note: this post is for documentation purposes only (i hate not having time to write long, coherent, posts!)

• i had 2 lunch-outs in one day last dec. 19. the scheduled one with my former boss (ms. marie) and officemate (maggie) in bdo, plus the newbies (tosky and grace), and the impromptu one with my new boss and officemates in bdmu (ma'am grace, sir russel, sir ben, te lhorie and ate mel).

lunch #1- @ kenny roger's in megamall. i've been wanting to have lunch with my former officemates since i started working again in ortigas, so i was really looking forward to this lunch. i missed ms. marie and maggie! heard about a lot of changes in bdo (their uniform and time-in system, to name a few), and learned about how everyone was doing. and hmpf!!! tosky has a love team there! hey, i was there for a year, and tosky was there for only what, 4 months? why the hell did i not find myself a love team there! this is unfair! hahahaha. it's good to know that everyone's doing well.

 

lunch #2- @ the old spaghetti house in gale. it was a celebratory lunch for the unit, because of its recent achievements. our celebration was supposed to be over dinner, before the telecon with the head office in the us starts. but we all confused dec 19 12am for the night of dec 19, so as a result, we all weren't able to attend the telecon. tapos na pala! haha. so biglang over lunch na lang. since i just came from another lunch (mahaba-habang lakad ang gale-mega-gale ah!), i just ate dessert in tosh. hay sobrang busog!!! congrats to bdmu!

 

• last dec. 21 was supposed to be the iv2 reunion organized by archa, to be held @ abby's place. but sab, cez, tal, shi and i ended up having dinner in quattro, tomas morato. it's a long story. i missed them a lot, since we last saw each other, nung camiguin trip pa ata. kimee was in manila rin pala, but she didn't notify us, d tuloy namin nainvite. next time kimee, magparamdam ka pag nandito ka!! hehe. anyway, a lot has happened to my friends since that trip. cez was already working for more than a month as an auditor (love your new phone!), and living independently in her makati condo (i'm so proud of you! hehe). tal's us-based sister is going to have her wedding, so her relatives from abroad are here. shi's been partying a lot, and meeting guys (yihee!). and sab.. and sab! well, she has the most juicy kwentos that night. hahahaha. i would really like it if iv2 got together again, though! let's make this happen, ya'll!

.. and a wedding in between.

dec 8: the gurrlfriendzzz' 3rd annual christmas party. @ my place, for a change. hehehe. those present were bebs, al, nerisse, mel, mona, mike, ronald, cess, jas, joey, mae, gian, jane and her jc, erle, marci, and i. same old same old. kris kringle (thanks to daddy/jury joey for the tight-fit capri), revelation of predictions (there were hits, there were misses), delicious home-made dinner (courtest of cess' father, ate nemesia and bad mother), and lots of booze! fun fun night of course! there was dancing, there were casualties from mike and joey's alcohol recipes (but i'm not of them) and loud talks.  laughed hard, made a trip down the memory lane (someone went all the way down to that pink shirt. hehehe) and took lots of pictures (even though we were already soooo hungry!!). next time sana out-of-town na!!

  

dec 10: hospira christmas party. @ warehouse 135, makati. posh place ah! very fitting with our red carpet theme. got to wear a gown after 84 years. posed for pictures while on the red carpet (malamang), eeee parang oscars! haha. my dream! hahaha. food was great, the group presentations were super hilarious! the prizes were awesome (ipod, water-proof cam, magic sing. i didn't win any of those, though), the drinks were flowing! (oh but the freakin bloody mary tasted really bad. you have to have a stub, though, to keep them flowing. hehehe). definitely the better company christmas party, venue and prizes-wise. hehehe.

dec 13: glsu/bdmu christmas party. i forgot the name of the condo where it was held. the less sosyal christmas party (syempre, by contributions na 'to. hehe) but more intimate (syempre, 2 units na lang kami eh). for our 5-week kris kringle, i received 2 bars of toblerone (something you see in your baby), packs of oatmeal (something good for the health), body wash (something you use during private moments), perfume (something stimulating), and finally, an office bag. yey, i have a new bag! haha. all i can say is, i'm blessed to be around with friendly officemates. walang biyatches! hehehe. some officemates gave simple but really useful gifts pa. a pillow, cloth bag and a notepad. thanks to them! christmas is just around the corner baby!

dec 14: sir ryan and his marsha's wedding. @ the archbishop's palace in shaw. reception at legenda villas. the wedding was beautiful! or mashado lang magaling kumanta ung singer kaya sobrang na-feel ko ung solemnity. hehehe. kung mushy mushy lang ako, naiyak ako. haha. the groom cried kasi eh, kakatouch. of course, another opportunity to dress up and pose for pictures. un lang talaga habol eh no. but seriously, while in the church, i already pictured my dream wedding. mukha na lang ng groom ang kulang! and the reception.. ooooh the food was sumptuous! sarap lahat! sobrang busog. hay, i was called up to participate in the bouquet-throwing part. but the bride decided to do it in reverse. kung sinong walang makuhang bouquet, sya ung susuotan ng garter. so i struggled to catch 1! and thankfully, i did. low-profile ako no! hehehe. and can i just say.. i loved myself in all the pictures! hahaha. congrats to the newlyweds!

dec 15: statsoc's christmas party. @ the stat audi (why am i not surprised.. hehe) ronald, bebs and i brought them cake! kaya kelangan nilang ubusin! college days oh college days... and just when we were about to leave, we saw sir ohmar. what can you say bebs?

this is why i love the christmas season. lots of gatherings. happy happy joy joy! merry christmas!!!

... without bad lola. as it was our tradition, the arambulo's went to holy cross on nov. 1. weather was fair for a change (it didn't rain so it wasn't muddy thank goodness, unlike in the past years). tents were set up, some food were prepared, some were just delivered (para na talagang isang malaking food court ang holy cross.. hehe). our portable restroom was still put up inside daddy's tamarraw fx. there was some chatting, lots of picture-taking, and of course, the most important thing, praying for our dead. the only and major difference was, lola was no longer around. we were now praying for the repose of her soul.

we missed her!

eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! i still can't believe i was able to do all the things i did in cdo, and i still can't stop talking about how beautiful camiguin is (white island, in particular!). i was hoping that our trip would be a blast and it freakin was! i loved cdo/camiguin!!!!!!! loved white island, loved katibawasan falls, loved cagayan river (the view was just breath-taking), loved pastel (a camiguin delicacy), loved the locals, loved everything in those places!!!! basta, wanna go back, wanna go back!!!! kulit eh no.. hehe. imma reminisce..

oct 25, day 1- departure from manila at 3.30pm. i was with sab, kim, shi, tal and cez. cez and i were fighting on who gets to be in the window seat pa, eh wala naman palang window sa row namin.. haha. and i was bragging with her during the flight, about how smooth cebu pacific pilots land their planes, tas biglang parang may turbulence nung nagland kami.. napahiya tuloy ako! hahaha. grabe, i missed these girls a lot! kelan naman kasi tayo last nagkita.. cezie just came from the us (thanks sa pasalubong!), and kimee was cebu-based for 2 months already, so major reunion talaga! her beginner's knowledge of cebuano came in handy as people in cdo didn't speak much tagalog. galeng mo kimee! went straight to middleton apartelle and settled down. yey may pool! we were tired and hungry so dinner na agad! ano, how much per person? we're the poor kada! hahaha. kimee, tal, sab and i hit the pool after dinner. weee so refreshing! racing (as in takbo), "synchronized swimming", and singing in the pool, fun! we slept early because we needed to catch the first trip of the ferry to camiguin. camiguin, here we come!!!

oct 26, day 2- woke up at 4am. actually, 3.30am pa lang ata gising na ko because of kim's alarm. everybody, i think, heard it except for kimee herself. haha. there was a little commotion when we checked-out. according to those who checked our room after we left, one blanket was missing. freakin, anong gagawin namin sa kumot! and to think that we would be going back pa nga. bahala nga sila. hehe. well, they let us go din naman, since we clearly did not take it, hello! and so our journey to camiguin started. we rode the pedicab to the highway, then the jeepney to the bus terminal, but we ended up renting a van there. less hassle eh. so after more than 2 hours of travel, we arrived at the port. time to ride the ro-ro ya'll! oh the waves were huge! it was raining kasi. they were so huge the waves hit us one time, and we're on the top floor! ayun, basa na agad. hehe.  it was already 9am (and we haven't eaten decent breakfast yet) when we arrived in mambajao, camiguin. we rode this "barangay-tanod" van to paras beach resort. nice little town mambajao was. eeee we really were in mindanao!!! first thing we saw when we arrived in the resort, a picture of ryan agoncillo posted on the wall, hang gwapo!! haha. so dun pala nagstay cla juday nung shooting ng ouija.. haha! we saw marga, kathy and abby. eeee we're all here na! time to go to the famous white island!!!!!! edel, toni, gaston were already there. the elites were complete!! haha. oh white island!!! beautiful indeed! white sandbar, with mt. hibok-hibok as the backdrop of a fantasy island-scene. clear turquoise water- calm on one side, wild/surfable on the other. there was absolute nowhere to go to for shade but damn! beautiful. swam for a while, lots of bonding with the girls. oohh we're loving white island, big time! then our delicious lunch came. sa wakas, totoong pagkain! the sun was shining brightly but it was windy. struggle tuloy buksan ang plastic with spilled soy sauce! hehe. the resort food was great ah! seafood galore! a more amazing thing was, eventually, we were left alone in the island. abby even suggested skinny-dipping. pero d un kaya ng powers ko girls.. hehe. lots and lots of "artistic" pictures were taken, courtesy of abby's gaston. loved it of course! haha. it was already around 3pm when we got back to the resort. wow, whole day under the sun, literally, so as expected, we were all sun burnt! but we're loving our mapula-pulang kutis, though shi looked crispy red because of a certain tanning lotion she applied. haha.  we had enough of salt water in white island so we dipped into the resort's pool. and there, we saw before our eyes, how weird sab can be, doing the crab thing with facial expression and all! dinner time came, and once again, though not cheap, the food delivered again. sab and i played some billiards after 84 years. yey it's free! hehe. and then it's inuman time!! we would like to thank cez for the free alcohol! belated happy birthday cezay!! a staple of our reunions, we reminisced high school a lot: magagawa natin, ang lahat ng bagay, ang lahat ng bagay sa mundo!!!! high school memories never fail to make us laugh. high school is so high school! it's the best! we are the best! hahahaha. by the end of the night, we all got drunk and noisy. day 2 was soooo fun! and that calls for a shot!

oct 27, day 3- woke up at 8am, ate buffet breakfast, then checked-out paras beach resort (discount courtesy of tal's dad) to explore the beautiful camiguin island. first stop, ardent hot springs. eh hindi naman hot ung tubig ah! haha. next stop, lanzones farm. since we're not leaving for manila yet, we didn't buy muna, kahit cheaper. 3rd stop, katibawasan falls. hang ganda!! the beauty of mother nature! masaket nga lang ung patak ng tubig. hehehe. but the scenic view and the look of being wet and under the falls got me excited to post for pictures. it didn't turn out magazine-like shots, though. haha. next stop, via cruses. we were able to visit just 2 stations of the cross. tinamad? hehe. bought a camiguin shirt for timothy. 5th destination, the sunken cemetery. the huge cross floating in the middle of the sea set the gloomy atmosphere. so if we dived there, would we actually see the burial sites? kinda creepy un ah.. hehe. 6th stop, old church ruins and century-old tree. it was a great place for pictorials! feel na feel namin magposing and everything. last stop, soda springs. we didn't go in na, may entrance fee eh. and we're kinda running late already. we only had enough time to eat lunch and it's time to go back to cdo. we ate fresh seafood at j&a lagoon. sarap lahat ng inorder! we were toured around their fish pen pa. it was educational to see how they fed the fish. haha! and as per kimee's recommendation, we bought and tried camiguin's delicacy, the pastel. and ang sarap!!! we loved it so much we decided to buy separate boxes for pasalubongs and for personal consumption. wala daw share-share sa pastel! haha. after our delicious lunch, we hurried to the port and then back to cdo. we needed to be ready for the next day's daring activities! but as ready to eat dinner and rest as we were, we were surprised (and kinda pissed) to know that the reservation we made at middleton apartelle was lost. hanubeh.. good thing the management was kind enough to find us another accommodation. dapat lang no! hehe. and so we were transferred to renaissance inn, which we later realized, was a motel. ey, it's my first time inside an actual, you know! so ganon pala un.. hahaha. we were so tired of the half-day city tour, the 1-hour ferry ride and the 2-hour road travel back to cdo that we just ate dinner, took a bath and then slept. that's day 3. we loved camiguin!!!

oct 28, day 4- this is it!!! time to try the active lifestyle! woke up at 8am again, our sundo was already waiting- ate senny, kuya edwin and ate evelyn. drove-thru jollibee for breakfast. gotta have lots of energy for today's activities! we met the western rafting group of edel, toni, marga, kathy and mom, abby and gaston at the meeting point but we then went our separate ways because we had different routes. we arrived at makahambus cave at 9am and here, our cdo pinoy rafting adventure commenced!!!!! good thing the cave was not as hollow as husgado in mt. banahaw, not much effort was needed to go through. and then there was light! at the end of the tunnel! hehe. we found out we're 150 ft above the cagayan river. and we're going to rappel down to start the water tubing experience. we put on our safety equipments, warmed-up, took pictures (syempre!), and we were ready. kaso ang cez, wala pa eh, na-injure na. poor cez, but she was able to rappel pa rin naman, go go go! "trust god, the gears, and the guides!" whew! i made it alive and without scratch. now i just wish i fed the rope more so i would go down at a much faster rate. mas masaya un! hehe. ok, so rappel down, more exciting activities to go! we then tried water tubing in the cagayan river. it's just like the rio grande rapids ride only the rapids were natural and stronger. go for a flip!! but we didn't flip, though, not the pink group, shi, kimee and i. magaling c kuya kokoy eh! oh how i loved the view from the river! nature-tripping ito! i couldn't remember how many times i've said "ang ganda ng pilipinas!". hehe. but really, the view was so beautiful, in all the something-miles of the river. i wished my cam was water-proof so i could bring it out and take pictures! kaya sayang, limited pictures lang.. water tubing was so fun! when the river flow was mild, we'd chat and really feel our vacation, and when the rapids were strong, we'd hold on to our tubes, brave the rapids, and wish we would flip! and then there was the bridge jump. we stopped over this road, met up with kuya jerome and the rest of his gang, and were oriented about the jump. 30ft bridge jump? un lang pala eh, sus! haha. freakin, i was damn scared!! i don't know how kimee can just step up and volunteer to go first. i needed more time to be emotionally ready! hehe. i hesitated once or twice, but i had no choice. they were all gonna jump! and so i nervously jumped. 9.8m/sec^2 lang naman eh. but why did i have the feeling it was a lot longer?! my eyes were closed. i was screaming hard, to release my fear and to take my mind off that awkward feeling in my heart, but after some time (i knew it was just a couple of seconds, it just felt a little more than that), i was like, "ano, wala pa ba? kelan ba ko babagsak??". and as i swallowed what seemed like a gallon of fresh water, i got my answer. woohoooo!!!!!!!! i did it! i jumped! i screamed even more out of excitement!! and as soon as i reached the land, i was telling everyone i wanted to do it again. and so we went back to the bridge. tal, sab and i agreed to jump together. 1--2--3.. only tal jumped. ahahahaha! sab and i chickened out! and it was all caught on video! watch it on my multiply- http://ninabie.multiply.com/video/item/11. we later jumped. but so much for our supposedly synchronized jump. eh sa nakakakaba pa rin eh! hehehe. after that big leap of faith (come on! haha), we carried on with our water tubing. we were told that we would again have the opportunity to jump from a rock 15ft above the river. it was to be a shorter but more thrilling jump, we didn't understand why until we actually got there. i thought it would be easier the second time around. i mean, i've already done it. why would i be scared this time. but no.. the rock jump was even more torture. haha! my digicam almost lost battery life because i kept on backing out. aarrgghhh!! it was suppose to be less scary.. but because i kept on thinking about the awkward feeling i felt during the bridge jump, i couldn't do it. freakin! if you all saw me up there, you would laugh your hearts out. i was like an idiot! i was screaming, crying (yes, i cried! that's how scared i was. haha!), shouting "dao ming si!!!" (ala meteor garden kasi ung view eh. haha), stomping my feet, i was doing a lot of crazy stuffs just to release all the tension. i jumped, after like what, 30 mins?? haha. and when i did, ayun, wala lang pala! my butt just freakin hurt. and then i cried, "sorry friends!!!", for letting them wait, you know. hehe. and so we continued enjoying the rapids of cagayan river. we also tried body boarding. i couldn't control the board much, though. kung san san ako napapadpad. hay... we finally completed the route. pinoy rafting was awesome!!! definitely a must-try when you're in cdo. it's a life-changing experience! (haha, exagge) we couldn't stop asking each other why some people jump to their death. hello, it's not the most comfortable way to commit suicide! we should know! hehehe. but seriously, though, the 1K plus we spent was all worth it. and i would want to do it again! maybe western rafting naman. it's already lunch time when we reached the finish line. in the hut rented by kuya jerome's group, we met up with the western rafting group again. they were already eating the sumptuous lunch the organizers have prepared! pasaway talaga ako, pampatagal! hehe. and so we feasted on chicken and pork barbeque that were served. sarap!!!! our last activity was the zipline. it was also fun, though anti-climatic. hehe. weeeeee!!!!!!! who could forget sab's "ayun na un?!!" face?? hahaha.  so there.. our kada can be brave and adventurous din pala. active lifestyle come on! we all had hangovers from the day's happenings!!!!! today was our last night in cdo, though. and as such, we went out to celebrate it. we ate dinner at this italian restaurant in limketkai, ang eastwood ng cdo. hehehe. then we had dessert at taza coffee. we were the elites! we were elites who rode a  trike back to our inn. hahahaha! ang ganda pa ng mga porma eh! day 4 was so fun-filled! we loved cdo!!!

oct 29, day 5- last day in cdo.. went to the divisoria market for last-minute pasalubongs. and as were looking for the pastel distributor, with kimee no longer around, we felt a language barrier. we couldn't understand bisaya at all! were we in indonesia or something?? hahaha. we heard that edel's group didn't make their morning flight because cebu pacific changed the flight schedules (poor customer service!!), so we hurried back and checked-out. then we were off to the airport. bye bye cdo/camiguin!!! you will surely be missed..

whew! what a long post! i wanted to record everything as much as possible eh. because i would definitely read about this trip over and over again. and can i just again, for the nth time, the trip rocked!!!!!!! the places! the activities! but most of all, the company- the elites, were just so much fun to travel with. where's our next destination? batanes!!! serious!

imma post pictures!! (what happens in cdo/camiguin, stays in.. multipy! hahaha)

ok. i haven't blogged for the longest time, and my friends already think my blog's rotting, but i am so back!! weeeee!!!!!! i wanted to post so badly for the last 3 months, but damn! i have never been this busy to not have a freakin time to do so. every chance i got to surf the net, i only had enough time to check my emails, log-on to friendster and multiply, and browse celebrity gossip blogs (it's shallow, i know. hehe). and i couldn't blog in the office (even if i was so bored), baka madiscover ng officemates ko. hehe. blogging demands serious time, and i didn't really have much since august. why? there was work, and there was schooling. great thing it's sembreak, and my contract in the company (ala-24, prison break and heroes ito! haha) has expired (but will be renewed in november, weee!!), there are no more exams and sas programs to worry about (at least for the next 2 weeks). and since i'm leaving for cdo/camiguin later at 3pm (at last!!!!!!!!!), and for sure, when i come back, i have long stories to post, i shall give a quick recap of the last 3 months. i still haven't packed yet so wala, for documentation purposes lang ito:

• iv-2 reunion last july 28 at sab's place (where else?!). sab, archa, cez, shi, hazel, toni, aubrey, gabo, edel and ida were there. wow, reunion talaga! haha
• mae and erle's burgoo treat in MOA last august 5. we went ice skating too! bebs, bat nga wala ka dito?
• was offered a great-paying job in the company. eeee the best c ma'am! i started last august 21.  the unfamiliar sas codes gave me a little bit of headache in my first days but i slowly understood what this code and that code do. but still, not completely!
• commemorated lola's 40th day, in frisco last august 19. but being such bad apos, we went ice skating in megamall. jennine and tito rod went back to the us in the week that followed.
• as for my schooling, well, my 1st sem subjects were not really that demanding, thank goodness. and i've never appreciated my stat background more than i did in the last sem. go for flat uno!!!! hahaha, how i wish.
• there was a barkada gathering or two in the last 2 months. actually, parang d kami mashado lumabas ng fridays no.. ay, d lang pala ako sumasama kasi nerd ako. hehe. oh and because a lot of my friends went abroad (but they're back na)! 3 lang naman sila. mae, marci, and nerisse. mae to germany (and the rest of the european countries), marci to the us, and nerisse to japan. sosyalan! so much for our friendship built on lies and deception and cards! ahahaha. i want my pasalubongs!! hehe
• stat-is-eeks and decades girls' night-out last september 15.  drinks were on bebs!
• more family gatherings
• mel's super fun birthday celebration last october 20!!

so there you go. no more reflections and grammar proof-reading because i still need to pack! hope the cdo/camiguin trip with my high school best friends would be a freakin blast!!! weeeeee!!!!!!!!!