Easter Island Underworld | National Geographic Channel

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easter island!!!

:)

sms & emails

it started out with an early sms which affected the entire day. followed by the opening of that mail.
the bread with chizwhiz made up for it somehow.. and the quick chat with a dear sibling.

the butterflies in my stomach caused it to miss my lunch with a very good Pa-lady friend.
and the delay that night caused me to miss my dinner/drinks with another Pa-lady friend.

i feel so terrible for missing chillax hours with these beautiful, fun Pa-ladies. next week, i'm totally setting aside quality time with them.

as it turns out

it's been a more than a month now, so far so good with the new post. during my hunt, i was telling myself that i should think 'long term' as a priority

i was choosing between two options then. sad to say, the one that i really wanted didn't suffice. and after a month, i heard some awful news about 'the other'. as it turned out, the posting didn't materialize.

to think i was so disappointed then, and i kept on asking Him, why? why didn't it happen for me?

now, i'm so thankful it really didn't. i'm very thankful to be working side by side with dadi :) i had to blurt out, "thank God!".

cheers!

happy 6th birthday to us :)

math-tinik

the apple does not fall far from the tree

i'm so proud of nixon. he never fails to amuse us when it comes to his studies. of course there would be tough times and this moment, is a moment of celebration and triumph... not just for us parents, but for our friends and families as well.

he got first place in class and 87th in Asia.

i think so too

forgiveness and mercy can be applicable if there is recognition and acceptance of fault, followed by sincere apologies and repentance. then, it is only rightful and deserving to say, "I forgive you".

isn't it funny to be asked, "when will you forgive?", when the culprit isn't exactly aware or directly denies affliction?

shoe-pulsive

i hate myself when i get to the point of letting go...

...of shoeseseses that i bought impulsively!

i normally have dilemmas buying shoes. first of all, my feet are wide, and in this country *where girls are so petite*, getting the right shoes for me is next to impossible! i envy those who could fit perfectly in their cinderella dream. getting the comfy & pretty ones are usually way out of my budget.

i bought 2 pairs from nine west 2years ago... ayun, so far i gave one pair to my sis grace and the other one has been sitting inside the shoe cabinet :( i really like the design and color, unfortunately, the flexing of the leather didn't happen. same goes with my ergo lab shoes... and here i thought it should be feet-friendly!

so now, the hardest part is accepting that it's not meant to be and i have to send them off somewhere where they can be useful.

sigh

strangers in the night

i've been having dreams of people i have not seen in my entire life. when i wake up, i would see their faces in my mind... the dream is so vivid. i can remember features, colors, clothes, expressions, emotions. i don't really know what it means. if its premonition, then why have i not seen them still? so strange...

sometimes i would even dream about being in another place, in another time, in another circumstance. but the memories of these dreams won't last 'til i finally wake up. i could only remember glimpse of some details. but i know in my heart and mind that i was somewhere else.

maybe i'm reading too much philip pullman and j.k. rowling.

blowing bubbles

whenever i see a gumamela flower, it sends me back in time when we were little girls, playing near the shrubberies and picking out gumamela leaves and flowers. we would remove the stalks and sip the sweet juice for it taste good as candy. i can't really remember if it does taste sweet.

of course our main goal was to really make a bubble mix using the flower and leaves. we would smash them with a rock then put them on a tub of water. then we would get the thinnest walis tingting sticks *broomstick* and tie them up to a knot and will be used as the bubble maker. out of frustration of not achieving the right texture of the gumamela bubble mix, we sneak in at our laundry basket and scoop some detergents, without our mom's knowledge hehehe!

i think most of us experienced this during our childhood years way back in pinas... i'm seeing a lot of heads nodding and grins in your faces right now. =D

a piece of me

here's a new piece of me... done last may 2nd. thanks to mareng ne for lending his tat artist, nick.

the flower is a lily.. personifying my nick during high school. the chinese character is my surname. i haven't thought about completing my name coz i'm also toying with the idea of having my sons' chinese names tat as well *in the future i suppose*.

into deep

right now, i'm in my cave, trying to calm down and compose myself. at this moment, at this instant, i really really wish i was there... that we are there. that this shouldn't be happening if we were there. i really wanna be there so badly, i'm crying and hurting inside so bad. i'm pushing away all thoughts of regrets, frustrations, anger and blame. why, why does it have to be so hard? why can't it happen?

aloe hair!

please don't judge me. this is the only way i know, my last resort to alleviate my hair's agony.

it's been 3months now since it started falling off incessantly. i was ignoring it at first, thinking it must be normal for a week or two. but by golly! i'm so scared right now 'coz it keeps falling off even if i just comb my hair once a day (during mornings only while its wet). my suspect: the hair lotion i'm applying c/o pink beauty to keep my curls neat. it doesn't come cheap mind you. i stopped using it for about 3weeks now and my alternative is ginvera olive oil, but the same number of hair strands are still falling off huhuhu!

while some of you might go for hair technology, treatments and damage control products, i decided to go back to basics. i don't wanna shed more pennies to only regret it later on. my solution: aloe vera. yes, i bought a big 'leaf' in the grocery and asked my ever reliable hubby to scrub the aloe jelly(?) on my scalp and leave it there for half an hour before washing. i just had a sudden flash of memory of my mom helping a neighbor scrub aloe vera while having their usual afternoon chitchats way back my childhood days. there was even another hair remedy... 'gugo' bark, which you soak into the water and lathers up like shampoo and is applied to the scalp and hair. if aloe vera doesn't work, then i need to get this 'gugo' bark. yes, i'm desperate.

lizzy and mr. darcy

have you ever had this feeling when you read a book that you really like... and you wanna keep reading it because you're so excited and thrilled to know the what's gonna happen next *even if you have watched it in a movie already*? yet at the same time, you dread that the pages are going by so fast, there's just few of them left so you wanna stop and you wished that the pages would not end...

that's how i felt while reading jane austen's pride and prejudice.

i'm so happy and very satisfied after reading the book itself. crazy enough, i watched the movie immediately that night after reading it. recognizing the dialogues in the book being spoken by the characters made it so real, especially the part when lady catherine de bourgh confronted elizabeth. mrs. bennet is even funnier in the book, and mr. darcy's confessions of love for lizzy is so heartwarming! i'm so in love with him! hahaha!

here are my fave quotes in the book:

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. - Mary, Chapter 5

"Really, Mr. Collins," cried Elizabeth with some warmth, "you puzzle me exceedingly. If what I have hitherto said can appear to you in the form of encouragement, I know not how to express my refusal in such a way as to convince you of its being one." - Chapter 19

"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do." - Mr. Bennet, Chapter 20 <-- this really made me laugh while i was in the train!

She was suddenly roused by the sound of the door-bell, and her spirits were a little fluttered by the idea of its being Colonel Fitzwilliam himself, who had once before called late in the evening, and might now come to inquire particularly after her. But this idea was soon banished, and her spirits were very differently affected, when, to her utter amazement, she saw Mr. Darcy walk into the room. In an hurried manner he immediately began an inquiry after her health, imputing his visit to a wish of hearing that she were better. She answered him with cold civility. He sat down for a few moments, and then getting up, walked about the room. Elizabeth was surprised, but said not a word. After a silence of several minutes, he came towards her in an agitated manner, and thus began: "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." <-- super kilig moment!

"I cannot fix on the hour, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." - Mr. Darcy

crazy!

this guy is just so great, i have to share his performance to ya' all... get ready to be amazed

funny wants and grudges

some of the things my sons told me/us the past week na nakakagulat at nakakatawa...

nixon: mami, next time can we go to australia?
me: *recovering from shock* huh? why?
nixon: i heard from tita isa that her trip was fun and exciting. i would like to go there too
me: ok, tell your daddy

anlayo kaagad ng narating ng pangarap ng kuya ko ha... kailangang pag-ipunan susme!

noah: mami, i love you! i love it when you come home at daytime

what he means is, he's happy when i come home from work na may liwanag pa. dito kasi sa gapor, mga 7pm usually maliwanag pa.

nixon: mami, can we have another baby brother or a baby sister?
me: *shock na naman* why??
nixon: i just want one more playmate

wow kuya, madaling gawin yan, mahirap i-maintain!

yesterday, i was on searching on my mac while noah was answering his activity book. sa sobrang busy ko, di ko sya naririnig hanggang sa lumapit na lng sya sakin, sabay sabi, "mami! is there something wrong with your ears???"
me: ha? what happened?
noah: i keep calling you to help me with my book!
me: ay sorry baby, i didn't hear you.. what were you asking?
noah: hmp! *with cross arms on chest* i don't like you because there is something wrong with your ears!!!!

pinigilan ko talagang tumawa! sinumbong pa nya ko kay tita juvs! *our nanny* ang kulit!!! imbes na sabihin nyang, i don't like you because you're not listening to me, talagang tinuya nya ang tenga ko! hahahaha

a matter of no consequence

i have this notion, while i was reading 'the little prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, that the book would be somewhat shallow and probably be categorized as a children's book. but after reading it, i couldn't help but put it in my 'to-reread' list. here are my fave quotes... i will leave them for your own inspiration :)
Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.i think most of us is struck by this truth: once we become adults, we forget that we were once kids and loose our imagination... that's why everything becomes very complicated.
"One must command from each what each can perform, the king went on. "Authority is based first of all upon reason. If you command your subjects to jump into the ocean, there will be a revolution. I am entitled to command obedience because my orders are reasonable.", said the King. " Then my sunset?" insisted the little prince, who never let go of a question once he had asked it. "You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But I shall wait, according to my science of government, until conditions are favorable."
this one, for me, pertains to responsible governance and being logical subjects.


Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
i didn't know that this quote comes from this book. it is true... the physical fades, but the heart and compassion remains.


"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
i'm very fond with the fox in this book. he's a feeling creature, and his words are wise. for me, it's like when you start caring and loving someone, you nurture the relationship. and whatever the circumstance is, whether it blooms or fails, we should take responsibility and not absolve ourselves from the commitment.

*my heartfelt thanks to pazette for recommending this book :)*

some kinda stupid

hay di ko alam kung talagang stress lang ako sa work or what! i was about to register my starbucks prepaid card online so i can keep track of my balance and top-up... so the instruction says, scratch the back to reveal the security pin code. and this is what happened... take note on the lower part...

i said to myself, bakit wala namang number!??! then scratch ko ulit sa right side, wala parin! i'm getting frustrated na, so i scratched the left side. hay naku wala parin!!! tapos i looked up at the card, perfect! andun pala sa taas un pin code!!!! syempre di ko naisip na un long gray line was for swiping diba!!!!! haaaayyyy it's really just one of those days arrggghhh!

ayan so i got a new one to replace it via online... syempre i was embarassed to go to a starbucks branch. anong sasabihin ko!? naisip kong alibi was, my son played with my card. ang salbahe kong nanay!

of nuptial and natal

i was just joking gabe this morning telling him, "oh btw, you know i'm still not used to having the idea or saying the words brother-in-law to my friends! hahaha!". i'm so happy that our family is yet again, joined by another person. i believe they are both gifts to each other. i told grace, you know you don't have to be scared and alone now. someone who really cares for you and loves you will forever suffer your stubborness and ill-treatments haha! kidding aside, during that day, i think i was freaking inside... i was surprisingly speechless and quiet before the ceremony. one of my sisters is about to get wed, and i'm sincerely and utterly filled with joy seeing their happy faces that day. my little sister who usually says i won't get married, is finally hitched! :)

of course the following week was noah's birthday. valentines is usually quick, short, inexpensive since his birth, but we really don't mind because we love him so much and we'd rather splurge on his birthday. the weekend before, we already planned to cook him some spaghetti and chicken, his faves. then come monday, he requested roasted chicken with lots of gravy from tita juvs. agreeably, we obliged by having dinner in kenny rogers at novena and buying a cake of his choice. it was a very fun evening. :)

minsan.. sometimes.. napapadalas

minsan masarap mag-share ng thoughts, lalo na pag masaya ka. ganun ako, mahilig ako mag-share ng mga bagay na nakapagpapasaya sakin. pag may nagustuhan akong pagkain na natikman ko somewhere, bibili ako ng marami nun sa susunod tapos pamimigay ko sa mga kaibigan ko. kasi pwedeng sumaya rin sila.

minsan magluluto ako, at pag naging successful, dadamihan ko at ilalagay ko sa plastic the next day at iaabot ko sa kanila... kahit pa magmukha akong baduy at chipangga dahil naka pang-office clothes ako with killer heels at may bitbit na paperbag na mukhang pang-tapaw *take out*. basta naiisip ko lang, i'm sure matutuwa sila sa niluto ko.

pag may nakita ako sa malls na cute or usable item, kung kaya ko naman bilhin, i would buy it and give it as a gift. kahit pa ako un wala, basta sila meron.

minsan malungkot ako... pero pag naiisip kong mag-share sa kanila ng food or stuffs or happy stories, ok narin ako. minsan nga di daw nila halata na may dinadamdam na pala ako... di ko na lang iniinda, kasi pano na lang ang kaligayahan nila? pag tumahimik ako, ano na lang ang pag uusapan namin? pag huminto ako, pano na sila? di ko rin sigurado na pag ginawa ko un gusto ko, sasaya ako. at least alam ko, sigurado ako, na pag ginawa ko un pra sa kanila at masaya sila, masaya narin ako.

cool change

minumulto na ko ng blog site ko so here i am, blogging away and getting back to biz. sorry, marami lang kasing nangyare recently with our lives for the past 2years na i have to recuperate and be in my own cave.

now, i'm trying to evolve and have a new mindset and tell stories in a different light. together with it is the restructuring of my site little by little. i have put up some new interesting links which i like to share kasi nakakaaliw talaga basahin mga post nila. just click away!

btw, i usually update and post using my multiply account kasi i load some pics over there so its easier to capture pics and export here. i redesigned it as well, may new skin na sya.

khmer siem reap trip

my fascination with culture has lead me yet to another place i truly admire... that is siem reap, cambodia. i heard of their history and temples in my asian history class, but my attention got really drawn to it when i watched the movie, tomb raider.

they were mainly using USD as their trade currency, but you can also use cambodian riels. we stayed at steung siem reap hotel; conveniently located in the old french quarter and a few meters away from the old market, restaurants, atm machines, drugstores, bakery and pub street. angkor night market is like three blocks away. our trip falls on a dry, cool season (18-19deg C) on early mornings and late afternoons, while it hits 30-33deg C during mid day.

the highs during my trip was the 'temple hopping' of major landmarks: "angkor wat", "ta phrom", "bantey srei", and "bayon temple". it never ceased to amazed me how intricate the carvings were on the wall. our tourist guide, mr. somuch, told us that there were unending conflicts of religion in the old times... temples were revered and built for hindus, then later on by buddhist. so the conflicting carvings and vandalisms were evident on most of them. i was astonished how these different bricks and rocks have formed faces that have definite features. and i was astonished at the thought of being on a temple on a temple! we went up to temples
15meters high only to find more temples on top haha! and it felt like we were just on the ground.

(left) bayon temple, (right) ta phrom or tomb raider

the locals were very calm, accommodating, soft spoken and 'eager' (i'm speaking for tuktuk drivers and market vendors here). most of them would really sell their services just so they could save for the rainy season. it's not ideal to go there on monsoons, the place would be soaked in mud and floods. i was surprise that most locals we encountered were not aware of what day it was...

us to tuktuk driver: vichet, please fetch us on saturday morning, around 9am

vichet: ok ok. what day is today?

us: its thursday, so the day after tomorrow.

another one with our tourist guide, mr. somuch...

somuch: so until when are you here in cambodia?

us: til sunday morning

somuch: what day is today?

us: uuhh.. friday. so the day after tomorrow.

somehow it made us think that while they let each day pass by without minding about the day and time, while we on the other hand, are always trying to count the minutes, hours, day in a week. it was a breath of fresh air, very laid back and relaxed... while we urban creatures kept pulling for our weekends, which honestly just go by unnoticed.

major highlight was crossing out one item off my bucket list... climbing up a mountain. i'm proud to have finished that 1.5km hike up kbal spean and sunk our feet in the cool waterfall. the terrain was a bit tough and challenging... halfway, i even asked myself why am i punishing myself on my freakin' birthday hahaha! but it was truly rewarding. our day ended with a delicious dinner treat in bopha restaurant serving local delicacies followed by shopping souvenirs in the flea market. *side note: mr. somuch and our driver laughed at us because we were ordering what they call 'peasant food'! we loved amok & sam lor macheu, i bought spices back for cooking them.*

1.3km more to go! aja aja!

(left) amok & khmer style beef soup, (right) sam lor macheu & khmer prawn w/ veggies

when we visited the landmine museum, my heart felt sadness and pity for the cambodians. it was just around 1990's that they started patching themselves up after the french colonization and pol pot's reign. it's understandable why most of them would simply live by their means because they're scared to farm or fish with the fear of a landmine or bomb exploding in their midst. the initiative of landmine clearing was started by aki ra, who was chosen top 10 cnn hero for 2010.. kudos to him! they have a camp for young and old victims, teaching them how to continue living their lives normally.

overall, our trip was truly a break from the busy daily city life and parenthood. a perfect time for dadi and me to explore a new society, be with a diverse crowd, and discover life in a different perspective. the trip was insightful and i'm very glad cambodia was part of our 'to-visit' list :)

gift of a lifetime

before going back home to pinas last december, dadi handed me a gift. he said he hasn't found any christmas gift for me yet, so this is the best he came up with for the moment.. and i really appreciate it.

his words were, "mami, this is my gift of a lifetime.. i want us to read all of these together in our journey". so the beginning of our book saga. i will list down some that i have already read.

1. wuthering heights
2. don quixote *i'm adding this to my reread list*
3. harry potter series
4. his dark materials trilogy
5. memoirs of a geisha

hmm i'm still 45 books short. hopefully i can read 5 this year. these would include: pride and prejudice, life of pi, the bell jar, men without women, and on the road.

on another note, i want to share with you a site that i discovered called, manybooks. i'm so grateful and delighted to have bumped into this! they allow you to download ebooks free! and you can format them depending on your reader. so i'm getting mine in a pdf iphone format! how cool is that! :)

the eye

no this is not a horror flick. this is not a review. and this doesn't have anything to do with the probe team.

i'm talking literally about my eyes. yes, i have declared and finally admitted that it's time to put attention to it. previously, it wasn't a concern that my eyelashes were too short, and mascaras don't suffice. and i was just happy and contented with those glittery liners that doesn't require too much art and time to apply. i surrendered to the idea that there's a possible solution. even makeup artist back home doesn't really satisfy my requirements. and my eyebrows doesn't really bother me before, but now i feel that i should learn to grow them in the right direction.

recently, i took interest on other people's eyelids and i began to notice and got conscious with mine. maybe i could do something about it. initially, i inquired about eyeliners, then some friends offered their brands and fave eye items. bobbie brown gel liners, faceshop and mac. they said youtube is helpful too.

and so i will venture, and experiment on how i can produce stunning chinky eyes. it's gonna be a challenge physically, emotionally and financially. oh gawd i don't know if i should really invest on these products. i know that i have to try on some before i really find the perfect one for me. if things doesn't work with the lashes, maybe i should get extensions? haha

this is one of my projects this year. i hope i could scratch it off my list by the end of the year.

project w

its like dejavu. i had once this feeling of excitement.. the pump of adrenalin.. the euphoria of realizing a dream.

but its not really for me though, but i'm glad she's one of the closest people in my heart. my li'l sis had said 'yes'! and we're so excited! well i'm more excited so to speak.

ooohh my planner will be very colorful this year.. and again, thank god for the starbucks planner!

and oh, btw, i got my digital weighing scale na. thanks trace for the advice. one item off my list. :)

my twenty-10

I don’t have the habit of summarizing the year that was, of thoughts and events that happened. But now, I realized it’s a proper way of reflecting on what transpired, and how it could be improved and to inspire oneself to achieve more. When I became thirty-ish, I suddenly felt the need to ‘document’ things to do, and put constraints to myself in order to attain my goals.

I’m very blessed last year to have been surrounded by people who helped me grow and who offered sincere friendships, while some were rekindled. It made me go back to the real me, only to be improved and purified.

I suddenly learned to appreciate the likes of Debussy, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Mozart and of course Glee. I’m now reading Persuasion, and hopes to read Pride and Prejudice soon. The turning point was Wuthering Heights. It was challenging at first, but the exquisite meanings and formalities of conversations made me hang on. I finally finished reading Sophie’s World. I got it last 2004, started but never able to catch up. I told myself that this time, I won’t pressure myself into understanding everything, but to only pick up what was essential. And oh, the highlight was meeting Mitch Albom! His book, Have a Little Faith, is gonna be my yearly read.

The art of letting go is still an ongoing process for me, and the never ending questioning of Why’s is still under construction. But friends’ reminders are always handy. Acceptance is gradually penetrating little by little each day, although there would still be times of hurt and expectations. I’ll be working on that this year.

I have a planner, from Starbucks. This is gonna be my first. I got a beautiful one to inspire me to go back to my year list; so far, I have 14. By this time, next year, I hope I would be proud to have completed them all.