Category: family

Hello, morning.

Happy we were finally able to go home to Bulacan, despite the near knee-high flood submerging the subdivision. Happy, too, that Jaykie agreed to stay till Monday morning, and he was able to finally meet my sister and my lola. They were showing Pak Pak Dr. Kwak on the bus, and I laughed at times, to my utter horror. We arrived late Saturday and had my mother’s (famous!) caldereta, Reese’s ice cream, leftover sansrival cake, yema, and possible diabetes. My father insisted that Jaykie drink; isang shot lang daw, pero maya-maya ubos na ang laman ng bote. Also learned that he was going to have an air-con installed in the master bedroom, but every time he sets an appointment for the workers to come in, a storm enters Philippine territory. All of my siblings enjoyed Jaykie’s iPad, lured by Fruit Ninja. Discovered this new TV game show via my sister: R U Kidding Me? where host Vic Sotto (si Vic na naman, sinundan kami galing sa bus!) on Saturday night mistakenly said, “Magbabalik ang Who Wants To Be – ” Then we all got freaked out by this segment on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho about people who eat raw meat. Kare-kare for lunch the next day, then spaghetti, then fish for dinner, then these banana cookies made by the creators of Boy Bawang (they’re yummy), then more sansrival, and the entire second season of Justified. On our way back to QC they were showing You To Me Are Everything on the bus, but I think I fell asleep.

PS I’ve sold a science fiction story called “The Mechanic” to Kaleidotrope. Hooray! Details to follow.

twenty months

It’s fun to count the months. Just four more and it’s the second anniversary. :)

It began to rain, so instead of going out, we just had Amici (gelato cakes!!!) delivered for dinner. We watched some episodes of Top Chef Canada while eating.

prosciutto e funghi (pizza), cannelloni agli spinaci (pasta)
spumoni surprise, mango sans rival

Jaykie had class on Saturday, so he went to UP, and I went to Trinoma to shop for gifts for my parents (my mother’s birthday is on the 25th, my father’s in July). This despite the fact that I woke up suddenly at 5 am, broke out in sweats, and felt as though I were falling. Vertigo once more, with feelings. I popped a Serc (24 mg.) and hoped this would pass soon and not come back to bother me again.

I wanted to buy a bag for myself, but couldn’t find anything that I liked, so I ended up buying costume jewelry.

TV necklace, pink rose ring, black rose ring

I know I have way too many rings, but I’m on the lookout for more plastic rings. And that TV necklace was just cute. (I’m wearing it today at work, and I broke one of the antennas. :( But it’s still cute. I’ll just cover the broken antenna nub with my hair.)

We had late lunch at Mango Tree Bistro. It’s our second time at this Thai restaurant. We love their food.

Photo source.
Thai iced tea

We had honey-glazed pork ribs, rice with vegetables, and of course –

pad thai goong!
Photo source.

Just writing about it is making me crave for it. So delicious.

We got home before the rain fell. And how it fell. I was amazed it didn’t flood the streets. Early dinner was a tuna sandwich. Jaykie made the tuna spread (mayo + celery + apples = delicious). Later, when we got hungry again, I poured us some cereal and cold milk.

We finished Damages Season 2 and watched Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, a TV movie that is basically an extended episode of Burn Notice with Sam Axe and a pinch of Michael Westen. It’s hilarious.

Jaykie’s little walk-in closet’s roof was leaking, so we left a plastic bucket there overnight. Look how much water we got.

"What are you doing?" "Taking a picture." "Why?" "I'll blog about it." "But they'll find out I have a leaky roof!" Haha.

This morning we woke up and Jaykie said he wished he could just stay under the sheets and read. I’d love that too, but alas, work.

* * *

Happy Father’s Day to my Tatay! :D I’m coming home next week with the gifts. I hope it doesn’t rain.

reviews

Moon


Sam Bell works for Lunar Industries, a company in the business of harvesting helium-3 from the far side of the moon. Sam oversees the company’s automated harvesters and sends back canisters of He-3, which Earth then uses for energy. Sam is the only human being in the facility. Every now and then he receives messages from Earth. The messages (from his wife, Tess, and child, Eve) are not live, because communication problems on the moon have hampered the reception of live feeds. He is accompanied by an AI named GERTY. He has been on the moon for three years. When the film opens, he is nearing the end of his contract.

But there’s a problem: it appears that he is losing his mind. One moment he turns and sees a teenager with dark hair and wearing a yellow jumpsuit in an empty cabin. He longs for his wife. He spends his days distracted. One day, he goes out to drive his rover and crashes into a harvester and loses consciousness.

While watching the film’s first few minutes, I kept asking, Who’d sign up for this? Who’d be so desperate to agree to stay on the moon alone for three whole years? Then I find out.

Moon (written and directed by Duncan Jones, who also directed Source Code) is the kind of film that sucks you in and spawns discussions. The references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris are apparent. I loved it, and Sam Rockwell is awesome.

Damages


I just finished Season 1. It was brutal and compelling and I just couldn’t peel my eyes off of it. It’s not an episodic show, like Law & Order, and it’s definitely not a comedy, like Boston Legal. There is one big case that the characters try to crack within the 13 episodes. Meanwhile, the body count continues to rise and lawyer Patty Hewes becomes more and more psychopathic. Glenn Close is perfect, but I find myself more drawn to lawyer Ray Fiske (played by Zeljko Ivanek), and the young couple who gets caught in the web.

My sister brought home strawberries and blueberries from Baguio

and they are superb when mixed with milk and cream. Mmm.

Also during this week: Yakimix and Amici with Jaykie’s family, home, lipstick for my mother and sugarfree candy for my father, my mother observing that there’s always murder in my stories (eek!), and that promise that Jaykie and I will eat right, exercise and lose weight – totoo na! :)

the weekend

Friday! Early lunch at Army Navy and Frutti Froyo c/o Jaykie and family. Burned calories in badminton (where I thought I would win against J, and then didn’t). Off to the mall to buy stuff for the boyfriend, puttanesca and pizza at Sbarro, then home. Got drunk on House (Season 5 and some of S6) and Pretty Little Liars. Slept. A lot.

*

Was finally able to watch Tangled with my mother and sister. I watched it in 2D, so I don’t know if it’s more exciting to watch in its intended format. I do agree with Roger Ebert’s contention though that colors appear dimmer in 3D. Not to mention that the 3D glasses are cumbersome and the illusion, albeit nifty, give me slight headaches. I’d like to avoid 3D now.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think much of Tangled when I first saw the trailer. Ack, another Disney re-imagining of a fairy tale highlighting love and cuteness – and it’s not even Pixar-made! I wasn’t excited about it. What else can you change about Rapunzel’s story to make it fresh and interesting?

I was so glad to be proven wrong. Thank you for the songs and the lanterns, Disney. If ever you felt the urge to translate this film onto the stage as a musical (and what a lovely musical it would make! Imagine the set pieces!), I’d see it in a heartbeat.

(And this should have won Best Song over Toy Story 3. Yes, I’m dissing Pixar for you, Disney. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME. I’m a horrible person.)

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Commercial break: My story, “Voyage to Bathala”, will appear in the March 19 issue of the Philippines Free Press, available in bookstands by March 16. :) Do buy and read?

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So I received payment for a story sale via PayPal instead of via a paper check, and I realized, instead of sending back the money and demanding the check, might as well use the funds to – what else? – buy books online. (The first PayPal payment I received was for a poem, and I used that to donate to Duotrope. It’s a very helpful site.)

I’m so 21st century. (I don’t buy things online. I don’t have a credit card. And I don’t even have an ebook reader. And I hate iTunes with all of my being. I’m still not so 21st century, it turns out.)

Books, old and new, are offered at reasonable prices at the The Book Depository, an online bookseller based in the UK, and they offer free shipping to the Philippines! (Exclamation points!!!) So I got Tana French’s Faithful Place, a book that’s already available here but only in (expensive) hardcover, and Lauren Beukes’s acclaimed novels Zoo City and Moxyland, books I can’t find here anywhere. All for around 26 dollars, or around a thousand pesos.

One story = three books. Not a bad trade. Hope the books get here safely, and soon.

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I’ve been feeling rather sad these past few days for whatever reason, but the weekend was able to exorcise all the bad vibes. There’s no place like home.

dec. 31 to jan. 1

I told my father not to buy firecrackers anymore for very obvious reasons, and I was glad he followed my order advice. The paper was put to bed early so I was able to take the office shuttle to Cubao and get on a bus by 6:30 p.m. When I reached home (8:30 or so) some house was blasting the neighborhood with ear-splitting music. That house turned out to be our house.

My father, who was already drunk, had set up his sound system on the terrace. Minutes later I heard my father singing. An hour later he started deejaying. No shit. “Happy New Year!” he’d shout, then he’d play an 80’s song. “Good song, good song!” At one point the volume was turned up so high my sister handed him my brother’s headphones to protect his ears. Then we closed the door to the terrace while he’s inside because we couldn’t hear ourselves think. Haha! He didn’t mind. He was bopping his head to the music when we went downstairs to drink.

My brother became quite talkative (and dizzy) after his third glass. Every now and then my father would come downstairs (still wearing the headphones) and practically bellow at us, saying that he loved our mother! And that my brothers will never find a woman as precious as her! And my sister and I will never find a guy as handsome as him!

Okay! Calm down!

Craziest media noche ever.

And we didn’t even have firecrackers.

* * *

Also brought home my compli copy of the Inquirer book.

* * *

The night of January 1 was time well spent with Jaykie’s family. I enjoyed the macaroni salad!

* * *

I should really take note of the stories I read online.

Fiction find

“re: The Last Man on Earth” from Expanded Horizons

christmas, in photos

These photos are late, damn!

Research Christmas Party + Editorial Christmas Party + Photobooth session + pictures from home

Photos from Almi, Kate, and Princess.


 

 

 

 

 

With the Managing Editor:

The EIC buried in an avalanche of employees:

Schatzi won something! I didn’t win anything! Almi’s not pleased.

We really fell in love with the (makeshift) photobooth:

I am happy to report that my Free Press trophy reached home okay. (And yes those are cheesy portraits of my parents nyaha.)

Brought home Inquirer shirts for my family. Knife and potato not included.

I spent most of my vacation watching Top Chef and ABDC, haha.

I’m of the mind to actually buy one of these cell phones. So small and cute!

Crema de fruta!

Aaaand photos of my brother swallowing things:

back

1. It rained on my birthday. No surprise there. I was told, repeatedly, to lose weight. No surprise there, either, but I was surprised by the intensity. I ate cake, but it saddened me.

2. I need to lose 20 pounds. I will have to starve myself.

3. Look, pictures of my siblings play-fighting each other for my benefit.

4. My poem, “Bath Time”, will appear in the November issue of The Houston Literary Review.

5. Usok # 2 is up! My story “Elsewhere” is in it. Congrats to my fellow lady authors, and thank you to the artists, and of course editor Paolo C. for his patience.

6. Thank you to Jaykie and his family for treating me out to dinner last night. :)

7. I am 24. I am 24. I am 24.

8.

9.

10. How the hell can I lose 20 pounds?