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My Blog's 1st Anniversary!!!

June is about to end in a few days and I definitely can’t pass out on the first anniversary of my blog!

Happy 1st anniversary to extraordinarykelly.blogspot.com!!!

And to celebrate my blog’s anniversary I’m featuring a Cosmo interview of myself!
May I have many more years of blogging to come!!!

THE COSMO INTERVIEW

Name: Rain Quililan

Birthday: April 30, 1983
Age: 24
Fave Beauty Products: The Body Shop face-powder, The Body Shop Lip and Cheek Tink, The Body Shop Born Lippy, Faceshop Fruits in Balm, Faceshop Lip gloss, Maybelline Clear and Smooth, Maybelline Full & Soft Mascara, Smashbox lipgloss, eyeshadows,Mary Kay Beauty Products
Beauty Routine: I wash my face with Olay Total Effects cleanser, then I apply olay total effects all over my face before I sleep, drink lots of fruit juices and very important-feel confident and radiate beauty
Favorite Scent: RL Blue, Leu par Kenzo, Victoria’s Secret-Lovespell, Bath & Body works-
Stay-Sexy Secret: being sexy is being intelligent too…I read lots of books in different varieties and search the net…this way I am armed with enough knowledge
Favorite Food: Italian foods-pizza and pasta, steaks, American foods-hotdogs, burgers & fries, any dish with cheese, adobo-siomai, chocolates, mousse-cakes, sundaes, donuts, cinnamon pastries
What is a Cosmo Girl? Dignified lady, oozing with confidence and radiates beauty, sophisticated by all means even in the nastiest situations, wise by nature
Are you a Cosmo girl? Yes I’m a a certified COSMO Gurl!
My favorite body part is: my eyes, my ass!
My worst vice is: starving my self
If I could go out with any guy, it would be: Orlando Bloom
My first kiss was: funny and weird, had it when I was in kindergarten!
My fantasies involve: feeling the raindrops in my face while lying in an open field
If I could, I’d love to get: a warm massage @ Sonya’s garden
I feel most sexy: when I’m dancing
The best way to dump a guy is to: tell the truth and provide an explanation personally
I spend way too much on: make-ups & tops
My choice of underwear: plain colored cotton-comfy ones
The one thing I can’t live without is: understanding
When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up and be a: nun (ha-ha)
If I were to join Fear Factor, the worst stunt would be anything that involved: eating & drinking something yucky

Jelai's 4th Year Anniversary!!!

It’s our 4th year anniversary!!! Last year, we celebrated it through an outing and this time, we are in the mood for fancy dinner. But to share what happened before dinner…My hubby accompanied me to the office early morning. At lunch we ate buffet at Café Otello one of the Italian restaurants along Legaspi village. I’ve eaten at the said place before with my officemates but this time their buffet was really satisfying!!! For 250 per head you’d get your tummy delighted by not only great tasting pasta’s but Italian dishes as well. We left the place bloated!
My hubby went home to change his clothes, and we meet up at the fx terminal under MRT and we rode a shuttle van to filinvest city alabang. After an hour we found ourselves in Vivere Hotel at the Skyline!!!

This is actually a view in the pool side, really cool and calming...

But the best part of the restaurant is the breath-taking view of the skyline!!! It was just perfect! So romantic!!! No wonder, lots of guys propose to their girlfriends at this wonderful place

As for the food! It was great too...We ordered rib-eye steak and pork steak and we had white wine to toast to another year of togetherness...now that's sweet!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

It's Father's Day!!! I would like to share this song...This had long been a favorite...and hearing this song would always keep me teary-eyed. When I first heard this song when I was younger I told myself that before I get married, I would send a copy of this song for my Dad...I am sharing this to all the daddy in the world and daddy's girls as well...

There's two things I know for sure:
She was sent here from heaven and she's
daddy's little girl.
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and
I thank god for all the joy in my life
Oh, but most of all
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
sticking little white flowers all up in her
hair;"Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride.""
I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."
In all that I've done wrong I know I must
have done something right to deserve a hug
every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet 16 today
She's looking like her mama a little more everyday
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls
Trying her wings out in a great big world.
But I remember
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
stickinglittle white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you
don't mind I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong I must have done
something right to deserve her love every morning
and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious timeLike the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly.
Spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride-room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not
sure-I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
She leaned over...gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair
"Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it's just about time.""
Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry!"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must havedone something right.
To deserve your love every morning and butterfly
kisses-I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.
I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILIPPINES!!!

Happy 110th Philippine Independence Day to all Filipinos! On this day we are reminded we are reminded of our freedom…but are we really free? Over the years, we are continuously held in captive by the cruel hands of poverty… One question lies though…when will we be truly free???

I'm now a CERTIFIED MAROON!!!

I decided to take up a bachelor degree in Psychology because for me it is so broad that I knew I can gain so much wisdom. But throughout my course of study, industrial psychology has been much appealing to me. Right then I knew this is the field for me and I envisioned myself working in the corporate world.
Being a psych-graduate, it has been a constant longing to broaden my knowledge through a degree in graduate school. April 2004-right after college, my ultimate goal was to take up my masters. To make it happen, I visited the University of the Philippines Diliman to inquire and then I found myself in SOLAIR (School of Labor and Industrial Relations). I believe I was in the perfect place…I as review their curriculum I know this is for me…
I originally got my inspiration to take up a graduate program in Industrial Relations from my father who was a former Union President. I saw his pain together with the rest of the employees who had no choice but accept a severance pay when the hotel closed down and was then decided upon by the owner to be replaced as a condominium. From my Father and from the said incident, I saw the importance of industrial relations, witnessed how it functioned and longed to know more about it.
When I asked the admin staff of how the process would go, she told me that I should have at least 2 years of working experience under human resources. I was disappointed but I said to myself “I could wait…”
Over the years, I worked as a customer service representative for a couple of call centers. In the world of customer service, you receive complaints all the time and the ultimate goal is to work towards the satisfaction of the customer. I believe my short stint gave great lessons and served as a bridge towards what I would wanted to pursue. With my current employer, I started as an agent and was later on promoted to be a part of the Human Resources Team. 2008- was my second year in human resources... I believe knowledge can never be applied without experience...I am much thankful that I gained the experience in customer service plus the privilege to work for Human Resources where I was exposed to the different facets of hr. This background has supplied me with many skills and an understanding of not only hr but of the corporate world. This has sparked my hunger for additional wisdom. And from here I know I’m ready. . .
I believe the input I’d be able to gain would be very helpful and I look forward to putting my knowledge and experience into practice. I am very much excited as this had been a long term goal and I believe this would be beneficial in building my career path.
And so I now have the guts to apply and I went through the process of preparing the admission requirements plus the dread of asking my boss for a personal recommendation letter. And when everything was ready, I passed the requirements and finally got the test permit bearing my applicant number: 10809028. The number 8 is my favorite number I hope it would bring me luck!!!
The admission test was held last March 29- Saturday. To prepare, 3 days before that, I went to PowerBooks greenbelt and took time to review college admission test reviewers to update and refresh myself. On the day of the test, I felt jitters, aside from the fact that my hubby and I were on the rocks that time. I felt I wasn’t ready enough. And the test started. The format from the college admission test reviewers were the same but the questions were thrice as difficult. None of what I reviewed appeared in the test. What made it more difficult was the essay portion, wherein I’m not sure of my answers because I don’t have enough knowledge of the topic. After the test I meet up with my college friends feeling depressed I told them I’m sure I wouldn’t pass and I will flunk the test. ..I was so frustrated…
We were given a week until the release of the admission test results. Right after holy week, Tuesday-April 8, I called the given numbers to know if I passed the entrance exam and to my surprise…I PASSED THE TEST!!! I was in tears! I just couldn’t believe it!!! April 12- I attended the Orientation… And yeah…I can sense it-the fulfillment of my long term goal!!!
I went through the difficulty of pre-enlisting my classes. I was approved of a late leave and my pre-enlisted classes were not approved in crs. I had to take two more leaves and finally I was able to enroll…although the schedule I got would be very tiring for me as I have to travel all the way to UP after my shift it’s definitely worth all this difficulty. And this is it-I am finally enrolled and now bearing my student number-2008-78083. I guess the number “8” gave me luck but I’m more than thankful to the guy up there, I know he had prepared this perfect time for me… And so now I’m a CERTIFIED MAROON!!! Cheers!!!

My Bday @ Splash!!!

April 30- was mah burthdei!!!!!! And of course there’s no other better way of spending it than taking a vacation leave from the office and since it’s summertime- my hubby and I decided to go swimming at Splash island with our beloved Nicole since this would be her first outing/ swimming for the year!

With Daddy on the side!!!

Tha’ts Mommy and Baby Nicole out in the sun!!!



Us three!!! One sad thing though- I lost my new pair of havaianas and was stolen at Splash… huhuhuhu….

Fun Day!!!

Our company Sports fest/ Fun Day was held last March 9, 2008. This is the 1st time for me to attend the said event and might as well the first time for me to bring my hubby and our princess!!!

It was absolute fun especially for Nicole since its her 1st time to watch a live basketball game and cheering competition!!! As we clap and cheer for our bets she was cheering as well!!! I was just so proud of my daughter!!! One of our firsts!

Neyo: Live in Manila

Another late post...But to share it anyway...Neyo Live in Manila was held last February 29 & March 1. We definitely could not miss out on this!!! We were at the Araneta Coliseum around 6pm and the crowd was huge then. To think that this is actually the second day of the concert. We waited for an hour and the show started.

Who could not miss out on the front acts before the concert? 1st on the line was Kris Lawrence singing a hit from Chris Brown-"With You" and 2nd was Amber... And then it was....NEYO!!!!

He did not fail us..and he sang all his wonderful hits!!!To name a few:

• Because of you
• So sick
• Sexy Love
• Do you
• Closer
• Go on Girl

And a trivia: Neyo is not only a great singer but composer as well...He actually composed "Hate how much I love you" for Rihanna and "Let me love you" for Mario among the many others.

The concert was absolutely fantastic! We really had fun!And we end up singing with Neyo as he sang his songs all throughout the show. More so, had last song syndrome of his songs for the entire week!!!

Surf's Up! Jelai's La-Union Get-Away Part 2- Welcome to Bacnotan!

It’s been just 2 months when we 1st visited La-union and we missed it a lot! And it’s such a good timing! My hubby got his quarterly bonus and as a pre-valentine gift, he planned for a trip to La-Union the second time around-all expenses paid… by him!
February 8>8pm- we first went to Glorietta to shop for my hubby’s new board shorts and sunglasses. We first had dinner at Food choices then went to the grocery to buy toiletries and food for the trip. We dropped by the office as well coz I forgot some stuff we needed for the trip. From Makati we travelled to Partas Terminal in Cubao.
Its February…a month to go before summer. I was expecting that there would be fewer passengers but to my surprise the terminal was overflowing. Plus, it was a hell long wait to buy bus tickets. My hubby and I alternately fell in line to save our seats. Unfortunaltey the bus tickets we were able to buy were for the ordinary aircon ride since it was the earliest to leave. And due to the long wait, we got hungry again; our bus was suppose to leave at 2:25, so we decided to call McDonalds for food delivery apparently the bus left earlier at 2:15 and we were left with no choice but to cancel our order.
On the bus, we just ate our chips instead to fill our hunger. It was already day break when we had our 1st stop over, we ate grilled hotdogs! I was just so hungry that I ate 4!
Unlike the 1st trip we had last November where we arrived really early, we arrived so late at La-Union. It took us exact 7 hours to arrive at Sebay. Plus we got stuck in traffic since it was San Fernando’s town fiesta. The bus has to take an alternate route as well.
We arrived at 8:30am. First Stop: we need to find a room to stay. So we checked Pfeifer again. But to our dismay it’s fully booked and the only available room is the twin room which cost double than the usual single room. We took our chances by checking other resorts nearby. As we walked along the shoreline we noticed that it was unusually cold at the beachfront and everybody was wearing their jackets. Good thing my hubby and I brought our hoodies! We tried asking San Juan Surf camp, Hacienda & Sebay but they are all fully booked as well. It was past 9 already but we have not found a room yet…we were so disappointed since all the resorts are fully booked when it’s not peak season and you hardly see people at neither beach nor surfers playing. We were left with no other choice so my hubby decided just to take the twin room at Pfeifer.
Funny thing, the room has two beds and it was just the two of us, well I just thought this is good that we have enough space to place all of our things and “kalat”. After settling down and arranging our stuff, we ate breakfast at our favorite place: Seanymph. We saw “Bok” the featured one legged surfer in so many shows and magazines internationally. I was supposed to ask him if we could take pictures but I was too shy…We just went back to the room, changed to our swimwear and enjoyed the beach!
I was frustrated coz I was expecting that the waves would be different but nonetheless it seemed unchanged. It’s as similar to the condition last November: swell was big and fierce and add a strong undercurrent to that which feels a little more or less scary to swim. To cheer me up, my hubby promised me that we’d to try Bacnotan early tomorrow instead. We spent the rest of our time playing with the waves and the sand. And we walked along the entire beachfront as well. Time seemed to fly so fast, it was 2pm already. We decided to go back to our room, clean up and we ate our lunch again at Seanymph. Nothing could beat the view of the beach at this eatery, you can watch the waves while you sit back and relax, drink beer or coffee and just listen to cool music in your iPod-we were listening to Jack Johnson that time. It was awesomely calming…
After our lunch, we decided to take our afternoon siesta…when we woke up it’s already 6:30 pm! We were so dismayed that we cannot play nor stroll at the beach coz it’s already dark. We had a quick merienda-we ordered pancit canton at Seanymph. We asked what they have for dinner, they said they only have inihaw na bangus… apparently I’m not in the mood to eat fish. My hubby suggested trying another place, we thought of “Midway Grill” since we saw that it’s just along the highway during our trip, but our main problem is how to get there since we don’t have a car. We asked a few locals and advised us to ride a San Fernando jeepney. And indeed it dropped us right in front of Midway grill.
The place was filled with many people. Upon 1st glaze you’d know they are surfers. So let me call it –the “surfer’s ultimate food haven”. Food at midway grill is fantastic! And it’s not that expensive! I ordered rice toppings while my hubby was feeling extravagant, he ordered baby back ribs! Back in manila, the meal would cost P700++. Amazingly midway grill sets it at P200 with the same taste and quality of meat. As for dessert I had oreo shake, yum! We left the place with happy and full tummies. Now, the next question is “how do we go back to the resort”. We crossed the street to wait for a jeepney ride but it’s all filled. We decided to ride a tricycle instead, we paid P60. We arrived safely at the resort. We were supposed to order beer at seanymph but we thought it would make us feel groggy tomorrow when we surf instead we just decided to stayed in our room to watch Pirates of the Caribbean at HBO and decided to sleep since we have to leave early tomorrow…

We woke up as early as 6am. We were looking for a place to eat breakfast and since it’s too early the eateries could only offer hot drinks they don’t have meals yet. We took each of our hot drinks-my hubby had coffee while I had milo. After warming our tummies, we are now ready to rock! So from here, our real adventure to Bacnotan began.
Just a preview: Bacnotan is a part of La-Union but it’s a 30 minute drive. Locals would say that when the swell is big at the beachfront surfers would usually go to Bacnotan coz waves are a calm and composed. What’s perfect with Bacnotan is that the there are 2 parts of the sea: the left part has strong current perfect for professional surfers while the right part is perfect for beginners and amateurs.

So here lies the main problem…were just a poor couple looking for adventure…we don’t have a car and we don’t have our own surfboards. We travelled to bacnotan by riding a jeepney. As early as 6:30, we rode our first jeep and the only sources of information we have are the directions from the pfeifer landlady. And we also thought we had nothing to worry since we can always ask the jeepney drivers (they have the best knowledge being “king of the roads”). Plus we have our point of contact: Aniwil (the same guy who was my trainer on our first la-union trip-we can always call and text him with our phones at hand). We had two jeepney rides but take note not just ordinary rides…it turned out to be two long jeepney rides. I felt excited and agitated at the same time as it seemed we were travelling forever. On the way to our destination, there were no signs of a beach or a water body and all you can see are mountains and farmlands. I was scared that we might be lost. Then the jeepney driver signaled us that we were finally there and the ultimate landmark “holcim cement factory”. Yes! we were finally here.

Bacnotan is far different from the San Juan beach front…To get at the shoreline, we needed to walk some more. And to my surprise, there are no resorts to stay nor wash rooms or comfort rooms!!! Now I see the importance of bringing your own car since it would be very difficult particularly for girls like me… Well, where can I pee and changed clothes??? Indeed Bacnotan is awesome!!! Swell is small and waves are calm. It’s perfect for beginners. And I noticed that the waves are calm here coz there is a long cement runway that can block the big waves and strong winds.

We arrived too early, there were just very few surfers warming up. We did nothing and stared at the sea while waiting for our surf boards and our trainers. We arrived exactly 7 am with no breakfast at all. Plus I was too excited I was already wearing my wetty! We waited for a couple of more hours, my hubby was getting pissed off already since we were both hungry and you could not even find a single sari-sari store to buy food. Too bad I didn’t thought of bringing our snacks from the room. We exactly waited for 3 hrs. You know the feeling of just simply starring at the surfers, plus getting envious coz they were all there having fun! We noticed that as the hours pass are surfers kept coming in bringing along their surfboards. Cars, vans and jeepneys are parking in. Now, this explains why all the resorts at the beach front are fully booked when you could not see people at the beach…they are all at Bacnotan. It’s just so amazing I have never seen so many surfers under one place, it just looked so great.


At 10 am finally, Aniwil with his co surfer trainers arrived bringing along the boards we’d be using. They were like 1 full jeepney. He said sorry since he could not teach us but he entrusted us to his co-trainer Larry. Larry was very vocal (madaldal) but it was cool. I learned a lot from him. He gave us lot’s of info. He explained to us that resorts could never be built in Bacnotan coz the entire place is owned by the Holcim cement factory. He shared stories about his co-surfers, surfing competitions plus the recently held one and how Luli Arroyo (the first daughter had always supported them) Larry is 1 year younger than me, he is twenty three but an absolute local surfer, he has been surfing for 10 years now. He even introduced us to his father who was also training a newbie that time. Talk about a family of surfers! That’s awesome!
It was a more difficult task for Larry since he needs to teach me and my hubby at the same time. So this explains why we don’t have pictures of our actual surfing lessons because nobody would take pictures of us since both my hubby and I are being taught. He first taught us the basics. It was some kind off a refresher for me to remember the lessons last November. He actually made us try the board while still on the sand. And then came the real thing- we were on the waters! I took the lead of trying to stand up first, but like before it’s really hard to apply the basics you’ve learned with even smaller waves, I still cannot stand up. Then it was my hubby’s turn, sad thing he still couldn’t stand as well. It turned out difficult for us… After a few more tries…my hubby finally got up!!! I was so proud!!! Too bad nobody can take pictures of us. I felt envious; I told myself “I need to be able to stand-up on my board”. My hubby and I changed surfboards since my board seemed to heavy for me and I was light-weighted compared to my hubby. After a few more tries, whalla! I was able to stand!!! And we both able to stand!!! It was such a great achievement for both of us!!! When you’re able to stand on the board, believe you’d feel as if you’re the greatest surfer on earth…it made us feel proud. And it was sweet…we were able to do it together…
Kudos to Larry!!! He was a great trainer! He was strict and he’s a man with lots of words but he’s being madaldal helped us a lot! He really kept reminding us of the basics; he gave us motivation most of the time and made us feel so proud every time we are able to stand up on our boards and ride the wave!!! And the best thing about Larry, he taught us of a certain leg work that made us stand up on the board!!!

After training was the only time we were able to take pictures. Larry even taught us of the surfers hand sign! Awesome! We had to hurry back to the beachfront since our check-out time is 12nn. Since we don’t have a car, and there is no bathroom to change clothes, we actually rode the jeepney clothes WET. We arrived at our room exactly 11:30. We hurriedly cleaned, bathe and arranged our things. We were so darn hungry…and to give ourselves a treat for a job well done- we again decided to eat a hearty meal at Midway Grill. To my surprise, we even found surfer and actor Jericho Rosales eating at the said restaurant with his surfer friends. We ordered carbonara plus chicken and fries and three cups full of rice- a really big meal. As usual we left the place with smile on our faces. But I had one more request… I could not leave La-Union without having tasted: halo-iloko! We tried to search for the famous halo-halo at the heart of the city and we found this cute eatery. The halo-halo cost 60 pesos and it was awesomely delicious! Plus their place was such a cutie! We travelled back to the terminal and waited for a bus ride in partas but we ended up riding a viron bus since we were running out of time. And after 6 hours, we are back in Manila. This second trip to La-union was one of a unique plus for me and my hubby… It proved our flexibility and our passion for adventure! Imagine we were able to reach a far place like bancotan by just commuting and riding back home with wet clothes! And this is the first time we were able to achieve something together… now that’s what you call COOL! Surf’s Up!

This is Midway Grill



Halo-Halo de Iloko! One of the best Halo-Halo I've ever tasted!