Day 343 - MM Merienda

The first things I did when I got back home, in order of importance:

1) Ate chicken joy @ Jollibee!
2) Watched the season premiere of Gossip Girl
3) Met up with my friends @ Starbucks!

Hehehe! Just kidding. I missed everything equally. No, really! :P

Anyway, these are the girls from where I used to work. I miss them so much because not only do I no longer work in the same office as them, but I was also not in the same country for the last 5 months. I'm really happy that we still make time to see each other even when we're no longer officemates. Actually, two other people in this photo don't work for the same company anymore, too. So, I think based on that, I can say that we've all become real friends. :)

Day 258 - Happy Birthday Again!

My mom and brother's birthdays are only a day apart, so as soon as we got back from Coron, Palawan, we waited for my brother and his girlfriend M at the airport (who would arrive only an hour after we did, but from Boracay) and went straight to Friday's restaurant at Bonifacio High Street for my brother's birthday dinner.

This is him with his free cupcake ala mode. The Friday's staff didn't sing Happy Birthday anymore because we asked them not to. :P

Day 235 - Gabbie's Day Out

My 6-year-old nephew G wanted to try out for his school's football team so my cousin Ate N asked my brother, who used to play for our high school's football team, to help him practice. I and our other cousin tagged along because, well what else is there to do on a Sunday afternoon?

It was a lot of fun. Since he's 6 years old, we didn't really have to take everything seriously, so we pretty much just ran around, kicked the ball to different directions and had G chase us. :P

It was such a strange moment, though. Like something out of an advertisement for something family-oriented. I mean, the only thing we lacked was a picnic basket. Thanks much to the currently empty lots at Bonifacio High Street for making it possible. You can't really find a lot of grassy areas in the city, hence my initial thought that playing football with your 6-year-old nephew just isn't something that happens in real life.

Well, here's something negative to think about: it's kind of sad to think that perhaps this very spot we were playing on will be the location of a building (or worse, a parking lot) next year, or maybe even later this year. So maybe we need to go there more often before it's gone. I think we all need the exercise anyway. ;)

Day 230 - Best Starbucks Ever!

Some people say that Starbucks is overrated. I say, who cares? So many things are overrated and underrated and if you're not the person who's responsible for whatever is over or underrated, then those ratings shouldn't matter. I like Starbucks because I like coffee and I like the coffee that they sell in Starbucks. Admittedly, it's expensive, but also admittedly, it's way more delicious than the 3-in-1s you can get in the supermarket. And besides, today is still one of the days that Starbucks has the free upsize promo (!!!) which explains why I have my very first grande White Chocolate Mocha.

I took this photo from my seat at the corner of the 2nd floor of the Starbucks Drive Thru which has somewhat recently (I think it's less than a year old) opened at The Fort, Taguig. And maybe the Starbucks in Baguio or Tagaytay look better (I've never been to either), but at least for Metro Manila, this branch definitely takes the cake as the best branch ever, so far, in my opinion. I mean, when I sat on that chair and looked out the window and looked at the surroundings, my first thought was "Can I just sit here all day?". Seriously, they get a thousand points for ambiance. Too bad I had to leave to go to work after a few hours there, and The Fort is so far from where I work/live. But I will definitely look for a way to come back.

Day 86 - The Other Fort

THE OTHER FORT - Entrance to Fort Santiago in (old) Manila. Small Jose Rizal park and museum on the other side.

And I say it's the other fort because the place known as "The Fort" is Fort Bonifacio, where my former office, along with a bunch of other offices are located. I always wondered if there are people who actually think that when you say "The Fort" you're referring to this one, Fort Santiago. Since this is literally a fort. But I don't think that people talk about this place enough for that to happen.

We went here today as part of an impromptu (for me, anyway) Manila tour with my cousin who's here on holiday from Germany. I thought we were just going to have lunch by Manila Bay but it turned to a short tour of Manila, not that I mind. Believe it or not, I've actually never been here before this.

We didn't get to explore the whole place, though. The other museums were closed since it's a holiday today (National Heroes Day), and we didn't have enough time because they still had to pick up my other cousin from Germany at the airport. On Wednesday they're all going to Boracay. They're heading to CamSur after that, and then to Palawan after that. Can you say holiday?!

Day 79 - Fully Booked

Oh no! I skipped a day! Two days, to be exact. Wala na kasi talaga akong maisipang kunan sa bahay and I've grown tired of talking about my unemployment. So I forgot to take pictures for August 18 and 19. But... there's no rule that the 365 days should be consecutive days... Meron ba? Anyway, even if there is, for the sake of honesty, I won't invent pictures for August 18 and 19 and will just go straight to this one.

This is the view from the 2nd floor of the Fully Booked bookstore in Bonifacio High Street where I killed some time before going with my former officemates to dinner at Off the Grill restaurant in Timog, QC. (I know, anlayo!!!)

It's one of the best bookstores in the world (IMO), simply because it's just so big! It has 4 floors, 5 if you count the basement, and obviously, lots and lots of books. The layout is great, and there's a Starbucks inside! Really, any bookworm's dream bookstore. :) I love coming here.

Day 59 - Stopover at Sunset

STOPOVER - the term for the general area in The Fort where some well-known establishments are found (e.g. Jollibee, Pizza Hut, Shell Gas Station, Starbucks, South Star Drugstore, etc.) It's a pretty popular lunch destination and general place to hang out for both students and employees in the area.

On my second to the last day in the office, I decided to take advantage of the big windows and take a picture of the view from our 12th floor. I guess I won't be able to see this view live again, except if maybe I find work in the same building. But there's very little chance for that to happen, so yeah, this is so I won't forget what it looked like. Gah. I hate being sentimental.

Anyway, I took this at around 5:30PM so it's technically sunset, though I guess it's not obvious here since the sun is setting on the other side. Still, I guess it's pretty neat to see the colorful lights on while there's still a bit of light from the sun.

Day 57 - Fort Bus Fail

Due to "faulty wiring", one of the older Fort Buses was suddenly on fire. Some officemates and I heard an exploding sound from our office on the 12th floor of a building near the area. At first we thought that it was something that fell from one of the buildings that were under construction, but it turned out to be this bus' engine.

I took this photo along with a few videos of the incident through the window of our office building. My camera's zoom worked overtime since I took this from the 12th floor. I wasn't the only one taking pictures, though. Just a few minutes later, the news of this was already on Twitter and in Yahoo! Philippines News.

Fortunately, the driver and all the passengers were already out of the bus when the fire started. But it does raise some questions about the old Fort Buses that we still see operating.

Day 31 - Global City Skyline

Took this picture while stopped at a traffic light on the way home from work. Sunset + Few buildings = Amazing city view.

P.S. This is the first day that the no. of the day is no longer the same as the day of the month. :( Hello, difficulty.