The Greyhound Adventure

I've seen it in some of the movies, when the actors take the Greyhound bus when going on intercity or interstate trips within United States. And so the idea of going to San Francisco, CA via the Greyhound bus appealed to me. I wanted to experience one of the all-American way of public transport.

They have a website to book online but due to my lazyness and also perhaps because I wanted this trip to be spontaneous, I did not book online and decided to just purchase the ticket on the counter, an hour before the ideal schedule I wanted. From the little inquiries I got, the bus route would not be scenic anyways so I thought I might as well take the night trip on Dec 17th and arrive in San Francisco at 7am the following morning.

This was the schedule I intended to get:

When I told my Uncle (who I'd be staying with in San Francisco) about taking the Greyhound bus, he seemed worried. He told me to sit at a seat near the driver, be very careful and be very alert at all times. I am used to long bus travels from my Singapore-Malaysia travels and so I thought an intercity bus in the USA would be similar and so there was nothing to worry about. But oh boy, I was not ready for what I was about to experience.

The bus from Riverside that was supposed to leave at 8:45pm for LA was 45 minutes late. The ticketing office in Riverside closes at 7:30pm, so I had to take my chance and purchase from the bus driver a ticket to LA if there were seats available. So my assumption that the bus was starting from Riverside was obviously wrong, the bus started from another city. When I got to LA, all the seats for the 11:35pm bus were taken and the next earliest available bus would leave LA at 2am and would arrive in SanFo at 1pm. I had no choice so I took it. But at least there was some unexpected advantage (to my amazement): the tickets were waaay cheaper over the counter than from online!

My ticket itinerary showed:

We arrived in Fresno, half an hour ahead of schedule. From there I had another bus transfer..to a what they call a local bus. Unlike the bus from Riverside to LA and LA to Fresno which was the usual 56 seater big bus, this local one was smaller and older. The seats are not as comfortable and most are already broken (i.e. stuck in reclined position). But what really caught me off guard was the "hidden layovers" in that itinerary because from Fresco to San Francisco, I think we almost stopped at each city we passed by for 5-10minutes each to pick up/load off passengers.

So this was what actually happened:

We did arrive on schedule in San Francisco but I was freezing the whole time from Fresno to San Francisco because the bus heater was not working! Anyhow, let's see what was my total travel time including the waiting time: 8pm to 1pm would be...16 hours!!!

That is almost the same travel time on a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles!

Going back from San Francisco to Riverside on December 22, I thought it would be a breeze, because I got the express ticket:

Then from LA to Riverside:

I did not anticipate that it would be a very packed weekend as it was the last weekend before Christmas and everyone was going somewhere. So you could imagine how there were A LOT of passengers that for the SanFo to LA bus 11pm departure, they had to have 3 buses to accomodate all the passengers (2 buses were chartered buses). The trip from San Francisco to LA arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule. However, the trip to LA from Riverside was something that was unbelievable. I thought I was only going to have to endure 3 hours of wait for my bus but at 10am the boarding door for my bus has not opened, meaning there was still no bus for my route. At 11am finally, they boarded us. However, besides being late, they did not at all follow the scheduled route. I should be in Riverside by 11:40am but with the route they made:

Los Angeles to

Hollywood to North Hollywood to

Glendale to Pasadena to

San Bernardino to Riverside

it took me 3 hours to finally reach Riverside. That's another 16 hours of total travel time!!!

Taking the Greyhound bus was indeed one heck of an adventure. It was not at all what I expected, I had underestimated its challenge but I can proudly say that I was able to go through it, I did it! Just like a local! I can't really say that I am regretting choosing to take the Greyhound bus, for after all, this experience made me see a lot of the places in California, it made me learn new things about people, culture and meet another face of reality in United States...but let's just say that this is one of the things that I wanted to try and have tried that now I would say that once is just enough. ;)

Gandhi, My Father

On board SQ12 going to Los Angeles via Tokyo (Narita).

I don't know my exact position right now, but we're about 2 hours away from Narita. I have just finished watching "Gandhi, My Father" and this movie indeed proves that it deserves the Best Screenplay award it got from the recent Asia Pacific Screen Awards. I learned about this movie after watching the awards ceremony in CNN weeks ago during one time I was runnning on the treadmill in the gym. It has taken my interest since then as it presented Mahatma Gandhi in a different perspective - he has always been presented as a successful father of a nation but in this movie we will see his failure as a father to his own son.

The movie is more than two hours long but there is no dragging moment, every scene is so essential and so I give all my admiration to screenplay writer and director Feroz Abbas Khan. I also have to give credit to the cinematography, nothing really fancy, but it presented the film with India's colorful and artistic culture, which added to the consistent vivacity of the film without reducing the melodramatic setting. And of course, my applause goes to the actors as well, for an outstanding performance, subtle and yet so powerful. I had to keep slouching down my seat to be more discreet, otherwise, the other passengers and the cabin crew might think I am a troubled person who's too depressed that she could not help sobbing in the plane (good thing my seatmate is sleeping!). Well, that's my normal me, I cry when I am deeply moved.

This definitely made it to my list of favorites movies. Watch it, maybe it would make yours too.

This is the official website: http://www.gandhimyfather.erosentertainment.com/

Christmas get-togethers and dinners

'Tis the season to be jolly...

Yup, Christmas is just around the corner. As most people, especially for foreign workers like me, who will be going back to home to Philippines or someplace else for their holidays, usually we do some get-together parties before going on own separate ways for the season. So I have had quite a busy week to squeeze in everything before I go on my holidays:

Dec 7, Friday: Dinner at Marché restaurant in Vivo City

Had a great time with my friends. It was like a deja vu, as two years ago we had our Christmas dinner at Marché in Orchard Road. I had some Swiss rosti with mushrooms and a rootbeer float for dinner and a mercy hug from Eypooh :P

Dec 8, Saturday: Back to the 80's Christmas Party

Had a very fun time with some friends reminiscing the 80's in Sunnysprings Condo Clubhouse. We dressed up. I wore a Bagets* inspired outfit, complete with a ponytail on the side hairdo. Who says blue and purple can't go together? hehehe. But hands down to Dayohbabe's pink tights. Thank you to the Chili organizers Ays, Eypooh and Dayohbabe and Donnah for a fun, fun, night and yummy Pinoy foods (macaroni salad is the best!), catered by Panyeros Catering. :)

*A very popular teenage movie in the Philippines during the 80's

Dec 9, Sunday: Christmas Lunch at 7107 flavors

On this rainy day, my housemates Uly and Mimi were so thoughtful enough to accompany me to do some winter clothes and travel bag shopping after going to mass together. We had a yummy Filipino lunch of garlic rice, sisig, kare-kare, laing and ensaladang mangga at 7,107 Flavors restaurant in Marina Square. I love the ambiance of this restaurant, especially the Filipino Christmas decors of parols (lanterns) and a belen . I also love the food presentation, makes you proud to be a Filipino ;)

Dec 11, Tuesday: Christmas dinner with the Chilis at The Forbidden City, Clarke Quay

As always, I had a great time with my chili friends. We had quite a posh experience in Indochine-The Forbidden City. This posh restaurant, beautiful ambiance and the food is superb too. The waitress was also a very nice young Filipina who was so accomodating and friendly and who made my night by guessing my age to be 23 years old (hahaha). We chilis also each had a glass of wine to conclude the night, we were missing Aoisoba all the while. Then yup, you might have guessed it, I had to take the cab to go home, as you know, even a very little amount of wine is lethal to me, hehehe.

Dec 12, Wednesday: Christmas dinner with Admin team at Tuk Long @ The Central, Clarke Quay

In my company, for Christmas, we go to dinners by department and as I am the only one in my department in our office, the administration department has adopted me to be a part of theirs. And just like last year, we had it in a Chinese restaurant, as all of them were Chinese. I do not mind it at all, since I like Chinese food. Last year though, we had it in the revolving restaurant on top of Meritus Mandarin Hotel along Orchard Road so I got nausated instead of enjoying the food. But this year we had it in Tuk Long restaurant in The Central Mall at Clarke Quay. We were so full from the 7-course meal plus 2 orders of chili crab. The food is great and one I can neverforget is how much the staff of this restaurant loved to change our plates and utensils after every course. They must really have a lot ofdishwashers. hehehe.

Dec 13, Thursday: Dinner with at Sun with Moon Resto in Wheelock place

This was our last class for our French course for this term and since there weren't much left to discuss, we only had 1 hour of class instead of the usual 3 hours. So we had plenty of time left for the night so my colleague (and my classmate in French too) and I then went to Orchard road and went to have dinner at Sun with Moon Japanese restaurant at Wheelock place. I've been wanting to eat here because I've had good feedbacks about it. True enough, the food and ambiance was great, I had a Japanese prawn and pork pancake and a very nice guava juice with little rose buds on top. I was also surprised to see that it wasn't as expensive as I thought it was. Then we went to a Mac store bought some stuff we need.

Whew! With so many food involved here, my entry seemed to have become a food and restaurant review, hehehe. Anyway, that's all for my Singapore Christmas get-togethers, now it's time to be on another side of the world.

Lost but not found

It was just a mere 10 to 15 minutes since I left that bus stop beside our condo and got to the train station and went back to that bus stop. But as I was expecting, I did not see my small red paper bag. I went back to my room, hoping that I left it there instead. Then I went to the bus station and checked if I may have left it in the bus. The bus station officer was quite accomodating to help me look inside the buses but when we didn't find any red paper bag, I became certain I left it at the bus stop and somebody had taken it already when I came back for it.

So what's with the red paper bag, anyway? Well, that red paper bag contained the Christmas gifts I nicely wrapped last night for my chili friends. I wanted to cry, but I did not, I had to be strong. It was devastating, but I had to accept that I lost them, and I could not do anything to bring them back. It was not easy to accept it, knowing that I only have myself to blame for it. Sometimes, stupid mistakes can be laughed off but for this instance,my absentmindedness was not a very easy thing to laugh off, because what I lost were gifts to my friends, gifts that I had enjoyed wrapping up with a special touch and I was excited for them to see...only to be lost and be found by someone who will just see those gifts as mere gifts wrapped in a typical Christmas wrapper. The bag also contained unused Christmas cards, which I meant to write and give to people close to my heart but just like the gifts, those will be just seen by someone as mere Christmas cards. But yeah, perhaps I was really meant to lose it and somebody else was meant to find it, perhaps that somebody needs it more than I do, perhaps that person also has some special people that he/she would like to give some presents this Christmas but he/she couldn't afford it, perhaps, perhaps...perhaps I should just leave it thinking as that. I consoled myself with that thought and the fact that I still could do something about the situation to find some remedy and move on. So I was still sad when I arrived at the office, I was 2 hours late. But by lunch break I was feeling a lot better, thanks to my lunch buddy who offered to help me go shopping again to "re-buy" the gifts I lost. By late afternoon I had completely recovered after finishing wrapping them up (yes,I did the wrapping at my desk during my work hours!) and was ready to meet my good friends for our Christmas dinner.

So, as the saying goes "all's well that ends well". It would have been nice if for each devastating experience, it would be just at the end of the day that we will realize that the conclusion of something tragic could become a happy ending afterall, no?

Just like riding the rollercoaster

While in the train today on my way to work, I was thinking about rollercoasters. There is a popular figure of speech pertaining to this: they say that love is like a rollercoaster ride. I think because of the ups and downs, the turns and twirls of a relationship but which make the relationship exciting...

But let's leave that as is since I was thinking of another perspective...I was thinking that having to wake up from a nice dream is like riding a rollercoaster ride. You feel so weak in the knees just by looking at the hoops and loops you've got to go through. You feel like you could not do it, but then again, you console yourself that you could do it, because you've had a rollercoaster ride before, just not the same rollercoaster but which were alike anyhow. Especially when you have no choice but to go do it. When there's no more turning back because you are already on your seat and the rollercoaster is already going slowly up, up, up and then getting ready to take that first very deep plunge that will be the start of an unforgettable and scary moment. But you still brave yourself, close your eyes and take a deep inhale and hold it, tell yourself that it will be over in a few minutes and then you scream your heart out as you flash down the steep rail. Then you will open your eyes when the ride stops and walk away just like that. Maybe there will be aftershocks for some minutes, like knees still trembling, heart still beating faster than usual, a tensed breathing, and perhaps even some more tears if there are still any left from all your crying during the ride. But eventually, you will go back to your normal self. You will smile and give yourself a pat on the back to say, well done, you survived!

Yup, yup, it's time to wake up.

More post birthday fun ;)

Lookie, lookie who are at the website of Heineken Singapore? :P

Well during my fun birthday night at Ministry of Sound club, some Heineken ladies asked to have our picture taken with them.

Quite funny because it looked like we were endorsing this beer but actually we were drinking vodka cranberry. Plus, I actually have an allergic reaction to Heineken beer (I drank some a few months ago, just half a mug, and the following morning I had a headache and rashes!) :P

Post birthday thoughts

It's almost been a week now since my birthday but I can still feel the magic of that day. To think that I almost dreaded turning 28 because it felt a big deal to me to cross into another age group, the late 20's.

What's the big deal? Well, it means I am one year past the age that I wanted to get married; That I will be just two years shy from becoming 30, and in my ideal plan by age 30 I would've wanted to have two children. But obviously, things don't always go as planned. Like even if you are so confident about your plans like I was when I envisioned this plan 10 years ago, there is no absolute certainty it will happen. To illustrate, a couple of days ago I had a chat on Yahoo Messenger with the man I had envisioned this plan with. We were talking about the upcoming wedding of a common friend (his best friend, actually) to his girlfriend of 9 years and since we had been witness to the beginning of their love story because it happened during the time we had also just started our relationship, we could not help but reminisce some memories we had as well. An interesting part of our conversation went something like this:

Me: ...so they're getting married on their 100th monthsary..it was also my idea back then, i even had a countdown on my planner...

Him: yeah, I was 99% sure then that you're the one I was going to marry.

Me (trying to be funny): hey, why 99% only? where's the 1%?

Him: This.

Indeed. We wouldn't be having that conversation if things went 100% as planned. We only reached the 58th month but no regrets, for in those I will remember a lot of good memories. Unlike that with he-who-must-not-be-named-ex which until now I wish could be completely erased from my memory.

Anyway, before I start eating ampalaya* here, let me go back to my birthday...

My birthday night turned out into something more than I expected. Fish & Co. at The Glass house was the perfect place. I was all smiles when I arrived at the place and saw that it was all lit up and glittering. The staff were all so nice as always. I had a great seafood platter dinner with my friends plus I got a birthday cheer from the Fish & Co staff. As a custom for birthday celebrators there I was asked to stand up on my chair, wear a jester's hat, and hold a lighted sparkler while they sang the Happy birthday cheer. Then I made a wish before I blew the candle on my birthday icecream scoop they gave me....And just when I thought that the my birthday dinner will conclude my special moment, when me and my friends walked towards the bus stop, I was amazed to see that Orchard road looking magically pretty with all its pretty lights. Then I had quite an extraordinary night when we went to Ministry of Sound for some dancing. I really, really enjoyed the night (or shall I say, until the wee hours of the morning ;-) I was all smiles when I got home, and I smiled even more upon seeing another bouquet of flowers, pink roses from my second family: Dad, Mom and Grandpa Hickmon.

Until now the feeling of being so special is still there, as my heart warms continuously from all the thoughtful gestures that my friends and family did for me. Besides all that I have already mentioned, I'd like to add that phonecall from Maebs, one of my best friends since highschool, the touching blog entries of Aoisoba and Omaritosan, the birthday card and silver earrings from Aoisoba (sent all the way from Ireland!), and unexpected birthday greetings sent thru my friendster account. These all made me feel closer to my family and friends and made me be in touch again with those I have not been in touch with lately.

Thank you very, very much to everyone, my very dear family and friends, for making me feel so blessed.

After notes:

>>Orchard road was officially lit up on my birthday night (ehem)

>>A good friend of mine found something he's been waiting for on my birthday (winks to Chuvanescense ;)

*******

*Ampalaya - Tagalog term for the vegetable bitter gourd / bitter melon

Coffee and the VIP

17 November 2007

5:36pm

TCC, The Atrium

Orchard Road, Singapore

So yes, it's my special day. I am wearing a nice dress. I am wearing a little make up plus my usual jewelries and perfume. My hair is on a half pony tail with a gold clip. I feel pretty, yay! :)

I am waiting for the margarita coffee that I ordered. I look around and I see a lot of young cadets assembling and forming a line to welcome someone. I wonder who it is...

My margarita coffee is served, in a cute martini glass, some salt around the tip of the glass. I wonder how it tastes, hmmmnnn...I take a sip using the thin straw, mmm, nice. The mix of baileys, kahlua and espresso coffee is perfect! I take a sip again,but this time, not using the straw, so I taste the tip of the glass...it's not salt but sugar! Sweet! :P

I am waiting for 7pm, when I will be having dinner with my good friends here. I decide to do some thinking to pass some time and I think about how I am having a very nice day so far -- waking up at 10am to receive a beautiful flower arrangement and balloons delivery from my family in the Philippines; birthday brunch of tuyo, danggit fried bangus, fried eggs and lots of rice with housemate Uly; getting a birthday gift from my housemates; the nice jewelry box as birthday gift from my colleague yesterday plus the birthday lunch treat in a Thai resto by another colleague (my lunch buddy); the birthday workout at the gym earlier this afternoon, where the staff greeted me a happy birthday upon returning my membership ID; the birthday text messages I have been getting since last night plus the phone calls I received; calling home this morning to speak with my family...

I think about ordering another drink as I finish my margarita coffee. I am thinking of getting another liquer-spiked coffee but I order for a blue mountain coffee instead (their "very best" coffee here, I'd say it's their most expensive! :P) I wouldn't want to go to my birthday dinner already tipsy, would I?

I look around, the young cadets are still lined up and their officers are starting to get a bit tensed, perhaps it means the VIP's arrival is nearing. I still wonder who it is.

My blue mountain coffee is served. It is on a little white cup with black stripes and on a black saucer, and with two little cookies on the side. I wonder how good it tastes so I sip a little without any sugar or milk on it. Mmmmnnn, it is ok, not bitter. The smell reminds me of the countryside, of vegetables! Yes, it's weird but it is!

Now I add two sugars and a little milk, the I sip. Hmmnn, I think I should have added just one sugar. I pop one of the cookies in my mouth. I look at my watch, it's 6:20pm, I better hurry and finish my coffee. The VIP has not arrived still and I am wishing he/she arrives before I leave. I take a big gulp of my coffee then I take the other cookie but this time I bite just one half....sip more coffee, then eat the remaining half of the cookie.

It starts to get dark, the lights in this cafe' are switched on. I take more gulps of my coffee until I drink all of it. Then I turn around and ask for my bill at the waitress. She hands me the bill after a minute (that's so fast!). She asks if I am from the Philippines. I answer yes and asks her how she knows. She says she just figured so. I hand her my credit card and membership card. She explains that both cards entitle me to a discount but I can only use one of the two. She advise that I use my membership card because it will also give me rebate points. I agree. She goes to the cash register. I look around and see that the cadets are dispersing. Aaaack!!! I missed the arrival of the VIP!?!?! :(
The waitress comes back with the receipt for me to sign. She tells me I have S$7.60 worth of points as of now and that I can use it on my next visit. I thank her. She is nice. I look around again and see the cadets sitting nearby. It seems they were just practicing and the VIP has not arrived?

It's 6:35pm now, I better get going. It's time for my birthday dinner. (Weee!!!)

I may not know who the VIP is, but I think I'll just leave it as thinking that the VIP is........me!!! :)

Encore: Oui! Oui! Oui!

et j'ai pensé que j'ai échoué à mon examen (whew!)

c'est un miracle!

Lovin' the Library again

I went to the Central National Library of Singapore today with my housemate, Mimi. Would you believe that only after 2 years and 3 months in Singapore have I finally gone there? Yes, it is weird coming from a person who describes herself as "can live in a bookstore or library". Well, it was one of the first things I had planned to do during my first month in Singapore but after finding out from their website about the membership fees I backed out. What can say but back then I was still adjusting with the Singapore cost of living and I was still doing my automatic mental conversion of Singapore dollar to Philippine peso which made everything very, very expensive in my perspective back then. Anyways, as they say, better late than never. The important thing is I have found another "home".

The National Library of Singapore is the best library I've been to so far. Like a usual library, it houses many books. I was overwhelmed to see the number of fiction books they have and I didn't know which one to borrow. For a big library, it doesn't work to just look into the books one by one, it is more advisable to know which title you were looking for or the author to atleast have a starting point. They have a centralized database to search for books in all the public libraries around Singapore. I was ecstatic when I found James Patterson's "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" and I immediately borrowed it together with another book "French Love Stories" (I borrowed this because it was a collection of short stories in French and with English translation so I thought it would help me with my French.) Then I tried to find "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. I saw the film and I just loved it so I told myself I should read the book. I found a book but...it was in the juvenile section, which of course meant that the book was a simplified version of the original (big letters per page and not much pages). I read it anyhow, so right there in the children's section, slumped on the floor with my back on the wall, for an hour I flipped thru the pages. It was fun being there, as the children looked so cute slumped on the floor lined up beside me, reading their books too.

The big difference about the National Library of Singapore from other libraries I've been too though, is that it has high technology system of borrowing and returning books. The Singapore National ID serves as the library card and there are self serviced computers there where you could check out the books to borrow them. The books can also be returned at any library within the country thru a drop box. It is very convenient indeed.

Yet, I was a bit sad about this high technology convenience because it was the thought of having a manual library card that excited me. I find great joy since I was a child to write my name on the book card I would like to borrow and see my library card becoming full of stamps from the different books I borrowed. I had a target back then to borrow and read all of the library books in my gradeschool(we had a small library in school so it was feasible and I think I did able to borrow all those in the fairytale section). I found it also nice to see in the book card who were the last people who borrowed that same book. In highschool, much as I've wanted to target the same things, it wasn't feasible anymore, as my highschool has a big library, and the books were more diverse and mature, which of course, included then a lot which did not suit my fancy. In my University days, my library book borrowing became more limited and I only borrowed reference books and not anymore books for leisure reading. After Uni, I shifted to buying books I fancy and so, the bookstores replaced the library in my life. Fast forward to today, I had been buying books and only now did I realize how I should not have forgotten the library. Borrowing books can save me a lot of money and it will save a lot of paper! Especially now that I don't have the space to house my growing collection of books. Although I am not buying books just because I wanted to read them, I also have this dream of someday having my own library/bookstore, perhaps when I retire and find my place in this world, it shall happen. For now, I am just happy that I rediscovered the library. :)

***

You can read more about the National Library of Singapore here: http://www.nlb.gov.sg/

Picture courtesy of housemate Mimi.

Why I have not been blogging lately - other reasons

• Had some visitors. My Aunt (my mother's sister) was here in Singapore with her two friends. They were here for a short vacation with a side trip to Kuala Lumpur. On their last night in Singapore they stayed at my place. It was fun hearing about their adventures as they had many bloopers like going inside a church here, prayed the rosary and then found out after that it was an Anglican Church; and insisting to the taxi driver in KL to take them to the bus station they said against the persistence of the taxi driver that it was the wrong bus station and in the end realized the taxi driver was right. But they were so cool about everything and laughed their hearts out as they recall them. They referred to themselves as the "golden girls" and I could not agree more -- 3 lovely ladies in their 50's with successful professional careers, all single. When I was growing up the elders used to tease me about having the potential to follow my Aunt's footsteps, with me having this independent personality and strong will. While I was with the golden girls, this thought did pass to me like a cold wind gushing on my skin...I asked myself, am I the next generation? The thing is, being a golden girl was my aunt's choice: when I was child,I clearly remember her saying to my grandfather that she had no plans of getting married. As for me, do I really have a choice?


• Had to catch up with my French. I missed one (very important) lesson during my vacation down under. There was quite a load of homework plus, I had to study for the exam yesterday night. I did fine with my oral but I had a hard time with my written because I was not able to memorize the conjugations of many irregular verbs. I did try to prepare for it yesterday afternoon -- while I was at work I created this beautiful list of these verbs and their conjugations but before I could start to do some memorization, I had to work on a Production issue and by 6:30pm I was still in the office. I arrived half an hour late for my exam, and much as I tried to remember my verbs, I could squeeze only the thoughts of my still unresolved Production issue from my brain cells. Oh well, I really do have no excuse actually because I did have some time to study days ahead but I have not been taking my French classes very seriously, I mean, I know I could be more diligent in studying it but because it was not really something that I chose to learn but more of a necessity for me to survive in my job, I am not really that receptive or enthusiastic.


• Had to get used to (or rather accept) going back to my routine again. That includes going to work in the first place. I still have not found my motivation back about my job. It's been months now but there has been no improvement, sometimes I think it is even getting worse and I feel like a wilting flower or in a more techy simile, like a toy car running out of batteries, no matter how hard you push the remote control forward, it just wouldn't accelerate anymore. My friends say I have twochoises to settle this: a change in perspective or a change in job. I've tried the former but I am not sure if I tried hard enough, I am also trying the latter but Ihave not found any. I've proven many times that things happen when it's time, things I ask for is given in the right time. If something is for you, it will come like the most natural thing but when something is not, you must know when to surrender and accept your fate. This is the challenging (and also confusing) part, how to know if you are exerting enough effort and at the same time be able to know when enough is enough. Well, I guess only time will tell...
  

Why I have not been blogging lately -- major reason

I am trying to pass some time for me to get over the trauma I got from my recent trip to Australia. No thanks to the " very warm reception", or shall I say, sizzling reception I got from the officers of Sydney airport who welcomed me by doubting my purpose of tourism in their beloved country and rummaged through the contents of my bags, my wallet, the stamps in my passport and yes, even my mobile phone combined with interrogating me with all the questions in the world. Though they were not rude, they did were hostile and formal. At first I was still cool and thought that they were just trying to do their job but I started to get annoyed when I felt that they were trying to find any fault on me that they could use against me. But well since I am not lying when I told them I was just staying only for 9 days and I could answer them straight in the eye (but I wonder why they couldn't look at me straight in the eye) and even if they swab all of my things to check for drug traces or turn the world upside down, they couldn't get anything from me and after about half an hour they finally said "Welcome to Sydney and enjoy your stay here". Yeah right.

To make matters worse, on my flight back to Singapore, I was still, unbelievably, got picked by "random" (that's what I was told) to be checked again by the immigration officers. They swabbed my things and scanned my hands to check for any trace of drugs again. But this time it was a bit different, as the two officers were trying to be a bit more "friendly", I thought maybe to make me feel at ease. So they were being chatty and I would have been convinced that their friendliness could be sincere so I had cheerfully conversed with them until one asked if I had a boyfriend in Australia and when I said no, one jokingly said when I go back there he'll show me around and find me a boyfriend. I wouldn't have been offended have he not gave away his real thinking when he said with a wide smile "I will find you a rich boyfriend and then you can pay me 2 million dollars commission". That made the smile on my face disappear, I paused, collected my things and I said "For me, it's not really at all about the money".Then he said "Yeah, it should be about the heart, shouldn't it?". I answered "Yes, exactly." I found it truly insulting.

I really wanted to forget about those bad experiences because I didn't want it to spoil my trip. But it made a big impression on me, and it was hard to recover. It didn't even help that during the days when I was traversing the streets of Sydney by myself, I never got a warm smile or nice encounter with a local. I only got strange looks from people. Maybe I am just being paranoid when I say I was not being given the same treatment as anyone else, but I suppose when I smiled at the people sitting in the train when I was trying to pass through to sit on the vacant seat in between them and they did not bother to move and I had to squeeze myself in, there was no relation to when they moved over when a white Aussie guy squeezed in and actually even exchanged some greetings with each other?

I don't even want to write about these experiences because I don't want to speak ill about a country, especially since my friend (from gradeschool who invited me over to visit) and his family (Filipinos who migrated to Australia and are now citizens there) have been so nice to me. They have a good life there and I know that they love Australia and proud of it and I know my friend wanted me to see it the way he does but unfortunately I could not.

I feel sad to be even be writing about this actually, because I would like to remember only the good things about my travels and write only about the beautiful things (I do am going to try to do some travel blog about Australia) but I also feel that I have to voice this out to be true to myself and for everyone who has chosen to be mum about a similar thing they might have experienced. I have heard stories about Australia being racist but I still went there taking this thought away to avoid prejudice and I was hopeful to even disprove it, because they said it is like New Zealand and since I only had good memories from my trip to New Zealand earlier this same year, I also had the hopes of bringing back with me only nice stories about this beautiful land down under. But while I do confirm how beautiful the place is, I could only also say that for me, the real beauty of a place lies on how it welcomes the beholders, where it doesn't matter if your skin is not white and your hair and eyes are black.

The aboriginals of Australia are the original inhabitants of this land, thousands of years way before the British settled and conquered the land. The aboriginals have tanned skin, black hair and black eyes...but now I understand why when we say Australia we think about white people in safari and outback attires.

I just wanna say...

..that I love Changi airport and I am glad to be back in Singapore!

Mother Packer

I am not a good packer. I just can't seem to be patient enough or rather I'm not meticulous enough to make my things neatly arranged in my bag(s). We know that the way you arrange things in your bag is essential in placing your things in the correct way, meaning, you avoid any broken things, leaking lotions, shampoos and other liquid stuff, and most of all, maximing the space. But really, I just do not enjoy packing. I like the idea of packing because it means I will be on travel (and I loooooove to travel). However, I tell you that for me, packing and traveling are two separate things!!!

My mother, on the other hand, is a very good packer. Really, she is amazing with packing stuff, she is so patient with fitting things and it just seems natural for her to stuff things together like perfectly stacked pieces of a 3D puzzle. I'm not kidding! You should see her do it, I'm sure you will be amazed too. But it is not a wonder that she has this skill, as I think she has inherited this from her father. I had always enjoyed watching my grandpa stuff things in the trunk of the car when I was a child. He could put everything there in amazing order: bags, bottles of vinegar, extra gasoline, and a sack of rice altogether.

Anyway, I've just finished packing my stuff. I actually started packing last Monday and I think finally I am seeing some improvements with my packing skill. I am a little proud of how my things are neatly arranged in my little red luggage which is just cabin size (but which I always check in) and my little purple backpack for my carry-on. Would you believe I was able to fit 9 outfits, 2 pairs of shoes, electronic thingys, my toiletries, and everything else for my 9-day vacation. Woohoo!!! :) *bow* (may i just say though that a big trick that I discovered about it is that the materials of the clothes matter a lot! Since it is spring to where I'm going to, I didn't have to bring thick clothes, hehehe *wink*wink ;)

Okidoki, it's time to go to the airport....the coffee fairy is off to another adventure!!! woot! woot!

Fishbowl or ocean?

When I was a child, my maternal grandfather would usually take me and my sisters to the countryside to spend summer vacation with them, usually for a couple of weeks or so. I liked going to the province with them, I enjoyed the time playing with my sisters and cousins. But there was this certain feeling I felt during the night, when we've had dinner and we were just inside the house and not allowed to go out anymore. We'd stay in the living room and let a couple of hours to pass by before going to bed. We watched television, usually the night news that my grandpa watched. Then that feeling will hit me, the feeling of missing home, of missing my parents, of missing the noisy streets, of missing my little bed at the corner of the room I share with my sisters.

Tonight as I watched television, that familiar feeling came creeping up to me. Yes, I have been getting homesick the past few days. I don't want to go to work, it does not make sense. I just want to go home and be with my family, speak my native language, see my friends, see the familiar streets I grew up to, eat street foods and homecooked foods.

I am surprised I am feeling like this, missing home so much that I am even considering going home for good. Amazing that now it is one of the options I am considering...although I don't really know...where should I really be?

It's been almost a year since I pondered about which was better, being in a fishbowl or in a vast ocean. Why am I still asking the same question up to now?

It's crazy lah!

This afternoon I was at my desk in the office, staring blankly at my computer screen and muttering (more of groaning actually) to myself aloud:

"I'm going to be homeless..."

My French colleague who was seated at the desk across mine answered:

"Me too."

I thought he was just being sympathetic so I said:

"Huh? My rent is increasing 100% ! "

He answered:

"Mine by 280%! "

Ooops, I rest my case.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the percentage you are seeing are not exaggerations but are actual rates of the increase in the rent of apartments here in Singapore. And it is not just happening in the city prime areas but all over the country. Crazy, isn't it? The rent here is already expensive to begin with so imagine increasing it more to 100%. Some studies say that cost of living here now is even more expensive than New York City. Tsk tsk tsk.

It's like driving you away from Singapore...

Driving me away...

Hmmm....

Is this a sign?

Yahoo dedma

I guess even my yahoo avatar got tired and called it quits. Eversince I changed my Yahoo avatar to this seemed to be lost in the subway girl some months ago, it has stopped having emotions. You know, when you chat on yahoo messenger, the avatar is supposed to change emotions -- when you type hahaha or put a happy smiley, the avatar is supposed to laugh and similarly when you type huhuhu or put a sad smiley, the avatar is supposed to frown. But mine just stopped changing emotions. It just remained with that blank look no matter how many hahahas or huhuhus I type, it was just purely indifferent. Dedma.

So I thought I'd change it, change the outift and background and save it then itwould be back to the normally emotion changing capable avatar. But noooo!!! It still wouldn't smile.

Finally, I've had enough and I just selected and set it to very happy mode to keep my avatar continuously jolly. Talk about forcing happiness...

Reminds me what I've been doing at work lately after telling myself that I shouldn't let it affect my emotions (that is, I have restrained from being saddened/frustrated by unfavorable happenings nor be excited/motivated by empty hopes) -- I plaster this ready smile on my face even if inside I'm just feeling...nothing. I feel bad for doing this, because I want to mean it when I smile but it is very hard because it should come from the heart, but the heart is currently under retreat.

Oh well, I am being nonsensical again. I just wish I live in the 19th century as a European aristocrat, all I need to think about is how to look prim, proper and pretty (where beauty is about having more cloth to dress the flesh unlike today where it's the other way around) and I don't need to worry about being single because for sure by age 20 I'd be married during this era and atleast during this time men were still majorly composed of gentlemen. There was no quarter life crisis and complications, life was simple.

Missing

Since it seems like I'm the only chili left who has yet to do this...

Directions:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
--> Least Complicated by Indigo Girls (according to the song "the hardest to learn is the least complicated")

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
--> So I by Guy Sebastian

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
--> Change the World by MYMP (hmm, this is seriously true :)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
--> Time after Time by Eva Cassidy (ooohhh, dramatic eh?)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
--> Bluer than Blue by Michael Johnson (aww that's so sad! maybe it means I'm blueming? wehehe :P)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
--> 10 by Mojofly (hehe, no title, just song number)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
--> Love Me for a Reason by Boyzone (aww, hindi nyo raw ako love talaga? :( )

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
--> Fighting Over Me by Paris Hilton (wish ko lang! haha

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK ABOUT YOU?
--> Deja Vu by Beyonce featuring Jay-Z (uh-oh...)

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
--> Sexual Revolution by Macy Gray (oo nga naman, may nadagdag daw eh! bwahahaha! :P )

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BESTIE?
--> Nawawala Bumabalik by Gary Valenciano (uy moomoo ba itu? hehe, not true at all)

WHAT SONG WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR WEDDING?
--> One Thing by Amerie

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
--> Anxiety by Black Eyed Peas (ahahaha, true!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
--> Waiting for a Girl Like You by Cobra Verde (hehe, she would be one scary girl indeed!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
--> Stick Around by Azure

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
--> If I Were You by Tamia

WHAT WOULD YOU BRING ON A DESERT ISLAND?
--> Through The Rain by Nina (haha, labo, kailangan nga ng ulan sa desert e)

WHAT IS YOUR PET HATE?
--> Please Don't Forget About Me by Ruff Endz

IF YOU COULD CHANGE THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
--> Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra (haha, promote flirting?)

HOW ARE YOU FEELING AT THE MOMENT?
--> Waiting for That Day by George Michael

DO YOU HATE ANYONE?
--> Road Block by RikRok & Shaggy (true, its a Road block to hate someone)

DOES ANYONE HATE YOU?
--> Overjoyed by Anna Caram (huh? overjoyed with hate? :P)

BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP, WHO/WHAT DO YOU THINK OF?
--> Mr. Jones by Counting Crows (aha! but why am I looking for Mr. Right instead? :P)

I AM...?
--> Lips Like Sugar by Seal (o ha! wanna prove/disprove it? haha :P)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
--> Missing by Evanescense

Going to the gym keeps me fit

Monday - I went to work carrying my bag with my gym clothes and shoes to go to the gym after office hours.

Question by 6pm: Gym or food?

Answer by 7pm at the Foodjunction: "Auntie, one carrot cake*, eating here ah. Xie xie" and after a few minutes, "Auntie one popiah**, eating here ah. Xie xie".

Tuesday - I went to work carrying my bag with my gym clothes and shoes to go to the gym after office hours.

Question by 6pm: Gym or tennis?
Answer by 8pm at the tennis court: "Come on, hit me with your best shot" (me saying in my mind as I waited for my 10 year old neighbor for her return hit :D ).

Wednesday - I went to work carrying my bag with my gym clothes and shoes to go to the gym after office hours.

Question by 6pm: Gym or mall?
Answer by 7pm at a gift store: "Hi, I'm looking for an elephant..."

See? Going to the gym keeps me fit -- imagine how much effort it is to carry my gym stuff! mwehehehe :P

~~~~~~

*Carrot cake - Singapore local food which is not a cake but actually a yam omelette

**Popiah - fresh spring roll which is another Singapore local food

Confessions of a drama diva (the not so light version)

At the start of August
It's been two days this week now that I am having a bad hair day but I'm not that annoyed like I would be if I were the me a few weeks ago, and I am happy that I am reacting this way. If I were, I would have dashed to the salon and do something to my hair out of impulse but now I'm just smiling it all away even if my hair strands are either curling or stretching in different directions that I look like I have not discovered the use of a comb. I know the right time to go to the salon will come, I just need to be patient to be able to keep on with my budget planning.
The month of July has been crazy that yeah, I've awaken a side of me that had been sleeping for quite some time - the restless, anxious and pessimistic me. I was panicking because I was feeling that things were going out of my control, things were not happening as how I hoped it would be. I took my job too personally, thinking that I could focus on it to divert myself from thinking about my personal problems. And when things got rough at work, I got tired of becoming considerate and I declared that it was not acceptable. I resisted everything that was happening instead of letting it flow. I wanted to get out, and when I realized I had no escape I got drained. So it got too painful for me, really painful that I mashed things, I didn't know then if it was my personal issues that affected my work attitude or it was the other way around, all I knew then was that I needed some appreciation and even just attention. I got tired of facing life's trials by myself. I got tired of facing life's injustices. I got tired of exerting effort to go after my dreams. Instead, I ranted and asked why couldn't I just be lucky like some people? I questioned the things I could not change in my life. I got to my saturation point. I snapped. I cried. It was difficult to breathe.

At the start of September

It's been three days now that I have been having good hair days. The right time I have been waiting has finally come that I had a budget for my hair.

It's was such an emotional see-saw I've been through for the past few months at work. I tried my best to bounce back whenever something at work puts me down but it was too much for me. At the start of August I thought I was finally able to regain my composure but I don't understand why so many unfortunate things happened in such short intervals that I got really, really rattled as never in my professional life have I experienced breaking down before. My job per se is not hard, it is the incidentals that actually that make it very hard -- the politics, the cultural differences, the language barrier. I don't even know how I could explain it clearly to anyone, but oftentimes I just wish someone could step into my shoes for some time to assess if I'm just being too emotional or I am being objective. But anyhow, maybe it was my way of self destructing my career because I came to the point that I got tired of hearing people tell me "ok lang yan, mayaman ka na naman" (it's ok, you're getting richer anyway") when I tell them I have my sad moments here in Singapore. Then perhaps it was also my way of self defense, after convincing myself that I should not take my good career against me because it is my blessing, I may have taken my job too seriously and got obsessed on taking control of it.

Many times I have felt God's intercession in my life, many times I have proven that God gives the desires of your heart in the right time. That is why for all these struggles and trials I have been facing these months, I know that God is telling me something, I do not think it is not merely coincidental for some things to happen when I feel like He is playing tricks on me. But what it is, I could not understand and I think that is what is making me very restless. The series of the circumstances does not make it clear what is the direction I should go. I want to ask God which road is it as I am confused. Why is my faith so weak? I should just trust Him and let go from holding on to my fears which is actually making me feel like I'm hanging.

I think I am at another turning point in my life and the turn of the road could be sharp that there is a blind curve that I was resisting to accept that I will not be able to see. However, faith is about believing that there is a beautiful road awaiting amidst all the rocky path along the way, belief without asking how, why or when but just trusting that I am walking hand in hand with the divine guide.

Everything will fall down into place...at the right time.

Just believe and breathe...

Confessions of a drama diva (the light version)

Scene 1

One of my favorite places in Singapore is that part of the river in the Central Business District that is overlooking the old Parliament building and Victoria theatre. There are nice benches there you could sit and just look at the river. I go there sometimes during my lunchbreak, I eat this sausage in a bun that I buy in one stall selling along the streets. It was one of those days that I felt the need to be alone and breathe from work so I marched with my food, sat on a bench and was decided I would make this picture of a dainty lady, sitting alone on a bench, eating her lunch and reading a book, and hoping that a gentleman approaches her to share the seat with her, they will exchange hellos, look into each other's eyes, and they will talk and talk and would not notice time passing by...

Ok, so I found a bench, sat on it and endured the heat of the bench that felt a bit like burning my bum (it was noon and the sun was up!). But not long after I took out my food and opened my book did two women approached my bench and comfortably sat at the open part of the bench I am sitting onto. I wanted to say, hello? excuse me but I am saving this seat for my Mr. Right...but of course I didn't, even if in my mind I didn't know why in the world they chose to sit on my bench when there were other benches that were entirely empty. All I could do was to give them a courteous smile. But wait there's more -- they took out their lunches out oftheir lunch boxes and happily munched and chatted away. Grrreat! A picnic! So much for the dramatic woman reading a book :( So fine, I gave up on that but I quickly had another attempt to do my stunt. After hurriedly eating my sandwich, I strutted along the restaurants heading for the coffee shop at the end of the walkway before the bridge. I could have coffee and that would make it more dramatic -- coffee while reading a book...perfect! When I got there though, half of the coffee shop was under construction, so it made it look like a deserted place as there were just a few people. But I insisted, and instead of getting a hot coffee, I decided to get a frappe since I would be sitting outdoors and it was quite humid. Oh yeah, I'm not a quitter. So finally, I got my frappe', got me a table and started reading my book. I've only managed to read a few pages when I started to notice that the sky was becoming dark. I tried to ignore it and continued reading my book, but my rational mind was telling me that knowing how the weather in Singapore can drastically change within minutes, I better admit that I was foreseeing heavy rains pouring down soon. Finally, I couldn't stand my instinct any longer, I packed up and headed back to office. True enough, while I was walking back it started to drizzle and a few minutes more the rain poured heavily, just in time when I made a few running strides (I was wearing high heeled shoes!) until making it to the covered area where I conveniently went inside the MRT tunnel that links the buildings underground and made it possible for me to walk back to my office without getting soaked.

Scene 2

It was another bad day at work. It was Friday and I decided that I would turn down any Friday night invitation from my friends if ever, buy some comfort food, go home, lock myself in my room, cry while watching my A Walk to Remember vcd then pig out. So at 6pm sharp I ran out of office, took the train going home, bought a 2-piece chicken meal at KFC, with side salad and cheese fries at the mall near our condo and walked home, and in a record breaking less than an hour spent I already was standing outside our condo gates when I realized after funneling into my bag for a thousand times, that I forgot my house keys inside my room!!! Arrrghhh! Whatta luck!!! I called my housemates, hoping that one of them would be on their way home, but as I have expected they were still in office and would not be home for more than an hour. So I had no choice but to pass time and I decided I'd just go back to the mall and watch a movie. When I got to the cinema though, of all the timings that would fit, it was the movie Rush Hour 3 that was available. Arrrghh! Was this some kind of joke? That movie was the last movie I wanted to see that day as it reminded me of a place which made me feel drained with all my patience and hope of warmth from the people in that posh and popular country. But I had no choice, I bought the ticket, ate my KFC at the side walkway of the mall and waited for the start of the movie. In fairness though, I did laugh while watching the movie, although to be honest it's something that you could afford to miss in the theatres.

Lesson of the stories: Wag na kasing magdrama-drama. =/ (Don't be such a drama queen).

Tweety Bird is coming to Singapore!

I can't wait for October! wahu!!! :D

I'm peculiar, dahling...

Each player of this game starts with 6 weird things about themselves. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well and state the rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Ok, I've been tagged by missy gclefchic and this is a long overdue entry. Most of my lovely friends have been tagged too and have already written their own share of peculiarity. As you can see I'm using the word peculiar here instead of weird -- wala lang, para pa-cute lang, haha. :P

So here goes:

1) I had eaten dog meat. Oh yes, I had and I am not saying this to alarm animal rights groups about a certain Coffee-fairy-dog-eating-monster. As you could see, the first sentence was in past tense. It was way, way back around twenty years ago in my province in the Philippines where dog meat had been a delicacy. Of course, being a young little kid then, I couldn't help but be curious and try it, it was served on the dinner table, anyway. Oh, and usually the slaughtered dogs were actually mad dogs, you know, dogs that seemed to have lost their mind, hehe. But well I stopped being amused by this practice after one day, I was looking for my dog, Runnery, (we have many cross-breed dogs in our provincial home and usually when there's a dog who gave birth, me and my cousins will name a dog for each one of us), and found out she was the unlucky pick of the day by my Uncles (sigh) :(

2) Unless it's a matter of life and death (ok ok, that was too exaggerated :P) you cannot make me eat with food on a trayplate, especially on a stainless tray. You know, the rectangular foodtray like those in hospitals and this is exactly the reason why I don't feel comfortable eating on them -- I don't feel comfortable in hospitals. There is also this annoying screeching sound that is made when the utensils slide on the stainless tray. Then, it may not be as evident, but I am particular with my utensils too. If possible, I'd like my spoon and fork to be matching and heavy.
Ang arte ko ba? hehe. :P

3) I am not ticklish at my foot soles. This was something I just taught to myself. I think I was around 10 when I thought feeling ticklish at your foot soles was a weakness and makes you quite helpless when there are people who wants to get something from you and will tickle your foot until you say yes. So I restrained the ticklish feeling, mind over matter as they say, and surprise surprise, I was able to actually un-feel it.

4) I am afraid to eat ginger or food with ginger because there was this time years and years ago that I had allergy attacks, as in rashes all over my face my body that I literally looked like a hag, and it was soooo painfully itchy that the only thing I could do to not feel it was to sleep. The only common thing in the food that I ate before the allergy attacks was ginger, so I concluded it was ginger. So initially I have avoided eating anything with ginger, but now I can eat food with ginger but I do not eat the ginger and I am still afraid when I accidentally eat ginger, that my allergy attack will happen again.

5) It makes me cringe when people crunch their knuckles. I'm not sure if that was the correct term but I hope you get what I mean, it's when you clutch your fingers with your other hand into a knuckle and crunch it. Ewww, the sound makes me have goosebumps.

6) I have a little red mark on my right eye. I'm not sure if this is a birthmark, it's not really evident on pictures but I remember having it since I was a child. Anyway, there is also one little thing about my eyelashes. When I was a kid the elders have been telling me how I had very long and curly eyelashes that to emphasize their point, they used to put matchsticks on my lashes and the sticks would not fall. I got curious after hearing about it and I did try it myself and it was true! Well, this isn't actually unique to me, I'm sure many could do this too (just remember not to light the matchstick, ok? :P), but I just found it weird how the point was emphasized. :)

Alrighty, there's my 6 peculiarities. Now I have to tag six people but most of blogger friends have already been tagged so here's what I'm gonna do: I'm tagging anyone who has read this and has not been tagged. hehehe. You're tagged!!! :P

Pizzzzzzzzzzzzzz

After weeks and weeks of dreaming about it, I have finally indulged in my craving tonight: Pizza Hut's cheesey bites fondue.

Ahhhhhhhhhh (scratches tummy) :P

I was so craving with this that imagine last Thursday I dragged three of my colleagues to the nearest Pizza Hut in our office vicinity during lunch break just because I've been craving for their cheese fondue pizza ever since I saw its print ad. We waited but unfortunately we had to back out eventually because it didn't seem like we would be accomodated in the next hour.

Anyway, tonight I was able to catch both my housemates home so with a grin on my face and batting my eyelashes I asked them if they felt like having this dreamy pizza for dinner. They both agreed so we charged to the nearest Pizza Hut and now we're all in a trance from being so full because we took the set meal so besides the cheese fondue, we had another regular pan pizza (barbeque chicken flavor) and a bowl of soup :D

There's just one little thing though, I think once is enough for me for this cheese fondue. Why? Well, let's just say that after dinner tonight, I was reminded that cheese is made of milk. (The coffee fairy is lactose intolerant, wehehehe).

*******

PS: I'm wondering if this product is available in the Pizza Huts outside Singapore, let me know...

~picture taken from Pizza Hut Singapore's website

House arrest

I've been sick since Friday.

So yesterday I stayed home the whole day to rest, hoping that I would recover instantly.

This morning I was already on my way to church when I stopped before reaching the gate of our condo then I turned back, I was lightheaded and I felt like I will not make it to church in one piece.

My tennis teacher sent an sms asking me if I can make it at 8pm tonight for tennis, I replied that I would like to but I can't..

I am just here in my bed and I can't go anywhere!

This is not fair!!! I want to go out! I want to play tennis!

But I can't!!! My eyes are droopy, my head hurts from this bugging migraine, I have a roll of tissue paper beside me for my running nose.

I'm still sick!

Aaarrrgh!!!

humbug!!! :/

It's alive! It's alive! Mwahahahaha!

Yes, my dear friends, as you can see, my blog has been resuscitated and is now alive again.

There were too many things that happened in July that it took me some time to blog about them.

But there will be more blog updates in the coming days...


Happy hyperday!

Woot! Woot!

Jazz by the beach

From my rediscovey of Sentosa two weeks ago, I learned about this Jazz by the beach event there. It's a series of concerts by different bands for each Saturday of July. So I made a mental note to drag my friends there for the last week it was playing.

So Saturday arrived, but from morning til afternoon it was very cloudy. The weather was so conducive to hibernating in the comfort of your warm bed blankets so I would really understand if the chilis would prefer to do so than go risk being soaked if ever the rain pours when we get to Sentosa. But I was going there anyhow, if it rained, my plan was to do some reading in one cafe' in Vivo City.

However, the weather had been cooperative and we had a 100% attendance, except for Aoisoba who was still back in our homeland enjoying all the Pinoy time she could have before becoming a princess of a leprechaun, I mean, an Irish policeman, by August. It was also a nice surprise that Omaritosan, whom I have not seen since he got back from his escapade in Portugal almost two months ago, was able to join us.

The event was held at the cool deck in Siloso beach. It started at 6pm but we arrived at around 7 and the sun was still up and was just beginning to set. The band playing was Singapore Airlines' jazz band. Their repertoi and performance were ok, although it wasn't the jazz music I was expecting to hear. Anyway, I am not complaining, it was a free concert and I did like the ambiance. I liked that there were beach mats and tables although it seemed like nobody wanted to sit in this style and most took the usual chairs and tables (including us).

We started out with one beer for each one of us..guess which beer was mine ;-)

Ooops, what's this little odd drink doing here? =P (yep, I had to still have my Coke light dosage, I did the same thing yesterday when Ays and I went for a drink in a bar after office hours and I had a glass of vodka tonic and later on a Coke of course =P)

Then we had some finger foods, some lip pouting lessons, more food in Vivo city on the way back, and lots and lots of laughter.

It was another fun, fun night. Must be because the moon was full. ;-)

The White Bag

I looked at it for one more time before putting it back in the plastic bag. I was still trying to convince myself that I needed to let it go, perhaps it wasn't really for me. But I thought it was! For months I've been looking for that perfect white bag and when I saw this one in a store, I fell in love with it but I didn't even buy it instantly, I thought I'd give it a test of time, that if it was meant for me it would still be there when I decide to buy it. Yes, it withstood the months, I never found anything better than it, so last week I finally decided to buy it. Call me crazy but really, I've never been so ecstatic about a bag, that whenever I look at it I just had this warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart that made me sigh and smile and admire my bag. There was even this one time in office last week that when I pulled up the drawer of my bin and I saw my white bag, I was surprised and I grinned when I remembered that I already owned that bag.

Off I went to the store, I told the salesgirl that I am returning the bag I bought last week because it was chapping at the sides. The salesgirl said it could be because it rubbed on my pants when I sling my bag. I wish she was right, I've been trying to tell that to myself too but logic will only tell you that it was not, because the chapping part were on the sides of the bag and these do not come in contact with any friction. Besides, I've only used the bag twice and it was not even a week old. I've had it figured out that it was the material of the bag and the humid weather outdoors. I remember it was the same thing that happened with an organizer given to me as a gift, it was from the USA, and obviously not compatible with the tropical weather in the Philippines. It took me sometime to convince myself that it could be the same case with my bag, since it was from a local store here and they must have considered that during manufacture, shouldn't they?

The salesgirl asked if I wanted to choose another bag or if I wanted another stock as a replacement. My heart skipped a little at the thought of getting another stock of the same white bag, I was sooo tempted, but I restrained myself and even if my heart was broken, I had to endure it because I knew the chances that I would have the same problem with the new stock was very high. So with a heavy sigh, I politely said "No, thank you, I would just have a refund." They gave me back a full refund without no qualms, the bag had a 30 day guarantee.

And so I am back to square one again, in search of that white bag for me. Sometimes I wonder if I'd rather have not found that bag at all, than to indeed find it but only to realize that it was just like borrowed for a very short span of time but was just long enough to break your heart.