Well my sites been down for the past few days so I couldn’t post this earlier. Anyways, Christmas here was simple, as it is every year in the Reyes home. But it was really nice. As for presents, I got silly stuff again (as they all know those are the stuff I like… if the antlers don’t give that away haha).

As I was telling a friend of mine, I really miss the feeling when I was a kid. That when Christmas came, there really was that “magic”. Just the sheer thrill from those presents under the tree, the cold weather, the special sound of bells from familiar Christmas carols. And I would look at my family, our pet, and I’d be so inexplicably happy. I didn’t have to try, or look for that feeling. It was there.

Maybe it’s naiveté? Or just because as a kid, it didn’t take much to feel that.

But he was right, when he told me, that this year it came when it was needed the most. So that simple statement got me thinking, again, that maybe sometimes it’s okay for things to get complicated. To lose that “easy” factor, to have to be sought instead of always just being there. To have to be fought for instead of always just being handed to us. Because it’s a good gauge of what we want, what’s important to us, how important we are to others, and what all of us to do to find that “magic”.

If indeed we are looking for it. If not, then maybe it’s just right that we don’t find it.

—

I know the date of the celebration of Jesus’ birth has been disputed a lot, but to me it doesn’t really matter. No words can describe how thankful I am that he did in fact come to die for my sins so that I wouldn’t have to, and that gratitude stands even outside the season.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. :)

1. Merry Christmas! It’s almost the big day — the lights at Meralco are absolutely wonderful.

2. The bright red star in the east, the one that doesn’t twinkle, is actually Mars. You’ll see it there till around 2015. Yes, I am a dork.

3. Goodbye Antel Global, and hello Robinsons-Equitable Tower. Also, hello thumbmark security thingy (I AM A DORK).

4. Beauty and the Beast is still my favorite fairytale princess story.

5. I finally got The Kite Runner, Cat! Woohoo. Thanks Art :D

6. December 29, mortals! I can’t wait.

7. Way too much to do, way too little time.

8. Life is interesting, unpredictable, scary and one heck of a joyride all at once. I am genuinely thrilled [edit: and genuinely terrified.].

9. You can’t say I didn’t try.

10. I must be out of my mind. But I don’t [want to] care just yet.

Christmas Lights

I think I can safely say that the party was a success.

The program we set a week ahead was completely thrown out the window from the moment they walked in, but hey that’s the stuff of amazing parties right? Spontaneity. And that that was about as spontanous as it gets, without being chaotic.

Wait who am I kidding? It was chaos. Hahaha. In a very fun way though.

Even setting up turned out to be more fun than tiring. Well, for one I got to do a little decorating, though I do mean little. It’s all good though, since the new office was nice to begin with. After hilarious jokes of Christmas orcs, eggnog and beerhouses (I can’t tell them as well as they were told to me, sorry) the place was set up before the rest of them arrived.

The food was okay. Some of them told me it was good (without me asking so must’ve been sincere) so at least it was well worth all the hassle for the past 2 weeks.

I had so much fun playing charades, I’m serious. I absolutely love that game! Oh our team won btw, and for that I got GAME OF THE GENERALS. Booyaka! Omg I remember when Ali and I were buying prizes, I insisted that we buy it, and I told him I was gonna win it. I can’t believe I actually did! It stays in the office though hahaha~

For the gift exchange I got a Teddy (Official Mr. Bean haha). Well our exchange wasn’t the normal one, it’s a crazy remix where all the gifts are laid out on the table unwrapped and you can pick whatever you want. Except that each gift can be “stolen” up to twice. And despite doubts, it was FUN. Almost all the gifts were stolen twice! It was awesome.

Oh it’s so nice btw, boss gave us organizers little appreciation gifts — I got this Humor Post lunch box with cows. Yay~

No sense talking about everything so I’ll cut this ramble short. You can view the rest of the pics on my Multiply. Anyways, I’m just really glad things went well, and more importantly, that everyone had fun. Like I said, all worth it.

Shooting Stars

Lastly, the meteor shower I’d been expecting for a month now peaked last night. I went outside at around 1:30am to find a wonderfully clear night sky, stars scattered like breadcrumbs. And about once a minute, twice if lucky, I’d see a white line streak across. In a heartbeat it would be gone.

I was so nice, like the sky trying to connect the dots. It was desperate and wonderful. Last night showed me spontaneity at its finest.

Christmas Lights

I think I can safely say that the party was a success.

The program we set a week ahead was completely thrown out the window from the moment they walked in, but hey that’s the stuff of amazing parties right? Spontaneity. And that that was about as spontanous as it gets, without being chaotic.

Wait who am I kidding? It was chaos. Hahaha. In a very fun way though.

Even setting up turned out to be more fun than tiring. Well, for one I got to do a little decorating, though I do mean little. It’s all good though, since the new office was nice to begin with. After hilarious jokes of Christmas orcs, eggnog and beerhouses (I can’t tell them as well as they were told to me, sorry) the place was set up before the rest of them arrived.

The food was okay. Some of them told me it was good (without me asking so must’ve been sincere) so at least it was well worth all the hassle for the past 2 weeks.

I had so much fun playing charades, I’m serious. I absolutely love that game! Oh our team won btw, and for that I got GAME OF THE GENERALS. Booyaka! Omg I remember when Ali and I were buying prizes, I insisted that we buy it, and I told him I was gonna win it. I can’t believe I actually did! It stays in the office though hahaha~

For the gift exchange I got a Teddy (Official Mr. Bean haha). Well our exchange wasn’t the normal one, it’s a crazy remix where all the gifts are laid out on the table unwrapped and you can pick whatever you want. Except that each gift can be “stolen” up to twice. And despite doubts, it was FUN. Almost all the gifts were stolen twice! It was awesome.

Oh it’s so nice btw, boss gave us organizers little appreciation gifts — I got this Humor Post lunch box with cows. Yay~

No sense talking about everything so I’ll cut this ramble short. You can view the rest of the pics on my Multiply. Anyways, I’m just really glad things went well, and more importantly, that everyone had fun. Like I said, all worth it.

Shooting Stars

Lastly, the meteor shower I’d been expecting for a month now peaked last night. I went outside at around 1:30am to find a wonderfully clear night sky, stars scattered like breadcrumbs. And about once a minute, twice if lucky, I’d see a white line streak across. In a heartbeat it would be gone.

I was so nice, like the sky trying to connect the dots. It was desperate and wonderful. Last night showed me spontaneity at its finest.

Introducing, our new baby, Bruce.

Hahaha I love calling him “baby”, but of course I have to stick with “Bruce” till he’s really used to it. He’s a Belgian Malinois — like the K9 bomb-sniffing dogs you see at the malls here.

Yeah I know what you’re thinking, he doesn’t look like one. That’s coz his ears are lowered. They kept him in a small cage for months, so he tucked his ears down for such a long time, I guess he got used to it. They say they’ll be back up, just need to give it some time.

He’s 7 months old already, so he’s a bit shy toward us. For most of those months, the only human contact he’s had was with two guys at the pet shop. Honestly, they don’t treat the dogs well enough there. While some dog-buyers stay away from dogs like that, that was actually more reason for me to want him.

But now he’s warming up to us. He usually responds to his name now, and doesn’t shy away as much. Just gave him a bath this morning, it was a challenge, but not as much as I expected.

Handsome dog isn’t he? Also, don’t let the puppy-dog eyes fool you — he’s still a bit shy now, but he’s got the big-boy bark already.

Welcome to the family, Bruce! c:

Current music: Blackstreet - Don’t Leave Me

I miss this song, I didn’t even know I still had it! Hahaha~

Anyways, sorry for not posting as much while I was in Hong Kong. There were a lot of stories to tell that I guess I’ll be skipping now, hype gone and all. But for the record, it was a great trip. All things considered, it was really awesome.

So let me just go over the important stuff. First of all, I did buy clothes, but not really a lot. I still refused to buy those HK$300 pants (even though they looked sooo good and I had money to spare!), but I guess most of you expected that :P Went to Ladies Market twice, but bought more stuff elsewhere. It was fun. From these nights when we went shopping, we’d usually head back to the hotel past midnight. And now I know why they say it’s the city that never sleeps.

On our way home one night, we passed by the setting for the upcoming Batman movie’s (The Dark Knight) scenes. The police had the sidewalks controlled and there were a lot of people there. That was around 9pm, and the production team and the equipment were ready too, even if they weren’t starting till midnight. We didn’t wait for the actual scene, so I just took this picture of the setting, you can still see the cameras at the lower left area. From the looks of it, the scene was gonna take place high up in one of the buildings, since the cameras (newspaper people) were all pointing up. For a few days, Christian Bale and this scene were in the Hong Kong papers — apparently after midnight, they lit up all the city lights. Cool beans. I heard about the environmentalist reactions though… Haha.

One of the best parts of my Hong Kong trip was going up to The Peak. It was really nice, despite Columbia and I getting a tiny bit lost coz of a stupid sign pointing the wrong way haha. Anyways, I got to ride those open-top buses, and of course the tram! It was so weird heading up because the buildings around us literally looked like they were leaning 45 degrees, like the world tilted around us. Anyway we got to the top, and despite the fact that it was painfully cold, the view… the view was spectacular. I took a lot of pictures, you can check out one of them at the left. It was really nice.

We also went to Tsim Sha Tsui, and Kowloon Park is definitely worth mentioning. It kinda sucked that there were so many people, but it was still nice there, and was huge. Inside we got to see what they call “Kung Fu Corner” where we saw some martial arts exhibitions, and I saw my first dragon dance up close (even if it was just a mini version heheh). Right outside was this large monument where they had the Beijing Olympics countdown. Took a lot of pictures in that park :P

Didn’t go to any of the famous theme parks though, I’ll reserve that for more favorable conditions I guess, not on a work trip.

Well, Hong Kong in general was really something. I mean aside from the sight-seeing, it was really comfortable being there, didn’t even feel like I was out of the Philippines for some reason. I really felt the difference after coming back actually (Damn is it hot here! Hahaha), and honestly it reminded me of those days spent at Jess’ condo LOL no joke. No culture shock whatsoever either. Weird but good.

I always loved the convenience store life. And city lights, it’s like a trance.

Well, I won’t go over the work stuff, coz that’s… well, work haha. None of that. But seriously, I’m really glad I had the opportunity to go there, can’t wait to go back soon. Btw, sorry for the rushed post, I’ll try to do better next time rofl~

Oh and, I have great news (well, for me heheh) for my next post, but since he’s a little shy right now, I’ll post about it tomorrow. It’s probably not what you’re thinking, you. Hahaha.

Current music: Blackstreet - Don’t Leave Me

I miss this song, I didn’t even know I still had it! Hahaha~

Anyways, sorry for not posting as much while I was in Hong Kong. There were a lot of stories to tell that I guess I’ll be skipping now, hype gone and all. But for the record, it was a great trip. All things considered, it was really awesome.

So let me just go over the important stuff. First of all, I did buy clothes, but not really a lot. I still refused to buy those HK$300 pants (even though they looked sooo good and I had money to spare!), but I guess most of you expected that :P Went to Ladies Market twice, but bought more stuff elsewhere. It was fun. From these nights when we went shopping, we’d usually head back to the hotel past midnight. And now I know why they say it’s the city that never sleeps.

On our way home one night, we passed by the setting for the upcoming Batman movie’s (The Dark Knight) scenes. The police had the sidewalks controlled and there were a lot of people there. That was around 9pm, and the production team and the equipment were ready too, even if they weren’t starting till midnight. We didn’t wait for the actual scene, so I just took this picture of the setting, you can still see the cameras at the lower left area. From the looks of it, the scene was gonna take place high up in one of the buildings, since the cameras (newspaper people) were all pointing up. For a few days, Christian Bale and this scene were in the Hong Kong papers — apparently after midnight, they lit up all the city lights. Cool beans. I heard about the environmentalist reactions though… Haha.

One of the best parts of my Hong Kong trip was going up to The Peak. It was really nice, despite Columbia and I getting a tiny bit lost coz of a stupid sign pointing the wrong way haha. Anyways, I got to ride those open-top buses, and of course the tram! It was so weird heading up because the buildings around us literally looked like they were leaning 45 degrees, like the world tilted around us. Anyway we got to the top, and despite the fact that it was painfully cold, the view… the view was spectacular. I took a lot of pictures, you can check out one of them at the left. It was really nice.

We also went to Tsim Sha Tsui, and Kowloon Park is definitely worth mentioning. It kinda sucked that there were so many people, but it was still nice there, and was huge. Inside we got to see what they call “Kung Fu Corner” where we saw some martial arts exhibitions, and I saw my first dragon dance up close (even if it was just a mini version heheh). Right outside was this large monument where they had the Beijing Olympics countdown. Took a lot of pictures in that park :P

Didn’t go to any of the famous theme parks though, I’ll reserve that for more favorable conditions I guess, not on a work trip.

Well, Hong Kong in general was really something. I mean aside from the sight-seeing, it was really comfortable being there, didn’t even feel like I was out of the Philippines for some reason. I really felt the difference after coming back actually (Damn is it hot here! Hahaha), and honestly it reminded me of those days spent at Jess’ condo LOL no joke. No culture shock whatsoever either. Weird but good.

I always loved the convenience store life. And city lights, it’s like a trance.

Well, I won’t go over the work stuff, coz that’s… well, work haha. None of that. But seriously, I’m really glad I had the opportunity to go there, can’t wait to go back soon. Btw, sorry for the rushed post, I’ll try to do better next time rofl~

Oh and, I have great news (well, for me heheh) for my next post, but since he’s a little shy right now, I’ll post about it tomorrow. It’s probably not what you’re thinking, you. Hahaha.