I will never know

• cutie lawyer’s name, if he is an atenean as i suspected, why he got a really deep tan, and why he suddenly seems to be balding
• whether singaporeans make good bosses (we have a new one coming in on my last week)
• whether the curse of the vanishing CP VM will hold claim yet another victim… moooahahaha
• who in f*ck’s name decides on the editorial deadlines and why they’re so ill-timed (sundays? good friday? christmas eve?)
• when erstwhile office crush strawberry will decide to take that stick out of his ass
• whether i really was supposed to be promoted in the second half of the year
• whether certain officemates who are long overdue for promotions will finally get them
• whether certain soul-searching officemates will find what they’re looking for
• whether certain underperformers will continue to get away with murder
• where on earth that hunky, well-mannered, broad-shouldered banker from the 2nd floor disappeared to
• who steals the toilet paper from my locker in the ladies’ room
• what makes zuma's favorite daughter so godawful self-righteous
• the full extent of ISD’s snooping powers
• whether the supposed “personal productivity tool” will ever serve its nebulous purpose, or whether it can be converted into a tool of rebellion as my boyfriend suggests it can
• why bowing and scraping/excessive honorifics seem to be de rigeur office lingo (why can't we just all talk straightforwardly to each other?)
• when HR will get a clue
• what exactly i should say when someone asks what this company does
• whether there is really a mumu in the ladies’ room
• whether there really is a hidden surveillance camera in the ladies room, and if so, who is enjoying the view and breaking the law
• who the mystery ladies' room foot-flusher is
• who the next EBU loveteam will be (if any)
• who the new EIC will be (nosferatu?)
• if the purported "bright future" in this company that so many people are dangling at me would really be that

well, as they say: ignorance is bliss. i ’d rather scamper away not knowing than stick around to find out.

but…

I will miss

• my friends. soooo many things about my friends. makes me sad just to think of it.
• the stability of a regular paycheck – i am addicted to making budgets, although i throw them out the window from time to time
• the security of knowing that i work at something i am competent at
• working with extremely talented and intelligent editors
• office parties that spontaneously arise at the drop of a hat
• conference room surprises
• my 2.6GHz processor, which has spoiled me for life. much to marlon’s consternation, i can’t imagine ever settling for anything lower than 1.8GHz
• my internet connection
• my roomy workstation
• working in 24/7 siberia (a particular relief this past summer)
• lunch at the citibank tower cafeteria – decent value for money, since i don’t eat a lot anyway. will especially miss the leche flan, sandwich bar, grilled tanigue and plump, sweet mangoes
• expat spotting
• the view of tower one at dusk when i round the corner to paseo from my office
• the thrilling possibility of bumping into JAZA in a paseo de roxas underpass
• model-hunting and chortling over the precious hearts titles at 7-11
• saturday lunches at the parket (term i coined to denote the market at velasquez park )
• paseo center, where i procure my monthly magazine fix, plain cotton tees and various tiangge finds, and drool over get happy’s gorgeous trinkets (reminder to self: buy From Loren to Marimar at Mag:Net before i go
• the quick, happy stroll from the office to manila pen and old swiss inn
• stolen lunches – to record VOs, to hie off to glorietta, to have lunch with mae and various makati denizens
• the cute, clean-cut banker DILF at citibank tower
• the ease of intra-company stalking on Exchange
• the cheerful, deep-voiced pin-your-ID man who does his job with such gusto
• monthly avalanches of toilet paper
• comic relief from china

I saw the sign

"...and it opened up my eyes
and i am happy now living without you
i've left you, oh
i saw the sign"

tee hee. couldn't help the retro reference. which reminds me... whatever happened to ace of base?

but. this is for reasons that i've rehashed with various listeners over and over. and for reasons that the people who work with me know all too well. maybe more on this later. or maybe not.

UPDATE:

gosh darn. that there was the cheeriest string of comments i ever did see.

wonder what that says about... never mind.

Paradise at a steal

Approximately three hours from crowded, sweltering Manila is an island getaway where the seafood is fresh, the sand is dazzling white, the water is a beautiful clear turquoise, and good vibes abound. It is a getaway for adventurers of the 'strike anywhere' variety, who think nothing of hopping on a bus on a whim, armed with nothing but a swimsuit and a pair of flip-flops. It is a refuge for the low-key urbanite escaping the frenzied crowd at Manila's latest 'in' spots (the same crowd that currently overpopulates Boracay). It is my paradise on the cheap—Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.

Centuries ago, during Spain's colonization of the Philippines, Puerto Galera was a historic port of call for Spanish galleons plying trade between Mexico and Manila. Today, it is a popular summer haunt for young, middle-class Manilans. The opening of an affordable ferry route to Boracay via Mindoro has also made Puerto Galera a pit stop of choice for those proceeding to the upscale island getaway.

Life in Puerto Galera revolves around White Beach, where a significant number of affordable, frills-free cottages are available for rent. I'm often asked how to book reservations in Galera. The answer is, you don't. (This answer often leaves born planners in a cold sweat.) Upon stepping off the ferry, visitors are besieged by a number of resort owners calling out rooms and rates-the Galera equivalent of Manila's street hawker. For those who absolutely must have their fluffy bathrobes and room service, upscale private villas are located on the other beaches of Galera, such as Coco Beach, Big La Laguna and La Laguna.

The denizens of White Beach, however, are happy where they are. The white-sand beach has remained amazingly clean despite the tourism boom. Outrigger boats are moored close to shore, giving swimmers welcome refuge from the sun. These boats can be rented for jaunts to nearby reefs, where the snorkeling and diving are excellent. An ice-cold dip in a nearby waterfall, Tamaraw Falls, is only a tricycle ride away. After a typically spectacular sunset, beachside bars open for business, allowing you to swig an ice-cold San Miguel or shot of Mindoro Sling right down at the shoreline, beneath the stars.

Rewarding patrons
For the past five years, I've been a regular visitor to Puerto Galera, mostly during the off-peak months of October to February. People remember you, and reward you in the most unlikely ways for your continued patronage. While I was haggling with a henna tattoo artist, a wizened local masseur sitting nearby cut in. "Hindi mo na maloloko 'yan (Don't think you can cheat her)," she warned the tattoo artist. "Madalas 'yan dito (She comes here often)." Or, you just might get a special invitation to Lasagna Night at Italian Corner Pizzeria, a literal hole-in-the-wall eatery off White Beach. Home of fresh-baked Italian bread and crispy, thin-crust pizza, this bamboo shack is manned by an Italian adventurer and his friendly barkeep Josie, who speaks fluent English with a quirky Italian-Batangueño accent.

Aside from the peace and quiet, the prices are simply the best thing about off-season. Cottages are available for P400 (about $7) per night, four to five times less than what they would cost in summer. A full meal of grilled tanigue, rice and ice-cold Coke can be had for about P40 (about 70 cents). For the same price, a tall, frosty ripe mango shake is an inexpensive indulgence, especially when the sun gets fierce. Boatmen will fall all over themselves to sell you an eight-hour snorkeling jaunt for P750 (about $13), boat and gear included. A five-day stay for two off-season will barely reach P5,000 (about $89), which is what you would spend on airfare alone for Boracay. No wonder the place is a favorite of twentysomethings and backpackers.

However, while I am a fan of the quiet off-season months, White Beach simply explodes into life during the peak months of March to June. Makeshift stalls selling colorful cotton sarongs, pearl jewelry and beachwear abound. Henna tattoo artists ply their trade alongside local masseurs who proffer hour-long, full-body massages on the sand with fragrant coconut oil. Colorful friendship bracelets are thrust at you every now and then by the local children, who sell these to augment the family income. Somewhere along the shore, browned yuppies are setting up a beach volleyball game. And something about the summer sunshine just turns the water into an insanely bright, sparkling shade of aqua.

While prices may change peak or off-peak, the natural beauty of Puerto Galera never does. Neither does its appeal to those looking for a patch of sunshine and an easy getaway. Puerto Galera's turquoise waters, white sand and poignant sunsets are pockets of paradise that are accessible to all. Indeed, the best things in life are free.

-----

this came out in yesterday's issue of company's weekly email bulletin, which is manned by j. got a lot of good feedback on it, which made me quite happy. i haven't written an article for fun in a while. and the demands of this particular job tend to bury one's own writing style.

funny: j wanted to replace the original title "paradise on the cheap", which makes the place sound, well, cheap. at the end of a long day, these were the only suggestions i could muster up:

• paradise at a discount
• paradise on a shoestring budget (which makes me sound so poor)
• paradise at a steal
• puerto galera: paradise gets marked down (or with a markdown)
• puerto galera: the only paradise lowly copy editors can afford

sensibly, j decided to go with "paradise at a steal" before my suggestions got more ludicrous. thanks for printing this j. i owe you one, literally -- my article on bintan next monday!

as for the pics, you've seen those before, but i wanted to mockup the published layout as closely as i could.

Star Wars and my lola

my lola (whom we call nanay) is turning 93 in september. i am especially proud of the fact that, despite reaching this venerable old age, she is still quite sharp. plus she can be really funny without trying. this usually happens when you expose her to technology.

my sister brought home vcds of star wars episodes 4 through 6. (this was after watching episode 3, not in preparation for. she watched the prequels without having watched the originals. yes, i know. it must be a girl thing.) being some kind of special release, the first cd had a long-ish docu on the making of star wars, complete with george lucas interviews. as my sister had to make a bathroom dash, she hit the pause button on the player and left her seat in front of the tv.

enter nanay. she took my sister's place in front of the tv and looked up at george lucas, frozen in mid-gesticulation. she frowned.

after a couple of minutes, she began to giggle. my mom asked, "bakit po, inay?"

she answered tartly, eyes twinkling, "ano ba itong palabas na ito? ang artista, hindi kumikibo!"*

household full of females bursts into laughter. as you can tell, my lola has yet to become acquainted with a remote control.

the movie begins. after about ten minutes of sweeping galaxy scenes, i begin to wonder if my lola knows that man has been to space. she probably heard about it back when it happened, but that was thirty years ago and i'm not sure if she remembers. or if the concept of space was real to her at all, or if it made sense. she comes from a different time with very different realities.

and all of a sudden, at that moment, my nanay seemed very, very old and very distant.

so after all these shots of deep space, robots and laser-beam fights, nanay started to gather up her paraphernalia (brush, face towel, walker) and hoist herself creakily up from her seat.

"ayaw n'yo na, nanay?" my sister said.

nanay answered, one hand releasing her walker momentarily to give a vague, dismissive wave with her face towel. "hindi ako magandahan."

sorry, george lucas. wala ka sa lola ko.

---

another generation gap tidbit, also while watching the star wars vcd.

my tita raquel, 60-something maiden aunt, asks: "ano'ng pinapanood niyo, betamax?"

silence, as the prospect of explaining twenty years of leaps and bounds in video technology pops briefly into our heads.

"oo", my mom answers quickly.

---

and in case you're wondering: no. i haven't seen episode 3 yet. i'm waiting for all the people to go away.

---
*this is not actually how she said it. i feel like i have to say i'm translating from batangas tagalog. despite living in manila for over two-thirds of her life, my lola never lost the punto. she would say ari instead of ito and nakibo instead of kumikibo. she has never, however, uttered the stereotypical batangueño ala-eh.

An Ateneo survey

ripped from the friendster bulletin board. posted a kicking-self-in-head type of post earlier, but i lost it. glad i did because i'm feeling much better now.

i miss school. sort of.

---

What's your ID number?
991874

Passed or waitlisted?
Passed

How did you know about the ACET results?
i asked my childhood friend chiara (then an incoming junior in ADMU) to go check them with me on the day the results were posted. then i got an after-the-fact acceptance letter via my high school guidance counselor. i still have the letter somewhere.

Was Ateneo your first choice?
yes. i had been brainwashed by my sister since seventh grade. briefly considered junking ADMU for UP when i passed the UPCAT, for the mere fact that i thought there was no way i'd pass it in a million years

Do you know what your ACET score is?
they told us much later but i forgot the details. basta excellent yung english and abstract reasoning tapos very poor yung math.

What course was your first choice?
comm

Second choice?
commtech (we might have been blockmates, jayme!)

Ano course mo ngayon?
bachelor of arts in assembly-line manufacturing

Do you have any plans of shifting?
never did. when i thought of taking up music, it was too late to leave and start all over again

Chinito/chinita ka ba?
obvious ba, NO. what kind of question is this? dahil ba maraming intsik sa ateneo?

Taga-Ateneo High?
uh, no. babae po ako.

Did you have fun in your OrSem?
i did, except it was so freaking hot. missed part of it because it was the graduation of my playgroup kiddies.

Saang gate ka pumasok nung first day?
Gate 2, siyempre.

Are you staying in a dorm?
didn't, but always carried a huge bag to compensate.

Ever had an F in your grade report?
no way, i would absolutely die if i did

How about an A?
yes, at least one per sem :-)

Highest grade?
A

Lowest grade?
D -- in math 11!

Worst experience in ADMU?
a couple of broken heels, nothing really major.

Do you always attend class?
yes, like a good little nerd. i tried to cut INTAC as much as i possibly could.

What's your org?
ateneo college glee club for a SOLID FIVE YEARS! also did some stuff for COSA's mag, adDimensions, Aegis (the yearbook) and heights.

How many units have you passed?
um, all of them? don't know how many but max 21 units every sem.

Nangangarap ka bang maglaude?
no, but when i found out i would graduate 0.01 short of cum laude, it really pissed me off

When will you graduate?
graduated in '04

Fave subject/s?
doc garcia's philo classes, fr. nick's filipino and european film classes, brendan's art class

Worst subject/s?
math 1, math 11 and math 12

Fave landmark sa ADMU?
glee club/galian room, fire trees near the chapel, comm dept, manangs during bananacue time!

Fave kainan?
caf during freshman and sophomore year, caf up during junior and senior year, galian room in supersenior year when i had no more friends haha

How do you get to school?
commute to death. had to take the goddamn bus before the MRT opened.

Are you always at the lib?
yes, to sleep.

Ever gone to the infirmary when you were sick?
nope. only to get band-aids for the blisters i developed commuting in heels

Do you have a crush in campus?
utang na loob. i had at least six active crushes per semester.

May balak kang mag-MS, PhD?
nope

Have you ever watched a graduation ceremony?
mine and my sister's, siyempre

Do you know the "Song for Mary" by heart?
yes, i had to as early as freshman year because of glee club

Memorize mo ba ang Fabilioh? ...ang Halikinu? ...ang Blue Eagle Spelling?
yes. my sister took me to ateneo vs. la salle games as early as seventh grade.

Are you part of Team Ateneo?
god no, i'm the most unathetic person ever. briefly considered joining the rowing team with justine and anj, except we were one person short of a crew

Who's your fave UAAP basketball player?
never really had one, although that chris tiu is some kind of a cutie. plus anj and i were classmates with rich alvarez in math 1, and he was really sweet.

Ever had a perfect score in an exam?
i think so. as a comm major, i had very few written exams. had a couple of perfect papers for fr. nick's class.

Ano ang ayaw mo sa Hell Week?
lagi siyang kasabay ng hell week sa glee club!

Dito ka ba natuto uminom ng beer?no. but it was where i learned to mix silly concoctions like tabasco, hershey's chocolate syrup and vodka. and where i developed my habit of taking of my shoes whenever i get drunk (justine was my faithful shoe hunter.)

What do you like about our school?
a beautiful campus, philo classes, mark escaler and doreen fernandez, the wonderful people at the OSA and OAA, teaching people how to think

Ano ang ayaw mo?
a track record for producing/coddling spoiled kids who don't know what to do with their lives, a certain comm teacher who deserves to be hung by the toenails

Have you ever bought anything at the A-shop?
an ateneo umbrella and sticker for my planner

Maganda ba ID pic mo?
only my supersenior year pic. i already had bangs then :-)

Done anything illegal on campus?
nope

Bought anything at National Katips?
i bought, like, everything at national katips

Ever gone to Starbucks Katips?
yes, although i could never study there like everyone else. maggie, anj and i fed our thesis panelists with hot cinnamon swirls and caramel macchiatos from starbucks :-)

May nakaaway ka na ba sa school?
yes, that horrid little man in the library who accused me and justine of being bastos and making a ruckus

QPI?
went up to 3.9 one glorious semester

Scheduled maintenance, part two

no, my boyfriend isn't coming home again to spoil me. he flew back to lah-lah land last monday, leaving me to face an empty weekend alone. this after three weekends packed with activities designed to max out quality time.

so part two of scheduled maintenance is an entire weekend of "me time", which is one of the things that really keeps me going. being the demi-type A personality that i am, i actually get depressed when i'm not doing anything. so i think of filling up free time with things i enjoy.

provided the heat doesn't debilitate me (as it has all summer long), i am actually getting excited about:

organizing my post-college files -- mostly old resumes, job-related documents, and lots of collage materials that have piled up from recent trips.

writing -- i have two or three topics that i want to blog about, plus the puerto galera travelogue that i promised j. actually, kung ganahan talaga ako, j could find himself with a sheaf of contributions on monday. (oy pero j, wag umasa! hahaha)

singing -- practicing my solo pieces and proving to my voice teacher/friend na hindi ako chaka! my lack of practice last week was mortifying. i don't want to feel that way again!

weeding out my closet for the nth time -- my closet needs breathing room. my plain, bright-colored t-shirt compulsion drove me to pick up a few new ones (white, emerald green, saffron--yes, only girls describe colors this way) at paseo center, which wins the award for my favorite tiangge because of its proximity. i also picked up some cute tops at my new ukay discovery, makati cinema square.

reading -- chatting with my favorite book nerds maggie and gutsy the other night inspired me to hit the books again. my sister, queen of the fluffy paperback, lent me her copy of bergdorf blondes by plum sykes--a perfect destressing, brainless read. the first few pages have been surprisingly entertaining.

watching dvds -- i have a whole caboodle of dvds waiting to be viewed. i keep borrowing stuff from officemates but never work up enough gana to watch them. sitting in front of the tv is not my favorite weekend activity. on the list: house of flying daggers, the final cut, collateral, finding neverland, kung fu hustle and battle royale. i lent my newest find, the machinist, to rose this weekend.

planning out my 2nd year anniversary gift for marlon -- it has been conceptualized over dozens of trips to the ladies' room, just needs to be fleshed out. maybe i can shop for materials this weekend. (trivia: i've only given marlon a store-bought gift twice in over two years, including no-occasion gifts and cards. kinakarir ko ang pagiging girlfriend.)

going over my artwork -- rose and i scheduled a show-and-tell day for our stuff next week. i've been eyeing the InK site lately and asking myself "why not"? crossing fingers for cooler weather this weekend -- that would provide the perfect working environment for a new collage. or maybe something in acrylics. :-)

hmmm. this is starting to look like a lot for two measly days. i must be more type A than i thought.

maybe i'll just scrap everything and go to sleep.

;-)

Weekend indulgences

a choice purchase at mango. hello. i am currystrumpet, a spoiled girlfriend. i think the boyf would actually disagree, since i don't demand these things or stomp and pout if i don't get them. he just sort of springs them on me.

although the hat i'm wearing below is not my choice purchase, i had fun with it anyway. it's so stariray.

no autographs, please

chocolate buffet at the manila peninsula lobby. after two plates of various bite-sized chocolate desserts plus crepes, fondue, homemade chocolate ice cream, fudge pudding, a cherry chocolate cordial (served in a shotglass) and truffles, out came the cameraphone.

guess which one of us is the chocoholic?

tee hee.

on the same day, i had the biggest be still my beating heart! moment of my life. as we were making our way to the buffet, semi-blind me pointed out a short-haired skinny tisay woman to the boyf. "what a fabulous outfit!" i whispered. the woman turned slightly, revealing her true identity: lizzie zobel, wife of jaime augusto zobel de ayala (JAZA).

leche. kaya pala maganda suot niya. it probably cost more than my college education.

(fyi, JAZA is my destiny. not an obsession. my destiny.)

anyway, the boyf led me to the front desk, where he had to change some dollars. and leaning casually against the marble countertop, facing me, WEARING A TUXEDO FOR MAXIMUM DILF* EFFECT, was JAZA HIMSELF!!!

i cannot even begin to describe how starstruck i was. every step i took towards the front desk turned me more and more into a lead-footed, breathless, wide-eyed, blithering idiot (and the boyf into a large green-eyed monster). when i got close enough to actually see his face, he treated me to a regal, benevolent (if a bit generic, as in "i am radiating benevolence to all my loyal subjects"), richard gere-ish smile.

within seconds i stood within pickpocketing distance of my destiny (think how rich i'd be if i had actually picked his pocket). i probably looked very giddy.

he smelled very good. like centuries of accumulated wealth.

be still my beating heart!

*DILF - dad i'd like to f*ck. actually jaza could also be a GILF, or gazillionaire i'd like to f*ck. the possible acronyms for this man are endless.

The spin doctors must be working overtime

philippine daily inquirer headlines for the past three days (in random order):

Get Esperat slay mastermind, Arroyo orders
Arroyo orders all government agencies to cut red tape
Arroyo launches P5-M 'freedom fund' for newsmen
Social reform next on Arroyo’s agenda -- Bunye

such crappy headlines are a comfort in the sense that i'm not the only one who's overworked. in some stuffy PR office, the spin doctors are going into overdrive. and some poor gofer is furiously clipping her boss' triumphs from a stack of newspapers.

I had brain freeze for lunch

since my sister is off gallivanting in boracay until thursday (for free, the minx), i was the lucky homepartner who was tasked to pay her bills, all due today. so at lunchtime, i slunk down alfaro street in the scorching heat to line up at a rather dingy branch of rcbc.

brain freeze hung in the air like a wi-fi signal. there were signs that should have leapt out at me, but coming from a mind-numbing morning of uninterruptible power supplies, i was hardly in tip-top mental condition.

the prehistoric atm by the door was offline. actually, offline is an understatement. its guts were practically hanging out.

i stood dutifully for ten whole minutes where a sign said "line starts here." several meters away, two office drones sitting on a couch gave me a strange look.

after ten minutes, i squinted at the two drones and saw that they were clutching deposit slips and wads of cash.

"miss, nakapila ba kayo?" i asked.

one of the drones nodded, except without the downward part.

i paused. whatever happened to line starts here?

line = here. couch = there.

go figure. i sat down beside the two drones and tried to look apologetic. meanwhile, the three available tellers performed some top-secret banking rituals that took the greater part of an hour. i couldn't tell exactly what they were doing, but it definitely involved texting and hair flipping.

thankfully, my wait was peppered by cheery, nasal "correct!"s. yep, lucky me. game k n b was on the telly in the lobby. i secretly prayed for some interesting trivia to protect me from the deadly onset of brain freeze, which was assaulting me from all directions.

final round. kris yelped: "sa tagalog animal names, kung ang kiti-kiti ay mosquito larvae, ano sa ingles ang TIKI-TIKI?"

silence as the contestant, studio audience, and the entire rcbc alfaro branch pondered this question.

said the drone beside me: "gamot!"

silence as brain freeze tickled my nose hairs.

drone: "tiki-tiki -- gamot!"

pause.

"ay ingles pala! vitamins!"

then i think the teller called me. or the contestant answered "spider." or maybe alients took over my body and shot laser beams out of my eyes, incinerating everyone in the bank instantly. i'm not entirely sure. my brain must have frozen over.

update: thankfully, i believe i am starting to thaw a bit despite mitigating circumstances at work. i think it's because i'm listening to "all i wanna do is make love to you" by heart. with lyrics like, Oh, he did everything right/He brought the woman out of me, so many times, easily, and I am the flower you are the seed/We walked in the garden we planted a tree, how can you not emerge from a stupor and giggle?

Self-medication is good

Stress Rx

One hour of singing, at least 3x/week
my sweetheart of a boyfriend gave me his family's old keyboard so i can practice more often :-)

Post-office jog around the park, at least 1x/week
at least until mimi confirms our supposed tuesday evening badminton game

Full-color doodle, taken as a break from work, at least 1x/week
must... tear... eyes... away... from... screen

Glass of water, 8x/day
to combat bloating, which is another major cause of stress! besides, with this insane summer heat, dehydration is a definite no-no!

Serving of fruit, 1x/day
i don't know if fruit does anything for stress in the physiological sense, but eating a fruit is almost always indulgent and langorous. take a mango for example. have you ever snarfed down a mango on the go? besides, the sunny, happy color and the healthy sugar rush (they are just sooo sweet this summer!) are little pick-me-ups in themselves. long live the philippine mango!

Long-distance conversation with Marlon, at least 3x/week
uh-oh... now need Rx for his ailing wallet hehehe

and just for this week...

Step towards a major decision, at least 1
will there be more than one step? that remains to be seen

It takes two

j has unwittingly saved me from dying of boredom while waiting for punch-out time.

TWO NAMES YOU GO BY: deepa, deeps
TWO THINGS YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOURSELF: puson, indecisiveness
TWO THINGS THAT SCARE YOU: the dark, being widowed
TWO THINGS U NEED EVERYDAY: wallet, cellphone
TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS/SINGERS: annie lennox, the corrs
TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT THE MOMENT: jamaica inn, the power of orange knickers (both from tori amos' latest album)
TWO PERSONS YOU SPEND TIME WITH THE MOST: marlon (when he's here), acs
TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES: reading, singing (i guess sleeping isn't considered a hobby)
TWO THINGS YOU WANT TO REALLY BUY RIGHT NOW: shoes, new jeans
TWO CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING: music, publishing (travel/lifestyle)
TWO PLACES YOU WOULD GO ON VACATION: palawan, malapascua
TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE PERSONS: chris ong, pia (granted na si marlon)
TWO THINGS YOU DID YESTERDAY: cheered for uchenna and joyce on amazing race, took a looong hot bubble bath
TWO PERSONS THAT YOU MISS A LOT: patrick, eena
TWO FOODS THAT YOU'RE CRAVING: coffee jelly, kfc asian delite salad
TWO FAVORITE SUBJECTS IN HS/COLLEGE: english, fr. nick's european cinema class
TWO OF YOUR FUNNIEST MEMORIES IN HIGH SCHOOL: listing down ms. samson's grammatical errors, fighting with eena over a needle
TWO PERSONS THAT COME TO YOUR MIND NOW: marlon, gene
TWO ELEMENTARY FRIENDS YOU'D LIKE TO SEE RIGHT NOW: evita (i want to see how gorgeous she's become), chiara
TWO COLORS YOU LIKE: pink, turquoise
TWO HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS YOU WANT TO TALK TO: mae, cherry (to knock some sense into her)

Cramped

another monday like so many others. the day is barely half over, and already my shoulders feel tightly wound and hunched over. the small of my back feels scrunched down into my tailbone. and the real me feels cramped into a very small space.

i want to do a lot of things that i haven't done in a long time.

i want to put on my rubber shoes and run -- even if i'm not one of those athletic people who runs gracefully -- and sweat. maybe dance too.

i want to stretch out in a patch of scorching hot sun and close my eyes.

i want to lie on my stomach on grass, or a carpet, or on wooden floorboards, with paints and paper scattered in a wide radius around me.

i want to rub pencils, pen, crayons, oil pastels into paper the only way i know how -- impatiently and emphatically, seized by a fit of inspiration that exhausts itself quickly.

i want to sit down at a computer and tap-tap-tap away at the keyboard, writing about something that has moved me in some way, something that i care about or something that needs to be written about -- even if i don't know what it is.

i want try on lots of pretty clothes and waltz out of the store without buying anything. (mango has some great stuff in stores now, marrakech-inspired and very me.)

i want to think up something fun to do.

i want to dig my toes into sand.

i want to water a garden in shorts and rubber slippers, preferably in the late afternoon when the sun makes everything look like it did when i was a child. since it's hot, i also want to drench myself with a hose.

i want to run away. anyone want to come along?

Lah-lah Land Diaries: Fits of poetry

written on a solo trip to the singapore art museum. IMHO, the quality of the works at the singapore art museum leave much to be desired. i've had more mind-blowing experiences viewing paintings at the ateneo art gallery and the ayala museum. and i'm not even going to talk about the blink! exhibit, which was a bunch of singapore artists trying to scrounge up a sense of history. however, i guess i shouldn't ignore the fact that part of the collections still inspired me to do some quick writing.

--

flat soles tread firmly on gleaming hardwood.
echoes of past visitors,
of a thousand curiosities sparked and sated.
step forward, step back.
a hundred eyes roving repeatedly--
do they pierce beneath the surface
or simply sigh and turn away?

--

book of earth

(inspired by natee utarit's multimedia painting of the same name)

read me
i am your furrowed brow
your upturned earth
your dry summer months
blow the dust off my pages
and cast your eye upon me
dig your fingers deep into me
as if you were blind
and could only extract meaning
from peaks and mounds
ridges and valleys
read me
i am your home
buried and aged
in hardened sheets
and blocks
of ash
and
bone.

--

a quote from voi lang, one of the artists featured in the "faith and being" exhibit.

The thought that flows through the mind, which attaches it to emotion, is passion. The thought which comes afterwards, to release one's mind from attachment, is bodhi -- the wisdom of enlightenment.

interesting. passion as a necessary and natural step to enlightenment. how very asian.

South Park as self-expression

j pointed me to a cool site where you can create your own south park character. this was especially helpful in expressing my state of being after this long weekend. what a difference one email can make. Before this is me at 8 am or so this morning, one foot still on my fluffy pink cloud of a long weekend. note the (non-alcoholic) cocktail -- spices at manila pen has some fantabulous ones. After this is me sometime close to 9 am, after reading a brainfart of an email that made absolutely no sense to people who think humanely. actually, you wouldn't even have to be humane. you'd just have to be in touch with reality. someone keep me away from the paper shredder, or from anything that can inflict a long, nasty scratch on a very expensive automotive paint job.

Hindi ko ma-take!!!

katie holmes and tom cruise. WTF?!?!?!?! what remains to be seen is if nicole kidman will suddenly pull a demi and bait some young hottie. and if katie holmes will start getting as much exposure as that ipis-voiced woman penelope cruz did when she started dating tom.

constantine got the boot before scott savol and anthony federov did. isa pang malaking WTF?!?!!???! now the show will be so boring. i mean, i love carrie and bo, but none of them have constantine's personality. can they just like crown carrie already and save air time?

random memory: i had a phase in my late teens when i really wanted to name my future son constantine. (and my future daughter drosoula. just kidding). i don't know why. i'm glad i'm over it.

ang daming bata sa pilipinas. nakakaloka. i had to make an emergency trip to makati med during lunchtime. i went to a new doctor whose office was apparently in a corridor full of ob-gyn clinics. toddlers and babies were positively oozing out of the walls. anyone who says the philippines doesn't have a population problem is blind.

ok tama na. must de-stress. countdown to pampering is well under way.

update:

am getting paid for overtime at the office while waiting for marlon to fly in. note that "getting paid for overtime" does not equate to actually doing overtime. my brain cells deserted me at about 5pm, leaving me to stare glassy-eyed at an analysis that needs to be written.

i'm brain-numbed and bored. and i forgot just what it was i wanted to write about. don't mind me.

oh yeah. here it is. next week, i will have the luxury of a three-day work week (non-working holiday on monday, out-of-town factory tour on friday). instead of rejoicing like all other normal people, however, missing two days of work simply means that my deadlines just took two elephantine steps closer to me.

feh.

Scheduled maintenance

the boyfriend is coming home tomorrow for three straight weekends. hurrah! i'm long overdue for takeout from north park and yellow cab, for vcd marathons and shadow of rome on the ps2, late-night movies at greenbelt, lots of warm hugs and general all-around pampering.

also on the agenda for us is AAI's once on this island at the rcbc plaza. it's my absolute favorite broadway musical of all time. i played erzulie, the goddess of love, in a high school production and it was one of the best experiences of my life. can't wait to share this play with marlon. i booked tickets for opening night; to get yours, call AAI at 5365844 or silang productions at 7517647.

my congratulations and best wishes to G (nice to meet you at last!), and my "condolences" to J. you must be insane with grief. hihi.

--

different views of distance, from an article on long-distance relationships that J sent to me and charlie last week.

What's the big deal? - if you were brought up in a family where absence was the norm, it may be that periods apart are no problem.

But it's not for long - it might be your nature to look at life in the long term and see a bigger picture and, therefore, you may find it easier than your partner to see this as a temporary phase of your relationship.

most of the time, i'm somewhere between these two frames of mind. if it seems like i'm really strong, well i'm not. i'm just really lucky that i get to see marlon almost monthly, and for at least a week at a time. (most heard phrase from my acs friends: "ano? nandyan na naman si marlon?") another thing that helps keep me sane is that i really enjoy spending time by myself. and of course i've always been a really busy person. i'm not the type to sit by the window and pine away, and i flip out when i feel i'm doing precisely that.

but that's most of the time. there are moments that slip through the cracks in "me" time and "ngarag" time, when i find myself horribly lonely and the tears just keep flowing. but i'd rather not think about that.

Beware the reunion anticlimax - When you get to see each other again, chances are both of you will have built up great expectations of how fantastic your reunion is going to be. However, the reality often doesn't match up to the fantasy. Many couples feel disappointed and frustrated when things aren't as they'd hoped... remember, it may take time to get used to being around each other again.

thankfully, this doesn't happen anymore. somewhere between the first six months and the first year, spending so much time with marlon after his protracted absences was mentally and emotionally tiring. it felt like someone was playing tricks on my mind. it would feel weird just to look at each other, and we'd have to wait for our minds to catch up to the reality that we were together again.

while walking in the mall, i would actually stop in my tracks and look at marlon as if i couldn't believe he was really there. and even our face-to-face conversations flow like phone conversations, punctuated by the odd "hello" to mark the return to a previous topic, or as a reaction when one of us is teased by the other.

that said, i'm still counting the minutes until he comes home tomorrow. and already dreading the thought, after three weekends together, of goodbye.

Waaah I miss Europe

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Very Well Traveled in Western Europe (71%)

You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Eastern Europe (40%)

You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Southern Europe (27%)

You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Middle East (25%)

You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the United Kingdom (25%)

You Are Mostly Untraveled in Asia (17%)

You Are Mostly Untraveled in the Western United States (5%)

You Are Untraveled in Africa (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Australia (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Canada (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Latin America (0%)

You Are Untraveled in New Zealand (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%)

You Are Untraveled in the Midwestern United States (0%)

You Are Untraveled in the Northeastern United States (0%)

You Are Untraveled in the Southern United States (0%)

How Well Traveled Are You?

kakahiya. i'm "mostly untraveled" in asia. i couldn't give a flying fig about being untraveled in the united states.

take me back to europe, somebody.

I get knocked down (and I get up again)

got knocked out of orbit for the past two days due to the annual nasty throat infection. i'm rather prone to these things and manage to have one at least once a year. woke up with severe chills, a sore throat and a 39.2-degree fever tuesday morning, which promptly sent my mom into a panic. she dragged me to the e.r. (yes, the e.r. -- grabe ang mga nanay ano?), where i was attended to by dr gen honculada, former acs alto. small world.

ang mahal na pala magpagamot ngayon. leche. my wallet (and my mom's) berated me for not availing of my office's HMO plan.

spent the ensuing two days bored out of my wits, flat on my back, devouring old reading matter: six issues of my mom's real living magazines, many waters by madeleine l'engle, angels & demons by dan brown (after i heard about him -- which scares me, by the way, to read about his "crackdown" on liberation theology. what would our beloved fr. g say about his life's work?), ang mga kagila-gilalas na pakikipagsapalaran ni zsazsa zaturnnah by carlo vergara, and a bit of shiva 3000 by jan lars jensen.

i'm back at work, but far from feeling in tip-top shape. i can hardly look at a monitor screen for more than fifteen minutes (thank goodness for speed typing), and the office fluorescent lighting seems unbearably harsh after the shady, yellow-lit cocoon of my room.

on the bright side, i seem to have lost a significant portion of tummy flab, thanks to the sore throat that doesn't allow me to eat a whole lot of solid food and the meds that make what i little i do eat taste like sawdust. i think i would have lost more flab if my mom hadn't bought me famous amos cookies and blueberry cinnamon roll from old reliable saint cinnamon.

the last time i got a throat infection and had to stay in bed for three days, i lost so much weight that the mom of my high school best friend thought i was on drugs. a couple of days later, i pigged out on kfc and brought my appetite back to, er, normal working conditions. let's hope that doesn't happen again this time. after all, there is nary a kfc in sight.

comfort rituals for a fever: piping hot lucky me beef noodles or quaker oats, royal tru-orange or pineapple juice, skyflakes, lots of water, vicks, alcanforado on one's back and the soles of one's feet, an alcohol-and-ice water rubdown, getting bundled up in a comforter, sweater and socks. (oh and my lola trying to convince me that i am being toyed with by a playful spirit. hehe)

Lah-lah Land Diaries: Black hole stroll

i had a lah-lah land "episode" about singapore's giant birth control monument in the works, but i just don't have the energy to infuse personality into it right now. this 730am shtick is no joke ha. especially not after a monday night acs meeting that stretched on and on and on... anyway, so instead of venting about bad architecture and population control conspiracies, i thought i'd better focus my energy on something more pleasant.

one of the unrivaled best times that marlon and i have had together was the saturday before i left singapore to go back home. spurred to action by a week of sloth and gluttony, we decided to wake up early and go hiking at the macritchie reservoir.

yes. me. hiking. in the morning.

fortified by a quick bread talk/coffee bean breakfast, we started our hike by spending 48 years trying to figure out the trail map of the macritchie reservoir park (boyf: "wanna try this trail?" currystrumpet: "are you kidding? 11.3km? do you not want me to come out alive?"), ogling turtles, and grumbling about the 125,000 company outings/sporting events encroaching upon our blissful encounter with nature.

we ended up choosing a 5k or so trail that was the only way to get to the hsbc treetop walk, which was, silly me, the reason i wanted to go to macritchie park in the first place. after dodging a small army of sweaty singaporeans and hairy caucasians in pekpek shorts and wifebeater sandos, we were off.

the park is quite lovely. if we had something like that in manila, i would be way more physically active than i am now. it's a good place to take kids, too -- aside from being sideswept by annoying fit joggers, marlon and i passed a number of families with small children. there is genuine wildlife (monkeys, geckos and an intriguing variety of foliage --gad, i just used the word foliage), and the trees screen out most of the heat.

you'd think trudging for three hours straight would be godawful boring, but really, it wasn't. i think marlon himself was pretty surprised that i agreed to go with him in the first place, and more so because i was evidently having fun (aside from my few frantic huffs of "slow down! short legs!"). well, it was fun. i'll be a sap and say that it was pretty much because of the company. :-)

by the time we arrived at the treetop walk, a light rain was falling. all the better to refresh us sloths and scare away all the people. the "treetop walk" is basically a narrow suspended bridge of reinforced steel cables and planks that stretches out across, you guessed it, treetops. stationed at opposite ends are guards (rangers, whatever) ready to yank you off the bridge at the first hint of lightning.

after ten days of living in a concrete box of a country, the best thing about that bridge was that it was like a black hole where no buildings, no condos, no singaporeans and no malls -- NONE OF IT -- existed. all i could see was a sky that tossed raindrops on me when i tipped my face up to it, treetops that danced in the breeze, and the face of someone i love deeply.

marlon and i hung out and caused traffic on the bridge for a good twenty minutes or more, perusing each treetop and giving them personalities. we also posed for the obligatory cameraphone photo-op, deathly afraid of dropping the phone (see left). you'll just have to take my word for it that the greenery behind us really does consist of treetops.

then the skies burst. we hiked down from the treetop walk in an honest-to-goodness rainstorm -- my jeans were squeaking water out of the back pockets (i did not know this was possible). by this time, my opinion of my new nike cross-trainers (bought the previous evening) had gone off the scale as they were holding up fabulously, none of that irritating squee-squee-squee sound that comes with every step in a pair of wet rubber shoes.

a long trek out via a country club/golf course road, a shivering cold cab ride, and i was rudely plunked back into sanitized suburbia, yearning to be swept back into a black hole.

Off to a good start

i must say. considering the week that was, this one is getting off to a rather good start, because

i made it to work on the dot. transport strike, i flout you! this is really significant as it is my first day on the 730am to 430pm work schedule. people who know me really, really well will find it hard to believe that i asked to be moved to a work sched that requires me to wake up an hour earlier. well, i need my meal allowance, which has been denied me since january by a convenient loophole in the OT policy. and it only takes me twenty minutes to get to work. best of all, no elevator traffic. and i can skip out as early as 430pm if i want to.

i will soon unveil my fabulous new template care of the fantabulous multi-talented future worldwide opera sensation rina saporsantos!!!!! it's so me, i can't wait to put it up. such a wonderful surprise after last week's template fiasco. stay tuned. egad, i'm downright giddy.

i'm wearing comfy new pants from bayo -- cropped, khaki and pinstriped. they have seriously good stuff in their summer line, way better than the latest stuff from their biggest rival, kamiseta. my mom bought me some stuff from bayo and people are people yesterday, two bottoms and two tops. she actually bought me this shirt from terranova that i put back on the rack because it wasn't on sale, and i only found out when i got home. felt rather bad about that--shopping in my family is always accompanied or caused by some form of guilt.

but anyway, the new stuff is a consolation after my favorite, favorite pair of levis tore at the knee (because i have fat knees?). no cracks about how i'm so 90s rocker cool now--this is the only pair that i wear with heels, formal tops and office wear. *sniff*

This morning's survey

this from chris is rather good. i've beens running into some really good surveys recently. i abhor those taglish ones that have no concept at all and are written in bad text language. ("hapi k b ngaun? ano wish m?")

Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band: ANNIE LENNOX (I'm including songs from her Eurythmics days!)

Are you male or female: (Who's That) Girl

Describe yourself: Under Pressure

How do some people feel about you: Your Time Will Come

How do you feel about yourself: Seventeen

Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: Primitive or Love Song for a Vampire

Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend: A Thousand Beautiful Things

Describe where you want to be: English Summer

Describe what you want to be: Wonderful

Describe how you live: Don't Let It Bring You Down

Describe how you love: Money Can't Buy It or I Love You Like a Ball and Chain (haha scary)

Share a few words of wisdom: Keep Young and Beautiful

An ongoing saga of ditziness

yes, i know. the nightmare template is gone and i'm back to same old, same old. except now my blog looks like a mills & boon for senior citizens (large print edition). i figure i'll just stick with tried and tested till i can get things figured out.

thanks to jayme and the amazing rina diva who offered their help. i think i'll let jayme enjoy her palawan trip first. rina,i think i'll take you up on your template offer. uuy first client! (client daw?!?!)

right now though i just can't stand the thought of leaving my blog in limbo over the weekend. i'm off to tagaytay with acs, by the way. hello food and dvds. hello stormy weather.

--

"do or do not. there is no try."
--yoda, to luke skywalker

"it's better to be passionate about work and only be second-rate, than to be first-rate at work you are not passionate about."
--dustin hoffman, on critics' panning of ishtar


got it. thank you for that, sir jo.

Rescue me from my stupidity

HELP. i decided to implement a new template and am now stuck in some kind of template limbo/nightmare.

it's like a maze where the walls are closing in on you... ano ba, drama.

you'll see what i mean when you scroll down to past posts. que horror!

if anyone knows HTML, please help me end the madness.

Bookworm

book meme (was ist meme?) from gerwin.

(does the meme differ from the survey in that you have to be tagged to fill it out? in that case i'm missing the whole point huh? 'cause nobody's tagged me but here i am filling it out anyway. ergo i am sowing chaos in the blogosphere. nyahahaha)

you're stuck inside fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

was ist fahrenheit 451?

have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

oh lord yes. i bought madeleine l'engle's many waters when i was twelve or thirteen because the murry twins (sandy and dennys) on the cover looked soooo hot. one was in a little loincloth and the other was in an unbuttoned flannel shirt. rrrrrrarrr. (fyi it became one of my all-time favorite books. and i still don't know which twin i like better.)

the last book you bought is:

fast food fiction, an anthology edited by noelle q. de jesus. i bought it the last time i went out with justine, which was probably two months ago. it's still sitting in her car, unopened, in a brown paper bag.

the last book you've read:

a civil action by jonathan harr. not my usual reading matter, but my boyfriend's mom is a lawyer and he pilfered the book from her.

what are you currently reading?

this month's story on external cd/dvd drives. pweh. seriously, i'm not reading anything. i'm desperate for new reading material.

what will you be reading next?

jon diaz better bring wicked to rehearsal on thursday. i've been trying to borrow it, like, forever. also expecting a slew of fantasy books from gutsy's collection. she felt so sorry for me when i told her i've never read lloyd alexander.

next five books on your To Buy list

five lang? sige na nga.

1. the consolations of philosophy by alain de botton
2. something by anita shreve, my favorite cheesy writer.
3. the time traveler's wife by audrey niffenegger
4. life of pi by yann martel
5. something by peter biddlecombe, a comic travel writer i've been wanting to try

this list should reflect my current level of stress. it's all light reading :P

five books you would take to a deserted island

1. the giver by lois lowry
2. a very long book, maybe the name of the rose by
3. the right to write, a sort of writing workshop book that i saw on my mom's bookshelf. it will give me lots to do while waiting to be rescued.
4. the art of travel by alain de botton
5. a swiftly tilting planet by madeleine l'engle. this one is for hope. i may be able to use the rune and have gaudior spirit me back to civilization. heehee.
   

who will you pass this quiz to?

JASON! tag, you're it! (last-ditch attempt to play by the rules)

Another survey

from mika. this is how i like 'em: no silly rules.

i am: probably sick. i feel a fever coming on. i am also really disappointed as this means i will not get to go to the gym after work.

i miss: having lots of free time.

i want: to be back at my 2001 tour weight (and i thought i was a raving blimp. HAH!). i also want all morons to be wiped from the face of the planet.

i have: a possible raket (among other things) in the works. wish me luck.

i fear: not getting enough time to rest this week -- again.

i hear: the helsinki philharmonic orchestra under paavo berglund, playing jean sibelius' kullervo symphony, op. 7 part IV.

i care: i dare! i'm a carebear! (i need to go home, like, now.)

i smile: at the thought of marlon making his suzuki sounds.

i wonder: if things will work out the way i hope they will.

i love: dark chocolate, and i think it loves me too.

i think: i may be turning gay. natalie portman is such a babe (not to mention a stellar performer) in closer, which i saw with my mom sunday evening. she's even hotter than jude law. natalie portman ha, not my mom.

i always: hit the snooze button at least three times in the morning.

i am not: built for the corporate world. that means i am also plastic.

i sing: every thursday evening for two hours, and every sunday morning for an hour and a half.

i wish: the goblins WOULD come to take you away. right now. (whoever can identify where that movie came from will get to borrow it from me on DVD.)

i keep: half a kilo of lollo rossa lettuce, capers, part-skim mozzarella cheese and two different salad dressings in the office pantry.

i can: be loyal to a fault.

i can't: seem to stay on this goddamned diet.

i write: with a tinge of desperation. i feel like i'm losing whatever skill/creativity i once had.

i won: seven hundred bucks and a teddy bear at the office christmas party.

i lost: hah. you name it. the latest casualty was my beloved blue lisa loeb glasses, which i left at kfc glorietta. what, may i ask, is the point of keeping a pair of prescription glasses that you find in a restaurant? why not return them instead? huh? huh?

i smell: nothing. the air is sweet, the air is fragrant, and no one may pass without my permission! (yes, this is the same movie i quoted above.)

i confuse: important matters just when i need to keep them straight

i need: rest. and to be fairly compensated for turning my innards inside out at work.

(yes. it's one of those days.)

Lah-lah Land Diaries: Foodies on the loose

this post might as well be called "a culinary journey through singapore." hehe.

the singapore tourism board has made a valiant effort to sell singapore as a shopping paradise. as a serious shopper, i vehemently disagree -- you can find the same stores anywhere in the world, will less prohibitive prices.

in my humble opinion, the stb should harp on the food. and none of this fine dining french restaurant crap. a couple of days before i left, a slew of stb-sponsored articles about singapore came out in a few local dailies and mags. most of them talked about food that you can find (and better enjoy) elsewhere, such as french food, and were particularly enraptured by pricey "fusion" dishes at five-star hotels. oh please. how un-"uniquely singapore" can you get?

Black pepper crab (Jumbo)

yes, yes, chili crab is the crown jewel of singaporean cuisine (i seriously doubt there is such a thing by the way -- it's everyone else's best dishes slapped together). but what really does it for me is black pepper crab at jumbo seafood palace (east coast park and clark quay).

marlon and i were in a cab to jumbo barely an hour after my arrival in lah-lah land, as we had both salivated for black pepper crab weeks before my trip was confirmed. due to its legendary crab, jumbo has what must be the world's most elaborate seating system (complete with diagrams, pushpins and walkie-talkies), not to mention world's most harassed maitre'd. i tried to take a pic of her, but since it was dinnertime on a saturday night, she was barely visible past a swarm of crab lovers. the closest picture that comes to mind is the throng around the black nazarene in quiapo on good friday.

tip: eat with your hands, bring lots of tissue. and don't think for a second that the tea and spicy peanuts are free.

demolished black pepper crab. would have taken a picture of the cereal prawns as well, but those weren't just demolished. they were vaporized.

Grilled stingray and satay (Lau Pa Sat)

the lau pa sat festival market is a glorified food court near the raffles place MRT. it is home to a deadly combination: tender white stingray wrapped in banana leaves and fresh off the grill, fried seafood rice and satay. real satay, care of the dozens of genuine indonesians milling about. it's extremely hot here, even during the evening, so take a table outside and arm yourself with lots of iced water.

our suki at lau pa sat

yummy yummy chicken satay. marlon likes duck, but i find it a tad gamy.

Chicken rice (Wee Nam Kee)

wee nam kee on thomson road in novena (a hop and skip from marlon's office) serves "the best goddamn chicken rice in the country" (i quote marlon). try questioning this statement in front of anyone who has tried wee nam kee's delights, and watch the fur (yours) fly. the present prime minister of malaysia reportedly used to take the bus from his country just to eat here, back in the days when he was still a lowly bureaucrat.

i tried it. it's quite good, although not in the league of black pepper crab and grilled stingray. by the way, "chicken rice" is actually what we pinoys know as hainanese chicken, plus rice cooked in chicken fat. so much for "uniquely singaporean."

wee nam kee's famous chicken

Other faves

bakerzin for dessert. this is near the durian (i.e. esplanade) and right next to the bay. i could never picture having romantic candlelight dessert at manila bay (the smell). the bailey's irish cream souffle and warm chocolate cake make up for the fact that the toilet is just a hole in the ground.

chijmes just for the atmosphere. food is just so-so considering the prices. loads of moneyed white tourists around, which should explain the prices. props to chijmes though for showing us all a better use for convents. my old high school should learn a thing or two.

at the tapas bar in chijmes, on marlon's birthday

boat quay for drinks, touristy atmosphere and (slightly pricey) indian food. tip: eat where all the booms are eating, and stay away from italian restos. cross the bridge to have drinks at indochine, a lounge on the patio of the asian civilizations museum. don't worry, their giant couches will hide the old white expats from view. stars are overhead, the drink list is long and creative, the cocktails are superb and the jazz singer is pinay. urban bliss.

fat friendly kitty at that historic suspension bridge (what's it called again?) at boat quay

the 70th floor at swissotel the stamford for the view (and a liberal dose of second-hand smoke). sit down in front of the windows, grab a singapore sling, and see the entire country (yes, the entire country--it's that puny) at your feet.

Heaven rejoices...

...as it embraces its most faithful servant, while we who are left behind mourn his loss. i never met the pope in person (although quite a lot of my friends have). however, i was one of the millions who stood on roxas boulevard waiting to get a glimpse of him ten years ago, and who camped out at luneta during world youth day. i was in seventh grade.

(it was also during the pope's visit that i met and fell in love with the group who would eventually become my church choir, in hymn. in hymn made being a catholic real to me, and was the first of many steps that led to where i am today: acs and my pipe dreams.)

i ended up getting a shot of him rolling by in his "popemobile", and that was pretty much it. but there was something that radiated from him, almost palpable even from a distance. if someone ever needed proof that God personally anoints His servants, or that he touches, empowers and blesses His children, then i believe the pope was that proof. not only because of that indescribable something that people feel in his presence, but his incredible and unflagging ministry.

acs will be performing at the ailm conductors' workshop on friday, april 8. we will dedicate the performance to the pope. with songs like edward elgar's lux aeterna (better known from the movie elizabeth), john tavener's song for athene (sung at princess diana's funeral) and trina's tell the world of his love on the program, how could we not?

Word for the week: Sisyphean

Sis·y·phe·an adj. 1. Greek Mythology. Of or relating to Sisyphus. 2. Endlessly laborious or futile, as in:

"After spending ten days in Airconditionland, Currystrumpet arrived in Manila on the hottest day of the year to find the simple act of hailing a taxi absolutely Sisyphean."

or

"After living in utter sloth and irresponsibility for ten days, the prospect of going back to work seemed positively Sisyphean. As Currystrumpet later found out, it truly was."

or

"A self-proclaimed computer ditz, Currystrumpet's next assignment -- chronicling product development trends for motherboards -- seemed not only daunting, but downright Sisyphean."

or

"Flat broke and partially in debt, restoring Currystrumpet's denunded savings to their former glory posed a Sisyphean challenge."

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hello, i'm back. i've been putting off blogging about my vacation because i haven't had the chance to download my phone pics. however, i realized that i've been doing more "show" than "tell" on my last few posts. and that is a scary sign that doreen's former pet (oy, hindi ako nagbubuhat ng sariling bangko; marami kaming mga fernandez pets) is perilously close to death by creative starvation.

another thing is, i figured i should just write about something as it pops up in my memory. i nearly went insane backdating my puerto galera posts and trying to keep them in chronological order.

there's actually a lot more to write about singapore this time around. and nyah-hah-hah, i'm not going to give singapore any credit for it AT ALL. i'm chalking it up to two things: getting up early and not snacking. oh and over 200SGD worth of shopping vouchers. hehe. kidding aside, singapore's still not my favorite place in the world, but i guess there's something to be said about traveling with someone whose company you enjoy immensely.

upcoming posts will include thoughts on: positively perplexing singapore trends, the woodsman (starring my ever lovey kevin bacon), my five-hour rainforest hike, prophetic dreams about the perfect foundation, a culinary journey through lah-lah land, getting bumped up to business class AND MORE!

so stay tuned, ok? yes sir jojo, i'm talking to you. :-)