Mahal

Gerardo’s

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I didn’t see my friend and her son today. When she sent me a message this afternoon, it was to say that the boy was taking a nap. We’ll make plans next week. I think it’s a blessing too that we didn’t see each other today. At least I’d be able to prepare for that meeting better. I can make truffles for Adam! 🙂

And next week, I will not be sleeping through Sunday morning.

For the first time in a long time, I went out for a drink with Alfred after work this morning. There’s this place in Sgt.Esguerra, Gerardo’s, that has been a known hangout of people from the office. It’s a 24-hour bar/restaurant, perfect for vampires. When I started working at the company, I’d go to Gerardo’s with my batchmates almost everyday. We’d go drinking at six in the morning! At the time, Alfred had a different type of work and he really was against me going out with my work friends – mostly boys – at that time.

When he started work there too, it was his turn to spend a lot of time at Gerardo’s. That stopped eventually, just like I stopped frequenting the place. But recently, he’s been going out more often again, with a new and bigger crowd this time. I don’t really mind. Really.

This morning, I waited for him to get off work so we could just go home together. A few minutes before his supposed logout, he mentioned that there was buzz about going for some drinks. I knew he was thinking of declining on account of yours truly, but he mentioned it to me anyway. While on the elevator ride down the building, I casually asked him if he wants to buy me a drink and he jumped on it!

We walked to the new Gerardo’s at Panay Avenue, ordered, and then waited almost an hour before the rest of his friends joined us. I hadn’t spent any time with any of them outside of the office before; and being a supervisor, I hadn’t really exchanged more than a few words with them at a time. It was okay though. It’s a great way to catch up on office gossip too. Haha.

The new Gerardo’s is definitely an improvement over the original one, which is still open. It’s definitely bigger, better ventilated, and they even have interesting pieces of wicker of furniture. There’s a videoke room too that’s up for rent. 

We didn’t go home until over three hours later. I was so sleepy already – not tipsy mind you. I only had one bottle of Vodka Cruiser – blueberry – and a few sips of beer. We slept until half past two in the afternoon. I wasn’t sure if my date with the friend was still up so I couldn’t commit to another friend’s dinner invitation. For dinner, I fried some of the chicken patties we bought from my enterprising colleague Richard – it was yummy! While eating, we picked up on a conversation we started this morning at Gerardo’s – how to make more money. We’re going to be trying something soon. We were so inspired we went out right away to the grocery and looked/bought some stuff so we could see just how possible this idea is. I’m excited 🙂

I’ll share more when things really shape up 😉

Seeing Home

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I belong to a Yahoogroup of mostly women who spend a lot of their time on their computer – both on- and offline. A lot of them create tags using PaintShop Pro; they would then offer those tags up and group members can have their name put on them, for free. Like this one:

I am in three groups now. One is a group owned by a tagger, and I am just there to snag. The other is a sharing group where I get most of my freebie fonts and other graphics files. I joined that one so I can have something to share in this third group. Group number three is open to both taggers and snaggers, but tags aren’t the only things shared. There are sub-groups or committees in T4S, much like an organization. There are groups for people wanting to learn PSP, and a support group for those who want to lose weight, a recipe sharing circle, among others.

The first group I ever joined some three or four years ago was Friend2Friend. F2F was not just about the graphics files, it was really a community of women from all over the world. To this day, I’m not much of a forum person because I got so used to just logging on to my email and seeing all the chatter from women of all ages and from all over. 

Although most of the women in the group were much older in years, and led very different lives from mine, I felt that I truly belonged there. That I had found friends. For the past three years, I always receive a lot of interesting Christmas cards posted from the other side of the world. I only resigned from the group because I didn’t have time to perform “duties” as a leader of one of its committees, and eventually I couldn’t be an active member. Perhaps it’s time to think about rejoining. 

Anyway, it was through F2F that I first learned about PaintShop Pro. I signed up for the PSP Workshop and went through tutorials that taught me the basics of the software. There was always someone available to help you out with a software question, specially when you were dealing with the weekly assignment. 

Whew, I had no intentions to reminisce about F2F. What I really wanted to share was this photo that I recently received from one of the groups. It reminded me of Auntie Nellie’s house in Bangaan (in Sagada, Mt.Province):

I seriously don’t know why I don’t have a picture of her house that shows her lovely front yard that’s as filled with color as this artwork is. Maybe I do but I’ll have to search for it.

I’m not sure that I ever had a picture in my mind of the house that I’d like to grow old in. But I think it pretty much looks like this.  Mind you, I have no green thumb, so I have no idea how I could get a lovely garden. But since I am dreaming, it’s not impossible.

I’d always thought that the sala or living room would be the central part of my house, just as it is in my parents’ house. We are a family who spend their time at night gathered around the TV. We don’t hie off to our rooms until bedtime. Lately though, when Alfred and I discussed future homes, we kinda agreed that the kitchen would probably eat up a lot of the space. He would cook, I would bake. So maybe the kitchen will be the central space in this, our house. I can’t wait to map it out how it will look, and to pick the many appliances we’ll be needing. 🙂

When we were building this house at 19th street, where we all still live, everyone was involved in choosing the furnishings. There were times that we’d go to the builder’s depot as a family, just to pick out the bathroom faucets, kitchen sink, tiles and even paint. I actually enjoyed those times. I didn’t mind at all. If we do decide to move in to the condo instead of renting it out, I know I will have fun fixing it up. Unless the cost frustrates me, that is.

Visiting Baclayon Church

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Be sure you’ve read my previous Bohol posts before continuing with this one 🙂 Read Parts one, two, and three.


From the Loboc River Cruise, there was only stop left for us in the tour – the oldest church in the island and the second oldest in the country: Baclayon Church.

I didn’t get a very good picture of the church because it started to drizzle when we got there. But the Church faces the sea and the view from the museum’s windows were so picturesque. The breeze was refreshing too. I understand that the Parish school is right beside the church. It must be difficult to concentrate on school work when you’ve got such a lovely view just outside. 🙂

For lack of a beautiful picture by yours truly, I turned to my trusty search engine and found these lovely photos:

Don’t you just love those colors? Here’s another photo, too bad the uploaded photo is quite small. 

It would have been nice to explore the interior of the Church, but they had a seminar ongoing at the time, so we didn’t get to walk around that much. I remember having gone there the first time I was in town in 1999 or 2000. But I didn’t get any photos. Old Catholic churches are interesting even just for all the history you can find in its furnishings. The fact that it was already raining outside, and the sun was hiding, added to my frustration at only having my camera phone for pictures. 

They have a museum here that charges a 20 peso entrance fee. I could have skipped that, but Alfred was interested so we walked up. There’s a souvenir shop in the vicinity too. 

The Jesuit-built church at Baclayon is also known as the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. You can read about it here.

By the time we were ready to go out, the rain was pouring. They weren’t allowing vehicles to enter the parking area so our car was outside by the road. Like a boy scout, an umbrella’d Janny came to us toting two additional umbrellas – one for each of us.

The next time I visit Baclayon, I hope there’ll be more sun and we better be equipped with a better camera too. I am sure there was much to see inside the Church itself. 

On the way back to the city, we had one more stop – a souvenir shop that allegedly gave discounts. It was a bit more pricey and even with the discounts, you’re better off buying elsewhere. We did buy some of their bead bracelets and necklaces. Those were reasonably priced and they had some good designs too.

This concludes our countryside tour of Bohol. Next post will finally be on our Panglao Island experience – the beach! 🙂

Reasons to be happy – friendship and new tower!

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Yep, that is me alright – miss hap-hap-happy! 🙂 

I endured not having the use of my desktop PC for several days, and I am now rewarded with a much faster and reliable system!

Short of dumping my old PC in the trash, Alfred and I bounded to Gilmore Avenue and came home almost two hours later with boxes and boxes that held what would make up my new PC tower. I blabbed about it over there, so if you want to know a little more of the specs of my brand new tower, go there and read up. 😉

Another reason to smile is this poem shared by fellow blogger Dette of Mammadawg and MuthahoodCrib fame:

We need friends for many reasons,
all throughout the season.
We need friends to comfort us
when we are sad,
and to have fun with us when we are glad.

We need friends to give us good advice,
We need someone we can count on,
and treat us nice.

We need friends to remember us
one we have passed
sharing memories that will always last.

Spread the poem of FRIENDSHIP:

1. Everyday Life 2. Words of Love 3. Sheng’s Simple Thoughts 4. Me and My World 5.Real Expectation 6. Muthahood Crib 7. Verabear 8. Add yours here!

 

I’m only spreading this to one other friend though: Tracy 🙂

 

I, and the rest of the family, Alfred included, are looking forward to our new fitness equipments. Okay, I haven’t actually confirmed if my parents made the purchase, but my dad is suddenly motivated to exercise. We’ve had this treadmill for years but it mostly just gathers dust, until my dad started using it again daily since last week. 

The treadmill was also my equipment of choice when I used to go to the gym. The ones there are electronic, and were more comfortable for me to use than the one we have here at home. If dad is getting a stationary bike though, there’s something I would definitely make time to use. 

Remember that Alfred and I are supposed to be on a program now? Well I still wouldn’t remove the supposed in that sentence. But you should see how animated our conversation got when I told Alfred about the pending arrival of new workout equipment. I just hope he does get to use it. He says he’s really looking forward to getting rid of his beer belly. I’m not quite confident. I’ve been kidding him and saying that he should probably pop bodybuilding supplements because he needs all the help he can get to have a body that girls would swoon over. 🙂

My favorite part of his body is still his chest and all the way to the shoulders, because of the way I feel so comfortable just snuggled there. I don’t really want that to become rock solid, but lifting weights might just give him the build that I know he wants too.

Alfred – 180lbs by January 25

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I’ve all but given up on my PC – it refuses to boot up, not recognizing the IDE Hard Drive properly. I don’t want to think about it for now. I’ll concentrate on convincing my brother to lend me the money to completely overhaul the darn thing.

I was looking forward to get home last night because I wanted to share an IM conversation that Alfred and I had. Here it is, in a mix of English and Filipino:

Alfred (NCO) says:

kala ko ba mag 5 step na tayo sa pagpapayat
verabear [@87934] says:

nga pala no
so ano ung step
1
Alfred (NCO) says:

setting goals
verabear [@87934] says:

so what are your goals?
ako to lose ten pounds in one month
Alfred (NCO) says:

pumayat health reasons
verabear [@87934] says:

motivation yan
concrete goals dapat
Alfred (NCO) says:

ok
verabear [@87934] says:

to wear my skinny jeans by october 25
Alfred (NCO) says:

lose 30 lbs in 2 months
verabear [@87934] says:

ano pang goals?
skinny pants pala ung sakin, hindi jeans
Alfred (NCO) says:

dapat mag 180lbs
verabear [@87934] says:

be 180lbs by nvember 25 ?
Alfred (NCO) says:

di naman
baka pede next year
verabear [@87934] says:

january?
concrete
anong month?
Alfred (NCO) says:

mga late jan or feb
verabear [@87934] says:

january 25
Alfred (NCO) says:

oo
verabear [@87934] says:

ano ung step 2
step ba o rule?
Alfred (NCO) says:

start now
step
verabear [@87934] says:

number one – start now
step one – start now
step two – set goals
step 3 – find motivation?
Alfred (NCO) says:

indi
verabear [@87934] says:

ahihi
Alfred (NCO) says:

1= set goals
2 = start now
verabear [@87934] says:

lista mo na lahat
Alfred (NCO) says:

3 = no shortcut
4 = motivate
5 = be happy

So where was this coming from? Alfred bought DVDs the other day and watched one movie after another while he was home. Among those movies is Toni Gonzaga and Sam Milby’s My Big Love (local). I haven’t seen it but parts of that movie were shot in one of the houses near us. While they were shooting the film, they had to use next door and then also our garage area to setup dressing rooms for the stars. I didn’t see the stars when they were here though. Ugh.

But back to our conversation… The film is about the girl helping the obese guy lose weight. Since Alfred is on his “I’ve got to lose weight” phase, he couldn’t have chosen a better time to see that film.

What does this mean for us though? Are we going on a diet? Are we finally going to sign up for the gym? I’m not yet sure really. It’s quite hard to pin down Alfred and have him come up with a concrete plan.

At least we’ve agreed on Step 1 – we’ve set goals:

– Me – lose 10 pounds by October 25 (this is so nothing compared to how much I really need to lose but it’s a stretch to actually lose 10 pounds in 30 days. Haha)

– Him – Weigh 180lbs by January 25. That’s three months away. I’ll post our starting weights at a later time. 🙂

– Me – Be able to wear the sleek skinny pants I bought two months ago. It fit me then, it doesn’t fit me now. Arghh!

And, though he has no real concrete plan yet, we’ve officially started (remember Step 2 in the conversation?).

I’ll be grocery shopping this weekend for salad to take with me to work. I’ll figure out a way to make it less work for me to have to prepare healthier food, and still less expensive than just ordering salad from Starbucks, Country Style, Wendy’s, Sexy Chef and/or Cibo (all available at our office building).

I’ll have to fit in some exercise too – what activity I’m not sure yet. Walking has got to be there. Then there’s also taking treatments at MF, something my mom has been bugging me about.

I can only hope I achieve my goals this time around. If I stick to whatever plan I’ll be making, even if I don’t lose much weight, at least I’d have given myself the best acne treatment, eh? Not that I actually needed one. I just suddenly remembered this kid who I think needs some help on her pimples. I wonder if it’s because of what she eats? Aw, stop it.

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