WHEN THET SPEAKS: Unbounded.Uncensored.Unsuppressed.No Rules.No Non-Sense.

On the eve of my 24th birthday, Russell gave me a small velvet black box. I really didn't have any idea until I opened it. Dang! It was my engagement ring! I was really overwhelmed that I punched his arms out of surprise. When I showed it to my friends, they said it was nice. They asked me about its cut, clarity and the 2 other "C"s that a diamond should have (some things I don't know). It was the sign of first move for our wedding preparation.

One of my friends asked me where he could buy inexpensive Diamond Engagement Rings and I directed him to Ongpin (though I am not so sure about the quality of rings there. All I know is that, Ongpin sells cheap jewelry.) I guess it does not really matter whether an engagement ring costs a million or just a few bucks. What matters is the intention of giving it to the special someone you love.

I have always been an avid fan of Cold Case, CSI, and Without a Trace. What area all these three programs have in common? They all talk about crimes. Yesterday, Hubby and I went to SM Bacoor to watch Untracable. The film was superb. Despite of the shallow ending, the story was superb to keep me up all through out it was being shown. Last night, I keep on searching the net for crime stories. I browsed page after another another page. Until I came across Weekly Shorts. The story that caught my attention was The Red River Dam Killer. It was an interesting story though I already have the feel that the main character was already dead when she wake up from the river. I will definitely visit this site again when I got my free time.

I have read a lot of blogs, more of female blogs actually, raving about Coffee Prince. I admit, i also got hooked on this koreanovela. I even finished the series in just a matter of a day and a half. But my biggest disappointment is how the exciting plot of the story ended up with a not so good "ending". After the male lead discovered that the "annoying boy" is actually a girl, the story started to become boring. The ending too was really not that nice. I know that endings of koreanovela are really not that good but this one, so far has the worst ending. Tsk tsk tsk! Full House is still the best one for me.

We are about to celebrate our birthdays this March. And I am now thinking what could be a great gift to a parent who gave me only a few of my wants but EVERYTHING THAT I NEED.

Update: I was able to find an apartment. A two bedroom apartment. I'll be occupying one bedroom and two friends from the office will be occupying the other one. And I'll be ready to move in by Mid-march.

When I don't have anything to do or simply, when I get bored I would just either tune in to home TV shopping to see amazing products or watch videos from Youtube. Yesterday, I found one video from youtube and this really caught my attention. Watch the invisibleSHIELD video to see for yourself.

When Mom set-up her own small-scale business some 20 years ago, she had to look for a bank institution to help her gain the capital that she needed. Good thing that she got great credit history so applying for a loan wasn't that difficult for her. As the economic condition gets more and more critical, putting up a business and getting small business funding are no longer as easy as before.

Setting up a business in the United States needs a lot of consideration. One big factor to consider is the amount of capital that one has to invest. Gearing up a business is just like a gamble. If you are a risk taker and would want to have more capital so that you can maximize the potential of your business, you will start thinking about small business funding. One good option for this is the AFSLoans. Unlike its Competitors, AFSLoans has "No ApplicationFee". Some of these small business funding companies even have hidden charges which might give you a heart attack after after applying and having approved. LOL If you are going to loan between 10K- $150K, you can be assured that your will get results with 24 - 48 Hour Approvals. In addition, AFSLoans also offers some of the lowest interest rates for unsecured loans in the country. This is not bad at all, isn't it?

We are about to transfer to our new "home" by Monday. And what I meant by that is our company is going to transfer to our "own" building. Yehey! We are no longer tenants of the old Ortigas Building. Heard that they got great facilities there.

But one thing I am hoping for is that, we shout have budget for team building activities like paintball. I am not just sure whether the paintball range in Antipolo has paintabll gear like tippmann a-5. I am not sure if paint ball range owners are investing on their gears but if budget is going to be a consideration, this paintball website offers great deals for paintball fanatics.

We just got the raw copies of our wedding pictures last Sunday. We were overwhelmed with the number of pictures we got. We even had to play the CD in a DVD player as slideshow for faster navigation. I am not yet finished looking at the other CDs (We got 3, I only had the chance to browse the 1st one- the reception pictures) And I am telling you, choosing 170 pix out of 2000+ pictures is not an easy task at all. Anyway, I just want to share very few pictures that I really like.

Contract Signing. Rusell to Me: Ayusin mo ang signature mo!

San ba ang camera?

My emcee (in green) striking a pose!

The Photo Nook

The Venue

Presidential Table Up Close

Bouquet Game

Office Dear Mates

Perky Shot

Japan! Japan!

Yesterday, I watched the so-called abduction hearing of The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. I watched it from 10:30am to 3:30pm. Again, I was moved and touched by Mr. Lozada's utmost sincerity and honesty. Though I told Bebeh that if he was Lozada and me as Lozada's wife, I wouldn't allow him to do what Lozada did. Sorry naman, para lang kasi syang nagsindi ng mitsa ng buhay nya. Feeling ko, isang maliit na kuto lang si Lozada compared to Abalos and FG. That's just me, personally talking.

But really, admire the man. Bibihira ang katulad nya. He has nothing to gain doing what he did and in fact, he has lost a lot of things just by standing firm to his principle.

Nakakainis and at the same time, nakakaawa ung mga naka-assign to "secure the safety" of Lozada. It seems that they do not really know what is going on and they are just following orders. Kitang-kita naman sa pang gigisa ng mga senators. That was "hot seat" personified.

Sana lang..as in sana lang. May kahinatnan ang pagiging bayani ni Lozada. Wag sanang mapunta sa wala. Kung hindi, wala ng Pilipinong maglalakas loob na lumaban sa katiwalaan.

Good Bless Philipines!

I know I have not yet posted anything that happened during our d-day. It's been a while and things got me too pre-occupied to find the time to tell stories of what has transpired during that day. I am not going to bore you though as what I am going to tell are just the high high lights of our wedding day.

HOTEL

When we chose Dec. 22 as our wedding day, we did not anticipate the traffic condition that the long week-end might cause. Russell fetched me to the hotel around 1pm where I also met my two buddies and former QASs, Iris and Marcus. I was really touched with these two guys as they even filed their vacation leave just to help me out during my wedding. Anyway, my elder sister and my mom was supposed to join me as well in the room but thanks to Japan embassy. They are schedule to fly to Tokyo December 27. My sister had to rush there because something went wrong with my niece's dual citizenship. Ate learned the news that she has to come to the embassy before its closing time during the time that mom was not in house. She's doing shopping. Ate just had to call her and mom understood naman. It was a total bummer for me since aside from the fact that traffic during that time was really terrible, I got no car to use since sister and brother are using their respective cars. Di ako makapang hiram. Cab drivers refused to take us. Buti na lang may isang driver na tumanggap sa amin para i-meet ko si mama. Since it's Christmas, i doubled what I was supposed to pay him. We met mom at Megamall around 6pm na. Marcus was left in the hotel coz he had to pick up the mannequin stand that we are going to use.

Sa sobrang laki ng problema na binigay ng gown maker ko (gawa lang kasi sa Divisoria..sa supplier ratings na lang) I totally forgot about getting pedicure and manicure done. Naalala ko lang nung nasa mega kami. Halos wala ng tumanggap na salon sa akin kasi queueing talaga. Mabuti na lang ung taga Freshaire, nung nalaman na ikakasal ako kinabukasan eh naawa sa akin. Hayun, talagang inuna nila ako miski madami pang naka line up. Mom, Iris and I finally finally arrived at the hotel mga 9pm na.

Sa sobrang pagod, ang bilis ko nakatulog. 11pm pa lang tulog na ko. I woke up around 7am though what I have planned is to wake up at 9. Siguro, I was meant to wake uo early na rin kasi wala pa pala akong dress for the wedding preps! Damn. nakalimutan ko dalhin ung dress. Eh mga 1pm pa makakarating sina Russell. So again, Iris accompanied me to Robinson's Manila to buy one. But before that, my make up artist, Val Villarin was already there together with his crew. Super aga. Call time nya is at 10 pa pero 9am pa lang andun na. I got my dress around 10:30 na. When we got to the hotel at around 11, parating pa lang ang in-efficient kong coordinator (more details on my supplier ratings). After a few minutes, dumating na rin ang uber love kong photographer/videographer. It's only around 11:30 am that we finally able to set up our things as we settle on the ambassador suite of the Manila Pavillion Hotel.

Mama Val was really quick doing his job. He started with my Mom and then Iris. Russell's folks were already in the hotel at around 12 pm. Nagulantang ako sa dami nila. I didn't expect na halos 2 van ng tao ang dadalhin nila sa hotel. Ung ibang kamag anak kasi nila eh wala namang sasakyan kaya nakisabay na lang kasi mahihirapan daw kung 2 balik ng sundo at hatid ang gagawin. Mejo nainis ako nun kasi ang laki ng suite ko at may room pa si Russell pero sa dami nila, hindi na kami magkasya. Grrr...hindi ko naman maitaboy so deadma na lang. After all, mababait naman sila sa akin from the start. Natuwa na rin ako kasi talagang they took the time to come on our wedding day.




Sa dami ng tao sa room, pati ako natataranta na. Russell forgot to bring my perfume. Buti na lang, may baby cologne ako. My Daddy Ramir cooked menudo for lunch. Lugi kasi kami kung 50 people (kasama suppliers) ang pakakainin namin ng fast food. Sulit na sulit ung at madami pang natirang food sa niluto. Ang aga lang ng call time ng coordinator sa church. Mass is at 4pm. 3pm pa lang pinaalis na kami ng hotel eh ang lapit-lapit lang ng Manila Pavilion sa Malate. Grrrr!!!





CHURCH

For some reason, nawala ung neck tie ng bro ko. Sayang. Sya lang ung walang neck tie sa buong entourage. Two of our male principal sponsors were late. One of my male seconday sponsor was also late din. Buti na lang may extra suit kaming dala so my Russell's brother in law was able to fill the absence. When I heard Velvet Mood played Canon in D, I knew that the entourage is starting its march na. Kakabog-kabog ang dibdib ko. Halos mabingi ako sa lakas ng ingay ng dibdid ko. When one of my coordinators told me na it's my turn na, di ko alam kung matatae ba ko sa kaba or kakaripas ako ng takbo mala Run Away Bride. LOL When I heard Mark's (my QAS) voice singing Ikaw (Spanish Version), biglang nag blur lahat ng tao sa paligid ko. All I saw was my father's face. I know it's weird. It should be Russell's pero at that time, mukha lang ni Papa ang nakita ko. Siguro kasi, daddy's girl ako in its real essence. And it's time for me to say "Good Bye as Ms. Uy". I walked real slow. I remember what was told to us during our pre-cana interview. "Mahaba ang aisle. Bagalan lang ang lakad. mag bilang ng 1-5. Pag narealize mong ayaw mo pa palang magpatali, may secret passage sa likod ng church. Pwede ka pang pumara ng jeep o taxi." LOL

When I finally reached the altar, I took off my veil and hugged my mom so tightly. I CRIED. I didn't know that most of the people who were there also cried. I only knew it after seeing a few videos captured by friends and families.



As we say our vows, we faced our dear families and friends. I saw some of them smiling and some of them crying. Kakakaiba talaga si Father Martin. The best sa lahat ng pari na nakilala ko. He was the one who conducted our canonical interview kaya sobrang personalized ng sermon. Akala nga ng ibang tao eh kakilala daw namin ung pari. When the mass ended, what we heard was "I now present you Mr and Mrs. Hernandez" walang "You may now kiss the bride" kaya kala namin di pa kissing time. LOL there was moment of silence. Until Father Martin said, "Sige na, magtukaan na kayo". Then all people laughed. Hehehehe. Shonga-shonga kami. Anyway, the ceremony went smooth. Walang naging problema.





RECEPTION

For our grand entrance, we shone away from using the usual entrance song like "I love u more today than yesterday." What we had instead was "Doobidoo" by Kamikazee. At ganun talaga ang music habang naka-formal attire ang guests as in super haller!!! At first we thought that it's gonna off, but we had a different reaction from our guests instead. Uber sa tawanan talaga. Imagine naman kasi, dapat romantic (kaya nga may string quintet eh) pero may background music na "Heto na....heto na....heto na...wahhhhhhh!!!" Tamang adik lang noh! LOL


I was really mesmerized with how Clamshell looked like during our weddding day. When you visit it kasi during day time, gusgusin talaga sya tignan compared to Le Pavilion or NBC Tent. Ang ganda ng full drapes and ng lightings na ginawa ng Sensitivity. Ang laki ng difference na nagawa ng mood lightings and city lights. Para lang may production number sa A.S.A.P. hehehehe! Nakakainis lang, naiwan ni Russell ung cord ng gitara ko. It was supposed to be a surprise for him since he hasn't seen me played "live". In addition, I also told him to bring at least 7 cases of beer but what was brought was 28 bottles of red wine. HayyYyY!!!! But all in all, our guests loved the food especially the dessert bar.


They took lost of pictures on our photo nook (na parang Shang Ri-la Rustans set up dw. LOL). My sister's in law's good friend, Jaimee was supposed to sing "Sing me a song again daddy" but she was not given the proper queue by my coordinator. What happened instead is that I sang the song. Though I knew the lyrics of the songs, for some reason I was mental blocked on some lines. I finally broke down into tears when I sang these lyrics (with very garalgal/utal-utal voice):

I am standing at the threshold
Of a chapter in my life
I am asking for your blessing
As I'm about to be the wife
Of a man I know who loves me
And I'm proud to be his bride.
Daddy the time has come for me to leave your side.

So, sing me a song again, Daddy.
Sing me a lullaby.
Wrap me inside your arms, Daddy,
'Though this is not goodbye.
Your songs will live forever In my heart. When times get rough
The ones I'll most remember
Are your songs of love.



Ayan, naiiyak na naman tuloy ako. When I get to the office after a month long vacation, all of my friends told me that the most touching part of my wedding was not the exchanging of vows, not my bridal march but when I sang that song for my Papa. Joel, my emcee, said that the guests were really touched of that number. He and my other emcee, MJ were about to cry na rin kung di nga lang daw sila emcee. Si Marianne nagaulat na lang daw kasi si Lyza, ayaw paawat sa pag iyak. Ay ano na...kasal ito hindi lamay. LOL Joel further said that, me singing a song for my father was his first time to witness a "really touching father-daughter dance."

We did not have any couple's dance because we did not have the time to practice so we just decided to sing a song. Our master plan was to play a video-ala karaoke so that guests can sing along with us. But for some reason, ayaw mag play ng video. Buti na lang may copy lang ng audio ng Way Back Into Love. I am not really a singer though I can carry a tune (more of a guitarist) but Russell was really off the tune kaya nakakahawa LOL. James, my dearly loved QAA captured a video and when I showed it to Bebeh, nahiya si tukmol. Para daw syang patay. LOL


We called it a night at around 10:30 na. Mas maaga from what have expected. But I understand it though since long week end nga and most of them are from the Cavite/Pampanga/Novaliches kasi. Ang lalayo!

Sorry naman. I know I said, short lang pero napahaba. At the end of the day, na-realize ko lang na no amount of gliches should ruin the most important event of one's life. Couples should just have to let it go. After all, a wedding day is just one day. A marriage is a lifetime event to cherish.