mornings

i look forward to mornings much more with gusto and excitement lately( months to be exact). there isnt even anything to look forward to particularly.

nothing planned, no itinerary written, no calendar box marked.

just pure excitement of whats to come.

i bask in this newfound love for the morn.

and sudden yearning for light.

suddenly, i wished we got bigger windows.

my sushi afternoon

adrian and i promised not to join the throng of people who go to THE SALES after the christmas holidays. (not that we have loads of money to spend to buy unneccessary things after the holiday period ) like me, he too hates throngs of people pushing one another to buy a piece of garment or gadget which you dont normally buy anyway if it was on normal price.

its the same every year, we tend to wait for the crowd to die down (around middle of january before we start attacking the shops and dispense with our hard earned cash to the sales ploy).

unfortunately, that wasnt the case this year. because the last of the holiday celebration ended yesterday (friday), we had time to kill this weekend. after a morning of reconfiguring the house prior to the three-man holidaymaker typhoon that hit it, i had a sudden craving that hit me.

sushi.

darn these japanese food cravings. and darn you karla for introducing tuna sushi to my palate.

thank goodness, i was able to put it on hold until 4 pm when the people started to die down from the malls.

when we got there, the carpark was still filled to its capacity, and the mall bursting to its doors with bargain hunters.

the first stop was yo sushi. not exactly a proper japanese restaurant, but its got sushi that i dont have to wait to be cut up, and the rest of the menu is right up there on the conveyor belt for you to pick up and start munching.

adrian feels loyalty to yo sushi because its the quickest saviour to my sanity on certain craving days. plus they are quick and not bad a service. and its everywhere around town.

after a hearty fill of raw goodness, we went around to some shops we normally go in, and got out, with 3 bags of bargains, and another 2 bags of christmas stuff for the house back in cebu (forward thinking, they say).

our patience werent tested too much with the crowds because it was dying down once we started hitting the shops.

we came home at 8 pm, feeling all spiced up (*burp*sashimi), and alot of pounds lighter (not the weight unfortunately, sterling pounds i meant).

nang dahil sa sushi...wasnt there a song of that title?

* * *
heres a photo of our rawlicious afternoon=) (taken by my digicam)




the conveyor belt of goodies...i can see my treat coming right up!



adrian looking for his munch



moaning about a slow conveyor belt than their london branch,haha



waiting for my tuna plate



caught!adrian has no timing basta pictures=)



kana ba!



ahhh, at home, and craving has been satiated=)

feeling christmassy

today, adrian and i:



-went to SpringGate farm to pick up our turkey. we bought a special organic (dog reared) turkey. it cost us 76.00 ++GB pounds all in all for a 7 kilo turkey.

i know, its quite expensive, but its a rare breed turkey, called the bronze. we tasted it last year when adrian's son Paul, cooked christmas meal for us, and bought the same turkey. i just hope adrian cooks it the same way paul did. also, its such a popular turkey that Gordon Ramsey, James Oliver and top hoteliers get their turkey from Kelly Bronze. check their site here.



when we arrived at the place, a police had to sort out the traffic to the farm, and their was a long queue of cars to get in the farm's entrance.



the collection barn had a free mulled wine by the doorway, free mince pies, and a santa claus giving balloons to children.



it was such a nice atmosphere, adrian and i promised ourselves to make it a tradition to pick the turkey ourselves every year. (maybe not next year, as we wont be celebrating christmas here, if all plans push through).



that was the start of my day.



-second stop was Lakeside mall. i had to buy extra presents for adrian. i feel sheepish now, as we promised not to give one another christmas pressies because we bought a wii game, and the wii fit console, but here we are, buying one another presents ( i heard him say he had something for me as a "surprise").



i also bought more new decors. my house now looks like santa's hideaway. even my bathroom has santa candles, waaah!!!



-i came home feeling tired yet excited. esp when i looked at my tree. looking beautiful and pristine.





are you feeling christmassy yet?

unannounced

this blog was never announced nor did i tell anyone about this. (just in case naay matingala because i didnt let them know about this blog).

i always believed that people who were (even just a little bit) interested in reading and knowing about me will always find their way here. thats why you are here,haha. (actually, if people actually visited my about the PANSIES AND LILAC AMBITIONS blog will eventually find their way here)

egotistic? not at all. infact, the opposite. i am actually very embarassed when i tell people where i would be next, when half of those who i tell my whereabouts is, dont really give a hoot.

i am done with announcing new whereabouts. those who really want to know will eventually get here anyway.

just as you did.

*hugs*

short updates

update 1:

i am excited because from now until the second week of january, my tuesdays and wednesdays are free from college and work. i dont have to turn up for work since i stopped my internship, and since college has stopped for the christmas break, i am officially on a break too (but only on tuesdays and wednesdays apart from my sat-sun days off).


the good news is: since christmas falls on a thursday and boxing day on friday, i am only working for 1 day next week--the monday. as much as i miss my colleagues and my beautiful patients, i am not really 'vacationing'. i am relegated to be a proper housewife, preparing the house for the christmas festivities and last minute decorations (which seems to be piling up my shopping bag lately). apart from houewife duties, i need to do some editing for photos people who are relying on my amateur skills.

so, even if without work, i am still busy. busy, busy,busy...but thats how i like it=)


* * *

update 2:

adrian and i went christmas shopping today. ended up with more stuff for the house, than for what my initial purpose was : to buy a dress for tomorrow's party. oh well, i have so many unused dresses that still needs wearing, but there seem to be no opportune time to wear them. so tomorrow, it will be. i hope id still fit in them though.

actually, i ended up with 2 new pair of footwear: pair of elf style boots (because i can only wear flats for anything longer than an hour), and a bronzy flat.

congrats to me!!!


* * *

update 3:

because of the recession, adrian and i decided to pool our money to buy a united gift. we greed to not give one another gifts, but only cards. we decided on a wii and a satellite navigation. the sat nav, we already have been using since last week, but the wii is on order. going around the shops today, it seems, everyone was waiting for theirs too.

but what he doesnt know, is that i bought him some gifts. nothing extravagant, but something he didnt expect. so i hope he'll have a nice surprise.


* * *

update 4:

i am buying a new digicam in the new year. my old sony T10 died on me. it was a little bit funny when we went to the phils. but it revived when we got to the UK. last night at the concert, it totally went. i was in tears last night. adrian thought it was because chris martin was infront of me, but it was because my camera deserted me at a time i needed it most.

i am looking at getting a SOny W series, coz of its handling. or the Canon G10 for its optical zoom. the downside of the G10, its not small enough to fit into crevices of my bag to sneak in concerts or theatres. the SOny Ws could be hidden safely which is great for handling.

i am also looking into a leica vlux. it has little difference to price with a G10, so im not sure. it depends on how the purse strings is by next year. if not, id settle for anything, as long as digicam. i already got great babies with my SLRs. and if im lucky enough, i might get a polaroid cam too before they totally are erased from this world. (goodness, i really am a photographic gadget addict).

* * *

update 5

talking of gadgets; i really am wishing for a jukebox. its not an urgent wish, but something i want to own someday.

maybe i should start my wishlist, it may come true even more if i write it down, according to my wish fairy friend aileen;-)


(no photos on this post)...i still got some paper work to do. and i need longer zzzzzss.

*hugs to you my friends*

viva la vida!

* tickets to Coldplay concert*



chris martin, tomorrow, we will be under one roof.

and sing "fix you" together.


* * *

i am so excited, finally, another (lifelong) dream will hopefully be fulfilled tomorrow. i have wished of seeing this band since i played their "yellow" song during my dj days.

this is my gift to adrian and myself for christmas...and tomorrow, were opening it.

viva la vida!

reflecting from todays wedding

the cute little Ellie as bridesmaid

14th of december...

today,i shot a wedding. B and P got married at St.Andrews Church with their family and love ones witnessing the event.

i could say, it was a unique wedding because there were so many unusual things about today that made me think and compare to previous experiences of mine with regards wedding (not necessarily as the photographer).

1) the bride B is (heavily) pregnant- not that it was unusual, but she was pregnant with twins and she already have 6 children before this. (now thats unusual for a british family/or at least with people we normally hang out with). and not to mention shes only 28.

2) the bride is heavily tattooed- i only recently learned when i saw her being made up. before this, B normally is wearing sleeved clothing.

3) the families involved were confusing- there was the bride's mom and her mom's children. the bride's brother from her dad.

4) the bride's haridresser stood her up. the hairdresser rang at 8 AM and said, she cant make it. (how unprofessional!). they had to ring a friend to do her hair for her.

and it get's worse....read on.

5) the bride's car hire did not turn up. (she had to ring a cab as she was already late). since its winter and she was freezing outside, adrian and i offered for her to wait inside our car.

6) in the end, as we were really late, we had to take the bride to church. my little car became the bridal car. adrian apologized and said that if he knew, we would've used his car which was bigger and newer. (and much posh than mine,lol).

_ _ _

* my unusual experience doesnt end there*

7) on the way to the bride's house, adrian said he forgot my tripod and reflector (which we didnt use in the end). he offered to go back while i took photos of the preparation at thebride's house. it was blessing in disguise as he would've felt uneasy being there with most women.

8) one of the bride's brothers was flirting with me (openly) and when he learnt that adrian was my husband (not just my photo assistant, lol) he backed out (a bit)...on saying goodbye to everyone (hugging and kiss/peck on the cheek), he hugged me and kissed me on my neck! (i shivered...in a scary sort of way).

_ _ _

*church restrictions*

English churches have certain rules with wedding photography. I knew that since churches are quite strict, (and it is the first time i did photography work in the UK), i asked the bride to speak to the vicar for the rules in the church (as each church have different rules), some are stricter than others.

here are the rules:

-no flash photography allowed during the ceremony (shocks! and it is winter). i totally get it as it is distracting to the solemnity of the wedding.

-i am not allowed near the altar before the vows. until then, i can only use photography from their back.
as St. Andrews church is very small, it does not have a small side entrance where most photographers could hide or position. i was left with no choice but to take photos from the back.

-the vicar will signal when i could come near. which is after the vows. and i will be ushered to the vestry where they will sign the wedding license/legal documents. (most churches dont allow this, but the vicar was very good).


* * *

this blog serves as a sharing tool to my creativelens classmate and a broadcast tool (in one go) to my family (saves me time from relayin info over and over again).

this will also be my cribsheet for future weddings.

darn!

(photo of leicester square)

i am forever plagued with problems. well, computer problems,i must admit.

i was on my laptop for a few minutes when i decided to go to the dining area for my snack, and came back with some new folder on my desktop that said "porn". i was alarmed, i knew i didnt download it, and as i am the only user of the laptop (adrian uses the PC upstairs), i was puzzled.

i had no recourse but to ask adrian from reading his paper to sorting out the problem. he deleted the folder, but then another folder popped up titled : "gay fetish sex" and a pop up message from the active folder keeps saying, "warning,system files corrupted..files compromised.Probable cause, malware malfunction". then goes on to ask me to click the file, to sell me some stupid software.

adrian ran our antivirus software . scanned the entire system and was able to clear out some files that were corrupted, but still could not get the bloody folders out, no matter what we do. everytime we delete the folder (2 folders which were titled maliciously), and kept deleting the recycle bin, the folders pop up again, the
moment we delete it.

i am doomed. jinx is my middle name.

that fine line between excitement and fear

sadist or masochist. i am there.

the shrill and thrill of things too big for me pumps up unknown adrenaline that i didnt realize was in me. there is pleasure that i find in putting some love ones in agony by climbing ladders too weak for my weight or eating inextinguishable fire, in my fire retardant demi-dress.

its like carcrash waiting to happen, with me on the drivers seat and my family are the audience.

or the torture of the mistake done, the acceptance and knowing that you have tried yet failed. the bleeding caused by the gashes, and the cuts that sore, the wounds that may not heal, i feel the pain, and reliving the torture in my mind over and over again.

dizzy yet?

wait til you hear the real story.

back to blogging inanuncium (made up word,tehee)

beach huts at shoeburyness seafront


i am eternally convinced that for one to understand me, and realise how unpredictable my psyche is, i need to blog.

as one person will never be able to ask me a question safe enough for a sane answer, i am forever dispensed to blogging. at least, i can be as truthful, as honest, and and as candid,when i feel people need not answer to my follies, nor have to reply back because their faces are imprinted in my screen.

so blogspot blogging; let me give you a try.

after all, one only needs a small and openminded audience. those who actually care what my my brain is concocting at the moment, and those whose opinion i really care to ask.

so if youre here, youre here not only for a purpose, but of a responsibility.

to nod, tell or wink when i am doing ok, and if not, to slap me in the face when my publishing rights has impinged on others.

good or bad, you have the say. or at least the read.