My mom (with her passion for dental hygiene) probably started cleaning my first tooth the moment it popped out of my gums. And ever since then, she forced me, (and convinced me) to take of my own teeth.

So, I grew up brushing at least twice a day (was more when I dormed in eLBi). I used manual brushes for most of my early years, til I recently discovered the joy of using a motorized toothbrush.

My mom wasn’t much of a fan of motorized toothbrushes. She said that they’re just all fancy and what not. But lately, I’ve been noticing how I can’t reach my molars so I don’t get to clean them as much. So back in December 2008, I secretly slipped a Crest Spinbrush with the rest of the grocery shopping. Haha! And viola, I’ve loved the brush since.

Now, I don’t know if my mom and sisters are shitting me, or they’re really serious that they (at least once) used my toothbrush out of curiosity….

~~~

June 29:
The Kapatids and ANAKs went to Fun Mountain as the year-end outing. It’s been really fun being with those kids for a school year. These Kapatids bring me closer to home and it’s really rewarding to see them adapt into this new world. And in this outing, Ate Darlyne said I just found a life-long buddy: Kuya Symmone! Haha! He read my status message on MSN (i.e. Nikon D60 or Canon Rebel XS?) and since he’s a budding photographer/artist (take note: he designed and took all the photos for the Filipino Community’s 50th year anniversary in Manitoba), he’s willing to help me out with my photography-related interest and urge.

So now, I am decided on buying Nikon for my first DSLR. I’m leaning towards buying a D60, but it can swing to D40. What won me over is Kuya Symmone. He has invested on buying everything from Nikon and really pointed me at a good direction such as taking into consideration the features, advantages, and resell price of the two brands I was pondering on,  He even invited me to tag along when he has shoots to see what kind of photography I’d want to specialize in. I did tell him though that I don’t plan on going into portraiture because I’d rather photograph inanimate objects than subjective people.  Hehe! Also, he said it will really help me to know someone who knows the brand so well because we can share and whatnot! Perks of purchasing a Nikon!  

~~~

We’re moving in 7.5 weeks! After being in this hellhole of an apartment for 2years+, it’s nice to finally be moving into our own house. The family dynamics changed dramatically. And we’re all really excited moving into our own rooms! Oh the heaven of having my own private room again!

~~~

I’ve just recently found the interest in learning Photoshop. I’m currently using CS2 for the edits. I am not pro, yet! But I want to be good at it. Aja!

For over two years, my prescription glasses which I bought from the Philippines served its purpose well through the ups and downs of my life (exaggerated).

However, everything has a retirement age, and I think my glasses just reached that age.   Well, in all fairness, my glasses usually just last a year when I was still in the Philippines, and this one got the most beating. Imagine being out in the –40C cold of winter! I really am surprised at how my glasses managed the temperature swings.

And since it’s retired, I went to LensCrafters for a new pair. My prescription is now:

OD: Sphere = -6.50; Cylinder = –2.00; Axis = 007
OS: Sphere = –5.00; Cylinder = –2.75; Axis = 167

Ezra said he thinks I can actually pass for a legally blind person. But yea….

Even though this is a first world country, I still like the service Dr. Pagdanganan, my optician/optometrist, gave me back home. He is always nice to me whenever we went to get a pair. Dr. Sewell, the optometrist/ophthalmologist at LensCrafters, was nice and all, but not really. He was doing the test to see which corrective lenses to give me and I told him that his lenses are dirty, so I stick my finger inside the viewfinder to clean it off and he went ballistic (exaggeration), “Don’t stick your finger in there you’re gonna smudge the lens!” I wanted to smirk back at him and quip, “Dr, your lenses are dirty even without my help.” but I just kept quiet. Seriously, don’t they ever clean their equipment? Dr. Pagdanganan’s office is spotless whenever we went there and I even saw him cleaning his lenses ones.

So all in all, I requested to have my new pair of glasses to have transition lenses with anti-glare coating; they also recommended to have the lenses compressed for me. Jack, the sales associate there, said that it’s rare having people with glass lenses. Usually, they just have the plastic ones. My broken pair is made of glasses and it doesn’t feel heavy and it rarely get scratches. I hope the new pair they’ll make me will be as scratch-resistant as this one.

The cost for all the service I had today? $75.00 for the eye exam…. Seriously this is free back home! The glasses totalled to $502.45 after taxes. I was expecting more for the pair because of all the features, but good thing they have a 50% off deal on lenses. The new frames is from Alfred Sung if I remember correctly. It really sucks how my sister’s glasses cost $850.00 at ADL; the only special feature it has is the Crizal lenses. Yea….. The catch with the new pair though is I won’t be able to have it til next week. BLIND!

But the spending didn’t stop at $502.45! I bought my dad a pair of Ray-ban sun glasses because he wasn’t sporting any type of sun protection glasses. So the total spending is…. $655.89! I don’t mind buying my dad the pair. With all the cost for the new house, I’d rather buy him something for himself.

Wow…with that amount I would have been able to buy either a Canon Rebel XS or a NIkon D60 by now! The dSLR can wait until September. ^^

Gawd, I had to skip work on Tuesday coz of the broken glasses….. Hopefully, the old broken pair will hold for the next 2 days of work. My dad used a soldering iron on it for the meantime.

~~~~
On a side-note, I haven’t touched Lunia for 3 weeks now! Woot! They say it takes approximately 3 weeks to break a habit. So I’m on the right track! ^^ I still visit the forum, but I don’t even bother reading all of the posts. I visit my old guild’s forum, but nothing much there as well. I’m happy being able to leave it one step at a time. Two years has been enough for that game, thank you! And the fortune I spent there would have been enough for an iTouch.

We’ve been in this city for 2.75 years, but the family has never been to the Red River Ex. Well, this year, I went twice! 

Both visits were fun, but I really didn’t try all of the rides. If I compare the Ex to Enchanted Kingdom, I’d say that EK’s rides are well maintained and has more variety (concept-wise).

In June 13, I went with Ate Astride, Kuya Ed, Lawrence, and Kenzi (Ate’s nephew). Hanging out with my first real friends in Canada is truly awesome. I hope our friendships deepen and will last long. (=

The Ex has a lot of food kiosks. I tasted Bison meat and found it good! I got to eat more of the stuff when I went with my family because mom paid for almost everything. Haha! And I also got a Kyle (from Southpark) stuffed-toy! ^^

Another great thing I found in the Ex is the washroom. This will never ever happen in the Philippines (where thousands of people gather in a day). The washroom was immaculate!

So all in all, the experience was fun. I’m happy I got to go with friends and family. Too bad, we didn't get to see the fireworks show, but that's no biggy. ^^

Lately, my relationship with my dad has been going smoothly and I am relieved.

Stan: Kez, you’re the most laid-back person I have ever met.
Kez: Really? x-x That doesn’t sound so good coming from you….
                                                                   -a conversation 2 years ago

 

My friends back home (well, mostly people back home) never believe me whenever I tell them that I pretty much don’t care about a lot of things anymore. How I just stopped being all grade-conscious and such; how I don’t mind how people think of me. I just found myself indifferent to the usual things I stressed about so much when I was younger.

Believe it or not, I actually like it this way. Being laid-back and relaxed. Not stressing a lot. Although I like this slight variation of me, I have to start getting back some of me. I’ve been blabbing about this for the past year, but I never did it.

So what’s making me think about all these all of a sudden? It has something to do with insurances. I cancelled an insurance coverage I have and decided to keep the other one. Now, I have to think who’s going to be my beneficiary/(ies). Sooner or later, I have to buy a house, pay mortgage and other…well…adult stuff.

I feel like time’s going too fast.  

I vividly remember trying to unplug the “male plug” (Kez: “Seriously, the guys who named the male and female plugs are perverts. Dex: “hahahahahaha!”) of my mobile charger from the extension. When I pulled it out, I realized that my phone’s battery is on its last straw so I decided to plug it back. I connected the opposite end to my phone and left it there for the whole night (if you still call 3am-12pm nights).

At the bus stop, I tried powering up my phone only to realize that it’s still low on battery. So I just shoved it down my jeans’ pocket. I got back to it at work (it’s still dead) and I heard some weird buzzing sound coming from the back side. So, I immediately took out the battery. That stopped the sound. So I tried powering it up again but to no avail.

My freaking LG Neon is officially dead. It’s so disappointing because I only bought this on March 9. Errrrrrrrrrr……

Sucker. 

~~~~~

My current job is so unstable at the moment. We are getting shorter shifts (the jobs seem to end so quickly). I don’t know if my next week’s schedule was a mistake or something else. I must find another job soon….

~~~~~

My article’s out on Pilipino Express.

Kezzi turned legal about a month ago, but she barely got out of her shell to try out new stuff. It’s been only these past few months that she’s been dragged (on her on will) by her friends to places she never pictured herself to be in.
I went to Hooters. Yes. Lmao! Ate Astride, Lawrence, and Ben went with me. We only went there because we thought it’s their “Wings Night.” Unfortunately, we heard wrong. But the chicken was good. I ordered Salt and Pepper and Terriyaki wings. Yummmm! Next stop: Players.
These friends of mine are really fun to have and I’m really thankful that I work where I am right now and met them. Life definitely has been interesting these past year ever since we started hanging outside of work. I finally have friends to call my own. I can tell them my mid-life crisis, family dilemmas, and other stress-related happenings. I’ve been telling Dex about them and vice-versa and I’m happy to say that they all will pretty much get along when we all hang-out together. Magsama-sama silang lahat apihin ako dahil ‘di ako nanunuod ng Tayong Dalawa.
~~~~~~~~~
I need money!

Selkirk.

My mom asked me to go with the family to Selkirk. She said, “Kaye, lumabas ka naman at nang maarawan.” Our family don’t usually go out as a whole – half the time, I’m the one who doesn’t tag along. But when I was with them today, it actually feels nice.

I never knew that I have been so far away from my family all these years. When my mom called her friend, she was telling her how I am with them. My dad kept thanking me for coming. My sisters had a laughing trip.

After all the sorrowful experiences with my father for the past couple of years, I’m hoping we get along better now that we have more things to work on (i.e. new house expenses and utilities).

Yes! We finally found a haven in this city after almost three full years. I’ll have my own space again. Own room. Own private life. I really missed this part of my life. The noise (literally and figuratively) will be lessened dramatically. I will be alone in a very long time. I’m so excited to decorate our new house!

Hoping for the best…

A friend of mine told me, "Kez, the simplest things amuse you. I bet that if I give you a piece of paper and a knife, you'll be having the best time of your life." (god, Stephen makes it sound like I'm so shallow! )


Well, I've been playing these flash games occasional and it's so funny (and frustrating) how these little games amuse me.... ~.~ I'm going nuts trying to score higher! 


Sugar Drop
Penguin Stack
Fly Away
108th Birthday


The most frustrating and amusing one would be "Sugar Drop" (my personal best is effing 17).
Try them for yourself.


P.S. You don't need to sign up to ijji games to play.

I woke up close to 12nn.
I watched the Korean show I’ve been watching for days.
I played Lunia for a bit when my friends asked me to help them do this stage.
I got ready for my volunteer work at DMCI at around 2.45p.
I left at 3.25p.
I boarded the bus at 3.31p and got off at McPhillips to take the next bus.
I waited for 30 minutes.
I thought there was some sort of strike because two “Not in Service" busses passed by.
I called the bus service only to find out that the next bus is coming at 4p. My volunteer starts at 4p.
I decided to head home.
I waited for the bus, again. It was late.
I put the envelope I was holding inside my sweater (it was a chilly day of 2C).
I started walking homebound.
I even gave my mom a call to pick me up. Unfortunately they weren’t anywhere near my location.
I absentmindedly open my sweater.
I tried waiting at the next bus stop.
I finally saw the late bus.
I then realized that the envelope was missing.
I decided to trace my steps to find it – there’s $50.00 in that envelope.
I found it sitting on the sidewalk.
I picked it up while the bus drove by.
I had no choice.
I walked.
I realized, while I was walking, that I haven’t strolled the neighbourhood in such a long time – 2 years.
I took at stop midway.
I entered the local shop and bought a Jones Green Apple Soda bottle.
I opened the bottle and underneath the cap it says, “Your job needs more concentration. Success will be achieved.”
I laughed. It was either Fate telling me that or just my psychological processes kicking in and finding association.
I continued walking.
I was watching out for canker worms half the time.
I saw how everything is becoming green. Everything’s starting to grow back.
I asked myself, “When are you gonna grow back, Kez?”
I arrived home after a 30-minute walk.
I found myself to be relieved after that walk.
I was expecting to be pissed off.
I had fun.

It’s funny how I don’t feel as old.