23 days to Christmas...and I'm not feeling well

So much has been happening the past few weeks, planning for J's bridal shower, visiting relatives from several countries, getting ready for JJD's departure to the US( transfer of work for the 4 months she won't be here), etc etc.

Have been more tired and stressed lately, I think it might be because we sleep late and there's just to much to do. Right now, I'm sick at home. Got sick starting last Wednesday night. Kept throwing up and had a bit of diarrhea yesterday, with a slight fever. Feel a bit better today, but still don't feel like eating. It actually felt like I was having an eating disorder. Imagine me eating just one piece of Skyflakes for dinner last night. Unimaginable, right? I couldn't believe it myself. I just didn't want to eat anything for fear that I'd throw up again.

During the two days I'm here at home, I just realized what qualities a leader should have, and all thanks to one of my officemates that kept on calling me.

1. A leader shouldn't ask "Pano na?", moreso if your supposed to be my boss, a leader should say "What are our options?" or "Let's do this."

2. A leader should treat you staff more compassionately, and never just to show off to others or higher management.

It's probably my headache talking, but I'm really mad at people who blame others when something goes wrong, and even more when people act all goody goody in front of the boss, but turn a good 180 degrees when the boss goes away. Keep it real.

Holiday spirit

It's only a few days after Halloween and All Saints Day, but the malls have already put up Holiday decorations. Christmas songs have already been playing in the malls and also on the radio for many weeks now. The holidays are coming fast...need to get to some Christmas shopping soon. I usually end up shopping too late, and then it usually comes to grabbing just whatever is the most practical. This year, I will prepare early. I have a list and budget ready already. :)

Time to shop, shop, shop....

Ups

Of course, while some events at work have been a downer, there were also moments that have brought a smile on my face. One of which is my recent purchase, an Olympus XZ-1. I asked my aunt to buy it for me in Hong Kong. I love it! I haven't had a chance to take it out yet, but I've been shooting stuff at home, and the outcome is great. I love especially the quality of pics of low-light places, like under the table or my closet. Also love how the colors have this certain pop to it. It doesn't have borders or the inbuilt special graphics feature which we can add to the picture that Sony has though, but the Olympus comes with Art Filters give a nice touch to pictures. Another thing I like about the Olympus XZ-1 is that I have the option for both Auto and Manual settings, which is great for a photography newbie like me.

I tried Bulgogi Brothers at Greenbelt 5 the other day. The ambience was cozy, it didn't look quite like how I would imagine a Korean restaurant to look like though. There was a wine rack in the middle and a cart loaded with different kinds of wine. And the lights look modern. Then, therewas Kpop playing in the background as we ate and also showing on the TV on the wall. We ordered the Seoul Bulgogi and the Gwangyang Bulogi. The food was cooked fresh at our table. I was surprised that the waiter didn't put oil in the pan before he put the meat in for the Gwangyang Bulgogi. When I asked if he had put some before he got the pan out from the kitchen, he said he didn't. I assume its better and healthier for the body since it didn't use oil. <3 The food, from the complimentary side dishes to the (corn) tea to the main dishes were yummy and the overall experience was great. I would like to go back and try their other dishes next time.

LSS

I have been constantly humming 2ne1's song "Lonely" for the past few days. Just can't help it, the melody seems to be stuck in my head.

Kicking off October

Can't believe Atsi B has been married a week already. Everything is still a blur to me. It just happened way too fast. We were fitting gowns just barely 2 weeks ago, and now the event has been over for a week. Congrats again to Atsi B and Ahia W. Best wishes, we hope to have mini versions of you guys by next year. hehehe

With me being second in line of the Tiu cousins to get married next, I am starting to feel the pressure, with constant nagging from my mom and grandmother. I still prefer letting nature takes its course. If its going to happen, it will happen.

With the month end reports at work done at work, I can relax a bit. Although, next week is a bit intimidating as a new work related challenge awaits.

Planning on getting my hair done tomorrow. Thinking of having my hair dyed, maybe hazelnut?

lifestyle changes

Been on a "strict" diet the past few weeks after our initial fitting for Atsi B's wedding next week. It was partly forced though hahaha because I couldn't eat much really when I was down with the flu last week.

After I got better, I still stayed off oily and greasy foods, soft drinks, junk food, and the like. I was also drinking more water, which usually felt like a chore since there's always so much to do at the office that I would rather work so I would finish earlier rather than get up and get a drink of water...a really bad habit now that I think about it.

I feel I lost some weight the past two weeks, hope its not psychological or a figment of my daydreams. :P Due to the mini lifestyle changes that I had to make, I realized that weight(and perhaps overall health) is really the result of how we treat ourselves. And I, don't really pass in that area.

Ack!

Need to lose weight....fast! Went for our first gown fitting today. The dress looked ok, but it was a bit too fit that my upper body felt stiff. I don't know if it was because the gown was too tight or the bone on the gown that made it uncomfortable.

Either way, I asked that the gown be adjusted by one inch.

Still, I will need to diet for the next 20 days to make sure the gown fits ok.

No more pasta, pizza, milk tea for a while.

BB Creams...what's all the hype about?

BB Creams have been getting very popular across Asia. Each brand has different versions of it, with different benefits. BB Creams claim to have the function of foundation, concealer, sunscreen, moisturizer all in one, this I believe is the main selling point since it can cut their morning prep time in maybe half?

I've been trying the Skin79 Hot Pink BB Cream I bought on Ebay for a few weeks now. The effects have been pretty good. Have been getting nice feedback from my officemates. My skin has been clearer, smoother and less prone to oil. I use the BB Cream as an alternative to the Shiseido Day Moisturizer I've been using for quite some time now. I find that the my skin gets oily after lunch with Shiseido, Skin79 BB Cream lasts a few hours longer, which is pretty good since most of the time am too busy to blot the oil off.

I had doubts about the color of the cream when I first opened it, since it was a kind of greyish hue. But it blended quite well with my skin and the finish is quite nice. I found that the Skin79 Hot Pink BB Cream also reduces the appearances of enlarged pores, however, for acne scars, I still have to dab on a bit of concealer.

Rainy long weekend...booo

Work has been extremely stressful lately. My boss has been quite mental, openly offending people (take note: not just us, but also clients), doing nothing but making everybody's work harder. I now I shouldn't be offended by what he's been doing, but I just can't help it. I've been thinking and thinking if whether what he's said about me is true. He told me that am not responsible and that I don't help out my colleagues. I beg to differ. I have never said no to anyone that's asked for help from me. I make sure that my daily work are all finished before I go home. I make sure that no rules are broken before I do anything. How does that make me irresponsible? I do hope that he realizes that what's he said is just plain laughable. Great idea, will just laugh about it instead of getting mad.

Aside from work, have been clearing out my closet. There's anay in my closet again. Waaaah... Will having the built in closet and the table removed and just buy a ready made one. Furniture shopping tomorrow. As of now, all my clothes are on the couch.

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Commercial break:

Bought myself a Longchamp Le Pliage in Large. One of the purchases I will never regret... It's super roomy and versatile. Great for work, shopping or travel.

Also bought a lot of books at the recent sale at Powerbook's. Something Blue is still out of stock though. :(

Still haven't bought the camera...hehehe Faced with the many models and features, I just couldn't decide.

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Atsi B will be bringing over her Ke Tseng tomorrow. Time to start making ribbons and wrapping and sticking stickers. :)

turning 26

Turned 26 last Wednesday, had a simple dinner at home with Dad, Mom, C and JJ. It wasn't really a celebration as it was also a sad day for our family. My aunt passed away that morning due to pneumonia which she caught at the hospital during radiation treatments. We were hoping for a miracle for the past few weeks before the pneumonia. Hospitals should really make steps to make sure that patients who are being treated for other things are not exposed to other viruses. Although, true, even with constant washing and cleaning, its hard to guarantee that an are will be 100% clean and bacteria-free.

It was so unexpected, my aunt has never been sick, there were no symptoms. We wouldn't even have found out about the cancer if she hadn't fallen down and had to undergo an operation. Actually, the doctor who did the operation didn't even know. It was only after a few months after the operation and she still couldn't walk and my cousin brought her to the hospital for a CT scan that we found out that she had cancer. That was only less than 3 weeks ago.

The turn of events has been extremely fast. As JJ put it, "Kung time na niya talaga, la tayo magagawa."

Cherish everything we have, while we still have them, so as we don't have regrets when that time comes.

Wow!

I am a bit glad that I didn't pursue a career in advertising. When I was taking up majors in college, I was good at coming up with ideas for ad campaigns, but didn't really have the creativity to execute the idea in an eye-catching format. I could come up with a fresh theme, but I I lacked in the skills to further explore and expand that idea. I would get stuck after I had that one idea and couldn't go further. The problem I had then was I kept on considering how the additions would affect the initial concept.

I was browsing around and saw this list with the most creative resumes ever made. The resumes are extremely amazing! If I had passed mine together with any of those, mine would (obviously) be thrown in the trash can.

In need of retail therapy....

My mom is finally home after a few days in the hospital due to a nasty virus called dengue. Dad and I took turns in staying with her at the hospital. And thanks to the papaya leaf extract, tawatawa juice and bak kut soup that Sa-I, Atsi Jeanne, Jing and Jo brought and also the love and prayers coming from everybody else, mom’s platelet count was able to recover quickly. I was so nervous when mom’s platelet count went down to 17 and then further lowering to 14 even after the platelet transfusion. I felt sad when I was beside mom when her head hurt and she was experiencing body chills, it was unexpected, mom never got sick, she’s usually the one taking care of us, esp me, when we got sick.

I wasn’t able to go to Singapore with my HS friends. A little bummed that I wasn’t able to join them and be part of the fun and memories created, but no worries, there’s always next year. :)

Atsi B’s wedding is less than 3 months away, and I have yet to lose the weight that I promised to lose a few months back. I think I gained weight instead. Waaaah! It's a bit weird actually, I get hungry easily, like when I was at the hospital with my mom, I could eat like every hour, and then weirder still, I ate 2 lunches)2 cups of rice) this one time, which is very unlike me, since I usually eat just a small chunk of rice(maybe equal to 1/3 of a cup of rice) and just enoough ulam to finish the rice. I don't want to go near a weighing scale in the near future. hehehe I will be on a diet to get rid of the excess food I have been consuming lately for a while.

Thinking of buying either a camera or a cellphone. Might go for the camera instead, since mine got stolen at Dragon Gate Restaurant last year and my phone's camera doesn't really take good quality shots for the family photo album, the pictures are great on the phone's screen but when I upload the pics to my computer, there's just too much noise in the images. The camera's am looking at are either the Canon S95 or Panasonic LX5. Price over camera size. Still deciding....

stuff...

Cleaned my closet today, nothing much to clean really, just had to re-pile, re-hang and organize whats been hanging there all along. My fashion sense has changed so little over the past few years. The only major difference between then and now is in the size of the clothes. Style wise, I still go for simplicity and comfort. Just the basics, like jeans, tshirts (with the addition of the staples in business attire). Only recently have I added more elements, mostly lace and ruffles to my wardrobe choices. I still lack the confidence to wear floral prints or other heavy prints though.

Watched Cai Xiao Hu and Zhang Shao Qin's concert at Resorts World last Saturday. It was absolutely great! Reminiscing the old chinese songs my uncles and aunts would sing to at karaoke.

Had a pre-show snack at Parmigiano. Reasonably priced Italian food. Yummy strawberry iced tea!

politics

Have been feeling down the past few days..Emotional ups and downs coming over me sometimes, it could be the stress from the number of transactions or it could be that someone is trying to work their rank in the office and some office politics. I realized that this statement is pretty true, "Some people are real. Some people are fake, but some people are just real good at being fake." I will not stoop to your level. I will use my cool and my wisdom to counter your, can I say schemes? I just want a simple life with no drama. Work is like my second home, I don't want to have to go in somewhere and feel miserable because I don't know who to trust.

Enough about the work week that has just passed. The upcoming weekend is going to be really relaxing. Will be watching Cai Xiao Hu's concert at Resorts World tomorrow night. Won't be able to attend Rain's birthday celebration though. :(

Will try my luck in the kitchen tomorrow....hehehe I bought a pack of tokbogi(is that how its' spelled?) at the Korean grocery last week, will try to cook it tomorrow. I also bought dried seaweed, the type they put in soup in the koreanovelas. Then, I also bought dumplings from one of my clients. Can I put the seaweed and dumplings together into a soup? Wonder what that will taste like.

goals

We're almost halfway through the year, looking back on the resolutions I set during the start of the year. I made 3 promises then, which are:to read more books, to lose weight (and look healthier), to start my applications for masterals. As of now, I've achieved only one, the first. The second, I did ok during the start of the year, and then I gained weight again over the summer. :( waaah Half of the weight gain came from eating all that yummy food in Taiwan. Talk about the salty donuts variant from Mr. Donut, oyster cakes, beef noodles and don't forget milk tea.

We went for our gown measurements this morning for Atsi B's wedding this morning. I need to lose a few inches around my body. Need to start working out and sweating and eating less/healthier. It's just so hot ...hard to get myself up and moving lately.

There's also another thing I need to start working on...my closet. My closet is so full! Its full of clothes I accumulated over the years. I still wear them and most of them still look new, so it's hard to actually dispose of anything. Am figuring out how to clean up and reorganize my closet to make it more efficient and hopefully, still have space just in case I want to add some more stuff. I might need to move some stuff out from the closet, like the bags, gifts I get, toys out to clear out my space. But that would mean, cleaning up not just the closet but the whole room... *gloom*

This clip is inspiring, his space is even smaller than mine, so organizing my room shouldn't be a problem, right? I give myself maybe four weeks. Aja!

(Un)certainties

Am 25, going on 26 this July. A lot of friends have already found their special someone's, some have already tied the knot and started a family. I envy them at times. Fate still hasn't sent the right guy for me towards my way yet. At the moment, am still enjoying singlehood and the freedom of having little worries and responsibilities, that would come in definitely when "me" becomes "we".

Its probably quarter life crisis. I've been reflecting on my life lately and how its going and where its headed. Part of me feels like am at the place I want to be, but part of me still wants to go out and explore what I can do. I feel like that I can still be molded to do something greater, something that will bring out the best in me. There's just so much energy in me that wants to burst out. As with everything, the future brings certainties and uncertainties. Both scare me a bit, as both have both given factors and the missing "x". Both will need determination and will on my side, am I ready?

Excitement!

A few more weeks before the annual family trip...yey! Have to finish the details about our trip after Shobe finishes her finals. Wanted to go to the Taiwan International Flora Expo, but seeing the daily crowd of visitors on the news, am thinking about going or not. I feel that I should be going there to relax with al the nature and beautiful scenery around, but will I be able to enjoy with the people around? Places I definitely want to go include Shilin Night Market, Taipei 101 and Wu Fen Pu. Also planning to go to Ding Tai Fung, Yong Kang Street, Di Shui Fang(for vegetarian goodies). This is definitely going to be a trip that would make a foodie real happy. haha

Waching "My Princess" at the moment...super cute K-Drama, haven't been able to watch K-Dramas lately, its a fun way to enjoy the weekend.

Am so in love with hair braids right now aftr watching the drama, been trying to do the hair braid ala Kim Tae Hee(Lee Seol) in the drama but haven't been successful yet. Trying to search online on how they do it. haha Hair braids remind me of when I was little and mom used to do my hair. I was so amazed back then, because every day my mom had a new way of doing my hair.

New addiction...Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese from Happy Lemon. I thought it was a weird combination before I tried it, but the mixture was absolutely heavenly.

:( :) :D

:( Was watching NHK Channel earlier regarding the effects of the radiation from the nuke reactor blasts. It's been a week since the earthquake and the tsunami, and Japan has been battered by weird weather changes, difficulties during the rescue operations and the food, medicine supplies for the survivors. Its been a triple whammy for Japan, but I was amazed at the way the Japanese (including its government) are handling with the situation. There's still hope...the Taiwan News just reported that a 27 year old guy was rescued uninjured. Let's pray for all the other victims still unaccounted for.

:) Jem and I tried the newly opened CBD(stands for Cheesesteak Burgers and Drinks) at Ayala Triangle Garden last Wednesday. I tried the CBD Burger, the burger was super juicy and their sauce complemented the taste of the meat well. The overall taste was very smooth, neither oily nor strong, just right.

:D Went to Cebu last weekend for our much anticipated yearly outing. We stayed at Shangrila Mactan Hotel. The only downside was that it was only an overnight trip. But it gave me and my officemates a chance to sit back, relax, laugh, and just chill....looking forward to next years' outing. Cebu ulit sana! hahahaha SM lang napuntahan namin, and di kami nakakain CNT lechon. hehehe :D

a nice start to the weekend

We ordered Serenitea at the office the other day. We each had to order 2 cups to meet the Php1800 minimum delivery mark. I ordered the Green Apple Yakult and an Okinawa Milk Tea with 75% Sugar and Egg Pudding.

I tried the Green Apple Yakult first. It tasted basically like Apple Juice with sago inside.

I had the Okinawa before, however this time instead of black bricks, I had egg pudding. Great combination! Also, at 75% sweetness, it was just right. I had the 100% before which was a bit too sweet.

Great, sweet start to the weekend.

Delicious weekend

Got sick last Friday...partly due to the extremely cold aircon in the office and partly due to the overindulgence over the past few weeks. Have to stay away from oily foods for a while. Hope I lose weight while I get better. hehe

Met up with Lin, Ka and Cha for dinner at Sala Bistro, Greenbelt 3 last Saturday. Food was delicious! I had salmon fishcakes. I love the mashed pea sauce that the fish is served with. It tasted sweet and creamy taste, it didn't seem like it was made of peas( a vegetable I don't really like btw.) Over dinner, we talked about travel plans or the year. So excited! It's always fun travelling, and more so, when shared with people we love.

Had lunch today at Peking Garden with family from dad's side. We waited for almost 2 hours for a table. All the patience because we missed having Peking Duck. haha While waiting for a table, Hubert, Shobe and I hopped over to Timezone and shooted hoops, threw a lot of balls towards a screen(forgot the name of the game), played Mario Kart, Deal or No Deal, Trivia, etc. We were having so much fun, we forgot our stomachs. Good thing Di-Pe came to call us that our table was ready.

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Tidbits:

1. welcome a new member to the family! Atsi Anaber gave birth last Jan 27. I now have 2 pamangkins on Dad's side of the family. Too bad they're both too far. I can't wait to see them in person. Hopefully soon. :D

2. Am starting to develop varicose veins...waaah! Am going to start wearing hosiery...or maybe I should walk slower? Does that even have a connection to varicose veins? Research time...

teeny bit overworked

There seems to be an endless addition to things to do at the office lately. Work hours for the past few weeks have been way too long...sometimes even up to 12 hours. Trying to stay on top of things and still have a smile on my face. Although, some circumstances just test my patience. I am a bit glad that at least now I don't have that much of a responsibility with other places, combined with the killer workload, I'd probably faint. Not that am complaining about the stress. Just feel that my immune system isn't real good lately, I get the sniffles a lot these days. Or maybe its because I don't take in a lot of liquid and the aircon at the office is just too cool.

Am glad that there are a couple of things to look forward to for the next couple of months.

1) Company outing this coming March to Shangrila Mactan. Yey!!! Will grasp the chance for some much much needed relaxation. Although need to lose a bit of the Xmas gift I got myself due to the holiday indulgence. hehehe

2) Taiwan in April with my family.

3) Vietnam and Cambodia with my friends. Sana I can join. Wasn't able to join last time and it'll be a great bonding experience. :)

On a side note, my old SEK610i is kinda messing up. It won't make a call sometimes, I have to turn the phone on and of before it will work. And then the power issue where it shuts off by itself sometimes even when it's still fully charged. :( Time to get a new phone? The phone is still great though, albeit the hang-ups sometimes.