window dress-up

The thing I least like about our house is the windows. You see, more than seven years ago, I was pregnant with Noah and knew that once Noah was born, we would no longer fit in the place we had at that time. We needed a house fast and ended up buying an already-built new house. So we didn't get to choose things like what type of windows to install. They're still those old paneled-windows that we also had in the house I grew up in, decades ago. Worse, they're in a ghastly white color.

These black ones don't look so bad though. Maybe I should just repaint the panel frames of our windows? Perhaps in a chocolate brown color so it looks better against our cream-colored facade?

Photo from annnniegirl.

Click here for a previous post on whimsical windows.

my fantasy dentist

I've been needing a root canal for over a year now. But I haven't had the courage to schedule it because I am terrified of the pain.

If only this dentist on Main Street of Hongkong Disneyland really existed... 

Photos are my own.

Click here and here for previous posts on our recent trip to Hongkong Disneyland. 

oops, my neurosis is showing...

Do you have a favorite pen? It's not really that it's my favorite pen. It isn't even pretty. And you know how I love pretty things. But for some odd reason, I cannot read my work notes if I use a different pen. I only use a blue Pilot pen. Not even a techpen. Just a regular ballpoint pen. It has just the right point (just as my BIC mechanical pencils need to be 0.5). And it has to be blue. Even if I use exactly the same type of Pilot pen - but in black rather than blue, I can't seem to read my work notes. Somehow, I can't find what I'm looking for. My brain just seems to refuse reading notes using other pens!

I remember when I started working many, many years ago, my boss used a really fancy pen. I remember wondering if I would ever get to that level where you aren't afraid you'll lose such a fancy pen - aside from of course, afford one. But I seriously doubt that my neurotic fixation on my blue Pilot ballpoint pen will ever allow me to use a fancy pen for work. To write on post-its or home notebooks, not a problem. But never for work. Eeep, does that take my neurosis to an even higher level?

Photo from annniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Oops, My Neurosis Is Showing series.

my fantasy of an empty theme park

Wouldn't it be great to have Disneyland's Main Street - or any theme park for that matter - all to yourself like this? So your photos will not have more people you don't know than you know?

We went to Hongkong Disneyland last week for Noah's 7th birthday. And it wasn't very crowded. Waiting time at each attraction was anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Not bad. But getting a photo of the sights without strangers in the picture was still quite challenging.

Family member - 1. Strangers - 4. And this display was not even a big one. Try getting a photo of Sleeping Beauty's Castle with just your family.

What more trying to get a photo of just the attractions - no family member or stranger - for your blog? I so wanted to take photos of the newly-opened Toy Story Land for my blog. I had planned to take attraction-only photos for anonymity (I'm still shy) and so unsightly crowds of strangers are out of the picture. But so many people were trying to get their turn at a photo op that when a kid leaves, another would always get there before I was able to take a shot of just the attraction.

Turns out, even these official photos from Hongkong Disneyland features the crowds.

I guess it showcases the perspective more accurately - how people look like they've been shrunk to the size of toys: really small ones, like Sarge and those tiny toy soldiers. While the toys in Toy Story Land are big, the place isn't. There are basically just three rides: Slinky Dog Spin, a kiddie rollercoaster ride (or caterpillar ride as we call it here in the Philippines) where Slink chases his tail around and around.

Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, a parachute training drill that vertically drops riders from high above.

And RC Racer where RC speeds back and forth on a soaring U-shaped track (ala Enchanted Kingdom's Anchors Away ride).

This ride we skipped, so we just faked it on this giant RC photo op display (Oh, I am still shy. But I didn't get that attraction-only photo of RC that I wanted. So am hoping we won't be recognized with our mouths open so wide.).

The last attraction is the Barrel of Fun. The queue is right beside these giant domino & checkers pieces with some monkeys from the Barrel.

And inside the gigantic Barrel of Monkeys, you meet either Woody or Jessie (In case you're wondering, Buzz still makes his appearance in Tomorrowland).

I wanted a Jessie-only photo but as with all the other attractions, that was impossible. An empty theme park may just be a fantasy, but I'm glad that birthday-boy Noah had his fill of big smiles, roars of laughter and delightful fun!

Photos from here and my own.

Click here for another post on our recent trip to Hongkong Disneyland.

i miss riding...

I used to ride. Since I was 3 years old. But I haven't gone riding in a while. And I miss it a lot. I even miss just looking at beautiful horses (yes, sorry to discriminate, but not the sad, malnourished-looking kalesa-type of horses). Somehow, thoroughbreds have a calming effect on me. At the risk of making this seem like an oops, my neurosis is showing post, I have to admit that just seeing a horse's handsome back calms me. You know how only the horse's behind is seen when they're in a horse trailer? Well, I am soothed when I chance upon such a horse trailer on SLEX - probably on its way to its ranch home in Batangas. They need not be thoroughbreds. I remember passing Sta. Ana on the way to my Makati office during my first couple of years of working just to chance upon some part (behind or other) of a fine-looking horse. 

Gosh, I so miss horses. I haven't seen a handsome one in a while. It doesn't help that the horses eluded me during my last couple of work meetings in Manila Polo Club (why are they always out back?!). I guess I really should schedule a trip to Subic's El Kabayo Equestrian Center soon...

Photos from annnniegirl.

Click here for actual posts from the Oops, My Neurosis Is Showing series since I know, this post is suspiciously like one of them.

dear DOT-campaign-haters

I really wish you would stop this negative publicity on the Department of Tourism's itsmorefuninthephilippines campaign. The campaign is for all of us Filipinos. So instead of bashing it, we should all just support it. What does it matter if the slogan has been used before? The idea couldn't be further from Switzerland's. The campaign is witty - using common ideas like "getting upstairs" to showcase a different kind of "getting upstairs" via the majestic Banawe Rice Terraces.

It is a campaign that intelligent people around the world will appreciate and hopefully entice to come to our country. It showcases the majestic beauty of the Philippines.

Our rich and colorful culture...

The easygoing and ebullient people of the Philippines...

Which I hope you, dear DOT-campaign-haters, will go back to. Because crab mentality and social climbing...

... can mean different, much more beautiful things here in fun Philippines.

Photos from here and here.

Click here for the ofdotsnthings side of this campaign. Click here for previous posts from the Dear series.  

the things they sell on the streets of Manila

The assortment of items being sold on the streets of Manila is just amazing! Gone are the days of mere Takatak boys selling cigarettes and menthol candy. We've also gone beyond the 9 for P100 flannel rags, sampaguita leis, newspapers, car chargers and chichirya (junkfood like corn chips or cheese puffs) or nilagang mani (boiled peanuts) when traffic is bad.

I've seen Manila street vendors selling toys like Santa Claus bubble-makers & helicopters that actually fly, fishing rods, coat hangers and even a giant umbrella for patio furniture!

I don't even know how that giant umbrella could even fit in the car of whoever decides - on impulse - to buy outdoor furniture!

You have to hand it to these vendors of ours though. Imagine having to carry that heavy umbrella from car to car at every stoplight.

Peculiar, but amazing!

What about you? What's the most peculiar thing you've seen sold on the streets of Manila?

Photo from annniegirl.