Day 129: An Amazing Day

My day started with a JIVAKMUKTI class at dawn! hahahah! 7 am.

Then,  my best friend and his family arrived from Australia. We went to Sari for M's fitting and it all went well.

Then we had lunch and cupcakes. Round about 6 pm, we attended the Lenox Launch in Rustan. Sand I were both invited by the head of Rustan's home. I invited M to join me because S had to be somewhere else. 

And guess what?! For the first time in my life I won something! I won a set of very expensive china.S took it home with him because I had another party to attend. I have yet to open my prize!

After my party, M and Dave took me to the launch of a new Megawork property. I spent most of my time making paper boats with Eli while the couple talked with their agent.

I think I had too many glasses of champagnes and Shiraz .... 

It was  just a wonderful day. I also got an SMS from my old boss inviting me for champagne on the 9th! Of July!

Praise God

Still on Pause,

L

Day 128: HAIR COMBING

There is a Chinese Tradition called Hair Combing.

On the night before the wedding or the dawn of the wedding, the bride bathes in pomelo infused water and puts on her new undergarment, new pajamas, new slippers and sits before a lit dragon and phoenix or sang hee candles

Her dad will comb her hair and her mother and relatives will recite the auspicious chant. In some Chinese countries, the combing is done by what they call a "good luck woman". 

Finally, I completed all the things I need for my hair combing ceremony. But I needed to make certain modifications since some items are not readily available here. 

My bridesmaid , Alvee, got our Lao Gong ( Granpa) and Lao Po (Grand Ma) slippers in Singapore and will bring it with her when she arrives a couple of days before my wedding.

Those are alvee's feet. Hahaha

Here's my complete set. The items below are actually part of my KE TSENG or my dowry.

I have there my new pajamas, my combs, my mirror, my candles, my ruler and scissors. 

S and I even have a new set of rinsing mug and toothbrush!

The ruler is one of the modified elements.  The ruler represents GOOD JUDGEMENT. There is actually a Chinese version which is not available here... So I just have to make do with an ordinary red ruler with a sang hee sticker.

Also, we couldn't find the Dragon and Phoenix Pajama set, even in Singapore, so I just got a red one from SM.

Everything that I will use during the ceremony needs to be new. This is symbolic of the start of my new life. Syempre may new SOEN panties and New Marks and Spencer Bra din.

Since my mom can't speak Chinese, I got her the English translation of the chant. 

I wonder if there are any Pinoy wedding eve traditions too...

Still on Pause,

L

ZzzQuil

Last night, my brother and I tried ZzzQuil. He took half and I took the recommended dose.

I had the worst insomnia attacks when I was growing up. Before an exam, I swear I could see equations the moment I close my eyes. It was horrible.

It also didn't help that we had stupid roosters in our house in Iloilo. The stupid roosters would start crowing at 3 am!!!

I have tried praying, crying, counting sheeps, you name it. The worst attack I had was in UP diliman during the night before my calculus exams. I literally watched the sun rose before my very eyes.

As a former insomniac, I've tried several over the counter sleeping aids so I wanted to see the effect of this new potion I saw in S&R. I am planning to sedate myself on the night before my wedding...I really want to sleep and I'm pretty sure I will not be able too.

There are sleeping aids that hit you first on the parietal lobe. The effect makes your head almost fall back. There are those that hit your cheeks first to the point that you feel like falling flat on your face. Then there are heavy ones that hit you on the legs first and you almost can't walk.

The effect of Zzzquil started on my cheeks. I felt that I wanted to bury my face in my pillow. However, the bad thing with sleeping aids is...while you may be physically feel sleepy,  your thoughts could still be run riot. This is the agonizing part: your strong consciousness battling your physical weakness.

This went on for a good hour before I finally succumbed to sleep.

I slept for a good 11 hrs and woke up very groggy. I could barely open my eyes.

Still on Pause,

L

Day 126: S&R is like Disneyland!

In my head, I've always imagined that housewives have so much fun doing groceries in price clubs,  baking cookies, taking their kids to soccer practice, jogging in the neighborhood, hosting dinner parties etc.

I got all these ideas from watching DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. TV and Movies are valid sources of information for the delusional.

So one  of the perks of being S' (future) wife is an S&R membership. Yes! Mababaw lang po ang kaligayahan ko. Wala naman akong need na mag join ng country club. 

The first time I went there was last December with Chef Jo.  We went on a wednesday afternoon. As we watched the housewives and their yayabelles shop, we couldn't help but wish that sana we there buying our own household groceries too. Unfortunately, we were there to get ingredients for the sales conference. 

Finally, I came back to apply for my own membership.

I love the place! The assortment is crazy! It's like Disneyland I tell you! There are promos and tasting left and right. And the prices!!! They are cheaper compared to my neighborhood grocery store, Rustans.

The meats, veggies, sauces and cheeses made me  feel so excited  that I will start cooking again very soon.  Although I'm dreading to use our new electric stove and oven because those consume power like slurpees.

And you know what's the best stuff inside S&R???

SLEEPING POTIONS!

Just what I badly need to cope  with such a disappointing day courtesy of our Third Party HR. I was suppose to get my retirement and final pay cheques but they spelled my name wrong! Hay nako.

Still on Pause,

L 

I'm not smarter than a 1st Grader

When I went to my MIL's office, she was talking to the daughter of one of the tenants.

This 7 year old girl can speak fluent fookien and even mandarin.

Wow! I'm impressed ( and honestly, I was quite envious) that she could converse with my MIL with such command of the language.

Oh, she's from China but still, it's amazing!

I feel the same way when I hear kids in Paris speaking fluent French.

Hahaha!

Day 125: Ting Hun Lauriat

Truth be told, S and I never got to enjoy our Ting Hun Lauriat in Century Hotel because we were busy having our photos taken and entertaining all our well wishers.


Despite the fact that S chose Century because they are famous for their CHINESE FOOD, the most amazing meal we had that day was from Tapa King, which we had later that evening.

Today, we had lunch together with family of S and some his parents' friends. Apparently they paid for an extra table for  the Ting Hun Banquet just incase more guests showed up. 

So, 6 months later I finally got to see and taste our Ting Hun Lauriat.  

Since I'm not a food blogger, I will only share the picture of the dishes and I won't even bother to describe them at all. Boooooo!

Eh I don't know how to blog about food e!  That and I'm too lazy to write today.

I recommend you visit Tsinoyfoodies.com for  more credible food reviews.

Anyway, our 12 course lauriat or "pan-to"  started with...

1. Hot appetizer

2. Prawn Salad

And progressed to...

The Annunaki and the Creation of Men

Last April, my cousin told me about this theory he stumbled upon. He read about the Annunaki and their role in the creation of men.

I was hooked and intrigued because of its high degree of possibility.  Then I told my brother and my brother responded by explaining to me the theory of relativity. My brother is a "Trekkie" (Star Trek Fanatic). If you are a trekkie, the concept of time travel, genetic modification and aliens are matters of fact and not fiction.

He later made me watch several episodes of COSMOS and I swear I felt a bit smarter right about the 5th episode. By the 9th episode I decided to get the first book of Zecharia Sitchen.

So theory goes like this:

Day 122: My Gua Ma's Legacy

Thank you mama for giving me survival genes!

You give a new meaning to  the phrase "May Pinagmanahan".

I come from a family of "well- endowed" women.  This is my gua ma's legacy, her fantabulous boobies.

And so, today, I went to do my nearly final fitting with my coutourier and he posted my dress and my cleavage on his FB wall.

I saw a comment that cracked me up. It says...

Day 121: Sniff sniff

Boohoo! S gave me the flu! F

Finally after 5 days, my immune system gave in and welcomed the virus into my system.

It also didn't help that I have been feeding the evils with my body with sugar, which is of course their favorite.

Usually I shed off a few lbs. when I have the flu but not this time. I've been craving (hence eating) chips the whole day.

Still on Pause,

L

Day 120: I Hate Chatarungas

If there is one thing I love about being "ON PAUSE", it's the opportunity to do yoga at 9 in the morning.  In the past, 9 am was the time my outlook greets me with sh*tloads of emails. Nowadays, I just greet the sun.

I love yoga but I have this feeling that it really hates me. The hardest part is going into chatarunga  repeatedly.

The correct charunga pose is elbow above wrist. Easy to say, easy to write but it's so hard to do. 

Last week, I felt really crappy because the yogi in one of the hip ashrams repeatedly told me "Elbows above wrist" in a rather frustrated tone.  It's not that I don't understand what it means but without a mirror, I really couldn't see what I was doing wrong.

But since I'm a firm believer that "Weapons are built through fire", I'm sure his strictness was necessary. What I did not achieve in mental zen, I did receive in psychical pain. Which is good because pain the validation that an exercise is effective. 

I'm pretty sure I looked like this most of the time...