Pwedeee!

They Rocked the Riles

At least the Shaw Station area. Rad!

Wishlist '09

1) Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-it-Yourself Book


2) Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty


3) Extra AAA rechargeable batteries (Kahit PowerBase 750 lang)
4) Shoe box or shoe rack.
5) Complete season series of Gilmore Girls whether pirated DVD or downloads, I will gladly accept. :)
6) Antivirus for my still-unnamed lappy kasi 63 days na lang mag-eexpire na yung Norton nya haha.
7) 2009 Planner.
8) Shorts, shirts (gray!), pants, plain flats. Medium, medium, 27" & 8".
9) Undergarments box/drawer (hahaha).
10) Pillow cases and bedsheets. Kahit second hand. (Sorry kung ginagawa ko nang mala- Salvation army goods 'tong listahan na 'to pero ganun talaga haha.)
11) Clinique Happy. Kahit yung peke lang heehee.
12) Centrum or Vitamin C, yung isang bote! Bawal magkasakit.



13) Anything Stormtrooper-y. :D


And for the dreamy wishes that is up to Him (and me as well)
- A job.
- Out of town New Year celebration (just like the previous couple of years). O sige na, kung dito man sa kalakhang Maynila, yung tipong kakaiba naman. Street party? Bars? Ayala? Luneta? Tagaytay? Rooftop? Someone else's backyard? You get the drift.
- A new place. No more dingy and crampy room. It adds to my depression but I know I haf no choice as of now. Pag naka-luwag-luwag na si Mariela pasasaan di't makakahanap sya ng maayos-ayos na tirahan. WANTED: housemate to help ease the house rent nyahaha.
-More travels! Within the country and outside the country. Amen.

Productive Yesterday

Dentist appointment: check.
Hunting the Soc Sci II prof to help me get my university clearance: check.
Visiting Tbud: check.

Bonus: Hanging out with a friend and her bestfriend.
It was quite a fulfilling albeit long day. Yay!

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Super enjoyed this musical play with Honey! Brought to the local shores of Manila, Spelling bee is a one-act award winning musical play with music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin (that's according to Wikipedia).

I was really excited for the surprise celebrity spellers and the audience spellers. How would they fare? Miss Weatherhead made an impressive job (she's an audience participant). The celebrity guests were William Martinez and Lexi Schulze. They were all great sports that night.

It was a really fun, laugh-out-loud kind of musical, something that everyone in the little theater enjoyed. My favorite speller? Hmm..probably Leaf Coneybear and his trance spelling haha. Miss Peretti and Mitch Mahoney's singing voice were astounding. Grabe galeng!

We'll be saving up for Avenue Q next year! yay. :)

Plants vs. Zombies

Played it in about 6 hours straight one night. I didn't get the hype. But I dreamt of plants shooting peas on zombies though. :))

Let's Rock the Riles

I will definitely be in Shaw. Sugarfree beybi!

WEDNESDAY LOVE

Warhol Troopers. Amazing.

Gake no Ue no Ponyo

After watching Ponyo, I got a bad case of LSS from the film's theme song. Hayao Miyazaki never fails. <3

Ka-blag!

That's the sound of my heart falling after seeing this beautiful thing. OH NOES talaga!
Two of my favoritest things in the world. Adidas + Stormtrooper = LOVE!

Ang tanong, dadating naman kaya sya sa Pilipinas? I loved the Vader hoodie too. Angas!
At kung dumating man, kamusta naman sa presyo di ba? Hwoo.

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See more in here.

Black Hole Sun

This is just my first day off work and already I am bored to death. I keep listening to one song cover over and over again, I keep staring at other people's status and apparently I slept the whole afternoon off, even forgot eating.

I have never been good at this. Being holed up. Too many idle times in my hand was never a good thing. I know I have tons of books to pick up and keep me busy for the next 6 months but surprisingly I am not in the mood to be entertained by fictional characters. Yet. I'll change my mind soon I know. If I was probably living off someone else's monetary pity, it might've been another story.

But for the meantime, I am boredom personified.

CNN Hero of the Year

Congrats Kuya Efren! You couldn't have said it any better. Thanks for donning a barong. You make me proud to be a Pinoy. <3

Impromptu Date

Nakipagkita ang Pamela para um-achieve ng 3 bagay:

• Magpalinya sa Sun (failed).
• Bumili ng contact lens (check)
• Magpa-earpierce (nawalan na ng oras).

Nawalan na ng oras kasi pagkatagal-tagal ma-i-shoot ang contact lens sa bawat mata. Prinaktis na din ang pag-aalis. Kawawang mga mata, namula na't lahat haha. Mabuti na lang napakatyaga ng mga tao sa paligid. Salamat Dr. Steve!

Mariela, Pamela at Sarah

Dinner at Gotti's. Kahit mga walang cash, ang card ng isang bata ay hindi pa activated, para kaming mga batang nag-fi-figure out kung pano gumagana ang mga payphones. Ang saya! Namiss ko 'to. Hanggang sa muli!

After Eight. Must try Gotti's dessert!

My First Trooper

Before that fateful Friday, I was already decided to buy the Lego Stormtrooper watch. But after that, I didn't think I still could afford. I was all set to buying it after Iget my Christmas bonus but of course the Cheese offered to buy it for me seeing how I get obsessed with anything Stormtrooper related as each day passes. What an early Christmas gift!

Thanks a looot! <3

Magtatanim Muna..

That's why it was called a surprise darling, it creeps up on you without you ever knowing what the hell just happened. :O

~~
Malaya na ako. Sort of. Kahapon, natanggap ko ang isa sa pinaka-nakakagulat na balita sa buhay ko: wala na daw akong trabaho. Dismissed. Redundant. Gardening leave. Backpay. December 11. Thank you. Yun na lang ang mga naaalala ko. Kasama ng apat pang kaopisina, kami'y pinapunta sa Aquarium. Akala ko may meeting lang. Byernes kasi nun. Naglitanya na naman ang boss naming mahilig sa mabulaklak na salita. Pero naramdaman ko na eh. Eto na siguro yun. Habang lumalalim pa ang pagpapaliwanag ng boss namin, hindi ko na maiwasang mapangiti.

Totoo. Nakahinga ako. Hindi ko na kailangan mag-isip ng kasinungalingan para lang may maisulat sa resignation letter sa Disyembre. Eto na, sila na mismo ang nagsabi. Para kong nabunutan ng tinik. Hindi ko na kailangang magsulat araw-araw ng tungkol sa sugal. Hindi ko na kailangang lokohin pa ang sarili ko na hindi na talaga ko masaya sa trabaho ko.

Malaya na ako.

Wala akong sama ng loob sa kahit kanino pa sa management namin. Hindi naman talaga ko yung tipo ng nagtatanim ng sama ng loob in the first place. Eto na yata ang pinaka-weird na dismissal na nangyari sa buhay ko (not that I've been dismissed before, actually first time ko 'to!). Lahat kami nakangiti. O siguro kami lang yun ng isa kong kaopisina. Hindi ko rin masasabi kung ano yung naramdaman talaga nung iba. Sana okay lang din sila.

Hindi na ko nakapag-alam sa mga kaibigan ko sa kabilang kwarto. Mabilisang exit eh.

Ngayon, gusto ko mang aminin na masayang masaya ko sa nangyari bigla syang nasapawan ng thought na ito: hindi ako pwedeng mag-slack off. Bakit? Dahil wala akong magulang na sasalo sakin kung sakali mang mawalan ako ng trabaho. Hindi ako pwedeng humiga lang maghapon sa kama at pag naisipang bumangon o kaya maramdaman ang gutom e pwedeng magpunta sa kusina at tingnan kung ano ang pagkain. Ilan lang yun sa mga eksenang hindi ko mararanasan.

Sa madaling salita, kailangan pa ring kumayod.

Nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng mga kaibigan kong nagpaabot ng simpatiya. Whether nag-IM sakin, tumawag, nagtext or nag-email. Ito ay isang balitang sa iilang tao ko lang sinabi pero may pakpak talaga ang balita eh. But the general emotion was of surprise. Akala nila nagbibiro lang ako.

So kung isa ka sa hindi pa nakakaalam, ngayon alam mo na. May alam ka bang opening dyan? Hehe.

Rebel Scum

Yes, I am flooding my posts with Stormtroopers and this will not be the end of this.
I want something Stormtrooper-y this Christmas. Anything. Something. *sigh*








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see more of adorableness in Stefan's Flickr. I LOVE HIS WORKS!



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a pixal.us image I scoured somewhere.

Robin and the Stormpooper

Robin: Isn’t it time you got rid of your stupid doll?
Barney: It’s not a doll. It’s a stormtrooper.
Robin: Uh, it’s wearing a diaper.
Barney: It’s not a diaper. It’s protective armor.
Robin: Stormtrooper. More like storm pooper.
Barney: Stop it.
Robin: Pppt. Oh, it sounds like your storm pooper needs a changing!

~The Rough Patch, How I Met Your Mother

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Shameless reposting from my one of favorite Star Wars blog! I WISH I ALSO HAVE A TROOPER THAT SIZE! I SO LOVED THAT EPISODE. Scherbatsky + Stinson no more.

Wednesday LOVE

When we were introduced to each other a few years back, I fell in love at once. If I was ever born in the 80's you would be the soundtrack of my life, along with Tom Petty and Everything But The Girl, while watching Molly Ringwald movies and sporting that riot hair exclusive to the decade alone.

And I Quote Raj..

It feels like I haven't been forgiven yet. It must have been really awful and I didn't even know it. As Raj Koothrappali of Big Bang Theory will say to his bestfriend Wolowitz, "sucky, sucky friend".

And that's how you wrap up a Tuesday.

Strike Two

Maliban sa loob ng mall, sinong tao ang nagbubukas ng Christmas tree lights ng pagka-aga-aga? Take note: nasa loob ng opisina na napakaliwanag courtesy of haring araw. May tinatawag na pagtitipid di ba?

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Tanong: kung may kaibigan kang nagsabi sayo na ayaw ka na nyang maging kaibigan, anong mararamdaman mo?

Naisip ko lang, minsan pala mas insensitibo tayo sa mga taong akala natin nandyan lang palagi. Samantalang, isip tayo ng isip sa mga taong hindi naman nga natin sigurado kung naiisip din ba tayo at ang papel natin sa buhay nila. Talagang minsan, huli mo na maiisip na may mga taong di mo pala kayang mawala sa buhay mo pero maiisip mo lang pag sila naman ang unti-unting nawawala na sa buhay mo.

Naniniwala akong may break-ups din sa friendships. Minsan kailangan. Minsan talagang bigla na lang nangyayari. Pero hindi ako makapaniwalang kamuntikan ko na palang gawin yun. Ang sama, oo.

~~
Moving on, sana Byernes na ulit! Looking forward to seeing the Cheese more. Haha.

##

Lunes. Pagsusulat na walang kamatayan boo.

Today Is The Day

Of course, no need to ask who we're rooting for here. Go Pacman!

UPDATE: Yes. The PACMAN won. Lucky Seven. Team Pilipinas!

Cheers, buddy!

It's the Binx's birthday today. And burned out that he is he decided to lift off somewhere. Ha! I wish you peace and happiness even for just a day :)

The Thought at the Back of Your Mind

Under the Sea

where it's very oh so pretty! where fishes are simply adorable, where fishes are content feeding on tutong rice. heehee.


where idiots like me break their peace, trying hard to catch their fins only to be slapped by their powerful tails..



thank you Papa Jesus for them fishies! Such a sight to behold. Sigh.

Wednesday LOVE

Finally, my long-overdue Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans has arrived. Harry Potter fans would know what I'm talking about here. Excited! What to taste first? Booger? Dirt? Earthworm? Vomit? Rotten Egg? or Earwax? Can't wait!

Iloilo Traveling Notes

Last week, I embarked on my first solo adventure out of Luzon. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, the Cheese cannot join me in this trip nevermind how long we've waited for it. Alas, still nursing a slight fever from the past week's illness, I almost did not wake up in time for me to leave. Thank goodness for unlimited calls.

And so I flew in Iloilo without the slightest idea of where I will be staying nor where I will go. Okay. So I do have a little but those notes are not sufficient enough in my opinion. So I spent the whole morning walking around Iloilo City, figuring my way around while looking for a place to stay. My feet and back killed me from too much walking, I was slowly becoming irritated. The down side of traveling alone is this: hotel rooms are always expensive because you have to shoulder it alone. But of course, I did not let all that dampen my mood. I took a jeep to Jaro to take a look then went to a museum before going to city proper. After finally scoring a decent enough inn, I took a nap. Yes a NAP. I was so darned tired forgive me.

So far, my favorite Iloilo Church - St. Anne of Molo

They have a really cool campus ha, with provincial effects and all!

But I have to say. My trip to Miag-ao the day after made me appreciate this whole thing of traveling alone. There is a certain kind of freedom and sense of achievement one can get when traveling alone. You know, fending for yourself and relying to strangers' kindness to get you through it all. It's all liberating for me. Yes I admit it gets really sad knowing that you cannot share it with your friends or special people but hey, I believe that this is one thing that everyone should do at least once in their life.

Next on my list: a trip alone outside Philippines yeah!

An Updated Lakbayan Map

Imma fill you up white spots til there's no land unconquered by maryelogs!

My Lakbayan grade is C+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Guy Fawkes Night

"Remember, remember the fifth of November.
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot."

Hullo work

Malcapuya Island giving Boracay a run for their money.

And just like that I'm back. Five days went like a breeze. But I loved every single day of it. :) Who wouldn't want to be in a place like that?!?!

Wednesday LOVE

What I LOVE the most. Screw the bank account, screw work, let me have my backpack and I'm on my way to the airport. This time I'm doing Coron. Yeaa. Photos and stories when I come back. Toodles!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This one's for you Sars. :) Bibili na nga ko nung DIY book ASAP!

500 Days of Summer

Downloaded the OST after watching the movie. The Smiths is LOVE!

Movie excerpt from IMDb :

This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate'. The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only love two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.

Indeed. The reverberating moral of the story (at least for me): You can get over someone, no matter how painful, how hard and how long it could be. You will, eventually. Someday, the pain will just be a faint memory from the past and it will not hurt anymore everytime you think about it.

"Who doesn’t like Ringo Starr?"

Adidas King of the Road Run '09

My second year of running in Adidas KoTR. Looking at a sea of yellow-clad people is good but not on me. Nevertheless, I still love it.

Banana + Gatorade + Yellow Singlet = WIN! And I'm not even a banana fan haha.

Fresh-faced pa kami dito.

Our second year of joining. Walang nagbago haha.

Nostalgia Polaroid

Has officially caught the polaroid bug. <3

B-I-N-G-O!

An officemate friend and I played Bingo last, last night out of curiosity. It was not the normal Bingo I knew, the ones we played during summer along with far older people. So fast-paced and involves quite money sum. Eek. But nevertheless it was still fun.

Oh yeah. Course we didn't win. Ha! No first-timer luck.

French Film Fest

June 5-14. Watched 2 films cos I was too lazy to catch 'em all. Long overdue post, I know!

Can't blame her for two-timing her husband. Pero wag ka winner rin si Jo. Decided to drown and die along with her husband.

Cute kids. Story pretty much revolved around Zim acquiring a car with the help of his friends.

Wednesday LOVE

For the second time, I will be participating in Adidas King of the Road Run again. I've long ago made a decision that I will make this my annual run. Aiyaaa. See ya on the Fort on the 25th!

No more 10k for me. 5k is sooo right.

Reunion

After almost 10 years, here I am still on shirt. What has changed Mariela? haha.

Let the Right One In

Surprisingly, one of the best films I've watch this year. I've waited for this one a long time, finally I got my chance. Though I wish I have read the book first..

Swedish poster

Oskar and Eli are in. Edward and Bella are out.

Halloween Caught in the Middle

Haha. Thought it was just a Pinoy thing. Who knew?

Our Dear Old Manila

I love looking at old Manila photos. Gives me an idea of what Manila used to look like before it became this big sprawling megalopolis slowly decaying before our very eyes. Yes, that's what historians tells us, that's what foreigners tells us, that's what old people tells us. Them who've seen the old city and can provide comprehensive details about how it once used to be.

Looking at old photos of different parts of Manila somehow made me yearn of an old city that I never knew of. Indeed, what we've read in our elementary books, what our teachers, lolos and lolas have told us are quite right: Manila used to be one of the most magnificent cities in Southeast Asia. It was grander than Singapore, even more appealing than the rest of Southeast Asian countries' capitals.

I won't go on enumerating all the pitfalls, unlawful, wicked and erroneous things we have done to our historical buildings, waterways, roads, etc. that made our once beautiful Manila the way it is now: a dead Pasig river, disappearing and decaying national heritage sites, deadly metro traffic and most recently, the cities being engulfed by waters that overflowed from rivers currently being blamed from a city plan gone awry.

But let me leave all the accusing and criticising to the institutions trying hard to clean their hands from all the faults being pointed at them and focus more on the good memories of a city that was. I'm really glad these photos survived wars and natural catastrophes.

Jones Bridge. Connecting Intramuros to Quiapo. First built in 1632 but was damaged by several earthquakes, was rebuilt by Juan Arellano in 1922.

Old Quiapo Church.

Calle Rosarion in Binondo

photos from brownpau.

PGH main entrance circa 1945

photo from BrownMan blog.

Escolta bridge from Manilablog.

Cubao circa 1973. It's surprisingly maluwag and maaliwalas.

Sidewalk vendors

Old Luneta.

Rizal Park. Again still so much space kahit hindi na circa 1900ish.

Araneta circa 1960 sans Gateway, SM and other malls.

Photos from ikaunangpahina.wordpress.