christmas cheer 08.
------

oh this has been really one wonderful holiday - eat, rest, read, watch dvd, meet friends, drive around with no traffic jam at all, what more can you ask for? i just had a home-service massage. mom and i were supposed to go some place, but this massuese called and dropped by, so it was perfect timing i guess.

tomorrow, we are all going to NE to celebrate the new year, and will come back on jan 2. will meet with some friends in between, and might go to tagaytay with my family, them am back in telok ayer street working. mom and ags will fly in on jan 23 to celebrate chinese new year and my birthday with me, so it should be good.

oh, one more thing why i love this season is because of presents. im such a big Christmas person, the more festive it gets, the better. i was planning to have this lunch prepared for my family on Christmas day, but dad said that i should not worry about it anymore. its not that i will be cooking, but i will be ordering prepared food, but i had a list which i have researched pa. maybe next year..

here are some of the presents, i really really love.


angpao from mom and dad. funny that cho gave me an angpao too. well, actually we cant give presents because my grandfather died a month ago, but i would feel real bad if there are no presents - so i actually shopped for my friends, family and my godchildren.


got this loot bag from P. i loved everything inside it. the funny thing is i gave this friend a gift bag with 3 items in it - the same items inside the loot bag he gave me.


books, i love reading. here's the list of what i have and from who (top to bottom): a) the one wrapped was from J, "love in the time of cholera", b) mom got me 2 books: "kite runner" and "the devil and miss prym". c) aggie got me "the god of small things" and "one hundred years of soltitude".


J gift wrapped it perfectly.


embotido. i told my mom and dad that i missed this, the next day, they asked the chef (somewhere) to make one for us - he made 24 rolls, and that made me real happy.

i will do a separate post to thank other friends who gave presents. im guessing this is my last post for 2008, so yes, goodbye 2008, and welcome 2009. :)

end year thoughts.
------

i had lunch with friends earlier at cibo in GB5. i love cibo and i was the one who asked to eat there. i had their iced tea eventhough am coughing like crazy, now am back to my water therapy of sorts.

after that lunch, my friends and i went to the church and prayed. i havent prayed like that for quite some time now, i can mention dozens of excuses, but actually there is none, i admit it, its my fault. after my silent prayer, i just felt at peace, a comfort that you just couldnt get from anywhere else.

i will write down some end year thoughts, reflections and notes, and in no way it is a new years resolution - since i really hate that i cant follow thru it. HAHAHA. its just something i want to share, and its something that might be useful in each of our lives.


1. i will spoil my mom and dad, until i can do so. i will say yes to everything that they tell me, i will just be an obedient son and will follow whatever they want. i mean it has to be reasonable of course. a lesson learned is to value life as it is, especially that i dont live with them anymore. i have to give quality time.


2. i will pray more often, i have to instill that practice i had before - when i cant sleep at night when i havent prayed yet. i have to remember the power and comfort that a prayer has. i would have to have that list of small prayers i have so i could recite them everyday.


3. i have to take care of myself, and in conjunction to that, i would need to learn to say no - this works for me, though i have to do this more often.


4. i needed to grow up and learn that friendship isnt one sided, i have to understand and be patient to people who deserves this from me. ive made a lot of mistakes in the past, and i wish it would repeat no more.


5. i have to prioritise time to rest, am not as young as before where i could go on for days without sleeping. not having enough rest, attacks my immune system and makes me ill. i have to eat fruits and vegtables to aid me as well, and of course the ever reliable fern-c.


6. loving my work, hoping that it would love me back.


7. believing in the power of putting your mind into one thing, i just have to make sure what to set my mind into.


so, those are 7 points, i really wanted to make it 10, but i couldnt function well as of now. so these are the things i value now, and hopefully in the future. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.. :)

christmas day 2008.
------

i spent the christmas day sleeping the whole morning. i just needed to take a long nap. i am not so well these past few days, am getting throat aches, and have runny nose, i guess ive been very allergic to something. this just happens to me when am in manila. also am reading "love in the time of cholera", a present from joan. i have to start reading it because she was raving about it, i have a lot of books to read from different people, plus i bought my own pa.

we started the day late and left home at 5pm to go to the cemetery, to pay our respects to my fathers parents.


we visited angkong and ama in the cemetery.


around 7pm, we left to have dinner. we were planning to go metrowalk or somewhere in ortigas, but dad didnt like cause its too much of a hassle, and traffic jam is quite bad, we ended up somewhere near our home.


ags, cho and me - we had a separate table we shared with kevin, 17 of us couldn't fit. it 1 table.


mom and tita bot


ken is our youngest cousin, he is 5 years old. our age gap is 20 years. OMG!


i had katsudon with kamameshi rice, Php 250. Php 160 with plain rice.


i ordered tempura to share, Php 450 for 5 pcs.


tofu steak is my favorite dish in teriyaki boy, Php 160.


cho and kev ordered beef gyudon, Php 250. i tried it and i didnt like it. i was supposed to order cut prime beef, but its not available anymore.


this is aggie's favorite, she even ordered salmon as her main dish. mukha na siyang salmon. christmas eve, we had dinner with my mothers side, and they ordered food from conti's. aggie ate 1/4 of the baked salmon dish. loka-loka.

we went to watch shake rattle and roll 10, ang baduy. but i havent seen a baduy film for quite some time, so i have to say that kahit papano, it wasnt as bad. HAHAHA!

joan-paulo-anton day.
------

im such a loser for blogging on christmas day - but i have to post facebook pictures as promised to some friends, and i wanted to post it in my blog anyway. so merry christmas everyone - hope you guys get to have a good time celebrating it with people who really matters to you. thats all that matters anyway ;)

i am blogging about our recent tagaytay trip, with joan and paulo - last time we saw each other together was around august 2007 - i was home for vacation, pau was home for his show. its been 15 long months since we last sat down, chatted and dined. i have to say, i really missed them - from being together everyday way back in 2006 to just chatting through messenger, is very different.

i will not go through details, but i am glad this meet up happened. i've kind of realized a few things - i've realised which things are important to me. as what aggie told me "si pau at joan yon - di lang sila kung sino-sino."


3 of us @ Antonio's in Tagaytay - taking pictures around us.


Artiste's @ Antonio's Facade


the New Yorker and the Artist Chef


pau and me with a beautiful backdrop.


joan and me.

foodwise, we kind of ordered brunch since we were there quite early. i want to go back and try dinner menu, average of Php 1500 to 4000 per meal per person.


roasted bone marrow with glazed onion, Php 550


pau and i ordered mojitos, Php 240 each.


after the meal, we had to take a photo together.


spicy longganisa with egg sunny side up, Php 380.


corned beef with the best scrambled egg i have ever tried, Php 420.

this is one of the most meaningful christmas' i have ever had. apart from the fact that 2008 was really not a bad year for me, in fact it is so much better than what i have expected apart from my lolo's death. it made me realize that i am not the same person anymore, hopefully i have changed for the better. am looking forward to a better 2009, and seeing joan and paulo again next year. :)

christmas sunday shopping
------

i got back home last night, i dont like flying PAL, most of the time, the plane was just trembling, and i dont like it. thank GOD traffic wasn't so bad, after dinner with mom, dad, cho and tita bot, went straight home, and was able to rest.

today, i had to do some xmas shopping - at first, i wasnt planning to get any presents for my colleagues, but i guess what the heck, they are good friends of mine anyway, and christmas only happends once a year. pat and i will be sharing, and i bought everything i need today. i bought for 8 people - sarah, sid, charlotte, eileen, cheryl lee, vic, satya and chiro. i have already shared earlier presents to ryan, kristine, pat and helen. so actually, this ends my shopping. YEA! :) i am very happy with what i got, and am sure they will like whatever i got for them, am kinda excited to give it to them come jan 6! :)

mom and cho accompanied me to greenhills today to shop - i love greenhills for its variety - i can get my books (fully booked), toys (toy kingdom), DVDs (astrovision), and whatever i need. dad and ags followed around 6pm for dinner, we had kimpura. i have been craving for steak for 3 weeks now, and i had no chance to get it from singapore. i am planning to stuff my self with steak this holiday. hahaha!



mom wanted to be in the tepanyaki table, meaning chef has to cook the food infront of us. this was our uncooked fried rice.


kimpura fried rice, i halfed with mom.


tempura and oysters.


angus beef and wild mushrooms.


mom and dad, we still have to wear white until jan 8.


ags and cho at the other side of the table.

xmas treats.
------

dessert is love. everyone knows i love desserts - ice cream, cakes, cupcakes, and anything that goes in between is just heaven. i mean, what better way to celebrate this season than having some major dessert after every meal. i give more importance to desserts actually than the meal itself.

some of the places that i want to visit when i go back to manila are the following:
1. apartment 1b in salcedo
2. elber's steakroom in dela costa
3. antonio's in tagaytay
4. tagaytay steak house
5. alba's spanish cuisine

auntie dawna sent me this when i was in manila. its one of my all-time favorite cakes, i got a slice and got ready for my flight.


chocolate ganache cake from dulce lin.

while in the office yesterday, i saw these beautiful macaroons, i ate 4 (hahaha). its better than the one in manila, i forgot the name of that shop that sells macaroons.


multi-colored macaroons.

anyway, am crazy excited to fly back home, 6 more working days, and holiday is here. yay!

Phuket, Thailand - Dec 2008
------

i have never had so much misadventures in my life, but phuket will remain as one of the most unforgettable one. but moving along, the trip was really great - it was both fun and relaxing, plus the fact that i had a lot of friends with me, that made it all the more better.

highlight of the trip were the following:


me, kristine and pat @ kah noi island - the boat brought us in the middle of the sea to snorkle.


our own private boat.


club bamboo resort hotel - it was one of the better hotels, thank GOD, paid around 2600THB per room.


the group at the port.


dolphins are such beautiful creatures, i hope i get the chance to swim with them, but am kind of afraid.


donuts are love, and i have to say that dunkin donuts are worth the calories, especially boston kreme on the left.

there are actually tons of photos, but i am kind of lazy to upload it. ;)

--

i am still kind of in a daze at how things are moving, its too fast, two weeks ago i was in manila, last weekend was spent in thailand, and by next next wekk i will be back in manila. i cant seem to grasp time, and now, i have to like focus and get tons of things done. oh well, at least a week and half more, then its a holiday. YAY! :)

moving on.
------

so my recent trip to manila wasn't the most ideal one, but i believe i still made the most out of it. i focused on the funeral and burial the first 6 days, and it was only the last 2 days that i was able to do whatever it is that i want to do. i didn't go and meet tons of people, because of the fact that i felt that it would be part of my sacrifice - to be honest, i am thinking of cancelling all my xmas meet ups as well.

anyway, here are some photos:


funeral was held at sanctuarium along araneta ave. they have the best service and i really admire their staff - they make you feel like you dont need to worry about stuff, i know this because i coordinated a lot of things with them.


when i stayed for the night, i didn't want to sleep, cause i would not be able to sleep properly anyway. i stayed up, lighted the incense every 30 minutes, and watched gossip girl with bespwet. she volunteered to stay with me.


everytime we come from a funeral, we have to go someplace else to do 'pagpag', since its a chinese belief that you might be able to bring the spirit with you when you go directly home, thats why you need to either stop for coffee, or just drink water in a gasoline station, but you definitely need to stop and step down. so here is a picture of me and my cousins doing pagpag, white is our color when we mourn.


i was able to catch twilight in manila. it shows dec 18 here in singapore, and that sucks. whats good is that, mom and ags accompanied me to watch it in trinoma, the movie was not so good. :(


i passed by dimensione in trinoma, i was thinking if i am living in manila, then definitely i would shop there almost always.

--

today is my big preso, and in the afternoon, am off to phuket for a mini break.

i pray.
------

this year is ending, and the best way to look at things now is to await for 2009 - hopefully a better year than 2008. the last few months - i was clear in what i want to do, i somehow know what my 2009 will look like. i had vague plans, i have a little bit of certainty. now, i am not so sure. a lot of things have shook and disturbed the peace within me. i am not in a panic mode becuase hopefully i will never allow this to happen to me, but i am just not as sure anymore.

i pray for peace within myself, and among others. i pray that i would learn how to value the simple things in life. i pray that i will not be selfish, when everyone else is. i pray that i can give happiness to everyone without being selective. i pray that the LORD will protect my family from harm, and everyone else.

these are the thing i pray and wish for CHRISTMAS. i may not have everything, but am grateful for whatever i have, i feel that asking for more is too much already. i have everything i could wish for: i have a strong and loving family, including my extended family, who sacrificed personal time and sleep to be with me. i value friends who took time out and effort to say a few words and pay respect to my family. i have an understanding team that i belong to, that allows me to tackle personal issues amidst the hectic and busy working schedules...

and these are the things i am really thankful for, everything else, is just added bonus.