Beware: Scrooge Alert!

Amidst everything that has been going on these past few months - running around watching foreign movies at several film festivals, getting sick with stomach flu, a nasty cold and the complete repainting of my loft - I totally forgot that Christmas is just around the corner. Geez! It only occurred to me last night after Mel Tiangco and Mike Enriquez announced that there are only 27 days to go before Christmas.

Well not that it matters because I am not really a Christmas-y person. I don't go shopping for gifts, I don't have Yuletide parties to attend nor grand family reunions to gate crash. I am still a bit hesitant to put up the few Christmas trinkets in this place because it might scratch the newly painted surface. Besides with all the mess still laying around, I'm not exactly sure where the box marked "Decors" is. Therefore my only task would be to buy some food items, hear midnight Mass on Christmas eve, head off to my parents place, send SMS greetings to my friends/relatives, have Noche Buena then I would probably just sleep the whole day. Boring, no?

But I live in a nation where malls are adorned with Christmas decors as early as September, where you hear Christmas carols on the radio in October, where family reunions are prevalent, where malls are crowded with the presence of visiting balikbayans and OFWs, where the streets leading to the malls are obstructed with horrendous traffic jams - all in the spirit of celebrating a season that sadly is now equated with materialistic extravaganza and wasteful indulgences.

So yes I feel like AM a Scrooge but what the heck?

I can't change the way I am, can I? :D

A plethora of hues
They (the painters) said 5 days. Phew what a hectic 5 days it was.

4 painters + me and sis all cramped in such a tiny space. Mostly just me during the day while sis gallivanted around town to work. I'm pretty impressed they got the job done within the negotiated time frame.
Never mind that the whole place is a big heap of scattered mess.
Never mind that I am tired beyond exhaustion from moving furniture from one room to the other room, from downstairs to the upper floor. Never mind if I almost fainted from the stifling heat.
What on earth is wrong with this freaking weather? It is already November but you would think we were right in the smack of a balmy summer day. Ugh. I hate it with a passion.
Anyways, everything that needed to be painted was painted.
Fortunately, the paints we bought were odor free so no toxic fumes at all. It would probably take a few more days to get everything sorted out. Arranged back into the messy organized chaos which I seem to strive in. It is a special talent, you know. The technique of organized mess. I may not know what is hidden under a pile of papers but I know where to find the basic essentials, when needed. So there!

Well here are a few pictures I took of the new 'cotton candy' look. Kindly excuse the poor quality, I was using my cellphone and took them while trapped precariously between heavy furniture. I also made sure to snap from an angle where the 'kalat' (the mess) won't be visible. I just wanted to showcase the different hues which I am slowly training my eyes to get used to after living in a place where cream and off white reigned for the past 5 years. I'm loving it!

This is the staircase taken from the corridor facing my room.
Dominant colors are orange sherbet and chocolate brown for the railings.

This is the medicine cabinet in the upper floor bathroom.
Shade is named Sparkling blue.

This is the window situated on the second floor - the one located above the main living room area with its high ceiling.
It is a loft after all so those windows are actually only for aesthetic purposes. We cannot even open them unless we get a high ladder to climb on top. Orange sherbet coated walls is the dominant hue in our place right now.

This is the aircon in my bedroom.
The walls are a soothing light shade of blue named Peace River.

United Colors of Paint
Tomorrow we are having our loft re-painted. Yes, after postponing it for the longest time, we finally decided to splurge just go for it. Little did we know that it would be so difficult choosing the appropriate colors. We (my sister and I) spent almost an hour deliberating color schemes at Ace Hardware, the other day. We already had some basic hues in mind but once we got hold of the color swatches, we were overwhelmed by the wide variety of colors available.
Our final choices are Orange Sherbet for the living room, kitchen, the railing of the staircase + the second floor hallway area (my sister's office) with Claypot for the border base and the cabinets. Upstairs in my room, I went for two shades of blue. A light aquamarine shade aptly named Peace River for the walls and Sparkling Blue for the closets. My sister's room will be reddish orange (Mango Tango) with a tinge of a shade which reminds me of vanilla ice cream for the closet. The painters said it would take only 5 days to finish everything BUT I have my doubts. Of course, I am already pretty excited about the final outcome but I don't really relish the fact that I will be out of my comfort zone for a few days.

Now excuse me as I need to clear up A LOT of clutter, sort them into boxes then cover the furniture with blankets.

Hasta la bye bye for now. =)

Not again!
Yesterday, I craved for something sweet so I went to a branch of Go Nuts donuts to get my sugar rush. A box of 3 Choco Nut Sprinkle Zigzag (yummy!) then she asks for my name so I can claim it from the counter.
As some of the readers of this blog know, I've stopped using DAPHNE because they keep getting it wrong. It vexes me to high heavens when they would spell it as Dafne, Defni and once someone actually wrote Delfin. Well duh?!
I started using the name Sara just for the heck of it until my best friend named his now 8 month old baby daughter Sara so I totally lost interest in the name. Why? It's a long story. Forget it, I won't elaborate.

So there I was standing at the cashier, she asked me again for my name because I had this blank look on my face. I blurted out LAURA. Fair enough. That's my second name I might as well make good use of it, right? 5 minutes later, I get my diabetes inducing snack and upon checking the receipt. Guess what? My name was printed out as L-O-R-A.

Geez they still got my name, wrong.

Arghh!

So let's see
I've been running from one mall (Greenbelt) to the other mall (Shangri-la Plaza) reading subtitles to get a sense of different cultures from all these foreign movies. Sadly, there are a lot of empty seats at the Greenbelt Cinema for the CineManila screenings because a movie ticket costs 100 Pesos. While over at the Shang Cineplex, I line up way in advance to watch those European films for free. Some people do not seem to understand the word "Reserved" even when it is pasted boldly on a seat. They would persist so all the usher does is to tell them to vacate the seat. Therefore totally distracting me from reading the subtitles.
It seems the Filipino audience while viewing a foreign movie:

• like to talk out loud to the screen
• laugh at imperfections like someone stuttering or someone being overweight
• gasp collectively at a nude scene
• use expressions like "hala" and "ayan kasi" to express disbelief
• are easily shocked during a dark scene and scream

The most fun part for me though is hearing their comments while I'm waiting in line (yes, another line!) to use the restroom after the movie is over. They totally crack me up to no end. But yes I am still in my elements even if I seem to have pulled a pinched nerve in my right leg so I limp around town, this coming week I will still be camping out at the movie theaters. =)

Pleasant distractions
CineManila officially starts today. It will run from November 3 - 15, 2006. Its main focus are the locally developed digital films thus giving our local film industry a much needed boost. There are also a few foreign films included in the festival which will be screened at Greenbelt 1, Cinema 2. This would be my main hang out because I admit I'm not into local films so bite me :D For more details check out their website.

Next week, the Shang Cineplex heralds Cine Europa with a variety of European movies to be shown free of charge. The films are:
Austria "Karo und der Liebe Gott"
Belgium "Everybody Famous"
Belgium "When The Sea Rises"
Czech Republic "Zelary"
Finland "One way ticket to Mombasa"
France "Russian Dolls"
Germany "Das Wunder Von Bern"
The Netherlands "Simon"
Portugal "The Dauphin"
Spain "Cosas que hacen que la vida valga la pena"
Sweden "Klassfesten" (The Reunion)
United Kingdom "Breakfast on Pluto"

Screening Time Schedule:

November 9, 2006 (Thursday)
7:00 PM (Cinema 1) Karo and the Lord(AT)
7:00 PM (Cinema 3) One way ticket to Mombasa(FI)

November 10, 2006 (Friday)
1:50 PM Karo and the Lord(AT)
3:50 PM Everybody Famous (Manila Only)(BE1)
6:30 PM One way ticket to Mombasa(FI)
9:00 PM Simon (NL)

November 11, 2006 (Saturday)
2:40 PM The Russian Dolls (FR)
4:40 PM The Miracle of Bern (DE)
6:40 PM The Dauphin (PT)
9:00 PM Breakfast on Pluto (UK)

November 12, 2006 (Sunday)
1:50 PM When The Sea Rises (BE 2)
4:50 PM Zelary (CZ)
6:50 PM Simon (NL)
9:00 PM Things That Make Life Worth Living (ES)

November 13, 2006 (Monday)
1:30 PM The Reunion (SE)
3:50 PM Karo and the Lord(AT)
6:20 PM Everybody Famous (Manila Only) (BE1)
9:00 PM One Way Ticket to Mombasa (FI)

November 14, 2006 (Tuesday)

2:00 PM The Russian Dolls (FR)
4:45 PM The Miracle of Bern (DE)
7:00 PM The Dauphin (PT)
9:00 PM When The Sea Rises (BE 2)

November 15, 2006 (Wednesday)
1:50 PM Zelary (CZ)
3:50 PM Simon (NL)
6:50 PM The Reunion (SE)
9:00 PM Things That Make Life Worth Living (ES)

November 16, 2006 (Thursday)
2:10 PM Karo and the Lord(AT)
4:40 PM Everybody Famous (Manila Only)(BE1)
7:00 PM One Way Ticket to Mombasa(FI)
9:00 PM The Russian Dolls (FR)

November 17, 2006 (Friday)
2:00 PM The Miracle of Bern (DE)
4:15 PM The Dauphin (PT)
7:00 PM When The Sea Rises (BE 2)
9:00 PM Zelary (CZ)

November 18, 2006 (Saturday)
1:40 PM Simon (NL)
3:50 PM The Reunion (SE)
6:00 PM Things That Make Life Worth Living (ES)
9:00 PM Karo and the Lord (AT)

November 19, 2006 (Sunday)
1:50 PM One Way Ticket to Mombasa (FI)
4:50 PM The Russian Dolls (FR)
6:50 PM The Miracle of Bern (GR)
9:00 PM The Dauphin (PT)


So if you pass by my blog and notice I haven't posted any entries, you know why. I will be camped out (yet again) at the cinema theaters. =)

Undas 2006

I have always been traditionalistic. I have grown accustomed to performing certain rituals and traditions during specific days of the year. For example - Visita Iglesia on Maundy Thursdays (visiting 7 churches during Holy Week), Hearing Mass on Easter Sundays, Christmas Eves and on New Year's Day.
So today being All Saints Day or is it All Souls Day (I get them confused), it is imperative we pay homage to our dearly departed relatives. From the manicured lawns of the Loyola Memorial Park in Sucat, Paranaque with a lunch break at Max's Restaurant for its finger licking good chicken, we crossed over to the quaint and cozy 'apartment' style cemetery in the San Juan area. We ended the day by delving deep into the bowels of the teeming sea of humanity in one of the crowded public cemeteries in Mandaluyong - that was our itinerary today. Fortunately, we don't stay too long in these places, we just lit our candles, deposit our flowers, pray the rosary then hie off to the next stop. No nosy relatives to run into, no camping with tents and umbrellas together with pots and pans of food (something I've never liked - picnics) so it was relatively painless.

Except of course for the blazing heat, the dehydration and the varicose veins I developed standing for hours but it is a small price to pay for remembering people who have filled our lives with fond memories to last us an entire lifetime. =)