if we ever get around to having a relationship

If we ever get around to having a relationship, I won't ever ask you to carry my purse.

My laptop bag, yes. My document bag/slightly girly satchel, maybe. But, my purse, never!

Promise.

And if you ever ever! volunteer to carry my purse (I don't care if you think you're being a gentleman), I WILL HIT YOU WITH MY PURSE. And if I see one trace of enjoyment on your face, I WILL BREAK UP WITH YOU!

Great. That's settled, then.

Wet in Corregidor

Trying to take advantage of the long weekend on June 18-20, K and I planned to go to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan to soak in some Philippine history. Unfortunately, we weren't able to book as planned, so that's still in our to-go-to list. Instead, we got an overnight stay at Corregidor through Sun Cruises.

Since it was a long weekend, the parents, Bruks and Porkchop also came with us.

Booking with Sun Cruises didn't take any time at all. Everything was done online and we just went to the Sun Cruises office near CCP on June 19 to start our weekend getaway. It was a super rainy weekend but we still continued. The boat ride was really choppy and a lot of the passengers were literally turning green. Hehe.

Porks was being mayabang and he continued eating his chips even though people around him were throwing up. K and I were praying that we wouldn't smell anything, because once we smell it, we might feel nauseated too. Hahaha.

Once we docked in Corregidor, it was straight to those cute tourist trams for a tour around the island.
 
We got an old guy for a tour guide who claims he looks like Jimmy Carter and kept on saying that he was looking for a wife. LOL.

We were shown around the island and where the old buildings and who lived where.

Of course, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Then we went to the Malinta Tunnel for the Light and Sound Show.

Oh, and we had a buffet lunch at the Corregidor Inn, where we were also staying for the night. Food was homey but wasn't exactly great. But not bad either.

 Then more island touring: the museum, lighthouse, viewdeck, friendship something.

The barracks and buildings. (Terrible with paying attention to place names.)

 We saw the guns.

And played with the guns.

The great thing about it being a rainy weekend was that everything had this freshly washed bright green hue. Really beautiful.


After the afternoon tour, those who availed of the day tour, went back to Manila. Personally, the day tour is really bitin because there's still a lot more to do. So we had a short rest. Then at dusk, we joined the Malinta Tunnel-Night Lateral Visit, where we entered some of the open tunnels and visited the hospital and saw some of the living quarters inside the tunnel. The guides were great and one of them even kept hiding in odd places hoping to surprise or scare an unsuspecting guest. Then in one of the better paved parts of the tunnel, the guide had us all turn our lights off and walk to the end of the tunnel. K and I sort of cheated because we kept our hand to the wall to guide us while walking.

After the heat and humidity inside the tunnels, we went out to the cold drizzly evening. K and I both had a slight sniffle going to bed that night.

We had the option to join a sunrise tour but we all agreed that we were on vacation and opted to sleep in. We were tired and it was raining and the airconditioning and the bed were inviting. Hahaha.

Monday was still rainy, but we got a van to go around the island once more to go back to the sites we weren't able to appreciate the day before.

For an overnight stay for P2599 per person, our quick vacation was well worth it. Although, the Corregidor Inn needs some refurbishment in terms of bathroom fixtures. That's the only thing I remember that needed improvement. Maybe K can remember some more.

Oh, and it also has a reading room, where K and Bruks borrowed books for some bedtime reading. K even bought one.

Anyway, Corredigor was fun! And I think I should go back there when it's sunny. Plus, I wasn't able to do the Rock Balancing, the beach visit, and the island hike. Hmmm, when I get fit, maybe I should join the Corregidor Adventure Challenge. Nyek.

The private investigator (Part 2)

"Mrs. Fielding, your father has asked to see you. He has been in the hospital for the past month," Jared said.

"Please don't call me by that name. You may call me Rose. I am not unaware about my father. I already talked to my lawyers and given my answer. You apparently have been incommunicado," Rose said with a touch of humor. "Please, mister, enjoy the scenery while you still can. It's beautiful here and the place will give you peace."


"Jared," he said by way of introduction. He moved to sit down beside her. "You seem happy now, yet a few minutes ago, you were crying like there was no tomorrow."

"I was just crying out of self-pity. Nothing to worry about, Jared," Rose replied with a shrug. "There's a storm coming in. You should call my father before the phone lines go out. Report that you found me but that I refuse to go with you. That way you can at least get paid for your trouble."

Jared looked over at her. "Thank you for your concern but I have everything covered," he said lightly. "Nothing to worry about, Rose."

Jared saw the slight smile that lifted Rose's lips as she registered her words thrown back at her.

"Mrs. Fielding, --" Jared began.

"Rose," she interrupted with a raised brow.

"Rose," Jared continued, "do you really plan on turning your back on your father's million-dollar empire? The press is having a field day on your continued absence."

"I wasn't planning to. Actually, I thought I was already 'turning my back' on it as you so quaintly put it. I have no interest in my father's empire nor his millions. Which is why you came here for nothing."

Rose stood up and continued, "Excuse me, I'm sure I won't be seeing you again. It was nice to meet you Jared."

Jared watched Rose walk away. He wondered what she would do when she found out that he had no plans of going unless he had her with him.

Steve Jobs

I dreamt about dead spiders and woke up to the news of Steve Jobs' death.

I may only have an iPod and an iPad, but those two things changed my life, and indirectly, Steve Jobs changed my life.

He changed the way I listened to music. He gave me music, literally at my fingertips.Later, he gave me videos and movies. (Through my brother's iPod video or something)

My idle time is no longer idle because of the iPad. Hahaha.

Steve Jobs had 56 years and he changed the world several times over. He is a part of every day of our lives.

His influence was such that his death even created ripples in my dreams.

RIP Steve Jobs.

Down again

Recent events have had me thinking about God again. Most everyone who knows me know that I don't regularly go to church. I was born and baptized, I have received most of the sacraments because of my Catholic school upbringing, but I have never imbibed the church-going habit. Don't get me wrong, I pray a lot. I just don't go to church.

The tragedies that are occurring daily, whether of nature or man-made, have me feeling hopeless again. I've always been fairly unstable, with extreme ups and downs (though, I've never been diagnosed as needing chemical therapy), let me just say, that I have been having a lot of trouble maintaining the "up" lately.

Well, anyway, I've been wrestling with the existence of God. Again. Some people will disagree with me. Sometimes my thoughts go in a circle. Sometimes they go in a straight line with a very logical conclusion. But here's the gist of what troubles me.

1. God doesn't exist and this is all there is.

2. God exists, why does he let these things happen?

3. God exists, and he's causing everything to happen, because a very smart person said "God doesn't play dice with the universe".

This also applies to what I sometimes think about when I think about Jesus, Judas, Herod and Pilate.

4. God wanted us to be saved.

5. He decided that Jesus would die on the cross for us.

6. In order to do that, Jesus should be caught and sentenced to be crucified.

7. So why are Judas and Herod and Pilate vilified for their roles in our saving?

8. People say that free will had a role in this. Really? Even in light of God's plan?

9. If we are saved, what is the meaning of all this?

Anyway, what does it matter right?

Pedometer

My officemates and I heard about the free pedometer when you buy 1 kilo of Milo. We missed the schedules promo at the Trinoma, but Ate V was kind enough to buy for us at SM Masinag last Saturday.

I can imagine Ate V lugging around 4 kilos of Milo to get me, G, Ate T and Ate A our pedometers.

Come Monday, we all received our pedometers with glee. Seriously, giddy with our new gadgets. And it came with an instruction leaflet too.

We're supposed to have a minimum of 10,000 steps each day. Minimum?! Ohmygod. It's harder than it sounds. I wore mine from 8am to 10pm and only got 5551 steps. Gaah!

Anyway, the pedometer's pretty cool, because you can see the calories supposedly burned:

or the kilometers walked:

or, if you don't like the metric system, the miles walked:

So I'm happily walking (well, sort of) but we also have 1 kilo of Milo each to finish. Hahahaha.

Another Jump Shot

I went to Bohol with the family and G, from the office. I'm still sorting through the photos, but here's a jump shot at the resort.

Ignore my photo-bombing sister in the background.

An ode to the UP Pep Squad for winning the 2011 UAAP Cheerdancing Competition.

I may be out of shape. I may be tired from walking all day. But I can still do a pretty decent jump, even in tight jeans. Bwahahaha!

When (when?!) you marry me, I promise not to make you go through a cheesy pre-nuptial shoot. But we're going to have one right?

When I get pregnant, I promise not to make you go through those pre-natal (?) pregnancy (?) shoots that everyone seems to think is cool these days, but just makes me go "eewww".

As if I wasn't confused enough

"Sometimes I feel scared and alone, and while I’m pretending I don’t like you like that, I know for certain that you will always be there for me when I need you, and I’m scared that if you knew how I really felt, you wouldn’t be there for me at all."

Why I Pretend I Don’t Like You Like That

From http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/why-i-pretend-i-dont-like-you-like-that/

I’m pretending that I don’t like you like that, and I bet you don’t even know. Why would you? I’ve put a lot of effort into this charade, and I’m pulling it off with such ease I’ve almost even convinced myself that I don’t like you like that. Sort of like that creepy thing people do when they’re sad and just smile anyway; eventually the smile becomes real, and the forced weirdness just fades away.

So listen, instead of telling you I like you like that, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell you about some other guy I think is hot or who I’ve slept with recently. Maybe I want you to get jealous, but mostly I just want you to get the impression that I don’t like you like that. I’ll probably hit you in the arm when you say something funny, or brush against you as I’m getting a drink at the bar. Maybe I want you to like it, to think about what if I were naked, but mostly I just want to be close to you in the most inconspicuous way possible.

I’ll keep hanging out with you, so you will know I want to be friends, but sometimes when you text, I wont answer immediately, and sometimes I’ll have other plans that I won’t change to see you, because I want you to think that I don’t like you like that. Sometimes I think that if you do like me like that, I want you to feel the way I feel when I think you don’t like me like that — and when I think these things it makes me an awful person, and I wish I could be less vindictive about it. I pretend that I don’t like you like that because I don’t want you to have the satisfaction of knowing that I do.

Right now I’m wondering if you’re reading this and wondering if it’s you, because if you are then maybe you like me like that too, or maybe you just see right through me and my façade isn’t as perfectly curated for emotion as I thought it was. You know we have fun; I see how you laugh when I tell jokes. Sometimes it makes me think that you like me like that too, but it’s not hard to convince myself of my former opinion — that of course you don’t like me like that. So I’m going to keep pretending I don’t like you like that (maybe forever) because I’m terrified that you don’t like me like that in return.

What you don’t know is that sometimes I can sleep at night because I’m thinking about you. I’ll smile about something you said and concoct scenarios in which you’re madly in love with me and we’re vacationing in some exotic location, drinking out of coconuts. What you don’t know is that when other guys, great guys, make passes at me I reject them because I know it’s unfair to give them my kisses when really it’s you I’m picturing kissing me back. What you don’t know is that every time my phone lights up with a text from you, I feel as giddy as a school girl and I tell all my friends, even if it’s as simple a text as, “How you doing?”

And you’re never going to know any of this (do you think that’s poignant or pathetic?) because I can’t stand the thought of you rejecting me. I would prefer to watch you hand in hand with a thousand girls that aren’t me than to hear that we will never be together. I’m going to keep pretending that I don’t like you like that because as long as I am, I can pretend that maybe one day you will like me like that too. Because in this big city, sometimes I feel scared and alone, and while I’m pretending I don’t like you like that, I know for certain that you will always be there for me when I need you, and I’m scared that if you knew how I really felt, you wouldn’t be there for me at all.

The right kind of attitude!

Source: thrilld.com via Walter on Pinterest

Inside my mind

"If you wanted to talk to me, you would."

 Considering the fact that you have not talked to me in a while:

Me: "This applies to me also. So if I want to talk to you, I would."

Other Person with Me: "I'm going to walk away now."

Other Other Person with Me: "Well, that was a slap in the face."

Other Person with Me: "Seriously, you didn't see that one coming?"

Me: "Shut up you guys, I can't hear myself think."

Everyone shuts up.

Other Person With Me: "You don't suppose he's too busy now, do you?

It's closed, thank you

Friend was bugging me, "C'mon, give him another chance."

Me: "No, thank you. I'd already given him several chances, all of which he flubbed. That door is closed. Shut up."

Friend: "When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window."

"I'm not God."