the little bug that could

in all its powder glory: westie my beetlebum

my dad recently gave me an ultimatum. it's either i have my '67 beetle fixed or it's the end of life for my beloved westie. so, i had no choice but to call my mechanic to get an estimate on my baby so he can run again.

i received my first car when i turned 16. there it was, sitting on my dad's garage, a 1967 volkswagen beetle the morning of my birthday. it looked like it had been previously used by a crash test dummy, the color was horrendus (puke green) but it was a running car, and i was the first one in my circle of friends to have a car so i was so proud of it. i knew the moment i laid my eyes on him that he was the one--my baby.

a year later my dad decided to have it repainted, since the paint was peeling off and everything (like i said earlier, it was a sorry looking car). so the big color hunt began. my mom wanted to paint the whole thing purple, with black interior and everything, but me and my dad told her that i don't want to drive around looking like a giant grape. my dad wanted to paint it candy apple red, with white interior, but i told him it looked too common. with being the drama queen that i am, i wanted to paint the bug pale blue--with baby pink interior, which my parents hated, thus starting the "great color debate". the bickering actually went on for weeks 'till my dad got so pissed off and told the paint guy: "just paint the whole damn thing white!" so you could imagine my horror when i woke up one day and saw it: everything was white! it looked like a refrigerator! my bestfriend thought it was funny to name the bug white westinghouse (after the 'fridge brand) which later evolved to the nickname westie.

i used westie to go everywhere, and i felt so independent and grown up and everything. nevermind that it didn't have air conditioning or that it conks out 90% of the time, it was a car and it was all mine. so now, 6 years and 2 major car crashes later (i broke my left wrist on the first one, and my right on the 2nd one) westie finally retired to my dad's garage, since i developed a phobia for driving after my last car crash. my thought was i would just let westie sit there until i was ready to drive again, or so i thought.

my dad was approached by a beetle collector two weeks ago and he was offering a pretty good deal for my baby westie. my dad told me about it, and i said no f*ckin way. i wouldn't sell my pride and joy, any amount of money would not be enough to buy my precious (no pun intended). thus, my dad gave me the ultimatum: it's either fix the car or get rid of it. that's why i have no choice but to restore it and hopefully drive it after, even though everyone thinks i'm crazy and tells me i should just buy a brand new car. but i guess it's just really hard to part with something that has been a part of you for so long. i know, it's dramatic but hey, i'm not called the drama queen for nothin'.

potter mania once again

going, going, going, almost gone. the phenomenal book that sold out within 48 hours after release.

i admit. i'm a certified harry potter addict. ever since i read the first book 4 years ago, i was totally hooked. so hooked that my world literature professor actually made me do a full-length discourse analysis on the first 4 books after he caught me reading the goblet of fire in the middle of the class. i know, it's kinda silly, but i totally fell in love with harry potter and his whole world. my mania temporarily stopped after the 5th installment, harry potter and the order of the phoenix becuase of 2 reasons: one, being it took 2 years after the release of goblet of fire for it to be published and second, i was quite disapointed with the story, honestly.

but now i can honestly say that i am back with the potter fever. i guess once a potter-head, always a potter head. that is why last 16 july, i woke up brian at the crack of dawn and dragged him to the nearest bookstore to get my latest copy of the harry potter series: harry potter and the half blood prince. i was totally excited that i was litterally skipping as i left the mall, and i read it once i got into the car. nevermind that i was still nursing a hangover because of my party the night before, i went straight to my room and didnt' go out until i finished the whole thing. well, i won't spoil the story for those of you out there who didn't read the book yet, but i have to say that jk rowling did redeem herself after the disappointing book 5 (in my opinion). the half blood prince contained a lot of twists and revelations that by reading the first two chapters alone will leave your mouth hanging open in shock and make you want to read more. unlike its predecessor, it ingeniously weaved different themes like romance, comedy, drama and suspense, making you realize that harry is not anymore the 11-year old kid who first stepped into the hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. a brilliant masterpiece, if you ask me, and by far, this is the best harry potter book ever read. i guess the only downside is that the ending will make you want to read the last installment right away, but unfortunately, i will have to content my self with the past 6 books and an upcoming movie. for now. well, at least i have something to look forward to for the next couple of years.

turning 22...

turning 22...

despite the sunburn, totally bad hair day and rain, i had a blast during my 22nd birthday party! thanks to everyone who came to the party! :-) for those who missed it (you guys know who you are) here's an overview of what happened:


yeah, this was how my bed looked like when i got out of the shower after i woke up, courtesy of brian. aww, how sweet. :-P


can you believe that my mum singlehandedly cooked all these?! yum.


hey, it's paris and nicole before the party! hehe. it's me and my fave cousin bab


moi with my college friends (L-R): che, meng, nelson, numer and val


fashion squad minus 2: me with my bestfriends from college che and val (pia and reeya are missing)


the pigpen crowd, aka brian's friends since kindergarden (L-R): janice, xerxes & maddy (anti-social bestfriend jino refuses to be in the pic)


all-you-see-in-this-pic-are-thespians-we-might-be-weird-but-were-cool (L-R): carlo, trish, the drama queen, alex and josel


crazy family friends you won't believe we all met each other in church (L-R): mike, adrian, my bro carl, me, olive, peng (our matchmaker), check and ryan


we all have high cheekbones (LOL!) :-) me, peng and check


better late than never: brian was actually late for my party, he arrived around 1 am (!) damn work! LOL...but at least he made up for it...


that's hot! me and fido (can you tell that's my dog?) in a paris & tinkerbell-ish pose (i must be really drunk for me to agree to have that pic taken)...LOL!

at long last...

chillin' at the beach in laiya

at long last. after months of waiting, i finally got to go the beach.i really thought it was gonna rain since it was really pouring the whole week before the weekend of my vacation. good thing it was totally bright and sunny last weekend, too sunny if you ask me, since i ended up with a nasty sunburn (note to self: never sunbathe with a cute guy nearby, you'll totally loose track of time and end up looking like a tomato). but at least me and brian got our much-needed r & r despite our "adventure" on the way to the beach.

what's with guys and directions anyway? we got lost and arrived an hour late on the beach since brian refused to ask directions. we ended up going in circles in the middle of nowhere. the only time he agreed to stop and ask for directions was when i threatened him. *seesh*

but despite the sunburn, getting lost and allergy attack (the only downside on my vacation, i totally forgot that i was allergic to mangoes), it was a great weekend and i'm glad that i got to spend it with someone really special *mushy*... :-P

anyway, on a whole new topic, i'm celebrating my birthday this friday and i'm havin' a party!!! you guys are all invited to come, just email or text me for any questions. ;-)