It's been toxic and stressful these past few weeks. But it's good to be back! I think I've got two months' worth of blogs to write, but for now, let me give you a rundown of my EK visit last October and my Christmas wishlist.
Field trips are what I missed when I signed up as a college professor. Back then, it was just about research, research, research and research. I loved being in the tertiary level, but basic education beckoned...and so, here I am, back to where I originally intended.
During the first week of October, we had a trip to Enchanted Kingdom. It was kinda nostalgic for me, because the last time I've been there was when I was in high school in our own field trip (and I remembered, btw, that I was playing Side A's album for the entire duration of our way back to Manila). At that time, there were fewer rides. And we got to try out all of them since the crowd then was manageable. But this time around, my goodness, I got to try only 2 rides!?! I heard from the customer service representatives that there were 6,000++ of us inside EK at that time. It was like being in the middle of a humongous rally, only this one being a fun-filled queu for the rides. Anyhow, we gamely lined up and patiently waited to get on the Anchors Away (a boat-like vehicle that goes from one way to another like a pendulum, or much like a boat sailing back and forth, up and down). I think we also lined up for more than an hour to get to the Rio Grand Rapids, a circular vehicle that takes you sailing away on the rapids of EK....hehehe. Yes, it was a wet and wild adventure, but it was so fun.
The classic Ferris Wheel. Too bad the lines were just too long, I didn't get to try it.
Would you have the courage to try this? I wanted to, but boy, the lines were so long. I didn't want to get a sunburn, so I chickened out. Hehehe.
EK has this sticker now for everyone who enters their premises.
This sticker tag tells the operators that you can ride all you want.
I just got to have a pic with their mascot!
Earlier during the trip, we trooped to Rizal Park at Luneta. It was nice. I don't recall ever setting foot here, so I took all the pictures I could. Too bad we didn't get to enter Intramuros which was a stone's throw from the place, or even watch the world-famous Manila Bay sunset. Maybe I'll just add that to my personal list of must-visit places.
Me and a colleague pose before the Rizal monument. Count the flags on this pic. BTW, that jacket on my arm was Sweetie's birthday gift to me :-)
Hahaha holding hands with JPR
As for making Christmas wishlists, for the longest time, I've been wanting a pair of flats with a nice color to go with jeans or slacks. I purposely shunned black or brown as I already own at least three pairs for each color, and I'm always wearing either a black or brown to school. So when mom and I dropped by Naturalizer this afternoon and I saw this pair, I knew the searching was over.
Cute box. I like the colors.
Nice, flat and comfy shoes. It's not the typical ballerina flats, but they're really nice. It's like walking on carpet. That's what I really love about Naturalizer.
Close-up shot of my newest flats
I'm a stickler for shoes. You can make me wear anything cheap or even secondhand (such as a hand-me-down blouse from my sister or mom), but I just can't wear cheap shoes. By cheap, I mean the ones you can buy for a thousand pesos or less. I'm not brand-conscious. It's just that ever since, my feet and my knees won't feel okay if I walk around in shoes that come with cheap price tags. So what I do is I just invest in good pairs of shoes and count maybe five to ten years to replace them. No kidding. I even recently retired my favorite black high heels which have faithfully served me since college.
And speaking of shoe quality, I trust only Adidas for sports. I've had a Nike in the past, which wore off way before my older Adidas pair did. My old blue Adidas was still intact in everywhere else, except the soles due to the intensity and amount of treadmill I was doing for the past five years. I had to retire it when Ondoy struck and I just couldn't wash off the mud anymore.
So here's my other gift to myself, a pair of pink Adidas cross-training shoes!
Yes, they should be in my favorite color, pink!
Will this finally fire me up for a mean, regular workout? Hehehe we'll see.
