Almost literally "galing sa baul"

I figured that since I was back home for a few days, I could digitize (and potentially preserve) some pictures from prehistoric past. So laugh all you want, but I'm way past getting embarrassed for these pictures. Enjoy! :)

Less than a year old. Sleeping habits remains the same up until now.

Age one, superkid phase

Age 12 with the WTC in the background

Age 17, the stripey-shirt phase, at the Palace of Fine Arts

We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession

My credit card bill is running to about half the limit. It's just about one of the highest levels it's ever been in. Ever. But I'm not panicking because these things are just due to "bad timing", in the sense that I've clumped up my spending at this time of the year. In contrast, I expect some months ahead to have minimal or no credit card spending (except for the standard electricity bill). Hopefully, that'll happen. On the bright side, I don't delay payment. The reason I swipe or scan (There's that cool pay-by-touch thing here that allows you to charge to your credit card by scanning your index finger, and without the actual card. Evil.) is to harvest the rewards points at some point in the future. Maybe an upgrade to business class on one of my flights every five or so years. Or maybe get me a nice new refrigerator or something.

But I probably don't want you to think that I'm living in the fast lane. (Though I admit I'm guilty of doing that sometimes. Not as often as you may think.) What I bought are mostly necessities (pants, office shoes, shirts), some are gifts (surprise), and few are just unfortunately expensive (2 trips to Manila). I didn't choose to buy an iPod Touch 32GB in Hong Kong because it's one of those nice-to-haves, but I did buy this equally expensive fancy-schmancy messenger bag (read: not Crumpler) which should last me a couple of years. That's not exactly "living simply so that others may simply live", a phrase I heard a couple of times in school (before they rolled out the required Otto shoes). Then again, I don't really care much about how others live their lives. Except when they're in dire need, of course.

So yeah, I could ramble on and on about my spending and consumerism. It could be my monthly or quarterly post (or vent). I guess the point is to do a self-diagnosis every now and then, to see if I'm on the verge of carefree spending. The result, thankfully, is still the same: that level-headed me still generally sticks to the budget. I can spend as well as I can "not-spend". What I don't mention in this blog is that I go for extended periods of time sticking to budget and going for maximum savings. That'd make for a boring blog post, by the way.

Day X: I didn't go out today and scrounged up lunch by eating leftover
food and toasting frozen expired bread. I did my long overdue laundry.
For dinner, yet even more bread.

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Right, the trip back home.

I'm not really planning to do a lot back home. Just a couple of night outs with friends, a little necessity shopping (need to replace worn out undershirts), family lunch and dinners, and such. It should be enough for a short four day trip. I've a couple of surprises for good old mum and dad, who are probably bored to hell at home. So I got them a few things to make hell a bit more bearable. And no, it's not a new air conditioner.

The following trip, for April, is supposed to be for a wedding. That's if I got the date right. Hopefully, I got it right because the tickets are non-refundable. Boo-hoo.

If anyone wants me to bring home something for them. It's best to tell me this early.