This month was hectic in a good way for celebrations.
Then, boom, 15 years.
But compared to an almost last minute trip overseas last year, we stayed put this year. We just came from a trip with my sister and the kids to Hong Kong recently. So it was a no brainer that we’d rest our bodies and our wallets.
At 15, there was no need for the theatrics. So, we just went to Rockwell for dinner and a movie.
Our 15th year face
Finally, a birthday celebration outside.
When the pandemic went full swing in 2020, the nationwide lockdown was about 3 days before Mon’s birthday. We had planned an eat-all-you-can dinner that time, but for obvious reasons. It was cancelled. Even the succeeding days before it, we were thinking how to get the refund for the pre-payment we made. When the prolonged lockdowns eventually reared its ugly head, it was obvious that it has ravaged more livelihood and employment. Our worries were severely paltry and negligible.
Since around mid-February 2022, things were looking up. Numbers-wise, since the end of the Omicron wave around January, there were less cases (and deaths, which frankly should be zero — a death is a death, even one). Vaccination rates are high. Or it might just be really the election period upon us that led to the relaxing of the restrictions.
The fire extinguisher — people will probably think it’s a Jeff Koons. (Yes. that’s an SATC reference)
So for today, we finally decided to have dinner at Greenbelt and (supposedly) watch a movie. Nothing out of ordinary.
It was a humid summer’s evening, but it did not prevent me from wearing my usual uniform: a black shirt. I decided to be dressier than usual and put on jeans instead of shorts. =) Nevertheless, my flip flops were intact. Imagine me walking around these around this new area where the LV store was transferred to, together with other designer stores. I did not care about it, to be honest, as I just really wanted to be inside an air-conditioned place. Continue Reading
I’ve read somewhere that during a pandemic, one must document his/her daily life. Even the most mundane day should be immortalized. With all those grand narratives of how Isaac Newton powered through the Black Plague, discovering some of the most important scientific discoveries known to man, we are made to believe that we have to be productive amidst this pandemic.
Today is day 29 since the lockdown was imposed over Metro Manila, and subsequently over the island of Luzon. I am also 35.
Panic buying before the Enhanced Community Quarantine. Photo taken at S&R on March 16.
When the first case of COVID-19 (then called as nCOV) in the Philippines was announced on January 30, 2020, I had already asked Mon to stock on a couple of boxes of masks from Bambang. I had been monitoring the situation for the past weeks. I knew that it’ll only be a matter of time before it blew up, and it won’t hurt to have masks stocked for our families.
When I woke up early today, it took me a while to realize what happened the day before and why it was hanging over my head. Then, after a few blinks and a yawn, I recalled finally deciding on something very life-changing — I have accepted the offer to work in a humanitarian organization.
I’ve weighed the pros and cons and they were numerically near each other . However, considering the emotional weight attributed to the pros made me realize how much I really yearn to gain experience in the field. I have downloaded several books concerning the work to brush up on my knowledge and I was happy to have that “giddy feeling of excitement”.
March 17 and I can finally say: HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY MON! =D I was in the rooftop, with Mon, JB and my mother, testing my new telescope when the clock struck 12:00 AM! I had a hard time adjusting with the telescope, though, as the image was expectedly different than the other telescope. Newtonian telescopes produce images that are upside down, so it was difficult for me to deal with it on my first try. Unlike the other refractor, which produces images backwards, this Newtonian is not ideal for terrestrial use. LOL
Almost twelve hours after, I was woken up by JB because we were to eat our lunch. I was originally to help Mon with preparing lunch for today, but he did not bother waking me up at all. We bought a pack of frozen cream dory and other ingredients from Trinoma’s supermarket last night. Mon had fancied another bout of MasterChef moment and made a very nice meal for us. I especially loved the honey and lemon sauce on the cream dory, as well as the lychee in the jelly. He eventually left after lunch because he also had to spend time with his family on his birthday. =D
It was difficult to constantly bring the tripod of the telescope up to the rooftop, given the heavy counterweight, so the best solution I came up with was just to leave it in one corner. I would just remove the telescope tube, which wasn’t heavy at all. Thirty minutes before sunset, JB and I prepared our telescopes and cameras, hoping to get at least a momentary view of Comet PANSTARRS, but to no avail. Good thing that the Moon was visible to the northwest, near Jupiter and I was happy to point my telescope to these two celestial objects.
Of course, I also tried imaging the Moon with my point and shoot camera and I was delighted with the result. My camera, though, can’t capture the same beautiful thing seen from the telescope as the Moon’s details were more breathtaking as viewed from the eyepiece. I first tried using the 25mm eyepiece (originally from the Meade telescope), then the other 9mm. The picture below was seen through the 25mm one.
I also looked at Jupiter and it was beyond words! Given the bigger mirror of the Celestron, I was able to see Jupiter’s cloud bands as well as the Great Red Spot! With the Meade 70mm, I can barely discern these details and I usually half-guess whether I was seeing them. But using this 127mm, there was no mistaking the difference in the colors of the bands because of the better contrast. I attempted to image Jupiter but I can no longer push my point-and-shoot’s capabilities. All I got was a white blob with four dots (the Galilean moons). The next thing I might do is just purchase a CCD webcam and modify it for astrophotography because I don’t have enough budget for an SLR. LOL
Before wrapping up (because I had to eat dinner and take photos of things I will be listing on Ebay), I turned my telescope to Orion and almost cried when I saw the Orion Nebula. Again, unlike my other telescope, I just saw a faint haze of light and cloud, which was the nebula. But with this new telescope, I was able to see a much better detail of the clouds and even distinctly see the ‘trapezium cluster’ of four stars! I’m still amazed of the Orion Nebula but I know I have to soon move to seeing other Messier objects. =)
Friday is wash day but I still ended up wearing these pants again instead of jeans. I think it looks good with this leather mailbag and it was as far as I can do to be color-coordinated. It rain when I was already in the shuttle, though, and I was really worried because I was wearing suede shoes! LOL
Mon and his teammate, Joselle, will be both celebrating their birthdays in Sunday. In connection to this, his team decided to throw a mini-kiddie party, complete with a chocolate fountain and hotdogs on a stick most especially. Even if there were already a lot of us inside the pantry, we still ahd a hard time finishing everything. Well, most were girls and they eat relatively less ravenous than the boys so that was slightly expected.
I stopped eating rice for dinner since Tuesday and Faye has stopped eating some since… I don’t exactly know when. LOL Most of the people I was with inside the pantry were the “jogging bunch”, diligently getting their cardio fix before the day ends. I also wanted to join them but I am too lazy to bring workout clothes in the office. Excuses, I know. But I do my own share of exercise at home too!
I was already running later for my errands today and Mon and I even had a little argument over my supposed schedule. I was just being my stubborn self again and refused to admit that I miscalculated my time and even went on with my one hour of exercise, instead of leaving early to go to the bank. Anyway, this small squabble was finished in less than thirty minutes and we were already laughing our heads off over how silly we were. The weather was quite unpredictable, so I thought of testing this pair of Red Wing boots for the first time:
So off to BPI in KPMG Building I went, input some detail and took a number. But it took me forever before my number got called, and to make matters worse, the teller just informed me right there and then that their system was offline and I had to manually fill out two sets of transaction slips, which they will process once the system was okay again. So that was causing the delay. I couldn’t understand why they did not bother telling the people right away (I mean there were really LOTS of people waiting) and handed out transaction slips for us to manually accomplish, instead of telling every person approaching the counter to do so. Very efficient. Anyway, I ended up with an “OFFLINE VALIDATED” slip and off to the office I rushed.
Before reaching the elevator, I asked another BPI branch by the ground floor of our building if the system was already online. I was informed that it just went running again a few minutes back. I hurried upstairs and called the other branch to ask if they have already processed my two transactions. It turned out, the teller gave me the wrong telephone number. I also had a second glance at the transaction slip and she had wrongly written a digit in the account number. I had no choice but to walk back again to their building and ask her about it. Mon went with me this time and I was swearing a lot on our way. Mon looked nervous because he probably thought that I might be having a fit, but I calmly approached the teller and asked her about what happened. I was actually surprised about my reaction because I would normally lash out but I began thinking few weeks back that I should really learn to control my temper. The only downside, though, was Mon becoming my unintentional shock-absorber of my cussing fit.
So what made me really determined to have that transaction completed? It was because I was paying for a (yet again) Burberry leather messenger bag I bought online, from the same seller who sold me the LV Epi Noir Pochette Cles. She was extremely nice and easy to talk with. Besides, it will be my first ever Burberry and I love the fact that it is leather and not canvas! I already accepted the fact that I might not receive it tomorrow but I was surprised when the seller was able to ship it as she reached the cut-off. The bag in question will arrive tomorrow. A big thank you to her.
Of course, it might initially seem that I was out spending on another bag again but the truth was, I had to let go of another bag, the Hermès Fourre Tout I bought almost three months ago. I liked it but I never really got the chance to use it and it was only my sister who had the chance to take it out on my nephew’s birthday (as a diaper bag!). In the process of selling it, I ended up guilt-free because it was sold at a price more than the cost of the Burberry messenger, which did not leave me with less resources. I just looked at it as a trade and this bag deserves another person who will lovingly use it.
I know it will be quite hard for me to just kick off my habit of looking into having another bag, but I have learned that the first step of just selling the things I don’t use clearly leads the way to a better spending habit. More or less, I end up with a new bag with extra money to spare. The ultimate goal, however, was to extremely minimize my bags to just a little over six or make it seven. =P I know I’ll get there someday, one step at a time. Who knows, maybe before 2013 ends, that goal has been already achieved.
P.S.
Today marks my 5th year at work! Also, the birthday of Lolo Dada (paternal grandfather — R.I.P. Lolo) and Mon’s maternal grandmother, who we fondly call as Lola Groovy. =)
The last day of September marks my mother’s birthday! Today, she celebrates her 56th but it was not only until a decade ago that we do this. As far as I can recall, her birthday was in October 1 but there was a correction in her birth certificate, which called for a change of date. I don’t exactly get it but we just follow whatever she says.
Anyway, HAPPY 56th BIRTHDAY AGAIN ‘MA! <3
P.S.
And for those asking to be woken up at the end of September — WAKE UP! IT’S ALMOST OCTOBER! =D
Well, he considers himself nine because he celebrated twice last year (first was on the day itself, a Friday, before Mon and I left for Korea the day after, and the second was Sunday thereafter), but he’s technically eight today. After attending mass, we all went to Eastwood to have a mini-celebration. We did not want to cook at home or anything, so the best solution was just to go out.
My little princess celebrates her second birthday today! Time flies really fast! It only seems yesterday when I was woken up by my sister because she was already feeling labor pains. Our family just spent the whole day at home with a small celebration. Love you so much, Brie!