The day I have been dreading has arrived. As you might have read from my previous posts, our lease runs out today and my housemate Asther decided to just look for another apartment with her brother so I am left without a house and a housemate. I had no other choice but to leave the apartment I have already grown to love *sniff*. I think I cried three(?) times yesterday. It was so sad :(

I realize I haven't fully shown you my apartment, so for a little show-and-tell and for the sake of posterity, here are some snaps of my apartment-no-more:

My officemate Marsha offered to be my new housemate so yay, that dilemma is already solved. I left some of my stuff at her house since I would be staying there temporarily until the end of May while we are looking for a new apartment.

Parting is such sweet sorrow. Hopefully Marsha and I will find a new apartment and move by the first week of June.

How's your packing going, Ejannz? :D

Yesterday, I fulfilled my duty to my country and exercised my right to vote.

on my way home from the office

wearing my five.ten.ten shirt and my handcuff necklace

can you say poster overload?

my heart weeps for the amount of trash this will result to

IMO, good platforms will forward a candidate's campaign, not these posters

Monumento is forever afflicted with traffic jams, but not today

I got inked!

See the indelible ink in my right index finger? :)

My family has already voted earlier in the morning, so my Papa just accompanied me to the polling booths. Unlike other people who waited in line for more than three hours, I cast my vote in less than ten minutes. I am loving this automated election. Sign of progress, indeed!

Results are now being counted, and I am afraid my bet is not going to win. It kinda sucks since I really believe he can bring positive change to the country but it is what the majority has decided. It sucks as well that people who've been in the position for years but haven't done anything led the polls again. Filipinos, haven't you learned anything from the past years we've been in this state? How can our country progress when we keep on giving the position to the same people, over and over again? Yes, I am talking about celebrity-turned-non-competent-politicians. What has one senator done aside from being in the forefront of a big scandal between a sexy starlet and a doctor-with-a-nasty fetish last year? Sigh. I can complain on and on, but I don't think these rants will be heard as some people even told me there's no hope for the Philippines anymore, that's why they did not vote :( I will just do my part as a good Filipino: pay my taxes (and hope it wouldn't just line the pockets of fat, greedy politicians), obey the law, and uphold my love for my nation. I don't want to be complacent and adopt an "It is what it is" attitude. If there's one thing I hope I can do, it is to inspire change in others - even in my own little way.

I cannot think of a good way to segue into this topic so pretend this italicized part is my witty segue. Last night, my best friends from high school and I went into the wake of our Math teacher, Miss Noli Carbonell. She died from a heatstroke. It is amazing how many of her former students turned up. It also feels good that we graduated from high school in 2003 yet our former teachers still remember us. Thank you for tirelessly imparting your knowledge in numbers to us, Teacher Noli. Rest in peace, and may the Lord and Mama Mary welcome you into His loving arms.

you already know Dianne, Third, Niel and Neil

the guy at the back is Ric

we've been friends since second grade! :D

talk about bad skills in photography

the background is a newly-constructed fountain that welcomes people to my city - Navotas

They wanted to drink but because of the Liquor Ban (due to the elections) we cannot find a store selling alcohol. We went to Dianne's house where we talked and exchanged stories until 1am (where I may or may not have fallen asleep :D).

Today a herculean task awaits me: packing. I am here at my parents' house but will be leaving in a while to go to the apartment and sort and pack my stuff. Our lease runs out on Thursday so I have to lug all my stuff until tomorrow. The realization that we will be leaving the apartment where I have lots of precious memories in struck me just yesterday and I burst out crying at the office. It was embarrassing, really.  

a small percentage of my books.

You can see lots of Movie Companions and books about movies, fantasy and mythology. I love those.

Also, Batman is awesome.

Aaaah packing, where do I even begin?

This is one activity I am really not looking forward to. In my future quest to sort through my mountain of stuff, I imagine lots of regrets and realizations like "I shouldn't have bought this and that." (Hmmm, how about a garage sale after I have sorted everything? lol) I would very much prefer to just sit in my lazy backside and surf the Internet for the whole day (I do recognize that it kinda defeats the intent of my patriotic speech at the beginning of this post, I apologize) but a girl's gotta do what a girl-with-too-many-shoes-and-bags-and-clothes-and-books-and-DVDs' gotta do. See you later!

A mother understands what a child does not say. - Jewish Proverb

To my Mama, Happy Mother's Day! Words are not enough to tell you how grateful I am that God made me your daughter. Thank you for your unconditional love and unwavering support. Thank you for the thick, black hair genes. Thank you for sending me to the schools I've been to, causing me to meet the awesome people I've met. Thank you for the shopping trips and the haggling tips. Thank you for waking up very early to prepare my breakfast when I was still studying, and even now that I am already working. Thank you for cooking my favorites whenever I go home on my rest days. And even though I know it was hard for you, thank you for letting me rent my own place so I can learn how to stand on my own two high-heeled feet. These are just some of the things I am thankful to you for, and I can exhaust all the words in my vocabulary, but they still will not be enough to tell you how much I love you. I love you Ma. :)

Tomorrow, Filipinos will take to the polling booths to decide the future of the Philippines for at least the next six years. (Click here for the National Candidates' Profiles.) I am not proud to say that this election is filled with too many controversies and lots of mudslinging on the candidates' parts. Hopefully we will have a peaceful and honest election tomorrow.

I was over the fence for quite a while but I finally decided who to vote for this weekend. I go for Dick Gordon! I have actually liked him from when I was still young and he was still running for a Senatorial position. I believe in his platforms and his plans for the Philippines. He is competent, intelligent, and genuinely nice. Whoever the majority of the nation will choose though, I hope that he would be able to lead us well and restore the country to its former glory and erase the government's bad reputation as one of the most corrupt in the world.

To my fellow Filipinos, please take the time tonight to really decide on who your heart, mind and conscience are telling you to vote for. More than anyone else, you are voting not only for yourselves, but your future and future child/ren as well.

I'll share with you a not-so-secret: one of the things in my Bucket List is to get super drunk. What a thing to aspire for, right? Before you shake your heads in disgust, please know that I do not really drink. During get-togethers with friends, while they were gulping shots after shots of alcohol, I would be in a corner, sipping my Coke or fruit juice while still contributing stories. And then after a few hours, while they were in the toilet, retching out that day's dinner and what-have-you, I will be patting their backs, offering words of comfort and moral support, all the while shaking my head and vowing that will never happen to me.

Never say never. Now that I am in my 20s, I realized I would want to experience what it's like, just once. I want to see for myself what it feels like, just to know why other people want to experience it all the time. I have to make sure that I will be doing it when I am with people I trust though. It almost happened last year when we had a team building at my previous apartment, using one of my teammate's heartbreak as a reason for drinking. I amused them with my drunken state, but I did not get the exact effect I was hoping for as I fell asleep after the 7th glass. 

Last Tuesday we had a team building at Sasha's house. It was actually planned spontaneously unlike the previous team buildings we had. The reason? Well you see, when awesome people are in a team, sometimes one's awesomeness clashes with another person's. Issues arise, some feelings get hurt, and some intentions get misinterpreted. For my team, one of the best ways to sort it out is over some drinks.

(Please note that I am not glorifying alcohol in any way, I am just sharing an experience.) Since I am not a big fan of beer, I suggested that we drink orange laced with vodka since that concoction did not affect me very much when Dane mixed it on our Tranche's anniversary. 

I'll let the pictures do much of the talking :)

I remember feeling very giddy, and was super giggly that night. I looked like an insanely flirt woman, batting my eyelashes behind my eyeglasses :D No hang-overs though, I even woke up at 5:30am the next day. I'm awesome! :D I was not able to cross off that one item in my Bucket List, but I'm still happy since we were able to iron out the kinks in the team. After all, this might be our last team building together as some people are thinking of transferring to another department. Personally I would not want that to happen, but I cannot stop them from pursuing what they really want. As an awesome teammate, I guess I would just have to support them. :)

Hmm, I wonder when I can cross this item off? :D

What better way to shoo away bad vibes than by shopping? One of the things I absolutely love doing is shopping, and I surely ended my April and started my May right by going to the mall after work from Friday to Sunday :)

Also, it is too hot and humid here in Manila that the malls are a big welcome reprieve from the heat.

Right. As if I need any reason to justify shopping. :D

SM North EDSA has a Safari Park in the Sky Garden which featured animatronic animals. There were lots of them but these were my favorites:

We also did a lot of eating! Photos of the following are from my favorite, Bigoli.

After going around SM North we went to TriNoma which is just right across the street because I was looking for the perfect trilby hat.

So, what did I get?

I am now awaiting for packages from online purchases. Once I receive them, I'll be sending you your present Manju, sorry for the delay x_x

I am a happy girl.

Trivia from Meream: Did you know that April is Stress Awareness Month? Maybe that can explain all the twisted things that happened the past month. I hope May brings better things for us all! :D

I like that we will have our annual Family Day on the 29th! HSBC's Family Days are ALWAYS a lot of fun! It is a special event wherein employees can bring family and friends for them to see what it's like to work for HSBC. The day is filled with different programs, games, performances, tours around the two buildings, food, photo booths, inflatable playgrounds for the kids, and fireworks display and a concert by local bands in the evening. In 2008 the theme was Family Fun Camp where my favorite local band Parokya ni Edgar (their vocalist Chito Miranda is my biggest crush!!) performed, while Tour Around the World was 2009's theme. Pupil was the guest band :) We don't know the theme of this year's event yet, I'm pretty excited! :)

I don't like that I would have to leave my present apartment in less than two weeks. Our lease will run out on the 13th and my housemate decided not to renew as she would be living with her brother. I am left with no housemate and no place to live :( For the meantime I have the option to move back to my parents' house or to my officemate and very good friend Sasha. Sasha said she will move in with me in June so now I am scouting for an apartment for us. Do you know how hard it is to find a decent and not-so-expensive apartment in Quezon City? Ugh. Wish me luck. I am going to need LOTS of it.

I want you to know that the main reason why I am anxious and worried about moving is the problem of packing. Do you know how much stuff I have accumulated in my less than two years of independence? You have no idea. 

I've planned to take on a new hobby. Any ideas on what hobby I can squeeze in to hours of packing and unpacking - things I am really not looking forward to? :D

Will posting photos of these hotties do?

And for my new followers, this is worth a repost: