Parties, pearls, polvoron and plenty of phamily in Phillipines!!

Merry Belated Christmas Everybody!!!Just got back from Manila..i swear MAS service is just going from bad to worse!Bloody Boeing 737 only had 2 terrribly maintained toilets for something like 144 passengers!thats crazy!!and in 4 hours i had the time to reflect on what crap food they serve on planes..(they call it beef, but it totally looks and tastes like tin cans of dog food..)

so how was your season of brotherly love and good tidings,etc,etc?Manila was really brilliant because it was a time to be with almost my entire over-achieving family-mom's side. We have this little tradition because my mom has got like 9 brothers and sisters so every year we take turns in hosting christmas..last year was bali, this year, it's mabuhay!


tried to stop myself, but the greed just surfaced from looking at those bright, colourful packages..


this was taken on the first night we were there, i've never seen anythnig like it..its like a club but they've got these D.I.'s (dance instructors) who come up to you and teach you to ballroom dance!thats me dancing with my very sporting aunt..she soon abandoned me for a very good-looking (albeit gay-suspect) D.I.


cosuins just grow so quickly..they just bloody tower over me man!


christmas eve eve - at my youngest aunt's home..it's an architect's dream..and to add to that my uncle's a sculptor so his pieces give an added oomph to the place as well..it's not ostentatious or grand but it really has its charm..


one of my favourite pieces..when you look at it from different angles, you see different images..its very cool..


manila skyline from a distance-minus traffic jam and smog.


christmas eve - i wore white to try and look angelic..don't think it worked though.


that's brindel..he's an awesome dog..some people think he's a cat though..poor thing..


brindel on cushion. he reminds me of a cartoon dog cos his face just makes you laugh!

manila hasn't changed in 8 years..there are alot of buildings un-finished due to corruption or complication or some other unrest going on in the country..(i guess when the current president rigs her own election, you kinda know the country's on the downturn)..what affected me the most was seeing little kids run around the streets knocking on car windows begging for money or selling trinkets for the fewest of pesos (the traffic is incredibly congested in manila, worse than in bangkok so it's conducive for things like that to go on)and it just got me thinking about luck. I mean, one twist, one little iota of a glitch (or whatever you wanna call it) in this huge universe or fate or karma or again, whatever you wanna call it...and it could've been me on that street..or you..correct?instead im sitting in a b.m.w x5 being chaufffeured to my uncle's home by his driver to two maids (help is cheap in the phillipines)..jesus fucking christ...

annnyways..other than that, the pearls over there are really beautiful..apparently the phillipines has got the nicest golden pearls, tahiti has got the best black pearls and australia has got the nicest white pearls..it would've been so nice if my girls were with me,i'm sure they would've gone crazy!!

polvoron is super yummy!!i dont really know how to describe it but its ingredients are: sugar, butter AND margarine, (i know..its sooo badd..but its soooo goood)flour and some other fattening stuff and they come in flavours like cookies and cream, cashew and rice krispies..ok, they're basically like powdery cookies that melt in your mouth..i brought back some so i'll let you try when i next see you kay?