The Convivial Gist

  I had a love hate relationship with my commuting to work. You see, I do not drive.  My husband worries so much about me being a menace to the motoring public and maximally living up to being an Asian stereotype driver.  So I take the public transportation - the St. Louis Metro Link.  I take the Blue Line, there were only 2 lines and I am in luck since that's the better riding experience. The city being a bit segregated, the red line I suppose passes the Red Lined communities of the county.  I do not know what  to expect on a given day, it might be boring as any boring person that you know or will it be so full of drama that your favorite telenovela  pales in comparison.  Here are some worth mentioning:  1. The Orange Guy  - He was  carrying an  orange, went to the center aisle, got every body's attention and started crushing the orange with his hand. He went on walking from back and forth with the juice of the  mashed or...

     Mary Jane Boots by Marc Jacobs      Finally I am in my other home, the Philippines.  As I am slowly creeping in the ranks of the senior citizens, I don't find travelling as much fun as five years ago. Being airborne for 18 hours in a stale cramp space, how I wish that I can win a lottery so that I can buy a comfortable arrangement in my crossing of the Pacific Ocean.     Its understandable that majority of Filipinas going home to their tropical abode  when some parts North America were buried in 6 inches of snow, wearing knee length boots was de rigueur.  I wonder how they managed when their legs and feet swell after travelling almost 8250 miles up in the air.     It was in  my second leg of my trip in Narita airport in Tokyo (another 4 1/2 hours plane ride to reach Manila) when I was totally blown away what some Filipinas would do to be fashionable and to announce to the...

Lint remover on my luggage bound to Southern Caribean? I need that for the same reason that a  50 year old lady needs  her Oil of Olay Reginerist.   Blame it on Pinay, our 3 year old shedding  cat.  I did not signed up for this, its fate.  When I married my husband, he had Jaz, a Welsh Corgi. Being a borderline obsessive compulsive housemaker (my self assessment, not a professional diagnosis)  , his hair  puts me in a state of frenzied mission to eradicate every speck of his hair in the house. Carpets yanked out of the floor, all imaginable brushes at my disposal (toothbrush to industrial grade) and a symphony of humming vacuum.  Cancer of  his pelvic bones set in  Jaz. Options were laid to us, give him up for adoptions for pet lovers who takes care of  diseased pet (bless these people)  or  a Chemotheraphy treatment. We opted to put him out of his misery, my husband cried like a baby in one blustery january Sunday. I cried too, I am not that heartless.  I was wondering if  I still  wo...

 Living in the Midwest, my water experience and activities are limited to rivers and lake.  Colors of Missouri and Mississippi rivers are nothing to rave about. Lakes offers some excitement , courtesy of resorts abutting on its shores , it's never the same though. Having lived the first 44 years of my life in an island part of an archipelago, I always equate water with the tropical seas , blue, expansive and endless.  When my husband brought up the idea of a cruise,  I jumped at the offer. Forget about the kitchen  and bathroom renovations, it can wait. But my longing for the sea needs to me satiated. Luggage packed like any woman would pack for a 7 day trip, as if she is packing for a month.  Wardrobe, shoes, purse and accessories and still  unsure if  I covered all the checklists for the formal dinners and casual garbs. Should I bring 2 or 3 swimsuits, hmm, maybe 4 , I can't be photographed with the same attire all the time.  What will my Facebook buddies would say, aarghhhhh...