My doggies

Hiya!

I miss my doggies fierce. Here are two pictures I found from my sister's flickr account.

My birthday!!

I'm 26!! Lets get age out of the way.

Celebrated my birthday last Friday. I've always celebrated my birthday by going out with friends. I've had my doubts in being able to keep up with tradition. I'm so happy to say that I have been blessed by God with new friends and I truly appreciate having them as company on my birthday being far from home and from my loved ones.

Friday was a gloomy day. The sky was downcast and the sun was out of sight the entire day. This didn't dampen my mood however and I spent the day chatting with friends in YM while trying to do some school work. At night, I had dinner at Zavito in North Shore with Ate, Pia P. and Ryan. It's a small restaurant near the beach. We had to wait a while for our table. Since Ryan brought his new camera with him, we used the time to have our pictures taken and do some practice shots. We ordered a bottle of red wine (Shiraz Sangiovese 2003, 15%) and steak with blue cheese. It was a very lovely dinner but I felt dizzy because of the wine though.

The next day, the second part of the my birthday celebration took place. We went to Long Bay Beach in North Shore. My classmates and a couple of ate's close friends were there. The pinoy group with 2 of my classmates were there at 9 am. Good thing we came early because we were able to choose a nice secluded spot and had the barbeque grill all to ourselves. The rest of the group arrived after 10 and we stayed til 3pm. Spent most of it under the sun and got a good tan in return (muntik na maging nog nog, buti na lang malakas ang sunblock ko!).

I'm so happy that many of my classmates came and those who didn't wished that they went. Thus, it was an international event. They sung Happy Birthday in 7 languages (French, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Filipino). Beat that! :)

Finally, ang saya ko kasi ang ganda ko sa mga pictures. mwahahaha.... palag?

Here are the pictures. Mainggit kayo!!! hehehe...

Quick update

Tagal ko nang di naka-update sa blog. waaah.... Didn't realize that almost a month has gone by. I wonder what I have been doing lately to keep myself from updating this blog. hmm...

studies? probably...

heroes? could be....

katamaran? YES!! hahaha

quick update

I started playing badminton again although I didn't play last Sunday to finish my Lego case. I have more stamina than before which is good news for me. Previously, I can only play for 20 minutes straight after which I would be out of breath and so tired. These days I think I can last for almost 40 minutes. I hope its because I have more stamina. I'd like to think that I run a lot during the game. Tignan na lang natin next week.

All major papers have been submitted. Finance project na lang kulang which is due on Tuesday. I'm not feeling the pressure yet. Should I worry?

Doing research work for a professor. Tedious work but pays well. So that's good news.

Oh and my birthday is coming up. Have to think of a birthday wish fast. Any suggestions? :)

my desktop freeview

My desktop!! Me and kids...miss my nephews and niece.




Note: Copy Starts Here!

My Desktop Free View Instruction:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun. You can do a screen capture by:

1. Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Screen key (located on the right side of the F12 key).

2. Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).

3. If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of Icons, things like that.

C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.

~ I am tagging sisters Aimee and Sherylyn, high school friend Jinky

D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

iRonnie - I Set No Corner
Thess - Thesserie
Rebecca - Skippy Heart
Knoizki - A Dialogue with K
Beng - Kauderwelch
- domlawrenceOSB
- bluepanjeet™ OTWOMD™
Marie @ Vanidosa Marie and Vanidosa at blogspot
Ems @ Just Let Go and Pieces of Me
Tere @ Journey in Life
Nita @ Nita’s Random Thoughts
JennyL Simply Jen and This and That
Caryl @ Mother’s Horizon
Lovely @ Lovely Ruth’s Blog
Chikai @ BLOGSILOG & Thinking Out Loud
iSSa @ Tongue Temptations & Issa's Dollar Earners

Sophia @ Huh?!

drink and drive

clipped from www.nzherald.co.nz

Bridezilla or just a typical bride?

clipped from www.nzherald.co.nz A New York City bride has filed a $400,000 lawsuit over her wedding flowers. Bride Elana Glatt alleges that the hydrangeas were the wrong colour. Instead of US$27,000 worth of dark rust and green hydrangeas specified, Glatt got pastel pink and green. She says they were also wilted and brown, and arranged in dusty vases without enough water. The bride's lawyer had this to say: "The use of predominantly pastel centerpieces had a significant impact on the look of the room and was entirely inconsistent with the vision the plaintiffs had bargained for." (Source: MSNBC)

Smell of books

I took on volunteer work for the church library in St. Benedicts. It's 2 hours every Thursday from 10am-12nn.

Today was my first day. I came in at around 11 to get my orientation. My first task was to help in cataloguing books. I had to write the book's information in a record book and 3 cards.

I was surprised that I enjoyed the hour I spent there. I don't know if it's because I'm doing something new or it's because I'm surrounded by one of my favorite things -- books. :)

When I entered the library, the first thing I noticed was the smell. It smelled like heaven to me. hehehe... It was the smell of books. It didn't smell like moldy pages or old leather. For me, it was the smell of knowledge and comfort. Maybe it is because I like to be surrounded by them that I immediately felt comfortable with the place. It was nothing like the school library. The school library felt cold to me (not cold temperature-wise because the room temp is warm). It felt detached. It wasn't homey unlike St. Ben's. In the church library, I just want to curl up with a good book in the couch and read all day.

The time passed quickly and suddenly it was already 12. So I left the library looking forward to Thursdays.

Wear a hat

Last September 22, a friend of ours celebrated her 25th birthday. The party was at Hennessy Bar on Wyndham St. Everybody was asked to wear a hat as part of the night's theme. The party started at 9pm and ended at around 3am. Ate and I were "manangs" and went home at around 1 am.

We had drinks, crackers, cheese, chips, and a lot of dancing. :)

Three of the pictures were taken today during lunch. Pia wasn't able to join us during Ate's birthday dinner celebration in Safran so we met for lunch instead. She brought us to this Chinese restaurant in one of the side streets near Queen St named Momo Tea. They had cheap and tasty food. Also, a wide array of teas to choose from.

Winter Garden

While preparing for the exams last month, Nicole and I decided to take a break and walked to the Auckland Museum in Auckland Domain. They had a lot of gardens scattered all over the place and we happen to pass by the winter garden.

It was a big greenhouse with lots of flowering plants. The flowers were fragrant and very colorful. Here are some of the pictures I took with my mobile phone.

Mama, enjoy!

A day in the beach

Spent the afternoon on Takapuna Beach in North Shore. Daniel and his friend Youssef picked us (Nicole and I) up and met up with some of the guys at the beach. I can't remember all their names. Sorry guys! There were two more girls, Miko (Jpn) and Lee (Kor) and 5 other guys. It was a mixed group. We all knew each other through Daniel and most of us just met this afternoon. It was fun! Even though I didn't know most of them, I didn't have a hard time hanging out. Everybody just came from different places and were at different points in their lives. Some are still studying Uni, others recently graduated and of course, there were others who are doing post-grad studies.

The sun was out but it was very windy and cold. To keep warm, Nicole and I kicked a soccer ball around and later threw a rugby ball. Moving around really kept us warm. The sun didn't bother me much, but I think nangitim ako.

The guys played touch rugby and cooled down with a swim in the COLD water. Before heading home, we had fish and chips. Yum yum.

We are planning another beach outing for next week. I hope that pushes through. :)

Note: pictures to follow...

Anthony Hopkins look alike

After spending almost three hours staring at my teacher and listening to his familiar voice, I suddenly realized that he looks and sounds just like Anthony Hopkins. I even recorded his lecture just so you can hear it too. Will upload it as soon as I can extract it from my mobile phone.

Knowing now that he sounds just like Anthony Hopkins, I find myself listening to his lecture more. hehehe.... Hopefully, his voice won't be too soothing and find myself falling asleep someday.

Loving the weather

I'm loving the weather now. It isn't cold anymore. I get to enjoy wearing my clothes. It doesn't get too tight at the waist for wearing so many layers underneath. :) The wind is still cold and this offsets the warmth of the sun. At night, I don't wear a sweater and socks anymore. And, I don't use the heater at all. YEY!!

For the first time yesterday afternoon, I actually felt perspiration form on my forehead. Who would have thought that I'd celebrate that moment. hehehe...

Hope you enjoyed the pictures taken when we went to the snow last weekend.

Snow Trip

Oops!

Didn't realize that I have two posts talking about exams. *sigh* I guess my life hasn't been that exciting recently. I hope I can have more time to update this blog soon. I should go back to studying. I still need to learn more about the Standard Trade Model and Heckscher-Ohlin Model. Quite strange since I taught the same topic early this year. hehehe...

Hmm.... got new dogs in Davao. Must be exciting and frustrating to have new dogs. :) especially since their fat and cuddly.

Exams

I haven't studied this hard this since college or uni(versity) as Kiwis would call it. I've been studying since Friday last week. I hope I can remember everything on Saturday and Monday.

I had the morning off yesterday since Nicole and I went to the museum. Despite the rain, we decided to walk to Auckland War Museum and spend half a day not worrying about the exams.

One class talked about WTO. Lucky me, i took an online course last year. Plus I've been getting regular updates from WTO secretariat through their newsletter. Other than that, I need to study hard and familiarize myself with the terms.

D-day is almost near. I can't wait for this to be over.

Exams coming up

In the past few weeks, I've been really busy with a major paper from each of the 3 subjects. They all require around 10 pages worth of text but they focus is very different.

I've been writing reports and what nots for the past three years now and writing these three papers are very hard! Maybe its because I'm unclear on my content or maybe its because I'm just not in the mood to write or it could be because I haven't written anything major in the past year that I have become rusty.

Anyway, I submitted the last paper yesterday. whew! That's over for now. Next step..final exams!! Now this, I haven't done for 5 years. I need to study for the three papers to get ready for the exams on September 8. That gives me less than two weeks to cover the course books and cases. Problem is, I don't have any idea what the exam will look like. For sure, they will all be essay types. *sigh* I guess I have to get back to work and study...I haven't studied this hard since Mrs. Calvo's Bio class where I got a grade of 2.75. huhuhu

How fast time flys

Can't believe its been almost two weeks now since my last post. Maybe its because nothing much has happened in the past week or it could be because I've been busy writing a major paper for one of my classes. Nevertheless, I haven't been updating as regular as I wanted to be.

Here's what I've been up to:

1. Recently bought new sneakers. Nike 2005 model. Costs $60 here. We got a huge discount buying it from an outlet mall. We found TIMBERLAND knee-high fashion boots for $100!!! very cheap considering its timberland and made of real leather. We chose not to buy it. Ate owns to many boots already. Going back, the shoes was a really good buy. Why did I buy here in NZ? Because my sole of my old shoes fell off. Had it repaired and they "disintegrated" the sole. to replace it would cost me $56. imagine that! I just added $4 to that price and I got a brand new pair. Got to go there tomorrow and claim my old nikes. I should have repaired it myself but they don't sell rugby here. And if they do, we don't know where to buy 1.

2. Been attending a lot of talks lately from CEOs and Managing Directors of NZ companies. They have been very insightful and I get to learn a lot from them, especially on the practical side of doing business. Today, we had a speaker from Biovittoria. He is the managing director of the company (Stephen LeFabvre) Very interesting company. Biovittoria lou han guo fruit concentrate. It is exclusively grown organically in Southern China, safe and non-caloric sweetener. According to them, it is even better than splenda. for more info go to www.biovittoria.com . It would be interesting how the sugar industry will evolve from the rise of sweeteners that are healthier than actual sugar.

The speaker also talked about recognizing critical moments. These moments are instantaneous. Taking the time to think things over wouldn't work because the moment has already passed. This mind set interested me because I'm currently reading a book entitled Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and it talks about trusting the subconscious. It is about making a decision based on your first impression a.k.a rapid cognition. Very interesting book...here's what the author has to say about it.

"It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good." www.gladwell.com

That's all folks...

Blowfish

We (Ate and I) ate out Wednesday night with Marie, Pia and TM (friends of Ate). We went to a new Japanese restaurant called Blowfish. We don't know why they named it that way when in fact blowfish is poisonous. Anyway, the place is very nice and classy. It even showed Anime cartoons on TV and had a beautiful Anime painting of a girl in one side of the wall.

The menu gave us a variety of sushi, sashimi and entrees but they didn't serve rice meals. The food was expensive and in small quantities. Good thing the dishes they served were delicious. Twenty minutes after sitting down and numerous visit from 2 different waiters, the group finally decided on the dish to order.

Ate and I ordered The Punch (beef eye fillet with potato rings), Tuna Sashimi, Eggplant something (didn't bother to know the name since I wouldn't be eating it). Marie ordered Salmon Sashimi. It was delicious. I think i liked it better than tuna which is good since salmon here is relatively cheaper and more common than tuna.

After dinner, we ordered dessert. Ate, Pia and I shared green tea cheesecake with green tea ice cream while Mari and TM ordered cake with chocolate ice cream (i'm making it sound ordinary but the name of the dish sounded really delicious.) Guess from the picture which is which. hehehe....

For all of you who knows me very well, I couldn't leave this new place without taking a look at the restroom. :) Look at that faucet!! You press the circle in the middle and the water flows out of the "cube" like a waterfall

Despite the proportion of the food, surprisingly, I found myself full at the end of the meal .

International Business Dinner

Last night, the International Business (IB) Program hosted a dinner for all IB students. This includes Post-graduate students (that's us), Masteral students (students who've finished the post-graduate degree) and teachers. Everyone was asked to bring a plate from their home country and everyone can bring their partner!

I cooked bistek and asked Ate Dodon to come with me as my partner. The bistek was a hit! Some had seconds. I didn't cooked too many cause I was afraid that there would be a lot of leftovers. I guess they liked it since it wasn't such a strange food. Others brought KFC and Pizza hut. hehehe... typical americans. There were a lot of sweets too. A Brazilian classmate of mine brought macaroons!! I can't remember what it's called in Brazil. Other foods were quiche, woody pudding, cucumber and potato salad, indonesian salad (forgot the name), and some puffs. Many really exerted effort to prepare a dish but others just bought food from the grocery and fast food.

I thought dinner wouldn't last very long but I was mistaken. Ate and I had a good time conversing with different people. The group was composed of a Chinese American, 2 from Hongkong, 2 Germans, 1 French, 1 Kiwi and 2 Pinoys (kami yun).

For me, it was a chance to talk to my classmates outside of class. I learned a lot about them that I wouldn't have the chance if we were just in the classroom. There was a debate about national pride and the american dream. We talked about the different driving styles and educational system.

It was a shame that the married people went home early. They missed out on a lot of things. Also, I don't have pictures. I guess picture taking isn't a big thing here. I completely forgot about it too.

Dinner at Portofino, Mission Bay

Last Friday night, I went with ate to have dinner with SFC since their guests from Manila will be leaving the next day. We went to Portofino, an Italian Restaurant in Mission Bay. It rained that night and the wind was very strong. Moreso because we were near the beach.

Ate ordered Salmon Fettuccine and I ordered something I couldn't pronounce hoping that I'd have ordered something different from what we usually have in the Philippines. It turned out that my pasta tasted like pinoy spaghetti but different pasta with bacon and salsa. *sigh* so much for being adventurous.

Here is a picture of the group that I took with my K610i phone. Beside ate is Kuya Alvin. His wife (Tita Cecil) is opposite him wearing blue. Their bisaya. On the right of T. Cecila is Dinah and Sheila, respectively. Their close friends of Ate from SFC.

Finally, here's a decent picture of me and ate taken that same night.

Talking with conviction

Yesterday in class, my teacher requested us to group together and come up with reasons why Pepsi should stay in or leave Burma.

A little backgrounder, Pepsi and other multi-national companies decided to invest in Burma for many reasons (maybe its low cost of business). Many organizations, human rights activists and students protested this move because Burma under a military regime is known for child labor and many or all forced to work with little or no salary. The taxes earned by the Burmese Government are mainly used to support the army and no social programs are in place.(Btw, this is a very interesting topic and makes you examine yourself and wonder what are my ethical beliefs)

Going back, i was assigned to a group that supports the departure of Pepsi from Burma. It was an easy stand. There has been no clear indication that Pepsi made any economic impact in the country except to fatten the pockets of the regime and they actively supported the agriculture industry of the country which uses slaves as laborers. But on the other hand, the time period that the MNCs have been operating in the country may have been to short to really see the lasting effects in social development. We will never know since many have decided to leave.

I was chosen as the speaker of the group. I structured my talk by first pointing out the reasons Pepsi gave for staying in Burma. Then I systematically tried to show that their reasons have no basis by giving facts from what I know and what I've read in the text.

After class, a classmate mine commented that she likes the way I speak because it seems that I truly believe in what I say. I spoke with feelings and conviction, she said. And by doing so, she finds herself agreeing with me and believing the things that I said.

Wow! That was a very good compliment coming from a person I barely know. I was afraid that during the presentation I came on too strong and the others might have felt that they were being attacked. But my classmate told me that it wasn't so. According to Ate Don, people here talk monotonously. They're flat... Guess that's why when I speak, I come on as someone with conviction.

Primary love needs of Men and Women

I attended a talk given by a couple from the Philippines during a Singles for Christ conference here in Auckland. The title of the talk was "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus."

According to the couple, the primary love needs of men and women differ that is why there is conflict in a relationship. The inability of the partner to recognize and satisfy the love need of the other results to conflict and dissatisfaction.

Here are the love needs of men and women.

Women need to receive...

1. Caring
- showing interest in a women's feeling
- being concerned for her well-being

2. Understanding
- listening without judgment but with empathy to a woman expressing her feelings

3. Respect
- responds in a way that acknowledges and prioritizes her rights, wishes and needs
- takes into consideration her thoughts and feelings

4. Devotion
- gives priority to her needs
- supports her

5. Validation
- does not object or ague with a woman's feeling

6. Reassurance
- assuring her again and again

Men need to receive...

1. Trust
- believing that he wants what is best for her
- shows positive beliefs in his abilities and intentions

2. Acceptance
- receives a man without trying to change him

3. Appreciation
- appreciate his efforts

4. Admiration
- regard him with delight and approval
- admire his humor, strength, integrity...

5. Approval
- acknowledges the goodness in a man

6. Encouragement
- showing all six encourages him

Interesting isn't it? So have you done any of these for your partner lately??

(I got this from a hand-out given during the talk. If you know the original source, pls feel free to tell me so I can properly cite it. Thanks!)

My new life in kiwiland

It's been cold the past couple of days but today the weather is perfect.

Had to go to school to do some schoolwork and the weather is perfect for walking. And, that's just what I did. The first time I walked to school, it took me 30 mins. Today, I did it in 20 mins. I'm so proud of myself. Hopefully in the coming days, I could trim down my walking time to 10 mins. Possible, hmmm...