Birthday Wishlist '12

While everyone regards February as the Love Season or Love Month, for me, its something else… its my birthday month! Yay! My birthday is one of my favorite celebrations every year. I mean, who doesn't love their birthdays? You get to feel special rather extra special that day, you get to splurge on yourself, and if you're lucky enough, you get to have presents and random surprises! ☺ Now I know, material things become less significant as we age because we give importance to a deeper value of being able to reach another year. I myself for the past years have realized that and I make it to a point to thank God for all the blessings, material or not, that He has given to me. On the other hand, I can't avoid the idea of wanting material things for myself from time to time. I think everyone else feels the same in a way right? And I think its just normal. Besides its my birthday; its that one particular day I can push a little bit on the asking after all. Hihi ☺

(L-R) Best of Me by N.Sparks, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by R. Riggs, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by S.Chbosky, Sputnik Sweetheart&1Q84 by H.Murakami, and Before Ever After by S.Sotto

Good reads! I have a long list of it but these are currently the ones I wanna read. After finishing the Night Circus, I got interested in genres other than romance and also works of other author aside from Nicolas Sparks and Paulo Coelho. But of course, Sparks' works would always be in my list. :)

Fujifilm Velvia 100F and Lomography Redscale Negative

35mm films! Now that I'm planning to use Luna more often, I'm gonna be needing a lot of films, which is kind of expensive if I'm gonna buy from the Lomography store alone. So I also wanna use expired films and those from Kodak and Fujifilm too. I think it would create nice photos as well.

big gold watch

Sperry Topsiders

and last but not the least, the PBCo. minis box of 6 made it to my wishlist this year! Hehez :-) Being the peanut butter junkie that I am, I would love to try PBCo.'s (Green tea, sesame, dark chocolate, sun-dried, chili, and crunchy) flavored peanut butter. ♡
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Kantiyawan 2012

I was not supposed to go to SPUM yesterday due to some things but since my friend Bea convinced me on the last minute, I ended up going anyways. Haha! I originally wanted to donate blood but I miscalculated the travel time so arrived late for it but just in time for Kantiyawan so its okay though. I had to thank Bea cause it was actually a good idea to watch! I really enjoyed the whole show! Seriously! Everyone was so funny and awesome ;) Aside from that, I got to see a lot of my batchmates, friends, and professors too. I was so happy and I had this feeling of being at home again :"> B also came to watch with me after convincing her to. Yay! I kind of felt sentimental as I walk on the streets of P.Gil and went around Robinson's Manila though. I could remember the days where I could stay in RP all day just roaming around after class hours, checking sales and eating my all-time favorite Taters' White Cheddar popcorn. :)

So Kantiyawan is a Tagalog term for "tease"; which is one of my school's program during the University Week where professors get to perform dance and song numbers on stage. They would dress up hilariously or outstandingly, while students tease and cheer them as they present. Hence, the name. This year, the theme is Broadway so they performed some famous plays and musicals. Since I was so caught up with the whole program, I wasn't able to have photos of me and my friends :( My camera's battery also died right after the program so I only used my phone and CJei's camera to take pictures with my CIs.

She's one of our CIs. She is so charming while she dances! ;)






She's one of our advisers during my senior year, and my CI in my elective (Psych) :)




Mr. Vega's part is one of my favorites :) He's so funny when he does that "wiggle pose"! :)




A crowd favorite, as for Nursing students I can say :)






Our talented male CI's




Sooooo adorablee!!! :"> :)

This year is SPUM's 100 year Anniversary so the celebration's kinda grand. The Alumni Homecoming would even be held in SMX Center in Pasay with other famous Paulinian graduates like Ms. Charo Santos-Concio, and others. It would be hosted by Mr. Edu Manzano too. Forgive me I'm not familiar with the others, hee. :D Even if I was only able to attend one day, I'm already satisfied since at least I got to go back to SPUM, see my friends, and participate in my own little way. :">

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The good in goodbyes (Cebu Day 3)

Today we actually decided to wake up a little bit late than yesterday since our flight's still at 11pm and we really don't have anything planned. We just want to satisfy our taste buds with our glucose cravings which has been going on since we arrived. We have listed a few dessert places that can only found here in Cebu and that also has good reviews. We realized its only appropriate to eat out after cutting back a bit on the last days. :D Also, the three of us have a profound fondness for sweets, only with a bit variety. So we headed to Ayala Center where most of the shops on our list can be found.

Good Morning @ Capoy's residence! Haha :D

On our list are these mouthwatering desserts:
1. La Marea - Warm Brownie Cup (they don't have a branch in Ayala Center)
2. Vanille - Chocolate Fondant
3. Postrio Cafe - Pecan Pie
4. Oh Georg - Chocolate Almond Tart
5 Cebu Beehive Restaurant - Beehive Roll (this too, they only have one location)

I actually got the list from this site, so I guess its pretty reliable. Hihi :) Since Keith doesn't go there much often, we still had to spend a little time looking for them but they're not that hard to find anyway. Coincidentally, we stumbled on a stall of Mochiko which sells mochi ice cream, a currently popular dessert in Manila. They were too cute so we decided to taste them already even though we can try it anytime at home. We tried different flavors - Sarah got the Cookie dough flavor, B got the Milk tea flavor, Keith got the Green tea and being a fan of red bean, I got Azuki flavor. We sat as we tasted ours, then B, Sarah and me exchanged so we get to taste the other flavors too. I loved my Azuki, not too sweet and I can really taste the red bean. It even has red bean bits in it! ;) The milk tea and green tea tasted both fine, but the milk tea was sweet for me, while the green tea tasted really like green tea, no sweetness at all. Haha! But I liked it :) The cookie dough is delicious with real cookie dough inside but its also too sweet for me. See, even though I am a self-confessed dessert gourmand, I have sweetness sensitivity if that term exists. I easily get appeased even only with a small amount of sweetening so most of the time, and if I can, I choose the least sweet item on the menu. I am more on the bittersweet side. :)


Moving on, we first found Postrio Cafe, but Sarah isn't a fan of pies and nutty stuffs so I just thought I'd buy one to take home. Next cafe we found was Vanille which kind of resembles Bizu's ambience. Since B and I are Bizu fans, and they have wi-fi available, we decided to find our seats and order in. Aside from their famous chocolate Fondant, we found out they also sell macarons! They all look very pretty sitting on the counter and I was so tempted to try them. But being a good resistor, I was able to hold myself from buying and just ordered an espresso to match the Fondant instead. Hihi :) B instead, bought a box to take home while Keith ordered a Chocolate Mint Milkshake.










It was indeed heaven on first bite. we have all agreed to that. Haha! The brownie was warm so it paired with the ice cream well and the tableya sauce neutralizes the sweetness. I just had a foodgasm right there.

We were already full by the time we finished everything so we didn't go to the other cafes anymore. Plus we decided to have our last dinner at Handuraw Pizza again so we have to save some space for it 'cause its sure gonna be an eat out. Hehez :D We just agreed to watch a movie to pass time. We watched Underworld: The Awakening. Honestly, I am not a fan of that sequel at first. I didn't even know it has early installments on the previous years. However, after watching it, I found it interesting after all. I am even downloading the past parts and also looking forward for the next. :)) So like what I said, we had Handuraw Pizza for dinner! We just ate in a different branch and tried a different flavor this time. :) I would really miss their pizza, I don't think I ever tried something like this in Manila yet. Handuraw has made it to my Top 5 favorite pizza places already. Hihi ♥ We bought one box to gave to Keith's family as a sign of thank you for accomodating us in their home.

This time we already had our decent group shot. Hehez

This 3 day trip is short but yet we had so much fun. We got to experience more than what came here for so we really really loved our stay. Aside from their delicious food and lovely beaches, making new friends were the greatest part. Certainly, we will come back. And it wouldn't be too long I'm sure. ☺

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Experience is the best teacher. (Cebu Day 2)

We were supposed to go to the beach on a weekend so that Keith's friends would come since they're all working during the weekdays but we have it moved today because we are also supposed to meet a friend here - which apparently didn't happen anyway. Good thing his highschool friends were able to join us. He advised to have many people come with us because aside from the fact that we would be able to save for the boat ride, it would be more fun to have a lot of company right?

We woke up and got ready early so that we would catch the 8am trip to the island. We waited for his friends as we have our coffee and read our horoscopes and readings for the Year of The Water Dragon available in the daily newspaper. I usually read those every year to at least have an idea of what's in store for me. But I really don't rely on it completely. Its just a nice to know information. :) Anyways, as they arrived one by one and as Keith introduced them to us, we slowly got nervous because we were thinking that we might not get along or they might think of us differently so we initailly don't know how to act. However, it worked otherwise and even more better. :)

So because we weren't able to prepare for the food we're gonna bring today, we first dropped by at the grocery and bought some food. Then we rode at the back of Keith's friend's pick-up which was my first time. I used to see people sitting at the back of trucks and pick-ups on the highways and it seemed really fun so I was a bit thrilled when I saw that we'll gonna ride in there too. It was indeed afun and new experience for me since I was used to riding SUVs and vans whenever me and my friends in Manila would go roadtripping or something so I really enjoyed riding in an open vehicle like that where I could feel the breeze of the air and have a wider view of the scenes as we pass them by. :) It would take us at least 30-45 minutes to get the first island so we had time to rest, appreciate the view, get ready and become acquainted with each other.










Someone's wants to join from the back, hoho :D





As we approach the island, I immediately fell in love with the view. It was like we're arriving in a paradise. The island is picturesque. In that moment, I was completely swept away. The skies are so bright and filled with white fluffy clouds that gave a heavenly ambience, the vibrant hue of the blue sea compliments the white, refined sands. Along with the fine weather, and 11 individuals who are ready to bask in the heat (at least for me :D), this is pure ecstacy. :) Even with just these photos you would exactly get what I'm saying right?

Of course we three didn't waste the opportunity and had our pictures taken with the beach right away. We didn't even noticed it was already lunch time until Keith told us so. :D They got us to try a kind of shell they call "Saang" or "Spider Shell" in English; and it was so delicious! I think I ate 4 of it. x) We ate it with "puso" or the rice wrapped in banana leaves as we talk with each other and figure out a uniform language/dialect to use to understand each other easily. Hehez. In the end, they just taught us some Cebuano words and used Tagalog since they all know how to speak using it anyway.










The signature "bikini-beach view" shot by my extra sexy girls :">




(L-R) Justine, Val, Kath, Trine, Claire, Me, Ed Mark, Keith, Sarah, B, Jessie

After lunch, it was time to swim. As we (Sarah, B and I) watched them play with each other, we realized we missed our other high school friends left in Manila. Seeing them having fun with each other's company, made us a bit jealous and nostalgic about the days when we are still like them. You see, from the time we entered college, things somehow changed. Some of us became so busy that we seldom see him/her often, some already went abroad, some just never kept in touch. Although we still get together from time to time, we never really had the time to have everyone present in a single occasion. I wish we could have those times again. :"> Meanwhile, being with these new people made us feel less sad and even gave us a slight impression that we are part of their group. Really we never felt more welcomed and comfortable with them. :) They're such kind persons, and after this day I'm truly thankful to meet them. And also to Keith because of his genius idea of inviting his friends.

The epic back ride! :)

I wasn't able to track the time when we got back but we just changed, had dinner and prepared to spend our Friday night with them too. They say Cebu has a good night life and I can't disagree more. We went to IT Park which was very very similar to Makati. There are so many people, and establishments which they say is open until 2am or so. It rained very hard on our way there so we almost bathed in the rain since we sat on the pick-up again. Instead of being annoyed, I actually had fun. Hahaha :) Its not like everyday that I can ride in a pick-up and have those experiences anyways. :)

pulling our ugliest faces, haha! x)

PS: some photos are taken by Jessie ;)

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