smooth sailing weekend

neighborhood kids spending their Saturday afternoon the way other kids want to ... play!

Last weekend while the kids were having a great time with their (neighbor) friends, I took some photos (blurred again, sorry!) of one of our rose plants infront of our house. The locals call it pitimini, I don’t know why.

piti mini blooms

I like it ‘coz it blooms in profusion. All you have to do is to cut the dried flowers for it to bud and to encourage the flower buds from coming out. I also took a shot of Nanay Ila’s (our neighbor) pot of the flowers below. The flowers of this plant usually bloom when the humidity is higher, like these days.

do u know the name of these flowers (plant)?

Meldy likes the pitimini flowers, she kept on telling me that. Even my daughter loves to pick ((&&%^$#@!#$) the flowers...

on my way home

That is how the Emilio Aguinaldo (EA) Highway looks like, still too far away from home...(this was taken in the Imus, Cavite part of the EA h-way)

Traveling from our home to my work each day is so stressful. Maybe my aging muscles are making me dislike it more (huhuu, is this how to accept the onslaught of old age?) I am still in my early 30s and I DON’T think that I am in that phase! Yet…! Heheee…Well… When you often see something you tend to dismiss it as another one of those things. Other passengers would read, play with their PSPs and other portable gadgets, or gaze into their sweetheart’s eyes – PDA galore! Quesehoda na makita ng ibang pasahero!

Not me! Even when I’m too sleepy, I try to keep my eyes open while I’m on my way home specially during weekends. We only live once and life is just TOO short. So I try to take in everything that I see whenever I’m on the road. I would like to share here some of the photos I took last Saturday (19 July 2008) afternoon. I took the ordinary bus so I can take better photos along the road. You will see from most of the photos how enterprising Filipinos can be.

A lot of shops like these abound along the EA h-way (in Talaba, Bacoor)

These men are fried peanut sellers, the adobong mani they sell is a taste apart from the peanuts being sold in Metro Manila. It has a distinctive and crunchy taste.

These pedicab drivers are waiting for passengers (Bacoor area)


This stationery shop which makes invitations for different occasions and also sells souvenirs for any occasions is in Bacoor Cavite along EA highway of course, heheee...


This shop sells second hand automobile parts, also in Bacoor

This man is selling bananas and other fruits infront of the entrance to Camella subdivision. On the other side of the highway is the Revilla's ancestral house in Imus.


Shops selling second hand cars has mushroomed around Cavite, this one is in Imus

Maybe because these are affordable and the demand is high in Cavite so there are also a lot of motorcycle stores (shop is in Imus)

wired to work

These bracelets were the last that I did last summer (these days it starts during the hot days in February until the rains start in May). My hands are itching to do other styles in wire jewelry but I had to stop for awhile ‘coz we are currently overloaded at work. I also would like to do some earrings and rings. I just am too tired these days…

travelling woes

I am a daily commuter and our house is almost 2 hours away (due to traffic congestions) from my work. I take the bus every time, and thankfully I don’t have much problem in finding a seat whenever I go to work. Yup, some passengers who want to be at their respective works on time prefer to travel in standing position.

An overcrowded bus during the morning rush hour

Not to mention that some selfish passengers prefer to balance themselves beside you, which is sometimes irritating 'coz you often get sandwiched between the standing passenger and the one who seats beside you.

getting sandwiched!

That’s too much stress on you and you’ll feel tired even before you start the work for the day (I guess). Securing a seat comes up only in the evening whenever I go home. The bus takes longer to show up sometimes (it may take to more than an hour) and the line is so long that some people at the end of the line sometimes prefer to go to the nearby shopping center and wait until the line is shorter.

strange...

When I was in college I had to stay for the night at a university dorm where Wilma (a BSBio classmate, I forgot her surname) stays. We were working on something, I can’t recall now, but I think it was a class report or something.

The dorm stands on farm land inside the University. Although the University Staff Housing is a five minute walk away and some of the University buildings can be seen (about 20 minutes walk away to the nearest building – Administration Building). When you can feel other strange presences like some people you’ll know that there is something unusual with the place (always damp and dry at the same time, there are places where one can feel as if it isn’t frequented as if there’s some presence that can’t be seen). That’s how I felt whenever I go to that dorm.

the admin bldg.

Wilma was fast asleep and I was fidgeting on the next bed (she told me earlier that maybe because it was the first time that I slept there). Then I fell asleep. I was roused when I felt a heavy hand passed on my face as if the hand was wiping my face. I thought it was Wilma trying to wake me up. So I opened my eyes and I saw that she’s still fast asleep on her bed which was two steps away from where I sleeping. I was a bit surprised and afraid that time so I covered myself with my blanket, mumbled a prayer, and forced myself to sleep and tried not to think of “others.”

The next morning I recounted to Wilma what happened to me in the wee hours of the morning. She was not surprised at all, she said things like that has occurred at the dorm.

Wowweeeee! Yuck! That was my first paranormal experience and no more of it please!

That experience came to mind while an officemate (Macoy) and I were talking about unusual occurrences. Macoy said one of the writers at the publication he once worked for saw something sitting on Macoy’s lap while he was waiting for the writers to finish writing something. The writer said it was wearing an old dress from the Spanish era and was just sitting there on Macoy’s lap! As if she (it) likes Macoy! Hahahaahaaaa!

street vendors

i think a worldwide recession is in the works (hope it goes away soon, times are really hard), i don't know how to say it (i'm no economist! hehehe) but the bite is certainly felt everywhere. but look at these photos, i just took them this morning, and you'll realize that people certainly will make it despite the skyrocketing prices...

i saw this fresh buko (young coconut) vendor infront of Meralco's Bacoor branch (near the SM mall)

busyly arranging his goods (new clothes for sale at low prices), i saw this vendor at the street corner infront of Asiatrust Bank near SM Bacoor

this vendor sells rags he was hawking at EDSA near the LRT/MRT EDSA-Taft stations

this vendor was balancing some native candy products, like pastillas (made of carabao's milk and native fruits and some dried and candied banana chips, as well as candied peanuts)

one of the metro's favorite shopping districts (next to Divisoria), this portion of Baclaran is next to the Baclaran church. those stalls are there on a temporary lease. there are more stalls further near the LRT Baclaran station, a lot of them are airconditioned too. even the country's rich socialites buy there at Baclaran and Divisoria specially during holidays...

senseless vandalism?

i was quite disappointed when i passed by the Washington SyCyp Park and saw this

the bare rock that used to carry the park's name

where did the park's name go? when the park was still new, i posted something about it, how i liked the ambience (as if it is not erected in the middle of the business district).

i just hope that it was taken off the rock for cleaning(?) or something and not taken off by vandals.

my daughter loves to pose for the camera...

my daughter loves to have her picture taken, often she takes her own pictures. here's some,

isn't she cute here? heehee (mom's opinion!:))

here, she was tired when this was taken (Jollibee, her fave fastfood restaurant). my aunt took the kids to Tagaytay earlier that day.

here, this was taken on the first day that the new students of her (she's in nursery! :)) school were told to wear their uniforms.

Dad was excited for her too. He was glad that day was his day off (he works for the government at the ASG), he wants his kids to have the best that he can give them...

Joy smiles as Dad took her pic...

off to school (three houses away, heheheee)

decent food

The bus I took to work this morning passed by the bus terminal at Baclaran. And as the bus waited for the conductor (who was paying for something at the MMDA depot) I saw a woman scrounging for something among the trash on the sidewalk. Scenes like that abound around the metro.

sorry for the blurred pics, typhoon Frank just passed Metro Manila when it was taken

Though I’ve seen people picking through garbage and I’ve even watched them on TV, I was not prepared for what I saw.

It just rained all over the metro and the nearby provinces (typhoon Frank had a visit) and the pavement is wet, so whatever trash there was were really rain soaked. I thought that the woman was looking for plastics that can be sold at junk shops or whatever that can be sold. I noticed that she was putting whatever she picked inside a transparent bag. But I just can’t see what the contents of her plastic bag was, because the bus’ window was a bit hazy. Then I saw her examine something...I recognized it as a chicken leg with a lot of meat still on the bone. The woman dropped it inside her plastic bag. I realized that the bag was where she kept the food she picked up among the trash...

here's the woman picking "something"

I was heartbroken...I was at a loss. I am like that everytime I see people who are in dire need and yet I can't do a thing.

sense of touch

hubby has been giving me invites to a massage "corner" at Metro Point Mall beside MRT's EDSA-Taft station. but i am wary of strangers more so of the thought of letting them touch me. despite my initial negative view of the subject my husband kept on telling me of the good/light feeling he's been having from the massage he gets at "sense of touch."

one time hubby asked me to meet him there instead of him waiting for me at my work.

at first, i was a bit apprehensive of the place, i thought the place needed additional lights, it was a bit hot (the place was not enclosed it was open from the other end of their rented space to the other. maybe it was left that way to keep the prices more affordable.)

my apprehensions about the place then was more of not finding hubby within my peripheral vision. i was told by the receptionist (a girl with normal vision in her 20s) that my hubby is in one of the cubicles having a whole body massage. my wifey instincts told me to look for him pronto! so i really made kulit and went ahead to where hubby was! of course he was being massaged by a blind man in his 40s. who ever thought otherwise?! heheheee...

the next time we were there, i've brushed aside my apprehensions and their darky lurky lighting (gloomy). i was the first to get there, hubby was still on his way, traffic at Villamor is at its finest (irritatingly congested!). i asked (this time, a lot of what ifs were swimming in my head) if any of their masseuse is available (while kept on looking for my husband among the crowd, i want him to be there before i get a massage (my first)). i heard the teenaged receptionist/cashier (this time a boy) call for Auring, a blind masseuese. where's hubbbbyyyyyy!!! i had a short panic induced moment that time, maybe because i really am wary of strangers, a blind woman at that! i don't have anything bad against blind people. it's just that it was the first time that i will have such a close encounter with one. so close she had to touch me! well, that can't be helped i wanted some massage, crazy thoughts!

i wasn't able to get Auring's picture, but she really knew just where to and what muscle to knead. i felt my stresses9wor, travel, family related) vaporize from my sore muscles. yes, vaporized! i pointed to where i felt some pains and she obliged by firmly yet effectively relaxed my tired muscles, even 15-20 minutes beyond the alloted time.

each time my husband can meet me there, we always drop by and i always ask for Auring. i always have a hard time of keeping myself from sleeping whenever she gives me a body massage. yes, the massage is that soothing. the place may not be for the faint hearted. remember i had my apprehensions at first. but the prices are budget friendly and the place is very accessible.

one time Auring is not around and while i was waiting for hubby (he was having a whole body massage) i kept on looking around, window shopping at nearby electronic gadget shops. a bit bored and tired. i watched as this blind masseuse enter the place guided by a giggly teenage girl.
then one of the masseurs asked the blind woman to send a cellular phone load to his number. i was really surprised.

the blind woman proceeded to take her cellphone out of her body bag and proceeded to tap the blind man's number. her phone was set on speaker mode, she placed the phone near her ear and listened as the number she tapped was voiced out by her cellphone.

i thought of buying some cellphone load for my kid's yaya, so i asked her to send it for me and she cheerfully did so!. forgive me but i got carried away by my curiosity. so i tested her, i wanted to know how she changes people's money, will her guide do it for her? i gave her a larger bill than what i was supposed to pay. surprise! she groped again in her bag and took out her purse. she peered closely at my paper money (she held it cms away from her eyes, sooooo she is partially blind after all!) and proceeded to count my change by groping and peering).

here's her pic while handing me my change! :) her name by the way is Crisanta, a very cheerful lady who likes rock classics for ring tones.