I was blog-hopping today and noticed that only a few of my friends have actually written something for Christmas. I myself wasn’t online until yesterday and was not in the mood for blogging. Sorry naman!

But I have to say, despite everything, this is one of the happiest Christmas celebrations of my life. It was a tough 2009, but the ‘happy’ part managed to squeeze itself in the end.

Christmas eve - Schatz, mommy and his Tito Ralph picked me up from work (yes, I had to work on Christmas eve) and we had a nice, nice dinner at Aristocrat. We originally wanted to dine at Dosanko, that popular ramen house in Manila, but found out that they already moved somewhere so we had no choice but to go to Aristocrat. It was a good choice, though. I loved their crispy pata — I could never say no to crunchy cholesterol! After dinner, mass at Malate Church then home.

Christmas day – Schatz and I attended my family’s yearly reunion at our QC house. I don’t see my relatives often since I moved out of that house, and it’s funny how most of them seem to grow ‘horizontally’ every year! I guess I got lucky in the sense that I got the ’slim’ genes instead. Unfortunately, I also got the ’shorty’ gene, as shown by this pic below:

Our yearly firing squad pic - arranged by height

I am the oldest of this bunch (with sister and cousins), but I am also one of the shortest (4th from right). The space in the middle is for Aya, who is in Dubai and has missed 2 years of Christmas already. Bahala na sya mag-Photoshop ng sarili nya dyan.

Of course, we had to have a 'jump shot'

Ramos family (Schatz and me at extreme right)

With our beautiful matriarch. Aya on webcam! With Schatz, papa, manas and Wengweng

With my pogi Schatz ^_^

Merry Christmas!

One of my earliest Christmas memories was a tree decorated with ’snow’. The tree was made of ordinary dried tree branches, but the first time I saw it, I was bowled over at how nice it looked. I didn’t know how Mama made the ’snow’, but I remember taking a swipe and tasting it. It was AWFUL!! Later I asked her what it was (without telling her I did a taste test) and learned it was Perla soap.

Just today, I came across this article in the Inquirer with detailed instructions on how to make a snowman out of Perla soap. It’s a little too late to make one this year. But who knows, I might attempt one next year so I’m posting it here for future reference.

What you need:

Old newspapers, about 15 to 20 sheets
Perla soap, 8 bars
Rock salt, 1 ½ kilos
Plywood or wooden board, at least half an inch thick
Water
Rope or string
Thumb tacks
Old boxes
Old wrapping paper
Old ribbons (washable, preferably, so you can reuse them)
Colored construction paper
Big black buttons (at least seven)
Scarf
Bonnet
Other accessories (optional)

Directions

1. Roll pages of old newspapers and twist them into solid discs of different sizes to form the snowman’s body. Secure each disc with rope or string.

2. Connect each disc to the next with string. Arrange the discs from biggest to smallest, with the biggest disc as your base. Don’t forget that the smallest disc is going to be your snowman’s neck. Make sure the discs are tied securely to one another to keep your snowman solid.

3. Create the snowman’s head out of balled-up newspapers. Again, secure with rope or string.

4. Finish the snowman form by attaching the head to the neck with string.

5. Using string from the second disc, attach your snowman to the wooden board and hold the string down with thumbtacks.

6. Spear a small piece of soap on a fork and start beating it in a pail or a basin with just a cup of water. Keep beating it until the soap lathers and the water disappears.

7. After the water disappears, sprinkle rock salt all over the soap lather. Beat until rock salt dissolves. The texture of the soap lather should be stiffer than shaving cream. It shouldn’t drop and there should be no traces of water left—not in your basin or pail and not in the soap lather. Remember, patience is a virtue here.

8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you’ve prepared enough “snow.”

9. Cover the entire wooden board with “snow.”

10. Cover your snowman with “snow.” Do it layer by layer until you have covered the whole snowman. Make sure to put a lot of soap on top of the head so it can hold the bonnet in place.

11. Put the scarf around the snowman’s neck and put the bonnet on its head.

12. Add two buttons to your snowman’s face, giving him eyes.

13. Using construction paper, make a snowman’s nose. Or use a carrot, if you wish.

14. Using construction paper, or any material you like, make a snowman’s mouth.

15. Add the rest of the snowman’s buttons. Feel free to add any other accessories. Dr. Lejano likes putting a cigar on her snowman.

16. Wrap old boxes with old wrapping paper and add ribbons. Feel free to put little surprises inside the boxes for your children to open later on. Surround your snowman with pretty Christmas gifts.

17. Add plants and trees and cover with Christmas lights if desired.

Reminders

The snowman can last for weeks. If it starts drying up and cracking, make new soap lather and reapply.

When you’ve decided to say bye-bye to your snowman, don’t throw out the reusable stuff—buttons, ribbons, boxes, etc. You might want to use them again when you build another snowman next year.

Article source: Inquirer.net
Photo: Clipart and Crafts

I was not online and did not witness my counter change to 11,000. As usual, I was not at my apartment and could not get online.

But thank you to all the people who visit my blog and read my posts. The ones I made for Japanese skin care and Phoenix Wright were particularly popular. I may not know you, but I hope my posts have benefited you in some way. Mostly, my blog is just random craziness about my life, but happy to know that people do find my craziness useful sometimes.

Special thanks to Ms. Sesame of Vivawoman.net for the loads of traffic she sent my way. I’m so HONORED for being mentioned in your super popular site.

Just to be clear — there is no live action Phoenix Wright, save for the stage production by Takarazuka Revue. But if we all pray hard, we might get a live action movie or even a…*gasp* dorama series!!

Off to bed now. The boyfie said his good night a couple of hours ago and his mom is telling me to get off the PC right now and sleep.

Good night, world! Oyasumi nasai.

I was browsing through old posts and came across this one from late 2004:

elvin promised to go to violin class with me next year. i was surprised he remembered that i wanted to buy a violin. but i was more surprised that he didn’t know what j-music meant!

Hahaha, that one!  In one of his earliest letters (yes, as in a letter handwritten on paper — much much more special than an email) to me after we became a couple, he told me that our shared interest for learning the violin is one of the reasons he got attracted to me. Then the tacos. Then my laugh. My laugh? Haha. He described it as: WHOA. In all caps too. ^_^

I remember the boy…the Embassy boy

Just mere weeks after we were official, our friend Jimmy-san gave us the nickname Calvin. Same as Bennifer and Brangelina. Haha, since then, the nickname stuck and we’ve been using that ever since. ^_^

Confused at what our gay sisterettes are talking about? You’re not alone! I thought I was pretty knowledgeable on gay lingo, having grown up with a gay bestfriend from elementary school. But apparently, gay language has evolved so much in the past years, and I find myself unable to comprehend a single word when they talk.

But thanks to this list from Japinoy.com’s Jam_Kuradoberi-san, I can now have a simple reference on the most commonly used words in the gay language. Enjoy!

Credits to Jam_Kuradoberi of Japinoy.com. All text and formatting by Jam_Kuradoberi.

Chubs, Chenes n.
1. A lie.
2. Something that is not meant to be taken seriously.

Lafang v.
1. To eat, eating.

Echuserang Froglette adj.
1. A negative title given to those who are labeled as “trying hard” or “ugly”.

Mujer adj.
1. To be beautiful by using different kinds of make ups and ukay ukay dresses.

Andalucia n.
1. Local currency.

Engga n.
1. The state of drunktardness.

Machokla n.
1. Shortened form of “Machong Bakla“.

Imbey, Imbers v.
1. The act of annoyance.

Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion n.
1. Tired.

Aketchiwa n.
1. Me.

Iskwala Lumpur n.
1. Informal Settlers AKA Squatters.

Wynona Rider n.
1. Winners.

Luz Valdez n.
1. Losers.

Karumba n.
1. A vehicle that is mass manufactured and sold at a high price for everyone. It contains luxury, privacy, and comfort.
2. Car.

Keri v.
1. Can do. Also “Keribells”.

More to come, as soon as I dig up the old posts!

I am very new to Plurk, but I love it more than Twitter. The interface is more fun, and it’s easier to interact with my Plurk buddies than with Twitter. Plurk is still my microblogging site of choice. ^_^

Just today, I got this from my Plurk timeline. It’s China — are you surprised?? I had expected more from Microsoft…but then…

=============================

Microsoft China rips off Asia’s No. 1 Microblogging Service

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but blatant theft of code, design, and UI elements is just not cool, especially when the infringing party is the biggest software company in the world. Yes, we’re talking about Microsoft. Blerg.

Here’s the short of what we think has happened:

• Microsoft China officially launched its own microblogging service, MSN Juku/Hompy/Mclub, some time in November, 2009.
• The service’s design and UI is by and large an EXACT copy of Plurk’s innovative left-right timeline scrolling navigation system. (see screen captures below)
• Some 80% of the client and product codebase appears to be stolen directly from Plurk! (see evidence below).
• Plurk was never approached nor collaborated in any capacity with MS on this service.
• As a young startup, we’re stunned, shocked, and unsure what to do next and need your support and suggestions.

We were first tipped off by high profile bloggers and Taiwanese users of our community that Microsoft had just launched a new Chinese microblogging service that looked eerily similar to Plurk. Needless to say we were absolutely shocked and outraged when we first saw with our own eyes the cosmetic similarities Microsoft’s new offering had with Plurk. From the filter tabs, emoticons, qualifier/verb placement, Karma scoring system, media support, new user walkthroughs to pretty much everything else that gives Plurk its trademark appeal, Microsoft China’s offering ripped off our service.

Read the whole story HERE.

Because I don’t have anything to do and I can’t sleep because I’m insomniac (slight).

I like extorting money from MJ XD

With my very very good friend, Peewee-kun

With my students (from left: Nino-san, me, Dianne-san, Joanna-san, Garri-san and Jaclyn-san)

Our growing Japinoy.com family ^_^

Schatz & me with our Japinoy.com merchandise ^_^

It’s been a week since Schatz left for Sydney for some training with a client.  Thank God for his cousin who gave him internet access. Brilliant 4-star hotel does not have free wi-fi We chat via YM every night, and sometimes he calls me up — which I thought was really sweet because I know it’s not very cheap (and I can’t access Skype at work).

Today, he sent me some pics of his day out with his colleagues — they went to Ocean World then to Sydney Observatory. I was actually telling him yesterday to go out sightseeing. I think he was originally planning to stay the entire time inside the hotel, working Japinoy.  He deserves to have a bit of fun! I’ll take care of the site while he is away. Tomorrow, he’s having lunch with his aunt’s family.

His cousin has his own flat and lives with his girlfriend. Then we sort of talked about us moving in together but that’s impossible since he lives with his mom here. But when we do move to Singapore or Sydney or wherever, we will have that chance We’ve talked about migration, and hopefully, we’ll start that process next year.

I can’t believe he’s coming home in ten days! And just in time for Christmas too. I won’t be able to pick him up at the airport, unfortunately, because no one’s going to cover for me at work. Maybe he’ll make me sleep over again, which is the best option. I’m so excited!

Only ten more days to go! <3

Last Friday, I took the day off from work to get some cram time before the JLPT on Sunday (hekhek, I’m sure sensei would kill me if he reads this). The Monday after the exam, I was off sick due to a very upset stomach — lactose intolerance. During those days, I would just clean my face at night, and sleeping without putting on my usual serums and creams. Well, I didn’t have a choice because I was sleeping over at the boyfriend’s house, and I wasn’t able to bring my army of night skin care prods.

When I was getting ready for work on Tuesday morning, I was shocked at how clear my face looked! I almost didn’t want to put on anything, even sunscreen. My face felt supple and with no excess oil. The nasty pimple marks were almost invisible and my skin was generally smooth.

WOW! Skin fasting really works. I’m now a big fan of this, thanks to Saeki Chizu-sensei. I realize now that our skin has an excellent ability to heal itself — just let it do its job every once in a while.

Saeki-sensei recommends doing this every weekend, when you don’t expect to leave the house. Just clean up and sleep. When you wake up, splash your face with water and that’s it for the day.

I’m planning to continue skin fasting for every night of this week and see how it goes

My friend Cathy sent this via email, and I was laughing at how romantically corny most of them were. I was chatting with Schatz via Yahoo and I used some of these – we were laughing our asses off

1. Para kang ice cream — Sweet nga, malamig nga lang
2. Pakipulot naman ang puso ko — Kasi nahulog na sa iyo.
3. Alam mo, perfect ka na sana. Isa lang ang gusto kong palitan sa iyo — Ang apelyido mo.
4. Nov. 1 ngayon ah, may dadalawin ka ba? Ako na lang dalawin mo — Tutal naman patay na patay ako sa iyo.
5. Sabi nila, libre lang ang mangarap. Libre ka ba? — Ikaw kasi ang pangarap ko eh. << Personal fave!
6. Dalawang beses lang naman kita gustong makasama — Now and forever.
7. Kodigo ka ba? — Ikaw kasi ang sagot sa lahat ng mga taong ko eh.
8. Facebook ka ba? — Gusto kasi kita i-Like eh.
9. Ice ka ba? — Crush kita eh.
10. Pag-ibig ko sa iyo ay parang opening ng Wowowee — Hindi magbabago.
11. Para kang tindera ng sigarilyo — You give me ‘hope’ and ‘more’.
12. Kung malungkot ka dahil wala pa sya, isipin mo na lang — Malungkot din ako dahil wala ka pa.
13. Saan mo gusto ikasal? — Kasi ako, sa tabi mo.
14. Tatakbo ka ba sa eleksyon? — Boto kasi ang mga magulang ko sa iyo eh.
15. Google ka ba? — Kasi lahat na ng hinahanap ko ay nasa iyo na eh. <<A hit with Schatz, hahahaha.
16. Sana naging holdaper ka na lang. Kasi kahit ano, ibibigay ko — Basta wag mo lang ako sasaktan.
17. Miss, album ka ba? — Single kasi ako eh. << PANIS!
18. Lumiliit ka ata? Dati kasi lampas ulo kita — Ngayon nasa puso na kita.
19. Aanhin pa ang relo — Kung titigil din lang pala para sa iyo.
20. Tumatangkad ka ata.  Dati hanggang balikat lang kita. — Ngayon nasa isipan na kita.

Wahahaha. There are lots more in the email; will save them for another day of cheese. Happy weekend! A long one for me, as I’m taking Friday off — to study for the JLPT on Sunday. I won’t study. I WILL CRAM.