My Imaginary Ex

I've been wanting, searching, praying for this book for months. The feeling was quite close to yearning. I actually became desperate enough to actually tweet the authoress to beg her to send me a copy - if she still had one - because I couldn't find one for myself anywhere. And I had even reached MoA in Manila in my search for it! That's a record. The farthest I'd ever gone to for the sake of a book was Shang in Ortigas, about two years ago, when someone said this book called Twilight was enough to drive one insane.

But enough. We are in the era of the Fifty Shades, which, just to add a bit more feminine vanity into this post, I am currently reading, too.

My Imaginary Ex was published in 2009, written by the same genius who came up with No Strings Attached and the forever epic That Kind of Guy. [Her name is Mina V. Esguerra, I am proud to say I have communicated with her over Twitter - fangirl moment! - and yes, that is her signature up there on the first page of my book.]

Mi Barrio : My Barangay

Although a barrio in the Philippine sense is a tranquil little town tucked in the outskirts of the cities, a barrio in Spanish is supposedly almost the equivalent of the Philippine barangay. They are actual locales of large cities, so there can be a barrio in Mexico City - it doesn't have to be hidden in the countryside.

We were asked to make a piece for Spanish - to be presented in class tomorrow, so here's mine. Please forgive me for the errors.

Mi Barrio : Bulua 

Vengo de Bulua, un barrio que está a las afueras de la Ciudad de Cagayan de Oro. Mi barrio no está bien comunicado a veces porque tiene unos pocos medios de transporte. 

En Bulua hay tres grandes cementerios - dos privados y un publico: Divine Shepherd y Greenhills, y Brown. Los cementerios está cerca grandes urbanizaciónes tambien: Terry Hills, Villa Candida, y Soldiers Hill. 

El estudio de ABS-CBN en Mindanao Norte está cerca Brown y Greenhills. La iglesia de mi barrio es la Iglesia de la Imaculada Concepcion. En Bulua hay  playas, una estación de autobús, iglesias, farmacias, un mercado enfrente un centro comercial y muchos restaurantes de lechon manok tambien. Es un barrio muy ruidoso porque está al lado de una carretera nacional.

Here's what I think I said:

I live in Bulua, a barrio that is in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro City. My barrio is not accessible sometimes because there are few modes of transportation.

In Bulua there are three large cemeteries, two private ones and a public one: Divine Shepherd and Greenhills, and Brown. The cemeteries are near large subdivisions, too: Terry Hills, Villa Candida, and Soldiers Hill. The church of my barrio is the Church of the Immaculate Conception. 

The studio of ABS-CBN in Northern Mindanao is near Brown and Greenhills. In Bulua there are beaches, a bus station, churches, pharmacies, a market in front of a mall, and many restaurants of lechon manok, too. It is a very noisy barrio because it is beside a national highway.

Am I not such a wonderful tourist guide?

Pearls and Prosperi-tea

Today, the 27th of August my hometown of Cagayan de Oro celebrates its city fiesta. Tradition in my provincial org, UP Kagayhaan, dictates that we refuse to feel depressed for our inability to fly home from Diliman due to ever-increasing air fares, and party + after-party instead. This year we had our Manila-based event at Moonleaf Tea Shop in Maginhawa Street. 

Fun fun fun! I'm getting a bit old for events like this, I think, but the bands and games were great all the same. Given this event is the first of its kind in our org - perhaps even the first for Moonleaf - I wasn't sure it was going to work out, especially during the planning stage. But it went well. Really well. ::)

Happy fiesta, everyone!

Photos courtesy of KAPAO Design and Photography

and Rica Aquino