thank you's

thank you to all the people who greeted me on my birthday. i took notes, so i hope that i won't miss anyone. if i do, i beg your pardon, senility must be catching up with me.

in person: elcie, bene, roxy, aisha, robbie, my family, ms. princess, ms. eva, ms. myra, benj, connie, sarah, the whole HR, & the whole accounting department

through text: bene, badz, nina, benj, deirdre, tiny, roxy, connie, justin, sir jun, chi, aiza, tin & coco

through phone: guiller & sir oliver

through lotus notes: kris

through yahoo: pat

through my blog: papu, ate cla, chi, deirdre, & chris

belated birthday greetings: atom, ate anna, kuya mike, trina, ate roselle, shai, rocel & rica

so to all of you, thank you/gracias/salamat. to those who failed to greet me, you can still make it up to me. just refer to my previous entry. haha!

'til next year! : )

ps. sorry for the late acknowledgment. believe it or not, i had no load at all on my birthday. i am such a cheapskate. hehe!

birthday wishlist

Birthdate	: 5/23/1984
Age	: 21.95 yrs. old

this is according to my profile in https://www.mypayroll.ph, our online payroll system. 21.95 years old na ko! hehehe! :)

in true chi fashion, i will simulate a static post by postdating this entry to may 23, 11:45 pm (my time of birth), so that it will stay on top for a while. friends, kindly condone my self-centeredness for a while as i dream of the things that i want to have on my birthday. here goes:

...dark brown shoes with low heels
...dark brown slacks - para ka-terno ng shoes
...comfy black flats (that i could wear to the office)
...pink shoes (na pwede rin sa office)
...ultraelectromagneticjam CD (original sana. support OPM!)
...the anne of green gables series that comes in a box
...small miracles II
...a cup of comfort for women
...einstein's dreams
...any book by bob ong
...the devil wears prada (sige na, bago ipalabas yung movie!)
...da vinci code tickets
...lunch at kopiropi (tomas morato)
...breakfast or dinner at heaven and eggs (G4)
...a trip to ateneo, complete with tuna casserole and green mint tea from healthy kitchen, and chicken strips from beef teriyaki
...CD's or DVD's of gilmore girls, from season 1 onwards

at siyempre, nasa wishlist ko rin ang ilang abstracts...
...happiness
...friendship
...love
...fulfillment
...peace of mind

and...

...world peace.

gracie lou, logging out. : )

blogging, and other things

this afternoon, a friend said: bakit ka pa nagba-blog, e pwede mo namang i-text sa friends mo yung mga nangyayari sa buhay mo?!

i think it was the way this comment was delivered that almost made me want to double over in laughter. i might have given in to the urge, if we weren't within sight and earshot of around a dozen people.

to answer that, well, i blog because i miss writing. all throughout college, i had practically no time to weave words for a non-academic purpose. as i emailed my fourth year high school class sometime ago, i feel that whatever writing skills i might have had are already rusty. words don't come as easily anymore and i'm scared that if i don't do anything now, i could find myself completely unable to express myself on pen and paper (or through online outlets, for that matter).

so here i am, blogging away, at the same time trying to coax the deities of the arts to shower on me their blessings once more.

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our subic trip gave birth to another round of firsts in my life: my first time to slide (through ropes connected to trees), my first time to jet ski, and my first time to kart. hurrah! (pictures to follow soon, hopefully)

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i'm turning 22 tomorrow. i do not dread the additional year that i have to declare on forms that ask for my age, thank God.

and while i'm not the HR "bunso" anymore, i still feel like a kid once in a while when i go around working, wearing my little corporate attire. but hey, i am STILL young anyway.

and because i'm still young, i will sleep already though it's still a wee bit early. who knows, i might just grow taller this year if i keep this up. hehe!

subic outing itinerary

i'm so excited to go to Subic! here are our plans, as narrated by drummer boy robbie:

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details for the Big Day
After our meeting this lunch, we have come up with a final order of things:

ROSTER:
Semi-final roster of participants: Robbie, Aisha, Justin, Grace, Elcie, Jameela, Sarah, Connie.
Semi pupunta: Kris (kung makatakas), Rina (kung makapagpaalam), Jonah (kung makidnap ni Connie)

TRANSPORTATION:
under the assumption that there will be nine of us going, we have two possible transportation schemes:

Scheme A (The Legal Scheme): Four or five will join Robbie sa kotse. Since his house is closer to Subic than most, those who will join him will have to sleepover on Friday night (except Aisha). They will have to bring their things on Friday night. This contingent will leave at approximately 5:30 in the morning (except Aisha, who will have to leave her house ng mga 5:00), so it can arrive at Subic at around 9 a.m.

The other four or five will have to take the bus. Sarah is now diligently researching on the Victory Liner schedule for the 20th. Robbie will fetch this contingent at the Olongapo bus station.

Scheme B (The Demonic Plan of Kris): Robbie and his band of angelic travellers will not be affected by his fiendish plot. This is really for the bus riders. Kristina will take her victims home to Bulacan. There, she will socially coerce her parents to allow her to go. Once successful, she will emerge victorious with a vehicle, and a diver to boot! This Machiavellian conspiracy may, however, remain to be a sin of the mind if Kristina's parents take pity on her and simply allow her to join us on the demerit of her last trip to Subic. This however, is like banking on the Philippine Stock Market for short term wealth. Therefore, it cannot even be considered a reliable option, but only a hope of whimsy.

PAY OUT:
After three months of rigorous training in forcing money out of other people's pockets, Kristina and Cecilia have grown rather adept at attracting money towards themselves. It is because of this talent that theyhave been chosen to be the collectors of the fund. Each MT will be forcibly requested by these two people to shell out P2700 by tomorrow, May 16, 2006.

For your safety and that of all your loved ones, please exhibit submissive compliance.

N.B.: Depending on whether those who are unsure will actually join us, the price might fluctuate. Pero basta kahit P2700 lang muna bukas. The excess, if any, will be returned at the end of the trip. Kung kulang naman, sa Friday na uli maniningil sila Cecilia.

BATTLE GEAR:
Arm yourselves with the following:
1) the usual stuff for outing- clothes, toilet stuff, extra cash, jacket, swimming gear, medicine, camera, etc.
2) mga pwede gawin at night- poker chips, cards, whatever
3) TOWELS please!

Actually, I still have much to say. But Aishabelle is behind me, pressuring me away from her unique, advanced (for a 1998 model) computer. I shall continue when I can in the future.

the undomestic goddess

sophie kinsella just veered away from becky bloomwood's world of sandals, bags and astronomical credit card bills. in "the undomestic goddess", we are teleported to a new scenario, one of constant deadlines and of days divided into neat six-minute chunks. we get a glimpse of it through the eyes of samantha sweeting, a top city lawyer whose current life has nearly driven her past the border of sanity and into insanity.

she rides a train to escape her pressure-filled london life, and finds herself in an unfamiliar place in the country. she knocks at a door, meaning to ask for a glass of water and a place to stay for the night. just minutes later, she is seated in front of a couple, answering interview questions for a housekeeper position.

enough of the synopsis. what struck me in the book was this excerpt, where trish talks to samantha, now her housekeeper:

"Here we are..." Trish puts a cup of tea down and scrutinizes me. "Are you homesick?" She sounds triumphant, as though she may have cracked the mystery. "Our girl from the Philippines did get rather blue from time to time...but I used to say to her, cheer up, Manuela!" Trish pauses thoughtfully. "Then I found out her name was Paula. Extraordinary."

it seems that despite the large number of filipinas who hold professional and technical positions in countless parts of the globe, we could still not escape the brand of being domestic helpers. so much for our gains in education and culture. makes me suddenly wish that i did not shell out 315 bucks to buy the book.

tagged by pitt and sarah

the first player of this game starts listing six of his/her weird habits. the people who get tagged need to write a blog entry regarding their six weird habits, as well as to state this rule clearly. in the end, you need to choose six people to tag and list their names. don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" and tell them to read your entry.

1. i still have difficulty in keeping myself awake at night, even when i have tons of work to do. and, a dose of extra joss is not enough to keep my lids open. neither is red bull nor lipovitan effective. i need a minimum of two packets of extra joss or an entire can of red bull barako before the caffeine starts to kick in.

2. i can "shop" for 6 hours but end up buying only stockings. no kidding. (this actually happened last october.)

3. up to now, i still eat using the plate that i had since i was five. thus, i am not used to letting my food touch each other. (for starters, i can't stand having gravy on my rice.)

4. i eat all the food that i am allergic to. (read: chocolate, chicken, cheese, eggs, nuts, crab, shrimp)

5. i hardly watch tv. i'd rather read a good book or sleep.

6. according to my sister, i snore with my mouth closed.


people i'm tagging: badz, ate cla, kuya rolls, ate kamille, ate ria & kuya rev

i'm back!

last week was quite busy. we all deserved a break. so during the weekend, we went to sagada!

i'll post pics when i get them. but allow me to say that this vacation is unlike any that i've ever spent. it definitely pushed me beyond what i used to think were my limits. mostly in the physical aspect, but this did wonders to my ego as well. :)

i'm looking forward to another vacation like this. this as in one that doesn't entail much cost, but offers more than enough opportunities for sightseeing and adventure. can't wait for next year's vacation! :)