10 Reasons to be Happy #4

1. My Seoul-based best buddy is finally here in Manila. Move over stress, time to smell the roses with Luckyboy.
2. Completed 5 days -and counting- of Simbang Gabi. Every single time, we're at least 20 mins early. Naks!
3. Simbang Gabi service. I love the fact that I still have my "female voice" no matter how early it is.
4. Solving mystery games with Shobe. I just love playing detective with her. Hay, one of the things that I will surely miss when hospital eats up majority of her time starting January 1.
5. Tita Miriam's thanksgiving breakfast party. I love breakfast parties! I have found a family in the company of my churchmates. Lord, ito na ba yung "calling"? wag naman sana. hehe
 6. My new (old) favorite game-- Virtual Families and Villagers. I know, I know, too old school. But these games take my mind off facebook.
7. Watching a football match with my country as one of the competing teams. No matter what, I'm proud of you Azkals! I can't wait for Suzuki 2012.
8. Friday night. Recreated Taylor Swift's "I'm only me when I'm with You". FTW! *grin*
9. Sir Gene's birthday party. I love it when a normal birthday party becomes an instant reunion of dear ol' friends. I had so much fun with Joeven, Ate Ans, Ma'am Barro, Ate Raqs, Sir Gene, Sir Joey, Sir Rog, Harold, Lucky, Mike, Bryan, VV, et.al. Ang kulit ni Mike! hahaha. lines that are worth remembering:
           

1. “Bawat isang plato ay nakakasira ng buhay.” (Mike on going back to the buffet spread after receiving praises for his beautifully sculptured body. Naks! Gustung gusto nya yan.)
2.   “You just don’t get that virus if you don’t have an underlying GRAVER disease like AIDS and CANCER (Ma’am Barro’s ‘comforting’ words to Lucky. hahaha)
3. “I-enjoy mo na ‘tong food. Baka last mo ng kain ‘to. (Everyone in relation to former entry.)
4. “I like that! Ang lakas maka-cosmopolitan ng statement mo friend.” (I forgot the context na basta Mike and I were talking and this came up.)
5. “Kumusta na kaya si Maren.” (Harold’s out of the blue question. Yes, he did state that he’s single now and I did say that Maren is frolicking in NYC and that she is ALSO single. hahaha)    

10. Receiving gifts with personalized cards/messages. I love receiving presents in general (pwede naman sigurong maging materialistic minsan?)  but I treasure letters and notes more. It always ups generic gifts to personalized status. =)             

10 Reasons to be Happy #3

1. Christmas shopping with Shobe.
2. Our mom-daughter bonding during Velvet Mood's Christmas concert.
3. Father-daughter cook-off yesterday.
4. Having my hair done. New look for Christmas =)
5. Two overlapping meetings last Tuesday. A clear sign that I am doing good career-wise.
6. I'm finally done organizing my closet and packing my old clothes. More space for new ones.
7. Three new pairs of shoes. Love, love, love.
8. Seeing my mom happy with her new-found friends in her Tai Chi class.
9. My sister getting accepted for residency.
10. Loads of parties!

Happy Lemon

I had two meetings last Tuesday night with the last one ending past midnight. The last one was analytically demanding so I forced myself to drink a cup of normal coffee with a shot of espresso. I think that was not a good idea since I was awake and unable to sleep until around 4 in the morning. Naturally, I had the biggest headache when I woke up not to mention the fact that I was kinda feeling a little bit under the weather because of my stupid asthma. To cut the story short, I took the day off and decided to just rest. Shobe brought me a huge cup of mint tea and after a couple of hours after lunch, I was feeling a little better. We decided to maximize the time and do some shopping. Guess what we found?????

HAPPY LEMON!!!!

I was ecstatic when I saw the image of the winking girl with yellow hair! I first saw this milk tea brand in Hong Kong. Too bad I wasn't able to try it because the line was too long. Luckily, I don't need to fly to HK (or China) just to try Happy Lemon. The Greenhills Promenade location rocks!

Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese (Php. 80)

The server instructed us not to use straw and just drink it straight from the cup to fully appreciate the flavors. Shobe found the mixture weird but for me, it was yummy. I loved the creaminess of the cheese and the mild taste of the green tea. The rock salt added a good punch of flavor.

Welcome to Manila, Happy Lemon!

Mr. and Ms. Presenter of the Year 2010

Last week, sir Joey and the student council officers of IABF invited me to judge the culminating event of IABF week-- Mr. and Ms. Presenter of the Year 2010. For so many years now, I've been judging/adjudicating debate and public speaking competitions but never in a pageant format.
Wow lang di ba?! hahaha. Anyway, I love fashion and Presenter of the Year requires the winner to be eloquent, smart and witty so I accepted the invite.

Flashback:
If my memory serves me right, Maren and Harold joined this contest some light years ago. Yeah, that was a looong time. I am hoping to be able to stumble upon an old picture of Maren in a long gown but to no avail so boo.

Present:
Contestants were representatives from different IABF organizations. They were asked to parade on their uniform, business suit, sports wear and formal attire. The sports wear was the best! I still can't get over the pair who wore an el matador outfit (because of the sheer creativity) and the guy who wore a speedo swimming jammer and a white sando (because of his sheer yumminess confidence and strong personality manifested when the crowd went wild after he ripped his sando off).

They were all good looking so it was up to us (Jeff, Nina and Moi) to test their eloquence and ability to relay think of awesome answers under pressure. I am not in the mood to write everything that happened. I just want to point out that I had so much fun during the event.

I wasn't able to take decent pics so sorry, guys,
for not giving justice to your gorgeous looks 

Thank you, IABF and Congrats to the winners! =)

10 Reasons to be Happy #2

1. "The Project" is really taking shape now.
2. Being chosen as one of the judges for the "FEU Presenter of the Year". (IABF and Sir Joey are just so nice and my co-judges are equally amazing)
3. Two dozens of roses.
4. Wen's new do. I am calling him "Punk Doctor" until he grows his hair back. I just love, love his hair!
5. Spending the holiday with Joeven, Ate Ans and some equally important people.
6. Villa and Xavi's goals. This is bittersweet since those goals are at the expense of my Real Madrid boys. But yeah, this made me happy =)
7. Midnight updates with Lucky and Mark's action packed life in Seoul and our "twisted concept of fun" (Martinez, 2010). hahaha
8. Mr. Jones with Shobe.
9. Attending/serving 2 masses in a day. One in English the other in the vernacular.
10. Coldplay's Yellow playing on the background while writing a journal entry.

The Ring

"Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect it." (Luna Lovegood, HP)

This quote practically played back in my mind when I saw the ring that my mom gave me some few years back tucked in the deepest corner of my kikay kit.

Wow! I've been looking for the said ring for months now. I last saw the ring on the day of shobe's oathtaking. I used it to add a certain vibe of formality and class on the said occasion. I was too tired to remember where I placed it after the ceremony. Of course, moms are intuitive and after a couple of days of not telling her that the ring's pseudo-missing, she asked me about it. I told her the most general answer at that point. I just said "Di ko po makita pero for sure I left it in my room. Maybe it rolled somewhere." My mom is smart so obviously she did not buy my alibi. She's aware that I do keep my accessories in a box and I do have boxes for rings, earrings (for the studs and pearls since I have a separate storage for chandelier, drop and hoop earrings), bracelets (which are subdivided into bangles, beads, cuffs etc.) and necklaces. Case in point: I can get carried away in terms of organizing my accessories so the ring "rolling somewhere" was a bad argument. I may be an ok adj and a pretty decent debater but I suck at lying especially to people who know me.

Mom would ask once in a while if I was able to find it and I would have the same answer every single time. Honestly, after an entire day of looking in my room, I've given up. I have the attention span of a 2 y/o and patience in an endeavor gleaned as an exercise in futility is not my strongest virtue. So I just left everything to St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost things, hoping that the ring would miraculously show up. And thankfully, it did!

So Luna's right. We should not stress ourselves too much looking for the things that we lost. If they are meant to be ours, they will find their way back us. Sure, things may no longer be the same again but we are not in the position of power to bargain and ask for more. After all, God is good. He may not give us what we want but he surely provides for what we need. And no, I am no longer talking about missing rings =)

10 Reasons to be Happy #1

Maia has the gratitude ten and it inspired me to really look at the things that keep me focused, motivated and happy. After all, life may sometimes be hell on earth but generally, it is pretty steady. So Mondays will be "10 Reasons to be Happy Day". =)

1. Thursday night with my favorite doctors- Shobe and Wen.
2. Location mug(s), H&M top and chocolates  from Shobe's friends from their trips in Sanfo and Paris.
3. Dinner with Ate Ans and Joeven at Joeven's place. Nostalgic much?
4. "Control is power" finally came into life.
5. My first tagalog High Mass church service.
6. The sweet gesture of having Paris stamp templates patiently waiting on my desk.
7. Surviving work.
8. Decluttered room with freshly washed bed sheets and pillow cases.
9. Plants vs. Zombies with mom.
10. Wee Nam Kee's HCR and Bon Chon.

On second life and seeing a new one

Tuesday was THE bomb.

Got a wake up call but instead of the usual "Wake up sleepyhead", it was "I've Had The Time Of My Life". How sweet cool was that?! Anyway, work was ok. I had fun talking to the girls. Went out for lunch with Keenan and we bumped into Wen's former student. And oh, it was also my first time to play the Lottery (Sweet Jesus, please let me win?).

Since mommy Johne gave birth to our godchild yesterday, Wen and I decided to visit her. After a couple of calls in between his horrific meetings, we came up with the most busy-people-friendly schedule.

As always, Traffic was awful but we had so much fun goofing around. We turned his car into a mini club and tried our best to sway with the music. He was crazily trying so hard to sing/dance to Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" while manning the wheel when a girl crossed the road out of nowhere. Muntik na syang nabangga. Kami na ang biglang naging serious so eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel si Wen. hahaha. We talked about our lives instead. How stressful his life in the corporate world is. Love. Relationship. Future plans. In short, nag-emo na naman kami. It was like that for 30 mins or so until "I've Had The Time Of My Life" started playing on the background. Our eyes met and I let out a crazy screech as he increased the volume. We LOVE that song. Baliw-baliwan lang kami talaga. hahaha. And just when we're on the groove of playing Johnny and Baby, a stupid car swerved and almost hit us. Wen was able to hit the brakes before crashing into that stupid car. I swear, nagkapalit sana kami ng mukha ng dashboard kung hindi lang ako naka-seatbelt and Wen did not instinctly served as my human shield. I was touched naman because he protected me first. Ang bait lang. hahaha

So there, we went to super serious mode once again. I don't want us to be casualties of the saying that Bad luck comes in threes.

We weren't able to see Ashton John but I'm mighty glad that mommy Johne had a smooth operation. We were pretty worried because she had a sensitive pregnancy. We might visit AJ when they get home.

They say that a baby is always a blessing since it signifies new beginnings but after our brush of with 2 potential accidents, I can say that new beginnings are not mutually exclusive to having something for the first time or experiencing something grand. Because sometimes, it takes a minor detail to experience a complete turn.

Happy birthday, Shobe!

I think having a sibling is nice but having a sister is really, really awesome.

All of my close friends know the kind of relationship that I have with my sister. Admittedly, I spoil her to death (or at least if and when my budget permits. bleeh!).

Shobe's birthday for this year was pretty exclusive. We (mom, pop, shobe and moi) just had an intimate lunch of grilled fish, Angus beef kebab, buttered prawns and White Chocolate and Bluberry Cheesecake. Actually, my mom scolded me the night before because I forgot to make reservations for Estrel's Caramel Cake but oh well. And since I was too tired to go shopping with her (fire drill was hell), we just went to Payless the next day. We kinda lost it since the original plan of shopping for shoes ended with a couple of clothes and some groceries. We also had some chill time at my favorite wine/tea session place with Lucky and Mark. Cafe Adriatico is pure love.

Happy birthday to my dear sister! You may be a kickass doctor but you will always be the family's baby =)

Just because...

I don't want friends on facebook to know how affected I am...
I'd rather be pissed off in silence and let some random faceless people know about it...
I've been a victim of flakers for how many times...
I still feel guilty for ditching my bestfriend's offer to go to Bora in favor of a cancelled Bora trip with supposedly new friends...
I hate cancellations...
I declined Wen's Bora invite because I've given my word in favor of an impending cancelled Baguio trip...
I hate flakers...
I'm a control freak...
I've had two travel cancellations in a month (i'm still hoping for the Baguio trip to push through)...
I'm such in a foul mood right when work demands me to be Little Ms. Sunshine...
I miss my travel buddies...
I miss my friends who value the true meaning of commitment...
I'm tired of catching my twisted sunshine...
I need a good cry...
I need to reevaluate relationships...
I'm under selective detachment...

On Letting Go...

"Letting go" is probably the most used and abused concept of emo people. I don't dwell on this too much bilang strong ako because it is just not me. I hate transparency of emotions and I am not very good in answering personal questions. So I guess, I'm really not cut out for the entertainment industry because I would probably suck at Boy Abunda's Tough Ten. (bawal mag-judge. pop culture yan) However, recent events made me analyze such. (promise, lalagyan ko ng konteng puso kasi nga the subject calls for emotional dumping. keri?)
  
Letting go is said to be the hardest thing to do and deconstruct in any kind of relationship. Mikaela even wrote a pathetic song about The Art of Letting Go. A friend of mine practically erased all the songs in her Ipod except for this one and played it every chance she got right after she broke up with her bf. Of course, I wasn't able to understand kasi ako ang nang-iwan at hindi iniwan her but being a good friend, I just let her "cherish" the pain. When she came to her senses, I told her about what I read on the basic stages of letting go. You know-- denial, grief, anger, re-entry, and preparation for a new relationship. She just incredulously looked at me and said "Why do you have to intellectualize everything? Feelings are feelings. You can't switch it on and off nor can you find a step by step guide on how to deal with it on books. OC ka na, manhid ka pa!" I'm sorry? I was just trying to help and buti nga I said something with substance and basis. I was initially planning on telling her "Don't worry, karma's there so just let things be and allow cosmic justice to do its part." I think this is the part when they say that lovers are irrational. Gross.

What I don't understand is the fact that people find it difficult to just move on. While I agree that initial attraction is never a choice, love--just like letting go-- should be a choice. You can't choose who to like because attraction transcends one's cerebrality. However, what you do about that attraction is where free will comes in. You decide whether you want to pursue someone, jump into a relationship, end a relationship or pathetically be enclosed by the memories of the past. (fine, ang harsh lang)

In our lifetime, it is axiomatic that we would eventually be required to make a choice. Hard as it may seem, we know that we have to make one. Maybe because we are fed up of our daily routines or have gotten really, really tired and frustrated of the things that we can’t have, or maybe, just maybe, we miss our comfort zones. Choices, they say, are byproducts of deep perspicacity. We all have our means and methods of arriving into one. Some hibernate and lie dormant; others impose selective jurisdictional detachment while there are some who opt for countless solicitations of advice from friends. The latter is considered as the most common and tolerable in our system. In a culture where relationships and close affinity are valued, we often go to our families and friends in order have an analysis of the situation that we are into hoping against all hopes that they can give a rationalized opinion. But sometimes, we go to our friends willing for an affirmation in the guise of asking for an advice because we know it within ourselves that we already made a decision. This is the reason why no amount of explanation is enough when our friends explicate an option especially if it counters our predisposed choice. In short, joke time lang na gusto mo ng advice kasi ang gusto mong marinig, affirmation.

To be fair, it is really hard to let go, and I am saying this in a completely unromantic way because I believe that romance and letting go are not mutually exclusive. Letting go is stress-depression-stress-depression-cry cry-depression-jiritabels-depression-parati-na-lang-may-depression. So yeah, para syang puso ko-- HARD. I have experienced being left behind countless of times (and I mean, literally). Well, I have always prided myself for having great friends and for someone who really value relationships, I have high expectations. I was never a needy friend that's why no one can fault me for feeling bad when I wanted a friend at a particular moment and no one heeded. After all, I wouldn't be caught dead ringing a friend in the wee hours of the night nor flooding his/her inbox (except in totally isolated cases of drunk texting/calling). That is soo cramping my style. That is why I appreciate friends who keep in touch despite their busy schedules. Those who contact you because they just want to hang out and enjoy your company and not just buzz or give you a text when you are needed. This is the reason why it's very hard on my part to say goodbye to my friends.

I was sad when Lucky left for China but I was more ecstatic for my Olympics stuff his adventure. Besides, he was always in the Philippines and the postcards kept on appearing on my mailbox so kebs. Then he decided to become a conference magnate in SG. No big deal. I get to receive a call for like what, minimum of 3x a week? And then Melvin went to SG, Mark to Seoul, Kevin to SG, Lucky to SG, Maren to the US and Kid and Guddz to SG. Oh man! I hate moments of weakness kasi nga strong ako. But seriously, I just try to put on a brave front when I'm with my friends. I don't want to give them the impression that I am deeply affected whenever they tell me that it's time for them to leave. After all, I don't want to spoil the anticipatory fun. I want them to continue exploring life and what the other side of the fence can offer be it in acads or in  career.

Writing this is really hard. I am an evasive shrimp who hates confronting my emotions. I always choose to be happy regardless of how crappy life is. Again, personal choice. But yeah, sometimes, I should learn to "humanize" feelings. What can I do? I have to perenially drive in yellow because I don't know when the light changes into red, signaling that I finally have to stop being clingy and just learn to let go.

Charlie St. Cloud

After a highly exhaustive negotiation and schedule bargaining, I came face to face with Zac Efron via the movie Charlie St. Cloud. I'm not a film critique and I can't revel on the high points of the movie but it's basically about brotherhood, holding on to memories, finding love, not giving up, letting go of a promise and finally moving on.

Sometimes, we hold on to our past for too long that we forget the fact that we are fencing ourselves in total  isolation from those who are capable of loving us and helping us move on to our life's next chapter. 

Princess Poshie and her movie date

 We also watched Kid's second to the last gig at Watering Hole. Wen met some of my close friends. I had to meet some debate people at Metrowalk so I had to break the party earlier. 

Princess Poshie enjoying Watering Hole =)

My debate favorites

I've been in the debate community for a long time. A lot of people would probably raise a brow upon knowing this because of the idea that we will only grow up upon leaving our comfort zones. Admittedly, debate has always been my comfort zone. But you see, debaters are strong believers that cultural perception is subjective. People don't just leave the community. There's a saying that debaters don't retire, they only become adjudicators. Right. Just like me, I did not retire (at least not yet), I only became an adjudicator. Well, since I've had my share of fabulousity in debate (pun intended), allow me to take you to a trip down memory lane as I take note of my debate favorites.

NB: these are relatively recent tournaments because I don't have the patience and the time to scan dinosaur pics :). And oh, these are local tournaments only. Might make another blog for international tourneys or tourneys participated by different nationalities.

After Debate Hang out: WAI YING

Wai ying is a chinese restaurant in Benavidez. We would often go there after a physically and mentally exhaustive debate training. Actually, Wai ying is loved by Manila debaters in general. According to Jayson, a debater from San Beda, "Hindi ka debater pag hindi ka pa nakakain sa Wai Ying". I think he's right. Debaters from as far as Katipunan go here to hang out with fellow debaters.

Post-training chill with our CSB-IVs shirt :)

Highschool Debate Tournament: PSDC (Philippine Schools Debate Championship)

PSDC is an annual debate tournament hosted by Ateneo de Manila Debate Society (ADS). I like this tournament because of its balance nature. Debate tournaments are usually toxic and stressful but PSDC always has a fun break night party. I remember the time when I was invited by ADS to become a Deputy Chief Adjuducator (DCA), we had a costume party for break night!

Adj Core in action
(with Dino from DLSU, Miko from ADMU, BJ from UP and Noel from SU)



break night party
(Berna as Sarah Palin, Jess as himself, Keith as Naruto,
Kip as Jason, Moi as Pocahontas, Jayson as a religious servant
and Gian as some random tambay sa kanto)

Announcement of winners at the Championship Dinner

Ma-drama Tournament: National Debate Championship (NDC) hosted by Ateneo de Davao University and National Debate Championship hosted by University of Baguio

Debate is really a rollercoaster ride, emotion-wise. One can celebrate like there's no tomorrow after a good round then the next moment, you can see debaters cry like a baby after a bad round or a terrible adjudication. Drama is everywhere. You can experience drama during debate rounds (this usually happens among institutions) which I consider as "external drama" or "internal drama" which happens after or before debate rounds (within your contingent). FEU is really not a "ma-issue" institution. We take pride on solidarity of its members. Basta in these two tournaments, we experienced internal drama. ;p

Pre-Championship Dinner with Steph and Jess at ADDU

We occupied a lot of rooms for our contingent but true to the
spirit of camaraderie, the kids and joeven
(he was a DCA in this tournament so he was billeted in the hotel suite)
would always gravitate to our room before going to sleep.
The drama happened in this room. hahaha

University-wide Tournament: 1st Nicanor Reyes Debate Classic

This tournament was the brainchild of the ORADEC during Gee's term as the President. It was actually a brilliant idea to expose the students to debate. Debaters are usually tagged as the school "elites", intellectual or otherwise, and this tournament helped in disproving such debate stereotype.

1st NRDC

In-house Training: Tagaytay Highlands

Before participating in a national competition, we would schedule a debate lockdown. This is a common practice of debate organizations. It is basically a debate camp where you debate, matter load and debate over and over again. It can go on for 3 days, 5 days or even longer. Our Bulacan lockdown was pretty memorable but since I don't have the patience to scan the photos, I would make do with one in-house training. This was memorable because we had one-on-one sessions. We also had group critique and bull sessions. I will never forget Gee for saying this "Honestly, hindi ko gusto yung mga bull sessions natin. I only learned one thing: kung paano magtanim ng galit." hahaha. Priceless.

laughing at our bad cases

Finally, we were able to see the sun!

PIDC tournament: 1st PIDC, Tarlac City

Philippine Inter-collegiate Debating Championship (PIDC) is a tournament hosted by the University of the Philippines Debate Society (UPDS). I love this PIDC tournament because I was able to exprience a lot of firsts: 1) This was my first time to become a DCA in a national collegiate debate competition. 2) My first time to be contingent-deprived (Mark was able to go with me and I'm perpetually grateful for that). 3) My first time to really hang out and bond with debaters from different institutions.

The 1st PIDC Adj Core (CSB, UPD, UPM, FEU, ADMU, DLSU and UST)

With debaters and adjudicators from ADMU, San Beda, DLSU and Lyceum
in my hotel room after break night party.

Fashion-friendly Tournament Venue: Baguio

During elimination rounds, debate tournament fashion is basically composed of t-shirts, shorts, jeans, tank tops and havs. Yup. Debaters seldom dress up during rounds because a room with pumped up debaters and a humid weather is a bad combination. You go for your most comfortable clothes during rounds and dress up when your team reaches octos. Baguio is a fashion-friendly tournament venue because you can experiment with your look by layering clothes and putting on accessories without fear of experiencing the oh-so-dyahe jabar while giving a make or break speech.

NDC, University of Baguio

NDC, Philippine Military Academy

Cadet Hop, PMA NDC

There you go, some of my debate favorites :)

Meet Princess Poshie

I normally love September but for this year, a huge fight with the nicest guy I know, FEU settling for 1st runner-up after topping the elimination round, a cancelled Iloilo-Boracay trip, potentially missing out on all the fun and intellectual bad-ass convo in this year's National Debate Championship, a good friend's resignation at work, and things coming short from what I expected, left me constantly singing Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends."

I guess stress took a toll on my body so I spent the first day of October getting chummies with my bed, magazines, and my personal doctors. I was able to easily recover, healthwise, but I think I also annoyed a lot of people by my constant niggling. Sorry ;p

Going to work is something that I always look forward to (sorry, tamang geek lang) and I am seriously happy that something nice is waiting for me in the office. Friends, meet Princess Poshie :)

I found her on top of my desk with a cheer-up note from my boss. Aww, that's the nicest thing that someone can do after a drama-filled month. He may be a brat like me (and I am saying that as a compliment. I'm pretty sure he would take it as such ;p), but he is really beyond awesome. Thank you for making me smile. :). I am claiming her as my mini me (bawal kumontra ;p)  so from this day on, I will take Princess Poshie wherever I go and will include her in whatever adventure I do.



Princess Poshie's view at work :) 



Happy birthday, Maren!

I first met Maren in 2004 during the Oratorical and Debate Council (ORADEC) apps week. I couldn’t remember if I was the one who interviewed her but what I do know is that fact that she stood out from the crowd. Beautiful locks while everyone’s sporting a rebonded hair, fabulous tan, fashionable, impeccable grammar and amazing eloquence… I’m cutting myself right there for fear of being accused as a lesbo. hahaha. In short, she’s really cool. So there, she became part of the ORADEC.

She was a good member. She even became the org Prexy.

Spot the fashion designer, flight attendant, professional students abroad
 and Corporate magnate in SG

We had our share of debate tournaments in Manila and out of town. (I still consider Dumaguete as one of the best tournaments ;p)

Circa 2006 ba 'to? hahaha

We also had our in-house trainings. Remember our Tagaytay Highlands lockdown? Epic!

We stayed there for 3 days with nothing to do but debate, matter load,
debate, matterload and feel sorry for ourselves :D

And then, there came a lull in her debate career... (alam mo yan) ;p
Inspite of the lull, she still managed to hold on to her other passion-- FASHION!

hats, hats, hats

She can do wonders with your eyes.
Awesome smokey eyes, hun :D

 She even dabbled in the fashion industry as a make-up artist and a ramp model.
(Sorry friend, natatawa pa din ako pag iniisip ko na kinaya ng height mo ang ramp.
IKAW NA talaga. hahaha)

 ...once in a while, we would go out and catch up on each other's lives...

Remember Dr. F's birthday, ORADEC Christmas Parties and Mike's concert?
(hindi ko ma-resist i-post ang kaisa-isang picture na hindi ka wala kang tan! haha)

... but I think, one coffee session with Brian opened everything up. Then we had our sesh with Dawnie, Rix and Gee. Watched Kid in his gig. Met Guddz and Rach. And, as what they say, the rest is history.

Our love affair with Technowave and the occasional gig at Il Ponticello

And oh, how we love football! :)

Until you decided to pursue further studies in an unfamilir territory. Your despedida had an unwritten rule. NO CRYING. Guess who broke the rule first?

 

:(

 Oh well... we all need to spread our wings and see what life can offer at the other side of the fence. But I just want to remind you that before you became a...

...Poi enthusiast and...

... the girl with a complicated lovelife...

You were once a simple girl with a simple life.

Yes, you are a fashionista but you really are simple to the bones.

Oh, corny ka din pala! Remember this?

Making this as your profile pic and updating your status to appear like this:
MAREN ELIZABETH MARTINEZ IS A FAN.
i mean, what were you thinking?! ampotah! hahaha

What I wish on your birthday, is to see you laugh like this once again...

carefree. childlike.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Maren! You will always be one of my very few girl friends (knowing how testosterone-filled my friendship life is).

(photo creds: maren's albums and oradec files :))