when the Choc Nut and Christmas islander blogs within the breeze of the Gulf

The bride and the mother at the wedding reception.

Weekly photo hunt is hosted by tnchick. See more cuddly photos here.

• Watched Sherlock Homes. Brilliant actors, must-see film. I am looking forward to seeing the sequel.
• I found myself wanting to join the children’s mass again. So I did. I became a little emotional when the children sung Shine Jesus Shine. I felt like transported to World Youth Day in 1995. It is a wonder how one song can affect you so much, that would make you think of places, people you met/have been with (I wonder where they are now. And do they think of me, too? Hahaha!), relive selected memories and experiences, etc. in a time warped phase. And that does not happen everyday.
• Spent another day in Ikea to complete my dining table paraphernalia. I did not think it would be that difficult to match all those plates, table runner, etc. with a black and white motiff. It looks like a fusion of Japanese-Chinese-Korean setting.
• Bought a painting (with a woman meditating on it) from Bayti (Arabic term for house). This now regales my living room. I still need to frame a couple of self-taken photos. They did not make it on time for the housewarming.
• Yes, I moved in to a bigger flat because I got bigger. Hahaha. I mean, I moved to a nicer place. The past weeks were very exhausting. But finally, almost everything is at the proper corners already.
• Yesterday, the housewarming was a success. My guests left with a happy heart and tummy (buttered crabs, my infamous lumpiang shanghai, menudo, etc.) Thanks for coming friends. And for the gifts.
• Only yesterday I got the several mails sent to me last month, including the greeting cards sent by blogger pals (you know who you are). Incidentally, I have changed my address. Much thanks!

One of the things that we particularly miss pre-December 25 in the Philippines are the company Christmas parties. For some reasons, I especially miss the hat and oriental themed parties that I went to years ago. Hence, my friends-colleagues-former officemates (since I already transferred to a new organization last month) held our own, with a whirlwind preparation. With few exchange of emails in a “you bring this and that” style, we went to one of the parks to kick off the Christmas celebration. I volunteered to bring pancit, lumpiang shanghai, puto, pichi-pichi and cassava cake. Hep, don’t be amazed. I asked somebody else to cook those. We also had the well-loved sisig, crispy pata and turbo boiled chicken.

We also exchanged gifts. I got two books (Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics) which are actually on my wish list. Really, I am thankful that even if we are in a Muslim country, we can openly celebrate Christmas. To the extent that the current surrounds will make you feel you’re in the Philippines, plus the simbang gabi minus the puto bumbong.

We chatted about random things, took a lot of photos. We ended the “party” by feeling the sunset and the (now) much colder breeze from the seaside which is steps away from the park.

Note: No, this is not turning into a shoe blog. I just realized that I already have five entries about footwear.

One of my closest colleagues in the office recently vacationed in her motherland, Casablanca (Morocco) and she brought something for me. The famous Moroccan sweets (sorry, I forgot to take a photo and I ate fast) and a pair of traditional shoes.
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Mine and her ju-on feet, respectively. Taken in 2006.

I recently watched Grudge 3 and that made me sleep uneasily that night. It’s interesting in a way, and it applies to many, that we still watch suspense and/or horror flicks even if we know the foolish “scaring of one’s self” by imagining things after that is going to happen.

In Grudge 3, you’ll get to see again Toshio and the ghost girl who is so white (looks like she swam in a pool of flour) and scary that way. But there’ll be a twist in this sequel because the curse was reborn. I remember when Grudge 1 (original Japanese film was titled Ju-on) and 2 were at their peak, my friend-former officemate and I have been associated to having “ju-on feet”. That day, we coincidentally wore our stockings which are highly noticeable for being off to skin tone.

What are your favorite horror flicks?