Unleashing Your Personal Potential

On Nov. 8 and 9, I attended a seminar given by the company about unleashing one's personal potential. It was more of a personal development seminar rather than something that had to do with the business--which I really appreciated.

It was really more of discovering myself and finding out what I want to do with my life rather than finding out what to do with the company. A favourite activity that we did was to list down the things that we all want to do but never got around to doing so. Here is what I wrote down:

1. Cook and bake more - which I'm actually doing now. I cooked another pot of pancit molo yesterday morning and Leo bought me some baking equipment today.
2. Go to ALL amusement parks in the US - this has always been my frustration. The last time I was in the US, I was 11 years old and the primary reason why I went there was to go to Disneyland. But for reasons which I can't remember now, I was not able to go and the nearest thing to Disneyland that I managed to go to was Universal Studios. Hopefully, Leo and I would be able to go there soon so I can fulfill this dream.
3. Visit all the 7 wonders - I think there's more than 7 now. Hopefully I'll be able to do this before I die.
4. Have twins - being a twin myself, I want to have twins as well. According to people, chances that I will have one will be quite big but I do believe it skips a generation. But well, I'll still keep my hopes up.
5. Watch/Compete in Iron Chef - I'm only a mediocre cook that's why I love Iron Chef so much. Heck, I love watching cooking shows and watching two cooks going against each other makes me love cooking more.
6. Go to cooking school - One of my groupmates is a frustrated cook like me. He actually went as far as to inquire tuition for the cooking school of Benilde (horribly expensive). He cooks for his own pleasure anyway.
7. Visit my mom and sister in the US - This would hopefully push through soon. We have plans and we pray that this one would push through.
8. Be a house/car owner - I never did place much value on acquiring these things. But now that I'm married and would hopefully soon have a family, we want to own those things as a form of security for our future children.
9. Visit old churches and places full of history - When I was choosing a major in college, I actually ticked "History" as a second choice. I've always been fascinated with old places. If the walls could just talk, they could give me unbiased stories on how the past was like.
10. Go back to school - I'm 2 subjects short (excluding the Oral Comprehensive Exam) in attaining my MBA degree. Leo already graduated three weeks ago. I'm planning to return next term.
11. Get an eye laser surgery - My eyesight is fast deteriorating. In my last check-up, I'm already at 5.00/4.50. I'm halfway to being blind. Not surprising as I'm in front of the computer the whole day. Just last week, I switched the resolution of my screen to make the letters and icons larger than it was.
12. Lose weight - After the wedding, I binged on food. I ate after depriving myself for the past year. However, I'm fast returning to my old size last year. Probably after the Christmas season. I won't dare go on a diet during Christmas. I'll be very depressed.
13. Own a grocery or bookstore - Ever since I was a kid, those two have been my dream/s. I remember playing tinda-tindahan with my siblings. My aunt also owns a sari-sari store in Tondo and I loved spending time there when we were there during the fiesta. As for the bookstore, I'm on my way there. with hubby - I think this would be in conjunction with #9.
14. Road trip - Unfortunately, hubby does not like driving much. I guess I really do need to learn how to drive so I can do the driving.
15. Go to Disneylands around the world - What can I say? it's the child in me. I love amusement parks.

Incidentally, I had a haircut this morning. It was the haircut that I had when I was in first year high school! Hah! I look like a boy. At least my husband still has shorter hair than me. Harharhar!

Pictures for Panganiban Calendar

Requested by Tita Mae and Tito Nesty for the annual Panganiban calendar

Unleashing Your Personal Potential

On Nov. 8 and 9, I attended a seminar given by the company about unleashing one's personal potential. It was more of a personal development seminar rather than something that had to do with the business--which I really appreciated.

It was really more of discovering myself and finding out what I want to do with my life rather than finding out what to do with the company. A favourite activity that we did was to list down the things that we all want to do but never got around to doing so. Here is what I wrote down:

1. Cook and bake more - which I'm actually doing now. I cooked another pot of pancit molo yesterday morning and Leo bought me some baking equipment today.
2. Go to ALL amusement parks in the US - this has always been my frustration. The last time I was in the US, I was 11 years old and the primary reason why I went there was to go to Disneyland. But for reasons which I can't remember now, I was not able to go and the nearest thing to Disneyland that I managed to go to was Universal Studios. Hopefully, Leo and I would be able to go there soon so I can fulfill this dream.
3. Visit all the 7 wonders - I think there's more than 7 now. Hopefully I'll be able to do this before I die.
4. Have twins - being a twin myself, I want to have twins as well. According to people, chances that I will have one will be quite big but I do believe it skips a generation. But well, I'll still keep my hopes up.
5. Watch/Compete in Iron Chef - I'm only a mediocre cook that's why I love Iron Chef so much. Heck, I love watching cooking shows and watching two cooks going against each other makes me love cooking more.
6. Go to cooking school - One of my groupmates is a frustrated cook like me. He actually went as far as to inquire tuition for the cooking school of Benilde (horribly expensive). He cooks for his own pleasure anyway.
7. Visit my mom and sister in the US - This would hopefully push through soon. We have plans and we pray that this one would push through.
8. Be a house/car owner - I never did place much value on acquiring these things. But now that I'm married and would hopefully soon have a family, we want to own those things as a form of security for our future children.
9. Visit old churches and places full of history - When I was choosing a major in college, I actually ticked "History" as a second choice. I've always been fascinated with old places. If the walls could just talk, they could give me unbiased stories on how the past was like.
10. Go back to school - I'm 2 subjects short (excluding the Oral Comprehensive Exam) in attaining my MBA degree. Leo already graduated three weeks ago. I'm planning to return next term.
11. Get an eye laser surgery - My eyesight is fast deteriorating. In my last check-up, I'm already at 5.00/4.50. I'm halfway to being blind. Not surprising as I'm in front of the computer the whole day. Just last week, I switched the resolution of my screen to make the letters and icons larger than it was.
12. Lose weight - After the wedding, I binged on food. I ate after depriving myself for the past year. However, I'm fast returning to my old size last year. Probably after the Christmas season. I won't dare go on a diet during Christmas. I'll be very depressed.
13. Own a grocery or bookstore - Ever since I was a kid, those two have been my dream/s. I remember playing tinda-tindahan with my siblings. My aunt also owns a sari-sari store in Tondo and I loved spending time there when we were there during the fiesta. As for the bookstore, I'm on my way there. with hubby - I think this would be in conjunction with #9.
14. Road trip - Unfortunately, hubby does not like driving much. I guess I really do need to learn how to drive so I can do the driving.
15. Go to Disneylands around the world - What can I say? it's the child in me. I love amusement parks.

Incidentally, I had a haircut this morning. It was the haircut that I had when I was in first year high school! Hah! I look like a boy. At least my husband still has shorter hair than me. Harharhar!

Christmas/Birthday 2007 Wishlist

The usual wishes apply (1. peace and happiness for me and my family; 2. a happy year ahead; 3. less stressful working year ahead), however, I do have some material wants which I'm  dreaming to get. Just getting one is enough:

1. Book - Strengths Finder by Tom Rath (I'm only interested in the online test actually)
2. Havaianas (to grow my collection of 2)
3. Graphic Novel - Marvel 1602
4. New Cellphone (yung medyo may color naman at may camera)
5. Trip to Hongkong with shopping money!
6. Nintendo DS or PSP (I get bored waiting for the shuttle)

Mommy Elvie's Problematic Show

The show is a spin-off from the Misadventures of Maverick and Ariel. Mommy Elvie is Ariel's mom. The premise of the show is that Mommy Elvie wants to be famous before she turns 80. I saw an advertisement of this show months before but I keep on forgetting to catch it on TV. A few weeks ago, an officemate shared that he managed to catch an episode and it was so hilarious. I resolved that I'll try to catch it whenever I can.

Good thing I came home early today and while channel surfing after Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition (I love Yayo Aguila so sue me), I chanced upon the show at ABC5.

I did not know how the spisode started but by the time I tuned in, Ariel was interviewing Long Mejia in his home at Bulacan. Apparently, Long ran for councilor in the recent elections but he lost. After the interview, Long asked if he could hitch a ride back to Manila.

Next scene shows Mommy Elvie trying to wake up Ariel and she mistakenly thought Long to be a girl. It's hilarious the way she trades puns with her son and with Long (when he finally woke up). I fell off my chair laughing. I could feel the laugh all the way up to my head. That's how funny the show was. Especially when Ariel told his mom that Long will be staying with them for a month. Her facial expressions were priceless.

Anyway, try to catch the show if you can. 10pm Tuesdays at ABC5.

All Souls/Saints Day

Trips to Batangas, Pampanga and Makati to visit our dearly departed.

Circle of Life

2007 is a year wherein the Circle of Life is fully manifested. It's the first time in my life that I experienced a lot of deaths and on the other hand, a lot of births.

I've been writing death announcements one after the other and just recently, a friend of my mom passed away. My sister, her husband and I, went to her wake this evening to represent my mom. There were so many people there and the flowers were all in abundance. It's obvious that she was very much loved and will be very much missed. Just seeing the AVP prepared for her brought tears in my eyes.

Her death was caused by the same virus that killed one of the twin daughters of Benhur Abalos. They do not know where she got the virus, how it was transmitted and somehow, the specialists still don't have a cure. It was touch and go. When we spoke to her father and gave our condolences, he started crying again. He said he hasn't stopped crying ever since his daughter died.

As we practically did not know anyone except for the immediate family of the deceased, we kept to ourselves and stayed until the end of the mass. We marveled at the beautiful flowers and how magnificent the funeral home was (Sanctuarium is one of the newest things in the funeral business).

The whole thing got me thinking how fragile life is. Anyone can just die without due notice. Death sorts of gives one a different perspective on things. It made me think if I have lived or am living a meaningful life--a life which I can be proud of when I meet my Maker. It's not perfect nor is it bad. I still need to improve a lot of things and to decide on things that I'm hedging on.

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Leo and I visited three places this All Souls/Saints Day.

First of all, we visited Lolo Prime's grave at Batangas. The place was all clean and Lolo's grave was quite pristine. The one who cleaned up the place did a really good job.

We went there last Oct. 28 with Che, Mhon and of course, Miguel. We joined Tita Mae and her family. We had lunch at Tita Melen's place and we went to the cemetery.

Unfortunately, neither of us has the key to the mausoleum so just lighted our candles through the grill bars. Noticed though that the "PANGANIBAN" at the front is missing. I hope the letters were just taken out to be polished.











On the 1st of November, we joined Leo's family on a road trip going to Pampanga. We visited the grave of Papa's parents and brother at Sta. Ana. We rode with Tricie and her family on their nice Fortuner.

I'll post more pictures in the photos section.






Then lastly, on November 2, we went to Makati to visit Lolo Ruben and Lola Pacing's ashes.

Mhon, Che, Miguel, Nessie and Chloe were there. We had lunch there. Leo and I left at around 130 pm to go to Tagaytay as his family is waiting for us there.

We had dinner at Tagaytay Highlands where we went bowling with Leo's nephews and Leo's dad. Papa actually gave me tips on bowling. Didn't know that there's a science to it. I'm excited to go bowling soon to test all the new things I learned. Heck, it was the first time I bowled a score of 116 and at two strikes in a row! That has never happened to me before. I had an embarrassing moment when the ball flew out of my hands as I was pulling back to throw the ball. Good thing it did not hit any of the people sitting behind me.

Iron Chef

I've cooked some dishes the past few weeks. I cooked pumpkin soup last week as well as a potato croquettes. Both were yummy although the pumpkin soup was too thick. It could use some croutons though. But it was absolutely delicious!

Today, I cooked pancit molo. I badgered my mom's friend who's now based in Ireland months about it. Ever since I tasted her Molo years and years ago, I asked her to teach me how to cook it. It was absolutely delicious!

Her daughter finally sent me the recipe a couple of months ago and it was only today that I was able to cook it. I taste-tested it after I cooked it, it tasted absolutely the same! I'm so happy I managed to get the right taste.

Road Trips

We went to Pampanga yesterday to visit the tombs of my father-in-law's parents and brother. First time I've been to full cemetery for quite a long time. For the past years, my relatives and I avoid the November 1 crowd by either visiting before or after All Saints/Souls Day.

We left Manila around 10am. We met up with the family of Leo's sister over at Filinvest so we could ride with them comfortably (nice Fortuner). There was a traffic build-up over at SM City North EDSA all the way to the Balintawak tollway. Even saw a couple of drivers who were arguing. One even was supposed to get out of the car. Scary.

We had lunch at Teriyaki Boy over at SM Pampanga (yep, we went all to way to Pampanga just to eat at Teriyaki Boy) and was at the cemetery by 230pm. We stayed there for a couple of hours. By the time we were on our way home, daylight was gone.

We had dinner over at one of the highway stopovers. We rode with Leo's parents on the way back. Noticed that my father-in-law has one of those portable dvds. We watched Lea Salonga's broadway concert on the way back.

I'm getting ready for our trip today. We're visiting my dad this morning and have lunch with him. We'll also visit my paternal grandparents' ashes. After that, we're going to Tagaytay to spend the weekend there again with Leo's family.

I'll post pictures when we get back.

SCB Halloween 2007

I didn't notice but there was something wrong with the settings of my digicam. All of the pictures that I took (except for these 3), are all blurry.
Anyway, I don't know how much you would get to enjoy them but at least I posted something.

Nightmare on B Street

It's quite apt that I experience my first nightmare here at my new home on Halloween.

The dream started off innocent enough. I visited a friend (I can't remember who) at her office. While there, I kept trying to talk to people but they can't seem to hear me. Finally, she went off to lunch.

While waiting for her, I spoke with people who could hear me. It somehow dawned on me that I'm dead and it was something like out of Sixth Sense. When I figured that out, I dreamed that I woke up and I was back in our room. I got up and went to the bathroom to pee. But I was still hearing people who were supposedly dead. I tried running out of the bathroom but the door suddenly disappeared. I was trapped inside a yellow room and I couldn't find the door.

Finally, I was able to yank the door open and I ran to our bed. I tried to wake Leo but he couldn't hear me because I'm supposedly dead. Thankfully, this was the time I woke up.

I nudged Leo awake and started crying when he woke up as well. He hugged me and I brokenly told him about my nightmare. He held me for a few moments and when he said he wanted to go to the bathroom, I couldn't let go of him. My bladder was bursting as well so I let him go with me tagging along. He wanted to go to the other bathroom when I said I'm going too but I started crying again.I didn't want him to go anywhere. So he waited for me to do my business and when I was done, I waited for him as well.To think it was already daylight.

Now that I have eaten breakfast, taken a bath, drank my vitamins, I couldn't believe I was that distraught and needy. I hate these kind of nightmares. Morpheus, in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series calls it the "Eternal Waking" (In Vol. 1 of the series, Morpheus sentenced Alex Burgess, the son of his captor, to this punishment. Alex keeps on waking up to nightmares and people in the real world can't wake him up).

Anyway, we're just waiting for my in-laws to get ready. We're leaving for Pampanga in a few minutes to visit the tombs of Leo's paternal grandparents. Tomorrow, we're visiting the ashes of my paternal grandparents in Makati. We already visited our maternal grandfather's tomb last weekend. It's quite an improvement compared to last year's.