Friends..



The people who love and care for you despite all the crap you've ended up doing in your life, and the people who will see you through almost everything imaginable. This is a picture of my core group, the people who have been with me through most, if not all of the more important phases of my life.. my support group, the people i get my strength from, and basically my core.


In this picture are (L-R) Kat, Ina, Jenny and Karla. Not in this picture are Ann, Mia and Varick (the ONLY guy in the group). These 7 people hold a very special place in my heart and are among the very few who I have up high in a pedestal next to my family.



We've been the closest of friends since 1998, we all went to the same university, and we were all in the same class during our freshman year. We were young, a bit naive about certain things and a lot less smarter than we are today I'd say.


It was initially just me, Ina, Karla, Ann, Jenny and Varick. Kat and Mia became part of our circle sometime in 2002. Other people.. common friends, acquaintances, classmates, car pool friends, boyfriends, girlfriends (who are now called exes) had become part of our circle too at one point or another. But as fast as these others had come.. just as fast did they eventually drift away.



8 years has passed, and the original core is still intact. Though vast oceans and time differences separate us, we will always have that strong bond that pulls us together despite the space, the distance and whatever circumstances that we're currently in.


"No matter what, friends will always be there for you." That's actually not true.. And I don't resent that at all. Careers, families, husbands, wives, kids, new responsibilities and different priorities have now materialized within our scope. We've grown up, and we've all changed at one point or another.



Still, despite it all, I know that 20, even 50 years down the road, we'll always be drawn to each other. Simply because that's what friends do. I'll admit that I'm not 100% up to date with what my friends are going through nor are they 100% updated with my life either. But that's the beauty of it.. I may not know 100% of what they're doing, feeling, or saying at this moment. But what I do know is that they do love me more than 100%, and at whatever point of life we're in, that'll always be the case. That's how it'll always be.



We were placed on this earth for a reason. And that reason is to learn, live and to somehow place a little bit of our own heavens within one another. I will read this entry years from now, and I will still be drawn to them, just as I am now.



And just as the cheesy ass song goes, "in good times and bad times.. that's what friends are for."

Drew's absolutely fabulous dress. I have yet to find out who the designer is but I love this dress... It's kinda simple but it looks great.

I shot this picture from my cell the day before we left for home. We were soaking up the sun on beach chairs under this big floppy red Haagen Dazs umbrella, sipping on rather overpriced lemonade and orange soda, constantly placing Hawaiian Tropics after sun soothing aloe on our 1st degree sunburned skin, and just people watching while trying to nap.

My own summer "Sunshine"

A little blue.. that's what I am right now.

I'm not about to post stuff in here about my personal life though. (I mean why would I do that?)

So that's that.

It' s amazing what a few days at the beach can do to you. I for one have never been much of a beach person, nor could I really understand why so many people would kill to go to the ocean. I mean, fine, you go.. you get your feet wet, you get in the water a bit, then you get out... simple, no frills and fuss, period. Also, I guess one of the things that I took for granted was the fact that I've been going to the beach ever since I was a kid. I've been to a lot of great beaches here in the Philippines and also to some abroad. So the beach thing wasn't a big deal really.

Before Bora the last time I was at a beach was about a year ago when the office decided to go have an outing in Subic. It was as expected... you get your feet wet, you get in the water a bit, then you get out... simple, no frills and fuss, period.

I have to admit, Bora is really something else. And I guess what made it so great was the fact that I got to spend 4 whole days there! I didn't have access to my emails, I didn't get any work-related crisis texts on my cell, and I wasn't thinking about anything but to have fun in the sun!

The office group I went with (6 in all), had a total of 4 people (myself included) who had never been to Boracay, so it was great in that sense because we were experiencing everything for the 1st time.

Well that's that. To be totally candid, there were so many things that I got to think and talk about with 2 of my best friends while we were in Boracay. And becasue of it, my outlook on what I really want for my life and the people around it totally changed.

I didn't want to leave, but I am so happy to be back home. It's nice to have breaks like that once in a while, it keeps you grounded.

I am beyond burned! In fact, my skin is roasted... I came back from Boracay yesterday with a really bad sunburn. I mean, becoming dark is bad enough, but I can't even wear my normal clothes because it hurts like hell. Everytime I put on a shirt I cry because the feel of cloth on my shoulders is just excruciating. So here I am, sporting loose clothes to hide the pain.

To make it worse... I was wearing these uber big sunglasses at the beach and naturally, the skin behind my sunglasses is not as dark as the skin outside it. So i have 2 big white spots around me eyes!

Even grosser... the skin on my forehead and nose is now peeling. So my DNA is now everywhere at work.

*sigh* - the things I do for fun, i literally pay for with pain after.

(hehe, i have some great pictures though, I'll post them later)