mY TMS aDvEnTuRe! (11.11.07)

drum roll please!

'Welcome to the 40th Tokyo Motor Show'

that says it all. *-*

check out the new mini cooper. think 'italian job'. *kilig* and dont forget to scrutinize the concept cars. as the TMS tagline goes:

the future is here.

My pLaCe ^-^

to entice people to get here already, haha :P kidding ^-^ im posting pictures of my mansion here.

it's a one bedroom unit with a dining kitchen area. it has a built in shoe rack, standard sink, top shelves, bathtub and an oshi-ire (japanese closet for futons). it's definitely smaller than my room at home, but barely (if you exclude 3/4 of my walk-in closet, its just about the same size). it's 2/5 of the burgundy dorm. it's 4/5 of an ateneo CTC classroom. see, there's plenty of space for a house guest :P

anyway, ive got a microwave oven (denchi renji) and a small refrigerator. i have a pan, but i dont have a stove though (wish i did, but no space either >.<). my room has 2 tables, 1 book shelf, 1 bed and 1 cabinet. i got two carpets because the floor really is just too cold. ive got pink curtains and pink bed sheets. ive got 3 pillows on my bed (which is napaka-kulang para sa akin huhuhu), my teddy bear, my snoopy book and my hiragana fairy tales book. my bedside has my treasure chest *love*, my alarm clock (naka-auto snooze setting na yung kamay ko sa umaga huhu), tissue paper and pocket organizer filled with a ballpen, my hairclip, cellphone and usb cables. finally, i have my piano. ^-^ it does seem like an impusle buy, but if you really think about it... it's something ive longed for for 5 years. ^-^

mY jApAn AdVeNtUrE wItH mY fAmILy (07.09.29~10.04)

September 29
first thing i looked for.. does it smell like japan? it does. it is japan. After getting off the bus, we got a taxi and went straight to my mansion. we had dinner at the most expensive Sushi place i've ever eaten.. PhP11,200.00 just to feed 6 people. we all went to the hotel at Shinagawa (40minutes away from my place). and later, my mom, my sister and i went to the mansion to sleep there.

September 30
we woke up and find out we had no heater. so, the three of us went to the hotel to shower. haha :P we had lunch at one of the top floors of the hotel.. and then karaoke! my dad got super drunk that he had to go sleep at 5 in the afternoon. so, my mom, my sister and i went to akihabara to get home supplies but eventually ended up back in shinjuku. my mom left us there.. so it was just me and my sister :P we went to Don Quijote that night with Mr. Ando.

October 01
when we all met up at the hotel, my dad had business at Yokohama and the three of us left for shopping. we went to discount stores, then, dinner was at the hotel again, with my aunt Kimie. since my sister had stuff to attend to, i went home alone. first time i spend alone at the mansion.

October 02
i went to school with Papa to meet up with the sensei who's been helping me. my mom waited for a Tokyo Gas representative to fix the heater. we went to Don Quijote again. When my mom and sister left, I bought my ref and oven range.

October 03
placement day has arrived. they sent me to room 301 and i waited for 1.5 hours. no one came. what happened is they assigned me to the wrong room. haha anyway, the actual exam started after lunch and i was assigned to the wrong room. in the end, i was redirected to the interview section. luckily enough.. he told me i didn't have to take the test! *yey* that night, we all went for yakiniku. that night, i got 7 hugs from papa.

October 04
my family was set to leave for the Philippines today. my classes were in the afternoon so i was able to get to the hotel with 3 hours to spend with my family. we had Nagasaki food - Champon and Sara Udon. :P later that day.. i had my first Japanese-style mcdo haha. oh, at school, i was reassigned to the wrong class again. to the wrong room. again. when the reassigned me, *surprise* the guy who interviewed me was my adviser. small world. :P

mY bIrThDaY tReAt (09.28.07)

after a day of failed attempts.. we still didn't get to leave. so.. on the 28th of september..

i started my day by rebooking our flight. i got home and found marj with backup copies of my surprise videos *thank youuu! i still haven't watched them huhu no pc >.<* later, after a no-go sign from immigration, my dad and i ended up in a ramen house. haha

on the way home.. i texted people for my first real birthday treat in my life. hihi and i found out from queenie that elliot yamin was coming to Alabang Town Center that night. and so.. i crashed at marj's and coerced her to coming with me and set off for ATC. it was the best mini-concert ever. we met with queenie, quina and meggy. myrella came afterwards. we decided to go to California Pizza Kitchen for my birthday treat. and behold.. jomel stops by! and so.. kain kain kain kami. 2 pizzas.. 2 salads.. 1 pasta.. and 2 desserts later.. we're full to bursting. haha

we all went our separate ways. and come midnight, i didnt have a cake left in the fridge so i just took two slices of watermelons and plopped by birthday candles from my 12th birthday celebration. i kept it all these years, and i guess there are some childhood thoughts that really do come true. :)

i want to thank everyone who came. elliot, thank you for singing to me. jomel, thank you for flashing me those brilliant dimples. marj, thank you for staying sane for me for the past 3 months. queenie, thank you for keeping my faith alive. xanne and nhai, thank you for giving me the chance to experience the positive in my life before i left and sharing that experience with both of you- dancing. my, thank you for being very supportive and being so preppy that having you around is always a joy. and, thank you quina and meggy for just being there on my special day. :)

mY bIrThDaY dEsPeDiDa tAkE 5 (09.26.07)

my fifth despedida started with a mistaken one. haha :P

monday.
on the ride home the office called. ate shie told me to go straight to the steak house near our house. i had the driver so we went to the office first to pickup the accounting staff and proceeded to the restaurant. when we got there, we weren't sure why. we really did just go there to eat. here, i was thinking, pretty simple despedida huh.

wednesday.
i told my dad that id be going to the office around lunch time. he said that i better eat first before i go to the office for lunch. and on the way to the office, i even joked with our driver that "sayang kuya, mukhang walang pakain si papa sa office no?". he said, "meron yan, may pancit na nga't kung anu-anong hinanda sa office." so, when i entered, i expected food on the table but there wasn't any. bummer.

the surprise kicked in when my dad was apparently not in his office, skipping lunch as always. he was in the company restaurant. and i was really touched that we had max's for lunch :) and so, i was really happy about the birthday/despedida because i got to eat kare-kare and i had two cakes haha. *labo*

it kept me thinking how lucky i am to have so many people care about me, leaving. and i was really really touched that God blessed me with remarkable people in my life - people who've known me while i was growing up and people whoi hope will be there when i get back. *sighs*

mY bIrThDaY dEsPeDiDa tAkE 4 (09.25.07)

this is the birthday despedida i never expected to get.

it started out with me, paying for a P500.00 loan i had with ate juday. i went to mama's office to pay off the loan. both my mom and ate juday were at our house so i was interviewed by their officemates about going away. so we ended up joking about me - giving them a blow out celebration as a parting experience with them. ever the vigilant and penniless, i said i had no real budget to speak of for blowouts since i spent my money on the last three birthday despedida's i had. they jokingly told me that despedida's should be given by the friends and not by the person who's going away. they asked me what food i'll miss when i leave, the kind where the only available place i can find it is in the Philippines. i told them, i loved the ice cream from Starmall - the TsokoPinipig flavor ice cream being sold there and i left their office with a skeptic feeling that they wouldn't actually go through with it.

behold, 4pm came and i have evidence that i can be very stupid sometimes.

waiting for me was a bilao of the third most delicious pancit i've had (the most delicious pancit is sold in North Park. ang sarap talaga nun T-T and the second most delicious pancit is the one made at our house.), a coffee-crunch roll cake from Goldilocks (awww! pangatlong birthday cake ko na to!), and my most favorite ice cream in the world - Tsoko Pinipig ice cream. no diet to the people here.

mY bIrThDaY dEsPeDiDa tAkE 3 (09.20.07)

the first person who gave me a networked social life is miss treena paula bauca . i enjoyed spending my time outside during high school because of her. i also met a lot of people from IRC and terence raymundo (a.k.a. troy) is one of those people. and because of troy, i also got to know mao. anyway, treena and i would always hang out at her home and we'd play billiards or i'd watch her play ragnarok. she was also the first person who took me skating :) a lot of things happened since high school. the last time i saw treena was 3 years ago. the last time i saw troy and mao was 2 years ago. and as i look back, they were really important people in the formation of who i am today. so as i leave, i took part in troy's effort to reconnect us all again. :)

here we are, thursday night at the SM Mall of Asia Ice Skating Rink. we were supposed to meet up at 6PM. treena arrived *drum roll please!* at 7.30PM haha (pero seryosong ok lang sa amin talaga yun ^-^ we like waiting for you.) she was the only person (kuno troy, kuno) who could skate. turns out nanay mao learned really *as in really* fast. troy could *apparently* skate backwards. and treena could skated well *enough to be able to drag me across the skating rink* haha :)

treena was also injured because of the skates, plus, we had to leave the rink by 8.30PM since there was a competition rehearsal afterwards. so, we decided early on to have dinner. we ended up eating at Toscano's because treena wanted to eat chicken (andami naming nadaanang resto kasi chicken gusto ni treena, tas wala rin naman ding nag-order ng chicken sa amin sa toscano! :P) when 9:55 came, troy finally took us home in his Innova. i keep seeing that car, and i finally got to ride in one! *clap* *clap*

thank you sa inyong tatlo. you took my blues away, kahit sandali lang :) >:D<

mY bIrThDaY dEsPeDiDa tAkE 2 (09.15-16.07)

the burgundy girls are considerably the people who know me best right now. they've seen my worse and my best days for the last 4.5 years of my life. and im so very thankful that they took the time to celebrate my birthday and my despedida at our house last saturday. so drama ha. pero sa totoo lang, tatlo lang kami! :P

it started off with supposedly meeting first at Greenbelt for Marjorie's derma. everyone was supposed to rendezvous there except queenie. sadly, marjorie was the only one arriving from the north. bes and my had an EcoSoc party to attend. Abby was being nerdy and was being traumatized by her thesis. Joanini was stuck in law school and said she'd try to still go on Sunday. Eswhy was still the restaurant all-around-girl a.k.a. slave that day. so, it was just me.. marjorie.. and queenie. :)

all is not lost. we still had a lot of fun. we ate the take-out i brought home from our restaurant (the fish is for you marj! :P yung tempura kay queenie :)). and marjorie was taking so many pictures of racquel and i that we were (kinda) immune to it. :P great pictures as always marjorie! the food setting is amazing (napa-wow pa ate mo! :P). aside from the japanese take-out.. *tada* the second most delicious cheesecake in the world! ton's homemade cheesecake!

we talked ourself to sleepiness until the wee hours of 4am.

we woke up at 10. i called joanna to see if she's still coming. tulog pa. tawa na lang kaming tatlo :) we had breakfast, and devoured lansones, watermelon and queenie's peaches *we love peaches!* in the end, i was really happy that joanna and myrella still came. sobrang sarap nilang lahat kausap. :) i sat there, silently taking 200+ pictures of them. it was such a joy to be a part of their company. walang kapalit na happiness ang may mga kaibigang tulad nila. :)

p.s. thank you marjorie for the wonderful picture frame :) and the wonderful green pendant/charm :)

mY bIrThDaY dEsPeDiDa tAkE 1 (09.08-09.07)

this saturday, mcube planned a nursing-board-passers party (congrats iwi and nhai! *hugs* *hugs*) and im-not-sure-if-this-includes-my-despedida despedida party.

Theme: United Nations.
Meeting Time was 4.30PM *yeah right haha*
Venue: This should have been at queenie's house in alabang, but tita matet had guests over so it was jampacked there (this turned out na gusto lang pala talaga nila sa bahay ko mag-celebrate :P).

so nakaligo na ko't galing pang QC from evert's (3-round lunch that lasted two hours.. thank you, girlfriend! awww! no pictures pala tayo huhu T-T) at wala pa sila. haha they arrived just before 6PM. haha and they were all wearing green for me. as for me, the UN theme was a hoax (but pinanindigan ko na yung Vietnam look ko. haha). They sang me a happy birthday and I had a cake and candle. i was really touched *awwwww* (akala ko wala na talaga akong cake! thank you! *tear* :P)

we went upstairs and settled down. since everyone was already hungry.. we ate at our restaurant, which was 5 minutes away. no pictures for that though. nobody remembered to bring a cam. haha

when we got back.. the pictures say it all. dami :P

mY "sEvEn ThInGs YoU mIgHt NoT kNoW aBoUt Me"

*tagged by abbydabbylabby lewis :)


Seven Things You Might Not Know About Me

arranged by randomness haha :P
if you read this and you still think i'm sane, you really are my friend. haha :)

1. i had classical piano training for more than a decade. but, i stopped and almost forgot everything i've learned. my fingers have become numb and slow and i don't read notes the way i used to. i do want to study the flute now. :P

2. i don't really like desserts. heck, im not very fond of sweets. i eat them at will and at bouts of depression or giddyness. but i don't have a place in my heart for pastillas, pulvoron, kakanin, chocolate, ice cream, halo-halo, brownies, marshmallows, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, muffins, sundaes, mamon, ensaymada, leche flan, ice scramble.. etc unless it is shared with other people so that it means something. but i do love panna cota and milk teas :) these may be the only exceptions.

3.i have an imaginary friend named Li. think card captor and you can almost imagine what he dresses like. sometimes i'd even imagine myself as a cast member in Rurou ni Kenshin to fall asleep. when i go visit Li at the abyss, i have a giant orb flare space where i let my soul sleep.

4.i looooove praise music. one time, i went to mass and i cried when the choir sang "Tanging Yaman" during communion. and i think the lady beside me wanted to cry with me too. the melodies of the music that makes my soul so peaceful.

5. i talk to anything. i talk to my bed, my pillow, my door, our car, my charger, my food. the only thing i don't talk to is a picture of myself. or the mirror. and, pc's just dig me. :P i even hug cement posts, trees and cars. they don't hug back, but that's not the point. i just like hugging them. they feel happier afterwards. :)

6. i love anthing related to childhood birthday parties. i dreaded my own birthday parties growing up but i love going to other people's birthdays now!

7. i sleep in a fetal position with 5 pillows (2 medium sized ones, 3 throw pillows) near my head, one big pillow to my left, and another one to my right. and another medium sized one to hug. i always keep thinking some vampire will come in my sleep, bite my neck and i'll die.

cHiLdhoOd & cHiLdLiKe

last sunday, i revisited one of the oldest relationships i have ever had in my life. so old.. that it comes immediately after my parents and relatives in length of time. and as i sat there in their dining room that i've known since forever.. i kept thinking.. iba talaga kapag kababata mo yung tao. you don't see them for almost a year at a time.. but when you do, you feel safe and you feel home because your heart has always been with them.

her Ate - si Ate Pinky, is working for a publication and Tito and Tita showed me her journalistic endeavors. And this, i want to share with you.


"Children are in touch with their souls all the time," Chin Chin supposes. "That's why they cry so easily. Sometimes, they cry when they're happy, they say when they're sad. Their souls can feel everything. We felt that way, too. Remember when you were a child? You couldn't understand everything, although there was a part of you that knew maybe not yet the good and the bad, but what was love and what was not. What was violent and what was peaceful."

by Sara Aunario, interview with Chin Chin Gutierrez
an excerpt from the June 2007 Issue of Sense&Style Magazine

oNe gIrl's WoRk AdVeNtUrE aNd 150k bUdGeT fOr wOrK

and so, besides checking on multiply for the past several days.. i am closing on the day i leave for Japan. here, i look back on what I have done..

1. Filing of over a hundred documents from Deed of Sales to Employment Records to Account Information of Company partners..

2. BFAD Automatic Renewal for one of our products and Renewal for our Food Center's Licence to Operate. No questions asked from BFAD. Great work *pats self* Three weeks of intense torture gone in 30 minutes of BFAD field work.

3. Website Girl. Finally moving on with the website work. I got two people contracted to compete for the job. I hope it gets finished before I leave so I can post the link here.

4. Statement of Accounts for Building tenants. So here we see me, on a table, and counting money. Thousands at that. Who would've have thought that a single phone bill reaches ten thousand pesos?! Poor third floor people.

5. NAWASA Application for the Restaurant. I guess, it's funny how nice government people can be. Maynilad guy (Sir Noel) was really helpful. He did the sketches and measurements and everything while being timid and shy. The city engineer's office was a big surprise for me. How nice of them to remind me where and when to pay and when to claim the application form and the inspector (Sir Ernie) texted me all the time just to remind me. A little creepy though sometimes. And the traffic bureau's not too bad either. Though puro pulis duon, they had the most amazing typewriter I've ever seen. It's an old manual typewriter that's a meter long! And they use it for Payroll. :P

6. Signposts and advertising stickers. The signpost for the restaurant took a while but it's really sturdy. And we got it at a cut throat price (on the side of the contracted company). The advertising stickers.. still pending. But it'll be finished soon. Will upload pictures!

7. Product tradeboxes. Did you know that the box that contains products are called tradeboxes? Wahaha. And so you know. I got my eyes full of correcting our current tradeboxes. So whatever text appears on our tradebox, that'll  be my fault. Darn BFAD rule book on what to put on tradeboxes.

8. Power Tour at an ISO accredited laboratory. I got to see everything in the plant at Lloyds Laboratories in First Industrial City in Bulacan. Wow. It's the first time I saw a giant bag.. And the label read: 250kg. Paracetamol. sheps.. never saw that one coming..

9. Business meetings galore. Sheps, i realized i hated meetings. Too much tensions and too much niceties for me to muster. The lunches are really great, but all that small talk drained me of all life. Hay. And I now see the rest of my life flashing before me...

10. Uniform adventures. It was nice to have uniforms. No worries about what to wear. No worries, period. The hard part was getting uniforms. The company contracted to do the work took three months before the first batch was delivered. No way I'm waiting that long. So I ventured off to 5 malls in search of the right fabric. Anyway, I ended up with the slightly wrong shade of fabric but with 50% savings on what the company originally paid and 82.5% savings on the time it'll take before I get my uniform. Besides, it was a really really great excuse to go see someone i really really loved. :)

11. Opening corporate accounts. Geez, so many scrutinies over private company files. And here I realized how hard it is for SME's (Small and Medium Enterprises for all you non-economic people :P) to get a bank account under a company name. But the manager's really nice. She calls me by my first name already. :)

12. I guess, finally.. i should post some pictures, right. And here is my little tarak-tarak (truck really). My advertising project budget to beat was PhP250,000 for mobile advertising. By budget to beat, I mean we'd have to cash out PhP 250K to buy everything in one piece already from another company. anyway, and it went like this..












even with a PhP150,000 budget and optional installations of a sound system and lights, i would still have around five-digit extra cash with me. that's how cost effective everything was. and it really looks great. i do hope the distributors order their very own tarak-tarak. :)

Some things I did at the office are better left unsaid. Too boring for words. Involves running errands, labelling stuff, designing in Corel and Photoshop, and interpreting things in Japanese. The more important life defining ones, I made clear here. :)

And that's just the beginning. When I get back from Japan, I'm screwed. For life. More work. More work. T-T mag-TNT na lang kaya ako..