Afternoons with Ms. Dionne Morales (and others)

I took the day off from work last Friday. My 2nd for the week. I didn't go to work the Tuesday before because of an acute muscle strain on the left shoulder area which I got from playing basketball without prior stretching... :(

Anyway... I was supposed to fetch Dionne at around 4PM that day to meet her college friends for Cathy's despedida/birthday celebration. That morning, the rain was still non-stop that most areas in the south were flooded and MOST of the people at their office were not able to go to work... Dionne decided to take the afternoon off. Yey! A breather before their new course starts this week, and would be running until the 1st week of October. Translation: Busy days ahead.

We met at around 12:15PM at the 7-11 near Dionne's office. From there, I suggested we take a different route on our way to Glorietta. To our dismay, instead of getting there faster, we had to take detours and a long walk to get to our destination. 'Won't go that way again! Nuninu.

At almost 2PM, we finally got to Glorietta 4. Before we got there, we already decided to sample Subway. I was surprised to see that they have reduced most of their sandwich prices to PHP110, whereas before, that would only be for the tuna sandwich. Dionne chose Roast Beef (upgraded to 12"), chicken soup and 2 diet drinks. Stress on diet. Hehe. Sarap!

Next stop: dessert. BTIC! Perfect for our diet. ;) Dionne had pistachio and dark chocolate, while I had vanilla and dark chocolate as well. It felt like years since I last had ice cream. =P~

We wanted to watch a movie since we still had 4 hours to spare before the dinner. Unfortunately, Cinderella Man (more on this later) started before we got there and no other good movie was showing. Malas. We just went window-shopping... Did you know that Powerbooks offers a bridal registry service? Perfect for us book lovers. =)

Then there was this techno-appliance fair... I saw the iPod Nano in the plastic, and was in awe. There were also booths for Nokia (7710!) and Sony-Ericsson (K750i!). What broke my heart is that they were offered at 0% interest for other cards, often BPI Credit Cards, but not Standard Chartered! Over Chicken Nuggets at McDo, I filled out an application form for a BPI Credit Card. Never again will I miss out on such great deals... 7710 or K750i? Hmm.

Dinner was at Giligan's at around 6:30PM. We went there earlier to reserve a table for 10 people. We then toured Park Square 1 looking for a reasonably-priced 1GB flash drive. The cheapest deal we got was for PHP3,800. Then there was this 1 salesperson who showed us an alternative: a removable hard disk (from laptops) connected via usb, for only PHP4,700. We haven't bought anything yet. Flash drive or Mobile something? Hmm.

By 6:30PM sharp, Dionne and I were sitting comfortably at our reserved table at Giligan's. To pass the time, we ordered chicharong bulaklak as appetizer. Nuninu. By 7PM, we were almost complete. For dinner, we had: sisig, adobong kangkong, sinigang na hipon, liempo and lechon kawali. Take note, still no rice for the two of us. =)

We then had coffee at Coffee Bean. For us, Dionne ordered a frap light and a slice of guiltless cake. Forgot the flavors... After some time, Mem arrived with her bf of 2 years now, Monching. Surprisingly, this was the 1st time we met him. More surprisingly, he was far from the picture I had in mind from Mem's stories.

This was where they presented Cathy with the scrapbook of memories... The night ended with everybody in high spirits, wishing Cathy the best on her journey to be with her husband, Robert. To Cathy, good luck on your trip. Until we meet again. =)

images from benj's shutterfly

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We spent the Saturday afternoon fixing Ate's computer. After almost 5 hours, we finally were able to get it up and running.

By night time, all hell broke loose... Just kidding. Hehe.

Tambunting was suddenly covered in darkness. It is said that 2 transformers exploded. Tsk, mga magnanakaw talagang yan! We had dinner, by candlelight, and spent the rest of the night playing Uno Madness and Scattergories. Dionne won both games rather easily and convincingly. Makakabawi din ako... someday.

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Sunday: We went to SM Manila (not San Lazaro) to buy groceries for this week's baon. Dionne's mom came with us to watch Cinderella Man. Good movie. Touching. Fr. Icabod's sermon earlier comes to mind: count your blessings. Even though we went home still without electricity (Tambunting is seen as a vast expanse of blackness from the LRT), at least we know the Meralco will fix it on the next couple of days.

Dinner was courtesy of Dionne: hamburger patties made and cooked by her. Sarap! Pwede na talaga. ;)

...

It saddens me that a furniture shop near Dionne's house attempted to commit arson last night in order to claim insurance premiums. Tsk. What a waste. Scarier still is that 2 other shops have tried this trick before. One was successful, causing the big fire that swept over Tambunting decades before. Thanks to good old bayanihan, the bastards were thwarted this time. I wish the police would catch the culprits soon.