*written last night but posted today*

I can't elaborate on today much. I have less than 5-6 hours before I have to be up AGAIN. Benny, Andy and I spent FOUR morbid hours driving from Brooklyn to Queens because none of us knew our way around. Benny is formerly from Montreal, Andy is from Chicago at ako galing bundok. We depended on Benny's iPhone's GPS but it the battery was almost dead and the GPS kept f*cking with us. Couple that with New York's horrible highway and street layouts that will get any tourist lost for sure. The highways and streets are nothing like California. I never got lost while driving there, it was so easy to find my way around with just a map. We circled the area about 5 times before we finally got the UHaul back to the warehouse. UGH. Then after dropping Andy home, Benny and I got PULLED OVER BY A COP for having busted headlights. We were using the fog lights anyway but they wanted to check. When he asked for license and registration, Benny realized that he DIDN'T HAVE HIS LICENSE. The whole time were driving around, wala pala syang license. We apologized and explained that we were lost and had just moved hence all the chaos and he just laughed, gave us directions and sent us on our way. My heart was on my throat and I wanted to cry. We got home at 2:30am and I passed out even before I could publish this post.

We did move quite a bit of stuff into the new apartment today though. Carrying the couch, cabinets, shelves, beds, mattresses, chairs and a sh!tload of boxes up to the 3rd floor was a bitch though. Specially having to maneuver it through a small narrow staircase (remember that Friends episode with Ross, Chandler and Rachel carrying a couch up a stairwell?) I measured my room and found it to be slightly roomier than what I was expecting it to be.


*written today*
So this morning contained another series of unfortunate events but I don't want to elaborate much. Benny ended up staying here then we had to be up in the morning to go back and settle the uhaul late charges. Basta! Magulong umaga nanaman. I'm just glad it's over. I will try to move the rest of my stuff little by little before saturday or may just borrow tita Chon's car again and haul everything in one go on Feb. 1. I do plan on sleeping at the new place on Saturday night after work if I'm able to borrow a futon or air mattress by then.

I have so many stories to tell but I can't seem to remember any of them right now. I have been too exhausted to write at the end of each day that I no longer can recall most of the stuff I want to share with you all. They're nothing major, just funny little things that's happened in the last few weeks. Hopefully when I've settled in my new home, I'll be more composed.

Sorry.

Been too tired to post anything decent lately. There have been a lot of days where I choose not to write rather than waste my reader's time with reading stupid crap. But I wanted to put something up today to celebrate this day. I have gone past the point of no return. It is official. I cannot elaborate much of what I'm refferring to so I apologize if I'm being vague. This post might just be for me. I feel like today is the real start of my new life here. And on and and on I go...Morning gongyo will be special today.

I have been delinquent in answering some of your emails and I apologize. I do read them when I get the time to sneak into my inbox but I never have the luxury to sit and think of what to respond. Just know that I read them and thank you.

I have a video to show you from last night. Might have to do it tomorrow when the dust settles. I have to wake up early, pack my shit into boxes and start moving them to Brooklyn. How I'm going to do this, I will still have to figure out. I have to wake up to start my day in about 4 hours. It's sleeping time.

Mica finally uploaded the video on Facebook. But I don't know how she posted it because I can't seem to embed it here. I re-posted the video on my profile but I don't think non-facebookers will be able to see it. When I finally have the video file, I will repost it here for the benefit of everyone. I am bound to take photos once I've moved in so I can give y'all a proper visual. Pardon my very annoying voice in the video. I have GOT to stop talking like that. I don't even notice it anymore. The whole time I was watching it, I was thinking "Oh god shut up shut up shut up shut up!!!"

Before I begin, this one made me laugh so much. I love how Jammi writes and always enjoy reading what she says about me.

Been too preoccupied to post. A few things have happened and I will quickly enumerate to update y'all.

I am a soon to be official Brooklynite! YES! We found an apartment and got approved! I just paid first month's rent + security this morning and will be hauling my clothes and stuff on Sunday. We officially move on February 1!

I did go to Beacon's Closet that day I blogged from my iPod touch. I bought two jackets and tall brown leather boots all for less than the one pair of boots I was eyeing from Steve madden. SCORE!

I had a mandatory hour and a half break today from work and I spent it chanting for an hour at the center. I've never wanted to pray the rosary with my mom before and never understood how she could do it every night. The feeling of actually wanting to go and chant was new to me but I really wanted to do it. Also, chanting along with other people gives me more pleasure than doing it alone at home, despite my very handsome butsudan. Hehe.

I've been on IKEA.com and excel laying out the floor plan of my room and fixing a budget for the furniture I'm planning on getting. Having VERY limited space has forced me to get creative and also saves me a lot of money as opposed to having to furnish a larger space. I've layed out and measured the furniure I plan on getting (went to IKEA last Sunday with tita Chon and family) and made a virtual room in excel to really see how much space I will have left to move around i once I put all my junk in. I've had to sacrifice items like design preference and color just so I will have enough inches of space left to walk around in and also try to keep my spending to a minimum since I just blew quite a bit of money for rent + security.

The hot man came for lunch today and I was relieved I was hosting so I had the opportunity to not dress up like a server and wear something else aside from black. I sat him and his friend at a table close to where I'd be and made sure he sat facing my direction. Hahahaha! Hindi naman ako umaasa, gusto ko lang syang tingnan talaga. Hot men like that will never date waitresses anyway.

I attended my first district meeting for SGI last Sunday. I was an hour late since I came all the way from Ikea in Long Island. I was upset that I missed evening gongyo since I really, really wanted to do it with people but I was given a small opportunity to share my experience since joining the practice. I was very surprised at how comfortable I was talking to a group of about 30 (??) people. I'm never at ease at on the spot speeches like that and I must have been blabbering like an idiot but the vibe was just so warm and friendly it was hard not to enjoy talking to these strangers. It was also then that Andy announced that the real estate manager called him an hour before the meeting to tell him that our application for the apartment got approved. Mica, Benny (who was a guest that night) and I were screaming like crazy and high-fiving each other while the others laughed at our ridiculous reaction. We got drinks to celebrate after before I headed back to Queens.

I was an hour early for work today since I had to deposit the rent money in the bank this morning. I finally had the opportunity to taste the infamous NY bagel. I had a toasted onion bagel with lowfat sundried tomato cream cheese and it was so good I wanted to cry. I can't believe I waited this long to have one. I may just have one everyday before work now.

The cold is getting harsher. Stand 10 minutes outside without a decent pair of gloves and your fingers will swell and feel like they will burst or crack. I love the headphones I bought from Skull Candy. Because of its furry lining, they double as ear muffs as well and keep my ears toasty.

We're planning a housewarming party for the new apartment and they're inviting a sh!tload of people, most of which I will probably not know. I wish you all could come!

Okay, I'm heading back to furniture research now and this post has gone beyond the "Quick One" that the title so implied.

Dinner at Andy's was good. Mica bought peruvian roast chicken which I devoured as always. We discussed house rules and such then we all chanted together for evening gongyo which felt great. Been on IKEA.com while browsing through the 2009 catalog in search of future items I may need for my future shoebox of a room.

Lazy to write so photos nalang...

Snow accumulated overnight and I woke up to more of it.The bus and train took forever and a half because it's Sunday today
so I missed the first apartment appointment.
So very lazy to even rotate the next two photos but here is the photo of my mini-room. How ironic that the biggest person in the apartment chose to get the smallest room. Ayoko talaga magbayad ng malaki ngayon. Hindi pa kaya ng budget ko.
It's so small that if I stand in the middle of the room and stretch out my arms,
my fingers can touch both sides of the walls.

Okay, I'm going to bed. I have laundry to do tomorrow and Tita Chon and the rest of us are going to IKEA plus I have that district discussion meeting for SGI at 7pm. Lots to do, so little time.