I’m a Blood Donor and I Save Lives

“I’m a Blood Donor and I save Lives”. Today I’ve defeated my fear of needles! For the first time I donated blood! I’m so proud of myself. Yearly, our company would have a Blood Donation Drive and yearly I would ignore such invitations. However, I surprised myself when I thought of participating in our Blood donation drive this year. No one asked me to join but somehow I wanted to. I’m very busy early this morning so I wasn’t able to be one of the first 20 donors who will receive a supply of vitamins (kidding! I’m not that eager to donate blood!) I first filled out a form questioning my medical history. I was told that a sample blood will be taken first for analysis to see if you’re fit for donation. At that time, I thought I still have a chance not to donate after all. But then all the chances I have are gone when I was finally led to lie on a bed. My nervousness I guess was showing for the phlebotomist asked me to just calm down. I did not look when she pricked me with a needle. It was painful at first! Who ever said that it was just like being bitten by an ant is lying. After a few seconds the pain got tolerable but I can still feel the needle in my vein! My arm was outstretched beyond the bed. The phlebotomist was attending to another colleague beside me which added to my nervousness for she might hit my arms accidentally. A stress ball at hand helped my blood pump out. It took me a while to fill the blood bag. As a consolation, we were given snacks, a wrist band, and a stuff toy. Amazingly, I felt good afterwards. My father and brother are donors as well. I’m glad I’m one of them now!

For those who are not medically inclined like me, here’s something I learned today.

Phle-bot'o-mist (n.)– an individual trained to draw blood, either for laboratory test or for blood donations.

Club Mwah: Bedazzled 7

A friend from Korea arrived last week for a two-week vacation. On her few days of stay in Manila, I’m thinking of something we could do that would give her a new experience. Then I thought of a club that was featured in several shows in TV, the Club Mwah (thanks w@wies for the information).



This is not an ordinary club where gays sing and perform a comedy act. The respectable gays of this club perform of a show the Las Vegas way! The show was wonderfully choreographed. The stage was magically designed and changed quickly depending on the theme of their scenes. It’s like watching a cultural show in PICC. It started at 11pm and ended at around half past midnight. With their amazing numbers, you won’t notice the time pass by. The 500 bucks per head we paid for the entrance fee are worth every peso of it. They accept walk-ins but I suggest that you make a reservation at least a night before. They have separate section for smoking area which is near their bar located at their balcony. This is a good place if you wanted to see the entire production from above. However, if you want to see them perform up close, the non smoking area is for you. The place is cozy and intimate. It is designed so that everybody in every table will have a good view of the performers.



The show started with a dance of flaming torches. Since we were seated right beside the stage, we felt the heat of the flames. You will be awed by their performance. It’s inevitable how much effort they exerted to produce this fabulous show! My favorite performer is the impersonator of Tina Turner. You can see her energy and how good she portrays Tina. My favorite scene is the Egyptian theme. They were able to set the mood as if you were actually in Egypt!

The waiters are all polite. So polite, that they would pour your bottled drink to your glass for you. I find their food a bit pricey though. Since we already had dinner before we went there, we just ordered appetizers. We ordered fish cracker for a price of 120 bucks. It’s a plateful of Lala fish cracker which you can actually buy for less than P20 in a supermarket. I’m not expecting a gourmet fish cracker but I expected its quantity to be more than what was served to us. Their comfort rooms are fashionably styled. The cubicle doors were extraordinary. Instead of a typical plastic door, they used a stylish fabric. Instead of tiles, the walls of each cubicle are glass. A girl manned the comfort room so privacy was instilled event the doors were just curtains. They have free valet parking so parking won’t be a hassle. They’re located along the stretch of Boni Avenue, you won’t have a hard time finding it.

They have their own website at www.clubmwah.com. This website is world class as well for it was considered to be the most visited entertainment website in Asia by the Guiness Book of World Records. If you want to experience a nice evening with your friends, I highly recommend this place!

On a Positive Note

I was looking forward to a bright, wonderful day when I woke up this morning for today is special to both of us. I thought I’d spend the day working in a breeze. Until after an hour of working I got a phone call from a colleague asking me to come down to our lobby. The caller would not tell me why. At that point, I’m not sure if I’ll bring a paper and pen figuring that it might be an emergency meeting. The thought of having a visitor crossed my mind as well but I was hesitant for I wasn’t expecting anybody. So I asked once again for I don’t want to come down unprepared. Then he blew it to me! “Mam, may aberya po sa sasakyan nyo..naatrasan ko po.” I’m not a violent person and all I could utter was “Bakit mo naman inatrasan??” So I went downstairs to look at the damage. I thought the dent would be just a minor dimple or scratch. Apparently, it was more than that. Just refer to the picture.



Good thing the lights were spared. I was calm all through out the process for at least the person who caused it reported it to me, and that I was lucky enough that he is from my company as well. As long as the person is apologetic, for me he is forgiven. Now, it was our security personnel who are taking care of the requirements that my insurance company would need. Our agent from Toyota advised me to have our insurance cover the damage on our car and have the other party pay for our participation fee instead. That way, repair would be faster.
All I can say is that unfortunate events happen to all people anytime, anywhere. Mine just happened to be today. My philosophy in life is to always look on the bright side of life. I’m just thankful that it happened without me or any passengers inside. I’m thankful that the damage was only done to the car. I’m thankful that nobody was hurt when it happened.

I’m still disturbed with what happened to the car. It even distracts me from my work till now. Kaya lang, talagang accidents happen. Nevertheless, I won’t let it ruin my day!

W@W Tag

Just got our W@W Tags!!! We can now enjoy discounts and freebies from accredited suppliers! Yippee!!

Wedding Update: Gowns and OTD

Couture: Minette Santiago

We went to meet Minette Santiago at her place in White Plains last Saturday. She was referred to me by my friend whom she had made the gown for also. She is very easy to talk to. She asked what type of cloth we want. How long will my train be? She tried to provide me swatches to see the actual color. We had difficulty discussing the right color that I want. It’s my fault. I didn’t bring any reference. Our motif is orange. But as I said to her, I don’t want a striking orange which may blind the guests! Hahaha! Orange is a very strong color. But I don’t want to scare my guests naman. I want a deep orange or burnt orange..basta autumny ang dating! Wala syang swatches of that color but we saw one picture sa magazine and she got it na! She then asked for the length of the gowns of my entourage. Beaded or not? I said yes! Pero sa top lang. Their built? I said mix! Attention members of my entourage, let’s support one another para maachieve ang goal! Hahaha! She then made a quotation right in front of us. These are what she based her quotation from (at least from what I think): cloth, length of gowns, amount of beads, and others. She was able to give us a reasonable price naman. She needs a lead time of 4 months to make the gowns so we have 2 months to finalize our decision. There’s one more couture I’d like to see which is very popular to W@W before I make my final decision.

OTD Coordinator: Niña Aseron (Shindig Events Specialist)



Niña Aseron is my batchmate in my previous company. Among the girls in our batch, she was the first to get married. She entered the business with her friends way before she got married. I’ve been to two weddings that they coordinated. They looked professional with uniform clothes. They have 2-way radio for communications so I know that they could handle well. When she learned that I’m getting married, she got excited and told me that she has to be my coordinator. I agreed for she wants to personally coordinate my wedding not just to gain business but because we’re friends. It would be easier for me since I don’t need to build a rapport with a stranger since we’ve already clicked in the past especially on kikay stuffs. With that thought I know that she could envision everything I’d like to happen on my wedding! We took only an On-The-Day Coordinator for we still want to have personal touch on everything about our special day! Niña on the other hand, told us that she’d be more than willing to look for our supplier in case we can’t find any, for free!

Support Group: W@W

I joined weddings at work last month. It’s a very informative yahoo groups for bride-to-be’s. It’s a very active group and I get a minimum of 10 mails everyday, and that is I’m subscribed to digest and not individual mails. Hehe. It’s a nice read knowing you are all undergoing the same situations. It consists of everything from supplier reviews to rants about suppliers and a lot more. You can find here all the good suppliers that you can’t find in a bridal fair. And the support does not end there. It can also support you emotionally. I wished I had known this group before I booked some of my major suppliers. I would recommend this group to anybody who is planning to get married. There’s even a member there who is actually the groom-to-be. Fascinating! Of course, as being part of the group, you have to give something in return. It’s such a good feel when you’ve helped your co-w@wies even by recommendation only.

After the day, both of us just got more excited on our wedding day! Thanks love for being so patient and for always accompanying me in all our supplier visits.