A Jampacked 2010

How do I squeeze into one post what 2010 has brought me so far?  I know visitors to my blog are disappointed that I have not updated but you will know why in the days to come. 

Travels

Five countries, six separate trips.  This coming Friday, 9/17, I will go on my 6th country and 7th trip.  Taipei, Singapore, Hongkong, Mainland China, Japan and Korea.

Purple

I still love the color and in fact has added tons more to the collection as I go on my travels.

Fangirl Pursuits

I still am and will always be a fangirl.  In fact, I have made a career out of it!  Not just as a consultant but as a small business owner.

Day Job

Yes, the bread and butter still exists.  The purple-themed office is still around.  The hours have turned from day to night though which is one of the reasons why my brain is already dead by the time 12 midnight comes around and I attempt to write a post. 

Family

I still have my playmate with me through all of these new things.  He manages to nudge me out of bed everyday, feeds me and occasionally drives me to work while I catch some sleep.  I also found time to have great bonding moments with family which I will post about later too.

Friends

Gained more! But also lost one very good friend who I am missing especially when I think about the stuff we could have done together with the fangirl business.  Rest in peace Fran.

I will find the energy to post all about the above.  I have a new mantra you see ->  I AM SUPERWOMAN!  I AM SUPERWOMAN! I AM SUPERWOMAN! Hahaha!

Marathon Update # 3

I will not forget that Saturday.  I was up at 6am to drive south from my place north (yes Novaliches to Alabang!) of Manila to man the booth of fangirlasia.com.  At the end of the event, I drove to Bicutan, Paranaque to pick up my sister Teng then drove back south to Alabang for the homecoming party.

I didn't want to go to the party but the pout of my sister can be felt all the way to Shanghai , so I changed into a dress.  It is with much appreciation that my car windows are tinted black.  So after about half an hour, yours truly is now wearing a colorful peasant dress I have not worn since the silver wedding of Nanay and Tatay Gamab.

With Batch 84 schoolmate Universal Records' Ito Rapadas and my kuya Monmon Mitra, future Senator.

With Teng and her batchmates Maripit and Ruby.

I had fun.  Yes, despite the exhaustion, I had fun seeing schoolmates and friends.  I loved catching up with them and proud of their achievements and successes.  Too bad I missed the homecoming organized by Batch 85 just this Saturday night.  Even if I wanted to watch Kamikazee and Parokya ni Edgar, I wanted the rest time this weekend.

Thanks to the owner of the photos.  I just snagged them at Facebook!

Marathon Update # 1

It's been sooooo long since I updated my blog.  I missed it but I couldn't find the time to update since there are so many things that happened to your purpleness since early December.  So a mega-marathon of updates is in store for my blog friends.  Are you ready?  Here we go!

First off, the purpleness of my desk has moved to a new home last December 2009.  From my 39F tower of Rapunzel, I am now at an 11F office, though big but it has no windows and sooooo damn cold! :)

That glass door is now covered with a layer of film.

And my purple stuff?  Laid out nicely for everyone to see! :)

When laid out in my new desk, my purple stuff looked really nice and there's more space for new purple stuff! Haha!  That was one of the things that made me excited about the move. :)

I've settled in and aside from the often crossing from one office building to another, I like our street.  It is quiet and laid back.  There's more opportunity to walk to lunch at one of the yummy restaurants nearby.

Let's see how the room looks months/years from now.

Pan de Purple

Many will wonder... a purple bread?

Yours truly was of course ecstatic when I was given this pack by my sister-in-law Pam. In the Philippines, the bakeries of old have a staple bread variety we called "pan de regla" because the middle part of the bread is/was red. There are fewer and fewer of them who make these bread and in recent years, the middle part of the bread has become purple! Why? I have no idea. :)

The taste is not that fantastic. It's not too sweet and it is usually soft. But I love it and has loved this since I was young! And now I've rediscovered where to get my fix.

Oh and I have renamed it pan de purple. I even told the sales girls at Oven Maid (the bakeshop who makes them) that I call the bread pan de purple. And they don't seem to mind.

And the price? Per pack it costs Php 20.00 or roughly 50 US cents! What a steal! I can't wait for my next trip to my hometown in Paranaque for my next pan de purple stockpiling. Anyone care to try it? :)

Back to the birdcage..

Since mid-September, I have been living in my sister's flat while my car is being repaired. For half a month, I was a privileged child living in an upscale place only 10 mins. from my office. I did not even feel the typhoon that flooded and devastated most of Metro Manila!

I do miss my birdcage and the comfort of my own little home. So with much gratitude and thankfulness for the generosity of my sister and brother-in-law, I now get ready to leave my haven and move back to my birdcage.

The purple luggage (of course!) has to be packed until its next trip. The purple Ikea blanket also has to go back home.

Thanks Teng and Ramon for a wonderful time at TRAG! :)

Random Gift

Nope, it's not a chair for moi...but for my BB! A colleague at work one day popped in my office and presented me with that little box. Opening the box and taking out this cute purple phone chair brightened my day. These past couple of months, bright days are far and few so one bright day is hard to forget.

The Blackberry is a bit too big for the chair but I can sit it sideways and doesn't fall so yey! :)

It's not my birthday. And Christmas is not until 3 months away so receiving a random present is probably the next best thing to Christmas....or even better. The level of surprise is so much more. During birthdays and Christmas, you have expectations. Even if one is trying to live under the old adage of "it is better to give than to receive", there is still that small expectation that you will receive something one way or the other.

Thank you so much Ms.O. :)

If all the raindrops were Coca-Cola Zero...

It's pissing rain here in Manila these days. I am always screaming expletives at the potholes especially along the EDSA, Manila's major highway.

Oh well, one of my consolation is my addiction to Coke most especially Coke Zero. And yay, I have a new purple Coke glass from the US. Thank you Elsa! :)

So to take away the niggling feeling of exasperation, let's all sing a Barney song with a little lyrics twist...

if all the raindrops were coca-cola zero, oh what a rain it would be
standing outside with my mouth open wide
ah,ah,ah-ah,ah,ah-ah,ah,ah-ah
if all the raindrops were coca-cola zero, oh what a rain it would be...

Staring at My Purple Desk...

Sitting in my office, yearning... yearning for my next plane ride... hahaha!

Since I will be stuck in Manila behind my desk for the next few months, I decided to share what I am staring at.... more purpleness!

Of course the muse of this photo is that yummy cupcake with purple icing from Sonja's cupcake in Serendra (sorry couldn't find an official website). I love this cupcake! But again, I cannot indulge all the time because of 'ye 'ol blood sugar.

Maybe when my sister Teng comes home in September. =)

Purple Hunting!

I was in a management meeting last Monday when my friend Norman texted me and told me about the Purple Hunt promo of Yahoo Philippines (http://ph.yahoo.com). I was booked the whole day and was dying to see what the purple fuzz was all about.

Finally, I managed to register for the promo. Keeping in mind that I need to get to one of the malls soon. The opportunity came the next day. I had to attend a briefing on AH1N1 at the American Chamber of Commerce (http://www.amchamphilippines.com/). On the drive there, I was so happy that their office is right in front of Greenbelt Mall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenbelt_(Ayala_Center). So right after the briefing, I took a quick detour and went to see the booth.

Of course you will not miss the booth as its purpleness was right smack in the lobby of Greenbelt 3. I asked how to join and they said if I had a printout of the registration (which I did..hehe) then I get to have a free purple donut and the rubics cube type key chain. Yes!!!

And then I was asked to play this game using this purple wall. I was supposed to find the drawing that I pick in 30 seconds and I get to win an item. The more I find, the nicer the prize.

My eyes were not as fast as it used to be... so I only won a cute purple post-it pad. The highlight of this promo is a raffle of a car with purple graffiti! I want, I want!!! I wish, I wish...

This little Honda Jazz (http://www.hondaphil.com/) is such a cutie that I had to take front and side shots. Can you imagine me speeding around Manila in this car? LOL! And then if you get assistance on how to use yahoo mobile on your blackberry, you get another giveaway, this time a purple lanyard! Woohoo!

I had so much fun in just a few short minutes. As soon as I got back to the office, I took a pic of my loot and munched my purple Krispy Kreme (http://www.krispykreme.com.ph/) doughnut with a huge grin on my face.

YAHOO!!!

Visit the Purple Hunt booths of Yahoo! Philippines until June 18th. Check out schedules at the website.

Purple Loot from China

I was sooooo lazy the past couple of weeks! Yup, lazy all around. The only thing I was good for was staring at the computer screen and watch videos.

Until I realized that I have not posted my latest loot and new additions to the purple world. Now, this is not everything but like I said, I was lazy to take pics. I bought a purple leather belt (I'll post my belts next time) and a plum winter jacket too!

I was happy to find a new mobile phone. I saw this back in September last year but did not buy it because I was already broke. Six months later, it was still there! And marked down by 20%. I guess we were meant to be.

And everyone now knows that I am crazy about Uniqlo. Well, the Uniqlo store in Super Brand Malls in Shanghai did not escape my purple-wandering eye. Picked up another pull-over and a pair of socks.

And then while waiting for my brother-in-law Ramon get off work, we discovered Askul ( http://www.askul.co.jp/) which carries anything and everything. There I found my first ever purple paper puncher! I picked up a couple of purple post-its as well. I'm gonna explore this website more and see if I learned from my Nihonggo classes.

And of course, accessories! Those wooden purple earrings sold by folks from Chinese Mongolia are just so unique. For RMB 5.00 (Php 35.00), they are already a steal. The purple crystal jade was unexpected because you don't see them all the time. So when we went back to the jade shops in Yu Yuan Gardens, I just had to grab it.

Sigh...I guess I'm off shopping for a while...until the next cool purple thing comes along! =)

Just celebrated another year of blessed being. A simple life of work that I love and people that I love.

And because I am enjoying my Korean wave, it is just fitting that I toast another birthday with a bottle of Soju. There's always a first time to experience things and my first encounter with soju made me want to sample it another time.

Thanks to Ochie who gifted me with the soju and who also helped me celebrate.

To everyone else in the world who has a reason to celebrate like me..CHEERS!!

Photos China Trip 2009

Been back in the bird cage for a week now. I was either too tired or too busy to upload pics but to those who are interested, here they are...

Part 1
http://gigidm.multiply.com/photos/album/50/Shanghai_Again_March_20-21_2009

Part 2
http://gigidm.multiply.com/photos/album/51/Hangzhou_China_2009_March_22

Check back for more photos in this post soon!

In the meantime, this is one of my favorite photos of me and playmate for life Butch. It captures the joy of us travelling together, the winter chill and the excitement of what we were about to see (and his orange nail polish *sigh*). Ahhh...when will be the next time?

Missing the Shanghai Winter...

They said it's officially the first week of Spring, but the week I spent in Shanghai did not feel like spring at all with 43 degF weather. And do I miss it!!

The minute we got out of the airport yesterday, the 90+ degF Manila heat enveloped me. I suddenly had colds from the change of weather. And did not want to leave the comfort of my aircondition at home to do any chore but being away, I just had to do go sweat it out at the grocery.

I remembered that long walk we did at East Nanjing Road in the middle of the day and though it was tiring, I was not soaked in sweat. I couldn't imagine doing that here even under the shades of buildings of Ayala Avenue, the main business street in Makati where I work.

Well as the song goes "back to life, back to reality"...

Note: Posting photo links soon!

Hello again China!

I am back in China and loving it!

Arrived from Manila, Friday night, the 20th and flying back on the 28th. As usual, home in China for the next few days would be my sister Teng's home at the Emerald in Pudong, Shanghai.

This time, my playmate for life Butch is with me and travel buddy Ochie who I missed in 2008 travels, are with me.

We are having a great time and have done a lot of things in the past couple of days. Saturday was jampacked with activities and sightseeing. We went to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, the Oriental Pearl Tower and watched the ERA Intersection of Time show at the Shanghai Circus.

Then on Sunday, we went on a road trip to HuangZhou, another province just 2 hours away from Shanghai Pudong area. We went up the Leifeng Pagoda then rented bikes and enjoyed the sights around West Lake.

I will be blogging about my experiences and posting photo links as soon as I get back.

Playmates

It's a staple in many of my past Christmas wishlists.. part of my shopping list wherever I am in the world.. part of my family and friends' shopping list wherever they are in the planet.. unsuccessful..

Until I stumbled upon these playmates at an obsure branch of National Bookstore (http://www.nationalbookstore.com.ph/), I thought no one had the imagination to produce purple bookends.

I loved that the bookends are a pair of boy and girl images. My friend Ochie found me bookends in the past but they are on the lavander/mauve shade. This one is screaming purple and my birdcage need new ones to hold on to the growing collection of dvds and cds that my real life playmate and I have collected.

As one of James Patterson's (http://www.jamespatterson.com/) psychotic book character said .. "happy, happy, joy, joy.."

ARGH!!!!!!!!

It's been sooo long since I last posted anything.

I was mad at myself for watching too much of Jerry Yan's (F4) new drama Starlit last Sunday that I missed the only day that I can post something.

I was having a horrible week - long hours at work, saying goodbye to people, atm fraud victim, sleep deprived...

Thank god I found something to make me laugh as the weekend draws near and the thought of getting my hands on a vodka bottle is making me drool, shake and most probably forget to study for my Nihonggo lessons.

What are playmates for right? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Happy Friday the 13th!!!!

Cellphone Pouches anyone? :-)

Yesterday, I met up with fellow fangirls and had a belated exchange of Christmas gifts.

When I got home I was putting things away when I realized that I received quite a number of mobile phone pouches last Christmas. They are sooo cutesy I can't bear to use them!

Alright, i have a confession to make..i actually don't use pouches! LOL. I start using them but end up keeping the pouch away after some time.

And the ironic thing is that me, yours truly, who lives in one purple world, DOES NOT OWN A PURPLE MOBILE PHONE!!! I have to correct that soon. But for the meantime, these little cuties will have to stay in my drawers or else Kaliena will inherit them soon.

The most romantic guy in the world!

Feb. 13 evening, my nephew Spade (age 9) kept asking in hushed tones me and his Tito Butch to promise him something. The next day is Valentine's Day and he wanted to buy his mom flowers.

It was actually a bit difficult to do because we were bringing my sister Teng to the airport early and I had to go straight to my Nihonggo class. But what Spade wants to do just touched his aunt's (that's me!) purple heart so I agreed to be his accomplice.

The next morning, Spade woke up really early and was ready even before everyone. I whispered to him if he had money and he said he had enough. His mom thought he was just going to a 7-11 to buy his favorite slurpee. After dropping off his Mama Teng at the airport, we went in search of flowers.

It wasn't easy since it was 8:30am. But a determined boy is really blessed because we found some. He got his mom 6 white roses as white is his mom's favorite color. When we got home, he hid outside and asked that we wake up his mom. When his mom got to the gate wondering who was looking for her, Spade handed her the flowers and she promptly wept.

As I took this photo of the memorable occasion, I thought to myself that lucky would be his future girlfriend and wife. And lucky his folks as Spade is growing up knowing a lot of love.

Addicted...to Coke!

When I was little, my dad used to work for San Miguel Corporation, then the local partner of Coca-Cola in the Philippines. My most favorite of his benefits was our weekly supply of Coke Products.

I remember waiting anxiously every weekend for the Coke truck to roll by. The minute the truck turns the corner to our house, my brothers and sisters would be jumping up and down and waving our arms.

Thank God for Coke Light and now Coke Zero I can still indulge in my Coke addiction even if I am already a diabetic.

I am so much more happier drinking my Coke with my purple glass! I had to have one and to have one you have to drink tons of 1.5 liters. :)


I knew this was a rare time where Coke had a purple promo item so with haste I happily drank 1.5 liter bottles to get the caps that I need to exchange (six 1.5 liter bottles!!!) for one glass.

Mission accomplished!

Bubba's Birthday and Christmas Holiday 2008 Redux

It's almost the end of January and today is Juan 's (fondly called Bubba) 4th birthday. Bubba is the 9th and youngest of my nephews and nieces. He has such an adorable smile.

We have not bonded much as everyone wants to hug and kiss him all the time (to his annoyance sometimes..too bad you are the youngest babe LOL) but we will have our sweet time one day.

Happy Birthday Juan Alejandro!

And while I was scrounging around for a nice photo of Bubba I saw this one just the two of us at the pool in Canyon Cove Resort Nasugbu, Batangas. I suddenly missed everyone and promptly reminisced about that super fun holiday season.

For the rest of the Kamp's holiday season photos head on out to http://gigidm.multiply.com/photos/album/48/Kamp_Braza_Holidays_2008

Sidebar: I love that new mauve/plum tankini I picked up in Dubai last year. Too bad I'm too shy to have a photo taken of the whole suit..hahaha!