dvd wishlist

gosh, my post title sounds sooo corporate. blech!

anyhow, just a few minutes ago i had the urge to check out amazon. and boy, i now regret doing so.

loads of new and upcoming releases that i certainly am looking forward to:
• grey's anatomy - season 1 - released
• queer as folk - final (fifth) season - out may 9
• boston legal - season 1 - out may 9
• scrubs - season 3 - out may 9

now where my trusty credit card ... yay!

27

today i turn 27 with mixed emotions.

on one hand i'm really excited and very much looking forward to my birthday. i'm turning a year older and hopefully much wiser.

but on the other, i'm feeling quite anxious and scared ... don't know why, though.

all i know is that this will be a very very significant year for me. in what way? i've got no clue, but i've always felt this way about my 27th birthday.

so how do i sum up the past 27 years of my life? i think i shall say, bittersweet.

it's been great and rewarding, yet boring and uneventful. sometimes painful and frustrating. and most of the times, reflective and philosophical.

some things about me have changed.

i've gone from being a loner to being more sociable, to still being detached at times. from being cold and mechanical to being more emotional and warm-er. and from being cautious and goody-two-shoes to being unreserved (i see people agreeing) and, of course, evil.

but still some things remained the same.

i still dream of big things. i still am very o.c. i still love to have some drama in my life. i'm still scared shits of uncertainty. and i still fear of being rejected.

i still look forward to more years of fun and laughter - and tears na rin. i do wish to spend more time with family and friends. i want to meet new people and build some lasting friendships. in one way or another, i hope i could touch more people ... errr i mean, i hope i could touch more people's lives.

and i remain very much hopeful that someday i'll end my quest and finally be with a lifelong partner.

in the end, i am optimistic. and i guess, that is the most important thing in life.

p.s. thank you all for being a part of those 27 years

busy weekend - part 2

baby shower at tai tam tuk reservoir

had an early start yet again today. this time, it's for an outdoor barbeque baby shower for a pinoy colleague.

had to wake up early to make sure me and two of my other pinoy colleagues have enough time to drop by park n shop to buy drinks, ice, chips and other stuff we needed - and get to the barbeque site as early as possible to get things started.

the weather wasn't the best for an outdoor activity. it was very much overcast, damp, with on and off drizzle. it was cool though. but we had loads of fun, laughter and food, nonetheless.

of course, for any barbeque, it's always a challenge to start the fire. and we weren't spared. it took at least 15 minutes and 5 people to actually get the fire started.

for some weird reason, we feel charcoals in hk are of such a "high quality" and so packed that they dont' catch fire easily. good when you're trying to prevent the grocery from burning down, but bad when it's the single most important thing to get a barbeque started.

so we had a feast. there were i think about 10 dishes ranging from salads to pancit to barbequed meats and homemade cakes. there were so much food that we had to take a lot of leftovers home.

after lunch, we had to scamper to the nearest gazeebo (just about 10 steps away). it rained. but was a perfect cue for the "games" and the "gifts" part of the baby shower.

by 430pm, we called it a day and went our separate ways. some went straight home, some hoped make it to hear mass, others met up with friends, and i managed to squeeze in a couple of hours at the gym - with all the food i had, i really really can't skip gym.

it's been a very busy weekend - with early starts, but loads of fun. tomorrow ushers in my birthday week, and so far, weeknights are proving to be quite hectic. tiring as the schedule may seem, i don't mind, i know i'll have lots of fun anyways.

(photos from the barbeque to follow)

busy weekend - part 1

my first trip to discovery bay

this weekend is proving to be a very very busy one. today (or yesterday to be exact), soy, franco, peanuts and i helped out ivy move out of her flat in south horizons to move to "expat central" discovery bay.

it was kinda challenging because she, just like us who have tried moving flats before her, fell into the trap of just packing (millions of) stuff in small boxes or large plastic bags - which meant having to take several tedious trips from the flat to the van.

to make things more complicated was the fact that the van was parked on the street beside the complex - which meant we had to bring all the stuff down to the podium, then shifting them down a flight of stairs (2 or 3 floors high) then round the bend before getting to the van.

so what was initially meant to be a 30-minute loading took an hour-and-a-half to finish.

after a 1-hour drive, we finally arrived in discovery bay in lantau island (it's the same island where the airport is). this time, unloading the stuff and bringing them up to her new home was much more a breeze.

at past 1pm, we headed over a few blocks away to gia's place, where she gracefully hosted a homecooked lunch for all of us - plus fellow dbay crew chinky.

then after lunch, the pinoy in all of us kicked in and we had a videoke session. we were actually having a blast - well, at least until the magic mic's battery gave up (and we couldn't find any other battery that works; had there been one, we would have continued singing).

and by 5pm-ish, we were back at ivy's place again acting like the fab five helping her unpack and set her place up - but actually ended up harrassing her and spoiling her "peace and quiet" (we thinks).

anyways, by 6pm, we were all tired and decided to head back to the city where we all went our separate ways to retire.

well, except me. i had an impromptu dinner date followed by a drink afterwards.

it was a pretty packed day today. and tomorrow will be another one. more kwento tomorrow, but for now, here are pics from today's activities.


the hk crew in gia's place


the hk crew on our way back to ivy's place


some of the hk crew gone mental


gia, me and jane-y


peanuts and i


that's me and gia's toy (is it a gecko or a lizard?)

screwed up holidays (part 2)

well, it's confirmed. bading si rustom (yeeeesh, that's sooooo passé) ...

... i got my (e)ticket already and i'm set to fly home for a short break ...

so i'm taking the last flight out on april 4th, and returning on april 9th. it's just a five/four-day stay in manila, but a break nonetheless - for the following week will be hell.

i sense that i won't be having a full easter holiday given that our first trade show in hk will be opening that weekend, and there are some related stuff that i got dragged into yesterday.

oh well!

"anatomy" rules

Eonline reports: "Grey's Anatomy" Still on Super High

yes, you have to catch the fantastic super bowl episodes. they're billed as the best episodes of grey's anatomy ever. and i must agree.

the story was unpredictable, the acting was intense, and kyle chandler guest stars!

aliw!!! galing-galing!!!

quit

found some time saturday night to squeeze in a trip to the cinema to watch brokeback mountain - finally.

"i wish i knew how to quit you!" may be one of the film's most popular dialogues. but this particular line is also closest to home. and tonight this exact sentiment struck even closer.

i was already warned "no expectations = no dissappointment" but i did and still do. so i end up feeling down and unhappy.

i'm writing this with some heaviness inside. rationally i shouldn't be feeling this way since there's really no logical basis to start with. but reality is, i feel quite upset.

i guess, if you really put your heart and mind on someone, you start to hope and expect - especially when you see that there's a connection and you enjoy each moment. unfortunately, things -sometimes - don't usually go your way, and it does lead to disappointment.

i guess, this is all a product of naivete, maybe immaturity. but i just can't help it, i wish i know how to take things slow, i wish i know to take things less seriously, i wish i know how to quit you.

screwed up holiday

okay okay okay, i do miss people back home and i wanted to spend my birthday with them. yes, i'm turning 27 on the 27th.

so i have this grand plan of simply spending a weekend with peeps back home - my folks and my closest friends. just an intimate time together to chat and have food, drinks and lots of laughter. as an added bonus, lhasyus just gave birth (congrats!!!) and i want to catch up on her.

but things fell through.

i confirmed my bookings in early march - usual battle plan, fly out friday night the 24th then back to hk on tuesday night or wednesday night. ticket deadline was march 6. but i was in shanghai on the 6th, busy with iic and the launch party (more kwento in my next post). so i totally forgot about the automatic cancellation.

friday, i called my agent to confirm and get the ticket issued. she informed me that all outbound flights for that weekend are full. hayop, lahat ata ng pinoy sa hk e may kamag-anak na gagraduate! so i had to look for alternatives.

one option was to fly out first thing on saturday morning (well, it's actually 11am). i got a confirmed seat on that flight, but i have to make sure this is ok with my parents, especially since they are among the people i wanted to be with.

and then i found out my dad can't be in manila on the 27th - he's now based in tarlac helping out with my tito's piggery business. he has to hold the fort while my tito's on a business trip until april 5th.

so there, plan b didn't work out either. so finally, plan c. i've decided to fly out on april 4th instead and stay until the 9th. but murphy's law was very much at work. apparently, all flights in april until easter are already fully booked.

then there was a glimmer of hope. after checking further, i found out that all seats under the cheaper 14-day fare class are booked, but then there were available seats on the 30-day booking class, which are pricier by only hk$200. so i booked myself and had confirmed seats.

there, so my itinerary is hkg-mnl april 4, mnl-hkg april 9. hopefully, things will go smoothly from this point on. updates to come next week.

good riddance!

finally, the cocky narcissistic bastard gedeon mckiney is out of AI5!!! i must admit, he is a very very good singer and performer, but he's just too egotistical and arrogant for my liking. good riddance!

anyways, this year's finalists are such a good bunch with lots of talented singers that it's hard to really root for one. but if i were to choose one guy and one girl, i'd definitely put my money on chris daughtry and mandisa. kebs ace young!!!