Love Schu's ! !

finally a shoe store that gives the kind of service every shoe lover deserves. none of the sorry-wala-nang-size-mo-sabay-irap crap that we have to put up with at department stores like SM or the four-thousand-po-yan-miss isnab looks galing sa mga snotty attendants sa nine west or pretty fit. (i swear, sila ang pinaka-snotty of all! the girls at mango and vnc are way way way nicer).

anyway i'm talking about schu. kakabili ko lang ng shoes sa kanila last wednesday--super cute black pumps.


black pumps from schu

sinabay ko na sa GC na binili ko for dona for her birthday. kaninang morning ko first ginamit eh sa laki siguro ng paa ko, napigtal yung metal thingie clasp sa likod. naging mules ang shoes ko! super panic ako pero dapat poised pa rin while walking unevenly sa greenbelt this morning--i thought, hmmm pwede kayang isoli?


the metal thingie clasp na natanggal... this is the new pair by the way

so this afternoon, i went back to the schu store at glorietta. first and foremost, naalala ako ng super sweet na attendant nila. too bad i didn't get her name eh di sana naiplug ko ang kanyang kasweetan dito. so i told her my situation, and get this... hindi nya ako sinimangutan! ever so smiling-shimmering-splendid nya akong tinanong kung dala ko yung nasirang pair. nung pinakita ko, sabi nya hahanapan daw nya ako ng same size. may isa pang attendant na guy na lumabas at may i-help din sya sa pagcheck ng stocks. wala ng size 8 sa store so pumunta pa sila sa warehouse nila somewhere in the mall to look for a replacement. super sorry pa sila dahil i have to wait a few minutes.

as if i'll complain about waiting ano?! i give this store one-hundred-thirty-seven stars for being so maalalahanin. imaginin mo naman ang trauma ng masiraan ng supercute shoes sa gitna ng greenbelt ano! :-p anyway so i waited and then in came the same smiling attendant when an absolutely new pair of shoes... the very same one... with the metal thingie intact! mabilis nangyari ang exchange... and wala pa sa kin ang receipt ko sa lagay na yun ha! the entire return-exchange scenario took place based on trust alone. ibang klase talaga. winner!

hindi talaga ako nagsisisi dito ko nabili ang medyo-may-kamahalang GC na gift namin for dona. worth it talaga, considering they have the freshest designs for shoes, their service really makes you want to buy stuff from them just because they're so mabait, at... they have the cutest shoe boxes in the country! i'm definitely coming back for more... sorry na lang to my bank account and credit card. ;-p


shoe boxes can't get any cuter than this!

Galing Talaga ng UP

Congrats to the UP-CBA Team (Mak Asinas, Jaemi Samonte, Lynn Sanchez, Gilliane Say, Ana Soriano) for winning FIRST PLACE in the Inter-Collegiate Finance Competition yesterday!! Ang galing-galing ninyo. Itinaas ninyo na naman ang bandera ng UP (kaya kahit natalo tayo sa cheering--daw--the best naman ang UP sa Finance! woohoo!) Bobby de Ocampo was on the dot when he said how glad he was he wasn't a contestant. Sobra ang pressure, I could imagine. University of Santo Tomas came in second, DLSU-Manila third, and Ateneo de Manila University was fourth.

Double kudos to the "wild coaches" hehe! Dani, Peds, Dave, Jude, Cleo, Mikoy... four years in a row champion! Ok lang na mabansagan kayong "Russian Coaches", mawalan kayo ng racket (hello Peds!), mamiss nyo ang Encantadia (hi dani), at mapilitang manuod sa ABS-CBN (kay clek yan), just keep the trophies coming for the college. Kayo na din ang nagsabi, worth it naman lahat, di ba? (Di ba, di ba, Jude? wink wink)

Eto na mga pics natin... wag nyo akong sisisihin ha! I just captured reality as my cam saw it. Hehehe. :D (btw you need to use word verification for the comments ha... nagkaka-comment spam ako eh... BA 191 kids! turn-on word verification in the Settings-Comments tab in your blogger account to get rid of comment spam.)

we're number one!! congrats to the UP FINEX Team! 

receiving the trophy from the FINEX Board, led by Melito Salazar, UP Alumni and past CBA professor (taga-room 201 daw sya dati) 

the "wild coaches"... naka red pa talaga! 

the winning college... UP-"CBA" (CBA lang hawak nila kasi hindi umabot ng "U" saka "P" yung multiple choice--kahit umabot pa yun im sure champion pa din kayo! naks...) 

chanting "U-ni-ber-si-dad-ng-Pi-li-pi-nas!"... again, hindi pa tapos ang contest nito--in total fairness to us, nag number-one sign na kasi si master dave kahit five questions to go pa, and that was enough for us hehe

hindi pa tapos ang contest (five questions to go) pero nagvi-victory picture na ang UP "delegation" (convention ba to o competition?) 

abangan ang five minutes of fame ng FINEX team sa TV Patrol at ANC! (o sabi ni mam cleo, two days lang kayo kapamilya para abangan to ha... pagkatapos ng interview na to, KAPUSO na ulit kayo! -- i agree. ;-p) 

feeling oscars after-party... cleo and jude: grabee ganito pala ang feeling ng may hawak na trophy! we would like to share this award with our director (kami yon), the cast and crew (kami pa din yon), our makeup artists (kami pa din ulit), the caterers and drivers (hmmm... yes kami pa rin), and espeysyali to the fans out der (er, kami pa din ata yun)... tangkilikin natin ang pelikulang pilipino! 

mikoy: ...sandali, akin ang trophy na yan!
cleo: hindeee! this is MY baby anoo!
jude (to himself): nagagawan pa'ng dalawang to e pareho naman silang walang talent...

dani: tumigil na kayo! ako ang ultimate survivor! sniff sniff, this is worth all the encantadia episodes i've missed! (moi: sabi ni dani thank you daw po kay sir art sa kanyang mga animated recap ng encantadia--yun na lang source of entertainment nya while preparing for this contest)

paalis na may pahabol na pic pa... UP BAA 5th year studes 

proud and beaming: dinky, dave, sof, jude, cleo, aileen, peds 

classic pose ni master dave--buti nakailag si jamie 

ana and mak 

sino kaya ang mas masaya sa dalawang to... tingnan nyo na lang kung sino may mas malaking ngiti

mugging for the camera (jacob and lynn) at cascada... parang press-con ah 

Turning 30...

...no, not me. At least not yet. Tonight we had a suprise birthday for my friend Dona. Her closest friends from UP and SGV were invited. We met up first at Starbucks sa Greenbelt while the organizers, Harry and Clars, plus some friends of Dona and mine from UP (Ana and Dominic) were having dinner sa M Cafe at the Ayala Museum. We were "instructed" to go to the cafe one by one every five minutes and when we got there we were given three flowers to give to our friend and greet her happy birthday.

I came in with Joy and Pia. We greeted Dona from behind kasi her back was to us pagpasok naman ng M Cafe. The look on her face when she turned around and saw us was a classic (not to mention the "oh-my-gawd" expression that came with it)--sobrang surprised talaga. Her birthday's not until September 29 pa, but I think that day was made wonderful in advance because of tonight's wonderful surprise. :D (Pictures follow this post. Will post more as soon as I get pics from Dominic.)

....am thinking now if it's a big deal to turn thirty. Is it a big deal? Other people think it's a big deal and actually chide me about turning thirty next year. I smile and laugh along with them pero sa loob-loob ko... hmmm, so what, tigyawat? What difference does it make? er... should it make a difference at all? Ika nga: "age is just a number". More and more I feel that is true, now that I am, ahem, coming of age.

Thirty-shmirty... who cares? I think the most important thing is what we do with the years we have lived and not how many years we lived per se. And I don't think the main debate is about being old vs. being young--the main point is to keep things fresh and new always. This means opening one's mind about things and keeping this mind open to new ideas even if they carry the risk that the old ideas we had held on to for so long will be debunked. Turning thirty becomes a scary thing only if we allow ourselves to become outdated.

On the other hand, turning thirty also comes with it a sense of achievement... like a certain level of wisdom has been reached. But only, i guess, if tunay na may pinagkatandaan ka nga. It's an ugly thing to see immaturity at 30--infinitely uglier and more idiotic than immaturity at 13. The best part about being thirty is the fact that you're already done with the teens and the twenties... yes, there is definitely a sense of been here, done that. You can look at those still struggling through their acne-prone or quarterlife-crisis years and smugly smile, saying to yourself,... thank heavens I'm done with that.

I believe my friend, Dona, is in that been there done that stage. She's in a certain state of contentment that ensures facing the big "three-oh" will be a graceful affair and not a scary ride. Should this state of contentment wear off, however, she'll definitely take consolation in the fact that, in a few days, our other friend Kaye's gonna take the ride with her, and in a few months, myself, Joy, and Edelle will all be turning thirty too. If turning 30 becomes a fun ride, then we'll have fun together. If not, then we'll still have fun getting depressed together too.

SGV friends (except Pia, my French friend from ESSCA)

joy and dona

soon to be thirty-somethings

Impromptu Date

What's so special about this date that I have to mention it in this blog? Well, the fact that dates like these are so few and far in between for Nats and me that the fact that it happened at all is an event in itself!!! That's what I get for dating an ortho resident at PGH. Oh, well. That's why we make a big fuss about these little things. There's a kind of cuteness and sentimentality about it that may be a bit too corny for the world to know. But, like in most things, I really don't care what the world thinks so here are the pics from this "inpromptu" date. (Is that spelled with an "n" as iNpromptu or "m" as iMpromptu? Can't remember and too lazy to spell-check in MS Word, so shoot me.)

nats' idea of a candid shot

some giggling kid inside the resto... only if we all can be as worry-free, inhibition-free, and well... just FREE as this kid is all the time, this world will be a much much HAPPIER place

Christmas lights in GB3 as early as September... welcome to the new mall-ing, window-shoping, holiday-ing Filipino culture