Almost a white Christmas – Part 1

Yes, it’s been snowing here in the UK for the last 2 days and the South East region, where I live, has suffered the most of it with up to 8 inches of snow. Now for those of you who live in continental Europe and other cold temperate regions, 8 inches may not be much but believe me when I tell you that it could do some real damage with the basic services here in the UK. I mean, last year alone, when 2 inches of snow fell, the country was almost at a standstill!

Anyway, I digress.

It was my first, yes, FIRST Christmas away from the Philippines. See, I’ve already been to Manila earlier in December so going back again just for the holidays would be extremely expensive. So, faced with the fact that I will be wearing layers and layers of clothing in time for Christmas dinner was a novelty to me. As was the rest of the celebrations.
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Meme time

Sabine tagged me…

Remove the blog at the #1 position of the list below and move everyone else up one place then add your own blog to the #5 spot…

1. Steph
2. Mel
3. Wicked
4. Sabine
5. April Journeys

Next, select 5 friends to “piss off”…

PinayHekmi
AnP
Kala
Ruth
CeliaK

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Back in 1995, December-time, I just quit my first job – an off-shore stockbrokerage company. I was preparing then to start a new one in the New Year.

5 snacks I enjoy…

1. Walkers Crisps
2. Chocolates, specially dark ones
3. Cakes
4. Crackers and biscuits with cheese
5. Donuts

5 songs to which you know all the lyrics…

1. On My Own (Les Miserables)
2. It Might Be You (Stephen Bishop)
3. Sun and Moon (Miss Saigon)
4. Sana Maulit Muli (Gary Valenciano)
5. In My Life (Beatles)

5 things you would do if you were a millionaire…

1. Give back to charity (really!)
2. Establish a dog home
3. Buy myself a private jet
4. Be a space tourist
5. Invest

5 bad habits…

1. Procastinator
2. Big spender
3. Those little white lies
4. Unsociable (at times)
5. Overtrusting (with people)

5 thing I like doing…

1. Shopping
2. Watching films at the cinema or DVD
3. Listening to music
4. Travelling and sight-seeing
5. Snuggling up to someone special and stay indoors all day

5 things I would never wear again…

1. Shoes with chunky heels
2. Clothes that don’t fit me anymore
3. Pantyhose
4. 1-piece bathing suit
5. Full, maxi knickers

5 favourite toys…

1. Jensen, my mini iPod
2. JVC 32″ LCD TV
3. Sony Vaio
4. *bleep!*
5. *bleep!*

Disney-fied Narnia

Had the chance to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe last weekend, which is part of the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis at the cinema. I’ve always revered this series of books and regarded them as far superior than that of Harry Potter (no personal offence, Potter fans!). But this film adaptation left me (and P) with mixed feelings. Sadly, there was no after-cinema excitement and there was nothing that lingered on afterwards.

By the way, there might be spoilers for those who haven’t seen the film yet on the rest of my post. Oh, and may I post a disclaimer now, the rest of this post is my personal opinion of which, I claim no expertise or any other commercial responsibility for it.

Rightey…
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Tsk! Tsk!

Sod it. I re-read my last post and decided it was a lame attempt to share with you stories of my recent trip to Manila. It felt (err, read) really cold so I am not going to add more to the injury. Simply put, I had a great time there. Saw friends, got to hang out with my mother at the spa… eat… eat… and eat more! So, that’s it.

Recalling Manila

Maraming beses na kitang nilayasan
Iniwanan at iba ang pinuntahan
Parang babaeng ang hirap talagang malimutan
Ikaw lamang ang aking laging binabalikan…

Yes, that’s how I feel everytime I visit Manila. Like Ally McBeal, I hear this song (by Hotdog) playing in my head when the plane is about to touchdown NAIA. Then, you get off the plane, step into the terminal and you read “Mabuhay! Welcome to bird flu free Philippines!” Everyone is rushing to get through immigration, some make a stop at the Duty Free shop but before we get there, we had to go through this camera which checks for signs of potential bird flu infections. I line up among the immigration counters and notice the “SEA Games” counter. Hmm…I then realised that Philippines is hosting the 23rd SEA Games. Then, I wait forever for my luggages. I even thought that someone had picked up one of my suitcases by mistake and would only realise that it wasn’t theirs only when they had left the airport! But thankfully, it was only a similar case. Phew! Coming out of the terminal, I met my high school friends who were kind enough to give me a lift home.

We had dinner at the Seafood Market by Roxas Blvd before driving me home. It was literally a wet market of seafood where you buy them and have them cooked the way you want. We had king prawns cooked in butter, miso soup, grilled pusit (octopus) and crabs. But you know what I enjoyed the most? Itlog na maalat! Yes, salted eggs! Maybe because I ate a lot of seafood already when I was in Indonesia (limited options due to bird flu) so I wasn’t that excited anymore. After dinner, we had coffee at Cafe Adriatico in Malate. It was my first time there…actually, my first time to be in Malate, not just the cafe. I found the area okay but it wasn’t my thing anymore – bar hopping, I mean.

Anyway, I got home at around 2am!

And the rest of the story, I will continue in another post.