Moving On

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Not-So-Under-the-Radar :The Collective"

Dropped by "The Collective" (Malugay St., Makati) expecting it to be quiet and not so crowded. Well, there was that Graphic Manila event happening and there was a concert and too many teenagers with skateboards milling about.

Despite that, it was an interesting area I'd like to come back to on a less busy day.

I spent a lot of time at "The Ritual" for eco stuff I have long been interested in buying like borax (alternative cleaning and detergent agent), organic vinegar (ditto), gugo bark, tawas crystals, baking soda, coarse sea salt, bottled tofu adobo, travel spray, organic rice, muscovado sugar, etc.

I grabbed some recycled toilet paper (non-chlorine bleach and recycled; no extra plastic packaging), travel spray (gift for Miguel), borax and herbal laundry soap.

There were waaaayy too many jokes about the recycled toilet paper I bought, among which include:

"Oh you bought the toilet paper I already used!"

"Personally, I'd rather have something less...err..rough looking to wipe my ass."

"Oh we have that kind of toilet paper...at the ."

Too.many.jokes.

Anyway, we escaped from the crowd at "The Pasta Box" for coffee and nachos. Pretty neat place. Decent food.

I will come back for "Wabi Sabi" for vegetarian grub at a quieter day, though.

Playing with My New Toy

Green Halo Fiasco

Just sent a complaint letter to the owner of Green Halo (of Cubao X).

I've been to Fat Michael's many times and do not mind the long wait because the food tastes great, they get our orders right and the gracious owners would even ask us if we enjoyed our meal afterwards or suggest a dessert.

I already heard feedback about Green Halo's famously slow service so I wasn't expecting much. But last night's dinner was just too much, even for patient me.

Gist of the horrendous night:

1. One million year wait. Okay this was expected so you can actually scratch this out but... here are the rest of the complaints:

2. Forgotten orders. Gino ordered for a pesto pasta that never arrived. Good thing the adobong tofu did.

3. Wrong orders taken. I ordered a curried vegetable; instead, I got a mushroom sauce vegetable. My theory about my order is the cook couldn't be bothered cooking another different dish, so he just cooked 2 batches of one dish to save time.

Our friend Chris ordered mango shake. It never arrived. When we asked the waitress about it, she just said " Ay wala na po." I remember clearly that she wrote the order down and never said anything when she took the order. The worse was, she didn't even seem apologetic about it.

4. Zero attention. We were at the second floor and we literally had to go down to look for the waitress to talk to her each time we needed something 'cause she never was around. When we arrived, we rearranged the tables ourselves - I think that should have been a sign that we should have left.

5. We weren't served water. Water was served ONLY when we were ready to leave and after finishing what meals we had.

By this time, we were all still hungry and a little irritated (vegans have to eat more volume wise). But the company was still in good spirits so we just decided to find more food to eat elsewhere. We ended up in nearby Alan's Grill which had a little more concern about their customers.

Gosh Green Halo is just a disaster. I mean, really. I've eaten at carinderias and hole-in-the-wall places with much better service. I wish we just went to Greens instead. Word to the wise.

Sew Intense

Been sewing (and sketching) more the past few weeks. I am still tweaking my main concept but I managed to make one skirt, draped another and started on one order from my first customer. Yay! Hopefully, I finish a few pieces. I just want to have fun with this and not care if it will make money. I just need to ensure that I come up with stuff that I absolutely will love and be proud of.

Next:

1. Wait for delivery of the dress form next week.
2. This weekend, inspect the overlock machine and another Brother sewing machine that also can work as an overlock machine I am thinking of buying.
3. Finalize fabric labels and hang tags - thinking something recycled and sustainable.

In other news, I made reservations for the Vegan buffet event at The Establishment (near Le Souffle at the Fort) on Monday evening. I am dragging Gino. I told him it's on me so he can sample vegan food. He's been ribbing me about how bland vegan food is. Am hoping the dinner will change his mind a bit.

Day #8 of Not Eating Meat Products

I don't really like talking about my decision to become vegan. But just to get it out of my system and end the constant explanations, I will write just one post. That's it. You will never read any posts about this anymore. I'd probably write about favorite vegan restaurants and products, but I will dispense with the preaching.

First off, this is one thing that bothers me about being vegan, or the label "vegan".

One, I don't like the label itself 'cause it conjures different types of stereotypes. I would rather say that I don't eat animals and animal by-products. Period.

I don't want to say all vegans or vegetarians are like this, but I cringe a bit when I encounter the types who preach too much, judge people who aren't like them and sound "holier than thou", or simply those who seem to be cranky and angry with the world all the time. They give vegans and vegetarians a bad name. At one point, I thought: "Why can't vegans and vegetarians just be..happy? Why are they angry all the time?"

There are exceptions, of course, but maybe I just met the wrong kind.

Then there are the vegans who do it because it's ...trendy. That's a whole other story but...you get the picture.

Then again, if it helps the world, why not? To each his own motivation.

I was vegetarian for a year in my early 20s and I did it for selfish reasons: I wanted to be healthy and have great skin. Shallow reasons, right? But it was really difficult in social situations, and when you're in your twenties, you party a lot. And there are not too many vegetarian parties or bars in Manila. When your motivation is that shallow, it is easy to give up. So at a birthday party where I couldn't eat anything, I ate the spaghetti...and the hotdogs that were in it.

So why do I want to be vegan now?

I decided to be vegan because of three reasons.

1. For the environment. This is undeniable and has a host of effects on the economy, world hunger, politics and the kind of world we live in. I will let other blogs explain that - there are many of them out there already that you can find by just Googling.

2. For the next generation, especially my nieces. See #1.

3. For my health. It is just plain healthier.

Animal rights or human rights?

I kinda veer away from the animal rights motivated vegans because at this point, I can't really relate too much. In a third world country like the Philippines, especially, and the rest of the world, I think we need to prioritize human rights more. There are many good things about the animal rights movement, but I find it a bit disconcerting that there are more people who are flabbergasted about animal cruelty and forget that there is human cruelty in the world.

I will be crucified by animal activists by saying that but that's how I see it right now.

Agree to disagree

I don't think meat eaters are doing anything wrong if they eat meat. That is their choice - maybe they opt to live that way and help out in the world in some other way or form. People come into the world and evolve differently at different points in time. We are all different and we should respect that. I was once a meat eater myself and don't think that lessened me as an individual. If at all, going through the meat eating phase only led me to this path of choosing to be vegan.

I naturally like veggies and simple food anyway, so getting rid of meat has not really been a problem with me. So I find it funny reading about vegans who seek meat replacement products or veggie products designed to taste like meat but aren't.

It's like allowing a vampire to crave blood-flavored faux products instead of human blood. Why not just totally get rid of the craving for that kind of taste?

Maybe it helps those who are transitioning into 100% veganism, but I think it sort of defeats the purpose.

I am not perfect either. I may not crave the taste of meat anymore (and I actually vomit at the smell and taste of meat now), but I admit to still crave the utter yumminess of anything with butter and cheese. It is hard. But I have dispensed with it with fruit and pure dark chocolate.

Simple and frugal living

Simply, if we all ate like Pinoys do in the countryside - simply, usually plant-based and frugally - the world will be all the better for it. In a previous time, we all planted our food, cooked our own food and knew who raised our food. We KNEW what went into our food. Industrialization has made eating a complex, ecologically dangerous proposition that just isn't good for our world.

Practical-wise, you will save money eating less meat, live a longer life and do your share helping the environment, animal rights and your waistline. So why not?

Blah Day

Why is it that at the very moment you need some people to be there for you, they just disappear? On other days, they are there all the time - sometimes, irritatingly so.

I probably just need a shrink. Someone to listen to me, by appointment.

oOo

I was gonna buy conditioner - JUST conditioner - at the nearby mall. I did. But I didn't want to go home to my non-air conditioned house (I don't - can't! - use the air conditioner in my bedroom. Long sob story but it's related to my dad's stinginess). So I decided to drive around to get a pedicure. First two nail salons I went to were fully booked! Surprise, surprise.

Then while driving back, I spied a streamer that said: "Wink Lash Extensions." I heard orchestra music rising.

I parked immediately, climbed up the 2nd floor and entered the predictably fuchsia pink outfit. There were 2 customers being served. There was a free chair. It was fate!

I got the kikay level 2 which is P600 minus 20% off because I was a first time customer. That's not really what the package I got was called, I can't remember but let's just call it that - it's the second thickest. From experience with other lash bars, one level higher and the lashes would look totally fake.

Since I needed a bit of lift on the outer corner of my eye, I asked for additional lashes placed there which meant paying for the 'cat's eye' service (just add P50!).

I spent almost the entire afternoon there (exag, probably just an hour). Basta it felt like forever. I walked out bright eyed and feeling great about myself. Even when I got home, Manang couldn't tell what I had done. She just said: "Did you get your hair cut?"

Anyway, my toe nails were looking sorry in their faded and chipping neon pink acrylic already. I dropped by the nearest salon I could find and got my nails painted ... neon green. I paid a measly P50 -yes P50! I couldn't quite believe it so I gave a P20 to the manicurista who said I looked nice, was I going out tonight? Must have been the lashes or maybe she was just making bola.

Of course, the pedicure only cost a shocking P50 only- my nails would probably fall off in a few days cause they used local nail polish with all the bad stuff - toulene, etc - which causes the nail bed to turn white and crumble after a few days.

Am not too worried. I'll get another pedicure next week.

What are the chances?

Fate can be real funny.

oOo

Just realized, I rely on Twitter for news updates now. I don't even watch tv anymore, and I found out Willie Revillame might be in Macau, and Robin Padilla is now the "special host" for Wowowee?

Well, I like looking at Robin Padilla's greyhound waist. Super ang liit ng waist nya promise! I saw him twice in the flesh. And ang lapad ng shoulders. *Tweet teet*

Teka where's my panty?