Trip to Vietnam!

"Disneyland" in Vietnam

(Nah... it's their Cultural Center, just a block away from our hotel at HCMC)

Right after Bora, just went home to pack and came back again to the airport next day for my business trip to Vietnam (was also my first trip abroad so was doubly excited!)

It was a rainy flight, but we quickly got settled at Rex Hotel with Dennis, Tita Nida, Tito Jun, Tito Eddie, and Joyce--who was also my batchmate from St.Paul (talk about small world)!

For the first few days, all we had were meetings with distributors, importers, lawyers, advertisers... my mind was going crazy with all the meetings! Good thing we did go at night to do some "sight-seeing". Admittedly, I wasn't really able to divulge much of the tourist spots because of the fully-booked agenda, but what I learned from the culture is something really valuable and life-changing for me.... I was not totally culturally shocked from the trip, because everything looks like Manila, only 10 years behind and non-English.

Some things I loved in Vietnam:

1. No traffic! Everyone rode in scooters! In a highway, three lanes were full of motorcycles, one lane would only be occupied by other vehicles (read: luxury cars). Rode one through the market side streets (10,000 dong for public transport)... super fun!

2. Safe streets. I can walk until 2 am and I need not worry about someone mugging me or snatching my bag. There are VietCongs everywhere. ;-)

3. Beautiful girls! Nope, i'm still straight... they're just really nice to look at. I get envious sometimes... everywhere I look, there are those slim, straight/long-haired, fair Vietnamese women... it's like Temptation Island but in the city!

4. Being a millionaire! 1 USD = 15,000 dong (approx)... I had about 2M worth of shopping receipts in Ho Chi Minh! Felt good to have all those money.. hehehe :-)

5. Soup and spicy noodles.. their specialty!

Some things I missed in Manila:

1. English. No need to sign language with the taxi driver!

2. Jollibee, and all food restos! Filipinos love to eat definitely... I love our taste! And jollibbee there was depressing (was like twilight zone from the 80's). Lotteria was good though, have to go back for their chicken burger!

3. Smart AND beautiful girls! Nuff said... :-)

4. Starbucks (with no beer! haha)

5. Bars (with real happenings! Felt like I was in Havana back there... uh-oh!)

6. CUTE GUYS! All the men there looked like Manny Pacquiao! :-(

7. San Miguel Beer!!! Heineken was good, but there's nothin like good 'ol SMB pa rin ;-)

7. My family and friends (of course :-)

Definitely missed Manila and all its chaos, but HCMC and Vietnam will definitely have a special place in my heart. Will have to go back soon there anyway, for business (and a little bit of pleasure!) I'm grateful for the opportunity and the experience to have gone to a foreign land, it indeed open up my eyes a bit to the world and its possibilities. There's so much out there to learn and grow from, both personally and professionally. At least I'm one step closer to my dream of travelling all over Asia before I'm 30... Europe after, of course.

I'll visit Indonesia soon before the end of the year, and China in 2006 (cross my fingers! Hope I'll push through!) For the meantime... Tiger Airways, here I come :-)

AIESEC @ Bora

Work Hard, Party Harder! Bikinis and Beers all around with AIESEC Friends at Bora :-)

B O R A !!!

Paraw Beach Front :-)

After ten looooooooooong years (not kidding!) finally made my way back to Bora. DEVCON was going to be hosted by UPD there, and this time I'm finally looking forward to being an alumni and enjoying the beach all day all night! mwahahhahahahaha :-P

Friday, May 20
After being stuck at the terminal for what seemed like hours and only Pringles Cheese as lunch, our delayed Asian Spirit flight finally made its boarding call. One turbulent, sleepless hour later, I finally can see the white sandy beaches of Caticlan! :-)

We rode a trike to the port where Cris and I met again with Kristine Largo, got to the boat and rode to station 1. Hannah Hotel, where we were staying, was a cozy place just behind the beach front hotels, but we got a good room (all 7 of us squeezed in it!) where we met with Ding, Chouie, Anne and Rowel... the seven of us partying as the "oldies" in aiesec... :-) miss all my beach buds!

After a cutie handed us a flyer, we quickly headed to the Pearl of the Pacific beachfront where Kevyn Lettau was giving a free concert! Jonah's milkshakes in hand, we crooned away to "Sun Light... oh sunlight" songs until sunset, walking away with one of our memorables quotes from the show: "If you're thirsty, that means you're already dehydrated"! Harhar! I changed my top and had early drinks at Paraw (our unofficial hangout for the rest of our stay at Bora) with the trainees... dancing with Brazilian guys on ledges, then finally bringing the house down with all aiesecers delegates... all 97 of us! Parteeeeh Time!

Saturday, May 21

Trainees and alumni joint forces for island-hopping and snorkeling along crocodile island... my time to sunbathe and get that tan line finally! My defective snorkeling gear took out all the fun of feeding the fishies, so I chose to watch them from the boat instead... It's ok, took lots of cute pictures anyway...

Last dip with the girls before heading out to Station 2 for South Border Concert, an attempt to have a spa massage, then party away again at Paraw where I had heart-to-heart bonding sesh with Drew :-) Drunken Cris and I had to take Ding to "authentic" Forest Hills (with authentic pre-ordered animal sounds!) before snoozing away ourselves...

Sunday, May 22
Had the best breakfast ever! My choice of 2 scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes, hash brown, and garlic rice with fresh juice! Jsut the way I like it... Yumyum!

Walked along the beach with stroll master Rowel before we finalized our discharge reports to deliver to the plenary that evening. Legislation took about five hours, while Rowel, Anne and I drowned our waiting time on that mysterious blue drink and more yosi. At three am, finally, "may beer na!".. like kids we shouted in glee! Ding, Cris and I judged Bb. Devcon, as tradition, and got ourselves tipsy again until sunrise where we took loads of pictures again by the shore... :-)

Sunday, May 23

My last attempt at a complete stroll with Rowel and last-minute shopping never pulled through coz we slept until lunchtime! By then, we had to check out and plug APXLDS at closing plenary...

Said last goodbyes and rode the boat back with Monna and JP to Seair where our plane awaited to take us back to Manila...

--------------

Admittedly, I feel like the four days were such a blast but there were things I wished I did: (1) get visible tan lines! (mine disappeared after only a day! aaaargh!); (2) go shopping for P10 beads! (3) ride the banana boat or the flying fish; (4) get a henna tattoo (even just the cutesy little butterfly one... naaah, was too scared kse); (5) go night swimming; and (6) walk from station 1 to station 3 (do 10 laps like Rowel! Harhar!)

Oh well, I guess that means I just have to go back SOON to get those things done then! I miss the beach, spent more time by the sand than the water this time, because of the algae also... Promised Nate I'll go with him this time... Oh yeah, saw JC also, that was one of the things that made the trip really worthwhile :-)

Reunion trip with Cris, Ding, Anne, Kristine, Rowel, Chouie and me already in the works... can't wait to see Bora again....

Life's a Beach :-)

Instant Blog

Was staring out in(to) space this morning, trying to mentally tick off my to-do agenda while obviously envying my whole fam preparing for the beach today...

And i thought that maybe I should just get myself a voice recorder, and my own transcriptionist... *hint hint*i think i know someone like that.. para instant blog na and I dont have to go online just to type in random weird stuff like these...

Hmm....just a thought... :)

Happy Birthday ER!

It's ER's birthday today... too bad I can't greet him coz I dont have his number anymore...

Not that I didnt try finding it, contacted Noel, one of our common friends but he doesn't have it either...

Maybe it's really meant to be that I wont be able to really get in touch with him anymore.. some things should remain in the past where they belong... even "that damn parking lot" has been renovated now....all I have to remember him by are mere memories...and a twinge of regret...

Still, thinking about him makes me smile, albeit wistfully... I hope he's doing ok, wherever he is... :)

On Javi

Met with Javi yesterday in halfmoon (like I've been trying to meet all my friends there, promotions tlga :), and the guy is glowing. He smiles more often... it suits him well. He really seems happier than the last time I met him. I'm envious actually.. he's happy because he has all the time now to do what he wants before settling down to work...learn Chinese and go to China (which is both what we dreamed of doing before, go to an AIESEC traineeship there, but learn the basics first here), read all those branding and business books lined up in the to-do list, join seminars, lose weight! All those things I really really want to do right now but can't because of work obviously....

I missed talking to Javi. He's the one who keeps me up my toes, especially when we were still LCPs. There was pressure for me to do exceptionally well, because it seems he always watches what I do. When we did Coaching for ateneo, I was mostly coaching just him, not the whole team. Our talks would go from purely AIESEC, to business, to what we both wanted to beyond our AIESEC careers... He was one who was so principled that he was always able to see beyond the operational requirements, but the vision and the big picture--why we do what we do and what values we should emulate to the members as well. I miss his idealism and zest, often misunderstood by many because he often keeps to himself. But to the rest of us who are lucky enough to know the real him, Javi sure is a one-of-a-kind individual...

In a way, I owe him thanks... He was able to inspire me, even in the briefest moment, to indulge and enjoy life more... Not to be drowned totally in work and in the harsh cynics and bureacuracy we encounter everyday, but to actually pursue those dreams we made back when we still had that youthful idealism...

Cheers, Javi! See you at our AIESEC dinner soon... :-)

Friendster Blog

Weird... weird... weird...

Kept mumbling that for several seconds while I tried to configure my friendster blog. Yep, finally joined the bandwagon and tried to create another one (as if I can't manage three enough db?) It's settings are not too user-friendly. And I actually find it stupid to "announce" the blog to all your first degree friends when there's nothing in there yet anyway... wala lang.

If I tried to link about everyone who created a blog through friendster, I'd have about 100++ links in this blog now. But that's useless anyway, all I get are empty pages of people who wanted to try something new but failed to follow through with it...

Oh well... no harm in trying I guess... I hope my own "announcement" was cancelled before I clicked "send"...

Oh yeah, if you're curious... the link is http://gladaxjudai.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog. For those who might be bored and want to see it... don't say I didn't warn you....wala tlga laman, pramis!!!!

Animal Farm: Trip to Avilon Zoo

My Pet Eagle... Field Trip to Avilon Zoo :)

Early morning, my Dad had his "bright idea": let's bring the whole fam to Avilon Zoo! Oh well...since we were never really at home all at the same time, and it was once in a blue moon that my Dad wanted to go on those long road trips, so we decided to pack a quick lunch basket, my cutie safari attire and headed on to Montalban, Rizal to meet 'em animals....

No one among us was a navigator, because we didn't really have the faintest clue where it was! So we asked random people for directions, looked for "this way" signs, and at last we found the gates to the 7.5 hectare zoo... Felt like twilight zone for a minute there.. the gates looked like Jurassic Park's!

The zoo was well-kept, very clean... similar to a park or even Enchanted Kingdom. Our tour guide Mark was cutie!!! Haha.. flirting with parental guidance nman eh ;-) After a really really quick picnic lunch, we walked on foot with the tour for two hours at 1 pm! Scorching heat I know!... I enjoyed mostly the birds which they had the most number of (Hence the name "Avilon Zoo"). Got even really close to a bird of prey! My dad's favorite was couple of mating tigers... inspired by Felina I guess! Haha :-)

It was really hot trip, but I learned a lot of scientific names and animal trivia for the day. I'm glad I went, can't wait to see the aquariums they'll be building soon though... Maybe we can bring AIESEC trainees there one of these days ;-)

Intrapinoys Punta Fuego-Sonya's Trippin!

Intrapinoy Beach Babes.. Haha :P

Went to Punta Fuego today with Intrapinoys... mega fun! The infinity pool was sooo soothing, and the water was lukewarm, just as I like it. Got sunburned though, my face was all red from all that frisbee at the beach, and i didn't even get my tan lines! Grrrr! Ish okay i guess, all that beach and sun was still a welcome break from the usual office work...

Ate dinner at sonya's in "yatyagat", as Kiko calls it, my first time as well to frequent the place! It was soooo nice! Proposal place tlga. I believe "organic" was the word of the day--everywhere bloomed wild flowers, and they had little beds with canopies on hidden snooks and corners, super romantic Ü We ate buffet of salad and pasta (their only menu for three years!) and true to their nature, everything was organic food! Super memorable, would probably take Eda there on her birthday for our usual pasta-and-salad diet! (If only I can remember how to get there db?) Ü

After dinner snacks at hotshots again, my brother's loving the crispy burger so much he wants to eat it everyday! Haha Ü Food Galore tlga, pero really fun. Hope we can do this again next time... unles it's really Intrapreneur's Extreme Adventure Sports next summer... Haha Ü

Shabby Chic Bed&Breakfast Nookie at Sonya's :-)

Azurris and Anton Adventures at Ponti!

Anton, Eda and Me at Ponti :-)

One night of Eastwood trippin' and psychic readings (which was NOT even close to my expectations) ended up in a surprise spree at our fave hangout: Il Ponticello at Salcedo Village in Makati. Road trip to the max, even Eda said that we crossed 4 cities just to satisfy our momentary spontaneous mood....

Ponti's sooo very homey. Rene, our favorite homie, greeted us (that person is truly the place's asset! He knows everyone by name and by their drink!) and seated us at the smoking section (yep, had a few sticks here and there)... while Eda splurged some more and called one of our fave guys as well. Anton came in a few minutes earlier, still looking for his "kanin", and both of them immediately launched into those animated conversations. I, for the meantime, covered up and enjoyed my sunburn drink and their Über expensive yosi... Minutes later, high from alcohol and nicotine, Anton offered to escort us back to my place (because my driver was beginning to giggle a wee bit too much!) ... What a sweetie!!! Ten Thousand Brownie Points from me!... but we lost him en route to a creepy beerhouse for a quick trip to the loo! Too much azzurris kse! Haha Ü

Was tipsy and tired to pack for punta fuego trip, but had a great great time! Ponti ulit!!! Gotta get my blue card soon :-)

Davao Memories :)

It’s been how many days since I last came from Davao… and what an experience it was! Admittedly, it’s my first time to travel alone anywhere… even if my boss and his wife was there, they left earlier and they were in a separate room. My first time to also enjoy hotel life without a roommate, and while I lavished in the freedom… it was an eye-opener as well…

I would always be grateful to ADDU for making me feel welcome in Davao, I would have been a lost, confused foreigner if it weren’t for them… I’m doubly blessed that my distributors also extended their hospitality to me (it pays to really know a local when you travel!), and I’m certain that I will return the favor to them once they visit us in Manila as well…

In more ways than one, I think I left my heart in Davao City... I've never felt more at home anywhere than I did at that place. My hotel was not the best, but the people were most accommodating... the food was cheap and bottomless! The mall had a food court in every floor, and I once ate four dinners at one seating! Hehe :) And I found someone special there as well...

Sadly though, that part of my trip I have to really leave behind... my heart still feels that longing for him, but my eyes were opened to the truth that he and I will truly never be... no matter how much you feel for the person, sometimes you know in your gut that the relationship will go nowhere, and the guy is out of your league...it hurts to face the truth, but at least for a few moments, he was mine... and the memories are all I have to savor what we had that night...

For now, I still have this stupid punto as proof of my stay in Davao... kapoy gyud! Life goes on I guess. I don't know when I'll be back... when work or life would permit me to fly there again (hopefully my flight won't be delayed anymore!) hopefully sooner than later. By then I would have learned my Bisaya well, and I'll be happier, or more at peace, to face him again... =)

POGS Davao Team @ Jack's Ridge, April 2005 

JOhn Paul II... We Love You... 

Tara FT SEring's Between Dinner and the Morning After

After a long hiatus from the shelves, Summit books are back with their newest baby: Between Dinner and the Morning After by Tara FT Sering. I was so excited to get a copy of this book, knowing finally that cosmo editors reversed back to their women writers after Vince's Life, and convinced that this would definitely be a good read based on Sering's previous work with Summit. I know that growing up, my choice of literature should have matured with age as well... but what can I say? Summit books remain to be my guilty pleasure, apart from my Sweet Valley days and historical romances saga-ish collections...

Disappointingly, however, I was not even able to finish the book before I finally dozed off. The author was for the most part trying to be witty but ended up merely whining and justify whining, while moving from current story to multiple flashbacks... I was bored and confused!!! And the ending even was nooooot satisfying (considering I'm a BIG ending fan--that's the make-or-break of the story for me!) . Sering failed miserably in tying up the characters and the plot and the resolution...it was like reading a series of blogs, with no coherence whatsoever.

I hope that Summit would be able to release instead the second installment to Vince's Life... the lesser of two evils.

For another review of the book (yet with the same passionate furor), check out my friend's site.

ME List... wala lang :-)

Got this from someone's site while i was blog-hoppin:

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Copy this whole list into your journal.

2. Bold the things that are true about you.

3. Whatever you don't bold are false

01. When I was younger I made some bad decisions.

02. I don't watch much TV these days - couch potato all the way :P

03. I love psychodelic mushrooms. - meron ba nito?

04. I love sleeping

05. I have loads of books.

06. I once slept in a bathroom

07. I love playing video games - thanks to Julius!!

08. I adore marijuana

09. I watch porn movies

10. I watch them with my father – eww!!!

11. I like sharks

12. I love spiders

13. I was born without hair and I still have no hair

14. I like George Bush - I like Michael Moore more...

15. I am cool – haha! Of course! Love your own =P

16. I have changed a lot mentally over the last year

17. I have a jacuzzi and a Porsche

18. I have a lot to learn

19. I carry my knife everywhere

20. I can be really really smart - I think so… sometimes ;)

21. I've never broken someone's bones – I broke my own! Haha :D

22. I have a secret - Everyone does...

23. I hate snow

25. Punk rock rules

26. I hate Bill Gates

27. I love Chinese food - everything chinese...

28. I would hate to be famous

29. I am so not a morning person

30. I wear glasses

31. I don't need glasses

32. I have potential – a lot… panay potential na nga lang ata! :P

33. I'm pure Japanese

34. My legs are two different sizes

35. I have a twin

36. I wear a padded bra sometimes.

37. I can ramble on about absolutely nothing.

38. I'm left-handed

39. I hate llamas, but I'm one of them – huh?!?!

40. I don't like horror movies

41. I suck at climbing, but I love it anyway

42. People hate me usually

43. I love pop music

44. I hardly ever go to bed before midnight – before yes, nocturnal by choice, but now I’m early2bed!

45. I hate parking fines.

46. I know the national anthem of my country by heart

47. I know more than three languages

48. I can spend too much time on the computer. - duh!!!

49. I often want to throw out the computer in a window

50. I live on a ground floor.

51. I don't like chocolate

52. I'd like to be more original

53. I've lied - lahat nman eh

54. Cocks are my favorite birds – huh?!?!?!?! Hahahahaha!!!!

55. I want to conquer the world

56. I wonder what happens when I die

57. I've read all books about Harry Potter

58. I love my dog(s)!

59. I love to exercise – wish I still have gym, maybe next year!

60. I hate chemistry with a passion and math, too!

61. I love to write but I wish I could be as interesting as some people

62. I love the nightlife.

63. I hate going to class. – Nerd ako eh! I like class, I like seminars… :P

64. I am afraid to die

65. I hate dish washing with a passion

66. My hair is long, brown, and incredibly curly – not anymore! “shinampoo ko lang yan” :P

67. My nails are nine inch long – witch?!?!

68. My favorite color is black – purple!

69. I like to sleep on the floor

70. I am hopeless at cooking

71. I sucked my thumb when I was little

72. I should be doing something else rather than doing this

73. I am online a lot

74. I hate government – yup, bureaucracy really sucks…

75. I don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend – yet! Haha…

76. I'm too nice for my own good

77. I love to read, I read as much as I can

78. I don't trust newspapers

79. I like debating

80. I live in a wagon

81. I clean my room once a month

82. I'm scared of american fast food

83. I have a third eye

84. I love Mozambique - ?

85. I don't trust any religion

86. I used to play with barbies only because all the other girls were doing it

87. I wanted to be a super hero when I was little – artista actually :P

88. I like listening to wind chimes

89. I'm very disorganized

90. My hair is long and straight

91. I earn a lot - would like to... really soon :)

92. I don't like spicy food

93. I keep a diary – blog will do?

94. I can't do cartwheels

95. I can be very lazy

96. I'm sarcastic more often than not

97. I think my hair can be annoying

98. I could be sensitive

99. I love being "ab-normal" – most of the time! OC-Neurotic paranoia.. best feeling in the world!

99. I love being "ab-normal" – most of the time! OC-Neurotic paranoia.. best feeling in the world!

Bonding with MCP Cris and MCP Halmen =) 

Havaianas Hunt!

I'm so frustrated! aaargh! Went with eds all psyched up to get moi a pair of havaianas... but when we got there, it was all sold out! Bad trip! I mean, there were still some pairs there, but i didnt like 'em much, so I ended up drowning my sorrows over loads of SPAM... hmmm..interesting yng waffle dog-ish look alike, but I still crave for my slippers! It's just sad they don't take reservations anywhere.. will try to visit rockwell and shang soon... I vow to get my own before march is over... will bring it to Davao! Samal island here we come! :-)

Congrats GIONNA!

Gionna Cabrera (center)

It was BB. Pilipinas Coronation Night last saturday at Araneta Colisuem (yup, same time Eda and I were there!)... and surprisingly, my batchmate from HS was crowned as BB. Pilipinas Universe!

I was happy for her, though I only have a vague memory of what she really looked like in HS. We were not close, nor were we classmates even in any sectiona lll throughout my St.Paul life. Interestingly enough, she was not the first among our batch to vie for the crown--Angela Silverio was also a finalist and was awarded Ms. Congeniality years back.

With Gionna now a titlist, I sometimes wonder about our different lives... all of us started the same way but I feel like we're separated by different planets, let alone different universes. I can't even believe that I went to the same school with her... I'm the ugly duckling compared to what she has achieved now!

I wish her all the best though... I'll be watching the pageant from cable in Bangkok this summer. Good Luck Gionna! =)

Cubao Cubao!

Eda and Me on our Cubao Adventure =)

Super adventure last Saturday! Eds and I went to National main store, the four-storey one. Amazingly enough, it was first time to really browse all the books there... I only go to that branch to pick up a textbook I reserved... When I got to the top floor, I was really in a daze! It was Disneyland for BOOKS!!! The books were really cheap, around PhP100 to 200 for the paperback, and PhP300++ for the hardbound, because they were already second-hand. The quality is still good though, almost brand new, so it was a really good buy. After a basketfull of books and difficult decision-making, I settled for the Tao of Pooh (a book Ive always wanted to read), and Eda bought her own copy of Memoirs of a Geisha.

Food trip afterwards at KFC, MCDO, and Go Nuts! Fast food galore, perfect for dieters no? Hehe =P Dinner was worth four hours! Kikay shopping after at SM.. lip gloss galore... Hmm, will have to find my own loyal brand for lipstains and lip gloss; I only have clinique to rely on for now...

Laugh trip all the way! I really enjoyed Cubao with Eds because I think we were game to anything, and I felt like we were able to accomplish a lot even with tight budgets, and only train commutes to and from the mall area...

Next time, adventure ulit.. Divi nman! hehe =D