The Worst Starbucks Experience

Early Monday morning, I was on my way to a friend's place when I passed by the Starbucks Tektite branch. I stopped and thought I have 6 more stickers to go so why not make it 5. I am not in a hurry after all. I was surprised as I advanced to the entrance, there were already people, about to go to work, waiting. I thought it was weird, they usually open at 7:00 AM and it's almost 7:30 so I asked one of the man standing at the door, "what time do they open?". He gave me a sarcastic answer "7". Apparently, he's been waiting longer than it seems. I was startled, I never expected punctuality issues with Starbucks. What was annoying about it was, there were already "partners" inside. They were doing some stuff, I'm sure they are oblivious to customers waiting outside, they could've let us in and wait in the couch, after all, the store is OFFICIALLY open. The store finally opened after 10 minutes, but that's not the end of it. I know that Starbucks is one of the company affected by the global economic crisis, but they don't have to show that to their customers. It's not that hard to smile. Come on, this is Philippines, we laugh at our problems here! Now for the worst part, my short cafe mocha was obviously RUSHED. The whipped cream was missing, it was lukewarm, WTF! For once, I forgot that it's a Starbucks coffee. It was so early in the morning and I'm not a complaint freak so I let it go with a thought that I'm never going back there ever again.

The redeeming thing, though, was the lady put the sticker to the wrong category. She put it in the featured beverages section (featured drinks are more expensive than the regular ones). She was on a rush, of course... tsk tsk.. Remember, it's Tektite branch...

The Name Game

I heard that my first (thru a sibling) niece's name is

Romana Rubiosa Milagrose

I'm not sure if that's the official spelling but when I first heard of it, I thought it was expected from Richard. Romana was taken from my mom's name, while Rubiosa was from his mother-in-law.I told my mom, she should be happy, but she disapproves. She said that it can be a source of mockery in the future and I jokingly told her that there's nothing she can do, she's not the parent hehehe...

My personal opinion about it is, it's too long. I mean Romana is fine, Romana Rubiosa is acceptable, but add another one is just too much for me. Another niece of mine, Jona's daughter, is named Tessa Almira Miel (TAM for short). What's with these parents? Why give your child three names? I understand the uniqueness reasoning but have they ever thought of the burden it can cause their children for their future school years? Imagine they'll have to write the long name almost everyday for a minimum of 14 years!

well, I'm a lazy pig to the bone...that's me. But my mom is right, weird names can be a cause of mockery among children. I myself, admit that funny names never failed to catch my attention.

Last night it was the moon, now unusual number of stars are visible. What a beautiful sky. I wish I could show it here in my blog. Earlier, my sister-in-law gave birth to my niece. It was also Mike's birthday. Today my mom turns 58, she's still as beautiful as ever. I'd probably buy her a cake later... everything, everyone, moves forward... and so should I.

Have you seen the moon tonight? It's not a full one, but it's unusually BIG and bright.What can I say, it's beautiful! It made my weekend and I thank God for that.

It was a heavy day for me since I made a TOUGH! decision not to go to Glorieta Midnight Toy Fair and Rihanna concert. Realization hit me that I have no right to spend just because. I've been buying this and that, fercrissake I have no place to store them! That I've been promising myself for NNNTH TIME not to buy any toys or comic books until... -sigh- it's hard...it's very hard I swear.

And it's definitely not right wanting to see a concert just because I'm currently addicted to "Disturbia" LOL! I am not a fan of Rihanna or Chris Brown, I'd like to make that clear. Thank God I realized this...

Oh yeah, another reason why I wanted to go to the concert was to try the binoculars I borrowed from Frances. I'm having so much fun using it that I compromised to go to Tanay Dike Lighthouse every morning and convinced myself that I am a... watchamacalit? A look-out? of a pirate ship... whatever, my sister told me that it's just a gossip tool. Now that reminds me, I never thought that my neighbors are... bzzzz...LOL! No, I would never do such a thing. I'll watch out for the next worth seeing concert =)

The problem with an insomniac like me is when a time when I'm so pissed and I really feel like cursing the world, there's no one out there to turn to. Oh why is that when people need me, I'm always there yet when I'm the one in need, nobody seems to care... that is so unfair... I wish I had a car so I can drive out. I'll drive as fast as I can and I won't stop until it ran out of gas. Then I'd be stranded in a middle of a highway where no one can see or hear me. And then... I'd shout as loud as I could... OH WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MEEEEEEE????!!!!!

yeah I wish...

The Tradition Begins

I just got my first sticker for the 2009 Starbucks Planner with a Short Classic Hot Choco, this is the cheapest that I can buy at Starbucks. This year, the planner is less glamorous but the required stickers were also reduced. Last year, the elegant leathered planner can be obtained for 24 stickers, now it's only 16! I wonder if it has something to do with the global economic crisis. I was able to get the planner last year for a record breaking 6 days! I forced my friends to buy coffee, that's why hehehe. Now, I'm all alone in this battle so it'll definitely take time. My friend Aristurtle, who's also celebtrating his ??th birthday keeps on updating me thru SMS the progress of his sticker collection. At 4:00, he told me he already had 7 stickers. By 5:00, he informed it's 6 stickers to go. At 6:00 it went down to 2. And by 7:00 he already got the planner! Hmp! so he broke my record! So what, the planner is not that MUST to get anyway... but I was really dying of envy huhuhu

As a Filipino Catholic, I've always found myself celebrating Nov. 1 in Tanay Municipal Cemetery together with my kins (maternal side) to commemorate our Grandparents, Uncle Tony, Great grandmother and other relatives who passed away. Where was great grandfather buried by the way?

Over the years, I, again, noticed how times have changed with the way we celebrate this supposedly All Saints Day. When I was younger, it was like an extension of our playtime. We held this unofficial competition of making balls out ot of melted candles. The biggest ball gets the spotlight. There was no prize but I guess it determined our competency hehe. It was also a time when we get to listen to scary stories and I remember how we looked forward to Magandang Gabi Bayan's All Saints Day special usually aired on the first Saturday of November. We had no Halloween parties, trick or treats or whatsoever. And yeah, it was always raining on November 1.

The last November 1s had become a forum of what's new or what's hot. Who got married or who got pregnant. Expressions of work grievances... plans to get the latest cell phones... etc.. etc... And yesterday, I didn't get to see most of my cousins and aunts. Plus I've noticed that the number people were significantly lesser. They must be very busy or something. Not that it's a big deal, I'm not getting emotional over something like this. But why is it that the older we grow the more it seems that all days of the year have become nothing more than regular days.