Previously Unposted Date Pix

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at SM MoA (with The Contessa and Sadrina, tho' not in the picture). (Nov. 2)

Trinoma Mall (Nov. 8)

Bolt 3D screening at Gateway Mall (Nov. 29)

Xmas'ed Out

As backlogs (or BcLogs) go, mine's been backed up like a constipated sumo wrestler.

The day before Xmas Eve I had a late dinner w/ Eileen at Cyma in Trinoma. She got me a gift while I gave back some of her DVDs. Not the fairest Kris Kringle exchange, I know...

First Xmas with Liza, both Eve and Actual. For the Eve we first had a light dinner at her house, where I presented gifts to her mom (stereo) and dad (really nice umbrella). For her part she gave me Fuji apples branded w/ various icons like Xmas trees, Santas and even some "I Love You" signs. Turns out they were done by placing stickers on the apples a month before harvest.

At my place there was an actual party, so we ate even more, from BBQ to lechon and tasty chicken pie, although she preferred the pork soup and Chinese fried chicken. Popsicles for dessert (twin for me, pinipig crunch for her). Ate Penny was nice enough to write up for me a request for an X-ray to check out my shoulders, w/c have been aching for some time now. Save for one family I managed to get groups portraits for almost all the guests. Mine were even gracious enough to have Liza included in our shot.

And for the first time I had someone else help and participate in making my annual Xmas Clone Card (see result in previous blog entry). Previous experimenting w/ night photography helped make up for last year's cut-and-paste disaster.

I slept around 4AM, only to be awakened 5 hours later by Liza asking me to attend morning mass w/ her and her folks. This event I was sorely tempted to sleep and skip over, but she used the "3M Phrase" ("Mean so much to me"), so for the first time in several forevers I found myelf in a church w/o any previous wedding or baptism ceremony arranged, and before lunchtime. On the plus side Liza joined me at my place for the latter. Mmm, leftover chicken pie...

After lunch we all rested a bit, then headed to SM MoA to brave the traffic jams and the mall crowds, the likes of w/c I hadn't seen since the last 3-Day Sale at SM North EDSA. In the midst of looking for someplace to eat Liza decided to play Poke Your Partner's Private Parts in Public. Far be it from me to refuse this kind of challenge.

While it didn't help she was making up the scoring rules as we went along, in the end I gave up trying to earn points and just did it for sh*ts and giggles. She still insists I lost when she gave herself 2000 points for biting my finger in front of my brother Wilson, who was seated across the table from us at Fish & Co. (Don't worry, he wasn't looking. I think.).

After the early dinner we spent some time in Fully Booked, where Liza bought more vampire books and got me the paperback edition of Bob Woodward's State of Denial. Afterward we made the unfortunate decision to walk all the way to Tom's World in the South Wing to look for the kids, only to find out everyone was at Haagen-Dazs back North. I tried to take her mind off the long walk back by offering to carry all her things and telling her expensive servings of ice cream are better than queuing at Starbucks.

At The Dazs she sampled whatever flavor she could. The servers forgot my double scoop order entirely, so I ended up sharing Liza's caramel apple crumble and choco-choco chip combo. Everybody went home late again, but I had to keep her books in storage as she doesn't want her folks to find out she went on another book buying binge. :)

Premature THIS

Happy Holidays, Y'all!

Settled In

After a week of long-time-no-see (Tuesday business meeting w/ Mindstorm Media at their QC office to discuss producing the c3Maxx video doesn't count), Liza and I are now more or less (ok, more) getting used to the weekend "liaisons" (Euphemism Device activated). And Saturday afternoon was all liaison. :) We groomed ourselves silly for the occasion. She brought the bread and cheese, I brought peanut butter and grapes. After that mini-picnic we still had enough of an appetite for dinner at Teriyaki Boy Ortigas (though she doesn't wanna go back because of the taste). Washed the bad taste away w/ a nightcap at Starbucks AshCreek, where at the parking garage I handed her her Xmas present. She gave me a black 2008 Starbucks Planner.

The Sunday afternoon "liaison" was just so she could get outta thes house and avoid any impending lectures about Life by her Mom. Although when I dropped to pick her up she wasn't ready, so I spent some time bonding w/ Auntie Sally by way of helping decorate their Xmas tree and speaking to her in Fukien Chinese whenever possible.

Finally we were off in a quest to find Pa's Xmas present: Bally socks. SM Centerpoint didn't have any in stock and said only the Big Branches (like SM City or Megamall) had them. I was disappointed since the Xmas traffic jams seemed to be still in full force. We drove back to Agno to rest a bit and reassess our options, i.e. do I wanna drive all the way to SM North EDSA and possibly miss the salmon dinner for 6 pairs of socks. In between thoughts I whipped up some egg-ang garlic fried rice for her, as her last meal was brunch. She ate it w/ fish leftover from lunch, while I had a ponkan.

Eventually we did go to SM City, the traffic thankfully not as bad as I thought. True to their word Bally socks were available, so we got Pa 6 pairs and Liza bought another 3 for her dad. We didn't bother checking out the newly built Annex, and instead walked to the other side of The Block (get it?) for some Bubble Tea (and cake that looked but thankfully didn't taste like a cross-section and dirt and freshly mowed lawn grass).

We drove back to Agno again, this time so I can have dinner. It was only after we watched the latest episode of The Mentalist (seated together on the freshly reupholstered couch) did I finally drive her home. Later we texted each other thanks for the company, then she said her mom was glad I "conversed with her" in Chinese. I was just glad she initiated it.

Wotta Weekend

SATURDAY: Picked up Liza early, so we could make a quick stopover to pick up our tickets for the musical Hairspray tomorrow. Robinson's Dept. Store branch was too by-the-book (as if Liza would have my credit card, receipt and 2 of my IDs for some other reason), so we hastily made up a letter of authorization while trying the NBS branch in Megamall. While driving outta there (loitered outside instead of properly parking) I caught a glimpse of (and almost ran over) old classmate Ian Howell Tan.

While she was slightly miffed at us being a little late (still haven't gotten the hang of driving around BGC), we still managed to meet up w/ her barkada (and their respective "Non-Barkada" beaus and bud, and baby) at Serendra. The girls exchanged gifts while the guys exchanged gabs.

SUNDAY: The afternoon in bullet points...

• Avoided traffic police who were looking for (according to Liza) handouts, car profiling rich-looking AUVs and failing to flag us down successfully when I was sure the light was still green. Or I swerved, but it was to avoid idiot traffic cop for moving in my path and waving suddenly. Or mebbe it was because of us wasn't wearing their seatbelt at the time, not sure, didn't stick around. As I drove past them my heart raced and all I could think of was Please don't have motorbikes to chase us with. (They didn't.) Call me crazy but I like to limit embarrassing incidents involving cops while w/ my girlfriend to once-a-never-again.
  
• Almost parked just outside Star City when an attendant approached and said the flat rate was 60 bucks(!) Fortunately I talked to a security guard who said parking inside the Star City lot was free . Eff to da You, highway robber parking dude, we outta there.
  
• At the Star Theater we ran into Wilson's boss Liza, and one of his ADMU classmates. For my part I shared Men's Room time w/ Ricky Davao.
• The layout of the place was different from what I pictured, with no real balcony area and just elevated rows. (Ticketworld website ought to show both bird's eye and side view diagrams) Freezing temperatures inside made Liza regret wearing a sleeveless blouse. Worse, they made changes to the seating arrangements and the middle aisle seats I paid for were now at the leftmost side of the theater. (By the second act we moved to the empty seats near the middle of our row.)
  
• As for the musical production itself: Good thing I saw the movie version on HBO days earlier, because I still caught the gist of the story while well-enunciated lyrics were lost on crappy sound systems. Also, no live band, so basically we watched the Minus One version.
  
• Note to Michael de Mesa: You can only drag (no pun intended) on the change-to-manly-voice joke for so long before it gets old. We already know you're in tranny mode, so live up to the feminine side of it and impress us with more dancing while wearing heels.
• Why are good American accents so hard to find in local theater nowadays? Not to sound racist but the Talalog accents were really distracting.

The real event of the evening (aside from the one that happened after the play which I won't talk about here) was the wedding reception of Chinabank Tutuban Manager Andrew Kong and his bride Aileen at Century Seafood Restaurant. Liza really wanted to go and I obliged, seeing as I was there to represent of the 'Rents, while she went in place of her mom. Five tables were allotted for Chinabank friends and clients, not that the place needed any more butts on the seats. We left the reception early enough to avail of the half-off valet parking discount (25 bucks). No wedding souvenier or lanky floral centerpiece to take home, though, the latter to Liza's frustration. Yes, she only wanted the big flower in the middle of the arrangement, but I was distacted by the other flowers that were just taped on the thinner branches.

We had a last-minute nightcap at Starbucks in Robinson's Otis. Still in formal attire, it was weird being the best-dressed couple in a coffee shop.

Not that I'm complaining. This weekend was for her, and I'm happy to serve.

Beijinoys, Bacolodians and Bicolanos (Oh My)

It's been awhile since I've gone out w/o Liza. Tonight's good a time as any.

Carpooled w/ Die! and her sister Steph (whose voice is a dead-ringer for Die!'s) from Gateway to first drop the latter off in San Juan, then to Dencio's in Rockwell for dinner w/ newly'rents Joanne and Henry Buban. Manolito, Janet (in town for business and pleasure) and Dave joined us later on. A number of the original HuaQing tenants didn't make it (Pyao, Tiff, Joyce, Cham, etc.) but as it was the evening was still enjoyable. All throughout the scarfing down of Set Menu C's entrees and iced tea, stories and laughs were shared. Dave (who couldn't get over Janet being much older than she looks--older than me, btw) and Manol are always a blast to have around, w/ enough tales of Beijing bloopers and anecdotes to make you forget the time.

(Blog ending seems anticlimactic, but then again so was the evening, with our Good-byes and Let's Do it Again Next Times.)

Laying Down the "Law" (So We Can Bend 'Em Later)

We were supposed to meet up w/ Joanne and her husband Henry (as well as other Beijinoys) for dinner, but last-minute cancellations, postponements and rescheduling moved the date to Friday.

So instead Liza and I ended up having dinner at Arya before heading back to her place to watch Californication.

Technically this would violate the recently created "Weekends Only" policy we tried to implement, devoting weeknights to work and avoiding the ire of respective 'Rents who think we see too much of each other. "Plenty of time for that if/when you settle down," pragmatic voices would say. Well, it didn't start out as a date. Just ended up that way due to aforementioned cancellations, postponements and rescheduling.

Yes, I'm making excuses and procrastinating (w/c, in using pharmaceutical analogy, is choosing quick-acting pills over the long-lasting ones). I wanna swear this will be our last Wednesday night together for a long while, but I try not to make a liar outta myself whenever possible. Best I could do is to keep telling myself to stick to weekends. Good therapy for both'a youz.

I'll try it, but don't hafta like it.

Too Much of a Good Thing

I've had the tough-love lecture from my sister several times now since I decided to stick with the family business almost 3 years ago. It never gets easier every time I hear it. Getting my teeth pulled is more tolerable.

She's right, of course. I'm pissed about that, and the condescending tone. She says (and I agree) that I'm not living to my full potential. It's almost as if I need constant inspirational/ pep talk (as opposed to nagging) to sustain my enthusiasm in the mundane business of cement dealing. I believe I have direction, but it's the degree of progress that's gnawing at me. Almost a crawl. And the distractions... my god, the distractions (this blog included)!

At the risk of sounding corny, there's now Liza to think about. To borrow a phrase from Melvin Udall: she makes me want to me a better man. I want to be a better person, a better employee, a better provider. I will not lose her (or this... thing I call a better life) on account of being a slacker. I won't have it.

So while the cost might be less time spent together, it's for a good cause. Self-improvement. And it will make seeing each other again (perhaps on weekends) all the more gratifying.

Piedra Party

This was only the second time Liza's* gone out w/ my circle of friends. One Beijinoy she's met before, the rest she'll meet for the first time.

When Pa paranoiyingly (paranoid + annoying + ly) thought Taguig was too far me to drive there on my own (had I said The Fort or Serenda --w/c Pa still thinks is in Makati-- he probably wouldn't have blinked), he insisted the family driver be used. Fine by me. My last chauffered date was during Senior Prom. At least parking won't be an issue.

Tintin was dropped off my house and then we picked up Di. When the found out about Liza they could barely contain their curiosity and excitement. We didn't stay at Liza's house since we were running kinda late. By the time we walked back to the Hi-Ace T & D already moved to the back seats to give us space in the middle, otherwise I would've ended up sitting shotgun, giving Francis directions on how to get to The Contessa's place.

Fast foward to 4 girls and a guy off to Fort Strip Mall. Piedra was at the 3rd level, but we first ate dinner at the Persian restaurant downstairs. We had stuffed chicken kebab (dee-lish), lamb kebab (salty) and veggie-meat-thingie-resembling-dried-asado kebab (weird) because Di was having a Veggie Day.

We got the party about 45 minutes after Piedra's Open Bar started. Not 30 seconds after we arrive did Liza run into a fellow CAT officer from her ICA days (Next Gen Beijinoy, apparently). Birthday Boy Manol was, like the club's music, up and loud. Aside from Beijinoys like Dave, Pyao and Jarvey I also ran into old Ayala, Alabang faces like Piko, CB, Ana G, Izzy and Andy, and w/ each one I met I got a kick out of saying, ", this is my girlfriend, Liza." As she met them all for the first time, I had my first open bar experience w/ my first glass (ever) of R&C (Rum & Coke). Hmm, not bad.

Unfortunately a curfew meant we could only stay a little over an hour. Would've loved to have asked Ana G in person about whether or not she's back w/ex Igo (said, "We're enjoying ourselves for the moment."), or shoot the breeze w/ Andy. At least I got to say Hi to almost everyone I knew. Even Grand, whom I ran into in the men's room. After I introduced Liza to him Grand in turn introduced us to "Patrick," who turned out to be Patrick Garcia. On the ride home Liza said she didn't recognize him, hence the lack of starstruck-ness on her part.

On the other hand if I wasn't in a hurry to drive the ladies home (or just being cowardly) I might've said to Patrick, "Big fan of your work. Loved you in Batang PX."

*Seeing as we're already a couple, I'm giving up this omniscient narrator thing.

Iloilo and Bacolod Baycay (Part 4 of 4)

Day 4 (Oct. 19) Bacolod:

After the all-niter w/ Manols I could barely keep my eyes open on the Weesam boat ride back to Bacolod. Still, it was the power nap I needed. The newlyweds picked me up and dropped me off my hotel, where I slept the rest of the morning and woke up a little after 3 in the afternoon. Not feeling particularly choosy, I walked to the nearby SM Departmart Store and bought-to-go a large thin-crust Classic Beef & Onion Shakey's Pizza for lunch. And as per my practice since I checked in I refilled my 1-liter Starbucks water bottle at the hotel bar's water cooler.

The portable DVD player was a godsend. I managed to catch up on movies (Redbelt; Bigger, Stronger, Faster; War, Inc.; Chicago 10, the first half of The Fall), TV series (Midnight Man; Sharpe's Challenge) and saw some of the local programming. Bel Galindez appears to be Iloilo's answer to Cory Quirino, w/ her own program giving lifestyle and feng shui tips, all while hawking vitamins and suppliments in front of a single camera and little by way of production value.

I joined the newlyweds later in the evening for one last dinner, this time a Japanese buffet (hmm, crab recipes...). Afterward I got to see their newly renovated home, a real "White House." (Insert bad-taste Mayor Sanchez joke here.) They got their own space away from Sen's 'Rents, separated by a garden w/ a waterfall. The space alloted for the library and gym on the second floor was huge, and beneath that lay the home theater room, where-- when done-- they plan to install an OHP and just play HD quality d-loaded flicks. Ah, progress. Too bad I didn't take any pictures.