imperium e-sports bar and video game lounge + wooden spoon + something about robots

So, what’s up?

My eye grade. That’s what’s up. But I can’t pretend to be too worried about it, it’s a worthwhile excuse to get bigger frames for my big face.

Here:

They made me nauseous for more than a week.

Though frame-shopping is fun, it is expensive. Ugh. Well. Here’s to hoping my eyesight won’t worsen after this year. We got these at Sarabia Optical – Rockwell. The pairs there had price tags that made me miss Nelly Sarabia at the UP Shopping Center. She gives discounts – you should visit her if you’re in the area.

(At one hilarious/frightening point the doctor at Rockwell handed me frames that cost PhP 13K. Are you kidding? For glasses?)

For the first Friday back at work, I tagged along with J’s friends to the Imperium e-Sports Bar and Video Game Lounge in Ortigas Metrowalk. I don’t like bars, but this is a themed one I can get behind.

Except that it’s…pretty blue.

The menu comes in these things because of course they do.

Order drinks in pitchers if you’re in a group.

On the day we got my glasses, we dropped by Wooden Spoon. They have good food and they have great prices. Emphasis on good. Food.

Look at J looking excited.

See the food here? We split that, and we had enough leftovers for dinner. Sulit!

Coffee and cake after.

Project 17 the novel is featured in the December issue of Speed Magazine, and I have an article in the January issue. My thanks to Elaine and the rest of Speed for the compli copies, and for having me.

I am grateful for the holiday break, because I was able to catch up on my reading. But that’s for another post. See ya!

what is up

Some quick updates and recos:

what do readers want invitationv3

My name (and my likeness?) is on the poster! Very cool. My book is also featured in this LED Billboard ad that will be flashing along Katipunan in a few days!

Click here to pre-register for the Filipino Readercon, happening at the Rizal Library in ADMU on Nov. 9 (Saturday). Choose what panel you’d like to attend. Most of the panels are happening simultaneously, so get ready to bilocate.

Photo: "What Do Readers Want?" program, as of 18 Oct 2013.

Bring/buy a copy of my book and I’ll hand you one of these cards. :) You can use it as a bookmark.

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This set of cards from Moo UK has several designs, but this is my favorite.

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Also got this in the mail recently. I couldn’t find The Shining Girls in the bookstores or on Amazon Kindle, so I ordered a paperback from the Book Depository. If you have not heard of Lauren Beukes, do check out her earlier novels, Zoo City and Moxyland.

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I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Aromateria‘s solid perfumes. Each scent, packaged in a  travel-friendly tube and priced at PhP 250, is named after a fictional character or author. My reader heart is happy.

Aromateria Solid Perfume Scents

I got Ender and Austen. Ender (stargazer lilies, sage, and white musk) is heady and earthy, while Austen (English tea rose, lavender, and patchouli) is fresh and bright, like a person who has just stepped out of the shower. Go to Aromateria’s site to order online, or find out what stores to visit to get a whiff of these babies. I seriously love them. (And I want more. Of course I do.)

Aromateria

We also found time to visit the Legaspi Sunday Market. Last time I had a roast turkey meal, and J grabbed himself some wagyu shawarma.

Legaspi Sunday Market

As well as this ginger ale. Yummeh.

Ginger Ale

J and I were just in Resorts World – Newport Mall, which held a weekend bazaar. Look at the cute earrings I found! I especially love the ampersand pair.

New earrings

And my sister shared this with me – a review of my novel, Project 17, in UST’s student publication, The Flame. Thank you Alvin Laqui!

downloadI have recently re-watched The Shining and Vanilla Sky, and watched Rosemary’s Baby. Halloween! And the nights and early mornings are now colder. (And by “colder” I mean not-30 degrees Celsius.) I love this season.

four years

It’s nice to have a constant, a warm home to return to, again and again. Happy 4th anniversary, J, my cute joker, cuddler, cook.

December 2009
circa 2010
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UP Graduation, 2013

gallivanting

Just a quick note to say that I will be out of the country next week with a number of friends. It’s my first trip abroad, so I’m both excited and terrified.

While on the trip: a moment to take a deep breath and bond with friends. Hell, work has been crazy and I need this. (Though our itinerary looks almost as crazy.)

When I get back: work, Unseen Moon deliveries, chores, laundry, J.

Wish me luck.

So how is everyone today? Last week, J found a recipe for Garlic Fried Chicken and White Gravy, so we tried doing that, and it wasn’t very successful. Heh. The gravy was lumpy (we didn’t have a whisk!), and the fried chicken got burnt. It was still a pretty tasty meal though:

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white gravy, brown rice, garlic fried chicken, sauteed spinach

J was apologetic but I was just glad I wasn’t eating something out of a can. (And he was successful in the next attempt! Too bad I wasn’t there to take a photo.)

In quick beauty/kaartehan news, I bought myself my first BB cream. Stick. BB cream stick.

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This is Radiance. If you’re fair-skinned, pick up Fresh. Maybelline’s Clear Smooth BB Stick (PhP 249) blends well and leaves a powder finish, but I’m not sure if this is cruelty-free. What BB cream/stick do you use?

We checked out the book bargain bins, and I got this book for PhP 115.

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And Flipside Publishing editors talk about their picks for 2012. Editor Kristine Reynaldo (with her pretty glasses) picks The Viewless Dark and says it made her cry. Watch the video at the source.

liebster award

I just found out that I was nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Vain Jane. (Read her beauty blog! Carina‘s too!) The Liebster Award is given to up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.

(Update: Apparently I have more than 200 followers. How did that happen?! Thank you, followers, you’ve disqualified me from the Liebster Award. Hahaha! But I’m doing this anyway.)

The rules are:
Share 11 facts about yourself.
Answer the awarder’s 11 questions.
Ask 11 questions of your own.
Nominate 11 bloggers.

Eleven Facts:

  1. I was suwi/suhi (Frank breech position), meaning I wasn’t born head first.
  2. My father believes people who were suwi/suhi can help people with fish bones stuck in their throats by massaging their necks. That’s a very specific belief. He even forced me to massage our dog’s throat once, and you know what, it actually worked.
  3. I find it interesting that Filipino beliefs, like the aforementioned, find magic in the not-ordinary.
  4. Speaking of magic, I was born on All Saints’ Day.
  5. My mother believes that my grandfather, who has passed on, visits us every Nov. 1 in the form of a butterfly or a moth. On my last birthday, my mother told me that my grandfather visited her at our store. She told “him” to go to the house instead. Hours later, I arrived at the house, and when I opened the window, there was a little brown butterfly with white spots on the handle, and I screamed in surprise because I almost crushed it. My mother told me the story when she got home. I asked her what the butterfly looked like, and she said it was brown with white spots.
  6. Our store burned down years ago, along with the rest of the town’s marketplace, but the store was rebuilt months later. That fire was the worst tragedy our family has ever lived through.
  7. I was – and still am – very interested in Abnormal Psychology, and almost studied to become a shrink.
  8. Almost. I ended up enrolling in Journalism instead.
  9. My boyfriend loves Math. I don’t.
  10. When I was in college my father wondered aloud why I don’t use make-up (I know right, my own father) and now I own 5 tubes of lipstick.
  11. I write things.

Answering the Awarder’s 11 questions:

What’s your favourite song and why?

Right now, Tori Amos’s “Star Whisperer”, a variation on a Schubert piece. Just listen to the musical interlude.

If you had to live with one makeup item only, which one would it be?

A tinted lip balm, because I have dry lips and I’d want some color.

What’s the one book that makes you cry every single time you read it?

Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris.

Worst makeup related incident in your life?

I once bought an Ever Bilena lipstick for a costume party, and it was shit.

Your biggest fear is?

Developing dementia. My grandmother’s suffering from it.

Which sailor soldier is your favourite? Limit your answer to the solar system, please. I am not interested in Sailor Stars.

Sailor Saturn. Love the purple…everything.

Greatest prank you ever pulled off?

Oh, I don’t pull pranks. I’m boring.

If you had to be a d-list celebrity, which route would you take: (a) sex tape, or (b) getting pregnant at 16, or (3) hanging out with the people from Jersey Shore. Killing yourself is not an option at this time.

Oh man, I’ll just hang out with the Jersey Shore people then.

What did Robert Plant?

Seeds of hate. What?

Which of your present skills can be of valuable use in a post-apocalyptic world?

I can make a grilled cheese sandwich? No, I’d probably die.

What would Malcolm Reynolds do?

Ask a question that will elicit the reply, “Big damn heroes, sir!”

I can’t tag 11 people, that is insane:

Tagging these people whose blogs I regularly read and enjoy –

The Transplant (personal)

Little Almi (personal)

Last Girl (personal)

Mabuhay DIY (crafts, DIY, art)

Yours Truly, Madma (advice, reviews)

Walk Fly Pinoy (travel)

– to answer the following questions:

  1. What is your favorite color?
  2. If given the chance to live in a foreign country, where would you go?
  3. What’s the last film you’ve seen? Did you like it?
  4. What’s the last book you’ve read? Would you recommend it?
  5. What course did you finish in college? If given the chance to choose another course, what would it be?
  6. If someone’s going to make a film about your life, who would you choose to play your mother?
  7. Favorite cake flavor? ice cream flavor?
  8. What would you say is your talent? Show off with pictures if necessary. ;)
  9. Worst job experience?
  10. Worst vacation/trip so far?
  11. Best vacation/trip so far?

Have fun. :)

new things

I received some pahabol Christmas gifts from Visprint last week. Surprised and touched. I love this notebook.

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Ah, the apartment. It’s an endless work-in-progress. I should stay away from groceries. Got these cute laundry baskets from Rustan’s Shopwise.

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The curtains are from his ma. It fit the earth-toned motif we accidentally got going on.

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And new hair! Of course. My hair was so thick and heavy I decided to have most of them chopped off. Became a mascot for the salon’s Permanent Blowdry service. (“Look at her hair! Ang ganda di ba?”) It was entertaining and weird.

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I gave J a link to some easy marinades, and he found one that made the chicken taste…expensive. Haha!

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“Are you taking a photo?”

The recipe is here. Have fun!

Around midnight we had a McDonald’s craving, but the Globe signal was so bad in our place that the operator couldn’t hear our orders.

So, good job, Globe. You just saved our arteries.

*

PS Watch Archer! It’s been described as Arrested Development meets James Bond. Some familiar AD voices there. (And Jessica Walter voices a character that looks like Lucille Bluth – just look at the photo.) It’s irreverent, and hilarious as hell.

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