Just 2/29

I don't really have anything to say. I just thought I should have something up here today since it's February 29 and it doesn't happen again until four years from now. I wonder where I'll be by then.

Also, wtf sun?! This heat is coconuts! *headache*

I have a midterm exam tonight. Bye.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Random Rants

Jamba Juice

Because we need another brand of expensive drinks, Jamba Juice is here in Manila. After Hermes and the soon-to-open clothing stores of Uniqlo and Cotton On, it makes me wonder if we are still indeed third world. This thought was constantly in my mind as I was lining up for my own P100++ worth of fruity concoction at The Fort the other day. Partly curious and partly because I'm a sucker, I didn't mind the line and hoped that I'd get my money's worth sipping on 'Banana Berry' which came with a free 'Energy Boost'.

To be fair, it was a hot Saturday afternoon and there's nothing like a pricey, "healthy" fruit smoothie for a refreshment. I tried to convince myself.

When I finally got my order, I was delightedly surprised to see that their 'Medium' is the size of a Starbucks 'Venti'. Not bad. But when it came to the drink itself, well, let's just say that I'll stay with Fruit Magic, thank you very much.

Raffle Winner

We were in Mercato having a hard time deciding what to get when I got a text message informing me that I was one of the Volcom raffle winners. Since thee was a cut-off time for the claiming of prizes and I only had a few minutes left, I abandoned good food and my good friends for a bit and marched to R.O.X. where the brand representative was waiting.

Earlier that day, I had come to the store (and several others) to look for board shorts. This girl girl then approached me and asked me to join their raffle. There weren't any requirements. I just had to fill out the form and answer a few questions so I did it. As luck would have it, a few hours later, I was being asked to choose a pair of Volcom board shorts that I want. I happily obliged. The only bummer is I couldn't take the prize right then and there. I'm supposed to claim it at their office any day soon. But hey, that's not so much hassle for a pair of P3,000+ shorts.

Mercato

It was only my second time. Unlike most sequels however, it didn't disappoint. Mercato was bustling and as festive as I remembered it to be.

Aside from the variety of tempting eats, what I also love about this spectacle is you wouldn't know which to check out first, the food or the people. I think we can all agree that this fair is not your usual market. There's isaw and fish balls yes, but you know it's not the kind around the kanto once you hear someone say shit like "Oh, there's rice pala o."

Nonetheless, I'd love to come back. The vibe there is just different. It's like a nice block party. People don't mind sitting on the pavements eating their lechon or paella or katsudon al fresco. It's a sight to behold. It's good that they moved the location right next to the artificial soccer field. It provides a great view while eating if you know what I mean. They've also improved the restrooms which are free of charge. Also, starting this February 29, Midnight Mercato will operate during Wednesdays. Great news for those who have work on weekends.

I hope Mercato stays for a long time. I'd love to bring loved ones there when they come home.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Cry Baby

I just got off the phone with my parents. It has been a little over a week since they left for the US. It's not easy but it has to happen. That has always been the plan.

Naturally, I cried. A lot. In fact, I was already getting emotional even days before their departure. But I didn't get to let it all out until we reached that part of the airport where well wishers are not to go a step further. I also cried the following morning upon waking up alone in my room.

The changes are a lot to take in but like what I told them, you have to share your blessings. They are incredible people who have done so much for many and are on a new path to touch more lives.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Uncovered

All this time, I've kept this blog a secret from people I personally know. Slowly, I began to tell friends about it. There's only about 5 of them  though. What's great is it worked the other way around. I gained new friends because of this online journal. I've said it several times before; the ultimate goal of this is to have a personal documentation of my life the way I see it. Getting  followers and hits, of course, make me happy but I just consider those a bonus.

The very few people who have been reading this blog know how personal it is. I've shared stories including those that, maybe, I should have kept to myself. But that defeats the purpose. It's supposed to be a sanctuary where I can bare a part of me that I don't get to expose even to people who are close to me---no inhibitions, as raw and as honest as possible. It's a great outlet, especially when it gets too heavy. This blog is the priest that I confess to every now and then. Someone once said it's a part of me, and he's right.

I have considered volunteering my blog address to the rest of my friends but I didn't see the point. It's just not my style. Should it happen, I wanted them to find this little corner of the interwebs by chance or through an awesome phenomenon and not directly through me. Aside from privacy reasons, that concept may also be rooting from the belief that I'm more creative than that.

In a matter of 12 hours, this blog gained over 2,000 page views thanks to my stalking skills. I know for a fact that some of those are by friends. That idea got me so worried I was considering switching the privacy setting to 'by invitation only' but I realized that's closing too many doors. This baby, I thought, needs to try new things and grow. And perhaps it's about time those who care get to know me a little better. Good thing I'm not Gossip Girl.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

The Chuvaness Effect

Today was crazy. At one point, I was literally shaking out of excitement. Imagine my surprise when famed blogger Chuvaness herself confirmed with me on Twitter that it was indeed Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody that I spotted at the airport yesterday. She even DM-ed me. But above everything else, she also blogged about it, used the photos I took, and provided a link to this blog. I almost hyperventilated at EDSA when I saw the entry.

As expected, the exposure brought an insane amount of traffic to this humble, little online corner of mine. The number of hits went through the roof and almost 1,200 of the referrals were from chuvaness.com.

Someone from GMA 7 also reached out asking if they could use the photos I took. They probably didn't get my response on time as the said photos didn't make it to their late night newscast.

How cray-cray today was. Thank you Adrien Brody. Thank you CVS. It's more fun in the Philippines alright.

And of course, thank You for cheering me up. I needed that.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Another Hollywood Actor in the Philippines?

There's so much I need to blog about. I have several pending entries but first, let me share with you who I saw at the airport today when I picked up my cousin.

I was walking towards the end of the line when I saw a familiar face. Too bad he was several people ahead of me at the queue.

But because I don't have a life, I practically ran to where he was once done with the security scan. I made it before he and an Asian friend went inside the check-in area but I didn't get a chance to take a picture with his face in the frame.

Thanks to Twitter (@brodysnoop), my celebrity sighting was confirmed legit. Well, I believe so. Apparently, Adrien Brody has been in Taiwan and will soon be in mainland China to shoot a movie.

What do you think?

Should I work for TMZ or what?

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Don't V Sad

Unsolicited justification of being single in 3, 2...

Nah. Whether you think it's just another Tuesday or it's lovers' holiday, try to have fun. As for me, I started the day by burning a finger with the oven, having breakfast with my parents, and giving a visiting uncle a phone (myphone4s). We're off to Cavite in a bit. Maybe we'll have dinner in Tagaytay, I'm not sure yet.

As usual. it's Valentine's Day and I'm dateless and single. I'm not justifying that and say I prefer it that way and convince my life is so awesome because that's bullcrap. I might as well work with what I have and just stuff my face with buko pie later.

Enjoy today!

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Photographs

There are too many goodbyes being said. 

My folks arrived Manila today. They leave for the US on Friday. It's not easy, not just for me. Back at home, everyone's already feeling their absence.

After dinner, I saw my mom holding a photo album. She's going to bring it with them. Looking at the old photographs, I couldn't help but get emotional. But just when I'm tearing up, I'd find something funny. Thanks to photography, such precious moments have been immortalized, albeit on stained photo paper that smells.

These photos affirm my suspicion that my mother dressed very well back then. I think I got the fashion gene from her. Then that's my father (far right) looking way better than me and my brother. His grandmother was Spanish, I think.

Then there were four. I love my outfit here. As usual, I'm distracted.
 

Did my mom have a faghag? Or is he just a guy friend? He's on several photos including the other one at the top. Either way, I love my mother's outfit in this photo. So 70s chic with a hint of androgyny.

Then the 90s happened. Check out my bowl cut. Also, acid wash anyone?

Priceless.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Last Day

Greetings from my temporary workplace for the last four months. It's my last day today and I cannot finish this stint without posting a blog entry done in this office.

My mentors evaluated me yesterday---well, we evaluated each other actually. Unsurprisingly, my weakness was my PR skills. They said I need to smile more. Typical. It's the same comment every time. As for my strength, they said I'm dedicated to what I do and did challenging tasks including the ones that they know I do not enjoy doing. The most awesome part though was when one of them said I'm the "best one so far".

I'm not looking forward to going back to my other job at my uncle's office but I'm ready to conclude this internship.

The whole team is going out for lunch later as a simple send-off party for me. Sweet.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

MDNA

There's no denying that she's done better work in the past (i.e. Confessions), but come on, the woman is 53. I'm still not feeling 'Give Me Your Luvin' but that was a spectacular show. And oh, some giants won a game?

I thought the entrance was amazing (That head piece!), it promised the next few minutes to be a performance of epic proportions. And it was, really. But in the middle of 'Vogue' and during 'Music' I felt like she wasn't in the best shape, kind of worn down even. She even tripped at some point. Contrary to what the theme suggests, she's a mortal after all just like all of us. LMFAO was a pleasant surprise though. That was cute.

Like I said, I'm not a big fan of her latest song. Nicki Minaj was ok but M.I.A. was more saucy and entertaining and it's not just because she flashed the middle finger.

Then Cee Lo came into the picture. That electric, dancing teddy bear! He almost stole the show.

'Like A Prayer' was my favorite part. I had chills and after the nth time of watching the video, it got me emotional because it dawned on me that this might be it. When are going to see another Madonna again? I know she has a new album and everything but I'm afraid she's going the conformist way the way she did with her later albums.

Anyway, she did a good job entertaining the world today. She rocked that Givenchy. She  put on a damn good show and she's definitely still the queen.

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Hard Candy

Look what my FA friend, Rica, gave me from her trip to Austria.

So pink. You know you want one. :)

literarybulimia@gmail.com

Lez Talk About Boys

Sunday morning, I woke up at 7am to find 29 BBM invitations. It was so strange but I decided to go back to sleep anyway. An hour later, it reached 50 or so. By the time I got up from bed, around 10am, 71 invitations were waiting to get approved. I felt like a celebrity. Hah! It turned out my friend Luke, one of my very few gay friends, gave my info to some of his 500 BBM contacts. More invitations came later that day.

Close to a hundred men bothered to connect with me, no matter how meaningless---although some did chat me up. I approved all but only 5 of them remained in my contacts list. I deleted the rest and I'm thinking of deleting more.

There's also another guy who's been showing interest. He'd say hi almost everyday through BBM. I respond but with not much enthusiasm.

Oh, and remember that guy my friend Jeff is supposed to fix me up with? I saw his Facebook account and I'm no longer interested. Not my type.

What is going on? I don't know if I'm just not finding the right guys or I'm just being, uhm, too hard to please.
If it's really not that simple, how come others are able to jump from one relationship to the next?

You know, there are a lot of cute guys out there and a number of them are actually smart and even nice. But for me, it's not just about that. I have a confession. One of my most favorite things to do is browse through profiles on Planet Romeo (formerly Guys4Men). Oh, how fun it is to judge others!

It's such a shame to see a hot guy say things like "I'm a gay..." or write a slew of unnecessary and lame profanities which he probably thinks makes him the shit. And what about those who pose in their underwear like bad parodies of CK and Armani ads? Then there are those with that extra 'h' in their names. Mhike. Jhett. Jhay. Khent. What the fhuck.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, there's just always something wrong with these guys. I'm certainly far, far from perfect and a lot of people probably have a few choice words to say about me but I'm not striving for perfection whether for myself or for others. There are just guys, no matter how flawed, who make you feel like they're more than good enough for you. The question is, where the hell are they?

File this under 'Shit I Say When Everyone is Talking About the Month of Love'.

literarybulimia@gmail.com