2011: One of the best years of my life

At start, I was uncertain. I had those questions in my head like "What if our design project won't work?", "Will I be able to graduate on time?", and the like.

But eventually, with God's grace, I made it. I had an amazing year of 2011.
I'll tell you why.

1. Design project worked!
2. Signed a HP contract deal in February.
3. Started my HP career in April.
4. Graduated with a degree of BSCoE in April.
5.  Went to Cebu with family in April.
6. Family summer outing in Big Rock resort in May.
7. 2ne1 concert in Araneta Coliseum with my chu in June! woohoo! I cried tears of joy!
8. Dates with my love, Levi every month or every time we would like (if our sked permits).
9. Went to Manila Ocean Park and dined in Shangrila's The Heat with Levi @ our 4th anniversary in September.
10. Organized my mom's 60th birthday celebration! Glamorous @ 60! :)
11. Made special videos for LeviJen and  Mom's. 
12. Birthday celebrations of each of my family members. Foods are assigned to each of us.
13. KCON 2011! Grand Feast is love! I love you God!:)
14. Bonding with my big sisters. Pizza hut, Bonchon, Banapple dates!:>
15. CoE reunions in Gerry's Grill and outing in Bulacan.
16. Attended a wedding of my cousin in Laguna with garden reception! oh dear!:)
17. Pikselot reunion in Sambo Kojin and Gayuma ni Maria.
18. Attended 3 Christmas parties @ HP! Got my performance rating and it shocked me! woohoo!
19. HongKong Touchdown in December to celebrate life! Went to Disneyland and witnessed the beautiful Parade of stars and Disney of the Stars firework.
20. Celebrated 30 years of wedding vows of my Mom and Dad! Love love love!

OMG! I have been experience the best new feelings and I'm craving for more!!

As the year ends, 2012 is coming.

I just keep my resolution simple: I go on with my life to the fullest, infinite, beyond limits.

I got a lot of goals I want to achieve. Just three words: SAVE. TRAVEL. LIVE.

Oh yeah, those 3 words have one thing in common: they have a single "v" which means Victorious! I will win! I will be a life champion.

SAVE: I will control myself to buy clothes, dresses and shoes. oh my! Reimbursement, where are you? I had investments for my life and future. What I'm missing is the emergency fund! I have to allocate my funds wisely from now on! My Sunlife planner will help me!:)

TRAVEL: Oh my, I want to go to Boracay, Caramoan, Singapore and Bangkok in 2012!!!! My problem is when and who will come with me. Hope my family and friends' schedules permit it. (because I can take leaves as long as I inform my manager).

LIVE: I want to be successful in my HP career. I have goals and tasks to complete and pass. I need to freshen up a bit and have long and more dates with my boyfriend, barkada and family! I want to simply live my life!! I want to make it more colorful and lively and fun! I want to be a better and patient.

God, I love you and thank you for everything!:)

Hopefully, no one will get sick. PEACE OF MIND, HAPPINESS and GOOD HEALTH! These are my core wishes every time I talk to You. Please guide me in everything I do and every decision I make.

I wish and I will work on it.

I better start now!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY 2012!:)

Gayuma-tized (again)

Last October 2005, I went to Gayuma  with Pikselot. Here's my post.
After 6 years, just last night, we went on their new and resurrected resto.

Welcome to the "Gayuma ni Maria"!

As you have noticed, we're incomplete. Pam's in Baguio. Levi came as our photographer.

Food. Talks. Laughs. Photographs. Games. Winner. Cakes. Smiles. Gifts. Name it.












We talked about life specifically about lovelife! Well, their lovelife! LOL! We ate heavy meals.
I ordered the Rock me baby, Hinugot sa Tadyan for Levi, Please be careful with my heart for Jamie  and I love you, Cross my heart for Mela.












Interesting names, huh? It's an interesting resto, too. First time to play a board game in a resto and it's a word game. Guess who won!

 

Oh yes. I won and I'm proud coz I really don't play scrabble or anything similar to that, but just now! Yey! Then we went upstairs to see this cozy place. Oh yeah. 

Is that a balloon or what? :p

heavenly

Of course, we tried their specialties! CAKES! I love it! We love it! Then we played games @ Levi's IPAD2! We gave our Christmas gifts! It's simple but beautiful bonding.

Hurray to all of us. I love you, girlfriends and boyfriend! hehe! :) See you next year!

Happy new year!

Beyond Hongkong

"Unbelievable sightsIndescribable feelingSoaring, tumbling, freewheelingThrough an endless diamond sky.."

In the middle of October, my brother saw an online deal in Groupon. It's HK Trip with Disneyland. 

Before that, we are planning to travel in this beautiful place. So we grabbed the deal.
And yes, there's a travel agency behind it and it's Sarap Magbiyahe (SMB) Travel and Tours.
This is our family's first international trip together and first to have a middleman in our trips.
I am the primary contact of our family. So imagine the long email thread we went through before going to HK.
There were lots of downsides since our e-tickets were sent to us 2 days before our trip. OMG! We were skeptical. I was not excited but disappointed and irritated.
Nevertheless, it was a learning experience. I better find a better and more competitive travel agency on my/our next trips.

So after those rants (haha!), come December 17-19, 2011. I filed a leave on the 17th since I have work on Saturdays.

DAY 1: Tired and Sick


Tired eyes, running nose and sore throat, I had these all in the morning of our flight.
But that's not obvious on the pictures! I carried with me my Sony camera "Pinkish" so expect a lot of pictures.

Here's my family with my Dad and big brother holding our boarding pass.

So we flew to HK via Hongkong express. The flight was smooth and I was able to watch "Monte Carlo" while in the air! But I didn't able to finish it since we are now in HK!!!

We met our tour guide named Jacky Leung and we will now go on our hotel. We were supposed to be left behind since my big brother went to the CR but fortunately, we were able to call Jacky and we were saved! hahaha! What-an-experience in the first day in HK!

This is me in downtown, HK.

We had the entire day to roam around the city. We tried to ride in MTR (like MRT in the Phil) and went to Mongkok Place, Ladies' Market to go on shopping!!

I shopped some Christmas gifts and souvenirs. Yes, I was able to manage myself in this freakin' cold day because I bought a bottle of water that was my strength in this sickly travel. Water therapy!!!





So after a long day of shopping, we stopped by in an authentic restaurant. We tried Chinese foods! Hurray!

Then we went to Tsim Sha Tsui to witness its beauty. It was relaxing but I can't forget how cold it was that afternoon! OMG! Thank God, my big sister and I bought each of us a pair of winter hand gloves to  ease the coldness especially me, because I was totally sick!!!



DAY 2: Incredible, Amazing, Unforgettable.


We started our day with buffet breakfast from the Silka Far East hotel. The foods were delicious and there were variety of food selection! There's free internet, too that's why I was able to update my Facebook status and private message my boyfriend!:)

When we were so full, we are ready to go! This is the day for the City tour and Disneyland!! Wooohooo! Thanks to my medicine, Panadol, I'm feeling better this time.

Our first stop is Avenue of the Stars! We had a lot of pictures. This is the exact place we went in the first day (Tsim Sha Tsui).

Then we went to Jewellery Factory. OMG. There were lots of jewels and golds in this place!!

After that, we went to Victoria Peak. My siblings and I jumped shot in this place! woohoo!! We're like kids, huh!

Then to end our City tour, we went to the Aberdeen Fishing village.

We rode the boat in the fishing village. The boat was so colorful and they told us that this place will soon vanish since they will make this a land.

This was the time to rest our feet because our next destination needs extra energy!!!!

We were very excited inside the bus as we are nearing an exciting anticipation: Disneyland!!!!!!











I will tell my Disneyland experience through this pile of photographs:

We were over excited for this event! I though on myself this is the happiest place to be and to go back being a kid! It resembled Enchanted Kingdom (in the Phil) but Disneyland is way different. It arrows my heart, you know!

This is us in the entrance of Disneyland. 

The place was colorful. There were lots of beautiful Christmas decorations and there were lots of people since December is a peak season.

Hey that's Mickey!

After eating in Starliner Diner, we witnessed the joyful Parade of stars starring Mickey and Minnie Mouse. This is the time when I get a hands to my brother's SLR and took a lot of pictures! I'm feeling awesome. The performers, I know, most of them are Filipinos! Their happiness was not only seen but also felt by us, by me!:) Kudos to all of them!

I took a lot of pictures in the Disneyland Parade of Stars!

And then we spotted Tinker Bell and posed with her!:) So cute and lovely!

We lined up to take a picture with Tinker Bell!

Then we went to Toy Story land and rode RC Racer. Together with my 2 big brothers, we waited for two hours for our turn! But you know, it's so worth it! It's like my heart stopped because of this ride! LOL!

I just knew lately that Toy Story land just opened last November! Wow! We're lucky!

Then we rode the Jungle River cruise in Adventureland! It was superb! It was a fun ride! :) We were scared of water and fire. They're real!!!!

We also rode Orbitron in Tomorrowland! Yey! It was a simple and fun ride, good for the kids.

It's a big happy family in Tomorrowland!

Then after that, we ate again in Starliner Diner (becoming our fave,huh) then it's the Fireworks display! OMG!! I cried!!!!!!! The song was superb and I cried because I was too happy!!!:))) Tears of joy!!

Disney in the Stars Fireworks.

"A whole new worldA dazzling place I never knewBut when I'm way up here, it's crystal clearThat now I'm in a whole new world with youNow I'm in a whole new world with you"

The experience is indeed one of best part of my life!!!! I will go back!


DAY 3: Contented.


I told myself I'm now okay. The Day 2 was superb and I can't ask for more. So I spent the day with my sister and my loving parent who were celebrating their 30 years of marriage!:) How great was that!

We went shopping again in the Mongkok and ate Chinese foods! It's so yummy!! While my two big brothers went to Buddha (sorry forgot the name). They tried the cable car and experience some (unreal, i think) snow.

Indeed, my HK experience is an highlight of my 2011. Wait for my next post as I list down significant moments of my life in the year of 2011 and what are my goals and resolutions in the coming year of 2012!


Hurray to a happy and glorious life! :)
Also, Blogged in my Tumblr!

FULL of love and celebrations

December is indeed full of celebrations.

We celebrate our Lord Jesus' Birthday!

We give gifts and love to our family, relatives and friends.

How great that would be, right? It's all Christmas all over the world!

Before the Christmas day itself, I attended several different life events.

December 5 - French Date and Bonchon Date

Did you know Groupons? It's online buying with discounts and promos. I availed some and this French date is one of them.

To celebrate LeviJen's 51st monthsary, we went to La Francais Cuisine in Makati. Yes, it was french cuisine and it's buffet!! We love buffets because we love to eat! HAHA!

We were full! It was worth it!:) After that, we went to Body Tune at SM North The Block to have a Balinese massage. It's my treat from Cashcashpinoy (again). :p

I thought my day was about to end. As Levi left to have attend some meetings, I looked at my watch and I thought it was too early for me to go home, so I texted my sister to meet me in Trinoma. And coincidentally, it's Bonchon Trinoma's opening that day.

So my invitation was hard to resist since Bonchon is my sister's favorite resto! HAHAHA! So I waited for her and we ordered our favorite sweet buffalo wings! YEY!

That's my sister! Look how she was happy (and me, too) when we learned that Bonchon will be very close to our home!! Hurray for that!

This day, I ate a lot! It was truly a BIG experience! LOL xD

December 7 - ONE HP: A Christmas Story

It's HP Christmas Party in SMX. Actually, I had a shift this day and fortunately, I was able to attend this event. YEY!:) It's my first time to attend this. :)

December 8 - Ate Ivy's Wedding

So I took a 3 day leave. One of the reasons is attending this wedding of my cousin.

 It was a church wedding in Laguna with garden reception. I love attending weddings because it inspires me!:)

I congratulate the newly weds! Welcome Kuya Johnny to the family!:)

December 9 - Banapple Date

My big sister and I went to Greenhills for Christmas shopping! But the greatest part was the dinner at Banapple. Yey! It was one of best resto in town! It's affordable and yummy!!! It's simply delicious!

Levi followed and ordered too! It was an experience!:)

December 10-11 CoE Get together / Christmas Party

We came together to reunite! It was unforgettable in a good and not so good way. We were supposed to be in a private resort but two disagreed and wanted a public resort. ahahaha! So weird. Then one of organizers gave in, and boom, minority wins! I was so devastated as I was an organizer too. Nevertheless, it was fun and full of memories! HAHAHA!

There were lots of food because we were assigned foods with range of amount. Oh yes, we should be fair!:) There were lots of pictures, of course! :)

December 15 - UNIX Asian Pop themed Christmas Party

Yey! I'm one of the perfomers of my team and we won 3rd place!:) 

We celebrated Christmas at Bagarberde Grill. And yes, I was on shift! hahaha! 

But that doesn't stop me from performing and attending. Lots of foods and fun! Hope next year, we'll win! :)

December 17-19 Beyond Hongkong

This deserve a separate post!:)

December 21 - U|X ALU Krissy Kringle and Christmas Party

I received four gifts from the Kris Kringle! :) The themes: 1. Something you don't want to own; 2. Something hard and round; 3. Something soft and idontremember; 4 Something you use to pamper with.

We watched our presentation video at the Christmas party, we had foods and lots of pictures, and gifts too!

Thank you! From Valkyrie! That's my codename because it was one of the favorite hero of Levi in an online game he's playing, Heroes in Newerth.

December 24 - Noynay Reunion (added photos 12/31/2011)

I filed a leave to attend this reunion in Cavite. This is a yearly event and this time's different. Levi went and Lysa (my kuya's gf) too! We had exchanged gifts and videoke. Here's the catch, I won 100php! It's because when one of us received a score of 100 in videoke, we'll win 100php! I won twice, 50 for each of two duets we got 100! We sang "Everything you do" by M2M and "Cry" by Mandy Moore! Yey!

December 25 - Christmas Circle of Fun (added photos 12/31/2011)

My family and I attended Simbang Gabi and then we had Noche Buena!:))  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Noche Buena with family is the best!

   

Then we slept for few hours and opened our gifts! YEY! We got a lot of gifts this year, thank you Lord!:)

Thank you for all your gifts :)

Then we went to Ecopark to spend the Christmas there but we found out it was closed:( So we went to QC Circle, instead. OMG, it's worth it! We had fun!! We tried rides! It was full of fun indeed! I love how we spend Christmas this year!:)

I love my life!:) Life is truly amazing! :)

Quote that makes my morning

Woke up and got a text message.

Life is like making tea..

-Boil your ego,

-Evaporate your worries,

-Dilute your sorrows, 

-Filter your mistakes &

-Get a taste of HAPPINESS.

Lets make our cup of tea sweet and delightful! :)
Drink and love it!

Happy and Rainy December

It's the 12th month of the year. There will be many celebrations coming.
It will be a happy month!

It's raining and cold. I want to go back sleeping.
It will be a rainy month!


Whatever adjectives we describe this month, lets celebrate life.
I love it when I have work - life balance I am wanting and loving.
I love it when my rest days become bondings, get together moment.
I love it when I am living my life.


November 19 - Kerygma Conference 2011 Glory to Glory Singles Stream
This is the second time I attended this event with my family. Last year, I was in Youth stream, now I'm in Singles stream. Oh yeah, time really flies fast, huh! :D

We were in Aliw theater. I was blessed and really, God's Love overflows to everyone of us! It's also the debut of Pinkish (my Sony pink camera). Thank you God for this day!



November 20 - Breaking Dawn and Grand Feast Day

KCON 2011 did not end on just one day, it continued with Grand Feast. But before going to the afternoon event, we watched Breaking Dawn in SM Mall of Asia.

I don't have plans to watch this movie so there were no expectations. The movie was a so-so and had similar ending with Avatar! hehe!

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward for Part 2 next year!







After the movie, we went out to find where Grand Feast was. We were literally lost, at first! Haha! We were walking for like, 1 hour! But it's worth it. When we get there, there were many people, hoping to be touched by God.

Beautiful songs, energetic dances, powerful talks, inspiring speakers, hopeful people and an awesome God, so what do you expect with these? It was all surreal. Thank you God! :)

November 26 - Friendship and Beyond: Pikselot Dinner

"Pag hindi planado, natutuloy." Pam sent us a message if we are available and fortunately, we were! So we had a chance to get together. Together with Jamie and Pam, we ate at Tempura, Trinoma. We ordered a group meal good for 4 and we finished it all! HAHA! 

Really, we love to eat and we are able to sweep it all! But we're sexy huh! :D

So we talked about lots of things about our lives, love lives, school life (for Jamie) and career lives (for me and Pam). More bondings to come! :)



November 27 - Kuya's Extraordinary Birthday

Why extraordinary? Because we were stuck in the cake shop because Tidu (our car) got broken. :(
We were 'tambays' while waiting. We took pictures and ate 'Balot" and 'Chicharon'. What-an-experience.

Nevertheless, it was fun birthday celebration and of course, a little dramatic.





November 30 - 'McKinley Girls' goes Korean

Yey! Finally, it's Chel's treat after 5 months of waiting! Why it took 5 months? Because our schedules do not meet! hahaha!

We ate to a Korean Restaurant, KBOP. The food was tasty and spicy!

Thanks Chel! :) Tammy is next then Dona, then it's me again. It's a cycle of treats! :D






December 2 - Happy Feet 2, Happy ME too!


My boyfriend and I watched Happy Feet 2 in SM North Edsa. It's the second time I watched the last full showing! The penguins were so cute and adorable. I love little Eric!!:) It's a good vibes movie! :)


Milk Tea, anyone?

Even if I am not fond of Milk Teas, I tried Serenitea (in Banawe) and Happy Lemon (in Trinoma). It was an experience, though! I ordered their best sellers and I'm satisfied! It's healthy too! :)


Yey! As I told you, work-life balance! I am grateful to have life like this! What - a - great year for me!
More to come! More life and love in my life!

Did you know?

I will share with you the facts about my blogging career.

Did you know that..

1. I will be 7 year old blogger in December!

Oh yes. It's my blog's birthday on December 4! I started blogging way back 2004, using "Tagalog" language and ranting about my high school life (that's basically about my love life and school life). Being a blogger that long teaches me how to express my feelings more and be open to share my experience to inspire others or learn from me.

2. My English writing skills became better because of blogging!

I took the challenge to use pure "English" as much as possible when blogging. It's a win-win situation actually because it really enhanced my writing skills when making documentations (in school in the past and now in the office world) and of course, visitors from other countries can understand me.

3. I am living with what my blog name means!

"ilabmyself" < that's the name of this blog. "lab" is love in different spelling but same meaning. Basically, I was so vain high school girl (actually until now), which makes me love myself more and more! It was a good thing because I was able to share that amount of love to the people around me. And that also makes me love my boyfriend right now. It's true, love yourself first before you can love others.

4. Blogger.com changed for the better!

Being a user in blogger.com, I know how this evolve over time. Way back, I have to choose a blog design from blogskins.com but right now, I am using a design from here! Also it is easy to attach pictures and videos. I don't have to use Photobucket to host it! Very good, blogger.com

Time really flies. It changes. I change and so do you.

All change as it is the only permanent thing in the world.

We should accept it because that's our chance to be better.

I am thankful I am a blogger. How about you?:)


PS: Happy 11/11/11 day today! I guess, there are many weddings right now!

Life is Awesome!

Events happening in my life are very dear to me.
Those moments wherein I cherished, I keep in my heart.

Whether I'm with my family, or with my coworkers or friends, it's all worth it.
It's all awesome!

September 18: Happy Birthday Tito Rollie!

My family went to Alabang Festival Mall for my uncle's birthday! It was so warm that we all felt the love among the siblings (of my father). There's so much drama because they reminisced their childhood and I learned some tips to them: Love one another and respect each other.

September 21: SisDate

This is unexpected. I was sad this day because my prior bonding was postponed and then out of nowhere, my sister texted me where I am. I told her, I'm on my home and I'm sad. Then she asked me lets eat out. My reply? "Pasayahin mo ako!" (Make me happy!).

So we met at SM North and ate at Pizza hut. I was so full! It was a simple and intimate date with my big sister. I love it!

I went home happy!:)

September 24: Wilvor's Treat

My group wayback in college called "Team Balance" have this bonding moment. Each one of us will treat all per month. For this month, it's Wil's turn. Unfortunately, some cannot make it so we were just three. We ate at Pollo Loco, Megamall. Thanks Wil!:)

October 11: HPlicious Bonding

This was also one of those unplanned bonding moments: the treat of Hazel and myself to my colleagues (April new hires). We went to Market, Market and treated them a movie: Johnny English.                                                                          

October 19: Donat's Treat

So it's Dona's treat for October. Atleast now, we were many, we're 5! We ate at Greenwich, SM Manila, her treat! Yey! As you can see, we were just four there because Wil was late! LOL! Then we watched "No other Woman" last full showing!

Whew. Going back to Manila is like going to my college days!;)

October 21: U|X Coffeetalk Happy Halloween

We designed the room for the event. It was one of the talks in the office where I got inspiration for the awardees and ofcourse, I was happy to see folks around. And I remembered that this was the day where I was almost in the office the whole day! How's that!:p 

October 26: Last weekly meeting with Kristel

Kristel was my first manager. There was a leadership change so we had a change of manager. It was like her  goodbye to us. She treated us Amber's Spaghetti, BBQ and pichi-pichi. So full on the tummy and of smiles. :)

October 29: Happy Birthday Aziel!

Aziel is the youngest brother of my boyfriend. I had work at 3pm this day but I went to SM Sta. Mesa for the treat of Levi to his brother. It was a movie treat! We watched "Praybeyt Benjamin"! It was funny and has a story like Mulan so all can learn a lesson from it. And of course, I was late in the office! haha!:p :(

October 30: Happy Birthday Tita Brenda!

I had work on a Saturday up to 12am but I was able to attend this event in a Sunday. My dad together with his 3 lovely daughters (including me haha) went to Cavite to visit my Lola's grave and to celebrate my auntie's birthday. It was touching. 

November 3: Kristel's Despedida

So here's the moment of giving back. We were all out for this despedida of our manager. I was the gamemaster for the "Just Draw it" that became "Just move it!" haha! There was a video presentation where we gave thank you message for Kristel and a caricature gift for her. Of course, there were foods: Palabok, Ice cream and a Conti's chocolate cake. 

November 7-8: Happy Birthday DADDY!!

It was my Daddy's birthday today! Greet him! Happy birthday to my loving and cute daddy! We celebrated his birthday yesterday. I was assigned for the pizza (veggie pizza). There were a lot of foods. As in! his cake was a Parvati carrot cake! We love you daddy!!

Are you overload? It was a jump packed post and pictures! It was funny because most of my rest days were actually "gala" days or "eating" days! I love it! Thank you God!:)

Enjoy life to the fullest! :]