one fine morning

it was a beautiful day. i was in our home in sto. niño. mike was in their home in cavite. i decided to go outside and take a nap at our american (or was he swiss?) neighbor's bamboo cottage in front of the sea. the wind was blowing perfectly. i could hear the hypnotizing waves nearby.

i woke up and saw that the american (or swiss) neighbor arrived, but i just pretended to be asleep. surely he wouldn't mind that i was sleeping in his cottage. he didn't shoo me away. he just went inside his house. i went back to my siesta.

when i opened my eyes again, i saw that the sea water is slowly creeping towards the land, like that tsunami video i watched. i thought, "this can't be good," and ran to our house where lola, wawin, and our house help were.

when i got there, the waves were already violently crashing to the exterior of our house. it was a wonder, a miracle, why the water never went inside the house, otherwise we'll be engulfed! we could just see wave after wave hit the house. we went aboard a boat - yes, a boat inside our house - as the water found its way inside, and was slowly, but violently, rising.

lola, wawin, and i navigated the boat like pro surfers. we fought every wave. outside, waves continue to slam our house. surprisingly, the waves were crystal clear, almost inviting, unlike the murky waves i've seen in tsunami videos.

when the waters calmed down a bit, we went upstairs. elevate, elevate! we thought we'll be safer there. the waves were still angry outside though. we were all thankful that our house was sturdy despite its age.

finally, the water went back to
the sea. we were resting when we received a news: my lolo pepe died due to heart attack. :( he was in a hospital and we have to go there despite the chaos outside.

we went outside the house. it was peaceful. no trace of tsunami. odd, we thought.

suddenly, we heard people screaming. they said there was fire everywhere. true enough, there was a big fire on the street coming toward us. we decided to run to the opposite direction but there was also fire there. we had no choice but to run to our house again.

"to the bathroom!" i told lola and wawin. we don't know where our house help was :( we locked ourselves in the bathroom. i can't remember if we prayed. then i blinked...

and i was back to my comfortable room in sg. no tsunami, no fire. just me and my comfort. i felt thankful.

dreams, why are you so weird? why are you so scary?

happy hours

we're establishing a tradition. we're being happy on fridays (if time permits) during friday happy hour. cast: kuya, april, cat. wow ang dami! :)))

we found a sweet spot at far east square. it's not crowded probably because the place is being renovated. plus there are a number of bars/restos offering happy hour promotion. akala mo naman manginginom ako :) e isang bote pa lang e nahihilo na ako! that's fine. i still want to participate hehehe.

another reason why we say tgif! :)

human shredder

my mami has this habit of tearing docs that have no use. on general cleaning days, you'll find her slumped on the floor, tediously tearing up paper waste or confidential docs. human paper shredder ang dating :) she said she does it for 2 reasons:

a. so nobody could reuse or steal any information from you. it might be a good idea to scatter the waste in separate garbage bins.
b. it's therapeutic. yes.

i never dared to ask if she wants a paper shredder as a gift because i know the answer. in fact, i have inherited (not deliberately) the habit. on general cleaning days, i also feel compelled to gather all paper waste, find a comfortable spot on the floor (it has to be on the floor, not on a sofa or bed), and tear each one into pieces. i love the sound of paper being torn and i love the sight of the heap of shredded paper.

last sunday, i started cleaning my room in preparation for the move. look at my art work/therapy! love it!

indeed, i am my mother's daughter!

human shredder

my mami has this habit of tearing docs that have no use. on general cleaning days, you'll find her slumped on the floor, tediously tearing up paper waste or confidential docs. human paper shredder ang dating :) she said she does it for 2 reasons:

a. so nobody could reuse or steal any information from you. it might be a good idea to scatter the waste in separate garbage bins.
b. it's therapeutic. yes.

i never dared to ask if she wants a paper shredder as a gift because i know the answer. in fact, i have inherited (not deliberately) the habit. on general cleaning days, i also feel compelled to gather all paper waste, find a comfortable spot on the floor (it has to be on the floor, not on a sofa or bed), and tear each one into pieces. i love the sound of paper being torn and i love the sight of the heap of shredded paper.

last sunday, i started cleaning my room in preparation for the move. look at my art work/therapy! love it!

indeed, i am my mother's daughter!

moving out (sure na)

after a number of house viewings, we've finally found the perfect unit! this is it! we're moving in on the 20th of april! :) and we're so excited... and we just can't hide it!

it was love at first sight. everything happened so fast last saturday afternoon (are we still talking about a house here? hehehe).

we were greeted by the owners, an indian couple, and their local agent. when we entered the house, we knew this is the unit for us. it was renovated, not the type that you would see on the pages of a magazine, but it was great too and we really like it!

my favorite spots are the kitchen counter, my room, and the bathrooms. lovely bathrooms! there's also a study room, but the desk is fixed so it can't be used as an extra bedroom. wasted space in my opinion. hello. we don't study and we don't need a study room hahahaha! anyway, it will remain as a study room. and fine, i'll try to study there. hahaha maipilit lang.

we quickly offered and finally closed the deal at around 4pm last saturday. yay!

the only downside is that there are only two rooms. there's a little nook near the living room though. we'll just need to transform this into tita's bedroom since we can't use the study as a bedroom.

hope everything turns out fine. still
excited for the move!!! woohooo!

orq

one raffles quay (or suntec)
maybe someday we'll meet again
i still miss you

asuuuuus!

sabong mabango

when i was a little girl, i remember so well that my lola used "sabong mabango" as her body bath soap. she wouldn't call it any other name but "sabong mabango". it's not a mystery soap though. it's just lux bar soap :) the green one.

life then wasn't so complicated. there were just three types of soaps:

sabong panlaba - this is the detergent bar soap (aka tide) and we would use it to wash the dishes and wash the clothes. o diba! wala pang joy joy noon. and this was the pre-washing machine era, so we're talking about mano-manong paglalaba c/o ka choleng the great lavandera. :)

sabong pang toilet - i don't think i have to go into details. you can find this soap in the toilet and you know what purpose it serves :p safeuard, nothing less, is the brand.

sabong mabango - lola's bath soap. lola was so meticulous when it comes to washing her clothes. when washing her undies, she would handwash using detergent soap but for the third rinse, she would use lux to ward off the detergent smell. isn't that a good idea? :)

it all came back to me now because i found some lux soap bars in our supplies. i took one. lola, this sabong mabango is for you :)