Thanksgiving, 2011

party theme

Congo Grill, West Gate, Alabang

Registration peeps

The boys, first

Then, the girls

party peeps

The audience

Photo shoot, as always

Monday night, free dinner

I generally do not like Japanese food, but last Monday's free dinner (care of our AVP) at Red Kimono kinda changed that.

I regret not having taken photos of the food. I got stuffed midway, and just talked my head off the rest of the time.

(Celine, Maureen, Vanessa)

Well, hello, Japanese!

Today, I:

came in three hours ahead of my shift,
attended a colleague's farewell party,
had coffee with Sheila,

ran a calibration meeting,
grew roots on the chair in front of my desk, hell-bent on finishing the pre-weekend deadlines,

made it to the deadlines,
hit the gym and faced myself squarely for forty-five minutes on the mirror in front of the treadmill, gave up on the stationary bike just minutes before my thirty-minute goal because my legs were aching like crazy,

saw "Inception" and nearly got a headache, but nearly cried, too, because the movie made me emotional,

went home, took a shower, made myself coffee and had my requisite tunganga moments before taking a nap,
woke up to get a drink and ended up typing this entry,
and will soon be hitting the sack for a much-needed hibernation.

How was your day?
=)

At the height of laughter,

the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.
-Jean Houston

A Day in The Lives of the Tropang Puyat

for C-- and L--

I have come to the conclusion (after much deliberation with myself, days after that Monday afternoon at Pergola) that what brought on that mad tea party was the charcoal in the inihaw na liempo and inihaw na bangus that we had for lunch. It must've gone to our heads, hence that crazy mix of laughter and tears and more laughter and extended statements on the silliness of love and the madness that is life, our taking turns at playing guidance counselor to each other, but which role I must have played to the hilt, just because, and then more, more laughter, the tummy ache that came from too much laughing, the dead airs that might as well have been dots leading to the next bout of laughter.


At the end of the day, my dears, we have each other, is what I realized. 


Ang sarap tumawa, lalo na pag may kasama ka sa pagtawa. Cheers, mga amiga. You are living reminders that life is, indeed, good. =)

Inihaw ulit, next time.

Let's Poem!

Today, in the office, a co-worker approached me and asked if I could lend him a book of poems. Now, I work in a bank and the odds of people who earn a living as "financial consultants" going to each other for literature-related (and i'm not referring to the Shopaholic series) matters are a hundred to one.

Anyway, so I asked him what kind it was he wanted and he asked if I had a Tennyson book. "Oh, so you like the Romantic poets?" He said he didn't think Tennyson was at all romantic and so I had to give a brief speech on how I was referring to the era and not the adjective. It warmed my heart, though, to see this young man so interested in poetry. I told him I didn't own any Tennyson but that I could lend him a Rilke volume; gave some unsolicited advice (it was probably the English Major in me), too, that he ought to try reading Filipino poetry in English. He said he just might and thanked me profusely for my willingness to lend him my Rilke.

As he was turning away, I couldn't resist asking, "J--, do you read Dan Brown?"

He said, "nope, and don't have plans to."

I gave him a grin and a nod of approval.
Good boy.

Now let me remember to bring him that Rilke volume.

Thanksgiving in Manila

So there was the party that S-- and I lost a lot of sleep on (though the sleep I lost was nothing compared to S's), that turned out just the way we had all planned it to...








where an engagement was announced and cheered on


where mentors were thanked and put on the spot






where there was fun



and fun

and there, too, was a toast...


And this is why I love working where I work.
=)

Partying on a Monday

Looks like the rainy season has descended upon us for good (until summer comes again, that is). Time to bring out the sweaters, the cardigans, the knits, the coats, the tweeds, the wools, why not?

M-- made me a cup of really fab coffee earlier, perfect for the cold and the rains. Have just recovered from the hang-over I've been nursing since this morning, throbbing headache and dizziness, my goodness, I've reached this age without experiencing those, until now, that is. I loaded up on lots of water and it seemed to do the trick. Hydrating, they call it. Last night's proverbial company party did this to me-- which is not to say I didn't have fun, because I did have fun. Probably explains the hang-over, too:

Fun + alcohol = HANG-OVER.





This party meant a lot to me because I was one of the two people who organized it (good friend, Sheila, was the other one).




Like her, I was feeling mighty anxious days before and hours before and only really got to exhale an hour into the party, when things were already in full swing and the people looked like they were having a good time (read: rowdy).




Early on, I even had to help the waiter take the orders for rice, complete with pen and notepad gear, so that our AVP (dear, dear Barb), bottle of Jack Daniels in hand, jokingly asked me, "do you work part-time here?" and then burst into that distinctly evil laugh of hers.


They were able to coax me into a beer-drinking match with colleague, Myra. That was a first for me.



I lost, of course. hahaha

My Sheila

I talked to my dear friend, Sheila, yesterday and after two weeks of not seeing each other, the conversation was a welcome respite from the monotony of work, work, work and the daily grind of keeping up with the colorless, unilateral world the industry we work in so easily becomes.

Catching up with her made me realize how important it is to have someone you can talk to and not worry about:


a) not being understood;
b) being over-read;
or
c)being stared at in the face and thought of as some loony person blabbering away into blabberland.

Sheila and I, we get each other. We would often:

a)catch each other's eyes and burst out laughing;
b)be in a conversation with other people, exchange glances and know what the other is thinking;
c)tell each other things we don't normally tell the greater majority of our friends, or colleagues;
and
d)keep secrets for each other, cherishing the fact that we each have someone we can release our bottled up trivia and non-trivia to.

We've agreed, a long while back, that we belong on the same wavelength. Our minds are in tune with each other. I can share my silliest thoughts with her and know that I will not be scolded, or thought of as shallow. With her, I know that I can pour the saddest and darkest contents of my heart and know that I will not be turned away or judged. And I know that she knows that she can run to me, anytime.

Thank the fairies for friends.
Such treasures they are.

Haircut

Finally, some time to breathe.




The past couple of weeks had me waiting in the wings to exhale. The excitement from the tension and pressure at work had built up to an alarming crescendo and it felt like I was holding my breath the whole time. So, this afternoon, I went to trusty old David's for a much deserved (and long delayed) haircut. This was partly brought about by my thwarted attempt to purchase something nice and pretty for myself--I searched the shops in vain but found nothing to my fancy, so a trim seemed like a good detour with which to channel my frustration--and partly by the ball and chain that my heavy mop of long, unruly locks had become.

Now, dark circles around the eyes would disappear with careful dabs of concealer, but split-ends are an entirely different matter. My extremely dry, frizzy and very long hair had become the telltale sign of the tremendous stress in the workplace and no amount of conditioner could mask the miserable tangles they had meshed themselves into.

I think the haircut did wonders.

My head feels pounds lighter, my mind a little less clouded.

Tequila, Sheena Easton, Caldereta

I am 28 years old; in a couple of months, I'll be 29.

Last night, over at Mae's place, I had my first taste of Tequila. Can you believe spending 28 long years in this planet and never having had Tequila?

Tequila made me grab the mic and sing Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only."

I woke up this morning with a headache. I guess Tequila doesn't agree with me. Made me belt out the above James Bond theme, though. And I remember grinning stupidly for most of the night.

I turned in early. I really am so not the "let's-party-and-get-drunk" type.

The caldereta was awesome. I should have had more.

Tagaytay Friday

Friday, January 17, 2009: It was freezing in Tagaytay and my team braved the cold... but only for so long.
Philstar.com says, "Tagaytay City temperature is 15.8 degrees Celsius" and Chuvaness contemplates the extra chilly weather "...in what must be the coldest night of the year." And we had chosen this day, of all days, to go up the highlands! Brrrr!

@ Picnic Grove: It was tolerably chilly in the early afternoon.

And we stuffed ourselves silly with Amber's pichi-pichi and barbecue.

The wind started to get really fierce as the afternoon wore on, though.

And the wind blew on, angrier, as evening drew near. My hair became extremely tangled you could hear the crunch when I combed it.

Solution: a cap. (My cam was acting up at this point)

Tagaytay by twilight. Photography by Wowoo Rañada.

Dinner at Dencio's capped the night for some. Here, Val and Cha were prodding me to look serene for a candid shot. In truth, I was shivering to my bones. Through chattering teeth, I was muttering, "hurry up! Shoot already!"

The real night cap was coffee at Starbucks. By then, though, we were too cold to take pics and one of us asked, in jest, of course, "is this Tagaytay or Alaska?"

Imagine what the Eskimos' life must be like!