other things to do at a beach outing

I may not frequent the beach during summer vacations that much and I abhor getting a sunburn like the next person...but I do know of OTHER things to do at a beach outing aside from swimming and getting a tan!

take pictures of people, the sites and just about anything

using your dslr camera

or just any other ordinary digicam

there are lots of things to do at any sandy beach

walk along the shore...

or take a piggyback ride...

or just fool around and pose

and have fun while you're at it...

some are even fortunate to catch a sponsored show or beach party by the sandy beach

and what's a beach outing without the physical activities?

the challenging beach volleyball

and an even more exhausting game of dodge ball

or are you game for patintero?

but if those things are too strenuous for you why not try...

playing "bato-bato-pick"

or make a sand castle instead?

maybe some are eager for a different kind of pool...

or are eager to tell scary ghost stories...

though still some are content just to find a quiet spot...

to read a good book

or to simply relax and to contemplate

so whichever you choose to do

just be grateful you had the time for another beach outing...

*****

thanks to rp macatangay and mj juco for the photos

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random thoughts: corny animal jokes and old school discos

My cousins were visiting me in my office yesterday since they discovered they can bug me and use the internet...I was lugging along my laptop for the past weeks so I had 2 means of online access...

so one cousin was at my desktop pc, while the younger cousin was using the laptop...and both of them were chatting with my sis...and my other cousin in Pampanga...and to entertain my cousins...my sister thought of animal jokes...

so if you don't want to be annoyed with these dumb jokes... just move right along...

Duck dictionary...every answer should have the word DUCK...

Anong tawag sa maliit na duck?

Alyanna: Duckling

Kit: Tama yun!

Kisan: Mali! Eh di... PAN-DUCK!

Anong tawag sa maingay na duck?

Alyanna: anoooooooooooooooooooo (that's how my 8yr old cuzin types)

Kisan: Eh di... MaDUCKDUCK

Alyanna: (tells me) Ate Kit di ko maintindihan sabi ni Ate Kisan....

Kit laughs while reading over her shoulder and trying to explain the punchline to a toddler...

Anong tawag sa hayop na kaya nya ang lahat ng bagay?

Paolo: Elephante (wrong spelling pa)

Kisan: Mali!

Alyanna: Rhino...

Kisan: Mali...

Paolo: MALAKASAURUS! (susme! magisip ba ng panibagong animal specie?)

Kisan: insert laughing out loud icon here

Alyanna: Anoooooooooooooo

Kisan: eh di ... CHICKEN...Chicken cook...Chicken eat...Chicken dance...chicken do everything!

Alyanna: (with a little prodding from Ate Kit) duh!!!

*****

topics of conversation i think heavily depends on the people you're with...specifically the age or generation you rub elbows withso since I consider myself as part of the old-school gen...and most of my friends are of the same generation as me... we tend to reminisce and talk about...yup! old school...

and one funny topic over dinner last night...was the fave hangout discos of old...

yup! it wasn't called clubbin or bar hopping like how it's known now...but disco trippin'...so we were talking about famous songs a couple of years back like... Dying Inside... Stars... Xtasi Xtano and so forth and comparing and validating how old we were then when it was all the rage..and we got to talking about discos...and I didn't celebrate my debut so I can't relate...but my friend said she celebrated hers at a disco in Pasong Tamo (now Arnaiz St) in the then famous - EquinoX! haha... and then we got to mentioning this other disco at the corner of San Antonio Village - Mars!... we kept on arguing coz I thought it was named different...something like Ozone (oops! sa QC pala yun!)... and then I asked what was that disco at the ground floor Hotel Intercon?...the one facing the parking lot (now the shuttle terminal)...my friend answered: Wherelse! ... Yeah I know that was it but it was named something else before that.... and she kinda had doubts too and had to call up our other old school friends to verify - coz she says she can't sleep until she figures it out! haha... I was tossing around names like... something Mexican...Chillis?...Siete Pecados? haha... then on her 2nd call...ding! ding! Euphoria! wohoo! she can sleep soundly now haha

30 days...going on 30

how different will a month make if you just go through it as regular as you go through your every day... so what would make these 30 days different?

well for me it's my way of signaling that yeah there is this ho-hum event coming a month form now...and it has been uneventful for the past couple of years...since there are no fireworks or thunder and lightning every time that date arrives so what gives anyway? haha...

so to make it a little more different...let's see if I can be altruistic...and give back...in any way...no matter how small...some service or favor or help or whatever i can give back...something not deliberate though...something that i'm not too aware that am doing...ha! now that I'm blogging about it, it just makes it more obvious and deliberate...but what the heck! am the one who's doing the promising anyway...so shush!

*****

and since we're talking about giving back...can't i give back to myself?! wahahaha like giving something back as in form of gifts or pampering haha... how fun of me to twist my words haha... so i was thinking...why not come up with a wishlist...tho i know most if not all willbe far-fetched - since I don't expectmuch in terms of gifts ever since i became a teenager and i started to really just buy stuff for myself ever since i started earning...so what the heck...this list is plainly just for me and to test my self-discipline! haha

i first thought of setting a budget for my list...since techinically I'll be the one buying these stuff anyway...but since its a wish list anyway...i can always dream...

1. if only i can have a weekend on my birthday all to myself... I've been toying with the idea of traveling alone...as in out of town... that's why for the past couple of months I was asking a few friends and cuzins form abroad...for their suggesiton of a one-day trip... and what would they do to treat me or whatever... but that's still all plans... despite all the go lite fares of the airlines... i still can't find the time and budget to set a date for myself....add to thatmy frustration of not driving my own car haha

2. spending a day in a spa won't hurt right? I mean literally hurt? coz I've seen some people who would really hurt the next day after spending a day for a massage or something haha... it's like running a marathon without warming up i guess ... the choices of spas, massages, and all that pampering activities makes me cringe and say why bother...

3. new wardrobe...as in blouses, shoes, pants, dresses even.., jewelry and accessories.. I don't know why but I never got the hang of buying new stuff for myself (every pay day) haha... i keep putting it off... and having a uniform for work doesn't help matters...

4. a new mobile phone... this is even more frustrating for me...since i can't seem to find an affordable mobile phone which will not make me regret shelving out tensthousands in one sitting...and i wouldn't just need a new phone...i need 2 since i have 2 SIMs...add to that the prepaid loads...

5. a DVD player for my room...if i can afford it even...in each room in our house haha

6. a portable DVD player for the car... something to keep us busy during our long driving out of town...

7. a tv tuner...which will make tv viewing accessible through the computer...one for our desktop and one for the laptop - hey! a usb tv tuner can be transferred from one unit to the other so that's cool...

8. why not buy a plasma tv or a flat screen tv while I'm at it haha...all our tv's at home is broken or sort of out of commission or just plain old...

9. a digicam or dslr camera...or maybe even both! and these gadgets just keep on updating and upgrading...grrrr... sony or canon? or nikon?

10. a sony handycam... hey i think this is better...since the latest handycam use a memory card and is easier to record...both still photos and videos...nice!

the other stuff i can think of...that i didn't include in this list...eating in Sofitel's buffet...buying 10 audio cds - recommended by my friends or my fave artists...buying the latest DVD of my fave movies - old and new...buying a Starbucks shirt or that new transparent tumbler...i wish I can do within the next couple of months...or years..or let's not just give myself a deadline shall we haha

another year, another hair-raising experience

looking back at the past year, I've noticed that there's nothing much that changed in my hairstyle. I only had new bangs but otherwise I still look the same...

my common hairstyle - a layered cut

my straight hair for the yearbook photo

now I have new bangs

it seems longer here

and had my haircut just last week

to see more of the photos click here

unless you live under a rock, you haven't seen this then...

for the cynics out there, like me, i was pleasantly surprised when i heard this old lady sing...

and now Susan Boyle is steadily rising in popularity

another first, getting a free haircut

i only had one request from the hairstylist,

he should leave my bangs and he can do whatever to my hair...

now I'm sporting a shorn 'do appropriate for the hot weather

attending a senior prom

remember when I ranted how frustrated I was not to have a digicam with me?

Patience is a virtue

and finally I have collected the gradball photos...yey!

thanks to the Student Council for my copy of these photos...

*****

HOLLYWOOD CASINO

ESS Batch 2009 Senior Prom

New World Renaissance Hotel, Makati City

March 30, 2009

Photos by Lorisse Ramirez

click on the titles or photos to go to the photostream

grabbed photos

hotel lobby and ballroom

red carpet

inside ballroom

dance floor

awards

what if it isn't a song...but a video? PART 2

here are two music videos...that woke me up early this morning...and as expected it's my LSS...

Paraluman's Tabi

Itchyworms - Gusto Ko Lamang Sa Buhay

am starting really to be an OPM advocate huh

old school...new repertoire...same worries

I believe I mentioned before that I have friends who are getting married this year - among the hundreds of brides this year haha...and I accompanied my friend to her wedding gown designer - well it isn't a closed deal yet but it seems a given anyway

But gosh! just listening to them talk shop...I mean talk about wedding preparations...any groom who's financially restricted would gag and or faint at the figures...goodness! This is the first time I've heard how much a wedding dress and entourage package would cost...and by golly! pwede bang ready to wear na lang?! but of course...you only want the best for your wedding right? hahaha... I bet you guys know some figures and designers and I will not bore you anymore... but what really fascinated me that night was how candid the designer Reggie was...he said/she said haha...that it's nice to establish some kind of rapport or friendship with the bride so they could meet everyone's expectations...and be invited to the wedding too! haha... and listening more to them swapping stories of other wedding experiences - not theirs of course but of others - and comparing venues and caterers and all that...was starting to give me this tingly excitement down my spine for my friend's wedding...which she hasn't prepared much for! haha! kidding!

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After our stop at her designer...and having another mini burger and tacos at Icebergs (you should have seen this mJ! another Hooters experience haha) we headed off to 19East that night to have... a bottle of CALI SHANDY! woohoo!

I remembered that the first few times when I was watching gigs here... I only drank this non alcoholic beverage...coz aside from me not wanting to drink beer or any alcoholic beverage that time...I really can't stomach drinking San Mig beer or watever kind of beer... but oh well things have changed...haha!

Now that is old school... enough said! haha

*****

The real reason we were at 19East was to watch this gig of my old-favorite band MYMP... gosh! so missed watching them and it was such a treat listening to them perform that night... and it was really apparent from their new repertoire that yup! it's been ages since I last watched them...I think that's roughly 2 years ago! haha

Unfortunately and as expected I wasn't able to name all the songs they played that night.. and Joy was no help either! We just had fun guessing the song title and getting it wrong I believe! haha... I also just had fun going trigger happy with Joy's camera - which photos I would see in roughly by November! haha - and darn! I didn't to catch the green stage lights with my digicam! haha

as expected from my digicam...grainy shots

Throughout their 2nd set... I made an effort and recalled and listed down their songs.. there were a lot of new more recent songs... like I'm Yours by Jason Mraz - this impressed Joy so much and made her proclaim "gusto ko na sila!" haha...and That's What You Get by Paramore - they had fun playing that one! and a few others which I can't name! haha...

But what we enjoyed was their mushy cheesy old school 2nd set!... Aside from singing their usual covers: Power of Two...Especially For You...Everything Little Thing (He Does is Magic)...Piano in the Dark...and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now...we were treated to renditions of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman... Iris by Googoo Dolls - I really didn't guess this one till the middle of the song and to think this is one of my all-time fave songs! goodness! - Fallen... When She Cries? haha another guess that one... and their version of Set You Free (originally done by SideA)... they even asked someone from the crowd to jam with them...and a foreigner gamely went onstage and sang My Girl! nyaha! another old school!... They then finished off with their latest song... Now - a song Joy listens to and just discovered that night who sang it! haha - and their anthem Tell Mew Where It Hurts and finally, Get Me...

Obvioulsy I enjoyed that late Monday night/morning haha! Now I know who else I can drag to watch other MYMP gigs! (calling jeff! haha)

to see more grainy photos click here