My Friday nights and Saturday nights have become quite of a ho-hum now since I've moved to BC but that's not to say I'm not enjoying it. Granted, I was not much of a party-animal back home, I rarely go to bars (and I mean that in the most literal sense), but of course I can always look forward to sudden events to take place come weekends. A group of friends from work who have nothing planned would suddenly come up with something exciting at the last minute and we'd be up for it. And then I'd find myself having dinner at a somewhat fancy place, heading out to Starbucks for some much-needed late-night chillaxin,' watching some romantic-comedy flicks, heading over to our fave hang out spot Central BBQ Boys to have a few drinks, and having the night of my life talking about nonsensical stuff to the most sensible of things with my friends. Yes, life is good that way in Pinas. ☺

Weekend nights now may not be like that anymore but it sure has brought a whole new meaning to bonding. I'm in a whole different high when I'm surrounded with friends, that's for sure, but these nights now mean one thing - bonding with the family, and for that I am most grateful for. I thank God that we came here together. I may have been stripped off of my friends from home but it's nice to know I can always come home to a family. I have dinner with them while laughing our heads off to Two And A Half Men, Friends, and According To Jim, while fighting over ice cream. Haha! But seriously, that's really how we spend our week nights here! Come Friday night and we'll double up in size as my aunt and her family would come over to dine, chat and whatnot. A typical Friday night would see the dads drinking beer, the boys playing Xbox or on the laptop, and us girls (or my mom and aunts) facebooking and chatting about their earlier school years and me joining in and laughing at their conversations. These nights I really treasure, it's when our apartment truly becomes a home of a happy family.

Now Summer is nearing and living in Richmond has made me come to know about two things about Summer. First, it's synonymous with outdoors and barbecues (and I really thought that was just in the movies!). Second, night market. We have already listed our places to go to this Summer, the first of which was the Cultus Lake (and we intend to go back there on a hotter day), and many more to go of course! But last weekend, we didn't have anything outdoor planned and so we decided to head out to the Night Market which opened up two weeks earlier. It's basically like Greenhills in Pinas except this is situated in a big space outside, and most vendors are Chinese, there are no Indians. Hehe! Not all the stalls were occupied but the place is already packed! And we got a neat treat of an entertainment as the designated performers that day were Filipinos. Wanting to introduce the Philippines, they sang Filipino songs and grooved to the traditional dances such as the Tinikling. And I tell you, those girls and guys sure know how to move their feet! They really wowed the audience when they danced Tinikling to the fastest beat their feet could muster up. Of course, it ended with a great applause from the audience. (Too bad I wasn't able to capture photos of that, I myself was too amazed! I cannot dance that even to save my life! Haha!)

Speaking of pictures, here are some of them I captured using my BB phone. See, I was to shy to take out my shocking-screaming-pink of a digital camera and take photos like I'm some tourist when I live here! Lol! And forgive the poor editing of the pics, I'm quite amazed with lomo pics and their vintage effect that I tried to copy it off to my pics. ☺

Stalls of some 'festival games'

My cousin enjoying a ride on the plane

People looking around

Time to eat Chinese, what else? ;)

My food

Happy Birthday, Dearest Bestest Friend! :)

As classmates, seatmates we started and then it grew from there.

I remember being annoyed at the seating arrangement back when I was in 5th grade cause I was seated beside a girl I didn't know. Of course at that young age, you'd always want to be around your friends, right? So there I was, sad that I wasn't around my friends and then you just introduced yourself and began talking to me. You were such a chatterbox! Lol!

I remember we didn't really get along that well (though not in a bad way) 'cause it seemed to be your ultimate pleasure to annoy the hell outta me, knowing I wasn't such a sport. But thank God you persisted with your teasing or I would've remained such a spoil sport. I am able to laugh at myself now, thanks to that.

I remember you showing a picture of Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho, which ignited the anime addiction in me. And now, old-but-young-looking as we are, we still giggle over mangas and animes that 10-year-olds enjoy! Haha!

I remember that imaginative boyfriend of yours, Denvin or Denver, was it? You really had me fooled, you idiot! Hahaha! Being that naive and gullible girl that I was (naive, not anymore, gullible, sadly yes haha), I believed you and kinda longed to have a love of my life back then. At an early age! Hahaha! You silly girl!

I remember our major dramatic confrontation over our friendship - LOL! That's all. Hahah! And then another one, which ended quite well as it established a solid foundation on our friendship.

I remember still fighting over silly things when we were in our senior year. Both feeling guilty afterward, we'd end up apologizing and renewing our bond.

We've been through a lot huh? The list could go on and on but since our friendship still continues, this story would never end. And I hope to God it will not! I don't say this as much as I should but I love you, Grasha!

We're 700 miles apart now and I miss you everyday. Thank God for the internet and messenger, if not, we might as well be strangers by now. Let's talk soon, until then,

Happy Birthday, Bru! Wishing you all the best in life and praying to God for everything that you need. Remember, God loves you and He is there, and so am I. Just call on us anytime. I love you, I miss you, Happy Birthday! ♥

READ: Rest, Enjoy And Dream :)

As I was happily reading a book while sprawled on the lake shore on a windy day in Cultus Lake (such a long description haha), I kind of gotten that READ idea. Okay, not really, I just wanted to have a dramatic effect on how I ponder things, lol! But kidding aside, if you're on twitter and following RevRunWisdom, you'd know that he likes to put deeper meaning to some words. I liked that idea and after squeezing my brains out, finally came up with READ: Rest, Enjoy And Dream. Simply because I feel exactly that way everytime I grab a book to read. :D


Enjoying the sun that day while starting on this book, I can't help but wish that life were this uncomplicated, this peaceful.

But realization immediately hit me,

If life were this simple, we would all have been unappreciative idiots.

I leave you with that thought and happy READ-ing. ♥