Oh the memories. I remember hanging out at the STC grade school library and reading this book out loud with a friend, giggling over every page. Tongue twisters are the best. :)

Dream Diary: The Yarn-furred, Two-headed, Koala Cat

Strange dream last night.

1. There's this English teacher I don't like. Somewhat snotty but chic and pretty. With really short hair.
2. She knows my brother and noted he does well in her class.
3. My friend Karla told me she bought the "cat" I took a photo with at some bookstore. Oh wait, before that... She complained that we weren't doing anything substantial in class (we were playing some memory game on the big computer screen) and walked out, leaving a message about how horribly the teacher was conducting the class. She came back bringing food. We ate. She gave me a pack just for myself. It was some sort of baked product. In my pack of little caramel bars in extra small cubes, there was a huge slice of some cake. I got it. I offered my teacher some, she took the whole pack and said she needed it because she was going grocery shopping. I don't know, she's gonna eat it while doing her groceries? I was so mad.I really liked those caramel thingies.
4. Back to the cat story... Karla told me she brought the cat and would I like to see it? I said yes.
5. Cat was in a shoe box, looking a bit scary. It looked more like a koala, not a cat. And the surprise was... It had two heads. the koala-like head split into 2. Cool. Its fur was something like yarn. Seriously.
5. I was so jealous of the yarn-furred, double headed, koala-like cat.
6. Went to eat at a carinderia. We wanted to check out something so we left our bags. Stupid me left my wallet and phone as well.
7. I panicked when I realized I left my phone. It's brand new and I haven't paid for it in full yet!
8. Saw a little girl holding my phone and wallet. I grabbed it from her, with a bit of difficulty, and hit her head (gently, I swear).
9. So happy I didn't lose my phone. I really love it.
10. Teachers saw what I did. I worried about my reputation. Lol

That's it. Highlight was definitely the cat. I woke up to relief that my phone was okay.hehe

P.S. The cat thing might be an effect of reading Murakami.

A Trek To Remember with the K.I.D.S. Foundation

Nothing like the high of going beyond your comfort zone.

To reach out and help others

And and at the same time, let others make a difference in  your life

Met interesting people

And had lots of crazy fun with new friends

And with my Yelie

I had such a meaningful summer that left me on a high. Literally and figuratively. 

Kalinga, I'm glad we met. ♥♥♥

Thank you K.I.D.S. Foundation for the AMAZING experience:)

***Photos courtesy of Eliel Sarmiento, Anthony Mendoza, Jaena Pereyra






Wrote a more detailed post about this trip on the blog I share with Eliel. See post here. =)

New Work! :)

Leaving my previous job is the best decision I’ve made this year.  It came at the perfect time.  And I was more than ready to move on.  Things were crazy over there (I will eventually share some tidbits in future posts) and I didn’t want to have any part of it anymore.  Of course, the bigger picture is that it didn’t offer me any opportunities for growth, career-wise.  In the long run, it really wasn’t a wise choice to stay.  For the record though, I really enjoyed the work, my colleagues and the perks.  But, you know, those aren’t the only factors that determine whether or not you’re staying.

So here I am, my third week into my new (and improved) job, having absolutely no regrets and extremely excited about our brand and the company’s future.  The change in atmosphere is very refreshing and as opposed to liposuction (which I heard 24/7 during my last job), shoes (which I hear about 24/7 here) are much more interesting.

Anyway, the point is, I’m happy happy happy with the choices I’ve made so far – resigning, taking a 2-month breather (more or less) , working for this new company.  I hope things work out well. Keeping my fingers crossed!

photo credits: Will Brenner Photography www.brennerphotography.us

mom and dad celebrate their 23rd:)

My parents have spent more than half their lives together. in 2 years, silver na!

Dad "surprised" mom with a reservation at the Marriot on the eve of their anniversary, and then a few days later, they came over to Manila to visit me. Well, they actually came here for a product launch (of, incidentally, the medicine I take for my allergies.hihi). I slept with them (it's been a while!haha) and then took half a day off from work to go around the city with them. :)

Yza with Mommy and Daddy at the Sofitel

 
Saw these cute kids on field trip while mommy was buying "awesome" Krispy Kremes:)

 
Me and Mr. Shark at the Manila Ocean Park

 
At the Fish Spa (we were too scared to put our feet in.lol it tickles.)

 
Si Daddy kay gi gitik =p

i had a dream

Most of the time, the dreams I remember are the bad ones. Like this morning, between 6:30 and 8:55 a.m., I had a horrible dream. So horrible(or so I think), that I was so relieved when I woke up.:))

***

I was at a sort of event that I had to go to with my family. I felt one of my canine teeth was loose. I was trying to keep it in place, but it came off eventually. I told my mom, but she didn't seem surprised. She looked at me and asked, "Was that tooth permanent?" (Like I was in 2nd grade all over again) For some reason, I wasn't sure if it was or wasn't.haha I was just hoping it would grow back.

Anyway, that wasn't the only tooth that came off. After a while, I had gaps on my front teeth. I was thinking about getting braces to get my teeth closer at lease. But no. Soon, all my front teeth were gone. I looked at the mirror and felt really bad about about my smile. I was so depressed(the feeling is still so clear in my head right now.haha). And then, to make matters worse, the entire row of teeth on the upper left side of my mouth fell off as one row, like as one whole chunk. I was crying already.

My mom told me to suck on this grapefruit (or some citrus fruit. the point is, I wasn't sure how it was supposed to help) and I was spitting out blood. Also, I had the feeling that I was gonna die soon.haha (Been having lots of these dreams lately ohno!)

Oh yeah, this dream had a nice side too. I was talking to Piolo Pascual. An actual conversation. The sad part though, is that I had no teeth. But whether or not he noticed, he still talked to me anyway, like was normal. :)) He's nice!hahaha

Anyway, to cut this story short, I woke up.. Checked my teeth.. And was so relieved that I still had every single one and that they weren't loose.
***

Hm.
Do dreams actually mean anything?

***

I did a bit of Googling, and this is what I found online:

Teeth are one of the most common dream symbols.

In dreams teeth can represent one or more of the following:

• strength and aggressiveness
• youth, vitality
• greed or devouring instincts, envy
• your self-confidence or estimation of your abilities

Dreams involving the loss, breakage, yellowing of teeth are extremely common and are most often regarded by psychologists as signs that the dreamer is worried (consciously or sub-consciously) about the loss or weakening of his or her strength, youth, beauty, or self-confidence.

To dream about teeth or a tooth can symbolize the breakdown of psychological information in order to defeat, understand or integrate it (i.e chewing on something).

Dreaming of teeth or of a tooth can symbolize the ability to get what we want, words we say or swallow, our social appearance, and it is often sign of our age.

Dreaming of losing some or all of one’s teeth can mean “losing it”. Not being able to get what one really wants, hence it is experienced as a sort of death or loss of self. In some cultures losing teeth traditionally portends the death of a family member.

***

The last one doesn't sound so good. But then again, I've heard that dreams are reflections of our fears. Seriously, in my dream, I was so desperate, I even considered going to a cosmetic dentist (which Belo will soon be partnering with here at Medical Plaza,haha). Omg, I think this may be an effect of looking at the "before and after" teeth pictures that our creatives guy, Wilby, saved into my thumbdrive!hahaha Or maybe I'm just subconsciously scared of loosing teeth and loosing my smile.. =S hahaha

slurpEE makes me happEE

..and to my surprise, it comes in lychEE too.haha Or I think it's lychee, because it tastes like lychee.

(It's baby pink lychee slurpee!)

I usually get these headaches in the middle of my afternoons at the office. I don't know why. Anyway, for cheering up, I like taking a quick trip to 7/11. Yesterday, Cas wanted to buy coffee too, so out we went. We passed by Manong Fishballs and got tempted.haha

(weird combo?)

And while I'm at it, I want to post pics of another happy Slurpee moment. =P

(Slurpee with free witch straw + instant spaghetteeeee.hehe)

 
(This isn't related but it's cute. Cute ghost doughnut which I got around last Halloween.hihi)

this and that. random cuteness

I've been looking at pictures from my camera and a few things caught my eye. :) These are from random moments when I felt that my material possessions deserved my undivided attention.haha

***

This was when I had a sudden urge to cover my books with plastic. I just grabbed random uncovered books from my shelf and used up all the plastic cover I had at that time. I had a very productive book-covering afternoon:

(from top to bottom: Memories of My Melancholy Whores,The Princess Bride, Hannah's Daughters, Stardust, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Charlotte's Web, Two to Go, The Way of the Dog, All-American Girl, The Nanny Diaries, The Catcher in the Rye, Stainless Longanisa, Beach Blondes)

***

These pictures, I took when I was cleaning out my school stuff after graduation (sigh). These were some of my favorite notebooks (the ones I managed to keep):

***

I was checking out my kikay kit and I found all these. I'm a lip balm addict. I also used to buy the Body Shop's strawberry lip balm but eventually stopped because I found it too messy to apply sometimes. Anyway, I got bored that day, so I lined them up and took this picture: 

***

I also saw all my siblings' cellphones lying around. So I took a picture of them too (with my phone).hahaha

From eldest to youngest (owners, not the phones):

(Yza, Ian, Mico, Mia)

***

I owe a lot to Adel who introduced me to this amazing product=D :

***

These are my top 3 celebrity crushes as of today, November 20, 2008. I know these don't belong to the "material possessions" category, but I can't resist posting this:

Keith Urban, Christian Bautista, Jason Castro

(I have a thing for singers.Cuties!)

when your boyfriend is younger than you are, you have to remember not to take him to the casino with you

..but obviously, I forgot. Weird thing is,he also forgot his age. (tsktsk, how is that even possible?!) When we got to PAGCOR for the Digital Filipino networking event, he actually panicked when I asked him "diba you're still 20?"(hahaha) but did an awesome job at playing cool (he's almost 21 anyway!). *pats Eliel's back* Also, he also couldn't leave the slot machine (tsktsk, good thing it was a demo machine, we didn't lose a single peso.haha).

looks like someone's having fun

Of course, I wanted a picture too.

weee!

So there, we survived the night!haha (I swear, I think I sounded defensive 'coz when they asked me how old I was, I said, "21, almost 22") It sometimes sucks to look young. =P

christian bautista is my forever crush!=D

I haven't posted much lately, mainly because I'm still having my camera fixed. I've basically made Multiply my online storage place for pictures.haha These days, all I've been (and will be) posting are pictures taken by the people I've been with. I can't wait to get my cam back.

The reason why I'm blogging is because I have this need to pine over my ultimate crush. (Cue in: falling hearts) Christian Bautista has been in my heart since forever. For a while, my desire for him has died a bit due to my acquisition (haha) of a boyfriend (yihee, Yelie!). Anyway, last night, Gia and I watched West Side Story and the fire is burning again (hahahahaha). Christian is the cutest! I could die listening to him sing. Sigh. Sigh. *SIGH*

Gia is officially my Christian Bautista buddy. We watched one of his concerts before (at Araneta), and last night, his play. Yey!

Anyway, just to make it clear, the entire production (not just the Christian Bautista parts… though, I must say, those parts are BETTER.hahaha) was great. Karylle now has my respect as a singer and an actress. Also, I think I like listening to her classical soprano singing better than her pop singing (but that’s just me). There are times when I get nervous for her (especially when the notes are really, really high), but she pulled through. =)

It was a great night. Not just because I sat next to Kuya Germs (weeell…there was an aisle between us, but still!), but because Christian Bautista was so cute! (And it all goes back to Christian.hihihi)

Afterwhich, I had dinner with Erika (I missed her!) and caught up with all the juicy details of her life. Girl talk=) I wish all of us girls – Pat, Adel, Ria, Jessa, Er and I – could get together and bond sooooooon. (How soon is soon? I have no idea!haha) When that “soon” happens, you’ll be sure to hear about my Christian Bautista raves. Wee=) And Jes, you have a research assignment to submit to me pa (as discussed in the last YM comference.ahahaha) Del! Chika about Billygoat. I heard...=) Pat! I also heard something...Chika nya! Ria! I haven’t heard anything…Chika nya! Haha And if anyone has insider info about Christian, chika to me!hahaha

This is clearly a fan post. Warning: I am deleting nega comments about the person to whom this blog post is dedicated to.=P

saying goodbye to our house Orel house near Queensland and Cempark

A few years ago, a Queensland branch was constructed on our secluded street. (For those unfamiliar, it's a well known motel. I'm not sure if it's found in Cebu only) When that happened, Orel (that's the name of our street) became common knowledge for taxi drivers. Something which I found very helpful everytime I had to ride a taxi.haha I didn't have to say "turn left the on the street before Jade Court"(ehem, another motel), because I just had to say, "left sa Queensland" and then the taxi would turn left as it comes face to face with the billboard-ish thing that says, "P230 for 3 hours" (or something like that..I can't remember exactly).
***
Sometimes I'm glad we left that area. I've had too many embarrassing taxi rides, because taxi drivers think I'm headed you know where. Worse is when I'm with my boyfriend. Um, kuya taxi driver, I just wanna go home. Diretcho pa. Landmark ra toh.
***
Interesting was the day my mom complained about being stressed. She said she wanted to unwind, go to some resort. And then my innocent sister said, "Sa Queensland nalang pag hotel, near pa." (she's 12.hihi) We all laughed, and she just looked confused.
***
I applaud Koreans coming from the motel. They don't take the taxis waiting right outside. Instead, they walk all the way to the intersection(no walk of shame for them) to find tricyles or other taxis passing by. Those taxi drivers waiting by Queensland probably overprice when they see foreigners.
***
As I was writing this entry, I messaged my Eliel asking him what the billboard said about the room rates. He asked me why I asked him. "Are you marketing your old house?" haha. No, I'm not, there's a family renting the house already, thankyouverymuch.=P
***
And did I say that at the end of the road is a locked gate? So technically, it's a deadend. And you know what's behind the gate? Cempark the cemetery. haha I used to always have that in my mind especially back in highschool. I couldn't study well at night or at dawn, because as soon as the dogs started barking, I'd imagine a procession of spirits going down our streets. hahaha
***
During Novembers 1 and 2, our tiny street would be closed off, because Cempark opens it's backgate as an exit. So it's pretty cool when we just have to say "naa diha among balay", and we get to enter the street.haha Mabaw.
***
Also, because we live in Sitio Orel, with the street named Orel as well, people used to think we owned the street just because our family name is Urgel and it sounds like Orel. And I have to explain that my familyname is U-R-G-E-L and I live in O-R-E-L.
***
Anyway, I just remembered all these because I was posting pictures of the old house and the new house. Kinda makes me miss what we used to call "home". The house near Queensland and Cempark, in Orel, Banilad, Mandaue City. But "home" is in Singson Village now, and it doesn't feel so bad. =)

It's a 1 minute walk to the church, we could hear every single mass. Ian and Mia both, on separate instances, joked that maybe it's okay if we don't go out for mass anymore, just go when it's time for communion.haha Maybe they were serious?haha We get to hear mass twice a day and around 8 times on Sundays. How cool is that?

my summer starts today

I got home a week ago, but I was still caught up in "work" and the party. I've submitted my articles already, and so I declare the start of my summer.hahaha

***

I took a quiz online a while ago. What kind of guy will you fall for? (very highschool) And I ym-ed the result to eliel. And na-igo daw xa.hahaha He thinks it's him. "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" that's what he said.
"fine, geek ko!" he also said that. And I didn't even say anything yet.
anyway,
tobey mcguire looks really cute here. wala lang=)

You will fall for the geek. If you're looking for love, consider spending a little more time studying up in the library. To you, there's nothing more attractive than intelligence, shyness, and kindness; your future love may have four eyes and zero social skills, but he'll make up for it in brains and heart.

>the four eyes part made me laugh. Contacts still count as a second pair of eyes right?

>the weird thing about E is that he has always insisted that he has zero social skills. But if you ask me, that's totally not true. =P

***

I hung out with the girls last night at IT Park. Dinner at Ila Puti and coffee at Brown Cup (suki). Erika was absent (in Manila, training with the dragonboat national team. go girl!) but someone else was present. Yiheeee. Welcome Nelson. hahaha Saw Py and Noel. Caught up with the chika. Hai..Feels good to be home. =)

***

The downside is spending another monthsary apart (as in islands apart).
That's 4 out of 8.hahaha
Happy 8months eliel=)

21

it sucks to be old.hahaha
i've actually been alive for 21 years, and am now living my 22nd year.
time just goes on and on and on.

Jen(my former Kalay and Molave dorm mate) and I have this birthday tradition. We have to have a birthday meal together. You see, we share the same birthday. Only, mine is a year earlier. (aargh.) Freshman year was dramatic, sophomore year, i can't really remember what we did(haha). We only started taking pictures junior year:

Yza@20

Jen@19


and this year...

Jen@20

Yza@21

Looks like nothing's really changed much.haha

the disappearing cockroaches

it happened twice already.
and i need enlightenment.

i have this thing against cockroaches. kill. kill. kill.
so anyway.

i've lived in this house for a little more than a month and i've killed 2 cockroaches in my room. (yeah, gross. they enter through the space between the floor and the door.. aargh.) i swear the house is clean, the maids clean all the time. but it's too open. if you know what i'm talking about. anyway. that's not important in this story.
the first one, i had trouble killing, as it was the flying kind. the second one, it was dead in 5 seconds after 5 hits.hahaha

so, since it's past 12 when these cockroach murders happen, i do not like going down to get a broom just to sweep them dead creatures out. because hey, i can do that in the morning.

so here's the thing.

the first time it happened.

i woke up, checked underneath the slipper, ready to sweepsweep the dead thing. and lo and behold. it was gone.
i woke up a bit late, so i figured, maybe the maid came in to clean up?
it wasn't a strong suspicion, but it wasn't entirely impossible either. i let it pass.
after all, i was glad i didn't have to clean up anymore.

the second time it happened.

i killed the poor thing at around 3 in the morning.
i double locked the door. meaning i locked the knob, and locked the (i don't know how you call it) chain bolt thingy.
and then i went to sleep, leaving the dead thing on the floor.

i woke up at around 8 the next morning.
waah, it was gone. without a trace. just like that.
and it couldn't have been a human body that took it. i double locked remember?

so the question is
do mice eat cockroaches? (i'm thinking maybe there are mice in this house? eeeeep, no!!)
do lizards eat cockroaches?
can ants take away whole cockroaches in say 4 to 5 hours?
or could it have been some mysterious ghost or mumu who took my bloody cockroach sacrifice?

i am so lost.
if anyone can enlighten me.
please.

i think the next time i kill something, i'll stay up all night just to see what happens.
and then i can sleep in peace.