More moments of sales lady greatness!

This happened at SM Department store this afternoon.

A lady and her daughter dropped by the teen section and went to an area that sold clothes under the brand "It Girl."

Mother gets a dress of the rack, holds it up, and asks the sales lady:

"Miss, damit ba ito o blouse?"

Sales lady replies:

"Ma'am, it can be what you want it to be."


Ladies and gentlemen, we have our employee of the month!

Cullen calling

While I was at Shopwise, I chanced upon this Olay with radiance ribbons. Although it's not my usual Olay ribbon variant, the scent made me want to give it a try.

A day after using it, my question was "what's with the radiance thing?"

I got my answer this morning.

After taking a shower and toweling off, I noticed that I was sparkling! SPARKLING!

Sparkling like Edward Cullen!

It turns out that "radiance" was a chock full of little glittery things that adhered to my body and made me look like a walking glitter ball.

Good thing it gets toweled off easily.

I don't want to go around looking like a Twilight reject.

I got a filling

Dunkin Donuts kiosks are sprouting all over the MRT stations. They have 2 in Cubao station, one in Ayala, and they both open very early. That's why when the queue is super long, it's inevitable for people to buy a donut or two.

Having these donuts within easy reach has revived my craving for their filled donuts. When I was in college, my block mates and I would watch movies and bring 2 to 3 boxes of Dunkin Donuts in the theater. While they would all buy the frosted rings, my preference would always be the filled ones: strawberry, blueberry, apple, apple-raspberry and black raspberry. My interest in
Dunkin waned eventually, and it when donuts were back in Vogue, it was off to Go Nuts and Krispy Kreme.

But after taking a bite out of Dunkin's strawberry filled donuts, it all came back to me now. (*Cue in Celine Dion music*)

Now I'm craving for blueberry and black raspberry filled donuts. Hope they have it at the MRT kiosk later.

A whole lotta lovin'

That's what the movie "Valentine's Day" is all about.

It's not as "awwww shucks" as "The Holiday" and "Love Actually", but the feel-good factor is twice as much. The two most touching scenes for me were Shirley MacLaine's monologue to Hector Elizondo at the Hollywood cemetery, and Julia Roberts finally coming home to her little boy. Those almost got me choked up.

Even though there were around 10 different stories, I loved how Garry Marshall was able to weave these love stories together. The fact that they were different facets of love made it more interesting. It had young love, innocent love, old love that lasts for more than 50 years. There was a fear of love, a longing for love, and a love shared by best friends. There was conventional love, unconventional love, and even a scene where they showed hatred for love.

Needless to say, there was a lot of love in this 2+ hour movie. And that's exactly why I love it.

Chex baby chex

Since I'm a fan of the Kirkland brand of mixed savory snacks, I've never really paid attention to Chex. But during my trip to Guam a few weeks ago, Kirkland wasn't in sight, and I thought of going out of my comfort zone and trying Chex for a change.



I'm glad I did. Although it isn't as flavorful and yummy as Kirkland, it has its own merits. The traditional mix is ok, the Cheddar variety is much better, but the Trail Mix bag is da bomb!



I had to restrain myself or else I'd finish a bag in one sitting. It took me about 3 sittings to finish it, so now I'm finding myself in a Chex-driven craving. For the Trail mix bag, that is. Normally that would make me crazy, but thankfully I still have 2 big bags of the traditional mix and a bag of cheddar to tie me over.

I'm so out there!

Blame it on Tomato.

I dropped by their store and they were playing this song that I wasn't familiar with. All I know about the ditty was the fact that it was catchy. In fact, it was so catchy, it was playing in my head all the way from Glorietta to the office.

After asking my colleagues about it, I found out that the title of the song was "Ejnoy" and it was sung by the Outhere brothers.



This looks like another LSS in the making. But I think it's something to "Enjoy."

Carrot sticks

When I saw a pair of carrot fit jeans at Zara, it initially struck me as odd. True to its namesake, the jeans are wide and loose on top, then becomes tight and tapered at the bottom. So, it's like the lovechild of baggy jeans and skinny jeans. (And it can also make your waist look wide and your legs too thin.)



After fitting the pair, my reaction was lukewarm. But because the dark wash and color of the jeans were spectacular, I decided to buy it. Half-heartedly, at that.

I'm now wearing that carrot-fit pair for 3 straight days. The fit of this pair is perfect on me, and the way it hangs on to the body is just stellar. And of course, the dark wash and color makes it even more spectacular.

Looks like I'm sticking to this pair of jeans for a while.

Super chic. Super cheap.

It's a day before Valentine's day and I found another reason to profess love for The Landmark.

While walking through the clothes section en route to the restroom, there was a dress on the rack that called to me. Well, it didn't just call me -- it grabbed me by the collar and demanded to be seen! And yes, it had every right to demand because it was a vision of chicness.



The dress was a body con dress that was multi-paneled. It was made of a heavy jersey like material which gave it a nice texture. It held its own shape, and I reckon it'll give the wearer an hourglass figure.



The black panels of the dress were placed strategically on the sides to whittle the shape of the wearer. Additional chic points are added by the fact that the black parts were also done in origami folds. This gives the dress an edgy feel.



And just as I thought it couldn't get any more stylish, I turned the dress to see another cool detail.



It had a zipper running through the length of the dress. It was pretty much like Roland Mouret's Galaxy dress from the back. The zipper was chunky and had a burnt metal look - which is a perfect foil to the black and white.



The best part of this dress was the price! It was from The Landmark, so it was definitely uber affordable. Good thing they had both my sisters' sizes, because this dress would definitely be a super addition to their closet.

Landmark is love.

Tabing Inarajan

The atmosphere and vibe at the Inarajan pool was so rustic and provincial, we decided to do the "Tabing Ilog" pose and had our picture taken.



A lot of locals say that the southern part of Guam is more picturesque, and Inarajan Pool is one proof of that. Rock formations and corals create mini pools that go as deep as 8 feet. But since they're smaller in size, it's easy to swim around and maneuver despite the depth.

For the more adventurous folks, it's easy to go beyond the pool and head off to the beach. The caveat, though, is that it's open sea. Aside from the huge waves that might wash a person away, there's also the danger of sharks.

While we were at Inarajan, there were a couple of families swimming and diving to their heart's content. It was too bad that I didn't bring a change of clothes, nor my swim gear. It would've been awesome to take a dip.

Just can't get enough

Seriously.

I can probably eat at Denny's everyday and not get tired of it.

Makes me wonder what I should order tomorrow.

Only on Guam

In the US, Denny's is known as the all-American diner that serves fluffy pancakes and thick French toast. They've also got Club Sandwiches and thick shakes on their menu. So it's a place where you can get the best in Americana.

But it's a different story on Guam. You go there, and find these:



Yup, they've got Filipino dishes on their menu. If you look at their breakfast spread, they even have bangus, tinapa and longganiza.



During my visit there yesterday, I was beginning to wonder whether I'm really at Denny's, or some strange carinderia.

In the red

Today, we went to the southern part of the Island and saw Inarajan pool and Talafofo Falls. It was a good trip since we visited places that David, Rhea, Bobby and Bubble haven't seen yet.

On our way up, Rhea asked me if I wanted to use sunblock. Since I don't get dark easily (even if I tried) I declined. And the afternoon was spent hopping from one place to another.

By the time I got back to the hotel and entered the bathroom, I was in shock! I looked like a boiled lobster. My face was red. My arms were red. When I removed my shirt and watch, the sunburn was obvious.

Whoa! They've got pretty strong sun here on Guam.

Mongrel Moment

While Robert and I were walking across the parking lot, the guard went beside us and started chatting us up. He asked where we were from, and Robert replied: Manila.

The guard then looked at me and asked the same question. Of course, my reply was the same: Manila.

He frowned and disbelief and asked again if I was a Filipino. After confirming my earlier claim, he started talking excitedly in his Cheech Marin accented English:

GUARD: Whoa, man. You sure you're Filipino. Because he (refering to Robert) looks Filipino because his skin is brown. But you. You. Look at you. You've got white skin like an American. Your eyes are Latin and your face is European. But you're Filipino. That's amazing, man.

It's a funny reaction. But something I'm prepared for because even in other countries, they can't identify my nationality or race. But the way the guard described me, I felt like an "askal" whose breed no one can identify. Harhar.

Frisky business

Over dinner, Robert, Leon and I started talking about the new security layer in aiports - close frisking.

They had it in NAIA, and they apparently do it only on trips that are on their way to the US. And yes, Guam is a US Territory.

Gosh! This was frisking to the extreme. Unlike in some places where it was more "courtesy frisking," these guys take their jobs seriously. They really scan your entire body using their hands, and it's so thorough, it's almost enough to make you scream bloody harassment!

Imagine, they run their entire hands all over your body - even under the crevice of your underarms. And that's not the worst part. They even run their fingers around the waistband of your pants and underwear. Good thing I wasn't ticklish, or else I might have been laughing during the entire exam. (Admittedly, I chuckled once or twice.)

I just hope they don't get any friskier anytime soon.

Deja Vu

Thankfully, this isn't an overnight trip unlike my last visit to the Island. Now, I've got a few more days to really explore the beaches, and more of the outlet stores. Harhar.



If I'm not mistaken, I'm in the same wing of the hotel. I also got almost the same room number - same meaning the same room type in a different floor. That's why when I woke up, the view was very familiar.

The same view of the Philippine sea.



Same view of the lobby and coffee shop below.



Same view of the side of the building. And I noticed that the younex tower added some more floors.



And the same view of the infinity pool and the wedding chapel. This time, I packed my swim shorts and will definitely hit the pool one of these days.



Oh, I'm hoping that there will also be a case of deja vu when I hit the BCBG outlet one of these days.