French Playlist

ZAZ - Je Veux

My current favorite French Song is Zaz's Je Veux (I want). It's about trading luxeries like Chanel, Parisian suites, Limousines, even La tour Eiffel for Real Love. It's kind of corny, but since it's French, it's certified uncorned. It's actually quite a lovely song with a catchy melody. For this reason, Zaz is not only popular in France but also in neighboring European countries as well.

Another song that I like is a ballad called Complainte de la Butte. It's part of the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack and I probably shouldn't loving it too much because it's a really sad song, but I do. It talks about la petite princess de la rue or (the little princess of the street for you non-French speakers ;D)

So after hearing that, Margaux Avril's bubbly L'air de rien and Oxygène could be quite a breeze but you know, I like variety.

Carla Bruni - L'Amour

There's a lot of going on on my playlist but I have to say, Carla Bruni is the star of Le Playlist. On my list is L'Amour, Le plus beau du Quartier, Quelqu'un ma dit, Chanson Triste and Raphael. Carla Bruno is currently the French first lady, after her marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008.

And what kind of French playlist would I have if without La vie en Rose? Some Edithe Piaf calms my nerves and gives them ol' bones a romantic shake. Along with many other classics like Que reste-t-il de nos Amours and La Mer.

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The Singing Neighbor

Sometimes when I walk from the gate of our subdivision to our house, I pass by this house and I hear this very nice melody playing out on the guitar. I try not to stop and listen, not look like an idiot, but it always stops me on my tracks. There's a boy that sings from the balcony and he's got such a great voice. A manly post-adolescent voice. It takes almost all of the willpower I've got not to knock on their door (not for myself, he sounds far too young for me, but for Deb muahahaha yes, I'm the kind of sister who sets her up with singing neighbors) and compliment him. Perhaps the words 'great guitar bass fender marcus miller at guitar center' would make sense to him, although they somewhat make sense to me, but maybe he'd like a bass guitar or something. Anyway, he always sounds crisp and inviting. I like to think that he's really inviting me to listen in, and it's not like I do this--stop walking, take off my earphones and just listen--often. I swear I'm not making this up, his neighbors (we live a few blocks away) and all other people in our village can attest to it!

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Pests R Us

This weekend I've been trying my hardest to help my friend try this diy pest control. They've been having pest problems at their house and I've been urging her to call the pests specialist we contacted when our dog had his fleas running all over the backyard (you don't know what glimpse of hell that was for us) and we called some people to exterminate them for us. We left the house early that morning and poof! Not one of the evil things remained and we lived in peaceful, pest-less harmony, all the while trying to ignore the deadly stench plaguing the backyard. Well, my point is, it did the job. I hope she'd just pay a few bucks for someone to do it for her than spent a great deal of time trying to exterminate (not the pests but) ourselves.

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Physically Fat

School might've ended just weeks ago for some of you, but from where I'm from, June is our worst nightmare. It means school's making a comeback and our sunshine's turning into rain. But before that, let me tell you a story (no surprise here).

When I was a freshman transferee (I transfered when I was on my 2nd semester of freshman year), I went to the doctor's office to get my medical certificate. And in honesty, I got out of his office immensely offended. I reread what he wrote, 'this is to certify that Penda Penn* is PHYSICALLY FAT'. I got so offended that I dared to look at fitness classes and yoga mats online (www.yogaaccessories.com), thinking, 'wait til school starts and we'll see who'll be laughing then'! (although I knew chances of us seeing each other again is very slim)

Only later did I realize, when my friend got hold of the paper, that he wrote 'physically fit'. As it turns out, I read it wrong! And to think that deciphering doctor hieroglyphics is one of the major skills that nursing students like me ought to be proud of.

Yes, my friends laughed at me. I laughed at myself too. And told everybody I know about it

Please tell me some of your big, fat stories (pun intended) in return! I'd really love to hear them and laugh at your expense (MUAHAHAHA)

*alias

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College: How To Survive When You're New

My mind chatters all the time and I wish I had an mp3 recorder every time in think about something utterly brilliant and marvelously asinine (usually both). Today I thought I should totally impart my (ill-gotten) knowledge on surviving your first semester in a new playing field (tertiary level, college, uni, whatever). Here are some tips:

• Never wear neon head to foot on your first day. It may sound like a great idea (especially if your Sims (TM) Aspiration is Popularity), but take it from me, this isn't even treated as popular in the movies (remember glowing guy from Sky High?)
• Wear a SpiderMan shirt! The Super Man thing is so last year! (yes, I do realize that The Amazing Spider Man was last year and Man of Steel just made it to the big screen)
• Don't smile all the time because (a) it's a wee bit pretentious (b) your teachers sometimes want to kill your dreams the way Snow White's jealous stepmom did and it doesn't help to see you brimming with hope and vitality.
• Never tell anyone you even saw one episode of Lost. EVER.
• Try not to do anything stupid. Like eat tofu during lunch. Or sourcream during post-lunch.
• Don't be shy. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to start hanging with every senior you come across though.
• Don't mention the Zombie Apocalypse that Warm Bodies, and every other movie out there, is talking about. Even though you might be convinced it's already happening.

So there goes my impeccably formed but absolutely ridiculous unsolicited advice on how to survive a new school. Make sure to follow these tips so that everyone will know (and wanna know) the new kid on the block! (probably the kid on your left--the one who didn't follow any of my advice)

I'm sorry for this post. School makes me cuckoo (oh, the irony!)

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Classique

I have always been (and perhaps always will be) partial to antique stuff. I'm convinced my preference is due to their imposing craftsmanship and elegant appearance that always demands attention. For me, nothing beats the augustness of antique pieces, with or without their stories. So when I visualized a house (that'll most probably be classical in approach), I did not fail to include quintessential antique-themed bathrooms, dining hall, and bed chambers.

And get this, I've already started digging up stuff like an antique bathroom vanity too because you know how excited and giddy I get when I start dreaming dreams (probably due to my overexposure to Sims 2 while I was growing up). It'll be no time until this house comes around, I suppose. And to say I've been planning is a huge understatement. I'll to finish my nursing degree, make good money and find a suitable husband to boss the estate I've been conjuring in my mind since I was 10 years old. There would probably be lots of saving involved, but hopefully, I'll be able to hold back on my (ahem, ahem) belly investment.

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Google Nexus 4

The Nexus 4 is currently the smartphone I am craving for. I was able to experience it just the other day and I must admit, every other smart phone experience pales in comparison. Even the Sony Xperia Z or the Samsung Note 2 cannot compete with it. Call it my affinity and loyalty to the Google lineage (I own a Nexus 7, and spazz about Google Glass) but nothing beats the Nexus 4! I was toying around with it and--somebody should've done a spirometry test on me because it was so hard to breathe--I fell in love. This isn't really new, but here's the skinny on what Google's flagship smartphone has to offer us.

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Our House

(a picture from when we just moved in)

Our house serves as my office, our home and an appliance repair center.

My office--where I work (mostly online).

Our home--where my family lives in, breathes in, often eats in and do other domestic and filial things.

An appliance repair center--I'm not the only one who brings her work home, my mother does it too. She's currently area manager of the company she works for and ever since we moved a year ago, the service center moved with us. So yes, while I'm waiting on a literary epiphany, I constantly have to drive away customers (I'm sorry, mom) who asks for warranties.

So basically these are the operations that go on in our humble abode. If you decide to come in on a visit, I can offer you nothing but free WiFi and a chance to crash my turf on FourSquare (known as Penda's Crib). That, and MAYBE a stash of chips (AHOY, Mateys!)

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SM City CDO Independence Day 2013

(photo grabbed from cdobloggers.com)

The Philippine Independence Day celebrates our liberty from the oppressive Spaniards (I'm sorry, Spanish people. I'm sure we've set aside our differences since then :D) since June 12, 1898. And now that I've somehow succeeded in making you read the first few lines of this post, I am begging you to educate yourselves (especially if you're Filipino) on  the beginnings of our humble state.

In the beginning...

If you weren't absent / talking to your seatmates during your history classes, you might remember that it was during the 1898 Treaty of Paris that the Spaniards ceded its colony to the USA. Of course, our people, being sick of other countries bossing them around, did not recognize the existence of the treaty. There was war and history tells us that the Americans stayed until 1946, when they granted us our much desired liberty.

The Filipinos celebrated this day--July 4, 1946 (the Americans have something for 4th of July's)--as Independence Day for many years until Pres. Diosdado Macapagal issued a proclamation that dawned the   declaration of the Philippine Independence's (not exactly) new date (which is June 12).

In truth, prior to this year, I didn't even know that an actual ceremony is being held at the Quirino Grandstand every year. There are tons of other traditions and rituals held too, but for a family that's too far away from the metro, we don't go out of our way to celebrate (Although we probably should)... that is, until last Wednesday. I used to just hang flags on our door and car, but this Independence day, I celebrated by donning a patriotic Red casual dress and blue flats and heading off to SM CDO's Independence Day ceremony. They put on a nice program, and invited local acts to perform (including Singing Ambassadors from the Tourism office, the CU Glee Club, and the Gintong Amihan dance troupe from MUST). Lovely Filipino eats were provided by Brew Berry Cafe.

Also, I just had to marvel at Vjandep and Culinary Institute of Cagayan de Oro's wonderful foodization of the Philippine Archipelago.

with the aforementioned archipelago, Ms. Kitty Tiukinhoy (SM Marketing Rep) in her lovely Filipiniana and Mr. Vic Madriaga, CDOBloggers Incumbent President (pic grabbed from his IG hehe)

A big thanks to SM City CDO for having us there! :D

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Dream Come True

(Let me just clarify that this picture has nothing to do with this entry, it's just that it felt really awkward eating while these men were looking at me like this. Haha)

When we were in Singapore last summer, I met and (actually) spoke to a French dude from, well, France. I met him while we were having breakfast and we had a little chitchat about the weather and about his trip as I am, by nature, very talkative (then, I hadn't realized his nationality). I noticed his very thick accent though, but found it rude to ask where he's from (no, that's not weird)

So anyway, we were having a great time buttering our toasts when Ptr. John (who was part of the entourage) decided to join us and ask him what I couldn't. To my surprise, he told us he's French. And this is how it went down... (For your benefit, dialogues are in italics)

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Aftermath: Sophie Paris Soiree

Sophie Paris

I know I should blogged about Fashionable Saturday weeks ago, but hey, better late than never, right?

Saturday morning, I went to attend Sophie Paris' Fashion and Beauty Soiree (yes, in broad daylight, something I've never tried before). I was a little late because I couldn't go without lunch--COULDN'T! But I was excited to be with all the Sophie ladies from various parts of the country. It was great that despite being late, I managed to be just in time for the fashion show / a.k.a bag showcase.

Sophie Paris Handbags

Sophie Paris really has enough goods to boast! And I found my eyes attracted to a beauty that I'll probably be purchasing in a few weeks (granted that I get my check from my online employer soon). Anyway, we brought home amazing gifts from Sophie Paris: a handbag, a casual dress and perfume.

I also had a chance to meet the lovely Bb. Pilipinas 2nd Runner-up, Ms. Ali Forbes, who not only graced us with her presence, but also enchanted us with her singing. Also to note, Ms. Forbes won Ms. Sophie 2011. Just proves she's a Sophie girl through and through!

with Bb. Pilipinas 2nf Runner-Up, Ms. Ali Forbes

CdoBloggers with members of Sophie Paris' Marketing Staff.

Overall, I had a wonderful time with the ladies. Sure enough, I made the right decision of eating before I left home as it ended later than planned. If you're interested in becoming a Sophienista, check out Sophie Paris Business Centers near you.

(Photo credits to Gracia Fashionista)

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