Unicorns Unite!!: The "Lady," The Tramp, The Unicorns

- March 26, 2012, Monday.

- My carpool group wanted to meetup one of these days, and after a poll-system, we decided to have dinner today at the new Lucky Chinatown Mall. Danica also suggested that we eat at Uncle Cheffy, located at the third floor of the mall.

- I came home from work today, rested for a while, and rode off a bit earlier than our 7pm meeting to have time to look around at the more newly-opened stores and restaurants. I met Charmaine minutes later, then Mich, and then Anne. We had fun inside Toy Kingdom, since it was very near Uncle Cheffy.

- We settled at the restaurant after Danica arrived, and the first round of dinner was already in morsels after Zach arrived. For our first round, we had pasta, an all-meat and Uncle-Cheffy's pizza combo, and their lechon kawali.

- Eric came later on, miraculously (after telling us that we might not be around anymore by the time he arrives,) and had a second round. This time, we had an east-meets-west and all-cheese combo. I fancy how Uncle Cheffy's pizza system was similar to Yellow Cab's "Dear Darla" pizza (the one where you roll up veggies and herbs with the flat and elongated slices of pizza.) Eric and Zach also shared the same pasta we ordered earlier tonight.

- We ended dinner around 9, after repeatedly teasing Zach and Eric that they reminded us of the pasta-sharing candle-lit-dinner scene in Lady and the Tramp, since they were sharing the bowl of pasta with a small candle between them.

- We went home shortly after, since most of us were a bit tired from work, and the thought of working during the remaining days of the week. I hope we'd get to do this during the holidays or something, so at least we won't be too tired. Haha.

"May The Odds Be Ever In Our Favor"

- March 24, 2012, Saturday.

- I wanted to go out today to canvass for something, but I didn't know whom to go with. Since a lot of my friends were a bit full, I suddenly thought of inviting Aileen, since she wanted to watch The Hunger Games and had no one to go with. Fortunately, Aileen accepted my invitation almost instantly.

- I met Aileen at school this afternoon, and went ahead to MOA to catch the 2:20 showing of The Hunger Games. Having half an hour to spare, I did my canvassing after both of us buying a large yogurt each. It was unforgivably hot this afternoon, and we both needed something to cool us off.

- We both entered the movie house, shocked to see a full house. I remembered later on that today was a Saturday, the movie was still being hyped on by people, and that SM malls didn't have the reserved-seating system. Aileen and I found two seats near the front, which made movie-watching a bit of a headache. At least we had popcorn to keep us busy while watching the movie.

- I'm not really sure of what to say about the movie. It was interestingly bizarre, possibly realistic, and maybe, inappropriately violent - at least in terms of what the children/young adults are supposed to do to stay alive. The movie can be a little confusing, and some parts towards the end are implied conclusions - semi-cliffhangers as I like to call them.

- Aileen and I went to do some more canvassing before deciding to go home. The rain had just started to drizzle and later, meticulously pour on us. At least the rain stopped after we got out of the train.

- I would have wanted to have a small meal with Aileen at MOA, but we weren't able to due to time constraints, and weather commands. At least I was able to go out today, and both of us were able to do what we wanted/needed to do.

The Travel Buddies' Anniversary Adventure!!

- March 17, 2012, Saturday.

- I was panicking last night since I didn't know what I'd be doing this Saturday, aside from my weekly piano lessons. My Saturday is always my leisure day, and it is a must for me to go out and "get lost," or at least meet someone over lunch/dinner/shopping.

- After many failed attempts to ask people, I asked my friend Cristina if she'd be able to accompany me. She didn't promise me anything, since she wasn't sure if she'd need to stay longer at work. If not, she'll come home after lunch, and accompany me to wherever.

- Cristina was my first travel buddy. She was the one who accompanied me to Little India four years and three days ago today. Because of this, we decided to go to Little India -- if Tina didn't need to go overtime.

- I was brought the good news after lunch, when Tina told me that she didn't have to stay overtime at work today. I waited for her to come home, and met her at her house. She asked if we could go somewhere nearer since she was a bit tired from work. I proposed to go to Quiapo, since I'd need to go there today anyway, with or without Little India. Cristina agreed.

- Tina and I arrived at Quiapo, semi-chaotic, went to purchase her cross-stitch materials and my accessory-making materials, before having the "adventure" itself.

- One of the reasons why I wanted to go to Quiapo was to make sure I still knew my way around the obscure streets without a map. The last "grand" adventure I had in Quiapo was during April last year, days before my grand trip to India-Nepal-Thailand.

- Tina and I first visited the Ocampo Pagod at Bilibid Viejo Street. The East-meets-West pagoda/mansion, now occupied by seamen waiting for their turn to leave Manila, still amazes me. As for Tina, she was still perplexed as to why she didn't know about this structure before, and why Manila did not restore the mansion's old glory.

- Since we had a lot of time to kill, Tina and I went around the corner to see if there were other ways to see the mansion up close. Instead, Tina and I were able to come across old stone statues that were once part of the mansion. I came across images these statues in this travel blog (http://traveleronfoot.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/ocampo-pagoda/) but it was by pure chance that Tina and I saw them. I was a happy little muffin.

- We both had a power snack at Jollibee Hidalgo, since Tina wanted to sit down, before having a short visit at the Bahay Nakpil and Boix House, two of the historical houses hidden in Quiapo.

- We then proceeded to Quiapo's Muslim town, and went around the area to see if there was something new. Apparently, a new building was built there, and I think it's going to be a small commercial center, possibly catered to Muslims there.

- Since both of us were insanely tired, we decided to go back to mainland Chinatown to grab some dimsum at Golden Fortune. Gladly, we still made it to the restaurant's afternoon-discounted-dimsum promo. Tina tried to learn Korean there, while we munched on some good old dimsum.

- We ended our travel-buddy anniversary day after buying some bread for Cristina's sister at Mandarin Square. Too bad our favorite milk-tea place is still under renovation; otherwise, we would've bought some milk-tea too!!

- We might not have gone back to our first adventure place, but we'll visit Little India soon, I just know it. After all, both of us will always have that craving for authentic Indian food, and talkative Indian businessmen!!

Unmasking MASCKS: The Long-Awaited Jane Doe After-Party

- March 14, 2012, Wednesday.

- Many from the theater group had been too excited for this day to come, since we'd be able to be gathered together as the big family that we all were during practices. The play's (Jane Doe's Mask) after-party was held today, on the last day of the students' exams, at one of the Celadon Residences' function room.

- While it quite bothered me that it was held on a Wednesday, and because I'd still have work tomorrow, it mattered more to me to see and be with these talented young people for a gathering - even when it means I'd be more tired than usual after I get home. Yes, it was worth it.

- I came to Celadon at quarter past six, after a long day at work and getting a teeny bit lost in search for the function room. The students just started to play their games, in order to build up their appetite for the buffet. I joined along, since, well, I wanted to be with them as much as I like documenting them.

- Mrs. Ong, Ms. Nica Isip, my friend Clarizza, and Mrs. Brown came later to join us. It was a running gag throughout the night for Clarizza to be paired up with me, since we were already friends since high school. We gave in to the students' request in one game. (Our balloon failed on us, so we were the last pair to finish the game. HAHA.)

- We later had dinner, and I thought the food was great, and from what I know, not too expensive as well. Camille, the emcee for the night, was also the organizer of this get-together/after-party.

- Right after dinner, special awards were given out, and my buddy Singson go the most awards. What can I say, the guy's great.

- They tried to attempt another game after dinner, but I guess people were too sluggish to move after that feast. After a failed attempt to a sort of Simon-says game, Ms. Isip just asked people to dance the night away.

- We ended the event at 9:10, a bit past as scheduled, and I hitched a ride with Ian, as well as a lot of other people. Good thing Ian's my neighbor. HAHA.

- The long ride ended with Singson dropping by my house while waiting for his sister to fetch him. He finally saw my house. HAHA. I'm really glad I was able to go to the after-party today. Wouldn't have missed it for the world.



** Note: I wore my Indian kurta today to the event since I came the on behalf of the original Ramayana cast. :) :) :) :)

Evening Meeting, Agendas Missing!!

- March 13, 2012, Tuesday.

- Our reunion committee had its first weekday evening meeting since we started organizing the reunion to be held later this year. We met at Starbucks at 8pm, and didn't know where to start.

- Apparently, our dear president doesn't have a list of agendas to be discussed, and so some volunteers tried to jot down matters that had to be finalized for the night. It's ok, we love our dear president just like that (no sarcasm involved.)

- Unfortunately, I had to leave after an hour, but at least I as able to get a gist of the tasks my team would be involved in for the reunion. I hope everything goes well. :) :) :) :)

Reunion Meeting: New Faces, New Frontiers

- March 11, 2012, Sunday.

- Today was a productive day. We were able to settle some matters, and have arrived to some concrete plans, such as our batch name. On a completely random note, I made some granola bars from last night until this morning, and I shared some to my fellow batchmates. Teehee.

- Most of the people who came to the meeting today were there for the first time. We had our nice cozy meeting at Seattle's Binondo, and squished ourselves in three tables I think.

- The meeting was adjourned at amost 5 in the afternoon, and I walked home with Cristina - and so I'd be able to share some of the granola squares to her family.

The New Mall In Town: Lucky Chinatown Mall With The Koreanophiles

- March 10, 2012, Saturday.

- The other day, my friend Melissa invited me to go to the new Lucky Chinatown Mall together with another friend, Margarette. They wanted to check out the mall, fondly compared to Chinatown's Greenbelt, as it was an upscale, target the upper economic classes of Chinatown.

- I went to Melissa's house at around 1:30, and found out that Margarette had arrived before I did. Margarette and I waited for Melissa to finish her forever-long bath, before we headed to Lucky Chinatown Mall an hour and a half later.

- Many stores were still closed at Lucky Chinatown Mall, but I could already see what it may look like when all the stores are all opened. I was too excited to see Toy Kingdom inside; I'm always excited to see Toy Kingdom even if I won't be buying anything there. (Oh childhood.)

- I was also surprised to see a Lyric and Casio branch there. At least it'd be more convenient to purchase music-related items. (I hope they sell violin strings.)

- The three of us ate at Max's later, and of course, with Marga and Melissa together, the two talked non-stop about the K-Pop world. Melissa's hair curled more, the more she laughed about the most obscure things about K-Pop. Other than that, Marga and I tried to teach her Korean words and phrases that Melissa swore she would never be able to get. I think it's just one of the language beginner's syndrome.

- We went home after buying a few grocery items, and Melissa, again, refused to let us go. Marga had to attend something, and I had to do stuff at home. Oh well, Melissa and I will meet again tomorrow for out reunion meeting anyway. Haha. As for the mall, I can't comment a lot about it yet; I need to visit it again once all/most of the stores have opened. However, I can only say one thing: I can not spend a lot of time in Lucky Chinatown Mall, because I will say hi to someone I know every five to ten steps. I'm not kidding. (Just today I said hello to a lot of people I knew, considering there weren't a lot of people there this afternoon.)

For the Love of Siam: Forever Alone Sundays with Gilbert

- March 4, 2011, Sunday.

- My mom had been asking me if I wanted to attend the 4th Thai Trade Exhibition at SMX either yesterday or today, although the event was held from March 1 until today. Since I had my workshop yesterday, I told her that today was the only day I have for this event. My mom, however, had to cancel our trip the last minute last night, since she needed to accompany my sister somewhere. Too bad though, my mom was more enthusiastic about this event than I was. Still, I told my mom that if I wouldn't be able to find a friend to go with, I'd visit the exhibit myself.

- Well, I really wasn't able to find a friend to go with, so I went alone to SMX this morning at 9:20am; the event started at 10. I arrived at SMX, and registered (registration was free,) at the counter before going in Hall 3-4. To my surprise, the two halls were not fully packed. I expected to see more since I read that there were around 100 participating companies for this year's trade exhibit. I knew that not all 100 would be present in all four days, but I just expected to see more.

- I finished roaming around the place in around 1 hour. One side of the area was mostly for Thai food and grocery items, or health-and-well-being items, while the other side was for miscellaneous items, from household items, office supplies, to clothes and accessories. Not all were distinctly Thai, although there were indeed many interesting finds.

- I decided to stay longer after I head the DJ announce that there would be a Thai dance performance at 2pm. I roamed and roamed around the place, and surprisingly, I found more and more interesting items I wasn't able to see during my first round. I thought long before buying the more expensive items.

- I also got to see the fruit-and-vegetable carving demonstration, as well as the "foi thong" cooking demonstration. The Foi Thong is a type of Thai dessert made by simmering 10 cups of water, 10 cups sugar, a teaspoon of jasmine nectar, and pouring egg yolk as people would do with a funnel cake. Once the funnel-yokes are cooked, the yoke strands would be collected and folded into a stringy sweet flowery yumminess. Both the carver and the cook were personal chefs of the Thai ambassador to the Philippines, we were told.

- I visited the other trade fair beside the Thai trade exhibit. The other trade fair was participated by sports-related companies, and offered big discounts to their shoes, bags, and other items. Too bad I didn't find anything interesting.

- I had a light lunch at Travel Cafe Philippines, just outside the Thai Trade Exhibit, below the escalator, and rested my legs. The event didn't have stall where I could buy a decent (and hopefully) Thai lunch, so I had to eat elsewhere. I checked my watch, and I still had more than 2 hours to kill before the Thai dance presentation, I decided to hop over to MOA and buy some things I needed from the bookstore, and maybe eat a decent and heavier (second) lunch.

- I ate at Pollo Loco after buying my clearbook and refill pages, and thought that the Pollo Loco in MOA still tasted a lot better than the one in MOA. The chicken tasted like the one in Megamall, at least on the outside, but I felt that the meat was not as juicy or fragrant. While strolling in MOA, I also felt strange to see not too many people in MOA on a Sunday. Usually, it's hard to move around MOA during Sundays, consdiering how big MOA was supposed to be.

- I went back to SMX, and did a final round, before resting at the seats provided for the audience in front of the stage. The host soon came out, and introduced the dancers.

- The first dance was a mix of East and Western Thai dances, which depicted two mythological creatures from the Himmapan forest (the forest where most magical chimaera-like animal creatures are found.) The second dance was a courtship dance, I forgot which part of Thailand the dance came from though. The third one was a Northeast (from the Issan region) Thai dance. The finale was a 4-region dance, and as the name suggests, is a dance showcasing teasers of dances from all the four regions of Thailand (north, south, central, Issan,) and shows unity of all four regions.

- I went home after the Thai cultural presentation, and having a photo op with the dancers (thanks to making a deal with another person; she takes my photo, I take hers after.) I came home around four, and realized that I just had a really really Asian weekend. Talk about cultural immersion at its finest, and all happened here in Metro Manila. :) :) :) :)

Korean Immersion Day with Ms. Curls: Korean 101 by Mrs. Cherish Bae

- March 3, 2012, Saturday.

- My curly-haired friend Melissa asked me to join her in a "Korean 101" workshop a week and a half ago. The fee was 600php, and I was initially reluctant to shell out that much money. Melissa sent me a link to the coverage of the workshop, as well as the credentials of the lecturer, and I felt like my money would go a long way.

- Melissa was kind enough to pay for me after she happened to see the contact person for the workshop in a certain K-Pop-related event. Of course, it is also a given that Melissa had been spazzing about this event all-week long.

- The event was a all-day cultural-day event, held at Beehive Events Place in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City. The workshop was taught by Mrs. Cherish Maningat-Bae, a Filipino who studied MA Theater Directing at the Korean National University for the Arts. She is currently a theater actress and director based in Korea, appearing in plays and some television shows and movies in Korea, and is also married to a Korean. She was assisted by Ms. Kring and Mr. Edward. They had limited slots for the event, which meant that we had to reserve for our slots asap.

- Melissa and I arrived at the venue an hour and ten minutes earlier, after riding the LRT to Anonas and getting a cab to the venue. It was much more efficient than the suggested way-of-commuting in the reservation-confirmation e-mail sent to us. Since we were too early, we just had breakfast in one of the nearby restaurants in the village.

- Our workshop started at 10:05, with me and an American as the only men in the group of 25(?.) We had a three-hour language session, which was just a Hangeul (Korean alphabet) lesson. Although the handouts provided some material for basic conversations, we were not able to tackle them due to time constraints. Still, I think the Hangeul lesson was comprehensive enough - it's just that for those without background in Hangeul, it could be confusing and overloading. As for those who cannot speak, or without background in Hangugo (Korean language,) it would have been quite a loss since we lacked time, unless they review the handouts given to us.

- Come lunch time, we had a Korean cooking class. First, we made "saek saek jumuk bap" or colorful Korean rice balls. The green rice balls had more seaweed, the yellow ones with boiled egg yolk, and the pink ones with Spam. They were easy to make, and to make it more fun, the organizers wanted to have a contest. We were asked to pair up, make our own rice balls, and the teams were judged on presentation. Melissa and I were one of the three teams who won.

- The second dish demonstrated to us was "maejuri al jorim," or boiled soy quail eggs. This side dish was cooked for us, since we didn't have individual stoves, but it was easy enough for us to make on our own elsewhere. The third dish was also a side dish, called "ori muchim," or cucumbers with red chili sauce. (The red sauce was sort of the same sauce used in making kimchi or tteokbokgi.) It was a quick side dish that could be made in around 15 minutes or less. It was delicious, and not too spicy.

- The bulk of the afternoon session was about Korean culture. We first discussed greetings, which included the types of bows. I was used as a sample for the male bowing style because of my casual hanbok. Teehee. After greetings, other aspects of culture like food, drinking, dating, transportation, table manners, people, and some places to visit were discussed. I felt that this was very informative and useful, since Mrs. Bae was able to enhance her lecture with her experiences of living in Korea. Since Mrs. Bae was relatively young, she was able to make us relate to her experiences very effectively and vividly.

- The last part of the afternoon was about Korean hairstyles and make up. Although this portion was obviously targeted to the women, I found it interesting how Koreans differed their makeup styles than how most women would do their makeup. To keep it short, I can just say that Korean makeup gives judgement to the statement "simplicity is beauty." Truly, the Koreans make their natural beauty standout through makeup, which I think is quite ironic to the quite common plastic-surgery norm.

- We ended the session with giveaways, and prizes for the food-presentation contest during lunch time. We won a Highcut issue, and I just gave Melissa and my copy to Melissa since she wanted it a lot. After that, and a few photo ops, we both went home. I was as tired as hell, but Melissa kept spazzing stuff to me in the train, while I was explaining the concepts of Hangeul to her. Yes, today was one of the best opportunities I spent my 600php on, no doubt.

Japanese Photoshoot with my Lovely Neighbor

- March 2, 2012, Friday.

- After a tiring day at work, and a destressing afternoon-to-evening with some theater people, I decided to have an after-dinner photoshoot with my neighbor, since I needed to take better photos of me wearing my kimono, haori (jacket,) geta (sandals,) obi, and yukata.

- It was a deal between me and the vendor that I would send him pictures of me wearing the stuff I bought. I wanted this shoot to be done asap, so I won't have to worry about this in the future. Gladly, my awesome neighbor Charmaine was willing to help me out.

- Charmaine came here around 9, and helped me set up. She took pictures of me, and as a reward, I let her try out the yukata I bought. She was able to fit the geta the other day too.

- I loved the natural afternoon sunlight from last week's informal photoshoot, but the background with my cabinet or door didn't seem nice, so I decided to do this white-cloth-background photoshoot.

- We ended the photoshoot around 10pm, right after I neatly folded my Japanese costumes. I recently learned how to fold a yukata and a kimono properly. Haha. :D:D:D:D