The Last Post of 2008

Can you believe 2009 is just 3 sunsets away? I was planning to make a year-end entry about the most and best of the last 12 months according to moi but unfortunately I do not have the time and energy to do so.

Believe it or not, I just finished my gift shopping today, 100%. Jeezus. Buying presents for other people is exhausting mentally and physically. Sure, it is quite fun and challenging but not very much enjoyable when your time and funds are limited.

By the way, my self-indulgent shopping plans are officially cancelled. This motherfucker needs to save some big bucks. It's for something more thrilling and grand than my original intentions of circling Manila for some retail madness. I'll spill the details soon.

Until then, Happy Happy New Year! I wish you love, peace, beauty and fortune!

I'm tempted to go on an endless tirade about the things that happened to me this year but I decided to skip the drama. Let me just sincerely say 'thank you' though to the people who have been a good part of my year. Let's make the coming year a better one, yes? More love, great health and good vibes to us!

Random Rants: Holidazed

Gifts

Say hello to our puny Christmas tree given by my Aunt surrounded by humble gifts.

It's here! It's Christmas eve and I'm just about done gift shopping. All this holiday craziness is wearing me off and I haven't even bought a decent gift for myself.

Anyway, I'm excited to open the presents I got.

Becky's Kitchen

There were more people behind me.

I'm going to my Aunt's place tonight and I thought I should bring some food. I thought the irresistible brownies from Becky's Kitchen would be a good idea so I dropped by. Imagine how shocked and horrified I was to find a bunch of people lining up outside their store. It was crazy. There were a lot of cars parked everywhere and there must have been at least 50 people queuing to get hold of some Becky's Kitchen pastries.

It was around 7:30 am when I arrived and the line was already long. It took me about an hour to get my business done. There were even more people outside when I left with 2 boxes of BK goodness in tow.

Is it safe to say Becky's Kitchen has the most coveted brownies in town?

Seasons Greetings

It sucks that I can't spend Christmas at home. And to make matters worse, I have work later.

Anyhow, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

Yuletide Consumerism

If you haven't done any Christmas shopping yet then you're fucked. I did a little of that once again today and just when I thought I'm done... Well, I basically gave my friend a book she already has so I have to look for a replacement.

I had dinner/Christmas party with good friends from work Robbie and Jules at Italianni's The Fort this evening. We exchanged gifts and caught up with individual updates. Too bad H and Ellese couldn't come. It was still fun though.

Anyway, I had a major dilemma at Puma earlier. There was a bag I was dying to get. I actually got as far as withdrawing money but alas, the girls were able to convince me not to get it because (a) it was too big, and (b) I already have something else in mind to burn my cash on.

Meanwhile, here's some gift ideas and other good deals in Manila this season:

• Mango - I was in the Robinson's Manila branch the other day and you know I got uber excited upon finding out most of their stuff were discounted with up to 50% off. I wonder if Mango is ever going to have a men's line. Anyway, since I don't cross dress, I just bought a gift for my sister.
  
  
• Marks and Spencer - From wines and spirits (and biscuits!), to clothes and colognes; eveything's here at reasonable prices.

• Team Manila - Give a little support to the local artists. Team Manila has shirts, totes, caps, etc. with the unmistakable Filipino spunk. These items would make great gifts especially for relatives abroad. What I've been looking for though are their cool gift wrappers. I went to their Crossings Glorietta branch today to buy a roll but unfortunately they only have shirts there. I got really disappointed because I love wrapping presents and I've been planning on using Team Manila wrappers since I saw this entry from Chuvaness.

• Powerbooks - This gift hub saved me a lot of time and energy. Books are always great gifts. If he/she doesn't read then perhaps a hard bound notebook or DVD's would be good gifts as well.
  

Enough about consumerism talk for now. I've been spending left and right lately I don't even know what will become of my bank account by the new year.

Okay one more. There's this local brand Dean & Trent that I plan to do more "research" on. I checked out a few of their pieces at Crossings Glorietta today and I tried on these jackets that are really cool. They're not very expensive either so I got really interested. But alas, they didn't have my size so maybe I'll visit their other outlets soon. Check out Dean & Trent here.

It's 5 am. Good night and good morning.

UPDATE: It's 7 am and still no sleep. I'm out of Claritin and apparently antihistamine is no match to frappucino. Help.

The Rush

Christmas is less than a week away and the world, or Manila at least, is in a holiday frenzy. I myself almost cannot keep up. With all the gifts to get and the shopping to be done in the middle of the hellish traffic with very limited time, it can be too much sometimes.

I literally almost fainted today after lifting some weights at the gym. Just when I was done working out, on my way back to our unit, I gasped for breath and I was shaking. It was scary. I didn't know what to do. I just suddenly got dizzy and nauseous and I broke into cold sweats. My hands were very pale then. I was *this* close to asking for help from strangers but I went out to the driveway for some fresh air instead.

Thank god I made it back without falling on the floor or something. I did get really scared though. Jeezus, it would have been horrible had I died from that. I mean, come fucking on, I am so not done with life yet and I was in gym clothes!

Once I recovered, I had to rush to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) to fix some discrepancies regarding my passport.

After that, I went home to change and had lunch (at 3 pm), went to the bank, and went to Robinson's Manila to do some gift shopping. Most of the stuff I got are gifts for friends and for my sister. I only bought Bench underwear for myself and this really neat necklace.

The pendant is way cool.

Oh, and I met up with someone too. But he's not worth talking about so let's leave it at that.

I had a very much needed foot massage just a couple of minutes ago. It's the least I could do. All this Christmas hullabaloo is really exhausting. I still love the holidays though.

Hometown Hangover

Not more than two days after coming back to Manila and I already want to get home for more vacation. There's nothing like waking up to a hot breakfast and not having to worry about doing the house chores and the only problems to have are the outfits to wear and where to go. My parents' spoiling is one of life's greatest gifts.

Another thing I love about being home, and being in my hometown in particular, is I feel rich when I'm there because everything is so affordable. One hundred pesos can buy you a decent lunch and still have enough left for transportation fare. Then there's the smooth traffic. In fact, I don't even mind walking from point A to point B because everything is nearby and the air is much less poisonous.

(Casssansra, Ema and moi) We're okay.

Who doesn't enjoy getting shit-faced once in a while--especially when you're with friends whom you haven't seen in a long time?

San Antonio Resort - my new favorite place in Roxas City.

I didn't get to work out that week so I went swimming instead. I was with friends but they opted to stay on dry land. I had a great time nonetheless.

Pet-pet, Cassandra, Hanna and yours truly just before leaving San Antonio

This resort has an infinity pool. San Antonio is a couple of steps from the beach but the pool stretches out unto the lake where guests can also go boating. There's a bar in the pool area but it's unfortunate they didn't have some of the items on the menu available when we were there.
San Antonio also offers buffet dinners at night.

The location is perfect. It's very near the beach and the whole place is just relaxing but still exciting. Bars, a bowling park and other food places are within a stone's throw away so the area is idyllic.

There's a lot more that I did during my short escape from the metro that I now miss but enough about that. I'm back in the big bad city and I won't be able to take another vacay until months from now. Maybe I'll just have another date with myself this weekend and make use of my tax refund.

Speaking of taxes...

...would you entrust yours to me?

Hahahah...

Back and Busy

And we're back! Time flies when you're having a good time indeed.


My sister and I just arrived Manila through an uneventful 50-minute flight with Cebu Pacific. Thank goodness there's no encore of my lost luggage nightmare. Uneventful and boring trumps losing my things any day.

I'll post more photos once I get everything uploaded. I have to go visit my Aunt today and meet up with a friend of mine tonight.

Later.

Quick Update

Greetings from a Netopia shop somewhere in Western Visayas! Jeezus christ, finally, Internet! I haven't been online for 2 straight days and I'm *this* close to losing it. Anyway, it's nice to be back online for a couple of minutes.

I'm currently waiting for my friend here in the mall.

My sister and I flew in 2 days ago. The wedding was yesterday which was fun. I had a grand time bonding and goofing around with cousins whom I haven't seen for ages.

This morning, I went to the dentist and the dermatologist to keep my mug looking acceptable.

My friend's here. Gotta go!

Save the economy. Shop.

Greetings my dear readers! (Yes, I'm talking to the two of you.)

The rush is definitely on. My sister and I finally found the time to start shopping for Christmas. We just got from the World Bazar at the World Trade Center - Metro Manila and SM Mall of Asia.

As surprising as it may seem, I didn't buy anything for myself. The strategy is to buy gifts and things for other people first then I'll dedicate perhaps an entire day for myself.

Those who love shopping and don't mind to dive into the holiday retail craze should definitely check out the World Bazaar. Everything is there from food, to clothes, toys, electronics and home furnishing. My sister and I bought gifts like accessories, spirits, and kids' clothes and toys.

Just like every year, expect the place to be jam-packed and bring cash since majority, if not all, of the merchants don't accept credit cards. Retail spree starts around 10 am I believe and ends until god-knows-what-time and will go on until December 16. It's really worth a visit.

I on the other hand, have got some packing to do. I'm off to my hometown, the seafood capital of this third world, in 2 days to attend a cousin's wedding and for some needed vacation.

Enjoy shopping!

Death of a Stranger

Life truly is unpredictable. It's scary how life itself can vanish in a flash.

Over a year ago (September 11, 2007), someone sent me a message online. We exchanged greetings as well as pictures. It turns out he's an office mate of mine. I didn't know him personally but I've seen him around the workplace. I particularly noticed him because of his good sense of fashion. We never heard from each other ever again after swapping short messages.

Since then, through my usual web surfing, I found out the guy is connected with the local fashion industry and is a very active party scenester.

Then last night, while catching up on one of my favorite blogs, I was shocked to find out he's dead. Apparently, his body was found in his apartment a few days ago. I'm not sure what the cause of death is but it seems he was murdered based on the blogger's statement.

I've never spoken to him in person nor were we introduced to each other but for some reason, the tragic news left me shocked for a couple of minutes. I even got scared for my own life. It's really strange, sad and definitely shocking.

Condolences.

Hello December

Can you believe it's December? I can. I can almost smell Santa's breath in the air.


I just got from an office party called Back to Black. It was fun but some people may have enjoyed it more than I did since the food and the booze were free and there was someone vomiting in the restroom.

My friend H is expecting his long-time online friend turned prospective boyfriend from Saudi (half Filipino) to visit her for the very first time this month and you can just imagine how exciting that is. While I am very happy for this friend of mine, I can't help but wonder when something like this happens to me. He has got to be out there right?

Oh well, 2009 is a new year.

I just popped a Claritin and I think it's already kicking in. Goodnight and good morning.