Monday, January 31, 2011

Meeting Went Well

Instead of fetching me at 12, my friend arrived at 1 pm so I ate spaghetti for lunch first.

We were early at the Client's office.
The meeting went well. Haha. At first, I was nervous. They all thought I was feeling cold because my hands were shaking. So we transferred venue. (That's usually the case when I do presentations. My first words are "shaky". But as I go along, the nervousness disappears. I hope I won't start nervous again on Wednesday, the final presentation to two owners and two managers aside from the two employees we met with today.)

There were only a few minor corrections on the report and I was able to make most of the revisions when I arrived home.

After the meeting, by the way, we had an early dinner at Dencio's in Araneta, Cubao. We had chicharon bulaklak, calamares, pancit, special sisig, and molo soup. Yummy!

I was paid another partial amount.

What a great day!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Done at Last!

After days of work, I finally finished my report...all 80 slides of it! What a feeling of accomplishment!

There will be an initial presentation and meeting on Monday. Thank God it was moved from 9 am to 2 pm. My friend/owner of research agency will fetch me at 12 noon so we will have lunch first in Makati. Great!

Hope there won't be too many changes/revisions on the report.

I now have time to watch movies to relax.

Tomorrow, I will do some more practicing.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Movies, Work and Spaghetti...What a Combination!

The other day, I watched three movies - I re-watched "Dear John" and "Imagine That". And I got to view "American Adobo" in Cinema One, starring Christopher de Leon, Cherry Pie Picache, Dina Bonnevie, Ricky Davao, and Paolo Montalban. A comedy-drama. Yes, funny at times. Poignant at certain points. One of the best Filipino movies I've ever seen. I'm glad to have watched it from start to finish.



Data came in yesterday so I have been busy and will be busy for the next few days. The project is a bit complicated so I'm taking longer than usual in writing the report.

Mom cooked spaghetti today. Yummy! I don't mind eating it again for lunch tomorrow.


Monday, January 24, 2011

Feeling Happy

I'm feeling happy these days for the following reasons:

...my sister gave me a watch to replace the one I lent to my son

...my mom bought a new battery for my calculator

...I found my address book which contains all my important contact numbers

...I watched two nice movies - "Miss You Like Crazy" (starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo) and "Imagine That" (a comedy starring Eddie Murphy).

...I ate chicharon with vinegar

...I worked on a codebook today

...I will get paid for a project by Wednesday

...I received 500 pieces of Splenda from my sister

...Some friends agreed to give cash donations for the annual gift-giving at CIW

Call me shallow but little things make me happy.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Little Quiapo Get-Together

This morning, I watched the episode of Maynila entitled "Victims of Love". A love story of course. Simple but nice to watch.

For lunch, I joined some Maryknoller friends to welcome two Balikbayans, Marilou Estandarte and Tina Calma. Both are pediatricians in the US (LA and New York). We ate at Little Quiapo - kare-kare, pancit palabok, rellenong bangus, tokwa't baboy, halo-halo.

There were about 9 of us but one had to leave early because her daughter developed rashes.


One of the balikbayans gave me some money. How kind of her!

Then, three of us went to the wake of the mom of our batchmate, Gina. She told us about the last few minutes of her mom.

Beda brought me home.

Mom immediately ate the pancit palabok she asked me to buy from Little Quiapo.

A day well spent, I should say.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

What Has Been Keeping Me Busy

How do you keep busy when there is no work to do?

First, I came up with five story concepts for a TV show. I submitted them to my friend, hoping that at least one will meet her approval. I have yet to hear from her.

I finished reading a book by James Patterson, "Black Friday". Great reading.

I'm now reading a book on short mystery stories. I'm just on my second story.

I watched movies:

..."Dear John" on DVD. Nice romantic movie.

..."Kimi Dora" starring Eugene Domingo. Really funny!

...Part of "The Haunting in Connecticut". Scary especially since it's a true story.

It feels good to be well. It's been a whole week since I arrived home from the hospital. No coughing since then.

I had my hair cut. I feel lighter. And there's less falling hair.

Tell me the truth, do I bore you with these minute details of my life? Ha ha.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Back to Scriptwriting

Last night, I watched a nice romantic comedy entitled "When in Rome", starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. Not a dull moment. Enjoyed the movie a lot. Wouldn't mind watching it again.

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Good news. My friend asked me to write scripts for television again. At least one script a month isn't bad. It's additional income. Yehey.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Sad

I'm feeling sad these days.

Soon, my mom, my son and I will be living separately because my sister will be selling this condo. I will be staying with my sister. My mom will be living with her sister perhaps. And my poor son will have to rent a room.

Mom says I have to be resilient. I can't bear the thought of being away from my son and my mom.

Oh, but that's life...

Friday, January 14, 2011

Visitors!

Today, I was visited by my best friend, her mom, two friends, an acquaintance and a Chinese priest (Fr. Paul.).

Fr. Paul gave me a bouquet of flowers, Amy gave me a housedress, Cel gave me a nightie, and Thelma brought me yogurt.

It was Amy's mom's birthday so we gave her a perfume. I also gave away my Kerygma magazines.

There was lively talk since we were teaching Fr. Paul to speak English and Tagalog. As usual, picture-taking was done.

Soon after the group left, another visitor came, a sister from Tabitha. Sister Cecille gave a love offering from other sisters in community and some food (fruits and chocolate chip cookies).

Oh boy, I feel so well-loved!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Back from the Hospital

Missed me? I just came back from a six-day stay in the hospital. I had bilateral pneumonia, meaning both lungs were infected.

I was on IV the whole time so I did not get to take a bath. Eew!

I just ate, watched TV, read books and slept.

I finished reading "Hide and Seek" by James Patterson and "Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown. I enjoyed both books (especially the latter). Very thrilling. The one I'm reading right now, "Black Friday" (by James Patterson again) looks just as suspenseful.

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Among the movies I watched were...

..."Lies and Illusions" starring Christian Slater and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Action-filled movie with enough humor and a little romance.

..."12 Rounds" starring John Cena and Aidan Gillen. Also an action film, through and through.

..."Shanghai", starring John Cusack, Yun Fat Chow, Li Gong and Ken Watanabe. A period film during the war. Interesting. Some gory scenes though.

..."Bringing Down the House" starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. Comedy, of course. I've seen it before but didn't mind watching it again.

"The Honeymooners" starring Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps. Yes, I was thoroughly entertained by this comedy.

..."I Think I'm In Love" starring Joyce Jimenez and Piolo Pascual. Love story with a bit of comedy and drama. I missed the last part though because mom had to watch the news.

..."You are the One" starring Toni Gonzaga and Sam Milby. A romantic comedy. Enjoyable to watch.

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My sisters in community visited me last Saturday. They prayed over me, gave food and some financial help. Bless them!

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It's great to be back! I immediately checked my inbox which reached over 100 emails. But I quickly went through each item.

No work came in so I still have time to rest.

Now, I shall take a bath, at long last!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A Book, and Movies

I read an old James Patterson book, "Jack and Jill". It took me three days to finish reading it. It was suspenseful enough but I did not like the ending. What I like about James Patterson books are the short chapters and the changes in POV's.

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I watched "The Truth About Charlie". Nice action movie.

Then, I viewed part of a movie starring Maricel Soriano, Diether Ocampo and Claudine Barretto. Maricel and Diether are lovers who live together. Claudine is Maricel's sister. Maricel goes to the US for a while. Diether and Claudine fall in love. But Claudine loves her sister more, she goes to Cebu. Maricel is devastated. She finds out she is pregnant. Maricel and Diether part ways but remain friends. Last scene is Claudine gets married to someone in Cebu. Diether carries his son. They all look happy.

After, I watched "Kasal-Kasalan (Sakalan)" starring Judy Ann Santos and Wowie de Guzman, with special participation of Ai-Ai de las Alas, Elizabeth Oropesa, and Gladys Reyes. It is about two sweethearts who keep their relationship secret for five years because they know that Judy Ann's mom won't approve since Wowie comes from a poor family. They are forced to marry because they shared a room in Tagaytay because their car broke down and had to get the last room available. However, the night before the wedding it is called off when Judy Ann sees Wowie dancing sweetly with Gladys. The two are miserable. To make the long story short, the two end up married.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Welcome, 2011!

I may have missed last Christmas' family gettogether, but I made sure that I went to today's party. I wasn't 100% well but I wanted to see everyone.

We went to our aunt's place in ParaƱaque. Except for a sister-in-law, we were complete.

I just ate pancit, kaldereta, lechon and siomai. Later, I ate sugar-free ice cream and kropek. There was a lot more other food like prawns, Pixie's bangus, lumpiang shanghai, macaroni, chicken salad, caesar's salad, cashew, chocolates, food for the gods...

We watched a concert by Lea Salonga on DVD.

I took a nap. Some played mah jongg.

We borrowed books from my aunt. I got four books - 3 by James Patterson and 1 by Dan Brown.

I begged my brother to take a picture of me for my FB profile but he said I'm not pretty enough. Haha.
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Last night, I watched a suspenseful movie entitled, "Taken", starring Liam Neeson. It's about a father who is a retired agent. His daughter is taken by a group of human traffickers and sold because she is a virgin. Father seeks daughter and of course, finds her in the end. Not without killing or hurting about 50 people.

Today, I got to watch part of the same movie. Nice!
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I've got a bum stomach. What a way to start the year. But thanks for Imodium, looks like I'll be okay.