"CHAMPIONS take chances, pressure is a privelege!"

I don't play tennis but I certainly love watching tennis games especially if my favorites are playing. Yeah, its the Australian Open thing which was won by two young players, Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic. These are my two bets, actually.haha. Why? Because they are young, hungry, both good-looking and promising. Everytime they play, there's fire on their eyes, their determination is really awesome. Imagine, Maria had to beat Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, and Ana Ivanovic to claim her third GrandSlam and first AO trophy. WaH! She didn't loose any set in the whole AO, something really great! About Nole, he's really fantastic! Imagine beating world's no. 1 Federer in straight sets in the semis. Obviously, Nole has the ability to win over him but beating him in straight-sets is really something.

Its really funny coz these two winners were actually the talk of the town at the start of AO. Nole once again impersonated Maria after his game, saying Maria won't mind. Nole, indeed was so funny. I couldn't forget what happened last year during the US Open, Nole was playing against Federer in the Finals and everyone was shocked when they saw Maria in Novak's box with his family and friends. They were seen together in a bar singing, too. I wonder what's the reaction of Andy Roddick. lol.

Bottom line is, its great to see that young players are beginning to rule the tennis world. It's so boring if we normally see old names winning GrandSlam tournaments. And for Maria, looks like 2008 will be her year. She's healthy and even her speech got so much attention. She dedicated her speech to Michael Joyce's mother who past away last year. The text message she received from Billie Jean King was very inspiring, too. "Champions take chances and pressure is a privilege." Now, Maria has to prepare for the Fed Cup where she will represent Russia.

Kudos also to Anna Ivanovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for giving Maria and Novak a great run for their money. For now, I also have to celebrate because I won over my student who's betting on Federer and Henin.

HOLIDAYS are always fun and exciting if you spend it with your family and loveones. It makes you think that indeed there is no place like home...that no matter you work hard and even if you meet a lot of people who become closer to you, nothing beats the warmth coming from the hugs of our dear parents. It just feels GREAT! PRICELESS :).

I spent New Year with my family in Batangas. It was great and fun because I had a chance to talk to some relatives which I don't normally do. In the past, my father always pushed me to mingle with them however, I rather slept in the house or watch television. Last year's was different because I was very active. I went to the market to accompany my mother and tita to shop. I also did some internet surfing, you know I can't live without net. (joke) I opened my email and I found out that Mom Arigo sent me a mail. I was very touched then coz in her message, she thanked me for being loyal to John and to his team. wah! Thank you so much Mom, mwah :).

I also visited my cousin's house to make some chikka with them. Ang daming issue!wahaha. Dami ko palang namissed. hayy. Well, that's the price that you have to pay when you're working in Manila. You have less access to the news in your place. Like what happened to my former cru*sh..hehe. He is getting married na pala. And just last Dec. 26, binigyagan yung baby ng kababata ko..ammm..bakit parang may bitterness? joke lang! It was NEVER an issue to me. Well, nakaraan na yun. It will just be a part of my youth.

Since Media Noche was coming, we prepared a lot of food. And since we're only four in the family, that includes my cousin who's living with us, my Aunt also joined. Of course, we missed the kids so much. Too bad they had to spend New Year in Manila. Kaya hayun, miss na miss ng tatay ko ang kanyang mga apo*.

MOST WONDERFUL THING: Hugs from my parents^^ that was last Christmas morning before we had our super late Noche Buena. Though I'm 24 already, I'm still a child in my parents' eyes. I will always be their BABY! My mother nga pala didn't forget to ask about John. haha. She knows kasi that I am an ARIGOholic. Ofcourse, I told her that John had some injuries but he's getting better now. She didn't asked about chubz..wahahaha. My Mom kasi thinks that John is more handsome than him.wahaha...soooo funny! Siguro dahil mestiso..ang nanay ko talaga. :).

Being alone also in some moment allowed me to think about some of the best things that happened to me in 2007. Anu-ano nga ba yun?

BEST TRIP: It's my trip to BAGUIO! Hands down, the best. The best coz its my first time there and I did it alone, not with a relative. Though I was with friends, still it differs from the trips that I had with family and relatives. Though I wasn't able to explore Baguio that much because of time constraints, I still cherish my Baguio experience sooo much.

NEW FRIENDS: Ofcourse, I met new people and had new friends last year. From Arriba, Hanna and Christine became my textmates and friends. Ang sweet nila! And even if we're islands apart, we always keep in touch through text. Sisses, I am very happy that I get to know you last year. I really hope that I can meet soon and that we can cheer for John. And ofcourse, I met ICE, my PBA buddy. haha. I really enjoyed her company because I learn a lot from her, about PBA stuff and others. Parang magkapareho kami ng wavelength nito, haha. Hey kumare, thank you so much! I'm really hopin' that "kumpare" will be back this year already. You miss him, don't you? :)

NEW CRUSH: Ofcourse, I met new people and I had new crushes. (Crushes daw?)haha. Most of them are ballers! But before I enumerate their names, I would like to emphasize that having a crush is different from being favorite. John will always have my loyalty. It's just that I need to appreciate other ballers' looks and skills, too. I'm just human!lol

This year, I had a crush on Cyrus Baguio :). He looks really simple but he rocks when he's on the court. He also looks simple and harmless though he's playing for a physical team RedBull (peace RedBull fans!).Also in my list is SLR's Ryan Reyes!haha. Bilib ako sa kanya kasi he's very promising and he's a good pointguard. I'm proud of him coz he's from Batangas, too. Could he be the SLR's "real deal?" Ammmmm..end of discussion for me. They are two different players and whatever happened before was part of the past and Im sure there were reasons why things like that happened.

I won't mention the name of the third one. I thought I'm ready to reveal..di pa pala. lol. Baka next time mareveal ko na. :)

Christmas Gifts!

Christmas Gifts!

I am very happy with how my Christmas turned out. Let me start everything with the Coca-Cola game last Dec. 21. The team won against Barangay Ginebra courtesy of Ronjay Buenafe's three-point play. John also played well that time. It was his best showing after having injuries. Though, he had limited playing time, he provided quality minutes! John was so sweet and all-smile after the game. haha. He even said that he'll give us wristbands. That night, we (ICE and ME) were able to give our gifts to some very people in our lives. lol. Thank you very much to Pherl, who did it for us.

Dec. 23

Sad game! If there's a game that I don't want to witness, it has to be Coke vs. Air21. It's not that I'm afraid that my team will loose against the Express. It's because Marvin Cruz, will be facing the Express. Marvin, is one of my favorite players in the PBA. I'm hopin' that someday, he can play with John in the same team. wah! That would be totally FUN and EXCITING! (atleast for Esel, Ice, and me, ayt? haha.

Well, the Tigers lost :(. Its pretty obvious that the team was tired. They missed most of their shots from the 3-point line. It obvious that they need the outside shooting especially the perimeter shooting of John. Well, sino bang hindi nakakamiss. Yeah, John's elbow was hurt during the BGK game :(. But John was still happy after the game. You know at least, they are in a better position right now and he's hoping that they can win more games next year. He even asked how are we going to celebrate Christmas. I said that I would be going home in Batangas to spend it with my parents. "Do you want to join?" Ofcourse, I didn't say that. It has ended already, okay. haha. Then he said, " have a safe trip, then." Wah! Ang sweet! Thanks John, I also hope that you had a blast last Christmas even if ****** was not here. She'll be back, don't worry :). Coz John was in a hurry coz he had to move his car already, he bid goodbye.

After talking to John, Ice and I felt so guilty coz we were not able to greet Kuya Ken and Kuya Jason. Bawi na lamang tayo next year, gurl!

And then finally, we approach Alex who was wearing red that night. He was talking to some fans when I approached him and ask for a pic. Yeah, another one! Ammm..how many pics with the Cool whip do I have this year? 6?7?8? let me check! Basta, I'm happy with this pic :) I'll keep it to myself, its better this way :) mwah..xoxo!We weren't contented yet, we rode on a bus and we're so shocked that the man who's shouting for Coke a while ago was on the same bus. Yeah! haha. Katapat pa ni Ice. He even gave us some candies. Ang sweet ni Manong..basta Manong, Go Coke pa rin! "Sisikat ka Cabagnot! Sisikat ka!"" One more, Asi!" lol. At Megamall, we continued chatting about the game. I went home around 11pm coz I had work the following day.

QUOTE:

ME: "Pogi na po talaga sya, Kuya!"I couldn't help myself but to react when someone at my back shouted "Papogi lang yang si Arigo." when John was about to take a shot. Double black-eye sya! John made the three-pointer and nasabihan ko pa sya nito. wahahaha! Lesson: Never underestimate my big bro in front or at my back or else, you will hear somethin' you didn't want to hear from me. OKAY? peace :)

PIC:My pic with Alex, we're both wearing red. It's Christmas daw kasi. Saya! Kilig!lol.