palmolive circle of 10

Right before I left for Dubai, my darling beau entered me into the Palmolive Search for the Shining Circle of 10. We were in Glorietta, walking towards Zara, when an exhibition girl approached me, inviting me to join the contest. I instinctively shook my head to say no, but Dennis said "yes!" with so much enthusiasm, the girl immediately called her other colleagues to usher me into the audition area. I was frozen in disbelief! Dennis kept saying, "Look at all these other girls who made the effort to get made up and fix their hair, and forcing themselves onto this contest. E, you, you were approached, invited even, to enter! Au naturelle pa! No makeup! Normal looking hair! You have to try it out!" He then proceeded to introduce himself to the Palmolive booth people as my "agent" and my "lawyer" and filling out my application form for me. Next thing I know, a photographer was taking my photo and asking me to flip my hair. Someone then took my VTR and asked me to sign a form.

I then saw what the prize was... P100,000 in cash! Suddenly, I was more into this thing than I was when we started the process. Hahahaha! Who cared about the modelling contract? I want the cold hard cash! Hahaha!

So tadaa, introducing Candidate # 59--


I then flew off to the United Arab Emirates the next day, not thinking anymore about that silly little audition. After all, it's only something we did for the sheer fun of it.

Then fast forward to tonight, when I got home, my mom handed me a letter she received via messenger this morning. It's a letter from Palmolive's ad agency, Y&R, saying I'm qualified for the screening audition and interview. I was like, what?! No way! Hahahaha!

Dennis is beside himself with excitement, insisting I should go check it out. I said, no, I can't do that. It's nahihiya. Besides, I said, I'm okay na with the fact that at least they ended up considering me, instead of rejecting me flat-out, and that my beau is my biggest fan ever! Enough to peddle me to multinational companies holding talent searches. Hehehe.

He's still convinced I'm throwing away the chance of a lifetime. Hay.. Even if I'd love to win 100k in cash, I would never subject myself to that kind of process. Hehe. But Dennis still insists. I'm really something special and I'm not maximizing it daw. Hehe. He's so cute noh!

That's it for my little kuwento. Aliw e! :p

milestones

This year is turning out to be one of the most jam-packed ever. My upcoming 2-week vacation to Canada and Boston has been booked (*though I have yet to get myself a Canadian visa, but hey that should be easy and only a matter of time) and if all goes well, I might be going to NY for a few days too! Yahooo! And work will be taking me to London in July! Yahoooooo! First time ever in London! And all for free! Lord, please make sure it pushes through!!!!

Trips trips trips. I love 'em trips. This year definitely takes the cake in terms of places visited. A milestone has been hit! A record has been broken!

Oh, and this Saturday marks the second anniversary for me and my darling beau. Don't know what he has planned but I'm definitely looking forward to it. Another milestone! Thank God I finally found him a suitable gift. I hope he likes it. :-)

Life has been good to me. Thank you, Lord.

dubai summary

I'm baaaaaack from Dubai!

Hmm.. I'll start first with the work part of my kuwento. Our show went very well. Almost perfect, actually, except for the weak performance of Zsa Zsa. Other than that, it was definitely a huge improvement from the Doha leg. The place was packed and the audience seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

One thing I have to say about Dubai is that it's so f*cking HOT! Yes, even hotter than in Manila. I didn't think it was possible, but I guess if there's one place hotter than Manila, it would be the desert. Stepping out of the hotel feels like you've gone into the inside of a microwave. You can feel the sun painfully on your skin, even if you haven't stepped out under the sunlight just yet. It's sooooo hot, I kept thanking God for airconditioning.

As hot as it gets during the day, it gets just as chilly at night. That's where Dubai differs from Manila. Evenings are actually windy and get quite cold especially when you stay out til the wee hours.

What else.. We went to the famed 7-star hotel, Burj al Arab and took some breathtaking pictures. My favorite, though, was Madinat Jumeirah, which is this beautiful hotel and souk complex with its own little beach that just makes you relax simply by looking at it.

Dubai is also the shopping mecca of the Middle East. Brands from all over the world flock onto this little city-state and you can find everything and anything you desire! Spent half of my precious per diem on H&M, but who cares, I found cheap, good loot! Oh, and jewelry is also relatively cheaper, especially yellow gold.

Lastly, if you're in the market for high-end luxury items, you'd be glad to know that these things come pretty cheap in Dubai, primarily because the government does NOT charge taxes-- at all. So they don't need to pay those customs fees and transport charges, not to mention the goods sales tariffs. Hehehe.. Proof of this is that my boss Jane purchased 3 LV bags and an IWC watch for her hubby. All in one afternoon. Hahaha!

So far, Dubai is definitely the place to go if you need to visit the Middle East. You just have to be careful of the leering eyes of Arabian men, their tendency of taking advantage of tourists (by jacking up the prices like you wouldn't believe) and the sweltering heat. Aside from that, go ahead and visit Dubai! You'll like it :)

dubai, here i come!

Okay, after some flight booking problems, I'm finally off to Dubai, UAE tomorrow, along with the rest of the SMART team. Up to now, I still can't believe we were this close (holding up two fingers super close together) to getting upgraded to business class! Arg! But, alas, we lost the chance and have to now survive economy on an OFW plane headed for the Middle East. Can you already tell from my tone just how much I'm gonna be loving this trip?!

Anyhoot, we're gonna be there for exactly 7 days, which means hooray because of the per diem but fucker because it's so damn long and it's gonna be one tiring trip. At least God heard my prayers and allowed me to get my period last night (okay, this is already over-sharing but hey, I really prayed for this) because the last thing I want is to cramp up while in Arabic soil.

Hay... Dubai, here I come, ready or not... I'll blog again when I return. Pray all goes well! :-P

to-buy list

Should I strike it rich tomorrow and win the lottery, I'll treat myself to the following wish-list of beautiful beautiful items:

1. Tri-colored gold stackable rings with pave diamonds: Estimated cost $725


2. LV Mini Lin bag: Estimated cost $675


3. Apple Macbook: Estimated cost $1,500


4. Omega Iris Constellation watch: Estimated cost $6,300


Why can't I have more feasible, more realistic wants, like a pair of standard-issue Adidas rubber shoes?! My gohd! Kawawa naman si Dennis... hehehehe....

musings and thoughts while in sing...

OK, the trip did comprise mostly of food, shopping, food, going out with friends, and food. However, the trip, just like any holiday where your brain is not pressured to perform at tiptop shape, gave my mind enough breathing space to make some realizations.

First up is: I've finally abandoned my considerations about taking an MBA, whether domestically or abroad. I really appreciated the fact that I was there (in Sing) purely and thoroughly due to my earning capacity. Granted, my folks still shoulder a chunk of my living expenses, i.e. electricity, water and gas. But at least I can honestly say I no longer rely on them to buy my own toiletries, to buy my little indulgences and to support my basic needs of food, clothing and leisure. I'd terribly miss earning my own money and every little measure of independence that goes along with it, should I decide to resign and go study again.

Don't get me wrong though. I am 100% thankful for all my blessings, including and probably the biggest of which is my parents and their ingrained generosity to support anything character-enhancing. They'd support my MBA plans in a flash should I bring up the topic. However, I realized that, not only do I feel I don't need it, I'd actually be happier carrying on with the career I've started... and hopefully excelling in it.

Next up: I actually fell in love with Singapore all over again during this trip. Sure, I visited Singapore again last year for work, but this time was different because I was there on vacation and I had 5 whole days of reacquainting myself with the country I spent a year in when I was 10. I remembered all the reasons why I loved Singapore, and I realized I really wouldn't mind living there in the future. Granted, the details are still a little fussy for me (including how Attorney can move to Sing and resume his law career there) but it's comforting to know that I have another option should Manila start being claustrophobic for me or should I bump onto a glass ceiling in my job here. It's nice to feel that I have a plan B-- a nicer, cleaner, more law-abiding Plan B. A place where the system works and where the laws actually make society better and where life is free of the complications of politics, illiteracy and poverty. It's not a perfect place, I know, but it sure is an easier home to live in. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Singapore is probably the only first-world country with as single-digit income tax rate (only 9%!!!) and a country where the government actually pays you to have children and to let them be educated.

One of the reasons why I've never considered going abroad for work is because of my family and of Dennis. I'm very much a family person and my love for Attorney is definitely no real secret. That's where the beauty of Singapore's location comes into play. Not only is it a stone's throw away from Manila, there are so many budget airlines now offering super low fares and there are so many international call/text rates (regretfully offered by our competition) to enable you to stay connected with Manila. :-) It's really a global village we have! (I said this also in Singapore and I sounded just as loony as I do saying it here now. Hahahaha!)

Anyway, it's nice to be back. It's nice to get treated to a foot massage by my darling beau and it's nice to have dinner with my family again. Truly missed them all, even if I was only gone for 5 days :-)

singapore!!

Just got back from a 5-day, 4-night trip to Singapore. How was it? It's the one trip that spelled FOOD FOOD FOOD! I can't believe how much I ate, but even if it may mean packing on 5-10 pounds due to the sheer volume of food I consumed, I do not regret a single spoonful or chopsticks-full that ever grazed my lips because... EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS!

I had all my favorites-- laksa, hainanese chicken, mee goreng, bahkutteh, satay chicken, satay lamb and satay pork. I also had all my favorite drinks from Singapore-- sugarcane juice (oh la la!), 100 plus (better than Gatorade and better than water!), and iced lemon tea (makes Nestea taste like sewerage). I also had my fave Ben and Jerry's at their shop in Suntec! WINNER!

1. Food food food!


2. My one true love, aka laksa


3. Ben & Jerry's!


I also made a new discovery! STINGRAY! Sounds icky, I know, but don't knock it til you've tried it. This fish is the BEST ever and it's sooooo soft! I love it!


Other highlights of the trip is our visit to the toy museum where Van, Eps and I marveled over the vintage toys. My favorite pa rin is Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Barbie and Popeye :P We also met up with Cia and Baby Kirby, who's just the cutest little smiling baby :) We also saw and stayed in Casa de Ranza, which was beautiful and had the most luscious sheets ever created.

Oh, and I must share this winning photo--


I LOVE SINGAPORE!

And I loooove my friends! CHEERS!

A NatCon, an E.K. trip and a stunt show

What a tiring week it has been. Friday was the National Convention for Sales & Marketing at Clark, which lasted the entire day and practically took up all my energy to wake up at 5am to get to Clark at 7:30. Good thing for Starbucks and Super Petron.

Saturday saw me and Dennis head over to Sta Rosa for our Enchanted Kingdom trip with Guia, Martin, Kaye and Rap. Granted, it was a little hot and after a while, I felt so sticky, I itched to go home and shower. But, it was fun overall, and we even got to watch fireworks in the evening. We headed over to Westgate after for some drinks, and then finally headed home. 'Twas an exhausting day, compounded by the fact that I lacked sleep from the day before, but it was so much fun. We missed Anna though. Sayang she and Ian couldn't join us.

Today (Sunday), after our usual temple trip, Dennis joined my family and I as we headed over to the crematorium to visit my grandpa's resting place, as today marks his 16th yr death anniversary. It was so cute watching Dennis make my lola alalay the whole time. And hey, at least she didn't grill him this time around on the "future." :P hehehehe..

Afterwards, we watched the stunt show of Russ Swift over at the World Trade Center, where my family has a booth selling Eibach springs (for those who aren't familiar with cars, these are premium-quality springs you install into your car to make it more stable). I must say, what a show! For a measly P30, it was quality entertainment, with Russ playing up the crowd and showing all his best tricks. I loved it!

What a great weekend. Even if it was a little tiring, it's the good kind of tired. So I'm happy :)

I can't wait for the next week to start. Aside from Monday and Tuesday where I still need to show up at the office, Wednesday through Sunday should be hell lotta fun, as I will be in Singapore, visiting Baby Bay and Cia's family :) I can't wait! Sana Wednesday na!

be my lady

Last night, at his firm's anniversary dinner, my beau belted out a beautiful rendition of Be My Lady and dedicated it to moi! Such a nice surprise... and I later on found out that he had actually intended to go up to me and kneel down for added effect, but sadly the mic's cord wasn't long enough for him to do that.

Nevertheless, isn't that so adorable?! To know that someone loves you is one thing, but to see him demonstrate such love in front of a bunch of guy friends and colleagues is definitely taking it to another level. :-)

pursuit of the cheapest gas station in town

Dennis and I have a project where we track the gas prices of different gas stations in the areas we frequent, to find out which gas station or branch offers the lowest prices. In other words, we've embarked on a quest for the cheapest fuel around :P

Contrary to popular belief, gas prices are not created equal. This means that the pump rates for diesel at the Shell Rizal Avenue branch are not the same as those that Shell NAIA Road is charging. In fact, thus far, Shell Maya (the one near SMART) is the most expensive that I've seen so far. :)

Isn't this so interesting? I don't know if it's just the nerd in me or the dork in him that relishes this quest, but I really find it all so intriguing. The discrepancies we've unearthed so far range from the inconsequential 0.01 difference to the rather significant P1.20 disparity. C'mon, even if your total gas budget may not budge (meaning you still spend the same amount every month), at least you'll get the most bang for your hard-earned buck if you gas up at the cheapest station versus, say, Shell Maya. :P

So the quest goes on. I'll update this when we've covered significant ground, so everyone benefits from our "research." :P

gifts for men

Why are gifts for boys so gaddamn expensive?! Not only are there limited choices, at least compared to women's stuff, they're also bound to break anyone's budget! Hay..

I'm searching for gifts for Dennis for our 2nd year anniversary and for his birthday. From the looks of it, I have to really save up for these two presents. Hay buhay... Girls are so much easier to buy for, I swear!

young market master

Congratulations to my boss, Ms Jane Basas, for being awarded Young Market Master for 2007, for International Marketing category. The awards ceremony tonight is proof of your marketing prowess, your charm and wit, and the generosity of heart which makes you the perfect teammate and the perfect boss. You knocked 'em dead tonight, mamcy! :-)

foodfest

If there's one thing common between Dennis and me, it's our love for food. More than anything, we enjoy discovering new restaurants together, savoring familiar, everyday dishes together and re-discovering old culinary loves together. We lazed around all afternoon on Saturday at Serendra, dropping by my friend Loraine's new store, walked around and talked about everything under the sun, then topped off the day with a hearty, 2-hour meal at Conti's. Complete with my ultra-favorite Mango Bravo cake! Yum! My beau even took home a boxfull of their classic empanadas for family breakfast the next day. :-)

As for today, we had a hearty, tummy-slapping brunch at the temple with moi's family, followed by an afternoon of walking around in Greenhills armed with good ol' hotdog sandwiches and matching Coffee Bean drinks. Pigs, you say? Guilty as charged... The only consolation for the calorie buffet this weekend was all the walking we did. Hehehehe :-)

Quiet weekend, but I loved every minute of it. How can I not-- I don't think I went through a single hour without food in my tummy :-P

weekend update and more...

Watched 300 twice over the past weekend... That's how much I loooooved the movie! And that's considering I actually didn't feel like watching it at first, writing it off initially as one of those testosterone-filled, tiring-to-watch macho movies. But after much persuasion, I watched it with Dennis on Saturday night, only to watch it again with him and my brothers the following day. What can I say? Those abs are worth watching over and over and over again.

Funny how I've heard so many guys use lines from the movie like "What is your profession?" and "For I am kind and generous.." Hehehehehe.

Onto other news, I seriously need to start saving more money. I have a 5-day Singapore trip coming up, then followed by a 2-week Canada and US vacation in June. Add to that some work trips in between and hopefully (please Lord!) a Bangkok trip with FILC towards the end of the year. For some weird reason, my dad is giving me a hard time on getting permission to go. He insists the security situation in Bangkok isn't safe.. i.e. it's still under martial law and can be bombed any day now. Grrr... I'm not very sure if he's just saying that to make me suffer or he actually believes it.. Hay... It's so annoying! Grrr.... Oh well.. Granted, it's still so far away, but if we want to get the good rates, we have to act fast. Oh, and let's not forget that Cebu Pac is also another issue of his. "I don't trust Gokongwei planes.", as if Big John is actually the pilot running the plane. And as if being a "Gokongwei" plane actually has any bearing. I don't see the difference between that and a "Tan plane." Tan for Lucio Tan (i.e. PAL). Grrrr.... Again, I don't know if he's just deliberately making it hard for me.

Though beats me why he'd do that.

Haaaayyy...

In other news, back to work again this week. We're still waiting for our Dubai visas to come through so we can finally fly already and get ready for the event on the 22nd. I can't believe it's taking this long! I'm a little psyched to see Dubai, actually, even if people keep saying Bahrain is better. I want to see at least the 7-star hotel and find out if it's really worth the hype.

One good thing about these work trips to the Middle East is I get to visit places I otherwise probably would never see in my lifetime. I don't see myself paying good money to visit places like Bahrain, Doha, Dubai....

Then again.. if only the work trips start going the direction of Greece, Italy, Paris, Frankfurt, London.. that totally wouldn't hurt! :-p

Ok, one thing at a time, Gladys Jane.. Let's keep our fingers crossed for Bangkok first. Those damn terrorists better stay away from that country until I get my dad's sweet yes. They can totally ruin this for me. Grrrr....

i want shoes!!!

Been wanting to buy sporty flats for ages now. But I know I should stay away from shopping, because I have yet to finish saving up for trips I'm taking on April and June. But.. it's just so hard to stay away.. huhuhu...

These are my choices so far--

1. Old Navy striped skimmers

2. Keds celestial skimmers

One is more expensive than the other, but both out of my working budget for now :(

Just saw this feature on the Today Show this morning about women and finances.. about how women spend money so differently from men.

All I can say is: There's a certain maintenance cost to looking good. And you get what you pay for. So don't worry about the spending. Just focus on ways to earn more.

Hahahahaha, what a load of self-justifying C_AP!

kidnapped heroes

Just finished watching this series called KIDNAPPED, which is a story about a wealthy family whose son gets kidnapped for a period of 12 days. An investigative team is assigned to find him, headed by an ex-FBI operative played by Jeremy Sisto (of former CLUELESS fame).


Needless to say, I LOVED IT! Heard that this series was produced by NBC last year and they instructed the writers to wrap up the story in 13 episodes, to make the series more "intense" and avoid being "dragging". But, for some reason, only five episodes were aired and the show was suddenly cancelled. Good for me (and every other fan of this show), the entire set of 13 episodes was recently released in DVD. Watch it, folks. You'll be glad you did :)

I'm now onto my next series, HEROES, which is still an ongoing show (a hit show, if I may add) in the States, also by NBC, about a group of ordinary people discovering they had extraordinary powers. At first I thought this was just a rip-off of the XMen, but hey, surprise of all surprises, it's actually really good! I'm just on my first two episodes so far, and I LOVE IT!

giddy giggly mushy...

I just can't help it-- I LOVE HIM, I LOVE HIM, I LOVE HIM!

at least i can say i've been to qatar....

So I finally survived Qatar. At 5am yesterday, our team arrived safely back in Manila after a horrendously long, horrendously tiring adventure at Doha.

Did I enjoy it, you ask? Well, let me give a short recap:

1. Apparently, tall white long-haired girls with chinita eyes are a rare sight in Doha. Everyone, and I mean everyone, kept staring at me as though I'm from outer space. Also, the guys there seem to be in severe drought for living, breathing women. I've hereby reached my quota for the "I love you, miss!" and the "Hey there, whats your name?" pick-up lines. I've also had it up to here on the oogling eyes and the huge smiles from random strangers. I swear, Qataris put the Pinoy kanto boys here to shame. They look like little angels in comparison.

2. The aroma of the place-- oh my Lord! I finally understood where the smell comes from. Apart from the fact that they do not change clothes nor shower for at least 4 days, they also use some horrific type of perfume that seems to be half-part sweat and half-part vinegar. Eeew.

3. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that we almost died in an almost-stampede at our hugely-attended event. I swear, ang squatter, kahit bihisan mo at dalhin mo sa abroad, squatter pa rin! I am not normally a swearing type of person, but on this trip, I learned that injecting "punyeta" and "fucker" in every other sentence somehow gets my message across the mob better. Oh, and we should definitely add "life insurance" as part of our must-haves in our next trip.

4. Not only did I miss pork like hell, the food is crazy expensive and crazy bland! And there's nowhere else safe to eat but Dairy Queen.

Hay... Those were the main highlights. I think my memory is voluntarily purging the other gruesome details as I get acclimatized back to life in Manila. I just tried to make myself feel better by buying myself 2 pairs of shoes in Zara on our last day there. Might as well get something for all the trouble. :-p

Oh well... at the very least, at least I can say I've been to Qatar. Few people in my social circle can say the same :-p

Then again, few people in my world will get assigned to go to United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia before the mid-year ends. FUCK FUCK FUCK.

But hey, let's focus on the bright side. Every trip to the Middle East will make me appreciate home more. I'M F*CKING CRAZY IN LOVE WITH MANILA RIGHT NOW!

doha, here i come...

Tomorrow, I'm set to leave for Doha, Qatar, as part of our brand's world tour 2007- Middle East leg. Alas, as opposed to my splendid Hawaii trip last year, f*ck of all f*cks, this year's budget would only allow for an economy-class ticket for me.

Lest you think me a spoiled rich kid whining about riding with the masses, you must first understand that Arabian airlines' economy-seats look more like chairs off PhilTranCo buses than Singapore Airlines-esque plush lush cushioned seats. What stands between your cheek and your seatmate's cheek is probably about 1 to 1.5 inches. The back rests do not recline and there's very minimal legroom. Also, since this is what one terms as "an OFW flight" (Doha being a prime destination of Filipino workers), it's bound to be a noise-filled flight too. Add to that the fact that Arabs elicit an illogical fear in me, and the flight duration is 10.5 hours! Non-stop!

And the "aroma", I can just imagine...

LORD HELP ME, PLEASE!

On the upside, my darling beau is treating me to an early Valentine's date at Paseo Uno this evening. Sort of a send-off slash Valentine's treat slash consuelo de bobo for the dreadful trip up ahead. Love love love love him!

More updates when I get back. Pray that I'll survive!

my mom's voice

As much as I may hate it sometimes, my mother's is the voice is in my head. No one else in this whole world can bother me as much as her, I'm sorry to say. Though, admittedly, this fact also swings the other way (in that praises somehow ring nicer when they come from her), she can have this annoying choke-hold on me like no other being ever created. It's so frustrating sometimes, especially when she nags me and tries to make 'predictions' about me and my life.

I know she's just looking out for me, and she just wants the best for me. But sometimes, I just wish she'd stop the doomsday monologue and just be supportive. I just wish she'd stop picking on what he doesn't have and focus on the fact that he makes me so happy and that he's the one person who can make me feel like I'm the center of the universe. That's just not something you throw away.

Her little nuggets of irritation (she fancies her method to be 'tough love' when really, it's just 'tough'-- tough to the ears) just keep going on and on about how terrible it would be if I didn't get the life she got from my dad or will get from a "much more deserving" man. Aarrrgh, Lord knows no one can push my buttons better than my mother. She knows just where to hit. How can she not-- I think she programmed me herself!

Inspite of all this, though, I just can't muster enough courage to tell her off. To tell her that, no matter how scary those "hardships" she describes I'll have to suffer through may be, nothing scares me more than not having him in my life.

There, I've said it. Though not to the one person who needs to hear it most. She'll think me foolish for saying that-- naive, really-- but it's the truth. Losing him scares me shitless. And that fear is the only thing now drowning out my mother's voice. I never thought I'd see the day where something will have as much endurance.