well rested

i've never felt this way in about two years!

after an exhausting weekend in southern california for michelle's, paul's and my parents' first trip to disneyland, i had a long weekend to recoup. i worked from home on thursday and friday so i could be with michelle while her babysitter's off on her on vacation. that meant i could wake up at 6:25 am, log in to my computer and remotely access my office desktop, and voila! it's like i'm in my office! i also forwarded my office phone to my cellphone so i don't go back to work on tuesday with a gazillion voicemails waiting to be heard. nobody even noticed i was not in my office. =)

yesterday, michelle and i slept until 830 am and napped for 2 1/2 hours. *sigh* it would have been perfect if i had a better mattress or at least a memory foam mattress pad....so just as i am typing up this entry, i finished buying a 2 inch memory foam topper from overstock. =) aah! the wonders of online shopping!

i'm waiting for adobo nation to start so i can see it's feature on tselogs. we did not seek to be featured on the show. they googled and yelped us and they called the restaurant. i wonder what the response will be?

Michelle @ Disneyland

this is michelle singing to the 'hotdog song' from mickey mouse club house. watch her reaction when the announcer speaks.

tselogs nation!

yesterday we went to the abs-cbn studio in redwood city so that chel can tape the segment that features tselogs. when we got to the studio, they were interviewing this tall, buff looking dude and the people in the studio were gawking at him. the guy is good looking but not my type. i was never really into bald guys. but even if he was 'my type' i'm not sure how thrilled my husband will be to read that. ;-) any hoot, i didn't know who this 'celebrity' was if he was indeed one. lai said, 'maybe he's some basketball player from the philippines?' it was only later on that evening that someone told us that the guy was brandon vera, the ufc champion. i've heard of his name before but i don't know how he looks like because i never watch ufc. the girlash in me refuses to watch something that seems so brutal(too strong of a word, please pardon my lack of a better adjective).

but on to tselogs nation....

i have never been to a taping of a talk show before. lai, chel and i watched the taping of will and grace years ago before the show won its first emmy and we saw the detail that is given to each episode. adobo nation is no exception. taping started promptly at 7 pm and we didn't leave until almost 9 pm...and this for a 60 min show were most of their features are taped before hand.

i must admit, i have never seen an episode of adobo nation before. my excuse is that my daughter and her noggin network dominate our tv sets at home...but i know about the show and have heard a lot of good things about it from people. it was very interesting and entertaining to watch these 3 smart and witty people interact with one another. jc, karmina, and jaja were also very nice and friendly.

so here is the evidence that we were at the show. i don't want to give too much of the episode away so you all can watch adobo nation in whatever part of the world you're living in. again, please watch adobo nation on sunday on tfc!

click here for more photos.

tselogs on adobo nation

please watch adobo nation on tfc (or any abs-cbn channel across the globe) this sunday at around 4:30 pm. they will feature tselogs this week.

here are some photos i took at the restaurant today while they were taping. chel will be in the studio tomorrow to tape the segment on tselogs also.

the magical world of disney

disneyland and disney california adventure photos are here

GO! MICHELLE! GO!

the happiest place on earth!

we're going to disneyland!!!

new photos

random photos of michelle

walang kalatuy latuy

yan ang masasabi ko sa coverage ng nbc ng olympics dito sa west coast!

excited pa naman sana ako manood. minsan lang to no so i want to see a lot of games. pero lahat ng games, delayed na. yung pinaka magagandang events, they show it so late at night so tulog narin ako.

michael phelps is the biggest name in olympics right now, pero kahit isang event nya, wala akong napanood. since i read the news a lot, dun ko nalang nalalaman ang mga nangyayari sa olympics, wala na tuloy excitement. lalong nakakatamad na panoorin sa tv.

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did you hear/read/watch that american boxer who thought he was ahead in points so what he decided to do in the last 50 seconds of his match was just dodge his opponents punches? when the final bell rang, his coach broke the bad news to him, and he broke down and cried. e kasi naman! over confident! haaay!

what about the chinese singing girl that was not 'cute enough' for the international stage so they found a 'cuter' girl to lip-synch in her place? i wonder what damage this has done to the little girls self-esteem!?

e yung spanish basketball team naman that pulled their eyes back to make them slanted (singkit)? wala man lang ba ni isa sa kanila or sa mga tao sa paligid nila ang nakaisip na a lot of people might find it offensive? talk about smart!

e what about the chinese gymnasts who claim to be 16 years old when they really all look like they are 12 years old to me! sus! i know most asians are petite, pero OA naman ang pag exaggerate nila sa age ng mga chikiting na yon. oo, mga chikiting pa sila. the olympic committee is turning a blind eye kasi daw sa passport na pinakita ng China, 16 years old na yung mga bata. ok, pagkatiwalaan natin ang papers na pinapakita ng China...a country that can and will control every aspect of society if need be. they of course have their country's best interest. it would be stupid of the i.o.c. to ignore this. if they are cracking down on doping, they should crack down on this, too.

di ba? for someone who hasn't been watching the olympics, updated ako sa mga controversies? hehehe i read them all online. i have mixed feelings tuloy about this beijing olympics. ako lang ba ang kinilabutan at natakot sa nakita kong libo-libong intsik na nagperform? naisip ko, if they china decides to wage war on any country, lagot na! sobrang dami nilang man power! at napansin nyo kung pano mag marcha yung mga sundalo nila? grabe no? daig pa ang sundalong di susi. maganda tingnan...pano kaya sa gyera, ganon parin sila magmarcha?

may balita ba kayo kung may nanalo ng medal para sa pilipinas?

sideline

mabenta ang buko pie! i made 7 pies on friday night. ubos na sya as of yesterday evening (saturday).

i'm making 7 again tonight. hanggang kelan naman kaya maglalast itong bagong batch nato?

i don't want to make too many pies in one go. i want to maintain the freshness of the pies although i like it best when it's been sitting in the fridge for several days. i eat it cold or warm. chel has a slice a day and sabi nya hanggang ngayon daw hindi sya nagsasawa.

sabi ng daddy ko, 'siguro pwede na akong magretire, gawa nalang ako ng buko pie!' hehe and this from the man who was VERY critical of this endeavor because he doesn't like buko pie. feeling nya kasi pag ayaw nya, ayaw na rin ng lahat ng tao! pero ngayon, mega support na sila sa sideline kong to.

profit? wala pa halos kasi pinangbibili ko ng ingredients ko in bulk para makatipid. siguro in the next several weeks, meron na ulit akong kikitain. =) ilalagay ko sa piggy bank ni michelle para di ko galawin.

the bridge

i used to be able to post videos from youtube but i think you can only do it now for videos you own. my cousin from italy sent me this...

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRLRSXd4fzA

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i hope you like it

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michelle the magician

michelle the great!

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until she gets distracted by a bird!

the dark knight on imax

WOW!

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i've been inside the imax theater at the metreon maybe half a dozen times but all the movies i've seen there were the regular movies that just happened to be showing in the biggest theater at the cineplex. the dark knight was the very first imax movie i've ever seen and all i could say is...

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WOW!

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the movie was great. heath ledger was amazing although i was expecting more screentime for him. it was a good call by the director. the movie is not about the joker, although the hype was all about him and the great actor that was heath ledger. i don't think it would be good to saturate the movie with the joker's psychopathic antics. heath was a very effective joker and i found myself covering my eyes and my ears whenever they alluded to a bloody scene. the director was nice enough to move on to the next frame before showing us all the bloody and gory bits.

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i think the joker is one of the best villain roles any actor could play and heath was blessed to have been awarded the role. is it an oscar-worthy performance? i say a nomination is possible but winning the oscar might be a long shot. but i hope he wins. his career held so much promise but he didn't live long enough to show the world his full potential. sayang.

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but what is with batman's voice!?!?!??! seriously now. he growls every time he speaks. there was one scene towards the end that i totally did not understand what he said because he sounded like a pitbull in a dog fight! actually, it sounded like a cross between a lion and a pitbull.

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but back to my imax experience...the aereal scenes where they showed the chicago (gotham city, most of the scenes were shot in the windy city) and hongkong were breathtaking! (kelan kaya ako makapuntang hongkong!?!?!??! jean, i tour mo ako!) my stomach was doing flips as it felt like i was standing on top of those skyscrapers myself! the sound quality was amazing, too!

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so, when the next BIG blockbuster comes out and it's showing on IMAX, i have to watch it in imax. sure it's pricey, but the experience is well worth it. i love watching movies in the movie theater. dvds don't capture the same thrill as watching the film with 500 other movie-goers. i'm already looking forward to may 2009 when i see hunky hugh jackman as wolverine. i'm sure that's another WOW experience!

personal body image index

i read this article online...can relate ako dito hehehe

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By Catherine Price

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(OPRAH.com) -- One portion of macaroni and cheese. One slice of chocolate cake. One pair of svelte black pants. Do some very simple, if highly emotional, addition and subtraction, and you arrive at a whole new way to see yourself.

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The first documented instance of my distorted body image is an entry in my fourth-grade journal. "I just ate three cookies," it says. "I feel fat."

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There is no way that I actually was; my jeans, although dorky, fit just fine. Nevertheless, the disconnect grew worse as puberty approached -- especially in eighth grade, when the body mass index (BMI) entered my life. This is a formula that tells you whether you need to drop pounds -- and while it's generally reliable, it doesn't take body composition into account.

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At 5'4" and 140 pounds, I'm close to the overweight category, but that's only because I've got heavy bones and a sprinter's thighs. Every time I calculate my BMI, I get angry at myself, even though I'm aware that I am in good shape.

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But what do feelings have to do with numbers? Most women know that it is possible to immediately gain 15 pounds by eating one pint of Ben & Jerry's. And when it comes to your butt (which can enlarge six sizes in the wrong pair of jeans), the rules of physics no longer apply.

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We need a better way to quantify these fluctuations -- a formula that goes beyond your BMI and calculates the feel of overweight. So I propose the personal body image index (PBII).

The general idea is as follows:

• Start with your weight.

• Subtract seven pounds if you have just worked out.

• Add five if you've single-handedly finished a plate of guacamole and chips; four for macaroni and cheese; six for death-by-chocolate cake.

• Subtract 10 pounds if people nearby are fatter than you.

• If you're wearing black pants, subtract two; if in a bathing suit, add eight.

• If you are more than seven years older than the group average or are surrounded by bikini-clad undergraduates with toned stomachs and cellulite-free thighs, add 20.

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I don't advocate letting the PBII dictate how you live your life; it could turn you into one of those people who spend their beach time camouflaging their lower halves with sarongs. But once you acknowledge that the PBII exists, you can take steps to improve your score. Some suggestions:

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Hang out with people older than you, preferably much older. This has three benefits:

(a) You probably have fewer varicose veins than they do.

(b) Truly old people are inspiring; they tend not to give a damn about what they look like in bathing suits.

(c) Except for my elderly neighbor, who once greeted me by announcing that I'd gained weight in my face, older people are usually effusive with compliments. My friend Luba, who lived to 99, used to tell me how beautiful I was every time I saw her, even though she was blind.

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Watch those college girls on the beach. Notice how often they adjust their bikinis and glance at themselves in other people's sunglasses. They are totally insecure. Granted, they are probably also judging you, but still -- I find their self-doubt liberating. Isn't there some cosmic limit on how much body insecurity the universe can handle?

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Embrace the bikini now: "Look how skinny I was!" my mother says every time she sees a picture of herself from the 1970s. "I thought I was so fat. I was 130 pounds." My mother, now 66, is living proof that you should do everything in your power to enjoy your body as it is right now so you never have to look at an old photograph of yourself and wish you'd spent more time in a two-piece bathing suit.

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When it comes to my own PBII, I still have a way to go. It doesn't take too much extra chocolate to convince me that I should never be allowed to wear shorts. But recognizing the illogical logic behind my self-image helps me to control it better. And by my calculations, that's worth subtracting at least five pounds.