Monster 1: Recalled

*** so the heck, what happened to that hs thing mentioned in my last entry.

I actually dont like sharing too personal things in blog. But anyway, here's an exception, just for this one time. :)

This was the 1st monster I encountered in my life, at age 12. All in all, I think I met 4 na hehe. Ewan, lapitin ata ako ng mga taong may attitude problem. :( Probably something's wrong with me too, or malas lng talaga ako.

Anyway, the disaster was because of adjustment in high school life. I studied in a different school during elementary, then moved to **HS. All of my sisters studied there for high school and they actually warned me about weird grade-conscious people. So come first year, I had a classmate who was, I think the salutatorian (female) in their whole batch. In short, I beat her in 1st grading and my nightmare began. I got all sorts of verbal bully.. mga parinig na wala sa lugar. This girl had one companion pa na head of COCC group (yun mga CAT hanays). Together, they did try to make me look bad with the stories they made up. Kung ano pinagsasabi, I wont forgot those below the belt punchlines (pati the way I carry myself, the way I look which they find pangit, the craziest one is that hindi raw ako naliligo???? D*mn it!) My goodness, I dont know why people wanted to make a big fuzz about competition, Chinese class pa lng yon ha! The whole class (except for one girl) wont speak to me, takot sila na kapag pinansin ako bka tirahin din nung 2 bullies. All I did then was just 'IGNORE', maybe I was too weak to fight back. All I had in mind was that
***Grabe wala silang breeding.. nakakahiya! mailto:!@$#
***Ayoko silang patulan, I wont stoop down to their level. PERIOD!

Probably they got tired because after 3 gradings, this girl still wasnt able to relinquish her crown. haha. That was the end of it.

So come 2nd year, I got in to the English cream section and classmate ko na din this girl bully in English class. Wala na cyang masabi sa English class s akin cause she was way too far to be among the top spots anyway. A lot of things happened to her (ata), she haad some petty quarrels with her own barkada.. I dont know if it was a change of heart on her side, that she actually approached me one time and apologized for what she did in first year. She looked serious then, I just said 'ok lng, tpos na' (Grabe ang martyr ko dati haha)

There were also adjustment problems in english class, this was a whole class of brainy people kuno. Anyway I wont elaborate on those. All I can say is that, at that point, I told myself I have to do something cause I dont want to have bad memories again in highschool. Eventually nagsama-sama kaming new students plus some tingi-tingi pa na walang definite barkada, we formed our own group and life has been happier. I gained friends and everything was back in shape.

So come 4th year, bully and I were not in the same chinese class anymore. A horrible thing happened to her, she was the treasurer of her class. She collected money from her class for yearbook fee and lost the whole amount the same day. So that was like P500 * 40+students, which is quite a big amount na rin. Apparently, ninakawan cya ng fellow classmate nya. I bumped into the adviser of her class one day in the corridor, then to my surprise, this teacher wanted to do background check on this girl so she wanted to ask me a few questions daw. Hehe probably I built my reputation well kaya my opinion was sought. She asked me whether this girl has clepto habits ba, bka raw may alam ako, in short pinagdudahan na bka cya kumuha. I actually pitied her because I know mahirap yun manakawan, something I wont want to happen to me. But on another side, maybe I'm only human, alam ko napatawa ako sa loob-loob ko hehe... If I wanted to get even, it's the slightest effort. But no, I didnt, probably I'm still sane enough, or mas mabait ako dati, or maybe it's still for my own sake na hindi cya sirain coz ayoko rin masangkot sa gulo, graduation time eh. I just told the teacher na hndi ko rin cya ganon kaclose, and I dont think cya kumuha. (honestly, ndi naman cya mukhng naghihikahos sa buhay para magnakaw)

Up to know, only a very few close friends know the story. Khit yun girl hndi alam yun latter part. See concede na! hehe moral lesson of the story, wag manggago ng tao coz carma does happen! And oh I certainly disgust SIPSIP and skandalosa people! eeewww.

P.S. Kasi nanood pa ako ng movie eh, bigla ko tuloy naalala to. I became too curious on how these 2 girls are doing now so I searched them in friendster. (As you know, friendster always knows best) Nakita ko nga sila, grabe the nerve hindi ko maisip anong K nila hehe, if you're curious I can give you the links haha. Still no regrets in studying at that high school, marami pa rin fun memories :)

Encounters with Jay Chou

The Cathay, guest appearance

It was published that activity starts 7pm. I arrived at the venue 715pm. There were so many people that I couldnt get near the stage. The host was already there. Jay Chou and his leading actress arrived past 8pm. His looks was okay, looks tall and proper. (I didnt scream ha). It started to rain but the crowd didnt seem to care. Jay Chou played the soundtrack piano piece of the movie plus he and the actress played another song together (4 hands at one time) I watched him live playing the piano onstage! He's not the talkative type, didnt say too much blabber. He
was asked about his experience being a director for the first time. I was so tired after his short 1-hr long guest appearance. I wanted to take pictures but there were too many tall guys in front of me blocking the view. (See, his fan base is not just girls, even the guys like his songs). With that i have to tiptoe and raise my hands as high as i could with the camera. Nakakangawit sobra!

Tea Party Dance at Dragonfly, St James Powerstation

I got a party pass from advance booking of movie tickets. Since I learned my lesson from Cathay, I see to it that I will arrive the venue way before time. (So meaning I have to take a very 'loooong' lunch as my excuse for being late in the ofc hehe) Published start time is 1pm, so I was at the venue at 11am. (Grabe first time to wait for a guy 2 hours before meeting time hehe) And to my surprise, there were a lot of people on the queue to the gate already. Whaat? There are so many crazy people in this world?!, even crazier than me??!

So finally we all got in at 2pm. Jay and the leading actress arrived around 3pm. It was more of a talky talky event and games with the fans. I was hoping to see him sing, to my disappointment, he didnt. Anyway, my spot was good enough to take pictures, I'm satisfied.

Secret (the movie)

I am surprised that Jay Chow is not only the director, singer, musical director, but even the original story came from him. How could someone have so many talents?!! No one else comes close even in Hollywood. His music is poison, if you like it you will continue liking it that everything he composes just sounds simply good. (But if you dont like him, like my brother in law, you will hate his not-so-clear pronunciation style of R&B singing and continue disliking him hehe.)

Okay the movie, it's a movie with a twist. I find the story quite deep as Jay Chou was able to capture the intricacies of time-travel romance stories, a plot that's not so easy to handle. Some people were criticizing that he copied the theme from the famous Korean time-travel movie 'Il Mare', where Lakehouse tried to imitate as well. It's really hard na mahigitan ang isang phenomenal hit in Asia like Il Mare. (Like you wont be able to do a movie again about tragic love stories involving cancer patients better than Autumn Love Story) All in all, I would say
the movie is still unique and creative in its own way. Especially the way how they travel to the past --> the person has to play a certain piano piece in a room and time ticks back. The person who travelled back can only be seen by the first person who saw him/her so calculation/timing comes to play. Humor was also injected into a lot of scenes in a natural manner.

---Reflection:

The trailer is a catchy one. I heard it advertised over and over again the radio saying 'its a movie that makes you want to relive your high school life, a movie that stirs your youthful imagination - dont you hope to meet a guy like Jay Chou in a music room in high school, who'd play piano pieces for you.' (Exact translation from Chinese)

Haha that was striking. I somehow remembered my old high school days, which started with several disaster. Meet a guy like Jay Chou? - i wish there was, kung meron kahit ako na ang manligaw haha!

So it's my first time after a long long while na ungkatin ang HS days. Grabe I dont know kung malas ba ako that I have to go through some things that people normally wouldnt need to experience. Here goes a shocking revelation hehe...

.... to be continued. :p

Lucky Me!

I couldnt believe when I heard the news that Jay Chow is coming over to Singapore!

In on of my previous blogs, I just posted I hope to see Jay Chow after watching Jolin's concert. And now, he's really coming here!

Jay Chow has a new movie 'Secrets' which will be aired on Aug 8, it's also his first director piece. I started to know him 2or3 years backwith his nice songs. He's very talented in both singing and composing, he has his own style. He also appeared in 'Curse of the Golden Flower'. Okay he's not good-looking actually, but who cares I just simply admire him! :)

So I book myself 2 movie tickets to avail their promo (hehe tska na ako mangungulit kung knino magpasama). One is to have a pass for the tea party, another for the limited edition CD. Haha it's my first timeto do this, to be a fan so-to-speak. Who cares (again), what happens in SG stays in SG. :) I think I have to dress up and doll up for the tea party,as if he'll notice me?!!! I'm so exciteddddd :p

This year is really a good and lucky year for me. I was never lucky, I usually feel that most of the good things that I get are those I really really work so hard for, madalas 'pahirapan' nga eh. Walang 'hulog ng langit'. Somehow this year (to be exact, starting Dec of last year), my luck seems to finally jive with me. A few encounters I can recall:

1) My ex-officemate resigned because I referred her to a company which had contacted me for interview. Probably it was because of her courage that got all of us thinking to seek greener pastures. :)

2) My sister got pregnant when I lend her a figurine of a baby with a thingie hanging in front. :) She was hoping to get pregnant after she got wed last May. Some chinese practices daw yun maglagay ng ganyan. Good that someone gave me a similar figurine many years ago. I lent her the figurine end of Dec and she got back with good news that she's pregnant just after 2 weeks. She's expecting a baby boy this September. And I should be expecting a nice 'ampao'! :p I'm her lucky charm hehe.

3) I got myself in one of the wonders of the world - climbing Great Wall in the coldest of days.

4) I got an offer to work in Singapore after 2 phone interviews. I actually thought they won't call me anymore because I was not contactable mid-December (I went to China). Anyway, they paid for my roundtrip airfare and initial 2 week's stay in a hotel. For some good reasons that I dont know, the salary I'm receiving is slightly higher than that stated in the offer letter. :))

5) After the 2nd week, I had no where to stay because the house I'll be moving to will only be available on my 4th week. A friend of mine was going to Manila and offered to let me stay in her room while she was away. That solves my 3rd week. (perfect timing!)

6) Adjustment at work has been easier with Pinoy officemates around. I learned a lot of technical things from them. If it werent for them, bka umuwi na ako. :) They are also my lunchmates and gimik pals. Aside from them, I have HS friends here, college friend, ex-teammates. Thank God life hasn't been lonely.

7) I was able to watch Jolin's concert

8) Buying several electronic stuff in a month - my first laptop and a TV. Yet I still have enough to spend, save and fly back. Magaling ako magbudget hehe.

9) My ex-employer rolled out tax refund for resignees, together with my last pay, I was able to claim a crisp amount. :)

10) I will soon be able to see Jay Chow in person :)

Grabe seems like I'm getting what I wish for, tumaya kaya ako ng lotto? :)

P.S. I still have one wish na dati ko pang gusto. I thought I could sense some enlightenment during my vacation, but to no avail. :( Probably I set the wrong expectations, wrong goal, wrong wish. Sa bagay, I have crazy wishes at times hehe. Still, crossing my fingers.. God's willing.

P.P.S. Sheesh.. sometimes I get scared, sana tumagal pa ang swerte ko.

Worthwhile Vacation

Finally I was able to spare some time to blog again.

A week's worth vacation is finally over. Gosh, I was so so tired,before, during and after vacation. hehe. A week before I left SG, I had an upset stomach for several days :( and my mind was somehow preoccupied with the burden of carrying the TV as part of my checked-in luggage. It's not an easy task. So many preparations..stuffing pillows in the box, putting labelsof 'FRAGILE' all over, at the same time also being bothered whether the customs people in NAIA are going to block my way in anticipation of 'lagay'. Luckily, everythingwent out smoothly. I dont think I'll have a repeat of buying huge electronic items. :)

Home again. Funny to think I went home primarily just to spend my bday there. Hey birthday happens only oncea year, pagbigyan! I'm glad to say I was able to squeeze as many things as I can into my schedule. Medical - 6 dental fillings(haha!), prophylaxis, blood test, check-ups, derma!. Relaxing - facial, swedish massage, foot spa, haircut. Food - buffet, seafood fest with family, even had time for Jollibee and Andoks! (I have to blog about the Food separately) Of course,meeting several friends to catch up with life's stories. Oops, and yes I also got my last pay and tax refund from my previous employer. To my delight, it's more than I expected :) I also did my shopping galore for clothes and essentials (I think I have a half year's worth of feminine napkin, feminine wash, skin care stuff, as well as office clothes and pajamas hehe). Lastly, ala off-the-beaten-track, I even got time to spend a night at Edsa Shang again, had a videoke session and a quick out-of-town trip.

Well spent! Sulit! Bitin sa oras. More! :p

On my flight back, again I had difficulty with my baggages. I had my usual handbag, laptop bag and a small handcarry luggage. On top of these, I had to bring 2 additional ala-gym bag, 1 for my grocery essentials (that's ok) and the other for the 'bilin'. Grabe, 5kg of clothes, celeteque moisturizers, napkins again, medicine, belt, cellphone headset. Waah.

When I got back on Sunday, like most of the OFW, I had the 'depression' syndrome, withdrawal. Backsliding. The break from the usual momentum is making me hard to adjust. Sakit sa K (katamaran).


Bday Aftermath:
Somehow crossing the 25-age meter last year marks the beginning of real adolescence, and probably the time when you stop being a kid and start thinking about what lies ahead. Back then, I don't know what I really want to do, but one thing's for sure is that I'm not satisfied. 'Life should be better than this' - keeps repeating at the back of my mind. For one, working in my previous company is not a job that I want to be in for a long time, too many weird people who feels they are UBER good, it's like a lot of people are playing their own superhero and villain pathetic roles with masks on their faces. :p Anyway, cant blame them as they need such to survive. Well the last team I was part of was really extremes. (wehehe pero bka d2 ulit kabagsakan kong company if I decide to go back waah) Another thing - probably at the corners of my mind (or any sane and normal girl you'd ask), I also hope to find my life time partner. Crazy but yes, I used to hope that I'd get married at age 25 and have kids haha. Unfortunately, I dont seem to see any clear signs. So off I took the plunge into the deep waters (lalim). I finally had the courage to break the monotony and go somewhere else to lead a new life.

Right now I still dont know if this is right. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and can't believe I'm not in my usual home, asking myself 'hey am I really doing this?' At least there are things to look forward to, things to keep me sane. So probably as I hop into 26, I can manage to smile and say 'life is good'. (nag-advertise pa tlaga ng blog) hehe. And to add.. 'life is good and it should keep getting better'. :p

It's Striking Again

I am in a mild state of depression.. (drama)


It was only a day before my flight nun nag-sink in sa akin that I'll be leaving again. I feel blessed to be able to do so many things and meet people in my short vacation. Somehow, even if I have people to hang out with in SG, there's still a pinch of solitude as I leave Manila.


I thought I'll be able to get over the 'crying' at the airport scene, but.. my mom still went with me to the airport even if I insisted I wanted to be alone and just let the driver accompany me. Waah saddening.. (hehe parang scene sa movie) She cried and I cried. :p (She didnt accompany me the first time I left)

Oh that's life.. give me a few days to recover.

Gadget Hunt is on (Part 2)

June has been a crazy month for me! :) After buying several things already (refer to Part 1 of Gadget Hunt), I ended the month with a bang.

GST (tax refund) is going up by 2% come July1 so the rush got the heck of me.

Now I know why Funan IT mall is a paradise for gadget addicts and IT geeks. I was there 5x on the last week of June while canvassing what to buy. It seems that there's always another model or a good deal that fancies me everytime I was there in those 5 times, then I have to go home and read reviews again.. and cycle continues.

Okay.. so i bought a.. Laptop! On the dot, that's June30.

Whooa even if I'm a laptop user for 4 years, I dont care to know the specs, it was company's property anyway. Now of course it's different, I have to consider carefully what to buy and something that works on my budget too.

I got my Lenovo baby :), specs below:

Core2Duo T7100 (1.8GHz), pre-Santa Rosa

1GB DDR2

Windows Vista Home Premium

120GB SATA HDD

1.3MP cam

Burner/Wifi/Bluetooth/wireless

Media accelerator x3100

Dobly sound Surround system with Subwoofer

6-in-1 card reader

It's more of a home entertainment laptop. Unique about this model is the subwoofer.. the sounds are really wonderful. And oh they have this cool feature for face recognition, similar to the logic of fingerprint reader, but this one takes snapshots of your face and the image can be encoded as your 'password' instead for logging in.

The only thing lacking in this model is the Geforce Nvidia stuff (dedicated memory/video card), those for gaming. Anyway, I gave up on this since I'm not really a hardcore gamer anyway.

Probably that day was my lucky day. Along with it, I have a lot of freebies! the actual promo just includes a free 120GB Seagate external hard disk, then the usual laptop carrying case

However probably due to sheer luck and a bit charm, I was able to request a few more stuff from the store manager:

1year Norton Antivirus internet security

Emci optical mouse (retractable)

Lenovo Warcraft slipcase (limited edition)

6GB Seagate flash disk

4USB-port hub

I was even able to request for another slipcase for the friend who accompanied me! We joke around saying umepek ata ang charm ng mga bagong rebond. hehehe Pero mabait talaga yun nagbenta.

All in all, my freebies are already worth almost 15K! Good deal! It's still darn cheaper to buy gadgets here than Philippines.

Now.. I'm broke. Waah. hihi

My gadget hunt ends temporarily for the mean time. No more electronics shopping for me, quota na. :)

Excited

Not much to say...

except that

I'm excited to go home!!!!!!! :))))

:p