URGENT: Panoly Boracay Halloween Accommodation

We won’t be able to go to Boracay this Halloween (Oct.31 - Nov.3,2008) coz we’ll be going to Siquijor instead! We already booked one suite hotel room at Panoly, good for four people.  Anybody interested? We’re giving it out at a discounted price. Normally, Panoly charges $280++ for a suite room per night. So that’s  around Php11,200 for four persons per night. And that’s for non-peak season! But we will only charge you Php5,000 for the room per night.  Please let me know. Text me at 0918-9270850.

*For more details about what it’s like to vacay in Panoly Boracay, click here and here. 

* Check their website too!  

It’s All Small Stuff

One of the things I learned back in college, during those days when I used to ace my Philo and Theo classes, was to basically not sweat the small stuff. To think that these exact words did not even come from those great minds that we studied back then. On the contrary,  the closest school of thought I could remember,  that is slightly similar to this way of thinking, was that of Albert Camus — “Life is absurd and then you die”. I guess, that’s how pessimists can put it (I’m not saying though that Camus is one…  he actually  brought about a discussion on how we can put meaning into our lives considering that we’ll all die in the end anyway) but for someone like me, who always tries her best to see the positive side of things, I try to not sweat the small stuff. After all, everything is small stuff.  So when I received a text message from my brother that my mom was paralyzed, you can just imagine how gravely this principle of mine was challenged.  I tried to calm down, praying to all the angels and saints that whatever it was, it’s not as bad as it seemed in the text message and immediately sought Peter’s help (who was then not at home with me). I called my brother’s and dad’s numbers but no one was picking up. Peter, having a caregiver background, quickly responded and the rest was just a blur. Anyway, I don’t want to dwell on the details. The Secret taught me to ignore, as much as possible, any reference to bad feelings and situations. So suffice it to say that my mom’s condition is more stable now.  We supported her wishes of staying in her office dorm, for 1 to 2 weeks, (she was actually thinking of staying there for a month) which has a nearby clinic that can take care of her in case of an emergency but most importantly, for her to avoid being stressed out by her own negative paradigm at home. I couldn’t  really blame her. My sister and I left our home in San Mateo Rizal a long time ago for the same stressful reasons. But right now, my brother has greatly improved and my dad is really doing well and has long ago  eased up on his vices. But I guess, my Mom’s trauma is just so deeply rooted that even the littlest of gestures can trigger negative emotions, high blood pressure and even a minor heart attack.  Anyway, I think Peter and I handled the situation well. It’s been draining, yes, but it’s not the end of the world. I am still thankful that we are strong enough to support  them emotionally, physically, & financially. And most importantly, we acknowledge the fact  that we can also be weakened and made vulnerable , thus, the need to take care of ourselves. So when the family situation was taken care of, Peter and I took care of ourselves. This time, we simply spent time at home the rest of the weekend. We talked, watched old flicks, played Wii, jammed and basically de-stressed. After all, we are only human. We get affected too even if we don’t really show much. And it’s nice to have a quiet and cozy house and a very kind and  understandinrg spouse to come home to. It’s all small stuff anyway, so we try not to sweat it.

On the other hand, we sweated it out a different way. As soon as we came back home,  Peter and I beat all our opponents in Spider Man then we beat each other up playing boxing. It was fun! What an exercise! It released the happy hormones (endorphins) and I somehow felt better.

  De-stressing with our new Wii

I also got to tinker with our Nikki a bit. I promise that the next time I get a chance, I should really read  its guidebook so I can take better pictures and play with its manual settings.

Playing with Nikki…

Then, I further released some pent up emotions by playing with our drums.  After learning a couple of basic drum beats, I attempted to apply it to Regine Velasquez’s song, YOU MADE ME STRONGER. Unfortunately, I still don’t know how to do the fills (before I reach that chapter, I still have to learn a couple more off beat snare/hi-hat/bass drum variations, then study the anatomy of a song, practice how to read notes then I can learn the fills… Whew!) This reminds me, I shouldn’t take shortcuts in learning AND to practice, practice,  and practice! Anyway, there’s no harm in trying for the sake of fun and emotional catharsis. Hehehe.

Anyway,  I was also overfatigued from everything  that I overslept yesterday (Sunday). And the moment I woke up, I realized that one of the things that can actually restore my happiness to full blast status was to decorate the house for Halloween and to plan for our upcoming MASQUERADE POTLUCK HALLOWiiN HOUSE PARTY!!!!  Everything is small stuff so why not do the things that can make us happy? It’s so easy, right? Do the things that make you happy! So that’s what we did.

Speaking of Halloween, I’m not sure if my bestfriends know the ranking of may favorite seasons of the year. I asked Peter about this two weeks ago and even he didn’t get the answer right. There are three major seasons that I have loved and celebrated ever since I was a kid. And their rank in my book has never changed:

#1 - Halloween

#2 - Christmas

#3 - Summer

I am such a kid at heart! I remember before, as early as  an 8 year old little girl,   I was already throwing parties at home with my neighbors & friends during these times of the year.  And it has never changed. Everything about the Halloween season  fascinates me. The spookier the decors,  the more exciting activities to share, the better.  Maybe this is why even in my most skimpy outfits, the child in me exudes more  than my being a sex goddess. Just like how one of Peter’s bestfriends, Mark, described me to be —  a walking contradiction.  Anyway, I digress. 

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Lifestyle of the Rich and Not-So-Famous

Well, what’s new with my life these days? I not only practice my fantabulous mantras but I also apply one of the more popular (& overused) quotes of our generation —  “You work hard, play harder and fuck the hardest!” So basically, those words sum up how I’ve been spending my week. I work 60-80 hours Monday-Friday and come weekend, I give it all my best shot! I totally give my time to my friends, I make myself a slave to alcohol and by the time Peter and I get back home, we rock our worlds to the fullest with our most amazing sex ever!!!

I won’t be very detailed about it anymore.  I think the following pictures can tell more stories than I ever could.

~~~oOo~~~

 Meet up with Ninette at Greenbelt for late lunch and for some parlor duties.

Check-in at A.Venue Hotel over at Antel Lifestyle City in Makati.  

What Ninette got for us was a one bedroom suite complete with dining room, pantry & living room. It usually costs Php6,000 but she got it online for only half the price! Fabulous!

 Last Minute Preparations at the Hotel

(Read: Photo ops muna!)

 First Stop: EMBASSY at The Fort

 (When we went there three weeks ago, we only stayed at the the House section coz we came in late and we didn’t wanna waste our time falling in the long line of the Hip Hop section. This time around, we came in early, around 10pm, and breezed our way to the wonderful music of the Hip Hop zone. Yay!)

 
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Attitude of Gratitude

I’ve learned the attitude of gratitude from Oprah back in 1998-1999 when I started watching her show while exercising on my ab sculptor in front of the TV in my U.P. Bliss apartment back in college. I remember starting to make a diary solely listing things, events and people that I was grateful for. I was an emotional wreck and horribly hormonal back then. I desperately needed something to help me calm my nerves and focus on being happy. I was young, beautiful and smart and I knew I was talented in many ways. I have always been blessed with exciting opportunities too. I used to be very kind and vivacious… my whole future was ahead of me! My depression however, grew deeper and I became a little bit self destructive. Good thing I have always been quite sensitive of my current emotional and mental state. I try to always take that extra leap to analyze myself and figure out a way to make things better. This was actually the reason why I took up Psychology at the Ateneo. I badly needed to heal my psyche and get on the path to emotional and mental bliss.

Through Oprah’s help, I started my very first mantra (“I am beautiful, gorgeous, happy, healthy, smart sexy and wealthy. I have financial and time freedom and enjoying wonderful new horizons of opportunities and I love my life!” — edited version) It’s a bit long, yes, but that’s me. This mantra came with a vision board which I also did to help me visualize my dreams. I cut out a picture of myself and Peter looking very happy together, pictures of dollar bills, car speeding into the horizon, a nice big white house, a café-like structure and the words millions and love. I mounted this vision board on my bedroom wall where I can always see it.

Oprah also taught how to make a separate diary for wish lists. So I had my gratitude diary, my mantra and vision board and my wish list diary. Looking back at all of them after all these years, I realized that all those things that I was grateful for, I keep having more and more of them in my life. And the goals that I listed down, I accomplished and got every single one of them. I realized that even then, I was already practicing The Law of Attraction.  I was rather astonished! So to this day, my quest to happiness, self-fulfillment and self-actualization still continues. Thanks to all the self-help books I have read over the years and continue to read until now (to name a few of my favorites: Being Happy by Andrew Matthews, Thick Face Black Heart by Chin Ning Chu, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, 7 Habits of highly Effective People and The 8^th Habit by Stephen Covey, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, Little Prince by St. Antoine de Exupery, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach and The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes), self-analysis and betterment are now second nature to me.

  Oct 2, Thursday, I worked at Bona Coffee from 12:35pm-12:35mn

For a while now, I have been noticing a negative personality shift in me. The closest of my friends won’t even notice it because with them around, I can always be my old, happy, forgiving, generous and positive self. But with new people and strange environments, I get to be the total opposite in my head. I can be judgmental, close-minded, bitchy, unforgiving, proud and self-righteous. I think this can be one of the reasons why lately, I have been attracting a series of bad days. I know I brought these things upon myself but still, I’d like to look at the brighter side of things, and this comes without saying that it has been very hard changing paradigms and shifting emotions. But it is doable. It just takes time, self-awareness and the willingness to change. By seeing things as being “glass half full” rather than “glass half empty”, it has helped me, little by little, grow as a person, a wife, a friend every single day.

So what are these things that I was/am grateful for?

When my Smart Bro connection at home got disconnected, my first series of reactions were: I got stressed, I fought with a few agents over the phone, I was irritated, infuriated and exasperated and I took all of it out on Peter. Yeah, my poor husband. I knew it wasn’t right and I had to do something about it. To top it all of, Peter lost my O2 XDA IIs and this of course made things worse between us. I really thought I could never forgive him.

But looking back, I realized I can indeed look at the situation in a more positive light. So here are the things that I was/am grateful for in no particular order:

I am grateful for my very understanding boss who lets me adjust my working hours at times like this.

I am thankful for my job that allows me to make a lot of money by doing something that is almost second nature to me.

I am thankful for this new Cafe, Bona Coffee, which now offers free wi-fi and became my temporary office on those two days that I had no connection at home.

    Beside Bona Coffee is the Serenity Place where BONA Museum Shop (one of my fave shops where I buy my jewelry collection from) is located.

I am grateful for my husband, Peter, who stayed with me the whole time at Bona Coffee even if I was so mad at him and I knew he had better things to do rather than be the recipient of my wrath and stress. Aside from reading his new comic book, WATCHMEN, which he finished in one day, he also tinkered with my Nikon D40 and took pictures of whatever he fancied… such as muffins and coffee. Hehe.

I appreciate Jayvee and Phoebe for spending time with Peter at Bona as I was caught up in my own little bubble while working.

I was so caught up at work I didn’t even see Jayvee come in.

Nor did I see these fruit flavored beers they ordered.

I am thankful that Bona Coffee is just 5 minutes away from our house.

This incident was a blessing in disguise for it forced me to finally use my new laptop (which had been hiding in its bag for a long time now) and get familiar with the Vista OS as quickly as possible for I did not want to use my old lappy in front of so many strangers (coz the new Acer Aspire just looks a hell of a lot cooler.lol.)

  Oct.3, Friday, another day in my temporary office…the day I found out Peter lost my XDA and was feeling so bad the whole time.

Peter losing my very precious O2 XDA IIs served as a test of my love for him. He knows I can be very sentimental. I don’t even let the closest of my friends use some of my stuff for I can be unforgiving sometimes. I thought this was going to be one of those times. But after only a day, I was able to let go. That was a new feat for me. What Tiffany said to me over YM as I was ranting about my terrible day knocked some sense into me. She said “At least hindi si Peter ang nawala.”  That made me laugh and cry at the same time. And I then saw the situation in a whole new light.  Thanlk you, Tiffany. You were my savior that day. Because really, things could have been much worse and I am glad that it’s not. Because of what she said, I found it in my heart to accept and forgive what happened. I’ve always known that forgiveness can do wonders. But I still get amazed when I get to experience it for myself.

Therefore, I am thankful for the gift of forgiveness.

Because I was able to let it all go and start my day anew, Peter and I were able to enjoy our weekend together.  He joined the poker tournament and played  with professionals for almost 8 hours last Saturday! He didn’t win but he was the very last newbie who got dropped (and that was only his 2nd time to play). I am so proud of him, not only for lasting that long but most importantly, for turning down a gambling poker deal where an old professional offered to pay 50% of his buy-in to a real poker game nearby.  Wise decision, baby!!! While he was playing, I met with my girlfriends Niinette and Cecille, checked-in at a hotel in Makati and  spent some time at a nearby parlor. When Peter finally met with us, we went clubbing ‘til the wee hours of the following morning then had late lunch at Greenbelt before finally going back to our beautiful and cozy home (all of this will be  in my next blog post). But the best part was when we were finally home alone, we made the most incredible love thus far in the history of our sex life and I had the most universe-shaking orgasm ever! I didn’t think that would even be possible coz Peter and I always make explosive and earth-shaking love! I didn’t think we can ever top that. But we did! We were both laughing and crying at the same time while we were rocking each other’s core. It was simply out of this world! Wow! Now, that’s forgiveness in a nutshell and gratitude in a whole new different light!

Thank you, God, for the gift of orgasm. I believe it’s one of the closest ways we can come (pun intended) to experience God in our lifetime.

Last but not the least, having no internet connection at home on those hours that I was still so wide awake,  gave me some extra time to practice my guitar and drum lessons. I was also able to play some games with our PSP and read a few more pages of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and finally tinker with my new camera (which I have named NIKKI) . So thank you, God, for the gift of time. And I am aso grateful  for having the means to spend it doing what I like & love.

Thank you, God. Thank you, universe. THANK YOU.

The Last Few Days Felt Like Christmas

 I spent a whopping Php70k for our early Christmas Wish List!

Sonor Drum Set  with Zildjian Cymbals and Sticks

Two books on how to play drums that come with a cd and dvd

Ralph Lauren Classic Perfume Kit that came with a Bath Gel and Body Lotion

Two pairs of sneakers for my Dad and my brother

A new rash guard for Pete

A new pair of Havaianas Slim

Two new pairs of bikinis from Nothing But Water

A new bag for our ASUS eeepc

 Five new clothes

A new pair of golden shoes

golden earrings, bracelets, necklace

Nikon D40  Kit with 18-55mm lens and three colorful flash diffusers

But I’ll be realistic here. With Christmas comes stress, right? So I’m gonna paint you the whole picture of what really happened over the weekend…

This was my only photo last Saturday. It all got very  stressful I didn’t even have the strength to take pictures which I so love to do.

It all started with my extreme desire to buy myself a Foos Ball table. You know that table that plays football, with all the little players lined up in bars and 2-4 players are required to play the game? Okay, I’m not descibing it well enough here. Okay, did you use to watch Friends? You know that table Joey and Chandler played with and was later (after 10 years) destroyed by Monica  coz their baby duck got stuck inside? Still not ringing any bells? No wonder all those sales ladies and sales men we’ve asked in all the sports shops and toy shops we’ve visited last weekend couldn’t really give us what we wanted. I didn’t know how to describe it. Oh well. The point of the matter is, I wanted a foos ball table and I wanted it last weekend. So there I was last Saturday dragging my butt out of plurking , este bed pala (hehe, addict!), planning my perfect schedule in my perfect beautiful little head. My thought process went like this: I’m gonna go to my orthpdontist over at St. Lukes, then Peter and I will scout Mega Mall for my Foos ball Table and maybe cap the night off with a little movie date then coffee somewhere at the Fort before heading home where I will spend my entire dawn playing with my Foos Ball table. Yessss!!! I can’t wait.

But it looked like I wasn’t attracting these things enough. You see the law of attraction (The Secret) states that it’s not enough that you think it, you should feel good about it too, as if you already have it or it’s already happening to you. So maybe I wasn’t psyching myself that well. Because lo and behold, Peter took a while having both cars cleaned up and when he got home, he told me that Joel gave him free tickets to watch Tropic Thunder. And considering that I still didn’t know what to wear, it looked like we won’t have enough time to go to my ortho, look for a foos ball table then watch the movie by 8pm. While I love Tropic Thunder (simply because Robert Downey, Jr. is there {”I love you Tony Stark!” }, I didn’t like the feeling of being tied by time. I’m such a free spirited earth creature  that once I feel like being tied down, bad things really happen. I tried to control it. I knew Peter was only thinking of my happiness when he asked for those tickets. And besides, getting freebies are good. Or so I thought….

We got to Megamall at around 6pm. We immediately headed to Toy Kingdom where Pau said a Foos Ball table awaits us. Indeed, there was one for only Php10,000!!! My heart started to race. But as Peter was doing his inspection, he found out that it’s not well built. Bummer! I would’ve bought it right then and there if he didn’t tell me that. So we rushed to SM Dept. Store Toy Section. It took a while before the sales boys finally figured out what we were looking for. They said they have one in stock! Again, my heart couldn’t contain itself inside my chest! It was gonna blow out of excitement. Until finally, the sales boy showed us what he thought was the Foos Ball table we wanted. Pppfffftttt! It was a foos ball detachable table all right, but for kids!!! Daaayyymmm! I was already starting to lose hope. So we checked out all the other toy stores we could find before finally giving up. It was so exhausting. At this point, both of us were already famished! We hadn’t eaten anything since 10 that morning. So since we have a little more time left before the premiere starts at 8 pm, we checked out the venue first and asked the organizers if we could bring food inside so we can eat and not miss the movie. They said YES. We rushed to the nearest fast food joint we could find. I didn’t want Jollibee so we went to KFC instead. We ordered tons of food! Dishes that were good for four people! We were that hungry! Finally, when we got to the cinema entrance, we still had 10 mins left. Whew! I was already dreaming of eating my food when suddenly this scrawny-looking man carrying junkfood and drinks stopped us in our tracks and said we couldn’t bring our food inside as per management order. WHAT?! Are you effing kidding me???!!! This really got my blood boiling. if I had powers I would literally disintegrate him right before our very eyes. Thank God I’m only human. I immediately went to the organizers and complained. They were baffled as well.  The organizers thought patrons could bring the food inside the cinema and they were apologetic that we couldn’t. What a bummer!!! So all those food we were lugging around, we had to eat them outside the cinema. We might as well have just eaten inside a real resto with real nice food. God!!! By then, my appetite was gone, I was already cursing Peter in my head for getting those stupid free tickets in the first place. This is not the Jen you want to see, folks — the vengeful, irritated beyond measure, wrath-laden Jen. The whole experience up to that point got me so paralyzed. I couldn’t think of my next move. I wanted so much to just get out of there. But I didn’t know where else we could go. Anywhere looked hellish for I was feeling very hellish. I managed to eat some of the food and hid the rest inside my bag coz I had no appetite anymore. We got in late but as it turned out, they were showing some lame video of the main sponsor - SELF Enhancement for Life Foundation, Inc. - sponsors who  claim hey help change lives of drug addicts when they don’t  even know how to take care of their patrons and organize a movie premiere,  sponsors who are so disorganized they didn’t even know the rules inside the cinema, sponsors who really suck they can’t even start on time and have the movie house filled with people. To think the movie they were showing was great!  Peter was urging me to just go home. Then what? I’d just fight with him all the way to Alabang and that is not a beautiful sight. So I told him to shut up and just let me be. I need to calm down and think of happy thoughts. But I couldn’t. I was still feeling so beaten. There goes my Saturday down the drain. I had a good plan until the free tickets came along. So I made a pact to myself, which I typed and saved in my phone. It reads:

FREEBIES AND SEXY NOMAD DON’T GO WELL TOGETHER FOR THIS WOULD ENTAIL CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE SEXY NOMAD WOULD BE FORCED TO EXPERIENCE STUFF SHE DOESN’T WANT JUST BECAUSE SHE GOT IT FOR FREE. AND THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING IS, SHE DOESN’T EVEN WANNA BE THERE. SHE COULD DEFINITELY AFFORD WHAT SHE WANTS, THE WAY SHE WANTS IT, WHEN SHE WANTS IT. SO TO FREEBIES THAT COME WITH CONDITIONS I DON’T LIKE, I AM ERASING YOU IN MY LIFE FROM THIS DAY FORWARD. I AM THE SEXY NOMAD AND I WILL DO AND BUY THINGS HOW I WANT TO AND WHEN I WANT TO.

Then I spent the next few minutes breathing in and out, trying my darnest best to calm myself down. I took a nap while Peter was sitting beside me feeling so terrible. He’s used to it. It is painful to be with me in moments like this but he has no choice. He maried me.  Finally, after ten long years of waiting for the stupid video to stop and for Tropic Thunder to finally start, I was already feeling much better. I vowed never to feel that beaten again. Happy thoughts, happy feelings. These are the things that count the most. 

The next day, Sunday, I was feeling so good I actually shopped ’til I dropped. We spent almost Php50k that day just buying things I need and want. And yesterday, Peter went to Hidalgo with his cuzin Gab and bought me my new camera. Now, it’s really feelingl like Christmas. 

Anyway, last Sunday we went to the hobbies section of Alabang Town Center. We went inside this music shop with a very mataray  and pangit sales lady looking at us as if we had no money. To think she was selling an unknown brand of drum set for only Php12k. In my quest to get rid of stress, I left her store and went across to JB Music and finally found the exact same Foos Ball table we were playing in Boracay! Unfortunately, the handle bars were incomplete and they’re still waiting for new stocks to come in. I left them my cell phone number so they could call me the moment the new foos ball table arrives. Then I bought my very first drum set instead. It was supposed to be only Php25,400 but with Zildjian hi-hat, crash riders & sticks plus a chair,/stool we got a nice total package for only Php30k! That’s just half the price of  my  O2 XDA IIs before. Not bad!!!  And the rest, is history!

In between shopping, we had lunch at Mediterranean Cafe and ordered stuff we haven’t tried in their resto before. Baba Ghanoush, Falafel, Marinated Olives, Kofta, Lamb Stew and Moroccan Rice Pilaf.Yum yum!

For dessert, we headed over to Haagen Dazs. We originally wanted the Srawberry Crush but it wasn’t available so we had the Raspberry Crush with Macadamia Ice Cream instead. It’s their best seller. Anyway, I have to cut this entry short. Or else I’d just go on an on like what I’m doing now. The lesson I learned was (thanks to my friend Migs who texted me an exact quote for it): “Life is too short to stress yourself with people (and things) that don’t even deserve to be an issue in your life.” So my day was  just that awesome, and with a cherry on top too!