Late pt. 2: no siblings, please

I'm sitting in a worn maroon computer chair with messy bed head hair, eyes peering straight through these black and red frames on the last remaining day of July. Today worry attacks me with a sharp needle against my skin due to my immense and extended to-do list. Although much has been accomplished in the past two and a half weeks, much more has yet to be done. However, Olivia's gentle voice sings to me the classic Fly Me To The Moon like a mother's lullaby and releases my tension while also reassuring me in my capabilities to complete such large tasks at hand.

If only I could really fly to the moon and be with the one I love for just a little while...

JULY 21-24:
L to R: Me, mom, Amber, Toni, and Ninang Ching

My ninang and her two children flew down from New Jersey to visit for the first time in nearly seventeen years. (To those who are unfamiliar with the Filipino culture, ninang means god-mother.) Their stay was brief, only lasting three days. But during this short time, I was tested, that's for sure.

The family would be sleeping in my room for most of their stay. Meaning I would have to sacrifice many of my valued luxuries like sleeping soundly in my queen sized bed, blasting my music and singing at the top of my lungs, and watching anime and playing video games until night turned into the early morning. So after picking them up that Monday morning and having lunch, I was delighted to hear we were heading home. This was my chance to beat Kingdom Hearts 2!

I quickly climb up the carpeted flight of stairs and make my way to my sanctuary. I make myself comfortable on a patterned cushion and excitedly turn on the PS2. My concentration and attention are now dedicated to this game, and this game alone. My concentration is suddenly shattered when my ninang's daughters, Toni (8) and Amber (6), invite themselves into my room and begin destruction phase one. Together they are jumping on the bed, falling off of it head first, running rampant in the small space with lollipops in hand, and leaping over the controller cord. After giving them a straightforward talk about safety, they settle down, watching final cut scenes with me. This is when the question cannon started shooting. "Why did you paint your room green and not pink?" "Do you like your name?" "Why don't you talk a lot?" "Why don't you like Hannah Montana or Spongebob?" "Is this Louis Vuitton?" "Why is he wearing that necklace?"

After sending the two to find pleasure in playing games on the computer more suited for their age, I found some sort of peace after finally beating KH2 and enjoying the ending. I decided to reward myself by continuing to re-watch the anime series Noir, but fell asleep from a massive headache. I woke up to abrupt knocking hours later to hear we were eating at Chili's for dinner. Time for a good ol' recharge.

The next two days consisted of fun at Galveston, Kemah, and downtown and fantasizing at Telfair about our dream houses.

Through those days filled with unneeded screaming, running, and bombarding questions, my patience was stretched out like pizza dough to its thinnest state possible. Silence really is... golden.

And people ask me why I don't want a little brother or sister.

Late pt. 1: birthdays and moogles

Here I am on a relaxed Saturday afternoon sitting with legs crossed, quietly enjoying several alluring songs composed by the talented Yuki Kajiura. A very large finished cup of Jamba Juice stands on a sand colored stone coaster awaiting its disposal into the wastebasket. It anticipates its union with the empty butter popcorn bag below. My fingers lift away from the keyboard at one minute intervals to massage a slight ache on the left side of my neck. This ache has feasted on a small amount of my calm composure and now delivers irritation and pain to my nerves. As this all happens, my eyes remain glued to the flat monitor.

JULY 10:
Although my birthday celebration plans had gone completely awry from the beginning, it turned out for the best. I didn't need my friends' presence or a shower of gifts to fill my heart with joy on my day. All it took was some good food and quality time with my most favorite person in the world. My present and a new dress were just the cherry on top!

JULY 19-20:
If you do not know me well enough, you do not know that I am close with my only female cousin who resides here in Texas. We always try to make plans every now and then to see one another. This past weekend in particular was reserved for plans that consisted of playing video games, watching anime, and spending the night.

Months ago she bought a moogle (Final Fantasy gamers are familiar with this creature) stuffed toy and named it Tinky. As soon as I had laid my eyes on it, I felt an attachment to it and wanted to name it Chocho instead. When I arrived at her place on Saturday, I came into her room and saw another moogle waiting idly on her bed just for me - this was my birthday present.

I call these two my babies! My cousin's moogle, Chocho Tinky, is on the left, and my moogle, Kiri, are brother and sister. Aren't they cute?

More updates to come..!

Prepare to SHOP.

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It had been a written plan to celebrate my birthday with my friends by having a party at my place. A Filipino kind of party - karaoke, lots of food, games, and what not. What I had envisioned eventually turned out to be a fruit of massive disappointment. That disappointment gradually disappeared and I was just plain pissed off, and said, "Screw it."

The only compromise and only alternative that struck my mind was a day of eating out and shopping whether it were with my boyfriend or my best friend or even just by myself. Being an only child has allowed me to whole heartedly embrace solitude. For a short minute I was thinking of following the traditional road by celebrating with dinner, but I've been a bit too angry at most of my friends for not giving me a solid, definite "yes" to my party's invitation.

Let down #2? Tomorrow's agenda includes lunch, shopping, and Jamba Juice without my best friend due to her grueling work schedule. On the bright side I get to spend time with my boyfriend and I have other friends who'd actually make the effort to see me and hang out.

This is simply a continuation of my fight the blues movement (Utada Hikaru song :D) because online shopping is one remedy that consistently lifts my spirits up.

Slightly obsessed

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It is currently 9:52 pm and I am listening to the rapid typing of my fingers against the smooth black keys and the laid back R&B beat of Kyla's "Something About You". The aftertaste of my homemade chai tea latte still lingers on my tongue. Today's events have been few unlike the first thirty-something days of this summer vacation.

Above are nine items that I have developed quite the obsession for this season.

I am somewhat of an avid fan of OPMs (Original Philippine Music) so dropping by a cd store in the SM Mega Mall was a primary goal on my list while briefly visiting. You could say that Kyla, the R&B Princess of the Philippines, is my #2 favorite artist (Utada being #1). Heartfelt, her latest album, consists of the songs that I have been singing in the shower recently!

On my journey to Cebu City, Philippines, I had an eleven hour stop over in Hong Kong, China. So what does a mother and daughter do for eleven hours? Well, shop and eat of course! I will not deny that the outrageous price tags discouraged me greatly but the panda lover within me could not resist a couple of panda charms. The biggest splurge made in Hong Kong was a beautiful Swatch watch (the exact one pictured), courtesy of my mother as a birthday present.

The malls in the Philippines did not fall short on objects that won my heart's desires. Although I did leave America hoping for a whole new wardrobe, I actually came home with a variety of things. I purchased two pairs of shorts, a backpack, two pairs of heels, three cute dresses, jewelry, four new designer handbags (one similar to the one above), more clothes, and accessories (wallet, cell phone case, etc.).

Even prior to my month of gallivanting around the world I have noticed my fancy for scarves has grown and lately I've been building a small collection of them. My mother constantly tells me that I'm obsessed about scarves. When I'm dressing up I always find myself trying to add a scarf in there to make it different.

Thanks to many online make-up gurus I've picked up some of their advice and have purchased a tube of Urban Decay's Primer Potion to lather my oily eyelids and prevent my make up from absorbing into my skin.

Now that I'm back home and have been forced against my will to discontinue shopping, I've found other things to obsess about other than material things. I've been eating lots of green tea ice cream, sending thousands of text messages via my Samsung Glyde, and devoting immense amounts of hours to playing Bookworm (PC) due to playing it with my cousins one too many times.