where the moon shines

I should seriously hit the sack. Sunday is the new Monday and I have to get back to work in a few hours.

Work.

I can think of so many other things to do on a Sunday:

• Go to Church (haven’t attended Sunday Mass in a looooong time)
• Photo Shoot
• Sleep
• Bake flourless chocolate cake (or learn to)
• Meet up with a friend or two
• Get on my iPad

That last one is a BIG threat. Hahaha. I must stay away from the iPad unless I really want to be a zombie at work tomorrow due to lack of sleep.

This weekend was a good one. I had an afternoon with my girlfriends, there was some drama, yes, but I had a wonderful time catching up. After picking up the iPad on Saturday (again thanks to my cousin who bought it for me from the Apple SG store, and her friend who carried it home), I also got to drop by to see another girlfriend who wasn’t able to join us on Friday). We had a super brief chat because my dad was waiting in the car for me, and she was having her nails done at The Barbershop in Project 4.  I realized later that I should’ve just asked Dad to leave me there so I could get a foot spa; I could have taken a cab home anyway.

But in a few hours, I have to face work again, and I’d have to focus. We’ll see if I’d be able to accomplish much on my first work day for the week. The soonest I can get things done, the more time I have and less pressure to finish by the end of the week. The good thing about working directly with agents again is getting to talk to them about their plans, and for some, even their hopes and dreams. Learning about their background and what they like doing outside of work, or what they intend to do with their lives, is something I look forward to. Knowing their motivations takes a lot of time, but as managers we need to have an idea. I was talking to one agent last week and was surprised to hear that he studied to be a nurse. If he gets tired of the call center industry, he can switch to healthcare jobs. He doesn’t seem interested at this time though, because he’ll have to do volunteer work at first and re-train before he can get a paying job. Oh well.

So I gotta go sleep, while there’s still time for it.

I know that in the US, this weekend was the three-day Labor Day weekend. We definitely felt it here too, miles and miles away, because calls to outsourced customer service accounts dipped. Here in the Philippines, next weekend will be a long one, owing to the declaration of a non-working holiday to mark the end of Ramadan. Many, even non-Muslims, are gearing up for a short vacation.

Even my nephew was talking about a trip to Ace Water Spa with my parents, and he didn’t seem to have the intention of asking me to tag along. He told me yesterday that they were going back there, so I asked when. He said, “sa three-day weekend ba yun?”

It would be nice to take a dip this weekend. Wonder if chlorine in the pools would be okay for my, by then, week-old rebonded hair?

back view

Hay. I wish we could somewhere this weekend too. A quick trip to Baguio, or nearer, Tagaytay. Or an overnighter somewhere, even a hotel in the city! I wonder how weekend Branson vacations are like? I’ve read a blogger talk about planning their trip there, or it happening now this Labor Day weekend?

The next and really only trip Alfred and I have planned is the one to Cebu next year, in February. Oh shoot! I wonder if it’s coinciding with a colleague’s wedding?

Okay, I just checked, and it does. Our last day there, is the day of the wedding. Not that I’ve been invited yet, but since we talk about it, is it safe to assume that I am? Oh no, that would be sad. I wouldn’t want to miss it, but our tickets are non refundable and not re-bookable. Or maybe it is, I’ll have to see. They hadn’t set their wedding date yet at the time we got the tickets.

Friday was a loooong day that extended upto Saturday. Actually, I think it all started on Thursday…

Thursday night:  attended the funeral of Kourtney. She’s a friend’s very young daughter who died of Dengue. She was at the ICU of the St.Luke’s Medical Center for only two days (if I remember correctly) before God ended her pain and took her to heaven. Before that, she’d been in and out of a hospital in Batangas.

That night at the memorial, it was raining, and the creek overflowed while I was at the church.

After the service offered by YAM and SKEP, I stayed on to sing hymns with friends I haven’t hung out with in a long time. Dex and his wife Joy are so young to be grieving over the loss of their only child. It also means that they still have a lot of life ahead of them, and they can definitely try for more babies. Dex is only 27.

We left the funeral just before 3AM. They were talking about Keema at Kebabers, or Tapsi from the store next to it. There was meryenda available at the wake, but I didn’t want to eat bread, no matter how tempting the ensaymada was. After a lot of prodding, the girls finally convinced me to treat them to breakfast at the Tapsihan where Fren works the night shift. So we invaded the sidewalk along La Ignaciana, and occupied the tables and chairs where the night owls from St. Luke’s would have spent their breaks. There was a lot of laughing going on because Chase was chasing each cutie away; every time a cute guy approached to buy something, he’d drop funny pickup lines! haha. All of them just smiled back naman.

It was already 4am of Friday by the time we called it quits. I was officially awake for24 hours.

A few hours later (this is Friday now), it was time to wake up and start a new day. We had a full day ahead: a visit to Tayhua store in Binondo to pick up photography gear, and a lunch/drinking session with my team at Sangkalan near the office. Finding Tayhua wasn’t too difficult, getting a cab back to QC was more challenging.

For lunch, we met up with my team and had a few hours just chatting, eating and drinking booze. We headed home at around 330pm. I thought I’d get some sleep, and then go online. That was far from what happened, haha.

My niece Chiki (who turned 16 the day before), was having her hair rebonded. After a few minutes considering it, I decided to get the treatment too. We all finished at 12 midnight! It was thaaaaat long because Chiki has very thick hair, frizzy too! Haha. While we waited, there were lots of kwento, and Freedah (her mom) cooked up some spaghetti for our belated celebration for Chiki’s day.

I tried to go online at midnight, but found myself nodding off to la-la-land while typing. So I slept on the couch until Alfred came home from seeing his friend in Bulacan at around 4am. After awhile, it was Kuya’s turn to come a-knocking. He had spent the evening at the wake of Kourtney, who was transported to Batangas in the wee hours of the morning of Saturday.

So it looks like I did not get much sleep over the weekend right? Well, I went up to my room at around 7am just as dad was preparing breakfast. The next time I was up? 2PM. So there, whatever sleep I lost from the past two days were all recovered. But doing things this way makes me feel that the weekend was too short. Totally opposite of how much time I felt I had the previous week. But that’s okay, I had spent time with family and friends that I haven’t been with in a long time. It’s all good.

Today is #sentisabado on Twitter and it was fun reminiscing about stuff from the past. From Galaga and Super Mario, to my old maroon and blue Swatch watch, 101 Dalmatians with the Happy Meal, and even the cheap laminate flooring (or was it linoleum?) on my grandmother’s house. Many of the people I follow are also twitting about what makes them sentimental this Saturday, and it’s all fun to read. Looking forward to next Saturday already.

Oh and one more thing to close my Saturday: potluck dinner with the whole Somebang family to remember Lola’s 6th death anniversary (September 1).

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!

It was on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon in July that we finally succeeded in going out for a photo walk. Our destination: the LaMesa EcoPark in Fairview, Quezon City. The Lamesa Ecopark is situated inside the LaMesa Watershed, the primary source of drinking water of about 12 million Metro Manila residents (source). According to the LaMesa Ecopark website, the watershed is 2700 hectares big! Of this, 700 hectares is the reservoir (dam) itself, with the surrounding forest being the remaining 2000 hectares. The reservoir supplies clean drinking water to Metro Manila, while the forest helps clean the air.

A long time ago, my grandfather used to bring the entire family to picnics at LaMesa Dam. I was either too young to remember those trips, or I wasn’t born yet at the time. I do remember cousins, my parents and aunts talking about those picnics though. Due to lack of funds for the MWSS which manages the area, the surrounding park had fallen into ruin. In the last decade, the ABS-CBN Foundation, through its programs for Bantay Kalikasan, endeavored to rehabilitate the park and reforest affected areas. The 33-hectare public park is found along the natural boundaries of the watershed and is 40 meters below the reservoir. Proceeds from the entrance fees are used towards the continuous efforts to preserve the health and beauty of the watershed.

I first visited the park years ago when they had just reopened it to the public. My day brought us there with my mom, my nephew Esban and his older sister Dal. We had wanted to swim in their pool but there was just too many people. We ended up just having a picnic (without a table because all were taken and there were no huts at the time) under the trees, and then we had so much fun dancing and laughing while bathing in the rain. Yes, we danced in the rain because the sky really went all out while we were there. It was so much fun.

Since getting Maxine last year, we have wanted to troop to LaMesa to practice shooting. We’d always thought it would be a hassle to commute to the place. Boy were we wrong! We took a cab from here to EcoPark and it cost around 150 pesos, but it was easy peasy. From there, you could just hop on to a tricycle – they’re right outside the exit waiting to take you to Commonwealth Avenue where you can take a jeepney, FX or taxi to wherever you’re going.

Though I was already sleepy on the way (I came from shift, and had work that evening too), I went prepared. My camera battery was fully charged, I was wearing tights and rubber shoes for freedom of movement, and a comfortable shirt. After all, the trip had two goals: to break a sweat walking, and to practice our photography. We successfully did both! Now, we plan on going out each week. Whoever said you can’t hit two birds with one stone? I actually hit several here: bonding with the boyfriend, practice photography, have more physical activity! Doing all these work like all the best weight loss products available out there.

It’s difficult to pick just a few favorite photos to showcase here, so if you’d like to checkout all the photos, they are on this Flickr set.

Let’s start with some flower shots shall we?

I love how this one came out. It was a really vibrant blood-red color. I forgot which part of the park this was in though.

I don’t really wear yellow, and not much orange either, but I love the two colors together be it on these flowers, or on a fire tree.

I love the purple tinge on these small flowers. It would have really been good had there been signs near these plants so we would know what they’re called, Hehe. I think that this photo could be used as background for a card.

I didn’t use any textures on this photo yet the bokeh effect was amazing. I think it took on the shapes of the small leaves of these small flowers that stood unbending against the wind.

Now, who says plants need flowers to be beautiful? These certainly look pretty on their own:

I didn’t just take shots of the fresh, thriving and beautiful. There were other interesting stuff around too. The ecopark is a true thriving ecosystem, there was lushness all around but there was also decay and somehow, also death. This post is already long enough as it is so sharing those other photos will have to wait another day. If you checkout my Flickr set though, you’ll see them all there.