christmas 2012

christmas_by_abakum_deviantart

'tis my 2nd xmas here up north and i'm turning 2 years here! wow, time flies like a time warp. i thought i just blinked and ting! now 2 years.

i hate to be working on xmas day, it so pathetic. yeah it's double pay cuz it's a legal holiday but nothing beats spending your xmas at home, chilling with my family. eeeeash...if only i can wish from santa not to have work on a xmas day.


anyways, it is a busy day today. after work i dropped by at KFC to grab some late xmas day foodie. i got my sister and i this fully loaded meal and t'was sumptuos. we were stuffed yeeeha!

thank god for xmas!

have a blessed one..cheers!

the yuletide season

art work by `Emerald-Depths from deviantart.com

i am currently enduring muscle spasms and it might be due to the cold weather.  anyways, christmas is in the air. i watched Glee early today and it felt like listening to a christmas playlist on the radio. i'm so dreaming of a white christmas.   i know, i know, i'm getting melancholic. i guess it's the cold and the christmas spirit.  it's just 8 days to go before christmas according to our desktop xmas tree. speaking of christmas, i went to a christmas party yesterday and for the gift giving thing i got myself some cake pops and lots of merry christmas lol.  

breaking dawn part II

what i like about watching movies during weekdays is that movie theatres aren't crowded. watched breaking dawn part II last wednesday, the last from the twilight sequels. it was nice because the book was followed religiously since stephanie meyer produced the movie herself.

however, during the later part of the movie, my sister and i almost wanted to go home because the moment Aro held alice's hand, there was chaos. it was annoying because that's not how i remember the story, not even close. carlisle was beheaded, some of the wolves died and everything turned into a catastrophe. it became really stressful to watch because i knew it should be a happy ending. the only casualty was irina and that's it. the moviegoers all cheered after finding out that it was just alice's vision if the volturi will penalize the cullens for keeping renesmee (she's still part mortal). it was ok although i found it pretty lengthy. but then, it's all worth the watch. i recommend the movie to all the fans of meyer to see for themselves. 

i knew i can

i finally achieved my less than a 100lbs weight goal and achieved it after i started eating full meals again. actually, i've heard that before from health coaches that eating will help you gain and lose weight at the same time. but then, it took two years for me to achieve my goal. it's never easy losing weight. so, my only concern right now is to buy new clothes. but then this brought about some really serious health concerns with my parents because they rarely see me.  they asked if i may be having serious problems thus explains my sudden weight loss. which is said no of course. working night shift possibly has taken a toll on me (i guess). the same reactions spawned after my twin sister lost weight last year. i guess it's also due to my body reacting to the cold climate especially this last quarter of the year.

fly

time flies and i guess it's been weeks since i wrote something here. i just came from a long vacation, some time away from work sort of. i spent my vacation in my folks house because i miss my sister and i's cat atari who's all grown up and is getting heavier each week. i helped in decorating our christmas tree which we bought from Clark. my mom often finds christmas balls around because atari picked them from the christmas tree and the thing is he does this everyday. i've been using my leave credits tremendously just for a breather because the night shift can be really gloomy and depressing.

i got caught up reading this past few weeks but decided to set aside my '50 shades darker' book because i got engrossed reading 'the perks of being a wallflower' by stephen chbosky. it's about a boy named charlie who writes everything about his life in his journal as if having a conversation with a friend. 'the perks of being a wallflower' is about life's and how people recover from a traumatic loss. i felt the sweeping sadness reading the book though. i just finished reading it last night and i'm glad because i'm so squeamish to know about the ending. i'm curious to watch the movie adaptation as well which stars emma watson as sam, it's always interesting to watch an ex harry potter star play a different role.

Where the PX finds are

 My sister and I went to Clark, Pampanga last Tuesday and checked in at the Holiday Inn Clark. The trip took roughly five hours from Baguio where we took a bus bound to Avenida, Dau-Tarlac. Genesys bus charged P306/head and dropped us off at the Dau exit where all the rest of the buses bound South stops to drop off and pick up passengers. It was hot in Pampanga and might even be steamier compared to Manila possibly due to its close proximity from Mt. Pinatubo. We walked towards the Jeepney terminal and took a jeep bound to Main Gate. The fare was P8.00 and we alighted at the Jeepney terminal bound to SM Clark etc. and then we're lost afterwards. Seriously, we really didn't know where we're exactly going which made the Jeepney drivers confused as well. My sister told the driver we're headed to Claro M. Recto Highway and we're looking for Arjans--the duty free shop. The driver thought it was outside of Clark thus he drove us off to Claro M. Recto Hway which is nowhere close to the duty free shops. Haist! After the long lost jeepney rides we told the driver we're headed to Holiday Inn Clark and that's the time he realized we're possibly looking for Claro M. Recto INSIDE Clark. Nevertheless, he drove us back to the Jeepney terminal bound to Clark Main Gate. He initially charged us P10/head  but because we told him we're not from Pampanga, he decided not to charge us anymore which was a good thing. I just can't believe getting lost in your own country is much more difficult than getting lost in a foreign land geez.

Moving on, we took another Jeep bound to Clark Hostel as per the driver's advised possibly thinking we're heading off to Holiday Inn. T'was another waste of time because the Jeep will never pass Arjans because we took the wrong route my oh my. We're both pissed off because we've been wasting money and the weather is effin unbearable in Pampanga. Finally, we stopped at this waiting shed close to Southerland. We asked the barker which jeep to take because we're looking for Arjans, he then advised we need to take the jeepneys bound to Mabalacat. I figured we should've taken the Jeeps bound to Mabalacat Public Market. OMG. We we're exhausted.

However, It was all worth it after we found that Parkins sells Chocolates at a very cheap price. They sell pack of small Hershey's choco's at $1.38? Which is a bargain at roughly P42. Whew. We also bought other goodies at a more than reasonable price. We headed off to Arjan's afterwards where we found tons of Christmas trees. My sister bought this 6ft tall  Christmas tree for P1,900+. Not bad, except that I told my sister not to buy the xmas tree prior to check in because it'll be very obvious that we did not bring a car. She still did so it was realllly a shame to talk to the front desk at the hotel with such big stuff along. Haist again! I told her not to do the same ever! Anyways, it was such a relief when we got to our cozy room fully equipped with mini fridge, hair dryer and complimentary coffee/tea. The toiletries were few though considering it's for two pax. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay at the Holiday Inn Clark. There's a chance we'll swing by again probably once our trip to Hong Kong is finalized possibly next year and we're both looking forward to it. 

moving on

i've been on hiatus again because a lot of things happened after Jack's passing. we moved again because the house we stayed at for five months was no good. it was close to the hospital which made my niece susceptible to sickness.  that house was just a horrible. rodents used to live there thus made us adopt a cat. so, we decided to move and it was such a perfect decision. our new crib is so much better. it's cozy and we can breathe clean air as it's away from the hospital. the unit has 3 bedrooms, nice kitchen and a dining area. the back door leads to the laundry area with enough space to hang our clothes to dry. the house reminds me of our house back in manila except for the fog. i noticed that it's more foggy here than the one we lived before. it's so serene which makes sleeping in the morning not problem. the only beef i have is that, the property isn't pet friendly that we even needed to take our cat to our parent's house. Atari is potty trained so when my parents took him in, they were amazed with his discipline in using his litter. i miss Atari but i think he's better off in our parents house because of the big space for him to move around. moving on, it was such a pain getting our globe wimax service transferred here in our new flat. globe isn't good with anything else but troubles in terms of service requests and stuff. anyways, moving on again, instead of relocation i instead signed up with a new service, our old one is out of contract anyways. sigh, the hassles of moving.




Farewell Jack, I Hope You Had A Wonderful Life

R.I.P Jack....I will miss you so....

It took me a while to write this blog because I needed time to grieve. My sister's dog Jack, (which happened to be my fave dog as well)  recently passed away due to CDV (Canine Distemper Virus), a deadly virus which only afflict dogs. Once your dog acquired the virus, there's no cure but putting your dog to sleep. T'was really hard because I'm not sure if Jack got the virus from the veterinary hospital or it has been dwelling in his miniscule body.  Jill (Jack's sibling), eventually died of the same. We took Jack to the vet roughly a week after Jill's death due to a failing health. We assumed it's possibly 'cuz he's missing Jill. Animals have this weird behavior after one of their kind passed away, they seem to look for their companion like humans do. Jack was confined for three days (if I'm not mistaken) but went home safe and sound. He needed to recuperate for few days but after then he's back on his feet chasing our cat Atari as usual. Few days later he stopped eating. My sister noticed his breathing isn't normal--he's heaving and panting which made us worry.  My sister and I decided to take Jack to the vet again to see what's wrong this time. A blood test was done and from then we found out that he's caught two viruses, one curable and the other one isn't. We were devastated when the vet recommended to put Jack to sleep. My mind had a hard time processing it because Jack is a playful dog so who would ever thought he's been sick? I thought, It wasn't fair 'cuz we just lost Jill and we can't afford losing another one.  It was really difficult to accept and what's even harder was, we need to decide right then and there whether to put him down or not. I refused of course although I knew back then Jack's case is hopeless, all we need to do is to accept it. The vet prescribed some more meds to at least ease Jack's pain. I knew he's dying, I knew it will only take hours before the virus totally consumes his body. I felt really guilty for prolonging Jack's agony but putting them down isn't easy even with animals. Early morning of September 8th, while fast asleep, my sister knocked our door to tell us Jack's condition is aggravating and the poor dog seemed to be in so much pain. No matter how hard it was for me to see him in pain, I tried my best, got up and checked on Jack. I saw him lying on his mat, he's already very weak and his body is already turning stiff and cold which I know his time will be up soon. T'was really heartbreaking. I tried to close his eyes and I told him to go if he's really tired but he's reluctant no matter how weak he's turned. Watching him is like watching a candle melts slowly.  I went back to my room and soon after I closed the door my sister saw him walked towards my door wiggling his tail as if asking her to open the door so he could say goodbye. We all told him to rest and we'll be alright. It didn't take long, Jack passed away after he said goodbye to all of us, his human family.  I got up again no matter how heart wrenching it was to see him lifeless but I helped my sister out to give Jack a decent burial. We wrap his body in a towel and waited the next day for him to be buried where his mom Harriet and sister Jill lies.  Up until now we're still thinking that Jack might've gotten the virus from the veterinary clinic because on the same day he was discharged, another very sick dog afflicted by CDV came in.  Lesson learned--complete vaccination is vital for dogs as it will serve as their immunity against deadly viruses such as distemper. We all miss Jack, he's only been five years and nine months old. He gave us joy and he deserved freedom from pain. 

eat, sleep, social media

photo courtesy of cosmo.ph 

back to being a vampire. my body clock gradually adjusted to working back in the evening. i now feel hungry during wee hours which is a good thing 'cuz my body now topples the night into day. how odd isn't? the life of a vampire.  my colleagues at work are saying i might be sucking human blood because i don't seem to age. i don't know why neither, i just sleep a lot and eat a lot of apples.

baguio eats...

volante along session rd.
we had their combo meal #1 with spaghetti, grilled chicken, fries and a slice of pizza. according to the menu, it's good for people with big appetite. the serving was not so big though. 

Good Taste

since, it's the start of my two day rest day, my sister and i decided to have breakfast at good taste near burnham park around about 4:30 in the morning. we had their fried rice asado, iced tea and brewed coffee. it took us more than an hour chit chatting so i needed to drink brewed coffee myself and second round of coffee for sissy. t'was daylight when we left good taste lol. time flies when you enjoy eating. coffee made me dehydrated as usual. hydrate..hydrate! 

social media 
Twitter has turned  has kept e pre-occupied and I just made my Instagram account yesterday and I know I'm so outdated geez. sleep will set you free.   the fog here in baguio still fascinates me every time. 

how does it feel to be mean???

My heart sank after watching this on the news days ago. Up until now it makes me fume mad. Why? The poor MMDA enforcer was berated and mauled in front of other motorists. But then, KUDOS to whoever took the video! There's no better evidence than real events caught on camera. I understand, with the traffic and all people tend to lose their temper BUT it's NEVER an excuse for BAD BEHAVIOR!  The obnoxious guy sparked after Mister MMDA asked him to pullover due to a traffic violation. He then slapped Mister MMDA, degraded and mauled like he scrapped off all the poor guy's dignity! How can an educated person do that like he lost all his sense of compassion? After watching on the news fews days ago (and having learned) that the MR. MMDA is a single parent/breadwinner to all his six kids, my heart really sank. The poor guy even cried during the interviews possobly due to a damaged self-esteem. It's not JUST about a traffic violation, it's all about EGO. Yeah right? I think some people think that just because they're well off and educated, they're above the law. That, NO ONE can JUST piss them off and whoever do so will have to endure their wrath.  

What even made me fume mad was, his obnoxious brother, instead of being a peace maker even joined in hadn't he noticed someone's already recording a video. One more thing, I happened to watch obnoxious guy's father on one of the interviews and instead of condoning his son's bad behavior, he even backed him up and made excuses for his son. I mean, seriously? Or was it guilt for raising an obnoxious son? I'm just glad many people supported MR. MMDA and an a case has been filed against the asshole. I hope MR. MMDA will have a peace of mind and regain his self-esteem. 

KARMA is digital. 

typhoon helen

After the monsoon rains here comes HELEN. Is the weather getting any better yet? It's so cold in the afternoon which makes it even more gloomy.   Moving on, according to the news, tons of garbage surfaced after the recent flood in manila and It was disturbing. Let's not forget, these are man-made tragedies and we should stop dumping our garbage anywhere we want because that's really irresponsible. Our trash has invaded the habitat of water creatures and it's such a painful sight to behold. They don't deserve to get literally tangled up in the middle of this.

monsoon rains go away

It's been raining for couple of weeks now and it's a disaster down South. I saw on the news how bad the flood is due to the monsoon rains. it's such a pain to see death tolls and landslides. Our country is so calamity stricken that's why our disaster funds gets so worked up. I know a calamity is not an excuse to hinder a country's growth, but if it is so frequent, how can a country recover so soon right?  I guess, during these times, we should stop taking advantage of other people's downfall. Let's just help even in the tiniest way possible. 

Moving on,  as I write this blog, my kitty Atari is peacefully curled up in bed like an orange ball of fur. It's foggy outside again making the weather even colder. If am cold, what more the cat eh? 

The rain is making me stagnant. I hate it. Yesterday, after work, I went home soaked wet because the rain poured heavily. I hate it when my clothes are drenched. It so freezing here.  Have a safe day, stay warm and dry. 

pressure

the storm hasn't subside and it's still tremendously windy outside. i feel so lazy today. i can't get out and yeah my umbrella needs a fix if not a replacement.  the thing is, when you're already working, you're not affected by the whole NO CLASSES syndrome because when you're an adult you're being subjected to all forces of nature. like i can complain eh? so...my song of the day... Pressure by A Company of Thieves. It reminds me of LPA (low pressure are) lol.

Gener why don't you?

It's whooshing outside because of typhoon Gener.  The recent typhoon is so unfazed and it moves in a very slow pace even prolonging the stormy days. What to do on a stormy rest day morning but sleep? I could care for some snuggle time with my kitty kitty Atari-ya! The very moment I am writing this blog, the heavy rains outside is a gloomy sight to behold. I hate wet seasons here up North because it gets really chilly. 

 I hope the power don't get knocked down because we'll lose our Internet connection as well. Geez.