Saturday Escapade.

Yesterday, the weather was nice. Too hot alright, but it was perfectly bright and sunny (no sign of rain) that we had to go and visit some place. Chris and I both agreed that we shouldn't waste a perfect not-too-humid sunny day lying around the house and watching TV, so off we went to Everland, the nearest amusement park in our area.

The adventure starts with the ticket. A single one-day pass that lets you ride anything and everything you want costs 30,000 KRW or about $23, multiplied by two.. well, you do the math.



Here's the entrance.



Cable car anyone?



Behold, the scariest rollercoaster in Korea built entirely of wood. This was fun though it scared the hell out of me!



The parade.



One of their numerous floats.



Here's the stage where the laser show and fireworks display can be seen at night.



I love how they added smoke here. If I remember correctly, it wasn't there (the smoke I mean..) during my 7 previous visits.



I find this angle particularly funny that I just had to take a picture.. Ok, I know what you're gonna say.. "Me and my sick humor"...



That's my hand y'all! If Chris hadn't been so slow you might have seen 7 or 8 birds in my hand.



We stayed eventhough it was so late to watch this.



That's all everyone! Hope you had a great Saturday!!!

알 탕 (Fish egg soup)

For some inexplicable reason, I was in a really good mood right after I jogged this afternoon. This time I jogged/brisk-walked for an hour and 12 mins (10 mins longer than yesterday). I wanted to go further but I was too damn thirsty, and since I didn't bring cash with me, I couldn't do anything about the thirst that gets worse with every labored breath I took while jogging. When I arrived home, I turned the aircon in full blast, and emptied a huge bottle of Minute Maid.

I was in the shower when Chris called asking if I want to eat outside for dinner. I could sense he's probably tired of eating the same old stuff in their cafeteria, and that he wanted to eat something special. Like I said, I'm in such a good mood so I told him instead of going to a restaurant, I'd cook something healthier at home.

I know how much he loves Al-tang 알 탕 (spicy fish egg soup), so I decided to try and impress him. I hurried to go to the supermarket to get fish eggs, some radish, leeks, zucchini, and clams. Then I put it all in the pot, together with gochujang and some other spices. Here's how it looked.



It turned out to be really good. I'm even surprised I could cook something that good. Chris liked it a lot and requested I make it again soon!

Lunch for the Lazy.

Lunch was the first meal I had here without Chris. Whenever he's at work, I can eat any food I want. But when he's here, I'm forced to cook. Unlike Chris who needs rice with every meal, I can pretty much survive without one. In fact, when there was a rice shortage back home, we weren't affected cause my family aren't fond of cooking rice and elaborate dishes.

I scoured the fridge to make this big, fat sandwich. I just threw some lettuce, a big chunk of ham, tomatoes, mayo, and 2 slices of cheese (2 cause the cheese here is a bit bland for my taste). I ate this with a cold glass of orange juice with lots of ice. I can't see any reason why I should sweat in the kitchen cooking a decent meal (in this very hot weather), when I can make a delicious meal like this in less than two minutes!

Arrival.

So I departed from Manila early this week, and the sky was pretty clear back then. I was alone as usual so I had to carry the luggage all by myself. After 20 long minutes of standing under the scorching heat and humidity outside our building, a cab (as old my dad) stopped. Instinctively, the driver stared at my luggage and demanded I pay 350 peso. Normally I pay 180 peso to get to the airport, but since the driver is old and his equally ancient cab badly needs a carwash, I didn't mind paying for extra.

My flight was at 4, but I was already at the airport before 2 pm. Just as I fell in line towards the check-in counter, the rain poured heavily. A few strong thunders later, the lights went out. It's really weird having to experience a power outage in an airport of all places. A few sparks later, and the generator kicked in full throttle. I sighed in relief as the line inched towards the front. Then the power came back, then went off again.. It happened a few more times before the generator broke, so they had to use a spare one whose only capable of running the computers. It was dark and a bit difficult to move from place to place (could it be any more miserable?!). I would've appreciated if they lit some candles, though seeing that would've been so weird.



When I was finally inside the plane, I saw an old couple whose faces were utterly familiar. I remember the old man was my grade-school teacher, and he was with his wife who was also a teacher at that school. I introduced myself to them, and like what I expected they couldn't remember me (well, who remembers a random school girl with mediocre grades anyway?). I could tell the old man was in full chat mode as he kept on asking me so many stuff about Korea. Just before the plane took off, I went to my seat and took a rest. It's lucky that I got the window seat and nobody was sitting beside me. I took some pictures as the plane flew high above the clouds before I dozed off.



The next thing I knew, the plane landed at Incheon airport.



The old couple caught up with me to chat some more. After exchanging phone numbers, we took a picture before finally saying goodbye. I'm not familiar with the girl they're with (she just sat right next to them at the plane). All I know is that she's a 19 year old girl (still a kid) who recently married a 41 year old Korean man. She's pretty nice though, and I admire her for taking everything in as one big adventure.. ;-) I would've been scared as hell if it happened to me.



Chris was still at work so he wasn't there to pick me up. I arrived home past ten and I was tired as hell from dragging my 15 kg luggage from the stop to the apartment. Chris was at the door shortly after I stowed everything in their places. I don't know but as soon as I saw him standing by the door, I didn't feel excited at all. He just stood there all white and slim, and ogling me. He looked as if he has aged from the last time I saw him. He's sporting a new haircut which I hate so much. Gone are the days where he could pull off any pop-star haircut and look cool. Now he looks every inch an ajusshi. He said he got us a room at Noblesse and we're gonna be staying there for two days. It was our anniversary the day after that and we spent it watching Transformers (which was so boring), eating Papa John's pizza, and playing scrabble inside the hotel room.

Monsters at Fiamma.

Saturday night.. It was drizzling a little, and the ground was perpetually wet from the rain (god I hate June). Like most days, Makati remained a swirl of nightlife with the traffic at crawl, and the streets filled with pedestrians and parked cars. At half past 10, the night was very much a pup for so many people there.

I met 3 of my closest girlfriends at Fiamma for a night of boozing and catching up. I'm scheduled to leave for Korea very soon so the meeting also served as some sort of a 'despedida' for me. I've never been to Fiamma before, I just heard a few things from my friends who frequent the place (heard that the place is brimming with super-hot guys, not that I care). I didn't know that it's a bit isolated, and we had to do a little bit of walking. I made an extra effort to dress up. By this I mean a flowy skirt, a satiny-lacy pink top (which is too girly for everyone's standard), and an ill-fitting but sexy stilletos.

We arrived early so we got one of the best tables in the house. A little after midnight, our tables were filled with endless stream of booze, cigarettes, finger foods, and scandalously-named cocktails. By this time, the club turned smoky and sweltering, packed wall-to-wall with hot and sweaty people, mostly in their twenties. The DJ played a lot of house music which I liked very much...

When the crowd got unbearably rowdy, and my feet was all bloody and screaming for band-aid, we decided to go. We drove aimlessly for sometime to chat inside the car till someone got thirsty, and we headed to Ministop. One went out to buy a few things. I had snapple and a donut, friend A and B had ice cream, and C ate one large siopao. When C accidentally scratched her eyes and lost one of her colored contacts (it aint disposable), she checked herself in the mirror and laughed how unbelievably strange she looks. We each went through our bags in search for mirrors, only to find we all looked ridiculously messed up. I looked raccoon-ish with my mascara clumped and smeared. Friend A still had lipstick on her teeth even after ice cream. Friend B who had her curly hair ironed out earlier turned afro-ish with hair frizzy as hell. Well C, she wore gray contacts and losing one meant she looked straight out of a horror movie!

Friend A pulled us out of the car to take pictures of our freaky faces. You could imagine how scary the picture turned out to be, and there's no way I'm gonna post that here for all the world to see. In the midst of deafening laughs, we all agreed that we now have something that'll bond us forever, and something that we could use to blackmail each other if anyone of us gets famous!

Travelogue - Sagada

A signal no. 2 typhoon didn't stop me and my friend from visiting Sagada last year. There were several landslides, and road accidents along the way that made the usual 12-hour ride from Manila to Bontoc, a grueling 15 hours. Imagine sitting in a very cramped bus with not enough leg room (filled with bags, containers, boxes of vegetables, and a few noisy chickens) for 15 hours. My body was aching all over, and my butt sore, and if not for the decadent buko pie we bought somewhere in Nueva Vizcaya, I would've gone straight to a mental institution. We arrived in Bontoc around 12 in the afternoon, exasperated, and terriblly hungry (we only had buko pie all throughout the insanely long bus ride). It took another hour of incredibly bumpy jeepney ride from Bontoc to Sagada, but it's all worth the pain (in the butt) when you get to see the mountains covered in lush green trees, and some, slightly covered in mid-afternoon fog. There were a number of rivers we passed by, all seemed clean and pristine. I strained my neck from gazing at the wonderful scenery for the whole hour.

Sagada is a very small village where everyone seems to know one another. The villagers talk in English (that could put those who work at call centers to shame) as if it's their native tongue. The air is a bit damp and cool against the skin, but except for a few tricycle fumes, the air seemed perfectly fresh. After getting a room at St. Joseph's, we headed to Yoghurt House, a small but famous restaurant in the area. We had pancit, club sandwich, and spicy chicken curry in huge servings, and for dessert we tried their famous home-made yoghurt which is too sour for my taste. We were tired from the trip and couldn't do much of sightseeing, so after visiting the famous Episcopalian church, we called it a day.

The weather was perfect the next day, we got to see the weaving place, hanging coffins, and the waterfall. It was also their market day, so cheap but delicious street-food sold in styro packs were plentiful. For dinner, we ate at Log Cabin, another famous buffet restaurant in the area. I spoke with the French chef who fell in love with Sagada and decided to live there, he was nice and very welcoming. I asked him the recipe for his Couscous and Eggplant Lasagna, and he was more than willing to share his recipes. We went to a bar after that to unwind and mingle with the locals and other tourists who seemed to know one another (frequent visitor perhaps?).

The next day was spent on cave tours which proved to be very difficult. I strained every muscle in my body, but I was lucky to get out unscathed. It was my most memorable part of the trip. We got invited to go camping with a few other tourists after that, so we spent the night in a tent somewhere in the mountains..

My legs and arms hurt like hell the following day that we had to cancel the hiking tour. We spent the rest of the day walking and looking at nearby places before we took the bus going to Baguio. After the exhilirating Sagada trip, Baguio seemed to be a bore that we decided to skip the city, and took the first available bus going to Manila..

Travelogue - Puerto Galera

If you love the beach, but you hate to travel far, then Puerto Galera is the perfect place to go. I went there during the rainy season last year, and eventhough it's the worst time to go there, I still enjoyed the trip. The sand may not be as white like that of Boracay, but the view is still breathtakingly beautiful. There are so many things you could do while you're there (not just to get wet and toasted under the sun). You could dive, hike, climb, and see rivers and waterfalls (a bit muddy though, because of the rain). Food and accomodations can be a bit pricey, and for some reason, they prefer foreigners over the locals (which is so not the case when you're in a different country)...

Travelogue - Davao

I didn't know anything about Davao when I visited there two years ago. I was alone, and I only had my overnight bag, and a map with me. Everything else was up in the air, I didn't know where to go, what to expect, or who I'm gonna meet. The whole situation was impossibly absurd, even dangerous, but I ended up having this one great adventure I only dreamt for so long! Davao may not be the most popular tourist destination there is, but let me tell you, it's definitely worth a visit!

Travelogue - Boracay.

I've been writing about my travels to different parts of Korea for some time now. Some turned out to be a disappointment, but for most part, it left me breathless. Chris said that it's hard to keep up with a travelholic like me, itching to go and see new places whenever the weather is nice. I love going to the beach there, but somehow their beaches couldn't be compared to the ones back home.

I've seen beaches of other countries, but Boracay has been (and will always be) my favorite. I visited there twice, first time with Chris, and the other time was with my family. I still can't think of adjectives to describe how beautiful it was..

Wondergirls.

Gasp! Great news for Kpop fans out there! Wondergirls will be opening for Jonas Brothers this summer in the U.S! From LA, to NY, all the way to Vancouver, they're all gonna have a piece of these gorgeous (ok that's debatable, but I think one of them is really cute) ladies!

Inner-freak.

The rising cases of people inflicted with H1N1 virus prompted me to seek medical attention for my 3 day old flu, and I was given a flu shot today along with vitamin prescription. With the rain steadily pouring since Saturday evening, I couldn't get out of the house, so there's a good chance that I got it from Rose, our new household help who arrived last Monday with a bit of fever. I hate getting sick, so I admit that I'm a freak with regards to cleanliness.. I'm a certifed germophobic, and I take cleanliness seriously around the house. If you're gonna see me clean my room, you're in for a freak show. I never use broom cause it carries those grimy stuff in incalculable proportions, and I don't want any of that near my room or our house. I scolded Rose quite a few times before when she tried to clean my room. I can't really blame her, brooms and that thing you use to gather dirt are staple in every Filipino household (and we do have that at home), but for some reason, those two send tingles to my spine, and weird as it may sound, I refuse to even touch it. I'd rather go down and scrub the floor with a mixture of soap and bleach, and then rinse it multiple times with water. And to check if it's really clean, I wet tissues with alcohol and wipe the floor with it. I'm even fond of using Lysol spray that supposedly kills 99% of bacteria. And if I can afford it, I'm going to buy that UV sterilizer (like the ones you see at restaurants in Korea), and God knows I'm going to put everything in there.


I understand that this is is some sort of a freakish behavior which I'm not really proud of, in fact, I had been chastised for it. But I can't really help it cause one, I'm an O.C. ( and it's in my nature to keep everything ridiculously clean, tidy, and organized ^^), and two, I have considerably weaker immune system than others (if someone has flu, I'm the first person to get it), so it's imperative that I take the necessary precautions. I believe everyone has their own freak side, compulsion, or weird behavior, and most often than not, we prefer if it stay hidden. My parents are two very organized people who are fond of using antibacterial cleaning agents, filing cabinets (meant for offices not homes), alphabetically arranged books, and labelling things with expiration dates, so it's but natural to produce an offspring who share the same compulsion.


Chris is somewhat similar to me in that department, although I'd say he's much worse. He hates using public restrooms (unless it's absolutely, 'matter-of-life-and-death' necessary), jimjilbang, and bath houses. He cringes at touching doorknobs and faucets so he uses paper towels to insulate his hand. I heard it's a lot worse when he was younger, but going to military helped desensitize him, so he's not as much of a freak like he was back then. But I know that he still hates handshakes, and I'm pretty sure he prefers to bow a couple of times to greet people than get his hand in contact with others. He just doesn't have a choice for his job calls for endless handshakes from suppliers on a daily basis. I know he's quite embarrassed with it, and as much as possible, he wants to show some semblance of being normal. He thinks it suggested a weakness a male shouldn't have. But in my case, I don't see any problem with it (only because I'm a freak myself). He's masculine as any situation calls for, and masculine as needed to be, and for me that's enough. Being 'too-sensitive' doesn't make him half a man in my weird, freakish, O.C. standard.

Soundtrack of my Life..

I did a similar post about this a year ago. Since I had a lot of fun thinking about the scenes, and the music that goes with it (appropriate or not), I thought why not do it again. It's amazing how our preference in music changes in a year. So here goes...

If you're going to make a movie about your life, what's going to be in your soundtrack?


Opening Credits: *Angels on the Moon ~ Thriving Ivory


Waking Up Scene: *Wake up ~ Hilary Duff


Car Driving Scene: *Only One ~ Yellowcard


High School Flashback Scene: *Summer Fades To Fall ~ Faber Drive


Nostalgic Scene: *My Happy Ending ~ Avril Lavigne


Bitter, Angry Scene: *All The Same ~ Sick Puppies


Break-up Scene: *One Moment More ~ Mindy Smith


Regret Scene: *Ghost In Your Mind ~ Black Lab


Nightclub/Bar Scene: *Blue Coast ~ Lalann, *Say Hello ~ Deep Dish


Fight/Action Scene: *Rebirthing ~ Skillet


Lawn Mowing Scene: *Sidewalks ~ Story of the Year


Sad, breakdown scene: *Leave The Memories Alone ~ Fuel


Death Scene: *Until The End ~ Breaking Benjamin


Funeral Scene: *Adia ~ Sarah McLachlan


Mellow Scene: *Colorblind ~ Counting Crows


Dreaming About Someone Scene: *Dream In Color ~ Black Lab


Making love Scene: *Lie In The Sound ~ Trespassers William


Contemplation Scene: *Here Without You ~ Three Doors Down


Chase Scene: *Tell Me ~ Dropping Daylight


Happy Love Scene: * *Along The Wall ~ Leigh Nash


Happy Friend Scene: *Other Side Of The World ~ KT Tunstall


Closing Credits: *Break My Fall ~ Breaking Benjamin



I almost got a carpal tunnel from copying and pasting the links, so please do check it (and that is if you have a lot of time to kill).

A Melting Pot.

Singapore is the second country I visited. I went there with my sister to watch Machi's concert (a Taiwanese hip-hop group) back in 2005. We didn't plan to go there, but after my sister got a call from her friend that Machi is going to have a concert there, and in the middle of shrieks, giggles, and incoherent exchange of ideas, we arrived in a spur-of-the-moment decision to travel and watch the concert. So after securing our tickets at Tiger Airways, we travelled to Clark and flew to Singapore. My sister's friend was gracious enough to let us sleep and shower in her place for three days, and that significantly helped us stick to our measly budget (the call came in three days before the concert and we didn't have time to save up), even letting us have some extra cash to buy a simple souvenir; a cap from an F4 endorsed clothing brand for my sister, and a CD bearing the group's signature for me.

Because of our tight 3-day schedule (which includes stalking and waiting outside hotels for a glimpse of Machi), we didn't see much of Singapore. But there are a few places we were able to visit like the famous Orchard Road, Botanic Gardens, Clark Quay (which is right beside Singapore River), and Sentosa Island. Except for Sentosa, all of the places we visited are all easily accessible by MRT, and if I remember correctly, we had to take a bus from one of the stations to get there.

With my short visit, I have come to admire the Singaporean's discipline and their drive to be better. It's a melting-pot of different cultures, ethnicities, traditions, and beliefs, but they all managed to thrive in peace and live in harmony. I also admire their former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's zeal for strict laws and order (isn't this the country that banned chewing gum?), and for making Singapore a First World country, ranking 7th (or 5th?) richest country (GDP per capita) in the world. It's a far-cry from being that under-developed, former British colony, and sometime-part of Malaysia we once read in history books. If only our leaders would share half of the zeal LKY had for Singapore, we're probably in a much a better place than now.. but then, that's probably wishing too much.

This may not be entirely related to what I've written above, but I'd like to share an article written by Lee Wei Ling, daughter of Lee Kuan Yew. I thought it's timely and appropriate for the times.

Going Vegan.

Life seems to be anything but jumping lately.. In fact, I'm so bored there hasn't been a day that I didn't wish to be whisked away to some place more exciting. But my blog badly needs an update, so I thought I should write some of the stuff that's keeping me busy (Ok, I know that there are so many important issues that are far more worthy to put my two cents in, however, I want to keep this blog as personal as possible)..

Weeks back, I enrolled in a vegetarian cooking class. Before you start rolling your eyes on me (esp. those who know how much I love eating meat), let me say that I'm not a convert, and I still enjoy a big, fat, juicy steak without feeling any guilt whatsoever... So what the hell am I doing in a place that shuns those? Well, my mom was recently diagnosed to have type 2 diabetes, and part of managing her illness is becoming vegan. At age 57, she barely tips the scale at 93 lbs. But even with her reed thin figure, she has to go on a strict low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol, and sugar-free diet, which basically means she can't eat anything besides vegetables and some fruits. Because of this inhumane, almost torture-like diet, her weight plummeted to 89 lbs. She has become dangerously thin that sometimes, I wanna force-feed her some cheeseburger and milk loaded with butterfat. So I asked her to enrol in a cooking class, so she could start whipping up things more edible than chopped raw veggies and stir-fried tofu to eat. Turns out she wasn't too psyched to go to class with her age, and so she asked me to fill in for her. I love to cook, and I love learning new things, so I thought it couldn't be that bad, besides I'm also trying to lose weight, and this might be the perfect chance to start eating healthy. The first day of the 4-week long class was a blast. I got to meet new people and stuff.. But as the lecture progressed to the theoretical part, it turned into a snoozefest. There's something about the teacher's raspy, almost humming voice that makes me yearn for a pillow more than anything. She probably recognizes me as the girl who keeps on yawning. I can't help it, as soon as I see her face, I start to yawn uncontrollably. Sometimes, it gets to a point where I get tempted to record her voice to help me sleep at night. Her class reminds me of "Ibong Adarna", and how the son of the King struggled to stay awake so he wouldn't turn into a stone figure. Instead of cutting my palm and pouring calamansi all over it, I take down notes so I wouldn't fall asleep by accident, it also keeps me from chatting with my seatmate who is really nice by the way. Her name is Nasha, a dietician, and a semi-vegan by choice (she still consumes eggs and dairy products, mostly from pastries and coffee)

Going to this vegan cooking class made me realize two things; one, I can't stand the smell/taste of Hoisin sauce (I'm more than surprised to know that there is a vegetarian counterpart for almost anything!), and two, soy milk gives me a bad case of stomach ache, which is weird cause I've never experienced getting a stomach ache from drinking milk, be it skim, whole, or half-and-half. But of course, it also resulted to good things which I'm really thankful for. I'm not sure if I should give it the entire credit for losing two inches off my waist (cause I've been religiously working out as well), but it surely helped a lot. More importantly, it brought me to meet and be friends with two wonderful, and very interesting people. One is Nasha (which I've mentioned quite a few times earlier), and the other is Renan. He's an advocate of PETA, and it's really interesting to hear his opinion as to why we shouldn't eat animals. He sounds like an over-zealous religious extremist whenever he does that, but I don't mind cause he's a genuinely nice guy (or operatively, a proud gay). Even he speaks of feminist theories and philosophies, he never bashed me when I gave negative comments on Katrina's well-orchestrated tears, and things that would normally trigger violent reactions from people who support her.

I owe it to these two people.. They take a couple of hours out of my incredibly boring week. And if not for their contagious sense of humor, wits, and interesting beliefs, I would've surely quit after the third class.

Wednesdays aren't all that bad.

It was a lousy day, till I saw this..

Now, I don't mind the seemingly interminable hours I've waited at COMELEC, or the fact that Jollibee turned into a screaming beehive during lunch, and the perpetually noisy street jammed with pedestrians and bumper-to-bumper, slower-than-a-baby's- crawl traffic, cause Wednesdays aren't so bad afterall!

Anniversaries.

When I met Chris for the first time, I didn't have the slightest clue that we would end up like this. I could still vividly remember how he looked at that time. From the airport, he went straight to the travel agency where we met. He was jet-lagged, had very little sleep, and was running on little more than adrenaline. And despite his ruffled clothes and messy hair, he still managed to look awfully cute! Our initial conversation had turned into a dinner invitation. I'm not the type who readily accepts dinner invitation from an absolute stranger, but for some profound reason, I found myself saying yes. As desperate as it sounds, I begged and bribed my unwilling friend to go with me, and thanks to her guile and wits, our awkward conversation about Chinese pop (which he didn't have the slightest idea), Confucious, and Manchuria (yup.. you read it right!) quickly led to a more interesting one. When the rain started pouring, and he offered me his jacket, my friend was utterly convinced that he sort of likes me. I don't know, but we seemed strangely unconnected that it made it hard for me to figure him out. He also took a couple of pictures of me and my friend that night, which made the air even more awkward than it already was (later on he told me that since I refused to give him my number, we might not meet again, and he didn't want to forget my face). When my friend momentarily went out, he took his chance to tell me in a very subtle way, and without sounding embarrassed or apologetic, that he likes me. If there was any doubt before about his true intentions for inviting me over to dinner, it was gone at that instant. It's really strange and super awkward to hear that (first meeting and all), and I didn't know how to respond so I just kept quiet and pretended I didn't hear anything (I didn't know he took my silence as a confirmation that I like him back!). Other than the rain, everything was perfect and unforgettable that night.

From then on, everything seemed to pass in a blur. He ended up staying in the same condominium where I live. He rented a unit there, so we basically see each other every single day. Some days he'd pick me up from work, other days he'd just ask me out on dinner. One weekend, we went to have lunch at Cibo (which is just 3 minutes away from where we live). And while crossing the street on the way home, he held my hand. I was surprised how comfortably and effortlessly he put his hand on mine, so I had to ask why. He said "because you're my girlfriend", and for obvious reason that I like him just as much, I didn't bother to disagree with him. I'll never forget how soft, and how white his hand looked against my skin. That day, I sort of made a mental note that a year after, it'll be our anniversary.

His stay in the Philippines went by so fast, and in a matter of one month, we managed to squeeze trips to Boracay, Baguio, Pangasinan, and Pagsanjan, which meant a lot of missed days at work. When I took him to the airport, I must have cried buckets of tears.. There was every chance he wouldn't come back like what he promised, so when he said goodbye, I took it differently. A week after he came back to Korea, he made a plan to visit the Philippines again before the school starts. 3 weeks later, we met again... He stayed true to his words and visited me 5 times that year. When our first anniversary came, we celebrated it in Korea!

We're celebrating our 4th anniversary next month, and I'm flying back to Korea a day before that. Chris is so bad with dates that I'm not sure whether he'll remember it on his own. He seems to remember the date we first met, but not the day he first held my hand and we officially became a couple.. ^^

Of arguments, movie, and a letter.

Chris and I had a not-so-pleasant conversation while chatting last night. Like with all our other arguments, it started with an extremely petty thing, blown out of proportion. You see, it's the time of the month where I let my bitchier side take-over, and I become the most deviant person imaginable. Too bad, he was at the unfortunate end of my childish, bitchy wrath..

We both knew from Day 1 that our personalities are the extreme opposite of each other, and yet we decided to defy the odds and stick to each other like a pair of star-crossed lovers. Well, I'm a non-conformist by nature. I feel diffiuclt to conform to a certain ideology, especially if I think there's something wrong with it, or if it's against my moral beliefs. But for the sake of making this interracial and sometimes-long-distance relationship work, I force myself to adjust and conform to all those rules he annoyingly mapped out for me. I do appreciate the things that he does cause I know it's all for the better. But sometimes his concern becomes way too much, and I would really like it if he'll give me some space to think on my own, and space to make mistakes and learn from them. I hate being told what to do, and what I cannot do.. and Chris has been doing this a lot lately. Last night, in the middle of his usual speech, I snapped. If my cheeks had been any hotter, I swear it would've burst into flames... and that's how upset I was at that time. I know I may have overreacted, and again I'm blaming the ever-so-convenient PMS for all the unnecessary rage. I just wanted to show him how sick I was from constantly hearing his piece, and all those rules and schedules I have to, but almost never follow. I cannot put it into words exactly, but if you happen to see the movie "One More Chance", you'll understand me more. Chris is somewhat similar to John Lloyd there (though not to that extent of being "pakialamero"), but in any case it's annoying, and I'm bound to snap like Bea one day..

Since my PMS is still in full throttle, I choose to continue acting like this bratty drama-queen and refuse his calls, even after he apologized thru mail right after the argument.. I'm pasting a copy of his mail (he's sooo gonna kill me if he knew I posted it here.. ^^) which is really simple but also incredibly sweet. The context may sound weird to some people, but he's Korean, and it's very much evident in his writing..

***

today, we didn't have nice conversation and i'm sorry for my mistake. but let you know I miss you a lot.

your Oppa.

A Taste of Real Manila.

I met some friends last Sunday for a very late lunch in Malate area. Everyone was in for some good-old Filipino cuisine, and we didn't have to think twice in choosing Aristocrat. Their combo of Kare-kare and Crispy pata was superbly delicious, especially on an empty stomach like ours. As soon as our orders arrived, everyone grew quiet. That's probably the biggest proof of how good the food tasted.. you could barely talk.

Baywalk is right infront of the restaurant.. and since I haven't seen Manila Bay upclose for so many years, I pleaded them to go there with me. They probably couldn't understand why I got all excited and took pictures after pictures of something that seems so ordinary. Lucky for them, they didn't have to miss Manila like I do. More than the restaurants, posh nightclubs, or the colossal shopping malls, I missed seeing the real Manila, like how the ordinary people leisurely spend their Sunday afternoon enjoying the view and briny (but borderline stinky) air of Manila Bay.

Challenging Korea.

While making my usual late night rounds at youtube, I came across a video ~ an excerpt from an old episode of the now defunct TV show "Extra Challenge" that features Cesar Montano in Korea. I actually watched the whole episode (with Carmina-Zoren, Sunshine-Cesar) a few years back, but this was my favorite part.



There are 3 things I find interesting about this video;

* I was never a fan of Cesar so I didn't know he could look this ehem.. 'cute' in a bahag costume.

* It's probably staged but it looks like he knows his way around the kitchen.

* The way Mrs. Kim talks in tagalog is really funny.. Especially the part where she asked "walang tulog?"... her intonation is so pinoy! I also find it interesting that she's married to a Filipino. It's usually the other way around so her case is quite rare..

Happy watching!

Keeping up.

It's been a week since my last post, so I decided to write some updates about my stay here.. A lot has been happening lately, but somehow I didn't have the creative inspiration to write about them all.

I met my friends last weekend. We were supposed to meet at 8 pm in front of Rembrandt in Quezon City. I arrived around 8:10, but nobody was there yet (I forgot that there's this thing called 'Filipino time').. When everyone arrived, we all went to a Japanese resto called "Jozu". The place is a typical resto which you don't actually pay for the food, but for the dining experience. Let this post serve as a warning to those who are planning to pay the restaurant a visit. The hefty price tag doesn't justify their food, and I would've chosen Yoshinoya in a heartbeat.

Since "Gilligan's Island" is just a couple of meters away, it became our next destination. "Jozu" left us still hungry so we ordered more than the usual "pulutan". Beer was overflowing, and they drank as if beer would no longer be available the next day. I said 'they' cause I stopped with my 3rd bottle. For the longest time, I haven't tasted any form of alcohol, and with an empty stomach, I was a little 'buzzed' after the 3rd one. I ordered bottomless iced tea instead of drinking more beer, which turned out to be quite a hassle especially when two of your newly-single friends are venting about their cute-but-good-for-nothing bf's, and you have to make frequent trips to the restroom. The deafening music was great, but it left us with a bad case of sore throat from shouting just to hear each other. We left the place just before the clock hits 3. They didn't want to end the party just yet (heard some of them say "it's still too early"..), so we went to "Music 21" (a family KTV place) in Timog after that. Everyone was obliged to sing a song or two. When it was my turn to sing, they cajoled me into singing a Korean song. For a second, I thought about singing "So Hot" by Wondergirls which I know they'll like, but the part where I have to rap made me flip the pages quickly. I chose a song by Se7en called "Come back to me" instead. I thought it's a safe song and I know the lyrics by heart.

The song sparked interest in them, and they started throwing questions at me about everything Korean (though mostly, it's about Korean men ^^). The effect of 'Hallyu' is very much evident in them. Most of them showed interest in visiting Korea, learning the Korean language, and meeting Korean men. Collectively, I don't think Korea is that 'great' like what they portray in Koreanovelas. But I admit there are things that I really admire about them... sadly, those are the stuff that'll bore them so I just concentrated on answering their queries about Korean men in general.

It was past sunrise when we went our separate ways. My mom was already out jogging when I came back home. My friends were still surprisingly energetic after a long night, and there I was (I'm gonna use my old phrase again), 'limp like a cookie thrown into a cup of tea'. Just before I slept, they texted about having a night-out again next week, but thinking about crowded places, and suffocating air filled with cigarette smoke, greasy food, and beer, coupled with a hundred different perfume smell makes me wanna fake an illness come Saturday. Somehow, I lack the energy to do those stuff again. I feel so damn old as I can't keep up with my friends. I better listen to my mom and start taking multivitamins or I'd turn into a loner doing stuff that's anything but fun.