MFEO

A few months ago, we tried to go on a diet of salads and fruits. Sadly, we were not able to sustain it. We went back to our “diet” of wheat bread sandwiches and “supposedly” less-rice meals. As can be seen from our recent pictures, these were not enough. Nuninu.

We decided to support our “diet” with some form of exercise. One of our options was to enrol in a gym. Incidentally, we were still enrolled in Slimmer’s World until August 2005. But we always had a reason to not go there… Malayo… Late na makakauwi… Fortunately, Bronson’s Gym (now, who wouldn’t feel buffed by that name?) was a stone’s throw away from Dionne’s house. No more excuses for us… I don’t mind that the place is neither air-conditioned nor well-lighted, as long as it has treadmills, a bike, and weights. There was still the budget problem. Well, there’s the per-session scheme that we can avail anytime… As of now, we’re still undecided on this one.

This brings us to the other option: play badminton! Now, this one’s more exciting. =) A sport that Dionne and I can play together (still trying to get her play basketball…). I haven’t played badminton for more than two years now. I don’t even have my own racquet. So this is as good as starting from scratch. We already have another pair to play with us: Dionne’s sisters, Desire and Daphne. Luckily for us, there are some badminton courts along A. Bonifacio Ave. =)

Now, all we need is to get the equipment. Last Saturday, we went to SM Manila for our weekly grocery. Not surprisingly, it’s another SALE weekend. So what’s the reason this time? Manila Day Sale. We went around, like everybody else, looking for “bargain” items. Yup, that’s right. We found some reasonably priced racquets. Some were less than 500, and then there were others that cost more than what I would pay for a pair of shoes. There were a few that were reasonably priced, like the Prince Tour 1000i: lightweight, one-piece, nice grip. The salesperson also mentioned full graphite and tension blah-blah, which, of course, I couldn’t understand. Well, it also helped that the racquets looked good and were at 20% off. So…

At this point, I can’t help but relate our situation with a South Park episode on the Underpants Gnomes. For our case:

Phase 1: Buy racquets.
…
Phase 3: Beautiful and healthy body. =)

What’s Phase 2 you ask? Ask the gnomes.

Last Sunday after lunch, Joven and I went to Ms. Tet Hagape’s shop. We have an appointment at 3:00 PM. Since we both live in Manila, we decided to leave a little past 1:00 PM. We also haven’t been to her place nor are familiar to the area. Since the map she sent to me via e-mail indicates her place was near Libis, we decided to ride the LRT2 and go down Cubao.

Two firsts for us, the LRT2 ride and seeing the Gateway mall (unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside cause we’re running late… we’ll just have to wait for Friday though for the Batman-Cineplex 10 experience… woohoo!).

We went down at Libis and rode a tricycle from there. It was quite a long ride. Hmmm… naliligaw na ata kami. Hehe! Good thing the map was easy to read. Lumampas lang kami ng konti but we made it there in one piece.

Tet was sooo nice! From our phone conversation when I inquired, to our text messages when we started to set our schedule and finally to the consultation meeting that day. I’m afraid I gave Tet a hard time. Since I didn’t have a clear idea of what I want in a gown (I didn’t really have a dream gown… dream gown = white… that’s it), we started from scratch. It was a little embarrassing at first since she has to take a good look at me, e.g. we need a waist, heavy on top, petite but not thin petite… haha! To top it all, Joven laughing at me (he at least couldn’t do it aloud because I kept on pinching him). I really love the sketch she made for me. She was considerate and flexible. I also got a lot of tips from her on how to make illusions. =D

After sketching two gowns for me (before she even finished I was already staring at the first sketch which I‘m really attracted to), she started to sketch gowns for our mothers and the rest of the entourage. She asked me what were their body types, what they were like i.e. personality-wise, and what they wear and won’t wear. She also gave us tips on the color (lemon yellow and red wine… she just gave us the right terms…) After one and a half hours of sketching, we started to talk about the package, its inclusions and of course, the rate. =P Just like what some w@wies say, she gave us a good rate plus discount (even if I didn’t ask for it… yey!). Another thing that I liked about her is that she’ll be at the hotel during the preps and will help me dress up. =D

After the meeting, Tet offered a better route for us so that we won’t have a hard time finding our way home. Nice talaga sha no. =)

We had a great time with her. Kahit malayo shop nya, I think it was worth meeting her. I just don’t know yet if we’re getting her. Hehe! Papa-cute pa eh.

BTW, if we’re getting her, I need to have my “ideal” body by December. That means I only have six months to lose weight. Yikes! As to my entourage, you have until January. =)

Note: Don’t worry, this is a wholesome entry. =)

June 10: To celebrate our (negative) first anniversary, Dionne and I went out and treated ourselves to a movie and dinner. Dionne wanted to watch something scary, so we went for Shutter. Good thing is that there were still tickets available for the 6:10PM screening. Dinner would have to wait until after the movie. I hope it’s not a gory one…

Before the movie started, the people beside Dionne were happily fooling around. Irritatingly, they were still at it even after the movie started. We were very annoyed but restrained ourselves enough not to confront them. After a few scary scenes (a ghost coming out of a sink; a ghost appearing in a photo which suddenly turns its face towards the audience), the noisy people stood and walked out of the movie. Mga duwag! Bwahahahaha!

I must admit that I was caught unaware by some of the scenes, with goosebumps and raised bodily hair. But Dionne… I really thought that we would also find ourselves on our way out before the movie was finished. There was one scene where she was the only one in the whole cinema who screamed! Most other scenes, she would be hugging me with one hand while the other was covering her mouth preparing to stifle a scream… But Dionne was brave enough to go through the entire movie. I’m so proud of her. =)

We had dinner at Italliani’s, a place I’ve wanted to take Dionne to for a long time. It was Dionne’s first time there. Surprisingly, the place was full and we had to wait for a couple of minutes to be seated. While waiting, a waitress handed us a couple of dalandan drinks. Nice…

Dinner was composed of Baked Ziti and Barbeque Chicken Pizza. Sarap! Dessert was NY Strawberry Cheese Cake. Saraaap! We were so full we were not able to finish this one. Believe me, that’s a very extremely rare occasion… I wanted to force myself to gobble up the small piece of cake. But alas, there was really no more space. Nuninu.

Italliani’s, we’ll be back!

June 11: We had lunch with Dionne’s sister, Daphne, at Teriyaki Boy. Since this was Dionne’s first time, she got the “best” food in the house, which was the Teriyaki Chicken; Daphne had the Katsudon; while I ordered the Squid Cakes, whose picture was posted outside the restaurant. We heartily dug into each other’s meals. Yum! Everything tasted sooo good! =)

After lunch, we went to the Bridal Fair that would take place at Megamall on this June weekend. Dionne knew of this since March. She even registered us online for the event. But when we arrived at the venue, the registrar couldn’t find our names in their database. What?!?! Dionne went to all that trouble just for nothing?? Did they want us to fill out some forms and pay for the entrance fee?? I almost confronted them about it when they decided to let us in anyway… Trouble aborted. Hehe.

Our goals for the fair were to look for a good pre-nup package and possibly, an invitation-maker. Before we even went there, Mimi Abisamis and Printed Matter were the suppliers we had in mind. Luckily, one of the first stalls we went to was Mimi’s. Dionne introduced herself and they started talking about the pre-nup package. I got into some parts of the conversation: Aggie and Edil’s pre-nup was shot in UP Diliman, which apparently had sunflowers during the summer (I didn’t know that!); my friend, Robert, was indeed in Merlin’s wedding, as evidenced by the wedding album on display. She told us that she’ll update us regarding their guest book package since this is the first time they’re offering such.

We then went around the other booths and asked for their packages. When we were at the Printed Matter booth, we decided to look around some more since there were still lots of people there. Another stroke of luck: Hizon’s had a chocolate fountain for display and consumption! Dionne stopped me after I had my second marshmallow. (Mental note at that time: go back for some more!)

We also went to RtW (Ready to Wed), where we got a quotation for the female entourage. Dionne also got a rose stem from them, because apparently, they had a florist tie-up with another shop from Market! Market! We also saw some rings and got their contact info. In return, Dionne gave them our “call card”, which she lovingly made before the event. Listed on the card was the usual info that the suppliers ask: our names, date of wedding, church, reception venue, and contact info.

We were able to talk to Kerwin of Printed Matter. He was very accomodating, confirming what the w@wies were saying about them. He said that he’ll email Dionne tonight or tomorrow the map going to their office. ‘Looking forward to do business with them. =)

On my second trip to the choco fountain, the marshmallows were gone. I settled for the banana slices… Marshmallows pa din! I even thought of buying a pack from the supermarket… Hehe!

On this last round, Dionne spotted a familiar face… The couple at Mimi’s looks like Aggie and Edil… Indeed, it was them! Finally, we met one of the most prolific commenters on our blog. =) It was at this point that I realized that it was their faces on Mimi’s package card. Sikat! Best wishes to you guys on your upcoming wedding! =)

… days left before the big day!

this is our (1)st anniversary.

Or is it the other way around?

When Joven and I started planning for the wedding we did not set a budget for an on-the-day coordinator. We thought of having my sister, her friend and some of my friends do it for us.

But after meeting Fol Rana and the Threelogy guys, we were pretty much convinced we needed one. I also remembered how stressed my sister was when she helped out on her bestfriend’s sister’s wedding. Since it was a morning wedding, she practically had no sleep. I don’t want that to happen. After setting a budget, I started browsing w@w files for possible suppliers. There were hundreds! Oh la la! Where do I start???

The quest was on… I started rereading supplier ratings I saved in my inbox. I went to the w@w supplier directory and visited websites. I read w@w classifieds and started sending e-mails. I carefully read all the replies and printed them. I made notes on each of them. I gave Joven a copy and asked him to browse through it. After 10 mins, he said… “kaw?” Hehe!

I pointed out how Impromptu are within our budget and how w@wies rave on their service. Now, all we need is to meet with them and see if we click. =) After texting Jing a number of times (our schedules won’t meet). We were finally able to set a date with them.

Last Monday, we went to SBC at GB3 for the meeting. On our third blind date, we weren’t as anxious as the time we met Fol. I was famished so we went there earlier. After ordering our food, I texted Jing and told her we were at the meeting place already. After devouring our first croissant, they arrived. Gladys approached me and introduced herself, then Jing, then Glo (my bad, I wasn’t able to catch her name).

I liked how Jing got to the bottom of things before anything else. She started explaining the packages and its inclusions. While she was explaining this to me, Gladys quitely excused herself (she was meeting another client in the adjacent table.. hehe!). After a few minutes, Glo (?) excused herself because she has to leave. In between the explanations, Jing would give us tips to make things easier for us. I made mental notes of their ideas on zoning (which I really like), party poppers, RSVPs and so much more. I also realized that I failed to ask some important questions re the church (oops!). After chatting some more, Alaiza arrived with “a friend” (wink wink! hehe). After going through the details, we asked them to pencil-book us. I got a copy of the service agreement. We plan to fax the signed copy as soon as we deposit the downpayment. Some of the things I liked about them are… they only accept one wedding a day, they are not too keen on the “how much” and it seems to me that they enjoy what they do. After the business side of things, the chikahan started… the love story, the proposal, etc. I was having so much fun that I didn’t realize it was getting late already. Buti na lang andun si Joven. Hehe!

On our way home, I asked Joven, “Gusto mo ba silang makita sa wedding day mo?” He replied, “Oo naman.” Yipee!

OTD Coordinator = check2b