Goodbye Jerry

Our friend Jerry died on Christmas day. We lost him to cancer. 'Twas a sad Christmas for his family and the barkada.

Jerry Boy, whereever you are, please guide us, we will surely miss you.

Wild "Wild Manila" Experience!

The wild ride began at 4am. My stupidity and laziness got the best of me.... I have been experiencing a lot of problems with my car's keyless entry. Sad to say, I was too lazy to go to the mall and have the battery replaced. The team should be at the venue by 6am, and I was suppose to help my friends bring their bikes, unfortunately, the battery of my keyless entry was drained, and I could not open my car, so they had to bring their bikes to the venue via a cab.. I had to wait for stores to open in Raon so I can have the battery replaced. I accomplished this task at 9:30am. We caught up with the team in Quezon City, when one of them was having trouble with his bike. Then the wild ride really began..

We went to La Mesa Dam, Ateneo University, Marikina River Banks, back to Quezon City (Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife), then to Manila, Old Film Center, Makati (Libingan ng mga Bayani), and the Makati Park. Rain went down on and off that day, so the team was covered with mud and dust by the end of the day.. The wild ride ended at around 9pm.

This experience has been very much fun for me because I able to tour Manila and Quezon City.. It was truly a wild ride! (",)

Evil PPGs / Mean PPGs

If we are lucky, at one point in our lives, we will find friends who will remain honest and true to us. Whether the truth will hurt us or not, what is important is that they tell it to us straight, without sugarcoating, just the plain truth. I am very much blessed to have found this honesty, in my two bestfriends. Collectively, we call ourselves the EVIL PPGs. hehehe..

Why are we evil, not really to the truest sense of the word, we just have opinions on things that others may think that are too harsh or mean. But like I said earlier, we tell it like it is. Just the plain and brutal reality. If they can't handle it, we can not do anything about it. HAHAHA!

Gimik Pictures!

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, we went to Elements (over at Greenbelt) for a bit of dancing (or should I say, a lot of dancing!) then to Seattle's Best Coffee for some chit chat before heading home..

We had a lot of fun that night.. (",)

I got sick (again!) Hahaha!
Well, I'm sick again, I thought I will not get sick if I get wet by a little drizzle. Well, I was wrong. Now, I am down with the sniffles and a little fever. Just when the finals are comin' round. Haay..

KARMA

What you send out will come back to you times 3...

A friend is sick with cancer. Another friend suggested that we help. I have to admit, I am selfish, but I am selfish with reason. If I believe that one is less fortunate than I am, and he/she can not do something about it, I give what I can.

I am most blessed this year. And I have been inspired by the passage I wrote above. Even during times when I had very little to spare, I sacrificed myself so I can help those who are not as "lucky" as I am.

We can not put a price on charity. Its the feeling inside of us that makes a difference.

Sacrifice is the key. It is not how much we share, it's about how much we sacrificed to share.

Let us be less selfish. It's the holiday season. It's time to share. It is a different kind of high. A different kind of fulfillment.

Update!

(Cheers!)
On Losing Weight
I posted the other day that I lost weight. It took a lot of hard work and patience. I've tried so many things before, but I only lost weight through a disciplined diet and exercise. I once was teased that I am really pretty only if I lost weight. Actually, losing weight is what I am most afraid of. People will really see the real me, that I am really not pretty.. What a fear!?!?!
On Falling In Love
Another fear.. I fell in love once already and it is really a risk to fall in love again, for me, it means that I am giving the person a chance to hurt me, to disappoint me.. On a positive note, I am giving myself a chance to share my life with someone, be happy with someone (although I am happy by myself)... But there are risks that are worth taking, for now, I am pretty sure we are happy with what we have with each other. (",)

I lost weight. I am happy. (",)

A sad but cute story of love and playing with love...
Peter and Tina are sitting in the park doing nothing, but just gazing into the sky, while all their friends are having fun with their beloved half.

Tina: I'm so bored. Just wish I have a boyfriend now to spend time with.
Peter: I guess we're the only leftovers. We're the only person who isn't with a date now. (both sigh n silence for a while)
Tina: I think I have a good idea. Lets play a game
Peter: Eh? What game?
Tina: Eem..It's quite simple. You be my boyfriend for 100 days and I'll be your girlfriend for 100 days. what do you think?
Peter: Oookay..Anyway I don't have any plan for the next few months.
Tina: You sound like you aren't looking forward to it at all. Cheer up. Today will be our first day and our first date. Where should we go?
Peter: What about a movie? I heard that there is a really great movie in theater now.
Tina: Seems like I don't have any better idea than this. Lets move. (went to watch their movies and sent each other home)

Day 2: Peter and Tina went to a concert together, and Peter bought Tina a keychain with a star.

Day 3: They went shopping together for a friend's birthday present. Share an ice-cream together and hugged each other for the first time.

Day 7: Peter drove Tina up onto a mountain and they watch the sunset together. When the night came and the moon glowed, they said sat on the grass gazing at the stars together. A meteor passed by. Tina mumbled something.

Day 25: Spend time at a themepark and got onto rollercoasters, and ate hotdogs and cotton candy. Peter and Tina got in the haunted house and Tina grabbed someone's hand instead of Peter's hand by accident. They laughed together for a while.

Day 67: They drove pass a circus and decided to get in to watch the show. The midget asked Tina to play a part as his assistant in the magic show. Went around to see other entertainments around after the show. Came to a fortune teller and she just said "Treasure every moment from now on" and a tear rolled down the fortune teller's cheek.

Day 84: Tina suggested that they go to the beach. The beach wasn't so crowded that day. They have their first kiss with each other just as the sun is setting.

Day 99: They decided to have a simple day and is deciding to have a walk around the city. They sits down onto a bench.

1:23 pm
Tina: I'm thirsty. Lets rest for a while first.
Peter: Wait here while I go buy some drinks. What would you like?
Tina: Eem...Apple juice will be just fine.

1:43 pm Tina waiting for about 20 minutes and Peter havent return. Then someone walked up to her.
Stranger: Is your name Tina?
Tina: Yes, and may I help you?
Stranger: Just now down there on the street a drunk driver has crashed into a guy. I think its your friend.
Tina ran over to the spot with the stranger and sees Peter lying on the floor with blood over his face and her apple juice still in his hands. The ambulance came and she went to the hospital with Peter. Tina sat outside the emergency room for five and a half hours. The doctor came out, and he sigh.

11:51 pm
Doctor: I'm sorry, but we did the best we could. He is still breathing now but God would take him away from us very soon. We found this letter inside his pocket.
The doctor hands over the letter to Tina and she goes into the room to see Peter. He look weak but peaceful. Tina read the letter and then she burst into tears.

Here is what the letter said. >>Tina, our 100 days is almost over. I had fun with you during all these days. Although you may be greedy sometimes and less thoughtful, but these all brought happiness into my life. I have realize that you are a really cute girl and blamed myself for never taken the time to knowing that. I have nothing much to ask for, but I just wish that we can extend the day. I want to be your boyfriend forever and wish that you can be beside me all the time. Tina, I love you.

11:58 Tina: (sobbing) Peter. Did you know what was the wish I made on the night there was a meteor. I asked God to let us last forever. We were suppose to last 100 days so Peter! You can't leave me! I LOVE YOU, but can you come back to me now? I love you Peter. I LOVE YOU.

As the clock struck twelve, Peter's heart stopped beating. It was 100 days.

Weddings
Weddings always make me cry. I hope tomorrow, at Leah's Wedding, I may fight the urge to cry.
Why do weddings make me cry? Well, maybe because weddings are full of hope. Maybe because when we marry someone, we forget what he/she has done in the past and we look forward to the future. Maybe because its an expression of love, it may be one-way, but it is still an expression of love (Athough I have never been to a wedding that the couple was forced to marry each other). Maybe because I see parents, genuinely hoping and praying for the success of their children's success. Whatever the reason, I shed tears because it makes me genuinely happy.
I hope the wedding tomorrow will be a success. I am again on the verge of getting sick, I have a sore throat and a throbbing headache. And the fact that we still have to travel 8 hours tonight is not going to help my situation. I do hope I get better tonight. (",)

Graduation
I've finally graduated! I am now Engr. Tiong, Master of Engineering, Major in Computer and Communications, also Master of Reporting! Ha! Why did I say so? I can count in one hand the courses that I took in the program that didn't require me to report on a topic of choice or present answers to problems assigned to us by our professors.
Anyway, graduating from the Masters also signifies something else, it means that I have to move on from the academe to the industry. I've promised myself even before I graduate from college, that I will attend graduate school before moving on to the industry. Why then am I having a hard time moving on? Well, I've made friends and I have been given great opportunities. That's why I am feeling rotten about the whole "moving on" thing. I don't want to be ungrateful, I never asked for anything, it was willfully given to me, because of my qualifications not because of friendship. But what’s really buggin’ me is the fact that I am not happy with what I am doing anymore, I am not built to teach.

An Inspiring Story
One thing I learned from this story is to never accept payment for kindness... Read on...

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He d rank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"
"You don't owe me anything," she replied.
"Mother has taught us never to accept payment for a kindness."
He said... "Then I thank you from my heart."
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.
Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side as she read these words.....

"Paid in full with one glass of milk." (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly. Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You, GOD, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands."

MULI (again)
I love this song, to listen, click here

Maybe because I can relate, but basically I like it because this was sung by my favorite singer of all time, Miss Regine Velasquez

MULI
Muling hinahanap
Ang dating paglingap na mula sa'yo
Muling umaasa
Sa dating nadaramang laan sa'yo
Mula ng magwakas, tapusin ang lahat
Ay naritong nagmamahal pa rin
Pa'no kaya maibabalik
Ang damdamin mong dati

'Di ba't ikaw pa
Unang may nais na tapusin na
Habang panahon
Pinilit limutin ka hanggang ngayon
Mula ng magwakas, tapusin ng lahat
Hindi maikakailang ikaw pa rin
Papa'no kaya maibabalik Ang hangaring dati

Refrain:
Ba't di nagkatagpo
Bakit tuloy nagkalayo
Bakit mayro'n pang nadarama
Gayong hindi na tayong dalawa
Bakit magwawakas
Pag-ibig na wagas
Ma'ri bang mangyari pang
Ibigin pang...Muli

Kung muling iibigin
H'wag sanang lisanin nang tulad noon
Pagluha'y di na kaya
H'wag na sanang isipin nang tulad gayon

Hanggang sa nagwakas,
Natapos ang lahat
Ay naritong nagmamahal pa rin
Paano pa ba maibabalik
Ang hangaring dati
(Ma'ri pa kayang muli....)

REFRAIN:
Ba't di nagkatagpo
Bakit tuloy nagkalayo
Bakit mayro'n pang nadarama
Gayong hindi na tayong dalawa
Bakit magwawakas
Pag-ibig na wagas
Ma'ri bang mangyari pang
Ibigin pang...
Muli

Nandito lang ako
(bago lumayo sa pilling mo)
Higit kang kailangan kailan man
(hanggang kailan kaya naman)
Mahala kita (tila) hanap ka (sana)
(tunay kaya ito)
Minsan pang bigyan ng daan
Pag-ibig na sa'yo nakalaan

REFRAIN:
Ba't di nagkatagpo
Bakit tuloy nagkalayo
Bakit mayro'n pang nadarama
Gayong hindi na tayong dalawa
Bakit magwawakas
Pag-ibig na wagas
Ma'ri bang mangyari pang
Ibigin pang...
Muli

Friendships...
Friendster ROCKS!!! I find it really cool. I got to talk to my old friends from high school even in grade school through friendster. How one service can bring people together again. It really rocks!

This came from an email. Sometimes I need to be reminded of these things...

If you're mad with someone , and nobody's there to fix the situation... You fix it .
Maybe today, that person still wants to be your friend .
And if u don't, tomorrow can be too late .

If you're in love with somebody , but that person doesn't know... tell her/him.
Maybe today, that person is also in love with you .
And if you don't say it, tomorrow can be too late .

If you really want to kiss somebody... kiss her/him.
Maybe that person wants a kiss from you, too .
And if you don't kiss her/him today, tomorrow can be too late .

If you still love a person that you think has forgotten you... tell her/him.
Maybe tha t person have always loved you.
And if you don't tell her/him today , tomorrow can be too late.

If you need a hug of a friend... ask her/him for it.
Maybe they need it more than you do.
And if you don't ask for it today, tomorrow can be too late.

If you really have friends who you appreciate... tell them.
Maybe they appreciate you as well.
That if you don't and they leave or go far away today , tomorrow can be too late.

If you love your parents, and never had the chance to show them... do it .
Maybe you have them there to show them how you feel.
That if you don't and they leave today , then tomorrow can be too late.

sniff..

ME??? ALone???
Today I watched Mona Lisa Smile by myself. I finally did it. I went to the movies by myself. It's a good thing that I watched it by myself because the movie made me cry. And I don't want my friends or my movie buddies to see me cry over a movie.

Being alone doesn't mean being lonely. Of course! I am complete by myself. As long as I am happy with what I have and what I do, what's the reason to be lonely? I enjoy my life, I get to do what I want without someone dictating over me. So who says I am lonely???

Hafi Balentines!
Valentine's Day is more than a week away, and its just getting cheesier and cheesier every year. What's the big deal? You get to celebrate love for one day? Why not celebrate it 365 days a year?

MY FIRST POWERCARD!
3 weeks ago, I bought my own Timezone Powercard, I really enjoy playing at timezone, especially percussion freaks, time crisis and my all time fave daytona!
My friend Les told me if I loaded 5000 pesos on my powercard, I'd be a VIP member. Oh well, 4700 pesos to go and I'd be a VIP!
I really wanted to celebrate my birthday at Timezone. I wanted some time alone for myself, and I played for like 2 hours. I wasn't actually alone, my friends came to be with me, so my birthday didn't turn out to be so bad after all! (",)

Birthdays
I'm turning twentyfour in a couple of days and most people (at least those who celebrate birthdays) tend to be emotional or sentimental when their birthdays are approaching. And I am no different from those people. I heard myself saying yesterday, "24 is a marrying age!". I wasn't even referring to myself but to an actress whose future is being predicted by a fortune teller on national TV. Then is hit me, when I was in highschool, I wanted to get married at the age of 21 (that's why I pursued to finish my engineering degree at the age of 20); I wanted a child at the age of 25. I am now almost 24, very much single and uncommitted (well, except maybe to my career, friends and family). I didn't marry at 21, and the possibility of me having a baby (and a husband of course!) at 25 are slim to none. I've always said to my friends, my age stopped at 18, I guess I didn't change from when I was 18... Same old me, only a lot heavier.. I still stink in any sport I engage in, I am still as stubborn, and most of all I still am stupid when it comes to matters of the heart.
I may be chronologically and biologically almost 24, but other than that, I am still 18.
Maybe its about time for a change.
Maybe I should grow older.
Maybe I will.