West Elm

I used to service this brand - West Elm - doing their product developments for Entertaining pieces.

This was the dinner I will never forget.

The Philippine contingent was splitting the bill, so everybody gave their shares in advance. Dinner was fine dining at one of the restos in Lan Kwai Fong. Perrier was the water of choice. Bottles of wine kept getting popped.

Everybody was having a blast. Until the bill came and I felt faint. Fortunately, I was with the best group of vendors I can ever wish for.

And well, having cute Frank beside me, made the stress worthwhile! :)

He's gay, by the way.

Fear Factor

I have had the biggest scare of my life.

My iPod suddenly stopped working yesterday!
As in, truly, really not working.
I couldn't get the menu to scroll.
It was just stuck at Pause mode.
I couldn't even turn it off.

I was near tears.
{Gail kept teasing me and looking into my eyes and saying -- "Mommy, iiyak ka na ba?" loka loka talaga ang anak ko}

I was supposed to convert some videos for Gail's PSP, but I did not have the heart to do anything else. I was in zombie land. Couldn't believe what happened. The first and only technology that I love, and it died on me.

I kept thinking that maybe repeating one song over and over again was the culprit. But then again, David Cook's You will always be my baby isn't so bad {absolutely great, in fact!}

So, with nothing much to do, I willed myself to sleep.
Sleeping will little iPod was blinking away {for some reason, the backlight did not go off}

By dawn, I was awakened alert by soft continuous clicking.
Owmygash! Hubby was checking out my songs!

iPod is alive!! Halleluyah! Merong himala!

I still do not know what caused its near death, but you can bet that I love this little white thingy more than ever.

Now, I can listen over and over again to David Cook. :)

Nihon-go

Konnichiwa.

Watashi no namae wa Kathie-des.

Watashi no tanjobi wa sen kyu hyaku nana ju yon nen, ichigatsu kokonoka-des.

Washi no shigoto wa zashhi kisha-des.

Domo arigato gozaimasu.


Japanese lessons started to day, in case you haven't noticed. {wink wink}

I had so much fun constructing those "watashi-anata-wishy-washy" sentences.

I can't wait when we will be taught how to pour tea, bun our hair and put white putty on our faces. {rolling on the floor, laughing}

Lola

Last night, hubby's lola went towards the light.She was 80+. Lived a full life. Was the grandmother to everybody. Hubby told me this story that lola was the one the neighbors will call when there was a fight, because,well, people listened to her. And if somebody needed help, lola will come. No matter if helping out means that she will have to do without. She is that - a person with the purest and goodest of hearts. {Which is why I do not wonder why hubby is the way he is - may pinagmanahan!}

Lola is absolutely well-loved. When the famiy wanted to have the wake someplace else, the neighbors wouldn't hear of it. They want lola to stay where she is - so they could - in the last days of her physical presence - be with her. Nothing could be more touching than knowing that people around sincerely loves.

I always wonder what my own wake will be. Will people come? I have very few friends, most of whom are really hubby's friends, who just had no choice but to become mine as well. I even seriously doubt if my relatives will do a showing - well, maybe they would stay for an hour or two, but probably not really magdamagan. Which is one of the reasons why I always remind hubby to not "show me off". Just cremate me. Have it done and over with as fast as possible. Not the nicest of thoughts, I know, but this is something I have a resigned acceptance of.

Anyways, I asked Gail if she remembers her lola-lola. She said yes and that she is sad that lola lola is gone. She said "sana naging 120 years old na lang sya". In her mind, nothing could be better than living forever and being here forever. Probably lola lola wouldn't have enjoyed living up to a century - not if she was burdened with a body that could not cope. I think she probably is around here somewhere looking at the people she left behind and smiling as she sees how much of an impact she made in other people's lives. She truly lived one good life.

Random thoughts of the day

1. Syet! Ang init!

2. Renew passport!

3. Mabebenta ko kaya itong mga Neiman Marcus and Horchow catalogs ko dito?

4. Ang kuripot naman ng Polo Ralph Lauren. Matutuyo ata matris ko.

5. Namimiss ko na si ananak.

6. Makakauwi kaya ako ng maaga today?

7. Tinanggal sa trabaho si ---? ... Sino na nga sya ulit?

8. Ang hirap mag post ng comment sa blog. Hmp!

9. Masarap kaya yung bagong strawberry ice cream ng selecta?

10. Ay! May Figaro pala sa Greenbelt? Napagod pa akong maglakad hanggang Glorieta?!?!

Betrayed?

Since some days ago, I have been silently seething.

What do you do when you think you know people and then suddenly realize that it's all for show?

Gawd, I feel so naive and pathetic.

It's one giant roller coaster ride - from getting pissed to getting more pissed and well.. to getting pissed some more.

Sometimes I wonder if I am more furious about being betrayed or about me allowing myself to be a sitting duck?

I am sure there's a lesson hidden somewhere in this experience.. but right now, I actually love simmering slowly to boiling point.

BVLGARI

Yup, it's the same watch... and it's on my skinny arm! :)

Happy

Recent events around us got hubby to teasing me (in all smug seriousness, i believe) - "Hindi ka pa ba naniniwala na swerte ka sa akin?"

Of course. I know how lucky I am to have him.

He never complains.
He does not get all sungit around me.
He listens to all my senseless kwento.
He puts up with all of my crap. As in, all of them.
He works hard for the family.

And yesterday, when my day was going real bad ---

He brought Gail along with him to fetch me from work.

That was absolutely the sweetest thing ever.
He knows what makes me happy.
He knows what will make all the bad mood melt away.
He just knows me. Honest to goodness knows me.

I can never be happier. Or luckier.

Crisis

A friend is in the middle of a serious personal crisis, and we come running.

It has been a long time since we really last saw each other, although we kept in touch in the virtual world.

We have gone through different parts of the globe, went in and out of the country, changed jobs, relocated, missed attending each other's life events, and yet when needed we are here for each other.

It's sad that it had to take some serious stuff for us to find time to get together, but it's poignant to realize that these are the same people who will be with me through my own ups and downs in life.

Friendship really knows no boundaries - not time, not space. Its just there.

Can You Keep A Secret?

1. I love O-OPM , as in those "Old-Original Pinoy Music". Hearing those old songs make me smile. {You wouldn't want to venture guessing what's in my iPod!}

2. I do not have a strong passion for anything apart from family ... not politics, not religion, not career.

3. I tried to pull down the zipper on my grade one teacher's skirt while she was leaning over the girl in front of me.

4. I had my first ever real crush in grade 6.

5. I had a boy tell me he likes me when I was in grade 6. Too bad he wasn't the crush.

6. I lost a grade school extemporaneous competition because I decided to ditch my memorized speech and tried to come up with my own on the spot.

7. I have a cute little dimple on my butt. Seriously.

8. I cannot sleep with my head on a pillow. Instead, I use the pillow to cover my eyes.

9. I used to know this "chant" that you recite quietly while you stare in somebody's eyes so you get in that somebody's good side.

10. I was a Menudo fan. {It's an explosion, my love for you!}

The book is hilariously great, by the way. Go read.