done with what we ordered earlier. Then at around 9pm, the waiter suddenly brought me 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream with a candle on top (so that’s why she was whispering to the waiter). I already knew what was going to happen next since I have seen it a lot of times already. I knew that the waiters will be singing the birthday song to me.

Joyce and Rea left us for a while to get some things in Landmark. By the time they left, the waiters were already at our table. One of them asked me if I wanted the song loud or solemn. Knowing me, I do not want to get attention so I chose the solemn one. They sang as softly as they could and it was already okay with me.

After that, Aileen confessed that she actually called on some of my closest friends and that they were supposed to be there (so this was supposed to be a surprise bday party!). Unfortunately, all of them had to back out due to some reason and only Joyce and Rea were available. I knew that she was disappointed with that but I told her that it was the thought that counted. She was already raising the bar since I never had a birthday like this before. I never expected that she’d put the extra effort in trying to contact my friends.

Having her there is more than enough for me…it’s okay if I do not receive a gift for my birthday. Today is a special day for me…and what she did made it all the more special. She’s the greatest gift I have ever received.  Thank you for making this the greatest birthday yet. I love you so much Tabby!

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary today and we basically spent the whole day in Greenbelt. We had a list of activities lined up to celebrate this special day. As much as I’d like to bring her to somewhere very special, we just settled on having it in Greenbelt. It just sucks if you don’t have your own car!

Anyway, I’ve already bought my present for her yesterday. It was a watch that she pointed out the other day when we passed by Glorietta. There were actually a lot of watches on display and I didn’t know which one she wanted. Those were the types of watches that could double as bracelets, with a lot of trinkets dangling from it. So yesterday, I passed by the mall and asked the saleslady for the newest model and took it without a second thought. I just thought that she’s going to like it anyways…

I woke up this morning and ate my breakfast. I was very excited for this day. I found a small teddy bear (one of the toys that my brother left here before going back to the US) and decided to include it in my gift. I texted here and jokingly told her that I still don’t have a gift for her. Of course, I’d want to surprise her on this one. I also decided to ditch the Fossil carry bag because it’s going to take away the surprise. I’m going to go to a bookstore first and buy a gift bag were I would place the teddy bear and the watch.

I left the house at around 10am and unfortunately experienced some traffic along Aguinaldo. I arrived at Landmark at around 11:40 and rushed to buy a gift bag and some wrapping paper. I immediately went to Greenbelt and luckily, she was still on the way. I went inside a bathroom stall and there I wrapped my gift for her. It looks kinda stupid having to do it inside the toilet but I just wanted to make sure she doesn’t see it yet. I made it in a way that only the teddy bear was visible from the top of the gift bag.

After that, I went to Red Box. Our first activity for the day was videoke. She arrived around 10 minutes later and she was carrying a Lacoste paper bag. We went inside the videoke room and she gave me her gift. I was so happy to find that it was a perfume (Lacoste Cool Play). I’ve always been telling her that I wanted to receive one from her. Then I gave her my gift. I told her that the teddy bear was the only thing I could afford to give her at this time and told her I’d just give another gift on her birthday. She was happy to receive it anyway. She took out the bear and discovered that there was a tin box sitting at the bottom of the bag. At first, she didn’t know what it was. She took it out and opened it. I could say that she was pretty much surprised (I wish I could have captured that moment with my camera). I’m glad that she liked the watch very much. It was actually the watch that she was referring to in the store! So much for ESP. It’s funny because she was admiring it almost the whole day. And it’s also distracting me.

So we had videoke for three hours and had our lunch there. We ate some sort of pork lin steak and I must admit that I liked it very much. The money we paid there was well worth it. Imagine, we only paid P225 each (this includes the lunch set, a drink and three hours of videoke use). Then we went to buy some movie tickets for Tristan & Isolde. She has already watched this movie but told me that it was a good one and that she wanted to watch it again. Since I have not seen it yet, I agreed. Then after the movie, we had dinner at National Sports Grill. We ordered the half mile chicken and some pizza. There were actually a lot of food and it was very hard for us to finish it. She remembered that her sister Joyce was also within the vicinity. We called her up and told her to come join us for dinner. She brought her friend Rea along and we pretty much had a good time. Then at around 8:00pm, I took Aileen and Joyce to their house before going home to Cavite.

All the money spent and the "pagod" were very much worth it. Seeing her reaction was priceless. This day would probably count as one of the memories we will never forget. Happy Anniversary again Tabby!