~* HAVE YOU FACED YOUR POCKET? *~

Have you ever heard about Faceyourpockets.com? Last week, I saw my friend Claire post Faceyourpockets-inspired photos on her Multiply. And then I saw the site being featured in Inquirer's Super. How could I not resist the infectious pixel bug?

Here's mine :-) Can you tell that I'm a bit of an O.C.? Or am I just an over-prepared girl scout?

* click photo for a larger view

~* AJINOMOTO HIGH BY DAMPA *~

Another obscure fact about me is that I've never eaten in the so-called "Dampa" places (I think the original one is in uhh, Parañaque?) wherein you literally shop around for your own seafood desire in a wet market and then have a restaurant cook them according to your fancy. My friends Abbie, Charo and Jako found out about this weeks ago, as we dined at Pancake House after watching the Aga-Maricel-Angelika movie "A Love Story". They hatched a plan to take me in one of those places (there's also a version in Macapagal Ave. and in Ortigas) so I can finally have that so-called Dampa experience. They have been teasing me about the wet market thing coz I am known to be very squeamish :p

tinimbang ka, ngunit kulang!(pero may smart buddy pa rin! uy, abbie's happy!)
Finally, we pushed through with dinner at Dampa Macapagal Ave. last Saturday. Charo, Jako and I arrived there ahead of Abbie so we were the ones who shopped for seafood at the wet market. I think I gulped the first time I saw the wet market scene. Now don't get me wrong, when I was a kid, I actually accompanied my mom in the town palengke/talipapa which was literally sitting on muddy grounds... by the time we got home, I always had mud all over my feet and some more splattered on my legs. So actually, I knew how it was inside a typical wet market. The one in Macapagal had concrete floors, still unavoidably wet but at least no mud splattering around :-) Of course there was that distinct fishy smell but it's no big deal. The gulp was just because I haven't been inside a wet market for such a long time so I was quite overwhelmed. I told Charo "Sige, carry ko toh!" :-) And then I just realized an important thought: "So who among us knew how to choose the best seafood, judge its freshness and make the so-called 'tawad' sa tindera?" Don't look at me! I only came here to eat, haha! Charo also didn't know how to shop for seafood so good ol' Jako chose & haggled for us :-)


uber-fresh seafood galore!
After purchasing loads of shrimps, maya-maya and bading crabs, we proceeded to G-Squared to have them cooked. Abbie arrived at G-Squared just in time for the sumptuous feast of tempura, shrimp in garlic butter sauce, sinigang sa miso na maya-maya and crabs in oyster sauce w/ onion leeks.

After downing all that yummy seafood, I think I got a bit dizzy with all that MSG. When I asked them if they thought what we ate had MSG, Charo said Jako was a bit dizzy too!:p When I told my mom about it, she said it was probably the MSG and the fat (alige?) of the crab that made us so.

By the way, the entire Dampa experience was Abbie's oh-so-late birthday treat to us. Thanks Abs! :-)

After dinner, Charo and Abbie were lured by the inexpensive DVDs nearby. After DVD-shopping, we struck a pose amidst the wet market :-)

On the way home, we hung out and had coffee at Seattle's Best Caltex at SLEX :-) Talked about memorable episodes of Friends and spoilers of Grey's Anatomy while Jako perused the gadget magazines inside the cafe (hindi maka-relate sa 'min eh! hehe!).



dinner shots inside G-Squared and wet market "glamour" shots :p
way too happy to finally experience eating @ dampa...... or maybe it was the MSG high :p

~* GETTING SUCKED INTO THE iPOD LIFESTYLE *~

I don't even consider it a craze or trend. It's a lifestyle for the earphones-fixated generation of today.

A year ago, I didn't even think I needed nor wanted an iPod. Then last February, I got myself a pink Nano. I was probably among the late majority (or was I one of the laggards already? When did the iPod become THE aspirational digital media player anyway?!).

I just checked my inbox and saw this Apple e-blast.

Hmm. I don't really care about the portability of video since I'm more of a music addict than a videophile. But hey, the cyan iPod nano looks cute. And the red one looks really chic. So do I let myself get sucked into this money-making scheme just because of the nice colors? I'm too lazy to Google for reviews and besides, it's just been launched so not a lot of in-depth reviews as of now, I bet.

Anyway, was that Nelly Furtado on the ad?

Anyone generous enough to buy me one? ;-)

********** ADDENDUM ************

*GASP* I just saw that there's a lavender iPod Shuffle! Such cuteness! If I had money to burn I'd buy it just because it was lavender. But then again, I don't have the moolah. *sigh*

~* FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN FX HELL *~

I don't drive my own car but, whenever I can, I hitch a ride with my dad to get to my office. On my way home, I commute via those white L300's or Nissan Urvans. I also move around via buses, FXs, jeepneys and tricycles. I've been commuting since I've been going to college and now that I'm working, I have encountered a loooot of memorable co-passengers from (probably) all walks of life. And as you may have guessed, the memorable ones are the kind that either annoyed or grossed me out. Let me focus on the ones I usually encounter inside the FX/bus and L300's/vans since I share my seat and oxygen with them for about an hour or so, five times a week.

THE WORLD IS THEIR LIVING ROOM
"Really. Do I really have to see and hear the shrilly-voiced girl in the video playing on your celfone?!?"

Just last night, I was peacefully co-existing with my fellow passengers in the van when I heard an annoying shrilly, crackly voice and laughter coupled with the blinding bluish white light coming from this guy's celfone. It appeared that the guy is letting his friend view the supposedly amusing/funny video. But take note, I was listening to my iPod when I heard it so imagine how freaking loud the volume of the video must be. People! The van isn't your living room! Turn up the volume all you want when you are inside the confines of your own home sweet home. Or get yourself an iPod Video. Earphones, people. Earphones! There's a reason why they were invented!

THE REVOLTING SMELL
"Oh, come on!" *imaginary throwing of arms in the air, rolling of eyeballs*actual holding of breath*

I've smelled it all. Careless whispers of fart. Morning breath yawnings. Shawarma breaths. Garlic longganisa burps. Potent Kili-kili power. Stinky burgers. Kid barf. You name it, I've probably smelt it! I had no way to defend my poor myself but to hold my breath. It kills me softly when someone with BO sits beside me and then holds the rail in the middle (when I ride the L300) such that the aircon is blowing past his/her armpits and then onto my breathing space. *pseudo-faints*

Now regarding kid barf, whenever a passenger toting a toddler sits beside me, I get nervous. I just say a little prayer: "Please God, don't let the kid vomit on my clothes and shoes."


DUDE, YOUR SWEATING ON MY CLOTHES
"Ewwww."

I am a fairly petite/medium built so when a burly sweaty guy sits beside me, his armpits tend to be ensconced on my shoulders/forearms. And in bad days of summer when it's superhot outside and the aircon is not blowing nicely, I dread finding my clothes a bit moist with the sweat of my seatmate. Really yucky. And it's extra annoying when it happens in the morning when I am on my way to work.

THE ETERNAL WHINERS
"The heavy traffic will not magically disappear even if you tsk-tsk yourself to death."

I hope that people will just keep quiet when it's traffic. I know that being late for an appointment while stewing powerless in the midst of heavy traffic jam is stressful in itself. Hearing a pissed "tsk-tsk" and whiny mutterings on my left and right ear like surround-sound theater IS royally annoying to the nth level. Let's just keep mum, people. Hearing you whine is just upping my stress level.

UNWELCOMED VIBRATIONS
"Stop it, will ya?!"

Remember that the seats in public transport are communal. We are sharing the same shabby PUV seat. So when you flip-flop your butt around, fidget or makes kuyakoy with your leg, I can friggin' feel it. It's really annoying when I'm trying to rest during the travel and then I suddenly feel like I'm off-road driving. Stay put and sit properly, people!


When you think about it, there are really more than five kinds of annoying co-passengers. There are also those loud talkers, off-key earphone singers, PDA'ers, ringtone-happy people, burpers who don't excuse themselves, gals whose long shampoo-commercial kind of hair is flapping onto your face... the list goes on. It will take one helluva long blog post to tackle them all.

~ by the quiet iPod-toting commuter

~* MY FIRST ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE *~

I have never bought anything online until I discovered various Multiply sites offering a plethora of unique pretty accessories. More often than not, the online stores are run by young entrepreneurial Pinays. I have started exploring the possibility of buying stuff online especially when my friend Abbie has successfully bought several shoes from Schu via Multiply. I am still too iffy about buying stuff that one has to actually fit, feel and see on oneself like clothes and shoes. However, accessories are easier to judge and deem as purchase-worthy. All you need is to ask the seller more questions regarding the material used, exact length/size of the piece, etc. and you can already decide whether to buy the accessory or not.

I have included the better ones in my Multiply friends list as business contact. My qualifications were as follows:

• based in the Philippines
• has unique accessories (meaning stuff that you don't usually see on tiangges & stores in the mall)
• with price and product description indicated in the photo (I am annoyed with those sites who don't indicate their prices. Price is the first thing a consumer considers so that should be readily available.)
• affordable, reasonable prices
• can be paid via bank deposit (eg. BPI)
• answers questions promptly
• can deliver products via courier
  

I am currently asking one of them to customize a charm necklace for me. We've been exchanging messages and now I just have to wait for her costing & mock-up. In the meantime, my very first online purchase was from Sepa. It is owned by a gal named Josefa Dianne Espera who is based in Cebu. She has a well-presented catalog of products in her Photos section. Her accessories are so chic and in fact, she has been featured in Us Girls and various magazines already (though I didn't hear about Sepa via the TV show nor magazines). I actually just stumbled upon her site while I was searching for charm and locket necklaces. The name rang a bell coz I saw her stuff previously featured in Schu's online store. I totally adore her accessories and if I had more money at my disposal, I would have bought more, hehe!

It was a fairly easy purchase. At first, I sent her a message asking more info about the products I liked. After narrowing my choices to a pair of earrings and two vintage necklaces -- same design but one in vintage gold and the other in vintage silver -- I read her terms and conditions and then filled out her order form. About two days after, I received a text message from her confirming the availability of the items and the total amount of my purchase including Air21 shipping fee. The next day, I went to the bank to deposit my payment in her account. I informed her of my bank deposit and after she checked her account, she shipped out the items. Air21 delivered my order the next day and viola! I have new accessories from Sepa :)

It was wonderful transacting with Dianne of Sepa. She promptly responded to my PMs and SMS and kept me well-informed regarding the shipment details of my order. I was so excited to go home when my mom confirmed that she has received my Air21 package from Cebu. Was quite baffled by the packaging as I tried to remove the blue plastic lock. I was beginning to think how stupid I must be not to figure out how to open it... But then, I just realized it was meant to be tamper-proof! *toink* Yeah, you really have to tear the clear plastic in order to get the parcel inside. Basically, the parcel was double-sealed (the outer clear plastic with the blue tamper-proof lock and then the usual opaque sealed plastic pouch) so that comforted the worrywart in me :) And then, everything was inside a box sealed with scotch tape which was signed over so you'll detect whether it was tampered with or not. I think I squealed with delight when I finally opened the box and saw the beautiful accessories in their pretty packaging. I was impressed with the effort spent in packaging the items with care and kikay presentation :) I definitely recommend Sepa to those who are looking for well-crafted, stylish and reasonably-priced accesories :)

the mystifying Air21 tamper-proof seal
the box of accessories
the pretty packaging
look dianne, i thought of a fourth way* to wear the necklace ;-)

* The vintage necklaces I bought had an adjustable chain which offers versatility. It can be worn three ways as shown in Sepa's photos but I managed to also wear it as a choker :-)