STORIES, STORIES

Makati is THE Jeddawi spot for real. Srsly, look at this place. It's not the real Manila, let's be honest here. I've met the real one before, it's not as affluent, not as pretty, not as pedestrian-friendly, not as easy to talk to, THE PEOPLE NOT AS MOTHERFRAKKIN HOT. I've been here 2 weeks, somewhat adjusted, somewhat still living out of my suitcases. The Real World (which is really any place outside of Jeddah) is twisting my arm into culture shock. Here: SHOPPING Things here are about 10% to 40% cheaper than Jeddah. I still haven't gotten out of the habit of converting everything into riyals. I'm annoyed that so many of the brands I buy aren't available here, but the trade-off is that so many of the brands I want ARE HERE. Don't get me started on books. I will need a second job to support my book shopping because THEY ARE ALL JUST LYING AROUND NAKED WAITING FOR ME TO THROW MONEY AT THEM. Whores. CONVERSAZIONE The city streets are mea...

Holy shit, you guys, I did it! I'm no longer reporting live from Jeddah, motherfuckers. I've been here 10 days and I'm in love. It's that lovey-dovey stage at the start of a relationship, when the city and I are just getting to know each other, finding cute quirks about each other, being polite, laughing at all of each other's jokes, and buying each other nice, thoughtful gifts. Things will surely change, but let's live one day at a time to avoid madness. Hello, good-looking. Of course the first few weeks will be all about me comparing Manila to Jeddah, and busting my preconceived notions about living in the big bad city (of Makati, for now). So here are a few of them. Segregation! I'm causing it! I've lived in the Philippines before, so there are some  things that are not new to me. This segregation is, though! I've taken the train a couple times now, and they have started implementing Females Only sections. Ivy tells me it's because...

I haven't been doing very well on my workout and fitness goals the past few weeks. I went through my Fitness Motivation Files to help me get back on my regular 1-hour 6x a week workout schedule and a normal diet (as opposed to freestyle bingeing), and I found there was almost nothing there that could get me back going. Except one thing. Confident or Confused? One of the arguments I made as to why I have abruptly put my fitness goals on hold is that I've suddenly "become confident about myself". But am I really? I've never had any real problems with my physical appearance, even though "in theory"(major air-quotes), I should: I have unmanageable frizzy hair that is made even worse by the imperfect shape of my head, causing my weak curls to sit awkwardly on top of it, my face is on the unattractive side of ethnically ambiguous and/or Asian, I have alternately dry and oily uneven skin that causes my T-zone to Shine Bright Like a Diamonddd and, at the...