Ukay Manila's Summer Giveaway

Don't you love contests? My favorite online vintage store, Ukay Manila, is giving away not one, not two but three dresses as their last hurrah for summer. Not only that they are also giving away a free Montague Jeunesse Chocolate Masque. Head on over to their site for the contest mechanics. I hope I win this!!!!

If I win this dress, I'm going to wear it to my friend's wedding this coming June. *fingers crossed* And I'm sure I'll be glowing because I would have used the facial mask by then heehee.

Back-to-Back

After four safety car deployments, Mark Webber finally finished first in the Monaco GP. I wasn't able to blog about the Spanish GP, which Mark won too. (We attended Charline and Allan's wedding during race day although I was able to watch the replay of the race the next day.) So it was a back-to-back win for Mark. I'm a little bit pissed that he won two times in a row but at the same time I'm quite relieved that depsite his two wins, he and Vettel are tied in first place in the drivers championship - both drivers have 78 points already. And Vettel was still very fortunate to have won podium finishes for the last two races, 3rd and 2nd respectively.

Anyways, Monaco GP is just a sight to behold. All those wealthy people and celebrities, this year included Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony, which might probably also include CEO/President of some business phone systems company or of other companies. Aside from this, because of the race being on actual streets with tight corners and narrow tracks, the race is always accident prone. As I've mentioned the SC was deployed 4 times - Hulkenberg's accident, Barichello's incident, a loose drain cover on the street, and Trulli and Chandok's accident. The last SC deployment brought all cars to the checkered flag, although Schumi was still able to nick 6th place from Alonzo. After 6 races, Vettel is now leading in the drivers championship although techinically Webber is the first because of his two wins.

Bahrain GP - P1 qualifying, 4th place race day
Australian GP - P1 qualifying, DNF race day
Malaysian GP - P3 qualifying, 1st place race day
Chinese GP - P1 qualifying, 6th place race day
Spanish GP - P2 qualifying, 3rd place race day
Monaco GP - P3 qualifying, 2nd place race day

Beautiful May Wedding

Allan and Charline's wedding is one of the most beautiful weddings I've attended. And when I say beautiful it's not really how beautiful the church is or the reception venue or the wedding gown or the souvenirs. My definition of a beautiful wedding is a heartfelt wedding. A wedding where you can feel the love surrounding the couple and you can't help but be happy for them.


Allan was fighting back tears waiting for his bride.

I was teary-eyed when I saw Charline in tears ...and she said she wouldn't cry on her wedding!


Another emotional part during the ceremony was the appreciation of the parents where Charline can't help but cry again.


The two exchanged beautiful wedding vows. I remember Charline saying "When you asked me to marry you I said yes not because of the grand gesture but because of the little things you did." And I must say I was impressed because they memorized their wedding vows haha!


Their first kiss as husband and wife.


Shower of rose petals for the newly weds!


Their first dance was awesome..it first started slow and they danced to Chris Brown's Forever.


The wedding had beautiful details as well...church, reception, cake, souvenirs (which is a little post-it pad in a blue holder and a pen, must try to search marketing sites for this - I really liked it!)...



..and the intricately gorgeous wedding gown!


Well of course, the wedding wouldn't be complete without the beautiful guests hahaha!

Hubby's Birthday

We celebrated the hubby's birthday quietly last Saturday. He didn't really want to celebrate because he's sad to grow a year old hehe. Happy birthday, honey! Don't be afraid to grow old, I'll grow old with you. I love you!








I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad

Carry you around when your arthritis is bad

Oh all I wanna do is grow old with you

I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches

Build you a fire if the furnace breaks

Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you

I'll miss you

Kiss you

Give you my coat when you are cold

Need you

Feed you

Even let ya hold the remote control

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink

Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink

I could be the (wo)man who grows old with you

I wanna grow old with you

Full-Packed Friday

It was holiday for us last Friday because of Labor Day (Yes, we're unlike the rest of the labor force in the Philippines who had their holiday the Monday after May 1). But I didn't spend it at home doing nothing. I moved my butt before lunch time to meet up with Joy (thankfully she was on leave) at Greenbelt and then we went to her cousin-in-laws clinic Derm and Beyond. See I've been going back and forth to two different dermatologists the past couple of months because of a white spot around my chin area. I'm sure you've noticed it in a few of my photos posted here in my blog. And the two dermatologists just gave me anti-fungal creams and have been asking me to come back to check it again. Well, it came to a point that the white spot is annoyingly disturbing and a lot of people have been asking me about it. I had an inkling that it might be vitiligo (yes, Michael Jackson's skin disorder) so I did a little research online. And it was mentioned in one of the sites that most people with vitiligo experience depression. So after reading that I wanted to go to a derma who I can ask comfortably about what vitiligo really is. Fortunately, Kuya Ogie, Joy's cousin-in-law was very easy to talk to. He instantly told me that it is vitiligo and then he told me what treatment can be done and then he asked all my other questions about it. Now, I can stop worrying and just do what Kuya Ogie told me to do. Believe me, I was so depressed last Thursday night that I told my husband we should relocate to the province in case the white spots begin to spread all over my face. Hopefully, the treatment will take effect in a couple of months. I'm praying it will!

It wasn't just me who had an appointment with Kuya Ogie, Joy had her warts removed and then her mom had diamond peeling. After the visit to the derma, we were all feeling beautiful again. Joy had to bring her mom home first because we were going to watch Iron Man 2 that night. Well actually we just brought her mom to the shuttle service that will bring her home. And then we picked up Mek in Magallanes. By the time we were at Glorietta, Kyla was already starving and Joy had to have her coffee so we had a light snack at Starbucks. We were actually in Greenbelt around 5pm to buy the tickets but the only available screening that night was 12:30am. Good thing the 9:30pm screening at G4 was still available. After our snacks, we went to Teenzone because Joy wanted to buy something for Miguel. While going around, we found these cute tees. And Joy and I each got one Little Miss Fighting Maroon.

Photo from here

Kyla asked one for her too so Joy got one for her school as well. Mek got inggit so he got himself a shirt too with this print.

Photo from here

Unfortunately the only other shirt that's left is the one on display. I didn't want to get that for Joema because I thought the print looked a little faded already. Although Joy told me to buy it anyway because Joema will surely be envious. True enough when we showed him our shirts he was asking if I bought him one. So sorry, maybe next time.

We had dinner after our little shopping spree. Joema arrived just in time for dinner at -- wait for it -- T.G.I. Friday's haha! And then it was time for Iron Man 2. The cinema was jampacked! We were seated at rows 3 and four at the left most corner of the cinema. We were straining our neck to get a good look. Fortunately, the movie was so good our location inside the moviehouse didn't really bother us. Maybe, we should just watch it again.

Photo from here

Kasalang Mayo Uno

Last Saturday was Mands and Weng's wedding at the Manila Cathedral.

I was so honored to be a part of their wedding, Mands asked me to be a lector during the mass. I was seated in front that's why the photos I took were close enough.

Here's Mands with his parents and his best man.

And the radiant bride in white.

This is during the wedding rites when the priest was blessing the rings and the arrhae.

Presenting the new Mr. and Mrs.

The reception followed at Ilustrado. The program was customarily the same with the couple's first dance and toast. Followed by picture taking with the couple and dinner. After that, the program resumed with a few of song numbers from the newly-weds dearest family members and friends. Then speech time, both of Mands' parents gave a speech. Here's his mom.


By the way, our friend Jose who's also a groomsman did a very good job hosting the event (No expensive or cheap hosting could beat a good friend doing the job). Oh, Joema and I were also participants in the couples game. Instead of the traditional bouquet and garter toss, the newly weds opted to have a game for married couples. The ladies are blindfolded and we are to kiss our mate for 20 seconds and the gentleman with the most number of kissmarks win. And we won ahahaha!

Mands speech was so heartwarming. He said if there's a happiest man alive at the moment he claims to be that man because it's the day he married Weng. Aaawww!


Congratulations, Mands and Weng!!!! We're so so so happy for you!!!

Pansol Weekend Getaway

The husband and I had a wonderful time over the weekend. We spent it in Pansol with our friends. Our friend was so generous to invite us to their resthouse.

We just chilled and relaxed. While the young ones were all excited to take a dip in the pool.

We played dodgeball too. Although I suck at dodgeball! Boo!

But of course we couldn't resist to swim in that wonderful pool.

We had a hearty merienda and dinner.

And then it was booze and videoke time!

We made it like American Idol where we had a theme for every round. The first round was M.O.M. which stands for MakeOut Music, and then the next round were OPM's in which my husband sang Ted Ito's local versin of Saigono Iwaki (remember that song?). So we were stuck in that genre. Another friend was looking for Sasasadami of Lady D (?) ahahahaha! For our final rounds, we had Eraserheads and then Apo Hiking Society Songs. For the finale, these three sang "All for Love" and because all them had enough drinks, they really felt like Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting.

Told you the husband had too much alcohol, he can't stop dancing haha!

We were all hung over the next day. That's us after barely five hours of sleep. And I look the most hungover person wtf!


After breakfast, we played RockBand. We never get tired of RockBand.

And then we're back in the pool.


And then all of a sudden, it was time to go back home.

Perfect relaxing weekend! Who needs air filter, when you have all that fresh air?

More About Babies

Aside from Penny giving birth, another friend recently gave birth. But we never got to visit her in the hospital because she's not here in Manila. Thank God for facebook we get updated with her new pics. Here's Baby Nickie on her 1 week "birthday."


I think you look like your Daddy, Baby Nickie! Congratulations again to the very happy parents! We hope to see you soon!

Fishy Fishy

Last night we went to Medical City to visit Mommy Penny and Baby Paco. Penny gave birth to their first-born on Thursday, 22 April. Look at how cute Paco is.

Janice and I were seating next to him listening to his mom tell us how we was born and then he suddenly sneezed. Oh my gosh I was worried we were carrying germs with us, that's why he sneezed! And then he started whimper, so his mom had to carry him...he just wanted to be included in the story-telling hihi.

Paco is the second baby in our barkada. His "kuya" is my godson Stefan who looked like this when we visited him in the hospital last October. He was poop-ing that's why he was crying hehehe. But of course he is so much bigger now. His mom said he's wearing clothes for 9-12 months while he's only 6 months old.

Babies are so cute but they're so fragile. Penny asked me if I wanted to hold Paco but I was afraid I might hurt him. I'm not really comfortable carrying babies this small. No, no I'm no longer pressured to have a baby but I think we're ready to have one. :) I hope I don't jinx this having-a-baby thing by blabbing about it here in my blog.

T.G.I.S.

I was channel surfing last night when I saw TGIS The Movie on PBO.


Ohmygosh! I was such a teenager! I can't believe I was so kilig to the TV show when I was in high school. And then watching the movie last night…blech! Hahaha I can't stand it! Is it because I've grown up and don’t find the cheesy lines kakilig? Even the petty fighting between the loveteams was soo..that's it petty! Oh to be young and in love. Although I must admit it was my first time to watch the movie last night (didn't even able to finish it). To which my husband said, "Di ka nakipili sa libo-libong nanood nyan?" hahahaha No, he didn't watch it too back then. He doesn't even remember why Ciara Sotto was in the movie.

Photo from here.

To Box or Not To Box

I've had a rough week and I'm so glad it's already Friday. As I look back in the past few months, stress has been an almost daily part of my life. I'm frustrated that I don't have an outlet to let go of the steam. You know how creative people tend to do something with their talent when they're depressed or stressed. How writers write poems, or how painters draw their frustrations. Sure I write about it here in my blog once in a while but not really in detail because I just don't feel like it and I don't want to let out dirty laundry in the world wide web. So I end up eating. Yes, eating! And then I get depressed when I notice that I'm getting bigger. This morning I realized I should just go back to boxing. Now that will really help me! But sometimes I just don't feel like gong to the gym anymore, I haven't been there in months. My gym instructors would have thought that I've already gotten pregnant and given birth – that's how long I've been out of the loop. So now I'm deciding if I should box again or not. At the moment I can squeeze it in my schedule, I can even go boxing everyday. Okay, now that I'm writing this I'm even more convinced that I should box again. But you know why I'm a bit weary to go back to boxing? I'm not sure if I should say this but … we're already thinking of getting pregnant. So what if I get pregnant? Then I'll have to stop again and lose my momentum. Is that a silly thing to think about? It's just that I really really need a stress buster. Or I'll end up somewhere in our neighborhood (in Mandaluyong hehehe).

Photo from here.

Chinese GP 2010

Another disappointing finish for Vettel at the Chinese GP. I really think he shouldn't get pole position for him to get a podium finish during the race hehe. It was an action packed race - lots of overtaking, lots of pit stops and a lot of appearances from the safety car. Here's a lapy by lap account of the Chinese GP by Philip Duncan.

LAP 1: Great star from Alonso. He gets the jump on the Red Bulls and Webber gets ahead of his team-mate. Four cars involved in an accident at the back of the field. Lots of debris on the track and the safety car has been deployed. Suspicions that Alonso may have jumped the start. I'll keep you updated on that one. Liuzzi dropped it under braking taking out Buemi and Kobayashi to cause the accident.

LAP 2: Button on team radio: Alonso must have jumped the start! Looks like the Spaniard could be in a spot of bother. The safety car is still out.

LAP 3: Alonso is under investigation for his jump start. Hamilton and Massa and the Red Bulls are in for the intermediate tyre. But its a nightmare for Vettel. He has to queue behind his team-mate and drops down the field. Safety car is in at the of this lap.

LAP 4: Rosberg leads the way in China after Alonso pits for intermediates. Button is second but it looks as though the intermediate tyre is the best option. Surely Button and Rosberg will have to stop, but they are still staying out.

LAP 5: Confirmation of a drive-through penalty for Alonso after being found guilty of jumping the start. Schumacher is in but he pits for slicks instead of the intermediate tyre. Vettel and Hamilton are are struggling on the intermediate and they both pit for a new set of slicks.

LAP 6: Drama in the pit-lane. Hamilton is released at the same time as Vettel and the pair touch wheels exiting the pits. I dare say, the two of them could be in trouble for that. Vettel is down in 15th. Hamilton is 16th.

LAP 8: Hamilton and Vettel have both passed Webber on the back straight. The trio are 50 seconds behind the leaders. It is starting to rain again in the pit-lane.

LAP 10: Kovalainen is a sitting duck for the Vettel-Hamilton-Webber trio. The three of them are on a charge.

LAP 12: Hamilton takes Vettel and Sutil at the same corner and it looks as though Vettel touched Sutil. Hamilton is up to 8th but Vettel is still behind the Force India.

LAP 13: Easy for the Red Bulls. They fly past Sutil on the back straight. Hamilton is the quickest man on the track. He's two seconds quicker than the leaders but he is some 48 seconds behind Rosberg and co.

LAP 15: Great duel between Hamilton and Schumacher. The Brit is all over the seven-times champions. Rosberg is told over the radio that rain is expected in three minutes.

LAP 16: Hamilton is quicker than Schumacher on the back straight and slips one up the inside of the German on the back straight but Schumacher brakes latest and Hamilton is left to hang out to dry.

LAP 17: Hamilton is past Schumacher. Lewis gets the better drive out of 13 and passes him on the straght. Schumacher has a stab at re-passing Hamilton at the hairpin but Lewis gets the better exit. Hamilton up to fifth.

LAP 18: Now it is Vettel's turn - he passes Schumacher and he is up to sixth. The Mercedes driver is struggling for traction coming out of the slower corners.

LAP 19: Out of nowhere, Button has passed Rosberg for the lead. Rosberg lost time running off at turn 11. It's starting to rain quite heavily in Shanghai.

LAP 20: Webber and Schumcher are in for the intermediate tyre. As are the Ferrari duo of Massa and Alonso.

LAP 21: Button comes in for the intermediate tyre. He still leads. Hamilton and Vettel pit and Webber gets the jump on the pair of them. Drama for Alguersuari. He runs over his own front wing and he pits for a new one.

LAP 22: The safety car is out as the marshalls clear the debris from Alguersuari's front wing.

LAP 24: The safety car is still out and as I suspected earlier the pit-lane incident between Hamilton and Vettel will be investigated after the race.

LAP 25: Safety car in at the end of this lap. Hulkenberg stops for dry tyres but he is all over the place. Wrong decision from the German rookie.

LAP 26: We're racing again and Webber runs wide and slips down the order - he is down to 12th. Great move from Hamilton to take Schumacher. Webber is on the team radio and says Hamilton knocked him off the road. Lots of spray in the damp conditions in Shanghai.

LAP 27: Brilliant from Hamilton. He is past Petrov and up to fourth. Lewis is five seconds behind his team-mate and all over Kubica.

LAP 29: Like taking candy from a baby. Hamilton passes Kubica on the back straight and Alonso sticks the same move on Sutil. Lewis up to third. Alonso, who has stopped four times, is up to sixth.

LAP 30: Vettel follows Alonso and passes Sutil.

LAP 32: Right, a quick update; Button leads Rosberg by 2.6 seconds and Hamilton is a further two seconds down the road. But he is on a charge. He's the quickest man on the track. Another stellar drive from the 2008 world champion.

LAP 33: Rosberg appears to be struggling in the damp conditions. Hamilton is closing in on the German. A McLaren one-two looks to be on the cards. Petrov spins - Alonso and Vettel go past the Russian.

LAP 34: We've got a bit of a train developing behind the Force India of Adrian Sutil. Schumacher can not get past his countryman, with Massa and Webber right on his tail.

LAP 35: Hamilton has a stab around the outside of Rosberg but the German holds the place. Surely its only a matter of time before he passes. All the while, Hamilton is losing precious time to his McLaren team-mate.

LAP 36: This is playing into the hands of Button. Hamilton loses another two seconds to his countryman on the last lap as he struggles to past Rosberg.

LAP 37: Schumacher and Webber pit for a new set of intermediate tyres.

LAP 38: And Hamilton follows suit for his fourth visit to the pit-lane this afternoon. Kubica stops, as does Vettel. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1266894/CHINESE-GRAND-PRIX-2010-LIVE-Lap-lap-coverage-F1-drama-unfolds-Shanghai.html#ixzz0lW9bYW7F

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So yes in the end, Vettel finished 6th. Hay! :( And can I just say that if I weren't rooting for Vettel, I would totally go for Hamilton. He is such a competitive driver. It doesn't matter if he's in front of the grid or at the back at the start of the race, he will definitely push for a spot in the front at the end.

Bahrain GP - P1 qualifying, 4th place race day
Australian GP - P1 qualifying, DNF race day
Malaysian GP - P3 qualifying, 1st place race day
Chinese GP - P1 qualifying, 6th place race day

Cut Cut Cut

Remember when I blogged about my plans to study in the US? Just thought about it again because my friend was bugging me yesterday while I was at work, only to ask me to help him with his work. Argh! That's what friends do, right? Annoy each other hahaha. Back then my friend and I, thinking that we'll get accepted, were worried about the most inane things when we finally get to the States, like how I'll cope with the cold during weeks of winter because my nose is a bit sensitive. I was pretty sure my nose will be clogged all winter. And then how expensive the haircuts are there that I seriously considered enrolling in Ricky Reyes' fashion school to study haircutting hahaha. Seriously, I figured I can even cut hair for other students there for a little pocket money. I was even thinking of buying haircutting scissors (I'm right handed so I don't need to buy Left Handed Scissors) hahaha. That would have been a nice skill to acquire especially since I heard from a friend that she's the one who cuts her son's hair because he doesn’t want to go to the barber or kids' salon. (Note to self: I should gift her with Left Hand Scissors for Christmas.) What if my future kid(s) is also like that? Then I need to cut his hair and I wouldn't want him looking like a bowl was put on his head and I just cut his hair across the rim of the bowl. One day, I should really get down to doing these things that I wish I'd do.

Before the Weddings

Last Thursday night, we met up with the gang for a much needed dinner/get-together. The brides and grooms gave their wedding invitations and we're all excited with the upcoming weddings. Yes, we have two weddings in May and then another one on the first week of June.

We all met up and had dinner at Uncle Cheffy's in Eastwood Mall. The first ones to arrive are me and Joema and then Janice and Penny, together with Pao came since their office was just a few blocks from the mall. We ordered Cheese Panizza, Seafood Panizza and some ribs. Everything was delicious. I was starving so when the food arrived we immediately started eating. Mands and Weng arrived just in time before the food arrived. They immediately gave us their invites which had a sticker with a mirror image of their names. So cool!

Since their wedding is a in a few weeks, pretty much everything's taken cared of. I'm kind of jealous because their honeymoon is in Italy...la vita e bella!

Jose, Charline and Allan were a bit late because of work. We had to order another round of panizza and ribs for them. While Mands and Weng's invites had a cool mirror image of their names, Allan and Charline's wedding invite had math symbols on it. How many can you find?


Like Mands and Weng, Allan and Charline are done with almost everything for their wedding. Now this two lovebirds are taking a cruise on their honeymoon..another jealous moment for me hahaha! Steve and Rhea's is the third wedding but they weren't able to come to dinner.

Here are more photos from that night.

Charline and Allan rocking it!

Jose is famous!

Us with Janice in a car showroom.



Penny, Weng and Mands from a window.

Photos were taken by Pao but I created the effects from this site where you can create fun photos like these. You can select different effects from their fun photo box. Create funny pictures yourself and go to the site.