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

would you? =)

I needed some time-out. So I indulged in random picture browsing. Some things, I just have to share.

Would you go to church if you read this sign in front of it? It's very witty, I must say. I like it =)


As a child, would you have eaten your vegetables if your baon looked like this? I probably would have.hahaha

Would you let your kid ride this thing? It's so creepy! Now I can't look at Donald the same way. tsk.

Would you get married if you got this fortune cookie?

(I actually know of a perfect example for this.hahaha) See picture below.


hihi. =)

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)

men can breastfeed?

As I was randomly multiply hopping, i came across a copy-pasted post that went "can men breastfeed?" The answer? Yes, they can. Pretty interesting. =) Here's the article from mentalfloss.com:
Q: Can Men Breastfeed?

A: Odd as it seems, men can lactate. In their 1896 book, Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, Dr. George Gould and Dr. Walter Pyle recount several occurrences of men breastfeeding their young. The stories include a sailor who put his son to his breast to quiet him and started producing milk; a South American peasant who sustained his child with his own breast milk during his wife’s illness; and a Chippewa man who put his infant to his breast following the death of his wife and produced enough milk to rear the child.
The phenomenon hasn’t stopped. In 2002, a Sri Lankan man named B. Wijeratne lost his wife and was left to care for their 18-month-old daughter. When the child refused powdered milk, Wijeratne tried something different. “Unable to see her cry, I offered my breast,” Wijeratne told a Sri Lankan newspaper. “That’s when I discovered I could breastfeed.”
Wijeratne isn’t alone. All men can breastfeed, because they possess the two most vital components for lactating—mammary glands and pituitary glands. Mammary glands, which produce milk, are present in all mammals. In fact, they’re one of our defining characteristics. In some cases, such as with mice, the mammary glands of the males are too underdeveloped to function. In humans, however, they’re fully formed in both sexes, complete with breastfeeding ducts and nipple.
Of course, for a human to actually breastfeed, those mammary glands have to be activated somehow. In women, this usually happens during pregnancy, when the brain’s pituitary gland starts releasing large amounts of a hormone called prolactin, which prepares the breasts to produce milk.

All men produce small amounts of prolactin during their lifetimes. It’s released after orgasms, for example, and may be responsible for the associated feelings of satisfaction and relaxation. But typically, it’s never present in large enough quantities for men to breastfeed. Under the appropriate psychological circumstances, however, the mind can demand that the body produce more of the hormone. This often happens to mothers who adopt children and suddenly find they can nurse. And as Dr. Gould and Dr. Pyle have documented, there’s a long history of it happening in men, too.
This article was written by Shea Serrano and originally appeared in the September-October issue of mental_floss magazine.

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

weird crazy things

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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?