About verabear

http://verabear.net

Posts by verabear:

390 Comments

, 6 Comments

August Comment Challenge update: I made a grand total of 390 comments! Epic fail! Hahaha 🙂 But I failed only in terms of reaching the 1000 comments goal. I succeeded in finding new blogs to follow, and really engaging myself more when hopping around the blogosphere. I hope that I have also encouraged a reader, or two, to go ahead and leave comments and interact with the blogs you also visit.

Like today, it was a welcome surprise to see a friend’s name in my comment box. I miss you girl, and miss just hanging out and laughing so hard with you. When was the last time? Too long ago! Let’s go watch the UST choir’s concert together 🙂

Entrecard Top Droppers for August: Thank you so much! Once again, I appreciate the visits, and more the footprints you leave behind.

I only saw one movie in the cinema in August – The Expendables! But I did get to see a couple more movies from home, including Julie Delphy and Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset. Then there were the  movies shown on cable TV that we would watch in the afternoons. Movies like The Rocker, and this other movie where the protagonist was a high schooler who got thrown into prison for a while, and then attended a different school when he came out. In the new school, he established an entirely different reputation: that of a bad boy. He has a band too, with his old geeky friends. I don’t know the title of the movie, but Zooey Deschanel was there too as his friend and band mate (not his love interest though). The new guy lived with his dad in a trailer, and I remember how the boyfriend wondered aloud how in other parts of the world, motorhomes are real homes. It must be exciting to be able to drive your home somewhere and not worry about spending on accommodations, and having the great outdoors as your living room or porch. But it could be a tiresome life too not to have much private space. And if you really traveled a lot on it, you’d probably rack up huge costs on motorhome repairs! Oohh, but I’ve gone too much out of topic here.. what’s the title of the movie again? You gotta help me out babe!

Anyhoo… in September I plan on reorganizing and backing up my pictures stored in my hard drive, and the older photos in the external hard drive. Some of those photos have not been looked at or shared since they were taken and transferred. It’s going to be a huge undertaking because I’m sure I’ll be prompted to post-process and share most of them. Maybe I’ll even be inspired to scrap pages out of some.

I’ll also be launching my health blog this month, and hopefully launch a new design for The Newbie Photographer. The boyfriend would also like to use his blog to showcase his photos so we’ll be checking out a more suitable template for him. That would be nice, seeing that blog has gathered a lot of dust.

I’ll be seeing my girlfriends next week for a fun (wholesome, or not?) bridal shower for one of our friends. I hope this signals another round of meetups with other friends as well.

September is also gearing up to be an exciting month on the work front. 🙂

What are your plans for September?

Sweet Sixteen

, 2 Comments

I don’t remember my sixteenth birthday. And I don’t say that with any bitterness ha, I just really don’t remember what we did or who I was with at the time.

My niece and goddaughter Ycha Shanti celebrated her 16th birthday on National Heroes’ Day, August 30th. It was a simple celebration, but she had a LOT of guests! I’m sure she will remember this for a long time.

She’ll be graduating from high school in a few months, and then she’ll be starting a brand new adventure: college/university life! Earlier this month, she took the UPCAT (University of the Philippines College Admission Test). Soon, she’ll be taking entrance exams to other universities in the metro. I have no doubt that she will find a good school. She has the head and heart for school, but she also doesn’t forget to enjoy and just be a kid. 🙂

I heard that she’s also interested in learning photography. Maybe my gift to her would be to help her develop that (since I don’t have the dough to get her her camera, haha).

Mana sa Ninang 🙂

Ate, with Da Boys

Me, Papa (our grandfather), and Shanti

with her girlfriends (since they were younger kids)

with her schoolmates, the other boys in her class didn't join the shoot. but there's probably as many boys as there were girls.

All photos were captured by the boyfriend, which explains the abundance of my face in these stills. Haha 🙂

Scooter Sunday

, , 3 Comments

After almost a month of staying away from Trinoma, the boyfriend and I stepped into the mall again yesterday. We had two things in mind: lunch at Conti’s and grocery shopping for my SBD meals that he prepares for me.

Lunch was satisfying. He had lengua, while I had the American grilled spareribs. For starters, we ordered gambas with mushrooms. The meal was completed with a slice of Mango Bravo that we both shared.

From there, we headed inside the mall and walked around a bit. At the Activity Centre, there were cars and scooters on display, among other things. We checked out the Suzuki APV, which would be a nice family car. There was also the Suzuki Swift, a white one, that would be a great first car for just the two of us. But it wasn’t the four-wheeled cars that got my attention. It was the scooters.

First, my eyes were glued to the Kymco Like:

It’s cute, not too small, and has a compartment at the back.

A few steps away, my heart was captivated by the Yamaha Mio Fino:

It has that vintage feel to it, even when it’s actually brand new. The one on display was tinted in gold, but not a very bright one. It looked more brown to me than gold, but since the salesman said gold, then that it is.

Both scooters share the same price range but if I were really to consider buying a scooter, I’d probably go for the Fino.

What would I use a scooter for? To get to and from work, of course. I can potentially save some money in the long run, plus I wouldn’t have to wait for a cab anymore. We can also use it to go to the seminary, or to the groceries along E.Rod. But do I really really want to hop on a scooter? I’ve never been on one, so I’m not really sure. Besides, I can’t stand the pollution so I’m sure I won’t be using it much around major thoroughfares.

Still I really think it would be cool to have one. Besides, my brother and dad have been bugging me to get one since I started working at NCO. I just never really liked the idea of being on a scooter. Maybe that will change.

After the boyfriend bought a pair of jeans, we went down to the supermarket for our last errand of the day. We enjoyed grocery shopping for food that follows the SBD guidelines. Alfred will be cooking for me again this week. 🙂

We picked up something that’s not exactly SBD though. Two boxes of Guylian chocolates, La Trufflina. They were on the buy-one-take-one rack because they will be expiring in the next two months. So what. Haha.

La Trufflina is an irresistible combination of Belgian chocolate truffles with a smooth milk chocolate truffle filling. Each truffle is enrobed with the finest milk, white or dark Belgian chocolate and delicately sprinkled with fine chocolate flakes. An unparalleled chocolate dream.

It was a fun afternoon, even if we were exhausted a little since we both came from our work shifts. I also missed an NCO party yesterday because I was tired, and was also having stomach cramps due to dysmenorrhea. Ugh. Yes. Primolut N worked for me that I actually started bleeding again before the month ended. And I’ve been wearing maternity pads for a few days now. Ugh. Sorry, too much info!

Beth-Beth

, 1 Comment

It would have been nice if this post was accompanied by her photo from our Saturday morning brunch, but I forgot to take out my camera to take a snapshot of her… Okay, I just sneaked around her Facebook profile and found this photo of her from early this month (don’t worry, I left a note asking for permission):

That's Beth in the middle, with her boyfriend, and one of her sisters.

We met in highschool and continued to be friends even when we were no longer classmates, and didn’t attend the same University. She lived and grew up in and around E. Rodriguez too. So back in the day, I would frequently visit her house, and she was a frequent visitor in ours. When we started working, we’d meet up every once in a while just to catch up.

A few months ago, I was surprised to find out that she was working in another country! What a friend, huh (referring to me)? I didn’t even know that she’d already completed 4 out of the 5 years in her contract. Imagine that? She’s been away so long and I didn’t even know. 🙁 So when I found out that she’s home for vacation this month, I sorta ‘reserved’ a date with her. She would have been great company to the UPSA anniversary concert, but she had a full day planned for Friday. I remember seeing the Madrigal Singers at the CCP with her. It was a totally impromptu date because I got free tickets from another friend on the same day. I don’t remember what year that was!

So today (Saturday) we had a healthy brunch at the Pancake House along E.Rodriguez, a place that’s accessible to both of us. We didn’t eat much but talked a lot instead. She hasn’t seen Jo Arni yet, which I found really odd since they were already in the same country as of a few months ago. We talked about health issues, gaining and losing weight, our partners, our highschool batchmates who are now married and with kids,  and so many other things. We talked about our jobs, and how we can be passionate about the work, but how sometimes there are people around that just drain your life force! Haha! Like always, it was so easy to just get right into it. I guess when you’re good friends, you just pick up where you left off.

I am so glad we saw each other again after all these years. I look forward to seeing her when she comes home again next year, and hopefully, she’ll be singing at my wedding. 🙂

I can see that my friend’s in a good place, and it makes me happy. She’s happy. And I know it’s not just because she’s found someone, but it’s most probably a combination of so many good things happening for her. She wishes to come back home and stay for good when her contract expires. I hope she finds (or creates) an opportunity here that would allow her to continue helping her family without having to leave home. I hope she gets what she wishes for, she has a year to prepare for it.

Have a safe trip back to the Middle East dear friend, and stay safe and happy until we meet again 🙂 Isip ka na ng kakantahin mo!

30 Years of UPSA at the CCP

, 3 Comments

Tonight was a night of beautiful music.

In the hours leading to the concert, I’d been hesitating to go, but only because I wasn’t seeing the show with my girlfriends and it was being held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines which would be a lucky hour away on Friday night traffic. But it’s been at least five years since I’ve seen the University of the Philippines Singing Ambassadors in action, and having pledged as a lifetime fan of the group, how could I miss out on such a momentous event such as their 30th anniversary?

Besides, my colleague Ida was also in the show, and I’d told her even before she invited us that I was definitely going to be there.

The national anthem was being sung while I walked up the steps of the CCP. Leaving my Deena at the baggage counter wrapped up in my violet shawl took awhile because I was unwilling to leave her there. The few minutes of battling whether to leave her or have the boyfriend take her home cost me the seat with my colleagues. Because I was late, I had to sit at the back where it was freezing cold. Nice. My camera was snug and warm with my shawl wrapped around her, while I was shivering in cold!

But the music warmed my heart. My friend Pauie was in many of the numbers, and she again sang the solo (along with another alumna) for Light of a Million Mornings. Can’t help but feel proud of both her and Ida. My dad’s cousin is also with UPSA and he was on the show. Too bad I didn’t get to say hi after as the lobby scene was quite crazy already. Would have been nice to say hi to Carlo too, a friend we also met via Pauie and the UPSA.

I guess yesterday’s post was a bit inspired by the knowledge that I was going to see UPSA perform tonight. The UPSA experience, or the similar high of becoming part of a University-based group, or a cultural group, is something I also missed out on. Again, no regrets, because at the time there really were other things going for me. But if my future kids show even the slightest interest in learning to sing and being part of a choral group, I’d encourage them to join UPSA (assuming they get into UP in college of course). Talk about parents living vicariously through their kids. Haha. 🙂

Makahanap nga ng choir na pwede ko pang salihan ngayon… hmmm.. any ideas? 🙂

Anyway, here’s an old video of Pauie and the UPSA performing Light of a Million Mornings (previously posted here):

«< 101 102 103 104 105 >»

ARCHIVES

© Stitches & Words 2025
Powered by WordPress • Themify WordPress Themes
%d bloggers like this: