The post-birthday post

Turned 27 yesterday and was with family. Played LazerTag at the Alabang Town Center with sibs and cousins and respective significant others where applicable, then bowled at Starmall before eating at Army Navy for snacks. Then met up with the uncles and aunts at home in the evening after their respective work shifts.

BTW--Best up-side of being officially out to immediate and extended family: The question, How old are you? doesn't get automatically followed up with, When are you getting married?

In summary: All's gooooood. Nothing beats family. :)

ALL RIGHT. PHOTOGRAPHS!

midweek round-up, 11.09

Undas 2011. Requisite "Hi mom" photo. Hi mom.

This better be a quick one because I am up to here in plans: In the tradition of Outdoing Ourselves with Every Outing, the ever creative Read-Along team is putting up a two-day marathon of reading events (this, from last year's oh, let's do 25 of them nationwide AT THE SAME TIME.) by the end of the month, so until then I'll be, let's say, a bit all over the place. I can't wait for December. Seriously.

Just a rundown of things -- spent Undas 2011 with the family, watched the pseudo-MGB Halloween special (pseudo because it's not MGB, just something that Kabayan happened to host, hehe, but in all a good effort, that) then reported for work on Nov 1st, because it was a Tuesday.

On Nov. 1, my Research brethren and I did a bit of a Halloween photo shoot: (The rest under cut, for your own good hehe)

the midweek round-up, 9.28

Double celeb for Wy and Auntie

Wy turned fifteen on Monday while Auntie turned twenty on the 27th (haha) so we decided to make Sunday extra-special with a buffet lunch at Matsuri on Morato. Andrea has edited and labeled all the food photos over at her LJ post here -- needless to say, for a Japanese food junkie like me, THIS PLACE WAS HEAVENLY. A bit pricey at P595 per head, but man, you don't even have to stand to get to a buffet table, you just ask the waiter for bottomless refills of everything. That said, I'd totally do it again.

Afterwards, we met up with Andrea's former officemates at Cubao! They were awesome and we ate at Bellini's and I took their group photos, etc :) Awesome mini-reunion, thanks for letting me tag-along love!

Monday, I was at work on my day-off to finish something we're cooking up for the Read-Along -- I'm actually thankful I finished bulk of the work plus approvals on that day because as it turns out Tuesday was Pedring day.

Woke to scary winds Tuesday morning, and Andrea was just about to go out to work when her boss texted her to stay home. Lucky. I went to work early to escape power outage in the condo, tried to finish up leftover work from Monday, monitored the news, etc. Andrea was at work with me (it's like a mom taking her kid to work / a kid taking her mom to school kind of deal) and I'm thankful to have someone to ride the scary trike with at 9 p.m. that evening.

Today, two back-to-back meetings and I'm kinda spent. Oh, also caught Glee season 3 episode 2 (meh, as usual) and The New Girl pilot episode (meh, it's as bad as Skins US! I'M SORRY ZOOEY!)

Oh, oh and this -- Read-Along with Remington Friday morning! Geek Fight Friday night! Here, have photos:

Whee with Mart Escudero

With 7 Nation Army at Geek Fight!

Anyway, interesting finds on the Internet these past few days:

- Thought Catalog: "Why is it when we lose lovers, we lose places?"
- Tumblr: Gotye's "Hearts a Mess"
- Poetry: Eliza's "Prayer" on Stone Telling 5 
- ... and Mashable says: No, you aren't quitting Facebook (and I kind of agree.)

and now, for something that will make you feel old (really)

Trust your sister to use a seven-year-old photo to illustrate her point. Hey you look adorbs in your tie! Just sayin'.

Most of you would probably remember my younger brother as that small kid who used to visit me during PTC / this little boy who used to suddenly show up in my college boarding house / that kid you probably kissed during my graduation / that boy who used to be MUCH SHORTER THAN I AM / etc.

Well. He's turning fifteen on Monday. Oh wow. Time flies.

Happy birthday Wy! I'm still looking for your pictures!

the weekend round-up

Rare these days that I have ~a social life, so I take every opportunity to blog about it whenever I have one! Haha! :))

ANYWAY!

Friday night

Happy birthday, Ate Chona! Various photos with Maricar, Val and Drea -- same guys I went to Nagsasa with this summer! Every lakad is an adventure, charot! :))

First time to get to visit the famous Midnight Mercato at The Fort on the occasion of Ate Chona's birthday. It was a rainy night but we braved the puddles nevertheless. It was jampacked! I had fantastic steak with rice, and then we had cheese flautas, and then we had chicken skin and then we had smores cake and then we had BEER ICE CREAM. Which tasted weird, but hey, awesome idea is awesome, innit.

Saturday morning:

After the session, we talked about her experience as a young Muslim woman growing up in Australia during 9/11 and what being a "fully Muslim woman" means to her. Surprising and inspiring.

I usually shy away from late Friday night outings whenever I had a Read-Along session set that following morning, but thankfully I was able to wake early enough in time for that Saturday morning's session with Kylie Padilla.

(Oh, look. The paper ran the story today on Page One. Thanks, editors! -- on PDI: Read-along session marks Peace Month)

Session was with Service for Peace, a non-government org advocating peace through community development. The kids we had were from their Muslim community of peace in QC and their Christian community of peace in Mandaluyong. As with every session -- an eye-opener, this one. Thanks for coming over! :)

Saturday night
Just the same, I shy away from late Saturday night outings when I've been awake so early in the morning for the Read-Along (man, I'm getting old), BUT Arigatohato's EP launch at B-Side was too awesome to pass up! Got home at 4 in the morning! (Naks, at B-Side. Kala mo parang bente anyos lang. Haha!)

Went to the thing with Andrea, who knew Arigato, Hato singer Cat (When we were introduced I was a total dork, starstruck etc; I shook her hand and flailed at how awesome her set was. Haha.)

When I got there after work, Andrea was with Marie and Poxy, and then we bumped into Nayna and Mak at Wabisabi, and then into JC and Cass at the gig itself. Awesome night was awesome. A few notes:

• That Techy Romantics set! - *swoon* That girl sure knows how to move. Christ, I can't even.
• That Pedicab set! - *pants* -- Oh wow, that sure felt like a workout.
• That couch was an awesome idea -- if I were a smoker. I wouldn't have moved AT ALL but damn, the smoke got to choking level. Yo kids smoking is bad for you, etc. Charot, you'll quit on your own when you're 25 or something.
• Also -- got filmed by a group doing a documentary on Meiday! While having a round of beer with JC and Cass while Outerhope etc were playing above our heads. Talking (more like, yelling over the roaring music haha!) about web startups and geek fight and stuff.
• Had too many bottles of beer! San Miguel Apple is Cali Shandy with Alcohol, which is nice, if you're into that kind of thing.
• Got home at 4 a.m.! Naks, parang bente anyos lang.

Anyway -- PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!:

(Photos and Sunday, under cut)

the long weekend update

So the girlfriend was out over the long weekend, so I rightfully spent it getting monumentally wasted with a bunch of twenty-year-olds I just met. Sweaty dancing, second-hand smoke, and out-of-this world alcoholic concoctions whose names I can't remember. Miraculously managed to climb several flights of stairs so I could pass out in my own bed. And oh, the Hangover of the Morning After. That said, I'm not touching anything with alcohol for the next ten million years. Or something.

Or... maybe not.

kwentuhan lang

(Cut for old school)

anvaya (oh yeah)

Was at Anvaya with the family Monday! Thank goodness for the fantastic weather. Left Krista's apartment in Quezon City at 6 a.m., had a quick breakfast at Jollibee NLEX, left there around 7, and arrived in Morong, Bataan via SCTEx around 9:30-ish. Not bad.

Anvaya's pool complex. Definitely the strongest point of this place.

happy mothers' day

On the occasion of mothers' day -- here, have a really old photo (c. 1994 or older)

Here be all the women who raised me
Nayong Pilipino, early 90s

You know what they say -- it takes a village to raise a child. This was the village that raised me -- my grandmother (d. April 1994), my mother (d. November 1997) and her two sisters, who are still raising kids to this day.

This day is for you.

the holy week report

Working today on a Black Saturday, but am extremely happy to report that the beaches were fine in Batangas these past few days. Ah, the joys of living in a tropical country.

(Cut for photos)

here's one for the man i love

YOU GUYS: This man is my father.
Here be a very rare photo of us together.

(Happy birthday dad! after cut)

fifty-two

Dear mom--

Firstly - Happy birthday!

dear mom--

Today is my mother's 13th death anniversary. On this day last year, I was at home, reading a book about writing and playing Plants vs Zombies. Hehe.

Today I am 25 turning 26. My mother was 25 turning 26 when she had me. It strikes me as strange -- one day you wake up still a kid, and the next thing you know you're the same age as your mother when she had you. Haha. Time flies, and how fast, huh.

I currently have no plans of having kids -- it's just not in the plan. I think to a degree it is kind of a pity, because it means I'll miss the chance of having a kid like ME now when I'm, oh, 50. HAHA.

(Also not in the plan: Dying of blood disease when I'm 38. Yep.)

Dear mom, in my head I can see you are laughing at how disorganized my office desk is RIGHT NOW, but I also know you know I'll find something in this mess when I need it. So, yeah, you can stop laughing now. Hehe.

say hi to mom

Said hi to mom today. She's all right.

All Saints' weekend at my parents' home. This afternoon, Auntie and I bought flowers for mom in Alabang -- a basket of leafy things for P30 and a bunch of yellow flowers for P100. Auntie's arrangement powers know no boundaries. Jaraaan -- parang P500 bouquet pero hindi singmahal haha.

Not too many people yet in the memorial park today -- could be that they're coming in full force later tonight and leaving tomorrow morning. In any case, we'll drop by again tomorrow before heading back north to avoid tomorrow's deluge.

*

Also: I didn't know I could connect flat screen monitors to Panda until TODAY. This information makes me very happy since I could use a 15-in screen with these eyes. YAY.

EDIT:
(cut for things I did with this flatscreen a.k.a. watching old videos of The Corrs)

remembrances

Generally, it's what we do as a people -- remember. Martial law declaration '72, 38 years hence. People power '86, 24 years hence. People power 2, nine years hence.

And today -- Tropical Storm Ondoy, a year later.

The paper ran a series of Page One stories commemorating the incident starting September 23rd. One story was mine -- it was about school children in Pasig coping with the tragedy one year later through art.

Another runs today in the inside pages -- it's actually a wrap of two Ondoy-focused read-along sessions, but really it's about a young friend of mine's Ondoy experience.

twenty-something

Lately I've been reading a lot of essays, mostly on NYT, about what it's like being in your mid-twenties at this time and age. One asks what's taking us so long to grow up, while another describes the members of Generation Me as "millennials born between 1982 and 2002" who are "entitled whiners".

Born 1984, I'm turning 26 in December and I guess this is just a sort of mid-life rethinking catching up with me. According to the first NYT article, sociologists define "transition to adulthood" as marked by five milestones: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child.

Situation check: I was twenty when I graduated from college, and I've been away from home since 16 (at the start of college); have been financially independent for more or less four or five years; have been in a committed, long-term relationship for three years, though by virtue of nonexisting laws, I might never be able to marry the person I want to be with for the rest of my life. We have no plans of having children.

I wonder if we're in the minority or the norm -- these twenty-somethings living away from home to be near the workplace, working eight to nine hours for five days a week and rarely seeing our parents and families outside of weekends or important family celebrations like birthdays or Christmas.

triggers, hipsters, and my mother would have liked facebook

But first -- the best thing to have come out of Rockwell's Urban Bazaar EVER:

Smile if you're gay! And then carry on.

Favorite things for this Sunday: Whistlestop's buffalo chicken wings, Starbucks' iced signature chocolate, matching shirts, InfectThemAll (whoo ipod touch games, panira ng buhay!)

Least favorite things: Ants. Who like to crawl over clothes. Especially my underwear. (Overshare but - OUCH.)

rolling with the punches

You know what they say -- you gotta roll with the punches. I've been resisting this auto-template-design-thing for ages, but then in the absence of code I can cannibalize for "older entries" -- le sigh. I'm usually not comfortable using anything I don't understand the barebones of (I looked at this design's HTML and it's all like... pfft.) but what the hell. It's supposed to be easier, so.

Slow clap, you win Blogger. First you stop my FTP, and now I'm even abandoning the rugged comfort of classic templates for this alien autothing. *sob*

(I am willing to bet that didn't make sense at all.)

*

Sunday summary:

+ Finally, Dad got around to installing one of those double-lock things I've been planning to install. Christ, how had I ever thought of installing these things alone? My father, armed with electric drills and chisels and stuff, and an experienced carpenter with x number of years under his belt (snicker) took a couple of hours just finishing the thing. In conclusion: Whatever age, dads are always super. Thanks Dad. :*

+ Feature SMGC purchase of the day: Casual rubber shoes and heavy duty PE shoes for Wy, casual shoes for me, WOODEN MUG HANGER-WHATEVER (love!) In conclusion: So happy.

+ So, I've discovered a new song from Lifehouse?
Lifehouse - From where you are by thegshift

jaro, leyte (2010)

Monday, the day after the wedding started really early -- following Krista, Wy and Dad's departure for Manila on a 6 a.m. flight, we also had to move so as to get to Jaro on time. I've always been fond of Jaro, a town that's about half an hour's drive from Tacloban. It's where the old house of my maternal grandparents still stands to this day. My recently wed uncle, an engineer by profession, built it for them before he left for abroad more than ten years ago.

uncle ed's wedding! (the proper post)

First things first: My uncle got married last Sunday! We were all in Tacloban over the weekend - it was the first time all my mother's siblings, their spouses and all their children were all present in an event that's *not* a wake/funeral. Hurray for family togetherness!

Here have a photo of a family camwhoring in an airport:

(Mandatory Cut. Do not proceed if you're allergic to: weddings, gold, my face, THE SIGHT OF MY HUGE ARMS OMFG.)