Avenge on The Avengers

So yesterday, my officemates and I were supposed to watch The Avengers on the big screen. We have talked and planned about this a week ago and finally settled to see it Wednesday, May 2 so as to avoid the crowd. In fact, I volunteered to buy the movie tickets a day in advance to make sure we’ll get a good seat. We chose the 5:15pm sched because the next one’s at 8:15pm and it will be too late already.

Imagine how excited I was. I know Thor misses me so much.

Bleh.

Fine. I miss Chris Hemsworth (and his soulful eyes) so much. 

But of course I miss his sexy abs more.

He is so breathtaking I remember myself stridently sipping from the large cup of soda seeing him go topless in Thor. LOL.

Nakakahiya, pero keber lang. Eh sa sexy siya eh. Ang kokontra may problema sa utak.

Nyahaha. :p

I was praying for time to move faster. But with the turn of events at work, all the excitement I was feeling vanished, replaced by severe disappointment. 

At lunch time, we already knew that something was wrong with our trading system. I just didn’t expect it will take the entire afternoon to fix it.

Actually, not even because it was past 7pm by the time we were (half) done.

I am not an I.T. freak so I don’t know how to describe it in a technical way. All I know was the transactions we had for the day were “erased” and so the option was to restore the system. In short, we have to input everything again as if it’s one ordinary trading day.

We were told to wait. Kumbaga, parang hold departure order gaya ng lagi naming biruan sa office.

Patay! I promised Dei susunod kami. : /

My mind was silently protesting. Being expressive that I am, I cannot conceal my eagerness to leave and watch the movie.

Hello? 200 pesos din kaya yun! Saka, nagpunta pa kong Greenbelt kahit malakas ang ulan para lang bumili ng tickets. 

Effort huh!

It was 4:30pm when Aaron (the programmer) came. 

Nabuhayan ako ng loob. Sa isip-isip ko, mabilis lang siguro to!

I was literally behind him, loudly cheering and silently praying at the same time.

But to no avail. My heart was sinking; my spirit slowly dipping down.

Sometimes optimism is just not enough. Sigh.

Seeing me sad, some offered to do the “inputting” for us.  I hesitated but still went. So Badz and I left at 5:10pm (ninja moves). Hehe.

Greenbelt, without traffic, is a short 5-minute drive from the office.

We hurriedly walked to the parking area. I even texted Dei that we were on our way.

Yes! Aabot kami!

Or so I thought.

Barely a minute on the road, Badz and I were talking if we really should go watch the movie. It seems something was pulling us back. With a heavy heart, we decided to go back to the office.

Visualize this: we were already at the intersection of Makati Avenue and Ayala Avenue waiting for the green traffic sign. Just across it is Greenbelt, almost. But instead, we turned right to Ayala Avenue and right again at Paseo de Roxas driving our way back to the office building.

I called Dei telling her we can’t make it to the movie and will join them on dinner instead. She sounded as disappointed as I was.

It was my unlucky day. It felt like we were sabotaged. Seems OA but that’s how I felt, really. Haha.

Maybe I was not meant to watch.

Because guess what? It was actually a good decision that we went back.

We bought munchies and danced and chitchat and fooled around while waiting for instructions on what to do. Waiting is such an agony.

Apparently, the transactions that were affected were not only for that day, but as well as those on Monday, April 30.

Great. It meant we all have to start from scratch.

Finally, it was decided that we finish the transactions for April 30 that night and save the May 2 transactions for the next day. Coolness! I only have two! But of course, I offered to input for others who had plenty. 

Few minutes later, we were finally done! Thanks Heavens!

We then headed to Greenbelt for a sumptuous greek dinner at CYMA. This is my way to avenge on fate for not letting me watch The Avengers. I needed to seal the night with the best dinner.  

Madalas, pagkain lang naman talaga katapat ko. Haha.

magtitiyaga muna ako dito habang di ko pa nararating ang Santorini. :D

yummy Roka Salata

iba naiisip ko dahil sa swirl. :p

 

grilled pork chops

full slab baby back ribs with stuffed pepper as side dish

So, do you think I had a great dinner last night? 

Aba siyempre! Lambot ng ribs!

Solb na solb! :D

Anyhoo, I or we might not have watched The Avengers whose showing I’ve long anticipated. But what is 200 pesos and Thor comparing to our call of duty? Naks. Haha.

In all honesty, the frustration I felt was momentary. I know I will not enjoy the movie as much as I would have when at the back of my mind, I was thinking of the work we left undone. 

And I don't wanna be bothered with my thoughts about Thor. Nyahaha.

Besides, I can always watch it anytime, probably this weekend. 

 

Tee Hee! :p

P.S.

Lord, sana wala na pong aberya this time.  Salamat po! :D

Sayang lang these tickets below are useless now. :(

 

unused tickets namin ni Badz. 400 petot down the drain. :(

*Credits to Dei for the food pics*

Saigon, Vietnam: PHOod Trip

For our first day, we got back late from the Cu Chi Tour at around 3:00 PM so we opted to go to the War Museum first since it closes at 5:00 PM. I was losing all the energy I had early on that day because we haven’t taken lunch. Mom’s a girl scout because she had some munchies on her bag she brought all the way from ‘Pinas. Too bad I’m not a fan of otap, a delicacy from Cebu City, Philippines. Hehe

Our first meal in Saigon was at Pho 2000, a block away from Saigon Square. It is also known as the Pho for the President since it is where former US Pres. Bill Clinton dined when he went there. I guess it has many branches around the city since I also saw one outside Ben Thanh Market.

Here are the photos of our late lunch/early dinner:

 

Our total bill was 147,000 VND. That amount already includes two cans of soda and fee for the use of wet tissue. LOL. I know I read somewhere that if you use it, you’ll be charged separately for it. 

It looks like this:

"Discarded After Use" LOL

I totally forgot about it so we used it and of course paid for it.

Ahhh… never again! I always bring a pack of tissue and a bottle of alcohol with me so why would I pay for a small piece of wet wipes, regardless if it’s cheap? Haha.

We both were full until late night so we decided not to have dinner. Instead, we went to Baskin Robbins for dessert. I ordered banana split for me and mom. It’s quite pricey at 190,000 VND.

ayaw talaga marotate ng pic ni mama. haha

On our second day, plated lunch was part of the tour but drinks were not included so we had a separate order for it. It was so hard to resist not drinking soda since the heat was scorching. 

complimentary tea + plated lunch

We got back to the hotel at almost 8pm, freshened up a bit and then went out to have dinner at KFC for a total bill of less than 100,000 VND.

finger-lickin' good!

On our last day, we had lunch at Quan An Ngon near The Reunification Palace. The ambiance was nice and food was surprisingly cheap. Here is what we ordered. Our total bill was 185,000 VND.

Quan An Ngon 138.  Cha Gio (Fried Spring Rolls) is a must-try!

Come dinner, we saw Pho 24 so we decided to eat there. I just wanted to know how it differs from their branch here in Makati. I skipped on Pho since I had so much of it since Day 1 and had a rice meal instead. We paid a total of 129,000 VND. It pretty much tasted the same compared here.

If you are more adventurous, you can try the Pho served in the side streets. My mom didn’t want to since they don’t look as clean so we limted ourselves to a more private, enclosed restaurants.

By the way, we also tried the mango being sold in the streets/park and boy, it was yummy! I’m starting to drool over it again. Hehe.

Overall, food in Saigon is great and cheap. Their (iced) coffee is to die for. I wish I had the chance to try their desserts, though. :)

Army Navy Saved the Day!

I am unusually melancholic lately. It must be the weather. The summer heat is unbearable. And I’m having breakouts and I hate it. 

Last night, I involuntarily woke up at 3:00 AM.

Weird. 

I slept at 12 midnight and I wasn’t even half way on my journey to dreamland. 

I felt restless and it was just so hard for me to get back to sleep.

I tried to think if something has been bothering me. But I can’t think of any, consciously at least.

I finally got back to sleep close to 5:00 AM. One hour later, I woke up again.

Ggrrr...

C’mon! What is with this (Fri)day?  I reckon.  – Naks! Siyempre I thought of that in Hiligaynon. Haha. :p

Surprisingly, I was up from bed earlier than usual and I didn’t even have to force myself.

On my way to work, I know I wasn’t hungry and matter of factly, I don’t eat breakfast.

But I’m craving for something. Of course, I gave in. I’m only human susceptible to earthly temptations. Nyahaha. 

I’m so happy I did! 

Indeed Army Navy's burger and libertea saved my almost sleepless day! :D

my 230 petot breakfast

Bacolod, I Keep Coming Back!

The reasons why I keep coming back to Bacolod despite the increase in fuel surcharge on plane fares and the exorbitant terminal fees can be summarized by 3 F’s.

F for Family – this is given. I value my independence but there is still no place like home. 

F for Food! Bacolod is such a haven for food lovers. Who haven’t heard about Chicken Inasal? And there’s also Calea’s Cakes catching up on the fame for the best-tasting yet affordable cakes. Their Imported Chocolate Cake is a personal favorite.

F for Friends – Oh how I love them! Every trip home is not complete without me seeing my friends. And I’m glad that they always make time for me. Though we stay connected thru various social networking sites and mobile technology, it is different when we bond and share laughter over lunch/dinner. 

In our case, we don’t only eat, we sing! 

And this 3 F’s can further be described into one word which also starts with F --- FUN!