last thursday, we watched the 4th day of the world pyro olympics at the esplanade in manila. the preparations and the how-many-hours long drive to the venue were worth it. the fireworks display was great, and i really had fun with my cousins/nieces/nephews. i haven't had such fun with my cousins since we had those yearly carnival trips, the pre-EK days: star city, boom na boom and the like. haha. of course a lot of them had to move to the US/other places, so it's pretty hard to relive such times.
we were able to fill up the 2 vans. we brought a lot of food [ parang picnic ], which we consumed shortly before the show. the interior of the starex looks like a disaster area after we all ate, with all the kids stashing their used plates and cups in every corner.
[ we only had a few pictures, by the way. it was hard gathering people together with the kids running around ]
highlights of the night:
the jeepney ride. hehe. some of us [ i.e., me, patti, bianca, kaye, lyka ] haven't actually ridden a jeepney for years, so the jeepney ride was an unusual experience. yes, we rode a jeepney or "shuttle" to get to the actual venue since the parking lot was too far from the esplanade [ but we had to walk back to the parking area afterwards because they didn't provide for shuttles anymore. how stupid is that. ] . it passes along the SM mall of asia, the newest, hugest mall in the country that is so unlikely to be located in a third world country. i honestly don't know how they're going to fill the whole mall with shops.
the kiddie shows, stilt walkers, food. we didn't exactly wait impatiently for hours before the fireworks display started [ we arrived there early, before 5 pm, and the 1st show was scheduled at 7:30 pm ], since there were other shows, food stalls, etc. some people were smart enough to bring tables, chairs, mats, even tents. we should've brought something we could actually sit on, since there's only a limited number of seats in the area, and we needed them especially since we had kids and nanang around.
i'm glad the kids had fun watching the magic show, and even the dance numbers.
the bands! as what the advertisers say on the radio, "there's something for the whole family". and they were right. while the kids were watching the PNP dance group and dancing to the tune of pinoy ako, i was watching imago in the other stage. later on after the second fireworks display, up dharma down played. i wasn't able to watch their whole act though, i only got to listen to 2 of their songs [ listen, because i could hear them playing while we were walking on our way to the parking lot ]. it was the first time i've seen them live also. the crowd wasn't as enthusiastic as expected, however. i think only a few of us actually know who's playing, and most of the people are there because they don't want to watch the PNP dance group on the other stage.
of course, the fireworks. we loved the first fireworks display by the US. basta, ang ganda. i liked the palm-shaped ones and the waterfall-like fireworks. we were all like little kids gasping with every display. [ and then there was this annoying little kid who kept on saying woooow lifelessly with every display, even the plain looking ones ] some of the displays were so large it seemed like you could reach them effortlessly with your hand. each show was 10 minutes long, but we didn't get tired craning our necks to get a better view of the show. the display by south africa was okay, but not as large and fabulous as the one by US.
these pictures were taken by our canon digicam and an unsteady hand. i kept on changing the setting because i didn't know which one worked best with the given conditions. some of the pics turned okay, but most of them deviated from the actual show as expected.
these are some of the pics, but i posted all the good ones in my flickr site.
quotable quote:
kaye [ who doesnt' want to move to the states, but their whole family is going to anyway this march ]: walang ganyan sa states! [ quoting the gas commercial ]
auntie abbe: ano ka ba, USA nga ang gumawa niyan eh.
not fireworks, pero nakakaaliw. hehe. cariz while playing with the "light saber" toy thingie.
as i said, all in all, the event was great. never mind the fact that we were forced to walk all the way from the event to the parking lot. only two jeepneys came to pick up some passengers, and people just swarmed into the jeep. it was like a scene from "war of the worlds". good thing there was a seat for nanang, so she didn't have to walk that long.
**i changed my layout; the old one was getting difficult to manage. and i wanted to change my comment system [ i just found out that comments more than 4 months old are deleted in my old system ], and changing the layout would be the easiest way to do that. when i get a photoshop cd, a little time and some inspiration, i'll probably change it into something more personalized.
although i really didn't get much into the christmas spirit this year, i can say i had a good time. it has been christmas anyway since the second week of december, when the marathon of christmas parties/dinners/lunches began. last dec. 24, we ate at crustasia with my parents, grandparents and neil at podium, then neil and i watched "the family stone" at greenbelt. rushed home, braved through the baaad traffic and got home at dinner time. but of course we didn't have dinner anymore since we're saving our appetite for noche buena. later on, our relatives from my dad's side arrived. we actually had an early noche buena this year; we were already eating at 10 pm. by 12 am, we were opening up the gifts. i wasn't expecting to open anything on christmas eve, since i opened the ones i received earlier already, but i did open a few:
some photos:
all the other christmas pictures are in my dad's multiply site, because i ran out of space in mine. i'll be uploading them in my site come january.
taken from kris:
1. What did you do in 2005 that you’d never done before?
go to the states on my own; although i did travel alone on my way home from san francisco when i was 17
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
my resolution is the same every year: to be perfect. and definitely it's something no one can ever keep.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
nia, my cousin, just last december 24 :)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
hmm.. no
5. What countries did you visit?
US
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
enough motivation to keep me going in school
7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
wala eh
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
passing the first sem? haha i am such an underachiever..
9. What was your biggest failure?
it's probably stored in my subconscious
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
i get the flu every 4 months or so
11. What was the best thing you bought?
my iPod mini [ which i'm missing right now because i brought it to the service center yesterday.. ]
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
i don't know..
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
mine. hehe
14. Where did most of your money go?
clothes, clothes, clothes. and cd's. and food trips.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
seeing brad pitt and patrick star in person. hehehe
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
the "pinoy ako" song. aaaggggghhhhhh. better yet, bamboo's "hallelujah"
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier
ii. thinner or fatter? i'd like to think i'm thinner this year.. or i just got bigger clothes
iii. richer or poorer? maybe richer. i didn't spend all the "christmas bonus" from my parents this year
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
studying. haha. and drawing, relearning how to play disc.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
sleeping. and impulsive shopping. and getting sick and weak.
20. How will you be spending New Year’s?
with my extended family, doing the variety show-parlor games once again.
22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
of course! j.d. fortune and mark ruffalo are just adorable. hwaha kala niyo ha.
23. How many one-night stands?
ano buh.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
veronica mars. ang galing!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
i'll give this some more thought.. oh wait... ahh si ano. itago na lang natin sha sa pangalang queen bee.
26. What was the best book you read?
anansi boys by neil gaiman.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
up dharma down
28. What did you want and get?
to lose a few pounds [ but i've regained them when the christmas break started ]
29. What did you want and not get?
hmm.. i probably stored this memory in my subconscious
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
the latest harry potter movie. puwede ring "Ako Legal Wife". hehe
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
i'm 23, and i was in manila the whole day, interviewing residents of the urban poor that are going to be affected by the railway project. it was for our internship. and we had dinner with my family at home afterwards.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
no law school?
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
i'm guilty of not having my own style and simply going with the flow [ yes i wore layered skirts and bermuda shorts and havaianas because everyone else was ]
34. What kept you sane?
prayers and lotsa food
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
justice panganiban. haha kidding. hmm.. sige ashlee simpson. haha. because i think she has great style.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
none.
37. Who did you miss?
no one new
38. Who was the best new person you met?
i met some great people in church this year
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
give it a few more days and everything will be all better. and don't lose focus.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
God help you if you are a phoenix and you dare to rise up from the ash [ 32 flavors by alana davis ]
pero puwede ring "pinoy ako, pinoy tayoooo..." [ can't.get.the.song.out.of.my.head!!! ]
only three days to go before christmas, and the whole city has just gone chaotic. i made the mistake this morning of braving the streets of manila alone, without a driver, to (1) go to market market to deliver some stuff and buy last-minute gifts and (2) look for the canon service center to finally have my camera repaired, in some place in makati i haven't gone to yet. luckily i was able to get things done, and somehow it feels good to be doing things on my own. although i really felt tired after driving for more than one hour from moro gym to market and market and almost two hours on the way home from makati. and being alone the whole day wasn't so bad - it was like i was invisible or non-existent. i wouldn't be surprised if the automatic doors won't detect my presence.
i discovered, by the way, that the gym will be open until this friday, and somehow that takes away the guilt of having to consume every form of food in sight.
christmas downs:
but then, christmas has its perks:
and for all of you who still have time for last minute shopping, this is my wishlist [ although my long list of wishes is actually full of intangible items.. ]
Labels: christmas
i should be hopping for joy because the holidays are here, instead i'm sulking in my room, mindlessly surfing the net for information i do not need, finishing off christmas goodies and bloating until i can't fit into any of my clothes anymore. i've probably exhausted my energy [ if ever there was any ] from school + christmas parties in the past week that i don't have the initiative anymore to get out of the house right now [ even if i'm still short of gifts for certain people ]. and yesterday's body bumping experience at greenhills just turned me off. i don't know, my "christmas spirit" just wanes every year [ if by christmas spirit you mean having the motivation to find perfect gifts for each person you care about and making everyone happy, and getting all tingly while seeing christmas lights and listening to christmas songs ].
anyway, i also hate being stuck at home and not having the urge to do anything. i've been sleeping for 10 hours a day since last saturday. i check my e-mail every hour, watch reruns on tv, read old journal entries [ while simultaneously eating christmas goodies ]. so law school's out for a couple of weeks, but all other activities [ i.e., gym. and the next veronica mars episode will be aired on january 14. :P ] are on hold as well until january. and everyone seems to be quite busy [ last minute shopping and such ] so there's nothing at all to keep me busy this week. maybe i'll be stuck in my room until the 25th, on which date i'll get out for noche buena and then hit the sack again. this is alarmingly unproductive.
pictures from the past week in my multiply site.
christmas down here may be correlated with the incidence of snatching and carjacking and other lucrative rackets, but that's no reason to be cynical about the season. people around seem unfazed anyway despite the lack of money [ sorry friends if i cut down on the gift budget this year hehe ]
christmas shopping and christmas parties are actually the last things on my mind, with all the recitations this week and the paper for tomorrow. ARGH. and i have less than a week to lose weight look good in a tube dress because, as i said before, i'm going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding next week. and i don't feel very well today. hay.
santa's lazy little helper
more pics here.
last night, we watched just like heaven with di and jenny. despite the fact that it was predictable, downright cheezy, and totally over romanticizes the concept of love, i enjoyed the movie, to the extent that i'm willing to watch it again. and mark ruffalo's just so charming. haha. he's not pretty-boy-cute, it would actually take you two movies to realize that he does look good. hehe. [ i didn't notice him much in 13 going on 30 ]. anyway, we ate at c2 before watching the movie, where i came across yet another UP law professor for the nth [ actually, the 4th ] time, no less than the newly elected dean. waaah.. they just seem to haunt me everywhere i go.. good thing he left before we did, because i didn't really want to greet him. hehe.
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brushes for the banner from echoica, encre and trashion art.
