10 THINGS EVERY REUNION SHOULD HAVE

1. overflowing booze

to of course make things more interesting.

it is even better if you get it cheap (thanks ekay) because that means everyone gets their fix and you can also go home with a bottle or two

2. super cool "unlimited" photobooth

to be able to bring home a lovely souvenir of the event and if u have read my previous post about PHOTOBOOTHS, photoboothing is super great!

3. entertainment

yes, thanks to i-ot, we were serenaded by this man and his guitar. we also had the opportunity to listen to ina sing, one that i missed in a long time, so it was really nice. entertainment is a must because music is essential for parties... beautiful music, most importantly.

4. human bingo

dean was right when she suggested this game to break the ice. prior to the game, everyone was still grouped into their small clicks and hardly talking to each other --- human bingo is a great game for reunions cus it is a great opportunity to see everyone and quickly say "hi" to them

5. awesome raffles prizes

GCs to Clarity for free diamond peels? 50% off in Spiral at Sofitel? 1 night stay at Sofitel for two???? isn't that amazing? raffle prizes, especially amazing ones keep attendees hooked and definitely excited.

6. batch shirts

even if they kinda forced me to buy one, it's okay... they are comfortable as sleepwear! hahaha!

7. A crazy host

yes! i couldn't think of anyone else to better host the event, but kay. she had everyone's attention and she made sure that everyone was laughing their asses off. she was like this when we were in grade 2 and playing "okay ka fairy ko", and she is still like this today... i love it! get a host that every body loves or get "kay" if she is your batch mate. hahaha!

8. amazing organizers...

thank you thank you to i-ot, dean, mia, giselle, mel and all the others who made it possible. we all thought it wasn't going to happen anymore but it did and it was amazing! you need dedicated and very creative organizers who can bring people together. long years have passed and many of these people may not remember high school anymore, but you need organizers who can remind people how great it is when we were all in high school.

9. an event photographer.

i brought a camera for the event, but i hardly used it. once the party starts, you will be so busy so an event photographer is a must to be able to capture beautiful and memorable moments.

10. 72 noisy girls

yes... it wasn't even a third of our batch but it was enough. 72 is good than 0... it actually does not matter if only 10 of you came or 50 or 72... what is important is you are able to bring a group of people together and you can all try to reminisce about the good old days.

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i am leaving for hong kong today so i left you with more silliness about the reunion i just attended last saturday. facebook is still being infested by comments on photos that are no longer talking about the reunion actually... they are now about certain aromas spreading, facial expressions, armpits and cleavages.

i guess i really cannot get over the whole reunion and i am soooooooo glad that i attended, moreso that i helped in making it happen...

love you seniors99,

ONE POINT CRICKETTE

im not sure if i've mentioned this before, but bon hates to travel. growing up, his parents never really believed in the importance of exploring the world, so he hasn't been anywhere significant. during breaks, their definition of vacations would be to relax at home doing nothing and their luxuries involved shopping so they are constantly in the mall.

it took a while for him to understand this passion of mine. travelling, for him, is a waste of time and money because memories hardly count for anything at all, for them.

i, of course, could not take that... i believe that travelling broadens one's mind; and experiences are irreplaceable. not a lot of people can say that they have eaten at the eiffel tower, but i can, and no one can take that away from me. there is so much beauty in the world that needs to be seen and i want to take him with me as i explore it.

in our five years, i was able to force him to come with me to boracay and palawan, but of course, that isn't enough. i have always wanted to take him on a trip outside the country, but everytime i bring it up, his pointless excuses begin...

imagine my amazement, when a few months ago, he told me he was willing to go to hong kong with me. it was, of course, fueled by the opportunity to buy cheap motorcycle gear, but who was i to let that pass? i immediately was in search for hotels and tours, and since i won cebu pacific tickets from medicol recently, it was even more perfect!!!

yes, this is bon's new passport

anyway, we are leaving for hong kong in a few hours... we will be there for 4 days and 3 nights... see u all when i come back and pray for a safe flight...

love you,

PHOTO BOOTHING

last saturday, at the reunion, apart from the overflowing booze and nonstop laughter, i enjoyed the PHOTOBOOTH so much. it was my first time to get to try it and i thought it was really cool! at first i found the props quite ridiculous but they all really look cool in the photos. and since i only got to take home 3 hard copies of the pictures, i was quite excited for these to come out. anyway, i gathered all my PHOTOBOOK pictures for you to see, ENJOY!

didi, ina and i were among the first ones to arrive so we basically had lots of time to make fools out of ourselves at the PHOTO BOOTH. you can tell that the first photo was the first one we had cus we just stood there and posed. of course by the next frames we realized that there were props, so we decided to overuse them! (as in we changed props on every frame)

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i was helping out with the AVP when i saw them going on the PHOTO BOOTH without me. i only got in time for the las frame and if you look closer, that's half of my face! still, at least my forehead made it, right?

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when our other friends arrived, we rushed to the PHOTO BOOTH again and took more pictures. i actually don't understand why we weren't prepared for the first photo. so let's just pretend that the empty slot is for our other FRIENDS who couldn't make it.

btw, i have a confession to make. after i bit the glasses for the picture, i realized i just did the grossest thing in the world (but who cares!)

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lots of people have left, by this time... the party had just ended and after bringing INA to her car, DIDI's bf, duane, arrived and we forced him to go on the PHOTO BOOTH with us. i dunno why we invited him, though, because on the 3rd frame you can see that we were trying to take him out of the photo... and where did i go on that photo???

anyway, do you like my lying down photo? i did not hurt my neck doing that pose... cus yes, i'm quite flexible (wahahhahahaahahahahha!)

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of course...

mabs and i took advantage of this chance to have our PHOTO BOOTH picture together! i do like my beret shot, very much! i think ill get a beret... is that still in fashion???

i hope you loved my photo booth pictures,

THIS BABY NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!

this is BERRY!
she is the angel of my friend's sister, tin.

googoo & gaga is searching for this year's kooky kid of the year, and after going through a number of aspiring babies, berry has made it to the final 12. now, to be able to win she needs your vote... and believe me, it's very simple and will only take few seconds... ready?

HOW TO VOTE:

first of all, you need to be a fan of their FACEBOOK page, here. just click on the link i provided and become a fan of googoo and gaga's fan page.

after that, you need to "LIKE" baby berry's photo, and you do that by clicking this. just click the link i gave you and then like her photo.

IT'S REALLY THAT EASY!

will you promise to vote???
the contest only runs until december 16
so you have less than 9 days to go!
you will vote for her, right?

i know you will... love you all!

ONCE A PAULINIAN... ALWAYS A PAULINIAN

apart from sister teresita's famous definition of a paulinian: "a paulinian is simple warm and active", this one is also true: ONCE A PAULINIAN... ALWAYS A PAULINIAN. and even after 10 years of being free from all our gingham skirts and neckties, we are all still very much the same. prettier than we used be... smarter than we were before... slightly more fashionable... but more or less, the SAME! still shrieking for no apparent reason and still all very noisy girls!

a few months ago, we all thought that this wasn't going to happen anymore. more than half of the batch are already overseas and with everyone's busy schedule, organizing, let alone thinking about it, seemed too preoccupying. had it not been for i-ot and denise, the year would have just ended and we would all be forced to forget this... cus who celebrates 11 years after highschool???

anyway, i don't remember if i told you before but i did not really graduate a paulinian. in my junior year my family left for london so i did not march at the st. paul gym wearing a white toga... no. so it was really a great privilege for me, to be part of the core group that organized the whole thing.

i loved my years in st paul... they weren't all beautiful but they will always be remembered.

today i was chatting with my friend, didi, and we were both saying that we're so "bitin". when i was forcing all my barkada to attend i kept on telling them: "it's going to be fun", but i did not really believe what i was saying until last night. i did not expect for it to be truly amazing, but it was. by 8:30pm the clubhouse was already filled with familiar faces that wouldn't stop chattering away. cameras were going wild and the photobooth was working nonstop... capturing more memories for us to keep.

i am still waiting for the official photos to be available. so for now i just want to say "thank you" to everyone who made the reunion possible! i feel sorry for those who could not come and those who chose not to --- they truly missed a lot!

til the photos get uploaded,

AND SO THE TWI-HARD SPEAKETH

last friday, i got home with one big question ringing in my head: "am i team jacob or am i team edward?"

a year ago when i read new moon, i was in such a high with edward that i read it in haste (skipping parts with jacob and slowing down, even re-reading, hallucinations with edward). i was in so much pain that he had left her and like bella, i was in a comma to realize the beauty of the story. but when i decided to re-read the 4 books again (right after i finished with breaking dawn: book 4), i was shocked at what i discovered. new moon was lovely and although, it still isn't my favorite book of the series, i appreciate it for what it is.

oh, and on the subject of whether i am team jacob or team edward... hmmm... let's discuss that later!

i decided to watch the movie with my fellow twi-hards at greenbelt 3. twilight coven philippines (the authority in twilight, here in the philippines) organized a block screening for its members, so naturally i was there... beside girls who were obviously a lot younger than me (but fans nonetheless, so who cares!)

now, after all the excuses i made about the first film, i knew it would be so much better to keep quiet about the second. there was a new director making the shots and i did not like "golden compass", so i kept my fingers crossed the entire time and hoped for the best. it wasn't until the first trailers came out that the fan in me became alive again. it seemed promising and the wolf transformations (as well as their half-naked bodies) gave me goosebumps, so i have been going crazy for months! i also did not overdose on tv spots and sneak peaks so i went inside movie theater unequipped.

in the end, new moon came out even more than i expected. chris weitz crafted new moon so beautifully that although it wasn't everyone's favorite book --- it suddenly became everyone's favorite film! i admit it wasn't as painful as i had hope for it to be, but it was okay. when i was reading new moon i actually stopped reading at some point, to cry. i dunno if it was really that sad or if i'm just too emotional, but i was looking for that similar emotion in the movie and it never came. there had been a dark period of hopelessness in my life that was channeled while i was reading new moon, so it was too devastating for me (oo na mababaw!)

nevertheless, i appreciate that even with the alterations, weitz made it a point to stay loyal to the book. polishing the story without compromising the original plot, changing small details without hurting the real story. that's often very difficult to do on film because there are certain things that can't be translated perfectly on the screen, but weitz succeeded.

collectively... the staff, the actors and the overall look of the film was so much better... and i left the movie theater in total amazement (unlike the last time when i was like --- duh?). it wasn't a masterpiece, no it wasn't. and i don't think that the "twilight saga" can ever achieve masterpiece level at all... but for a lover of books and a true lover of TWILIGHT, i am grateful for the ride and the opportunity to delight over scenes that i only once imagined as i was flicking through the pages of my book (este my e-book).

and before i forget... about whether i am on TEAM EDWARD or TEAM ABS- i mean-JACOB... without a doubt, this fan girl is TEAM EDWARD all the way! true true, taylor lautner's abs ate edward whole, but just like bella... puhhhhhlease... don't make me choose, CUS IT WILL ALWAYS BE HIM!

till the ECLIPSE,

ps. i took bon with me to my third screening of NEW MOON and he said it was the "most boring film" ever! haha!