Life on Earth Log 002

Our weekend so far...

I just had an unplanned retail therapy with my mother. With the Christmas season closing in, bargain centers like Divisoria and Baclaran are crowded during the remaining weekends.

Baclaran and Divisoria are bargain centers where most merchandise are sold in bulk. Divisoria's proximity to the port makes it the place where you can buy almost anything from fashion items to technology to local and imported fruits and vegetables. Baclaran is a lot smaller to Divisoria in area and has less items. It's more known for selling clothing and shoes.

Suprisingly, Baclaran has less visitors than I expected on a weekend (or less vendors because of the clearing operations) during our latest visit. It finally made sense when my brother said, "Malinis na ang Baclaran." (Baclaran is clean now.) The clearing operation was effective.

Underwear was on the top of the list. We bought panties! A lot of them! What an accomplishment! We bought some clothes that are on sale too. Where else can you buy a blouse for P60 ($1.27) a piece? Great deal!

For lunch, we visited Greenwich which was newly renovated. Shopping added to hypoglycemia make me more hungry than usual; and I am always hungry. By the time we got our order, I was starving. This branch is pretty but having the kitchen in the 2nd floor resulted to longer waiting for orders. I hope they improve the speed of their service.

Lasagna is definitely my favorite dish from this joint. Fried chicken is good too. Mom didn't really finish her half of the dishes. After a few bites on the chicken leg and two slices of pizza she was done eating. I secretly rejoicing when I had to eat what's left. In the end, I ate two-thirds of our order. What a great day!

It was nice having to shop with my mom again. We've both been so busy with work and other stuff. The next time we'll go shopping would probably be in preparation for the wedding. It will be a more serious shopping involving yards upon yards of tulle. No more panty shopping, I guess. Bummer.

Weapon of choice: nail shears

That afternoon back home, we decided to cut doggie nails. 

Ranking the furbabies from the most to the least difficult to groom: Okoy (6 years old), Muffin (3 years old), Donut (3 months old), Graham (1 year old), and Dumbo (3 months old).

Dumbo is our most well-behaved puppy to date. He's even more timid than Graham when he was a puppy. When he's on a lap he automatically sits still and patient whether he's being pet or having his nails cut. He's a total opposite to Donut who just loves to give puppy drool facials.

The Sunday Before APEC

APEC stands for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. It's a huge deal for the Philippines to host this event. Just this afternoon, we saw (we think we saw), President Obama's entourage passing by us on Skyway traveling back to church. I was too slow to take a photo. Ugh! It wasn't a big deal for me, but Roy was as excited as a child seeing a giraffe in the zoo for the first time.

The APEC traffic (trapec as we call it)  will continue until Saturday. One lane has been subtracted to the main thoroughfares. Traffic is going to be slower for us natives while foreigners get the best traffic. It's fortunate that I work at home, but I still need to go to site visits. I don't know how to make it work this week.

Nakahanap kami ng bagong tambayan habang pinapahupa ang APEC traffic ^_^

A photo posted by Kye Felix (@sleepwalkingscarlet) on Nov 15, 2015 at 4:58am PST

One positive thing this "trapec" caused is having a legitimate reason to hang out. We found Chickilicious (fb page here), sampled some of the snacks and milk tea. They have good sweet potatoes. We also got free appetizers (quail eggs) from "checking-in" through facebook. Nice!

Weekend Without Work

I haven't had a no-work weekend in ages. I thought I needed to work nonstop, but the truth is, the more breaks I get, the more productive I become once I re-focus on work. This thinking may not be applicable to everyone, but it sure applies to me. Welcoming distractions and being spontaneous have proven to be therapeutic.

Being with the church (the people, not the building) is a way to recharge from all the worldly stress and negativity the enemy throws. It's certainly an encouragement just being among wonderful people, listening, participating in fellowship with one another. It's amazing that being awake on a Sunday can bring more peace and rest than staying home to catch up on sleep.

Being reminded through God's Word that Earth is not forever and rapture is coming made me appreciate the present more. There are no retakes in this life. We're not going to stay young. Soon, my mom will be so old that shopping will be impossible. There will come a time that traffic and everything else will be over.

I'll just cherish these moments while they last.