My Shot of Morphine

They've always been both the causes and the cures to all my problems.





 
 
 
Purple Top: Plains&Prints| Plaid Top: Mango| Shorts: Bench

That's Okay!

Products: The Spa services plus additional products

Verdict: "No, I won't buy any of it"

Top: Mango| Inner Top and Shoes: People Are People| Pants: Topshop| Watch: iPod Nano

So our Professor didn't buy our products. He objected a lot. Our group's argument wasn't really strong and didn't have enough conviction. No worries though since there's still the Follow Up or as how I see it, the "get-it-right-this-time-else-you'll-really-fail" stage. Anyway, this is what I wore to our presentation. I had to look as if I were in the Safari without trying so hard. When I saw this pair of khaki pants in Topshop last sunday, I knew it's that one item that can make me instantly school and safari  - ready. Or not? 

Allow me to also thank Ms. Cel from The Spa and their head managers, especially the staff in The Spa The Fort and The Spa Rockwell  for not getting irritated from our group's incessant questions. Their head managers have been so nice and friendly towards us, even though we've returned over and over again in their branches just to confirm facts.

I'm still selling some good stuff, check them out in the separate pages of this blog. Some prices have lowered and I hope you will find them more appropriate now. I barely have a month left until the deadline and I'm only halfway to my quota! The watch that I'm wearing here is included in the items so if you want to get your own, let me know :)

Stressed and Impressed

I guess I bring stress upon myself. I am, yet again, stressing myself over minor details when I could've easily chosen to just let everything be. Take my midterm exam in Marksam for example. (Was that a tongue twister or what? Hahaha) Our class is grouped into 7 and each group must successfully sell a product to our professor. If he buys it on the actual product presentation, lucky group. If he doesn't, then the group has to think of other ways to close a sale with him. He has to buy the product in order to pass. All or nothing. Easy rules. But the procedure is like going through the eye of a needle. Over the weekend, I was with my groupmates in Taft and in The Fort to shoot scenes for our video which will be part of the entire presentation. 

White Blazer: G200| White Top: from Bangkok| Belt: SM Dept. Store| Shorts: Bench| Shoes: Steve Madden| Watch: iPod Nano 6th Gen

My college superbuddy Hannah and I were in The Fort last sunday to interview and get some insights from the management in The Spa since its services and products were what we've decided to sell our prof. I don't know why but Hannah and I seem to love taking the more tedious, time-consuming, and more stressful path. We could've gotten information from The Spa's website and just download videos from YouTube but we did the harder way. Our other groupmates didn't want to work over the weekend and the two of us insisted that we do. So in the end, the others weren't stressed out and the two of us looked as though we need the spa package more than our professor could've find use in it. What's up with us, Hannah? Haha!

Sisterhood is complete! Hello Lina from the phone :)

Don't be fooled with the pictures. We worked that day more than we enjoyed ourselves.

With Hannah's sister, Alyssa, who acted as our videographer/photographer. Thank you, tall baby sister! I was tiptoeing in this picture cause I didn't want to look like the dwarf that I am. Hahaha

Thanks to the Dar Juans for the photos

The Rest is Still Unwritten

I am so thankful I took up my intfilo (Introduction to Philosophy) class when I've already realized the gravity of the situation. 3 to 4 terms ago, I wouldn't have given a care to what my professor in intfilo is trying to inculcate in my mind now. The world could've died then and I wouldn't even budge. In my current term now, I've enrolled in 8-9:30am class under the great Sir Victor Gojocco, shocking ALL my college friends who have warned me about his infamous way of seeping through his students' minds and planting thought-shaping ideologies. I want a sure pass prof, yes, but I also want to dare myself and test how firm my stand on my beliefs are. The latter sometimes outweighs the former.

When you react to something you've witnessed, you should either affirm or negate the situation and in the process try to make sense out of it. Sir Gojocco told us about the movie The Matrix, the one which starred Keanu Reeves (aka one of my Hollywood crushes of all time). And then he asked, "How sure are you that you are not living in The Matrix?" Remember that in the matrix, anyone who's in it can also die. It was Neo (Reeves) who tried to break free from the slumber and tried to come out of the virtual world. He had to fight the agents who wanted to keep him and the rest of the population locked in it. Those who were believing that the life they're living in The Matrix is real, didn't know that their lives were merely make-believe. How would they when they've been used to their so-called life already. What if we are also like those people, those who failed to see what's really behind all of these? What if all these are part of The Matrix as well? Where do we get the answers to these questions? Do we get them from God? To begin with, is God even real? Is there really someone Genius behind all of these occurrences? Granting that He truly exists, don't you think He's an excellent strategist or playmaker? He may have given mankind its 5 senses but He made sure these senses are not enough to explain the reasons.

We can say that life doesn't offer much answers. But the thing is, it still offers some, no matter how minor they may be. We might not find all the answers that we need but I believe we have that one thing that can be sufficient enough for all of us to find sense in all things - faith. I am therefore truly human, for I settle with the beliefs my faith has instilled in me throughout the years. They may be unproven, edging to fallacy even, but they are what I need to continue living my life the way I would've foreseen it.

Born on the 6th of July

The Queenbee celebrated her birthday last July 6th. We could've enjoyed it somewhere outside of Manila but the erratic weather didn't permit our plans to push through. Instead we settled for our family's second love - food!

Can you properly see the BEAUTIFUL details of the phone?

It's Ferrari my love! <3

Top: Zara| Belt: Giordano| Shorts: my friend Janica's| Shoes: Zara| Ring: Aldo 

Also, last July 6th, we welcomed in our growing Valle family the arrival of my 4th first cousin, baby Ezra Milana Valle.
 "Name: Ezra Milana Garaygay Valle
(Ezra - one of the great prophets in the Old Testament)
(Milana - from Epok's most favorite soccer team AC Milan in Italy) 

Let me begin Ezra's story on how she came about but of course I'll not go into THAT detail if you know what I mean. (wink!) When I got pregnant, the questions often asked were: "Was it planned?" and "Why so soon?" Well, YES because Epok and I really wanted to have a third child (it was part of our family planning) and too soon because I did not want to wait long enough again to start all over again. The window month we planned to conceive was from October to January, that way we were still going to have either a summer or a fall baby - and we did!" - excerpt from my Tita Cay Valle's facebook account 

my cousins from Tito Epok and Tita Cay: Elisha Caoume, Elija Fredrik, and Ezra Milana

You guys should see my first cousins from my mother side, they all share one common physical attribute: aside from having the mestiza complexion, they have curly hair! My dad's blood run deep deep deep in me, so don't bother looking for Valle's resemblance in me. I'm a proud daddy-look-alike, if you must know. Haha!

Back To Back

I've been seeing lots of athletes, Olympic and non-Olympic alike who are gracing the covers of Vogue magazine. Even up to now, even after seeing other athlete-model tandems, this shoot remains to be my favorite.

What more can I ask for? Two of my favorite famous people in the world: Basketball superstar LeBron James and supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Travel Philippines: El Nido, Palawan

In Hopes of Going Back to El Nido

I've been to El Nido once and if I would be asked to pick one word that I can associate it with, I'd say "CELEBRATION". My parents, with the help of my maternal grandparents who were then residents of Palawan, brought me, my brothers, my uncles, my paternal grandmom, and our household help Ate Lea to celebrate the double graduation of Gio and Kuya Gian last summer 2008 in Palawan. It has been 4 years since that beautiful trip but it still overwhelms me whenever I'd think of the experiences I've had in what I consider as the most breathtaking and resplendent place I've ever been to in my entire life. Maybe I should stop describing it through words. Maybe I should start posting the photos I've saved throughout the years instead.

I was in 2nd year in High School then and I didn't have SLR yet but the pictures came out pretty well. The sun must have cooperated with my outdated camera.

Kuya Gian and mommy

Mom and Nanay

with Kuya Gian

Ate Lea and Tito Ian

Tito Roy

Here's my "Ang cool ko talaga. Wag niyo ako batukan please" pose. 

Now let me tell you why now is the perfect time for me to go back there. In the past 4 years I've been in a constant turmoil. I've been thrown up and down lots of time most of which, I have to admit, are caused by my own hands. I've never been one who remained passive. One way or another, I always end up saying or doing what's on my mind. Problem is, the decisions I've formed were obvious results of my immaturity. I've been trying so hard to somehow compensate for all the wrong things I've done in my academics, and most importantly in the way I dealt with my friends. As penance for all the juvenile judgments that I've produced, I decided to do two things: 1st) To come up with good grades by alienating myself from all the distractions-slash-"good stuff", and 2nd) To make peace with everyone whom I have offended. When I saw the grades I've worked on last term posted on my online school account, I couldn't help beaming from ear to ear. In my university, our grading system is from 0.0 to 1.0 to 1.5 to 2.0 all the way to 4.0, with the latter being the highest. Perhaps others won't consider a 2.5 as a good grade but for someone whose grade jumped from a 1.0 to a 2.5, it's like receiving the Good News. Seeing my mom acknowledging all my efforts made all things better. And the best part was, she said she likes all the improvements she's seeing. Hearing her say those things made me think that for once in my college life, I've done the right thing. Weeks later, when I gave myself the chance to go out with my good friend Lina, even without me "boasting" about my newfound sense of diligence, she just said that by looking at me, she could grasp that I've improved a lot since our Frosh years. It felt double good! So what has been my secret in getting a better grade than the previous terms? Simple. I studied. I mean, I didn't just pretend that I'm reading the book. I actually read the book. Hmm., Now I know how it feels like to be a student in the real sense of the word. Haha! I've found out the secret formula to improving my academics. It's now time to do something about the friendships I've reduced to simple acquaintances. It took me this long to realize that I've done a great deal in whatever happened. Mea Culpa. I am sorry to everyone whom I have unintentionally hurt. I didn't know I was offending you. I thought I was merely protecting myself. 

F
inding the way out to my seemingly endless problems hasn't been easy. And I don't want to make it appear as though I've figured out everything already. Let's just say that I can see the end of all these things from where I am standing now. The cure for my problems, I guess, is the desire to actually cure all the problems. I know that now. And I won't lose it again. With these reasons, I believe I have something worth celebrating.