Happy Birthday to me

It was around 9:30 in the evening; I was walking my way home from the office with no company but myself and as if to make the setting perfect for an opening scene of a dramatic movie, the dark skies begin to drizzle.

It’s my birthday today and I chose to spend it in the office. I was done as early as 5:30, I could go wherever I want to but I chose to stay in front of my laptop rather than going home and listen to the deafening silence of my apartment. I know I can make some calls to meet up some friends but my biological condition is telling me not to do so. I can go home to my real home, I actually want to but it’s not practical.

It’s my first time to be alone on my birthday. My birthday is usually marked by the decorating our home for Christmas and dad’s bonus pay out, so we always have much on this day. It really is a “Happy Birthday”, spending time with family. But since I am away from home, I can’t join them. Instead, I chose to get stuck in my office desk and eat Jolly Spaghetti for dinner, hoping that it will make me feel jolly and to comply with the superstition that the long strands of pasta means long life. It’s my comfort food, but the birthday blues I’m currently feeling is too bad that my humble Jolly Spaghetti is not enough.

A lot of people wished me a happy birthday, friends, family, colleagues and some acquaintances. Almost everyone is wishing for me to have a love life. Well, if I have a one then maybe, I wouldn’t be a such a loser sulking in my office chair, I might be in a romantic restaurant right now, greeted by the receptionist early in the morning with a bouquet of flowers from someone special. If I have  a love life, then maybe my first birthday greeting might have come from that special someone and not from my ex-boyfriend. Yes, I received my first official birthday greeting from my ex-boyfriend after not speaking to him for nine years. At least, he still remembers that’s not a surprise, I know he loved me but it just didn’t work out, our differences are irreconcilable.

I received a not-so surprise birthday cake from my friends/officemates, we do it for every celebrant, too bad I caught them carrying it on their way to the pantry, major spoiler. Because I am aware of this customary birthday surprise, I brought my camera with me, pathetic? I know, right? I brought a camera and made sure that I won’t miss out my personal birthday tradition of wearing a “birthday” dress. And of course, what’s a birthday cake without a birthday wish? As I blew the candle, I wasn’t able to make up my mind on what my birthday wish shall be. My birthday wish last year hasn’t come true yet, it’s the first time. I don’t want to be like the young Jade from My Binondo Girl who doesn’t anymore want a birthday cake because her birthday wish doesn’t come true, so what’s the point of having one? What’s the point of making a wish? But even if, my birthday wish last year didn’t come true and ‘though it hurts, I still want a birthday cake. After all, even if my wish last year didn’t come true, I still have a lot of things to be thankful for.

Simply being 26, is already a blessing. Having a great family, good friends, travels, job and a lot more, are things I should be thankful for. While my journey towards being 25 can be described as life changing, my journey to being 26 is mind boggling, quarter life crisis is not all in the mind, for some it really is true. My job lacks fulfillment as of now, but it pays the bills and provides me security. I’m losing touch with some of my friends but I’ve got new ones. I don’t have someone special but I have a story to tell. My life may not seem so eventful, it lacks milestones as of now but there’s a lot to look forward next year like graduate school and travel abroad. Guess, it’s enough to keep me busy, enough to focus my attention on some other things which are time worthy rather than deciphering gray areas which still remains gray after some time spent figuring things out.

Life at this point may not be so great unlike what most people perceive my life to be, I’m just getting by ordinary days. But it’s a matter of choice, I choose to be happy and will continue doing so, so despite the solitude and the drama, even if my vision is blurred right now because of the tears that are falling, “Happy Birthday” to me.

Roaming around Myeongdong

Here is the first part of my short but sweet experience of autumn in South Korea as my 25th birthday gift to self.

Upon arrival at Incheon we were so thrilled to finally taste authentic Korean food, my first dinner in Korea is Dolsot (Claypot) Bibimbap but I’m not sure if the picture below is that one. All I can remember is that, I definitely enjoyed the food.

Our first authentic Korean meal

Tried the side dishes one by one, it feels like we’re in a Koreanovela

Side Dishes

For our first breakfast, we went to Paris Baguette.      

After breakfast, we began conquering Seoul. For our first stop, Myeongdong. Our hotel is just a few steps away from Myeongdong and is found at the footsteps of Namsan at the back of Woori Bank, its Namsan Park Hotel. Here is the passage way leading us to the shopping streets.

The picture addicts that we are, while on our way we can’t help to take a picture of the trees in autumn colors.

Trees in Autumn beside Woori Bank

After a few minutes and a few camera clicks, we reached our destination and began shopping around the streets of Myeongdong, surprised by all the beauty shops that abound, The Face Shop, Etude House, Tony Moly, Lush, The Body Shop, they’re everywhere.

The shopping streets of Myeongdong

After some cosmetic shopping, we went to Myeongdong Cathedral, reminiscing Go Mi Nam’s scenes from You’re Beautiful.

Myeongdong Cathedral

 We were so thrilled with the views around the cathedral, it’s real, we are right at the same spot where Hwang Tae Kyung and Go Mi Nam were.

 

This one got me curious, I really don’t know what it is, protection for the trees on a cold weather? whatcha think?

Is this familiar to you? Yes, it’s where the scene of Go Mi Nam and Mother Superior was shot.

Now, let’s take a look at the church itself.

Inside Myeongdong Cathedral

Trying to catch a closer look of the architecture

Outside the church this is what you can see, the modern city.

After our church tour, we decided to go back to the busy streets of Myeongdong to search for a sumptuous lunch.

Lunch Lunch Lunch

No one referred us to this resto, we just tried our luck. Guess, we are lucky ’cause the food was nice and the prices were reasonable. The ambience was great too, cute, homey, feels like we’re shooting a Korean drama, feels so Korea. Oh well, we really are in Korea.

Love the ambiance

After our late lunch, we decided to go back to our hotel to check-in. Yup, we haven’t checked in yet ’cause we arrived early in the morning from our guest house in Incheon.

That ends our Myeongdong experience for day 1, just for day 1

An almost goodbye birthday message

Sent you this birthday message:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

It’s definitely not an original, you can even google it, a friend sent it to me some months ago and thought about sending you the message this morning. I edited one line ‘though, instead of “I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye” as the last line, I chose to end it with, “I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting”.  It’s your birthday and we normally wish for happiness on this special day, so I guess it’s more fitting and of course, I really want you to be happy. I’m afraid of the goodbye line, I am not really sending a final goodbye here, ’cause all I wanted to do is to move away.

I’ve been planning on doing it for quite a long time already, when I finally decided to really do it, you had an accident. I want to move away ’cause I’m tired, tired of our story, ’cause it feels like it has ended already and I can’t accept it (not sure with you) but wanting to move away doesn’t mean I don’t care, I still care if you’re fine, if you’re doing good, I just want to stop showing it. So being the queen of bad timings, I revoked my decision and still continued to show how much I care until without me knowing before you totally recovered, it’s almost your birthday. So, I decided to still continue until today, your actual birthday. Now, if one of us will look back, we have I guess a full 12 months. I don’t want to begin reminscing how each and every occassion was, that’s it, we’ve got full twelve months and it will end today that you’re turning 27.

I hate it that I can’t compose an original message for you, I ran out of the right words, to be honest maybe the most fitting that I could ever think of is this, something I found over twitter.

You’ll always be remembered. We might lose everything we once had, but I will never regret knowing you.

 

Maybe our story wasn’t bound to even begin, I know none of us planned it to be this way, we just talked and became friends who ended up liking each other but no one dared to go beyond the line, what we did was just blur the line, that got me so confused. I don’t want to think that I was just lonely and that you’re the first one who didn’t made me feel alone that’s why I ended up easily liking you, I don’t want to think that it was just that, I liked you because I like you, that’s it.

This story is bittersweet, if there really is a story of us to begin with. How could there be when we are miles apart? This story really got me thinking and I felt quite a lot of emotions. I was happy, confused 90% of the time, sad for the most part, even cried a bit, there was pain but again, I was happy. But I have to end this more than friends less than lovers thing, I am not a gray area girl, don’t want to be one so let’s end it here. Tomorrow, as the day begins I won’t forget about you, I won’t do that, I can’t do that so instead, I will choose to go back to who I was to you before, a friend, a friend from overseas. I may choose not to keep in touch for quite a long time, ’cause with all honesty, it’s kinda hard so please don’t make it any harder, for now, don’t go back and shake things up again, that’s the least you can do. Just stay where you are, oceans away.

Again, despite of everything, I will not regret knowing you.

I know that the chances of you stumbling upon this message is remote but just in case you happen to read it, that’s it my friend.

Answered Prayer?!

For my 25th birthday, I’ve finally admitted to myself and to God that I don’t want to be alone, that I want someone to spend the rest of my life with. My prayer was simple, dear Lord please give me someone whom I can spend the rest of my life with, that’s it, no specific adjectives just a plain simple prayer for I believe that God will give us that one person that we need not the one that we want. Then, out of the blue someone came, at first I thought it was just nothing, maybe he was just being nice, just plain pure friendship. But  no, it was more than that, it feels like somewhere in the middle of an ordinary life, there’s a fairy tale. He appreciates me for who I am and surprisingly he was able to see that side of me which I kept on hiding from the others, he discovered the real me, he found me. He may not be the typical guy that girls would die for but I must admit that he got me. He’s not so sweet, not the best foot forward type but he’s genuine, he speaks what’s on his mind and is very true to himself. He doesn’t hide his flaws nor his boring past. At first, I thought he was someone who doesn’t know how to care for others for as long as he doesn’t do them any harm but I was wrong, he cares, he has a good heart. So I begin asking myself and God if he’s the one, he came at the right timing, just as when I admitted that I need someone to share my life with and even without telling God all those adjectives, he qualified, I guess… He can make me listen, he doesn’t bore me, he knows how to make me feel special, he inspires me, he’s not dominating but he can handle me, he seems just right but there is one thing wrong, he’s from a different country and we’re not so sure if we can handle the complications of a long distance relationship, so we ended up agreeing not to commit on anything yet. He left a few days ago, went back home then went somewhere else again for another assignment, he’s keeping in touch but we don;t know when are we going to see each other again… I know he’s got a lot of work to do and I also need to continue doing my thing but if there’s a will there’s a way, I don’t think we should leave everything to destiny. So when are we going to see each other again??? Only God knows I think, but Dear God is he an answered prayer?

25 Lessons/Truths/ Realizations I learned at 25

I’ll be celebrating my 25th birthday this weekend, since this is my birthday week let me begin it by sharing with you the 25 lessons/truths/ realizations I learned at 25.

1. The world doesn’t revolve around you (The hardest lesson of all).

2. You can have everything but not at the same time.

3. You don’t need to be alike in so many ways just to be friends.

4. Sometimes you need to put on a face as a defense to the cruel world.

5. As much as you want to keep every memory, you can’t.

6. The skill of knowing when a stage of your life ends and when another begins is hard to develop.

7. Once upon a time we were all young and stupid.

8. Thou shall not confuse reality with what you see on TV.

9. You don’t need to explain yourself, those who hate you won’t listen and those who love you don’t need any.

10. Life gets harder so our faith must go stronger.

11. Don’t hurry too much, wait for His time.

12. No matter how hard you try to make others feel that you’re one of them, if they won’t let you in, they really won’t.

13. At one point, we’ll experience what it’s like to be left out.

14. Sometimes people stick around because of what they can get from you or from being associated with you.

15. We all have ways of interpreting things, so I guess the safest thing to do is take it at face value.

16. At the end of the day, we all want someone to come home to or come home with.

17. Marrying for money is futile.

18. Love is not about looks, attitude or social status, love is love.

19. To have it half way is worst than not having it at all.

20. We should learn to give up on finding the answers when we know that in the heart of hearts there is none.

21. No matter how simple or how childish a thing is, if it keeps you going, it’s ok.

22. Fairy tales don’t come true because we refuse to believe it.

23. It was never promised to be easy, only worth it.

24. You can’t always use “This is me” as an excuse.

25. Always reach for the stars.

GeunShin Saranghe

Hallyu doesn’t really rely on love teams, notice that most drama pairs don’t reunite after their first drama. But if there is one pair that I would really love to see together again on screen it’s You’re Beautiful’s Hwang Tae Kyung and Go Mi Nam/ Go Min Nyu played by Jang Geun Suk and Park Shin Hye.

You’re Beautiful is a really nice feel good romantic comedy series but it was made more beautiful because of the undeniable on screen chemistry between this two. I really got interested with this pair that I kept on googling for news about them and surprisingly, I discovered quite a lot. Before they starred for You’re Beautiful, they already worked together for a mini series when she was 15 and he was 18 (not sure of the age) but it was when they made a CF for Etude House that they became closer (also before You’re Beautiful). How can you not become closer, if you shared a passionate kiss even just for a CF? According to an interview, when Shin Hye first saw Geun Suk in the costume fitting for the CF, she was quite awkward, “’cause oppa was so handsome”. Couldn’t agree more with you, Shin Hye.

That’s not enough ’cause they’re closer than ever in their second CF, still for Etude House.

Since they’ve already worked for CFs, they are already friends when they work again for You’re Beautiful. I was so thrilled watching the BTS, ’cause they are really close and they are even flirting, seems that the chemistry continues even off screen. I am wishing to see more BTS but the imaginary bedroom scene is the best, Geun Suk was teasing Shin Hye that she likes him

I’ve also read from one blog post that there was a scene wherein he wasn’t really supposed to kiss Shin Hye but he kept on kissing her. Could it be? it’s for real?

I’m sure, I’m not the only one wishing for this to come true. Who knows, it could be that these two are wishing for it too

That wish isn’t really that far from reality, I guess, based on their interviews. Jang Geun Suk keeps on mentioning Park Shin Hye and even announced that his mother likes her. His mom even asked him to try it out with her and invite her to visit their house since they live in the same area but Shin Hye still haven’t paid them a visit. There are also rumors about a couple ring that these two has, I want to believe it but the pictures in the internet are not really showing that much to prove that such rumor is true. The radio prank call during Jang Geun Suk’s birtthday also tells how close these two must really be and based on a you tube video, Shin Hye’s expression when Geun suk called really says a lot, her eyes sparkled and her smile is quite different. Also, in You’re Beautiful’s after party, it was caught on video that Geun Suk licked the icing on Shin Hye’s finger, you wouldn’t do that to someone whom you’re not close with, right?

I really wish that these two will reunite in a movie or a series but so far after You’re Beautiful they only reunited for Garden 5 CF except for some hostings together.

 

These two really look good together, how I wish they’ll really end up with each other To add, when Jang Geun Suk guested in Champagne, he did not pick Shin Hye ’cause according to him, he’s just looking for someone to date unlike his mom, who’s looking at the perspective of marriage, does that mean if it’s in the marriage perspective he’ll choose Shin Hye?

Red Balloon Party Package!

Hi there! I’m just trying to help my friend by using this blogsite to advertise his business. To those interested, especially the ones residing in Valenzuela, check out the party packages he’s offering below:

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Spaghetti in Meat Sauce	Spaghetti in Meat Sauce	Spaghetti in Meat Sauce
Fried Chicken	Fried Chicken	Chicken Fingers
Hotdog Cocktail	Pork Barbecue	Pork Barbecue
Garlic Bread	Hamburger	Hotdog Sandwich
Chips	Chips	Chips
Zesto	Choco-Banana Crisp	Oreo Mud Pie
	C2 Ice Tea	Coke in Can

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Tables and Chairs

Party Hats

Balloons

Give away Bag

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Dessert Station Package

Assorted Candies

Design ur Donut ™

Chocolate Bon Bon

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Mobile: 0921-5440676

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Happy Birthday!

Saengil Chukha Hamnida Lee Min Ho!
June 22, 2009

Happy Birthday Lee Min Ho!