Written last February 12
Whew! This day has been one of my busiest days this year. I finally got out of the house and ran my errands like a mad(wo)man. For the past weeks, I’ve been busy only because of work. Nothing gratifying in turning over an old job that has been dead to me the day I decided to resign and in hunting for a new job in a country where they prefer H1B-vers. But today. Ah. Today was purely about me preparing for a new life that does not require slacks, blouses and stiletto heels to function. Today I wore jeans, sneakers and a sports shirt, got off my Interneting-Diner-Dashing-dvd-marathoning ass and spent a day like the busy but happy bee that I should be. While it has been tiring, I feel really good about myself. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.
9:00 am – Woke up a couple of hours earlier than usual. Had breakfast of leftover Christmas ham and Four Seasons juice. I downed a cup of coffee while moping over the fact that I’m going to miss my Wheel of Fortune-Jeopardy-Entertainment Tonight-Insider routine
10:00 am – Drove my sister to work over in Sucat. We battled pranela selling boys along the way. (K: I see them every day. Do they really think I need a fresh 10-piece set of pranela each time? M: Well maybe they think you wipe your ass with it). Yup, we’re no Maria Claras. 11ish – went to the office to drop off docs, pick up checks and withdraw money.
The office ATM for me is the safest ATM here in Makati
11:30 am – went to the bank to deposit checks pay bills, etc. Adult banking stuff. Then headed back to the office to print some docs and check email. I also finally surrendered my ID to HR.
1:00 pm– went to the travel agent to get my e-ticket. March 8’s the date! Can’t wait! (ok the rhyming thing is just lame). I encountered a couple there planning to tour Europe. They’re flying first class, up in the sky... the flossy flossy. They’re prolly loaded! 2:00 – had late lunch at the McDonald’s across the street. They had milkshake! And I pondered a little on whether I should spend 40 precious bucks on a stupid milkshake or on an even more stupid parking space. Decided that the milkshake is luxury. Parking space necessity. Chow Chow.
3:00-4:30 pm head office of an account I have handled for a long time. I gave them some documents and bid them goodbye. Some of the assistants where teary-eyed because according to them they have seen me grow up and transform in my 4 years as their account manager. Most probably from Overeager Trainee to Stoic Employee. Or from thin to chubby to thin to chubby.
5ish - I went to SM to pay for some bills I couldn’t pay at BPI. The BDO bank branch is open until 7. I learned that from the TVC. Then I went around the mall waiting for my sister’s text on whether I will pick her up or we’ll meet somewhere in the area. I also did a bit of window shopping and drooled over chocolates in their Happy Valentine’s Day section.
Around 7ish - I just got here. Bluewave. After looking for free but safe parking, I am now seated here in Starbucks. And this is where I’m writing this entry from. I wish I had my laptop so I could type this straight but no, I’m writing on my journal with my pencil which I keep sharpening from time to time with my handy dandy Faber Castell. I just realized how odd the crowd here is. To my left, we have the young magic-card trading boys pretending to be old and to my right we have an old Japanese man clad in shorts, K-Swiss high tops, gigantic blings and lady bug sunglasses, obviously pretending to be young. They both gave me disgusting flirtatious smiles.
And I just gave them both my best “Go find someone your age” look. For the boy it means “I am old enough to be your mother had I been a slutty/ curious 13-year old.” For the man it means “I am young enough to be your daughter had you been here in Manila 27 years ago.” They both left already. Thank God. But they have been replaced with a bunch of tambays drinking C2’s. I know it’s a free country but at least, out of courtesy to Starbucks, at least buy one short cappuccino. And oh my God, someone even took out a ceramic Mitsubishi mug and he’s pouring C2 into it. I’m not acting obnoxious here. I’m a bum with about 300 bucks in my wallet and no idea where I’ll get spending money once I use up all my savings. The only luxury I have spent on myself so far is my P 150 worth of arts and crafts supplies (pointless stuff, hence luxury), this white chocolate mocha frappuccino (which I charged on my credit card), a gray cotton hoodie (from SM teen brand Redhead), and a P20 bottle of Nail Polish (purchased out of the points I got from my SM Advantage Card yey!). I am not better than them or anyone else. But I’m not hanging out at places I can’t afford for the ambience or the image. I wish they’d get some common sense and transfer to the equally metal and uncomfortable tables in the courtyard where they can have all the C2’s they want and gab about their Valentine plans all night long. Oh yah. It’s Vday. But today is also an important day. It’s Abe Lincoln’s birthday. He was born today four scores and seven years ago. Haha.
Here’s to you Abe-bay-bay.
So here I am using up my journal on what started out as a post about my day but turned out to be a post about other people. My sister’s taking so long. I just drafted wedding plans. Prolly my fourth draft. It’s so hard to decide on themes. I feel like the theme I want is too modern for my family. People say I shouldn’t care since it’s my wedding. But they’re my guests, and like a hostess with the mostest, I care about whether they’ll enjoy or not. Vegas is beginning to sound like a fun plan more and more by the minute. Not to mention inexpensive.
I’m in my poorest state at the moment and having a grand wedding when you can only afford a Vegas wedding is like drinking C2 at Starbucks. Ok it’s not the perfect metaphor but get my drift. Thank God my future hubby will not let that happen :P He wants a nice wedding. He’s been dreaming about it since….well since he was a little girl :P
Despite my current major tipid mode, I’m still happy. Because now I value money more than ever. And I value what’s necessary. And I find happiness in the simplest things (like free nail polish). It’s been a good day. For errands. For wedding plans. For coffee. For America’s independence. And for realizations over 4 pages of my journal. I’m happy with who I am and where I am now. I hope this year will see my Multiply filled with entries like this. I hope my life will be filled with feelings like this. Right now for me, life is good and I know it’s going to get even better.
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