Watching You's the Only Drug I Need.

This never fails to make me smile.

Jon-Abbie Onsite AVP from Raymond Fortun on Vimeo.

Wouldn't you smile too? =)

Of Hearts, Sappy Love Songs, and Princess Gowns.

Ah.. Valentine's Day. Balentyms when I was a kid. Again, I am single. Because I choose to be. (Cue bitterness.) Haha.


Most people have their parents as their "sweetest" couple role models. Or maybe their grandparents for the longest marriage ever. I may not have parents to count on for any idea on marriage, or even love, but I do know my grandparents have been together long enough for me to have an idea of love.


But I guess an idea isn't enough. I need to see it. Feel? Had my share. And it wasn't all happy, happy, joy, joy. Because if it was, I wouldn't be sharing my bitterness here. I am happy, by the way. It's just that I am slowly losing faith in love. I think no such thing exists. It's probably all in the mind. (And at this point I would like to blame whoever cause this huge damage in me to stop believing in love.) Which is kind of ironic, really, since I am paid to I deal with people who have been in love for years.


And to them, I am thankful. Maybe, there's a part in me that still believes.There may be hope for me. :-) Allow me to share to you a video of one of my favorite couples.







fernando & abbie - same day edit from phoeben teocson on Vimeo.

Here We Go.

Because this year I will get older again, and like everyone who's done something for the first time, I am making a list of stuff I want to do before my birthday. (Okay, the real "first time" part here is really this list. So don't go looking for lighting a cigarette here. Although, I haven't really done that. But that deserves another entry.) My birthday's in a little over two months. Let's see how far I'll go. I'll be crossing out stuff here to see my progress.


In no particular order.

1. Eat a maki/sushi platter by myself. I'm hungry and this is the first thing that came in my mind. Because sushi is love.
2. Lose at least 8lbs by my birthday. I am challenging myself.
3. Shoot at least 10 pictures everyday. And fill up my Tumblr.
4. Clean up the office/my own stockroom and keep it clean for at least a month. The longest it can go is 3 days.
5. Collect one set of Happy Meal toys. To the Fastfood god, please make McDonald's release kyoot and funny toys in the next 60 days.
6. Have a Facebook status with twenty likes. And it shouldn't be something about me being a loser. Haha!
7. Make at least THREE different cupcake flavors and repeating each flavor thrice. I am known not to repeat what I cook. Ever.
8. Remind the government that I still exist. And by that I mean renewing my passport, NBI clearance (and getting the renewal card), and finally getting a driver's license. Because some people do not honor my permit. Idiots.
9. Go on a roadtrip with my friends. Seriously. Ever since majority got jobs, we don't go out that much. We have to make time for stuff. I trust my friends to help me with this.
10. Eat Froyo and get all the toppings. Or at least half of what's being offered.
11. Save up enough money to buy a gold A ticket to the Maroon 5 concert. Somebody help me do this!
12. Buy shoes. Yes, shoebsession is back in my system. And I'm not just talking about one pair. I have 5 pairs in mind that I want to buy.
13. Have more than 25,000 tweets. I'm just on my 9,000-something. It took me a year to publish 8,000 tweets.
14. Eat something exotic. Something that will top jellyfish. Which isn't really that exotic. And no, intestines do not count.
15. Cook a meal for the family. I once said I'll try cooking Orange Chicken. It's been three months and I haven't even gone to looking for a recipe. I've bought oranges several times though.
16. Keep up with the apple detox diet, along with the weekend badminton-walking date with Monique and whoever we can drag. Yes, 2011 is healthy living year. Just so I can buy myself time to be in denial that I am getting old and isn't excused from being sick.
17. Have at least 8 blog entries every month. Reading my Multiply a few nights ago made me miss writing. And I think I know why I don't write a lot anymore. It's just too sad to tell. Which is why I want to write again.
18. Buy an LBD. Yes, I have been looking for a little black dress since I can't remember. If you're generous enough to give me one as a gift, please do so days before my birthday. I might just wear it. *wink*
19. Get a really, really expensive haircut. This I gotta do no more than two weeks before my birthday. And I'm talking about European hairstyling-runway look-head turning-chuvaness. Yes, I would splurge on my hair.
20. Go to the museum. Or watch a play. Anything cultural. I think I'm done with being a mall rat. For now.
21. Have my picture taken or portrait painted. Because people tell me I'm beautiful. I want a reminder.
22. Watch at least two movies every month. Now I need a movie buddy. Any volunteers? By the way, I'm not paying for you. =P
23. Read.
24. Send somebody a card, randomly. Wala lang. I just like sending mail. And receiving it. So if my recipient gets my card, please send me one too. =D
25. Eat a whole espresso mousse cheesecake. Or something less fattening. Haha!
26. Meet a celebrity crush and have them greet me. I have a list of celebrity crushes, so it's not impossible to do this. If you happen to know Ryan Agoncillo, Franco Mabanta, DJ Tonytoni, Jiro Manio, Phil Younghusband, Atom Araullo, Robi Domingo, James Reid, Billy Crawford, and the list goes on.
27. Write a poem. This I haven't done in years. Sad.
28. Get a massage. Period.
29. Call up an old friend and just chat. 'Nuff said.
30. Regain my old music library. And I am still open to suggestions for new songs. Help me build the playlist of a lifetime. =)
31. Get my name on Memento/Porch's hall of fame. Or at least just down one Boy Bastos without making a mess. Haha!

I can't think of anything more. So with my determination and a some help from people who love me, I think I'll be able to cross out more than half of this list. =)

For Everything Else, There's Mastercard.

I just love that Mastercard ad. It comes in different versions (probably depending on the location it will shown), but it all depicts the same message: material things will always come with a price tag. Values, once-in-a-lifetime chances, and definitely time are priceless. Which is actually true.

But what about love?

Today, out of the many things that I do for my job, I learned one popular *cough*stupid*cough* church in this third-world country is charging Php34,000 if you want to get married there. Which. I. Think. Is. Inhumane. Seriously.

In the numerous weddings I've witnessed in my life, as a guest and a professional supplier (that felt weird to say), I've never cared about how much it costs to have one. Maybe until I was bored and started to really think about my own wedding that I realized it would cost an arm to have your dream wedding. (Actually, I figured mine would cost an arm and a leg.) Whenever I tell people how I imagined my wedding to be like, I would get reactions that just had pricey written all over it. And I am aware of that.

But after learning this morning how much this certain church charges for a ONE HOUR wedding ceremony, I just have to say that it is too impractical to get married there. Really. I do not get why it had to cost that much. By the way, the church staff informed that included airconditioning already. And what if I do not need additional cool air since it is cold nowadays in the Philippines? It is Php10,000 less. Still too expensive.

And no, being a popular wedding church doesn't justify a 5-digit ceremony fee. I know other "popular" and nicer churches all over the country that charge just half of this church's cost. A supplier friend told me it might be because of the long aisle or the acoustics that you're paying for. (Long aisle, great acoustics, we now have a give-away.) I'm still not buying that.

No wonder a lot of people still don't get married. It's just too pricey. And I thought the church was promoting marriage over live-ins! Bakit parang negosyo na yata ang kasal sa simbahan? (I have to stop ranting.)

I guess it's a good thing our client doesn't mind the cost.