Erin's 1st Birthday Party at Manila Polo Club

Ojane's youngest daughter, Erin, celebrated her 1st birthday this afternoon at the Manila Polo Club. even though it was raining very hard and there were floods in some areas, my friends and i went there to join in the celebration of her birthday.

it was a great party. the place was marvelously done by Party Station. the theme of Erin's party was Alice in Wonderland. it really felt like we were in Wonderland. there were giant slides, basketball hoops, snacks from Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Dippin Dots, and a lot more. my favorite portion of the party was the unlimited pictures by Bai Capture. i would love to have a party like this even though i'm already in my mid-twenties. hehe.

The Cake

The Slide

Basketball Hoops

The decorations:


Other pictures:

Me, Aie, Tin

Edel, Jo, Me, Aie, Tin, Johanna, Maw

Other visitors

With the Queen of Hearts

Tin, Maw, Jo

Johanna, Tin, Maw, Me

Johanna, Tin, Me, Jo

Alice in Wonderland

Jo and Edel looking at the pictures from the photo booth

i wonder why i was holding my neck

Wacky Pictures:

Starbucks Planner Promo

my blog has many visitors today because of the Starbucks Planner. i have a picture of the Starbucks 2008 planner in this blog entry and that's where most visitors landed after googling it. so why are people looking for the Starbucks planner? well, today is the first day of the Starbucks 2009 Planner promo. yup, it's that time of the year again. but for the first time since 2005, i wouldn't be collecting stickers to get the planner. i know that it has been my tradition for the past 3 years. but not anymore.

i already got myself a planner, the Belle de Jour Power Planner (BDJ). i already paid for it since the news came out about it last October. i am just waiting for the day it would arrive on my doorstep.

for this year, i have 2 planners: BDJ and Starbucks. the BDJ planner is the one i'm using while the Starbucks planner is just lying inside my cabinet. so it would be a total waste if i get myself a Starbucks planner which would just be kept inside my cabinet. besides, i haven't been a loyal Starbucks customer this year. i have been a loyal Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf customer instead.

i used to have my caffeine/choco/green tea fix from Starbucks back in college. but i got more "sort-of" (haha) addicted to it when a store opened near the school where i worked more than 3 years ago. so for almost every day of my life, i went to Starbucks after every work when i don't have a class in UP. i even went there during weekends. i go there to study, read, drink Iced Chocolate/Green Tea Frap/Iced White Mocha/Caramel Macchiato/Hazelnut Mocha, think, relax, meet with friends, etc. some of the baristas there became my friends. even the security guards. i also met lots of people (other customers) there. Starbucks has been my home until i transferred to a new one last March. make that 2 homes: Coffee Bean in TriNoma and The Block. every time i want to relax, study, or just drink coffee/tea, i go to Coffee Bean. i have tasted almost all their drinks and i like them all.

anyway, back to the planner. based from what i've read in the forums i visit, the planner looks like the 2006 planner. it comes in three colors: red, black, and blue. the number of stickers you need to collect is only 15. but the bad news about this year's promo is that Peppermint is no longer included in the holiday drinks. jeez. what is Christmas without Peppermint? the featured drinks for this season are Dark Cherry Mocha, Toffee Nut Latte, and Praline Mocha.

but why am i writing about this anyway? i dunno. i guess it just feels weird to break a tradition. i remember completing my stickers in less than a month because i was at Starbucks every day. i even got an extra planner for my Dad. i also helped my sister and some friends complete their stickers. the experience was exciting. but i have to be practical. i have to save my money for more important things. so i guess it's goodbye Starbucks planner for me. at least for now.

2006, 2007, & 2008 Starbucks Planners

Formula One 2008 Final Race

LEWIS HAMILTON IS THE 2008 F1 WORLD DRIVERS' CHAMPION!!!!!!!!

yes, my bet this year won the title. my last year's bet was Kimi Räikkönen. but Lewis is just so darn good i couldn't help but cheer for him this season. i'm still a Ferrari fan though and i really hope a Ferrari driver would win next year's world title. so would my bet be Felipe Massa? i know that i've been too harsh on him this year. i actually felt sad when he thought he won the title only to find out a few seconds later that he didn't. so maybe i could condition myself on January to like Massa before the race starts on March 29, 2009 in Australia. haha. i'll find out next year.

the Brazilian GP was a really exciting race. it's good that i'm still on vacation so i was able to watch it. the race started at past 1AM here in the Philippines. anyway, i wouldn't yak about what happened on the race because there were just too many things that happened in such a short time. you could just Google them. i'm also still on cloud nine because of Hamilton's win.

before i forget, here are the winners in the Brazilian GP:

1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2. Fernando Alonso (Renault)
3. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)

this picture would have looked better if Massa won this years title. from left: Fernando Alonso (2005-2006 WDC), Felipe Massa (2008 WDC), Kimi Räikkönen (2007 WDC). but of course, that is not the case since Felipe is not the champion.

so this concludes this season's Formula One. as usual, it was an amazing season. see you guys next season!

PS: i hope Kimi gets his title back next year. haha. but i'd still think about if i would bet on Felipe.

*pictures from http://www.f1-live.com

United Nations Day Program 2008 in School

we had a UN Day Program in school yesterday. the students presented song and dance numbers. my Nursery classes (morning and afternoon) danced Italian and Japanese dances respectively. the days prior to the event were very tiring but it was all worth it. the students enjoyed the program and we received lots of positive reviews from the parents. so now, i'm on vacation or semestral break and will be back in school on November 6.

The Stage

My students seated at the front row

Opening Number

Selected students to recite the Rights of the Child

Kinder PM (Lauterbach Waltz - Swiss Dance)

Kinder AM (Tropanka - Bulgarian Dance)

Kinder PM (Pearly Shell - Hawaiian Dance)

Prep (Carinosa - Filipino National Dance)

Prep (Maglalatik - Filipino Dance)

Prep (Song Number)

The Students

Teacher Ellen, Me, Teacher Lani

i'll upload my Nursery students' pictures as soon as i get them from one of my co-teachers. i wasn't able to take pictures of them coz i was busy guiding/showing them the steps for their dance presentations. would you believe that i taught my Nursery classes Italian and Japanese dances? i never did that during the early years of my teaching career because i don't dance. but now, oh well.

Afterglow

Just when the days start getting colder,
I walk the streets I never knew
There's some words I never told you,
The sound rings out like the truth

Chorus:
And if you could see what's come over me
Then you would know
Cause I'm walking free
The wind at my back
Bathed in afterglow

As I sit here in this dark room,
All I seem to feel is light
I see color,
I see the maroon in the blood of this life...
That's ours

Chorus

Watch the sun it paints an orange sky
Lay me down and feel the days gone by

Just when the days start getting longer
I walk the streets I never knew...
The sun comes out for you

Chorus

* a song by Vanessa Carlton
* the lines from the song that describes me now:
Cause I'm walking free
The wind at my back
Bathed in afterglow.

October 2008 Get Together With Friends

i just got home from dinner with my friends last night at Claw Daddy, Shangri-La Mall. the last time i saw them was last August when we had dinner at Cyma also in Shangri-La Mall. i was not able to attend the get-together last month at Red Box, TriNoma because i was at the Manila International Book Fair in SMX Convention Center. i was also not feeling well when i got home (i was sick that week) so i did not go anymore. so when Edel sent a text message about the information for our get-together, i immediately cleared whatever i was planning to do so that i wouldn't miss the dinner. as usual, it was an enjoyable dinner that ended with a dessert from Starbucks.

view from the inside

Ojane, Aie, Edel

Me, Jo, Tin

group shot with our bibs

my placemat after eating. nyaha.

alive again

i haven't posted much in this blog for the past month. i was busy shopping for books and updating my book blog. yes, i created a blog about books. so all my book-related entries can now be found there.

today is a holiday due to Eid-ul Fitr. i planned on going to the mall to pay my cell phone bill and buy some arts and crafts supplies in National Book Store but there's a typhoon so i'm stuck here at home. to make my day useful, i organized my dresser and disposed things that i no longer use. i also organized my bookshelf to give space to the 23 books i bought last month. it was Literacy Month and there were lots of book fairs and book sales so i took advantage of it by hoarding as much books as i could. i sort-of promised myself that i wouldn't buy books till my birthday. i also have to save money for all the shopping i will do on December.

so far my life is good. i've been reading a lot again. i meet with old friends to talk and enjoy each other's company. i endure the whims and panic attacks of my boss. some of my students who hated me and the school when they first came are now happy to see me. i feel alive again after feeling like a robot and zombie these past few months.

here is a poem that i wrote to describe myself in Friendster:

i was lost
i looked around
found my passion
it was just there
i'm alive again
loving
living
never letting go.