My Favorite Day of the Year 2012

The most perfect roses I've ever seen!
Plus the best chocolate,
the "most poetic" card,
the cutest bear,
and the sweetest sender :)

<3 <3 <3

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL! :)

MY TAKE ON YIRUMA

GetBlued's video tribute to the seniors this year played one of my favorite songs on the piano, "River Flows in You" by the great Yiruma. They said it was suppose to be "Bella's Lullaby" in Twilight. But I guess the producers didn't like it or something. Anyway, I recorded myself playing this song for Shaun for Valentine's day  last 2009. He likes it when I play the piano for him that's why I decided to dedicate this to him before. It's not as good as the original (of course) but I tried my best. hehe. And here it is! Enjoy! :)

BUCKETLIST: MAKE A DIFFERENCE - CHECK!

I was really bored yesterday and I decided to browse through Yahoo! Answers for interesting questions and whatnot. But then I came across this alarming question from a 12 year old girl (posted just seconds before I read it):

And even though I never participated in Yahoo! Answers, I just really felt inclined to respond to her. I thought that maybe, just maybe, she will read my answer and change her mind about things. What if no one answered her and she just took her life right there and then? So I took a shot and this is what I wrote:

And to my surprise this morning, she actually chose my answer as the best answer! I was just so happy that she said my response really helped her. I made a difference in someone's life. That made my day! :)

Even though she still had unresolved questions (read below "Asker's Rating:"), I hope she follows my advice and just put her trust in God. My screen name was "BIF" and I'm sure the DWTL people knows that that stands for!

TRUST IN HIM AND EVERYTHING WILL BE OK :)

MOVING ON!

HELLO! I want to keep using this blog but since JTA is sadly over, I'll just post more personal stuff here! I'll start with a Fiona cheat-sheet! There are the things people might want to know about me and what I have recently discovered about myself. I decided to do this because... I'm bored and I just feel like sharing myself to the world. haha! Enjoy!

Favorites V|S Hates:
Color - Blue | Green
Fruit - Orange/Mango | Tomato (in itself)
Drink - Orange juice (but my ultimate favorite is Bubble tea's strawberry milk tea!) | Tea (ironically)
Candy flavor - Cola (but I don't really drink soft drinks) | Grape (I like the grape fruit itself)
Cartoon - Spongebob (forever and ever!!!) | The Wild Thornberries
Food - Seafoods | Anything raw/rare/not well-done
Animal - Cats | ---
Vegetable - Eggplant | Cilantro (I can't eat anything with this!)

Interesting/less-known facts about me:
1. I sleep around 9:30PM every night
2. I can't sleep without a night light on
3. I'm extremely afraid of ghost stories/movies
4. I've always wanted to be like Britney Spears (before she got messed up). Then, I wanted to be a scientist. (but look at my course now.. haha!)
5. I absolutely love flowers! Just looking at them makes me happy!
6. I seem to have an affinity for water... I love rainy days so much too!
7. I'm a very OC person. I can't stand disorder and mess.
8. I prefer to date older guys (but I'd have to cap that to around 8 years) because immaturity turns me off.
9. I sneeze or have colds almost every single day (allergic rhinitis)
10. I can't sleep without taking a bath first
11. I love anything glittery/shiny! Anything!
12. Nature-lover. Mmmm.. (~_~)
13. I have a strong faith (I think I do anyway)
14. I am very fickle minded especially when it comes to shopping.
15. I love to wear dresses!

Oh yeah. :>
'Til next time! :*

THEY GROW UP SO FAST...

I left my pet cat, Tiger, like this:

But now, he ballooned into this: 

HAHA! Such a fat, lazy, obese cute kitty <3

REFLECTION PAPER - JTA

My JTA stay in San Francisco has taught me so much things and Armand was right, it made me a better person and it made me discover who I really am. I not only learned how to survive by myself or cook or use public transportation but I gained insights and views on life that staying in Ateneo or in the Philippines would not give me. I know I gave up so much for this, but it's all worth it. My family said they were proud of me. Shaun said he was proud of me. Well, you know what, I am proud of myself too.

I remember that very day my family brought me to the airport, there was a minute there I regretted joining JTA and I didn't want to leave the Philippines, in all honesty. I wanted to stay because I was afraid of what is to come. I was afraid of being all alone in a country that I have never visited all my life. I was afraid of not having a rock, my family, there to tell me what to do or to run to in times of need. I was afraid of not having any friends because of the different culture. I was afraid I am going to starve to death (or gain so much weight because of eating take-outs) because I never cooked at home. I was afraid of getting lost or just being stuck at the apartment 'cause I never commuted, I never ventured out or went to places alone. Living a very sheltered life at home did not give me enough life experiences, I guess. That's why I was afraid of so many things; because I never was alone, or shall I say, I never was this independent. But this experience made me taste what life was truly about, or the good side of life anyway. I know it was easy cause I had instant money, I didn't have to work and money was always there, but nonetheless, I learned a lot. I was able to cook food on my own (and Shaun said they were good too, yay! haha!), I was able to ride the buses and go to the malls alone, to go shopping at my own leisure and time and to even watch a movie I wanted. I was able to make friends from different races and culture but most of all, I was able to experience diversity at its best. I was able to take complete control of my life, and I loved it.

JTA made me taste what life was really about and I have no regrets or whatsoever going here in USF. I know at first I was scared cause USF only had one slot but unlimited tuition paying. I never thought someone would pay to go here but at least someone did. I'm glad Daniel went here cause it helped to have someone with you along the way (though we only got to hang out at the beginning and eventually went with other friends we had).  I thought that if we were 4-10 JTA people at USF, it wont be the same. You wont get the same fears I did and would not get the same pleasure of conquering them, of knowing you were able to do it.

Fiona, you were able to do it - these 4 months.

And damn right you should be proud of yourself. It's not the travels, the sights, the new stuff you bought but it is that journey of self-discovery that meant the most to me. Even though JTA ended and I'm back to my old life again, I know I came back a changed person. A changed and  more mature person, hungry for life and what the future holds.

I just want to thank God for giving me this opportunity, for my family for allowing me and for all the friends I've made and have helped me go through this along the way (you know who you guys are!). I know I wasn't ready to go, 'cause I honestly didn't want to leave just yet. I wanted a few more weeks or months maybe. But it's time for me to go back to my family I dearly missed so much. This was enough and maybe someday in the future, I might be coming back there. Who knows? But for now, it's a pleasant farewell and thank you.

FOOD TRIP (AGAIN)

I am moving out of my dorm today (Dec 18) and I had to finish all my food before I go, so I had ANOTHER food trip, this time with Shaun, and we tried to finish everything.

Other than that, here are some of the stuff we cooked and other places we went to eat to.

dinner by shaun: pan-roasted potatoes with buttered vegetables and steak diane with homemade mushroom gravy

trying to use up all plastic utensils

this was lunch by me

I called this chicken alfredo pesto with 3 cheeses

garlic onion mushroom side dish (which turned out surprisingly good! haha!)

chicken cutlets with country gravy

and for dessert, shaun made banofee pie FROM SCRATCH. and this was what was left of it when I remembered to take a picture. mmmm....

Fancy night with Shaun! haha! dinner at McCormick & Kuleto's seafood restaurant in Ghirardelli square. this was an amazing appetizer of mango, avocadoes and dungeness crab

I wanted to use my california ID for once, so we ordered a Ghirardelli chocolate martini!

this was fettuccini alfredo with Manila clams (though I must say, the one in Cyma was better)

shaun had pan-friend scallops with pork belly and these sweet small thin carrot-like veggies that I loved

fancy date calls for fancy get-ups. haha!

then dessert at the Ghirardelli cafe. even though it was freezing cold outside, I wanted my ice cream sundae. so here it was. very berry ice cream :P

though I dont have a picture of it, Shaun even rented a beemer for us. Went all out that night. haha! It was very fun and memorable :) Thank you baby! mwah! :*