Phew!
Maybe it is a sign of some sort that when I turned a year older, I got my tummy rocked with painful spasms, I nursed a cold which progressed into a wheezing cough and I endured terrible monthly cramps - all within the span of a few weeks, one after the other. Eeeps!
A sign of what?
I have no idea!

But I don't recommend it to anyone.
The only good thing is I lost some weight.
But I'm sure I would put it all back on, the weight I mean once I get my hands on some sinful delicacies I have been craving for with fervor.
I want nachos, chocolate ice cream, go-nuts and strangely, a bowl of piping hot clam chowder.
Yes it's official I'm back to normal.
All I can think about is food, food and more food.
Yay! =)

Meme time
First, it was painful tummy spasms now I have a nasty cold. Eeeps! So I'm all medicated, feeling drowsy yet I'm in the mood to answer a meme which I copied from their blogs =)

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
"calling. But inevitably they opened up - as they had not opened up to" - Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley with Ron Powers. A book which I finally finished reading. It would forever haunt my mind with very graphic descriptions of the brutal atrocities which the Japanese military inflicted upon the American soldiers who invaded Sulfur Island aka Iwo Jima.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Ok, now what?

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Survivor: Cook Islands live telecast on Studio 23. It was just a silly recap of scenes not aired from previous episodes. Yawn!

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
3:30 p.m.

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
3:40 p.m.

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My sister typing away on her laptop.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Yesterday to buy cough medicine.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
The mirror.

9. What are you wearing?
A blue batik inspired sun dress I bought in Boracay.

10. Did you dream last night?
No

11. When did you last laugh?
Earlier when I called my mother on the phone.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A charcoal portrait of me and a round wall clock from Istanbul, Turkey.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
No but I read an email from my best friend who told me about this really weird Japanese film he watched at the ongoing Tokyo International Film Festival.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
It is fun.

15. What is the last film you saw?
The Guardian.

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Plane tickets so I can travel all over the world.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
I haven't read a single Harry Potter book nor do I intend to start. Not really my genre of reading material.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Educate every single child on earth.

19. Do you like to dance?
Not really.

20. George Bush
The name of 2 U.S. Presidents.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Daniella Marie.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Carlo.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes, why not?

24. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
What took you so long to get here?

Incredible!

We got our Meralco bill today. It amounts to a staggering P4,890.75!
You would think that with 6 days of total darkness due to typhoon Milenyo, they would offer some rebate/discount. But no siree, the high and mighty Manila Electric Company might go bankrupt if the consumers pay half the due amount for such a lousy service. Hmmm I guess I have to take into consideration, it is a lot less than what I paid last month - a whooping P6.092.85!!! Bills, bills and more bills. Such a bane on our existence.

Ugh!

"Is it moving?"

That is the question my sister and I would keep asking each other ever since those series of earthquakes rocked Central Philippines. Sometimes it feels like I was having a dizzy spell because I swear the floor seems to sway. Since I live on the 12th floor I have become really paranoid from any kind of movement. Even a door banging in the corridors makes me cringe for fear that the whole apartment would start shaking again. As I write this post, I feel some sort of swaying sensation beneath my feet. It is nerve wracking, really. My fertile imagination has developed this (conspiracy) theory that North Korea is to blame for this natural disaster. When they decided to test their nuclear bomb off the coast of Japan or wherever it was, our planet Earth got misaligned. The ripples from that bomb blast sent radioactive waves of electromagnetic energy across the very core of the earth and pulled its axis off the course, permanently.
Ergo, we are now experiencing these scary tremors.



So although I love this view of the Ortigas area, a picture I took from the Linden Suites room (the 16th floor) we stayed in during the dark days of super typhoon Milenyo, I would probably freak out every time the earth shook.

A subtle tinge of melancholy
Ok so I turned 38, yesterday.

It had to be one of the most if not the most subdued I have ever been on my birthday. I have to admit I wasn't exactly looking forward to celebrating the fact that I only have 2 more years to go before hitting the big 4-0. So I didn't make any plans whatsoever. Factor in the fact that I have been battling severe stomach cramps due to a stomach flu and/or food poisoning or maybe a combination of both, I ain't sure. All I know is I would experience sharp bouts of spasms in my tummy that would make me bow in pain. That is not exactly how I would like to usher in my 38th year but so be it.

My family though won't let me wallow in self pity so they dragged me out of bed. They treated me to a sumptuous seafood feast at "Fish & Co" for lunch. Then we watched "World Trade Center" at the Shang Cineplex.

A little trivia about my birthday. It is imperative that I watch a Nicholas Cage movie on October 19. I recall with fondness watching "Windtalkers", "Matchstick Men" and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" during my previous birthdays. I guess this is some tradition I need to uphold now every year. Granted, of course that there is a Nic Cage film showing on October 19.
For dinner, we had Japanese fare at "YAKU" at The Podium.

So you see even if I was in pain I still managed to stuff myself up pretty good. Thanks in part to the ever reliable "Imodium" and also my strong will power not to let belly spasms ruin my birthday.

In conclusion I would like to say:

to all those who greeted me on my birthday.

Even though I realized something - a rather harsh fact of life. Something I just shrug off with a nonchalance which betrays my good natured personality - the older I get, the less I hear from people who I thought were going to be my friends for life.

Ugh.

Sorry for the rant, blame it on the bitter pill I just swallowed.

Peace out.

Hear ye, hear ye! =)

Bedside reading
The Spanish Film Festival has ended its run for this year. I saw a total of 9 films. It was a great experience!

Now I have a 'mission' - to finish reading this book before next month. I bought it for only P30.00 last year during the National Book Store warehouse sale. The author, James Bradley is the son of one of the 6 flag raisers immortalized in that famous photograph taken at Iwo Jima. He has a very descriptive way of writing and is very detail oriented. It is a well researched book. He painstakingly traces the lives of the 6 flagraisers during the Depression era to the time they are drafted into the Marine Corps. This eventually leads to that important moment in history when they raised the American flag on a tiny island called Iwo Jima . From the few pages I have read so far the book is quite engrossing.

The movie adapted from the book is directed by Clint Eastwood, stars a solid cast of young actors and it is produced by Steven Speilberg. It is scheduled to open in theaters here in the Philippines, sometime next month. I am looking forward to it but I do want to finish reading the book first, all 356 pages of it.

Now kindly excuse me as I bury my nose within its pages.

In case you're wondering ...

No, I haven't gone on a blogging hiatus.

I have just been pleasantly distracted by the art of Cinema.

I managed to see 2 German films last week at the Shang Cineplex.

So far I've watched 4 Spanish movies from Pelikula: 2006.

I got a few more I want to check out this week.

I might as well bring a sleeping bag to camp out at the Greenbelt cinemas.

A bientot! =)

Foreign Films Fest Galore (yet again)
Ok so I'm back home. Nice and cozy in my little nook. We now have electricity but no cable TV. The phone lines are working so I can access the Internet albeit it is back to my dial up connection but hey I ain't complaining.

The 3 days, 2 nights stay at the Linden Suites was a major relief. We had cable TV, broadband Internet connection, a bathtub with hot water for our showers, a Jacuzzi (on the 9th floor) and a microwave oven for those butter popcorn I've craved for the longest time.

Now it's back to the nitty gritty grind of my routinary life. What better way to feel normal again than to indulge in my biggest passion - movies.
This week 2 major film festivals commence.

• Pelicula 2006 - the 5th Festival of Spanish and Latin American Films. October 3 to October 15, 2006.
  Cinema 1 Greenbelt 3. Ticket prices are only P50.00!
  Click here for the schedule of films to be shown.
  
• The German Film Festival October 04 to October 08, 2006.
  Shangri-la Cineplex. Ticket prices are only P50.00.
  Click here for the film sked.

See you at the movies! =)

Celebrate good times, come on!

Today my sister dearest celebrated her birthday. My baby sister. My only sibling. The taller one.
The more mature, more responsible and more sane than silly old petite ME.

This is the picture of her birthday cake. The one that Linden Suites gave her. The yummy Sans Rival textured cake that melts in your mouth. The one with a lone candle which she had to blow out in front of people who were having breakfast this morning at the coffee shop. She tried to keep a straight face although deep inside I know she hated it. She doesn't like to draw attention. She thinks it is really cheesy and embarrassing when the waiters in the restaurant show up with a cake to greet someone on their birthdays. I had to control myself from bursting from laughter from the cringed look on her face when she heard them singing "Happy Birthday" as they approached our table. The cake that I am now currently bingeing on (this is my 3rd helping, yes I'm a glutton) as I write this post using the broadband Internet connection in this hotel room.

Happy Birthday lil one.
I swear I had no idea they were going to do that to you, this morning.
I sincerely hope you won't take revenge on me on the 19th when I turn a year older.
If you do, I would absolutely disown you, for sure.
Heh, just kidding!
You know I love you and I always will. =)

Enough is enough!
After suffering 4 days and 3 nights of darkness, heat and mental strain, my sister and I have had enough. So here we are with parents in tow, nicely ensconced in the Linden Suites for 2 nights. We checked in today, Sunday at around 3:30 pm. Our parents aren't that young anymore and I wasn't sure they nor I could take another night sleeping in the dark with mosquitoes buzzing in our ears, sweating like pigs in our cramped little space.

Besides tomorrow is my sister dearest's birthday and I didn't want her to welcome her 3X year in such deplorable conditions. We still don't have electricity in our place but we do have constant supply of water. The elevators work every other hour, the place is pitch dark and our 12th floor unit feels like a sauna. Without TV, the Internet or even something like a hair dryer, it was really like living in the Dark Ages.

So yes I intend to fully enjoy myself, get enough sleep, soak in the aircon and more importantly I can check my emails, blog hop and just feel 'normal' yet again.

Anyways this post doesn't really seem coherent, I'm tired beyond comprehension.