Hmm, so you want to know more...

 QUESTION: Who is Sugar?
 SHORT ANSWER: I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know when I find out.
 LONG ANSWER: A somewhat ordinary girl who loves to write about ordinary things and, hopefully, make them a little extraordinary for you. She's an aspiring writer and an avid dreamer. A geek who likes to read anything she can get her hands on (even the back of cereal boxes). A tomboy who hates wearing high heels and collected baseball cards as a kid; a girly-girl who drinks with her pinky raised, and likes the color pink and laces. A complete paradox.

The Almost Entirely true Story of My Life

Seriously speaking, autobiographies are difficult for me. So, I'm making this one hard for you too -- I've made it into a game. Each paragraph contains one lie. Can you find them all? Like life itself, this "game" will become more challenging as it progresses.

GOOD LUCK!

In the Beginning...

My parents met during their college days, when he bumped into her one day at one of those rallies that the 60's was famous for. She came from the province of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, graduated high school at the Holy Infant Academy, earned a Psychology Degree at the University of Santo Tomas, and a Master's Degree in Business Administration at the Asian Business Institute. The youngest out of now 3 living Anonuevo siblings, my Mama always described herself as spoiled. I mentioned "living" earlier because I once had an uncle named Jaime, a very handsome fella whom I only got to know through pictures and stories, but he died of sudden liver problems, and once had an aunt named Josephina but she died during childhood. All of my Mama's siblings including herself have names that starts with the letter "J".

My father hails from Tayug, Pangasinan, and is also the youngest out of 3 siblings. Only one older sister still alive though since my uncle was killed many years ago in a street fight. Both my father and my aunt now live in America, across coasts from each other. Papa was a Blue Eagle before he became an activist and was kicked out for being in one too many 60's protests. He ended up with a degree in BS Accounting at the Lyceum University, and a Master's Degree in Business Administration at the Fordham University in New York, USA. Papa was handcuffed once when he was a young man, but he was skinny enough to break loose of them in those days. I remember in my early teenage years coming across a very old Bible which had his name written on it, and underneath his name was "Ateneo De Manila University". I think it was at that time that I said to myself, I was going to attend college there to avenge my father's expulsion.

Growing Up in the States

My parents migrated to the United States in the early 80s, and as the eldest, they toted me along with them. By this time, there was a set of 4 headstrong girls in the family, the youngest being 7 years my junior. After my birth, as the story goes, we were supposed to have had a brother, but my mother miscarried when she and my grandmother were stuck in an elevator and the stress caused the fetus to drop. I didn't find out till years later that my parents secretly hoped I would be a boy, and even had a boy's name picked out for me: Andres Junior.

I was a Catholic school girl all my life. I had nuns as teachers during my elementary school days at the Most Precious Blood School in Astoria, New York, where I wore maroon socks up to knee high till about 7th grade. Those days, I could recite all the well-known prayers backwards and forwards and in my sleep; I knew all the Sacraments and their order of receiving; memorized all the Holy Days of Obligation. My maternal grandparents took care of me while my parents were busy working. Polito's Pizza place and the Bronx Zoo were some of my favorite hang-outs. I was the best of friends with Minda Thompson, Janet Bulic, Kathleen Kennaway, and Carol Servidio. If anyone who stumbles upon this website happens to know any of the people above, I'd appreciate some information on them. I lost contact with them a few years ago, and it's always a good thing to keep in touch with people from your past who were part of the happy memories.

Back to the Pearl of the Orient

I went back to the Philippines for my latter part of high school and college, attended St. James School in Quezon City and studied BS Legal Management at the Ateneo de Manila University respectively. Adjusting to Philippine life was hard for me at first; my Tagalog was rusty because I never had practice speaking my native tongue in the States, and it was a culture shock for me. Even in the few times my grandparents did speak to me in Tagalog, I would always answer back in English. Hence, the need for a Tagalog tutor for one year when I got back. I always dreaded those hours-long sessions in the study basement trying to figure out what the hell "Florante and Laura" was saying and the differences between "ng" and "nang".

I remember the first time I ever held Philippine money when I was given it as allowance, I had a hard time figuring out how much was each currency since it looked like Monopoly money to me and didn't seem real. People flocked to me when I first arrived -- mostly because of curiosity I bet; my clothes were different, my speech, my way of thinking. I got lumped into the Star Section when I got to the Philippines, and while I was a top-notcher in my school in the States, I cried when they laughed at me the first time I tried to say "palengke" (wet market) because it came out as "pah-layng-kay".

I was spoon-fed religion till my mid-teens, and I accepted everything freely. Then came college and Theology, and I learned to ask questions and have Faith not because it was expected of me, but more because it was something I embraced on my own. I really don't get students who rush to get done with school and "onto real life". I feel like hitting those people who have such thoughts with a baseball bat on their head, or at least push them off a cliff somewhere. My elementary, high school, and college days were a blast, not because of the subjects I took or the prestigiousness of the schools I attended -- but because of my experiences and the lifelong friends I've made. "Real life" worries, the kind you encounter after you're done with schooling, are no where as much fun nor as petty as "school life" worries.

Summation of My Present Life

I currently work as a Project Manager/Lead SEO Design Engineer for a Silicon Valley-based IT company, where I've been employed since 1999. This year marks my 7th year with the company, which was just a start-up when I went on-board with the team. I've watched us grow and it has been a tremendously exciting ride with some of the best people, the best minds I've ever known. We're a close knit group that may banter and fight like family on occasions. But we also worry about each other like family too, outside the walls of the office. We have about 50 employees that share the same water cooler in the building. On Fridays, we get free lunches. Wednesdays, the "hump" day, we get to dress down like bums.

Married in 1999, separated in October 2004, and divorced in January 2006, I am now currently single again. I have 5 kids that are raised part-time by wolves. I do have a significant-other right now, Roan, who makes my heart a-flutter, my head a-pounding, my emotions a-whirling, my blood a-boiling, and my smiles a-smiling. I now live in Las Vegas, the Sin City and Entertainment Capital of the World. I moved here early 2004 after living in the Bay Area, California for over 4 years. I owned my first home at the age of 26, a few months shy of turning 27. I decided to move to Las Vegas because of the more affordable real estate here than at the Bay Area.

I have a "List of Things to Do Before I Turn 30", and I've pretty much scratched off everything on the list except for these 3 items that I hope to complete before my 30th birthday: (not in any particular order) write a book, visit Europe, and find my soulmate. If I don't get to complete these items by this year or next, well -- then they're going on my "List of Things to Do Before I Turn 40".

Well, did you spot the one lie in each of the paragraphs in my above autobiography?

E-mail me your guesses at sugar@cornbip.com.