Mallrat.

I spent 12 hours in malls for the past couple of days. That's not much of a life to speak of, no? :-P

*****

Friday afternoon I went to see Narda play at the Blue Eagle gym for the Ateneo UAAP Cheer Rally. We left right after their gig because Nico had to go back to the office to finish work. He dropped me off at Powerplant so I could claim my book signing pass at Fully Booked. And while I was there, I decided to check out what's showing at the cinemas.

Major disappointment of the day: HG2G isn't showing at Powerplant anymore. Argh. So I spent an hour and a half walking around the mall, on the lookout for kewl stuff (for future, work-related reference). I wanted to do something else while I was out (I didn't know what, specifically, though). I didn't try to brave the streets of Ayala anymore (I heard there were human roadblocks and traffic was bad). I went home as soon as I got bored. I felt like I was going to get sick anyway. I couldn't get any sleep until after four in the morning. Gah.

*****

I woke up very early on Saturday morning with a sore throat and a headache. (I must have caught something from Nico-- he's been blowing his nose into his hankie for over a week already.) I had to get up anyway because Nico and I were meeting up with Brian at 9 a.m. to pick up the Meme Na artworks at UP and transport them to the CCP.

As soon as we're done with the errand we headed for Makati. Nico had to go to the office to finish some rush thing. I wasn't up for commuting back home in the noontime heat so I had him drop me off at Greenbelt. Hoping I would finally get to see HG2G, I checked out the Ayala Cinema schedules.

But no.

First major disappoinment of the day (redux): Almost half of the cinemas were showing War of the Worlds and none were featuring HG2G. AAARGH. Ewan ko, pero hindi ako mashadong interesado sa War of the Worlds, kahit Spielberg siya. I've been hearing mixed reviews about it, I know how it's going to end (I think it's a dumb ending), and I'm not sure if I'll be seeing it during its theater run. (I'll have to find someone to watch it with though, 'cause Nico's seen it already.)

I went to G4 instead and bought a ticket to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith so I can sit in an almost empty theater with controlled climate and without feeling bad missing a part of it in case I fell asleep. Stress-free viewing, right?

Second major disappointment of the day: I proved myself wrong again. While the movie isn't bad, the experience of watching it was. In that half-empty theater gathered almost every possible annoying movie-goer there ever was:

• The seat-kickers. The couple of guys sitting obliquely behind me propped up their legs on the backs of the seats and couldn't keep still. I was feeling too sick to move seats specially with the aggravated headache, so I told them off instead.
  
• The bag ladies. They sat right next to me, in the middle of the movie. And then, almost instinctively, started rummaging through the contents of their purses (make-up, mobile phones, pens), using them one after another. The one beside me kept hitting my arm with her elbow every time she opened her purse. Thankfully they moved seats as soon as they found the draught unbearable.
  
• The plastic-bag ladies. There was a group behind me who seemed like their clothes were made of plastic bags. Every time they moved (which was all of the time) plastic bags rustled.
  
• The conversationalists. There was a couple who thought they were at a talk show. They had a new topic every fifteen minutes or so.
  
• The gadget-freaks. The lady in front of me had her PDA-phone beeping all the time. And one of the seat-kickers answered a rather loud ringing mobile phone in the middle of the movie.
  
• The readers. You know, those guys who read everything that was written on the screen out loud. (I can read, too, you know.)
  
• The critics. I had a running commentary of the movie, too. (Tatay nung plastic-bag ladies.) 'Uy, Filipino daw o.' I must be getting more than my money's worth.

Hmf. Ang malas ko naman. Kung hindi lang sayang ang pera ko...

After the movie I looked for a Timex shop. My carabiner watch's batt died and I wanted to make inquiries regarding battery replacement. (I forgot the watch at home. Tsk.) I sent a few messages to friends (minsan lang kasi ako nasa labas, nilulubos ko lang), and got a reply from Chin, who said she'd be in Makati in a couple of hours and asked me to have dinner with her parents. I said okay, and resumed my window-shopping people-watching stint. My phone battery was running low so I went to Battery King to have it charged. I idly sat on a nearby bench while I waited.

*****

Chin and her parents arrived in Makati just as I was heading back towards Greenbelt. How convenient heheh... We had dinner at Sentro (minus her dad who went to a meeting), and then checked out shops at Greenbelt 4. After walking around for a few minutes we hung out at Via Mare and talked over coffee/tea and palitaw (Chin's mom's request; I didn't have any, busog na ako).

*****

I didn't expect to see Nico again that night, but Nico and his team mates finished work and he said he could meet up with me at Greenbelt.:-) After a brief introduction with Chin's mom and a series of thank-yous and well-wishes, Nico and I left for Glorietta to join his officemates for dinner at Banana Leaf. (I just sat with them, okay na ako sa kinain ko sa Sentro.)

Everyone went home afterwards while Nico and I spent some quiet time at Grappas, sitting by the bar. Minsan masarap lang talagang tumanga. :-)

*****

Despite the drawbacks, I liked my (almost) do-nothing day. I wished I wasn't sick, but then again, I would've probably be doing something else if I wasn't.