Whitney speaks

I’m sure there are more better (and unknown) songs, but here are my favorites –

Inaamin ko, kinanta ko ito sa talent portion ng Marine Camp namin nung 1994. At, di lang yun, I used the lines of this song in the essay I wrote for DLSU.

Ang nakaka-indak na (oooh) I Wanna Dance with Somebody!

Modernized Whitney

And of course, one of her most famous songs (kasabay ng I Have Nothing (nothing, nothiiiiiing!) and Run to You (owoooh oooh woo ooh), you just gotta love The Bodyguard soundtrack!) ang I Will Always Love You, ang kanta ng mga iniwan (well, parts lang pala ng song. Uy, naka-relate ako!)…

Meron pang Didn’t We Almost Had It All, Where Do Broken Hearts Go (san nga ba kasi?), All At Once, One Moment in Time. May Saving All My Love pa! Ang damiiiii! I’m sure may nakalimutan pa ako.

I really needed to make a tribute kasi, kasi… kasi gusto ko lang. I didn’t realize til now that I know a lot of Whitney songs pala. I suddenly had the urge to go karaoke.

“We all die. The goal is not to live forever but to create something that will.”

Like all great singers, Whitney, you will be missed.

Crazy little thing called love

Ah, Valentine’s Day. One of the most awaited day for couples and manliligaws. A day (or a few days after, especially if it falls in the middle of the week) when the boy thinks of some special way to make the girl of their dreams (or the girl of their dreams for now) feel like a princess. Tons of chocolates, flowers, teddy bears. Some succeed, winning the heart for the girl AND her friends or family. (And we all know that winning the heart of friends are equally important as winner her over.) Some get the “A for effort” approval.

Obviously I have no Valentine this year. I didn’t really mind, I’m not a fan of Vday naman talaga. (But for future reference, I would like to feel special too.) And I got lucky that the people in the office weren’t boastful about what they got or will get. Actually, it felt like a normal day in the office. (I loved it.) But in the spirit of love, I will share my most memorable Vday celebrations with you guys.

Story #1:
It was 1998, I think, and the whole school was celebrating something so we had a free day. Students were pakalat-kalat in the campus doing their own thing. I was with Carmella Chonx (I don’t even know why since we we’re in different sections) and we decided to buy Skittles and give one Skittle (take note, one lang talaga!) to each and every friend we see. I have no idea what prompted this idea, and I know that people don’t even remember us doing that, but I still think that it was a sweet one.

Story #2:
Whenever I see girls bringing flowers, or a bouquet of  flowers, I cringe. I don’t know why, I find it awkward to commute holding that. Feeling ko ang yabang-yabang ko. I’d rather they deliver it to my house, or I will just leave it in the office. But one time, someone gave me one. We were in school. So I had to carry it around the entire evening, and I had to take the bus home with the flowers. Nakaka-inis. At, inaamin ko, nakaka-kilig.

Story #3:
Like I said, I don’t really like celebrating Valentine’s Day, even as a half of a couple, I didn’t. We never did. Usually sa house lang, or sa office. But one ex-boyfriend requested that I look extra nice that day. My low EQness didn’t work with him since I was in the dark the whole day of what he has planned. I didn’t really expect anything, akala ko nga may flowers (which I didn’t get. Happy-sad.) lang ako sa car tas have dinner in one of my favorite restaurants. I got the dinner right, the area right, but the restaurant was a surprise to me. He made reservations in this nice resto! May garden feel pang naganap, so parang nagpi-picnic lang kami sa veranda of our huge garden. Naks. Yun lang. I found out that he made reservations a week before, and that effort made me feel special.

Yun lang. Bow.

The restaurant still makes me tear up sometimes, its a happy-sad kind of memory that make me smile. Skittles make me giggle every time. And through the years nothing much has changed, because I still cringe (with occasional rolling of eyes) when I see people walking around or commuting with flowers (and teddy bears and balloons).

But, remember that February the 14th is not just for couples, but for everybody. So to all my single friends, I hope you had a good day that day. Kung may mga sobrang PDA sana sinampal niyo. Haha, kidding! (Promise, joke lang yun!)

And to everyone, showing your love for one another must not be shown on Valentine’s day or on anniversaries lang. Expressing your love should be done every day. In any way. And doing it on a regular, normal day makes it even more special.

Statistics

“When you are born, you will share your birthday with 17 million people.
During your 10 years in school, you will have an average of 17 friends,
By the time you are 40, that number will have dropped down to 2.

You will grow 950 kilometers of hair,
You will laugh an average of 18 times a day,
You will will walk the equivalent of 3 times the circumference of the Earth,
You will eat tons of food,
You will drink over 9,000 cups of coffee,
You will have one opportunity of getting electrecuted.

In average, you will spend 10 years of your life in work,
20 years sleeping,
3 years sitting in the toilet,
7 months waiting in traffic,
2 months wating on hold on your phone,
12 years watching TV… and 19 days looking for the remote.

This leaves you one fifth of your life to actually live…
So what are you waiting for?”

(Link.)

A possible new favorite!

I am a certified couch potato. I’d be happy if they can just pay me to watch the telly and films all day long. Off my the top of my head, I know that I’m watching 7 series’ regularly. But I’m probably watching around 10. Hindi pa kasama ang mga sumusulpot na Koreanovelas. (Must make time to watch City Hunter!) And now, I added one more to the list (as if I don’t have enough on my plate): Jane By Design.

Why do I watch it? For the fashion!

The first episode left me wanting Jane’s outfits! I love the frou frou skirts on both the left and right, the black pumps on the left (which I need. Badly.), and I love, love, love the red jacket in the middle. If only I could wear them while commuting here in the Philippines.

Okay, so you might be thinking what the series is actually about. Well, Jane’s a high school student who applied for an internship in a design (fashion) studio, but was mistaken for applying for the Exec Assistant post, and she got the job. So now she’s shuffling high school mean girl and office mean girls, midterms and meetings, and teachers and her boss. I kinda want to know how she would be able to balance it all. It’s by ABC Family so it’s just light and sweet.

But really, I’m into the show for the fashion. It gives me a SATCish vibe for its fashion choices, but more of for the younger generation. (And, alam niyo naman ako, pa-young!) Just scroll up again for the photos of the three outfits! Pretty, diba? And that’s just from the first episode. I hope this show doesn’t disappoint. Fashion-wise at least.

Technicolor lover

My dear parents will be the first to laugh when I say that I’d join a marathon. And I can’t blame them, I probably am one of the most lampa people I know, so even I am doubting my marathon “abilities.” But after seeing this video —

I’d join a marathon in a heartbeat! I’d probably be immobile the next day or so, but I don’t care! The colors will be my motivation to finish it. I want to be as colorful as a painter’s palette after he mixed his colors. I want to be covered in all the colored powder they have!!!

On a similar note, I also want to attend the Holi Day Festival in India!!!

I’ve been lusting over this festival for years now. Look at those bright and pretty colors! Hopefully I’ll be able to go in the next 5 years. Who’s with me?!

Photos from here, here, here and here. And to learn more about the Color Run, visit.

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

“And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too…”

“There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all… Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So, get on your way!”

Dr. Seuss is one smart kid.

Oh, and where ever that place where the video was shot, I wanna go there too.

Climb every mountain (er, well, sort of)

Oh em geeeeee-uh. Napa-aga ang aking penitensya for Holy Week! But hey, hey, hey, I survived! I (leisurely, sort of) conquered the trek to Mt. Pinatubo!

I deliberately followed instructions and packed light. (A very hard feat, pero buti nalang we we’re allowed to leave a few things on the bus.) Armed with my Jansport backpack with only a pair of extra leggings, extra shirt, absorbent body and face towel, slippers, a bottle of water and food (well, crackers and chocolates). Then for my wardrobe (because we know this is important too!) I wore my bikini under my sleeveless top and light (in color and material) leggings with my (panic-purchased) Merrell shoes (which you’ll see later).

Seryoso, even though I was carrying light, after one hour of walking and seeing only lahar and sandy mountains all around me, that crater felt more and more like our own version of the Promised Land in The Ten Commandments. (Yes, peg ko yung movie since same ang visuals nila sa visuals ko.) Luckily, the weather was on our side. The wind was cool enough to balance out the heat of the sun. Plus there we’re clouds moving around the clear blue sky, so hindi naman kami na-heat stroke. But what really helped me was my handy dandy Towelite face towel. I dipped it in the cool stream water, placed it on my neck and instantly (sometimes over my head), mas lumamig yung feeling ng body ko.

I’ve always considered myself a beach person. (My dad even declared that it’s my favorite place to go to.) Ayaw ko yung madaming lakad lakad. Pero when I saw the crater with my own two eyes, duuuuude, that 3-hour walk and 1-hour 4×4 ride (well, 6-hour walk and 2-hour ride all in all) was aaaaalll worth it. It was breathtaking!

Here are some photos from our trip :) (Oh, I just edited these photos a little, brightness lang or orange-ness of our skin with masking. But that’s the way my camera captured the moment. I love the Happy setting of my camera!!!)

Almost there! Our last stop before another 20-30 minute trek to the crater.

And that’s me gobbling up a Tootsie Roll for strength.

And we are finally here!

Ang gandaaaaaaaa! Promise! Yung clouds lang medyo iba yung color, but the water when I saw it from that angle, ganyan talaga!

I was “armed” with this —

And my favorite shot —

Summer in January!!! (Because its always summer in my heart.)

And a group shot before another 3-4 hour trek before heading home.

From left to right. Top row: Gela the Lonely Planet Philippines Features Editor (and all around editor), Ms. Fe our go-to sales person, Jen (in black) is Nino’s plus one, Jhenny our accountant, Aia (that’s me in pink!), Martin (my “travel boyfriend,” haha! Hi Martin, surprise!) and Nigel is the all around photographer for Bella. Bottom row: Nina (in bright blue pants) is the Assistant Editor for LP, Karla (we meeeessss you-uh!) and Nino, our all around tech guy.

Til our next trip! And sana we know the complete lyrics of songs na para we won’t get stuck on refrains or two lines of the refrain lang.