Happy Wedding, Mari

that's right, kids. our Mari is now Mrs. Tapere!



i wasn't there but banne took these pictures of the happy couple. i can't believe Mari looks just about the same pretty girl i used to talk with in high school. of course there's something so -- hmm -- official about the wedding gown.



I don't know the hubby well enough, but i'm sure he's a good guy. you know how it is when you start thinking about who your friends might end up with? i have this idea about who Mari would end up with and i'm sure Alby is all that and more.



God bless you, Mar! have a fun married life.

spidey rides an FX to megamall

if you get to be FX upholstery, then you know you have become part of Pinoy pop culture.



i got to ride this Pasig-Megamall FX yesterday on my way to work and i felt i was walking into a play pen. riding in the back made me feel like a baby in a crib - all around me spidey in various degrees of contortions.

on sick leave

i got time off work today. i've been feeling feverish and drowsy. my head alternates from feeling heavy and light.

not really a fan of bed rest, i marched to mega and looked for a good book. i just got some Powerbooks GC's courtesy of mr lee (company birthday gift) last week so splurging didn't make me feel too guilty.

the girlfriend had me looking for Letters to a Young Poet by one Rilke but Powerbooks doesn't have it. so i settled for The Narnian, a biography of CS Lewis. i think it's perfect because i've always wanted a new Christian book to read but i honestly couldn't stand the daily devotionals that pass for Christian Lit these days. (if you've read some real good ones tho, do tell me).

on the way home, i stopped for the nutty oats drink from Fruit Magic. the sales lady misunderstood me and got in an extra scoop of whey designer protein powder in the drink. i don't know if this will suddenly transform me into the hulk any time soon.

good book, good drink. i'm feeling healthy already.

randy is in town

randy is here for a month or so. we got together election day to eat, bowl, and talk -- mostly to talk. while the rest of the country queued up in humid voting precincts, we chatted about cars, pirated iPods, anorexic girlfriends, masochistic wrestlers and the difference between manila and cebu.



15 minutes into the bowling game, we were completely convinced we were wasting money so we can knock down flimsy white pins with pink balls. bowling is generally a boring game. but after you manage to do a couple of strikes, you start to feel there is more to it -- like maybe it really is a sport. and then your arm starts to ache and you finally conclude it really is stupid.



if you haven't talked with him lately, randy now speaks with the unmistakable twang notable of his profession. it could be quite disorienting at first, but after a few capably spoken "come on, man"-s, you'll get over it.



we ate at tokyo-tokyo. after an hour or so of waiting we finally resigned to the fact that larben and sir paul were not coming. i have been waiting to catch a glimpse of larben's flowing locks. i reckon it should be waist-length by now.



randy is seriously considering staying in manila for work. he loves the people. he loves the life. he adores greenhills. jayjay and i gave him a talk about investing on a good place to stay. if you don't, you will hate staying home and would rather choose to go out often. this entails a lot of gastos. but then again, a quality home is gasto in itself. this is the decision every working man (or woman) in manila must make.



see you around, randz! swing that ball like you mean it!

birthday gift

thanks to all who greeted me on my birthday.

phones i've dated

i've dated around seven phones in eight years so far. of course i had one fling with a small little sony ericcson, but she died on me (turned off and never lit up again -- we were together for just a couple of weeks).

so here are my ex's all displayed in chronological order. if i had ran my fingers over some technological goddesses which i failed to include in this list, do forgive me.



my first was a second-hand ericcson dinosaur. she looked something like this, although i had her dressed in some black star-lit cover. she was cranky and refused to tell me the names of people who send me text messages. we had a huge falling out when a friend accidentally broke her antenna (and my did she have one!). we got back together after i mighty-bonded her horn back. i loved the sound she made when she rang or beeped. the sound was crisp and perky, like a girl's demanding for attention.



and then i dated this alcatel damsel. then again, i guess everyone in the philippines caught the Talk 'N Text craze. unlike the one in the photo, i owned a bright yellow one. with its sturdy and curvy build and bright yellow color, it looked like i was carrying a bar of Safeguard soap around. i loved how she fit correctly in my hand -- all her curves and mounds fit perfectly in my palm. proof that the design department of Proctor and Gamble are doing their job.




now this one's a looker (nokia 3210). she may have been the sexiest phone i've ever dated. i loved the dark sandy grey color she came in originally. (somehow dressing her in other covers made her look cheap, so i had her wear her grey dress until it chipped off her.) she can play very few games, but she would always keep me up playing Snake with her. i always remember the subtle click-clackity sounds she made when i pressed. this phone i worn out till she broke.



this sweety was all about features (nokia 6510). she did so much for me! she can play the radio, surf the net, talk with other phones thru infrared. she was also incredibly small. sadly, this meant falling out of my hands quite often. although i always dropped her, she held up for me, the little trooper that she was. i loved the cool blue light she shone -- clear, quiet beauty.



i think everyone goes thru a nokia 7650 phase. i not only wanted a phone that can do many things for me but one that can do everything! i hated her look, but i convinced myself that her bulky slide was the thing for the technorati. for all she can do, she turned out to be pretty high-maintenance and i wasn't really prepared to spend so much time and effort on her. one afternoon, she cronked up and then refused to let me access my SIM. i called it quits.



this phone was all about attitude (nokia 7200). she wears this soft velvety cover which i enjoyed tremendously. she was ubber-thin once she is opened -- sleek and slender. she made me fall in love with flip phones. i had to let her go because i decided it was time for a change (i had a feeling she was getting old on me -- we were together for more than 2 years). i really wasn't ready to part especially since everyone seems to loved her, but move on we must.



i'm seeing this baby now (sony ericcson w710i). she's a walkman phone so she can sing a pretty good tune. she's very sporty and she insists on counting all the calories i burn from walking or running. i am crazy over her colors -- white, grey and orange. i've always complained about feeling old (what with work and financial concerns), but when i look at her i am reminded to have fun. she gets mixed reviews about her design (every one seems to think she looks odd), but the first time i saw her peeking at me from a window display in Causeway last year, i fell in love. she had me at fun.

kwentongwatawat.blogspot.com

visit this site for a dose of pinoy pride.

and now... puppy tongues!

i wish these puppies wake me up mornings. teeheehee!

d'great digicam hunt

armed with purchasing power -- having received the sacrament of bonus money -- we trooped to the secret enclaves of quiapo in search for cheap but sophisticated digital cameras (hereunto referred to as digicams).

it's really quite romantic that we chose the first of May to purchase the coveted gizmos. on that day devoted to the sacrifices of the working class, we treated ourselves to the absolute luxury of the most high-tech vanity tool. what is that thing again about the fruits of your labor?



it turned out that the fruits of our labor were Cannon Ixus 7.1 million megapixels of yumminess. it would set as back P16,500 each (of course this was haggled price, and mommy bea's boyfriend had to endure the stern resistance of the chinese store owner). mommy bea bought one, mama rene bought one, bugan bought one. lil jessica bought a funny little contraption that you can stick to your camera, so in turn, the camera can be stuck anywhere else. it's called a gorillapod and it's truly cute.

i pretended to believe in the virtue of saving. plus i still haven't gotten over the digicam banne and i lost in Enchanted Kingdom last year. when i told my sister i lost her graduation gift, i could hear her heart break over the phone all the way from dubai. such sad thoughts.

(the rest of our bonus money would pay for brother's tuition fees, sister's laboratory fees, mama's hospital bills, papa's house improvement projects, tito's babuyan business, tita's utangs, bunso's cell phone, lola's load, kuya's 52nd baby, mang carding's pam-piyansa, aling nena's debut, what-have-you. in short, to everyone back home.)



it's true what they say about our generation. we are absolutely vain. you only have to switch the tv on and watch channels after channels of advertising directed to our age bracket selling "age miracle creams" and "age-defying shampoo". you cannot count the number of "beach bods" contests with the your fingers and toes. you can barely travel thru C5 without getting a stiff neck from turning your head to porn-ish billboards.

we are absolutely in love with ourselves. we have learned to equate great looking clothes to a successful career; fair skin to a happy love life; toned body to healthy living. our older siblings' generation had their depression, our parents' had their free love, our lolos' had their revolutions, we have our looks. and by george, do we look good. go to any mall and stare at us in our pamporma attire and tell me i'm lying.



at the end of our labor day escapade, we went to see Ang Cute ng Ina Mo. it's a perfect movie if you don't want to think. you just need to sit down and listen to Eugene Domingo's faux ausie accent. it's hysterical.

we might want to be cool, but we really crave for a good ai ai movie.

everyone's going away

fun times at contessa during jan's despidida. 3 people in this picture have left Azeus. it won't be long till 2 follow suit (well, 1 is still under negotiation as of writing). employment is a tricky thing.



that's my "what am i gonna do after these a-holes leave me" face. i'll be that creepy guy in your office who eats lunch alone. heck i'll be dwight k. schrute and terrorize everyone! darn it, guys!