It's been sweet

I was supposed to post last Tuesday but unfortunately (for some reason) the blog was down But now it's back, I just wanted to share another milestone in our relationship: Dodong's Desert anniversary…his 2nd!

I can't believe it's been two years since he left for greener pastures in the desert. How ironic right? Green in the desert? Hehe.

I was actually thinking of celebrating his desert anniversary. Do you think I could celebrate? We've been through a lot in the 2 years apart and I must say despite the challenges, it's really been sweet

Congrats my love! We've survived!

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

I was able to watch RENT the musical for the very 1st time onstage c/o my very generous friend who treated me to a ticket (Thank you!). I watched it on the silverscreen, the movie and it was ok. I loved the songs especially Seasons of Love, which is basically almost everyone's default RENT song.

But this time around, it was different. Watching RENT live onstage, just gave me goosebumps…and I CRIED. Yes, tears flowed down my cheeks as I was moved by my new favorite RENT song, Without You. It was the perfect LDR song…well, at least for me. Jonathan Larson's words (and the actors' performance) were just so moving and so I just want to share it with you guys…

MIMI

Without you, the ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows.

Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play.

The stars gleam, the poets dream, the eagles fly, without you.

The earth turns, the sun burns, but I die, without you.

Without you, the breeze warms, the girl smiles, the cloud moves.

Without you, the tides change, the boys run, the oceans crash.

The crowds roar, the days soar, the babies cry, without you.

The moon glows, the river flows, but I die, without you.

ROGER

The world revives

MIMI

Colors renew

BOTH

But I know blue, only blue, lonely blue, within me blue.

MIMI

Without you.

Without you, the hand gropes, the ear hears, the pulse beats.

ROGER

Without you, the eyes gaze, the legs walk, the lungs breathe.

ROGER

The mind churns!

MIMI

The mind churns!

ROGER

The heart yearns!

MIMI

The heart yearns!

BOTH

The tears dry, without you.

Life goes on, but I'm gone.

Cause I die, without you.

MIMI

Without you.

ROGER

Without you.

BOTH

Without you.

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

One of my most favorite play is back! Avenue Q returns to Manila on its 5th run (OH WOW!) with Rachel Alejandro back as Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut along with new comer to the cast Calvin Millado as Brian. I so want to watch since I watched Carla Guevarra back in 2008.

Why would Avenue Q be a super fun date with Dodong?

Avenue Q is a great way to introduce Broadway

Dodong is definitely not the Broadway play kind of guy. He's your typical blood-sex-sports-history-comedy kind of guy. So action movies, war movies, sports movies, no-brainer comedies are more his style.

And since Avenue Q is definitely a laugh your socks off kind of play. FYI for those who haven't watched Avenue Q: I would describe it as an adult Sesame Street. They have puppet characters and humans who sing and dance (and make you laugh!) about the hardcore stuff on REAL LIFE.

Avenue Q has really FUNNY songs!

Here are some Avenue Q's the song titles: The Internet is for Porn, Everybody's a Little bit racist, If you were gay, and What do you do with a B.A. in English (a.k.a. It sucks to be me). Funny di ba?

If Dodong would get the chance to watch and listen to the lyrics, I could just imagine him guffawing and snickering all throughout the show. He would be sooo cute! Hihihihi! Kinilig ako

A great photo opportunity with the puppets (and the stars!)

Wouldn't it be cool if we could both have our pictures taken with the Avenue Q puppets? Pwede kaya? I am again daydreaming of the fun possibility He'd be so excited to do funny poses while photo opping. Hehehe!

And I'm just so sad that Dodong isn't here to watch it with me. Boo. So I will just stick to my daydream. Or maybe just watch it with friends instead.

But for those with their honeys with them, catch Avenue Q this March 12-27, 2010 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza Makati City. You can check the seat plan and how to get your tickets here.

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

Seeing Happy Balloons amidst the dirt and drime

I can't believe that I am almost at my 100th post (my 99th to be exact!) and it's been almost 2 years since Dodong left the country for greener pastures in the Dubai sands. Sometimes I do feel like a broken record going on and on about our long distance relationship: how much I miss Dodong, how much I want to be with him, how much I want to kill the loneliness. But still here I am sharing my innermost feelings with you guys (whoever you are out there).

Because I do have dreams, I do have Loving the distance dreams. And the very first one is this: For all couples in long distance relationships to see the light in LOVE. I do believe that this will help all of us get through. Yes, it is lonely, but, at the end of it all, someone, hundreds and even thousands of miles away from us, loves us through and through.

Are you guys with me on this?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

P.S. I'm just so happy because I was able to upload my photos using my Flickr account Success!

The famous Batad Rice Terraces amphitheatre

Last weekend, I ended up on a bus to Banaue to visit Batad, Ifugao along with some ex-officemates of mine. So technically, I could not classify this as an alone date because I was not alone on this trip. And since I do know for a fact that Dodong loves hiking and trekking (I'd personally rather be underwater than climbing mountains), I do think trekking to Banaue and Batad, Ifugao would be a perfect venue for a future date.

What could we possibly do together in Batad Ifugao? Hmmmm…

Hold hands while hiking

Walking through the trails with YOU would be a breeze

Trekking takes a total of 1-hour going to Batad and another 1.5 hours going back up to the Batad Saddle. It takes a little longer uphill. Hehehe. So that's a total of 2.5 hours of holding hands! Sweet!

I just didn't count the almost 3-hour roundtrip trek to Tappiya falls since we won't get much chance to hold hands walking through the narrow Batad rice terrace ledges. Hehehe! Baka mahulog pa kami! Hehehehe!

Take a dip in the cool Tappiya Waterfalls

Brrrr cold cold cold water at the Tappiya Falls

Taking the cool plunge at the Tappiya Waterwalls TOGETHER after a long and tiring trek through the Batad rice terraces would just be heaven. I could imagine the splish splashing movie sequence of playing around in the water. Hehehe. It would be soooo fun! And since it is just so damn cold…

Share tight warm hugs through the cold cold weather

Cloudy cloudy Batad morning!

We could share body warmth right after the dip at the Tappiya Waterfalls. Hihihi! It would be colder when the cool mountain breeze hits your wet skin. Yikes! Also just hugging each other through the cold Batad night would be super duper perfect. Sometimes jackets and blankets are not enough, right?

Share stories and jokes over a mug of hot Mountain Coffee

One of the livelihood projects of the people in Batad includes growing coffee in the rice terraces. Oh so they won't be rice terraces but coffee terraces. And they sell their yummy coffee to tourists (like me!) to sip during the cold days and to take home to loved ones. I'd love to share a cup of local Batad brewed coffee with Dodong when we go on our future date here. Wouldn't that moment be so delish?

Watch the Batad Rice terraces sunrise

This I definitely did not get to do last weekend. My body was just so tired that I ended up waking up past sunrise. Gaaaahhhh! But this is enough reason for me and Dodong to pack our bags and head up to Banaue and Batad soon. We do love sunsets but sunrises are also quite romantic too, especially if shared with the love of your love.

SIGH. Aren't you excited to visit Batad soon?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

I sure do miss this.

These past weeks (ever since Dodong left for the desert) have been tough on me emotionally. It's literally been a rollercoaster. So what better way but to just reminisce on the latest LDR Homecoming, a quickie one at that, or just reminisce the happy moments we were REALLY together.

What exactly are those happy moments I do miss?

Spending some time with my family

The day he came home, Dodong was able to hang out and chill with my family over ice cold bottles of his favorite Coca-cola.

Here's my littlest sister...

and this is my mom and her glass of bubbly Coke

and here's Dodong opening his bottle of Coke.

It's just so cute when you see the love of your life bonding with your family, right?

Surprising him with little gifts

I came across a CD of one of our favorite local, up and coming artists and decided to surprise him…

Techy Romantics CD + Cold Bottle of Coca-cola...Saaarrraaaaaapppp!

Finally a band we BOTH love: Techy Romantics Together with an ice cold bottle of Coca-cola again!

Cruising around with Sharkface

No Dodong = No Sharkface. So I did miss his bad ass car as well.

Well, hello Sharkface! Don't you look handsome

I just love cruising around, holding hands in the middle of a horrible traffic. Aba syempre dito na iniinom ang pabaon kong Coke.

Yun! Ice cold talaga!

Hay. Sigh. Happy times ang homecoming talaga. That has made my mood perk up a bit. Don't you also get a smile on your face when reminiscing?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

P.S. Apologies for the photos. I still am using my camera phone so no decent pics. Sadness.

Sigh. Romantic...

Dodong and I do enjoy watching the sunsets together. And when he came home a few weeks back, I made it a point that we'd visit this bar I saw on Facebook. It had a spectacular view of the Manila Sunset and had rockin' electronica tunes which Dodong and I love. So on one of those 3 days of quickie homecoming, I dragged him over to White Moon Bar.

I thought that the place was near SM Mall of Asia (MOA) where we could go around while waiting for the perfect sunset moment. But White Moon Bar is waaaaaay out on the other side inside the Manila Ocean Park, near the Quirino Grandstand.

Unfortunately, that day was one of the HOTTEST days pre-summer. So we were not able to enjoy and chill out the way we wanted to.It would have been perfect with a nice cold bottle of beer or cocktail.

We arrived at White Moon bar at around 4PM. To our dismay, the bar was still closed, even if it said that it opened at 4PM. I guess it was just too early for the sunset, especially that the sun was still waaaay too high. How high? Check it out…

ANG INIIIIIT! At 5:07PM, this was the sun…

This was the sun at 5:07PM. HOT!

Eeeeep! So we just took shelter inside the cool air-conditioned comfort of Makansutra and just braved the heat when the golden sunset hour arrived at 6PM. Pretty late for a sunset right?

And since it was just too hot even post sunset, we decided not to hang out anymore…sadness. It would have been uber perfect if not for the heat. We'd be coming back the next time he comes home. Hopefully it would be cooler then. Hehehe.

Aren't sunsets just so romantic?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

Roses are red, violets are blue. we don't celebrate Valentine's. But how do you?

Dodong is not a believer in Valentine's Day because he thinks its a capitalist holiday. Oh, sorry to the true blue romantics out there. I was slowly brainwashed to think the same too. Unfortunately. We can celebrate love everyday naman di ba? Plus flowers and dinners are not as expensive on a regular day right?

The only day we've ever been close to actually celebrating it was the Valentine's Day before he left for the desert. We had a Valentine's Buffet Dinner at Seven Corners, Crowne Plaza Manila: eat-all-you-can buffet complete with Tuxedo Strawberries and Champagne.

See how cute (but UBER EXPENSIVE) these Tuxedo Strawberries are. Hmpf.

The Valentine theme was cute with the Tuxedo Strawberries above. But it was such a rip-off because it cost me an arm and a leg. We usually eat at Seven Corners, Crowne Plaza but the Valentine's dinner costed us +Php 1,000 (around +US$ 20)  more than the usual. Ouch. Yes ako po ang nagbayad. Hehehe. But what the heck, it was hitting three birds with one stone: the desert despedida (most important of all!), early anniversary celebration which is every 16th of the month (but again we don't celebrate on a monthly basis) and Valentine's Day.

Last year, our 1st Valentine's Day apart, we didn't do anything special. I though that it would somehow change (because of the distance apart and all). But it didn't. Hehehe. It was just like any ordinary long distance relationship day. Nothing extra romantic, unlike our 7th year anniversary. Old habits die hard I guess.

But for other LDR couples out there, who I am sure are very different from us (believing in Valentine's Day and all), how do you celebrate the most romantic day of the year?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

P.S. Pls forgive my crappy photos. I still have no decent working camera Tear….

Is there a cure for the homecoming hangover?

I therefore conclude that I am still on homecoming hangover. If you notice, its been quite a while since my last post. A week to be exact.

What the hell is homecoming hangover?!? Over the course of almost 2-years of Dodong's back-and-forth from Dubai and home, we've both noticed a particular behavior pattern we have during the 1st week post-homecoming. And I now officially coin it as the homecoming hangover

So what are the signs of homecoming hangover?

#1: Persistent sigh-ing

There are two word that pop up almost every after 10-lines of our daily (more than once a day) IM conversations: sigh and hay (the Filipino word for sigh). They even come in the all caps version: SIGH and HAAAAAAAAAY. Oh, did I also say they creep up in the daily journals too? Sigh.

#2: Consistent reporting for duty

Well, Dodong and I do our fair share of reporting for duty. Meaning, we both inform each other of our itinerary for the day. On a regular day, because we're both busy going through the day-to-day things and sometimes get caught up in it, we kind of forget to report to each other. But post-homecoming, we do update each other every single day on the smallest, most frivolous details of the day. Sigh.

#3: Taking the time off to stare at each others photos

Sometimes I just find myself staring at the photos taken during the homecoming. Or, if none were taken, I just stare at our photos on Facebook, multiply and others. I even changed my Facebook profile photo to our picture. Sigh. The photos just trigger the giddy warm feeling of him being next to me. Sigh.

I am also pleasantly surprised that Dodong also does this. He texts or emails me that he finds himself going though my historical reel of pictures on Facebook. Now ain't that sweet and swoon worthy? Hay.

I miss him. I really, really, really do…Sigh.

Okay did I say we sigh a lot? Oh yeah, I did. Hehehe.

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

Photo c/o www.iseeyouseeingme.wordpress.com

YES!!! You've read it right. Dodong is back home…but for only three days. A quickie homecoming! Happy but sad Happy because he is home. OF COURSE! And sad since it's only three days. But what the heck, he's home!

SOOOOO….I will be on blogging hiatus this week. Hehehe. I hope you'd understand that every homecoming second counts.

Tootles!

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay