Bud Wiser

As I was in need of a new bag for traveling (I didn't have any budget at the moment to buy my dream North Face bag), I thought of finally freeing up of junk my blue JanSport Big Student backpack. It was a padala (consignment) of my Auntie from the U.S. (so it is an original!). If I'm not mistaken, I had it since second or third year college -- that's almost 10 years of just using it as a storage bag! True to its brand, the bag's still functional and strong despite stuffing it with big photo albums, old toys, random school stuff and a can of Budweiser. Yes, I kept a can of Budweiser. And the can was years older than the bag itself.

Old Budweiser

Days of a (Former) Drunkard

A colleague once advised that I "open up to more people." I actually thought I am doing so by owning this personal blog. Nevertheless, it got me thinking that majority of my most memorable experiences -- some I thought were regretful -- were kept hidden even from my closest friends. If they get to read this story arc, I believe they would be surprised. First and foremost, they never knew that I once considered myself a drunkard.

Disclaimer again: No, I have no intentions of boring the whole world by sharing much about my life. But like most of us, snippets of our old life do end up as amusing stories to be blurted out -- or so I thought.

And since this is my blog and I have the whole right to write anything under the sun, let me be proud of myself by putting "former" in what could have been my outlook over life and love:

Bud Wiser

Vod Can

Sans Miguel

The Value of Breaking One's Own Heart

Episode 10 of ABC's Once Upon A Time tells the story of Snow White desperately finding a cure to forget her love for his prince. She ended up making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. And despite the dwarfs' effort to stop her from drinking the potion, she ended up doing it anyway. It was too late for her to know that her prince backed out of the wedding and that he came looking for her.

Snow White holding the potion that would let her forget her prince

Exclusive Getaway

Think Punta Fuego and exclusivity comes to mind. Boasting for being a high-end residential beach front property, I never thought I would be able to even step inside this one-of-a-kind private community. Thanks to my colleagues as they're able to "contract" with an owner who, upon us accepting their terms, allowed our team for an overnight stay in their house. But what could have been a luxurious vacation turned out to be a weekend of unfortunate events.

Infinity pool -- just one of the exclusive attractions at Punta Fuego

Bagnet in the City

Since our barkada travel in 2005, I had this silly notion that bagnet is the Vigan longganisa. I wasn't probably paying attention when our friend Jaja (who's from La Union and the one who toured us) bought and served the Vigan longganisa and not the bagnet. I guess I had a stuck thought of the term as it was always mentioned since we arrived in Vigan back then. It was only when our friend Anj treated us last weekend that it all changed. LOL!

Why Jessica Sanchez's Idol run matters much to the Filipinos

Jessica Sanchez was only starting to create a buzz when I shared to my colleague the fact that another Filipino made it to American Idol 11. Expectantly, she knew about it, but she also quickly commented "Ina-acknowledge ba nya na Pinoy sya?” (Does she acknowledge that she’s a Filipino?). And she listed a number of American "stars" with Filipino roots who do not acknowledge themselves as being one -- Vanessa Hudges, Rachel Bilson, among others. She got a point, but I believe Jessica's case is different.

In a Towering Awe: Up the Capones Island Lighthouse

I was informed that we were going on an island-hopping the next morning, but I didn't know it was only really "island"-hopping (yes, singular). It was only at Capones Island. But despite that, I was never disappointed. In fact, I was glad we spent the whole morning admiring the whole island.