Love Advice #2: Life is too short. Do not be shy to say "I love you."

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Before the year ends, I just want to say...

**Pictures are in no particular order.**

To my high school buddies.
It's been, what, nine/ten years? I already stopped counting. You are my second family and I love you guys so much. For being there when everyone else got tired and bored of me, thank you. I always look forward to our random reunions and food-tripping!

To Ate and Jane (and my little inaanak, Yosh).
We've never been as close like before. This year marked a huge change to our lives. As always, we made it as a family. You will always be in my heart, even if I am far away. I love you.

To my 'other' siblings, Jho and Josh (no, they are not twins!haha).
Thanks for always giving time to listen to my complaints about life. I know you are happy for me being happy. Still, no drama is no fun at all! Just kidding! Seriously, I am happy that you treat me not just a friend, but as a real sister. I love you from Mandaluyong and back!

To my Bacco Bucci Buddies.
I love you. I have no choice! You forced yourself into my introvert world and drastically pulled me out from it. I am so glad I met you. Let us keep on "Wocking" 2015!

Beautiful life.

Busay Falls, Malilipot, Albay

Some things don't last... 

Some things, genuine and beautiful, stay forever.

the purpose of fire is to burn....

If believing in 'forever' and 'true love' is just a dream, then a lot of us is sleepwalking. Love is our strength and it is beautiful. Love is our weakness and it is still beautiful, even if only in a twisted way. Love is not real and it loses all its beauty, all the magic it's supposed to have. It becomes nothing.

Sometimes the wire must tense for the note
Caught in the fire, say oh
We're about to explode

Carry your world, I'll carry your world
Carry your world, I'll carry your world

Some far away
Some search for gold
Some dragon to slay
Heaven we hope is just up the road
Show me the way, lord, 'cause I... I'm about to explode...

(Atlas, Coldplay)

when there's nothing else worthwhile doing...

Hooking up with friends is never ever a good idea. This is one thing that friends learn to accept mostly after they had been directly or indirectly affected by the aftermath of a friends-to-lovers-to-friends-only-again drama. Otherwise, it's just a life-wrecking wisdom, emphasis on the wrecking part. Good thing with friends, when they are real, they let you come back no matter what. It's always like an army that knows exactly when an assembly is called for. They always come to help fix whatever it is that is broken in the friendship. They will not do miracles and force you to just forgive, tell, and forget... but they will not stop until you at least try. Friends, in a way, are a lot like lovers... they fight, they shout at each other, then they make-up, then they compromise.

What used to be something that kept you apart, that for a while made them leave you alone hurting in your isolated world, would then be the very thing that would bind you again... stronger than ever. You will talk about it. You will laugh about the stupid parts. You will cry about the hurtful things. Mostly, they will do the talking so you have nothing left to do but laugh. You had been asking yourself why you never gave up, they will give you the answer: You never gave up, you never will, because you know these people believe in you.

They are my idea of friends. Funny. Compassionate. Generous. Crazy. Loud. Adventurous. Unpredictable. Independent. Brave. But after years of being with them, I realized"ideal friends" don't really exist the same way that "ideal man" does not. No matter how creative we are, the beautiful things about people that we can create in our minds will never be as great as the real thing. Just like a healthy relationship, there's always more to discover.

 They will push and shove. They will help you get back-up. They will tell you all your faults, and then help you be a better person. Friends will not try to save you because they know they can't, but they will stand by your side while you are trying to save yourself because they know only you can. They can forget to contact you in months, but when they do, it's like you've only talked to them yesterday. Friends could get very far, distance is a variable that always plays a part even when people rarely recognize it. Yet there's always a place reserved for those who go, with an unspoken promise to come back.

We really did not have a good start. A lot of things went wrong (ahem sa nagtitinda ng siomai at sa mga caused of delay!), some people had other commitments to fulfill and were not able to attend (ahem sa mga 'di pumunta!), and it was so cold it felt like raining. Yet when we got it all set-up and ready to go, we were able to make it feel right. This is a celebration of friendship, a yearly tradition that some might call "reunion." For us, it was both a 'November night out' and a 'reunion' that will maybe followed with a December party, then a January meet-up.... and so on. I missed these people so much. And I can tell they all feel the same nostalgia I was feeling by the way they were making jokes and odd observations. We were all talking at the same time and yet somebody was always paying attention to what someone was saying so I guess it's safe to say that noone felt ignored. These are my best friends and I love them to distraction. I feel safe knowing that I will never run out of happy (and really funny) memory when I think about them. Being with them again, however briefly, is something that's worth writing and telling.

i just lost another cute keychain =(

We lose things, we get some more, then we lose some more. Some things could fill in empty spaces, some are just never enough to fill in the blanks. Some things we lose are worth the gain, some things we lose we regret for the rest of our lives. Some missing pieces are never found, some find their way back, some take a lot of hard work and patience. Some things we lose are called sacrifices, some are just fake giveaways. Some make us cry. Some, we don't even notice. Some we can still chase, some we just can't.

It is never anybody else's fault. Once we could accept this, once we are able to finally take a part of the blame, if not all of it, then we would be able to move on. We move on, and then hope and pray that somehow, those missing things that we hold close to our heart will find their way back to us. Those that are meant to be together always find their way back to each other.

 

And as I end this post, I can't help but ask this: Is "some" treated as singular or plural? 

^________^

If I Could Tell You

Chatime's Mango Au Lait @ Eton Centris, QC

by W. H. Auden

Time will say nothing but I told you so
Time only knows the price we have to pay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.

If we should weep when clowns put on their show,
If we should stumble when musicians play,
Time will say nothing but I told you so.

There are no fortunes to be sold, although,
Because I love you more than I can say,
If I could tell you I would let you know.

The winds must come from somewhere when they blow,
There must be reason why the leaves decay;
Time will say nothing but I told you so.

Perhaps the roses really want to grow,
The vision seriously intends to stay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.

Suppose the lions all get up and go,
And the brooks and soldiers run away;
Will Time say nothing but I told you so?
If I could tell you I would let you know.

my candy machine...

I'm turning 21 (yeah, in a few years I would no longer advertise my age. hahaha) in a few days... and I just thought I would make a pre-birthday post before the day... 

At and bida sa post ko? My candy machine na wala pang laman na candies dahil hindi ko pa siya nahahanapan ng perfect place for storage sa kwarto! 

Ang candy machine na ito ay bigay ng kapustahan ko (yeah, i won the bet, yey!). Dahil isa siyang noble na nilalang kuno, he paid what's due. I did not expect it at that time...well, life is full of surprises or it's not life at all. At sa kabila ng lahat, itinuturing ko pa din itong isang napakatamis na regalo mula sa taong yun. The means do not justify its end.

So bakit nga ba masaya ako sa candy machine ko? Dahil since Valentine's Day ko pa siya gusto bilin, hindi ko lang talaga siya nabili until now. Bakit gusto ko siya bilin? eh, bakit ba, cute eh... With due respect, hindi ibig sabihin ay isip-bata na ako dahil dito. We all have our own guilty pleasures, simple man o hindi ay hindi naman na talaga mahalaga. The point is napapasaya tayo nito. At oo, napapasaya ako ng candy machine ko. I have so many big plans for her (oo, babae siya, have not thought of her name just yet...any suggestions?). Nakikita ko na ang simula ng magandang pagsasama na dulot ng tunay na pag-ibig (seriously, this is happening).

And so I salute all of us (sama ako syempre) who find the joy in simple acts of love and thoughtfulness...para sa candy machine ko, sa Birthday gift, sa everything nice...

^________^ pwedeng walang kwenta 'to for you, pero this is my way of saying thank you....

the best thing i never had...

And then time stopped.... not because it's the end of the world, not because something breathtaking took place... it stopped simply because it ran out of battery charge. Which could be a good thing, or a bad one, depends on where you stand. 

yep... i need new batteries for this. it is, after all, my favorite watch... 

My wristwatch stopped functioning... and no one even noticed. When something dies at you, what do you usually do? Do you make efforts to bring back its life... or do you dwell first on whether it really has value or not? When something dies at you, how long do you feel sorry or cry over the loss? Or does it also depends on lots of things? I think that's the point. When we start to think too much, we lose a lot of emotions. Thinking things over and over is not the solution at all times, sometimes you just have to realize what your heart tells you to do. Losing ourselves in the emotion is a risk most of us fear to take--- because we got hurt before, because we were always disappointed, because we were the ones always left behind, because no one ever really stayed around long enough to make us feel loved ---but it is also chance I would not want to miss for anything. And it's scary... how uncertain people could get and how much decisions could change in a snap. It's scary to let yourself feel the same good things knowing how intense the bad feelings they could bring. It's scary to smile for the same reasons that used to make you cry. Things change, people go, things get broken, watches and stuff stop working at some point... the deal is, we adjust at whatever life sets before us. It's either it's meant to be, or we allowed it to be that way. And it's rarely not too late to turn back... and even if it still is, it is hardly ever the same exact thing it used to be.

Then it occurred to me that my watch is not really dead, it just needs new batteries. And yeah, I think I'm gonna go have my watch fixed. 

^___________^

p.s. the title is not really related to the post itself. it was just the song playing at MYX Channel when I started to make this post...no hard feelings!

of fridays, gummymallows and newly DL'd songs.

because it's been one heck of a stressful week, we just had to get away from work stuff. and since me and my friends still had lots of separate plans for the rest of the day, unwinding meant close- to-home-getaway.

So, it's a Thank-God-It's-Greenhills-Friday day for us !

and here's a snapshot (c/o ate pat) of me in our newly discovered kids' world. the place is called Regina's Place somewhere in Shoppesville (i'm not good with directions, sorry). it's not like your usual Greenhills shop or mall place. It was a simple toy, candy and book store with a lot of unexpensive but real stuff. They even had plastic balloons and imported white rabbit candies. And my favorite discovery was the strawberry gummymallows (which is behind the ice cream candies, btw). It was really tasty and not your usual gummy bear. And it was only for 49.50 php (ok, i'm stopping already).

For Lunch, we ended up eating chicken saucer and crablet something (i forgot what it's called. haha) because we could not find an empty table anywhere else. A little window shopping, then off we go.

but wait, i think there's still more (*evil laugh*). the weekend is just about to begin (*louder evil laugh*).

Happy weekend! 

^___________^

For those who lacks inspiration and just feels like it's all but grayish and never really just plain black or plain white...here's a playlist to accompany you... smile, you're always worth it. 

Something Real (Renee Stahl)

Our Story (One Day At A Time) (Graham Colton)

Carry On (Fun)

Just Give Me a Reason (Pink)

Stay (Rihanna)

Smile (Jayhawks)

Soul Singing (The Black Crowes)

The Light (Sara Bareilles)

Happy (Leona Lewis)

i hope you enjoyed my newly downloaded songs. :)

power quote for the one losing hope...

Luck is an offensive, abhorrent concept. The idea that there's a force in the universe tilting events in your favor, or against it, is ridiculous. Only idiots rely on luck.

 -Elementary Episode 5, Sherlock Holmes

A token for, well, nothing really. Just a sweet gesture that made my day. Sa mga panahon na sobrang down tayo, dun natin mas madalas maapreciate ang mga bagay na most of the time naneneglect lang natin, thinking that they won't go anywhere anyway. We get to have a better look of the things we'd rather take for granted in normal circumstances. We learn to love those which and that would certainly not last forever. We learn to love more. We become content. Then we realize that we did not lose happiness, we just failed to acknowledge the possibility of another definition of happiness.

^_________^

Simple and quick post before going to sleep. I'm tired but I am so grateful for the reasons why I'm tired. Good night folks!

Summer Diaries: 30 hours away from city lights

Kahit fresh from last day of work, nothing could stop us from the much awaited holy week special Team Building of 2013. Well, first out of town kasi namin together so under talaga siya ng "much awaited" category. Team spirit ang peg. Pang front namin na we wanted to make the team bond stronger more than ever, gusto din naman namin yun. Pero truth is, we just wanted to have fun!

So here's some (there's like 1000+ of them) of the pictures, and the stories behind....

Stopover to buy ice cubes and merienda sa mga gutom. Yeah, I was bored dahil bumaba ng sasakyan ang mga pinagtitripan ko. Kasama ko sa picture si ate Boo, ang pinakabully na tao sa buong mundo natin at maybe sa buong mundo din niya. Yep, she's from another world. :)))

Stopover sa Tagaytay City. At dahil wala kaming mahanp na fastfood or resto na gusto namin kainan, nagpicture na lang kami sa mga prutas habang pinagdedecidan kung worth it ba ang 120php na  bagoong.

So here we are! Welcome to us! :) Nawala ang gutom, antok, at pagod from biyahe.

the night over. Sand bathing, star gazing and mallows and hotdogs...

dahil nakakatamad, si Daryl (guy at the back) ang sweet gumawa ng lahat ng paraan para makakain kami ni ate pat (girl  in white shirt) ng marshmallows at hotdog.

marshmallows and hotdogs....well, cute lang siya tingnan pero in principle talaga, nakain na namin yung mga mallows bago naluto yung hotdogs.

the fire that kept us warm all night. sa sand kami natulog...este sila pala. around 1am, hindi namin nakayanan ni ate pat ang lamig kaya lumipat kami sa van to sleep for the nest 3 hours..

Island hopping. When our guide said may dadaanan kaming malalaking bato, we did not expect na ganito kalaki ang sinasabi niya. Adventure mode kami kaya wala kaming hindi kayang lagpasan.

The cave on our way to the neighbor island.

According to our tour guide, low tide kasi kaya accessible ang kweba na ito.

early morning swim with my closest buddies..sila ang mga ate slash nanay ko...

ang sarap ng araw sa balat around 6 am. :)

The white sand island. This was during the last few hours that we spent in Batangas. Nakalipat na kami ng kabilang isla and we just wanted to experience the sun and the sand. We built sand castles (na hindi naman talaga nagmukang kastilyo), played around, made silly pictures and bonded together.

On our way home, hindi pa din kami pagod (tinawag namin itong fighting spirit at final wave of adrenaline rush). We watched Sisterakas at Sosy Problems (it's maybe corny for you pero nagenjoy kami!). Kinain namin ang mga natirang nagaraya at tortillos at texas wild chips. Stopover ulet sa Tagaytay to eat lunch sa Chicboy at Pancake House, then we went home. Pagod pero worth it all. 

^_______^

valentine's day is OVERrated...so what? =)

Yes, it has been a February blast! Halfway to the infamous Love month and the adrenaline rush is still increasing. I guess it's because there are still lots of plans to fulfill. And I hope the goals will be reached (fingers crossed).

Anyway, how did I spent most of the first few days of February? Decorating. Making cut-outs (mostly heart shapes, of course), conceptualizing, making more cut-outs, and then more conceptualizing. We have this "we do not care if we win or lose, we just want to have fun" mantra that seems to really work because it's really stress-relieving doing heart's day decorations. Those are just the extra-curricular though. Not to mention (ok, i'm about to mention them) the hours spent eating, bonding with friends, doing random stuff, going to random places when bored, shopping (not as chic as it sounds!), watching movies, getting addicted with Am series. Yeah, mostly, these are my every day stuff.

But going back to february, what I so so so looooooooooooooove best in this month is the infinite supply of SWEET food.!They're just everywhere, literally. Cakes, cupcakes (chocolate velvet, best bet so far **wink**), chocolate bars, m&m's, cotton candy, nerds, Hansel biscuit, lollipops (thanks to my bestfriend for the inside joke), and lots more of chocolates! I don't know why it has to be just this month, but hey, I'm not really complaining. 

Just a though: I can't imagine how fatter I'll get if every month there's a Valentine's Day...Yikes.

A little serious mode. I hope you guys had a good time! We cannot all be happy at the same time, but the good thing is if we know how to enjoy and appreciate each day (and not just special days). It was not really much of a special day for me, it was just like any usual Thursday for me. But of course I could not cross out the fact that most people I was seeing were celebrating something that they feel like it has to be celebrated. So I made it a special day too, and it became special. I guess that is really the way it works...we think it could happen, we put our hearts into it, and Voila! It happens. Anyway. Thanks for making my Valentine's Day another special day that goes into my memory book.... End.

Okay! Here are some pictures we took while decorating the place (theme: Kissing Booth). I wish I could show the "really" final image of the place, too bad I do not have it yet. It's a really nice look! Haha. Yeah, we are proud of our masterpiece. **evil laugh**

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Enjoy the rest of the month!

^__________^

for love..

image taken during a tagaytay city visit. :)

once, there was a girl so in love and trusting.

she gave her everything for love.

she welcomed the pain and heartbreaks.

she thought it was part of it all.

this same girl grew up, learned more, seen more.

then this girl, who was so in love and trusting, went too deep.

she fell too deep to the point of zero salvation.

she no longer had to give her everything for love.

she was forced to give her all for love.

then this girl stopped calling it 'love.'

she thought nothing so jaded and blind should be called love.

pathetic excuses for bad behavior should not be for love.

lies and selfish motives are not for love.

taking advantage of others' weaknesses isn't an act for love.

for love is all about sharing and giving.

and then sharing and giving more.

it is rarely about I.

it is more of the YOU, of WE.

for love includes pain and heartbreaks,

but they are not part of what's for love.

for love is for those trusting and faithful.

for love is the perfect cure for people's imperfections...

^___^

p.s. SORRY FOR THE EMO FEEL ! ! ! epekto to ng panonood ko ng three XMEN movies...though si Logan ang brokenhearted sa movies, ayoko gumamit ng HE...mas madami pa din ang manlolokong lalaki! (JK! peace po!) hahaha. felt like posting something about love first before watching The Last Stand and X-Men First Class. happy weekend everyone!

it's ok to cry. but it didnt make me OK...

because i thought it was okay, I cried a lot.

i allow the pain to remain for sometime.

i was thinking, maybe, just maybe, we'll both get tired soon.

then it will be all over.

i'll get tired waiting for you to remember i hurt too.

i'd get tired looking for strength to pray you're ok.

i'll get tired searching for a flicker of gratitude.

i'll get tired being played over and over by your dirty hands.

i'll get tired hoping you'd come back.

that you, too, would get tired breaking my heart.

i can only wish, hope and pray.

i'm strong and tough and all.

but right now i just feel plain stupid. 

NOTE: picture was taken during my visit in Tagaytay City... well, that is entirely for another story. btw, this is a result of my dentist visit.. i just dont know how dentists could have voice that soothing and cause so much pain...sorry, im no dentist-fan...

***no smile for this post.

candlelight..

as i was editing this picture for my school project, this song was playing in the backgound...

life is full of ironies that most of the time i'd rather not count...

^__^

Here's a thought for every man

Who tries to understand what is in his hands

He walks along the open road of Love & Life

surviving if he can 

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say

Chained to all the places that he never wished to say

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say

and as faced the sun he cast no shadow 

As they took his soul they stole his pride

As they took his soul they stole his pride

As they took his soul they stole his pride 

Here's a thought for every man

Who tries to understand what is in his hands

He walks along the open road of Love & Life

surviving if he can 

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say

Chained to all the places that he never wished to say

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say

and as faced the sun he cast no shadow 

As they took his soul they stole his pride

As they took his soul they stole his pride

As they took his soul they stole his pride 

And as he faced the sun he cast no shadow