death by ukay and other Baguio stories...

i first went to baguio for an eight-day silent retreat at the jesuit mirador villa before my college graduation. we were holed up at the villa atop the lourdes grotto for the entire 8 days and all we did then was pray, eat, sleep, eat, sleep. it was truly meaningful though we we're not able to talk to anyone else except our spiritual director.

it was only during our last night when we were able to talk with our fellow retreatants that i remembered we were more than happy to talk and even shout than eat. it was even past 10pm when we were allowed to go down and roam the streets. i vividly remembered how eerie we felt when our taxi driver toured us around and pointed out the "ghost spots" of the city. it wasn't comfortable feeling scared and cold at the same time. we ended up having a few beers just below the steps where the lourdes grotto was.

that may have been over five years ago. i have been to baguio several times since then and i still feel quite eerie though i've already discovered several scenic spots and other more enjoyable things to do in baguio. this city used to be my most fave in the entire country.

yeah, used to be, because the last time i was there like a couple of months ago i was quite disappointed with how it became too crowded and polluted. traffic has never been that congested. it pained me seeing that the view atop sm baguio where all we could see are lines and lines of houses instead of the usual trees. i used to enjoy walking along session road then but lately it's just so annoying seeing it too crowded no matter what time you would pass by.

well anyway, there's but one thing that is still prodding me to go to baguio other than taho and sweet corn, and that is of course the ukay :D in ukays you can find clothes at really cheap prices and which designs and styles you can't find anywhere else in the malls and tiangges. i've been an ukay hound for sometime now. not just in baguio but also when i go home to my province in iligan. it could become quite addicting especially when you get to find some priceless gems for like 20-30 bucks.

i was in baguio last weekend for a seminar but i also devoted half of my day scouring the stalls in bayanihan. well, anyway let me just share some of my finds...;)

my bro asked me to buy a friend of his a turtleneck jacket. i told him jackets in baguio are kinda expensive but i'll find something for her in ukay instead. i got to find this giordano chocolate brown turleneck shirt made of cotton and lycra at P35 (3 for P100 with the rest of my finds). steal!!! hehehe...

i actually found this first in a small shop beside bayanihan. it's a lacy sweet colored peach skirt with fine embroidery. and yes, it's just P30. 

i love skirts esp the ones which are longish and unique. this is an abercrombie and fitch drawstring skirt with paisley design which i could just adjust whenever i ahm gain weight heheh...P35 din po. 

i find this very girly, simple yet classy. it's off white cotton with lace trimmings. also at P35.00. 

this is a simple black dress with dramatic eyelet design on the hem and adjustable spaghetti straps. also a steal at P35.00 ;) 

this spaghetti stapped dress is made of fine chiffon, sarap isuot at super soft and comfy. the straps are adjustable...P35 lang po but 3 for 100 along with he rest of my finds. 

this has got to be my nicest find...velvet ballerina flats at P230 (as tawad from 280). 

at the assumption retreat house, crystal cave, baguio city

these are indeed rare, purple anthuriums??? nice noh!

i dunno what you call this but hey it's purple and it looks good! 

i have fond memories of this flower. we used to have rows of this at our front yard at our staff house then. 

they call this the birds of paradise (baka bird kse isa lng). really colorful and big ha!  

i dunno where they got this stone but it certainly looks imposing...i added my sarong for some personal touch... 

what a path...so serene and calming... 

argh!! i wanted that handshake too! stupid me, i got so starstrucked i wasn't able to do a thing!!! who's that gu na nkapamewang behind him? i guess he's one of the organizers?? kinda cute huh? hehehe...he was the one who told us that for a worst case scenario we might not be able to have anything signed but instead get a group pic with neil with like 50 other fans??? uh-uh! good thing we still made it through ;) 

it was such a riot! neil (close kami eh :P!) really looked hot in his signature black shirt (minus the leather jacket). we spotted a few characters too who we thought was vying for "best in costume" heheh sowee we we're too bored in line we had to look for eye candies to amuse ourselves. our winner was that girl who wore all black with a catchy silver ankh pendant ala Death. nope i did not get a pic as i value her privacy. ;) 

even after hours and hours of signing he still had the sweetest smile...how i envy that girl. 

at the gateway... 

neiled! 

goin gaga over gaiman...

"hi marinela!"

" hi, and pls. say hi to tori for me."

"you're not the first girl to tell me that i should tell her to come and play for the Philippines"

"yeah, you should bring her next time. especially now that you're here."

i guess those were my words when i finally faced my god, neil gaiman, after queuing for like 7 hours in gateway mall yesterday. looking back, i realized how rude i might have sounded. all i blabbered on was tori i just hope he would not have been offended. and yeah, i don't think i even bothered to say thank you. i was fumbling and mumbling then left. my friend kinda told me he was still saying something when i left but then i barely noticed that of course.

what may have been worse was that my friend, Jb, who's another raving tori fan also said the same things like, "Please bring tori amos here!". We we're both aghast later on realizing that we may have sounded inconsiderate at that time. Looking back, we were even envious at those girls who got hugged and kissed or at least had handshakes. Jb was like practicing, "Can i molest you?". We were both aiming for at least a hug or a peck in the cheek or at least "isang kurot lang" and yet we were so starstruck we got nothing at all.

i was just really dumbfounded. i guess i felt so small being near him. i felt like he was my true god i could not even look him straight in the eyes. my, i wasn't even able to touch him when he was just an arm's length away!

heheh, before i continue ranting and raving on let me at least say a bit about gaiman. i first got to know gaiman through his graphic novels/comic books, the Sandman series. i have yet to collect the entire 10 comic books yet so far i only have 4 of them. each comic book would cost about a thousand bucks eh. but he's got his other fantasy novels though as Stardust, Neverwhere, Good Omens, American Gods, to name but a few. i think i have all his books. what added to the thrill and admiration is that he is also closely related to my music goddess, tori amos! i specifically had my "death and the high cost of living" graphic novel signed as it was tori who wrote the introduction.

oh well...when i got home past 9pm i realized how stupid i was for everything that i did and did not do. i could have at least looked and known the color of his eyes or at least told him to enjoy more of the Philippines, as there's more to our country than book signings! man, the guy had been signing for like 5-6 hours nonstop (well he did took a quick cr break as we waited). and to think that was already his 3rd day! i heard he signed for 3000 fans in powerplant the other day. drat, he must be that tired and traumatized with his experience and worse all i said was "say hi to tori for me!" was i thinkin????

haay naku, buti na lng i've a couple of shots and videos shots of him to remind me of my katangahan heheheh....

i've been neiled!!