Colder than ever!
Winter is definitely upon us out here. The temperatures are now dipping into the -20sdegC zone and I'm not quite sure if I should be happy about it or not. Frankly, the first time I saw snow, it was like "Oh my! So pretty! Cool!". But now, it's more like "Oh no... Does that mean we can't drive to Banff today?".
I have seen my first glimpse of cows today! (Haha, Nolet. :P) And funny, they didn't seem all that bothered about the weather. But they were just a handful, so maybe these were the cows with cabin fever (barn fever?) and super high tolerance of cold.
It seems like a lot has happened since I updated. This is what's hard about not updating more frequently. It's almost like the stories just keep piling up till you reach a point where you just have absolutely no idea where to start. And that's exactly where I am right now. So suffer my randomness as I just type up events as I remember them.
Let's see...
My aunt's house blessing and birthday was a blast! Got together with a lot of our relatives here and met a whole bunch of new friends, too, who promised to take me snowboarding. Now that prospect I am most excited about. I'll probably suck at it, but who knows? I just might get the hang of it. ;) Imagine that: me, snowboarding. How cool can that get?? I'm soo taking pics! XD
Everyone wears make-up around here. Well, maybe not EVERYONE, but a vast majority of the girls do. Especially those in my age. Those that don't are moms or really old people. Suddenly has me thinking if I should jump onboard that wagon. But quite frankly, I'm not that particularly concerned and I can get away with my necessary lip balm/gloss and mascara. :P Winter fashion's throwing me off, though. Half the time I don't know if I look okay or flat out stupid because I'm more concerned about fighting frostbite than looking good. These days I layer on sooo much clothing that I look horribly shapeless. I even have a jacket that my cousin christened "The Toga" because she says it looks like one. Oh, what the heck. >_<
The malls here aren't THAT small. I mean, seriously. They're so much bigger than I imagined from stories of relatives who live here. It's...strange that they think the malls are small. They aren't. Full of unfamiliar brands (Arnold Churgin, People's, Second Cup) and stores, it was fun walking around and just looking at the stuff. Converting the prices into Peso doesn't make you feel good about spending, though. Makes me appreciate the stuff at home and how much cheaper everything is. Like a bunch of hair ties cost $3.47 while they'd cost about Php40-50 at home. @_@ It's pretty fun though that the movie theatres are still primarily separate from the malls, although the bigger ones have learned to incorporate them too, pretty much like what we have. And another big difference is that buildings here are low-lying. Most aren't higher than 2 floors and the only tall ones are in Downtown.
There's so much food out here that I want to try! One of these days I'm going on a food trip. Seriously. And the servings are gargantuan. (see photo)
Sometimes, I just end up halving an order with my mom. I've tried finishing a single order, but I just can't. It's too much food. I just feel bad about how they just throw it all away, though. I mean, just imagine how many people would've benefited from that. Tsk. And I thin I'm getting a caffeine overdose. I drink tea all day. Usually it's either that or coffee and I'm not really a coffee drinker. I wish they'd broaden the variety of hot drinks. Seriously.
The accents are really different here. Most people I can understand now, but when they talk fast and eat their words, omg, it's an entire new playing field that just isn't familiar to me. I cannot, for the life of me understand a thing, then. I'm hoping I learn quickly, though. It's kind of getting more embarassing not being able to understand what they're saying when it's just plain English.
I've a whole bunch of pics to upload (including car pics), but alas, I have yet to get a card reader. Boy, do I ever miss CD-R King. And yeah, I do miss you guys, too. ;) I think I better sleep now. Been up late too much these days. Oh, and if you want to chat with me, I'm usually on YM at around 11pm here. So that makes it around 2pm there. Or is it 2am? I still can't quite figure out this darned time zone thing. Especially when it gets dark so soon, at about 5pm here. @_@ Whack, I tell you.
edit: got a new camera that serves as a card reader. hahaha! hence the uploaded pics. :P