5 days to Go - May 18, 2005

Final Meeting with Clarice

I got off from work early today to meet Clarice. We agreed to meet at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Greenbelt. I went down the building around 5 but the heavy rain poured so it was so difficult to get a cab. What’s worse, I didn’t bring my umbrella. The regular rains during the afternoons scares me. We are having an alfresco reception and the cat-and-dog weather will ruin our plans. Nonetheless, I let God take over. Let his will be done. =)

20 minutes later, I was there waiting for Clarice. It was my first visit to that coffee shop. Not bad but I prefer Starbucks better. Don’t ask me why. hehehe. I rang Clarice and told her I’m already at the shop and she arrived after a few minutes. As this is our last meeting, I turned over all the wedding stuff plus the guest list and the program. We discussed the flow and she assured me that evrything will be alright. I had a feeling that the wedding will turn out great too. I am in good hands.

The meeting had to be brief for married friends from our congregation scheduled a Despidida Soltera.

Shower Party

It was so sweet of my married friends to organize something like this. They brought food at our apartment and we started eating at around 8 pm. Everyone had their fill for the food was really yummy. Then we had some drinks and started chatting the night away.

I had a fun fun fun time. I got to ask all the taboo questions to the married folks. hahaha! I was even shocked by the revelations of others.While most of these occasions were mostly celebrated by going to a gay bar or hiring a stipper, I wasn’t disappointed that mine was done differently. I got good insights about married and sex life straight from the veterans. I got 2 great tips that came handy during the honeymoon : KY gel and wet wipes. *** Oversharing (hahaha)

We called it a night by 1 am. The married folks want to go on narrating their experiences but their husbands are asking them to go home. ( men are such spoil sport. hahaha!)

4 days and Counting - May 19, 2005

Last Day @ Work

Yup, 4 days left and I’m still at work. I work in a department with only 2 members. I know it’s harsh. I’ll be leaving my team mate for more than a week so I decided not take a long leve before the wedding. Come on, it’s no fun working alone and besides we’d rather spend our leave for honeymoon than fixing stuff before the wedding. As early as a week before I decided to let go off the wedding preps. Am I stupid or what?

Since I can’t invite everybody in the office to our wedding, we’ve decided to hold a small lunch party. I invited 50 people and ordered pancit malabon, BBQ and Pizza. We had a great time. Morning came in just in time and joined in. Everybody was wishing us well in our wedding. This is such a good idea for we saved a lot and did not offend others’s feelings for they weren’t invited on the wedding day itself. Our proof? Here are some emails that we received after :

MARAMING SALAMAT PO!!!!!!
Yum!Yum! BUSOG!!

Thank you Janice.
Nabusog kami!

Thank you =)

Nice,
Thank you very much for that sumptuous lunch. I really had my own fill.
Advance best wishes to you and congats for the 5th year tenure. May pang-retirement ka na!
Thanks once again.
K

thanks Janice! pasensya na di na kami nakapunta ni jac..leave kasi kami dahil sa ballet recital ng twins! Congratulations na rin in advance! God Bless!

Receiving such emails truly warms the heart. ” There is more happiness in giving than in receiving”

3 Days and Counting - May 20, 2005

Rehearsal and Surprise Gift

Karen, one of bridesmaids arrived from GenSan today. She accompanied me to my OB-gyne. After that we went to Jesi Mendez for her trial make-up. I left her there and shopped for honeymoon stuff. When I went back, she was made up and I must say that what they did to her was fabulous. She has decided to booked them for the wedding. We had lunch at Wendys and went to Blue Mountains for IDP. I should have gone there earlier and had more sessions. The IDP lightened my dark spots and pimple scars. Not that I have many, but a few more sessions could have made my face absolutely flawless. ( hehehe, wishful tinking ).

We got home at 2 pm and Morning was already there to pick us up to the rehearsal. Our entourage was really cooperative. They were at the KH at the appointed time and all of them are present save for Vash who beg off due to a very valid reason. We rehearsed the march and showed everybody their assigned seats. We’ve also discussed their duties and responsibilities. We are happy to have such great friends who willingly gave their time and effort for our wedding.

A very weird thing happened during the march rehearsal. I was now time for me to enter the door and walk on the aisle. I felt my knees are shaking and was very self conscious all eyes are on me. Yup, I got goosebumps at that time. (yun pala yung feeling ng bride) It was good that we did that, (the rehearsal thing) for I didn’t experience the same feeling during the wedding day itself.

After the rehearsal, we went to Morning’s place to meet his uncle and his family who flew in for the wedding. I’m happy that I will be a part of their warm and happy family. We did the luminaries following dinner. We got a lot of helping hand so it was finished in no time. It was so hot that day that after we are done with the luminaries we are dripped with sweat (pardon my gross description). Morning asked me to come inside the house and gave me a box infront of his family. I opened it and uncovered a box after a box after a box. Everybody was laughing and teasing me that it was empty. At long last the box was opened and I saw something wrapped in paper. It was sheer joy to finally discovered what it was… a new cellphone.

I hugged and kissed him to express gratitude. He gave me what I truly needed the most, a replacent of my 3 year old phone. Thank you so much. I love you Morning!

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May 15 : Got our Dp from Celebrations and Booked Rey Daroca

I’m back with wedding preps the next day. We went to Celebrations’ shop in San Juan to get our down payment. Buti na lang they have the check prepared. It was a quick stop as our relationship with them has gone sour.

Next stop is Mang Boy’s stall in Dangwa. We reminded him of the details of the wedding. We’ve been hearing a lot of bad reviews lately and we just wanted to make sure that he delivers well come our wedding day. Nagparining pa nga ako na napanaginipan kong pangit yung mga flowers nung wedding. They reassure me naman and I’m confident na magiging okay naman sila sa wedding namin.

Then we went to Dapitan arcade. We were able to buy tranquility fountains as gift to our female PS. Maganda sha and it only costs 500 bucks. =)

Next stop is Vivere Alabang. Ever since we had problems with Celebrations, I’ve been eyeing Rey Daroca of Fresh Cut Flowers. I’ve read good reviews and he is the nearest to our venue so I’m pretty sure that he won’t charge any delivery fee. We are also fortunate because they are having a cake tasting session that day. So we are able to show him the design and pick the cake flavor at the same time. Fantastic! We chose the dark chocolate kasi tamang tama and tamis and yung moist, perfect! Then we negotiated for the price. Nakakatuwa kasi Celebrations is charging us 9,800 pero natawaran namin kay Rey ng 6,000 lang. O diba? Ang galing. =) I think our cake dilemma is really a blessing in disguise. Thank God for w@w and our ever efficient coordinators.

We had lunch at MOrn1ng’s house then we went to our KH after. After the meeting was done we went to Market! Market! to shop for our bed. hehehe. My mom and dad will reimburse the cost afterwards. The bed will be their wedding gift to us. After some time of going around, we were able to choose and they will be delivering it to our apartment tomorrow. Yipeeee!

I also got to buy shades. May pang Bohol honeymoon na ako. =)

It was a tiring day but we were very happy. Andami namin na-accomplish. Paspasan talaga…malapit na.

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I must be crazy…really really crazy. Our wedding is really that near and I still have the guts to go out of town. Call me complacent but this is one outing that I couldn’t say NO to. Once a year, managers of the Asia Pacific Commercial team gather together to promote teamwork, discuss future plans and lay down work issues on the table. Last year the off-site meeting was held in Hong Kong but this year it is at Shangri-La Mactan Cebu. I’ve never been to Cebu so I’m really keen on going.

We left early morning of May 12. By 9 am we are at Shang Mactan. We went to Tides restaurant for breakfast. Yummy! The food was really great. I stuffed myself with sausages, fruits, wheat bread, croissant, bacon, ham and all sorts of pastries. Hindi naman ako matakaw, I just need a full breakfast. Hahaha! Our agenda states that we will have a working lunch at the conference room so that means that lunch will be light. Besides, I will be having presentation at that time so I wouldn’t have any appetite owing to nervousness.

After eating, we went back to our rooms and freshened up. I rehearsed my presentation, afraid that I would cause embarrassment. By 12 I took a shower and dressed up. 1pm is the start of the kick off lunch and sales presentation.

Just as we thought, the lunch served were just canapés. Not enough to fill your empty tummy. Buti na lang we had a heavy breakfast (hahaha still trying to justify myself). By 5 pm, we all got ready to present. Mine was a quick one but still my heart is thumping wildly. The 3-4 minutes seemed like forever. OA noh pero may stage fright talaga ako. The meeting ended at 6 pm.

We all met at the hotel looby around 7 pm for our group dinner. They hired a bus with tour guide and we went to the town proper. We went to a place called PORT. The place was okay but I think we were all disappointed on the food. One of our Korean colleagues said that the buko juice wasn’t that fresh. I wasn’t satisfied with the lechon either. Sayang excited pa naman ako kasi Cebu is famous for that pero yun nga hindi masarap yung lechon sa PORT. huhuhu. After that we headed back to the hotel. I just had a few drinks and went to bed. I was a bit tired. Being locked up in the conference room for long hours is really exhausting for me. I looked forward for the next day’s outdoor Team building activities.

May 13 : Team Building

Again, I’m crazy to join this. I know that it will be held outside under the scorching heat but I couldn’t say NO. Not that I’m afraid but I couldn’t resist joining. Never mind that the heat will damage my skin and I will be too dark come wedding day. How can you pass such a sunny day to play games on the sea shore. So to prepare my skin, I poured a lot of sunblock with SPF 75 to prevent darkening. I guess it worked for I just got a little bit tan. (bwaharharhar)

The activity started with stretches for warm ups then we were divided into 2 teams. The first game was Egg Drop. We were given5 minutes to strategize and a pot money that we will use to purchase the materials as discussed by the group. The task is to protect a raw egg when dropped from different distances. The egg must survive the fall on a certain distance and must not be cracked. It must be protected by the materials purchased from the suppliers. Sad to say that both eggs was cracked. hahaha!

We also played Walk the Plank, Aquaduct 1 and Blind Men’s Obstacle Relay. The last one was really funny. They have this bunot where you will ride throught the obstacle. What makes the obstacle difficult is because the player is blindfolded and must avoid smashing the eggs. On top of that the opposing team can mislead the player so that more eggs will be smashed and will make the player slow down. Btw, our team won this game. That concluded the first part of the day’s activities. We had lunch and had a short break.

At 2 pm we were all at the shore again for the next batch of activities. We did Blind Man’s Square, Kayak Race and Beach Volleyball. It all ended by 4:30. We all had fun but sad to say our team lost. hahahaha. I guess, try harded next time. We then had a dip in the pool and relaxed at the health club. We had a great time at the sauna and jacuzzi. It really invigorated us for the drinking session at the bar. hahaha!

At around 7 pm we are at Tides restaurant again. I stuffed myself with a lot of food. The whole day’s activities really made me a mean eating machine. hahaha. I know i have to control myself so that I won’t be a fat bride but I couldn’t help it. I’m only human. hahaha. While dipping strawberry on the choco fountain, we were side by side with Cindy Kurleto. She’s there with KC Montero for an MTV stint. Our male colleagues were gushing over Cindy. Men men, you know them. hehehe.

After dinner, we all went to the bar for a drink. I had 1 shot of Jack Daniels, 2 bottles of San Mig light and 1 glass of red wine. We all had a great time. A lot of colleagues were already drunk by 12 mn. We had fun looking at them and hearing their stories. I think the funniest stories are told when a person is drunk. I’m still pretty sane for I didn’t want to say something I would regret later. hehehe. Irene (my roomie) and I went back to our room at around 1 am.

May 14 Bye-Bye Time

We woke up at around 6 am and went to the Health Club. We spent an hour for sauna and jacuzzi. It was uber relaxing. =) After that we went to Tides restaurant again for breakfast. Nakakatawa for we’ve realized that too much of a nice thing is also not good. Although the food was yummy to the max, we begin longing for our good old lutong bahay. (hahaha! jologs)

By 9 am we were at the conference room for group discussion on support related issues. I had one issue ready to lay on the table. It was great to have a venue to voice out your valid concerns. I do hope the upper management will be able to push the product segment to come up with better launch pad process. The whole off-site meeting came to a close at around 11 pm. Each saying good-bye to one another. I hope the off-site will be held in Japan next year. That would be super fantastic. =)

Popularity: 6% [?]

Haaaaay! I miss blogging so much. I used to update my page as soon as I have new stories but things have been a lot cranky these past few months that blog world stepped aside for more weighty responsibilities.

My wedding preps kwento has been a little bit “bitin” for I wasn’t able to fill in the details on what transpired during the few weeks before the wedding, the wedding day itself and the days after. So allow me ladies and gentlemen to back track.

05.11.05 Rainbow after the Rain

This is one of the grrrrrrrrrr! days of the wedding preps. Yesterday, Irma of Celebrations called to inform me that she would charge an additional 1,000 for the delivery charge of the cake. I was shocked because our contract didn’t state anything about it. We’ve met twice but they never mentioned there will be additional charges except for the fresh flowers that will adorn the cake. Morning and I talked about it last night and we agreed that we will ask Irma if it is possible to waive the fee since it’s not part of our agreement. So I called Irma called today, I explained that it is now barely 2 weeks before the wedding and we do not have extra money to pay for the delivery fee. I also told her that we didn’t know that we will pay extra and we are not informed. I really begged politely to the point that I agreed to pay 500 for the delivery but she wouldn’t budge. She raised her voice and told me na lugi na raw sila sa amin. To think daw na binigyan na daw kami ng 20% discount sa NBC fair. I was dumbfounded that I couldn’t say a word. She just went on and on scolding me. It was really exasperating as we did not ask for that 20% in the first place and the charges were not known beforehand and we did not agree to it. I didn’t say anything and just told her that I will discuss it first with Morning. However, at that particular time I wanted to back out. Get my downpayment and ditch that “tary” cakemaker. I don’t know how to do that since I want to avoid confrontations. Our wedding is fast approaching and I’m on business trip to Cebu in the next few days. Due to stress and annoyance, I started to cry. The only person that I think could help was Clarice. So I called her and between sobs I related what happened. She promised to fix the problem and later we are working with Abie. I felt at ease after our conversation and I know things will be better soon.

Little did I know, a good thing was also in store for this day. Lunch time came and one of my officemates is urging me to go to the pantry to have some cake. I was quite busy so it took me a while to go there. After I opened the pantry door I have the biggest and sweetest surprise. All my officemates and friends are there and the tables were laden with food. Everybody shouted surprise and I started to cry. It really feels so good to know that your friends and workmates are all excited with the upcoming wedding. I’ve been with this company for 5 years now so I’ve known a lot of people and I’m so grateful for their love and well wishes. And guess who organized the shower party? None other than my team mate Debbie. Thank you so much baby kuting. I love the scrapbook and all the messages in there. Thank you also for the honeymoon present. I’m pretty sure Morning would love to see me wear it. Hahaha!

Morning also surprised me by finding a copy of Manila bulletin containing our wedding announcement. Isn’t he wonderful? I love to bits. He left the newspaper on my desk with the note below (pasensha na…kulit talaga sha).

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