milk tea galore

as much as I like living at the heart of Ortigas Center, I cant help but appreciate this fad that is called "milk tea" and how it has plagued my affluent Filipino-Chinese community in Greenhills. This Wilson Street stretch is now which I dub thee the "milk tea" stretch for you can find a couple of milk tea places. If my 4-days in the house memory serves me right, there are 5 milk tea places on this stretch and three more hiding around the adjacent streets.

to give you a background, I LOVE MILK TEA! my best memory of Hong Kong, circa '95, is being lost in one of those alleys with my family and eating mediocre noodles but drinking the best milk tea known to my young palate. i fell in love that first time, and since then milk tea has been my crazy drink next to bitter black coffee (stress buster drink) and Blue Moon draft (damn, I love you!).

as i type this blog, i am drinking a green tea yakult from one of the places on the stretch. I am thankful to these business owners they decided to place two out of five within walks reach from our building. in my 4-days inside the house rest, i went to both places and both have enjoyed it. so now, where am i headed? i'll try to compare these five (plus plus) places or maybe give some recommendations to anyone who wants to visit them.

(1) Bubble Tea- still my favorite place. I've tried almost every drink known to man (or lifted from the menu) from this place. may it be your cold bubble tea or the hot milk tea, you will really like it. I've recommended this place to a couple of people and they share my glee for this place. The taste exudes some sophistication as you can taste milk and tea in every sip. Just how I like 'em.

***favorite/s: Royal Milk Tea and Jasmine Milk Tea- Hot or Cold it doesnt matter, though I prefer both drinks hot and without the sweetener.

(2) Chatime- I havent tried the Chatime chain on this street but what could be the difference if you've tried Chatime in MOA and Galleria? For some reason I dont have much to say about Chatime except I really like their Taro Milk Tea. I've tried a couple of drinks there and its either too milky or too bland. I always get 50% sweetness level and the variation on taste on some drinks just doesn't do justice. Still Taro Milk Tea (which I got from MOA branch) was really the best Taro there is. There is TARO my friend. Something you just look forward to having when you order a Taro Milk Tea.

*** favorite: Taro Milk Tea- have I not said enough?

(3) DEC (Diao Eng Chay)- I believe they have one too. Its been a while that I went inside that place and bought a drink but I know they have one. Not as much variety as the other milk tea places as DEC is a Chinese deli and not a drink place. Either way, when you need a fix for milk tea or any drink or any food, this is a place to visit.

(4) Tea Tap Cafe- Located at the old site of FPJ for President meetings restaurant (aka. Barrio Fiesta in P. Guevarra), Tea Tap Cafe has given meaning to my life of being away from Ortigas. Why? Its a cafe! and it being a cafe is a good news for me since I can have a new place to hang out at or be alone or study or do some work. Seriously, I went in and I just wanted to spend an hour looking around. Its a great niche for all cafe lovers out there. Plus you come over for MILK TEA! I've only tried one milk tea so far and it was a good one. Matcha Green Milk Tea (however redundant that sounds) was good. Its all the right flavors, purely "matcha" for some weird reason (seriously i cannot justify what purely matcha means, but it tastes so great a Japanese tea to me). Then there's the food. I tried Takoyaki balls that was pretty soft than chewy for me but the taste was terrific than most I've tried. Now here's the other thing. They've got frozen yogurt too (courtesy of Simple Life) and it was wow! you get only one type of frozen yogurt (no fancy chocolate or vanilla or cheesecake), but the taste is simply in all the right places (for me at least). I dont like my yogurt too sweet or too sour, and this changed my palate in eating frozen yogurt. JUST RIGHT! plus the day that i visited them, they had their yogurts 50% off so instead of paying a 100 bucks for yogurt with choco morsels, i paid 50. *wide smiles*

*** favorite/s: Matcha Green Milk Tea and FROZEN YOGURT!!! (and the ambiance, and the cat accepting the tips. argh! too cute!!!)

(5) Share Tea- as i type this, I just finished my second Share Tea drink. My first one was the Green Tea Yakult. It was Ah-Mazing! I am having a hard time describing it, but to me an Ah-Mazing drink usually lets you into all the tastes that you need to get. i tasted that green tea taste and the yakult taste and to me thats all i need to get satisfied. My second drink is the Hokkaido Pearl Milk Tea. I found out as I typed this blog post that there are other places that has this drink but Share Tea has the description which made me try it. It said "milk tea with caramel and toffee" and as I tasted it, with less sugar of course, I can taste that caramel and toffee sweetness. yummy! Though I dont think I'd like to get another serving of Hokkaido for a while. I'm not too fond of sweet milk tea's. I like my milk tea to be a drink and not a dessert, so between the Yakult drink and the milk tea from Share Tea, I choose the Yakult drink right now. I will be back to try other drinks though.

*** favorite: Green Tea Yakult

Along that other street, there's Serenitea. Everyone knows Serenitea. It re-defined milk tea and started the "fad" of this new generation (one which strayed away from Zagu and Quickly, and made things a little expensive.) Serenitea can be the Starbucks of Milk Tea's (dis/agree with me?) but it does have good teas. I've not visited this place in over a year and the last time I remember ordering the Royal Milk Tea there. I liked it, but it tastes like any other Royal Milk Tea without the unusual kick to it. Being a fan of Bubble Tea, yes, I say I like Bubble Tea's Royal Milk Tea better than Serenitea's.

The other one I can think of is near my brother's school. Its called Pao-Pao (I forgot the other name before it) or the place where kids from Xavier and ICA go to to drink some tea and hang-out. They have relatively cheap drinks and food (perfect for these kids) and so the taste is one thats mediocre (talk about Quickly value). I dont have a fave drink though.

There's another one on another street before getting to Pao-Pao but that I haven't tried. Its also a small place with cheap drinks, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to try it.

There are other places with "just milk tea" like North Park and the Formosa Bakery (I heard they have one), then I think Taibun Bakery also has it, but they have it as just one of those drinks available. Needless to say, I haven't tried any of them.

So if you plan to visit me here at home, I can take you to all these places, but based on this post, I think you know where I'll take you. =)

$$$ I suddenly remembered that I didn't get to add the other tea place thats pretty popular to mankind (or some of us). Happy Lemon! though really i wouldnt want to count this as a purely tea place coz they have the "lemons" as their prime drink, but they too have milk teas and that rock salt cheese thingamajig (i havent seen that word in a long time). I've tried a couple of drinks such as the Malt Milk Tea, Roasted Milk Tea, Cocoa with Rock Salt & Cheese, Crispy Cocoa Milk Tea with Brown Sugar Jelly, but the best of them all is this one.... Lemon Honey with Seaweed Jelly! Make it a 1/4% sweet and explore the yummy-ness of Lemon with some honey and the taste of seaweed jelly. Its the most refreshing drink since mint cocoa.

***favorite: Lemon Honey with Seaweed Jelly

blog-a-boo

I've missed blogging. I've not written here in a long time and it seems I've lost touch to how you have to sound like in a blog. I remember how I like how I write on a blog but don't like my school essays. Now it seems like I like my twitter feeds more than the blog. Its the worst feeling because all you see are 140 characters and you're not sure if you've formed a senseless sentence or just a meaningless phrase.

I've got nothing against Twitter because its accessible and really easy to use. Plus I can read news faster than waiting for it to be printed on papers or be featured on nightly news. But it too is cryptic. Blog on the other hand has that free form that you can express in sentences, figures, and what not's what you've been thinking.

I just wanted to say that. In summary I just miss blogging. That is all.

I Know Better

 From: +63-933-2328792

Congratulations! U have won 300k Pesos+Fortuner car, ur Sim# as a homepartner last Feb.26,2011 for info:Call dis no:09332328792 Dir: Jay Flores of Phil:Com.Center

If I was desperate in life, I would've hurriedly dialed the number. Who doesn't like to get prizes? Who doesn't like to get 300k and a twin to our car? But because in each passing day I have received a similar text message or that South African widow email, I know how to deal with these stuff. I shrug it off my system.

This time, I decided to blog about it coz I Googled the info here. There's that "Jay Flores" and that "Phil:Com.Center" which seem to make this message quite legit. But before you hit the search button, here's my advice, read the message again.

(1) Think about Feb. 26, 2011. Did you ever join a contest recently that you had to leave your cellphone number? In my case it was a no-brainer since the number that this message landed on was my work number, and I never give out my work number when it is for anything personal (say raffles, signing up for memberships, etc.) For those who don't even watch shows that asks you to text in this keyword and send to this number, then you're probably off the hook as well. In case you're not in any of the previous no-brainer situations, I suggest do the next one.

(2) Is the grammar correct? "U have won 300k Pesos+Fortuner car, ur Sim# as a homepartner last Feb.26,2011" to correct: You won 300K and a Fortuner car in a (raffle) last 2/26/11. Your (sim?) phone number was picked as a homepartner... etc. A legitimate message from a legitimate company would proofread the messages that they deliver twice or thrice and it will not be in the hands of just one person but of several, even a team.

(3) I dont even watch game shows, how can I be a homepartner?

(4) Then enter Google. Type in any keyword from the message then hit search. There you will find out that you are not the only one these guys are trying to get money from. This site was a big help in explaining the modus operandi for these schemes: http://www.wazzupmanila.com/protect-yourself-from-fraudalent-promos/92/

(5) If you realized how bad that you fell for this thing only to find out that Google has the answer, then you should have your EQ checked.

My purpose here is to add exposure to these things. It is as bothering as someone sending you a message that this is their new "roaming" number and that they will be needing help to reload their prepaid credits. This is sickening and we as the public and consumers should expose these things and yes, report them to the authorities.

There are a lot of people out there who are desperate to get money or (in form of) prepaid credits from you, be warned, be aware. Report to the authorities as soon as you get these types of messages.

The Time That Has Passed Is Yet to be Revisited

 It hasn't been revisited.

Nah! I'm not really sure, but I think the least that I can do to not be fully indebted with my blog is just give ti a little time and write something on it. I've missed blogging for a long time, yet the lack of substance has offered me no choice but to avoid blogging until further notice.

And notice the use of the words "lack of substance", I am partly talking about mojitos and margaritas there.

My months have revolved from being self-centered to all-centered. I've been a human for everyone. Who knew it was a big responsibility? I'm not superwoman (oh no way!), but I've been much responsible for a lot of things than I could've imagined almost a year ago.

It's tough but I'm having quite some fun.

But you do realize that you want to turn back the clock and pick out the decision apart from what you've decided on. You start asking the different "what if's" and ask yourself, "would I have been better off that way?"

I never questioned my decisions, and I am happy to have decided the way I did and be on the shoes I'm wearing now. Yet there are times when you feel that there are gaps in your life that a professional career hasn't filled yet. There are questions in life yet to be answered, and there are places yet to be discovered.

At times I think I've made the wrong decision because I've given up on the me-centered life. In the midst of a hustle, its always nice to get back to having a quite fun loving life, a carefree life.

Yet I cannot live the always me-centered life. For one, its expensive and you need to live for the next day as well. Second, there's a need to grow up, and growing up involves leaving yourself and thinking about other people as well.

At present, I like the busy life. I get to spend time not thinking about me and just do what I have to do. Robots are designed that way, be busy. It's good sometimes because you get to make use of your youth at the service of others. You think of what you have to do the next day, and the next, and the following day. You think of it as not JUST the next day, but you get CHALLENGED that it is the next day.

the toy shop

i went to the toy store with the family today. we were getting a gift for my cousin who's celebrating his birthday soon. as soon as i got into the store, i felt this familiar aura that never dies. i felt like a kid.

i strolled around the racks looking at the dolls they have, but i did that in passing. when i was a little kid, i surely have been a fan of those Barbie dolls and the like, but when I grew up, and had a baby brother, I was inclined to having those boy stuff. I've become the robots and cars kind of girl (though FYI: i had matchbox cars, a robot taller than Barbie, and R/C cars to name a few when i was young).

I got to the boys section of the store where the cars, action figures, robots, and those other new ones are. I saw some awesome Gundam figures I've not seen before (some of the boxes look much authentic and better than those we have at home), the Bey Blade toys and stadiums that have been revamped since seven years ago, and some other toys there. What caught me though are the huge boxes of Star Wars toys and a race car track from Hot Wheels which was a replica from that Toy Story scene when Buzz rode a matchbox car and went on a loop. It was awesome I wanted it. Then I saw an F1 Ferrari replica car. I've always been a sucker for that. die cast, 1:18 scale model of that cool red car. I wanted a whole collection of that ever since, like a whole glass case of that. it was on sale but i didnt get one coz it seemed like the windshield material they used was of poor quality. i think it was low class plastic. it didnt make the whole package. bummer.

so i have now some items on my toy shopping list. to get a VERY GOOD quality of die cast Ferrari, a Hot Wheels with Buzz Lightyear, that huge Star Wars box (that seems to have a universe), and order an Oriole Potato Head for me. That's just some of those I can think of right now...

PS: Saw the REAL Iron Man Potato Head. Thinking of getting one.... =D

Chris Tillman

With last night's win against Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers, Chris Tillman and the Orioles have made me so proud because they emerged against guys whose averages are mostly around the .300's. Tillman also gets his first win of the season after a see-saw of bad starts or silent bats. But with an almost no hitter and almost complete game for Tillman, the whole hoopla still surrounded Cliff Lee who has been recently acquired from the Mariners less than 48 hours before game time. With Lee's seemingly "bad" start, commentators (ie: ESPN's Baseball Tonight) still pointed at how Lee's presence in the Rangers clubhouse became a way for the bullpen to have their break. Silly!

But I am not here to bash them some more, I, as an Orioles fan would like to look at another point instead. Chris Tillman and how he manages to spoil the fun for home team fans. If last night's game at the Rangers Ballpark was all about Cliff Lee's start and how I can imagine most fans must be crazy the whole time about this, I look back at Chris Tillman starting during their Sept 11, 2009 game at the Yankees Stadium. It was the night that everyone went to see Derek Jeter break Lou Gehrig's hits record, and lots of fans came their way just to see it. It was all about Jeter that night, and even after a rain delay of about more than an hour, no one retreated and stayed until a final word was out about how the weather should affect the game (I should know, I was there!). After a memorable 1st inning (to us near foul pole coz A.Rod hit his homer and I wished the ball landed on my lap), and after Jeter just hit 2722 on his 2nd at bat, the Orioles supported Tillman's strong innings (though the 4 Yankee runs that night came from his outing) with 7 runs towards the sixth, and 3 more the rest of the night. It felt great! It felt great to be an Orioles fan on the midst of a sea of Yankees fans (I was the only Oriole fan on my section), plus during the 6th inning rally, I watched the game on the lower section nearest to field level (after getting some snacks), and cheered loudly while a burly Yankee guy shouted "who's that cheering?" which freaked me out but I laughed to myself at how brave I was to cheer for them besides being alone (note: there were 6 guys in between me and burly Yankee guy). The game ended at around 1 AM and a WIN for Tillman.

These wins are indeed memorable as we get to cherish how this young team is still a source for enjoyment and hope that the clubhouse will be picking up pieces and soon bring back the magic that should have been there the whole time. How will we know that we've managed to emerge from the slump? Get runs to earn wins to earn standings to earn our time during Baseball Tonight, after that we can all be proud and say, "Y'all just suck it!"

Good luck always Orioles team and fans. May the magic and force be always with y'all.

(Thanks to MLB At Bat Gameday for some recall.)

Links to: O's @ Yankees 091109 and 9/11/09 @ Yankee Stadium

sleep

 its 530pm on a Monday and I realized that I slept most of the day. i know i fell asleep at around 12 midnight last night after sipping some wine from the work party, then came home to drink my usual vitamins and then added the antihistamine. then i realized it was 9am. But that didnt stop there, coz next i realized it was 10am. wow! how did that happen? guess i fell asleep again. between 10 to 1045 i still had naps, until my mom called me and told me she was going to my grandma's. i didnt go with her but that was a cue that i have to wake up too. so some things in between (ie: check emails, watch TV, read tweets, post tweets, shower), at 12nn i was out of the door to the mall across my building to eat lunch. i felt like having spaghetti, due mainly to me celebrating my Uncle's birthday (noodles for long life they say), then I ate, met up with my mom for a bit, she had me run some errands for her, then I got a huge cup of coffee (thanks CBTL), then I was back inside my pad at 230pm.

then by 3pm, I was sleeping again and just woke up not too long ago.

right now, i feel like i just carried a luggage on my eyes. i still cant open it properly. this feeling cant absolutely be right. it feels really weird. I've never felt like a log in my whole life until now. a worthless log even. i guess im thankful that today our group didnt have an office yet or else i would've started my day way early. at least right now i can take a break, sleep, and do my homeworks when my stubborn eyes have cooperated with me. but it doesnt say that i dont feel like sh*t coz of this. when these things happen, u just feel like uve lost a chunk of ur life and unable to get it back.

or maybe to compensate for lost hours, i gotta stay awake the whole night. lets see how that goes then.

Writing

I've been wanting to write coz I surely miss it, yet what can I write about?

Honestly, I have three drafts and maybe a dozen other things to write about. My aim was to put up another blog site just to detail my rants and cheers to the Orioles but that never progressed due to (gasp!) lack of time. Yes, as much as I am "unemployed", I do not have enough time to deal with all the things I want to deal with. Why is it always like that? Coz when you are unemployed, you are everyones errand girl, you are everyones slave, you hear everyone say "can i ask you a favor?" (and you end up saying, "sure!").

I'm not ranting on those things really, its just that my hopes to put up a new blog was put on the side. I ended up throwing 140 characters (spaces included) on Twitter every 15 seconds. Sometimes, due to time difference, I end up sleeping during live games. Somehow I failed on my aim to practice my writing by pouring my heart out on something I like to do. Its tough being me (a reason that we always hear, right?).

Yet I have been doing writing lessons for kids these days. Wait, change kids to young adults. Its summertime and besides the need to polish my brothers writing, I wanted to gauge my cousins as well. Weeks ago, I asked them to write down five songs that they really like, and later on revealed to them the task at hand. They were fearful when they heard that they had to write. Write a three paragraph review of each song that they picked. I thought it was awesome, they thought otherwise. So I subjected five kids into writing without their permission? What happened afterwards is a nice study/ observation/ experiment for either behavior specialists or psychologists.

The youngest was the only one to accomplish five essays on the prescribed time period. My brother submitted his completed work three days after the prescribed time. My girl cousin finished the first essay right away, the second essay was submitted a day after the needed submission time, and essays 3 to 5 are not yet submitted. My two other cousins did not do anything, sadly.

It is such a hard task to impose writing to kids these days. With all the information on their hands, they do not make use of it by using their minds to analyze information and pour out their opinions about these. They pour out their energy using the internet as a means to play computer games, watch episodes of their favorite shows, and use social networking sites to know what the latest scoop on AI, on show business, or whats the latest emo song. It is tough being older and not seeing them spend their time doodling on paper, reading love stories or detective stories, writing phrases then sentences then essays. It is hard that they do not know how to properly express themselves in writing.

Writing for me is the best means to express oneself, and I do admit that I do get the moods too when writing. In numerous occasion I feel that anything I write does not make sense. It seems like I lack the complete thought or I was not able to equip my essay with words that makes itself understandable to the reader. I too encounter times when I do not feel like I am writing the way I should or that I lack the level of writing that I have put on myself. I always wish to be better, I wish to always improve my writing. But how do I even find out that I want to improve my writing?

BY WRITING, what else?

One of the tips in writing that I kept on telling them was that to know and improve how you write, you must write. There is no other way to know these things but to do it. You have to keep on doing it and have someone read it so you'll know how you fare. Later on you'll get the knack on writing and end up editing your own work because you have practiced it repeatedly. Writing is a trial and error process. Even the best writings can be improved by supplying better words or re-phrasing, whenever the need is there. Not only you exercise your writing skills but you exercise your brain, language skills, analytical skills.

It seems like a dead end task when they don't take things seriously as you do, but I am not giving up. I will think of ways to make them write, to let them understand that polishing their writing skills is important to do now than have their teachers criticize them. Oh Lord have mercy! Please shine the light on them.

I miss baseball

I do miss baseball, but most importantly, I miss the W's.

No, I don't have a different baseball team right now.

W's stand for Wins, and I miss the feeling of winning. The Orioles games have been making me and everyone else cry. We haven't encountered a lot of wins, and we crave each one of them. When the O's win, we savor them (savor 2 wins out of 14 games, thats great). How I wish we can be like last year at least, but we're worse than last year. The Astros at least have 3 wins now. The Mets have 5 wins (a lil better off than us), the Pirates have 7 wins (for crying out loud). The Orioles, Ive got to say, is at the slumpiest I can imagine. oh have mercy!

We dont have a star closer to blame right now. We don't have a highest paid player to blame even. We have to point it to a collective reason why there are no wins. We have limited pitching power, we have problems with our batters. No one can drive themselves back to the home plate even, and I dont even know for what reason this is happening.

Before the end of last season, we had a start to the "new" Trembley approach. Is this still part of it, coz even last season, that Trembley approach didn't work. That was the time we had a 12 game losing streak. Don't we get a trend to this?

I miss Bergesen, Reimold, Scott, Markakis, and Jones. If they can even be the slightest of themselves last year, that would be really nice. But this is not the Bergesen we knew from May-July 2009. This is not the Reimold we saw who was running for Rookie of the Year last season. This is not the Scott before All-Stars. This is not Markakis who had the eagle eye and can bat with sure power. This is not the Golden Glove/ All-Star CF Jones. This is a messed up team who seemed to come from the minors, and we are the worst in MLB rankings right now.

Besides these, our problem lies with us earning more injuries and players on DL. Roberts, Tejada, Pie, and even Gonzo all are out of shape at present. This is what's contributing to the great Orioles fall. Its the saddest song that we'll ever hear all season.

We've just begun but it is giving all concerned the desperation and anxiety to at least do something good, something better. Is it a curse? I hope not. Is it a type of mismanagement? Maybe. Is it a feeling of being crapped out or intimidated? I hope not. It's just begun and unless the Orioles do something to get things better, this season will be a LONG season.

Looking for a new space

I have a wonderful life but there are people who make it suck.

(1) neighbors- they suck. or most of them do. stupid, careless, insensitive. they suck.
(2) those people who are screaming hell on the streets at 12midnight. im freaking working on my big ideas, and most people are asleep. its their third wave of their freaking screaming, oh wait fourth. eff them. really eff them. they should get a more decent life.

why are people so effing insensitive. some more, i will consider saying the F word really. maybe id like to scream at them from the 25th floor. damn them.

rants for today: service staff

(1) i started going to the gym the other day. i was an energizer bunny and i was in high spirits. since its my re-enrollment in that gym, i have 3 free PT sessions so that they can give me a program. i didnt make a schedule ahead of time so i made an appointment for the following day. they asked me if it will be my first time to go to the gym, and i chuckled saying, "its my first time in a long time." i must admit, last time i was in that gym was almost 5 years ago (Dec 05 was the last one, i believe). then they looked at each other and gave that annoying smirk that meant like, "man! she's not been here in a long time. that's why." that look actually pissed me off. that wasn't the first time anyone on that gym did that. a few weeks back, another lady staffer did the same thing after i told them when my last visit to that gym was. annoying.

(2) i went to this nice japanese place to get myself some lunch. it was in a quiet side of the mall, the food has always been good, and the price is affordable. so i went in and there were 4 tables occupied. each table had some company, and i was rather alone. the server took 2 minutes before she handed the menu to me, and she looked and sounded rather annoyed that i was alone, that i asked what the contents of a Nabeyaki Udon is, and that i didnt order any drinks. but come to think about it, my meal ended up with 225 pesos, a good sum for a place like that and for eating alone. besides the Nabeyaki Udon, i had a very good Salmon Temaki. the Salmon Temaki itself is 100pesos already. what more is she asking for? i was thinking. my udon came and the other lady, the pregnant one, almost slid the bowl on my table. i just closed my eyes and thank the heavens that it didnt spill on me and that i have patience. the only nice person in that place was the manager. she was courteous and friendly.

(3) i went to get some desserts for home. it was after the usual break time/ rush hour in fast food. i wanted to take home some cake slices because i missed black forest and sylvannas, and i wanted to try that white forest cake. so i ordered from the lady who, even before i came up to the register, was asking her manager to teach her some things on computing something (or whatever). the lady on the register was nice, the manager gave an annoyed look when i had to take some of their time so that i can place my order. it was too apparent as he wasnt even happy that there was someone wanting to buy from them. he did the same thing with the two other customers after me.

its so good that i get to sleep (even if it isnt such good sleep), i get to wake up, i get to be happy. i dont want to be like any of those people. i hope that i may be given a lot of patience or if not, then a calm spirit to voice out the problems when it needs to be addressed.

random talking updated

hello world!

i am alive and kicking. yeah! its been a week and a half since i left the land of the free, and ive been feeling like its been forever. time has been slow and ive been gaining weight. ugh! or thats how i feel it to be. my clothes dont say it but my whole body feels like it. i feel like im in this state of calm that i dont really want and need. the only calm i need is passing out after shots. SHOTS!!!

ok. calm down. thats the deprived fish talking.

things have been too calm that ive been to the salon twice in one week, have had 4 massages the past 10 days, and i will be having my dermatology appointment this week. what have i been doing? geez! the past 10 days also included cooking breakfast at 430 am, sleeping at 10pm, and taking a shower for an hour complete with body scrubs, exfoliators, and hair treatments. for the next 48hours, i cannot wash my hair (major ugh!) because my hair has all these harmful chemicals to make it straight and black. u should see my hair, its too nice i cant believe it.

im jobless at this point. bummer. and i have to pay 3K for a cellphone bill that ive accumulated for 10days? wtf? Php1,768 is for Value Added Tax. Php 800 ++ for being stupid and going overboard with my internet bill. i need to hold off tweeting then. efffff!!!

i missed two Ravens games though the last crucial one was a bummer. i will be missing the Orioles fan fest. i will not see Brad Bergesen who might be written in my stars. who knows, right?

my weekends have been bummers. my parents are on my tail too much. bummmmmmmerrrrr. this is getting tiring.

the only positive note is that my brother is as tall as me and we've been poking each other on the side tickling each other. he's the reason i am here.... i think.

smiles everyone, and when u raise your glass and say cheers, think of me. i wanted to drink with u, u know. =D

--- fish tank---

What 2009 Meant to Me

2009 has been a roller coaster of events for me. It was coincidental that 2009 was the year I was 25, that even before I turned exactly 25 I felt like it already. Those times I kept thinking to myself, what is it really to be 25?

2009 was when I tried to fall in love, and failed. I think I fell in love with myself more.

2009 was when I spent a whole lot of hours being cheer-ful. I was cheering for my Orioles and Ravens a lot.

2009 was when I was 25. As what Britney Spears would sing, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman". Maybe actually I am a girl who enjoyed life a lot, and a woman who took charge and be responsible of herself.

2009... I had 3 phones. My phone last year got replaced coz it was broken. My replacement pretended it was lost. The replacement#2 is alive but had just lost its back cover. I'm getting an iPhone soon 2010. Weeh!

2009 I have numerous books. Trying to collect all Harry Potter at the same time was one of the reasons (I haven't got 5 &6 yet). Now, it is being shipped to the Philippines arriving on February.

2009 I had iTunes download galore! Every quarter, I had at least $50 spent on iTunes.

2009 was when I watched more TV shows than I usually would. Who would've thought I still watched TV? Thanks to Lost, HIMYM, White Collar, Community, The Office, and of course my guilty pleasure called Glee, for being a part of my TV and internet life (coz I watched most of them on the net). Thanks to MLB, NFL, and tennis for having The Orioles (plus Mets and Yankees), the Ravens, and Roger Federer in my life.

2009 was when I proved to be a sports nut. Orioles @ Camden Yards= 12 games. Orioles @ Yankee Stadium= 1. Mets @ Shea Stadium=1. Orioles @ Nationals Stadium=1. US Open=1.

2009 was when I didn't really look forward too a lot of movies, neither read reviews, but then showed up in the theater a lot. I was either disappointed or happy about some movies.

2009... I dont know how to describe it more.

2010 will be different, a whole lot different you may say, but I will forever cherish 2009.

and 2009, I was emo. hihihi!

iPhone is a bad-ass

you got it right! iPhone is a bad-ass. just look at this one.

though that is one scary iPhone. not kid-friendly i may say.

im emo. leave me alone.

(you were warned. if you read beyond this, dont hold it against me).

oh darn what was i thinking? this was my second failed attempt to write something heartfelt yet here i go again my angst is blown by the wind of winding words because of writing down a warning note on top of this post. *sigh!*

what i wanted to say really was this... i live for the future and not for the past. every little thing i do at present builds for my future. i dont regret decisions that ive made, and i dont hold back decisions for the future because of someone or somebody else. i work to a better future because of me and no one else.

thank you.

Glee Episode 8

ive watched this episode alone like 5 times already, 4 times today. I cant get enough of it!!! these two videos are from Episode 8, and im like a teenie screaming how hot these two guys are...


Matthew Morrison dancing here is really H-O-T. he isn't really "my guy" (coz that title goes to Cory Monteith) but this made me really giggly here. (plus there was also this vid on YouTube where Matthew was in New York with glasses and a Mets baseball cap!!!)


Mark Salling singing with a guitar? H-O-T! what more can i say? (I hope Cory gets to sing with a guitar too some time).

one day i was watching TV...

one day i was watching TV with Izzy. I was watching one of the Yankees vs Angels game that day. I was rooting for the "red" team, the Angels, but when Jeter was on the plate, I cheered... "Jeter! Jeter!"
Izzy looked at me and asked, "why did u call him cheater?"

i laughed! LoL!

Photos of...

 so i checked my Flickr today and saw a new bright yellow "new" on the Your Friends and Family area. its called the "Photos of" link. i usually dont tell you anything about Flickr, but i laughed as soon as i saw this. This was exactly what i was thinking some three or four weeks ago. you know when you get to tag friends on Facebook and then it gets linked to them? this is how this works too. its not that i want it, this is actually the exact thoughts in my mind weeks ago:

"good thing Flickr hasnt submitted to the social networking gig on tagging. dreadful."

and now, Flickr failed me. oh well.

After 13 innings, the Yankees go to the World Series

 This post has nothing to do with that, or maybe just the headache that I woke up to this morning. I didn't get to wait until 13 inning, but by the 10th, u knew it was gonna happen. Anyway, didn't I say I'm not going to talk about them? (cheers: Derek Jeter, Woohoo! *j/k!*)

I'm blogging because I had two weird dreams last night. I think I got dehydrated that's why I had those dreams. They're weird.
First, setting was my elementary school. There's an event and I was invited together with a writer friend. But then this guy is with me too. And my mom was there too. Then the event had a special guest. That politician that I truly hate. As much as I want to diss this politician, it isn't a proper forum for that. But then he turns to me and talks to me about my fleece jacket. Damn it! He's talking non-sense. I turn around and gracefully excused myself, and my writer friend talks to him instead. The guy and I toured my school, and I showed him my old classroom. Then bodyguards of that politician were looking for us coz we're invited for dinner and I decline. They don't like that reply. We ran off.

Which gets me to dream #2.

We rode a car with my friends. Ended up at this park going to my old neighborhood. A guy with a katana sword slashes mad anyone he sees. Crazy. Then I was afraid he was going to run to our van and just go mad. It then he hurts this guy who then gets a hold of the sword and does some crazy self defense and gets to kill the other guy with that sword. Like Kill Bill, open wounds and loads of blood. Ah crazy.

I can't believe I have crazy dreams like that.

unlucky 13 (and others)

damn it! The Orioles have been banking on losses now. as if the whole season's losses wasn't enough, they are running out of fuel and is one day short for a complete two week streak lost. how awesome? blech! its like they took a break before the real break, especially the pitching pool (the starters and the bullpen). they are making me... sad. its really nothing new considering the performance the whole season, but to have continuous losses under the new "Trembley approach", i think abracadabra didn't do that magic. ah shux! ah suck! on to the weekend! i'll just get my keg.

other news, if you haven't known this yet, then i dont want you outdated, but i am an official GLEEK. what is a 'gleek'? its a term some person coined for crazy fans (ahem, like me) of this new Fox show called "Glee". i got into it last week, wherein i spent 4 hours (or less) watching the first four episodes in Hulu that made me sleep at 430am (so calculate what time i actually started). its about a school teacher who's an alum of this public school, who was also a former member of a glee club. But when the school was about to axe the glee club, he took over it and tried his best to win the approval of his colleagues and the popularity of the group with the student body. His mission, besides getting more members, is to win the regionals. aaah! its a breath of fresh air against the common 'mature' shows, reality shows, and Gossip Girl. now while waiting for my other shows, i have something to look forward to (on Wednesday nights at 9pm. check your local listings too, and Hulu).

in a more serious tone, if you're a Filipino or know Filipinos, then you have heard of the great flood that surrounded Metro Manila, Philippines over the weekend. it was really bad as i cannot believe what had just happened to the whole area. it was surrounded with water in every street and highway, and people struggled to save their lives and some of what they have. it was awful. it was an awful sight that i felt bad for everyone. that is why in any possible way, i have been helping out some people who have used social networking site Facebook, and site Twitter in disseminating information about relief operations and any help that can be extended. a lot of people need help right now. food, clothing, basic needs, money, clean potable water. all these are still needed by a lot of families displaced by this tragic misfortune. so if you need information on how you can extend your help, here's a very helpful site: http://superbianca.blogspot.com (thanks to Bianca Gonzalez for compiling them). If there are other questions, or if you're looking for other sites to check out about this, you may ask me thru email or twitter: margeemateo. Here's a link also that you can access that has an overview of what happened some 5 days ago, http://www.techpinas.com/2009/09/typhoon-ondoy-video-footages-and-news.html

alright! i guess im not indebted in this blog now. until the next time i have the urge to write this much. =)