Busy With Church Activities... :D

What kept me busy lately? Well, since I'm jobless right now, I still keep myself pre-occupied. I've been busy with some Church activities. This Saturday, I went to our Temple together with some youth members in our Church locale. We took oath for accepting some Church responsibilities and duties. Although it's going to be a big obligation, I was willing to work for God's glory.

After the lecture and oath-taking, me and my fellow Kadiwa (youth members) took pictures of us outside the Temple. It was fun!





I hope these coming days, I would be able to just chill at home and read books. I miss doing that for a long time now! I just need some patience I guess and maybe manage my time wisely! :D

Enjoying My Stress-Free Life! :D

I resigned from my job just the other day on my Saturday shift. I have thought about it very well and I finally decided to quit. I just can't deal with my supervisor anymore. We have this irreconcilable issue. I don't want to hate someone that much everyday of my life anyway. I know she feel the same way too. So it's better to quit. I have other better options anyway. And I know I'd be in a better place soon! :D

My brothers were worried about me quitting my job because they thought about my Mom's health plan that I'd also lose when I resign. I told them they won't have to worry about it because I can get our mother a better health plan like that of Blue Cross even if I'm not with the same employer anymore. I was relieved when my Mom did not object to my decision. She understood my sentiment.

So here I am, unemployed. But don't worry, I won't be in this condition for too long! :D Like I said, I'd be in a better place soon! I'll tell you about it when I get there! :D

For now, I'm enjoying my stress-free life! LOL!

My Deepest Condolence To Marmi and Family...

Remember when I blogged about a friend's Mom who has cancer that we visited a week ago? We'll, Marmi's Mom passed away yesterday. Judith and I once again went to Pampanga this afternoon to pay our respect to Lolami and to also check our friend, Marmi and her family.

In times like this, I really didn't know what to say. I just wanted to be there for my friend.


My deepest condolence to Marmi and her family. May you rest in peace, Lolami. :(

Terror On Bus Explosion

A bus traveling along Edsa exploded in Makati yesterday. 5 were now reported dead and other passengers were injured and are still recuperating in the hospital. What a tragedy especially to those who lost their loved ones who were on-board the bus. And trauma to those other passengers who have a second chance to their lives.

How could someone do such a thing? Killing innocent people just to have the government's attention? It's just inhumane! I was watching the news earlier and I can't help but feel sorry for the families of the victims and the other passengers who lived to tell what happened during and after the explosion. It's scary. At one point, you think you're somewhere safe. But now, you'd prefer the long queue and the crowded train stations (LRT and MRT).

I went to a friend's house today not minding what happened yesterday. I really didn't know how serious it was because I haven't watched the news last night. I even rode a bus on my way to her house and noticed the place where the explosion happened. There were still some blood stains and flowers on that part of the street along EDSA.

I just learned everything when we watched the evening news while I was at Julie's house. I was thinking about riding the MRT but I still ended up in a bus on my way home. I was scared but I'm not very patient with waiting on a long queue at the MRT station. Since everyone preferred riding the train, the train stations are really crowded tonight.

The terrorists are just somewhere right now. Even if the government added security on bus terminals, anyone can still hop on and off the bus.

Let's just hope and pray that something like this won't happen anymore. God bless us all.

Visited Marmi And Her Mom With Cancer

I visited Marmi, a good friend and colleague of mine in Pampanga yesterday. She's on leave right now because she's taking care of her Mom who has cancer. I haven't seen her when I got back from vacation and upon learning her situation, the best that I can do is to somehow be there for her.

It was a 3-hour bus ride from Manila to Pampanga. Judith and I left Manila with the hopes of also being able to donate blood for Marmi's Mom. We brought some food (pasalubong) for the family along the way. It was quite a long ride but was worth it. I was glad to see Marmi so strong despite her Mom's condition. I really look up to her. We had lunch at her house before we went to see Lolami - Marmi's Mom, at the hospital.

I wasn't expecting Lolami to be very skinny. She was lying on the hospital bed but was able to smile at us when she saw us enter the room. She even tried to talk even if she's already having a hard time breathing. My heart was secretly weeping while I was there. It's just painful to see a friend's beloved suffering.

Judith and I also don't want to get her all exhausted. We were glad Marmi took the liberty to ask Milo, her brother, to take us out to see a beautiful view nearby. We bid goodbye to Lolami and wished her well. Our blood wasn't needed anymore at that time because there were people in their place who already donated.

I think about Marmi and how she was holding up. She told me it was difficult but she's hanging on there. I admire her for being so strong. I was glad I was there to offer support and love for my friend. I really don't know what to tell her. All I want is to be there to listen and hear her out.

Valuing Health...

Smoking cigarette used to be part of my day. I was influenced by peers during college days. I used to smoke more than 5 or 10 cigarettes in a day. I don't know. Maybe it was fun watching and feeling the smoke come out of my mouth. Being able to do it with friends added to the fun. And I thought I looked cool because I smoked! LOL! That was very immature-ish. I also had parents who smoked. So basically, I already had the idea of cigarette smoking when I was a kid.

All of a sudden, about 3 years ago, I just decided to quit smoking. I realized it really wouldn't do me any good. Other than putting my health at risk, I also didn't want to be one of those who contribute to air pollution. :D And I would like to prove that whatever vices you have, you can overcome being addicted to it because I believe in Mao Zedong's popular phrase which is "mind over matter". Mind is always powerful over the body. So whatever your mind thinks, the body just follows.

Anyway, I wouldn't say I am nicotine free, but I have quit being a chain smoker for about 3 years now. I have colleagues who smoke and I sometimes find myself curious about the new brands and flavors of cigarettes that they have been smoking. Sometimes I would try to have a taste of it, like just a few smoke then hand it back to them just out of curiosity. I just wanted to know how those cigarettes tasted like. It's just funny because after having a taste of it, I didn't have the same relaxed feelings that I used to feel towards cigarettes anymore. I am also curious about how tobaccos like the alec bradley cigars tasted. I'm just curious, you know. But that's just about it now.

I'm glad I kicked out that habit. I have learned to value my health and other people's health too! Yeah. Everybody knows that health is wealth, right? :D

Love The Way You Lie - Rihanna's Version

The song "Love The Way You Lie" has been a very popular song by Eminem featuring Rihanna. Even though it's a masochistic song, I like how it was sang by both artists. It's so brilliant of them to come up with this kind of music!

Today, for Music Monday, I would like you guys to hear another version of the same song. This time, the main singer is Rihanna and she's featuring Eminem. I so love it! :D

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

My Mom's Planned Trip To Malaysia

My Mom's flight for Malaysia has been moved from this month to February. She's going to stay here in Manila with me for a while before and after her Malaysia trip. The trip is her incentive from her multi-level marketing job. I was even surprised because she was able to get the incentive even though she works for the company in less than a year. She is that productive!

I'm not exactly sure if the company is going to cover all the expenses during the trip. Like the food, transportation, allowance and the accommodation. Knowing my Mom, she would not want to be spending much.

I hope her company reserved something like Kill Devil Hills vacation rentals where she can really relax and have some fun. She's been working most of her life since she was 18 years old. It's time for her to enjoy!

I've been wanting this for my Mom. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to provide for her vacation as of now. I hope someday I can have a vacation somewhere else with her. Just me and her, spending time together! :D

Sleeping So Late...

It's past 1 o'clock in the morning now. Darn! It's late! I just finished dropping for my EntreCard. It takes so much time to drop lately because my mouse was damaged. I've been using my laptop's built-in mouse. I will have to buy a new mouse so I can reduce my time spent just dropping for EntreCard.

I still have a lot of assignments to accomplish. But I'm really so sleepy now. Tomorrow is the last day of my rest days. I hope I can wake up early so I can finish my other chores tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone! :D

Friends With Food Allergy...

My team mates at work love to eat! I used to be one of them but then from the day I started working out, I am very watchful of the food I eat. I'm not into a special diet but I prefer not eating too much. From then on, I was teased as the KJ (killjoy) because I often don't go with them whenever they do food trips. They do it after shift at work and it's always been my gym session after work. If I join them, I'd just have a little bit of whatever is served on my plate.

Two of my colleagues, Pamela and Jinky, even though they love to eat, have food allergies particularly with seafood. I got surprised when I learned about it. They told me that sometimes they eat a little bit of a menu with seafood and they'd be scratching some parts of their body in minutes. Sometimes they even turn reddish. They should check out allergist austin to get treated. In that way, they would be able to eat whatever food they want! :D

It's going to be the start of work week tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that one of these days they're going to ask everyone to go out after shift to eat. I might join them because I haven't bonded with them after my vacation! I will still have to watch my diet, though! :D

Will Renew Gym Contract or Not?

I woke up late today! I won't be able to hit the gym as planned. So much to do, so little time that is! And I'd be back to work tomorrow. Sigh!

I still have to go to the gym because I will have to renew my contract. They offered me a good price for another 6 months of working out in their gym. It's a pretty good deal. Even though the deadline is today, I'm actually still thinking twice about it. Should I take the offer or just try the most effective weight loss pills? I don't have so much weight to lose anymore. In fact, the gym helped me reach my desired body weight. I still have a lot of toning to do, though.

Anyway, I still have until this afternoon to think about it. :D

At Jack's Ridge, Davao With BFF

My flight back here in Manila was bound from Davao. So I traveled about 4 hours from General Santos City. My flight was late in the evening but I came to Davao as early as 2 o'clock in the afternoon to meet my best friend, Czarina.

It was raining when I arrived in Davao. Czarina was at the bus terminal waiting for an hour. :D We headed off to Jack's Ridge, it's a beautiful place located at the top of a hill and is overlooking some parts of Davao City.

My best friend and I had a lot of catching up to do so we started chatting while we're in the cab on our way to Jack's Ridge. It was cold and foggy on the hills and I was a shivering a bit when we got out of the cab. But then the weather did not prevent us from strolling around. It really is a nice place to spend time with my BFF because it is not crowded and the place looked so relaxing!

The place has different nooks to explore - there's a playground, a big pool, an amphitheater, a coffee shop, restaurants, a karaoke bar and a mini zoo.We were taking pictures all over the place, that's one thing that we wouldn't miss doing! :D

The playground

The pool

The coffee shop and the amphitheater

Poses and some trivia :D

At the restaurant...

After dinner, we left the place at 7:30 pm and headed to the airport. Czarina wasn't feeling well already and I was hoping she has a Robern Medicine cabinet at home where she stocks her medicines. Knowing my best friend, she's not into taking drugs. She's really stubborn when it comes to taking care of herself. I still was worried about her when we parted ways. So I checked on her through text messages.

She's doing alright now. I'm just glad I had another bonding moment with my best friend. Although we have a lot of differences (like men choices?... LOL!) and that she's really a stubborn best friend, I love her! I hope she finds the right guy for her soon enough. And I pray for her happiness!

The best friends! :D

Thanks much for the time, Gat! Take care of yourself, will ya? :D

Pacquiao's Mansion And The Vinoya Family

Businesses, a Golf course and mansions - these are some of GenSan's pride's, Manny Pacquiao's properties and assets that he acquired from being a World Boxing Champ. His fame brought tourism to my hometown in Mindanao which is General Santos City.

I can see that a lot has changed in General Santos City. During my vacation last week, I went around the city and saw that the economy have progressed. Malls are being built, I saw a lot of new establishments and I was pleased. Their were now more jobs offered to the people in GenSan. Manny Pacquiao was indeed a hero of the Generals (that's what people in General Santos City are called) not only because of him being a boxing Champ but also for bringing jobs to the people in the city.

When I was in GenSan, I went with the Vinoya Family in December 29, 2010 the day after Michelle and Jon's wedding. The Vinoya Family was born and raised in Manila. They wanted to see the beautiful places in GenSan and of course wanted to tour one of the mansions of Manny Pacquiao. Lainy was the tour guide since she knew much about GenSan.

We had lunch at Southpoint Diving Resort, which is located in Maasim, Sarangani province (this where Manny Pacquiao was able to win as the Congressman during the most recent national election). It was I think about an hour away from General Santos City. Unfortunately, we did not bring swim wears so we ended up just taking pictures of the beautiful place!

Michelle with her in-laws...

Michelle and Lainy posing like twins! :D

After that, we headed to the newly built Robinson's Mall in GenSan, they did some shopping. Again, took a lot of pictures and had our snack.

Pretty me and Michelle! :D

Gorgeous cousins!

It was almost 6 o'clock in the evening when we're done fooling around in the mall. So when we came to Manny Pacquiao's mansion, we found out that they don't entertain guests anymore after 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Too bad! We ended up just taking pictures outside the gate of the mansion! LOL! The Vinoya Family were of course got somehow disappointed because that was one of their agenda before going back to Manila.

Since I stayed longer in GenSan than the Vinoya Family, I saw some more of the businesses owned by Manny Pacquiao. They definitely invested their money into something not only productive for their family but also for the people in GenSan! I hope the Vinoya Family could visit again and will have the chance to be able to tour Manny Pacquiao's mansion! :D

Shopping For Better Bathroom Is A Click Away!

Are you having problems with your bathroom sink? Or wanting to replace your toilet seats, tiles and other bathroom accessories? Do you need some more of those bathroom furniture and don't have the time to go shopping at a mall or a furniture shop? Going online and finding the right website for your bathroom is the only thing that you need to do. You can check out www.betterbathrooms.com and find the best deals available for you! They have great sales people to process your order online or over the phone, get the items you need easier and faster with a 7-day money back guarantee.

The good news is you can save as much as 60% for the whole month of January! Isn't that great? You will get all the bathroom apparels/furniture that you need in just a click away! No more hassles of going to the mall and spend for your car fuel! Everything that you need are on their website!

BetterBathrooms.com will not only provide excellent bathroom products and service but also provide you with a peace of mind! For better bathroom needs with best service and best price deals, you better check them out! :D

I'm Back!

I'm now back in Manila and definitely back to blogging after days of having so much fun on my vacation! I owe you guys lots of updates and photos. Well, I'll be posting some later. I actually need to hit the gym to burn the calories and weight that I gain. You know how it is the previous holiday... :D

I'm glad I'm now able to do my dropping chore on EntreCard. I had problems before I went on vacation. I was being penalized instead of earning EC credits when I was dropping. I got demotivated and disappointed. I think EC had straightened it out, although the credits that I lost wasn't given back to me. What is important is I'm able to drop back to friends' blogs this time around!

It's great to be back here in Manila - my peaceful and quiet life. I'll be posting more photos from my trips. Stay tuned! :D