All my firsts in 2012

Guess I missed to post a lot to update you with what’s going on in my life this year… I saw the post of Michi of Michiphotostory summarizing the highlights of her year and I think of doing the same para makabawi for the months I missed blogging.

2012 is a very challenging year for me however, looking back from the start of the year, I can’t deny all the blessings I received and the goals I achieved... I will then be highlighting all my firsts for this year.


January

Launching of my first blog site:  The Mel's Hidden Passion

My first improvised themed cake for my niece’s 4th birthday

February

I was introduced to running through the 3M Club's Running Clinic with Coach Michelle Estuar and side coach Mherlz Nava Lumagbas

First reunion with ex-Intel friends

March

Joined my first running group - Wednesday Group of Runners

April

First family vacation (with complete family members) – Anawangin, Zambales

The very first High School Reunion in Makati

My first 5 kilometer run – National Geographic Channel’s Earth Day Run

Met the Team Ice Cream from Milo Apex Season 5

May

Availed my very first vacation leave from the company to celebrate my 28th birthday.

My very first birthday celebration that my dad is with us plus my 11th Anniversary with my boyfriend at Wooden Bridge, Tagaytay

June

ECB Outing - Lago de Oro Beach Club in Calatagan, Batangas, Kainan sa Dalampasigan in Nasugbo Batangas and Cita's Resort in Tagaytay City

July

My first 18 kilometer run - Mataas na Kahoy, Lipa Batangas

August

ECB's first incentive trip - Boracay

September

My first bowling tournament (we were the Champion!!! Yebah!) - during the Q3 General Assembly of my company in Alabang Country Club

October

My first finisher's medal in running

My first wall climbing – Taytay Adventure Camp, Taytay Rizal

November

My first taste of Strawberry Taho in Mines View Park for the Fire Competition, still part of the 59th Philippine Mining Convention that was held in Camp John Hay, Baguio City

My dad's 60th week-long Birthday Celebration - my family's first time to visit Boracay

December

The first black themed wedding I attended - Gourmet Farm Silang, Cavite

My first trip to Cebu - too bad I only had one day of pure work and had to go back to Manila on the same day.  I also then realized, I had no pictures taken in Cebu.

My first ever curls (digi-permed by Tony and Jacky) which I got for the Korean themed 3M Christmas Party ...  hayz, I guess I have no good pictures yet with my curls

I thank God for all the challenges He gave me and to those who became part of it and helped me color every pages of my entire 2012, thank you very much!

Merry Christmas!

I am stuck in the office waiting for my dear boyfriend to arrive #super traffic, on a Friday before Christmas... I'm the only one left in the office so I needed to go downstairs to be with kuya guards.  Thought of blogging since I had so much to write and so much stories to tell... but can't decide what to write first. I thought I already had a come back to the blogging world since I already posted about 3 or 4 after I told you all "I'm back".

But the events in my life are like a roller coaster these days and posting is such a hard thing for me, so I'm taking this opportunity to just greet you all a wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
photosource

I need a break!

I've been busy since Saturday in creating my mini-project for my invention this year.  If you are curious what this invention is for, I will not tell you since this should be a secret until approved for disclose to public.  Anyway, this invention thing is really a brain frying activity but we are required to submit one every year.

I am not the only one desperate to comply on this requirement but it is really hard to invent things you know! (eyes rolling)... I have 2 proposals for this year but I concentrated in one idea but it failed during testing.
I have only 1 week left and I am still trying to somehow get this 8% mark on our performance rating this year.   Anyway, the one that's keeping me busy right now is supposedly a part of the idea for the demo box that my partner Carlo and Mon are creating but they don't know how to build that idea to reality.

Being the one experienced in the electronics field, I volunteered myself to do the project for them... this will be beneficial for my performance metrics this year and this will also be a fascinating demo material for marketing our product... 2 hits in one stone.

So then, I started the research and bought my materials yesterday.  I was supposed to go to Raon, a place in Quiapo Manila where you can buy all electronics parts you need.  Two famous stores in Raon are:  Alexan and Deeco.  I was kind of hesitant in going to Quiapo since I had a very bad headache for the past days because of the extreme change of weather (too hot and suddenly the rain will pour).  Good thing, there's a Deeco store in Marikina near my boyfriends house and I didn't have to go to Raon anymore.

However, I wasn't able to find all the parts I need since most of them are out of stock and I needed to make some conversions and computations just to find alternate for the parts that I need.  But still I couldn't complete the parts so I needed to go find them to other places.

I was grateful that Deeco has a centralized inventory system so the store attendant referred me to Deeco in Cubao Branch near Farmer's Market... and finally I was able to complete all the parts I need.

Today, I started assembling the project....

... and I guess there are some discrepancies on the values that's why it is not working yet... My brain is again starting to reach the frying zone so I guess I need a break...  I'll try again later :(

Dreaming of becoming a president one day?

Just a hangover from the 2012 US presidential election: Obama versus Romney...  But did you ever dream of becoming one someday?... me? I don't...

I tried sitting in the Philippine President's chair last time and tried to internalize what kind of president I will become when I am elected in this position...  I decided to become "the toughest president", but doing just the pose is already hard... so I guess I need to drop it and go back to reality... hahaha!

Her excellency, Melody Balmes
President
Republic of the Philippines

First Official Raffle Winning

I am so happy to have won my first ever official RAFFLE winning in my entire life.. this is in exemption on the e-book that I won the last time which was an e-raffle.

Anyway, I won a gift check for the upcoming BGC run this month (15 Km run). Imagine that?
I hope and I can feel I will win more of this in the coming weeks... besides, it's nearing Christmas, more parties, more raffles! Yehey!

Time flies too fast

I miss the times when we can still baby my niece and nephew...

But now they are all so grown ups and already prefer different things.  They've grown out their favorites before and shifted to different things... like my nephew... he used to like Thomas the train, shifted to Ben 10 and now Transformers.

They grew taller and heavier and are learning new things everyday... they sometimes don't want to be kissed anymore.

They are still as sweet as ever but I missed the day when I can still kiss and hold them in my arms for several hours....

I miss our babies...

I can't wait to have my own babies too... hope it will be soon........

Terno

I wonder if I will also dress up my children same as my outfit when I have my own children someday... hhhmmm... pwede!

I remember the days when my mom used to dress us in all in one theme.  She would buy fabrics and will tell the tailor what design she wants and chada!!!

One time, she made us all pajamas including my dad... and all of us were like bananas and pajamas, so terno... too bad I can't find any picture of us in that blue pajamas.... but I think it was cute ^_^

The girl in the left side was me, I was just 6 or 7 years old and  I think I just came from crying here because my mom didn't want to buy me balloon  that time... hahaha!

Tambakol

Last Thursday, I had lunch with my girls officemates and we just bought our food from the carinderia near our office.  I picked the fish cooked in the coconut milk.  It looks yum but I am not familiar much on the names of the fish except for Tilapia and Bangus, Joanne said the fish is called Tambakol (Yellow Fin Tuna Fish).

When we were eating, I felt something on my tongue and the itchiness intensified after a while.  I informed Faye about it since we both got the same fish but she is not feeling anything weird.  Joanne advised me to take sugar, but I opted not to.  Few minutes later, I felt my ears and face were becoming so hot so I immediately took anti-histamine.  I felt my throat is starting to get tighter as well...  I was waiting for the medicine to take effect but it seems very slow so I took another one.  Good thing I was able to meet boyfriend before the medicines took effect.

We picked up my niece and my nephew for the Trick or Treat in the office, but on the way to the office I was already feeling groggy.  I believe I was groggy all the time we were at the office, I even forgot to  take pictures of the kiddos... super guilty :(....

So after the Trick or Treat in the office, we sent the kids to play in the Active Fun located in the The Fort... (pambawi lang)....

Spooky Day in the office

photosource

Do you believe in Ghosts?  I do, but I have never seen any in my entire life... and I never wish to see any of them... hell, NO!

Last Friday, I arrived so early in the office and I was so sleepy then.  We have our clinic where anyone can rest whenever we are tired, sleepy or not feeling well.  It's very usual for me to sleep in the clinic especially when I have headaches and dysmenorrhea although there are already some ghost stories in the clinic buzzing around our group.  I don't mind because I already tried sleeping there several times and nothing eerie has happened to me so far except for that day.  It's a must to lock the door when we occupy the clinic so no one will get inside or disturb you while you rest.  So, then I set my alarm to take just 45 minutes nap.  I know I fell asleep in no time.  I was awaken by the shake in the bed as if someone has laid beside me.  I didn't mind because I was from a very deep sleep and I thought I was at home and my sister just laid beside me in the bed... until I realized I was in the clinic in the office and the door is locked and no one seems to enter the door.  My alarm is still not due yet so I kept my eyes closed and waited for the alarm to buzz before opening my eyes and left the clinic.


I don't know what's on that day, but I'm thinking maybe because it was Friday that's why it happened.  But anyway, it's not that creepy for me and if there will be a chance that I need to use the clinic again, unless they don't show their selves to me, I think I will still sleep in there...

Croyzzzzyyyy on Sale!

I am normally not a shopaholic type of girl and I am more to spending my money into food and bonding moments with my family, not until recently when I got into the running sports.  I thought that running is the most inexpensive sport since you just need to have your rubber shoes on then you're off to go... guess I am wrong on this assumption...

I have at least 4 to 5 times a week schedule for training and run so I needed to have more outfits and gears to wear every time.  Good thing that my running mates are very updated on all the sales that's happening in the metro, so I am getting so much saving on the gears I need for running.

Here are some things I have saved so far:

1. Running shoes

           This is the first thing that runners should invest to.  As a newbie, I bought 2 pairs of rubber shoes worth 5K and 6K php for the Nike Glide 3 as initial investments.  Then when I knew of the quarterly sale in Riovanna, I got another 2 pairs of shoes worth 3.5K php for the Nike Free Run 3 (original price: 5K php) and 1.7K Php for the Adidas Climacool (original price: 6.8K Php).  

photosource

 2. Socks

          Who would have thought that you need a special socks for running?  Yes you do, else you'll got blisters every time.  Thanks to RUNNR Store in BGC for selling affordable running socks.  3 running socks for 399 Php.

2. Sports Bra - this is a MUST for us girls.  I have to admit that I have some boobies and running in an ordinary bra is kinda painful.  We need this to protect our boobies from bouncing which maybe can cause some medical problems in the future.  

But these will also slash off your budget since 1 sports bra can cause you around Php 1500 to Php 3000.  I got some Nike sports bra in the Nike Factory Outlet in Paseo de Magallanes for only around Php 1K - 1.2K each.  Great savings, right?

photosource

3. Tights/Compression
           I haven't bought anything on sale yet, but instead of buying tights in the famous sports brands, I got one in Forever 21, one in RUNNR Store and another one in Sassa in the Sports Outlet in Mamplasan. Don't raise your eyebrows, they really have their sports apparel you know, but you'll get it almost half the original price.
          For compression, I need to save money to have this, this is quite too expensive for me, 3K-7K Php for 1 compression and even on sale, the price will be just around the same as the original price. :(

4. Dri-fit Shorts
            The prices are quite the same as the tights, so to save some money I got one in RUNNR Store for only 500 Php and Nike shorts for only 1.1K Php (original price: 1.3K Php)

5. Dri-fit Clothes/Singlets
            There's no need to buy singlets because in every run that you register, there's already an included singlet.  Join more races to collect more.


Anyhoo, if you want to be more updated on the sale that is going on in Manila, check out the Manila on Sale website.

Spider girl found her true calling

I never dare try any wall climbing before not because I'm afraid of heights but because I know my upper extremities are weak and my hands couldn't hold of anything stable, I normally drop things and I'm afraid that I might fall.

But because of the Milo Olympics that was held in Tanay Adventure Camp last Saturday.  I had no choice but to face my fear else I will be a great disadvantage on my team.  The game has several stages, its a combination of the normal exercises, Pinoy games and extremes : 10 jumping jacks, 2 times Pico, Wall Climb, 10 consecutive counts in Hoola Hoop, run uphill, 5 sipa, duck walk with thera band, zip line and a sprint back to the base.

The most challenging part for me was the wall climb... I was able to successfully reach more than half of the wall until I looked up to check how far I was from the top and saw the clouds moving, making an optical illusion as if the wall's going to collapse on me.  Then I felt I couldn't move any muscle.  It was a dead end for me and I felt my legs were already shaking, I can feel I was breathing hard so I know I was already panicking. I screamed to the coaches that I can no longer make it and they said to let go.

I didn't know I was already over the target for girls, it's supposed to be halfway only, they just didn't stop me since they thought I wanted to reach the top. :(

I had the advantage on the hoola hoop so I was able to advance to the next stages in no time.  I think my legs were still shaking from the wall climb after finishing all the tasks.  Whew!

Anyway, the shaking legs were all worth it because we won the game. Yebah!

ChicNails - hand, foot & body spa

From the past weeks that I missed the Blog world, I've been busy on some things like the new group and responsibilities at work, personal life, schedules with my dad and my running events.  I think I had no much time to at least get some time off and pamper myself.  It was unexpected yesterday to receive a reminder that I needed to go easy on my schedules and have some "ME" time if not for the GC that I received from Michi of Michiphotostory.  It was two thousand worth of services from Chic Nails, so I immediately cancelled my training schedule for last night and search for the location.

Chic Nails offers some spa packages that are surely relaxing aside from their individual services such as foot spa, manicure and pedicure, massage, facial,etc...at very affordable prices.  Check out their facebook page to see what's on their menu and some of their holiday packages.

I thought it will be a "ME" time, but since we arrived at 6:30 pm and only had 2.5 hours before closing, the value of the GC is too big for me to consume alone so I asked the receptionist if 2 people can use it and they allowed me and my dear boyfriend to enjoy their services.  We got the Basic Treat Package which includes whole body massage, foot spa and pedicure for only 730 php each. I wanted to get a facial (450 php) but they can no longer accommodate due to very limited time.  Instead, they gave us a semi hand spa and pedicure.

I forgot to mention that there were free drinks offered when we entered their door and after the massage... i gave them an extra "pogi" point for this since we came from Makati and we were kind of thirsty driving to Katipunan... Overall, I was satisfied with the service and the people who assisted us were very friendly and accommodating.

In line with my outlook which promotes more color on my page, I included the picture of their endorsers not because i'm a fan of theirs but because of the beautiful combination of the color and the theme.

photosource

Finally, the timing of this very relaxing treat is just on time for our 137th monthsary today.  My dear boyfriend reminded me again to say thanks to the lovely couple Michi and Manong Ariel.  Hugs to both of you!

Ikaw at Ako

If you are following my posts before, I mentioned about my wish to settle down very soon...  I was secretly planning some things for my own wedding like my wedding theme songs. I don't want to have very common music playing in my wedding, so I was saving some unfamiliar songs in my play lists.

photosource

One of the songs that I reserved was the "Ikaw at Ako" by Johnoy Danao, it has a similar message but not as familiar as the song "Kahit maputi na ang buhok ko".  Another revelation is that, I am a huge fan of John Lloyd and Bea Alonzo... so when I heard that they have a new TV series in ABS-CBN, I was so excited to watch the trailer, the title of the series is "A beautiful affair".  Finally, the teaser/trailer is out, but instead, I became so sad when I watched it because they used the "Ikaw at Ako" song in that movie....

It will be a big break for Johnoy Danao, but it means, everyone will get to know the song, as in parang magiging national anthem na naman ng madlang people... hayz!

@_@

A love that never gets old

As quoted from my sister's statement "I wish I could find a love like theirs. A love that never gets old. 34 years and counting."

"Happy 34th Year Anniversary Mom and Dad"

Last month (September 16), was my parents 34th year anniversary.  Since my dad was confined in the hospital for almost 2 months, we ended celebrating their special day in his hospital room.  We crowded the room and just brought some food to share, a simple celebration yet a memorable one for everyone.

Who would not want to have a relationship like my mom and dad?  I do... and this I wish for myself in the future and to all the married couples out there.  

Let's share Love, Love, Love.... wink!

A New Face - Show me some colors!

... i was thinking of going back to blogging for the past few days and i thought it will not be long... and now is the time for my great come back. Oh yeah!

Since I am feeling great today, "except that I am in a tele-conference right now, and a bit sleepy", I decided to have a new face on my page.  The previous design was kinda dark and boring... Now, although the background color is still black (sorry, I just love black and can't drop it), it has now some colors on it... I kept the backgrounds of the main page lighter though,to add some positive sides on it.

I think I had enough hiding of myself and I want now to share how colorful my life is.  I will no longer keep myself shy and it's about time for a more revealing and fearless posts...este... positive and colorful posts. ^_^

FAREWELL BLOG

Starting this week, I will become very busy and i don't know how long this will last.  Reading blogs became a routine in the morning and posting became sort of a habit.  I need to focus and de-focus on some things so I had no choice but to set my head straight.

While I'm away, I know I will be missing a lot from you guys.  I'll try to still update when I have a chance.  I bet I'll have a lot to update you when I get back... :D

Thanks for staying with me for quite sometime.   I will surely miss you all guys!

Picture taken during the farewell party for my previous company,  don't mind my eyes, they were still soar from crying.

Riovana Sale - Hurry!

We heard about the ongoing warehouse sale of Riovana and we rushed into the area last Friday since we were informed that was the last day of sale.  We were able to beat the 7pm and the people manning the warehouse were very friendly to still allow us to buy... then we realized our cash was not enough so my dear boyfriend needed to run to the nearest ATM... so while waiting I took some pictures and made friends with the staffs. :)

Anyway, there are different brands of running shoes available (Adidas, Nike, Asics, Mizuno and New Balance) and each brand corresponds to certain discount prizes.  You can never believe that you can buy a running shoe for as low as ~900 pesos and will definitely not go over 4000 pesos.

Cool and colorful designs

We got these NIKE FREE Run 3 running shoes for only 3500 pesos from the original price of 5000 pesos.   It was really a great buy!
 

Good news! they are extending their warehouse sale up to next week (September 21, 2012) and I learned that they are replenishing their items including the apparels on Wednesday.  Catch them at 3rd floor Mckinley Park Residences in Bonifacio Global City at Room 303, Monday to Friday, 10am to 7pm.  

photosource