Life: Cheap ways to have fun

I don't have friends here in Manila yet, and it's hard to find kindred spirits if you keep odd hours and don't get out as much. Staying in during the Saturdays and Sundays don't do me good because I always get restless; I mean, hey, I have every reason to look forward to the weekend--I'm on the night shift team and it's not always really great at the office because work is quite intense! I think I deserve some fun, light-hearted things to do!

The only thing is I hate spending too much. Seriously, I get the hives when I spend a lot on non-essential things in life. Greencross is considerate enough to always take me somewhere, even for a walk around the block, or to the nearest mall and eat some ice cream. In this city where exorbitant living is required to have fun, we're breaking the mold and pushing the envelope in the attempt to have good, clean fun without breaking the bank!

Here's some nice things I enjoyed over the weekend:

Eiga Sai 2013 - Free event! This annual event sponsored by The Japan Foundation, Manila has always been a tradition for me and my friends back in my hometown. This year, I have Greencross to accompany me (but I'm no stranger to watching the big screen alone, as pathetic as that may sound haha!) and went to Shangri-La Plaza.

My favorite movies from Eiga Sai 2013:
* Confessions
* Rinco's Restaurant
* Mai Mai Miracle (Animated)

When we got to Cineplex, there was some guy who was being a big asshole, pushing his way in in the most gruff manner to get inside the cinema immediately. I felt really sorry for the guard and attendants who were in his way. How vexing, and how utterly rude!

Grocery Promos - We do quick grocery shoppings during the weekends for our weekly food staples. Though we shop at an upscale mall, we always do our best to keep the things we buy as cheap as possible! It's always a happy time for us to do the groceries. It's also fun to shop at Rustan's because there's so many "free taste" things and promo activities, too.

Last Saturday, there's was the Oreo Challenge promo (which wasn't so much as a challenge, really.) and I won some Oreo cookies and Oreo notepads. It made me happy hahaha! Here's a collage from photos taken by Greencross:

Last Sunday was a bit of a downtime for me, because I was quite beat for some reason. I wasn't feeling very chirpy but I guess it happens. I looked at Greencross engrossed in his game and was envious that he has Guild Wars 2 to enjoy and I didn't (I have a character but we only have one PC so most of the time he plays)! All I got are some cutesy games so I was feeling like I needed something fun, too!

Play On! Bought a Video game: I've missed playing videogames SO MUCH. These past few years it's all MMORPGS, but they don't have the same quality as platform RPGS (single player ones, yeah I'm a lonewolf like that (/////_-) lol!) I may not have a PlayStation or an Xbox unit anymore, but there's always the 3DS! I've decided on Fire Emblem: Awakening for a month now after having played a demo version; I was just waiting for the right time to strike (read: price drop!) But the need to grew too much for me so yeah, I got this brand new spankin' cartridge!

It's not very cheapskate with the price tag of P1,750 BUT! It's hours upon hours of gaming, sidequests, character development, awesome dialogue, adventures, frustration, happy things and such! And if gaming reviews are not mistaken, Fire Emblem: Awakening has an amazing "replayability" to it! So yeah, I'm excited for that. I really, really miss video games.

So that's it! My weekends are pretty eventful around here, if you're to call it that. I'm a simple girl of simple means or maybe mababaw lang kaligayahan ko, but yeah, any excuse to have fun and enjoy the good things in life is what I love best!

Thanks for reading~
See you next post!

Food: Oishi Choco Chug Oaties Milk Drink

Hello!

I'd like to share to you my new favorite chocolate drink. There's lots of competition in the market, but for me this is THE BEST drink that I've ever tasted and I thought that I should share this to anyone who reads this post; random people looking for really good chocolate drinks!

I saw this Choco Chug chocolate milk drink in SM Megamall last week while we were doing groceries and Greencross put it in our cart immediately after seeing the glint in my eye! I haven't seen't this choco drink before, maybe it escaped my notice because I was looking at the opposite aisle where my favorite milk is usually placed.

We just opened it last Wednesday and I keep on opening and closing our little refrigerator cox it is soooo good! Look, it has a little portion on the top box that makes it immediately superior to any prepackaged drink: You mark the "cup" according to which date you opened it. I marked the Wednesday cup!

Pretty helpful if you don't want to chug down stale drink. Then again, if you're like me, this will not last a week. (I had to keep myself from finishing it in a day.)

The 1-Liter pack costs about 69.00 which is way LESS than the other, popular brands of choco drinks. And apparently, it has finely ground oats!

Hmm, really? I didn't know "oats" can be drink-able, technically.

A rice measuring cup is superior to any mug! 

Apparently, some awesome magic can turn oats into pure, silky chocolate drink! It is really as smooth as it looks! No particles detected! It was so creamy and chocolatey but maybe because of the finely grained oats, it has that "full body" feel that you don't get when it's just water, choco powder and milk!

Ok, just because it is oats, and oats have lots of good things in it, doesn't automatically translate that this is a health drink. Maybe they can claim that they're healthier than the regular drinks, but I'm sure not by how much?

I'm too concerned about quelching my chocolate craving to think even think about "healthy" things! But for anyone who might be interested, here's the Nutritional Facts:

And following that, the ingredients list, of course. Notice that instead of suggars, there's Maltodextrin instead. I don't know it that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Oats is in the Top 5 ingredients, so I guess there's a lot of oats in there!

You know, this is really good. I finished what's left in the carton today! I'm posting this as I chug the last drop. And yes, definitely buying as a weekly treat for us!

Let me know if you can recommend me other awesome drinks like these; Or if you'd like to share your favorite drinks too--chocolate, vanilla, coffee or whatever! What's your "weekly treat"?

P.S.
The carton has been recycled to be used as one of my "herb pots"! Next post, I will share about my new acquisitions: Potted herbs! How cute are those? I have 3 now!

See you then!
Take care~ 

Life: Books and Travel

I've been bit. Travel bug.

Darn... it bites hard.

I want to travel the entire world today. I feel like going on a travel rampage ever since I've started settling down in this city. Before I moved here I used to be a real settler, you know, the kind who's absolutely content at spending an entire lifetime in one place. Maybe it's the move that made me ballsy--I realize that even if I uproot myself, nothing bad will happen to me, the world won't implode, my family wouldn't fall apart (yeah because I'm suuuuch an important member!) and my life wouldn't go haywire.

I've been meaning to do start on international travel a year ago, but due to troubles with my nephew, my Japanese visa went unused :( I was quite looking forward to it. I had my travel money saved up, a checklist of all the things I need to bring, travelogues and maps, and I even had entire playlist ready.

I haven't quite moved on from that disappointment, yet, I believe.

Traveling the world is not just an option, as I told Greencross, it is a must. I can't not go away. And it's not just because I just want to have the experience of going out of the country; No, I'm not focused on the geography. I want to go away because I want to see humanity's diversity of culture, manner, architecture, literature and language. And most of all, I want to see the lands where my favorite books were set.

If you frequent this my book blog, The Contemporary Reader, one of my earliest post included: Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios by Yann Martel. These are the three books that I want to visit. Literally visit.

MY TRAVEL BOARD

1. Captain Corelli's Mandolin is supposed to be set in the beautiful island of Kephallenia (Cephallonia) (Κεφαλλονιά), Greece, and it is the largest of all the Ionian islands in the western part of the country. In the book this is where Pelgaia, the heroine of de Bernieres' story lived with her Papa, Dr. Iannis, and where she met the steadfast soldier with a musician's heart, Antonio Corelli. It was never said in the novel what town they lived in, but according to Wikipedia and supported by other readers, "The book is believed to be inspired by the picturesque village of Farsa, just outside of Argostoli"

Farsa: quaintly beautiful, sloping, sprawling

2. Pride and Prejudice is the classic, beloved love story set in Hertfordhsire, England. This is where Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live with their five daughters. Elizabeth, the future Mrs. Darcy, loved to take long walks around the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire where Pride and Prejudice is primarily set.

Hertfordshire-- I'd love to talk a long, refreshing walk around the entire span of the town, too.

Aside from Hertfordshire, I would love to visit another county in England. Derbyshire is where the magic happens. In the novel, Fitzwilliam Darcy and the Darcy family peerage own lands in Derbyshire and has an county estate called Pemberley, which is thought to be based on the real-life estate of Chatsworth House.

Like Elizabeth, when I first saw Chatsworth house, I too, thought: "...at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!"

3. The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios tells of a story of two close friends, one is struggling with how to cope with AIDS, an existential crisis and his mortality, the other trying to help by telling a story about an Italian immigrant family who lived in Helsinki, Finland. I normally don't like short stories, but this one was beautifully told with a lot of metaphorical injections and parallelism, so it stuck with me all through these years. I want to visit Helsinki; even though the story never said where exactly I'm sure being young, active people, the two friends might have operated in the city's downtown mostly. I'd like to try and discover Sweden because here's some opportunity in it for me though, so I shall wait and see about that, too!

Esplanadi Park in Helsinki with a quintessential European feel

Oh, one could dream... and write the frustration away.

I would not consider traveling a hobby (unless I'll be stinking rich, burning money with airplane gas is not the lifestyle I want to subscribe to!) but I want my travels to mean something. I realize now there's a reason why I didn't really want to go to places like Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia... They don't mean anything to me at all. I don't want to go to places just because. I want to say, "I want to go to X and Y and Z  because... " with long-winded, excited, overanalyzed reasons hahaha!

Books were my first windows to the world; They were the ones who taught me that there are different things in life I need to see.

I want to broaden my perspective in life through literature and travel. My books somehow define me, I won't lie. They have been my constant companions that 'talk' to me about a lot of things when people didn't even want to try. I can reach out to them anytime I want to. They've been there through my saddest days, so I'd like to take them to happier places.

Planning starts now. I'm kinda thankful I have a paying job that's enough to cover my ass expenses, because this is NOT going to be a PHP 50,000 vacation, surely. The last time I checked, the plane ticket to an airport in Cephallonia alone costs that.

Please wish me good luck in my plans, and may the winds of travel take me to the places I want to go!

P.S.
If there's anyone reading this who's interested to volunteer for a 1-week organic farming activity in Sweden, let me know! Plane tickets/Visa on you but lodging and food is free.