starshadow_rivaulx | Easter Sunday at the mall

So in an attempt to multitask, I'm working on my second blog post for the day. This one will be mostly about what Ramon and I were up to on Easter Sunday.

Having discharged our obligation to hear Mass, we set out for the Mall of Asia for the first time in a long time. Ramon skipped breakfast at home in favor of brunch in Jollibee. *smile*

I can't get over how cute the new parking system in Mall of Asia looks. It's one of those newfangled things, where an LED lights up green if the space is empty, then changes to red once a car parks in the slot, thanks to a sensor mounted just about where the hood or trunk of the vehicle would be. The parking look has this Christmas feel to it as a result.

So having finished with brunch, we strolled down the newly opened, still quiet mall, dropping in at The French Baker, Watson's, and then National Book Store. Such a bonding with books! It's been far too long since I've been able to browse through a bookstore at leisure - and let me tell you, it was a browse of major proportions.

Ended up buying one of those small organizer things, and several sets of plain lined filler before heading off for lunch at Mann Hann. While waiting for lunch to arrive, I took out the original fillers and substituted them with the plain lined fillers - et voila, j'ai un ersatz Moleskine! *is shot* No, really, the thing can stand up against a Moleskine (just exercise your imagination) but not quite against a PaperBlanks journal.

The old fillers have been nicely wrapped and will go to the donation box. Surely there's someone out there who needs brand-new fillers.

Mann Hann lunch was good. Lechon Macau (pork belly) and Broccoli Flowers in Garlic Sauce, with Buko (young coconut) Juice. Yummy! There was a line in front of the resto at only 11.30am, we were fourth, and placed our orders while waiting, so by the time we were seated, things started coming down the pipeline really quickly.

After lunch, we decided to take the mall shuttle to visit the other side. The day had turned pleasantly windy, and we marked the stops around the route that would land us near to, or in front of, our favorite places. We got off near BookSale and Dogs in the City - I left Ramon in the lovely coolness of BookSale while I popped into Dogs in the City.

It's a new pet shop, with cute little puppies in the window, and fairly well stocked with dog food. Not so much with the cat food - but then, that's the case here in Manila. I niggles me to see all the ads for cat food and cat treats in the imported magazine, and then all my chiblets can rely on are Whiskas, Friskies, the tiny Fancy Feast cans (why can't they carry the full-size cans?), the 9Lives and Prize cans that are nearly generic in nature. It sounds like a lot of choice, but only Whiskas and Friskies have proper cans and all the rest are good for one-cat families. *sigh* Plus, what's with the fixation on four flavors only, when there are at least six per line? Don't get it.

I did buy a collar with a bell in that store, intending it for Darklette, who loves to go bird-hunting. As this distresses all of us, we were thinking that if she had a bell to wear, the birds would have their own early-warning device. Alas, Darklette knew what was coming and wouldn't let me put on the collar at any price; so now Budi-cat is wearing instead, and quite the queen she is with it now. *grin*

Before the major business of grocery shopping, Ramon and I settled ourselves in Delifrance and had ourselves coffee and croissants. Also, glanced over the newspapers to catch up with the world. I like Delifrance - well, I like the enclosed stores, not quite the one in the hallway between SM Makati and Glorietta, that's a bit noisy.

Then on to SM Hypermart! Found a sort of lounge area for Ramon to sit in, then flitted around hunting up stuff on the list and some stuff that wasn't. It was hot - not really surprising, given that a good portion of Pasay City and Paranaque must have been present at the mall that day. Double-checked all the aisles to make sure I had all that I could get, then off to the checkout counter.

We brought the bags to the car ourselves - not a single bagger in sight, and Ramon clucked something about "the lamentable lack of minions". *chuckle* Got home, and life went on as usual. Stuff was unloaded, I tried to straighten my head out (heat-induced headaches are so much blargh), and in the end, all's well that ended.

*offers wine and cheese to everyone who's read this far*