animals – BRYOLOGUE

Clutch and cats: they have all arrived!

February 13, 2013bryologue 3 Comments

Last Friday, I have paid for a vintage Christian Dior clutch bag via deposit to the bank account of the Ebay seller. I was hoping to get the item as early as possible, so I was relieved when she said that she’d be shipping it the following day. Normally, when a seller sends an item on a Saturday, I receive it the following Monday — I should know that because I’m also a seller and I know very well the shipping period of both JRS and Air21.

When Sunday came and I asked the seller for the tracking number, she said that she was not able to ship the item the day before as she ‘accidentally’ left it at home. I was slightly furious. The clutch was not meant for me, rather for Mon’s sister who will be using it for her prom. Besides, I can’t imagine myself using it at all. I was, then, still able to hold on to my promise not to buy a bag this year. ^_^

Anyway, I originally thought that Lot’s prom will take place last Tuesday but it was on Valentine’s Day, so the seller still has more time to send it. It was eventually sent on Monday so I thought it would arrive yesterday (a Tuesday). But it did not arrive until a few hours back and we can now breathe a sigh of relief.

When I first saw it for sale on Ebay, I was really enticed by it. Unlike Louis Vuitton and Gucci monograms, the Christian Dior one is less ubiquitous and not a lot of people associate such pattern to Dior items. Dior also did similar collections a decade ago, such as the Girly collection (often in pink, accompanied by white patent leather flower appliqués
) or the Rastafari line (with leather details in the Rastafarian colors of green, yellow and red). If I’m not mistaken, the one we got from Ebay was made way earlier, probably from the 90s. I have been eyeing this item for months already but I had no justification to get it. It was indeed a pretty, typical vintage Dior but the design is a bit too feminine for my taste. And then Mon mentioned that Lot will be attending her prom, her last prom before graduating high school, so I thought it will be a nice present to her, considering she passed the UPCAT. It was the perfect reason I was hoping for.

Most notably, the clutch instantly reminded me of that SATC episode (i.e. ‘To Market, To Market”) where Carrie was running late to go to the New York Stock Exchange and ring the bell as their newspaper had gone public. Rushing from the door, to the cab, and entering the building, I instantly recognized that she was carrying a vintage Dior bag. However, the one that she had was a convertible bag — it folds in half as a clutch, then unfold to show a handle for an open tote bag. It was very nifty and versatile.

On a different note, Mon’s adoptive kitty we named Bommie (guess the provenance of such name? LOL) gave birth to three beautiful kittens this afternoon! Since last night when Mon got home from work, he noticed that Bommie had been very agitated and constantly moving from one place to another. Then this morning, she was really having a hard time, constantly lying down and raising her leg. Mon even momentarily got a glimpse of her tummy ‘rippling’. They realized she was on labor and most probably be giving birth a few hours later.

We had bought our dinner at around 7:00 PM and Mon got a message after from his mom, telling him that Bommie already gave birth. All three of them were fortunately
alive and in good condition, as most cats giving birth for the first time usually have some difficulty in delivery. One of the kittens totally took after Bommie’s fur, while the other two ‘sampled’ a particular shade. They were so tiny and fragile, but still amazing looking. Just imagine, a few hours ago, they were rippling inside their mother’s tummy and now they are finally out! I told Mon that I can finally recite my favorite ‘Three Little Kittens’ lines and can actually put on miniature mittens on these three. That will be extremely cute to look at! Well done, Bommie! 😀

Grown up things

January 4, 2013bryologue 1 Comment

Last November, I intended to obtain a copy of my Transcript of Records from the University Registrar. However, I had a peculiar situation because even if I technically graduated last semeseter, I had to wait for the Board of Regents’ meeting to make my graduation official. As a result, I could not request any documents until the meeting last December and the processing of my transcript would proceed not after my student clearance was finished.

Anyway, I decided yesterday to fix all of my credentials, certifications, records and all because I just found out that the submission of requirements for the exam I intend to take will be on the 31st of January. I must admit, I lost interest in this particular examination last November because I thought that I’d have no chance to fix and get my requirements on time but I saw a ray of hope.

Then to OUR I went! Since I arrived at around 9:30 AM, I only had 2.5 hours to apply and pay for all the papers I needed: Student Clearance, Transcript of Record, Certification of Graduation, Course Description, True Copy of Grades from CSSP and CAL, and Certified True Copy of my undergraduate diploma. It was not easy because I had to walk from OUR, to Faculty Center, to AS and go to ISSI for the Cashier and back to the same buildings again for the receipts.

I only needed my TOR but it would take a longer time to process (14 days for updating) and if I were to consider the time for my clearance to finish, I will get my records by February 2 or two days past the deadline. I had no choice but apply for True Copy of Grades and hoped that the person whom I inquired was correct in saying that I can submit them in lieu of my TOR.

While I was doing all of this, I was able to pass by lots of kitties in Faculty Center. Last June 2012, I posted pictures of these kitties and I was happy to see more earlier. The first one was the small kitten above, sitting near the entrance of FC. I thought that she was hungry so I bought some bread from one of the stores near the road and when I got back, there were already more of them.

At exactly 12:00 noon, I was finally finished in submitting everything and had no choice but to wait and pray that the processing would be fast. I was most anxious over the student clearance because my request for TOR won’t be processed if I don’t have it ready. Resting for only 10 minutes, I began traveling to Shaw to visit the head office of PAG-IBIG. I had originally decided to go directly to work but Mon pushed me to finish everything I needed to finish so that I won’t have to go to Shaw the week after.

Honestly, I was worried on how my visit would be because it has been a year since I last went there. I had to visit their head office to supply 12 more PDCs for the payment of my mortgage and I even asked around on what to write on them. Then one of my friends specifically mentioned that the checks should be addressed to “HOME DEVELOPMENT MUTUAL FUND”. Duh. I also then realized that I have been paying for two years already and it seemed only yesterday when I found it difficult and tasking to allocate money for the mortgage. =D

When I reached PAG-IBIG, I went straight away to the second floor and was made to queue in the counters directly next to the entrance. After waiting for my final billing to finish, I was then directed to the section where I would be submitting the PDCs. I thuoght it would be fast but I was made to complete the information at the back, following the standardized dorsal format. I think that by the fifth check, my hand was already cursing me.

Within an hour, I was already done with everything and then I went straight to work. I thought that everything would be fine but I was wrong. We just got word that a previous officemate and friend of ours passed away yesterday. It was so shocking that it took me about three hours to finally react and I was silently crying in my post. He was just 29 years old — so young. What transpired within the past few hours changed my perspective over the transcience of life.

Now, I feel more determined to prepare for the upcoming examination but hopefully, I get my Transcript of Records first.

Back to reality

January 2, 2013bryologue Leave a Comment

It is a Wednesday and we are officially back to reality and must go back working. Before leaving the house, I thought that it would rain but barely 20 minutes off from home, I was cursing under my breath the humid weather. For a start, I’ve decided to pair again my khaki pants with these Red Wing boots because I think they were a perfect combination. Besides, I know that I should be more smart and stop spending on clothes and there’s nothing wrong with repeating to wear the things you love over and over again. =D

I arrived in the office and saw that Mon was wearing almost the same thing as me again. However, his was on red while mine was on… whatever color mine was. It was not the first time that such thing happened because last September, we had the same thing on. He also began wearing his glasses because of astigmatism. And again, we have the same style of frame but in different colors.

Of course, just like everybody elese, I had to drag myself to work because four days of rest seemed very short. =D Not that I wanted to start the year off in the office marred with laziness but I just can’t stop thinking of my bed, our dining table and our fridge. LOL In all fairness to me, I was able to exercise for an hour by riding my bike again, and even gave our two dogs a bath. I think I’m off to a good start because I seem to start shaking the lazy bug off and get a move on with the things needed to be done.

Glasses and Papers

December 28, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

It is the last Friday of 2012 and I had to make sure that our medical/optical allowance did not go to waste. Mon and I met past lunch time in Farmers Cubao to get our glasses done in Spectrum Eye Express, found at the Ground Floor of the mall. We originally planned having them done in Paterno St., Quiapo, Manila but as we did not have enough time to got there, out best bet was Cubao.

Mon has been complaining over his astigmatism for years and we only had time today to finally have his eyes properly checked and corrected. Out of all the shops there, I knew right away that Spectrum Eye Express has the lowest price on their services. A normal lens with frame starts at Php 995, and additional Php 1,000 for multicoated ones.

I was the first to be checked and the optometrist checked my glasses as well. To my surprise, the grade of my right eye has increased. It was just checked last month during our Annual Physical Examination in the office and it was deemed okay. Mon was checked next and it took him a shorter time. We chose the same style of frames (and I got my old frames back), except the color. For him, the dark red ones, while I got the dark blue pair. It will took two more hours for them to work on the glasses, though, she we’ll just come back tomorrow.

We then went to the same Dunkin’ Donuts café where I hoped to bring him months back. We only had 30 minutes to eat our snack and Mon even bought three pieces of doughnuts to bring back to our office. The bunwich was as good as ever but I only have one gripe. We ordered two 12oz coffees and they gave out four sachets of sugar and two sachets of creamer. I asked Mon if he could ask for two more sachets of creamer but I was infuriated to hear that they charge Php 1.50 each. What the hell was that about? I understand that some people might be too excessive with their sugar and creamer cosnumption, but can they just at least serve two sugars and two creamers as a standard serving? That was a rip-off and it was ridiculous to put just a sachet of creamer n a 120z cup, unless you like your coffees black (then you don’t even need a creamer at all). I was so disappointed with Dunkin’ Donuts. Yuck.

Anyway, before our short time eating ended, I had to rush to National Bookstore a floor above to buy a 2013 planner. Since the end of 2010, I have refused to join the Starbucks planner bandwagon and started using a vitnage Mulberry wallet that I bought from Ebay as a makeshift planner. I still have the 2011 planner with me and I will soon be removing the 2012 one and replace it with the 2013.

However, I noticed that they did not have the same ‘style’ of planner that I’ve been using as a filler. I could be wrong, though. Last week, when I bought Mon’s Christmas card, I’ve seen a 2012 version of the same filler. I’m now kicking myself on why I did not buy one when I already saw it. In all fairness to the 2013 planner, it is thinner and less bulky but it will be definitely more tricky to work on. As you can see from the previous pictures, I ‘murder’ the planners as they have sturdy cardboard first pages. I still don’t know how can that be achieved with the 2013 one as it does not have the same cardboard material.

I also bought this very nice-looking orange notebook, with sketches of three smiling cats. =D I still don’t have an exact use for it, but maybe it can be my ‘idea notebook’. I look forward to being more organized (than the usual) and inspired this 2013, and hopefully my new paper purchases can give me a headstart on planning for the year ahead.

Stray kitty!

June 2, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

I’ve been seeing this kitty in Farmers – Cubao for the last three nights on my way home from work. I just felt really bad over its mewing while scavenging for food.

Yesterday, I stopped by a vendor of candies and brought a pack of Skyflakes biscuit. I had tossed it to the poor kitten but she expectedly ran away. When I was about 10 feet away, I saw it come back to eat the food.

Stray kitten eating some biscuits in Cubao

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