since i am already in the topic of gym, i am happy to say that i have gained almost 20lbs, 18lbs to be exact. i now weigh 145lbs, targeting 150, thanks to my personal trainor. unlike most people, i have a different dilemma; i loose weight when i don’t go to the gym. yep, it’s kinda strange but going to the gym is the only reason why i don’t get blown away during typhoons and strong winds. like i said, i’m targeting 150lbs, i think that weight with my height of 5’7″ would be a perfect pair when i’m being asked about my weight and height. people notice me bulking up since i joined the gym. i was in hiatus for more than a year from the gym mostly because i travel for work and that i lost interest in taking care of myself, but 2008 is about me so i’m back. i’m quite happy with my proportions; legs and torso seems to be matched. i have to say since a lot of the gym nuts are johnny bravos-heavy on the torso, limp on the legs-or chicken legs. i’m so mean!

however, me bulking up posed a serious problem for me, and my viktors.

to date, i have 29 viktors. these are investments, clothes are always an investment. it is how you present yourself to the world and of course you always want to wrap yourself with the finest thai silk, mother of pearls, de beers diamonds and put your best foot forward. almost half of them are skinny jeans-really fitting, seam busting, 2nd skin like skinny jeans-that i can no longer wear. simply because it won’t fit me anymore. my legs grew 2 inches in diameter each, how i wish it grew vertically. it won’t fit me and goes only up to my thighs. it’s such a sappy, sappy day when i found out. happy that i gained weight but sad that my ultimate viktor vp#1 is now just in my closet. these jeans hanging on my rack are the only ones that i can wear, some of them after 10 minutes of pulling. looking fierce is such a fierce job.

if you are a vip viktor citizen, we are having a launching sale with the lord viktor line paired with selvedge japanese premium denim for LV#1. sale ends on may 5 so phone your denim specialist now! don’t forget to bring your viktor pasaporte.

listening to:
The Dutchess – Fergie: London Bridge

when i decided that it’s high time for me to move to manila and get my own place, my mom insisted that i move to sampaloc. i have tons of relatives here and that can/will help me in times i need some sorting out. which i read as a watchful eye on me when she’s not around. anyhoo, so i moved to sampaloc manila against my better judgment; i was set to moving to ortigas area, walking distance to my office. i am not big with my cousin, this one in particular; come to think of it, i am not close to any cousin of mine. i hardly say hi to him or his wife, keeping my distance to them though i am fond of his father tito ric. i used to see him a lot when i was a kid hanging with my mom like almost everyday. both my cousin and his wife smokes, his teenage sister also smokes. you can see their house filled with smoke and the ziggy butts in front of their house in the morning would not disagree. well it’s all fine with me but they do it in front of their 4 children, the youngest being a 2 month old baby.

afternoon around 2.00, my cousin was having his nails manicured when they smelled something burning. it was the children’s room in flames. tonio, the 2 year old, played with the lighter and set one of the pillows on fire. good thing that they were able to figure it out/smelled it early. the whole street was alarmed and helped each other put out the fire. cousin rushed out of his home and shouted fire! as he rushed to the baranggay hall. mom who was at the living room watching star movies got alarmed and panic. she called out for my yaya and started to barked out orders on which items should be saved. yaya of course panicked more and started to run in circles figuring out which will she pick out to save, headed outside to my tita’s building and waited, still out of her senses. mom, though still composed, was having an attack in the middle of chaos. my other yaya, yaya luring, poured cold water all over mom to prevent her blood pressure from shooting up. i have to commend the baranggay captain having 5-10 fire extinguishers handy in his office. miko ran to my tita‘s building and got another 5 cans of fire extinguisher.  the firemen came to rescue and dose what was remaining of the fire.

nobody got hurt, thank God, but the house is in terrible shape. from the outside, it’s all good but the damage inside is beyond repair. as for my apartment, it’s just after my cousin’s. although the fire was caught before it did some damage to my place, my guest room is all wet. when the firemen extinguished the fire, the pressurized water peered through the  ceiling and leaked to the ceiling of my guest room. all the books beyond salvage, the bed is drenched with water and soot and some funky smell from the ceiling. my clothes were stained, shoes ruined from the water, the hard wood floor of the 2nd floor is now dilapidated and the first floor ceiling is leaking like hell. yaya was able to save my 3 laptops and my gucci bag (thank you yaya!) while mom saved all our paper trails. aside from that, all is and should be considered gone. my new 55 cm epi louis vuitton keepall is gone even before i got the chance to use it.

all these happened while i was attending reno’s first born’s christening. i am here, posting this entry at manila hotel.

i was able to reach the office at 2.00pm, called the i.t. support hotline because my account got locked during the holidays. it’s was very nice of amik (india i.t. hub) and the password reset was quite fast. after that, i head to viktor at podium to have my  redux (vx design) pair fixed — the button suddenly fell out, and to check the lining of the the suit i have ino make for me. i asked for gold or silver or metallic wine. what they have is brown that is not what i have in mind. good thing that i checked it first. hopefully it will be ready before the wedding this 19th. then i headed for national bookstore for some wrappers for my christmas gifts for the office. i hand christmas gifts after the holidays, it has been a tradition for me not the go with the rush of the holidays, including valentines. i hid in one of the nego-rooms at the office and wrapped all my gifts. i’ll post the pictures later, forgot to take some. everyone says that the wrapping is nice, well i have to say it is. i really find time to make the wrapping extra special. by 6.00pm, it’s time to pack up and head for serendra, penny called up for dinner and coffee. had pad thai noodles at thai silk. freaking serendra is so crowded, you really have to reserve 2 hours before. coffee, tea and cake at coffee bean. jake at coffee bean. had interesting conversation while waiting for richard who was having dinner at mangan. did you know that the filipino translation of airplane is salipawpaw? who knew?

finished late, around 1.00am. so kind of jake to drive me over my place. you know what, i think i’m born sarcastic and single for the rest of my life. this is not a resignation but rather a realization, better accept things as they are rather than hope for something too that will never be. c’est la vie.

listening to:
Evil – Eartha Kitt: I Want To Be Evil

i have to say that even though i never did look forward to the holidays, more so the long break, i did enjoy having our moments as a family. i love my relationship with my mom; there’s no more taboo between us, even sex and sexuality. having my sisters with us, we talked about almost everything, our childhood, growing up, favoritism that until now mom wouldn’t admit having. by the way, i’m the least favorite. we’ve also talked about the inevitable future, mom leaving to the u.s. to migrate and mom’s favorite topic, me and my spending no existent savings. i drained my so called savings when i went plastic happy at union square and madison avenue at my last trip. it gave me a sense of family that i have not felt for a long time. i have to blame myself for that, choosing work over.i felt a little sentimental, this would be our last christmas together since mom is migrating and i am not big at family gatherings…

-oOo-

i share dats‘ sentiments and feeling, sometimes, if not most, i feel like giving up. but why bother with all those questions and ifs and what not, i’m done questioning, enough with the questions (channeling my inner carrie in season 6), it’s time to do. 

listening to:
Affection – Lisa Stansfield: All Around The World

this year is all about me. hear me out, this year is ME.

listening to:
Velvet Rope – Janet Jackson: Together Again