italian foods rock!!!

I've always loved eating Italian foods such as their pastas, pizzas and sandwiches.  I can live by just munching on those food. haha! No offense to our staple food which is rice, but I find my comfort food to be in those three. That is why my favorite Italian chef/cook is Giada De Laurentiis. She cooks quick, healthy and satisfying Italian dishes in her daily show in Food Network's Everyday Italian. Everytime I watch her, I always wanted to try out her recipes.  But the ingredients in her menu is something that cannot be easily found in our grocery stores. Anyone who know special stores selling Italian products??? hehehe

Actually, my inspiration on writing this post was the Baked Zitti with red and white alfredo sauce with bread on the side, and the White Cheese pizza I've ordered a while ago in Sbarro before going to church.  I was craving for it last night pa, and so off I go to Sbarro - Mall of Asia to have my cravings satisfied... and indeed it was.  burp!

What a way to cap off my week... after the hard days work in the office it is just fitting to treat myself with foods that can make my day so cheesssyy!!!

to all the single ladies...this is a nice prayer :D

Dear God in heaven, Holy is Your name! Thank You for raising me up until this day. I have been very blessed to be able to know You, to be saved by You,
And I'm thankful for whatever I endure in this world so far - both the good and the bad. Because I believe that whatever happened, it was Your plan.

Dear God, today, let me utter this cry, this hope...God, this is my prayer...If this is Your will, let it be done in Your time. But if it is not, please show me Your ways...

God, You know my need of a life partner, someone, just one man, to be my husband...I need someone with whom I will build a family that will serve You everyday (Joshua 24:15) I need someone that when we both together, we will be more effective to serve You (Ecclesiastes 4:9). Since the beginning, You've said that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) And You know inside out every reason why it is not good for me to be alone. The passion to relate with the opposite gender that You have installed in me is so strong. I don't want to burn in passion like what Your apostle Paul advised us (1 Corinthians 7:9).

Your servant is weak and tired Lord. I'm tired of the searching process that I have endured since many years ago. I don't want to divide this heart of mine to someone not of Your choice anymore.. Therefore, please Lord, if possible, that the next one will be the final one. The one that You have provided for me. The one who fears You and put You as number one and I'm number two (Proverbs 31:30). The one who can accept me as what I am. The one whom I will love for the rest of my life. The one who will love me back in return (Ephesians 5:22-24)

We may not know each other at the moment. But when we meet, tell me Lord. Let me know that he is Your choice for me. Tell him Lord. Let him know that I am Your choice for him.Let the feelings towards each other grow.

So please God, when You finally let me meet him, let our future relationship end up in a firm decision of marriage. And our marriage receives Your favor... (Proverbs 18:22)

Finally, don't worry God, You will still be number one and he will be number two. And I believe that he will be fine with that.

Please answer this prayer in Your time. And give Your servant a heart patient enough to wait. And let him know of this prayer too.

I love You Father. Thank You!

Amen.

rica deon

I just miss my niece all of a sudden... I wasn't able to talk to her for the past
days because she's sick until this day! She has sore-eyes and slight fever. 
I'm praying for her complete healing and recovery. 

This year, she will be entering school as a pre-school student at
The Seed Montessori School. http://www.theseedmontessori.com/.
I remember our recent conversation regarding her going to school.

me: rica, excited ka nang pumasok?
rica: hinde (napakagalang na bata dba?) hahaha

me: ay, bakit hinde? ayaw mong mag-school
rica: gusto kong mag-school pero hinde ako excited
(hhmmm... marunong ng sumagot, may point nga naman ang bata) wahaha!
Eto naman ang typical conversation namin as mag-tita over the phone. 
BTW she's actually turning 4y.o. this July. How time really flies... hay!

rica: hello, sino to? (astig no? parang matanda na kung sumagot ng phone)
me: hello rica...

rica: tita glen
me: musta ka na? (deadma sha sa tanong ko)

rica: sinong kasma mo jan sa haus?
me: ako lang mag-isa

rica: aahh... (mag roll call na sha ng mga tita nya)
rica: e san si tita hazel?
me: sa office pa

rica: c tita nems
me: sa office pa din

rica: si tita may-may?
me: sa office pa din

rica: si tita elna
me: sa school

rica: si lolo
me: nasa batangas

rica: kaw lang jan mag-isa?
me: opo

rica: o cge na ba-bye!
phone: blag!

wahaha... astig tlga tong batang 'to...
manang-mana sa tatay! (that's my brother)  lol :D

the twilight saga continues...

Got the poster from Chico Garcia's blog which he got from Ryan Seacrest's tweet... hehe.  I was thrilled to know that finally, the twilight saga continues with the release of new moon on theaters this November (11-20-09).  Can't wait to see it.  There's no denying... I am a fan!!! Wahaha

give time together @ gawad kalinga brgy. buayang bato

As I've mentioned on my previous post, it has been a tradition in our office that every Friday we were having our Tea time together: sharing of foods, having some good laughs, mingling with other project teams, etc.  This activity is being done to build up the camaraderie amongst each other. 
And now, as part of a bigger organization, which is the Sabre Holdings, we were given the opportunity as a company to give something back to our community.  And that is to Give our "Tea" Time and share our blessings to the little children of Gawad Kalinga in Brgy. Buayang Bato. It was such a wonderful feeling to be immersed on this kind of activity.  This was held last May 8, 2009.

Give Time Together

me, leading the opening prayer

goofing around with officemates :)

with GK kids

Sabre employees with GK kids

travel... travel... travel

Working in a company having airline companies as clients, made me realize that fares going To and From another country is just sooooo EXPENSIVE. Kelan kaya magmumura ang plane ticket? Duh! pagputi ng uwak Glena!!! Hahaha... My co-QA once asked me how come I'm so familiar with the ctiies/countries in Europe that our client airline is supporting. My answer would be... "E kc yan ang mga cities/countries that are in my Travel list that I would want to go and visit someday" Hahaha!!! me ganun???

I reaaallly love traveling. It gives me extreme joy whenever I'm in an airport knowing that my destination will be a place that is new to me and that I will have to explore. Come to think of it, when you are traveling, you learn new things about yourself or from those people you are with. You discover a lot of things that you think you cannot do, but you were able to pull it off at the end of your trip. Hay!!! How I wish I could afford to travel whenever I want to. I really envy those people who are working in Discovery Travel and Living as a host/narrator... As in, that's there job! To travel and explore one's city/country. O dba enjoy! kaaliw ang trabaho nila... hehehe

Oh well, just a wishful thinking... my travel list. Who knows? Malay natin kahit isa lng jan sa mga lugar na yan e mapuntahan ko... Think positive! Yehesss!!!

Top on my list is:

Paris

 

 

 

 

  

  

Venice

Athens

Prague

Geneva

London

Brussels

New York

Johannesburg

Maldives

Tokyo

Napa Valley

This is of course after ko nang ma-visit ang mga tourist destinations dito sa Pinas.  Love thine own siyempre.  Hahaha!!!

palawan and cebu getaway

Me and my officemates were planning on this trip early last year pa.  After so many skpe conferences, google searches and with a tight budget nyahaha! Finally... we made it through.

FIRST STOP: Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan
April 9-11
Accomodation: Marina de Bay http://www.marinadebay-palawan.com/
Travel tour: Seablitz Travel and Tours http://seablitztravelntours.multiply.com/

The experience was all worth it.  I cannot blog about every details of our trip as there were so many things we've done that I could not contain it in just one writing.  Eventhough we have limited time, I can say that we were able to maximize all of it the day we set foot on that beautiful place.  We thought that this trip would not be that enjoyable because there were only 5 of us who've booked on this flight.  On the contrary, it was a ONE HECK OF FUN AND ADVENTURE!!! for the five of us and not only that, a deeper level of friendship had emerged within the group as the ELF was formed (naks naman talaga!!!).  Don't ask na the meaning of ELF  Wehehe!!!

This was our itinerary for the 3 days we stayed in Palawan.
- City Tour
- Underground River
- Honda Bay island hopping
- Crocodile Farm

DAY 1: City Tour

On our first day, we just roam around the city.  We went to famous spots in Puerto Princesa City like Baywalk (naks! roxas blvd???) hehe... yung iba pang place na nipuntahan namin is nde ko na maalala kng anong name. Wahaha.  But I remember our tour guide saying that Puerto Princesa is a city within a forest.  Hhhmmm... interesting!  

DAY 2: Underground River (morning)
Honda Bay Island hopping (afternoon)

Eto ang kwela... we did not expect this.  Kung sino man ang naka-experience na pumunta sa Underground River can relate to my story...  hahaha!!!  It brought a smile on my face thinking of it pa lang.  Astig si manong bangkero sa mga jokes nya as in his voice when he is talking is just plain and monotonous then suddenly he interjects a joke concerning the rock formation or the bats.  I cannot describe it in writing.  But if you want to know what I mean, check it for yourself try nyo ding mag Underground River tour wehehe!!!  Pero aliw tlga sha pramis!!! hahaha

Let's talk about the food.  The food was just so overwhelming and overflowing... super dami nya.
We had different kinds of seafoods to munch on.  We had grilled tuna (as in big slabs of Tuna were in front of us), sinigang na maya-maya, calamares, prawns and a lot more.  After every meal, sobrang busog kaming lahat. Our tour guide made sure that we will not be lacking of food to eat.  Thanks to Ms. Laarni  and Chikee of Seablitz Travel and Tours.  They were very accomodating to us and made us feel very at home. :)  They also managed to made a reservation for us in the famous reataurant in town - Ka Lui's restaurant.  That time when we arrived, jam packed ang resto... buti na lng we had a reservation so we were accomodated properly.

DAY 3: Crocodile Farm and Buy Pasalubong (morning)
Off to Cebu (afternoon)

The exciting part during this day was the latter part of the day.  When we were already in Cebu.  Okay, maybe you're wondering what are we doing in Cebu... well, our flight have a 12 hour stop-over from Puerto Princessa to Manila.  We arrived at Mactan International Airport at approximately one in the afternoon, and we still don't have an itinerary to go to.  What we were sure off is that we are going to Crowne Regency Hotel for the rides they are offering which are the Skywalk and Edge Coaster.  BTW, these 2 rides are the newest attraction in Cebu and can only be experienced at Crowne Regency Hotel which was the tallest building in Cebu.  We were planning to do the rides in the evening.  So what to do the whole afternoon??? That's the question we are all asking upon arriving there.  Hhhhmmm... we have different opinions on what to do in Cebu.  I for one, would like to visit Plantation Bay.  The others... actually, kasama din pala ako wanted to have a city tour of what Cebu can offer for a tourist like us and the others just wanted to find a hotel room and rest there for the whole afternoon until evening comes.  So, when we set foot at the airport we had a little discussion and planned on something that would accomodate everyone's satisfaction.  But eventually that plan didn't push through.  Instead, an unexpected turn of events took place.  And here it goes... We were decided to just go to this 3 star hotel and rest for a while.  So we found this taxi cab that would take us to the hotel, thankfully manong driver let us inside his cab even if the maximum allowed passenger is 4 and we were 5 of us.  Inside the cab, we were still discussing about our itinerary... then manong driver suggested to us,  if we want he could be hired for the day and he will take us to the different tourist spots in Cebu for a fixed rate of 1,500 bucks!  We got to thinking... hhhmmm not bad!  He mentioned some of the tourist spots in the city that we can easily go to: Magellan's Cross, Taoist Temple, Colon Street, Tops, but something is missing... Plantation Bay was not included.  So I suggested if we could include Plantation Bay in the itinerary and manong driver agreed. Yey!!!

So for the tour in Cebu we had:
- Magellan's Cross
- Taoist Temple
- Colon Street (oldest street in the Philippines)
- Tops
- Plantation Bay
- Crowne Regency

DAY 4 (early morning)
April 12
Back to Manila

After the tour and the rides, we were all very tired and exhausted but at the end of the day, we had this BIG smiles on our faces.  We really had a great time doing all those activities and experiencing new sites and sounds.  Enjoy talaga when you are with the company of your friends.  Parang ang bilis ng araw at uwian na pala... Hay!!!  At dahil nag enjoy kami sa aming bakasyon grande... meron na namang next destination in line, this time marami na kami.  Hahaha!  


NEXT STOP:  Panglao Island, Bohol

Kumusta naman yun??? Purita na ako sa kaka-book.  Wehehe!!!

chivalry is dead!!!

Allow me to site different situations that will prove, indeed, Chivalry is dead!!!

* Scenario in a bus...
Standing room only, men are sitting-pretty like a queen on their seats playing deadma while an old lady is standing right beside them... gggrrr!!!

* Scenario while waiting for a cab...
Rush hour and all the taxi cabs are nowhere in sight... and then suddenly, lo and behold! An empty taxi is approaching.  You were the one who made "para" to the cab but you were advanced by some men who looked to have been overdosed with steroid tablets. Bad trip talaga di ba???!!!

* Scenario between a husband and a wife when eating on a fast food restaurant...
Lunch time and the fast food chain is buzzing with hungry people with long lines of customers waiting for their turn for their orders to be taken.  The husband then lets the wife to order for their food and be the one to wait on the long line, while he will be waiting on their table.  What a shame!!!

* Scenario while waiting for a tryk going inside the village...
It's raining and you don't have an umbrella, while waiting, you stayed on a shed so as not to get wet.  Thankfully, a tryk is nearly approaching the terminal stop then this guy walked past you to overtake you on riding the tricycle.  Kapal ng fessss!!!

Have you ever experienced any of these scenarios one way or another, or you know of someone who underwent any of these???  Isumbong mo kay Tulfo! hahaha...
Well, it's just goes to say that men are basically insensitive and "manhid" for crying out loud!!!
I know that on this day and age, we (men and women), should all have equal footings when it comes to career opportunities, decision makings, etc.  but  you see women, should still be treated with care and consideration as they are sometimes fragile and needs attention especially for those senior and pregnant women.  Am I right or am I right???

what happened before the "V-DAY"

DISCLAIMER: Napilitan lang talaga akong sumali sa game dahil wala nang iba pang pwedeng maging representative sa team namin. hayssss...

Friday, Feb 13 '09
Our valentine program at the office started during our tea time. (every friday we usually have this where employees are gathered together and were treated with foods, fun and games.)  There are some gimmicks that the fun committee had prepared for this event.  One of that is a dating game. I was requested to be the representative for our team because everyone else in our team are taken except for me.  At first, I really said "NO"!!!  But eventually, my team mate told me that this is just for the fun of it and I don't have to worry or anything, and so it goes... I am on the game!

Mechanics of the Game:
The searcher will ask 5 questions to 6 searchees.  The searchees will then write there answers to the heart-shaped cartolina given to them.  After each question, the hosts will then convey the answers to the crowd and to the searcher.  There is a divider between the searcher and the searchees so that the searcher will have no idea on who the ladies will be.

Game Proper:
I don't remember much all the 5 questions but here are some I remembered with my corresponding answer.  By the way, I was searchee #2.

Mr. Searcher: If you are a thing in the bathroom what would you be and why?
Me: a toilet fresher. no more explanation on why. hahaha!!

Mr. Searcher: If we would watch a movie together what movie would you like to watch with me?
Me: Never Been Kissed
* and the crowd went wild as they know that literally I was never been kissed. nyahaha!!!

Mr. Searcher: What would I miss if I will not choose you as my date?
Me: you'll not miss it... you'll regret it!!!
* panalo!!! as in hiyawan ang mga officemates ko. wahaha!!!

The Announcement:
The announcement of the winner for the girl searcher with male searchees came first.  The girl searcher was my co-QA and her choice was... searchee #2.  He holds the position as Business Analyst in the company and is an expat.

The time comes for the male searcher to announce his choice. this male searcher holds the position as Computer Architect in the company and is also an expat.  Guess what??!!  He chose... searchee #2 and that was MEEEEEE!!! OMG!!!  The crowd was in hysteria again!!!  I got flowers (3 long stemmed-red roses) and chocolates.  After the picture taking, we were escorted into the conference room where the funcomm has prepared a romantic merienda. with a romantic ambience on the side.  What with all the flower petals on the carpet and with the candles lit at the table.  Effort kung effort talaga!! hahaha!!  We have chocolate cake and blueberry cheesecake as our food.  Because our dates are expats, nosebleed talaga eto.  And I tell you there were AWKWARD moments during that time, but we were able to pull it off... We chatted for not long until we finished our food.  I won't elaborate for more!!! hahaha!!!

At the end of the day, it was a fun and enjoyable experience for all the employees and for me as well.  At least, I got the chance to win on  a dating game... ehehe!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL!!!

my top 10 kilig movies

Since Valentine's Day is fast approaching, I don't have a date as usual... har! har! har!
What I usually do during this day is to watch romantic movies...  all alone in a room with a bag of potato chips.
I'll admit it, I'm a couch potato.  That explains my bulging arms and legs.  Argghh!!! 
Oh well, here is the list of my Top 10 Kilig Movies...

1. A Walk to Remember (2002)
- "Love is like the wind. You cannot see it but you can always feel it " -- Jamie Sullivan
- Take a risk. Dare to move. Love is a leap of faith

2. While You Were Sleeping (1995)
- "I'll see you when I see you " -- Lucy
- A story about love at second sight

3. 50 First Dates (2004)
- "Nothing beats the First Kiss" -- Lucy Whitmore
- Imagine having to win over the girl of your dreams... every freakin' day.

4. Pretty Woman (1990)
- "Edward? That's my favorite name in the whole world." -- Vivian Ward
- She walked off the street, into his life and stole his heart

5. Notting Hill (1999)
- "After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" -- Anna Scott
- Can the most famous film star in the world fall for just an ordinary guy?

6. The Wedding Planner (2001)
- His big day is her big problem.
- A romantic comedy about love, destiny and other events you just can't plan for.

7. A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
- A man in search. A woman in need. A story of fate.

8. Just like Heaven (2005)
- It's a wonderful afterlife.
- Love will bring you back.

9. You've Got Mail (1998)
- Someone you pass on the street may already be the love of your life.
- At odds in life... in love on-line.

10. Never Been Kissed (1999)
- She's never been hip. Never been cool. Never been in... Until now
- Some things are worth waiting for

If you don't have a date this Valentine's Day, I suggest you go on with the DVD marathon and watch some of this movies I've listed... I guarantee you, this will make and break your heart!!! lol   Enjoy watching!!!