Weekend Story: Lent Observance + Lots of Family Bonding

How was your long weekend, friends? I hope you all had a wonderful time. The recent Holy Week gave the hubby and I ample time to spend with our family so that was exactly what we did. Of course, there were the usual moments of reflection and the observance of some religious traditions. All these and more have made our long weekend fun and meaningful at the same time.

Please be warned that this post contains more photos than usual.

On Maundy Thursday, the hubby and I, along with Mame, did the traditional Visita Iglesia. As what has been our practice, we visited seven churches (two stations per church to complete the 14 Stations of the Cross). We joined the huge crowd composed of people from all walks of life in getting from one church to another. We started early at around 8:30AM. The weather was a bit cooperative that time (read: shady with some short bursts of sunshine) so we enjoyed the long walk.

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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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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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The Joy and Meaning of Shopping

This is not to say that I’m turning into a big time shopaholic. I just want to share with you my shopping habit. While I have long been a frugal person, I also occasionally indulge in shopping either to reward myself for a hard day’s work or simply be happy over a cute but useful purchase. When you’re a disciplined shopper, the joy of shopping will never get replaced by headaches due to overspending or credit card debts that went beyond control.

I shopped twice last weekend and thought I got some great deals. One was in Baclaran and the other was at the Dept. Store of Robinsons Place Manila. I spent 500 bucks on the former and a little over a thousand on the latter. The two unplanned shopping trips made me happy, content and inspired. Yes, I got inspired because my purchases, which include a pair of flat shoes, four pairs of earrings, one ring, one belt, two tops, one dress and one blazer, will serve as part of my investment to achieve my second goal for 2011. When you shop for a purpose, shopping becomes meaningful.

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