Christmas 2010 and Scribbles

Few days before Christmas time.. and yet i still dont genuinely feel it, except for a few parties on hand.

It's the first time I attempted to give a little christmas feel to my room. :)





This year was again a different year compared to previous years.

For one, I tried to move to a better job since I dont really seem to have a better reason to go home yet, I would wish I had, so as to spare me of some guilt... And this job has seized me by the neck. Fortunately things turn out ok so far, as they say the best way to conquer an enemy is to befriend him. Me and teammate are now ok, nilaglag nga lng ako pero tinulungan pa rin naman ako in the end :). Nothing much to rant.

I seemed to live in depression for about 2 months last year after the careles accident at home and rushing myself to emergency alone, dont worry I can laugh about it now. It might sound like a biggie, but this seems to be the most difficult issue I've faced after my dad passed away. Scary to be standing in the mirror everyday, trying to ignore the obvious but yet still thinking 'what the hell has just happened'. I felt uneasy, cant blame it women are women, they worry about how they look. When it's there, it's there, which is quite true. Thank God time heals all wounds, let's just leave it like that. Totally ignored.

And even I didnt expect I could regain the confidence and had this overwhelming photoshoot where I felt like a star. It was the first time I felt excited and insisted to my friend, 'hey put your (logo) watermark on it!' And I started using my marketing ideas for a tagline for her website, that is targeted to premium market. It goes something like this: 'Youth and beauty are priceless, let me capture them and make them forever'. She said 'wow, ang classy naman ng pagkaoffer ko, may talent ka sa mga ganyan ha'. Hehe of course I dont want to be the sole person to benefit from the effort, I think the pictures she has taken of me would be quite good to put in her website, the lighting, postproc, and my expressions are good (I dont know how I did it too) :) And as another advertising effort, I tried chitchatting with my MUA (make up artist) and she requested me to send her the pictures. I was betting maybe 50:50 she'll use use my pix. And yes, she liked it and put it on her website as well (cause it would also benefit her to show off her makeup and hairstyling skills). Sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone. Everybody happy kumbaga. :)

I didnt make good progress with love, if I can only force myself or teach my heart, I would have done so eons back. Sometimes my friend and I have this funny saying 'God kung magbibigay ka ng lalaki, lubus-lubusin mo naman sana, wag installment, may sablay eh' :))

I think my cooking skills have improved, or at least the decoration skills have :) My dishes look more appetizing now. I'm in the midst of honing my 'specialty dish' hehe. At least some fallback career when I retire, maybe I can do catering. Wow dream big! Honestly I cant cook for more than 2-3, mahirap magtantya talga. So there's much more practice needed here.

I travelled two places this year: Cambodia and Vietnam. I think I'm done with Southeast Asia. I like to travel, so many more spots to go. Yeah I love Europe and am still having this crazy idea that the time I'll be going there will be on honeymoon. My friend scolded me, 'gaga malaki ang Europe, just leave Italy and France on the last, until you get a yummy guy to marry to'. Ok this is normal for girltalk, dont squeak. Here's my converstaion with God: 'Lord, kung ndi mo pa ako bibigyan ng asawa, sana matinong travel buddy man lng '. :))

Stepping into 30 is again another scary number haha. But probably I just want to make peace with myself and hopefully be at peace with everyone. As much as possible I dont want to lie to myself anymore. Sometimes I feel I lie to myself too much. :D And I aint gonna worry about tomorrow. Life is just going to be simple. :)

One Year Again!

Tomorrow marks my 1yr at work. Hmm this is a milestone :D Time really flies.

I have so many things to say about this year! but too little time to blog. Still busy packing my balikbayan box at this second for my take-home goodies + disposal of my unwanted garbage as well :) As my sister puts it, 'wag mo na isama basura mo!' But what can I do, I dont have enough space!

Work is a little manageable now, no more instances to piss me off (keeping my fingers crossed). I suddenly become a release manager for the upcoming release next year, whatta name, but yeah I still prefer to be a follower, really! And oh there's occasional layoff (a dramatic one, I will blog next time). I care less now, kung matanggal man, SO? I'm really getting old, dont have the energy to waste time on these rants :D

Sharing one of my fave pix from the cheongsam shoot (aint over with it) :p I love this shot, my friend has labelled this as 'Wishful Thinking'. There seems to be elements of hope and tint of positivity. - exactly what I need, or everyone needs if I may say so. :)



Happy holidays!

P.S. I think this song suits the picture, one of my LSS last month

蘇打綠-無眠

你現在想著誰　有沒有和我相同的感覺
固執等著誰　卻驚覺已無法倒退
曾經想一起飛　在自己心中蓋了座花園
把你的一切　都種在這個地點
卻像魚守在裡面

Quick Translation:

who are you thinking of now, do we feel the same way
stubbornly waiting, yet knowing there's not much turning back
dreamt of flying together, grooming a garden in one's heart
have all about you, planted in this spot
and be like a fish, guarding inside it

It was too artsy, I am not sure how the garden relates to the fish, perhaps there's a fish pond inside it :p. But yeah even if I dont get it, anything catchy catches my attention. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2TtliknCEA

Ooops dont dwell too much on the voice/gender or whatever, I dont know the gender too, but I like the lyrics and melody :)

I Feel Like A Celebrity!

At the ripe age of 29 :p, I feel like a celebrity for the first time. :D

My photographer friend and I have been planning for a photoshoot for quite some time. With the numerous chinese movies and series that I have watched, I've always been curious how I would look like in the olden times of China. So here is the unique theme I have chosen: cheongsam! :D

This is a serious shoot with effort, I went for professional hair and make-up. Setting is at Chinese Garden.

I probably have never been this dolled up all my life. It was a holiday and there were a few tourists in Chinese Garden. While my friend was changing her lens and adjusting lights, a few of the tourist went up to me and asked to be taken photographs with :p. One from China told me 'hen piao liang'. Whew it's the first time I heard that compliment. :)

When I was doing another set for modern theme near the grassland, there was a leisure photographer taking scenery who suddenly change his theme from nature to me. We just let it be. Weird and unethical guy who didnt bother speaking to us for chitchatting or asking permission, basta na lng naki-shoot (nang matagal) at umalis :p.

Another couple asked me 'are you from a modelling agency'.

There were some rain drizzles and fortunately, my friend still managed to capture some good shots for me. Here's a teaser again :)


The shot ended well and I treated my friend for dinner (of course back to normal daily wear). The power of false eyelashes - it is quite strange to be stared at, including a guy on a date with his gf beside our table who kept on glancing every so often. This guy needs some serious spanking!

Everything felt so surreal. I know I am not really pretty or slim, but I am glad for once in my lifetime, I feel like a celebrity! :)

High Heels for the 1st time!

I never thought I'd wear high heels in my life until yesterday :)



I'm a late bloomer! Here's a teaser of how it looked like on my feet :D

Men's Watchout Manual for Stressful Women

Is my title catchy enough? :p

I almost forgot how it feels to have close female friends until I left for SG. So far I've met several here and formed real good friendships with them. I can vouch for any of them as good gf/wife material :D They are considerate, responsible, independent, well-rounded, fun to be with especially on vacation trips. All, except one. (may) God forbid me for being honest. I never lost my temper and patience with any close friend, yet. Unless you currently fall so hard, head-banged, with a girl who happened to be similar with what I'll be describing below, I strongly suggest you shun away every possible opportunity. Else, be ready indeed for a stressful life.

1) Self-centered and full of herself
The center of the universe. It's always her. When you talk, you want me to listen to your same heartache stories with your boy over and over again that it's already so annoying. When I talk, you dont listen because it's too obvious you dont remember what I've been saying.
I couldnt get more upset when you tell me 'hey mauna ka naman oh, try mo kung anong meron dyan. Takot kasi ako. Mas gusto kong mauna ang iba then tell me na lng what's inside'. - It sounds similar to me like 'mauna ka na bka nakakamatay yan, para safe ako. Ano ako, guinea pig?'


2) So so vain and slow
Before I thought I am considered quite ma-picture in trips until I met you, you are almost 10X worse than me. You want a picture in every corner (even beside some bushes and stones?), taken several times again and again with exactly the same background. When you have a few hair strands out of sync, it is considered unacceptable and you want me to retake again and again. You want every shot to be perfectly neat, which I find too monotonous, hey wind blown hair is quite acceptable to me (well my current profile pic says so) I never expected na ako ang susuko. I am so tired of taking pictures of you, yourself and yourself.

I understand women like to retouch (make-up), well I also do in dates or if I am out with a guy, paimpress or just to look good. I cannot understand what's taking you at least 15-30minutes for retouch in every break when you are just with me and some tourmates. I dont see the need, parehas tayong babae. And because of that I am always waiting forever and chasing on you, 'uy bilisan mo naman, maiiwan na tayo ng tour bus'.. Until we really got left behind by the bus and was asked to join another tour van. I finally lost my temper when the driver asked me to sit in the very small uncomfortable foldable seat in the middle lane of an L3 van. It's ok for a short ride, but hey it's a 4hour+ ride and I am suffering because of your slowness, we could have avoided it grrh!


3) Overly pacute in an attempt to be kid-like
A must-visit section in a department store, for me kid's section is not really an essential part of it. We both dont have kids yet so I dont see the urgent need to visit kid's section in a tour. It felt tiring to hear 'uy ang cute-cute ng bear oh', 'ang cute cute ni pooh', 'ang cute ng blouse'.. Lahat na lng 'ang cute cute'. And it was already 830pm and I didnt have dinner yet. Seems like it's going nowhere that I finally blurted, 'd ka ba gutom, kain na tayo, bka masarhan pa tayo'.

If you look like Kim Chiu, then I definitely will tell you it's ok to be kidlike and it just fits so perfectly and naturally. But if you dont, please don't attempt.


4) Strange thoughts
Perhaps it's me growing old and patience shrieking, but hey we are just born few months apart.
Nakakainis sa work, naiinis ako kay ganito. naiinis ako kay ganon. Even if you change project assignments, change jobs, it's still the same story. - Someone told me before that if your problems are always the same, chronic, repeating in every environment, it's a sign that the problem is not them, it's you.

Gusto ko ang magiging bf ko does not have any past relationships and should be a virgin - I almost choke. Nosebleed ang requirements :). May ganon pa bang lalake? Well I dont know. Perhaps if a guy did it with a serious gf (hopefull the gf is also of considerable 'quality' standards), it shouldnt be too much to condemn and dwell on? Well of course, you also still respect guys who are disciplined to keep their chastity. But in the ever-advancing modern generation now, people have changed havent they?

Sana may PA (personal assistant) tayong kasama para someone will carry my stuff and bags when we take pictures, para makapagpose. Nosebleed again. D ko tlaga masakyan. :)

I hope someone writes a similar guide for Women lol.

The Last Lecture - fave quotes

It's so rare for me to pick up a book and start reading.. that I have to note them down everytime I do :) .

Here are some of my fave quotes taken from 'The Last Lecture'. There are actually too many that I stopped taking notes before halfway finishing the book. Hence these lines can be found in the first half.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand

Just because you’re in the driver’s seat, doesn’t mean you have to run people over

Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome

If you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.

Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

I’m going to find a way to be happy, and I’d really love to be happy with you, but if I cant be happy with you, then i’ll find a way to be happy without you.

Hidden Potential: Hunting Rare Finds

I find it ecstatic when people tell me something about me that I never even noticed.

In almost all of my Manila visits, I am always close to turning insane on how to stuff my pasalubong in a small 15kg limit of a budget airline haha. Obviously I would have some goodies for my family and my mom will also disperse a few to some of her close friends.

If time and budget permit, I usually have the habit to dig good finds in every place I go, these should be uncommon and are price-friendly and of good quality and should NOT be available in Manila. Perhaps it also suits the tastes of the old filchi aunties in Manila, that's why 'bumenta'. Some of the rare finds are:
Milk tea (not lipton but another brand)
Satay bbq in sealed microwaveable packs
Australian Herbs and Spices
Dried orange peels
Bottled fried shallots
..etc..

Anyway, it turned out the goodies reach my kumare’s mom as well. Her mom asked my kumare to buy the same things. She then has to ask me back where to get those as she cant seem to spot them, thus I accompanied her one time to buy. It happened several times, that she finally concluded, ‘Les, may talent ka, you have the potential’. She said I probably can try my luck in the distributor business. Woow winner, love her to bitz hihi :D

Check out my latest find from Vietnam. I brought a pack to share with my officemate. Upon first munch, they also said 'hey Leslie it's good, you should have gotten 10 packs for us'. Seriously, I never knew that is such thing as cappucino peanuts. I am not a die-hard fanatic of either, but it is good combination to coat nuts with coffee indeed.



I wanna be a shopper! :)