It's a pake!

Snopake was the correction fluid brand du jour back in my high school days.

Back then, correction fluid had to be part of your pencil case arsenal. Some kids had Liquid Paper, some had Magic Touch, but the fold standard was Snopake.

Nowardays, no one uses correction fluid anymore. So, it was a pleasant surprise to see this during my visit to National Bookstore.

Yes, Snopake is still very much around.

Didn't get to see what they were actually selling, though. Will save that for another visit.

Glad we MET

The venue for the Side A concert was a bit different. Unlike the usual concerts which is usually held in MOA Arena, Araneta Coliseum and even Samsung Theater, their concert was held in a place steeped in history and culture.

The Metropolitan Theater.

Was telling Mark that the last time I watched something here was way back in high school. We watched the play "Noli Me Tangere" at the MET, and it was such a memorable experience. When we were in grade school, we also watched "Peter Pan" here, and I was simply amazed that Peter Pan could really fly! (With harnesses, of course.)

So many memories. And I'm glad to have relived them.

Never grows old: the marriage

Nope, not the marriage of Jul & Jen. But that's going to  hit a decade in a few months.

The wedding in this case is my parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary. 

Yes, that was already 10 years ago.

And this is still one of my favourite photos from that celebration.

It's Kevin's selfie. And I've said this before and I'll send it again, it's genius!

This moment - just like love - never grows old.

Never grows old: the engagement

Found this photo from Jul and Jen's engagement party.

That's when it hit me that this photo was already taken a decade ago!

Amazing how fast time flies.

FMM: Waxing sentimental

There's an ad for a dance concert called "Legends," and it features iconic dance groups from the 70s to the 2000s. Among the headliners are Penthouse 7, The Aldeguer Sisters, Wea Dancers, Vicor Dancers, among others.

It makes me wonder if Beat Culture is going to be part of that concert. They were a popular dance group in the 80s, and their dancers were very young and hip (in the 80s, at least.) They would make the rounds of variety shows, they they were best known for their dance routine set against this 1986.

"Right between the eyes" by Wax was actually a very popular song back then. It had a lot of airplay, and it was a mainstay in parties and discos. I'm not sure if the song became popular because of Beat Culture, of if Beat Culture became popular because of Wax's song.

But whatever the case may be, this song continues to be as catchy and fun to listen to, even if it's almost 40 years old.

Fresh(ness) in my mind

Yes. I'm old enough to know that Freshness Burger was once here in the Philippines.

Their first shop was near Makati Cinema Square, which was fitting because it was where all the legit Japanese restaurants were. 

Then, they opened a branch at the 6th floor of Shangrila Mall, and I used to eat there with Mark if we wanted a legit Japanese burger.

Quietly, it disappeared. Maybe the concept was ahead of its time.

So, I'm hoping that with Mos Burger and Masajiro Burger in MNL already, they'll follow suit and reopen here.

That's a fresh idea.

20 Vision

And just like that, my blog is 20 years old!

This is one of the 2 posts I made on May 19, 2025. 

So much has happened since then, and I'm glad that this blog is around to let me go back, relive and learn from 2 decades worth of experiences.

Happy Birthday Blog!

The Fil-Jap connection

Facebook reminded me that it's been 7 years since Kris and Mike's wedding.

That was a fun wedding to organise. And what made it even more fun was the fact that Kris gave me a lot of free rein in a lot of things - including her wedding gown and the attire of the entire entourage! Plus the fact that she was in Tokyo when we were organising this. 

Speaking of Tokyo, this was also the time that we got together with our JPN based friends, including Shinji who wore a barong to celebrate the occasion.

It's these types of connections that never fail to put a smile on my face.

Shower of Blessings

During the last visit of Pope Francis in MNL, we waited outside Manila Yacht Club to catch a glimpse of him. And we were rewarded by this sight of him.

Aside from this experience. I also went to Quirino Grandstand where Pope Francis held a mass. 

The day started a bit overcast, then it rained all of a sudden. The rains grew stronger, but the people in the area - myself included - were unfazed and stood there amidst the strong rain showers. No weather disturbance could keep us from hearing his words and homily.

After the mass, I was drenched. As in, dripping wet. 

Went to Robinsons Place Manila - Bench, in particular - and bought a new change of clothes. Initially, was planning to check in to take a shower and change, but it turns out that a lot of the hotels in the area were fully booked - mainly because of the Pope's visit.

This experience was literally a shower of blessings for me.

In tens

"Has it been ten years already?"

This was the question that popped in my head after this showed up on my feed.

That means it was in 2015 when Mark and I played tour guide to Isa and her family when they went to Tokyo. 

They arrived during the height of the Sakura season, so we went to Ueno Park to they could see them in full glory. Then, we went to a sushi bar with the revolving tracks, then to Omotesando and Harajuku.

Seeing this photo made me realise that it's been a while since Mark and I spent Holy Week in Japan. It's been less than 10 years, but still quite a long time ago.

This is good motivation for us to go and see the cherry blossoms again.

Music on my mind

Since we're in the subject of Nexxus and 90s band, there was one place in Greenhills where people would frequent whenever they had the urge to listen to good Pinoy bands.

If you're a 90s kid, you'll definitely know this place:

Music Hall was in Annapolis Street, near Greenhills Shopping Center. It was a huge, barn-shaped building which was known as the platform and launch pad of a lot of memorable bands in the 90s.

This is where big acts like Side A, Freestyle and South Border would play. One of the acts that we would also watch here was FOJ, which later became Vanna Vanna. If you were a big act, or was poised to be the next big one, you HAD to play at Music Hall.

That's why this place will always be in my mind.

The graduate

What?!

It's been 11 years since Migs graduated from high school? 

This feels just like yesterday. 

Cue in "I'm getting old" feels.

Surprise Gift(ed)

Aside from Palmolive, one of the accounts that's close to my heart is Promil. 

It was one of the biggest accounts of Adformatix, and the agency was known for its iconic campaign, "The Gifted Child."

I'm fortunate to have seen that campaign come alive. From the 1st gifted child - Adam, until the many gifted children down the road. Each one had a unique story, a wonderful talent, and their common denominator - being gifted.

The most memorable batch for me was Kiko, James and Shaira. Even if the campaign is 30 years old this year, the commercial still plays in my head, and I'm still familiar with the copy of the ad.

Was at a shoot yesterday, and lo and behold, one of the gifted children was there.

Shaira is now a renowned fashion photographer. Her eye for visuals and her creativity in photography is acknowledged in the industry. Her name has been on everyone's lips and list since she started more than a decade back, and she's still doing what she does best.

It was great catching up with her, and we were both waxing nostalgic at the fact that her commercial came out 30 years ago.

That kind of longevity, now that's a gift!

He's the Guy

It's still one of my favourite stories from High School.

Our English teacher was talking about one of his favourite playwrights. He wrote the name on the board and confidently said that no one would be able to pronounce it. The name was:

Guy de Maupassant

Casually, I raised my hand and said:

Gee du Muppasan

Yup, I knew how to pronounce the name of this guy.

Because he didn't know that we had a small library in our Tomas Morato house. We had an encyclopedia. One of them had an article dedicated to this French author who was best known for his short stories. Became curious about him. Asked my Lola Dita about him. And she was the one who taught me how to pronounce his name.

And that's how a random interest made me sound more knowledgeable.

I-1-der

It's always a joy whenever block mates get together.

Can't believe it's been 3 decades since 34 diverse kids got together and formed Block I-1 in UP CMC.

Despite our differences, the block gelled together and was a close-knit group. Of course, there were sub-groups within the block - like the Assumption Girls, the Rizal group, the out-of-towners, etc., but overall, everyone just got along.

Tonight, we had a micro-get-together with 4 of us block mates in attendance.

It was so good to see Dyra again after almost 20 years. And it's always a joy to see Prichy and Wowie.

We've always talked about planning a huge Block reunion.

Makes me wonder if that'll happen soon.

Seven. Up.

Couldn't help but smile after seeing this post that was upped by FB.

It's Baby Noah's baptism!

Can't believe this was 7 years ago. 

Hopefully, we'll see Noah and the whole TX crew again soon.

Fortune-ately

Found this while cleaning my room.

This was a gift to me by the HKG office after joining them back in 2005.

So, yes, this item is 25-years old.

But what is it?

It's a modern-traditional fortune teller.

Modern, because it's made by Shanghai Tang.

Traditional, because it's fashioned after a traditional Chinese way of telling fortune. You shake the container, open it, and get a stick. The stick has a number, and you find that number in the fortune telling book.

Tried it just for kicks and got the number 4. And here's my fortune:

I'm really feeling fortunate to have found this. I'll be randomly telling my fortune from here on in.

No(kia) kidding

After seeing this New Year greeting, it was clear that this had to be the one I'll be sending out to my friends.

For those who know Nokia and was part of that generation, this was the exact same way we'd send out our New Year greetings.

Those days were fun.

Gold Standard

Mark's Christmas gift this year is a much deserved sequel to his gift last year.

It's this gold photo album!

Just as gold is valuable, so are the contents of this album.

It's more of our shared memories - from trips to time spent with friends - each photo has a story and meaning that's a joy to review and remember.

This gift is definitely worth its weight in gold.

Once a King

A decade ago, CD-R King was THE go-to store.

Back when CDs were useful and essential, this store had in in all colours, sizes and designs.

Then, they diversified into anything and everything electronic. From USBs to phone chargers to phone cases. Taking it further, they started selling small appliances, even scooters!

And just when you thought their trajectory was on the up and up, suddenly they started dwindling and disappearing.

Last Sunday, was in Robinsons Magnolia and was surprised to see this:

Not sure if it's still open or permanently closed. But seeing it made me reminisce on the brand and how big it once was.