Day 352: Drink Up!

I never realized I never got around to publishing this.  But this is Kyla sipping up iced milk teas at E.S.Kimo just before we left for the airport.  Awesome, kid.  You make ninang proud.

Day 351: Kyla

Meet my godchild, Kyla.  She's not at her finest, but probably one of her funniest.  Watch her amuse herself while we wait for her dad to finish shopping.

People would sometimes ask me why I try to visit Macau every year.  There's the old world charm I talked about.  There's also the food I love.  There's the Venetian.  There's also an old friend that I visit.  Then there's her kid, who is my godchild.  Kyla, really is a good part of why I try to visit every year.  The first time I came to Macau was a month after she was born.  I've been there every year, save for one year, since.  I try to time my visits around her birthday.  Which, I also think is a perfect time.  The weather is slightly cool, but not too cold.  It's around the Mooncake Festival, and it's not as brimming with tourists as it would be around December or January.  During the first few years, I'd visit and take Kyla to the park.  Now, I visit and I take her and her younger sister to school before I go jog.

It amazes me how much she has grown.  She was a skinny little baby when she was born.  Everything about her was little.  Then she started watching Baby Einstein and got really smart.  She now speaks English, Mandarin and Portuguese.  She even teaches me how to say things in Portuguese using her iPad2.  Yep.  The kid's got an iPad2.  Let me remind you that she's six.  I tell her sometimes that she's getting so smart I don't know if I should be proud or scared.  It's a little difficult to say no to her, though.  I'd sometimes talk to her mother over FB and when she starts asking when am I going to visit, I start looking at my calendar and seeing when I'll be available to go on leave.  I mean, what do you say when she asks, "When will Ninang Faith take me to school?"  Seriously, how do you say no to that?

Day 350: St. Mark's Square at the Venetian

Venetian never gets old.  It has always been an eye candy for me.  Every time I visit Macau, I need to dedicate an entire day for Venetian.  With every other hotel-casino cropping up on Cotai, you'd think that Venetian would eventually be passed over.  It doesn't happen.  Has never happened ever since I first saw it.  If they put up a Bellagio on Cotai, then that's probably a possibility.  However, with how this entire majestic place is built, I just don't think it's going to happen.  Even their public lavatory looks amazing.  Seeing Venetian is like going through the motions of a dream.  Every little piece of it is an eye candy.  I'm not a big fan of clowns.  In fact, I hate them (which is synonymous to being afraid of them).  The jesters in Venetian, though, I can tolerate.  Most of the restaurants, too, do not charge you an exorbitant amount for meals.  Plus, the staff speaks English.  You'd even get lucky and find a lot of Filipinos.  Going to the hotels in Macau is actually isn't as difficult as most people think it is.  All of the hotels have free shuttle service to and from main transport locations like the Ferry Terminal and the Taipa Airport.  I did go around the Lisboa area, too.  However, Venetian really was the cake of my day.

The entire place was lit brighter for Christmas, and it looked amazing.  Apart from the regular opera songs that gets sang by a woman from a window, she also sings a Christmas song.  The gondoliers also sing Christmas songs and wear Santa hats.  I love hearing them sing in Italian while rowing gondolas on the man-made moat in the Marco Polo wing.  They also have gondolas outside, but they'd only take tourists on rides when it's not winter.  I really love Venetian.  You do not even have to do anything.  Just walking around it is enough eye candy for one person.

Music while walking: The Dance (Charlotte Martin)

Day 349: Macau Tower

Gorgeous, isn't she?

Today, I went around the city on my own.  I'm going to sound really arrogant, but having visited Macau several times, I guess it makes sense that I understand the transit system.  My friend says that I've been here so many times, I cannot really be classified as a tourist.  I'm more of a returning expat.  Hahaha.  I was a bit nervous about going to the Tower since I've never been there on my own.  Turns out there's a bus that goes directly to the Tower from the bus stop near where my friend lives.  I got lucky.

This tower is famous for being the highest bungee jump in the world.  The jump itself costs like an extortion.  Around 9000Php for one person.  People still pay to jump, though.  Surprisingly, there were a lot of folks who paid to put their lives at risk when I went there.  It was one after the other.  I was watching them jump one by one while reading and having coffee and cheesecake at the Singing Bean Coffee.  The view is amazing there as you can see people jump off the SkyJump simultaneously with the sun setting off the bridge.  The sunset is glorious from this side.  I'm adding a photo of it after the jump.  Remember those things I said that sometimes you see and make you marvel at how great God is for creating such things?  A sunset is one of those things.  I don't know what I did to deserve seeing such beautiful things, but I'm glad I'm blessed enough this way.  You somehow just Breathe (Michelle Branch) it all in.

Day 348: Dim Sum Dinner

So, today is all about food.  We had lunch at Quinella, which is probably my favorite Portuguese restaurant in Macau, where I had my favorite fried rice with smoked salmon and crab roe.  After visiting Fisherman's Wharf and the Red Market, we bought takoyaki and more milk tea.  The takoyaki in mainland China is actually better, but it was a close match.  Compared to the ones I've tried home, which is a disappointment.  Takoyaki does not have ketchup!  It does not have banana ketchup or mustard.  It's not a freakin' hotdog.  I have yet to find out how takoyaki in Japan actually tastes like, but I'm sure it's not served with ketchup.

For dinner, I went to visit my friend's parents, who have always been like my own, and we had dim sum for dinner.  In an honest to goodness dim sum diner.  Complete with noisy staff and quarreling customers.  Notice how they were watching me take a photo of the steamer baskets in the background?  Tito explained that dim sum diners are more of tea places than restaurants.  At the same time, a typical dim sum restaurant would be the equivalent of a goto or pares place in Manila.  Do not expect fine dining here.  The experience is great, though.  Plus the dim sum could not have been any better.  Even the tea served with it is awesome.

Day 347: Galaxy

I spent the day going around the picturesque parts of the city with my friend.  At night, we decided to visit Galaxy, which I believe, is the newest hotel casino to open on Cotai.  For all it's monstrosity, it still can't hold a candle against Venetian.  I like the place, don't get me wrong.  I think the exterior looks like a palace and I liked the food choices of the restaurants.  I also liked the interior fountain.  It was giving Wynn's fountain show a good competition.  There are just a few certain decor that doesn't fit.  It feels like a mixture of all the hotels in Macau.  I don't know.  Maybe next time the place will grow on me.

It's interesting that I've been to Macau several times, but I've never played in their casinos.  I've watched shows in casinos and drank in their bars, but I've never played.  The Las Vegas perception of Macau is just a part of it.  If I didn't have friends here, what would attract me best would be the old world charm of the city and their food.

Song of the day: We Found Love (Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris)

Day 346: Lomai

Welcome to Macau!  First order of business is a trip to Loja Canja Lok Fu.  Well, there was a side trip to get milk tea from Come Buy (I know it's a funny name, but they have really good milk teas).  Loja Canja Lok Fu is a hole in the wall noodle house where the you will find the best lomai you will ever taste in your life.  I'm not kidding.  I've been here every time I visit Macau and it never grows old.  My friends who live in Macau still go to this restaurant at least twice every month.  There's something about the noodles that's just different.  It's dry noodles, but the taste is all there.  I've never tasted anything like it anywhere.  Writing about it is already making my mouth water by just remembering how it tastes.

The place is also well-known to locals.  It's normal to wait for a seat to be available.  The facility has not much to offer and even if the staff is nice, they do not serve your food as fast as other restaurants do.  However, people still go back.  I've heard that they would sometimes close for an entire season and would open business when they feel like it.  Patrons still go, anyway.  There's really something about their noodles that's just addicting.

Day 345: Beautiful Mess

It was a busy day.  I'm happy to report that the Christmas Ball was a resounding success!  I ran around for the most part, with about ten people stepping on my train the entire night.  Which was funny.  I did not trip all over my face like I feared, though, so it was all good.  I realize that  during events like these, as much as it's a great opportunity to take photos, I never really find time in the middle of it all, nor do I have the inclination to do so.  Aside from the fact that I'm horrible with portraits.  So, let's just not try.  I'm often busy running around as an usherette or something else, anyway.  I think, these are moments that I prefer to live in, rather than capture.  That's probably a weird thing to say for someone who likes photography.  That's also probably why I prefer doing landscapes.  Capturing a moment in landscape is the same as living in it.  So, I don't really miss anything.  Yes, I'm selfish that way.

I took a picture of the worktable of our make-up artist, though.  It looked dramatic, and I liked how it turned out.  So, when I got this shot, I left the camera alone.

Beautiful Mess (Jason Mraz), isn't it?

Day 344: Almost Emerald

This is part of my dress for tomorrow's Christmas Ball.  I can't show the dress itself, because the damned thing is so long.  It's a little difficult to take a picture of the entire thing.  I wanted this to be a little brighter, but I think this is fine.  I hope I do not trip all over myself or do something stupidly embarrassing tomorrow.

Day 343: Pino

I met with an old friend today to have ramen at Little Tokyo, which is a perfect fit for the rainy December weather.  We used to go here often to buy food from the Japanese grocery store.  One of the things we like buying is Pino, which is basically chocolate-flavored ice cream.  I love it because it's ice cream.  The flavor is fantastic, too.  I wish I could go here more often, though.

Day 342: All My Bags Are Nearly Packed

This is a really busy week for me.  So much so that I took a vacation leave just so I can fix everything I need to fix on time.  I leave next week, and our company Christmas ball is this weekend.  Between that and my trip, there's enough errands that will eat up my vacation leave time.

Day 341: Bibimbap

Ate at Bab House after running errands.  This is my Bibimbap.  I realized that I haven't eaten at a Korean restaurant this year.  I guess it's timely that this store opened at out office building recently.  I actually like Korean food.  It's very similar to Japanese food, only with more mixing involved.

Day 340: Almost There

Excited to see this place again.

Day 339: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Even the macarons have a Christmas special. :)

Day 338: Crazy, Stupid, Love

Earlier this year, I talked about seeing Crazy, Stupid, Love and absolutely loving it.  I bought a copy of the video because I wanted to see if it still has the same charm.  It does.  I love this rom-com.  It's what rom-coms should be.

Day 337: BonChon Chicken

A funny incident that happened to me the day before.  I bought BonChon for dinner, but was too tired when I got home to eat it.  I heated the chicken in the morning for breakfast, and I burned it.  See?  No culinary skills, whatsoever!

Out of my frustration over burning my heated takeout, I went back to BonChon to eat.  This time, I ate at the store.  No heating required.

Day 336: Booky

I'm trying to finish The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest this month, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.  I would have posted a picture of it, however, I've used The Girl Who Played With Fire too many times as a photo.

Day 335: Jelly Beans

Sugar saved my life.  It will probably un-save me someday when I've gone past the sugar-abuse line.

Day 334: Monito

This gift is going to my exchange gift baby.  I sincerely hope he does not have any kind of awareness of this blog and will not see this post.  Otherwise, I might get outed before I'm supposed to be.

Day 333: Test Shot

I was going around looking for accessories for Nino.  Interestingly, this is the only shot I got to take during the day.  I was running test shots with the polarizer, and found it to my liking.  I was also looking for a tripod, but my sister called dibs on it and volunteered to give me one for Christmas.  She's giving me a Manfrotto tripod.  How neat is that?  I love my sister, even if sometimes we hate each other.  That's what family is, anyway.

Day 332: To Start A Good Day

My love affair with coffee has been discussed in this project several times, that if you're following this you might be tired of reading about it.  I normally start my day with a cup of coffee.  I found out about this brand of 3-in-1 from one of the girls on this project.  When I saw it in the grocery, I hoarded.  Good thing, too, since they ran out of stock the next time I was there.  It's different from Nescafe, and I hate to say this, but this one tastes like the stuff coffee dreams are made of.  It also comes in different flavors, and I think you have to somehow find what you like.  So far, Mocaccino and Vanilla Latte are my favorites.  They kick the day off right.

Day 331: Hanging

I was reading for the most part of the day, so I didn't get to take a photo of anything other than my necklace.  I like how the light falls on the beads, though.

Day 330: A Picnic Blanket

I received this gift from Dianne today, and I love it!  It's a collection of token pieces and each one has a meaning.  I find it absolutely adorable!  I like receiving presents, just like everyone else, but I like it best when you know there's thought involved in the gift-giving.  These are the gifts that show you value.

Thanks again, sis! :)

Day 329: Shadows

I'm bored and I'm tired, so I didn't really get to take anything decent.

Day 328: Locked

I bought myself this lock for the gym locker.  I like traditional padlocks that requires keys, however, I'm practical enough to know I wouldn't appreciate walking around the gym with keys dangling on me like I was a jail keeper.

Day 327: Spring in a Roll

Dropped by BreadTalk to get Cheese Floss, when I saw this.  The colors on the bread was very appealing.  Plus the funny names they give the bread adds a certain charm.  Now, if only they don't use as much plastic.

Day 326: Needs to Change

I've been thinking of re-installing shower fixtures in my bathroom.  It's a little difficult to make these decisions when you do not own the apartment.  However, I'm thinking that since I don't really plan on moving any time soon, I might as well fix everything.

Day 325: Ceramic Sunflower

I remember getting this ceramic hook from St. James Bazaar two years ago.  Which reminds me, I haven't done the bazaar scene for some time.  Which is a good thing, because I'm saving to travel.

Day 324: Shady Mirror

Nothing significant to take a picture of today.  Bored to bits and pieces.

Day 323: Millenium

This year is the year I spent reading the Millenium Trilogy.  On off days, I would sometimes spend hours in a coffee shop reading.  I know it sounds superficial, but I do this so I can get out of the confines of my apartment.  Not that I don't like it at home, it's just that I cannot just stay inside the whole time.  I can, but I guess, I refuse to.  


This book has taken me to all sorts of highs and lows.  Lisbeth Salander is probably one of my favorite fictional characters to date.  This girl puts meaning to the aphorism "don't get mad, get even".  I don't care if she's a sociopath.  She, at least, has strong moral ethics.  The things she do, are things done not out of spite, but out of a strong sense of justice.  That's a lot more than most people do for self-preservation.

Day 322: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I've been thinking of getting myself an iPad recently.  Primarily because I'm running out of space to keep my books.  Add the fact that as much as I love the smell of paperback, it does add up to my carbon footprint.  However, as I contemplate on the merits of getting a tablet, I would still buy myself a book so I will be forced to read.

Day 321: Bills

It's that time of the month when you have to take care of the bills.  I remember the first time I did this on myy own, I felt like such an adult.  Now, it feels like a damned nuisance.

Day 320: When Hope Is Not Enough

I find the adage on this beauty product too humorous not to notice.  I've always liked Philosophy, but I have been partial to Hope in a Jar.  This just came as an extra in a set I bought from them.  I'll probably try it soon enough.

Day 319: Dollhead

One of our interns left this with me a couple of years back.  A girly souvenir.

Day 318: Torquoise

I've been running a lot recently, and this has caused my old pair of sneakers to wear out.  I feel sorry for the thing as it looks ready to break apart.  I had intended on waiting until December to get a new pair, but I figured I needed one now since my old pair is more than ready to retire.  I had apprehensions about the color, but damned if this wasn't the most comfortable running shoes I've worn.  They have cushions on the soles, which Nike calls a footbed.  Call it whatever you want, it's sold to me.

Day 317: Rain Pelts

Rain pouring down outside the cab as I went home.  This global warming thing is really insane.

Day 316: Baked Potatoes

Pardon the poor quality, my hunger was more important than getting a clear picture. :P

Day 315: Filter In

Since I sleep most of the day, I try to keep my curtains drawn most of the time so it's easier to filter the sunlight.  Sometimes, when the wind blows them open I pin them up with my ever handy peg.

Day 314: A Thousand Cranes

We were doing origami art for several birthday celebrants at work, when I just ended up making one paper crane after another.  I did not even realize there was a bunch of them until I ran out of paper.  They're pretty neat, though.

Day 313: Panizza

We had dinner at the Tower Club with a visiting executive today, and this was the star of the dinner.  Panizza is this thin-crust pizza cut in lengthy strips which you roll over some vegetables.  It must be known for most people locally as Yellow Cab's Dear Darla pizza.

This is nothing like Dear Darla, though.  It's ten times yummier.  Comparing it doesn't even give it justice.  Chef Chris Locher came out to ask what we thought of the food.  I have to say, he's a master of his craft.  He also served us tiramisu (it was so soft and divine, you simply put a spoonful in your mouth and it melts right there) and homemade gelato (my favorite out of everything).

Unlike how most people would probably envision work-related functions, this was a very relaxed dinner.  There were a lot of thoughts shared throughout the entire dinner, it felt more productive than I expected it to be.

Day 312: S'mores

Recently, my need for sugar intake is on a high.  Not simply because I'm craving for sweets, more because I need it to keep my energy up.  I thank the gods of Starbucks for producing s'mores, then.  Chocolate and marshmallow is about enough sugar to keep me bouncing around the entire day.

Day 311: Nerds

I needed an extra dose of sugar to get myself running today.  Nerds, it is, then!

Day 310: Bookworming

Spent the entire day under the covers alternately reading and sleeping.  Bed weather, bookworming weekend.

Day 309: Strung Up

It's a rainy weekend, and I don't really want to go out.  I'm too bored, yet too lazy for words.

Pardon me, I'm a little obsessed with Mika right now.  Listening to Rain (Mika).

Day 308: Caramel Tarts

Found this in Salcedo Market.  I had a very interesting conversation with a colleague before going home.  It was great to exchange banter like that with people whose opinion you respect.  We talked about how perspective changes attitude towards different things.  Which reminded me of a song I'm currently earworming on: Blame It On The Girls (Mika).

Day 307: Tastes Like Christmas

I am guilty of looking forward to Starbucks' Christmas cups.  Particularly because it means they will start selling Peppermint Mocha, which is my absolute favorite among their drink list.  I try to replicate it the rest of the year by requesting a shot of mint with my regular mocha.  It's close, but there's something different about the taste of peppermint.  It makes you think of a Happy Ending (Mika).

Day 306: Antiquated

Today marks my first year at work.  Yay!  What's fascinating is, I'm facilitating a Foundations class on my first year anniversary.  The photo above is one of the journals I own.

Here's a thought I have after a year with my organization;  I used to think that joining a new company is like getting a new boyfriend.  There's an excitement very similar to what you feel when in a new relationship.  It feels very much like a honeymoon phase.  Interestingly, it doesn't feel like that with my organization now.  It was a start up when I joined and when I say start-up, I mean start-up. There were serious birthing pains involved.  It did not feel at all like a honeymoon.

It somehow felt like buying a house.  There's excitement, yes.  The fact that you're in a new organization where you have a gazillion opportunities to make a difference. It's exhilarating, if you think about it.  But just like getting a new house, sometimes you get the feeling that it's more trouble than it's worth.  Think of it this way, you go through sample after sample of flooring until you finally decide to get limestone, because it's aesthetically pleasing and it fits the interior of your house.  What you do not realize, is that limestone is a bitch to maintain.  Thing is, you can't really change your flooring again just because the upkeep is difficult.  This ain't like Sims 3, you know.  So you weigh it in.  Is getting new flooring worth all that trouble?  Or do you stick with limestone and deal with it?

Either way, you stick it out.  You don't let the house go just because the flooring didn't turn out the way you imagined it to be.  You stick it out because you know that it's a good long-term investment.  Ultimately, you also realize that at the end of the day, you're not just keeping a house.  You're already building a home.

Day 305: The Best Thing in Life are Sweets

They're just too cute for words.

Day 304: Halloween

Happy Halloween, folks!

Day 303: Yellow

I love my macaroons!

I was too lazy to go out or fix myself something to eat, so I had food delivered from Bizu.  Included an order of Macaron de Paris.  Happy kid again!

Anyway, I have to say that this shot was inspired by a travel video I saw a few months back on YouTube about the city of Paris.  I'm not big on the allure of Paris, but this video kind of changed that perspective a bit.