My my ...

...time flies. And it's almost time again for my personal review of the year that is coming to an end. I have high expectations for 2009, changes in my life are urgently needed, and I look forward to those developments. Still don't know what to do about the blog: keep it, delete it, make a new one but with different content ... on verra. Before all that, I can't wait to spend a few days and celebrate New Year's Eve in PARIS with Christian! And most likely, Paris will also be the place for a reunion with some of my dear Egyptian friends (IPM 2007 CC members), plus Rajith. Insha'allah.

Last books read (very girly):

- Girls of Riyadh
- Chasing Harry Winston

Currently reading (yes, kind of switching back and forth between these three):

- The Great Gatsby
- Audacity of Hope
- Business Class II

The Soundtrack from our trip to the Philippines

I'm back home in good ol' (cold) Switzerland since Friday evening! A proper recap from my almost five weeks in the Philippines will follow shortly (when I recover from this flu...yes, I already managed to get sick, oh brother). Until then, here the songs that played over and over again on MTV Philippines and other Pinoy Music channels, and on the radio. Enjoy !! The Filipino artists are marked in yellow.
And BTW (to be pronounced as bee tee double u, as heard and seen in the Disney channel movie Camp Rock ("It so can't compete with High School Musical!", according to Sara Jane and Yves), which we watched twice at different hotels...Yves would call this "Shocking!!", haha. Yes, I have degenerated into a twenty-seven year old watching movies and listening to music for fifteen-year olds - ah but it's too much fun).

When I grow up (Pussycat Dolls)
* This is real (Camp Rock OST) - also in Bonus section
Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson)
Daylight (Kelly Rowland)
7 things (Miley Cirus)
One step at a time (Jordin Sparks)
That's not my name (The Ting Tings)
Shake it (Metrostation)
That's what you get (Paramore)
Miracle/Last night (Fragma vs. P Diddy & Keisha Cole)
Forever (Chris Brown)
Leavin' (Jesse Mc Cartney)
Always be my baby (David Cook)
Yugto (Rico Blanco)
I kissed a girl (Katy Perry)
Penge naman ako nyan (Itchyworms)
Disturbia (Rihanna)
We rock (Camp Rock OST) - we mainly laughed at it ;-)
Akala ko (Parokya ni Edgar)
Here I am (Nikki Gil)
Greenlight (John Legend)
Viva la vida (Coldplay)


Bonus Material:

You're so gay (Katy Perry), hehehehehe
Sana/I wish (Nikki Gil - Coke commercial in the Philippines)
Home (Aiza Seguerra covering Michael Buble)
Vic & Acoustic Chicks - Yet another proof of the musical talent in the Philippines


Various cover versions of *This is real (who would have thought !! :-))

This is real (Filipino version - Julianne and Miguel Escueta)
Suki Siapaku (Malaysian version)
Etre moi (French version - Sheryne)
Sono io (Italian version - Ariel and Stefano Centomo)
Oto ja (Polish version of This is real (Ewa Farna & Jakub Moleda)

In the Philippines No. 1 !!!

Apologies for the overdue update.....here in a nutshell: I have arrived in Manila on Sunday, 7 September, at 4.00am (!!!) and was picked up by my Mom and sister at 6.00am. Flew via Doha and killed my almost nine hours layover time in the Oryx Lounge, even took a shower, pretty cool. Spent the day and the day after in Manila, met up with two of Mom's cousins (but I was so tired, basically sleepwalking...the inflight entertainment system of Qatar Airways is too tempting, didn't wanna sleep with so many new movies available! I totally recommend the movie Smart People with Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page and Sarah Jessica Parker. Also watched two chickflicks, haha. Maid of honor with Patrick Dempsey aka Mr. HAIR and What happens in Vegas. I gotta have me some Ashton, you know) and had loads of great food. All you can eat buffet at the MegaMall, baby. Luckily we're walking and swimming a lot here, we don't want to come home looking like the Michelin man, right?

Last Tuesday we (my Mom, my sister and her best friend) flew to Boracay, a beautiful tiny island, where we will stay until 19 September...at first we weren't lucky with the weather, it's Typhoon season after all. We killed the time by watching loads of Filipino MTV and other music channels (they have some great artists here!) but now, we're having gorgeous weather! We rented a boat just for us yesterday, did some island hopping, some snorkeling, had a meal cooked for us at the beach, and discovered paradise: Puka Beach, on Boracay. White Beach is too commercialized already. Puka Beach has gorgeous sand and crystal clear water, and we were there almost alone. Today we rented a Filipino style sailboat for a hour, it was so much fun. Taking lots of photos, but it's taking forever to upload them to our travel blog....fingers crossed we can do so soon. We can't download a plugin that would make it faster.

What songs are on rerun on the music channels that we L-O-V-E?

• Disturbia (Rihanna)
• Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson)
• Kissed a girl (Katy Perry)
• Daylight (Kelly Rowland)
• Shake it (Metro Station)
• That's what you get (Paramore)
• Everything by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz of course
  

Check out some pretty cool Filipino music here, and Rihanna's Umbrella song in Tagalog here, haha.

Will post again soon, tootles! Am having a great time....

See you later !

Here I come, Philippiness ... am ready for a fresh start, and for loads of relaxing and chilling! And not worrying about my future every day.

A pity I will be missing THIS though ...

Why ...

... have I hardly been blogging the past few months. That's an easy one to answer: all I do is work and commute and sleep. And since I am not supposed to blog about work, I am not left with a whole lot to blog, am I. Hm, actually, that's not entirely true. But you know what it's like once you enter the professional jungle. Gotta be prudent. 

Anyways, next to working like a normal person (I am trying really hard right now to ignore my neighbors having the hugest fight ever - this couple has been yelling at each other for the past forty minutes. She's been throwing extremely bad words at him and been trying to kick him out. Oh geez)  - I spend lots of hours in trains, trams and b

uses commuting every day.  Ah but who doesn't, right? So I am usually quite tired by the time I get home. 

Luckily, there were some highlights as well the last couple of weeks (which consisted in a lot of discovery of my own country, and other roadtripping): 

• Bernina Express Train Ride with my Dad, the entire route - totally recommendable
• Train ride from Geneva to Locarno, including a scenic trainride through the Centovalli , a drive up the Vallemaggia and Val Bavona to take the the cable car from S. Carlo up to the Robiei, and hike back down again. Stunningly beautiful landscape. Spent a weekend in Locarno with my baby and his best friend plus girlfriend, and went to the Lenny Kravitz concert at the Moon & Stars Festival on the famous Piazza Grande
• Roadtrip in a minibus to Bosnia, to attend Sue's wedding! Sixteen or eighteen hours ride down on a Friday evening, arriving Saturday morning, then the wedding celebrations from 3pm until 1am or 2am, sleep for four hours, and take the minibus back again at 6am on a Sunday. Back to Geneva. Mamma mia !! But totally worth every second of it :-)) And seeing Nadja and Peter again there too ...
• Meeting up with mi Sarita again in Solothurn, haha. Again, travelled by train!
• Small roadtrip with my Dad and sister from our place across the Sattel to Reichenburg (SZ) and back to see my Godfather and his wife, after too many years of not seeing each other
• Rock Oz Arènes Festival last Friday with my little sister! Line-Up: DJ's Yves Larock, Axwell, Martin Solveig and Fedde le Grand !!! A trip to heaven that lasted from 9pm until 4am. But the travelling back home was hell, especially waiting in the cold at Avenches trainstation for 1.5 hours. Ah well, but then some random guy claiming to be a house DJ entertained us by blabbering about his ex-girlfriend and his many clubbing trips to Ibiza, so the time did go by rather fast after all

My internship is ending on 29 August. And I have booked my ticket to the Philippines!! My well-deserved vacation, a year overdue. Leaving on 5 September, I am ecstatic about it :-) Would be much better if my man could join too though, sigh. But that moment shall come too, someday :-) I am a proud holder of the Filipino passport since January, travelling there and within the Philippines will be a breeze. Going with my mom, my sister and my sister's best guy friend. So it's FOUR girls on the road ;-) Or island hopping, rather. Which island I especially look forward to ? This one. And I cannot wait to visit my mother's hometown. 

And the saga continues ...

It's been a year since I subscribed to his YouTube channel,  and now William Sledd is even on Isaac Mizrahi (supposedly a famous fashion designer, but he's kinda nutty here....oh mais j'adore trop :-)). Ah, William, my love for you doesn't fade - neither does my newfound love for Britney.  Check out the amazing beat of this song, and this one. 

Be back soon ...

Reality check part 67.385984 1/3

Just letting you know (in one of the various Carissa-ish ways ... ) that I am still alive. Sharing is caring. I need to sort some things these days, and the coming weeks. And think about this. You know. Next steps and all that jazz....

"Well Played, The Smiths

WILL: God DAMN, we are hot.

JADA: Hell yeah, baby.

WILL: We are the wickedest couple in the history of badassitude.

JADA: Not to mention dappertasticness.

WILL: And slickocity.

JADA: Sexification!

WILL: Jiggyificence!

JADA: Brangelina WHO?

WILL: TomKat WHAT?

JADA: Asslete? NICE TRY.

WILL: Davitoria Spiceham? I THINK NOT.

JADA: DAMN RIGHT.

WILL: Get back to me when THEY own July 4.

JADA: They would have to buy it off you for $100 million.

WILL: This town is OURS.

JADA: We are FINE.

WILL: Drink it in, Hollywood, because you are about to go on the 21-Day Smith Cleanse!

JADA: Next up: taking over the Hollywood Bowl with my band!

WILL: ... Okay, let's not talk crazy, now. Maybe let's just keep looking fly.

JADA: Oh yeah? Well, just remember who classes up your plaid ass.

WILL: Brad Pitt wears vests that match his suit.

JADA: And how did THAT go for him?

WILL: Point taken. Game, set, and match to my lady.

JADA: Damn skippy."

(Source: Gofugyourself . You gotta love it)

Sometimes ...

... I feel like this (click on the She Devils video below on the left) where I work. Or the previous place I worked at. Sometimes.

Perfection

Pfffffffffffffff

For a short moment I got carried away about negative and childish vibes coming from others. Just a short moment of caring too much about them. The anger was there, yes, but luckily, it didn't last long, for it turned into pity and "Grow up". Victory! I have better things to do than to worry about petty little remarks coming from younger people who think they are the kings and queens of the universe. Definetely not your benchmark, Carissa.

The long weekend was gorgeous, having the whole house to ourselves (Christian and I) because my parents and younger sister were in Nuremberg, visiting "Flocke". Incase you don't know yet, she's an icebear cub, the second famous one after Knut. Mamma mia. That's love right there. LOL So the weekend was filled with relaxing in the sun, reading, sleeping, dipping our legs into the lake, BBQ-ing in the garden and eating too much, and "cat-sitting". Well, some involuntary exercise was included too: on the way home from Geneva, I had overslept four (!) bus stops, which means I ended up in the neighboring village. Since I didn't want to wait an entire hour, well, I decided to walk the approx. 5km home, dragging a suitcase with dirty laundry and two big bags with me. Talk about a work-out! Haha.

Have I told you that I am off to LDN this weekend? Reunion time baby! Cécile, Mike, Erik, Joao, you better be ready! :-)