February 07, 2007

The Lone Donut Motel

You know how people say you can do everything in a mall nowadays? Well, I never realized how true that statement is until this weekend.

Driving along the Kalentong stretch passing the Marketplace Mall, I was bombarded by several signs declaring the Lowest Rates for a 10-hour motel stay. Then when I actually processed what I was reading, it dawned on me that this motel was actually in the mall.

I took the pictures of the signs with my mobile phone so they’re not so great. Here's what they actually say:
10 hours Promo
Pay as low as 490 Php
5th level Marketplace Mall

Garage Parking open 24 hours (4th and 5th levels)

So the motel is in the 5th level of the mall. Guess where the movie theaters are? Well, they're in the 6th level. So, when you go on a date in this mall, it can go like this: see a movie, have dinner and... take a nap. Well, it's really your choice what you do in 10 hours. Cross-stitch? Complete a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle? Use your imagination - or not (you can be very literal too). After a good nap, cross stitch, or puzzle you may be in the mood for a little karaoke. Just a few meters away from the mall is Maligamgam KTV. For our foreign friends, 'maligamgam' means lukewarm. I wonder what message they are trying to convey. Not too hot and not too cold - the GROs wear pants and they're apathetic.

Somebody must have thought that people might think it's inappropriate to have a motel inside a mall. Check out this document I stumbled upon: Mandaluyong City Comprehensive Profile 2004. It has a portion actually giving consent for the motel to operate inside the mall:
5.07 Tourism

• Resolution interposing no objection to Asia Inns, Inc. for the operation of Sogo Hotel branch located at the Market Place, Gen. Kalentong St, this city
I bet they don't discuss it in city government meetings when a restaurant wants to put up shop in a mall :P
I just noticed a couple of things about Manila Managed Services group:

1. Women out number Men 2 to 1. Interesting especially after reading this article. Amazing how similar and yet different two cultures can be.

2. Our people are either really shy about taking the last piece or they have a natural aversion to donuts. A lone donut has been sitting in our area for almost a week now.

Might be because of this: 48 Ways to Know You Are Filipino
40. You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don't eat the last piece of food on the table.
It's not right to treat donuts this way. Isn't there a Donut Abuse hot line we can report this to? Homer would be horrified.

The Lone Donut Journal (Day 5): It's been five days since I was abandoned. I think I saw someone peeking through the gap of my box. He must not have seen me as I was in the far corner. Was someone really there or am I seeing things? I think I'm going crazy. No one wants me. I feel like there's a hole in the center of my being. I feel incomplete, like something is missing. A munchkin! I need a munchkin!

Remembering the Aratiles

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When I think back to my childhood, it seems that the Aratiles tree (a.k.a Alatiris, Alateris, Aratiris) is an omnipresent fixture. Back then, when there was no Internet or cable, and Atari consoles were rare, I spent most of my time outdoors . I would run barefoot in the hot asphalt pavement playing with friends. We hung up side down from the monkey bars, stood up and jumped off the swing sets, ran up the industrial grade aluminum slides, played in construction sites, and rode our bikes as far away from home as we dared. Basically, everything that our parents would tell us not to do. But it seems that at the end of every day, we would end up under the Aratiles tree. It was a commo n tree and it could be found all over the neighborhood. We were all very fond of climbing it and eating its berries while sitting on its branches and resting in its shade. Of course, everything would end up being sticky and it would always stain our clothes. I also remember once getting caught with a cou...
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The Rebellion Begins

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It has been awhile since I flexed these blogging muscles. Hopefully, the kids these days still remember what that is cause I wouldn't know how to Vine this thing.  It’s the weekend. I woke-up and ran through my mental To-do list. There are a few things I wanted to get to, so I got-up to take a shower and wash-off the cobwebs. I bark at my sentient music player (well, voice enabled anyway). “Alexa, play music” Usually, I'll ask it to play news and read through headlines while I get read for work. But I wanted to start the day energized instead of bummed. Alexa replies back. “Here is an Amazon playlist you might enjoy, ‘Songs to Bug Your Parents’.” That made me chuckle to myself. Between the moment it announces the name of the playlist it recommended and the time it took to buffer-up the first song, the music video of Twisted Sister's " We're Not Going to Take It " flashes in my mind.  Then the audio starts and it ...
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Pull My Finger

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I never really thought about which finger my wedding ring should be. When I got married and we had our exchange of vows almost three years ago (Sept 18!), my wife slipped my wedding ring into my left ring finger. That's where it has stayed since. I have only ever taken it out a handful of times since then. Usually when I wash the car myself, which is less often than I should. Since then though, other people have come up to me and asked me why my wedding ring was on my left hand. Some have asked that shouldn't it be on my right. I usually respond by telling them that that's where my wife placed it when we got married and I didn't see any reason to move it. Some have told me that tradi tionally, it was placed on the right ring finger. Wh en I ask why that is, I really haven't gotten a good response on that other than "it's tradition". So, being the inquisitive and lazy researcher that I am, I turned to the Internet for answers. Here are a few things I fo...
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