I believe in the power of compensation. Better to bend than to break, yes? So when people cannot compensate because they’re too stubborn to bend to other people for the sake of compromising so that both sides win, I think it’s just sad. It’s sad to let pride get in the way, it’s sad to be too proud to even try to see how it is at the other side of the fence. Close minded people will never get their points through the other party because they don’t try to compromise, they just want their way ALL THE TIME. They don’t even TRY.

Sadly, it’s a pattern. This closemindedness and lack of the ability to compromise becomes a bad habit to break. It has a ripple effect. Again, PRIDE is the culprit. This type of people, in my opinion, will not be able to work well in a group or as a team because a stubborn leader is hard to follow when all he acknowledges is himself. All he listens to is himself. A true leader is one who picks up ideas from brainstrorming of the ENTIRE team. PRIDE is like rust that eats away the outside until the core gets eaten too. It’s just too bad because “no man is and island”. A pompous attitude might work in an island ala Castaway starring Tom Hanks but in the real world, we have to deal with people, we have to consider their thoughts, their opinions, their feelings too and not just our own. It like the way of the universe.

Bend a little, try it, it’s easier to manage.

I was watching What About Brian last night when this song played again. I always hear it but last night I finally decided to Google it. I was so happy when I got the title and artist of the song and listened to it on iMeem right away. I love it!

It’s about the end of summer and crashing a party and finding a girl who stole the singer’s heart. It makes me nostalgic– I think of the beach, of the end of summer, and of summer flings (not that I ever had any). But you get the picture. Goodbyes are always sad, end of summer is even sadder.

It’s a good song to slow dance to at night by the beach. This song is best listened to with headphones/earphones or if you have really good loud speakers. It takes me on a natural high. It’s a good driving/rainy day song too!

Stolen – Dashboard Confessional

We watch the season pull up its own stakes
And catch the last weekend of the last week
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced,
Another sun soaked season fades away

You have stolen my
You have stolen my heart
- Stolen, Dashboard Confessional

Enthusiasm for life should be as infectious as a contagious disease so that those who can no longer find the reason to smile may find many reasons to live.

I’ve been a plain Jane all my life. I just recently got into really taking time to look decent in terms of picking out clothes to wear, accessorize, and be all girly girl. And being all girly girl includes experimenting with make up. So when I got into make up and I was slowly comfortable with gunk on my face, people nearest to me started to take notice like my sister, her husband, and my boyfriend. They keep teasing me, “finally nag dadalaga ka na!”. I started actually buying stuff for myself instead of my mother giving her Clinique loot to me or borrowing blush on from my sister. I actually have my own make-up container now.

It is but understandable that they noticed this change in me. They were with me when I was in college– back in the days when a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers/slip-ons were my “fashion statement”. It was my laid back look. I didn’t care what I wore as long as it was comfortable enough to endure hours of classes a day. While it was nice to slowly leave my shell and flutter my wings like a butterfly who has finally learned to be comfortable to look beautiful, it also made me miss being my laid back self.

Tito Lynn and Alej are the two people who noticed how different the transformation is when I wear make-up. They say that I look younger without and when I put make-up on it’s like I’m a different person. I guess make-up makes me look more mature for my age (or it makes me look my age, I don’t know) but I think it’s great that I can turn to my younger self or my older self if need be.

Sometimes when I look into the mirror and I see myself with make-up, I don’t feel comfortable. Sometimes I feel like I just want to wash my face because I like the old me better– devoid of make-up, just my favorite 2-way Mac compact foundation/powder and lip gloss (I hate lipstick). Maybe I’ve grown accustomed to playing with make-up these days that I’ve missed seeing a fresh face in the mirror. It’s still way better to hear people say you’re beautiful WITHOUT make-up instead of them saying you’re beautiful with make-up on, yes?

The bottomline is that with or without make up, I realized that I have become comfortable in my own skin. I feel good with or without, I can still turn to looking my age (without make up) and looking older (with make up) without having to feel the attachment of feeling ugly sans make up. I think that’s what every girl should feel, she should feel beautiful with what she already has with or without make up. Make up can make us look prettier for the visual satisfaction and praises of others, yes. But what’s important is how it makes us feel– BEAUTIFUL IN OUR OWN SKIN INSIDE AND OUT, WITH OR WITHOUT MAKE UP.

Everyone’s talking about Twilight and that guy Edward Cullen. I don’t know what they’re talking about so I went to National Bookstore yesterday to browse the Bestseller section. The sequel of Twilight was there but Twilight wasn’t. Sayang. I wanted to read the synopsis to see what the fuss is about that book.

And then I overheard this mom who was on the phone probably talking to her daughter:

Lady: Ano yun? Twilight? Wala ngang Twilight Zone dito!

Hahaha! I almost laughed hysterically out loud.

Anyway…here are some of the books that I want to read:

The Witch of Portobello (Paulo Coelho)
For One More Day (Mitch Albom)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)

And there’s also this sequel to The Kite Runner. Add that too!

But what am I talking about, I still have pending books on my list! I’ll get back on those before filling the shelves again.

Sem break is starting to get boring but I’m still enjoying the free time. I went back to the gym today and Alej bought me cookies! I finally found THE PERFECT COOKIES because I am a cookie monster. I mean, I LOVE COOKIES. I keep craving for the ones at Spiral because the shortbread cookies and those chocolate chip ones were just perfect cookies. I bought cookies before at Pricesmart because they looked yummy packaged with Christmas ribbons and stuff and I thought they were calling out for me. When I tasted them after I bought a jar, it tasted horrible…like they were on the shelf for so long. I think they were (old) Delifrance (stale) cookies. So when we bought a tall plastic cupful of assorted cookies from Sugarhouse, I wanted to do cartwheels because they were so good and they were really fresh! I felt guilty for doubting the girl who sold me the cookies from the Sugarhouse kiosk. My bad!

Anyway, if you’re not living in Manila (or in Philippines, in general) then you’re probably not aware of the Pinoy pop culture craze– there are Philippine flag t-shirts everywhere, the iconic three stars and a sun, the flag colors, anything about the Philippine flag you name it they got it. Pinoy pop culture is taking the public by storm…at least the younger generation. I think it’s cool because these products– t-shirts, necklaces, caps, bracelets, etc. are making their way abroad. I heard that Francis Magalona’s company who sells t-shirts with the Pinoy pop culture theme has made it’s way to the United States and it’s selling like hotcakes there, better than the sales they make here in the Philippines! My cousin Gino loved the Pinoy themed shirts and when he found out that Adidas made a limited edition Philippine flag jacket, he wanted one so bad. Alej wants one so bad too but they’re always out of stock. I heard you have to be on a list to get to the goodies and it costs so much too! But the other Pinoy pop culture merchandise like Team Manila t-shirts and accessories and other products are local buyers friendly because they’re affordable.

I think it’s great that nationalism is sinking in amongst the younger generation through the availability of these merchandise. Although they’re just t-shirt designs or whatnot, the sentiment is still there. For my brother-in-law, for example, who likes these Pinoy pop culture merchandise…he does not just like the stuff (t-shirts, accessories, etc. with the Philippine flag design), he feels a certain kind nationalism by wearing “PINOY PRIDE”. And it’s great especially when these products are making its way to Pinoys who live abroad like my Cousin Gino who feels very much Pinoy even if he’s already a U.S. Immigrant.

Anyway, I’ve babbled too much already. Now onto the photos!

He was (one of) the 3rd anniversary gift from Alej. He's cute and he eats a lot!

we found this at the mall today on the way to the gym. It's a good find! Alej got me one too.

This was Alej's main gift for our 3rd anniversary...matching two-tone gold rings with our names/date engraved inside. And no we're not engaged. Haha!

...because Alej has good taste.

And yes, WE ARE PROUD TO BE PINOY.

I’ve been to many hospital trips in my only twenty three years of life. I don’t know if it’s just a stroke of bad luck or I just have bad health. Either way, I’m taking steps to overcoming health risks that are threatening my body– I started going to the gym to keep me in tip-top shape and I’m going to try to stay away from too much sugar because that is a threat too. Oh yeah, salty food and fast food altogether but that is a struggle. A STRUGGLE, people!

All my hospital trips were horrible healthwise– I felt queasy, I felt weak, the last time I was rushed to the Emergency Room I forgot to bring my slippers I was only in socks, the horror! In my ratty old pajama, a tshirt, and a jacket, I was wheeled to the E.R. This was because I already got disoriented after my convulsion due to high fever so if you’re disoriented, how else would you think of getting proper clothes or shoes before heading out the door? I was scared that my hallucination might come back again. I had chills, I hallucinated, I threw up, and I fought Alej who comforted me as I was going through all these. One minute I had a fever, the other minute I was already in a state of panic.

I was hospitalized for five days because my kidneys were already on the way of getting damaged. But all throughout my stay at the hospital, pleasant nurses took care of me. They were always there with a smile and saw to it that I felt comfortable. Despite waking up in the wee hours of the morning to get my vital signs, they still managed to make it okay because they did it with utmost care and of course, again, WITH A SMILE! I thought about how I wanted to do that– to take care of people and somehow lessen their misery by providing comfort to those who needed it.

And now I’m on the way there. Never did I think that I’d have the guts to shift career paths and actually go for what my heart desires. Or maybe I’m just that much of a go-getter and I seek for passion. I want passion to be present in the career that I will be practicing for the rest of my life. I start clinicals on October 16 and I’m excited. There are a lot of horror stories about what to expect (mostly unpleasant scenarios like nasty bed sores, injuries, cleaning up, delivery room stories, etc.) but there are also pleasant stories as well like how rewarding it feels when you do health teaching to an elder woman and she says thank you for spending a few minutes of your time talking about regulating blood pressure and eating healthy…stuff like that.

I know at some point I’ll feel like I want to throw in the towel from overfatigue but that won’t stop me. I didn’t sacrifice two more years of my post-grad life to quit. I am a fighter and I will not just be a nurse, I will be a nurse with a heart because a nurse without a heart is not a nurse at all.

Am I excited? Hell, yeah! Am I scared? OF COURSE. But I’m also hopeful, hopeful of what there is in the future because this is a continous learning process and experience will be my best teacher.

Wish me luck!

I went back to the gym again and my legs are killing me. I should be in be right now because I’m tired but I’m afraid I’ve become nocturnal once again because I’m on (semi) semestral break. I’m giving myself time to stay up late because when school starts I’m going to be going to clinicals (a.k.a. DUTY!) so I might as well take advantage of the little leisure time I have before October 16 arrives.

Not that it matters that much but I checked my weight out of curiosity because I pigged out the whole of August when my parents and Tito Jun with family too. All we did was eat out, eat at home (Mama cooks yummy food so I ate a lot too), and we went on a three-day long out-of-town trip to Tarawoods. But I’m not complaining because this family loves food and we love to eat like there’s no tomorrow so there’s no complaining about pigging out. I gained two pounds, not bad, I was hoping I’d gain more than that. Good thing I’m not that much of a rice eater but I do eat a lot of times in a day because I don’t only have a sweet tooth, I’m also a snack person.

Anyway, TO MY FAMILY…guess what? Limcumpaos are finding their fellow Limcumpao ON FRIENDSTER AND FACEBOOK! A certain Larry Limcumpao message me on Facebook, he’s apparently a relative in Canada and there are more Limcumpaos there. He is the son of Hilario Limcumpao and he even gave me a trivia about the Limcumpao family name!

I just showed my father your picture and he agrees that you are one of us. A little history about out last name. It actually means the coming together of the Lim and the Pao family it is Chinese hence why we have our eyes.

According to my father we come from a long line of Military men and Warriors from the time of the second world war to now. Some of the PMAers and others part of Bill Clinton’s personal entourage.

Isn’t that cool? Anyway, I’m thinking of creating a Yahoo Group to unite all Limcumpaos so we can get-together virtually. I mean, imagine…there are more of us in the world! Kidding aside, I think it’s cool that I’m getting to know more of my family since I don’t know some of my relatives. I only know a handful of them and we’re not even close.

I need to rest my legs. They’re screaming for rest.

I think I’ve been partying too much lately. Three days in a row. WOW. But it was really fun after not partying for so long. I went to Temple Bar at Greenbelt last night with Alej, his cousins, and his sister to check out the DJ for Angela’s debut. I didn’t think that Temple would be a bar for kids or it’s just that I’m getting older. I refer to college kids as “KIDS” now. Haha! What a laugh!

at Temple

San Miguel Oktoberfest Kick-Off party. We didn’t go for the beer, we went for 3rd Eye Blind. WOOHOOO! We got the best tickets–The golden ticket, it’s VIP and Tita Agnes (Alej’s mom) went with us too but they stayed in the VIP tent where there’s aircon while Alej and I went to the concert area.

Third Eye Blind! And the crowd went so wild. I LOVED LOVED LOVED their set! Everyone was just singing along to the songs it was just amazing.

* * *

Anyway, before Papa left I created a blog for him. Too bad he wants it to be private, though. I’d like to show off his writing skills because I got my writing from him. Awesome. He likes to post photos now too.

I also drove for ALONE for the first time yesterday. Alej had to pick up his car from the shop so I drove on the way there and when we picked up his car, we both drove in separate cars. I was supposed to go first but I trailed behind after his car had a few problems near Eastwood. And I give myself props on the back for driving all the way from Pasig to our house! I mean…we went through Quezon City Circle and Commonwealth. It’s hard to drive there. I realized that I’m no longer scared. Woohoo! Now I need to make a driving CD because yesterday I was lucky enough to hear my favorite songs on the radio. And since the CRV is set up to have really loud sounds, I loved every single minute of it.

It’s 3AM in the morning. I have to hit the sack now.

…to WordPress!

I’ve been with Blogger for ages but I think it’s time to move on (NUKS).

More organized entries ahead and more photos. Yey!