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On kicking 2013 off

Start 2013 off with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen. On new year's eve, empty it and see what awesome stuff happened that year.

I'm starting my 2013 off with a red box instead of a jar. :)

Happy new year!

A happy Christmas

I hope you had a meaningful celebration of Christmas wherever you are. Click here for more "going to make you smile" photos. :)

Feast for my eyes

It's been a long time since I had my lazy days... yes, I just had it. Thanks to the long weekend courtesy of the UAE National Day celebrations. Anyway, I'm glad that I've been productive when it comes to watching films that I wanted to catch a long time like The Help (it made me teary eyed and be more appreciate of the house helpers), 10 years (it's a sort of highschool reunion film, fun watch and unpretentious; makes me want to research about the "Never Had" song), etc.

And just when I'm saying goodbye to the long weekend already, I just found myself reaching for the Eraserheads Reunion concert dvd. There I go, I was transported to some of the best and not so good moments of my highschool and college years. I don't know, Eraserheads can really speak so much to me in so many ways. But overall, they can instantly cheer me up.

I'm happy to have had dedicated the long weekend to the people and stuff that really matter in life. It gave me the push and glow that I need to face the coming (tough) weeks ahead. :)

The World from the Side of the Moon

PP (or as I alternately refer to him as P squared) shared the cover and title of his first album via his twitter account last night.

I'm excited and yeah, I'm a fan since his American Idol days. :)

Paper dolls

(More photos here)

I was sorting photos from our visit in Penang Toy Museum and this photo of group of dolls made me realize that I never had a real Barbie doll until now. My parents and grandparents , even if I am a favorite apo (grandchild), did not buy one for me although most of the young girls had it. They claimed that it is expensive and they would rather buy me Goya chocolates. I did recollect from my cousin that it was the same in her case. However, she bought a Barbie for herself when she started earning on her own.

It is nice to look back at those times including the little rarity in our upbringing. But it did not make us feel less. We actually thought that we were unique and special that we were making our own dolls --- the paper dolls. Of course, we got to "sew" (draw) the paper dresses as well.

Happy times.

We don't need to be a millionaire to be happy

Pinoy Payaso, the clown with the eyeglasses whom we met at my inaanak's (godchild's) birthday party.

I'm a huge fan of "investing on experiences" rather than acquiring depreciable stuff and I'm happier when I'm the one gifting instead of being the receiving end. But of course, gifts are welcome anytime. Heehee.

Here's an excerpt from New York Times' Don't Indulge. Be Happy:


Interestingly, and usefully, it turns out that what we do with our money plays a far more important role than how much money we make. Imagine three people each win $1 million in the lottery. Suppose one person attempts to buy every single thing he has ever wanted; one puts it all in the bank and uses the money only sparingly, for special occasions; and one gives it all to charity. At the end of the year, they all would report an additional $1 million of income. Many of us would follow the first person’s strategy, but the latter two winners are likely to get the bigger happiness bang for their buck.

We usually think of having more money as allowing us to buy more and more of the stuff we like for ourselves, from bigger houses to fancier cars to better wine to more finely pixilated televisions. But these typical spending tendencies — buying more, and buying for ourselves — are ineffective at turning money into happiness. A decade of research has demonstrated that if you insist on spending money on yourself, you should shift from buying stuff (TVs and cars) to experiences (trips and special evenings out). Our own recent research shows that in addition to buying more experiences, you’re better served in many cases by simply buying less — and buying for others.

The happy shoes

 

 I consider this pair as my happy shoes. I'm glad that they still got my size (39). I love the "smiling" whiskers on it, aside from that being too comfy. You can tell that they need extra care away from my cats. ;)

Better

Yesterday was nervecracking for so many reasons. I'm thankful that there's a thin line between trying to sleep peacefully and hoping that the weariness will get off as I wake up.

So, I woke up hoping that this day will be biased to me. Mainly because it's my late grandmother's death anniversary. And yes, this day has been into my advantage. Maybe, it's coincidence. Or it's the triggered positivity. Or it's the will to make things better by starting to believe that it will be.

I think that's one of the nicest things about concluding a happy or sad day, that the following day can only get better. :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Walking in the rain

It takes a huge trigger to wake someone up from an unintentional hiatus. While I could have written several cheerful thoughts in the past months, I just need a quick shout out that yesterday was extra happy because I walked in the rain. Though those were literally just tiny drops.

Raindrops in the UAE never fail to make a headline over my blog. :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Seeing Gimik is like....

... being reunited with my no longer existent favorite chocolate

... meeting the memories of my old journal

and nothing but a nice feeling.

Hey! I'm still alive. Let's not talk about work but I'm really happy that I finally got a breather at least today. I had the chance to surf channels and I'm lucky.... because I did catch a re-run of Gimik via Cinema One Global  today (I think it's not being aired in the Philippines but only for TFC subscribers). Well, part of my teen life used to look forward to watching Gimik aka Beverly Hills 90210 during weekends. Seeing the late Rico Yan and the cast triggered me to stretch that kind of once young smile (ehem, the kind that like I was being tickled!). How I wish I kept my journal wherein I maintained a digest of the weekly episodes hahaha.

Another reason to say Thank God It's Saturday (TGIS) which by the way was the program title of main competitor of Gimik series. In case you're in for the reminiscing, Gimik re-run is every Saturday. :)

Merry Christmas!

It's the second time that I'm celebrating Christmas away from home. But I'm glad that it's not that sad at all as I expected. Thanks to my dear ones who are around and it also helped that we reached that age wherein substance over form really matters. My Abu Dhabi friends and I opted to celebrate our Christmas party in a more meaningful way. We served lunch and distributed gifts and other stuff to 130 OFW wards (househelpers who ran away from their sponsors for different reasons) currently sheltered in the Philippine embassy. It was one of the best moments of my life. The joy is beyond words. I know that helping our fellows doesn't need to be big and can be done anytime. I pray that we can help each other, especially the really needy ones, in our little or big ways.

I wish everyone a merry Christmas and more blessings for the coming year!

Purrrr-dita!

Hello everyone! Yeah, I'm still alive and I'm picking up through this cold November air. *Embraces the winter in the UAE*

What with this post's title? As Winello reached his peak of manhood, we got a new kittycat and we named her Perdita (you may pronounce it as "purrr-dee-ta" or "per-di-taah". Why Perdita? Taken from one of the characters in William Shakespeare's play A Winter's Tale and based on the name of inner satellite of Uranus because our new kitten's eyes are shaped like a beaming satellite! She's amazing and so cute. However, we're still dealing with 'siblings... errr, cat rivalry' because Winello seems jealous.

Breaking Dawn. I know I'm over my Twilight addiction, but I think being a Twi-hard will be in my veins forever. Like a first crush, it dies but is never forgotten heehee. This morning I learned that Breaking Dawn (last of the four film adaptations; well, the fourth book's adaptation had to be split in two parts to properly showcase the story's details) is already in the UAE cinemas and we watched pronto! Funny and heartwarming is that some people randomly remembered me for anything Twilight. Heehee. Oh, the teeeeny prestige of being an old fanatic! I'm not embarrassed, anyway. I'll always be proud that once in my life I wanted to be a vegetarian vampire and that a wolf would imprint on me. Hahahaha.

Concert marathon. I've been to Britney Spears', Incubus', The Cult's and Sir Paul McCartney's concerts as part of the F1 after-race concerts. I have tons of stories and photos to share. That will be in my primary blog.

Got Talent! We had our own version of Got Talent in the office as part of our annual retreat. No, I was not one of the performers but maybe I should try next time because of the generous prizes heeheehee. But I was so scared that I'd win the Most Workaholic award through a poll. I'm glad I didn't win. Other awards, to name a few, were Most Distinct Laugh, Biggest Fan (of the company), etc.

Wow, I did miss blogging a lot!

The highschool scent

I am reunited with Johnson's baby cologne. It smells wonderful! It makes me feel young(er) at heart. It's amazing how a sweet young scent can bring back a lot of good memories. :)

Today's breakfast is brought to you by Jollibee! :)

In reference to this entry's title, that means that I am home. Really, really home!

And there are rainshowers for a couple of hours everyday.

The Filipino dishes, the kakanins, and all the things that make me fat. Heehee.

And the best part? Most of the people I love are here.

Ahhhhh, there's no place like real home.

It's amazing when...

It's amazing how simple words of appreciation (not that I am kulang sa pansin) at work can take out all the hardships and eyebags. (*wink*)

It's more amazing when you come to a happy home at the end of the day; the stress at work won't matter at all.

It's most amazing when we sleep peacefully with a big smile painted on our face because we know we did the best that we can (at work, at home, taking care of relationships) without expecting in return.

It's ultra amazing when we know what really matters in life. :)

PS. If you are looking for another fun and feel good reading, Winello the Cat's blog can paint a big smile inside your heart.  Yes, he's my charming kittycat.

Because it's my birth month

I'm extra happy because it's my birth month. I turned a year older and happier!

More sources of happiness:

• One of my closest friends in Abu Dhabi has given birth. The baby girl is so pretty! It's amazing to finally have met the baby whom I was speaking to practically almost everyday during workweek. I remember my friend telling me that the baby would kick when she would hear me speaking to her. 
• I came up with a new version of chicken adobo and my diners told me that that's the best chicken adobo they've tasted! Naks! I know they were telling the truth. I couldn't believe that I actually cooked that. I hope that was not tsamba and I can still replicate that. :)
• We watched the last installment of Harry Potter and Cars 2 (like watching grand prix).
• And more!

It felt good that I held the spatula again

Time has been running crazily lately and it proved over and again that if there's a will, we'll find a minute.

Last weekend, just when I have a long(er) list of things to do, it felt liberating to forget my takehome work and savour the overnight stay in Yas Rotana Hotel. I was a nerdy to have brought a laptop with me, which only sat in the room. We spent most of the time swimming, chatting, laughing and eating.

And for today? I'm more than glad that I was able to bake kiddie cupcakes again (after several months) after cooking dinner. Little J started attending the summer camp yesterday and she will bring the cupcakes tomorrow (assuming few pieces will be left tonight) . It's amazing how we don't get tired when we do things for people we love. And I, of course, feel like a superwoman when the tiny efforts are appreciated.

I am really the biggest fan of gift of time.

Happy are those who sleep peacefully

Our kittycat is a joy to watch especially when he's asleep. I guess he dreamt that we did a belly rub for him. Amazing how he held his feet up that long!



This creature is truly a stress reliever. :) :) :)

I love today's Google doodle!

With last night's eclipse, we were all wishing on the same moon. :)