Ryan had so wanted to go to our friends KC and Tin’s wedding, to be held at the Chapel of Transfiguration in Nasugbu, Batangas. KC is actually more of Ryan’s friend as they were college thesis groupmates. Ryan had been talking about it for months. We already accommodated it in our January plans. We even postponed going to La Union to surf because of it.
The day before the supposed date, Ryan had a haircut and even bought a new shirt and tie. I did the laundry and cleaned the house because my in-laws were baby-sitting Lia for us while we went to the wedding. After bringing Lia with us to three weddings, we have finally decided that it is quite difficult to bring the baby with us to such an event.
We started preparing for the wedding at about eleven in the morning. We left the house at one in the afternoon, had lunch in the Shell complex along SLEX and got to the chapel at three thirty in the afternoon. We found ourselves in the middle of the homily and heard the priest address the couple, as “Bong and Valerie.â€
WTF?!?!?
Ryan said, “Wrong wedding. Maybe they’re at Chapel on the Hill.â€
I said, “But we passed the chapel on our way here and you saw it was empty.â€
Ryan, “Lemme call KCâ€
Me, “Why don’t we check the invitation first?â€
So we went back to the car, got the invite and read,
Chapel of Transfiguration
Saturday
January 16
Goddamit.
Enough said.
Here is a secret of mine: I absolutely hate going to weddings. I only go to weddings of friends that I love so much. If I can beg to defer from going to any wedding, I would; but I went through all the trouble, getting dressed, driving all the way from Manila to Batangas, only to find myself twenty-four hours too late?! I could not speak for miles. I could not imagine how such a thing could possibly happen. What kind of stupidity is involved in a failure as big as blocking the wrong date.
Of course, since we were already there, what else could we do but hang around Tagaytay for a little bit?
So we bought buco tart at a little store by the side of the street. We thought of getting coffee at either Cafe Breton or Starbucks; but we passed by Taal Vista Hotel and I saw a sign for a coffee shop. We went inside but found the coffee place full. Instead, we went to the little weekend market at the hotel’s viewing deck and bought espasol, ube halaya and passion fruit juice concentrate.
It was drizzling for a bit, the wind was blowing and it was friggin’ cold. The view was not that good but we took photos of ourselves anyway. Might as well.
This is my idea of a "fierce" look
We couldn’t find Cafe Breton so we ended going to Starbucks – and boy, was it full! It was overflowing with kids, babies, grandparents, mothers, fathers, teenagers and friends of all sorts. I have never been to a Starbucks that full and with a lot of kids too! Starbucks was grossly understaffed so there were dirty tables and even napkins and cups on the floor.
Caffe Americano
Cappuccino
I have been wearing Ryan’s coat to keep myself warm and was thankful for the tiangge right by the parking lot – where I bought myself three bonnets. Bonnets I have been planning to get and have not found the time to go to the mall to buy. Thank God for tiangges! I doubt that I would have found the desired bonnets if I had gone to the mall. So here I am posing with my hot Cappuccino in my hands and my brand-new bonnet.
The Cappuccino was so hot I burned my tongue when I took a sip but it did not keep my fingers from freezing in the cold, drizzly, windy Sunday afternoon Tagaytay weather. We decided to head home.
Our in-laws asked us to get them pineapples so we stopped to get them some. I had wanted to get some mangoes and mangosteen too, but at P150 and P300 a kilo respectively, I had to change my mind. A peddler came to my window though as I was waiting for Ryan to buy the pineapples and offered me 6 packs of tawilis for P100 – and that I did get. Fried tawilis would be nice for tomorrow’s breakfast, I thought.
Ryan took the Skyway on the way back and we were home by seven in the evening. I was really tired and unhappy. I can’t decide what exactly made me almost-depressed, the missed-wedding, the cold or the fact that I am soooo skinny I can’t stand 21 degrees Celsius weather. It’s more likely the last one. I hate my skinniness. *cry cry cry*
(The espasol is really special though. I highly recommend it. Hahaha. They even have a contact number. Special Espasol, 5 pieces for P100; 0917-883-7395.)
This house-hunting was actually initiated by my in-laws, with them insisting we see a house-and-lot for sale in Project 4 three weekends ago. If not for that, we would have never gone into serious house hunting.
One could say that prior to that first tripping, we always thought a house-and-lot was something out of our league – at least the brand-new ones. It’s something like buying a car. A brand-new car, out of our league. A second hand one, yes. So after looking at a 249 sq. m. lot with a bungalow for P3.8M and a 217 sq. m. lot with a bungalow for P3.7M in Project 4, we realized that there could be other houses out there that are within that range.
A second weekend was spent looking at house and lots in the Cainta area where we saw a 300 sq.m. corner lot with a bungalow for P2.9M, a 150 sq. m. lot with a two-story house for P3.4M and a 90 sq. m. two-story townhouse for P2.2M. Any one of those houses could make a good choice, if not for the fact that flooding is commonplace in that area and Ryan was totally traumatized by our Typhoon Ondoy experience.
The succeeding days were spent looking at ads, discussing pros and cons of various villages, looking for particular areas in the metro where house and lots were, 1.) cheap (very important)Â and 2. there was no flooding (very very important if the house does not have a second floor).
On this third weekend, we were supposed to look at three houses. One in Project 6 near Mindanao Avenue, another in Filinvest and the last one being this house and lot being sold in Buenos Aires St. in the very village we live in right now.
Ryan said he had a good feeling about the house in Filinvest so that was what we were gonna look at first. We went to look at the house… and did not make it to the rest.
Instead, after leaving Filinvest, we went to U.P. to have some isaw, dropped by the U.P. Rep tambayan and walked around the Sunken Garden for a little bit hoping to catch some of the Travel Factor people supposedly playing Ultimate Frisbee. We didn’t see them though. Maybe we weren’t looking hard enough or we had the wrong time.
The house was quite hard to find. It was many gates into Filinvest, many turns, many up-streets and many down-streets. It was at the end of the world, err, the lane – which was unnamed by the way.
The green house facade is not that impressive. No, actually, it was not impressive at all. It didn’t have any immediate neighbors though and that made my anti-social self happy.
The house technically has two stories but it has a could-be-independent basement and a roof deck. There’s a guest room and a bathroom on the ground floor, a small balcony on the second floor as well as two bedrooms with a common bathroom and a master’s bedroom with it’s own bathroom with a huge bath tub and a walk-in closet. What?! A bath tub and a walk-in closet? Yeah!! When I first opened the door of the master’s bedroom and had my first look inside, I thought, “Ugh, they call this the master’s? It’s small!” and then I opened the bathroom door.
We went up the wide roof deck where I walked around, looking at the sparsely populated village, with a house here and there, as well as the rolling hills while the breeze blew my hair around my face. I thought, “Gosh, this must be it…”
The house is not perfect. In fact, it is badly in need of a paint job as well as some window and cabinets repairs. We didn’t get to look at the basement because the caretaker said it was tenanted and it seemed like this tenant in question was sleeping as of that moment.
This house may not be perfect but we liked it’s over-all layout. We loved the roof deck where we could envision parties and family gatherings occurring. We liked how it was surrounded by trees and greens and how the fresh air blew in through the windows and made the entire house cool and airy. We liked how we can imagine Lia having her own bedroom and the little brother who has not arrived yet will have the other. For the meantime, I can see myself working in that room – bright and sunny, facing the street, right next to the little balcony.
Around the village, the houses are far in between and the streets are quiet and empty. I can imagine Lia riding her bike up and down the streets and playing in the playground at the back of the clubhouse.
Descriptions and imaginings aside, the paperwork is a mess. Right now we are at a loss on how we will be able to purchase it. We can only cross our fingers and hope.. hope that everything will come together in the end.. and that we will be able to come home to the house at (almost) the end of the world, err, at the end of the yet unnamed lane in the middle of nowhere where there are huge spaces to feel free and the fresh air blows through the swaying branches of trees and bowing grass on the fields.
We accidentally found Bellini’s Marikina during our last visit to Lia’s pediatrician for her measles vaccine. Actually, our finding it was not really very accidental since we knew Bellini’s is around the area, as was mentioned to us by our good friends Abet and Hash, who had their anniversary dinner same day Bellini’s celebrated their first anniversary in Marikina. (The original Bellini’s is in one of my favorite places in Metro Manila – Cubao Expo, formerly known as the Marikina Shoe Expo.)
Bellini's Cubao, November 2009
Bellini’s is right across from the nearest and perhaps only available parking space in the area. I must say Marikina is such a nice city because it seems like a bigger and more spacious version of Quiapo. I always make it a point to buy fruits from the market across the clinic where fruits are cheap! This time around, walking from the clinic to the parking space, we also accidentally found a nice store to buy cheap brandless diapers and baby wipes. No need to go to Quiapo! Hoorah for that!
This is what you will see when you get inside. Though this is the view from my table, as you can see the doors on the left side.
It was about eleven in the morning when we got to Bellini’s and it was empty.
A closer look at the painting on the wall.
Upon entering the doors, wall painting on the left, more tables on the right.
Photo wall on the right. Did not get to see a closer look though. Here, Ryan is showing Lia the photos while I eat.
The well-trained staff assisted us with our menu choices. We ended ordering the appetizer, which looked good on the table from where I was sitting.
Little window at the back is the kitchen. The chef was making pizza.
Appetizer (composed of five different kinds of food); P300, small
If you know me, you will not ask me what these are, since I am absolutely stupid when it comes to food. I just eat away and don’t bother to know what I am eating. These appetizers were good though! Real good! I thought to myself, “Maybe next time I go to Bellini’s and just order the appetizers.”
And of course, since this is an Italian eatery, we ordered pizza and seafood pasta.
Lia looks like she is absolutely enjoying the food.
We had a hard time though with their high-chair since it was not ideal for kids of Lia’s age group.
Us wearing our current favorite dresses. Lia is salivating on, either the food or the high chair. Though, literally, she was salivating on the high chair.
While we were eating, an Italian came in, we think Bellini’s son, came knocking at the door. Yeah, he actually knocked. Then he was chatting with the staff and then us. He even ran around my table to pick up the fork I accidentally dropped on the floor and immediately replaced it himself.
When we left, he was standing by the table of an elderly couple who came in about thirty minutes after we did, chatting away.
Our bill was about P1,100. Ryan said afterwards, “I think we’ve found a better Italian restaurant than Cantinetta!”
I shouldn’t even have to say that I love Italian and Mexican food. It might just be worth mentioning too that I do not eat Japanese food at all.
"Yeah! We love this Italian eatery! You should come!" - Lia
Also, read what Anton has. It’s informative and so much better than this post. Hahaha! Not that I’m competing, I am just documenting my otherwise boring life. Haha.
I have been totally pre-occupied with de-cluttering my life, err, my house lately. I have taken to ripping all my cds into mp3s and hoping to get rid of the actual cds one way or another.
We have been pre-occupied with house-hunting too the past two weeks and that has made me think that I should not have a lot of stuff to pack and move, that I should not fill up the new house with stuff and that it would totally be awesome if I could adopt a zen theme or at least a zen attitude towards the new life, err, new house.
So anyway, I dug up all the cds, at least the ones that are here in the Pasig apartment (not counting the ones that were left in the Taguig condo) and have been ripping all day today and maybe until tomorrow and found my old, old Jewel cd – the first album!
I like this little bit of poetry from the cd sleeve.
Upon Moving Into My Van
Joy. Pure Joy. I am
What I always wanted
to grow up and be
Things are becoming
more of a dream with
each waking day -
The heavy brows of Daily Life
are becoming encrusted
with glitter and the shaking finger
of consequence is
beginning to giggle
Grumpy old men
have wings
Bums sport halos
and everyday dullness
has begun to breathe
as I remember the
incredible lightness
of living
I love Jewel. I listened to this first album for what seemed like forever in my old walkman until someone gave me her second album as a birthday present. I listened to that too for what seemed like endless hours that involved me drifting in and out of sleep. Hahaha! The last Jewel album I bought though was This Way and have not bought any of the others. Maybe I will think about getting the rest.. Maybe.
I remember we used to pass around her book of poetry in the U.P. Rep tambayan, back when it was still in Vinzons Hill. Maybe I will think about getting that book of poetry for myself too.. Maybe.
For now, I will listen to her old music, ponder on her little bits of poetry and watch her old videos. I miss the old Jewel.
What a productive day! I just wanted to note this.
I cleaned up my disk drives today, moved all my picture files into my portable hard disk and finally… installed my Bamboo Fun tablet! I am still getting the hang of it but I am enjoying it so far!
I finally got rid of my mouse, which I have to say has been very, very durable in the many years I have had it despite the about five hundred times I have dropped it onto the floor and also gotten rid of my absolutely disgusting mouse pad. Hahaha!
Because my Bamboo Fun tablet is new, I had to clean up my laptop as well from dust and accumulated grime just to make things look right *straight face* …and to complete this shiny-ness and cleanliness, I’ve also cleaned up my work table. Now I feel so ready to work, download stuff, whatever, whatever, whatever. Wow. I am so happeeeee! Hahaha! I am overflowing with giddiness right now.
Next on my list is setting up my Nokia 5630 Xpress Music and everything connected to it, software and shit. I have to organize all my music. They are all over the place. I also have to get down to ripping music from all my CDs and organizing them properly. I haven’t figured out my Ovi suite just yet. Gosh, I think I am having an OC-ness attack. *straight face*
I am also looking forward to having a new laptop. I will probably see that HP TouchSmart laptop in my dreams for nights to come. I hope to be able to install Photoshop CS4 on it. I have been working on CS2 forever and that’s just isn’t right. Hahaha!
I just remembered that I have been trying to save for a Nikon Speedlight SB-600. I guess that will have to wait. I may have enough money to buy two SB-600s right now but I will forego buying one so I can have that new laptop. Ahihihi.
I am so giddy right now, I believe I will pop that Harry Best and Shabang cd into my player and bob my head away.
I have been spending all my free time the past days processing and posting photos taken the past two weeks. There have been a lot of events and thus a lot of photos. Aside from that, I have also been busy taking care of the baby, feeding her three to five times a day in addition to the (supposed to be only) five bottles of formula and trying to make sure she gets all the nutrition she needs from various sources. Actually, this mad scramble to feed her more food is due largely to the fact that she could drink seven bottles – a total of forty-nine oz, which is NOT supposed to be. So, in order to prevent her from drinking too much milk, I try to feed her more solids and make her drink more water.
I have also been taking care of the house, doing the usual housework: cleaning, doing laundry, ironing, sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning the garage and all sorts of other things of that nature.
Today I have been busy with cleaning up my hard disk. I will be getting a new laptop soon, or at least I hope so. I am trying to save for it. I hope to get something like this:
Which makes me think, should I sell my Bamboo Fun tablet when I get this?
My computer today told me I am running out of disk space on my Drive D, which supposedly is 65 GB, so I am transferring all of my Picture files to my 150 GB Western Digital portable hard disk. I have previously tried making DVD copies of all of my pictures, one disk for each event but in the end, I found that too tedious. I have to make at least two copies of the disks and then when I want to look at my photos, I have to find the disks. That is just too bothersome for those random moments when you are looking for a particular photo in a snap. I am thinking I will just have separate portable hard disks for just ‘Photos‘ for example then a separate portable hard disk for ‘Movies and Series‘ then a separate portable hard disk for all my ‘Music‘. Though of course if there is anything I would like to keep in my laptop’s hard disk, it would be my music.
After I am done cleaning up my hard disk, I will finally install my Bamboo Fun tablet. I am thinking though, should I even be installing this? Maybe I should sell it?
Since Ryan got the Canon Powershot camera and gave me the Nikon D80, the Olympus E-500 has not been put to use, so I already sold that. It almost broke my heart to let it go. I have grown to love it and we have been to so many places together. It was my first ever DSLR and my husband’s wedding gift to me. We originally got it for P42,000 in a shop in Quiapo back in November of 2006. I sold it for P10,000. I looked at the price of a brand-new one in Amazon and it has not changed at all. It still sells for almost $1,000. That almost made me not want to sell it for only P10,000 but Ryan told me the camera body has no value anymore and if I would be selling it, I would only be selling the lenses. And they are very good lenses.. Zuiko! I loved those lenses. But well, what am I gonna do? I am not one to hoard things in the house that I do not use anymore. I love throwing stuff out of the house. Hahaha. Anything that I see is not being used has to go! So I sold the Olympus and added the money to my laptop fund. I wonder what else I can sell….
Click on image to see more.
Maybe I should work on my work clearance. I still have a month’s worth of salary to claim from that clearance. I could add that to my laptop fund too. If only I could find the energy to go to my old work place and see my old boss (who I absolutely abhor).
I have been really busy! I thought it was Tuesday yesterday and I thought it was the 5th too; but alas, today is already Thursday and I keep thinking I missed a day. I completely lost track of my days. I may be a plain old boring housewife, but still, days seem to fly by! Maybe I just don’t manage my time well enough? Gosh.
I keep saying my life would be considerably easier if I had better and faster internet, but well, maybe in time. Things always seem to work out somehow.. in time.
I was watching Channel V earlier today and they have this Double Shot thing. Incidentally, two videos from two different artists with sort of the same theme was played one after the other. I just found that interesting.
Also, it’s interesting when by pure chance you find something that reflects your random thought of the moment. I am quite lacking in energy these days and I am looking and waiting for my Prometheus…
The album’s title means “Kings Fire”. Sean Paul commented on the title saying,
“I’m not the king. I’m the fire, I’m the flame, I’m the energy.”
For the first time in ten years, the entire Sorita family gathered for a Christmas get together. What used to be a family of six – my parents and four children, is now a family of thirteen: four spouses and three grandchildren all spaced two years apart.
My brother Carmelo and his wife Jaz, flew in from Manila where they are based, Christmas morning. My sister Jasmin, her husband Voltaire who came to Bicol for the first time and their four-year old son Sean, flew in Christmas morning too. Though my sister and her family flew in from Manila to the Pili (more popularly known as Naga) airport, my brother and his wife flew in from Manila to the Legaspi airport which is about two hours away from Pili.
My entire family arrived early, driving from Manila with our daughter and our dog (as well as my sister’s maid who was hitching a ride with us so she could spend Christmas with her family too in the little town of Garchitorena, Camarines Sur) on the morning of December 23rd.
My sister Girlie and her two-year old daughter Marielle both live in Naga City though her husband, Manny is based in Manila.
I am immensely proud of my beautiful family. We, the children, made our parents very, very happy. Christmas is all about family after all.
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