evilcaramel

We’ve always had pets in our homes.  I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have any pets at home.  I remember when we actually had 11 dogs at home (initially they were just 5 but one of them gave birth to 6 puppies).  My mom was freaking out.  Unfortunately for her, she married a man who had animal-lover all over his blood and which he passed on to us kids.  Ironically, my mom’s side of the family hated animals.  There was also a time when we had a turtle, chickens, and some parrots.  Needless to say, our homes have always been veritable zoos. 

However, I’ve always been more partial to dogs as pets.  I never really liked cats much as they always seemed snooty, and snobbish to me.  And of course my bad experiences with them where I was twice scratched by 2 different cats and now have scars to show for it.  My sisters, brother and dad seemed to have taken a liking to them though and have taken it upon themselves to adopt every cat they see (which of course has always been a point of contention with me).  My dad was even featured in some news show where they were doing a special on animal lovers and my sister’s ‘workplace’ used to be shared with 11 cats that roamed about freely (ugh!).  I guess having been exposed to them constantly has made me a bit more accepting of them but I still wouldn’t take one in as a pet (maybe at least for now.  hehe).

Anyway, after a few weeks of living here in Bangkok by myself, I’m beginning to miss having a house full of pets.  I was even tempted to buy a puppy here but unfortunately, I can’t keep any pets in the apartment am staying in and even if I could, no one would take care of it whenever I wasn’t around.

As a solution, I have started to create my own mini zoo here.  Right now they’re only 3.  My stuffed cat named Gary (he was the first and a gift from my boyfriend before he left, so he’s extra special) and then came Babar (my greenish-blue and pink designed, Thai silk beanie elephant) and the newest addition is Pom (a red, black blue green striped (?) Thai silk beanie elephant.  He’s a bit less easy on the eyes compared to Babar so I make it a point to give him an extra hug once in awhile to remind him that he’s still special).  I plan to continue  growing my zoo until I can finally have my own real pets again.

 Hey!  It’s lonely out here!!! 😛

*do you know that i sometimes scream at you in my head and yet on the outside am cold and stoic as if am not listening to a thing you’re saying?

*do you know that i sometimes imagine myself dying and floating around during my funeral checking on the people who attended?

*do you know that i imagine myself being able to wear all those beautiful and sexy clothing without looking fat?

*do you know that i sometimes wish i had anorexia but know deep down that it’s a disease i could never have and it makes me a bit sad?

*do you know that i sometimes just feel scared all of a sudden without knowing exactly why?

*do you know that i sometimes think that people won’t like me once they get to know me?

*do you know that i sometimes think am better than some people and worse than others?

*do you know that am not as happy as i appear to be?

*do you know that i pretend that there’s nothing wrong with my life?

*do you know that i sometimes wish i were somewhere else?

*do you know that i sometimes want to be someone else?

*do you know that i have to remind myself all the time that i have a lot of blessings?

*do you know that there are so many things you don’t know about me?

I wrote this before moving to Bangkok so this pertains to taxi drivers in the Philippines.  I think I need to compile another one about taxi drivers here in Bangkok (I almost think they make the ones in the Philippines seem nice!):

i ride the cab a lot. i’ve ridden with so many kinds of cab drivers, the nice ones who don’t really talk to you but you can tell are real nice, the assholes who ask for extra and who complain all the way if it’s too far or traffic, those who can’t stop talking to you, etc. but the worst are those who are plain freaks! and believe me i’ve had my share. here are some:

Cab Freakoid #1: The Rapist Freak

now this one was probably one of the worst ones. got into this cab with this big lumbering oaf of a driver and as soon as i got in the cab, he starts talking about how he was going to take me to his house or some motel or something like that. of course i was freaked to the bones!! kept on calling friends to let them know what was happening and to scare the oaf off (which unfortunately didn’t). luckily i got to my destination, visibly shaken but in one piece.

Cab Freakoid #2: The Get-Rich-Quick Freak

this is another one for the books…

this cab driver was so obsessed with caputring some fugitive with a million peso reward on his head. he kept on dreaming up these scenarios about how that fugitive would somehow walk into his house and then he (the cab driver) would grab a hold of him and turn him into the police and collect the reward money. and then he launches into what he planned to do with the money. one word…FREAK!

Cab Freakoid #3: The Slasher

the weird thing about this cabbie was he was actually one of the nice guys. he was the only one who stopped for me when everyone else complained that where i was going was too far. so things would have been alright if it wasn’t for the fact that this cabbie had all these stories about slashing or running over criminals who terrorized his passengers!! he must have slashed about 4 guys with his trusty balisong and ran over at least one of them! to make matters worse, those incidents only seemed to happen when he was driving a particular cab which unforunately he was driving at the moment! needless to say i was praying during the whole ride.

so dears…do be careful when riding cabs. always lock the doors and make sure to let somebody know the plate number and the name of the cab you are riding. and as much as possible, do try to stick to routes that are familiar to you even if they are the longer way. you never know these days…

Hehe.  Sorry for the deluge of old posts but I really need to put this one in.  It’s one of my favorite posts plus am sure my sisters could relate to my special mentions…hehe…So here it goes…
i am a certified lover of horror/slasher flicks. i’d watch it all despite the bad reviews and the cheesy actors.

so am giving you my top horror/slasher flims of all time:

1. SCREAM – actually watched it 3 times and still got a kick out of it each time
2. FRIDAY THE 13TH (1 to 5) – after the fifth installment, things got a bit too weird. they should have stuck to the campsite setting. jason in outerspace just doesn’t do it.
3. HALLOWEEN (1 to 4) – actually i only got to watch until the fourth installment. not too sure if they had any after
4. 28 DAYS LATER – the zombies here were really freaky, not to mention the soldiers who turned out to be worse
5. DAWN OF THE MUMMY- how could i forget my first zombie flick which i watched when i was about three. i actually had nightmares after about the mummy eating my leg.
6. TALES FROM THE CRYPT – for sheer weirdness of it
7. DEMON KNIGHT – same reason as above
8. JEEPERS CREEPERS- weirdly disturbing film
9. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1 to 3) – although freddy got too cliche-ish after the first, i still couldn’t stop getting freaked out by the elm street series.
10. SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL 2 (particularly the episode with manilyn reynes and the aswangs) – there’s nothing that freaks me out more than seeing people all around you turning into monsters and you’re the only normal one!

that’s it for now. i’ll just update as i go along.

before i end, i must make special mention of the worst horror films of all time:

1. RAWHEAD REX – highlight of this movie was this beast (rawhead rex, spawn of satan) peeing on his victim!
2. THE WORLD OF DRACULA – i can’t even begin to explain…

i still can’t believe how much time has passed. am almost *toot* (see??? am beginning to hide my age! hehe)!!! so many things have changed. although i have no regrets in life and am happy where i am, i sometimes miss the good old days.here’s a rundown of some of the things i miss from way back:

*going home at 12nn from school (of course this was still when i was in grade 2, about 2 decades back)

*watching betamax with my sisters. this was of course mostly composed of horror movies and cartoons (except of course for that one time when my dad accidentally borrowed cinderella x for us, which he thought was cartoons).

*playing house with my cousins using my lolo’s foldable bed as our ‘house’

*having a gang of friends in our old village. we used to meet at 6am in the morning and spend the whole day together either hanging out in the park or biking around the village.

*being able to save 5 pesos off my 20 peso baon.

*saturday fun machine! even if they did have those crappy kid reporters (who remembers the arlo gomez???) and that crap version of ghostbusters.

*of course those classic cartoons (ghostbusters, gummi bears, smurfs, rainbow bright, thundercats, spiral zone, macross, thundersub, transformers, superfriends, that cartoon about the black husband and wife team which only i seem to remember and so much more to mention).

*highschool days (my most favorite time of my whole educational life)

*training for tennis (i used to hate it then but in hindsight, i remember enjoying myself a lot then).

*i miss having time to read books.

*i miss being able to write stories.

*i miss not having responsibilities and not having to worry about your future.

*i miss our family outings =(

*i miss having all my friends together.

sooo many things that i miss. i can’t even write it all down. but then i guess the important thing is knowing that although many things come and go, what matters is enjoying them, learning from them, and not regretting anything! am a firm believer that everything has its purpose. good day =)

…I wrote this a few years back and I felt I just needed to update it and add in a couple more…

I miss my mom….

I miss just missing those things…

My friend just reminded me of an old blog which I used to keep.  Since I want to just maintain this blog, I’ve decided to to put in some of my favorite posts from my old blog.  So here’s the first one…

Just got back from a relatively long weekend from work and I must say that is has been great catching up on my reading.  It’s been awhile since I had time to read so it was a nice change to just curl up with the book am currently reading over the weekend.

Since, i’m on the topic of reading, i must then give you a rundown of some of my all-time favorite reads (books i can read over and over again):

*count of monte cristo – this was the book that actually got me interested in the classics. the movie does not even compare. trust me when i say that you will have a difficult time putting this down.

*a separate peace – i sometimes dread reading this book again since i know i will undoubtedly be shedding buckets of tears after.

*a wrinkle in time & its sequel a swiftly tilting planet – a must read for all kids!! i’ve never heard of a tesseract before this and you’ll find yourself reciting the rune to yourself after =)

*chronicles of narnia – before all the harry potter shennanigans, there was the chronicles of narnia. i used to hide every single book of the chronicles in the library so i could read them all one after the other without being interrupted by those other students who also wanted to read the book.

*of course, it is at this point that i must also mention the harry potter series (particularly book 4) – one thing i like about the potter series is the sheer imagination of the author. i mean who could come up with all these names, terms and magic spells?? it’s a bit mind-boggling.

*a butterfly revolution – i seem to be the only one who found this book interesting. i guess the darkness of the human mind is somewhat of an interest for me =D

*catcher in the rye – pobs will kill me if i do not mention this book although am sure we appreciate it for different reasons. i find it funny!

*flowers in the attic – i have a thing for vc andrews books and this tale of evil and incest is my favorite (although my sweet audrina, ruby, heaven, garden of seeds, are also good).

*almost heaven – alright! alright!! i have my moments of cheese and i have to admit to you select few that i do enjoy reading this trashy romance novel over and over again. i mean who could not help but fall in love with that dashing ian thornton…

*the outsiders – as they say, the book is always better than the movie. quite sad!

*different seasons – this is actually a compilation of short stories by stephen king. only in this compilation will you find the likes of apt pupil, the body and shawshank redemption all together

*come together – a cute and funny piece of (as paulynn would say) ‘chick lit’

this list has gotten pretty long and am still not halfway done!

thus, this shall now be called volume 1 of my all-time favorite books.

watch out for volume 2 folks!

“Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”

I wonder if that place really does exist….

When you’re young, you believe that you can be anyone you want to be, achieve anything you put your mind to as long as you try your best. 

As you grow older, you learn that there are some dreams that really don’t come true. In fact, sometimes, there are some dreams you’re not even allowed to dare dream.  Haaay…I just wish it were easier to accept that fact…..

Hehe.  It’s a Saturday night and am all alone in my place.  Am beginning to feel like I want to crawl up the walls or something.

Decided to answer some survey questions I stole from my sister’s site. 

1. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?
I think that things do happen for a reason and that everything that happens, good or bad, leads you to where you’re supposed to be.

2. What color are the walls of your room?
White.  Not really my choice as am staying in a rented apartment.  I was thinking maybe light green, if I had a choice.

3. When was the last time you saw the last person you had feelings for?
A long time ago…

4. If you could push one person off a mountain, who would it be?
No one.  I try not to stay mad at people. 

5. Where did you get the shirt you’re wearing?
I bought it in a bazaar.  3 for 100 baht.

6. Is anything bothering you right now?
Yes.  Right now, life in general.  I don’t feel am where I want to be…

7. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever heated up in a microwave?
Eggs!  I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to.  They exploded in my face as soon as I took them out.

Where are you 8, 9? 

10. Are you a cuddler?
Yes.  But not really in public.

11. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
I just came from my second yoga class and right now my thighs are killing me.

12. Have you ever liked someone who treated you like crap?
Hmmmm….I don’t think so. 

13. Have you ever seen a zebra?
Only in pictures and on TV.

14. Would you ever date anyone the same sex?
No.

15. If a couple finds out they’re going to have a baby but one of them doesn’t want to, who has the right to decide?
I’m Catholic and I’d like to think that the person I’m going to marry has the same beliefs as me.

16. Are you offended by dumb blonde jokes?
Nope.

17. What are you doing tomorrow?
Mass, finally having my pants cut, Pinoy lunch (can’t wait!!), hopefully yoga, work a bit and then brood at home

18. Have you ever called your boyfriend/girlfriend hunny?
Nope.

19. If you could go back and change something, would you?
I try not to regret things.  As I said, I believe that everything that happens leads you to where you’re supposed to be.

20. What does your hair look like right now?
Am trying to grow my hair for my friend’s wedding in July, so right now it’s growing in all directions and am trying to stop the urge to cut it!

21. Has anyone disappointed you recently?
Yes but I try to be as understanding as I can be.

22. Will next weekend be a good one?
I hope so!!!  Am about ready to go drinking here in my place by myself!

23? 

24. How did you get the idea for your profile name?
My sister came up with it and I love it!

25. What is your favorite piece of jewelry?
Does a watch count as jewelry?  My boyfriend’s watch which I claimed as my own and another Swatch watch he gave me a few years back for Christmas.

26. Look to your right. What’s there?
My two phones and the computer mouse.

27. Look to your left. What’s there?
Remote controls, my IPOD and a cup of tea.

28. Have you ever done something to instigate trouble?
Yes.  But I’d rather not talk about it.

29?

30. What classes do you consider to be nap time?

Nat Sci classes.

31. Do you get attached to people easily?
It’s hard for me to make friends so I only have a few really close friends.  But am also averse to changes so I still get sad about people leaving even if we weren’t that close.

32. Why are you online?
I’m always online.  I chat with my boyfriend and friends and it helps me kill time.

33. What happened a year ago today?
Am not sure exactly what happened but am sure I was with my boyfriend…

34. Have you ever been to Florida?
Nope.

35. Has a person you dated ever made you cry?
Of course! 

36. Ever driven without your license?
Yes.

37. What time did you wake up today?
10!  Late for me already.

38. Are you looking forward to tomorrow?
Yes just because of mass and the Pinoy lunch that my friend invited me to.

39.Where have you worked recently?
Unilever.  Just recently moved to Thailand for a year for a regionaly assignment.  It’s only been a few months but am already missing my old position in the Philippines badly.

40. Who is someone you wish you could fix things with?
Can’t think of anyone right now.

41. Have you ever thought that you were going to marry the person you were going out with?
Yes.

42. Have you ever liked someone so much that it hurt?
Yes! 

43. Have you ever made a boyfriend or girlfriend cry?
I think so.

44. How has your week been?
Ok I guess.  Am getting by.

45. Have you ever been cheated on?
I don’t think so.

46. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
My officemate.

47. What is your favorite color?
Hmmm…I used to think that blue was my favorite but then I realized it keeps on changing. 

48. Last song you listened to?
Am listening to Stupid by Sarah Mclachlan right now.

49. Did you win the last bet you made?
Am not sure.

50. Have you ever had your heart broken?
Yes.

52. Last thing you ate?
Royce chocolates!

53. Do you get late night calls?
Not lately. 

54. Are you on drugs?
No.

55. When was the last time you went to the doctor?
A few months back when I had a really bad sore throat.

56. Are you still with your first love?
Nope.

57. Do you have any medical problems?
Nope

58. Are you going to Prom?
Am too old for that now…

59. What are you excited for?
Am excited about Pinoy lunch!

60. What did you do today?
Yoga, cooked some spam and eggs, read, listened to music, enjoyed a good cry and finally wrote in my blog.

61. What are you going to do now?
I don’t know.  Probably read a bit to make me sleepy.

After months of living in Thailand, I finally got the opportunity to get out of Bangkok and explore one of the many tourist sites in Thailand, with thanks to Vu (my Vietnamese officemate) who invited me and Patty.  We planned a trip to Ayutthaya, which was mostly ruins of the great Kingdom of Ayutthaya.

Our plan to was to take the train and rent some bikes and bike around the city.  Vu had done this before and he was the one who suggested that we come along the next time.  I immediately jumped at the idea.  First of all, it was the first opportunity to get out of Bangkok and second, it sounded like a cool adventure.  In the last minute, Mikki and Ishtpreet decided to join us also. 

The night before our trip, Patty and I planned to go shopping, me for my backpack (Vu said it wouldn’t be a backpacking trip without one) and Patty for her cap.  In the end, I ended up with a backpack and a cap that I didn’t need and Patty ended up with a cap and a backpack she didn’t need.

So finally on the day of our trip, there we were, an odd bunch of 3 Filipino girls and 1 Vietnamese guy and another Indian guy in the train station, early in morning waiting for the train to take us to Ayutthaya.  The original plan was to take the unairconditioned train which would cost us 20 baht each.  But after Vu’s many horror-stories, we decided to go along with the airconditioned train which cost us about 300 baht each. 

The train-ride was a bit slow and the seats were not very comfortable but I was still able to catch a few minutes of sleep in between the many stops. 

After what seemed like hours, we finally reached our destination.  We had to take a short ferry ride (and i mean like 1 minute short) and finally we were in Ayutthaya.  I was very excited to pick out my bike.  I wanted a pink bike with a basket in the front.  When we got to the bike shop I saw the pink bike I wanted but in the basket someone had left some of their trash.  Since I really wanted that particular bike, I picked up the trash and threw it in the trash can nearby.  Unfortunately, it was not left over trash and someone came up and shouted that she had already picked that bike and the drink that I threw in the trash can was hers.  I apologized profusely (good thing she wasn’t too upset) and finally settled for an orange bike.  At least it still had the basket I wanted.

Now, when Vu said we were going to bike around the city, I was imagining biking around empty roads among the temples.  I did not expect to be biking around a bustling city and having to weave through small streets together with cars and other bikes.  I was never much of a biker and I have never biked in busy streets before.  For us Filipinos in the group, biking was mostly done inside villages and subdivisions, where the streets were safe and cars were few.  So you can just imagine what a struggle it was for me to avoid the cars and the people and having to stop in traffic lights and trying to get ahead of the cars. 

Anyway, after a few minutes of struggling with the bike, I finally got the hang of it and started to enjoy the ride. It actually felt good to go biking around the city.  The drivers were pretty nice, they would wait for you to cross, not honk their horns at you and drive slowly behind. 

We finally reached the first of the 3 (or was it 4?  I forget) temples that we visited that day.  It was beautiful.  Coming from a fairly young nation, we had no sites like this in my country and it was my first time to see ruins, Buddha statues, and other structures left behind of what was once a great kingdom.  I wasn’t much of a photographer and I only had my trusty point-and-shoot Canon, but for some reason, because of the beauty of the place, my pictures turned out pretty okay.  And luckily for us Filipinos, Vu was fond of taking pictures and he seemed to have a knack for taking awesome pics with his high-tech DSLR camera.  Being the Filipinos that we were, we gladly posed for him.

The day was perfect for such a trip, the sun was out, the sky clear and for some reason, the wind was blowing so we were able to take good shots, with good lighting and not feel as hot as we would have had on any other day.  Check out some of the pics that I took and some that Vu took.  Hehe.

Anyway, as I said we visited about 3 temples that day and in the end we were just so tired and so hot and they were all beginning to look the same.  So we decided to head on back to the train station and catch an earlier train home (we were all dying for a bath too).  On the way to the train station, we decided to stop by Swensen’s for some refreshing ice cream and also to wash up a bit before getting on the train.

We decided to take the cheaper train back (no aircon, less comfortable seats for 40 baht) where we all had to squeeze in uncomfortable bench-like seats. 

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the Bangkok train station.  And although we enjoyed the day immensely, we were all too happy to be back in Bangkok.  We all felt hot, dirty and tired and we all couldnt wait to get home and get a hot bath. 

All in all, it was a great day!  It was an adventure that I probably wouldn’t have normally done so I was glad to have gotten the opportunity to do it.  And although I was sunburned and sore the next day, I’d have to say it was one of the best and most memorable days of my Thailand stay.

Drat!  I’ve been trying to upload the photos here but unfortunately, the files are too big.  Anyway, am publishing this post now and hopefully update it again with a link to the pics.