Chilis + Wine + Cheese = ?

"Mayaman ako, dahling (I'm rich, darling)"

--Celia Rodriguez*

Can you believe this: me and my chili friends had a wine and cheese party!!!

Yes, you read it right. We had four bottles of wine, some fancy cheese in three kinds and almost 7 hours of conversations about life and everything under the sun. It's unusual but was so fun. I can't help but think if it's because we are becoming more classy or we're becoming old. I can hear Aoisoba saying right now as she read this that it would be more of the latter, hehehe.

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*Celia Rodriguez is an actress/icon from the Philippines popularly known for playing rich, villain socialite roles, that we chilis agree that even if you dress her up in rags in TV or movie to do a role of a beggar, she could just say "Mayaman ako, dahling" and she could still convince you that she's rich . haha. :P

Picture is owned by photographer, Dominique James

I could have been tan in Bintan

Bintan - Indonesia's island of resorts. An hour away from Singapore by ferry.Last weekend was my first time to be in this beautiful island. I was there together with a hundred plus colleagues from around the world for our company jamboree.

We stayed at Angsana Resort & Spa, one of the high end resorts and which I highly recommend for their very good facilities and service, especially the very hospitable staff they have.

The event was elegant as I've expected, actually even more than I imagined --the VIP treatment, the chic accomodations, the posh beach side dinner and party, the sumptous food, the overflowing wine and the fireworks...it could have been almost being in a magical dream but...

Under the ideal circumstances, I will tell you about the girl who enjoyed the ferry ride amidst the swayful motion from the big seawaves, about the girl who danced under the rain on the beach, the girl who looked beautiful in her purple sarong and a flower on her ear, the girl who was asked to dance by gentlemen, the girl who made a few sips of wine and laughed with her colleagues, the girl who felt rejuvinated by having her first full body massage.

But reality comes in, and I will tell you about supertravelgirl who braced and faced her Kryptonite of motionsickness at the sea, about the girl who could only watch the rain fall down and meet the seawaves, the girl who wore a nice dress but should have worn her sarong instead and with a flower that kept falling off from her ear, about the girl who tried to dance away the solitude, about the girl who must have consumed glasses of wine she has had in her whole life, and about the girl who smiled and laughed a little but whose eyes did not shine, and about the girl who, as she stripped naked for her massage, felt she has bared not only her body, but all her insecurities.

It is not at all fair to the warmth of Bintan that I was there, but I was almost not.

Twist and spout

Halfway through in the afternoon, some colleagues started to go to the window and stared. I got curious what it was about but I was hesitant to see because I was a little afraid that what could have been amusing them might be something not wholesome (you know what I mean, hehehe). Only when one French guy said "It's a twister" that I got up from my seat and looked out at the window, and for the first time in my life, I could not believe my eyes that I was seeing a true, live tornado. I was so amazed to see the massive twirling air on the bay for minutes.

But well, I found out later it was not called a tornado, but a waterspout, since it was on the water. And that it was not an unusual thing in Singapore, since there are sightings of these 4 to 5 times a year.

View of the waterspout from my office. Not a good pic though since I forgot that my cellphone camera has a zoom. (Actually I have forgotten I had my 6MP digicam in my bag.)

These two awesome pictures are courtesy of Omaritosan from his office view.

That night, I could not believe I have also created my own twister in my mind. It is not good, for it doesn't make you breathe and could blow you away...

The Ipod ghost

This morning I was woken up by a light sound of music playing. I reached for my Ipod laying on the couch beside my bed. With half opened eyes I switched it off but not after looking at the title of the song: Stand by Me by Oasis. I hesitantly looked around my room, almost expecting to see someone or something...because this was the third consecutive day that I have been awoken up by my Ipod suddenly playing music. Plus, it played the same song! Stand by Me...perhaps it's a message from...a restless soul who needs a friend?!?!

OH MY GOD! Is this the indication that I have a 6th sense!?!?

OH NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Before I got more spooked I went back to sleep.

The first time I experienced it the other day, I thought my Ipod was turned on accidentally because it was not locked and perhaps the buttons got touched by something inside my bag. Yesterday it was not inside my bag but was laying face down so I thought it was the buttons getting accidentally pushed again. But today, I clearly remember my Ipod was laying face up on my couch, no way that its buttons would be accidentally be pushed by something!

Of course, as a person working in the Information Technology industry, I must think first that there should be a technical explanation for this: Voila! After enquiring with my friends (which spooked them a little as well) and scrutnizing my Ipod functions, I confirmed that as I have suspected, an Ipod has an alarm setting! My Ipod was set to alarm at 6:15am!

But still, it doesn't explain it all because I did not set that alarm. So who did?

Since my Ipod is a hand-me-down from my lil sis, she must have set it. But after asking her, I learned that she did not.

*Twilight Zone theme song plays in the background: teeneeneeneen, teeneeneeneen...*

Before getting convinced that it was due to something supernatural, I had to think of some good explanation for this. I've been using this Ipod for more than 3 months now but I've not experienced this until three days ago.....hmmmnnn.
*Ting!* Ah yes! Three days ago was when I first plugged my Ipod to my laptop to add some songs! I changed the Ipod name and it must have reset the alarm setting! The song Stand By Me is the first song in the first playlist which understandably would be the default.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Although.............why 6:15 and not 6:00?

Isn't it that usually the default time setting is at the exact hour?!

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

The book(s) that I thought I could not finish

It was #1 in my Christmas wish list last year. I've been wanting to buy this for yeeeears now. Finally, I bought it at the start of January this year as a new year's gift to myself.

My Story by Dave Pelzer is actually a compilation of his three books:
~A Child Called 'It', which relates his life from age 4 to 12 ;
~The Lost Boy, which relates his life from age 12 to 18; and
~A Man Named Dave, which relates his life from 18 onwards

I first saw the book A Child Called 'It' almost four years ago in a bookstore while waiting, I think, to meet he-who-must-not-be-named-exBF. Usually, when a book catches my attention, I would browse through the first few pages to know if it was interesting enough to buy. But pages and pages went by, and I still didn't stop reading. For tens of minutes I stood there, reading the book chapter after chapter, my eyes welling up with tears. I almost finished reading the book but I had to go so I decided that I would just finish the rest next time I return to the bookstore (hehe, yea, I was being a cheapskate =P). But many things-that-should-be-forgotten happened, so I never got to go back to the bookstore to finish it. But I think in between, when I did finally decide to buy it, I found it was already out of stock and only the 2nd book, 'The Lost Boy', was available. I didn't want to read the second book without finishing the first one. Then I came to Singapore and fastforward to last year, I saw in Border's bookstore that My Story, the compilation of Dave Pelzer's three books, was available in a good price compared to buying the books individually.

After buying it last January, it sat on my bookshelf, waiting for the right time to be read. Then last month, I decided to start reading it on my bus ride from work going home. However, just on the third page of Chapter 1, I already had to stop reading and close the book. I felt a lump build up in my throat and tears welled up in my eyes, I knew I would not be able to restrain myself from crying inside the bus if I continued further. Then days after, I attempted to continue reading it again, this time in a coffee shop. But oh no, just like in the bus, I knew I would cry if I continued to read on. So I have concluded I would never be able to finish reading this book in a public place, so it went back to sit in my bookshelf. Last week though, I craved to read a new book and thought that before I buy a new book, I should finish my back log books. So this weekend that passed, I spent most of the time reading it. By this (Monday) morning 1am, I have finished the trilogy.

Dave Pelzer's My Story is very, very moving, heart-wrenching, if I may say so. Reading it is not something that made me shed just a tear or two. I cried a real crying, intermittently, for minutes, uncontrollable tears fell one after another. After finishing the third part, A Man Named Dave, I felt like I grew up with Dave and was there with him to witness how he fought to survive as an innocent but very brave child, how he struggled to exist as a normal adolescent and undo the poisoned things that were inculcated in his mind, and how he live now to tell his story as a kind-hearted and kind-souled adult, receiving love that he truly deserved. It is an honour for me to be given the privilege to get to know Dave Pelzer thru his book, as indeed he is one of the miracles that God sends to remind us that life is still beautiful to be given up.

Oui! Oui! Oui! :)

Waking up before the alarm rings

I woke up today feeling something different than my usual mornings as I prepared to go to work...

I heard thunder and heavy rain which made me wake up before my alarm rang. But I still dozed off and waited for my alarm to ring before actually getting up.When I went out of our flat, the rain has stopped, but the clouds remained grey, the surroundings were wet, the air was cool..the kind of weather that the Philippines has during June, when school year starts.

So perhaps it was why as I walked going to the bus stop, I felt this familiar good feeling, that feeling of my childhood back in the Philippines...during the time when it was the first day of school - something I was excitedly looking forward to when I was a child. It's not that I was a school nerd(hmm, well, ok to some extent, yeah), I just like the idea of new books, new classmates, new teachers, new beginnings, a new start, a new chapter of things...

It is what we call Hope...something that keeps me going and yet also something that I am afraid of sometimes, because by being so hopeful, I can become also naive and gullible. I am afraid of that cycle that usually happens when I would start to dream -- I would become like a dainty girl from Pleasantville with a big smile plastered on her face... then suddenly, one day, something will happen to make a 180 degree turn and would give me that feeling like a pail of ice-cold water was poured over my head. It's not that I am a pessimist, just that it is my way of putting my defenses up to shield me from potential disappointments. I know this is not a good way, but this is what works right now, so this is. But I do pray that one day, this perspective will change and I will no longer have to hold my breath or close my eyes.

Perhaps this good feeling is just nothing else but because I am happy that I was able to make myself call Papa before the day ended yesterday to greet him a happy birthday...

Lollipops and memories

A Singaporean colleague gave me a Chupa Chups lollipop today. She said it tastes good and can be addictive. I asked her if she's tried the Chupa Chups lollipop with bubblegum on top, the one where you have to finish the candy first until you get the bubblegum inside, I used to like it as a kid, blah blah blah... She paused and was silent for a few seconds, with a facial expression that seemed to be wondering what in the world I was talking about. Then she said a reminder that amused me for the day: "we don't have that lollipop here, that's bubblegum".

Good point.

How can I forget that bubblegum is forbidden to be sold here in Singapore? Haha. =P

So I thought of another Chupa Chups lollipop in mind, the one with a whistle (Melody Pop) and asked her about it. Her face lightened up and she replied that she likes that one too.

There ya go.

Haha. :)

Flying with Sam's Letters to Jennifer

I usually bring a book to read whenever I travel, especially when I'm travelling alone (which is often the case). However, last week I forgot to bring a book for my flight from Singapore to Manila and back. So I went to the bookstore at the airport terminal to find an affordable book. I saw a stack of books on sale, good. I searched and the book Sam's Letter to Jennifer caught my interest. After reading some of the quoted commentaries that endorses the book, it sounded ok although I was not sure if I would like to read another fiction novel having a cheesy, sentimental love story at that moment. I've also not read any James Patterson book before so I was not sure if it would be a good read. I decided to buy it, anyway, since it was just S$7, not much money to waste if ever. Besides, I thought it would serve as a preparation to start reading Judith McNaught novels again (paging Ays and chilis: pang-ilan ako sa nakapila? :).
I was not able to read it on the Singapore-Manila flight as I've expected (since I was taking Cebu Pacific Air flight and it leaves at midnight) because I slept during the 3 hour flight.
I was able to read it intermittently during my one week stay in my homeland. I was able to finally finish reading it on the flight back from Manila to Singapore. I was amazed to realize that my initial impression about the book was not close to what it really was about and that this book is like a found treasure in a stack of books on bargain. It may not be as comprehensive and as vivid as a Judith McNaught novel or as emotionally intense as a Nicholas Spark novel but it has that subtle, light touch to the mind and heart. Just what I perfectly needed at that time*. Now, I am interested to find and read his other book, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, which is the more popular book of James Patterson and the predecessor.

*Flying with Sam's Letters to Jennifer was like flying like the flowing river, only this time the tears fell before I took the plane...

But as always, it has just to be dealt with.

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Photo from http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/sams_letters_jennifer1.asp