i kind of felt sorry for my mother when she arrived last april 5. she's gotten used to cold san francisco - and then she comes home to the philippines at the peak of summer heat. >.>

was worth it though, she said. she came home for kuya mox's graduation, and took enough pictures and videos of the event to provide as evidence to our relatives in the US that yes, it really has finally happened! rofl.

we all fooled around taking turns wearing kuya's toga (yes, including my mom O_O) and taking pictures, which i will not post because we all looked so silly. >.> when it was my turn, i tried to pose seriously, but then my mom took a whole-body shot, and you could see my slippers under the toga. o_o

( but here's one picture, during the graduation itself, just to mark this joyous event (and in which i think i look fairly decent). )

the day after the graduation, we went to the beach at real, quezon. the sea was amazing. it was cloudy so the sun wasn't searing hot. kaida absolutely enjoyed building a huge sand structure (which could either be a fairy castle or Minas Morgul, one can't be entirely sure) and splashing about the shallow waves.

the next day, we held a small dinner party in celebration of the graduation. thanks to all who came, even with such short notice! the text on the cake read, "way to go.. at last!" rofl.

my mom's flight back to the US was april 18, the day after the party. the two weeks she was here just flew by, it was depressing she already had to go.

it was particularly heartbreaking for me to see her off at the airport. she's been burnt out with work in the US and really needed this vacation. i can tell from her body language that she didn't want to go back yet. it was what made me cry when we got back home from the airport.

but i'm sure the next months will zoom by, and it will be december, and not only ina will be coming home to the philippines but ama and abram as well. i'm really looking forward to all of us being together again.

VACATIIIIOOOON!!!!

..do i really sound that deprived? XD

but yes. vacation. baguio. 3 days and 2 nights. family and friends. one day off from work before and after the trip. considering taking 2 extra days off to make a total of 7.

so excited~

the holiday season plus one earthquake later, i am finally able to lj!

..happy new year!

(late much? o_O)

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ang grupong pendong performed their last gig last wednesday. too bad i didn't have the chance to advertise because of stellar internet.

their subic gig was also great, after which we were able to go to the beach. it was kaida's first time to swim in the ocean! will post pics as soon as multiply cooperates. (i still have to upload her birhday pictures, too. ~_~)

one thing i found out about my mom: she developed a taste for starbucks during their first months in the US (most probably because their coffee shops are literally everywhere in that country). during the road trip to and from subic, she kept stopping by starbucks and buying coffee for the whole band. i suddenly found myself clutching a card 8 stickers short of a starbucks planner. shrugged and filled up the remainder of the card myself. yay instant planner. XD

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i really am particular about planners. a simple one would have sufficed, but the starbucks planner appealed to me because of the wide space for entries. however, i did still buy a complementary papemelroti month view mini-planner and attached it at the back of the starbucks one because i just have to have a month-view planner.

am geeky. i know.

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aru finally bought his own pc! thanks to louie and slaves for helping us buy chedeng. XD

yeah, you got that right: aru bought a CPU case with the logo of mercedes benz on it. ROFL.

he got (more or less) his gaming specs for a relatively cheap price, but what i'm really drooling over is the 1GB ram he splurged on. *O* the speed combined with his processor is just.. gah. *throws old P4 1.8GHz processor out the window*

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will be buying tickets (hopefully today) for the january 27 showing of zsa zsa zaturnnah (ze muzikal)! *is excited*

took the personal dna test and here are my results. now i could say that some results aren't correct, but that might mean i'm in denial. XD one thing i can comment on, though: it seems i really have changed quite a bit.. or maybe the real me is finally coming out. i can't claim these results as my truth, however, so take them as you will.

meanwhile, just got back from a whirlwind of travelling and celebrations and shopping. before this week i was nearly decomposing from inactivity, but after this hectic week, i just want to lie down and vegetate. pics and details coming soon.