I have quite a pile of books in our apartment’s nightstand. From French books, to International Studies books and some general reference books. In this lot, I only have only two fiction books. One was ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, while the other was something loaned to me by my officemate:
The wonder that is ‘Wonder’
Almost two weeks after buying the tools and materials for my leathercraft project, here is how it looks now:
Halfway done with my project: (clockwise) front of the bag, back of the bag with two D-rings and a triangle one, front top handle, back top handle
We saw Mockingjay Part 1 last Sunday and on our way home, I finally got up close the display window of Rustan’s Makati.
Christmas 2014 display window of Rustan’s Makati
They undoubtedly have the best windows and they periodically change them after a couple of months. However, they always reserve the best decoration for December. This year, it looked like an enchanted winter forest that is very Tim Walker (a.k.a. Mr. Fairy Tale Fantasy) meets Narnia. Of course, Tim Walker is well-known for photographing very whimsical spreads and campaigns. However, what I do not like about these was the fact that you can no longer see the clothes. The branches by the glass were too busy or had they reduced the sides for about a foot each, it would have been much better. I still get envious of all the Ayala Avenue people because they have better Christmas decorations, compared to the bleak and sparsely decorated area of McKinley Hill. Do they know it’s Christmas? LOL Yes, I’m really claiming the Holiday Season this year, and I’m as giddy as my niece Brianna seeing glittering decors and blinking Christmas lights.
Yes, that is a “White Chicks” reference. After the fiasco from the store I visited yesterday, I finally got around dropping by the other leather supplies shop I have been keeping tab for a long time. I had a doctor’s appointment again and after it was confirmed that I still have a mild dextroscoliosis, I walked all the way to the store. I thought that I was already ready to work from scratch.
Yesterday, I had a little saddle stitch practice with a thrifted leather belt, and I eventually got the technique. Although I’ve read Al Stohlman’s instructions several times, I still accidentally pierce my thread while pulling the second needle. It usually happens when I haven’t waxed the thread enough, or I was just not paying close attention to how I pull the first thread. By-the-book instruction mentions I should redo the stitch when it happens, but being the stubborn person that I was, I just cut the fiber and I end up with jagged thread on some parts. Here is how it looked from the pre-pierced belt:
Saddle stitch practice on a leather belt
The back of the belt. It does not look that bad, non?
Marikina Clock Tower
Not so long ago, I wrote about a project I wanted to embark upon. But who am I kidding? It happened more than two years ago as I even wrote about it after I finished with my comprehensive examinations. I worked from home today because I had a follow-up medical check-up with my doctor in Marikina. I thought that I might as well drop by the leather supplies stores again since I was already in the area.
(Sorry for the bad quality photos, as I have mistakenly left my digital camera in the apartment. I had also forgotten my HMO card and it was almost a disaster. Good thing I have my account number listed on my phone.)
That’s one big patent footwear — a shoe automobile!
As usual, I am typing things through a stream of consciousness. I would have wanted to be more structured with how my points are presented on this ‘radical’ move, but most of my entries trying to make a strong point are done as an internal monologue anyway, thus the name ‘bryologue‘. What prompted me to totally quit Facebook? A more direct answer might have been exasperation with the general public, but I have this perfect opportunity to elaborate on the motivation.
First of all, I did not have an Instagram account, not until four weeks ago. I am still using a BlackBerry phone, and as we know, it does not have a native Instagram application. I got really curious with all the brouhaha on the likes and hashtags, and it seems that it is a prerequisite for people around my age to have one. I might be missing out on something. I have a no-name Android tablet my father gave me a year ago when he went home, which I primarily use for reading Ebooks. The 4 gigabyte memory card capacity was rife with PDFs and Epubs. I am ashamed to say this, but I finally gave in and created an Instagram account just to get over the curiosity of why people are crazy about it.
Albert Camus’s “L’Etranger” realized on Lego pieces
I was perusing over things in my room at home, specifically looking for a children’s book I got from my grade school library. However, it took me more than four hours to find it and in the process, I was able these. I had amassed a substantial amount of French and Italian books, as well as some of previous Vogue magazines I did not bring to the apartment with me. I also saw these two neckties and a catalog, and this damaged silk scarf also resurfaced. I completely forgot about the catalog and I can’t even remember why I had one. It was either given as a free gift by one of the sellers from Ebay when I was still buying more than selling, or I got it dirt cheap so I bought it anyway.
Language books and Vogue magazines
Look what I found
Unlike most people who have difficulty sleeping in unfamiliar places, we had no such problem in our new apartment. We took the bed like fish to water. However, we had to quickly get accustomed to new habits such as where to get our clothes laundered the cheapest, or to look for much nearer carinderias to buy our lunch from. We loved the one in South Avenue, but it was no joke going up and down five flights of stairs, and walking several blocks under the sun (and in the coming weeks, rain). It was a lovely neighborhood in general, and I always have a grand time looking outside the window to view the lights of the buildings whenever we go home at night. We also have a fair share of stray cats around, and there was a pet store four houses away from us.
Blue-eyed, white kitty of the neighborhood
As much as we wanted to rest from yesterday’s tiring but exciting event, we just did not have enough time. It was our turn to move to our new apartment, We still have to finish packing a couple of boxes and secure some of our furniture with ropes to facilitate mobility. At almost 10:00 AM, the movers finally arrived in their multicab. We helped out in transferring our things and I was happy that they fit at the back of the vehicle! Good thing we thought beforehand of bringing some of our belongings earlier this week. They had no problem loading our stuff as we were just located on the ground floor, but it was a different story bringing them ‘way up’ to our new place.
All our belongings inside a multicab
According to Mama, If moving to a new place, the first things in should be water, rice and salt
What I love most about my new workplace: lunch! Everyday, at around 11:00 AM, someone from the carinderia in front of our “building” will go upstairs and pass around a sheet of paper with the day’s menu written on it. At first, I did not know that payment can be done at the end of the week as I reached out for my wallet last Monday. It turned out that we can opt to pay at the end of the week or even at the end of the month. When I was given my receipt today, I was so surprised to see that the total was just Php 285! That was almost the price of our dinner for two days in Makati.
