hooked

there are some movies that, once i catch on tv (and it doesn't matter at which point i start watching), i cannot possibly tear myself away from and have to watch until the credits. such is the strange attraction to these movies that even if i have seen those movies more often than i can count, even if i am already late for a badminton appointment (which is exactly what happened yesterday), even if you PAY me to leave, even if my brain has shriveled up into a pathetic sleep-deprived mass of gyri, even if ... (time to stop), i STILL won't be able to turn away from the screen.

one would think that i'd be attached to movies like the breathtaking 'lord of the rings' (hi orly!) series or even the riveting 'forrest gump' -- but nooooooo. my embarrassing list includes (but is not limited to):

- the land before time (animated miniature dinosaurs looking for their mommies -- no relation to my life whatsoever): i watch this just to check if the ending could still make me cry. so far, i have always succumbed to my sappy nature.

- twister (chasing after spirals of death while rekindling romance -- i usually catch this just as they're ravaged by the F4. the tornado, not the boy band): i think i only watch this because i'm amazed at how helen hunt (and her hair) still looks good even after whipped by violent winds.

- hook (peter pan grows up to be, tadaaa, robin williams): this one i can't figure out. i watch it because ... because ... it's not called 'hook' for nothing. needless to say, hook makes me break down in tears every single time. my mind hears "my happy thought was you" and interprets it to mean "start crying like this is the first time you've heard that line."

i can go on and on but i have to preserve whatever's left of my dignity.

didn't think it would happen, but ...

... i miss hong kong.

after being homesick for the entire 2 weeks i was there and 10 days after landing in manila, i am now "officially missing" (with apologies to tamia):

- my small hotel room with the great bed and pillows i wanted to fit into my hand-carried bag. i liked the fact that everything in the room was practically within reach from the center of the bed.

- victoria park. i've had to trudge through that blasted park so many times that i felt it was expanding by the day. in retrospect, it was a very clean park. am slightly regretting not sitting down to admire the ... trees. however, i remember the passerby who was hit by a flying ball (they are ALWAYS ALWAYS playing football -- or maybe it was hockey, haha -- in the park) and regret disappears fast. (i do NOT miss sundays at victoria park, when it turns into an indonesian rave party complete with gyrating, drunk indonesian lesbians. don't get me wrong. i have nothing against them. but consider this: (1) i look like an indonesian; and (2) i am not interested in women, indonesian or otherwise. you figure out why walking through that crowd made me nervous.)

- the taxis that travel at an average speed of 80 kph along side streets.

- the corner grocery, which always faintly smelled of durian but was filled with tons of foreign junk food and octopus balls.

- the lemon iced tea. they always serve real tea with slices of lemon and syrup on the side. even mcdonalds serves it this way. and speaking of mcdonalds ...

- shrimp wrappers from mcdonalds -- shrimp wrapped in wanton wrappers and then deep fried. served with the generic sweet chili sauce. yum.

- the ultra-fast desktop computer they let me use at the hk office. was planning to put it in the same bag that was going to hold the hotel bed and pillows. only if there was space left.

- time to blog every day.

of role models and wrong answers

a couple of radio djs asked their listening public this question: WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL?

aside from the usual replies of heroes and presidents and celebrities (yes, avril lavigne was on the list. don't laugh. she has great ... hair.), one answer stood apart from the rest.

"my role model is myself."

the eversopolite djs managed to keep from laughing their arses off, while saying that it was a "really unique answer" while most probably thinking "the philippines has a drug problem." i'm sure they wished that they were somewhere alone, like me, laughing MY arse off (not that there was much arse to begin with) in disbelief.

maybe the caller was avril lavigne.

how to know when it's time to go home

during my last night in HK, i decided to get a ton of japanese snacks from the store that carries mostly meiji (as in the makers of that yummy koala cookie thing with the chocolate inside) items.

i bought enough stuff to get me three coupons with japanese instructions on how to join a contest or find out if you've won a prize. good thing the chinese saleslady was a big help. big help. i think she was this close to having a nervous breakdown. after the communication struggle (where are subtitles when you need them?), i figured out that I won 200 HKD worth of japanese food at some restaurant. gave that to my HK-based friend because i was leaving the next day anyway.

i also won -- and as a certified junkie, this was even better than the gift certificates -- crab chips! a huge bag of it.

so back at the hotel room, i realized that due to laziness and lack of funds, the crab junk was going to be my dinner. after putting the first chip in my mouth, i was surprised to find out that my much-awaited prize was, in effect, ... KIREI.

(if you do not know kirei, shame on you.)

eating the kirei-wannabe made me homesick (like i wasn't homesick for the entire duration of the HK trip?) so after making sure i wasn't dressed as a hooker, i went down to the hotel bar to avail of my complimentary drink (which i almost completely forgot about).

i ordered a glass of white wine (because i am a boring, uncreative creature) and it arrived with a bowl of something indistinguishable in the dim lights of the bar. after putting the first indistinguishable something in my mouth, i was surprised to find out that my much-awaited free bar snack was, in effect, ... OISHI.

(if you do not know oishi, you should have stopped reading since the kirei anecdote.)

and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to know when it's time to go home. when homegrown junkfood follows you to far-off (if you consider hong kong "far-off") lands and unexpected situations.

barbeque clover, here i come.

it's true about doctor's penmanship

was very complacent about not blogging the past few days. after all, i'd written notes on what i wanted to blog about. today, i look at the disheveled, sorry-looking scrap of paper i've been carrying around in my bag and all i see are purple etchings pretending to be words.

i.do.not.understand.my.own.writing.

i hate having to rely on my memory.