On My Palette

Filipinos really do not celebrate Halloween the way Westerners do.  But I do admit that it can be a lot of fun.  I would just like to share some of the Halloween stuff we did at work–paper mache decors and paper crafts made by teachers and kids that adorned our place of work:

…And we had a small Trick or Treat activity that involved our kids and from another center, parading in simple costumes and masks up and down the building, and knocking on doors of the nearby offices.  It was a good thing our ‘neighbors’ took time to accommodate us and bought some candies and sweets to hand out for the little ones (some of the grown-ups who are still kids at heart took part as well!):

Have a spooky-tacular Halloween!

Eversince the 90’s, I have heard of a waterspa and other wellness spa of such sorts that, alas, only catered to A-list celebrities and rich people.  I thought i would never partake of such a luxurious experience–cascading water massaging your body, soothing tired and aching muscles and relieving anxiety and stress…

So I was excited to finally find out about Ace Waterspa through some people.  It also helped that I saw it featured on a show on qtv11.  I looked it up, checked their website, found the price affordable and made a date for a relaxing Sunday.

The ladies at the front desk gave us our locker keys (left) which we have to wear around our wrists the whole time as well as red swimming caps (a must–to avoid having falling hair from clogging up the pools’ drainpipes).

I rented an extra towel (forgot to bring one more-so dumb of me!) which costs 100 pesos. I also had to rent swimming trunks for Levic who could not find his at home (P150–oh, well!).  I was hesitant to let Levic go inside the men’s locker and dressing room unaccompanied but I felt assured knowing that there were male attendants inside who would keep an eye on him.

The spacious locker room inside the female dressing area (Right).

They don’t allow pictures to be taken inside the pool area (so I had to take some stolen shots–hehe, well you know me!–as if that would stop me):

The Spa Pool

The Lap Pool

Levic pausing to catch his breath after swimming in the lap pool.

It was wonderful! Levic enjoyed the Waterfalls Massage and Lazy River that flows around the pool while hanging on to a floater.  I thoroughly relished all the spa pool facilities.  My personal favorites: I basked under the invigorating Rainfall Acupuncture (water falling like rain but ‘pin-pricking’ your body as you lie flat out on a smooth tiled slab), Jet Chair with Foot Massage (water massaging the soles of your feet, thighs, shoulders and back), and the Hydro Massage Chairs (bubbly, jacuzzi-like water targeting your lower torso and neck as you lie on a chair).  There were also the herbal hot baths–mint, jasmine and lavender (I only tried the Mint pool which was only 36 degrees warm) as well as the lap pool but not the sauna rooms (for some reason i still feel uncomfortable with idea of ‘bathing’ in wet steam).

We were only allowed four hours or else we will be charged for the extra hours if we exceeded.  There were free shampoo and liquid soap (theirs was alright but I still prefer to use my own), hair gel, ear buds and free use of their hair dryer.  I was also provided with plastic bags to place in our wet items, much to my relief!

Plus, they gave us free hot soup.  Chinese Corn Soup served hot at their restaurant.

The whole waterspa experience was like magic. The endorphins were released and flowing in me, (plus with the help of the hot, soothing soup) feeling relax and slightly elated and light.

Since I was in such a good mood, I was also compelled to try their Shrimp Popcorn with mango mayo dip and a dash of spring onions which was juicy and delicious.

Levic enjoying the food…

Pero kapag nagtitipid ka, beware! Dahil alam nilang nasa good mood ka, baka mapabili ka sa kanilang restaurant ng di mo inaasahan. I had no regrets though. Their food tasted good.  All in all, Ace Waterspa would make an ideal treat for hard-working people who would like to reward themselves from time to time.  Worth your 550 pesos? Yes!  Hmmm, but is it just me or the endorphins talking?

The old building in Makati which had been standing unfinished for God knows how long (i was still a kid when they first started constructing it) had been a major eye-sore in the skyline of the country’s premier business district.  Yup…all metro manilans know what i’m referring to.  It is the one opposite the former Mantrade, near the Magallanes MRT station, towering over Ecology Village and the fly-over at the corner of Chino Roces Ave. and EDSA.

I researched about it (google keywords i used: old, ugly, unfinished building, Makati).  What I found out: It was owned by the Puyat family and South China Resources, Inc. It was supposed to be named Pilipinas Plaza. One person in a thread commenting about Metro Manila buildings (yes, they talk about buildings-just buildings… wow) even called it the ‘chaka jaka building’ (really, REALLY ugly building).

Everytime i pass by it, I look at it, feeling sad that something so huge is left unfinished and unused. Such a waste of money, time, and effort. And yes, it really IS darn ugly… I wished that someone will get to blow it up and be done with it, put it out of its misery.

Well, the chaka jaka building will be no more.  No, they won’t blow it up.  It is getting a new lease on life.  The building is finally getting ‘pimped’ up!  And I thought this day will never come:

The owners were able to sell it for 1.2 B pesos to Alphaland Corp early this year (info source: inquirer) . Not a bad deal, eh? I mean for the former owners. As far as i know, the residents of Ecology Village won a court petition in the 80’s to stop the further contruction of the building since it was just too close to their place of residence and would pose as a hazard (am not sure how but that’s what happened).  Have they forgotten about this fight? What do they have to say about this now? Will Alphaland inherit the headaches brought about by this building from its former owners?

Here are 5 LSS (Last Song Syndrome) songs stuck in my head…for now:

1. Final Countdown by Europe: a friend showed me a youtube of this weird guy playing this tune using a ukelele slash piano instrument.  Sing along with me and get a taste of my personal hell: We’re heading for Venus…(Venus!) / And still we stand tall! Ugh!

2. Dahil Sa Iyo. Don’t laugh but this Filipino love song is really a timeless classic.  Saw it sung by Pilita Corrales recently on the San Juan episode of Landmarks (a show which I admire-found in Net25).  Fabulous!

3. For the First Time by kc. We had our Dear Heart days. Now, today’s generation has this movie starring kc and richard. Cool scenic location but found it less impressive than her mama’s first movie. I had no idea she could carry a tune though.

4. All the darn ABBA songs from Mamma Mia! It has been two weeks now since i last watched the dvd copy of it, and I’m still belting them out like crazy.  Somebody should have warned me… it’s driving me nuts!

5. Song from the Algorithm March.  Pchie introduced me to this song (and Japanese dance ‘exercise’). Looks fun. Watch it if you dare– 🙂