I have my own butler XD

Image Credit: Dang Ching

Guess what came in the mail last week? :D The picture above says it all! That is a figure of Sebastian (from the anime Kuroshitsuji) which my friend Jonette sent me as a late birthday present. :) He's taller than my usual dolls and figures but hey, at least I have my own butler. *LOL* If ever I have my own workspace at the client's office, I'd make sure I could bring him along with me and pretend he's the one pouring me tea during break time or crunch time. (Well, I drink tea when the mood strikes me so...)

Too bad I can't ask him to literally protect me from harm, but here's hoping he could protect me from insanity. After all, he's one hell of a butler. :D

A Decade with Urbandub - Online Concert Coming Soon!

Last week I had a chance to go to the taping of Urbandub's first decade's online concert. Thanks to Pelicola.tv and Globe Tattoo for making it possible. :D It was an awesome night of watching them perform. I was only able to get one somewhat decent snapshot before my phone's battery heated up terribly.

My boyfriend, JM, has better pictures of Urbandub on his flickr account. Here's one of Gabby:

Image credit: JM Ibanez

And a picture of Lalay:

Image credit: JM Ibanez

If you're a big fan of Urbandub, then you better wait for my post regarding this event. It's coming up this April. I'd definitely let you know how you could view the online concert, etc. For now check out the other bloggers who also went to the taping. They took really great pictures.

• Karla Redor: Urbandub’s 1st Decade Online Concert: Coming Soon
• Juned Sunido: Urbandub on Stage
• Juned Sunido: The Stage
• Juned Sunido:Faces
• Urbandub's Turning 10

Writing Prompt 1

Genre: Sci-fi

Archetypes:

• Hero: Christ-figure
• Villain: The Dark Lord
• Woman: The Tomboy
• Hero: The Haunted Hero

Key cards:

• Plotline: Forbidden Love
• Plotline: Rivalry
• Keyword: Mirror
• Plotline: Sacrifice

• Keyword: Disease

Music meme

Just saw this on Kat's blog entry so here it goes...

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put your music player on shuffle.

2. Press forward for each question.

3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense. NO CHEATING!

How do you feel today?

Stalker by Humming Urban Stereo *lol*

What’s your outlook on life?

Lady Bug by Breaking Benjamin

"I am a simple man without a simple plan"

What does your family think of you?

Deja Vu from the World Ends with You game OST (uh, ok...)

What do your friends think of you?

Song for New Days by Hatsune Miku

What do strangers think of you?

Su-su-su-su, Suki Daaisuki by Kagamine Rin (this is not true! haha)

What do your exes think of you?

Black Devil Car by Jamiroquai (what?)

How’s your love life?

Back to You by John Mayer (eh?! am still together with JM! haha abnormal naman nitong playlist ko haha)

How will your love life be in the future?

Opening sequence from Utada United 2006 (lol)

Will you get married?

Sakura Drops by Utada Hikaru (This song is so not appropriate haha)

Are you good at school?

Suberidai by Shiina Ringo

Will you be successful?

7 Days in Sunny June by Jamiroquai (Oh no! Sounds like I won't.)

What song should they play on your birthday?

Piano Sonata #8 in C Minor

What song should they play at your graduation?

Salsa Woman by Humming Urban Stereo

The Soundtrack of your life?

Fly Away by Izawa Azumi (hahaha wish i could fly away)

You and your best friends are?

Planet Home by Jamiroquai

Happy times:

Beat in Love by Clazziquai

Sad times:

Floar by 9 Goats Black Out

Every day:

Supersonic by Jamiroquai

For tommorrow:

Pulse by Sharon Apple

For you:

CORE - Exist by Hatsune Miku (a very upbeat song)

What does next year have in store for me?

Dynamite by Jamiroquai

What do I say when life gets too hard?

Canned Heat by Jamiroquai (lol. dance. nothing left for me to do but dance. gonna dance, gonna dance my blues away tonight.)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?

Half the Man by Jamiroquai (Pwede bang yung first half na lang nung song? Haha.)

What do you want as your career?

Take 5 by Utada Hikaru (ergh. this song is about death supposedly -_- like abrupt endings. hrmmm. quick jobs? i will keep changing careers?)

Your favorite saying?

Merou ni shizunde by Alice Nine.

How will I die?

So Cold by Breaking Benjamin. (ok... O_o morbid question pero sige na nga at ayan na ang sagot.)

It's amusing that several Jamiroquai songs showed up.

Biking

I've always liked biking. When I was a kid, I used to bike in our backyard. We had a little bike with those training wheels and there was a time that those training wheels came off so I was learning with one of my hands against the wall, trying to make myself balance on the bike. It worked for me! Haha. And growing up, I used to borrow bikes from different neighbors. It seemed to be the 'in' thing in the 90s. There were a lot of kids with bikes and bikes with sidecars attached to them. Those were fun to ride. Anyhow, my mom and stepdad decided to get a couple of bikes for their exercise. Though it seems like I am mainly the one who gets to use one of the bikes when I am home on weekends.

So yeah, this is the bike I use. Been using them mainly on Sunday afternoons when the sun is about to set. I bike around the neighborhood for 30 minutes. The only tricky part is avoiding dogs and children who are learning how to bike or are running around. The feeling of going up to the gate makes my legs work harder because it's an uphill ride. That's a huge challenge for me since I am physically unfit. *lol* Oh well. But at least I get to have fun because it's not like riding an exercise back. On an exercise bike you don't see anything else but the things around you and that makes me impatient. When I am on an actual bike, I see my neighborhood and the sun setting down gradually. The wind in my face is also a welcome feeling which I won't get inside a gym. :) I will try to wake up early for this next time. But for now, I shall savor the Sunday afternoons biking around.

Telling Stories with Talecraft Cards

This afternoon, JM and I decided to meet at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Before that I was just looking for drawing supplies when I decided to check out the games sold in National Book Store. Near a wooden checkers set were boxes of Talecraft cards. I have seen them so many times in various cons but I never got myself a set until today. Wanting to try something new, I decided it could be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

So I got myself something to drink and then started checking out the cards while waiting for him. Talecraft basically has the following types of cards:

• genres - the type of story you're supposed to be telling; examples: romance, sci-fi


• archetypes - the characters in your story; examples: reluctant hero, siren


• key - key things needed in your story.
  
  
  
  • keywords - could be anything like objects, places; examples: church, lock of hair
  
  
  • plotlines - certain twists in the story; examples: revenge, pursuit
  
  
  • pick - you need to follow what it says in the card. it would usually tell you to pick another card type
  
  
  • swap - you need to follow what it says in the card. would usually mean swapping out one of your cards of a particular type with a new one from the deck.
  
  
  
  

Each player has to get 1 genre card, 2 archetype cards of which one will be the protagonist and the other the antagonist, and 6 key cards. Now if a player gets pick or swap cards among the key cards, then the player must do as the card says.

I started writing a story when JM showed up and we decided to play the cards. It was interesting really, because there was a time when I got 3 pick cards which all said pick archetype card. I ended up with a story of 5 characters! We ended up telling several stories and it was interesting to hear JM make thrillers and mystery stories. He seems to have something in his head right away. As for me, I am terrible at making horror and thrillers. There were moments when JM suggested to me how I could improve my stories. Once he even suggested I ship the twin brothers instead of making them rivals because that is an even more forbidden love than one of the twins marrying the daughter of their employer! Haha! I like JM's historical fiction set in the time of Lapu-lapu with Pintados and all. And this is one of the times I wish I recorded our stories. XD Oh well, maybe another session?

Dang Dee at Legazpi Village

Looks like there's this new place in Legazpi Village. It's called Dang Dee Fast Food, and it's located at 200 Benavidez Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City. Basically, they're selling meals from 68-108 pesos. Each meal will have a viand, rice (quite a generous amount of it!), some vegetables, half of a soy egg, pickled goodies and juice. They also include something spicy. I ought to ask what it is exactly but they kind of look like garlic bits to me.

They use a partly wooden bento box. Probably like what they use in matchboxes as they are thin. The cover of the box is cardboard. They advertise that they have an environment-friendly bento box design. Hmmm. But they seem to still use a number of plastic bags when delivering. It's an interesting concept nevertheless.

Taiwan sausage bento meal

Price: 78 Pesos
This has sweet Taiwan sausages which are fried and sliced. I like the sweetness of the sausages but I find it overwhelming. Too much of something is bad, that's what people say. And I guess it's true in the case of the Taiwan sausage. Good thing there are veggies and pickles to offset the sweetness. This is what I had last night.

Dang Dee classic bento

Price: 78 Pesos
This is something I haven't eaten myself but my friends swear by it. It reminds me of asado in Chinese fast food. Especially because of the sauce.

Fried chicken bento

Price: 68 Pesos
Fried chicken wings - Got two pieces of them in the meal. I like the flavor but it's a bit too oily for me. It's filling though, that's for sure. Maybe I'd try ordering again next time and see if it's really that oily.

So yeah, maybe I really ought to try their Dang Dee classic. After all, they named the fast food after it!

Dang Dee Delivers!

We were being lazy earlier so we had food delivered at the office. Because we're nearby, we got the food quickly. It took only probably 15 minutes. And they have free delivery XD When I want soemthing really filling on a budget, Dang Dee's food is pretty good. Much better than buying from Ministop, except, well, if you're hankering for fried chicken.

Dang Dee's Fast Food:

Address: 200 Benavidez Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City

Number: 8080643, 8364188

Mobile: 09228080646

Lunch at Ma Mon Luk

Last week we went to the client's office in Quezon City and we had lunch at Ma Mon Luk along Quezon Avenue, near Araneta. It was one of those few times we get to eat there so it was pretty much another memorable trip there. :) For every one who eats there, the mami and siopao combination is really the best. Our friend, Martin, taught us to eat the noodles with the sauce. Yes, the asado siopao sauce. It's pretty good when you mix it with the soup of the mami!

That was my lunch. A HUGE special bola bola siopao and a large bowl of mami. The works, haha!How big is the siopao? Well it practically took up the entire saucer's space. :P The siopao is really filled with meat and the mantao was yummy. Because this is bola bola siopao, I placed generous amounts of hot sauce. (Just thinking about it makes me drool and crave it again.)

The mami was so good too. But because we got big bowls of mami, it was overwhelming for me! Too much food. Glorious food! If you haven't tried eating it with the yummy sauce yet, I encourage you to do so. You could even try separating the noodles from the soup and then add sauce to the noodles. There's also additional spring onion so you could try adding more of that too. :D

The menu of Ma Mon Luk is not limited to mami and siopao. They also have other dishes. They a beef dish I like. Too bad I can't recall the name right now but it's very good. I love the taste of that one.

Drinking tea

Me and my new tea tumbler!

I've gone back to the habit of drinking tea last year. Celestial Seasonings was a brand that was readily available in Rustan's so I ended up stocking up their various teas. My favorite is still the Mandarin Green Tea, then their Tension Tamer comes as a second.

However, I've also received some teas from friends in other countries. Dai Reimei gave me a box of Darjeeling tea at the end of last year's Asia Source 3 camp. And just last week, Mifan Careem gave me a box of Ginger Spice Ceylon tea. Ah, so much tea. :) To think I still have some jasmine tea flowers which I bought from the bazaar in World Trade Center and the matcha milk packs I bought from Lorence.

Tea is something that soothes me and I think that I'd rather take tea more often because it helps me calm down. Or it revitalizes me. It depends on which tea I am drinking. And it's better for me because when I drink coffee, I do find myself palpitating sometimes. -_- And that's something scary for me T_T

Now my tea ware is also growing. I first bought a teapot with an infuser for those times I am using tea leaves and the jasmine flower. That's the best option I have. However, I want something portable so I hinted at wanting a tea tumbler which my friends at work gave me. And now I bought a stainless steel tea ball from Gourdo's. Viim says it's better to use an infuser, but, oh well. If I find something locally, then that's it. The infuser it will be.

Lastly, I am glad to find a tea blog by Filipinos. I think that coffee is more popular locally, especially since we have good coffee from Batangas, Cavite, Bukidnon and the Cordillera region. Anyway, check out Tea Completely by Andrew dela Serna and Aileen Apolo for more tea posts.

Belated happy birthday to me!

So several weeks ago, I celebrated my 30th birthday by watching "Rent" with my dear boyfriend. :) It was a show that we got tickets for last December. It was an interesting musical with the topic of friendship, AIDS, homosexuality and living a bohemian life. There were quite a number of songs that I loved from it and I am glad to have bought a soundtrack from the booth outside of the theater. I cried when Angel died, and I felt the frustrations Mark felt as a person who wants to express himself as an artist. It was really great! However, I didn't like the acting of the guy who was playing Roger. I thought he was terrible in terms of acting.

Earlier that day, my friends at work surprised me with greetings and presents that I really loved. Some of them were really sweet in their messages in the mail. :) And one of my co-workers texted me because he was on site (client's office) that day. Gosh, such awesome messages that warmed the heart. Rjene even made me cry that morning because she gave me a teru teru bozu! And her message in the card made me cry too.

The big white and pink teru teru bozu from Rjene, the white shell charm from Ence (way back when she went on a trip) and Martin's gift to me was a Haruhi charm. Hehe. :D

My fellow PM/BAs and friends at work also gave me a lovely gift: a tea tumbler from Starbucks. I know my hint was blatant because I posted it on Plurk but I am just so thankful for this gift because it does keep my tea warm. :) Now that I have a tea ball, looks like that tumbler and tea ball plus the darjeeling tea that Dai gave me last November will all be my friends if and when I get deployed on site.

Carl was thoughtful too. I saw a package wrapped in old forms haha. But guess what's inside? It was a DVD copy of Infernal Affairs! OMG. The Andy Lau fangirl in me just squeed so much XD

It was the gestures of these people that made the day extra special because of the talks I've had with my friends, the moments I got to spend with them. Thanks to everyone who had dinner with me before I ran off to meet JM for the musical. :) It was so hilarious, the things that happened over dinner in Giligan's in Greenbelt 1. XD We even practically filled up one section of the place.

The following day was Eda's birthday and I visited her at home. Some of our co-workers were there too and there was just so much food! I envy Eda that she could eat so much yet not gain weight ~_~ In any case, I am touched that she invited me over as well. I hardly have friends in the area. And we also played Zombie Fluxx that day. Hahaha. And when I went home, my sister surprised me by bringing sans rival. She told me to get sylvanas so we could stuff it in the sans rival. :D It was awesome! Hahaha.

See? Isn't so glorious? :D Sans rival with sylvanas!!!!! *NOM!*

Then last week, it turns out one of my friends from Asia Source 3 is in the country. Mifan Careem (Sahana Project). It was a pleasant surprise. :) Too bad I wasn't able to join them during the first week he was here. JM and I met up with Mifan and Bobby. It was great catching up with them and sharing stories of how we have all been doing these days. It made me miss camp a whole lot more and just last night, I ended up brainstorming with Shane about what we could do this summer.

My 30th birthday was mainly spent with my colleagues and friends this year. It feels like I am approaching something like my teen age years again in terms of certain changes in the way I think and feel about things. Career-wise, I am looking for other challenges to come. I know it's a dangerous thing to ask for but I'd like to grow so it's a risk I have to take. Sacha asked me what I am looking forward to this year. I guess it's more of changes in different aspects of my life. Like I should be taking better care of my health and then there is also that desire to grow more as a crafter and also that desire to be more active in the free and open source community. But we'll see how things will go, shall we? :)