Sick… and not lovin’ it!

I fell ill over the weekend. So while my officemates were busy making lakwatsa enjoying their payday, I was at home… barfing my guts out. Not a nice way to spend one’s rest days, I swear. I didn’t even get to enjoy Colon with my sister because I was trying to fight fainting spells under the heat of the sun.

Thankfully, my appetite’s back. Yayy! No more throwing up for me. One the bright side? I’m two kilos lighter because it. Not much, but it’s a good start for our Biggest Loser campaign. Haha!

Now if I can just finish this whole shift bid brouhaha this week then I’ll be one happy camper. I think it’s the stress from having to plot all these schedules and fitting them into the Fourth of July week that knocked me down over the weekend.

I need a happy thought!

We should’ve won… joke!

Presenting my team during the recently-concluded WFM Summit at work. The captions say it all.

Weekend in Manila–comic style!

Haha… how’s that for my first attempt at Comic Life? Props to Aryanna Epperson’s blog for introducing me to this very cool software. I’ll be sharing this strip to my officemates later and might as well get a good laugh from the misadventures we’ve had last weekend.

Fly in, fly out… Manila!

It was one of the quickest trips I've had in my lifetime. Over the weekend, me and eight of my officemates flew to Manila to meet with our counterparts for the first ever summit organized by our department. It was a full-packed Saturday afternoon as we were distributed to different teams for the Amazing Race - Makati edition. The activity gave us the chance to bond with each other and know the people we work with, some of whom we've only met for the first time that weekend. How cool was it to finally put a face to people you normally talk to over the phone?

 

Photo-op! We were at the airport by 3AM for our 5:55AM flight...

Never mind the muscle pains, or the fact that I carelessly chose to wear flip flops while racing all over Makati. Everyone had fun... even if competitiveness was rearing its ugly head on some of the participants.

 

First stop... at the Stock Exchange building

Double time! The blue team is catching up.

We all trooped to Center Stage Family KTV and Resto Bar later that evening for a party to cap off the celebration. Some were boozed up while others chose to simply dance (or sing) to their heart's content. Dinner was nothing extraordinary but the pica-pica platter was just awesome. I can't recall how many calamares I must've had that night, or the cheese sticks, or the fries... even the tuknenengs.

 

One of the many pica-pica platters that evening...

Such a bummer though that we were only given the weekend to stay there. It would've been nice to meet up with some friends and explore the city for an extra day or two. Hmmm... maybe I'll come back one of these days with my sister, or the girls from TKC. After all, travel memories are the best when you're with people closest to your heart.

 

Group picture!

Thank you, Manila! I actually enjoyed our fly in, fly out weekend although it was too bitin. Hopefully we’ll still get the chance to host the next Amazing Race/Summit here in Cebu (or Baguio first, perhaps?).

SOTD: Love, Love by Take That

a.k.a. the song that played at the end credits of X-Men: First Class.

How ‘bromance’ can the title be, huh? Although the lyrics say otherwise, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Charles and Erik every time the song plays. Hehe!

Yes, I have super-high standards

McFassbender - The new OTP... haha!

Our Fassbender love is growing leaps and bounds as the days pass by. It has reached a point where my sister frequents Tumblr more often these days as she diligently searches for a torrent of the Jane Eyre version he's in. The man has been everywhere, can you believe it? Yet it's only now, because of X-Men: First Class, that he's starting to get noticed. Band of Brothers, 300, Inglorious Basterds... ahhh, must review those flicks again. Or better yet, find a DVD (bootleg) of X-Men: First Class. Heee!

Xabi got to wear the captain's armband again

And while we're on to the love of our lives... my dear Xabier finally scored a goal earlier during the friendly between La Roja and Venezuela. Yayyy! But I'm a bad fan, you know. I never get to watch their games since it's always scheduled whenever I'm at work. The one time I could have watched a friendly through TVE (last Sunday – against the US NT), I woke up a tad too late. Oh well, my chance will soon come.

It was funny though that when Xabi finally became a trending topic on Twitter... his name was spelled wrong! Tsk, tsk... know your Spaniards, people.

This is XAVI, people...

Not Xavi This is the love of my life the man I want to marry XABI Alonso

*All photos swiped from Daylife

X-Men: First Class… are you one of them?

After much thought (and watching clips from YouTube), I knew we couldn’t let this weekend pass without watching the latest X-Men flick. I was quite hesitant of this installment reboot given that the first three flicks ruined the X-Men of my childhood. Singer’s versions, I can tolerate. But when Ratner killed off Cyclops, Jean and the professor I was fuming mad. That is no way to treat legacy characters of the series! I gave up and couldn’t care any less for Wolverine’s spin-off.

Thankfully, X-Men: First Class has successfully restored my faith in the franchise. Matthew Vaughn’s take on the early beginnings of the Charles/Xavier friendship (and eventual fall-out) have garnered favorable reviews from both critics and viewers since it premiered. After seeing it earlier with my sister, I can say the movie definitely lived up to its hype. James MacAvoy and Michael Fassbender’s chemistry as the young Charles and Erik was so palpable you couldn’t help but swoon at their ‘bro-mance’ moments.

But really, their friendship has always been something I admired since the X-Men cartoons of the 90’s. They may have opposing views on their stand regarding humans vs. mutants yet they argue in a civilized manner. Plus, they also respect each other’s capabilities. 

Fassbender now is undoubtedly the film’s break-out star. His interpretation of Magneto has made the viewers sympathetic towards the character. How else would you explain comments on social networking sites about how they swooned over Erik’s accent and kick-ass, metal-controlling powers?

Story-wise, it was a nice tweak to have Raven as Charles’ foster sister in this adaptation. That plot actually worked for me. Another character I loved was Hank McCoy. In this film we see him as a geeky scientist who has his own emotional struggles before he transformed into the furry Beast we all loved. I can’t help but think this is where the first three films failed… by not casting Beast until the third one when in fact his character is synonymous to the X-Men as Storm, Jean and Cyclops were.

If you have not seen this, better do so within the next few days. It’s totally worth every peso you’re shelling out.