Isa lang masasabi ko

If William wore his hat all the time--- including bedtime, I'd be crying in envy of Kate Middleton. 

Because making pa-cute is not cute at all.

When you're not REALLY mad, don't waste time pretending that you are. Because it really. Is. Unnecessary.

Inspiration came from a love named Janah

This morning while I was smothering myself with my new sunblock, I got a much needed hello from Janah telling me she read my post about our house project.
Janah is an interior designer who worked with me once when we renovated our house in Manila. She worked with my favorite uncle when he was renovating his house. She worked with my aunt when she was renovating hers. In short, Janah's a family friend, and a very good friend to me. We've gone on adventures a couple of times and I love her to death. She's a creative inspiration. She's fun and quirky and. I dunno. I love her.

After almost a year of construction, I've already lost my sense of creativity in this project. I am guilty of settling for convenience and safe instead of getting well sourced items and design. My mom's so square, she doesn't get me. And Ariel, our interior designer for this project, I love him too and he's great and he works wonders to address beauty and function but he doesn't understand yellow chandeliers and orange chairs like Janah does. I take it this way: Ariel would give me french vanilla ice cream for a room, Janah would give me magenta cherries to top my ice cream.

So anyway, here's a few new things that I'm pegging for the house.

This wire chandelier is amazing!  I can't believe I missed this. Suddenly all my light fixtures are boring and statement-less. I love this. I think I'll get huge one for the guest house. Nevermind cleaning issues. It's too pretty to be ignored.

Wire Chandelier

This I thought of last week but the people I cureently work with don't agree. Now I'm convinced that I can pull this off. Mustard yellow and royal blue headboards with captione for the guest rooms. I like this peg, minus all the black. I'll see if I could work on that same pattern for both rooms.

I never knew what to do with the attic until I saw this photo. Too beautiful. I'm turning it into a craft room that looks exactly like this. I just don't know why Audrey Hepburn looks like she's wearing a pirate's hat in that photo. 

Craft Room

I don't know where to get this and I am convinced that I am capable of making my own version of this for Iris' room. She'll feel like a baby staring at a butterfly mobile every day and every night for the rest of her life.

I originally wanted a B&W family photo wall with plain black frames, but Janah told me to try to mix classic and modern frames in one wall. I saw this and I'm not too sure if I'll be able to pull it off. I'm now thinking of mixing photos and paintings done by family members since I have some of my works still kept somewhere and Victor's been painting recently. Im still not sure where to put it though. 

Photo Wall

I'm obsessing over my soon to be koi pond. I want it to look as vintage as possible. None of that minimalist zen garden feel. We've already agreed with trellises. Now I just have to convince them to make it round. My grandma will love this.

I need to find vintage Vogue magazines. I need more pictures like this:

I wish I lived in this era.

 Last but not the lest, I'm turning my closet into this:

HAAAAH! Just kiddiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!! :) I'll get punished for a closet like this. haha!

Holy Week.

A few interesting photos from the week that was.

This is probably my favorite photo so far. I'm amused by all that passion to oppose the RH Bill. The Church is now in its new kind of low. 

The penitent, the people, and the NO TO RH BILL sign.

This guy came prepared. I think He's the hippest of all Jesus-wannabes. For a moment I was tempted to act as the modern Veronica. "Mag sherbet ka muna, kuya."

Green mangoes for Raisa and Iris.

I went fishing with Mimie and her cousins. I'm starting to love my camera.

This was on my plate for lunch yesterday. I didn't want to, but nakakahiya to all the guests from Manila who were all game to try. It tasted a bit like chicharon cooked in garlic and butter.

Sylvia's Camaru

Meyrick and I had Easter lunch at Feng Wei Wee at Wilson.  You have no idea how much I love this place. We had steamed chicken with sausage and orange spareribs. It was perfect. I loved every bit of it.

Orange Spareribs

We grabbed Serenitea before heading back to Pampanga. I met with Iris and Raisa and did some SM department store shopping then headed to Marquee where I splurged on all sorts of moisturizers in desperation of Philosophy's Hope in a big jar. I'm such a geek.

So there. A litte bit of my Holy Week. It was more eventful than boring. More social than reflective. 

How was yours?

House Project Update

There've been lots of progress since the last time I've posted photos of our house-building project. Here's what's been happening so far.

Windows are being installed. Here's the picture of our formal and informal living room:

This is the family hall. The ceiling's been there for quite a while now. I still don't know what they plan to do to cover the wood panels. It's either paint or vinyr. I'd rather go for just plain paint:

The yard still looks like the desert. I'm planning to have have the gardeners start fertilizing the soil after Holy Week. I don't want my mom moving in to this dryness.

Here's our biggest debate recently. Whether to get center lights, probably chandeliers, for our formal living and informal living room. I say it's too much since we're installing 2 chandeliers in the dining, 3 sets of drop lighting on the staircase landing, and a really fancy non-crystal chandelier on the foyer. Statement lights everywhere is too much, isn't it? Interior designer's still trying to convince me to install crystal chandeliers on both formal and informal. I'm thinking of just leaving the ceiling alone with the basic pin lights and cove lighting, OR, I plan to customize my own flat light piece. 

This is Iris' bedroom. It doesn't blue in the photo. I got her the nicest blue tiles you'll ever see. It's so rich in blue and white that you'd want to lick it right then and there.

My diva tiles arrived to day. I love it.

 So they started painting my room. It looks more yellow in real life. It feels like French vanilla ice cream. I'm still thinking of how I can make it interesting. I find french vanilla ice cream boring.

The main lanai's ceiling is almost done. It's pretty to look at. 

Mom's accent tiles also arrived today. It was more fascinating the first time I saw it. But I guess it's ok. It looks like a mom's bathroom anyway.:)

So there. Craziness has begun and stress is taking it's toll on my body. I haven't eaten a meal on time the whole week. Yesterday I woke up tired and sick and I still had to get my ass out of bed to finalize remaining tile requirements and other things like kitchen sinks and faucets and pin lights and a thousand more things. 

4 more weeks.

Happy Birthday Pa!

I still miss you. Everyday. :)

Breakfast 3-31-11

Ma: Kakainin niyo ba yun croissant?

Bea: Where?

Ma: There! Sa box ng Breadtalk.

Bea: Puro floss lang yan, no croissant.

Ma: Pinasok ko dyan, para kunwari Breadtalk. Binili ko sa Bretto's.

Bea: Uhhh... okay. (checks the box, sees a non-crusty but perfectly shaped croissants)
        Ma, ayaw ko kainin. It doesn't look good. It's not crusty.

Ma: Oo nga hindi crusty. Hindi talaga sya dapat crusty. Pag crusty ibig sabihin too much butter.

Bea: Ma diba dapat ang croissant crusty? That's the point.

Ma: Well, it's not a real croissant. I'm just trying to trick you and Vic to eat fake croissants. (VILLAINOUS laugh)

Bea: ?!? K.

***I don't know ma. Why. Why???

Dear Bea, haba ng hair mo.

Probably one of the most boring tagalog movies I've seen. But please skip to 2:08




So there I was, 10pm in my office table with still lots of paperwork undone. I was sticky and smelly from a hard day's work and I was crying WITH SOUND and using my shirt to wipe all my uhog and tears.
Feeling  eh, haba ng hair ko.  Kunwari naka relate. ajejeje.

Yucks noh, it felt so awkward even if I was alone.

Never mind the awkward love scene and Bea Alonzo's annoying laugh.
I shall wait for my own John Lloyd to tell me that too-poetic-for-you-to-be-a-real-man line.

"I cannot take away all the pain I've caused you. But if you just let me, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to  you" (sniff and tears)

ayiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. asa ka 'teh? ajejeje.

P.S.
that slapping segment was intense. i wonder if i'll ever get to do that? hmm. oh.the.drama.

While we have macho dancers for 6-year olds

Japanese boy teaches lesson in sacrifice

2011-3-24  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

EDITOR'S note: 

THIS letter, written by Vietnamese immigrant Ha Minh Thanh working in Fukushima as a policeman to a friend in Vietnam, was posted on New America Media on March 19. It is a testimonial to the strength of the Japanese spirit, and an interesting slice of life near the epicenter of Japan's crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. It was translated by NAM editor Andrew Lam, author of "East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres." Shanghai Daily condensed it.

Brother,

How are you and your family? These last few days, everything was in chaos. When I close my eyes, I see dead bodies. When I open my eyes, I also see dead bodies. 

Each one of us must work 20 hours a day, yet I wish there were 48 hours in the day, so that we could continue helping and rescuing folks.

We are without water and electricity, and food rations are near zero. We barely manage to move refugees before there are new orders to move them elsewhere.

I am currently in Fukushima, about 25 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant. I have so much to tell you that if I could write it all down, it would surely turn into a novel about human relationships and behaviors during times of crisis.

People here remain calm - their sense of dignity and proper behavior are very good - so things aren't as bad as they could be. But given another week, I can't guarantee that things won't get to a point where we can no longer provide proper protection and order. 

They are humans after all, and when hunger and thirst override dignity, well, they will do whatever they have to do. The government is trying to provide supplies by air, bringing in food and medicine, but it's like dropping a little salt into the ocean.

Brother, there was a really moving incident. It involves a little Japanese boy who taught an adult like me a lesson on how to behave like a human being.

Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line. I was worried that by the time his turn came there wouldn't be any food left. So I spoke to him. He said he was at school when the earthquake happened. His father worked nearby and was driving to the school. The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father's car away. 

I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn't make it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his relatives.

The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him. That's when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it up and gave it to him. "When it comes to your turn, they might run out of food. So here's my portion. I already ate. Why don't you eat it?"

The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn't. He took the bag of food, went up to where the line ended and put it where all the food was waiting to be distributed. 

I was shocked. I asked him why he didn't eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered: "Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally."

When I heard that I turned away so that people wouldn't see me cry. 

A society that can produce a 9-year-old who understands the concept of sacrifice for the greater good must be a great society, a great people. 

Well, a few lines to send you and your family my warm wishes. The hours of my shift have begun again.

Ha Minh Thanh

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=467066&type=Opinion

Like A Horror Film

We found a very small retreat house near Flor's Garden. All that drama for one night. I had to sleep here, ALONE:

I've never been so glad that I'm always the pinaka maarte that I always bring my own sheets, pillow, and blanket whenever I'm unsure of accommodations. 

Good thing I was too tired to imagine all sorts of Sadakos crawling under my bed. huhu. 

scared.

Not to mention the guard and the lady that looked at us like we were sent by the devil to disturb their "peace". Ugh.