Kamustahan

i liked toni's cup-of-tea questions. napaisip talaga ako. i thought it would be a nice quick update for one on things that i don't normally blog about -- or even really think about too often.

now let's sit down for a cup of tea, for what paolo would call kamustahan...

1. Now, would you like chamomile, jasmine, Earl Grey or English Breakfast?

i'll stick to my mug of milo powder. when it comes to milo, i am the papak queen.

2. How’s your health?

i may actually be in better shape than i have all year, thanks to muay thai. i can do at least ten pushups now before stopping to rest, and i survived robert's hour-long grueling circuit training last friday as the only girl among guys, with only four one-minute rest stops. but right now i feel a tickle in my throat which i hope will not turn into a cold or fever.

3. Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?

happily, yes! marlon and i did our christmas shopping in one blitz at plaza singapura and the cathay yesterday. i just have to get a gift for my sister, sir jojo, marlon's dad, bitchik, dada and binky.

4. How are you dealing with the economic crunch this Christmas?

honestly, i don't feel it. as i said to marlon and a few friends recently, we're lucky to be high enough in the corporate ladder to afford some of the things we really want, and low enough to not to really be affected by any retrenchment plans or salary cuts. if anything, we seem to be recessionistas in reverse -- we finally cleaned off the credit card debt, have the enough to help out family members in sudden emergencies, and even had a brief shining moment this weekend when we felt like millionaires. we spent sunday evening planning a budget for 2009 and it was a fun exercise. the challenge now, i guess, is keeping to that budget and saving smart.

5. What Christmas tradition are you carrying through this year?

in a year where marlon and i begin to find our own christmas traditions, one thing i am keeping from my family's traditions is having lots of little gifts to unwrap... and giving basic necessities like soap and shampoo!

i think that's a tradition we picked up from my mom's ex-fiance uncle david, who would literally put mountains of gifts under the tree on christmas day... even if they were just little things like toothpaste and soap! i only realized that this could be seen as a little bizarre when marlon gave me this funny look when i said i had to go to carrefour to buy soap for my tita.

my own spin on this tradition is that the maid's gifts can't look better than my tita's gifts... and that all the toiletries have to be terno!

must not forget: elaborate giftwrapping... something that i have enjoyed every christmas since i was nine. that year, we spent christmas in brussels and i fell in love with how salesladies at the department stores wrapped packages with scads of gorgeous curling ribbon, feathers, the works!

it's not part of the question, but i have to say it anyway: my most-missed christmas tradition is singing with acs! i've been so desperate to sing, i sang along with the video of the nordic chamber choir singing lauridsen's o magnum mysterium that gp posted on facebook... more than once! i also miss acs's fantastic and totally out-there themed christmas parties where everyone is so game.

answer these questions! it'll be fun!

p.s. yes, that's our finished and fully trimmed christmas tree!