MANILA GIRL IS LEAVING MANILA: DAY 2 | IN SEARCH FOR WINDOW CURTAINS

I love the windows at my new place. It brings a lot of natural light and keeps the place cool inspite of hot summer days. Staying here on a weekend to clean and to take out all my stuffs from the bags kept me the whole day with just open windows and without the aid of electric fan. Pretty economic, eh?

But at night time, it leaves me uneasy as the view from outside-in is so clear that I have to improvise some sort of curtain to keep me away from the neighbors' eyes when dozing off. I'm now in search of window curtains for the first time!

And since the most accessible market is in Guadalupe, I tried to get familiar with the place by purchasing a few cleaning tools and materials there, hoping also to find some decent pieces of curtains to put on my generous windows. I'm surprised that in this part of Makati, there's really no stand-alone supermarkets that you can see as there are in Manila. I have to go down the basement of the market and inside the bazaar area to check on the things that I've listed so early on a Saturday morning. You know what I realized after this short trip to Guadalupe market? I tend to compare it with San Andres and Paco markets. Gosh, it's been only a couple of days and I'm not officially leaving Manila until Monday but I've been comparing and comparing - from prices to products to people. Like when I wanted to buy something, you won't find anything when you get out on J.P. Rizal. When in Manila, as soon as you open your door, you'll find hundreds of things that you don't really need to buy but are just right there. Here, it's nothing but empty streets filled with automobile traffic.

I'd like to share with you this view from my window. It's not as breathtaking as the view from the buildings in Adriatico, Malate. But I appreciate this because it's very convenient when you want to look out far and imagine a few things.

And oh, I've mentioned on my previous post about the vendor in Paco market who sells nothing but leaves, right? Here she is:

I've also seen one particular vendor in Guadalupe market like her who only sells leaves, but leaves! and there's just too many! Too bad I wasn't able to bring the digicam but I will take a photo when I go back to that market. It's pretty interesting :)

More love to life,

Bella Donna

MANILA GIRL IS LEAVING MANILA: DAY 3 | THE BROKEN SHOWER

This is the shower.

And it's broken. I can't turn it off from here, I have to go out of the laundry area to turn it off from the gate valve. The landlady said she'll have it fixed soon.

Let's hope so. Otherwise, there's gotta be a lot of clean water wasted for nothing. In a few years, water will be gone. So let's not waste it :)

More love to life,

Bella Donna

MANILA GIRL IS LEAVING MANILA: DAY 4 | MOVING MY THINGS

Imagine these stuffs for one person and one person only:

I can't. And I didn't expect to have this much since I don't maintain a lot of things. I tell you, these are just mostly books and papers. The rest are kikay things, shoes, bags, a bag of laundry. Thankfully, I had Chris to help me out move these things. We didn't even finish as we left one more box, a water gallon, foldable table and a wooden hanger in Manila. He was so tired I had to give in to his plea to get what we left off for another day.  My, he was telling me to throw away stuffs or sell them. I said I was being sentimental. I actually thrown away those I've sorted. He said, "you can't bring them when you die. Might as well sell and enjoy those things in a different way." Point taken. But I have to be sure I won't have a need of them anymore. I've been putting it all off for quite a long time now. And I knew I needed to sort these things out. I will after I finished cleaning the house.

You know how much my heart melted for Chris after moving all of these? I wish my eyes would have SD card where I can retrieve the images just as when I captured those moments. He was sweating, perspiring like an athlete. And surprisingly, he still smells oh so very good. Wait, what was that? Hehehe. Anyway, thankfully his body's all worked up to take all the weight too. If he was just a guy framed like the comic character, Archie, I think he'll trip off the stairs just to bring a not-so-heavy bag. That's what you get to have a man with the body and the strength of a gladiator. Wink wink!

More love to life,

Bella Donna

MANILA GIRL IS LEAVING MANILA: DAY 5 | PACKING UP

Failure to publish post yesterday is due to whole night of packing. Sorry guys, no photos either. I didn't know I was keeping that much papers and documents the whole time that I am in Manila, not until last night. And I tried to sort out all the papers and trash just for me to travel light. Failure, again. I have to keep some papers until I am sure I don't have the need of them anymore so, there, I'm keeping two (2) big boxes and three (3) small boxes all loaded with papers. Gosh, how's that for moving out, eh? I didn't have much stuffs. I don't even have furnishings or appliances. If I'd take away the papers and documents, I'll only have a big bag full of shoes, a big bag full of books, another big bag for my kikay stuffs and accessories, mattress and pillows, electric fan, small foldable table, a gallon container for drinking water, five (5) dozens of hanger and that's it!

This Manila Girl has been in this city for quite sometime already but never thought of really settling in. For one, having an address in Manila is as costly as having one in Makati or other key cities. I've been looking forward to it I don't know how much farther can I go to get that address.

I hope it comes soon. Oh, Manila!

More love to life,


Bella Donna

MANILA GIRL IS LEAVING MANILA: DAY 6 | PACO MARKET

Notice that my first two entries on this countdown is about shopping. Day 7 is about my experience and relationship with Robinsons Place Ermita and today, Day 6, is about going to Paco market where I buy my produce. Since me and my siblings moved here a year ago, my love-and-hate relationship with Manila has become more intensed. Why? I can answer in too many ways. For one, Paco market has the cheapest price for fresh produce: fruits, crops, vegetables - most especially, vegetables! You know that my weekend therapy involves going to the market and later on, cook them for the day? I mean, yes, seriously. I do this on weekends for my family. And since I discovered how cheap it is to buy vegetables in Paco Market, I try to buy as much as I can bring to Cavite during weekends.

Did you know that in Paco Market, you can even find Taiwan pechay, different variety of lettuce, basil, and basically almost all kinds of leafy vegetables? There is one stall that sells only leaves and it's amazing because at the end of the day, they're all sold out!

Fruits are also great to buy from Paco. You can find whatever is in season and I can buy a piece if I'm just consuming it alone or perhaps in bulk if I want to bring some for my pamangkins. Their favorite: MANGO! As soon as I arrive in Cavite with two kilos of mango, my pamangkins will kiss me on the cheeks and bring the mango in the kitchen, sit at the dining table and wait for me to slice the mango for them. Isn't that sweet?

On the other hand, I hate the mud in Paco Market. Even if it's dry season, still the market is in chaos with this mud. Be careful not to slip because you will look like you've stepped on a manhole if you get all the mud. Plus the punget smell of the market. If you just stay inside the market for one hour, the smell will stick to your hair, to your clothes and every inch of you. So, should you decide to go, be ready to get dirty and smelly! Anyway, that's the beauty of a marketplace. You'll find the first harvest in a filthy place like this. How ironic, eh? I hate the crowd too aside from the mud and the smell. It's just plain chaos. People just don't care if they bump to you. More than that, the people at the marketplace fight over small things and it's a big deal! They fight from their stalls talking oh so loudly it almost looks like you're watching from big screen. Haha, sometimes, I find it entertaining and other times, annoying.

But whether its the mud, the smell, the loud fights or the freshest pick, the greenest greens, the biggest discounts, you'll soon discover that Paco Market is a place with scenes not too far from a stock trading floor - where negotiating happens a lot in between deafening noises and filthy floor.

More love to life,

Bella Donna