20 August 2007

An Homage to Malu Fernandez

First thing I do when I wake up is to take a shower. I notice when I'm clean and dandy, I don't attract flies. I mean, no use lugging around Baygon and Lysol disinfectant around. Plus of course, I don't have to use real expensive cologne to hide the stench.

Good old soap and water will do the trick.

Got ready for breakfast and lo! and behold! On the table was a steaming bowl of soy custard with tapioca and a very generous dash of caramel syrup! Courtesy of the uber-vendor Manong Tisoy. If you haven't tried Manong Tisoy's Taho, you have not been to breakfast heaven. I so swear by it. Oh the joy! the joy!

Meanwhile while I was enjoying my breakfast, I decided to give the The Tiger a call and ask her what we could do the day. We decided to go over Greenbelt 3 and hang out. Since living in the south, I usually take the bus over at Roxas Blvd. The trick is to take the Don Mariano Bus. Granted it isn't air conditioned or anything, but it flies like the wind, the seats are wide that only an elephant would have a hard time sitting down, not to mention the view I get from the window seat. One time I even I saw a black toyota sedan that for some reason, flies were following. And someone inside was busy spraying baygon out the window. hmmm...

So after like a fifteen minute walk (I like walking, it helps me lose weight so I won't look like a beached whale with tons of makeup on, not that I use makeup, but you get the drift), I got to Greenbelt 3.

Boom! Suddenly my world turned. Walking by, voices around were swirling with twang. Lots of people with noses so high up, you'd need a crane to look into their eyes.

"Dude! Pare! I saw you at Bora last week..."

"I usually prefer Mediterranean cousine over Spanish. Spanish has too much pork, gives me a feeling I'm eating my own kind..."

"Oh my god! Have you seen the latest Haviannas? I soo don't like em, they sooo accentuate my cankles..."

"Deepak Chopra is my ultimate fave writer. He sooo gets me..."

"Mac is soo yesterday, it's the era of Shu Uemura..."


I was lost among a sea of elitism. I felt so small and inconsequential. I nervously chewed my gum hoping I can get thru it like Moses parting the red sea. I was even almost squashed by this person who seemed like she was carrying 17kg of makeup with her. I felt sorry for her, since the bag was so heavy she was sweating like she just came from the desert. I suddenly noticed flies around. I was contemplating texting The Tiger to hurry but I remembered I hardly have any cell phone load left.

After hooking up with The Tiger, we decided to go around and just window shop. I love to window shop. It's like foreplay without the sex. Heck, I'd go for the sexy time over shopping anytime. Who wouldn't. I have this weird theory that actual shopping, and I mean heavy shopping, is a substitute for actual sex for women. Hence the term when the kitty is dry, the kitty goes shopping. Those really desperate kittys even shop outside the country when they haven't had any for ages.

So, five or six stores later, we were ready for lunch. We had tons of choices. There was Mediterranean, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, etc. etc. After a brief discussion, we decided to splurge. We headed over to Jamaican Patties and proceeded to stuff ourselves. Total cost? A little under P300. I know, I know, we have to control our budget. But hey! Jamaican Patties? Well worth it.

We went over to National Bookstore afterwards. We went over rows and rows of books. I mentally took note of those that interested me so I can wait for when the movie comes out. Movies are cheaper than books, faster too. Specially when you come around the pirated DVD version. Funny though, I saw one book priced at around 300 or so which in another high end store was priced at 600. I silently laughed, who would be so stupid enough to shop in a high end bookstore for books that are priced higher than National?

Nothing much happened after that. The Tiger and I watched a movie, we had a brief snack at the McDonald's (McDonald's coffee just gets me thru the day. Cheaper too...). It was pretty much a normal affair. By late afternoon, I was dead tired. We pondered whether to take the MRT or the bus to her place. But being the gentleman that I am. I was stern in my decision. We would do the half and half. To the uninitiated, the half and half means taking the MRT to the closest point to one's house and then taking the cab from there.

So all in all, it was a fun day. I know I kind of messed up the budget and all but when with the person precious to you, you just pull out the stops. And for that whole day, you just can't beat spending time with someone you truly love.

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