I was sick. I overspent. This sums up the past week. It started with a sore throat. In my case, I knew how sore throat will betray me. Soon after, it will turn to colds and fever. When the fever subsides, cough will make its grand appearance. :) I will try over the counter cough syrup, which will eventually not work. I will land to another doctor's prescription. This time however, the story was quite different. The colds did not progress to fever and cough. I showed symptoms that lead to mumps. A few more days of observation, the threat of mumps was ruled out. I feel better, minus my voice that I have yet to recover. I feel relieved.

Meanwhile, here are the few good things that happened the past week.


Love from the mail - Thank you Duni for the Christmas postcard. And anything from Amsterdam or Netherlands is surely from Marieken. Thank you Marieken!


Thank you to my cousin A for the gifts! I've been wanting to purchase these titles. My 2016 reading list is beginning to be filled up.


An impulse purchase - I've been hearing raves about the KonMari approach to decluttering. Let's see if this book will work for me. I hope it will because honestly, I find this book a little expensive. :)  

For those who are interested to acquire the book, be ready for  a little challenge. It's quite hard to secure a copy. Copies are often out of stock in most National Bookstore branches. The last time I checked, stocks are available from Shangri-La and Glorietta branches. I got my copy from SM Manila branch, which happens to be the last piece available. 


Been reading this book for almost a year?!!! I had this even before I read The Girl on the Train. The two books shared the same approach in the story's narration. While The Girl on the Train remains to be my favorite, I have to admit that this is better. I'm off to watch the movie adaptation. 


I met my #CathKidstonSisters last Saturday. As always, we needed more time to catch up. Thank you Leah and Mother E for the gifts, stories  (password protected hahahaha) and friendship. 


Vanilla coke is another way to commit gluttony :p I happened to spot this from a nearby grocery. Back in my college / OJT days, Vanilla Coke was still locally produced. I consider this as my indulgence after surviving and counting my OJT days in a government agency. 


Tagaytay Treats - Thanks to my cousin A who came from a weekend vacay. I miss Tagaytay so much. This year, I hope our annual spiritual retreat will be held in Batangas and my two friends will agree for an overnight in Tagaytay. I doubt, hahahahaha. So I guess this is another wish to be set aside again. 



This was my source of comfort last week. I know unhealthy. Haha But everything tasty and spicy has helped me ease out the hassles of having clogged nose.

I have a pending freelance work to finish. I need to do it now, otherwise I'm dead. I have been wanting to do it over the last week. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten my working pace. I was also unproductive (translation : lazy) in my day job. 

Send me all the hardwork and perseverance this week. I need to cross out a lot of items in my work list. 

I almost forgot... another blog friend, Jep Buendia tagged me to answer 7 random facts about myself. Since I already answered a similar quiz last week :) let me do a little modification. I'll leave you with 7 random things that happened last week instead.

1. After watching a number of local movies lately, I noticed that most stories are fueled by people only from the two economic status: the extreme segments of the wealthiest and poorest. Why can't the best plot arise from people in the middle class? Okay, I'm beginning to believe that our lives, the people from the middle class are always boring and useless for a literary piece. This made me remember a conversation I had with a freelance client last year. What I thought as an out-of-no-where analyses have become instrumental for my client to successfully defend his idea. 

2. In the middle of the week, my Dad received a call from a former client / employer. He treated my Dad for a great lunch and a shopping spree. He gave my Dad things and experiences I can't afford. I thought I would feel a degree of self-pity again. Truth is, I'm thankful. I'm the happiest because there are other people who loves my Dad.

3. As much as I want to visit South Korea, part of me longs to return to Hong Kong. And for some reason, Hong Kong never fails to excite me. 

4. I remember a conversation I had with a workplace friend a few months ago. Can't exactly recall what happened but there was a sudden upsurge of status updates from colleagues in our newsfeed. I have this colleague, who is really rich. Unfortunately, her grammar is suffering below the poverty line. Get it? :) I will not pretend to have clean hands. My colleague has been giving me a little entertainment.  On the way to the train station, my colleague asked me to choose among

a. wealth with terrible English grammar
b. poverty with impeccable English grammar 
c. beauty with terrible English grammar
d. ugliness that comes with the most eloquent English skills

I replied, none of the above. All I wanted is a prince charming. Hahahahaha 

5. I'm about to finish a pack of bacon this week. Don't judge me. Hahahhaha

6. And still related to bacon, I don't know how to perfectly fry it. I can't achieve the perfect crunchiness. 

7. Glorietta and all those malls in the area never fail me to amuse me. The place is a perfect melting pot of all economic classes.