Handmade

Pattern paper + camera stamps + Saizen stamp pad + washi tape = Merry Christmas! :)

Goodbye 2012

As early as now, I am saying goodbye to 2012. It's definitely not my year. At the start of the year and on my birthday, I had one fervent wish and I didn't get it. I don't know if I'll get it soon or ever. Yeah, drama.

But lest the Guy Above gets angry, I am still grateful for a few things:

Plants vs. Me

I like plants but they do not seem to like me. My MIL gave me a few pots of her euphorbia plants which I keep on our balcony. She said that they can survive even if I just water them once a week. So far, I've managed to kill two. TWO! When in fact they are succulents and can retain water. Sadly, the plants are mysteriously drying up on me. More curiously, the plants that died were located in the same spot, but the other plants are thriving.

So... here's my new plant, a cactus.



If I still manage to kill it, then I'm giving up.

GlamourBox PH

One day, I "confronted" hubby why he liked GlamourBox PH's Facebook page. He confessed that he actually had no idea what it was all about, only that his former college dorm mate, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Lian Ramos, is one of its proponents. I didn't pay attention to it at first because I'm no beauty junkie. However, I liked the idea of receiving a mystery box every month (even if I paid for it) so I signed up a couple of days ago. The boxes are shipped every second week of the month, so I thought I may have missed the November box. I was totally surprised (and excited!) when a box arrived today.

 

 The November box contains the following:

• Eye of Hours mascara
• Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Balancing Softener
• Shiseido Benefiance Pop Up Mask
• Yves Rocher Slimming Action Concentrate
• Ofra Cosmetics Lipstick Palette
• Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste
• Calvin Klein Eternity Aqua

and bonus items Bvlgari Man and Burberry Sport. I'm excited to try out the products and to receive next month's box. To order your own box, visit: http://glamourbox.ph .

Singapore 2012 (Part II)

The trip to Singapore made me realize how much I've neglected photography. I found out that I've "forgotten" how to operate a DSLR, even my Olympus PEN, huhu. Must make time for taking pictures.

The rest of the photo dump:

Sentosa

Singapore 2012 (Part 1)

Spent the long week-end and a couple of vacation leaves in Singapore. We planned the trip partly so my aunt and sisters can have stamps in their passports before these expire haha. Although we booked our tickets awhile back, I was most unprepared for this trip. I forgot to bring our stash of medicines (then hubby suffered a massive headache), our travel adaptors (we had to buy) and our usual Snickers bars. Yet, this is our most tipid trip pocket money-wise because we stayed with my uncle and aunt and they sponsored  most of our meals. (Yay!)

They say Singapore is only as big as Quezon City yet we still missed a couple of spots despite being there for five days. We skipped the zoos and gardens and went to Orchard, Little India, Bugis, Arab Street, Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa and Universal Studios Singapore.

Be ready for a massive photo dump with a few captions. :P

Little India   

(We spent our first night in Orchard but I forgot my camera, boo.)

Calligraphy with The Fozzy Book and Craft MNL

I have always loved writing - writing content and the writing act itself. I guess I have pretty decent writing and handwriting skills because my classmates borrow my notes since high school. (Or maybe they were just darn too lazy to take notes and I wasn't.)

Calligraphy piqued my interest because, well, it's so pretty. And maybe I want to say sorry to all of daddy's fountain nibs that I used to drag across paper when I was younger. I first admired the posts of Leigh Reyes (@leighpod) but she doesn't hold workshops. Then I discovered the account of Fozzy C. Dayrit (@thefozzybook) I first "met" Fozzy when I read her posts in the weddings@work group. Fortunately, Fozzy held workshops and I signed up for the one held in Craft MNL last October 21 at The Collective.

Hubby dropped me off and I felt like it was the first day of school. I was alone and some of the participants knew each other so I was kinda shy and quiet haha. Fozzy said we were a bit "intense". I, for one, was very frustrated with my blobby first attempts. I wanted to take more pictures but the pages of the notebook had stuck together haha.

 

 I'm on a mini-vacation at home so I have all the time to practice.

 

Throwback Multiply: Bar 2007 Memoirs IV

Bar 2012 tomorrow (technically on Sunday, but Bar activities i.e. Send-off commence tomorrow)! Good luck bar examinees! 

Bar Memoirs #7 and 8: Remedial Law and Ethics

Tapusin na ang kaguluhang ito! :D

So makapal-ang-mukha-me (refer to previous memoir) decided to finish the Bar exams. According to statistics, around 200 of those who filed the petition to take the Bar didn't finish it.

Anyhoo, one of the first questions a barista asks when he/she starts to draft a reading schedule is, "To read books or not to read books?" And by books, I mean the thick annotated ones, not the reviewers. My answer is: it depends.

When I was drafting my own reading schedule and checking the books I had on hand, I realized that other than Criminal Procedure, I haven't read an entire book for Remedial Law. Since it has the greatest weight of the subjects, I decided, books it is, despite the fact that it has the longest coverage, too (yep, I believe it is longer than Civil Law even if the former has more  subjects). I also consider Remedial Law as one of my "weak" subjects so go, go, go books! I read Feria Noche for Civil Procedure, Regalado for Special Procedure and Criminal Procedure and the Albano reviewer for the second reading, then Beda notes for pre-week. The first reading took me two to three weeks, and there were days I just stayed in the apartment. There was a time that I realized that the only words I've spoken for the past three days were "Take-out po," after pointing to my desired viand at one of those turo-turos in V. Con. No wonder I was a wreck by September haha!

As for Ethics and Practical Exercises, I failed to follow my game plan. A topnotcher advised that to study legal forms without really studying for legal forms is to try to write at least one pleading before going to bed. Alas, by 10pm, I was comfortably hugging my pillows. So for five days before second reading, I read up Ethics and tried to memorize legal forms (at the same time praying there won't be ridiculous forms like Articles of Incorporation, saksakin niyo na lang ako with my 0.5 Pilot pen kung ganun!)

 The exams were fair and graded fairly. (Syempre nakita ko na ratings ko haha!) The questions about global injunction in Rem and the arbitration clause and clause stipulating a right of first refusal in Ethics had me scratching my head though (I feel those were inserted by the Chairman, di ba he said he had to make the Ethics exam difficult? Hmp!). I encircled the word "clauses" and proceeded to write. Later on, the proctors said it was alright if we would only give the clause itself... turns out the others have written entire contracts. Buti na lang I wasn't that masipag! I don't think it made a difference though as everyone got a line of 9 in Ethics. We love you, lady Justice!

Moral of the memoirs: Be masipag and read books and don't be too masipag to write an entire contract when the question calls for a clause. :D

Throwback Multiply: Bar 2007 Memoirs III

Bar 2012 in a couple of days! In the meantime, my Bar 2007 Memoirs continued:

Bar Memoirs# 5 & 6: Merc and Crim

Can you tell that I want these memoirs over and done with? My exact sentiment during the 3rd Sunday.

I think I could safely say that everyone was in low spirits the eve of that Sunday (except for a chosen few). Roomie Daye was worrying about her Tax while I was still worrying over Poli (stuck in a moment talaga ako nun). That night, roomie and I were doing this strange dance wherein we'd promise not to talk about the previous exams, talk about it a bit, ask about answers, then promise yet again we won't talk about the previous exams.

I've decided to lump the two exams in one memoir because they were extremes.

Merc was, in Areiz's words yet again, "Because the questions were fairly and logically crafted in a manner that you can more or less approximate a bar candidate’s knowledge of the subject." I concur, but I think I kind of messed up my answers to the first questions because I was feeling a bit light-headed that morning. I promised I'd sleep every Saturday night, and my target sleeping time was 5 hours. I'd *try* to sleep by 10pm, 10:30pm if need be, then wake up at 3am so Daye and I would have ample time in using the bath room. But that Saturday, I think I dozed off around 11:30ish, with Prof. Catindig's reviewer still propped up on my lap.

But yes, the exam was fair. The reviewer of Dean Sundiang was, in law students' words, "Patok." I read that reviewer, and that of Prof. Catindig's, but somehow, you've got to battle memory gap.

Come lunch time, I didn't know what to feel about Merc, should I be happy about it or not? But then, there was Crim to tackle. When the proctor announced that there were only 5 pages (including the cover page) of 10 questions in Crim, we thought it was a happy sign. But the smiles quickly turned to sighs as we read the questions. I read in someone's blog that she cried during the Crim exam. I didn't cry, I even laughed to myself when I saw the questions. I thought, "Wala na 'to. Bahala na talaga." Throughout the exam, I kept shaking my head as I tried to list down the elements of crimes I could remember. Yes, you could write on the questionnaire but please, no identifying marks. The proctor told us to write our seat numbers at the back of the questionnaire so it could be traced back to the owner. I was playing elimination with the crimes... Theft? Robbery? Grave coercion? Light coercion? Teka, ano na nga ba pinagkaiba ng threats and coercion? Grrr, kain na lang ako ng Cadbury.

As TL, Sol and I walked out of La Salle that day, we mused that if some people didn't come back after the Poli exam, then there would be people who won't come back after the Crim exam. It was that bad. We even joked, "Siguro next Sunday, yung mga tao, sisigawan na tayo, "Hoy, bakit pa kayo bumabalik???" " :P

Moral of the memoir: Although this journey is the journey of many, it is the battle of one. Sleep well before the exam. And do go back and finish the battle, because "you just can never can tell."

Throwback Multiply: Bar 2007 Memoirs II

Bar 2012 starts this Saturday. Good luck bar examinees! And now, a continuation of my Bar 2007 Memoirs:

Bar Memoir #3: Civil Law

After Labor, I hitched a ride with Atty. Sol and his sisters and went home to an empty and silent apartment. After talking to my parents and E over the phone, the tears came. I had no strength to go out and buy a "proper" dinner, so I just ate some of the goodies given by friends and classmates. I promptly fell asleep and woke up the next day... still wearing yesterday's clothes. Eww, I know.

I resolved not to attend any pre-week sessions and just read na lang. After my bath, I took out my Civil Code codal and started reading, occasionally fighting back tears. I broke my resolution though and attended Dean Aligada's lecture on Property and Wills... which would have helped a lot if I remembered it as there were questions on such subjects.

Persons and ObliCon are considered the "major" areas in Civil Law so I was preparing myself for such questions. Again, expect the unexpected. The questions came from Property, Trusts, and LTD. I think I answered the second question last, I found it hard to argue if "a floating platform made of wood and metal, upon which was permanently attached the heavy equipment for the petroleum operations and living quarters of the crew" was an immovable property or movable property. At may follow up pa na: "The floating platform likewise contained a garden area, where trees, plants and flowers were planted. Q: Are the trees, plants and flowers immovable or movable property?" Trick question, kaw ba yan? I remembered Atty. Domondon telling us that in answering, chances are, the first answer that comes to mind is not the right answer. So I was all set to answer that the floating platform was an immovable property (because floating = movable) but racked my brain for the legal basis. For Wills, the last question, I forgot the rest of the iron curtain rule, the codal provision kept popping in my head but it was incomplete... memory gap!

Moral of this memoir: Codal codal codal. Brush up on distinctions. Drink/eat something that would remedy memory gap.

N.B. My lowest score was in Civil Law - which is why I now hate civil cases at work haha.

Bar Memoir #4: Tax

I used to hear the same words from professors and former-bar-examinees-now-lawyers: "stock knowledge ang Bar." I used to reply (in my head anyway), "Paano kung wala akong stock knowledge"? A couple of weeks ago, I saw some of my classmates-now-bar-examinees and I found myself telling them: "stock knowledge." Predictably, most of them replied, to my face, "Paano kung wala akong stock knowledge"?

I digress. Is "stock knowledge" a Pinoy concept? I tried Googling for its uhm, academic meaning, but all I saw were sites pertaining to shares of stock. Or maybe I wasn't Googling hard enough.

I believed in the power of "stock knowledge" after the Tax exam. I was one of those people, who, when he/she failed to read the assigned cases would assure his/her self, "Bawi na lang ako sa bar review." To quote a prof: "Oooh boy." Bar review isn't for catching up but, to quote a former-bar-examinee-now-lawyer, for "polishing."

So, let's backtrack a bit... I had a hard time with my Tax Review class. I received a line of 6 in our prelims exams and I cried right there and then inside our classroom. Coupled with Crim Rev, there was a *huge* possibility that I won't graduate. When Revalida schedules were posted, I was first for Tax. Great. So for two straight days before Revalida, I locked myself in the apartment, ordered in a large Yellow Cab pizza and memorized memorized memorized. I abhorred memorizing ever since I was... a fetus. For my journalism course, it was okay, but I soon sadly realized it wouldn't fly in law school. So I memorized when it was absolutely-life-and-death necessary. I memorized as much as I could for Tax Rev, I went through 2,000+ pages of my tax books and our prof's notes in two days.

It would have been nice to say that I aced my Revalida, but I didn't. So back to memorizing and to praying that I'd get 90 and above in our final exam so I'd graduate.

Fast forward to bar review: When the week came to review Tax, I would take my Tax books and gag reflex would kick in. In short, nasusuka ako. I read short short books by other authors but I could not go back to my previous Tax books.

Come exam time, "stock knowledge" came in the form of me visualizing our dear professor in class, visualizing the pages I read while reviewing for Revalida, all those suggested answers our prof gave us in his notes which I "memorized" while fueled by Yellow Cab pizza. It wasn't the stuff I read during bar review that I remembered, it was those stuff I read for Tax Review.

Moral of the memoir: Believe in the power of "stock knowledge."

 N.B. Ang dami kong tsamba sa Tax - yey! :)

Throwback Multiply: Bar 2007 Memoirs

If you have been on the interwebs since early to mid-2000, then you surely have a Multiply account, and you must know now that Multiply is going the way of Friendster and is closing down their social network aspect effective December 1, 2012. Since my Multiply has been witness to my early photography as well as my (best) angsty blog posts (wrote about heartbreak, the Bar and job-hunting there), I've been downloading my content. The blog has been exported to a private blogspot while the photos are taking time to download thru Multiply's downloader because of the 1MB plus sizes of some. To download content, log in to your Multiply, go to My Site, then below your name and profile picture are the links "Download Media", "Export to Blogger" and "Export to Tumblr."

I can't believe it's been five years since I took the Bar - and it has gone through a lot of changes, i.e., multiple choice questions, moved to November then now October, moved the venue to UST. In the spirit of Bar fever, I'm sharing my Multiply Bar memoirs. 

#Johnny

Hubby and I stayed up late last night to watch JOHNNY: The Juan Ponce Enrile story on ABS-CBN. JPE's life is very interesting, I always thought he was born rich because he is a mestizo. JPE grew up poor, was taunted a bastard (he had a different father from the siblings he grew up with), was stabbed by guys over a lady, became a guerilla during the war and was tortured by the Japanese. After the war, his father found him and JPE said all he asked from his father is a "good education." I also did not know until now that Armida Siguion Reyna is his half-sister.

Of course the story gets a a little "hazy" during the Martial Law years because, well, I just don't know. I was a wee child when Ninoy was assassinated and I vaguely remember the Ninoy Fever. To me, anything related to Marcos seemed "bad". So I found it hard to shake off doubts when JPE absolved himself of any wrongdoing during the Martial Law.

I digress: curiously, the documentary made me miss my lolos - I wish I knew their stories. My paternal grandpa was the more talkative one but he died when I was only 9. My maternal died when I was 18, but he stayed mostly in the barrio and was quiet when he had a stroke. I will never forget though that he taught me and my brother the cha-cha while we were scrubbing our sala floors with a bunot. Our elders, especially those who lived through the war, have fascinating stories to tell and I regret not hearing my grandparents' versions.

Arm Parties

We see fashion bloggers nowadays with their wrists bogged down with a jumble of bracelets. They call 'em arm parties or arm candy. I like accessories - in college and law school, I used to wear long and funky earrings. Nowadays though, I've taken to wearing pearl studs to look lawyerly. But I miss accessorizing, and I can easily slip off bracelets if needed.

I discovered Sepa Accessories Cebu through a fashionista's Instagram.



The two sets of bracelets arrived via LBC in a gift-wrapped box - love that touch! Dianne was so easy to text with, she replied even if I texted her close to midnight hehe. Planning to mix up the sets though - can't wait to wear them tomorrow. Find your own arm party with Sepa - http://www.facebook.com/pages/SEPA-accessories-cebu/

Sold on Gum-Soled

I'm mighty proud of that title haha. :)

I scored my first pair of Anthology shoes yesterday. While I've read raves about Anthology, I've stayed away from it because I find the brand a bit, well, expensive. Luckily, they are on sale now at The Ramp Trinoma.




While the gum soles remind me of the shoes that boys used to wear in high school (circa 1994-1998), I find this pair mighty cute. And the gum soles are a dream to walk on (commuted via LRT, walked the length of UN Ave., took the shuttle, FX and jeep, whew!) I like the gum soles so much I think I want to buy all the gum-soled ones on sale! Check out anthowarehousale.com :)

Ang Nawawala

Hubby wanted to watch "Ang Nawawala" during its Cinemalaya run. Unfortunately, tickets got sold out pretty fast. Since then, we've been on the look-out for screenings. Luckily, the movie has been released on another limited run. At first, I thought we again missed the screening in SM North Edsa (the nearest to us among the few cinemas) because it only displayed times for September 12, and I saw it on September 12 (grrr). Hubby and I were planning to watch it in far-away SM Pampanga, buti na lang I checked again and SM North has extended the showing until this Sunday only.

Image from: www.interaksyon.com

We absolutely loved the movie! My music geek of a husband was very happy with the songs and sound quality. This movie definitely beats I Doo Bi Doo even if it is the indie one. I also realized that I am, unconsciously, definitely a hipster (I prefer "classic taste" though). 

This is the official synopsis:

         Gibson Bonifacio stopped speaking when he was a child. Now twenty years old, he returns home to Manila from his studies abroad, his first visit in three years. He finds his family trying to keep it together, his mother still hurting from a tragic loss in the past. Against the backdrop of the vibrant local music scene, his childhood best friend tries to reconnect with him, while he unexpectedly finds a chance at a first, real romantic relationship. Amidst the holidays, Gibson reconsiders and redefines his relationships with his family, his friends, and with himself.

Considering that he was not speaking most of the time, Dominic Roco (son of Bembol) who plays Gibson managed to convey happiness, sadness, wonder, hurt, and at times, anguish, with his wide eyes. Apart from the really cool music, I enjoyed the gamut of cameras (Gibson totes a Canon point-and-shoot with him at all times) littered all over Gibson's house. I won't say anything anymore because this is a movie that deserves to be seen rather than described. Please do watch it this week-end:

 

Image from: AngNawawala.com

 

Random

I'm such a boring person. If you don't like posts about random stuff, kindly skip this.

Hubby and I passed by UP after a trip to the doctor a few weeks ago. After having some Rodic's tapsilog, I craved fishballs so we went to Vinzons Hall. I was surprised to see that the fishballs are pre-tusok-tusoked.



I miss making tusok tusok the fishballs on my own!

I want to learn calligraphy so I bought a calligraphy book and a Sheaffer calligraphy set. Well, I completely have no idea what I'm doing. I hope to join a workshop really soon.



I just discovered Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Why only now?!



And since I grew up in Dagupan City, home to Bonuan Boneless Bangus, I'm quite snobby with bangus. I've eaten some that taste like mud so I'm hesitant about buying bangus in the grocery. The Century Tuna Marinated Bangus Belly is surprisingly good.



But now I miss home. :(

Hello, Sky

Just thankful for the wonderful, non-rainy weather today.

Ramblings of a Green-Eyed Monster

There is this girl whom for blog purposes I will call "Wonder Girl" (hereafter "WG"). She is not a friend, not even an acquaintance, I just learned about her through my friends. Thanks to the social media (read: stalking), I learned more about her wonderful life. She's still living a wonderful life, have just returned from further studies abroad, got married to a fairly attractive man, and snagged a presumably lucrative job overseas.

Compared to her, my life, especially my career, appears lackluster. I mean, I go to work in jeans. L and I got to thinking, should we study again? Should we leave government service and jump into the private sector? We all graduated from the same university, are we wasting our potential while WG is making her way in the world?

But then I thought, above all, I want to be a mother. And I thought of my father, a well-loved and well-respected lawyer and professor in our province, yet I don't see him that way. What I remember about my dad is that he used to write my speeches for school elections until I started writing them myself and he would just proofread, then I ended up writing HIS speeches. Or how he would duck out of the office in his barong tagalaog and watch me in my oratorical contests. Or how he put me through law school, not saying anything when I'd ask for thousands of pesos for my law books.

Yes, WG is living a wonderful life. Yes, I am envious of WG. But I think (really, I hope) this will go away when I'm finally a mommy. #

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I'm a few pages away from finishing The Perks of Being a Wallflower but I'm dragging it out as long as I can. I'm actually surprised I got to stretch to reading it for five days on the train considering it's less than 300 pages. In fact, I hesitated in buying it because I found the P299 price tag "steep" for a thin book (yep, I'm cheap like that). But now I'm glad I bought it because it's such a good book. It reminds me of my grade school and high school years and how I wrote in my journals. It's so rare that I encounter a book that I'd rather not end.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Smashing Pumpkins in Manila

I'll forever remember this concert as "buwis-buhay". The concert, set on August 7 (Tuesday), was moved a day later due to the torrential rains. Yet, the next day's weather wasn't better, in fact, our office called off work.

So I was at home while hubby went off to work. I planned to go to Trinoma then ride the MRT to Cubao early, but the crazy rain dissuaded me from going out. At first, hubby said he'd go home early and pick up, but when the roads started to get flooded, he said I should just meet him in Cubao. So I called for a taxi, and after about 30 minutes of waiting, was on the way to Trinoma. But as we approached the intersection of Mindanao Ave. and North Ave., the same was crazy flooded and impassable. I made the taxi go to SM North.

Finally, I made it to Cubao. Hubby texted that he left the car in Shangri-La Mall and took the MRT. If we'll be able to get it after the concert or how we'll go home if not, we did not know.

When we got inside Smart Araneta at a little past 8, most of the seats were empty. I checked Twitter and the band said they were pushing back the show to 9:15pm for the latecomers. True enough, people soon trickled in.

For the first set, they played the whole Oceania album which I've never listened to, nor have a copy of, so I was pretty 0__0 throughout the set haha.

I perked up when they played "Disarm" because that's one of their songs that I grew up with.  By the way, we were seated in Upper Box A, and this was the best my iPhone can do:

Please believe me that's the Smashing Pumpkins haha. (Side note: their bassist Nicole is so hot, playing the guitar in a swishy red dress. In my next life, I want to play the guitar and sing.) Anyway, Billy got the drift that the most of the crowd grew up during the 90s for when he asked who was born after 1987, people laughed and booed. They played around 30 songs but I think I was only familiar with five or six. :) Too bad they didn't play Perfect and Landslide (which I just learned was only a cover). And I found it cute that when they played 1979, a couple of people threw toilet paper rolls. At first I was surprised, then I remembered the music video hehe.

The concert ended a little past 12 midnight and it was POURING outside. Luckily, we nabbed a taxi and hubby decided we should get the car. The ride home was really scary because it was zero visibility and the roads were flooding fast. The weather got to me because I threw up in the car. (Sorry, TMI).

And this is why the Smashing Pumpkins concert will be forever remembered as "buwis buhay". :)

Heartbreak

It's been a while since I cried over a heartbreak - and in public, to boot. This morning I learned something that threw me off guard so much that I could not help but cry. Even while I was lining up for the LRT. Even when I was inside the LRT. Even when I was at my desk. Just my luck everyone's sickly these days that it only appears that I have a really bad cold/allergy.

I just want to remember that today, I cried over a heartbreak. :(

Ping Pong

I am hardly athletic. I blame my poor vision since 4th grade, when I started wearing eye glasses. Contacts grossed me out, they still do, even if I wear them occasionally. So I used to joke that I don't play with balls larger than my face (mind you, I made this joke in high school so I'm sure there was no sexual undertone - okay, maybe a little. Ew me.)

When I was in first year HS, our dad suddenly got us a ping-pong table. It was a couple of weeks before the school intrams. After some classmates learned that we have a ping-pong table, I was tasked to represent our color (the years were divided into teams) despite my nonexistent backhand and drive skills. Of course I lost.

But I started playing and playing and playing. For sophomore and junior years, I played doubles. Individually, my partner and I were good, not great. But we devised this sort of dance wherein one will smoothly step back after hitting the ball so the other has enough space to chase the returning ball. I think we were champs both years, if not, our junior year. On our senior tear, "we gave chance to others."



In UP, table tennis was one of my four PEs. I'm proud that I ranked second among the girls in our class.

Then in law school, somebody learned that I used to play ping-pong, so I was asked to represent the school in Conflicts of Law, the intrams among law schools. I resisted because I wasn't playing anymore, but school spirit prevailed. I don't remember if I won any match, just that my last match was against a former Pambansang Palaro player. It was like playing against the wall. I never returned after that.

I just finished watching the medal matches of the Olympics Ladies Singles. I suddenly missed playing.

I Let my Mind Wander

I've been working on this case for almost a week and I'm pretty stumped. I hate it when there's a dearth of jurisprudence on the very case you're working on.

That's why I let my mind wander...



... and maybe it hasn't come back yet haha. Since it's been cold the past week, I found myself missing Japan and Korea. I don't miss Tagaytay because I rarely go there and I don't miss Baguio because for some reason, I don't like the place (must be fear of heights + extreme cold). I wore my "fall" knits which i sometimes regretted because it'd be too hot when I arrive at the office.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I have a new bag and I hate my case. :)

Pansit Chronicles

Cooking pansit has intimidated me because (1) it is one of hubby's fave food and (2) I've eaten so many great pansit versions that I'm sure what I cook will pale in comparison. But since hubby's new anti-gout diet requires more carbs, I eventually had to cook pansit.

The recipe is simple enough: brown the chicken pieces, saute garlic and onions, add chopped lettuce and julienned carrots and red bell pepper, take them out, pour chicken broth (or a chicken cube dissolved in hot water) in pan, add soy sauce and pepper, place the pansit noodles, toss, add the veggies and toss again.

The first time was a fail in portion control because I cooked the entire 250g package which looked not enough at first until I've dumped the noodles in the pan. It was also a bit dry, but still tasted like good enough pansit.



I tried cooking it again earlier and I adjusted the amount of noodles. At first I used a cup of dissolved chicken cube and it looked really soupy. So I scooped out about half a cup. Rookie mistake again, the noodles were a bit dry. But still, tasted and definitely looked like pansit haha.

Hope to nail it next time!

Dreams

I have the weirdest dreams ever. Some are the normal weird, like flying and crashing down then waking up. Last night, I dreamt that I was reading something on Twitter (I forget what) then I looked at the sky and saw clouds shaped like dogs. I think last week I dreamt that I looked at the night sky, saw the moon and stars fall to Earth, then the sun came out, and there was an earthquake and tsunami. Then there was time that a baby crocodile crawled its way out of a wall and chased me. 

But my weirdest dreams almost always involve the sky. I used to have recurring dreams of looking at the night sky and seeing all the planets. A friend commented, "Maybe you were an astronaut in your past life." Hmmm... Or maybe I was a priestess who worshiped the sky. Haha.

Journals

I've been feeling a bit down lately (partly due to hormones, argh). I feel like talking to someone, only that I can't think of anyone "proper" to talk to about what's going on in my head. I thought of starting a paper journal. I also thought that maybe it's another excuse to buy a pretty notebook when I've got plenty of blank ones lying around. However, I don't want anyone to read my paper journals, even after I'm gone. See, when I was younger, I kept journals and I poured everything into them. My mom was pretty snoopy and when she read some angsty entries, she went ballistic on me. Since then, I've refrained from over-sharing in my journals (totally defeating the point of keeping journals) and then eventually stopped writing.

Then I discovered blogging. I found it liberating that I can write and write, hiding under a nickname, and people "listened" and wrote back. However, one day, one of my room mates shared that she found it weird that a group of girls were talking about something that we ourselves talked about a couple of days before. It turned out that by some strange quirk of Google, she was searching for something totally unrelated to our conversation yet ended up on my blog. There is no hiding in the internet.

My point is, there are a lot of things I want to write down, just to get them out of my system I guess, but I am not prepared to be responsible for my thoughts. Maybe I should just write, then burn everything up afterwards.

NKOTBSB and iTunes

Just recently, I received an email from iTunes stating that Music and Movies (no TV shows?) are now available to its Philippine users. I'm a noob when it comes to torrents (I have rotten luck in finding links that work) so I got excited with the news - even if it meant I had to buy music.

So, the first album I bought from iTunes is (naturally, haha) the NKOTBSB album. I was actually planning to buy a CD last week but I held off for some reason. I know buying the album is a month too late, I should have bought it before watching the concert.

I listened to the album while dressing up this morning and I was amused with the random memories that came to mind with the BSB songs: stopping whatever I was doing whenever MTV played the video of Quit Playing Games With My Heart (Now I wonder how at 13, I believed I can relate when BSB sang: "Even in my heart/ I see/ That you're not being true to me"); remembering this group of boys from another school dancing to As Long As You Love Me, complete with white Monobloc stools as props, and the cutest leader of the group sporting the Nick Carter floppy haircut; remembering that I was in college when Larger than Life was released so I felt I was too "cool" for BSB already. 

I particularly liked the NKOTBSB Mash-up song in the end. It brings me back to the concert. iTunes purchase well worth it. :)

Spidey

I used to doodle this all over my Bar review notes haha. I remember a lot of good movies came out the entire span of our review: Spiderman, Transformers, and Fantastic Four and the last Harry Potter book. To fight off sleepiness, I would doodle all over the pages, and I always went back to Spidey. Thank you guys for helping me pass the Bar. :P

Project Fitness

A recent visit to the OB yielded a mandate to lose six pounds. I am not overweight, but she figured that losing a little weight will help us conceive. I am not a total couch potato but I am hardly sporty. I dragged my feet in going to Fitness First for the wedding, and I promptly stopped going after. But a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Early this week, I took advantage of one of the mall sales going on and bought running shoes.





Ran/brisk-walked with my sister for 30minutes one evening and I felt like I was gonna drop dead. I am SO out of shape. I went for another run/brisk walk for 30minutes tonight and I'm still all wound up after. I hope to increase the time next time, for frankly, I sweated more when I tried out Bikram yoga. Oh, if only the latter isn't so expensive!

I've also decided to cut back on carbs because while changing clothes, I spied a little back fat going on. Oh body, why you hate me so?

Regression

In one of my psychology classes, I learned about regression. All I remember is that it's a coping or defense mechanism where one reverts to childlike or even immature behavior.

I believe I've got some voluntary and involuntary regression going on.



For some reason, my face has become so oily that my adjusted glasses still slip down my nose. I turned to something that I last used in college - oil blotting wipes. I equate it with college. This morning, I slipped on a fireman-themed enamel bracelet from Martina-Martina, just because. A little regression helped me get through the day.

Alone

When I was in college, I shuddered at the thought of eating, or going anywhere, or doing something alone. Eating alone sounded particularly sad. I always viewed eating as a social activity - the more, merrier. So in college, I was always with my boyfriend-now husband, room mates or org mates. I rarely did anything alone.

Then law school came and forced me and hubby-then boyfriend to see each other only on week-ends. I was placed in a working class even if I was a full-time student so I only saw my classmates in the evening. Suddenly, I had to learn how to eat by myself.

I admit it was no fun at first. No one to "save" a table for you, no one to talk to.

Yet these days, I relish doing certain stuff alone. I love the hubby and my friends and all but I also love my "me times." Surprisingly, one of the things I like doing now is sitting in a small restaurant or cafe for hours, with a book or my phone. Now, I love NOT having to talk and NOT having to listen haha. My college self would've died of shock. :D

NKOTBSB in Manila

Growing up in the province, I was never allowed to watch concerts. For one thing, we could not probably afford it back then, for we had to add transportation, lodging and food expenses to the ticket price. 

So when I learned that NKOTBSB (New Kids on the Block - Backstreet Boys, for those born in the late 90s or 2000 onwards) was going to have a concert here, I was giddy with excitement. I reverted to my high school self who spent hours watching BSB videos on MTV. I just received a bonus when tickets became available, and I seriously contemplated parting with P8,000+ for a seat near the stage. I found the P13,000+ range a bit unconscionable already as there were plenty of bills to be paid. However, I could not find anyone my age who was willing to pay the price and go with me. Again, I seriously contemplated going alone. I slept on it, and decided that it'd be too sad if I go alone. In the end, I bought my youngest sister a ticket, even if she had no idea who NKOTB was. 

We were seated in Upper Box B, which was a breath away from General Admission, so I didn't bother to bring a DSLR camera. I completely relied on my iPhone and Canon Ixus for a few souvenir shots. However, my phone was already dying before the concert started. Good thing my Ixus came through with a few nice shots.

I was in Grade 6-1st year HS when NKOTB disbanded so I'm not really familiar with them. I recognize the melody of most songs, but not the lyrics. But they do seem hotter than BSB even if they're older - especially Jordan Knight!

Please believe me when I say this is a picture of the Backstreet Boys haha.

TonIC Wedding

Second wedding in two days. Wedding year indeed.

Pd + Coffee

A coffee-themed wedding:











And a glimpse of my summer wedding outfit: