When I told my boss the good news last Saturday, he immediately called me to offer his congratulations. He also told me that I deserved a big celebration and that they would take care of it.

Knowing my boss, I had a suspicion that the big celebration would be along the lines of a Kenny Rogers lunch at the office (which I would have been thankful for by the way).

But this morning he called me and Ate Norma into his office and told us to plan a dinner at The Palms Country Club.

Whoa! So much for having corn muffins!

Thanks boss for the shushal dinner :)

Happiness :)

*Thanks to my sister for the image

Ok, so contrary to yesterday's news, the bar results will be released tomorrow pa pala, but I've already told the office that I won't be going back for the afternoon so it's mall rat time!

Please don't tell my boss. hehehehe

Moving on to more good news, Professor Leonen is now DEAN Leonen!! Finally, it was about time. For those interested (*cough*jae*cough*golda), here is the link to his blog.

Congrats Sir!!! alluvium

I had my first workout in Gold's Gym last night.

Gold's Gym is light years away from my old gym. It has more equipment and this amazing wall with about two dozen tv screens in front of about half a dozen treadmills! The female locker room has a sauna, hair dryer and about 200 lockers (although you have to bring your own padlock). Of course, there are also shower stalls and toilets.

There's also a spinning room and the group activity that evening had about 15 participants (a far cry from the 3 participants in my old gym:p). And if you get hungry, the Sexy Chefs (a.k.a. Rachel and Barni Alejandro) have a stall set up to satiate all your hunger pangs.

But there was no loud booming music nor casual chit-chat from the regulars and the trainers :(

In short, everyone was there for health reasons and not to hang out :(

I guess that's good but I somehow miss Tiny the Trainer's exasperated look after I refuse to do 3 sets of 15 reps using a 50 lb weight ("Sino ba ang trainer dito ha?!").

Isa akong traydor sa barkadahang Sphere :(

The April 2008 issue of Yes! magazine is great :)

Majority of the pages are dedicated to KC Concepcion and the article has confirmed what I've always suspected all this time, that we are kindred spirits:p

But seriously, she's such a refreshing change from all the Gucci Gang hoopla going on now. She said she grew up tagging along with her mom to different movie sets, staying backstage at her mom's weekly show and concerts. So she grew up surrounded with people who actually worked for a living, thus, she knows the value of work and of a job well done. Definitely a far cry from our socialites whose idea of work is showing up at a club and appearing in magazines and newspapers.

My only complaint about this issue is that the feature on KC Concepcion is the only interesting read. I mean, come on, who cares about John Estrada and his latest girlfriend? Or Jessa Zaragoza and Dingdong Avanzado?! Anuvah.

I guess the Yes! people were confident that this issue would sell because of KC and KC alone, so they could insert the less than interesting stories in and it wouldn't make a difference.

Hey, even if they featured a day in the lives of Mahal and Mura for the April issue I would still buy it:P

After all, KC is the Mega daughter (together with Frankie and Miele of course).

Can you please modify these lines:

“I was never a lover of Havaianas. For me, Havaianas were simply rubber slippers… tsinelas.

Like Havaianas, they’re made of a really soft rubber material good for our feet.”

That’s not a good way to compare. I mean, if you really don’t like a brand, you don’t need to mention it for million times. Sometimes we need to use our brains to compose such a simple expressions.

You need to go back to your primary level in school to be better.

No offense, but true.

Fact of Life No. 3587: The moment someone says "No offense", they really mean to offend.

Fact of Life No. 3875: The people who viciously criticize usually deserve similar criticism themselves ("such a simple expressions").

In the tradition of my disappearing posts, this too will probably disappear in a few hours time, after my blood pressure goes down:p

I'm feeling a little rebellious today so I'm skipping choir.

I'm sooooo bad.

Yeah!

The weather has been ridiculously brutal these past few days (hello summer!) so Maddie's old pool was resurrected for Joey's enjoyment.

Naked baby in the house!

At first she was hesitant to try out the pool and kept on whining but after a moment or two, she finally acclimatized to it all and started splashing away. What is it about babies and water? The two of them together usually translate to utter contentment.

Trying it out with mama and papa on guard.

Tita Jill doing her bit for Joey's parents. The pool was eventually moved to a shaded area.

Enjoy si Dragonita.

Allow me to act like a girl for once and gush about how I foresee my wedding day.

First off, I want a great photographer and a terrific onsite AVP of the preparations and the ceremony. I think I've already found winners here (for the photos) and here (for the video). I want candid and unposed shots and those two definitely deliver. Now to find the budget...

Second, I want my nieces to be the flower girls and my nephew to be a reader during the ceremony or he can also be a groom's man. They would look so cute!

Third, I want the reception in Sonya's Garden because I love the food there and I don't want to spend on flowers and decorations.

Fourth, I don't want to fuss over my wedding dress. I want something without beads or embroidery or sequins. And it should be something that I can pass on to the next generation para sulit naman.

Finally, in lieu of souvenirs, I want to donate a sum of money to a charity (I'm thinking of a home for the elderly) and have the details printed on cards and propped on every seat so that the guests will know why oh why they won't be receiving some ceramic crap.

Nope, I am not getting married any time soon. Actually a good friend recently got engaged and I'm helping her with research. However, after my nth wedding video I suddenly got misty eyed, hence, this post.

So there you go G, go sell a liver or something and make it happen:p

P.S. (updated as of Friday, March 21, 2008)

I thought of more things for the wedding:

1) There will be no games or doves or garter tosses or bouquet tosses in my wedding. People will be there to catch up with old friends and enjoy the food, so I expect a lot of chatting and laughter.

2) I'm not very particular about the church, however, I do want my uncle priest (Tito Fr. Jok-Jok) to officiate.

Bar results are coming out on March 28 so this will probably be my most meaningful Holy Week to date:p

Stress continues to build up.

The good thing about work is that it really does take my mind off the impending results. There are deadlines to meet, reports to accomplish and other odds and ends. I get so busy that before you know it the day is over. Then it's either I go to the gym or go home and play stupid flash games until my head starts to ache. Or read fiction, glorious fiction.

The last book I read was Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera" and now I'm on Douglas Smith's "Wicked".

Escapism is where it's at.

I don't get the recent uproar over Janina San Miguel winning in Bb. Pilipinas. So she buckled during the Q&A portion, let's see you try to give motherhood statements in a bikini inside a humongous venue filled with people just waiting for anything to laugh at.

And come on, it's a beauty pageant, I'm surprised people even actually watch that.

Of course this time last year I was hooked on Bb. Pilipinas because Tere was a candidate (and eventually won pa nga) but otherwise, beauty pageants are, in my opinion, irrelevant.

So yeah, give the kid a break.

Seen at the Guess store in Trinoma.





Doesn't she look a little bit like Maddie?! Awwww....

Sheesh. Kids.

There's something seriously wrong with me.

My period came a week early so at first I thought it was internal bleeding because I've always been regular. According to my OB (a.k.a my mom), my going to the gym might have had something to do with it. I guess my body isn't used to exercise hence this weird reaction:p

And my sinuses/allergies have been acting up for the past few days. This is currently compounded pa by my new mousepad which has this very strong plastic/chemical smell.

Another possible culprit is stress. Stress from the protracted waiting which is about to end in the next few weeks.

Just release the results already and end this agony!

Pass or fail, I have to know for sanity's sake and also to make my next move. It's such a bitch to be left hanging like this.

Anyway, on to happier thoughts.

Pictures from Kei and David's wedding last weekend.

Probably my favorite part of the entire ceremony, photo with the bride's friends.


My only shot with the couple. So wag na lang pansinin ang less than camera ready face ko:p


The people who kept me sane throughout law school and who even (gasp!) made it fun.


With G

After last night's "shop talk" at Kei and David's wedding, I'm happy to say that I've fallen in love once again with my job:p

Poor Mars came from the office AND still had to go back after the wedding on a Sunday night!

Yikes!

Big law firms definitely suck out the life from their assocs.

****

I've been religiously following the ongoing blog-drama involving the "scandelilah" herself:p

Tsismis rocks.

G is wondering why I don't seem to be more interested in the legal aspect of it all, but unless they extradite the Aussie (can they even do that?), I don't see how it will work. Or maybe they'll file a case against him in Australia?

Either way, the legal ramifications are the least of my concerns now. I just want to wallow in the gossip muck.

When they said that Manila Ocean Park was still on its soft opening, they really meant it.

The entrance was barely finished, the amazon forest portion looked far from lush and the whole place was not accessible to the disabled (no ramps anywhere!).

But in spite of all the birthing pains, I saw a lot of potential.

First off, the members of the staff scattered around the aquarium were approachable and fairly knowledgeable. Then the different sections (save for the pseudo amazon rain forest) were made and designed taking kids into account, so that the little devils could run and marvel at the little and big fishies to their hearts content.

The "Kalaliman" section was dark and creepy and I thought it was the second coolest room there. It was like a big lounge with a humongous circular screen showing (what else) sea creatures suspended in the middle of the room and all around the room where enormous aquariums holding silvery fishes.

Sorry for being non-cosmopolitan, but I've never been to Singapore so this was my first time to see something similar to the walkway tunnel. It was simply amazing, like you could just reach out and easily join them inside. However, the water was quite murky, like it needed a good cleaning.

Right after the walkway is another area with, among others, an overhead aquarium filled with manta rays. Watch out for that one, you'll definitely get a crick in your neck from looking up, but it's well worth it.

There's also a reading are for the kids which I really thought was a good idea.

There was a second floor with a fish spa (you get to dip your feet in a shallow pool with these fishes who like to nibble on dead skin, same fishes who munched on Wilhelmina Slater's tootsies in Ugly Betty) and a glass boat. But we never went there because it was time for lunch. Hungry people will probably not appreciate skin loving fishes.

I'll definitely go back there a few months from now and hopefully, all the bits and pieces would be put in their proper place by then.

Strangely enough, the official Manila Ocean Park website is in Korean so please click here for an informative article on the Oceanarium.

There's a big parking area, but I doubt that it can handle a weekend crowd. We went on a weekday but there was already quite a number even then, so I guess that can easily balloon during the weekends.

I hope this place remains well maintained because it's great for kids to have more informative and fun places to go to (no more wowowee field trips pls!).

I'm skipping work today!

Yey!

But that means I'll get a salary deduction.

Boo!

But it's ok because I'm going to Manila Ocean Park with my grandparents!

Yey!

But it sucks because my brother lost our camera.

Boo!

Oh well, that means I'll have to go back for a second time soon :)

I re-read this morning's post and suddenly felt queasy.

I know I rant a lot but I'm usually never nasty naman.

But this morning I was :(

So I'm taking it down and hopefully, I'll stop feeling like a worm anytime soon (like in 2.5 minutes).

A polaroid picture from the Diva's first day in school.

Glad to hear the second day went better :)

She's growing up soooo fast! :(

I think I've been tagged to do this about 4 times na. Kaya sige na nga, here goes my 6 quirks:

The rules: Link to the person that tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share six unimportant things/habits/quirks about your self. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let these random people know that they are tagged by leaving comments in their blog. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I easily get influenced by tv commercials. I started buying Viva Mineral Water because Troy Montero drinks it. Anything that Sharon endorses always has me thinking twice and I'm lusting over a Sony Cybershot because the Amazing Race Asia 2 contestants looked so happy while they were using it in their commercials.

2. More on tv commercials. I also get easily upset or affected over particular tvc's. When I was in the hospital for dengue fever, I used to bawl every time this commercial for rubbing alcohol came on. I don't remember what brand it is now but there's this mom who was in the office when someone suddenly tells her that her kid is in the hospital (like me!!!) and by the time she gets to her son Joey, I'd be sobbing like crazy na. But I also get extremely irritated over the Surf and Tide commercials. I swear, if I see Lola Oba or Tolits, tatadjakan ko sila sa mukha.

3. I'm still honestly bothered that people don't see me as a sex object. The testimonials in G's ex's Friendster all say stuff like: She's such a knock-out! or Ang sexy niya! While my Friendster testimonials mostly say: Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas :( Sige na friends and blockies, please write me testimonials along the lines of: Naknakan ng sexy si Jill!!!

4. I talk to myself a lot. It gets embarassing when I'm in a public place because I sometimes blurt out something inappropriate like: Shmeener! (how I usually call my dog) thus generating weird looks all around.

5. I consider it against my principles to buy umbrellas and organizers. Those things should be given as Christmas gifts kasi.

6. I still keep telling myself "When I grow up...", conveniently forgetting the fact that I'm already in my late 20s.

Yun lang. I'm not tagging anyone and I pity you who read up to the end of this rambling post.