Baguio...

Yepeey! I'm off to Baguio tonight with Jet for our holiday get-away... I've been bugging him since summer for a vacation and now its just a few ours away. Hehehe! Can't wait to see and experience Cafe By The Ruins again and walk along Session Road. It's been 2 years. I missed Baguio. It holds a special place in my heart. I don't know why but I love everything about it and its people. And now I got to experience it again with someone special too.

Tell you more about my trip when I get back... :)

Man's Best Friend

“Can’t find God in the usual places… churches, books or preachers’ faces? Keep on searching and don’t give up, You may just find Him in the eyes of a pup.”

I had the chance to watch "Kontrobersyal" a while ago. One of their episodes was "Pangil sa Pangil". A look at how Filipinos train their pet dogs to be killers. Pit-bulls were trained at a young age to get fit and ready to fight in an arena where in people bet on them without remorse. I cried while watching it. Because it pains me to see innocent animals get hurt and even die because of human selfishness. I don’t understand why they do it. Money? Fame? Or did they lose their souls already?

I look at Mandy my pet dog. She’s nine months. She was given to me by Jet when she was two months old. Honestly I didn’t think that she would last this long with me. Because although my family and I had dogs before, I didn’t have anything to do with them and how they were brought up. I would see them around the house but without knowing how they were fed or cared for. I was young and was not really interested with dogs. Not until Jet gave me this cute puppy. I remember the first night she spent with me, I got really upset and I couldn’t sleep because she was crying and I know she was looking for Jet. I said I would give myself one week, just one week to get use to her. After that, things turned to be okay and I kept her ever since. It’s been a whirlwind of a relationship. I got frustrated at times when she would pee in my room or would chew on our furniture or my favorite slipper regardless of the many toys I bought for her. I was surprised at first to see her reaction when I get home and how she would greet me. She would jump and show how excited and happy she is to see me. Goodness, you don’t see that anywhere else or from anyone. Now as she’s grown a lot older, a lot of her personality is showing. She’s a sweet dog, she’s very loving, she likes to play, and she doesn’t bite but would only bark on strangers. She likes taking naps (like me), she likes to be scratch on her tummy, she likes to be hug or be carried around but I couldn’t do it anymore that much because she’s grown a lot heavier than I could bear. She loves sleeping on her couch with her pillow and sometimes with her toy beside her. I treat her as my baby. Just because she doesn’t come from any pricey breed, she doesn’t deserve to be treated any less. She is still a dog, still could feel pain, happiness and I believe, has a soul. I love her. I love her so much to the brink that people think I spoil her.

When I watched that episode from Kontrobersyal, I cried. I cried so much. Having Mandy in my life taught me a lot of things about animals, respecting them, knowing and being aware of them. I got so attached with dogs, any kind of dogs, dogs I see in a pet store to dogs I see in the street – homeless and starving. I was thinking if only I have a lot of money, I would adopt them, feed them and give them a good life. They don’t deserve to be beaten and killed just because you need pulutan, or money. Sometimes I wish that we have that same kind of dedication and love for our animal pets as seen on a cable show Animal Precinct from Animal Planet Channel. I would cry sometimes when I watch that show. See people leave their pets on their backyard to die or throw them down several flights of stairs. How could they do that??? It is so unbelievable. Heartless. It makes us less human. As what Boy Abunda said, “sa bawat patak ng pawis at dugo ng asong nakikipaglaban, hindi lakas ang nawawala o buhay ng aso, kundi ang ating pagkatao…” Sad. Sad but true.

I’ve been meaning to update my blog for several days now. But every time I find myself in front of Suzy, I would just stare at the blank screen and instead play solitaire -until I feel sleepy. There is always tomorrow. Hehehe… Alas! It’s been two weeks and still no blog and I’ve already broken my record in solitaire :) I’m so lazy, before I would keep a journal and would update it nightly before going to bed. Well, that was 12 years ago. :p

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Christmas is almost here, ten days to be exact. For the first time in my life (since I started doing it like fifteen years ago) I didn’t put up the Christmas tree or do any decoration around the house (ate lita did it), this is also the first Christmas that I didn’t buy gifts for my godchildren, nephews and nieces. I didn’t feel like doing it. I guess I lost the Christmas spirit already. I just want to finish my duties in our business this holiday and have that long vacation. Christmas party with my girlies will be on the twenty-first, twenty-third will be a small party with our friends from Marikina, a party that Jet planned. I was surprised when he told me he wanted to cook for them and offered my house as a venue without my knowledge… Hehehe! It’s okay. Twenty-Six, Jet and I planned to attend the World Pyro Olympics at Roxas Blvd., some of his favorite bands will be performing there (Wunjo & Kapatid). I hope it will push thru because I don’t have anything to do this holiday. I don’t feel like going to our relatives in Alabang or in Marulas. Honestly, maybe that’s the reason why I don’t feel Christmas this year. I don’t have a family to celebrate it with. The ones I have, I don’t want to celebrate it with them. Why? I have my own personal reasons…

Well… okay. Ever since my sister left for Canada last year, we, I think, just went on our separate ways. Things are complicated between me and my siblings and I don’t want to pretend everything is okay when we’re in a different territory. When we celebrated Nanay’s birthday at home last Oct 21, it was okay that we we’re all under one roof entertaining our friends and relatives but when it is in a different location like my Uncle’s house in Alabang… well, I don’t want to be a wall flower there because I’m not close with my relatives from my mother’s side (or even from my father’s side). Pathetic isn’t it? Nah! If only my sister was here it would be okay for me to go there and be with them. But she’s not and I don’t want to be caught in a “situation”. I would rather be at home on Christmas Eve with my angels (house help). Sad, but I know someday things will change. Things will change.

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On a brighter side, what I’m looking forward too one of these days is what Jet and I planned for some street children around my area. Last year some of the leftover loot bags I made for children who come to our house every Christmas, were given away to street children around Katipunan Avenue. The reaction was overwhelming. When I heard them say “Salamat po Ate!” “Merry Christmas po Ate!” Wow! The experience just blew me away. Why haven’t I thought of it years ago?! I would rather now spend the money I earned to children less fortunate. I would rather buy food for them and make them smile even though it would only be for one night. Make the “Season of Giving” truly happen.

Jet and I decided to mark it as another one of our yearly rituals.

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What else is new with me? Still haven’t been to a good movie since Harry Potter, I’ve been dying to see the new Reese Witherspoon movie but never had the chance to do so. I want to watch King Kong!!! Wwhaaa!!!

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Goodness it’s almost 2am… Better sleep already… Busy day tomorrow… Errr… later I mean. One more week!!! Hang in there kiddo!

"Phenomenal Woman"

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

- maya angelou-