My SM Fairview Day

Philippine Vacation: Day 9
Philippine Time: 8.37AM

"It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up" ~J.K. Rowling

I wasn't aware that I had already spent nine days in the Philippines. Time flew --- even faster than Superman's speed! I was tracing my footsteps and became aware that I hadn't really been to the malls that much since the day I arrived (weird!). My first plan while I was still in Sweden was to rush to the malls and shop. That had never been my priority for the past days. My mom and brothers even wondered why I wasn't "mall hungry" anymore. I could not find the exact words for my reply. However, I must say that the past nine days had been awesome. Spending enough time with my family was enough to make my every day complete.

The only time I went out to visit the nearest mall was last Saturday. I wasn't really up to it but my mom needed to do the groceries so why not? I spent a few hours at SM Fairview with my mom and younger brother, Mark. It was a 45-minute drive from the apartment my mom's renting in Bulacan. The first thing that caught my eye was this:Free wi-fi for everyone! I wasn't aware of this. The last time I had my vacation (July 2009), only a few selected private spots (usually coffee shops) inside the malls were offering wi-fi to their customers. This was a smart move actually. Malls would certainly attract more customers because of this.

Anyway, I went shoe shopping at the SM Department Store and purchased a pair which only cost me Php725. Not bad!I was hoping to shop for a dress but ended up saving the dress hunt for next time.

We did the groceries (oh how I miss Philippine grocery items!) and stopped by at Pizza Hut. After having our stomachs filled, we decided to head home. I was already tired and my legs were starting to feel heavy. However, on our way out, we spotted a military personnel with a dog on his side. I tried to ignore the "huge black thing" at first but couldn't resist the temptation. I approached the guy and asked for permission to play with his K-9 partner for awhile (I really love dogs!). He was nice and granted me the permission at once.
We were home at around 9PM. I had fun!

Take Me To Long Beach!

My brothers and I had engaged ourselves in a Big Bang Theory marathon the whole night today. We managed to watch all the episodes of season one. Laughter was all over the apartment. It was a sure great way to spend most hours of the day with them.

In one of the episodes, Long Beach had been mentioned many times. I got my attention fastened to Long Beach for awhile there. I Googled it just minutes ago to see if it had to be added on my travel wish list.

Long Beach, the 36th largest city in the US is indeed a must-visit on my list. The Aquarium of the Pacific is considered to be one of the largest aquariums in the country which features a collection of more than 12,500 animals. This is one place I must not fail to visit at least once in my life. I wonder how much Long Beach vacation deals will cost me and my boyfriend if we fly there one day.

Seems interesting. There are lots of great deals in the many nice and strategically situated Long Beach hotels. There are even some hotels which offer free or discounted meals in top rated Long Beach restaurants just by booking at least a couple of nights with them. Now that's what I call a great deal!
Another activity to include in the Long Beach itinerary is the Carnival cruise travel. If ever our Long Beach vacation wish comes true, my boyfriend and I will definitely not miss the four day San Diego or the five day Miami cruises. I've checked the Carnival Pack and Go rates and I have to say that the prices are not that expensive. They do offer great deals all year round to cruise passengers which are worth checking out every now and then. I am looking forward to spend some nights on a cruise ship from Long Beach with my boyfriend. That's romantic!

Some more interesting places in Long Beach to visit are the Museum of Latin American Art, the Rancho Los Cerritos, The Sky Room and of course, the Laguna Beach!

How I wish to fly to Long Beach now! Take me to Long Beach now!

The Apartment Hunt Downtown

I've mentioned sometime ago about our plan to move to a new apartment somewhere in the middle of the town. We want to relocate to a bigger place that is nearer to school and my boyfriend's workplace. Our flat at the moment's okey. We have a huge bathroom, a spacious living room, a nice kitchen and a bedroom. At times when my boyfriend's best friend comes over to stay for a couple of days or so, he has to sleep in our living room. Although he doesn't complain about it, it is still a lot better if he can have a better place to stay.

Anyway, we've checked some possible places downtown which are going to be free during the third or last quarter of next year. We are specifically looking for units with two bedrooms, a walk in closet, a huge living room, a spacious kitchen and a nice bathroom. We've gone through prices and important details and have tried to weigh things out. We are also going through apartment ratings and reviews which can surely aid us in finding the right place for us to choose. I actually never thought about going online and reading some reviews until my boyfriend has done it. It's actually a wise decision to do so. We get to have a broad idea on the pros and cons of a particular leasing agent, maintenance, neighborhood and many more.

I am looking forward to having my walk in closet!

Maxi's Fifth Day In The Philippines

Philippine Time: 9:00AM

Mission accomplished! Oh what a beautiful day!

On the fifth day of my Philippine vacation, I managed to wake up early today for the very first time. I chatted with my boyfriend (miss you Bebe!) up to 4 o'clock this morning *yawn* (blame that on the 7 hour time zone difference). I actually had my phone's alarm clock function set at 7AM just for fun. At 7, I successfully turned off the noisy alarm and went back to sleep. However, an hour and fifteen minutes later I heard my tummy's growling sound, left the bed and head off to the kitchen.

(the peaceful neighborhood of Bulacan)

The dining table had pandesal*, cheese, butter and coffee for my breakfast. However, I wanted to have something more so I opened the fridge, grabbed some eggs, took a pan, placed it on the gas stove, turned on the knob and had the look of disappointment on my face. We ran out of LPG**! My brother immediately ordered a replacement by just dialing a number on his mobile and 15 minutes later came Mr. LPG delivery guy knocking on our apartment's front door. It was a relief to know that a tiny petroleum distribution company in our area is only a few minutes away from our neighborhood.

It's a nice feeling to not fail on what look like tiny details of today. I am so glad to know that my day has started right. I've finally woken up early and my stomach and taste buds are all satisfied now. Wonderful!

*Pandesal (Spanish: pan de sal salt bread) is a rounded bread usually eaten by Filipinos. (Wikipedia.com)
**LPG- Liquefied petroleum gas

Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew Season 3

To know that Tom Sizemore is one of the casts in the Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew show (season 3) has become a big surprise for me today. I have long known of his drug abuse through news and gossips and never really expected for Tom to get into Dr. Drew's program. He has been approached to appear on the very first season of Celebrity Rehab but has declined the opportunity. I have only taken a sneak peak of the reality show's latest season but I have to admit that it's going to be a very interesting one.

For the love of fashion, I usually stay tune on Tyra Bank's America's Next Top Model. Due to this fact, I have been able to recognize the face of one of the fashion reality tv show's most outrageous participants, Lisa D'Amato, the very moment her face was shown on the sneak peak video of the Celebrity Rehab. It's sad to know that she also buried herself with alcohol and drug abuse. What a waste!

Going back to Tom Sizemore, I've read somewhere that he has been arrested by the police in California for the possession of two bags of methamphetamine. Tom has been put behind bars for 9 months. Ouch (not his first though)! It is difficult to understand why people overuse drugs and become so dependent on them. For some (actually most) medicines prescription is a must. Although it is a common knowledge that overusage of prescription drugs can be health threatening (worse, it may result to death), some individuals like Tom use/overuse such drugs illegally.

Anyway, my only hope is for all the celebrities to have a successful treatment process under Dr. Drew's (and his team's) care. The entire rehabilitation process is going to be a struggle for them but for the celebrities who are willing to fight their addiction until the end and change their bewildered lives will have a better future in their remaining career years. If not, at least they will definitely have a better life.

A Sad News And Just A Quick Thought On Our Country's Health Care System

I received a text message from my best friend informing me about the death of one of our friends who died due to a motorcycle crash. Unfortunately, the accident happened somewhere where there aren't much people around. Our friend wasn't able to receive medical care at once resulting to his death. The doctor declared "dead on arrival" on his record. My friend suffered from what they call traumatic brain injury. Medical experts said that he could have had a good chance to survive if he was only rushed to the hospital at once. It was a very heartbreaking news.

According to statistics, 50% of the patients who have gone through vehicular (may it be motorcycle, truck, bicycle, car, etc) accidents will end up having brain injury in which some of the cases result to death. Those patients who are able to survive brain trauma will have to undergo necessary health/hospital care and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, such needs involve money, time and patience. It is also important to know whether the patient's insurance will take care of his/her bills during the entire process or not. In our country (the Philippines) there are many who aren't insured and if they are, there are times when the health system isn't enough to match every brain injury patient's health requirements. Rich people usually fly their patients to countries such as the US or the UK where proper medical care can be achieved. However, a lot can not afford such a process which is a sad truth.

It is my third day of vacation here in my home country and I can deeply feel the poverty pinching my heart. I just hope that our new leaders after the upcoming May election will somehow look into improving the health care system of the country. I am not expecting a sudden total change of events but at least an improvement will definitely make a huge difference.

Day 1: Quezon City, Philippines

Philippine Time: 12.30AM

The flight was long and tiresome but all in all nice. During flights, (Stockholm-London, London-Hong Kong and Hong Kong-Manila) I slept most of the hours and only woke up whenever the stewardess would inquire about what food on their menu I would want to have and/or I needed to go to the toilet. (I'll be writing a review later about Heathrow and [an additional review of the] Hong Kong airports and Cathay Pacific Airways)

My dad fetched me at the airport yesterday. We went home to his apartment in Quezon City after making sure that Mikael was going to the right terminal for his domestic flight to Cebu City.

The temperature was at +28°C upon arriving at NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Philippines), 12.05AM, February 1. It was so warm and humid that I started sweating by the time I exited the building to look for my dad (or make my dad look for me).

It felt good to be able to spend time with my father after some months of not seeing him. At around 4PM, I visited my aunt and cousins and stayed there for some hours.

I've been staying here at my dad's place (Quezon City) since the day of my arrival and will be heading to my mom's place in Bulacan tomorrow afternoon. I will be traveling to back to Manila in no time. Good to know that Bulacan's not far away from here.

I haven't had so much time blogging. I will try to update my blog again by the time I've reached Bulacan and spent hours with my mom and brothers. I haven't been blog hopping, too. That I will do when I have enough time left.

Have a nice day everyone! Hugs!

Emo mode: *is missing Bebe and her two cats*