january movies & games (2009)

i've been taking notes of every movie i've seen & every game i've started & finished.

to wrap up, this month, i have seen the following on dvd or the cinemas.

on dvd:

both comedies. only for adult viewers as they both have crude & sexual content all throughout, not to mention the vulgar language & nudity. on 'zack & miri..', be prepared to see private parts on several scenes hehe.

the hitcher: suspense/thriller. the lead actor gets sliced in half near the end of the movie eewww;

slumdog millionaire: award winning? nothing phenomenal. i did anticipate the indian group dance at the ending credits...interesting...

at the cinemas:

benjamin button: movie was lengthy but not boring;

bedtime stories: brought rayna with us, she loved it

the games i played:

ratchet & clank: finished;

ff 12: just had a taste at rye's cousin's ps2. i like!!

fall of man: half done, first person shooter games make me drowsy

prince or persia: i like! but had to trade it w/ 4 other games before i got to thoroughly enjoy it

she craved for cpk

january 16, 2009

my staffs candidly formed the team name 'gennators', derived from my name plus the word janitors ahehe. i will not explain why ahaha!

for the 1st quarter team build for the year, we went out on the 16th for a 5k dinner at the california pizza kitchen at the glorietta mall. the resto was my barely 2 month pregnant staff abcd's preference which no one was able to argue with hehe (lakas ni abcd ah!). the original plan was to scan the bars at greenbelt, have dinner at one & get a few drinks. the idea in fact came from me when i mentioned to abcd how delicious the pasta i ate in cpk was with rye weeks earlier & i was trying frantically to recall the name of the pasta. she instantly craved for pasta & pizza & led the group to cpk glorietta ahehe. most of the guys did not thoroughly enjoy though.. well..what the heck..we still have 3 quarters for the year eh?

cpk has the most expensive alcohol so we only had a plain pizza & pasta dinner & went home after 10pm. our bill was a whopping 5K plus (wala pang alak yan a!), for 3 different pizza flavors, 2 pastas, 1 appetizer & juices for all. it was still fun nonetheless, fortunate to have comedians in my team to spice up every shift including that dinner. most of the members of my team are new so it was an excellent time to bring humor on the table so the newbies would get more comfortable w/ me & their team mates.

tokens from the big boss

january 23, 2009

our brit boss was extremely pleased with the success of our department's xmas party last month he gave away gift certs as bonus to us major contributors. i for one was in charge of the entertainment & sound system. i was able to pull in juan pablo dream effortlessly who by the way was bathed with adoration by our big boss, which i'd like to reiterate, was my mission why i chose that band & their music in the first place.

here are a few of his gifts to us:

10 coupons of P200 discounts to the Spa
outback privilege card, a P500 gift card & a P500 discount card

as added bonus, our boss planned an outback dinner for the group, w/ him, using the gift cards he gave away & pay the excess.

khaye, the lead-off person of the xmas party, & myself marked the 23rd for the dinner. i was on the morning shift so i was available 7pm onwards. most of us went ahead to the outback restaurant at the glorietta mall & our boss & other bosses arrived later. we started dinner by 9pm.

the facade

i had the beef stroganoff fettuccine dinner plus my sangria which were firsts to my taste buds. the rest ordered the resto's specialty, steaks ofcourse. but prior to everything else, which resulted to not being able to finish my pasta, was the overload of starters. there were the famous bloomin' onions, the aussie cheesy fries (voted as the worst food in america, which unfortunately i only read later, due to its exuberant calorie content), kookabura wings (spicy!), & their very own spinach artichoke chips & dips (also spicy!). when our meals came, most of us were already full haha!

we all finished off w/ coffee & went home after midnight.

total bill for 12 people at outback? P14k in cash plus the gift cards. not cheap.

cat hunt!

can't shake off this cat-craze episode i'm having!
you see, my nieces are having their birthdays this month & i thought of the perfect gift!

i've been a dog fanatic ever since but that has changed since my chow chow nala, my shih tzu chami & the recent dachshund i purchased all died either from street accidents or disease. i still am a canine devotee, i just couldn't get another one because imported lines are expensive! i got nala for almost 20k & she gave me constant headaches because of her perpetual skin issues. needless to say, maintaining one would eat all my time as no one else in the house shares that task w/ me, as always!

i assume turning to felines would be a tad easier. we've always had stray cats at home but we never took these cats inside. none of these cats are sick & we don't even give a rat's ass how they do or what they eat! they're noticeably healthy animals living at our backyard, unrequiring our attention, & they are still alive!

one time, nicole, my niece, brought home a stray kitten she caught at the hospital during one of her check-ups & brought her home. the kitten was amusingly sweet we treated her like a pet until one day she just disappeared after the new years! we all got disheartened by her loss & we truly miss her. that's when i began hunting for a new pet.

i'm bringing in a cat tomorrow as a present for my nieces! a 1 year old traditional persian pure-white cat. we'll call him whisky. the name: courtesy of rye. nice diba??

new years & after

new years eve

after sending my still sick baby to sleep, i went out to our garage & joined the rest for new years dinner & drinks. there was still a quarter left of that cuervo tequila & served it for myself, my cousin & brother. rye took an off that eve (he was on duty christmas eve) & joined us after several hours playing metal gear on ps3. as the clock struck 12mn, i went to check on my daughter which was crying hysterically already due to the loud fireworks outside! i took her to our garage where everybody was & enjoyed watching the fireworks by our neighbors & nearby subdvisions. it rained harder after midnight so the noise from the fireworks died down shortly.

january 2, 2009

we went to our mother-side relatives' house at greenland, marikina for a reunion. my mom's uncle & auntie who are permanently residing in london visited for the holidays. they've been holding parties here & there & giving out tokens to everybody. pictures here:

first time for rayna to ride her new motorbike at the street

she looks like me doesn't she!

january 3, 2009

dad was supposed to bring us kids to the quezon city circle after the party at marikina but rayne's motorbike was suddenly inoperable after charging it's battery. i brought it to the toy kingdom at sm fairview the next morning for a quick repair (a wire got loose), went back home & prepared my daughter for a stroll at the park w/ my sister, nieces & yaya before late afternoon.

christmas 2008

my poor baby daughter was sick all through out the holidays. her doctor did advise that i admit her to the hospital if she continues to not take her meds. giving her meds particularly took a toll on us especially my baby. she'd cry hysterically & vomit afterwards. she shed off alot of weight during th holidays when most of us were putting on christmas weight. gradually, through persistence, she took her meds. she recovered before new years but still with coughs & colds. she's now finally gaining the weight she lost.

in the meantime, we still had the typical/traditional 'de guzman' christmas eve celebration at home. here are some pics:

my sickly baby opening her gift/s; our christmas tree loaded w/ gifts for everybody

munchin' on watermelons, look how thin she got *:(; cousin jolo flashing my gift to him

preparing for noche buena; my baby w/ my cousin mico

dad & tito norbie watching a reply of the pacquiao fight on internet; nik lovin' her knee high osh kosh socks

tita ebeth holding our gifts for her; cousin mike flashing my gift to him

nanay (grandmother) opening our gifts for her; nanay giving out ampao (chinese envelopes w/ money inside) to her apo's (grandchildren).

mom & dad & their gifts

tito norbie & badeth & their gifts

cousin mico & the gifts i gave him; yaya who jumped for joy when she got these gifts i got for her

& the drinking sessions after served w/ vodka cruisers, san mig light, tequila & red wine

receiving on christmas day

here are some of the awesome gifts myself & my rayna got this christmas. thanks to everyone who remembered! i'm not used to getting gifts anymore since i practically became an adult. the only ninong i know alive said i'm earning more than he does now! (not fair!)

a slinky black flower-printed blouse from my sister & nieces

a madilta rag doll from ninang alex a blouse from mayi who dropped by after xmas just to drop off gifts amidst the rain. so sweet!lip gloss & bangle from my lovely sis-in-law sam a fancy (but expensive!) diamond studded ring from ninang alex which she got at prp & a gift to myself, this lovely necklace a cute little shirt for my li'l one from my sister & niecesfrom rayne's ninang

i did mention i got my daughter a motorbike for christmas.

the cat posed pa ha; little bitch sticker courtesy of her ninang irish haha

& my li'l girl on her motorbike. now learning exhibitions hahaha!

giving on christmas day

what makes me most particularly giddy anticipating the christmas season is the gift giving! unlike last year, i had saved enough cash to get a gift for each member of my family, friends & a few officemates.

here's what i got for each of them:

for my parents - wensha spa & wellness gift certificates each. was supposed to get platform sandals for mom at the people are people shop but they ran out of sizes & a polo shirt for dad but noticed that it had been years that we've been giving him the latter so i wanted to make it different & unexpected this time.

for my daughter - i bought the mini-motorcycle she's been craving for everytime we went to the toy kingdom.

for my partner - a couple of shirts & a bag/case for his brand new playstation 3. yeba! exciting except for the fact that the games are uber expensive! ps3's are still unmodifiable as they have just been recently released unlike the ps2 where one can buy 100 peso above pirated games on cd's all over metro manila. we were lucky enough to find a stall at the market market shopping mall for a less than 3k game. good thing we're surrounded with ps3 owners who lent us a handful of games in addition to a couple we purchased.

for my sister - a cutesy pair of red disney infant rubber shoes for my soon-to-arrive nephew.

for nieces trisha & nik - (in addition to cash) a couple of osh kosh knee high printed socks for nik & art-y pair of hip stockings for trish.

for rye's mom, a couple of my uncles & their families - stone wall crosses i got for a very reasonable price at eastwood.

for 6 of my friends at work, sam, alex, saleng, shiela - balls of rose & lavender bath salts from watson.

for my daughter's yaya - a pack of nail polishes & a cologne.

for one of my tita's & my 2 grandmothers - colorful scented candles.

for my brother - 3 t-shirts.

for my boss - bath salts, oil & sponge from watson.

for one of my tita's - a can of danish cookies.

& small tokens each for mga inaanak, cousins & friends' kids.

it never mattered if i was left w/ only a few pesos in my wallet from the shopping when it's time to take out the gifts under the christmas tree & witness the sheer joy i bring to my loved ones when they open their respective gifts. it always felt really good *:)

next post, the gifts my daughter & myself received & with photos this time!