What Made Me Smile Today

Our wedding day :)

2008-08-30T16:17:00.002+12:00

My first lomo pics

2007-12-18T21:49:00.000+13:00

There's always an element of surprise when using film cams. You just hope you didn't forget to remove the lens cap or you clicked the shutter long/short enough. Combine that too with the element of surprise when using toy cams. You don't know how your photos are gonna turn out.

*surprise* *surprise*

Shooting the Parkour guys in town (Wellington). Parkour is the art of moving through your environment using only your body and the surroundings to propel yourself. I'm amazed watching them go jump up and about, climb walls, whatever's on their way.

More on parkour - check this video posted in YouTube (which was made by Dar's colleague here) to watch the parkour guys in action.

Happy Holidays!!! (again)

2007-12-17T23:35:00.000+13:00

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Happy Holidays!!!

2007-12-17T00:17:00.000+13:00

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Seeing the world through a plastic lens

2007-12-15T21:31:00.000+13:00

Dar's (early) Christmas gift to me:

He let me choose between a Holga and Diana and I chose the latter. So now begins my journey in seeing the world through a plastic lens.

The dolphins greeted me a happy birthday :-)

2007-11-25T20:24:00.000+13:00

We decided to take the ferry and go to Somes Island, where all we saw were birds. On our way back to the Wellington harbor (Queens Wharf), we saw a school of dolphins from afar. The captain stirred the boat a little bit towards the dolphins and the dolphins also came towards us, swimming around the boat for a while, and swimming up and down. It was really exciting and fun!!! :-)

Aja's birthday

2007-11-12T20:49:00.000+13:00

My younger sister turned 22 today .

We had a little birthday barbecue at my parent's house in Wainuiomata.

My sister and her bf

Guy Fawkes day

2007-11-05T22:29:00.000+13:00

Guy Fawkes day - The only holiday where fireworks is allowed here in New Zealand. Not even New Year. Just during the weekend that Guy Fawkes day fall on.

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

2007-10-26T10:05:00.000+13:00

Just got hooked to the Heroes TV series and I love it!!! Was able to copy from my officemate full HD copies of season 1 and first 5 episodes of season 2 because I wasn't able to catch the Heroes hype back then. The pilot episode for season 2 was just shown here last week (NZ is late in showing American TV series).

Isn't it cool to discover that you are "special" in some way and have some supernatural power? I wish I could turn anything to gold like Bob (who turned the silver spoon to gold to convince Mohinder to join their project and that money is not a problem) then I could just relax and hire other people to save the world for me! Hehe! Dar, on the other hand, chooses the power of telepathy like Matt Parkman (yeah, how we all wish men can read our minds!).

Dar and I have only finished up to episode 7 last night - that's 7 hours straight sitting on the couch lol. I'm excited for tonight's Heroes marathon again. As Hiro Nakamura say it, YATTAAAAAAAA!!! Lol.

Rotorua Swoop

2007-10-22T23:32:00.000+13:00

Over the weekend, me, Dar and my sister Jaz went to Rotorua (about 6 hour drive from Wellington). One of the activities we did is the Swoop. We were put in like a sleeping bag harness and raised to a height of 40 meters slowly. Then when we were up there, the guy below counted to up 3 and I pulled the ripcord which then released us from the hold and down we went shouting like crazy!! It was scary but lots of fun!! I really wanted to bungy jump ever since and I prefer doing the ones where you jumped on the bridge (lol), but after doing the Swoop, I'm not sure anymore... coz I find this pretty scary already!! It's heart pumping adrenaline rush experience and really fun especially if you do it with people close to you!! Too bad Dar had to be in the middle (so the weight would be distributed evenly) and he's too tall and he blocked me in almost all the shots. :c

Island Bay

2007-10-14T18:52:00.000+13:00

Dar and I moved to our new flat in Island Bay last month. The area is really nice - close to the sea, quiet and peaceful. We've had enough city life (where we last live in - right in the middle of town) and the previous apartment was becoming too small for both of us (studio type).

Here, Dar and I would sometimes go out and take a stroll along the shore/bay or just sit down along the beach, chill, and watch the sun set.

Rush Hour 3

2007-10-13T23:06:00.000+13:00

I liked Rush Hour 1 and 2. I thought by this time, the Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker tandem would wore off and they wouldn't be as funny anymore, but I was wrong because I found myself laughing all throughout the film. Although the story was predictable, it wouldn't hurt to just sit down and enjoy the film for what it is - 1 and a half hour of entertainment.

Goofing around in the toys section at The Warehouse

2007-10-13T18:27:00.000+13:00

Red Rocks Reserve + Seal Coast adventure

2007-10-06T22:50:00.000+13:00

Dar and I (for a change) got up early in the morning (early for us is at around 11) and went out to go the famous red rocks and seal coast. The tour would normally cost $79 per head but I thought if we could just get hold of a map of where the place is actually at, we could just go there ourselves. I googled and found this map which is good enough because we live really close to Owhiro bay.

When we got there, at the end of Owhiro bay, there were already a few cars parked and at the very end, a sign saying only four-wheel drive can enter. We only have a Honda CRV, which Dar said was only a mini-RV and he didn't want to risk it since we don't really know what the terrain will be. So we just left our car at the bay and decided to walk. We thought that the walk would just be okay and at every turns we made around the mountain we thought we're going to see some seals already. After walking and walking, we decided to stop and eat. Then got up and walked and walked and walked, and finally got to the Red Rocks Reserve.

Still, no seals to see so we walked further more. Walk and walk and walk. Since we were already there, there was no point in turning back. After walking for an hour, we finally got to this point of the course:

And after walking past that mark, we were finally at the seal coast and we weren't disappointed! We didn't see not just 1 seal or 2, but lots of them, camouflaged among the rocks, just lying around.

After taking some pictures and resting for a while, we walked back again for another hour. Next time we'll take the CRV after seeing the terrain and after seeing a couple of cars that are not really 4WD (what damage they did to their car) and maybe just take it even for only half of the course so we won't walk as far. Hehe..

The walk from the start (at the end of Owhiro bay) up to the seal coast is around 3 km (1 hour of average walking). Then going back, so a total of 6 km and 2 hours of walking. If you're really a fit person, then that's nothing I guess. A good exercise for the average person. A really, really long walk for those who don't get any kind of exercise at all. If you're a biker, then you can bring your motocross bike or mountain bike and go back and forth the terrain (like what other people do).

More pics here.

Movie date on cheap Tuesdays

2007-09-11T21:29:00.000+12:00

We watched Ratatouille. It was really nice - story, quotes, 3D, etc etc. Maybe someday I will learn the art of really tasting food and know the ingredients with just a bite. Maybe someday I will learn to cook some fancy dish without following a recipe step by step. As Chef Gusteau's motto "Anyone can cook". Hehehe

Start of the Rugby World Cup 2007 and the All Blacks won their first match

2007-09-09T16:26:00.000+12:00

The Rugby World Cup 2007, held in France, officially started yesterday (or today or the other day - whichever part of the world you are). The All Blacks (New Zealand) vs Italy won the game with a score of 76 - 14.

Anyhoo, my favorite All Blacks are the pretty boys (hehehe..):

Dan Carter

and Luke McAlister

They also have great skills to match their pretty boy looks. :)

Apple products

2007-09-06T10:33:00.000+12:00

iMac, MacBook, Cinema Displays, iPhone and iPods. Their designs are just so sleek and cool that you just want to run into the store and grab the latest Apple gadget.

When Dar and I finally decided to get a 24-inch iMac 2 months ago, there were no announcements from Apple, no news (just vague rumors), nothing about the new iMacs that were going to be released 2 months later on. If we only knew... then we should have waited.

our iMac (left), new iMac (right), at a cheaper price at that!

And then the iPod. Ours (5th gen) is also around 2 months old. Then the new iPod "Classic" is just out now - same design, but bigger space (30GB to 80GB) and "enhanced interface" (i.e. Cover Flow) at the same price again!

And I guess for those who got the iPhone even though it's only for AT&T subscribers (US) just so they can use the other features, the new iPod Touch is just out now. An iPod that looks like an iPhone and has the features of the iPhone without the phone. Me want!!!

It's all pretty and sleek!!!

What's coming next??

Darwin's Work Permit came out

2007-09-03T21:10:00.000+12:00

Yey!!! We're soooo happy!!!!

Hopefully he'll find a job soon... hahahahahha!!!!!

Monthsary today

2007-08-29T23:06:00.000+12:00

75 months now hehe

Did nothing special. Well we did - we had dinner at Fisherman's with my sister and her boyfriend.

Lunar eclipse

2007-08-29T11:44:00.000+12:00

The lunar eclipse as seen from the Carter Observatory in Kelburn, Wellington

This is what we're supposed to see. We went out the balcony around 8:50pm last night to watch the moon slowly fade to black - when the earth's shadow blocks the moon. Then it became too chilly outside so we went it. We went back and forth outside to check the moon but the skies became too cloudy. I was also trying to take a picture of the eclipse - fat chance - hehe. Too bad we missed the part when the moon became a reddish glow.

They said the next total lunar eclipse that is visible from New Zealand is not due until 2014.

Whale Rider

2007-08-27T12:45:00.001+12:00

"One young girl dared to confront the past, change the present and determine the future."

If you want to learn more about NZ culture, particularly Maori culture, I recommend you watch this film. It gives you a glimpse of Maori society here in NZ. The film is low-budget without all the Hollywood fru fru and even though it is a simple story, it is very well told and the actors gave compelling performances especially Keisha Castle-Hughes who played Pai, who Darwin say has a very strong stage presence.

Basically, the film is about a young girl who has to fulfill her destiny and in the process, fight her grandfather and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill it.

My only gripe about this film is that it would have been better if there were English subtitles on the Maori chants/songs so people could have a better understanding on what they mean. But overall, it was a moving and beautiful film. The ending was also... not quite what you expect I guess.

The film was released in 2002 and has been nominated and won lots of awards.

Watch the trailer:

Wellington

2007-08-25T18:33:00.000+12:00

Driving around Wellington...

We were looking for Lyall bay but ended up here in Island bay...

The beach at your front:

...the mountain behind you:

and the ground we stood on:

Driving on...

The Motorway - 105 km/hr

Mt. Victoria lookout!!

Yeah this is what Wellington looks like, somewhat like Baguio!!

Schmap Travel Guides

2007-08-12T14:29:00.000+12:00

Today, I got an email that my photos were included in the third edition of the Schmap Wellington Guide. Kinda cool actually, even though I haven't heard of Schmap.com before. Lol. When I want to go some place, I just google "places to see", "tourist spots", etc. which gives me lots of results and links to travel websites and other people's personal blogs. Hehe.

Hmmm... maybe I'll put up my own travel blog in New Zealand. HMMMMM....

Knocked Up

2007-08-11T23:07:00.000+12:00

Believe the hype. It's one of the funniest films this year!! The characters are so real, you can relate to them. The prosthetics is also good. Gone are the days when actresses who played pregnant women will do so by putting a pillow under their dress. With the resources we have today, it can get real as much as we want it to be. I also loved the credits at the end of the film. Who doesn't love baby pictures? Awww.

One thing I find it hard to understand about men in general (which was also shown in this film) is them wanting to have their "sanity" time. I remember Dar and I had this talk before about his "sanity" thing. Geeez. All of us need time to get away from it all sometimes.

Free movie passes

2007-08-10T21:20:00.000+12:00

I did a favor for my officemate and he asked me how much for my time and I said don't worry about it (coz it's actually Darwin who made it hehe). Well after lunch he gave me 2 movie passes. Yey! :) We're going to watch Knocked Up probably tomorrow.

No need to wait for cheap Tuesdays HEHEHE...

Oriental Bay, Wellington

2007-08-10T20:50:00.000+12:00

Around 15 minute walk from my place, if you just want to stroll and think. Quite peaceful and away from the city noise.

Around town at night

2007-07-28T20:24:00.000+12:00

One night, I decided to bring Darwin's camera and practice my DSLR knowledge (if any, lol). I also played around with the photos in iPhoto. Really no-brainer software and can make some nice/decent effects and a little manipulation with the colors. :)

At Manners mall

At Courtenay Place

Cuba street

A little peek at what Wellington Central, New Zealand looks like.

Trip to Wellington Zoo

2007-07-27T13:46:00.000+12:00

Last July 21, after picking up my Harry Potter book from the bookstore, Darwin and I decided to visit the Wellington Zoo and see some of his family there. Entrance fee is $15 per person. Kinda pricey but I guess worth it if we also pay the same amount to watch a movie. Some of the animals we saw:

Kinda disappointed though because they are renovating some parts of the zoo and I'm not sure what we missed. More info on Wellington Zoo here.

More Wellington Zoo pics on my Multiply and Flickr.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (spoiler alert)

2007-07-26T21:45:00.000+12:00

Reading a couple of chapters before I go to sleep, in between my office breaks, while in the bus commuting, when I'm sitting on my throne, and whenever I have the time to spare, I've finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I love that (spoiler alert) none of the 3 main characters died when I expected the worst because of all the rumors going around, I cried when Dobby and Fred died (heh), and I got excited in Ron and Hermione's relationship (lol). .

What a way to end a great story! Of course, everyone loves (spoiler alert) a happy ending!!!

Gingerbread Haka

2007-07-21T19:42:00.000+12:00

Hahaha!!! I saw this on the news this week or last. Anyhoo, I just find it so cute!!! It's an ad for the NZ Bakery of the Year Award.

As this is the only Haka (All Blacks) I see most of the time during rugby season:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-21T18:26:00.000+12:00

Like every Potter fan around the world, I too grabbed a copy of the 7th and last Harry Potter book today! I'm sooo excited to find out what will happen!!!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)

2007-07-17T23:17:00.000+12:00

I was smiling when I entered the cinema about to watch the 5th installment to the Harry Potter series, but left not smiling anymore. I am disappointed!!! I am a big fan and I have read all the books and seen all the movies and this is the worst of them all! There were so many things wrong and missing!! It's like only half of the book! I know the book is also the longest in the Harry Potter series but surely there is a way that they could have put it in the big screen without cutting chunks of the story/characters!!

Jet Li's Fearless

2007-07-14T15:48:00.000+12:00

Jet Li's final martial arts film. I'm gonna miss his kung fu moves :c

But this film doesn't show him getting old. Physically, he can still kick it and do all that martial arts moves. For me, it's a different Jet Li in this film. Love it!!

Hoodwinked

2007-07-13T21:51:00.000+12:00

On the DVD cover it said: "The funniest animated movie since 'Shrek'!". Hmmmm... I don't know about that. It's cute and funny at the start, but take any story and re-tell it quite a number of times (4) and it gets... boring??!! Story can be predictable and animation could have been better, but the voice talents were good though (gotta love Anne Hathaway).

300 (the movie)

2007-07-06T15:27:00.001+12:00

When the movie was released, I had no idea what the hype was about. I saw bits of the trailer and I thought that the movie was in 3D (or something) because of the color and the cast/men (the body too good to be true heh). I didn't watched the movie even though Darwin insisted before that I should see it. Now that Dar is here with me, he won't let it pass that I didn't watched 300 so he downloaded a copy of the movie and finally, I was able to watch 300.

My verdict: the storytelling, treatment, effects, and the men (abs, abs, abs) were all great!! I love it!!

Shrek the Third

2007-07-03T23:48:00.000+12:00

After a month (or two?) it was released, we finally saw this movie. Wasn't really too excited to see the third installment to Shrek since I find Shrek 2 quite boring. I don't know if it's the movie (boring again?) or just me really tired, but I slept on the first quarter of the movie. Shrek the Third was ok (I still laughed on some parts of the movie), but of course Shrek 1 is still the best.

I also found out (in Wiki) that there's gonna be another Shrek movie. Shrek Ever After and Shrek the Halls (TV Christmas special). Plus the Puss in Boots spin-offs. I'm kinda getting bored with Shrek heh but Puss in Boots sound quite promising.

Transformers

2007-07-01T22:28:00.000+12:00

Dar and I were supposed to go to a car show but when we stepped outside it was raining hard. Since we were all dressed up already, we decided to just go to the mall, which is just a block away from where we live. Then decided to watch Transformers. Animation was great!! But it was too violent for me hehe.

My new iPod

2007-06-26T23:17:00.000+12:00

After 10 years, I finally have one.

(It's the real one this time heh)

Taranaki Trip

2007-06-05T22:35:00.000+12:00

It was a long weekend from 2 - 4 June. We went around Taranaki and stayed in New Plymouth. Just some of my favorite pictures.

Went to the Southward Car Museum again

Along New Plymouth's coastal walkway (too bad it started to rain when we got there and we really weren't able to walk that much there)

And remember the movie The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise? Parts of it were shot in Uruti, Taranaki, New Zealand and we went there to tour the movie set. It was really nice.

(From the movie The Last Samurai)

At Tawhiti Museum

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

2007-05-30T23:37:00.000+12:00

First movie date again after a year or so and here in NZ. Not the best of the 3 Pirates movies but definitely still worth watching if you're a fan. Lots of new characters, tons of betrayals, another great adventure!

He proposed...

2007-05-29T23:26:00.000+12:00

Last Sunday, May 27, me and my 3 sisters went to the airport to pick up Darwin. When we got to the airport, I was weirded out because all of my sisters were too excited for Darwin's arrival. Jac brought her camera. Jaz's bf was also there in the airport with a videocam. They all wanna go up first to meet Darwin and they just wanted me to stay down. But I can't keep still so I went up too. When I saw Darwin, I froze as he walked towards me... suddenly whispered stuff to my ear about us, our relationship... got a tiny box from his jacket, opened it (and inside was a ring), got down on one knee... and popped the question "will you marry me?"

Of course, I said yes.

Today is also our 6th anniversary.

My engagement ring :)

2 more nights...

2007-05-25T21:47:00.000+12:00

...and Dar is finally here!!! Can't wait!

Just to add more stuff to blog about, I saw a link to Smooth-E's myspace. Some of his videos are pretty funny.

Blake Lewis: Idol Aftermath

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I love Blake (*sad* that he didn't win American Idol).

Sanjaya Anthem

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Night out with sisters

2007-05-20T02:17:00.000+12:00

Jaz, Anna, Jenny

My sisters visited me in my flat. We went out to watch Spider-man 3 and I found it corny. Being a girl, I should have probably liked it with all the crying stuff and singing and dancing, but I'm not a fan of Brokeback Mountain and musicals (Jaz calls it 'Spider-man the musical'). My sisters and I were all laughing when Peter Parker came out emo and all.

Who knew that Spider-man was emo?

The movie might be a waste of money but we had a good laugh. Afterwards, we went clubbing for like an hour hahaha

Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T21:28:00.000+12:00

I went home for the weekend (coz it's mother's day). My 2 sisters and I got our mom a big nice bag which cost a lot and that is why we did halfsies for our mother's day present (plus the fact that it was also one of my sisters birthday this month and I don't wanna end up broke). My other sister got our mom The Queen DVD (which she gave last night and we all watched it and it was boring, for me anyways).

We had a nice family dinner here in town at some Chinese restaurant. Food is good but service is bad.

Picture picture! (No digital camera in hand, so camera phone will do)

Just some random things

2007-05-11T23:44:00.000+12:00

1. I've finally finished all urgent things I need to do for marketing (at work). That part is over and at least there's not much pressure anymore at work.

2. I realized that there are some people who did understand why I decided to leave home and rent on my own in a place I am just fairly new to, without any explanation. I guess if you're someone who lived with my family, you will understand why I sacrificed the company of my sisters and free lodging to living alone in a place where I practically have no friends and having more expenses and bills to pay.

3. I got to talk to Dar in Yahoo Messenger, even for just a couple of hours.

4. My youngest sister texted me that she has something for me. She was on a 5 day school trip to Rotorua. Ano kaya yun?? I hope it's something nice! Hehe..

5. American Idol - Bon Jovi night (yeah, AI here is kinda late). I love Blake! Check out his version of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name".

Like Simon said, half of the audience will love it and half will hate it. I'm part of the half who loves it and my 2 sisters were part of the half that hated it. Love it or hate it?

6. I was going through my stuff and I found this photo of me when I was a kid.

I'm the one who's holding up 2 Barbie dolls. I guess bata pa lang ako, autistic na. Tsaka, ok lang nakasuksok sa kama basta nakahiga yun mga manika ko at nakakumot pa. Hehe

Retail therapy

2007-05-10T22:43:00.000+12:00

I am feeling low — stressed out from work (lots of people asking me to do lots of things although they say "don't feel pressured" I still feel pressured), Dar is super busy lately and have no time to talk to me, and the gloomy, cold, rainy weather (ugh winter is coming). So after work, I passed by jay-jays and bought myself 2 tops.

The cartoon says it all.

The Simpsons on American Idol

2007-05-09T20:21:00.000+12:00

This is already old but it's still funny. For me, the part of Lisa where she's imitating Paula is the funniest.

My sis Jac's birthday

2007-05-08T20:54:00.000+12:00

Family dinner in one of the restaurants here in town (Monsoon Poon) - my sister's treat of course! Since Anna was on her school field trip, our cousin Jeck took her place. Lol.

The ambiance was quite nice - cozy and has that "asian" feel. Sorry for the reddish pictures but as you can see, the place has red lanterns and just a few lights above.

The bday girl and I

The bday girl and our parents. Haha masunget si father.

My sis jaz and her bf

Anna's proxy

That's most of the ok pictures. I was so hungry I didn't even bother to take pictures of the food. After eating, I was so full I didn't bother to take pictures of us anymore. Haha

Anyhoo, happy birthday to you sis. Cheers

National Coffee Day + Pretending I was a student day

2007-05-03T21:01:00.000+12:00

My sister was on her way to her school listening to the radio when she heard that it was national coffee day today. She text me and we met and we went to Starbucks to get our free cup of coffee. Yey!

Late in the afternoon I went with my family to my youngest sister's freshman orientation at Victoria university coz I thought there's gonna be a family dinner after. Turns out, when we got to the school, there were lots of delicious and healthy finger foods. Every time I would pass the food table, I would grab a sandwich or a celery stick or a carrot stick or biscuit. Hehehe... Before I knew it, I was already full. So I wouldn't look so much as someone who was just there for the free food, I went around and grab some brochures (School of Design and some information on student financial aid). Personally, I am thinking of going back to school but I still don't know! But what made me smile (aside from the free food) is the free colorful post-its that I got too. Hahaha... yeah mababaw lang kaligayahan ko

Yey, it's pay day

2007-05-01T22:32:00.000+12:00

So I got my money. Did my budgeting. Paid my bills. Like I do every fortnight.

Gosh. Pretty much nothing is happening in my life right now. I'm too depressed maybe.

I need to go out and smell some fresh air.

Or do some shopping.

Darwin got his visa!!

2007-04-28T20:18:00.000+12:00

I thought I wouldn't be able to post anything today as I was just feeling gloomy lying in bed and watching South Park and I was not supposed to talk to Darwin either because I was still mad, but with this news which we were waiting for like a week, well whatever, I am sooo happy now!!

The picture is not clear but that's it! It's a visitor visa and I'm planning to get his work permit, etc fix here instead as people in the immigration here are much nicer.

So the countdown begins! 29 days to go and he's finally here!!

Gates vs. Jobs

2007-04-26T22:51:00.000+12:00

My Visual DNA

2007-04-25T15:33:00.000+12:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I got this nifty thing to do from Kari's blog. It's kinda cool coz the readings actually describe me.

I had the self-control...

2007-04-24T20:37:00.000+12:00

...to not buy anything today and use my credit card. For a change, it was just really WINDOW shopping. Hehe!

My nephew's pre-school graduation

2007-04-23T12:21:00.000+12:00

AJ, my nephew, will always be the apple of everyone's eye in the family because he's the first great grandchild, first grandchild, and first nephew. Now living in the small island of Hawaii, he will graduate pre-school soon. Maybe the next time I'll see him he'll already be in grade 4 or high school (I don't know). Maybe he won't even remember me (tita Jenny who??). Sometimes when I talk to my sister in YM voice call, I'll hear him talking in the background too and he already got the American accent and twang it's so cute!

Can't bear to be without you

2007-04-21T23:05:00.000+12:00

It's quite a boring day.. nothing much happened.. so I decided to post this image that Jasmine (my sister) sent me. It's cute and made me smile. It would really make me smile though if she really meant it. HAHAHA!! Joke...

My Lush loot

2007-04-20T18:34:00.000+12:00

It's not a loot, but whatev

I passed by the Lush store today since they have a 15% off on all products that contain cocoa butter and this is what I got:

...and that's a total savings of almost $9. Hehehe

I am loving the Smitten hand cream.. the scent is really lovely.. but I've yet to see the effects of the moisturiser. Hope it will do wonders.

The perks of living alone - something to smile about

2007-04-19T21:47:00.000+12:00

Living alone gets lonely and stuff. Eating dinner by myself. Lauging by myself. Yada yada yada. On the brighter side, there are some perks on living alone...

1. FREEDOM - to do what I want and when I want to do it. I can get up, cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry, clean my flat, go out, etc. etc. anytime I want to.

2. Less mess to clean up.

Back when I was living with my parents and sisters, we all have our share of duties when it comes to cleaning the house. Unfortunately, my sisters are not as cleanly as me

I especially hated cleaning the kitchen after my mom cooked coz it looked like a hurricane has hit the kitchen. Plus she uses too many pots and pans and I don't like washing big stuff.

I also lived with Darwin and his friends. But they are boys. And boys are dirty

Besides, I'm only 1 person. How much mess can I make?

3. No pointing fingers on who's turn it is to wash the dishes, put out the laundry, clean the bathroom, etc. etc.

4. CLEAN bathroom and toilet. My sisters don't really like cleaning the bathroom so I end up doing it. I don't really consider it cleaning the bathroom when you leave the dirty rags behind the toilet and don't take out the trash. When you just put some toilet duck in the toilet bowl, that's not cleaning at all. Don't even get me started when I was living with boys.

5. No bickering. No shouting. No fighting. AHHHHH peace and quiet at last!!!

6. Lots of ME time. Pamper myself without anyone disturbing. Put some face mask, play some relaxing music, grab a magazine and lie down. Hehehe...

7. There is only ONE rule and that is MY rule!!

8. Answering to no one. Parents tend to be stricter to their female daughters. I.e. "Who are you with? What time are you going home? How are you going home?" Same thing applies when you live with your partner/husband. You have to answer to him. So I think every girl should try living alone for awhile and experience FREEDOM before settling down.

9. I can arrange things in the order that I want to. I'm a bit OC you know..

10. I can walk, sing, dance around *****. It's quite liberating actually.

I thought I wouldn't come up with a long list but there it is.

How much mess can I make?

But on most days, it's like this

Shopping (of dorky stuff)

2007-04-15T21:11:00.000+12:00

My sisters and I went to this new store which has an opening sale. I wasn't planning on buying anything (only my other sister who wanted to get the Pink PS2 hahaha). But when we got there most of the stuff were 20% off... so I ended up buying a few things for myself.

The EyeToy Kinetic Combat. I wanted to get this ever since my friend Jem suggested that I might like it. Hehe.. It's not just a toy but a different approach to exercise. I'm soo excited to try my new workout and impress my friends with some flashy Kung Fu moves hahahaha... (and drop down a size in pants).

It's not a high-tech branded speaker but it's heaps better than the crappy sounds coming from my laptop speaker (and it's only $10).

Let's learn Chinese CD. Maybe I'll learn a few Mandarin phrases?? Lol. Honestly I kind of lost my interest to learn Chinese because I don't like the Chinese people here. Chinese people in the Philippines they say to you "I give you big discount." Here, they say "no discount." Hmp.

But since it is a part of who Darwin is, I will try to learn (naks).

This one is a bonus. One of the store assistants approached me and asked if I had an iPod. I told him "yah" even though I only have a fake iPod (LOL) and he gave me this card which entitles me to 3 free songs from the iTunes Store. I have no idea how much one song is so I checked the website and it's only 99 cents. Hahaha.. Still, it's free. Everyone loves free stuff, including me.

Send One Your Love by Stevie Wonder

2007-04-14T16:15:00.000+12:00

I have just finished cleaning my files and putting them in order (again) and saw the mp3 file that Darwin sent me this week. It's 'Send One Your Love' by Stevie Wonder. If you haven't heard the song before (like me, HEHE) here's the mtv (it's old, so no flashy effects here, thanks to YouTube by the way). The song is really really beautiful.

Herbal Heaven

2007-04-13T20:38:00.000+12:00

Wouldn't everyone be smiling?

Darwin has booked his tickets to NZ

2007-04-12T21:35:00.000+12:00

I am so excited!!! Hopefully (and I'm also praying), it would be smooth sailing frome here...

The new coca cola commercial

2007-04-10T20:36:00.000+12:00

It's soo cute!

Easter Sunday

2007-04-08T23:31:00.000+12:00

Stole the pic from Darwin's Flickr. Hehehe

Went to my parent's house for the weekend to celebrate the easter holiday. Had some fun with my sisters and cousins just lounging around playing monopoly and watching South Park DVD marathons.

Another easter chocolate

2007-04-07T22:35:00.000+12:00

From my sister's boyfriend. How nice of him. Hehehe He gave each one in the family a chocolate egg. I sometimes tease my sister that her boyfriend is a kiss ass, but I guess that's one of the reasons we've grown to like him.

My chocolate easter bunny

2007-04-06T00:53:00.000+12:00

I left my desk in the office and when I came back, there's a chocolate easter bunny in front of my pc that my manager left for me. How nice of her :)

This is what's left of it now. I think that's enough chocolate for the night. It tasted good too by the way.

Jumper dress

2007-04-06T00:34:00.000+12:00

So sue me. I love this trend. I bought another one on my way home awhile ago. Almost the same as in the picture above. The other one that I have is in black, more of a straight cut and different material. A little shopping therapy that made me smile!

Long weekend coming up

2007-04-05T14:20:00.000+12:00

I guess one of the reasons to be thankful for Catholic invasion in the whole world is that it has a lot of holidays! (Although I am ignorant to other religion's holidays, but what the heck.)

No work (yet with pay) from Good Friday until Easter Monday. Yahoo!!!

Public Library

2007-04-01T15:17:00.000+12:00

I love reading and so one of the things I like living in New Zealand is the public library access. All the books and magazines at my fingertips for FREE. Instead of buying books that I will just put away after reading, I can just go to the library and borrow them. And there's no limit to how many books and magazines you can borrow. Plus there's a lot of new books available. I can go on and on raving about this. If only we have this kind of public library in the Philippines.

My new blogger template

2007-03-23T23:26:00.000+12:00

After putting it off for quite some time, I've finally made time these past few nights to customize my blog. HEHEHE. I was supposed to upgrade to the new blogger template but I find it hard to muck around the new codes so I reverted back to the old one.

Need some more tinkering but will get there.

My dad's birthday

2007-03-21T23:15:00.000+12:00

I got him a gift pack from Lush (manly stuff lol) and I also grabbed a Buffy soap for me. Hehehe.

Family dinner at Fishermans Table.

Being financially independent

2007-03-19T18:25:00.000+12:00

I'm proud to say that I've been financially independent for almost 3 months now. No free lodging, no free food, living alone, paying all my bills on my own, no help from my parents or Darwin. It's just little ‘ol me and it feels good.

An extra hour of sleep

2007-03-18T16:42:00.000+12:00

DST officially ended this morning which means an extra hour of sleep for me. Hehe! I think it's easier to adjust to the time if you rewind it instead of moving it forward.

My new boots

2007-03-16T20:59:00.000+13:00

Summer has passed, autumn is here and winter is coming. Sooo excited. Lol.

My youngest sister's debut

2007-03-15T23:04:00.000+13:00

(This was due to be posted days ago. Lol.) Turning 18 is not a big deal here. For them kiwis, it's 21. But since we're still Filipinos we celebrated my sister's 18th birthday with a traditional debut programme.

The beautiful debutante wearing our (Dar and I) gift - watch

My sister's bf, my sister and I

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-03-10T00:18:00.000+13:00

I pre-ordered a while ago a copy of the 7th and final book in the Harry Potter series which will come out in July 21... like 4 months from now. LOL. Why? So I am guaranteed a copy of the book... knowing kids and kids at heart would be lining up to get a copy of the book.

Must... not... lose... the receipt.

My new "ipod" =)

2007-03-03T09:41:00.000+13:00

And that's my sister behind the plastic wrapper that Darwin wrote - making fun of the note

Cuba Street Carnival day 2 - Parade

2007-02-25T00:56:00.000+13:00

Fun, fun, fun! =D More pics here.

My fave American Idol contestant

2007-02-24T13:10:00.000+13:00

Blake Lewis =D
More about him here.

Cuba Street Carnival day 1

2007-02-24T00:12:00.000+13:00

Some weirdos doing some weird dance.

Yipee, some magic show!

Scrubs season 6

2007-02-22T21:50:00.000+13:00

I love Scrubs. Season 6 is not yet shown here so I tried and searched it in YouTube and found a link to this website. Funny thing is, I texted my sister (who also loves Scrubs) about the website which has ALL the episodes of Scrubs uploaded and she told me she was the one who found the website and SHE told me about it. LOL. And she tried to rewind my memory when she told me about it (which is just only the other day)... so maybe she did told me about it but I can't really remember because at that time Dar and I were having a fight... and I really couldn't care about anything else when I'm pissed off. But it made me smile having that little squabble who-told-who with my sister. It was really funny when she texted me back "Whatever! Ako kaya nagsabi sa yo!" =D

YouTube

2007-02-21T22:11:00.000+13:00

You can watch almost anything on YouTube. Everyone is a star in their own videos. I'm thinking of honing my acting and creative writing skills and be a star too. LOL. I watch more videos on YouTube than I do watching TV.

My favorite channels at the moment:

KapamilyaFinest - I miss Philippine showbiz hehe! I miss watching The Buzz. Now I can watch the show on the internet and be updated with the latest gossips =D Thanks to the person behind this YouTube account.
HappySlip - She writes, act, and edit all her videos. I like her sense of humor, sort of a female version of Rex Navarette. LOL. She's Filipino American too.

Special mention:

Fuseman - You can watch his works here. My special someone too =D

Petone fair

2007-02-17T16:50:00.000+13:00

Kiddie rides, games, street food, and lots of stores/tiangges selling knick knacks of all sorts.

My new phone

2007-02-16T22:02:00.000+13:00

I love it!

Dar said for a change, to let this phone die with me. Hah, what a joke! LOL.

(Remembering) US before

2007-02-15T21:09:00.000+13:00

Changing and growing with it
How far we are and how far we have gone
Bringing us close to where we are home.

LOVE

(Photo and poem from the guy I am holding hands with above)

My sister's valentine card

2007-02-15T01:27:00.000+13:00

I accidentally found my sister's valentine card inside her chocolate box when she gave me some of her chocolates. I read it in front of her and was laughing my ass off... not because it was made, cut and colored personally by her boyfriend (I find it cute.. reminds me of young love, sweet love hehe) or the wrong spellings or mushy lines but because of the line: "You remind me of an angel because you're so sexy..."

I don't know but for me when you say "angel", words like "nice" and "sweet" come to mind, not "sexy." Maybe her boyfriend think angels look like this:

LOL.

Skaterbois

2007-02-11T18:21:00.000+13:00

They look big on ESPN and AXN but up close they're pre-t-t-y short... who looked like kids who didn't grew up. Hehe bad :X But one of them up there (I would say the one wearing a gray shirt.. lol) is Sandro Dias, number 1 ranked vert skater in the world.

Dave Mirra was also there for the BMX competition. Yes, that's Dave Mirra's back. HAHAHA!!

It's sad though I don't have a manual camera with a big zoom lens :c

The magic show

2007-02-10T16:32:00.000+13:00

Going home, there was a small crowd gathered in Manners St. and there was this guy doing some magic.

My partner's birthday

2007-02-09T09:04:00.000+13:00

For around 3 months I have to deal with the fact that I'm a year older than him. Now, we're of the same age again. Hehe! Happy birthday b!!! Hugs and kisses.

Broadband internet is now active

2007-02-08T19:31:00.000+13:00

Yey, my broadband internet is now active!

I was gonna write something about shopping but I was more happier with my broadband now being active. Yes I'm a dork.

My boss being away until the end of the month

2007-02-07T18:47:00.000+13:00

It's not that I'm not gonna do anything while she's away. I still have deadlines to meet. It's just there's something that makes any employee say "PARTYYYYY!!!" when the boss is not around. LOL.

The beach

2007-02-06T18:24:00.000+13:00

Went to Oriental bay - a couple of blocks from where I live - with my 2 sisters Jaz & Anna. Lay on the sand under the scorching sun. Yesss, SUMMER - Kiwi style!!!

Free 3 months mobile plan

2007-02-05T23:41:00.000+13:00

Looking for ways to cut back on my expenses, I decided to have my mobile line disconnected and switch to prepay. When I called customer service and told the CSR what I wanted, she gave me an offer - switch to a lower plan instead and she'll give me 3 free months on the first 3 months - SWEET! Now I can pay my remaining balance from the previous months (hehe) while not being charged on the next 3 months.