natural habitat

It'll be a good retreat for me from city life to this...

Aniston vs Jolie

This saga (Pitting Jolie and Aniston against each other) has ended years ago but it's strange to buy two DVDs (without thinking) with both stars starring in it. I enjoyed both films but Jolie being on equal-footing with Depp means she's not given enough time to truly shine. I must say, Aniston wins this battle hands down.

Now, please don't ask me about the real critique of the film. It's going to be bloody.

Bard-man

I wouldn't pretend that I read Shakespeare with so much gusto. This is why, flicking through the pages of Stylist magazine and seeing the VERY condensed guide of William Shakespeare's key plays that I would want to jump for joy. It makes be VERY happy. It spares me the lifetime of reading and understanding the difference between Hamlet and Macbeth; As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing.

I feel like I'm ready to hobnob with the literary geniuses and the elite social groups and pretend that I know the germinal reason of dispute between the Capulets and Montagues. Reading the VERY abridged, put-in-a-nutshell-account of Hamlet makes me cringe at the thought of unending discord and deaths.

Death seems to be more appealing then... that it makes a Jennifer Aniston film ending a YAWN experience for barbaric Britain.

admission of truth

Education back home is probably valued more ... way way more than the way Brits value it here.

S.O.A.G.

Tennis matches are excitingly tense... so much so that I didn't even notice that I'm more than halfway through munching on the cake. This is not a good sign. Sedentary monster is taking over me again.

Damn, French Open. Yes, go... and blame something you... you decrepit son-of-a-gun!!!

L.C.E.

barrage of MB

... just to educate more people as to how fascinating MB is.

in Jamie's company

So I vacuumed and mopped the floor, tidied the living room and did some sit-ups. I'm trying to get away from that sedentary lifestyle, hoping that I'd burn calories by doing productive STUFF whilst at home this Bank Holiday Monday. With sweat and weariness, the smell and sight of food (neighbours cooking grilled fish - goading me to cook something just as appetising and Jamie Oliver's cooking program) could be disparagingly atrocious to my determined psyche.

I opted for the second option: Watched Jamie Oliver make love with his garden veggies and come up with an array of seemingly ambrosial and delectable dishes. I'd just let my eyes go "burp" instead of my tummy.

Claustrophobia

The computer's off and the room's already dark. The Telly is on but on muted existence. I really need a lamp to provide that soft illumination instead of the glaring visuals from television. The room's a mess with strewn clothes across the other sofa and the radiator waiting to dry. The massive glass window is covered with my flat-sheet as improvisation to block out that spotlight from the tower block across and the early sunshine at 6 am.

It seems peaceful right? Not when I suffered earlier a minor panic attack when the tube stopped in-between stations and I had to poke my head out of the window between carriages hoping to find a gush of air and connection to the outside world to appease my hyperventilating self. Gelo's face was a sight and so was mine apparently.

Tonight is tranquil. The full-on see-through window even at night is liberating.

classic Brit award on telly

The symphony's playing a JOHN BARRY tribute when I suddenly felt a tingle after listening to the theme music for MIDNIGHT COWBOY.

Listen below.

food again??????

This past week ... food kept on tormenting me.

Where's the bloomin' carrot!

f_____ dieting

I'm going home soon and will hit the beach. I don't intend to walk on white sand fully clothed so I need to lose some handles midway my torso. But it comes with a hell lot of sacrifices.

But how could you say NO to ... see below!

brekkie

pork chop
fried egg
and fried rice

I don't eat breakfast but who could say NO to .... see above!

zip

I am a social drinker and I DON'T SMOKE (but a full time passive smoker - evil evil smokers for friends).

Gelo and I scoured the length of Oxford Street and Leicester Square for ZIPPO lighters only to either find real ZIPPOS with highly overpriced price tags or those outright, blatantly scamming fake copies. There really is a copy for everything these days. So you better watch your back. I remember saying, "I'm not a tourist to be sold a real ZIPPO for over 30 pounds, am I?". We left the shop reeling.

We settled for this ZIPPO from HSamuel and paid 27.99. We bought a real ZIPPO for a slightly cheaper price and I fell in love with it for it's so preeeeeeeeeeeety.

one of 'em days

If you have noticed, sheer laziness has taken over me these past days that posting pictures became a norm with few descriptors to fill my blog. I could say, having a guest plus Oxford street shopping could take its toll to one's psyche. It has that soporific and disinterested effect once physical saturation has been reached. In short, I'm tired to string words and concepts.

Tomorrow's a bank holiday and I'm still off from work. But I have to write/sketch the skeleton of my assignment for uni (yet again) so I expect to spend some quality time at home for that. By then, NAM would have been having a ball back home and albeit painting the town pink. Also, that would be a day less and a day closer to my holiday. The countdown lessens.

I'm now practising my wide grin in preparation for the exit from NAIA and keeping a straight face against high humidity and extreme heat. I hope I don't falter.

window

... to riches and capitalism.


SELFRIDGES WINDOW DISPLAY

creativity

I should start charging really...

blunder

Superdry inside...



Etnies outside...



Oh, TK MAXX!

in action....

Now find Lito and Gelo...

find Lito!

lazy

I'M TOO LAZY TO WRITE.

I NEED MOTIVATION!

1+1 is 2?

kingly

As Gelo's getting on with the cooking, I simply flick the remote for suitable TV program as I wait for dinner.

I'm spoiled.

PS- I offered help but apparently, I'm not good enough to cook a decent meal.

rain... rainbow

Rian...rain...rainbow.

meet Macky

He is a man of few words (ask NAM and Ricky - California natives - as if!).

He is intelligent.
He is firm with his decisions.
He is sorta, kinda... perfectionist in most ways.
He is NAM minus the funfare and drama.
He created/coined the word eccentricity to acceptable social norms.
He is doing an Istanbul-Athens-Berlin-Rome-Paris tour before heading back to LA.

I'm jealous that he's gutsier than me.

imagine if...

... your Boss/partner/friend/enemy/colleague/acquaintance/date is like London weather. You'd need more than a smart brain and top-of-the-range-smartphone to keep track of changes.

In roughly 5 minutes, the sun came out after a downpour.

reminiscent of Phils

We all know that London weather is like a pregnant woman.

For few minutes that I was staring outside the office window, it looked (and felt) like I was back home with that whipping monsoon. In just two weeks, I'd be flying to Manila for my well-earned holiday and earlier, I was told that rainy season has started back home. My friends were dismayed to know that I was even more ecstatic about it. You see, I prefer rain than getting damp from my own sweat caused by extreme heat and humidity.

As I look out, this is a good desensitisation for my forthcoming holiday. I long for that venture of wading across the flooded streets wearing nothing but slippers. It certainly brings back naivety and youth.

M.B. tickets gone

I decided against the raffle of Michael Ball tickets and gave it to a worthy patron. Not that my friends wouldn't appreciate it but giving away these tickets to a big Michael Ball fan is probably the best thing to do. I imagine Linda and her daughter watching MB and how beaming they'd be after watching the show.

As a tribute, here's MB and his best WestEnd legacy as Marius.

my own Chelsea flower show

if I was 6'3

It was only in Kuwait that my passion for tennis came into life. Although I was already a tennis enthusiast in high school, playing tennis in the province was reserved for the "elite" group (or Philippines in general - an elite sport). I weathered numerous sandstorms and all other desert elements just to play the game. I went up the amateur ranks of tennis players to as high as Group A.

Then, United Kingdom beckoned.

I wish I was born tall but since I wasn't towering enough, I'd settle for that dream of playing Nadal in a charity event and return those spinning groundstrokes for fun. That would be marvellous, I think!

dose of Ryan

Working on my own renders handicaps and perks. The latter however is a clear definition and exercise of autonomy and self-reliance.

record

I have just bested my last month's blogpost archive entries when it comes to number and word count. Thre are two ways to ascertain this achievement:

- I must be running on higher anxiety this month

- I must be overly productive from intense motivation

Whatever it is, I'm glad to be able to write/blog despite the incessant demands of work and university from all angles of my waking moments.

neighbours

When in Hampstead, I was told that Jonathan Ross was few hundred metres from where I used to live (plus other relevant celebrities). Then I moved to Angel and on my way to work, Tom Hollander showed up riding a bike.

Lesson 1: I move places and celebrities follow me. HA!

Lesson 2: Celebrities are just like us.

Lesson 3: We try to emulate shlebs and they try hard to be like us.



Bloom and Hollander (right) in Pirates...

toilet

I probably contribute a lot to deforestation with the wads of toilet tissue paper I use in public toilets (or arguably at home). But choosing between the possible cross infection/contamination from toilet seat and remote possibility of denuding virgin forests of the world, I'd rather look after myself first. However, scrubbing the toilet seat with a bit of soap and covering it with layers of tissue paper to feel at ease sitting on it make me feel guilty about the trees toppled down to cater to my hypochondriac nature and slight preciousness.

In India and Philippines, majority of people wash their backside with soap and water. I tell that story to locals here and they lose appetite and get nauseated. Are we lacking panache as a culture for doing so?

read

I may be unlucky and irresponsible in some ways i.e financial matters but I truly compensate for it with some other qualities that make up the totality of me. I can probably brag about them but the sweetest way of knowing is when people ascertain those qualities when you least expect them. When that happens, my woes and immediate failures vanish without trace. It is true that a boost of confidence can take you far.... so far that you either wilfully go bad or strive to be even better. I carry on with my studies for the latter reason.

Some people can knock your confidence down but there are ways to counteract that. My mother's right saying that education is your key to understanding people who may have lost the will to tap that little extra brain mater for some use in diurnal living.

Today, there was a long queue of students waiting for the result of their essays and there's this student who was on her knees after receiving the documents. She looked as if her life depended on the result written on the top sheet. After a quick look, she's a crestfallen entity and ran towards the door. I was nervous as hell that when I took out the student ID from my wallet, I was shaking uncontrollably. My turn came and I heaved a deep sigh of relief.

I passed.

shaping up

The Shard

sugar is sweet and so are you

Thanks Mr. Bernal.

It was a lovely surprise. The receptionist telling me that I have delivery was strange. Seeing that they're a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate was embarrassing. The feeling to receive this gift's priceless.