In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Well, it was a Saturday. He had work and it was, as usual, my day off from the hubbub of a quasi-complex profession.

Nelson often leaves the office at 4 p.m. on weekends, and it was already 6:30 in the evening, so I was like, 'He should be home by now! It's Valentine's Day for Pete's sake!' Lounging on a sofa bed and on the verge of my shallow tears, I tried to think of reasons why he was an hour late. He mentioned having dinner out the day before, and I'd been expecting him to be home at around 5 o'clock. After all, he didn't text me and there was no confirmation of the date whatsoever.

I finally couldn't help it. I put away my laptop, picked up my mobile phone, and dialed his digits. He answered and I could hear the cacophony of traffic in the background. "Where are you, honey?" I tried to sound as calm as possible. "Not too far away, hon. I'm already in Marikina," was his reply. Hmmm... that means at least 10 more minutes, right? Wrong.

Thirty seconds after I ended the call, I heard him scuffling at the front door. I opened it to let him in -- much to his astonishment! "Akala ko na kayna mama ka! [Why are you here? I thought you were at mama's!]" he gasped. My mom lives next door, and I hang out at her place with Zakei on typical Saturdays. But not this time. I had the sniffles and felt like staying home.

I glanced at the bag of take-out food in his arms. Along with the chow, he was holding a red rose, an equally red heart-shaped balloon, a box of marjolaine cake from Red Ribbon, and a poster he made with our picture on it, all especially for the overrated lovers' day. My honey tried to set up a surprise romantic Valentine's dinner, and I screwed it up! (LOL)

Anyway, it was very much appreciated, honey! I love you with all that I am and all that I'll ever be.

A precious V-day rose from my precious

Happy Valentine's Day!!! :-)

I Blew My Fuse

Anger is a gift, a potent fuel that could either make you reek of revenge and self-deteriorate or channel your strengths and creative juices into a force a notch higher than anger itself -- change. What I've noticed among most successful folks is their dynamic affinity with the emotional boiling point at a certain stage in their lives. They were dissed by the others, mocked, put down, betrayed, and their remarkable response to what the world has brought upon them eventually led to the birth of new perspectives. In a roaring attempt to prove the "bad guys" wrong, they commit themselves to a lifetime of achievement.

A great catalyst, indeed, anger shouldn't be depicted as a mammoth conduit for rampant annihilation. If there's one thing that can turn your anger into a futile whiff, it's none other than hate. Hate leads you to a lot of sinning and leaves little or no room for positive occurrences.

Despite the personal progress I've made which stemmed out of pain, I have yet to master the art of molding anger into a compelling ally in all my pursuits. Yes, the world is apodictically replete with bitches and bastards of various sorts, and when I feel like retaliating in a snap, I constantly remind myself of the power of winning slowly but surely.

This Year Will Be a Blast, I Can Feel It!

I surmise I don't have to explain my lingering two-week absence from the blogosphere. An ecstatically married career woman with a mischievous three-year-old daughter has got to do what she's got to do.

Anyway, I kicked off the new year with a stress-quashing overnight stay at the City of Springs Resort in Los Baños, Laguna. We took my mom along to give her a break from thinking too much about family business and worrying over my semi-erratic siblings. :-)

Lucky number 7

The mini-pool inside our room

Mama prepares dinner before everybody else goes night swimming.

Chow!

My honey poses for one of his art projects while we bask in the soothing indoor hot spring pool.

"This is the life...," she says.

We hit the sack at 1 a.m.

The main pool at City of Springs gets all filled up early in the morning.

In the kiddie pool. Zakei was mad about the slides.

Nelson in another one of his emotionally-stricken camera moments

Yes, we has fun in the first week of '09.

What we got out of the first part of the trip was spa-ish (I just made that word up). We savored the hot springs for a day and a half then went to have lunch in Sta. Cruz at a small Chinese restaurant that surprisingly proffers slightly overpriced meals (Almost 300 bucks for the smallest plate of sizzling seafood -- serves 1 1/2).

In the afternoon, we checked out Aglipay Church. My husband grew up in Laguna and he's been raving about the miracles of the Nazarene whom Sta. Cruz residents call the 'Nuestro Señor De Santo Sepulcro.' Apparently, every faithful Catholic who's been there attests to the unfailing aid of this holy image in terms of answering prayers.

The austere facade of Aglipay Church in Sta. Cruz, Laguna

There were only a few church-goers on a solemn weekday.

The famous Nuestro Señor de Santo Sepulcro

A shot by the wishing well near the entrance

2009 has started to unfold. Paying the Nazarene a visit was a very spiritual experience. I believe that if you begin your year with a staunch faith in Christ, then you can brazenly face 365 days knowing you're not breezing through all the challenges alone. You can count the days with your head up!

Bonne Année!!!

The Oceanic Craze

Guess which local tourist spot we checked out last week? The Philippines sole state-of-the-art oceanarium -- Manila Ocean Park!

Like the thousands of thrill-seekers whose curiosity was piqued, nelson and I decided to finally see the incipiently famous marine-themed park standing behind the ancient Luneta Grandstand.

Feast your eyes on such aquatic beauty!

With love from the ocean-arium...

On a Sunday Mawnin'

Since I've been sick for two friggin' days, I missed the company Christmas party where the TV production crew and the big bosses had a one-night-only bottomless booze session at the Hard Rock Café in Makati. Isn't that the bummer of all bummers in a season of countless bottles of beer and merriment? Anyway, there's obviously more to come, so I ain't moping.

Hmmm, I've noticed this blog has got way too many widgets it's starting to lose its personal touch. Eventually, I'm dissing some page elements that only brag about my stats and slow down the page load time. The reason this site was born out of boredom in 2005 in the first place was that the author direly needed to vent out nagging thoughts and hovering opinions and document indispensable memories as they come along, not to showcase how many stalkers I've accumulated. I'm not implying I hate the visitors. You're always more than welcome to snoop. :-)

So Many Dreams, So Little Time

I've been cursed with the passion to do a zillion things in a lifetime. Have you ever felt like aching to achieve multiple goals all at once? The enthusiasm and positivity keep me going, though there are moments when the checklist becomes a mocking piece of paper that can push you over the edge.

Even before graduating from college, I knew I would end up in the media. There was just no other line of work that could satiate my appetite for writing and public speaking. And then there's also this strong urge to sing on stage every now and then. So imagine how frustratingly torn I was between trying out for Repertory Philippines and focusing on getting my foot in the door in a reputable television network.

Somehow, my father made me realize that performing can be done for free, I could do it any time on any given day. Heck, we can all sing in the shower. But not everyone has the opportunity to influence the world.

As if a strong force was steering my destiny, broadcasting opened its doors and I had the chance to do traffic reports on FM radio for a while. Papa was thrilled when he learned he could finally hear his little girl gab away on air. The journey prior to snagging the job wasn't as smooth as you'd think though. I spent months e-mailing copies of my CV and hopping from one radio station to another just to drop off audition tapes regardless of the actuality of any vacancy.

Post radio, print media effortlessly lured me to make use of my obstinate pen. It was one of the best learning and working experiences I ever had. Writing for a weekly women's magazine honed my interviewing skills with the privilege of rubbing elbows with rock stars, heartthrobs, highly-fueled career women and other prominent latter-day icons. Mundanely satisfied with a posh career, I wanted to do more.

I set a deadline for myself for landing my dream job on TV. Just when I was on the brink of making a big leap, God revealed a detour and I had to toil while assuming the role of an account manager at big-time sales company. Hell yeah, the money was pouring in, but I was inarguably unhappy.

Everything happens for a reason. I didn't cease believing that His plans are way better than mine. I got lost and He showed me that little spark inside of me, that strength we usually don't think we have unless we hit the wall really hard and fall face-flat on the ground. Until this day, I can't believe He has eventually given me what I ardently asked for. I've clambered my way to get into the television industry, and I wouldn't have done it if not by the Lord's grace.

I'm not stopping here. Aside from exerting tremendous amount of effort to be the ultimate mom and paramount wife, there's way too many tasks to get done, and a whacking number of dreams to work on. Who says you can't have it all? Nothing is ever impossible.

A Weekend Birthday Bash

My baby bro just crossed the realms of teendom and gallopped into the sunny marshlands of adulthood!

A small birthday dinner took place at Burgoo, Robinson's Galleria, where a family of seven toasted to the dawn of Krissanto's dashing transition from wily little kid to full-grown man. Yahoo!!!