calling all lourdesians :)

We went to Pangasinan for 2 main reasons: 1) to attend Tita Elsie's birthday celebration and 2) to visit the Hundred Islands :)

Unfortunately, due to some risks involved (car had to be left somewhere overnight), we had to forego the plan of visiting said islands... we went to Covelandia Family Resort. The place was nice. (more on this in another entry)...

During Tita Elsie's birthday party however, we met lots of people, the most unforgettable being Fr. Bok. He's a parish priest of the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Salasa, Bugallon, Pangasinan. According to the signs in the church, it was founded in 1714 (could possibly be one of the oldest churches in the country) and is considered a National Shrine. However, I don't know if it's just me, but I've always tagged the phrase "National Shrine" with grandiose architecture and well-maintained interiors. This was not the case with the church we visited. The architecture is good but old age (and most possibly poor maintenance) probably took toll on the building. It still held traces of its former grandeur but it's a very far cry from the shrines here in Manila (some chapels here might even be better off than this). As per Fr. Bok, he and Tito Bob (Tita Elsie's husband... one of Papa's best friends) have been slowly restructuring the shrine. They've dug through the floorings and found antique tiles. (Former priests must have chosen to place new tiles on top of the old ones instead of removing them and then replacing with new ones.) They're prioritizing the church itself, unlike others (I choose not to name any) who opt to start off lavishing the priest's chambers, thus depleting the resources even before actual work on the church begins.

Fr. Bok told us he had lots of plans for the church and its parishioners. However, due to extreme lack of funds (they are situated in a place where people mostly rely on the church for their needs - and this is where most of their funds go to), they could not afford to actuate everything they have in mind...

I'd like to help and in my simple way, I'd try to... and I'd also like to call on people especially the Lourdesians (my sister is one and I believe she's already tried to inform her classmates) to help them in any way they can. A small thing to us may mean the world to them :)

View pics of the church here

reminiscing azeus ot dinners :D

Just got home from a gt with erika and aimee (sa uulitin! :D).... and during the talk me naalala ko... hehehe... ayun humagalpak uli kami sa tawa.... tatay jo, kung mabasa mo to peace tayo ha? hehe... ikaw mag-aayos ng reunion di ba? :D

okay so on one of those (many) nights na nag OT kami sa Azeus noon, we ordered some dinner from a resto (forgot kung saan e...) and jo was the one who ordered for us (Jojo Ty po ang name nya :D). The conversation wen something like:

Girl: Ano pong name sir?
Jojo: Jojo Ty
Girl: Jojo Dy?
Jojo: Ty
Girl: Ano po un last name?
Jojo: Ty
Girl: Spelling po?
Jojo: T-Y
Girl: Ok po. Pawait na lang po.

After more than an hour of waiting we decided to follow-up. They said it was already delivered and should have arrived already. We then went out to check and found a delivery guy telling the person at the reception that the address stated matched our office. But the person said that there's no such person in the office. Since it was from the same resto we ordered our dinner from, we checked... hoping it was for us. Lo and behold, the name on the receipt was:

"Jojo Tiway"

hehehehe...

Peace tayo tay jo ha! Lilibre mo pa kami sa april! :D

thadde valentine dinner 2008 :)

thadde!!! thanks thanks kagabi! :D i had a great time :) sa uulitin :) (buti na lang may taxi na pumayag! hehehe)

when it comes to candid shots, dyosa, parang lahat andun ka ah! :D hehehe...

je, thanks for the pics! i'll try to upload mine later :) (mar, ikaw din ha! :D)

sino punta sa sunday? promise, try ko... will inform you tom :)

thadde @ gerry's grill (trinoma) feb. 14, 2008

Congratulations!!!

Here's another sign that we are indeed getting older :D... yet another friend announced her engagement :)... Congrats lene!!!

I'd like to take this chance to congratulate those who got married / engaged before :D

Glennda - congrats uli! Baby Thimo is so cute! Take care of yourself there! :) We miss you!!!
Ria - congratulations as well!!! Saw pics from Tal's phone... Hope to see you soon! :)
Khatt - Congrats!!! (haha, gasgas na un word ... ) Magleleave na ko sa date na yun!!! Promise!!!

To all of you, best wishes and God bless!!! :)

Salamat.. :)

Just wanted to say thanks to all the people who endure my rants and bitterness :)... Salamat sa advices. Salamat sa mga kwento. Salamat sa pakikinig :) It means a lot :)

(Erika, Aimee, Kitkat, Roxy, Madel, Alwin, Ma, Pa, Kai, Kim... salamat po!!! :D )

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Hopefully, 2008 will be as good as, if not better than, 2007!!! I'm already looking forward to some planned gimmicks :) hehehe...

Happy 2008 again!

Back to work... :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Thanks for being part of my life :)

God Bless!!!

maraming salamat!!!

super late, I know... but still... thanks to everyone who attended last dec 8... esp to those who gave messages...

thadde, promise, pinakinggan ko uli pag alis nyo at humagalpak ako sa katatawa... saan nyo ba nahugot yung mga yun??? at ang "serious" messsages nyo... sa cd na lang yun.. wala nang ibang makakarinig... manlaglag ba?!? hehehehe...

erika and hamster, thanks sa messages! muah!!! GL8, salamat sa gifts!!! fezter, naks!!! salamat sa book at syempre sa pagpunta :) hehehehe :)

kim, san mo nakuha ang mga pictures na yun (akala ko naitago ko na lahat ng ganun)??? hay... sana pinili mo man lang yun mga maaayos ang kuha ko! but no!!! you grabbed the opportunity for revenge!!! you evil sister you!!! hehehe.. seriously, thanks sa pag-effort!!! :)

ma, pa, thanks!!! mwah!!!!

again thanks everyone!!!

congrats!!!

congrats kim!!! told you you'd make it! kaw pa! :D now that you've passed nclex, la ka na iintindihin masyado ha? heheheh... pde na kita utusan magbake! joke! heheheh... anyway, regarding your plans while waiting for your US papers to be processed, you have my support. Basta sabihin mo lang kung ano maitutulong namin, you know we'll always be there to back you up! :D (and while you're there... wag kalimutan ang bilin ko - namin pala ni kai - ha? hehehe... alam mo naman - hopefully - ang type namin :D joke!)

congrats uli!!! mwaaaahhh!!! :)

pahabol thank you :D

i don't know if i made it clear enough sa previous thank you post ko but here goes:

To my friends, especially to those I incessantly bug everyday for pointless chats and endless rants, thanks for keeping me sane :D mwaaahhhhh!!!

thank yous :D

I saw on a billboard in edsa that today is National Thank You Day... wow! We really have that?! Anyway, yes, I am bitter, angsty, and sometimes, cynical... but I know that I still have a lot to be thankful for (so this is gonna be a bit long (and emotional)... i think :P):

First of all, my family. I feel so blessed to have them. My parents are my greatest role models in life. I believe that if I can be at least half the persons they are, I can consider myself fulfilled. Life hasn't always been good to us. I know all the hardships they endured and all the obstacles they overcame to get where they are now. They did their best to give us the best. And I will forever be thankful for that. My sisters, though we sometimes (ahem!) get into disagreements, are my motivation. They inspire me to aim for higher goals. They help me keep my sanity :P. And for them, my family, I'll do anything and everything. I love you! (and I 'll never tire of saying and showing it :P)

My relatives, especially Lolo Absalon, Lola Aida, Lolo Erning, and my titos and titas who took care of me and my sisters. Thank you for all the love and concern. Thanks for all the little things that mean a lot to us.

My friends. Thadde, GL8, officemates (in all the companies). :P Thadde, thanks for making my high school life meaningful and fun. Though I lost contact during the middle and latter part of college (which I'll always regret), thanks for still remembering and accepting me :P. I may not be as close to some as I want to be, but I'm still grateful for all the memories we had and will be having :P. GL8 (and others not yet included in GL8 yahoogroups hehe... seems we need to add mems :P), thanks for being my lifeline in college... and for still keeping the bond alive until now. To my officemates, thanks for making the workplace as fun as it can be... (yes, I know I tend to be a workaholic... :P so thanks for always reminding me to stop when I really need to...) I've learned a lot from all of you. To all my friends, you showed me the meaning of true er.. friendship :P I will always treasure all of our memories and hopefully, we can keep on making new ones :). (Gimik! Gimik! Gimik!!! :D bilis, habang "free" pa ako heheheh) I cannot ask for better friends than you... you guys are the best friends anyone could ask for!!! :D

And of course, to the Big Man up there. Thanks for giving me my family, my friends, my career (ehehe... would it be wrong if I ask for something better? :P... just in case), and good health (yes, contrary to what my former officemates -- yes, you know who you are -- think, I'm in perfectly good condition... with the exception of occasional migraine attacks and cramps :P). And thanks for always looking after my loved ones and keeping them safe. :D I couldn't ask for more... but actually there's just one more thing... :P (if you know me well enough, you know what it is :P)

at last!!!

at last!!! i've been meaning to get a blog eons ago but as always, i've placed it low on my priorities... but since i have a bit of free time, why not try? :)

just gonna share random thoughts on random things... comments are most welcome! :)