week 4, Stoked!

An affable lad with a quiet, humble, and shy demeanor, Luke has a smile that could light up Argentina. read more...==>> click here

LL fever!

new-found friends

still at BHS when Oliver received an invitation from his office people last Saturday. i know how Oliver loves to join them so without any further ado we drive home and made a quick shower and head through Quezon Avenue. we met his group at Punchline, it was a full house Saturday performance and the last thing i remember about Punchline was our (Raks and Moi) meet up with Bernard aka Ryan G. aka Angas (our online friend...) wayback 2004.

Bev's and boyfie, Honey F and Me, MJ and boyfie

too bad, Renel and gf went ahead of us....

well, it was nice to bond with new-found friends and looking forward on seeing them again one of this days over dinner and coffee :)

i am trying to upload Anton's Diva and Kiray's video here...still trying, hehehe. another busy and fun-filled weekend, all sunday was spent at home with my Bea while Oliver had some business with his new-found F4 look-a-like friends --the Sy brothers!

she misses Boni High...

well, not last Saturday! we were able to bring her at Boni High Streets after my workshop. we know how she misses the ground, the afternoon walk, the kids who loves to pet her and maybe her bestbuddy Oreo too...unfortunately, Oreo was absent that Saturday afternoon. if you care to know, Oreo is the black female lab owned by Che-Che whom we met at Boni High last year. Oreo and Bea met twice already and because they are of the same size and of the same age they are so inseparable whenever they would bumped with each other. Bea and Oreo developed this friendship over those meetings at BHS.

waiting for Oreo???

nevertheless, Bea had all fun the entire afternoon with Momi and Dadi of course! she had a nice McDonald's meal before we went home!

Bea and Dadi, in each other's pocket!

and there's the two of us, poser!

she will turn 2yo in less than 2 months time...and Dadi and Momi are planning a Tagaytay trip for her and Shen...yey!

Customer Care Workshop Batch 2

went to Limketkai last Saturday to attend the Customer Care Workshop. we are the second batch of ee who attended the whole day event...it was all fun, and honestly i never felt bored during the entire session. Lai, our training officer, was such a very lively speaker and i highly commend her for the job well done :)

groupings during the workshop, attendees from PMG, Sales, SE and Distribution.

lights camera action! more role-playing...

our graduation pic ended with some wacky shot :)

i am pro!

not to forget the sumptuous breakfast & lunch by CCME!

i wish to blog better after the Business Writing Workshop..coming very soon! this is for now....happy monday everyone!

friday report, may 22

at the outset, friday dinner should be at Amici de Dosco over Okura Japanese resto which i prefer because of the very good reviews i read from fella bloggers. at a sudden, after Oliver & Che picked me up at Limketkai we ended dining at a favorite chinese fast food --Northpark! though i am partly addicted to NP i am craving for pasta and pizza that night...sigh!

we had Shanghai Rolls (128.00), a hotpot dish --Nanking Beef and Aniseed Beef Tendon (P218.00), and an order of White Chicken (P138.00) with steamed rice.

Che and moi while waiting for our dinner to be served...

Likes about NP (no particular branch)...

- reasonably priced
- generous serving
- ample parking
- food is always served hot
- comfy dining area
- 24/7 open
- no service charge :)
- attentive crews

Dislikes about NP...
- inconsistency in serving of house tea to guest :(

It’s not 10 but 15 Random Things about LNA!

1. I grew up with my Lolo Fel and Lola Itay; my Lolo is one of person I would always remember. My grade school will be all alone without him attending my PTA meetings and graduations too.

2. I love dogs and I have a bountiful of aspin named Tagpi and Whitey during my childhood. My most memorable dogs who are now happy over the rainbow were Tuting (aspin), Kenny and Buchie (aspins too) and my precious Arianne (purebred lab).

3. I am a loyal lover and all through my HS years I have only but one crush, his initial is DD and I dunno where he is now.

4. I am a super duper avid Eraserheads fan all through out my college years and during my first few years in the telecom industry. I day dream of Ely Buendia so much and to my wanting to be his girl I wrote him letters for over a year and befriend his manager Ann (ahhh, desperate!)

5. I love the shades black, blue and white not until my Leoncio introduce me to his colorful world of red and pinks.

6. I half miss of my life for not eating squids and sashimi, thanks to my good friend Gerald for educating me how to eat those seafood :)

7. I am a bag and shoe person for all ya know. I love big bags and ballet flats too.

8. I am the beach bum who never learn and will never ever learn how to swim, awww how about surfing? Well, If Luke Landrigan will voluntarily teach me how I will consider the big waters!

9. I was totally deprived of sweets and anything cold during my entire childhood because of my recurring tonsillitis and I had my 5th bday celebrated at a hospital in Cavite.

10. I am a good cook acc to my friends and co-workers but never tried cooking pancit all my life.

11. I am snob acc to people who doesn’t know me well; I am mataray to people who dislikes me (I don’t care duh!). Ask my real friends they would say “Sweet, but Tough & Domineering!

12. I’m half Ox and Tiger --I am a hard worker and down-to-earth but can be stubborn and obstinate at times.

13. It’s hard for me to forgive and forget, I am no saint.

14. I have few secrets shared with my closest girlfriends and they promise to keep it until the day that I die (wooo..morbid!)

15. I would love my name change to Alexandra or Alessandra Martina.

week 3, addicted to LL!

it's already past 3 weeks after my LaU trip and still i am hooked --ehem, i seriously mean STOKED to LL! i just finished reading the article about him at MH's May issue, oh my! he really is a stand out!

read on, The Gospel according to Luke!

i heart LaU!

bea can't get over it...

yesterday after our short trip to Purple Oven we dropped by at Robinson's Pioneer to do a little grocery and we stopped at DIY also to buy some home fixtures and i thought of buying Bea a new leash but there are very few selections, in short there's nothing "bagay" to her. you know how Oliver is so picky on things too so i ended up buying her a new toy. it's a Nobbly Wobbly latex toy --multicolored chewable someting that is twisted, fun-shaped, full-color tangled teaser which she will have great fun chewing alternative to our wooden couch! (couch na di na makilala because she started chewing this when she was only 2 mos old)...oeemgee Bea!

chewing her new toy to sleep...

purple oven

the purple what? not literally and physically in all purple like the hopia corporation in binondo but i tell you this purple completed my sunday and my weekend too. after four days of sickness finally Oliver treated me a drive to Oranbo, Pasig this afternoon and guess what?? we went to the "Purple Oven" bakeshop which i heard had been Starbucks' cake and pastry supplier --my first taste of purple oven was Feb 2008 when Jingky and I had the chance to pre-order a cheesecake thru his husband's co-worker in Accenture and then i heard a lot of this from my social affiliation, GT of course!

well, cakes are reasonably priced (to say yes compared to Starbucks) and they all look so heavenly, heavenly...i cannot imagine what i felt earlier when i walked at their shop seeing all the cake at their display chiller i had a hard time picking one. later, i settled for the cake very common to my eyes which is the Chocolate Dome Cake. the same cake Che and I purchased last New Year at Starbucks Tagaytay for P995.00 (ssshhh...we got it for P680.00 lang kanina!) i'll have the list of cakes scanned tomorrow and probly post it here. --email me for copy :)

for now, feast your eyes on this delectable Chocolate Dome!

Give. Live. Love

The Purple Oven Corporation
#63 St. Peter St.,
Brgy. Oranbo, Pasig City
Tel. 631-4221/ 910-1363/ 910-1364

not only on sunday obligation...

do you religiously attend Sunday obligation as a roman catholic? do you? do we? how often do you talk to God? is it on Sunday alone?

another capture on the road...

friday report...

was still so sick last night but i keep on saying to Oliver that i need a good dinner preferably something like Northpark Hotpot dishes to fill me. i asked him if we could drive to Makati, so we went through and went to the new Glorietta 5. it was my ever first time to step at this new Ayala building which is just across Rustan's and what i found out is most of the shops and restos from the old Glorietta 1 and 2 was relocated at this new shopping venue. though few people and by-standers frequent this new building the overall ambiance plus the crowd is just so so compared to Greenbelt 5. another thing, those line up of restos between Park Square 1 and 2 was also reloc here --Gerry's Grill, North Park, Guilly's, except for Max's which was the only establishment that was retained. Luk Yuen had a soft opening too at the ground level facing Glorietta 4-Oakwood.

Glorietta 5 now open!

well, if you think we dined at NP we did not this time. why? because we did not check first the list of restos and because Oliver found Chef d Angelo's new home at the 3rd level already there's no way i can pacify him. it has been his favorite Italian fast food (wayback 2004 or 2005 when we first dined here) and during those months when CdA was closed at Glorietta 2 we would go to Robinson's Galleria branch to dine. you know how Oliver loves pasta and pizza, we would always go for the white sauce and white cheese too. we had an order of great white pizza (size is 9") P230.00 --this pizza cost only P120.00 wayback 5 years ago and pizza size is standard at 9" then and that no other size is available. tomato based Seafood Medley cost P180.00 --taste is just so so or maybe because i have no appetite, try it spicy! and i had this order of Bacon Potato Cheese Soup for P55.00 only --rich and creamy but i still prefer French Baker's soup bowl. and because i feel sick it was so easy for me to get full, after that round of soup, a slice of pizza and a little serving of pasta i content overlooking Oakwood and wishes that someday we'll have an apartment condo similar to it. yeah, wishful thinking! we went home straight after dinner.

Chef d Angelo's new home at 3/F Glorietta 5

wishing everyone a splendid weekend!

three days of sickness...

yes, i am on my third day of sickness today and i have pains all over my body, i have nodes on my neck, i have a terrible head ache during the nights, i have a soar throat and i dunno if it's just because of my swell tonsils, i chill every now and then, i get tired so easily and i am so sleepy to death --thank God it's Friday today, i can rest over the weekend.

my weekend loot..

my recent purchase online is the Nine West Crinkled Shoppers Tote, you know how fascinated i am to big big bags...and this one is perfect for everyday use too aside from my XOXO Destiny which i got last Feb.

Nine West Slick

week 2, still hooked with LL!

Luke and his killer smile :)

weekend gathering...

we had our weekend with my family at indang, and because it was also town fiesta we all had fun at my ninang elo's house the entire afternoon of sunday. though it was not like the previous years when my ninang elo does all the cooking and preparation, still we ensure our presence will be much felt than anything else, my maternal family should be stronger at this time and that our family ties should be more closer more than ever.

hay! let's lighten up, it's just another photo op weekend for all of us :)

the little Paolo...sobrang kulet!

my subject will always be Juyen and Sam!

my maternal family...

at the seafood market...

after a week long of spending more time at the office, perfect word is overstaying and "otty" (overtime thank you..hehehe), finally it's friday! and we're back to usual friday routine, dinner -coffee-mall. it was always our week-ender if we are not scheduled to visit cavite over our 2 days off...

last friday (may 8), after Oliver & Che picked me up at Limketkai we started considering of havin' dinner at nearby Greenhills restos but all his suggestions was kinda so so and my undecisive attitude "i dunno" went again so instantly he make a turn before we reach Shaw Blvd and headed to J.Vargas Home Depot and whatelese awaits us? seafoods from Dampa, of course!

we did the market thing --Crabs at P280.00/kilo and Shrimps at P380.00/kilo. Paluto cost us P100.00 (0.50kl) for the buttered garlic shrimps, tempura P150.00 (0.50kl) and sweet & chilli crabs cost P170.00/kl. everything was so appetizing!

our green day theme, well it was just a coincidence :)

we went home without thinking of coffee this time, it was a very fulfilling dinner!

best mom's!

on sunday it will be Mother's Day and i'm sending my greetings to the the best moms ever! (for me of course because they are the closest to my heart...ehem, ehem...)

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.

by Oprah Winfrey

my bro!

after month's of compelling Oliver my need to have this USB device finally he went home with this Smart Bro kit a day before Holy Week vacay. thank you honey!

more info about this small device :)

Smart BRO PREPAID, the newest Smart Bro broadband internet service that allows you to surf the net anywhere there’s a PC! Absolutely no Monthly Service Fee since it’s prepaid!
The Smart BRO USB modem is a small, palm-sized device that you can carry with you wherever you go. And anytime you need to surf, just plug it into the USB port of your PC, and you’ll get connected in a flash. Total initial payment is P1995 with FREE P100 broadband load. Broadband Internet use is P10 for every 30 minutes.

** Available in selected areas (3G or HSDPA areas)

Get one at any Smart Wireless Center nationwide,
For more information, contact our hotline at *1888 FREE from your Smart cellphone. You may also call via landline at 672-7277 (MMLA) or toll-free 1-800-10-672-7277 (Provincial).

my Bro's first travel!

aurely's

it's raining outside and everytime it does i want to nibble something or should i say i always crave for something...hehehe, and today i want some aurely's sweet goodies! the last time i had a box full of this was a few months ago, march?? i guess... it was when Carlos (Minerva's hubby) was in Pampanga, we asked him to drop by and bought boxes of this heavenly pastries. i know, i know, i can finish a box of rich brazo de mercedes bars in one sitting so i asked for two boxes :)

i am looking forward on our soon yet unplanned Pampanga food trip, px shopping (as if ang yaman namin..hehehe) and some sweet relaxation at Holiday Inn. we are targetting June but no definites yet. anyway, for those interested aurely's address is posted below and it's P130.00/box.

sinful "inverted" brazo de mercedes

Aurely's Bakeshop
Mac Arthur Hi-Way, San Agustin, San Fernando, Pampanga
Telephone No. (+63 45) 961 - 1006

surfer lukas...

other side of my Luke is an aspiring model, i hope he won't jump the showbiz community --i prefer him being simple yet sultry, his naive look though he is more than a pro, whew! this man is young and so full of purpose, i wonder if he is dating his students..hehehe, i might enrol soon --lol!

boyish look

teaser Lukeee!

i wonder how it feels to work with this guy??? i am getting so interested of him :)

my luke!

Luke Richard Thomas Landrigan or simply Luke to his folks back in La Union is the Fil-Autralian surfer who flash awesome form to win in various surfing competitions. He is mostly seen in his Surf Camp (San Juan Surf Resort) in San Juan, La Union where he runs the Billabong Surf School as well. he is so pinoy holla a GI like my Leoncio! and girls can't help but notice his hunk image...i love him too! hehehe...

Luke and River ( i love this lab and his master too! lol)

get a copy of this pleaseee..

will write more of him in the days to come, for now i have to sleep it's past 1am now and work awaits me at the office later today...sigh!

gone for the weekend - day 2

goodmorning La Union! our second day (may 2) and it was a beautiful morning for Oliver to ride the waves...yey for him! we had coffee at the resto to start our day and before we laze around. finally Oliver started his surfing 101 with a local guy --the "paddle" and "tayo" was the basic and in less than an hour he was able to ride the wave. while we were watching him from a far we enjoyed the waves too, it was cool being slapped by the powerful waves and i was hoping River would swim.

contemplating our next moves...

goodmorning La union, more photo ops...

riding the waves! paddle, paddle and more paddle and finally he made it! btw, surf lesson + surf board is P400.00/hour. Billabong Surf School does group session headed by Luke Landrigan of course.

lovebirds, sweethearts...

La Union coastline is clean, and i admire how the local folks maintain this surfing ground.

foursome! friendship that rocks!

before 10am we were already out the water and preparing to check out by 12noon. so after getting dressed and a little more photo op we drive straight to Midway Grill for the second time to have brunch...

homey and comfy cottage at Sebay was worth staying.

at Midway Grill, the boys ordered for Grilled Squid again (P169.00 for 2 big squid, garlic rice and buttered veggie) while Minerva and I ordered for the all day breakfast --American Slam (P110.00 for 2 pc sausages, strips of bacon, hash brown, scrambbled egg, and toasted bread), Ultimate Omelette in photo (P149.00 big big omelette heavily filled with ham, carrots, potatoes, mushroom and a lot more, hashbrown plus slices of toasted bread). it was so fulfilling to dine here and how can anyone resist the bottomless iced tea at rock bottom price (P35.00).

at 2pm we were driving north to visit my in-laws and Minerva and Carlos had fun travelling this far for the first time...i wish we had more time so we can drive further,

at Tagudin, we have to cross this hanging bridge since the river water was no longer passable.. we forgot that Carlos had fear of heights but he instantly get used to this adventure.

a little taste of Ilocos for Minerva and Carlos...

after 2 hours we bid goodbye to Nanang and Tatang, and went ahead to Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur to buy some seafoods. unfortunately we were not able to buy any squid so we bought yellow fin tuna for P130/kilo. a big yellow fin normally weigh 3kls...we're back on the road again and planning to have early dinner at Midway Grill but instantly changed plans when we passed at Riverfarm in Baroro, Bacnotan.

dining al fresco style at Riverfarm, we ordered for Riverfarm Hotpot P270+ (local sinigang with crabs, squids, shrimps and fish), Riverfarm Medley P250+ (grilled bangus, tilapia and pork, steamed okra and pako and seaweeds), Grilled Squids P170.00 and Dinengdeng P70.00. If you wish to dine at the floating kubo you have to pay an additional P50.00

before 8pm we were already at San Fernando Lau on our way to Manila, passed to this line up of store that sells dried fish in Damortis... i did not buy anything at all, Minerva bought some dried squids for pasalubong and that's it all we wanted now is to be home safe and sound..

at Damortis, La Union

we could have reached NLEX by 12:30am but Carlos felt bad when we were at SCTEX so we could not drive any faster that 40km and we have a few stop over before finally we hit the north diversion road. we let Carlos took a nap so we ended with a cup of coffee over chitchats at Caltex service station and finally before 3am we left the couple and went ahead.

at 2am we were still very lively at NLEX, coffee sippin!

Oliver and I reached home around 3:30am and with no buts and ifs we went to bed. tired and so so sleepy! it was one of a kind weekend for all of us, again thank you dear Lord for giving us a wonderful sunshine all through out this trip --with you all things are possible!


Footnote: what we missed during this road trip, visit at Ma-cho Temple in SF LaU, side trip to Luna LaU, and Alilem Ilocos Sur. be back soon!

gone for the weekend - day 1

long planning and prep is so okay and organized but most of the time it ends up a catastrophe! so i entrust a little to this trip with less planning, free flow, relax and come what may --that was the bottomline of our gone for the weekend, "bahala na" we just need a day or two to unwind and have fun under the sun!

as i mentioned earlier it was planned shortly, the only detailed thing i remember is that we need to meet Minerva and Carlos at the 1st Petron Station at NLEX at around 3am of May 1 and that Oliver and I arrived an hour late due to some suspicious activity in our apartment building around 2am. by 5am we were already heading north via SCTEX and by the time we reached Rosales Pangasinan sun was already up which was a good sign for us --God is so good to give us sunshine! we stopped at Chowking a few meters from SM Rosales and had breakfast, after an hour we hit the road again for another 2 hours for San Fernando, La Union. though our destination is the surfing capital of the north (San Juan), we made a quick stop at Seapark to catch sight of the resort's activities and facilities. btw, their accommodation is a bit expensive compare to nearby Bauang's line up of beach resorts. then finally we reached the town of San Juan and had a little photo shoot in front of Precidencia which is the town's municipal hall. before we settled at Sebay Surf Central in Urbiztondo we also checked for Kabagis (which are picnic huts only) and San Juan Surf Resort which was our first choice but accordingly was fully booked..hay! it's all because Minerva and I assumed that reservation is no longer necessary and we almost end up sleeping in our cars or probably get a night at those homestay outside the resort. timely was the sudden cancellation of one of their guest so we got a decent room for 4 pax and we added another P200.00 for the extra pax (Tonton, Oliver's nephew is with us during this trip and i think this is becoming more often that he likes tagged along) and spent only P1,950.00/night --hey, we got a real beach front hut which is homey and relaxing.

we had late lunch at Sebay resto and it was a big disappointment, Minerva had this Baler combo which is plainly chicken pork adobo and I had this La Union combo which is Igado (a local dish in ilocos province) while Carlos had Bangus and Oliver and Tonton had Bulalo --expensive, expensive because there was no extra ordinary on the poor serving of our dishes. Meal here cost around P170+ per plate. right after lunch and after sight seeing the beach area everyone ended up with a nap...zzzzzzzzz! the 2 hour rest was all enough for us to regain energy and jump off the beach..holla! the waves are just perfect for surfers, though it was a bit scary for someone like me who doesn't know how to swim or float either i was fearless to face the waves washing out the shoreline. it was all fun and i miss our Bea's presence, she would have loved the waves too..sigh! nah, i miss her because i met River who went swimming with me late that afternoon. He's the star of San Juan Surf Resort in Urbiztondo aside from Luke Landrigan. i regret for not having any photo with River, i promise to be back and bring Bea along :)

well, we waited at the beach area until sun down and it was an amazing one! we drive to Carlatan and had dinner at Midway Grill. i backread from fellow bloggers that this is the best eatery at San Juan so we give it a try. we had grilled squids, sizzling adobong pusit, sizzling gambas and sizzling bangus over garlic rice and mongolian fried rice. ice tea was superb, for P35.00 you get a bottomless one! even before we finished dinner, Minerva and I was already planning what to eat the next day...hehehe. by 10pm we were back at Sebay, Oliver and Carlos settled for some bottles of alcohol while we (Minerva and I) went out for a walk at the shoreline over some purely girltalk.

our day ended just before midnight..Lord, thank you for the dazzling sun today!

PRESIDENCIA San Juan LaU

the not so good lunch at Sebay resto...

basking under the sun...

our travel buddy --Minerva and Carlos

honey F and me!

Sebay Surf Central, Urbiztondo, San Juan LaU

the beautiful sun down...

Midway Grill

continued day 2............