Who says Halloween is the only time to dress up? The Annual Christmas Party of the Barks & Co. was yet another success. For my new readers, Barks & Co. is my barkada, the ultra solid circle of friends whom I trust with all my life. I found them and have been with them for the past decade of my life. You could say they're like my brothers and sisters. Anyways, so this year's theme was MOVIE CHARACTERS. We were supposed to dress up as our favorite protagonist/antagonist of our favorite movies.

I didn't quite expect everyone to give it their best (although I couldn't hide the excitement as I prepared for the night!) and was very happy how the night turned out to be.

From last year's Hip Hop Theme to this year's Movie Buff theme!



Can you say "NO EFFORT" at all that? Hell no! Everyone got into it so bad that everyone actually looked good! Tee hee...

The Nacho Libre + Esqueleto tandem is everyone's #1 favorite that night. Can you really ignore these guys even if you wanted to? LOL!







OMGLMAOROTFPMPHTB!!!

Anyways, so I dressed up as Alice from Resident Evil and Noodle Boy was my James Bond. Uncanny pair, huh?





The other uncanny pair was Darth Vader and Tinkerbell!



Can you imagine? Anyways, here's Zorro and Helen of Troy...



And the only pair that actually looked like a real pair! Woody and Jessie of Toy Story!



Altogether now...



And here are some more costumes that night...



Jason X, Tweedledum/Tweedledee, Men In Black, and Sasuke Uchiha!!!

And now the group's pic...



Different people from different walks of life bonded together by friendship and trust. That's the Barks & Co.! But the true Christmas spirit is actually shown the following day.

Party the night before... and the next day, it was time to share some love. ;)



Neneng, a resident of Brgy. Looc, Linao, came to our house earlier that week asking for some donation for malnourished kids. We told her we'd go there ourselves and bring some food. She was so happy when we arrived, even though it was raining the whole afternoon.



My mom was telling me to let Archie wear his Nacho Libre costume, but I told her the kids won't recognize that character and will probably laugh their heads off like we did when we first saw him with the costume. HAHAHA!



The Barks & Co. each gave a contribution after the party and the money that was raised was used to cook chicken and spaghetti plus garlic rice (don't ask why spaghetti is eaten with rice over here), and we also bought some juice.

All in all, a great Christmas spent right here in the Home of the Queen Pineapples, Ormoc City.

How did you spend your Christmas guys? Share your stories in the comment section. Would love to read about it! :)


xoxo,

So yesterday we checked out the new branch of a known cellular shop that opened recently at Brodeth One Stop Shop. As a gadget freak, it delights me that even a small town like Ormoc City is pretty much up-to-date with the latest in technology. Although prices may be a little bit higher than those you will find online or in major cities, it's still nice knowing that you can actually check out units before purchasing them.


A research done by GFK Asia Pte. Ltd. in 2009 showed that Nokia is still the most preferred phone brand by Pinoys.

Some things never change. So many brands have entered the mobile phone market and obviously, they have made their way into our little town.



However, all these other phones could never come close to the one that started it all. In my case, I fell in love with Nokia at first sight... and that was years ago. Remember my first Nokia phone?



I think Nokia still has that power over me. I can feel it beckoning me. No matter how I try to entertain the new things, it seems like I always go back to THE ONE. If you've ever been love, then I think you know what I mean. *wink*



Perhaps this is what Filipinos mean when they say, "Sa haba haba ng prusisyon sa simbahan din ang tuloy." Just like me and Noodle Boy. Tee hee!

Then I saw the Nokia C7. My heart started racing. I was getting butterflies in my stomach. I thought my cheeks started to feel warm. "What is this feeling?" I asked. "Could it be?" The salesguy told me I could check it out. I waited nervously, darting glances around, and sheepishly smiling at the people there who were probably wondering why I was feeling restless all of a sudden. Hindi mapakali. Dili mahimutang. Yup, that was it.



Then it was right there in my hands!!! The handsome Nokia C7. I felt the cool and shiny metal battery cover and I had goosebumps! OMG. Its body was slim and felt good in my hands. Just right. I know for a fact that things aren't always what they seem. The exact measurements of the Nokia C7 are 117.3 x 56.8 x 10.5 mm (64cc) and 130 grams. It was very comfortable to hold and it wasn't even heavy!



But you know what's heavy!? Its oh so fine FEATURES! People may think that the N8 is now the ultimate Nokia phone. But I beg to differ. The C7 has an 8MP fixed-focus camera and it's more than enough for a phone's camera. Heck, if you want something that takes amazing pictures, then buy a point and shoot digital camera! But more importantly, the C7 does offer HD video recording! It may not have the HDMI that people seem to be crazy about these days, but come on, people... pictures and videos from a phone is fine using a regular TV out function with stereo sound. The C7 has both and it's great! Bottomline: The price of the Nokia C7 can't be beat for what it has to offer.

IMHO, the features I love most about the C7 are the following:

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support and the penta-band 3G with 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support.
• It has a 3.5" 16M-color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a 640 x 360 pixel resolution.
• Its pretty sexy 10.5mm slim body.
• The 8 megapixel fixed-focus camera with dual-LED flash PLUS the 720p video @ 25fps recording... and DivX and XviD video support!!!
• It has the standard 3.5 mm audio jack! Skull candy headphones will be perfect with the C7.
• It has Wi-Fi!!! (Who doesn't love that?)
• Its fast 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 256 MB RAM.
• The GPS receiver is a plus but I don't think it's much of any use to most people here especially in the province. Then there's the digital compass, built-in accelerometer, and proximity sensor. All great features for a phone quite honestly.
• It comes with an 8GB on-board storage BUT take note, it is microSD expandable!!! LAHHHVEEET!

The phone has many, many features but those are the ones that really made me fall for it. Symbian^3 may be behind other phone operating systems but hey, everybody knows how to use Symbian and I bet even my mother will have no problem using this phone. BTW, it uses a 1200mAh Li-Ion battery (BL-5K) and based on personal experience with Nokia for the past decade, their battery life is amazing!!! I know most of you would approve and I'm sure everyone agrees that "it's not technology; it's what you do with it."



It's very responsive to touch and the short time I got to hold it and caress it... Boy, was I on cloud 9! I mean, it's like... the perfect Nokia phone. Not the ultimate... but absofreakinglutely PERFECT!


I already have a good idea what I'm going to use the phone for. Since it's basically got all the social networking apps I need, I'm going to make it the main business mobile phone for SALA Lounge + Café so I can update our Facebook and Twitter accounts faster and so much easier. It's hard enough to maintain personal accounts and business accounts all the time. I even use my personal postpaid line for business use! I should definitely have a separate number and phonebook for all my business contacts and customers. My current phonebook is about to explode! Sometimes I miss text messages from customers due to a FULL inbox and become unreachable, missing even more potential customers, because my battery gets drained so fast. ARGH! ~_~ Frankly speaking, I cannot afford a marketing manager for our small business so I need something that can act as a marketing manager (minus the compensation).

The Nokia C7 fits the position perfectly and I intend to dedicate it for business use but not looking too business-ey because seriously, my character and personality is not that of a business type. However, I do acknowledge my responsibilities as a young adult and since I'm not getting any younger, I guess a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do. I can't be dancing on rainbows and pooping butterflies all the time.

Can you imagine what the Nokia C7 can do to make things so much easier?! I can check emails anytime, I don't have to worry about space for messages and contacts, I can run my business and have fun at the same time using this gadget, and best of all, it fits just right in a business setting without looking so "trying hard" and pretentious. Basically, it can do all the business stuffs I expect from a mobile phone without it looking all too boring (and I'm even excited for all the themes I will be customizing it with! WOOT!) and really, it's just a really fun phone to use. Did I already say that it's absofreakinglutely PERFECT!!?



I can't take my eyes off of it. So handsome. So sexy. (Ahem!)

And so...

Dear Santa, if you promise to be nice and give me a Nokia C7 this Christmas, I promise I will not put any laxatives on the milk I'm leaving with the cookies for you on Christmas Eve. ;) JK!

P.S. Noodle Boy, how about it? I believe we can make an arrangement? *wink*

Remember, the joy that you give to others, is the joy that comes back to you. So be joyful and make others joyful, too!

Merry Christmas to one and all!

xoxo,

I wanted to post this over at my Rants & Raves blog, but I decided otherwise since I got pictures to post and that blog is exclusively for verbal diarrhea. (Boring, huh?)

Since I don't have my Mickey with me right now, I haven't been checking up with all my social networks because I have to rely on Noodle Boy's Nadia or my mom's netbook just to go online. Of course, there's the iPad and the iPhone, but they don't have my bookmarks and all those plug-ins and extensions that make navigating my cyber life way much easier. Plus, not to forget my gazillion emails, usernames and passwords. The experience of not having Mickey for the past week is enough to make a blog post out of it! Total withdrawal. But I'll do that some other time...

In the meantime, here's what happened AFTER I was able to log in into my Multiply account in just 7 days since I handed Mickey over to the good people of Apple. I was met with this comment:




WTF?! Dude, what the hell is your problem!?

A thief!? Seriously... I can be a lot of things. I can even be a really good liar but a thief? Give me a break.

Who the hell is this guy!? Basilreyes. Hmm... Nope. Doesn't ring a bell. If I don't know this person, then my best bet is that he or she is probably just one of my haters. Tsk tsk tsk...



Well, look at what we have here... a DUMMY account! Now, from here on, this "hater" shall be known as NO FACE.


The real No Face from "Spirited Away"

Back to that absurd comment that No Face just wrote in my guestbook, I can't for the life of me think why he or she would say such ridiculous things. I mean, what for? I decided to ignore it but when I saw that he or she also left comments not just on my guestbook but on my albums and blogs, I was pissed. If that's the reason for this whole bashing, then No Face just accomplished his or her mission of pissing me off.

I mean, get a load of this:




So after a bit of trepidation, I checked my CIVET COFFEE album and blog, and here's what I found out...




Clearly, back in 2009, someone pointed out that I can't use the name Coffee Alamid. Which, as a matter of fact, I didn't ever use! Wait, did you guys even know I sold CIVET COFFEE?!? I mean, have I ever marketed that stuff or what!? I simply posted this civet coffee product as a favor to my cousin who is selling this all the way from South Cotabato (think Gen. San). To give him exposure, I posted this so that my friends and online buddies will be aware that they can get civet coffee at a much cheaper price compared to the ones in the commercial market.

And mind you, this is authentic civet coffee... the poop of the cat. Yes, people actually drink that stuff. I do. But not a lot because it's freaking expensive. I do admit that. But for those coffee connoisseurs, nothing is better than gourmet coffee, right!?

So anyways, I never ever said I was selling ALAMID COFFEE. But I did explain to people that Alamid coffee is civet coffee. Don't believe me? GOOGLE it!

I don't want to reiterate everything I said in Multiply but for the sake of those who don't follow me there... you can check out my post and the comments yourselves. My Multiply is open to all and this is the LINK. That's the album of the civet coffee that my cousin is selling. Then I also reposted an article from BBC News and a link to Alamid Cafe's website in my journal.

FYI: The Album and The Journal are two separate entries. I am selling coffee (with pictures) in the ALBUM and just posted information about what civet coffee is in the JOURNAL just to help people understand the coffee better. I didn't say anything about me selling Alamid Coffee... NEVER EVER.

Let's put it this way... I sell the Local Obagi. But did I ever say that I am selling the real OBAGI? No, I didn't. I haven't. And I don't think I'll ever. Gets?

Maybe No Face is one confused sonovabitch. Okay, I have the right to describe him or her that because of the things I am being accused of. Put youself in my shoes kuno beh. How would you react and how would you feel? If you feel otherwise, then you're not me. :) Tee hee.

So okay, let me just get one thing clear ONCE AND FOR ALL... I DO NOT SELL ALAMID COFFEE... I sell CIVET COFFEE. Last time I checked, people can sell ANYTHING. To help you get a clearer picture, check out our local eBay. To think some people will even sell their mothers if they could. So I don't understand why I'm being treated this way just because I sold some civet coffee and people know it more popularly as Alamid!?

Come on. I think things are just getting blown out of proportion here. INFRINGEMENT, huh!? My, that's quite a heavy word. Don't you think I know what that means as a writer and a photographer?! I mean, I HAVE IMPOSTORS, too, you know! People stole pictures from me!

Okay, enough of this bullshit. It's Christmas Time! We should all be having fun, being merry, getting drunk, patching things up with people, sharing love... and the list goes on. I just hope I made it clear here.

So for the last time, I DO NOT SELL ALAMID COFFEE. But I do sell unprocessed CIVET COFFEE beans from the mountains of South Cotabato, harvested by the natives. Not my business though. Just helping my cousin out. Rumor has it in Gen San that Manny Pacquiao actually eats this stuff... maybe that's his secret weapon for speed, huh? Oh well, the natives claim of various benefits from drinking civet coffee and to be honest, I haven't experienced anything much with drinking this coffee because as I said, it is expensive and I think I'd rather buy Havaianas and gadgets with my money. Although, I can say that it's a really fine coffee... and I do love coffee very much.

I hope all this nonsense will stop right here, right now.

GTG. Need to do a lot of work and this holiday stress is not making things easier. Anyways, Happy Holidays to one and all!

We went phone hunting today... you know, just the typical checking-out-what's-new-but-be-sure-to-leave-your-credit-card-at-home bonding moments. Noodle Boy is not much of a phone-atic as I am, but he listens and acknowledges the wonder of today's technology. He is also a gadget freak, but he's more of a PC boy (and I, the Apple girl)... so anyways, when we got home, the interwebs met us with a rather thought-provoking question:

“How badly do you want the BlackBerry Curve 3G?”

It was for the Blackberry Curve 3G Promo. Of course, I asked Noodle Boy for his answer... and guess what!?

He came up with this...



~_~ FML! Okay, so it goes to show that he has the guts to do that for a Blackberry Curve 3G!

Hmm...

FINE... two can play at this game! So with no further ado... I dragged him outside to the nearest pawnshop...

...and VOILA!!!

TechPinas Gadget Bonanza # 1

Now, you be the judge... tell me who wants the Blackberry Curve 3G so bad!?



xoxo,

If you've been following me at Twitter from the beginning, let's say for the past 644 days, you would know that my everyday life is nothing but a live-for-the-moment kind of thing. I know I have to plan for the future one of these days, but hey, I still don't see myself getting married very soon. I have found the man I wanna spend the rest of my life with and the man I can't live without; however, marriage is a whole new world (or should I say completely different galaxy) and it's not something I want to rush into. Okay? No amount of convincing from anyone will make me change my mind, unless of course, I won that 700M lotto then getting married surely would no longer be an issue.

Okay, I'll tell you why. I want to get married for the right reasons. The main reason would be because I'm ready to have a family. And right now... well, apparently, you know where I stand. ;)

Next, I don't know if moving in with someone in a new household or a new house is really something I want to do right now. I lived independently away from my parents for 3 years and had decided to come home because I would rather want to live with them... after all those adolescent years of wanting to be on my own! It's something I realized after I moved out... that I am really  better off staying with my parents. ^_^ Hello? This is not America! There is absolutely nothing wrong with living with your mom and dad. Geez. And besides, last time I checked, I'm a girl... so it doesn't really alter my image or harm my reputation.

Two more reasons why I'm not getting married yet are the bets I made. LOL! Well, what about them? I made a bet with two of my high school classmates, Iris and April. Whoever among us 3 gets married first, will have to buy the other two a pair of Havaianas each and a trip to Boracay. This bet has been going on for as long as I can remember. Secondly, I also placed a bet with my good friend, Christy, that whoever gets married first has to buy the other one a pair of Manolo Blahniks. This was a deal made back during our Sex & The City days. And recently during our girl's night out (FINALLY!), the bet was changed to a pair of Christian Louboutins.


Here's a pic taken of me, my $5 outfit, and the hot and sexy Christy.

You see, in our crew from College, we are the only ones left who are legally single. The others got married already and even got kids who just had their First Communion. FML! Are we that old!? No wait, I take that back... I'm actually 3 years younger than these lovely ladies.



So that night with pitchers of frozen margarita, my beautiful and happily married friends made bets. Claire and Cathy declared that if I get married first, they will be hosting my shower party. The other two, Ronah and Marivel, agreed that if Christy got married before me, then they will be hosting her shower party. Sounds fair enough... So now Claire and Cathy are telling me NOT to get married yet so they won't have to throw me a party. LOL!

Also did you know that it took us 4 years to do this once again?



This is mainly due to the fact that Christy just came home from Dubai. And since the girls who are here are married... well, they got priorities, too... which is why you never get to read tweets from me about hanging out with them or what.

It was really fun to do it again. The stories we shared, the crazy laughter and trips to memory lane... and I even got to dress up! HAHAHA! PRICELE$$!


Another group shot outside Bebidas.

Wow. I actually look like a girl. HAHA! It's been so long since I've gone out with girl friends. And I'm not even married!!! Whoa! See? If I were married and got kids to take care of... then I'll never get to go out AT ALL! Unless I want to be like the rest of our generation who do that all the time and risk tainting their images and reputations.

I can hear the oldies say, "Wa ka'y puangod nga inahan! Dili ka kahibaw mo atiman sa imo mga anak? Mag sige ka'g lakwatsa!" (You're an irresponsible mother! Do you  know how to take care of your kids? You're always going out!) *shivers* Okay, I'm not making this up ha!? That really is the scenario when you live in a small town... and honestly, I'm not ready to deal with things like that.

I'm quite happy being in a relationship and going out with Noodle Boy all the time, every time. Besides, it's way much better than people talking about you behind your back saying things like, "Kanang bayhana magsige'g laag unya bisan kinsa lang na lalaki ang kuyog." (That girl goes out all the time and always with different guys.) I mean, seriously.

Wow. Listen to me. I sound like my mother... or worse, my grandmother (may she rest in peace). But it's true. I guess when you get older, the idea of fun is now replaced by thoughts on what's morally acceptable. I hate the norms but that's just the way it is. And I wouldn't say that I didn't have my fair share of intrigues back in the day. HAHA! Fun times!

Bottomline: We all need to grow up. Sooner or later. If I'm destined to get married, I will be. But right now, I'm happier than I ever thought I could ever be. I am truly, madly, deeply (I SWEAR!) in love with my Noodle Boy. And I know he loves me, too. ^_^

Oh, and I don't intend to lose those bets! Tee hee! ;)


xoxo,
 

I apologize for not updating this blog so much. My days are so hectic, not just because it's the Holidays, but because I've considered career changes as well as other things a girl has got to do to eat survive. Aside from all that, I also have a role to play in the community now...



O ha! Yes, I'm a full pledged Brgy. Councilor now and during our monthly session I was appointed as head of the Committee on Heath & Sanitation and Tourism for District 19. And for this month, I suggested that we put up a Christmas Belen if not a Village or just decorate our waiting shed just to show some Christmas spirit in spite of whatever crisis this third world country is facing right now.



It's not done yet. Will update blog or post pix when the Christmas tree is up. ;)

Anyways, speaking of Christmas trees, yesterday Cong. Lucy Torres-Gomez celebrated her birthday here in Ormoc. We attended the 6PM anticipated mass last night followed by the launch of the ★ LIGHT UP A STAR ★ fund-raising drive that my mom with her Ormoc Festival and Cultural Foundation group organized with the support of our lovely congresswoman.



Kris Aquino bought 36 stars! I bought just ONE! LOL! You can still buy your star(s) until Dec. 15. Just contact the Ormoc Festival and Cultural Foundation, shoot my mom an email at gtvmsv[at]gmail[dot]com, or contact Ms. Lalaine Marcos-Jimenea, editor-in-chief of EV MAIL.



Also let me take this opportunity to share with you this bit of good news!

"Cong. Lucy Torres-Gomez will be having a SURGICAL mission starting January 30, 2011. Fil-Am doctors will be in Ormoc to perform different surgical procedures for 5 days in both ODH and OSPA . They will do surgery to anybody who needs one, provided, they submit their Medical Abstract to our district office in Aviles St. no later than Jan. 15. We will transmit the medical abstract to the US doctors for evaluation so when they get here, they already have proper medicines for the patients."

So guys, if you know anyone who can benefit from this, tell them! ^_^

By the way, here's the video of the Christmas tree lighting for ★ LIGHT UP A STAR ★ and yes, there were FIREWORKS, too!!!



I guess that's all for now... In case you don't see updates in this blog, you can always try and check my RANTS & RAVES Tumblr blog. ;) I do my verbal diarrhea over there now.

Stay tuned! I'm still cooking up those entertaining posts for this blog to keep my readers amused/informed or whatever floats your boat. I just need to juggle my time effectively. Cut me some slack, I'm still so new to this very "busy life".

WOW! MyMaria is no longer a bum. *BOW*



xoxo,