Don't let this moment pass...

...without reaching out.

It's time to give back to the Universe and to our fellowmen.

I went home to an apartment flooded with rainwater. I have several newly-purchased books that have been destroyed by the flood. Rainwater crept through the ceiling, drenched my Zen installations, Asian rugs and pillows.

But how can I complain? I still have a roof on top of my head and my entire family is safe.

Today, my friends trooped to Red Cross and other rescue operations centers to volunteer.

GT also organized a relief operations team. myGlobe girls volunteered to either man our emergency service hotlines or pack relief goods. Mela and I are donating food and we volunteered as packers of relief goods tomorrow afternoon.

Friends, if you can and if you want to volunteer or send food and medicines to the victims of typhoon Ondoy, please coordinate with the nearest Red Cross in your community. You may also get in touch with your parish or public schools housing some of the typhoon victims.

As a special announcement, the Jesus Loves the Little Children Foundation in Pasig need food. There are kids inside the foundation who are in dire need of food because the Pasig area is still flooded and there are no markets opened because of the flood.

You may bring donations of any kind to River of God at Robinson's Galleria. It's located on the lower level, East Wing near the LTO and Ryan Cayabyab's Music School. You may also text or call Pastor Rachel Sanchez on how you can help at 0908-8953022.

Happiness is...

1. Charlie's Burger for lunch with JT

2. Sleeping soundly as Mandarin Oriental's soft, white bedsheets and pillows embrace me

3. An unexpected pasalubong a.k.a. Gucci from him

I love this version of life.

Happy.

In the land of the women

The dim-witted, full-of-themselves, ill-mannered, stringer assholes walking this planet are such embarrassment to their mothers.

I'm sorry to say this - but good men - REALLY hard to find.

I feel for friends who are being strung along by men who want to have their cake and eat it, too.

But it's definitely NOT going to be MY cake.

Despite his flaws, his mistakes - and all the doubt and demons inside his head sometimes - I need to credit him for being earnest. I need to appreciate how humble he can be to apologize and be remorseful.

Flawed as he is --- he is true and he can look me in the eye.

At least, most of the time.

Honey, ditch the dude. Can do better. DEFINITELY waaaay better.

Loving Thursday nights

The Thursday Night Club - TNC, as it was baptized - is mostly in Quezon City as of late.

I don't mind braving the traffic.

The company of Arlene, Teng, Plang, Wryl, Thad and the others who come and go during the drinking sessions is a perfect refuge after 4 stressful work days.

Every Thursday morning, I wake up looking forward to the margaritas and just laughing my head off. I will miss Thadacious when he comes back home to his southern kingdom after the bar. He's just the perfect complement to Teng's sense of humor.

Laos talaga ang hindi marunong magbato ng witty comeback.

And the doors are not open for the dimwits, I must say.

Ibabaon ng buhay.

'Til the next TNC.

Fight!

Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu: One more time with feelings

Another 4-day break at the Shang, Mactan = Nirvana.

Okay foyn, I must admit: I love manicured lawns and gardens, pristine beaches, mosquito-free dinners al fresco and hotel staff at your beck and call.

I luuuuuurv the resort.

I can surely rough it when needed, but my ideal vacay is a hassle-free beach trip with hotel staff who will treat me like a Princezz with a Z.

Just some of the things I love about Shang, Mactan:

1. Food

Buffet breakfast at The Tides is to die for!
Forget the buffet dinner, though. It's... forgettable.

Service bread at Acqua - soft dough, nice and warm when served.

White cheese wrapped with Jamon Serrano. Aylavet!
Have it with white wine.

Salmon wrapped with mashed potato at Aqcua

Angus strips - we ordered medium rare but came out well-done.

I forgot what this is - but a sumptuous dish nonetheless at The Tea of Spring.

Buffet dinner at The Tides - seafood, sushi and sashimi were good.
The rest - nah. Disappointing.

2. Booze

Mangaaaa!!! That's actually a mango-based cocktail.

Jagermeister!!!

Trying to get smashed at my ever-favorite hangout at Mactan - Cowrie Cove!

3. Pool and the beach

Moi observing a hermit crab passing by

Nice underwater cam!

Fantabulous beachfront

4. Room view and all the amenities






















5. Timezone - ang walang kamatayang Timezone! Aylavet!




Almost everything is always fun at Mactan.

And everything is so much better of course, if you've got great company. =)

Going back for the 3rd time. Why not?

Thank you

It's a beautiful day to be grateful.

I'm thankful for what I have.

Lucky Bitch. =)

And I'm back here again...

...waiting for boarding, as I quietly sit with Kohji and my brewed coffee.

I know - airports can be chaotic, especially if you need to go through one of the worst airports in the world (aka Terminal 1). I like sitting and watching people go by, though, especially on Centennial 2 since things are more organized here.

Airports give me that feeling of transition. I like transitions - they can be earth-shaking, but they spur changes.

Airports give me that nice feeling that the world is my one big oyster.

A lot of my interesting stories happened at the airport.

This is where everything began...

I can just hear violins playing on the background.

And I can still remember the way he looked... despite the 3 years that passed.

Retro

Connection between PLDT and Globe (for both Globelines and Handyphone) were cut today - unintentional or otherwise. I can't call my travel agent through my mobile phone and landline! WTF! Sabotage? Since I had to follow up my plane tickets and travel voucher, I had to do it the old school way. I had to line up and use a friggin' phone booth!

Take note - hindi na tatlong bente singko ngayon. You need 5 bucks to make a landline call.

This makes me stroll down memory lane.

Idol!

'Been watching Moro Gandawali compete in surf competitions since last year.

What can I say? Idol talaga.

I know there's a competition this coming October. I wonder if he's competing.

I shall be rooting for the Moro!

When I grow up, I will glide through water the way he does. Ambitious! Hahaha.

Surf's up!

I've got bruised legs and knees. I've got a scraped shin. When I woke up this morning, my entire body is a-achin' like a surf board paddled and hit me a hundred times over.

But it's all good, because...

I don't know about you, but this girl can surf.

Falling off my board on the first few attempts.
Yes, I got wiped out. Several times!

Awkwardly balancing on the board

Woohooo! Glide, glide, glide.

Bringing it on shore

On fighting form

Surfer dudette!

Yes, I can really surf.

It's your birthday, we're gunna party like it's your birthday...

No verbosity needed. We had ubeeeeeer fun celebrating Arlene's birthday!!!

Happy birthday Arlene! Cheers to more fun, more alchy, more friends and more parties together.

'Nuff said.

25 shooters & cocktails from Shakers Big Punch

Winner ang mobile bar!

Go Gail!

Bring the flamers down!

Moi & Teng - no we're not yet drunk.

Moi & Arlene - we're both Fire Snakes!

Winner party friends. Si Spocky walang kupas!

Benjie & Sandy

Cheers!

I'm inggit

The legendary couple that became Woodstock's iconic photograph in the late '60s are still together - after 40 years. Bobby and Nick Ercoline, who were a couple at that time of the Woodstock concert, are still married to each other until now.

That's a happy reminder that relationships can last.

If their generation can still believe in ties that bind - why can't we?

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

3 joyful things:

1. My Yaya is coming home! After a week's stint in Bicol with Ninay, they both felt homesick. Normally, she stays there for a month at least, so this is such a pleasant surprise. I've got my Yaya back. Yey!

Not good for my calorie count since she cooks kick-ass sinigang and adobo, but very good for my soul.

2. Wine night - I shall indulge in my favorite vice. After the gym, that is.

3. More notebooks! Ecojot notebooks made of recycled paper, cat journals and MILK notebook from Chapters, Canada. Saya!

Another one of those...

conversations with Arlene.

Me: As for me (and also for you), if happiness is elusive, then I will run after joy...the joy of enjoying what I currently have. It is possible. I don't want to revel in misery for a long time.

Arlene: Just had a big lunch. And that's something to revel about. I got a big, boozy birthday coming up, that's something to revel about. We got a surfing weekend coming up, and damn if it ain't that good. There are rewards yet for us, Abril. Even if they do not necessarily mean the ones we had worked for, hoped for, or prayed for.

Amen.

Sometimes, I actually want to hit myself on the head. I forget to be grateful.

The weekend was happily spent with friends. Saturday was a good Binondo day tour with Teng, Yoj, Mela and Nabeth. We were akin to fattened pigs being fed all kinds of dimsum that we can lay our eyes on and grab by their wooden containers.

Dinner was spent with Arlene, Drei and Teng, gorging on the sumptuous feast of kansi, Ilo-Ilo's version of bulalo.

Sunday was quietly albeit enjoyably spent with Arlene, going to church (yes we are church-goers), eating Jap at Rai Rai Ken, killing time in Starbucks and finally getting massage. Happiness.

The good part about this is that my lakwatchero friends are single now. Teng is the ultimate kaladkarin hangout buddy and Binondo tour guide. 3 years of single-blessedness, he never fails to be my knight in shining humor.

Arlene - oh well - there'll be more drinking sesh and lakwatcha moments.

What do you know? I'm going to tick off one of my to-dos this year - surf's up!

Damn right it is!

I confess...

I'm severely attached to my Yaya Cita.

I only realized the gravity today when she left for Bicol. When she called me that she was already in the bus terminal, I had to choke down tears.

Dyahe sa office!

But cry, I did.

Ate Cita has been staying with me regularly for almost 2 months now.

I probably got used to waking up with breakfast and coming home with dinner already prepared.

She's been my yaya since I was a kid and she never married. Her entire life was dedicated to the family. To me, specifically.

Ayan. Naiiyak na naman ako.

She'll only be gone for several weeks but I'm already feeling melancholic, not because I will be incapacitated without her. I just got used to her being sincerely there.

I will miss her --- the one who cares for me like her own --- regardless of bloodline.

Hurt, hurt, go away

I severely hurt.

In more ways than one.

If there is such a thing as reliving death everyday – this is it for me.

He feels the same way. I know he does – in his own miserable hole.

This great divide is so isolating.

Friday partaaaay

'Got cocktails and dinner with myGlobe girls tonight.

Arlene just called and asked me to join her before midnight. We're attending another party.
Okaaaay - another spur of the moment invite.

Looking forward to margaritas with the ladies and some QT with my bestie.
Not sure if the party's gonna rock -- but let's see.

Not bad. Not bad at all!

Lieu de refuge

In difficult moments, I find comfort in life's simple pleasures.

I don't want to stop being grateful.

I don't regret the best friends that I kept... and the ones that I lost.
They were kept and lost for good reasons.

Very simple things give me simple joys as of late, but I do cherish them.

I'm glad I met Emy and Aileen. The superficial conversations about our design work make me forget - no matter how temporary.

It is not schadenfreude but I'm comforted that someone truly and sincerely understands what I'm going through. Arlene may not know everything and I may not know all the details on her end, too, but it's a relief that someone is with me in the process.

Kyle lets me fulfill my nurturing instincts. I don't ever regret getting him and spending so much for him to recover.

I'm glad Ate Cita is there to sincerely look after me and hand me the tissue when I cry, pretending that it's because of Ally McBeal or Lipstick Jungle reruns.

My mother is my cheerleader.

This will be another long, arduous journey.

If I can't get away from it, I might as well embrace what is bound to happen.

But thank you.

Thank you for the momentary recluse.

Thank you for the inner circle who may not know why, how, what I'm going through - who respects the privacy I requested for yet swore an oath of allegiance to be there.

Thank you.

You are my crutch.

Dark cloud

Another one of those conversations with Arlene.

Me: 'Can't help but think we died at age 31. Too young. Too preemptive a strike.

Arlene: We died too young, and we will be buried too late.

Death can be sudden. Nobody really knows for sure what is beyond death - is it just really a flat line or is there really salvation?

The thing with emotional slaughter is you wake up every morning to relive the pain of losing your hope... your future. Over and over and over.

We may have died, Arlene.

But is there hope for resurrection?

I'd like to think so.

Busy

... is the understatement of the month.

My newly-discovered creative outlet and hobby is both time-consuming and expensive.

Who said costume jewelry design wasn't?

Enrolling in advance classes ain't cheapo, but it's worth every damn penny! I met a lot of new friends and fellow jewelry designers who share my passion and interest.

I'm eyeing the mixed media and polymer clay classes in August and September. I hope my classmates will join, too. The advance wiring peeps were so much fun!

Inggit ako - Emy and Anna already have their websites. I don't even have time to photograph!

To-dos tonight: finish my design portfolio to be presented to a prospective client on Friday and hopefully take photos. I need natural lighting, though.

Let's see how late I can stay tonight.

Ang eyebags!