Crazy crazy Forever 21 sale!

Last 16 October 2010, me, my mom and Andie headed off to SM Megamall to check out the Forever 21 sale. We were supposed to meet up with Sharleen but some changes happened so she was left out.

We arrived at SM Megamall around 11AM. We went straight to Forever 21. My sister kept on saying that she needs to go to St. Francis Square afterward to get some clothes for herself. When we got to the shop... OMG! There are people around... Ladies, women, young girls... grabbing clothes, going through the racks... it was crazy. I have been to 3-day sales and I expected it to be full of people but I haven't seen anything like it. It was chaotic! People were already fitting the clothes right there and then since the line for the fitting rooms was crazy!

We spent a good two hours I guess inside the store. I got myself a new pair of jeans. My mom got herself two pair of pants. My sister.. Hmm... I don't know how many stuff she got. We got my sisterette a really nice romper... a couple of spandex shirts. The sale is worth it if you will be buying sooooooo many stuff since it was 10% off on all regularly priced items but if you went there to buy just an item or two... forget it! I think I save a near 1000 pesos on all the things I got. Not bad!

This is the crazy crazy line for the cashier! Can you see the end of it?

Ahem.. ahem... mama.. enough with the picking.... overbudget already!

see how the line of heads turns... that is almost the end of the line!

----- Honor and excellence ---

This is a long overdue blog entry. I am always at awe with professors and instructors from UP.. either their from Diliman, Los Banos, Mindanao, Visayas, Baguio, or anywhere. I have deep respect with them since teaching is so hard plus the low pay. Last October 5, 2010, Prof. Winnie Monsod conducted her last lecture for her economics class. I did not have any econ subjects back in UP but Prof. Winnie is a famous professor of the university because of her appearances on television. I can only remember entering one of classes during my campaign for the University Student Council position way way way back in 2000.

Her lecture is more on the pride of being a UP student... of being a UP Diliman student. She mentioned about being the cream of crop amongst the thousands who took the UPCAT and of course, she stressed on the importance of giving back to society. I actually cried while watching the video. Prof. Monsod's words hit me hard. I am a passionate student leader and I can say a true Maroon blooded student in my college days. I don't know where that person is now. I guess when you grow older, you somewhat lose the zeal and the open eye to society's needs. Instead the zeal is overshadowed by responsibilities to oneself and to one's family. It might be a selfish thing to think about but some chose to survive and flourish to one's benefits. I am guilty! I originally wanted to teach and give back to the university that I loved but I guess the need to earn more chickened me out! I know my time will come to pay back the taxpayers the paid for my tuition.

As for now, I am just happy that I got married before Prof. Monsod's passing. She will not be pulling my leg during my honeymoon! Hehehehe!!!

Honor and Excellence (Prof. Monsod's last lecture to her class)
- Watch more Funny Videos at Vodpod.

Facebook.. FB... Falaging Bago

One of the reasons why most people connect to the internet nowadays is because of Facebook... simply coined as FB. Filipinos for one are suckers for social networking sites... the former sites were Friendster, MySpace, Multiply..hmmm the list goes on....

But let's focus on FB... for a number of months recently the Admin of Facebook keeps on changing the look of the site also the features. There was the issue of the new look of the layout that many people reacted to. They also added security features for stalkers to be kept at bay.. as if I have stalkers! hahahaha... However, one feature caught my eye today after Michelle aka Mike, posted on her shoutout about it.

Here it is!
For new friend requests, they change the selection "Ignore" with "Not Now." I was puzzled why. Well in the first place, "Ignore" is a harsh word. It has a negative connotation unlike "Not Now." "Not Now" gives one an option to put the request on hold while "Ignore" totally shuts the request out! Hahahaha... Maybe they changed it because I might be able to realized that I want to add the person in the near future!

One way or the other, FB is just like other social networking sites.. trying their best to provide the best to cater to the likes of everyone. They will never know when they will suffer the fate that Friendster had a few years back! hehehehe

septemBER... BEr ber ber months

September 1 marks the start of the Christmas season for Filipinos. BER months start the colder nights and early mornings! It is also the start of the countdown to Christmas day! You can already hear the non-stop playing of Christmas songs on the radio and people singing or humming Christmas carols! It may sound weird but that is how Filipinos are.

I am very much looking forward to this Christmas since it will be our first Christmas as husband and wife. We celebrated the season of giving like a married couple before. We schedule where we need to be on Christmas eve, Christmas day, New Year's Eve and New Year's day. I guess we will be doing it the same for this year. My and my sister are already planning something for New Year's Eve and I am really excited about it.

Also, I am browsing for Christmas gifts. I have made a list of the people I need to give gifts to! Oh gosh... the list still stays the same but the things to give is getting harder! The kids are no longer kids... the older folks might be expecting the same gifts that I give every year! Oh well time to be creative and innovative! Something useful or edible is the preference... Enough with the lotions and other stuff to personal care! Hehehehe

Good luck to me!

Kanin Club --- Paseo de Sta. Rosa

With the bad customer service from Canyon Cove, we hurriedly checked out the next day after eating a very bad tasting breakfast from the hotel's buffet. We headed to Sta. Rosa after getting pasalubong from Tagaytay. We aimed to eat our lunch at Kanin Club to compensate the bad experience that we had from Canyon Cove.

It was a full house at Kanin Club. We have to wait for us to be seated. We took this moment to go around the depot outlets -- Nike, Speedo, United Colors of Benetton... did not have the chance to go around and check out All Flip Flops and Adidas. I found a very good deal for a pair of board shorts at Speedo for less than 1000 pesos... and the Nike shoes is less than 3000 pesos. I told the guys that we need to go back to this place before we head off on our next outing to Boracay on November.... hehehehe!

When we got seated inside the restaurant, we ordered all the food we wanted and bottomless iced tea to quench our thirst and get rid of the hot sweats! We ate till our hearts and stomachs content. The cripy dinuguan was a winner. Crunchy crunchy crunchy.. the fish was good and spicy... I don't know.. I have this thing for spicy food nowadays! It was food heaven.

more than 2 months married!

Yebah.. Kanin Club!

Halo halo turon!

Matt thinking if he will eat the remaining piece!

To cap off the day, we tried the halo halo turon ala mode... It was really halo halo since it had the beans, macapuno, ube and banana plus langka and of course, the ice cream that topped it all. We have to share dessert since we have no more room in our stomachs. LOL! The trip to Kanin Club made our outing worth it aside from sharing the weekend with good friends!

Canyon Cover -- never again unless....

After having the very nice brunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan and after asking directions, we headed off to Canyon Cove. The place looks promising expect for the unfinished constructions of the condominium buildings near the entrance. We had a blast playing with the guard as Matt talked to him in English with a southern accent... We tested if we will be able to enter the premises smoothly... and we did.. no questions asked! Hahahaha....

We parked the car and went to the lobby. The attendants did not bother to check our bags. I was actually hoping that they don't because I have some bags of chips stashed in our bag. I have read from reviews that they are strict with bringing in food in the hotel. At the counter, Butch, Gerie and Matt checked on our reservations and settled the bill. My gawd... it was soooo hot in the lobby... they are currently renovating that section of the hotel and no airconditioning. We requested if we can check in earlier but the lady at the counter informed us that the rooms are still occupied but in a matter of minutes they said that we can check in already... Hmmmm.. weird. We were happy that we can check in since I am really itching to take a shower! I have the same clothes from the night before!

We got to our rooms... no one assisted or even showed us where the freaking rooms were at. Inside the room, there is nothing exciting about it.. No umppphhh factor. The rooms from Pearl Garden Hotel are way better that the one at Canyon Cove and they charged twice the price! The floor felt dusty... even the bathroom floor was dusty... The airconditioning in the room was bad as well. Good thing, I have my trusty Coffee Bean Swirl card so we can leave it in the card slot to kept the airconditioning open even we were outside the room.

After my much needed shower, we went out to explore the hotel grounds... the pool was nice... there was a restaurant... the beach was ok but not as clear as we expected it to be. We decided to take our naps first before swimming... I was really hoping to take a swim at the beach but Christian was really tired from our night shifts so I gave in to his request to sleep. Boohoo...

We decided to meet up at 4pm to get at least 2 hours of rest... I was so excited that I have to wake up Christian... I was jumping on the bed (poor bed!).... Telling him to hurry up. Even though it was pouring outside.. I told him we have to hit the pool... I don't want to waste time! Hahahaha... We gathered in one of the cabanas and of course, Butch ordered food to eat. The set meal was expensive... 375 pesos! We tried it though thinking that it will be worth it. Then came the food... it looked like food from the local canteen! Gosh ... not worthy of 375 pesos! It was bland... the rice was hard... and the serving is really small... Not worth it! I just enjoyed my swim.

busy checking in...

the hot lobby

posing for pictures as they fix the bill hehehehe...


more picture taking...

view of the beach from the balcony

the hotel.. see the renovations going on the top floor

strolling around!

The place is going to waste with bad customer service. I have read so many bad reviews about it and I thought that they learned from it. We were joking during our whole stay that we need to present a proposal for customer service training of their staff. The location is nice and people are getting turned off by the bad bad customer service.

Fastfood alternative in Nasugbu, Batangas - Kainan sa Dalampasigan

06.26.2010 - Nasugbu, Batangas... We went on a trip to Canyon Cove with our usual out of town buddies --- my UP Solair (School of Labor and Industrial Relations) friends... a.k.a. Ninong Butch, Ninang Gerie, her husband Red and Matt. We have been sharing this tradition of going out of town every year and 2010 will be the 4th year of this tradition. We were planned to go to Coron, Palawan but due to our conflicting schedules and restricted budget it never pushed through. It is good that we had time to go to Batangas... just to keep our tradition alive!

On our way to Canyon Cove, we came across the signage of this restaurant -- "Kainan sa Dalampasigan" in English ... Eatery by the Sea... My friend said that he heard good reviews about this place. So off we went to look for it. When we got to the place, it was stunning... very different. I was expecting somewhat like a nipa hut setting by the beach but there is no beach just vines and fountain.

When we got inside it was really really cool... An open restaurant that can accommodate more than a hundred people, high ceiling with rustic fans and lights, lush greens around and a man-made waterfalls to boast. The place is really something different. Something that is not fastfood! Hahahaha...

Really long table with benches... i love love this style of dining.. very homey feel..

cool antique lights and ceiling fan

the long patio of the restaurant

man made waterfalls... love the song of flowing water

Xtian feeling sleepy.. he ate a big breakfast at Mcdonald's before the trip..
not looking forward to the food here i guess.

the lady's washroom... very eerie ... LOL!

plain menu card

reasonably priced food selection

Bilao sa Dalampasigan -- full of fried pork belly, mango & tomato with bagoong,
baked mussels, buttered shrimps

me & ninang gerie... hehehe.. ninang talaga!

the place has been given good reviews on different magazines...
this one is for the architectural whatever... hehehehe

Overall, the place is really something that is worth to visit in the area. A very good alternative to the fastfood joints along the highway. The service is fast and the food is a good value for your money. The only problem that we have is that the mosquitoes that kept on biting us as we enjoy our brunch.