a tourist in shanghai

shanghai was truly amazing! i didn't expect to like it, but i really do. the buildings, the lights, the weather...even our tour guide, judy. she didn't rip us off at all. she brought us to the really nice tourist spots like nanjing road, madame soong's mansion, yuan garden and the tv tower, which was very near our hotel. the only downside of the tour was eating chinese food everyday! im not really a fan and i don't think that i'll ever become one.

anyway, i especially liked being able to go up the tv tower because it's the 3rd tallest in the world. you see, im sorta "collecting" tv towers. to date, i've been up the cn tower in toronto (the tallest in the world), the space needle in seattle and the eiffel tower in paris. i wanna go to the one in russia next. gosh, i just love traveling! if only i had the money, i'd be a tourist my whole life. i'll just go back to manila now and then to eat authentic filipino food and to show off everything that i bought! :)

carrie did it!

i guess my little crying incident after watching carrie sing isn't so silly anymore. after all, i really believe that song sealed the deal for her. im just so happy! it's the first time that someone i truly liked won anything. usually my bets just don't make the cut. you name it- the contender (gomez), the amazing race 6 (adam and rebecca), american idol 3 (jasmine), the apprentice 2 (jennifer)...the list just goes on and on. i even started to think that they do bad the minute i pick them. i guess im not a jinx after all! it's just too bad that i wasn't able to watch the whole show 'cause we had to leave for shanghai. whoever taped the show, please lend it to me!

next stop: shanghai

tomorrow, me and my family are off to shanghai. i can't wait to see the "paris of the east". i even listed all the places that i wanna visit. last time we went to china, the tour guide just kept bringing us to different "factories" which sold us everything from herbal medicine to chinese vases. this time around, we vowed to ditch the tour group if it isn't heading to any of the tourist spots that we wanna see. im so excited! i'll tell you all about it when i get back. :)

carrie made me cry

i just finished watching american idol and carrie underwood made me cry. i know it sounds stupid but i called my friends who were also watching and they cried too. i have loved carrie ever since the auditions, but there was just something about the way she sang the last song. i guess i noticed it more because bo sang the same song just a few minutes before she did. her rendition was just more vulnerable (in a good way), and she was clearly singing her heart out. all the judges, even randy who was never really into her, were blown away. simon even said that carrie had a lot of guts going against the older and more experienced bo, and that she did everything to win the competition. i don't know what will happen, but whoever wins, carrie will always have my vote.

the beach, anyone?

memories of bora


if any of you are going to the beach, please take me and chris! i promise we won't be annoying tag-alongs. summer's almost ending, so there's little time left. gosh, i just miss the beachy life. *sigh*

surprise!

i turned 24 years old last monday. can you believe that? im almost a quarter of a century old! anyway, my parents and chris threw me a surprise birthday party last sunday. that was my 3rd surprise party in the last 4 years so im kinda used to it. nonetheless, i still wanna thank everyone who came and those who didn't come but still greeted me. and to my family and of course chris, thanks so much for all the effort! i don't know why you keep doing that!

anyway, my only wish is to never have a surprise birthday party again. :)

congrats from chris

congrats teach!

...waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby......waby...

congrats on the new job! i know you'll do great!

Love ya!

Chris

teacher karen

i got a phone call this morning from one of the owners of the preschool that i've applied to. apparently, they picked me for the job of teaching the toddlers class this coming school year. yep, im officially a preschool teacher. i still don't know how i feel about it. i guess i'll just know when i start teaching already. i'll finally find out if im really cut out for this job. but what if im not?

as fabulous as ever

bora was a b-l-a-s-t! i have to admit that it was a lot better than the last time. i think the difference this time is that it was more relaxing. everyday we'd spend the afternoons swimming and hanging out in jonah's. sure, we had to wait close to an hour for our shakes but it was all good. another great thing is watching my niece kylie swim and play on the sand. you see, it's her first trip to the beach so everything is new to her.

my favorite part of the day though, was after dinner. me and chris would have our alone time and walk on the beach. it's been a while since we talked that way and just enjoyed each others' company. i guess everyday stress can take away things like that. needless to say, i always look forward to these moments.

i also found a new sport/hobby/thing to do when im bored. actually i don't really know for sure what it's called but i think it's poi or poi-dancing. those of you who went to bora would know it. it's like dancing with glow sticks but with a ball (usually on fire) on a cord instead. i only got the practice poi, which are ribbons that are made a bit heavy with pebbles or something. anyway, when i get better (yup, im sick with flu), you'd probably find me by our pool, poi-dancing and wishing that i was in bora instead!