Going 'loco' over kimono

I don’t know how my fascination started but in just a couple of months, I have managed to collect a piece of clothing that I never even fancy before: the kimono.

While I’m not referring to the traditional Japanese garment worn by maikos and geishas, the inspiration for this casual T-shaped outerwear in different variations we see today came from it.

People at home noticed my sudden penchant for it, especially when they see it’s what’s being delivered at home from all the online shopping I do lately.

Most of the kimonos I own are just short ones that fall right by the hips, often used as a coverup instead of the knitted cardigan, but I also have those that are long enough to go down the legs.

I think kimono should be a staple in every woman’s wardrobe. It’s lighter to wear than any cardigan or pullover. This item of clothing is especially versatile for a tropical country like ours where it’s super cold inside office buildings because air-conditioning is on full-blast but must take off any outerwear once you step outside where it is crazy balmy and humid.

I always go for a laid-back look even at the office where dress codes are not as strict. A kimono can make any simple outfit (jeans or shorts and a plain shirt) dressier and elegant. The material is usually made from silk (but I do have some made of cotton), which is flowy, light and airy. I just love how it feels on the skin. The kimono also works a good cover-up for all those nasty love handles especially if I’m wearing a tight-fitting shirt or dress underneath. Just wear it over any clothes and it instantly hides all those unsightly bulges. 

What can I say? Daisukidesu!

Phone talk

Sorry for not having blogged for so long. I’ve been really busy at work.

Do you still remember all of the mobile phones you've ever owned? I thought I do, but the truth is my memory failed me and I have actually forgotten owning some while making this list. Thank goodness I had my old posts from my other blog archived to flex my brain muscles, and it surprised me to know that I have owned 16 units total!

Nokia 3210 – My first ever cellphone. I bought it for around 8K immediately after getting my commission from selling industrial pumps when I was a Sales Engineer. I believe it was the first phone released without the antenna that it easily fits right inside one’s pocket. Who remembers adding backlight and acetate on their LCD screens? Mine had James Van Der Beek on acetate. Yuck. 

Nokia 7650 – Kuya had to buy two of this in 2003—one for him and one for me, using his credit card. It’s the very first Nokia phone with a built-in VGA camera. The colored screen is also entirely new at the time. Only a handful of us from my former office had it and everyone else was just amazed at what it can do.

Another cool thing about this phone is the Polyphonic ringtone! I enjoyed message alerts tones anywhere from True by Spandau Ballet, Under Pressure by Queen, Burn by Usher, Ignition by R. Kelly to Hey Ya! by Outkast.

I remember how it gave me a mild heart attack after I dropped it on a pail of water when it fell off my pocket. But we all know the durability of old phones especially if we’re talking of Nokia. I only had to turn off the phone and not use it for many days (who did the trick of leaving it submerged in a bowl of uncooked rice to let it dry out? I did!) and it looked like it never even took a good swim.

Let me tell you this—they can all boast about the high-tech phones available now, but at least when it comes to durability, Nokia will always be the best.

Sony Ericsson k608 (Silver) – My first “hand-me-down” phone. When my 7650 conked out after years of a good run, my older brother gave me this phone. This one has a 1.3-megapixel camera with LED flash.

Sony Ericsson Cybershot k800i - One of my most trusted camera phone I used/abused in my early years of blogging. Most of the pictures posted on my old blog were taken by this phone with its 3.2-megapixel resolution, autofocus lens, and Xenon (gasps!) flash unit. The results then were fantastic.

If not for the emergence of smartphones and people taking pity on me when they see me still using my K800, I wouldn’t even replace it.

Samsung Champ – The cutest one ever, got it free from a broadband subscription in September of 2010. The screen measures only 2.4” but has a 1.3-megapixel camera. Believe it or not, it may be small but it’s actually a touchscreen phone, only that you have to use the stylus the size smaller than a Q-Tip that came with it. It had a fancy message alert tone I liked because I know that when I hear it, it’s a message from my then-boyfriend.

The hitch? No WiFi connectivity.

BlackBerry Bold 9000 – My very first BlackBerry and QWERTY phone. I bought it after receiving my very first STI (Short Term Incentive) at my current company back in 2011. It worked well for a while until the trackball became problematic. It would get stuck which made it difficult to navigate and scroll through sites like Twitter and Facebook. Troubleshooting articles suggested wiping the trackball with alcohol to get it to move but doing this on a regular basis irritated the hell out of me.

Finally, the battery swelled from overcharging (something that will happen again in one of my later phones) and it made me realize it’s time to let it go.

BlackBerry Bold 9000

BlackBerry Torch 9800 – This was sent by a relative from the States October of 2013 and was then locked to AT&T. I loved this so much—because I always liked how badass a sliding phone looked (reminiscent of the Nokia 7650) and BBM was the in-thing then (BB Social, peeps!). It has a 5-megapixel camera with a 3.20-inch display.

The downside has always been the faulty flex (the sliding mechanism) which I had to replace twice over a short period of time. When I realized that the problem will persist no matter what I do, I had no choice but to sell it online.

BlackBerry Torch 9800

iPhone 3GS – My very first iPhone bought second-hand from Greenhills as I needed an immediate replacement for the BlackBerry Torch. It packs a 3.15-megapixel camera and I was overwhelmed at the 32GB storage of this phone that I have movies, music and hundreds of pictures saved on it. At the time I had this, there’s already the iPhone 4S so the software was an outdated iOS 4.1 which does not support even the most basic third-party apps. It had many limitations that a “jailbreak” had to be performed so I could at least add the other applications (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Skype, etc.). Having this phone meant that I would have to bring it to a technician every time an update for one of the apps is needed because if I try using the Apps store, I always get that error that my phone’s version cannot support it.

After only a few weeks of using, it suggested a software update and when I went ahead with it—it turned the phone into a brick. This was very frustrating for me that I ended up selling it back to the same store in Greenhills, but this time, at a lower price.

Sony Xperia Go – I got this sometime in 2013 and it boasts a 5-megapixel camera but it was the worst unit I’ve ever owned, bar none. After just a few months of using it, the side-most part of the keypad just stopped working no matter how hard I press it. In order for me to type the affected letters, I had to rotate the phone. However, when I rotate the phone, I think it’s the spacebar that wouldn’t work. This got so aggravating to me at the time to think I bought this brand new.

When I checked the Xperia Support Forum, it became pretty clear that this issue is not particular to me. My kuya and I sold the unit and I swore off Xperia phones for good.

Cherry Mobile s3 Flare Octa – Bought this in 2015. It’s locally made, reasonably priced as I think I bought it for less than 5K. Not bad for a phone with a 5” screen and 13-megapixel camera. Yup, 13-freaking-megapixel! This started me flooding your feeds with my selfies.

Cherry Mobile Flare S3

Blackberry Curve 9320 – The first phone I got when I switched to Postpaid. Yes, all my previous phones before this were all prepaid. I got this while I still have my Cherry mobile because I love  the ease of BlackBerry phones. I don’t do much browsing on this unit for obvious reasons (as I have the Cherry mobile), but texting/messaging was particularly easy for me with the QWERTY keypad. It’s one of the few phones I owned that is still with me.

BlackBerry Curver 9320

iPhone 5S – After the BB Curve, this was the next unit I got from my Globe postpaid plan. It was an Apple Certified refurbished, which is why I got it a little cheaper, and it served me well for quite some time. Looking back, most of my IG posts from about 4 to 5 years ago were taken by this 8-megapixel rear, 1.2-megapixel front camera phone.

iPhone 6 Plus – My fat fingers can’t further cope at the 4” display so I swapped my iPhone 5S to an iPhone 6 Plus only because of the bigger 5.5" screen. Facetime and iMessage became a breeze with this unit.

Huawei Nova 2i – When my iPhone 5S plan ended two years ago, I sold my iPhone 6 Plus (I was getting unhappy with it because it’s laggy for no reason) and thought of getting a new unit. I was supposed to get a Samsung J2 Prime for the same plan but read the reviews for this unit (plus my guy friend who worked for Globe had a lot of good things to say about it) and it made me get this instead. I never looked back at any other phone brands since. Huawei had been my favorite. I got great pictures from our 2017 HK trip thanks to my Nova 2i.

Huawei Nova 3i – I had a phone upgrade last February after the battery swelling of my Nova 2i. See, I’m one who would leave my phone charging overnight with my WiFi or cellular data on so go figure. It almost had the same specifications as with the 2i except that this one has a wider 6.3" display and better resolution. I am so satisfied with this unit because it takes good pictures and it never lags that I absolutely had no plans of even replacing it.

***

I went to the Globe store last September 22 with my kuya, cousin Nancy and nephew Gavin with the intention to downgrade my Huawei 2i plan from 1499 to either 999 or 799. Getting a new phone for myself was never something I planned to do because, as I’ve said, I only got the Huawei Nova 3i last February.

I was thinking of getting whatever unit is free on the downgraded plan (I can choose from a Huawei Y7 Pro 2019, Oppo A5s or Samsung Galaxy A10S or A20s) and give it to Gavin as a reward for getting good grades in school.

It was actually my older brother who wanted to get the Huawei flagship phone that day as it coincides with the end of his existing contract. However, for whatever hypnosis my kuya and cousin did to me, I was convinced to get a new phone even with a plan downgrade, pay extra (since my contract ends on the 10th of this month) and just pay the cashout.

So I got out of the store with the Huawei P30 Pro.

Gavin got my Huawei Nova 3i and his dad, my younger brother, got my Nova 2i after getting the battery replaced.

In short, everyone’s happy.

***

I am not sure if Huawei enjoys the same popularity in the US considering this, but this Chinese brand is getting a large chunk of the market everywhere else. They can all go and scare us Huawei users following the US trade ban months ago, with Google removing Huawei Mate X and P30 Pro from Android.com last May, but eventually added it back to the Android recommended website last August.

I always joked that Huawei is the only thing Chinese apart from siomai I like.

***

Judging by the previous units I’ve owned, one can deduce that I was not particularly picky about my cellphone. Truth is when people start talking about specs, I don’t get impressed at all only because I don’t understand the need for some of it.

For one, I don’t play games on my phone (I never played Plants vs. Zombies, Candy Crush or even Mobile Legends—like, ever) and I don’t binge-watch Netflix or YouTube videos. I don’t even listen to music (even with a Spotify account) from it. As long as I can browse, take good pictures and the screen is big enough for my fatty fingers, I’m happy. So maybe getting this high-end phone is probably moot for a non-techie like me, but I have to admit I’m loving my phone and I thank my companions that day for convincing me to get it.

The Leica Quad Camera System is what’s responsible for taking good pictures on this phone. I’ve never owned a smartphone, not even a digital camera that gives off such vibrant pictures. Even if I haven’t tried the camera that much yet (since I haven’t traveled anywhere the past few months), it is what I like most about it.

Although if I may be honest, when it comes to looking “real” on my portraits, this unbiased article says it all. Apart from that though, I would choose Huawei over an iPhone anytime (no offense to my wonderful, gorgeous friends who are satisfied iPhone users).

Another thing I love about this is the super-fast charging. I can do away with charging my phone at night. All I need to do is plug it when I wake up in the morning and as soon as I stepped out of the shower, it’s already fully charged. 70% charge in 30 minutes! Very good for a lazy and forgetful user like me.

Huawei P30 Pro, released just March of this year, is a beauty. It’s available in many colors but the only one available at the Globe store is the Aurora (I would love the Amber Sunrise—but it costs more since it’s only available in 512GB and mine was 256GB). Friends and officemates love checking my phone and would sneak taking their selfies with it any chance they get.

The only drawback of having a flagship phone is the fact that the accessories for it are much expensive too. A tempered glass already cost me 1K! I also invested in a good slim-armor, military-grade Spigen case which is pricey in itself because the unit is made of glass—every butterfingers’ nightmare.

I am fascinated with the evolution of cellphones over the years even with just the ones I owned. 20 years ago, when I have my Nokia 3210, if you tell me then what phones today can do, I wouldn’t even believe it.

I am excited but also somewhat scared of what phones can do in another 5-15 years.

Remembering my salad days

Watching “13 Going On 30” last night gave me the feels. I’ve watched it a bunch of times and unlike me, that movie never gets old. I still find it funny, warm and charming. (Let us not forget the fantastic soundtrack—I have been LSS-ing on Madonna’s “Crazy For You” since this morning).

Skip this post if you have heard or read about this before—but my teenage years were probably the least favorite time of my life. Puberty hit me like a ton of bricks. I was awkward, clumsy and unattractive. I can lay claim that I have the longest ugly phase in the history of ugly phases. It was agonizing and depressing. While girls my age were already blooming and enjoying a myriad of admirers, I was gauche, scrawny, dark-skinned and buck-toothed.

Attending high school in an all-girls Catholic institution was particularly unforgiving as I was surrounded every day by a lot of beautiful schoolmates who seem oblivious that there exists a twilight zone-level of awkwardness. It was no secret how I didn’t fit in and was sometimes bullied because of how I looked. Boys wanted nothing to do with me as they fancy a certain type of girls—the kind that I’d never ever be. For one, I have no breasts—and my gangly frame was always the subject of a cruel joke.

Just like in the movie, I wanted desperately to be a part of a popular clique in school, but I wasn’t pretty enough—or not at all—to be one of them. Undeterred, I offered to make their projects and homework or do favors, almost subservient, but even that wasn’t enough to get me a chance to even “sit with them”.

Some teachers also made my life a living hell so to speak, as this was not yet the age of political correctness and appropriateness. Imagine being told by my P.E. teacher that I can’t join the singkil dance because “para sa maganda lang 'yun.” (only for the beautiful). OK—granted that there’s truth to what she said, but the fact that she did it so bluntly was just wrong and hurtful. I bet if it happened now, that teacher would have faced serious disciplinary action.

At least I met like-minded friends in my senior year and it made my last year in high school bearable because otherwise, it would have been awful.

And so what I lacked in sex appeal and grace, I tried compensating with my other skills such as writing, or my ability to know a lot of film, music and general trivia, or the fact that I chose a sport that wasn’t physical or strenuous, and actually excelled on it.

Overall though, those years for me practically sucked. My self-esteem was very low and I found myself resenting a lot of things. Somehow my personality mirrored the ugliness I felt, as I became aloof, unsociable and petulant if only to protect me from further abuse and rejection.

***

I may not have turned into a swan, but when I got in a Co-Ed college, things have changed. I can’t pinpoint what it was but the guys started noticing me. I was still skinny, awkward and insecure, but maybe some of my physical features improved slightly, and I somewhat acquired grace and poise that I began to receive attention from the opposite sex.

Suddenly, I have an admirer in every class (no joke) and I supposed it wasn’t because I got attractive and went through some fantastic physical transformation, but because I was the brainy and well-behaved girl in class. Even so, the experience was so new to me that I don’t even know how to react to the attention. All my teen years I was so used to being invisible and just merely existing and now guys are taking notice.

I remember this basketball varsity player who brought a camera to our English class because he wanted to take a picture of me (take note that this was long before the time of digital cameras and smartphones). He didn’t approach me for he was too shy, that his friends had to ask our teacher for permission to take my picture.

I was like—ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! They wanted me to pose for a picture in front of the whole class? I remember how embarrassed I was especially when the teacher joined in the teasing. Naturally, I turned the request down and said I will just give him a picture, which I don’t think I ever did.

Then there’s the volleyball varsity player (oh yeah, jocks looooove me) who sings the chorus of this song every time he sees me around. And I mean EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. It doesn’t matter if I was at the second floor of the building and he’s down the school quadrangle, or if I was sitting in my class and he’s passing by the corridor, I would suddenly hear him singing the lines serenading me. God, it was crazy.

Then there are guys who are just extremely shy, like this one in my History class, who, even if the entire class knew how much he liked me (he told everyone but me)—wouldn’t even talk to me! The most he did the entire semester was to stare. When I catch him looking, he’d look away.

Guys are weird like that.

*** 

The movie also tells us that sometimes, the popular boys don’t always end up the ones we like when we get older. If you’ve seen the movie, there’s this part where Jenna (Garner) saw the school’s heartthrob and prom king, Chris Grandy, now a cab driver. Now, while there’s nothing wrong ending up a cab driver, it only shows that sometimes the guys we really like while growing up, wouldn’t turn out to be the guy we want.

So much like my long-time college crush for instance.

It was the first day of my first class in my freshman years when I saw him enter the classroom. You know how it is in movies where the scene goes into slow-mo and the camera pans to the face of the admirer gaping? That’s exactly what happened. He was dreamy and so good-looking almost a dead ringer for a ‘90s Onemig Bondoc. He’s the kind that could pass for a teen actor back in the day.

Deep inside I was screaming: “Oh shit, I am so going to enjoy this class very much!”, not knowing that we will be in the same class on most of our subjects.

Well, aside from sharing the same classes (we have the same course), nothing happened all those four years except how he accidentally found out through a friend that I had this huge crush on him. While he didn’t act on it, I know he enjoyed it and probably bragged it to his fraternity brothers. A Dean’s Lister crushing on the underachiever who had no interest in school? Straight out of an unmade John Hughes movie, right? Whether he admits it or not, he took pleasure on that.

Many years after, we crossed paths again and don’t ask me what the heck happened but he became my boyfriend. I have to admit that I was thrilled at first as this was the guy I was crushing on all those years. He’s the reason why even if there were other guys interested in me at the time, nothing took off because it was him I liked and was waiting for.

It was only when he was already my boyfriend that I realized he’s not the guy for me. There was so much about him that turned me off and times when I can’t even stand him. I may have been attracted to him as he was good-looking, but take that away we have nothing in common. I realized I wasted the best years of my life waiting for him and when I had him, he wasn't half the man I envisioned him to be.

***

Which brings me now to my Matt Flamhaff, the not-so-popular guy who stuck with me all those years: My best guy friend.

As he’s now happily married and with kids, I’d rather not name or even describe him except by saying that he’s probably one of those guys, who never became my boyfriend, that truly loved me warts and all.

He’s the “buddy” who was there to accompany and fetch me to school, hangs-out the house for hours he almost became a fixture. The very few who have put up with me and all my insecurities, stubbornness, and immaturity.

He’s someone unfortunate enough to be in the line of fire during the worst of my mood swings. I can be myself around him knowing I’d never get judged for it. To put it simply, he just likes me for me.

Like Matt and Jenna in the film, doing things with my best boy bud no matter how laid-back, was lots of fun. Sure, we never shared Razzles but we had our own good times together. The best times for me will always be how he stays up really late at our house with us just talking about bands, crushes, tsismis, pop culture, music videos, etc. I always like that he’s very down-to-earth, funny, smart, loyal and kind.

Even if we knew then that we love each other very much, a love with no commitment and intimacy, we are conscious of where we stand. Even if we have a strong emotional bond and genuine feelings for each other, it wasn’t meant to be more than friends. None of us crossed the line.

Without explanation or recourse, we kinda grew apart. He went his way and I went mine. He had relationships and I had mine. For a while, we tried going back to the way we were but something was pulling us farther apart. Besides, there were already other people in the equation unlike before when there’s just the two of us. Life happened, I guess. No arguments or drama, it just fizzled out.

Even so, my time with my own Matt Flamhaff was real, pure, uncomplicated and beautiful.

*** 

And just like that, I will be turning 43 by December. While always thankful for every birthday, it’s totally different from adding years in your thirties. So many thoughts are creeping in, mostly about getting old and how you are getting closer and closer to the fifties.

My salad days may have been chewed away eons ago but memories of it, both the good and bad, are still worth remembering. After all, the lessons learned from it were priceless.

I survived. I thrived.