When I Don’t Have Work at Night…

…I go malling with the boyfriend. Proximity wise, we have quite a few malls to choose from. There’s SM Manila that’s just a jeepney or pedicab ride away. There’s Robinsons Otis that requires the same ride. There’s SM San Lazaro which is just 15 minutes by car. There’s Robinsons Place Malate which is nearer by five minutes than SM San Lazaro is. At times when the boyfriend has extra fuel funds, we choose Mall of Asia (MOA) which is a good 20 minutes ride from the house. There, those are our top choices. The rest we only visit when we have something very important to get.

Just last Wednesday night when we didn’t have bookings at the restaurant and I wasn’t in the mood to read up on adapexin-p (for weight loss purposes!), the boyfriend, his sister A, my brother D and I went to MOA to chill out. After a simple dinner at Chowking, my brother D tagged me along to watch Catch Me…I’m in Love, the latest Star Cinema movie starring Sarah Geronimo (my brother is a big fan!) and Gerald Anderson. I was promised a free ticket so I went without second thoughts. Haha.

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Dealing with Failures

I’m not so sure but I think I’ve blogged about this thing before. Dealing with failures seems hard but as you look into yourself deeply, you will realize that you can live with it. You can live with failing on things that matter once, twice and even most of the time. That’s the beauty of life. You can start over and over again, so long as you know where to and you have the strength, attitude and faith.

The only thing that blocks our acceptance of failure is pride. I don’t know with you, but that’s how it goes with me. Whenever I commit myself to something, like a goal for instance, I give it my best shot and pray hard for it. I also visualize myself on the victorious side and create a scene in my head where the people who love me are happy with the good news while those who don’t are in pain knowing I have succeeded.

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Saturday is Pampering Day

After a busy work week, I finally had the chance to spend Saturday pampering myself. Thanks to a blogger friend, I was able to go on a road trip and enjoy a feast of Indonesian food at John Bamboo Sate House. Its first and only branch (at present) was located at Nuvali, a bustling, self-sustaining community in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna. Not only that, he even got us (me and our other blogger friends) a full body massage at Ritz Spa in Malate. It was oh-so relaxing and rejuvenating, I tell you. How I wish all Saturdays of my life could be like that.

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by the lovely koi pond of Nuvali

It was my first time to set foot at Nuvali and I so liked it there. There were restaurants, banks, convenience stores and specialty shops and boutiques. The facilities were clean and green. It also had a man-made lake where koi (a kind of ornamental carp) abound. One could feed the cute koi after paying a small fee. There were also boat rides and bicycles for rent. All this and more make it a great place for families (and lovers, too) to spend the day together.

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Reservation is Full

Well, that was the exact answer I got from the Spanish restaurant in Intramuros I wanted to visit tonight. I know I tried making a reservation too late but from what I gathered, they’re fully-booked until Friday night. This left me with no choice but to reserve a table for three for next week instead. But I’m still undecided on the date, might as well make the booking early next week.

Hmmm, but I really want to go out tonight because I don’t have work at the restaurant. At the very least, I think I would like to check out Robinsons Place Ermita (my fave mall back in college) or Mall of Asia to get my ice cream fix at Dairy Queen and do some shopping. My brother D has been bugging me to get him a new belt, much like those rocawear belts he saw online. (He doesn’t have time to go malling these days because he spends a lot of time reviewing for the LET.) I think I also need new shoes. I hope to get a pair. Or two. Haha.

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Living the Life of a Superwoman

Time really flies. I just realized I’ve been serving as the breadwinner in our six-member family for eight years now. It all started in 2003 when I began earning money from a part-time job. I was still a student then, two years away from graduation. Thinking about it now, I can’t help but be overwhelmed by the herculean task I placed in my shoulders then. But I did it, man. And I continue to do it to this day. You’re a superwoman, I remember that was the exact phrase a friend of mine once said to me. Now I believe there’s some truth to it.

From sending my siblings to college and handling the family’s finances (how I wished with the help of an executive dashboard) to juggling two jobs and running a household, I’ve done and accomplished so much more as a breadwinner. I’m glad I had the determination and discipline to do anything and everything without succumbing to all kinds of temptation (e.g. drug dependency, unwanted pregnancy, early marriage, etc.). I’m happy I have managed to preserve my sanity and keep myself free these life-altering circumstances all these years.

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Some Practical Household Tips

I just called MERALCO hotline 16211 and found out I have no bills to pay them for the month of March for our Cavite household. This happened because my parents (who are the current occupants there) have been staying with us here in Manila for more than a month now. They were supposed to stay here until after my brother’s birthday (February 23rd) only but they ended up staying longer than planned.

I can’t overemphasize the beauty and the advantages of living together as a family. Economically speaking, this translates to lesser expenses because we get to share meals, home supplies, and utilities. But this isn’t our normal setup and sooner or later, my parents will go back to where they like to live better, they’re humble Cavite abode.

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