My March

Well, looky here. I can't believe it's the already the second week of March. Actually, I can't believe that it's already March, didn't we just celebrate the holidays?

I'm loving my March so far! At the home front, it's been very happy and fun lately, we're really blessed. We're all excited about Joe's vacation mid-month, and we're glad that he's now a yearling or a third class cadet--that's a second year student for us civilians.

This month, I've also been doing good with my fitness goals. I have a rather ambitious goal for this Lenten season, and I'm well on my way to achieving that by Easter. I've been trying to eat well since Ash Wednesday, but I amped it up at the start of the month by going to the gym after work. I actually went four times last week, and this week I'll aim to go everyday. I'm on a roll! During lunchtime, I now utilize a phrase I didn't really use before: "Half-rice lang po, 'te."I am so getting my sexy back this year!

Has anyone seen Alice in Wonderland yet? I'm a big Tim Burton/Helena Bonham Carter/Johnny Depp fan, so this is something I've been looking forward to since last year. The reviews on my friends' Facebook statuses are mixed, but Abet and I are still looking forward to watching it in 3D. We'll wait for a couple of weeks for a) our paychecks, because we're currently poor; and b) the opening weekend crowd to die down (but it's mainly the former, haha!).

Speaking of movies, I've been "craving" for some movies lately, I'm making Abet download random movies I'd like to watch again: Land Before Time, Fern Gully, The Cutting Edge, Drop Dead Fred, etc. Maybe it's because I'm getting older (aren't we all?), but I want to watch movies from my childhood again.

And speaking of poor, Abet and I have been staying in a lot recently. Weekends are now spent watching movies and TV shows on his laptop instead of going out. We take turns choosing movies. So far he's picked Somewhere in Time, I've chosen The Graduate and Children of Heaven, a beautiful Iranian film about a brother and sister and shoes. We also make the other watch our favorite TV shows: he's now watching How I Met Your Mother and Glee, and last night I watched the pilot of Ed (ancient, I know, but it's his favorite). We just make popcorn with their cool electric popcorn maker. I guess we'll be having more of these tipid movie nights in the next 18 months 20 years.

You know what I'm most looking forward to this month? My boyfriend's birthday! Abet will be turning 29 this year--pwede na nang mag-asawa! :D

Have a good month, y'all!

Father & Son

From That Girl

The Search for the Church

Abet and I had our hearts set on getting married in Caleruega in Batulao, Batangas. It was the church of our dreams. In fact, we made a down payment last year because the weekend slots for 2011 were getting filled up, and we wanted to make sure to reserve our wedding date—a date we decided on back in 2007. However, late last year, we decided to be practical and have our wedding in Manila instead to save on out-of-town fees that most suppliers charge for Tagaytay weddings. To be honest, it broke my heart, and sayang ang deposit. But what the hey, we wanted to be practical.

So, early this year, we started looking for churches in Manila. We had two requirements: (1) the church needs to be air-conditioned, because Abet will just melt in the Manila heat if it isn’t, and (2) it needs to be small, because we only have around 100 guests and I don’t like vacant pews and a pangag look—I want the church to be filled up.

Looking for the perfect church wasn’t as easy as we thought because of one major reason: our preferred date is a Sunday, and most churches do not allow Sunday weddings. We had to cross out our top 2 choices: Archbishop’s Palace and Magallanes Church. *sigh*

Now, I refuse to move our wedding date. It is our fifth anniversary as a couple. October 16 is a very special, very memorable date. The last three October 16’s were beautiful celebrations of love, and we’ll celebrate it yet again this year. We celebrate the 16th of each month, we've done it the last 40 months, and 16 has always been our number. (Happy 40th month, love!) It doesn’t make sense to me to change our anniversary date.

So on to our search for a small, air-conditioned church in Manila that allows Sunday weddings. We narrowed it down to a handful (not that we had much choice, really): St. John Bosco in Pasong Tamo, St. Pancratius in Paco Park, Pope Pius in UN, and St. Ignatius in Camp Aguinaldo. We started with our ocular last weekend, and here's the church we decided on:

The Transfiguration Chapel

pic from Riandrew

Yup, we decided to push through with our Caleruega wedding! I'm so happy!

This is really where we want to get married. I even think that Abet wants this even more than I do, he was the one who suggested Caleruega in the first place. If we get married in another church, we'll be settling, knowing that we have our hearts set on something else. I'll just keep on justifying to myself over and over and over that we made the best choice. In short, lolokohin ko lang ang sarili ko.

Marrying Abet will be one of my biggest dreams come true, and it will still be the happiest day of my life at that point if we get hitched in Las Piñas City Hall. But if it is possible to make another one of our mutual dreams come true, why not?

Of course, getting married in Caleruega comes at a premium, and I'm willing to sacrifice for it. I'm willing to give up all my other wants, but not the church (and the groom, of course!). I probably won't be getting my dream suppliers for the cake, the invitations, and the hair and make-up artist among other things, but that's okay. Yes, I already have a list of who I want. I could probably even give up K by Cunanan, the caterer I'm in love with, and probably have our reception at Sonya's Garden instead. We'll see about the reception. I will focus on getting my top 3 wants: the church, the photographers, and the rings, in that order.

I'm very pleased with this recent turn of events. Boy, am I glad that I didn't have the heart to cancel our reservation before, I kept putting it off. I'll be a Tagaytay bride after all, a Caleruega bride.

Barns + Bunny

My dear college friends Barns and Bunny finally got married last Saturday after 7 years! This is the couple I third-wheeled on the most. Back in college, Barns would take Bunny home with me in the back seat, and then he'd drop me off *hihi*. It was a wonderful wedding and I'm glad I got to witness the two of them become man and wife.

Bunny was the most beautiful bride ever! Here she is just after she entered the church, she was absolutely radiant:

Naka-jackpot si Barns!

One thing I love about friends' weddings is seeing everyone all glam-ed up.

SPECA girls


Locus (loosely defined by Speech majors as "kunyari may tinitingnan")
with Dr. Bulan, one of our favorite professors


Japan-Japan with the bride and (crazy-happy) groom

I loved my long purple dress, I hardly get dressed up these days. I kept my make-up simple though because I'm not really into make-up. Just Bare Escentuals mineral foundation + mineral veil, NARS Orgasm blush, MAC Lipglass in Pinkarat, and two coats of mascara, no eyeshadow.

My make-up was practically gone by the end of the night, we were having too much fun to bother retouching.

My friend Krst'll told us that night that we look alike, and today the photo above got a comment in Facebook that magkamukha daw kami. We get that a lot, and what I always say is: mas guwapo ako! Sorry, baby, I love you dearly, but it's true! Mwahaha!

Overall, it was a wonderful night, I had loads of fun. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to attend because I had what seemed to be sore eyes last Wednesday and was sent home for it, but by Friday my left eye was good as new (I irrigated it like hell). I got to dress up, saw Abet in a barong (he hates it, but I think he looks dashing), saw friends I haven't seen in a long time and had fun, enjoyed good food and the mobile bar (I hoarded the M&M's, shhhh...), and most importantly, witnessed two soulmates get married.

I can't wait for Adel's wedding in April so I can dress up and have fun with my friends again!

Congratulations and Best Wishes, Barns and Bunny!

My best impulse buy ever...

which was also the most expensive, was worth every single cent.

I just bought a guitar.

It's not for me, of course. It's for Abet. There's this guitar lent to him by his friend Joseph who is based in China. Abet's been using it for several months now, and he really loves the sound of this particular instrument. Now, with musicians like Abet, finding an instrument that one is really kasundo with is no easy feat. It's akin to finding a girlfriend or boyfriend. He is partial to the sound of this guitar and wanted to buy it months back, but the owner wasn't selling.

Last week, the owner offered to sell him the guitar, but Abet declined. He said he has other expenses to prioritize; he has a trip to Bangkok (short-term) and our wedding and beyond (long-term) to save up for, and that guitar wasn't in his priorities right now.

Of course, I couldn't let that offer pass up, could I? It would just absolutely break my heart--and his, for sure--if that little piece of plywood spruce and glue and varnish would be sold to someone else. So I did what any supportive girlfriend would do: I e-mailed Joseph and offered to buy the guitar behind Abet's back. It cost as much as our budget for one person for our 6-day/5-night trip to Bangkok with accommodation at a 5-star hotel this June. Pikit-mata akong nagbayad, and I paid for it as soon as I could before I could change my mind.

Lest you guys think that I'm Abet's sugar mommeh, let me say that I paid for it from our joint money. I did some quick calculations and realized that we can afford the guitar. I know I should have discussed such a major purchase with him before I made any decisions, but if I did, he would have hesitated and talked me out of it. He's as worried about our wedding and our post-wedding finances as much as I am. Besides, his face was priceless--just priceless!--when I handed him the deposit slip today. I didn't tell him what I did, I just let him figure it all out. He actually teared up a bit, much like how my sister May teared up when Abet gave my family a beautiful guitar two Christmases ago. Oh, he was so happy! It was all worth it. Honestly, I was a bit worried about how he might react. I did have to promise him that I won't ever do something like that again, though. I won't, I promise. I don't think that will be allowed once we're married.

He was so happy today, he gave me impromptu guitar lessons. I think it's about time I learn--the guitar is half mine, after all.

*EDIT*
The boyfriend had a violent reaction to this blog post. It's spruce daw, not plywood. Foyn. :P

Back from Backpacking

Abet and I are back from an 11-day SouthEast Asian adventure across five cities in three countries: Kuala Lumpur and Malacca in Malaysia, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia, and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam. We had the time of our lives.

We ate hawker food, went up the Petronas Towers Skybridge, ate at Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken, Carl's Jr. (which we sorely missed), and Baskin-Robbins, found the books we were looking for (Stiff by Mary Roach for me, a book I bought years ago and lost, but want in my library; Hemingway's For Whom the Bells Toll for him), lugged our backpacks all over KL's train stations, visited the Batu Caves, experienced vibrant Jonker Street in Malacca, got lost, visited the Killing Fields, Genocide Museum, and the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, ate crickets, ran out of clean clothes and underwear, toured the temples of Siem Reap, got sunburned, got insect bites, enjoyed a Khmer buffet, watched an Apsara performance, saw the sun rise over the Angkor Wat, saw how fine handicrafts were made, ate ice cream at Swensen's, figured in a bus accident that left several people injured (who had to be carried off in an ambulance), spent 15 hours on a bus, met other backpackers, met fellow Filipinos, became millionaires (P2,700 = VND 1M), ate a ridiculous amount of fruit, ate a ridiculous amount of French bread, drank beer almost nightly, squeezed our ways through one of the Cu Chi Tunnels, visited the War Remnants Museum, survived a sea of motorcycles, enjoyed bowls of pho, haggled at the Ben Thanh market, bought even more books, ate even more ice cream, got items for our future home, bought coffee, nuts and dried fruit for pasalubong, suffered from upset tummies from too much streetfood, and slept at the airport because our flight got majorly delayed due to typhoon Santi (we were still lucky, PAL and Vietnam Air flights were cancelled). We took a bunch of great photos, and thousands of crappy photos. It was a great adventure, and I can't say enough how happy, thankful, and lucky I am that I got to experience this with Abet, just the two of us. Travel is one of our ultimate favorite bonding activities.

My recent trip validated two things:

1) There really is no place like the Philippines. After seeing the different sights in Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, I realized that the sights, the food, and the people of the Philippines are the best. We have three trips abroad planned for next year, but I'll make sure to squeeze in some local destinations.

2) Abet and I make a great team. Ü I've known this from the very start, but travelling puts our team and our relationship to the test, and I'm glad that for this one, we passed with flying colors. Being alone in a foreign country makes us cling to each other a little tighter than usual and makes us more patient and understanding. We were each other's world for eleven days, taking care of and being responsible for the other. We feel closer than ever, and I learned so much about myself, about him, and about us as a couple. Actually, I'm currently experiencing withdrawal symptoms from my boyfriend--we were attached to the hip the entire duration of our vacation, I think we were apart only during trips to the restroom.

I have lots of stories and pictures that I'll blog about in the next few weeks or days. Hopefully, I'll be able to help out someone planning a similar trip, just like how travel blogs have been helpful to us during our planning. More travel posts coming up!

Just a quick message to my boyfriend

my best friend, my partner, my idol, my teacher, my biggest fan, my biggest critic, my clown, my alarm clock, my music stand, my metronome, my jukebox, my alalay, my body guard, my personal chef, my masseuse, my secretary, my nurse, my travel buddy, my pillar, my hero, my strength, my inspiration, my happiness, my Prince Charming, my dream come true, my happy ever after, my lover, my soulmate, my The One, my first love, my only love, my true love, my everything, my Abet:

Thank you.
I love you.
Happy Anniversary.

*reposted from Multiply, because there just aren't enough words*

Our little trooper is 2!

Isn't that face just adorable?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DJANGO!

I'm baaaaaaack!

I’ve been out of the loop for almost two weeks because we just moved (for the nth time), but just to the other street in our village. Our internet connection isn’t up yet. Also, my internet connection at the office was down for the last few days, and by that, I mean my—and only my—internet connection was down; everyone else was happily surfing. Almost two weeks of no Facebook, no Multiply, no personal e-mails, no forums, no RSS feeds of my favorite blogs, and no blogging wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I sure am glad to be back online!

And now, I come back to you after my (forced) hiatus with yet another Baguio post, what else? I had to take an impromptu trip to Baguio two Saturdays ago, and last-minute trip that it was, I had no pre-bought bus tickets nor hotel reservations (pretty unusual for Queen of Well-Planned Trips me). I was able to get a last-minute companion, though. Ah, the benefits of being in a relationship.

The several times I’ve been to Baguio this year, I was limited to Fort del Pilar (PMA), SM Baguio, and the Victory Liner bus terminal. This time, I wanted to go beyond, even for just a meal or two, and I wanted to stay somewhere other than Teacher’s Camp (where we stay as a family even back when I was in high school) or at Nakar Hall in PMA (where we’ve stayed during the last few trips).

My resource for this particular trip was the travel forum at GirlTalk, which I got to browse a few hours before I boarded I left for the bus station. Based on the Baguio thread, I was choosing between Bloomfield Hotel and La Brea Inn for our accommodation, both strategically located, and both #1 on TripAdvisor, (the former for Hotels, the latter for B&Bs). I chose La Brea because of the P700 difference—if I wasn’t being a priss and chose to stay at PMA instead, we would have paid just P250 per head. Also, I wasn’t interested in the breakfast included at Bloomfield because I read about two restaurants over at GirlTalk that I wanted to try. Anyway, we weren’t able to be all touristy the two days we were there because it rained nonstop. Therefore, no pictures, no camwhoring. Please bear with these:


La Brea Inn
I would suggest La Brea Inn for anyone looking for cheap, clean, and fuss-free accommodation in Baguio City. The standard room we got was basic but spacious and had cable TV, towels, and a clean bathroom—good value for P1,100 per night. Its location can’t be beat, it’s right smack on Session Road. I was grateful that they let us check our weary asses in early at 9 a.m.—4 hours earlier than the standard check-in time.

Two restaurants stood out in the forum: Oh My Gulay and 50's Diner. We tried both for dinner and breakfast the next day respectively.

Oh My Gulay at the fifth floor of La Azotea along Session Road is said to be more an art gallery than a vegetarian restaurant, but we were there during dinner time and were not able to enjoy the sights and views, so the food took centerstage:


vegetarian goodness
At this point, we were too pooped and too cold to take note of the prices, but I remember the dishes we ordered being reasonably priced (around P90-120) and were cleverly named (I had the Anak ng Puttanesca). Aside from my pasta, we had eggplant parmigiana (one of Abet’s ultimate favorite dishes), lumpia salad, and clubhouse sandwiches. Everything was fresh, healthy and delicious, and their dayap iced tea was a winner. I'll make sure to go back here next month, and I'll make sure to be there during the day.

Breakfast was at 50’s Diner which served milkshakes, pancakes, burgers, pizza, and pasta (no,tthe food wasn't served by roller-skating waitresses). Food was good and cheap, no wonder it was highly recommended.

cheeseburger with massive fries; chicken cordon bleu

milkshakes for breakfast--gooooood!

And there, my dears, is the crappiest travel/food blog post written. I guess I just wanted to say 'I'm back!', and that I did something while I was away. :D I'll definitely be going back to La Brea, Oh My Gulay and 50's Diner before the year ends, allow me to write better posts then?

8 Years in the Making--A Proposal Story

FINALLY, MOMON AND ROS ARE ENGAGED!!! Kudos to my brother Momon for pulling off a most creative proposal!

From Momon's Facebook:

Finally proposed to Ros yesterday. We went back to UP since we had plenty, if not, the majority of memories there as a couple. I prepared a game for her, as a tribute and also to get back at her for giving me a quiz before we became official 8 years ago. Anyway, I tied ribbons in places where we had unique or special memories (like in AS parking lot, where we saw a dead body) and gave her clues where to find it. I gave her a puzzle piece for every ribbon found. Ros loves and has a collection of jigsaw puzzles so I made one out of our favorite picture.

waiting for Ros to start
Momon tied pink ribbons all over campus

and Ros had to find each one

each ribbon was equivalent to a clue to another ribbon and a puzzle piece

CLUE: Dead body| ANSWER: AS Parking Lot
I remember Ros texting me that morning they saw a corpse

lunch at Trellis after the hunt,
where they celebrated their first and second anniversaries

Ros solving the puzzle with the help of their dearest friends

A puzzle of their favorite photo, taken at Puerto Galera

♥Yihee!♥

this made me cry...

the newly-engaged couple

I picked out the ring! :D

Welcome to the family, Ros! Congratulations to you both!

Cyma Greek Taverna

6/F, The Ledge
Edsa Shangri-La Mall

In our past dates, Abet and I have experienced the cuisine of Italy, Spain, Mexico , Thailand, and Persia. We have tried the yummy fare of Singapore when we were there last December, where we also tried authentic Indian food in Little India. For some reason though, we got stuck in a gustatory rut this 2009. Dinner dates were usually at Sbarro, Mexicali or good old Jollibee. We were getting boring! It was high time to let our palates take us somewhere exotic: Greece! Cyma is probably the most popular Greek restaurant in the metro (even my dad loves the food there), so off to Cyma we went.

For starters, we got the Saganaki or Flaming Cheese (P200), Cyma's flagship dish:

This dish is served quite dramatically: just before setting the dish on the table, the waiter pours alcohol onto the cheese and sets it on fire, while the crew cries a jolly "Opa!" in unison. Our cheese was just freshly flambéed in the picture above, I wasn't quick enough to take a photograph while the plate was on fire. We got the Cyma Style Saganaki which was made up of mozarella and parmesan. The other option was the authentic Greek kefalograviera cheese made from lamb's milk, which the waiter claimed was more flammable. I'm not too happy about the thought of lamb being milked, so I passed. The mozzarella+parmesan was yummy enough, especially with the grilled bread:

Abet had the Moussaka (P250), which is supposedly Greece's national dish:

Those Greeks sure know how to eat! The moussaka was comprised of a layer of ground pork and beef topped with Japanese eggplant (how it's different from our local eggplant, I don't know) topped with a nice thick layer of bechamel, all drowning in extra-virgin olive oil. It was very rich, which complemented the vinegar dressing of my dish perfectly:

I'm a salad person, and I can say, hands-down, that this Roka Salata (P330) was the best salad I ever had. The combination of romaine lettuce, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and candied walnuts plus their special Greek vinaigrette was a winner in my book. Oh, that vinaigrette! I'm already craving for this salad as I type.

We ordered chicken gyros as well (P160 + 100 for roasted potatoes):

Both the gyros and the potatoes were bursting with flavor, the gyros from the tzatziki (yoghurt) sauce, and the potatoes from the oil and spices they were roasted in. Abet and I were fighting over this, I kid you not. Actually, Abet and I were practically not speaking to each other during our meal. We usually can't stop talking to each other about anything and everything during our weekend dates--that's the only time we see each other, after all--but when we're enjoying a really good meal, aba, galit-galit muna!

Regrettably, we were too full for glyka or dessert, a rarity for me. Even their iced tea was so good that we had refills upon refills, leaving us with no space in our tummies. Next time, I'll just have that super yummy roka salata so I can have me some baklava.

Thanks for dinner, love!

--=-=--

This was dessert, Yoh-Gurt Froz from Hobbes and Landes. Abet is seriously addicted to frozen yoghurt now. We would have preferred Red Mango or White Hat, but there's neither in Shangri-La. I personally don't mind that he's eating too much of the stuff--at least it's 98% fat-free.

--=-=--

My dad sprung for these kick-ass sandals earlier today! I have no idea where I'll wear them, but I just lovelovelove these babies (and my dad for coughing up the dough). They're fierce yet comfy. I think I'll wear them to sleep!

Pepper Lunch

Until this afternoon, I was probably the only Chuvaness fan in Manila who has not tried Pepper Lunch yet. The first two branches (Rockwell and Shangri-La) aren't too accessible to me. Luckily, Pepper Lunch opened at Alabang Town Center two weeks ago. I dragged Abet and May there for lunch today.

May's Beef Pepper Rice (P198)

The dish is served on a patented cast iron heated to 260 degrees centigrade and stays hot for up to 20 minutes. The meat is raw when it arrives: you're supposed to cook your meat on the plate, mix everything up (there's special butter and sauce in the middle of the plate), and drizzle the food with steak sauce (Amakuchi - Honey Brown or Karakuchi - Garlic Soy).

Abet's Shimofuri Pepper Steak (P610)

Just look at that pretty chunk of beef above, doesn't the marbling look good? We couldn't talk to Abet after his dish was served, he was too busy enjoying his steak.

my already-cooked and already-mixed Chicken Pepper Rice (P198)

I enjoyed everything about my Chicken Pepper Rice, and I don't even like peppercorns. I guess it made a difference that their peppers are freshly prepared each morning, with just the fragrant outer shells used. Their honey brown sauce was just to die for, May and I practically drowned our food in it.

I can't believe it took me this long to try Pepper Lunch. It was worth queuing for more than 15 minutes to order and smelling like our food afterwards. With the ATC branch nearby, the only thing that's keeping us from dining there more often is the price. Don't get me wrong, the food was worth it, but Abet and I shouldn't be spending so much at this point. Still, I'm dying to try the salmon chicken rice and the hamburger + cut steak combo. Next payday, perhaps? I just need to make sure we don't go there during lunch time.

--=-=--

Abet took me to the Pluck and Struck concert at the Insular Auditorium in Alabang last Saturday evening. It was my first time to watch Abet's professor and mentor, Sir Ruben Reyes, in concert. He played Brouwer's Concierto Elegiaco and I was in awe: he really is the best. Perf de Castro performed one of my favorite pieces in the whole world, Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, and I was utterly disappointed, both with the guitarist and the orchestra. What a bummer. Jovianney Cruz's Liszt Piano Concerto no. 1 was fantastic, so it was still a good concert overall.

--=-=--

While waiting to meet up with Abet last Saturday before the concert, I caught this nice old man playing the grand piano at the Commerce Ave. part of ATC:

I was looking at shoes at VNC (great stuff there, by the way) when I heard "I Wish You Love" playing from outside the store, and I just had to follow the music. A small crowd had gathered to listen to him play standard tunes. Lolo was really good--he took requests--he must have been a hotel or bar pianist in his younger years. I have a video of him playing "That's All." It was a nice treat to hear good live jazz music when I least expected it.

--=-=--

Abet and I watched Marley and Me on DVD--Marley looks exactly like our Labrador Retriever, Django! We were cooing during the movie. I wish our dog lived with me instead of with my boyfriend--I only get to see him on weekends--but I don't think I can handle all the feeding and the cleaning up.

--=-=--

I'm drinking chocolate Vodka Mudshake as I type. Good stuff.

I hope y'all had a good weekend.

Missing the cello...

Abet took me to a concert by the Manila Symphony Orchestra at Phil-Am last night--Haydn's Symphony no. 104, Paganini violin concerto with Junior Saraza as soloist, and Beethoven's Symphony no. 5. What a nice Saturday evening date! The soloist was amazing, I had goosebumps during his entire concerto (and his two encores), and Beethoven's 5th is always a joy to experience. My boyfriend is the greatest for surprising me with tickets.

I used to be an avid classical and jazz concert-goer when I was a student. Back then, I'd go alone most of the time--none of my friends were into the same kind of music I liked. Now, I have a default companion (who sometimes gets tickets at a discounted rate or even for free), there's really no excuse for me not to watch more often. Plus, I get little lessons about classical music whenever I watch with Abet. ("That's a fughetta, hear that?")

He's taking me to another concert this Saturday, whoopee!

--=-=--

I picked the cello up for the first time in months today. It felt like being reunited with an old friend. Since Joe left for Baguio, the instrument (her name's Jackie after cellist Jacqueline du Pre) has just been sitting forlornly in the little anteroom we have upstairs. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I touched it. I did a few scales and played a few notes of that Bach piece I was working on when I left off--and then I cried.

I missed Joe so bad. I missed my cello buddy. And I was saddened at the thought that he's not making music right now, something he loves to do.

Right now, he is being trained to be the best soldier he can be, something he loves even more.

And that makes it all okay.

--=-=--

Here's Joe the day he got his cello case in May 2007:


He loves that case. We went to a concert at CCP later that evening, just the two of us.

I hope there's a nice concert when he gets to come home after his first year *puhon*, I'm sure he misses concert-watching as well.

...

I'm already crossing my fingers. And praying really hard.

His will be done.

So does this put me alongside Hemingway, Picasso, and Chatwin?

Abet got me a Moleskine® notebook! I've always wanted one, but I'm too kuripot to spend so much on a notebook. He gave it to me right after niya ako napagalitan at napaiyak. *tsk* (Kung bakit, sa amin na lang 'yon, hehe.)

His note in front says I'll get a lifetime supply.
Why he put his full name, I will never understand. :P

I already filled the first few pages with travel notes for my upcoming trips.

30 months!

Abet and I have been together for two and a half years now. Our wedding date is our fifth anniversary as a couple, which means that we're already halfway there.

I can't believe we've been together for this long already. Time does fly by when you're having fun. On the other hand, I can't believe it's only been 30 months, we have done and have been through so much together.

I know that the next 30 months will fly by even quicker. We have a lot of things planned that will make us lose track of time. We have travel on our plate for the next year and half, after which we'll be planning our wedding.

He sent me this earlier today:

Yes, mahal. Mabilis
na lang ang
panahon. The next
thing we know,
mag-asawa na tayo,
and we're starting
our new life
together.

The future looks good. I cannot wait.