O Christmas Tree

I brought home some work tonight. This is the second time I did this and I'm not too happy about it. First, I missed The Amazing Race. Second, I was so engrossed in perfecting a Request for Proposal (RFP) form that I totally forgot about the eBay item that I wanted to bid on. Grr!

I decided to work on this crap at home because most of my time today was spent on decorating the office. My boss and I headed to Target at lunchtime to buy a tree and trimmings for our brand new office. Yes, the grinch in me got into the holiday spirit after buying everything (there's something really enjoyable about spending money that is not your own) plus there was a woman who gave me Target's last two packs of ornament hangers after she overheard me saying, "Where the hell are those ornament hangers?!" I thought that was quite nice of her and very holiday spirit-y.

Anyway, so now I'm thinking maybe I should be nice and spend some money buying a nice tree for our house. Every year, I moan about putting the tree up because it's a pain in the butt to do so with having to stick each branch on the tree (versus those ones where you just unfold the branches). Plus, I thought it was cool that they now have "Christmas Tree Nets." Instead of circling the tree with lights, you can buy these nets where you just basically shove on the tree and voila! Lights all over the tree! I swear, they're the coolest thing I've seen this year! This can also serve as a Christmas present for my mom because I'm sure she'll be thrilled that I'm not boycotting Christmas this year unlike what I did last year (Hey, I wanted to be in the Philippines, okay?! HeHe).

(Let me babble because I need to entertain myself. LoL)

However, while driving home, I felt a tad bit lonely. There's a difference between being alone and feeling lonely. I'm usually fine being alone, but today I felt lonely. Tsk. Tsk. Two weeks ago, I bought myself earrings and I'm in the process of buying a new watch. While there are boyfriends and girlfriends out there who are worrying about what to get their significant other, I'm here relying on myself to buy the things that I want. There's definitely nothing wrong with that, but having meaningful things is nicer than just having things, correct? Sino kaya ang magbibigay sa akin ng meaningful iPod ko? HeHe!

Mareng Engineer

This warrants a shout out on here: Zara, congrats for passing the board exam! I'm so proud of you! Basta pagdating ko diyan, dapat may blow out ha. Tiyaka, sa kasal ninyo, sana pogi yung ka-partner ko. LoL.

HOTelier

I spent Thanksgiving having a Krung-Krung marathon, thanks in large part to Pen who insisted that I bring her Hotelier copy home with me to Seattle. I vividly remember telling Pen, "Huwag na. Wala akong time panoorin yan and it would be too expensive to ship the DVDs back to you." Of course, hindi nagpatalo si Pen sa argument: Biglang nilabas ang plastic CD protective sleeves and inserted each of the 10 DVDs in them just so that I would shut up and stuff the DVDs in my luggage. Bakit ba lagi akong damay sa mga teenybopper ways niyan?! LoL.

So while people salivated over turkey and gravy yesterday, I was salivating over Bae Yong-Jun (Shall be referred to as "Bayong" from now on. At least I'm not in lust with "Baheng," Pen's Korean papa of choice. LoL.). That man is hot. How come my Korean T.A. for International Business did not look anything like that?! Sheesh! More than anything though, I think he reminds me of Lance Gokongwei kaya falling in lust was inevitable. *SIGH. Hooray for smart-looking, glasses-wearing, tall, clean-cut, educated, English-speaking, and romantic foreign TV lead actors. Mabuhay kayong lahat. LoL.

Hear Ye

My JET application is now in the hands of the United States Postal Services. May they deliver that safely to Washington D.C. by December 1 (I paid extra for it to be sent as Priority Mail afterall). I really hope I get into the program. Please God, let me be three hours away from the Philippines next year! LoL.

Anyway, Christmas is around the corner. My wishlist:

- 40GB iPod
- Apple PowerBook (12" or 15", who cares? I just want one...with a SuperDrive)
- Sony DSC-W1 Digital Camera...because idol ko si Pen
- Il Mare Special Edition DVD (eBay is calling my name)
- two books from Amazon.com

As you can see, I'm going materialistic (and geeky!) this year. Screw the "I want love this Christmas" mantra. Hmph! HeHe.

Peace to All

Ang corny ko talagang mag-goodbye...bumalik na agad. LoL. No, before I go, I need to get this off my chest para makapag-concentrate ako sa mga gagawin ko (plus wala akong magawa dito sa trabaho as of this very moment). I owe a couple of people some apologies:

1. Mark Bautista, I'm sorry.
A month ago, I wished that your show would get cancelled. Kasi ba naman, 6 days a week kitang nakikita sa TV. I knew it was not your fault na may kamukha ka, pero I didn't need the constant reminder of your twin eh. Anyway, so after my little wish, the next Monday wala na ang Sarah the Teen Princess sa TFC. I'm sure it wasn't my fault, but maybe for the first time, pinakinggan ako ni God about my lovelife and he made my wish come true. Anyway, I'm sorry talaga. In fairness naman to me, I think you're a way better singer (and dancer!) than my Papa Christian Bautista (I really love him for his body only). Tiyaka, promdi ka pa...I love promdis, you know. LoL.

2. Parokya ni Edgar, I'm sorry.
When Pen decided to un-conyo-fy me in Florida, she told me that you guys graduated from Ateneo. I replied, "Parokya ni Edgar?! Are you sure?! I don't think so. Si Rico Blanco of Rivermaya, oo, but not Parokya." If I were to use Pen and Jen's words of wisdom, "You look poor" so I couldn't fathom the connection of you guys having gone to a school like Ateneo. But after checking out your website, I found out na Ateneo alumni kayo. So, I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't ruin my love affair with Vinci because I love him dearly. So much! LoL.

So, there. Peace be with you all. Pero, one last hirit: Bamboo. Sure, I think he's cute in that super-payat-he-must-be-taking-drugs-look pero I don't get him. His hit song is Noypi, glorifying being Filipino, pero bakit sa OK Fine Whatever guesting niya, he wouldn't utter a word in Tagalog? Don't tell me a few years here in America, after his Rivermaya days, did that to him. Archie Alemania, paki include nga yan sa Reklamador segment mo sa Whazzup Whazzup.

High Tech

Big news of the day yesterday at work: I got the office's new flat screen monitor. Sa wakas, there's something to be happy about when I'm working.

Around the World

I seriously think that The Correspondents' mission is to make sure I don't fly back to Manila to work. Did anyone see Monday's episode about the unemployment in the Philippines? Siyempre, the highlight was the applicants of call centers with matching footage of them taking tongue twister tests. Tsk. Tsk.

Anyway, then I watched The Amazing Race last night. The contestants had to pick between 2 American Airlines flights and 1 United flight to Ireland. You should've seen my face when people were considering American Airlines. One of the contestants even said, "We won't miss our connecting flight." Folks, if you fly American Airlines, you can guarantee that you will miss your connecting flight. Whether you have 5 minutes or 2 hours of layover, you will miss your connecting flight. Don't get me started. LoL.

So, back to the drawing board: whereelse would I like to go?

• Washington D.C.
  
• Chicago
  
• Honolulu...well, anywhere in Hawaii
  
• Philadelphia (I want to go to the Hershey's amusement park, LoL)
  
• Barcelona (Hola!)
  
• Tokyo
  
• Cairo
  
• Sydney
  
• London
  
• Taipei (for my wedding with Papa Ken, LoL)
  
• Cebu/Davao/Isabela Ilocos/Aklan

With some luck, I can cross off some of those places from my list next year. Saan kaya ako pupulot ng travel buddy? LoL.

Digital Edge

I just got back from Costco: $50 to develop 5 rolls of film. I think it is definitely time to go digital. Sabi nga ni Pen, "friendship cameras" daw if I get the same one as hers. Sosyal ha, hindi na lang friendship bracelets na $0.50 lang. LoL.

So yes, I have pictures to post, but I forgot my settings for my FTP server; I gotta wait for Pen to edumacate me again. Intay pa tayo ulit.

Florida Withdrawals

I hate filling out applications! After taking a shower this morning, I pulled out my JET application, hoping to finish it today. Pero kainis naman. They want to know my college awards, scholarships, leadership roles, etc. Ano ba yan, magreresearch pa ako to figure out when and what. Couldn't they just figure it out na I was on the dean's list based on my GPA for each quarter of college?! Tapos, if I spent two years at Seattle University, couldn't they tell that I got scholarships because who in their right mind would go to that school and pay full tuition?! I'm whining for no reason...tinatamad lang po. So let's all sit down and wait for Pen to post the Disney World pictures with matching captions. LoL. Pinasa pa yung trabaho doon sa isa. HeHe.

Random Florida Memories (No recaps yet. Tinatamad, di ba?! LoL.)

• The birth of my alter ego: Ling-Ling, the foreign exchange student from China
  
• Pen's declaration that I'm a Kris and Judy Ann rolled into one (Pwee! LoL)
  
• Second night's late-night bangayan session when we should've been sleeping (and counting how many Christian Bautistas jumped over the fence!)
  
• Jen's bathroom ways (with matching announcement pa to the whole world, LoL)
  
• $2 bottles of water (kinuha ba yan sa Fountain of Youth kaya ang mahal?!)
  
• Pen's white knuckles sa Splash Mountain...so priceless! LoL
  
• Aladdin and Jasmine, Lilo and Stitch, Chip, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, some random girl dinosaur...all harassed by me (hindi kasi nakakalabas sa Seattle eh!)
  
• "Mga Princessa ng Kagandahan" photo-op
  
• Guy sa Winnie the Pooh ride and Sam Coulson sa Dinosaur ride...yun lang ang mga gwapo!
  
• Seeing Pen in her natural habitat...krung-krung DVDs and vanity pics galore
  
• Visiting 3 malls...we're so Pinoy ha
  
• Crazy Cuban food (they have bananacue!)
  
• Wal-Mart is livin' large in FL
  
• Atlantic Ocean...so blue...so ganda...Ling-Ling likes!
  
• My figuring out why Pen is single in FL...puro lolos and lolas lang eh
  
• Watching Morning Star and MTB with Pen and Jen..."She looks poor!"
  
• "Don't Touch My Birdie" - Pen's farewell song for me before leaving FL (hindi ko kinaya!)

Don't you all wish you were there? LoL.

Trippin'

Not even 12 hours since I arrived in Seattle, I'm already back to the grind. I'm sitting here at work, wishing for warmer temperatures and...Aladdin. Yes, I want Aladdin. HaHa! Excuse me, that's an inside joke.

Anyway, I can say that some of my childhood dreams were achieved during this recent trip to Florida, namely:

1. Visiting Disney World
2. Having sisters (Yihee!)
3. Taking a trip with friends rather than family

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to The Female Twin, Jen, and Ate Len for taking me along with them, for making sure I had food to eat everyday, for taking time off work, for being my "Bambi Fuentes," for taking pictures of me, for treating me well. In other words, thanks for treating me like family. As Rachel Ann Go would say, don't cry out loud. LoL. "Mahal ko kah-yo!"

(Pictures and recaps will follow shortly. Oh...and American Airlines sucks.)

Bye Sunshine

My last full day in Florida has ended. =(

Advice

Let me take a short break from my vacation to say...

American Airlines sucks!

Now, back to some fun in the sun. =)

BBL

I'm off, kids. I'll be back in a week...with pictures...lots of them. =)

Global Connection

Do you guys ever talk about online people to people you know in real life? I always find it amusing whenever I learn that people who are on the other side of the globe talk about me. Ahh, the power of the internet. Yes, people, this is the beginning of my taking over the world. ::insert evil laugh here:: HeHe.

Anyway, let me just say that I absolutely despise my new ISP. I just felt like I'm paying AOL too much for just surfing the internet so I switched. Leche naman, PeoplePC installed like 5 spyware programs during the installation and my personal firewall is overworked from blocking every single application that's trying to communicate with my computer (I felt really geeky just now, LoL). I have tried (and didn't like) MSN, Juno, Netzero, AOL, and now PeoplePC. What else is there? Geeks of the world, please help. =)

Mabuhay si MiNA

I am very proud to say that I voted. More than the war in Iraq and the close race, I finally went out and voted because I realized that there are people in this country who want to vote but cannot. I now understand that I shouldn't waste this right that many people in this country wish they had. My high school U.S. Government teacher would've been proud of me. LoL.