A Year Later, A Friend Decided To Visit

- August 30, 2012, Thursday.

- My friend Yujin Han from Korea announced to my study-tour group that she would be coming to the country together with her mother. Yujin works for EBS Korea, the television station that sponsored my Korea trip (along with 5 other (former) Ateneans, and our professor, Sir Sev.) Yujin was the one of the people who worked hard to make out study tour become a success.

- In order to repay all the things she and her team did for us in Korea, as well as to show the Filipino hospitality, our group decided to plan out things we could do to show Yujin and her mom around. It was decided that we would go to Tagaytay, as the highlight for today (my only free day,) and see where we could go afterwards.

- This morning, after a peculiar suicide case in one of the LRT stations halted the whole LRT operations. All the jeeps and taxis were occupied, and fortunately, I was able to ride a tricycle in front of the Sta. Cruz Church that sent me flying all the way to Hyatt Manila; the tricycle was really really fast.

- I arrived a bit later than the others, and we were all set to go to Tagaytay using the van Sir Sev rented. Ceej, Guada, Mel, Sir Sev, and I were present; Lexie couldn't make it, but would be able to join us for dinner, while Ali couldn't make it today because of work, I think.

- On the way to Tagaytay, we had a light pre-breakfast at Jollibee, and proceeded to see the myriad meadows along the way. It reminded us of the song "Paru-parong Bukid," so we taught a short line to Yujin and her mom, complete with actions.

- We arrived at Tagaytay Highlands and had a more proper breakfast. Afterwards, All of them, except Sir Sev, Guada, and I, swam in the nice infinity pool. Guada and I just took pictures of them. We seemed to own Tagaytay Highlands today, since it was a weekday.

- After their swim, we had a stopover at the Picnic Grove to do some souvenir shopping, before going to Josephine to eat a hearty and cholesterol-loaded banquet. There was also an artist doing 15-minute portaits at the open-area of Josephine, and Yujin and her mom decided to have their portraits drawn. I think the artist's "artist name" was "Nipara," or something like that. He specializes in studio art, and payment for his life-like 15-minute sketches would depend on how much the customers think the sketches should cost.

- After lunch, we had a long sleep-loaded trip to Makati, where Yujin and her mom did some shopping, before capping the night of with a buffet dinner at Glorietta's Dad's-Saisaki-Kamayan. Apart from the nice meal, we were able to ask the mariachi group to sing some Filipino and Korean songs, and I was able to borrow the tempura-waiter's nice shrimp headdress for a short photo-op. Haha.

- I was the one assigned to accompany Yujin and her mom back to the hotel, since I lived closest to the hotel. I had my early goodbyes to them, since I wouldn't be able to accompany them for their Manila tour with Guada and the others (something I think I could've contributed more too, since I have toured a lot of people around Manila.) Anyway, I still hope to have more encounters with my Korean friends, as well as my other friends from other interesting and colorful lands.



** By the way, I met the most interesting cab driver on the way home. :) :) :) :)

The Long-awaited Dinner: Tofu And Tea Delights

- August 29, 2012, Wednesday.

- After months of postponing and rescheduling, I was finally able to arrange a dinner meeting with my friend Samuel.

- While waiting for Samuel at Lucky Chinatown Mall, I was able to encounter former schoolmates Dennis and Reggie at random. We spent some time eating donuts and bench-hopping at the center atrium, and catching up with each other.

- I met Samuel around 7:30pm, and went to Shi Lin to have dinner. Samuel seemed to hungry (I was too, secretly,) and so we ordered a feast. My favorite for the night, aside from the noodles with spicy sesame and peanut sauce, was the Taiwanese tofu. The tofu was very silky, almost watery, and lightly sauced.

- Samuel and I talked a lot; we haven't seen each other since last December, I think. (I never realized how long it was since the last time I saw him.) Thanks to technology, I was able to regularly keep in touch with him though.

- We went home as the rain showered the city with glee, and we were able to hail a cab that would send us home, after several attempts. Hopefully, I'll be able to hang out with Samuel more, soon.

A Kid For A Day

- August 25, 2012, Saturday.

- My "hell week" in graduate school just ended officially this morning after doing a major report with my groupmates. As part of the celebration, I went to Toy Kingdom's Toy Expo at SMX this afternoon to hunt for a gift for a friend.

- I arrived at SMX around 2:30pm. I went straight in the venue, since there was no entrance fee, unlike most events. Most, if not all, of the toys were discounted, and some special items could be claimed at the customer service counter for single-receipt purchases worth 500php and above.

- This afternoon, there was an auction of Lala Loopsy items, and a meet-and-greet of Lala Loopsy herself. I think only the ones who lined up in the auction were the only ones allowed to participate in that event. Well, I had my own agenda anyway, and gladly, I was able to find what I needed.

- Toys, and more toys everywhere made me feel like a child again. I was excited to marvel the current, and soon-to-be deluxe robot models of Power Rangers Samurai (second season: Super Samurai,) the current Power Rangers season being aired in the USA. I was not too keen on purchasing Power Rangers Samurai toys, since they were quite expensive, and I still "patronage" the original three (or five) seasons of the Power Rangers series.

- After buying what I needed to buy, I went to MOA and searched for orange pants, to no avail. I just had yogurt to console myself. Haha. I was tired too.

- I later went to Grace's workplace, and went to Banapple Tomas Morato to meet with Lalaine (Lala,) Marie, Marnie, and Joanna; tomorrow will be Lala's birthday.

- After having dinner at Banapple, and surprising Lala with a big banoffee pie, we tried the unlimited-cake (and coffee) promo of Cravings, a few doors away from Banapple. Apparently, we were too full, and might not have made the most out of the promo, but we were still able to try the different cakes. My favorite was the devil's chocolate cake - so moist, so chocolatey, so creamy.

- Apparently, I found out that no one would be able to hitch a ride with someone home, since Marnie, who lived closest to me, was going to sleepover somewhere else tonight, so Lala and Grace accompanied me to flag a cab home. The traffic was too heavy, but gladly I was able to come home safely. Goodness.

- Toys, cakes, chocolate, surprises, and other randomness - it's great to be a kid, to feel free, to do anything, right after a tough week. Haha.

Lucky For Me, And A Discovery

- August 21, 2012, Tuesday, Ninoy Aquino Day.

- In order to celebrate the last day of the ridiculously long weekend, (although I still have 2 extra free days due to not having classes both tomorrow and the next day,) I asked my friend Melissa if she was available this afternoon for a visit to Lucky Chinatown Mall. Melissa told me that she was available, and so I asked her to be prepared around 1pm.

- Melissa and I met up, went to the nearby City Square to visit out friend Pei Mei. We bought some ice cream because it was quite hot this afternoon.

- Back at Lucky, we went window shopping, and bought some groceries. I'm quite excited to try the sausages and cheeses I bought from the grocery. Both of us also found out that we were allowed to taste the cheeses for free.

- We later ate at Shi Lin, a specialty Chinese restaurant serving sophisticated and leveled up dimsum, noodles, and rice dishes. Most of these dishes are usually served in small restaurants in China as a type of "fastfood," and are never served in big servings. Melissa and I both ordered a bowl of noodles with spicy sesame and peanut sauce, and shared an order of xiaolongbao. We also had a pot of chamomile tea. We had so much tea that we peed a lot after eating.

- Melissa and I went around the mall a last time before going home. It was definitely not a fancy afternoon, but it was good to hang out with a (crazy) friend. It's always good to hang out with a good friend.

Give In To Give Up To Give Out: Helping Monsoon Victims

- August 19, 2012, Sunday.

- Our high school batch representative Charmeuse invited me around a week ago to help out with the distributions of donations to the monsoon victims. Our batch would be tying up with a higher batch for this small project.

- I was glad that some of my high school classmates gave in to my request of "additional manpower." They were all eager to help the monsoon victims, and it was the least we could do since most of us did not give up some things to donate. Well, I could say that time was what we "gave up," just so we could help out.

- This morning at around 9, we assembled at Starbucks, and waited for Charmeuse' instructions. Our batchmate, and Charmeuse' high school classmate, Jackson, was also there to help out, and serve as one of our drivers.

- We first went to the higher batch's batch representative's parking to help load the trucks and cars with the buckets fill with relief goods. Then, we headed for a longgggg journey to an almost hidden community in Fairview.

- We held out the donations, and gladly the people were well-facilitated by the community heads. It did not take long before the donations were fully handed out. It was also a time for both batches to mingle and have some interesting small talks.

- After handing out everything, we had another long trip back to Manila. We were surprised that it was already around 3pm, and we still hadn't eaten lunch. Well, we left a bit later than scheduled, and we also got lost on the way, so maybe that'll explain why.

- We arrived at Lucky Chinatown Mall at around 3:30pm, and had a quick lunch at Bon Chon. My classmates and I had a celebratory karaoke session at Quantum, so we could sing our tiredness out. I think that backfired since our voices were now also tired. Still, we were happy.

- We all went home after our hour-long karaoke session. Although we were tired, giving in to a request, giving up time to help, and giving out donations to help our fellow countrymen seemed to be a good way to spend one of our long-weekend days.

Mid-Autumn's Just Around The Corner: Photoshoot Once More With Neighbors

- August 18, 2012, Saturday.

- This year's mid-autumn festival will fall on the 30th of September. Since I had some time to spare tonight, I invited my neighbor Charmaine, and former neighbor Riezeryl, to assist me with my photoshoot tonight.

- I usually have my photoshoots in my living-room-turned-studio, but this time, I decided to have it inside my bedroom. I don't know why I had not thought of this before, but shooting inside my room greatly improved the quality of my photos, mainly because of the lighting. My neighbor Charmaine served as the photographer, while Riezeryl served as the all-around assistant, and lighting person.

- As a "tradition," I served dinner for all the participants of the photoshoot as a "token of appreciation." The three of us had a Chinese dinner after shooting the Korean "chuseok," and the Japanese "tsukimi" photos. Both chuseok and tsukimi, as well as the Vietnamese "tet" are all mid-autumn celebrations, just like the Chinese "mid-autumn festival," fondly called the "mooncake festival."

- After dinner, we proceeded with the Vietnamese and the Chinese photos. I had some food-props in the photoshoot, such as mini Korean cakes I bought earlier today, a mooncake, and some sweet peanut/bean rice balls that substituted for the Japanese "dango," an almost similar rice-based sweet that is eaten during the tsukimi celebration. After using them for my photoshoot, I shared these food-props to my wonderful "crew."

- Just before we ended, we also took the time to shoot photos for the upcoming "diwali," the pan-Indian celebration of lights. It will be celebrated this 13th of November. For this series of photos, I shut off all the lights, lit a small candle, and used a powerful flashlight as a "spotlight," and also to create sort of a halo effect. I think that went better than expected.

- After the photoshoot, we packed up, and rested, and played around with some of the costumes/accessories that I had. Usually, having my crew/participants play around with my items also served as part of my "token of appreciation."

- This month-long delayed photoshoot finally pushed through (darn storms and monsoons,) and I couldn't thank my neighbors enough for the hard work they've shown, despite my photoshoots as not being "official" ones. It's just something I do to share cultures, to showcase my costume collection, and just to have an opportunity to hang out with my awesome neighbors. I can't wait for the next photoshoot!!

Someone's First Chicken Joy After A Year in Sushi-Land

- August 3, 2012, Monday.

- My friend Melissa came home from Japan just the other day, after a year of being an exchange student in Tokyo. We were eager to meet each other, and she asked if we could eat at Jollibee, since she missed it too much while in Japan.

- I had a whole afternoon shopping spree before my 5pm meeting with Melissa. I wanted to look for a nice pair of orange pants, since I finally figured out how to pull them off. Weird enough, I saw everything else there was to see, except for the one I was looking for. Tough luck. I was able to buy an inexpensive shirt though.

- I met Melissa around 5:30 at Jollibee. I was happy that I finally got to sit down after around 4 and a half hours of nonstop standing and walking around.

- My meal with her became a long interview session, with me asking her question after question about her experiences in Japan. I already had a gist of what her life was like in Japan through my regular chats with her, aided by some of her photos in Facebook, but it was also nice to know more about her experiences through a "personal" interview.

- We both went home around 8pm, surprising for both of us, since we thought that having an early dinner would make us go home earlier. Well, I guess an early dinner just gave more time to me to ask about her life in Japan, and for her to ask me about what has happened in the country while she wasn't around. The bonus of the night?? The goodie bag she gave me. Haha. Thanks again Mel!!

Neighbors BRAVE-ing the Rain

- August 4, 2012, Saturday.

- Thank God for the class suspension today because of the UP entrance exam (God bless them.) Since I had a full day off, I decided to go malling with my former neighbor, Riezeryl. I needed to shop for new pants, since some of my old ones had already worn off. Since Riezeryl was thinking of watching Brave too, she agreed to come with me today.

- I met Riezeryl today at a bit past 10am, and went to MOA with my current neighbor, Charmaine. Charmaine was also going to MOA, coincidentally, but she would be hanging out with her co-workers. At least Riezeryl and I were able to semi-hang-out with her on the way to MOA, and just before we parted ways in the mall.

- Riezeryl and I bought tickets to the 2:45 show of Brave, and went to have lunch at Mexicali. I hoped she enjoyed her first not-so-authentic-but-closest-to-real-Mexican Mexican meal. I also could not resist shaking my body, and dance along to the Latino music.

- While waiting for our 2:45 show, Riezeryl accompanied me to do my shopping. I never knew it was that difficult to look for a pair of plain white pants.

- Riezeryl and I were fortunate to grab nice seats inside the theater, since a lot of people wanted to watch Brave this afternoon. I liked the movie mainly because it was peppered with many Scottish cultural elements, which made the movie more "realistic." Although the movie was predictable after the main plot twist, I couldn't believe that I got teary eyed towards the end.

- We both had Jamba Juice after the movie, and went home just before sunset. We left Charmaine with her co-workers, since they would be coming home a few hours later. Thankfully, the rain also cooperated with us, and didn't rain while we were on the way to MOA, and on our way home.