Coming Real Soon: #jumpballtoforever

So the DIY chronicle continues. Today I present the BTS of the wedding signages.

Bride in action

Why I’m voting this May 13 elections

Photo by Sashi24 (Googled image)

Frankly, I have so many reasons not to. I can start with a list of excuses-- my wedding which will take place the week after the election itself, among others. I am not naïve. I know how easily we label and categorize the candidates just because. There’s the TraPo or the traditional politicians and there’s BIMPO or Batang Isinubo ng Magulang sa Politika. Being that this is going to be my first to air my stand on the Philippine politics in this blog in any medium ever, please do not be surprised if you find it amateur. I am no activist, journalist, nor an enthusiast of this issue. I am just some random citizen who loves my country so much.

I was practically dragged by my mom to register in the municipality’s COMELEC office 5 years ago like she couldn't take another day away from my 18^th birthday that I’m not a registered voter. Dude, I was in fever and colds when she woke me up to register way before sunrise. What kind of mother does that? Lol. (Love you, Ma.) That may sound cruel but I thank her for that today.

I might just be promoted to a whole new level of weird for saying this but I just love LOOOOVE practicing my right to vote. This isn't a mindset  that my parents instilled in me but the idea of finally being able to do something for the country makes me feel so responsible and mature. It makes me feel like I’m a part of something, like each time I vote, I am able to change something about this nation. You know, I have never experienced joining any rally. Even in college, I never joined any of those "walk-out sa klase" just to deliver a particular message to the higher authority. Don't get me wrong, the only reason I didn't participate is because I believe I'm in school to study. Not to mention I didn't want to waste the money my parents worked hard for just to send me to a premium university.

Just like there are so many reasons not to vote, I have also heard of different reasons why people vote. Sabi nga nila, you have no right to complain if you did not choose who to put in the government. This is logical to me and partly, this is the reason why I make sure to cast my vote every election (national and local). However, this is not the sole and main reason I'm choosing my senators and mayor and councilors.

1. It's my every citizen's responsibility.

Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.

I take Deuteronomy 1:13 as a clear command from the Lord along with other commands like love your neighbor, honor your parents, etc. Through Moses He spoke it to the Israelites at the time He needed rulers "to carry the burden and disputes" of the people. Although it's very clear that whoever is in position is God-appointed (Romans 13), He did not deny us of our responsibility to elect who we think is wise, understanding, and respected. Yes, before voting becomes our right, it was first a responsibility assigned to us by the Maker himself.

2. It's for my everyone's future sons and daughters.
Voting today makes me accountable for the kind of future the next generation will have. When I was a decade or so younger, I used to think "Who cares about the next generation? I'll be out of this planet then." But now that I'm getting married in a couple of weeks, I have learned to become so mindful of the things that might affect my future children's world a few years from now. I don't know about you but I would do everything for my kids to have a better life than mine. And a big part of it will rely on the kind of environment and country they'll live in. What's worse than watching selfish people rule your nation, right? Almost synonymous to letting evil conquer heaven and earth (although obviously this couldn't happen).

3. It's a very rare and underrated privilege that's worth grabbing.
How many times are we asked to participate in this country's decision making? I say only once -- and it's during election. Do I have a say if taxes soar high and my salary deductions are almost half of my monthly earning? No. Do I have a say if bills like the RH and sin tax are discussed in the Senate or Congress for passing? No. Do I have a say which country the president should visit next for a half a million worth of meetings and dinners? No. Hence, voting for people whom I think possess the qualities in #1 is my only way of making sure that the interest of the Filipino people (and not their pork barrel) will be the first priority in making these decisions.

I'm sure the skeptical in you might be saying "why vote kung madadaya rin naman?" or "whoever you vote, pare-pareho lang naman silang corrupt". Honestly, I myself can be so frustrated of how dirty the Philippine politics has become. I'm not saying that the system of the past generation is any better because we weren't there to know that. However, if we think of how bad the situation is and if we let this situation hinder us from doing our responsibility as a Filipino, then that's the point we become the problem. Which is better: a nation with corrupt rulers and responsible citizens? or one with corrupt rulers and indifferent citizens? Personally, the latter is a more disgusting reality. Folks, we can't control the system. I have long since gave that up to the more powerful that is God. All I can do now is play my part and leave everything to Him. By faith I claim that God is changing this nation and I sure would want to be a part of this most awaited change.

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

Let's practice our right. Let's be responsible. Do it for your country. Do it for God.

Signature

Boredom bullied me again today. Whenever it strikes, I either go online and look for some good articles to read -- mostly travel and food blogs or I go to Photoshop and explore it while enhancing my skills in the process.

Today, I got the idea of creating a signature for my every blog entry. This idea actually came from Nathalie (although don't tell her 'cos she doesn't know). It was in her blog that I first saw posts concluded by a signature (though apparently not all). And I'm concluding this with mine.

Happy weekend! (Off to Iron Man 3 in 30 mins. Seeing it with the love of my life. Can't wait!)

"Amalayer" girl has made the 180-degree turn

This video reminded me of how amazing God's grace and mercy is. I mean, yes I know it in my heart and my mind that God can do amazing things in our life. But it's really different seeing it happen even on other people's life. Like its realness increase immensely as we hear more testimonies like this.

I was once living a sinful life, too. I might not have had drugs or killed someone in the past, but I'm no angel either. I lied, I judged people, I cursed, I committed debauchery, and a lot more sins I'd rather not enumerate here (haha baka maloka kayo). My point is, my past is no different than hers. The only difference is that someone made a remembrance of that big snap moment of her in the LRT. She got caught. I didn't. But in the eyes of the Lord, we're no different. No wonder I myself broke down and cried like a lost child in the mall during my very own altar call back in 2006.

This is such a great love story to ponder. Congratulations to Paula for finally accepting Christ as the Lord and Savior of her life. Every time I look back on the time I made the same decision almost 7 years ago, I can't help but smile. Indeed, it was the best decision I made ever.

Happy weekend, folks! God bless us all. :)

Mini Summer Get-away and Grill Sesh at the East

One of the downsides of having a summer wedding is that the prep restricts you from joining the usual almost-every-weekend getaways for the whole of April and May. I remember I used to hit the beach/pool for at least 4 times during summer and I believe even that number is considered below average for most people who really go crazy during this season.

This year, my first of summer was spent in a pool easily hidden in the beautiful paradise of Sun Valley Estates in Antipolo. This was during the April 9 holiday which I spent with friends. Remember how our day started at Molave Tapsi? This was the continuation:

We spent the late afternoon at Sun Valley which was a good 30-minute ride from Duchess's place (she was our host for the day). We initially planned to just take a swim in the village clubhouse but decided against it because it turned out to be brimming with people that day. Apparently, we're not the only ones who thought of spending the holiday in the pool.

(photo © SiNikita) If this is Plan B, not bad for us Filinvest Antipolo kick-outs right?

The pool was only open til 5pm though we were allowed to stay til a little shy of 6pm. By the time it's dusk, we're back at Duchess's house. Then started the grilling sesh, which by the way ate almost 2hrs of our evening.

We thought we'll be eating hotdogs alone, ended up with liempo, ribs, and buttered shrimps.

Obviously a meaty dinner. 

Oh, and the DIY chronicle continues behind the scene. Fine motor skills were stretched once more.

Dinner was served at a little past 8 if I'm not mistaken.

All in all, it was a yet another mad "spring-breaker" session with the girls. I'm so glad I got these people to agree to having just a mini get-away nearby instead of a relatively costly road trip in Bataan or Tagaytay. They were really rooting for those from the start. Great friends are, well, great!

I hope you're having a fantastic summer so far. ♥

P.S. Yes, I wear swim cap every single swim time. Don't ask.

Effective trick to recover lost/corrupted files

Today I almost lost 4 gigabytes of my life. I thought my Sony D33021 USB flash disk ditched me for good when all the most important files for the wedding (which is basically all that's in it) got corrupted. My fault though because the queen of negligence in me got so carried away by this amazing little speakers which sound produced is just oh so loud you'd almost think it comes from a ginormous amplifier. During the outing last weekend, I so easily shared my playlist to the gang by inserting the flash disk to it. The next day, voila! Files are gone.

the culprit (photo from Google)

So these are the steps I tried in the attempt to revive the particular portion of my existence stored in the device.

I went to Google (like in any situation), and typed in "recover corrupted files". I landed to so many pages offering different softwares but this one was what I downloaded -- EaseUs Data Recovery Wizard.

I got so excited for the software to finish searching for all the lost files only to find out in the end that it needs a certain serial number to be able to retrieve the files found. USELESS. Because I didn't have any serial number. To be honest, I was clueless what that is and where to find it. I gave myself some good 1 hr to search for more but to no avail.

Then I made the best decision. I gave up. Gracefully. Haha. I realized it was a good move to quit especially when I know that regardless of how resourceful I am when it comes to researching solutions to any day to day problems, I was not given any technical giftings. Dude, until now I get so confused whenever I try to download a movie. You can imagine how hard it is for me to even try and find certain software for corrupted file retrieval.

Anyway, to cut the boring story short, I shouted out my predicament on Facebook. You know, the usual rants when something terrible happens to you. And lo and behold, in less than 5 minutes, I got a PM from a friend whom I met thru Monster Hug Pillow.

Gwen Janelle Lontok, a buyer of the pillow, instructed me to do key in the following on the computer's cmd screen:

attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive:\*.*

Again, that's attrib(space)-h(space)-r(space)-s(space)/s(space)/d(space)[corrupted drive]:\*.*

In my case, since the USB was in drive J, the formula I encoded looks like this:

attrib -h -r -s /s /d j:\*.*

Apparently, Gwen who is no IT/CS person has been using this formula to save corrupted files back in college. Why didn't I know this in college?! Unfair! I should say whoever invented this formula is a genius because in a split of second upon entering the code, my files were back! Imagine I spent almost a couple of hours searching and downloading those pricey software and here's this little magic trick that brought back all my treasure in no time!

Allegiant: The 3rd Installment to Divergent

from Google

I could not contain my excitement when I learned that my favorite girl Veronica Roth (yes, we're close like that) has already released the title of the third installment to her novel Divergent. Just so you know, this is not your ordinary waiting-for-the-next-book moment. This is the waiting-for-the-next-book-which-title-should-also-end-in-ent type. I have read the first two books just last year and boy it feels like I've waited forever for the release of the third. The suspense was just too much to handle. (Ok I might be exaggerating). For those whose face are of great confusion right now, pardon me. Let me enlighten you instead.

Veronica Roth released her first novel Divergent in April of 2011. What's interesting is that this book was actually written while she was still a college student in Northwestern University, like this was a thesis or something. Insurgent, the sequel, then followed in May 2012. So you see, you don't have to be a fan to expect that (1) the final installment of the trilogy will be released in 2013 (a year interval), and (2) its title will end with -ent just like the first two.

from Google

Today, I just read that Roth has revealed its title - - Allegiant. Much to most of the fans' disappointment, it's not Detergent. Lol. That could have been a far intriguing title. Plus, I'm sure some will argue that Allegiant only has the same last-syllable pronunciation with the first two but a deviant last-syllable spelling. Lol.

So many things to look forward to! The striving reader in me is going gaga lately. On top of the anticipation for the publication of Allegiant, there's the movie adaptation for Divergent which, allegedly, is set for release some time next year. I wonder which character Kate Winslet will play. I only know my (another) favorite girl Maggie Q (from Nikita) will play Tori. I even back-read the first book to check if Tori is supposed to be Asian and she is, indeed. :)

The Divergent trilogy is a yet another dystopian fiction like Hunger Games. Though I have only seen the latter in its movie adaptation, I can say I like how the plot was formed in the first one better because of its focus on values and decisions.

♥

Where we are at 35 days before the wedding

A few weeks from now, the most anticipated big day will finally take place. I realized 5 months of preparation was not so long after all. Yes, we were worried we might not be able to endure the long wait. It was in December of 2012 when we started planning the wedding which original date was September 5 (anniversary of our friendship, 'cause we're sentimental like that hehe). We decided against it because we thought 9 months of waiting is just to much to bear. And then we thought of moving it to March 21 (which is considered our anniversary as bf/gf) but decided it will be too hasty as 3 months of preparation is nearly impossible if you have financial and social issues to think about. That's when we decided to move it to May 21. Five months to prepare. It should be good enough.

photo by WreuelN Photography

Kopiko Low Acid Coffee

For someone who has missed coffee a lot due to a gastric condition, it's a breath of fresh air being able to reunite with its taste and aroma. Glad to discover Kopiko's Low Acid Coffee.

Millions of Filipinos drink coffee every day. In fact, it is estimated that 8 out of 10 Pinoys drink at least 2 cups of coffee daily, whether they are piping hot or iced cold. So what are the benefits of drinking coffee?

Aside from perking up lazy mornings and sleepy afternoons, various studies reveal that drinking coffee in moderation helps reduce the risks for type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, heart and cardiovascular diseases, stroke and cancers of the liver, kidney and prostate. 

But while most Filipinos enjoy cup after cup of stimulating coffee, some cut back on their brew because it hurts their stomach and they cannot tolerate drinking more than a cup every day.

Molave Tapsi for the holiday lunch

During the last Philippine holiday (April 9 - Araw ng Kagitingan), I got to spend a ridiculously amazing time with my girly girlfriends from the previous company. I think this was my first reunion with them since we left our previous job. Our meeting was mainly for my wedding DIYs ('cause they have such a bored good heart and offered help in realizing my wedding mood board). But since I'm the only one in the group who has not been there yet, I insisted on starting our day with a lunch at the great Molave Tapsi.

Molave Tapsi is (obviously) a small Tapsilog (and other types of silog-dish; if you are a Filipino you know what I mean) diner easily spotted along the stretch of Molave St. in Project 3, Quezon City (hence the name).

What I loved most about them is that they serve really sumptuous meals that don't hurt the wallet.

The gang from L-R: Claro, Owel, Lyan, Duchess, Yours Truly, & Ralph

It's only now that I realized how the plus one's were wearing matching outfits with the

jolly & accommodating Molave Tapsi staff. haha!

The fiance, being that he's obsessed with sisig, got himself Sisigsilog.

I went there for this -- Tapsilog. By far the most tender and juicy Tapsilog I have tried in my life. NO. KIDDING.

Most of them got Baconsilog though. Not surprising if it's Molave Bacon which it isn't.

I have always been a fan of tapsilog and I am so glad that this one did not disappoint. This was actually the first time I got a taste of a spicy version of it. And I'm not even talking about pairing-your-tapa-with-chili-diced-in-vinegar spicy. I'm talking about the tender-tapa-marinated-in-spicy-seasoning kind. Ok it's lunch time and this is making me drool so I'll stop right here.

Go visit Molave Tapsi and experience not only their tasteful silog dishes that come with oh-so-hot and malinamnam soup but also their ice cream corner which offers a wide variety (from popsicles, to drumsticks, to pints) all in very affordable price!

Molave Tapsi
69 Molave Street Project 3 Q.C.
4353680

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Throwback: San Antonio Resort & My Metamorphosis

In between my DIY chronicles, boredom still squeezes in. Imagine that? I guess I’m just on that stage where I expect myself not to have even the shortest dead air. You know that feeling when you think you have so many things to do that you panic each time you find yourself sitting and not doing anything? I had that moment last Sunday morning. The day before was an amazing DIY afternoon-evening with my closest friends. They say brides normally have this tendency of losing themselves after the wedding because suddenly there’s no more wedding to plan on, nothing to do or stress about. I’m too anxious about that season that I worry about it as early as now (42 days before the wedding).

Ok that was some intro. My point really is that because of boredom, I ended up browsing photos of (unexpectedly) one of the most amazing travels I had in 2010.

Days when cheeks used to compose 80% of my face and my nose easily followed at #2 spot with at least 15% of it.

No, obviously I didn't have the nose enhanced by any sort of technology. Although if you notice here, my nose really did get tamed. Haha!

 It’s one of the remarkable results of my having braces. When I had 2 of my upper premolars removed, somehow it affected my face structure leaving my face with 0% chubby cheeks and 100% cheekbones. Another thing to notice, locks used to be black and more gracefully wavy (unlike today the waves just look tired haha).

Anyway, this isn't really about my nose and hair so let’s talk about Roxas City. I know this place isn't one of the top results you see when you Google for amazing vacation places outside of Metro Manila. However, having been there a couple of times for work-related purposes, I can say that Roxas City, especially my San Antonio Resort experience did not disappoint in any way. 

What best way to wake up for breakfast but with this?

I haven’t even maximized my stay there as the resort offers a lot of amenities I wasn't able to avail. Aside from this divine scenery, it’s only their swimming pool that we really got to experience.

with Marga and Duchess

What I also loved the most about San Antonio is its location. Just about 5-10mins of walk from the villa, you can find yourself already strolling along the beach-side where most of the seafood restaurant is located.  If you’re a foodie like me, you would love this place so much because of the beyond expectation freshness of the seafood they serve. Dude they cook it straight from the ocean right in front of you and which waves you can hear while savoring those talaba and grilled stuffed pusit.

The good ole days. Nostalgic. I suddenly missed those carefree childish days I had as a very young adult whose fulfillment mainly comes from her job. This is definitely going to be some transition for me, you know. Changing my last name, my address, my civil status, and my roommate. Sure it’s not going to be easy. Good thing God’s grace is sufficient. 

San Antonio Resort, Baybay Beach, Roxas City

(+63) 920 9825377 | (+63) 917 6205377

http://thesanantonioresort.com/

DIY Wedding Invites: The Finale

Just to update my avid followers (yehess naman, like I have a lot hehe), I'm finally done with all the invites! Woohoo! I have already sent some away while the others are still to be sent within the week. Hopefully we're done giving them out next week, at the latest. Based on the feedback I got from a couple of lovely followers on the previous DIY post, this was a pretty amazing idea and I pretty much was able to execute it well. Thanks to them, I kinda feel encouraged now that these invites will also be appreciated by my guests. Though I don't deny the possibility that some of them might bash my hand writing or my face on the picture haha! Me can't please everyone. No one can. And that's fine.

L.A. Coffee: The Verdict

This is a follow-up to my L.A. Coffee post. Yesterday, I was finally able to finish a pack. No, I didn't finish a pack in one drinking. I was too afraid of tummy pain to do that. I took the first half-cup the other day using only half of the pack, obviously. So if the SRP on the pack is accurate, technically, my coffee the other day was only worth 3 friggin pesos! So cute!

I observed how it felt drinking coffee again after a long while. And guess what? It's Low Acid for reals! But the skeptic in me didn't believe it right away. I had to try the other half and see if it still won't trigger any acidity in the stomach. And so I did yesterday. Guess what?! It did not! However, I felt that I really drank something diuretic. You know that feeling when after drinking something, you feel like pee-ing the entire day? That's what diuretic drinks do. They are good in a sense that they somehow force you to cleanse your system if you're someone like me who doesn't drink water regularly even if it's the only thing you're allowed to drink. Downside though is that if you get too much of them and you're acidic like me, it could either lead to hyper-acidity attack or LBM. You decide which is worse.

Now, I won't push my blessing so much at this point. Not because this coffee worked for me now I can already panic-drink. I won't even go back to drinking everyday. And I promise that when I drink, I'll drink only half a serving :) Thank God I'm wiser now. Like any other good stuff, I recommend this coffee to those with the same condition as mine BUT with moderation. As the warning goes: RESPONSIBLE DRINKING IS RECOMMENDED. :)


P.S. I noticed I haven't really said anything about the taste of this particular coffee. Suh-rry. Was too busy obsessing with my APD. Anyway, it tastes like Kopiko. Not as strong as the brown one I used to have in college but neither is it too sweet which for me is good enough.

♥

The Low Acid Coffee

Disclaimer: This post is not to promote any product. Me not paid to do so. :)

Lest doing so brings me to the hospital’s emergency room bed again, I have long since stopped drinking coffee. As mentioned in a post about my first ER experience, I have this annoying gastric condition which the doctors call the Acid Peptic Disease. It was only diagnosed in May last year but I believe it has been existing since college days. It was circa 2008 when abdominal pain and vomiting started, if I’m not mistaken. Boy did I binge eat those days due to stress and inability to eat on time. I blame my university professors for this condition of mine. I’m not even kidding.

If you Google it, APD is not a unique-and-hard-to-explain type of illness. Though there are many types of it, I wasn't able to attend the follow-up check up then so the specification is still for me to find out but basically, APD is an ulceration caused by a stomach that secretes excessive acid. This results to a weakened lining of the stomach which in effect gives us discomfort and even unbearable pain when it's not digesting anything. This is why it is advised that a patient regularly lines his stomach with food. In my case, I eat every 2 hours. Aside from eating more frequently, there have been certain restrictions to my food and drink intake too.

APD prevents me from drinking and eating anything, really. First, those that are too spicy, so I bid my favorite super spicy Lucky Me pancit canton farewell years ago. Nothing sour, which isn't really something I miss because I don’t love that taste either. I just hope I could still eat ripe yellow mango and not have a bitter after-taste in the mouth (that’s a sign of acidity, folks). I find it weird though that I can eat all green mango I want and don’t get any abs pain attack. That’s a consolation to my already awful predicament because losing mango and bagoong (shrimp paste) would be another blow I wouldn't take. I was also asked to avoid anything acidic, obviously. This means I had to avoid soda which isn't so bad because I never loved soda. But what pains me the most is that I can never have coffee anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I was never the coffee addict. I’m not one of those who resides in Starbucks. And I’m not my mom who uses coffee to beat boredom when there's no household chores to do. I don’t even use it to keep me up when I need to pull an all-nighter because that just doesn't work for me. Coffee to me is like milk, it actually brings you to bed with a good dreamy sleep.  I really just love the taste of it and I was good with 1 cup a day. Unfortunately, APD has taken that away.

Now I have recently discovered this yet-to-be-proved amazing thing in the market. It’s Kopiko’s L.A. Coffee. Kopiko brown used to be my home brand back in the days. This enough makes me giggle of excitement. L.A. stands for Low Acid. Sounds good right? It promises wonderful things: (1) Special low acid formula, (2) Controlled roasting process (I don’t even know what that means), (3) High quality coffee beans. And it’s main tagline? GASTRIC FRIENDLY. Now, show of hands. Who says that’s awesome?! Lol.

I have yet to try it though. I’m just too scared. I remember trying something decaf from Starbucks almost a year ago. It still made me want to purge because the stomach pain was just too much to bear. Since then, I have never believed that decaf thing anymore. It made me realize, as long as there’s coffee in it, it’s no good for my stomach. Now this L.A. Coffee is something. What if there’s hope to my situation? Maybe this is it? I wouldn't know until I try, right?

If you have a condition like mine and have tried this product yet, hit me! I would love to know! Kthanks :)