Shopping Spree and gimmick with my new officemates

Last Wednesday I learned that Mango's on Sale, the much awaited sale event for me. I immediately texted my Shopaholic officemate, Mare who is in Makati and told her to buy for me a brown shirt. But it turned out to be a wrong information. The sale would be starting on Friday, June 24.

The girls from my group were set on drinking that night, after Mare's business meeting. Seeing an opportunity, I asked Mi Ann to accompany me to Mango in Shangri-la for the sale while waiting for Mare. She was hesitant at first after splurging in the Puma Exclusive Sale last Monday. I told her she can just window shop with me but I was really dead set on buying something. Everything fell into place. It rained hard and so Mare was forced to hold her meeting in Figaro (right outside Mango) in Shangri-la Mall instead of Metrowalk.

As soon as we stepped in, we saw several people inside, some were ransacking the racks while their male companions were sitting/waiting on the sidelines of the store. There was a long queue to the cashier. We wasted no time in looking for clothes to buy since we already reached the store by 8PM due to heavy traffic.

By the time I was going to fit all the clothes in my arms, the shop was closed and the attendants were all saying that they would just honor reservations since the queue was still long. Mare and her sister were finally inside, trying on some stuff too. Being stubborn as I am, I still waited in line. There was no one to stop the line anyway and I had to buy these before I or Dom can stop me. I had to give up one blouse to lower my total bill. In the end, I was the winner with 6 items(1 pair of pants and 5 tops) for P3,700.Hehe. I never splurged like this in the Philippines but it felt great!

Would you believe we left Mango at 10:30 PM and we were all really starving. We decided to have our dinner and drinks at Capisce in Metro Walk. There, we met Mare's friends, a Filipino that looks like an American, a previous officemate who now works in the IT Department of the US Embassy, a former friend who married a French guy, and the French husband who is building a nuclear submarine. It was fun to be with very diverse people. I learned that Paris is nice but is very expensive to live in. Yikes, do you know what that means? I need to really save up for a week stay. Gosh. Positive thinking!

I had a grand time but felt it was too short. I just had a beer and a half before it was time to go. I bade goodbye to my new found friends at 1:30 AM after 30 minutes of trying to wake Dom up.

Weekend Getaway!

I thought I would not be able to travel or ride a plane for the next 6 months at least.I am just a month old in my current company and not yet entitled to leaves. But no! I was able to transcend that.

Included in his list of 30 gifts is an overnight stay in the most beautiful resort in Mactan, Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort in Cebu. That was my weekend getaway last June 4 to 5. We celebrated my birthday and our 4th year anniversary.

I took the earliest flight out of Manila at 5AM via Philippine Airlines alone since Dom was already there since Wednesday for a business trip. I was lucky to have gotten a discounted fare of P4,700+. I arrived Mactan International Airport at 6:30AM filled with excitement and a big smile on my face. I was exploring the resort and hotel by 7AM. Of course, I stayed by the beach and even dozed off in one of the beach benches. It was such a relaxing experience.

Enjoying the early morning beach.

I freshened up in one of the posh restrooms in time for the first schedule of the shuttle to Cebu City. I went down SM and took a cab to Magellan's Cross. My visit to Cebu wouldn't be complete without buying shell/capiz accessories from the vendors there.

I was frustrated at first, not finding anything that catched my fancy. I wanted to buy from every vendor, like last year and I stayed there for 2 hours, bearing the heat. In the end I was able to buy a hand full for a cost of one necklace in Manila. I even talked to one of the vendors to make her a possible supplier should I push through in making this a business.

As agreed, I was back in SM by 12 noon to meet with Dom and Kristine, his FA in Cebu. We ate at Sunburst for I wanted a place native to Cebu alone. Sunburst is Cebu's Jollibee and is well known for the fried chicken. Yummy! We went straight to Mariot for Dom to pack his things and then travelled to Shangri-La. We were welcomed by Dom's friend, Mike (the Resort's Sales Director), treated us watermelon shakes and even escorted us to our room. The room had a beach motif with starfish carvings and cabinet handles. Well, come to think of it so was the whole resort. Our room had a veranda with a view too.

We spent the rest of the day in the beach until it got dark. Too bad the sun did not set on that part of the island or did I just miss it? We enjoyed the pool until we our hands felt like prunes.

As recommended by Melon, my friend who always stays in Shangri-La everytime she is in Cebu, we had dinner in Cowrie Cove, a restaurant and bar situated by the beach. It was a romantic, candlelit place ideal for dates. We tried the Shrimp Sinigang and the Vietnamese vegatable soup. It was extraordinarily delicious. We ended our dinner with the bestseller dessert, Cowrie Sago (could not remember the exact name). Honestly, I wondered why. It was not that great at all. It just tasted like chocolate shake with sago. (I probably expected more.) We decided to call it a night by 11. I was really finding it hard to stop my yawns, having barely slept last Friday.

We were up by 8AM and got ready for the day ahead. I wanted to sunbathe for an hour while Dom wanted to workout in the gym. I experienced the good life again, sleeping by the beach under the heat of the sun before swimming. The weather was fine that day, sunny yet windy. I needed to have a tan before summer was finally over. At least in Visayas, it was still summer. I hit the outdoor shower to rinse the salt by 9:50 AM. Dom and I agreed to meet at Tides for the buffet breakfast by 10AM. Since the buffet was only up to 10:30, we wasted no time in eating and gathering all the yummy food being served. By 11, I had a bulging tummy and hoped that the peppermint tea would flatten it a bit. Thinking that our late checkout time was 1PM, we headed straight to the infinity pool and a quick dip and picture taking in the beach. We were almost ready to leave when Dom received a call from Mike that he moved our checkout time to 4PM. Why didn't he tell us earlier? We just decided to rest and regain our needed rest since it rained anyway.

Before our checkout, Dom wearing his new shorts from Novecento (my surprise gift for him)

Upon checkout, Dom had a short meeting with his officemate in the lobby then we hopped in the shuttle for a quick shopping in SM. For our dinner, we tried the famous CNT Lechon in Cebu. I enjoyed every bit of it even though we just ate in a takeout counter by the supermarket. Our stay in SM was a breeze because we needed to ride the last shuttle back to the resort and be in the airport by 7:45. We ssaid goodbye to our memories in Cebu at 8:40 and PAL was unbelievably on time.

Well, that was it, my memorable, money's worth weekend getaway courtesy of my honey.

Search is over!

After almost 5 years of waiting, reserving and searching for the 3rd Book of Andrew Matthews to complete my collection, "Follow You Heart" is now in my possession. I was elated, overjoyed and almost in the brink of tears. It was Gary's (former officemate in my first job) Birthday gift and pasalubong from his Singapore trip last weekend. What's more, the illustrations are colored, a new version maybe. I can't wait to read it.

Gary and I were searching for this book for the longest time. I first introduced Andrew Matthews's Being Happy to him way back in 1998 and he got hooked. I lent him my copy and soon after reading it, he got his own copy too. I wanted to share how this book changed my life and it still continous to guide me up to now. I recommend it to everybody who wants to be 'HAPPY'. I assure you, your outlook will change after reading the book.

Andrew Matthews is an author, cartoonist and speaker. His books, "Being Happy!", "Making Friends", "Get Faxed!" and "Follow Your Heart" have been translated into 20 languages. A popular motivational speaker, he regularly speaks to conferences and conventions around the world.