It's a sad, sad day indeed.



My most favorite show in the world, toping off Sex in The City, Friends and Will and Grace, has been cancelled after three seasons. This critically acclaimed, brilliantly, intellectually, wittily written tv show about a former A- list teen turned outcast and rebel female teen detective- a blonde one, at that-solving crimes, ranging from the petty ones like who stole her the school geek's pet dog to cheating fiancees, who is framing her for making fake IDs to the blood chilling crimes- who murdered her bestfriend, Lilly, who drugged and raped her during Shelley Pomeroy's party, who blew up school bus with a bunch of high school kids, who is the campus serial rapist and who murdered the Dean was cast off because of low ratings (all because their network, CW, did not promote it well).


Instead, The CW decided to choose much more intellectual shows such as reality shows like America's Next Top Model, The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll and.... drum roll, please, the newcomers: Farmer Wants A Wife (you can guess what this is about) and Crowned (about a Mother- Daughter Beauty Pageant).

When a network chooses tacky reality shows (well, I admit. ANTM is a guilty pleasure) over well written and well acted shows, you know it's the end of a tv era.


Goodbye, Veronica Mars... You'll be sorely missed. You have no idea how much.

So do yourselves a favor. Buy Season 1, 2 and 3 on DVD (make sure that season 3 is complete as it has 20 episodes) and find out what I'm talking about.

Photo from: www.something-happens.com

November 8, 2002: A and I were just friends. It was midnight and we were conversing while walking around the perimeter of Glorietta and Quad. We were sharing ourselves with each other. I asked him, "What's your dream?" and he said, "To live in a condo in Makati." I was surprised because it was my dream too because living in a condo in the central business district of the capital of the country was a sign that you've made it. And this man shared the same dream I had. We were just friends then but I was starting to like him and this was one sign, the fact that we had the same dream, that he was the one.


November 28, 2002: A and I get together.


Sometime 2002- 2004: I realize that Makati was too congested to live in. Bonifacio Global City, being the next potential business district, as it was slowly developing was a better place to live in. I realize that I'd rather own a home first before getting married because I don't want us to live and mooch of either set of parents. I realize also that it is better to buy your own home than renting and that it was better to live in a two bedroom condo unit than a one bedroom unit because in the event that we have a child, and we live in a one bedroom unit, chances are, we have to move to a two bedroom to accommodate the child's room and the nanny.


January 2003 to present: Thanks to my commissions and bonuses from work, I am able to save up for our future home.


May 2004: I start this blog entitled, Reaching for Chocolate Stars and Sapphire Dreams. On top of my wish list is "A Two Bedroom Condominium Unit at Makati or Bonifacio Global City."


September 2005: I reach a financial goal.


February 27, 2007: I place all my savings into a time deposit after much prodding by my boss. After two years, I only found the time to fix my finances.


March 5, 2007: A starts his first day in another ad agency.


March 9, 2007: A and I watch 300 with the gang. After which, we hang out at the bar and drink. The night ends with us talking about real estate with one of our friends who just got his realtor's license in January. He mentions affordable yet prestigious condo units at the Fort and I share that A and I have dreams of living there. In fact, the condo he was talking about is the same condo I am eyeing!


March 10, 2007: Poker night at Bri's house. Dino, our friend, the new real estate agent, presents to us the brochure of the latest development as the condo I was eyeing was already sold out. He also presents the paying schemes. I keep the brochures and spend the night, till 4:30am, playing poker and hanging out with the gang.


March 11, 2007: I wake up at 4pm, grab the brochure and the payment schemes and study it. Because A just got pirated, which means he now receives higher pay, we are now able to afford the monthly amortization of the unit with what A and I are also able to save up, we are able to afford a huge percentage of the downpayment! I'm getting a good feeling about this but still, I wasn't sure. So I pray to St. Therese of The Child Jesus and ask for a sign that this is the condo for us: I need to see roses within the next 5 days. At 7pm, I go to church and as per my ritual, after communion, I go to the Blessed Sacrament with my sister to pray and communicate with God. We were the only ones there. There were flowers by the foot of the Blessed Sacrament but one particular bouquet, laid on the floor, was facing the glass wall so I couldn't really see what it was. The reflection looked like it was roses. After praying, I went out and told Camille about the sign and how I wasn't sure if the bouquet that was facing away from us were roses. She told me to go back inside and look. And I did. It was a bouquet of peach roses.


March 14, 2007: I muster the courage to talk to my stepmom about the condominium and ask her opinion. (Why muster? Because I felt she wasn't ready to have me move out.) She thought the particular location of the condo was not a good one, etc etc. Basically, I was discouraged. I put the thought of buying the condominium behind me.


March 16, 2007: Poker night at Miki's this time. Bri and Elaine suddenly also contemplate buying a condominium unit. They find one in the Pioneer- Mandaluyong area by a known mall developer who is now getting into real estate. Because the payment scheme is very good and affordable, not a lot of units are left, and so Bri and Elaine consider it.


March 17, 2007: Bri visits the model unit of the condominium, likes it and makes a reservation on the same day even if Elaine, who is all the way in the US, hasn't seen it. Our other friends also consider getting it. Even I am enticed to get it because of the good payment scheme (only P20,000 per month for 30 months while the rest can be paid through bank financing) and because there are only 7 units left, I was pressured.


March 20, 2007: I showed the brochure to my stepmom and this time, she liked it. She became very excited for me and A. We make a date to visit the model units of the condos in Pioneer and The Fort.


March 24, 2007: Dino, A, my stepmom and I go to the model units of the condo that Bri got. We found the place too small for us. We then head to the Fort where a friend of Dino's presented the development to us. Actually, he was presenting information that I already knew. The model unit wasn't prepared at that time so they suggested that we visit the finished developments of the company, which are also located at the Fort, just to give us an idea of what the condo and its amenities will look like. We visit the first project and like what we see. We visit the next project and loved what we saw. It clearly shows that in each project, they improve their amenities and the architects, contractors and project managers listen to their client's suggestions for future projects. Here, I see my second sign. In the master's bedroom of the model unit of the second project, I see a bouquet of red roses.


March 25, 2007: On my way to Church, Dino calls me to tell me that the day before, 5 units were reserved already. We better act fast. After church, I call up my mom and her boyfriend who does astrological chart readings and ask them to find out which unit should we get: the 6th or the 9th floor. At 11pm, my stepmom and I go to the ATM and withdraw money for the reservation fee of the unit. She told me how happy she was for me and A and that it felt so right that we were already investing in our home and it felt right that it was A (that I'm spending the rest of my life with).


March 26, 2007: Dino passes by my house early in the morning to pick up the reservation fee. He comes back later to tell me that he and his friend were able to stretch out the payment of the downpayment from 6 months to 12 months! At the same time, I get a call from my mom, asking me to call her boyfriend at home as he has the results of my chart reading. It says that we should get the sixth floor because there is too much electromagnetic static and nervous energy on the ninth floor. It could be possible that the static is coming from power lines or cellular phone sites. As a result, people who live on the ninth floor of the building will have trouble sleeping. And with A's line of work, being able to sleep and relax is an essential. So the 9th floor it is.


March 27- May 4, 2007: A and I consult with the lawyer regarding the contract and talk to the bank regarding my accounts and finances.


March 30, 2007: My dad's birthday. A texts him a birthday greeting. Dad replies by saying, "Thanks, son!"


May 5, 2007: A and I sign the contracts.


May 6, 2007: I make sure that all the paperwork is done and make the 12 post dated checks.


May 7, 2007: We submit the documents.


May 8, 2007: Our check for the first installment of the downpayment is deposited and debited from our checking account. 1 down and 11 more checks to go.


UPDATED: May 12, 2007 : We decide to get parking space as well which adds six figures to our debt. Thank God my parents offer to help us out. After all, with parking space, we get more value should we decide to sell or rent the unit in the future.


And that's how it was done. Three years after I made the wishlist, our dream comes true.

Last April 30, I left the office early as I had dinner with college friends who I haven't seen in the longest time. Normally, I would be the last one in the office, working an hour alone, finishing up, closing all the lights before locking up. That day, I wasn't the last to go as all our managers had a meeting in the conference room.

One of the managers is a clairvoyant. Apparently, he could see things from another dimension that we couldn't see with naked eyes. He can also talk to them but most of the time, he is too scared to do so. That night, as he was exiting the conference room, he saw a lady who was very angry as she was looking at him at a mean way. She had blonde hair and fair skin and was wearing a cream shirt. Behind her, smoke was emitting from the restroom of our office. Of course, the other managers did not see the lady nor the smoke.

That night, or rather at 5am on May 1, as I was hitting the sack after a night out hanging out with A and our riends, the manager texted me what he saw. At first, I got scared but little by little, I was getting amused. Hours later, I called up one of our VPs, who I was close to, and told him the story. He didn't say much. Only to find out later that after my phone call, he called that particular manager to ask him what the lady ghost wanted. The VP knew about the manager's gift and that spirits often show themselves to him, asking for help. At first, he didn't want to say but the VP coerced him. He said, "Gusto niyang halukayin ko ano nangyari sa kanya. (She wants me to dig and find out what happened to her)" The VP asked, "Bakit? Ano nangyari sa kanya? (Why? What happened to her?)" "Pinatay siya. (She was murdered)." "Saan? (Where?)" "Sa C.R. (In the restroom)." Hence, explaining the presence of smoke coming from the rest room behind her. We believe, however, that she wasn't killed in THAT particular restroom. After all, our building has no history of it being a crime scene. The smoke emitting from the rest room was just a sign that she was killed in one.

I used to be sensitive about spirits to the point that I would see them in the form of white or black shadows. Thank God, I don't see their features. However, one particular incident with a black shadow was enough for me to be scared sh*tless that I didn't want to see them again. And so from then on, I stopped seeing them and sensing them. The VP claims that sometimes he sees something through his peripheral vision, often times mistaking someone going through the door of our office. But me? I'm immune to them. I no longer sense them. Thank God, I guess.

Oh, I think I left out one important part in my story.

Where was the lady when the manager found her in our office?

She was sitting on my chair.