Amanpulo

I haven't been able to share with you the photos my cousin Adam took when he went to Amanpulo. He's so lucky because he went there for free. He's part of the Manila Philharmonics Orchestra, and they were the ones tapped to perform during the New Year's Eve celebration of the resort. They stayed there for five days but only had to work for one night.

It was a blue moon when they went there. The light in the middle of the water was entirely illuminated by the moon. Do you know what a blue moon is? According to Wikipedia, a blue moon is a second full moon in a month. This phenomenon is also where the phrase "once in a blue moon" comes from.

Don't you just want to lie there all day, read a book and not worry about a thing (not even HVG insurance)? I can just imagine myself relaxing all day long. And then a butler will come and serve drinks to quench my thirst and keep my cool.

The one night that they had to work was only on the eve of New Year's celebration. What a way to usher in the new year, right? If they say that what you do on the eve of the new year is what you'll do the whole year long is true, then my cousin is definitely in for a great 2010. He's getting married by the way this year.

Can I cry while looking at this? As I said in my earlier post, if I die in an island, I'll die a happy woman.

I hope to one day be able to have enough money to go there. Universe, are you listening? I will be there someday, and swim in that perfect emerald seawater, lounge in that what seems an ultra soft lounge chair, dine beside that gorgeous, gorgeous pool, and hopefully see the blue moon when I go there.

On the Work Front

I am counting down the days when I will be able to see this place. I've been miserable at work for the last few days. I'm still learning the ropes. So whenever I encounter terms like maturity mismatch or options trading, I google it and try to learn what I can. It's just sometimes I don't really have time to read and absorb what I have to so in the end I do things mechanically and hope that next time I will truly understand what I just did. It's sometimes frustrating that I wish I was back in my old work but there are days that everything is all quiet (like today) and I have time to research and go deep into what I am doing. And I feel a certain pride whenever I do accomplish some things and in the process learn something new. It doesn't hurt either to be acknowledged by my supervisor that I did a good job. Based on my latest annual performance evaluation, my supervisors are happy with what I've contributed to the team so far and that they got good feedbacks from the other specialists I'm working with so that's a good sign. I'm glad it's not all bad things. But there are days (like yesterday) when I tell myself, I don't want any more challenges and I just want to work mindlessly. It's just that sometimes I feel so tired at the end of the day and think to myself if this is all worth it. Just this morning I hoped that I'll soon see the light at the end of the tunnel, because at this point I feel that I'm in the middle of the tunnel where everything's dark and scary. I hope to really find in myself what I really want.

The certain thing right now is that I can't wait for my vacation to start. To sleep the night before and wake up the following morning knowing that I don't have to go to work will be total bliss. I miss the beach! If I had to live in an island for the rest of my life, I will probably die happy - sunburnt, definitely - but still happy.

Celebrity Magazines

What's up with local celebrities publishing their own magazines?

First, there's Kris Aquino who always looks picture perfect on the cover, it's obviously photoshopped or she always has Liposuction done before each photoshoot. I had a chance to see one of the issues of her magazine where there's an article on her travels with her kids and husband. And in those photos, accompanying that article, she looks totally different thatn the one on the cover.



A few weeks back while walking inside the mall with some officemates, they pointed Jolina Magdangal's magazine - Jolie. Angelina Jolie might hear of this and tell Jolina she got the name from Angie. Remember that rumor when Mariah Carey supposedly called Regine Velasquez "monkey" when she learned that Regine was copying her style? But I think that never happened in real life, just a rumor. Anyways, did you know that Jolie is actually Angelina's middle name but then she dropped her real surname and changed her full name to Angelina Jolie? I think this was the time that she and her father had some misunderstanding. Saw this on E True Hollywood stories.



Then this afternoon I saw that Sharon Cuneta has her own magazine too. From the cover of the magazine, I think the contents are pretty nice kind of like Martha Stewart magazine going on in there.

So, which of the three will you buy?

Valentine's Day

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was finally able to watch Valentine's Day last Saturday with the girls. My friend downloaded it but got a not so clear copy of the movie (Do you like downloading too - movie torrents, music torrents, game torrents?). So many people said it's like Love Actually because it's an all star cast movie. And like Love Actually, I didn't really love Valentine's Day. I don't know if it's just because the copy was not clear or it's the story that I didn't like. I think the problem with this kind of movie is that there so many things that are happening, so many storyline to follow (yeah, it must be that I'm just slow). Like the storyline of Taylor and Taylor, you can just edit that out if it was a usual romantic movie but they had to put it there for all the fans of these two. No, I'm not hating them because I actually think Taylor Swift was really convincing in her role; unless, she's like that in real life. Now, I do love Anne Hathaway's character moonlighting as an adult phone entertainer. Her different accents are hilarious. And Topher Grace is such a charming, adorable man. I still think of him more of Eric in That 70's Show than Venom in Spiderman. Well, all in all it was a nice chick flick that you can watch with your best girlfriends. But I'm so glad we didn't watch this on Valentine's Day. Now, what I wanted to watch was Couples Retreat. Although this movie didn't receive good reviews either, I just wanted to see Bora Bora on the big screen.

Policies

I still have some insurance policies in my parents house that were flooded by Ondoy. And I haven't been diligent in inquiring on how to get hold of new copies of these. It was only this morning that I got to email the insurance company to inquire about what I need to be able to get a copy of the policy. My premium was due already so that would be my cue to communicate with the insurance company. I have a question though, what email host do you use when you send personal but formal emails? I usually use my office email for these because although my yahoo email address bears my name, I feel that the @xxx.org at the end of my email address has a bearing to the formality of my email. Does that sound logical to you? Anyways, they replied within the day and told me all the different forms that I need to accomplish and all other documents that I need to submit. Good thing I still have a friend working in that company so I just instructed them to send all the blank forms to her and I'll get them from her soon. I can't afford to take a leave from work just to get the forms and submit them plus all the other documents to their office. They told me I can also give back the forms to my friend and she can submit the papers to them on my behalf, I just need to give an authorization letter. Now I need to get more NSO certified copies of our marriage certificate for me to able to update my married name on their records.

Can't Wait To Be With You

Photo from here.

Saturday

Last Saturday was spent with the girls and Joema hehe. We started our Saturday afternoon with a movie – Miss You Like Crazy. I only get to watch these kind of movies with them. My husband usually won't watch this kind of movie with me, but this time I was able to persuade him to come with us hahaha. I was disappointed with the movie, the story was a bit blah. I think One More Chance is still better than this latest John Lloyd+Bea vehicle. After the movies, we went to buy some things in the grocery – chips, booze and cups. That's when C received a text message that the Philippines is under a tsunami warning. We were itching to get to R's place to watch CNN by then. So after paying for the groceries and picking up our food at Goldilock's we headed on to R's unit. It was all our first time to visit her bachelorette pad. We're really all grown up now. We watched CNN while stuffing ourselves with pansit and lumpia.



Then we watched Valentine's Day while drinking. We were all amazed at how the mountain in the Coors bottle turns blue when it's cold enough to drink. Childish, I know haha! I miss these kind of nights spent with them. During college, we have these sleepovers and we rent movies (uso pa ang Video City non!) and watch them all night long. We'll sleep around 4 or 5am then sleep until lunch time, then stuff ourselves silly during lunch and then talk all afternoon before we realize we have to go back home to our families. Now we have our own places, we don't have to rent movies – we now download from the net, but we still spend all night long watching movies and talking about everything and anything.

It's Summer Once Again

I think I have to stop eating (coz I don't think I can start exercising again)! I thought of buying a new swimsuit but every time I go to the fitting room with a swimsuit in my hands, I end up getting disappointed. I don't look good in them! Ugh! Although I might think to myself it must be also because I always have time to try on swimsuits during lunch time, after eating lunch, hence the big belly hahaha! Argh!!! Blech!

Women Around the World

I was watching Oprah earlier on the Hallmark Channel. I don't know what the episode was really about because I didn't catch the start of it, but Oprah was walking outside with a tall blonde woman and they're talking about how the government of that city provides free health care, free education and that they even give the citizens money to go the university. So I had to keep on watching to see where this city is. It turns out, they were in Copenhagen, Denmark. I immediately thought if they have immigrants there hehehe. Okay, during commercials I switched channels but when I came back to Oprah, she's now inside a very clean and sleek house. Another tall blonde woman was taking her around the house, they we're going down the stairs when Oprah asked where they slept. The woman said "It's upstairs" and then Oprah's like "It's upstairs? I didn't notice it, I have to go back upstairs and see your bed." The bed looked like a thin foam placed on leveled square discreetly placed at the corner of a room. It's very interesting how unmaterialistic they were considering it seems they can have everything they want. And then the next bit showed Oprah talking to a bunch of Danish women, and they said "Don't you think it's interesting how we are the happiest people on earth but we're not religious?" And I think, all of them except one didn't believe in a higher being.

The next woman shown was from Dubai, and then Rio de Janeiro. I have to look for that episode on Youtube.

It's always an eye-opener to learn how different we live from other people in other parts of the world - that we are just one small speck in this world. Amazing! I wish I would get to visit these places some day and see for myself.

EDIT: Okay, I just found the episode on youtube. I have to watch it completely from the start. Here, watch it too.

Planning a Trip

Although we didn't make it to Baguio last weekend, I have a few trips lined up for the year. Cebu Pacific is having their annual 50% off sale again so we're back to booking and reading Hostel Reviews. I really get a certain high whenever I know I'm going to a different place. A friend from the office asked me to join them for a trip to Singapore because of the ongoing Cebu Pacific sale. But the husband and I really can't go anymore because we've maxed out our travel budget for the year. Too bad! That got me really excited because she said we can bunk in with her cousin who has a place in Singapore plus it's a chance for me to bond with my new officemate friends here. But, there's always next year's sale.

Our Valentine's Day - Now and Then

We weren't able to push thru with our Baguio trip. But 'twas okay, the decision to go there was actually a rushed one, no plans really, just wanted to go on a trip out of frustration from the daily grind. But alas, the thing that made us wanted to go, made us stay too - work got in the way. We celebrated the valentine weekend without any hooplah, which is how we really do it anyway, although the trip wasn't really supposed to "celebrate" Valentine.


After work on Saturday, Joema and I went to my folks' house and spent the night there. My father gave me twelve peach roses. :) And then on the next day, V-day, we spent it at home, too. We didn't want to go out because too many people will be out and having lunch or dinner so we stayed home instead. Went to the market with my mother to buy shrimp, and we feasted on them during lunch. We had siesta afterwards - after eating so much, the next best thing to do is take a nap hahaha! Then before they took us home, we went to buy groceries. Not really a romantic way to spend Valentine's day hehehe. Although, we did attend mass celebrated by the priest who married us, Fr. Caloy. And then after the mass, the church had renewal of vows for all the married couples so we went in front of the church and renewed our vows with all the other couples and in front of all those people heehee. That's probably the highlight our day. :)


Yesterday marked 10 years of our relationship. We've been together and in love for 10 years! I remember telling myself not make sagot Joema on Valentine's day back then because I didn't want to spend "the day" with a boyfriend. Although we still ended up spending the day together. I gave him a card telling him how special he is to me. He was so shy because he didn't get me anything. But he said he was really planning to give me flowers the day after Valentine's day because he didn't want to do it with all the other guys, that it would be too conventional. I promised him I will act surprised when he give me the flowers the next day hahaha! So I guess that's how we started celebrating Valentine's day so unromantically. That was our first unofficial Valentine's day. He officially became my boyfriend two days after Valentine's day, ten years ago!

Baby You can Drive my Car

I've been impatiently waiting for the 2010 season! The teams have launched their new cars, they have started testing and I'm soo excited!





One month to go!!!


Vettel will test the car next week, that's Mark btw.

10 Things that Make Me Happy

Anna tagged me months ago for this but I wasn't able to do it immediately. Work's been hell (with both me and the hubby) these past couple of days, so I was always on the lookout for things to make life easier. Just the right time to make this list.

Click image to enlarge

1. strangers who greet you good morning - nothing beats a sincere "good morning" from total strangers, especially when I feel that I've woken up from the wrong side of the bed. It makes me smile when I come into the office and security guards or janitors greet me a "good morning, ma'am."

2. cartoons - I love Family Guy and American Dad!

3. comedy series - The Big Bang Theory is now my fave and I watch it every Tuesday on Jack TV. Or I just pop an old Friends DVD in the player and it still makes me laugh.

4. ice cream - other people don't feel like eating when they're depressed, I'm the total opposite. I binge eat when I'm depressed. Caramel sundae from Mcdo and gelato from Amici are the top two on my list.

5. SALE - I just love those red big signs, even if I won't buy anything from the store, I still go inside hahaha!

6. bed and pillows - don't you just love to curl up in bed and just sleep in when you're feeling lousy?

7. dogs - I can't help but smile when I see a dog, they're so cute! Gosh I miss our chowchow, Mini !

8. blogs - my day, or atleast on days when I'm infront of my PC, won't be complete without going through my list of blog. Must be the chismosa in me, that's why I check other people's blogs for their updates hahaha!

9. wedding photos - not just our wedding photos, even wedding photos of other people. So much love captured in that single object.

10. travel - I love everything about it. It gives me a certain high, that I only experience when I travel - from researching on the place, booking the flights and hotels, packing our things, checking in at the airport, to getting lost in the city where we're at.

So with that, we're ending this week with something that will make us happy. We are going on a trip and we're staying here.

Penny's Baby Shower

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had dinner with the flyfish gang last night. Well while planning this get together I told them we should have our surprise baby shower for Penny on the same day. Since she will be absolutely clueless about it coz it was supposed to be their treat to me and Jose. So we had dinner first at Old Vine Grille at Piazza Venice in Mckinley Hill. Too bad Jose wasn't able to join us for dinner.




After dinner, we all "agreed" to have coffee/desserts. Penny didn't know that Janice and Steve, together with Al, already prepared the place where we had the shower - at Sol Gelato. Janice's excuse was to meet Al at the parking because he came late while Steve said he was going to call Rhea who was out of town and couldn't join us. The managers/owners of Sol Gelato was so gracious to let us have our baby shower there. Janice and Al actually went there last week to scout for a place where we could have the shower. So anyways, while walking along the walkway outside Sol Gelato, Penny saw the banner inside (the store has glass walls) and she thought "Uy, we have the same name" and when she saw the pictures she thought that she looked like "that girl" only to realize that we were throwing her a surprise baby shower hahaha!


The mommy-to-be after she has settled down


Even if we had a small space, we were able to play games. I was in charge of the games so I researched on new ones. I didn't want to have the same games as we had with Janice's baby shower so I googled for baby shower games and found this site. The first game we played was "How Well Do You Know Mommy-to-be". Here's Janice writing her answers.


She and Charline won that game. They got 7 out 10 answers correctly. And apparently, the baby will only get 3 characteristics from Daddy Pao - as Penny answered the game haha! The next game was "Finish the Baby Rhyme." Mands and Steve gave hilarious answers. Like for "Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet, eating her ________________ and whey." They both answered "breakfast"! And then for "Old Mother Hubbard, went to the _______________", Mands answered "farm" while Steve gave the answer "farmer." They were looking at each others answers and I told them not to cheat!

Laughing at their answers


Al won this game - he got all the right answers! The next game we played was "Place the Baby on the Mommy." Here's Penny after the game. Steve cheated and won this game hahaha!



Mands then won the "Guess the Baby pictures" game. Only, I printed out baby pictures of celebrities and I think he got 4 out of the 5 celebrities hahaha. EVeryone at the edge of their seats trying to guess the celebrity.


And then it was time for Penny to open the gifts. But of course it's not only her who was excited to open the gifts, we were excited too because we played "Baby Bingo."

Penny with Pao opening gifts for "Pablo", though it's not yet final.


The paraphernalia we used for the games...see the bingo cards? I'm one of the winners by the way hehe, though that's not my bingo card.



Us girls



Group pic outside Sol Gelato

I Turned 30

I did! I turned 30 last 28 January. But the celebration lasted the whole weekend. I was able to get a leave from work on the day of my birthday. Whew! I thought my supervisor wouldn't allow it. Celebrated it quietly at home, but went out during lunch time to have mass. Unfortunately, there were no mass celebrated in churches because the priests had some conference they went to. So the hubby and I just had lunch instead.

Joema wasn't able to file for a leave on Thursday so our celebration was extended up to the next day. He bought me cake and gave me my present.


So cool! I so love love love my present!! It's a travel case from Hellolulu. My husband knows me so well!

Saturday night was spent with friends. Had dinner, Rock Band and poker at Tric and Heyl's place.








You know you're getting older when you enjoy surfing the net looking for houses for sale hahaha. Because that's what we did after playing. When did all the time go? We used to just think about exams and boys, but now we're thinking about where to live and buy our home. Our friends T and E showed us the house they were planning to buy. We hope they do buy it, poker night every weekend hahaha!

And then on Sunday, we had lunch with my parents and brother. Sorry no pictures. Was too busy eating hahaha! Another celebration was with my flyfish friends but that should be another blogpost (coz it was just disquised as our celebration but it was a party for a totally different person hehe). All in all, I celebrated my birthday with the people I love - with my husband, my family and friends. Turning 30 wasn't that bad.

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

This week's been so busy at work...just trying to squeeze in a little blogging time for now. I have to share this. Today's been equally busy and I'm feeling a bit down because of some bad news at the work front..but I receive this text from the hubby: Kakaiyak Forrest Gump. Tatapusin ko lang 'to tas tulog na ko.

Hihi my husband will kill me if he knew I've blogged about this. But his text made my day. :-) Just a little background: the other night we were able to catch Forrest Gump on HBO but we weren't able to finish it. While watching it, my husband were asking a bunch of questions and I'm like "Didn't you ever watch Forresst Gump?" I think I've watched it a couple of times or I really loved it back then because I still remember the movie. And I don't really remember much about movies I've watched years ago, unless for the two conditions I've mentioned. While my husband on the other hand, if he has watched the movie, he will definitely remember much about it. So yes, I gave him that look "Duh? This is like an Oscar favorite and this was shown in local cinemas for months". And he says to me that he hasn't really watched the movie completely because he knows it's a tear-jerker but I tell him it's a movie where you cry because you get inspired not just because it's really heavy, hard-to-carry-in-your-chest-after-watching-it drama. After you've cried your eyes out, you feel inspired and wonderful. So I was really happy he decided to watch it..coz you really never know what you're gonna get hehehe.

Romantic

We had candlelit dinner last night...

No that's not a bottle of wine but a bottle of patis hahahaha! And look at my husband wearing his sando hahaha! I went home to dark streets last night. Our street and two streets down from us experienced blackout. Maybe a fuse exploded or something because the other street from us has lights. Anyways, we're still good coz after a few minutes our electricity's back! :)

Honeymoon Destinations

I've been helping some friends look for their honeymoon destination. One of them preferred staying within the country while the other preferred a cruise or something outside the country. I finished looking for resorts within the country before I finished the one with the cruise (Sorry Char!), so let me share with you some resorts in the Philippines that would be great for honeymooners. My friend wanted to stay in a beach resort nice enough to just spend time inside their rooms. Since I haven't been to these resorts (except Pearl Farm, but we didn't stay overnight there), my recommendations are only based on the photos in their websites hehehe.

1. Pearl Farm Resort in Davao



As I've said, we've been here for a day tour and we really enjoyed the food and the beach. They have a honeymoon package worth P24,000 per couple which includes: 3 days/ 2 nights in Samal House, welcome drinks, fruit basket, 2 days breakfast, 2 days lunch, 1 day regular dinner, 1 day special romantic dinner, body massage for two and roundtrip boat transfers.

2. Bella Rocca Resort in Marinduque


This resort, I first heard from a friend and then Anna blogged about this, too. It's like Santorini in the Philippines and you know I love Santorini. Their Mi Amore package includes 3 days/ 2 nights accomodation, roundtrip land+sea transfers, welcome drinks, 2 set breakfast, two private evening cocktails, two 3-course set dinners, one bottle of wine, one hour full body massage. Rates start at P19,300 per person.

3. Misibis Bay in Legaspi



I first read about Misibis Bay in Rajo Laurel's blog. And then my cousin went here, as a member of MPO and played for a wedding, he said the place was really beautiful (which reminds me, I should blog about his gig in Amanpulo - super lucky!). Misibis Bay offers a honeymoon package at P18,888 per person which includes: 3 days/ 2 nights stay in a junior suite deluxe, full board meals, scuba diving trial, roundtrip transfers plus 30 activities to choose from.

4. Club Paradise in Palawan


My friend really wanted to go to El Nido for their wedding but they wanted to have other choices so I surfed for other nice beach resorts in Palawan and came up with this. Club Paradise doesn't offer honeymoon packages but the room rates already include full board meals, welcome drinks and roundtrip Palawan transfer. Rates start at USD190 per person per night.

5. Antulang Beach Resort in Dumaguete


I included this in my list because this is where Ryan proposed to Juday hahaha. Antulang's honeymoon package starts at USD800 per couple which includes 3 days / 2 nights accommodation, roundtrip land transfer, welcome drinks, fruit basket, full board meals, sunset cruise, intro to diving, horseback riding, unlimited snorkeling and kayaking, his and hers massage, bottle of wine, souvenir shirts and a personal butler.

Photos are from the websites.

New

I want to make a new post here in my blog. But please beware that this might end with nothing really important to say to you. Every time I log in I keep seeing the last post's date and keep counting on how many days have passed. But every day of the work week, I have no interesting thing to talk about. Although, something has happened during the weekend I can't still blog about it because I don't have the photos to go along with the post hehehe. It was nice just to spend some time with my husband and some friends over the weekend. How I wish every weekend will be like that, just enough time to spend with other people and then some more time to spend with my husband. Tomorrow will be another day to spend at work...hay. And then I'm turning 30 in a few days. I don't really know if I want to celebrate it or just let is pass like an ordinary day. What did you do when you turned 30 or what do you want to do when you turn 30?

Baptism

Last Saturday was the baptism of my godchild Stefan Franco. The ceremony was at UP chapel. Joema and I on time. Although I was pretty nervous because Janice said we should arrive before 10am. Okay, I didn't know that on Saturday mornings only one gate of the chapel is open. We asked the taxi driver to drop us off on the side across the swimming pool but the gate opened that day was on the other street so we had to go around the chapel haha. I thought to myself, what if we were late just because we were walking around the chapel. Anyhoo, everything's fine because we arrived earlier than the baby and his parents.

Sefan has 8 pairs of godparents. Here he is with his ninangs.


After the ceremony, we were treated to lunch at San Jacinto Panciteria. Here I am with my inaanak.


Hehe naasar na!


And then there were the photobooth pics!

The following day, Sunday, was very apt for the just ended celebration - it was the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I wish I had written this post right after the mass so I could write here what the priest said in his homily. But the thing I remember is that after Baptism it is the parents and the godparents who should teach the child about the Lord. They are his first teachers on religion. So yes, I want to take this being a godparent seriously, not just with giving gifts to the child but taking care of his spirituality as well.

2010 Planner

I don't really buy planners. I'm happy with the annual planner the bank provides for all the staff. I use it for work and also for some personal stuff. What I keep in my bag is the smaller diary that they give. They give us 4 calendars each year - a planner refill, which is as big as a notebook but thicker, which we use with the hard cover with our names on it (yes, personalized), a smaller planner which can fit into our bags, a desk calendar and then another calendar (hehe I don't really know if I was able to explain that clearly). Anyway, so that's why I don't really spend on planners. But last Christmas a friend gifted me with the cutest planner. It was a set actually - Lucky Purse Diary - it says on the box.

This is the planner.



When you open it, there are pages like these before the monthly and weekly planners. Sort of like ushering you to the next month. :)



Then the monthly planner.



Which then leads you to the weekly planner.



I know the pages are just so cute to write on but I am writing on every page of the planner (well, the little scribbles I have there are only until today hehe) and I plan on doing it until the end of the year. I figured, an awesome planner = an awesome year hehe! If this comes true, then I might have to buy really great planners every year from then on. :)

By the way, the set also comes with a photo album (the green one), stickers with the months written on it and a box of blank stickers.


I checked the back of the box the set came with, there's a website for it. It's www.photongift.com. But it's in Korean so you might have a little difficulty browsing through it.

Blog Friendships

My blog buddy Anna sent me a Christmas gift and I got it today! I actually received an email from Anna last December asking me for my address because she's sending me a little something. She's so sweet! This afternoon, the husband texted and told me "May package ka..galing kay Atty. Anna Patajo" heehee!

The package!!!


Maligayang Pasko card that came with her gift. Anna wrote "Here's to blog friendships! Merry Christmas!"


I knew it was a necklace even before I opened it because she blogged about it and also left me a message.



Isn't that a cutie? Can't wait to wear it this Friday! Thanks a bunch, Anna!

Update: The necklace is from Earthly Delights. Go check out the site if you also want your very own hand-painted necklace!

Win a Free Boracay Vacation Package by WOW Philippines Travel Agency

WOW Philippines Travel Agency, Inc. is celebrating it's 5th year in business during July of 2010, and we would like you to have a chance to celebrate with us, so we have decided to give-away a FREE Boracay Package complete with 5 Star accommodations at the luxurious Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel on Boracay Island. The lucky winner will win the following Boracay vacation package.
Vacation Package Inclusions:
- 5 Days / 4 Nights Luxury 5 Star Accommodations at the Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel

- Flights to Boracay from Manila to Caticlan Airport on Philippine Airlines

- Island Transfers - Door-to-Door from Manila to the resort and back to Manila Domestic Airport

- Three (3) Meals each day, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

- Boracay Activities - Horseback Riding, Island Hopping, Glass Bottom Boat

- PLUS - 5,000 peso Spending Cash

Read More Information: http://www.boracay-packages.com

Marathon

One of the nice things about the year ending, aside from the usual year-ender specials, are the marathons shown on television. I was able to catch Lipstick Jungle marathon on the Hallmark channel and Glee marathon on Jack TV. Then we also bought Seasons 1 and 2 of the Big Bang Theory because I had nothing left to do before New Year's day.

Lipstick Jungle

I love the wardrobe of the ladies on Lipstick Jungle. Unlike in Sex andThe City, when the clothes are sometimes too over-the-top for my taste, the clothes in this series are attainable. They are polished, sophisticated and sometimes they are really some basic pieces with a few accessories to liven up the whole wardrobe. This is where realization kicks in, I don’t really have to buy new clothes for work, I just need to buy some new accessories, a whole lot of neck pieces, some bracelets, some earrings and I am done. I also love the fact that they are all working women and that the show can appeal to almost every women of different statuses because Victory is single, Nico is married, while Wendy is married with children.

Glee

I know a lot of people are going gaga over Glee. Sure it’s a different TV show because it’s a musical. I do love the scenes where they sing and how they do their own versions of the songs, what I can’t really care much about it is the drama between the different characters. This is one of the reasons why I don’t wait for it week after week to be shown on TV. So while watching the marathon, I was doing other things and just kept it on the background. But I do know the storyline and I’m happy with the season finale when Finn found out that he wasn’t the father of Quinn's baby. Best scene for me is the whole football team singing Single Ladies.

Big Bang Theory

I know I’ve mentioned here before that I love the Big Bang Theory. We really wait for it to be shown every week. But the thing is sometimes our TV automatically locks out the channel on the day and time this series is shown, as in if we switch our TV to Jack TV on Tuesday 9pm, it’s locked out and we have to enter a password. And we don’t know the password. We still don’t know if the problem is our TV or our cable provider. Anyway, that’s why we bought the series on DVD. I would venture to say that it’s next to Friends on my list of favourite TV shows, sometimes I think it’s even funnier. Friends’ pilot episode wasn’t that funny, it took them a few episodes to get their right timing and right lines to make it hilariously funny. But with Big Bang, it was funny right off the first episode. One of my favourite episodes is the one when Sheldon “helped” Leonard lie to Penny by telling her that he has a drug addict cousin whom they (Leonard and Sheldon) are going to for intervention and hopefully convince to go into drug rehab and undergo Addiction Treatment. It was an unravenable lie as Sheldon puts it. He even hired a scientist/actor to pose as his cousin because they were unable to convince him to go into Drug Treatment.

Super Blessed 2010

I declare I’ll have a super-blessed year in 2010! I claim a year of amazing abundance for my life. This year, I shall receive more love and give more love. I shall experience more joy, greater generosity, dreams fulfilled, financial increase, open doors, new opportunities, divine connections, supernatural appointments, great miracles, answered prayers, and exponential growth—Amen!

My mantra for the year! Thanks, Bro Bo!


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I originally wanted to make my first post for 2010, a recap of the year that was and hope that this year will be, well, better. But as they say, positive thoughts invite positive things so I decided to make this short and super freaking positive. I am so ready for the blessed year ahead of us!