Cooling Summer.

The only thing I hate about summertime is the unbearable heat and the intensely humid air that it brings. Tropical dwellers like us are used to this climate, that's why, summertime is synonymous to: beach getaways, ice cream feasts, halo-halo indulges and prolonged wading in pools to combat the gruelling heat. Swimming is definitely refreshing and fun BUT sunburnt skin is not. Consuming much ice cream and halo-halo, on the other hand, rings the "diet alert" bell.

For me, another way of combatting a hot summer day is by relaxing in a cool, well-ventilated room curling up, snoozing, surfing the net or reading a good book. Though an air-conditioned room can give the best comfort, it won't be practical as it uses an average of 800 watts per hour. In this regard, ceiling fans would be the most practical way to moderate heat and create a wind chill effect with an average use of just 70 watts per hour. Not to mention that its functionality also saves space in a room.

If I were to buy and asked to choose from the modern ceiling fans recently introduced in the market, I'd go for this Treventi Fan made by Fanimation:



Isn't the design cool? It got a traditional "abaniko" look yet the design is still unconventional.

Bad News. Good News.

It seems it was just yesterday when I got hired as a project employee for a 6 month-term here in C. It was my best bud, J, who contacted me & offered this position. I was informed then that there’s a big possibility that I’ll be absorbed once the approval from US for an additional headcount will be given. Since the pay is as much as what I got from Globe then and knowing that I’ll be working again with J & B (former colleagues from Contactpoint), I took my chance and accepted the offer.

I was disheartened when I learned that the approval is obscure and might not totally push through. With all the disappointing issues going on and as my contract term was nearing, I right away revised my resume, readied to find another path and prepared to move out.

Sad as it is, my contract is officially expiring tomorrow. I haven’t started packing up my things. I haven’t even turned over my pending transactions to J. The company I applied with hasn’t contacted me yet. Even though, I started doing some dollar opportunities here in my blog, I don’t think it would be enough to cover my personal expenses and moreso, my “luho”. I’m not sure if I can happily embrace back my bum days (though, I’m missing that at times).

Tomorrow is my last day already..that is, as a project employee. BECAUSE…effective April 2, I’m getting absorbed by the company! Yey! (Ain’t this promotion calls for a celebration!) I’ll be filling in the position left by a colleague who’s transferring to another group. I’ll still be with the Purchasing Group but the work is quite different and there are new tasks to be familiarized with. I’m quite nervous but I’m kinda excited as well..who wouldn’t be? Even our savings account will be happier with the whopping increase I’ll be receiving. Yey, I might be able to buy my dream semi-SLR cam (Powerhot S3IS or Fujifilm Finepix 6500) soon, or who knows, it could even be my ultimate wish, a Canon EOS 400D!

Okay..enough with the wishlist for the mean time..I need to concentrate on my new work first.

Summer Vacation Plans.

With the scorching heat of the sun, it feels like the summer heat is slowly inching into action. Makes me want to go and pack some swimwear, sunblock and have a dip in the pool or laze along the beach. (I would love to go back to Boracay or Puerto Galera). It also makes me crave for the cool summer and mountainous breeze of Baguio. If I can no longer bear the heat and we just want to idle, hubby and I can also just do Hotel Reservations, relax and curl up.

As of now, hubby and I don’t have definite plans yet for the coming Holy Week which is also a long vacation for corporate slaves like me. If only I have the moolah, I would love to wander abroad and travel to see nearby Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, or as far as Las Vegas, Toronto, London, South Africa, Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Bahamas . While we are there, we could check in and relax at the elegant hotels such as the MGM Grand Hotel, Swissotel Merchant Court and Hotel de Vendome. Thanks to a website call www.Hotelreservations.com as they’re making it easier for travelers to plan their getaways not only that it’s a click away but more importantly, with all their reasonable and competitive rates. There are so plenty of options and packages to choose from. They offer hotel reservations, car rentals, flight reservations, vacation rentals and vacation packages worldwide. They even offer great discounts that are hard to resist. They also have this so-called Special Internet Rate wherein your booking is secured with a guaranteed special lowest rate.

I know the five-day break won’t be enough, if ever; to do and enjoy all these limitless activities but I know our time could be maximized with all the packages that they offer. Anyway, we still have holidays and long breaks ahead.

Random Thoughts.

* My apologies if up to now I haven’t posted our offsite teambuilding story and the shared the rest of the pictures. It is still being drafted but I can probably finish and post it by Sunday. Besides, I’m still about to copy the shots taken by my colleagues so I can somehow recount most of the happenings.

* I’m on sick leave since yesterday. It was not that serious but I just couldn’t come in to work yesterday with an excruciating headache. As for today, I’m still not feeling well but doing a lot better. Probably, I’m still “enjoying” the lethargic mood of just lounging around, taking a break from work, and of course, sleeping more.

* Perhaps you’ve noticed that I STILL haven’t posted any new digiscrap layouts. Let’s just say, my mojos aren’t still back that’s why I always get blanked whenever I start something new. Besides, I’m not through yet organizing my kits with ACDSEE here in my new toy. By the way, I really love and I’m enjoying this new notebook. Considering that we are fleeting back and forth to my in-laws and parents’ place (QC & Makati) within the week, no need to duplicate our desktop files since everything is contained in here already. The only problem is that PLDT is giving us a hard time with our new myDSL application (in Makati). We had a Plan 1995 before but my Dad downgraded it to Plan 999 and since they can’t simply convert it, we have to undergo disconnection of the old plan and application for a new subscription. It has been two months since we requested and submitted all the requirements and yet, nada! They’ve given us all sorts of excuses: disconnection process is not yet done (it took them more than one month to do this), application form is missing, technical team is still scouting for an available port and all those stuffs. If I have known, we would have just opted SmartBro Wireless or Globelines Broadband. Anyway, I just hope they’ll have this done very soon.

Online Dating.

I can't help but smirk whenever I look back and recall my addiction to chatting way back college days. I used and got hooked with almost all chat platforms that the web had then: YM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and mIRC where I met a lot of online friends. I'd always find myself online after school until the wee hours of the morning and even attended various EBs (eyeballs).

Chatting probably is the easiest way to gain new friends nowadays. For some, they get into online dating and it is where they find their partner in love.

With all the web breakthroughs going on, it is fun to know that there are other tools people can resort to aside from chatting. There are websites like Justsayhi, where you can find friendship and love by joining their message boards. Participate in their online polls and surveys and interact with thousands of singles worldwide. The coolest thing about this is, it's free..no membership and joining fees or whatsoever. Browse their thousands of online profiles and you might meet a new friend, and for the singles out there, who knows, you might find here your perfect partner.

Refreshed.

I'm back from our 2-day Teambuilding and Summer Outing Activities with a tired body and sored muscles but definitely with a refreshed mood. Who wouldn't love to take a break from the daily routines of work, have some bonding time with colleagues, and best of all, travel out-of-town for free.

Here are some snapshots taken at Mount Sea Resorts in Tanza, Cavite.


Overlooking the giant safari-themed pool and the beachfront.


Enjoying the trampoline with colleagues.


Welcoming the first wave of summer heat.


Camwhoring with my best buds.

To be continued....

MIA.

As I prepare my email's Out of Office notification this afternoon, I guess I also have to leave some note in here:

I will be MIA (Missing in Action) on March 22-23 in lieu of our group out-of-town teambuilding/outing summer activity. Please feel free to leave a message, comment or tag while I'm away. I will be back with lots of photos and stories of this getaway.

Disclosure Policy.

This policy is valid from 27 March 2007

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Look...

...what I got for my birthday!

aww..ain't my hubby sweet? He knows I've been wanting and drooling over this for so long. It's indeed a happy, happy birthday for me! Yipee! I can't wait to install all the softwares & abubots I'll be needing for my digiscraps.

Specs:

• Processor: Intel Centrino 1.73ghz
• Chipset: Intel Alviso-G i915GM/910GML
• 768MB DDR2 (Supported dual-channel)
• 60gb hdd
• 15.1" XGA 1024 x 768 TFT with (Antiglare screen - Clearview Technology)
• Optical Media Drive: DVDrom CDWriter - Combo drive
• Bluetooth Built in

Yummy Birthday Week.

I feel like I celebrated my birthday all week long (with an overly stuffed & definitely satisfied stomach).

Sunday (March 11) - My celebration commenced with a merienda treat at my in-laws' house in QC.  We had pansit malabon, a yummy specialty of Pansit ng Taga-Malabon (near Crossings Department Store), and sweetened our tooth with my fave Red Ribbon Cake, Chocolate Mousse.

Monday (March 12) - For lunch, my boss treated the whole group with a sumptuous Gerry's Grill feast. My birthday also coincided with our monthly Department General Assembly that's why after the formal business talks and discussion, I was surprised to see on the projector the powerpoint greeting they made for me as they began singing and brought out the Theobroma Chocolate Cake which I'm pretty sure was bought in our pantry, lolz.

With all honesty, I'm thankful but was not that ecstatic.  There are some challenges with my job that I'm currently faced with and hurdling right now.  Hurt and confused.  Kaya siguro, that's how I felt that time in the office.

At any rate, I tried psyching and consoled myself. After all it was my birthday and had to shrug off all those crabby thoughts. We had Chowking lauriat for merienda..pansit, lumpia, siomai, chicharap, buchi & rice. Well, at one point, it's indeed nice that our general assembly coincided with my birthday so it appeared like our merienda feast was my birthday treat. Lolz.

Our general assembly ended up a little bit late that's why Paul and I had our dinner later than we've planned. Being the celebrant, of course, I got to pick what I wanted for the night. We had Oil & Garlic Special pasta plus 4 large slices of New England's Best Pizza from Aveneto. After which, I splurged on my current fave whenever we set foot at Glorietta...our must-destination..Timezone! I strut my stuff and beat Paul 4 of 6 linked basketball games, got engrossed with Pairs Strategy Game, action-packed Time Crisis and tried out Daytona Racing (I was such a bummer on the race track!).

We went home at about 9:30 pm and pigged out with a yummy Seafood Carbonara cooked by my sister and his boyfriend.

Tuesday (March 13) - My best buds and I stormed Glorietta again for lunch...this time, it was on me. What did we have? Ang walang kamatayang Oil & Garlic Special Pasta and a Platter Meal (spicy chiken wings, fries, onion rings and "crabsticks"- or
whatever they call it) from Aveneto. Isn't it obvious that I'm really into this pasta lately? Lolz.

Thursday (March 15)- We had another big lunch blowout in the office courtesy of a newly-promoted officemate...pansit malabon, barbecue, chicken lollipop, pichi-pichi, lumpia..everything from Ambers. Again, kunwari handa ko. Hehe.

Friday (March 16) - After work, my colleagues culminated my birthday week with a pampering treat. We had foot spa and pedicure at Sense and Spa in Burgundy Plaza, devoured crabs and shrimps at Seaside Market in Macapagal, sipped some Frozen
Margarita, bonded and made tambay until the wee hours of the morning at Pier One in The Fort.

Whew! What a birthday week! Can't wait on my next.. hehe!

And the RAK winners are...

Just dropping by with a quick note...

1.) I would like to thank everyone for the warm birthday wishes. I deeply appreciate those who remembered and greeted me through my blog, friendster, email, SMS, YM messages..and I even got an overseas call! (thanks pa!) I'll be back with my birthday bash kwento this coming weekend.

2.) The RAK lucky number is 17! Congrats to Meng a.k.a. ambush101 for winning a special digiscrapped mouse pad. *Meng, i will get in touch with you (through YM) for the details*

Didn't I say RAK winners? Yep, I'm still giving away the Digital Scrapbooking magazine to one of my Bebot friends who left me love here. I made a random drawing and a big shout out to Wanda a.k.a. forever yang..*Wanda, the mag is yours. I will also get in touch with you one of these days for the delivery details.*

26, Grateful & a RAK.

I'm turning 26 today.

..and it feels so nice to realize that I'm continually blessed with a lot of things. It indeed feels good to be reminded how lucky I've always been knowing that I'm loved by many...that no matter how hard life is, I'm still living a happy life.

On that note & in lieu of my birthday, I'd love to pass on some RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to my blogger and digiscrapping friends. All you have to do is drop me a note with your greetings, wishes and guess which number from 1 - 26 I'm currently thinking of. I've written this number on a piece of paper and will revert to it on Tuesday at 8 pm to see who the lucky winner is. The first to correctly guess will get:

1.) if winner is a digiscrapper:

or, if she's based abroad or got this mag already, a GC from a digiscrapping store of her choice will be given.

2.) if winner is a non-digiscrapper- I will be sending you a personalized mouse pad with pics of your choice specially digiscrapped by yours truly.

So to all of you who in one way or another touched my life, THANK YOU so much! Please don't forget to say a little prayer for me today.

PS: Perhaps you're wondering why will this run until the 13th? It is because I'm having a 3-day birthday celebration which started yesterday at my in-laws' house in QC; today, with a Gerry's Grill (daw) lunch treat by my boss and with a carbonara & pizza party with my siblings in Makati tonight; and tomorrow as I'll treat the Purchasing Group for lunch.

Birthday Pilgrimage.

Paul & I took a leave from work last Friday and went to Pangasinan with my MIL for our yearly pilgrimage to Our Lady of Manaoag. This was originally scheduled last month but since I wasn't able to file a leave earlier, we decided to have it this week instead. Besides, a thanksgiving pilgrimage would definitely be nice in time with my birthday tomorrow.

We hit the road as early as 6 am and thank God, traffic was not that bad along the busy highways of Tarlac City and Urdaneta.  Uhmm..actually, I was sleeping most of the time while Paul chatted with Mommy, Nanay (her lola) & Maricel to keep him awake while driving that's why perhaps, I didn't notice how fast the trip was. We arrived at 10:20 am...way early for the 11 am mass we targeted to attend. While waiting, we went up to the Lady and touched her miraculous image, dropped the letter of intentions we drafted the night before and wandered in the souvenir shop for a while. We then proceeded to the Church where lots of pilgrims and regular parishioners started to flock to hear the mass. Eversince we started this yearly sacrifice several years ago, there never was an instance in which the crowd was scarce.  The church would always be jampacked especially at the end of the mass where a special blessing takes place. It only shows how much believers this miraculous Lady has drawn.  

We had lunch in KFC Urdaneta and headed back to Manila by 1:30 PM.  We were home by 6 pm with a tired butt (from sitting for a long time) and an exhausted legs for Paul caused by the long drive.  Whew!

She has answered a lot of our personal intentions before that's why we wouldn't mind sacrificing and enduring the long drive just to see Her and we intend to keep this for as long as we can.  

PS: Stay tuned for a RAK tomorrow. :)

Weekend Roundup.

Paul and I went to SM Megamall yesterday for this:



Though DD Copyworks' rental sales are doing good this month (perhaps due to the end-of-school-year-projects of the students), we still have to be updated of the latest releases of online games especially that summer is near. Luckily, we were able to get posters and CD installers of the latest online games from Mobius and E-games.

We also roamed around Cyberzone and canvassed for a laptop with nice specs and a good CC installment term. However, Paul didn't like the specs and noticed that they were pricey compared to the ones he saw at tipidpc. We also went to Canon and gazed & drooled over the DSLRs that were on display. :Sigh: i'll get hold and own one of those, in time. Hehe!

Then we ate baked mac and pepperoni pizza at Greenwich to satisfy our growling tummies. We were also tired of walking so we rested for a while. After some energy was restored, we bought some magazines: Game, Yummy and I-mag photography (where I learned some more cool photoshop tricks and tips)..then, guess where I dragged Paul to...hehe! where else..Timezone! wooohoo! I got to shoot some hoops again and played for about 4 straight games..losing 2 of 3 linked games to Paul. Ayun..my muscles sored again. Haha! With not much energy left, we went home but since we didn't bring the car thinking of the possible weekend traffic along EDSA, we faced and hurdled one more physical challenge...of how we'll squeeze in and "rub armpits" with other passengers inside a jampacked MRT coach.

************
Didn't accomplish any LO again this weekend. This time, the puter bogged down, probably, it was corrupted by a virus forcing Paul to reformat it. It's working fine now but most of the softwares aren't installed yet including Photoshop and Acdsee Photo Manager. Oh my..which reminds me, I have to reorganize again about 11GB of digiscrapping kits. I'll be needing another whole weekend to finish that. Wish me luck with this ordeal.

False Hopes.

I know I was advised right from the start naman, there was no assurance of anything. But along the way and as time went by, you guaranteed that I'd be here to stay. And now with the way things are going, I just can't understand...why did you have to give me false hopes? Sana you didn't lead me to any expectations na lang.

Now I'm totally confused and demotivated..should I start packing up my things already and start on to a new path somewhere else?

:sigh:

My First Ideabook.

Okay…there..i can’t help it. I know I just mentioned that I’m holding off my credit card for a while, but hey..there’s always an exception, right? Besides, I believe, purchasing it NOW will be more practical.

I got to chat with Rogeena last night. She’s an officemate of Paul who was sent by their company to US for an onshore duty last year. She’ll be coming home na on the 17th and knowing that, I hurriedly processed my order at Ideabooks4u.com so it will be delivered in time prior her departure. I will just have it delivered to her apartment in Chicago via the US Postal Service Priority Mail so I’ll just be charged with only $2+, unlike if I I’ll have it shipped internationally; fee will be freaking $9.50! So there, will just wait ‘til the 17th for my first ever Digiscrapping Idea Book.

To my fellow digiscrapaholic friends out there, be sure to hang around in the next few days. I’ve been RAKed by Caryl on her birthday so I will also do mine soon and my RAK has got to do with the magazine I ordered. Stay tuned.

Latest LOs.

I don’t know what’s up with my creative juices…they are definitely wandering somewhere else. Arggh! I’ve been fiddling around my kits using the Photo Manager since yesterday but I can’t seem to start on anything. My mojos might got exhausted last weekend..yes, I scrapped madly last time and since I wasn’t able to post them here, let me flood my space with my latest layouts.

My cute little niece lulled to sleep.

Journalling: Dream Big Little Tiffany
Credits:Spin-a-lift of Robin Carlton's I Love You *pjs4love*, Be Inspired Collab Kit Elements by SSD Designers & Gina Miller, Neopolitan Summer Paper by Amber Clegg, Accents paper and elements by Anne Langpap, Paper Tear by Stephanie Krush, Stitch by Debbie Fisher

Posted here.

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My friend, Rogeena, on her visit at MJ's homecourt, the United Center in Chicago.

Credits: Template by Teresa Ferguson for SSD's Cookie Decorating Challenge #1 02.01, Idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's February Amazing Month of Memories Class (Feb 17's Michael Jordan's birthday), Be Inspired Collab Kit by Gina Miller and SSD Designers, Digital Dates by Jamie Rouselle, Star element by Misty Cato
Fonts: Eras Demi, Rotondo, DSP Jpysgirl, Mulder Handwriting

Posted here.


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Some pictures my sister took during their Sagada Trip some time in 2004. One of the captivating spots they visited was the Banawe Rice Terraces, 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains by ancestors of indigenous people in the northern part of our country.

Credits: Template by Teresa Ferguson for SSD's Cookie Decorating Challenge 02.14.07 using Karen Wong's Elephant Layout, Papers by Vera Lim, Ashley Olson & Anne Langpap, Fill-a-bets Alphas by Katie the Scrapbooklady at ACOT

Fonts: KGD Kirstycript

Posted here.


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My take on SSD's Recipe Challenge where one paper, one photo, one heart & the word "sweet" should be used somewhere in the LO.

Journalling: Ingredients for Polvoron4 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup powdered milk, 1 1/2 cups sugar,1 cup butter Procedure: Toast flour in the broiler, or in a frying pan, until light brown. In a bowl, sift the toasted flour, powdered milk and sugar. Add the butter and mix thoroughly. Put mixture in standard polvoron mould and press out moulded. Wrap individual pieces in rectangles or circles of multi-colored thin papel de japon or plastic wrapper. May be stored in a dry container or served immediately. Candies or m&ms may also be sprinkled on top.

Credits: All A Flutter Paper by Eve Recinella, Posh petals tab element by Eve Recinella, Heart element by Amber Clegg, Bent photo template by Nancy Comelab, Alpha by sharonk, Photo Corner by Corina Nielsen, Idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's February Amazing Months of Memories Class (Snack Food Month)

Posted here.

I Want This.

..so nice and worth drooling for, isn’t it? i love all the plain & patterned papers, butterflies doodles, wordarts, ribbons & all the cutie elements…waahh I’m going nuts.. I HAVE to have this.

But I need/MUST/have to hold off also my credit card for kits purchases at the moment. My shopping meter quite exceeded and went beyond my digiscrapping budget last month. Probably, I’ll resume once I’ve settled my dues on the 14th hehe! Hope I can still get this in time, though, as this is offered for a limited time only at the-lilypad store. *keeping my fingers crossed*.

Argggh!

This week probably was the busiest ever I've been in the office. I was even stunned to realize from our weekly metrics that I did about 19 Purchase Orders...whew! my highest record ever since I started here and the week even ended me with seven pending requests. Arrgh! I'm so overwhelmed...i felt like drowning.

Arrgh! I’m deeply exasperated this week; there were instances that I almost got fed up of nagging & “pasaway” na officemates left and right. To aggravate it further, I got totally pissed off that I almost strangled someone because of her annoying behavior. I just can't understand why some people are so self-centered, so haughty, acting like they're so perfect and always have a ready finger to blame and point on to others for their mistakes, so greedy that she always MUST get the best part, bigger portion of everything, etc....grrr! so snotty…brat!

Arrghh..probably it’s the moody me striking again or plainly and simply, PMS-ing.

Whatever it is…I need a break!

Tempting.

After having been to Boracay twice within the last 15 months, Paul and I were thinking this time of flying to Hong Kong at the end of this year and this promo of Cebu Pacific might be an option. But then, mom-in-law’s also inviting us for a Boracay getaway on October. Hmm..Bora again or HK? We have to decide by March 8 or else, we have to wait for the Travel Expo some time this year to avail cheap travel packages.