Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Bebot
In a recent episode of Ugly Betty, Daniel (Betty's boss) had to entertain a Japanese minimalist fashion designer named Oshi (probably Yohji) complete with an all-hapon entourage. One of his people carried a boombox which only played one song, BEP's Bebot. It was especially funny when Apl shouts "Hoy pare pakinggan niyo ko, eto na ang tunay na Pilipino!" during Oshi's grand entrance. Download it na for a boost of Pinoy pride.It's funny but Bebot is enjoying a bit of popularity here in Japan of all countries. Jon's officemate's 4y/o son keeps singing "bebot, bebot, be-bebot bebot" that he just had to ask Jon what it means. He also introduced kelots as a new Filipino word. Hehe.
Thank God for people who are proud of our country. They come so rare these days that I wouldn't be surprised if people would be trading in their passports for Sealand ones.
***
We had PTA this morning. Sensei asked that the kids not be absent from now until Feb 17 because they have to practice for a play. She was addressing us but her knowing eyes were on me. Last week, Joaquin had flu so I called in sick for the whole week but then she asked to visit us that afternoon. Ngak. Buti na lang totoong may sakit or else I would be forced to put bandages on his head or something. Poor sensei...she doesn't know I'm the queen of SLs.
Probably not of accenture, princess lang siguro ako. Or duchess. Hehe.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
First Day in Paris
I wonder if I will ever stop fantasizing about living in a 5-star hotel. Not that I do it every second of the day, don't be daft. Maybe a couple of times when I look around and see that I still have to dust the tv, wipe the counter, water down the balcony and so on, I can't help but dream about room service and chambermaids and shiny silver bathrooms and cushy carpets and professionally-done interiors. Sigh. I also can't help it that my husband is SO , how do I put this delicately, PRACTICAL, that the last time I ever set foot down those cushy carpets was summer of 1999. Woe is me and my broken tai-tai dreams.And now for my (bi-annual) Paris report.
Day 1: After dropping off our bags at our hotel at the 11th arrondisement, we set off to explore and familiarize ourselves with the area. Blvd Voltaire is a charming and quiet street with many rotiserries, patisseries, brasseries, papeteries, and other eries you can think of. Lots of dog poo, too. I had to constantly look at where I'm walking for fear of stepping on a fresh one. ew. All the apartment buildings had the same height (about 7 floors) or shorter which made for a very uniform and pleasing look. Everything looked old and ah, French. I also found many things easier to understand because they're not in kanji (like some countries around here). So far, so good. We couldn't help but remark, "In fairness, maganda naman pala siya."
Soon, we found ourselves in front of the tombstone of the nasirang Jim Morrison. This was after subjecting ourselves to the confusing labyrinth of creepy graves that is the Pere Lachaise cemetery.
I dunno, should we be proud that we were posing in a sementeryo on our first day in the most romantic city in the world? And it's not even 10am yet.
After an interesting brunch of, for me, a chocolat aux pain and chocolat (sugarhigh yeah), we walked again, past the metro stations and eccentric parks.
Past the cafes, and the tourists drinking chocolat al fresco. Past the supermarkets and tabacs. Past the speeding cars with mission to kill. Past the people eating baguettes while walking. --> they really do! but w/out berets :(
Past the colorful marche at the Place de la Bastille. Wait...that took a while.
Past the colorful marche at the Place de la Bastille. Wait...that took a while.
I'm by the tree
Until finally, colonne de Juillet.
Uh, yan na ba yung Bastille Tower? Anak ng.
The Opera looked blah too. I guess Tokyo raised the bar in modern architecture for me. Ah well, at least it was a nice day for walking. Place des Vosges, a park surrounded by a literal square of buildings and long beautiful archways, did not disappoint though. A lot of really modelish-looking teenagers hung out there, probably taking a break from the nearby ecole. The tour of Victor Hugo's home in the square was free and a real treat for the voyeur in all of us. He has a strangely short bed so pandak pala si Victor.
By 3, we were in our hotel (just in time for check-in) and after devouring our roasted chicken and pasta salad we got from the nearby shops, we plopped down on the bed and slept like logs.
Till tomorrow.
Labels: Rolf Potts
Monday, January 08, 2007
So I'm back, yet again, from cholesterol country to the land of skinny people where I am considered obese. I should seriously lose weight. I have a picture with marvin (ni jolina) which I refuse to show here unless I actually do shed pounds and want to post before and after pics. Just my luck, they put up those freaky slimming ads in the train again - "I used to be 54 kg and now I'm only 40 kg desu! Arigato, mysterious slimming powdeeeeer!" Wtf, I'd kill to be 54 kilos. Crazy.
as promised, the new year's lucky bag haulI had a nice time in Manila. We just vegged out for the 1st week, spent Christmas eve playing bridge in a log cabin in Tagaytay, then vegged out again. And now that we're back, what are we doing? Vegging out. It's called location-free laziness.
For today's schedule, I've been doing the usual, reading the news, apartmenttherapy, trashy gossip blogs and finally diary-blogs. I had to stop, the last one gave me a headache. I'm no English teacher but some people should stick to Pinoy or Taglish. God, I need an aspirin.
We were supposed to have Chinese buffet lunch with Pinoy friends but ditched them because my two boys are sick with the flu. I'm the only one healthy here because I have the constitution of an OX! (The weight, too.)
(Joaquin keeps farting beside me. It's really stinky but methinks this is a good sign. He's getting well.)
In keeping with the tradition, here are my goals for this year:
1. sew a quilt
2. lose 10 pounds
Yup, that's about it. My year is packed, if I may say so myself. So when somebody says, "Hey Jo, how about doing this blah blah blah?" I can honestly say, "Sorry, my plate is full."
And a happy new year to you too!