blessings and highlights!

since the year is about to end, let me recap some of the best things that has happened to me this year, all thanks to God! 

# jeckie and i turned 2 years! 

to infinity and beyond! lol

i consider this a milestone because i've observed a lot of serious relationships fail come 2 years time. i was even afraid that our love will start to decline at this point! but noooo! i'm so blessed that God gave me someone who secures me with his love every single day. aw. naiiyak ako hahaha. here's to forever! yiiie keso much! <3

# water baptized for the first time!

victory weekend

seriously this is the best encounter i had with God and it was sooooo amazing. ever since sunday school, i've never been this active at church. when terai and i moved to victory nova, things started to change. we became more engaged in church activities and i felt more responsible spiritually.

but you know, one important thing i learned about being a christian is that IT'S AN EVERYDAY STRUGGLE. getting water baptized doesn't coat us with an invisible shield that wards off evil and temptation, in fact we become more susceptible to it. it's how we react to them that we practice our being heirs to the kingdom of God. hard life, yeah, but the choice is ours.

# new year, new job!

i'm frkn excited about what this new life will bring me. i may be back to 0 but it's all good. at least i believe it's all for the good of my, ano ba, (mental) health? haha i'll definitely miss the people i've worked with though!

# new laptop!

lenovo flex 14

300 degrees! touch screen! elibs much ako

i could say this is where half of my christmas bonus went. i admit i was almost bankrupt after this purchase but well, i'm leaving my job so i have to surrender the company laptop and i can't live without a laptop sorry na. hahaha! i'm still in the process of appreciating windows 8 (by making it look windows 7-ish haha) but right now i'm kindof frustrated that my portable photoshopS won't run. huhu

# surprise family gift!

HIRO foot massager

last year, i bought a 32" LED tv for the fam. this year, i bought a foot massager kasi i know it's going to be abused like crazy (and indeed). who doesn't want a pampering after a hard day's work? grabe adik na kami lahat dito. haha if i can only afford those full body massage chairs that'll be ozom but for now, eto muna. no to credit card! i got this at 30% off and with an additional gift (a slimming belt!) kasi i'm the last customer na magte-12mn na kasi non haha

super hassle nya i-uwi cos we never expected the box to be so big, it won't fit inside the taxi. sa harap, sa likod, sa trunk ayaw talaga! we had to remove it from the box para lang mai-saksak ng maayos sa trunk. sobrang hassle. but worth it parin! hahaha thank you jeckie! hihi

i feel sad cos this is probably the last time i'll be able to buy something big for the family. next year for sure di ko na to afford, knowing that my salary is gonna take a deep dive for a while. hehehe. ipon ipon na lang ulit, at business business din! >XD

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this january, i have to be careful not to spend too much. being that my last salary at smart is going to be held for 2 months and my first salary at pointwest will probably be credited by the end of january pa, mejo poorita mode ulit! talaga naman kasi pag pasko, spluuuurge!

Lord sana maulit ulit tong kagastusan na to! at least i know i have moolah hahaha

Graphika Manila 2014 to happen on February 1

somebody please take me here! i super duper want to go here, but i think it's too pricey even for an early bird (Php 1750 until Dec 20 only) i hope the sponsors would throw in free passes naman this Christmas pleaaaase! haha

still looking forward to this event. >XD 70% decided, jeckie kamooooown!

full deets here: http://www.graphikamanila.com

UPDATE: bought passes na! haha see you on Feb 1!

Nike We Run Manila 2013

oh yeaaahh!

Nike We Run Manila 2013 was held yesterday december 1 at marikina city. gun start at 4pm :D

yesterday was sooo awesome! first time to run 10k outdoors and i seriously enjoyed it! i came along with 4 of my college friends jun, mark, dan and edlaine and we had so much fuuuun!

amigos <3

i'm just starting a running habit and this was a totally good experience for me! this is the second running event i joined (first was red cross million volunteer run) and everything was mostly good!

pros:

- race kit claiming was very organized. with an event like this i was expecting chaos during the claiming dates (nov 21-24) but surprisingly the lines were smooth and there were no long queues as there were around 10+ claiming counters. they gave out a really big tote bag considering it only contained the red runner's shirt, map/guidelines, and dtag. hahaha

- it felt different (in a positive way) running around a neighborhood as opposed to running along the highway or on a treadmill (duh? haha)

- hydration for me was okay. there were tons of water and even though a lot of runners were complaining about the lack of gatorade, the overflow of water (i think) is enough to quench our thirst. hehe

- for the price of 850 per runner, 2 drifit nike shirts + nike water bottle is really sulit! i particularly liked the red shirt cos it's softer and felt more drifit than the white finisher's shirt. hehe

- it felt very uplifting and encouraging hearing the townspeople and children cheer for you along the sides! "go runners!" "wohoooo!" "nike run nga eh! hindi nike walk!" hahaha panalo! there were kids na nakiki-apir pa along the way. but i didn't indulge hahaha.

- the finish line was stationed inside the sports complex so it felt great having to cap off your race in the tracks! feeling marathoner! ang astig sobrang fulfilling! hahaha

- finisher's kit claiming was also a breeze. no long lines. claiming was divided by shirt size and the entire complex was lined up with claiming booths. :D finishers kit included the finishers shirt, nike water bottle, gatorade, and premier drinking water.

- after party concert was awesome kahit di na namin inabutan haha

- going home was a breeze, no traffic at all. thanks dan for the ride! >:D

cons:

- hindi naman talaga ako competitive but some roads were too narrow to accommodate running participants, so most resorted to just walk until they reach a wider street. hehe

- sana may 'FINISHER' na nakalagay sa finishers shirt para mas cool tingnan.

- also, i hoped they allowed us to change shirt sizes cos apparently the finishers shirt was a bit smaller than the runner's shirt. huhu 

- mejo nakaka-guilty tingnan yung mga closed roads accumulating traffic and angry motorists. i hope they change venue next year, MOA, CAVITEX or BGC are still the best options for running events. hehe

- i also hope they made it a morning race as well! no qualms about starting at the afternoon (at least hindi mainit hehe) the thing is, afternoon traffic is worse. i'd rather wake up super early and finish early! hehe

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overall it was a great run! kudos to nike and runrio! yahoooo! after the run i (unwillingly HAHA) treated my friends to tapsi ni vivian as a post birthday treat. hello to tapsi, bulalo and lechong kawali! in fairness nangarag ang restaurant because of the volume of people who dined in! super full house!

hello high blood!

the goys

i enjoyed it a lot that i had to file for a sick leave today because my body won't cooperate. i have a feeling my right leg was strained so pilay pilayan ako ngayon. i hate this feeling, it feels like my injury is recurring. :'(

UPDATE:

race results out! here's mine, for keepsake haha

Bib number: 69404
Rank: #11505 (yeahh and there were like 15k runners ok?! *proud moment* hahaha)
Gun time: 01:59:20
Chip time: 01:37:21

were you also a participant? how did you find it? :)

3-day juice detox (with Sly Diet)

naks jumu-juice diet. :)

the reason why i wanted to try this out is because i've been hearing good reviews about the effects of detoxifying/cleansing via juice diet. and you know, a lot of celebrities are vouching on this healthy habit too and knowing their vanity, it has to be effective.

nakiki-uso lang talaga ko. LOL. but kidding aside, i thought this is a good jumpstart to eating clean and healthy. kung pwede lang mabuhay na ganito lang but that's gonna be so expensive. hahaha

so let's start! madaming sikat dyan and endorsed by celebrities, i personally wanted to try Detoxify Bar but they don't deliver to our place at QC, and you have to reserve at least 1 day to have your juice processed. same goes with Skinny Juicery and Fitness Potions. you have to reserve at least a day before your planned diet, and they have very limited delivery areas too.

that's when i found Sly Diet! actually di ko alam kung pano ko nahagilap to, i think i was just browsing fb pages offering juice diets and i came across it! :D Fortunately, they deliver at fairview area so ang saya ko lang! haha anyway,

Sly Diet has 5 flavors available and they're numbered too so i took them in that order for the entire day hehe

1. Power Trip
spinach, parsley, celery, brocolli, sweet potato, apple and ginger
i liked the taste of this soo much cos it reeks majorly of celery and i love celery!

2. Alkaline Divine

lemon, pink grapefruit, melon, cayenne, honey and alkaline water

this one's really spicy yet refreshing. i love how the melon tasted in this! hehe

3. True Love

red grapes, beet, lychee, apple

i loooove lychee and grapes, and together they're true love haha.

4. Berry Brilliance

goji, cranberry, cherry, pure coconut juice

this is probably the clearest drink. no residual stuff and bits. i also like how this tastes, pwede inumin ng derecho perfect pang quench ng uhaw! >XD

5. Vanity Affair

carrot, apple, cucumber, ginger, honey

i love carrots so i definitely loved how this tastes! 

they didn't really provide me with a "program" on how to take them so i just followed the number in the bottles. haha i drank them in this order

6am - upon waking - tea (para warm hehe)
8am - breakfast - (1) Power Trip
10am - morning snack - (2) Alkaline Divine
12nn - lunch - (3) True Love
3pm - afternoon snack - (4) Berry Brilliance
5pm - early dinner - (5) Vanity Affair
8pm - dinner - green tea (i drink lipton green tea with mint)

but hey i didn't really follow the strictly no solid food diet haha whenever i crave for something solid i eat crackers. hehe i also eat oatmeal raisin cookies along with my nighttime tea para masaya.

and in fairness! i hardly felt hungry throughout the days. as in! sapat na ung maka-4 crackers a day ako! hoy 640 calories din yun sa isang araw, mukang mabigat, but it helped ease the psychological hunger. but really, during my day 1 i only ate 3 cookies during the night. i never craved for anything during the day, i felt full but not bloated.

it was a very refreshing experience!

orayt, on to their prices (which are, of course, subject to change):

Small - 250mL - Php 175
Medium - 350mL - Php 220
Large - 500mL - Php 340

they deliver for free (at least for now?) and one thing to note is that they don't have insulated bags hehe they put the bottles in paper bags hehe so i suggest you buy your own bag if you want to bring it to the office (i had my juices delivered in the office so no hassle derecho sa ref hehe)

a day of full cleansing costs Php 1,320 hehe
for optimum results you may do it for 3 days straight. i did it for the first time and i felt better and lighter. some (dalawa lang actually hahaha) people say na mejo pumayat na nga ko. haha but the point is really to jumpstart a clean eating habit and this program definitely launched me for a good start!

you can opt for a full day cleanse like what i did, or for beginners, you can start by replacing your meals with Power Trip at least twice a day. just carry on with the smell, i'm sure that for those who are not used to eating greens they'll find everything disgusting. so sanayan lang din!

for more details you may reach them at www.slydiet.com

how about you, have you tried or are you planning to try juice detox? share your thoughts! :)

God has better plans for me

i'm finding it hard to accept that i just lost a job offer at a company i've wanted to work for for so long. i've been waiting for this opportunity since ever. now i don't know where to go, how to continue working. i've lost my programming mojo long ago and it's gonna be tough to gather it all back. it's like torn to pieces and scattered all over argh. i don't even want it back to be honest.

i feel really frkn bad! when i got the offer i felt really excited! sooo excited, but i had to wait until january to be fully available, for practical reasons. but argh the position was urgent and so, and i quote, "the managers decided to identify another candidate who can start immediately."

the tragic (tragic talaga? haha) message found its way to may mailbox first thing in the morning and i couldn't believe my eyes as they start to tear up. all my dreams! all my visions of a better life! gone! (exage ang lola nyo) gone like water receding back into the sea, leaving my legs damp and irritated by the sand. yes, kelangan may pagsasalarawan hehe. if i could only follow it to the ocean. chos.

anyway, life goes on. i can't possibly let myself wallow in misery and self-pity the entire day in the toilet (well i did for a good quarter hour haha), so with all the courage, este tissue, i could harbor, i picked up my ass and went back to my seat. sad and defeated and wanting to die. joke! hahahaha

i trust God. i know all this is for that great plan he has for me! if anything, i learned to address the very reason that brought me to resign in the first place. insecurity. that i'm not competent enough. that i'm lagging behind in knowledge base and that i can't see my worth in this company. earning a job offer in what i consider one of my dream companies to work for surely reminded me that hey arianne, you're good, you're competent and you have something to offer. point taken? good. now we're taking the offer back. !@#$%^&^%$R#E@!

ok. uwi na me!

welcome to go brainy!

don't get your hopes up! it's just an anagram. :P

i'm in the process of moving YET AGAIN. yeah. just watch out. haha

Fibr: Home’s Most Powerful Broadband

I must agree that no matter how good a device is, without a powerful internet connection, you cannot fully enjoy it. And with the growing amount of stuff we do on the internet, the demand for more speed and less network traffic has become a priority for those who take abode online.

If you're an online junkie like me i'm sure you've witnessed how internet service providers have evolved time and time again to provide better connection to its users. from prepaid cards and dial-up modems, to wireless broadband, to DSL, to wifi, i'm sure we've all had a fancy tour of the information highway with them.

But here's the deal, PLDT has released a new product that will take your online experience to the skyway away from all the hassles of traffic! you read that right, we're not cruising on the good ol' highway anymore! this time, we'll be riding on Fibr: Home's Most Powerful Broadband.

And dear folks, to take you on a virtual tour of the amazing Fibr is Fib, a superhero i designed in the image and likeness of PLDT Fibr (or more appropriately, Flash!).

meet Fib! 

And just like Fibr, Fib has as a mean bunch of skills that will surely beat anyone who dares compete!

For one, she has super speed! and that's because of fiber optic technology. it's faster than the regular metal cables and delivers data with the highest integrity. oyeah!

Next, super multitasking, Fib can do a lot of stuff simultaneously without compromising quality and without ever breaking down. Talk about Fibr, you can browse multiple websites at once and be at peace that they will all load in a snap! boom!

VIP access to ClickPlay and Cignal: not all superheroes have access to the elite world of ClickPlay and Cignal, but Fib has! with her, you are privileged to stream blockbuster movies or browse TV channels right at the comfort of your homes! talk about sosyal! and with her super speed, buffering is out of her vocabulary. oha.

So what are you waiting for? call PLDT now!

Fibr, Home's Most Powerful Broadband, allows you to seamlessly and simultaneously experience the following:

1. Browing of multiple websites
2. Stream hundreds of blockbuster movies on-demand from Clickplay
3. Watch Cignal Digital TV Channels
4. Available now in over 800 fiber-powered villages nationwide
5. Visit www.pldthome.com or call 101-FIBR (3427) for more details