I was really bored tonight so I decided to sharpen my photoshop skills and tried a higher level of photo enhancement, more than just adjusting the photo quality.

So… What do you think?

My blog has been the ground of expression for me since the day I made my first post and I must admit, it contributes a lot of help whenever I feel down or disturbed. My thoughts, everyday living, and career plans, are all blatantly visible on my site. Family issues, love affairs, and fragile topics are no exception as well.

My current boyfriend, Boo, has been a fan of my work as a graphic designer, and a fan of my blog when we started dating. He constantly checks my site for any updates I may have and reads them religiously and patiently. But one day when we had an argument, he vowed never to visit it ever again.

He recently told me that he visited my site again to check on the posts I made regarding our monthsary. I was very happy to know that he broke his vow. He told me that he decided to visit it again, till he saw one post I made. I asked him which of my posts changed his decision, and he told me that it was this specific entry.

The topics in my blog are all personal considering that this is after all a personal blog of mine. So all the posts I have published is basically a book about my life. Some of the entries I have, for him, are unnecessary and would be better off if I was to delete them. We’ve talked about it before and I told him that I stand to what I write in my blog and my credibility is something that I hold strongly.

He asks me why I don’t delete posts that brings shame to my name despite the total contrast to who I really am such as my I’m a slut entry. I really had no intentions of ever deleting that entry, or any of my other entries for that matter not only for my credibility’s sake, but because it is my past.

I have suffered a lot in my life and I have every inch of my soul to be thankful for all of them. It would be cliche for me to say that I wouldn’t be the strong person I am today if it wasn’t for those obstacles I had to go through, but it is the truth. The person standing in front of my partner right now is the product of life’s tough challenges, and despite how ugly the challenges are, I cannot erase them, nor regret how I handled them individually.

I’ve always tried not to regret things in life, and I’ve been doing a great job so far. The past is truly a part of who we are. The present is what we make out of what we have today. The future holds the person we have become after crossing the finish line.

He may be reading this entry, but chances tells me he wouldn’t. But like life, I am hopeful as always. What else could I have… but faith.

I super super miss blogging! I’ve been uber busy the past week and today was the only time I had to blog again about my life.

So without further delay, let’s start.

——

I’ve only started watching Pinoy Dream Academy (PDA) on ABS-CBN this week and I must say, I already have a favorite.

I’m pretty sure a lot of people have their money on the good-looking (what’s good looking anywayz) bunch, but I always focus on what competitions such as PDA should be about, and that is raw (not to mention goosebumps-worthy) talent. Compared to most of the guys on the academy, Bugoy definitely has what it takes to make records that would last.

I mean, after all, all their training from the world class instructors wouldn’t be worth anything if all they’re looking for are looks that would sell in the end, right?

I’m definitely looking forward to this season’s winner because frankly, Yeng Constantino really didn’t quite justify what the academy is truly about. I think the other contestants have no idea how big of a threat Bugoy is in terms of voice quality.

—

Also, for those residing in the Philippines, I would highly recommend to catch Moment of Truth on 2nd Avenue, Project Runway Philippines on ETC, and one show I’d definitely be on the look out for is Shear Genius which premieres on July 24 10pm, also on ETC.

—

From TV shows we now go to fashion.

Okay, I know with a place like Dagupan where the temperature resembles that of an oven, wearing a shemagh is the last thing you want to use as an accessory, but I definitely think that it’s time to start purchasing them given the rainy days are drawing near a.k.a. everyone would be wearing one by then, and by everyone I mean every gay guy you know.

There isn’t a single store here in Dagupan that sells shemagh so the only way you could get them is by traveling or simply head over to Ebay. I’ve done my research and the price range is pretty affordable I tell you.$7-$11 is something your hardwork is worthy of.

For those who are feeling quite generous, Remcyl Viloria is currently taking any color as a gift. wink!

*To Alain, now you know what this accessory is called LOL

—

To cheat or not to cheat…

I was watching this program the other day and the topic of the group’s discussion was about education. Apparently, in the Philippines alone, 11 million comprises the out of school youth which is pretty sad considering that the top two priorities in the government’s fund is allocated to health and education if I’m not mistaken.

For those given the wonderful opportunity of studying, are we really even getting our money’s worth? Well, in my school, I think I just learned how things work days ago.

It was our examination day and I have to say I think I did pretty well in terms of studying for my exam. So the next day, I was more than ready to take the first test. Our proctor was our school coordinator which was not as strict as I was hoping her to be. After lunch, our proctor was replaced by a new one and to my surprise, the girls in my class were more than happy to welcome her with smiles on their faces reaching their ears. I was really in question why they were so happy. Turns out, the proctor and the girls are close. Too close in fact that she intentionally and blatantly allowed all the girls to cheat during the exam. I am telling you, books laid out in the open and comparison of answers from their seatmates were as blatant as Elton John.

Just when I thought things were at their worst possible state, I was wrong. I passed my paper to the proctor since I was done with the test without an answer copied from any of my classmates. When I got back to my seat, she called my attention and told me I missed out four items on the enumeration part of the test, and wanted me to answer them since it was okay for me to open my book. But I wasn’t that student she was expecting me to be. Though a typical student might have made the innate decision to jump on the opportunity, I certainly didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried cheating before in my high school days, and it was something I wasn’t proud of and never will be proud of, but I am passed that phase of depending on others’ answers for my score’s sake.

To my proctor, for a clinical instructor, you should be ashamed of yourself for encouraging students to cheat and suffer the consequences later on in the board exams.

Are we living in a world where schools are now encouraging us to cheat? To learn by having the answers shoved up our ass? To possess knowledge in a way we haven’t earned rightfully?

I’m pretty sure to generalize the entire school population in the Philippines is quite an overstatement, but the fact that problems like these are present, is a sad sad dose of reality that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Passing the nursing course is a needle in a haystack, and others might resort to several ways just so they could graduate. But after failing my NCM 102 in the University of Pangasinan and transferring to a new school while others who failed as well still managed to get in because of the palakasan strategy, I knew the cheating of my classmates and for the proctor to just allow it to happen was something I wouldn’t tolerate. My classmates kept on complaining after they felt betrayed by their former school because of bias decisions, it was so hypocritical of them to be playing the bias game with me. I am playing fairly, and I expect them to do the same, because that is how things should be. Our school is so proud of screaming that we are a De La Salle Supervised School, let’s not give them reasons to question this title.

All I’m trying to prove here is that we made mistakes in the past, and given the second chance to study the subject again, I believe we should be taking it more seriously. Agree?

So the day after our first monthsary was the day I was to host La Salette’s 2008 Capping, Pinning, and Candle lighting Ceremony. That was actually one of the reasons why Boo decided to sleepover because he would be the one attending the ceremony with me.

We prepared ourselves and dressed up because my call time was 8 o’clock. Despite having stated in my previous post that I wouldn’t be posting any more of my pictures in my uniform, I am trapped in the faux pas of my own making, as I was obliged to wear my classroom uniform for the event. Boo on the other hand looked fab as always. Before we left, Click! Flick! Click!

I wish I could have the same bronze skin tone like Boo.

So we headed to school immediately but turns out, we were late for the mass. So we just chatted and waited till everyone left for Lenox Hotel where the ceremony would be held.

We waited for everyone to arrive at the hotel before I start my speech at the podium.

I waited…

and waited…

And I waited some more…

I waited for soo long that I called up Whistler’s mother to join me in my waiting…

And FINALLY it started!

There were a total of 15 student candidates for the Capping and Pinning and the event was as intimate as it could ever be.

I started my speech and everything was flawless. I nailed my pronunciation of the word “ceremonies” and no word was unnecessary.

Yes, Bad Hair Day, I know!

This shot has the ugliest eyes, hence the blur.

I introduced the Dean of the College of Nursing, the Guest of Honor and Speaker, blah blah blah. . .

When it was time to call the students individually, I was shocked when our school coordinator asked me to take pictures. You couldn’t imagine my surprise I tell you!

But I still did it… I was there anyways, what else can I do?

I got the camera…

Adjusted the settings…

Click! Flick! Click!

…

And before you know it, LUNCH!

—

I really had fun doing the whole hosting thing. It was a first for me and I could definitely say I did well. Not to mention a compliment from our vice-president. At least now people have an idea of what I can do for our school.

To all the candidates of the 2008 Capping and Pinning Ceremony at La Salette, CONGRATULATIONS!

—

I would like to thank the person dearest to my heart for spending that very special event with me, Boo.

I love you! Mwah!

Zola Dagupan just opened recently and it has been making a huge buzz around the little city of Dagupan and we only have one person to thank, and that is the same guy responsible for putting up Zola Baguio.

For me and Boo’s first monthsary, I took him to Zola to see what the buzz is all about. But not only that, i gave him a new haircut as you can see in the picture, and the fabulous shirt he is wearing as well. It kinda brings out the sophisticated rocker inside of him, don’t you think?

I am telling you people, prepare yourself for a whirlwind around Zola with my infamous “smile”, for sprinkling it all over the place would be a complete understatement.

With Boo being the one in-the-know with all the dishes in Zola, I allowed him to do the ordering for he knows what’s best.

As for me, I guess you know by now what happens next…

Drinks, anyone?

I on the other hand was wearing the white cargo jeans and black top he gave me.

We ordered bolognese and carbonara and an 8″ pizza for dinner and given the time to prepare these kinds of dishes, I’d have to say it was served pretty fast.

I wasn’t ready with my “smile” yet and Boo took the shot already. Hmf!

Spell YUM! Y-U-M!

It was pretty small being a pizza lover, but after binging on the bolognese I had, I left my last slice untouched. I think the pictures alone are enough justification on how much I loved the food.

First the Bolognese. . .

Then the pizza. . .

Okay, okay, I may have overdone this whole trying-to-gain-weight thing

After all that food I was ready to go to the comfort room LOL. I was full to my throat and the iced tea was just enough to quench my thirst.

Or maybe not…

It was pretty fun shouting at each other with so much noise we had to compete with. But as the night went further on, the older people started leaving so we pretty much had a cozy ending to our date. Before we left the fabulous location while Boo was at the comfort room, I used my pizza knife and dabbed it on the saucer with catsup and left a message for him on a tissue paper which read “I (heart) you”. It sure did put a smile on his face.

Happy First Monthsary Boo! I certainly had a great time!

Days had passed but this was the only time I had to blog about me and Huggie’s special day celebrated last July 10, 2008. Better late than never I always say.

———-

So we were supposed to have our make-up class with our instructor, Ms. Inacay, but turns out she had sore eyes. She sent me a text message minutes before I was about to leave the house which was truly a jumping moment for me. I was super amped about the news that I sent Boo an instant message telling him to call me up so I could spill the good news to him. When he called up, he was as excited as I was. Truly, the day was meant to happen happily for the two of us.

So I met up with him where we were to have our Lunch, which was at Jack’s. We love the food there because we get a lot of serving for the price we can afford.

So once again, the serving of the food took quite a while. I was loving Boo’s outfit that I wanted to capture it on camera.

He simply makes the best candid photos which I envy so much.

As boo looked super fab ala Christian Siriano, I looked like the crap ordered from hell. Seriously, I need a wardrobe change!

I look soo bad the picture needed to be captured via Sepia.

So after having the Jack’s rice last time, we decided to order something different.

I orderd the Lechon Kawali (bottom dish) served with fried rice, while Boo had their Sizzling Pork Chop (top dish). I wasn’t able to taste the pork chop so I really couldn’t tell you guys if it’s a winner or a never-try-it dish. As for my Lechon Kawali, I was a bit shocked that I only get 5 slices with the proportion of their rice serving. Though it is fried rice, given that you can eat it on its own, was still a disappointment. Another disappointment was how salty it was. I couldn’t imagine how much soy sauce went into making this dish but I’m guessing it’s enough to give your body a run for its money.

Before we ate, I took one more picture of Boo as he made a joke out of his iced tea.

[eat... eat... and ate some more...]

Since he brought most of his stuff for our little plan for tonight, I had to bring it home first so we could get through the day not carrying the big paper bag known as his things :).

When he received a call from Lyra, a friend of his, saying that she was at Nepo Mall, he wanted me to meet her, so we did.

She asked if we already ate, and though we said yes, she insisted on eating again which I think was very sweet of her. So even if I was uber full with what we had at Jack’s, I fed myself more with some Pancit Palabok and pineapple juice.

That’s Ms. Lyra on the right and fashion guru, boo, on the left ahihi

By this time, I may be smiling but I am bloated!

So we roamed the mall thrice after dining at Jollibee and frankly, it didn’t take us that long to do that.

When Lyra had to go somewhere, I decided to finally give Boo the haircut he needed before we go to Zola. I promised myself that was the place I’d be taking him since I could really tell how much he misses it. But since the day was young, I took him to City Mall to buy him a special something something as my monthsary gift to him.

—

The night finally arrived and we were starving! We couldn’t say Zola faster!

Zola! Zola! Voila!

We arrived and I’d have to say, it was NOISY! The place was packed with people and I’d have to say, they’re a hit!

…to be continued

I was around the block already in the web site-making/designing world for about seven years now. I have made countless entries regarding my life, places I’ve visited, restaurants I’ve dined in, people I’ve met, and stories I have to share to the whole world.

A friend of mine, the same friend who taught me how to design web sites, shared to me about how I could earn money with what I have been doing for the past years, and that is blogging. I have always been aware of such work but never really thought it was something I’d be capable of doing. But she told me that I was cut out for it with my writing skills.

She told me about payperpost and how it has helped her save some extra money to buy the things that she wanted in life, and best of all, she gets to do it in the comfort of her own living room.

What I love about the web site is that they give you your money for the price of the post you’ve chosen to write about. You wouldn’t be forced to blog about things you don’t know much about, but only those you’re familiar with. You really have the best deal if you ask me.

I’ve learned that sometimes when you do the stuff you’re really passionate about, it could mean extra income as well to help out with regards to your financial stability. With the money I could earn from PayPerPost, I plan to put it to good use by buying the materials I need to work on my craft as a stylist. With this, I am enjoying the best of both worlds with no hidden skeletons.

Happy 1st Monthsary My Dear Sweet Marvin Allan Padigos!

Our journey together has been the best so far, and I’m looking forward to spending more and more days with you…

See you in a while Boo! Can’t wait to celebrate!

Now after posting about those material things I was craving for, after seeing the video you are about to see, I felt sooo superficial and materialistic.

Sigh! I remember the days when the definition of fun was still crystal clear to me. Now that I’ve been dealing with all the stresses of school and work, I’ve seem to have forgotten how it feels to have this much fun.

See for yourself…

I was checking my Friendster this morning and browsed through the recent updates my friends had. When I got to the third person on the list, I was taken aback, stupefied, aghast (LOL)! My dear friend during my elementary days, Emily Ocsan, got married last June 28 to her sweet husband.

I must admit, I was very happy to hear the news. It only seems like yesterday when we were checking on each other’s time just to be the earliest bird in the classroom. She was my childhood sweetheart (yes, despite being gay, I had those days) and now she’s the lucky wife to a great gentleman. I haven’t met the guy yet, but I’m sure he’s a great person knowing Emily’s standards.

At such a young age, Emily makes wise decisions, and spending the rest of her life with a special guy is definitely one of them.

Makes me super jealous of the fact that she could marry the guy she loves unconditionally any time she wants. Too bad for me (and the rest of the gay community residing in the Philippines), I have to go abroad and find the state where gay marriages are legal. I’m pretty sure with a conservative country like the Philippines, gay marriages are miles away from realization. Makes me wonder why a lot of people are considering getting a divorce without even treasuring what they have, without taking into consideration that not everyone is lucky to marry the person they want to spend every day of their lives with.

To Emily, you deserve nothing but the best! Now that you have your man by your side, I could now say you’re complete.

Bliss and Kisses to Mrs. Emily Ocsan-Costales!

—

Please do get a copy of the hottest craze on the dance floor, Jump Around, now available in record bars nationwide. Also, catch That’s My Doc every Saturday at 6:00pm only in the number one station, ABS-CBN.