PROOF THAT I AM SCHIZO!

Gargoyle and Mouse

I'm home on a Saturday Night again...Thanks for this one Mich.

For my guy besties who are too lazy to read everything on my blog (hello Jase!), this just explains why you think I'm crazy, hyper-activeness then sloth, fickle but committed, the whole walking contradiction that makes you want to strangle me one minute then hug me the next. And why I always need chocolates on certain days of the month to keep me sweet and sane :P

Cancer/Leo Cusp - July 19-23
Tragi-Comedic Cusp- July 21

Cancer is the fourth sign of the Zodiac; Leo is the fifth. Those born on the Cancer/Leo cusp have the vitality and ambition to be successful in their creative endeavors. Creativity is one of their keywords, and their caring nature ensures that the benefits of their imaginative powers help others. Cancer/Leos turn to nurturing the family group and take pride in their warm hospitality. They are emotional and traditional, interested in heredity and ancestors. Cancer/Leos can be prominent on stage and in film, as their natural ability to act and their flamboyance and love of attention make them naturals at fame.

The astrological symbol of Cancer is the Crab; for Leo, it's the Lion. Cancer/Leos go through life with a strong shell around them that is not easily broken. However, Cancer/Leos are the first to express emotion in any given situation -- the first to laugh and the first to tears. In this way, the Cancerian influence exemplifies the cardinal quality assigned to it. They also have a strong ability to see their projects through to the end. In this way, Leo exemplifies the fixed quality assigned to it. Cancer/Leos are good organizers and tend to be popular, even inspiring.

Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and Leo is ruled by the Sun. In ancient times, the Moon, which represents fertility and instinct, was perceived as the Great Mother, responsible for nurturing all life. The Moon controls the tides and all water on Earth, and it has a strong effect on human emotions. Cancer and Cancer/Leos tend to be more sensitive to the movement of the Moon through the zodiac than are other signs, their moods changing with the Moon's passage. In ancient times, the Sun was believed to be the center of the Universe, the core of existence, the Father. The Sun generates warmth and keeps life on Earth moving. Leos and Cancer/Leos sometimes feel they are the center of the universe, and sometimes they are! They are gregarious and social, fun-loving and live life with enthusiasm. Generally domestic and peaceful, they have strong emotional drives and won't sit still when loved ones are threatened. The Sun and Moon, mother and father, day and night; Cancer/Leos are all of these things, and finding a way to express the entire continuum is both a challenge and a much-needed emotional release.

The element associated with Cancer is Water. Water Signs are emotional: they tend to respond to the world through emotion. The element associated with Leo is Fire. Fire Signs are physical and tend to respond to the world through action. Cancer/Leos are very intuitive and jump headfirst into life, without worrying whether their latest goal is realistic or practical. For them, everything about life is Big with a capital B, and if drama and courage is required to meet their goals, they have both in abundance. Their warm and caring nature is very sensitive to other people's harshness. Cancer/Leos are cheerful and self-assured, sometimes to the point of living in a fantasy world. They are always happy as long as someone is paying attention to them!

Cancer/Leos have a strong association with food. They are very imaginative and sensitive, making them excellent amateur chefs. Some go on to make a career out of cooking. Pleasure is important to those born on the Cancer/Leo cusp, and they like to spend money to feel good. Cancer/Leos tend to enjoy physical exercise, finding that sweat helps them counter the stress inherent in their emotional nature. They prefer to play in groups, rather than solo. They are too sociable to enjoy solitary running or weight lifting, and they much prefer team sports or group exercise.

In love relationships, Cancer/Leos top the charts in almost every area, from devotion to romance. The great strength of the Cancer/Leo is in their creativity and generosity with others. Sometimes these qualities combine, resulting in thoughtful gifts or unique solutions to problems. Cancer/Leos emotional orientation to life help them understand the difficulties their loved ones must work through.

Cardinal
A Cardinal Quality is attached to the Signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. The Cardinal Houses are the First, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth; if an astrological chart shows a preponderance of Planets in these Houses, its energy is weighted toward cardinality.

Cardinal Signs are the initiators of the Zodiac. They are also found at key jumping-off points on the chart wheel, specifically the Ascendant, Medium Coeli (M.C. or Midheaven), Descendant and Imum Coeli (I.C.). Individuals possessing a Cardinal Quality like to get things going. They are active, quick and ambitious. Many projects get started, thanks to Cardinal initiative, although a good deal of them are never finished. That's because Cardinal folks are much fonder of starting things than finishing them.

You won't find a Cardinal person slacking off. These people are full of vim and vigor and possess a drive and ambition that is unmistakable. Enthusiasm and a zest for life fill the Cardinal individual. Some might perceive this rampant energy as domineering, and, at times, it can be. Cardinal people can easily forget about the rest of the pack when they are busily focusing on their own endeavors. Even so, their energetic spirit often wins the day.

Cardinal folks are clever and want to win. They love to start things, and whether they finish them or not, there's always a lot going on. Nay sayers who find them to be too self-centered will simply have to watch (and marvel) as they speed by!

Fixed
A Fixed Quality is attached to the Signs Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. The Fixed Houses are the Second, Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh; if an astrological chart shows a preponderance of Planets in these Houses, its energy is weighted toward fixity.

Fixed Signs understand that steadiness is the key. Those influenced by this Quality are happy to forge ahead with their projects, calmly working away until they have achieved their objectives. This is no struggle for Fixed folks, rather it's what makes them tick. These individuals are stable, determined and resolute. They want to get to the finish line and have the persistence and ability to concentrate, characteristics which will get them there.

There is no lack of confidence in Fixed individuals. Self-reliance could be a Fixed person's middle name. Those possessed of a Fixed nature are powerful, yet purposeful. There are no wasted motions here: Fixed folks move patiently and steadily toward their goals. They are also steady and reliable and always remember those who helped them out. Conversely, those born under a Fixed Sign can at times be stubborn, my-way-or-the-highway folks. They may have a tendency to get stuck in their ways and to believe that they are always right.

Those influenced by a Fixed Quality are determined, reliable and persistent. They have great strength, and strength of purpose, and love to get the job done. So what if they refuse to budge? They get results.

The Moon: Ruler of the Emotions

Since the Moon is the closest 'Planet' to Earth, this satellite literally zips around the Zodiac, completing its circuit in less than a month. It also touches us more deeply than most Planets.

As the ruler of the tides, it is fitting that the Moon should be the ruler of our emotions. Still waters run deep? Making waves? A wellspring of emotion? Yes, our emotions have long been portrayed in terms of the sea: fluid, momentous, churning from within. Mood swings, instinct, how we feel about things and how our feelings affect others are all influenced by the Moon. Whereas the Sun gives us our spirit, it's the Moon which gives us our soul.

The Moon is goddess-like in that it symbolizes mother and the relationship between woman and child. This Planet (also known as a luminary) speaks to the women in one's life and their role as nurturer. Fertility, pregnancy and childbirth are also governed by the Moon. We see the Moon casting its silvery glow from our earliest moments, when we were stroked and caressed by our mother and felt her tender touch.

Our emotions manifest themselves through our being and set the tone for our daily lives. The Moon is party to this continuum, rendering us vital one moment and fragile the next. We're up and down, naughty or nice, and may laugh wildly or cry at will. Through the Moon's energy, we endeavor to reconcile these varied emotions in order to make ourselves complete and one with the world. The Moon also helps us see that which we want, and to use memory and the past as part of this process.

The Moon spends roughly 2 1/2 days in each sign and takes 28 days to circumnavigate the Zodiac. It is feminine energy and rules Cancer and the Fourth House.

The Sun: Planet of Self

As the Sun puts forth light, so it brings forth life. This Planet (also known as a luminary and a star) represents the self, one's personality and ego, the spirit and what it is that makes the individual unique. It is our identity and our face to the world. The Sun also speaks to creative ability and the power of the individual to meet the challenges of everyday life.

One's natural father, husbands and other male influences are ruled by the Sun, as are children. The Sun's energy is a forceful one, and in its wake comes authority, the ability to lead and an individual's essence, their core being. Through the will of this Planet, we learn to manifest ourselves in the world.

The Sun is majestic, and in keeping with its regal air, it rules royalty and higher office. This orb also lords over our health and well-being. The Sun's golden glow is a vital life force which imbues us with strength, energy and a will to succeed. It is the Sun which gives strength to the other Planets, which is why this Planet occupies a key role in Astrology.

The Sun spends about a month visiting each Sign and takes a year to journey through the twelve Signs of the Zodiac. It is masculine energy and rules Leo and the Fifth House.

How Diane Isabel Relates to Other People


Mercury Square Mars with an orb of less than 1/2 degree

Since you tend to be rather irritable and sharp-tongued at times you require a partner with a sense of humor who is not too thin-skinned. You are bright, curious and restless and enjoy the company of those who are equally high-spirited and enterprising.

Mercury Square Pluto with an orb between 1 and 3 degrees

You're not awfully good at being disagreed with. You delve into matters, think them through thoroughly and expect your conclusions to be universally shared. Flexibility is not your strong suit. No one should try to lie to you or keep things from you. Somehow you ferret out others' secrets although you keep your own.

Venus Trine Jupiter with an orb between 1 and 3 degrees

Yours was an indulged childhood with lots of love and lots of cookies. You have a generous nature both emotionally and materially and people are usually pleased to provide you with the love and creature-comforts you both require and cheerfully give.

Venus Quincunx Uranus with an orb of less than 1 degree

You need to be close and you need to be free. This is a major life conflict which has always created complications for you in close personal relationships. One manifestation of this may be a tendency to pursue the unavailable or the unreliable.

Sun Square Jupiter with an orb between 3 and 5 degrees

Sometimes you suffer from an excess of enthusiasm and plunge into relationships and projects without seriously considering beforehand the viability of the situation. You are kind, honest and good-humored. Sometimes you're also a show-off or a know-it-all.

Sun Square Pluto with an orb between 3 and 5 degrees

Power struggles plague your relationships. Either you become the dominant partner out of a fear of being controlled or you become very passive, controlling indirectly through guilt or manipulation.

Sun Trine Uranus with an orb between 3 and 5 degrees

You have a unique view of life and have been fortunate in finding friends and partners with whom you can share it. Your relationships will be most successful when you also have in your life an interest, goal or project which absorbs both of you equally.

Trains are Mini- (Human) Zoos

Everytime I'm in the train I still feel like I'm part of a movie with matching soundtrack to match my thoughts and mood thanks to my ipod... hahaha You know those scenes wherein the lead leans against her seat and looks out the window. Blame it on my overly active imagination :P

But you really do see the most interesting people in the trains... You look at them and wonder what they're thinking, what kind of lives they live, their obsessions, secrets... if they're in love or falling out of love, whether they're content or looking for that something more.

The clothes they wear, did they choose it themselves? Just to my right, there's a peacock woman, wearing violet and green and deep blue with frills, feathers and velvet... why the hell did she wear that outfit? Eric says she smoked out.

There's this loud man with a massive full on Aussie accent talking on his celphone. The whole car can hear him. I wonder what he's trying to compensate for? Small hidden body parts or maybe he's just deaf... either way, he's so annoying. Good thing he went down on the next stop.

An old man Asian man getting ready to get off has the most unique "brush up" to cover his bald spot. Instead of the usual making your hair grow long on one side and brushing it sideways, his goes all the way around in a circle. I wanted to take a picture but Ate Anna told me it was mean.

A lady with short red hair, wearing an aqua green skirt and a jacket from Target, seems lost in thought. She has a Mona Lisa half smile on her face, could she be remembering old friends or lovers or her children? What a wonderful thought it must be, because even with her age showing, at this moment, she looks absolutely beautiful.

She puts on her glasses, takes out her notebook and starts scribbling away like me. Her grocery list perhaps? Oh there's that smile again... and a bit of a chuckle. I guess not. What I wouldn't give to take a peep at what she's writing.

We stop at Wollstonecraft, the one suburb Ate A and I decided we can't live in. Because if there was a chance we'd cab it home when we're intoxicated, we won't be able to pronounce the damned place. We'd end up in Norval St instead, where my uncle and tita lives.

Two Chinese teenagers dressed like Japanese girls get on the train. I can't tell how old they are because one girl looks like she tripped inside her brother's toy chest and random colorful things got stuck on her limbs and hair, while the other one is wearing a red plaid and black lace short skirt and vest and she was holding a hot pink balloon. A bit trying hard to be different or they got dressed in the dark or self expression... whatever. But what they lacked in fashion sense, they made up with the speed of their conversation! Man can they talk! Chinese all the way to their stop. I think the one in red wasn't breathing anymore.

There's a couple in front of us. They're obviously married with their matching wedding bands. The woman leans over and the man gives her a big hug and a sweet kiss and they give each other that "I love you" stare.. and they hold hands. Aww...

Several families from Taronga Zoo, with adorable toddlers with gorgeous blue eyes, get on. A little blonde boy walks up to his mother and gives her a kiss and a hug. I think I want to be a mommy too! Then the same little boy throws a tantrum over a broken toy... wow look at his tonsils! Ok, I so don't want a kid yet!

Then there's this beautiful woman- half-Chinese, half-I don't know what race. Tall, slim but curvy at the right places, great outfit and she looks absolutely drop dead gorgeous- almond eyes, rosy cheeks, clear porcelain skin, full red lips. I decided that if I were to turn lesbian, I'd so go for her.

A young boy in his teens, wearing torn jeans, scruffy sneakers and spikey hair, picks his teeth and with the same hand fixes his hair. Eww. I hope he doesn't have a girlfriend :P

A really hot tall guy in a handsome suit comes in. Can he be any more perfect physically? I wish my girls were with me to see him, since marriage, my sister has blinders on! *drool* I wonder what kind of woman he comes home to... or if he's gay.

I look around the train... most everyone has bored, blank stares, tired eyes and on a weekend too! We pass by the harbour bridge, and the view is breath-taking, the sun was hitting the water just right, sea gulls were flying, it was a marvelous day! Will there come a time that I'll be like them.. all desensitized, not looking at the world with wonder and infinite curiousity? God I hope never...

After all, who knows what I'll see on the next ride? ;)

Wedding Day Blues: Part II

Aww... don't you sometimes wish you could shop for love? I want one like this:

"After years of wandering, i have finally come home. And yet the journey, perhaps has really just begun. Men become great because they believe they can, and they have their wives behind them every step of the way. I have known no greater love, none as profound and enraptured in mystery. Only you and i know the depths of the other. And i am, in peace. Sheer and utter bliss. I am indeed home." -Carlo Aguas

Carlo and I aren't really close friends, we just met in school... so I should've asked for his permission to post this (I got this from friendster *guilty*). But wow to feel that way about one person and her feeling the same way back... it really must be a miracle. I guess when you meet your true love, twin soul, GPC (God's perfect choice), soulmate, or whatever you want to call it, you become touched by the hand of God. Only the blessed can come up with words as inspired and raw and wonderful as Carlo talking from the heart. I heard he's getting married (well Anton said so). All the best!

If I heard this at any of my friends' or relatives' wedding I'd be bawling my eyes out...such beautiful words to describe it. Love love love love love how can you not fall in love with love?

Just having one of those starry eyed moments :) I want THE BIG LOVE. The One who's just *mine*mine*mine* and the one who I'll still be crazy about not just for 2 years, 5 years but until we're old and wrinkly. The one I won't have to make excuses for or to justify in my head why he could or should be the one. The one who everyone (who matters to me) says is perfect for me and I agree wholeheartedly that he is. The one I would love (not dread...I'm abnormal) to see and wake up with everyday. The one who will make the others, the what ifs, buts, more ifs and doubts disappear. The one who will embody contentment, trust, fidelity, peace and love. The one who's not pwede na nor the one who comes awfully close but the one I'm supposed to JUST KNOW with absolute conviction, with every fiber of my being that he is the one.

yoohoo where are you?

How hot is this video? Krista! *secret dance step*




I'm telling you loosen up my buttons baby (Uh huh)
But you keep fronting (Uh)
Saying what you going to do to me (Uh huh)
But I ain't seen nothing (Uh)

If I play this song enough, Kuya E will be singing it! He has a bad case of LSS (Last Song Syndrome) his last one was Tarzan Boy (oh X11) the really ghey 80's song by Baltimora and before that, he was singing Jennifer Love Hewitt hahaha.

The dance steps here remind me of Gema from the Arnis team (hi ate gema!)... she was soo good teaching those steps with the chair. Actually, I don't really train for the arnis team, I was secretly learning to be an exotic dancer (be your own boss! work at your own time! earn cash! have fun at work! meet new people!) Ok I better say I'm just kidding before Papa disowns me. :P

Missing Ina

I met the younger sister of a friend and her barkada of 18-19 year olds. They were dancing away in a bar where people don't usually dance, doing all their moves together, laughing, hugging and drinking and not caring about other people. If you stare at their faces long enough, you would catch a certain carefree and invincible look that we all used to have when we were younger... like nothing could go wrong, like nothing and no one could hurt us or tear us apart, like problems could easily be solved with just voting sessions with the girls.

Those girls with matching outfits reminded me so much of the barkada-- ginny, lala, nikki, ina, krista, manika and me. When we only had to worry about what to wear to the next big gimmick, which guy to go for, the next session test or midterms, nursing hangovers, getting grounded, bad haircuts, if our parents will let us go out...

I'm really missing those days...

especially INA. I love you hun.



But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do
Sunday morning rain is falling and I’m calling out to you
Singing someday it’ll bring me back to you
Find a way to bring myself home to you...

Monogamous Animals and Random Useless Facts

This is what staying home on a Saturday night does to a crazy girl with weird ideas and lots of time on her hands. And my apologies for all the website addresses and book names and quotes...plagiarism is the worse crime any writer can commit and if my high school cousins (i miss you) are reading this... they really do give Fs in college for plagiarism.

So I was having the most random but interesting conversation about swans two nights ago. Mr Cup-of-Tea Paul met "the" Swan expert and found out cool facts (well I'm a dork so I thought they were cool). Swans don't peck you when they attack, they beat their wings (about 8 feet wide) with a force that could easily break your arm. They don't instinctively know their migration path, thus if a swan gets separated with it's parents before he learns where to go, he's screwed. And you all know ugly duckling right? Swans only turn white after 2 years. Swans are monogamous too, this pair above courted for a year and will be mating for life. The swan is the icon of fidelity. Aww... but while surfing the internet on more monogamous animals (Only about 3% of the 4,000 mammal species are monogamous (and Homo sapiens isn't one of them! You can google up the list but here are my favorites : puffins, penguins, bald eagles, artic foxes, orcas, black vultures, prairie voles-they have a gene that makes them monogamous-)... I came upon this:

"Everyone has heard of how birds such as swans supposedly pair monogamously for life," said Adrian Forsyth, a senior biodiversity scientist at the Smithsonian Institution and author of "A Natural History of Sex."

"But in fact, monogamously paired female waterfowl are often subjected to copulation attempts by males other than their mates," events that sometimes injure or kill the female. "Such forced copulations may be perpetrated by unpaired males that have been unable to attract a mate and have little to lose and something to gain by forcing themselves on a female."

The only apparent controls upon this behavior by male waterfowl is female resistance and a mate coming to her defense. Mated males, however, are sometimes elsewhere: Studies show that mated waterfowl engage in forced copulations as well, Forsyth said. (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20020904-9999_mz1c4monogam.html)

It's a sick sad world out there... which got me thinking about this book that one of my favorite movies was based on. It tries to explain men's behavior based on research on the males of the animal kingdom, then I got carried away google-ing so here are the SOME RANDOM USELESS FACTS.

(you know those things that get stuck in your head that never show up in tests...the ones you're itching to write down at the back of your test paper under the made-up heading -BONUS- to show the teacher that you do in fact know some things, they're just not very relevant hahaha)

But now that most of us are working already... I have thought of 5 uses for these facts (feel free to post more ways to utilize the facts):

1) to gross out Ate A (or any older sister, or lala)

2) to turn off and shut up any guy trying to chat you up in a bar so he'll leave you alone(though this might backfire if he knows some of your new found friends- they're going to think you're a deranged disturbed weird girl)

3) to sound smart when you're with kids (the grosser the fact, the more cool points you get. Although you should reword the facts to suit their age)

4) to concentrate and try to remember the facts and spell the words in your head to see whether you should stop drinking or not (giggling non-stop, stuttering, demonstrating the facts, announcing it to the whole world, saying it to the same person over and over again, saying boneyhee instead of honeybee and wanting to toast to every random fact you remember or crying over the poor swallowed babies are signs that you have had enough to drink)

5) to write a novel about new cows and old cows and to explain why men act the way they do (which is where I got some of the facts from... someone really did research on it to make her novel -- animal husbandry by laura zigman-- which the movie someone like you was based on but a lot of parts were changed)

The Lovers Hall of Fame (http://news.nationalgeographic.com - Adapted from Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation )

Most explosive lover: Male honeybee
When the male honeybee ejaculates, he explodes and his genitals tear from his body with an audible snap. His body falls to the ground, but his genitals remain inside the female, preventing her from mating again—an extreme form of the chastity belt.

Most monogamous: Black vulture
Monogamy—in which both partners are faithful to each other until one of them dies—is so rare that it qualifies as one of the most deviant behaviors in biology. The reason is simple: For monogamy to evolve, couples who are monogamous must have more children, on average, than couples who are not. This is rarely the case. But one species that does appear to be monogamous (although the data are still quite scant) is the black vulture. Bizarrely, black vultures seem to have a social convention that prevents philandering. Any vulture that attempts to have sex in a public place (at a roost, or alongside a carcass) will be roundly attacked by other vultures in the vicinity.

Most wanton female: Chimpanzee
Female chimpanzees are astonishingly promiscuous. Some are on record as having copulated with eight different males in 15 minutes. Others have racked up 84 trysts in eight days with seven different partners.

Female least likely to suffer from penis envy:
Most seahorses and spotted hyena
Penises have evolved in countless variations. In sharks, the penises (male sharks have two) are rolled-up pelvic fins. In spiders, the penises (again, males have two) are modified parts of the mouth. Among seahorses, however, the female does not receive sperm, but the male receives eggs. The female has evolved a phallic structure with which to deliver her eggs so that a male seahorse becomes pregnant. The female spotted hyena has a pseudo-phallus—a grossly enlarged, fully erectile clitoris—but why this is so is a mystery. The male and female genitalia look so much alike that for many years the spotted hyena was thought to be a hermaphrodite.

Most demanding lover: Lioness
A lioness in heat desires sex at least once every half an hour for four or five days and nights. The reason for her enormous sexual appetite is unknown.

Worst dad: Japanese cardinal fish
Contenders for the title of Worst Dad (or Worst Mom) are legion: Most organisms don't look after their young at all. However, the Japanese cardinal fish deserves special mention. All child care is done by the male, who broods the young in his mouth until they are old enough to look after themselves. But if he encounters a female more attractive than the mother of his children, he hastily eats his kids and rushes over to court the new female.

Most diminutive lover: Green spoon worm
In most species (mammals being exceptions), females are larger than males. But the green spoon worm has taken this to an extreme. The male is 200,000 times smaller than the female—it's as though a human male were no bigger than the eraser on the end of a pencil. He spends his whole life sitting in a special chamber within his comparatively enormous mate, fertilizing her eggs.

Most gigantic sperm: Fruit Fly
This fruit fly is only three millimeters (about one-eighth of an inch) long from the top of its head to the end of its abdomen, yet it produces sperm that are 2.3 inches (58 millimeters) long. If a human male made sperm on a similar scale, they would be as long as a blue whale.

Least discriminative lover: Atlantic bottlenose dolphin
Dolphins have been recorded trying to copulate with seals, sharks, turtles, eels, and even humans. Small wonder that they engage in homosexual activity of various kinds and also masturbate.

Most chaste: Bdelloid rotifer
Bdelloid rotifers are small animals that live in patches of damp moss. In evolutionary circles, these creatures are infamous, because they have been reproducing without sex (they lay eggs that don't need to be fertilized) for more than 85 million years.

From the book:

-praying mantis: female devours male's head during copulation

-banana slugs: actually hermaphrodites. while mating, males chew each other's penises off.

-80% of all men who die during the act of sex do so while being unfaithful (aha!)

- ( from Sex, Evolution, and Behavior- Daly and Wilson) throughout the animal kingdom, males generally woo females, rather than the reverse. The element of the male strategy has been labeled the Copulatory Imperative. As much concerned with quantity as with quality, males are often rather indiscriminative in courtship... Among invertibrates as diverse as butterflies and hermit crabs, males are apt to court an astonishing variety of OBJECTS, indeed almost anything that bears some resemblance to a female. The principle also holds up in our own (homo sapiens) species.

- the coolidge effect (new cow-old cow theory) is the fact that rams and bulls never go for the same sheep or cow twice. They are "unmistakably resistant to mating with the same female. Thus, farms only need one male for breeding purposes.

- allelomimetic behavior is the term for males copying other males of the same species hence, they do the same thing to females as if genetically programmed

- in TIME magazine on an article called "the Chemistry of Love" (please send me a copy if you have it) it states that because falling in love produces amphetamine-like chemicals, some people "move franctically from affair to affair just as soon as the first rush of infatuation fades" and become "attraction junkies"

From some websites:

- it depends on what you mean by "mate for life." These creatures do mate for life in the social sense of living together in pairs but they rarely stay strictly faithful. (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20020904-9999_mz1c4monogam.html)

- "Particularly if you look at dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin—it has been demonstrated that they play an important role in human society; for instance, in love, social attachment, and reward. So there are great similarities [between voles and humans]." http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2004/3/monogamy.cfm

The following facts are from http://www.azadocents.org/upclose.pdf

-Elephants spend weeks courting. The female calls; the males compete for her.Bigger is better; the largest bulls get over 65% of all copulations, according to some observers.
-Rhinos find love in a toilet. The near-sighted male follows the female’s urine trail for several days, chasing her as she runs. He whistles and sprays urine; they bite and chase, toss and butt heads, and bellow. He stays inside for more than an hour.
- Hippos court in water. A male must be submissive and defer to the female. During copulation, buoyancy lifts the male over the female.
- Lions also indulge in lots of foreplay when the female is in heat.George Schaller observed one male lion having sex 86 times in 24 hours with two females, then 62 times in the next 24 hours, for a total of 157 times in 55 hours.
-Warthogs invented the term “screwing.” He has a corkscrew-shaped penis; she has grooves around her cervix.The actual mating usually takes less than a minute.
- Giraffes “neck.” The male tests the female for estrous by nudging her underside to get her to urinate.
- Orangutans are solitary and use this long call to attract mates. He shakes branches and topples dead trees, sending out a roar that can last several minutes and be heard nearly a mile away. Females seek out the largest male.
- Gorilla courtship is fun. He sniffs her armpits and genitals and may strut and beat his chest. She lies in front of him, makes suggestive pelvic movements, and may ride his back to intensify the excitement.
- Kangaroos have unusual sex organs. She has three vaginas. His penis is behind the scrotum, facing down and back.
- Bats can do it up-side down. His penis is like a gearshift. They mate in fall or winter, with sperm stored until eggs are produced in the spring. Sometimes they hibernate with their sex organs locked.
- How do porcupines mate? Very carefully! She is receptive only for eight to ten hours during a mating season, but she’s very cooperative during that brief span.
- Peacocks and other flashy birds prove their worth by their fantastic feathers. The battles among males using good looks to attract choosy mates have led to extreme flamboyance. Growing and maintaining such showy but costly feathers is a sign of a healthy male. Bright colors mean a good diet, proving that he can be a good provider with skills in foraging and finding food, and freedom from parasites.
- Eagles are monogamous. The male must impress the female by hunting and killing, and performing a “sky-dance” of diving and swooping. They “fall head over heels in love,” then soar through the air with talons clasped, tumbling in cartwheels up to 200 feet.
- Crowned cranes are also monogamous and have a flamboyant mating dance that gets shorter every year until they reach the “Oh heck—let’s just lay the eggs” stage. They have been likened to humans!
- Penguins (Humboldt) pair bond for life but will seek out a new mate if one dies. Their foreplay is ecstatic. Their heads go back and flippers flap, with loud singing.
- A male spider will wrap up an insect in silk, give it to the female as a present, and mate with her while she’s unwrapping the gift.
- A male squirrel must be submissive, acting like a baby to attract a female.

AND FINALLY A LITTLE SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED EARLIER TONIGHT:



Ate Anna(on puffins): Aww they're monotonous too?!

Well atleast she's not as bad as our friend's older sister who said "oooh look a quarter moon! Let's sit here and wait until it gets full!" HAHAHA (but she's normally really smart, don't we all have lapses?)

What is Class?

This woman's blog is GOLD! A good friend from advertising told us to check it out and it is absolutely hilarious (in an evil way)! I know you will enjoy it ... www.soozyhopper.blogspot.com

You Can't Buy Class (by Soozyhopper)

What is Class? Class is when you enter a room, everybody notices you without you having to flaunt yourself. It is shown even during the simplest times like eating, drinking, or plainly speaking. Class is when you look a million dollars even if you're not. It is when people admire you for who you are, not for what you are. Class is when you are able to carry yourself well even during the most embarassing moments and people don't mind it because if it's you, it's okay. It is during your growing up years that you develop Class. It is when you make do with what you have. Class is when people call you up, not you call up people because they want you. It is also when you are able to keep your mouth shut about how much your possessions are. It is when you'd rather serve than be served. Class is when you do not step on other people. It is the art of NOT SHOWING OFF.

What aint Class? It is when your mouth doesn't stop talking about where you came from, what you bought, and why people can't afford it. It is when people make themselves noticed even when they aren't. It is when they think that they are so important and that the world owes them service. It is when they force class into them that makes them un-classy. It aint Class when you bad mouth the person who you owe favors from. It is when you talk about people like they're some scum of the earth while making yourself the standard. It is when you can't afford it but pretend like you have so much to spare. It is when you know you have to stop but you still continue. It is when you have to pretend. If I post their pictures, then that, wouldn't be class. It's like Cheap Wine!

Class does not come in 12k diamonds, a BMW, clothing and accessories in the thousands of dollars or a house in the right address. Class is passed on to you as you are growing up. If you never had it, then, you'll never have it. You can't buy Class.

Wedding Day Blues

With permission from my girl friends (***names have been withheld hehehe), I decided to touch on this marriage 'thing' that many Filipina women approaching their mid-twenties are worried about.

It's the same old story: if you're single you're wondering when you'll meet THE one or if you'll ever find him. If you're in a relationship, you're either doubting if he's THE one or if you've convinced yourself that he is... you're asking when the hell will he go down on his knees and pop the big question and what you would do if he did.

I guess you could blame it on our culture, our parents got married young, relatives asking when you will tie the knot or asking where your boyfriend is and the whole damn biological timeclock ticking away(which my brother had to explain to me when I turned 20 because I was so clueless there was actually a term for it!) and let's face it, most girls are programmed to want babies (and soon!). It also doesn't help that even if older people tell us that we should wait until we're fully ready, that in high school or even college, romance novels with the same plot were passed around ... gorgeous young girl/ careeer woman who has issues meets handsome, rich, (fill in the blanks for whatever rocks your world) man (who she either hated from the start or it was love at first sight), who then sweeps her off her feet. They make slow passionate love. They fight about something. The guy makes up for it big time. They make looove again. Then they get married and live happily ever after. They should really burn those books. I bet you girls who got pregnant early used to secretly devour books like that all the time. (disclaimer: no that was just a silly generalization... i know it's not true. It's really because they don't use condoms or birth control pills :P)

What I don't get though is why at one point of our young young lives in between dreaming of prince charming and those romance novels, we all decided we'll be married by 25 or 26... for the extra romantic (bordering on obsessed hehe just kidding) dreamers it was 23 or right after college! Oh and of course we'll get married to our first true love... nevermind that at 17, our concept of love was based on movies and books. Admit it! Do you know anyone who didn't say that before?! (i'm guilty...)

(Ofcourse, there are some wonderful exceptions, those whom you know were really destined to be together. Those couples who light up the whole room with their chemistry and love. You know they're together for all the right reasons. It doesn't matter how young they were, you just knew... Like Nikki and Apit-ah. Aww... But they're exceptions for a reason that they hardly hardly ever happen at our age)

Going back to what I was babbling about... One of my girl friends, let's call her Kitty, told me... You know if this doesn't work out with ***, I might just consider being an old maid. And she's only 22!!!!! When told that there are so many guys out there, she said " yeah but they're all so...MEN! (typical jerks)" so she doesn't want to look around anymore. And this one friend of mine who called saying he so wasn't ready to get married but he got the girl pregnant so he has to marry her. Or one of my friends who said "I'm wasting my 20s waiting for the ring that might not even come." Or someone who said "He's never around but he's still the one". It's all very tragic to hear from young people with their whole lives ahead of them. We're chained down to promises we told ourselves when we had no idea what it took to make a marriage work. (disclaimer again: this is not to say that the men they're with aren't worth it. I don't want to be held responsible for break ups :P)

Here is what I think ( and this might only work for me ok so don't send me hate mail after and yes you can laugh at me if I end up alone or if I end up marrying young too-- but it's my life to live and mess up so bleh!) :

Before thinking about marriage, live your dreams first. Make sure you've done everything (and everyone if that's your thing) you want to do. Find out who you are and what you really want. Put yourself and your feelings and selfish wants and whatever issues you want to resolve before anything else because once you get married that's it honey, you have to always have to think twice, once for yourself and another for your husband and thrice if you have a child. You should marry because you want to share your full life with someone, not because you need someone to complete you, support you or make you feel validated and loved. And holy mother of God, please don't marry just because you're reaching your target expiration date (25-26-27-28). Atlhough I can understand it (believe me I do have my moments and those closest to me know that), you're only setting yourself up for resentment, resignation and all the other f*cked up things that happen to unhappy wives.

You deserve the best. You deserve laughter in all your married years. You deserve to be one of those sweet old couples we all get teary eyed staring at. You deserve to grow old with the love of your life not Mr. He's Ok/Security. And if it means waiting for that perfect one to arrive or waiting for someone to fully bloom and be ready then wait!!! 5-10 years of waiting seems like an eternity... but hello... being married lasts forever. We don't do divorce (which I think should be allowed in the Phils!) and being Catholic and all that marriage-is-a-sacrament (for non-Catholics it means it's permanent, sacred, irreversible and irrevocable unless you get annulled meaning the marriage NEVER took place in the first place), we'd probably settle for being unhappy (because he's not THAT bad and what about the kids) and live in quiet desperation than do something to claim back our lost years.

Think of your future, not just what you want now (hello do we really know what we want at 23 or 24?) If you're scared you won't get to play with your children or relate to them because the gap will be too big, then start exercising (yes you lazy! thin does not equate to fit, shopping is not a sport, dieting is not the same as cardio), take care of your health, and keep learning. Parents can keep up not just because of their age but because they keep an open mind, they sincerely care about what goes on in our lives enough to watch our tv shows, listen to our music, learn the lingo (even if it makes us wince when they talk like us) and all the things that matter. They listen before they judge us. They don't go "well during OUR time..." and they make time for us and make us feel important. You can do all those things no matter how old you are. And there's always plastic surgery hahaha.

And for those told by parents to marry for security... please take charge of your life. It's shitty and it's hard and it won't be pretty and for a time, you might not be able to buy the prada, gucci, lv bags that we're used to but it'll be worth it. Won't it be so wonderful to look at someone you love and think wow I love him in the truest sense of the word... no ifs, buts or reasons. I just really love him. It'll give you freedom to love anyone you want to love. I'm not saying marry a bum or someone who doesn't have direction, ok. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't say I want to end up with someone who will spoil me (but there are other means of being spoiled :). I'm just saying that if security is an issue, then claim that security and make it yours. Have the power to pamper yourself. Don't let anyone control that part of your life. Think about your children if things go wrong and Mr. Right turns out to be Mr. Hyde. We can't all run back to our parents.

I know it's a scary phase. We're at the stage where we feel we're too old to play around (sorry to the older ones reading this) and that we're too old to mess up whatever fantastic but not so perfect relationships we have over some slim chance of finding another one who could be better than what we have. But we're also feeling we're too young to think about Mr. Right and we just want to explore options. So either:
1) DON'T GET CAUGHT (hahaha),
2) Be honest and cut clean because you respect the person you're with,
3) Appreciate what you have and learn to be content,
4) Say I do to the first person who proposes to you or pressure your present boyfriend (please don't do it, it's a stupid suggestion),
5) Get over your 25-27 hang-up and live your life the way you want to live it with or without someone,
6) Do charity work because it's a good way to spend your time waiting (hehe I just added this last part.. but really it will do wonders for the soul and it's good penance for anyone with guilty secrets)

At the end of the day, know that it's your life and people have no right to judge your decisions and make you feel bad about the things you want (unless it's exag na ... don't be pilosopo). No one else knows your relationship except you and your boy. Though it's good to listen and ask for advice, do what makes you happy and do it in a way you can live and deal with. I just hope you won't be hurting yourself and those you say you love.

(And for one of my dear dear besties who is going to get married (I won't say who until she says it), I just know in my heart that you're doing it for the right reasons. I'm proud of you for taking the leap. You make us believe that we will find The One, that person who is imperfectly perfect for us. And I'm so happy that your search is finally over and you really did end up with a man worth all your tears and shitty past experiences. You'll make a wonderful bride and wife and mother. I can't wait to be at your garden wedding, see you walk down that aisle, looking beautiful, radiant, confident and truly in love. May God bless your union and all your days together! I love love love you!)

And to everyone else searching out there... I think the first step to getting what you want is to believe that you deserve it and that you will find it! You will find crazy movie love! You will find him! There aren't any perfect relationships or perfect men but there is danger in thinking there's a time limit because you might just be forcing yourself to think that what you have is the whole package when maybe it's not (and in the deepest deepest part of your heart you know he isn't, you're just to scared to give him up). And please, if a guy cheats on you or abuses you physically, emotionally and psychologically... JUST LEAVE!

Lastly, something random and totally unrelated... I wanna put the lyrics of One Hello.. this cheesy love song from the 70s or 80s. Because I just feel like it. It's my blog anyway. So here it is. Sing along if you wish...

One Hello

If you're not afraid
Of what love brings
Then endings are beginnings
Of beautiful things

Its a chance you'll take
It's a chance you'll win
If someone's gonna find you
First you gotta let them in
Coz love begins with one hello
The hardest part is over
Now its easy letting go

One hello is how it starts
You might win it all or lose your heart
If you're not afraid
Of what you feel
Then try and keep it simple
Or try and keep it real
And if being real means
Means you'll some day will say goodbye

Remember my friend
Goodbyes not the end
Its a circle you know
And it starts with one hello


Well for us it starts with... "HOW YOU DOIN'?" hahaha...

My beautiful cousin, Ate Lia and our new Kuya Benji! (Side story: I organized Ate Lia's birthday party years ago so I can meet Benji and she told me... Please don't scare him off he's not used to super tight families hehehe) They've both sorted out their issues before getting married in their 30somethings. You should see them together and how they handle their relationship. They even have rules on how to fight fair! (Ate Li! I need a copy I lost mine hahaha) It pays to wait.

Happy Birthday Kuya E

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KUYA ERIC THE IMPATIENT WARTY TOAD!!!

Ate Anna gave Kuya E a gamecube to play with... and I woke up with Eric screaming at her...
"MOOOOOVE MOOOOVE!"
"You're not even in the court!"
"Face me face me!"
"Mooooooove!"

While my sister was just laughing her head off and saying:
"I am moving!"
"Why is he bowing?! See you're bowing too!"
"Which button should I press?""

With Eric screaming back:
"Green! Green! Just Green!"
"Move your joystick! "
"You're opeless (without the H!) Bordel! (mess in French)"

Then Ate Anna goes again:
"I'll kick this gamecube! "
"Why are you so mean!"

Eric's turn:
"Moooove! MOVE!"
"Face me!"
"USe your joystick!"

And Ate Anna:
"Move where?!"
"Why is he bowing?! See you're bowing too!"
"Which button should I press?""

Eric:
"GREEEENNNN!!! ALWAYS GREEEENNN!!!" "Move move!"

So I go out of my room to see what the fuss is all about and lo and behold they're playing Mario Party! The volleyball game against King Koopa and Yoshi... what kids!

And then I finally figured out why Eric was so upset... Ate Anna was on the sidelines, not facing anywhere coz she was spinning in place. AND THEY WERE TEAMMATES! hahaha

Eric was so pissed, he switched controllers with my sister because my uncle thought her controller wasn't working (she really sucked)... And Ms. Ate Anna Goldfish forgot which character she was playing and thought she was playing so well!!! POOR KUYA E!

He was screaming "Opeless! Opeless! and Useless!" "MOVE!"
Ate Anna: "I am moving! You're the one who's not in the court see?!"
Eric: "NOOO! That's meee!" "You suck!"
Ate Anna: "well it's your fault you picked a TOAD! Why is he bowing?!"

And folks, the characters only bow when they lose a point or they weren't able to get the ball...

Final Score Against the Computer? 0-15! hahahaha

Ate A is behind me now saying it wasn't her fault. Righhhht...

GUSHING ABOUT MY MOM

Happy Mother's Day to the Valedictorian of the School of Life!
I wouldn't be who I am now if not for her. She brings a touch of heaven and everything divine to our lives



Maria Paz Catherine Samson Mijares-Chua

As a child, I thought my mom was the most perfect being in the whole wide universe. She could make all my pains and hurts go away with just a hug or a kiss, she always knew what it was I wanted and needed without me having to ask,every question I had, she had an answer to, when she smiled the sun shined and when she held my hand I knew nothing can hurt me. She was superwoman plus she was friends with Santa Claus, the Toothfairy, the Three Kings, even the Easter Bunny and St. Valentine!

Mommy was just magic and the epitome of fun! She invented games for us and played the classic ones with us (piko, chinese garter, patintero, marco polo, little sunny water, doctor quackquack, pepsi-seven up/what time is it mr fox, mother hen, monkeymonkey, sardines, hide and seek, shakeshake shampoo, blindman's bluff, langit lupa, etc). She'd tell me stories about my food and made them in different shapes like animals, cartoon characters and hearts and stars. She made learning a joy, she taught us how to see different objects in clouds, she taught me my abcs, nursery rhymes, prayers and fairy tales even reviewing my school lessons were playtime. She let us play with her clothes and her make up and thought we were gorgeous even when we deliberately try to make each other look like clowns or witches. When I got my white dog, Weegee, from Santa, mom would dye her different colors so when I came home from school my pet was pink or blue or green or orange or yellow or all the colors of the rainbow. She allowed us to scare our neighbors with this horrible mask during one of the blackouts until they started throwing stones at our house. We had a Santa Cruzan procession in October when it only happens in May. We had production numbers at home that spoofed ballet recitals and commercials. She made sure my clothes always matched and that I was the best dressed during school programs (she always made my costumes). During black outs, we'd gather around with my cousins and play with shadows...my mom would be playing the piano and I would snuggle up to her because I was scared of the dark (I still am) and she would say in a scary voice... "I'm not your mommy". She'd give me ice candy when I cut my lip everytime I tripped (for some reason I always fell face first). She gave us chalk to write on the floor. When she saw a rainbow, she made us stop what we were doing so we could fully marvel at its beauty. During road trips, she'd tell us to hold our breath and make a wish when passing a bridge and to count how many waterfalls we could see along the way. She let us have water fights around the house and let us play in the rain in our underwear. She even didn't faint when my sister and I were so inspired by this Tom and Jerry ice skating episode that we put baby powder all over the sala (wooden planks!) and wore socks to skate (although she did make us clean it up ourselves). She let us climb on trees to eat aratilis, duhat and santol. She even lets us climb two walls close to each other like spiders. She taught us how to make homemade bubbles from papaya stalks and gumamela. We had theme parties to celebrate every occasion possible. She let us jump on their bed (two little elephants jumping on the bed...). She let us use the dining table as a pingpong table with the net being rows of cassette tapes then she had a carpenter make us a real table. She had the same carpenter cement a permanent piko/ hopscotch area for the girls.She showed us how to catch flies( we stopped when she caught a bangaw with baby maggots eww), ghost crabs (chase them until they reach the water and bury themselves in the sand then you can pick them up), dragonflies (and put paper on their wings so they can't fly far and make them bite paper, they really burn it), salagubang (put thread so they'll fly around spinning), brightly colored seawater fish, non-stinging jellyfish, fireflies (always set them free)...and how to kill earthworms and leeches with salt. She'd let me lay down under the christmas tree (which was made of pine branches) to enjoy the scent and to stare at the colored lights while squinting until they looked like fairies playing. She'd put a blanket on our garden so we can star gaze and make wishes. She never scolded us in public, she just threatened to lock me up in a room and play Air Supply songs (I hate Air Supply). She'd bring home sets from productions so we could play house in a playhouse big enough for the kids. The same playhouse that we turned into an airplane which became so stinky because a rat died on it. She let us sip nectar from santan flowers. Boredom was not part of our vocabulary. She taught us how to enjoy every moment and to love simple joys and to look at the world with infinite wonder.

Mom is my first experience of true and unconditional love. Because she loves me so fiercely and intensely, I learned to love myself too. She made us feel that no matter what we did wrong she still loves us. It's not us she hates or punishes, it's the bad things we do. She showed us that every person deserves to be loved just because. We deserve to be loved just because. We were always made to feel special and beautiful as long as we did good things. She taught us that no one has the right to make you feel unworthy of love. And that if you love yourself you will be more capable of loving others and that you will never feel incomplete or lonely. That if people treat you wrong or don't love you back, it doesn't mean you're unworthy of love or that there is something wrong with you. How many people are taught that at such an early age? Self love. If I could only leave my children with just one thing, that would be it. Because with self love, everything else follows.

Then as I started to grow up, she taught us more things and showed us how to do it. The value of honesty. The importance of looking past appearances, backgrounds and races. How kindness and generousity are something that should be second nature. How open communication and listening and respect are essential to any loving relationship (be it with siblings, parents, relatives, friends, lovers). How to lower your pride and apologize for something when you know you did someone wrong. How to forgive and understand people who hurt you and misunderstand you because sometimes they don't know any better or even if they do it deliberately. That one's worth isn't measured by grades, but how much passion a person puts into living life (be it in sports, making friends, extra-co, outreach, church, etc) and living it in a good Christian way. How to find strength from within and from God. That who we are isn't based on who we hang out with, the clothes we wear, the material things we were given or the places we hang out in or our schools, village, clubs but by our character, our inner resolve and how we are in quiet moments when we are alone. That understanding is different from agreeing. That people you love have the power to hurt you most and you have the power to hurt the people you love. That growth is a bloody process but it's always always worth it. We should always try to bear fruit where we are planted. How to charm your way to a bargain or better service. The importance of never relying on a man. Why following your dreams is the best thing you could do for yourself and for those who love you. That hating people is a waste of time and energy. To trust your gut feel and women's intuition because it's always right. To spend time reflecting and writing it down. To cry because it'll make you feel better. Retail shopping can work wonders but it can never compete to the emotional high you get from helping people. That trusting God doesn't mean you won't act on anything in your life. That there are somethings you don't have to experience to know what it's like. That I love yous are meant to be said everyday to those you really love. That rudeness is just as bad or even worse than bad hygiene, picking your nose in public, drooling and elbows on the table. That everyone is creative, you just have to find your medium. Dreams are free so you might as well dream big. To let people you care about know that you think about them often. To be there when it counts. Never give up hope. Never blame anyone because we always have choice. That you can spend your whole lifetime paying for a silly silly mistake but you can be at a standstill not living life if you don't make decisions or mistakes. Independence is something every girl should strive for and must be attained before marriage. You can't change people. Respect for the elderly. That you can't help the way you feel but you can always choose how to act. That girls don't chase boys solely because you don't want to waste time on someone who doesn't like you. Never take people for granted because you might wake up one day and they'll be gone. Live life with no regrets.

After all these lessons, she began to change... from supermom to bestest friend. She showed us her imperfections, her mistakes, her regrets, her fears, her sorrows, her joys, her real self. We've seen her at her most shining moments and at her most fragile times. She let us in on her innermost secrets and desires. And wow what a woman she is.

She lost her father when she was 11 and she was his baby girl. She was then sent to boarding school and her mother left for the States. She married at 19, gave birth at 19, 21 and 24. When I came, she had to give up her career in advertising and tv production because she wanted her children to be raised well, in a very loving home with the perfect supermom. She's gone through heartaches, sickness, sleepless nights, headaches and insanity just to be there for us. She is the heart of our family, she binds us together. She keeps busy as a writer and she recently graduated. And now we're beginning our adventure in Sydney.

I know I will never come across any other woman as amazing as she is and many people will agree with me. She has so many adopted children from my friends and her friends can attest to her greatness. I can only hope to be half the woman that she is. I still have to find my halo and wings. My mom is wonderful, beautiful and real. She is love personified.

Happy Mother's Day Mommy! I can never thank you or say I love you enough! I miss you!!! See you soon *hug*

Chilling on a Saturday Night

Kuya Eric, Ate A, Noey, Anne and Gabriel

Cockfighter's Ghost. hehe. what a funny name. And I took it beside the pepsi can on purpose. Drink Pepsi :)

The debutantes... thanks for the great dinner

With Anne and Ate Anna

Poker! One for the River!

This puppy is so adorable, he makes my heart skip and my tummy flutter... it's absolutely no wonder that his name is **GUCCI**.

This is turning into a photoblog.

We had dinner at Anne's place tonight and we had fun playing poker and teaching and teasing Gabe. We now have a new term for fold... "I surrender" hahaha. We also heard one of the most unusual videoke stories ever ( as told by Tita Tess, Anne's mom).

When Anne was just 10, and she and her mom were at a restaurant in Ashfield, she told her mom she wanted to sing. So she went up and sang "Killing Me Softly"... and while she was singing her heart out, a couple having an affair was caught by the husband and he stabbed the guy! Everyone went crazy but Anne kept on singing until someone just picked her up from the stage and dragged her out of the place. Shempre, being typical Pinoys we found the story super hilarious (I don't think anyone was badly hurt) Hehehe

So we've been here a month already... I'm still so homesick but I've learned quite a lot so far. If I were to put a point system as to how well I'm de-bratting, here is what the month would look like:

1) Learning to clean room, make beds = 10
2) Cooking= 10
3) Doing laundry and hanging and taking out clothes= 10
4) Ironing= 10
5) Dishwashing and table setting= 10
6) Attending interviews and getting my first job= 10
7) Taking the train by myself= 10
8) Learning how to take the bus= 10
9) Crossing the street without screaming and running= 10
10) My room still being messy= -5
11) Learning to fold clothes = 10
12) Walking long long distances without whining for Victor= 10
13) Crying because I miss Manila and everyone I love= -10
14) Deciding that I didn't want to take the job and begging my sister to call the boss pretending to be me resigning (we really sound alike) = -150

So that brings me to a total of -55! :( Oh well... I still have until December to get more + points :P

last week :)

Kuya Eric's happy tsinelas!

then he tried to fix it...

aww... my adorable uncle in his gardening gear

we love mansour!

but mansour loves...? Is that a love gaze? hehehe

Showing Paul some love...

Vanya the giant from the outlands of Narnia.

Yaya Power!

I have found my calling!

I can be a domestic helper already. In the whole month I was here, I learned how to clean my room, fix my bed, hang and fold clothes (yes mv i finally can!), do laundry, iron, wash dishes and cook (although they still won't let me hold knives coz I might play with them or worse, cut off my finger). Mommy calls me Inday now.

I'm forever going to be thankful that I never got mad at the maids and my yayas for burning my favorite Mango tops, black pants or new gimmick tops, for turning my white and cream knits all spotty reddish pink, for waking me up early on the wrong day, for not remembering where they put away my things, for my sinigang not turning out right, for not bringing me the right condiments, for putting milk in my maleta, packing a pair of shoes that were both for the left foot (remember those thong wedges we all love and have multiple pairs of?), for not understanding what I want even if I talk in Tagalog, English or Bicolano, ... because IT'S HARD WORK!

I only had to look out for myself (and hello Ate a, my uncle and tita are here so I'm not alone doing the chores) but can you imagine doing that kind of work for so many people day in day out?

Please be kind and patient with your yayas! And yeah I know easy for me to say because I'm tight with our maids (hello I cried when Ate Ems left) and that some are actually really horrible but can you imagine being away from your family because you have to support them and have to serve people you don't know? I think I'll start a yaya fan club :) Who's with me?

BUSTED!!!

As it has been said;
Love and a cough
cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.

Damn...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIGHTLY

To crazy dreaming, living in the moment, doing rounds at estab and rating, non-stop talks, learning to grow up, being unco princesses and daddy's girls, me being called brightly and you being called diane and loving every second together (would you be my spooning partner? hahaha).... Jeigger bombs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you babe!

Just Being Real

Loneliness...

Do you know that feeling when you've done something tremendously well, you accomplish something that you never expected you could do but you get to do it and you exceed all expectations... you know you should be proud and happy... but since you have no one to share it with, no one to witness it with you... it just feels like you did it all in vain. You begin to ask yourself, so what if I have fame, fortune, success... what's the point in all of this if I have nobody.

I heard someone special say that (well atleast that's how I remember it being said)... and it is true, you could be surrounded with friends, family and work but still feel lonely. I really wish I could make it all better and work magic like mothers can but all I can do is listen, cry and pray with you.

If you could for one day, see yourself as I see you, you'd be the queen of the world, a warrior of love, the godess of all godesses. You would find infinite strength, unwavering courage, unconditional love, a beacon of light, hope and kindness that touches everyone you encounter.

You have it in you to be happy.

Because I love Lala

heeheeeheeheeheeheehee

more peectures

With Jayson (Brightly's Kuya) and his friends


What happens when you spend all night guarding your baby sis...


Couple Picture 1


Couple Picture 2

With Paul, my only decent dancing buddy (brightly hates r&b)

FOR DOM! HAHAHAH DVD MAN TO MAN?!

I Have A New Laptop Yay!

BRIGHTLY'S BOYFRIEND (she thought he wasnt a statue when her friend was teasing her that someone wanted to meet her) hahaha


See the seagull on the table? It stole a chip from the guy's plate while he was eating! *MINE*MINE*MINE*


I got bored and put temporary tattooes on ate a and kuya eric... it took forever to get removed heehee

Kuya E with a Canadian Flag on his forehead!


With Mikko (Yoya's Boy) and Julia :)


I finally got to upload pictures! wheeee!!!

COACH :D

Aww... I miss my coaches! I got this from Mich's site (I miss you hun http://katze862.livejournal.com ).

What it's like to train with Coach
This is classic! Here's a picture drawn for Coach Rich by one of his students in PE class. I guess he must have left quite an impression on her!


Coach Rich is one of the very few good men left. He embodies Commitment, Honor, Integrity, and Passion. I love you coach! *pugay*

Aww I have the bestest girls ever!

Happy Birthday Hun! Loving the handbag --no not dom!-- the new perforated one! Maybe you can lend me na the denim hahaha! (There's a pink denim! I think I wanna get that instead :P *I'm hearing La and Gins now... so not classic Di heehee)


Aww... my girls left space for me and ins! What about manika?


I'm missing out---WAAAAAH!!!!


Well... not totally missing out! That's me on the other end of the cellphone hahaha! BARKADA PIC! Angles please :D


Alin... alin... alin ang naiba... odd man out! Weren't the boys supposed to be waving goodbye to him? aww...


Ooooh lots of champagne bottles and shots after... H-O-T! I love you Dom!