the unproductive regretful dissatisfied frustrated bored me in this so called -----

Life had been difficult for me for the past weeks or maybe months??

Yesterday, while watching my officemates do some paper works and other administrative tasks, I felt so strange for not doing anything (Not the first time though). Well, I just kept myself busy browsing the internet googling some stuffs and chatting with my officemates the whole time --- with no feelings of guilt at all. Ei! It’s not that there’s nothing to do. In fact, there are a bunch of sh*** things that I have to do. Papers seem to be all over my workplace but no matter how much I condition myself to be in the work mode, I just don’t have the energy to work on the magnanimous tasks that I myself have to do for lack of many things - manpower, resources, directions, spirit, but a big chunk of it is lack of energy and passion. All these had made me become an unproductive mammal.

Every s i n g l e day seems to be a torture. All these make my world a compete mess and I’m having great difficulty thinking how will I be able to get out of this hellish situation. Being able to escape would require honesty and honesty would mean having a great amount of courage and being ready to face whatever the consequences would be.

After all, this is the friggin path I took more than 2 years ago. Looking back, there’s a feeling of regret. If only...

My friends have moved on and are happy and now I’m left alone in this hell. How I miss the days when we would just play charades during our free time in the dormitory, study my lessons, take a nap in the afternoon or just go and gallivant after the class. Yeah, I will never forget those times when all we have to worry about are oral recitations, passing the written exams and of course, endless paper works.

I relish the weekends, the holidays and every single day that I am away from my work. I hope I could finally be able to reach the end of the tunnel and just chase the clouds away, run in the fields and have just total fun, free from feelings of regrets, dissatisfaction, worries. The million dollar question is WHEN?

Benefit Day Spa

I got to know of this spa from my mum who was given flyers and a gift certificate by one of the owners of the spa. The owners of the spa by the way are friends of my family. As I was reading their promotional flyer, I got immediately tempted by the 50% off on their ultimate treatments and 30% off on all their major services (until December only, from 1 pm to 4pm). The services being offered were also affordably priced.

The day after, we headed to the spa. I had their Ultimate Full Body massage (250) while Mum, who arrived late, had the Benefeet Signature Treatment (P300).

Before the massage began, I was given a pair of shorts to wear. I've read that derobing is optional. The place has nice interiors but the space is just so small. The bed where I had the massage was also small that it restrained the masseuse from moving a lot especially when we had to do the stretching part (like that of thai massage). Good thing they're gonna expand to accomodate more beds. They used peppermint essential oil on me which was very much relieving. The massage took 1 hour and 15 minutes. Not bad for the price of 250 which already includes essential oil. For the massage, my mum paid only 125 since it's 50% off. (It's actually mum's treat, hehe..)

I got finished first since my mum arrived late. While watching her sit on this very relaxing chair (fit for a queen), I got jealous with the treatment that I told myself I'm gonna have it on my next visit. I sat next to her and I just felt so comfortable with the chair that I wanted to sleep there. I asked her how the service was and she said she liked it the most compared to other spas which are a bit expensive. The customer can actually choose from the following options for the Benefeet - whitening, softening, relaxing. Mum had the whitening.



Benefit Day Spa also offers the following services: Benefacial signature facial, grooming and hair removal, hilot full body massage, beautiful hands signature treatment and hand/foot reflexology.

And just a note, the store does not encourage tipping as it is their pleasure to serve their customers. So don't feel guilty anymore for not giving gratuity tips. Hehe..

As one of the owners would say, it's just your simple, intimate, cozy place where you can relax and enjoy some 'me' time. Expect quality service at the most affordable price at Benefit Day Spa. Benefit Day Spa is open from 12 noon to 10 pm Mondays to Saturdays.

BENEFIT DAY SPA
Door 28 EC Buisness Center,
C.M. Recto Street,
Davao City

My 21st

It's my 21st year here on earth - so how the world celebrated it?

Since my birthday was in time with this big event which we organized, I had to treat my family in advance. The day before the event, I brought my family to Banana Leaf for a dinner. Sad to say, I was not satisfied with the service and the meals we ordered. The supposed to be spicy rice turned out to be sweet. The minced pork with basil in thai sauce looked so simple but was extremely hot. The moment it was served, we got disappointed. The pork was not minced but rather ground. Well, people must be careful on the use of terms. The clams with special sauce was also sweet with a hint of spice. Darn! Everything was sweet except for that ground pork. The service was not good either. For all these, I had to shell out almost 2,000. For the dessert, we had this banoffie pie from red ribbon - my request from my sisters. I've read that it's Margaret Thatcher and Princess' Diana's favorite pudding. (Kalevel na pala, haha..)
My baby niece liked the pie - lots of cream, walnuts, banana and chocolate gratings.

Then came this 2 day affair. My Gosh, what a grandiose way to celebrate my birthday, I had so much visitors. Haha...The event brought in more than 200 delagates coming from various countries.

On that day, I had a taste of the Kaimunan Festival. In line with the BIMP-EAGA Investment conference, the Department of Tourism sponsored a Kaimunan festival which highlighted the tribe bamboo cooking. The event took place at the Garden tent of Waterfront. We got invited to the affair and so after the 1st day of the conference, we all headed to the venue. We decided to just go back to Marco for the fellowship cocktails.

Upon arrival, guests were welcomed by a cultural performance by the Kaliwat dance troupe. (I'm gonna contact them for future events) What impressed me was the kind of dishes served and the way those dishes were cooked. There I got educated with the tradition of bamboo cooking. In bamboo cooking, food is cooked in its natural flavors using herbs and spices, definitely no oil. Then, a ritual follows. The gathering is called the Kaimunan. There I was able to try dishes which I never heard of - Tuwa na Hipon for the soup, Adobong manok sa lo-ot at pinya. They also had mushrooms in garlic, mixed seafoods, the other one I forgot (It was beef, but didn't try it) -- all cooked in a bamboo roasted on fire.

The soup for me was excellent. It had coconut meat (which I think is the culprit for the sweetness) with herbs and spices. The rice that they had was the brown rice, the one considered healthy. No matter how healthy it is, I still prefer the white one.







At least I learned something for my birthday. After the dinner, we were all served with a glass of red wine. The Kaliwat also entertained the delegates with the portrayal of the kaimunan. It seemed the foreign delegates enjoyed the affair and joined the dance troupe in their performance. In events like this, it's always the foreigners who enjoy much and are willing to dance together with the performers.

After the affair, we all went back to Marco for the cocktails. Well, it was my first time to see the hotel's new function place - The Deck. The place is nice, but heard the cost per head is 1000. Too expensive though. We didn't really stay long during the fellowship, I just satisfied myself with their sweets and refreshment.

Last night, we had this small family gathering in our house. Was it a sort of a post birthday celebration? Kinda..My dad did the cooking as usual. It was really a gastronomic relief for my wormies in my tummy. Haha...Such a week long memorable celebration.

To all those who greeted me, much love...

Where's the Oxygen?

Overheard this inside the comfort room in one of the known malls in Davao..

A young English speaking girl (around 6 to 8 years of age) facing the mirror, talking to her older sister: I NEED OXYGEN !(pronounced "awksijen", in a sosyal manner...)

Hearing this, one of the girls commented: ASA DIAY NAADTO AND OXYGEN? (Where did the oxygen go?)

Oxygen, oxygen, where are you???

Hail to the Scales...

Hail to all the Librans out there - the most charming of all....(audience applause!!) It's the time of the Librans now and so I'm posting something dedicated to all my fellow lovable beautiful Librans...So what makes librans soo soo special? Here are what majority of the readings say about the zodiac sign Libra.

Librans are said to have a pleasant, clever, articulate, charming, charismatic, beautiful, outgoing, fair, artistic, social, refined, diplomatic, even-tempered and self-sufficient character (that really makes us so desirable huh, whew!!) The Libra person is said to be cooperative, sees both sides, open-minded, just, urbane, partnership oriented, avoids conflict, balanced, graceful, debative, idealistic, and equalitarian (blushes...) Librans exude certain elegance, charm and fine taste. Librans too are among the most civilized of the twelve zodiacal characters and are often good looking (a big YES for the last adjective, heheh..) Librans are affectionate, courteous, agreeable persons and are considerate of other people's feelings.

Librans don't handle conflict situations very well. When Librans are exposed to conflicts, they may even get upset. Close harmonious relationships are very important Thus, always trying to please.

I think that explains myself - why I find it difficult to say no to people. It is rather hard for me sometimes to commit to one side of an argument — as I don’t want to be seen as biased, and I want everyone to like me; Why I fancy candle light dinners and walks on the beach...because of Venus being the goddess of love??

These are tons of reasons enough to feel lucky I should say for being born under this zodiac sign. So to all my fellow librans, MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR!!

The week and the months that will be..Whew!!

Im baaaack folks! After a looowwng time...Vacation is over, and I'm now back to work! (sniffs) and I had to set myself to work mode...(I already did!) Been busy for the past days due to this training of trainers which started last week. As you would know, I'm into developmental work handling project on governance in Mindanao, but now I'm engaged in a project that deals with installation of family welfare program for the SMEs, with family planning as one of its major components. Arggh...Do I seem credible?!? hehe...Never thought it would be this difficult. There is still sooo MUCH to be done (as in much!)



I should say this week is going to be quite of a hell with the series of engagements and loads of work that need to be done. The training's going to end tomorrow, and on Thursday, I (together with my Team Leader) will again be attending a Partners' Meeting for a day and a half for the governance project. This is some sort of an assessment meeting but I will not elaborate on this..As for now, I'm still waiting for what's going to happen next with the governance project. The project actually ended last September 15 and I'm doing the terminal report now.

My mind is a bit scattered now, don't know how I'm gonna manage these all.I just can't imagine what is it going to be like in the coming months. As the song goes -- "Come what may..."(blows my bangs)

Au Revoir Not!

After 10 minutes, I'm posting another blog again. I just can't wait for tomorrow to have this posted....Whew!

Ms. Ela Potter (as she prefers to be called- well,she's such a Harry Potter fan) has finally left us. After 6 years of being together, our good friend, who had been my classmate in college and officemate for more that 2 years, finally resigned in search for a bigger challenge.

Last Saturday was a day of pictorial for us - spending her last days chitchatting and taking pictures with us. Just wanted to share these precious moments with you.

The UPMin CommArts Batch 2001

Starring the cast of "A Love Story", "Rush Hour", and Shh...She Walks by Night"

Ms. Potter - a classmate/groupmate/officemate/organizer/friend, and the keeper of batch2001CommartsUPMin..

As the song goes.....

Tho' goodbye means the birth of a tear drop,
Hello means the birth of a smile.
And the smile will erase the tear blighting trace,
When we meet in the after awhile.

We will definitely miss you...No Good byes! See you around my dear friend....

Gastronomic Adventures part 1

I'm supposed to blog about this a few weeks ago but due to my overloaded days of multi-tasking, blogging had been the least of my priorities.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago, the boyfriend came home from Manila and spent a week here in Davao. As usual, both being lovers of food, the week was again filled with gastronomic adventures. To start off, we dined at Roadhouse cafe on his first day here for our snacks. I just ordered ham sandwhich and the boyfriend, hungry that time, ordered a meal since he still didn't have his lunch yet. He had hungarian sausage with potatoes and coleslaw as sidings and garlic rice. The serving was generous, and delighted to see the huge cuts of potatoes (I just love pohtaytoes). For less then a 150 bucks, it was worth the price. As for my order, i wasn't able to consume it all - I only ate half of the sandwhich. We also ordered mango crepe with ice cream on it. It wasn't so sweet, but the crepe was a bit thick.

Hungarian Sausage

Ham Sandwhich

Mango Crepe

Our next adventure was at Aling Foping's Fud Treyn at the back of MTS. We both heard about the halo-halo being sold at MTS. We had their special halo-halo and bibingka. The good thing about their halo2x is that you have the freedom to choose the ingredients for your halo2x. Mine consisted only of shaved ice, milk, sago, macapuno, ube, nata de coco and of course, leche flan. The special halo2x costed P90. The bibingka we ordered was great - it was freshly cooked, still hot, soft and with filling.

Aling Foping's Fud Treyn

Bibingka

We had one of our dinners at Banana Asian Leaf Cafe at Chimes. As we went inside, the only customer the restaurant had was the two of us. I joked that maybe, the boyfriend rented the whole place. Hehe...Since the boyfriend wanted to eat seafood, we tried their Tilapia fillet in special sauce and their house specialty phad thai.

Phad Thai

Tilapia in special sauce

As I expected, Banana Leaf did not disapppoint us. Their fish dish was a twist to the usual fried tilapia. I expected the noodles (phad thai) to be spicy, but it was not spicy at all. Still, it tasted great.

I've been telling the boyfriend since last year that we try Swiss Deli but the location isn't just favorable to both of us. Finally, our feet brought us there. The boyfriend, being a sausage fanatic, ordered their English Bangers while I had their Beef Escalope. The sausages were soft and juicy. We had tiramisu for the dessert which costed only P85. The meals are relatively cheap considering the big servings you get. If you're a lover of sausages, steaks and other european cuisines, Swiss Deli is the place for you.

Till our next gastronomic adventure!

Three Things

I was tagged, and at last, I'm done with this meme. I took me days before I could have this posted, so here it is...(salamat Jay sa pag-alala)

Three things that scare me:
1. Frogs (eeeeww!)
2. Losing someone important to me
3. crawling creatures (i kill them immediately)

Three people who make me laugh:
1. friends
2. Jan2x (kahit corny minsan....)
3. My funny niece

Three things I love:
1. Rain and the scent of it
2. Being pampered (winks)
3. Holidays! Holidays! Holidays!

Three things I hate:
1. getting up very early
2. rude people
3. transcribing for documentation

Three things I don't understand:
1. Being polygamous of men
2. Brazil movie
3. Physics

Three things on my desk:
1. papers and more papers
2. cell phone
3. a cup of coffee

Three things I'm doing right now:
1. Filling this in
2. Writing my report
3. Chatting with my officemates

Three things I want to do before I die:
1. Go to Europe, Palawan and Sagada
2. Say sorry to people I've wronged
3. Take a cruise

Three things I can do:
1. cook
2. babysit
3. put my legs behind my back (i can do it during my younger years, but I don't know if i can still do it)

Three things I can't do:
1. Be aggressive and totally confident
2. Talk in public without getting nervous
3. Draw and swim well

Three things I think you should listen to:
1. Inner self
2. music
3. sounds of nature (so relaxing)

Three things you should never listen to:
1. Super loud music
2. people who try to destroy your dreams
3. unfair accusations

Three things I would like to learn:
1. Driving
2. Photography
3. More of cooking / culinary

Three favorite foods:
1. Sinigang
2. Pasta
3. Anything with gata...(love it!)

Three shows I watched as a kid:
1. Cartoon Network
2. Sineskwela ATBP
3. Looney toons

Three people I'm tagging:
1. Jan2x
2. Kacai
3. Girard

A tale of an anti-OFW

This story originated here. Please click on the picture to view a larger version of it. READ IT, decide, and pass the information around.

Magic trick from America's Got talent

I'm just gonna feature a video today - an impressive magic trick -- nice nice nice. Watch this!

The Croak

As we were on our way home the other night, my sisters and I were singing the familiar “At Iba pa” alphabet song to entertain my baby niece. Suddenly, we heard a load croak that sounded like that of a frog. Hearing the sound, my sisters and I panicked. Well, I must admit, I’m afraid of frogs. The mere sight of it terrifies me, fearing it would jump into me. So we all got off from the car and had my brother in law search for that dreaded eerie creature using the light from my cell phone. My older sister even wanted to had her bag checked because the sound seemed to be coming from her bag. Finding nothing, we all went back inside the car, still curious – only to find out it was an alarm from my sister’s phone………darn!!!!

Holidays for August --- Love it!

I just love it this month - lots of holidays as already declared by the government. Well, just to spread the happiness, here are the dates for the information of everyone:

**AUGUST 17, 2007 (FRIDAY) - Indigenous day
(for Davao City only, celebrated during the Kadayawan Festival)

**AUGUST 20, 2007 (MONDAY) - Ninoy Aquinos' Day

**AUGUST 27, 2007 (MONDAY) - National Heroes day
It supposed to fall every last Sunday of August, but the President recently signed into law Republic Act 9492 that moves most holidays, traditionally nonworking days, to the nearest Monday:

AN ACT RATIONALIZING THE CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL HOLIDAYS AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION 26, CHAPTER 7, BOOK I OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 292, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF 1987

“Sec. 26, Regular Holidays and Nationwide Special Days. – (1) Unless otherwise modified by law, and or proclamation, the following regular holidays and special days shall be observed in the country:

A. Regular Holidays

New year’s Day - January 1
Maundy Thursday - Movable date
Good Friday - Movable date
Eidul Fitr - Movable date
Araw ng Kagitingan - Monday nearest April 9
(Bataaan and Corregidor Day)
Labor Day - Monday nearest May 1
Independence Day - Monday nearest June 12
National Heroes Day - Last Monday of August
Bonifacio Day - Monday nearest November 30
Christmas Day - December 25
Rizal Day - Monday nearest December 30

b. Nationwide Special Holidays:

Ninoy Aquino Day - Monday nearest August 21
All Saints Day - November 1
Last Day of the Year - December 31

C. In the event the holiday falls on a Wednesday, the holiday will be observed on the Monday of the week. If the holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the Monday that follows:

Provided, That for movable holidays, the President shall issue a proclamation, at least six months prior to the holiday concerned, the specific date that shall be declared as a nonworking day:

AS a summary, the following holidays would be moved to the nearest Monday:

Araw ng Kagitingan (from April 9);
Labor Day (from May 1);
Independence Day (from June 12);
Ninoy Aquino Day (from August 21);
National Heroes Day (from the last Sunday of August);
Andres Bonifacio Day (from November 30);
and Rizal Day (from December 30)

------------------------------------------

So advance happy long weekends to everyone!

Learn Chinese in an instant

I was having headache when the BF showed me this, and I got somehow amused with it. Spend a few minutes of your time learning chinese in an instant! Just click the image to get a larger view of it.

Get Simpsonized!

The Simpsons' Movie is coming to theaters soon. As part of promotions of the upcoming movie, there's this newly launched “Web 2.0” tie-in with The Simpsons Movie release where you can have yourself simpsonized. Click this site and spend some time for some fun! However, it takes patience before you can have your simpsonized photo generated. You might not find it easy to access the page as there have been too much traffic lately. Here's me before and after I got simpsonized! (I had my edited photo)




And here's my simpsonized baby niece!

Go and Lift Off!

I’m quite a fan of VMV. I admire VMV because of its claim to be the first Filipino brand that's been allowed to use the word "hypoallergenics" on its brand name for not containing the top skin allergens.

I love their Skin-Saving Body and Bath Anti-Perspirant and some of their soaps. I used to buy their powder foundation but switched to other brand because its price increased to a whopping 100% just because of the reason that its packaging is from New York! What a valid reason!



Anyway, I just discovered this product which I find so far ok. I did not really have intentions of buying it though. It just so happened that we needed to purchase a product worth P50 as instructed by the Customer Service Representative. I will not be telling the whole story of it. So As I was looking around for a product to buy, the 50% off at the VMV booth caught my attention. Their Glykeros Lift Off Scrubbing Bar is 50% off. The soap is originally priced at P299 but with the discount, it only costs P149. The saleslady kept on convincing me that it’s a nice buy, and its offer is just limited. I had been curious about the product and so to satisfy my curiosity, I bought it.



The soap produces a rich later and I could actually feel the beads scrub my body. It contains doses of Alpha Hydroxy Acids, Glycolic Acid, Kinetin (growth hormone to stimulate cell rejuvenation), and cirebelle beads (exfoliators).

Glykeros Lift off scrubbing bar claims to lift away fine lines, dullness, signs of aging, and promote skin renewal and cells stimulation. Well, my purpose only was to try it out. For those who also want to give it a try, go and lift off!

How much of a traveller are you?

The beta version of Lakbayan was just launched in time for the Philippine Independence day. I happened to know of this site because my boyfriend featured it in his blog site. This site actually lets you know how much of the Philippines you have visited! I visited the site just this morning and took the test. The result? Got a grade C...Though I've gone to a lot of places in Mindanao (well, I should say thanks to my work), I am hoping I could have opportunities to go to Palawan and visit places in Visayas.

My Lakbayan grade is C!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Give yourself a 10 minute break and know how much of a traveller you are.

It 's just so hard

Never imagined myself to turn out like this. I must admit, food is my passion and doing a gastronomic adventure with my hubby just makes my day - it's a relief to my soul. Well, even my boyfriend loves food too. When I travel (by land), I just could not prevent myself from eating something to overcome the boredom.

My mum said when I was still a kid, feeding me was such a difficult thing to do. It would often take her long before i could finish my meal. In order to encourage me to eat, there's always a glass of Milo (the chocolate drink) every meal. I rarely drink water when I was a kid. I was not very much a fan of eating then, except when it comes to sweets. I've always had a slim physique. My mum even encouraged me to eat a lot so that I could gain weight. The prize?? I can have this hollywood hair barbie doll. Well, I was the one who asked for the toy as a prize. But despite the offer, it still did not work. I remained to be slim, until I forgot about the prize. I never had my dream toy....

Until I grew up...and developed this uncontrollable passion for eating. And i GREW, this time, literally. I started hearing my friends say that I have grown bigger, like an inflated balloon. Of course, I was not pleased. Months had passed, and I could no longer wear some of my clothes. I told myself "this could not be!". I checked on my weight to see if what they're telling me is true. I could not believe with what I saw. For many years, I consistently weighed 90 lbs, but this time, I gained 20 lbs. One night, I looked at myself in the mirror - I could no longer deny, I got bigger. I have no choice but to just say YES to the observations of my friends and my "boyfriend". My boyfriend would even warn me to watch my intake of foods. This irritates me somehow but I know he is just concerned.

Until one morning, I woke up saying to myself that I should start losing weight, and that I should try going on a diet. Losing weight means eating fewer calories than you burn off in your everyday life, which also means making changes to my lifestyle. I know there is really a need for me to start changing this quite unhealthy lifestyle of mine. BUT IT'S JUST SO HARD.

One night, my sister and I decided to just eat salad - no rice and other stuffs, just salad with an egg dressing. So, i made one with some chunks of chicken and shrimps sauteed in rosemary (well, the salad turned out good). I was thinking if i can do this for at least just 1 week. I thought it would be enough for me to lose a few pounds. But, I failed. The next day, I was back to my normal diet again. Thanks to my boyfriend, he bought me 2 boxes of breakfast cereals before he left for manila. Well at least, I don't have to eat rice in the morning. Last Saturday, my sister and I were supposed to go to gym. But because we woke up late and we no longer had time to go to gym (we had to go to mom's clinic to get flu shots), the plan did not materialize.

When i got admitted in the hospital for 9 days (I was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis), I was expecting that I would lose a few pounds. I haven't eaten well for days and I was thinking of it as an opportunity for me to finally lose some pounds....When we got home, I checked my weight and just got disappointed..

Maybe I just lack discipline. But at this point, all I can say it that losing weight is just so hard.