Love's Time Travel

I got this from a friendstah bulletin:

10 Years Ago. . .(1995)
[1] I was just a freshman in Peyups.
[2] I was a bonafide member of UPJ.
[3] I had a hate-love relationship with Math 17.

5 Years Ago. . .(2000)
[1] I was residing at #10 19 de Agosto St. in Galas with my bestest friend.
[2] I discovered texting.
[3] I started my affair with the Land Down Under and there is only one person to blame for this.

3 Years Ago. . .(2002)
[1] I was attached.
[2] I was busy with grad school.
[3] was one of the best (1st quarter) and the worst year (3rd quarter, to be exact).

A Year Ago. . .(2004)
[1] I discovered new friends in the office.
[2] I became spiritual.
[3] I had my longest lunch. (And I enjoyed every minute of it. Wink!)

This Year . . .(2005)
[1] I had my first trip abroad.
[2] I will be going to Boracay with SF and RL.
[3] I am and will always be in love with green tea.

Yesterday . . .(march 14, 2005)
[1] WNG had a despedida for Lalaine.
[2] I renewed ties with a chat mate I haven't chat for a very long time.
[3] I was stuck in traffic in East Ave for one hour!

Today. . .(march 15, 2005)
[1] I will go to SF's office
[2] I didn't take my protein shake.
[3] I will eat at Piadina.

Tomorrow . . .(feb 22, 2005)
[1] Shirl and I will pack our things for the Boracay trip.
[2] I will watch CSI Las Vegas.
[3] I will pluck stray hair in my eyebrows.

TOP FIVE
top five dream jobs:
[1] investment banker
[2] technical consultant
[3] architect (after all these years!)
[4] professional swimmer
[5] web developer

top five films I watch over and over again:
[1] crazy beautiful
[2] zoolander
[3] coyote ugly
[4] so close
[5] you've got mail

top five songs I can listen to again and again:
[1] bilanggo ng rizal underground
[2] white flag by dido
[3] a thousand miles by vanessa carlton
[4] thank you by dido
[5] half life ni duncan sheik

top five books I read from cover to cover:
[1] tuesdays with morrie
[2] jessica z's twisted series
[3] harry potter 1-3
[4] ABNKKBSNPLA
[5] da vinci code

top five reasons to watch television:
[1] funny antics of jack macfarland, wit of will truman, laugh of karen, neurotic tendencies of grace adler.
[2] racing around the world without leaving home with the amazing race. (and phil to meet you every pit stop).
[3] jeff probst and the castaways.
[4] cookie and belli flori.
[5] keeps me awake when i am chatting.

top five places i'd want to visit by the age of thirty-five:
[1] sydney, australia
[2] florence, italy
[3] melbourne, australia
[4] vietnam
[5] el nido, palawan

top five famous guys I adore:
[1] hugh jackman
[2] adam garcia
[3] ian thorpe
[4] jay hernandez
[5] paul bettany

top five beautiful women:
[1] liz hurley
[2] charlize theron
[3] audrey hepburn
[4] anne hathaway
[5] teresa herrera

top five food obsessions:
[1] wendy's chili rice
[2] keema and pita
[3] chapati and lentil dahl
[4] piadina's tutto di mare pizza
[5] genmanchai green tea in the coffee bean

five alcoholic beverages:
[1] red wine
[2] san mig light
[3] mango cream in gerry's
[4] budweiser
[5] super dry

top five favorite past time:
[1] going online
[2] watch reality tv
[3] read chick lit
[4] movie watching
[5] artsy-fartsy work

top five colors:
[1] yellow
[2] red
[3] yellow + red = orange
[4] red + orange = red orange
[5] blue

top five fruits:
[1] banana
[2] orange
[3] melon
[4] apple
[5] durian

top five bedroom stuffs:
[1] pillow
[2] blanket
[3] stitch stuff toy
[4] book/ any reading material
[5] comb

Not My Birthday

It is the time of the year when everyone (or almost everyone) turns mushy and gooey. Hearts, heart shaped balloons, red roses, and chocolates abound for that special someone. Ecards and hallmark cards make a killing, mobile fones ringing and beeping, inboxes getting full, and couples making a dash to their fave resto. Aside from the last one, you might think it is Christmas. But nah, it is heart's day (or Kris Aquino's bday- hehehe).

I don't hate this day now that I am a singleton (or else, I am in a hate mode for the last 3 years). Actually, I love this day. People always greet me as if it is a significant day of my life. Why, kamo? I just happened to be called Love. I always look forward to this red letter day. There might be no cards and chocolates and flowers for me but then, I do have a reason to wear red . Or be in senti mode (without the nakakalobatt na "hay..."). Or ogle at the young men at UP Fair and laugh at Parokya ni Edgar's antics and ogle at Dino while he blurts our reggae tunes. I might not have a ka-LovaPalooza. But who says today is just for couples? Happy Valentines' Day! Today is not my birthday, btw.

",) baby bel

of curry, petaling and petronas

just got back from a trip in kl. actually, 3 days ago i landed back here in P.I. great to be home (kala mo OFW eh). we only stayed there for a week of endless meetings, presentations, Q and A, photo-op with counterparts and numerous moonlighting to the night markets.

****

pinas is much cooler. when we arrived at KLIA, i was all geared up that even a snow (in a tropical country ?) can't penetrate my all-weather jacket. oh yeah, the airport was really cold. but after getting lost inside the arrival area (who would have thought that we should claim our baggage at the next building?) looking for that aerotrain, man, it was like wearing a long sleeves polo inside an un-a/c'ed room. when we got out of the airport, double- "wow!" in rufa mae quinto's lingo, super-to-the-nth-power, di-na-kaya-ang-init-level-na-to! as in. good thing, our vehicles have this turbo a/c. salamat, 4 x 4 trooper!

***

highways. freeways. wide roads. they are all endless in kl. they said that kl really changed...alot.i think they should blame it to these highways. while traversing from the airport to our hotel, from kl to selangor, it was like you awere travelling along commonwealth or NLEX or SLEX forever with additional lanes. you won't dare jaywalk in that kind of road.

***

i am an adventure eater. ask shirly. i can partake any dish being served though i have yet to taste frogs and sawa. i may not be a fear factor kind of girl who can gobble up anything from eyeballs of an animal or a repoductive organ of something,but i do have a matapang na sikmura. from the stewed dog meat (hey, i was a gradeschooler then!) to the crickets of pampanga to the oxbrain of mr. k (oh my!) to the slimy kinilaw na clams of tacloban, i guess my stomach is up for anything. i had a great time food tasting: lentil curry, chapati (i love this!), roti (A-ok!), chili crab (alavar sauce is way better),curried soya beans, anything with curry, ginatan na durian to air bubur campor. i was searching for samosa's but much to my dismay, it seems only prince of jaipur and kashmir serve this. good thing, i didn't acquired that "curry" smell after loading up with
curry for a week!

i miss curry, actually. and yeo's green iced tea. and the jelly grass. and the ultimate ---spritzer's lemon water.

***

menara petronas was awesome. menara kl was so high and mighty. at long last, i got to see the famous edifices in this side of asia. i had a great time eating at the revolving restaurant in kl tower, up on that 70th floor. the view was spectacular. you get to see kl at 360 degrees. the food, marvelous!

menara petronas aka KLCC. forget catherine zeta-jones in entrapment. think cher in clueless. it seemed that every other store was on "SALE!" (thanks to the lunar new year). name a brand, most likely, it is inside suria. if not for that sale, i won't be able to acquire a pair of d*!%3! jeans and jacket. or a cream colored bag i got at an uber-low price. darn, i should have entered marc jacobs's store. my most coveted perfume might be available there.

***

cheapskate. that is what i am. i am not really good at bargaining or haggling but i managed to haggle some stuff that i am so proud of. central mall and petaling were the places to be when you want some malaysian and faux designer thingies, respectively. i was so proud of acquiring a pair of shadow puppets and malaysian batik for a low price (though i won't dare convert it to peso). speaking of cheap, we did managed to eat at a hawker's center. the chinese noodles (sabay touchy-touchy ng vendor sa noodles) and the hot pot. never felt so hot in my life while eating. the stove infront of you, the chili hot sauce, the sidewalk with lotsa smoke and the straight from the boiling tomyum soup anything-on-stick...blame it to them. and yeah, that was my first time to eat hot pot.

***

i just love that caterpillar-looking monorail that travels along major commercial centers of kl city. the squeaky clean 2-coach train and the rollercoaster feeling made the trip worthwile. you get to see the other areas that the other trains don't go. Putra line and KL Kommuter were okey but so usad-pagong compared to monorail. Besides, you get to see the city top view - the kids playing football (think beckham, ronaldo, real madrid and united manchester), train tracks without home-along-the-riles, the interior grounds of an old prison and the intricate carvings of a chinese cemetery.

had my first shindig with the monorail one early morn when alex and i skipped our buffet breakfast and aet at an indian curry house in bukit bintang. it was fun! it was like being in one with the natives-ride trains, eat chapati dipped in curry with my hands and drink chrysanthenum tea afterwards. burp!

***

there are so many things i love to talk about. isn't it obvious that i enjoyed my stay in kl even though we were beat up every morning with the long meetings and sugarful of hot tea? it was great exploring the country (even only at night). one day, i'll be back. no more meetings and business suits. only backpacks and a map and some knowledge on pidgin english. to kl, terima kasih!

babybel