i am seeing STARS

When I saw Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks perform No Air in American Idol, I couldn’t help but notice Brown’s tattoo placed at his right neck. They were three small stars that I found really cute. I mean if a tough guy could pull off a tattoo that would have been ideally a design that a grade 3 student would prefer, then maybe I could pull it off too.

Right. Hmmm.

I really got intrigued by his tat so I research it on the net only to find out that there was also a trail of stars in his back.

Hmmm I don’t think this looks beautiful. Murag tagiptip. Haha.

Apparently, he and Rhianna have the same tat also.

Kuyaw. In-ani jud diay ning gugma sah.

While searching for other star tattoos (I just got effin addicted to STARS after I saw Chris’ tat), guess who dropped by the office…….

Ronnie Macapagal of the famous Ronnie’s Tattoo Studio. (Did you know that Ronnie does NOT have a single tattoo on his body?)

He’s gonna have an ad at RCTV soon and he said that he’d be willing to give me a free tat. I showed him these designs and asked if it would be feasible for my skin color. (Will just be a smaller version that I want placed at my back)

He said he could just adjust the colors to blue, yellow and stuff to match my skin color…Whatever. I trust Ronnie. Hehe.

Question now is: HOW SURE AM I?

I have the design.

I have the artist. (Who’s willing to give it for free…)

I have the desire.

But I don’t have the will JUST yet.

To get one or not to get one?

(Actually I originally wanted to have a cross at my back. Nasuya rajud kong Chris Brown. Haha)

PEDERASYON

Kada naay mangutana nako kung unsa na petsa sa maong adlaw ug pangutana, usa rajud akong ikatubag.

"Ayaw nalang ko pangutan-a kay kinse ug traynta rajud akong timan-an na adlaw!"

Baynti otso pa intawn karon. Layu-a pa sa traynta oi. (bisag duha ra ka adlaw ang diperensya, ug usa nalang gyud kagatos imong kwarta, paeht geng, layo pajud nang duha ka adlaw na pag-antos!)

In-ani gyud ning maapil ka sa PEDERASYON SA MGA TINGBITAY UG HAPIT NANG SWELDO. Ug pangutan-on ko ninyo asa molupad akong kwarta? Ay naaaa... ayaw nalang. Lami kay magtaxi sa buntag kay kapoy huwat ug jeep labi nag puno tanan ang manglabay. Sitenta pud ang kaltas. Haha.

Kibaw ko wa gyud mo'y sympatiya nako tungod pud ana. Gashare ra gani ko. Hehe.

Apil pud mo ana na pederasyon? Dali kay maglapok ta. ;)

(Gimingaw nako nilang Jose, Vicente ug Josefa. Kaila ka ana nila?) :((

MY 100TH BLOG ENTRY!!! (imagine that)

WARNING: This is a bit long, don't worry I will compensate with pictures. Hehe. I don't expect you to read all of it, but if you do, then thank you.

Ever since I was a kid, my daddy would always buy me big notebooks for me to write stuff on. I couldn't count how many they were anymore but I knew I had sooo many of it. He always told me that I'd be a writer someday and that I would write a book. By age 12 I asked him to give me a typewriter for my birthday because I would start working on my first "book". Well he didn't give me one so I handwrote it on one of my journals and that was the first and last book I ever wrote in my entire life. hahaha. (I got tired writing it by hand. haha) Good thing we have blogs now.

I never really considered myself as a good writer. As a matter of fact, as I looked back on my previous entries, I saw many grammatical errors and lousy compositions. But then again, I don't write to impress. I write to express. I love writing. I love sharing my thoughts on a lot of things. Now that technology has evolved and blogs have been created, I found an avenue for me to put my thougts into "cyber paper" without the hassle of having to write them down by hand. I enjoy blogging. Its a great stress reliever. And at the same time, I enjoy reading other people's blogs because I get to learn a lot of things.

I had so many blogs already, friendster, blogspot, yahoo 360 and finally multiply. So far my multiply blog has been the most active one and the one that I loved the most because here, there really is interaction.

My multiply blog has really witnessed the best and the worst in my life for more than a year. One stranger even PM'ed me when he read my entry entitled Teach me how to be strong (click on it to read if you want.) Apparently he was concerned and gave me advise. Hehe.

This blog has really saved my life. There was a time when I was too transparent. I just let out a lot of negative energy thourgh my blog. But then I realized that blogging about nice stuff makes me feel better than blogging about really serious emo type of entries. Although sometimes, usahay, minsan, I allow myself to be a drama queen in cyber space. hehe.

Now that I'm composing my 100th entry, I would just like to thank the people who (unkowingly) pushed me and inspired me to write. I know I am NOT a celebrity blogger but just give me this moment please. Hehe.

To Cecile Van Straten of the famous www.chuvaness.com -- your blog is really funny and light and sometimes I copy how you blog. So chica Cecile Zamora! :)

To my friends who always read my blog every single time, thank you for wasting a few minutes of your time with me everyday. Hehe. I wouldn't mind if no one read my blogs, but knowing that someone reads them inspires me a lot.

To those who constantly comment, THANK YOU very much. Your comments really brighten my day and I love interacting because it means that somehow, you could relate to what I posted. Everytime I see the "1 reply to your post" alert, I always get excited. Hehe

To the people whom I love, loved, starting to love (ok, don't make an issue about this, I can love as many people as I want and that includes family and friends) and to everyone who has made an impact on my life so much so that I was able to mention your name on my blog, THANK YOU. Without you and the experiences that you shared with me, my life wouldn't have been this "orchestratedly chaotic".

I know my blog is not that great compared to other blogs. But I guess what's great about me is that I write from my heart. I write from my soul. I write to please myself and not to please others. I know I write about basically anything that comes to my mind, and sometimes some of them are pretty useless, but you see that's because I don't really think about the readers when I post them.

I know there is nothing extraorinary with my writing. I can't come up with really great lines or metaphors. I'm no poet. I'm no Jessica Zafra. I'm no freakin' Jose Rizal. But I'm just someone who enjoys the deed.

This is already my 100th entry. There surely will be more to come.

If you survived to read up to the very end of this long entry, thank YOU. That means a lot to me. Please comment so I can thank you. Haha. (Pardon the drama, I just really appreciate those who take time to read my entries.)

While David Cook was singing Mariah's Always be my Baby...

...I was having goosebumps all over my arms and I just couldn't believe he pulled it off. I was screaming "OMG!!! OMG!!!" (seriously) over and over again. It was really a number 1 fan moment for me. It was the best performance of the night! It was crazy but it was great. I loved the violin touch when he started singing the chorus, I loved his facial expression while singing it...I loved the lights! I loved everything!

Randy Jackson gave it a standing ovation and Simon Cowell said that he liked it very much because it was original and he was not afraid to take risks which is what being an artist is all about. Paula--well, she likes everyone so her comments don't really matter anymore. Haha.


David was soooo cute. After hearing the compliments from the judges, he was really in tears. I love him. He's my ONLY bet now for American Idol.

*Sorry if this post got kinda delayed--was "busy" cleaning last week. Haha. Muhirit pajud.

The End! (now, how to maintain…tsktsk_)

I think I heard the angels as they sang their choral Alleluia and the saints as they applauded when I finally threw out the last garbage bag outside my room. Would you believe I threw out 5 garbage bags of unnecessary clutter and trash from my room?!

To tell you honestly I never thought I would finish it because I got sidetracked from my goal last weekend (I went to the Tostado Festival in Santander ). But last night when I arrived, I was motivated to just go on and do it so I would finally look forward to going home to a room that I am positively sure is inhabited by a human being and not by some wild animal.

It was really really stressful but it was all worth it. I finished cleaning by 2:30AM. Whew. But dayem it felt good. This is really a big achievement for me. Hahaha.

Anyway just let the pictures speak for itself. :,) (CLICK TO ENLARGE, IF YOU MAY. HAHA)

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AFTER

My room never looked this good in the last FIVE years. Hahaha. I'm so proud.

Show me your room and I'll tell you who you are...Right.

My room pretty much sums up my life. I admitted a million times on my blog that I have the messiest jungle of a room in the entire universe. You can just imagine my life then. Haha. Anyway, last night I finally decided to clean up my act—and my room. Maaaaan was it tough. I’m not even done yet. I have just cleared and mopped the floor. Haven’t waxed it yet. I can only clean in the evening and I don’t want to sleep with the “maka bai nko high” smell of floor wax.

My room is seriously fcuked up. It took me almost 3 hours to clear the floor, sweep it and mop it twice but it still looked like this. (Floor ray limpyo, and this is just DAY 1 of the Manna-finally-decides-to-clean-her-room series.)

DID YOU SEE MY ELECTRIC FAN???

So anyway, I am NOT proud of my room. That's why I decided to clean it up. I haven't been doing anything about it for almost one year. For almost one year I was in and out of my room. I was in and out of my life. But now, I decided to straighten things up, get rid of the clutter and allow myself to have some serious literal breathing space. That's why I'm cleaning. That's why I took those pictures. So that I will be reminded of what I have done to myself.

I'm so excited for the next post because finally, I will be able to show you how my room will be after I clean all the mess. I have my fingers crossed because to tell you honestly, I do not know how long its gonna take me to finish cleaning it.

Tonight is floorwax time. Tomorrow, I will start organizing the room and on Sunday, I will buy me some nice scented candles. I can't hardly wait. And yes, there will be pictures. Definitely. :)

My Cheap Thrills

Pamabaway tag kalipay?
Here are some shallow things that can make me happy in just a snap of a finger. Haha.

1. Dunkin Donuts Butternut Flavor (Php10 per pc.) - ask my officemates, it can lift my mood in an instant. Diba Grace?
2. Listening to a favorite song over and over again until I get sick of it.
3. Riding a motorcycle in the evening, joyrides...long drives, the like.
4. Comments on my blog! (hehe)
5. The feeling of being "good"..haha diba teh? (well in my case its really just a cheap thrill because I don't need to drink a lot to be "good"..tipid ko na drinker. hehe)

6. Videoke! (Php5 per song) - my all time favorite songs to sing are Stay by Lisa Loeb, Torn by Natalie Imbruglia and Bring me to Life by Evanescence. (shagit2)
7. The one that costs Php2 per piece...haha. hmmmm....
8. Good conversation and good company.
9. Playing and winning solitaire in my pc. hahaha (old school!!!)
10. Getting complimented for something I knew I worked hard for.

Well, these are just some of my cheap thrills. I know theres more but as of now, these are the only things I can remember. haha.

How about you? What are your cheap thrills?

short term vs. long term

Its funny how people always think about just the NOW. Not that the "yesterday" matters anymore but there's always the "tomorrow" to consider. I'm guilty of that. I've been guilty on making decisions based on short term happiness. Based on what can satisfy and please me now. I always tell myself that i'll just have to worry about tomorrow--well, tomorrow!

More often than not, something goes wrong but I've dealt with it. Still dealing with some of it, but so far no major harm done.

BUT right now, I'm kinda scared because I am acting on a certain decision that I know for sure will just give me momentary happiness, and will cause me extreme sadness later on. I don't want to let the moment pass, because it has already passed my way twice. I ignored it the first time and regretted it. Now that I've been given a second chance, I should learn to seize it right, live my life, take the risk and whatever other bullshitty advice we hear.

If you want me to talk about the moment, the right now...well it has been super great. Nothing compares to the excitement and thrill that I get out of the experience that I am in right now. I am enjoying the feeling because i have FORGOTTEN how it is to feel like this after almost 1 year of being in the "Dark Ages." I know I should be more cautious. But the RIGHT NOW is just so great.

So the question now is, should I live for the moment and worry about tomorrow later on? Or should I just be the cautious person that I ideally should be given the situation I am in right now?

BTW, no, I'm not on drugs. Hehe :p

Mental block and more...

I've been trying to come up with a new storyboard for Mactan Isaland Memorial Garden (yes, imagine that) since yesterday and my mind just cannot--CANNOT produce ideas right now. I guess its because I gave my all when I made one for Angelicum Garden of Angels--which is MIMG's number one competition. Arghh.

My mind is just so dry right now. Its so hard making a storyboard for a TVC for a memorial garden. You have to be creative but at the same time you have to make sure that you are selling the product. HEEEEEEEEELP.

If you have great ideas on how to sell a glorified cementery please let me know. Please please please...Help me. Today is my deadline but if I don't come up with anything then I'd just have to negotiate to extend my deadline.

On top of that, bitay na kaayo ko geng. Dugaya sad sa kinse oi!

my version of a happy birthday ;)

Yesterday, God told me that I had a lot of good friends.

To tell you honestly, I wasn't planning anything for my birthday. I knew it was coming but I did not make plans. Why?

a.) no money
b.) didn't know who to celebrate it with--daghan bya kog friends...haha
c.) i had to work anyways

But it started on the eve of my birthday--I spent it with my Nomad's friends. Didn't spend a cent. Hehe. Didn't drink a drop either. I couldn't drink "dennis trillo" with iced tea anyways without dying afterwards. hehehe. Many friends started texting and calling me already. That really made me feel good. It's nice to be remembered. :)

On the morn of my birthday, I woke up at 7:30 AM--just in time so I wouldn't be late for work. But since I didn't plan anything for my day, I thought about giving myself a treat by going back to sleep. I woke up at 10AM and ate breakfast at Nomad's. By 11AM i went home and took a bath because I had to report to work in the afternoon. Just when I was wrapped in my towel and putting deo on (hehe), someone knocked on my door. (weird, nobody did that) I was told that someone was waiting downstairs. Surprise, surprise. :)

When I got down, someone left me a package. Wow my very first birthday present! (apparently the last for the day...hehe) It was wrapped in gold paper. I knew it was from the guys at Nomad's so I rushed there and thanked them and went home again to open my present. I loved it! They gave me a set of plain white tees. Awwwww.... (Plain white tees are their "thing" so now I'm like officially part of their gang). I wore it to work. :)

Let's skip the afternoon part because it was all pure work and someone even sent me a hate mail--haha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Woohooo!

I then had dinner with my friend who just came back from a cruise. (Teh I really did miss you so much!) She has been gone for 9 months and arrived the day before my birthday. Goody! We ate at Mooon Cafe (got lost, as usual--really bad with remembering directions), and talked the whoooole time. Afterwards we decided to get a drink at Alejandro's (and got lost again). We ordered wengweng (that's our thing). Two pitchers, just the two of us, mano y mano. (hehe) Now wengweng has 7 spirits in it and I AM NOT MUCH of a drinker. Seriously. Just 3 glasses of beer makes me fall asleep. But we finished the two mini pitchers because it tasted so damn good. I wanted more but my head was throbbing and I was all red already. But it did feel goooood. haha. HUBOG DOH!

Manna: Teh, did I already tell you that I'm so happy that you got home in time for my birthday?
Kim: Yes teh, for the nth time already. (hahaha)

Went home, dropped by Nomad's but couldn't really function anymore so I went to my room and slept. Woke up at 1:30AM feeling reaaally thirsty AND hungry so I went to Nomad's again and we all ate at a 24-hour tapsilogan. Whew! Went home and slept again.

That about wraps up my birthday. I am overwhelmed by the influx of greetings, calls, messages by friends that I haven't seen in such a long time and etc. To tell you the truth, yesterday was the first time I did not plan anything for my birthday but I thought it was one of the best birthdays I've ever had!

One thing I realized, lingaw diay nang di ka mamangka kay makakita jud ka kung kinsa ang mga taw na mu go out of their way just to make you feel that you're remembered on your birthday. Yahoo!