helloooo world

...and before I begin I would like to say many thanks to everyone who has been so nice in welcoming me back into the bloggie world even if I had been a delinquent writer for coming and going with many inevitable excuses... I still have some more here, I should be lying in bed and get that much needed rest and twiddle my thumbs for a bit longer ... but heck! I'm writing!!! I miss you all really bad that this keyboard will have good chances of breaking, mah fingers are burni'n!!! type!type!type!

So anyway, I found myself lying in bed groggy that Friday evening...a pretty woman in white had pat my shoulders calling my name with a "miss" ... I'm "mrs." my brain called out, I knew this is how it's going to be, I'd be in bed with oxygen mask on and wont have any recollection of whatever happened inside the Delivery Room...(I have not given birth!)though I wish I had!:) I love babies! All the women beside my bed in the Recovery Room had babies wheeled in for them to nurse and I got none, the humor in me wont STOP even if I was there lying motionless in bed, my brain had worked several jokes about babies being given to me by mistake and I would take them home. ANYWAY! I just had a D&C, a procedure that they consider so common they assured me I'd be OK and will be back on my feet the next day... well... seems like they're right. I feel okay more than I expected though I'm taking precautions, why push myself when I can lounge around and file sick leave at work? This is the best time to be eating and sleeping right while I can, 'cuz once I'm back into the "work force" I'd be my old self...always wanting to do healthy stuff but actually can't, BUT I vowed to go to the gym once I feel perfectly better! promise!

Well... LIFE... the sleep that they had put me to was not the sleep I thought it would be...I thought I'd feel rested and calm, but when I woke up, it was odd that there seem to have been a blank space in my memory, where I could not recall anything other than the whole process of being butt-naked with Doctors and nurses moving about preparing me for the procedure... aarrgghhh... I know.... you will hate the feeling too, of being without control and butt-naked! I had tried covering my face but you know that wont work...they still would know me, my hospital records hang at a corner!^^ I was laughing at myself, in my head I was!...WELL, I could be dead when I wake up and none of it would matter! How would I know if I'm not dead yet when I wake up??? Well...glad that I was wheeled outside to see my mom and the husband at the waiting room...their faces skewed with worry! BUT I gave them a thumbs up and joked "it's a BOY!!!" ... my mom immediately "shhhuuushhh" me, "you shouldn't be making all that gestures and talking!" OKAY, I'm alive. I love GOD. He never fails me. I knew I'd be okay and I trusted the Doctors and Nurses that there'd be NO video or photos that'll surface of my butt-naked encounters with the instruments! Nasty!

Amazing how these drugs can switch you on and off consciousness...

Amazing are these Doctors and Nurses and everyone who save lives for a living! hats off to the REAL LIFE HEROES!

xoxo
sassy.

halloween newbie

We don't celebrate Halloween ever! I mean never as of yet. I don't call a few isolated celebrations to be a real Halloween season...but we're getting there, don't worry kids we will have Halloween within your lifetime!^^ What we have is "Todos Los Santos" or All Saints Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls Day on Nov. 2, where people spend time going to cemeteries, lighting candles, and bringing flowers for our beloved dead, usually just a quiet time for prayer and family reunion. I don't have anything against these things that I wanted to have a halloween ball or anything loud and rid of the solemn tradition, but what I want is to make these holidays less SPOOKY. It's a holiday for our beloved dead and not for the evil things that lurk in the dark or the paranormal things that give me chills. Maybe a "Halloween Party" could at least make the celebration light and less scary... even if the whole idea of Halloween is to scare, the stillness and smell of burning wax- from the candles scare me more ...and you can add the tales of ghosts and the unseen forces being told on TV documentaries! great. I now feel very uncomfortable, I don't like the dark and scary stuff, BUT maybe... if there'll be a hundred Edward Cullens out there in the dark and I'm Bella, I'd be happy to have Halloween all year round! har.har.har.

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'Good thing, it's beginning...the whole Halloween Trick or Treat-ing is happening, little by little we will have our kids be doing this, instead of being outrightly spooked without the drama... at least they will be observing the old tradition while adopting a new one and wont be treating these holidays as "plain" scary as I do!

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Anyway, here are some photos of my hubby's FIRST Halloween ever! Lucky him, he went to the US just in time for the Halloween last two-oh-oh-seven (2007!) yikes. Oh sshh... no one's too old for Halloween! I'm so jealous!






boo!
Sassy.

Wedding at the Bamboo Church

How fun it was haha...eventually the whole formal event didn't came to be...^^ Everyone was notified to just store away their gowns and be in a "semi" formal wear or whatever they feel right about wearing to a wedding...my husband has stuffed his tie in my clutch bag and I wore a flowy blouse and pearls. We car pooled with friends making the travel less harassing. The traffic was sooo bad at the coastal road, we began watching movies...yay! 'perks of being friends with a Congressman's wife, we rode into her car with one digit plate number and 2 LCD screens and snacks! awesome... We were able to breathe in our clothes as the location is about 2 hours drive from our city that wore on to be an hour more snailing our way through.
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We finally reached the church 20 minutes before 4pm, our first time to see the St. Joseph Parish in Las Pinas (Las Pin-yas) famous for the Bamboo Organ built in the 19th Century. The organ still plays, they used it for the wedding and it sounds fantastic, very much like what Dracula would use in his castle at the mountaintop to sound scary...tentententen! But this sounded awesome clear, you can only imagine what it was like for the people of the 19th century singing with this instrument playing, it would've been the coolest church in the country! The church also has bamboo chandeliers and ceiling, terracotta tile floors and ornate stone walls, though small it is cozy and has a feeling of being in a medieval world but also very Filipino for the use of Bamboo.
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The ceremony was very solemn, they only have about 100-150 guests of family and friends. The church was decorated with Sampaguita..^^ I find it very interesting that they did...even the Bride's bouquet was made of clustered Sampaguita, it's a white Jasmin flower that's very fragrant, it filled the church with it's scent.
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At the reception, the tables were still set "somehow" formal with all those spoons and forks and glasses that we scrabbled together eventually when the food came because the tables have huge centerpieces of roses and fruits, beads and the couple's photos that there weren't much space for the plate with food sooo...yes, eventually the utensils went out of its proper order, so what!

The cake was HUGE too! wow...I gaped at it.period.
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My husband and I won a game for the couples, winning our table an extra bottle of wine! yay! we were awesome at naming body parts with the letters "P" and "T"...

The night went on great, I'm sure the couple are pleased that there are NO major hitch at all besides the guests not being able to find their seats because the seating plan was a "mirror" image of what is actual! haha... nothing bad or worse was noticeable other than that so good job to the couple and the on-site coordinators! ^^ and good job ME and hubby for winning the delicious wine!

i love weddings!

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me and the hubby reminiscing...

the bamboo and Capiz shell chandelier

Sampaguita (jasmin) flowers as aisle decor

my red shoes to go w/the motif.^^

the 19th century Bamboo organ played at the wedding

coming as we are!

ceiling lamps at the reception

the HUGE cake. 'but was too far for my camera...and me.

Donabel

HUGE centerpiece.

yummmm...not just for the kids! yay!

friends not behaving.

me and the hubby

cheers!

Happy Weekend!

xoxo
Sassy

sassy dining.

A weddingggg!^^ We're going to a wedding this coming Saturday, me, the hubby and some friends. A formal dinner one, where you'd sit stiff and eat quarter of a meal served in a large white plate while sipping on red wine and chardonay...gulp. It's been a while since we've attended something like this, my own wedding was not too formal yet "elegant" and "fun", I can say that it was, yes I was there.^^ Well, I'm really summoning all forces to recall what good dining etiquette I've reserved for events like this. I've always been sassy with everything, everywhere...I have no problem laughing at myself if I drop a utensil or something but yes, I do remember to NEVER pick it up incase you drop one, even if you don't intend to use it again just don't duck under the table to pick it up... I kick it away from me though and ask for a new one...I don't understand why they keep handing me pairs of utensils when I drop only one? pfft.

Anyway the bride has been announcing that it's ok if we come as we are and have rowdy-fun! oh I bet she does! I'm not really sure if she wants to see her guests to be too quiet and uncomfortable, you know those tight dresses and heels could really itch!^^

...and what dinner etiquette are you talking about? I come from the 3rd world, I eat with my hands and it's proper!haha You can burp out loud in Japan and it's proper!... somebody invented this fuss, you know that etiquette thing...not fun at all!^^ haha no, seriously...From time to time we need this. We need to experience things like this so our lives wont be a cliche! You know what I mean? So we're not running around in circles where everything is a chosen, familiar path. So yes, we're giving this a try... be stiff, sit still and eat quarter of a meal...

...and have Mc Donalds after.

xoxo
Sassy.

let's recharge!

Isn't this FUN??? I wanna go jump around the corridors of my apartment, waving my arms and singing after this video.

new and improved

Had my hair done. Treatment, shine, trim ... more of a haircut actually! Ever wonder what you say first to your stylist before she chops a chunk of your hair??? I said make
it shorter, I did'nt say 2-3 inches fringed short! I like it, I hate it, I like it...it's a struggle within a day, when in the morning after shower and conditioning it looks fab, but right
after work and is ready to chill at home and get to bed, I look like I had a head transplant ... OK, a huge mound of follicle transplant from Steve Tyler! I had to put a clip over
my bangs so my husband wouldn't think he's beside a stranger incase he wakes up in the middle of the night, or even think he's with Steve Tyler ... or Tina Turner or the
likes of a person with wild fringed hair and wilder fringed bangs, it moves crazy with the wind too!

BUT in the morning while getting ready for work or when at work, it's so tamed... glorious soft locks of chestnut brown *breaks* ....chestnut brown??? *wink* I had some
color, but it's a natural dye, it wears off after many washings... I got quite bored of having jet black hair all my life! Born with it, almost everyone here is with it, so I want to
be chestnut brown for a while to stand out when the sun shines, giving luster and radiance *as promised* to my hair.

'Problem is: There hasn't been any SUNshine lately, the clouds are dark, drizzling cold rain, there's even a storm coming!!! ... I can't understand why it had to be so, I need
that SUNLIGHT!!! I need that moment of radiance!!! ... oh well, I have moved my chair in the office, closest to where the lighting hits ... it's the second best thing, awaiting for
someone to take notice...still waitiiiinnngggg...

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PS. Matthew of the Resurrected Ramblings and

Luke of Bath Artist's Blog, click here! :)

stand alone together.

We are but the same in many ways, except for our personal beliefs and how we practice that belief...oh no, not again...not another rant about religion, faith and how it divides us. Well I'm not talking about the world! As it already involve too many issues that you can't even root for the real cause anymore, it has blown out of proportion resulting to VIOLENCE which isn't found among the teachings of any major religion, odd isn't it??? They all teach peace, love and harmony and yet, look where we are now with these beliefs. tsk.tsk.

Anyway, I cannot talk about "peace", "RESPECT" and "harmony" if I'm not in the situation where I can practice what I preach! Preach, that's a BIG word. I don't preach. I just belong to this group of friends that I love with all my heart but happens to be born or baptized to different religions and denominations but WE get along fine and we do things together all the time without worry, without letting our differences get in the way, or without even noticing we had that factor among us! ^^ Isn't that nice? How wonderful the meaning of "respect" is? How it brings harmony and fun?!

Can't we just do the same? Like worldwide-scale same?!

breathing that millionaire air

Free shopping!!! We couldn't ask for more! ... except maybe, if that Gift Certificate came from a "regular" mall we could have bought plenty more stuff than just a pair of outfit for my hubby and a blouse for me ... I shouldn't be complaining, it's free stuff! ^^ A "residue" of the gifts we received on our wedding, 7 mos. ago, I found it tucked inside my wallet all these time and I wanted to do shopping but is always making the mathematics before actually going, but heck! we went yesterday and spent it on clothes!!! Expensive ones! haha clearly not practical, but it's something we will both feel good about, and not like if we bought another appliance or furniture that we'd only use on weekends...this blouse, equivalent to 5 blouses (not signature), will instantly make me feel brand new!!!

Plus, it's a good feeling from time to time to NOT wait in line at the register, shop without much crowd, and the fitting rooms are fab! Glossy, with chandeliers and lighting... I feel like a star. So glamorous in an instant... and oh! was that a celebrity who just walked in??? a young star who appears on TV shows and commercials? She's so pretty... and she shops here, with me ... on the same rack I was on... maybe we have the same taste and style...fabulous!

I was batting my eyelashes while making my picks and handing them over at the assistant, my husband is chuckling ... I have several pieces that I tried on but the hubby says, I may take only one as getting another blouse or a "plum" overcoat is ridiculous as the prices are not too good for our conscience!

Anyway, it was great fun! We wish we could get married every year to get more GCs! It was a day when we wish we'd bump on to someone while heavily laden with our designer carrier bags with our purchases carefully wrapped in tissue paper...we can do this from time to time, it wont hurt to reward ourselves after all that hard work ... I'll get that plum overcoat ... I'll even get that silver Porsche at the showroom we passed by... hubby sees my eyes gleaming ..."yeah, we'll get that Porsche someday when we're too rich to notice" ... how did he know I was thinking that?! ^^

the movie that's UP.

UP is awesome. One of the best movies this year. If it made me dredge up all emotions I could possibly invoke, it must be good. Really good. You have to watch it and you wont regret! The trailer says nothing about these "unexpected" twists, that made me silently cry in the dark ... its message comes across within layers and layers of metaphors. This isn't just a kid movie, this is quality movie.

Now I wont tell you why or you'll not want to watch this film anymore...but PIXAR did it again, surprised me with a very good plot, if you're a writer you know that this has nailed it.

click here for the movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USpI6Jzl3No
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Public Reviews:

wownatalia:
"This is one of my favorite movies. It really shows how far someone would go in life for someone they love/loved. It made me cry so much. And it made me laugh so much. When I need to escape from the world, I'm going to snuggle up with a blanket and watch this movie on dvd again when it comes out. Can't wait! "

iLime14:
"I thought this would just be a happy/kiddy movie that would make me chuckle a few times. Knew it would be good because it was from Pixar...but no....this movie was so much more. =] "

esjhay19:
"i just loved this movie!...i loved the part..where russel introduces himself to carl! ..it really made me laugh...:)"

Danny2813:
"i really did love this movie "

Polvoron

This is how Polvoron usually *should* look like (photo credit MM del Rosario)

I'll be feeding my friends at work with home-made Polvoron, of course I made them! Who's home do you expect it to come from? haha... I know, you won't believe me but I can do a mean Polvoron ...it's easy, that's why! ^^

Polvoron is just a mix of flour, milk, butter and sugar over a low-heat fire, it's like eating white-sand but sweet! I love Polvoron, it usually comes wrapped in colorful paper, shaped like ..."how candies are supposed to look like" wrapper twisted on both sides to seal it... but I had a hard time using the mould that makes it round ... so I made cones and just shove the sand-like sweet inside, stuffed it good and taped it closed. EASY eh?! ^^ I know, my friends are not accustomed to Polvoron wrapped this way ... but who cares? It tastes GOOD!

Mine. ^^

factory blooms

Some wild, some classic, they are tediously arranged by color. One section are the pinks, the other the reds, the whites, the yellows ... they come in different hues. I love them all. I just couldn't pick one. Anyway, I wasn't really up to it, until my feet has taken me to this side of the mall where my husband and I are supposed to meet for dinner. Now, I'm inlove. I know ... they wont love me back, they wont beam at me like fresh fragile products of the spring, I can touch them all I want, carry them around and swing them side to side, all the way around like a bride once more ... without freaking out the saleslady! YES it was okay with these flowers, the petals wont come off, they are lovely as the REAL deal.

looove thy neighbors.

oh those karaoke! I like. I like. But tonight ...could you pleeaasse stop now, you neighbor you 'cuz you've been singing the whole day and the rain wont stop! Yes, I do blame you for that... as we all say whenever someone's belting out a song in a not so pleasing way ... we blame the rain on you, YOU! stop now. sshhh...end.

(sigh) ... This is the only time that I wish there'll be a power interruption or something, I mean the whole day is not a joke, you could sing in the afternoon ... but then, I'd be doing my siesta, alright, sing in the morning ... but then I'd rather not wake up in a bad mood ... OK so let the neighbor sing at night ... hmmnn... nah. NO way ... just quit it neighbor, my schedule wont allow you!

These "portable" karaoke machines, jazzes up gatherings without effort and now that we invented a portable version of it (that's smaller than a CD player and operates with just a microphone!) Every household now got one ... it's like a refrigerator ... it's a MUST. You wouldn't have a party without it, trust me ... if you don't have it, the neighbor will lend you, just so you could.

AND here, it's not like anywhere else when it comes to expression of selves and fun, you can be as loud as you can for as long as you are in your homes, or yard, or within the boundaries you own, regardless if anyone else is annoyed by it (e.g. ME.) ... though of course there are LAWS about it, that you can be reported for disrupting the peace and order of the community ...BUT that is SELDOM practiced here, nobody really calls the police or the "barangay tanods" (town security) to knock on your neighbors door and tell them that they're making too much noise and that it pisses you! It'll be far complicated when you do that, unless you're moving to another town the next day.

BUT, in everyday ... it somehow works. Our patience with our neighbors are enhanced, we do let it pass and NEVER count the times that we annoy each other. After all, we do have these kind of moments too, when we sing our hearts out and nobody bothers us, blasting music and all!

...Unlike when I stayed in Italy that I just left my light on one night and the old lady next to my apartment came by to discuss it with me ... in Italian! Which obviously leaves me doing huge amounts of hand/arm/feet gestures just to make my point ... uhmm, can I call a friend? like it's the Million Dollar round already!

hmmnn...WELL, neighbors. We all have them, far and near. We cannot actually choose our neighbors can we? ... I've had sooo many neighbors in my life ... and here in my country, we treat our neighbors like extensions of our family, we love and hate them but we try to live with them...as "peacefully and harmoniuosly" as possible ... though, yeah I mind those high-pitch songs that sounded like galvanized roofing being ripped apart!!! ugh... I'll deal.

yes... I'll deal. Don't worry.

we can still do slumber parties!

Now where do I begin to start? ... There are days when you are filled with thoughts that it spill out easily and you go blogging happily... and then there are days when I find myself thinking so hard about what could be the highlight of my day ... uhmm ... gosh! I have absolutely no idea how my day went, it just went on by as I was working all day ... god! I need a life! ... OK, so do you consider a slumber party a life? ... not that I'm a teenager or going back to being one! But yes, we are having one!!! yahooo ... it's not really your idea of mature fun, but it will sort of give me and my husband a new "world", outside our boring routine of household chores and facebook. YES! we are going to spend a night out of town (in Laguna) where a friend of ours has built a new vacation house. Isn't she cool to have a grand vacation house? Laguna is known for those really lovely homes and so excited to see hers. I think It'd be awesome to just go out and be with friends! ... We also have on schedule a day at the "Enchanted Kingdom" ( a theme park!) haha ... as if slumber parties aren't "immature" enough, we are doing the carousel and mother goose lake ride ...

However you define "immature", it is just an absolute fun to be carefree and mingle with people. As me and my husband have already started to contemplate on getting fertility work-ups! whaaatttt??? we're just 4 months married and we think it could be too late for us to have a little one. Hmmnn... we must be nutz to think that children could make our marriage complete ... that's what you get for the boredom on a weekend! But of course, we snapped back into reality and think that we are fine and have to enjoy being together! Afterall, that is why we got married! To be with each other forever! Knowing that we are fun together ... it's just all these chores and boring responsibilities that made us lesser ... well ... fun! So now you see, how our parents must've gone through! It used to be fun, then the bills came, then the children came, then the mortgage came, then the what-not-fun came!

Soooo ... yeah!!!! we will have fun at this weekend slumber party!!! We will have fun at this Theme Park and ride those Carousels and don't bug me with the Roller Coaster 'cuz I've had enough of that! Enough was last year when I went to the US and "roller coastered" all of what Six Flags New England got!!! Crazy me! It makes me kick the sheets in bed with trauma! haha ...

'ciao for now! Looking forward to that.