Finally Got My French Driver's Licence!!!

Not because I passed the coding test, of course! and good thing i didn't have to. I was starting to think i have no choice but to take it, because when I applied to have my licence exchanged three years ago, I was told I couldn't. My application was refused right then and there. And then three months ago, I received a letter from the prefecture asking me to bring the original copy of my philippine driver's licence, so they could exchange it to a french one.

I waited three years to have this!

Bonchon and Wendy's (July 14, 2011)

Post-Reunion, Emman's Birthday and Charle's Farewell Dinner all in one night.

click on our picture below to view all photos:

L-R: Farah Bantiles, Me, Charles Kue, Emman Galupo, Michael Sevilla

UPDATED: More Then and Now Photos

Syempre eto na naman ako sa mga then and now photos ko, hehe... 'la lang... ang saya lang...

this time, with my #istambayan friendly friends.

circa 2003, at Sarah's

L-R: Nikki, Jo, Zel, me

L-R: me, Joyce, Mai

circa 2008, Gilligan's Trinoma, QC

Clockwise L-R: Joyce, Me, Jo, Zel, Mai (wala si nikki pinagpalit kami sa lovelife)


and just recently: 

2011, Backdoor Blues Cafe, QC

Clockwise: Jo, me, zel and joyce

yun laang ala pa rin si nikki, and this time wala si Mai...

Night Out With My UP Friends (July 11, 2011)

North Park, Trinoma
Backdoor Blues Cafe, QC

with Zel Zalamea, Joyce Keziah Ramos, Ahmed Paglinawan, Aileen Rachelle Rabago, Jo-Ann Fajardo, Feli Cuevas, and Liyam Estrada

CLICK HERE to view more photos!

Eto Na!!!!!!

BALARA ACADEMY BATCH '95 GRAND REUNION!!!
July 9, 2011
Dapo Bar and Restaurant

click any of the pictures below to view more photos! (note: it doesn't matter which photo you click, they all take you to the same album).

Food Tasting Get-Together

had a great time bonding with the BA '95 Batch Reunion Organizers (Farah, Catherine Hernandez, Louie Castillo, and Allan Alcayde, and Charles Kue) for some food-tasting treat in Dapo Bar and Resto (that's where the reunion will be held). i wasn't supposed to be there, kase nagpapa-cute at nagpapa-importante ako, hehehe... buti na lang pala sumama ako.

L-R: Charles Kue, Farah Bantiles, Louie Castillo, Allan Alcayde, Me, and Catherine Hernandez

And as always with such bonding sessions, bitin lagi ang oras. so after Dapo Bar and Resto, Louie and Catherine left, but Farah, Allan, Charles and I decided (well actually, THEY decided) to hang out pa sa Starbucks. kase bitin pa raw sa kuwentuhan.

yung paalam ko sa nanay ko na hanggang alas-otso lang ako... ayun... naging alas-onse pasado.

buti na lang di ako napalo.

marami pang litrato, LAHAT NANDITO.

Isaw and Manggo Shake with Sissy Farah

what did i say? huh? didn't i say me and Sissy Farah would see each other again soon?

and so we did! for some food-tripping in UP Campus.

more photos OVER HERE!

Sissy and Jollibee

today i met up with two of the best things in the Philippines. Jollibee and my bestest chum, Farah

Bantiles-Ongkingco... i've been to jollibee last time i came home in 2008, but this is my first time to see Farah again after high school. we met at robinson's galleria and first, she gave me the sim card that i would use from today onwards (while i'm in manila, at least).

and then, second important agenda: sit, eat chickenjoy, and catch up on each other. translation: chikenjoy and chika, chika, chika. too bad i only get to spend a couple of hours with her coz i had to hurry back home because mal and chichi are waiting for me at the Avida Towers. but of course we're still gonna see each other again soon! can't wait!


VIEW ALL PHOTOS HERE

like Nanay, like Chichi

Seryoso. Merong Taong Ganyan Magsulat.

ng english.

I Want Nobobdy, Nobody But You!

ndi naman adik pero ang lakas ng trip, hehe...

A Letter to the Man Who Raised Me

i didn't think i'd cry so hard when you left. i didn't think i'd regret not trying hard enough to see you before the life left your eyes.

but i did. i regret it. so much.

and i don't even know why. i guess.. it's true what they say. when you get to the end you start to think about the beginning.

and in the beginning you were my father. eventhough i've always known you weren't. eventhough i've always wondered if that was how you felt... my father. was i ever a daughter to you? or have you always seen me as what you've always called me? a responsibility. an excess baggage of the woman you chose to be your wife.

i may never know how you really felt towards me.

but i will always know, and i will never forget that you took me in. i will always remember that when i was young, everybody told me that my father left me. but never, not even once, have i ever felt that i didn't have a father. because you were there. i wouldn't even be calling you my stepdad if i never learned that word; and if people didn't wonder why Kuya Josel and I had a different surname from the rest of the family.

along with the sentiment that you were always
too strict with me, i will always remember that, if it weren't for you, we, my mom, my kuya, and i, might still be living in a rodent-infested shanty in a street full of poverty-ridden families whose daughters get pregnant at an age below 20.

or maybe not...

but i wouldn't know that. all i know is the strong house, the not-so-perfect-but-fun-and-close-knit family, and the comfortable life that i grew up in when you took me and my mom and my brother in.

it has always been a love-and-hate relationship between us. but sometimes, even real father-and-daughter relationships have that. malyn is your real daughter. and she sometimes hated you, too. so i guess my angst and frustrations were still within legal limit of a normal, healthy father-daughter relationship.

and whatever shortcomings, whatever wrong decisions you may have made later in your life have no longer affected mine. you've made your impact long before i left home.

Dad, i have always loved you and hated you and feared you and respected you the way any daughter would love and hate and fear and respect her own father. You took me in, and raised me the best way you know how. I may not have the best and happiest life on earth, but I turned out just fine. And I will always have you to thank for that.

Inspite of all the words that were said, and despite all the words left unsaid, between us... THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, Dad.

my heart grieves. but i find comfort in knowing that you're finally healed in the arms of our Lord. Rest in peace, Dad...

Hey...

why were you in my dreams last night? what were you doing there??? why were you holding me the way you always held me before? why were you looking at me the way you always looked at me before?

why do i miss you now?

you really are my immortal, aren't you? you will never die... you can never die in my memory. you will leave me alone for months, years... and i'll stop thinking about you. i will forget about you.

and then one day you're gonna just show up in my dream and make me wake up feeling empty.... just as you had many times before, many years ago.

and i'll bet you're out there eating your dinner, maybe with your wife, not even remembering i still exist somewhere on the other side of the earth..

Lord of the Rings

ngayon lang gabing ito ay naisipan kong muling panuorin ang pelikulang The Fellowship of the Ring ng Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

ewan ko ba pero sa dinami-dami ng mga bagay at ala-alang muling nagbalik sa aking isipan sa panunuod ng pelikulang ito, dalawang obserbasyon ang talagang malakas ang dating sa akin.

1. ang bading talaga ni Sam! TL na TL talaga sya kay Frodo.

2. hanggang ngayon, hindi ko pa rin ma-relate si Gandalf kay Magneto. ibig kong sabihin, i still can't come to terms na ang dalawang character na to, na tila dulo-dulo ng highway ng EDSA ang layo ng karakter sa bawat isa, ay ginanapan ng iisang aktor lang. ang astiiiiiig talaga.

hehehe.

yun lang.

Tell me why I don't like Mondays?

And nothing, not even my own birthday, can make me like even just today in particular.

Iphone Firmware Update Sucks!

yeah, like, big time!!!

i tried updating Alan's iphone to apple's (not my cousin) latest firmware, and guess what? it bricked his phone!

now the damned thing's stuck in recovery mode and simply refuses to restore from itunes!




ain't it frustrating? i remember years and years ago, when i still had my first ipod and the said ipod was already on its farewell stage, from time to time it would refuse to turn on, and worse, it would display an icon of an ipod with the sad face. it always made me sad, too, coz then i knew i'd have to slam it down hard on a table or deliberately drop it exactly three feet up from the floor to get it working again.

but of course the same course of action can't be taken on this particular device. this is an iphone we're talking about. dear, precious, expensive iphone that came with a two-year contract. and more importantly, it's not even mine.

to think i was even excited and so looking forward to update Alan's phone! and now it's an expensive piece if brick. and nothing i did brought it back to life.

so we're left with no choice but to take it to an Apple Store and get their people to restore it for us. i just hope they could fix it right away.

good thing Alan was being quite nice about the whole thing. i'm almost positive i would not attempt to downgrade it to re-jailbreak it (well, actually, the whole point of updating it wasn't actually to "update" it. i just wanted to restore it back to its factory settings coz Alan's having some problems with receiving notufications. so i figured we just maybe needed to restore it, and once the issue's been fixed, i'd downgrade it back to its previous firmware version so i could re-jailbreak it.

but after the unsuccesful restore, i very much doubt i would touch it again.

which really sucks. Alan's just starting to enjoy the jailbreak features of his toy. :-(

Chichi's Recital In School

According to my dictionary

dysmenorrhea (dis-me-no-re-ya).... pakshet. period.

Pasaway na Kung Pasaway!!!

I'm a smart, independent person. I know what I want and I know how to get it. Sure, I can be stupid in my own little (or big) ways. I sometimes get on the wrong train or miss my stop. And you can always count on me to show up late for something because I forgot to set the alarm, or because I got lost, or because I walked too slow coz I wore the wrong shoes, or simply because I didn't care to show up on time. Sure, I sometimes forget to look for the green light before crossing the road.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a damsel in distress who needs a knight in shining armor to save her day.

If I asked your help for something it doesn't mean I couldn't do it alone. It just means I want you to feel needed. If I asked your opinion it doesn't mean I can't think for myself. I've already decided what to do before I asked you, but I asked you just the same because I want you to feel your opinion matters. If I listen to your whines all the time it doesn't mean you always have my sympathy. I just want you to feel understood. If I want to be with you a lot it doesn't mean I need you to get through the days. I just want you to feel important and loved. If I seem bored and don't know what to do it's because I'm giving you the opportunity to think of something fun to do together.

If you won an argument, you didn't. Not really. I was on your side all along... I just want you to feel you can be wise, and win sometimes, too. If we disagreed on something and later I agreed with you, it doesn't mean I'm giving in. It's more likely that I simply changed my mind. If I appeared weak and vulnerable, it's just so that I can make you feel strong.

So if I'm being too much of a woman, that's only because I want you to feel that you're the man, so that you may start acting like one. (",)

The Frioul Islands

beach, beach, beach....


and more beach!!!!

and MORE PHOTOS too!!!

Aileen Rabago in Paris

a good chatmate and namesake (yeah, i know she wasn't named after me, but this is my blog, so i'm not too strict on my terminologies) of mine, Aileen Rabago, came to Europe last month. she sent me a message in FB a week before to tell me that she'll be visiting Paris for a day and asked if i could tour her around. although we haven't met in person before she came here, we've already chatted several times in the past, and i've always known her as the girlfriend of Ahmed, also a very good friend. and any friend/relative/gf/bf of any good friend of mine is always a more than welcome company for me!

and even though she visited while i was having one of the toughest, toughest times i've had in my entire existence, accompanying her for one night and a day was very refreshing and it gave me a moment to forget my troubles during those times. it also gave me the "first time" opportunities to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral (i haven't been inside the cathedral before Aileen came) and watch The Crazy Horse show.

so i met up with her and her companions (she joined two men in coming to Paris) on the evening of 11th june, at a cafe in Paris 6th.

eventhough i've been in Paris for seven years now, i've never ever really taken the time to tour the city and visit its famous places (except the Eiffel Tower, that is), so i have absolutely no idea where to take them. i was actually hoping they'd have something in mind that they want me to take them to. good thing they did! hehe...

so friday night, i took them to the Eiffel Tower, which they wanted to climb at first but they changed their mind when they saw the long queue for the entrance... because really, it would take more time to stand in line than it would to climb the tower. and then we went to the Arc de Triomphe, and then to Avenue des Champs Elysées. Aileen was quite happy to take it all in. she would have been happy to take the boat ride along the Seine River for a little bit more of sight-seeing, but her two male companions were so bent on seeing The Crazy Horse. although she was quite reluctant to agree, i guess she didn't want to appear killjoy, and also, she didn't want to take off from them out of pakikisama. so off to the Crazy Horse we went. we were late for the first half... and i wasn't really sure it was worth the money to pay for a half-show (eventhough i didn't pay for my entrance). but what did i say about her two male companions? BENT. and so that's how we ended the night. to the second half of The Crazy Hose show.

early the next morning, Saturday... Ai and I met up early in the morning to visit the Louvre (minus her two male companions with whom she agreed to meet at the train station later in the day). she really, really wanted to visit the Louvre so we went there first. she was taking the 4pm-train ride back to Brussels, so i knew that the museum would eat up most of our day. and she was fine with that.

after we took her picture with The Mona Lisa, she was quite happy to get out of the museum, hehe... we still had time for a little chat and to grab some lunch before i accompanied her to the train station. too bad she only had less than 24 hours to visit Paris. we both wish she'll have another chance to go back and stay a few days longer and visit more places. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS from the album Aileen Rabago in Paris.

My New iPhone! Lurveeeetttt!!!

Finally! iPhone 4 is here!!!! hehehehe....

I really wanted a Nokia N900 at frst. As in really, really, really wanted it like crazy! I want iPhone 4, too, but only as a second choice.

Now I'm glad I did get the iPhone 4. I'm just loving everything about it! (",)

Eto Ang Resulta ng Kakulitan ni Hajji

si hajji ang pinsan ng aking butihing asawa. sya rin ay isa sa aking mga malalapit na kaibigan dito sa Paris. kalimitan ay kaya nya akong mapa-payag sa maraming bagay. tulad na lamang ng pagsali bilang backup dancer sa darating na concert nila next week.

dahil jan, nagkakaroon kami ng practice. kanina ung final practice namin para sa aming sayaw. syempre bawat praktis may picture-taking. pero madalas dugyut kami pag nagpa-praktis. syempre laging pawisan eh. kahit sa last praktis namin walang exemption. mga dugyut pa rin...

at dahil last na praktis at piktyuran na 'to... tinodo na namin ng bonggang bongga ang kodakan!

NARITO ANG LAHAT ng pruweba ng aming pang-aabuso sa aming mga camera.

Sigrid Uy in Paris

a high school chum from BA came to Paris for a day tour today. her name is Sigrid Uy. almost like Aileen Rabago (an online friend who visited last year), i never really had any social interaction with Sigrid before she came to Paris... or... should i say, before facebook. she contacted me through a common high school friend, Maricel Ramos (who lives in Rome, Italy).

but unlike Aileen (whom i never met before i came here, but had talked to several times on the net), i've always known Sigrid from high school days (i'm almost positive she didn't know me then), albeit not personally. she was quite popular in school then. i know she was popular, coz i knew her. i mean, in high school, if it's somebody i know, then he/she must have been popular... coz i never really gave a damn about other people except my current classmates... unless that person was really popular that i couldn't help but to have heard about him/her. and sigrid always had a way of standing out from the crowd. although i must admit, i never really liked her in high school. she gave off the impression of being snooty. well, atleast to me.

but anyhow... so... maricel told me she'll be coming over, and that if i want, i could contact her. she wasn't on my contacts list yet, and i really did intend to send her a message. pero naunahan nya ko. (",)

so we met at the train station, and eventhough we haven't seen each other for so long, i think i'll recognize her in the crowd (some of our batchmates have commented that she's changed so much in appearance, but i don't agree, though. i mean, well, ofcourse, she looks older compared to when we were younger (who doesn't, anyway?)... and perhaps her face is fleshier now (i think she used to be skinny in high school), and she looks so much better as well. but i'd still recognize her.

i never knew her personally in high school, we never got to hang out, we never talked, we never even so much as greeted each other on the corridors. first because we were never classmates and second because, well, i think we just both didn't care about one another's existence. and, like i said, on my part, i think she was snooty. not a snob. snooty.

but i wouldn't know if she really was, since i never really knew her before. but if she was, well, she isn't snooty now. nu-uh. not even one tiny bit. if anything, i find her to be nothing but a really sweet and modest person. and honestly, i really, really had a wonderful time with her. i wish she could have stayed longer.

sometimes i could go hating on FB, but whenever i think about the opportunities it has given me to find old friends, and meet new people and make new friends, like i think what happened with me and Sig, i just can't help but be thankful.

me and Sigrid in front of the Trocadero Fountains (yeah, she's so tall, kainis)

i have the entire PHOTO ALBUM HERE

Welcome, Year 2010!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

we welcomed the year in our home, with the only relatives i have here in Paris. as usual, Noemi is the ever-reliable organizer of lahat ng gimik at kalokohan. and take note... may motif pa talaga ang celebration! hulaan nyo kung ano:

View our New Year's Eve Celebration HERE.

Weekend in Milan

An impulsive decision to visit Milan, Italy with my cousins Noemi, Ariel and Apple on an otherwise ordinary weekend. The weather there was soooooo fine, just a little warmer than Paris, but still cold in the early mornings. This is also the first time I saw our distant relatives, Tita Au, Jing, her husband Mark, their daughters Alysson and Gene, and Toto - after they've all migrated to Milan, Italy. We (Alan, chichi and I), Noemi and Ariel, all spent Saturday night at Tita Au's place, together with their old-time friends, Virgie and her hubby, Jay with their son AJ, and Toto's girlfriend Shirlene. That night the barkadas also held a slumber/drinking" party for us. Lunch, dinner, pulutan, and the Sunday brunch all courtesy of Jay and his wonderful talent in cooking. 


The next day, Sunday, was the sightseeing and picture-taking day. We went to visit the Piazza Duomo and its famous Duomo Cathedral, which was once the largest cathedral in the world, but still remains to be the largest cathedral in Europe. Fiive steps from the Duomo square is the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele... not a gallery, but literally Milans' Champs Elysees. Then off to the Castelo Sforzesco, part of Milan's renaissance architecture which now houses several museums. Kinda like Paris' The Louvre.

View photos here: http://redthetemptress.multiply.com/photos/album/25/Weekend_in_Milan


THESE SHOTS were taken using three different cameras, hence the different image qualities of each photos. Needless to say that qualities of the shots also depend on the photograpther's (which we're not) ability to take good shots at good angles with good lighting... which, ofcourse neither I, nor my husband, possess. So we just posed and fired away at the cameras. Enjoy!

a stick of smoke and a cold glass of coke

AND I'M STILL BEGGING......

please, Master....

come

cage this soul...

for it desires to fly

... no more

Facebook Relationship Status Updates

Most of you guys here have a Facebook account... so I'm sure more or less you'll know what I'm talking about.

I don't know about you guys, but I really, really enjoy reading my friends' status updates. Especially those that say "_____ is now in a relationship"

Never fails to bring up a smile in me.

Just When I've Decided to be Girly for Once...

Luck just wouldn't let me.

Last week my husband decided to buy me a very cute, very handy, very small, and very awesome laptop (yes, I just loved it!). No, it's not my birthday. And no, that's not his present for our wedding anniversary last month (of course he already gave me one, and I'm not gonna tell, like you're interested). He bought the laptop because of one teeny weeny discussion we had over our desktop's wallpaper.

Our pc desktop has always had a picture of The Beatles as its wallpaper. Upon our return to Paris, I don't know what's gotten into Alan's head, but he changed it into a picture of his silly dream car. Of course I hated it. And so a teetytat ensued. Well of course you could say why didn't we have separate user accounts in the first place. Well... first of all, we both hated having to choose our user accounts upon startup. Second, we (usually) both run the same programs, apps, etc.... And besides, I usually do all pc-related stuff for him. Upload photos/songs/videos for his archos player, upload games and update firmwares for his PSP, download torrent movies for him, upload stuff and synchronize his PDA. If he wants something done that has anything to do with his gadget toys and the pc, he calls me. So I saw no point in separating user accounts.

But then he also hated the stuff I put in our pc, MY programs, apps, stuff he doesn't use. And he hated the fact that the desktop's full of shortcut icons. And mostly, he hated that he ALWAYS had to choose between windows xp and windows vista everytime our pc boots up, as I installed dual OS in our pc... because I still sometimes miss the practicality of running things on xp. And I told him it didn't matter if he didn't like a lot of things in our pc because he rarely used it anyway. And then he retorted that he rarely used it because he gets lost with all the things that's in it.

And so these things he hated and hated all piled up until finally, great news! He took me to Surcouf and voila! A brand-new laptop of my choice. At first I wanted to get a notebook. They've got a lot of those here. You know, the tiny things that do delightful stuff? I'd have wanted to get a 10-inch screen MSI notebook, with built-in webcam and an 80GB hard disk drive, and it weighs a little over a kilo. It was perfect. Well, almost. Only it had no dvd player. It's a notebook, so what did I expect?

But Alan is not the type of guy who likes things that's missing something and you still have to buy separately. He likes them all packed up in one item. And in a way he was right. So he told me to get a laptop instead. Of all the lappies in that store, acer aspire caught and held my eye. Mainly because of its small size, a 12.1-inch screen (really, I would've chosen size over specs. hehe). And also, Alan was right again when he said that 80 GB of HDD just wouldn't do for me, and running just on windows xp, and I've also somehow come to love vista. Of course it's way more costly compared to MSI Wind. But then, for a laptop that's ultra portable and heavy on the specs, the price is more than worth it.



I've never parted with it since the day we bought it. I take it practically everywhere! It's light and small enough to carry on my backpack.. I'm even using it to write this blog just now.

There's just one thing I hate about this laptop, though. Oh, the laptop's really fine. And gorgeous. I just hate the fact that I couldn't find a decent bag for it. Not a case, mind. A bag. And a girly one. Yes, for once, I'd like to carry a girly bag around. Not only because girly bags look cute. But because of the fact that since I love carrying my lappy everywhere I go, with a girly laptop tote bag you don't look like you're walking around the streets screaming, "I'm carrying a laptop with me!" for every mugger to see (oh yes, there are street muggers in Paris!).

But goodness, gracious, great balls of Julian McMahon, I just couldn't find A. CUTE. GIRLY. LAPTOP. TOTE. BAG. anywhere! why? have they simply forgotten that women buy laptops, as well?

i found some on ebay and amazon. And the prices are cute, too. But the shipping costs double or triple the price of the bags, which totals to a whopping amount. Like, something I could buy a few pair of jeans with. So I got stuck with one of those ugly black square things that when you wear, you look like you're walking around the streets screaming "i'm carrying a laptop with me!" for all the muggers to see (i told you, there are street muggers in Paris!).

But I still love the lappy. Thanks, baby, for getting me one. The pc at home is officially yours now.

Meet-up with My #Istambayan Friends

a few days after our Bora escapade, Ruel and I met up with our #istambayan friends. this is my first time to see my girls again since i left the Philippines five years ago (Ruel has seen them in his wedding last year).

we held our get-together at Gilligan's, Trinoma. syempre yung mga hindi na single, hindi rin mag-isang nagpunta. Ru was with her wife (and my sister) Mal, i was with alan and chichi, and Jo was with her boyfriend Feli. Mai came with her daughter Anja, and Joyce, who came alone but was later joined by her boyfriend. and Zel came with some cigarettes (she's single and happy, at the moment ^_^).

too bad nikki couldn't join us because i don't know why (i forgot what she said her reason why she couldn't come).

so here we are... after five years....

Clockwise: Ruel, Joyce, Me, Jo, Zel, Mai

Mine and Mai's little angels

View the album HERE