Becoming Santa

Happy Holidays to all! Tis the season to be jolly and merry indeed. This year we decorated the house with shades of red and gold and lots of little Santas.


With all these little Santas around the house who wouldn't be inspired to become Santa this Christmas? Who says you need to have a belly and a beard to become Santa?

Christmas day I woke up at 5am, ready to bring out the Santa in me. I spent the day with the less fortunate kids in Samal Island. I took part in a feeding program to help feed 200 kids. We chose Jollibee to cater for our event. The kids had fun, there were games and prizes and giveaways. It was so humbling to take part in such a program. It makes me sad to think that not all kids will have a truly very Merry Christmas, that not all kids have something to eat even on such a special time of the year.
The kids live in this area. It doesn't look very safe. =(
children waiting in line to be fed. Some kids pushed and shoved, in fear that the food might run out and they might not get anything.

Loot bags for the kids.
We ran out of loot bags, this little kiddo was not a happy camper. =(

I've realized another thing, who says Santa only comes around on Christmas day? I think we can all be a Mr or a Mrs. Claus all throughout the year. Have a truly very Merry Christmas!

Papa Roach

I transferred to a new office today. So far I am loving the new office. Work schedule is from 8:30am-6:30pm. I was at the office by 8:25am. Minutes after I got to work I felt that I needed to pee. I run off to the restroom but it was locked. I found out that we couldn't use the restroom til 10am and no one had keys to the restroom. Mind over matter is what I kept reminding myself. Minute after minute I was slowly thinking that this was definitely mind over matter. Hopity hop hop is what I did to keep myself from peeing. So anyhow, my prayers were answered because I found one restroom that was open. Despite it looking a bit dirty I went ahead and peeeeeed.

Ok, I know you guys don't wanna read about me wanting to pee so bad. Lol. Sorry about that. So anyhow, lunch time came and my aunt was in the area with her two other friends. She invited me to have lunch with them at one of our favorite buffet restaurants. The restaurant served smoked salmon belly and it was to die for. As I came to get seconds for the smoked salmon, I noticed one of the pieces on the buffet table had some strange burnt looking brown thing. I came closer and I was so surprised at what I had found. The burnt thing was actually a cockroach! Ewwwww!!!! I called the waiter's reaction and was so disappointed with his reaction. He told me I must have been mistaken, so I showed him the cockroach and he said, "ok, we will just remove this dish from the selection" , then he stomped away.No apologies, no anything, nothing special. I thought it was a given that if you disappoint a customer you should always try to make it up to them. I don't know which was sadder, the fact that there was a cockroach that clung to the salmon belly or this waiter's customer service.

Eat Your Heart Out

As some of you may have read, last Monday was full of ewwwssss and ickiness, but know what? I'm so glad for all that ewwwness last Monday because somehow the stars have all lined up to give me a wonderful rest of the week.
It seems like December is always a time to get together with friends and family. And what happens in get togethers? Well it means gathering around to eat yummy food with your special loved ones. Thus people, I had a major pig fest for the rest of the week. I'm feeling so fat already.
yummy seafood paella!
shrimp roll! nom nom nom
banana crepes in topped off with Nutella and sundae.
sweetssssss!
churros dipped in Nutella. Yum! I'm in heaven!

Pearl Milk Tea! I super love love love milk tea but this is the first time I've ever tried it with red bubbles like the ones they use for the bubble tea. Ooooh this milk tea is sooooooooooo good that I actually had 2 of these in a day! Yum.

How's your week coming along? I hope all is well on your end.

Mind Your Own Beeswax!

Imagine coming back to work from a really great, relaxing weekend, full of food, friends, laughter, and just all sorts of fun. Ya, Monday maybe a drag but if you're coming back from an amazing weekend you would feel re-energized to start the week. So anyhow, I was feeling like such a little Miss Sunshine and decided to come to work extra early just to get some stuff done. I work better when the office is quiet and with less people around. Imagine my surprise when I walked in to my office and found this:
Did Hansel and Gretel get lost in my office and leave behind tons of crumbs on the table? Was someone pigging out? I don't mind people eating in the office, heck, I'm guilty of eating in the office too. But really now? People need ot clean up after themselves.

And worse of all...Guess what else I found?
Someone's used swab! Look at the yellowish tips! Ewwwwww!!!!!! Disgusting! This definitely takes "mind your own beeswax" to a whole new level.

I had someone clean off all that mess and I was back to being happy little Miss Sunshine once again, but hours later my mood shifted once again. Insensitive people really get to me. Someone asked me where my dad was and I told them that he is based in California. Then this someone asks about my mom and I told him that I live with my mom. Then he continues on with his nosiness and asked me if my mom or my dad visit each other. I told him no. And then he asks me why? I answered him politely "My parents are separated but not legally. Paper works need to be processed". I figured after telling him this, that he would stop asking questions. I mean, the normal reaction would be to apologize and change the topic. But nooooo, not for this fella. He pushed the issue and asked me why my parents separated. So I had to just look him in the eyes and tell him "I don't think my parent's separation has anything to do with my job nor does it have anything to do with my job performance." How awkward! I just really wanted to tell him to mind his own beeswax.

Ugh, so yeah, that was two beeswax in one day! Poor me! I hope you guys are having a happy week.

She Bangs!

Yesterday was a holiday. Where can you guys find me on a holiday? In the office. I am such a workaholic. One reason why I love working on a holiday is that I can work better alone. I love some quiet time where I can finish up everything without any interruptions.

Yesterday, was not the typical holiday scene for me. I was surprisingly not in the office. For the first time in a long time I got to sleep in. I woke up at 8am and had a good breakfast with my mom. Yes people, 8am for me is already considered sleeping in. Hahahaha. I was up and about and out of the house by 10am. I went over to my friend's house and we went to the mall to pick up my other friend.

It was a pretty simple get together with the girls. But despite the simplicity of this get together I was just so happy. So happy to not have to stress and bury myself with work. And just so happy to hang out with good friends. For the first time in a long time I actually felt like my age again, doing girly things, go shopping, getting my hair and nails done.

I went to a party about a month or two ago and I was given three free gift certificates for a hair spa. I went ahead and brought the gift certificates with me for me and the girls. I had no idea that the gift certificates expired October 28 of this year. The gift certificates were glued to this hard paper and the expiry date was written on the glued portion, so we had no way of knowing that the gift certificates expired unless we pulled the gift certificates away from the paper. The manager at the salon was kind enough to honor these expired gift certificates. My gift certificate also came with a free hair cut. I asked the hair stylist not to cut my hair since I have been wanting long hair for the longest time. Instead, I had the hair stylist trim my bangs. I wanted side bangs.
This is the picture I showed the hairstylist. I wanted Nicole Richie's bangs. I've been in love with her bangs for so long.


I was in near tears when I saw what the hairstylist did to my bangs. I look like an anime. I guess that is a lesson learned for me. Never use an expired gift certificate.
This hat was not working for me either.
Anything chocolate is a definite cheer me up treat.
Chocolate scones with nutella, whipped cream and strawberry jam.
Beef pizza infused with dark chocolate. And the cheese is mixed with grated white chocolate. The pizza tasted pretty interesting. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Thank goodness for hair clips and my mood lifters: Apple and Kelly

What do you guys do when you're having a bad hair day? What should I do with my bangs while they are still awkwardly, stiffly short?