The downside of eBay

Today, I discovered that I'm an absolutely ace in eBay. I am still trying to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I have valiantly won all three auctions I participated in, outsmarting other bidders. Ah, the rush! This resulted in the acquisition of 2 bags and 1 knife set all in one day. Aaargh. That's it. No more.

It's 2008!

How did you ring in the new year? We had a poker night with several friends and waited for the London fireworks broadcast. Ang ganda! I think, it's the best display I have ever seen.You can watch it in full length below. This is exactly what we were watching early this morning. Look out for the snazzy raincoats of the men in the boat.



Some pics of the poker night. Naturally, I was one of the first to go (after getting a loan from the dealer at that!). Jack's papaitan was a hit and the Gorillapod rose to the occasion, allowing us to take a picture of the entire group.




Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas 2007

This year's Christmas celebration has been relaxed and easygoing. We went to midnight mass at All Saints and had Noche Buena with the Basilios, a young Filipino family we recently met. Christmas Day itself started with a good ole lie-in and opening of pressies. I got a new digicam (yay!) which is perfect for times when I just want to take a few quick snaps and not really need the SLR. The photo on the right is me attempting to do a stylized photo and failing. LOL. P got a Wii, which entailed the rearranging of our living room furniture. It was a good thing though, because playing on it made me break sweat! Could this be the gym of the future?? I included a clip of Jack channeling Muhammad Ali.


This horsing around was followed by lunch, this time at the Basilios apartment which is just a few minutes away from our place. The rest of the day was spent eating, chatting and more eating!

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Boxing Day, I resisted the strong urge to be one with the shopping crowd and take advantage of the numerous sales going on. Instead, we opted for an after-lunch walk in Burnham Beeches, a natural reserve in Slough. It was named as such because of the Beech trees found in the reserve. The air was crisp and fresh, perfect for walking off that crispy pata.

Our First Tree!

Little Christmas tree, no one to buy you
Give yourself to me
You're worth your weight in precious gold you see
My little Christmas tree
- Nat King Cole

Here's a picture of our Christmas tree. It was on sale at ASDA and I felt the flat could do with a bit of festive color. Needles dropping all over is driving me crazy but nothing the vacuum can't handle..

A Perfect Day-Out

After learning from the news that some West End tickets are being sold for a bargain, I went on to browse the internet and successfully secured two tickets for a tenner. We're going to the circus! P always had a fascination of Cirque du Soleil and luckily, there's a show by a troupe of ex-Cirque members currently playing in London. As opposed to Cirque's elaborate performances, Loft by the 7 Fingers is set in a flat with the artists doing stunts in their underwear. You can't get more 'anti-Cirque' than that.

We knew we're in for a good time when we entered the theatre from a refrigerator that was a part of the set! Highly unusual... Watching circus up-close, to watch muscles twitch and catch hand signals before somersaults, in such an intimate setting as the Roundhouse Theatre, is breathtaking. I would've been planning on training for the circus if I was a bit younger. :)

After the show, I managed to convince P to pay Foyles, the bookshop, a visit. It's a famous London bookshop located near Tottenham Court Road station and apparently, a booklover's dream. He originally did not want to buy anything because Amazon still proves to offer a better deal but the temptation was too much. The place had corners and turns you can lose yourself in, not to mention an impressive catalog. So he and I ended up buying some titles.

A feast for the eyes, then some food for the brain, we now seriously needed some 'propah nosh'. In comes Whole Foods, who recently opened a 3 level store in High St. Kensington. This time around, I was the one who felt a bit iffy because Whole Foods has a reputation of being expensive. But, my God, wow! The cheeses, the bread... yummy! We had a very good meal in the large food hall and capped it with a shared scoop of Italian gelato. I even bought into the all-natural thing and purchased some supplements that I hope will help with my skin problems. It wasn't cheap but the food tasted very good.

All in all, a very good day.

The President in London

Jack and I had the opportunity to attend an investors' forum presented by Mrs. Arroyo and a delegation of foreign and local businessmen and government officials. It was refreshing to spend an afternoon hearing nice things about the Philippines for a change. GMA seemed tough and passionate about the Philippines, which is good. However, she also looked tired and a tad humorless. Tsk, mahirap siguro talagang maging presidente ng Pilipinas.

The plans till 2010 look impressive, though. There's the new expressway from Pampanga to La Union, the additional MRT lines from Cavite to Monumento and the reopening of the railway to the north and south of Metro Manila. A multinational even braved the stormy part of Bicol and established a call center in Camarines Sur. Oragon!

Driving Ms. Charina

At last! Ten or so years after getting my driving license in Manila, I finally bought my first ever car here in the UK. Yey! Getting my license in this country has been a journey in itself but it's now done and the road awaits.