work it
yeah, i'm at work waiting impatiently for the bell to ring. the students are all at an assembly so for the last half hour or so i've been lucky enough to be able to slack off... besides, if i were there, i'd probably be thinking about what i'm thinking about now: my hallowe'en costume. i love that i work at an elementary school... it's way easier to get kids enthusiastic about holidays and special occasions when they're young (yes, the power to mold young innocent minds is intoxicating...)...
ooh there goes the bell...

i care for you...
ever felt all goofy when you're around someone in particular and there's no real reason why you should be feeling like that? it's like if you're in a situation where you'd normally be outgoing and extroverted but once this one person is added to the mix, you get all shy. well, i think i've found an explanation. it's a sign that you have to tell this person something (i.e. that you like them... or something like that... ;o) ). you have to tell them your feelings towards them (try saying something like "hey, i like you.") otherwise this "butterflies in your tummy" feeling won't leave. it's almost like a guilty conscience trying to get you to confess... except without the extreme possibility of sending yourself to hell if you don't. although regret could be pretty close (*hint hint*)...
heehee!

the light
i'm feeling all inspired and mushy... or maybe it's just my lungs reacting to all this medication... either way, this is just something off the top of my head reflecting on this one person that really means a lot to me.
we don't talk all the time, but when we call each other, it's like our last conversation never hung up. we barely hang out, but when we do, it's spent in short but condensed bursts throughout our relationship so far. we've got an inexplicable bond. when he was sick during the summer, all he did was think of me, and at that same moment in time, i had this overwhelming feeling to call him, and make him corn soup. now, i'm sick and i found i was thinking about him too... maybe it's the fact that whenever i hear the neptunes, i think of him (and the neptunes are just everywhere). maybe it's cuz both him and i have fucked up startacs. or maybe it's just cuz i know that whenever i'm down and really need to smile, or even just need a hug, i see his name show up on the call display. he's so sincere and sensitive (and not to mention talented!)... i'd say more about him, but even the best description of him would still be an understatement.

brown sugar
i remember once a friend asked me if i'd ever grow out of this "hip hop stage" i'm apparently in, and i was so confused by that question. i didn't understand it. i couldn't picture anything about my life so far that didn't or wouldn't involve hip hop. i don't admit knowing or being everything about it, but i know that i can't live without it. there are a lot of things that have influenced me in my life (parents among other people) but that's a given. it's just that there are a lot experiences that i've had that struck a chord in me that were always complimented with at least one element of the culture. when i think about it, it's actually kinda funny... but that's just cuz it's true.
and yes, brown sugar is a pretty sweet movie. good times, good times :o) .

puff... breathe and stop....
i knew i had been sick for the last 2 weeks, but i really didn't pay it too much attention. i usually get colds so i know how to take care of them. last monday i got sent home from work after lunch, and i didn't get to come back til yesterday. now that's what i call a really long weekend. yes it was leisurely, but i didn't go out at all other than to sonar on sunday night for their long weekend party (we just had our thanksgiving last weekend for all you non-canadians out there). and even then we left the club at 1am.
well, i went to the doctor yesterday and now i get to have an inhaler thing and some antibiotics for my lungs. i tell you now, it sucks. my lungs feel like mush! does that mean the drugs are working?.. :o(

oh baby
darn. i thought i had written in this thing a lot more recent than that last posting. oh well. the highlights of the last month would have to be the fact that my dragon boat team won a gold in kelowna (SOLID!), i got to watch that documentary on biggie and tupac at the vancouver international film festival showing of it (very insightful), i got to watch 2 pre-season canuck games (one of which was last night when the queen dropped the ceremonial puck... yeah, woohoo.), and i got a bunch of new music thanks to andrew. music is just SO the best thing ever. i've said this many times and i'll say it again: if music were a being, i'd marry it. although, one of the cooler things that happened to me is that i heard from my pirate friends last week. haven't heard their voices in at least 3 months... i hope they make it home for christmas. everyone out here misses you guys!

oh boy
last night i also watched crazy freaky movies that were being featured at the film festival... oh man, they were harsh messed up. and now i just realized that i left some clothes in the laundry and i have to throw them in the dryer... in the basement!! dammit i hate it when i get all scurred!!!

things that make you go hmmm...
so i was watching that show beyond belief or whatever it's called... it's got star trek the next generation's "number one" as the host. well, the first story showed a girl house sitting and there was a creepy sound coming from the basement. even though she's scared out of her mind (it was a dark and stormy night), she took a knife with her to investigate the noise. all i gotta say is that is the dumbest thing i've ever heard of. i'd never go and investigate a noise...
THEN, as i was sitting here at the computer all alone in my house, i heard a noise. it sounded like someone trying to get in through our back door. it freaked me out. and without even thinking, i grabbed the cordless phone and investigated the noise. now, it ain't a dark and scary basement, but the house is pretty dark right now. it turned out to be noises from the neighbour's yard. nobody was trying to get in (*knock on wood*). i guess it's just in one's nature whether or not they'd go and investigate a noise. i'm REALLY not down for that, but i found myself doing it anyways... dammit. curiosity killed the cat, right?

sour face!
so i get an email from sabz with a picture attatched. it was one of us girls at the cabin from august last year. even though i had a good time out there, it also reminded me who else was there at that time... yuk. all i gotta say is that if i make a sour face when i think about you, then i guess i just don't like you. i must have subconsciously tried to block you out of my memory to get a reaction like that out of me. not to say that i'm not trying to be mature about it... but i am only human.

i'm back
so we got back last night from california and all i can say is that was some road trip. friday involved arriving in the afternoon, clubbing that night at an 18+ club (can we say "highschool gym"?), going for eats at denny's, but getting into a scrap before being seated (to clear it up for some of you who know me well, NO, i didn't start this one). all i have to say is that despite the horribly messed up situation we got into, everyone else (short of the firemen, policemen, paramedics and denny's workers) was really nice about it (and forgive me for sounding pdiddy-ish... shout out to the wolf pack. thanks guys.)... but i really really REALLY didn't want to ride that ambulance. really. *sigh*
saturday was the car show, which was much much more than i expected. i was impressed. sarah got such a cool job too... she got to go around and do the interviews of people at the show and the 20 models that were there. and she didn't have to dress like any of them models (yes, a huge sigh of relief from me). and she STILL had people asking me if it was cool to take pictures with her. i tell you, us three (my two sisters and me) have that certain je ne sais quoi that people would pay for! okay, we're not really hot at all, but we're damn good at fooling guys into thinking that! ;op
sunday was a complete shopping day (for everyone 'cept me. i'm broke as a joke.). that night we hit this crazy huge club called mission rock. holy cow, i've never seen a line up so big for a club. for a hip hop club at that! seriously, that place was where it was crackin' that night. luckily we got the hook up and got to run past the two city block length lineups. and once we were in, my god, it was unlike any clubbing experience i've ever had. it was an indoor and outdoor club and that was just so cool. i met so many people that night, saw some old friends, made some new friends... thems were some crazy good times.
the next day we just got up to leave the bay, and got home last night at about 7pm. notice how sleep wasn't a really big factor in this long weekend excursion. and work started for me this morning at 830am... yeah, it was a long day.

hmmmm
so i just finished watching american idol tonight... yay for kelly! damn, they all sang well. my mom commented how they only win $200, 000 dollars... i was all "mom, some people don't make that much in a year, and the winner ends up making that in a summer." on top of a record contract at that. all i have to say about that is i wish that i was that talented. i know i'm not the prettiest thing to look at, and my voice got a bit wrecked from dragon boat, but before that i was alright. i know i could carry a tune. back then if i had the chance to sing even for a few bucks, i'd do it. shoot, i'd do it now if someone paid me for it. anything that comes natural would be a sweet ass job, don't you think?

i'm going (going) back (back) to cali (cali)...
so apparently there's a car show in san mateo this saturday. so since my little sister is into her "car model" phase, she's going to be there... as will her oldest sister (yes, that would be me, but i'm not in that "car model" phase... just in the "older sister who will kick your butt if you get too close to her" phase.... sometimes it's just hard to grow out of i guess). we're leaving on thursday night to drive down... i think i have the proper directions: from my house, drive west 3 blocks to oak street, then head south for about 20 hours, then we're there! i guess if anyone i know in california is around that area on saturday til tuesday, email me before i leave... i'd love to see you there!

when i grow up...
i want to be a double agent. or something to that effect. i don't have a particularly quick wit, nor am i exceptionally creative when i'm put on the spot, but i'd really like to pretend that i'm doing the right thing and think that i'm pleasing everyone... and maybe earning some money off of my "good deeds."
see, ideally i'd like for everyone to get whatever they wanted. but we all know that that's not possible. for every one thing that someone wants, there are like a dozen more who won't get what they want... it's sad but true. so the only way that everyone could be happy is if everyone believed that they were getting what they wanted. but i guess that might not work too well if i trusted someone by telling them my secret, and that in turn makes them completely distrust me and never think i'm sincere... then nobody would ever trust/believe me. darn, i knew there was a downside. maybe i should just go into politics or something...

my neck, my back
oh my GOODNESS i am in pain!! too much dancing for someone who was supposed to be the dj... note to self: runners are always better than heels to dance in, no matter how silly you might look! annie's wedding went well yesterday and everyone's still talking about it. i had such a good time that i didn't even have the strength to take my hair down (yep, it's still up in its do!). there wasn't a single horrible thing that coulda happened to sabbotage the day. and even though i couldn't mingle as much as i wanted to, i had fun. too bad the groom's side wasn't as extroverted as our side... they knew how to get their drink on, but i guess no matter what i played, they couldn't get down with their bad selves, short of the father of the groom and one of the nieces. it was kinda funny cuz our family SO took over the floor... we took over the whole thing almost! it was great. even the crew (we were on a little cruise ship for the reception) said that this was one of the better receptions they've ever hosted... not plain at all. well, you get about 60 filipinos, a lot of cheap wine, put them all in a contained environment, throw in a little bit of classic 80s and a lot of old school and hiphop and what do you get?... the always entertaining typical filipino party... we had titas getting tipsy, titos getting their freaks on, and us kids just laughing so hard that we all left with a cut up set of abs. any of you reading this that weren't there, hit me up... i'll invite you to the next big function... and this time i'll make sure to include kool and the gang in my playlist, and to throw a big lechon in the mix.

i've stopped moving... for now...
so it's been forever since i last wrote. i slack a bit, but not without good reason. after cuba was a week and a half of getting things all figured out before my next trip. i organized annie's bridal shower 4 days before leaving for cuba, then i got back and figured more of it out before it went down the friday before i left for long beach, california. i had good revues from the ladies who attended the shower, even though i think i could have done better. no matter. everyone left the party with lots of happy, if not completely hilarious memories.

summertime in the LBC...
so my dragon boat team made it to long beach with barely enough tolerance of each other to last the weekend. what a weekend. the few of us who made it down on thursday probably had the best time of them all... we partied at the yard house that night, friday we went to newport beach to play in the ocean, then we had a practice, a dinner (the first time we had a real full meal since we left vancouver) and then clubbing at laguna beach (club m). saturday we raced... art and i were looking at butts to see if there were any to see. not much, 'cept for this one guy who worked as security. he was rockin' his blue jeans like i've never seen! i swear, i really got it bad for how pants look on a guy. the next day i actually spoke with him for a bit, and he was cool. our team ended up winning silver in our division :o) yay us! thank goodness i didn't have to resort to violence and force to get myself some hardware to bring back home.
well, the next day the team all went their seperate routes home. i on the otherhand made my way out to modesto.

modesto?!
i know, who the heck lives out in modesto?! well, ron's mom and brother for one thing. they picked me up from the train station. i didn't realize how not bad the train would be to take it for such a long trip. i even made a friend. friendly, polite, good conversationalist... exactly what i needed on that 6 hour trip. well, sonder and his mom picked me up and we went to their place in ceres. it's so hot out there. the next day we went to the bay... sonder and i went to the winchester mansion, and we were going to hit the beach, but turns out that we were too lazy to beat the traffic so we watched goldmember instead. what a horribly nasty movie! it was great. the first 2 were better, but i did really like the cameos in this one. and of course the musical part dr. evil and mini-me had in the jail... that was arranged by dr. dre so i hear. crazy.
thursday consisited of me and sonder driving out to the city before picking up sabby and cin from the airport. that night we kicked it with roel, ray and a few of ron's friends. it was so funny! i think they really miss ron :o). friday we went to gilroy. shopped the outlets for 9 hours. damn we're good. it was just like the last time we went out there, but better! our rental car really carried a lot this time around too. afterwards, we kicked it with eden... mahjong all evening. i miss that guy... he's so funny. saturday we went to sausolito and took pictures. we took pictures on sunday at coit tower and we did a bit of shopping too... but i took off to meet with david in oakland while the girls hit fisherman's wharf. i ended up going to sacramento for the evening, then stopping by in davis before heading back to the bay. it was cool. monday was the great mall (after i got kinda lost getting there... but we got it after a while... note to self: hang a right on serra). so we shopped til we had to fly back home. it was a fun but i can't believe the whole trip is gone already. and the worst part is that i couldn't get to see kuya. this is the first time i've ever gone to cali and not seen him. :o(

i won't stop, cuz i can't stop
so you'd think that it'd be just a daily routine i gotta get back into once all my trips were done. i would love to have one, but my sister's getting married in 5 days. and i have so many things to do. so simple, yet so much. well, we'll see how all that goes. wish me luck... i hope i won't lag anymore about updating my blog...

my trip to cuba
here is how it all went down... in a nutshell of course :o)

monday, we arrived at about 730ish cuba time. didn't do much except get used to our rooms and the hotel. we ate dinner and walked around til we found the beach. it was beautiful, eventhough we could barely see it...

tuesday, we booked our tours and dinner reservations for the restaurants on the resort, then we hit the beach all day. we went on one of them pedal boats out to the middle of the beautiful blue blue water and then laid in the sun. it was HOT! then we went on a banana boat. it was fun enough, i guess. but the pedal boat was cooler. so yeah it was a beach day pretty much... and yes, i am now dark like chocolate.

wednesday, we went to havana. i bought some cigars for nurse chris and annie... yeah havana was awesome. i wanna go back to that place. so much history... we went to the cigar factory that's been up since 1901, and we went to the christopher columbus cemetary to see all sorts of cool tombs and graves (ex. we saw the tomb of the bartender who invented the daquiri... yes, that is a cuban creation)... we only spent a day there, and it wasn't enough. i'll definitely go back there again someday.

thursday was another beach day. then we decided to rent mopeds and drive down to downtown varadero. so yeah i got to drive with
sabby sitting behind me. so fun!! we went to the flea market and that's when i got my hair braided. it was fun! we were riding back and then it started to rain... a LOT. they call it "tropical rains"... i think they mean "torrential storm". we could barely see cuz the rain was hitting us SO hard! like someone was flicking us all over our bodies! it hurt a lot mostly cuz we were wearing shorts and tank tops. but yeah we made it back with no scrathes. it was SO fun!

friday we went on a river tour (rio del canimar) and i saw jellyfish in the water! and when we got to the little ranch at one point
along the river, jac and genalyne rode horses as sabby and i lounged on the hammocks that were tied to mango trees! very relaxing.
that afternoon, we went to another tour called the "sunset cruise". it was on a large catamaran and we sailed out to the middle of
the ocean and one of the men went and snorkled for fresh lobsters that they cooked and fed us for 10 bucks a lobster! me and jac and sab didn't get one cuz we forgot our money. no big though... we got caught in another "tropical rain" which was so bad that we heard and saw thunder and lightning at the same time! everyone was huddled together under the canopy hoping they wouldn't get too soaked... they had to stop the boat and wait out the storm for half an hour. some people were all "this is it. it's the end..." crying and all. it was pretty scary. but the girls and i decided to take pictures of each other cuz we figured what else was there to do? so we smiled, took photos and i think that brightened the mood a bit... there were almost 60 people on that boat. but we got out of it unscathed. :o)

saturday, we woke up late (11pm). we decided to have another beach day, then we kicked it at the pool after :o) then later that night,
jac and i sang karaoke with a live pianist, saxaphone player, and bassist. it was COOL! people really liked us :o). after that,
a couple other people (karen and emma) we met out there took me to a club (yeah the girls didn't wanna go.. go fig). they took
me too "la rhumba" and it was so cool, cuz everyone who danced danced to salsa! then they had their little rap/r&b set. the snoop and dr. dre song (the next episode) came on. so i started c-walking. then i realized no one knew what i was doing so i stopped. it was cool tho. we saw a bunch of half decent looking guys... turns out they were all gigolos though. too bad. seeing all that is an experience.

sunday... we woke up a bit later, but we managed to get to downtown again. sabby's hair got braided, and i bought all sorts of souvenirs. then at night all we did was listen to a local band on the terrace of the hotel, and they sang this hilarious song that's been in my head ever since. it's called "la manzana" for all of you who want to surf the net for it... one key line is the one where they say "tengo una manzana en la cabeza" (i got an apple in my head). us girls (including emma and karen) just ended up kicking it out there til 2am. talking... it was fun.

and that brings us back to monday. we woke up, went to the beach for the last time, washed up, checked out, then ate lunch and kicked it in the hotel lobby til 3pm when we had to jump on the bus for the airport. and now i'm home :o)

it was all really fun, but i'm glad that i'm home and get to sleep in my own bed. now i know how kuya feels when he gets home after returning from someplace for a long period of time...

some call it experience...
okay so i remember when i was growing up that i always hated to listen to any form of "old school" on the radio. they were all songs that meant nothing to me. but now, i realise that i'm old enough to actually like the "old school lunches" on the radio... i've been listening to it this morning and i love all the songs that i used to hear in late elementary to highschool days... it's awesome. but then again, that means we're really old. yikes, highschool ended 7 years ago for me... elementary ended 12 years ago... i think i'm feeling some shooting pains in my left arm...

it's madness i tell you!
so i've been clubbing every night since wednesday. sonar, loft 6, legends and mesa luna... and the weekend's not over yet!! i still have to hit fubar tomorrow night at richard's on richards... man, i think this is what happens when i have too much energy... and no boyfriend ;op. oh well, at least my cardio's doing well.

and that's not all...
so if anyone wants to hear drama, here goes. i was so proud of my dragon boat team. i really thought that it was a really compatible set of people. but alas, i am wrong. i've never heard so much bickering about the financial situation of any team in any sort of oraganized sport as this one. is it cuz half these guys are in business? or at least know someone in business? it's really retarded if you ask me. we are such a strong team on the water, so charismatic off the water, and yet when the issues about who was responsible for what comes up, everyone is more quiet than a rock to admit it, but noisier than an explosion to blame it on someone else...
we're headed to the long beach dragon boat competition (among other ones) this summer. when i say we, i don't mean the original team. this is because some people on the team (minus the ones who really can't make it) just don't feel the need to go further with the team than the vancouver festival. what i thought when i decided to get on this team was that this was going to be the most competitive recreational team i've ever seen. i thought that everyone on this team shared the same attitude towards the same goal... but this is not true. so what i want to know is what were those people thinking when they joined? did they think that was it? doesn't sound too competitive to me. and then there are the ones who were so gung ho about the whole success of the team so they tried to involve themselves more (i.e. with the finances), but ended up scrapping the whole idea and leaving the team out to fend for themselves with no clue about what was going on. really people, you have got to get your hands on this thing us teacher-types like to call RESPONSIBILITY. it's not too hard to do, but you really gotta stick to your guns if you want it to work. and some tips for those who can't seem to do anything but complain that things weren't going as planned: if your ideas were so great, where was your initiative to take on that exact thing you were complaining about? some of you just don't seem to understand that nobody wants to do the dirty work for our team. at all. so quit all of your whinning and complaining and cussing and whatever else you're doing that doesn't send any sort of possitive vibe, and do something. we should all be in this team because we want to be in it. and do things for this team (i.e. fundraising, balancing the books...) because it's for the team, not because there is an outside influence (i.e. sponsorship money that could possibly reimburse us) driving us. if you don't agree with that, then take your 20$ and go. don't come back though... you're too much trouble.

*note, my commentary is purely from my point of view, based on what i know, and i don't know anyone on the team that would agree with me. sorry if you don't like it

yay for friendship!
so i really like taking my arnis class. i wouldn't miss it for anything. but this past saturday i had to so i could kick some butt with my dragon boat team. we placed first in the two races we had that day, and impressed all of our fans. sunday, we got our fastest time of the whole weekend (it took us 2 minutes and 8 seconds to paddle from science world to just before the cambie street bridge), and we won the race for the friendship cup. it would've been nice to win a medal too, but i guess the cup will have to do. well, we did place 9th overall in the festival (out of nearly 200 teams). now all that's left for me to look forward to is the dragon boat festivals in long beach (cali!) and in kelowna. woohoo, my team kicks ass!

no more teachers no more books...
tomorrow (or rather later today) is the last day of school. and it's only a half day! i can't wait til it's all done then it's summer break! honestly, the 2 month summer vacation looks sweeter and sweeter to me the longer i hang around the education field. it's enough to motivate me to stay... or just become self employed. i mean, how many of you out there would die to have 2 months summer vacation again? and let's not forget winter break and spring break either (both of which are paid breaks!)! remember back in the day when you were a kid? relaxing and not worrying about homework was all you ever looked forward to. that is the life!

it's getting hot in here
the weather's been really great lately. i have no complaints. and i'm sure it's nicer than what i've been hearing about san francisco lately (nothing but short shorts out here kuya!! ;op). as long as it doesn't rain for the dragon boat festival this weekend, i'll be just fine. i'm nervous as hell about the competition though... my voice feels like it'll be shot by the end of the first race. maybe i'll do what celine dion does and not talk 24 hours before the gig. yeah whatever! if i suddenly stop talking, you know the end is near! ;op

crazy
i got SO much to do today. and none of it is work-related... i wonder how most people do it. i only work 4 days a week and i still barely have enough time to deal with my personal life, even with my 3 day weekend! is it because i'm just a busy person? or is it cuz i'm lazy?... hehe, i bet it's a little bit of both ;op. but i guess planning for annie's wedding does keep me a bit busier than the average person.

booty
so the pirates (as one of the kids i tutor once called ron, eddie and neo) have lived up to their reputation... they had to go on yet another journey, to far away lands, for a long period of time, to pillage poor unsuspecting victims for no reason... okay, they just went on their 6 month cruise. but the other way sounded way cooler. but yeah, before they left, they left annie, nurse chris and me a bunch of their booty... as in belongings. and they are such good belongings... mostly consisting of dvds and cds... the odd guitar(s) hanging around... i'd say more but i fear people coming to pillage my house for their things.

music
i like music everywhere i am. i wouldn't mind if my life was like a big music video... not for the bright lights and the video hos, but for the fact that no matter where you go, the music is right there.
and i know of all the cool technology for music that is marketed towards people like me, but i still want to get me a new transistor radio. the one i got is so ghetto. it's cute and compact, but it's whack. if i wanna listen to the beat in the shower, then i'd bring the radio into the bathroom and switch it on. a typical radio wouldn't have any problems, but mines requires me to be holding my arm up as i balance on one leg with my other arm holding the radio over the sink... it sucks. so i end up usually turning up the house stereo loud enough for my dad to turn it down before i'm rinsing and repeating... :o(

woohoo!
only 2 more work days for me then it's summer vacation!! i swear, the summer, winter and spring breaks are the only reasons i'm still considering education as a career. that's it. wouldn't you tho?..

comments are back up and running!! yay gabe :o)

know what i hate?..
when people get all butt-hurt about things that they would do to someone else... for example, the second grade teacher at my school is nice... enough. as long as you don't impede on her rights, cuz she just doesn't like that. this includes the fact that everything "should" go her way if the people around her want to have a bearable time with her. see, if she doesn't follow through with what she scheduled with me, i don't get all upset. it just gives me more free time. but if i do the same thing to her, she gives me attitude like a 16 year old... as in cold shoulder for a week or two (lucky for me it's the last week of school! i won't have to see her for two months!). grow up, cougar! ;op

we found my dog on saturday. my parents looked all day friday for him, even at the city pound and the spca, but there was no sign. then saturday morning mom saw an ad in the paper saying that a dog was picked up 2 blocks from my house on thursday and that he was at the spca hospital. so we went and it turns out he was run over by a car not too long after he ran out of the yard. the driver must've picked him up and driven him straight to the hospital. my dog's pelvic bone was broken in 4 places and his insides were all torn. i got to see him for a little bit and he was so happy to see us, but he couldn't get up or anything. all he could do was wag his tail and lift his head, and even then, you could tell that he wanted to do more despite his injuries. but he was really hurting. it was so sad. he was already almost 13 years old so his chances of surviving after an operation wouldn't be good. so we had to put him down :o(