December 30, 2006
what can i say? i love cramming. i enjoy the rush of it. that's why, more often than not, i fall victim to all the crimes that are attached to/associated with it.
again, i had my photofinish shopping for christmas presents. for this year, i visited robinsons place in malate. i ask ate luisa to accompany me in this difficult a task of shopping marathon. upon arrival, we headed to the body shop. my eyes went nuts looking for the possible gifts for people in my list. i particularly enjoyed buying my lola's and my sister-in-law's gift. i found this perfume, which smells perfect, and bought it right away for the two. i also love the lip balm i bought for myself. after experiencing an overdose inside the shop, we went to the next stop: marks and spencer. i was drooling over the bottles of wine, although i don't know much about this special liquid. it was my first time to buy a bottle of wine as a gift. well, for a first, it was a fantastic moment. after buying the things (i, actually, want for myself) for people i love, off we go to the next shop — rustans. it was a crazy afternoon. walking along the corridors of each floor seemed to be walking in a labyrinth. there was a maze of shoppers in every corner. we had to squeeze in ourselves for us to make it to our destination. after snatching all the things i wanted, we headed to topshop. but i didn't see anything good as a gift, there. let's say, the goods' prices are out of my budget. we then visited the home division of robinsons department store. between the two of us, it was loi (as how i'm used to call ate luisa) who was excited. it was the time i was gonna buy her gift. originally, she wished for a simple blanket. but i was thinking of something better. we saw these folding beds (not the ones being "lako" by manongs) on sale. we snatched one and had it wrapped. before continuing with our quest, i decided to fill-in our stomachs. i could feel my stomach releasing some acid. because i was really on a tight budget, i brought loi to tokyo, tokyo. the time was flying so fast. i still have a lot of things to buy. next stop, a mac/apple store. to buy jackie's and kuya edgie's gifts. we then went back to the department store to buy things for the honest, hardworking house helpers who've been so kind and helpful to our family all these years. after which, we ran to starbucks to buy liz's wish. we went back to the department store to pick up all the gifts at the gift wrapping section. when all the names in the list had been cancelled, we decided to leave. at this point, it was around 30 minutes past 10:00. we didn't feel it because of the hustle-bustle inside the mall.
buying the gifts is one whole lot of a story, getting a cab is another. but the former is much of a positive stress than the latter. it is an understatement to say getting a cab was hell difficult. i bravely faced the dark alleys of malate area to hail a cab, to no avail. the efforts of the government to warn taxi drivers not to contribute headache to tired-from-shopping passengers were useless. the laws in this land are truly NOT ironclad. cab drivers are still choosy of who to get and where to go. they just laugh at the rules implemented by our useless government.
anyway, after more than an hour of waiting, an angel came, or so we thought. i thought drivers from established cab companies are more disciplined than the common lot. but i thought wrong. birds of the same feather, do flock together. i was so irritated with this particular driver. while inside his cab, he made me feel as if he was our hero; saving us from the dark streets of manila. i will never forget that mischievous and devilish smile when we entered his car. i knew from the start it was a smile of "kontrata" (not using his meter). at first, he was asking me to pay P300.00 from pedro gil to grace park (that route, on normal days, would only cost less than a hundred bucks). well, i just said, P200.00. he agreed. all throughout the trip he was trying to strike a conversation with me. i wasn't feeling polite that time. the whole point of his monologue: "thank me, i saved you." what an a$$hole! if there's one thing i'm thankful for, we arrived home still complete.
amidst the rush, the (too-much) spending, the search for a cab, 
and other mishaps, what made those negative things disappear was the satisfying feeling of having christmas gifts for everyone that i love. it was nice to know that on the eve of christmas, everyone would receive something from me even if it was a small gift. because in that simplest gift, a heart-print of my love and gratitude were inside.
i think giving gifts to people i treasure is a simple yet sincere gesture of saying "thank you" and "i love you."
*sparkles!
