So what really happened?

It was almost a year ago since I published my last post. And since then, a lot of things had changed. For one, my blog looked different.

Last summer, my college buddies and I went to this man-made lake in Laguna, Lake Caliraya (a private resort called Lagos del Sol).

It was a fun vacation as we kayaked and canoed and swam and swapped stories and pretend that we were still back in university with no real-life problems and that life was still one big party.

To Grace and Regor, cheers to you. Glad, take care. Say hi to Oprah Winfrey for me. Serge, don't forget my chocolate flakes! Tin, yo California Girl, wala ka dito eh. Di bale meron naman tayong Puerto Galera vacation - post ko nga yun!


It was also last summer that my cousins and I boarded the van and headed towards Sta. Rosa to see and enjoy the theme park rides of EK. My two aunts were just as excited, though they were terrified to try out the bumpcars, scared out of their wits because of Rialto, and were really freaked out by the giant ferris wheel!

Well, they should have tried the Enterprise (but it's gone now) and the Space Shuttle. Now that I want to see!


The family also went to Banaue Rice Terraces. It was so hot there. And the view is great, though it's not for acrophobics!



Probably, the highlight of last year's trips was the very short vacation at San Fabian, Pangasinan. I say shortest because we did not intend to stay there, we were just passing by and Auntie Coeli requested that we stay. And so we did, right decision!




This is a favorite picture I took of my mom.


A good friend left for Davao last year for her medical internship. It was a lonely year for us who were left behind in Manila as she was checking out the urban lifestyles of Davao. Hey girl, before you get back here, take us around town first.

Last year was a very challenging year for me. I got a promising job offer (they called up three times just to persuade me) which I eventually turned down because of my thesis. It was a hard decision to make, should I continue with graduate school or should I just pursue this career path? In the end, the student in me won. After completing 36 units with only 6 more to go, why did I ever consider giving up my MS degree? After all that hard work, after passing through thesis proposal defense with my dear professor, Dr. S., and with only minor revisions (you gotta be Albert Einstein not to have any revisions at all), after working on the first four chapters on a subject company whose business scenarios are always changing, after getting all those 4.0s and 3.5s and 3.0s, I will not give it up. Never.

And then, I got promoted at work, my former staff of 4 grew to a crazy bunch of 8. My responsibilities became bigger and work toxicity rose up to higher levels. People and office politics have likewise became worse. I began to shirk away from my social ties and stay at the office longer than any of my staff. The work was getting to me. I began having health problems. I had arrythmia otherwise AKA irregular heartbeats. Everything I do was always for work. I was in a rut. I could not get out of the vicious cycle.

But of course, my family and friends are always by my side. And they were as equally esctatic, as I am, when I finally got the call. I was well on my way to carry on another career. So I said my goodbyes and got back on track.

So what really happened? I got my smile back.