The weekend is here. I only drive on weekends. But I can't this weekend because my license is expired. D: So here's hoping that the LTO renewal center is open on weekends. D: It's not. BOO.

I'm going to Corregidor on Tuesday. 8D Never been there, so I'm looking forward to it. Only downside is that I'll have to wake up at 5am since we're leaving at 6. D:

Several people have been asking for my Christmas wish list, so here it is. 8D In no particular ranking.

⇒ A whole bunch of CDs and DVDs♥
⇒ Stuff for my Creative Zen: EP-830 | Clear Case | PoPz
⇒ CSI: Deadly Intent PC game
⇒ CSI: Seasons 1-8 DVD box set
⇒ CSI: Season 9 (and any other future seasons)
⇒ A trip around Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Kyoto..)
⇒ Samsung T240HD Monitor
⇒ Wacom pen tablet (for home use; i'm not really particular about the model)
⇒ 1TB or 1.5TB External Hard Drive
⇒ A new pair of rubber shoes (size 8, preferably with good arch support! because I have semi-flat feet D:)
⇒ A decent warm jacket, like the type for Baguio/Tagaytay weather. because I realized I don't have one!
⇒ Gummi Bears. 8D
⇒ Boxing gloves & jump rope
⇒ An acoustic guitar with a built-in tuner thing because it irritates me when I can't get it exactly right! D:
⇒ Or just a guitar tuner.
⇒ BEST OF AIR SUPPLY PIANO SHEET MUSIC! lolololol I'M SERIOUS.♥ I can play cheesy music to my heart's content in the wee hours of the morning LOL

annnnd that's all I can think of right now. hahaha

IT'S 2PM. Okay, 2:20, but lunch break started at 2 because of our whole day meeting.

Speaking of 2PM, it would be nice if they released a full version of the ballad. But either way, JYP, we're tired of waiting. Stop messing with us. D:

And I'm so sad for the TVXQ case. D:

I need a nice new layout and nice new icons and a nice new profile layout. Planning on using the recent Rock&Read scans of Ryutarou. Red & yellow/gold ftw.♥ although I admit I struggled between him and SJ-M, lol

Hmm. Sunday. I want to bake a cheesecake from scratch!

I've been thinking of writing down everything that I want to have when I furnish my future house. Kinda like a first draft for my future bridal registry, lol. In detail, like, down to the melon scraper, haha. WHY? I have no idea. I was just walking around SM Marilao with Tom and we were checking out the appliance store, looking at laptops and refrigerators and those droolworthy Samsung LED TVs. 8D Sigh. It's so expensive to furnish a house. :| And to buy a lot & build a house in the first place. A condo is fine if you're single, but I want to raise a family in a house with a garden where my kids can run around and not just be in front of their computers all the time. IT'S UNHEALTHY (speaking from experience, lol).

ANYWAY. Almost done with Supernatural season 2. :D I like Dean. He's snarky. 8D

Just a way for me to keep track. XD

( list of jdramas I've seen )

Ahh I love 'em.♥

 
TABLO, WHY SO EPIC?♥


/back to work.


P.S. I decided to get TENT. MGATW can wait another year. XD

I usually don't like the sun. It's too hot. XD But it makes for nice pictures. :3



( I got a little lazy with captions XD )

( ASDFKLJASD MY NEPHEW IS ADORABLE♥ )

I'm coming down with a cold so I'd better hit the sack, but let me leave you with this awesome video. XD You should check out this guy's other vids.

SWAMPED AT WORK FTL. D: With the fast-approaching holiday season & coping with the typhoon aftermath. Actually, our meeting was supposed to start 45 minutes ago.. where is everybody??

Had coffee with a friend the other day, talking about changing the country. What he would do if he were president, or at least a local government official. But even if you're idealistic and ambitious, you have to deal with 1923847019234 other people who are just too stubborn to change. And we both want to go build a place in Tuscany. :D And have a house overlooking a cliff & have a section that's suspended over the water (he wants a dining area, I want a grand piano). XD

I don't think I mentioned it before, but a couple weeks ago I realized how awesome the people around me are. And how it left me feeling quite blessed to know them & also wondering what I had done to endear me to them like that. I was chatting with two separate people on the same night, and both said that once they start earning a lot (they're an architect & soon-to-be lawyer — dead giveaway irl lol), I'm on their shortlist of people they'd take to Japan.♥ Now I don't know whether that'll come true or not, but it's still a nice gesture. :3

I went bowling yesterday after such a long time, and now my right arm feels like dead weight and it hurts to snap. D: But I won best 2/3, lol.

Okay, my boss arrived. I'll try posting the Tanay pics later tonight, and some more photos of my nephew. :3

the last time we had a category 5 typhoon. Ondoy (Int'l: Ketsana) was category 1 in terms of windspeed, but the amount of rainfall was crazy . But Pepeng (Int'l: Parma) is about THE SIZE OF THE WHOLE FREAKIN COUNTRY, and it's category 5. D:

It's easy for people to say PAGASA (the weather bureau) sucks for not being able to predict rainfall levels, but they claim that they've been asking for better equipment for the past 4 presidential administrations. Which obviously they didn't get. Which is why we're in this craptastic state. And last month there were rumors of GMA using P800 million of our calamity fund for foreign trips. Or a new presidential jet or something. HI GMA, YOU CAN'T BE PRESIDENT OF A COUNTRY WHOSE PEOPLE HAVE ALL BEEN SWEPT AWAY BY THE TYPHOONS.

And my heartfelt thanks & respect go to the generous businessmen who donate relief goods and prefer to remain anonymous.. unfortunately, only to have them stamped with certain politicians' names ("from the office of Mayor ____") as campaign tactics for next year's elections. (I have mixed feelings about the Manny Villar one since he probably did donate from his own pocket, but the little paper is still in bad taste)

And we wonder why hindi umaasenso ang bayan. This is why your vote counts next year. I hope you've registered already.

Back to the storm. Manila is expected to feel some of the effects of Typhoon Parma/Pepeng tonight, but they say it'll be the strongest on Saturday evening. (During the Air Supply concert. I've been looking forward to it so much, but now I don't know if I'll be able to enjoy it. Well, ticket proceeds will go to the typhoon victims, which is great.) At first, they said that there would be two more after Ondoy, and now all the focus is on Pepeng and I have no idea about the second one. I just pray that, by a miracle, the typhoon will change its course or its strength will diminish. There are already 700,000 people displaced by Ondoy, and I don't know if we can take another huge blow.

Guys, sorry for bringing such depressing news. But if you can help out in any way, by donating to the organizations listed below or just keeping us in your prayers, that would be very much appreciated.

WE International Philippines
Philippine National Red Cross
World Vision Philippines

I find it a little strange how some people can just go posting cutesy FB statuses and quiz results when their fellow countrymen are either out volunteering or rebuilding their lives from scratch. I just want to understand why they don't seem to be affected by all this. I teared up so many times while watching the news.. I guess people are just wired differently.

Karen & dad got back around 6pm last night. By that time, a state of calamity was declared in Metro Manila, with 100% of Cainta submerged. A month's worth of rain fell in just 6 hours. I've never ever ever seen floods this bad in my whole life.

BBC video --> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8276347.stm I think this was yesterday.

My friend's house was flooded up to the second floor. pics and blog

This is how bad UERM was this morning --> http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=281979720576

Now it's a light drizzle where I am, and the storm is headed northwest. Thankfully, floodwaters in some places have receded, but there are still thousands of families that need to be rescued in low areas.

If your area was not heavily affected & you would like to help with relief efforts, please check here for details: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/173256/3-drop-off-areas-designated-for-ondoy-victims-donations

And ugh Globe & PLDT are both down so I have no way of contacting people except through the net, but a lot of areas are without power, too. D:

Metro Manila is feeling the full brunt of Typhoon Ondoy.

In Cubao, water levels are up to the 2nd storey; in Antipolo, the rooftops.

My dad managed to leave the hospital early to get home after 3 hours on the road. We're all here, except for my sister, who's been stranded at UP for 6 hours & counting. D: I feel so unsettled.

I've come to realize that FB is too public irl, lol and I'd rather post stuff here. Well, even though my lj is linked, not a lot of rl people care to visit here anyway. XD

I'm a turtle, okay? Take that however you wish.

Reason is often blinded by emotion. So think before you say something you might regret or don't have the balls to follow through with. -> and I think my grammar is a tad shoddy, but w/e you get the point. Don't accuse before knowing the whole situation or else you'll look like a fool.

WELL. Onto happier things. :) They're taking the hobbits to Isengard! I finally went through all three LOTR movies (not straight, though) again.♥

( random cellphone photos )

Erm, will post Tanay pics another time. ^^;

HAI GAIZ. I'm here with something new — an icon battle! \8D/ The lovely Miss Rii (elffingqueen) invited people for an icon battle at her graphics journal blindcottonlove, and I decided to try it out despite my creativity handicap. I think this took over a year to complete, lol. XD

A little bit of how this icon battle went: We couldn't really decide on just one artist/group (you try picking one out of your countless fandoms.. it's hard stuff!), so we each chose 3 photos for Plastic Tree (my bias♥), 5 for JE, and 3 for bis (Miss Rii's bias♥), for a total of 6 Pura 10 JE 6 bis = 22 photos from which to crop icon bases for each other. Combine that with PS skillz, and voila, you have 44 icons under the cut. :D


( ahrrrr here be icons! )


Anyway, thank you elffingqueen for taking up the challenge with me! Although it took a while, I had a lot of fun.♥ (Up for another one? hahaha)

lol It's been a week since my last entry. I fail at LJ, sorry. So.. the past month, in a nutshell.

WORK... sucks. I'm so not motivated lately. D: The desire to try something new is growing day by day, but I can't act on anything yet because I don't have a plan. I don't know what to pursue next. Well, I do know what I want, but I don't know if it's what I'm meant to do. Yes, my fear of the unknown and unfamiliar still cripples me, so I need wisdom & courage in that area. *sob*

FAMILY... is doing good. My atchi constantly sends us photos & videos of Liam and his cuteness.♥ Parents are doing fine. Karen is still a bundle of stress, what else is new. I wish she'd learn not to take things so seriously once in a while. It's making her really negative & critical, and I want her to be happy. :(

FRIENDS... are great. This past month I've met new friends, caught up with old ones, gotten closer to people whom I never would have expected to. :) These are the people whom I've grown up with, the ones I love and dislike at the same time (LOL), the ones I admire, the ones I choose to be accountable to, the ones walking with me through this journey called life. Sounds cliché, but I truly want to treasure them all. This includes you, my dear LJ f-list, and I'm sorry if I haven't been commenting/posting lately. I do read your entries & I'll try better to comment. ;o;

LOVE... is all around me, however you want to interpret that. LOL XD I'm still single, and still not rushing anything, but God has placed several people in my life that make me feel like I'm not an ugly hermit. Hahaha.

LIFE... is generally good. It's tough, but God is faithful and He keeps me going. There are some things that I seriously need wisdom for, like my career path and relationships, but little by little I'm learning to trust that He'll take me where I need to be—perhaps even somewhere I'd never expect to be. I'm excited and scared at the same time, but all I know is that I don't want to be a turtle anymore; I don't want to hide in the safety and comfort of my shell while life passes me by. I need to LIVE, darn it.

HEALTH... is not so great. Apparently I have to go to rehab... for my back (which rehab were you thinking of? lol). My lower back has been painful for almost a week now, but only when I change positions (from sitting to standing & vice versa). Weird. My dad says it may be a slipped disc, or I just have to lose weight, LOL. And omg izon_no_niwa I'm glad you're okay! ;o;

Now for the lighter stuff:

FANDOM... is rocking my socks. BUT my interests have shifted. *gasp* I now join the ranks of Kpop fan drones, particularly those of Super Junior and DBSK. XD Well, I did like DBSK's music as Tohoshinki (their Japanese releases) at first, so I'm not surprised things turned out this way, lol. But the effect on my J-fandom... well, let's just say I haven't watched Jdramas for over a month now. O_O And I should have been more excited with V6's new PV GUILTY (which is actually an okay song), but all I could think about was SuJu's SORRY, SORRY with the b&w and suits + Ne-Yo's Closer with the chorus. NOT GOOD, lol. But seriously, I can see why JE feels threatened by Korean idol groups. Just look at them dance. *_* I have aramatheydidnt and omonatheydidnt to thank for the constant lulz lately.

In Jrock, I'm also excited for Pura's new single & DVD, thought I'm slightly sadfacing that they're going to be released only a month apart. Me needs more time to gather more monies. D:

And as for my only English fandom.. I am the proud owner of Take That's Beautiful World DVD.♥ I cried before Gary even sang the first line of the first song (Reach Out), ngl. ;o; Beautiful concert, and I love that there's backstage/making/commentary footage THAT I DON'T NEED SUBTITLES FOR. \8D/ (Because Japanese artists seem to refuse to cater to their English-speaking Asian fans.. hmph)

( Now time for some random photos )

And a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to kagechii!! U KNW ILU♥♥♥

That's it for now. :3 Gotta sleep & rest my back, lol.

It's been a while since my last post, and a number of things have happened IRL and in fandom annnd.. I'll get around to posting more about them when I have the time, lol. But for now, I'll leave you with a recent photo of my nephew Liam:



fwee~♥♥♥

I think I overworked myself this week. I'm coming down with something.

Been thinking a lot about what the future holds for me. I keep drawing a blank, but it's not as scary as it used to be.

I think I figured out my favorites for now: Hankyung, Siwon, Kangin, Kyuhyun.

My mom's bday yesterday.♥ We celebrated in Dong Won without her, lol. But at least she got to have wagyu with Atchi in Singapore. *_*

Hello japchae~♥



Yay for noodles. Best thing about being Asian is the food. *_*

Edit: Our company's having a tree-planting event on Wednesday! \8D/ Let's hope I don't get sicker! lol

"What's all the hype about?" I wondered. And I found out, to the demise of my J-fangirl dignity. Well no, not really. I think I lost it long ago when I got into KAT-TUN for starters. XD Anyway, the only song of the group above that I've listened to is "U", and it's been LSS-ing in my brain for the past two days. Yes, I'm probably only ankle-deep into the whole Super Junior thing, but I've been watching more of their shows rather than listening to their music. But I think I can finally tell them apart without the use of Google...( watch me fail! )

See, this is what happens when I run out of JE shows to watch, or while waiting for dramas to be subbed. But I'm not completely hooked (yet?). I still like Tohoshinki more. XD

Oh, and Happy birthday, perpetuate! & Belated happy birthday, unichan!
 

I JUST STARTED WATCHING MR. BRAIN AND I WISH I STARTED THIS SERIES SOONER BECAUSE IT'S MADE OF AWESOME.

( AND WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THAT GACKT WAS IN IT? THE 2ND EP PREVIEW ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK! )

I want to see the second episode, but I still have work to finish! Hahaha

Another relatively pointless entry, brought to you by the girl with no life! XD


EDIT: Oh, and it made me happy to see Hikaru in the cast of Orthros. :D I don't like HSJ, but I do miss Yax3.

This is Eita's Srs Bzns face. *_*

( Pic spoilers for those who haven't watched the jdrama 'UNFAIR'.. but if you're willing to be spoiled to see Eita, then don't say I didn't warn you XD )

Unfair is all sorts of awesome. More twists than Twizzlers (which I haven't had in such a loooong time IWANTMYCANDIES T_T). But srsly, if you're like me and hate cliffhangers, make sure you have a loooot of spare time because the story just keeps going and going. I watched the SP right after the series finale, and now I just HAVE to see the movie but I can't because I'm sleepy. XD AND. I wish I had Shinohara Ryoko's hair. *_*

My brain tends to shuffle random songs at random times of the week. Like Tegomass' Miso Soup (just the "Aitaku naru ne" part D:) & Mew's Apocalypso. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.

Happy birthday narcomanic!

Note to self:



Every cloud has a silver lining. :)



LOL I just noticed that my icon says "LIFES" instead of "LIVES" XD;

Today (er, yesterday, since it's past 12) was a busy day. It was the opening of my mom's latest exhibit, and she didn't want to spend for catering so we had to prepare the food ourselves. So yes, this is a photo of our dining table as we were making the mini-burgers and sausage & potato things on toothpicks. Not included in the picture are the 100+ macaroons, teriyaki chicken bbq sticks, adobo empanadas, etc. But my favorite cocktail snack was the vegetarian chicharon.♥

All in all, it was a tiring day, as we were on our feet for a long time. Missed the youth service when we got back, but had a very 'productive' dessert time. XD The whole conversation was about love & relationships & crushes, and for a while there I felt like I was back in high school, lol. Nathan has yet to crack, though. XD

I still have some stuff to do for my mom before she leaves tomorrow for Singapore. She'll be there a whole month, helping my sister take care of Liam. And we're supposed to go on a diet together, because we've got my cousin's wedding coming up next year (and I have another 2 more to attend!). I don't know how long she's going to last, when the food there in Singapore is just awesome. @_@

Anyway, I don't really have much to write right now, so I'll end it with a meme. ( tagged by buta_chan )

Tagging kagechii, kaede_hikari, enai, medialuz, beevosteethos. And anyone else who's bored and feels like doing it. XD