Rainbows and Butterflies

My beau and I are celebrating our 4th anniversary today. It would have been just like any other anniversary if it weren't for the fact that we are in a long distance relationship. Yes.


LONG. DISTANCE. RELATIONSHIP.


I think the all-caps and bold-faced words can't give justice on just how hard LDR is especially when I had to leave just after a month of dating and we only get to see each other twice a year for a month or so, most of the time just for a couple of weeks.


I am happy with all the congratulatory remarks and greetings we have been receiving from our friends through Facebook-slash-Twitter. I guess when you celebrate milestones like this, people tend to focus on the milestone itself. Nobody pays attention to the nitty-gritty part, the everyday grind that leads to the celebrations.


One of the most well-loved movies of all time is When Harry Met Sally. The iconic part of the movie for me though isn't the one when Harry says,

I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. 

The iconic part is actually this...

Old couple sharing the story of how they met. The most heart-breaking part though is that (drum roll please...) they are paid actors. Yes. Just like finding out Santa isn't real, eh? I mean how could this not be real. They looked so genuine, so pure, so happy.


Anyway, I think there are stories you tell on the couch and stories you keep to yourself. For the four years that we've been together I can say with all honesty that it's not always easy. It's not always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes, its dark and muddy. Sometimes, it's just gloomy but I think love isn't just about the milestones but also about everything you encounter together in between.


There are times when I want to hit him so hard with a baseball bat and I'm pretty sure that sometimes he envisions strangling me too but that doesn't mean we don't love each other anymore. Times like these taught me that love is a decision and a commitment. You have to decide to love the same person every day. You have to learn to compromise. You won't always get what you want.

The Reader

I have been searching far and wide for a website just like Rotten Tomatoes for books but my every attempt solicited failure. Until now. It pretty much took me just common sense and a good memory to figure it out. In my quest to find the authority in book reviews, I stumbled upon New York Times and Oprah's Book Club.

It didn't take me long to realize why these two are the best in what they do. First, the credibility of the reviewers speak for themselves. Second, the books in their list are bestsellers and highly talked about meaning, it's not only the critics that liked the book, so do the readers.

Pretty much, all I wanted is a good-read book. That's it. It hapenned just now when I got so fed up by the more popular books that just waste my time. I want something for real, if that makes any sense. I want something that can enrich my life and make me a better person. OK so maybe that last one is pretty hard to ask but hey, some books do that.

I was delighted when I checked out Oprah. I know for a fact that she reviews book and recommends it for her book club because I remember her recommending Love in the Time of Cholera. I also remember Chandler in season 7, I think, reading a book so good he can't put it down. Dismayed, he cursed Oprah for recommending it. Haha!

Anyway, here is the list of Oprah's Book Club Books that I vow to read. Seriously. These are not complete but I figure, I'll just add the next batch when I'm done with this one. Please help me God. :)

 

2010

A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

 

2009

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

 

2008

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

2007

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier

 

2006

Night by Elie Wiesel

2005

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

Light in August by William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

 

2004

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

2003

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Wicked

This is probably the highlight of my summer. Aside from the vacation in MNL on Aug, this one is that one thing I most look forward to. Finally, after 5 years of dreaming and hoping, I'll get to watch it. Seriously, if you're not a musical theater fan, you really wouldn't understand what I'm talking about. Although, there's no doubt Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel would celebrate with me in an instant! :)

The dream was born in Tokyo 2006. My mom and I went to visit my sister over the holidays just right in  time when Wicked had a world tour, I guess. I wanted so badly to see it but come on, it's in Nihongo. How on earth can we understand it? Over the years, I never stopped dreaming about it. I thought I will finally get to watch it in Sanfo last year but I only had 24hrs and I had to be at the airport by 8pm. So when I heard that Wicked is coming to Canada, you can only imagine the joy I felt. I immediately started planning things out but somehow, I knew I couldn't watch it in Winnipeg because I had to leave by the 21st and the production will start at 24th. 

Good thing, I had to visit my BIL in Calgary and it's even better that Wicked will be there on the dates when I'm visiting. I was able to book great seats at the right wing just right in the middle where we can marvel on the grandiose of the production of Wicked. I'm so excited I even made a ticker for it. It's only 11 days to go until I see Wicked Witch of the West in person. I can't wait to hear Defying Gravity and For Good live. :D Will post pics of the whole experience soon! :)

Miguel

Of all the baby boy names in all the towns, in all the world, she picks that one name I wanted to name my future child...

One thing about me is that I'm big with names. Names mean so much to me really. Back to my single days, I consider a guy's name to be a non-negotiable factor. If he has a bad first name or last name or basically, a name that irks my ears, I'll immediately turn him down. I wouldn't even consider going out with him. I thought it was all a waste of time because names for me are very integral in a person's life. It says a lot about who you are and what kind of parents you have. Now,  I won't sail through the complexities of that. This blog is not about that, I guess. If it is, only minimal at least. 

Yesterday, my beau's aunt messaged me in Facebook saying how cute MIGUEL is. Apparently, my beau's cousin gave birth and had chosen to name her child, MIGUEL. Again, let me say this. Of all the baby boy names in all the towns, in all the world, she picks that one name I wanted to name my future child. It was around seven o'clock in the morning when I read that message from my phone. I just opened my eyes from a good night's sleep and I was still trying to adjust my vision. I had to take another look at the message until it hit me. *Expletives* My palms began to sweat. My heartbeat grew faster. I was in total shock! Until I just shouted, NOOOOOOOOO!!! 

I immediately called my beau. The conversation went something like this.

Me: Hulaan mo anong pinangalan ng pinsan mo sa anak niya? 

Beau: Cedie? (He always teases me that he wants to name our child Cedie and I vehemently turn him down every time.)

Me: Hindi. (I knew he can tell from my tone that I'm dead serious now.)

Beau: Miguel?

Me: OO!!!

Beau: Hala B! Ang tagal kasi natin!

Me: Kasalanan ko bang pinaplano ko buhay ko?

We spent the rest of the weekend thinking of ways to deal with this situation. At one point, we thought of bribing his cousin into naming her child with any other name she wants but we're bigger than that. We believe that when adversity rises, it is the way you handle it that will define who you are. So as painful as it is, we let it go. Actually and honestly, until now, we're still trying hard to do so. We agreed on naming our child Miguel when we first started dating in 2007. We've been dreaming of using that name for FOUR years now and yesterday, it was taken from us just like that. 

You might think we're two shallow people but let me prove to you why not. Personally, I really don't care if one of my friends or one of my relatives would name their child Miguel. Why? Because I'm not the type of person who gets mad at someone who imitates me. I know that anyone can name their child whatever name they like so fine by me and I rarely see my friends. As for my relatives, we're more or less over 50 not including my cousins' kids so having the same name is not really that big of a deal.  It was a big deal for me and my beau because his cousins' on his mother's side is only seventeen all in all. So it would be so damn obvious if two people from their very small family would share the same name. 

Second, we made it a point to keep it as a secret. Really. We haven't told anyone about it. Third, Miguel is just the purrrfect name and I bet a lot of people would agree on that. Really, have you met a Miguel na panget at walang ginagawa sa buhay? 

Hmmmm... If only we can call dibs on names. I guess it's the price we pay for deciding to settle down later in life. I just never thought of this in my wildest imagination. You know when you have plans and you somehow think of what can come against those plans? I thought of my dream suppliers for my dream wedding being unavailable on our wedding date but not this. 

Oh well. My beau and I were talking about options and we agreed to keep it realistic. 

Option #1: Still name our child Miguel and live somewhere far from his relatives (Hint: Canada) 

Option #2: Consider naming our future child Gabriel, Samuel or Angelo. One of the qualifications for a name to be considered is that it has to have a cute nickname when our child is still young and a more manly and cool version when he grows up. E.g. MIGUEL = Miggy for a kid; Migs when he grows up

Yup that's it. Two options. Viable naman di ba? It could work I guess but we'll more likely take option #1 and just use those other names mentioned for our following offsprings. :)

Bikram Goddess-slash-Junkie

It all started one Friday afternoon. I've been eating nonstop for days. I felt so heavy and fat, ergo, I felt really bad about myself. I got depressed. Then, I remembered this Bikram Studio in Osborne that I always see on my way home from Millennium Library. I would see men and women of all ages carrying their yoga mats. I always wanted to try Bikram Yoga. 

Last fall, I tried Power Flow Yoga at school. It is just average. It made me sleepy in every session. Sorry I couldn't find a better word than average. We did some yoga poses but I wasn't really challenged. Unlike Bikram. Now this one, killed me. Tired of being fat and seeing all those curves of my body located in all the wrong places, I've decided enough is enough. I need change. 

So I impulsively went to the studio and got myself a week pass. I didn't know a lot about it back then. All I know is that Bikram Studios are heated at 105 degrees. I never really thought of how hot that is until I stepped inside. Man alive, it was HOT! Not only that, it was also very HUMID. The humidity is up by 40%. Go figure! It's probably a lot like living in Sub-Saharan region.

Since I just signed up, I decided to give it a try. I was wearing my crop gym pants and a tshirt which the instructor warned me early on that will not suffice. So I was forced to rent a pair of top and shorts. Btw, the shorts are real short. It's an inch away from being an underwear. I felt kind of embarrass at first for having to wear minimal clothing but when I went inside the studio, turns out, every one is wearing the same thing, some even shorter. It doesn't matter how fat or skinny you are. No one really cares.

At the start of the class I lay down my mat on the front but my instructor suggested that it'll be better to move to the back for my first class so I can see what others are doing and how they're doing it. We began with the breathing exercise. OK. I'm really ashamed of this but I started feeling dizzy while breathing. The air inside was just so heavy. Hindi ako sanay and seriously, hindi ako pinagpapawisan sa Canada so imagine how much detoxification I need.

Anyway, to cut the story short, I left the room twice and I barely able to make my way back. I haven't been that dizzy in my entire life. Really. I haven't perspired that much either. Imagine, seeing your legs with bits of perspiration rolling down? Hardcore, eh? I wondered how these people were able to do it. HOW? It feels like you're literally killing yourself inside and it makes a perfect point because once the 90mins had passed you'll understand why. I never felt more alive until after every Bikram Class.

I noticed how my skin just glows and how I instantly felt better. Oh and the added bonus of actually losing weight. I weighed around 60kgs pre-Bikram. After seven sessions, I lost 3kgs. Not bad, eh? I really like it because I can still eat what I want and I just started about a couple of weeks ago. I figure if I keep on doing this, I would be a stick in no time! Haha! 

Kidding aside,  I took Bikram Classes not just to lose weight but to be active and healthy. At the start of the year, one of my resolutions was to have a healthy life ergo, having a healthy diet and lifestyle. You see, I never really had a sport. I was never active. I guess I just wasn't brought up that way. Heck, my mom didn't even allowed me to ride a bike! Sport for me is Chess where I barely move. I guess, I just wanted something different. I wanted more out of life. 

Second, I know that exercise produces endorphins. Endorphins make you happy so I thought the mere fact that I'm trimming my fat down is not the only up side of doing Bikram. It literally makes me happy. 

Third, more than losing weight, I guess, my ultimate goal is to be fit. Really. I don't want to look like those Anorexic models you see everywhere. I wanted to look fit and healthy. That's what yoga does exactly. It also helps me stretched out my muscles and I think in the long run, the whole practice can make me look taller and have a better posture. 

Yoga has more benefits than these three that I've stated. It's just that personally, these are my reasons why I do it so often. My body actually craves for it everyday. So if you're like me who just had enough and actually want to facilitate change in her life, do yoga. Start with the basics until you can do a perfect Tree Pose. ;)

Push The Envelope

"If you're not looking at your mistakes to try to get better, you become complacent. The team that you beat is going home practicing and they're gonna be better. You have to continue to push the envelope."

-Brooks Laich, 24/7 Penguins Capital: Road to the NHL Classic

The One That Got Away

"There is always the one girl out there that got away. The one that got away. Guys have that and serial killers have that."

-George Simmons, Funny People (2009) 

Time Heals All Wounds.

I haven't blogged for a very long time. I was too busy pretending I'm busy. For the most part, I was really busy. Anyway, updates. Since I haven't written anything for so long, I really can't think of one single topic to write about. I guess, this entry will be super random and HONEST. When you can't think of anything to write about, I think it's best to write from the heart.

When my HSSH (High School Sweet Heart) broke my heart into tiny little pieces, I hated him. Of course I tried my best to forgive him several times but I guess, my best wasn't just good enough. The wound he caused me was so deep and painful. From the moment we called it quits, I never really gotten into the habit of keeping tabs with him. I guess it was just so painful and the pain translated to hate. I couldn't stand the sight of him. I have hated him for 6 long years.

Earlier this year, I was checking out my FB inbox. I saw his post on one of our mutual friend's status so I thought of checking his page out. All I saw was his profile pic. He's with a new girl and they look happy. My initial reaction was, "Awww... Masaya na siya." and then it hit me. O. M. G. Hindi na ko galit sa kanya. I was honestly happy for him. WTH!?!

It's just one of those moments na I never really thought would come --the time I finally forgave him. There's no bitterness. No resentment. No anything. Just plain happiness for him. Yes, weird is an understatement. I dunno what transpired to me that day but suddenly, everything made sense. I realized he was just one of the characters in the story of my life. He played the role of my HSSH. Looking back, I know there's NO WAY we could have stayed together after high school. He's just meant to be my HS boyfriend. That's it.

Whenever I'd watch MaraClara, (Oo, JOLOGS din ako katulad ng lahat ng tao. Patago lang. :p), I would really swoon over Mara and Christian. Their scenes take me back on my HS days. HS love is very different. I think for one, it's untainted and unrealistic. All we cared about was ourselves. No real life obligations. No responsibilities. We dreamed of the future but everything at that time was still very blurry and idealistic. We thought achieving our dreams was just as easy as snapping our fingers. We didn't know the value of hardwork. I think it's a mixture of all these things that makes High School Love different and probably in some ways, special cause it wasn't made to last forever.

NHL 2011 Winter-slash-Water Classic

So yes, I am now an official hockey fan. Growing up in Asia, in a less developed country where there's barely clean water to drink let alone water for the ice rinks, hockey is almost non-existent to me but thanks to one of Disney's classics and a personal fave, The Mighty Ducks, I somehow had the littlest understanding about how the game is being played.

I have been in Canada for almost 3 years when I started having some interest in the game. It all began on the championship game of Men's Hockey last Feb in the Winter Olympics.  I witnessed how a single game and a single goal can unite a nation such as Canada just like that. I gradually became interested with what they consider as their national sport. I think Canada is somehow synonymous to Hockey. Every child, girl or boy, from Pacific to the Atlantic, plays Hockey. As a matter of fact, Jay Leno even joked about it in his show. He said it's the law in Canada for kids to play Hockey. Ha!

I guess staying here for three years now has taken its toll on me. I am being more Canadian by the minute. Little by little, this nation's beloved identity is being imprinted on me. 

As a newly hockey-fan-convert, it will be my first time to watch the Winter Classic. For those who have no idea what I am talking about, Winter Classic is held every January 1st of every year. It is played outside commonly on football stadiums. It is attended by 70,000++ fans from all over. They say that it is Hockey in its most basic and purest form. Most players grew up playing pond hockey or on rinks improvised by their respective families. Kumbaga, Hockey ang "in" sa mga batang Canadian 'pag winter. =P

The 2011 Winter Classic is extra special, I guess for most Hockey fans because two team rivals will be participating on it. They are no other than Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals both led by two star players and arguably the best Hockey players in the world right now,  Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. I can get into more details but it might just bore you especially if you don't have a background of how big the whole rivalry is. Let's just put it this way, if your a Basketball fan, the team rivalry is similar to that of LA Lakers and Boston Celtics and the two star players can be compared to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Got it?!

HBO launched a 4-part series focusing on the two rivals on their way to the Winter Classic. I watched every bit of it. I never focused on any documentary or TV show as much as I did in these series. It was pretty neat to have an all-access glimpse of how players work together. All of these led to tonight's game. If your a Hockey fan, you probably know the results by now. Caps win by 3-1 over Pens. 

I've always been a Pens fan. Since there's no home team here in Winnipeg, I adopted Pens as one of my own. Like every Pens fan, I cheer for #87. It just makes sense. He's the face of the franchise. He's the best Hockey player in the world right now. Fine, some may argue it's Ovechkin but come on people, Crosby won the Stanley Cup at 21, shot the winning goal in the last Winter Olympics at 22 and have received countless trophies and recognitions. Come on! Until, Ovi does that, Crosby will still be the best.

Here's the headline. Though I really love the Pens, I was rooting for the Caps this time just in this game. Having watched the HBO mini-series, I felt kind of sorry for the Caps. They were in a losing-streak. I saw how Bruce Boudreau tried every single way just to take them out of the rut they were in but it took some time for it to work. I remember a particular scene where the owners of the Caps was being interviewed. He related how the Pens have beaten them every time they will play each other whether it's the playoffs or just a regular-season game, the Pens had always bested them. I felt sorry for them because while Pens is in a winning streak they were on the opposite end. I know very well how it is like to be the underdog and I've always cheered for one.

So on tonight's game, though I was glad to see Malkin score for the Pens, I somehow wished for the Caps to get back at them which they did. Personally, it's not the most exciting or dramatic Hockey game I've seen but I like it nevertheless. I love how the Caps got out of the rut they were in. I guess on of the lessons that I can take from watching this is to never give up. You should really see the HBO mini-series to understand what I'm talking about. 

As for the Sid vs. Ovi rivalry, the latter still hasn't proven anything. Yes they won the Winter Classic but he didn't score. I am still waiting for him to get back on his game just as well as all the Caps fans out there.

All in all, I <33ed the Winter-slash-Water Classic. Looking forward on the next one! :)

Something to Encourage You Today :)

There comes a point during any journey when you find yourself at a crossroads and must choose a path. Play out the script and accept what's been written for you or dig down deep inside and take control of your own fate.

Defy Ordinary.