Wednesday, April 30, 2008

is american idol really rigged?

what do you think?

after watching the clip, i have my doubts on AI na din....

http://www.rickey.org/?p=7779

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

my new haircut

it's my first time to get a haircut here in singapore - oh scrap that...my 2nd actually but first time under the hands of a singaporean ($27!!! wth!!!) im usually happy to have my hair cut in bench fix in the phils :) cheap cheap.

anyway, here's my new do. i sorta kinda like it but there's the thing beneath my ears that just flies away... im hoping it'll stop doing that in a few days. if not, ill be tempted to cut it off by myself! lol

what do you think?!



stop me!!!

oh please stop me... im addicted. :( i've become a shopping whore. wah!!! i think after all the shopping i did, plus the travel expenses, i will be bankrupt by the end of the month :( uwahhh...

lui's such a good sport. he just lets me do what i want... maybe that's not entirely good? huhuhu. need to save up now or else i might not be able to buy my flash in hong kong :(

help!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

trip galore :)

im sooo happy. we've finally decided to go abroad! (the decision was pushed by the fact that i can't take leave from june to december because of a project... arghhh) hehe i love travelling. must be the fact that im a saguittarius :)

so this labor day, we're heading to malacca! :) booked the bus ticket as well as the hotel :) it's near singapore, around 3 + hours? we're staying for two nights and hoping to get loads of good pics :)

on vesak long weekend, we're flying off to hongkong :) staying there from may 15th to 20th :) hoping to visit disneyland, ocean park, macau and buy some camera stuff as well. (camera gears are cheaper there) and of course, loads of shopping! :) we still need to look for a hotel though (suggestions?)

well, that's all for may... hihihi... we really wanted to go to perth but the air tix are so expensive! we'll wait for another promo or the next travel fair :)

i still want to visit bangkok, phuket, perth, melbourne, us in the coming year or two :) good thing i have lui with me. hehe my forever travel companion :)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

top 12 tips for soon to be brides

for all the wawies who visits my site and leave wonderful messages, this one is for you...

(in no particular order)

1. plan early - i couldn't reiterate how lucky we are that we planned early. we managed to save a lot (threelogy, alex franco, 1Esplanade, SOJ). it was amazing what a year or two can do. trust me.

2. research about your suppliers - before we even booked our suppliers (and even after we did) we made it a point to learn as much as we can about them - their niche, their achilles heel, etc. that's one of the reasons i keep visiting the blogs of my suppliers - i wanted to find out more about their work and try to base my expectations from there. :) another thing is i learned iwhich supplier worked well with which supplier and i tried to hook them up on our wedding, the end result? total riot! :) hahaha...

3. trust your suppliers - a lot of times, i left the decision making part to the suppliers - from my gown, to the choice of songs for the avp and onsite video, to my entou's bouquet, wine, styling, etc :) but it all went well... i believe that there's a reason why you chose a particular supplier and if you dont trust them to do their work, then you shouldnt have booked them in the first place. plus, letting loose of the leash (or so to say) will give your suppliers a lot of room to work with :) dont constrict your suppliers - let them do what they do best - their job :).

4. set your priorities straight - is it the gown, the church, the food, the reception? know what you want and stick with it. you cant have everything (well, unless you have the moolah to go with it) for us, our least priorities were the invites, the bouquet, the souvenirs, music (hehe), entou gowns, bridal car, church flowers... these are the things that we think we can live without really. our main priority was the photo and video... the tangible stuff :) so that goes with the gown, makeup hehehe. anything that will show in the pics - thats why i really regret my decision in getting mang boy (well a bit coz i was a bit disappointed) hehe.

5. set a budget - do this even before you start your preps. but set a buffer (for the nice to haves hihihi). we did set a budget - and a realistic one. there is no sense in setting a budget that is way too low. it will only cause you stress. set a realistic budget that you can work with. assess how much you have and how much you can let go without feeling the pain. :) in our case, we went a bit over our budget BUT we made sure that we can do it without sacrificing the security we have after the wedding. meaning we should have more than enough cash to live by. (DO NOT SPEND ALL YOUR SAVINGS ON YOUR WEDDING!)

6. look for sponsors - we managed to save a bit by asking some of our close relatives if they can sponsor parts of our wedding (please refer to the THANK YOU blog). it helped a lot and it gave our relatives the chance to be part of our wedding :) mind you, some of them will be more than happy to help - you just have to ask nicely.

7. prepare your tips beforehand - :( i think this is one of the areas that i really really really failed :( i totally forgot about the tips and i feel that i miscalculated some (apologies to that really). i only remembered about the tips on the day of the wedding when we were about to have lunch, so i quickly dragged my mom to the restroom and we began counting money and putting them into red envelopes. i really didnt have any idea on how much to put. uuuwaaahhhhh.... i was really in a panic, i can hear the suppliers outside shouting "where is the bride" "where is kends" and people kept knocking telling me "ma'am are you okay? kain na po" sighs... i really really am sorry to all the suppliers. i hope i did not offend anyone...

8. trust your insticts / take risks - we women have good instincts so use them :) hahaha... there were a lot of time that i decided on a whim (clique, balloons, suppliers) but i never regretted anything

9. visualize your wedding - that is one of the things that i did for the wedding. i tried, as much as possible, to visualize how i want the reception to look like, from the program to the setup to everything. i always visualized it as simple yet elegant. and i guess, we pulled it off :)

10. when in doubt ask - we are all lucky that we have w@w. you can ask as many questions as you want and you'll know that someone out there, in different parts of the world, will answer your question :)

11. enjoy your preps - i enjoyed our 2 years of preparation until the very last moment. :) i loved it. if i can be a coordintor i would but i cant hehehe... but i am willing to help out anyone, just ask and you shall have an answer (if i know the answer hehehe)

12. be nice to your suppliers!!!! - i can never reiterate this enough to lui hahaha. he can tend to be a bit aggressive/rude at times so i always tell him that he has to be nice to the suppliers. come on, lets all admit it - suppliers can make or break your wedding. the fact that you are paying them does not give you the right to be mean to them. be nice. they are only human... the nicer you are, the more willing they are to help. but please, dont be plastic. they'll know. hahaha. i love the fact that i managed to gain some friends over the course of our preps - niko dear and baby jenn, i love you! mimi and karl - thanks for enduring my kakulitan in our chat sessions. haha pati na din si ms v na laging busy lol :) and syempre ang pinaka love kong si mama benz! mwaaahhhsss! love you all! xoxo

well, that's it. there are so many things i want to write pa. like walk slow and savor your walk, eat eat eat, guestlists are important!!!, etc

i really hope that this entry will help all the soon to be brides out there :) hehehe to the nawies, feel free to add more tips :)

OH! and one more thing, do remember to thank your husbands for enduring through it all. lol :)

the new NIKE commercial

so there i was watching a series in starworld when the new nike commercial kicked in... i was thinking "oh this is new"... i saw kobe bryant in the gym, the famous china tracker from the VISA commercial and pacquiao.

wait a minute... PACQIUAO?! what the?!

i literally jumped off my seat then started shouting "pa-b!!!! si paquiao oh!!!!! astiiig!!!!!!"

i was awestruck. pacquiao, bryant, sharapova and federer in one ad?! super bigtime... i felt so proud as a filipino. grabe....

if you havent watched the commercial... watch it now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uysb8s8JNuU&feature=related

Monday, April 14, 2008

it's official

last week (was it last week lang?) i saw Resie's (fellow wawie) photos of her new condo in Riverfront, Pasig and I instantly fell in love.

flashback: lui and i had been looking for a house/condo since we got married. we were initially planning to buy from cityland but changed our mind because of some issues. blessing in disguise na din siguro coz we would have been tied and we would not have the money to buy this lovely condo :)

instead of riverfront, we got another of DMCI's projects - Rosewood Point, this one is in taguig or better known as the fort. :) we didnt see the place in actual but we just relied on the taste of my mother in law and brother in law :) (and the pics they sent) hehehe....

so today, the deal has been sealed we have paid the reservation fee and we are buying a condo! :D OMG sana tama tong ginagawa namin! bwahahaha...

please visit this site for more details: http://www.resortcondohomes.com/featured-projects/rosewood-pointe.html

and here is our future home (one of the hi-rises among the mid-rises of rosewood pointe hehehe)

our floor plan - we got the tandem room of rosewood pointe :)

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

thanks mitch...

i forgot to thank mitch (my fellow wawie) for everything she has done for me - she was the one who designed the cover page for our misalette and also created this blog for me:

Kendz (and why I will always love weddings)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Candy (or Kendz to most people) and Lui got married last Sunday. Judging from Threelogy’s amazing onsite video, it looks like it’s one of the most beautiful weddings that I’ve ever seen (and watched).

Kendz is my co-w@w and co-w@wsg member. She’s very active in the w@w community. She is one of those brides who started her preps early. She has documented almost every step of their wedding preparations. And she’s so nice to her suppliers. Well, she was able to assemble a dream team that most brides would want.

Aside from always remembering her as being kaladkarin (read: she’s always game for any lakad/EB/etc!), she would always be, for me, the happiest and most involved (but never a Bridezilla ha) bride-to-be (and now, bride). Being in touch with her during her wedding preps (even up to the time that she’s in Manila na), up to the her last night as a bachelorette, until her wedding night (like just right after she took a shower-in preparation for her and Lui’s first night as husband and wife-naks! haha)–it was like getting married all over again. Grabe talaga to si Kendz sa preps nya. And when she texted me after her wedding, I knew instantly that it was a big big success.

Kendz will always be a perfect reminder for me of how magical weddings can be. Not just the wedding, but also the highs and lows of preparing for it. That no matter how big or small your wedding is, what matters most is how important this day is to you and the man waiting for you down the aisle. Everytime I see friends, or even strangers, getting married and as happy as Kendz was during her wedding, I will never get tired of all these getting-hitched-hoolahs. It is one of the most beautiful moments a person could have in his entire life. And I’m just so happy I got to have my own share of it, my own walk to remember, like what I always say.

I think there will never come a time that I won’t shed a tear or two whenever I watch a wedding ceremony. Even onsite vids, for that matter. Actually, even if I don’t know the couple, I still get kilig and teary eyed when the bride walks down the aisle and when the groom says his vows. In fact, I believe so much in the magic of weddings that even if I knew that the bride walking down that aisle was a bitch, I’d still feel kilig towards her and her groom.

A week or so after our wedding in 2006, Jun and I went to Manaoag to offer our prayers. Whenever I’m back Home, I would always go there to pray and make a wish, just like how my Papa taught us. During this particular visit, there was a wedding, a 50th wedding anniversary at that. And though the "grandma bride" can barely walk, and the "grandpa groom" had a complete set of ultra-white dentures, plus the fact that they really had an awful shade of yellow as their motif…well, the whole thing still made me kilig just the same. ..

Kendz and Lui, all the best to you both! And may you both love each other even after your own 50th wedding anniversary, where Kendz can barely walk and Lui has his own set of ultra-white dentures.

thanks ulit mitch!! see you sa sat!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

thank yous...

it's been more than a month since our wedding and i guess i have put off this blog as much as i can (i didnt mean to... siguro i just didnt want to let go yet hehe feeling kinakasal pa din)

anyway, this is our thank you list... i should have thanked all these people during the wedding but due to an unforeseen circumstance (thanks to threelogy hehehe) i wasnt able to deliver my speech hahaha :)

so here goes...

from the bottom of our hearts... we would like to sincerely thank the following people for helping make our wedding such a success: (in no particular order)

1. to our parents - thanks for the support. and for being there for us - especially to my mom and dad... thanks for enduring one whole day together. i know it was very weird being at the same place after more than 15 days... but you came and you were civil to each other..:)

2. my bro and his family - thank you for coming all the way from Los Angeles... thank you for bringing my wonderful nieces with you. thank you thank you.

3. my relatives from davao - thank you for coming to my wedding. i wanted you to be there and you were. thankyou.

4. kuya vincent (lui's bro) - thanks for the 2 cebu lechons hehe

5. cristina (lui's sis) - thanks for sponsoring a part of our honeymoon... thanks for funding the red envelopes for the entourage... thanks for helping make the misalettes. bawi ako sa wedding mo promise.

6. catherine (my sis) - thanks for sponsoring the two pritchons, thanks for always driving me to veluz' shop, thanks for funding my surprise bridal shower

7. my cousin enricon and his wife (of gallery 7) - thank you for your gift. it was really nice. i loved the photo quilt.

8. my friend abigael enriquez - for the wonderful clique envelopes... i loved it. love you. thank you very muchhhh!

9. friends / entourage:
jean, che and aimee - thank you for coming to the philippines from all over the world and being part of our wedding. i really really appreciate it. thanks to che and aimee for my bridal shower, singapore chapter

randy and plong - thanks for flying in from davao! :)

10. my MOH louise - thank you for all the support and for always telling me the truth. :) thanks for the wonderful bridal shower! super duper touched ako.

11. mama benz - thank you for the gifts. the unity coins and the super cute thumbdrives :) and thanks for always making me feel like a wawie :) thanks for coming to the wedding!!!



12. mother in law - for sponsoring josiah's :)

13. tita vilma - for taking the time to make the souvenirs... thank thank you. hehe little do the guests know, imported ata yun. hehe straight from texas!

14. my wawsg family - thanks for all the support girls... i really really love this group! thank you thank you thank you for being there for me though thick and thin (we even had badminton games to help me lose weight hahaah)

15. to all the suppliers - i can never get tired of thanking you guys... thanks so much for all the wonderful things you have done for our wedding! super duper thank you po... if i have to repeat my wedding, i would not choose a different supplier. not one. :)

16. ninongs and ninangs - for all the gift you have given us.... thank you.

17. our friends - who came to share the special day with us... thank you. (shout out to my barkada for wearing suits! hehe)

18. clarice - yes, special mention. we really appreciate all you have done for us. we know our wedding wouldnt be such a success without you. thank you for everything. miss you!

19. auntie meiling - for the 2nd set of rings... astig ang rings... we're saving it for special occassions :)

20. ninong yupiton - thanks for lending us your beemer :) i felt so proud riding such nice set of wheels :) thanks for throwing in the driver with it! hahaha.

21. auntie virgie - for coming all the way from Los Angeles and for the diamond bracelet :)

22. my bestfriend dave - thanks for being such a sport :)

23. emil, my friend - thanks for commentating :) super gratitude your way. :)

hhmmm did i leave anyone out... i really hope not.

ayun na!

finally after ages of waiting (and US trip for M+K) they finally posted our wedding pics in their website. (hehe so excited. i know that's very babaw of us. bakit ba? hehehe)

please visit their site here. as i've said uber times before, i so love their work. sobrang idol ko tlaga sila... kung pwede lang tlaga mag-apprentice, ill do it! :) hehe.

thanks so sis neva for letting me know. :) naunahan mo ko my dear! hihihi

+++++++

on the side, my mom sent me this pic today. as you all know, philippines is scorching hot right now... look how my dog adopts to the heat...


bumukaka! :D hahaha. hala walang poise... :)


Tuesday, April 01, 2008

halo halong post

i have so many things that i want to blog about for the past few weeks but havent got the chance to do so...

1. our 3rd anniversary... yes we're cheesy that way. we still celebrate our anniversary (as boyfriend and girlfriend) just because we want to. hehe anyway, last march 24, we went to vivo city and had a grand time taking shots and pictures. :) (that's my ideal date hahahaha!) we also watched "Vantage Point" which for me is a good enough movie. I was practically at the edge of my seat for most of the movie. hehe. We topped the whole day with dinner at Hog's Breath... my verdict? the carbs were great hahaha... their mashed potato is out of this world!!! the fries that came with the fish was also awesome! :D ohhh the potato skins in the appetizer was great as well. yum yum yum... the steak itself was so-so - they recommeded medium-rare but we had it meduim-well hahaha maybe that's why it's a bit hard to chew. but tasty still. slurp. hehehe... (we never got to eat the fish and chips, we were full from the appetizer and steak alone)

2. maroon 5 concert - AWESOME!!!! ASTIG!!!! GRABEEEEEEE!!!! omg... that concert just re-confirmed my love for this band... they are totally awesome. okay... they are good in their album but believe me... you have to be there to REALLY get how talented they are! OMG the drummer just blew me away.... he was totally awesome... ang galing galing nya!!! and dont let me get started on the guitarist! grabe... anu ba yun.... amazing hands. amazing amazing amazing... and the keyboardist (is that what you call him?) is just so talented as well... he can play the keyboard AND the guitar AND the drums and did I mention he's cute?! hehehe... but i guess the hottest of them all is the singer... didnt know that someone in plain white shirt and skinny jeans can be so damn hot!!! hahahaha. (dont worry i told lui and he just laughs at me bwahahaha) i loved that concert. it just tops all of the concert i've ever watched!

3. i'm sooo not looking forward to something right now. i can just feel it... it just makes all my warning bells go off... it's about work and im sooo doomed.

4. for the past few months i've been thinking about going to another country to work. lui is so supportive. he says he'll go with me wherever i want to go. (diba sweet) but i still have a lot of decision-making and pro/con reviewing before making that big decision. but my feet is itching. i just dont know if i'll scratch it.

5. i love my nikon!!! skill needs more practice though. :D hehehe...

that's all for now. byers!