In other news --

I made this for dinner:


... if it's not recognizable, it's my version of Katsudon.

It's a simple recipe and one that, surprisingly, did not take long to prepare.

Johann was amused that I started taking pictures of the finished product. We shared the *ahem* feast with our neighbor (my brother ^_^). They both thought it was good. I'm so happy! XD

The recipe: (naks!)

For the tonkatsu:
Pork cutlets (I used pork steak sold in packs of 4 from Rustan's Fresh - PhP66 for 4)
Flour
Japanese breadcrumbs
Egg (beaten)
Salt & Pepper

I flattened the pork steaks by putting them between clingfilm and pounding at them with a bottle of ketchup. Then, I dredged them in flour (seasoned with salt and pepper), carefully shaking off the excess. A quick dip into the egg and then the Japanese breadcrumbs.

I put it in the fridge to "set" for a few minutes. I used that time to prepare the rice. When the rice cooker switch hit "warm", I started to prepare the sauce:

6 tablespoons soy sauce (we used Kikkoman)
4 tablespoons vinegar (we used Datu Puti) -- but if you have Mirin, it would be better
1 cup water (Dashi stock was suggested)
5 tablespoons of sugar
Onions, sliced into slivers

Dump everything in a shallow pan and allow the onions to soften. (Taste and season to your liking.) Make sure the pan you use is big enough to hold the tonkatsu.

At this point, I took out the pork from the fridge and heated up a pan (and put oil in it) -- fry the pork, 4 to 5 minutes on each side and then take them out and slice them (but not all the way through -- you know what this looks like people, don't make me suffer by having me explain this >_<)

Check the sauce, the onion would have softened and the sauce would be nice and steamy. Place in the tonkatsu (they're tonkatsu now because they're cooked! ^_^) in the sauce.

If you wanna be fancy (or you have eggs leftover from the week before and just want to consume them, like we did), beat some eggs and pour them on top of the tonkatsu and let them cook.

Serve rice in a bowl, place one piece of tonkatsu on top of the rice and spoon some of the onions and sauce on top.

Itadakimasu!

More pics (because I am so proud of myself ^_^)

What's going on? --

It's an image that has burned itself into my memory already -- Congressman Edmund Reyes of Marinduque standing alone, making a last-minute plea for his colleagues to sign the doomed impeachment complaint.

It was an exercise in futility -- the other "honorables" around him were too busy texting and talking to each other. He stood there waiting, trying to make eye contact with some other congressmen, but they just looked away.

~sigh~

I took this photo --


..and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I spent yesterday working on the thank you notes Johann and I are distributing to our wedding guests. Visit our other blog for the images.

Bleh --

I had a really great post -- lots of deep thoughts and personal insights -- and then blogger decided to go wonky on me.

* * *

The gist --

Non-working holiday on Monday.

Sky High on Wednesday.

MIBF (that's the Bookfair) this week.

Thanks to all who shared their recommendations in the previous post.

I'm almost done reading Nigella and I'm interested in the Spiderwick Chronicles.

* * *

That's it. Is all.

Time to get interactive! --

Recommend:

-A book to read

-A film to see

-A place to visit

-A community to join

-A friend to add

-A recipe

Please do as many as possible of these and then post in your journal for others to do the same to you :)

For me mostly --

But if anyone else is interested in attending, here's the info:

Dr. Caroline S. Hau from Kyoto University will deliver a short lecture on the Philippine Novel in English on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 at the UP Faculty Center Audio-Visual Room (UP Diliman), 4-5:30 p.m.

Hau is a prize-winning fictionist, respected international scholar, editor of the anthology INTSIK: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE-FILIPINO WRITING and author of the books
NECESSARY FICTIONS: PHILIPPINE LITERATURE AND THE NATION (1946-1980) and ON THE SUBJECT OF THE NATION: FILIPINO WRITINGS FROM THE MARGINS, 1981-2004. Both books are published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press.

During the talk given to MA students yesterday on how they can prepare for their thesis --

One of our resource speakers said "Swallow the cosmos whole."

And that's all I can actually remember from the talk.

Coming Full Circle --

I remember the first time I heard "Seasons of Love" -- it was on the "Today Show" and I had only seen the last part of the performance. But the words stuck to me and I had to find out what it was about. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

I did an online search and I found out that it was from a new musical called "Rent" -- I thought that was that. I had satisfied a curiosity. It was all good.

And then I found a copy of the 2-disc CD of the musical at CD Warehouse in Shoppesville. It was selling for PhP850 and it was the only copy of the CD. In 1996, as a college Junior with an allowance of PhP2000 a month, PhP850 makes quite a dent in one's cash flow. But I went ahead and bought it and I haven't regretted that decision ever since.

That led to the purchase of the big-ass RENT book and then tickets to see the local production and then watching the local prodcution so many times -- on it's last weekend alone, I was there for ALL the shows: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Matinee and Gala, and Sunday Matinee and Gala.

It led to more musicals and a whole new group of friends (the RENTheads). It led to new-found confidence and an assurance that everything will be alright.

And now, the movie version is coming out and the cast of RENT (the movie) once again perform on the "Today Show" --

I tell you, it's all so magical.

Click here.

They also performed "What You Own" -- click here.

And the official movie music video is here.

* * *

I wish --

I wish Atlantis would stage RENT one last time and I would watch it with my siblings and Johann and Gabby and Mase and Laika and everyone and we would all just laugh together and cry together.

~sigh~

Online! --

Finally! We have our own pc and we are connected to the Internet! Hurrah!

I can finally surf and blog in earnest. ^_^

* * *

What have I been up to? --

I attended a Madonna-thon last Saturday with some friends. We were acting like tourists and taking pictures of EVERYTHING -- I think we amused the "bouncer" and the people around us.

My cousins are still in town and we took them around Ateneo and UP and had lunch with them at Chateau Verde. Apparently, Chateau Verde has a lunch buffet of steak and oysters for PhP290. Johann was so, so happy -- as they say, like a kid in the candy store. Piles of oysters and steak -- it all looked so, so good! (Damn him and his fast metabolism =p)

* * *

Oh, and we have super lovely sounds courtesy of our Harman Kardon Soundsticks II. Grabe. Wow.

Really.

Tagged by Camy ^_^ --

Seven things that scare you:
1. Needles, injections
2. The sight of blood
3. Losing loved ones
4. Salmonella and other food-borne bacteria
5. things/people that play with my head
6. Contracting life-threatening diseases
7. Mediocrity

Seven things you like the most:
1. Peanut Butter, Nutella, Chocolate Syrup and Maple Syrup
2. Watching movies in cinemas with really good popcorn
3. My Print Gocco, my Lomo Cameras (poor neglected things), all the little knickknacks I have surrounded myself with
4. Good, good friends
5. Nigella Lawson
6. My hunny
7. Being married to my hunny

Seven important things in your room:
1. Bed and Pillows
2. Bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol
3. The television and dvd player
4. My copy of Nigella Lawson's How to Eat
5. Our little tatami-esque rug
6. Anti-perspirant
7. Checkbook

Seven random facts about you:
1. I don't like talking over the phone -- there's only a handful of people that I can talk to for some period of time, but after a while, I get restless and my attention wanders.
2. I love to travel.
3. I love to waffles more than pancakes.
4. I get very obsessive-compulsive about my hair.
5. I'm a control freak.
6. According to my hunny, I have an insane obsession with office supplies. This is true -- when we were in Singapore, I was happiest wandering around the paper and stationery supplies section of Kinokuniya.
7. I love Mustard.

Seven things you plan to do before you die:
1. Have children and see them grow up and have families of their own
2. Take a GRAND tour of Europe with Johann
3. Visit Japan and Australia (because I've never been there)
4. Submit something to the Palanca
5. Buy a Cacnio sculpture
6. Teach a course on Shakespeare
7. Watch all the episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus (which means get them on DVD first)

Seven things you can do:
1. I can cook. (Simple dishes)
2. I can organize and see a schedule through.
3. I have a fairly sizable store of useless information.
4. I'd like to believe that I can teach well.
5. I can commute! (To certain places)
6. I can do semi-crafty things.
7. I have a knack for finding "gems" in stores

Seven things you can't do:
1. I can't draw and I wish I can.
2. I can't swim.
3. I can't sing.
4. I can't drive.
5. I can't crack jokes effectively.
6. I can't lie. (I don't have a poker face -- people who know me well know when I'm lying.)
7. I can't wear yellow.

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex:
1. Intelligence
2. If I'm able to eat in their presence
3. How they carry their clothes
4. Confidence
5. His friends and his relationship with them
6. If I have good conversations with them
7. Must love books

Seven things you say the most:
1. Hay naku!
2. Pusang Hilaw
3. Damn.
4. 'allo!
5. Ohmygod!
6. Cool!
7. Interesting.

Seven celeb crushes (whether local or foreign)
1. Tony Leung-Chiu Wai

... just him. Some minor crushes, but it didn't feel right listing them as #2, #3, etc.

Seven people you want to see to take this quiz:
1. Johann
2. My bro
3. Eric
4. Cuppkeyk
5. Gabs
6. Mahar
7. Mase

* * *

Nigella Lawson! --

My hunny gave me a copy of Nigella Lawson's How to Eat as a wedding present. I'm reading it right now and it is wonderful!

I love Nigella, I love how unapologetic she is about enjoying food. She's all about enjoying your meal and experiencing it to the full.

My favorite line from her (so far) "I have nothing to declare but my greed."

I want to collect all 5 of her books, so that's 1 down and 4 to go. ^_^

Back to honeymoon kwento! --

The ice cream -- I miss the Baskins I had in Bangkok. I miss how cheap it was! >_<

Here are our ice cream photos --


My hunny at the Ben and Jerry's in Hong Kong. He was so, so tempted to get the pint of Pistachio -- but we decided to try a flavor that isn't available locally -- I think this one was called the Dublin Mudslide.


Gelato in Hong Kong! This one was Pistachio. We also tried Caramel and Cookies and Cream mixed together -- but the absolute, hands-down winner was the Ferrero Roche gelato mix. YUM!

The Comics and Gamers Fair was madness! I'm glad we decided to go -- it was interesting seeing the HK fans get so excited over Naruto and Gundam and other series -- the most curious thing we saw was the Infernal Affairs MMORPG.

Doraemon is also very big in HK. O_o



Johann and I also enjoyed the airports. At the Bangkok Airport, we treated ourselves to foot and head & shoulder massages. So, so worth it. It was the perfect preparation to HK.





I finished reading Harry Potter while waiting to board the plane. ^_^

* * *

Tin loves Noodles --

We had a goal in HK and it was to splurge on dimsum and noodles. The HK Tourism Board released a booklet that detailed the winners of the annual culinary awards and they had a list of the places with the best dimsum and noodles.

Most of these places were in the HK side and the rain made it difficult for us to travel. We decided to go to the one in Kowloon -- a restaurant called "Dong" -- the food was very, very expensive and I wasn't really convinced of its merits.







I had congee and it was bleh. =P

Feeling a bit disillusioned and frustrated, we had already accepted the sad, sad realization that we won't be able to have good dimsum before going home.

Our flight was at 430 in the afternoon and we were scheduled for pickup at 130. I was a bit worried that 130 would be too late and that we wouldn't have enough time to go around the HK International Airport, we requested to be fetched earlier. When we got to the airport, we discovered that they had Maxim's there (voted as one of the best restos for dimsum and noodles) --

It was wonderful! I had the wonton noodle soup and Johann had the fried e-fu noodles.







Johann saw the noodle dish being served to the table behind us and was so intrigued by it. We kept trying to ask the waiters what it was but there was a massive communication barrier. I mustered up all my knowledge of Mandarin and managed to get the message across. The e-fu noodles was amazing.

(There is actually a slideshow of me eating the noodles -- but I won't show it here. ^_^;;;)



<-- the view from our seat.

We had a lovely time in Bangkok and Hong Kong -- I've always been worried about stepping out of my comfort zone (Singapore) to explore other places and I'm glad Johann was with me to experience Bangkok. It was a revelation and we would love to go back in the future. ^_^

Wedding Pics! --

Visit our blog for the pics. So, so lovely! (And so many to choose from >_<)

Here's one of my favorites:


Click here!

Btw, for people who were there and also took pictures, can you share them with me please? Thankies. ^_^

Visit us! (Book Fair News) --

Central Comic Headquarters (CCHQ) will be participating in the upcoming Manila International Book Fair:

Date: From Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2005
Time: 10am to 8pm
Bookfair location:
World Trade Center, Metro Manila (Financial Center Area)
Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. (Buendia Ave.) corner Roxas Blvd.
Pasay City, Metro Manila

We are booth #106. 4th row from the entrance I think. A short distance from the dining area. It's a small booth but we'll do our best to fill it with as much stuff as possible. =) We'll be displaying and selling English graphic novels and manga, trade paperbacks, mainstream and indie, and also Japanese manga and artbooks at very affordable prices. =)

Photos --

When Johann and I were trying to decide how to describe our recent trip, the word that came to mind was ice cream. We had ice cream everyday. We were getting to know each place by their food and we ate so much. (I think I gained weight >_<)

July 25, Day 1, Bangkok --
Dinner at Oishi Ramen and dessert at Baskins. A scoop of ice cream was 55 Baht. Johann had the Pistachio and Almonds and I had a really fudgy, chocolate-y one.

July 26, Day 2, Bangkok --
Breakfast Buffet at our hotel, Pathumwan Princess, which has the best BEST location ever! It's directly connected to MBK, which is a really big tiangge and across from it is Discovery Mall and a few blocks down are other really nice malls.

Lunch was at The Pizza Company inside MBK. We were curious about this pizza place and we couldn't go to the local branch in Market! Market! so we decided to try out the pizza at the original branch in Bangkok. We had the double-crust Scallops. Yum. We ate the whole thing. The WHOLE thing.

We didn't have dinner because our tour guide fetched us and brought us to the Suan-Loom Night Bazaar. We had so much fun there! Really funky custom-designed t-shirts and really lovely furniture.

July 27, Day 3, Bangkok --
Lunch was at Noodi's, which kinda reminded me of Oody's -- the same color, the same concept. I had a Crab Omelette on Noodles and it was HEAVEN.



Johann had ramen with vegetables and seafood, which was also yummy.



We decided to go back to the Night Bazaar to look around some more and had dinner at the Joe Louis Puppet Theater located inside the Bazaar complex. Had really yummy curry.

**We kept trying the spring rolls of every restaurant and I didn't like any of them. The local ones are much nicer (in my humble, yet blasphemous opinion)

Where's the ice cream? They served Magnums on the flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Yummmmmmmm!

The next day, our flight out of Bangkok was at 950am and we were going to get picked up from the hotel at 730am. The Breakfast Buffet was at 6am and Johann and I really went out of our way to wake up early and to finish packing so that we could enjoy the buffet.

Rest of the pics from our Bangkok adventure:






During our visit to the temple of the Reclining Buddha, we chanced upon a table that was asking for donations to help them rebuild/repair the roof of the temple. Johann and I thought it would be nice to have one of the shingles named after us ^_^





I love this little guy -- while everyone was busy taking pictures of the Golden Buddha, I found him praying by the door of the temple.



July 28, Day 1, Hong Kong --
We arrived in Hong Kong after lunch and we immediately went "sightseeing" -- I brought Johann to my favorite stores in HK, Blue Star and Muji and we stopped by many other stores along the way.

Dinner was supposed to be at City Super, an HK food court but the place was packed! We decided to cross the street to the other City Super but they were full as well. We found a Maxim's Fastfood and ate there. Johann had Beef Brisket in Curry and I had the Baked Pork in Rice.

July 29, Day 2, Hong Kong --
HK hotels don't offer Breakfast Buffets, so we had to scrounge around for our own food. Our first breakfast was at Delifrance, located in the building beside our hotel.

We joined a tour group and did tourist-y things the rest of the morning and had ourselves dropped off near the Hong Kong Convention Center for the 7th HK Comics and Games Fair.

Tourist-y pics from Hong Kong:








The HK Comics and Games Fair was Madness! There were so many people there! We were reading the news of the opening earlier that day and there were kids there with HK$6000 to HK$8000 in their pockets -- they were getting ready to purchase action figures and toys and whatnot.


<-- My geek hubby, so close to the Mother Ship. hahahaha!



One of the mascots of the convention. We also saw a lot of Cosplayers -- grabe! The costumes were so intricate (but I've also seen really funky ones in our local conventions)

~Whew! So many photos, so many kwento... So many papers to check!!! ><~

To be continued.

I'm back! --

Arrived last night from Hong Kong, which was wet and rainy so Johann and I really weren't able to go out and see the sights.

We spent 3 days in Bangkok and 3 days in Hong Kong and we came home to an empty house and cupboards that needed stocking. (We love Fresh! ^_^)

To sum up the trip? It was an ice-cream fest -- seriously, that's all we did. We ate ice cream and gelato and tried out as many new flavors as we our bodies could handle -- my favorite was Ferrero Rocher gelato from one of the stalls at City Super.

Pictures to follow and more kwento as well. ^_^

For now, some highlights:
- bought my copy of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince for 650 Baht (PhP877) and read it. Didn't want to leave the hotel room after I got my copy. I love it! >_<
- found a copy of Millions by Frank Boyce, which Danny Boyle adapted into a movie with the same title. WONDERFUL book! I'm savoring it right now.
- got a copy of the director's cut of Hero
- read really funny bits in the foreign newspapers. Like a thief drinking a "work of art," which was worth over US$50k -- it was a bottle of melted ice from the North Pole, which the "artist" said signified Global Warming and whatnot. Also enjoyed the personals section and was amused about how some people right about themselves.
- had really yummy noodles in Bangkok and fell in love with Loft at the Discovery Mall.
- I was with my hubby hunny -- we were mucking through the rain in the streets of HK and were getting lost in the language of Bangkok and I was having the time of my life because he was there.

* * *

Married! --

I am, btw. It's a warm and fuzzy feeling to be someone's wife and to call someone "husband" -- there's just a really good sound to it. ^_^

(To everyone who attended last July 23, thank you so much. It was wonderful seeing all of you there. ^_^)

* * *

CSI!!! --

I missed the Tarantino episode! >_<

But I did get to watch all three installments of the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Women."

* * *

Things to look forward to --

Seven Swords by Tsui Hark
Sky High from Walt Disney
The final installment of the Harry Potter series ^_^
A fully-functioning house (hopefully by next week)

To make you go "Wha-?" --

0n3 nigh7, i dr34m7 i w4s sp34king in f1u3n7 1337.

O_o

LOVE! --

Wow! I'm getting married on Saturday! Hurrah! ^_^

A lot of people have said that neither Johann nor I look harassed or panicked, considering that our wedding is a few days away. Many are surprised that we both intend to work until Friday (although we're both leaving work early).

There's still so much that we need to do -- a bare condo that is in desperate need of furniture. Last-minute necessities for the night before, during the day and the after.

But we refuse to rush or panic -- as far as we're concerned, the most important thing is that we're getting married (and the church is all set) -- the rest is fluff.

* * *

Insight --

I realized that I don't know how to travel with a husband. I'm so used to traveling with siblings and I'm an expert on how that works. But a husband is an entirely different thing altogether.

For example, how do we handle the travel money. I'm used to splitting it 5 ways and then it's every person's responsibility to manage it so that they have enough for the duration of their stay. I was getting ready to do that with Johann, but I realized that it didn't feel right.

And clothes and toiletries -- I'm so used to sharing a luggage with my sister so I don't have to pack as much clothes or *ahem* other items because I can usually just borrow if I run out. But now I'm sharing with Johann and, while we love the same bath products, there are certain things we can't share (like deodorant/antiperspirant, feminine products, etc)

It's curious -- in a good way. ^_^

Interested? --

A friend is selling his camera -- here are the details:

Sony Cybershot S-85. 4.1 Megapixel with manual features. Includes the original box and all the cables and manuals. Will throw in my spare 64MB memory stick with the 16 that came with it and the black leather carrying case.

Sony DSC-S85 Features:

- 4.1-Megapixel Super HAD CCD, images up to 2272 x 1704 pixels
- Sharp and fast 3x Carl Zeiss 34-102mm F2 zoom lens
- 14 bit A/D converter for more accurate capture of detail
- Fast autofocus with AF illuminator and manual focusing via jog dial
- Program AE, Aperture priority, Shutter priority and full Manual
- Auto exposure bracketing
- Images stored as compressed JPEG or uncompressed TIFF
- 1.8-inch EX Bright color LCD
- Optical eyelevel finder with dioptric adjustment
- MPEG motion video with audio, MPEG EX for unlimited clip lengths
- Up to 10 frames can be saved as a Clip Motion GIF
- Shutter speeds from 1/1,000 to 8 seconds
- Apertures from f/2.1 to f/8.0
- Exposure compensation, +/-2EV in 1/3EV increments
- Spot metering and AE Lock functions
- Built-in flash with four modes plus variable output intensity
- External flash connection jack and shoe for the HVLF-1000 strobe
- Adjustable white balance with presets and one-push custom
- Picture Effects: Solarized, sepia, B&W, Negative Art
- Image Tone and Sharpness settings
- Automatic ISO or fixed at 100, 200, or 400
- Sony InfoLithium® "M" battery, up to 3,000 shots
- Images stored on removable MemoryStick media, 16MB included
- High-speed USB connection for image downloading

20k for the whole deal. ^_^

If you're interested, let me know so I can inform my friend.

Guess what happens when English teachers come together for a bridal shower --

You will get games like "Guess Who the Partner was?" and get questions like "Who was Antigone betrothed to?" and "Who is the lover of Heloise?"

Oh, and political questions like "Spell 'lapse'" and how many paragraphs there are in the Ateneo statement regarding GMA.

And Ma'am Shayne singing and your bosses giving really good wishes (and telling you to take the day off the day before the wedding)

It was so much fun! I was so touched the department threw me the shower. ^_^

* * *

E is for E! --

... and C is for C!

I finally got a chance to meet and have lunch with Camy and Elbert. They gave me presents! Free Comics! Hurrah!

We met at Seattle's for coffee and had lunch in the Ateneo caf.

Fun, fun meeting -- a welcome break from the hustle/bustle of wedding preparations.

* * *

From a student's quickwrite activity --

Topic was "What makes us 'us'?" --

"The question "what" is inappropriate, suggesting that it is an item or a specific thing that is needed to define Filipinos. I would instead ask "how" -- How do us make us?

...

To be Filipino is not about citizenship -- it is about commitment. It means not just living in the country, but loving the country."

I was sobrang impressed! I had him read it twice. ^_^

... and this was in my En10 class. I'm so proud. *sniff!*

* * *

7 days to go! --

This time next week, I won't have the luxury to sit in front of the PC to do my usual morning bloghop -- I will probably be fussed over by a score of people who will be helping me get ready for the wedding.

I'm bursting with excitement. I can't wait! ^_^

Crazy weekend! --

Friday --

I had a schedule to meet up with CDy and Jan to play with my Gocco. It turns out that they had been secretly planning (with Johann's help) a bridal shower for me.

It became suspicious when my sister decided to stay for dinner and when JC came through the door.

I had so much fun! We were drinking Bailey's and playing *ahem* games.

(And I still got a chance to show CDy my Gocco! I made one print as a sample and I'll post that in my other blog.)

The shower ended at midnight, but I was still a bit hyper from the food and the games so I slept at 2am.

Saturday --

Woke up at 5. (This is an automatic thing for me.) Johann and I were going to deliver some of our wedding-related materials to our coordinators for safekeeping. It was another busy, busy day.

11am -- Meet with Kasalan in Greenbelt
230pm -- Meet with cousins at Njork and then go to Half Moon for bibingcrepe (their first time there!)
6pm -- A friend's birthday party in Katipunan

Got home at 10pm. Was dead tired.

* * *

And Sunday --

Sunday's entry deserves a section of its own because of this guy:



And this guy:



Throughout Saturday, we would receive messages from friends who went to see Neil Gaiman at Powerplant. I got a message from my friend at 11am and he was already #660 in the signing queue.

Apparently, Neil Gaiman's signing stint at Powerplant ended at 1 in the morning.

At first, I wasn't planning to go anymore. I still had so much stuff to do and Sunday was supposed to be the day to do it.

But my hunny was determined to meet one of his favorite writers.

I wasn't supposed to come along, but I really wanted to share in the experience with Johann. So, at 815 in the morning, I took a 10-minute jeep ride to Promenade and lined up.

There were about a hundred people ahead of me, so I took that to be a good sign. I was definitely going to meet Neil Gaiman today.

The organizers started handing out numbers at 1030 and, after we got our numbers, we decided to use that pocket of time (a la Rachel Ray) to do some wedding-related errands in the area.

Unfortunately, our jeweller is apparently closed on Sundays so we weren't able to pick up our rings. Johann and I were also looking for a day bed, but the furniture area in Shoppesville was still closed when we got there.

We had lunch at around 1130 and then went back in line at around 1pm.

I'm glad Johann and I decided to go with friends. It really made the waiting easier. While waiting in line, I looked up and this was what the sky looked like.



Neil Gaiman arrived at around 3 and did a short reading of his book, Anansi Boys.



And then the signings started. We were informed that, out of courtesy, they were limiting the maximum number of books to be signed to 2 per person. This is to make sure that all 600 of us would be accommodated that day and Neil Gaiman requested to be back in his hotel by 8pm so we had about 4 hours to go through 600 people.

At this point, I was already getting discouraged. If the day before was any indication of how today would have been, then I was n't going to be able to have him sign my book. There were 200 pink numbers and 200 green numbers and 100 blue numbers ahead of me. But I decided to stay on.

The max limit of 2 books per person really helped. I think they managed to get through all 600 of us by 7pm.

I was sunburned and my skin asthma had flared up because of the heat and the dust, but I tell you -- it was all worth it.









<-- I'm holding a letter from a friend who wasn't able to get a number and asked me to give it to Neil Gaiman.

* * *

My conversation with Neil Gaiman --

Me: Welcome, Mr Gaiman. We are very happy to have you here.
NG: Really? I honestly wasn't expecting this kind of reception. Had I know I had such crazy fans here, I would have come sooner.
Me: We have been looking forward to your visit a very long time and we hope you can come back soon.
NG: You know what? I just might. I was very happy with how things turned out in Singapore and I'm already talking to them about possibly coming back.
Me: (handing him the letter) A friend who didn't get a number wanted me to give you this.
NG: Well, thank you.
Me: And another friend asked me to give you a hug for him. Is that okay?
NG: (Looks up at me with a smile) Go for it.

So, Mahar, I did hug him for you. ^_^