Every year, it seems that Christmas no longer feels like Christmas.

Before, Makati streets would be decked with lights. Christmas carols would feel the air. The night air would be chilly. Everybody counted the days before Christmas. Everybody enjoyed shopping for the perfect present for family and friends, no matter the cost. Everybody was cheerful and in the holiday spirit.

Now, the only way you can tell it's Christmas because of the traffic in all cities, the chilly night air (that's been a constant), the budget you put on gifts and the continuous outflow of cash from your bank account. Unlike before, Makati streets is decked with lights from traffic. Christmas carols would make you cringe and even change the radio station once you hear one being played. Everybody couldn't believe that it's only a few eye shuts away ("Really? It's 5 days before Christmas?") as it nears Christmas day. Nobody enjoys shopping anymore and dreads having to brave the malls. Just this Christmas season, only a handful of people wished me a merry christmas.

It sure doesn't feel like Christmas, huh?

But for you Harry Potter fans, here's a pick-er upper!!!

According to the author's site, www.jkrowling.com, the sixth installment, Harry and The Half Blood Prince, will be out on... (drum roll, please!) July 16, 2005!!! 5 months earlier than the expected date!!! I bet you're all excited! I know I am. :)

So that's something to look forward to and make your Christmas a bit merry.


Now I know I said that it doesn't feel like Christmas... But for what it's worth...

Piece 1: A Different Kind of Date

Ever since A and I got together, we always thought of going on a different kind of date. We wanted to deviate from the formulaic "dinner + movie = date." Unfortunately, we rarely get to do that. A and I embarked on one last Wednesday. We watched Never Never Land, a ballet performed by the Ballet Philippines company at the Cultural Center. You see, A's team in Lowe Inc did a campaign for Ballet Philippines show and as a way to pay them, they gave free tickets.

Unfortunately, it was just so traffic that we missed the first half. (Hey, better than none at all!) It was not your typical ballet actually as they mixed a bit of modern dance and not even a pair of toe shoes were in sight! This was not a scene from Centerstage. I was trying to see if the dancers' feet had any wounds from wearing toe shoes but I was seated far. I did get jealous though of Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinkerbell who flew around the stage, thanks to harnesses!

Piece 2: I Told You I'm Accident Prone!

Two months ago, I wrote this stating that in my 7 months of driving, I've had 3 car accidents (2 actual ones and 1 close call).

I am still cursed. Last Tuesday, I bumped another sedan simply because I stupidly lost my footing on the clutch while braking. Luckily, the damage was minimal because we were going real sloooow. I'm relieved that I have to pay a 4 figure amount and not anything higher!

Piece 3: It's Like Halloween Candy

You remember back when we would go trick or treating during Halloween and you traded candies with friends and bullied your siblings into giving them their best ones for your yucky ones?

Well, this Christmas, A's company gave huge goodie bags consisting of items from their clients. There were a huge bag of Ruffles, a Symphony chocolate bar, a jar of mayo, Spam, a bag of Ovaltine, cans of pineapple juice, queso de bola and other items which I forgot. A was only interested with the bag of Ruffles so he traded some of his items for their bag of Ruffles! He traded the Symphony chocoalte bar, the Ovaltine, the queso de bola and the mayo and came home with 5 huge bags of Ruffles, two of which became mine (Can't complain there, this junkfood junkie!)

I guess because I love junkfood, I am amazed that people actually traded their Ruffles for a queso de bola or another jar of mayo! Now somebody's got two jars of mayo in their refrigerator and eventually, a high cholesterol!

Piece 4: Cinema Withdrawal

Every month, I see at least 4 new movies in the cinema. I am one of Greenbelt 3's loyal customers and they are richer because of A and me. To you moviebuffs out there, ever notice that there's nothing good playing lately? Not even knew ones? Greenbelt 3 is showing reruns!!! I can't wait for 2005 when there are new movies shown.

Piece 5: Gotta Love I- Mesh!

I'm on downloading mania. I'm not downloading any mp3s or, for those curious dirty minds, porn but TV shows not shown yet here in the Philippines. I just love the Friends spin off, Joey. Basically, the storyline is Joey (Tribbiani) moves to LA to try to make it even bigger. His 20 year old rocket scientist of a nephew moves in with him to get away from his sexy 36 year old mother, Gina, who just loves smothering him. It's a pretty different plot, if you ask me.

I'm also loving Desperate Housewives. It's a drama/ mystery that revolves around the life of four housewives living in Wisteria Lane after the suicide of one of their friends, Alice. Each episode, a clue is revealed as to why Alice killed herself. The women are intrigued and try to solve the puzzle.

I squeal with delight whenever I see that a new episode is now available for download. I leave my computer on the whole day and when I get home, I hook it up again so that it could continue downloading. Sadly, the time of watching the episodes is not proportionate to the time of downloading them so it could get bitin.

Piece 6: Double Luck

Ever heard of Joy Lim of Charms and Crystals? Her charms and crystals are heavily endorsed by Kris Aquino, Korina Sanchez and other artistas because it brought them luck. Last week, I made a reservation for her because she was sponsoring the Christmas party of the cast and crew of ASAP. She was so grateful that she told me she's giving me a bag. Imagine my surprise when she said that the lucky bag would be accompanied by a bracelet and a wallet!!! The bag was a colorful bag but it had charms associated with my birthdate tied on the handle. The wallet was in khaki, which was perfect because I was planning on buying a new one! When I peeked inside the wallet, I found fortune coins sewn into the one of the pockets.

Not only did I get lucky because she gave me, not just one, but three items but also because these items are suppose to bring me luck!

You know how they say that there's a reason for everything? And that reason is even bigger than you can imagine?

Well, now we know the reason why FPJ did not win the presidency. He wouldn't have completed his term and thus, Noli de Castro will run the country.

I am not a supporter of Da King but condolences to his family, friends and loyal supporters. In a way, I am also saddened because a legend has past away. It's almost like the end of an era.

Totally jump topic...

Because we are so busy during the holidays, our company only celebrates its Christmas party in January at 11PM! We often joke that our party is not delayed but actually advance by 11 months!

We're thinking of a theme for this year's party. Any suggestions?

Friday, 10 December 2004

• After a stressful week, I de-stress by meeting up with A at Greenbelt 3 for dinner at Di Marks, a quick stop at Powerbooks just to see what's new (There's a lot, I tell yah. But nope, no book shopping for me until I finish my reading list or at least half of it). We still had 30 minutes left before the 11:30 PM showing of Wong Kar Wai's 2046. Since we didn't want to walk around, we decided to go to my car and take a nap! We both had a stressful day so the rest was welcomed.
• By 11:10 PM, we went up to the cinemas. Sometime during the beginning of the movie, a cinema attendant, along with 2 guys, approached us and asked for our tickets. I didn't think there was a problem because we had the right seats! Apparently, we were at the right seats but the wrong film showing! The lady in the counter gave me tickets for the 9:00 PM show when I asked for the 1130 PM one! I asked the lady if the guys who were gonna take our seats can just sit anywhere else. After all, the movie theater was half full and there were lots of vacant seats in our area and we were already settled and the movie has started. She said, they really want our seats. I was pissed off because you'd think they'd be gentleman enough to choose other seats and after all, we did arrive 15 minutes before the movie started and they arrived 5-10 minutes after the movie started. Nevertheless, we transferred seats one row below. Now about 10 minutes after and all through out the movie, the guys behind us kept kicking our chairs! Only to find out that--- they were making out!!! Worse, you could actually hear their zippers being pulled up or down!!! Didn't I just say in the last 2 entries below that I watch movies in Greenbelt 4 because of the movie experience???
• The movie ended at 130 am and I took A home right after and went home myself.

Saturday, 11 December 2004

• A phone call from a frantic client woke me up. I made calls to our subcontractor to lecture them and to appease my client. Right after, I hooked up my laptop and went to work.
• A picks me up at around 5:30 PM. We head out to Shangri- La mall to use my P10,000 worth of gift certificates at Vero Cuoio (I still can't get it right) because it was expiring by the end of the month. I only liked 2 pairs of shoes and I got A two pairs of shoes as well! With my purchases, there's still a lot left over from the gift certificate! So I bought a pair of shoes for my dad, mom, my sisters Ara and Cami and my brother, Enzo.
• After which, we went to Mercury Drug to buy medicine for me and Celeteque, an oil- free and water- based moisturizer that my friend recommended.
• We, then, had dinner at Dome. I was surprised because all along, I thought that Dome was a coffee and pastry shop but they have really goooood food! A and I are definitely going back.
• A and I were craving for dessert and since we weren't scheduled to meet with friends till 11pm, we decided to go to Burgoo at Podium!
• We met up with Jim and Meg, the ex of my ex at the bar where I work. It's just so funny how we became friends after my ex and I broke up (My ex, Meg, A and Jim were all part of the same barkada) whereas when I was still with the EX, A and I hardly talked and Meg and I wouldn't look at each other. The entire night, Meg and I talked about my ex and told the guys about how weird and psycho he can be. I'm sorry but if you guys knew how our ex is, you'd also think he's warped! Let's just say that he was soooo bad, he had a falling out with the group after so many warnings. In the middle of the conversations, I texted my ex, "Nakakagat mo na ba dila mo? ; p" I'm so mean!
• I meant to go home earlier.. and by earlier, I meant, I wanna leave by 3am at the latest! We ended up going home at 3:30 AM. Thereby, getting home at 3:45am and sleeping at 5am. So much for having to wake up by 11am to prepare for 12nn mass.

Sunday, 12 December 2004

• Yup, I missed mass. I was too tired to get up. At 330PM, I left home and went to our branch in Ortigas to prepare for our first major event, a Christmas party for a call center with 750 people.
• Just before the party started, the entire management team, including the managers from the different branches, came to support and assist in the event. Only my uncle didn't come because he was suffering from slipdisk. We were all touched when he SMS-ed us that he was sorry he couldn't go to assist us but he was very confident in his management team. Awww...
• We had pictures taken of the managers, including me and Ms. Lilli Anne, the VP of Operations. We also had pictures taken of our chief chef and cooks in their new chef's uniform, standing by the buffet and they looked soooo good! I sent the pictures to my uncle right away and he commented that the buffet set up looked so great and with the chefs standing by the buffet made us seem like a 5 star hotel! He joked that he could get married again. And I replied, "... As long as I'm your flower girl again!" Yup, the only time I was a flower girl, it was for his wedding.
• Everything went well on our end. Unfortunately, the sound system acted up and totally ruined the show. I felt so bad because I recommended them to the client. Luckily, my client was understanding and knew that we did our best to remedy the situation though it wasn't our responsibility.
• All in all, it was a job well done. By the end of the night, I had 2 shots of tequila, danced a little and I was set. I left the bar at 3:30 am and fell asleep at 5:30 AM which explains why I didn't go to work today and decided to stay at home and work from my bed. How I love that we're not required to be at work at a certain time.

Have a great week, everyone!

Bit 1: Lately, my faith in St. Anthony has strengthened. You see, I've learn from somewhere that when things are missing or you're looking for something, you pray to St. Anthony de Padua because he is the "Saint of Lost Things." And you know what? It works! (As long as you never fail to say thank you after).

I've prayed that he help me find this piece of paper I've been looking for the entire afternoon on my desk. Upon saying "St. Anthony, please help me find that paper!", I instantly saw the paper on the floor! Now I ask him to look for even bigger things- a parking spot in the mall, a route home with no traffic (there's no Saint for Less Traffic, is there?), even my period! (Well, because it was delayed so I figured it must have gotten LOST and technically, it's MISSING)

But I must be losing my touch. It took him almost 5 days to locate my brush. My sisters have been using it. It just goes to show that my sisters' clutter and mess are strong demons that St. Anthony has difficulty battling.

Bit 2: I watched Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason with A last night. After the movie, I wanted to speak with a British accent. It was quite a lovely movie, actually. Very impressive and rather quirky. I kept inserting the word "Bugger!" in my conversations with A. I even caught myself thinking with a British accent!

Bit 3: Speaking of movies, guess who's playing Robert Langdon on the movie version of The Da Vinci Code? T-O-M H-A-N-K-S. And, it's slated to premiere on 16 May 2006. That's a year and a half to go!!! I hope they do the book justice!

For other books turned into movies, here's what's coming up. Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella is coming out in 2005. The talkative Emma Corrigan is played by no other than Kate Hudson. While rich, sophisticated teenager Blair Waldorf of the Gossip Girl series written by Cecily von Ziegesar will be played by Lindsay Lohan. The movie, Gossip Girl, is coming out in 2005 as well.

Bit 4: Because I've been so busy, I forgot to mention that more than a week ago, I had to go to LTO again to get my license. Ever since I've started driving, I've been carrying a temporary license. It's just a piece of paper, not even a card! I was so furious the day I applied for my license because some of my batchmates got their cards already while I was stuck with a piece of paper due to a computer glitch! The paper was valid for 5 months only. 5 months later, I returned and they still didn't have my damn card! They gave me a 3 months extension. The 3 months came up a week ago and finally, I had my card!

The bad news is I looked drunk in my picture. The picture in my temporary one was so much better! (Where did they get my drunk picture anyway?) The good news is: my signature looked better. (The one in my temporary license screwed up because the pen slipped while I was signing on the electronic pad. Again, where did they get a specimen of my signature?) The even better news is that I don't have to endure long lines to renew my license until 2006! Yippee!

Bit 5: So originally, the plan was too buy toiletries. But no, I happened to stumble on a white mini- skirt I liked and 2 tops I liked. Thinking that buying the white mini-skirt might not be a practical choice because I MIGHT NOT have a top to go with it, I opted for the black skirt. Unfortunately, I only had enough cash for one skirt, one top and my groceries. Seeing that it was 20 minutes before the store closed, I hopped into my car with my purchases, drove to the nearest ATM machine, got the cash, drove back to the store and got that white mini I sooo wanted! I hardly go shopping but when I do, I'm practically possessed by the shopping demon!

Bit 6: Whenever I go to Shopwise, the cashier asks me if I have a Shopwise card. I say no. The lady asks if I want to apply for a card. I ask what are the terms? P5,000 worth of receipts within one month. Hell no! I don't spend that much in groceries in one month. I checked out the mechanics at the booth the other day and it wasn't one month! It was 3 months! It specifically said "period of 90 days"! I could have collected all my receipts from before and have a card by now! Oh, well! Nobody's fault but mine. (Hmmm, sounds like a cheesy day time soap opera). That's the next card I'm gonna get!

Bit 7: I mentioned in my earlier post that I watched Oliver Stone's Alexander last Friday. During the scene where Alexander and Hephaistion declare their love for each other, I expected the crowd to hoot and make cat calls or cringe uncomfortably. Quite the opposite, in fact. They were just quiet. I realized it was probably because the crowd watching in Greenbelt 4 were educated, more open to such relationships (?) and have class.

If I was watching in Megamall, no offense to people who watch movies in Megamall, there would probably be some hooting and cat calling in the audience and a "Yuck, bading!!!" thrown in for good measure. Why do people do that anyway? Is it because they find the scene uncomfortable so they just make fun of it?

That's the reason why A and I prefer to watch all movies in Greenbelt 3. In spite of the expensive tickets, the movie experience makes it worth it. Whenever you enter the cinema, it is always clean. No popcorn or spilled- then- dried-up sticky drink on the floor. People always come on time so you don't expect people walking past you to get to their seats in the middle of the movie. People actually turn off their mobiles (although there are the occassional ones who forget and even have the gall to answer their calls! How inconsiderate! They could just reject the call, text the person and say "I'm in the cinema. Pls text me instead.") But most of all, the reason why A and I love watching in Greenbelt 4? Two words. Love seats.

Bit 8: Last Sunday night, I was surprised that my mobile had no signal! I thought my phone was malfunctioning until I checked my sister's phone and so that hers had no signal as well. For an entire day and night, all of us Globe users had no signal at home. It turns out that there was no signal as well in Quezon City, Malabon and Caloocan. (Wow! Are we that far flung of a city?) When we called Globe, the customer service representative pleasantly said that Globe is currently having a hard time troubleshooting. (A cell site probably crashed due to the strong winds of typhoon Winnie). When asked when will the service return, she sympathetically said, "as soon as possible." I admire the customer service representative for still being patient, polite and pleasant. I'm sure there were thousands of others who kept calling and asking the same questions. If I were her, I'd probably be annoyed for sounding like a pirated CD. (Hahaha! I made that up! It's no longer 'a broken record'! We're in the new millenium, you know. You gotta talk like the times!)

Bit 9: Speaking of crashing cell sites due to typhoons, I heard in the news over the radio on my way home from work, while braving the rush hour, that telecommunications company are trying to patrol and secure cell sites to avoid the loss of signal when the super typhoon Yoyong arrives.

It was raining hard when I woke up this morning and the cool wind made it difficult for me to get up but I knew I had to because work was waiting for me and I had a dinner that night with my college blockmates. I decided to take a different route to work, thinking that my usual route was probably underwater already, and it took me an hour to reach my desk. Three hours later, my dad tells me to go home already because if I stayed in the office any longer, I'd get stranded. I was surprised the moment I stepped out my office door. It was so dark outside! (Oh, right, the lights went off!) All you could see were headlights from cars driving by. The rain was building up and it was cold.

It was my first time to drive home in a storm and I was scared. I was scared of getting stranded in the highway by myself. I was scared that my car might stall and I'll never get it started and I'd have to climb out of my car into Edsa in my high heels. I prayed to God and to St. Anthony (even though nothing was missing or lost) for guidance and a safe journey home. It seemed that everybody was in a hurry to go home and be with their family. I passed by the gas station to fill up my tank for the long journey to Quezon City and everybody had the same idea too. Luckily, Edsa was crawling and cars, buses, taxis stayed in their lanes. People were actually giving in to each other. I was amazed that it had to take a calamity like this to make us all so unified.

For the first time since I began driving 8 months ago, I listened to AM stations in my radio and my heart just ached for those who are homeless, lost a livelihood or a loved one in the flood. Let's all pray for them and hope that the storm is over soon (I know, I know... Lots of you wish that it still stays so that there's no school or work. I just hope we could bargain that it can stay as long as it doesn't destroy any homes or kill anyone with its flood!).

Last Friday, A and I watched what I like to call "the- much- awaited- epic- but- not- as- hyped- up- as- Troy- because- it- might- disappoint" movie, Alexander.

I found it a bit dragging and the story did not captivate me right away. I was getting bored when somewhere in the dialogue, young Alexander and his schoolmates discussed the story of Achilles, particularly his relationship with Patroklos. My ears perked up when they mentioned that Achilles and Patroklos were lovers. What?! Lovers??? They were bestfriends! Oh, well, maybe this is one of the historical theories and they inserted it in the movie. Later on, during the scene where Alexander and Hephaistion were proclaiming their love for each other, my eyes grew the size of saucers upon the realization that they were -- gay! I turned to A and whispered, "You mean to say their gay?!" A, a bit incredilous about my naivete, whispered back, "Yes, didn't you know?" I shook my head.

Now, don't think I'm homophobic. I'm not at all. In fact, I envy my sister, Cami, for having a gay almost bestfriend who she loves telling stories about. I believe every girl needs one gay friend. What surprised me was that how come I never knew that Alexander and Hephaistion, Achilles and Patroklos were lovers.

When I got home, I told my sister, Ara, about my new discovery. I asked, "Did you know that Achilles and Patroklos were-- " She cuts me off, "Lovers? Yes!" I replied, looking a bit confused, "But in school, when we took up The Iliad, we were told they were bestfriends!" She replies, "Yup, they're bestfriends.." and then the realization hit me. "And lovers!," we both said in unison.

I wondered why, in the entire semester, five months, it was never mentioned that they were lovers. In fact, it was never mentioned that homosexual relations were accepted in Greek cultures or that romantic love between men were considered purer than love between heterosexuals or that women were just regarded as a means to propagate the specie. And then it dawned on me.

My college was being run by Opus Dei members. Now the Opus Dei, no offense to Opus Dei members or whose parents are Opus Dei members, are impossibly conservative. Well, of course, you've heard that in our campus, no one is allowed to wear sleeveless or spaghetti strap tops, shorts or skirts that ends 2 inches above the knee (only upon graduating did I realize the rationale for such stupid dress code: your classes are held in airconditioned rooms! It's hella freezing, you'd even bring a jacket with you!). Okay, sometimes they can go overboard with this rule. You know how , with today's fashion, when girls sit down, a small portion of their backs are exposed? That is a no- no for them. And oftentimes, the administration would get my name because of this. Once, I was walking in the hall and suddenly, some woman just rudely pulled my top down and my pants up from behind! My jeans were the low rise ones and I guess my shirt was a tad bit tiny. But my God! To be so rude as to do that! She doesn't even know me!!! I think I was considered one of the top dress code violaters in my school and I was on the watch list.

Do you wanna know how ridiculous they can get? If you go to our library and flip through a magazine, you'll find out that all sexy pictures are cut out. Yes, seriously. There is a hole in the magazine article you're reading simply because on the other page, a girl was wearing an uber short, spaghetti strapped Dolce and Gabbana outfit. More ridiculous is when they draw sleeves on the sleeveless tops of the models with- get this- black marker pens!

Now, isn't that insane or what? Did they think that if the male population saw a picture of a woman wearing sleeveless tops, they'd turn into horn dogs?! Did they honestly think placing sleeves on pictures would help us be more conservative? Or that they are indirectly teaching us values? Did they not think that once we crossed the streets of Pearl and Amber, we would see other women dressed in such revealing tops? Did they not think that probably a good three fourths of the female student body actually wear clothes with no coverings for their shoulders (sleeveless tops)? Or that their tops are practically hanging on by a piece of thread (spaghetti strapped tops)? Or worse, that their boobies are actually holding the top up (tube tops)? Or, gasp!, that they wear huge hankerchiefs as tops AND they have no bra on? Seeing that they already think that sleeveless tops are revealing, I wonder what they think of one piece bathing suits? Do they even go to the beach?

Whoa, whoa, whoa... I'm totally digressing here. First, I was talking about Alexander's homosexuality then I jumped to the teachings in my uber conservative school and then now I'm in fashion. Let's get back in track here.

So my point is, why did my school choose not to tell us about Alexander The Great and Hephaistion, Achilles and Patroklos's sexuality and relationship? Was it because they thought it was so "morally unacceptible"? Did they think that by telling us about homosexuality, they were encouraging it already? Were they shielding us from homosexuality? Were the shielding us from the knowledge of homosexuality? Did they not think that outside the school, we would encounter other people who preferred partners of the same gender? Are they so morally upright- and uptight- that they would purposely leave out such an important fact, a piece of Greek culture which we devoted an entire semester for.

I love my alma mater despite its strict dress code and the apathy of the students- but that's another story. I love and defend it when people joke about its reputation. But in this instant, I despise it because if something was morally wrong to them, they would choose not to teach it. In doing so, they are hampering the enrichment and broadening of our minds which totally defeats their purpose as an educational institution.

In short, other words, I feel educationally cheated.