MEComposing

Some people sold cooked crabs here at work. My fave boss (the one of the child and riddles) and I looked at each other and immediately decided that we'd buy some and have them for lunch.

We actually have this gala tonight at Casa Blanca, Intramuros...

But we couldn't resist... so we bought 4 fat crabs for P200. Cheap, yes, and real fresh and ma-alige too. From Roxas :)

We ate for over an hour.

Labeeeettttt

*~*

Went shopping for clothes and shoes last night. Mall closed without me buying anything I can wear... Bought two books though :)

But seriously, I really have to decide now whether I wanna balloon into a really big size, or to slim back down. Because this in-between size of sort is making it terribly hard for me to find clothes that fit me well..

Actually, I didn't like most designs I saw. Was originally looking for decent blouses, ended up trying on cocktail gowns.

Howell... there's still tomorrow I guess. Maybe i'd bring home some new rubber shoes when I go checking out new boots.

*~*

Pyro is getting sooo maarte and makulit. And just when we're really going to scold him na... he'd suddenly belt out one of the many songs he knows...

And of course, we end up smiling inspite of ourselves.

Bad baby, bad!!!

*~*

Looking forward to an eat-all-you can dinner with my blogkada tom...

Will there be sex kaya afterwards... hmmm...

(and no, not with my friends ok? ahehe)

*~*

Took this pic last 10-16-2004... because I wanted to document my ever-ballooning butt (sigh... you should see my butt when I was real active in mountaineering).

I'm scared to even attempt the same with my present butt... demmet, can't fit in my slacks na nga and all.

It's just that my middle is soooo hourglass shaped in the sense that my waist can never keep up with my hips.

And to think i've been consistently cutting down on food intake (note: am not on the road to anorexia nervosa ok? i'll never be a water and crackers girl... i just meant, where before I will eat a Chowking lauriat meal, chicken noddles and asado siopao for dinner, now I don't anymore).

That's why I really need to engage in real strenuous activities. Aside from the rough-and-tumble that happens in motel rooms and office mezzanine stairs, that is.

*~*

Can anyone tell that this girl is so bored she could cry?

Hmmpf... anyway... pray I get this Kodak Moment mood soon and strike a certain pose. I have this blog entry idea that's so cute and pa-cute, I could cry!

And no, I don't really wanna cry. I'm just bored. Maybe because apart from meeting with friends, I have yet to enjoy the summer sun. I have yet to get my ass to the beach. I have yet to strut in skimpy outfits. I have yet to be sunkissed.

And now am starting to sound like a sun worshipper.

And no, my looks won't improve when I get a tan.

In fact, i'd look worse.

But what the heck... I miss the beach!
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Those who have a healthy sense of LOVE, what it is and what it’s not, are the ones who get the happy endings. This is not to say that they never get hurt or betrayed. But it’s not a cycle/pattern with them. They learn from their mistakes. They always polish their standards. And they approach life with the knowledge that however much they love, they will be loving people who may choose to hurt, betray or stop loving them. They enter relationships with awareness of the truth that the object of their affection can change.

I cannot believe I wrote that to a friend back in 20 September 2000. How could I have been so lucid...

*~*

Hearing sad songs sometimes cannot help but elicit this great big sigh...

sigh of relief... that am past them now... all those growing up pains and heartbreaks, the trial-and-error thing of finding a partner, the great stupidities of my life, the big-time errors in judgment...

sigh of resignation... that all has been said and done, and what could have been is past, and what was will always be part of who i am today...

And yes, weirdly enough, I do miss having a broken heart sometimes... from those pain-wracked sobbing of my teenager years... to the desperation and surrender of true adult choices...

Not miss them as in wanting the same depths of uncertanties and insecurities...

But miss them for making me feel alive (even though I had prayed to die at several points in my life...).

Yes, pain, like laughter... makes you feel alive.

*~*

Read how blogging will change your business.

And continue dropping by... witness how blogging is silently changing my life.
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from Merriam-Webster Online

Main Entry: 1 amaze
Pronunciation: &-'mAz
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): amazed; amaz·ing
Etymology: Middle English amasen, from Old English Amasian, from A- (perfective prefix) + (assumed) masian to confuse -- more at ABIDE
transitive senses
1 obsolete : BEWILDER, PERPLEX
2 : to fill with wonder : ASTOUND
intransitive senses : to show or cause astonishment

I have many people who I refer to as boss. We have 3 section chiefs here, 2 division managers and 1 department manager in the department... all of whom are female... 3 of whom are past menopause.

Now... the Amazing Boss (who, from here onwards and in future entries, I will be referring to as AB) is amazing in the most perplexing of ways.

Sometimes, in the more disturbing of ways.

AB is a perfect example of a scavenger type.

But that would be preempting my stories.

Let's start with physical qualities first. She's as petite as PGMA, and generously endowed in front but abominally lacking a behind. She's past menopause and is already a grandmother to a 2-month old baby.

She's actually intelligent... but maybe the years have taken their toll on her so she refuses now to apply herself. That, or she just went unhinged when she reached menopause.

What she does is apply eyebrows in the most inopportune of moments... and places.

Also, no man should be subjected to her breasts, which she so excitedly parades by wearing tank tops under a coat, with matching beaded necklaces (which she makes) that fall smack dab on her cleavage.

Dare I say that her skin has taken on this wrinkly, dry look and the cleavage thing never looked sensual at all?

AB also has the audacity to warn me to bring decent clothes when we attend conferences in the provinces... but would show up in camisole-like, breezy tops herself.

During the time of Filipiniana-awtfits-on-Mondays, we all knew her brassiere was the royalest of blue because her kimona was, of course, kinda sheer... and she hasn't heard of wearing kamisons.

Perfectly normal still? Perhaps... but do read on...

She once told us that, had she the money, she wishes her daughter to give birth via C-section... so that her daughter's vagina wouldn't be so stretched.

(my other boss couldn't help but ask... shouldn't that be a concern of the husband?)

I told her about Kegel exercises... but I started cringing at the thought of her asking for more info. As in please... the cleavage nightmares are enough!

She also makes sure all her phone conversations are listened to... especially when it's her mother calling to ask for money. I think it was my 3rd day at work when I unhappily had to listen to the Maalaala Mo Kaya version of how she never had anything nice as a kid.

And the scavenger thing?

She insists on having a copy of everything. Everything!!! No matter that we have a file copy in our central file... no matter if it doesn't concern her.

She also insists on taking home food from our lunches and parties. From the lunch, she gathers what she feels her cat will eat. And that will include chicken bones. *head shaking already?*

From parties, she will oh-so-charmingly demand the last piece of cake, the last serving of viand, etc to bring home to her family (she says, so she need not cook anymore... or she says, because this or that was just so delicious).

It's irritating how... she'd even voice out her desire to take home stuff... when we're still in the middle of feasting. Some of my colleagues have been unable to control themselves from telling her off, and reminding her that not everybody has eaten yet.

And oh... when there are leftovers and she wasn't bringing some home... you'd hear her making parinig for hours... ranting about how she liked something... ranting about how "naubusan sya", etc.

Naman...

And yes, she also does everything in her power to take home stuff from formal gatherings in restaurants and hotels. She'd go around the cocktails table with napkins on her hand, stuffing food in her bag... or in plastic bags. This before the actual guests arrive. She wouldn't even let go of fruit garnishings and centerpieces.

And during live-in conferences where food is abundant... she'd be saving what she cannot eat... saying she'd eat it that night when she goes hungry. At the 3rd or 5th day... her side table will be found laden with cupcakes, tarts, sandwiches, buns, etc. And only when we're about to leave shall it enter her mind to give the food to janitors and guards.

She even takes home table centerpieces. Even after telling her not to. And she always has to have a souvenir or giveaway.

And yes, in a way... she's kinda harmless. Jologs to the core but harmless.

But it's irritating that she gets away with such things.

Now... she's invited a classmate to attend this dinner reception we're holding for Conference delegates. She even has the temerity to proudly say that she'd pay for her friend's way.

And yes, am upset with her. Money isn't the issue... I don't get why she thinks it's alright to invite someone to a party that is supposedly exclusive... And she could get away with it... same way she gets away with having her husband and daughter attend similar affairs with us.

And now, my colleagues are teasing me that I should make sure she's given a centerpiece on my wedding day... otherwise she'd be stealing/asking from other tables. They're also kidding me that I should have her go home with leftovers and my wedding cake... lest she call attention to herself. Now, am even scared that she might bring a stranger along.

Arrghh...

And aside from getting on our nerves because we'd be panicky and stressed over deadlines and rush assignments... then here she comes suddenly to ask us how to operate her camera phone... we're also now badly traumatized with the sight of her doing Pilates during work hours!!!

You know... i think it is propelling me to a nervous breakdown, this continuous bombardment by her boobs, or her stretching-nakabukaka form!!!

My amazing boss... *bow*

She often leaves me amazed at how her mind works.

I have been contemplating temporary insanity and murder.
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Yes, it is kinda off to be this ornery considering the recent deaths in the family and the separation from my parents and beloved sis.

And it's not exactly raining. In fact, it is blisteringly hot outside, where temperatures reach highs of 34 degree Centigrade.

And I can't say that I have been on the receiving end of really amorous overtures.

In a way, it's bad that nobody is seducing me at the moment. *pout*

Although I heard that someone from somewhere told some friend that he wants to sleep with me... basing from pics he saw of me at that somewhere.

Which cannot really flatter me because he might have thought the same for all the other girls/women who have graciously shared photos of their bodies in different states of undress.

*woe ish me*

And since I cannot, for the life of me and the death of scavenger-type people (a certain boss comes to mind), remember anymore when the last time was that I actually flirted with someone... I also cannot now remember the last time I felt really wanted. Craved. Lusted for.

(Note to readers, JRA doesn't count... it's a given he wants me... and I don't want to further explain that, intelligent people will have gotten my drift by now)

Yeah... lusted for... all primal and intense... think nails and teeth and all things rough and amazing... when you absolutely feel the energy coursing through your veins as you exchange looks...

and ripples of anticipation make your body quiver... at the slightest touch...

where your bodies actually burn... and you haven't undressed yet...

tsk

words escape me now... but I can't shake the dream of a tongue going all over my body... silently teasing, pleasing me...

And yes, ladies and gentlemen...

this... this... is PMS.

*~*

The Philippine Red Cross is cooking up something for the athletic type... visit http://campmec.blogspot.com for details.

Also updated my photoblog. Warning though, not for those who cannot 'sin'.
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The eldest, by virtue of order of birth, generally enjoys certain privileges, and executes certain duties.

Because I was the eldest, the main task of looking after everything my parents managed, from the household to properties to family matters, fell on me.

I didn't think it would be easy. But I also didn't expect it to have been this hard this early.

They've only been gone for a week.

And I had to note with alarm how I couldn't manage my stress, basing from the tightening of the chest I experienced way past my bedtime.

With the stress emanating mostly from worry and pity for my Mom, who has to contend with the following from afar:

1) A brother who was rushed to the hospital because of his kidney and prostate. (his surgery was successful but we still don't know when he'd be discharged)

2) A close first-cousin who died of a heart attack last Saturday evening.

3) Her eldest brother succumbing to cirrhosis of the liver and passing away yesterday afternoon.

And you know what... I hated hearing my mother cry.

And I hate knowing that she's grieving for lost loved ones all alone.
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ahihi

i was bewailing the fact that i saw liswik (this shell-type food related to suso, i think) at the market when my cousin agreed to cook some for me...

and true enough... she did so last night

HOW TO COOK THIS ONE:

1) Keep washing the shells until you're pretty sure you've rid them of the muck and other sea whatever that clings to them.

2) On a pan, let freshly-squeezed gata simmer, boil while stirring constantly... until most of the liquid has dried up.

3) Pour in the shells (it cost P40 per kilo) and cook. You'd know they're cooked when their inhabitants are partly nakasilip. I forgot around how many minutes.

4) Add in some kang-kong and continue cooking until kangkong is ok to eat na.

5) With big safety pins (washed and sterilized with boiling water), make sundot the wonderful meat from the liswik shells.

*bow*

(fine, i know i didn't sound like a cook... hahaha... i should have posted my cathedral windows recipe instead, huh?)

*~*

PYRO UPATE

He is now at an age when he knows what he wants, and is ready to use whatever infantile means ever invented to get it.

Like weeping with matching tulo sipon and laway.

Then again, why should he be denied? He's such a wonderful kid, and really more behaved (objective) and intelligent (subjective) compared to other kids.

So, he now is the proud owner of a new trike.

I'm using a different avatar/signature pic at blogkadahan, so i'm posting this here.

I'm looking cute super no? :D

Anyway, read what I wanted to be when I grow up.

This blog is just that dream in-progress.
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Goodbye Dad, Mom and Rez...

It wasn't the tearful goodbye I thought it would be... but of course, I already miss them. And am sure, they already miss Pyro.

It took more than 25 years for my dad's petition to be approved... still, eventhough it will require lots for them to adjust there, am glad for this opportunity where my sis and well, her future family will benefit the most.

I know life in the US isn't easy... but I can't help but think of this as my parents' reward for all the years of honest labor and hard work and self-discipline and moral living.

*~*

I sort of inherited my Dad's cell and was tinkering with its calendar.

Feb 01 - my bunso's birthday
March 14 - happy birthday to me
June 25 - my only son's birthday
July 16 - my beloved wife's birthday
July 21 - my one and only apo's birthday
Oct 03 - my nene's birthday

Haay.... ansarap to know that am my Dad's one and only NENE, a term that reflects the happiness he must have felt that day I was born... the emotion that made him jump for joy...

*~*

Friday morning, Dad woke me up by caressing my hair. When I opened my eyes, he was handing me a BALISONG.

The knife is now guarding my piggy bank in my room.

*~*

I would like to thank God that my sister is taller than I am... which is why, when she was carrying Pyro and passed through that wall with that nail protruding from it... the nail only grazed Pyro's forehead... and didn't gouge his eye/s out.

*~*

Hello to the Duchess of Cornwall.

And enough with the comments on how ugly she is.

She's not ugly. She looks better than Queen Elizabeth and even Princess Anne. But yes, she isn't quite as pleasing to the eyes as the late Diana.

And hasn't it occurred to all her detractors... that God/Life even saw it fit to have Diana die at such a young age... just so Life can correct a wrong.

They have been in love for decades. It's time everybody supports that love.
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Mefeels that Manila Mayor Atienza's inability to sign my appointment papers so I can finally, fianlly get my hard-earned salary from my part-time stint as an Educ. professor is because he's more busy beautifying parks (which is good) and putting up confusing signs all over Manila...

such as this one



I mean... on one part, the sign served its purpose in warning people that swimming in there could cause illnesses. But in connection to/to support the Ito'y nililinis shouldn't they have added something like bawal magkalat?

Basta, ako'y napa-huh!

*~*

This is the sweet that filled my childhood in Bacon. Pure sugarcane. Pure sweetness. Only, because it's hard candy, either you need an ice pick to get chunks of it... or you do it my way and just slide your knife on its surface... as if you're _____ (what's the correct word? sliver?) it.



Again, people of the world, this is BAO or AMIS... it tastes somewhat like TIRA-TIRA, that dear old childhood candy, only better.

*~*

Hipag arrived from Korea last April 01. She was kinda jetlagged and too tired to sleep... so she just spent the wee hours of the morning watching over the child that she hasn't seen nor held for 6 months.

Pyro wakes up in the middle of the night... sees his mother's intent eyes on him and her white-complexioned face... and he suddenly whimpers...

"Mu-mu"

In the morning, when most of the household were already about... he kept pulling my sister and saying Mumu. My sister couldn't understand what the complaint was all about so she allowed him to lead her... to his parents bedroom...

He kept knocking on the door and saying and gesturing wildly that Mumu was inside. :)

Now, he's warmed to his Mom... and calls her Mama Mumu instead.

And of course, my hipag arrived with lots of chocolates.



None of them white.

*~*

For those who know how great the food is at Barbara's... and are into fine dining and music... and the sweet, polluted air of the Manila Bay...

Prestige Cruises offers a 2-hour cruise (actually, one and a half hour lang) around Manila Bay.

Offering 3 trips Tuesdays-Sundays (with Fri-Sun offering Folklorico cultural performers), cruise only costs P295 while food+cruise (4-course meal) costs P495. Children can avail of 15% discounts off the rates. Trips are 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 9:00 pm.



Catering is by Barbara's, like I previosuly mentioned, because Prestige Cruises, Inc. 's CEO is the son of Barbara's owner.

Contact number is 832-8967, and the vessel docks at Baywalk, in front of Aristocrat.

And no, I don't get anything from promoting them... my company hired the Folklorico dancers though, which is how I heard of this one. (addendum: and the dancers really perform well, sulit the bayad I swear!)

And... the interior of their main dining area was beautiful. I didn't get great shots of it though...

By the way, there is also a show band alternating with the cultural performers. And I checked, there are lifevests.

*~*

Another ghost from childhood that I loved...

At Baywalk, you actually have to line up just to purchase uber-sweet cotton candy... i'd suggest you forego the milk where the cotton candy is dipped tho... the milk was too cheap to taste good with the candy.



And a purchase of one (P25/ea) is good enough for 3 people. Trust me. Your tonsils would immediately react. *ouch* And a small bottle of mineral water at Baywalk costs another P25.

*~*

Not that I totally snubbed my hipag's chocolate offerings... but it pained me not to see any white chocolate amidst the many chocolates everytime I opened our fridge.

And so, I used everything my friendship with Fuz is worth and was able to get him to buy me my comfort food.



I drool with the anticipation of enjoying them, cuddled in my bed and reading my books.

And yes, i'm spoiled.

*~*

And can I possible end this post without enticing you guys with more sweetness?

And no, I don't really intend for my readers to go overweight by just looking... but still... for those who miss it (haven't had it for a long time), and who has missed it (haven't ever tried)...

Allow me to interest you with Hizon's cakes.



At your left is my super fave Caramel Cake... P60 per slice and toe-tingling in its perfection.

At your right is a slice of Brazo de mercedes... P65 per slice, fluffier than the usual Brazo... with leche-flan like custard.

They're not as SWEET as they look... but they are infinitely more delicious than they look, promise!!!

*~*

Yes, am beginning this week with happy thoughts... and a happier tummy.
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... i was also not loving my body very well lately.

I haven't felt sexy for a long time.

I've been dressing down... not even taking time to really match outfits, accessorize, etc.

The last time I felt remotely sexy was after my high school reunion.

I know I took some naughty pics after this... but they turned out to be too uhm, graphic to be cropped.

Last weighing told me am now 124 lbs.

Depressing.

To think i'm not yet overweight exactly.

My libido has also suffered very much. My playfulness seems to have vanished. I'd even go out on a limb and say i've been prudish... but yeah, that would be lying.

Am just really too sensual and vocal to be called prudish. hehe.

Anyway... all sadness about the weight gain ended this week.

Must be because I managed to rise above my PMS.

And I finally got to eat a caramel cake from Hizon's (i wonder when i'd get to taste their brazo de mercedes... at P350, it's pricey... it also looks like it collapsed unfortunately... but it's almost double the size of red ribbon's brazo... and am sure it's twice as rich and creamy... hizon's pa!).

And because I really had a great vacation.

And because my camera isn't broken after all... (twas the stupid compact flash card lanag pala... still no pictures, but at least, no repairs needed)

And I started playing badminton again (am still sore actually)

And because i laughed a lot this week.

And because am wearing this tight pair of pants with a sexy and feminine blouse... and i look absolutely yummy.
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