Thirty Tiny Decades + Six

Farewell, OTH!

It was my brother who first started watching the series. I only liked the show at first because of its dance routines until I became the fan. For the past 9 seasons, I followed OTH with admiration, laughter and tears. 

Come Wednesday night, I will bid farewell with the rest of its fan based. I will definitely wait for the surprises and hoping to hear the theme song once again as it closes for good. 

One Tree Hill  will surely have a bittersweet finale.

The Queen Will Always Be Remembered

"Somewhere a journey begins at the end of the worldly existence we know, Somewhere a path stretches over the stars, and rivers of memories flow... Somewhere a silence is heard far away and the brightness of day fills the night, Where the trials of life are resolved into peace -- when a soul finds its way to the light."

Maria Reyna C. Villacarlos

August 11, 1975 - October 10, 2011

Lord our God, You are always faithful and quick to show mercy. Reyna was suddenly taken from us. Come swiftly to her aid, have mercy on her, and comfort her family and friends by the power and protection of the cross. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sister Taba, we will miss you!

Australian Aby in Abe

Aubrey “Aby” Sacramed-Bader was in the country for just ten days. For the ninth day, she was able to squeeze us in for dinner. Yippee! Six members of the EconBlock3A-92 were able to meet with Aby at Abe Restaurant in Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

We had Gambas Al Ajillo, Sinute Baby Squid and Chicharon Bulaklak for appetizers while waiting for everyone to arrive. For the first time, we had the pleasure of having Orlando “Pasky” Pascual graced our get-togethers. Naks! Nakakapanibago seeing him but he is still the same Pasky from way back 1992 during our freshmen year. Galing talaga!

When Aby arrived, we ordered our dinner already. We had Mutton Adobo with Popped Garlic, Pinakbet Wen Manong, Sinigang na Bangus Belly with Ripe Guava, Binukadkad na Pla-Pla and Sugpo sa Aligue ng Talangka. Sarap!

Aby hasn’t changed at all! She is still pretty as ever and still sporting the long hair. She is with Australia Migration and frequents the Philippines on business trips that usually last for a day or two only. This was the one trip that she was able to visit again for a longer period of time. Buti na lang!

As I type this entry, Aby’s already on her way back to Melbourne and hopefully will see her again soon and maybe if our plans push through, we will see her on the 2012 Australian Open. Yes, Aby and I share the love for RF!

Twelve Thousand Nine-Hundred Fourteen and a Half Days Old

35 is just 20, with 15 years of experience!

I just celebrated a milestone birthday, 04 June 2011. I would like to give big birthday thank you to my Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother. Thank you for making my birthday a very special day filled with the wonderful treasures I'm keeping - yes, the special gifts and pictures.

Thank you for always taking the time and making the effort to make me feel special. I would like to thank the Lord for giving me another year to be productive and thank You for the blessings that You continue to shower me and my family. Thank you to everyone who remembered my birthday! Each greeting really meant a lot to me and absolutely made my day. I just wanted to thank you all for the birthday wishes!!!! It means the world to me that you all are thinking of me on my special day :)

I spent my 35th birthday relaxing and spending tons of time with my pillows. I went to Church and thanked God for all the blessings and even watched the church people prepare for a mid-day wedding. I had breakfast prepared by Yaya Helen, had another breakfast with Mom and Reyboy that they bought at the Salcedo Saturday market, then took a short morning siesta.

Mom with Helen, Clara and Mario prepared lunch of Pancit Bihon, Pako Salad, Beef with Water Cress, Inihaw na Hito and Pork BBQ, Squid and Fish Balls with Leche Flan and Sherbet for desserts. Dad arrived from Taiwan just in time for the scrumptious feast.

After the hearty lunch, I took my afternoon birthday siesta while waiting for Chloe to arrive from Cedric’s Baptism. I was sleeping my heart out since I was awake in the break of dawn just to watch Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic in the French Open 2011 Semi-Finals. Hoot, Hoot, Roger!

After tons of sleep, we left for dinner. We decided to try the Makati version of the legendary Malate restaurant, Lolo Dad’s. This branch is more accessible to us compared to the Malate restaurant. The concept of these two restaurants is quite different. The food and the prices offered are not the same. Nevertheless, it’s an adventure just to eat in any one of these branches.

We started off with the Charcuterie Sampler, Pop – over bread and Parmesan and Pimenton Pastry Twist. Chloe even ordered more Jamon Serrano since it’s our ultimate favourite. The Warm Spinach and Sauteed Mushroom Salad was even good.

For the main course, I had the Steak Sampler of U.S Rib Eye steak, Tenderloin, Striploin, Tajima Wagyu Topside with Mushroom Risoto. I heart the Risoto! Yum-o! As we are almost finished with dinner, we had a sighting of Gretchen Barretto. She came in the restaurant chaperoned by a nanny and with such funfare. He, he, he. Overall, we were happy with our experience in this place. Good food and impressive customer service. Kudos to our server, Nińo!

After the dinner, we went home for dessert and gift opening. I opened twenty-seven birthday presents and enjoyed my majestic birthday cake. Based on the pictures, you’ll be able to guess, that the theme for the night is Hello Kitty! Ha, ha, ha! It is a long time childhood addiction that only a few people know about.

It was definitely a great milestone birthday! For the following days, there will be birthday blowouts with my precious friends! One by one and hopefully will be able to see them all!

Thirty-Five!

Busy Bee Me

As I am very busy, I am unable to update. Sorry for not updating for the past few months, oops, more than a year!

I'll make up for it soon.

A Taylor Swift Fairytale

I watched America's teen sweetheart, Taylor Swift's one-night-only concert at the Big Dome last night, 19 February 2011, with my sister and even though I'm not a fanatic like the thousands of kids and teenagers, I enjoyed the concert.



The kids were really great and I liked their perseverance. Even Sam Concepcion was a revelation! Sixth row from her made us appreciated her beauty, voice and guitar-playing skills more. As Chloe mentioned, Taylor said "Manila, I adore you!".


As for those who know me so well, yes, we watched at the Big Dome. Went home with satisfied smiles and overall it was mega-sulit!


Thanks so much, Terence!

Happy New Year!

Celebrate and make it the best year ever!

The Secrets to Happiness

Live beneath your means and within your seams.
Return everything you borrow.
Donate blood.
Stop blaming other people.
Admit it when you make a mistake.
Give all the clothes you haven't worn in the last three years to charity.
Every day do something nice and try not to get caught.
Listen more; talk less.
Every day take a 30-minute walk in your neighborhood.
Skip two meals a week and give the money to the homeless.
Strive for excellence, not perfection.
Be on time.
Don't make excuses.
Don't argue.
Get organized.
Be kind to kind people.
Be even kinder to unkind people.
Let someone cut ahead of you in line.
Take time to be alone.
Reread a favorite book.
Cultivate good manners.
Be humble.
Understand and accept that life isn't always fair.
Know when to say something.
Know when to keep your mouth shut.
Don't criticize anyone for 24 hours.
Learn from the past, plan for the future, and live in the present.
Don't sweat the small stuff.

We all should strive for happiness but we all also need to WORK ON IT.

The Power on Encouragement

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they yelled to the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling to them to stop, that there was no hope.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued jumping as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop his jumping and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, (after taking a needed rest) the other frogs clammered, "Didnt you hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

From this we learn two lessons:

A. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

B. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Words have the power of life and death. Be careful of what you say. Speak words of encouragement to those who cross your path. it is often difficult to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another. Be that special person.

HBD = HKD

Again, I celebrated my birthday, 04 June 2010, outside the Philippines. As early as 6:00am, my parents were already singing the birthday song from the hotel telephone as I was getting ready to take a bath. It was a work day in Manila but since I'm in Hong Kong for a convention and today is a rest day for us, it only means one thing - off to see the sights!

I celebrated my 34th birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth with my one of my cheeblings, Chloe. We had a great time despite the tremendous heat! Only problem was we missed our dearest brother, Reyboy, terribly!

This is my second time in Hong Kong Disneyland. My first visit was last year when I brought Yaya Helen to her first international vacation.

I had so much fun with Chloe and I know for sure she enjoyed the special day. It was nice being a kid once again and indeed, Disneyland is still the Happiest Place on Earth.

As we left HKD, it was too late for a birthday dinner so we just ate the goodies we got for dinner and had the famous egg tart as dessert. I'll have a big birthday lunch tomorrow - Chinese birthday lunch it is!

I would like to thank all who sent greetings through email, text messages, diverted calls and FB messages. I had fun on my 34th!

34th

I'm not really 34... I'm 25 with 9 years experience.

I'm off to the Happiest Place on Earth (specifically in the Asian region)!

They're Engaged!

"Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart." ~Author Unknown

Congratulations on your engagement!


Wishing you both happiness as you begin this exciting new phase together!

Moises and Weng: Wishing you a lifetime of happiness.

Sister-rific Chloe

Together we laugh, we cry
We sometimes fight; we often cheer each other up.
There's no better blessing than having a Sister who is also a Friend!



Wishing you a very Happy 29th Birthday, Chloe Jean!

Some Favorites

1. Don't ever leave the people you care about without saying I love you. Especially if you are mad.
2. Always remember your family is the most valuable thing you have. Not cars, houses, lamps, etc.
3. Make friends with your neighbors instead of finding fault. If you are nice, chances are they will be too.
4. Instill family traditions. If they learn them when they are young, they will always be carried on.
5. Smile often. A smile can be more encouraging and more loving than any words.

2-0-1-0

Hope the New Year starts off with a blast! May We Soar to New Heights in 2010.