Wish me up, scotty

Murmurs Mumblings - MyThoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Wish me up, scotty

On a quick review of my Christmas wish last year, I realized that I acquired most of them, well not exactly as a gift, but bought and attained them hahahaha. So, I don’t think it wouldn’t hurt to draft another list again.

I promise to behave this christmas!

1. Complete the Austen Novels
2. Speedlite Flash Ex for my babe e-chan
3. a fully paid house and lot *sigh*
4. safety in travel
5. more travel opportunities
6. to treat my parents to a holiday trip
7. shed ¾ of my body
8.HDD. my pic files are getting bigger
9. a job/team that will appreciate my contributions
10. a new borubudur guy or dancing partner for dayOHbee…and another set of pink leggings
11. a bollywood contract and a continuing uphill life experiences for Ays. That she will keep spreading her love to the world
12. for eypooh,more happy memorable moments, peace of mind and a deserving lifelong companion that will make his soul continue to smile
13. for coffeefairy, that the hills would continue to look alive, despite the setback. That she will have a pleasant end to her waiting, her life always be filled franks, sausages, bratwursts and chorizos.
14. peace for all my friends
15.health and joy to my family.

Bits of Greens

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Bits of Greens

Things I learned about the Emerald Isle

1. It is very green, even in winter…it is still green
2. On summer; at 10PM the sun is still up in the sky, come autumn season the sun won’t even peek at 10AM, 4PM the sun starts to set already
3. The shops close by 6PM (except dining spot, pubs and groceries).
4. Lots of houses have chimney …and they are actually more economical
5. Buses come in interval of 20 mins, so better start chasing the buses.
6. Pleasantries are observed here, i.e we say ‘thanks’to the driver when going down
7. ‘Cheers’ and ‘Thanks’ are used interchangeably (this merits another blog entry)
8. When people greet each other, they always say ‘How are you today?”. Sometimes, they wait for your reply with interest, some with half-interest and some will just walk away.
9. Taxi’s lighted signs on top of the cars are detachable. Cabs are not identical. I am guessing they are actually private cars that were allowed to moonlight to be cabs
10. if Singapore has EZLink, here it is the monthly pass for suburbs and city buses. No top up, just present to the driver like an ID. Single fares needs to buy the ticket from the bus driver
11. Some pubs are open at lunch time and some people really do drink at midday.
12. There are lots of Gothic styled churches here, but hardly fills up.
13. Locals talk fast. Really fast.
14. Gentlemen are a rare breed here
15. there are lots of blue eyed dudes here…but cuties are still rarities…sigh…
16. For newbies a summer get-up would be a light coat,boots and mittens.
17. Never ever assume that in summer you can use a light blanket. Always get under the duvet.
18. Beef here really tastes good.
19. King Creole is not an Elvis Presley movie,it’s a delectable pita sandwich
20. Potato Terminology: Fries is called Chips. Processed potato chips are called Crisps.
21. Newspaper is a bit pricey compared to Asian countries.
22. Shops/Groceries do not provide bags for sold items, either you bring your own or pay up for those plastic bags.
23. Walang Spam …..
24. Canned goods: tuna, salmon, peas, corn , corned beef…double sigh…
25. Rashers and bacons. Oh, pork sausages all over
26. When the sun is smiling haughtily, thou shall not use an umbrella to shield yourself. You’ll look like a prized idiot and your companions will deny knowing you.
27. If we have whitening lotions back home, they have tanning salons here
28. People with orange skins walks amongst us. Tans. Period

silly smile

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Silly Smile

3 things that made me smile recently:

1. Oftentimes newspapers here gives freebie DVDs of movies or Audio CD…for the past days, I been collecting hallmark movie freebies from a certain newspaper. When I went to the rack to buy today’s issue, there were no more copies of that newspaper available. With hush puppy eyes I went to the clerk and ask if by any chance there is a copy left. She said, “No, there aren’t….(sad face) but you can have the DVD”…yey!!!!

2. Head heavy from work, last sane thought would be get into the damn bus and go home. Oh but what luck, the bus was nearly full, and a lot of the people in the queue were also dead-set to get inside the bus…so we push and squeezed together inside the bus. A lot were complaining and annoyed. A gentle looking old man, suddenly commented in a loud: “Would somebody please volunteer to go to the roof? It’s only for a short ride!”, that broke the tension |:).

3. Another bus incident, our bus was getting difficullty in veering to the main road, as a lot of cars keep cutting in front of it. A gentle looking old man, pops his head out and said “The bus is the captain of the road! Respect the bus you cars!! “

Banana

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Banana

Thanks to Kayan’s link , this made my day :) It’s been a while since I heard a fine line in a Filipino movie hahahahah!



Rough Translation:
I admit, we are all just bananas, but among all the tress in the Philippines only the Banana tree has a heart.

My reply would be:
At saging lang din ang ginagawang banana q sa pinas! :P

This line had tickled a lot of people funny bone, that someone spawned it with a remix video…. I give it 5 banana heart for hilarity !:

Call In Questions

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Call In Questions

Call In question#1: So do you do anything so that you don’t get bored with your walks?

Aoisoba:
1. Pop an ipod in my ear
2. Conserve my energy, so I will not die of hypothermia while walking
3. Be on alert to watch out for ‘golden nuggets: doggie poops’ or ‘sick’mines
4. Strategic walking in such a way that my head will not look very attractive and in right place for crows who are in dire need of toilets
5. Play ‘statue’ while the dogs are barking their hearts away
6. Pray hard that someone will rescue me from my dilemma or that the dogs will suddenly realize that I am an innocent, harmless truly person I am
7. Pray harder that I meet a cutie :P


Call-in Question #2: Any lesson learned about the doggie incidents?

Aoisoba: *Clears throat* May I share the two options of my beloved friends told me (Waves to Chili D and A) if such incident occurred again.

Option 1: Engage the dog to bark at me again, but let the owner bite me :p
Option 2: Encourage the dog to chase me, resulting to the owner chasing the dog. The owner, naturally, would apologize about it, and I in return coo "let me buy you a beer" …. *faints*


Call-in Question #3: Any last words for your beloved neighbour?
Aoisoba: Tackle me *hearts*

The Crib - Part1

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style The Crib - Part1

Ever since i landed here in my new host country... an awfully lot of people are asking:
"So how does your house looks like? Pictures perhaps?"

Presenting now, my first Crib, (subtitled as : Suburbia Moments)

1. The House


Atop is actually my neighbors’ house. This was my crib for 3 months:


Living in an all-year round ‘air conditioned’ country with such a rustic place, it was no surprise after I woke up from my afternoon nap, a squirrel was looking at me with googly eyes.
The living room is furnished with sofa, dining table, TV.


While the kitchen area is complete with oven, hood, ref, microwave, electric kettle and complete with utensils !

The veranda


The unit has 2 bedroom; this is the common bedroom....


I only shot the bed in the master’s, as there has been a re-enactment of Armageddon in my room when I was taking the pictures.


For the water closets section: 1 bathroom is en-suite (master’s) while the other bathroom has a Jacuzzi tub (*siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*)…too bad I wasn’t able to snag anyone to join me for a hot Jacuzzi soak (*_*)



The routine was after the long walk, I heat up the food in the stove and then soak myself in the hot tub, until I look like a prune …make it a satisfied prune :)

The whole unit has a central heating, with ‘really functioning’ radiators in the bathroom. But then again to help lower the global warming (and to lower the bill), for warming myself up I choose to wear my hoodie, fave socks and hide under the duvet :)

This is my geek corner: my precioussssss


While these are my toys chilling around


Look who got drunk by drinking milk.



The gate has a zapper, you can open the gates by remote control, what I usually do on weekends is that I sit on my window and if I spot someone walking nearby the gate, I zap and open the gates :P


2. The neighborhood – aside from the dogs that keeps barking me nuts…along the maryborough hill street, is the house of the Irish Rugby kicker:

(pic from munster.ie)

Ronan O’Gara *faints*
Unfortunately, on one time that he called his dog to stop barking at me, I didn’t knew who he was…I only thought what a cute guy and how the dog is cutely barking at me. I should have kicked myself for not asking an autograph.


3. The walk –
Okay, before we proceed…one last look again on Ronan O’Gara:

(pic from munster.ie)

*Faints*

Now, now….where does the word ‘suburb’ fits in? the house is in the suburb area, going back/forth the house is such a breeze…if you have a car. If you are a poor match girl like moi, then the first bus stop and the first sign of urbanity is a 20 minutez hill walk.
And now this is the infamous walk, I been blabbering about.








Winner diba?!

Coming soon: Cribs special part 2: City Dreaming

Bumming with my toys

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Bumming with my toys

Do you still remember the time, when we were still small kids and play with toys complete wih voice overs. I'm afraid it started haunting me again.... (>.<)

"Ready to form Voltron este Gundam! Activate Interlock. Dynatherms connected. Infracells up. Megathrusters are go! (Let's go Voltron Force! arrgh i mean Gundam!)."

- Form feet and legs!


- Form arms and torso!



- And, I'll form the head!


- Form Blazing Teddy!


- Form Cassanova mode on!


More pictures on Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Gundam X

28 things

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings 28 Things

28 things I know about her:
1. She knows her coffee
2. She only eats apples for dinner
3. Unlike me, she likes colors
4. She drinks tequila like water
5. She can carry a tune and likes to sing ‘Mr.Cupido’
6. She wants to play Carlotta in the ‘Phantom of the Opera’
7. She has fascination about vampires
8. She is the Ms. Universe in her friends’ hearts
9. She is a ‘bagnet’ mweheheheheh….
10. She is sweet as a tootsie roll
11. She likes Coelho literatures to bits
12. She is a bookworm
13. Her patience level is very loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong
14. Fave foods includes: Hokkien Mee and Char KWay teow
15. She eats ‘ampalaya’ from time to time …*bitter :p*
16. She attracts people she doesn’t want to attract *cough*cough*
17. Her fave color is pink (pink blouse, pink pants, pink bag, pink shoes)
18. She is a well-travlled chili babe, who already manage to see the east and the west of the blue planet
19. She loves her ‘tweety bird’ very much
20. She is a ‘dakilang ate’ (kayan bawal magreact)
21. She is a good plantsadora :p
22. She is a dreamer….dreams about longanissa
23. She is a believer and a worker of faith
24. She is an interesting blogger
25. A good colleague to have and a rare friend to catch 
26. She has experienced heartaches, but with every love lost she got stronger
27. She’s the person I am grateful for being there and not saying ‘Shut up! You’re embarrassing me’
28. Today is her birthday
Happy Birthday !!!
You will always be the coffee bean in the field of tea for us :D

AoiSoba is a Mild Drinker

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings AoiSoba is a Mild Drinker

Inspired by the story “We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers”



Friday Night. This is my first time to be in the pub in my new host country. This country has a reputation for being ‘drinkers’. I did saw some folks drunk as early as 5PM, happy hours starts really early and ends very late in this country.

Anyway, I went to this pub not because of the Yey-Friday-Night bug but a company social event was held. The main event was a table quiz contest.
Upon arrival, we get our drinking stubs and the folks started getting their bottles of beer. Some asked if I do drink because I didn’t asked for a beer. I simply smiled and said:

“I’m a mild drinker”

Thing is… I don’t fancy beer very much, I always feel bloated drinking it. I drink some other liquors from time to time (Wine and Chili stuffs) only.So, instead of grabbing a pint or bottle of beer, I said:

“One Vodka, neat please”

I got a collective gasps from my quiz groupmates. They were all teasing me that I will be groping at the floor at the end of the quiz show, one even took my addy just in case that I’ll be too wasted to tell it to the cab driver. I just laugh them off, and as I was about to pick my glass, the bartender asked me: “Are you sure you don’t want anything with that?”. I am so puzzled with this question, if I said ‘neat’ why would I want anything along with it?
Anyhoo, so the bartender and along the others were looking at me, I caved in to the pressure, so I said she can spike it with a sparkling liquid. While the others were drinking Bailey’s, I was just sipping my vodka like water. I got weird looks again from my team. I shrugged my shoulder.

On the quiz interval, we ordered second round of drinks, I got a bailey’s this time, so that they will get-off my turf. At the end of my drink, I noticed that the people are getting too “hyper” and even some, cranky. Tipsy. Wait a minute…, they were all just drinking beer or baileys and I can only spot a ratio of 2 bottles/pint of beer per person.hmmm ….. if I remember it correctly beer is 5-7% V/v alcohol….alcohol percentage is relatively lower than other liquors, thus only when the quantity intake is huge that you can actually feel the alcohol to kick in.

On the 2nd interval, folks are now ordering water or going to the loo, I ordered another glass of vodka, (without any spike of soda) to cool down my head, I gave up on the quiz as I don’t think we can gain more points if your group mate keeps blabbering your answer and already drunk after 2 baileys…

In the end of the quiz show, our group scored last, we got a medal for having the lousiest point and we had a certificate that has a quote about having beauty but without brains. Wow, finally I was called beautiful in a quiz show, an achievement indeed

So, just before I call it a night, I ordered a glass of vodka. Again, I was surrounded by shocked faces, as I downed the glass. They were asking if I am alright and if they should help me a cab. I checked my temp and felt my pulse, I then replied non-chalantly that everything is ok.

Back in my crib, I started sewing up the buttons on my coat, did my laundry and read an essay about time and the General theory of relativity.

Bruha ko talaga.

LSS of the Day

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings LSS of the Day

This song is brought to you by :
Pansit Bughaw - Ang pansit na nilalamig

Gravity - Maaya Sakamoto

been a long road to follow
been there and gone tomorrow
without saying goodbye to yesterday
are the memories I hold still valid?
or have the tears deluded them?
maybe this time tomorrow
the rain will cease to follow
and the mist will fade into one more today
something somewhere out there keeps calling
am I going home?
will I hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?
zero gravity what's it like?
am I alone?
is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet
still the road keeps on telling me to go on
something is pulling me
I feel the gravity of it all

A Rose By Any Name is Still a Rose...

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings A Rose By Any Name is Still a Rose...

I am so tempted to add this on my resume:

Get Your Sexy Name

I wonder if i'll get a bigger pay ....

Brewing Up

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Brewing Up

Chains.
The laws of nature. The flow of time.
The vessel known as your 'body'.
The existence known as your 'mind'.

Words.
The one chain that people can control.
Words are ferocious beasts.
Even if you say them once, you can't take your words back. You can't ignore them either.
No matter how unaware a person is, they continue to use those chains.
Words are alive and they have a power over our role in our lives.
Word don't only affect the one using them .

Restless.
There is already a situation brewing around me, if only I knew exactly how to defuse it…
Whether, I try to think or not about it, once I lay my head on the pillow, it surges back to me with greater force than before.
Will it subside or at least, will it mellow down?
I don’t know…I don’t know….

Self-Plucked Point: Cameron Highlands

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Self-Plucked Point: Cameron Highlands

It just hits us.

We wanted a break.

We need a quick out-of-country holiday without charging VL days.
Chili F, got a good idea: Cameron.

Based from hearsays, it’s akin to Baguio…cool climate (which is a welcome change as we were starting to look like prunes from heat and humidity), strawberries (uhmmm yummy!) and perhaps some cuties (yummier!)

Anyhoo, the trip was a 2 days stint. We left our beloved host country at 10PM fri night.
I think all of us were shivering from the relentless blast of air conditioner…except for one, who as described by Chili A as a ‘smartypants’ bringing a malong and sleeping peacefully all the way to the la-la land.

When we woke up,this was the first thing that caught our attention


And yes, we were trying to suppress our giggles to no avail. Alas, we forgot to take a pic along with it.
Surprise, surprise the package that we took was in partnership with the Titiwangsa Tours…. Oh well, universe has a peculiar sense of humor.


First, we got dropped off to our hotel.

Thanks to chili F, we got this hotel. The lobby looks like going for a united nations theme with all the flags draping from the banisters.


So, how was the climate there? Here you go:



‘Umph’ #1: Boh Tea Tree plantation
Cameron Highlands named after William Cameron, a British colonial government surveyor who discovered the plateau on an expedition. The place became a hit after realization of the fertility of the lands. Currently, it is one of the biggest tea , vegetable producing area
In my opinion, the first stop would have been more impressive without the pathetic ‘i-am-so-sick’ tour guide. This guide makes getting traffic in edsa more like a trip to heaven.
Anyhoo, we were surrounded by a picturesque landscape so the innate shutterbugs in all of us were busy taking pictures and taking turn in posing.
Check out Chili A and Chili F’s blog for better pictures here and here






Tidbit info: Tea like us also takes a break, after being pruned for 1 season it will rest for 1 reason before it will be pruned for harvesting again.Also, only the top of tea trees are harvested

‘Umph’ #2: Tea Factory
Remember the sardine commercial by cesar montano, to assure the freshness of the product is that a factory was set beside the shore? Same idea with the tea folks, to assure the quality of the tea, they set up the factory near the farm,’to pick and pack’ on the same day.
My 5kb memory is failing me now, the 2nd guide (a very good guide) gave us a rundown on the process. If I remember it correctly, it was drying, selecting and cooking.











‘Umph’ #3: Moss Forest
Intriguing huh? It is actually ecologically informative on how mosses, yes the green icky ones, helps in conserving the rainforests. We were then asked if we wanted to go for the short trek to take a glimpse on the big pitcher plant. Three of us decided to be the trekker wannabes. Housemate L declined due to her asthma problem, another one declined as well saying he will accompany L (lamey excuse :P).
Well, the trek may be a short one, but for someone whose idea of exercise is yawing 10 times a day, is not a picnic. The mud takes a lot of energy, it was stressful to concentrate not to slip or else get a muddy pants . Looking at this log

already makes you wonder how can you step on it without getting a mud pack.

The climax of the trek was to snap a shot of this wondrous plant:

Sirit? Le Pitcher Plant


Chili F was a real hustler err I mean she breeze through the trek and assisted the whale-coordinated me on the walk. Chili A also gracefully finished the trek while talking on the phone, beat that! The result was three with muddy trainers and 2 with squeaky clean trainers.

‘Umph’ #3: Chrysanthemum Farm
Uhmm ..farm of chrysanthemums? Ah heck, the place is a good background for pictures, which we exactly did.








‘Umph’ #4: Water Cress Farm
First this is the pic of our 2nd guide. I rate him one big smiley.


Ok we never really went to the farm itself, but we just got a bird’s eyeview of it.
<.img src = http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/aoisoba/blug/cameron/IMG_4187.jpg >
Interesting enough, since farms are way down in a valley like landscape, a special cablecart is used to transport the produce from the farm to the main road. Too bad I can’t try it.


‘Umph’ #5: Self-Plucking Strawberry Farm
Yes you read it correctly, that’s how they call farms wherein you can pick your strawberries.
The only thing that impressed me here is that one Chili uses her charm on one of the tour staff, and it was rewarded with a jam ... blooming! Sino etetch!


‘Umph’ #6: Veggie/Flower Farm
Totally forgot what exactly the farming process employed for these veggies, but the gist of it is that instead of planting them directly to the land, veggies are planted on this cushion like tube filled with sawdust and water is supplied in a controlled continuous way.










The other side of this farm is the floral section.
For us Flower means K*#@% este flower shots pala
















These are shots of the same flower at the same angle, but diff focus point. I can’t decide which one looks good.








I like this type of flower but I still don’t know what it is called.
















‘Umph’ #7 Cactus Farm
We just love farms, don’t we ;) Anyhoo, the farm indeed exhibits a lot of cacti variety


The Organized Cacti Gang












The Little Pricks






















The Big Horn



The Graffiti Type


The Medusa or Bad Hair Cactus


Flashbacks to the ‘Umph #3’ Moss Forest trek…remember the sweat and breathless trek? I am so aghast to see…
One


Couple



and lots of open mouth Picther Plants! Blegh!


Now for my three fave shots

A. The Rose Cactus


B. Orange Contrasts Blue


C. Well, Just Becoz…