BAND-AID for a BROKEN HEART

My sister finally arrived and she gave me my request. It's not clothes, not shoes, not make-ups, not accessories or even perfume. Guess what? It's a BAND-AID with Doraemon designs on it!! I used to have Hello Kitty, Kerrokeroppi, Bears, some cool colors and other creative-designed band-aids during my teenage years and you may call me "mababaw" but I'm telling you, I am s0oo much happy with it.

You may ask me what I do with those band-aids? Okay, honestly, I just keep two pieces of it in my wallet.

The logic behind? In case, a friend of mine gets wounded and hurt, I can definitely get my cool-designed band-aid and offer it to him/her. Instead of focusing on the wound or the pain, that friend of mine will just smile because of the designs and that makes me happy, hehe

Few weeks ago, my dear friend Coy broke up with her boyfriend. She told me about it and I felt the pain that she's in. Yes, I never had a boyfriend but I've experienced the pain of a broken heart. I was amazed how Coy handled things. In her blog, she wrote how thankful she was of her lover. I know she learned a lot of things from that relationship and it made her grow.

I remember my Youth pastor before when he and his girlfriend broke up. I told him, "sayang naman po yung taon" then he answered me, "Mon, some relationship won't work, even if you hold on to it. We may not know the reason why God gave us that person but definitely He knows what He is doing." It gave me a great lesson.

Again, like what I advised Coy, Stand up, dust yourself off and move on with life. God heals the broken hearted. I'll give her a piece of the best Doraemon band-aid I have. Coy will never stick it on her heart but it's a symbolism for me, simple way of telling her that she doesn't have to look at the wounds of a broken heart but the colorful side of it.

God loves you Coy! You deserve to be happy!! One Doreamon band-aid for you this Wednesday.

Just sharing

I've written it in a short bond paper and posted it in our comfort room's door. Just this day, I've noticed that it's been a year now since I posted it. The bond paper already changed its color unlike before that it's pure white. I also noticed some sprinkles of water (may drops na natuyo na lang sa tagal) it's a sign of one year old. I know that one day, I'll throw that paper away, maybe these coming months, but before I do, I wanna share the simple but juicy notes I've read from a very successful person and inspiring man that we all know. The creative genius behind Apple computers and Ipod.

Sometimes, life's going to hit you on the head with a brick. DON'T LOSE FAITH! I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I love what I did. YOU'VE GOT TO FIND WHAT YOU LOVE...This is true to lovers...If you haven't found what you love, KEEP LOOKING AND DON'T SETTLE. As with all the matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it's just get better and better as the year rolls on.

-Steve Jobs-

Para sa ating lahat,kahit ano pa yan,

maligayang paghahanap!!

"Keep asking, and it will be given to you.

Keep searching, and you will find.

Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you."

(Matthew 7:7)

I can't wait...

Nothing is permanent in this world except change. It's a cliche, hehe. Well, s0oo happy coz few days to go, my super-kulit, super-sipag, super-traveler, super-close kong sistah is arriving from the land of the rising sun. Of course, my one and only sistah, Joy. So excited to see her!! I can't wait to hear her funny stories, I can't wait to bond with her again. I wanna see the changes! Hehe

As the eldest, I am happy and blessed to have Marc as my bro and Joy as my sis. Sobrang thankful ako kay God for giving me them. They are my precious treasures! Kumpleto na naman kami at higit sa lahat may katabi na naman akong matulog. Hahaha

At the airport (Joy's departure)

Love you Joy and Marc!!

Mula sa inyong kapamilya at kapuso,

Ate

Oh My Gulay!

Since visiting Baguio is still as fresh as Broccoli I bought from the place. I wanna share the outrageous experience I’ve had in one of the outrageous places I’ve been to. Hehe, I visited a vegetarian restaurant and it’s really amazing! It’s owned by Kidlat Tahimik, the Independent film director (You may google his name in case you don’t know him). Sayang nga kasi di ko siya nakita at ang kanyang gwapong anak. Hehe, but my supervisor saw him coz he went there in a different day with his friends from Baguio and I went there with my sister’s good friend Rachel whose been living in Baguio for five years now. (Aww sarap!)

Up up up to Oh My Gulay (5th floor)

Now let’s talk about the place. It’s a nature tripping entrance. It’s like a forest scene from the Midsummer Night’s Dream movie. You’ll see a lot of artworks displayed and they even have a lomo wall which Rachel and I love to take pictures with.

Little bridge from the entrance

The lomo wall (check out: lomomanila.ph)

An artwork from an artistic author, Astig!

About the food, it’s yummy and healthy! We ordered their best seller. The waldorfesto for Php110 and Anak ng Putanesca (the spelling?) for Php110 also. If you taste the food, you’ll conclude that the prices are very reasonable.

Rachel with the food

We went to the other side of the resto and they have a little stage with our hero’s Jose Rizal picture. Astig yung set up! An artist told us that different bands play in that stage and he even invited us to witness the event on the next day. I told him, that I’ll be leaving the next day.

I and my sister’s friend, Rachel had a great time. We talked a lot of stuff, from lovelife (Oohh!), work, friendship and others. She’s been living in Baguio for five years now and yet she hasn’t seen the place. Thanks to the internet coz I was able to find one of the outrageous places in Baguio City. The lady in the souvenir section asked us how we heard the place, I muttered with confidence, I read it from a blog. Hehe

While going to SM Baguio to meet my officemates, I asked Rachel how she finds the place, she said with a smile. I’ll come back and bring my officemates.

Now that’s outrageous!

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Those who you who will visit Baguio, it's a must see place especially to those people who are artistic in nature (My friends Xavier Abelador, Jay Suasin and Marie Grace Tablizo). I'm sure after seeing the place, eating their scrumptious meals and observing the artworks, you'll just say, Oh My Gulay! Hahaha

Napa 'oh my gulay' ako sa art piece na 'to. Astig talaga!

Baguio City

Five days of not facing the computer, five days of not at home, five days of laughters, five days of getting to know new people, five days of fantastic stay in Baguio City! Yes!! After s0oo many years, I finally went up to Baguio again. I think I was in Fourth Grade when my family visited the place and fast forward to 2008, since I am now working, this time it was with my officemates. Imagine the changes I've noticed. Grabe! I am a witness of a changing lifestyle in Baguio.

Now, to document my stay in Baguio, of course I must have a camera. Since our DG cam is with Joy, I borrowed one from a very good and generous friend. Salamat JhayR. We took a lot of pictures, from day 1 to day 5. Just sharing some pictures.

The famous table at Mines View Park

Mga Igorots-kuno plus two authentic Igorots at Mines View Park

The man who is selling the yummy Strawberry taho took this picture of us while boating at Burnham Park.

Eating ice cream without a sweater in Baguio? Ohh, I miss the freezing cold winter!!

I surely love this bus at PMA

I wanna share more pictures and more kwentos but I don't have the luxury of time. Hay...Next time, next time, sana di ko makalimutan.

God bless you all!

What I've learned from Dr. John Maxwell

"Invest in my mind." This is one of my ultimate goals, that's why when my loyal friend Coy informed me about the simulcast leadership conference by Dr. John Maxwell. I didn't think twice and grabbed the opportunity. I don't know why I love attending seminars or conferences, yes you may term that as 'sponging,' but there's just this hunger in me to learn, to learn and to learn (I believe that all of us has a lot of things to learn and discover). I'll ask as many questions as I can, observe as much as I want and read until I fall asleep. Honestly for me, LEARNING IS FUN!

Since I've listened to a wise man sharing his wisdom to thousands of Filipino people last Tuesday (June 10, 2008), it is my honor to share the nuggets of wisdom I've learned. I'm telling you, it's full packed. John Maxwell has a lot of information that's why most of us who attended took notes (fingers crossed). As a good friend, I wanna share some things that struck me, of course, we have different needs, but I hope you learn from these things as well. Now get ready coz I have a 20 pages notes here. Hehe

• EVERYONE WANTS TO BE SUCCESSFUL-I agree when Dr. John Maxwell said this. For 30 years, he studied success and surrounded himself with successful people. Yes, success is very subjective and personal. For him, a person needs only four things to be successful. And that is summed up in this acronym that can be found in most of his books. 'REAL.' R stands for relationships, E stands for Equipping, A stands for Attitude and L stands for Leadership.

• SUCCESS IS KNOWING YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE-He mentioned that highly successful people know why they're here. They have persistence when everyone's giving up. Truly there are hundreds of us or even more than that who have not discovered our purpose in life but let's not lose heart coz it takes some time. Dr. John Maxwell himself said that it took him 7 years with passion to discover it.

• PASSION GIVES YOU ENERGY-We have to ask ourselves, what are we passionate about? He said that our purpose and passion usually match so we have to know our passion. There are some things that we're passionate about but we're not good at it. We can't spend our money, time and 100% effort in the things we're not born with. Our passion and our abilities or giftedness should match. Finding that passion will produce high energy.

• IF YOU CAN BELIEVE, IT YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT-This is a famous statement most of us know. But I'm telling you, Dr. John Maxwell is not agreeing with this statement. He gave American Idol as an example. Some people are believing that they have the talent but they don't have the innate gift to sing. If they keep on believing that, it's gonna bring misery to their lives. Like what I've said above, there's just some things that we're not good at and we have to accept it. We have weaknesses but we do have strengths as well. It's better to sharpen those strengths that we have than focus on our weaknesses. If you can't sing my dear friend, you can't sing. Welcome to life.

• IF YOU'RE NOT ANY GOOD AT YOUR JOB, DO EVERYBODY A FAVOR, RESIGN-Dr. Maxwell said that average people will not add value to the world. We have to be honest in evaluating ourselves, are we an average employee or an excellent one. Well, it tales time to be on the excellent side but if we're really not doing any good with our job, we better resign and find the job that we're passionate about. Like what Ms. Carol Austria said, you will only do things excellently if you're passionate with it. I agree.

• INVEST IN YOURSELF, INVEST IN OTHERS AS WELL-What book are you reading? What book did you let someone borrowed? He asked these questions and it made me think deeper. If we wanna be succesful, we have to pay the price. If you're a parent, invest in your kids, tell them stories before going to bed, teach them good values, buy them good books. Dr. maxwell said that books are the greatest investment that a parent will make to his/her children.

I've learned a lot from that ledership conference. I tell you, it's gravitas! I wanna write more and share more but I think it's better if learn from him directly through reading his books as if you're having a cup of coffee with Dr. John Maxwell, for me, Apple juice is enough. Hehe, hope you've learned from what I've learned form Dr. Maxwell. Like what he said, invest in others, I've invested my time just to write this long entry for the sake of my good friends who continously reading my blog posts. I'm sharing it and passing it on.

I'm fascinated with the life that we have, there's so much things to learn!! Hoo!! What an awesome Creator we have. Thank you Lord for the wisdom!

Stay blessed people!!

Monette

Salamat sa holiday (",)

Thank God for this holiday! I was able to visit a parlor for a hair spa and a new hair cut. Hehe, now I can say, it's one of my favorite places on earth!! Alam mo yung feeling na pag labas mo sa isang parlor feeling mo, ang ganda (10x) mo. Yun pala feeling mo lang yun! Ouch!!

Just wanna share the new look (Ang gaan-gaan ng feeling!) Hehe

At dahil holiday today, I checked my wallet and noticed that it's getting thicker and heavier. Well, it's not about the money, the bills or the coins, but the bus tickets! Tsk, tsk, tsk. I've been keeping all these bus tickets for inspection na hindi naman ini-inspect. That's the reason why my wallet is thicker and heavier than the usual. Since it's holiday, time to clean up. And look what I've got...

Naipon na ng husto! Lahat ng 'to direcho sa trash can.

I wanna sing, ang gaan-gaang ng feeling...ang gaan-gaan ng...hay that's what I'm feeling. Salamat sa holiday! Bow.

Prince Caspian

After months of waiting, the moment finally arrived. Hoo!! (Punas pawis! Hehe) We went to Mall of Asia last Friday night and grabbed a seat for five. Seated from left to right facing the big screen were cousin JC, ME, Anmeir, Marc and JhayR. After months, almost a year of not entering a movie house, I was shocked to know the ticket price, it's gold pare! Shining Php170!! Ginto!! Hay...I've asked my tita how much last year since they've watched Spiderman 3, she answered me, it's Php120. So tumataas talaga yearly ganon? Malamang next year, Php220 na (wag naman!)

Now let's talk about the film. Well, it's really worth watching especially if your a Narnian, I mean Narnian fan, hehe. Every scene was well worth the price. Walang kurapan at kahit na late kami ng mga 6 minutes lang naman (I think the film ran 2 hrs and 4 minutes) and we didn't have the luxury of time to buy popcorn or ice cream or a soda, ok lang kasi every scene was good. They doubled the fighting scenes and the visual effects! Kudos to the production team especially to Direct Adamson!! There were humorous scenes as well, it came from the mouse who said from your imagination when a telmarine lad asked him if he's a mouse? It's really hilarious!! What shocked me, I mean US was when Susan Pevensie kissed Prince Caspian. There's this kilig moment, a question, (may ganung factor?) and a statement with force saying WALA NAMANG GANUN SA STORY AH!! Hehe

Well, after watching the movie, Anmeir asked me what if I am Susan who loves Prince Caspian but we have different worlds, what will I do? I didn't answer her but asked her the same question. She answered, I'll tell him to go with me, in my world. Naks! After hearing her answer, then I finally said, Ako? Hmm, I'll stay in his world. I know it will take time to understand my world but since I know his world and I fully understand it, I'll surely stay. Lalo na kung Narnia yung world at andun si Aslan. Wow, ang saya nun! Hehe, tapos isama mo pa si Ben Barnes, joke.

So far, we had a great time. I continously hear JC saying astig ate Monette especially when we're on our way home. Hehe, nahawa na sa expression ko! Tsk, tsk. For those of you who hasn't watched it yet, I recommend it! I won't say that it's a great way to bond with friends or family coz for sure you'll just focus on the big screen without noticing that you have a good friend beside you. Hehe, NO! That's exageration! Well, for Php170 as gintong ticket price, it's worth it.

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FYI: Did you know that Susan Pevensie, played by Anna Popplewell, is taking English Literature in Madelene College where C.S Lewis spent the rest of his life as a professor? A very talented lass at the same time smart. Yun ang Astig!!