'Till We Meet Again

'Despedida. A Spanish word that means farewell or goodbye. I blogged about it for almost three to four times. And here I am again. Forgive me for I can't help it. It's my way of telling other people that they are going to be missed. And for that let me start my story. Last Sunday, Jr and I was invited to a dinner get together with his friends. I been with Jr's friends for a couple of times already, that's why I consider them as my friends too. Annie as we call her or Rachel Anne Laborera in real life, is bound to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia today. (She's probably at the airport now) and last Sunday was her, despedida. We met up at the mall around 7 O'clock in the evening since Jr and I watched the three hour third installment of the movie Transformers (Which by the way is so awesome, I can't help but mention it. And I'm trying so hard not to talk about it here either). Then we went to Hapag Vicentico's. A famous local restaurant here in Cabanatuan that offers Filipino food.( I've ate there a hundred times but this is the only chance that'll be able to blog about it since I always forget to take photos of the place. Forgive me.) Hapag Vicentico's is famous for it's Kare-Kare (Ox tail in peanut sauce) and Crispy Kare-Kare. (Meaning Crispy Pata, (Deep fried Pig's leg) and peanut sauce. Thinking of it makes my mouth water. Drool.) It has this Filipino-Antique vibe that will make you admire the Filipino culture.

This is Annie by the way. I've been with her for a couple of times. She's easy to be with. She's caring and thoughtful and I'm sure a lot of people will miss her. Including me. :(

As I said, we had supper at Hapag Vicentico's located here at Cabanatuan City.

From old to new. I admired the architecture and designs. They made a good job on infusing the old vibe and technology.

I find this panel divider very cute. You can request this upon dining. Ideal for privacy or meetings.

The famous Crispy Kare Kare that I'm talking about. It's really tender and appetizing. Meat lovers must try this. :)

We also had Lechon Kawali or Deep Fried Pork.  Oooh. I can feel our cholesterol level speeding up! lol.

Shrimp tempura, I thinks it's one of Annie's favorite food.

Gising-Gising I'm really not a cook so I can't tell you the details of this dish but I'm sure every Filipino knows what Gising Gising is. It's basically a mixture of vegetables and sea foods in oyster sauce. It's really appetizing and delicious. :p

Before and after dinner.
From top to bottom:
Group photo in front of a very elegant mirror.
Before the food is served, drooling over the mocha cake .
During dinner, Thanks so much to the waiter for taking this photo! :p

Forgive me for I can't help to post this photo. I find it really funny. Separated by a tower of iced tea.

With the gang. From left to right: Jr, Rael, Cris, Gladys and Meek with Annie.

Annie and I. Annie's the type of person that's easy to be with. She's spontaneous and out going. She loves her friends and I believe her friends loves her too. And even though we only spent few get together-s I will definitely miss her.

Taken at the receiving area at Hapag Vicentico's. This picture cannot be taken again for Annie won't be around to make it prettier. We will miss you Annie! You take care! :)

As I'm saying over and over. We will miss Annie, The way she laughs on certain jokes, the way she smiles, the way she care for others and simply her presence.

 After the sumptuous dinner. We decided to call it a day.
Although Annie will be thousand of miles away from us, we will definitely keep in touch. We got Facebook right?
So, Annie, You take care there. I was so nice to meet a person like you. Stay wonderful and let's meet again when you get back! xoxo :p

More to come Hearties!

Love lots,

KarenHeartilly

P.S.

I would like to thank and acknowledge this person for the photos that I used!
Thanks meek! More photos to come! Be prepared for our photo shoot! lol! :p

I Will Miss You

I mentioned that I've been through a lot of Despedidas lately right? And guess what! I just went through another one! Of course I will tell you all about it, hang in there. :p

Her name is Ma. Ravielly Viatica Salonga. She's a part of my Prints, we've been friends since we we're 15 years old and our friendship was tested with time, laughter, tears and this time distance. She's also a Registered Nurse and now is the time that she needed to fulfill her profession. She needs to work abroad. Yes, abroad. Just like the thousand nurses out there. Last Tuesday, Tere (My soul sister-sweetie-ultimate-surprise-planner) planned a surprise for Viel (her nickname) just like what we did with Tine (Remember her? She went abroad last May, I know I haven't blog about it but I will. I swear. Wait for it okay? lol.) Tere even texted Vish (The ever supportive sister of Viel) so we could plan the surprise very well. Good thing Vish was a great accomplice. Lol.

Tere and I met up at around one in the afternoon since we both had our errands to do.

We went to the mall to buy the stuffs that we need. We bought a cake, balloons and party popper (which is by the way so Bongga!). Next thing to so is to act very well so Viel won't notice anything. I went first to Viel's house, (Tere was at a corner sneaking and hiding) I asked Viel if she could accompany me to the mall since I had to return a shoe that won't fit me well (I even brought a shoe to complete my alibi). She laughed at first but decided to come with me since she had to go to the mall as well. When we left that was the time when Tere sneaked inside the house and together with Vish and Tita Malou (Viel's Mom) they arranged the surprise. While Viel's with me she doesn't know that I was texting Tere the whole time and I encountered a dilemma that I thought will spill our surprise, the plan was Vish will call Viel to get back to the house because she needed to say something, but Viel doesn't wanna go back anymore. That's when I came up with a convincing excuse! ha,ha

I told Viel that Tere is in her house, waiting for us because she also wanted to go to the mall but Viel didn't put up an easy fight, she insisted that Tere should just follow us to the mall, but I didn't gave up. And thank God for my persuading powers Viel gave in and we went back into her house. And a heat warming surprise happened. We we're shouting and hugging. I was really happy because I saw that Viel was really surprised. She even said that she was shocked and she didn't thought that we would do something like that for her. Being the Best Actresses that we are she didn't had even the slightest idea. :)

This is Viel and she was genuinely surprised. I can never find another friend like her. Everyone loves her. She got tons of friends because she never fails to make anyone laugh. She's a true friend and she will stick with you till the end. I know things won't be the same without her. I will surely miss her. I will miss laughing my heart out with her. She's usually the teller behind the crazy stories, the cracker of the silliest jokes. I will never forget how many times she made me happy and I consider myself lucky having her as a friend.

My friends by heart. It makes me really sad to see Viel leaves, but it makes me proud of her too. She's very close to her family and leaving them behind is I think one of the hardest decision she had ever made. when we blew out the surprise, we we're like I said hugging, screaming and jumping, we we're like six year olds. It made us teary eyed also. :')

With my soul sister Tere, we've like planned almost three despedidas together. We are the best Despedida planners that I could think of! LOL.
I just don't wanna think of the moment that one of us will have to leave. That will surely break my heart. 

As Viel would phrase this: Sol, George and Anne! Lol.
I will definitely miss photos like this. :(

The on the spot trying hard banner that I printed few hours before the meet up.
We will definitely miss our Mareng Viel. :(

The overly confident cake. I'm sure Viel will miss us too, right? :p

The cramming few minutes arrangements that Tere did. Taken at the Salonga's living room. :)

When we we're in high school, she wanted to be a part of the Japanese Anime SailorMoon. That's how crazy she is. my life became happier  because of Viel's existence. And I want her to know that I love her and I will truly miss her, that I won't forget her no matter what. That she is a very special person, inside and out. :)
 

Viel's quest abroad gave a bittersweet feeling to me. Again, I know that my time will come and I will have no choice but to leave, and it really makes me sad. And thinking about the people and things that I will leave behind will make me sadder, but I don't know, I really cant' tell. At some point I wanted to leave so I could explore other things and places that my friends do now, but when realization hits me, I just still don't have the guts to leave home. I'm such a weenie. And a cry baby. Sometimes, I wanna spank myself for being such a wimp, but I can't help it. So, I'm asking for your understanding. :)

On the lighter note, Viel's flight will be tonight. Yes, indeed. And I'm hoping for the best. May God's grace be with her. Till next time hearties, I just hope my next post won't be about another Despedida! Lol. :p

P.S.

For Viel, If you're reading this, I will miss you.

Say my Hi and Thanks to your sissy Vish!

Keep in touch! And don;t forget the 3K on October! We're counting on that! ha,ha

More to come hearties!

Lotsa Love!

Love Lots,

KarenHeartilly

Bye For Now

I noticed that I've been through a lot of Despedida (A Spanish word the means Farewell or Goodbye) lately, and I just figured out that most of my friends are neither outside the country or about to leave the country. It makes me envious though, thinking that most of them will be having a better future. Being overseas opens a lot of doors and tons of opportunities (Noticed how many "S" I used? lol.) but thinking about the things and people that I'll be leaving behind, makes my heart melt. I'll going to miss everything about my home. I know I'm such a coward for not having the guts to step out of my comfort zone, but hey, who needs to rush? I'm young and I've got a lot of things to learn It's very clear to me that that day will come that I have to leave everything behind. I'm just prolonging the inevitable. For now, I'm enjoying the company of my friends, the comfort of my home, the warmth of my family and the simple joys of being on my haven. Don't worry, when that "time" comes, I'll let you know every detail of it. I promise. :)

Last Sunday, Jr and I together with his friends The Buddies grabbed a dinner to say goodbye to Mick, he's bound to London this Friday. We had a sumptuous supper at Lamarang Steaks and Seafood Restaurant here at Cabanatuan. It offers home cooked meals and of course seafoods and steaks on affordable prices. The place has Bahay Kubos (Nipa Hut) that gives this fresh and homey feeling (I regret not having a snap shot, don't worry, I won't forget it next time). We had Gising Gising, Beef Kare-Kare, Shrimp Tempura and Buttered Chicken. (Forgive me for I won't be able to make your mouth water, I neglect to take some photos on the food. My bad.)

Right after the storm! ha,ha
As I said, there were no food left, and it almost felt like a hurricane just passed by. lol.
Everybody was full and hyped.
L-R: Meek, My Kuya Allan, My Jr, Me, Cris, Annie, Mick, Eric and Eric's friend (Oh please forgive me, no matter how much I recall, I can't remember his name. Please, please forgive me.)
P.S. you'll notice the yellow thingy in the middle, it's a buzzer. Yes, a buzzer. It's used to call the attention of the waiter. Convenient eh? Wish they could put bells instead. Lol :p

After the overwhelming dinner, what's next? Of course! Dessert!!!

We went to Yogurtree, a frozen yogurt/ice cream parlor here again in Cabanatuan. It offers, of course, frozen yogurt, ice creams, espresso based drinks, sandwiches and pasta. The place has this cozy, relaxing and comfortable feeling. Everyone of us had Frozen Yogurts with the toppings of our choice except Jr, he hates yogurt by the way. He had ice cream instead. Everyone had their own conversation going, occasionally laughing at each other. I didn't felt the sadness on the air, I just felt real friendship and in spite of the teasing I felt their concern and happiness for Mick.

With Mick and Criselda. Although I haven't got the chance to spend more time with Mick I know how a wonderful person he is. And he will surely be missed.

Please forgive this. I can't resist putting this. I super adore that cute little drawer. Jr and I even attempted to steal it, unfortunately the store is equipped with CCTV. Lol.

I look cute here. Right? Lol. :p

With Criselda. She had blueberry syrup, cheesecake and Kitkat while I had Koko Crunch, Choco Chips and Kitkat! Yum-O! :)

My Jr had Cheese Kasoy Macapuno Ice Cream. It's heaven by the way. He dreads yogurt actually, I mentioned that already right? :)

We're hyped and full of energy, maybe because of the sweets? But all in all. I had a great time. I'm looking forward for next time. :)

After the sweets, we decided to call it a day since Jr needs to go back to Manila that'll take three or fours of travel. Before we go, I hugged Mick and I told him to take care. We also had a group hug! It made me feel good actually, it's nice to know that there are people that you can count on to hug you when you need one and that's priceless. To Mick, I hope you'll take care, it was so nice meeting you and let's bond when you get back. :)

♥

P.S. Thanks to Meek (Micheal Mercado) for the photos, you're really like a pro! :)

More to come Hearties!

Love Lots,

KarenHeartilly

Marked on My ♥

As I told you before, I gained a lot of friends in my 23 years of existence. And I want you to meet one of them. We've been friends for almost 10 years now, and just like any other friendship we've been through a lot of stuff together and there was a time when our friendship seemed quiet, it was during our college days but after our studies, we rekindled our friendship and went as crazy as ever. I met her when I was 13 years old, during my first year in high school We got along well and I spent my four years in high school with her and the rest of my Footprints. Iv'e learned a lot of things from her, we also got a lot of memories together. She's spontaneous, adventurous and she likes to try new stuffs, she's not scared of heights. We also got a lot of things in common, we both love books, we both alter our own stuff, we both like arts and crafts. And although some of our ideas are not the same, we manage to pull everything together. I trust her. And I can proudly say that she's a part of my life. Eccentric or not, she is intelligent- no doubt about that. She had opinions about everything, and she isn't afraid to share them. Nor did she hesitate to tell something about herself. She always got the purest intentions. She says everything she means and she means everything she says.You can always count on her. She understand situations that I personally don't or at least tried to. :p

She is like a sister to me, always have been and will always be. I trust her so much, I share her everything, my deepest secrets, my thoughts and points of view. And If my life is on the line, I would choose her to hold the line for me (That's how much I trust her). And I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss her and she will take a part of me with her.

 She's a loving daughter, a good sister, a caring friend, a faithful girlfriend and a God-fearing person

There's this one memory of her that I can never forget, even in my next lifetime (if there's any) and let me share it to you. It was just a few years ago, February 18, 2009 (See, I told you I can't forget it.) I was on the verge of crying, I just broke up with my boyfriend that time, I was deeply hurt (I won't go into details about my Ex Boyfriend because I don't care about him anymore and I don't think I we should even talk about him, so back to the story) and I'm trying to keep everything in because at that I time I had no one to talk to. I was broken and it felt like my life was falling apart right in front of my eyes, I felt miserable and sick to my stomach. I felt this pain in and out of my chest. I felt so messed up. I didn't know what to do. I came to her house because I know for a fact that I can't handle it on my own, and the moment I saw her I felt the tears stinging on my eyes, when she saw me, we hugged me and I just broke down and cry, no words were said, she cried with me. And we were like, crying for an hour, not talking, just crying. And when we're okay that's when I finally told her what happened. Detail per detail. Although it took me a while to move on with that heart break, I could've done it without her and the rest of  Prints. And as I think back on that moment, I can't help but cry, not because of the pain that I felt but because of that fact that someone like her existed. And how I lucky I am that she's one of my best friend. (To be honest, I'm crying right this very minute. shocks!)

KAR-TINE  :p

These girls are like sisters to me. They are apart of me. And I will love them forever. ♥

The ER Girls. Most of us are Nurses now, we value our profession the way we value each other. :)

We love her, and we will not be the same without her. :(

She is usually the master mind on the crazy ideas! :p

This is her, She's 23 and a Registered Nurse as well. She loves her family and her boyfriend. She will do everything for them. :)

And even though we have our own lives and career we make it appoint to see each other every month. I know, on my previous posts, I've told you how much I value my friends and how much they mean to me. They're a part of my life and they define who I am. And I know you're probably wondering why I wrote something about her, I just want you to have a chance to know a wonderful person like her. And I want her to know that I love her and Thank her for all the things she have done for me. And even though we will be miles apart I want her to remember that I will just be here, waiting for here to come back. And I'll always "update" her. I know that my life would be incomplete that we will temporarily part ways but I want her to keep in mind that I'm proud of her, because she finally had the courage to step out of her comfort zone, and I truly admire her for that. I will definitely miss her laughters and smile, her jokes and crazy antics, I will miss talking to her about the latest books and our conversations on alterations and most of all, I will miss our friendship. I'll just keep in mind that we will see each other again. and by that came, I know, in my heart. Nothing will change. ♥

By the way, her name is Justine Joy S. De Guzman. My best friend. ♥


Love Lots,

Karen Heartilly