This will be for the tagalog-speaking bodies. My other self has been resurrected.

I. Thank. You.

Bow.

I so wanted to shop for more summer stuff. I wanted to buy a new bikini. I also wanted to get a belt bag. No, not them tourist-looking ones. The funky stylish ones. For some reason, when I didn't want it, it was all over the place. Now that I decided to buy one, it's like nowhere to be found. Anyway, so I heard on the radio that there was this big summer bazaar in Tiendesitas. So I thought, hey maybe we can just find everything there.

Chips and I then drive over last Saturday. I was psyched. So excited. Chips mainly wanted to go there to get a taste of the Vigan Empanada. I personally found it bland, compared to our fave Batac version. Anyway, we make our way to what they call the People's Village. I expected those bazaar type cubes with all the colors and clothes hanging off and waiting to be rummaged through. Ehhhh.

It was some food extravaganza. This thing about celebrating delicacies from different regions of the country. Can I just say how badly this event was announced and communicated. The advertisement sucks. It is misleading. It said we'd enjoy the hottest summer buys, great food and all that crap. It didn't say anything about these things being served on an installment basis. Demmit. We ended up with nothing.

Plus, I had to go to work that Saturday because we had a deadline to meet. I ended up fitting the hell out of the bikinis in U (Rustan's). I bought a plain navy blue Billabong number, which went way over my budget. But I rationalized that it would be a gift to myself, since I got a raise this month. Hehe.

Now, I'm still missing that belt bag.

Remember the last post where I said I wasn't talkative? Well, scratch that. I will tell you a story that will require utmost verbosity. It is a story of yesterday's end, but for that to be given full perspective, I shall start at the beginning. This may be long, so please prepare a bag of patience.

The day started like any usual day. I brave traffic, reach Makati, and park my car in my usual parking space. I used a big bag today, because I had to stuff so many things in - a bag of Chichacorn from Ilocos, my jacket, and since I was surfing the crimson tide, a newly-opened pack of sanitary napkins (maxi, with wings - if you'd care to know). I then walk to my office, with Eliot playing "Gold Lion" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I realize that I've run out of cash, so I make a stop at the ATM beside our building.

When I get to the office, I turn on my PC and flop my big bag on my desk. I unload the bag of Chichacorn and give it to my boss who happily munches away. I try not to wear the jacket for as long as I can, because it will cover up the nice coral necklace that I was wearing. After reading my mails, we go into an emergency meeting called by the Brand team. This skewers straight into another meeting with the Creatives. We end just in time for lunch. And just in time for a "change" (girls, you know what I mean). Since my stock in the office just ran out (second day, go figure), I place the new pack into my drawer.

We ended lunch early, because the food sucked. While waiting for the next meeting to start, I start to Flickr again. I'm almost over my monthly limit. Demmit. I wish I had a Pro account. So we have another long internal meeting, just before meeting the Client at 5 PM. That goes on until about 7. My brains feel so fried. Having a conversation the P&G way is just so taxing, for some reason. You have to set aside your usual english and uncover this completely new set of vocabulary.

I didn't want to do any major brainwork anymore after that meeting. So I just checked all my mails, released all my work orders, and sorted documents to be filed and shredded. I then blog and talk about my untalkativeness. I also check the recent activity on my Flickr. Chips calls and prods me to go home instead of killing time on the internet. My parking meter is running, he says. I finally am convinced and begin to fix my stuff up. I fished inside my big bag for my parking ticket. Now for the keys. Okay... keys will be good to have. I turn my big bag inside out. No keys! Packershet! Panic, panic. Allright. Everything will be fine. I look into every nook of my big bag. I find my eyeliner, eyelash curlers, eyeshadow, tinted moisturizer, Chapstick, lipliner, wallet, coin purse... so far everything is accounted for except for my keys. SHET.

I call Chips. He said to go to the car, and check if it's in there. And also to call my dad for the spare keys. My mom launched into this whole exasperated sermon about forgetting such an important thing. She and my dad will have to bring the duplicate to Makati (and we live in QC!). I meanwhile find a security guard with a strong enough flashlight so we can peer into the heavily tinted car. The keys are NOT THERE. My mom calls again and tells me to get the hell out of the parking lot and go back to the office. It's safer there, she says.

So back I am to the office. I move around all things possible in my cubicle, in hopes of finding the keys. It's strange that I remember everything else about this morning, except details connected to locking the doors and where I placed the keys. After a while, my phone rings. It's my dad. I shut down my computer and fix Eliot into my bag. As I was walking down the corridor, I think that I need to perhaps "change" again. I dismissed the thought because I was heading home anyway.

Ching! Lightbulb moment.

I run back to my cubicle. I pull out my drawer. Grab the pack of maxis with wings. I cannot believe it. There it was, snuggled in between the maxis (they're new, mind you). This is just too... I can't even find a way to describe all of this. Just someone please slap me.

I've not been very talkative lately. I think that's why I've been Flickr-ing more. Just swimming around the images, just having short captions. No need to weave some story-telling. The week has been too verbose for me already, and that's without me even saying a word. So hmmm. I don't know.

For now... I'll just shameless plug my favorite shot from my Frogeye. Chips actually took this pic, but I directed it (hehe).

I am back, mega-tanned and still full of energy. Yes I am absolutely recharged. The sun and the saltwater really did us a lot of good. Not to mention the absolutely wonderful food. I'm already missing the empanada. Sigh. I'm going to upload the pics today, if I have time - loads of work piled up! And I'll have the film from the Frogeye digitized. I hope we got good shots. If any, they'll all be arms flailing wildly or heads being washed over by the strong waves. Haha.

Update: I have come to realize that I don't know how I'm going to blog about the weekend. I wouldn't want to give a litany of sorts. So maybe I'll leave this as is. Maybe. I have however, uploaded some pictures onto my flickr account. Some details of the trip are already there, for those wanting to go to Ilocos.

Okay. I've got nothing else to blog about except this overwhelming sense of excitement. Five days out of the city. Five days of fresh air and relaxation. Five days bonding with family, pulling pranks, horsing around. No work, no stress!

Other than that, I will finally get to exploit my Frogeye. I really hope that the pictures come out nice. A friend told me that I wouldn't be psychologically fit for film cameras. Let alone a brand whose philosophy is "Don't think, just shoot." Just because I'm very OC (not the show). Well, we'll see how this pans out. I hope the pictures turn out well.

Anyway, I can't wait. Like I haven't expressed that enough already. Eeeeee!!!

The giddiness is overcoming me.

Indulge me for a moment.


Tapos Ilocos na. Bow.

I seem to have been withdrawing a lot lately. I have no idea where my money is going. I have not bought any major shoes (i.e. desired bronze pumps from Nine West). I have not gone on a big splurge for new outfits. I will attempt to track back where my profit sharing has gone. Have I reaped its joys unknowingly? Probably.

So it's the bonus minus...
treat for family at Recipes
treat for family at Cold Rock
cost of 256 SD card for digicam (about 1,000 Php)
cost of iBuds (3 in a pack), a total waste of money
cost of iPod wall charger (600 bucks), billable to cousin
cost of board shorts (around 650 bucks), billable to Chips
mirienda at Greenhills
leather cuff from Tiendesitas
bronze flats from HDY, Tiendesitas
rubber squeeky ball for Cooper

I guess that's not too bad. Oh. Shit. Totally forgot that I'll be enrolling in a gym next week. And I ordered a bikini. Isang malaking oh well.

I pass by Timog every night. It's on my route going home. Past GMA7, the gay bars, the girly bars, all other sorts of bars. I honk at the stupid people crossing the street without looking. I cuss at the whacked taxi drivers driving in the middle of the road. I cut those slow-ass cars looking for their next stop. They also normally don't know how to park. And they take forever to turn the corner. They are usually a group of kids piled into their parent's car. Sometimes, they are a group of kids piled into a taxi, with slowness of decision-making carried over. Observation applicable also to a group of kikay yuppies. It may be the booze. It may be whatever else they've taken. But they look like they're having fun. Even if they're really badly dressed. I can't remember the last time I actually went on one of those bar-hopping nights. I used to, back in college (God that sounded so far away). Rest assured, we were better dressed. And we did not wear white chunky shoes. And we did not wear woven belts that did not match our shoes. Okay, not the point.

Point is, I don't do that anymore. Am I depriving myself of fun? I hate the loud music reverberating within the contained space. I hate putting so much effort screaming at the top of your lungs just for the person right next to you to understand what you're saying. I get sick everytime I get caged in a venue filled with cigarette smoke. God, I am getting old. Am I not enjoying my twenties? I don't know. I can't go back anymore. Nor can I change what I've become. Do I even want to? Ehhh. Maybe not.

So for now I will continue wreaking havoc and passing my temper onto those frivolously frolicking along Timog Avenue. I'd rather go home and fit myself into our couch with a good book. If you're giving me some alcohol, wait until I'm on a beach.

The thing I love about Baguio is that it takes me back to my childhood. It's like this whole big park where you can just play all you want. And then there's this real live carousel! I never liked the carousel when I was a kid. But I did love horse-back riding. I was a one-year old sitting atop a horse with the guide, fast asleep. And when they tried to get me off it, I'd wake up and throw such a tantrum. So my parents would leave me there and I'd go back to sleep again.

So every summer, I'd look forward to that. Until I was able to ride by myself, learn how to make it run and all. Ahh it was such a thrill! It's such a surreal feeling - being on top of a huge, majestic animal. And at some weird point, it's like you're having a conversation with it. Like you understand each other. It's a wonder how it just works.

I revisited this during my trip over the weekend. If my vacation was longer and less haggard, I would've taken the usual 2-hour trail. I just took a 15-minute ride, remnants of my sister's time on the horse.

Exhilirating it was. And refreshed very much I am.

I got to be a kid again.