timing

at a store...

me: 'are you going to have a sale before christmas?'

staff: 'we just had a sale over the weekend, ma'am...'

me: 'last weekend?'

staff: 'yes, ma'am... halloween sale...'

me: 'halloween's tomorrow yet...'

staff: 'but the mall-wide sale was over the weekend, ma'am...'

me: 'mall-wide?! i'm here weekly! the time i don't come is the time you have your sale?!'

wah!

far-reaching

walking along glorietta 1... entered a home store...  i was about to check in in swarm when i noticed that their address in swarm is glorietta 3.

me: 'are you glorietta 3, not glorietta 1?'

staff: 'we're glorietta 4...'

me: '4? it says here 3... i was thinking 1...'

staff pointing outside: 'that part is glorietta 1... this entrance is 3 but our main entrance [pointing to the other end] is 4...'

me: 'hehe... not brewed [coffee], huh? 3 in 1...'

; p

a matter of taste

checking out cakes...

me:  'what's your bestseller?'

staff:  'the cherry tart...  whenever we have it, it quickly gets sold out...'

me:  'what's next?  i mean, what's your second top seller?'

staff:  'the assorted fruit tart...'

me:  'what's the third?'

staff:  'the blueberry cheesecake...'

me:  'hehe...  i've been waiting for you to mention the chocolate cake...  that's what i wanted to get...'

my preference just failed validation...  ;"p

haste

at a bank...

me to guard:  'don't you have...?'

guard cuts me off with, 'over there...'

me  'wow!  i haven't finished the question you already know the answer!'

guard smiles...

i go to the direction of his hand...  there on the corner were express assist machines...

i go back to the guard...

me:  'hehe...  not those...  i'm looking for expressonline machines...'

guard:  'oh...  we don't have that...'

hehe...

there is such a thing as too soon...  ; p

exterior

sister and i ordered gelato and started eating as soon as we were handed our cups...

suddenly i go: 'we forgot to take pictures!'

uhn, i like to take pics of food... non-food, too... anything and everything and anyone and everyone actually... :")

my sister then puts her empty cup on the counter and tells me i can take a pic of it...

hahaha... no thanks...

it's what's inside that matters...

misspelled

i saw a fairly new street sign that says Camarino on a road i've known as Camerino for as far back as i can remember.

my immediate reaction was that the street sign is wrong.
right after that, it was:  could what i (and the residents of the area) have known for decades be the one that was incorrect?

i googled.

given the other street names in the vicinity, i think the most probable Camerino was Casimiro Camerino. he led a revolt in Cavite in the 1860s against the land-grabbing of friars. the revolt is known in philippine history as the Camerino Revolt.

the street sign is installed very near the barangay office.  right under the nose of those who are supposed to keep order in the area.

better correct it, guys.

two for the road

craving 7-eleven's cheesy pepperdog last 'night'... i went to a nearby branch and was taken aback when the staff greeted me 'good morning'...

ahahaha... yup, it was almost 1 a.m.!
and guess what, they don't have cheesy pepperdog anymore ->  as in they haven't had such delivery in a long time...  : }

i had to settle for something else.  i usually have just one hotdog but this time i had two.  after finishing one i felt like i wanted more and readily went for it thinking it would make the past midnight trip to the convenience store worth it...

craving satisfied, two for one...

burp... ;")

lookit

boarded a bus to the province... i was on the aisle seat... my seatmate pushed the window curtain forward stopping just several inches from his face... for me to see the view, i would have to see his face as well...

wahehe...

face it... ; p

ubiquitous

stopped by a town i've 'known' from as far back as i can remember but have not at all explored.

me to bus conductor: 'what's good here? where do you recommend i eat?"

bus conductor: 'jollibee...'

hehe... where i live there's a nearby road where there are five jollibees within an 850m stretch...

i traveled 97 kms to have more of the same?

[chicken] joy! ; D

invisible cost

loooong line at a brownies unlimited stall...

me to guard: 'excuse me, why is the line so long? what do they have?'

guard points to a sign:
as part of their 30th anniversary blowout,
they're selling a box of 4 brownies for P30
limited to one box per customer

me: 'wow! that's a big drop!'

[regular price is
P27 to P32 per brownie;
P85 for a box of four non-premium flavors]

guard points to the end of the line: 'you can join the queue...'

me: 'oh, no, thanks...'

it's a good price... but if i factor in the time i'll spend on the queue, it's not a good buy...

subjective

me to shop assistant: 'were you the one i talked to last time?'

shop assistant: 'no, ma'am...'

another assistant comes forward: 'it was i, ma'am...'

me: 'was it you?'

assistant 2: 'yes, ma'am...'

me: 'i seem to remember someone different...'

assistant 2: ''twas me, ma'am... i gave you a sample...'

me: 'the soap?'

assistant 2: 'yes, ma'am... i remember you.... you were wearing a sexy outfit...'

me: 'sexy?! i don't wear sexy!'

assistant 2: 'you were wearing a dress, ma'am...'

[i was wearing cropped pants this time.]

me: 'ay, yeah... i like dresses... which dress is that though?'

assistant 2: 'it was a long dress, ma'am... black and white...'

me: 'oh... that one?
[it's a loose mid-calf or even longer sleeveless dress... regular neckline... nothing revealing...]
that's not sexy at all!'

assistant 2: 'it looked sexy to me, ma'am...'

hehe...

sexy is in the eye of the beholder...

) . (

slim chance

there are certain flavors that, i dunno for what reason, i don't like. teriyaki, raisin, cinnamon, strawberry.

well, this evening i saw a box of dunkin' donuts munckins at my parents' place. i picked one out hoping/expecting it's bavarian. guess what, it's strawberry!

how many munchkins are there in a box? what are the chances that i would get something i don't like?

sometimes a fat chance becomes kinda literally fat... ; p

no-frills

eating cake...

me: 'this is good! how much is it?'

reply: '<price>...'

me: 'oh... it's expensive... a slice of cake at UCC is only slightly higher... that's already UCC...'

reply: 'i think it's the packaging that made it expensive... when she ran out of containers, she sold the cake for only <price minus P100>...'

me: 'oh, hehe... next time forgo the container... we're not gonna eat it anyway...'

:"p

snooty

rushing to finish my food...  we're still going somewhere else and my friend has finished his...

me:  'tell me stories while i'm gulping this down...'  :"O

friend:  'what stories do i tell you?'

me:  'anything!'

friend:  'you might not be interested...'

me:  'i'll just listen while i eat...'

friend:  'if you talk about things other people can't relate to, they'll just shut off...'

me:  'don't tell me you're just gonna watch while i gobble...  pretend i'm your smartest student, what else are you gonna teach me?'

friend:  'you're already smart...  what else do i tell you?  keep it up!'

me:  'haha...  i thought you were gonna say, 'oh, c'mon!'...  okay, pretend i'm your dumbest student, what are you gonna tell me?'

friend:  'i won't talk to you!'

wah!

the time is now

i was at the supermarket and i was supposed to buy this ice cream flavor which i did not notice was already the lone stock.  i checked the freezer when i arrived.  the flavor was there.  since it's ice cream, however, i didn't get it right away.  i roamed the other aisles first.

guess what, when i went back to get the ice cream, the pint was gone.  i checked the other items in the freezer, there was no more of said flavor!  wah!

some things will not wait for you.  be careful what you postpone.

living a game

friend inviting me to dinner at this hotel...

me:  'does it have to be today?'

friend:  'not really...  why?  are you going somewhere?'

me:  'no...  but i was already at a hotel last night...  i've used my x3 hotel sticker...  if i go to a hotel now, i won't get bonus points anymore...  if i go next week, i'll get triple points...'

friend:  'swarm again?!'

haha...  yeah...  ;"p

why only now

dropped my sister off at the office yesterday... then decided to stop by this restaurant nearby...

so the parking attendant guided me to this tight spot and after i've squeezed my car in, he asks: 'are you going to eat, ma'am?'

me: 'yes...'

he goes: 'they open at 9:30...'

me: 'what?!'

it was only a few minutes past 8 a.m.!

wah!

me to parking attendant: 'you should have told me before i squeezed in...'

i backed off  ->  and did not give a tip...

fairly bad...  : }

make it double

eating out with a friend... after choosing our food, he asked what i want to drink...

me: 'just water...'

friend: 'don't you want juice?'

me: 'i try not to order drinks when i'm at a restaurant...'

friend: 'why?'

me: 'i like to get my drink someplace else... if i order it at the restaurant, that would be just one [swarm] check-in... if i order it at some other venue, that would be two check-ins...'

;"p

not the other way around

going to two banks across the street from each other...

i parked in one then told the guard:  'i'm crossing over to that bank but i'm coming back here...  i'm going to withdraw there for deposit in your bank...'

the guard chuckled...

fair enough...  ;")

get here

i was supposed to go somewhere this morning but when i arrived at the place, parking was full. i decided to just check out this other place within the compound.

when i got there, i wanted to check in in swarm but the venues were not yet created. i therefore went on to map them myself.

guess what, i asked maybe ten people for the names of the streets in front of and beside the venue and not a single one knew! tenants, customers, uniformed personnel, civilians, regulars, passers-by, they all knew how to get to the place but they did not know the names of the streets bordering the venue.

i actually had a similar experience at araneta center. i've asked a dozen people (tenants, customers, guards (!)) what the name of the street between shopwise and SM is before i got someone who knew. and even then, he wanted me to confirm by looking for/at the street sign.  haha.  i myself have been going to the area for decades and yet never bothered to learn.

some things you really don't have to know.  the important thing is to get where you're going.

beyond existence

shirt print...

"Lazy Rule:
Can't reach it.
Don't need it."

wahaha... easy way out...

"Life begins at the end of your confort zone."

live.

not meant to be

at the car wash a little past 9 p.m. (they're open until 10:00 p.m.)... i saw the barbeque stall i first saw two months ago still open...

me: 'oh... you're still open... i've been coming here, i don't see you...'

vendor: 'i open around 4:00...'

me: 'oh? but last month i was here late, too, you weren't around...'

vendor: 'maybe i attended to something...'

me: 'oh... ok... you're still grilling?'

vendor: 'no more barbecue left... i'm cleaning up...'

me: 'oh... what time will you open tomorrow?'

vendor: 'i won't be selling tomorrow... i need to wash our clothes...'

hehe...  ok... i'll just have pizza... ; p

notch higher

telling a friend i just might hit 3,000 points 3 weeks in a row in swarm...

me: 'i already have 2,400 something points and there's still one day to go... i still have so many x3 stickers...'

friend: 'how would you feel if you don't do swarm?'

me: 'oh, ok!  i don't do swarm everyday... i try to schedule all my outings together so i don't go out everyday... the only times i do is when i'm running errands for someone else...'

i'll be happy even without swarm...
but definitely i'm happier with it... ; )

prepare

there's this check-in app that i use. it's a gamified lifelog. you check in at places that you go to and, aside from keeping track of these places for you, it also awards you points for your check-ins.

the more check-ins you have within a certain venue, the more points you get. i've lost so many points before because the venues i visited did not have the parent venue specified.

today, therefore, before i left the house, i checked the venues i was visiting and supplied the parent venues for those that did not have the said info.   (i am a superuser and have some edit privileges.)  well, i got full points... yay!

it pays to check...  : )

teacher

happy world teachers day... : )

special thanks to all my teachers, in school and out...  :")

my fave teacher quotes:

"Teaching is the mother of all professions."

"To teach is to learn twice."

more power...

more patience...  ; )

drop it

sister: 'where's Landers?'

me: 'the nearest is ArcoVia...'

sister: 'where's ArcoVia?'

me: 'from Pasig, along C5, you enter this street, before Calle Industria...'
-> wahaha...  waaaayyyy before!  misleading info...  sorry...  i dunno why for some reason that's the street that entered my mind...  :"}

sister starts to chuckle: 'where's Calle Industria?'

hehe... just go to AllDay... ; p

moment

my mom asked me to buy lunch for her and her friends...  they gave me their Senior Citizen cards.  when my companion and i presented them to the cashier, she asked whether we are the seniors...  wahaha...  toinks!!!

specialty

went to Bulalohan sa España... we were supposed to get lunch for my mom and her friends (us, too)...

i asked my companion to choose the viand as it's their 'territory'... it was my first time there... i rarely go to the area...

she ordered chicken liver and a vegetable dish...

me: 'aren't we getting bulalo?'

she goes: 'you want?'

me: 'yeah... it's in their name... let's try what they"re known for...'

show me what you've got...  ; )

had i known

i was at a mall and a young lady invited me to join the mall's promotion.

you'd have to follow the mall on twitter.
tweet what you want for christmas tagging the mall in the tweet.
then you'd be given your choice of voucher:
a session in this gym
or
a P100 gift check for this store.

i followed, tweeted, tagged then opted for the gift check.

i was so happy... : )

and then another customer stopped by. she, too, was invited by the promo staff to tweet what she wants for christmas.

the customer asked: 'can i ask for a boyfriend?'

i chuckled: 'why not? i asked for good health for me and my loved ones...'

the promo staff replied: 'when you win, the mall will give you what you tweeted...'

me: 'what?! i just asked for cake and ice cream!'

my tweet:
"good health for me and my loved ones
cake and ice cream, too"

:O

hawthorne

last sunday, for the first time ever in my 8-year history of using foursquareswarm, i hit 3,000 points in one week. that one was unexpected.  four-and-a-half hours before the leaderboard's close, i was surprised to find that i needed only 25 more points to reach 3,000 so i went for it.

well, this week was deliberate. i planned my check-ins, haha... i listed down all the categories i have to go to then ticked them off one by one. it worked! i'm finishing with 3,114 points this week. last week it was 3,072.

both times i still had plenty of unused level 3 stickers.

i just realized that i could hit 3,000 weekly (more, actually) if i planned it.  but maybe twice in a row is enough.

i want the log to reflect my life. not for my life to be driven by the points.

i have 38 streaks right now. some i sustained for the fun of it. some are streaks that really reflect my days.

pizza, i'll keep you.
car wash, i'll drop.

;")