My (oh my gosh I'm really 29 now) birthday!

It's actually my little sister's birthday today. (Happy Birthday sistah!!!) But let me take this opportunity to write about my birthday two weeks ago (haha, hey, this is my blog anyways :P ). I won't let this month end without blogging about it!

My birthday seemed to have been like 5 days long. Started on Friday, the 15th, when I had a big dinner with my very dear friends, Ays, Diovs, and Omar at the airport before I took my flight to the Philippines. The 16th, I met with my Travbuddy Philippines friends, where we had dinner and spent the rest of the night til the wee hours of the morning drinking and talking, talking, talking at Jenn's place. It was fun to hang out with them again and its worth going home at 7am the following day and worth being prejudged again by another taxi driver who couldn't keep his mouth shut from saying a perfectly annoying comment to start a conversation: "Ma'am mukhang galing kayo sa boypren nyo ah" (Ma'am, you seem to have just gotten out from your boyfriend's place). In my mind I gave him one very good uppercut.

Anyhoo, Sunday, was a big buffet lunch of Japanese, Filipino and American dishes with my family at a restaurant. Then dinner and coffee with my bestfriends since highschool: Melanie, Debbie, Maebel and Alison.

On Monday, my actual birthday, most at home almost forgot that it was my birthday, including me! But well I had to remember it because I spent the whole morning renewing my driver's license. And I got greetings thru sms and IMs from friends: from Singapore, from the Philippines, from Ireland (hi miswa Nina!), from Canada, phone calls from my sisters, messages in Facebook, etc. And here's more - I got a very sweet surprise of a dozen pink roses from my chili friends :)

I wish I had more time in the Philippines, I wanted to meet some more good friends (like Mhe, Ate Prime and some friends from highschool) and spend some more time with my family but 3 days will never be enough! :(

Anyhoo, I didn't cry on my flight going back to Singapore the night of my birthday. It was the first time I spent a part of my birthday on the airport and airplane. I arrived at 1am and found a gift on the dining table from my sweet flatmates.

The following day, I was back to work and I wasn't expecting anymore surprises but..first I got a nice bunch of flowers with chocolates and a cute sheep from Boy Libog, who up to now I still don't know who really is. Then another set of beautiful and fragrant flowers from my family in California. In the afternoon, two of my colleagues (my lunch buddies) made a little party in the pantry for me, they brought some very pretty handmade cupcakes (made by another friend of mine and her daughter).

Wow, that's quite a lot to feel so very special, huh? And I have not even mentioned the birthday gifts I got including those heartwarming blog entries of Diovs and Nina.

Ok, I hope I have not forgotten to mention anything else, but if I did, please excuse my short term memory lapse, I'm getting old, heehee :P

Conversations of the day

Morning

chili f: lech na mga lalaki kasi yan e!

chili a: hahaha

chili f: alam mo kung family and friends lang ang kailangan sa buhay, sobrang satisfied na ko

chili a: same here!

chili f: lecheng void lang kasi sa heart, parang may space talaga na naka-reserve sa romantic love na hindi ma-fill ng filial love

chili a: truly

chili f: kaines no?

chili a: sobra. though ako di ko talga hinahanap, may talent ako magrepel ng romantic love eh, di ko alam kung bakit

chili f: ayoko na rin hanapin, pero kumukurot sya ng kusa! hahahaha

chili a: hahaha, may ganun

chili f: may ganun nga, hahaha

chili a: my heart beats the name of *toot*, *toot* pa rin. Walang ibang alam na beat kundi yun

chili f: nye, bakit 2?

chili a: hahaha, oo, i can love both at the same time

chili f: ah kasi yung heartbeat dalawa? hahaha

chili a: korek! hahaha. The thing is, both are just ideas, di na sila totoong taong minamahal ko, idea na lang. hahaha

chili f: hahaha, ang kulet! i have to remember this conversation.

chili a: sana in the coming months, tao na mamahalin ko, di lang yung idea, hihihi

chili f: ako rin!

Noon

frenchbread: Twenty years ago, there were more rules to follow. Today we have less rules but there is more pressure on the individual.

frenchfries: Sometimes, I think it's better to have more rules. More choices can be more confusing...

Afternoon

Annoying Caller: hi, this is blah blah from blah blah blah enterprise...you won a Takashimaya voucher worth $100, just bring your husband to Ngee Ann City..

Annoyed Me: uhm, sorry, who are you calling for?

Annoying Caller: I'm blah blah from blah blah blah enterprise

Annoyed Me: No, I mean, who are you looking for?

Annoying Caller: It's for you, you won a Takashimaya voucher worth $100, just bring your husband to Ngee Ann City.

Annoyed Me: Where did you get my information?

Annoying Caller: We only have your number.

Annoyed Me: Well, you see I'm still single.

Annoying Caller: Are you over 35 years old?

Annoyed Me: No. Your information is wrong.

Annoying Caller: Oh, sorry.

This is creepy

Before going to sleep last night, I read the first few pages of Veronica Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (I've read this book before).

And last night I dreamt that I was bitten by a snake, which was like a cross breed of a cobra because of its head, and a rattlesnake for its tail. The bite didn't hurt, as only one fang bit my right leg, and the snake almost missed my leg when it attacked.

It took some time before a doctor arrived, but it was like nobody panicked. Then when the doctor finally arrived my right leg started to turn brown and it went up to my right arm, my shoulder and I started to panic. But the doctor told me to calm down and relax and lay down on my back, and like assuring me that everything will be alright. But actually what it really meant was that he knew I was dying as the browning of my body continued to my left side until my whole body was brown and the sound of the voices of doctor and the people around me talking became like a sound like I was inside a box but I could see them, and when I tried to get up, I saw my body laying there, dead. So I became a spirit which separated from my body.

I could not believe it, I didn't want to accept that I was dead, I started to panic but as always I thought that it was just a bad dream and that I would wake up. Thankfully I did wake up and found out it was just a dream. And I don't know why I even wanted to write this down, because it is a very creepy dream! But well maybe it had some deeper meaning? Hmm...oh well.

Learning thru the tummyache method

So today concludes my training where I learned about integration of databases, something which really interested me regardless of the fact that I really needed it right now for my work. This is a good sign, because it means I am still open to learning new things related to information technology even if I know that given a chance (and the same salary!) to shift to a career which is "more human", I would do it in a heartbeat. :P

But you know what, I enjoyed the training mostly because of the experience I had outside the classroom. Our class was actually very small, there was just three of us -- me (Filipino), another trainee (South Indian working in Qatar) and our instructor (Malaysian Chinese). On the first day of training, when lunch break time arrived, I jokingly said to our instructor that lunch break was my favorite part of the training. But what do you know, in the end I would really mean it!

The three of us went together for lunch. Monday was free lunch at Sizzler where we had American food (yummy steak and salad), courtesy of the training company. For Tuesday, we went to a foodcourt where we had Singaporean food - I had char kway teow while the two men had Ban Mian. My Indian classmate wanted to try Singaporean food and so he just ordered the same with our instructor. It was quite amusing to watch my classmate struggle with his chopsticks, but nevertheless I think he enjoyed the experience as much as we enjoyed watching him. And I made quite an impression on our instructor too when I unintentionally stained his shirt and pants with the flying squirts from the prawn from my food when I was peeling it off. I was so embarrassed of course and I thought our instructor would take it against me. But well, on the contrary, I think it even broke the ice, as he was just a nice and cool person, the same with my classmate. On Wednesday's lunch, our instructor suggested that we go to Little India to have some Indian food and also for my classmate to have some tour. I had reservations about this, because to be honest, I am not fond of Indian food. However, I actually enjoyed the lunch at the Southern Indian restaurant we went to because my Indian classmate showed us how to eat the Southern Indian way -- on a banana leaf, you mix the different viands on the rice and eat using your hands-- and I surprisingly ended up eating A LOT! Boy, I was sooo full and I knew I would most probably have a tummyache from all the spices and curry combination. My classmate even had us try some Indian desserts. I really had a great time this day, as I also was able to have a brief tour of Little India, which I have never done before in my 3 years in Singapore. I was quite amazed at how much culture there is in that place. Then indeed, that evening I had a tummyache, but which I didn't regret the reason for obviously. Today, Thursday, my tummy has still not recovered but for lunch we had....Filipino food! I brought them to 7,107 Flavors, a Filipino restaurant where we had a sumptous feast of Filipino food on a very rainy and cold day. We were so full and I was very much glad to know that they enjoyed the Filipino food.

So you see, I went for a training and I learned a lot in the classroom. But even more, unexpectedly, I learned more important things outside the classroom, and that is, that people may come from different places, have different cultures, but in the end, we are all the same -- we all have a tummy for food! :-P

(Ok, well, I hope you get the deeper message of what I meant ;-)

Burrrrp!

Lesson of the day

I was supposed to write something fluffy today, like about my new dress I wore today and which I really liked, or something that makes a little bit of sense (and actually geeky), like how I actually enjoyed doing configurations and integration of databases during my technical training today.

But nooooo, I have to write another ranting instead! Because I was so much irritated that I wanted to scream my lungs out! Why? Because I missed my bus tonight and the next bus was another half an hour later! And all because I made another wrong choice!!!!

But you can say, so what, we're just human and we're allowed to make mistakes from time to time, right? Yes! However, look at this scenario: you think about this great big plan, which you have been thinking about the whole day, even rehersing your move and what you're gonna say over and over in your mind but then it suddenly happens when you least expect it and you just end up making a fool of yourself because you got rattled and did the exact opposite instead! To think that this has happened to me sooo many times already but I can't seem to do it right! Grrrrrrrrr!!!

Haiz...

Please do excuse me, this is just due to so much pride I have that I am making a big deal out of it. Although, really, it just gets into my nerves even if I would not like it to! Arrrggghh!!!

So the lesson of the day is: learn from your previous lessons!!!

Sigh :(

Ok, ok, I'm gonna calm down...breathe in..breathe out..breathe in..breathe out...

woosaaaaaaaaah....

My first MAC :)

And I'm not talking about the computer of course. :P

It's the MAC make up. As I was inspired by two of my girl friends (hi Mhe! :) whom I have personally seen how good they looked wearing MAC eye make up, I bought my first MAC eye shadow at Changi airport two weeks ago on my way to Ho Chi Minh. It costs 29 something SGD, which is about 10% cheaper than if you buy from the stores in Singapore.

I actually wanted the type where the colors were already mixed, however, they did not have it at the store in the airport so I settled for this two tone pink and bronze colors. Anyhow, I wore it yesterday and I am happy because it was subtle enough for day time and just nice for evening. And with a better brush, it would even look nicer for sure. Perhaps I should get myself a MAC brush next? Hmmm... ;)

When fluffyness fades...

You start to think again of those questions that you could not answer.
You start again to be anxious of what will be or what will not be.
Your emotions start climbing to the peak,
And one simple comment would burst your bubble and crash your confidence like a one strong whip.
Then you start to doubt yourself again.

I will shake this off, of course. But first, I blame this all to hormones...
Yes, it's hard being a woman.

Blue windows of the heart

What happens when you are having an emotional day and you watch Nights in Rodanthe?

You get a heart-shattering, nose runnering (if there is such a word like this, hehe), make up smudging, endless sobbing inside the cinema!

My gosh! Good thing I watched it by myself, I was crying continuously and I couldn't help sniffing loudly. It was embarrassing enough to go out of the cinema with sore eyes and a very red nose! And my gulay, I had a hard time re-doing my make up! hehehe.

Anyways, tears aside, I would like to say that I like the movie, Nights in Rodanthe, not because of the storyline (the story was based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, by the way), but rather, how well the visuals like the cinematography, the location and the very good performance of the actors was used to make a usual story become special in its own way. I especially loved the beach house! Inside and out! And the musical scores used were just perfect to supplement the lovely scenes.

Yeah, it's another chick flick which I'm sure the guys will just roll their eyes at, and for sure, who would only be caught watching it because their girlfriend or wife wanted to watch it. Yep, I'm learnin' ;-)

Geez, I'm sleepy again, to think that I just had 12 hours of sleep last night! Too much crying, I guess. :P

~~~~~~~~~~~

Photo taken from the movie's official website: http://nightsinrodanthe.warnerbros.com/