tintin. t-i-n ... t-i-n. tintin!

may kwento ako...

dito sa bahrain, madaming weird names, kasi iba't ibang lahi syempre no. me sri lankan na kariyawasam, me indian na kandotharammal, me ethiopian na woldegeorgis, me kaworkmate si bambi na baarstard (norwegian)...

anyways, ako nga ang bida ng kwento di ba, so balik na tayo sa pangalan ko, na as in hirap na hirap naman talaga ako iexplain pag me kausap ako sa phone.

tulad ngayong hapon:

me: hello, may i talk to the shipping department?

them: yes, may i know who's speaking?

me: tintin, from --- company.

them: who?

me: tintin. t-i-n-t-i-n

them: dindin? 

me: no, t-i-n... tintin

them: dinky? that's a nice name!

me: yes, sure...

pag malinaw naman ang linya...

me: tintin, t-i-n-t-i-n!

them: cindy? ok, hold on...

me: ...

meron pa:

me: this is tintin on the line.

them: pinky?

me: no, tintin. T-I-N-T-I-N!

them: pintin?

me: tintin! 

them: tinty?

me: ok, kristinne, tell them it's kristinne!

eto ang pinakapaborito ko... tumawag ako sa office nila francis, at take note, hindi sya christmas time.

me: hello, goodafternoon, may i speak to francis please?

customer service: sure, may i know who's calling?

me: please tell him its his wife.

cs: santa? ok, hold on...

lol.

(*true stories*)

porky! i've missed u..

tinago ko kasi sya nung first pregnancy ko, tapos nung nag-general cleaning kami ni bambi nung friday nakita ko na yung headquarters nyang paperbag!

nilabhan ko sya sa washing machine and ngayon ang bango bango na nya! then naalala ko si titoy...

naliligo din daw sya sa washing machine, lol

hindi na ko masyadong nakakanood ng pilipinas got talent, after hindi makasama si rolando sa finals... hindi na rin ako nanonood ng agua bendita at rubi... mas gusto ko na lang matulog, katabi si porky at hello kitty...

mistakes i did when i was younger

when we were younger, we were obnoxious, healthy, and perky little bumble bees.

we were superhumans.  we joined dance contests, finished essays, watched every new movie and practically walked all over the mall and back with no pain whatsoever.

we can manage to wake up at 7, go to school all morning, skip lunch (maybe), then go straight to the mall, which at the time we go home the rain might be falling but we felt waterproof and walked like we were walking on the moon, waddle in the rainwater flood, eat isaws in the kanto and sleep at 11, maybe 12.

our elders warned us, but didn't our they notice that no matter how many times they tell us that something is bad for us, we will not believe them until we tried it ourselves?

coz little did we know that these things are consequential.  im not saying that we shouldn't have done it, everybody has to experience something before you can learn from it.

in random order, and apart from power tripping with worms when we were young, wild and free, these are the some mistakes that i did when i was, well, young, wild and free (and careless):

1.  not brushing my teeth often.  now that i have a career to take care of, missing a tooth might not be a good idea after all.

2.  not washing my face often.  laziness, sleeplessness or whatever they call it, once a pimple scar is there, it's there forever.  unless you go to belo.

3.  not learning how to swim, or drive.  of course, i still can, but its more awkward at this stage.

4.  not taking care of my sibs.  when you grow and go apart, then you reminisce and regret the fact that you didn't take the chance to show them you cared.

5.  not thinking straight when you were in love.  young people nowadays think that the one they love is the one they will marry, live happily ever after, and so on and so forth.  i once did, too.  but the older people are right - no matter how hands over feet, truly madly deeply in love you are, things change.  don't give up your everything.  believe me, your prince charming has a more charming rival in the future.

hello, jacob black...

6.  alcohol, cigarettes, whatever vice you have.  i only took alcohol, and only during my last year in high school.  if i had known that alcohol speeds up your aging, i should've stuck to cali instead.

7.  skipping classes.  ok, you may be cool and all, but what about your class card?  skipping generally means you do other stuff too, and at the time when you started valuing your career, a tiny glitch in your school record might do some damage.

8.  not listening to your parents.  don't you know that the more you show your love to your parents, the more their heart will soften and give you (almost) everything you want?  instead of raising a tantrum, if i had known that lambing is all it take, i would have done that hands down.  unfortunately my parents weren't around when i was growing up, but you get the idea...

9.  not sleeping in a proper posture.  nowadays, when stature gives confidence, i really envy the people who have a good posture.  if only i didn't sleep sideways all the time...

10.  not taking care of my eyes.  my eyes, my most precious sense, have been badly treated from years of reading in the dark, washing my face after watching tv, and (i don't know if it's true) reading while lying on my back.  if only i can turn back the hands of time, this is one mistake i will not think twice to correct.

so, since we're all thinking of regrets, why don't we all just appreciate the present and start now to take care of ourselves so in the future, we will not write a post that says "mistakes i did when i was in my twenties..."

is thin really beautiful?

in magazines, movies, tv series, yes, thin is what we want.

i sometimes lose interest in one of my favorite tv series trip na trip because of this, but i have learned to love katkat and they really have good episodes...

when i was pregnant i thought i finally have the excuse to eat whatever i want, but after 5 months of giving birth i started watching what i eat again, which was a pain.  coz let's be honest, we get depressed when we get fat.  and the more we eat, then we seem to want more.

but i have two different person telling me that i was more beautiful when i was a little healthier.  my prominent cheekbones, they said, makes me look old.

so now i realized that of course, extremes are unhealthy (although im not really thin, my cheekbones are just really noticeable) and though im not in that place where you get to love the body that you have, im learning to eat healthy and walk as much as i can.

don't you realize that as you get old, you discover things in your body that makes it work and sometimes, not work?  like these dietings and stuff.

these are the 'ways' i tried before to lose weight:

a.  that special diet where you have a schedule of different weird fruits, vegetables, liquids and stuff every day for two weeks.

i didn't last a day.  my father cooks the most delicious meals when he sees the list in the refrigerator.  unfortunately if you don't follow it day-per-day, you have to start again at the very beginning.

b.  special soup diet. 

i lost interest preparing it.

c.  skipping meals.

i stopped this because i started to take care of myself since i gave birth.  who wants to be thin if you'll be sick?

d.  treadmill.

no treadmill matches a lazy potato.

e.  no dinner.

will not work if dinner is the only meal you share with your husband.

f.  no rice.

what kind of filipino wants to eat without rice?

g.  the only one that worked: tae-bo.

of course, it didn't work alone.  i also ate at proper times, with medium intensity (haha!), and dinner ends at 7.  tae-bo is the only one that worked our for me because the more you do it, the more you want it.

every day when i was doing tae-bo, i was looking forward to the feeling of lightness after each workout, and the perspiration feels like the toxins are exiting your body.  it was exhilarating!

aside from the fact that you can do it in the comfort of your own home, for just 45 minutes, every other day.

coming from someone who was once mistaken for a mother (when i was fat at age 22!), it really is no joke being chubs.  but you have to think about health reasons too.  tae-bo not only makes you lose weight, it also builds up your muscles.

and you might not notice it now, but all the bad stuff you do will have it's negative effect in the future.  maybe now you do not care, like i did before, but i started taking care of myself when i realized that my beautiful son will grow into someone wonderful and i don't want to miss it.  much more than not wanting to be a burden to the people you love because you're sick.

so next time you skip a meal, think not only of your bulates, but also of your stomach.  ulcer isn't really the only complication, there is also anemia, depriving your brain of precious glucose, risk of bone loss, memory loss and other stuff... what is the purpose of old age, of money, of that supermodel picture if you are just lying in your bed, while your son graduates, and everybody has gotten tired of taking care of you?

doesn't it make sense?

posting whatever's on my mind.

i started getting lazy at blogging again.

i have so much to say but i ran out of interest saying much these days.

well, for one, it is officially wintertime here.  six days ago it was still awkward to wear a denim jacket but now i even wore it after my walk to the office and inside.  it was so comfy in those warm jackets and as usual, i was feeling sleepy again.  and did i mention that it was free?  one of my free voucher last eid holiday was for Lucky Stores and i told irish to buy it for me when she passed by to let them sign their magazine space.

bambi and i have been loving warm bubble baths these past few days, too.  but we did so separately.  my sched is on fridays, like today, after finishing all my friday chores - cleaning, laundry, cooking and sleeping.  it was like a mini-spa ritual coz i always put something on my hair, a pearl and egg treatment this week as opposed to the usual glossy hair spa the past weeks, and i also dabbed some warmed grapes on my face as a mask.  go to work, you anti-oxidants!  bambi's schedule is anytime he wants.  he actually finished the mango bubble smoothie that i bought, so now im using the orange lather as a bubble-bath substitute.  which is better coz it smells citrus-y.

and what else?  hmm, maybe the reason for my laziness is the fact that jared's visa was rejected again.  for the ninth time.  it was on the last step, finished from lmra, then CIO, and in GDNPR (immigration) it was rejected after 2 hours.  we were heartbroken.

but its not like me to give up when there is still hope.  so after the holidays im gonna ask for help from our superior who has a friend in the immigration for another try, otherwise i won't go home this december.   it was so painful to walk away when he was still a baby, how much more now that he has grown?

and speaking of holidays, this must be the last of the longest holiday we will have this year.  since one of the Eid holiday fell on friday, they moved it to monday, making our holidays four days instead of only three.  a lazy man's paradise, indeed.

and it was the 2nd half-week long holiday this year, coz last september we also had eid holidays lasting three days.  i think on december when we have their national day we'll also have a three-day holiday.  let's keep our hopes up.


i am also doing maricel and irish' eyeshadows every single day last week, they're like my practice dolls coz everytime i see a tutorial in youtube i do it to them the next morning.  and they love it so much that i have to bring my big 120-palette eyeshadow in the office for our daily dose of happiness.

some pictures:

eyeshadow crazies

i love it! almost three-dimensional

purple haze!

what bums me this week is that my other purchases from ebay hasn't arrived yet.  it has been 1 month and im still waiting for 12 more items, but everyday was a disappointment.


hmm.. what am i gonna do with these four days?!?

im not a coward.

we all have one or two of those people in our lives that we don't want to see any day of the year.

• your ex
• your boyfriend's ex
• if you were teacher's enemy no.1 in highschool, the teachers
• if you were public enemy no.1, the principal
• and those tactless, shameless, irritating kind of people with a mouthful of insults always in their arsenal.  

as we were walking in our street, looking for an apartment for irish,  that's when i saw grace, my father's old landlady, with whom he owes money.  a great deal of money.

but that's not why i don't want to speak to her.  its because she talks a lot.  and i hate talking to her because she has no breeding.  she does have a good heart, but her words are disgusting.

i wanted to pretend i didn't see her, but im not a coward.

and at the back of my mind i did think of walking past.  but why would i hide from her?  i don't owe her anything.

then it started.  a litany of anger and  frustration.

and yes, we want stay away from that kind.  or we sometimes give a little time to listen.  but most likely, conversations will not be made.  only one will talk.  the other, a nod or a sigh is enough.

why do we put up with them?  i don't know.  but it's not like me to turn my back on something that i can face head on.

and next time we meet, i can raise my head and smile.

coz me, im living my life without hiding from anyone.

and i am genuinely happy.

want.more.chocolates.

my boss gave me one box of their precious chocolates ($47/kilo, or 27pcs) this week and seriously, im having sore throat from nibbling these, but i cannot stop.  i am addicted :)

all for me!  okay, i gave maricel and irish 2 pieces each... im not that selfish...

chocoholic. and my lips today are no. 3 from my 22k lip palette.

no. 3 closeup... i love that pink shade!

full face.







anyways... during our 3-hour break yesterday i curled my hair a little:

i am that dork who used flash in front of the mirror

and realized that this angle is better...




what else did i realize this week?

• that my new blush smells soooo good.

• that you should always charge your camera.  for the second time i went to our workshop with a dead battery (such a loser!)

• that i have cravings before my period.  super kain.  and after my period i always lose my appetite.  kahit gutom na ko ayoko namang kumain.  i just eat when i think of jared and the future, and i don't want to be sick in the future.

• that bambi's ipod is a retard.  after i fixed it last week it started having tantrums again.  and that stupid loser face shows up in the screen:

• that the more you sleep, the more you'll feel sleepy.  seriously.

• and that i miss my son sooooooooo much... he's walking now, take a look:

jared with bambi's mother

missing the clouds

i hated clouds before.

every saturday afternoon when i was in highschool i would peek at the sky and hope that i can see blue, but in manila where more than half the year is raining, it would really take a lot of hoping.


but then i grew fond of them after once, in biology, i was seated near the door. biology was one of my favorites, because my teacher was very good at the subject. but i lost track at what she was saying when i saw a couple of clouds in the horizon.

of course, if you just look once, and if you see them everyday you wouldn't take interest at them. but that afternoon i was fascinated at the way they move. they moved very slowly. the cloud above looked like it was pouring small white cotton candies onto the cloud below.  piece by small piece they fell.  it was very mesmerizing. i looked at it for a very long time.

and there i began my fascination to the charming clouds. haven't you noticed that part of our mood is influenced by the weather? mine is partially influenced by clouds.


that is why i am missing them now.

in bahrain's perpetual summer, i rarely see a cloud.


when i was in college i used to lie down in our rooftop all afternoon, watching them pass by. one by one, dragging each other along. sometimes merging together as they floated.

i love cirrus best. they just stay at the highest point, blending the whiteness with the blue sky. it is a good day if i see cirrus.



but every friday here when i let the a-c rest, i lie in bed near the open windows and wait for them. but still i see the cloudless blue. everyday. all year.

once in a while, try to look at the sky. watch the clouds move. you too will be hypnotized by those white floats... and maybe, your spirits will lift for a while.

i miss my philippine clouds.

i hate headaches X_X

my headache will be-

triggered by:
• hunger
• too much chocolate / sweets
• too much heat
• too much sleep

relieved by:
• sleeping. if not, then by
• strong coffee. if not, then by
• vomiting. if still not, then by
• biogesic + sleep

i wonder why bambi can still play in his laptop when he has a headache. coz when i have, i don't want to move, i just want to lie down and cover my eyes with a pillow and shut down the tv.

i should've know that eating late will trigger it, but since it was ramadan and i was in the chocolate shop i had no choice but to wait. but it was too late.

and it didn't go away until i vomited. every time i have to force myself otherwise it will not go away. unfortunately this time i didn't reach the toilet (*deadz*)...

i think it was also triggered by my contact lenses. everytime i change to a new one i get headaches too...


especially with these 600's. plus i have astigmatism on my right eye X-(

hello kitty didn't help.



my consolation? these cute contact lens cases!!! the pink one i use at home and the blue for my bag.


i don't know if you also have these tell-tale signs but my sister and me, we know when a headache is coming. i know the signs and the causes, and if i can, i try to avoid it before it's too late... otherwise im back to the bathroom again... X-(




well, today i was okay, so i experimented with my new polishes:



im so excited for my date with bambi tomorrow!

chores. chores. chores. is it ever gonna end?

we are just in a cycle of cleaning and messing things up, aren't we?

since my sister is in manila, and won't come back ever, i started doing the chores again. i know im usually up with the schedule but im sure my enthusiasm will go away sometime soon...

and so they have been done - laundry, cooking & others, what im wondering is how a long day it has been. usually on fridays ill just sleep whole day, but today i was able to cook a decent dinner (omg how can i resist fish?!? i ate too much!!!) and the chores, plus i was able to have a karaoke night, and then afterwards i did my nails... although i wasn't able to have my weekly bubblebath and hot-oil, im pretty ok with my day... like i have accomplished enough. with matching siesta in the afternoon!

i marked this day "super masipag ako" day.

anyways here are my nails today:

before:




















semi-visible gold glitter from nivea with white flowers from konad

after:



















gold base with red rose from konad





i did good...

jared's 1st birthday. 3 days more before my hysterical overacting...

his first birthday and we're not there... wahhhhh!  it is so depressing...



overacting aside, how early can you remember your birthday? i can only remember it when i was in gradeschool.

grade 1 - i ate spaghetti at school.

grade 2 - i wasn't at school. i had chicken pox and even though i wasn't contagious anymore i still didn't come back after 3 months hihi!

grade 3 - i was in guimaras, and i had a broken elbow. imagine me going to school with a bandage.

grade 4 - i think i had a terrible headache and just stayed in bed. saddest ever...

grade 5 - there was a storm. we went to school to check if we were allowed to go, coz i didn't want to spend it at home. i don't have parents like you...

i slipped at school, wet my skirt and it turns out the classes were suspended.

grade 6 - my mother came home from hongkong and we had a big celebration. i was the star! it was weird and i didn't know how to handle it so i tried to be low-profile...

high school birthdays weren't much remembered too... except for this one time when we were practicing for choir practice and it was almost over when pastor told the band "ok..." and we were ready to sing our song when they all sang "happy birthday".

i almost cried.


thinking back, i realized it wasn't normal what i had for my birthdays. weren't your parents suppose to at least prepare something and make you feel special especially if you're still a child and birthday were magical days when your wishes comes true?

im overacting again...