A Special Gift

A gift. What is a gift? A gift is a thing given willingly to someone without payment.

Last August 27, 2016 was my 17th birthday. I received lots of gifts. I don't mean things but people. My whole family were there. From grandparents down to friends.

The picture above is a gift given by my most beloved boyfriend, John Paul Gabriel Retuya. He gave it late since he was not able to come at my house on my birthday. To be honest, I felt incomplete while I was celebrating it because he was not there.

But just this August 29, he gave me that efforted gift and I do love it. I cried reading all those 100 reasons why he loves me.

But you know what's really the best gift I've ever received? I received that gift last October 26, 2015.

Him.

Elijah's Birthday

Elijah Andrew Bernaldez

August 12 is the day a beautiful creature was born named Elijah Andrew Bernaldez. This guy may seem to act like a cold-hearted person but believe me, deep inside him is good. He cares a lot for his friends and especially his family.

And just last August 12, 2016 he celebrated his 17th birthday with us, his friends and of course with his family in Parkmall.

Extreme Aeropark

(Indoor Trampoline Park)

First, we went to the Extreme Aeropark in Parkmall wherein you will have fun bouncing with your friends. 

Patrisha Tan

Patrisha Tan, Joana Povadora and Nicole Genon

Chillin'

Burrow Lounge, Parkmall

(Chicken wings all you can!)

After all those bouncing, we got tired and decided to have our dinner in Burrow Lounge. The place offers unlimited chicken wings with different kinds of flavors as well! It may be sweet and spicy, coated with cheese, barbecue, any flavor. Name it.

At the end of the day, we were all full and happy. May Elijah have more birthdays to come!

Overthinking

Falling in love for the first time is such a wonderful feeling. Especially when you knew that you made him fall for you too. ‘Pag first time mong ma-in love, clueless ka pa. Ang alam mo lang ay masasaktan ka kapag nagmahal siya ng iba o ‘di kaya’y sasaya ka kapag nalaman mong mahal ka rin niya. But it doesn’t work that way. He might tell you that he’s in love with you too pero ‘wag kang pakampante dahil pwedeng magbago ang nararamdaman niya. But because you’re falling in love for the first, ibubuhos mo talaga lahat para sa kanya. You’re going to be possessive with him, you’re gonna get jealous, and you’re going to be so crazy about him. Then you’ll notice he’s starting to act cold around you, he seldom texts you with sweet and morning messages, he gets irritated when you are talking nonsense things, and you’ll feel that everything you do just annoys him. Tapos dadating ang kinakatakutan mo. Your relationship failed. It’s over between the two of you. You’ll go begging on him to be back. You’ll be pathetic. But when you’ll realize that he never wants you back, you’ll have to get over him.

Then time will pass and you will start falling in love again. Now it’s the second time around. And when the next guy is a type of guy that will give you everything, you’ll grab that advantage. You’re going to be a spoiled brat. And when he’s that type of guy who is loyal enough, you’ll be too confident that you’ll stay longer. Kaya, hindi ka nag effort dahil alam mong baliw na baliw siya sa ‘yo. Pero tao lang din siya na katulad mo nasasaktan siya at napapagod. When the time comes that he got tired, he’ll start ignoring you. He would want you to go to him and make some efforts pero dahil akala mong lilipas din ang ugali niyang ‘yan, you ignored him too. You started ignoring each other. You got tired and without having a second thought, you broke up with him because you’re not happy anymore. And when you two broke up, you’ll appreciate the feeling of being single again and you won’t feel any pain about your break up. He would want you back but he didn’t tell because pride is eating him. And it all ends there. Then months will pass and you’ll hear the news that he is with someone new and there you’ll realize that you really love him and you want him back but you cannot do anything anymore. It’s the dead end for you. You can no longer change his feelings, you can no longer give the effort he wanted, and you can no longer have him back. That’s where you’ll feel regret. Magsisisi ka at papatayin mo ang sarili mo ng kaiisip ng mga “what ifs” and “what could have beens”. But you can’t do anything about it. And again, you’ll have to get over him.

It’s a funny cycle but you’ll have to start all over again but this time, you know more. You’ll be more aware, and you’ll be guarding yourself. Kung maaari, iniiwas mo ang sarili mong ma-in love. Iiwas ka ng iiwas pero mapaglaro si Cupid. He’s gonna hit you with just one shot of his arrow and then you’ll fall. You’ll start falling and when he falls for you as well, you’ll start thinking that it is not right. Hindi tama dahil ayaw mo na masaktan at makasakit. Tinago mo ang nararamdaman mo but your feelings are strong. Gusto nilang kumawala at wala kang magagawa kun’di ang pakawalan sila. At once na kumawala na sila, sasaya ka pero mangangamba na. And then you’ll be at it again. Papasok ka na naman sa isang relasyon pero ngayon cautious kana sa mga gagawin mo, nag-eeffort ka na, at mature na ang mga ginagawa mo dahil alam mo na ang mga gagawin at yung mga hindi. Pero huwag pa rin pakampante. People are knowledgeable yet clueless about love at the same time. And you know about that. You know that you shouldn’t be too confident because there and there will be chances that your relationship might end. So you’ll start overthinking. Your relationship is so good that you’ll start overthinking about things like, what if you two separates? What if he gets tired of you and leave you? What if he’s destined with someone else? You’ll be overthinking and it will kill you.

It is killing me.

SINULOG 2K16

January 17, 2016 - Sinulog happened. When talking about Sinulog, it means praising Senyor Santo Nino in the most enjoying way we could. Some people party, others join parades and some people just stay at home and pray.


During the past years, I always stay inside our house every Sinulog. This year, I realized I wanted to hang out with my friends. I wanted to experience how fun is it celebrating Sinulog. So, my squad and I (SevenTeens) decided to go to Ayala Centre Cebu to celebrate Sinulog.


When we got there, there are lots of people (as expected) but the place isn’t that crowded. We explored Ayala and saw different kinds of people wearing different kinds of Sinulog clothing. I sure had fun sightseeing them and taking pictures of them.




Here are some pictures of us exploring Ayala.

Lou and I

Andi and her brother

SevenTeens Squad together with Nicole

I and Andi

Me with my cousin

After a while, we went inside a bookstore named Fully Booked. For information about the place, click here.

 

That kid is my Andi's brother.

Squad @ Fully Booked

Fully Booked

After roaming around Ayala, we decided to eat our dinner at BonChon. There are different kinds of chicken dishes served in that place. It’s not that well known but we tried the place and their dishes aren’t bad after all. We were very full.

Squad @ BonChon Chicken Restaurant

When we finished our supper, we decided to eat desserts in a place called KPUB BBQ Restaurant. A place suited for KPop fans like us!

Me (hoho~)

KPUB BBQ Restaurant (Meat all you can!)

Pat, Lei and Jin

At first I was hesitant to go into that place because we’re only there to eat desserts. But my squad is so eager so I've got no choice but to join them, of course. We are so well-served in the place. They gave us free side dishes. And they prepared everything for us. I was so shy but later on, I enjoyed the place. KPUB also has this big screen wherein they play music videos of different KPOP groups. Well, me and my squad's night won't be complete if we can't see at least one MV of SEVENTEEN. We planned on requesting a music video of SEVENTEEN but we thought maybe it's not allowed but because we're persistent, we called a waiter and did request a video. We requested ADORE U and MANSAE. I thought they'll flop it but after a few music vids, ADORE U played and we all shrieked out. People in the place looked at us but we didn't care. We stared at the big screen with teary eyes. SEVENTEEN is a rookie (new) group in KPOP industry and I'm so happy we had helped in promoting them.

And that was the best part of my day.



After our food tripping, we finally went to the grounds of Ayala and watched the fireworks show.

It was a very fun and a very tiring experience (you don't wanna know why it's tiring).
So I guess that's it for now! 'Til my next blog!

2015 Summary

My 2015 had been a great year. I’ve met a lot of people and I realized lots of things. 2015 taught me how to be forgiving, how to be a good friend, how to be more understanding, and how not to be afraid to love again. Now, I would like to summarize my 2015 and I would like you all to know what I’ve learned this year.

January 2015-March 2015

These are the months where I was so regretful. I regretted breaking up with my ex. I tried correcting my mistake but turns out he already found someone new (that fast!). I tried being numb. But I realized that being numb is not a solution to moving on. I realized that I should just be happy for him and I should be happy as well. God has other plans for me, I know. And besides, I’m still too young. I will still encounter lots and lots of people who will come and then goes out my life.

April 2015-May 2015

I met someone online on these months. I approached him because I saw him tweeting about 23:11. 23:11 is a story made by pilosopotasya. I got really addicted to it that’s why when he tweeted it, I replied to his tweet immediately. We’ve become really close friends until a misunderstanding occurred that put a gap to our friendship. But as for now, we’re still friends but not that close anymore. This situation is memorable because it teaches me that you should really talk to people first before accusing them something. And there are really those people who will judge you immediately even if they haven’t met you yet. I also learned that there are people or things that can be gone too fast. It’s too fast that you would wonder if that really happened or was it just an imagination.

June 2015-July 2015

I got interested to this Korean boy group named, SEVENTEEN and they made a big part of my year. Because of knowing them, I’ve met a lot of friends online especially Anindyanari or better known as Yumi in Twitter. She’s Indonesian and we’re very close now. We share secrets and problems. I’m just so glad I knew her. I hope one day, I can meet her personally. I would also like to mention Claire, Austine, Afi, Shulin, Hazel, Max, Chloe unnie, Mokee unnie, Airi unnie, Kahli unnie, and many others. You’ve been a big part of my 2015! Thank you so much. I also made friends inside our school campus. Jean Sentorias, Andrea Lyn Co, Fairlei Russel, Patricia Orboc, Lou Maquilan, and Khatyana Tongco are the persons who made my 2015 very memorable. They are there with me whenever I spazz about SEVENTEEN. They are my co-fangirls and without SEVENTEEN, I would never have been close to them. Without them, I can’t explore more of the outside world. So I am thanking them for letting me experience the feeling of having a “barkada”.

August 2015

My 16 years of existence. My 16th birthday made me realize how beautiful life is. I hated my life last 2014 because of experiencing lots of problems but then I know God is with me and He will never leave me. I realized that everything really does happen for a reason. I’m currently 16 years old now, and I’m still too young but I am ready. Me and my God are ready.

September 2015-November 2015

These months… Gosh. Lots of things happened within these months. September… I realized I’m starting to like someone. Well, at first I was just shipping him with my friend but turns out I’ve fallen for him. I was feeling bad at myself those times. I feel like I’m betraying my best friend but what can I even do? When you start having feelings with someone, if you try to fight it, it’ll just grow even more. I tried to shut up and keep these feelings by myself but my heart just want to burst these feelings out. I told myself that it’s my fault anyways. It’s my fault for pairing them. It’s my fault why my best friend had fallen for him.

We had this event called Peace Fest and that event was the day wherein I almost told him about my feelings. He saw me cried and I was surprised when he asked me why was I crying. I don’t want to give any meaning to it but I looked at his eyes and saw how worried they were. I saw something in his eyes and I couldn’t explain what I saw. I was surprised because two days after that event he confessed to me. I didn’t see that coming. I was literally surprised because I have no idea that he likes me. And now, within those months, I am happy. I am happy with him.

Those months also made me realized how to value teamwork. I realized that victory isn’t about winning but victory is about learning; learning how to value friendship, learning how to accept defeat. Grade 10 – St. Joseph of Calasanz is a very happy, positive and chill (lol) section. We never compete. We are happy and contented, and that’s what I like about my section this school year.

December 2015

Family is so special. December 22, another blessing has come to our family. My auntie just gave birth to a baby boy and she named him Sean. Though, I haven’t met Sean yet because he is in Bacolod right now. But I do wish when he comes home here in Cebu, he’ll be a healthy boy.





And those are all the memorable events that happened in 2015. Wishing for more realizations to come. Let us all welcome 2016 and make something bigger than what you did last 2015!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Xu Minghao's Birthday Celebration

Last November 7, 2015, me and SevenTeens (my squad) celebrated Xu Minghao’s (SEVENTEEN member) birthday at J Centre Mall. We celebrated his birthday because he is my bias and oh well, a fangirl's duty.

Xu Minghao

(THE8 of SEVENTEEN)

At first, I really thought celebrating his day would fail but fortunately, it went very well. We explored J Centre and saw a place called Right Reads. It is a very nice place for a bookworm like me. There isn't a lot of books but the books available there are from popular authors like Rick Riordan, Veronica Roth, John Green, Nicholas Sparks and more.


Fortunately, it is a new place so it isn't crowded yet. There were only few people staying inside when we went in. You can read there, at the same time, you can also relax there because Right Reads is not only a bookstore but also inside, there's a mini cafe.

Right Reads – a bookstore, at the same time, a cafe.

After exploring the place (Right Reads), me and my squad decided to eat in a Korean Restaurant named Gue Gue Restaurant.

We checked the place and it was so quiet because there were no people inside. When we entered, the managers of the place assisted us happily. SevenTeens (my squad) and I felt like we had a special reservation in the place because seriously, we're the only people inside. But even though it's kinda awkward, we still ordered various of foods.

Jin & Yana

Andi & Lei

That's my hand holding my bias.

@ Gue Gue Restaurant, celebrating Xu Minghao's day!

We, especially I, were happy celebrating Xu Minghao's birthday. Though, he didn't know us and he never knew that we existed, we still love him, we would still love them (SEVENTEEN). And that's a thing a non-fangirl could ever understand.

SevenTeens' Twitter Accounts:

El, Jin, Yana, Andi, Lei

Other members of my squad who weren't there on the celebration:

Lu, Pat