The last hurrah

...to end all last hurrahs!

Somewhere between catching a disc during a go-to drill, grabbing drinks with Galile-oh, Lolo D, and some cool chicks from the new Survivor, and work the next day, I decided to go to Dumaguete.

Booked it before Mumsy could protest. Oh, protest she did--she's not too keen on me traveling so close to the Big Day. But the only thing I could say was, "If I don't go, I'm going to regret it."

A few days later, I was on a plane to the Visayas. One week later, I am still missing how time stands still during the day, how the 10:00 am sun feels like a scorching 2:00 pm burn, and how the hours zoom by once it gets dark. I am missing the music--particularly Rihanna's Hatin' on the Club (which is now constantly on my playlist. Happy thoughts), and even the relentlessly looped Nobody by the Wonder Girls. I am missing the free drinks--my companions found it funny how the only night I paid for drinks was probably the last night. People just kept sending stuff my way so yay! Most of all, I am missing the company: my adoptive team, Circus Weng Weng, which sweetly took me in and even gave me a very memorable (eherm) send-off; and the super fun Roaches/Chupacabras, who had no qualms about putting their glutes on display. Special mentions:

Mich, my dance partner who has an infectious laugh
Map, who cracks me up with her deadpan hirits
Gary, Ogee, and even no-show Putow for the, uh, gift
Alvin--rarr! Hahaha
Cali, for the Pringles pirate laugh trip!
Xtian, my rakstar teammate and one of my most favorite people, like, ever
MVP Faiqah, Gisela, Agee, for BI-ing me :p
Onyok, for being one of the people who convinced me to go
And Blue. I have no words, man. Except thank you.

This trip was the best way to end my run as a single girl! A life of wedded bliss beckons. Perhaps next year I shall go back to Dumags with my hubby--and my team!--in tow.

Scenes from M&M 2009

(Clockwise from top left) Bumbum buddies--me with Peng's "beyonce"; Gali's freaky-ass act; Warriors--Cheng's back!; my last league day as a single girl

So. I got home from girls' night out at 5:30 am, still kind of buzzed after having a bit to drink. I jumped in the shower, packed my stuff, and was picked up by Fel (aka Kapitan Dukot) at 6:30 am to go to Alabang for the Malakas at Maganda finals! I had to play one crucial game that day, and tried to figure out how on earth I was going to do it when I hadn't slept since the night before. Lo and behold, I had a couple of blocks, assists, and points! I therefore conclude that no sleep and alcohol = a good game! P.S. We won that game, and we thus retained our original ranking. Yay!

Pool B champs Circus; Pool A champs Askalz and runners-up Chopacabras

Our "sister" team Circus won the Pool B championship, and we stayed to watch the Pool A finals--it was Askalz vs. Roaches/Chopacabras, D vs. Galile-oh and Teammate. Askalz emerged victorious, but the Ipis succeeded in giving everyone one hell of an LSS. "I want nobody, nobody but you *clap clap clap clap*..."

I ran some errands, went home, showered, and didn't even get to rest before I headed out to the party.

(Clockwise from top left) With Lolo D (D: "Lola ka." T: "At least hindi nirarayuma tuhod ko." D: "At least champion kami." Hahaha); surrounded by PUA's hot men;with Teammate/Indie Rakstar God X; lurve this bebeh girls pic! I'm not singkit for once; with my pretty teammates and new Warrior Mark

Slept at 4:30 am on Sunday. Forty-four hours straight with no sleep. Hmmm. Maybe I do have the stamina to do the whole motherhood thang after all. Eventually.

(All photos stolen! Ahehe. Click to enlarge.)

Wet, wet, wet

The barkada bridal tiara

I specified that I didn't want any more bridal showers/bachelorette parties after the 15th, and as a result, I've had four in the span of nine days--three on three straight days! And that isn't counting the big Last Hurrah: girls' night out, the tagline of which was, "Wild enough to be memorable, but tame enough so that the wedding will push through!"

The first shower was thrown by the I-Girls--the wives/fiancees/girlfriends of H's friends. Sheila, preggers with baby #2, graciously hosted it at their new--huge--casa. Sheryl took charge of the games, some of which involved extensive knowledge on gay lingo and, uh, various positions; others required the use of eggplants. Don't ask.

Relatives on both sides also threw me showers. My mother's side experimented with Gift Central, and as a result, I now have two fluffy pillows for my near-empty house, and a few spa GCs that I will most def be needing to help me relax before the wedding. It's just Stress-ola City right now! One of the highlights was my unintended bawlfest, as I thanked everyone and talked about all the changes. This was my Ode to Mumsy.

My father's side shower was hosted by my dad's younger sis, Tita Maribel. If anyone else had blindfolded me, I would not have been that nervous. But given that it was my crazy aunt (the one who hired gay emcees to host our family reunion), I think the jitters were warranted. As it turns out, she "hired" her grandsons and nephews to do a little dance--in jeans and neckties!

Two of my BFFs, Ching and Mads, also planned a super fun bachelorette par-tey, inviting my dearest girl friends (mostly from high school, with my two-person wedding committee as special guests). Taking off from my Indian-inspired wedding gown and my, er, half-Indian roots (haha), Mads and Ching decided on a Kama Sutra-themed party!

We had bindis and mendhi...

The mendhi was pretty, but it's normally much more elaborate. If the groom finds his initials on your palm, it's supposed to be good luck! (Mads made it incredibly easy for H, of course!)

Looots of food, that Marie couldn't stop raving about...

I even got to take home some leftover hummus! Yum. There were chicken kebabs and pasta and dip and jamun! And lots of other stuff. Dee-lish!

And the games...oh, the games! My ultra competitive barkada + forever game Marie and Tata + creative games = riot!

After one of the most memorable moves that night!

Of course, I finally got to wear our barkada bridal tiara. I brought that tiara to Marnie's shower, and we've been passing it on to the next bride ever since. The bride is supposed to write her maiden name and wedding date on it.

And who will wear it next? Hmmmm. Eye makeup c/o Marie the Great.

And theeen there was Girls' Night Out with Chingy, Joey, and Motts. We just went to Fuel, Cuisine, and then grabbed some grub at Old Swiss Inn. My only objectives for that night were to find boys for the single gals, and to score some free drinks. Mission accomplished...

...but no details! Hahaha.

Seventh heaven

The seventh month of the year was busy, busy, busy! I can't even remember everything that happened. And my cam suffered a painful death on the last day of the month, so photos are kind of unavailable right now. So it's a relatively picture-less post!

The standouts (a lot are wedding-related!):

Kobe! Kobe! Thanks to OK! Magazine, I got an awesome Special Ringside ticket to see Kobe Bryant at the Ultra. (Luckily, there aren't really a lot of basketball fans at the office. Haha.) I'm not a big Kobe fan, but at least I'm not a Kobe hater, and it was as close as I was going to get to seeing a live NBA game for now! Haha. It was just surreal seeing the MVP in person. Thank goodness I wore my contacts!

Coni almost caught an autographed ball!

My first fitting! The fabulous Enan Almado called me for my first Big Day gown fitting. It was just the lining, but it already fell so beautifully! I have a photo of me fitting, but taken from the side--my unmentionables could be seen in front because the beadwork hadn't been done yet, and all there was was a big cutout where the Indian-inspired bling is supposed to be. No posting as of now, in the off chance that Fiance reads my blog and sees it! Not until the day itself!

Meeting Tita Bai. H and I went all the way to Intramuros to Barbara's (post to follow in my neglected food blog), where we met up with the woman that the resto was named after. Tita Barbara, or Tita Bai, is good friends with H's mom, and is one of our beloved sponsors. She was very accommodating and fed us a delectable lunch! It was just cool visiting the area with H.

We don't often find ourselves in the cobblestoned streets of Manila.

It's official. We can officially get hitched now, after getting our marriage license! Woohoo! And, of course, who could forget that riot of a family planning seminar at Quezon City Hall? One of the unexpected highlights of the wedding preps!

Back at Bellini's. Sort of--we didn't go to Cubao X this time. On a break from the Seminar That Wouldn't End, H and I decided to have lunch at the 10-year-old Marikina branch of Bellini's. Yummmmmmm.

Sweet wine to end our meal of chicken with herbs, truffle cream risotto, and a tiramisu gelato cake.

Indoor picnic. Not only has my trusty Canon Ixus died, but my phone cable is also missing--so I can't download photos from my phone. Boo! For now, let me just describe our unique date for the month: a picnic at our new, nearly empty house! We decided to visit our new place one evening, with nothing but a brand new electric fan (our first home purchase! Haha), some grub, a banig, and H's laptop. We laid out the banig, sat on the floor, used the electric fan's box as a makeshift table, and feasted on KFC while listening to music from H's computer! Cheers to our new home!

Final food tasting. We went over to our lovely caterer Kaye Cunanan's place and just ate and ate and ate. Luckily, I had Martha Stewart Weddings editor in chief Tata in tow to help me make decisions. I trust her opinion more than I do my own. Haha.

Kaye: Would you like all carrot rice or half plain, half carrot?
Me: Hmmm...half and half.
Tata: Hmmm...don't you want to do all carrot? I think most people would go for that, and once there's only plain left over, the others will feel like they missed out.
Me: OK, all carrot rice then.

~*~*~*~

Kaye: Would you like green flowers or white flowers?
Me: Green.
Tata: Hmmm...don't you want all white flowers?
(And after she said that, of course I did. Hahaha.)

I find such comfort in the fact that Tata says our food will be delicious! I just want our guests to pig out.

Mini CADs reunion. Triple8Funk founder Joel (aka Sloj, aka my Nikki's baby daddy. Haha) took a break from being New Zealand's hiphop guru and swung by the PI. It was unfortunately too late when I broached the idea of an alumni dance workshop, but hey, there's always next time! It was cool just hangin' with the ever-humble Sloj--and getting a rockin' T8F shirt to boot!

The T8F shirt is considered alimony.

Poker night. I dropped by SP's fund-raising poker tourney after my first bridal shower (which is a highlight, but I'm doing an all-in-one post for all my showers!) just to give a small donation and say hi, but ended up staying for over an hour, just catching up with an old friend! It was so cool seeing Dindi and just yapping and making a whole lot of noise in a place where barely anyone knew me. Ahehe.

Wrecking my cam. I'll admit, I was so incredibly bummed when it happened. After learning how much it was going to cost to have it fixed, and realizing that I barely have enough moolah to spare for a new one (Big Day + home renovation + stuff that'll go into new home = daym!), I just felt so down. I couldn't believe that I wasn't going to have a camera to document my last few weeks of singlehood.

But after my bachelorette party, I realized that maybe wrecking my cam was a good thing, a blessing in disguise. I was able to just be in the moment, and didn't have to think about snap-snap-snapping away. And the more I reflected on it, the more I figured out that I tend to use my camera as a crutch. When I'm uncomfortable or bored or simply tamad to make conversation, I just whip out my cam and take pictures. Now, I'm all about just being there and talking to people and laughing. And having my photo taken by someone else! Because really, someone else is bound to have a cam!

Silver linings rock!