How to spend money without going to the mall and shopping online...

1. Have friends who travel a lot

Japan - May and Rachel went to Tokyo weekend of March 8 to attend Ken Chu's Get Real Concert. Perfect for me who wanted to get SMAP's latest single Sonomama (http://www.smap-sonomama.com/) which was released March 5th.

Taiwan - Girlie and Zainee went to Taipei the same weekend of March 8 to attend Vic "Zaizai" Chou's Fan Meeting at Taipei Formosa Hotel. Perfect for me who wanted to get F4's cd with the mini-concert dvd at Danshui last January 19th and the official soundtrack of the drama Wish To See You Again (http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/did-3591/code-c/section-index/pid-1010666986/).

Hongkong - Ophie went to Hongkong the same weekend of March 8 on a personal vacation. But Sino center is very near her hotel. Perfect for me who wanted to get Vic Chou's movie dvd Linger (http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-c/section-index/pid-1010096930/) which was released March 8th. I had to get it from Hongkong because their version has English subtitles.

2. Have friends who sell/giveaway their collection

Hongkong - MJ has to move back to London and she has the complete set of Mars manga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(manga). With plenty of SMAP X SMAP tv show cds thrown in for free, it was perfect for her to just Fedex everything to me in Manila.

3. Have colleagues who travel overseas for a much needed break

Singapore - Scarlette, one of our IT personnel went in early March. Perfect for me who needed to get my Anan magazines (http://anan.magazine.co.jp/) with Takuya Kimura on the cover from my Singaporean friend Joyce.

Malaysia - Leo, who works with me is in Malaysia this weekend. Perfect for me who wanted to get the Taiwan drama dvds of Sweet Relationship (http://us.yesasia.com/en//PrdDept.aspx/code-c/section-vidoes/pid-1005156159), Devil Beside You ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_Beside_You)and Why, Why Love (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Why_Love). Why Malaysia? Because the dramas when released locally are sure to have English subtitles. You won't find subbed original dvd dramas in Taiwan and rare/more expensive in Hongkong.

And here I am sitting at home astounded by the realization that this month alone, I was working my usual long hours and just had enough energy to drive to and from work and yet I spent about USD 500 from 5 countries. Amazing!

The Only Pink Thing in MOPWORLD...

...is my pink elephant, BENBEN.

I am not into plushies and stuffed toys. Much more so PINK! Nothing against the color but it's just not me. I've always seen purple stuffed toys but I never bought nor was given one even when I was younger. I'm just not the kawaii (cute) type I guess

Benben came to my life last Christmas. The way I had him was fate...shukumei...I attended the Christmas party thrown by my boss and won Benben during the exchange gift. My initial reaction when I saw him was blah! I was even contemplating on getting rid of him...as a recycled gift...donation to the needy children...whatever.

But as he sat there on the headrest of our bed, he found his way into our (me and Butch) hearts and became our baby. I would shout his name the minute I enter our bedroom. What do they say about pink elephants? Something obvious that nobody wants to talk about....

Obviously there is a spot somewhere in my heart for a cute little pink elephant named Benben and i'm talking about it to the world.

T'is the season of purple...

In the Christian world, purple is associated with Advent and Lent. The color uplifts, calms the mind and nerves, offers a sense of spirituality and encourages creativity (http://www.sensationalcolor.com/content/view/1061/144/).

I came across this sermon about Uplifting Purple that I'd like to share with you all. It starts of with the lore of when and where the color purple was invented. Then it talks about purple used as bitter irony....of being enveloped in the color of love during moments of hate. Of purple as a symbol of bruised healing. And celebrating it as a color of passionate living.

If you guys aren't doing anything at this point and just reading my blog, why don't you head out to this site (http://www.christchurchsummit.org/Sermons-2003/030309-TheColorPurple.html) and read the rest of it. It certainly gave me a deeper love for the color that I have surrounded myself in since I was twelve years old.

For most Filipinos who are on holidays starting today, may you have a PURPLE weekend. I always have a purple day 365 days in a year 24/7.

Snuggled within the comforts of my doramas...

Last week was another one of those weeks when I would go home past midnight from work. And as I have done the past 5 years, I turned to my solace for major stress...drama watching.

After buying these purple cd cases to house my tons and tons of cds and dvds, I found dramas that I have not seen at all.

I picked one japanese (Itazura na Kiss) and one taiwanese drama (Devil Beside You) to watch and that kept me glued the whole week. I would watch a couple of episodes during the work week (lunch break and as soon as I get home) and come the weekend, an uninterrupted marathon time!!

Stress gone..back to my purple but toxic world...looking forward to the long Easter Weekend where I can settle into another marathon. Movies await! Linger from Hongkong (yes MICHI, I also went dvd shopping..hahahaha!) and Hero from Japan. Yokatta!

Patience is a virtue....

...is what I wrote in this little white board that I found one day a couple of weeks back.

I was so stressed out with my work load, was starting to have a headache with all the noise that protesters and rallyists were making 39 floors below and couldn't concentrate anyway so I went out for a walk.

I found myself at the Office Warehouse (http://www.officewarehouse.com.ph/), an office supply store in a nearby building. I was looking at purple pens and spotted this white boards on one of the top shelves. What's cool about this little board is that not only does it have a spot for my purple white board marker which I found during my Bangkok trip last year, it actually is magnetized! So it is now stuck perfectly right in front of me on the side of the filing cabinet.

One of my staff once asked me what I feel when I get new things to add to my collection...and I instantly answered that it's like Christmas. I mentioned this before already.

And when its Christmas, you feel joy at any little gift that you get. In my own purple world, I always feel like I was given a special gift when I found something purple that I don't have or when people around me do. It regenerates all - a lot of the patience that I need everyday.

Busy, Busy...

The past 8 days has been busy, busy and busier. But the cause is not all work...thank god! hooray! yosh!

I've been busy shopping for stuff to send to friends via friends who are travelling to their countries (did everybody understand this? hehe..). And in return I am soooo sure that these ladies cannot resist sending something back. Isn't that amazing? I'll post more about my exchange gift loot when the loot arrives!

And then I was busy sorting through my little cabinet. I have to do this annually because well..the cabinet is..little. And guess what? I found this! Circa 2004, I bought 4 shirts from Samuel & Kevin in Hongkong because of well, the names on the shirts. I gave my Jerry shirt to my Japanese friend Mayo, my Vic shirt to my sister who secretly likes him while I kept Ken but wear it often to badminton. The only one I have not worn at all is V...

Next I am sorting out my shoe cabinet. I always find shoes that I bought and never wore. Gaah!! I use to just throw them out (because I don't know anyone who is a size 9..) but thank god for a dear friend who now always volunteers to adopt the shoes she likes.

Then I also found myself sorting my discs - dvds, vcds, audio cds - and ended up shopping for purple cases (will try to post that later). No self-respecting fangirl will allow her collection to go un-fix and unappreciated right? After my inventory, I realized that I want the OST of Wish To See You as well as a copy of Chou Yu Min's Linger which is coming out this week in Hongkong. So I was busy too asking friends to buy me more stuff. I guess the addiction will never end...

Last thing that kept me busy was preparations for my trip to Dubai and Scandinavia. This deserves another post too.