Chino's been proposing a "campus food trip," wherein the plan is that we eat at all the famous food places of the different universities. It never happened.

The closest we got was this jogging trip (yes, we did jog...for a little while), turned food trip (we ate more than the calories we burned) at UP Diliman.

Being the UP "native," I acted as the official photographer while the two Lasallians ate everything within a 5-meter radius of the UP Shopping Center.


First stop was Rodic's, home of the best tapsilog in the world.

What to do on a rainy Saturday night?

After being stuck home the whole day because of some badass rain, we decided to go out for dinner and dessert. Let's call it our pre-monthsary celebration (we turn 58 months on Monday.yeeeey!)

We initially had plans of trying out this hole-in-the wall resto that we've heard about, but when we got there, it looked too intimidating because six manongs were sitting "tambay style" near the entrance. We chickened out and decided to go somewhere familiar instead. :))

In our country, corruption is everywhere. We always hear about it in the news, whine about it, but never do anything about it. We always expect officials/personnel from higher office to come up with plans to eliminate corruption but we never thought about how we can help in our own little way.

Corruption is not isolated in government offices, we experience and see it in our daily lives -- e.g. not issuing official receipts to avoid the appropriate taxes, cab drivers not giving any change to passengers, paying fixers to illegally expedite processes, etc. But for this particular post, I want to zero in on bribery after committing traffic violations. If each one of us, especially the drivers, steer away from bribing police officers / traffic enforcers to get out of these situations, that "business" will eventually die. As they say, walang magnanakaw kung walang magpapanakaw.

During my first year of driving, I was apprehended a couple of times (Yza has been a witness in all of these violations. hihi). I admit, I bribed my way out more than half the time. However, after a few occurrences, it felt so easy to disobey traffic rules because of how easy I can get away with it (by bribing). So after a year and a half of driving, I promised to myself that: (1) I should obey traffic rules as diligently as I can, and (2) if ever I get apprehended for a traffic violation I did commit, regardless if it's intentional or not, I will NOT resort to bribing and will follow due process.

You know what? It worked, I was able to condition my own mind. It has been a year and a half and I never committed any traffic violation.

Until last week...

The group usually goes out twice or thrice a month to either watch movies or just gather and eat out (to celebrate something or if we're bored at home). Last May 26, Billy decided for the group to try bowling again and gear away from the usual Saturday night-outs we have. It's been a while (6 months ago) when the group last played bowling so Yza and I joined.

We reserved a lane in E-Lanes Bowling Center (http://www.elanesbowling.com/) along Ortigas Ave., near Greenhills for 9PM. Billy specifically picked this place because of the sulit packages they offer.

E and I see each other everyday, but weekends are extra special because we can spend entire days together. We don't do much, we just love being together.

May 6, Sunday:

We had lunch at Mister Kabab where we stuffed ourselves with chicken kabab, sizzling keema, salad with yogurt and beryani rice.

We have stayed in Manila for almost 8 years now and we have always been hospitable when friends / highschool batchmates from Cebu visit Manila. Last February 26, Rej Cabanilla (together with the Cabanilla clan – yes, including baby Yana) was in Manila for 2 events: her NCLEX exam (which she passed.. congrats Rej!) and to support her brother and the CCNSHS delegates (our high school alma mater) in a Rube Goldberg contest.

On Eliel's birthday, I thought it would be fun to post something different. So I browsed through his photos and came up with this little survey about his hair. You see, I've been with this guy for 4 years now and he can't seem to stop messing around with his hair. He's actually more adventurous than I am in terms of hairstyling. He's been encouraging me to cut my hair short, but I can't. Not yet, anyway.

If you haven't seen my Facebook post, here it is. Ta daaaa.

I am  a Fire Tiger (9 February 1986 – 28 January 1987), while E is a Fire Rabbit (29 January 1987 – 16 February 1988). Our birthdays are sort of confusing because they fall close to Chinese New Year, and do not exactly follow the general zodiac of the year (ex. I was born in 1987 [year of the rabbit] but Chinese New Year in 1987 was on January 29, so technically, I'm still under the previous zodiac; Eliel was born in 1988 [year of the dragon] but Chinese New Year in 1988 was on February 16, so he's actually a rabbit, not a dragon). 

E's fortune:



xoxo,

+ 

After our friend Gia’s very convincing endorsement earlier this year, Yza had always wanted to visit The Myth of the Human Body exhibit. We just couldn’t find the time to do it. Fortunately, my sister was in town last weekend. This gave us an excuse to finally go. Funny how we usually only get to visit places close to where we are when we have visitors to tour around. So that rainy Sunday, Y&E, with Nica, Kuya Renwick and Donna had a very educational afternoon.

The Myth of the Human Body is an exhibit from Korea which features real human body parts with the intent of giving the audience a quick review of the human anatomy and at the same time, show people what an unhealthy life can do to your precious body parts.

There are only 2 designated areas where photos can be taken – at  the entrance and at the exit. Within the premises of the exhibit, taking of photos is strictly not allowed.

If I were in high school and my future self came to visit and told me that in 2011 I’d be in a committed four-year relationship with Eliel, I’d probably roll on the floor laughing. For one thing, he was this emo, freaky-genius Math wiz who’s so tiny, it’s like he’s everyone’s smart little brother. Also, I not-so-secretly wanted him to end up with one of my friends. We were never classmates and we even ran against each other for a batch officer position.

If I were in college, freshman year, and my future self came to visit and told me that in 3 years, I’d agree to be Eliel’s girlfriend, I’d probably think future Yza was joking. Unlike most of my high school batchmates who came to Manila to study in either UP Diliman or Ateneo, Eliel was the only one who went to La Salle. It's almost impossible for us to meet on a regular basis. Besides, I always wanted a long-haired artsy UP boyfriend. Haha.

But look how things turned out. Looks like the joke’s on me.

I love how something so unexpected ended up as the best thing that ever happened in my life. Now, I couldn’t remember what it was like before it was Eliel and Yza, Eliza, Elyza, U.S.

I guess those years of being friends and not expecting anything really helped push us in the right direction. Right now, more than anything else, we’re friends, best friends who can’t get enough of each other. This, I realized, is what makes our bond super fun, though not as dramatic as some relationships are. Just the way I like it.



Four years is both a short time and a long time (depending on how you look at it) and it’s been a crazy-nonstop getting-to-know-you phase. Every day, there is still something new to find out. (Like last week, I found out he has photographic memory and I’m green with envy.) There is always something funny to laugh about.  There are always amazing new places to visit. There is always time for cuddling and silly banter, just like there is time for serious conversations (relatively shorter than the silly talk, though). There is always something worth sharing and I’m glad I found the right person to be with. Gosh. I'm lucky AND blessed.

I love you, E!
Happy Fourth Birthday to U.S.

xoxo,


p.s. I am still waiting for the day when we don't celebrate our anniversary playing Farmville (2009) or miles apart (2010 and 2011).

Because growing old is optional.

Cheers,

A couple of weeks ago, a friend posted a link in Facebook. It was linked to a blog unlike any other. At first glance, you’ll think it’s just your ordinary photo blog but after a few seconds, the photos just suddenly move! Be amazed by clicking here.

These are what they call ‘cinemagraphs’. These works of art are not exactly photos, but they’re not videos either. Cinemagraphs isolate movement in certain parts of the image only while keeping the rest of the image still.

This inspired us to create our own cinemagraphs. So starting with this post, we will regularly publish our own set of creations as we try to make still photos come to life.

Our first-ever cinemagraph:



Cheers,

Two rainy Mondays ago, it was a holiday so Yelie and I decided to have a nice "date day." We didn't want to waste away the beautiful day so we went out for brunch, coffee and a movie. :)

We decided to eat at this cute diner along Burgos Street (right smack in the red light district of Makati) called the Filling Station.