Kat and I met up two weeks ago for what was supposedly a movie date except they weren’t showing the Dr… The Imagi… whatever the heck is the title of Heath Ledger’s movie… at Megamall, so we ended up having pizza and pasta, coffee and non-alcoholic cocktails and planning on a spontaneous Baguio weekend.

Me: (whiney) Punta tayo Baguio.
Kat: (chewing on pizza that doen’t seem to get smaller) Sige.
Me: Kelan?
Kat: Sa weekend.
Me: Nyeh… hindi nga.
Kat: Hindi nga.
Me: Ok.

So I sent an SMS to Ching (Carla and Edith has met her, siya si Richel) asked, told, begged her to come with us since it was a day after her birthday, and since it was our anniversary month… She said she had to think about it, and would just text us mid-week. Two days later, she asks me to call her, and she tells me “Okay, sige. Sasama ako.”

I think I did cartwheels and screamed wheeeeee! for two solid hours (in my head, of course).

So Friday, Kat and I met up at Megamall so we can have dinner and go to her place, so we can go to Victory Liner’s Cubao station. And we were there by 1 a.m. Ching caught up with us at 1:30, and we got the 3:30 trip to Baguio, the City of Pines, the Summer Capital of the Philippines, and to the three of us, the home of our hearts.

We arrived at… was it 9? Or 9:30 a.m. and we never actually stopped moving:

9:30a – 11:00p : Ching’s sibs’ boarding house at Eng. Hill. We dropped off our bags, freshened up; I had a really bad tummy-ache because I drank ice-cold Pepsi on a semi-empty stomach at 3 a.m.

12:00p – 3:00p – Lechon Rice at Cathy’s at Diego Silang Street. They serve good food with big servings. I wasn’t able to go back the last time we were in Baguio (since I was asleep), so I bullied everyone and said “doon tayo kakain”. Then we walked to the new Dane’s, which used to be behind the public market but is now in a much accessible area with a bigger store space, for cream puff. They only had two left at dahil hindi siya sasayad sa lalamunan ko, hindi na lang muna ako bumili. Then we walked to UB to watch Kat’s sister’s performance.

3:00p – 5:00p – The Philippine Military Academy. Yes po. Nagpumilit ako umakyat ng Baguio to go to PMA. After that, pwede na ako umuwi ng Manila. I guess, separate entry ang PMA because… well, because. Basta.

Our only group pic at the Lopez Hall of Leaders (Photo by Kat)

5:00p – 7:00p – SM Baguio so Ching, being a good ate, can buy stuff for her sibs. I stopped myself from getting anything although mero akong nakitang magandang tube dress… maganda lang siya, pero wish kung masuot ko ‘yon di ba?

7:30p – 9:00p – Had dinner at Steaks and Toppings, another college hang-out spot because they serve good food at estudyante prices. We were all tired but I didn’t want to go home yet so when Ching started making noises about Market Encounter (the bazaar that they put up at Burnham Park every FlowerFest) I said puntahan na namin para hindi namin ma-miss since I realized I had to come home earlier on Sunday than our agreed upon time of 4p.m.

9:00p – 10:00p – Market Encounter. Nag-semi shopping si Ching while again, I restrained myself, because everything I wanted to get, I could get the next day at the market.

We went home to Osky’s boarding house soon after where Kat and I were supposed to stay that night. I fell asleep as soon as the lights were out but woke up at midnight and stayed awake until 4a.m.

9:00a – 10:00a – Got ready to go out. Tatlo kaming maliligo, and I think I took the longest kasi lamig ng tubig! Wheee! Lovet!

10:00a – 11:30a – Had brunch at McDonald’s Sunshine, then off to market where I did a whirlwind pasalubong shopping spree.

11:30a – 1:00p – Went to Victory to wait for Ching ulit who got us 2:10p tickets, but since napaka-aga pa, we walked back to her sibs’ place to hang. We decided to go back to town so I can finally buy cream puffs.

1:00p – 2:00p – Bought cream puffs, nakapag-ukay pa kami LOL

2:06p – got on the bus back to Manila.

Hay. I so want to go back na. Maybe this year, pwede na ako tumira ulit sa Baguio.

Her novel, To Love Again, is 1st runner up at PHR’s Novel of the Year for 2009!

Angel Bautista (PHR)/Carla Giopaolo (MSV) has become my favorite Tagalog romance writer since I first read Missy’s story. Inalok ako ni Apple, our beloved EA, ng books na pwede ko iuwi ang I saw a copy of  Nagkamali Ba ang Puso?, at hindi ko na pinakawalan. After that, naging fan na niya ako.

Favorite na favorite ko si Judith McNaught. Siya ang writer na nagtransition sa’kin from Sweet Dreams to romance novels, at pareho sila ng talent ni Angel. Hindi ako nagsasawa sa mga novels nila pareho kahit pa ilang beses ko basahin, at kahit ilang beses ko basahin, talagang sasakit at sasakit ang solar plexus ko sa mga parteng masakit sa dibdib ng mga characters. Ang galing niyang mag-develop ng characters at ang galing niyang mag-develop ng plot. At hindi halatang workaholic siyang hanggang leeg ang nakabinbin na trabaho kapag nagpasa siya ng nobela ha! Parang yung nobela lang niya ang tinatrabaho niya!

Hindi ako makapamili ng favorite kong Angel Bautista/Carla Giopaolo book dahil mahal ko silang lahat. Pero special ang To Love Again sa’kin kasi tinulungan ako ng librong ito na mag-iba ang tingin ko sa kapulisan. I swear takot ako sa pulis. Bago ko nabasa ang librong ito, never pa ako tumingin ng diretso sa mukha ng pulis. At kapag may nasasalubong akong isa sa kanila, mabilis ako maglakad palampas, palayo o patawid basta hindi ako lumapit sa kanila. Hindi ko alam pero may “pulis-phobia” ako.

Then, I met Patrick and Jay (ang aking si JC). After ng librong ito naging life’s greatest dream ko na ang makakita ng gwapong pulis kung kaya’t natutuwa na ako sa tuwing dadaan ako sa HQ ng pulis sa Pasig, at kapag may naka-unipormeng pulis akong nakikita, tinitignan ko na sila at ngumingiti na ako imbes na magmukha akong may bagong inisnatch na alahas sa Quiapo dahil sa bilis kong lumayo sa kanila. Hindi na ako takot sa kanila ngayon so dapat magpasalamat kay Angel Bautista ang buong PNP *ahehe*

Ang gusto ko lang naman sabihin ay congratulations, Angel! Here’s to more novels from you Salamat sa pag-she-share ng talents sa’ming mga fans mo. I’m sooooo proud of you.

Walking along Rizal Boulevard, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

I love Nora Roberts. I love most of the books she’s written, and she’s my goddess. What did they say about her? That she’s “frighteningly prolific”? And she is, by God! How many books could she write in a year? And while I’m not crazy about all her books, I’m crazy about her skill and her writing style. Anyway, I’m reading (yes, even as I type) the first book in her new Weddings Quarter, Vision in White, and, as always, I’m enjoying it. I’m a sucker for a good series.

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When I was in desperate straits to find a vampire story, I came across Sherrilyn Kenyon in one of the BBS I usually haunted. The story lines had two of the things that were on the top of my list of fascinating things: vampires and Greek mythology. So I nabbed the series and got reeled in, hook, line and sinker.

The Dark-Hunter® series (along with the Dream- and Were-Hunters) fascinated me like very few series ever did. It had vampires and Greek gods and goddesses like I’ve never seen before, and the whole gang had a viciously gorgeous leader that I’d like to get my hands on.

I have my favorite books in the series, and a few (one or two) that I wouldn’t read twice, but I love, love, love it. But then, I’m not reviewing the series.

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I just really had to share…

Can’t wait for New Moon

because I promised her that if she’s able to get her general average next quarter up by 5 points, I’d give her my beloved iPod Touch. If her grades don’t improve that drastically, I get to keep Acheron. If not, I give her Acheron and get myself a new one. So I’m half hoping that she makes it [because I really want to see her grades improve, and I really have my heart set on a Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation)], and half hoping that she doesn’t (so I get to keep Achimou, and I don’t have any reason to get myself a new iPod). I’m not even sure if I can save enough money for one anyway LOL But I’m really in lust…

Bahala na si Batman.

EDIT: Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL is also available from Amazon for $279.95.

I love gadgets. I just do. Except that I’m not rich enough to actually indulge in gadgets since I can’t really afford them ha ha. I think I got it from my father who’s a cell phone addict. He’s probably changed cell phones more times than the rest of the family combined. I’ve changed phones a few times already until I landed with my Nokia N70, which is the best of all my phones. It’s so good that it and I will celebrate our third anniversary come December. My longest relationship with a phone. The thing is my phone might be dying, and it might be the best time to window-shop for a new one. The thing is I got distracted. By gadgets. If I have money, lots and lots of money, I’m going to buy a lot of gadgets starting with the following:
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This one is one of those stories that I wasn’t planning on writing that just suddenly jumped from out of my head into my fingers while I was trying to write something else. It was so unplanned that I wasn’t even able to make an entry for it on the WIP page hehe but then, GJ and Maja are makulit but they’re fun. Besides, Maja’s story just started the series I had in mind, although I’m not going to ask my publishers to make a series out of these if it gets accepted. I’d leave the 6-book series to Jean Mae Oryza hehe. I’m not that good.

Maja (Maharlika) is the second in a family of six. The first story was supposed to be of the youngest, Diwata, and it was supposed to be written in English. I finished four chapters in English but abandoned the manuscript for some reason, until the guy, Nathan, turned up in Inosenteng Puso hehe Anyway, I just love their family so I hope I can write more about them. Their names are Deodatu (Datu), Maharlika (Maja), Diyosa (Diyo), Mayumi (Yumi), Maynilad (Mayni) and Diwata (Diwa). I just love their names ^_^

Working Title: Nothing Else Matters
Pages: 98
Wordcount: 21,307
Chapters: 9
Started: July 28, 2009
Finished: August 2, 2009 [Five days!]
Submitted: August 11, 2009

My fellow MSV writer, Carla Giopaolo kindly sent me tickets to watch Nicanor Tiongson’s Noli at Fili Dekada 2000 (directed by Soxie Topacio) at the PETA Theater Center. It’s been years since I last saw a play, and even longer since I last read Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. While I diligently read both novels in high school, I did so because I needed to, and not because I wanted to, which took out the fun in reading it.

And while I took binder paper-full of notes on both novels, I can’t say that I really, really understood what Jose Rizal wanted me to see. Yes, I studied the plot and the characters and the symbolizations, and read beneath the surface, but, as I was in high school and, sadly, couldn’t care any less for anything other than the latest single released by my favorite boyband or when the next sleepover at my friend’s house would be, I’m afraid Rizal’s message didn’t really reach me.

Until I watched this play.
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