My Cup of Tea

It’s Christmas season! Christmas eve with Archel and Lea in Makati City How's everyone doing after the celebration? It's always nice to hear beautiful stories about holiday's fun and how others celebrated their Christmas with their loved ones. Always inspiring and a little bit... well, nostalgic.  It's a bit distressing when the whole world is swathed in excitement and family reunions are happening everywhere, yet you're alone in a strange place, feeling empty and just wrapping thoughts with warm memories.  I lived in the bustling metropolis away from my family so the celebration was not quite awesome. Excitement had gone totally.  With no particular way to go, I went to my former boardmate (back in Davao), Lea Maika Bulfango, in Makati City on the 23rd to spend Christmas.  On the 24th we agreed to visit Luneta Park and Intramuros, not that we wanted to forget the joy of preparing foods and other stuff for Christmas eve, but we just felt it was the ...

Despite the brutality of the world and all those catastrophes that hammered many parts of the universe, I still believe God has never abandoned people, His love for humankind is eternal,  we only need to recognize the beautiful things we see in the environment to feel His presence.   I felt God's presence in so many ways, in the morning when I wake up and see the beautiful horizon, in the afternoon after work when I feel the soft tang of the air, in the evening when I drift to sleep and feel the stillness of the surrounding and when I go outside and come home very safe. It's amazing how I feel so at peace and calm despite the chaotic life in the Metropolis and that's grace which only God can provide. And with that, I am truly grateful. As the year 2013 prepares to bid goodbye, I want to reminisce all the heavenly gifts I'd received this year and how each blessing inspired me to carry on amidst occasional blues. I thoroughly found my balance in life.  You see, e...

Tied in compassion and wrapped in the warmth of sweet-scented memories, a poignant recollection of generosity sometimes is the best comfort to cling to this Christmas. Have you ever thought of remembering people in your circle at Christmastime whom you no longer see because of distance? How about the people who have been so generous to you down through all these years? Are you still relishing those heartwarming gestures? Well, I am... Despite my unsuccessful attempt to reconnect with the missing dot, so to speak, I am nevertheless very grateful that at one point in my life, there was a very generous person allowed by God to cross my path, who never failed to delight me comes the holiday season. Though what is left now is just an obscure puzzle of what ifs and buts , and none of those ifs could possibly turn into an extraordinary sparkle....still I am very thankful to be blessed with such kind of encounter. Since some people often associate Christmastime with the excitement a...

It's 12 DAYS before Christmas ! Hmmm sounds like a Christmas song with the same title hehe! But unlike in the song, I won't be making a countdown for each day until the 25th with the list of gifts because there's nothing to count, no turtle doves nor a partridge in a pear tree none even a French hen  ^_____^ Honestly, I am not expecting any tangible gifts this Christmas season. No one in my distant memory to ever think that would possibly transform into a generous santa , I am not suspecting anyone either hehe! I am also too grown up to deceive myself that the hanging-of-stocking-phenomenon is all true. The belief once I fancied on Jackson 5's Christmas hit " Santa Claus is Coming to Town " is already a quick-fading memory. Speaking of gifts, there's at least one person in my circle back then who never failed to give me a present during the holiday season , but now there's no more reason for him to be generous with me, I'm no longer part of ...

So it's 2013, the year of the black water snake according to Chinese astrology, I am not really into astrology so I did not put so much effort reading its significance to my life this year. It seems all the predictions related to my zodiac sign are not accurate so I stop reading it. Predictions never amused me because I find it ridiculous and stupid, so this black water snake is not a big deal to me, whatever it signifies, I don't care. For the past years, it felt like I'd traversed a thorny and dilapidated road, pushing my life into uncertainties, I continued believing in fantasy, assuming things wrongly. I'm tired doing it. The one hope that I kept saving seemed a big illusion, I misinterpreted the niceties. Last holiday breaks, I discerned hardly whether I would continue allowing myself to be hurt with my assumption or change focus. Up to the last minute of 2012 I kept holding on. But the emotions I'd kept for such a long time seemed getting me into n...

Despite sad events, unfulfilled dreams and frustrations, still, I believed I had lived my life happily last year, and looking back, I should say, 2012 ha d been a very good year for me. I have so many reasons to thank God for performing big miracles in my life never mind if some of my wishes did not come true (maybe it's not for me).  I encountered so many good people, generous friends and nice colleagues, my parents and siblings are in excellent conditions, we are mentally and emotionally healthy, our place was spared from the deadly typhoon, Pablo. I finished my academic subjects in the graduate school with excellent marks, I am safe and healthy and I did not encounter trouble in the workplace. These are great miracles that happened in my life in 2012 to which I am very grateful. Last Christmas, I wasn't able to return home and had to spend it with my friends. We'd a pre-Christmas lunch at Grub Resto Cafe along Illustre street, it was a Christmas treat by Kathy ...

When you are down and disappointed it is easy to believe that you've had months of bad days, that it rained every minute of the day and that people in the surroundings look like hammers ready to nail you down in despair.  Few days ago when I realized I could not watch "The Hobbit" in cinema because there's no one to go with, I became sulky and very sad. I've been waiting for this movie to come out in the big screen for years, just imagined the amount of exasperation and resentment I felt at that moment. I stayed in my room all through out Sunday, rolling my eyeballs to the four corners, wondering why my destiny seemed like a huge curse. But I tried to appear cheerful and happy when I reported to work the next day and discarded those bad notions about loneliness. Life is wonderful to be wasted on things that could never be realized. it's totally pointless and I am tired begging for something that could never be given to me. I am very exhausted analyzin...

We rarely have a Christmas party   (non-teaching personnel of UIC)   because we could not agree to almost everything. The last time we agreed to have one was in 2008. Most of us felt it’s a way too much since some offices already organized their own party then we have an institutional Christmas party to look forward to. But this year, well, most of our colleagues argued, that we should have our own Christmas party. We don't have institutional Christmas party this year because the RVM sisters decided to donate the money to the Pablo typhoon victims in Davao Oriental. For individuals who struggled everyday just to meet daily needs, this kind of social activity is simply inconceivable. But despite some objections, the plan pushed through and the venue (and date) was chosen – Grand Menseng Hotel, December 11, 2012. One thing I detested about this formal gathering is the anxiety of thinking what to wear. It’s simply too much to my mentally exhausted brain to contemplate...

If one day, Santa Claus would come to ask " What can I give you this Christmas ?", I  would really blurt " a pair of double C earrings ! hehe... Yeah!To own a pair of CC drop earrings is always part of my wishes at Christmastime. Love it so much! But the truth is, I am not really into jewelry and never dreamed to waste my hard-earned money on it. The only time I had a pair of gold earrings was back in college courtesy of my mother, it was a pure gold studded wheel design, unfortunately I lost it a year later (sigh!) and my mother was slightly disappointed :-) The only piece of jewelry I fancied to wear is a pair of earrings and my obsession is more on monogram designs that's why I love the double C studs. In fact if ever I could still get married in the future, this will be the only pair of jewelry I would wear in the wedding ceremony, I would choose the metallic stud because as tradition dictates, pearl is inappropriate to be worn as an accessory fo...

I just attended (with Juvy) the Christmas party of Beauche International Dealers at Grand Menseng Hotel last December 17, 2011 (4:00-8:00pm) and very amazed with the unique generosity of the company's CEO, Mrs. Che De Los Reyes, she is also the incumbent mayor of Carmen, Bohol, such a very inspiring woman. It was a fantastic gathering of the beautiful people of Beauche. The function hall was turned into a magical environment of glitters swathed in pink and crystals. They hired a disc jockey to handle the program. The "sinag tala" dancers entertained us. The search for Mr. and Miss Beauche highlighted the party.  I and Juvy were both amazed on how kind and generous Mrs. De Los Reyes is, because aside from the fact that the event had no registration fee (just imagine the tag price per head in a hotel reception, there were more or less 150 guests), everyone who attended received fantastic give aways, lots of home appliances were given in a raffle draw. Dinner time ...