what do you think...

of the new layout?

hmmm personally, i think i still like the summer loving layout...

whatchathink?

my 3 mins of fame...

or so to speak :D

1. when i was in high school, a basketball game between feu and a china team was held in our school gymansium (feu was the best uaap team then, before la salle bwahahahah :D) and since we were COCCs (soon to be CAT officers), we were tasked by our commanders to go and get the signatures of the players (yes ganun kasadista ang commanders namin dati) hehe... while waiting at the sidelines, some reporters took a shot at us and showed our beautiful faces in national tv. (yaks heheh)

2. august 2005 issue of FHM... in the planet woman section, if you look carefully, you'll see my face there. the question was "what is rambo's first name?" i really really didnt know what his first name was. so i made a wild guess. my response was "hhmm i dont know, could it be john?" i thought about john coz it's the most used name in america hahaha. analytical thinking at its best :D you dont believe me? take a look at the photo below :D


3. may 27, 2008 - today, my mom called me to tell me that our pictures by mimi and karl are in the news... lol apparently m+k were interviewed in ANC and our picture were some of the pictures they showed in tv. yahoooooo :D (hahaha nakikisawsaw sa 3 mins of fame nila m+k) hihihihi

ang galing galing tlaga ng M+K... ibang level na! buti na lang we got them nung mura pa lang sila. hahaha kidding guys!

mimi and karl, you sooo deserve all the blessings that you are receiving. you are simply the best!!! kulang na lang wedding bells. yihee yihee *wink*

an american crime

because of stephy's blog entry, i became intrigued about the movie... I wanted to see what went on and what prompted steph's reaction to the movie...

all i can say is... i wish i hadn't. it was gruesome. it was sick. it was disturbing.

halfway through the movie, i couldn't take in what was going on so i tried to search for the true story thinking that the real story is less brutal. but i was wrong...

the movie pales in comparison to what really happened

i was soo disturbed about the movie that i couldn't get a decent sleep and for the first time, was actually talking in my sleep (according to lui). and i woke up with gastric problems. yes, the movie is THAT bad.

the worst part of the movie for me is KNOWING THAT IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. :(

in all fairness, ellen page (of JUNO) did a great job portraying sylvia, the victim.

on david cook

okay... i promise this is the last time i'm going to drool over him

david cook became my bet as AI winner from the first elvis song he sang during the top 24... i liked his voice and can't over the fact that he can make an elvis song sound great :) i forgot the title though...

i totally disagreed with simon when he said that david cook didnt have any charisma. heller... does he watch him sing? with those tantalizing eyes which makes me absolutely kilig and that very sultry voice? he does have charisma! (though he looks really old for his age... with the beer belly and the receeding hairline) hehe...

david archuleta is great. but he's just too good to be true and he just has too many fans. usually i go for the underdog hehe. (elliot yamin, doolittle, etc) i think the rumors about his dad didn't help him one bit.

cookie has some album-worthy songs under his belt, with "hello", "billie jean" and "always be my baby". and of cors the new single "time of my life" it's a great song really - not bad for the coronation song. hee :D my friend and i were pretty sure that even if cookie didn't win, he'll still have a hit album.

all in all it was a great season... full of very talented americans singing their hearts out. there were also a lot of twists and turns that kept us on our feet. but yah... i think america did get it right this year :D

okay nuf said... till next season!

(is it me, or did they NOT give ramielle any solo performances yesterday?!)

cookie song - time of my life lyrics and music

I’ve been waiting for my dreams
To turn into something
I could believe in
And looking for that
Magic rainbow
On the horizon
I couldn’t see it
Until I let go
Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now I’m coming alive
Body and soul
And feelin’ my world start to turn

And I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time
To be more than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

Holding onto things that vanished
Into the air
Left me in pieces
But now I’m rising from the ashes
Finding my wings
And all that I needed
Was there all along
Within my reach
As close as the beat of my heart

So I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

And I’m out on the edge of forever
Ready to run
I’m keeping my feet on the ground
My arms open wide
My face to the sun

I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
This is the time
This is the time of my life.
This is the time of my life.

check out the song here: http://www.rickey.org/?p=7964

BABY JENN!!! add natin sa list of songs for our video ha :D hehehehe

movies

looking forward to:

1. indiana jones - i.am.a.fan hehehe since i was a kid, i've always loved the movies :) im hooked for life!

2. sex and the city - huge huge fan of the tv series, can't get enough of them shoes hehehe

3. narnia - loved the book. super loved the first movie. hehe lui still complains that i ignored him the entire time we were watching the movie! hihihi

4. hellboy 2 - the first hellboy was great... hoping this one will exceed expectations

un lang!!!

VOTE FOR DAVID COOK!!!! (but i think he won't win, my AI bets never win lol!!

vote for david cook!!!

if only i can vote. tsk... thanks van for putting in 3 votes for me! :D hehehe.

im soo torn...

i want to get a new lens but can't decide which one to get :(

i'm drooling over the nikon 80-200 f2.8 but shit, it costs a whopping S$1,100 brand new! lui is telling me to get it as he know i really really want it. BUT at the back of my head, i still have doubts since i dont know if im that good a photographer to get this very nasty lens :( parang wala pa ata akong karapatan :( plus, it's not cheap!!!

but if i get a cheaper lens now (18-200 VR, 55-200 VR or 70-300VR) i might regret it in the future naman...

what do you think? which should i get?! time's a ticking... we'll be heading off to hong kong tom. sighs... decide decide decide.

ay naku po!!!!

warning: this blog may cause you to lose your appetite... medyo kadiri. not for the faint-hearted

oki 'nuf warning..

bad trip!!! i dont know why the ladies' toilet here in singapore always smell like poop!!! especially early morning and after lunchtime. the safest time for me to go in the toilet is when the 'auntie' puts up the 'cleaning in progress' sign. wahhh

omg... di ko na kaya... i went in and i felt like puking. my gosh! ano ba. why cant they take their business somewhere else. since i really really need to go, i had to pull my shirt up to cover my nose... yes, it is THAT BAD.

kadiri tlaga... arghhh... im sick of smelling other people's poop! i need a gas mask or something!!!! wahhh!!! oohhh!! did i forget to tell you the mess they leave behind?! arggh!!!!

(sorry... sabi sa inyo kadiri e)

Melaka! :D

sounds like eureka. heheh... that's actually how the locals of malacca spell the name of their country :)

lui and i headed to malacca last may 2 for a two nights stay. my australian boss raved about the place that i couldn't help but be curious.

we took the grasslands bus to malacca. the bus was great. it was comfortable and a lot of leg space. you can even recline your seats to make it seem like a bed. only thing is the bus we got heading back to singapore was less fabulous than the bus going to malacca. tickets cost $110 for two return tickets. (including taxes)

we booked the hotel through the internet. my boss recommended the place where they stayed in so i just took her word for it... hotel puri is a small but cute hotel. the location is amazing! just 5 mins walk to jonker street and around 15 mins walk to the nearest tourist attraction :) the room was nice, clean but a bit small. but there's no stuffy or old smell. the staff were super nice and efficient! the breakfast was so-so. the 2nd breakfast we had, tasted like a recycle of the previous day's. the spa was great!!! amazing. hehe... the overall ambience of the hotel is awesome... it gives you a vibe of the old houses in malacca... you can read the history of the building in the website :) overall, i'd still stay at the hotel if i go back to malacca. it costs only $80 per night.

our first day in malacca, right after checking in and settling our stuff, we didnt waste a single minute and so, with our trusty map, we started exploring malacca :)

our first stop: famosa chicken rice balls!

my friend told me that this is a must try... and it is... hehe it's a different version of the chicken rice here in singapore. instead of rice, you get this squid ball look-alike that tastes like salted flour hehehe but very addicting. (we went back the next day) hehehe

after lunch, we walked around jonker street to look at the antique stores and souvenirs stores and went straight to the famous Stadthuys museum. (we paid 2RM each) the museum basically tells you the history of malacca (melaka was ruled by dutch, portugese and british... that's why they have a very rich culture)

after stadthuys, we visited christ church. according to the tour guide we had the following day, all the materials inside the church are all orginal from 18 something something :) cool...

basically, we were following the map of must sees in malacca. hehehe our next stop was supposed to be the youth museum but sadly it was closed. so we headed to st. francis xavier's church. it was closed so we just took pics from outside.

on our way back to the hotel (we decided to head back as it was really scorching hot outside!) we saw this little dutch restaurant. since we never tried dutch food before, we gave it a try. our verdict? the cassava fries was too oily. but the drink was refreshing enough :)

actually, we didnt go straight to the hotel. we were side-tracked by all the things in jonker street - all the stores and what nots. really a cool place. so we actually reached the hotel around 5pm na din lol...

we had dinner at this little restaurant that we saw in jonker street. it looked so cozy. we ordered a sandwich and lasagna... the sandwich is huge!! lasagna was amaaaazing :) after the sumptuous dinner, we went around jonker street again, but this time to enjoy the night market that they usually have on fri, sat and sun nights only :)

day2 saw us taking a guided tour :) it was great because we at least didnt have to walk. but would you believe that we walked from the mall back to the hotel? it's like walking from glorietta to rcbc tower in hot hot hot weather! init sa malacca grabe. my feet now have tan lines from may havs hahaha.

after the tour, we went back to the hotel for some r&r. since the day's activity was too tiring, we decided to try the spa at the hotel (sweet!) we paid around 250RM for two for back massage. very very very nice... i went straight to bed right after. hehehe

third day... we made some last minute shopping and decided to try the geographer's cafe... it's just around the corner from the hotel and we always see a lot of caucasians eating there so we just wanted to try it out. try their chicken nonya. sarap :D

ayun lang... by noon, we had to go back to singapore na :( all in all it was a great trip... i would recommend it for people who has the patience to walk far in scorching heat and those who are interested in culture.... malacca is a mix of cebu and davao. very urban. so unlike singapore.

im so glad that i have the best travel buddy ever.... no great place will be as good without an amazing companion :D

yun lang... visit malacca. its a great get away from the busy hustle and bustle of singapoe.

will post pics soon! will do some slight editing first :D hehehe

can i just?!

okay... i stole the title from clarice's blog hehehe. pero can i just rant?!!!!!!

sh*t talaga im so pissed off. and minsan lang ako magalit talaga...

here's the scenario:

april - i got our SP bill and paid it through internet banking on april 21.
may 5 - i got the SP bill for the month of april. guess what?!

the bill still includes the total amount billed last month. so for example, 200 yung last month tapos 300 this month, 500 ang nakareflect sa bill naman. so medyo muntik lang naman ako himatayin no...

since i got in late na around 8pm, all the call centers for SP services and HSBC were already closed. so i had to wait for morning to come. but i already updated my housemates and they were being optimistic telling me nahuli lang daw ang processing ng SP. so fine.

this morning at around 8:30 am, i called up SP. i informed them of our situation and asked them if they received the payment. the guy i talked to said NO. NO payment was received. okay fine... i was still okay. then i called up hsbc next... they on the other hand, informed me that payment has been made and "how can SP say that payment was not made when in fact it has left hsbc singapore" heller how would i know. i dont freaking own their system! (kelangan ma-audit yang system nila palpak!!!!!!)

soooo i called up SP again and they again told me that the last payment received was last march... arggghhh they wanted me to go down and show them my bank statment. ano sila hilo?! may trabaho kaya ako no.... sabi ko the best i can do was to send the email to them with a screenshot of my statement (buti na lang i did this last night). fine daw. (leche tlaga)

since i dont have internet access here in client (im in the airport btw), i had to call my friend che to send the email to sp. (i sent them the bank statement last night to prove to them na i paid. I PAID! shet. f*ck SP tlaga!!! causing me all this stress) pakshet!!!

anyway, so the email has been sent out. im now just waiting for their call. hopefully. HOPEFULLY they resolve the problem.

this is the very first time i encountered any problem using internet banking in my two years stay in singapore. shet it just changed my whole perception of singapore. (you're not perfect!!!) arggghhh talaga.

sorry super long ranting na to. im just so pissed. i was shouting at the SP customer service person na nga e. and i was tearing up when i called che. as in sobrang bad trip ako.

yun lang po. thanks sa pag basa :(

IRON MAN - wooowww!!!!

okay, compared to jenn, i am a Marvel person. hehe tomboyish kasi ako when i grew up and i always watch marvel cartoons - iron man, hulk, superman, spiderman, spiderwoman, batman, fantastic 4, name it, i've watched it... favorite ko nga dati as in super favorite is x-men :) (sabi ko nga tomboy ako!)

when i found out that iron man was showing soon, i was neutral. let's face it, there are some marvel flops here and there. but when i found out that ROBERT DOWNEY JR. was portraying iron man! OMG! i have to watch this! :D

i love Robert Downey... i find him hot and fantastic, from his movie with that catchy song "walk like a man, talk like a man" (sorry forgot the title of the movie), to his mtv with elton john :) i looove him! sayang lang naging drugista cya :(

anyway, what is my verdict over IRON MAN? FANTASTIC!!!!! one of the best... i think it is a tie with transformers for the best movie watched for the year. (miles and miles away from forbidden kingdom which is a disappointment for me).

watch it!!!! it's soooo worth the money. :)

im back!

just got back from malacca! :) grabe such a nice nice place. full of character. very 'cute' town... i loved it :)

will post pics soon :)

just booked our hotel for hong kong next week! we were looking at dragon hostel but when i read that there were cockroaches (gasp!) we decided to look for another hotel... we decided to go for ramada hong kong hotel. since wotif.com is giving out a promo, we decided to book it (3k pesos more expensive than dragon hostel - for 5 nights).

yey... we're going hk!

OH!! BTW, lui got a job! hehe but we informed his employer that we are going hong kong and they're fine with it :D

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

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!

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 :)

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

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 :)