It's a long weekend for most people here in the country, but not for me. I had to work yesterday though I did manage to take a leave today.

Didn't do anything special, as planned. I just wanted to rest. It's been a long week. Here's a rundown...

* If you don't have to get your passport renewed (or get a new one for that matter), try to wait it out. Right now, the whole process takes a day, I kid you not. I had to personally process my renewal as per advise, due to the newly implemented MRP (machine readable passport). I got there a little before 8AM, started lining up, and in two hours, I finally got to Step 1 - Verification process. Yey. (Insert a huge dose of sarcasm here).

Since I came from my shift, I had little sleep (1 hr, the most), and I started to get cranky. I almost bailed. But when I asked what will happen should I come back another time, I was told that I will have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN. No freakin' way. I decided to stay and get it over with, and by 3PM I was finally able to go inside DFA to proceed to Step 2 and beyond. I had a small bag of Chiz Curls for lunch (as that was the only chicheria available inside), and deliberately drank a small amount of water because the restroom was all the way across the street. So yeah, be sure that aside from a lot of patience and tolerance for hunger, you should also be very well-versed at holding pee.


I was finally done a little over 5PM, and I opted for the passport delivery option because I don't wanna have to go back to that place as much as possible. By the end of the day, I was very hungry, sleepy, sweaty (I forgot to mention that there's no ventilation of ANY sort in the waiting area) and all I really wanted to do was forget that ordeal. This has got to be the worse government agency experience I've had so far. The driver's license horror story in Tagaytay paled by comparison.

* And what is the best way ever to forget any excruciating ordeal? Shopping, of course. (Alright, it's only the 2nd best way, but given the circumstances.. hehe).. I had to go to the mall to buy my Halloween outfit and some other stuff for our office cube decor contest, so I sneaked in some shopping time as well. I stumbled upon the Havaianas sale, and managed to get 2 pairs. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I didn't get one for myself since they ran out of my size. Haha. Well, the sale is one for a few more days.. Hehehe.

* I'm a green tea frap afficionado. That is one of my best pick-me-uppers. But the green tea cheesecake is definitely fighting its way to the top. I must say it's heavenly. Definitely much better than chocolate. ;-)

* I finally got the goodies I bought online. I liked my purple strawberry bling the best. The Popobe bears were a little too overrated. But at least I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done. For the 1st time in years, I've finally started my Christmas shopping early! 65% complete for my family. Definitely a feat!

* We won the best decor at the office but was only 2nd in costume. A little bit disappointing after our huge effort on this. But it was fun along the way and I'm beginning to like the dressing up part during Halloween. One of our expat PD's wore a security guard uniform and it was really cute.

Next year, I wanna go as Britney, with a huge Venti cup in tow. Harhar.

* I've found my newest guilty pleasure -- Gossip Girl. In fact, I've totally abandoned Prison Break because no-brainer shows like GG is what I need to de-stress after a long week at work. I love Blair's bitchiness and Serena's perkiness. They kind of remind me of myself. Hahaha. And Humphrey is just the perfect boy next door. Cute boy alert! :p

Need to go to sleep. First day of photography class later. Jitters!! hehehe.

XOXO,
GJG

:D