Take Me To the Beach!!!

I was wondering what post I should be sharing with you since I really don't know where to start talking about what I did in the past six months. Not to mention that I've been having the worst time trying to change my layout. That's the understatement of the year. I've even resorted to making my blog private for the past week because saying that it looked liked a mess when I tried to change it would not give justice to how messy it was. But I finally worked it out using my old template and changing the banner--my old banner is no longer showing because the old online storage closed shop. Big daym headache, if you ask me! I don't think I'll be changing my layout anytime soon again.

But as I've already mentioned in my first post back, I will try to spend even the littlest time I have available here in this space. But tell me, how in Hades can I find the time to drop in every other day or so when even my weekend breather gets spent on a whirlwind of impromptu activities with my friends? This month alone had me out of the house every Saturday night when that's usually when I do my online stuff.

July 5 had me going out for a videoke party with my housemates at Gimmick. That was one heck of a night! They finally forced the mic on me and lo, I didn't feel like like letting it go again. I felt like a rocker even though my score was the pits! Too bad for my friends because they had to listen to me belt out (a.k.a. murder) all my songs. But I guess it was okay since they did their share of killing. But the point was that we all had fun, fun, fun!!! Our night started out late since we went to watch a basketball game--our friendly neighborhood varsity team was playing. Then we had a dinner out--well, we were already "out" after the game. Then we were bound for Gimmick right after ten in the evening. It was Saturday so we didn't expect to get a booth (I can't say room!) right away. Unbelievably, we were browsing the songbook in 20 minutes. The night went on and on and on...until 3am. There were a lot of (old) songs I couldn't believe these people could sing! But I can't wait to do it again...*hums*

But last weekend was one giant adventure. We were planning to go beach camping up north and we had it all planned out last week. We had chosen a beach resort to go to and we had called ahead of time to know what their amenities are. WE HAD A LOT OF EXPECTATIONS! So imagine our ginormous disappointment when we got to said resort. Suffice it to say that we did not like it so we had no other choice but to look for somewhere else to camp. But we can't find somewhere else that we found satisfactory enough. So on we decided to just get to get to the next town from where we already were--where it's just a boat ride away to Malapascua.

Malapascua Island was in our shortlist the week that we planned this excursion. But the weather had been kinda unpredictable, we had to scratch it off our list since most of us were not very keen on making the crossing. But last Saturday forced us to make the decision to do just that.

Man oh man.

The island was great! I mean, considering that a major typhoon just passed through the general area a few weeks before destroying a lot of infrastructure (including beach resorts) in its wake, the place was still beautiful. Who doesn't like white sand must be mad. And I'm not! Really, last week's point was to go somewhere with white sand. And we weren't disappointed--with this destination, it's inconceivable. The five-hour bus ride and the thirty-minute boat ride became insignificant compared to the fun that we had there. Not to mention that we had very limited budget--and I didn't bring my ATM with me. But no matter, we had fun fun fun!

The moment we stepped into the island, a storm came in. And not just an ordinary storm, mind you. It was a one heck of a thunderous and lightning-full affair. I just can't bring myself to imagine if that storm hit while we were still out at sea. Scary, scary. And then we got into our impromptu rooms--recommended by the peeps we got our boat ride from. And then we had to prepare dinner...and then the lights went out. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning, and no lights in a strange island--it really seemed like a really bad B movie. Redundant, no? But is there any other? No wait, the only thing that was missing was Jeff Probst!

But then morning came and even though the sky was still a little overcast, I had a feeling that we are going to have a blast the entire time we planned to stay in the beach. And the morning was filled with laughter even though we woke up at five. That was really strange since the usual waking time of the most of of us is nine! Blame it all on adrenaline. But with our stomach full with a hearty breakfast, we headed for the beach with sunblock in tow (of course!). And no sooner than we had an hour's worth of sea-romping that we started on our lunch. Barbecue at the beach--wooh!

I didn 't feel like leaving at midday. But then a plan is a plan. And being there in the budget we were was certainly not going to be fun. Lesson learned--if you wanna go camping, bring lots of money because who knows if you decide to go to an island resort anyway? LOL!

Check out the slide I posted on YouTube from this adventure. Can't wait to get back and soak up more sun!

Who'd Have Thunk It?!

Exactly.

After forty-eight years, I've decided to crawl out of the rock that I've been living in for the past several months and have decided to brave the world again. The blogging world that is. I have been swamped with work, work, work and work. Have I mentioned work yet? Daym! I thought I wasn't going to survive.

But ta-da!!! Here, I am.

I never thought I'd have the time again to visit the blogging jungle. First, I got moved to another line of business at work--if there was anyone busier than a bee, that was me. And then, I changed departments entirely. My first month there was a month of OTs--but weirdly enjoyable. Yeah, I won't trade this job for anything else--I never predicted that I'll be enjoying it this much. I'm prolly becoming crazy so don't mind me.

LOL! Sad to say, you can't. Because you're reading my blog! I just don't care if I'm doing it right. I know it feels damn good to be doing it again. Home sweet home. I just a have a feeling of being lost since I know that that there have a been a number of new things in Blogger that I've missed in the past several months. Poor me has a lot of catching up to do if I'm serious about doing this thing again. I don't even know if I know how to edit my blog layout anymore.

Honestly, I'm just testing the waters. Again. I know I don't have the time that I used to have--isn't it obvious from the six-month hiatus? But I missed blogging very much. If I have to do it once a month, so be it. But I just want to have a place to go to when I feel like ranting. Or shouting to the world that I'm uber happy. Or share with the my blogreaders (are there any left?) my fetish for drool-worthy hunks. What better way to vent my writing frustrations than those?

And what about my book blog? That had been left to gather dust in the past half year as well. I just checked and the layout is in a majorly bad way--will edit, will edit. Not to mention that I've been pretty bad at reading my books. I've been buying a lot but barely have the time them. They're just piling up in one corner waiting for me to spare them a little bit of what's left of my personal time. They're prolly thinking that I right now: "She doesn't have the time for us and now she wants to pick up on blogging again!"

But I will do my best to properly have "me time" again. Regardless of how short of a time that is. I should be having equal time to watch my fave shows, read my books, and type in a few words in here.

So yeah, see ya around.

DE: McDreamy And/Or McSteamy

It would break my heart to choose so I'd say AND.

Well, the new fall season has descended upon us couch potatoes so on with all the marathon TV sessions. And what better way to kick it off with than to feature my two most favorite hotties from one of my most fave television drama--Grey's Anatomy. And it doesn't really take a genius to guess who the objects of my affection-slash-fantasies are.

I was all ready to marry him when he got dumped in Sweet Home Alabama but staring at Patrick Dempsey's Dr Derek Shepherd a.k.a. McDreamy is a whole new heaven. Wearing those blue scrubs doesn't help his hotness either. Another plus is his best friend: Dr Mark Sloan a.k.a. McSteamy--played by the uber sexy Eric Dane. It's a wonder the TV screen doesn't fog up every time he has a scene. And those eyes? Double hot damn, Rebecce Gayheart is one lucky mama.

GA's new season has started and although it feels weird to have some of the old faces gone, I'm going with the flow as long as the familiar McDreamyfication and McSteamyness are still there. As for the slide below, check it out with caution: it might get you hot, bothered or both. Or pregnant.

Until Thursday. Oh, be still my heart.

Movies In 1, 2, 3...

I haven't exactly been very diligent about updating my blog--well, what's new?--but that's all because I'm busy with work, work, work; and between all that I had to squeeze in some movie and TV marathon sessions. I'm halfway through the first season of Heroes right now. But then that's a story for another day. I did manage to get in three movies in the past week. I know it wasn't much but with the lack of time, I think it was kind of a lot. So here's what I think.

Bride and Prejudice
First, I'm not a big fan of musicals but when I do become a fan of one, it practically borders the obsessive level. That's what happened to Moulin Rouge! and The Phantom of the Opera which are both still faves of mine until now. So I have been waiting for years to see this movie. Literally! I've been wanting to watch it since it came out and that was more than a couple of years ago. My expectations prolly mounted up over the years that when I got to finally see it, I was disappointed big time. Aishwarya Rai was beautiful in it as ever and Martin Henderson was okay at the best as Mr Darcy. But the movie won't warrant a second viewing. Ever.

Evan Almighty
If I don't get to finish this post that means I've been struck by lightning. Is it blasphemous to say that I enjoyed the trailer for this movie more than I enjoyed the entire film? Because that's what I did. Oh, I'm sure there were points that I did laugh about but the movie did drag on a bit. And what's more, the special effects weren't so special. Saving grace: The Man Morgan Freeman--I just love, love, love him. And I did like the aquarium scene.

Premonition
Now, we're talking serious business. This thriller saved the movie maniac in me from eternal boredom over the weekend. Sandra Bullock is da bomb! Her acting was so real you could practically touch her character. Not to mention that you wanted to be there so that you could help her solve the mystery of what was really happening. And the plot was amazing--it kept me guessing right until the very end! If this isn't in your list of must-see movies yet, do yourself a favor and add it in. Better yet, stop reading my blog and go see it now.

European Football Kicks Off

Before you say anything, I know that European football started, as always, in August. My two favorite clubs are already in full gear to defend their respective domestic titles.

Real Madrid is putting on a show in Spain with their perfect record and their new signings proving how they are worth every cent on their fresh contracts. Things are going to be interesting with the addition of former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry to the line-up of rivals Barca--am not a big fan of the Frenchman but I do recognize his talents. Ninety per cent of moi still wish Becks in the Meringue whites--hmm, those were the days. While his first love (and mine!) Manchester United is no longer fumbling through their fixtures after a slow start to their season. Rivals Chelsea are definitely in the blues after the departure of The Special One last week. That was something of a twist very early on in the season although United did give him a going-away gift--a 3-0 loss in a penalty shootout in the Community Shield early in August.

But the UEFA Champions League started last week and for me, that always signalled a true start of everything football in Europe. The Champions League theme had always been a beautiful music to my ears and the pitch action always held special memories--Manchester United in '99 and Liverpool in '05, to name a couple.

While I'm fantasizing about my ultimate dream Final--Manchester United versus Real Madrid (in Wembley, if I'm really too deep into my dreaming)--both aforementioned clubs are definitely showing what kind of great stuff they're made of. Check out the results of Matchday One at midweek.


It was a Raul and Ruud show last Tuesday and it wasn't surprising, considering both are two of the meanest goal-scoring machines in this competition--Raul has scored so many I personally has stopped counting, while last Tuesday's was Ruud's 50th. It is a numbers game, y'all. And Cristiano Ronaldo scored the lone goal in the match against his old club last Wednesday. I'm not a huge fan of C-Ron but I do admire the kid's goal-scoring prowess (and did I say abs, anyone?)

I know it's very early on in the race but frankly, without Becks to cloud my judgment, I am very excited for new season for BOTH clubs. It's time to weave some magic into the pitch, showcase high-profile matches, and in true Kookie fashion, show me the nummies!!!