what do i say?

i ordered stuff from this online shop...  then as part of their feedback mechanism i got e-mails with the following subject lines:

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of Papaya Goat's Milk Soap?"

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of Lightening Triple Rice Soap?"

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of Coffee & Seaweed Soap?"

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of Honey Bar?"

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of White Peppermint Loofah Soap?"

and then these, too:

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of <shop> Gift Card (P100)?"

"Hey Maria Cynthia, what do you think of <shop> Gift Card (P1,000)?"

hehe...

the organic soaps are good...  the gift cards look pale though...  ; )

second thought

parents had late afternoon snacks...  dinnertime, dad walked by the dining area and saw my mom...

dad:  'i thought you said you were not going to eat anymore...'

mom:  'i thought so, too...'

; )

man vs. machine

me:  'my camera's not working so i'm using my mom's...  last christmas i just used my sister's phone...'

mom's friend:  'but your mom's camera takes too long to click...'

me:  'hehe...  no...  it was just set on video when you went out...  i just did screencaps so you'd have pics...  you had a lot of videos and i could hear you wondering why the camera won't click...'

; p

creature of habit

brother and i were at a bike shop...  he bought a bike...  then he asks me:  'did you bring your license?'

me:  'yes...'

brother:  'just be the one to drive home...'

me:  'you're going to bike home?'
(he bikes all over...  across cities...  through towns...  to far away provinces...)

brother:  'yes...'

me:  'aw!  i'm not used to driving that car!  i find it too big...'
(it's a minivan...  mine's a compact...)

we ended up going home with him still as driver and me still as passenger...

on this earth, we leave as we came...  ; )

catalyst

passed a long line of parallel-parked cars...

me:  'how come all these cars go beyond the lines?'

brother:  'all you need is one car to park the wrong way and the succeeding cars would have to park outside the line as well...'

well, if it were me i'd skip one slot to minimize the number of wrongly-parked cars...  but yeah, that option may not always be available...

oftentimes you have to do so much more in order to curb wrong...

family

gift-giving at cousin's place...  recipients' names being called out...  aunt...  cousin...  niece...  boyfriend...  nephew...

and then:  "pochi and chelsea..."

the dogs!  : D

arf!  arf!  ; )

yours or mine

my house is so tiny and i couldn't find this gift i bought early for christmas.  actually, i really like that item.  is it a sign that i should keep it for myself?  ; )

presentation

friend asked me to order gifts for his officemates from this online store which last year had a special gold packaging for their christmas shipments...

me:  'oh...  there's a notice on their site that there's a hiccup, yup, that is the term they used, in their deliveries...  expect delays...  i dunno whether they'll be able to deliver by christmas...  is it okay if it's late?'

friend:  'it's okay...  i'm not after christmas...  i'm after the gold packaging...'

:"}

expect the unexpected

mom watching miss universe on tv...  dad walked by and miss universe was miss colombia...  he got something outside, came right back in and miss universe was miss philippines...  his reaction was priceless...

yup, things could so unexpectedly change in a major way in a very short time...

ice-cold

eating boiled peanuts from the province...

me:  'when did you buy this, mom?'

mom:  'i bought it yesterday...  but i did reheat...'

me:  'it's cold...'

mom:  'of course...  i heated it in [the province] yet...'

me:  'i mean, it is really COLD...'

mom:  'oh...  it was packed close to the ice in the cooler...'

: }

it's not that

part 1

ordered one glass of halo-halo...

me:  'miss, could you divide it into two?  we'll just share but please put it in separate glasses...'

service crew:  'okay, ma'am...  we'll also give you additional ice...'

me:  'oh, don't!  we're full...  we're sharing because we won't be able to finish one...  i'm just forcing her to try it...'

wahaha...  i wonder whether it looked like we were simply scrimping...  ; )

part 2

me:  'this is not like the usual halo-halo...  it's sticky and the ice is fine and it doesn't have as many ingredients...  it's mainly macapuno...  i don't like macapuno...  i dunno whether you do...'

friend:  'you don't like macapuno?'

me:  'no...'

friend:  'then why did you order this?'

me:  'so you could try it...  this halo-halo is famous here...  it's originally from pampanga but they now have branches all over...  the balikbayan oldies like it...'

friend:  'are you saying i'm old?'

me:  'hehe...  i'm saying you're a balikbayan!'

; p

true to her word

at a pizza parlor...  phone of the lady at the other table rang...

lady:  'i'm on my way...'

i thought, just like those in jokes, she'd just continue eating and not really be on her way yet...

but no...  she told her companions she'd just rush to this remittance center and then she'd quickly come back...

well, she did leave her food and went on her way...

not everyone lies...  : )

truth in advertising

checking out merchandise online...  saw this in the description for one of the items:

"Sadly though, the 4,000mAh battery isn't removable."

wahaha...  i wonder who wrote that copy...  not hard sell...  not soft sell...  sort of unsell...  \m/

for the right reasons

courier delivering my package...

me:  'wow!  he's wearing shades!'

courier:  'aw, ma'am!  i'm taking it off...'

me:  'why take it off?  it looks good on you...'

courier:  'i'm embarrassed...  i don't wear shades often and then you notice me...'

me:  'of course!  it's more noticeable when it's not usual...'

the important thing is to get noticed for something good and not for bad...

in your eyes

so for the first time ever, my seventeen-year-old niece told me what i was wearing was nice.  the piece of clothing?  distressed jeans...  yup, holey, stonewashed denims!  something i received as a gift fifteen years ago!  (ahahaha...  i do have and still wear decades-old clothes...)

i've worn gowns and dresses and good tops and formal pants and it's this shabby-looking denim that gets complimented...

beauty, indeed, is in the eye of the beholder...  \m/

tears

the FEU (far eastern university) tamaraws won over the UST (university of sto. tomas) growling tigers in the men's basketball finals of the 78th UAAP (university athletic association of the philippines) giving them their 20th championship after 10 years.

in her TV patrol report, newscaster zen hernandez said that it was 20 years ago when the two teams faced each other in the finals and that time, FEU 'ang umuwing luhaan.'

me:  'that expression is interesting...  'umuwing luhaan' (go home in tears)...  so in our culture when you lose you weep?'

sister:  'yes...'

me:  'but if you win you could also shed tears of joy, right?  so win or lose you could go home with tears...'

uhm...  the thoughts that cross my mind...  :"}

as i was saying

yesterday my mom asked me to check whether her camera's battery is still ok as she was scheduled to go out with friends.

i checked.  batt's good but cam was set to video.

me:  'why is this on video?  you have to make sure it's on camera.'

so i showed her where the tab should be, explaining this, emphasizing that.

she said ok.

well, today she comes home with a bunch of short vids showing her and her friends wondering / getting tired of holding their pose because instead of clicking, the camera showed a red circle (it was recording video!)...  : }

i had to do screencaps so they would have pics.

cue beyonce...

♩ ♪  LISTEN  ♫ ♬

; )