Sometimes I Think What I Need is a You Intervention

I'm getting a tattoo in 2 weeks.

It's that thrill of doing something for the first time. I dont know if I'm gonna like it on me (coz it looks sooooo much better on Kenji's kick-ass biceps), but it's part of just filling up this awkward void inside. I'm so bored with my life.

Thoughts?

Change of Plans

We changed our plans of taking a trip to the Cordilleras this summer simply because of schedule and budget constraints for the majority of the group. We also figured that we are not yet physically prepared for this trip that would involve rapelling and rock climbing, I mean it would take years for us to perfect it.

However, we all agreed that a trip to the Western part of the Visayas would be a perfectly great alternative, so we have decided to explore Negros, Iloilo and Kalibo.

We will be climbing Mt. Kanlaon, and explore all the falls and springs in Negros Oriental (goodluck sa mga NPA *gulps*), explore both the wild and historical side of Iloilo, and end the whole trip with a kick-ass adventure in Boracay. We will be leaving Cebu on March 27 and come home at April 4 or 5.



For the first time, I will be spending my birthday away from home and my family. The awesome part about it is the fact that I will be spending my birthday on top of Mt. Kanlaon, weeeeeh. I am tasked to book a hotel in Boracay good for 9 people, and I'd like to consider this task done with Jayson's help (I know, I'm just taking advantage of the power of leveraging and sexual favors at it's finest).

I need one more rash guard, a new tent, a new sleeping bag and a couple more Billabong beach shorts. Gotta SAVE!

Let's Just Fall in Love Again

I saw this new music video by Jason Castro this morning, and I instantly missed my good friend Matet (a.k.a. Boons). Two reasons: One, we both WORSHIP Jason Castro, and two, she LOOKS like Jason Castro. hahaha.

Boons, we miss you big time. I hope you're having a blast there at Singapore.

Read the lyrics--- doesn't that make you want to fall in love again?

Let's Just Fall in Love Again

Jason Castro

Let's pretend baby

That you've just met me

And I've never seen you before

I'll tell all my friends

That I think you're starin'

And you say the same to yours

And oh, we'll dance around it all night

And then I'll follow you outside

And try to open up my mouth

And nothing comes out right

And I wanna fall in love with you again

I don't have to try It's so easy

Who needs to pretend?

But because it's so funny

Let's just think about it, honey

Let's just fall in love again

I'll call you in three days

Not too soon, not too late

And I'll ask your roommate if you're home

You call me on Thursday

And we'll hang out all day

Then fall asleep on the phone

And oh, I'll hold your hand when we drive

And we'll lose track of all the time

And we'll tell everyone

That we ain't never felt so alive

We'll fall disgustingly fast

And we'll stop hangin' out with friends

And they'll be so offended

And I wanna fall in love with you again

I don't have to try It's so easy

Who needs to pretend?

But because it's so funny

Let's just think about it, honey

Let's just fall in love again

Seasons of Loneliness

When I get courage up to love somebody new
It always falls apart cause they just Can't compare to you
You love won't release me I'm bound under ball and chain
Reminiscing our love as I watch four season's change

Water

For the first time ever, the water supply in my place was down and I didn’t get to shower for 24 full hours. I could deep fry a pound of potatoes in my face, it's that oily. I waited until afternoon but, nada.

At around 9pm, I have to get dressed for work, so I decided to just buy a big container of Viva Mineral Water at the nearest convenient store. It wasn’t easy---- I had to ride a cab.

Bathing in mineral water was yummy. I wish I could do it everyday. :)

Happy Birthday Melai and Sheanne

What For?

I got a series of emails from my fellow alumna from the University of the Philippines about the news of UP High School's closure. I have heard of this news years ago so I wasn't really surprised. As a graduate from this university, I certainly think I should my share of concern.

I would like to hear both sides of the story, but honestly, I don't think there is a need to abolish the Professional Education Division.

What for? Education is for all--- it is a right, not a privilege.

This Just Made My Day---- And Binaid na Knife ni Gloria

My Beautiful Bullshit Tuna Alfredo

Today I decided to cook a pasta dish that I was so itching to whip up since last week. This was actually inspired from Chef Rosebud Benitez's version of the Chicken Alfredo Pasta, but I would like to add my personal touch to it by putting tuna instead of chicken.

While I was at the grocery store looking for ingredients, I had the toughest challenge of looking for the perfect penne regate, found none so I got tempted to cook carbonara instead.

I however went the extra mile to hop to Rustans and found the penne regate that I was really looking for so there, I saw the dreams of my Tuna Alfredo dish come to life little by little.

I gave it all my energy. No, I didn’t want to cook carbonara. Besides, I always have my biases on anything that has the name "Alfredo" on it. :)

Anyways, here's my recipe.

1/2 kilo penne regate
Chicken Stock
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom
1 tall can evaporated milk
3 big cans of tuna or 1/2 kl water packed tuna
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
Red bell pepper

Preparation:

You know how to cook pasta right? Lets skip that and go directly to the sauce.

Blend the 2 cloves of garlic until you achieve a paste-like consistency. Saute the onions, bell pepper, garlic and tuna. Add the Cream of mushroom, then the milk and wait till it thickens.

There. My Beautiful Bullshit Tuna Alfredo Pasta whatever done in less than 10 minutes.

Talbog si Chef Rosebud :)

Cordillera Trip

My friends and I (I'm referring to the Laagans) have this tradition of going out of town every summer. Most of the time we hold it during the Holy Week because that is when all of us can just easily file leaves alongside the non-working Maundy Thursdays and Good Fridays.

We have practically conquered all the major spots in the Visayas and Mindanao--- Siargao, Leyte, Siquijor, Dumaguete, Davao, Cagayan, Iligan, Gensan, Iloilo, Bukidnon---name it. I think the only part we haven't visited are the war-stricken areas in the South, my god that would be really exciting.

Last year, we went to Palawan and spent 9 days hopping from one area to another. Palawan is a BIG place, and 9 days of vacation was not even enough for us to explore it's southern part. However, we were fortunate enough to conquer Buswanga (Coron), Puerto Princessa, the famous Underwater River, and of course El Nido.

We vowed to come up with a better vacation this year. Everyone is pressured to come up with a plan, coz Palawan indeed is a tough act to follow (they wouldn’t call it "The Last Frontier" for no reason at all, right?)

Anyway, the other day I met a mountaineer from Manila and he told me that a Cordillera trip would be awesome. He gave me one awesome itinerary of places to go and things to do in the Cordilleras and other nearby places. I googled all of them as soon as I went home, and I liked everything about it. Everyone approved. :)

Everything will start in Manila. Then we go to Benguet, camp at Bangeg, take a trail to Mt. Pulag, meet the Ifugaos at I forgot the name of the place, go to Baguio, island hop at Pangasinan and surf at La Union. The whole trip sounds really exciting, and it will take around 8 days.

This is what I'm gonna see at Mt. Pulag. And I cant wait to wear an Ifugao costume, hahaha.



So there, right now, I'm doing the final touches for the itinerary. Weeeh.

Lonely Planet

I guess I should really just get used to being alone. Not that I'm not used to it now, what I'm trying to say is, I guess I should just try not to be sensitive with the thought of being alone at all. You know, that state of mind where you just brush the thought off and never get hurt about what people say.

Today, after watching American idol, I was such in a good mood because the episode was really funny.

I went out and saw one of my neighbors staring at me and she said "Keith, tinitingnan kita sa kwarto mo kasi nakabukas naman yung bintana mo… Lam mo bang bawal tumawa nang mag-isa?", and she ended it with a big laugh.

And it all dawned on me that I was smiling and mumbling and talking to myself while I was watching the show--- and my neighbor saw all of it.

I admit, it's cool being single. And it's cool being away from your family, too. The fact that I have my own place, that I cook my own food, and I that I am responsible and accountable for all the decisions that I make feels absolutely right (at this point of my life at least). I can do anything in my place, invite whoever I please.

But I admit, it feels really lonely sometimes. I try to keep myself busy with work, sidelines, projects, shows, hobbies or whatever, but there are times when I would go home with nothing to do but just sit down and feel empty.

Why am I alone?

What would all these hardwork mean when I have nothing to share it with?

After 4 failed relationships, I have kindof gotten used to used to eating alone, watching a movie alone, shopping alone, jogging alone.

And it gets really annoying sometimes. I don’t know, for some reasons, people just LOVE to leave me. No matter how hard I try to make things work, they just quit loving me. Am I that dysfunctional?

Let me give you a picture: My usual day would start at around 4PM. I wake up, cook breakfast, go back to bed and check my emails. At around 6PM, I would shower to prepare for either gym or whatever, or I would decide to jog outside. I would go home at around 9PM to prep up for work. I would spend my day in the office crunching numbers, doing reports, calling people, attending meetings, answering emails. I would be home at around 8AM, check my Facebook, and then I go to sleep. That's how I spend a usual weekday.

Weekends would be typically the same, except that there is more room for sleep instead of work and doing reports. Sunday nights I would go out and drink coffee at my favorite spot at Bo's until they close.

I would sometimes spend time with friends, or hook up with someone or have a beer at Doce, but the lonely feeling comes back as soon as I'm back home alone.

And it took an outsider to make me realize how lonely my life is.

Just Another Face in the Crowd

Got these pics from my photographer friend, Celso Arsua Jr. You guys could check his online portfolio, it's just awesome.

My Share of Sinulog @ 30

Sinulog just keeps on getting better and better every year. I was fully booked Saturday and Sunday, activities and invitations came pouring in as early as the Monday before the big day and as I plotted my to-do's for the weekend, I said yes to almost all invitations leaving myself just a few hours for sleep. I didn’t care, I mean Sinulog comes only once a year, and I'm not getting any younger. THIS is the perfect age to be a party machine.

Anyways, I didn’t get to attend the Grand Procession because the weather was crazy and I had fever. At around 8 I met my friend Rey from GMA and we had dinner at SM. The traffic was crazy, and getting a cab almost impossible. We rode the jeepney instead and thankfully we reached Montebello.

I had the chance to party with Adong's friends from Iligan, they were really cool. Numero Doce was cut-throat island as expected. We waited outside for about half an hour. I stayed there for about 2 hours, and by 3am I decided to go home. I had fever again.

I went home chilling and praying for the fever to go away in time for the Sinulog Grand Parade the next day. I couldn’t miss this one because this year, we are given the special opportunity to carry Tribu Mazda's banner for their sponsored contingent from Tayud National High School.

Sinulog day came and I woke up late for the 11 AM call time. Carla and I met at around 2 PM, parked at Ayala and walked took the access road leading to Mango.

The whole area was filled with people, and we cahnged routes twice because we got caught at numerous dead-ends. I was wearing a white shirt, and a native fedora hat, and along the way, I realized I lost my hat. I loved that hat.

It took us about another hour to pass through that street where National Bookstore is located. We stayed at a little safe corner because the crowd went really wild and I'm seeing possibilities of a stampede. I saw my friend Charisse at one of the booths there and we were able to pass through. While we were talking the Mango to Ramos route, rain started to pour down.

We jogged our way to Jones and met all the rest of our friends with the Mazda contingent.

The street parade was awesome. It was raining as we marched our way to the Grandstand carrying the banner for Mazda. My other hand was carrying our contingent's Festival Queen's head dress that weighed like 20 kilos for godsakes. There was point when it rained hard like twice that we had to redo our Festival Queen's hair and make-up all over again.

Retouch. Retouch. Retouch. :)

Entering the Grandstand was surreal. It was my first time and I had this really warm feeling as our contingent entered the gates. We were one of the most applauded contingents because we won the Sinulog Sa Kabataan competition held weeks prior to the main event. Thousands of people applauded as we entered the Grandstand.

All the contingents were good, and I bookmarked my favorites as I watched all their performances. I had my heart on the Masbate contingent coz they used the best color palate for their costumes, and their moves were flawless. Our contingent was really good, too. We waited until the last contingent and after assessing all the entries, we were positive we would be part of this year's elite 5.

The program was followed by performances of Pilita Corales and Dulce Amor, the Cebuana Divas, and then a really awesome fireworks display that lasted for about half an hour. That was one of the many memorable moments that I felt the pride of being a Cebuano.

Till next year's Sinulog bebehs...

Prayers for Haiti

Haiti still hasn't recovered from last week's most terrible tragedy. The area was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake killing approximately 100,000 Haitians and foreigners. A few Filipinos are still missing. Governments from different countries were kind enough to lend a hand and it is overwhelming to see that in these troubled times for Haiti, every nation is acting as one albeit borders, timezones, cultural and p0litical differences.

The best we can do is to pray, pray and pray for those lives that were taken, and to fervently hope for a speedy recovery to our brothers and sisters who are left alive. My deepest gratitude to those who are helping, and my most sincere thoughts to those families who are still suffering the pains of loss.

May God bless us all.

Dear God,

You have made this earth a home to all of us. You have provided us
everything we could ever need on this temporary journey in this world. We lift up
everything to you, and we lift up the souls of those whose lives were taken from
the Haiti tragedy. We acknowledge the fact that it is you who knows the design
of things in this earth. We may not be able to understand your will fully for
now, we are just humans, but we believe that you will never put all of us in
vain. We know that all of these tragedies are part of your greater plan. Help us to
be sensitive to each other's needs, and help us to be appreciative of the things
we have right now. We pray for those who are suffering in Haiti, please help this poor nation recover from the wounds of this tragedy. Amen.

Sinulog 2010 Winners

Sinulog Based Category

Champion – Tribu Sinanduloy – Tangub City
2nd place: Abellana National School
3rd place: Silaw Culture and Arts – Carcar National High School
4th place: Barangay Lahug Cebu City
5th place: Don Sergio Memorial National High School

Best in Costume
Silaw Culture and Arts – Carcar National High School

Free Interpretation Category
Champion – Tribu Himag-Ulaw Placer Masbate
2nd place: Lumad Basakanon – Basak San Nicolas Cebu City
3rd place: Pinta Flores – San Carlos City
4th place: The Land of Beauty and Bounty – Lanao del Norte
5th place: Tribu Mabolokon – Mabolo Elementary School

Best in Costume
Pinta Flores – San Carlos City
Street Dancing
Champion – Tribu Sinanduloy – Tangub City
2nd place: Lumad Basakanon – Basak San Nicolas Cebu City
3rd place: The Land of Beauty and Bounty – Lanao del Norte

Sinulog 2010

It's Sinulog week once again. I went out last week and I was totally amazed at how fun the streets look with the all the streamers, posters and banderitas. I have heard of concerts being held left and right, and everyone in Cebu is just in party mood. I was suppose to go out with my friend Rey from Manila to watch the Regine Velasquez concert at the Waterfront, but one of my colleagues got hospitalized and I couldn’t afford not go to work knowing we're understaffed.

I can't wait to party tomorrow and Sunday though.

It's Friday today and I could feel the pressure. I woke up at around 2am after having just 5 hours of sleep. I was itching to go to Sto. Nino with Carla so we decided to meet up at Ayala by 5pm. It rained so hard we decided not to go and ended up pigging out on tacos, steak and cheesecake. The weather's really bad, and my appetite is driving me nuts. My vows of consuming just 500 calories a day since last week is officially dead today.

Saturday's intended for the holy procession. I'll store as much energy as I can for the party that will come right after.

Sunday will be spent with the Laagans in the streets joining the contingent of Tayud National High School. Mazda is sponsoring them this year and we're joining the crowd coz none of us were able to get ID passes for the street parade and in the grandstand. I'll be 2 tones darker for sure.

Pit Señor, people!

Getting Ready for Summer

I finally got the first compliment about losing weight this year. I guess my hardwork is paying off for the past 2 weeks. I'm back in the gym coz the Holiday weight I put on was totally alarming. I weighed myself yesterday and I lost around 4lbs. Not bad.

I'm cooking my own dishes now. I'm stuffing my fridge with whatever green vegetable I could have my hands on at the grocery store. My most recent addiction: pineapples.

I hope to be back to my desired weight by April just in time for summer. Yey. :)

Portraits

My ex is taking up photography classes and one of his assignments this week is to take portrait photos playing up with different sorts of lighting. I was more than glad to be one of his subjects. I got my copies today. Here are a couple of my favorites. The rest is in my Facebook.

Thanks Bunster!!!

Must Love Corby

Bought a new phone today. January's not my month, in fact I have this awful feeling that 2010's not gonna be my year. I woke up frustrated so I decided to buy one more phone coz I've been itching to have a Sun phone.

Here's my new baby. she's really cute.


Yeah I have a Sun number now and I'm starting to love the thought of having unlimited calls 24-7.

I finally got my Starbucks planner, thanks to Anton. I found it almost impossible to get a planner this year. I cut my caffeine consumption for the past couple of months due to a number of reasons: I was cutting on costs and calories. Imagine having to save around P1500 a month and not having to consume 1800 in a week. That’s just killer.




By the way, I got a bit emotional while I was writing stuff on my new planner. Writing stuff on planners is something that I've always loved doing. This is one of those things that could calm me down apart from drawing. I've been having tough weeks since Christmas.

What Happens In Moalboal Stays In Moalboal

We have decided to hold our annual Laagans Christmas get-together at a beach in Moalboal. We kinda ran out of time so we did it after Christmas and celebrated it along with Tope's birthday. We were supposed to do it in Camotes, but the weather's been very unpredictable lately that we just decided to hold it within Cebu. Moalboal is the perfect place to get drunk, I mean you can just vomit and poop anywhere (I heard).

Things went a bit out of control because one of us got REALLY drunk. I could barely recall the details the next day, but the pictures and videos in my camera says it all.

Anyways, another year, another Christmas for the Laagans. It's always nice to look back and recall at how we all started. We are all missing Atan so bad. Every year though the family gets bigger and bigger, and our experiences are getting better.

I'm looking forward at our Bicol Region tour come summer. Which reminds me, I need to book tickets.

Merry Christmas!

I'll be done with this phase, I'll be fine soon. I hope.

As expected, the first week in the office (and even with my part-time work) isnt heavy at all. My programs have officially ended as the year 2009 closed, and I am just trying to polish up on some unfinished businesses that I worked on during the last days of December.

I am back in the gym. I found myself taking weight loss seriously again as I have, for the past 3 days now, spent like 2 or 3 hours working out. I hope this is not just a phase. I haven't really listed down my resolutions for 2009, but if I had done it, for sure going back to the gym is on top of the list.

My 2010 resolutions will come out at a different blog. I am still undecided on things. I don't want to vow on something I could not achieve.

I feel really sleepy now, I've been losing sleep for the past 3 days. I find it unusual to sleep without my partner (or shall I say ex-partner) beside me. It's been 3 days and I haven't heard of anything, and I'm dead worried.

I'll be done with this phase, I'll be fine soon. I hope.