A Birthday Post

So i turned 24 last 2nd of December. Who cares, teddy bears? Ahahahah i did turn a year older and now here's a not so uberr late birthday post.

Looking back in my 23rd year of existence on Earth. The year that was was by far the most challenging..most fondly remembered and most dramatic. I have come to realize that the year that was, is somehow worthy to be called THE "turning point" of my life.

Your 23rd and a Lifetime Friendship

They say a true friend holds your hair while you throw up and hug the toilet bowl coz you've had an awesome night with your friends and alcohol..

if that's the case...

well i guess  WE ARE TRUE FRIENDS and that's what we'll be for the next couple of years... even decades.

Happy happy birthday to you MARIA MONETTE FLORES SANCHEZ.

partner..
dear...
dearest..
girl..
friend..
confidante..
chat mate..
sister..
daughter..

Hiking at Bukit Shahbandar

Conquered one of the hardest hikes I've ever done in my entire existence.
A Photoblog of our hike at Bukit Shabandar.

It's just a 20-30minute drive from Bandar Seri Begawan. We went there around past 5pm. Which by the way is not very ideal, because we are newbies and hiking may take longer than expected and we dont want to get caught by darkness in the midst of the mountain.

Compared to Bukit Subok and Tasek Lama, Bukit Shahbandar is  bigger and tougher than we expected.

with 7 mountains to conquer, we managed to do 4 or was that 5? hahaha. real tough but definitely worth it.

My Cousin Jenny and her Hubby, Kuya Mark

Me and Ate Roma

Just a thought

Why be SELF RIGHTEOUS?
Is it really an innate character of a person to be one? though of different degrees, extent or means to show that one is an acclaimed self righteous individual?
But why be one?
Indeed it is an entirely different story when a person is just being plain boastful (Mayabang sa tagalog) or being greatly self righteous.
one can constantly boast about being damn pretty, sexy and great at doing things, but oh please, be careful during times when you insist that your morals are entirely correct and better, if not, the best among the rest.
you should know by now that no two people are alike. views, character, mood, activities, genes and other stuff are entirely different between two individuals. what one deems as important and correct might not be applicable to the other.
it may be hard to tell whether a person is just plainly being boastful or self righteous. but then again, respect is earnestly needed. for people to get along well.
and if worse comes to worst, pray. pray and seek God's guidance for you to understand the very nature of men and forgive them quickly.

Sapiosexualism

Hey it's been a while. Forgive me coz i have been lurking in the realms of the games of my phone recently. My sister said, "Don't call it Iphone then, call it PSP. " ahhaha. sorry. I got hooked.

So here's a post of a not so deeply rooted matter.

I stumble upon this not so familiar word at an account @Instagram. And upon reading that, I instantly said "What was that again??" hahaha. I never encountered that word in my entire existence up to that day. So I hurriedly Google it and found out what it meant.

SAPIOSEXUALISM

from Urban Dictionary via Mr. Google..

One who finds intelligence the most sexually attractive 

feature..

then I said...hmmm..this rings a bell. i know one particular person who's like that.. 

Celebrating Hariraya

This is my first Hariraya. A first in Brunei Darussalam. A first in a Muslim country.
Back in PH, i never felt Hariraya since it was just commemorated in such a way that one day is considered a holiday. No work. No classes. That's just it. It's entirely different once you get to experience it first hand in a country predominated by Muslims.

If you'll be asking what's Hariraya, let's search Wikipedia.

Eid-ul-Fitr, "Eid-ul-fitr", Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr (Arabic: ‎عيد الفطر ‘Īdu l-Fiṭr), often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). The religious Eid is a single day and Muslims are not permitted to fast that day. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast". The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. The day of Eid, therefore, falls on the first day of the month Shawwal. This is a day where Muslims around the world try to show a common goal of unity.

Freed

It may be cynical. But you can continue loving though you’ve already moved on.

It may be contradicting but then again, i can atest to the fact that you can and still love that one particular person but you will not be hopeful anymore that you and him might be together.

In the long process of moving on and mending broken hearts..indeed i managed to get by. I finished the race. I have moved on. Accepted the fact that our worlds can never be one. And yes, admittedly, a part of me loves him.

Milk Tea fevaaahhh

So everybody is getting hyped in this milk tea craze. Even back at PH i used to indulge with that oh-so-healthy-yummy-goodness with my bff and other friends.


And this one is my milk tea escapade the Brunei edition.

Matter

She was standing infront of the class. With one hand holding a marker,she writes on the board.


MATTER.
*Definition
*Types
*....


She suddenly stopped when one of her students stood and called her attention.


"This is too highschool-ish.Why do we need to repeat what we learned before."


She raised an eyebrow.Closed her marker. The click-clack of her stilletos resounded on the four walls of the now quiet room. All of her students gazed at her as she slowly went down a step towards the aisle. Going down was a bit hard coz of her pencil skirt uniform. Oh how she hated those uniform and somebody talking like this to her is not practically easing her agony.

Follow the Light

And we dont know where this path will take us..but with just a mere hunch and some guts..we take the plunge and go forth the road less travelled.

By all means we cast our fears and put them aside. No they cant rattle us..nor shake us..


For we are
deeply rooted to our faith.
And by this faith we are saved.
Let us follow THE LiGHT.

Nomads in the Snow

A Photoblog

Model: Jheng Egar

Overdrive

Snow.White.Cold.Brrr..Pure Bliss.
Sand.White.Hot. Grrrr. Beat that! <Brunei version>

Post duty and off day turned into one fun and hot drive to Tutong and Seria district of Brunei. We managed to pull it off amidst the heat of the sun and our tired bodies.

First stop was the "one billionth barrel" Monument in Seria. By the way, Brunei is called "Shell Country" <i read this in an online article.> since Shell monopolized the source of petrol of the WHOLE country. Literally. Shell here, Shell there..Shell everywhere. That's why Brunei is rich, coz of its oil reserves.

Next was at a park which we happened to pass by along the highway. There was no sign for its name <or maybe I just didn't see it> and the place pretty much brings me to my father's home province @ PH coz of the number of coconut trees there. The lake is much like a scene in a movie that I don't remember.

Coz She's Blair and I'm Serena

Yes. She is Blair. and I would be Serena.
That would be how I'd put our persona in the love-hate friendship of these two characters of our fave TV show.


Indeed it was a roller coaster ride. We had our fair share of shallow and deep misunderstandings, our ultimate high and lows, but all together we managed to pull it off. 9years and more to come of awesome friendship with my real time Blair Waldorf. I don't need to enumerate everything that we've been through. What matters is i got her, and she got me. Always. :) I thank the Lord for having her as one of my rock in my lifetime.

Coz She's Blair and I'm Serena INTRO

I came upon the idea that the term best friend would simply mean someone who you confide your secrets with and you share the same interest with. It was that uncanny ability of that person to blend in to a world where the of you share together. I tend to have a lot of best friends if it were that simple. Indeed I make almost 50% of my personal friends, my own best friend, even if they want to or not. That's me. In my most original-miss-congeniality-open-book-friend-to-everybody type of person.


But in an array of well depicted scenes of friends who come and go, there is one particular story that enthralled my senses and touched me deeply. If you are really into the "IT" girl things, you are very well versed with the infamous love and hate friendship tell tale of Serena Vanderwoodsen and Blair Waldorf.

Serena and Blair (Gossip Girl)

As I whisper.

image courtesy of Google

It's seven in the evening. I just finished plating the chicken which would be part of my simple three course meal that I prepared for the two of us. I just thought of this dinner last week when we spent an evening in a local coffee shop. As I look back, I never knew in my entire existence that one day I'll be unleashing my cooking wanna be persona, all because of him.

The meal was just light. A soup and crab sticks as appetizers. Then the chicken and couscous for main course. And lastly the no-bake cheesecake that I made just last night. I set up the table in the little balcony of our pad. The view is just so-so, overlooking the parking area behind our building and the lights that somehow give the Christmas vibe, though it was not that time of the year yet. The weather was cooperating. An occasional rain shower made the air a lil bit cool. A makeshift centerpiece was placed with a floating candle and flower petals which I got from the garden of our building. Everything for me seemed perfect. This is how i hope he would see this too.

"I'm on my way now love."
"Ok. Drive safely. I'll see you in a bit."
"I love you. Keep that in mind. Ok?"
"Yes love. I do too. No texting while driving. mwah"

Hiking at Bukit Subok

Hiking was never my cup of tea. I tried it once,for the very first time, in a very unplanned situation. It was that instance when I went to jog at Tasek Lama here at BSB. Since I was a newbie, I decided to go with the flow of people and just followed a certain group. Lo and behold, I found myself hiking for the very first time in the realms of I don't know where. That time I swore myself 2 things. <1.> Going with the flow is not ALWAYS necessary. <2.> Hiking and Trekking is never like a game of climbing "little" mountains per se. The ending was I never tried hiking AGAIN. But then came along a little surprise. <Oh how I love surprises, and I thank the Lord for this one!>


It's a Sunday and it's my designated off day. My friend <Lawrence> and I settled the day before that we will go hiking. We went for a jog on a Saturday and then decided to spend the next day Hiking. I dunno if I could do it. But then out of guts and a little bit of faith, I said "Game!".


Sunday came. 16:30ish in the afternoon when Lawrence picked me up at my place. I thought at first that the trip going to Bukit Subok was quite far, but then i was wrong coz it was just near the city.


Looking at the place, it's so quiet and well, lots of trees. <who knew??! ahah> . Not that much people compared to Tasek <Actually, we were the only group hiking that time. Talk about like owning the place,ahaha>. Parking area was bad coz there were a handful of parked cars by the foot of the hill, all of which belongs to the people who lived in Kampong Ayer. <They are rich. oh yes they are.>

Halohalo High!

Since i missed summer at PH, my tastebuds longed for the all time favorite summer cooler..the infamous Halohalo. A concoction of sweetened stuffs (mung beans, jackfruit, beans), leche flan, yam and ice cream. All presented together with crushed ice and milk.

Me and my friend Lawrence <second time to be mentioned here in my blog. you'll be seeing his name pop out here most of the time since he is one of my few buddies in Brunei>, went out last Friday for a Meryenda (afternoon snack)session. Supposedly, it should be lunch, but i replied late to his message because i was ironing my uniform for my duty that day. hah!

Lawrence: "Anong gusto mong kainin?" (What do you want to eat?)
Me: "Chicken Barbecue." < at 2:30ish I didn't have my lunch yet that's why i wanted to eat some chicken>
Him: "Walang Chicken Barbecue nang ganitong oras. Gabi lang usually. (No chicken barbecue at this time of the day, they are usually available at night.)
Me: "OK.Halohalo then."
Him: "Local or Pinoy style?"
Me: "PINOY STYLE!"

The First Froyo Experience

Not so long ago, i craved for froyo. I used to eat and be satisfied by The White Hat back at PH. so when my taste buds searched for a that distinct sweet-sour moment, i decided to give in.

After dining at Aikosushi (which I intend to blog about but would not be able to, so forgive me) with two of my friends, Josh and Lawrence, we headed to Berakas to indulge in my froyo cravings.

I thought it was in Times Square Mall where they have the stall of Mochi, where i decided to buy froyo, turns out it's at Airport Mall. My bad. We parked our car quite far though so we have to walk across the mall.

(The quality of the picture sucks, I know. It's just from my cam phone that's why)

Appetizer served.

Actually I'm not a super newbie in this realm of blogging. I have two previous sites in which I post my blogs as well. One at Tumblr and the other one, which draws way way back during my college days, at Multiply.


I am your blogger. I am who I am. I am a Registered Nurse, working here in Brunei Darussalam. I came from the beautiful islands of the Republic of the Philippines. I am a Filipina. Proud to be one.


I am a firm believer of my faith. I am a Catholic. I am fond of night skies(Luna,stars and fireflies), food, travelling and honing my premature wanna be photography skills. I love my Lord, my family and my friends. 


I love life.


Why i blog, is easy as one..two..three.


I blog because I wanna share random thoughts. this may not be your cup of tea or may suit everybody else liking but I adhere to my freedom of speech.

I blog because I intend to just use what my Lord has given me which I consider as a great gift.


I blog because I want to.




Seize the day!:)