where the moon shines

I was looking forward to a few events this weekend, but I missed them all:

• Rock Rizal concert
• Manila International Book Fair (I even dreamt about walking between the aisles and checking each trade show booth and spending a fortune on new books!)
• Mercato Centrale
• UAAP Cheerdance Competition (Would have been nice to be in Araneta to witness it, but I did watch it live on TV)

The concert and the book fair were both held at the far MOA. Had the boyfriend been around on Friday afternoon, it would have been a possibility. But he was out on a road trip with his parents. Mercato would have been possible this morning, but I really wasn’t up to it. After all, that one happens every weekend.

And I don’t really mind missing out on those events. There was nowhere else I’d be than home, so I couldn’t miss out on these:

Amir is growing up so fast! He can stand now and he’s always up. He knows to reach out and ask to be carried. At nearly nine months he’s two front teeth are out. And he makes a lot of noise!

We’re just so glad that he’s still healthy, and maintains his happy disposition.

I love you Amir! And we loved having you home for the weekend!

Lemonade | Orange Soda | Sprite | Coke Float | Water

I wish I could say my drink was the last one, but I guess everyone would know who had the float eh? Water was for the boyfriend.

These were our drinks for our very late dinner at Johnny Rockets Eastwood, Friday last week. We stopped by for burgers and fries before seeing a movie. So if I had the float, and water was for the boyfriend, who had the other drinks?

We had a date with my three nieces! It was September 2nd and Chiki (middle) turned 17. Shanti (left) turned 17 a few days before that. Of course we couldn’t go and leave Dal out of the picture. I hadn’t been out with these girls in a loooooong time. Our last movie date was three years ago! OMG!

So what film did we see? We were supposed to see Zombadings, but ended with up Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was hilarious, even the boyfriend has to admit that he enjoyed watching. I drove the girls home way past their bedtime (3AM). I think we just might do it again too. Next time though, I’d stay away from Johnny Rockets – that meal burned a hole on my credit card!

I haven’t felt well in what feels like a long week and a half. Yesterday, I skipped what would have been my 7th shift at work for the week. To some that would seem like a nice way to get in three days for my weekend, but in reality, all I did was sleep and complain about how sore I feel etc. etc.

This morning is actually the first time I’ve felt good in days!

Yesterday afternoon, I forced myself out of bed because of Crazy Idea no. 1: I wanted to see Yeng Constantino in concert at the Aliw Theater that evening. I had to see if I could muster the energy to go the event before committing to it and buying tickets.

First off, we drove to an ATM machine. Then to Pag-Ibig near GMA-EDSA. Alfred got off and paid for my overdue loan payment while I waited in the car. I was hoping we’d go buy tickets after that, but sitting in the car didn’t do me any good – I actually felt more sick and somewhat nauseous. But I could still drive.

Next stop was early dinner. Yesteday’s choice was Jay-J’s Inasal in Timog.

We had Bulalo, one order of wings inasal, and ensaladang mangga. It was good! No photos of the food or the place though, just this crazy photo of badodong wondering what his cup size is (aka Crazy Idea no.2):

Hilarious no?

Jay-Js in Timog pretty much has the same setting as their Ortigas branch. They had very minimal décor, just plain tables and a bench indoor on either side. In Timog, they have an outdoor section at the back – that’s where all those people disappear to! I’ve always wondered how the place could accommodate a big crowd (judging by the number of cars parked outside). Now I know. So yes they also have outdoor furniture bench. That’s also the smoking section (although I’m not sure if they still let people smoke given the new laws on smoking). In Ortigas (I had breakfast there with a colleague last week), they have a small outdoor area up front.

Despite having a wonderful meal, I still wasn’t up for any concert. I regretfully decided to give up on seeing Yeng in concert. The problem wasn’t in keeping up the energy for the concert, but for the drive home.

Rather than driving around in the sunset which was the initial plan B for the day, we headed straight home. But we didn’t really go home right away, we had the iPad with us and decided on an experiment.

We parked outside the house and set up to watch a movie IN the car! Free movie, free aircon. We didn’t have flowing popcorn because we weren’t ready but that’s totally something we’ll do for next time. We didn’t finish the movie though (Inception, haven’t seen the whole flick until now!) because it actually felt stupid to be home but not be home. Haha. But it’s a fun new idea for movie date night, don’t you think?

It took the entire afternoon to scan 65 photos. Time well spent. That afternoon’s equipment:

Dad’s laptop. The boyfriend was playing Black Ops on the PC.

My flat bed scanner. We’ve had this for awhile and it works perfectly. You just plug it into a USB port, install the driver, and you’re good to go. It doesn’t have its own power supply, just USB powered.

It’s pretty quick too. I remember having to scan pages upon pages of a book on the boyfriend’s old flatbed and it was an excruciating experience. This was years ago and scanners were expensive and really slow. I could almost imaging how tough the job of archivists are. Haha.

The OEM CD that came in the box had already been broken so I had download a driver for the scanner. It’s available in the Canon website so no worries. After installing the driver, the scanner worked seamlessly with MS Paint. I think it would have worked with any photo editing software too but I didn’t try. It would have been nice to have the scanning software to work with. That one let you scan multiple photos at the same time and it would recognize and save each photo individually – no cropping needed! Another nice thing about it is that even if your photos were crooked or not lined up straight, it was okay. 

I had the music playing while working on this. But I was also alternately chatting with my parents about the photos. We were supposed to go out for a drive that afternoon, but ended up just staying in. Again, time well spent anyway.

Alfred went home to Pasay yesterday morning, and he invited me there for a late lunch after my shift on Friday afternoon. I took the MRT and met up with him at the Taft station where he bemusedly told me about the insane number of stores along their street. That wasn’t news, I already knew that. But he said that their numbers multiplied and even he couldn’t understand it anymore. It was like Pilapil and H. Domingo became the capital of sari sari stores.

So we walked along and started counting.

We soon lost count. Haha! Seriously. Left and right there were vendors selling food in their mini-carinderias. There were a number of newspaper stands. Need vegetables for your home cooked meals? You can be sure to find whatever veggie you needed from either of the two vendors selling them. Ang daming tindahan! Alfred’s mom and dad have their own sari-sari store too. One can’t help but wonder if they still make anything from it because there’s just too much competition! But I guess they still do.

There must really be a lot of people living in the area that there’s business enough for everyone.

We had a quick lunch of humba (I honestly can’t tell it apart from pork adobo), and paksiw na bangus, with atsara on the side. All prepared by Alfred’s mom. As expected, they were all yummy and was well worth the trip from QC. As expected, Nanay commented about me being bloated again – she said I had gained weight since she last saw me. That must have been on her birthday in September. Yes, I’m afraid I did gain weight since then. Oh well.

Since we were already in Pasay and had the rest of the day off, we decided to go spend the afternoon in MOA and maybe see a movie. We saw Who’s That Girl? but not before a shopping splurge! I hadn’t intended to do any shopping, but well, being in the biggest mall just automatically gets you in that vibe. Right?

It all started with a visit to Beauty Bar where we picked up a big bottle of Purity. The one we got before 2010 ended is almost gone so a restock is in order. This time, we got the biggest bottle they had. The reviews are all true – it is very gentle and possibly the best cleanser out there. I also got The Supernatural for the first time. I haven’t tried it yet but look forward to it. I told the sales lady that I had wanted something for my face because I don’t wear any make up at all, and hardly ever put on powder. I have a Maybelline compact powder in my bag all the time but I always forget to use it. Anyway, she recommended that product for me.

The best part is getting freebies! But I forgot what they were and am too lazy to go up and find out. Last year I got a small bottle of Grace scented lotion and I loved that! When I run out of lotion (I have soooo many bottles in my room) I will restock with Grace.

I was so tempted to try other products in the Philosophy line, and also get a lip shimmer from Burt’s Bees, but I had to control my spending. Ugh. Why wasn’t I born a millionaire?

And then we had to pass by the Gap store. I’d been wanting one for quite awhile, and so yesterday, I did get one.

These are very comfortable flats. They fold in half and come in a nice small bag so you can tote them along anywhere you might need a change in shoes. So next time I wear heels, these babies are coming with me as backup. But I need not wait for such occasions to wear them, of course. I can wear them anytime I want.

On our way to the cinema, we had a glimpse of the sea and the barge that we assumed where the fireworks would be fired from for the pyromusic fest later that evening. People were fixing chairs and there were cables everywhere with technicians busy with wire management and setting up a stage and all that stuff. The breeze was calming and I’d have stood there until sunset, but we were due at the theater so I tore myself away from the scene.

So anyway, my Thursday fused on to Friday and we ended the day very late for someone who goes to work at 3am. We were aware of the tragedy happening in Japan, and the potential tragedy to the Philippines and other coasts all over the world, but I guess we coped with it all by seeing a hilarious movie and going shopping. The MOA was NOT full of people as I expected it would be on a Friday, perhaps people were staying away from the sea though Manila Bay was not in the tsunami watch list.