A Belated Birthday Greeting

My Jhay recently celebrated his 25th birthday but for some reasons I cannot talk about the whole story here. So please just allow me to share how amazing it felt. It was a really simple celebration but it was super unforgettable. Why? Because that was I think the first time that I saw him cry tears of joy. It was just... uhhh... priceless :-)

A few minutes after he opened my gift and blew the candle atop the mini chocolate mousse cake that I bought for him, there he was, crying like a little child. He said he was just so happy to be celebrating his special day with me. Just so happy that despite all the problems coming our way, threatening our love in the last five years, here we are still together, and in fact stronger than ever. Seeing him show real emotions like that were enough to make me cry as well. Tell me, how often does a guy do that? So while he kept hugging me and thanking me for all that I did for him, I kept thanking The One up there for giving me a wonderful blessing in the person of Jhay.

I admit Jhay isn’t a perfect boyfriend. He screwed up a lot of times in the past but he’s a better person now. I can see him strive to be a better man each day that we’re together. And between the two of us, he is the more patient and understanding, the more generous and forgiving. I have been a childish and nagging girlfriend but he would remain silent and calm. I’ve been the one who always gives up over little fights, but not once did he let me go. He held on to me and embraced me with so much love in spite of my imperfections.
 

So even if it’s 4 days late, here’s a shout-out to my dearest Jhay. Honey, thank you so much for being an awesome beau. I may have said I love you a thousand times already but it remains true. Happy happy birthday and know that I am more than willing to spend with you your birthdays for the rest of our lives.

My Saturday Plans

I missed doing this. Waking up early on a Saturday morning and going online till sun down or till my eyes hurt, whichever comes first. Haha. The past two weekends I was only allowed to use the PC for 15 minutes at most due to sore eyes. That's really torture, so today is my sweet revenge. :-)

I have a lot on my to-do list and I have this feeling that if I share it here, there are higher chances of accomplishing it. So here it is: 

• Work on a bunch of overdue blogs and post it right away. Uhhh, that was like 4 or 5.. I'm not sure how many I can finish today but I'm hoping for the best :-) 
• Check out a classmates' sister's FB profile to see her wedding photos 
• Explore a blog site that I just stumbled upon yesterday. Her posts seem great :-) 
• Re-visit Scrapblog and get inspirations for a couple of scrapbook pages. 
• Figure out if I am ready to take one big leap in my online life: Creating a Twitter account.

Good luck, Em! You can do it! :D

I ♥ Fridays

I adore Fridays. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s a temporary escape from the stressful 9-5. Chances are, there’s a meet-up with friends or a date night with sweetie. Staying up late is legal. And oh, I have the laptop all to myself! *evil laugh* 

Since the desktop PC here at home handed me it’s resignation letter, I have been kindly (ahem!) sharing my laptop with my sisters. Both of them are in high school so every day upon getting home from the office they welcome me with two words: “Ate pa-research” That's why tonight I almost jumped for joy when there is silence in the living room and at the corner my laptop is sitting comfortably, only waiting to be turned on. Eeek, that last part is kinda disturbing.

Going back to how fun Fridays are, I and a couple of friends decided to have coffee after work. We hit Starbucks at The Columns. If you don’t know the place, it’s at the corner of Gil Puyat and Ayala Avenue, which reminds me that in the said area they have three SB stores when there isn’t even one near Headstrong. Yeah, life’s unfair like that.

A frapuccino always always intoxicates me. That and a lot of kwento with my girls made a great impromptu meet-up. Sadly I wasn’t able to put my camera in my bag this morning so I don’t have a picture to share. But in return, I have a story that I got from Nhix, one that really made a mark. Last week, somewhere near her place, a med student was killed. It was supposedly only a hold-up but the girl fought back and ended up getting 4 stabs. And to make it worse, it happened just a few steps away from her house. Really ill fate. However, three days after the crime, 2 of the 3 suspects were in police custody and the other one is found dead. It’s good that justice was served (and served fast) but it’s depressing how it was solved immediately just because she isn’t a nobody. FYI, she happened to be a granddaughter of a general (or sergeant or another high-ranking official, not so sure) and goddaughter of a city mayor. Clearly, something is wrong with the Philippines and it’s system, if there’s a thing as such. So come on P-Noy, show us what you got.

Okay, so much with the gloomy now. I got home a few minutes to 11pm and was surprised when I opened the fridge. I found a bar of Cadbury (you know how it is synonymous to happiness for me) and asked them whose it is. Turns out Faye (the same sibling in this post) bought it for me! :D

I asked her why and she said there isn’t a reason at all. Guess she’s just so thoughtful. Or I must have been a really good ate to deserve it. :)

There you have it, my version of the last day of the work week. I hope you enjoyed Friday as much as I did. Happy weekend everyone! :)

Office Girl Again :)

I’m back to work today. After the grueling condition of my eyes the past week, I feel better now. Not completely, but at least I don’t look like I’m taken from a horror movie anymore. LOL. No more red eyes but my vision is still blurry and I am still blinded by the sunlight or monitor glare even. This weekend at home I tried wearing sunglasses while using the PC because I really wanna blog. That’s how hard it has been for me to take in extreme light (actually it still is :-(). But hey I should still be thankful that I made it to the office today. I never thought I’d say this but I missed my cube! Seriously! :-)

I missed the pictures on my little wall. I missed my jacket. I missed the comfort of my swivel. I missed my food-packed pedestal. I missed the 3-in-1 coffee that I drink any time of the day. I missed shivering, like it's not scorching hot outside. I missed my normal work load. I used to hate switching screens all day, Excel-web app-Excel-web app-Excel (that’s how manual software testing works, you know) but now I’m glad that I’ll be able to do it again. I guess I just missed doing something worthwhile. Well yeah I enjoyed taking care of Haley and finishing a few scrapbook pages and eating a lot and sleeping a lot more but it just feels odd staying indoors on weekdays. I’ve been a bona fide bum for 5 days and I just can’t be happier that I’m an office girl again.

Ok, back to ALT-TAB-ing now. :-)

Beware of Metro Care

I don't think my Jhay will ever forget what happened to him yesterday. He called me and he was ranting the whole time. HE WAS VICTIMIZED BY A CREDIT CARD SCAM.

Here’s a quick story of how it happened (errr.. how he narrated it to me)

Around 2:30 pm, someone who introduced himself as a staff of East West Bank called him in the office offering a VIP card. This person knows that his EWB credit card has been with him only for a week or less that’s why he’s given a chance to avail of this sort of upgrade. Jhay was told that with this VIP card comes a lot of perks like discounts in hotels, boutiques and restaurants, thus he was convinced to continue the conversation. It is essential to note that the whole time, the guy was talking too fast and Jhay hardly understood most of what he’s saying. This could be part of the propaganda. He also kept on saying that they are not like credit card companies having annual fees, interest rates, etc.

After all the sales talk, the guy was asking for his credit card number. Jhay was surprised because he knew the first few digits and was just asking him to supply the rest. Unsuspecting, he gave his CC number and all the other information the person from the other line asked for. He didn’t worry much because after all, the guy is from EWB, or at least that what he said.

The “guy from EWB” got all the nitty-gritty. He was even telling Jhay that since his birthday is around the corner (July 27th), they should go on a drinking session. Uh, are they that close already?! Later during the call, the guy transferred the phone to his supposedly manager who enthusiastically told Jhay “Welcome to the club!” Afterwards, the conversation ended. But it was no short call. It actually took 30 to 45 minutes of Jhay’s time.

Jhay had a gut feel that something’s not right with that call so he asked an officemate about it. His officemate said he shouldn’t have given his credit card information because that’s a scam. He immediately called EWB’s customer service hotline and that’s when his hunch was confirmed. He already has a floating charge of PhP 5,850.00 made by METRO CARE SERVICES!!!

Jhay asked the EWB customer service representative what he could do about this. He was told that the only way to remove the floating charge is to have Metro Care cancel the transaction. And that will only happen if he will be able to contact the said effin’ swindlers. We tried searching for contact numbers over the net but what we found were a lot of blogs all the other victims have written. Apparently, this had happened to HSBC, SCB and Citibank credit card holders as well. Click the links if you want to know more about this.

Now the only thing Jhay could do is to wait for the “VIP card” to arrive and make it a point not to sign anything from the courier because the moment he signs it, the PhP5,850 will already be charged to his card. He is also planning to either have his card replaced or totally cancel his EWB card.

I hope this serves as a caution to all card holders out there. Be extra vigilant. Don’t be deceived by promos and amazing offers because they are just too good to be true.

And as for you honey, looks like you learned your lesson the hard way, huh?

Sweet Thoughts

I’ve been staying away from my PC for the past 2 days because as I’ve recently blogged about, I have sore eyes. And despite taking a break from using the computer, and taking medications, it still went from bad to worse. Right now my eyes are super red and I can barely open them.

Just three hours ago, I went to the office to visit the company doctor and advice my lead that I was instructed to be on sick leave for the whole week. Sweet Jesus, 5 days of SL?! But I have no choice. Being in IT entails more than 8 hours in front of the PC and it wouldn’t do my condition any good. So there, I am on vacation, but a not-so-good one.

On a lighter note, just an hour ago, I got a really good surprise. Jhay came over ^_^ It was a quick visit but I am super super touched. I absolutely have no idea he’s coming because we were only exchanging text messages and the next thing I knew was he’s at the gate. He just dropped by to check on me and somehow cheer me up.

I look like a mess but he loves me anyway :)

Just 30 minutes ago, he left for a meeting in Makati. And for the first time I am in deep content with a few minutes of talking and being with him. I didn’t really expect he would come in the first place, especially with the fact that he could catch the virus. Being the hard-headed guy that he is, he still kissed me goodbye, and left a pack of Cadbury to get me through the day. Thanks so much for the thoughts honey. I love you. *smooches*

This time I am...

just so happy that Google already recognizes my blogsite! ^_^

I tried typing

• maude's blog
• maude's blogspot
• maude's avenue
• maude's avenue blogspot
• maude's avenue of thoughts

and yes, it may not always be the first result, but at least it's there :) I know, this is me being too shallow. But it's really what I feel right now. Anyway, it's the purpose of blogging, right? :)

P.S. When I put up this blog, I wondered what it'll take to increase SEO. And much to my surprise, it's pretty simple. FRIENDSHIP :)

Today I am...

..not okay :(

Typhoon "Basyang" hit Luzon yesterday. The winds are awful. Around 12:30am, I was awakened by the loud pounding of my bedroom window (think native Capiz window and super strong wind). I went for a quick trip to the comfort room and when I got back, I charged my phone. In about 15 minutes, lo and behold, the electricity went out! :(

I had a hard time going back to sleep. Yeah it isn’t hot so not having an electric fan isn’t that big a deal. But my gosh, it’s like the mosquitoes are set to party all night! Needless to say, I woke up the next morning with more or less 5 mosquito bites, per leg that is.

And to top it all, I have sore eyes.

Much as I wanted to take a sick leave, I can’t. I have a lot of test scripts to execute and a deadline to meet. My worry is that my eyes would be worse because I’m in front of the PC all day.

Oh, I am ranting too much already. I should be thankful because at the very least, I got my phone charged now. Problem is I have battery but I don’t have signal. I am sooooooooo looking forward to sunny days already. Cause it looks like my network provider is literally sun-dependent. LOL.

Bestfriends Reunited

It was scorching hot at home and I most certainly don't wanna stay indoors. Thinking of a place where I could hangout, I remembered I haven't been with my high school bestfriend, Charmaine, for some time now. I phoned her and the next thing I knew, we were laughing out loud in her place in Paranaque.

I don't know if it was some kind of coincidence or our souls are just entwined, I was surprised as I entered her door, we were both wearing a purple top! We laughed it off. But as she asked me to sit down, she noticed we also had the same nailpolish! I looked down, and yes, both pussy red! Hahahaha. Boy, our bedroom slippers are the same too! Spell BFF. *wink*

Being with her again is like taking a trip down memory lane. I realized just how much I miss my sweet girl. The kikay and maarte heart throb of my secondary school is now a licensed nurse, and I must say she really has matured. Back then she can't even wash dishes but now she amazed me when she was able to fry the chicken to perfection. If I may add, she has emotionally blossomed as well, head-over-heels in love with her beau. I've never seen her like that before :)

Best, if by chance you read this, thanks for the QT (according to her, QT = quality time). 

And oh, why don't we do this more often? :)

*update: I checked her FB album description and her final sentence is "We have to do this more often...lol..." Crazy coincidence. Hahaha.

Recapping the Merry Month of June

I am truly an impulsive writer. This is one solid proof. I haven't blogged in 2 weeks! I know, I really have to make up! And the kwentos are piling up so I better start now.

A few minutes ago, in front of me was my Cosmo datebook because I had to scribble today's adventure:

I went to audition for the Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition.

Yeah, you read it right. It was truly a challenge being able to admit to myself that I am one of the many Filipinos who have weight problems but I guess it only takes whole-hearted acceptance of one's flaws, a number of friends to give a little push (thanks guys, you know who you are) and a great deal of guts to go fall in line along with other full-figured people. I didn't make it but it's all good.. :) I'll blog about this as soon as the nationwide auditions are over.

Okay, going back to my datebook. Flipping through the pages, I realized what a wonderful month June has been for me. It was my birth month, and I celebrated my day with family, friends and my beau and I must say I could never be happier. I'll post another blog shortly about how well my birthday bash turned out.

In June also falls our Anniversary (which happens to coincide with my mom's birthday) and pardon me for not being able to think of an adjective that would best describe the Tagaytay weekend with Jhay. *sigh* It was surreal, like it was taken out of a dream. Me, my honey and the oh-so-perfect Tagaytay climate, gosh, it was just overwhelming. (I'll write about it this weekend too, paki-lista nalang mga utang ko. LOL)

The 2 events aforementioned plus one teambuilding activity with my former teammates plus one movie date with hon made my favorite month of the year even more blog-worthy.

Fine, I'm off here. Gotta start paying my debts :)