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moved

2009-07-31T23:19:00.002-04:00

OK, the new domain is still under construction but the blog is up and running. Yay! Check it out: http://anne.mangopapaya.net. See you there!

Sorry guys!

2009-07-28T14:52:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't been updating lately. I am actually NOT on vacation, sadly enough :(

I'm just in the process of purchasing my own domain and sorting out all the details that goes with that. But once that's all sorted, I will be back in the blogging world. I promise! :D

HIATUS

2009-06-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

Just gotta go on hiatus for now...

Away We Go... or not

2009-06-17T21:02:00.030-04:00

Looks like this is my 100th post on this particular blog. WoOt! :D *does happy dance*

Anyhoo, I participated in my first blood drive today. I was SOOO nervous! Even the medical personnel noticed! The lady who I met with said that she could feel the cold coming from my hands before she even touched me! LOL. :P Plus, my pulse was faster than the normal pulse for my age and my blood pressure was a bit high. Hahaha.

I had a lot of indirect compliments though. One of the ladies wanted to see my ID to make sure I really was over 18 before I could donate blood. Heehee :D Another lady said, "Are you sure you weigh more than 110 lbs.?" :) (You need to weigh more than 110 to donate.)

My friend, Ci, came with me as support because I didn't wanna go by myself. I was really grateful ♥ especially since she hates seeing blood as well. She sat pretty far enough from the blood, but close enough to still chat with me throughout the blood donation.

The thing that hurt the most was the finger stick in the beginning. I don't understand why it hurt more than the actual giving of blood. Hahaha. I don't think I'll be doing this anytime soon, but I'm glad that I faced a fear. I am very proud of myself :D

Ebry scored some free advanced screening tickets to see Away We Go. The movie looked interesting, but I was feeling a bit tired and weak, so I opted out. I hope I didn't miss anything really good! x_x

Look! The lovely Karen bestowed upon me 3 different awards :D Thanks sis!

work anniversary

2009-06-15T09:33:00.006-04:00

Last week, I celebrated my second anniversary at my work. The company I work for sent some flowers to my house.

Soo pretty! :D I wished they sent it over to my office instead, though. Just to have something pretty on my desk. But, I'm not gonna be picky since they didn't need to give me anything at all :)

My manager took me out to lunch. I asked some of my favorite people to join me and we headed to a nearby Indian restaurant. I ♥ Indian food! :D It was so much fun! I take any chance to be away from my desk :P

Treasured Award

2009-06-13T20:09:00.010-04:00

Got this award from Karen :) Thanks sis!

I'd like to pass mine onto Ate Irel, Tiffy, and Jess :) Thank you guys for being regulars ♥

Anyhoo, I've been thinking of buying my own domain for years now, and I think I might finally do it this year. Hahaha. But I'm still unsettled on what name I want. I want something I can use in my personal and professional life.

back to the blogging land

2009-06-11T19:41:00.010-04:00

Sorry! I know that I've been MIA for awhile. Just been addicted to The Sims 3. Hahaha! :P

I pre-ordered it in January but didn't get it until the weekend of its release. I was a bit upset because I thought I would get it on the day it was released or at least the day after. However, I didn't get it til that weekend! x_x So much for pre-ordering! >_< But the $10 Amazon gift card it came with doesn't hurt at all :D

I've been playing since the first Sims and have purchased (or downloaded) each and every expansion pack released, so you can say that I'm a fan! :)

My Life in Ruins

2009-06-06T12:30:00.002-04:00

My friend got passes to see an advanced screening of My Life in Ruins. The trailer looked good so I went along. Didn't realize how crowded it was going to be! Good thing we got there early!

They even gave away prizes before the showing! We all got raffle tickets for the giveaway sponsored by a local travel agency. One person got a travel book about Greece. And two people got travel discounts (or packages) to Greece! Lucky! :D

Even though Rotten Tomatoes only gave it a 13% rating, I thought it was great! :) But then again, I'm a sucker for rom-coms :P I enjoyed it more than My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Plus, it was a romance that blossomed between two coworkers... ;)

Greece is SOOO beautiful! I love ancient history and I would love to visit Greece one day. One of my former coworkers is currently vacationing there. Her family owns hotels, restaurants, and yachts there! Isn't that crazy?! I would never leave!

Harry Potter Exhibition

2009-06-02T10:30:00.016-04:00

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry will be hosting Harry Potter: The Exhibition.

TimeOut Chicago describes it as:

Hold on to your hats, Muggles: The much-anticipated 10,000-square-foot exhibit has finally opened at MSI, offering fans a behind-the-scenes look at the costumes and props from all the Harry Potter films released to date, as well as a few surprises from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due out in July. Super-detailed settings inside the museum are inspired by the film sets (think the Great Hall and Gryffindor common room). Visitors can also toss “quaffles” in a Quidditch area and tour Hagrid's Hut.

Sounds awesome, right?! :D Apparently, the exhibition will be going on a national and international tour. The rest of the venues haven't been announced yet. I'm hoping for D.C. or New York City so I won't have to fly.

But, if they don't announce the venues soon, my friend and I are thinking of just flying to Chicago to check it out. I've never been to Chicago, so it should be fun. It'll be that vacation that I've been craving all year! :)

interesting blog

2009-06-01T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, the lovely Karen over at My World??? gave me this award. Thanks sis!

I'd like to pass it on to Irel and Jessica! :)

up, up, and away!

2009-05-31T21:20:00.002-04:00

Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. [Source]

So my friend finally gave in and watched Up with me. I think my constant badgering and the 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes definitely helped :P

I ♥ the movie! Watching it in 3D was worth every penny! As usual, Disney Pixar has outdone themselves once again! They're such great storytellers and you don't have a kid to enjoy it. I even found myself tearing up :'( and laughing out loud :D the whole time!

Funnily enough, when I went to purchase my ticket for the show, I noticed that I couldn't find my credit card or check card XD (I don't usually have cash on hand.) Of course, I freaked out a little. Good thing I had my mom's credit card on me — I had forgotten to give it back to her. No worries, I paid her back :)

Where were my cards you say? Well, I just realized that I had left them at work... in our fridge! I checked my accounts and there are no fraudulent charges so when I go back to work they should still be there. Hahaha! :P

Life of Pi

2009-05-30T22:25:00.002-04:00

I decided to take a break from reading The Dresden Files because I was getting too engrossed in the Dresdenverse :P

I checked out Life of Pi from the library since people say that it's a really good read. Something about it being a modern classic... if that even makes sense.

My brother said he didn't finish it because he couldn't get into it so I was a bit hesitant. But, I gotta say that it started out a bit slow; but once I got into it, it was quite an adventure. A good story of survival and all. It was like Tom Hanks' Castaway, but not as boring. LOL :P

personality type

2009-05-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

William Beckett (of The Academy Is...) posted a test on his blog about a personality types. It piqued my curiosity so I decided to take the test too.

The test concluded that I was either an ENFJ or an INFJ personality type:

ENFJ – "Persuader". Outstanding leader of groups. Can be aggressive at helping others to be the best that they can be. 2.5% of total population.

INFJ – "Author". Strong drive and enjoyment to help others. Complex personality. 1.5% of total population.

As an ENFJ, I am:

Genuinely and warmly interested in people
Value people's feelings
Value structure and organization
Value harmony, and good at creating it
Exceptionally good people skills
Dislike impersonal logic and analysis
Strong organizational capabilities
Loyal and honest
Creative and imaginative
Enjoy variety and new challenges
Get personal satisfaction from helping others
Extremely sensitive to criticism and discord
Need approval from others to feel good about themselves

While as an INFJ, I am:

Intuitively understand people and situations
Idealistic
Highly principled
Complex and deep
Natural leaders
Sensitive and compassionate towards people
Service-oriented
Future-oriented
Value deep, authentic relationships
Reserved about expressing their true selves
Dislike dealing with details unless they enhance or promote their vision
Constantly seeking meaning and purpose in everything
Creative and visionary
Intense and tightly-wound
Can work logically and rationally - use their intuition to understand the goal and work backwards towards it

I feel so complicated :P

get through it

2009-05-25T20:48:00.010-04:00

I didn't realize that I ended up putting this blog on hiatus. LOL :D Was a tad busy this Memorial Day weekend because I gave myself a mini vacation! :)

Anyway, back to reality...

When I was in Spanish 3, my teacher let me do the seating chart for our class so I put myself in the middle and surrounded myself with people I liked. And, I put the 3 annoying and very disruptive girls at each corner of the room away from each other :D

I felt like the class would be more fun and went by quicker than before I rearranged the seating arrangements.

My point is that I've been feeling quite down at work. It might be the weather because it's been a gloomy week, but after a year I still don't quite click with my officemates. I think it's because we're just not in the same phases of life... and because I'm not boring :P

It would be great to be able to rearrange our offices so I can put myself in an office surrounded by the fun people, instead of having to constantly leave my desk to see them.

new layout!

2009-05-24T23:15:00.004-04:00

OK, I got tired of my old layout and I was itching to do something really simple.

Funny thing is that I seem to have had a harder time making this simple one than my past graphical ones. Ironic :P

Anyhoo, I hope everyone's having a great extended weekend! :D

The future begins...

2009-05-20T14:02:00.000-04:00

So I finally saw Star Trek a week after it was released. I'm not a Trekkie, but once I heard about the cast, I was there! It didn't even matter if the movie was good or not! I just wanted to see my peeps! :P

It definitely didn't disappoint, especially watching it on IMAX! YEAH! :D Gotta give Anton Yelchin some props though, pulling off a summer movie whammy with main character parts in Star Trek (as Chekov) AND Terminator Salvation (as Kyle Reese)!

I can't wait for the 2 Star Trek sequels! I hope they get better each time. The Star Wars prequels were a little disappointing I thought x_x

One Lovely Blog Award

2009-05-19T17:04:00.000-04:00

I got this lovely award from Irel over at My Drama. Yay! Thanks! :D

And I'm supposed to pass it on to three other people, so I'm tagging Karen, Tiffy, and Pahn! :)

Thanks for visiting my blog guys! I am very grateful and truly appreciative! :)

Eight letters, three words...

2009-05-18T14:43:00.000-04:00

Say it and I'm yours!

Saw this on the way to Red Mango, and I had to take a picture :) Mother Chucker! :P

food is nom nom nom

2009-05-15T19:55:00.000-04:00

What's the best part of Chinatown besides the shopping? The food, of course! :D

That is some lovely Roast Duck on Rice at my fave Chinatown restaurant, Great N.Y. Noodletown. And all for $4! Yeah! :D

I should have taken an after picture, which will clearly show an empty plate with just duck bones leftover. Yum yum yum!

This time around, we decided to check out Red Mango since we went to Pinkberry last time. Look at our large cups filled with yummies! :)

Mine's on the left. I got the POM frozen yogurt and had it topped with mangoes, strawberries, and fruity pebbles. I gotta say that I like Red Mango much better than Pinkberry. I'll definitely be grabbing myself some more when I head up to NYC again :)

Central Park... meh...

2009-05-13T19:48:00.016-04:00

My friend wanted to check out Central Park so that was the first place we headed when we arrived. Needless to say, the south end of the Park wasn't really too exciting. I think all the good parts are on the middle part right around the big fountain and maybe by the Met.

Here's the shady bridge we were laughing at. Saying that in every NYC-set show, someone always gets killed underneath a bridge in Central Park. We were gonna warn those people, but we figured they would not appreciate it.

I fumbled for my camera trying to catch a pic of the parade of carriages so it's a tad blurry.

Then, we found ourselves on the jogging/running lane. People promptly ran and jogged around us, which was a tad embarrassing because our presence there caused quite a stir. Guess we should have been jogging or running as well, instead of just standing still and taking pictures :P

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-10T21:52:00.016-04:00

Woke up late and a little sore on Mother's Day because I spent all day walking around and shopping in New York City. I always have fun, but as usual the soreness and "tired-ness" doesn't show up til the next day XD I'll post up my pictures from yesterday later, when I get the chance.

Anyhoo, Mother's Day was a crazy day for my friend, Ebry. Some stupid driver ran a red light and hit her car >_< She and her mom were rushed to the hospital. She's fine & a little sore — Thank God! — but they're keeping her mom for more tests. That is so crazy! I hope that idiot drivers gets punished for what he did! Jerk! >_<

Freaky Friday: Alone in the dark

2009-05-08T15:13:00.002-04:00

This my Anything Goes Challenge entry for today which is a reblog from my Sanriotown blog...

My friend, T, and her boyfriend recently purchased a house and she invited me and 2 others over on a Friday for a little gathering between friends. We haven't seen each other in months so we had a lot to catch up on.

T, who LOVES scary stories, decided to tell us one of her own that had happened recently. Her neighbor across the street had recently lost her husband to diabetes, I believe.

Well, one day, T's mom and niece, Laila, came over to keep T company when her boyfriend was away. When T's mom was strapping in Laila into her car seat, Laila said, "Tell that man to stop staring at me!" But when T's mom turned around, she saw no one. She told Laila that nobody was there, but Laila insisted, "The man keeps looking at me. Tell him to stop!" T's mom didn't think much of it and just thought that Laila was imagining things.

A few days later, T, her mom, and Laila were visiting her neighbor and Laila said to T's mom, "The man is looking at me again! He's crawling towards me! Tell him to stop!" Of course, T and her mom don't see anyone there. When T's mom tells her that this has happened before, it really freaked her out. Apparently, because of complications with his diabetes, her neighbor's husband had to have his legs amputated, so it would make sense that he would be "crawling" towards Laila! XD

So of course, my friends and I are freaked out by all this. When we left T's house later that night, we all left together and ran to our cars in a hurry without looking at the house across the street. I was so freaked out and my heart my beating really fast! I barely got any sleep that night! Needless to say, I don't think I ever wanna go over her house by myself... EVER!

it's that time of year...

2009-05-06T17:25:00.000-04:00

... when the networks decide which shows to keep and which ones to cancel. I don't really watch as much shows as I used to but it seems like a lot of the shows that I do watch are in danger of being cancelled: Chuck, Dollhouse, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cupid, Castle, and The Unusuals :(

My only high note is Ugly Betty getting a new season, so I at least have that :D

Anyhoo, I know I'm late about Gossip Girl :P but I never got to watch it because it airs against Chuck. I've only seen bits and pieces of the show, but I finally decided to just sit down and start from the beginning and now I'm hooked! :)

Suffering from a Troy Attack & Smile's up!

2009-05-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

I finally got to see this movie after pushing it back for 2 weeks. I'm a card-carrying member of Club Zefron :P so I had to watch it :)

I'm not ashamed to admit that I really liked his character on this one. I think he really was believable as a dad. Plus, he just has a certain charm! Looks like Zac's turning into quite the certified movie star. Good for him! :D

Anyhoo, last month I blogged about Matsumoto's new show, Smile, where he plays a half-Filipino, half-Japanese character. Well, some of the episodes are up! Yay! :D Check 'em out here! AND, he speaks a bit of Tagalog on one of the episodes! I saw a promo for an episode and it sounds like he says, "Hindi ako kayo!" (I'm not you!)

2009 Flower Mart

2009-05-04T18:15:00.035-04:00

I checked out Flower Mart last year and found lots of cool handmade jewelry, but didn't really buy a lot of stuff. I checked it out this year with a friend since it was near our work and we were on the hunt for Mother's Day gifts.

It was overcast and drizzling when it started so there weren't many people out and about. It wasn't until around 5.30 or so that it started to fill with A LOT of people.

I got a kick out of this stand so I took a picture of it. I didn't buy anything from them though. I bought funnel cakes :D from the stand across from it.

This is my attempt at being artsy, but I couldn't get a better shot without backing into some vendor stands. Hahaha :D

(The official website has their own bunch of pictures.)

I walked away with just 2 handmade earrings: one for me and one for my friend for Mother's Day. I'm heading to NYC this weekend so I'm hoping to get more stuff there :)

Sweet Saturday: My First Crush

2009-05-02T11:52:00.017-04:00

I told Pahn that I was gonna participate in his Anything Goes Challenge so here we are...

I actually don't remember if Lawrence was my very first crush, but he might as well be because I don't remember any crushes before him :P

Anyhoo, I was in 3rd or 4th grade and he had just moved into our neighborhood. He was a year or two older than me and a lot of the girls liked him. Possibly because he was older and there was a certain je ne sais quoi that just made people want to hang around him. Plus, he was fun :) to be around.

I think what drew me to him was that he picked me. There were all these girls hanging onto to him, but he hung out with me the most. He talked to me the most.

The funny thing is, I don't even remember what he looks like. I just remember holding hands with this tall, skinny guy, but for some reason I can't see his face >_<

I didn't have the guts to tell him I liked him, so my neighbor and good friend, Gien, did it for me. She told Lawrence I liked him, but never waited to find out if he liked me too! x_x So I never knew! Hahaha. And I was too much of a wuss to ask! :blush:

We still remained friends and acted as if nothing really happened and he later moved away that year. Apparently, he came back years later, but I had already moved to the U.S. at that time. Gien did tell me that he did ask for me, and was disappointed to find out that I wasn't there anymore :( But she also told me that I wasn't missing out on anything because he wasn't cute anymore! Hahaha! :D

Google site analytics

2009-04-30T20:57:00.006-04:00

I run Google Analytics on my blog just out of curiosity and to monitor the kind of traffic and visitors I get.

Take a look at the Keywords section which lists the search keywords people have used to land on my blog:

I didn't even know there were slash pairings for Iron Chef America! But, I guess if you look hard enough, you can find slash anywhere >_<

Though I don't remember talking about any of that in my blog. Seems like that search landed on Saturday, April 25. Weird @_@

Hotel Spa Ixtapan

2009-04-29T19:20:00.001-04:00

I really wanted to check out Hotel Spa Ixtapan because I heard a lot about their all-inclusive spa program. I was eyeing the 7 Day Spa Classic which was US$1,390, which includes accommodations, spa programs and all meals!

Unfortunately, that whole swine flu epidemic and drug war put a damper on my plans :(

Here's a sample schedule from their website:

7:00 AM – Juice & Coffee, followed by Stretch and Morning Walk
8:00 AM – Yoga, or Low Impact Aerobics Class
9:00 AM – Breakfast in ‘Teocali’ (Spa cuisine)
10:00 AM – Water Aerobics
11:00 AM – Relax by the pool
1:00 PM – Pool Side Lunch at ‘Emperadores’ (spa cuisine)
2:00 PM – Golf Lesson
3:30 PM – Loofah and Herbal Wrap
4:30 PM – Facial
5:30 PM – Massage
7:00 PM – Live Piano Music in the Lobby
8:00 PM – Dinner in ‘Teocali’ (spa cuisine)
9:00 PM – Movie in the Theater

Naturally Victoria's Secret

2009-04-24T22:51:00.035-04:00

I'm not really a fan of Victoria's Secret. I just go there whenever they send me those free panty things in the mail :P During one of my trips there to claim my free underwear, my friend and I were each given a Secret Reward card to be claimed later that were worth either $10, $50, $100 or $500.

We joked that with our luck, we probably got the $10 one, but I was hoping for at least the $50. Ha! Of course, our luck didn't let us down and our cards were $10 each :P

My friend bought a Beauty Rush Coconut Craze Body Glimmer Swirl Cream, which smells really good on her.

I saw their new Naturally line and tried all the scents and settled on the Açai Berry & Magnolia Hydrating Body Lotion. VS describes the scent as:

Protects and brightens. Silky lotion is fortified with nourishing shea butter, vitamins C and E and 34 essential minerals for luxurious, all-day moisture and softness.

Naturally Victoria's Secret utilizes powerful pairings to unlock the potential in nature's most beneficial ingredients. Here, we marry skin-protective açai berry, known as the most potent antioxidant in nature, with magnolia, revered in Chinese medicine for its brightening properties. Domestic.

The scent is light, but it works. I like the subtle elegance of it :D Give it a try when you're in a VS store and let me know what you think :)

Johnson's dead?

2009-04-24T10:09:00.001-04:00

So I was looking at my friend's Facebook profile today — yes, occasionally, I turn into a creeper :P — and was concerned when people on his wall were asking if he was "OK" or "alive" x_x

I immediately became concerned and wondered what was going on. Apparently, someone with the same name and age as him was shot and killed in an attempted robbery in the city! What are the odds?! It's sad that someone so young was killed; but honestly, I'm glad that it wasn't my friend...

anti-theft tags

2009-04-22T15:59:00.000-04:00

After my exhaustive yet happy :D shopping day, I was looking through my clothing purchases and realized that one of the things I bought from Charlotte Russe still had the anti-theft tag pinned on it! I didn't wanna have to drive all the way back to the closest store about 40 minutes away just to get them to take it off for me x_x

So, Internet to the rescue! Saw some really interesting (albeit not really feasible) ways. Someone suggested burning the pin to release it from the tag. Right, with my luck, I'll burn the piece of clothing! x_x Another bright idea (read: sarcasm) was to use extremely strong magnets to detach the pin. Yes, let me pull out that super strong magnet I keep in my purse for emergencies. Ha!

But the winner was an advice I got from Youtube that involved just using 2 pliers to gently bend the tag to release the pin. It was definitely interesting (and a little shocking) to see how easy it is to remove the tag since they're supposed to help stop shoplifting :( If it was easy for me to do, I'm sure it's definitely a cakewalk for perpetual shoplifters or professional ones.

my frozen yogurt craze

2009-04-20T16:32:00.000-04:00

It seems like my frozen yogurt craze began after seeing the American Express Pinkberry commercial that aired about a year or so ago. I searched Pinkberry on Google and found that the closest one to me would be in New York City so my shopping trips to NYC would never be complete without a stop there :D

Unfortunately, the last time I had frozen yogurt was last year during my last day trip to NYC :(

Anyhoo, it seems that there are at least 2 frozen yogurt places that have opened up near (well, closer than NYC :P) me:

Yogiberry in Olney (I don't know where Olney is. LOL :P)

yogen früz at Tysons Corner Center Mall, one of my favorite malls.

That makes me happy! :D

yummy yummy Korean barbecue!

2009-04-19T12:28:00.045-04:00

I've become quite a fan of this Korean barbecue restaurant about half an hour or so away from me. My first time there was about 2 weeks ago, and just couldn't stop thinking about it so my friend and I went again this week :)

Here's our "grill". We were very excited because the first time we went, we just got a regular grill, but the people next to us had the turtle one. (More pictures after the cut...)

Here are the yummy banchan that came with our orders. The rolled meat at the top right-hand corner is my friend's order. I ordered chicken.

My friend grilling her beef brisket. I was so hungry that I forgot to take a pic of me grilling my chicken. LOL :P

The oil and fat float away from the meat because of the ridges on the "turtle" back and make their way to the turtle's butt into a collection dish.

The end of the meal. As you can see, I pretty much devoured everything within my area :D *Nom nom nom*

It was another fun experience :D It got a little bit uncomfortable towards the end when they sat a couple in the table next to us. My friend and I think it was their first date because the conversation was so awkward and we could feel it! x_x Not fun!

half-Filipino? ehh?

2009-04-16T20:43:00.015-04:00

Matsumoto Jun (Hana Yori Dango's Domyouji Tsukasa) is on a new show called Smile, where he is playing a half-Filipino guy.

Take a look at DramaWiki's description of the show:

Hayakawa Bito has a Filipino father and a Japanese mother, but he was born and raised in Japan and has never visited the Philippines. The ever-smiling Bito works at Machimura Foods during the day, and at night, he works a part-time job trying to make his dreams come true. One day during an incident at a bookstore, he meets a girl named Mishima Hana, who lost her ability to speak due to an accident. But even though she can't speak, Bito is drawn to her beautiful smile. However, Bito becomes wrongly suspected by the police for a crime, and after meeting the lawyer Kazuma, the issue begins to grow... Together, Bito, Hana, and Kazuma will go through challenging times and have to overcome many obstacles.

I wonder just how much his being half-Filipino is gonna factor on the show... Too bad the main girl isn't Filipina... That would be some drama right there! I'm definitely intrigued enough to watch it :)

donut holes are yummy

2009-04-15T21:02:00.011-04:00

My friend and I were craving Dunkin Donuts munchkins so we hopped into her car and tried to navigate our way to the nearest one, which is quite a feat when the city streets are almost all one-way streets.

When we got back to her parking lot, I noticed this car parked in front of hers. Totally tacky but gave us a laugh, nevertheless.

On a side note, I'm getting tired of this layout so I'm working on a new food-inspired one :) I'm hoping the transition will be smoother than the last one!

VAMPS U.S. Tour

2009-04-13T19:00:00.014-04:00

My friend excitedly called me today at work to tell me that she's buying us tickets to a VAMPS show. I was a lil befuddled 'cuz I had never heard of them before. Turns out it's HYDE's side project... so YAY! :D This will probably be the first and only time I'll ever see HYDE in person, so I'm quite excited! Not a big fan of crowds though so the thought of sweaty, stinky people getting all close me is making me *gag* x_x

And, it coincides with Otakon 2009, which I missed last year so apparently I'm going this year. LOL. We'll see... I'm getting kinda tired of the whole crazy "otaku" scene...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:05:00.018-04:00

So I decided to run errands today instead of yesterday. Not really sure why. Obviously, I wasn't thinking :P A lot of the stores near me were closed so I couldn't get the things I needed. I ended up going to a grocery store to get some of the things I needed. Of course, since it was the only thing that was open nearby, there were A LOT of people there.

As I was going around looking for the shortest line, I saw these:

Totally made me giggle a little. There was a time in high school when I busted out with the Arthur theme song and some people actually sang along! Fun times :D

friday night TV

2009-04-10T22:29:00.024-04:00

So glad this week is almost over. It's been a rough week at work :( Kinda wishing our so-called “manager” gets fired x_x

Anyhoo, I hope that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles doesn't get cancelled because tonight's season finale was WOW. It's such a shame that all of this season's episodes haven't been as good as tonight's. The "twist" at the end got me all giddy. I really hope FOX doesn't cancel the show... And that extended trailer for Terminator Salvation definitely makes me wanna watch it more! And not just because Christian Bale is in it ;)

Dollhouse was good tonight too. I feel like they're finally letting Joss Whedon slip into his groove. It's about time! Lots of surprises! :D

fight me! you know you want to ^_~

2009-04-09T18:36:00.007-04:00

When I was bored at work, my friend introduced me to this cute, casual "fighting" game. Check it out! Click the picture below to fight me :)

Bromance at the movies

2009-04-07T21:20:00.019-04:00

I told my coworker Mica that I wanted to see I Love You, Man and he got all excited and told me how awesome it was and how great Paul Rudd was in it.

I gotta say that I definitely enjoyed the movie. Paul Rudd has this great talent of just playing a regular guy, but being really funny while doing just regular things. Does that make sense? It made sense in my head. LOL :P

His character was so awkward; it was great! And, Jason Segel is just a crazy lovable goof. Oh, Marshall Eriksen :P

all day MINI service

2009-04-04T22:41:00.008-04:00

My MINI was due for its maintenance so I dropped by my closest MINI dealership to have it serviced. I was there around 10-10.30 in the morning and I didn't leave til around 4.30p! Crazy! x_x They close at 4p! Not really sure what happened, but I was not impressed >_<

I was hoping that the service advisor was going to give me something complimentary for my waiting for the whole day. But, I got nothing. When I get a survey call, I'm probably not gonna give them the perfect score (a 5) they're always trying to get.

It was pretty poor customer service x_x

disqus & Gossip Girl

2009-04-03T12:29:00.011-04:00

Wow, did not realize the extent of coding work just to manually integrate DISQUS into this blog. But I'm glad it worked out :)

Anyway, my friend was telling me about Gossip Girl, which I've seen promos of, but have never really watched. And, she's come to the conclusion that I could be one because I know everyone's drama and secrets. She's right! :D I could definitely write a book about people's dirt, drama, and secrets; but, of course, she knows I won't do it. There's a reason why my friends trust me with this stuff. They know that I can be trusted :)

Still, I imagine it would be fun to write a "scandalous" book :P

East Village Bed & Coffee

2009-04-02T14:10:00.001-04:00

Since my long-awaited trip to the Philippines was nixed, thanks to Target changing their vacation rules and thereby reducing my best friend's vacation time to 3 days :( I was looking around for another vacation spot that wasn't too much on the wallet.

Enter New York City!

I've never stayed there for more than one day. I usually just go up to NYC on day trips. Thanks to my Little Black Book of New York, I found the East Village Bed & Coffee. Check out some of the room rates below, which are per room!:

The place has great ratings from people who've stayed there from around the world! The place isn't right by Times Square or anything, but it's close enough to Chinatown and SoHo for me to be happy :) I'm excited! :D

ta-da!

2009-04-01T20:17:00.009-04:00

My first post for the new layout! WoOt! :D There's still little tweaks I need to make, but I'm just really excited that I was able to do it. Took me a little longer, but I got it done! Yay! :)

My commenting system doesn't work with Blogger Classic so I have to use the Blogger system for now. I'm just so excited right now! :P

new Blog(ger)

2009-03-31T13:30:00.000-04:00

Since I started using Blogger again, I've just been using existing free templates and mucking around to personalize little things here and there. But since I've started missing real web design a lot more, I've decided to design my own layout :)

Unfortunately, since my knowledge of XML isn't as extensive as HTML or CSS, I'll have to revert to Blogger Classic in order to fully implement it. I decided to tackle it all last week, but it didn't work out as well as I would have hoped >_<

My commenting system doesn't integrate with Blogger Classic.
The expandable post codes also don't work with Blogger Classic.
The smiley codes also don't work with Blogger Classic.

Can we say headache?

I refuse to give up though! :D So if the blog is acting a little nutty, that means I'm still messing around with it.

March Madness

2009-03-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

Mem: I am very disappointed in Barack's choices.
Me: I'm sure he has more things to worry about than his NCAA bracket.

That's Mem being fake upset that his decision to copy the President's bracket for the office pool didn't turn out so well.

Yes, March Madness is in full bloom and that's all people are talking about at the office! Most of the guys are hardcore about the pool. Funny thing is, one of the top point gainers in the pool is Ro, who does not know any of the teams at all! :) She only picked the states she'd been to or states she thought were pretty! Hahaha! :D The boys are a little bitter... :P

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-28T14:12:00.006-04:00

OK, world, let's show what we can do!

Today, 28 March, at 8.30p your local time, turn off your lights for one hour starting at 8.30p, your local time. For more information, check out the official website. Let's make a difference! :)

A lot of my friends have since gotten a text from me telling them to vote for Earth, and shut off their lights at 8.30p tonight :P

bring it on!

2009-03-27T12:48:00.035-04:00

Jod, and I went to middle and high school together. She was one of the first Filipinos I ever met in middle school, and I was hoping we would be friends, but she seemed to make it a point to push down my self-confidence >_<

She used to make fun of me for eating Filipino food at home, while she ate “American food” like pizza, french fries, and the like. For someone trying so hard to not be Filipino, it's interesting to note that she was born in the Philippines and has classic Filipino features :P

Her latest “attack” on me was during Jade's child's dedication. We were sitting around a table eating and talking when she suddenly brought up England. She talked about London, the Underground, Big Ben, etc. and turned to me asking me if I'd been there O_o I think she expected me to fold, so I turned to her with a smile and told her that I had family there so I'd been there multiple times :P

I think I caught her offguard so she proceeded to talk about Paris next and about how beautiful the city was. I told her I agreed with her, but that I kinda liked Germany better :) She's supposed to have known me for years so she should've known that my dad LOVES to travel so we usually went out of the country during summer vacation. Take that Jod! :P

Dean-love on Supernatural

2009-03-26T17:21:00.000-04:00

Since the Supernatural hiatus ended, I haven't had the chance to start watching it again so I set up some time to myself and watched the 4-5 episodes that I missed.

In the episode After School Special, Dean goes "undercover" as a gym teacher and provides lots of laughs while trying to get the kids to play dodgeball without rules. His remark — WALK IT OFF! — after one of his kids gets hit hard on the face with a ball has become quite the catchphrase between me and my friends. Fun times! :)

Anyhoo, the episode that aired last week, On the Head of a Pin, was such a game-changer! So many revelations and shockers! ♥ every moment of it! One thing I noticed though was the sudden appearance of a nickname for Castiel. Dean called him "Cas" and it seemed like everyone started calling him that too!

extra work

2009-03-25T08:58:00.007-04:00

One of my coworkers has a habit of doing "extra" work in various shows and movies filmed in the area. Last year he was in Baltimore to play a Baltimore City police officer in HBO's The Wire.

Apparently, this week he'll be in Washington, DC playing a "DC Metro Bomb Special Police Officer" in a new yet-to-be-released CBS pilot, Washington Fields.

Fun times. :)

An old friend from college is also trying to get some extra work for Sarah Jessica Parker's new HBO show, The Washingtonienne, which I believe will be set in DC, but will be shot in the Baltimore area.

If I could do extra work, I'd wanna be an extra in Ugly Betty. It'd be cool to play an over-the-top background MODE-y. Or a random Queens person. Plus, I like going to NYC so it'll be a good excuse! :D

David & Goliath SALE!

2009-03-24T14:53:00.002-04:00

EDIT: Just checked today and the sale is now extended to hats, shoes, and various accessories as well! All are at least 50% off! Enjoy!

My friend just told me that David & Goliath is having a clearance sale. The shirts are down to $7.95, which is a pretty penny compared to their normal prices.

I really should be doing work @ work...

Stand By Me

2009-03-21T11:24:00.011-04:00

I was surfing channels and come upon DIRECTV's The 101 coverage of the SXSW 2009 musical festival. They showed a song from the documentary, Playing for Change: Peace Through Music, where different people from around the world sing/play music to parts of a song. They showed Stand by Me. It's amazing! Check it out below:

cool American Idol nerds

2009-03-18T13:29:00.000-04:00

Two of my coworkers, Mem & Eric, are huge followers of American Idol so they talk about it all the time. One of them even missed class one time just to watch it! O_o Crazy!

Anyway, they're constantly talking about it hoping that it'll entice me to watch it. No such luck! :P So, when they started talking about it again, I laughed and told them that they were nerds:

Me: You guys are such nerds!
Mem: We're cool nerds!
Eric: Yeah! We're “cool American Idol nerds.”
Me: Ha! Let's drop the “cool” and you're set!

reading through book 4, Summer Knight...

2009-03-17T12:49:00.001-04:00

Good ol' Wikipedia describes The Dresden Files as

...a series of fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago.

Got hooked on this book series after watching the episodes on TV. Despite its subsequent cancellation (why Scifi? why?!), I thought I'd continue on. I devoured the Harry Potter series, but I seem to be a slow reader with this one. But, I'm enjoying it so far. I mean, c'mon, vampires, magic, faeries?! Need I say more?!

My only complaint would be just the sheer amount of books in the ongoing series, if the author keeps at it. I like knowing something will end. Adds more of an excitement to it :P Plus, last time I read a long series was The Babysitter's Club (or maybe Nancy Drew).

And, keep the "nipple" or "breast tip" references to a minimum please. I am not a hormonal teenage boy. Thanks!

Also, please make the audio books available to my public library as I wanna hear James Marsters (Spike from Buffy/Angel) narrating the story to me during my commute to and from work :D

mental health day

2009-03-16T11:27:00.000-04:00

So, I woke up really early today to head over to a dental appointment at 8a. Yeah, yeah, I didn't know what I was thinking at the time when I scheduled it THAT early x_x Originally, it was scheduled that early because I planned on going to work right after.

Well, change of plans. I decided to take the day off... for no specific reason. Just really need a mental health day :) And it feels sooo good :D

Taking the day off was definitely a great idea since my appointment was for 8a, but I didn't get to see any dental personnel until 9a. I got my x-rays done, and the dentist was talking to me about my wisdom teeth &mdash whether I should get one of them extracted or not. Then, no cleaning :( I have to come back in on Wednesday for it. Great... >_<

the rhinovirus sucks

2009-03-15T09:30:00.000-04:00

I've been hit by a cold earlier this week and I'm still recovering. Seems I've passed it onto my friend/coworker, and it's hit her harder. We were supposed to go shopping on Saturday but we ended up just hanging out at her apartment pigging out on Chinese food and watching Hana Yori Dango and the first season of Ugly Betty. Fun times!

Anyhoo, Irel tagged me to do a meme so thought I'd give this one a shot.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
cabinets stood open, with files stacked on top of the

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Ouch, I didn't even stretch it out that far!

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
CSI: Miami... watching it now

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
8p

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
9.30p

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The TV I'm watching and the TV downstairs that my brother is watching.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
About an hour ago, driving home from my friend's apartment.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
the TV

9. What are you wearing?
tank top, v-neck top, and shorts

10. Did you dream last night?
Yes, I had powers and I had a boyfriend who was a shapeshifter or something.

11. When did you last laugh?
A little while ago. My brother was teasing me about being short and unable to reach something.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A rosy burgundy wall w/ a china cabinet at one end and the TV and entertainment center next to it.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Hmmm... not particularly

14. What do you think of this quiz?
Ehhh...

15. What is the last film you saw?
The last part of "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days" before I started watching CSI: Miami.

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
A private jet so I can travel wherever I want, and a bunch of other things.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
I am a Capricorn.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
For people to be able to get a chance to live in each other's shoes so they can appreciate what they have more, or be able to give more.

19. Do you like to dance?
Not in front of strangers...

20. George Bush.
Glad he's out!

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Hmm...

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Ehhh...

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Depends on where...

24. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
"Come in and join me in paradise, my child."

25. 5 people who must also do this meme in their journal.
Ummm... go crazy guys...

"drama doesn't follow me, it rides on my back..."

2009-03-14T13:22:00.000-04:00

Apparently, I'm the go-to girl for drama...

I have no crazy drama in my own personal life, but it seems like everyone thinks I'm their psychiatrist. I'm glad that people trust me enough to go to me when they need help; but my ears are hurting, and this feels like a one-way street...

On a side note, this continues to make me smile:

Gotta love Sisky Biz...

BSB ♥

2009-03-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

So I was Chucks-hunting at the mall. I didn't find anything that I liked and the ones I did like were either not in my size or too much.

On the way home from the mall, we got into a Backstreet Boys mood. Not really sure where it came from. So my friend plugged in her Zune and we belted out the tunes without any shame at all! :P

Fun times! :D

me and Anderson Cooper at work

2009-03-12T17:53:00.015-04:00

My coworker recently visited Iceland by way of JFK airport. Apparently, while sitting around at JFK, she saw these and thought of me. She tried to get a handful of the bookmarks but the lady at the counter gave her the stink eye, so she was only able to escape with 2! Hahahaha.

Her boyfriend calls us "Anderson groupies." I'm actually not a groupie, but he is one of my favorite CNN anchors :) He is now taped to the corner of my monitor at work. Hopefully, he will help motivate me to actually do work :P

Funny enough, someone was selling them on eBay for $5! Not sure if the FREE bookmark is worth quite that much, but I'm sure an Anderson Cooper fanboy/fangirl out there is slobbering all over these!

Fangs up!!

2009-03-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

My friend fought her way through jailbait fangirls to get pictures of Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship for me. I was cleaning out my Flickr and found the pictures. Here are some of them:

Jailbait fangirls... What else can I say? LOL :D

Flashing his fans a smile

People say he's really tall, over 6"

online dating

2009-03-09T10:30:00.007-04:00

At lunch earlier this week, my friend, Mica, who met his current girlfriend on eHarmony, told me about his coworker, Jay, who has done the same in hopes of meeting a girl. Apparently, Jay was not happy because he still hasn't had any hits or responses to his profile.

So, he decided to come to Mica for advice. Funny thing is the coworker decided to post pictures of himself drinking and acting up on his profile and had frat boy-type verbage all over his profile. Oh, Jay, maybe that's why you're not getting any serious hits?

playing TV catch up

2009-03-08T17:30:00.005-04:00

I suddenly got busy and missed a whole bunch of my regular shows. The only one I managed to not miss was Chuck. I'm kinda getting tired of that whole Chuck/Sarah sexual tension bits though >_<

So, I spent some part of Saturday watching my missed episodes online. (Yay for Hulu!)

Ugly Betty // Sugar Daddy
Arguably my current favorite show on TV. I feel like it gets better every season! (And yay for the 4th season pickup!) The faux Iron-Chef-America-slash-Throwdown-with-Bobby-Flay Kitchen Rumble segment was such an over-the-top spoof of those shows, I couldn't not laugh. I'm really liking Betty's new love interest, Matt. I hope he doesn't end up being annoying like Henry (who I liked in the beginning) or needy and egotistic like Jesse.

It's great to see Daniel "growing up" into more of an adult and really taking responsibility, especially now that he's no longer in Alexis' and Bradford's shadows. And the whole "public transportation" bit with Wilhemina and Daniel was a hoot. I've never taken a bus around NY so I'm not really sure how crazy it is. I get around using the subway... like a normal person :P

Burn Notice // Lesser Evil
This was the season finale and it was great! I gotta say I ♥ Michael Shanks on this one. He played the broken and unstable spy, Victor, SO well! My eyes really got misty when he pretty much pleaded for Michael to kill him :( Sometimes, I almost forget that Michael is a spy because he has such strong sense of justice. He's not just your common shady spook that's always portrayed on TV.

And major kudos to Fiona (someone give this lady a bra AND some food to eat!) for shooting Carla. About time! She was really getting on my nerves! The next season should be more exciting, now that nobody's holding back Michael's enemies from getting to him. He's gonna need to a lot more resourceful and play more spy games. Can't wait!

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles // Ourselves Alone
This show has been a lil slow since they moved to Fridays, and I was missing the Cameron/John moments, so yay for this episode (kinda)! Seems Cameron's glitch is back... and this time it makes her "involuntarily" kill a bird. How sad. I'm a lil iffy on this one though: Is the glitch supposed to make her more human, or is it gonna be this big Cameron vs. John thing again? I hope it's the former...

Unfortunately, I'm glad that Riley is dead. (Please be dead...) She didn't really add anything to the show, I thought. She just annoyed viewers and became this wedge between John and his mom, and between John and Cameron (which was THE plan, but she could've been less annoying). Also, is it just me or is this show kinda feeling more soap opera-ish?

Dollhouse // Gray Hour
Blue skies! I think "Taffy" is my favorite Echo imprint so far. I just really like quirky way she talked. Fun times. This Alpha is quite the genius. I can't wait to meet him and I really hope that it's Alan Tudyk! I hope FOX doesn't have Joss on a short leash because I am ready for some more Whedon-verse crafty-ness!

Oh, and how about imprinting Victor as someone else? His whole Russian Anton thing is kinda getting old...

Medieval Times with Prince Caspian and Justin

2009-03-07T14:47:00.027-05:00

So, I finally went to Medieval Times last weekend and had fun. I'd been wanting to go there since it opened years ago, but never really wanted to spend that much money. LOL :P They had a BOGO deal recently so we had to snap it up!

Took LOTS of (sometimes blurry) pictures and videos.

Here's how our table/counter was set up:

We were seated at the green section...

meaning we were cheering for the Green Knight.

I actually gave some of the Knights names to tell them apart. The Yellow Knight was Prince Caspian because he looked like Ben Barnes in the movie. The Black & White Knight was Justin because he had hair like this kid Justin who lived down the hall from my friend at the student apartments. We thought the Red & Yellow Knight was cute too, but we couldn't think of a name for him :(

Here's Prince Caspian, Justin, the Red & Yellow Knight and the Green Knight being presented with ribbons by the Princess. The ribbons are given to ladies in each of the Knights' sections:

Later in the show, the Knights battled each other. Here's a small clip of the Green Knight vs. Justin.

The Green Knight eventually bested them all and, unfortunately, was revealed to be the bad guy of the show. Oh well, we still thought he was awesome! :D

Overall, I had fun and the food was yummy, even though we had to eat with our hands. LOL. Though, I probably won't be back there any time soon...

Julia Roberts + spy = Duplicity

2009-03-03T13:10:00.004-05:00

Is it just me or is Julia Roberts not a convincing spy? Clive Owen, sure... but Julia Roberts?

Ugly Betty vs. I ♥ Betty La Fea

2009-03-01T20:43:00.001-05:00

Since I am a fan of Ugly Betty, I was very excited to find out when the Philippines teamed up John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo (my fave love team) for the Filipino version of Yo Soy Betty, La Fea. Because of the licensing conflicts, I can't get I Love Betty La Fea on The Filipino Channel (TFC). After some browsing, I found All About ShowBiz, which posts videos of the episodes airing in the Philippines. Unfortunately, I didn't get past the 2nd or 3rd episode. Everything was disappointing :( It just seemed like they were trying hard to copy Ugly Betty, instead of doing their own take on the original...

If the world is ending, I'm throwing the party...

2009-02-26T13:12:00.018-05:00

OK, not really. Guilty Pleasure was just playing on my Pandora. LOL :P

Anyway, my friend just bought us tickets to Medieval Times. I've been wanting to check it out since it opened but never really went. The regular adult admission is around $53, so I haven't really been too keen on it. However, they've recently been running this BOGO-type sale and I kept hearing it on the radio every morning. It ends on the 28th so we decided to jump on it.

We used the code AFKEB109 to sign up from RetailMeNot.com.

Interestingly enough, we get to eat with our hands:

Is it true that we must eat with our hands?

Absolutely! Eating utensils were not used in the 11th century and we take you back! The King's feast includes garlic bread, tomato bisque soup, roasted chicken, spare rib, herb-basted potato, pastry of the Castle and beverages (may vary by castle).

Should be fun! I'll take lots of pictures, if we're allowed to. I am so excited! :D

not those 25 random things...

2009-02-25T20:25:00.046-05:00

I know there's that whole "25 Random Things" bit that has been circulating around Facebook, but this is funnier in a way. My friend, AmY, tagged me so I decided to share it on here:

The True Purpose of Google
Type in the first answer that you get.

Q: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search.
Anne needs to win sexiest veg!
{Yay me!}

Q: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search.
Anne looks like a cross between Queen Victoria and the Vampire Lestat!
{I don't imagine that as someone good-looking... maybe if it was less Queen Victoria and more Lestat... Stuart Townsend-style :P}

Q: Type in "[your name] says" in the Google search.
Anne says her prayers.
{That I do.}

Q: Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search.
Anne Wants Next Boyfriend to Obey Law
{Always.}

Q:Type in "[your name] does" in Google search.
Anne does Barb's Race!

Q: Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search.
Anne Asks a Pointed Question on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Q: Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.
WHAT anne LIKES...

Q: Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search.
anne eats ghosts!
{This is quite the talent! I wonder what ghosts taste like...}

Q: Type in "[your name] wears " in Google search.
Princess Anne wears same outfit in same town three years later...
{Fashion faux-pas...}

Q: Type in "[your name] was arrested for" in Google Search.
Anne was arrested for adultery and taken to the Tower of London.
{...where she was promptly beheaded and now probably haunts the hallways?}

Q: Type in "[your name] loves" in Google Search.
www.annelovesgreenguy.com

anti-social weekend

2009-02-22T20:08:00.009-05:00

I am having one of those weekends where I feel anti-social and not wanting to really do anything outside the house. My friend, Hem, wanted to see Confessions of A Shopaholic on Saturday. On Sunday, Coraline with Mev and Ebry. I turned them all down.

I felt like I just needed to be alone. This probably came up because I had such a frustrating week at work. That place is beating me down. Too bad it's a bad economy or I would've left already.

But, I am hoping to be gone before my third year there. It would be great if it was before that, but I think the 3rd year is the most realistic goal I can manage.

Here's to a much better week!

Earth Hour 2009

2009-02-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

Earth Hour 2009 is set to switch off the globe. Already 538 cities in 75 countries which is double the number of countries that participated in 2008, are committed. With hundreds more cities expected to sign up to switch off in the coming months, Earth Hour 2009 is setting the platform for an unprecedented global mandate for action on climate change.

Earth Hour is coming up in March. For more information, visit the official Earth Hour world site. This small act of just turning off your lights for an hour, on a specific hour, will make a big impact.

sushi in a bento box

2009-02-19T09:00:00.018-05:00

image from Midohana @ Etsy

So I've recently purchased from Etsy this December, just because I wanted to give unique gifts to my friends. That way I'll know that they won't have it. One of my favorite purchases is from Elsie of Midohana: a bento box with sushi soaps! :)

I got myself a blue one and a red one for my friend. I actually use mine whenever I bring home-cooked food to work and it looks so cute. Plus, they're microwaveable! :D As for the soaps, they smell really good. The sushi rolls smell like yuzu (Japanese grapefruit), while the "wasabi" and "ginger" squares are energy (citruses, blackberry and champagne) scented.

I highly recommend them. My only downside would be the shipping, but that's because she was shipping internationally from Canada so it's only natural for her to charge a bit more. Overall, a great product!

widescreen monitor goodness!

2009-02-18T12:13:00.013-05:00

One day, my Gateway LCD monitor just decided to act up and not start right away O_o It would flicker for around 10 secs or so before it would completely turn on. At first, I was ok with it, but then it took longer and longer. Up to the point when it would take TWO hours to power up!

Needless to say, I Googled my problem and found that other people have had the same problem with that specific monitor. And the problem usually surfaced after 2-3 or so of monitor life — I had mine for 4-5 years! — when it was already out of warranty. Some of the people said that Gateway adviced them to just buy a new LCD backlight for around $100 or so.

Good ol' Newegg was having a huge sale on one of their monitors, a 19" widescreen LCD Acer monitor for $99.99 with FREE shipping! So, I decided to jump on that offer instead of buying a new backlight. I bought it on Monday and it's being delivered today :) I'm hoping to plug it in today when I get home. I'm excited! :D

Valentine's Day... with friends <3

2009-02-17T21:15:00.001-05:00

So, it's obvious just from the post title that I am single. LOL :P So, instead of spending it by my lonesome, I scheduled it as a movie night with my movie night buddies, Eb, Mp, and Ay. Coincidentally, it was my turn to host it so it was held in my house.

We had a variety to eat: teriyaki-flavored chicken wings, pepperoni pizza, caesar salad, heart-shaped brownies and chocolate-covered strawberries. Definitely a pig out night! :D

I ended up showing Slumdog Millionaire, which is currently my favorite movie this year, and Ghost Town. (Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest people EVER!)

Needless to say, a fun night was had by all and it was great seeing them again <3 I look forward to our movie nights every month because that's usually the only times I get to see Mp and Ay due to the distances between our homes.

February movie night was a success! :D

taxes? check!

2009-02-16T21:18:00.010-05:00

I actually did my taxes early this year! Yay! :D I definitely did better this year than last year when I owed the state around $40 or so because of a freelance thing I did that was never taxed.

I used Turbotax last year, but I wanted to try something else this year. After reading through reviews, I stumbled on TaxACT, primarily because of the value it offered. I used the TaxACT 2008 Ultimate Bundle, which included both Federal and State with one free e-file, and it only cost me $19.95! It's definitely not as fancy or colorful as Turbotax, but I didn't have any problems with it. I definitely recommend it for the value :) if you're not into all the bells & whistles.

PUSH... not so much

2009-02-15T11:42:00.010-05:00

One Push Can Change Everything

I was so excited when I first saw the trailer for Push. From someone who used to watch the X-Men cartoons when I was younger, I've definitely been into the whole humans-having-powers thing, probably because I wish I had cool powers like them :P

Push would've been a really good movie if the story-telling flowed — if it wasn't so convoluted. I understand that the main plan was supposed to be a "blind plan," but it would've helped if it was presented in a different way.

I really liked the action sequences though. One of the supporting antagonist, a "pusher," was awesome. He was definitely underused in terms of plot and dialogue, but when they whipped him out for the action sequences: AWESOMENESS! :D

February: Blogger of the month

2009-02-11T21:33:00.004-05:00

My blog over at Sanriotown, stick it in the fridge, ended up on Sanriotown's bloggers of the month for February! Very cool! Two of my fellow guildees, shesroyaltree and theotakutopian1 made it as well. Congrats to us! ^_^

Oh, Stephen

2009-02-11T16:59:00.003-05:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Stephen Verbally Thrashes Steve Martin

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Funny Political News

Christian Bale Parody
Joke of the Day

I couldn't resist sharing this since it make me laugh when it first aired. Christian Bale is not gonna live this down, is he?

He's Just Not That Into You

2009-02-11T16:13:00.013-05:00

I saw this movie when it came out, and underestimated its draw. I think the fact that it was partially filmed locally definitely helped. A lot of the people in the theatre would point out things they saw that were Baltimore- or Maryland-related. Quite interesting...

I definitely enjoyed it! I haven't seen a proper romantic comedy in awhile. The movies have kinda been stale lately. I guess it's all leading up to the summer blockbusters.

My friend commented that it wasn't as cliched as she thought it was going to be. I agree with her. They definitely covered a wide scope of relationships. My favorites are Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck's characters' story and Ginnifer Goodwin's semi-disastrous story.

It's definitely a date movie, and a certified chick flick, but I don't care. It was great to relax and smile and giggle through it all... I found the audience, especially the women, very responsive throughout this movie. I think people commented on mostly everything!

back... again...

2009-02-11T15:41:00.007-05:00

So I'm back on Blogspot for blogging. I was at Sanriotown for awhile, but the not-being-able-to-make-my-own-theme kinda turned me off especially since I wanna get back into doing web design again. Blogger will give me the opportunity to get my coding skills to how they were before I got my job. I told my coworker that I miss my Internet life. Hahaha.

Lush

2008-09-13T22:11:00.002-04:00

When I travelled to Lucerne, Switzerland in April, we passed by this store called Lush, which drew out attention simply by the strong smell of its products and its signage talking about all-natural products. I ended up buying these:

Mange Too Massage Bar
After a long, stressful day or just to smell fabulous, rub Mange Too massage bar into your skin and feel its moisturizing effects. We make it with honey, white chocolate and peppermint; and if that's not enough we also add in mango butter and fresh bananas. It's hard to resist eating, but even harder to put down. Prepare to be swept away to candy land while getting unbelievably soft, fragrant skin.

Sweet Japanese Girl cleanser
Sweet Japanese Girl facial massage and exfoliation bar is a do-it-all product. Its lovely butters hydrate the skin while juniper berry helps to clear pores and tea tree keeps bad bacteria at bay. The blackhead-blasting action of aduki beans and almonds is amazing. Just rub the edges of the bar on clogged pores and voila: clean, exfoliated skin without any soreness or dryness! Wash away with warm water on a cotton pad and tone with Tea Tree Water. Instant facial!

Heavenly Bodies Buttercream
Imagine taking orange juice, mixing it with a chocolate brownie, adding some mud, slathering it all over, and actually coming out clean. Well, that's how this buttercream works. Its delectable ingredients make it a pleasure to use, but you'll love it for how supple it makes your skin feel. Decadence knows no boundaries as you scrub your way to bliss.

I don't have a Lush near me – the nearest was about an hour away – so when my family visited the Philippines I compiled a list of things I wanted from Lush. My mom brought me home:

Jasmine & Henna Fluff Eaze Hair Treatment
Flyaway strands and fluffy hair are a thing of the past with Jasmine & Henna Fluff Ease! With olive and Brazil nut oils for smoothing, jasmine for scent, and henna for shine, this moisturizing hair treatment turns dull, crazy hair into smooth, silky tresses even Rapunzel would be proud of. Kick back with Jasmine and Henna and know people are staring because your hair is fabulous.

Herbalism Cleanser
Herbalism has China clay to remove excess oil, ground almonds and rice bran to exfoliate away dead skin cells, sage, chamomile and marigold to soothe inflammation and rosemary and sage to banish nasty microbes. As well, the combination of the clay and rice bran leaves a matte finish to the skin. Some people who have used the Angels On Bareskin and found it too rich, find the Herbalism to be lighter. If you persist and use this cleanser every day, we guarantee results that are well worth the bother.

Ultralight Moisturizer
Too much sunlight makes you look older faster and we can't have that! Ultralight is a protective face moisturizer to help skin recover from sun exposure. Mineral-rich seaweed nourishes, aloe vera and St. John's Wort soothe and evening primrose, olive, almond and jojoba oils soften. Use Ultralight as a day cream while the sun is beaming at you or even when it's stuck behind the clouds.

The awesome news is that my friend found out that one of the malls near us is expanding and the new section will feature a Lush store! I can't wait!

(Descriptions and pictures from the Lush website.)

go home!

2007-11-28T16:36:00.001-05:00

There should be an office law that states that if a person has no work to do then it is okay for her/him to head home. LOL.

travels and such

2007-11-27T15:09:00.002-05:00

So, our travel agent came through for us once again! He is great! (We not only use them to do our trips, but they are our tax agency as well.) Our quote from Cosmos was $2,363, but our travel agent got us down to $2,122! Amazing! The only bad thing is that we'll have to drive about an hour to the airport because we won't be departing/arriving from our home airport; but it's such a considerable discount that we can live with that.

The next thing would be converting our $ to € and £. With the $'s decline, that's gonna be fun! Fortunately, I have a friend who works for a bank and she's willing to use her employee "discount" so I won't have to pay fees for the conversion. All in all, I will probably be poor for a little bit. Nice...

he's just not that into you

2007-11-16T09:44:00.001-05:00

Seems they're filming "He's Just Not that Into You" with Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, etc. down the street. My co-worker just told me that they changed some of the exterior of one of my fave lunch places to prep for the filming. Awesomeness!

european sampler... and go!

2007-11-06T16:17:00.001-05:00

So my friend and I finally picked a trip. We're going on Cosmos' European Sampler tour. Apparently, all we need to reserve our spot is a $349 deposit each. Not really sure of the exact total. I don't foresee it costing more than $2500 each... I hope... Still, I am excited! It's my first "big girl" vacation since graduating. LOL. It should be fun and will yield tons of pictures!

half salad and half sandwich, please

2007-10-29T12:26:00.001-04:00

OK, ever since I stopped eating fast food after reading Fast Food Nation about 2-3 years ago, I have been an avid devotee of Panera Bread, easily one of my favorite eateries ever (2nd only to Tokyo Tokyo in the Philippines). I am fan of their Half/Half concept — which is probably not the official name — where you can pick 2 halves (half sandwich, half bowl of soup, or half salad) with a side. I usually pick a half sandwich and a half salad with potato chips on the side, which I reason will be balanced with the healthy-ness of the salad. It also doesn't help that my sister works at one near home and they offer a 50% discount to family and friends of employees. LOL. Plus, on occasions when she's there to close, she can make the food for free... so there's that too...

european escape

2007-10-24T16:49:00.001-04:00

So I haven't been on a proper vacation since summer of 2005. I don't get my first vacation week until December so I have to wait until after that before I can actually use my vacation days. I'd like to say that my family and I have had a great experience with Cosmos. You get to travel Europe on a budget. My first Cosmos tour was Central Europe in 2005. It was definitely a great experience for someone like me who loves architecture and history. Europe is definitely a beautiful place. My family did the Best of Europe tour without me this summer. I was a little jealous, but I knew I couldn't go.

Anyway, my friend and I ordered our 2007 tour book and will be having lunch tomorrow to pick our tour. I can't be too picky since I don't really have too much money. I am still an entry-level worker so I can't expect too much. Hopefully, spring of next year, we will be touring Europe for 2 weeks!

one more chance

2007-10-23T16:51:00.002-04:00

Imagine my giddyness when I found out that John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo have once again teamed up to do a movie! I'm pretty much sold on any project they work on together. Their chemistry and acting prowess are just unbelievable! After searching through YouTube, I found a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY5reekjFYU.

ugly is beautiful

2007-10-18T16:33:00.002-04:00

I'm gonna take a stab and say that Ugly Betty is perhaps one of the most intelligent and witty shows out there. I not only tune in to the show, but also to the official podcast hosted by Becki Newton, who plays Amanda Tanen, and Michael Urie, who plays Marc St. James. The latest ones are up on iTunes (Here's the podcast link. You'll need iTunes to open it.) and I gotta say the last one, which aired on 16 Oct and billed as "podcast mayhem" was the most hilarious of them all so far.

bathroom breaks

2007-10-16T13:31:00.001-04:00

I work in the second floor of a Victorian mansion set in the city's historical district. I love the architecture and the open-ness of our work area! One thing that scares me is the bathroom on our floor. Sometimes there are surprises waiting/floating... LOL. Boys are so dirty! =P

i am fabulous

2007-10-15T16:16:00.002-04:00

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

That quote was from Akeelah and the Bee, which is apparently my movie of the moment. (I cannot stress how inspiring the movie is.) It is penned by Marianne Williamson in her poem "Our Deepest Fear." I thought I'd put that up as my day is winding down... just something to think about and reflect on.

a funeral and the bee

2007-10-15T12:58:00.002-04:00

So I found out that my friend's mom passed away on Friday. There is a viewing set for today and tomorrow, which I will not be going to. I don't think I can handle viewing a body... However, I am definitely taking off work on Wednesday to go to the funeral, which will be my first funeral in memory. I've probably been to one when I was really young, but I just don't remember.

Needless to say, I was looking up funeral etiquette on Google to see if there were certain faux pas that I should be staying away from especially since this event is so important. The last thing I would want to do is cause more anguish to my friend and her family.

On a lighter note, I saw Akeelah and the Bee this weekend and LOVED it! It is such a feel good story about, of all things, a girl trying to make it to the national spelling bee. I definitely recommend it. I know I tried to get every single member of my family to watch it ^_^

a little late

2007-08-17T09:53:00.001-04:00

So I'm little late on the whole social bookmarking thing... I just signed up for del.icio.us yesterday. LOL. I did have an account with Backflip way back in 2001 when our Communications/Multimedia teacher "suggested" that the entire class sign up for it. Due to a slow day at work yesterday, I cleaned up my links (since about half are now dead links) and transferred them over to del.icio.us manually.

whoa!

2007-08-15T14:44:00.002-04:00

Wow! Seven months since my last post. That's crazy! I've been busy working at "paperie" but I now have a "real" job as a graphic/web designer for an investment-ish company. Yay! I started in June and I like it so far. The people are definitely great and the atmosphere is friendly. I'm still getting used to being a new person. Since I am younger than mostly everyone here, it's a bit hard to fit in, but I'm not gonna give up. I gotta get back into the swing of things -- Queen Bee-style! ^_^

wow!

2007-01-14T13:15:00.001-05:00

Hmm...seems like I was on hiatus again. LOL. Well, happy new year, I guess. Here's to 2007! May you be a much better year.

January has brought on some good stuff. Primarily, for me, is the return of Hana Yori Dango Live Action. LOL. It's been about a year since the first season ended. I watched the two-hour season premiere and it is great! Lots of emotional scenes primarily on Tsukushi's part. If I wasn't at work, I'll be posting up some screen caps. LOL.

V.P. Dick Cheney

2006-09-24T20:34:00.001-04:00

Apparently, Dick Cheney decided to visit his friend who lived next (or across the road) to my college. My friend told me 3 helicopters landed (2 were a decoy, I guess) on the school field. There were even decoy motorcades as well! She said the school was filled with bomb-sniffing dogs, CIA and Secret Service agents, State police, etc. Must have been quite a sight for everyone in the area. I wish I was there!

We laughed at the obvious hilarity of it all... OK, so his safety is not hilarity...but maybe it's the fact that we're not fans of him that sparks the indifference. LOL. We would've rathered it was Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton who swooped down on the school.

Princess Hours

2006-09-21T22:04:00.001-04:00

My friend finally got me over her house to watch the Kdrama Goong (The Palace/Princess Hours). Seems like a good show and it's created quite a buzz online. It's just not one of those shows I can watch marathon-like. The Hana Yori Dango Jdrama probably took me 2 days to watch. Princess Hours is sooo long — each ep is almost 2 hours long! O_o But I'll try to stick by it... I was able to watch 2 straight episodes yesterday before giving up. LOL. We ended up watching a Filipino movie called Manay Po!, which is a comedy about a mom who raises 3 sons, who all end up being gay. LOL.

On another note, I got my other friend into HanaDan. She's never watched anything foreign before...let alone with subtitles! But I got her hooked. I think she's probably re-watched the episodes much more than I have!

Bituing Walang Ningning

2006-09-19T21:57:00.001-04:00

The Bituing Walang Ningning (BWN) sineserye is so addicting...yet so frustrating at the same time. I understand that extending the show will garner in more money for the network, but the show's plot lines are suffering. At first, the pacing of the show was really good and everything unraveled nicely, but now it's very obvious that the plot is being stretched to accomodate the week or so extension. Like with most Asian dramas, if the show can be completed in 10-20 episodes, then do so! I'd rather have a story where each episode contributes to the whole plot. Heck, the Hana Yori Dango Jdrama did it brilliantly in 9 episodes! (Albeit, there will be a season 2, but I doubt that it will be as long as BWN is now...)

work wanted...thanks!

2006-09-18T15:22:00.001-04:00

Since getting out of school, I never really realized how difficult it would be to find a job in the "real world." I should've gone into medicine like I originally wanted. I probably would be working right now. Not so much available in the job pool in terms of entry-level positions. I was lucky enough to get interviewed by two places. The first place, I'll call it "Paperie" and the second place, I'll call "The Institute." Paperie is set in a revitalized neighborhood in the city. They sell high-class stationery, cards, journals, etc. and do custom invites, cards, etc. I interviewed with the owner, who said she liked me and was going to call me back. She never did, so I kinda just shrugged it off since I wasn't sure if it was the place for me. The Institute was a quite an experience: I interviewed with them twice which culminated in a design test. Unfortunately, after 2 hours, I was only able to finish 8 pages of the booklet.

Seems that it would take about 2 weeks before I find out if The Institute will pick me over the other 2 candidates. On the other hand, after a month, I suddenly received a message from Paperie asking me if I still wanted the position. This is where I'm confused. I'd rather work for The Institute, but I don't wanna turn down Paperie in case The Institute turns me down...

Zune: the iPod killer...

2006-09-15T21:41:00.001-04:00

According to CNN news ticker, Microsoft has finally revealed their digital media player named Zune (seen left; photo is from Engadget). It's been dubbed as Microsoft's iPod killer since rumors have spread about it as early as last year. It was rumored to rival the iPod and would cost under $50. I've been following it online with excitement from it's conception as "project Argo."

I gotta say that I'm slightly disappointed by the color as their previous prototypes included brighter colors. But the size of the screen and its wi-fi capabilities are cool ^_^ I hope to get more information soon. For more specs and info, check out Engadget's article about it.

not in our neighborhood?

2006-09-15T10:16:00.001-04:00

A few days ago someone taped a flier on our door. On it was a photocopy of an article in a local paper talking about a mosque moving to our town. Next to it handwritten were

NOT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CALL THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE at 555-05050 (I don't remember the number).

I was so angry that I promptly crumpled up the paper and threw it away. I was angry that someone in my neighborhood would be so small-minded. But, what made me most angry of all was the fact that someone thought my family and I agree with that kind of thinking! >_< I do not understand such blatant ignorance. So what if a mosque is built nearby? It doesn't mean anything. It's just like building a church or a synagogue. The acts of a few stupid extremists should not be considered the act of all who follow that religion!

back to the blogging world!

2006-09-14T13:55:00.001-04:00

It's soo weird blogging again after being gone for nearly two years! I was debating between either Blogger or LiveJournal. I've used Blogger before...way back when it started and remember having a great deal of fun with it. Who would've thought that I would be returning to where I started?

Blogger was a jump-start for me into the blogging world. After Blogger, I've used Greymatter, Movable Type (albeit for like 2 posts. lol!), b2 and later WordPress, which I used for quite awhile. Unfortunately, college work started taking a toll so I was unable to keep up with my regular blogs and had to take a hiatus...

My old blogs were on anne.sakurapixi.com, anne.euphoric.nu and http://bluemango.chimerical-dreaming.net