(cos im tamad to retype)
dear sacha, andee, carolina, kat & miel,
greetings from the humidity of manila!
so far i have done nothing but eat. my tummy isn't used to eating that much so its protesting a bit. i shouldn't go into detail cos its kinda gross. So far I've had adobo, pancit bihon and lumpia (sacha you like lumpia!). Mum has gotten me soy milk so I'm still having cereal for brekkie. I have a prepaid mobile and yesterday I finished my first load of PhP 300 (about 8 dollars aus) in two hours just telling everyone what my number was and calling. Its been really fun to call these people who don't know the number and are all like, who's this and go "Poooopieeeeee" or "heeeelllllooooo its meeee" and have everyone scream.
my flight was slightly uneventful. I watched three movies (yes, three!) scoop, los dos lados de la cama (its the sequel to los otros lados, sacha it wasn't as good and the actresses changed! they made everyone gay.) and stormbreaker with this really hot 14 year old. I also saw the end of step it up the channing tatum movie and project runway. i was soooo bored during my layover in singapore i kept going on line. there was a 15 minute limit for the internet so i would go, walk around and come back. i have had the shittiest coffee ever - the place i got my coffee from had bad coffee but a really good cranberry-orange cake.
when i got to manila it was really humid. from the air, before landing you can see SM Mall of Asia, the biggest mall in southeast asia. as you descend, tis like this big blue SM sign is looming up at you from the ground next to all these lights from the fishermen's boats on the bay. my cousin anthony, who works in the airport met me at the gate. he saw my name on the manifest and went to say hi. of course the first thing he said was, "lumaki ka ha" (you've gotten bigger) so far my family has been considerate enough not to mention this, although mum throws it in every now and then in a fake discreet way.
when i got home everything was the same but different. they got a new giant jelly bean shaped car because my cousin vanessa studies in UST where it floods and she has to be picked up there. its a bit ungainly and it seats seven (perfect for kat and co!) but i am from a family of two so that doesn't really make sense to me. mum had packed up a lot of stuff in my room but all my books are still there. i am surprised that there are less books that i haven't read than i thought. all my romance novels are on the top shelf which is the biggest and they are very dusty. i am rereading some old ones now.
i still have some jetlag. it is three hours ahead and i am quite sleepy by 9 o'clock. i still however get up at 830 which is the equivalent of 1130 australia time bwahahaha. i looked through my closet. mom has always said that she can't send me anymore stuff because none of it will fit me anymore but hello they're all t-shirts and i fit!!! yesterday i tried to wear one of them but you know how there's always a strip of skin that shows between your low rise pants and your shirt, mom goes, its not uso anymore (that's not what people wear here anymore) and i think she thought i looked fat so i rolled my eyes and changed. otherwise mum has been quite nice and strangely we have been bonding.
yesterday i had lunch in cibo my favorite restaurant with my friend therese. we had gorgonzola & spinach dip, penne al telefono (cream, cheese, tomatoes) and red grape shake. i knew what to order before we even sat down. I also wandered around the malll quite a bit. i almost walked up the wrong escalator. i also kept going to the wrong sections, and i would remember when i was almost there, its good to know that the mall (glorietta) hasn't changed so much and that i still remember how to get around.
i tried to get my nbi clearance for my visa but they wouldn't let me cos i didn't have the original so i have to go to carriendo which is like in old manila, in the trafficky part of the city. i also went to the giant Zara flagship store (carolina! the clothes are soooo nice!!!). i want to get a suit and a pair of jeans and maybe a mini skirt. the skirts here are kinda long, its only zara and mango that have short ones. i also saw this really nice winter coat, but not like i need another one.
my best friend joey came over for dinner and i fell asleep at nine while he was downloading my music. the broadband here is a bit wonky, you have to double click on something to connect and get the internet!!! my cousin's internet connection is sooo complicated, she has one cpu, another machine, a dsl box, a ups and you have to have the fan automatically opened pointing at the cpu battery thingy or else it overheats!!! and you don't always get to connect to dsl. its quite strange. i had to go on dial up yesterday and of course i ran out in like an hour.
today i am having lunch with a family friend, having coffee with my old persian boss who is visiting from the states and then watching casino royale with my cousin and having coffeee with my friend john. (okay im loaded up till i leave!)
Okay at this point suddenly my cousin's monitor just blacked out and i have had to go to my room and get into the dial up!!! i have tried to fix it but the myriad of connections are too much for my patience. (I miss our broadband connection. siiigh)
Andee: my cousin has this really nice bag for 150 pesos bought in divy i think i know where to get your present hahaha also how do i get in touch w/ your mom/dad re crossword puzzles
Miel: i told my mom about the house and she is very interested. will talk to you about it later.
hope you are all doing well!
cheers!
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