Negativity!

Been 'NEGA' these past few days. I actually cried one time as I was driving myself to school. Buti na lang I was able to share it with a few people. Kung di ko siguro na-share, baka mag - breakdown na ako! hahaha!! Kidding aside, buti na lang strong ang faith ko, grabe kasi minsan ang mga "kaaway", sobrang mang - tempt! Naisip ko kasi minsan, di ba, God's love can be felt through our "neighbor". Pero di pala ganun yun, paano kung yung neighbor eh kakampi o naimpluwensyahan ng kaaway di ba? Kaya ngayon, di ko na hinahanap ang love ni God sa maling neighbor. hehehe!
*****
Bukas, company outing namin, tinatamad ako sumama, kasi naman, ang layo at ang init, parang gusto ko na lang mag pahinga sa bahay namin kahit mainit, at least makakatulog ako. Birthday din ni angel sa Thursday, at walang pasok yun! Tapos sa Friday naman, concert na ni Richard Poon, hay! Super excited ako, first time ko kasi makikita si Piolo in person! Jologs na kung jologs. Piolo is a beautiful man. Inggit lang ang nagsasabi na bading siya. Ultimate siya talaga!
*****
At pinakahuli! May bago akong crush. Super simple lang siya. Super mabait at higit sa lahat, di malaki ang ulo niya. Ang cute ng smile nya, at di siya maputi. Di din siya chinese, pinoy na pinoy. hay! ang saya!

3rd Week of Vacation

It has been three weeks already? This will be my last week of vacation and I am still not totally rested. The sun has been draining all my strength because of this horrible heat, I am not able to sleep well, and I could not lounge around in a pool or beach because it is too darn hot!

I've been very busy these last 3 weeks with all the things I needed to do and wanted to do. The Cisco Skills. The PRC conversion. The NAMA Food Committee Preps. The Performance Bonus Preps. Haaay!

First Week: Holy week!
The first two days of holy week was spent in school. Deadline of submission of grades was set on Holy Monday (I think, or was it Tuesday? Haha!) and the cramer that I was, of course I was going to submit grades on the last day! I was juggling between reviewing the Cisco team and finalizing grades. On Holy Wednesday I knew I had to rest or my head will explode. So I spent the day, sleeping. On Maundy Thursday, my siblings and I went to Tagaytay, only to spend 1 hour of traffic (in Tagaytay! at least we were there!) sitting on my brother's new car. We, my sister and I, wanted to eat merienda in Tagaytay but to no avail, traffic was heavy. My brother did not want to waste his hard earned moolah on gas that was wasting on traffic, so we headed to Alabang and had dinner there. It was not really relaxing but at least my sibs and I bonded on our little trip. On Good Friday, I prepared questions for my cisco team because on Black Saturday, we studied, ONLINE! The wonders of technology! On Easter Sunday, we were back in school, and reviewed the whole day!

Week Two: The Cisco Skills competition and convention
My team and I still studied on Monday and Tuesday, and headed off to Tagaytay on Wednesday. We arrived at 4pm and still continued to study until they could not handle it no more. Thursday was contest day, and as you may know, we were second place.

**********************************************************************************************
Sidenote muna
On Being Second Place
Some people might think that being second place is not actually winning, it is actually losing to the first placers. Well, to me, it is all a matter of perspective. I did receive a wireless router, and my team received twenty thousand pesos, so how could anyone think that we lost? They received money, I received a router, and life lessons / experiences that no one could actually buy! Of the TOP THREE teams last year, we were the ONLY team who actually made it BACK to this years TOP THREE, and RETAINED the position, not bad eh? We still brought glory to the school. Plus, my kids have a chance to be employed in a multinational company that provides networking equipment (ahem ahem, we were in the CISCO convention right? hehehe!) Too much of my boasting. Back to being second place, I learned so much with this experience, and it gives us something to work hard for next year. Of course, new students, new team and new rules. Who knows, maybe we'll bag that elusive first place next year!
**********************************************************************************************

The rest of week flew by so quickly, and on Saturday, we were supposed to head down to Batangas to celebrate the victory, but on some unfortunate event (right Patrick, BK! hehehe.. joke lang), we decided to head home. We were supposed to head off to Zambales the next day but we decided to head on to Zambales on Saturday night. We left Tagaytay at 5pm and arrived in Zambales at 3:30am. I drove all the way. By the time we were at Weng's house, I immediately fell asleep on my trusted ol' car. Sunday was a total blast! The water was cool and I really enjoyed swimming on the not-so-salty waters. Thanks to the Comlab kids! I will miss all of you!

Third Week: Dota Week
I went to school, to tidy up my pigeon holes at the cisco laboratory, and when I finished, I played dota until it was closing time. I did this for four days. Dota for four days! It was fine, because I was able to achieve some of the goals I set this vacation: throw away all the clutter in my pigeon holes, submit my end of term requirements (class records, final exams and course portfolios), convert my PRC license from Electronics and Communications Engineer (ECE) to Electronics Engineer (ECE), set up schedules for food tasting for NAMA and started to burn it out in the gym! Last Saturday, I was so excited because my bestfriend Mina, who worked in Japan for 1 year, was finally coming home. So I went to the airport to pick her up. We had another round of bloopers and the whole parking lot of the NAIA terminal was witness to the whole bruhaha! Thanks to one wonderful soul who helped us out with out little big BOX of dilemma. hahaha!

Fourth Week: This week, my last week of vacation
I have things lined up for this week. Today, bonding with Mina. Tuesday, send off yaya to the pier. Wednesday, food tasting in Quezon City. Thursday and Friday, MAPUA, planning sessions. Saturday, spa. Sunday, rest. OH well, hopefully.

I hope you enjoyed your vacation as I did mine. Never mind resting..

I am Tagging You

I was amused by this blog entry from Don Bagsit, but instead of answering it just like a survey, I am tagging you, the reader of this entry, to repost this and answer it also. So here goes:
1.Real Name:
Emma - Ruth Mendez Tiong

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME:
(first four letters of your name, plus zzie)
Emmazzie (yuck, it doesn't sound right!)

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME:
(fav color and fav animal)
Blue Dog

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:
(middle name, and current street)
Mendez Virgo

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:
(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's name)
TioEmEmm

6. SUPERHERO NAME:
(2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
Red Four Seasons

7. IRAQI NAME:
(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Mozesaz (what?)

8. MONUMENT NAME:
(fathers or mothers middle name)
Gomez (my mom's middle name, it sounds more "monument"-like than Rasing, which is my father's middle name)

9. GOTH NAME:
(3rd favorite color, and the name of one your pets)
Black Gabbie

10. SCREEN NAME:
(any of your tv's brand and your mom's middle name)
Sony Gomez

Lips of an Angel... A sad (and true) love story..

Disclaimer: Emote blog, may bore you to death.

I believe it's a dream for everyone to fall in love and be loved back, or just find somebody to love. Well, in my twenty - something years (ayaw pa aminin!), I fell in love, got hurt and recovered. I've learned and moved on. But sometimes, I can't help but remember the past, look back, think it through, and ask myself, "What went wrong? What did he want? What is he looking for? What was I looking for?". And during those times, I find myself overwhelmed with emotion, and tears flow down from my eyes. A single song can start a bucket-full of tears. Just like this one: LIPS OF AN ANGEL (by Hinder). I can so relate to the song. I think the song was made for me (hahaha! kapal ng mukha!)

Honey why you calling me so late? It's kinda hard to talk right now.

It started with friendship, just like any other romantic relationship. It ended after almost two years, one day, we just felt that it would be better to love each other as friends than constantly hurt each other as lovers. We wanted to save the friendship, so we stopped being lovers. Dreams were shattered. Hearts were broken. We remained friends, best of friends even. We shared victories and defeats, laughter and tears, joys and sorrows. But sometimes, I feel like I got the bad end of the deal. Why? Because he's got somebody now. When I don't.

Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay? I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud.

Last year, I called him, the night of my birthday, we talked (on the mobile!) for more than 15 minutes. Well, more of I sobbed for 15 minutes, and he listened while I cried my eyes out. He felt so guilty. I didn't blame him for anything. I just cried and cried.

Well, my girl's in the next room. Sometimes I wish she was you. I guess we never really moved on. It's really good to hear your voice say my name. It sounds so sweet. Coming from the lips of an angel, hearing those words it makes me weak. And I never wanna say goodbye. But girl you make it hard to be faithful, With the lips of an angel.

We still get together for snacks or dinner. We still have the long talks. We still make each other smile and laugh. I sometimes wonder why we parted ways. Sometimes I wish we should have saved the relationship. We should have worked on the difficulties.

It's funny that you're calling me tonight. And, yes, I've dreamt of you too.

I constantly dream about him, and I normally tell him about it. It varies from the things that happened in the past, things that I want or may have wanted to happen, or things that he may have wanted to happen. And it starts this rollercoaster of feelings of I don't know what. I really can't explain it.

And does she know you're talking to me, will it start a fight. No I don't think she has a clue.

I know he is in a commited relationship right now. Sometimes I regret the fact that I let him go, that I did not fight for him. And sometimes, I feel guilty whenever he spends time with me to talk or just listen to my endless stories and problems, because he should be spending it with his girl. I feel confused with all of these feelings, and I have been praying hard that I lose all these confusing feelings.

Well, my girl's in the next room. Sometimes I wish she was you. I guess we never really moved on. It's really good to hear your voice say my name. It sounds so sweet. Coming from the lips of an angel, hearing those words it makes me weak. And I never wanna say goodbye. But girl you make it hard to be faithful, With the lips of an angel.

I'd like to think that I've already moved on. That we moved on. But being truly honest with myself, I know I still love him, it's just that I really don't get to show him that love on a regular basis that's making it easy for me. Occasionally, I wish that we lost touch, that we never really kept contact, or stop being friends, even just for awhile, until I'm completely healed. Just until I find someone new. Just until I can say "I don't love you."

Hell Week Again...

This term, I didn't feel too much pressured with all the papers that I need to check, everything seemed easy.. Maybe I just managed my time well, or maybe, I made things easier this term.. I was able to finish the syllabus, for all of my courses, no need for make up classes... Eventhough I have been sick this week, I am still doing fine. Thank God for his wonderful blessings this term!

Good luck to all the "Hell-weekers"... I do hope you all pass your courses! God bless!

Congratulations to the New CCNAs!!

Congratulations to the growing list of new CCNAs from Mapua Cisco Track!

1. Del Harold Antone
2. Gian Carlo Trias
3. Jeremiah Caparas
4. Diana Antone
5. Joshua Lachica
6. Rowena Dadural
7. Patrick Ilog
8. Jon Warner Campo

Singing With 7th Soul!

Ok ok, nakakatawa ako.. Kasi nastage fright talaga ako.. But I did it, I sang with 7th Soul, by request of a very special person, my gimik buddy, Benjiegirl! Pa-happy birthday ko sa kanya un.. So sorry naman at medyo out of tune ako.. super kabado! haha... Di ko nipublic access, request access na lang kung gusto nyo makita.. hahaha...

Click here to view the video!

I am Such a ChickenJoy

oh well, i think gaming is not really for me. i have been playing dota for the longest time now and i don't think i improved that much. i am still a friggin' newbie... hahaha! i guess i'll just stick to playing ragnarok online na lang. o kaya, i'll play alone na lang, with AIs! hahaha!

Salamat God!

Father God,
Thank you for the wonderful blessings I have been receiving. I am most thankful (for today) for the gift of my spiritual family. I am so blessed to have a wonderful, and supportive spiritual family. Grabe ka magpadala ng message through them. Grabe ang mensahe mo sa akin. I am sorry po kung di ako nakinig kaagad. I was really hard-headed but your message today really made me think straight and my heart soft. I could not believe that You could send a message to me that STRONG. I hope I was able to please you with what I did. I hope that when I recount what happened to me, it will be a testomony of how strong your love for us and how much you want us to be with you. No matter how much we resist, you will always insist. Thank you so much for your persistence.
Your daughter,
Maruth

Cisco Skills Cluster Competition: Mapua Intra: Winners!

Looks like we will be heading to Tagaytay this March! Weeks of hardwork paid off. But the work does not end here, there were areas of concern that will need a lot of work. I do hope that the team has enough time to "jell" together. Since the national competition is weeks away, we will enjoy this victory! Dota muna ito! Go go go!

pictures of the kulitan before the skills part and VICTORY dinner! http://maruthtiong.multiply.com/photos/album/21/Cisco_Skills_Cluster_Competition_Mapua_Intra_Winners

Album: I'll Take Care of You: Richard Poon

Friends, Multiply-ers, promote ko lang po, album po ni Richard Poon. At first, you'll think that his songs are too old for you but really, he arranged them so we, the young (naks! sinali ko talaga sarili ko!), can enjoy the beauty of old school. A new spin on old school music!

Listen to the preview of the songs: click here.

I hope you enjoy his renditions of "Way Back Into Love" (eto ang text alert tone ko!), "Fallen" and "Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok Ko"...

You'll be touched with his originals, "Naalala" and "Goodbye"...
"The Last Time" is so right for weddings..

I do hope you like it and buy the ORIGINAL CD. Available in you suking record bar in the Philippines. If you are not from the Philippines, you can buy his album via TITIK PILIPINO, here's the link:
http://www.titikpilipino.com/album/index.php?albumid=1526.

For more info about him, you can visit his multiply site: http://richardpoonmusic.multiply.com.

You can also help him by voting for his music video over at MYX, text MYX_VOTE_I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU and send to 2366.

So sorry po kung medyo super promote ako, I am just so proud of him. And I am really indebted to this person. Kaya, super supportive ako sa kanya. Many will not believe that I do know him, but I do, super down - to - earth tong taong to. He is worth my support!

Sister Bonding

My sister Angel and I are basically cam-freaks (I don't want to use the word "wh0R3" because definitely, we are not.) And we take lots of pictures together, and I want to share our pictures while waiting for our dinner over at a restaurant in Glorietta.



Yesterday, we were around Manila, just running around with our brother Sonny who has a ton of things to do and so little time to do it. We went to Las Pinas for fitting, Alabang for haircut and Makati for case - shopping for his new HTC Pocket TyTaN II (well, we wouldn't be doing this had he not forgotten where he left the original case that came with the gadget!). We were unsuccessful locating a new case for his gadget, but he was successful in shopping for new polos! My sister and I could only oggle at the beautiful creations at Zara, the clothes were too rich for our blood, but to my brother, oh no.. he picked up two long sleeved shirts, fitted it on, and when we gave our thumbs - up, off he went to the cashier and paid. (grrrr.. kulugong yun, ang yaman! hehehe.. joke lang Sonny!).

Where's the bonding????

Clothesshopping. While (window) shopping, we were comparing styles, her style is more of adventurous and yet beautiful, I was more of a classic-type of chic. I asked her to buy me one dress, like a goal dress, maybe 3 sizes smaller, so I won't be able to wear it unless I lose the weight. Of course, I could not expect her to buy me a dress at this time, she just began working for this advertising company, but maybe in the future.

Shoeshopping. We had absolutely opposites tastes in shoes, she liked the corporate-type, hyped - up, difficult-to-wear but trendy shoes, I was more into comfy and less trendy shoes.

Food. We have similar taste in food, she loves sweets, chocolates, seafood and beef! I also love sweets, but not chocolate, sweets like ube halaya or leche flan or NY cheesecake will do, but not chocolate! She ate a lot but gained little if not none at all! I eat little but I gain a lot. She won the genetics - lottery as my brother would aptly put. GGGRRRR!

2005 Picture: Slim version of me.

This was me in 2005. I took this with my Nokia 6600, and it was night time. My friend and I ate dinner at Bluewave Macapagal. We didn't want to go home yet so we hung out and listened to the band that was playing there.

The reason why I posted this picture is for it to be my inspiration. That I can be this person again in this picture. More of physical lang. Pero on the inside, I want to be a better version of this person in this picture.

Break Break Down....

I received lots of gifts on my birthday, and I love all of them! I am currently reading a book, given to me by my bestfriend Janine and good friend Leslie, entitled "Did You Get What You Prayed For?". It's about improving one's prayer life. It provided me with insights about prayer, my prayer life and building my relationship with God through prayer. I am learning so much from this book, I am so excited to finish reading it! Maybe, when I finish the book, I might be able to answer the title...

*****

This week was a big challenge for me. I want to be the best version of me but I can't seem to do it in all aspects of my life. I have so much to work on. Everyday is a STRUGGLE! It seems that the more I try to be close to God, the more hurdles I have to jump over. Yesterday, I was battling with something in my mind, to do what is right or to do what I WAS USED TO DOING in situations I was in . I chose to do what is right. I really wanted to turn back and do what I wanted to do, but someone kept on telling me to look the other way. So, I turned to my bible. And so I read something that was sort of the answer to my problem, I read it in the book of Proverbs, Chapter 17 and 18. Here are some of the exerpts:

"You will keep your friends if you forgive them, but you will lose your friends if you keep talking about what they did wrong. A sensible person accepts correction, but you cant'b beat sense into a fool."

"Pride leads to destruction; humility leads to honor. It's stupid and embarrasing to give an answer before you listen. Being cheerful helps when we are sick, but nothing helps when we give up."

"Drawing straws is one way to settle a difficult case. Making up with a friend you have offended is harder than breaking though a city wall. Make your words good, you will be glad you did. Words can bring death or life! Talk too much and you will eat everything you say."

My biggest sin is PRIDE. I have to work on some HUMILITY. I want to think I am the "bigger man", but what's the use of extending my understanding to a person who has the maturity of a child? I chose to be quiet, I chose not to think of what the person did to me, even if that person does "bad" things to me over and over, because I do not want to carry this on my shoulders anymore. It ends here and I am moving on.

*****

This week, I was absent for one whole day. If my guy friend (ex-boyfriend) read this, he will be surprised. He once teased me of being too dedicated to my work that I even prioritized my work over him. Even if I went to work, I would still not be able to attend my classes because I had no voice. It didn't hurt when I talk, but it's just that no voice comes out of my mouth. What a challenge to teach without my main TOOL. The only solution is to just rest and sleep.

Last night, Benjiegirl and I went out to watch 7th Soul. We met Adam, Bam's friend, who lives in Malaysia. He's a Filipino who's born in Malaysia and came to the Philippines to visit his relatives. It was a challenge speaking with him because he understood little Tagalog, so we spoke with him in English (again, NOSEBLEED!). He is such a cheerful and talkative person. I ran out of stories!

The show ended at around 2:30am but we waited for Bam until 3am, we were all very sleepy and tired. Bam prayed for me and my voice because Benjiegirl asked me to do something for her birthday, and I really don't want to disappoint her! Overall, I enjoyed another gimik night. A nice ending to a challenging week!

Shedding the Excess "Poundage"

It's been a long time since I went to the gym, and the consequence of it is, you guessed it, EXCESS POUNDAGE! I can't just go on a diet to lose the weight because I'll certainly lose energy also, and I need all the energy I can get (spell RAKET!). So I really need, desperately need, to go to the gym and do some major cardio workout and weight training. I want to make the time, but I'm so consumed with schoolwork or housework which make me too tired to run off to the gym. I just pray that I get back the discipline I once had and start shedding off these excess baggage I have. My clothes don't fit me anymore and I don't want to buy new ones! (Plus, I don't have the "budget" to buy new clothes!) Hmm.. I'll start working out again once my right foot heals. I promise!

My 28th Birthday

Yes, I am (as much as I hate to admit it) 28 years old. Proud to be 28 years old! This week was full of events. Surprises, mishaps and a lot of happy memories! Let me break it down:

Monday, January 21: I was planning on a birthday leave but I still went to work instead of just resting at home; I figured, why waste my time at home sleeping when I can finish grading papers in school?! I got 2 cakes on my birthday. One was given by the sweet boys of touchables (pat and the gang.. guys, i didn't want to miss any of you kaya di ko na inisa isa), and one was given by my student council family. Both of which were given to me as a surprise. And I was really surprised by the gesture! I also got a big card, and blue (my favorite color) balloons. I also recieved a lot of text messages from my friends and my VCF family, courtesy of Ronald Mayuga. Grabe, I even received a call from one of my sisters in VCF who prayed for me over the phone. That night, while having dinner, I checked my phone to see if there were still messages that I wasn't able to read. To my surprise, I missed a call from Richard Poon. I knew he was busy so I was not really expecting any greeting from him. I called him up to return his call. The conversation was short and sweet, most of it I sort of could not understand because of the noise in the restaurant. What an ending to my 28th birthday.

Wednesday: Nothing much has happened this day, but late that night, I had a little mishap with my laptop. I have been abusing the use of my laptop, this gadget of mine is on for almost 24 hours. I had a "self-fulfilling prophecy". I was thirsty so I went out to get water, I filled up my Starbucks coffee container to the brim and I placed it next to my laptop. I thought that I was going to spill the water onto my laptop. Sure enough, after a few minutes, I spilled more than half of the contents of my tall container. I did not panic, I was laughing at myself because I knew it was going to happen, still, I didn't prevent it from happening. I removed all visible water drops and let it dry upside down, when I reached home, I used the vaccum cleaner to suck out the remaining water inside the laptop. I was advised not to use the laptop for a few days. So shunga of me!

Thursday: Early in the morning, I recieved a text message from my bestfriend Janine, asking me if I wanted to watch Richard's show at Bagaberde Roxas, she told me that Richard was giving us "guestlist" (read: free entrance because we're on the list as Richard's guests.. kaya guest - list! haha!). So I agreed to go. I needed to be in school very early the next day (because of color coding), but I knew Richard will be worth my "lack of sleep". After his show, I got to tell him my "success story" of rediscovery and VICTORY; he also updated us on the latest on his career and life. Hay.. Sulit talaga!

Friday: I got home from the night out at around 3am, and I had to wake up at 5am. So at 5am, my mobile phone started to "shout", I wanted to get out of bed, but my eyes could not open. So I started to wake up my sister because I knew she had a job interview, and I nagged her to wake up. A few moments later, I found myself almost crying in pain because I fell out of bed. My foot hurt a lot, I could not stand because of the pain, so I asked yaya to get ice for me, for almost 1 hour, I was seated with one foot stepping on a block of ice so that it will not swell. Of course because of this accident, I was not able to go to school in the morning, so I emailed the stuff needed in school and sent a text message to the persons involved.
Later that day, I still went to school, but I had to park two blocks away because of the ongoing carshow in the school's parking lot. I walked in pain, and was almost in tears when I reached the school exit gate. I still didn't go to any of my classes, I asked someone to get the attendance for me. I played DOTA and won twice (i was so happy because i wasn't the usual chickenjoy of the game). At around 9:30pm, I headed for Timog, where Janine and my other gimik buddies watched 7th Soul. I missed the band, I was not able to watch them for a month (adik ba masyado?), and I really enjoyed watching them play! We all headed home past 2am and it was already 3:30 am when I got home. I was tired (very very tired) but it was fine because I had fun!

A few months ago, I dreaded my 28th birthday like the plague, I was not actually thrilled with the fact that I'll be celebrating another birthday. But this week was a breakthrough. I had something this year that I didn't have in any of my other years. I am at peace with myself, I am loved, and I have reconciled with God. That's all I need this time. So what if I am 28? I am still the same old me, only a little heavier, but still the same old "shunga" me. Age is just a number, and I am only as old as I feel and I feel young. Again, so what if I am 28?

Mag eemote lang ako ng konti dahil birthday ko na sa Lunes...

Birthday ko na sa Monday, wala lang, like any of my other birthdays, I really get emotional. There was this one year, I was in Manila Cathedral with Leah, I really cried my eyes out. Nakakahiya! Hahaha.. Sana this year, hindi ganun. Sana puro smiles, laughter at happiness lang ang buong araw ko. Sana puro happy memories lang. So I am thanking the Lord in advance, that Monday will be a fabulous day. The past 27 years had been great and I am looking forward to a better 28th year!

Bukas Na! Victory Weekend Na!

I am torn about being excited and afraid of what will happen tomorrow. I still haven't finished my assignment and I still have to write so many! Pray for me guys!

Minor Mishap

Huge headache. I was driving along Vito Cruz, turning left when I reached the Roxas Boulevard intersection. I was on the second lane and I was anticipating that the light would turn red anytime now so I sped a little. A few seconds later, I hit the brakes because this motorcycle came out of nowhere and hit my side. Thank God that my reflexes were fast because I hit the brakes just in time. The driver looked at me, and he thought that he could bully me into giving him money for his "damaged" bike. I knew what to do in situations like this, and my logic told me that it wasn't my fault. He was on my left, and he told me that he was on his way to Vito Cruz, he insisted that it was me who was at fault. So we waited for the police to arrive, causing major traffic jam in the intersection of Vito Cruz and Roxas Boulevard. It was crazy, so I took a picture.

So, if he was going straight to Vito Cruz, why on earth was he on the left - most lane? When we arrived at the police station, we were immediately dismissed because the police asked me what I wanted to do with the case. The police figured that the other was at fault because of the picture I showed them. It's funny, how unapologetic he was even if everybody agreed that it was his fault. As a parting shot, I told him to be careful driving his bike. He just shook his head. I was a bit dismayed but its his life, what do I know? I am just thankful that I am safe, and my car didn't get a lot of damage.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

2007 was a great year. I won and lost. I met people and gained friends. I built bridges, but also burned some. Achieved and bragged. Lost and was humbled. Let go and moved on. New experiences, new things.

In a nutshell, I loved myself in 2007. I was true to myself. I gave myself credit. I forgave myself. I was reunited with my Savior. Most importantly, I knew myself a whole lot better this year.

But enough of 2007, I am more excited with the coming year. I'll be a year older in the month of January. Mina will be back home in April. My laptop will be fully paid by May. I sort of promised myself to visit friends in Singapore on or before July. The Kolokoys promised that we'll go to Boracay in June or July. And in December, I do hope all the Kolokoys will be able to join us for Christmas breakfast in Tagaytay.

I want to make another list, of the things I'd like to buy for 2008, just like the one I made last year. Here is my "I CAN'T BUY NOW" List:

1. That new watch that I've been pining to buy since last year. But I sort of changed my mind with the brand. I think I like the designs of Fossil as well. If I can afford a Tag, I just might buy that.
2. A new techie gadget. Ipod? Iphone? PSP? PS3? Wii? Professional Camera? Mobile phone?
3. An all-expense paid vacation for me and my family. Of course, it will just be somewhere here in the Philippines.
4. A condo or house (or just start paying for one, haha!) that I can call my own.

A friend once told me, as your salary increases, your "wants" become different, so your expenses also increases. Hmmm.. Are my "wants" too rich for my blood (salary)? Hmm... We'll see. Pwede pa naman ako mag call center sa gabi ah! Hahaha.. Joke joke joke!

A Prosperous New Year to everyone! God bless us all!