the cheater that i am

[CGN Diet] - Week 1 Day 4

i'm out of stocks! no more pineapple juice, lettuce, soya milk, chicken hahaha so i believe i kinda ate less today. every supermarket we saw on the way was closed... i just had to note this though,  North EDSA looked so dark when SM is closed. hahaha >XD so tomorrow, i'm off to bit of grocery shopping. i really don't have any money with me so i'll just buy a few items huhu



breakfast: chauchard tea, chicken, choco oatmeal, soymilk, lettuce/pipino/tomato caesar salad
lunch: lettuce/raddish/kamatis caesar salad, chicken, pineapple, chauchard tea, brownies (just one), dark choco (oh sorry)
snack:  none cos i already ate my dark choco for lunch and i have no peanuts at home hehe
dinner: fish, pineapple juice, saging na saba with cheese

i still weigh the same

[CGN Diet] Week 1 - Day 3

maybe it's too early to expect anything from this program... i'm only on day 3 and my food for this day was blessed with so much salt... i like salty. i dunno if it's good to shower my food with too much salt hahaha but it helps me appreciate the taste better. not that it's bad naman haha

hey but for some reason, since day 1 i never craved for rice! even if my family is feasting on fried rice and fish, i never even craved. this is kindofa milestone for me. hahaha

breakfast: chauchard tea, ground chicken with tomato and onion, choco oatmeal, soy milk, lettuce caesar salad
lunch: lettuce salad with tofu, homemade beef patty with onion/celery/carrots, cheese, chauchard tea
snack: apple, dark chocolate
dinner: lettuce salad, fish, pineapple juice, tea

weight: still 62 kg

feeling healthy. still heavy

[CGN Diet] Week 1 - Day 2

i dunno, but i feel like i'm cheating so much with this diet! haha i do believe that dieting is not about starving yourself but eating just the right foods for your body. but well, i think i'm eating the right foods naman... just the wrong amount... i uhm, eat a lot of servings! specially the main courses like chicken and beef. and instead of the recommended homemade vinaigrette, i use caesar salad dressing hahaha eh ansarap eh. haha anyway, here's what i ate yesterday haha

breakfast: scrambled edd with onion, choco oatmeal, soy milk, lettuce/pipino/tomato caesar salad, chauchard tea
lunch: steamed carrots/kalabasa/sayote, beef steak, pineapple juice, green tea
snack: peanuts, dark choco
dinner: caesar salad, green tea, moniegold chewable tamarind candy on the sides

[CGN Diet] Week 1 - Day 1

i knew the program was supposed to be started on a Monday but i was too anxious to start! e kasi naman kakasweldo lang kahapon so shempre gabi na ko nag-grocery.

my first impressions of the program were: too expensive and too time consuming.

that was before i started preparing and blah. for some reason, it was kinda easy naman pala to prepare food. shempre there's ate wilma who helped me with the little dishes like poached eggs and steamed vegetables but hey! i did the major part, my lunch! my own version of their "marinated chicken skewers" (sans the skewers) blah. i bought chicken breasts from the supermarket, careful to get just the right amount cos i have trauma sa mga wet areas the supermarket eh, every gram costs a freakin lot haha eh i'm diet on a budget nga diba haha. when i got home, i marinated it with whatever citrus fruit i found in the ref (dalandan), salt, pepper, magic sarap, and mckormick turmeric chuva. in the end it smelled like curry lang naman pala kala ko kung anong pausong gourmet dish eh.

anyhow. i know some of you guys are annoyed with people who always always always update their social networking hubs with what they eat up to the last bite... like people actually care... but let it be clear that my purpose for such uhm, vanity (if i must say) is to create an abode for my so called "weight loss journal". haha

so here goes. almost all of my meals are substitutes cos i can't afford the exact stuff they want me to buy haha

breakfast: hard boiled egg, instant oatmeal, soya milk, pipino with apple cider vinegar, chauchard tea (or simply anise + rosemary + thyme tea). all the herbs are c/o mckormick haha
lunch: marinated chicken blah, steamed carrots sayote kalabasa, cheddar cheese, green tea
snack: apple, dark chocolate, green tea
dinner: take out KFC chicken caesar salad, pineapple juice, chooks-to-go chicken whites (basta walang balat huhu), chauchard tea
water: 0.8 liters

weight: 62kg as of this morning before breakfast

odiba? busog! HAHA di ko nga alam kung diet nga ba to eh. kanina napapaisip ako kung papayat ba talaga ko dito o ginogoyo lang ako. according to the person who developed this diet, it's imperative to eat the right foods at the right time and on the right intervals. his suggestion was to eat each meal set every 4 hours since breakfast. phase 1 deals with detoxification daw, so it's more on protein and vegetables and blah... then on the succeeding phases, the meal sets will be customized to gradually introduce the right food for my so called "chrono-geno-type"

what really won my "heart" with this diet is their claim that their program offers a fast, healthy and permanent way to lose weight. odiba kung di ka ba naman mabentahan ng ganyang pangako? madami na rin kasi akong na-try... specifically:

1. biofit tea aka biofit-tae
2. bigguerlai aka the bigger lie
3. maggie fitness essence tipong maggie-gising ka sa sakit ng ulo
and finally
4. lipo 6 black hers ultra concentrate aka lipo sucks black hers ultra concentrated sa hindi pagpapa-tulog sayo and ultra concentrated din ang presyo sa mahal

and well, they worked! except that totoo nga ang mga haka haka, pag tinigil mo, doble ang balik. and they weren't really the type na healthy. i remember nung kasagsagan ng addiction ko sa senna tea products (1 & 2), i suffered from acid reflux huhu

nos. 3&4 are the types to work on suppressing your appetite. which is wrong kasi hindi naman undernourishment ang habol ko kundi sexiness diba. at pag walang laman chan ko sumasakit ulo ko ng bongga hay.

okay balik sa CGN diet...

overall, i'd say it was a good start? except that i fail so much with my water intake. was supposed to eat tuna for dinner eh kaso may chicken sa bahay eh birthday kaya ni mommy andaming pagkain HUHUHU.

So Undercover: a special screening for Nuffnangers

My second free movie treat from Nuffnang! Thanks a lot to Adidas Neo too! was able to bring my boyfriend this time hehe

the movie was funny to some extent but there were a couple of points i felt the jokes were too awkward and trying hard. haha not a miley cyrus fan but the movie is nice naman. i mean, generally i'll consider this a flop. the story was bad and i didn't see a lot going on. hehe nonetheless, free movie is free! no free popcorn and drinks this time.. aww.

just a few pictures under the cut >:D

Chrono-geno-nutrition diet blah

in a desperate attempt to lose weight, i kinda bit into this deal i saw at www.cashcashpinoy.com hahaha

i'm planning on starting this monday but i realized i'm too broke to afford the meal plans they recommended for my "chrono-geno type". i don't even know if i can afford the entire thing. and i found that i can download an almost exact diet plan FOR FREE, if only i just searched around the web before falling into this trap. haynako.

i appreciate the entire plan. in fact i believe it really works. but i guess they forgot to consider asking in their surveys (yes they let you fill out a survey which will determine the diet plan that best suits you) two of the most crucial things any "dieter" would consider in taking such a deal...

1) they didn't ask HOW MUCH MONEY someone is willing to shell out in order to follow their diet plan. a groceries worth for their meal plans cost 1-2k already. AND I FRKN DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY FOR FOOD. if that's the case i could just starve myself to my desired beach body but heck i already tried and it didn't work. haha

2) they didn't ask HOW MUCH TIME someone can dedicate to preparing all those crazy recipes. crazy in a point of view of someone who doesn't regularly cook and is unfamiliar with the entirety of the plant species available at the grocery. see, the only time i allot for breakfast is 30 minutes and that consist of eating alone. 

yes yes. i'm complaining right now cos i feel like i just wasted 990 pesos for something i can't even put my head into. i'm too busy and poor.

yeah right yeah right. i'll see what i can do. i wonder if replacing almost 70% of the ingredients with cheaper and more common ones will help. >:P

gawd, i wish i just enrolled myself in a sports clinic though. grr

i just probably need some motivation right? like money? >:7

passion talk

there's a trend happening in my life right now and it's getting me really confused. you know how i'm all about discovering my REAL passion and wondering how to live it to the fullest without compromising my state of wealth? i haven't got a solid resolution to that. i already know what my passion is and it's actually quite spot-on in my case because you know, it just shows.

during "the search", here are a few pointers that helped me...

you know you're passionate about something when...

• you love doing it
• you're good at it. you don't have to be the best. you just have to be good.
• you can do it for food. haha who cares about money, you just need to be alive. hahaha

if you're still unsure, just think of your passion as something you love doing so much such that when you STOP doing it, someone will hurt more than you do. you're passion is probably a place where you're most appreciated. it's a comfort zone where you can build your own world.

then i came about listing down stuff i do, regardless of whether i love doing em or not... as long it's a major part of my life, and here they go:

1. my nine to five - programming

- i don't love it. unless you consider html/css as programming languages then maybe there's a chance i love it like 60%. otherwise, no. nada. urgh.

- some say i'm good at it, my classmates and college professors believe i'm good at it. BUT I DON'T. you know, there has to be an agreement between you and the world before you can admit you're good at something. and i'm breaking that balance. confidence is a big thing huh?

- somehow i do it for food cos technically, i'm getting paid a steady amount of income. but i definitely won't go around the streets looking like a hobo, carrying a sign "will program for food". the horror man. the horror.

joker said that if you're good at something, never do it for free. but i daresay that if you're doing something you don't like for a living, charge higher. eventually you'll need the buffer on mental and emotional stress medication.

and finally, if i ever stopped programming, i'm pretty confident that NO ONE WILL CARE (well, HRs are default). in fact, I WON'T.

whew. how come this item is so easy?

daily news flash? i'm at the wrong path buddies! that, or i just need some kind of motivation or something or NOT.

2. writing - blogging, reviewing, freelancing blah

- i love doing it. period!

- i think i'm good at it. not really good, but good enough to still be able to feed this thing since 2004 hahaha. writing for me has a lot of perks... so far my writing has rewarded me a lot already... lemme go through them... boxes of coffee, movie ticketsssss, cash, paypal funds, gift checks, invites...etc! and all of them made me soooo happy. >XD

- can i do it for food? definitely! i don't know why, but i think i can live off as a poor writer or something. WAHAHAHA i'm imagining if ever it happened, i'll dedicate myself to publishing this one twisted story i have in mind. running and pleading over publishers to take a look at my story and invest! hahahaha

if i ever stopped writing i know not even a fraction of the world will be affected. direct effects only reflect on my paypal funds hahaha but it's gonna be extremely hard for me to give writing up. even though i've gone 9 years without establishing a steady readership, in the first place, i never wrote to please anyone. this abode is all for myself apparently and and, it will hurt so much if it goes down. huhu

with that i could say i'm 70% passionate about blogging, and 30% passionate in blog monetizing. hahaha >XD

3. drawing, illustrating, designing, blah

- i super duper love doing it. even though i don't draw as much as a write, i guess i can say i never draw mindlessly? or something. hahaha

- i'm good at it! i know i'm good at it. and i believe i have a lot of my friends' support on this. i'm good. and i want to be better.

- heck i can do it for free. but it woudn't hurt to charge. haha >XD

if i quit this. i might as well die. i'll never be more appreciated anywhere else.

this is it goys. this is what i want. what i love. what i want to pursue (in my dreams). i want to be a great illustrator, artist, layout designer. art makes me feel alive! wherever i go, it seems like i'm always being remembered as the artist. and it sucks that until now, i'm still not the artist that i want to be.

here's the sad part though. i don't think i can pursue it anytime soon, for practical reasons. yeah right. yeah right.

sucks right? i mean, if i want to land on a pot of gold in this field, i have to invest a pot of gold as well. and right now, i only have a pot. arts, baby.

ah the trend? i feel like the relationship between passion and income is indirectly proportional. hahaha it's like, i can program for a hundred bucks, write for food, and draw for free. see that? haha

trouble learning?

back in the old days, private tutoring services are considered only for the rich. whenever i learn of someone who has a private tutor in math or science, i always get the impression that he has very strict parents who can afford to spend on top of what they pay the school to do. but now, access to one has become so much easier...

thanks to the internet, finding a tutor is made more convenient. at the comfort of your homes, you can easily search web pages and screen teachers according to your own preference like gender, specialty and location. For example if you live in WC New York you can easily find Westchester tutors in just a few clicks. If you want someone who's an expert in math and at the same time can relate to kids, you can easily filter that info on your searches. if you want someone credible, you can drop at a legal site offering tutoring services and inspect their resumes with all 

the best part in hiring a tutor of course is that, with its very intention, it will help the student learn better and become more academically on track. the personalized environment that private tutors offer give the students a chance to be more interactive with the lesson, thus encouraging him/her to be more interested in learning. 

Kadayawan Banner

7ft (approx.) Kadayawan themed banner

yesterday the IT department held its annual RnR (rewards and recognition) program. this year it's festival themed and one task is to create a banner design for the group. i was one of those tasked to do it, and well, that's how the picture above came about.

it was really stressful. the contest was announced last week, but they took it back on friday. come monday, the contest is up again. and well, it's due the next day! without any solid planning in mind we thought of just covering the whole plank of wood with festive colors and whatnots about kadayawan (which is basically fruits and harvest and a splash of colors). so i took 6 cartolinas, drew a head on each of them, and painted with mon and ricky.

painting was the hard, well exhausting, part. we started 9am and the program will be at 2pm so the banner has to be up before that, and we still need to eat lunch yknow. so we ended up laying down all 6 heads on the floor to paint them simultaneously, one color at a time. i thought it could save us quite some bathroom trips to refill the water bowl (yknow what i mean?), and also the brushes (yknow when... basta).

for the most part it was extremely tiring! yknow... having to bend over painting for hoooours! by the time we're done my back was hurting so bad and i feel super haggard to the bones! >XS

sorry, but i was actually expecting to win. so i kindof feel bitter that we didn't haha i felt really proud (inside) of that work. it was literally on the spot. and despite the short notice it did turn out quite nice naman diba? haha grr

this morning i wake up with a really really bad muscle pain. it's funny cos all i did was paint. it can't be that physical, can it? haha my entire back, thighs and arms hurt. HAHA beats me why my body hurts like i just had a heavy workout argh. >:S

thank you, pastor!

one morning while i was eating breakfast (somewhere between this week), my mom told me that pastor rutti morata (or pastor ro-te as we call him), has passed away. it was a shocking moment, i knew he was sick and confined and needed lots of financial aid recently, but i didn't expect that his illness was that critical. i don't even know what it is he suffered from. >:'( i felt really sad, he's very close to the family, you know like if there's a family doctor, he's our family pastor. my parents make it a point to always invite him on every special occasion we're celebrating. he has blessed our house and has prayed over our family a lot of times. he was someone who contributed a freaking lot to our family's spiritual life. and most importantly for me, he taught me how to play the piano better so i can serve God. he taught me how to read piano chords and encouraged me to be part of their music ministry. and i was, until i became too busy.  >:'( he taught me how to play the guitar. >:'(

he might have lived a short life but in that span, i'm sure he has maximized his days serving the Lord like no other. his death only marks the rise of all the churches he has planted. i also know that God will not leave his family feeling abandoned but rather they will feel more comfortable knowing that their beloved's soul is now up and secured. <3

late night rant

GOODBYE. GOODBYE NA TALAGA. AYOKO NA. >:|

yung tipong di ko na alam gagawin ko kasi wala na yung taong naging foundation ko dito. yung taong pwede kong pagtanungan ng mga dummy questions without fear of being judged. yung mga tipong pag sa iba ko tinanong, mao-offend na nga ako, di ko pa maiintindihan yung explanation kasi sobrang technical. tas dahil di ko nagets, itatanong ko ulit. tapos mafufrustrate na kami pareho kasi ni-lowest terms na nya yung explanation nya, di ko parin magets. wahahahaha >XD

di na uubra cheerfulness ko dito kasi ultimo sa pagiging cheerful, kelangan competitive parin. HAHAHAHA

BYE

cartoon house illustration

done with photoshop cs4 using this awesome tutorial: http://vectorboom.com/load/tutorials/illustration/cartoonhouse/5-1-0-241

yeyy! i dunno why, this took me like 4 hours in total but i really enjoyed doing this and discovering new techniques... playing with gradients, filters and opacity waaaah <3 <3 <3

people

there will always be people whom you'll never get comfortable with right? no matter what you do. no matter how much you try, your personalities will always clash albeit indirect and impersonal, and you'll be spending an eternity together in that shared animosity, secretly hating each other to the guts. it's not even because of a misunderstanding, but because you see through each other's characters and see yourself! your proud, domineering, competitive and possessive self.

but that's just half of it. looking on the other side of it you see both of your good natures, ready to work together in a secret compromise. offering friendly smiles and lending genuine helpful hands. you both know you have to work together to accomplish things, but you also couldn't deny a truth that one has to be better than the other.

therefore, i concede. it's useless fighting against myself.

Oz the Great and Powerful: a special screening for Nuffnangers!

i always get extremely stoked when i get freebies or win something. kahit ano pa yan. libreng pamaypay sa mrt, libreng sakay, free taste ng noodles/gatas/chips sa supermarket, libreng ballpen sa jobfair, basta libre sige! haha which is why i was so happy when i became an active member of the nuffnang blogging community... andaming perks! i ain't like those bloggers who monetize their pages with all traffic and seriousness (cos at one point i'd like to keep this personal parin) but with what stuff i write, i'm happy that somehow i'm getting rewarded! haha

i joined one of their promos and won 4 tickets to a special screening of Oz the Great and Powerful and a raffle entry for a chance to win a Lumia 620 or 820 (didn't win tho). 

so what about the movie? it's actually a prequel of the well known Oz with Dorothy as the main cast. it talks about how the great wizard of Oz came to be after being swept by a tornado to the magical land of Oz. what i really really liked about the film is the stunning visual effects and animation. sobrang hats off talaga. eto yung movie na hindi 3D pero mapapakapit ka sa upuan mo! >XD for some reason Oz's character (played by James Franco) kindof reminded me of Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp).

anyway, here are some photos from the event! again, many thanks to Nuffnang Philippines for making this happen and of course to Nokia and Abenson Appliance for making this happener (ok. sorina haha)!

registration area for the winners! >XD

my +3: mark, dan and terai!

free popcorn + drinks!

freebies from Nokia after the film! shirt, 2gigs USB, sortalikea ref magnet and a pillow! >XD

congrats mommy! >:D

yeyyy! congrats mommy! the insurance and investment sales industry is a tough business, but every year you prove us wrong and make us proud. here's to your being a lifetime MDRT (million dollar round table) qualifier! thank you for introducing us to the world of financial planning (chauce!), i know one day our policies will pay off and we'll reap hundreds of k's with it (realistic yan, kasi maliit pa lang policy ko haha). i also hope that one day people will have a good understanding on why it's always best to plan ahead and invest for their futures. and of course, have someone trustworthy to help manage their wealth. oha. so anong plano mo? usap tayo! (read: implied salestalk)

but seriously, the reasons why i always look forward to this annual recognition thing are theeeeese:

1) fee hotel accommodation for 1 day! >XD this year philam life brought their awardees to makati shang last march 5! >XD

 2) foooooood! complimentary breakfast buffet omnomnomnomnomnom

say hello to my breakfast kahapon haha (na hindi ko naubos)

3) and of course!

yeyyyy! ang masaklap lang eh ambilis lang... hahaha after swimming, back to work na agad. haggard pa para mahabol ung 10:30am sched. haha >XD then again, enjoy! >:D parang panaginip lang haha

yeyy! i won free tickets to Oz!

yeheyyy! i won 4 tickets to a special movie screening of Oz the Great and Powerful! plus a bonus raffle entry to win a Lumia phone! nah, not counting on it! i really just joined for the tickets! >XD uhm, no actually i joined because i'm a promo freak. but none of those contests with criterias like most creative, most pretentious, most comments and most something blah haha. just those i can manage... like first something. hahaha

anyhow. looking forward to this! superthanks to these great people for making this possible! 

Nuffnang Philippines for the great opportunity!

and of course, Nokia and Abensons for sponsoring this great event! cheeers! >XD i'm so happy because.. i dunno. haha there's really no reason not to. >XD

Live Your Style with adidas NEO

if we're talking about personality expression through fashion, you're in the wrong site! if anything, i'm on the far end of the world when it comes to dressing up. i'd say i'm less of the show off and more of the functional dresser. less blings, more pockets. backpacks over totes. jeans over dresses. and definitely rubber shoes over flats or slippers. that's my daily casual choice unless forced otherwise! haha

but among the casual stuff i gear myself with, i'm most particular with the footwear. i can sweep the tiangges with everything from top to bottom but not the bottom most! haha i can be an extreme budgetarian on everything but not my shoes. it has to be strong and durable, ready to withstand my daily walk-apades. it has to be stylish too, which in my sense means it has to effortlessly match anything i wear. you see, i'm not wardrobe savvy, but it doesn't mean i don't care. at the very least, i can say i have no intention to look like a daily fashion joke.

which is why i find it necessary to invest on the right footwear. if anything, it's what keeps me most confident when i walk out in broad daylight wearing chop chop finds from the tiangges. haha and with my job title (read: programmer), i never have to worry pretending to be the corporate chic that i'm not cos we're not required to dress up like so. in the office it's always casual on the go ho ho!

so if footwear is the game, adidas is THE name!

Embrace fun, spontaneity and the unexpected twists in fashion when the adidas NEO Label Spring 2013 collection hits stores in January to March.

Living a carefree journey that lets teens make their own style, NEO will capture attention with unique and innovative fashion and design twists on Spring merchandise. Products have multiple purposes or added value.

NEO will release a fresh product offering each month, spotlighting a fashion trend interpreted in a different way. In March patterns are the highlight, featuring vibrant waves of colour, with subtle patterns that appear to be one thing but on close inspection reveal another. These will include camouflage prints and edgy takes on adidas NEO slogans with a focus on windbreakers and shirts. Sporty, street and lifestyle footwear silhouettes with strong colour and graphic links create the look.

NEO footwear is available in SM and select Robinson’s Department Stores nationwide.

tutor power!

if you are concerned about your child's academic performance getting a bit haywire because of a lot of distractions like video games, internet and TV, you might want to consider hiring a tutor to help your precious one cope. A lot of kids nowadays couldn't stay focused on one thing specially after school is over. this causes them to forget about homework and other acad stuff due the following days. when this happens and stuff gets piled up, eventually the child loses interest in learning because he comes to class empty handed and doesn't understand what's happening on the board anymore. if you could imagine how awful this will progress, you'll realize that it's all brought about by one simple thing: forgetting to do homework because of a lot of distractions.

hiring a tutor will definitely help children enjoy their academics better and PASS THEIR HOME WORKS on time. i couldn't stress out enough how vital accomplishing home works are. if anything, it's an opportunity to score a perfect hundred! why? because once you go out of school, you have the right to use every resources out there to accomplish your job perfectly. and when it comes to resources, instead of burying your nose on a book, you could look for a tutor to help you PERSONALLY with your acad problems.

private tutoring gives that very personalized environment which is perfect for children to grow their minds without being trampled by classroom disturbances. with a tutor, the student will feel more comfortable making mistakes because tutors usually and almost always provide indiscriminate feedback to wrong answers. they help you learn from your mistakes instead of shoving you off on the sides which is embarrassing (it's the classmates who are usually responsible for this, albeit unknowingly).

any how, to get you started, the web nowadays offer a lot of avenues for you to find the tutor that best fits your children's needs. say you're looking for a tutor nearby, you can google up your location and find qualified tutors around (more information here). The good thing about looking online is that you can readily read their resumes and qualifications, and evaluate asap. Plus if it's online, chances are the person is really taking his tutoring career at a professional level, and not just out of a hobby.

there you go! tutor power to help your children better! :)