Life's Much Better With Hair

This Svenson billboard really disturbed me. All my life I've known Mark Gil to be this bald guy with hair on both sides of his head and I thought he still looks good despite that flaw. I know I've seen a similar billboard like this with Joey Marquez on it but this disturbed me more. I guess it's the moustache that actually got me. Too much hair!

Mang Larry and his famous isaw

the familiar smell of isaw roasting (on an open fire... like christmas) greeted my senses as we parked our car in the vast parking area of mang larry's isawan. a lot of cars were parked in front of his small food cart which i noticed has been moved farther back of the empty lot.



this signage says it all...



mang larry now has a cashier who lists down all the orders including your name. the isawan now has a system. woohoo!



see those white things wrapped on the sticks? those are the order slips.



sorry for the crappy photos.



see the crowd? and this little girl below who just had her fill...



actually, zoie ate ice cream and the crunchy isaw manok that Mang Larry is now offering. i scanned the crowd for Mang Larry. He wasn't there. I remember in college I used to talk to him. I asked hubby if he'd seen Mang Larry and he pointed at this poster...



Mang Larry is probably enjoying his time with his family. The poster says - BEHIND THE FAME...



okay, so i got a little carried away in ordering isaw. i got 4 of everything.




the sweet sauce and the suka which hubby and i drank (shame-faced). my little girl thought the suka was orange juice.



the Mang Larry smile on my little girl's face.

pares hilton

i ate this pares with mami this morning and like a glass of water, i was full to the brim.



mami with half rice which more or less is as much as a full order of rice. carbo overload!



spiced up by this chili and garlic concoction.



thank you, manong pares, for the tender beef, rich sauce and noodles!

all dogs go to heaven

my boss gave me a labchow some months ago and some months ago, he died. i think he ate something that poisoned him. i don't want to put blame on anyone but that time my dad was his pissy self. he was always drunk and my mom was visiting us here.

the first time i met zorro i fell in love with him. he was black all over and had big feet. he was the first puppy that my boss brought to the office... for me. everyone hugged him. everyone here at the office held him and that day i was so happy. my friend told me not to name him zorro because even though it's the name of the masked hero, it sounded like sorrow. and that was what his death brought us - sorrow.

the first time zoie saw zorro, she treated him like a brother. but my mom had to take him home to the province because our unit was too small for such a big dog. in the province, he should have led a better life.

my mom took him home to the province in a picnic basket. they rode a provincial bus together with the aircon blowing straight at him. he was asleep most of the time. a lot of people tried to get him from us but no way was i going to give him away.

every week, i'd get an MMS of how he's growing and got to talk to him on the phone. but after he's left manila, i never saw him again.

my mom and dad fought for a week and i got extremely depressed. my friend sensed it but i wasn't talking. it took me months to tell my boss and weeks to tell a friend. still, everyone was shocked. zorro had a vet and even a card that ensures him all necessary shots. he had complete vitamins and like a child, my dad bought him toys.

all those feelings of despair came crashing to me this morning when i heard a puppy whimper downstairs. jesse, zorro's mother, had puppies again and two of them were for my officemates. i didn't dare ask for another puppy.

before zorro, i had bumper. i was single and he lived in my apartment. but i'd rather not talk about bumper because after all these years i still cry whenever i remember how much i've loved him and that he died because a would-be robber bashed his head with a stick. he was a hero.

after bumper and zorro, i don't think i'd want another dog.

liquidated

today the producers, including moi of course, got reprimanded by our boss. we have a lot of backlog work to do and that big shiny glittering arrow is pointing towards liquidation. haay, it is very hard to handle money. we are given a budget and we are expected to liquidate it. must the producers do everything? can i just hire somebody to liquidate this for me? *sad and stressed

Nanay V's Birthday Surprise

ok so this happened weeks ago and i haven't had the chance to blog it. it was our cook, Nanay V's birthday and she was wearing red. she even had red earrings on. but we all decided not to greet her. for the last two years, we've conned her into thinking that to hell we care if it was her birthday. the first year we had her, we asked Nanay V to buy bread at the local bakery. when she got back, the whole building was dark. I was wearing red and having no place to hide stood still in front of a red divider. she didn't see me. "aw, saan naman ang mga batang to? nagpapabili ng tinapay tapos..." then we all came out from our different hiding places and gave her cake and pansit. she cried. the following year, we called for a pansit delivery under her name and when the delivery boy arrived, Nanay was very upset. she didn't order pansit and she had no money to pay for it. nobody's willing to pay for anything. and then we all came down bearing a cake with candles. she cried. this year, we had to be original. we were running out of tricks in our sleeves. so at the last moment, our audio tech thought up of this charade. we were supposed to ask our boss to reprimand her. but our other boss declined. it was her birthday and not her soon to be death day. so we decided for our other boss (the one who declined) to be the one to reprimand us. the scene would be - a very angry boss shouting and calling up all the departments and the last of his lines "ikaw, nay, ilang taon na ba kayo? kailan ang bday ninyo?" so, after all the snickers and tears from suppressed laughter, the drama began. sir i was shouting and the office door was closed. something serious was happening. i put on my big drama face and called up Nanay, our admin staff and our messenger. Nanay was very nervous. and then the line was said and we all got the food and balloons out of their hiding places. She was very happy.
I know... we're a cruel lot but we like to laugh and make people happy. i can't wait for next year.

SELL ME YOUR SOUL

i've noticed that all my posts lately contained questions. always wondering and seldom experiencing... do i still have a life? let's not discuss that. here are some stories for everyone to snack on.

for a few years now i've been into selling. i've sold accessories, bags and diapers through my multiply site and i joined at least two bazaars. i went through different experiences selling my products. there are customers who acted superior to me just because i'm a seller and i saw them transform right before my very eyes when i happened to mention what i really do for a living and that this was just a sideline.

there are cheapos in the world of selling. there was once this lady who made us go to her house so she can pay me. thankfully her house was just across the Valle Verde bazaar area. she wrung me dry with haggling and i thought she was rich just looking at her house but mother of all surprises, she paid me with a cheque. who pays 1 thousand pesos with a cheque? and asks for change? in her mind, i agreed to her abusive price. now i know why they're rich. and i'm not. *sniff... sad.

soft-hearted as i am, i cannot resist a customer who haggles but sometimes i just get so damned abused. by the end of a negotiation, both parties should end up happy. i read this somewhere. ha! i read it in a romance novel!

so, why am i the one who's always stressed out?

i also joined a bazaar organized by my egroup. i was so busy with work that i wasn't able to prepare. so i arrived late and couldn't even fill up my tiny table with merchandise. i did sell a few things and even had a small reunion with a former driver from work. the people there at the QC Circle made me sad. i sold all my junk and it made them happy. i felt terrible. i should have just given them those shoes for free.

what i don't like about bazaars is how the people criticize your merchandise. the default setting of a customer is to think that even if it's a bazaar and the prices are supposed to be looowww, you're still pulling their leg because your mark up is still very high. customers make snide remarks about why is the price like this, in Divisoria it's only blah blah... but they don't realize that you've lowered the price enough to give you a decent mark up. besides, they can go to Divisoria for all i care because they won't find my products there. A seller who happens to be a customer also understands another seller. most of the time, at least. there are also sellers who use their experience as a seller to thrive on other sellers' lack of experience.

i have customers who say that my products are fake but they've no proof. they ask and they ask but they don't have the budget to buy your stuff. they make wrong comparisons. and sometimes this makes me look bad to other customers.

online selling is okay. i call the courier and send the stuff to the buyer once payment is confirmed. the transaction is built on trust. but with nappies, it's a different story. we really have to meet up considering the bulk of the product parang di ka na rin nakatipid if ipapa-courier.

bottomline is, selling is very addictive.

loaf waste

yesterday i had to throw away a whole loaf of Olsen's Cookies wheat bread. the expiry date said September 22 and it was September 22 but the molds looked as though they've been cozy there for almost a week. so is it still worth it to look at the expiry dates on products from the supermarket? because i don't think it's truthful. tsk... tsk... such a waste.

Jaguarrrrrrr...

why is this man standing beside my car?

Pepper Lunch

why, oh, why are they all lining up in front of this restaurant? what's so special about it? i tried to look at the menu up close but i can't see anything special. these words caught my eye - "pepper rice". peppercorns on rice? what's that? i am very curious. and why is it called Pepper Lunch? is it closed come dinner time? i am indeed very curious. I'll eat there, promise.

This answers all of my questions -> http://www.pepperlunch.com.sg/about.asp

Pepper Lunch is located in front of Rustan's Supermarket, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell.

client fiend

i deleted the moymoypalaboy post. i'm bored and i can't stand to look at their faces while viewing my page. search for them in youtube if you want to view them. hell, a lot of people are getting famous these days because of youtube. there's a lot of pressure in coming up with something original. if you happen to capture a slice of life by accident and it is tremendously funny, welcome to famousdom. do not miss the opportunity. sign up in youtube.

every day of my working life, hubby "deposits" me to the office two hours before our official working time which is 9am to forever. forever depends actually if i have a project. Tuesdays i'm here at 6am because it's coding. who goes to the office at 6am? someone like me who doesn't want to weather the commuter storm. i'm all alone here at the second floor. at least, i think i am because i don't see nobody. *wehehe. it's almost 930am so why am i still blogging? harhar

anyway, today, i vow that something will HAPPEN to my project. there will be a development. if i have to harass my client then so be it. it's almost oct 15 and i haven't gone to a single shoot. what is it with clients anyway? why do they think they can boss you around? they're not paying you their own money. they are using their company's money. not everyone actually but there are some who are just plain b**chy. the worst are the assistants. the one given the task to handle the project from their end. they think they know everything.

last thursday, i was in a very foul mood. this client had the nerve to call my boss directly and told him that i wasn't incorporating all of her comments into her project. is it my fault that she's a flake? she calls me, gives me her comments, the artist incorporates it in the material, i send it and i get another call - "maybe, we should do it this way... blah blah blah." as if her project wasn't lame-o. it doesn't challenge a nerve in my body. even the pedicab driver can do it. honestly, it seriously pissed me off. i've been handling big projects for years and i get a reprimand from my boss on this project. good thing my boss knew that she's flaky and took the project off my hands. it's been months and i see no ending. i'll wait for the day she pisses my boss off too.

plastic... plastic... i can picture myself burning in hell because of my job.

STHGUOHT MODNAR

i forwarded this email to hubby. it was an email from Clawdaddy at Shang. i don't know how i ended up on their mailing list considering that crabs are the last thing on earth that i'll ever ever eat. it should come with a death wish and i've no plans of dying yet. anyway, hubby got excited and wanted to take me there tonight. uuy, date daw. sumptuous they may be but crabs are deadly to me. hubby pointed this out and i go... "if you want to go there..." (pa-cute) may makakain naman ako siguro doon na hindi seafood. but i think we'll end up having dinner at Wham! because i've been craving for burger and fries since last week.

i'm bored. i've nothing to write about. boring... boring...

my friend got his retainers today. he said he'll be wearing it for the next three years. after three years of braces... three years AGAIN of retainers. tough! he said he now has a lisp. if you're reading this, o see, i've written something about you already kaya pa-burger ka naman.

today i ate ice cream and it didn't make me happy. it's too sweet.

AARRRGGGHHHH... in a short while i have to go to this event and make sure that everything's going smoothly and i'm not even involved in it.

i've got a lot of things on my mind and not one of those thoughts is important, i swear.

Mga Kuwentong Kotse-ro

Today, i listened to songs by the Carpenters on the way to the office. Hubby asked me if we play those songs during drives to Bicol. I said no and that we listened to Eraserheads. He said, "Buti, kasi siguradong mababangga tayo!" Ha!

When Zoie's with us in the car, she's the boss. We listen to her Circle Time songs over and over again until we find ourselves singing along with her. But most of the time she asks us to shut up.

We saw three rainbows in the sky. We were on the flyover going to Market! Market! Zoie counted all of them. It was wonderful. Why are there so many songs about rainbows? What's on the other side...

Once I saw a body on the side of EDSA near Ayala lying among the garbage. I don't know if the kid was still alive or that it wasn't a body at all. Adrian drives so fast that I can't verify really what I see.

Two times I saw a dead body sprawled on the road. One was at C5 near Pembo. I think the man was killed somewhere else and tinapon na lang doon. The other one was at McKinley Road. A victim of a motor accident. He was just there lying on the road motionless underneath that truck. (shudder!)

One time I was asleep and we were driving to the province. I heard a thud and then felt a soft crunch. Adrian ran over a cat. Ngar!

Roadkills are the things that I really hate to see on the road. It's a splatter of red, brown and whatever color of the fur of whatever animal it was on a clean road.

I am constantly on the lookout for really funny signs on establishments at the side of the road but most of the time I forget them. Poor, poor memory. After a good laugh, the memory's gone. Tsk! Tsk!

This was how I felt the first time I rode our innova. "Whoa, ang taas! Ang taas taas nito ah! Kay Kumag (our beloved lowered Civic) parang lapit sa kalsada ah!" Nalion na maray!

Bermeo Chronicles

In my 6 years of working here in Bermeo, Palanan, there had been 3 really horrifying incidents that I have witnessed. The waist-deep flood due to heavy rains, the drugs that are being peddled on the street (no proof) and the snatchers on motorcycles (my officemate got almost victimized by these men) do not even come close.

Love Triangle

I rode a pedicab on my way to LRT when I heard the driver calling on to his fellow drivers, "patay na talaga?" "wala na, pare. tinanggal na" and then usyosera as i was, he noticed that i was listening to them. "Ma'am, may pinatay ho diyan sa kanto ng Araro. Babae." Ha? Bakit? I thought about the snatchers and the squatter area near the place. "Love triangle daw yata." "Ano?" Ears perked up like a horse. I hated the Emilia and Buendia traffic because I wasn't able to hear everything but I got the gist anyway. At about 10 am, a woman living in Bermeo went out to take her 7 year old daughter to her 10:30 am swimming class. The woman, according to the driver, was beautiful; "pasahero pa nga namin yan eh." While walking along Emilia, a taxi passed by and someone inside the cab shot the woman in the head. It was very sudden. Blood splattered on the street. "Ayan pa nga ho yung dugo." "Saan?" The sight of the blood near my feet when we passed by that area (i saw it early afternoon) made my stomach flip. "Na-shock nga yung bata. Hindi nagsasalita." Malamang. I doubt if the kid will ever be able to get over that trauma. According to the driver, the woman was having an affair and was maybe trying to break it off with the other man. The man probably didn't want to and maybe jealousy drove him to kill the victim. The husband at that time was home. I don't know what really happened because the husband could have had the wife killed but then I'm not sure if he's evil enough to traumatize their child.

Banggaan Blues

This happened last week. A red SUV cruised by Bermeo in a speed that will make you wonder how can one drive that fast in a pretty peaceful street unless the driver is drunk. Well, the driver was indeed drunk. He narrowly missed a parked car or rather, he hit a parked car and tried to swerve away from it slamming straight on to a car that was approaching the intersection. (Gawd, I can never be a traffic reporter. Look at how I describe this incident.) Anyway, when we passed by that area after my hubby picked me up from work, there was a tow truck there and a white car with a crushed bumper. From what I heard, may pamilyang nakasakay sa white na kotse. May 1 year old na bata na thankfully was safe after the car crash. Sigaw daw ng sigaw yung mother. The driver of the SUV came from an inuman, from a gimik. tsk! tsk!

Mother F**ker

Today, i just heard the most horrible news. A woman gave birth under the Acacia tree, a stone's throw away from our office. She gave birth in the wee hours of the morning and left the baby there to die. Sinuksok niya sa imburnal. Nasabit yung paa ng baby kaya di nahulog pero nakalublob na ang face sa tubig. Tahol ng tahol ang aso kaya the manongs who live in front nagising and decided to investigate. Ayun, may baby at buhay pa. They brought the baby to the barangay hall. Good thing the baby is still alive. Bad mother-effer. Nasa hospital na ngayon ang baby.

BAGELYA

every single time i receive a new bag (new or vintage) as a gift or buy a bag for myself, i get tingly all over... like it's Christmas morning. my hands are clammy and i quickly transfer my things into that bag right that moment... model it in front of the mirror. every time i try to sell bags, i get lonely. know the feeling of being separated from your pet? ganyan! it doesn't matter whether the bags are expensive (not yet ako sa level na premium cash ang bayad. sayang eh. i can buy a lot more things from that amount like a year's worth of school tuition for my kid. hahaha! wait nga lang pag nagkaroon ako baka di ko na maisip yan.) or just something bought in Divisoria as long as it's a bag, i will love it. whenever i see people carrying dirty bags, i am saddened. madungis na bag = madungis na tao (kahit malinis siya tingnan). pag ink stains lang naman at mahal mo ang bag mo, keber na lang basta malinis. every time i see a loose stitch on a bag, i am devastated. bakit di tahiin, di ba? parang butas na damit din yan. do not ever put your bag on the floor. that is simply disgusting. buy a bag hook. find a place where you can put your bag. a friend of mine once told me "yan ang altar ng iyong pera." my reaction was "whaa...t?" "eh nasaan ba ang wallet mo? di ba sa loob ng bag?" "oookkkaaayyy... oo nga, no?" but you know what, my friend's words stuck to my brain. nagkaroon na ng valid explanation yung pagkapraning ko sa paglapag ng bag sa sahig. nagkaroon na ng superstitious belief or feng shui ba ito? i'm not sure. basta wag na wag na wag maglapag ng bag sa floor plus hindi hygienic yan. kakapit ang germs. dudumi ang bag. can't wait, may pinadala daw sakin na bag malapit na dumating. excited!

hungry

GROWL! hear that? that's my stomach grumbling. gusto ko nito! ngayon na! as in now na... borger! borger! borger!


*i got this picture from the internet but forgot who took it. thanks, anyway.

FUNNY CONFUSING SIGNS

Some SIGNS that I've Read On The Way To The Office

CHOICE YOUR MADNESS (streamer in front of a videoke bar)

EDGAR AND LITA THE #1 PEKPEK LOVER (on the back of a pedicab)
*Warning: Mature Content

EL TIKHOL EXPRESS (on a Jeepney's mud guard)
*Warning: Mature Content

*will definitely add more. my memory's failing. hahaha!

THIS PICTURE SAYS IT ALL

Thanks, Jerg, for modeling for me. I took this picture near Cash and Carry when the road going to the parking lot was being repaired. Really funny!

PS. This is how I feel today or what I have today, rather. Gets? *wink *wink

DO I LOOK REALLY FRIENDLY TO YOU?

if i were sitting alone at a restaurant and the place is not crowded, would you choose to sit on my table?

last night, i waited for someone at a fastfood restaurant. we had a misunderstanding of where to meet (gil puyat and pedro gil... go figure and i do get confused a lot. sorry, jen!) so i just went inside Jollibee and waited for her. she was going to buy some diapers from me. i chose a table and sat down. a policeman in uniform and his friend or wife or whatever i don't care sat at the far end of the table. understandable. i was sitting at the end of three tables put together. his (the police) friend walked by and threw a dvd still inside a black plastic bag at him (to surprise him). that would have been okay if the DVD's projectile path was not in front of my face. they exchanged some "in the service" jokes. then the friend left. another man arrived and sat right in front of me. if i have had an out of body experience there then i would have seen myself as part of their group. i think they were waiting for someone who was getting their food for them. haller! there are a lot of empty tables and chairs around us. why choose mine? it's not a premium location for a table. i'm not moving away from my seat, I said. so i checked out my phone for messages when someone said "Thea?" and i nearly jumped out of my chair. the man in front of me had the nerve to look at us when i went to another seat and gave Jen the diapers.

GREAT BIG TACO

There's a restaurant just outside of Subic called The Coffeeshop Restaurant that serves this really, really, really large taco with a great taste to match too. The Godzilla among tacos.

I've only been there once but I made a promise to myself to come back. This taco puts Taco Bell to shame. If you're not a big eater, this can be shared with someone special. Romantic! Watch out for the rain of cheese and veggies, though. NOT SEXY. But better order a taco for each one of you. You will be able to finish it.

The name of the restaurant actually strikes me funny. Shouldn't it just be The Coffee Shop or Coffee Shop and Restaurant? LOL! But that's just me. When I saw the place, the first thing that entered my mind was, "nooo, they don't serve tacos here. is this place even open?" There's a small gate that leads into a garden with a cluster of tables with umbrellas. We went there at lunch time. Maybe if we went there sometime in the evening then the place would have been more alive. They were not serving soft shell tacos yet that time. I've yet to taste those. The interior of the restaurant struck me as rather quaint. When you enter the glass door and you look to your left, first thing you'll say "there's the kitchen!" and not "where should we sit?" We have the view of the kitchen and the table linen are the common red-checkered design. I like the place because it's not like other restaurants that are posh but the food is pweh.

There are a lot of foreigners eating there. The servings are big and the price is just right. Parking area is small though because the place is beside the highway.

ME

i have a blog about me being a mom to a wonderful little girl named Zoie but i still don't have a blog where i can put every single thing that i like, every single thought in my head and every weird experience i've been through. a blog that spells M-E. now i'm feeling the pressure. should this blog be legendary?

here's a rundown of how i view myself and the things that i love.

in my mind, i am demure. i don't have a loud mouth and i think before i speak and generally, i am a shy person. my friends choke on this. some just want to tear their hair off when i start describing myself as such. so, i guess i'm not those. maybe, there's a different "me" inside my head.

the one material thing in the world that i looove (let's be specific about the "material" because i have a family) are bags. next to that, i thank tremendously whoever invented the cellphone. No i don't talk for hours on the phone. in fact, i don't really like it when someone's calling me. i'd rather text. ha! which highlights the fact that i love to write. maybe, there's no future for me in a call center. Going back to bags... No, i don't have high end, super expensive bags yet like LV or Gucci and I am working my way to having a Coach (pathetic! I am not even sure I like them). Please take note of the YET because I don't plan on dying without ever owning an LV or a Gucci and I think I can have one if I really wanted to but being a mom could really muddle this kind of dream (financial responsibilities etcetera... blah blah blah) and liking other things could really ruin the plan. so my love for bags are just on the Ralph Lauren, Elle and XOXO level. But these don't come cheap also. If I have one advice to give, please take care of your bags. It reflects you. If you have a dirty bag then your hygiene sucks. hahahaha! If it's just ink stains and you have a perpetual love for your bag then okay, so be it. i'll have to discuss my views on this in another post.

i love to travel - go out of town and eat their food. highlight of the travel should be the pasalubong shopping.

i love beads. if you don't love it as much as i do, don't come with me to a bead store or you'll end up spending the whole day there.

i love to observe people when i'm in a restaurant, in a concert or in a public vehicle. but if you see me walking down the street, don't be surprised if i don't see you. i am blind in crowds. i see them as a blur.

i wear contacts. been wearing those for years. not the same pair. i change every other month. i try to, really.

i love getting pedicures and going to a spa.

if some people secretly dreams of being a bus driver, a tricycle driver or a jeepney driver (uuuyyy, may mga kilala ako), i want to be an entrepreneur or a store owner. i sell online but hates it when i get busy at work and i can't give enough attention to my biz.

lastly, i work as a producer. i handle projects like video production and staging. i talk to clients and then relay whatever they want for the project to my team.

when i retire, i will become the tindera that i've always wanted to be. wish me luck.