To Med or not to Med, that is the question

Let me give this blogging thing a try.

I actually wrote this entry in June but didn’t have time to post it after a slew of exams and things to do for school. After a few revisions and a few doubts, I’ve resolved to finally post it. So be kind to me dear readers, I haven’t blogged/written in a long, loooonnngg while. I figured I’d be posting things about school quite often, so I think it’s only fit that you learn how I got here.

June 29, 2012

Today, I took my first exam in Med school. As I was sitting in front of the library with nothing to do and no one to talk to, I began to think about how I got here in the first place. You can ask my family and all my friends, and I do mean all, and they’d be the first one to tell you that as soon as I was done with Nursing, I was adamant in my decision not to pursue Medicine. Ironic since I went into Nursing with that plan in the first place.

But as with most things, God had other plans.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

As I’ve discovered, God has a good sense of humor. You’d swear one thing and He’d literally make you do the opposite. It’s funny in that “Lord, ano ba?” kind of way. And well, as you could probably guess from where I am now, you’d see why I’d find things funny.

As soon as we came back from Australia and I started working as a tutor, my career would always be one of the things I spent a lot of time thinking about, one where I found myself at a loss and full of questions. Lord, where are You taking me? What can I do? What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? How can I honor You with my choices in my career? And I remember that despite swearing it off and shutting it down, in my mind and in my prayers, Medicine was always an option for me. I don’t know why but let’s just leave it to God preparing me.

While working I realized that I liked traveling, learning about other cultures, and conversing with people from foreign countries. So after thinking about it for a while, I decided that I would become a diplomat, which was something I was actually going to pursue before I took up Nursing. I thought of what course I would need to be one, what school would be best, how much I’d need, etc., etc. I had everything planned out and was even dreaming about the different places I’d get to go to.

Why, then, the change of heart? I remember it like it was yesterday. It was Singles’ Getaway, and we were asked to create a vision board for ourselves. Funnily enough, the magazine on our table had an advertisement for St. Luke’s in it. For some weird reason, I cut up the phrase “Expert Doctors” and glued it to my paper. After that, the Pastor prayed for us and as we were praying, I asked myself why I didn’t want to take Med in the first place. I realized that what was stopping me was my desire to have it easy. I knew Med was going to be full of hard and sleepless nights, and after Nursing I was sure I didn’t want that. Talking to my friends taking up Med and seeing their Facebook statues certainly didn’t help. But when I looked at the tools God had given me, I realized that Medicine is probably something I’d be good at. If the only thing stopping me was that ayaw ko nang mahirapan, then that wasn’t a good enough reason. In fact, my reasons weren’t reasons; they were excuses (Elena, TVD, 2009). And when I decided to just finally give up and let God take the lead, peace that transcended all understanding came upon me. I stopped fighting and let God have His way.

After praying for more than a year for God to reveal His will and plan for my career, He finally answered my prayer. In everything that has happened since I decided to take that faithful/fateful step, God has proven Himself faithful and sovereign. I took the NMAT, got a higher score than I expected, got into the Med school of my choice, and I feel that I’m finally in the place God has called me to be. I know now, after spending close to 2 months with my classmates, why I had to wait for 2 years before studying again. I've never been more sure of where I am now - that God has called me to be here, at this particular time, to be part of this group, to take this certain path.

So when it comes to your plans, let God surprise you. He already knows what’s best.

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book before one of them came to be.” 
Psalm 139:16 (NIV, NLT)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” 
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV, NLT)

Just in case you were curious, here’s my vision board. And yes, I am praying that I get to have my own family in the future, but that’s a long way to go. For now, med muna;)

Cheers!

Janelle

OUTBREAK BGC: Where everybody has a story

After watching the teaser video of Outbreak BGC, it gave me a clear picture on how freaky the run could get. So I asked tips from Danes, who joined the Outbreak Manila in Nuvali.

"Run in groups." That was her very tip. So if you only have one flag, you can stay in the middle of the group to somehow be protected.

Unfortunately, the guys in my group are EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE. See screenshot of SMS below.

The next day, Jakin was like...

Jakin: Alam ko na main message ng high school musical!

Jel: GOOD! Ano?
Jakin: Follow your dreams!
Jel: :| Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're all in this together!!!!!

Too cool, everybody in the group had their game face on. Here's a photo of us girls (Crae, Donna, Denise, me, Diane) and them boys (Mitz, Jakin, Hsin).

And all us eight! <3

Here's the stage and where we were made to assemble before our wave (Wave 33, 11:20pm) started.

And like I said, everybody really had her own story in this race.

The Story of Jakin: The Protector

• Distracted zombies for me and Crae

The Story of Donna: The Independent Woman

• Finished the race alone. (I think she ran into Mitz and Hsin too but all in all, she just did it by herself.) 

The Story of Denise: We have hearts too!

She's crazy. SHE'S CRAZY!!!!!!!! A minute after the race started, there really was an outbreak because a lot of zombies were waiting for us at the start of the course. And Denise freaked out. I mean, we all did freak out but her level was beyond insane. 

• Snatched the shower cap of one of the zombies and said something weird to them. The zombie screamed, "We have hearts too!!!!!!! Don't hurt us!!!" *facepalm* I don't know what Denden did to that poor guy. 
• Tried to run again, but when faced by another zombie, she ran back to the opposite side and did not continue the race. :| 

You can repeat reading this paragraph but the ending won't change. She really didn't. Hahaha!

The Story of Diane: The Best Friend

• When she heard the people laughing, she turned around and said to herself, "Omg asan si Denden?" (Turns out, people started laughing when they saw Den scream and run to the opposite direction.) 
• 3 minutes after the race started, Denise and Diane were already out of the race. :)) So that's Denise's BFF! <3

The Story of Mitz: The First of the Eight

• Stumbled and almost sprained his ankle but he continued running
• Finished first of us eight

The Story of Hsin: Fair but not Alive

• Whereas all of us wrapped the belt around our waist but under our shirts, Hsin actually wrapped his belt on top of his jacket. Too fair, I tell ya. But fairness actually gets you nowhere in this race. 
• After 3km, Hsin already died. (Died = 3/3 flags snatched by zombies) 

The Story of Crae: The Brave Sole

• My running partner
• Had four attempts to wait for our friends and to look for them. 
• Shoe broke after 4km (as in the sole got detached from the shoe). Funny to note that there were actually a lot of detached soles found in the course. Outbreak surely was a test of shoe strength! LOL.

My Story: The Negotiator

• Puked after 3.5km
• Had too many conversations and negotiations with the zombies
• "OH MY GOSH. PLEASE PLEASE NO. NASUSUKA NA NGA AKO EH!" 
• "YOU'RE SO YOUUUUNGGGG!! AAAAAAAHHHH" when I was chased by this really small kid. 
• And my favorite: "AYOKO NA! IYO NA FLAG KO, GUSTO MO??" The zombie actually laughed, got it and thanked me. (Labo bakit may thank you lol)

Here are some Zombie shots!

Jakin, Crae and I (that's me pretending to puke again) with the headless zombie

with the zombie bride!

Some of the zombies were actually nice if you just know how to negotiate. But some were really cruel! Most especially the ones who were in the station of the gartered-obstacle. She was really looking at me in the eye,  was ignoring my plea and kept doing the roar sound. Okay, she didn't look like she had a heart. Hahahaha!

Below are post-Outbreak photos. <3

Fresh na fresh after 0.00001km run. :))

All in all, I'm really happy I joined this race and I ran with this group. Can't wait to run again with them. Just not sure if our next run is another Outbreak or just another PEACEFUL fun run. LOL. Yay!

xo,
Jel

Love and J & J

This week has been a little rocky. Somehow I felt like I got into a plane crash or this unimaginable big hump of a road. But one just can't ignore the little blessings that we get every minute of the day.

12:24 PM

I had a little discussion with my ex about my obsession in my savings (NOTE: If it does not manifest, do not comment here). And because of my need to save, I had to control my addiction to Turkey and Chicken Ham Sandwich in Starbucks. The number of times I consumed that the other week is crazy. So anyway, because he and I are crazy braggers to each other, he made a little: "Ah $3 lang ba yan? Sige kumain ka ulit today. Bayaran kita pag uwi." (That crazy dude converting Pesos to Dollars! Nakakainis! Ang yabang!)

But I got what I wanted. The sandwich and its mouthwatering egg-white! (I am crying as I type this. LOL.) And I felt so up-mood because I was wearing this really college student vibe attire and I was carrying Up On Wall Street book and my notebook on the way to the coffee shop. Felt like a rewind of college. Plus my favorite couch was vacant and somehow, the session felt incomplete without Denise. :))

4:30 PM

Aside from my crazy ex, I also have a crazy best friend--my deux in this blog. Do you have any idea how crazy she is? 

She asked me if I have emergency porma clothes in my drawer. I said I just brought it home the other day. I said what I only have was my running attire as stock. Then she told me about this event that she was supposed to go to. Then she sweetly asked, okay when will you change to that? CRAZY!!!!! So yes for an insane set of ten seconds, the conversation was actually leaning towards me changing into my running attire even though I wasn't gonna run, so she could wear what I was wearing, assuming I dressed well again that day. Valid, yes, but crazy. 

So Plan B was to pick me up from my office and drive home to get clothes and then go back to the office. A good plan, but she finally decided to iron her schedule that night, ended up not needing to change clothes anymore.

And she ended up going to the office with her med school books and laptop to do her paper while waiting for me to finish my work. <3

5:24 PM

Guess who came for a visit too? DIANEYKINS AND JAKINKINS! Diane had to pick up some check from the Nuffnang office so it became a little hello reunion to us there.

Pretty dressed up for a date. Yes, they were. ;)

6:15 PM

Sis and I ran to Market Market to buy flowers for Ate Glo because it was her birthday then (Janelle's main purpose of being in The Fort on her half-day school day). We bought Stargazers! And knowing Ate Glo's sched through Ray, Janelle was able to surprise her in Abe.

We caught her off guard waiting for her family for her birthday celebration. Yay!

I know how big of an inspiration Ate Glo is to Janelle and many others. I feel blessed to have her as one of my spiritual friends. She's always very warm, sweet, caring. Happy to know how she had too many surprises that day. And I'm very glad to be part of them. :)

6:40 PM

Let's get this straight and quick. Tuesday of this week was my first time to eat burrito. I'm not a fan of Mexican cuisine so I hardly ever choose that when options are presented. But when I was a part of the music ministry of Makati Feast Salcedo, they gave that to me as snack and I loved it. So I was craving for it the next day!

Army Navy, yes. That's exactly where J&J had to go. There was too much to discuss that week so we couldn't just let each other go then. The ultimate source of love and strength--that's what we are to each other. ;) Surprisingly, Janelle needed an outlet that day too.

7:50 PM

Then we had to run off because I had commitments that night. And because discussion still wasn't done and Janelle was being sweet, she offered to drive me to the studio where I needed to be at.

In BGC Feast, we're trying this special music classes, where we get to practice Liturgical songs in case we need to sing in the Eucharistic mass. It doesn't mean that if we get to sing worship and praise songs every Saturday, it's just easy for us to sing Liturgical songs. Nope. And that was what the training was for. 

Bro Andy led the training that night and he divided us into groups. He classified me as Soprano 2/Alto 1. But for that night, I was tasked play the role of Soprano. 

YES WE HAD NOTES! <3 WOOOHOOOO!

Tenor Group

The ever-competitive Bass group

The Soprano

The Alto

I'm very very excited for the next session of this. They even gave us another piece, Huwag Kang Mangamba, which I just first heard there. Had a hard time getting it though. Hahaha! But I really appreciate those who prepared for this training--the food, the place and the time. Oh how I love spending time with my LOJ/Feast family.

--

I guess the whole point of this is how in the other parts of the day, I'm sure we're all crawling and dragging ourselves to survive the great emotional down-pull. Some of us have the biggest problems of the present or still holding on to past problems.

It's not easy to survive and to fake a smile. But if you look at 24 hours of your day, you'd see how a lot of things fell into place--if you only know how to look at it.

Glad that for that day, I knew how. ;)

xo
Jel

Coming Home to Mandaue Foam

When I was little, what I hated visiting most in the mall are two stores: the appliance store and the furniture shop. If I could only count the number of times I said "Lika na?" and "Tapos na?" to my parents everytime we're there. Boredom at maximum.

But now that I've become a bit older and now appreciate being organized at work and at home, the furniture store has become one of my favorite escape when swamped with work. Looking at organizers for my desk or something to add in my room, I'd always delight myself with the suggested designs we get in such places.

Running into the Mandaue Foam website, I reached total inspiration seeing the decors and living furniture without even taking one step out of my desk.

Below are my top must-have picks.

0032 Modern 3 Door Shoe Rack

I find this awesome because the width is quite thin and it conserves much space.
Yes, it gets in my top list because my current shoe rack has now become an eye sore.

Marvin L-Shape Sofa
My friends and I are a big fan of sofas. It always has to be really comfy and gravitating. 

During Vgang overnights, everyone would just always dibs who would the sofa or who would sleep in the mattress. And yes, I don't always win in first dibs thing. 

Gregory Bookcase

How can one not love this bookcase? This is crazy beautiful. I want to fill it with my favorite inspirational books, self-help, marketing, and favorite celebrity biographies. 

Amazingly, window-shopping online still achieved the refreshing feel I always get when I visit furniture shops. I guess what will stay the same is the boredom I get in appliance stores? Hahaha!

Now I just can't wait to have my own flat and actually start buying all these nice adds to my living room and bedroom. :) Truly, Mandaue Foam provides us the inspiration and lives with its tagline.

Your home, your imagination.

Check out Mandaue Foam's latest TVC. 

I lied--that was not my thesis song.

Four days ago, I sang in Light Thursdays. And before our set, we were told to share our take on the song we'd sing. Lop was to intro Lost in Space; Nikki was to start Stuck in a Moment; and I was to share my personal story on Dare you to move.

It's not that I came unprepared. I knew about the value of the song to me even before our set in Light. I knew the story before rehearsals, and even before the list of songs were emailed to me.

So when Brother Didoy nodded his head to urge me to start my little story about the song, I smiled, held the mic tight and went on with...

"Back when I was still in college..."

Don't get me wrong. This was one of the songs that lifted me up too. But this was just one of the many songs that I had. I remember I almost failed my defense, if not for the chance that was given to me by my adviser. And that break before I had my make-or-break defense, I was surrounded by all the things and people that inspired me to move up. But still, it wasn't my thesis song.

My thesis song was Miley Cyrus' The Climb.

"I can almost see it

That dream I am dreaming

But there's a voice inside my head saying

"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking"

OrCom people knew that. Almost everyone of us had our thesis songs. Jona with Party in the USA (People: Kamusta na thesis mo? Jona: Ayun. Partying in the USA). Noemi with Defying Gravity. And a lot more.

And so we go back to this was not my thesis song.

Dare you to move is not as 'weightful' as Desert Song or If you want me to.
But it means just as much.

Dare you to move is not 'Go on, you can do it.'
Dare you to move is when you know you can move, but you're choosing not to move. With an unreasonable amount of faith, you decide to hold on to something not worth fighting for.

"Everybody's watching you now

Everybody waits for you now

What happens next

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened before

Maybe redemption has stories to tell

Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell

Where can you run to escape from yourself?"

"Everybody's watching you now"
Because everybody wants you to make it.
And you continue holding on to pencils and pastels and that wonderful image that you create around you, even when you know that there's a better painting at the other side of the road.

In Dare you to move, you are aware of your choices. But you don't take it, you don't make it.
You are perfectly capable of doing it. And that's why you are dared to do it.
You don't dare the deaf to hear. 
You dare someone who can but won't.

--
And if we're playing Truth or Dare, I obviously failed in truth, as I did not narrate my real story.
And if I don't move on the dare, that's failing two out of two in the game.

xo,
Jel

Sweet Summer 2012: Batangas, Bohol, Boracay, Bataan

Since summer has officially ended, and my last two trips aren't pushing through anymore, I think I am just but licensed to summarize the sweet summer that was. Listing them all down, I realized how I managed to visit four B's in a span of four months.

Batangas with OrCom / Punta Fuego (March 2012)
Lou was very generous to share with us one of the perks in her company (MPI), a free stay in the company-owned rest house in Punta Fuego. I really enjoyed this trip because I don't get to hang out often with my college friends. The last time I partied with these girls was the OrCom Christmas dinner we had four months before this trip.

The OrCom girls I often get to see would have to be Noemi (because we used to work in the same area), Alvina (carefully planned and plotted dates) and Jeanne (random hangouts/badminton/run with her and Alan).

So an invite to Punta Fuego with them girls was really difficult for me to pass. ;)

The house was really beautiful and complete with cookware and kitchen utensils.

Most of the time was spent lounging around. Being that we're all working already, a time out from the city and the deadlines was really what we needed. 

That's me seeking to get my summer tan. ;)

After the beach, we went to The Peak, one of the famous pools in Punta Fuego. The resort boasts their undeniably good view of the infinity pool from the top. I remember we spent the whole afternoon swimming here and sitting on top of the edge of the pool, talking about  lolwhatelse boys. 

I think this view we had in the rest house explained why Punta Fuego is one of the nicest resorts in Batangas. This view was just so relaxing. While waiting for the others to finish in the shower, I spent almost an hour just appreciating this view (and inhaling the smoke of my smoker friends LOL).

This was how the room was like. Two beds facing each other from opposite ends.

I really love the interior of this resthouse. Two nights just didn't seem enough.

A shot of basement one. Nobody really slept here because we all wanted to be together. But it's a bigger space compared to the first floor, mainly because it has only one bed.

Dinner for the night was prepared by Jeanne. We had some grilled liempo, grilled hotdog and some veggies. Thank you woman!! <33

And of course there was some drinking. We had wine, vodka,The Bar and wthdidwehaveemperador? LOL. Also this outside drinking area was in basement one.

It was a crazy night. Totally a rewind of college. And it just suddenly reminded me of all the OrCom nights that we had in our four years. That pageant, that party, and the bright lights and alcohol that were all exclusive to the OrCom crowd--the coolest.

*snap* *snap*

This totally gave me a good preview of my awesome summer. Thanks girls!

Boracay with CSR (April 2012)
Just like with my college friends, hangouts with my elementary friends are not a regular. But I get to see Lilia once a month or once in two months since we're neighbors and we do really allot girlfriend dates. Out of towns are planned once in awhile. Like when we were in sixth grade, I remember going to Bicol with her family. Then once in awhile, back in college, we did have some Tagaytay Highlands trip for casual swimming,   to eat our favorite pizza in Highlands Country Club, or to have that really ravishing massage in Highlands The Spa Lodge.

A flight-away trip was new. And so was an out of town with Tadz.

Lil and Tadz in the airport

And me ;)

On our first day, we decided to have Italian for lunch. Of course, as usual, I ordered marinara pasta. ;)

It was my first time to stay in Station 3. In my past two Boracay visits, most of my stay was in Station 2 and Station 1 for the drinking and the restaurants. This trip made me appreciate Station 3. Since it was underrated, not a lot of people decide to stay there so we ended up having a really quiet shore--just exactly what we wanted for our sunkissed afternoons.

Almost always in my Boracay trips, there's the gig! :) I got to chance to sing an MYMP song, an Adele song and a Spandau Ballet song.

Define sun-kissed skin! Yup! That dark, I tell ya! <3

See how few people there were??? It was an April!!!

Okay, let's also acknowledge the fact that we had our trip from Monday to Wednesday. So summer parties and the party crowd were of course scheduled Thursday to Saturday. But still!!!

Tan? Achieved!

A night was spent in Epic of course. 

I think a Boracay visit is not anymore complete without a crazy night here.

We weren't really in a mood to drink, so we just decided to have a couple of Tanduay ices that night. (Previous night, Tequila.)  But we sure had to keep our alcohol consumption to a minimum because we're just three girls in this wild island. Nothing more exciting for predators than this perfect prey-combo. 

Now this is the after dance shot. Too hot inside the bar and yes, too many good looking guys. :))

Bohol with Family (May 2012)

Last year, I treated my family to a trip in Boracay. So there we went with our boyfriends. This summer, it was my sister's time to share and plan for our trip. And because this year, I'm single, I am of course the odd one out in this trip. Fifth wheel, yes.

This was my second visit in Bohol, so I wasn't much on the look out for the sights, but more on enjoying the company I was with (plus non-stop texting and Instagramming--oh this we can't deny HAHA).

Lunch with family in Bohol Beach Club

I call this the paparazzi shot because we had zero clue that our dad was taking a photo of us. He was really far from where we were. Thanks to his lens, such shot was possible. :))

Now this one was when we were looking at the starfish by the shore. 

  

You know it. In every beach trip, jump shots are essential. Hahaha!

Here's mom and dad.

Ate and Jay.

And the fifth wheel. Or if we'll count my romantic relationship with my cellphone, then we count that as the third pair.

One night was spent in Alona Beach, or what my dad called the Little Boracay of Bohol.
I never knew that part existed because we didn't visit that the last time dad and I were in the island.
For this night, Kuya Jay treated us dinner. SEAFOOD INDULGENCE I WAS SO HAPPY!!!!!!

I really have some sort of fascination over bamboo seats. This one was so pretty. It was stationed outside Alona Kew hotel, where I had an ocular visit for my supposed Bohol trip with Bebe.

The next day was spent touring the island. Most of the places we visited were ones that I already checked before. But the Hinagdanan cave was a new one, so that I really loved.

Our tour guide was some really funny local too so even if the tour was supposed to be a fast sighting, we had it long because he wanted to take a photo of us in every corner, every angle. He was awesome too because he kind of knew how to operate cameras. Or at least make things visible in the dark cave.

This was dad's awesome shot of the tarsier. Really really pretty.

But it was a bit sad that we now have less tarsiers than ever before. The last time I was in Bohol, there were a lot in the farm, but this time we only got to see around ten tarsiers.

Of course, the floating restaurant! :)

And like what we had in Boracay, we also did ATV in Bohol. 

Compared to what we had in Boracay, wherein we were in twos, so Kevin and I had to take turns driving, this time, each had one. And because I was feeling very adventurous, I loved how my dad told me to just press the gas harder when I'd approach big rocks. (It meant I was allowed to play it rough. AND ROUGH I PLAYED!!!) It was so fun. In every broken road, I didn't avoid it, I even went to it and kept my speed up. Ahh-mazing.

I know I hate how Koreans are overpopulating our country.

But of all the things they opened here, I think the ATV business is my favorite contribution of theirs.

Bataan with Nuffies / Montemar Beach Club (June 2012)
We've been really busy these past few months why it became a bit hard for us to schedule this trip. And with that said, a trip out of town was really needed to reboot our system. So yes, even though we were already approaching the rainy months, we still pushed this trip.

We had a really awesome bus, with twistable seats at the back, and two TV's. On the way to Bataan, we just spent the morning singing M2M and Backstreet Boys songs in the KTV. Lucky those with headphones, they were at peace. Unfortunately to those who did not have headphones, they had to endure our non-stop singing. Hahaha!

Not only did the bus have twistable seats, it also had this beautiful 'chandelier'!!

We had afternoon games that were really crazy. So crazy, I'm very happy we don't have pictures of them. They're not to be remembered. PLEASE. :)) Night time was spent swimming and drinking. We actually exchanged a legit dinner to bonding with the girls at the poolside.

Here's a photo with my buddy, Ria! :)

I love how everything was slow-paced. I wasn't really in the mood to get wasted and crazy so I slept a bit early that night. (Yup. I missed the crazy party in the other room.) The place was really beautiful, I just wanted to relax and enjoy the resort (plus the fact that I wasn't working LOL).

This was how the place looked like in the morning. 

And this was a bad shot of our room. Too untidy! Hahaha! Denise and I stayed in the loft. Grace and Maris stayed downstairs. Too bad they're an early waker, Denden and I woke up because they were talking really really loud at 5:30 am. 5:30 AM!!!!!!!! I thought it was just me, then I saw Denise up too. We went mad, we literally pulled our hair. :))

After breakfast, we played beach volleyball. It was my first time to play this by the shore. I've played frisbee last year in Boracay, but not this. I really enjoyed running around barefooted in the beach.

After the game, our arms hurt but we loved the pain. The waves, the texture of the sand--we really enjoyed the feel and sound of it. And even when it was already drizzling, we just went on with the game. Dang! I love remembering the experience.

Other trips

My other trips that didn't push through are:

1. Bohol Trip with Bebe. Our tickets were bought and booked November of last year and we were really supposed to go on the 7th of July til the 9th. Except Bebe had a family emergency so we had to cancel this.
2. Timothy Tiah's wedding in Malaysia. Okay, so I saved up for this and plotted this well in my calendar. But since one by one, my office mates suddenly couldn't go, I'm now missing the coolest wedding of the year. :( Oh well, just gotta have to bond with the boss when he visits Manila again.

I know my other trips could have made my July really really awesome, but man, I've gone to a lot. It's just but sane and fair to finally put this list of summer hurrah's to a close. 

Love that my summer 2012 is too sweet and very very well-spent. :)

I feel so blessed. <3

xo,
Jel