ten days after

i didn't have the time to blog out since i got back from my vacation. when i got back, i had ten consecutive days of work to fill out. i also happen to have a couple of articles to create for The Exchange. and then there was also halloween, which was one of my articles because i was covering it.

but then we have to talk about my vacation.

it was fantastic! i truly enjoyed my five days there. and i badly want to go back. for more reasons than one. i want to see chuli again, of course. we still haven't yakked enough as it is. and i didn't get to see everything, despite macau's relatively small size. i missed seeing the beach and the Westin Macau, which i heard was an attraction since it's located on a separate island, where the beach is. but i toured the place well, mind you. rhianne and chuli took me shopping at the red market the first day, thursday. and we haven't rounded the place as it is. they just brought me through some shops and made me it this humongous amount of very good lomai. on the same day, i discovered hi-c melon milk. which is a real obsession on my part because up to now i dream about the taste of it. in the evening, i went with tita lina and rhianne and went to the pink market. and on that same night i decided that every meal i take in that enclave is going to seem like my last meal. the hot pot we had that night was enough to feed a small army. i never went hungry in the whole time i was in macau. on the second day, they took me to san malo where the Ruins of St. Paul were. and were i snapped my camera phone away happily through the ruins and in the antique shop where tita loida works. we also went to the seaside that night. kiko, chuli and i drinking tsing tao beer. which, i have to say, compares poorly to san miguel. i believe that's something i'll miss here when i do move there next year. the taste of good old san mig. on saturday, tita lina and rhianne took me to zhuhai in mainland china. and i went shopping like crazy. the prices of the shoes floored me. and everyone knows i'm such a sucker for shoes. i have a kind of imeldifism in me when it comes to shoes. it's a particular vanity. so you can almost imagine me drooling when i found shoe store after shoe store offering goods as low as $15. unbelievable. i had to stop myself from shopping or i would have gone home truly broke. sunday, we went to see the lotus flower and the grand macau prix exhibit after lunching in some high class chinese restaurant that serves the best siopao i've ever had. i never knew that macau hosts a grand prix. has been hosting for years, it seems. i guess my knowledge on racing limits itself to Indy. there were a couple of cars on exhibit that i wanted to take home with me. the lotus flower was said to be gift from...i'm not sure if it's portugal or england..when macau was returned to china. it's made of pure gold. that's why it's guarded 24/7. it's just right off the only mall on that island, yao han. and yao han isn't all that big. it's probably just the size of shangri-la mall. make that the landmark. shangri-la's bigger, by far. on monday, tita lea went with us to eat at cafe e.s.kimo. it's this chain of restaurants that serves intercontinental, western, european, and asian cuisine. their strawberry milkshakes are sinful. after that, i was taken to daiso for a whole afternoon of shopping for pasalubong. the whole place is two floors of japanese imported goods and there isn't any price tag in any of them because everything costs $10 each. everything in it. amazing, isn't it? it you convert that to pesos, each item there costs 60Php. cheaper than a chicken and rice meal at mcdonald's. and they have stuff ranging from socks to bags to accessories to home goods to food items. they even have fanta in large can sizes which i brought home for myself. we had dinner that night over at tita lea's and afterwards, chuli and i did a little grocery at the royal, which is just in front of their apartment building for other last minute pasalubong. tito bobby gave me bears to take home with me. i gave the orange one to stef. and he also gave me dvds to take home beacues i was so enamored about his dvd collection. granted that most of them aren't original. but the quality of those pirated copies rival the original's. i left the next morning at 0700.

but you know why else i would truly want to go back? because of this little beautiful bundle called kyla aiesha. she's my godchild. chuli and kiko's baby. usually with us when were out traipsing in town. she truly is a piece of work. a little gurgle from her and she makes all of us happy. i wanted to take her home with me the minute i saw her. i was at the airport and she was in her yellow tweety stroller. i had half the mind to walk away with her. or probably put her in a hand-carry bag. but then chuli and kai will probably murder me. she's really pretty. like a little princess. and so sweet. half of the pictures i took in macau were of her. and whenever i look at those pictures i want to go back and just look at her. i miss her already. as much as i miss her mom. i cannot say that i'm great with kids. but aiesha was so well-behaved she makes me feel i'm doing the right things when i'm watching her. i didn't want to hold her because i might break something. but i did get to carry her a couple of times. it's sounds crazy, but she's the kind of baby that brings out the motherly instinct in you. not that i truly believe i have one. she's just that likeable.

fantastic, isn't it?

i don't really have enough time or energy to write more so i guess the halloween event as well as the shift bid and the rest of what's happening in my world gone mad is going to have to be written the next time i log in.