I N A

Ina, ilaw  ng tahanan
Sa  mga anak ay nagpapatahan
Hirap at pagod kanilang dinaranas
Sa gawaing-bahay na ginagawa sa oras-oras
 
Kapag walang ina, anong mangyayari?
Ang isang tahanan ay mawawalan ng silbi
Wala na ang liwanag na dati’y namamasid
Puro dilim na ang sa ati’y nakapaligid.
 
Natatangi ang kanyang pagmamahal
‘Di tulad ng iba, ‘di nagtatagal
Kahit siya’y iyong ipagtabuyan
Mananatili pa rin ang nararamdaman

Sadyang ang ina ay isang uliran
Handang magpakasakit ng matagalan
Mga anak niya’y di kayang matiis
Sunod ang lahat ng ninanais.

~ A  n q u i m a ~

* This is the poem I wrote for my mother when I was in high school as part of the Mothers’  Day celebration.

2009 UAAP Cheerdance Tickets Soldout!!!

UAAP will be having its Cheerdance Competition on September 13, 2009, Sunday, at Araneta Coliseum. I was able to watch it last year by meeting a student from FEU and   buying 5 General Admission tickets from him twice the price. Of course, I would love to watch the event this year. Japsy and I went to Ticketnet to check if there are still available tickets but they were already SOLDOUT!!!

I was not surprised at all. It always happens. The demand for tickets increases days before the event. Japsy’s brother from UST also informed us that there are no available tickets for us anymore.  Too sad but it’s okay.

While I was checking my blog entry on 2008 UAAP Cheerdance tickets, the comments caught my attention:

Here they go again…people taking advantage   of the others’ needs. They might be students or scalpers selling tickets twice or thrice the price. If you are that desperate, you would really grab their offer. It was 2007 when a scalper offered us some tickets for higher price but we didn’t buy it. Scalping is an illegal activity and we were able to witness that time when the police caught the scalpers in the vicinity of Araneta Coliseum.

If you are still looking for tickets, you’ll be lucky enough to find and buy some through website forums, meet students who are selling their extra tickets or negotiate with a scalper (this is not an advisable thing to do). There are also websites or blogs where bidding for tickets happens. Check out LJDiaz’s website:

http://www.ljdiaz.com

I really enjoy watching the UAAP Cheerdance Competition inside the Araneta Coliseum because you will feel the excitement of the students  cheering for their   schools, and the eagerness of the teams to win. I don’t think I will be able to watch it this year because I still don’t have the tickets but I can watch the TV coverage in Studio 23.

Goodluck to all the schools!!!

A Happy Resignation

I’m happy to say that finally I have resigned from Molave Internet Solutions last April 17, 2009. I have been there as a Creative Writer – Web Marketing Assistant for almost 3 years. It was a right decision made by me.
I just felt sad that I had to leave friends there.
I’ll be missing them but it’s okay because I’ll be seeing them during our badminton session every Saturday.

A week before I resigned while doing my resignation letter, I saw this and it really made me laugh:

Funny right?

Fortunately, I already got a new job as a Directory Listing Associate in an outsourcing company in Eastwood Libis. Great blessing for me! I’ll be starting on May 5.
I have attended our orientation and met my new office mates. One important thing assured to us by the company – a fun and healthy workplace that we will enjoy.

Starbucks Planner 2009: Selling Like Hotcakes!!!

Starbucks usually starts its promo sticker cards during November of every year. As part of the promo, you have to collect 16 stickers by purchasing a beverage and other products, and get a Starbucks planner for free upon the completion. I was not able to get the planner in 2008 because I gave my sticker card to Kat’s cousin. I have seen the Starbucks planner 2008 and I loved the design. I decided to collect stickers last November to get the Starbucks planner for 2009 because I know that Starbucks will be producing a well-designed planner again. I have completed my sticker card last year with the help of some friends and office mates. My office mate asked me a favor to buy a tumbler as an exchange gift for our Christmas party, so I went to Starbucks in Trinoma where I also saw the Starbucks planner for 2009 for the first time:

I didn’t like the design that much but it’s okay. I loved the idea of it having 3 colors: red, black blue. Starbucks planner for this year looks more simple and professional compared to the Starbucks planner in 2008 which is more artsy and stylish:

I completed my sticker card in Starbucks, SM Fairview last December 25, 2008. I rushed to Starbucks the next day only to find out that there’s no more planner left for me. Out-of-stock!!! So I tried other Starbucks branches: SM Megamall, Shangrila, Podium, Trinoma – still haven’t got one. Starbucks informed their customers that the next arrival of planners is January 16, 2009. Me and my family went to Robinson’s Manila last January 18, 2009, to eat and relax a bit. I passed by a Starbucks there to get my planner but it’s out-of-stock again!!! So the attendant told me that if I really want to get the planner, I should make a reservation and give my contact no. for them to inform me the availability of the planner. I was also able to get the free drink coupon on that day where you can get a free drink of any beverage of any size.

I received a text from Starbucks, Robinson’s Manila, last January 20, 2009:

“Dear Sir/Maam. Thank you for making this year’s planner promotion a success. Due to the overwhelming response, we have unexpectedly experienced a shortage of planners. We have placed another order to arrive by March 20. We apologize for the delay and as a token of our appreciation and your understanding, we will be including a Starbucks bag with your reserved planner. We sincerely apologize and thank you for your continued patronage and understanding. – Starbucks Robinson’s Place”

From January 16 to March 20?? I availed my free drink, Chocolate Cream Chip (Venti), that day.

FYI: I found out from the attendant that the kind of bag that Starbucks will be giving with the planner is a body bag.

Honestly, it’s okay with me to get the planner late and not use it since I’m enjoying using my Cosmo’s 2009 Date Book now, but for others…it’s not. What if they really want to use the planner but still haven’t got one up to now? This might irritate others because they will be using their Starbucks planner in March if they get one. =) Don’t worry guys, there’s another freebie included, be one of those who will be using the Starbucks body bag exclusively.

Priceless Gift =)

Me and Kat celebrated our two years together – friendship and romantic relationship – yesterday. It was a special day for us even though we were not able to dine out and celebrate because of our work schedule. We just woke up early because we have to go to office. She always cook my food for lunch. During our lunch time when I was about to take out my lunch, I saw a white piece of paper outside my lunch box with a note: “I love you Myumi!” I discovered that the paper is not an ordinary paper but a photograph of us:

 

 

The first time I saw that pillow I knew that she’ll like it because she loves dogs. We are both dog lovers. As you can see, the pillow has images of two cute puppies. The pillow is quite big and it’s quite a hassle on my way home. Me and Kat lives in one house with her sister, so I did hide my gift because I want to surprise her.

She made a collage of our photographs together. I was amazed and overwhelmed. I really love it!  We were very happy last night! We are planning to continue the celebration in this coming weeks. We are hoping to go to Tagaytay to celebrate if the weather permits us to do so.

Belated happy anniversary to both of us! This gift is priceless!

It was already 9pm but Kat hasn’t arrived. When she entered our room, she turned off the lights. When the I turned on the lights. She gave this gift to me:

 

Me and Jhay-R went to SM Megamall in the afternoon to buy a gift for Kat. I was not able to give her a gift last year, so I really pursued to buy something yesterday for that special day. I was having difficulties in choosing a gift because Kat is not that appreciative when it comes to gifts unless she really likes it. We went to Blue Magic and buy this pillow:

 

I was surprised. We really have many pictures together online, in my ipod and in our personal computer but we don’t have printed copies of those pictures. We’ve been busy with so many things that we don’t have time to print all the pics. I kept the picture and put it inside my wallet. That was our first printed photograph ever.

 

OktoberFest Parties

I was not able to go to the kick off party of Oktoberfest last September 5, 2008. I’m planning to go to Greenhills tomorrow with my friends and officemates to be a part of this 4-month celebration of Oktoberfest. Here’s the schedule of Oktoberfest for this year:

September 5, 2008 (Kick Off Party)

– San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Mandaluyong
– Mactan Economic Zone 1 (M.E.Z. 1)
– Capitol Grounds
– Victoria Plaza Parking Lot
– Magsaysay Ave., Olongapo City
– Paseo De Sta. Rosa

September 12, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Paseo

September 13, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Otis Mall, Butuan City

September 20, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Plaza San Fernando, La Union

September 26, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Avenue Square, Naga City

September 27, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Peoples Center Tacloban

October 3, 2008 (Big Party of the Month) – Viramall Greenhills Parking Lot

October 4, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Gloria de Dapitan, Dapitan City

October 10, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Paseo Reale Malle

October 11, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Pacita Complex, Laguna

October 16, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – NBC Tent Fort Bonifactio Taguig

October 17, 2008 (Sustaining Party)
– Metrowalk Central Plaza Pasig City
– NCCC Mall Davao

October 18, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Siolakang Negros, Dumaguete

October 24, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Vacant Lot Governor Camins Avennue Zamboanga City

October 25, 2008 (Sustaining Party)

– Penaranda Park, Legazpi City
– Taal Vista Hotel Tagaytay

October 30, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Blue Wave

October 31, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Plaza Burgos, Vigan

November 7, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Leganes Town Plaza

November 8, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Territoryo San Miguel, Kidapawan

November 14, 2008 (Big Party of the Month) – San Miguel By The Bay, Pasay

November 15, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Magdaragat Seafood

November 21, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Plaza Plazuela, Tarlac City

November 22, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Boardwalk, Iloilo City

November 28, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – East Asia Parking Lot, Gensan

November 29, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Robinson’s Lipa

December 6, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Magic Mall Side Stripe

December 12, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Peoples Park, Roxas City

December 13, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Limketkai Parking Lot

December 19, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Baywalk, Baybay sa Puerto

December 20, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Abanao Square, Baguio City

December 26, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – One Mango Square, Cebu

December 27, 2008 (Sustaining Party) – Grand Central Park, Lucena

Introducing: Charice Pempengco in Madison Square Garden

Celine Dion invited Charice Pempengco to sing with her in Madison Square Garden. They sang the song “Because You Loved Me” in their duet. The said song is dedicated to Charice’s mother.

For all Charice fanatics worldwide, watch these videos:

Celine Dion Introduces Charice Pempengco

Celine Dion & Charice Pempengco’s Duet – Because You Loved Me

Amazing! I almost cried when I watched their duet. Charice’s mother is so lucky to have a daughter like her, and vice versa.