SM Sky Garden at SM City North Edsa
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 12, 2009
I had the privilege to be invited to Sky Garden, a new part of SM North Edsa last May 23, 2009. Around 20 of us bloggers attended it, we were toured around the area, had lunch at one of the establishments there (Padi’s Point), watched a movie (A night at the museum 2) and went home happy.
I live in Quezon City & SM North Edsa is the mall closest to my house. I used to go there a lot when I was a kid, playing bowling, dining, shopping, etc. But for the past few years, I ended up going to malls outside QC so I wasn’t really aware of the new things in the mall. When I was invited to this event, I realized that there were a LOT of changes in the mall! SM North Edsa looks sooo cool now. Every time I want to go to a mall now, SM North Edsa is already part of my choices 
The highlight is really Sky Garden, a great concept by SM. Located at the 2/F, the place has an environmental theme whereas the place is surrounded by plants, grass, trees. A lot of establishments too that are situated on water ponds that look like it’s floating (Cool, isn’t it?).
Sky Garden at SM North Edsa has the ff. Major Attractions:
- Roof Garden
This has 55 species of plants, grass & trees that grow on special type of soil. A great attraction if you want to just relax while walking around the area.
- The Sky Dome
Open for concerts, events & other activities, this is basically their performance area. Has a seating capacity of 1,000 and has a movable stage that is solely for the purpose of being flexible so they can accomodate all kinds of events.
When we were there, the Mossimo Bikini Contest is having their event that night at the Sky Dome. We had the opportunity to watch it but unfortunately, I was too tired to attend it so opted not to.
The next day, I returned to Sky Garden again coz I wanted to take more pictures of the place especially at night time. That day, the dog show event was ongoing at the Sky Dome. I entered & watched since it was free and also a friend of mine hosted the event. Took some pictures there. Here are some:
- Water Features
- Retail, Dining & Entertainment Outlets
Starbucks caught my attention the most even if it’s not yet open or even started construction/renovation yet. The floating stall/outlet thing is really quite obvious here. Excited to have one of my cofee bonding with friends at Starbucks SM North Edsa.
You can find more pictures here.
a Birthday Full of Surprises
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 12, 2009
Another delayed post for me…
For the past years, I really don’t celebrate my birthdays. Some friends would text but it’s just a normal day… no birthday nightout, no party, nothing…
Last May 21 was my 32nd birthday, it was a memorable one. After all these years with no celebration, I ended up celebrating it twice! 2 surprise birthday parties for me (one at the house & one at the office). Thanks to Lucy & my colleagues!
- Surprise Breakfast B-day Celebration at my House
Lucy (my yaya who I lived with at my house) arranged this breakfast party for me 
She has been living with me for the past 5-6years and it was in actuality her birthday 3 days after my birthday.
Lucy invited my carpoolmates Anna, Mariel, Queena & Anna’s mom to have breakfast at our house to celebrate my birthday. When I woke up that morning, Lucy greeted me sooo happily! When I finished shower, I went down. To my surprise, everything was laid out..
Spaghetti, fried chicken, a cake personally bought by Lucy & her gift for me (black shoes by Natasha). 
I was just sooo touched. Lucy is the sweetest yaya/maid ever! I treat her as my sister, I believe she treats me the same. She has never failed to make me laugh whenever she sees I’m lonely, and she also never fails to take care of me whenever I get sick.
I really thank Lucy for such effort, it’s just so heartwarming. This is truly unforgettable. I’m just so lucy to have Lucy & I appreciate and love her more for it.
- Surprise Merienda B-day Celebration at the Office Pantry
I arrived at the office happily after being treated so specially by Lucy. Somehow, my officemates didn’t greet me for my birthday (seems like everyone forgot about it w/c is really weird ). I didn’t think about it that much since I was conducting a daylong training to some HP folks for my role that I need to transition out.
After the training, my colleague Paul told me to go to pantry coz he needed to ask me something about work. When we arrived at the pantry, SUPRISE! My closest colleagues were there, happily greeted me “Happy Birthday!” It was really a suprise! I was trying to fight my tears, it’s just to touching. I was rarely treated that way, so things like these really has a great effect on me.
My favorite food like birthday misua, etc were served. It was just… soo heartwarming. I believe Jo, Maus & my BBS friends organized this for me. They asked everyone not to greet me during the day so it will truly be a super surprise.
Inspite of the busy schedule that everyone has, they took the time to celebrate my birthday with me… Thank you so much everyone! This is just… touching.
More Pictures can be found here & here.
Nail in the Fence
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 9, 2009
Jo forwarded me this inspiring message via email today. I wanted to share it with you as this is inspiring especially for me who’s struggling right now with all the stress that I’ve been feeling hehhe 😛
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails & told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The 1st day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.
It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. ” A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
The Best "Out-Of-Office" E-Mail Auto-Replies
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On June 25, 2009
I used to ignore forwarded emails & messages but recently, I have this renewed interest regarding those. Seems that most of the items are interesting to note and remember. Some are also very entertaining and can make you smile for the day.
Just like the one I’m sharing in this blog post. Usually when we go out of office, we leave a message in our outlook so our colleagues will know that we’re out and where they can contact us for emergencies.
Here are the best out of office email auto-replies (as shared in the forwarded email):
- I’m currently out at a job interview & will reply to you if I fail to get the position.
- I’m not really out of the office. I’m just ignoring you.
- You are receiving this automatic notification because I’m out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn’t have received anything at all.
- Sorry to have missed you but I’m at the doctors having my brain removed so that I may be promoted to management.
- I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me until I return from vacation on 7/18. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.
- Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the 1st 10 words & $1.99 for each additional word in your message.
- The email server is unable to verify your server connection and is unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try sending again. (the beauty of this is that when you return, you can see how many in-duh-viduals did this over & over).
- Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.
- Hi. I’m thinking about what you’ve just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.
- Hi! I’m busy negotiating the salary for my new job. Don’t bother to leave me any message.
Please take note that this is just for fun! Use it if you want to but be ready & responsible for the consequences hehehe
David Cook & David Archuleta Live in Manila
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On June 25, 2009
I had the privilege to watch the Davids concert last May 16 (Thanks Az for the ticket). I was able to watch the season where both Davids are competing in American Idol. David Cook was my favorite that time and was rooting for him. I was very happy that he won
The way they are both promoted after the show is pretty impressive, both have their own albums, both have their own fanbase (which is huge IMHO). Having them both perform here in Manila at the same time is super nice!!
The concert was held in Mall of Asia. Pretty big open field great for concerts. The ticket I got was for the bronze section. When we say bronze section, it is at the farthest side (meaning at the back hehe ). We can’t see the stage at all and we just stood there on the grass for about 3-4 hours. I didn’t realize it would hurt that much because i was wearing my usual high heels!! 
I feel that it is still worth it even if we are just watching them perform on the screen. See pictures below:
This is David Archuleta on the screen… I hope I can see the stage though but it’s enough for me, hey my ticket’s free! Why should I complain?
And here is David Cook at the background, I have to have a souvenir so I posed in front of the screen
I think there was about 40,000 people who watched the concert. It was truly worth it! Both Davids sang about 3-5 songs.. both are cute, adorable & entertaining. I love their songs! Was able to capture 1 video each for Archuleta & Cook.
Here they are, enjoy!
More pictures here.