Category: personal

hotel staycation

It rained like crazy over the weekend so Subic was no-go. But didn’t you just love the weather? Cold, gray, cuddleweather. It was a welcome respite from the long string of 38-degree days.

Jaykie’s parents opted to spend Friday to Sunday at the Marriott Hotel. We shared a room with Jaykie’s sister, brother-in-law, and littol George.

Forgive the touristy photos, I love taking pictures of hotel rooms. (Because they’re so clean and pretty! How come I can’t make my room look that clean and pretty, despite all my efforts in scrubbing and un-cluttering?)

Look at me green toesies!

Day 1 Jaykie and family treated me and the HGC peeps at Mercado in Resorts World Manila, which is right beside the casino so NO PICTURES! But we took a walk after eating and Jme whipped out her camera:

Jaykie and I lurve this gift from Jme.

Day 2 was spent just lounging around, playing Monopoly (Monopoly! I haven’t played you in ages!), watching TV, and admiring the rain. Staycation!

My thanks to the Lazarte family for their kindness and generosity. :D

scenes from last night’s book swap

Read about our first book swap here!

Book swap last night at Starbucks 6750 with m’lovelies Andrea, Kate, and Kat. I invited Jaykie (so he could finally meet Andrea and Kat) and he was nice enough to drive Kate and I from the office. (LOL proper name overload sorry.) We stayed till midnight for some late-night coffee, cake, Pinoy Henyo (yes) and quality tsismisan.

I lent Kat Joshua Ferris’s excellent Then We Came to the End and Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. Andrea ended up taking Revolutionary Road and Big If. I got er so many books I forgot to take note of them all haha. Will sort through them next week. Oh, God have mercy on my TBR pile now quickly turning into a mountain.

I loved the girls’ accessories last night. Pictures!

friday

I’ve a bunch of Peanut Kisses to bring home to the family, so on Friday Jaykie and I had a mall date before I boarded the FX to Bulacan. I’ve been meaning to have my hair treated, but alas (but really, yay!) I’m going with Jaykie and his family to Subic on Saturday for more sunshine and beachlove. So I just canvassed. I’ve had my hair straightened in Going Straight twice (or thrice?) before, but SM North Edsa’s third floor was temporarily off-limits, so I asked David’s Salon and Tony and Jackey. Tony and Jackey offers the lowest rate for rebonding, 3k, with hair manicure and haircut, any length. Not bad, really.

But when I got home to Bulacan, I had a haircut at the local parlor and wondered if I should have my hair treated again. I mean, ugh, chemicals. And I could use the 3k to buy, I don’t know, shoes. Haha.

This was what my hair looked like when I stepped out of the parlor:

(Bought new shades; ruined my only pair back in Bohol, igzk.)

Look at the straight, shiny locks! Then I had a shower and:

Waves! But then in this picture my hair had more…personality. Ha.

And anyway in this heat I need to have the option to tie my hair every once in a while. So.

It rained when I got home. It always rains when I get home. I didn’t appreciate the flood, but the cold breeze was awesome. My parents came home from the store, and when my father saw me, he said, Ay! Kaya naman pala madaling-madali akong umuwi.

Asus.

Had good food for dinner, and watched How I Met Your Mother on my parents’ kickass (and very new) dvd player. The speakers were huge. My father had his beer and ate the Peanut Kisses as pulutan. The next day my sister came home with pizza.

I love home. :)

In other news, I’ve decided to seriously invest in hair polish.

seventh

Nice quiet Monday dinner and coffee to celebrate our seventh month together. Spaghetti and potato salad and and sausages and peach pancakes and mango crepe and whipped cream (Pancake House) and espresso java chip frappes (Starbucks). Windy day. Nice day.

* * *

Had a pedicure yesterday morning after an effing long time. I’d be spending time in Bohol mostly in flip-flops and my un-pedicured toenails would look er disgusting. So. I like this nail polish because it makes my feet look pale:

The parlor I went to was just across the street from the building where I live, and appeared to cater mostly to old women. Haha. I was the youngest person there. It was like stepping into another planet.

Ate managed to remove the indelible ink from my forefinger! Finally. I would’ve wanted to subject my fingernails to a coat or two of nail polish as well, but how will I get my money from my pocket without ruining my manicure? (LOL.) Anyone here know of a place where they let you dry your nails before pushing you out of the salon?

weekend zombie

After I got off from work on Thursday (and what a crazy week, jumpstarted by the national elections whew), I just decided to stay in one place and fry my brain with Lost (first season), Mad Men (first season), and some Family Guy and The Simpsons. By “stay in one place” I meant “eat my meals in bed”. It was too hot outside, I was too lazy to write, I was too lazy, period.

Jaykie and I did go out on Friday night to have dinner with my high school friends. Topic? Politics, politics, politics (which to me sounds like work, work, work, but it can’t be helped, what with the current political climate), and Ghia’s stay in Quezon province, where the mall closes at 8:30 p.m. (in Palawan, according to Kuya Wendell, the mall closes at 7:30 p.m. – SURPRISE!) and where you’ll have to suffer a one-hour ride to buy halu-halo.

Some (supposedly candid) pictures. We’re already in Trinoma Conti’s here, after feeding at Pizza Hut:

(Conti’s turtle pie is my favorite.)

* * *

This weekend: Bohol. I’m so looking forward to two quiet days at the beach (no stress, pleaaaaaaaase).

meet the parents

One Saturday I went home to Bulacan, and brought the boyfriend with me. Dun dun DUNNN.

Some notes:

1. FX ride from SM North Edsa to Malolos. Played this game to entertain ourselves: category, then give answers that belong to that category. Sample: Movies with Dustin Hoffman. “Rain Man.” “Sleepers.” “Uhh.”

2. Boy it was hot and crowded in Malolos.

3. Arrived at the home town after a jeepney ride. We were walking over to the municipal building when Jaykie suddenly pointed to the ground and said, “Tingnan mo o, si Villar lumalangoy sa dagat ng basura.”


4. Minimal flood, thank God.

5. Dinner was caldereta, which Jaykie liked a lot. Dessert was yema and my sister’s candy from Davao. We went upstairs, watched some 30 Rock, some TV, and Jaykie and my father sat on the terrace and drank beer. My father even told him anecdotes I didn’t even know about, like how my father at first didn’t want to man the store we own now. Gusto ko magtrabaho sa  munisipyo. Sabi ng inang ko, ano naman magiging trabaho mo dun? Alam mo ba kung magkano lang sweldo nila? Magaganda lang postura nila, pero wala silang pera.

6. Jaykie and my father got along pretty well. Marvelous. I can stop freaking out now.

7. My brothers just went, “Uy”, as boys were wont to do. Jaykie slept in my brothers’ room (he had the room to himself, as guest), and slept quite well.

8. It rained that night. Water outside the house swelled; the walkways disappeared under the flood. When we left we had to wear boots. Yikes.We dropped by the store, said hi to my father before going to the bus station. Inside the bus, we played a game where we guess what the radio station had in its playlist. Jaykie won by a point. (The station played Freddie Aguilar’s “Anak”. I called Roxette. How can this station not play a Roxette song, is what I want to know.)

9. About our house, Jaykie said, “I can imagine growing up there. It’s really nice.”

10. That weekend was ridiculously easy and fun. I shouldn’t have worried too much. Heh.